Why Fans Still Love Shadow the Hedgehog Despite Him Being the Ultimate Edgelord
“It all starts with this: a jewel containing the ultimate power!” -Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Adventure 2
It was 2001, and Sega and Sonic Team felt the need to do something special for Sonic the Hedgehog’s 10th anniversary. Obviously, they needed to make a game to commemorate the blue blur’s ten-year existence, but something about this game had to be special- something to make it stand out from the other games.
How about a new rival for Sonic? Well, Sonic already had Metal Sonic, and Knuckles was originally a rival, but then they kind of became friends… in the more recent games. Besides, another Metal Sonic might get old to the fans, so what now? Sonic needs a rival who’s competent enough to beat him on occasion and could match his speed. Maybe he could be immortal- the ultimate lifeform. Also, it’s the 2000s, so this rival will need to be a bit darker and more complex than Sonic himself- a rival who doesn’t hang out with a whole lot of people and has a bit more angst onto him…
That was what Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa came up with when creating a new rival for Sonic on his tenth anniversary, and, well… the rest is history. Shadow the Hedgehog is one the franchise’s most popular characters and is well-loved by many gamers and others alike. In fact, he’s so popular that he even has a video game of his own (but that’s another story for another time). His debut in Sonic Adventure 2 was originally meant to be his only appearance in any Sonic game, but Sega decided to revive him in other games such as Sonic Heroes and Sonic Battle. Despite being called “edgy”, “angsty”, and “over-the-top dark”, fans love him so much that he keeps appearing in almost every Sonic game since. What gives? What attracts people to Shadow the Hedgehog? Why do so many fans love this anthropomorphic hedgehog so much?
To answer that question, we’ll have to go over the plot for Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic the Hedgehog gets arrested by the police for a crime he didn’t commit after being mistaken for another hedgehog. After escaping in one of the best first levels of all time, he discovers the hedgehog the police have mistaken him for. This hedgehog is not only as fast as Sonic, but he also has a jewel containing the ultimate power- a chaos emerald! So, Sonic has to clear his name and defeat that faker.
But wait! There’s something about that faker! He didn’t steal that chaos emerald just for the sake of being evil. He’s doing all of this because he thinks this is what Maria (someone whom he considers family) would’ve wanted. You see, Shadow was created in a lab and grew up on a space ship called the Space Colony ARK with a girl named Maria. Maria is the granddaughter of the Professor Gerald Robotnik (and he’s also the grandfather of the game’s antagonist Dr. Eggman), and he created Shadow to help cure Maria’s illness. Anyways, Shadow and Maria had a super close bond with each other, so Maria’s death really affected him. Due to Shadow and Maria’s bond, a military organization called G.U.N. kills Maria while Shadow tries to protect her. And right before Maria dies, she makes a promise to Shadow that will stay with him forever.
And Shadow vows to keep Maria’s promise… at least, what he thought was Maria’s promise. Dr. Eggman revives Shadow for his plan to conquer the world and defeat Sonic (which is where the whole false accusations come from). At first, Shadow agrees to team up with Eggman as a means to keep Maria’s promise, but he eventually sides with Sonic after not only being somewhat impressed by Sonic’s powers and determination, but also remembering Maria’s actual promise- to save humanity, not destroy it.
I guess trauma can mess with your morality a bit. That’s probably what makes people love Shadow the Hedgehog so much. He’s complex and a bit angsty, sure, but people can understand where he’s coming from. When you’re affected by trauma after losing a loved one, that trauma will skew your judgement and make you act in a way that might not be as moral as you think it might be. Take Shadow for example. He originally tries to frame Sonic for a crime he didn’t commit as a promise to Maria. In actuality, what Shadow is doing is going against what Maria would’ve wanted. Maria wouldn’t want Shadow to frame someone for a crime so that the world could be destroyed; she would’ve wanted him to protect humanity and the world. But Shadow is so traumatized by her death that he ends up doing the opposite of what Maria would’ve wanted out of grief.
Now, while I will never be in a situation in which I would have to team up with a mad scientist to defeat a super speedy hedgehog and take over the world, but if I kept a promise to a loved one, and that loved one ended up being killed, I can safely say that I might avenge my loved one out of grief like Shadow did- even if my loved one wouldn’t want that. And that’s a big part of what makes Shadow so appealing- many other people would avenge their loved ones out of grief despite what their loved ones would’ve wanted, too. Shadow is a complex character with motives and reasons for doing what he does, and he makes hasty judgements and mistakes due to these motives.
Sonic is what you might consider a “flat character”. Sure, he has his flaws and weaknesses, but throughout all the games, he doesn’t really have much character development. However, what Sonic does is influence other characters to better themselves; that’s the effect Sonic had on Shadow. In a way, Sonic influences Shadow by surprising him with his abilities and determination.
Sonic isn’t the only character to influence him to better himself. Another character, Amy Rose, reminds Shadow of what Maria actually wanted him to do. To quote her word for word-
I know that people fight over the most trivial things. Some people may be selfish, like the professor said, but they’re basically good. If they try their best and never give up on their wishes, they always have a reason to be happy. That’s why you should help them out. Saving them is a good thing!
That’s enough for Shadow to shed a single tear because, in a way, Amy reminded him of Maria; their views on humanity are similar. After all of that, both Sonic and Shadow go super to defeat the Biolizard, and, after its defeat, Sonic tries to save Shadow as the black hedgehog’s super form disappears. But Shadow slaps his hand away and sacrifices himself for the world, humanity, and Maria’s promise.
Maria… this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you…
This promise is what makes Shadow unique and compelling to many people. Shadow is a character people can relate to and understand. And that’s why he’s one of the most popular characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Also, it helps that Sonic Adventure 2 is a good game to play.
