Gold rings (bangle)

The Inhibitor Rings, or limiters, are objects in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are rings worn by Shadow the Hedgehog to inhibit his power which he has worn since his creation onboard the Space Colony ARK.

Description
The Inhibitor Rings are golden rings that Shadow the Hedgehog wears on his wrists and ankles. When worn, they limit the amount of power Shadow uses during combat and other situations. When he takes them off, Shadow can tap into his full strength, giving him a drastically boost in power.

The Inhibitor Rings cannot be opened; instead they glow and slide off Shadow's wrists when removing them and locks back on when put back on.

Sonic Adventure 2
First appearing alongside Shadow's debut in Sonic Adventure 2, the rings were not named, but at Shadow's presumed death upon defeating the Finalhazard, Sonic gave one of the rings he retrieved to Rouge the Bat.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), when Mephiles the Dark had stolen Shadow's Chaos Emerald to add to his own and replicated numerous clones of himself into an army, Shadow removed his Inhibitor Rings to boost his attack power and wiped out all of the Mephiles clones.

Sonic X
In the Sonic X anime series, the Inhibitor Rings are referred to as limiters. It is also in this media that their power-inhibiting properties on Shadow were first introduced which would later be incorporated into the games and the Archie Comics.

The Limiters' properties were first demonstrated when Super Shadow released them in order to get the power needed to sent the Space Colony ARK back into orbit. Chris would keep one of them to remember Shadow after he disappeared. During his battles with the Metarex, Shadow would occasionally release his Limiters as well.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Shadow's rings are referred to as the Inhibitor Rings. Like in other media, they inhibit Shadow's power (in the original continuity they limited his access to the Chaos Force), and when he removes them he can transform into Chaos Shadow.

Trivia

 * It was the Sonic X anime which first presented the idea of Shadow using up more energy when taking off his Inhibitor Rings. This idea eventually made its way into the games and was then used in the comics.
 * The Inhibitor Rings' name has yet to be revealed in the games. Instead, it has been mentioned in the Sonic X anime and the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics.
 * In Sonic Heroes, Shadow still has both his Inhibitor Rings even though he lost one of them in Sonic Adventure 2.
 * Prior to his transformation in his crystaline form, Mephiles possessed two rings as well, though they were likely to be mere ornaments.