Shantae

Artwork of Shantae from Shantae and the Seven Siren

“*Ret-2-Go!*”
―Shantae
**Shantae** is the titular main protagonist of *Shantae* series from WayForward. She is the half-genie guardian of Scuttle Town. She was created by Matt and Erin Bozon.

## Appearance

Shantae is a professional belly dancer, her outfit usually consists of sheer harem pants, a bra, and gold jewelry. She has a relatively thin figure, and is rather short compared to some other characters in the game. Shantae has olive/tan-skin with blue eyes, and long growing purple hair tied back in a ponytail stem stalk. Her parentage is uncertain, but it is known that her mother was a genie and there is speculation about who her father was.

## Personality

As the Guardian Genie of Scuttle Town, Shantae lives in a lighthouse by the sea where she can spot incoming ships and trouble. During the events of the first game, she is portrayed at the beginning as young and somewhat naive. In addition, her strong sense of justice drives her to help people in need. She chases Risky Boots across the map in order to stop her plans and has a strong enmity for the pirate as a result.

Slightly shy, Shantae is initially afraid of the citizens of Scuttle Town discovering her status as a half-genie. In addition, she often puts herself down; believing that only being half-genie is not good enough. After being tricked by Risky near the end of the game and subsequently thwarting her plans, she overcomes her insecurity and shyness and comes to terms with these anxieties, and is happy that the townsfolk still accept her.

Shantae has a deep care for her assumed uncle, Mimic, as well as her friends Sky and Bolo, and at the end of the first game gives up on the chance to enjoy eternal peace in the Genie Realm in order to be with them. She also considers the zombie Rottytops as her friend, although Rotty's own attitude towards her, while friendly for the most part, is more ambivalent, as she does not hesitate in claiming she would like to eat Shantae's brains (which Shantae seems to take as a joke).

In *Risky's Revenge*, she's shown to have grown more confident, enough to believe that she's the only person able to stop Risky Boots and discarding Mimic's suggestion that Sky and Bolo should go instead. In the end of the game, Shantae is betrayed by Rottytops to Risky Boots in exchange for her brains (although Risky chooses to back down from the deal) and loses her genie powers, she is then shown to be much less self-assured, despite the fact that she manages to defeat the evil embodiment of her powers, Nega-Shantae. She is then comforted by her friends who tell her they will help her protect Scuttle Town.

In The *Pirate's Curse* we see her forming an alliance with her nemesis Risky Boots despite not trusting her at all. Over the course of the game, however, she slowly forms a bit of an attachment to her, asking her if she could "join the good guys for once" and even going as far as saving her life later on. Squid Baron calls her a tomboy at some point. Shantae's more unusual habits are revealed during the game's progression; we learn that Shantae accidentally destroyed Sky's Library Card once by nibbling on it when she got nervous, and that she considers herself a bad role model due to her bad temper and fashion sense. Shantae also appears to have low self-esteem (possibly tied to the loss of her magic), as when she was threatened with losing her hair after getting dismissed as Guardian Genie, she says, "They can't take my hair, can they uncle? That's all I have left!".

In *Shantae: Half-Genie Hero* she is tasked with protecting Scuttle Town from various threats like the Giga Mermaid, Techno Baron, Ammo Baron, the Hypno Baron etc.

It is mentioned several times that she doesn't know who her parents are, only that her mother was a genie. Although she's willing to explore more her genie side hoping that it will bring her closer to her mother, as mentioned above she turns down at the end of the first game the genies' offer to stay in the Genie Realm, and at the end of Risky's Revenge is shown expressing sadness as being even farther from her half-genie nature and subsequently her mother after having lost her magic powers. It is strongly implied in the events of the game that the mysterious Warrior she meets inside the Village of Lost Souls is none other than the spirit of her father, who went into the land of the dead to search for his daughter and never returned. Neither Shantae nor the Warrior himself seem to realize the possible connection.

## Trivia

* Since the *Pirate's Curse*, Cristina Vee has voices her and her archenemy, Risky Boots. She is best known as the voice of Homura Akemi from *Puella Magi*, Noel Vermillion from *BlazBlue* series, Darkness from *KonoSuba*, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng aka Ladybug from *Miraculous*.
	+ Surprisingly, her voice actress performs two main songs "Dance Through the Danger" from *Half-Genie Hero* and "Rise and Shine Shantae" from the *Seven Sirens*.
* Her, along with Risky Boots, serves as spirits in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*.

## External links

* Shantae on Shantae Wiki
* Shantae on Wikipedia