User blog comment:Blitz1995/Least Favorite Sonic Characters?/@comment-4714730-20120218005436/@comment-4802891-20120219203621

Manliness doesn't have much impact in the Sonic world, really. Before Shadow comes in, Knuckles was the "more badass Sonic rival"... and know he's just the knucklehead you can (and will) make fun of, sadly...

Shadow IS useless in terms of scenario. Gameplay-wise he's cool and all but his involvment in the story... In SA2 he was perfect as he was made for this game but afterward... fans have him ressurected and now he's just there to be "the coolest" if you know what I mean, and they made a spin-off exclusively for him to be even more badass.

To be honest, the only characters who aren't useless are Sonic, Tails and Eggman (the others are only involved periodically and for really specific reasons ~ except for Amy who can tag along anytime as it'll never affect the story to much).