Shadow the Hedgehog

''This article is about the character Shadow the Hedgehog. If you are looking for the article on the game Shadow the Hedgehog, see Shadow the Hedgehog (video game).

''

Shadow the Hedgehog (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, created by Takashi Iizuka, designed by Yuji Uekawa and owned by Sega.

Shadow is an artificially created life form in the design of a male, anthropomorphic hedgehog. His trademark hover skates propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow resembles Sonic in many ways. He is distinguished from Sonic by his skin, eye color, cuffs, shoes, and hair shape. He is considered to be one of Sonic's greatest rivals, but is specifically referred as an anti-hero.

Since his debut, Shadow has appeared in a multitude of games, television shows, and comic books. His past was almost a complete mystery until the game Shadow the Hedgehog revealed the events surrounding his creation. In contrast to Sonic, Shadow is typically portrayed as a tortured anti-hero, or a renegade who can just as easily serve the forces of evil as those of good. According to an official poll, he is the second most popular character in the series, second only to Sonic himself.

Game Appearances
Shadow debuted in the game Sonic Adventure 2 as one of three main antagonists, alongside Rouge the Bat. Dr. Eggman set Shadow free from a G.U.N. base on Prison Island, where he had spent 50 years imprisoned. In exchange Shadow agreed to aid the doctor in his plans to take over the world; holding his true intentions as wishing to get revenge for the death of his friend, Maria Robotnik. To achieve this, Shadow revealed the eclipse cannon to Dr. Eggman, blowing up half of the moon in demonstration. In a twist of fate, Shadow ultimately aided Sonic when realizing Maria's true wish with the help of Amy Rose (Chris in the anime "Sonic X"), which was to save humanity. In the last story, Eggman inserts the final Chaos Emerald, only to initiate a destabilization program on the ARK. A recording of Gerald Robotnik then revealed that he had made this function to have revenge for Maria, and that the ARK would destroy the Earth. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles had reached the Central Core, where the Biolizard had been activated. Notably, a scene from Gerald Robotnik's diary appeared. After Shadow defeated it, Knuckles used the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds. But the Biolizard, being the prototype of Project Shadow, used Chaos Control to fuse with the ARK, continuing its fall. Then, as Super Sonic and Super Shadow, they destroyed the Biolizard (the Ultimate Life form prototype), having become a monster named Finalhazard, and using their pooled energies, created a Chaos Control which stopped the fall. Afterwards, Shadow fell to the earth and was presumed dead.

In Sonic Heroes, Rouge discovers Shadow in a stasis tube located in the deepest part of one of Dr. Eggman's bases. As she activates the capsule, E-123 Omega begins to attack the newly awakened Shadow, believing him to be an android. Shadow discovers that he has amnesia and cannot remember anything before his release. He joins forces with Rouge and the robot E-123 Omega to form Team Dark and find Eggman. It is later revealed that Eggman had made robotic android versions of Shadow, and the question is raised as to whether or not Shadow himself is one of these androids. Ultimately, when Metal Sonic transformed into Metal Madness, Shadow worked with everyone else to help defeat him. Shadow is last seen with Omega and the defeated Metal Sonic.

In Sonic Battle, Rouge saves Shadow while they are investigating Dr. Eggman's secret base and takes him back to her home. Shadow talks about how the people of Earth must destroy him and Emerl if they ever want peace, still believing that he is a weapon. It is revealed, however, that he ultimately has the heart and soul of Maria Robotnik, implying he could not be the enemy of humanity. In one of Gerald Robotnik's journal entries, he mentions that "Project Shadow" was put on hold because of Project Gizoid.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is revealed to be the dual creation of the alien overlord Black Doom and Professor Gerald. Gerald could not finish the project on his own, so he contacted the Black Comet and used Black Doom's blood, and presumably his DNA to create Shadow. Shadow eventually gathers all the Chaos Emeralds and confronts Doom as Super Shadow. He then destroys the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon. In the end, he puts the past behind him. Also in the last battle of the game, Eggman confesses to Shadow that he saved him in Sonic Adventure 2 before he fell to Earth, meaning he is the real Shadow and not a Shadow Android as was previously believed.

In the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, Shadow is a playable character and has his own storyline which weaves with those of Sonic and new character Silver the Hedgehog. In this role, Shadow encounters the new villain Mephiles the Dark when the Scepter of Darkness falls and shatters. Shadow is sent to the future and is revealed to have become the enemy of mankind, due to their fear of his power. It is also been revealed that Shadow is sealed away by the reprogrammed Omega sometime during this event. Eventually, Mephiles gains hold of the seven Chaos Emeralds and merges with Iblis, becoming Solaris. Shadow turns into Super Shadow and joins with Super Silver and Super Sonic to defeat Solaris. The events of the game are then reset and do not occur, possibly leaving his future open.

Shadow appears in Sonic Rivals as a playable character alongside Sonic, Knuckles, Silver, and Metal Sonic. Summoned to a strange land by Dr. Eggman via a cryptic transmission asking for his aid, Shadow is able to successfully locate Dr. Eggman, but once he mentions the cryptic message, Dr. Eggman denies it. The mystery continues to unfold itself as Rouge warns him of an impending danger and upon stumbling across a secret about Dr. Eggman, her transmission is cut off short. Shadow continues his quest to uncover the truth about Dr. Eggman. Shadow also appears on four of the 150 collectible cards in the game.

Shadow is an unlockable character in the game Sonic Riders after beating the Hero Story Mode. He is a Speed type character, with his default Gear: Darkness, which he uses to skate like his default shoes. He now appears in the sequel Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity as a speed character, and his default gear is called Black Shot.

Shadow also appeared in the game Sonic and The Secret Rings, being the first unlockable character for the Party Mode (next ones being Cream, Silver and Blaze) by obtaining 30 Fire Souls.

Shadow also appears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as a speed character along with Sonic, Yoshi and Princess Daisy.

Shadow appears in the sequel to Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2. He is confronted by Metal Sonic and Eggman (through a speaker in Metal Sonic) tells him that he needs help. Before he can ask questions he and Metal Sonic find Espio and Silver. Curious as to why Silver has returned to the present he begins to follow Silver while Metal Sonic follows Espio. Eventually Shadow forgets to ask the Doctor why he is helping him and just continues to work with Metal Sonic. Eventually Shadow discovers that Eggman Nega is trying to release the Ifrit with the seven Chaos Emeralds. He enters the Chaos Inferno Zone to press the switch to seal the Ifrit in its own dimension, but he and Metal Sonic are trapped in the process. Metal Sonic tears himself open to reveal a Chaos Emerald, and Shadow Chaos Control's them back to their own dimension.

Shadow appeared in the RPG game, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

Shadow is an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He uses Chaos Control to manipulate the battlefield, slowing down time for every combatant but the one that summoned him.

Shadow is one of the playable characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in Sega Superstars Tennis, along with Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Eggman.

He is also mentioned in Sonic Unleashed but never seen. He presumably was set to appear but ended up being taken out for unknown reasons.

He also appears in Sonic Generations.

Personality
Shadow is a "lone wolf" who distances himself from Sonic and his friends. He is among the darkest and most violent character in the series, attacking anyone who gets in his way. As shown in Shadow the Hedgehog, he has a ruthless killer instinct. When Shadow sets his mind on something, he is virtually unstoppable. Unlike Sonic who fights fairly in battle, Shadow does not have the same fighting honor that Sonic shows, going so far as to cheat in battle by using a Chaos Emerald and even using Guns against his opponent even if they are not using any weapons at all against him. Despite these traits, Shadow is very caring towards others and is more than willing to help anyone who's in trouble. He sometimes even shows kindness to others when he feels they deserve it. After the events of "Shadow the Hedgehog", he's also less aggressive due to letting go of his past.

In Sonic X, Shadow is not as aggressive, but is still more violent. For example, Shadow attempts to kill Cosmo because he thought she was a Metarex spy. Tails tries to protect Cosmo, which resulted in Shadow giving him a severe beating. He also beat Chris up out of anger for trying to convince him Maria's true wish. The dubbed and edited American version of the show tones down Shadow's dark and violent attitude to make the show more acceptable for younger viewers.

Professor Gerald Robotnik
50 years ago, the head scientist on Space Colony ark Professor Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Eggman's grandfather, created Shadow with the use of Black Doom's DNA. Shadow has a great deal of respect for the professor and is known to be quite loyal to the original purpose Gerald established for him before going insane. After discovering Gerald's insanity, Shadow disavowed Gerald's new insane goals at the end of Sonic Adventure 2. Instead Shadow prefers to remember the professor for what he was before his final days of derangement.

Maria Robotnik
Soon after being created, Shadow became close friends with the Professor's granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, whom he seems to have treated like a sister. In Sonic Adventure 2, and the Japanese version of Sonic X, it was revealed that Maria had been shot and killed by a G.U.N soldier, while in the English version of Sonic X, she was merely captured and never seen again. After her death, Maria's sacrifice to save Shadow both continuously haunted and motivated him, until he finally decided to let go of his past at the end of Shadow the Hedgehog and lead his own life.

Black Doom
The relationship between Shadow and Black Doom may have been brief, but has played a significant role in Shadow's life. Shadow was made from Black Doom's blood, in a deal between the alien and Professor Gerald; this, technically, makes Black Doom Shadow's biological father. Black Doom, at first, tried to get Shadow on his side by playing on what remained of Shadow's painful memories of losing Maria. Regardless of the path taken during gameplay, Shadow in the end fights and defeats Black Doom (who transformed into Devil Doom) and then destroys the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon in the Last Story. Still, throughout the events of Shadow the Hedgehog Black Doom threatens Shadow and demands extreme loyalty and respect, even when choosing the Dark path in gameplay Doom acts with no compassion whatsoever. He also doesn't tolerate any kind of mistake or failure, no matter how difficult the task on Shadow's part may be. Black Doom was also Shadow's archenemy, similar to what Eggman is to Sonic.

Doctor Eggman
Shadow's approach to Dr. Eggman is quite different to that of other characters, apart from Rouge the Bat. His relation to the Doctor is neither that of a staunch enemy nor an ally, choosing instead to form alliances with or against him depending on the circumstances. While Eggman has helped Shadow on multiple occasions, each time was just a means to use the black hedgehog in his own plans. Although Shadow appears to show little regard for whether Dr. Eggman's schemes succeed or not, clashes do occur when they get in each other's way. Despite this, they display a certain amount of respect for each other's abilities, one notable aspect being that Shadow always refers to Eggman by his title of "Doctor" (even "the good doctor" in Sonic Battle and Shadow the Hedgehog, though it may be sarcastic), regardless of the deceptions Eggman implies in order to trick or lure Shadow to his cause; which hardly-to-never succeed.

Rouge the Bat
Shadow also has a very close relationship with Rouge the Bat, Shadow's ally and possibly the closest friend he has since the death of Maria. Rouge also shows a lot of respect for the black hedgehog and is often seen worrying about his safety throughout the series. Shadow can be very protective of her and has grown to deeply trust her to a certain degree. A few times she also becomes a "damsel-in-distress", usually causing Shadow to end up saving her. Rouge has also returned the favor a couple times, such as when she takes Shadow to her place to rest when he is weakened. Despite their closeness, Shadow remains mysterious and sometimes sarcastic towards her, mostly causing her to be either concerned or annoyed, though she typically accepts him for who he is. Rouge has also said before that she will never abandon Shadow even if the world turns against him.

E-123 Omega
E-123 Omega is a robot created by Eggman that was left behind in the same base Shadow was encased in. After starting off as adversaries in Sonic Heroes, Shadow and Omega become allies and helped each other in battle. Initially they don't get along well, even sparking small rivalries as to whom is strongest such as in the Shadow the Hedgehog game (this rivalry could be considered a mirror image of Sonic's rivalry with Knuckles). In Sonic the Hedgehog Omega acts on Rouge's request to aid Shadow, whom was trapped in the future without a means to return. Omega shut himself down in a secluded area allowing for time to pass and ultimately to bring Shadow the Chaos Emerald he needed to defeat Mephiles. Upon discovering that he was to be captured, reprogrammed, and destined to be the one who imprisons Shadow in the future, Omega becomes saddened for the grief he will cause. Though, this outcome has been erased since the events that transpired in the game were reset with the destruction of Solaris, the game's main antagonist, leaving Omega's future open.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Shadow's biggest rival is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, the main protagonist of the game series. When the two first meet in Sonic Adventure 2, they immediately became enemies, but over time their relationship developed into a friendly rivalry. They frequently fight for different reasons. Shadow finds Sonic to be very irritating for his carefree attitude, but they usually end up working together. Shadow also helped defeat Metal Madness, the larger form of Neo Metal Sonic in the game, Sonic Heroes. Shadow even saves Sonic from Silver during the Sonic the Hedgehog game showing that they even call each other friends. Each have their supposed deaths, Shadow's at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic's during the final story of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), to which each mourn the other.

Amy Rose
Shadow has a short but significant encounter with Amy Rose in the Last Story of Sonic Adventure 2. When the Space Colony ARK is nearing its collision course with Earth, Amy pleads to Shadow to help save the world. At first he refuses, but Amy's persistent words and positive outlook eventually triggered the once-dormant memory of Maria's real wish: to give people a chance to be happy.

G.U.N. commander
The commander and Shadow didn't get along at first as the commander blamed Shadow for the death of his family, but after the events of Shadow the Hedgehog, (as revealed in expert mode) the commander invited Shadow over, this is presumably the time that Shadow became a G.U.N. agent.

Metal Sonic
Shadow and Metal Sonic are forced to work together when Doctor Eggman calls for Shadow's assistance in Sonic Rivals 2. Although they are together for a brief amount of time Shadow does seem concerned about Metal Sonic multiple times, despite the fact that Metal Sonic is a robot with the inability to speak. Shadow constantly asks him if he's alright and at the end of the game when Metal Sonic tears himself open to retrieve the Chaos Emerald, Shadow tells him to stop, for he fears Metal Sonic will destroy himself.

Abilities
Basic traits between Shadow and Sonic are virtually identical. Like Sonic, Shadow is highly acrobatic, capable of gracefully leaping over many obstacles in his way. He can also perform Sonic's trademark 'Spin Attack', which is a variation on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into tight balls for protection. Also, Shadow can skate at speeds fast enough to rival the speeds Sonic can run. Shadow is also ageless and immortal.

Shadow's trademark move is Chaos Control, which allows him to warp time and space. Shadow uses it mainly to transport matter and/or to slow or stop time. The move actually allows the user to manipulate time and space to warp across "space" or move through or across "time". Sonic, Black Doom, Metal Sonic (as seen as Metal Overlord during Sonic Heroes), Biolizard, and Silver can also use Chaos Control, though the move originally appeared with Shadow and he makes the most extensive use of it. Although most cutscenes and bios in manuals and websites often claim Shadow needs a Chaos Emerald to perform the technique, he has used it several times during gameplay as well as some cutscenes without a known Emerald in his possession such as in Sonic Rivals, Sonic Battle, and Sonic the Hedgehog. In contrast, the Archie version of Shadow can directly access the "Chaos Force" and does not require a Chaos Emerald. Shadow is also able to shape Chaos Control into a variety of offensive and defensive attacks, such as "Chaos Spear". As described in Shadow's game, all of his Chaos powers increase in correlation to the addition of a greater number of Chaos Emeralds, until reaching full power with all 7 Emeralds. It is currently unknown as to what extent Chaos Control can be used, as Shadow has never been seen using it on another object without warping himself along with it, but it has been shown that he can take objects and people into the warp with him, and all examples of this suggest he must be touching to object to bring it with him (such as transporting the Black Comet off Earth). When saving Rouge from Prison Island, he was seen touching her. Aside from it's final usage in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow has used Chaos Control with 3 emeralds at most, using Chaos Control to save Rouge from Prison Island, and they ended up on the ARK afterwards. It is assumed that 3 emeralds is enough to warp Shadow (and anything on his person) into space.

Another form of attack that first appeared in the Shadow the Hedgehog game is an attack called "Chaos Blast" that is induced when Shadow commits acts of evil, filling his red gauge in that game. While the Chaos Spear can attack single or multiple targets, the Chaos Blast is literally a shockwave of energy that eliminates anything and everything in a circular radius range. When this attack can be formed, his eyes and the streaks on his body begin to glow red.

As shown in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Sonic X, Shadow is able to unleash more of his power if he takes off the rings on his wrists. Sonic X was the first to present this idea, which at first made it seem to be exclusive to the anime, as during the Sonic Adventure 2 adaption, Shadow loses his rings when trying to stop the ARK from crashing to earth. In the game, Sonic enters the ARK with one of Shadow's rings, but he is never shown actually losing them. In the anime, this increase in power comes at the expense of reducing his stamina, causing Shadow to become exhausted after a relatively short time engaged in combat as seen in episodes 60, 61, and 63 of the series. However in the video game series, he shows no sign of fatigue. The increase in his power from taking off his rings shows a drastic change in the final cutscene of his story in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, after he plows through what appears to be hundreds of copies of Mephiles. This ability was also demonstrated in recent issues of the Archie comic as mentioned below, wherein Shadow removed the rings in order to call up his full power when he engaged the newly-reborn Enerjak in combat.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow has shown that he can also use a wide range of firearms, semi-automatics, heavy assault, and close-combat weapons. He can also improvise with debris, and drive a wide range of vehicles, (similar to that of the Terminator) as shown in Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). This proves a great distinction between him and Sonic because, in the same game, Sonic says he'd never get caught using a gun, and prefers running over using a vehicle.

By harnessing the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow is able to use super transformation to transform into Super Shadow. He is bestowed with the new abilities of flight and near invulnerability, like Super Sonic, and his normal abilities of speed and power are greatly enhanced.

Shadow Androids
Shadow Androids are robots based on Shadow that first appeared in Sonic Heroes, though it was never actually stated to be such. Instead, one Team Dark cutscene showed a broken Shadow robot, and another one showed an entire room of Androids in stasis, which affected the story in a way, making several characters believe Shadow was a robot. The Shadow Androids reappeared in Shadow the Hedgehog as somewhat strong enemy robots on the single-player mode's "Iron Jungle" and "Lava Shelter" stages, along with the "Iron Jungle" boss. These androids can counter Shadow's Homing Attacks, or lock-on to Shadow and toss rockets at him, which they seem to use more often than the Homing Attack. At the last Team Dark cutscene of Sonic Heroes, when Rouge finds the multiple Shadow androids, she suspects that Shadow is an android, but Omega says that the real Shadow exists, as there is no way anyone could make Shadow androids without the real Shadow. While Shadow is facing Black Doom in his Devil Doom form, Eggman says that he used a robot to rescue Shadow as or after he fell from the Space Colony ARK in Sonic Adventure 2, meaning that while Shadow was in a stasis tube, Eggman was making Shadow androids.

In the multi-player mode of Shadow the Hedgehog, there are six special Shadow Androids. Four of these robots are silver with green, pink, orange, or blue stripes, each wielding either an alien-like machine gun or a bazooka. The other two look more like Shadow, but on one of them, the stripes are goldenrod instead of red. These two, like the real Shadow, start off without weapons but can carry any other weapon they collect and have limited ammo while the other four androids can only use their built-in weapons which have unlimited ammo. The androids can activate Dark Shadow and all of its normal effects and attacks, just like the real Shadow. Hero Shadow is only available via use of Action Replay as there aren't sufficient Hero targets to destroy. Even then, Chaos Control is disabled (the player will hear a buzzer). All of these androids claim to be the "real Shadow", and claim that the others are fakes.