Topaz

Topaz (トパーズ Topāzu?) is a character from the anime series Sonic X and its comic series published by Archie Comics. She is a human working as an agent for the Guardian Units of the Nations and the partner to Rouge the Bat. Though at first, the regimental Topaz disapproves of the scheming Rouge and deemed her untrustworthy, but the two eventually become friends. Their main assignments involved striking at Dr. Eggman and retrieving the Chaos Emeralds, as well as serving as envoys between Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends and the government.

Appearance
Topaz is a human woman with peach-colored skin, a slim figure, blue eyes and sandy brown hair, often seen wearing earrings and lipstick. In regards to clothing, Topaz is notable for wearing different attire more often than most characters. Usually it is a smart blue or green government uniform or dark blue combat suit, but has been seen wearing a purple shirt with navy skirt and a more casual outfit consisting of blue pants, a light blue shirt and a black jacket. Her robot design was two shades of light blue and grey with a large mouth, helmet with a tinted visor, black belt, twin holsters with no guns and extendable arms resembling coils. When wearing her combat suit, she is normally armed with a Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun, used by many U.S. Special Forces and police SWAT teams in real life.

New World Saga
Topaz first encounters Rouge during an attempt to capture Sonic so he could work for the government to take down Dr. Eggman. Their bait had been the rumor of a Chaos Emerald in an old warehouse, but Rouge overheard this information and changed a road sign to send Sonic and the others away from the warehouse. Topaz's captain recognized Rouge for her jewel thefts and brought her to meet the President as a replacement for Sonic. Topaz accompanied them to the President's office and was continuously annoyed by Rouge calling her an old woman while playing the innocent little girl (in the Japanese version, she poked fun at Topaz's sexual preferences, accusing her of being into SNM as she was handcuffed). Under orders from her captain, she got some coffee for Rouge just as the President walked in, accidentally spilling some on her hand and dropping the cup on to the floor. After the President made a deal with Rouge saying she could keep her jewelry and not be arrested in return for her services, Topaz accompanied Rouge and an entire unit to Eggman's base to map it for the upcoming attack. On the plane ride there, Topaz placed a fake gold bracelet on Rouge's arm that was actually a bomb since she still couldn't be trusted, and was tempted to set it off when another argument ensued. They then parachuted down to the island and searched for an entrance to the base, but their captain could not find one through binoculars. Rouge then flew off to the base and the captain tried to detonate the bomb, but Topaz stopped him as Rouge found the entrance near the building's top and threw down some rope for them. For hours, they went through the base section by section under Rouge's guide while a digital map recording the environment. Near day break they still hadn't found their primary objective; The Engine Room. Rouge falsely told them she knew where it was to snatch the Chaos Emerald in Eggman's possession. The rest of the team pulled out and Topaz stayed behind with the digital map and detonator to accompany Rouge. They made their way to the Chaos Emerald and a guard robot grabbed Topaz and then used its speaker equipped with ultrasonic sound to deafen Rouge so she couldn't get near it, alerting Eggman to intruders in his headquarters. More guard robots quickly showed up and Rouge had to contend with them while thinking up a plan, and one of the robots blew a hole in the floor, exposing the Engine Room's location to Topaz. Finally, she broke off the bomb bracelet and threw it into the robot's speaker and Topaz detonated it. With the speaker destroyed, Rouge tore a hole in the robot, grabbed Topaz and then flew out of the base right passed Eggman himself just as the robot exploded, leaving Eggman to get burnt by the explosion. Topaz thanked Rouge for saving her, and the bat told her to lose some weight.[3]

In episodes 12 and 13, Topaz and Rouge attended a briefing on how the attack plan for Eggman's base would be carried out with the President and several officials, though Topaz was a little angry that Rouge was getting all the credit. The plan was to make a frontal assault on the base with one ship coming up behind filled with agents including Topaz and Rouge to infiltrate the facility and plant explosives in the Engine Room. The President ordered the attack to begin after spies revealed Sonic and his friends were on the search for a Chaos Emerald, meaning Dr. Eggman would be sure to leave his base to take the gem for himself. While the navy and air force hit the base, Topaz, Rouge and their unit went inside by blowing a hole in the base.[4] Their movements didn't go undetected, however, and guard robots quickly showed up to fend them off. First came a single giant robot that Rouge distracted so Topaz could plant a bomb on its foot that caused it to fall through the floor, then another robot of the same kind showed up and the group went off to the Engine Room leaving Rouge to her fight. This caused trouble as gunner robots appeared and the entire unit had to fall to the ground or be shot. Thanks to the timely arrival of Knuckles the Echidna, the robots were destroyed and Knuckles joined the group after learning their mission, though he initially thought they should leave since it was so dangerous. The time bomb was soon set, but Rouge had wandered off to the room above to see if the Chaos Emerald was still there and Topaz tried to talk her back down so they could haul off. Their presence was caught on camera and the only exit was locked down, sealing them in with the bombs which would detonate in minutes. The metal was too thick for either Rouge or Knuckles to hit through and Topaz soon collapsed, believing this to be the end of them. Knuckles and Rouge weren't giving up though and pounded away at the door and once the dents were deep enough, one punch from Knuckles made a hole in the door, and then Sonic made the hole bigger as he literally tore through the base with the power of two Chaos Emeralds after defeating Eggman in the E-18 Guerra-Hard. Rouge had saved him by pushing Knuckles out of the way when Sonic went by and was angry when she didn't receive thanks and started arguing with Knuckles and they didn't leave until Topaz yelled at them. The bomb went off and Topaz, Rouge, Knuckles and the other agents were all on the beach and lay flat on the ground during the explosion, escaping with their lives as Eggman's headquarters is obliterated.[5]

Chaos Emerald Saga
In episode 23, Topaz is sitting at a bench overlooking a jewelry shop with Rouge behind her hiding in a tree, scoping out the gemstones of display from afar. Topaz calls her a thief straight off the bat, and Rouge defends herself by saying she hasn't stolen anything yet, which reveals she does plan to. Topaz then makes a scene by yelling to everyone to watch out for the thief and Rouge hides up in the tree. After all is quiet, Rouge asks why she addresses her as a simple thief and didn't mention anything about her skill or looks, and Topaz replies a thief is a thief. Their attention is then attracted to outside the jewelry shop when a limo pulls and bodyguards line up on either side of its door. Out from the limo steps Nelson Thorndyke and from the store window the two spies see him purchase a Chaos Emerald and have it placed on a ring. The two of them then follow Thorndyke to the studio where his wife Lindsey is shooting a new movie and spy on him inside a ventilation duct, witnessing the effect of a new Chaos Emerald being brought together with another, confirming that the gem is what they thought it was. They then watch events unfold from the studio's upper landing as Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe come to steal the emerald and Rouge soon flies down and snatches the gem right out of Nelson Thorndyke's hands. While explaining why she wouldn't give it back, Eggman snatched it from her own hands and becomes entangled with him and Topaz jumps on to his Egg Mobile to lend her partner assistance, but Eggman puts the pedal to the metal and then stops so they fly off his transport and onto Mr. Stewart and the three fall into a tank filled with water. They got out fine and Rouge observed to Topaz that all the other groups had Chaos Emeralds, and when the last one was found, a miracle would occur.[6]

In episodes 25 and 26, the President wishes to use the effect of Chaos Control to send Dr. Eggman back to his world. Topaz objects to this, saying that they should consider the effects Chaos Control would have on the planet, considering not even Eggman had any way of controlling the phenomenon and that the energy could spread to a large area, thus they have to stop the Chaos Emeralds from being together before they get the data to induce Chaos Control. Topaz and a group of agents then searched for Eggman's base by tracking its signal and Rouge located it and the two were ordered to hold their position next to it, where they saw Chris Thorndyke and Knuckles enter the Egg Fort II and wondered what the two of them could possibly be doing there.[7] Since it seemed apparent Chaos Control was going to be caused so the world would be rid of Dr. Eggman, Topaz gave Rouge a parting gift in the form of some jewelry with the usual attitude she had towards Rouge, but was red around the cheeks after Rouge told her thank you for it. Later on they witnessed Sonic being beaten to a pulp by the E-99 Eggsterminator in their helicopter, but after Topaz asked the pilot if they could do anything, found out there was no way to get closer in the helicopter. Rouge then flew in by herself and rescued Chris who had stolen the six Chaos Emeralds from Eggman. He then fell from Rouge's arms and the emeralds plunged into the sea where Sonic was with the last Chaos Emerald and Chaos Control occurred and Topaz witnessed it all in the helicopter.[8]

Chaos Saga
In episode twenty-seven, six months after Chaos Control occurred, Topaz and Rouge attended a meeting with the President on a plane in regards to what happened after the Chaos Emeralds came together. After hearing the government's efforts to track Eggman, Rouge piped up that the bottom line was they had no idea where Eggman was, and pressed on despite Topaz's attempts.[9]

In episode thirty-two, Topaz and Rouge were in the President's office when the news reported in that Station Square had been flooded and then pictures of Perfect Chaos appeared and they both watched as the President ordered G.U.N. to attack it. Topaz could only look on with shock at the destruction Perfect Chaos had wrought on the city.[10]

Shadow Saga
In episode thirty-three after the Chaos crisis, Dr. Eggman had hacked into G.U.N.'s database and recovered the only remaining file on Project Shadow. Topaz and Rouge met with the President in his limo and were assigned to find out why Dr. Eggman had stolen the data. After they were left on the street to start their mission, Rouge suggested breaking into Eggman's base, but Topaz said while it was a good idea, it was a reckless one. So Rouge decided on different tactics; Going undercover and allying herself with Dr. Eggman, and for that they would need bait. For that they flew to Angel Island tracking the reading from the Master Emerald and Rouge stole it, but Knuckles was hot on her heels and made her drop the gemstone by dropping her to the ground. When Topaz ran to assist, her foot caught on a Chaos Emerald wedged into the ground. Topaz told Rouge of this, but she was determined to take the Master Emerald for herself, much to Topaz's annoyance.[11] The plan was successful and Rouge worked as a double-agent for Eggman after giving him the Chaos Emerald,[12] then in episode thirty-six, Topaz began monitoring Eggman's pyramid base.

After Eggman blew up half the moon using the Eclipse Cannon on the Space Colony ARK, Topaz saw Sonic and friends going into the base and reported it in. She was then ordered follow them and ended up captured by the Egg Golem and used as a hostage by Bokkun. Fortunately, Mr. Tanaka distracted Bokkun so Cream the Rabbit could steal the Egg Golem's remote and she used it to release Topaz, who was subsequently saved from falling by Mr. Tanaka. Sonic and friends were determined to go into space, but Amy Rose was concerned for Cream's safety, so Topaz offered to look after them, which garnered some respect from Tanaka.[13] In episode thirty-seven, Topaz went outside the base and made contact with Rouge in the Space Colony, thinking it best if Rouge stole the Chaos Emeralds and retreated once the data on Project Shadow had been retrieved, but Topaz was then cut off by Shadow the Hedgehog after he destroyed Rouge's communicator,[14] but contact was restored between the two when Rouge used a space ship's transmitter. The data Rouge gave her allowed G.U.N. to get a warrant for murder and high treason on a secret group within the Guardians that had been covering up Project Shadow. But Topaz thought the arrest a little in vain, as the Space Colony ARK was set to crash into the Earth and kill everyone on it. She watched it from the Earth's surface, and later saw both Sonic and Shadow try to stop in in their super forms while talking to Rouge.[15]

Egg Moon Saga
After the ARK was stopped and the Earth saved,[15] the New Year came and Topaz went on vacation on a tropical island. The first day she got up and lay on the beach early in the morning, waiting for the sun to rise. She talked with Rouge on the phone about her reluctance to come to the sunny paradise due to being a nighttime thief while waiting for the sun, and when it did emerge above the horizon, a solar eclipse took place because of the Egg Moon. Topaz quickly packed up, angry that her vacation had been ruined and called up Rouge to complain, though the bat was loving the fact that the entire planet was dark. Eggman himself approached the President saying the Egg Moon had a mechanical that could take up to a year to fix, and proposed that his new invention, the Sunshine Ball, be used to replace the Earth's sunlight using a satellite that absorbed rays from the sun and sent them to Reflection Towers which transmitted the light to the Sunshine Balls. When Topaz returned to the President's side, a Reflection Tower had been knocked out somehow, and a picture revealed the culprit to be Sonic. The President's secretary couldn't believe this as Sonic had always been their partner, and Rouge offered up that that might not be the case from Sonic's view. When Topaz asked her to explain, she elaborated that Sonic did what he want and sometimes what he wanted to do was foolish things, and the President thought it might be because of their alliance with Eggman.[16] With the increasing amount of Reflection Towers being destroyed by Sonic, G.U.N. was ordered to launch a full attack on the hedgehog to stop him, which included Rouge and Topaz, the former traveling using her wings and the latter flying in a helicopter. While going over a forest area, Rouge slumped a bit in the air. Topaz asked if she'd been awake too long, but Rouge said she had felt an electric wave and went to investigate and Topaz told the pilot to follow her. On the ground was a mechanical dome, which turned out to be a sphere with only the top half showing that not even Rouge could break into with her powerful legs. They then made their way to another Reflection Tower that was still functioning and had Sonic and his friends surrounded with Hot Shots. Sonic then explained to G.U.N. and his friends that the reason he destroyed the towers was that the Egg Moon couldn't block out the sun by staying in the one spot as Eggman claimed because the Earth was rotating and also traveled around the sun, meaning the Egg Moon being in the same spot wouldn't make a difference, and thus it was actually moving with the planet to keep it in darkness under Eggman's control. Topaz then reported this in to the President and she and her partner went back with Sonic and his friends to the Thorndyke estate, where Rouge reasoned that since she and Topaz couldn't destroy the emitter that controls the Egg Moon they found earlier, their only choice was to bust the receiver on the Egg Moon itself, so Rouge and Topaz flew up in a space shuttle accompanied by Knuckles and Mr. Tanaka while the others dealt with Eggman. In space, Topaz admired Tanaka's piloting skills and he told her he had always wanted to be an astronaut since his childhood. The two then admired the sight of the sun again, and Tanaka said they should go on a cruise to enjoy the sun back on Earth, which she agreed to.[17]

Emerl Saga
After Eggman was arrested for the Egg Moon incident,[18] he was promptly freed by his last robot henchman, Bokkun.[19] The President then called for the two spies, believing that they had a better understanding of Eggman than any of their other spies, even offering Rouge a huge sapphire as payment if they caught the Doctor, which Rouge took with excitement, and Topaz was practically rolling her eyes. The two then had ice cream outside a restaurant and saw Sonic running by them. When Rouge asked what he was up to, he said he was looking for four of his friends, and Rouge asked him to tell them where Eggman's base was when he found it. Sonic made good on his promise when he made Bokkun deliver a message that was simply "the sewer." Topaz and Rouge then went into the city's underground just in time to help Sonic fight the Egg Spider. Emerl then copied Rouge's Screw Kick move and used it to break down the gate sealing them in and destroy the Egg Spider, filling the sewer with smoke and forcing them to leave before they could arrest Eggman.[20]

In episode forty-five, the President called for Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic to enact his latest battle strategy, but ran into some troubles in getting the three to work for him. Sonic simply refused, Knuckles said he wouldn't participate in a fake fight and Rouge wouldn't work for anything less than expensive jewels. So the President quickly adapted his battle plan into a fighting tournament for a Chaos Emerald, and after Topaz, the President and Scarlet Garcia helped to inflame Knuckles's ego, he was ready to fight too, and Topaz whispered to Rouge that he was the same as always. Three days later the Chaos Emerald Competition began, and Topaz was set to fight Mr. Tanaka in the fifth round of the second line-up. Topaz got into a fighting stance and Tanaka came towards her and then pulled out a golden necklace with a large gem and gave it to her and she hugged him with joy. Tanaka apparently won the round by winning Topaz's heart.[21]

Homebound Saga
In episode forty-seven, Topaz was stationed on a ship called the Seahawk. One day, thick fog surrounded the Seahawk and Topaz desperately tried to contact headquarters, but an electrical disturbance was cutting them off. Then a huge object like a ship came towards them and the Seahawk disappeared and was cut off from all contact. It appeared as if the entire ship had mysteriously disappeared, when in reality Eggman in his Egg Giant-Makan had captured the ship and its entire crew, intent on using the ship's technology to investigate legends of a lost continent called Murasia hidden underground that led to the center of the Earth, were all the volcanoes in the world could be set off. When he fought Sonic and G.U.N. and the battle seemed lost, Eggman broadcast pictures of Topaz and the rest of the Seahawk's crew into the sky for Sonic and the GUN Fort to see. Sonic and friends held back, but G.U.N. kept attacking. Fortunately, Rouge managed to buy herself some time to save the crew and supplied Topaz and the crew with firearms to force Eggman to surrender. Unfortunately, Eggman quickly came up with a distraction by saying he saw a Chaos Emerald and slipped away when Rouge wasn't looking. After this happened, Topaz simply called Rouge an old fool.[22] Once they arrived on the island of Murasia, the crew of the GUN Fort scolded Topaz for doing as she pleased and getting in their way of stopping Eggman, to which Topaz just asked if that was all they cared about and ran off. Mr. Tanaka soon caught up with Topaz to comfort her and ended up smashing rocks with only his feet and hands (revealed in the English dub to be down to anger).[23] The last rock he broke revealed a metal box with a large diamond inside that they took for Dr. Atsumi to inspect. While Sonic and the others went down into the volcano on the continent, Topaz stayed behind with the rest of the elder humans to watch from a camera on the X-Tornado, and she shared a quiet chuckle with Tanaka at Rouge's efforts with Knuckles, which he brashly turned away. Then they all felt an earthquake, and Dr. Atsumi informed everyone the volcano would be erupting soon and that they had to get away before then. Once the crisis had been averted, they were all on their ship sailing away from the runs of the now lost Murasia, but not without proof that it existed. One such proof was a red gem Rouge stole, but it was quickly taken by Dr. Atsumi for more evidence, which Topaz couldn't help but smile at. She then joined some of the others in having a little cry at the apparent demise of Decoe and Bocoe, only to find out they survived thanks to Tails and Chuck Thorndyke and were going to join the fight against their old master, Eggman.[24]

Topaz's last appearance was in episode fifty, when Sonic and his friends were forced to return home, otherwise time would stop completely when their planets joined together.[24] One of G.U.N.'s generals found out that Eggman was building something and decided to attack Eggman and destroy him before the Doctor could do so to humanity. In order to make sure it was carried out, he had men secure the President and Topaz's last mission with Rouge was to free him. Topaz stationed herself on a building and maintained radio contact with Rouge, who sneaked in to where the President was being held and soon ran into Knuckles. The two of them quickly defeated the agents surrounding the President and then Topaz came in to check on the situation, smiling gratefully at Rouge for her efforts. Topaz later said farewell to Rouge, who gave her a broach as a goodbye gift. Topaz takes the gift and tears fill her eyes, then she openly weeps as Rouge goes through the portal to her own world. Mr. Tanaka then comes over and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Then Topaz witnesses the portal being shut down by Chris Thorndyke.[25]

Powers and abilities
Topaz appears to be trained in the use of military combat and various firearms. It also seems she is skilled at espionage and spying on others and is apparently physically fit judging by how she can jump fairly long distances with little effort.[36] She also appears to be trained to handle explosives.

Weapons
While on Black Ops missions, Topaz can often be seen carrying either a machine gun or automatic rifle with her.

Personality
Topaz is a loyal and determined soldier, though easily embarrassed and at times gives up too easily. Rouge often referred to her as an old woman, and Topaz later started striking her back by trying to expose her in public when she was casing a jewelry store to annoy her. She also finds Rouge's greed for jewelry to be tiresome.

Rouge the Bat
Topaz is at first intolerant of Rouge because of her jokes at calling her old, but admired her considerable skills as a thief due to their advantages on missions. Their squabbles and jokes at the others' expense led into a playful relationship of sorts and they even began hanging out together outside work. Their relationship seemed to have helped build Topaz's character as it went along.

Mr. Tanaka
Topaz seems to have romantic inclination towards Chris Thorndyke's butler, Mr. Tanaka, which seems to have started after he saved her from falling to her death when the Egg Golem dropped her.[13] A while after this, when they had put a stop to the Egg Moon incident, Tanaka offered that they go off on a cruise together, which Topaz agreed to.[17] During the Chaos Emerald Competition, Tanaka gave Topaz a necklace made of gold with a red gem. Topaz was overjoyed and hugged him, but apparently it cost her the fight as Tanaka won by winning her heart.[21] Their relationship even became talked about by Decoe and Bocoe while serving the Thorndykes, wondering if they would have a strong bond with their children after getting married.[37] Tanaka has continued to care for Topaz,[24] and was the first to comfort her when upset at Rouge having to go back to her own world.[25]

Trivia

 * Topaz's outfit is very similar to that of the character Virtua City's female protagonist Janet Marshall from Virtua Cop 2 and Virtua Cop 3 and Anne Lewis from Robocop: The Animated Series.
 * Topaz was the second human character to have a deep friendship with a Sonic character in Sonic X. The first being Chris Thorndyke.