LogFAQs > #966007960

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Shadow the Hedgehog
First Appearance: Sonic Adventure 2

Hey, I love memeing about Shadow the Hedgehog as much as anyone else, but let's be real. He's actually one of the best Sonic characters.

From a visual standpoint, Shadow looks awesome. He's got the dark hedgehog thing going on where he's not just completely similar to Sonic, but he's actually got many differences to make sure he's just not "Sonic but dark". His quills go up, he's got shades of red everywhere, the tuft on the fur on his chest. Even his run is different. And he always looks so angry to contrast Sonic always happy and grinning. I love it.

Where Shadow excels though is that they normally build a pretty decent overall character arc for him in every game he's in.

In Sonic Adventure 2, it's all about Shadow. He has his past with the little girl Maria, and he's doing what he thought his mission was, but it turned out to be manipulation from Gerald Robotnik to have him destroy all of humanity. He did everything he had to do before simply accepting it. Mission accomplished. Time to watch the world blow up. But he has a change of heart when he remembers that Maria wanted him to protect the world and be a hero, and then he turns around and actually does just that at the cost of his own life.

Fast forward to Sonic Heroes, and he's alive again! (Due to popularity because obviously) And Shadow builds a deep bond with both Rouge and E-123 Omega. They actually bounce off of one another very well and I really enjoy seeing Shadow have actual bonds with people. But in this game he may be an android, he may not be. It doesn't really get resolved.

...Until Shadow the Hedgehog. This game is a disaster narratively, but if you get to the final battle you kind of get the gist of what they want you to take from it. It's the real Shadow, everyone believes in him, and it confusingly turns into Gerald Robotnik actually supporting Shadow and believing he would be the only thing to defeat Black Doom, which Shadow has blood from...? Guys, please don't make me try to explain this game's story. Just know that Shadow finishes off his arc and that he's a legit hero who everyone finally believes in by the end.

And we get to Sonic 2006 where Shadow is frankly the only truly great part of this game story-wise. He has his storyline with Mephiles the boogeyman trying to manipulate everything. He basically tries to tell Shadow that in the future, everyone is going to turn on him and blame him for the awful shit that happens and lock him up forever, and then he should go evil. And Shadow basically says he doesn't give a shit and he's going to do the right thing regardless.

Legitimately, everything concerning Shadow is usually the most interesting part in most games he's in. His personality isn't quite as edgy as any meme would make it out to be if you discount Shadow the Hedgehog game (and I love the memes). But he normally has a very defined character that is really a legitimate anti-hero in every sense. And I think a lot of people miss that he actually is a hero.

If they keep tossing Shadow in games and give him a purpose, I think he's a boon to any game he's in. Awesome character that they keep finding ways to do compelling stories with, and he always has people to bounce off of that makes any minor interactions fun. He's just a legitimately awesome character in the Sonic universe, and it's actually surprising how well they've made him work (aside from a certain self-titled game). Because it would be very easy to make him a generic Sonic but DaRk, but they exceed that an incredible amount.

All Hail Shadow! I'm extremely excited to see how they make him happen in the third Sonic movie, because I think they'll do an awesome job with him.

Rank: S

(As a side note, I have somehow indoctrinated my girlfriend into becoming an ironic Shadow fan by showing her dumb memes and videos of him after we saw the second Sonic movie, despite here knowing next to nothing about him. She now routinely shows me Shadow memes.)

https://youtu.be/KqphtVEiwg4