Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic X)

Shadow the Hedgehog is a dark doppelgänger of Sonic the Hedgehog from the anime Sonic X.

History
He appeared in the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation between episodes 33 and 38, although there were a few differences - such as in episode 38, Christopher Thorndyke reminded Shadow of his true promise to Maria, instead of Amy Rose. The epiphany in episode 38 led him to join with Sonic to defeat The FinalHazard. He then helped Sonic prevent the ARK from crashing into Earth by taking off (and temporarily losing) his limiter rings for a massive Chaos Control. From then on, he makes short appearances in flashbacks, but he makes his true return in episode 60.



In Season 3, he had no clear memory of his mysterious past. The loss of his Rings meant that he uses up all of his energy quickly until Chris returned the one that was lost at the ARK (and a copy, since only one was recovered) in Episode 63. When he transformed into Super Shadow, he released all his energy and was knocked out. In Episode 68, he seems to have an image of Maria in his mind. In that same episode, Dr. Eggman visits the people of a planet the Metarex are warring with, including one orange-haired female teenager by the name of Molly. Shadow and Rouge meet her, and at the end of the French/Japanese version of the episode, Molly was killed by the Metarex. Shadow erects a makeshift grave for her, and Rouge notes that she was similar to Maria. In the English dub, Molly is seen flying off into the sky and instead of a grave, Shadow says that he will miss her and he is worried about her being all alone out in space.

In the last episode of Sonic X, it is unclear if Shadow dies from stopping time. However, at the end of the Japanese version, he is seen putting a flower on Molly's grave, which confirms that he's still alive. Also, Rouge suspects that Eggman knows what actually happened to Shadow.

Personality
Shadow is dark, brooding and completely loyal and determined to whatever cause he has. He is anti-social and does not speak much. But deep down, he does have a heart. He cares for those who cared for him such as Maria, Molly, and Chris Thorndyke and often follows in their goals in his own fashion no matter what the effort. He also shows over-average intelligence, as when fighting Scarship when he realized a head-on attack wouldn't work, he switched for some advanced tactics and instead decided to shake the ship apart from the inside by striking its body at incredible speed. Shadow's past means he does not trust anyone besides himself, Shadow is easily the most self-sufficient of all the characters, his lonesome attitude also put him apart from the other characters.

Shadow can at times be quite cold and uncaring, for example when he learned of Cosmo's true mission, he set off to kill her without mercy. Shadow, however did this to try and protect the universe, proving that whilst he has a good motive, the means used to achieve it are acceptable to him.

Shadow firmly believes that he is the "Ultimate Life Form" and all other life forms are lesser beings.

Shadow only talks when it's absolutely necessary and dislikes being in groups, much preferring solitude. Shadow often thinks teamwork is unnecessary because he can handle everything on his own.

Shadow is often depressed about the loss of Maria, and this is why he keeps to himself, but his love for Maria is obvious as he goes to great lengths to protect the planet and keep her dream of peace and prosperity alive. He has also been seen protecting other characters, for example Chris, Molly, and Rouge, proving that while his attitude may be that of a cold blooded mercenary, he does have some compassion

Abilities
Shadow can move at speeds rivaling Sonic's own and can perform many of his moves and tricks like the Spin Attack. His own unique abilities include the ability to use just one Chaos Emerald to induce Chaos Control and being able to create and throw Chaos Spears. His destructive power is also severely increased when he takes off his limiters as seen in one episode where he takes them off, subsequently single-handedly destroying an entire Metarex fleet. Though this leaves him drained of power if he takes them off for too long. His body was also able to take incredible punishment such as being slammed into solid surfaces and even being struck by powerful laser cannons. Shadow has also displayed fearsome combat skills, as in episode 73 he was able to get past individual challenges of an injured Sonic, Knuckles (with his rings off), and Tails (escaping traps with Chaos Control). He crashed through walls without dashing into them. He was also shown fighting his way through a large fleet of Metarex soldiers, destroying them all.

Rouge
Rouge first established the business transactions for helping Eggman and Shadow find the Chaos Emeralds. The two do not have the same teamwork relationship like they do in the video game series, whereas Shadow is even more distant from the other characters. Shadow doesn't seem to trust Rouge, like when they teamed up with Chris, to search for the Chaos Emeralds, Rouge wanted to take the Chaos Emeralds all to herself by saying, "Hey guys! Why don't we split up?", Shadow as he was not trusting her said, "No, Eggman said we mustn't split up!", Rouge realized that Shadow couldn't trust her and ran off, Shadow noticed her running and found out that she was going to be hurt, Shadow went and saved her and told her not to do that again. In one episode, in the Japanese version he gratefully thanks Rouge for helping him.

Shadow also seems to be easily annoyed by Rouge, like when Shadow was in the ARK, Rouge said, "Hi, miss me?", Shadow was annoyed and left the room with anger, Rouge then said, "I love it when you give me the silent treatment!". He's also annoyed by her fascination to the Chaos Emeralds, as she views them as just pretty gems.

Dr. Eggman
When Eggman released Shadow from his capsule, Shadow respectfully bowed to Eggman and thanked him, and also told him that he will do whatever he will tell him to. Eggman orders Shadow to help him get all of the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow further helps Eggman in Season 3 against the Metarex or Sonic.

Maria Robotnik
Shown to be Shadow's best friend. They were both born and raised on Space Colony ARK, and shared the dream of going to visit the planet Earth, shown best in a flashback Shadow has where he's talking to Maria. He states "What's it like to see the sky above your head? I want...to find out." However, when Project Shadow was shut down, Maria decided that she had to set Shadow free, and released him to Earth. Apparently, the last thing Shadow saw in that space station, was Maria being shot and killed by a soldier. Shadow then spent his time after being awakened planning to avenge her by destroying the humans, which is why he showed Eggman the Eclipse Cannon. He often has delusions of Maria, such as seeing her reflection standing next to his on any glass surface, or hearing her plead to him when Chris was asking for help.

Christopher Thorndyke
Chris seems to remind Shadow of his late friend, Maria. He saves Chris, along with Rouge, just before Prison Island explodes. After he takes them to the ARK, Shadow keeps a close eye on Chris. When Chris begs Shadow to help Sonic save the world, Shadow beats Chris back until Chris is finally able to remind Shadow of what Maria truly wanted, for him to protect the people of the Earth and always watch over them. Shadow later saves Chris, along with Cosmo, in season 3 as repayment for Chris returning Shadow's limiters to him (Japaneses version only).

Trivia

 * Shadow is usually seen to have a missing quill in his 'Hairstyle' as compared to the games.
 * Shadow uses the third least amount of "Engrish" in the Japanese version. Right behind Vector, who uses the second least amount of Engrish, and Charmy, who only used it once.
 * At the end of Season 3 in the English dub, it leaves a cliffhanger of Shadow's whereabouts but it is implied that Eggman is aware of what happened to him.

Archie Comics
In the last issue of the Sonic X comic series (which takes place before Sonic and friends return to their home world at the end of season 2), after Eggman sees Shadow Prime, he gets confused and quickly returns to his base, checking to see that Shadow is in fact, still in a stasis tube.