Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Boom)

"No. Justice must be had by any means necessary."

- Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal

Shadow the Hedgehog is a character that appears in the Sonic Boom series. He is an anthropomorphic black hedgehog and the arch-rival of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Appearance
Shadow, like Metal Sonic, keeps much of the same appearance as his main series counterpart, with the most notable difference being the red cuffs on his wrist and ankles now extend onto his gloves and shoes and are larger as well covering more of his arms and legs. He is also taller and has cow-lick like spikes similar to Sonic.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Shadow is first seen silently watching Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic from a distance at Lyric's Tomb before leaving. He then directly confronts Sonic and Tails at the Abandoned Research Facility when both of them open a portal to travel to the past, not letting them enter the portal. He taunts at Sonic that he is weak because of his loyalty to his friends and engage them in a fight. Sonic and Tails are quickly able to defeat Shadow when Sonic kicks him into a portal that sends him to the future after Sonic and friends have defeated Lyric. He was prepared to fight them again but then sees the beaten Lyric and gives his approval before walking away.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Finding Lyric excavating an area, Shadow confronted the villain, but did not object to Lyric's dark sense of justice when he sought to seize the Lost Crystal of Power. Grimly, Shadow declined as Lyric took an interest in making him his slave, only for Lyric to plant a Mind Control Device on him. Under Lyric's control, Shadow confronted Team Sonic, but was beaten by Sonic in a race and got knocked unconscious. When he awoke, Shadow had been freed from Lyric's device. As Shadow had Tails analyze his former Mind Control Device, a hologram of Lyric appeared to warn the group not to cross him. Shadow threatened Lyric come and face, but the villain declined his threat, so Shadow left on his own to hunt down Lyric and get his payback.

Shadow finally found Lyric when he was about to destroy Team Sonic with a cannon, whom Shadow saved by disabling Lyric's weapon. He then kicked Lyric away and Sonic opened a trapdoor, sending Lyric falling to his death. While everyone agreed their teamwork made the difference, Shadow called it pathetic and left, calling himself Sonic's superior.

TV series
Receiving several invitations from Dr. Eggman, Shadow came to Eggman's lair to join Eggman's league of villains with the goal of defeating Sonic. However, Shadow quickly grew tired of their foolish preparations and left. He soon showed up again to destroy Sonic himself after Eggman's team proved incapable of doing so. After an intense battle, Shadow got the upper hand, but was then distracted by Eggman, allowing Sonic to take him down. Fed up with Eggman, Shadow warned Sonic to be ready for the next time they met, and teleported away.

Personality
Shadow is a dark, cold and edgy character. He comes off as blunt, arrogant and uncaring and does not take kindly to outside interference, swiftly disposing of those getting in his way. Extremely aggressive and lacking in inhibitions, he is perfectly willing to eliminate a foe rather than merely subduing them, unlike Sonic, and believes that justice must be had by any means necessary. Because of this, he is often very destructive and even brutal in battle. Still, he usually maintains a calm, if not aloof and indifferent, attitude, and shows a general interest in virtually nothing. Shadow has a strong sense of purpose and sticks to his goals with grim determination and intense focus, not resting until it is fulfilled.

Shadow is fiercely independent and a lone wolf, believing loyalty to others is a weakness and refuses to serve anyone but himself. Even when joining forces with others, he has no intend in collaborating and only participates if it serves to further his goals. He is likewise very serious and has little patience for silly behavior, having no issues criticizing others harshly or speaking out his low opinions for others. He despises weakness and people he deems weak, but is willing to at least give compliment if deserved. Shadow is also vengeful and is not one to let go of grudges easily; once free from Lyric's control, he spent most of his time hunting down Lyric to make him pay for enslaving him.

Powers and abilities
Shadow is a very powerful individual, being able to match Sonic's speed and abilities. He can move at high speeds that rivals Sonic's speed and has extreme combat skills that enables him to fight against both Sonic and Tails at the same time. He is also able to manipulate red energies for a variety of purposes; he can envelope himself in a red aura to empower his attacks and to teleport, throw bolts of Chaos Spears to attack his enemies, unleash the Chaos Blast which is an explosion of energy, and can teleport himself instantly over different distances. Shadow is also capable of performing the Spin Attack.

In terms of physical abilities, Shadow is exceptionally strong. He can equal Sonic's Spin Attack in terms of power and kick even Sonic with such force that he can create an impact crater in the ground. Even after taking a direct hit from Sonic's Spin Attack, Shadow instantly got back up, hinting a high level of durability.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is Shadow's tense arch rival,  and the two are polar opposites in nearly every way. While Shadow would rather complete a mission on his own, Sonic would happily bring his friends with him, something Shadow heavily criticizes, believing Sonic's loyalty to his friends is what makes him weak.

Despite disagreeing with nearly everything Sonic stands for, and gladly going out of his way just to prove he is the better of the two, Shadow seems to have a degree of respect for his enemy, complimenting his skills when the former defeated Lyric.

Allies

 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Arch-rival)
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Sticks the Badger

Rivals

 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Arch-rival)

Enemies

 * Lyric the Last Ancient

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Shadow serves as the first boss of the game and is encountered at the end of the Abandoned Research Facility where the player must fight him as Sonic and Tails. The battle is separated into three phases, each in a different point in time; the present, the ice age and the prehistoric.

The battle begins in the present where Shadow will launches several balls of energy that will home in on the player (unless they have gotten Shadow to fire at the very boundaries of the stage). After Shadow finishes his attacks, the player must attack him. After some time, Shadow will envelop himself in a red aura and start attacking the player at high speed. While he is in this state, the player cannot touch Shadow without taking damage, so dodge him instead. Once this is over, Shadow will launch some bolts of energy, though afterwards he will be open to the player's attacks.

When Shadow has taken enough damage, the battle will shift to the ice age where the field is enveloped in ice. Shadow's attack patterns in this phase is the same as the first, except Shadow will launch Chaos Spears that will fall to the ground and explode after shortly after. To dodge them, the player must avoid being at close range when they fall and explode.

When Shadow has taken enough damage again, the battle will shift to the prehistoric area in a desolate desert. In this phase, Shadow will use more new attacks, like teleporting around the field and attack the player at high speed, and trigger a Chaos Blast attack that covers a wide area. The teleportation can be avoided by always changing direction as Shadow teleports and the Chaos Blast can be dodged by standing at the opposite side of Shadow, near the edge of the arena (as he also does it in the center). After several attacks at Shadow, the battle will end and the player wins.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
The battle against Shadow is simple: the player must reach the goal before Shadow to end the battle.

Trivia

 * According to Alan Denton, it was initially decided during the writing process of the first season of the Sonic Boom television series that Shadow was not going to be used in the series. The reason was that if they had to, it would have to be in a way that did not make fun of him or made him look stupid or goofy. After a lot of work though, the writers found a way to include him in "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog".
 * In the Japanese version of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, it is revealed that Shadow is controlled by Lyric through a mind control chip on his head. His Japanese voice is given a mechanical filter to sound more robotic, giving the impression that Shadow was an android. This aspect was not included in the game in other versions, for unknown reasons.
 * Shadow's appearance in the Sonic Boom franchise was first officially hinted to the public as one of two "fan-favorite" characters, along with Metal Sonic, to appear in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric..