Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog is a prominent anti-hero and the rival of Sonic the Hedgehogin the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. He was created to be the "ultimate life form" by Doctor Eggman's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Shadow does whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, and because of this he has fought both alongside and against Sonic the Hedgehog; Shadow and Sonic have somewhat of a frenemy relationship and rivalry. Shadow often fights alongside E-123 Omega and Rouge the Bat, who became his closest friends and allies. While Shadow typically shares most of Sonic's abilities, Shadow primarily uses a variety of "Chaos" powers to battle enemies, most notably Chaos Control, a power that allows him to distort time and space. Shadow the Hedgehog crosses over with the Mario franchise in the Mario & Sonic and Super Smash Bros. series of games.
He was voiced by Jason Griffith, along with Sonic the Hedgehog and Jet the Hawk, in his first three Mario crossover appearances, and is currently voiced by Kirk Thornton since Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
==In ==
===Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games===
Shadow is a playable character on Sonic's team in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. His character type is Speed, equalling him with Sonic, but he has higher stats than Sonic in other events. In Dream Fencing, his special move is transforming into Super Shadow and charge forward with multiple stabs of his epée. In Dream Table Tennis for his Special Shot, he jumps up, twirls vertically, lands, inhales and then fires the ball super fast at the opponent. Shadow has the lowest level stamina among all the characters.
===Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games===
Shadow also appeared in the sequel, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He appeared as a speed character, like in the predecessor. However, unlike with the previous game, Shadow is slightly slower than Sonic, but he has the strongest acceleration abilities in the game.
In Adventure Tours mode in the Nintendo DS version of the game, Shadow appears as one of the unlockable characters who can take part in the mode's sports events. He can be found in Cubirynth where he must be beaten in a Ski Cross Racing dream event upon his insistence. After that, Shadow will join the player's team, just after he spots a flying treasure hunter on the way. Later, back in Frostown with Rouge, Rouge wonders where Shadow has been. Shadow reveals to her that he has been in Cubyrinth looking for her. Rouge then tells him that she is going to look for Whitestones, and Shadow convinces her to trade her stolen Olympic memorabilia back for Whitestones. Also, in Sparkleton, Shadow is needed for the "Arrange the Marks!" mini-game. Here, the player is presented with a console with revolving icons depicting Dr. Eggman, Metal Sonic, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. on it. It is the player's objective to use Shadow's Chaos Spear to stop the revolving symbols in the right order within 40 seconds. Once done, it will open a gate in the overworld. Later, at Icepeak, when Rouge decides to help Dr. Eggman and Bowser when the villains bribe her with Whitestones, Shadow reminds Rouge of their agreement to search for Whitestones together. However, Rouge tells him that the opportunity is too good to pass up, much to his aggravation. After beating Rouge, who proceeds to free one of the Snow Spirits and pursue Eggman and Bowser when they go back on their deal, Shadow has confidence in Rouge that they can release the Snow Spirits together.
===Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games===
Shadow returns as a Speed type playable character in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he appears in the opening with all of the other athletes as well as later competing in Football and Track Cycling - Team Pursuit. A Mii outfit based on Shadow also appears in the game, and Shadow appears as a character in London Party that can be spoken to in order to play certain minigames and earn stickers.
In the Nintendo 3DS version, Shadow is included in the Challengers group, meaning that he is only playable in certain Events. In the Story Mode, Shadow first appears asking Sonic, Tails and Yoshi to share the information they know about the Phantasmal Fog and Fog Imposters after he had defeated some with Silver, and later helps the group chase down Jet, eventually being the one who challenges him to an event. With Jet's help, the group find the Fog machine, and after defeating Bowser Jr., shadow destroys it, clearing the fog from the area. Shadow also appears to offer support to Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails when they confront Bowser and Dr. Eggman, later appearing at the opening ceremony. Shadow also appears in the Challengers Bonus episodes, as Bowser Jr. heads to London to find him when he hears that he and Silver are defeating Dr. Eggman's robots, and accepts Shadow and Silver's challenge when he arrives and manages to take care of the robots himself. After they are defeated, Shadow and Silver pretend to be upset, but later wish Bowser Jr. good luck for the games before heading off. A badge of Shadow can also be obtained from the badge machine.
===Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games===
Shadow is playable again in the fourth game of the Mario & Sonic series: Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Like previous games in the series, he is classified as a Speed type.
===Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games===
Shadow is a default playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In the Nintendo 3DS version, he is only available to play with in the Football and 100m events. He is available in all events in the Wii U version. If the player's Mii avatar interacts with Shadow, the latter will get irritated at the avatar mixing him up with Sonic and demand he not put him on the same boat as him, referring to Sonic as an "inferior half-wit."
==In ==
Shadow appears as an Assist Trophy character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Shadow is an unlockable Assist Trophy, unlocked after the player unlocks Sonic, though in the later installments, as with every other Assist Trophy, he is available from the start. Shadow uses Chaos Control to temporarily slow down time around opponents (having the same effect as the Timer). In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Shadow is seen holding up a Chaos Emerald, and before the move ends, all opponents freeze for a short period of time.
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Ultimate, like several other characters, Shadow is voiced by a different voice actor in different languages (e.g. he has his French voice in the French version).
==Crossover appearances==
Title 	Description 	Release date	System/format
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! 	Playable character 	2003 	GameCube
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 	Playable character 	2007 	Wii
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 	Playable character 	2008 	Nintendo DS
Super Smash Bros. Brawl 	Cameo as a sticker, a trophy, and an Assist Trophy	2008 	Wii
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 	Playable character 	2009 	Wii, Nintendo DS
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games 	Playable character 	2011 	Wii
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games 	Playable character 	2012 	Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games	Playable character 	2013 	Wii U
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U 	Cameo as a trophy and an Assist Trophy 	2014 	Nintendo 3DS, Wii U
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games 	Playable character 	2016 	Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Arcade
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 	Cameo as spirits and an Assist Trophy 	2018 	Nintendo Switch
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 	Playable character 	2019 	Nintendo Switch
==External links==
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Category:Hedgehogs
Category:Anti-heroes
Category:Heroes
Category:Characters from Sonic the Hedgehog franchise
Category:Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate