Chaos Rings

The Chaos Rings (カオスリング Kaosu Ringu?) are a set of six multicolored Rings that appear in Knuckles' Chaotix. They are considered mere prizes won in the Special Stages in the English manual, but they are actually a considerate part of the storyline in the Japanese manual. Regardless, only by collecting all six will the player be rewarded with the game's good ending.

History
The Chaos Rings were created when Dr. Robotnik discovered a Special Ring - a Super Ring-like artifact once used by the Knuckles Clan - on a mysterious island that appeared out of the ocean. There, he witnessed a phenomenon in which the artifact interacted with the Floating Island's Pillar, causing the chaos energy from the Pillar to crystalize in the physical space occupied by six Special Rings, creating six similar rings - the Chaos Rings. Understanding that these Chaos Rings would give him the power to summon the Master Emerald, Robotnik converted the island to his Newtrogic High Zone base to continue his research and synthesize Dark Rings to power his badniks and mechs.

After Metal Sonic loses to the player character and his partner, he appears before Robotnik and the two leave off-screen with the Special Ring; the game is unclear whether or not they merely escaped or if Metal Sonic transformed into the final boss with its power.

Trivia

 * During the Knuckles' Chaotix comic special from Archie Comics, the Chaos Rings were replaced with Power Gems.
 * Chaos Rings were originally known as "Holy Rings" during development.
 * The Chaos Rings are similar to the World Rings in Sonic and the Secret Rings although there are seven of them instead of six.