Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog, also known as The Ultimate Life Form, The Ultimate Hedgehog, Project Shadow, Faker, Fake Hedgehog, The Black Blur, Black Hedgehog and Black Wind, is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
== Charactah Account ==
Shadow is an artificial created life form in the design of a male, anthropomorphic hedgehog. He resembles Sonic in many ways, such as how his hover skates propel him at extreme speeds to rival those of Sonic; but he distinguishes himself with greater use of his signature ability to use Chaos Control with Chaos Emeralds. He is Sonic's arch-rival and is the anti thesis of Sonic himself in all aspects of Shadow's life. The rings attached to his wrists suppress his power.
Shadow vowed to keep his promise to Maria, a girl he befriended on the Space Colony Ark, to give humanity a chance to be happy. He once blamed humanity for Maria's death, but came to realize that Maria wanted the people on Earth to live happy lives.
== Appearance ==
=== Anime ===
* Sonic X
* Sonic X Pilot
=== Comics ===
* Mega Man
* Nintendo Power
* Sonic Forces
* Sonic Saga Series: Evil Reborn
* Sonic Saga Series: Order From Chaos
* Sonic Select
* Sonic Super Digest
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2020
* Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day
* Sonic the Hedgehog: Battle For Angel Island
* Sonic the Hedgehog: Crisis City
* Sonic the Hedgehog: Out of the Blue
* Sonic Universe
* Sonic X
* Team Sonic Racing Deluxe Turbo Championship Edition
* Team Sonic Racing One-Shot
=== Manga ===
* Dash & Spin: Hyper Speed Sonic
* Sonic 4-Frames
=== Video Games ===
* Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
* Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
* Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
* SEGA Heroes
* Sega Streaming Theater Sonic Edition
* Sega Superstars
* Sega Superstars Tennis
* Shadow the Hedgehog
* Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
* Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
* Sonic Adventure 2
* Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
* Sonic and the Black Knight
* Sonic and the Secret Rings
* Sonic at the Olympic Games
* Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
* Sonic Battle
* Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
* Sonic Colors
* Sonic Dash
* Sonic Forces
* Sonic Forces: Speed Battle
* Sonic Free Riders
* Sonic Gems Collection
* Sonic Generations
* Sonic Heroes
* Sonic Jump (2012)
* Sonic Jump Fever
* Sonic Racing
* Sonic Riders
* Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
* Sonic Rivals
* Sonic Rivals 2
* Sonic Runners
* Sonic Runners Adventure
* Sonic Speed Simulator
* Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl
* Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
* Team Sonic Racing
* The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
== Trivia ==
* Though the design of Shadow was meant to be a secret until such time Sega decided to reveal the finalized version, details of the character were leaked when ReSaurus announced they were making figures of Shadow and Rouge, as they had for the first Sonic Adventure title. However, the company went out of business before they could release these figures to the masses.
* According to the games' canon (and confirmed by Takashi Iizuka), Shadow and everyone else requires at least one Chaos Emerald close by to draw power from for Chaos Control, or the technique is impossible - however, Shadow has appeared to use Chaos Control and other Chaos Powers during gameplay of some games without visible Emeralds nearby. Fans have argued that it is implied in statements Shadow made in Sonic Battle that his memory of Maria allows it.
* Shadow and Knuckles were originally confirmed to appear in Sonic Unleashed. Although Shadow doesn't appear, he is briefly mentioned; during an interview with Brenda Hernandez, she will ask the name of the creature that came from the planet's core, with Sonic being able to incorrectly answer "Shadow the Hedgehog."
* In the Japanese commercial for Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is seen dancing.
* In his artwork for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Shadow is missing his tail.
* Shadow uses his left hand when using weapons in Shadow the Hedgehog. His counterpart, Lancelot, however, fights with his right hand, possibly because of the Wii motion control. In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Shadow always leads with his right for his attacks during cutscenes. Shadow may either be ambidextrous or have left eye dominance, seeing as those with left eye dominance are recommended to fire guns whilst favoring their left hand. He also tends to cross his right arm under his left arm in most artworks.
* The Official Game Guide for Sonic Generations mentioned that a scientist is the one who ejected Shadow's capsule to the earth, however, he was in fact ejected by Maria Robotnik.
* In the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, Shadow placed 25th in the "Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time," while Sonic placed tenth.
* Shadow was not originally intended to be in Sonic Heroes, revealed in an initial list of teams for the game. Rouge would have been in a team with Cream and Amy and there was no mention of Omega.
* In Sonic Heroes, Shadow is shown to be faster than Sonic when grinding, but this was modified in Sonic the Hedgehog.
* Shadow's trophy pose in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is almost identical to his artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
* Shadow's skin color is usually darker in his 2D artwork than in his 3D artwork.
* In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Shadow is missing a quill on his head. This is also present in Sonic X.
* Normally Shadow is seen with red eyes, but in his Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood artwork and pictures his eyes are more of an orange color, but this may be because the artwork in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was made by someone other than the usual Sonic Team artist.
* In Sonic Generations, the player may be rewarded with the fourth Chaos Emerald for defeating Shadow (third if he is fought before Perfect Chaos). Coincidentally, in his own game, Shadow mentions the fourth Chaos Emerald in a line, "Where's that damn fourth Chaos Emerald!?", which has since gained Internet popularity.
* Shadow's three main Chaos abilities are generally color-coded in relation to the three Chao alignments. Chaos Control requires positive chaos energy that generally glows blue, as Hero Chao have blue markings. Chaos Spear is generally depicted as being yellow-white, while Neutral Chao have yellow markings. Chaos Blast requires negative chaos energy, and is generally red, whereas Dark Chao have red markings.
* In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Shadow's profile says he likes "nothing."
* In the 2D indie fighting game Skullgirls Encore, the 17th selectable color palette of the character Fukua is a direct reference to Shadow the Hedgehog.
* Shadow's trophy pose in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U resembles his artwork for Sonic Rivals.
* Strangely, in the leaked transcript of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Shadow was described as a "fifteen-year-old" hedgehog, just like Sonic, unlike all the other official materials which do not put an actual age to him.
* Despite many fans having speculated that Silver is related to Shadow due to Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad's relationship in Arthurian lore (where the latter is the son of the former), Takashi Iizuka has confirmed that Silver is not a descendant of Shadow.
* Shadow is described by G.U.N. affiliate Frances as having an IQ of about 200.
* According to a preview of Shadow the Hedgehog on 1Up.com, Shadow's favorite foods are pizza, Doritos, Snickers and Hot Pockets.
** Also in the preview was Shadow mentioning that he liked the Terminator movies and video games.
== Gallery ==
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 01.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 02.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 03.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 04.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 05.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 06.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 07.png
File:Shadow the Hedgehog Render 08.png
== External Links ==
* Shadow the Hedgehog at Sonic News Network
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Sonic the Hedgehog