Editing Shadow the Hedgehog

|caption = [[File:SonicSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert-dark]]<br>Official artwork of Shadow from ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic Forces}}''.

|lastappearance = ''[[wikipedia:Shadow Generations|Sonic X Shadow Generations]]'' (2024)

'''Shadow the Hedgehog''' ({{ja|シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ|Shadō za Hejjihoggu}}, ''Shadow the Hedgehog'') is a major character from the {{uv|Sonic the Hedgehog}} series.

Shadow the Hedgehog is an antihero in the [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] series that either appears as an obstacle or an ally to defeat a more powerful foe. An artificially-created hedgehog known as the "Ultimate Lifeform", he made his first appearance in ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic Adventure 2}}'' as an antagonist who becomes an anti-heroic protagonist as the game progresses. Since his debut, he consistently holds second place as the most popular character in the franchise, trailing the eponymous character. Unlike his heroic counterpart, Shadow is a much darker character, willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goals. In later games, Shadow often appears as an anti-hero with inherently good intentions, even if his methods are unlike those of Sonic's. He features in his own self-titled game, ''{{iw|wikipedia|Shadow the Hedgehog|video game}}'', released in 2005. After the conclusion to his story in this game, Shadow would continue to play roles in future games, mostly as a supporting character with a few playable appearances.

In ''Sonic Adventure 2'', Shadow was created five decades before the game's events, by [[Dr. Eggman]]'s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, on the Space Colony ARK. He was the result of a successful government medical project in collaboration with the leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom, called Project Shadow, which had the goal of finding a way for life to be immortal. Soon after the project's completion, the government began to fear Shadow's power, and attempted to erase the project from public records. Fifty years later, Eggman reawakens Shadow in order to reactivate the Eclipse Cannon, a weapon of mass destruction built into the ARK. Sonic and his friends attempt to stop this plan, but both parties are eventually forced to work together to prevent the ARK from crashing into Earth. When the Biolizard, the prototype Ultimate Lifeform, fuses together with the ARK to become the Finalhazard, Shadow partners with Sonic and uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow, fighting to stop the new threat.

In the ''Sonic'' series, Chaos Control is a technique that allows the user to warp through space and stop time through the manipulation of the fabric of space-time. The user needs at least one Chaos Emerald, and the strength of Chaos Control is increased with each Chaos Emerald added until being maxed out with all seven. Shadow was one of the first to utilize the technique, with other characters also learning how to perform it later on. In ''Sonic Adventure 2''{{'}}s two-player mode, Chaos Control can be used by Shadow to stop time and "freeze" the opponent while he moves at normal speed. Chaos Control can also be used to freeze time in ''Sonic Heroes''. When fighting against bosses in ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' and during cutscenes of ''Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)'', the ability is instead depicted as slowing down time. In the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, Shadow appears as an Assist Trophy and uses Chaos Control to slow down opponents of the fighter who summoned him, similar to the latter two games. ''Ultimate'' adds a second wave of Chaos Control that freezes time as in the former two titles. In most ''Sonic'' games, such as ''Sonic Adventure 2'' and ''Sonic Heroes'', Shadow is shown using the green Chaos Emerald to perform Chaos Control, which is also portrayed in his appearance in ''Ultimate''.

Shadow retains his role as an Assist Trophy that slows down time in ''SSB4''. His distortions are more visually apparent in this game, appearing clearly in the foreground. His own visual aesthetics were also altered to be just as bright as in his home series, as well as his mouth's placement being more to the side of his muzzle instead of right below his nose, matching {{SSB4|Sonic}}.  

 

This time, Shadow has gained voice dubs in other languages like Sonic, with his portrayals in overseas versions being re-purposed from ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic Generations}}''; in English, he is voiced Kirk Thornton, who succeeded Jason Griffith since 2010 beginning with ''{{s|wikipedia|Sonic Free Riders}}''. Kōji Yusa reprises his role in Japanese, with his portrayals re-purposed from ''Brawl.''