Black Shadow

"We must find and perform... 'maintenance' on the man. Through Seppuku, I can kill Captain Falcon, and by killing Falcon, no living being in the universe will remain powerful enough to destroy me. Kill two birds with one stone…" ―Black Shadow, Part 1/3, Epilogue
Black Shadow is the main antagonist of F-Zero: Seppuku, merely plotting from the shadows throughout Part 1/3, but revealing himself as the ultimate threat to the universe throughout Parts 2/3 and 3/3. Following Part 1/3, Black Shadow and his organization, Dark Million, becomes the constant target of Team Seppuku and the Galactic Space Federation, as well as vice versa.
Minimal is publicly known about Black Shadow in the F-Zero: Seppuku universe. He makes himself known to the universe only with the rise of F-Zero and its extraordinary annual Grand Prix monetary prize, where he would regularly enter the competition under the name 'Black Shadow,' and championing the mighty Black Bull F-Zero machine. Black Shadow immediately emerged as a fan favorite 'evil' racer, even more so as he established a well known rival out of the fan favorite, Captain Falcon, which would later even lead to a clone ally, Blood Falcon. Over time, it became apparent that Black Shadow's anti-human ramblings were sourced to genuine dark intentions for mankind, and the creation of Blood Falcon only further legitimized him as a very real scientific threat to the universe. The final straw came when Black Shadow killed an F-Zero racer on the track in a demonstrably supernatural way. This incident led to the banishing of Black Shadow from F-Zero, while curiously still allowing Blood Falcon and his other minions to continue racing. Black Shadow's hobby as an F-Zero racer came to an end, but humanity had, unfortunately, not seen the last of him.
Prior to Black Shadow's emergence into the public light, he belonged to a secretive underground cult based in the Ottoman Empire with the goal of bringing great scientific and social miracles to mankind. Black Shadow during this time was but a student of the cult who would double as an aspiring scientist and philosopher. As World War I ravaged the Ottoman Empire and the cult thus had to become even more hidden than ever before, he enlisted a specific interest in the cruelty of mankind, evident from the great terrors of the war seizing all of Europe by gas and flamethrower. It is likely that a consequence of the barbaric nature of World War I led to Black Shadow reconsidering the philosophy and aims of the cult, now convinced that humanity was incurably rotten with decadence, crime, and impulses. As the years went by, the cult would rebrand into 'Dark Million' and with Black Shadow rising to the top, with a new concentration on achieving immortality.
As the 1930s came by, a surprise infiltration of the cult occurred headed by a unit of Nazi Waffen SS operatives (possibly a false flag operation orchestrated by Black Shadow). The cult was wiped out, save for Black Shadow, with he and all of Dark Million's advanced scientific research confiscated by the Nazis. When returned to Berlin, Black Shadow and Adolf Hitler reached an agreement to work together with a mutual interest in achieving immortality, and moreover, so that Black Shadow could arm the German nation up with elite, immortal special forces. Now working under the protective eye of the German Reich, along with far greater funding than anything previously available in Turkey, Black Shadow had successfully developed a working medicine that would essentially stop the decline of the human body by constantly regenerating cells, as well as equipping cells with the ability to constantly reconstruct faltering parts of the body. Black Shadow had now succeeded in his goal to remain young forever. Unfortunately for Hitler, this process had taken too long, and even though Black Shadow would fulfill his end of the deal by providing Hitler with immortal super soldiers (as well as immortality for himself), the momentum of the Eastern and Western Allies in World War II was now working at such a pace that not even immortal German soldiers would be able to stop the nation from falling. Despite Hitler's pleading for a scientific miracle that would answer the failing war effort, Black Shadow decided to pack his things and leave Germany while he still could; the fact he was not ethnically German made it very easy for him to slip by the Red Army.
Following World War II, Black Shadow was more convinced than ever of humanity's unredeemable status in the universe, having witnessed yet another great war, as well as having witnessed firsthand the atrocities of Nazi Germany behind the scenes. From this point on, Black Shadow became convinced that he needed to find a way off of Earth and to achieve independence from the people he despised so very much. After resuming Dark Million's work briefly in Korea, Black Shadow would direct all of his attention onto finding a place beyond Earth for him to forge a superior new species. As humanity would eventually follow him into space and begin the colonization of planets, it became clear to Black Shadow that he would never be able to simply escape humanity: He would need to replace it.
==Appearance==
Black Shadow has a beardless face and hides his identity under a tight but powerfully defensive full body suit, not wanting to identify with any Earth groups. Notable aspects of Black Shadow's physique is his incredibly bulky body, making him even comparable to the bodybuilding likes of Michael Chain. His cape is especially powerful in its mesh that allows it to block even the most powerful of modern firearms, yet somehow preserves a rich appearance that communicates Black Shadow's superiority over everyone. Most notably, Black Shadow's mask contains massive horns in the style of a bull, though frequently mistaken for devil horns.
It is unknown to even the close likes of Blood Falcon if Black Shadow ever removes his outfit, or if he has simply developed a complex means of constantly maintaining good hygiene.
==Personality==
Black Shadow, even in all of his talk of exterminating all of humanity, genuinely believes himself to be morally righteous in his quest. By the time of F-Zero, he has become fully convinced that he is a god who will bring forth a new apex species to the universe that literally replaces humanity. Due to his paranoia and egoistic belief that only he can create and maintain order in the universe, Black Shadow is furthermore convinced that this new species must be perfectly loyal to him and his ideals, and that he himself must never pass away, lest his absence simply lead to the corruption of this species as well. Black Shadow's attitude toward his dream well reflects his attitude even in the present, as even the few minions he has are expected to not question him; in his mind, there is no need for constructive criticism, as there is never anything for him to improve on.
Consequently, Black Shadow's legendary ego has disallowed him from realizing that the loyalty he installs into his minions are very fragile—brainwashing that is easily susceptible to glitching out. In any such event, Black Shadow has somebody to direct the blame to. Even more, Black Shadow's domineering stance against the universe has him feeling that all planetary systems in the universe are his by right of name.
For good and bad, Black Shadow's mission-oriented mindset is susceptible to an occasional desire to toy with his victims. Rather than simply defeat and destroy humanity in a series of swift and effective blows, Black Shadow prefers a strategy of demoralizing the human spirit before handing them their eventual, ultimate defeat. While his method is effective in making the human spirit tremble in fear, he also leaves them with the precious time needed to plan their defense, or even counter-offensive.
Ultimately, while Black Shadow possesses great power, easily demonstrated when he physically tanked an F-Zero machine with his mere hands, he prefers to take on the role of a commander largely due to a traditional belief that an emperor need not do the work of subjects. Despite this, a simple desire to take matters into his own hands on very rare occasion will return, namely during times where his appearance could not be predicted, thus giving him ample time to exit.
==Key Relationships==
===Allies===
====Blood Falcon====
"Cut to the chase, Shadow. What's this about? Why clone me?"
"Because, Falcon, there is no better person to make a clone of." He brought up a fist. "A powerful fist, a unique intellect, superb talent in F-Zero… If not kill you, Blood Falcon will bring me billions of credits in prize money. Billions that will go toward the Empire of Dark Million." ―Captain Falcon and Black Shadow, F-Zero: Seppuku Tales - The Blood Hawk
In a universe that so suddenly decided they wanted Black Shadow dead, Black Shadow could admit to himself that his very existence and dream for a Dark Million future was in serious danger. With the Galactic Space Federation hunting him down, as well as the powerful Captain Falcon, Black Shadow conceded that he could no longer work all on his own. While he would temporarily enlist the help of temporary allies, such as Zoda and Mighty Gazelle, Black Shadow recognized Captain Falcon as the greatest threat to his existence, and that the only way he could ever be truly secure would be if he could bring in someone who is equal to Captain Falcon—Black Shadow took this to a literal extreme. Following the Great Accident, which left Captain Falcon in a greatly injured state, Black Shadow managed to secure some of his spilled DNA, and from this, raised a clone replica of Captain Falcon who would be loyal to him and his Dark Million ideals.
Black Shadow would find his natural right-hand man in Blood Falcon, and while he created the clone originally with the mere objective of creating a bodyguard against Captain Falcon, Black Shadow gradually saw Blood Falcon as more than a bodyguard. Although Blood Falcon's rather childish antics would regularly irk Black Shadow, he was nevertheless viewed as a resourceful and invaluable ally to the Dark Million cause, and thus aspired to put Blood Falcon on the F-Zero track, send him on secret missions, and act as Black Shadow's eyes and ears following his banishment from F-Zero.
Unfortunately for Black Shadow, Blood Falcon, though an efficient servant, had his hidden disloyalties due to oversights in Black Shadow's programming. Deep down, Blood Falcon has a good sense that he does not have a place in Black Shadow's human-ridden future, despite Black Shadow telling him otherwise. While Blood Falcon does not make any rash move against his master, unknown to Black Shadow is that Blood Falcon has a growing interest in staging a coup d'état of Dark Million, but only if he can receive the appropriate support.
===Foes===
====Captain Falcon====
"What role will Excalibur and I play in this Friday operation?"
"Lookout. We can't risk having Captain Falcon slip past our defenses. If he makes it to me, the end of Dark Million very well could be at hand…" ―Dark Rose and Black Shadow, Part 2/3, Lap 80
For as invincible and powerful as Black Shadow presents himself as, the rare exception comes from any mentioning of Captain Falcon, the only person in the universe Black Shadow identifies as being too powerful for him to defend against. While the massive bounty placed on Black Shadow's head is what would bring so much attention to the man, his rivalry with Captain Falcon far precedes their F-Zero history.
Captain Falcon's father, who worked for the United States government (now placed under the United Powers) was one of the few people to know about Black Shadow's cult and history within Nazi Germany, but most importantly, his continued existence was proof that he had successfully attained immortality. Sent to investigate these assertions, Falcon's father came face-to-face with Black Shadow after having tracked a network of leads into deep space. Black Shadow, unfortunately, was well-prepared for such an occasion, though was surprised to find that only a single man had been sent after him. Unknown to both men was that the child Captain Falcon had followed his father on this mission, concerned over the mannerisms of his father leading up to this day. His father was executed by Black Shadow in his presence, however, at his father's last second urging, Falcon was able to escape from Black Shadow's lair, and with possession of one of Black Shadow's new superhuman injection devices. The injector, containing the 'blood of Dark Million', led to Falcon obtaining incredible supernatural abilities meant for Dark Million's use. This in its own was not of great consequence to Black Shadow, but became an emergency as Falcon learned how to expand his new powers tenfold. From this time on, Black Shadow became painfully aware of the fact that Captain Falcon was not only stronger than him, but also likely seeking vengeance for his executed father: He was correct.
Unable to locate Black Shadow again, Captain Falcon would never be able to find the opportunity to unleash these new powers onto his foe; he did, however, on numerous occasions meet Black Shadow on the F-Zero track, where the two would still be equally matched. As the goals of Captain Falcon, the Galactic Space Federation, and Team Seppuku all aligned on course to finding and killing Black Shadow, it became more and more apparent to Black Shadow that he needed to speed up his mission of wiping out humanity, but even with all of these enemies piling up, Captain Falcon would always be his arch nemesis and vice versa.