Tikal the Echidna

Tikal the Echidna
'Sonic the Hedgehog' character
File:Chara tikal.gif Tikal the Echidna, as seen on the Sonic Channel website.
First game	Sonic Adventure

Tikal (ティカル, Tikaru) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games released by Sega.

The character Tikal was designed by Yuji Uekawa to be a light orange, female, anthropomorphic echidna with blue eyes. She first appeared in the game Sonic Adventure for Sega Dreamcast, which was released in Japan on December 23, 1998. The character is fourteen years old, 95 cm (3 ft 1 in) tall, and her weight is unknown.. Tikal's Japanese voice-overs are done by Kaori Asoh, while Elara Distler does her voice in the English language version.

Tikal is named after a ruined Mayan city whose name means "bread", or "Place of Voices", and her father shares the name of both an Inca solar deity and a city of the Inca Empire. In addition to this, the pyramid in the Mystic Ruins, an Adventure Field in Sonic Adventure, resembles the one in the city of Tikal, and the Lost World level retains aspects of Maya ruins, such as the rotating snake and the jade. Tikal's attire is also derived from the Mayan civilization.

Role in the game

File:Tikal32.PNG

Tikal's original Sonic Adventure lineart by Sega, inked and coloured by "KojiChan". Note that the cloth attached to her skirt in this artwork does not appear in the games.

Tikal's role in the Sonic Adventure game is to show what happens thousands of years prior to the game. It shows how Tikal has pleaded with her father Pachacamac to stop all his "fighting, stealing, and killing," and how she struggled with him to be on the right path to peace. It shows how much she wanted him to do what's right, to the point of being knocked unconscious.

Even though Pachacamac was stubborn and refused to listen to his own daughter, Tikal continued to beseech with them to stop. When this failed, Tikal even let the Master Emerald seal herself and Chaos in it. The remaining echidnas that lived made it their duty to protect the Master Emerald to assure that Chaos would never be released again.

A few thousand years later, Doctor Eggman found the ancient tablets describing the event and shattered the Master Emerald in order to release Chaos, hoping the creature would help him in his quest for world domination. When the Master Emerald broke again, Tikal strived for peace by subsequently transporting Sonic and his friends to the past, hoping they would see what would happen if Chaos obtained the emeralds again. Always trying her hardest, she finally succeeded in mollifying Chaos, stopping him from wreaking havoc on the rest of the world.

Unlike the other games in the series, Sonic Adventure relies on a strong storyline. Sonic Team took a trip to Central America to find inspiration for their next Sonic title, leading them to create the character, Tikal. The character shares a name with an assembly of ruins in Guatemala, the ancient Mayan city of Tikal.

Life

Tikal is the daughter of Chief Pachacamac and is said to have originated from the same tribe as main character Knuckles the Echidna. Her mother had died when she was young, so she depended on her grandmother to raise her. Tikal respected her and believed everything she taught, resulting in her becoming a pacifist. After her grandmother died, Tikal always cherished her words and followed her wishes to oppose Pachacamac's power-hungry ways in invading other countries.

Sometime during her life she found the altar of the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds near the Echidna city, and there she met and befriended the peaceful creatures known as Chao. Unlike the other Echidnas she could come close to the altar despite a mysterious barrier protecting it. During one visit to the altar, she was introduced to Chaos, the guardian of the Chao, who let her stay around the altar due to her friendliness to the Chao.

As time passed, Pachacamac and a group of his men stormed the altar to obtain and use the Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds for total power. However, Tikal intervened and stood in his way. Ignoring her words, Pachacamac charged forward with his men, knocking over Tikal and many Chao on the way. This aroused the anger of Chaos, causing him to kill Pachacamac and his men. As he proceeded to destroy the world, Tikal rose from her unconsciousness and saw what Chaos had done. Running to the Master Emerald, she remembered the ancient poem about Chaos. Now realizing what it meant, she said to the Master Emerald, "The 7 Emeralds are the servers. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos. The 7 Emeralds can change our thoughts into power. If this Emerald controls that power...please, you must stop him!" The Master Emerald then responded by sealing Chaos and Tikal in itself.

Several thousand years passed, and Doctor Eggman read the story about Chaos on an ancient stone tablet. In order to recruit Chaos' help in his quest to rule the world, Eggman shattered the Master Emerald, awakening Chaos and Tikal's spirit. Subsequently, Tikal transported Sonic and his friends to the past to know the trouble that befell her world before. Despite this, Chaos managed to obtain the Chaos Emeralds and used their negative energies to become Perfect Chaos. As he began destroying Station Square, Tikal appeared and told Sonic that Chaos had to be sealed in the Master Emerald once again. However, Sonic disagreed, as Chaos would still be angered, and history would likely repeat itself once again. Instead, he used the positive energy of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic, then battled and defeated Perfect Chaos. After being defeated by the positive energy of the Emeralds, Chaos was neutralized and calm. Tikal then explained to him that the Chao were alright and happy, and she and Chaos rose into the air and disappeared in a flash of light.

Personality

File:Tikal the Echidna.gif

Tikal as seen in Sonic Adventure 2.

Tikal was a passionate, gentle pacifist. She never wavered in her attempt to oppose her father Pachacamac and was determined to have her tribe in peace. She had tried to stop her father in peaceful ways and never once resorted to violence. Tikal's peaceful temperament and beliefs drastically contradicted with her father's, who was fierce and warlike. Though she begged him to stop in his conquest, his greed and ambition overcame everything else, eventually causing him to lose his love for his daughter.

Although Pachacamac lost his compassion for his daughter, Tikal cares for him and for the rest of the tribe. She is an amiable person with a good nature and, according to the official Sonic Adventure 2: Battle website, Tikal is "...a caring person, and everyone loves her."

In the comic books, Sonic the Comic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sonic X, Tikal acts similar to her game personality. However, in the Archie comic book Sonic X, Tikal is more willing to fight as she had assisted Sonic and his friends against the angry Chaos. In the anime Sonic X, Tikal acts more eager to stop Chaos from wreaking havoc in the world than in the game. She also believes that "...if our hearts have nothing except anger and fear, they will only bring destruction!"

Abilities and weaknesses

One of Tikal's abilities in Sonic Adventure is the ability to transport people to the past in their mind, similar to a vision, which affects the plot of the game. With it, she is able to show Sonic and his friends her past and try to persuade them to stop Chaos from obtaining the seven Chaos Emeralds (strangely, Tails finds an upgrade in his vision, and still gets to use it in the present). Tikal is also able to turn into a small floating red and white sphere of light, which enables her to quickly go to different places where Sonic and his friends are located. She can also communicate with Chaos, which allowed her to mollify his anger by telling him that the Chao are fine. In the final scene of Sonic Adventure, she somehow disappears in a flash of light along with Chaos.

In Sonic Adventure 2 and its remake, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Tikal appears as a 2-player character, though she does not appear in the story. She can fight, dig and glide through the air just like Knuckles. Her punches have shorter reach than the other treasure hunters, and she doesn't sense Emeralds as well as the other three characters. However, this is made up by the fact that she is quicker than them. She wears brass knuckles to fight, and for every twenty rings she obtains, she will receive one of three supernatural attacks. These attacks are Wrath of Gaia, where she punches the ground to create a small earthquake, Heaven's Justice, where she makes lightning strike an enemy from the skies, and Captive Light, where she freezes the enemy for 30 seconds.

In the Archie comic books, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic X, Tikal is telepathic, which allows her to communicate with Chaos. In Sonic the Comic, she has a staff, with which she can battle competently. In the Sonic X comic book, Tikal mentions that the tribes' elders taught her how to fight, which explains how she knows how to defend herself.

Appearances

Video games

Tikal's first and currently only major role is in Sonic Adventure and its remake Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut.

Tikal later appeared as an unlockable character in the Dreamcast game, Sonic Adventure 2. To acquire her, the player has to complete all of Knuckles' missions with an 'A' rank. She is then available to play in 2-player in the treasure hunting game as well as in the kart one. In the GameCube remake Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, she is initially playable in Treasure Hunting. Some people believe that her appearance in 2-player clears up the plot hole of her disappearance, while others think SEGA put her there for fans. Using Action Replay codes in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle can allow the player to use Tikal in single-player stages and Chao Gardens as well.

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Tikal seen with Chaos after finishing Sonic Adventure.

Tikal also makes a cameo appearance on Sonic Pinball Party as an animated stone carving on the Angel Island board. In addition to this, she has appeared on a Chao mini game in Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2 that is playable by combining one of the games with Sonic Adventure DX. This game involves Tikal giving Sonic tips on where to find a specific Chao for Cheese the Chao. Most recently, Tikal has made an appearance in Sonic Rivals as a collectable card.

All her appearances since Sonic Adventure are just cameos, and it is unknown where Tikal really went with Chaos. It is possible that she may not reappear soon because when asked about it to Sonic at Sonic Central, he responded that he didn't "...know exactly where they (Tikal and other minor characters) are" - possibly suggesting that she will not be in the games any time soon. Chaos has however appeared in games after Sonic Adventure, but Tikal was not with him.

A popular theory was that she went back to the Master Emerald, but this is generally considered to be untrue, for when it shattered in Sonic Adventure 2, she was nowhere be seen. It is possible, however, she was within the shards. The image after the Super Sonic story credits shows Tikal at the Master Emerald altar at Angel Island, but since it shows the altar as complete, it appears to depict the past (though it is possible that it depicts something else, such as the future).

In an offical Sonic Channel poll for which character the fans want to see more of, Tikal came in 9th place.

Sonic the Comic

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Tikal, as seen in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic.

Tikal appeared in the comic issues #180, #181 and #182 of Sonic the Comic. She was not around in present day, as the Echidna race was all but extinct. Instead, Tikal existed in the distant past - about 8000 years prior to the present time of the comic. At this period in history, the Drakons had taken over the Echidnas' sacred emerald mines and, by obtaining the emeralds therein, used the unstable "Chaos" energy source to create the Chaos Emeralds. They were waging war with the Echidnas because Pachacamac had defied the Drakons and taken the emeralds back.

Fearing the danger, Tikal used the Power of the Chaos Emeralds to transport Sonic to her time period. Pachacamac then beseeched Sonic to assist Knuckles in the capture of a Drakon Prosecutor so he could make peace with the Drakons. However, after the two had captured the fish, the Drakons had attacked them. In the resulting firefight, the Chaos Emeralds were hit, which caused them to begin leaking Chaos Energy into the room. They all began to flee, leaving the captured Drakon Prosecutor behind, which resulted in becoming Chaos. The Echidnas then sealed Chaos in an enchanted container, but Dr. Robotnik's assistant, Grimer, later released him.

Because of Chaos' presence, a creature whom Tikal had seen in visions of the future, Tikal stated that this would be the beginning of the Great War. Despite this, Pachacamac returned Sonic to his own time by manipulating Chaos' energy with his staff. After a long fight with Chaos, they finally succeeded in capturing him. Pachacamac, Tikal, and Knuckles then thought about the beginning of a war that would determine the fate of the entire Echidna race. Although Tikal and Pachacamac knew Knuckles would live 8000 years, they realized that everything else was lost.

In the online continuation of STC (also known as STC-O), it was discovered that Tikal had been accidentally sealed along with Chaos and forced to spend 8000 years trapped in a state of constant fear. Her spirit was able to pass into Sonic (due to his briefly being submerged in Chaos) and through Chaos energy exposure gained physical form. Tikal decided to remain on the Floating Island. The memory of her torment soon became so prominent there was a real danger of her being driven insane and Ebony the witch had to erase Tikal's memories to save her, with the side effect of erasing most of her memories of ancient times. Knuckles has tried to bring back her memories by taking her to the ruins of Megapolis City, which lead to her being involved in a battle against Rouge and an encounter with the King of Ghosts. Recently, she revisited an old Echidna shrine and encountered countless ghosts of murdered Echidnas; this has led to an increasing amount of premonitions about a returning God of Death, Vichama.

Sonic the Hedgehog (comic)

In the Archie comic book, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tikal first appears in issue #79, and then appears throughout issues #82, #83 and #84. Throughout her comic book appearances, her artwork was done by Steven Butler, inked by Pam Eklund, and colored by Frank Gagliardo. Contrasting to the game, her eyes are green instead of blue. In the comic book, Tikal's tribe lived next to the Mysterious Cat City and fought against the Cat people. Later, Tikal found the ruins where the Chao resided and made friends with them. When the Echidnas started to lose to the Cats, they attempted to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to win against them. The warriors attacked Chaos, who in turn used the Chaos Emeralds to turn into Perfect Chaos and kill them. Chaos began to wreak havoc on the world so in order to stop the disaster, Tikal and the chao trapped Chaos in the Black Emerald. For a price, Tikal’s spirit was trapped as well.

Later, Doctor Eggman's Robian slaves were digging up the Mysterious Cat City when they found a Black Emerald. Eggman broke it open and Chaos emerged while Tikal, in the form of a red light ball, flew by, unnoticed. Later, Tikal communicated with Knuckles through telepathy and told him her history. Some time later, Chaos acquired the seven Chaos Emeralds and used the negative energies of the emeralds to turn into Perfect Chaos. As he began to destroy Station Square, Tikal appeared to Sonic and showed him the past of Chaos’s origin. Then Tikal used a spell to weaken Perfect Chaos and positive-charged the Chaos Emeralds, which changed Sonic into Super Sonic. After Sonic neutralized Chaos, he and Tikal returned to their zone, which is Angel Island before the attack on the Master Emerald shrine.

Sonic X (comic)

Tikal first appears in the Archie comic book Sonic X, in issue #5 in a flashback, but later appears in issue #6 with a bigger role. The Master Emerald had brought Tikal to the present time because the earth was in danger from angry Chao. As a back-up, Tikal brought Chaos and a multitude of Chao with her and assisted Sonic and his friends in the defeat of the enraged Chao.

Later, Doctor Eggman appeared, so Tikal telepathically told the Chao to give Chaos the seven Chaos Emeralds to increase his strength in order to beat their enemy. After Dr. Eggman's defeat, she and the Chao spend some time with Sonic and his friends, but she later returns back to her time, telling Cheese that if he calls her name, she will return.

Sonic X (anime)

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Tikal, as seen in Sonic X.

Tikal mirrored her Sonic Adventure role in the anime series Sonic X. She first appears in episode #27, The Beginning of Disaster, narrating the first part of the show. However, the English dub cuts her out, and instead, she first appears in episode #28, Puzzle of the Liquid Life Form, Chaos (in the dub, it's known as A Chaotic Day).. Although Tikal is not of royalty, she is commonly referred to as "Princess Tikal", likely because she is the daughter of a chief, which is something similar to a king. Bella Hudson does Tikal's voice in the American version of Sonic X, while the Japanese version uses Kaori Asoh, her video game voice actress.

Tikal is first seen when Knuckles has a flashback of Tikal at the shrine, pleading with Pachacamac not to take the Chaos Emeralds. Later, when Knuckles goes back to Angel Island, Tikal transports him to the past and he sees that the shrine has been overcome by flames. After some time, Knuckles has another flashback of Tikal at the shrine with the Chao and beseeches Chaos to help them.

Later, when Knuckles acquires the last piece of the Master Emerald at the Egg Carrier, he has another flashback. There, the shrine is engulfed with fire and Tikal is on the ground. She talks to Knuckles and then runs up to the shrine. As Knuckles tries to follow her, he awakes. Afterwards, Sonic enters the temple in the Mystic Ruins and sees the mural of Perfect Chaos. He hears Tikal's chant and suddenly, Sonic is transported to the past. The shrine is on fire and he approaches Tikal, who is holding an injured chao. After Tikal determines to stop Chaos, Sonic is taken back to the present time.

Later on, when Knuckles and Sonic are looking for Chaos, they are taken to the past, where they see Tikal begging her father not to take the Chaos Emeralds. Dismissing her pleas, Pachacamac and his men then knock down Tikal and the Chao and approach the shrine. Chaos, enraged at their actions, uses the Chaos Emeralds to turn into Perfect Chaos and kills them. As he began to wreak havoc, Tikal runs to the Master Emerald and asks it to stop the Chaos Emeralds from powering Chaos.

When Perfect Chaos begins wreaking havoc in Station Square, Tikal appears and tells Sonic that Chaos must be sealed in the Master Emerald again. However, Sonic instead uses the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic. Tikal then understands that others could use the positive energies of the Chaos Emeralds as well, not just the negative ones. After Chaos is neutralized, Tikal says that the Chao are alright, and she and Chaos disappear.

In total, Tikal appeared in the following episodes:

• Episode 27, The Beginning of Disaster
• Episode 28, The Puzzle of the Liquid Life Form, Chaos (Dub: A Chaotic Day)
• Episode 29, Amy the Captive (Dub: A Robot Rebels)
• Episode 30, Egg Carrier Battle (Dub: Heads up, Tails!)
• Episode 31, Gamma the Wanderer (Dub: Revenge of the Robot)
• Episode 32, The Cry of Perfect Chaos (Dub: Flood Fight)

External links

• Official Sonic Adventure DX website
• Tikal's profile on Sonic Channel