User blog:ThatScrewyDuck/PG Proposal: Tikal

Hi there, and Happy New Year to all the faithful users who do their best to keep this wiki well-maintained! Speaking of which, I’ve been noticing that a lot of characters who are listed as Pure Good, but not officially approved as such, have either been getting proposals or removal proposals lately to sort out who actually meets the requirements and who doesn’t. It’s definitely a long, ongoing process, but it seems to be coming along nicely. Nonetheless, I certainly want to do my part to contribute to it if possible, so today, I present my first proposal of the new year/decade for a character that I definitely think is deserving of this highly-debated category.

What’s the work?
Well, this character has made a number of smaller, non-canon appearances and cameos in other installments of this franchise, but her biggest and most important role, by far, is in Sonic Adventure, so that’s what I’m going to describe here. And let’s face it; pretty much anyone with any familiarity with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise knows this one. Sonic Adventure is a game from 1998 for the Sega’s Dreamcast, and is the installment that, similarly to what Super Mario 64 did for Super Mario Bros. and Ocarina of Time for The Legend of Zelda, brought the series into the world of 3-D. It was also re-released in a slightly updated format for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003 under the title Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut.

The plot is very by-the-numbers, especially by today’s standards; Dr. Ivo Robotnik, AKA Eggman, is once again plotting to take over the world, and this time, he’s doing it with a bizarre, but very formidable creature named Chaos, whom he released from the Master Emerald by shattering it. His plan, as is often the case, involves the seven Chaos Emeralds, specifically, to track them down and feed them to this beast so he can evolve into his legendary, most powerful, and seemingly invincible form, after which he’ll have him destroy Station Square so he can build Robotnik Land on its ruins, a new, “ultimate” city from which he’ll rule everything. Naturally, Sonic and his best friend Miles “Tails” Prower won’t just stand by and let him get away with this, so they set off to try and find the emeralds before Eggman does.

However, in what was a first for the franchise at the time, but would be repeated several more times, while you can only play as Sonic at first, as you encounter his friends and other significant character throughout the campaign, you have the privilege of being able to play as them and view the story from their perspective as well. There are six playable character in total; Sonic, Tails, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma, and you have to play through every one of their stories to be able to view and play the final story/true ending of the game, another gimmick that was novel at the time, but would soon become standard/commonplace for the franchise. And that’s where the topic of this proposal comes in; while each of these characters has their own separate route and objectives, they are all assisted throughout the game by the spirit of this character, who was also freed when Eggman shattered the Master Emerald. But who is she, and how on Earth did her spirit end up trapped in there with this mysterious monster? Time for a little backstory…

Who is she and what does she do?
Tikal is a member of an ancient tribe of echidnas, the same race that Knuckles is a descendant of, that existed over 4000 years before the present time. She was the only daughter of Pachamac, the eventual chief and leader of the tribe. Due to her mother having already passed away and her father not exactly being the nurturing type, she was raised by her grandmother, who, in stark contrast to Pachamac, was a gentle and kind-hearted pacifist who passed down all her teachings to Tikal. Sadly, she passed away before too long, probably due to her age, after which Pachamac took over her position as chief of the tribe, and started leading it in violent conquests of other clans to expand its empire, believing it to be necessary for their survival and wellbeing. Tikal, however, remained faithful to her grandmother’s teachings, and repeatedly tried to act as a voice of reason to dissuade him from this path, since she knew it would only lead to bad things. While her pleas usually fell on deaf ears, she remained hopeful that her father would eventually come around to understand what she was telling him.

In the meantime, Tikal came across The Alter of the Emeralds, where she met both Chaos and a group of creatures named Chao that it was protecting. While the Chao were initially frightened by her, and she, in turn, was intimidated by Chao, she quickly earned their trust with her peaceful, nurturing personality, and she, in turn, quickly became close and comfortable with Chaos after seeing that it was a gentle creature devoted to protecting the Chao along with the Master Emerald, which was placed at the center of the alter and used to controlled the Chaos Emeralds, which were placed in a circular formation around it. Though she enjoyed spending time with them, sadly, it would not last. Before long, her ideological differences with her father came to a head when their tribe came into a conflict with another prominent clan called the Nocturnus Clan, at which point Pachamac declared his intention to raid the alter to claim the Master Emerald so they can use its power to defeat their enemies. Despite how much Tikal tried to talk him out of it, both for the sake of helping Chaos protect the Chao that lived there and saving their clan from descending into greed, violence and a bottomless lust for power, Pachamac still refused to listen.

This all culminated in one terrible night when Pachamac led the tribe’s warrior-like members in the raid of the alter he had been planning. Tikal stood in their way, refused to move and reiterated her grandmother’s beliefs about greed being their enemy and that once it started, they would always want more. However, Pachamac insisted on believing that as a 14-year old, she was just a naïve child who didn’t know what was truly necessary for the good of their people, and ordered his men to charge, leading to Tikal and the Chao all getting violently trampled. Unfortunately for them, seeing the ones it cared about treated so awfully and possibly killed sent Chaos into a blind and violent rage, which then led to it immediately absorbing the negative power of the emeralds, evolving into its “Perfect Chaos” form, and laying waste to Pachamac and the other tribe members. Once Tikal awoke from being knocked unconscious, she was horrified at the devastation of the tribe and the subsequent rampage it went on, and seeing no other choice, she recited the mantra her grandmother taught her to the Master Emerald to stop Chaos from going on to destroy the world, which resulted in both Chaos and her spirit being sealed inside of It indefinitely.

In the present time, after remaining stuck that way and trapped with Chaos for over 4000 more years, Eggman enacted his plot by shattering the Master Emerald to release Chaos while Knuckles, who was its current guardian, had lowered his guard. However, naturally, this released her too, at which point, she did everything she could in her spirit form to guide Sonic and his friends, primarily to stop Eggman’s plot since she knew full well that he was dealing with a powerful force he couldn’t possibly hope to control. Along the way, she also showed each of them a glimpse into the past that I described to help each of them understand the importance and severity of the situation at hand.

Sadly, however, despite all of her efforts, and even after Chaos was seemingly defeated and stopped from obtaining all the emeralds, he returned with a vengeance, rebelled against Eggman, swiftly took all the emeralds in one fell swoop, and proceeded to flood Station Square as Perfect Chaos, causing massive amounts of damage and casualties. It is at this point that she finally shows her true form to Sonic and gives him a more solid explanation of why Chaos is acting this way, that being that he’s still blinded with rage and sadness. She then declares that the only way to stop him at that point is to reseal him in the Master Emerald, which at that point, had been put back together by Knuckles. However, Sonic points out that ultimately, this won’t truly solve the problem since it won’t actually change how Chaos feels, and will just leave him trapped in a state of anger and emotional turmoil. Tikal acknowledges this point, but worries that there is simply no other way to stop him.

Just when a real solution seems hopeless, however, Tails, Knuckles and Amy bring Sonic the Chaos Emeralds, with Tails pointing out that Chaos only absorbed their negative energy, and that Sonic can probably tap into their real power. Surely enough, Sonic is able to do so, transforming into Super Sonic, and after engaging in an intense battle with Chaos, succeeds in neutralizing and finally snapping him out of its rage. Tikal, overjoyed at finally seeing Chaos back to his original gentle state, approaches him and shows him that the Chao he was protecting are alive, well and thriving to assure him that his attempts to protect them were not at all in vain. With Chaos finally truly at peace, Tikal sincerely thanks Sonic and his friends for all that they’ve done before extending her hand to Chaos and ascending with him to either the afterlife, or to go back to their own time where they belong.

Corrupting Factors
Nope. Tikal was a true, blood pacifist to the core who stood up for her late grandmother’s beliefs even when it was an unpopular opinion among the rest of her tribe, and while it put her at odds with her father, she never even developed any real resentment towards him, and simply kept trying to help him see reason all the way through to the night he went too far with his well-intentioned, but unhealthy and violent, aspirations of conquest. In the present tense of the game, while she’s also obviously determined to help Sonic and the others stop Eggman’s plot, she never so much as expresses a single negative or angry sentiment about him, let alone any real hatred or vitriol. She simply knows he’s in over his head trying to control Chaos, and is trying to stop the immense amount of destruction and casualties she knows will result from what he’s doing, whether he succeeds or not. And of course, with everyone else, she’s very friendly, helpful and encouraging throughout the game, as well as a possible mother figure to the Chao.

Tellingly, her single most negative trait was her hastiness in deciding that Chaos had to be sealed within the Master Emerald when he attained his perfect form again and was wreaking havoc in Station Square, even if it meant being trapped with his anger intact. However, even that was a sentiment with completely noble intentions behind it; first of all, Chaos had already nearly completely decimated the city and caused numerous unseen casualties, so she was simply trying to save everyone else, and by extension, the rest of the world, from his wrath. Second, she didn’t honestly think there was another possible and better way to stop Chaos, so naturally, while she still cared about him, she had to prioritize the safety of everyone else over potentially leaving him trapped with his emotional turmoil. And of course, when Sonic and his friends did come up with a better solution that actually calmed Chaos down, Tikal was more than happy to let it happen, then reunite and reconcile with him in the aftermath with no signs of resentment or hard feelings. So no, I don’t think that’s corrupting in the slightest.

Admirable Standard/Goodness Zone
Considering she’s only a supporting character in this one game, and by extension, Sonic X, which was an anime adaptation where she had the exact same role, I think she stands out quite a bit. For one thing, even some of the most peaceful and non-violent characters in the series like Tails and Cream the Rabbit use violence as an absolute necessity. Tikal, however, is a true pacifist who was willing to stand up for her beliefs even when it put her at odds with her father and the rest of the tribe, and act as a voice of reason for the sake of peace and harmony for everyone. And when Chaos decimated her tribe, she was willing to seal herself indefinitely in the emerald with him for the sake of stopping him from destroying the world.

So just based on her past actions, she probably already has enough going for her to qualify. She did save the world after all. However, even in the present tense of the game, she arguably goes beyond what the typical helper/ guide character does. After all, she doesn’t just help Sonic and Tails temporarily stop Eggman’s plot, she helps all the other playable characters in their own ways. In Knuckles case, she helps him track down the pieces of the Master Emerald to restore it. In Amy’s case, she helps her try to evade capture from Zero, Eggman’s robot that keeps relentlessly pursuing her, as well as, to a lesser extent, reunite the bird she found with its parents. In Big’s case, she helps him track down his pal Froggy, which makes her the only character apart from Sonic to really interact in a meaningful, not to mention compassionate way with him. Finally, and most tellingly, she helped and trusted E-102 Gamma, to the point of showing him a glimpse of her past, just like she did with all the others, In spite of him initially being one of Eggman’s robots. This showed that she believed in him, or at the very least, sympathized with his position of being obliged to follow Eggman’s orders, lest he be punished and/or scrapped like his fellow robots, even prior to his redemption/change of mechanical heart after meeting Amy.

Oh, and on one last minor note; while her other various cameos are largely not worth mentioning since she mostly just appears on playable cards, stickers, and billboards as opposed to in-person, she’s a playable character in non-story related extra modes in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Runners. While she’s put in situations where you can use her to battle other characters in forms of friendly competition, her pacifism is so pronounced that when you user her special attack to disrupt other players in Sonic Adventure 2, her automatic phrase is to apologize for doing so, for what that’s worth.

Final Verdict
Those who vote have the final say, but with all this taken into consideration, I think she’s one of the most deserving characters in the franchise to be officially approved/qualified.