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Description
The following is opinion based, not fact.
So this may seem like a dead subject to most of you, but I was thinking about Shadow the Hedgehog at work the other day. While it is safe to say it'll be awhile before we're graced with his cinematic debut, it did highlight a roadblock in his eventual inclusion in the Sonic movie franchise. To put it simply: What IS Shadow's character exactly? Many of you who use the Internet maybe familair with the terms "ow the edge" or "Edgey the Hedgey" in reference to Shadow's rather comical depiction over the years. I often attribute this to Sonic Team's lack of creativity above all else (we'll get to that). However Sega aren't bad developers or storytellers in the slightest. The Yakuza series is one of the finest things they have ever produced, with Jet Set Radio's originality being lightyears above what Sonic Team's current ideas dish out. This is going to go in a few different directions so try and bare with me on this one. I was bored one Sunday and felt this could make for a good topic of discussion.

When trying to figure out what's wrong with Shadow's current depicition, you have go back to the very beginning. Shadow the Hedgehog debuted in Sonic Adventure 2 in the year 2001. He was a black and red Hedgehog, and supposed "Ultimate Life Form" created by Professor Gerald Robotnik. Little was known about Shadow as you progressed through the game, as his Mewtwo like personality gave way to his true purpose. Shadow believed Maria wanted him to murder every human being on Earth for killing her, only for it to be revealed she actually wanted him to save humanity and give them a chance to be happy. You could make an interesting parallel with Castlevania's Alucard in that regard, but Alucard is actually a complex character and Shadow has the complexity of a piece of bread.

Now IF Shadow had remained dead at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 (spoiler alert) then I think gamers and critics would be telling a very different story about him today. Yes he was a little cliche as "an evil Sonic" but his story had fully concluded with his death, and the character did everything it needed to in its brief existence. The problem of course is that Shadow became more popular than a Cat video making Jojo references with Allstar playing in the background, so they cashed in on his newfound fame by retconning his death, plopped him straight into Sonic Heroes with little to no explanation, and eventually gave him his own spinoff game... That's where the problems really began.

For simply existing, Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) underminds the death and self-sacrfice of Shadow the Hedgehog (the character) by transforming the character from one-off villian to utter joke. Now that may seem like I'm being a little harsh, but take a seat and ponder this query with me: If Shadow the Hedgehog is the supposed "ultimate lifeform" that can run fast, stop time, and shoot laser beams from his hands, why does he need cars and guns? It's like having the power of flight, but you choose to fly around in a helicopter. The whole purpose of his game was to fill in the holes and answer questions left over from Sonic Adventure 2, yet instead it created plotholes and retcons because Sonic Team don't know how to write for shit.

A phrase I like to use when describing Shadow to people is "style over substance." It's a great design - don't get me wrong - but Sonic Team have no vision or direction for this character. You honestly feel they just threw together a bunch of shit that sounded cool to them at the time. I've even heard they got requests from kids to put guns into Sonic games. Not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything, Sega, but if you're getting requests to put firearms into kids games, you can just go ahead and ignore those psychopaths. Of course the other motivation was to pander to western gamers, because we "only like shooters" according to Kojima. If this was an attempt to appease westerners, then just like Inafune/Capcom's efforts, it failed - Miserably.

Not to beat a dead horse or go off topic but games like Halo, Call of Duty, or Grand Theft Auto are popular with a mature audience (though I question that for Call of Duty) because the more adult themes and violence complement the overall appeal those games have. The problem Sonic Team had is that their main character wasn't Master Chief, Tommy Vercetti or "gruff soldier #3,000,000,012" it was a 3ft rodent in Hop topic shoes with daddy issues.

This funnily enough began the trend of Sonic's on going Identity Crisis, as Sega could never quite figure out what they wanted the series to BE exactly. Now rational people would say "just make more games like Sonic 3" but Sonic Team kept looking at other franchises and said "I want that!" While we could point to games like Sonic Drift, Sonic Shuffle, or Big the Cat's fishing gameplay in Sonic Adventure, it was really on full display in Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic Team taking Shadow in a questionable new direction in order to bring in a larger audience reminds me of when Capcom tried their hand at this when they turned Resident Evil into Call of Duty... The fact Resident Evil 7, the 2 REmakes, and now Resident Evil 8 exist tells you how well that idea went.

Many point to Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 as the last time Shadow had any sort of character developement outside of spin off media. Oh before I go further, I think it's worth pointing out I haven't read the Archie Sonic Comic series. I have heard Shadow's developement there grew beyond his limited growth in the games, but I won't factor it into this essay since I have zero context or experience with it. Back on topic: While his story was argubly the "best" bit of Sonic 06 (which is like saying a corpse is the best contestant on X-Factor) but it ultimately reiterated the same talking points from the previous game. Because of this, Shadow doesn't really DO anything noteworthy in the games now. They tried to give him a purpose in the recent Sonic Forces, but it came across as confusing and badly played out. I still question how he has a battle with Infinite, disappears for 6 months, and then comes back just to kick his clone in the head.

So if Shadow doesn't have a character anymore, what exactly does he do in the games now? If there's one character Sonic Team really seemed to have latch onto for Shadow's "developement", many point to Dragonball Z's very own Prince Vegeta. I can sort of see it in more recent games, but I never got that impression straight away. That might be because IF Shadow stayed dead, his more confused personality and redemption arc were going to be his only character traits. Yet bringing him back from the dead and BADLY explaining his origin story in a spin off game has left Shadow like a midcarder on Monday Night Raw: Directionless and without purpose.

I think everyone has that same depiction in their mind when they hear the name "Vegeta", and that's usually a picture of him with his arms folded and looking grumpy. meganedanshi.files.wordpress.c… Vegeta spent most of Dragonball Z standing around, scouling at everyone, and with his arms firmly folded. Now tell me, who does that remind you of? i.pinimg.com/236x/db/b0/1e/dbb…

It's almost as if Takashi Iizuka‎ and Shiro Maekawa saw a picture of Vegeta with his arms folded and said "We can make a character based on this, right?" I feel this wasn't the intent, but it's hard not to see the comparrison between Shadow and Vegeta; including that laughable Death Battle episode (when the Mewtwo one was more on point) as Sonic Team leaned heavily into the Dragonball Z symbolism that turned Shadow from a haunted figure, into the Prince of all Hedgehog-Sayians. Mind you, stealing from Dragonball Z is the #1 thing Sonic Team need to STOP doing in my opinion. Hell, Silver's character bio literally says "think Trunks from Dragonball Z." However what Iizuka and others failed to realize is that Vegeta is more than just a grumpy face. Thanks to Battle of Gods and Dragonball Super, Vegeta is a highly complex character with a wide range of emotions and feelings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5YCC7…

What I'm saying is Vegeta is willing to HUMILIATE HIMSELF if it means saving the planet, gaining new strength, or to keep others happy, because beneath his Grumpy Cat like attitude he's a caring family man who will do anything for his loved ones. Shadow only has one emotion: Grump. That is really bad character design for you're taking all the superficial aspects of a popular character, and leaving out all the real reasons people love said character. Many would say "he's still moody cus of his past." There is a small problem with that excuse. Sonic 06 was intended to be a full series reboot; meaning all the characters were still present but had zero connection or the continuity to previous games. This would explain why Shadow bafflingly joined the G.U.N. organisation after trying to murder him in cold blood. Meaning this Shadow has no attatchement or connection to Sonic Adventure 2, Heroes, or his spin off title. Even so, he did declair at the end of his spin off game he "put his past behind him." Plus what was Shadow from Sonic Boom's excuse since that was an alternate universe?

What I'm getting at is they take Shadow's character far too seriously, and it really comes off as a joke. He's not so much Darth Vader, but rather Dark Helmet if you get what I'm saying. To throw in another comparrison here, Shadow could be seen in a similair vain to Metal Gear Solid's Raiden. Raiden is basically Hideo Kojima's "creator's pet" as he went to ridiculous lengths to make the audience love him. Going from a whiny naked twink, to a breakdancing cyborg ninja. The real difference, much like Vegeta, is that they embraced the rather goofy tone Raiden was projecting to the audience. You could say they realized everyone was taking the piss so they joined in. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence openly celebrated the batshit insanity of the Metal Gear Universe, and Raiden found himself along for the ride in this cartoony world. Yes he was an all powerful cyborg with a split personality, but he also dressed up as a Mexican stereotype and spouted some goofy one-liners. Meanwhile Shadow just grumps as his current voice actor (Kirk Thornton) has the same enthusiasm for Shadow as someone reading outloud a bus timetable. I think Steve Blum gave BlackWargreymon more emotional range now that I think about it.

I'm not saying Shadow the Hedgehog shouldn't exist, because every franchise needs a rival character. The rival/evil doppleganger is a classic trope in fiction that can provide your hero with a rival or a frenemy to exchange blows with. Venom, Bass, Wario, Miles Edgeworth, Nemesis Prime, Starwolf, Vergil, Red Hood, Green Ranger, Meta Knight, Mechagodzilla, Riskyboots, and of course Vegeta are all fasinating characters. Shadow however is filling a role along with 5 other characters. Sonic's rivals all range between Knuckles the Echidna, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat (technically speaking), Jet the Hawk, Shadow himself, and argubly Sonic's true archrival - Metal Sonic. You only really need ONE, Sega.

So what you're left with is a character that has no real purpose anymore, and is only being kept around because of fan popularity. Some might argue he's the perfect metaphor for the entire Sonic franchise. So how do you fix this Ultimate Trainwreck exactly? Give him more powers? Make him more grandiouse? My solution is if everyone thinks Shadow is a complete joke, then why not just run with it?

Going back to Raiden for a moment, Konami and Platinum Games decided to make Raiden more comical and it paid off as Metal Gear Rising, while divisive, was something of an interesting hack 'n' slash title before Konami became obsessed with pachinko machines. Sega could learn a thing or two from that example by turning Shadow into a self-parody of the entire franchise. None of this "hur hur, our fans are weird cus they still like this series!" shit you saw with Sonic Boom, but rather taking the worst aspects of the series and cranking them up to 11. Give Shadow sunglasses, a bitchin' leather jacket, bring back the guns, and REALLY make him "the Ultimate Edeglord." Instead of watching Dragonball Z, maybe somebody should slip Izuka a copy of Kung Fury and Farcry 3: Blood Dragon. Shadow can only communicate in awful one liners as he guns down Sonic OCs in "Green Hell Zone" all the way to Devil Egg Zone. Just picture it: Shadow takes aim with a quadbarrel shotgun, blasts an OCs head off, and smarks "do not steal this!" as hairmetal thunders in the background. Yes you could look at it as Sega losing their entire buttfucking minds, but it may just slip into so bad it's good territory. Hell, if a game is truly fun to play and stays in your memory because of that, hasn't it done its job?

You also prevent it "tainting the Sonic franchise" by excluding the appearence of every Sonic character besides Shadow and maybe Rouge. Call it a ridiculous spin off with no connection to Sonic (like WarioWare has no connection to the Mario series) and just let Izuka act out his entire edgy fantasies. Best of all, while he's off on his Shadow LCD hallucinations, you get somebody else to make good Sonic games again... Like the guys behind Sonic Mania.

Killing two birds, with one "ultimate" stone.

Shadow the Hedgehog is a creation of Sega and Sonic Team.
Vegeta is a creation of Shonen Jump.

Description
The following is opinion based, not fact.
So this may seem like a dead subject to most of you, but I was thinking about Shadow the Hedgehog at work the other day. While it is safe to say it'll be awhile before we're graced with his cinematic debut, it did highlight a roadblock in his eventual inclusion in the Sonic movie franchise. To put it simply: What IS Shadow's character exactly? Many of you who use the Internet maybe familair with the terms "ow the edge" or "Edgey the Hedgey" in reference to Shadow's rather comical depiction over the years. I often attribute this to Sonic Team's lack of creativity above all else (we'll get to that). However Sega aren't bad developers or storytellers in the slightest. The Yakuza series is one of the finest things they have ever produced, with Jet Set Radio's originality being lightyears above what Sonic Team's current ideas dish out. This is going to go in a few different directions so try and bare with me on this one. I was bored one Sunday and felt this could make for a good topic of discussion.

When trying to figure out what's wrong with Shadow's current depicition, you have go back to the very beginning. Shadow the Hedgehog debuted in Sonic Adventure 2 in the year 2001. He was a black and red Hedgehog, and supposed "Ultimate Life Form" created by Professor Gerald Robotnik. Little was known about Shadow as you progressed through the game, as his Mewtwo like personality gave way to his true purpose. Shadow believed Maria wanted him to murder every human being on Earth for killing her, only for it to be revealed she actually wanted him to save humanity and give them a chance to be happy. You could make an interesting parallel with Castlevania's Alucard in that regard, but Alucard is actually a complex character and Shadow has the complexity of a piece of bread.

Now IF Shadow had remained dead at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 (spoiler alert) then I think gamers and critics would be telling a very different story about him today. Yes he was a little cliche as "an evil Sonic" but his story had fully concluded with his death, and the character did everything it needed to in its brief existence. The problem of course is that Shadow became more popular than a Cat video making Jojo references with Allstar playing in the background, so they cashed in on his newfound fame by retconning his death, plopped him straight into Sonic Heroes with little to no explanation, and eventually gave him his own spinoff game... That's where the problems really began.

For simply existing, Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) underminds the death and self-sacrfice of Shadow the Hedgehog (the character) by transforming the character from one-off villian to utter joke. Now that may seem like I'm being a little harsh, but take a seat and ponder this query with me: If Shadow the Hedgehog is the supposed "ultimate lifeform" that can run fast, stop time, and shoot laser beams from his hands, why does he need cars and guns? It's like having the power of flight, but you choose to fly around in a helicopter. The whole purpose of his game was to fill in the holes and answer questions left over from Sonic Adventure 2, yet instead it created plotholes and retcons because Sonic Team don't know how to write for shit.

A phrase I like to use when describing Shadow to people is "style over substance." It's a great design - don't get me wrong - but Sonic Team have no vision or direction for this character. You honestly feel they just threw together a bunch of shit that sounded cool to them at the time. I've even heard they got requests from kids to put guns into Sonic games. Not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything, Sega, but if you're getting requests to put firearms into kids games, you can just go ahead and ignore those psychopaths. Of course the other motivation was to pander to western gamers, because we "only like shooters" according to Kojima. If this was an attempt to appease westerners, then just like Inafune/Capcom's efforts, it failed - Miserably.

Not to beat a dead horse or go off topic but games like Halo, Call of Duty, or Grand Theft Auto are popular with a mature audience (though I question that for Call of Duty) because the more adult themes and violence complement the overall appeal those games have. The problem Sonic Team had is that their main character wasn't Master Chief, Tommy Vercetti or "gruff soldier #3,000,000,012" it was a 3ft rodent in Hop topic shoes with daddy issues.

This funnily enough began the trend of Sonic's on going Identity Crisis, as Sega could never quite figure out what they wanted the series to BE exactly. Now rational people would say "just make more games like Sonic 3" but Sonic Team kept looking at other franchises and said "I want that!" While we could point to games like Sonic Drift, Sonic Shuffle, or Big the Cat's fishing gameplay in Sonic Adventure, it was really on full display in Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic Team taking Shadow in a questionable new direction in order to bring in a larger audience reminds me of when Capcom tried their hand at this when they turned Resident Evil into Call of Duty... The fact Resident Evil 7, the 2 REmakes, and now Resident Evil 8 exist tells you how well that idea went.

Many point to Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 as the last time Shadow had any sort of character developement outside of spin off media. Oh before I go further, I think it's worth pointing out I haven't read the Archie Sonic Comic series. I have heard Shadow's developement there grew beyond his limited growth in the games, but I won't factor it into this essay since I have zero context or experience with it. Back on topic: While his story was argubly the "best" bit of Sonic 06 (which is like saying a corpse is the best contestant on X-Factor) but it ultimately reiterated the same talking points from the previous game. Because of this, Shadow doesn't really DO anything noteworthy in the games now. They tried to give him a purpose in the recent Sonic Forces, but it came across as confusing and badly played out. I still question how he has a battle with Infinite, disappears for 6 months, and then comes back just to kick his clone in the head.

So if Shadow doesn't have a character anymore, what exactly does he do in the games now? If there's one character Sonic Team really seemed to have latch onto for Shadow's "developement", many point to Dragonball Z's very own Prince Vegeta. I can sort of see it in more recent games, but I never got that impression straight away. That might be because IF Shadow stayed dead, his more confused personality and redemption arc were going to be his only character traits. Yet bringing him back from the dead and BADLY explaining his origin story in a spin off game has left Shadow like a midcarder on Monday Night Raw: Directionless and without purpose.

I think everyone has that same depiction in their mind when they hear the name "Vegeta", and that's usually a picture of him with his arms folded and looking grumpy. meganedanshi.files.wordpress.c… Vegeta spent most of Dragonball Z standing around, scouling at everyone, and with his arms firmly folded. Now tell me, who does that remind you of? i.pinimg.com/236x/db/b0/1e/dbb…

It's almost as if Takashi Iizuka‎ and Shiro Maekawa saw a picture of Vegeta with his arms folded and said "We can make a character based on this, right?" I feel this wasn't the intent, but it's hard not to see the comparrison between Shadow and Vegeta; including that laughable Death Battle episode (when the Mewtwo one was more on point) as Sonic Team leaned heavily into the Dragonball Z symbolism that turned Shadow from a haunted figure, into the Prince of all Hedgehog-Sayians. Mind you, stealing from Dragonball Z is the #1 thing Sonic Team need to STOP doing in my opinion. Hell, Silver's character bio literally says "think Trunks from Dragonball Z." However what Iizuka and others failed to realize is that Vegeta is more than just a grumpy face. Thanks to Battle of Gods and Dragonball Super, Vegeta is a highly complex character with a wide range of emotions and feelings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5YCC7…

What I'm saying is Vegeta is willing to HUMILIATE HIMSELF if it means saving the planet, gaining new strength, or to keep others happy, because beneath his Grumpy Cat like attitude he's a caring family man who will do anything for his loved ones. Shadow only has one emotion: Grump. That is really bad character design for you're taking all the superficial aspects of a popular character, and leaving out all the real reasons people love said character. Many would say "he's still moody cus of his past." There is a small problem with that excuse. Sonic 06 was intended to be a full series reboot; meaning all the characters were still present but had zero connection or the continuity to previous games. This would explain why Shadow bafflingly joined the G.U.N. organisation after trying to murder him in cold blood. Meaning this Shadow has no attatchement or connection to Sonic Adventure 2, Heroes, or his spin off title. Even so, he did declair at the end of his spin off game he "put his past behind him." Plus what was Shadow from Sonic Boom's excuse since that was an alternate universe?

What I'm getting at is they take Shadow's character far too seriously, and it really comes off as a joke. He's not so much Darth Vader, but rather Dark Helmet if you get what I'm saying. To throw in another comparrison here, Shadow could be seen in a similair vain to Metal Gear Solid's Raiden. Raiden is basically Hideo Kojima's "creator's pet" as he went to ridiculous lengths to make the audience love him. Going from a whiny naked twink, to a breakdancing cyborg ninja. The real difference, much like Vegeta, is that they embraced the rather goofy tone Raiden was projecting to the audience. You could say they realized everyone was taking the piss so they joined in. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence openly celebrated the batshit insanity of the Metal Gear Universe, and Raiden found himself along for the ride in this cartoony world. Yes he was an all powerful cyborg with a split personality, but he also dressed up as a Mexican stereotype and spouted some goofy one-liners. Meanwhile Shadow just grumps as his current voice actor (Kirk Thornton) has the same enthusiasm for Shadow as someone reading outloud a bus timetable. I think Steve Blum gave BlackWargreymon more emotional range now that I think about it.

I'm not saying Shadow the Hedgehog shouldn't exist, because every franchise needs a rival character. The rival/evil doppleganger is a classic trope in fiction that can provide your hero with a rival or a frenemy to exchange blows with. Venom, Bass, Wario, Miles Edgeworth, Nemesis Prime, Starwolf, Vergil, Red Hood, Green Ranger, Meta Knight, Mechagodzilla, Riskyboots, and of course Vegeta are all fasinating characters. Shadow however is filling a role along with 5 other characters. Sonic's rivals all range between Knuckles the Echidna, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat (technically speaking), Jet the Hawk, Shadow himself, and argubly Sonic's true archrival - Metal Sonic. You only really need ONE, Sega.

So what you're left with is a character that has no real purpose anymore, and is only being kept around because of fan popularity. Some might argue he's the perfect metaphor for the entire Sonic franchise. So how do you fix this Ultimate Trainwreck exactly? Give him more powers? Make him more grandiouse? My solution is if everyone thinks Shadow is a complete joke, then why not just run with it?

Going back to Raiden for a moment, Konami and Platinum Games decided to make Raiden more comical and it paid off as Metal Gear Rising, while divisive, was something of an interesting hack 'n' slash title before Konami became obsessed with pachinko machines. Sega could learn a thing or two from that example by turning Shadow into a self-parody of the entire franchise. None of this "hur hur, our fans are weird cus they still like this series!" shit you saw with Sonic Boom, but rather taking the worst aspects of the series and cranking them up to 11. Give Shadow sunglasses, a bitchin' leather jacket, bring back the guns, and REALLY make him "the Ultimate Edeglord." Instead of watching Dragonball Z, maybe somebody should slip Izuka a copy of Kung Fury and Farcry 3: Blood Dragon. Shadow can only communicate in awful one liners as he guns down Sonic OCs in "Green Hell Zone" all the way to Devil Egg Zone. Just picture it: Shadow takes aim with a quadbarrel shotgun, blasts an OCs head off, and smarks "do not steal this!" as hairmetal thunders in the background. Yes you could look at it as Sega losing their entire buttfucking minds, but it may just slip into so bad it's good territory. Hell, if a game is truly fun to play and stays in your memory because of that, hasn't it done its job?

You also prevent it "tainting the Sonic franchise" by excluding the appearence of every Sonic character besides Shadow and maybe Rouge. Call it a ridiculous spin off with no connection to Sonic (like WarioWare has no connection to the Mario series) and just let Izuka act out his entire edgy fantasies. Best of all, while he's off on his Shadow LCD hallucinations, you get somebody else to make good Sonic games again... Like the guys behind Sonic Mania.

Killing two birds, with one "ultimate" stone.

Shadow the Hedgehog is a creation of Sega and Sonic Team.
Vegeta is a creation of Shonen Jump.