Stitch

Experiment 626, or better known as Stitch is an alien created by Dr. Jumba Jookiba and first appeared in Disney's 2002 hit Lilo and Stitch, its sequels, and television series.

Personality
Throughout the course of the entire Lilo and 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 and Stitch 2, where she cries out at him that he is "bad, and always will be bad!") due to his destructive and temperamental behavior. It is interesting to note that people who are averse to Stitch, such as Mertle or Hamsterviel, describe him as "ugly and deformed", while people with an affection (like Lilo, Jumba, and Nani) for him 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 in that they have an extra pair of arms or misshapen heads.

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

Despite having superhuman strength and a high level of computer-intelligence, Stitch is emotionally fragile and has a child-like personality beneath his "monster" appearance. Lilo believes that one reason why he originally pursued his destructiveness was for similar reasons to her own naughtiness, that it was because he was emotionally scarred (for having been made as a monster by Jumba) but received little 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 antisocial 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, although as the story progresses he becomes more self-conscious and capable of the right decisions thanks to his friend's efforts to help him in life, despite her having her own troubles to contend with. At the end of the series, Stitch has friends, family, love life and a purpose worth believing in.

Appearance
Stitch is a blue alien genetic creation standing around 3 feet tall. He strongly resembles a koala, or a french bulldog, as he's referred to as a dog throughout much of the franchise. He has a limited ability to change his physical appearance, as he can retract a second set of arms, his claws, his antennae and the three spines on his back into his body.

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

626 is then sentenced by the Grand Councilwoman to life imprisonment on a desert asteroid and Captain Gantu (who despises him) escorts him. Stitch escapes and crash-lands in Kaua'i, Hawaii. Disguising himself as a dog to hide from his captors, 626 was adopted by a little girl named Lilo, who names him "Stitch".

Stitch is trained by Lilo to be good, using Elvis Presley as a model for his behavior. Lilo's efforts prove to be fruitless at first, as Stitch is unable to suppress his destructive programming. Nevertheless, Lilo enjoys her new "puppy". Although at first he only wanted to use the girl as a human shield from Jumba and Agent Pleakley, whose mission is to capture the fugitive experiment, Stitch slowly develops feelings for Lilo, to the point where he saves her from Gantu. After his heroics, the Grand Councilwoman allows Stitch to serve his exile on Earth with Lilo as his warder, citing her dog adoption certificate (subsequently, Lilo seems to have become not only a best friend but also a sister figure to Stitch).



Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (set shortly after the first movie), Stitch is living well and is reasonably well-behaved (although still hot-tempered and mischievous) with the exiled Jumba and Pleakley in Lilo's (and her older sister Nani's) house, until he begins malfunctioning. Since he was not fully charged after his creation, Stitch experiences periodic glitches that have him reverting back to his original destructive programming, appearing to suffer from a "fit" or "seizure". Seeing this, Jumba strives to create a proper charging chamber for Stitch. Not wanting to hurt anyone and not knowing about Jumba's plan, 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. Although they are too late when they place him in the recharging pod, Stitch seems to be revived by Lilo's love, in accordance with her belief that love is more powerful than death.

Stitch! The Movie
In ''Stitch! The Movie'', 626 discovers the remaining 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 Hämsterviel.

Lilo and Stitch: The Series
In Lilo and Stitch the series, Stitch and Lilo have to capture Jumba's experiments, turn them from evil to good, and find them a home. Along the way, he meets his match Experiment 627 who is tougher than him. Stitch eventually defeats him. He also is effected by three experiment powers: Amnesio wipes out his memory, Spike makes him goofy and Babyfier turns him into a baby. However, the powers wear off. He also meets Angel (Experiment 624) 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, Penny Proud, Jake Long, and the kids from Recess.

Leroy and Stitch
After they have successfully captured all the remaining experiments in Leroy & Stitch, The Grand Councilwoman offered Stitch the chance to become the 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 a rock, and Jumba an Elvis record. When Gantu breaks out Dr. Hämsterviel in an action of frustration, Stitch is sent on his first mission 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 clone of Stitch. 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 placed in a cage and sent with Jumba and Pleakley heading towards a black hole. After they are sent towards the black hole, Leroy heads off towards earth to capture all of the other experiments for Hamsterviel. 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 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 family is more important than spaceships, laboratories, and prestige.

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] super computer. He can see in the dark and can move objects 3,000 times his size. His only instinct - to destroy everything he touches!"

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 everyone's left shoe."

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. As for fireproof, he does drive a tanker truck of gasoline into a volcano and ends up only a little singed. Weapons fire from plasma guns seems to cause him discomfort, although he can hold it in his hands long enough to throw the plasma back at his enemies.



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 postcard; grabs a crossword puzzle from the table and finishes it in about 7 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; is able to understand he can use a human as a shield from Jumba, by Pleakly's presence; and generally picks up quickly on what is happening around him. He is also fluent in playing the guitar and driving any sort of vehicle, which can be as simple as riding a tricycle or as complex as piloting inter-galactic spaceships.

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 Volkswagen Beetle (shouting gleefully, "blue punch buggy! No punch back!") and stops an 18-wheeled tanker of gasoline dead in its tracks. This ability is sometimes joked about in the later series; for example, in ''Stitch! The Movie, Hämsterviel, while physically restraining Stitch for a cloning experiment, counters Stitch's strength with restraint devices, that are equal in strength themselves, as Hämsterviel loudly declares, to "three-thousand and one!''" times Stitch's own weight.

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. 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. Stitch's legs are small, but powerful enough to enable him to jump several feet into the air. 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), night vision (which is green), infrared (red) and X-ray (bright green). Furthermore, he also can magnify his vision. He also can act as an audio amplifier, radio and/or microphone, illustrated when he uses a claw as the needle on a record player, and the music comes out of his open mouth. He has an acute sense of smell and hearing and is also dexterously skilled in hand-to-hand combat, using all four arms or just two.

Weaknesses
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. Another weakness is the fact that his super-sensitive hearing can lead to temporary deafness when exposed to sonic blasts. Stitch originally had an instinctive aquaphobia, but was able to overcome it because of Lilo's influence over him.



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

It's a Small World
Stitch has been added to the It's A Small World attraction.

Fantasmic!
Stitch has made an appearance in the live show Fantasmic

Stitch's Great Escape!
Stitch is the main character of his own attraction Stitch Great Escape and he has a chance to interact with the live audience.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Stitch appears in Deep Space, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Stitch appears in his true alien form when in Deep Space, known as Experiment 626, and bearing his red spacesuit. Originally created by Dr. Jumba, 626 was imprisoned on a spaceship set for arrival on a lifeless planet, under the watchful eyes of Captain Gantu, after his creator's arrest. Stitch later meets up with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, each of the three Keyblade heroes unknowingly helping the troublesome extraterrestrial with his escape.

While unknown exactly how Terra, Ven, and Aqua contribute to Deep Space's storyline, recent scans have provided various hints. While Ventus is on board the spaceship holding Stitch captive, he aids the little alien in his escape from Gantu, together fleeing from the guards the fish-like alien summons, also teaching Stitch how to understand human speech. Terra is also shown, unintentionally aiding Stitch's escape as well. At first battling Experiment 626's "cousin," Experiment 221, Terra is also seen fighting off the blasters that are locked onto Stitch's genetic signature. On the trail of Terra and Ventus, Aqua also appears, Experiment 626 rescuing her from a currently unknown danger. The two battle Captain Gantu together, Stitch eventually stealing a red police cruiser as he did in the film, engaging its faulty hyperdrive to escape the alien police, and vanishing out of sight.

Kingdom Hearts II
Stitch is one of two summons during Kingdom Hearts II that makes a difference to the storyline (besides Genie). His first appearance was when Sora, Donald, and Goofy went into the corridors leading to Ansem's study; he was seen crawling above them without their notice. During the next cutscene, he dropped down onto the keyboard of the computer. Donald jumped onto the keyboard to grab him, but Stitch jumped off with a laugh. As Donald turned around, he mashes the keys, causing the Master Control Program to be alerted.

Later, in a cutscene showing the Final Fantasy characters fighting Heartless in the The Great Maw, Stitch was seen fighting alongside them, using his blasters from Lilo & Stitch.