There are seven groups of animals, each have three animals in it. Animals give your Chao different abilities, and can give your Chao animal parts, but the main thing they do is give your Chao stat boosts. Some people say that the Chao "eats" the animal, but it clearly doesn't because the Chao puts the animal down after hugging it (which is what the Chao does to get the stat boost). Here's a list of all 21 animals:
| Name | Ability | Group | |
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Seal | Rolls around | Yellow: Swimming |
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Otter | Does the backstroke when swimming | Yellow: Swimming |
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Penguin | Slides about on belly | Yellow: Swimming |
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Parrot | Sings | Purple: Fly |
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Peacock | Struts about | Purple: Fly |
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Condor | Flaps about | Purple: Fly |
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Warthog | Dashes | Green: Run |
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Rabbit | Hops about | Green: Run |
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Cheetah | Licks its face | Green: Run |
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Tiger | Sharpens its nails | Red: Power |
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Bear | Roars | Red: Power |
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Gorilla | Beats its chest | Red: Power |
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Raccoon | Spins around | Blue: Random |
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Skunk | Farts | Blue: Random |
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Sheep | Does forward somersaults | Blue: Random |
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Unicorn | Bucks its feet | Gold: Mythical |
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Dragon | Breathes fire | Gold: Mythical |
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Phoenix | Wags its tail | Gold: Mythical |
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Bat | Makes your Chao's legs disappear | Black: Ghost |
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Skeleton Dog | Removes Animal Features from Chao, allows Hats to be Worn | Black: Ghost |
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Half Fish | Turns the Chao's floating ball into a flame | Black: Ghost |
This is a list of what animals can be found in each stage, which is helpful when trying to find certain Small Animals for making Chaos Chao.
| City Escape |  |
| Metal Harbor | |
| Green Forest | |
| Pyramid Cave | |
| Crazy Gadget | |
| Final Rush | |
| Cannons Core | |
| Prison Lane | |
| Mission Street | |
| Hidden Base | |
| Eternal Engine | |
| Cannons Core | |
| Wild Canyon | |
| Pumpkin Hill | |
| Aquatic Mine | |
| Death Chamber | |
| Meteor Herd | |
| Cannons Core | |
| Radical Highway | |
| White Jungle | |
| Sky Rail | |
| Final Chase | |
| Iron Gate | |
| Sand Ocean | |
| Lost Colony | |
| Weapons Bed | |
| Cosmic Wall | |
| Cannons Core | |
| Dry Lagoon |  |
| Egg Quarters | |
| Security Hall | |
| Mad Space | |
| Cannons Core | |