If you’re not a Sonic the Hedgehog fan, you might be wondering why the internet is losing its collective mind about Keanu Reeves’ Shadow the Hedgehog in the trailer for the third live-action movie, premiering on December 20. You may also be confused as to why Sega would dedicate an entire year to celebrating the guy with a new game, an animated miniseries, physical events across the country, and a starring role in the next film, especially considering the company has a history of doing the guy dirty.
It’s funny. I saw a bunch of reaction videos to the first Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer in which young creators admitted to not knowing Shadow’s deal, and it occurred to me that he’s been out of the spotlight for so long that his long, dark, complicated history may be lost knowledge for some. So while the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations is going to recap his history when it comes out on October 25, I thought I’d break down who the black-and-red hedgehog is and why every blue blur stan you know is freaking out about his appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
2 / 9
No, Shadow is not a cliched “evil” Sonic variant. The antihero debuted in 2001 in Sonic Adventure 2, a Dreamcast game all about playing two different sides of the same conflict. The story was divided into two sides: Hero and Dark. The first followed Sonic and his friends Tails and Knuckles, while the second followed series antagonist Doctor Eggman, Shadow, and a treasure-hunting government double agent, Rouge the Bat. A lot of Sega’s marketing played up Sonic and Shadow’s juxtaposition as a good, angelic hedgehog and an evil, devious foe, and it’s true, Shadow does team up with Eggman, claiming to help him achieve his dream of world domination. But that’s just who he appears on the surface. Shadow’s actual motivations are revealed as the Dark-side story goes on, and there’s a much more tragic, multifaceted character at the center.
Shadow was created 50 years prior to the events of Sonic Adventure 2 by Doctor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman’s grandfather. He was born in a space station floating above Earth called Space Colony Ark. Here, Robotnik was researching immortality in an effort to find a cure for his granddaughter Maria’s terminal illness. Shadow was designed to be the “Ultimate Life Form,” capable of withstanding any disease or injury, with his immortal nature hopefully one day transferred into humans like Maria. The young girl lived with her grandfather on the space station, and as a result became close friends with Shadow as Robotnik continued his research. The two would look down on Earth and dream of seeing it together one day when Maria was cured of her condition.
3 / 9
Robotnik’s research was being funded by the United Federation (the Sonic equivalent of the United States). It was initially conceived as a means to create a living weapon, though Robotnik’s personal motivation was to save Maria. During his research, Robotnik created two immortal beings: Shadow, and a giant reptilian prototype called the Biolizard. Unlike Shadow, the Biolizard was violent and uncontrollable, and once the United Federation caught wind of it, the decision was made to shut down the project and eliminate anyone who knew of it. A squad of G.U.N. (Guardian Unit of Nations) soldiers were deployed onto the station, arresting Robotnik, killing researchers, and evacuating civilians. However, one civilian was caught in the crossfire: Maria.
Different versions of Shadow’s story across the games and extended universe depict Maria’s death differently. The 2005 game Shadow the Hedgehog shows a G.U.N. soldier shoot her in cold blood, while the Sonic X anime shows him kill her when she refuses to comply with his orders. What was she doing that they found so objectionable? She was sending Shadow to Earth in order to save him from the slaughter.
With her dying breath, she asks Shadow to bring hope to humanity as he is sent down to Earth on an escape pod. You’d think that wish would have led to Shadow saving the world rather than attempting to destroy it. So what happened?
As is revealed throughout Sonic Adventure 2, Robotnik went mad after the loss of Maria and his research. Even while imprisoned by G.U.N. and continuing his work under heavier supervision, the doctor began planning his revenge. If he couldn’t save Maria, he would destroy the humans who took everything away from him. This included brainwashing Shadow to forget Maria’s dying wish, instead having him misremember it as her asking him for revenge.
Shadow was eventually captured by G.U.N. and put into stasis, where he would remain for 50 years. Finally awoken by Eggman all those years later, he manipulated the doctor into bringing all seven Chaos Emeralds to the remnants of Space Colony Ark, claiming he wanted to use the stones’ energy to power the station’s powerful Eclipse Cannon and threaten the people of Earth into submission. But in truth, his plan was to use the emeralds to put the station on a collision course with the planet, destroying it and all of humanity.
Shadow nearly succeeded, too, before being reminded of Maria’s true dying wish by Sonic’s not-girlfriend Amy Rose. He then joined the rest of our heroes in stopping the Ark’s descent by using the Chaos Emeralds to defeat the Biolizard who was sprung from its imprisonment in the depths of the station. Then, having used all his power to stabilize the Ark, he fell to Earth. The rest of our heroes mourned him, but celebrated that he was able to carry out Maria’s wish.
4 / 9
That was the plan. Shadow was intended to be a one-and-done antihero with a heart of gold and a full circle redemption story. If that had been the extent of his story, it would have been a pretty powerful note to end on. However, because fans latched onto him, Sega decided to bring him back in 2003’s Sonic Heroes, but it wasn’t entirely clear if we were playing as the same character, or an imitation. It’s here that Shadow’s story became much, much more convoluted as Sonic started to go back to the well on this guy again and again.
In Sonic Heroes, Shadow appears as a member of Team Dark. This group is founded by Rouge, who stumbles upon Shadow in a containment pod in one of Eggman’s secret bases. The hedgehog seems to have lost his memories and is under the watchful guard of one of the doctor’s robots named E-123 Omega, and the three team up to find the scientist and demand answers. Sonic Heroes raises more questions about Shadow than it answers, as the group stumbles upon lifelike Shadow androids. Rouge finds an entire lab full of these robots in stasis, and confides in Omega that she believes the Shadow they’ve been fighting alongside to be a robot like the others. Omega points out that if Eggman has cloned Shadow, the original must exist somewhere. However, it wasn’t until Shadow’s 2005 game that the Sonic series would make a definitive statement on the matter.
5 / 9
Shadow the Hedgehog, the 2005 game starring Shadow as the sole playable character, is a complicated web of stories to unpack. The platformer is choice-based, allowing you to see different stories unfold based on which missions you complete in each level. If I kill a bunch of bad guys, I can see Shadow go down a heroic path. If I sabotage Sonic and friends, I can watch him revert to his villainous ways. All of these are portrayed as “what if” scenarios, but the game does tell us a lot more about how Shadow came to be.
In between all the alternate histories, it’s revealed that while creating Shadow, Robotnik sought the help of an alien race called the Black Arms. These invaders occupy a comet that passes over Earth every 50 years or so, and plan to return to the planet in a few decades to impose themselves on humanity. Robotnik made a deal with the aliens to further his research, offering to have Shadow help with the invasion in exchange for the DNA of Black Doom, the aliens’ leader. Shadow’s memories are still gone, but Robotnik left a video message from before the raid on the Ark with instructions for Shadow to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Arms’ comet and save the world. Shadow faces Black Doom in a final fight, then blows up the comet from orbit. He then makes the decision to leave his past behind and determine his own future…but not before Eggman confirms that he is, in fact, the original Ultimate Life Form, whom he rescued after the events of Sonic Adventure 2. Wildly enough, this confirmation only comes if you take over eight minutes to complete the final boss battle, so plenty of players never hear this voice line from Eggman.
6 / 9
Look, it wasn’t his finest hour. But, yes, Shadow did use firearms in the 2005 game, and swore when he took damage. He also started riding vehicles like motorcycles when it would have been faster for him to run. In the years since, the vehicles have stuck, as he used them again in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and is seen riding a motorcycle in the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The swearing and guns? Less so. Earlier this year, Sega gave some conflicting reasons for why Shadow put down the glock, claiming that he used guns out of necessity, but also that he doesn’t need weapons because he’s a living one. Look Sega, just say it was a different time and you were trying to appeal to different, edgier markets. Not everything has to be lore.
7 / 9
Up to this point, it hasn’t been confirmed why Robotnik made his Ultimate Life Form a hedgehog. Shadow’s resemblance to the blue blur has gotten Sonic into some trouble, however, as the government mistook Shadow for the hero during his life of crime. For now, the predominant theory is that Shadow may be based on a prophetic mural depicting Sonic’s future that appears on Angel Island, but that’s just a theory. Fans are speculating that Sonic X Shadow Generations may end up confirming this, based on images of Robotnik’s journal included with physical copies of the game.
8 / 9
Yes, but Shadow’s appearance in Sonic 3 is a bit more significant than that. For a few years, Shadow was one of the faces of the franchise, and came second only to Sonic in character popularity polls. His story was complex, his character intriguing, and he was an excellent foil to Sonic’s happy-go-lucky attitude. Following Sonic ‘06, Sega made a concerted effort to pull back on the ensemble cast in favor of going back to basics. Sonic was the only playable character for most games, the stories became more simple, and everyone was sanded down to a few distinct traits, with Shadow being solely defined by broodiness and hating the company of others, despite making some really excellent strides in accepting the companionship of the rest of Team Dark in ‘06.
For nearly 20 years, Shadow has swayed in the background as a caricature of himself, and Sega has taken its time putting him back in the spotlight. He made brief appearances in Sonic Forces as a DLC character and had a bit part in the Sonic Boom subseries, so Sega has been gradually nudging him back into the public consciousness. But what we’re seeing in Sonic 3 seems to be leaning toward a version of him that we haven’t seen in years. Shadow the Hedgehog deserves more than being remembered as a misanthropic edgelord who said “damn” and used a gun one time. It seems like Sega, and hopefully the rest of the world, is finally coming around to that fact.
9 / 9