Shadow the Hedgehog
is a character created by the Japanese game developers Takashi Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, and Kazuyuki Hoshino. He is a major character in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Shadow is an anthropomorphic black hedgehog created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of Doctor Eggman. Shadow shares design traits and attributes with Sonic the Hedgehog. He is an antihero who has good intentions but will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, putting him at odds with Sonic.
Shadow first appeared in the Dreamcast game Sonic Adventure 2, although he was conceived during the development of Sonic Adventure. Iizuka devised the concept, while Maekawa developed his character and Hoshino designed him. Influences included the Dragon Ball character Vegeta, the Image Comics character Spawn, the Sonic character Metal Sonic, and speed skaters. Sonic Team envisioned Shadow as a one-off character who would only appear in Sonic Adventure 2, but his popularity among fans led to his inclusion in subsequent games, beginning with Sonic Heroes.
Shadow has featured in many Sonic games, including the standalone games Shadow the Hedgehog and Shadow Generations. Shadow is one of the few Sonic characters to have a full character arc; after witnessing the death of his best friend Maria Robotnik, he initially seeks revenge, but later vows to keep his promise to her that he would protect the world from danger. Kōji Yusa voices Shadow in Japan, while his English voice has been provided by David Humphrey, Jason Griffith, and Kirk Thornton. Keanu Reeves voices him in the feature film Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Shadow is one of the most popular Sonic characters and was named one of the greatest video game characters by Guinness World Records in 2011. However, he has proven divisive among video game journalists. Some praised his role in Sonic Adventure 2, his levels' preservation of the Sonic theme, and his portrayal in the Sonic 3 film, but others criticized his dark and brooding characterization, particularly in later games, and ranked him among the worst Sonic characters. The Shadow the Hedgehog game received generally unfavorable reviews, though it sold well.
Character
Shadow is an anthropomorphic black hedgehog appearing in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series of platform games and its various spin-offs. He first appeared in the 2001 installment Sonic Adventure 2, the final Sonic game released for a Sega video game console. His roles in the games vary. Some, such as the main series games Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic the Hedgehog feature him as a major playable character, and he is the protagonist of the spin-off Shadow the Hedgehog and a downloadable content package for Sonic Forces. Shadow also appears as an unlockable playable character in Sonic Dream Team, after an update in 2024 to commemorate the Year of Shadow campaign. Others, such as the anniversary game Sonic Generations, limit him to a non-playable role. He also appears as one of the characters who can be summoned using the Assist Trophy item in the Super Smash Bros. series.Shadow is a mysterious, sharp-witted, and brooding antihero. While his ultimate goal is to protect the world from danger, he dislikes humanity, and once he has set a goal, he does whatever it takes to accomplish it. This often causes him to take risks without thinking them through and puts him at odds with series protagonist Sonic the Hedgehog. Although a loner, Shadow collaborates with treasure hunter Rouge the Bat and robot E-123 Omega in games such as Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sonic Forces. Shadow allies with Sonic in some games, but also does so with Doctor Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog.
Shadow shares many similarities with Sonic. Visually, GameSpot Ben Stahl described Shadow as "an evil version of Sonic himself—similar in appearance, but with darker skin, more angled eyes, and a fearsome snarl instead of Sonic's trademark grin." GamesRadar+ Justin Leeper said that if Sonic was Superman, then Shadow would be his Batman. The characters control similarly in games, as both share skills and the ability to run at great speeds. Shadow has unique attributes in some games, such as his uses of firearms and vehicles in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. He can also use the Chaos Emeralds to perform "Chaos Control"—allowing him to distort time—and create weapons like spears. Like Sonic, Shadow can transform into a "Super" form, giving him special powers. In Shadow Generations, he is given a new form known as “Doom Wings Shadow,” where he sprouts wings and can fly across the stage with invincibility until losing rings in a similar manner to Super Sonic.
Other media
Outside of the video game series, Shadow appears in the anime series Sonic X, which adapts the story of the Sonic Adventure games, as well as Sonic Boom and Sonic Prime. The original Japanese cast from the games reprised their roles for the former, while Jason Griffith voiced Shadow in its English dub by 4Kids Entertainment. In the Sonic Boom spin-off franchise, Shadow appears in the 2014 games Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for the Wii U and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as the television episodes "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" and "Eggman: The Video Game", voiced by Kirk Thornton.Ian Hanlin voices Shadow in the animated Netflix series Sonic Prime. After Sonic inadvertently opens the path to the Paradox Prism for Eggman, Shadow has a vague vision of the universe's shatter and tries to prevent it but fails, he manages to escape it using Chaos Control and is trapped in the void between Shatterspaces.
Shadow also appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books published by Archie Comics and IDW Publishing. Shadow had 2 story arcs in the Archie Sonic spinoff line titled Sonic Universe, The Shadow Saga and Shadow Fall, the latter of which served as a spiritual successor to his solo game from 2005. Shadow’s likeness has been used in Sonic merchandise. Shadow made his live-action debut in a non-speaking cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene of the 2022 film Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and was voiced by Keanu Reeves in the sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released on December 20, 2024.
Development
Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, who respectively served as director and writer of Sonic Adventure 2. During the development of the original Sonic Adventure, Sonic Team conceived a black hedgehog who equaled or exceeded Sonic's coolness. The idea was revived during brainstorming sessions for Sonic Adventure 2, as the game features two "good vs. evil" storylines. Iizuka wanted to appeal to American audiences with an antihero, a popular character archetype in the US at the time. Concept art indicates that Shadow was primarily inspired by the Dragon Ball character Vegeta, but Iizuka denied this, instead citing the Image Comics character Spawn as an influence.Shadow was initially named "Terios", referencing his role as Sonic's doppelganger. He was renamed Shadow after another new character, a bat, who became Rouge. Sonic Team tasked Maekawa with developing Shadow, a task he found challenging. One night, while he brainstormed lines for a scene in which Sonic confronts Shadow for impersonating him, Maekawa came up with Shadow's first line: "Hmph, aren't you the fake one here?" From here, Maekawa envisioned the hedgehog as a delicate, pure character who would refer to himself using the more humble Japanese pronoun boku. Iizuka made sure that Shadow's introduction also brought new events to the game, as he wanted players to care about the character.
Kazuyuki Hoshino designed Shadow. Like he had when he designed Metal Sonic for Sonic CD, Hoshino imagined Shadow in a confrontation with Sonic to produce the design. Early Shadow designs bore a strong resemblance to Sonic, with darker colors, droopier spines, and a scar on the left of his face. Hoshino said these designs reflected Shadow being originally "more obviously evil"; he called the initial incarnation "Terios the Prisoner". For the final design, Hoshino remembered that he had designed Metal Sonic with a jet engine to distinguish him from Sonic. Likewise, he drew inspiration from speed skaters for Shadow's design since he wanted Shadow to rival Sonic's speed in a unique manner. The red stripes featured in Shadow’s design was inspired by traditional kabuki makeup.
Sonic Adventure 2 was intended to be Shadow's only appearance, but his popularity among fans led to him returning in Sonic Heroes. Additionally, Sonic Team wanted to feature Shadow in a spin-off game. By 2005, Sonic Team was interested in developing a high-speed shooter game. They chose to focus on Shadow—whom they felt would provide "the perfect venue... to try our hand at this genre"—leading to the development of Shadow the Hedgehog. Series co-creator Yuji Naka hoped Shadow would lead to a spin-off series about the character. When developing Shadow's design and world, Sonic Team was influenced by films such as Underworld, Constantine, and the Terminator series.
The team abandoned Shadow's shooting gameplay when working on Sonic the Hedgehog in 2006. Instead, director Shun Nakamura emphasized combat to differentiate his gameplay from that of Sonic's; while Sonic was designed for speedy platforming, Shadow was designed for fighting enemies. After Sonic and the Black Knight, Shadow did not appear as a playable character in a Sonic platformer for some time, until the release of Sonic Forces in 2017. Nakamura explained that Sonic Team brought Shadow back for Sonic Forces so it would appeal to fans of the Adventure games, as the character is "extremely popular" among that group. Iizuka has commented that another Shadow-oriented spin-off is a possibility.