Maria Robotnik

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

- Maria

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 Ivo Robotnik 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), which seems to be related to the disease AIDS and with real life NIDS. 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. She has dark blonde hair, blue eyes and wears a blue skirt, with a light blue top, and cobalt shoes.

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 cut scene in white surgery suit.

Personality
Maria is eternally cheerful, optimistic and kind hearted. She can see the good in almost anyone or anything, and she finds it easier than most to forgive and forget, not to mention trust. She acts like a sister figure or a mother figure to Shadow.

Abilities
Although Maria has shown no extraordinary abilities, she can encourage others not to feel bad about themselves and can refresh Shadow and others from their rage. Also in Shadow the Hedgehog, she can smash tough objects and enemies by slapping them and seems to be a fast runner.

Family
Maria is the granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik and cousin of Dr. Robotnik. Which makes it possible Maria had an aunt or an uncle on Earth.

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.

Video games
Maria has been featured in these games:
 * Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Voice Actors

 * Shelly Fox - Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
 * Bella Hudson - Sonic X (2003), Shadow the Hedgehog

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.

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 reseach 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."

Trivia

 * If Maria hadn't died, she would roughly have been the older cousin of Dr. Eggman and older than the G.U.N Commander.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria can be played by P2 in the levels The Doom and The ARK. 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, she had long hair.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2 when Maria launches Shadow to Earth, a little before this scene if you listen very, very carefully you can hear the faint sound of a gun shot.
 * In Sonic X (japanese version), it explains why Maria is up in space in the first place, she is in space because she has an incurable disease which could be deadly if spread.
 * In Shadow the Hedgehog the Japanese version when Maria is shot in the flashback you see her fall to the ground.
 * 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 and its subsequent film adaptations.
 * 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.

Screenshots
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