Shadow the Hedgehog

For the eponymous game, see Shadow the Hedgehog (game).

Shadow the Hedgehog is known as the "dark incarnation" of Sonic the Hedgehog and first appears in the Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure 2.

History

Shadow is known as the ultimate life form. He was created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of Dr. Robotnik (aka Dr. Eggman) aboard the space colony ARK. He developed a fast friendship with the Professor's granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, and often looked down to Earth, wondering what the purpose to his life was. When the military attacked ARK, hoping to shut down the Ultimate Life Form project, Maria sacrificed herself in order to let Shadow escape to Earth in an escape pod. On Earth, Shadow was captured by the military and placed in suspended animation for 50 years until Dr. Eggman attacked the complex looking for "his grandfather's legacy" and freed him. As a reward for freeing him, Shadow granted the doctor one wish, which was the domination of Earth. Shadow also has an alternative motive- to fulfill Maria's last wish, which was revenge on Earth for causing her death.

Shadow led Eggman to the ARK and the ultimate weapon: the Eclipse Cannon, which required seven Chaos Emeralds to reach full power. Joined by a treasure hunter named Rouge the Bat, the three succeed in breaking into a military base and managing to gather three Emeralds, which, combined with the one Eggman used to free Shadow, an Emerald Shadow stole (which in turn framed Sonic the Hedgehog) and one that Rouge offered for her services, was enough power to destroy half the moon. They retrieve the last Emerald when Sonic leads an assault of Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and (reluctantly for the boys) Amy Rose on the ARK. Sonic, however winds up being captured and supposedly destroyed. In their final duel, Shadow is defeated by Sonic, and the Eclipse Cannon is destroyed. However, the ARK is set on a collision course with Earth, which means that Maria's "revenge" would be carried out anyway.

That is, until Amy manages to remind the Black Blur that Maria's true last wish was for the people of Earth to be happy, not revenge. (Note: Exactly why Shadow did not remember this promise is never revealed. Some argue that Shadow's memories were altered by Gerald Robotnik. Some believe that the stress of seeing Maria die and Shadow's own thirst for vengeance caused Shadow to subconsciously re-write history in his own mind in order to justify his actions.) Shadow rushes to redeem himself by helping Sonic and Knuckles seal the power of the Chaos Emeralds To buy them time, he fought the Biolizard, the Prototype of the Ultimate Life Form. Though he wins, he cannot stop it from merging with ARK and continuing ARK's path towards Earth as the Final Hazard. Using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, he transforms with Sonic into Super Shadow, and together they destroy Final Hazard and use Chaos Control to stop the free-falling ARK from destroying the Earth. However, Shadow uses the last of his energy to do so, and falls to Earth. He is assumed to be dead.

In the next game, Sonic Heroes, Rouge discovers that Shadow is alive, and in a stasis tube located in the deepest part of one of Dr. Eggman's bases. After saving Rouge from a rampaging robot called E-123 Omega, it is revealed that Shadow has amnesia and cannot remember anything before his release from the stasis tube. He joins forces with Rouge and Omega to form Team Dark (as their speed member and second-in-command) and hunt down Dr. Eggman.

After battling the Egg Albatross, and hearing Dr. Eggman proclaim that he "has no past to remember", Shadow discovers a half destroyed Shadow robot and realises that he too might just be a robot. Despite this, he continues his mission, proclaiming that "even if I'm not real, I'm still the ultimate life form, Shadow the Hedgehog!" They defeat Dr. Eggman's Egg Emperor and discover that the person they have been chasing is a fake Dr. Eggman. Meanwhile, Rouge sneaks off to look for Dr. Eggman's treasure, and discovers a whole room filled with hundreds of cloned Shadow robots. As Omega arrives to destroy the room and everything in it, Rouge deduces that the Shadow of Sonic Heroes is just a robot. However, Omega reassures her that when you clone something, there is always an original, and the original may still exist.

When Metal Sonic transforms into Metal Madness, Shadow works with Rouge and Omega to distract Metal Madness long enough for Sonic to power up into his Super Form. At the end of the game, he is last seen with Omega and the defeated Metal Sonic.

In Sonic Battle, Shadow has regained all of his memories (though it's never explained how, much to the pain of continuity buffs and Shadow fans alike).

His upcoming solo game, Shadow the Hedgehog, will most likely explain what happened to him between Heroes and Battle. In the battle with Devil Doom, survive for about ten minutes. Eggman explains that when Shadow fell from Earth, he was rescued. How? Eggman sent out one of his robots, which broke his fall. A theory is that Eggman put Shadow into a capsule and researched him, then created the body of the Shadow Androids. They don't have Shadow's mind and just seem to be mindless androids however. They are similar to Metal Sonic in every way, except for the mind.

Abilities

Shadow's trademark move is called Chaos Control. Using the power of a single Chaos Emerald, he can freeze time and warp through space (teleportation). He is never seen freezing time in Sonic Adventure 2, but in Sonic Heroes the time freeze is an effect of Team Dark's Team Blast, known as "Chaos Inferno". He uses the teleportation ability three times in Sonic Adventure 2: once to escape from Sonic with the green emerald, once to rescue Rouge from the military base before it blows up, and during the final duel against Sonic. Chaos Control was not an in-game ability of Shadow for SA2. In the GameCube remake, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Shadow is able to use Chaos Control in the two player versus mode, where he can freeze time for the other player. Sonic can also use Chaos Control, even with a fake emerald, though he only realizes this later. Nowadays, Sonic only uses Chaos Control as a last resort.

Shadow shares every ability of Sonic, meaning that they are truly rivals. The only reason Sonic is known as the fastest hedgehog is because the Blue Blur has broken the sound barrier before, something Shadow has yet to accomplish. His light trail is gold instead of blue. Why it isn't black, no one knows.

Character analysis & popular theories

Shadow was a character supposedly created by Yuji Naka to have a typical Japanese shady, dark hero, rival to the more Americanised (but increasingly, a quirky Japanese take on it) Sonic, making the game more anime-like.

Shadow is somewhat of a marmite character - many love him, others feel that they're being "forced" to love him, and therefore hate him.

Shadow could be influenced by Shadow from Final Fantasy 6. He is also meant to be somewhat of a Goth Hedgehog, adding a touch of magic and darkness to the series, also probably influenced by the likes of Vincent from FF7.

Whatever way you look at him, he still adds depth to the newer games Sonic the Hedgehog series, which aren't welcomed as warmly as the older ones, although often because of Shadow's existence.

A popular opinion is that Shadow is an evil clone of Sonic. This is never stated in any of the games. Shadow is the ultimate life form and that he was created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik. His resemblance to Sonic character-wise is a pure coincidence. Sonic is fifteen years old, and Shadow was created approximately fifty years ago, so Sonic could not have been cloned.

Despite Shadow being "created" and being said to be artificial, Shadow the Hedgehog (game) denies this. It claims that Shadow was actually born and he is a real hedgehog, just with Black Doom's blood, meaning the two have similar abilities and it explains why the Black Arms have Shadow's colours.

What exactly is the ultimate life form that Gerald Robotnik was working on? Shadow the Hedgehog answers this by explaining that Shadow is the ultimate life form Gerald was working on, and Biolizard was the one he wrote about in the diary in Sonic Adventure 2.

In the speech before his execution at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, Gerald explains how the Ultimate Life Form project was supposed to be for the good of mankind. The military interpreted it as a weapon which led to the attack that killed Maria and supposedly destroyed the Ultimate Life Form. Gerald goes on to claim that, filled with hatred for the military for killing Maria, he completed the Ultimate Life Form based on what he remembered and programmed it to carry out his revenge. He also implores the listener to free it.

This speech is quite confusing. We know that Shadow escaped ARK in an escape pod, and that same Shadow was the one freed by Dr. Eggman. But based on his speech, Gerald does not know that Shadow has survived. He would have realised that Shadow had survived if the military had delivered Shadow to him so he could continue his work. It is unknown why would the military continue to allow Gerald to work on Shadow if they already perceived him as a threat.

There are three possible explanations. One is that Shadow is the only true Ultimate Life Form and that the professor improved Shadow even further after he was captured by the military. Secondly, there is a third, more powerful Ultimate Life Form in existence which has not been discovered. A third possibility is that, the Final Hazard is the true Ultimate Life Form. Relating to this second theory, some believe that Sonic actually is the ultimate life form, seeing as he is very similar to Shadow in various ways, saying that Sonic is actually an upgraded version of Shadow, some say this can be proved by various things Sonic can do that Shadow can't (Sonic can run fast without the rocket shoes, Bounce Attack, etc). This cannot be proved, however, so that theory should be regarded purely as speculation, and not fact. Shadow the Hedgehog denies this and proves that the third ultimate life form is in fact Black Doom, from a line in the game Black Doom says when defeated "What? This can't be! I am the supreme being that rules this universe, the Immortal Life Form! I am the ultimate power... graaaggghhh!"

Before he was executed, Gerald modified the Bio-Lizard so it could fuse with ARK using Chaos Control and destroy Earth by ramming into it. Sonic and Knuckles "free" the Bio-Lizard when they approach the core of ARK, and the voice of Gerald plays as it is released. The Bio-Lizard was also just a "prototype" of the Ultimate Life Form- an incomplete version. This would leave it open to being improved by Gerard. Finally, by using Chaos Control to fuse with ARK, it is carrying out the mission it was programmed for: to destroy Earth. Seeing that Shadow was not originally programmed to destroy Earth, it is improbable to suggest that his predecessor, the Bio-Lizard, was originally a weapon of destruction, especially considering that the whole Ultimate Life Form project was supposed to bring peace to the world. The only viable explanation is that it was re-programmed by Gerard. The only disproof of this theory is the subtitle of "The Prototype of the Ultimate Life" in the description of the Final Hazard.

Another popular theory is that the Shadow in SA2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Battle is a real, organic Shadow and Metal Sonic used this original Shadow to clone his army. Proof to this theory is that Metal Sonic says "Ultimate Life Form data has been copied" after the Egg Albatross is defeated. Thus, Shadow in Sonic Heroes and SA2, and thus Sonic Battle (Battle's Shadow has SA2's memories) is the real one as Metal Sonic indirectly implies there that he couldn't copy the Ultimate Life Form data from one of the clones. However, the fake Dr. Eggman (Metal Sonic) tells Shadow that he 'has no past to remember' before he copies the Ultimate Life Form data, although this could just be to throw him and make him think he's a clone, therefore stopping him from realizing that he can warp in time and space. Obviously, Shadow realizing that would be a huge blow to Metal Sonic's plans. Also, why would a normal Shadow clone be kept in a different place to all the others? Shadow's solo game explains that Eggman rescued Shadow with one of his robots, and Eggman decided that he could use "Shadow Androids" (robotic copies of Shadow) to conquer the world. Metal Sonic apparently didn't know about this and believed Shadow did die.

Yet another popular theory is that Shadow's memories of Maria are entirely false, and that, in fact, the hedgehog form of Project Shadow never even set foot on Space Colony ARK prior to the events of Sonic Adventure 2. The likely scenario is that, somehow, Gerald was able to continue work on Project Shadow while incarcerated by GUN (as indicated by Sonic X). How, we do not know -- Perhaps they were using the professor for other research purposes and he secretly did the work on the side. Regardless, planning to utilize Shadow for vengeance on GUN and, for that matter, the entire world, the very angry professor would have programmed fabricated memories of Maria and her death into Shadow's subconscious. Shadow's game proves that these memories are true. Remember that Shadow has been in a capsule for fifty years, so his memories are probably cloudy.

This theory doesn't quite explain why Shadow had the change of heart he did toward the end of the SA2 story arc, but if anything, it can probably be accredited to emotional mental instability. Of course, many people [supporting this theory] say that since Shadow's memory contained the anger of Prof. Gerald, when he had his change of heart it actually represented Prof. Gerald's inputted anger realizing what was really happenning, and repenting. The answer is that Shadow remembered more of Maria's wish. Earlier in the game, he doesn't remember the "Give them a chance... to be happy!" part of the wish.

• Also, it should be noted that the story of Sonic Battle cannot be considered canon material without completely disregarding the history laid out by Sonic Adventure 2. There are far too many discrepancies in the story relating to Professor Gerald's journal entries (unlockable by playing through the story a second time) that completely nullify any direct sense of continuity with SA2, where Shadow was created for the purpose of vengeance. Why would Gerald have intentionally programmed the final version of Shadow with a conscience if the very reason it was brought into existence was to destroy the world? The plot holes created by Sonic Battle are simply too large to disregard.

• Note: This is personal opinion, and not fact. An alternate explanation is that Shadow is simply *not* a robot, and can't be purely programmed, only hypnotised and influenced to implant thoughts and emotions. Sonic Battle fits quite well as canon development as Shadow's character. Shadow has been going through much self discovery since he wa awoken in Sonic Adventure 2 - this is simply a natural stage in his development. He is a living humanoid creature, with a mind and conscience of his own. He disagrees in Sonic Battle, but it's made quite obvious by the other characters reactions that it's just another mood swing.

Lastly, there is nothing that states that the Chaos Emerald-empowered Shadow seen at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 is "Hyper Shadow." The proper terminology is Super Shadow, as, according to Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, a character absorbing all seven Chaos Emeralds is always referred to as "Super" instead of "Hyper", no matter who that character is. "Hyper" is a second stage achieved by absorption of the seven Super Emeralds (powered up forms of the Chaos Emeralds), as seen from Hyper Sonic and Hyper Knuckles in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

What truly happened in the end of Sonic Adventure 2

In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow is seen falling to Earth and apparently getting killed in the process. After he returned, many fans wondered if Shadow is the real one, or an android. Here are the theories stated in Shadow the Hedgehog:

• In the neutral story, Eggman tricks Shadow into believing he is one of the Shadow Androids created in the beginning of the game and in the end of Sonic Heroes. Shadow believes this as he doesn't have any memories, but he goes to Eggman's base and he and E-123 Omega kill the doctor. In the heroic Lava Shelter ending, Shadow plans that he will kill Eggman and he and Omega will rule an android utopia. Then he kills Eggman and the credits roll. In the darker one, Shadow obeys Eggman but uses the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the Egg Dealer. Shadow claims that he will be better than the other Shadow Androids, and the original Shadow. Then he kills Eggman and the credits roll. It should be noted that these endings are not canon as Eggman is in the Last Story.

• Shadow is hinted to have only just survived in the pure evil storyline, and that it is GUN's fault. Shadow decides that the best thing to do is carry out revenge and destroy Earth. In the heroic ending, Shadow kills Black Doom but conquers the universe anyway. And in the evil storyline Shadow claims that he and Black Doom (who he believes is his lord and master) will rule Earth.

• In one storyline, Shadow realizes he is the original and decides to stay on the ARK. While he manages to destroy one of Eggman's robots, he does it because he plans to protect ARK from any and all outsiders, and he lets Eggman off with a warning.

• Finally, in the Last Story, Eggman explains what happened to Shadow. To do it, survive in the battle with Devil Doom for about eight-ten minutes. Eggman says this "Shadow... can you hear me? Th--this may be the last t-time I-I get to sp-speak to you... everyone th-thought you d-died aboard the ARK on that tragic d-day... w-well you didn't... I r-rescued you w-with one of m-my robots. Y-you j-just l-lost your m-memory, that's all. Y-you really are the U-ultimate Life F-form my gr-grandfather created!", proving that the Shadow we play as is the real one.

Just to stop all the theories and put up a fact.

Japanese Backstory: The TRUTH About 50 Years Ago

After Sonic Adventure 2 was released, a strategy guide was fashioned with the guidance of Sonic Team. This official strategy guide offered eager players the chance to also learn a bit more about Shadow's past, in the form of a report written by Rouge the Bat. The report, a partial transcript, explained her findings on "Project: Shadow" which explains quite a bit about some questions we all have, and brings up a slew of new ones. This backstory is also what the Journal Entries in Sonic Battle work with. Here is the translation of this report. (Translation provided by KojiChao)

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During my latest criminal investigation, I found secret information about Project Shadow through a Security Hole in GUN, and informed the President. It was a letter addressed to Professor Gerald from the President of the time, 13 Presidents ago, confidentially requesting from him some new research. The subject of the letter is as follows. "Mankind's ultimate eternal dream, researching for immortality." Gerald had refused this request stubbornly, for it crossed over Man's limits. However (although ironically), in the end, Gerald's dearest granddaughter "Maria Robotnik" gave him a reason to look over the plans. Maria suffered from an illness, "NIDS: Neuro immunodeficiency syndrome", by which medical treatment was difficult to provide. Although she seemingly could not expect recovery from this, medical treatment research was still continued aboard the ARK. Before they finally thought the incurable disease could be conquered, Gerald had declared his new immortality studies. Advanced research was strictly confidential, inside the ARK. Records state, "Project Shadow" was named this because of the sarcasm involved in not actually being able to create a Shadow (Which didn't exist in the world). At first, everyone thought that this plan was far too reckless and far-fetched to have ever been fabricated by Professor Gerald's gifted mind. Chaos Emeralds were researched and resulted in the creation of Chaos Drives, which were a test to apply their infinite energy to a life, while the main project would only be started once the prototype was complete. The "Prototype of the Ultimate Life-form", made after the image of a lizard, showed many signs of wonderful growth. Regeneration, restoration, and self-reproduction(*1). The researchers were thrilled at this. But, while their joy of how well the Prototype was doing quickly went to their heads, it became unruly and hard to control causing many problems. A voice of doubt soon arose, as they questioned their continuation on this project, as well as the safety of others aboard(*2). The truth is uncertain, about who had leaked private information about the Project to GUN, however it was considered to have been one of the few who were concerned with the Prototype, as it became reckless. Those who were among the top ranking of GUN, had a strong disliking of the research organization, and formulated a plan to shut down the ARK itself, taking advantage of its current situation. Their secret plan was code named, "ARK's Indestructible Seal(*3)" All of the colony's residents were to be evacuated from a bio hazardous calamity generated from within the ARK research institution, and it would be sealed away. This was their ostensible(*4) purpose of the strategy. Of course, the true purpose was to close the ARK research facility, erase Project Shadow, and put the blame to Professor Gerald as the person who had caused the accident. The plan was carried out, on the premise that GUN knew nothing, and within only seven days of the Plan's commencing, all the residents of the ARK were moved to the planet. All the research facilities aboard the ARK were frozen by GUN, and all persons involved in Project Shadow, except for Professor Gerald, were announced as victims of the disaster. The plan was finally completed, when the "Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform" was found, and then sealed away in the deepest part of the Colony. But, there was a miscalculation in their plan. It seemed Professor Gerald was already finishing off the Ultimate Lifeform "Shadow"(*5), but using another desirable form, when the plan was being executed. When GUN's Special Forces rushed into the research institute, Gerald escaped, and entrusted it to Maria, his granddaughter, checking to make sure that the one escape capsule was ejected toward the planet(*6). (In addition, the whereabouts of the capsule at that time were not known, either.) Now, it is not known if the hedgehog "Shadow the Hedgehog", being the "Shadow" that was sealed away in Prison Island, was a copy created by someone else(*7), or was the original "Shadow" that was ejected toward the planet. (There is no real way to confirm this anywhere...)

(*Footnotes*) 1: The Biolizard was able to take damage, and heal itself, regenerate any lost limbs, like a lizard, and it could reproduce asexually (The pink Eggs Shadow "Homing Attack"s on). Unfortunatelly, it required its Life Support System, fuel by Chaos Drives, to continue. 2: The Biolizard reacted violently when it had the power of the Chaos Emeralds. 3: Ehh, not too sure on the ACTUAL name on this. ^_^; So, it might be off... 4: Ostensible: The 'Good guy Image' GUN was trying to convey, making the public think they were doing the right thing, when they had ulterior motives. 5: "Shadow" was created during the week GUN's plan was executed, so he never knew about the Prototype, or the destructive powers it possesed. 6: Gerald had told Maria to escape with Shadow, and ran in the opposite direction to draw unwanted attention away from the two. He looked at a monitor/out a window, to see the capsule leaving the colony. 7: The text mentions an "Original piece" of Shadow. Most likely pertaining to the fact that Rouge doesn't believe that the "Shadow" we know, was actually the one from 50 years ago. She believes, that, perhaps, the Original Shadow was in the capsule, DIED upon impact. Someone else found 'Shadow', and made a CLONE. In most Sci-Fi movies, the clones of original lifeforms usually can retain certain memories that they had before. However, as stated, she can't proove if he's the original, or a clone.

Games Shadow has appeared in

• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Sonic Battle
• Sonic Heroes
• Shadow the Hedgehog
• Sonic Riders

Critiscm

Shadow has recieved a large amount of critiscm from Sonic fans and big-name gaming sites such as IGN and GameSpot. One of them is that his "death" in Sonic Adventure 2 made a great ending, and that having him return cheapened his death. Shadow is also criticized due to the fact that he curses a lot in his game (especially his over-use of the word "damn"). He is also hated because he is believed to simply be a "dark Sonic", despite having a backstory.

Quotes

• "My name is Shadow. Since you were so kind to release me, master, I shall grant you one wish."

• "It all starts with this, a jewel containing the ultimate power!"

• "Chaos... CONTROL!"

• "You'll regret this, doctor! Even if I'm not real, I'm still the ultimate life form... Shadow the Hedgehog!"

• "Where's that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald?!"

• "(repeated line) Damn it!"

• "Now... witness my true power!"

Voice Actors

• Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders (Japanese) - Koji Yusa
• Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes (English) - David Humphrey
• Sonic X, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders (English) - Jason Griffith