Shadow the Hedgehog/Miscellaneous

Sonic X
Shadow also appears in the anime Sonic X, debuting in the "Shadow Saga". Like in the games, his ambition was to fulfill Maria's promise of revenge towards humanity and joined forces with Eggman to seek out the Chaos Emeralds. When everyone but Shadow worked together to save the world from its imminent destruction, Christopher Thorndyke was able to convince him of Maria's true purpose. At the end, Shadow sacrificed himself for the better of the world and was presumed dead.

However, Shadow returned much later in the Metarex Saga as a rectulant pawn of Eggman, being tricked into thinking that obeying him will lead him to helping him get his memories back. However, he left him to help Sonic and co. defeat the Metarex after discovering Eggman's true intentions.

Sonic Boom
In the Sonic Boom franchise, Shadow is an indirect enemy of Team Sonic and a much darker character in comparison to other characters in the series. He is Sonic's arch-rival, capable of him matching in speed, abilities and looks. His relationship with Sonic is also just as hostile as Shadow's own harsh and anti-social behavior.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs, Shadow is the ultimate life form created by Gerald Robotnik, much like in the games. Prior to the Super Genesis Wave, his backstory was similar to his game counterpart's, having been created by Gerald Robotnik with Black Doom's aid. After the events of the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation, Shadow was rescued by the Bem aliens to fight the Xorda, and became integral in defending against the Xorda Attack on Mobius. Afterwards, he briefly joined up with the Eggman Empire, but defected to join G.U.N. after learning of his true purpose. His relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog is also less tense in this continuity.

In the new continuity created after Worlds Collide, Shadow and his history is now virtually identical to his game counterpart's.

Theme songs
The video games have featured several theme songs for the character. Shadow's themes consisted primarily of the techno and industrial genres often with synched vocals that are barely audible in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, but have shown an increasing preference towards the hard rock genre in more recent games.


 * Sonic Adventure 2: Throw It All Away - Everett Bradley. (A short instrumental version appeared in Sonic and the Black Knight in the event called "Sir Lancelot Appears.") Also, the song Live and Learn seems to also be his theme, but shared with Sonic, since it is the final boss theme when Super Sonic and Super Shadow are used. An instrumental also played in the game, Shadow the Hedgehog when Shadow was turning into Super Shadow in the final story. A short version of this song also appears when standing in front of Shadow in the Sonic Generations hub world.
 * Sonic Heroes: This Machine - Julien-K. (This was a team theme shared with Rouge and Omega.)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog featured multiple themes:
 * I Am... All of Me - Crush 40
 * Almost Dead - Powerman 5000
 * Waking Up - Julien-K
 * Chosen One - A2
 * All Hail Shadow - Magna-Fi
 * Never Turn Back - Crush 40
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (2006): All Hail Shadow (Remix) - Crush 40 (This appears in Sonic and the Black Knight when the Medal of Lancelot is equipped)
 * In addition, there are several vocal level themes associated with Shadow's character in Sonic Adventure 2:
 * White Jungle: Rhythm and Balance - Everett Bradley
 * Final Chase: The Supernatural - Everett Bradley
 * Biolizard: Supporting Me - Everett Bradley
 * Also, a special remix of Tripod Baby performed by M-Flo was released as a promotional song for Shadow.

Reception
Shadow was ranked as the second favorite Sonic character, beaten only by Sonic the Hedgehog himself, in the official Sonic character poll. However, many game reviewers, such as GameSpot, have called Shadow a "clone" of Sonic. Game Revolution described his character as a "quintessential anti-Sonic." In a 1UP.com feature about "How Sega Can Save Sonic the Hedgehog," Jeremy Parish wrote that of the "tagalongs" that the series must ditch, Shadow's character was the most in need of it.

Trivia

 * Though the design of Shadow was meant to be a secret until such time Sega decided to reveal the finalized version, details of the character were leaked when ReSaurus announced they were making figures of Shadow and Rouge, much as they had for the first Sonic Adventure title. However, the company went out of business before they could release these figures to the masses.
 * According to the games' canon (and confirmed by Takashi Iizuka ), Shadow and everyone else requires at least one Chaos Emerald close by to draw power from for Chaos Control, or the technique is impossible - however, Shadow has appeared to use Chaos Control and other Chaos Powers during gameplay of some games without visible Emeralds nearby. Fans have argued that it is implied in statements Shadow made in Sonic Battle that his memory of Maria allows it.
 * Shadow and Knuckles were originally confirmed to appear in Sonic Unleashed. Although Shadow doesn't appear, he is briefly mentioned; during an interview with Brenda, she will ask the name of the creature that came from the planet's core. Sonic can incorrectly answer 'Shadow the Hedgehog.'
 * In the Japanese commercial for Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is seen dancing.
 * In his artwork for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Shadow is missing his tail.
 * Shadow uses his left hand when using weapons in Shadow the Hedgehog. His counterpart, Lancelot, however, fights with his right hand, possibly because of the Wii motion control. In Sonic the Hedgehog Shadow always leads with his right for his attacks during cutscenes. Shadow may either be ambidextrous or have left eye dominance, seeing as those with left eye dominance are recommended to fire guns whilst favoring their left hand. He also tends to cross his right arm under his left arm in most artworks.
 * The Official Game Guide for Sonic Generations mentioned that a scientist is the one who ejected Shadow's capsule to the earth, however, he was ejected by Maria Robotnik.
 * In the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, Shadow placed 25th in the "Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time" while Sonic placed tenth.
 * Shadow was not originally intended to be in Sonic Heroes, revealed in an initial list of teams for the game. Rouge would have been in a team with Cream and Amy and there was no mention of Omega.
 * In Sonic Heroes, Shadow is shown to be faster than Sonic in grinding, but this has been modified in Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * Shadow's trophy pose in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is almost identical to his artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
 * Shadow's skin color is usually tanner in his 2D artwork than in his 3D artwork.
 * Normally Shadow is seen with red eyes, but in his Sonic Chronicles artwork and pictures his eyes are more of an orange color, but this may be because the artwork in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was made by someone other than the usual Sonic Team artist.
 * In the game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Shadow is missing a quill on his head. This is also present in Sonic X.
 * In Sonic Generations, the player may be rewarded with the fourth Chaos Emerald for defeating Shadow (third if he is fought before Perfect Chaos). Coincidentally, in his own game, Shadow mentions the fourth Chaos Emerald in a line, "Where's that damn fourth Chaos Emerald!?", which has since gained Internet popularity.
 * Shadow's three main Chaos abilities are generally color-coded in relation to the three Chao alignments. Chaos Control requires positive chaos energy that generally glows blue, as Hero Chao have blue markings. Chaos Spear is generally depicted as being yellow-white, while Neutral Chao have yellow markings. Chaos Blast requires negative chaos energy, and is generally red, whereas Dark Chao have red markings.
 * In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Shadow's profile says he likes "nothing."
 * In the 2D indie fighting game Skullgirls Encore, the 17th selectable color palette of the character Fukua is a direct reference to Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * Shadow's trophy pose in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U resembles his artwork for Sonic Rivals.
 * Strangely, in the leaked transcript of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Shadow was described as a "fifteen-year-old" hedgehog, just like Sonic, unlike all the other official materials which do not put an actual age to him.
 * Despite many fans having speculated that Silver is related to Shadow due to Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad's relationship in Arthurian lore (where the latter is the son of the former), Takashi Iizuka has confirmed that Silver is not a descendant of Shadow.