Black Doom

"I gave you life, and THIS is how you repay me! The irony of it all... is that I gave you life... NOW, I'll take it back."

- Black Doom, Shadow the Hedgehog

Black Doom (ブラックドゥーム) is the primary antagonist in Shadow the Hedgehog. He is the sinister leader of the Black Arms and the oldest member of his 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 leadership. 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. Following his return to Earth in the present day, he wanted to enslave the humans and use them as food for him and his army, but met his defeat at the hands of Shadow the Hedgehog

Appearance
Black Doom has a very menacing appearance. Black Doom, unlike the rest of his species, has three glowing red eyes, and twin horns sticking out of either side of his 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. His appearance alone has a certain presence of dark aura.

History
Black Doom claims that he and the Black Arms have visited Earth for at least as far back as two thousand 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.

Black Doom appeared at the beginning of the game as a hologram projected by Doom's Eye (his third eye) to inform Shadow the Hedgehog as he was thinking to himself about his troubled past. Black Doom claimed that "the day of reckoning" has arrived. Just then, a massive invasion of the Black Arms began as vortex of dark, swirling storm clouds drop Black Arms soldiers on Westopolis. Shadow figures that Black Doom will reveal his past if he follows Black Doom's orders, so he rushes into the city to seek out Black Doom. Shadow listens to Black Doom all around the game. 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 taking control of the ARK for his nefarious desires. Once the ARK was seized control of, Black Doom used the Eclipse Cannon to destroy Central City, where the president was currently residing. 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 reawakening the temples, which were actually flying fortresses, destroying the human's data base, wiping out all the world leaders, destroying the humans's military bases, and planting Black Arms plants around the world to slowly transform the planet into a blood ridden wasteland.

As the player proceeds through the game, they learn more about Black Doom's motives and his connection to Shadow. Fifty 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, giving him access to Black Doom's Chaos Control abilities. 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 fifty year visit. However, soon after the events detailed in Sonic Adventure 2 occurred, Gerald's initial plan was forgotten as he sunk into grief and madness after his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, died.

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 to bypass the Earth's atmosphere 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, starting with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge and Eggman. 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 fifty-year-old transmission of Gerald from the Space Colony ARK, accidentally activated by the Chaotix Detective Agency, made up of Espio, Charmy and Vector. 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 away and transforms into his most powerful form&mdash;Devil Doom. Shadow uses the Chaos Emeralds Doom left behind to transform into Super Shadow and give chase to Devil Doom. The two engage in a final battle for the fate of the Earth, in the sky over the rooted Black Comet. Shadow is ultimately able to defeat Devil Doom, sending him tumbling down to the city below. As he has not appeared since, the rest of his fate remains completely unknown.

Powers and 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. Black Doom can levitate/float which seems to be his primary method of mobility as he appears to have no legs, even when transformed into Devil Doom. One of his main abilities is to use the Chaos Emeralds to induce Chaos Control, which he can use with just as much proficiency as Shadow, if not more. He could transport Shadow to various locations on Earth and even into cyberspace, and when using all seven Chaos Emeralds he could teleport the Black Comet down to Earth from space. 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, a person's presence, and their inner thoughts and emotions. He also possesses a mental link with Shadow due to Shadow being created from him; he failed in his attempt to use mind control on Shadow. He is also capable of telepathy, as there were 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. While engaged in battle, Black Doom can summon flaming meteor 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.

Devil Doom
Devil Doom is the true form of Black Doom, who appears as the final boss of Shadow the Hedgehog. Black Doom can transform seemingly without needing the Chaos Emeralds or any other external power source to do so. While he is in Devil Doom form, he still can use the Chaos Emeralds for Chaos Control, but adds the abilities to seemingly telekinetically rip up entire roads and buildings and hurl them at Super Shadow. He can also breathe fire and summon floating, rock-like spheres that fire lasers.

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 and his creation Shadow. 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 does not 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 believes that he is actually trying to save them. His interpretation of saving them, however, is using them as a 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 is completely devoid of any sense of humor. He is quite arrogant, claiming that he not only rules the universe, but that he is the strongest being in the universe as well (to the point of saying he is immortal). 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 belief during the final battle, admitting he'd underestimated the Emeralds' powers.

Battle
Black Doom is a boss in the game. He is fought when completing the Hero mission of the following levels:

The guides for this boss battle are: Rouge the Bat, Vector the Crocodile and Sonic the Hedgehog
 * GUN Fortress
 * Cosmic Fall
 * Final Haunt

Family

 * "Offspring": 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 (biological "son", arch-enemy)
 * Dr. Eggman
 * GUN
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Rouge the Bat
 * The President
 * Chaotix
 * Amy Rose
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * All of Humanity

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Black Doom had a similar role to the one in the games. Like in the games, Black Doom worked with Gerald Robotnik to create Shadow the Hedgehog for his own hidden agenda of conquering Mobius. However, when the time for Black Doom's return came, both he and the Black Arms ran afoul with a rival group of conquering aliens, the Xorda which they engaged in a galactic war.

In the reality created by the Super Genesis Wave, Black Doom and the Black Arms made their return trip to Sonic's World and were destroyed by Shadow the Hedgehog. In the event of his death though, Black Doom left behind a successor named Black Death to finish a conquest on another planet; as such, the Black Arms endured under Black Death, who made plans to return to Sonic's world to finish what Black Doom started.

Quotes

 * "Those are our larvae, which mature into fine soldiers. Protect them!" 
 * "Shadow, that foolish scientist still seeks to resist us. Use our cannons and blow his ships out of the sky!"
 * "You are late Shadow, from now on my eye shall follow you and observe you for me!"
 * "Annihilation for this planet is near; it is time to embrace the dawn of your demise and despair."
 * "Just look at how those humans flee without a fight! To you go the spoils of their folly."
 * "Get these worthless machines out of my sight!"
 * "The scientist is an incompetent imbecile, and now he shall uncover his foolishness."
 * "The Black Arms are more than superior... We are perfect!"
 * "What do you think vermin like you can accomplish on your own? Let me show you...those who commit mutiny against me will see no mercy...and do not defy me again!"
 * "I shall put an end to your foolish attempts to defy me, and your miserable existence!"
 * "The humans have brainwashed you and your feeble mind. Now, allow me to remind you of the truth!"
 * "Shadow! This isn't over yet! The Black Arms...will rise again!"
 * "I gave you life, and yet you defy me? Then so be it! You shall pay for your ingratitude with relentless pain!"
 * "Now... Come, Shadow! Die along with these foolish humans!"
 * "Im... Impossible! I am the supreme being that rules this universe... I... am the immortal lifeform! I... AM THE ULTIMATE POWER! GAAAAAAH!" Doom's last words after Super Shadow defeated him.
 * "Those are our black arms soldiers, do not interfere with them!"
 * "We're here to save the humans from their own demise. We offer salvation."
 * "Friend or foe means nothing to us! We are merciless until the end!"
 * "Mere children's toys, Crush them!"
 * "Failure is not an option. Now go!"
 * "Shadow, let me share with you a piece of your past. It's filled with nothing but hatred and contempt for the humans."
 * "Humans, willing to sacrifice their own when overcome by greed. They...are a foolish race." Before the Heavy Dog boss battle
 * "The time has come! Now, that the gas has overrun this tainted world, MY reign has BEGUN! Mwahahahahaha!! Hahahaha! HAH-hahahaha!!"

Trivia

 * Black Doom (as Devil Doom) is the first and only villain Super Shadow battles and defeats on his own.
 * Black Doom still appears to aid Shadow even when he takes the hero's side of the story up to the point where he fights him, despite Doom's stated intolerance for insubordination. This is due to the game's choose-your-own-path structure, which often causes storyline inconsistencies.
 * Black Doom's clothing and necklace somewhat bear a resemblance to Wizeman the Wicked from another Sonic Team franchise, NiGHTS into Dreams. They also share a "blood relation" to their respective protagonists. In Wizeman's appearance a few years later, in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, he had a voice very similar to Black Doom. The two also share a similar power, in that Black Doom can send his third eye to watch people, whereas Wizeman uses one of his many hands, which have eyes in the palms.
 * The way Devil Doom falls after he is defeated by Shadow is similar to Metal Overlord's defeat in Sonic Heroes. Although Metal Sonic is confirmed to have survived, Black Doom is seemingly killed in the battle.