Shadow the Hedgehog
| Shadow the Hedgehog | |
|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog character | |
| File:ME0000572321 2.jpg Shadow, as seen in the video game Shadow the Hedgehog. | |
| First game | Sonic Adventure 2 |
Shadow the Hedgehog (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Shadou za Hejjihoggu) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anti-hero and Sonic the Hedgehog's dark doppelgänger. Technically, he is ageless (and immortal), but since he has been kept in suspended animation for several decades, his chronological age is 50[1], while his physical appearance is about Sonic's age. He first appeared in the Sega Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure 2, and was designed by Yuji Uekawa. His birthday could be June 19, the day Sonic Adventure 2 was released.
Since his debut, Shadow has appeared in a multitude of games as well as in shows and comic books. He was almost a complete mystery, until the game Shadow the Hedgehog, revealed his past.
History
Sonic Adventure 2
Shadow debuted in the game Sonic Adventure 2. Dr. Eggman had set Shadow free from G.U.N. base, and in exchange he agreed to the Doctor in his plans. After witnessing Shadow's abilities when he defeated the G.U.N. defense robot HotShot, Dr. Eggman's plans swiftly turned to world domination. Shadow informed him that the only way to achieve this goal would be with the ultimate weapon, The Eclipse Cannon. It was a giant laser cannon aboard the Space Colony A.R.K., that could decimate entire planets with a single blast. However, to function it would require all seven Chaos Emeralds.
Eventually, Rouge joined with Shadow and Dr. Eggman to help them acquire the Chaos Emeralds, but became trapped. Soon after Shadow heard of this, he began to think of Maria and immediately set off to rescue her. After saving Rouge's life, together they used six of the Chaos Emeralds, thus providing enough power to destroy half the moon. Although Shadow was showing Dr. Eggman the Eclipse's power, he had no intention of actually granting his wishes. Shadow was focused on his own goal of avenging Maria's death by destroying the planet itself.
After some time, Dr. Eggman notified Shadow that someone had triggered the alarm, so Shadow set off to stop the intruder. The disturbance was discovered to be Sonic, whom he then clashed with. Later, Dr. Eggman was able to steal the last Chaos Emerald and placed it in the cannon, fully powering it. However, instead of firing at its full strength, Dr. Eggman inadvertently activated a program his grandfather had left in the A.R.K.'s computer. The A.R.K. moved the Chaos Emeralds into its core and set itself on a collision course with the planet. Now that all seven Chaos Emeralds were powering it, the A.R.K. contained enough power to shatter the planet.
While everyone rushed to stop this from happening, Amy Rose stumbled across Shadow, who was staring out at space. She begged him to help stop the planet's destruction but he refused, insisting that nothing could be done. However, her continued pleas set off a suppressed memory of Maria's final request before her sacrifice, "Give them [the people of Earth] a chance to be happy." This thought moved Shadow, and he quickly went to assist Sonic and Knuckles.
He reached the A.R.K.'s core to find Sonic and Knuckles approach the prototype of the "Ultimate Lifeform", the Biolizard. Shadow urged the two to focus on the Chaos Emeralds while he fought with the Biolizard. After Shadow defeated the Biolizard, Sonic and Knuckles managed to stop the Emeralds. The massive lizard then noticed what they were doing, so it then merged itself with the A.R.K. to become The Final Hazard and keep the A.R.K. on collision course.
In light of this, Sonic and Shadow used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow. Together they destroyed Final Hazard and Super Shadow and Super Sonic used Chaos Control to prevent the free-falling A.R.K. from destroying the planet. But in doing so, Shadow used the last of his energy, and fell towards the Earth.
Sonic Heroes
In the game Sonic Heroes, Rouge discovered Shadow in a stasis tube located in the deepest part of one of Dr. Eggman's bases. It was soon revealed that Shadow had amnesia and could not remember anything before his release from the stasis tube, except for brief images of Maria's death. He then joined forces with Rouge and the robot E-123 Omega to form Team Dark (as their speed member) and find Dr. Eggman.
Soon after hearing Dr. Eggman proclaimed that he "has no past to remember", Shadow discovered a half-destroyed Shadow robot and realized that he too might just be a robot. Later, Team Dark defeated the Pseudo-Eggman's Airfleet and discovered that the person they had been chasing was a fake. For as the team ran to continue the mission, Metal Sonic, of whom had been hiding under the guise of Dr. Eggman the entire time, claimed that he had successfully copied the Ultimate Lifeform data (Shadow's D.N.A.). As Shadow continued his mission, he stated that "even if I'm not real, I'm still the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog!"
Afterwards, Rouge stumbled upon a room filled with hundreds of Shadow Androids. As Omega arrived to destroy the room and everything in it, Rouge affirmed her belief that their Shadow was a robot. However, Omega reassured her that the original Shadow had to exist somewhere in order for Eggman to make copies. Rouge decided to stay with Shadow while Omega destroyed the Androids inside the fortress. Rouge held a conversation with Shadow about going after the Master Emerald, to which he smirked and replied that some things never change. Later, when Metal Sonic transformed into Metal Madness, Shadow worked with Rouge, Omega, and the other teams to distract him long enough for Sonic to power up into his Super Form.
At the end of the game, Shadow was last seen with Omega with the defeated Metal Sonic.
Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is first seen standing outside of the city Westopolis, reminiscing the only memory he has, that of Maria's death. He sees a red cloud appear, and the Black Arms fall from it into the city. Shadow dismisses it, but then a mysterious figure appeared before him. The figure orders him to bring him the seven Chaos Emeralds "as promised", and soon vanishes. Shadow sets out to find them, but gets caught up in a conflict between various foes and allies: the G.U.N. army, the alien race known as the Black Arms, Dr. Eggman, and the rest of the Sonic cast.
Due to the style of the game, there are 10 different endings, some showing scenarios such as Shadow's false belief that he is a Shadow Android created by Dr. Eggman, some showing him killing Eggman (it shows him raising his hand, then the screen goes black with Eggman saying "Nooooooo......"), and some showing him defeating Black Doom. However, the "Final" ending ties together all the endings to reveal the truth about Shadow's mysterious past.
It is revealed that Shadow's creator Professor Gerald Robotnik, was, as Black Doom puts it, "in development of the ultimate life force", i.e. immortality. However, he had trouble with his experiments. In order to achieve his goals, he contacted the Black Comet, home to Black Doom and the Black Arms. He made a deal with Black Doom; If Black Doom helped Gerald with his research, he would deliver the seven Chaos Emeralds. Using Black Doom's DNA, they created Shadow the Hedgehog, who would aid in Professor Gerald's experiments and help Black Doom get the Emeralds. However, shortly after Shadow's completion, Gerald discovered that Black Doom wanted the Emeralds in order to take over Earth, using all living creatures as incubators for the Black Arms larvae and for energy sources. This is why Professor Gerald created the Eclipse Cannon with the intention of destroying the Black Comet, and he depended on Shadow to execute this plan.
Later, Shadow gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds and Black Doom appears demanding for them. Then, Sonic, his friends, and Dr. Eggman appear and tell Shadow not to give them away. However, Black Doom uses a paralyzing gas on Shadow and the others, to freeze them in place. Sending larvae to devour them, he then used the Chaos Emeralds to perform a Chaos Control, teleporting the Black Comet to Earth and merging it with the Earth. Just as he does so, Shadow breaks free and pursues Black Doom.
Upon catching up to Black Doom, Shadow confronts him for the emeralds, but he forces Shadow down with his mind-control, revealing that Shadow was created from Black Doom's blood. Afterwards, the Chaotix manage to hack into the ARK's database, and the Professor appears on a screen behind Black Doom. He then tells Shadow of his past through a recording.
Shadow finds the strength to struggle to his feet, and as he attempts to attack, Black Doom disappears and changes into Devil Doom. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Shadow transforms into Super Shadow and battles with Devil Doom. During this battle, Dr. Eggman informs Shadow that he is in fact the original Shadow, rescued after the battle at the A.R.K. by one of Eggman's robots. Eventually, Shadow defeats him and Devil Doom falls to Earth. To finally rid the world of the Black Arms and do away with his past, Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport the Black Comet in front of the Eclipse Cannon, then goes in the A.R.K., puts the Emeralds in (you don't see him doing this, but the Eclipse Cannon needs all the Chaos Emeralds to work and Shadow is not seen in that scene, after using Chaos Control), and the Eclipse Cannon fired at full power and destroyed the Black Comet along with all of the Black Arms inside of it.
Shadow was last seen aboard the A.R.K., looking out the window and holding an old greyscale photo of the Professor and Maria, whispering "Goodbye forever, Shadow the Hedgehog..." He then drops the old photo as he makes his way out of the room.
Sonic Battle
Sonic Battle was released before Sonic Heroes, but was set after it. Rouge saves Shadow's life while they are investigating Dr. Eggman's secret base and takes him back to her home.
In Sonic Battle, Shadow appears to have mysteriously regained his memories, and can use his Chaos powers without a Chaos Emerald, meaning that this game may well be set after Shadow the Hedgehog. Although he does not go into detail, he talks about how the people of Earth must destroy him (and Emerl) if they ever want peace, still believing that he is a weapon. However it is revealed that he has the heart and soul of Professor Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter Maria [citation needed], meaning he cannot be evil, as Maria was a good person. However, Gerald's explanation for creating Shadow contradicts the explanation given in Shadow The Hedgehog.
In one of the Professor's journal entries, it mentions that "Project: Shadow" was put on hold because of Project: Gizoid, and that Shadow was completed approximately a week before the A.R.K. was attacked.
Sonic Riders
Shadow is an unlockable character in the game Sonic Riders. He is unlocked by beating the Hero Story and acts as a speed character, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog and uses Chaos Control to attack his opponents.
Shadow's default racing gear is his skates, the air shoes, which are called "Darkness". He can also use boards and bikes, and other characters can use his skates. He serves no purpose in the game's storyline and appears only as an unlockable character.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game)
Shadow appears in promotional art for the next-generation Sonic title Sonic the Hedgehog, and is slated to appear as a playable character alongside Sonic and the mysterious new hedgehog, Silver. One of the trailers shows him driving a military vehicle equipped with missiles.
Sonic Rivals
Shadow is scheduled to appear alongside Sonic, Knuckles, and Silver in Sonic Rivals as a playable character. Summoned to a strange land by Dr. Eggman via a cryptic transmission asking for his aid, Shadow encounters something strange and now it’s a race to find Eggman to uncover the truth!
Personality
Shadow is a lone wolf who distances himself from most of Sonic's friends. He doesn't talk much, but he never bluffs. If he makes a threat, he has every intention of carrying it out. As shown in Shadow the Hedgehog, he is willing to kill when necessary. Although not so much as Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow can be hot-tempered at times, and is also known to be rude, violent, destructive, fearless, and arrogant. He constantly refers to himself as the "Ultimate Life Form", because that was what Professor Gerald Robotnik intended him to be. [2]
At times, Shadow appeared to be somewhat insecure, since he was constantly haunted by flashbacks and memories of his close friend, Maria. However, after solving the mystery of his past, he chose to leave all thoughts of his past and Maria's death behind him.
In the cartoon Sonic X, Shadow is less aggressive, but is still quite violent. For example, Shadow had attempted to kill Cosmo for being a Metarex spy, even though she was an unwilling one. He then told Tails to stop protecting Cosmo because he did not wish to kill them both. Yet upon cornering Cosmo, Shadow told her to close her eyes, saying it was better that she die without knowing what she was (that being an instrument of Metarex to spy on the heroes). The English dub of the cartoon series tones down Shadow's attitude to make the show acceptable for younger viewers.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books, Shadow was once depicted as being very aggressive and violent towards others, and would destroy anyone who got in the way of his objectives. Over time however, Shadow seems to have lost some of his aggressiveness and has actually become a bit more gentle at times.
Relationships
Shadow had been created by Professor Gerald Robotnik,[3] Dr. Eggman's grandfather, with the use of Black Doom's DNA. In theory, this means that Black Doom is Shadow's biological father. Soon after being created Shadow became good friends with the Professor's granddaughter, Maria, and treated her like his sister. However, Maria sacrificed herself to save Shadow from the Space Colony A.R.K. during a military siege of the station. After her death, Maria's sacrifice continuously haunted Shadow, until he finally decided to let go of his past at the end of Shadow the Hedgehog. Maria is generally referenced in most games Shadow has appeared in, with the exception of Sonic Heroes, due to Shadow's amnesia, and Sonic Riders, since Shadow didn't have a place in the main story.
Shadow's approach to Dr. Eggman is quite different to that of other characters. His relation to the Doctor is neither that of a staunch enemy nor ally, choosing instead to form alliances with or against him depending on the circumstances. Although Shadow appears to show little regard for whether Dr. Eggman's schemes succeed or not, clashes do occur when he gets in his way. Yet despite this, they display a certain amount of respect for each other's abilities. Shadow demonstrates this by calling the would-be world conqueror by his title "the Doctor", as opposed to his nickname Eggman. Almost in return, the Doctor had once referred to Shadow's abilities as "spectacular".
One of Shadow's main rivals and adversaries (and later ally) is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. When the two first meet in Sonic Adventure 2, they immediately become enemies, but over time their relationship develops into a strong rivalry. They frequently fight for different reasons, but both appear to have a certain amount of respect for each other's abilities. Under extreme circumstances, the two hedgehogs will work together for a common goal, but only if it absolutely requires teamwork. One example of this, is when Shadow and Sonic combat the Finalhazard at the end of Sonic Adventure 2.
Shadow also has a close connection to Rouge. He saves her life in Sonic Adventure 2, at the Security Hall when she is locked inside a safe while stealing three of the Chaos Emeralds from G.U.N., (to power the Doctor's Eclipse Cannon) although he claimed that he was only concerned about the Chaos Emerald Rouge had stolen. In Sonic Heroes, she in turn releases him from a capsule inside Dr. "Eggman's" base while looking for treasure and he saved her from being shot by E-123 Omega. In Sonic Battle, Shadow calls her an "ally", possibly his way of calling her a friend.
E-123 Omega is an ally of Shadow. After starting off as enemies, he and Omega became friends and helped each other in battle. During Sonic Heroes, Shadow, Omega, and Rouge worked together as a team, forming Team Dark, and in Shadow the Hedgehog, Omega helped Shadow to find and confront Dr. Eggman in the Iron Jungle and Lava Shelter levels, plus the Iron Jungle Egg Breaker boss, and the Lava Shelter Egg Dealer final bosses.
Finally, Shadow also has an association with Amy Rose. Near the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Amy encounters him in one of the A.R.K.'s rooms and begs him to help the others save the planet. At first Shadow refuses, insisting that nothing can be done. She continues to plead, and her pleadings trigger a suppressed memory of the last moments of Maria's life, wherein Maria begs Shadow to make the people of Earth happy, causing him to change his mind. Shadow also assists her in searching for Cream the Rabbit and her pet Chao, Cheese during the Cryptic Castle level of Shadow the Hedgehog.
Abilities
Shadow possesses the same speed and agility as Sonic and is similar to him in almost all other abilities. Shadow also has super strength, though probably not as great as Knuckles'. This is demonstrated in Shadow the Hedgehog, when he overturns a bus with one hand.
Shadow's trademark move is Chaos Control, which allows him to warp time and space. Shadow has also used this ability as Team Dark's Team Blast in Sonic Heroes and on specific opponents in Sonic Riders. Other "Chaos" moves and attacks are Chaos Blast, Chaos Spear. Usually, Shadow has a Chaos Emerald when he performs Chaos Control. However, it has recently been revealed that he does not need an Emerald in order to perform this technique. This is shown in the game Shadow the Hedgehog, when Shadow performs Chaos Control in the last level of the game (not the fight with Devil Doom, but the level where he chases him inside the Black Comet immediately before the battle), even though he does not have any Chaos Emeralds in his possession. Shadow also uses Chaos Control in Sonic Battle, without the help of a Chaos Emerald. In the Archie Comic Book Series, Shadow uses his Chaos powers in this same fashion to stop an army of Metal Sonic troopers. Later, in the same issue, Knuckles explains that Shadow does not need the Chaos Emeralds to use his Chaos Powers, but Shadow can use the Emeralds to amplify the effects of his Chaos Powers.
In Sonic X, Shadow can carry Chaos Emeralds in his spines, the same way Tails puts the Chaos Emeralds in his tails. As shown in one of the episodes, Shadow will become weak without his power rings.
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow has shown that he can also use a wide range of close-combat weapons, firearms, semi-automatics and heavy assault weapons, improvise with debris, and drive a wide range of vehicles.
One of Shadow's assets are his Air Shoes (also called Jet Shoes and Hover Skates), which ultilize powerful hover jets to reduce friction and enable Shadow to 'skate' as fast as Sonic runs and hover in mid-air. The jets on both end of his shoes glow gold when he runs. In Sonic Riders, the Air Shoes have been redesigned by Dr. Eggman as Extreme Gear, but their overall qualities are the same. It is unknown how fast Shadow is without his Air Shoes. The Shadow the Hedgehog game manual credits his "powerful body" as the reason for his incredible speed.
Hyper Shadow
Hyper Shadow is the transformed state of Shadow. Shadow can perform this transformation when he harnesses the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. In this form, his body color changes from black to a silver or lemon cream color, and all his powers and natural abilities are enhanced many times. Hyper Shadow made his first appearance in Sonic Adventure 2, where he had to battle against the Finalhazard with Super Sonic. Like Sonic, Shadow requires rings in order to maintain this super form.
Hyper Shadow can fly and is nearly invincible. Moreover, in Shadow the Hedgehog, more of Hyper Shadow's powers are revealed. Hyper Shadow's powers include his Air Dash, Chaos Spear, Chaos Control, and Chaos Blast. Hyper Shadow is often mistakenly labelled as "Super Shadow", Hyper Shadow is silver in Sonic Adventure 2, and appears gold in Shadow the Hedgehog, because the yellow aura saturated the red and green color channels.
Other appearances
Sonic X
Shadow also appears on the cartoon Sonic X. Episodes 33 through 38 are based on Sonic Adventure 2, with quite a few differences from the game. For one, it was Chris Thorndyke who reminded Shadow of his true promise from Maria, not Amy Rose. Afterwards, he makes short appearances in flashbacks, but he makes his true return in episode 60, “The Return of Shadow.” In Japan he is voiced by his game voice actor, but in the dub he is voiced by Jason Griffith, who also does the voice of Sonic.
In Season 3, Shadow had no clear memory of his mysterious past, although in one episode (named "Molly's Dream" in the Japanese translation), he seems to have an image of Maria in his mind. However, he cannot seem to work out who she really was. In that same episode, Dr. Eggman is visited by people of the planet the Metarex are warring with, including one orange-haired female teenager by the name of Molly. Shadow and Rouge meet her, and at the end of the episode, Molly was killed by the Metarex. Shadow erects a makeshift grave for her, and Rouge notes that she was similar to Maria.
Later, Shadow receives a faint memory of Maria as he is holding the grey Chaos Emerald in his hands. In the last episode of the 3rd season, as Shadow is in his Super form, in his mind there is an image of Molly, which used to be Maria in the episode "Molly's Dream". Shadow then performs Chaos Control to save everyone from an exploding planet, leaving a slightly confused Sonic and his friends behind. In the Japanese/French version of the last episode Shadow is seen at Molly's grave, where he seems to have put a pink flower on it.
The cartoon also mentions that Shadow is associated with a folklore hero named Black Wind.
Archie comic
Shadow has appeared a few times in Archie's Sonic comics. He first appears in Sonic #98, which is an introduction to the game Sonic Adventure 2, with a few changes to accommodate the Archie version of Mobius/Earth. The comic skips over the events of the game, and Shadow reappears in Sonic #124 with an explanation of how he survived his apparent death: An alien race, the Bem, rescued him so he could combat their enemy, the alien Xorda, buying the Bem time to escape. However, Shadow could not defeat the Xorda and plummetted toward Mobius. He survived the fall and was found by Sonic.
Shadow often works alone to achieve his goal, which is to discover the truth about his mysterious history. He has allied with Sonic to fight greater evils, like the Xorda, and he has been known to work either for or against Dr. Eggman depending on the circumstances. Often, he will side with whomever he believes will bring him closer to the truth. This search has led him to interact with various other characters, including the robot Isaac, Knuckles' father Locke, and various versions of Metal Sonic.
The Overlander girl, Hope Kintobor, the great-granddaughter of Shadow's creator, reminds Shadow of Maria. Because of this, he seeks to protect her from harm at any cost.
Alternate Selves
Like most other characters in the Archie Comics, Shadow undoubtedly has multiple alternate counterparts in other dimensions. Among these is a version shown in an alternate Mobius: 25 Years Later story. In this version, Shadow is married to Sally Acorn, rules over Mobius as king, and has Knuckles the Echidna as his chief enforcer. King Shadow is a despot, and it is unknown if he encounters the same problems facing future Mobius as King Sonic.
Robotic Versions
In the video games Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow encounters several androids created in his image. Gifted with similar powers as Shadow, Shadow Androids also possess robotic artillery attacks.
In the multi-player mode on Shadow the Hedgehog, four characters appear to be robotic Shadows. Named Shadow Androids by the instruction manual, these robots are silver and green, pink, yellow, and blue stripes, each wielding one of two different weapons, however there are two other Shadow "androids" that have no weapons to start out with and are both normal colored except one has yellow stripes instead of red ones.
Voice actors
- In Japan, he is voiced by Koji Yusa.
- Before Shadow the Hedgehog, he was voiced by David Humphrey.
- As of Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow's official English voice actor is Jason Griffith, who also voices Jet the Hawk and Sonic.
Theme songs
- Sonic Adventure 2: "Throw It All Away".
- Sonic Heroes: Team Dark's "This Machine".
- Shadow the Hedgehog: "I Am...(All of Me)", "Almost Dead", "Waking Up", "Chosen One", "All Hail Shadow", and "Never Turn Back".
References & notes
In addition to information taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog games themselves, the instruction booklets of the US and Japanese versions of the games were also used as references for this article.
- ^ Concept-Mobius.com. "Shadow's profile on Concept Mobius". Retrieved May 29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ AbsoluteAnime.com. "Information on Shadow's personality". Retrieved May 29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Sonic HQ.com. "Rouge's report on Shadow". Retrieved April 5.
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External links
