Shadow the Hedgehog (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Shadō za Hejjihoggu) is a fictional Hedgehog character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic hedgehog/Black Arm hybrid and the arch-rival of Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow was created as the "Ultimate Life Form" (究極生命体 Kyūkyoku Seimeitai) by Gerald Robotnik, using the DNA of Black Doom, and is the end result of Project Shadow. His purpose was to provide ways to develop cures for incurable deadly illnesses, more specifically for Gerald's granddaughter Maria Robotnik, but he was captured and put into stasis by the military when he was deemed as a threat to humanity.
Fifty years later, Shadow was released by Dr. Eggman to help him conquer the world. Initially, Shadow sought to destroy Earth to avenge Maria, who had been killed by the military, but was persuaded to help save it from Gerald's doomsday plans. In the process, Shadow lost his memories and he sought to uncover his past, during which he met the Black Arms. Ultimately, Shadow thwarted Black Doom and saved the world. From there, Shadow continued his mission to protect humanity by becoming a special agent of GUN.
Shadow is sharp-witted, always on edge and has a strong sense of purpose, willing to accomplish his goals by any means. Essentially a dark version of Sonic, Shadow can match him in both speed and skill, and can use Chaos Control with a Chaos Emerald. While preferring to work alone, he has helped Sonic and his allies when needed.
Role in the Series
Sonja and Shadow used to be enemies at first until Shadow decides to join with Sonja and her friends at the ending of Sonja's Adventures of Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow refused at first in Sonja's Adventures of Sonic Adventure 2 but he is good friends with Hannah/Evil Sonja
Personality[]
Shadow is a brooding loner, to put it bluntly. He is rarely seen with others for an extended period of time, and distances himself from essentially everyone. He is usually soft-spoken, silent and only says what he needs to before a fight. However, Shadow never bluffs. If he makes a threat, he has every intention of carrying it out.
Shadow constantly refers to himself as the Ultimate Lifeform and like Sonic, he can be extremely arrogant, often belittling his opponents and insulting their lack of strength. Shadow also has a ruthless and merciless edge in combat that all other characters in the series lack, and displays a natural "killer instinct".
Shadow's infamous ruthlessness and aggression leads to fear and a nervousness that inhibits characters from his unshakable intent or sheer power in combat. Numerous characters from the Sonic series have shown absolute dread from encountering Shadow. Shadow's enemies never treat him lightly; he is one of the very few people Sonic takes seriously and acts hostile towards.
Alongside his dark and violent demeanor, Shadow can be smug and stubborn. He treats others in a very callous manner, throwing in his opinion no matter how cold-hearted it might be, and not caring for whatever the response is.
On occasion, Shadow appears to have some degree of mental instability. This is demonstrated by his instances of post-traumatic flashbacks to Maria's face prior to and during the events of Shadow the Hedgehog, though it could be argued that they were simply an effect of his amnesia. Another example could be that in many games Shadow is featured in, he pursues his foes with disturbing determination; that is to say he'll go to any length to accomplish something he desires or feels should be a certain way, no matter what the cost. In his own game, he also showed a coarse language.
Shadow also possesses some sense of identity, as evidenced when after falsely being told that he isn't the Ultimate Lifeform due to a lab report. He states to Rouge that even if his memories were fake, he is still Shadow the Hedgehog. Similarly in Sonic Heroes, during the Egg Fleet level, he mentions that even without his memories, he is still the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog. These qualities make him rarely susceptible to being manipulated by other forces.
Shadow is not without sentimental emotions and has shown a small sense of compassion from time to time. When Omega begins his attack in Sonic Heroes, Shadow could have easily forgotten about Rouge and engaged Omega without defending her. Instead, Shadow saves her from Omega, despite having absolutely no memory of her. He was also shown to be legitimately shocked when he learned that his goal of gaining the Chaos Emeralds to restore his memories was actually manipulated by Black Doom in order to wipe out humanity. Likewise, when the GUN Commander finally confronts him with his own memories of Shadow's nightmarish creation, Shadow agrees to face judgment if he was indeed responsible for the ARK massacre 50 years ago.
Shadow brushes off most kindness or sympathy that is sent his way. This is shown in Sonic Heroes, when Rouge showed concern for Shadow when he saw a broken android, Shadow curtly brushed her concern away. Also in Shadow the Hedgehog after Sonic suggested some "friendly competition," Shadow turned his back to Sonic and said, "Don't waste my time".
Despite the fact that Shadow often fights for the greater good, he is considered an anti-hero by the most part due to his gray morality. He does whatever is necessary to get what he wants or feels is right, though this enthusiasm causes him to take risks and jump into situations without fully thinking it through.[9] Regardless, Shadow does have his moments of selflessness, helpfulness and heroism. He nearly gave his life at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 to save Earth and helped Silver uncover the truth of the Solaris Project, after saving Sonic from Silver.
Relationships[]
Sonic the Hedgehog[]
Shadow's arch-rival is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. At first Shadow tried to disregard Sonic, but Sonic's quips quickly sparked a mutual rivalry in Sonic Adventure 2. Since meeting each other, there has been a never-ending competition between the two, and their battles can range from friendly races to fierce death battles. In any case, one always wants to outdo the other.
When they first met, Shadow believed Sonic to have been copying him, and vice-versa from Sonic. He later retained this belief in Sonic Heroes, largely because of his amnesia.
Shadow and Sonic frequently fight due to their very different views on justice, morality, and how to act on them. Their constant disagreements sometimes turn to bitter fights. Both don't care what the other thinks of their views. In a sense, the two hedgehogs are polar opposites in every way except their appearance. Almost every time they meet, they fight ferociously. Neither is ever willing to accept defeat. Their rivalry has developed over time and is now more friendly,[28] yet still fiercely intense as Shadow thinks that Sonic is his rival in all aspects of his life.
Despite their fierce arch-rivalry, Shadow and Sonic do share some mutual respect for each other,[30] In fact, Shadow and Sonic have helped each other on several occasions. Shadow helped Sonic defeat Neo Metal Sonic in Sonic Heroes, allied himself and Rouge with Team Sonic to return both teams to their proper time period, and saved The Blue hedgehog from Silver's second attempt on his life in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). He showed slight vulnerability in the face of Sonic's death and even admitted that they cannot defeat Solaris without his help.[31] He also motivated Sonic to defeat the Time Eater in Sonic Generations and even attended his birthday party, despite being the only one not to wave goodbye to Classic Sonic. He even raced to help out Sonic in Sonic Forces but was unfortunately too late. Nonetheless, Shadow did help him later in the game. Overall, while the two still are at odds because of their conflicting views, there is also a mutual respect between them.[32] They are both willing to put their differences aside and help each other when needed. In recent games, Shadow is more confident about Sonic doing what is right and Sonic has more acceptance of Shadow's harsher approach as well.
On a similar note, he also has some distaste for being confused with Sonic, as evidenced by his fierce reaction to Toad mistaking him for the latter in the Adventure Mode of the Nintendo DS version's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where interacting with Shadow as a Mii character in the latter game will have Shadow react irritably towards the Mii character noting his physical resemblance with Sonic, and demand that the Mii character not ever put him on the same boat as Sonic, whom he referred to as an "inferior half-wit."