Black Doom

"As you can see,the day of reckoning will soon be here"

- Black Doom

Black Doom (ブラックドゥーム) is the antagonist from the game Shadow the Hedgehog, created by Sega Studios USA. Black Doom is the leader of the Black Arms. Depending on which path the player chooses (Hero or Dark), Black Doom will either be an ally or a foe of Shadow the Hedgehog. Played in the Hero mode, he is likely meant to serve as Shadow's arch-nemesis, similar to what Dr. Eggman is for Sonic.

Black Doom has a very menacing appearance. Black-Doom, unlike like the rest of his species, has three glowing red eyes, and twin horns sticking out of either side of head, he is decorated with a worn robe, chains with spiked ornaments, and jewels around the top of his robe. He has a very deep voice that presents an echoing effect and appears very aged, claiming to be immortal. He stated that he ruled the Universe at one point, but this is probably saying that he was the strongest known being in the universe at that point. His appearance alone has a certain presence of black aura.

Black Doom is voiced by Sean Schemmel in the English-speaking version of Shadow the Hedgehog and Ryūzaburō Ōtomo in the Japanese version. (However, many believe that he is voiced by Frank Welker due to the fact that he sounds strikingly similar to Welker's most popular character, Megatron).

Shadow the Hedgehog
Black Doom is the sinister leader of the Black Arms and the oldest member of his alien species. The Black Arms are Black Doom's own spawn and appear to operate with an insect-like hive intelligence, seemingly preventing any attempts to challenge Black Doom for rulership. He claims that the Black Arms have visited Earth for at least as far back as 2000 years. It is currently unknown just how much of an effect he has had on Earth's history, although the bird-shaped ruins in Glyphic Canyon and Sky Troops are revealed to be flying temples transported to Earth by Black Doom over two thousand years ago to be used as weapons. He presents an almost religious front and shows little respect for humanity due to its sins against each other and the planet Earth. In fact, his philosophy is little more than egotistical justification for his own dark deeds. He wants to enslave the humans (and likely everyone else on the planet) and use them as food for him and his army.

Black Doom appeared at the beginning of the game as a hologram projected by Doom's Eye (his third eye) to inform Shadow that "the day of reckoning" has arrived. Black Doom uses Shadow throughout the game in order to retrieve the seven Chaos Emeralds for him. He commanded his army to attack six major cities around the world in search of the emeralds and in order to weaken Earth's defenses. He continuously pressures Shadow to denounce the home he has made on Earth and swear allegiance to the Black Arms and their goals. He often tries to accomplish this by trying to manipulate Shadow into believing that no good can come from the continued existence of humanity, offering to tell him about his past, and even goes so far as to put Shadow into a recreation of what happened to him on the Space Colony ARK to better justify the evil humans are capable of. Black-Doom's plans included the taking of the ARK for his nefarious desires. Once the ARK was seized control of, Black-Doom took control of the Eclipse cannon and used it to destroy Central City. He did this so that it may be used as the site for the Black-Comet to root in with the planet. His other plans included strengthening his armies by reawaking the temples, which were actually flying fortresses, destroying the human's data base, wiping out all the world leaders, destroying the humans military bases, and planting the Black-Arms plants around the world to slowly transform the planet into a blood ridden one.

As the player proceeds through the game, they learn more about Black Doom's motive and his connection to Shadow. 50 years prior to the game, Black Doom formed a sort of alliance with Gerald Robotnik. He and Gerald created the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow, in order to expand Gerald's research and help Black Doom retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow was created from Black Doom's blood. However, Gerald realized the threat his new alliance presented to Earth and secretly planned to use Shadow and the newly built Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet when it made its next regular 50 year visit. However, soon after the events detailed in Sonic Adventure 2 occurred and Gerald's initial plan was forgotten as he sunk into grief and madness.

When Shadow gains all of the Chaos Emeralds, Black Doom steals them, and reveals that he needed them all to amplify his Chaos Control to full power so that he can warp the Black Comet to Earth. The comet's own velocity was not fast enough and so he needed the Emeralds to perform a mass Chaos Control so that he could root the comet to Earth and use it to unleash a paralyzing nerve gas on the planet's population to make them food for his Black Arms spawn. Shadow's inherited genetics from Doom make him the only other creature on the planet capable of resisting the effects of the gas. Retreating to his inner sanctum at the very center of the comet, Black Doom defends himself from his advancing offspring with a perimeter of his most elite Black Arms soldiers. When Shadow reaches him, Black Doom finally reveals the truth of Shadow's parentage but is soon after interrupted by a 50 year old transmission of Gerald from the Space Colony ARK, accidentally activated by the Chaotix Detective Agency. The transmission reveals to the world Gerald's secret plan to destroy the Black Comet and gives Shadow the resolve to defeat the tyrant. Before he can attack, Black Doom teleports outside and transforms into his most powerful form - Devil Doom. Shadow uses the left behind Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Shadow and give chase. The two engage in a final battle in the sky over the rooted Black Comet. Shadow is ultimately able to defeat Devil Doom, sending him tumbling down to the city below. It was left unknown as to whether or not Doom was killed by this but considering his claim to be immortal, he may have survived.

Sonic the Hedgehog (comic)
The Archie-published Sonic the Hedgehog comic book has recently begun a Shadow the Hedgehog adaption. In it, Black Doom was revealed to have had a similar role to the one in the game. Gerald warned in a journal entry that Black Doom would return, but both he and the Black Arms were at the time contending with a rival group of conquering aliens, the Xorda.

Abilities


Whilst few would challenge Black Doom, he has numerous abilities which make him a fearsome foe for those who would dare. For important long range communication, Black Doom can send his third eye (simply known as "Doom's Eye") forth to do various tasks that would require him while he is away. Doom's Eye can speak, and can project holograms of Black Doom, which possess many of Doom's abilities, as well.

Above all, he can levitate/float which seems to be his primary method of mobility. Especially since he appears to have no legs, even when transformed into Devil Doom. One of his abilities is to use the Chaos Emeralds to induce Chaos Control, which he can use at the same skill level as Shadow. He also seems to be able to phase right through solid objects.

Black Doom possesses a large amount of mystical abilities. He can telepathically give someone like Shadow the illusion of going back to another time and place, and can sense energies along with a person's presence, thoughts, emotions, and inner sense of being. He also possesses a mental link with Shadow due to Shadow being created from him; which he failed in his attempt to use mind control on Shadow. He is also capable of telepathy, as there was a few incidents where he communicated with Shadow or multiple people yet was no where to be seen, and he also uses telepathy through Doom's Eye.

In battle, Black Doom can summon flaming meteors strikes and blades of fire and hurl them towards enemies with devastating force, his aim with these weapons is recognized by many characters as having deadly precision, along with "Swift Strike", an energy boomerang which spins around at floor level and bounces against obstacles. He can also transform into Devil Doom, notably without needing the Chaos Emeralds or any other external power source to do so.

Devil Doom
Devil Doom is a powered-up form of Black Doom, who appears as the final boss of Shadow the Hedgehog.

Personality
Black Doom is presented as a highly ruthless, sadistic, and power hungry tyrant. He regards humans as pathetic creatures that have led to the destruction of their own planet. Black Doom has absolutely no affection or sympathy for anybody or anything, including his own army. He gladly took the lives of his own army in order to destroy Central City, the city he choose for the site of the comet when it was teleported down via chaos control. Black Doom has a dark lord persona in which he committed horrible atrocities throughout the story, such as attacking six cities and murdering millions, blowing up Central City, and torturing the humans and having his army eat them. He also doesn't tolerate any kind of mistake or failure, no matter how difficult the task on Shadow's part may be.

Black Doom's plans for the planet Earth extend much further than simply controlling the planet. His main goal is to take control of the planet and then have him and his armies feed off the humans so that his army will be invincible. According to Doom, once the planet is under his control, the humans will never see the sun again and the planet will cease to be blue. It seems Doom wants to conquer the planet as a step closer to conquering the entire universe. He sees the humans as fools who have committed crimes against themselves and that he is actually trying to save them. His interpretation of saving them however is using them as food supply. He believes that is their only purpose now and enabling them to become that is the same as saving them.

While Doom claims that he has Shadow's best interest, he really does not care for him and cares only for his usefulness. He often tried to manipulate Shadow's emotions in order to turn him against humanity, but this caused Shadow to see Black Doom as his ultimate enemy in the end. Doom sees Shadow as his gateway to the emeralds and his unusual skills would make him a great addition to the army. Doom often used Shadow to do tasks that would give him an advantage, such as destroying the data base so information could no longer be transferred among the humans, awaking the temples to be used as weapons, and even attempting to assassinate the president.

Unlike other Sonic villains, Black Doom lacks a dry sense of humor or any humor at all it seems.

He claims that he not only rules the universe, but that he is the strongest being in the universe as well, proving himself to be quite arrogant. Despite all this power he is still defeated by Super Shadow, which ironically was his fault, as he left the Chaos Emeralds with Shadow when he warped away to transform to Devil Doom, believing their power was useless against him. He reconsiders this during the final battle, saying he'd underestimated the Emeralds' powers.

Family

 * "Children": Black Arms
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Biologically engineered with the aid of Black Doom's DNA)

Allies

 * Gerald Robotnik (formerly)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (formerly)

Enemies

 * Shadow the Hedgehog (Archenemy)
 * Dr. Eggman
 * GUN
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Chaotix
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Humanity

Trivia

 * Although he does not have a role in the game, Black Doom appears as a trio of collectible cards in Sonic Rivals; Black Doom, Doom's Eye, and Devil Doom.
 * Black Doom is the first villain featured (in the games) to share a blood-relation with one of the main characters.
 * Black Doom (as Devil Doom) is the first villain Super Shadow battles and defeats on his own.
 * Shadow's battle with Devil Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog is very similar to Team Super's battle with Metal Overlord in Sonic Heroes. Both battles take place in mid-air, and Super Sonic and Super Shadow even fly in the same pose. Also, the entire background of the fight with Metal Overlord is recycled into the fight with Devil Doom (although colored red), with the exception of the lightning, and the addition of a city in the lower background. Chaos Spear is also similar to Team Blast, as they both require time to perform,and is the only attack that can hurt the two of them. Another difference is during Team Sonic's battle with Metal Overlord, their enemy was technically moving across the skies.
 * Black Doom was voiced by Sean Schemmel, better known for his role as Goku of Dragonball Z, though Doom's voice is considerably deeper, raspier, and otherwise more menacing. The voice has been compared to Dr. Claw of Inspector Gadget. However, many believe that he was voiced by Frank Welker, making him sound like Dr. Claw of Inspector Gadget. Frank Welker also voiced Megatron, Skywarp, Soundwave, Wheelie, and many other characters in the original Transformers cartoon.
 * Also, his characterization, specifically his commanding an army, his boasts of being the most powerful being in the universe, and other factors, are quite similar to the Dragon Ball Z villain Frieza.
 * Oddly, Black Doom's voice varies in depth from cut-scene of the game and levels. In cut-scenes, his voice is noticeably deeper. Also, before Shadow fights Devil Doom his voice is more menacing.
 * Oddly enough, he is the only character in all of the game series who wears jewelry.
 * Although he says he knows about Shadow's past in the Shadow the Hedgehog game (though he might really know his past) it might have been a hoax to get Shadow to give him the Chaos Emeralds.
 * It can be thought that I Am... All of Me could actually be Black Doom's theme song (which explains why it was played in the final battle with Devil Doom), because it tells of Black Doom's opinion of himself. However some lyrics state a confusion as to whether the person is good or evil, thus leading it to probably be Shadow's theme song.
 * The song Almost Dead can be considered Black Doom's theme since it represents Shadow's Dark Side. The voice at the beginning of the song sounds like Black Doom's voice.
 * If one thinks about it, if Black Doom is the leader of the Black Arms, that means someone had to have given birth to Black Doom. This might mean there was once another alien ruling the Black Arms before Black Doom came into the picture.
 * When Black Doom speaks, there is a slight growl following his words when he speaks. It's easier to hear the growl when Black Doom transforms into Devil Doom.