Shadow The Hedgehog

* Vyond
* Accurate

**Shadow The Hedgehog** is a member of the Harold Legion and is a recurring character in the *Sean In The Vyond World* series. He was taken from the *Sonic The Hedgehog* series produced by Sega.

## Personality

Shadow was at first mysterious, cold, and initially vengeful, before turning to the side of justice. He usually acts with cool and businesslike indifference, only occasionally showing his vulnerable side. He is rarely seen with others for an extended period of time and usually distances himself from essentially everyone. He is usually soft-spoken, silent, and only speaks a few words before a fight. However, Shadow never bluffs. If he makes a threat or a promise, he has every intention of carrying it out.

Shadow's personality is the total opposite of Sonic, because while Sonic is carefree, playful, and a joker, Shadow is violent, ruthless, and aggressive. However, like Sonic, Shadow can be extremely arrogant, often belittling his opponents and insulting their lack of strength. He believes no one can beat him, and tends to see anyone as a fool for challenging him. Shadow also has a ruthless and merciless edge in combat that all other characters in the series lack, and displays a natural "killer instinct".

Shadow's infamous ruthlessness and aggression lead to fear and nervousness that inhibits characters from his unshakable intent or sheer power in combat. Numerous characters from the *Sonic* series have shown absolute dread from encountering Shadow. Shadow's enemies never treat him lightly; he is one of the very few people Sonic takes seriously and acts hostile towards.

Alongside his dark and violent demeanor, Shadow can be smug and stubborn. He often displays a vain and sarcastic sense of humor, and always speaks his mind no matter how cold it may be. He is also one of the more intelligent and logical characters. He was the only one who saw through Mephiles’s deception in *Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)* and tricked Eggman into fulfilling his revenge plan in *Sonic Adventure 2*.

On occasion, Shadow appears to have some degree of mental instability. This is demonstrated by his instances of post-traumatic flashbacks to Maria's face before and during the events of *Shadow the Hedgehog*, though it could be argued that they were simply an effect of his amnesia. Another example could be that in many games Shadow is featured in, he pursues his foes with disturbing determination; that is to say, he'll go to any length to accomplish something he desires or feels should be a certain way, no matter what the cost. In his own game, he also showed a rather coarse language.

Shadow also possesses some sense of identity, as evidenced when after falsely being told that he isn't the Ultimate Lifeform due to a lab report, he states to Rouge that even if his memories were fake, he is still Shadow the Hedgehog. Similarly, in *Sonic Heroes*, during the Egg Fleet level, he mentions that even without his memories, he is still the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog. These qualities make him rarely susceptible to being manipulated by other forces.

Although he does come off as somewhat cold and apathetic, Shadow is extremely compassionate and does care for the well-being of others. When Omega begins his attack in *Sonic Heroes*, Shadow could have easily forgotten about Rouge and engaged Omega without defending her. Instead, Shadow saves her from Omega, despite having absolutely no memory of her. He was also shown to be legitimately shocked when he learned that his goal of gaining the Chaos Emeralds to restore his memories was manipulated by Black Doom to wipe out humanity.

Likewise, when the GUN Commander finally confronts him with his memories of Shadow's nightmarish creation, Shadow agrees to face judgment if he was indeed responsible for the ARK massacre 50 years ago.

Despite being a loner, Shadow is also very protective of his friends, like in *Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*, where he went looking for Omega when he was missing and was also quite enraged when he found out that the Marauders had been hurting Omega, and agreed to join Sonic and his friends to get revenge for what they did to him.

Shadow brushes off most kindness or sympathy that is sent his way; in *Sonic Heroes*, when Rouge showed concern for Shadow when he saw a broken android, Shadow curtly brushed her concern away. Also, in *Shadow the Hedgehog*, after Sonic suggested some "friendly competition", Shadow bluntly rejected his offer. At times, however, Shadow is also capable of showing gratitude. In *Sonic Adventure 2*, after Amy made him remember his promise to Maria, Shadow told her that he is keeping his promise both to Maria and her. Also, in *Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)*, when Rouge told him that she would always be by his side, he acknowledged her.

Even though Shadow often fights for the greater good, he is considered an anti-hero for the most part due to his morality. He does whatever is necessary to get what he wants or feels is right, though this enthusiasm causes him to take risks and jump into situations without fully thinking it through. Regardless, Shadow does have his moments of selflessness, helpfulness, and heroism. He nearly gave his life at the end of *Sonic Adventure 2* to save Earth and helped Silver uncover the truth of the Solaris Project, after saving Sonic from Silver.