Shadow Anomaly

"When I was born, I was diagnosed with Shadow Anomaly, a rare condition that takes away a certain amount of your personality. For me, it was nearly all of it. For 19 long years, I merely accepted that I would never be granted this right." - Cherry the Ladybug, Sonic Runaways: STOLEN

## The Shadow Anomaly

### Effects

Inhibiting or deactivating personality in the host.

The Shadow Anomaly is a fictional birth defect in the Sonic Runaways series, a mental ailment that inhibits or kills its host's personality. Any living creature can be born with it, but it is especially common in humans across the Big Three nations. There is no cure or any known methods of treatment.

## History

### Past

At least 50 years prior to the events of Sonic Runaways: MANIPULATED, there was a spike of Shadow Anomaly cases in Federal newborns that prompted the heads of the United Federation to commission Professor Gerald Robotnik to start work on Project Shadow. Gerald theorized that the defect was a sign of evolution in humankind especially, and that it was only life on planet Erius adapting to its harsh and controlled environment.

### Sonic Runaways: STOLEN

Cherry the Ladybug is a more recent example of the phenomenon, losing almost all her personality to Shadow Anomaly and turning to dark magic to steal the personalities of others, turning them into Silhouettes. She was reborn as the Phantom Thief of Hearts and enacted the Graying Pandemic. In a sense, this is the only time the "disease" Shadow Anomaly became contagious, other than odd examples of mass hysteria throughout Erian history.

## Carriers

### Cherry the Ladybug

Cherry the Ladybug was especially hit hard at an early age by her case of Shadow Anomaly, so much so that she studied a magic spell for years to steal other people's personalities for her own. She eventually was able to master the technique, to the point she could look into someone's eyes to steal their personality along with their other cognitions. This led her down a dark path around the world, becoming addicted to stealing personalities. She was never content with any of them, and was very picky with who she wanted to be. This addiction led to her starting the worldwide Graying Pandemic, and eventually being imprisoned in the Robotnik Empire after a change of heart spurred about by the actions of Sonic's Persona.

### Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog was meant to be the cure for every disease and ailment, including the Shadow Anomaly which was his project's namesake. Of course, this means he needed to have a sample of the Shadow Anomaly to pull this off. Even when Gerald removed his ability to heal and cure ailments, the sample still remained in his brain. It can be assumed he has a much less severe case of Shadow Anomaly compared to Cherry, indicated by his indifferent subdued demeanor most of the time only broken up by short, violent manic outbursts or even extreme emotion. These could very well be his personality shining through the defect.

## Trivia

* While one could assume the real-world naming philosophy of the Shadow Anomaly is based on that of Shadow the Hedgehog, it is actually a reference to Shadows from the Megami Tensei series, manifestations of people's true personalities. This is due to the Shadow Anomaly's arc of origin (STOLEN) being even more inspired by Persona (a side series of Megami Tensei) than other arcs in the Sonic Runaways series.