Maria Robotnik

"Shadow, I beg of you! Give them a chance, to be happy!"

- Maria Robotnik


 * This article is about the character from the games. For the Sonic X character, see Maria Robotnik (Sonic X). For the Archie Comics character, see Maria Robotnik (Archie).

Maria Robotnik (マリア・ロボトニック) was Shadow's human companion in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. She is the cousin of well-known Sonic antagonist Doctor Eggman and the granddaughter of Professor Gerald Robotnik. She is the main reason for Shadow's creation. Maria was a terminally-ill patient on the Space Colony ARK, who had contracted the disease NIDS (Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). Her grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, created Shadow as a means to study immortality and to use the fruits of the project to attempt to cure Maria. After Shadow's creation, he became close friends with Maria to the end. Maria was killed during the invasion of the ARK by the Guardian Unit of Nations, after releasing Shadow from a cryogenic tube.

Physical Appearance
Maria has large dark blue eyes and blonde hair. She wears it wavy and held back with a blue hair band. Clothes-wise, she wears a dark blue top and a light blue dress. Her shoes are low heeled cobalt pumps. Other than that she is seen in a cutscene in a white surgery suit.

Personality
Maria is eternally cheerful, optimistic and kind-hearted. She can see the good in almost anyone or anything, and finds it easier than most to forgive and forget, not to mention trust. Her mindset and personality are similar to that of Amy Rose's: The two always look on the brighter side of things, have the same views on humanity and are overly cheerful and determined. These connections are of course seen in "Sonic Adventure 2."

Abilities
Although Maria seems to lack extraordinary abilities, it's shown in Shadow the Hedgehog that she can encourage others to accept themselves, and successfully calm those in stressful situations, including Shadow. This aside, the flashbacks in Shadow the Hedgehog could have been fabricated by Black Doom as a means to coax Shadow into submission as certain things do not match up such as her being lead by Shadow and getting shot at a dead end. In fact,  it was Maria who bravely lead Shadow to the escape pod, and ultimately sacraficed her chance at seeing the world as she knew Shadow would carry out her dream to "bring hope to humanity and to give them a chance to be happy." It can be said she is quite intelligent and utterly selfless due to these events.

Family
Maria is the granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik and cousin of Ivo Robotnik.

Voice actors

 * Moriah Angeline: Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
 * Rebecca Honig: Shadow the Hedgehog

Archie Comics
Maria appears in the Archie Comics continuity, occupying much the same role in Shadow's backstory as she does in the games. She acts like a sister figure or a mother figure to Shadow. She first appeared in the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation. In keeping with the established backstory, this version of Maria is an Overlander, not a human.

Another character, named Hope Kintobor, also appears in the comics. Hope greatly resembles Maria, and Shadow has mistaken her for Maria repeatedly.

Sonic X
Maria makes a number of appearances in the anime Sonic X, partial to Shadow's memory. Her role in the story is about the same as it is in the games. Chris Thorndyke reminds Shadow of Maria. The role she plays is a reminder to Shadow to protect the people of Earth and not conquer them.

Quotes

 * "Isn't this place huge? Even I still get lost sometimes."
 * "Don't hurt yourself."
 * "Sorry I'm late!"
 * "Oh, Shadow. Thank you!"
 * "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."
 * "When the research experiments split apart, don't you think they look kinda cute?"
 * "Shadow, help me."
 * "Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"
 * "Shadow... I beg of you..."
 * "The Heal Unit was one of grandfather's greatest inventions."
 * "Shadow, are you going to stare out that window all day?"
 * "Bring hope to humanity!" 

Trivia

 * The stories of Maria's death are different from Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. In Sonic Adventure 2, after Maria was very winded from running away with Shadow, she sends Shadow away in a capsule with her exact fate unknown, although implied to have been killed. In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow and Maria are being pursued and run into a dead end with Maria being shot and killed with Shadow's way of getting to Earth unknown. Shadow the Hedgehog cannot explain how Maria got Shadow to Earth if she had died before it happened. The flashback before the Final Haunt level, however, implies that Maria was succumbing to her being shot, but lived long enough to launch Shadow's capsule. Though it is entirely possible that the flashbacks in Shadow the Hedgehog were illusions fabricated by Black Doom to deceive Shadow.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria can be played by P2 in the levels The Doom and Lost Impact. This is the only game in which she is playable.
 * The length of Maria's hair seems to vary between continuities. In the opening of Shadow the Hedgehog, when Shadow had the flashback of Maria, she had short blonde hair. While in the TV series Sonic X in a flashback, and in Sonic Adventure 2,she had long hair.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, it was shown that the pilot of the Heavy Dog was the person who shot Maria.
 * In the Japanese version of Sonic X, it explains that Maria is in space because her disease is contagious and could be deadly if allowed to spread.
 * In the original Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 2, Maria had lengthy eyelashes. In Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and all subsequent appearances, they were removed.
 * In Sonic Battle, it is revealed that both Shadow and Emerl have the heart and soul of Maria Robotnik.
 * Her appearance and outfit are reminiscent of Alice, the heroine of Lewis Carroll's novels Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
 * Her outfit also seems to vary between games as in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle the sleeves of her dress are quite long while in Shadow the Hedgehog onwards the sleeves of her dress are much shorter.
 * Maria's name is also the password for both activating Shadow the Hedgehog and accessing the ARK's files about Project Shadow. Also, the reason why the password is utilized as "Ma-Ri-A" is because of Japanese phonetics.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 you can unlock a Maria voice narrator by getting all 180 emblems in the game. Go to the Chao world with any character and then to black market. You need to buy it for 30,000 rings.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Maria is barefoot. She wears blue shoes in all other appearances.
 * The song that played during her flashback scenes in Sonic Adventure 2/Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was an instrumental mix of "Throw It All Away," Shadow's theme in the game.
 * A character called Marie from another SEGA game, called Rhythm Thief and the Phantom's Treasure, has a similar design.