Shadow the Hedgehog is a major character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Characterized by his sharp wit and strong sense of purpose, Shadow is a recurrent arch-rival of Sonic the Hedgehog, whom he resembles and shares many abilities. His trademark power is Chaos Control, which allows him to warp spacetime with a Chaos Emerald.
Created over fifty years ago by Professor Gerald Robotnik as part of Project Shadow onboard the Space Colony ARK, Shadow was conceived to achieve immortality and was infused with the DNA of the alien Black Arms. As the "Ultimate Life Form", he possesses several innate talents, including agelessness and formidable combat skills. After his birth, he formed a deep bond with Maria, Gerald's granddaughter. However, the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) deemed Shadow a threat and raided the ARK, resulting in the capture of Shadow and Gerald, and Maria's death. Driven to madness, Gerald brainwashed Shadow to seek world destruction.
Shadow remained in stasis for decades until he was freed by Doctor Eggman, Gerald's grandson, to assist in his plans for world conquest. Although initially motivated by vengeance, Shadow's true memories were eventually restored by Sonic and his friends. He helped save the world from Gerald's doomsday plans, but lost his memories as a result. When the Black Arms invaded Earth shortly after, Shadow uncovered the truth of his past and thwarted the aliens' agenda. He has since committed himself to protecting the planet on his own terms, often joining forces with Sonic and his friends while facing his own adversaries.
Shadow the Hedgehog iz sooooo freakin c00l!!!!!! Hez autistic coded n canonically has ptsd and hez also super gender! When I was a kid I liked him a lot and still do!!! ^_^
My first Sonic game was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and I fell in love with the serious, darker storyline! It has it all: themes critical of the military, high stakes, complex characters, and outer space. I like SA2 as well for the Hero and Dark story split model- its really cool to see the same story from different POVs!!! It also helps make the characters more interesting!!!! All of this, plus being a weird outcast kid with trauma helped me fall in love with Shadow, I think. He's cool, he's badass, but he also has mental health troubles- whatta icon!
Also Shadow got me into some of my fav kinds of music like industrial, metal, and drum & bass. Listening to some of the tracks on this page walked, so my playlists of Angelspit or Machine Girl and Static-X could run.
Check out this cool essay- it rly describes how much Shadow meant 2 me growing up!
