Shadow the Hedgehog (Archie)

Shadow the Hedgehog is the end result of Project Shadow, a project to create the Ultimate Lifeform. Created by Professor Gerald in his efforts to find a cure to a rare disease known as NIDS that was affecting his grandaughter Maria, Shadow was gifted with the powers of the alien Black Doom through that entity's blood. After the project was forcibly shut down by the government, Shadow was put into stasis for 50 years and then awakened by Dr. Eggman, Gerald's grandson, to help him take over the world. Shadow sought instead to destroy the world to avenge Maria, who had been killed by the raid on Space Colony ARK where they had both lived. However, Sonic the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat were able to convince Shadow that Maria would not have wanted such a result, and Shadow joined forces with Sonic to save the planet. Saved by aliens, he would return to join with Sonic and others against the evil Xorda. He would eventually rejoin Eggman, only to turn against him and join the special forces of the United Federation after learning the true purpose Gerald created him for.

50 Years Ago
Shadow was created by Professor Gerald as part of Project Shadow, Gerald hoping that through Shadow he could find a cure for his granddaughter Maria's Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Failing to develop a successful Ultimate Lifeform on his own, he turned to Black Doom, leader of the Black Arms alien species. Using Doom's blood, he was able to complete his process and create Shadow, at the same time granting Shadow some measure of Doom's immense powers. However, when the experiment failed to produce Maria's cure and Gerald learned of Black Doom's malicious intentions for Mobius, Shadow was modified so that when the Black Arms eventually returned, he would be waiting to defend Mobius from them.

However, tragedy struck soon afterwards, as a government task force raided Space Colony ARK, the space station where Shadow was created and lived with Maria and Gerald. With Maria's death and Gerald's arrest, Shadow was left bitter and angry. Reuniting with Gerald by some means, he was put into stasis and given a new purpose: to avenge Maria's death by destroying the inhabitants of Mobius.

Awakening
When Shadow was awakened from stasis 50 years later, it was by Gerald's grandson, Doctor Eggman. Coveting Shadow's power so that he could take over the world, Eggman enlisted Shadow's aid in acquiring the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow proceeded to steal Station Square's Chaos Emerald, after facing off against the city's protector Silver Sonic II. Due to his similar appearance to Sonic, Station Square's army believed the theft to have been Sonic the Hedgehog, and thus sent their military after him instead.

Shadow was believed to have been killed, though in actuality he was saved by the benevolent Bem as they investigated Mobius from orbit. Upon awakening, the Bem transformed Shadow into his super form to combat the arriving Xorda warship. Despite his powers, the Xorda ship managed to shoot down the Ultimate Lifeform, hurling him into Mobius' gravitation pull. After landing on the planet's surface, Shadow was discovered by the Knothole Freedom Fighters and formed a temporary alliance with them. Together, they learned that the Xorda were intent on destroying Mobius for crimes committed by its inhabitants made back when the planet was known as Earth. Together with a veritable army of other Mobians, Shadow charged the Xorda Quantum Dial weapon, seeking to destroy it before it wiped out Mobius. Thanks to the efforts of Sonic, who seemingly imitated Shadow in sacrificing his life, the weapon was destroyed.

Shadow spent the time of Sonic's absence searching for meaning in his life, eventually confronting Dr. Eggman with the intention of killing him. Eggman escaped, and Shadow then found himself drawn to Hope Kintobor, Eggman's niece and a girl who reminded Shadow strangely of Maria. While watching over her, Shadow was abducted by Locke, the father of Knuckles the Echidna, who believed that Shadow's strange nature (somehow alive despite being neither animal, vegetable, or mineral) could somehow help him to locate his missing family, the members of the Brotherhood of Guardians. Not taking kindly to Locke's interrogations, Shadow attacked him, only to be halted in his vengeance by Hope, who had been pulled along as Locke teleported Shadow to a hidden location.

Wandering once more, Shadow found a hidden laboratory that had existed since before the Xorda attack on Earth, meeting a robot named Isaac with detailed knowledge of Mobius' history. The two eventually became involved in a three way battle with Sonic and a new Metal Sonic built by Dr. Eggman. When the trio discovered that the base harbored an ancient and powerful missile, Shadow aided Sonic in preventing the missile from launching. Shadow assisted in getting Sonic to safety after the latter's ankle was wounded, then disappeared once again.

Allegiance with Eggman
With the battle ended, Shadow went out on his own once more, eventually locating Gerald's lost diary. However, Shadow was once again engaged by Metal Sonic, the two being rendered unconscious during the ensuing battle and brought back to Eggman by Mecha. Once in Eggman's presence, the mad-scientist was able to convince Shadow to work with him by informing Shadow that Maria was his half-sister.

When A.D.A.M. secretly seized control of Knothole's Metal Sonic Troopers and directed them to attack first Eggman and then their creators, Shadow joined Sonic, the Freedom Fighters, and the Chaotix in resisting the enemy. Hope was harmed during this conflict as she lived in Knothole, and Shadow became motivated by fury over her coming to harm. Using his link to the Chaos Force, he defeated the Troopers with Chaos Control, intriguing Knuckles in the process. Grateful for Sonic helping Hope, Shadow chose not to antagonize him but instead departed, returning to Eggman.

He would later return on Sonic's birthday to express his thanks, joining in battle with him against Scourge the Hedgehog and Croctobot. The latter, another servant of Eggman, threatened to tell Eggman of Shadow's treachery, but all three Hedgehogs put aside their rivalry to destroy the robot together. Shadow and Sonic found themselves initially outmatched by Scourge, who left with Rouge the Bat in tow as the Freedom Fighters arrived to back up his enemies. Shadow pursued them, but they escaped with the assistance of an Echidna mad scientist named Dr. Finitevus.

A.D.A.M. would later divert Shadow's attention by releasing Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus, both of them recently taken prisoner by Eggman in the Egg Grape Chamber, and forcing Eggman to send Shadow after them. Shadow was then lured into a trap by A.D.A.M., who used his abilities in conjunction with Tails' to summon all the Chaos Emeralds from across the universe to Mobius. While Sonic faced A.D.A.M., Shadow (in Super form) joined with Turbo Tails to send all the gathered Chaos Emeralds to the Zone of Silence, getting them out of reach of both A.D.A.M. and Eggman.

Shadow would then depart with Eggman, but soon their alliance would end. After taking Professor Gerald's diary from Eggman and yanking out his nephew Snively's hairs in the process, Shadow sought the Freedom Fighters for help deciphering it, only to have it damaged on his way to Knothole. Taken into the disk by NICOLE, the artificial intelligence member of the Freedom Fighters, Shadow made contact with virtual duplicates of Gerald and Maria and learned of his purpose in fighting Black Doom. Afterwards, Shadow went his own way, leaving Eggman behind to prepare for his eventual destiny.

Agent of G.U.N.
Not long after his desertion of Eggman, Shadow joined the special forces the United Federation along with Rouge the Bat. Responding to a distress call from New Mobotropolis, the city to which the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Acorn relocated after Knothole was destroyed. They had come under assault from Enerjak, a brainwashed Knuckles with the power of the Master Emerald infused within him by Dr. Finitevus. With his typical confidence, Shadow confronted Enerjak in a battle of Chaos powers, but soon realized that he had met his match. Removing his inhibitor rings to boost his power, he attacked Enerjak with increased strength, but soon burned himself out without much success against the super-powered Echidna. Shadow and the rest of the people of New Mobotropolis were only saved by the arrival of the Egg Fleet, which hit Enerjak with teleportation beams to send him to New Megaopolis to have his power drained. Shadow, his obligation fulfilled, departed to return to the United Federation.

Mobius and Beyond
In an attempt to find the Special Zone using Chaos Control, Shadow accidentally transported himself to Moebius, where he discovered Sonic was fighting Scourge the Hedgehog. When Sonic asked if Shadow wanted to help him beat up Scourge, Shadow replied "sure". However, the fight was interrupted yet again by the arrival of Metal Sonic, Silver the Hedgehog, Rob O' the Hedge, Amy Rose and Rosy the Rascal.

Silver briefly incapacitated them all with his psychic powers, attempting to find out which one of them was Sonic, before they were all attacked by Scourge. Scourge used the Anarchy Beryl to transform into a stronger form, Super Scourge, in which form he was able to defeat the others, including Shadow.

Shadow was later transported to another location along with Metal Sonic when he tried to override his zone teleporter engine with Chaos Control. Shadow and Metal Sonic arrived in an alternate universe (the Sonic X universe, as seen in issue 40 the Sonic X comic), where the local version of Sonic went on to explain the differences between their worlds, such as how their version of Shadow was dead. (Although it was later revealed that Eggman had in fact rescued the Sonic X version of Shadow.) After being offered a chance to remain in this universe, Shadow declined as he felt it was his duty to defend his own world. Following this he teleported himself and Metal Sonic away once again.

The two reappeared in Blaze the Cat's universe, floating above an ocean. Shadow tried to convince Metal Sonic to no longer obey Dr. Eggman, but Metal Sonic completely ignored Shadow's words and kicked him into the water before flying off to look for the zone's version of Eggman. Shadow struggled to keep himself from drowning until he was rescued by Blaze the Cat and Marine the Raccoon, who happened to be passing aboard the Ocean Tornado. On returning to Southern Island, they discovered that Metal Sonic was attacking the inhabitants in a desperate attempt to find that world's Doctor Eggman. After a short battle and another attempt by Shadow to reason with it, Metal Sonic was destroyed by a blast from the Ocean Tornado's cannon.

Still, with no way to travel through the universes, Shadow appeared to be stranded. He is then given the green Chaos Emerald by Blaze, which was given to her by Sonic to help her find the Sol Emeralds. With the Emerald, Shadow used Chaos Control to return to G.U.N. Headquarters on Mobius Prime, where Hope Kintobor and Commander Abraham Tower were waiting. Shadow delivered the Emerald, and was informed he had a new mission.

In SU#2, he was deployed along with Rouge to sabotage Eggman's base. The main mission was to deactivate a turret that was modified from an observatory. Instead of moving on directly, he contacted Sonic after the battle from #198, asking him to join the mission. Sonic agrees, and follows the duo to the target. Throughout this episode, Sonic and Shadow's encounters with each other and Rouge in Sonic Adventure 2 are often replayed, showing a similarity between mission aspects and the scenes of the past. After Shadow releases his inhibitor rings and destroys the gun, he voices his encouragement towards Sonic and his mission, saying that "This is YOUR fight", at the same time, thanking Sonic for saving his life, and much more. After Sonic runs off, Rouge remarks that Shadow's relationship with Sonic is more mutual now, to which Shadow replies, "He has my respect, that's all." Rouge shrugs and says, "Of course. Far too scandalous for you two to be friends."

In SU#3, Shadow takes on a mission from G.U.N to recruit E-102 Gamma. Dr Eggman sends out E-123 Omega to destroy Gamma. Shadow lauched away by Omega's cannon leaves the robots by themselves. Gamma seeing Omega as a worthy agent for G.U.N instead of himself transfers a scan to Omega to get rid of his loyalty to Dr Eggman before he was destroyed. Shadow arriving on the scene, Omega has been given the feelings that Gamma had. Shadow provides Omega a place in G.U.N to discover his true purpose.

In SU#4, Shadow and Rouge journey to the Special Zone to retrieve another Chaos Emerald but are no match for the challedge Feist has given them. Upset at failing his mission, Shadow is comforted by Hope and heads back to the Special Zone with Rouge and Omega as Team Dark. Failing the task that Feist has given him, Shadow goes with plan B and orders Omega to attack Feist while Rouge and Shadow retrieve the Chaos Emerald. Teleporting back to G.U.N. headquarters, Shadow gives the Chaos Emerald to the commander.

Sol Searching
Shadow and Omega were later called upon to assist their teammate, Rouge, in locating the source of a mysterious energy reading; namely, a Sol Emerald. The emerald was difficult to track due to irregularities in their readings and Rouge eventually stumbled across Amy, Cream, Blaze the Cat and NICOLE in her handheld form. The two power members of Team Dark then tailed Rouge as she earned the trust of the others searching for the Sol Emerald, ready to assist when she needed back-up. That moment came right after Rouge stole the Sol Emerald and got herself cornered by Blaze. Omega and Shadow blasted through rock to land behind Rouge, who delivered a warning to them to stay back or else the robot and hedgehog would strike. (Archie Sonic Universe Issue 21)

Despite Rouge's threats, Blaze coldly addressed Shadow, saying he should know that she needed the Sol Emeralds and asking him if this was how he would repay her generosity (as, when they had previously met, she had given him a Chaos Emerald in order to return home). To the surprise of his team, Shadow hesitated and averted his eyes; however, he eventually replied, "That was then. This is now." Rouge then ordered Omega to open fire, scattering their opposition, but Blaze created a wall of flame, rendering the barrage completely ineffective. Rouge and Omega were dumbfounded by this; Shadow, incredulous, asked Rouge if she had lost her mind. Rouge insisted she only intended for Omega to scare the girls rather than hurt them; no one noticed Blaze concentrating, and thus Shadow and Rouge were caught by surprise when the cat enveloped Omega in a spiral of flame. (Archie Sonic Universe Issue 22)

Possible Future
In the second version of the comic's Mobius: 25 Years Later "possible future" storyline, Shadow becomes King of Mobius and the husband of Princess Sally Acorn. In this future, Shadow rules the planet with an iron fist, with a futuristic Knuckles serving as his chief enforcer. In addition, he has an alliance with Lien-Da, Grand Master of the Dark Legion, despite the disapproval of her ancestor Dimitri, who considers her pact with Shadow to be as bad as his own previous alliance with Dr. Finitevus. After King Sonic (from another possible future) and Lara-Su return from their excursions to the past and join forces, Shadow orders their imprisonment, along with a number of other enemies such as Rotor the Walrus and Tails. Due to his Chaos-derived reality warping abilities, Shadow was fully aware that history had been altered, and so was determined to keep anyone from acting on it. However, his reign came to an end when he was defeated by none other than Lara-Su, who used Chaos Control to freeze him in time, an attack so powerful that she joked that she didn't think her great-great-great-great-great grandchildren would have to worry about him.

However, in the new series Sonic Universe, it is hinted Shadow has broken through the time stop and will make a reappearance to reclaim the throne, hence the cover art of issue #7. Shadow is last seen monologuing as though Maria was there, seemingly being buried alive by the crumbling Castle of Mobius.

Personality
Shadow is arrogant, aloof, doesn't take kindly to others interfering in his business, and cares for who he wants to care for. He lacks many of Sonic's inhibitions, being perfectly willing to eliminate a foe rather than merely subduing them. Still, he does have a small sense of honor, enough to leave the Freedom Fighters in peace on some occasions despite his alliance with Eggman. At times he has behaved with almost a mercenary attitude, joining forces with others only to further his own goals, but in the end he usually ends up picking the side of moral right. When Shadow has a goal, he sticks to it without hesitation, not resting until it is fulfilled.

Powers and Abilities
Possessing speed more than equal to Sonic, Shadow also commands Chaos powers through a direct link to the Chaos Force, which unlike that of the Brotherhood of Guardians doesn't require tapping into the energies of the Master Emerald. With a Chaos Emerald, Shadow can utilize these powers in a variety of ways, most commonly in the form of Chaos Control, and he doesn't need an Emerald for offensive and defensive variants of Chaos Control, specifically Chaos Spear and Chaos Blast. Despite his power, Shadow has his limits, and does not possess the same level of energy Knuckles once wielded. He can temporarily increase his powers by removing his inhibitor rings, to a level of power greater than that of even Scourge's, but after the effects wear off he is left weakened.

Trivia

 * The picture of Shadow on the cover of the issue titled, "Shadow Returns" looks similar to one of his promotional images for 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, except the eyes aren't as wide, and his handgun is M.I.A.
 * At times, the fur on his chest is miscolored yellow.
 * In Sonic Universe #4, Shadow is the one who starts up Team Dark but in Sonic Hereos Rouge starts it up.