Shadow the Hedgehog (character)

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog artwork from Team Sonic Racing.
Series	Sonic
First Appearance	Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Species	Hedgehog
Year Created	2001
Created by	Takashi Iizuka
Designed by	Yuji Uekawa
Theme	Throw It All Away (Sonic Adventure 2) All Hail Shadow (Shadow the Hedgehog)
Voiced by (English)	David Humphrey (2001-2005) Jason Griffith (2005-2010) Kirk Thornton (2010-present)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Koji Yusa

Shadow the Hedgehog is an anti-hero in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, who debuted in Sonic Adventure 2, later remade into Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. He was created by Dr. Robotnik's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, with the DNA of Black Doom, and was made to be the Ultimate Lifeform. However, after the Space Colony Ark was destroyed, which took the life of Shadow's good friend, Maria.

Shadow was struck with amnesia, and attempted to destroy the Earth, believing it was Maria's request. However, after recovering much of his memory, Shadow ended up assisting Sonic in saving the Earth from the Biolizard. Shadow's somewhat rough past has made him very bitter and cold in current years, and due to this, he is capable of joining the cause of good or evil. He always ends up doing what is right in the end, however, and has grown a friendly rivalry with Sonic and Silver.

History

Shadow's first appearance was in Sonic Adventure 2, and likewise, his first appearance on a Nintendo console was in the version of this game created for the GameCube, titled Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. 

He was created to be the Ultimate Life Form by Eggman's grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik as a test to find the cure for sickness, as his granddaughter suffers NIDS (Neuro Immune Deficiency Syndrome), but the government military agency G.U.N thought the project was to dangerous and cut funding.

But the doctor continued the project so G.U.N sent soldiers to the Space Colony A.R.K to destroy the doctors work. Maria tried to help Shadow and pushed him into an escape pod and sent him careening to Earth. A G.U.N soldier tried to shoot Shadow but missed and shot Maria. Shadow landed on Earth, believed to be dead. Shadow's loss of his best friend and adopted sister, Maria, created a hatred of the human race in Shadow.

Appearance

Shadow is a black anthropomorphic hedgehog. His skin is mostly solid black, with red lines at the back of his spiky head. He has red eyes. He wears white gloves, a pair of gold rings next to his hands, and white shoes with red lines at the bottom and golden rings at the top of his shoes.

According to Shy Guy in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (London Party quiz), the shoes Shadow wears are called Air Shoes, as it allows Shadow to glide through the air.

Appearances

Mario & Sonic at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Shadow appeared in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games in 2007-2008. This was the first time he ever appeared in game that has Mario series characters. He has excellent speed, fair power, good skill, and poor stamina. He is in Speed category along with Daisy, Yoshi and Sonic.

Mario & Sonic at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games

Shadow again appeared in Mario & Sonic series in 2009. His stats are similar to that of the game's prequel, but slightly slower, excellent acceleration, better power, very good jumping, better stamina, and fair technique. His skill remains the same. His special skill is Chaos Boost.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Shadow again appeared in Mario & Sonic series in 2011-2012. His stats remain the same as the game's prequel (Winter games). The following description says:

Like Sonic, Shadow is an extremely fast hedgehog that can give his more famous blue rival a run for his money in most Speed events. Additionally, his accuracy will help give him a leg up in events like Pistol Shooting and Fencing - Epee.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Shadow the Hedgehog is an Assist Trophy from the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He causes every character on the stage to temporarily slow down, excluding the user of the Assist Trophy.

Trivia

• Shadow's skin color in the 3D artwork is normally paler then in 2D artwork. 
• There is a small possibility that Silver is Shadow's son due to Silver having access to Chaos Abilities and similar powers to Shadow. Silver's fur color also looks like a dark white which is a color combination of black (Shadow) and White (Rouge, who is often portrayed by fans as Shadow's girlfriend). Also in Sonic and the Black Knight, Shadow's alter ego is Lancelot who, in the old Arthurian legends is the father of Galahad, Silver's Arthurian counterpart.
• Shadow is missing a spine in Sonic X and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
• He shares similarities to Vegeta from the Dragon Ball Z series, as they are both arrogant, have similar hair and they are both the strongest of something, Shadow being the "Ultimate Life Form, and Vegeta being the Prince of the Saiyans. 
• Shadow's super from, Super Shadow, is often mistaken for Hyper Shadow due to Shadow's silverish colour when in Super Form in Sonic Adventure 2.
• Shadow's quills heavily resemble Hyper Sonic's.
• In a Japanese commercial for Shadow the Hedgehog, he is seen dancing. 
• According to official polls, Shadow is ranked second most popular Sonic character behind Sonic himself. 
  • In the 2011 Guinness World Book of Records: Gamer's Edition, Shadow is ranked 25th in top 50 most popular characters with Sonic placing 10th. 
• It is possible Shadow has green blood due to him being created from Black Arms blood samples (which is green) and hedgehog DNA. 
• In Sonic Generations, the player is awarded the 4th Chaos Emerald for defeating Shadow. This may be a reference to Shadow's line in his own game "Where's that damn fourth Chaos Emerald". This could also just be coincidence.
• Shadow has also gained internet popularity for the line listed above. 
• The source of Shadow's speed is unknown because he runs with his jet shoes, although occasionally he is seen running without them in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games where he is still the same speed as Sonic. 
• He also has super strength in his game of the same name, where can overturn heavy objects with ease. 
• Shadow was originally going to be a playable character alongside Knuckles in Sonic Unleashed because the game was originally planned to be Sonic Adventure 3, although he is mentioned on two occasions.

Gallery

Main article: Shadow the Hedgehog (character)/gallery

External links

• Shadow the Hedgehog at Sonic Wiki Zone, the Fandom wiki on Sonic.
• Shadow the Hedgehog at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia