Chaos Emeralds

The Chaos Emeralds (カオスエメラルド, Kaosu Emerarudo), also known as the gems of miracles, are objects in the Sonic series created by Yuji Naka. They are 7 ancient and mystical stones tied to the Master Emerald that possess powerful properties and abilities.

Those that hold the Chaos Emeralds can use their powers for a variety of things, such as achieving a super form, powering machines and warping time and space. Anyone who possesses all seven of the Chaos Emeralds can command near-unsurpassed power.

"The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power... Power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."
 * —Knuckles, to the Master Emerald.

Powers and traits
"You must understand. Our hearts intensify the power of the seven Chaos. The seven Chaos Emeralds take what is in our hearts and turn it into power."
 * —Tikal, on the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Described as a legendary stone that give its possessor the power to rule the world, each Chaos Emerald is said to possess mystical properties and contains unlimited amounts of highly potent and powerful chaos energy. Even alone, their power is unmatched by pretty much anything else in the universe, except by the Master Emerald. Each Chaos Emerald emits highly concentrated energy in the form of electromagnetic waves which can disrupt machinery.

The main power of each Chaos Emerald is described as being able to transform thoughts into power;/> by "sensing" people's thoughts, the Chaos Emeralds are able to generate the chaos energy they contain which make the Emeralds' an everlasting source of pure energy. As an offset of this power, the Chaos Emeralds can even bend reality to achieve certain feats, such as showing visions. Additionally, each Emerald can float in midair on its own power, and can orbit around the one who uses it.

The Chaos Emeralds' power can be harnessed with or without physical contact and over great distances. When harnessed by living beings, the user can perform different techniques, such as Chaos Control, and occasionally get their own abilities enhanced. Even just two Emeralds can provide a user with overwhelming power. Harnessing the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds will transform one into a Super Form, a form that grants flight, invulnerability, chaos energy-based powers and potentially infinite strength and speed. However, these transformations do not last long, as they consume tremendous amounts of energy. The Emeralds can also be harnessed to power and/or empower machinery, such as the Eclipse Cannon.

The type of chaos energy the Emeralds produce is based on thoughts/emotions. Positive thoughts, such as friendship and caring, generate positive energies that comforts who holds them and negative thoughts, such as anger and hatred, generate negative energies that further increases the user's rage. If the Chaos Emeralds are either absent of the negative energies (or possibly positive energies) or all of their energy, they will become inert and apparently powerless. The only known ways to restore the Emeralds from this state is through peoples' thoughts or the Planet Eggs.

Chaos Emeralds have a tendency to react to each other. Whenever Chaos Emeralds are brought together without being given time to adapt to each other's presence, they either fluctuate or will release immense quantities of energy. Also, all seven Chaos Emeralds being in one place results in them releasing energy, sometimes on such a level that they trigger Chaos Control, that pushes them away from each other, meaning that all seven Emeralds can only be used for one purpose together before they scatter again.

Artificial Emeralds

 * Main article: Fake Emeralds

Etymology

 * Emerald is the name of a specific gem of the beryl variety, a family known for its wide array of possibly colors. "Emerald" is also used in Japan as a generic term for jewels.
 * "Chaos" in the English language means disorder and an irregular, unpredictable action that was remarkably sensitive to regular changes in environment, similar to how the Chaos Emeralds in the series act. "Chaos" as used in Greek refers to a large emptiness, or space. "Space" in English came to be a general term meaning both everything outside of the Earth’s atmosphere and the placement of objects in relation to one another.