Stitch

"Monstrosity? What you see before you is the first of a new species. I call it Experiment 626. He is fireproof, bulletproof, and can think faster than a supercomputer. He can see in the dark, and lift objects three thousand times his size. His only instinct... to destroy everything he touches!"

- Jumba Jookiba

Stitch, A.K.A. Experiment 626, is the male protagonist of the 2002 Disney animated feature film, Lilo & Stitch and its franchise. He is an illegal genetic experiment created by Jumba Jookiba. Stitch was designed to be mischievous, and his primary function was originally to destroy everything he touches. His one true place is with Lilo and her ʻohana.

Development
Chris Sanders first created the character of Stitch in 1985 for a planned children's book that never came to be.

Years later in 1997, when production on Mulan was currently wrapping up, he had the opportunity to pitch a film version of his planned story, beginning the development of the film.

In early drafts, Stitch would have landed in Kansas (the setting was changed to Hawaii as a result of the greater isolation from large cities the islands would provide, as well as the islands being some of Chris Sanders' favorite places) and the character himself was an intergalactic gangster rather than a recently created genetic monster. In these early drafts, his gang (including ex-gang member Jumba) would be the ones hired by the Galactic Federation to hunt him down.

Personality
"626 was designed to be a monster, but now he has nothing to destroy. You see, I never gave him a greater purpose. What must it be like to have nothing, not even memories to look back on in the middle of the night?"

- Jumba giving an example on the instinct of Stitch

Throughout the course of the entire Lilo &amp; Stitch franchise, Stitch is depicted as a character that is unlikable to many people except Lilo (on rare occasions, even she falls out with him, most notably in Lilo & Stitch 2, where she cries out at him that he is "bad and always will be bad!" after he has an uncontrollable glitch attack), due to his destructive and temperamental behavior. It is interesting to note that people who are averse to Stitch (such as Mertle Edmonds, Gantu, and Dr. Hämsterviel) describe him as "ugly and deformed", while those who do love him (like Lilo, Nani, and Jumba) describe him as "cute and fluffy". This reflects the basic idea behind Stitch and also his cousins: they do not correspond to many established criteria of good physical appearance, having an extra pair of arms, misshapen heads or other odd features.

When Stitch is in his "evil" form (which is his true alien form), he is undeniably worrying as his somewhat botched physique underlines his at the time twisted behavior; in his "good" form, however (the "dog" form that is trademarked and the form that the audience most often sees), Stitch's display of emotion at being rejected for his misbehavior and looks while trying to act good for Lilo are meant to make him seem more adorable to the audience. Despite his surface destructiveness, which does not go away completely even after he has become "good", Stitch is a complex character. According to his creator Jumba, Stitch is a destructive machine who was not given a greater purpose in life. Since Stitch is trapped on an island in Hawaii, where there are relatively few things to destroy, he has many occasions to reflect on occupations other than evil. It is implied that Stitch destroys only because that is what he was programmed to do; but since he has a personality of his own (a fact that only Lilo and Jumba truly understand), he also has the choice, and even the will, not to do so.

Despite having superhuman strength and a high level of computer intelligence, Stitch is emotionally fragile and has a childlike personality beneath his monsteresque exterior. Lilo believes that one reason why he originally pursued his destructiveness was for reasons similar to her own naughtiness—that it was because he was emotionally scarred (for having been made a monster by Jumba), but received little or no understanding or sympathy from others. Stitch becomes much more well-meaning after his betterment but is frequently unable to control all of his impulses to anti-social actions. Fortunately for him, Lilo (and later Reuben and Angel) is always there to support him and he returns her support willingly.

There is a common misconception from viewers that Lilo is dependent on Stitch for protection and support; if anything, it is Stitch who is more dependent on Lilo. Despite her having her own troubles to contend with, Lilo makes every effort to help Stitch in life and, as the story progresses, he becomes more self-conscious and capable of making the right decisions thanks to his friend. At the end of the series, Stitch has friends, family, loved ones and a purpose worth believing in.

Stitch is still prone to having temper tantrums when things do not go as well as he hopes. He also gets easily angered by inanimate objects, especially the toaster. The toaster has popped toast in his face once, and since then, he has beaten up the toaster and juiced it at least twice.

Despite his temper tantrums, Stitch can sometimes have a little common sense and be more mature than Lilo; he occasionally sees when she goes too far in using the other experiments for her own personal gain. Such examples were seen in her schemes involving Sprout, Checkers, Morpholomew, and PJ.

Physical appearance
Designed by his voice actor Chris Sanders, Stitch is a blue alien genetic creation standing around three feet tall. He strongly resembles a koala or a and is referred to as a dog throughout much of the franchise, as the humans (except Lilo, Nani, Cobra, and David) are completely oblivious to the fact he is an alien. He has sharp teeth within his mouth, along with a long pink tongue. A short, stumpy tail cuts out from his rear. He has a limited ability to change his physical appearance, as he can retract his second set of arms, his claws, his antennae, and the three spines on his back into his body.

When Stitch was created by Jumba and during his time as a criminal, he donned a red spacesuit with an upside-down triangle consisting of a red border and yellow center on his chest, and each of his sleeves and patches consisting of a dark red border and orange center on each of his legs, black belt with a dark red square buckle, both black collar, cuffs, and anklets. The suit survived when he crash landed on Earth in Hawaii, but it was destroyed when he was run over by a convoy of trucks.

When Stitch was captain of the B.R.B. 9000, he donned a black spacesuit similar to Gantu's, as it consisted of a black shirt with thick red brims on his shoulders and, unlike Gantu's tank shirt, long sleeves with red brims that stretch across his arms, along with matching vertical linings on both sides of the shirt and matching trousers. He also wore a gray belt with a light gray "V" on the front, along with a small gray mark on the upper left chest that resembles a tear drop with a black dot on it. The suit was destroyed during his fight with Leroy.

Powers and abilities
While explaining his creation to the Galactic Council early on in Lilo & Stitch, Dr. Jumba gives the following rundown of Stitch's powers: "He is bulletproof, fireproof, shockproof, and can think faster than [a] supercomputer. He can see in the dark and can move objects 3,000 times his size. His only instinct: to destroy everything he touches!"
 * Feral Mind (temporarily): In the original Lilo & Stitch movie, Jumba claimed that Stitch's "destructive tendency was taking effect" and that he would be irresistibly drawn to large cities to "back up sewers, reverse street signs and steal everybody's left shoe."
 * Dense Body Tissue: Although we rarely see Stitch shot at with a bullet, he does survive the crash of his spaceship with only a scratch, is only briefly stunned by a fall of several thousand feet, and has to be run over by three tractor trailers in succession to be knocked out.
 * Fireproof Skin: He drives a tanker truck of gasoline into a volcano and ends up only a little singed from the explosion.
 * Bulletproof Skin: Weapons fired from plasma guns seem to cause him discomfort, although he can hold it in his hands long enough to throw the plasma back at his enemies.
 * Shockproof: He also has some resistance to electricity; he was able to take an electrical attack from Sparky and he quickly recovered from it. However, he can still feel pain from such shocking, despite his immunity to electricity.
 * Hypercognition: Thinking faster than a supercomputer is harder to quantify, but he does escape from captivity fairly ingeniously; builds a model of San Francisco after only glancing at a post card; grabs a crossword puzzle from the table and finishes it in about seven seconds; builds a bomb out of a plasma bolt, a doll and a roller skate; builds a "bucking bronco" out of a toaster, a vacuum cleaner, and a lamp; reads aloud a description of a local museum's display he is able to understand at a remarkable speed; uses a human being as a shield from Jumba near Pleakley's presence; and generally picks up quickly on what is happening around him.
 * Lingual Intuition: Stitch can converse fluently in over 20 different languages, but prefers Tantalog (his native language).
 * Cooking Intuition: He can cook 372 recipes, but prefers Chinese food best of all.
 * Parallel Computing: He is an information repository, with a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and experiment catalog, and records every moment of his life in a reserved portion of his brain that can theoretically store up to 300 PB.
 * Guitar Player: He is also fluent in playing the guitar.
 * Vehicle Intuition: Also driving any sort of vehicle, which can be as simple as riding a tricycle or as complex as piloting intergalactic spaceships.
 * Enhanced Strength: His ability to lift objects 3,000 times his own size and weight is seen several times throughout the franchise, including incidents where he picks up a descending blast door, hits Dr. Jumba with a thrown (shouting gleefully, "Blue punch buggy! No punch back!"), and stops an 18-wheeled tanker of gasoline dead in its tracks. The reason why Stitch can lift 3,000 times his own weight, even though he has small arms, is because his muscles contain excessively compressed amounts of  in one muscle cell. This muscular arrangement makes Stitch's muscles contract 1,000 times faster than a human's muscle can and makes them much much more powerful. The ability is sometimes joked about in the later series; for example, in Stitch! The Movie, when Hämsterviel physically restrained Stitch for a cloning experiment and countered his strength with restraint devices that were equal in strength themselves, as Hämsterviel loudly declared, to "three thousand and one!" times Stitch's own weight. This was further accompanied in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Swirly", when Gantu correctly guessed that Stitch cannot lift even an ounce more than 3,000 times his size and weight by adding a small ticket to the load.
 * Wall Crawling: Pads on Stitch's hands and feet can secrete a sticky substance, allowing him to adhere to almost any surface and scale buildings and walls.
 * Spherical Form: His skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to put his feet into his mouth and become a rolling ball and also to allow him to squeeze through tight spaces.
 * Enhanced Speed: Stitch was shown at super speed while carrying Jumba, during a bet made with Lilo to catch Experiments 501 (Yin) and 502 (Yang), and Lilo, while hurrying from Gantu's ship back to the fundraiser. His speed is also usually used when he's in his spherical form.
 * Enhanced Jump: Stitch's legs are small but powerful enough to enable him to jump several feet into the air.
 * Electromagnetic Vision: His eyes can pick up various forms of light and he can filter out one or the other if necessary. Stitch can see in normal vision; during this mode, his eyes appear black in color. Furthermore, he can also magnify his vision.
 * Night Vision: Eyes appear green.
 * Infrared Vision: Eyes appear red.
 * X-Ray Vision: Eyes appear bright green.
 * Audio Amplifier: He also can act as an audio amplifier, radio, and/or microphone, illustrated when he uses his claw as the needle on a record player, and the music comes out of his open mouth.
 * Enhanced Hearing & Smell: He has an acute sense of smell and hearing. Concept designs detailing Stitch's anatomy describe the sensory filaments of his nose being so dense and extensive that if unraveled, they could blanket the Earth.
 * Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combat: He is also dexterously skilled in hand-to-hand combat, using all four arms or just two.
 * Venomous Spines: In anatomy drawings of Stitch from the film's production, his spines are described as being poisonous and connected to venom sacs in his spinal chord.
 * Alien Form: In his alien form, he has three spines on his back, two antennae on his head, and can grow two extra pairs of arms.
 * Dog Form: Stitch can hide his spines, antennae and extra pair of two arms in his body, taking the form of an ordinary Earth dog; he used this to become Lilo's dog.
 * Semi-Immortality: Stitch cannot age; when Skip flashed ten years ahead, he did not age whatsoever, but for some reason, Babyfier's powder reversed him into an infant, meaning he is immune to aging older.
 * Vacuum Adaptation: Along with the rest of his "cousins", Stitch can survive in the vacuum of space due to being a genetic alien.

Weaknesses

 * Water: Stitch's greatest weakness is his inability to float or swim due to his dense molecular structure, which causes him to sink like a stone in water. Stitch originally had an instinctive (which was even used against him by Spooky), but was able to overcome it because of Lilo's influence over him.
 * Memory Erase: It is also shown that if Stitch consumes two different elements that form to create a particular chemical compound, all of his physical training will be wiped. It will result from eating a left shoe and macadamia nuts.
 * Snootonium Drain: As Stitch is also 62% Snootonium, if this Snootonium is drained from his body, he will become temporarily exhausted from dehydration, evidenced when Snooty siphoned Stitch's Snootonium.
 * Sonic Blasts: Another weakness is the fact that his super-sensitive hearing can lead to temporary deafness when exposed to sonic blasts, such as Yaarp's destructive sound blast.
 * Strength Limit: As stated above, he cannot lift even an ounce larger than 3,000 times his size and weight.
 * Trash Ingestion: If Stitch consumes vasts amounts of trash, he will become incredibly sick. Stitch first gets sick to his stomach and sneezes as his fur turns yellow and develops an orange tongue and red nose. Another symptom is that after each sneeze, an arm grows from different parts of his body. Jumba theorized Stitch's garbage-eating illness as a rare space disease. Stitch was cured when he drank a barrel of orange juice and took medicine from an eyedropper, though it was only for a few seconds. When he sneezed again, he developed yellow stripes and grew legs instead. The only permanent cure is inhaling steam from a vaporizer.

Lilo & Stitch
As revealed in Lilo & Stitch, Stitch was created by "evil genius" Dr. Jumba Jookiba, who called him "Experiment 626." Both Jumba and 626 were captured and put on trial by the United Galactic federation.

626 is then sentenced by the Grand Councilwoman to life imprisonment on a maximum security asteroid and Captain Gantu (who despises him to no end) escorts him. Stitch escapes and crash-lands on Earth in Kaua'i, Hawaii. That night, he gets run over by three trucks and falls unconscious. When 626 wakes up, he finds himself in a kennel without his suit or his plasma cannons.

Disguising himself as a dog to hide from his captors, 626 is adopted by a little girl named Lilo, who names him "Stitch." Meanwhile, Jumba and his supervisor, Pleakley, travel to Earth to arrest the fugitive.

Following his adoption, Stitch continues to use Lilo as a mere shield against Jumba and Pleakley, with his efforts proving to be a success, as the bounty hunters have strict orders to both remain hidden and prevent harm against humans in their attempts. However, Stitch's disruptive programming begins to take effect, and as such, trouble is caused for Lilo and her older sister, Nani, who is currently at struggle to keep custody of Lilo, as the latter is in danger of being taken away by Child Protective Services, on account of Nani's apparent disability to raise her. This causes tension between Nani and Stitch, who wishes to rid her family of the newfound pet, but because of Lilo's persistence, Stitch remains with them.

Over the course of time, with nothing to destroy, Stitch finds himself questioning his purpose in life, coming to realize he has nothing if he cannot wreak havoc and destroy because he was only created to be a monster. After going through Lilo's collection of books, Stitch finds the story of The Ugly Duckling and is immediately taken by the tale of a lost individual who finds where he belongs through his family. This drives Stitch to make attempts at joining Lilo and Nani's family, but because of constant mishaps in trying to be good, as well as interference with Jumba and Pleakley, this proves to be a futile effort. Eventually, Stitch's mayhem leads to Nani losing custody over Lilo and, heartbroken by his destruction of the family he cares for and realizing everything is his fault, Stitch leaves Lilo, believing she has a better chance at happiness without him, and to find a family of his own.

The following morning, Jumba attacks once more, prompting Stitch to return to Lilo in hopes of shielding himself once again. However, Jumba explains he and Pleakley were fired, thus invalidating all previous rules, and causing Stitch to remove Lilo from harm's way. A battle follows, and Lilo's home is destroyed in the chaos. Stitch and Lilo reunite shortly afterward, but having enough of the trouble he's caused, Lilo denies Stitch's apologies and tries to send him off. Just then, Gantu arrives and captures both Stitch and Lilo, and though Stitch escapes, Lilo is taken prisoner aboard Gantu's ship. In order to save her, Stitch allies himself with Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley. He then steals a tanker truck, and a battle in the sky ensues to save Lilo. Gantu attempts to destroy Stitch during the confrontation, and though he nearly succeeds, Stitch gains the upper hand and manages to both save Lilo and destroy Gantu's ship. They then run into David, who gives them a ride back to shore.

When they arrive back on the island, the Grand Councilwoman arrives and arrests Stitch. Stitch asks permission to bid farewell to Lilo and Nani before he departs, which the Grand Councilwoman accepts, surprised by Stitch's gentle and loving nature towards, what he calls, his family. Realizing he's had a change of heart, the Grand Councilwoman openly shows despair over Stitch's arrest, telling Pleakley she has no choice but to apprehend him, as the council has made the firm decision to do so, and it is outside of her power to overrule such a decision. Fortunately, Lilo still has the legal documentation proving Stitch was purchased at the shelter, meaning he belongs to her, and taking him away would be illegal. With aliens being all about rules, the Grand Councilwoman allows Stitch to remain on Earth, sentenced in "exile."

During the finale, Stitch is shown to have adjusted well to life on Earth, spending most of his days spending time with Lilo, Nani, David, Jumba, and Pleakley, and finally finding his place in the world, as a member of their ʻ.

Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (set shortly after the first movie), Stitch is now living, along with the also-exiled Jumba and Pleakley, in Lilo and Nani's house.

Although still hot-tempered and mischievous, he is reasonably well-behaved, but then begins to malfunction unintentionally. Since his molecules were not fully charged after his creation, Stitch frequently experiences periodic glitches that have him revert to his original destructive programming; basically suffering from a seizure disorder and having nightmares of destroying everything and everyone in his path, including Lilo. Seeing this, Jumba strives to create a proper fusion chamber in which to recharge Stitch.

Stitch wants to prove to Lilo that he can still be good, so he goes around doing good deeds for the citizens of the town to prove himself. When his goodness chart is finished, he goes to show it to Lilo, but she is too busy preparing for the contest. She ignores Stitch and tells him to get lost, deeply hurting him.

Before Lilo goes on to perform her hula dance, Stitch accidentally scratches her face and hurts her, just like in his nightmare. Believing himself to be too dangerous, Stitch attempts to leave Earth for a remote planet while Lilo, Jumba, and the others desperately try to have him return so they can recharge him. When Stitch crash-lands the ship on a mountain, Lilo manages to get him into the fusion chamber, but she pulls the switch too late. As Stitch dies, he says his last words: "Stitch sorry." Jumba says that they're too late and there's nothing Lilo can do. But Stitch seems to be revived with his molecules fully charged by Lilo's love. She tells Stitch that he needed her more than she needed him because he's Lilo's ohana and she'll always love him, in accordance with her belief that love is more powerful than death. With these words, it turns out that Stitch was put into the fusion chamber just in time after all.

Stitch! The Movie
At the start of ''Stitch! The Movie'', Stitch is shown having a difficult time connecting with the island locals during a beach party, feeling he doesn't fit in and is too much of an outcast. Though Lilo tries to comfort him, he seeks Jumba in hopes of learning of others like he and the evil scientist. However, Jumba explains that, in the vast universe, he and Stitch are alone and lack, what Lilo calls, "cousins".

Later on, Stitch discovers Jumba's first 625 genetic experiments locked in a crate, in the form of dehydrated pods. In order to rescue a kidnapped Jumba, a trade between Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel and Jumba for the experiments is organized, but it instead results in the freedom of the experiments and the capture of Lilo and Stitch. Hämsterviel then tries to clone Stitch, but he was rescued by Experiment 221 ("Sparky"). Stitch then rescued Lilo and landed Hämsterviel's spacecraft back in Kaua'i, where the Grand Councilwoman waited to arrest the evil rodent. She then puts Stitch and Lilo in charge of capturing and taming the other illegal genetic experiments scattered on the island.

Lilo & Stitch: The Series
In Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Stitch and Lilo have to capture Jumba's experiments, turn them from bad to good, and find them each a home before Gantu, 625 and Hämsterviel capture them and use them for evil. Along the way, Stitch meets his match Experiment 627 (who is tougher than him), and he eventually defeats him.

He is also affected by 14 experiment powers: Amnesio wipes out his memory; Babyfier turns him into a baby; Spike makes him goofy; Bugby turns him into an insect; Spooky turns into water and nearly drowns him; Lax makes him lazy; Dupe duplicates him into four, weakening his strength; Frenchfry serves him non-nutritious meals (along with Lilo and Pleakley) and fattens him up into a giant bowling ball; Swapper switches Stitch and Lilo's minds; Yaarp blasts his loud megaphone, deafening Stitch; Snooty sucks out his Snootonium, putting him out of commission; Swirly hypnotizes him; Drowsy (in the episode "PJ") puts him to sleep; and Houdini makes him invisible. He also meets Experiment 624 (Angel), who is introduced as a love interest for Stitch.

Over the course of the series, he and Lilo have also had adventures with Kim Possible, Jake Long, Penny Proud and the Recess gang.

Leroy & Stitch
After Stitch, Lilo, Jumba and Pleakley have successfully captured and redeemed all the remaining experiments (except 625) the Grand Councilwoman offers Stitch the chance to become the new captain of the Galactic Armada and its new flagship, the BRB (Big Red Battleship) 9000. However, that would require Stitch to be separated from Lilo. Not wanting to make Lilo sad, he chooses to return to Kaua'i. However, Lilo tells him he should go. Before he leaves with Jumba and Pleakley, Lilo gives him a necklace with a tiki of the god Ku Tiki to give him strength. She also gives Pleakley an Earth rock and Jumba an Elvis record.

When Gantu breaks Dr. Hämsterviel out of prison in an action of frustration, Stitch is sent on his first mission as captain to capture the evil rodent once more. But when he arrives at Galactic Defense Industries, Stitch faces off against a new experiment – Leroy, who is an enhanced red doppelganger of Stitch. After Leroy is named, Stitch bursts into the lab and starts to fight against Leroy. Stitch fights well and is about to beat Leroy when Pleakley shows up unexpectedly, allowing Leroy to take advantage of Stitch's lapse in concentration and beat him. He is knocked into a capsule and sent with Jumba and Pleakley heading towards a black hole, while Leroy disguises himself as Stitch. After they are sent towards the black hole, Leroy heads off towards Earth to capture all of the other experiments for Hämsterviel. Later, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley escape from the black hole and arrive on the planet Turo. There, they rescue Lilo, 625 (now known as "Reuben") and Gantu, and then fly Pleakley's car pool van back to Earth to assist the other 624 experiments in the defeat of an army of Leroys. Now, with Leroy defeated, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley return to Earth with Lilo, realizing that family is more important than spaceships, laboratories, and prestige.

Stitch!
In this anime spin-off, which starts years after Leroy & Stitch, Stitch is being chased in a spaceship by authorities and Jumba before he crash-lands on Earth on Izayoi Island, off the coast of Okinawa. Soon joined by Jumba and Pleakley, they make a new life with a young girl named Yuna, and Stitch seeks the mythical powers of the Spiritual Stone, a sacred island object that can grant any wish, which is, in Stitch's case, wanting power. But the powerful wish only works by doing and getting 43 good deeds and Stitch now faces the return of Hämsterviel and a once-again disgraced Captain Gantu along with various experiment threats, all while juggling, getting, and losing (due to his own mischief) good deeds. After spending time with Yuna, Stitch finally gave up his vow to be the most powerful of the universe to stay with her.

Lilo originally never appeared or was mentioned in the anime, but many would still question her absence. In the English dub, it completely changed the story by implying that Stitch ran away out of jealousy of Lilo having a boyfriend, as mentioned by Jumba, "Just because little girl, has new boyfriend now and is all washed up by 626 is no reason to act bad," which leaves us to believe that this takes place years after the events of Leroy & Stitch. Despite this, when Yuna once confronted Stitch, telling him that his previous family forgot about him. Offended, Stitch quickly states, "Lilo didn't forget!" which implies that he still deeply cares about her, and is certain that Lilo still feels the same way about him. It wasn't until Episode 23 of sequel series ''Stitch! ~Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi~'' that Lilo makes her appearance for the first time.

She, now fully grown, visits Okinawa New Town with her daughter (whom Stitch thought was Lilo in the beginning). Both friends reunite, and we learn that there was never any boyfriend. Lilo had gone to college, and they planned to meet by the beach when she returned, but when that day came, Nani was in labor and caused Lilo to be a little late. Stitch, for unknown reasons, was never aware of Nani's condition, and since Lilo didn't arrive at the time they planned, he thought Lilo had forgotten about him. He leaves his tiki necklace on the beach before flying away in his ship, and by the time Lilo arrives he had already left, and cries when she find his necklace. In the end, before Lilo and her daughter could board the plane, Stitch arrives in time to see her again. They both have a happy reunion, she hugs him, promises to visit him again, and asks Stitch to take good care of his new family. She gives Stitch his tiki necklace back before leaving.

Stitch & Ai
In this Chinese spin-off series, set chronologically after the events of Leroy & Stitch, Stitch was kidnapped by space pirates who had failed in their own attempts at re-creating Jumba's Experiment 626 research. When the space pirates ship is raided by a rival gang, Stitch uses the confusion to escape and falls back to Earth. After surviving re-entry, he ends up landing in the Huangshan Mountains in China and befriends a young girl named Wang Ai Ling. Even Jumba and Pleakley join in the fun! But when the sinister space pirates return, and ancient ruins uncover a dark truth about Stitch, their new ʻohana must join together to save China!

Other appearances
In Treasure Planet, Stitch made a brief cameo as a stuffed toy on a shelf in Jim Hawkins' bedroom when he was a child.

Stitch appears in the Virtual Magic Carpet Ride game included on Disc 2 of the 2004 Aladdin Platinum Edition DVD, riding in his spaceship while passing by Aladdin and the Magic Carpet briefly three times.

In The Lion King 1½, a silhouette of Stitch is seen at the end of the film crawling on the wall inside the dark theater. He bounces off Goofy, Rabbit, Mad Hatter, and Donald as he makes his way to his seat. Donald is heard quacking angrily as Stitch laughs at him.

In Brother Bear, Stitch makes a surprise cameo in the outtakes.

In Big Hero 6, Stitch is referenced twice: the first as a costume worn by Mochi in a painting, and the second as one of the pillows on Fred's bed.

Stitch, alongside Angel and Scrump, appear in the fourth UniBEARsity story OhanaBEARsity. In it, Stitch reads the UniBEARsity storybook and comes up with the idea of making their own teddy bears. His teddy bear, named Blue, is based on his likeness.

Stitch appears as one of the residents of Oh My Disney in Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Kingdom Keepers
Stitch appears in the third and fifth book in the saga. In Disney in Shadow, he is an Overtaker and along with some of the pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean, pursues Finn and Maybeck through Tom Sawyer Island. In Shell Game, he seems to have freed of the Overtakers, for he saves Finn from the rescue dummies at Typhoon Lagoon. This makes Finn get to the conclusion that Stitch was under a spell from the Evil Queen.

Kingdom Hearts series
Stitch is a minor and later major character in the Kingdom Hearts series. He first appears in Kingdom Hearts II, and is one of two summons during the game that makes a difference to the storyline (besides Genie). His first appearance was when he was seen crawling above Sora, Donald, and Goofy without their notice while the trio were in the corridors to Ansem's study. Later, he was noticed by Goofy and dropped down onto the keyboard of Ansem's computer in front of the surprised trio. A furious Donald jumps onto the keyboard to grab him, but Stitch jumps and bounces off of him, and laughs with a taunt. As Donald turned around, he mashes the keys, causing the Master Control Program to be alerted. Later, Stitch helps fight in the Battle of the 1000 Heartless in the Great Maw using his blasters.

The prequel game, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, details the history of Stitch 10 years prior to events of the first game. Stitch appears in his true form and is known as Experiment 626, and his story had occurred in his homeworld Deep Space, which mirrors his escape from the Galactic Federation in his film. At first appearing in custody, he is released by Terra and Dr. Jumba, where he briefly steals the Keyblade wielder's Wayfinder. Curious about the item's emotional value to Terra, 626 returns it to Terra and scurries off. By the time Aqua arrives, 626 constructs his own Wayfinder. Aqua goes to apprehend him, only to meet opposition from Gantu, who proceeds to destroy them. The two defeat the captain, and afterward, Aqua asks the Grand Councilwoman for Experiment 626's sentence to be reconsidered due to 626's display of sentience through his charm. However, when an Unversed attacks the ship, 626 escapes and follows Ventus. Unfortunately, while waiting for him, 626's charm is destroyed by Gantu, who still considers 626 a monster. Angered, the alien nearly attacks Ventus, but then helps him when Gantu arrives and tries to arrest them. 626 escapes with Ventus on a police cruiser and Keyblade ride, respectively, but activates the cruiser's hyperdrive in order to escape his pursuers, and leaves Ventus by accident. Afterward, it is seen that Stitch had managed to fix his charm and puts it on the steering wheel as he flies his ship towards a blue star.

In Kingdom Hearts χ/Kingdom Hearts Union χ Stitch serves as inspiration for an unlockable costume for the game's avatars and as combat medals.

Stitch returns in Kingdom Hearts III as a Link to aid Sora in battle.

Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
Stitch appears as a meet-and-greet character in front of Red Rockett's Pizza Port in Tomorrowland. He gives several tasks to the player, including fetching some burgers for him to eat, cheering him up by donning a hula costume and dancing with him while wearing it, finding him some flower leis and taking a few photos throughout the park so that he can show them to Jumba.

Disney INFINITY
In the first game, Stitch only appears as part of a surfboard gadget and laser Power Disc. During a poll posted by Disney after the first game was released, Stitch became the most requested character for the sequel.

In Disney INFINITY: 2.0, Stitch takes part as a playable character; however, he can only be played in the Toy Box.

Other games
Stitch serves as the protagonist of Stitch Jam, where he travels through various locations on a mission to rescue Angel from Hämsterviel and Gantu.

While Stitch himself does not appear in Disney Universe, a costume of him (in his "pet form") does.

Stitch makes an appearance in Just Dance: Disney Party, where he is seen dancing the hula with Lilo during "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride".

Disney Parks
Stitch quickly became a staple character in the Disney theme parks due to his popularity. He is usually seen with Lilo or by himself. In the Disney Parks franchises, he sometimes accompanies Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, replacing Daisy at times.

Stitch is also a meetable character at PCH Grill located in Paradise Pier Hotel. He only appears during the Mickey and Friends character breakfast with Lilo and lots of other characters.

He is always seen in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, Arabian Coast at Tokyo DisneySea, and sometimes seen at Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disneyland Paris, and Walt Disney Studios Park for meet-and-greet sessions.

Disneyland
In Mickey and the Magical Map, Stitch can be seen towards the end, when Mickey chases the ink spot into the Hawaiian painting. Stitch is seen on the screen, before ducking down and coming onstage from the side of the screen. He dances with a group of cast members to the song of "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride".

In World of Color at Disney California Adventure, Stitch can be seen during the "Transformation" sequence at the end of the show. In World of Color: Season of Light, Stitch and his family are featured celebrating the holidays in their own segment.

In It's a Small World, Stitch can be seen with Lilo on a surfboard in the Hawaiian area.

Walt Disney World
Stitch is the main character of Stitch's Great Escape!, where he has a chance to interact with the live audience.

Stitch is the star of Stitch's Supersonic Celebration, initially on a video screen and then in costumed form. The Stitch character on the video screen could interact with guests, using the same technology as in Turtle Talk with Crush.

Stitch is one of the characters that appears on the riverboat in the finale of the WDW version of Fantasmic! beginning in mid-2002. He used to be in the Disneyland version but was since omitted.

In Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, Stitch also made a cameo inside a piece of luggage in the baggage check section of the ride, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. G2-9T, when noticing Stitch inside, removed the luggage and quarantined it, due to animals not being allowed on the flights. He was eventually replaced with Figment.

In A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas, Stitch is one of the special "guest characters" alongside Buzz Lightyear and Mike Wazowski. Unlike the others (until towards the end), Stitch does not appear onstage. He broadcasts himself from a television screen. The host checks back in with him between musical numbers, given the important job of tracking down Santa to make sure he comes for the big finale. As Stitch learns more about Santa from the guests, Stitch mistakes Santa for a "spying snitch who breaks into house" and almost uses his ship's lasers to shoot down Santa and his sleigh. Luckily, he's stopped in time and he now learns the real meaning of Christmas. However, Stitch loses track of Santa afterward and decides to appear onstage dressed as Santa for the big finale.

In March 2016, he and Genie are replaced by Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from Zootopia in the Magic Kingdom parade, Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! Street Party. He also appeared in Town Square near the flagpole replacing Marie for more meet-and-greet sessions, but was moved back to Tomorrowland when Stitch's Great Escape was not in use.

Tokyo Disney Resort
In Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!, they let Stitch perform in the show, on the condition that he not interfere with the show anymore. Stitch agrees, asking the Birds of Paradise and the audience if they want to join his ohana. Stitch and the Birds of Paradise then close the show with a reprise of "Aloha, E komo Mai". Stitch declares, "Everyone...ʻohana!" and the show ends with him spitting out of the fountain.

In the Tokyo DisneySea version of Fantasmic!, Stitch stars in his own segment, conducting the water and lights to an instrumental rock version of "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" while Angel drives around in a speedboat with a plasma pistol.

Hong Kong Disneyland
At Hong Kong Disneyland, Stitch sometimes shows up for meet-and-greet sessions in Fantasy Gardens, and sometimes appears in Disney's Hollywood Hotel. He also appears in It's a Small World with Lilo and the Flights of Fantasy Parade and appeared in the defunct version of The Golden Mickeys.

Recently, he greets guests most often in the Karibuni Marketplace in Adventureland.

Shanghai Disneyland
Stitch always meets in Tomorrowland and appears in the caboose in Mickey's Storybook Express. He also appears in the second segment of Summer Blast in front of Enchanted Storybook Castle.

Disney Cruise Line
Stitch also greets guests on the Disney Cruise Line ships. On board the Disney Fantasy, Stitch interacts with guests boarding the ship in CGI through a screen much like his attraction Stitch Live! (or Stitch Encounter).

He is also present on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship with Lilo in the show Disney's Wishes.

Stitch Encounter
Found in Walt Disney Studios Park (known as Stitch Live!), and Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland, guests are seated in a room that is something like a theater, and Stitch interacts with the audience. Guests would also need to help Stitch get to his space cruiser before Captain Gantu captures him.

It ran at Hong Kong Disneyland from July 2006 to May 2, 2016.

Disneyland Paris
Stitch also appeared in Stitch's Hawaiian Paradise Party in Disneyland Paris on June 9, 2011 and Merry Stitchmas in 2017.

Trivia

 * On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in  that it is unconstitutional for any of the states in America to ban gay marriage, as all U.S. citizens have the fundamental right to marry as stated by the . Because of the month and day this ruling was made (6/26), many fans began associating with Stitch to the date of the decision, making him its unofficial mascot.
 * In response to this, Dean DeBlois, a former Disney story supervisor at Walt Disney Feature Animation and co-director/co-writer of Lilo & Stitch who is gay himself, drew an image of Stitch and Scrump celebrating the court's decision. The sketch showed Stitch holding a rainbow flag, which represents gay pride, and Scrump holding a blue flag with a yellow equality sign, representing the logo of the.
 * Despite not appearing in the show itself (as the show ran for about one year before the movie came out), Stitch was featured with Lilo in some online games for the television series House of Mouse.
 * In a deleted scene of the original film, Stitch was responsible for the death of Pudge the fish. This incident made him learn about the consequences of his evil actions and gain a better understanding of mortality. It was cut out because Disney figured that it would be too morbid for a protagonist to kill someone and would also set a bad example for children. Moreover, Stitch is more interested in vandalism than violence.
 * Another deleted scene where Jumba attacks Stitch, resulting in the Pelekai residence accidentally being burned down, was actually going to have more violent scenes like Stitch actually using a chainsaw to attack Jumba, and Stitch setting the house on fire by biting apart a gas pipe and tricking Jumba into shooting it with his blaster. The final version of the same scene has everything violent edited out and replaced in favor of making the scene more slapstick-oriented (Jumba knocking the ceiling down with dishes instead of laser blasts, Jumba's "shuriken" being made of hairbrushes and a tube of toothpaste instead of knives and a pizza cutter, the entire chainsaw scene shortened), had more comedic scenes added in (exploding Scrump, Stitch catching Jumba's laser, Stitch yelling, "Blue Punch Buggy! No punch-back!" when hitting Jumba with Nani's VW, the Elvis Presley song "Hound Dog" playing in the background), and the house being destroyed by having Stitch stop up Jumba's blaster with a carrot and then having them both play "" with it until the blaster overloads and explodes.
 * Stitch was originally supposed to be the last experiment that Jumba created before he got arrested by the Galactic Federation, before 627, 628, and Leroy.
 * Stitch is the first successful destructing experiment that Jumba created after two failures: 600 and 625.
 * Stitch is one of two experiments that was never seen in pod form, the other being Leroy.
 * Stitch appears, along with several other Lilo & Stitch characters, in a parody of the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, which was broadcast as part of the High School Musical: Around the World one-year anniversary special.
 * In said parody, when Stitch and the other experiments are looking up at the ceiling, Stitch is colored red and 627 is colored blue. It is unknown how this happened, though it could be a continuity error.
 * In the Stitch! anime, he talks in complete sentences, his English has improved, and he has more dialogue.
 * This may actually imply that his command of Japanese is better than his English; since he is on an island prefecture of Japan, it is reasonable that he is speaking the local language, and thus the American-dubbed version is actually a case of "audience filter". On the other hand, since the anime takes place years after Leroy & Stitch, Stitch may have spent enough time on Hawaii before leaving to actually get a decent grasp on English. It should also be noted that.
 * However, in Stitch & Ai, he mainly speaks his original dialect (Tantalog).
 * Stitch has a tendency to refer . He developed this habit probably because of his broken English or he had gotten it from Jumba, whom he too refers to himself in the third person.
 * In Lilo & Stitch, the only two times he did this was after he was apprehended by the Grand Councilwoman, asking her if he has to go into her ship, and if he can say goodbye to Lilo and Nani.
 * In Stitch Has a Glitch, he is shown to do this less often.
 * In the English dub of the Stitch! anime, he does it even less often than before, but over the course of the series, he seems to have grown out of this habit.
 * While Stitch and the other experiments are technically siblings, "cousins" is a Hawaiian term, like "ʻohana", for extended family and close friends, although Stitch only uses it in regard to the experiments.
 * Stitch loves reading his favorite storybook,  by Hans Christian Andersen, which he obtained from Lilo at some point.
 * The plot revolving around the book mirrors Stitch questioning his purpose, as it revolves around his loneliness and desire to find a family, to which he did in the end.
 * Stitch also developed a fondness for ducks as he showed some ducklings the storybook, as seen in the credits of Lilo & Stitch.
 * Stitch apparently has a fondness for frogs, as seen in Lilo & Stitch where Stitch saves one from being blasted from a plasma gun of Gantu's ship.
 * He is also very fond of sea turtles and even sleeps with a stuffed one, as seen in Stitch Has a Glitch.
 * In the end credits of Lilo & Stitch, Stitch is also seen covering a turtle and its baby with a leaf.
 * Stitch likes to dress up as Elvis Presley, and is very skilled at playing the ukulele.
 * His favorite foods are coconut cake and coffee, which are the very first Earth-based food and drink he ever ate, as seen in the original film and also mentioned in Stitch! The Movie. However, whenever he drinks coffee, he gains a massive amount of uncontrollable energy. Ironically, in "Slugger", he drank a large bowl of cappuccino, along with Lilo's cappuccino, but didn't go crazy at all.
 * He has also been shown to eat anything inedible and very rarely doesn't like to eat something. An exception was in "Spooky", when he spit out a lemon, saying, "Ew, organic!", implying he might not like lemons.
 * However, in "Shortstuff", Stitch, as a giant, drank some lemonade from the cart he accidentally smashed without expressing any disgust, and in "Swapper", he drank a whole bowl of lemonade (albeit modified by Jumba to cause those who drink it to temporarily change colors), again without expressing any disgust, which would contradict this supposed dislike of lemons. It could be that either Stitch doesn't like organically-grown foods (as his heightened senses might have the unintended side effect of him tasting even the tiniest amounts of manure residue), he doesn't like the taste of unsweetened lemons or lemon juice, or him spitting out the organic lemon was nothing more than a simple joke.
 * In the Stitch! anime, he also loves Yuna's blue crab sushi.
 * Due to a continuity error, Stitch's ear notches have a tendency to disappear or change position in some works or merchandise.
 * Following after Stitch! The Movie, Stitch's toes have changed from dark blue to black.
 * Additionally, following after Stitch Has a Glitch, Stitch's fur color has changed from dark blue to light blue.
 * Stitch's blood is revealed to be pink when a sample was taken out of his body.
 * When Stitch has a glitch, his eyes glow green.
 * In the original movie, Stitch's eyes were shown green after he crashed landed on Earth. In Stitch Has a Glitch, the animation was reused in the beginning.
 * Usually when Stitch rolls into a ball, he puts his feet into his mouth and covers his face with his butt. In "Dupe" and "Snafu", his ball form resembles Cannonball's ball form in Leroy & Stitch.
 * Stitch is described by the experiment computer screen as, "Experiment 626. Primary function: Destruction of populated areas. Weapons: Sharp teeth and strong jaws for tearing stone, metal, and flesh, 4 clawed hands, and 3 poisonous spines. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS."
 * Since Lilo's adoption of Stitch was a legal process under State of Hawaii law (complete with legal documentation), it can be said that his legal name is indeed "Stitch" and not "Experiment 626". Disney INFINITY seems to re-enforce this by describing him as "Dr. Jumba's former Experiment 626" on the description for Stitch in the games' Hall of Heroes.
 * This may also provide additional context when he interrupts the Grand Councilwoman to clarify his name in the denouement of Lilo & Stitch, as he may also imply that it would no longer be considered proper to refer to him as "Experiment 626" in any further formal or legal matters. Since he is referred to as "Captain Stitch" when he joins the Galactic Armada in Leroy & Stitch, it could also be that the United Galactic Federation does formally acknowledge "Stitch" as his proper legal name; if they didn't, then he would have been "Captain 626" instead.
 * In the prequel comics, it is revealed that Stitch's genes contain those of some of the most powerful creatures in the galaxy, as well as some of Jumba's for "brains and good looks." One of the genes was a puppy, explaining Stitch's resemblance to a dog (though Jumba did not know how it got in there).
 * In each of the Lilo &amp; Stitch franchise's three TV series, Stitch grows into a giant at least once per show via some method.
 * In the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Shortstuff", Stitch uses Jumba's Protoplasmic Growth Ray to make himself bigger, but the episode's experiment also becomes bigger. Stitch uses his giant size to fight Shortstuff at the carnival, but loses. Stitch would later be returned to his normal size in order to fight back.
 * In an episode of the Stitch! anime, Shrink zaps Stitch with an energy ray after the latter falls into a swimming pool, causing him to grow into a giant. Due to Retro reverting Stitch to his original destructive programming, Stitch goes on a rampage in this giant form until Yuna reaches out to him and reminds him of his promise. Shrink would be used again to revert Stitch to his original size.
 * In Stitch & Ai, it is revealed that Stitch has a metamorphosis code programmed in his DNA, which transforms him into a gigantic monster armed with four tentacle-like blasters.
 * However, a deleted version of the opening of the original film contradicts this. In this opening, the Galactic Council shows video footage of Experiment 626—in his familiar small size—causing chaos and destruction in an alien city, including tipping over a skyscraper by lifting it from its base. The existence of this scene strongly suggests that Chris Sanders, Stitch's creator and original voice actor, never intended or at least considered giving Stitch this metamorphosis ability, thus likely making the monstrous "destruction form" in Stitch & Ai a retcon or a "revision" of the character. (Sanders did not work on either Stitch & Ai or the Stitch! anime series in any capacity; he was only credited in those shows for creating the characters who originated in Lilo & Stitch, including Stitch.)
 * Toothless, a Night Fury from 's  franchise, bears a strong resemblance to Stitch. Even their facial expressions are similar, especially those showing excitement, wariness, and anger. However, their personalities are somewhat different, as Stitch is far more mischievous than Toothless. This is not a coincidence; Chris Sanders was the designer for both characters and co-directed both films.
 * Chris Sanders left Disney to join DreamWorks (Disney's rival animation company) in 2007 due to creative differences over Disney rejecting his original Bolt script and designs. Despite his departure, though, Sanders still continues to voice Stitch in the video games like Kingdom Hearts II, Birth by Sleep, Disney INFINITY 2.0, and every other opportunity he gets.