Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Boom)

"No. Justice must be made 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 a rogue rival and enemy of Sonic the Hedgehog and his team.

Appearance
Shadow, like Metal Sonic, keeps much of the same appearance as his main series counterpart, with the only real difference being the red cuffs on his wrist and ankles extending onto his gloves and shoes. He is also like many of the other characters taller as well.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Shadow is first seen silently watching Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic from a distance before leaving. He then directly confronts Sonic and Tails when both of them open a portal to find a way out, not letting them to enter the portal. He states to Sonic that he is weak because of his loyalty to his friends and will show him how weak he is. Sonic and Tails are quickly able to defeat him with Sonic kicking him into a portal that sends him to the future after Sonic and friends have defeated Lyric. He then sees the beaten Lyric and gives his approval before walking away.

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Finding Lyric excavating an area for a lost crystal of power, Shadow confronted the snake-like villain, but did not object Lyric's sense of justice. He then grimly declined as Lyric took an interest in making him his slave, only for Lyric to plant a mind-control device on him.

As Lyric's mindless slave, Shadow confronted Sonic and friends, but was beaten by Sonic in a race and knocked unconscious. When he awoke, Shadow was freed from Lyric's device. As Shadow had Tails analyze his former mind-control device, a hologram of Lyric appeared and Shadow wanted to face him. However, as Lyric declined his threat, Shadow ran off to hunt him down.

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

Personality
Shadow has a dark personality, believing loyalty to friends makes someone weak, and is fiercely independent, refusing to serve anyone but himself. He also has a strong sense of purpose, insisting that justice must be had by any means necessary. He does not hold back criticizing those he deems weak, but is willing to at least compliment them if deserved.

Powers and Abilities
Shadow is a very powerful individual. 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 and unleash the Chaos Blast which is an explosion of energy.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
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 (the Chaos Boost) 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 he ends his Chaos Boost, Shadow will launch some bolts of energy, though afterwards he will 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 ends 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.