Honestly, 06 isn't the best, but it's far from the worst too. I would even go as far as to call it a great game, but a broken one. If SEGA keep riding this wave of quality and remasters, then I'd love to see an 06 remaster that fixes the gameplay issues and makes the in-game cutscenes look better.
I also agree. Sonic 06 has the best Shadow and it’s such a shame that Sega mistreated him for so long after that. Shadow Generations so far seems like it’s gonna make Shadow cool again and I hope they continue to make it that way.
Did you know that in Shadow The Hedgehog 2005, Eggman straight up reveals that the Shadow we've been playing as IS the ORIGINAL Shadow that Gerald created
I was literally about to comment this. It seems they didn't finish the true ending of the game because during the boss fight, eggman literally says to shadow that he lied about shadow just being one of the many androids that were created, and that he himself was THE shadow. It also makes sense since the androids were shooting missiles out of their hands in game play, showing they didn't have the actual abilities of shadow.
@@TahniZCat2 I don’t think it has anything to do with unlocking the final story or not, it’s mainly the fact that Eggman only says it if you wait like 10 minutes in a boss that takes 3. It’s pretty obscure even after accounting for all the effort needed to get there
46:11 Shadow did survive this. There is a Japanese version of the show, which shows in the last scene Shadow’s shadow next to Molly’s grave. After the final battle he visited her grave. It is removed from the English version because they thought it was too much for kids. So yeah, Shadow is still alive in Sonic X
@OnePunchYume I hear their version of the Sonic Adventure 2 finale even had the original music from the game in it. I was disappointed at no "Live & Learn" in the 4Kids version.
@@MetroXLR99 RIGHT?! Last anime convention I went to I bought a copy of the Japanese Blu-ray among other series I picked up so as soon as I'm not distracted by my big backlog of games, anime/shows to watch I'll definitely binge watch Sonic X in it's original awesome version!
What's really funny about this is that for some reason they thought kids thinking shadow was DEAD was less tramatic then us seeing him alive and visiting a loved one's grave.
For Sonic X (Japanese version), they show in the credits that Shadow is alive. He's visiting Molly's grave (you don't see him, but his shadow is on top of the grave that was built).
@@itsprobablynotpedro3175 Yep, I think the scene plays during the credit section of the last episode in the Japanese dub (either that or second to last episode).
The problem with the Metal Virus arc for Shadow is not due to the writers. Ian Flynn stated on his podcast, the Bumblekast, that the thing was going to go differently - Shadow was going to take off his inhibitor rings after getting overwhelmed, trying to save everyone, and it would cause the virus to spread quicker; not only that, it would have caused Shadow to become corrupted as he turned into a Zombot - but SEGA is literally mandating that Shadow be portrayed as Vegeta 2.0. NONE of the writers like the way they're being forced to write Shadow because this isn't Shadow. But it's a SEGA mandate, so they can't do anything about it if they want to include Shadow in the story. So, please don't say that Ian Flynn needs to take inspiration from how he wrote Shadow in the Archie comics. He WANTS to write Shadow that way but SEGA WON'T ALLOW him to. And whatever SEGA says goes, and unfortunately, there is a mandate on how Shadow needs to be portrayed. Ian Flynn can't go against those mandates and just write Shadow how he wants, ignoring the mandates, because then SEGA will just tell IDW to fire him and find a new writer for IDW Sonic, and as this is a licensed comic… yeah, SEGA can actually do that.
Yet people still get on Ian if they are going to get mad at him it should at least be for saying the end is no. 2 compared to Solaris even though it makes no sense Solaris was beat up by super sonic plus s and s meanwhile the end needed super sonic 2 and cyber sonic to beat it yes the final horizon is canon since sage is alive and dream team is post frontiers 👍
What’s weirder though is if that’s the mandate SEGA wanted to enforce, then why not go with Ian’s vision? Honestly, Shadow unleashing his inhibitor rings and going all out in a desperate sacrifice to a planetary level threat draws a lot of parallels to Vegita’s prideful sacrifice to Majin Buu. Would’ve been amazing to read, but once again, sega gets its own way.
I don't believe that, because _Forces_ portrayed a better Shadow than IDW. Shadow in IDW was always going to go down to the Zombots due to his ego. Ian always intended to write Shadow out of the Metal Virus Arc that way. The original plan was for Shadow to confront the Zombots and thinking that because he was the Ultimate Lifeform, he wouldn't succumb to them. But when he got infected, he would remove his Inhibitor Rings and go into "Chaos Shadow" to try and burn off the Metal Virus with the excess energy, but it would backfire and he'd succumb to the infection. Ultimately, his hubris would be his downfall. All SEGA denied was the removal of said Inhibitor Rings. And honestly, nothing would have changed. Shadow still went out like a punk for the sake of Ian's half-baked pseudo-zombie apocalypse story. The issue with Shadow is not how SEGA wants him, but rather, him being portrayed by Ian as an idiot who's focused on his ego. And Shadow was done dirty in IDW before the Metal Virus Arc. In Issue 6, Sonic guilt-tripped Shadow by comparing him to Eggman and asking if he should take out Shadow along with Eggman, and the "If he can't be forgiven, can you" question was so loaded and insincere, it's disgusting. I honestly wish fans like you would stop taking Ian Flynn's word as gospel, especially when the Bumblekast is not officially sponsored by anyone and is more of a place for random questions and for fans to line Ian's pockets.
And isn't he actually a child tho? I know he doesn't age, but at the end of the day he's still a kid who's family was taken away from him and was forced to live with that, I think is cool to be reminded that Shadow is still as young as Sonic
@@obitoo6625 he was in a cryo freeze he's a 50 year old who is def more mature than the rest of the characters but he doesn't have the emotional control a 50 year old should have because of being sealed away... And seeing your best friend die in front of you.
@@imbadatusernames8206 but being in cryo stasis doesn't prevents him to "grow"? I mean if you put Maria in stasis for 50 years she wouldn't have 62 years, she should be 12 still. So I think it's fair to assume that shadow is actually younger than most people believe he is.
@@nicocali7863 I mean, he's still more mature. While in crypfreeze, im pretty sure he's still conscious his physical body is still a child, but he is still 50 years old.
Prime Shadow was amazing, instead of the arrogant Edgelord we know, he's actually mature, and in the final episode he actually shows he cares for Sonic, he showed a ton of emotion in one scene, and then Shadow saves Sonic, Shadow then goes on to use Chaos control to hide the Paradox Prism, he also gives us the sick line which is "I am the Ultimate lifeform, I go where ever I please."
Shadow from Sonic X will forever be the perfect Shadow… He was everything in that show. Perfect balance of tragic hero and antihero. Edgy but in a more “dutiful” kind of way Caring even when he doesn’t want to show it
We do play as the original Shadow from SA2. During the final story (canon ending) while Super Shadow against Devil Doom, I believe around 9 minutes in, Eggman contacts Shadow telling him he is the original. Makes sense, as all the androids were stored together in one room, whereas original Shadow is guarded by Omega in a base by himself.
Also after defeating the Egg Albatross as Team Dark Metal Sonic literally says "Ultimate life form data has been copied" again proving we were playing as the real Shadow since Metal wouldn't have been able to copy Shadow's data if it was just another android copy of him.
Sonic 06 was a tragedy. I really like what they were trying to do, it's a shame the game released in the state it did. Shadow and Silver's stories were the highlight.
They weren't just the highlight, but the actual damn plot. Sonics arc is basically straight up a filler plot where he (badly) tries to save the affected party (Elise) where as Shadow and Silver actually deal with the damn threat at hand (Mephilis and the Flames of Disaster)
@@meimmakoto3224yeah, I didn’t like that Sonic is the one going on a wild goose chase trying to help Elise, whereas Shadow and Silver were the main protagonists in reality. If you search it up, most people will say Mephiles is the main villain of 06, and he appears ONCE in Sonic’s story.
@@tarheelpro87 I agree the execution with Sonic's story is pretty bad but in concept I actually like the idea of Sonic mostly dealing with Eggman while Silver deals with Iblis and Shadow deals with Mephiles. It makes a lot of sense and I think the main way to fix the problems with the execution would be to make Eggman more crucial to the story than just kidnapping Elise repeatedly.
@ agreed. That’s all I didn’t like, is that Eggman pretty much had no real significance to the main villain of the game besides indirectly causing him to break out of his seal. It would’ce fine to have Sonic doing his own thing during the whole story, but Eggman is just “Time to kidnap Elise for the third time” and we gotta save her, AGAIN.
With Shadow Generations already showing us that Shadow does have a caring side in the game, understanding that the Biolozard is suffering and wanting to end that suffering, it makes me optimistic that Shadow will be done justice once more after the awful 2010s
@@CMJ06 Because the Biolizard's existence is pretty much one huge mutation. It has body parts a creature like it should never have, and the energy running through its body causes it excruciating pain. Heck, the only thing keeping it alive is the life support on its back, which looks like it goes pretty deep into its body. Even if there was some magical way to help it, it's ultimately an animal. It wouldn't understand what you're doing, and would just thrash out. And unlike an animal, the Biolizard thrashing out would probably level a city, if not more. Sometimes, the only way to help an animal is to put it down.
10:00 It says a lot that people STILL aren't sure if the Shadow from Heroes onward is the real one or not. The answer to that question is during the True Final Boss of Shadow the Hedgehog, but you have to spend TEN MINUTES in the fight in order for the dialogue to trigger, even though the boss only really takes 3 minutes to beat. For context, Eggman radios Shadow and admits that he lied to Shadow, and that he is the original.
Shadow in IDW gets a LOT better in the Eggperial City arc. Somehow the mandates don't apply to Evan Stanley I guess because he's back to liking Team Dark, helping Sonic and getting character moments with Silver. Worth a read.
@@33pandagamerthere was an interview in 2023 confirming they were loosened around shadow specifically as one of the writers had expressed not wanting to write him how they had been up until that point
It's kind of ironic how Sonic 2006 - a game meant to be paying respect to Sonic - wasn't the best game for Sonic, but was absolutely the best depiction we've ever had of Shadow. Seriously, his dynamic with Team Dark, his interactions with Silver, his calm and focused attitude with a vulnerable side and bit of dark edge - I LOVED IT. Shit on 06's gameplay all you want, but it's the superior game depiction of Shadow.
Shadows lacking representation in IDW mostly comes down to the writers having to work around SEGAs mandates. Ian has talked about it extensively in the past but he just finds it kinda difficult to write for shadow in the current canon since SEGA is insistent that he’s just Sonic rival antihero friend and that’s it. Things have got a bit better since Metal virus since Shadows decisions aren’t directly putting more people in harm now at least. But quick extra thing regarding the mandates; in Sonic prime a stipulation was given to Man of Action saying Shadow and sonic could meet in a cave but their could be no indication he actually lived in said cave. That is how specific and weird SEGA gets about the characterizations. Anyway here’s to hoping ShadowxSonic Gen gives shadow a bunch of cool stuff to do!
I like Shadow's SA2 voice the most, so that iteration is probably my favorite. He sounded melancholy in a way, which made a lot of sense to kid me given his backstory.
so glad to see many agree that despite what the game is, sonic 06 has the best written shadow hands down and its truly a shame that it was the last time he was written in such a way for such a long time... hoping for better things moving forward for his character 🙏
It really is a shame Sonic character's characterization dropped off after 06 turned out the way it did. I'd love to see more writing in line with it and the Adventure games back.
42:03 ngl a human reminding a hedgehog of a human makes slightly more sense than a hedgehog reminding a hedgehog of a human... Unless Maria was a hedgehog!?!?
This is why Shadow didn't know what Maria's final wish was. He couldn't hear her over the loud rock music and just assumed she'd want revenge like anyone else.
Though we don't know much about Sonic movie 3's Shadow I'm not worried at all at this point. Jeff Fowler clearly loves him if he was willing to get to Shadow as quickly as possible. Fowler clearly wants to be the director to introduce him to the general audience and with that kind of passion we can expect amazing results. He's handled the other charachters so well too even better than Sega until recently.
It's so funny how the worst Sonic game (to a lot of people, not to me) has the absolute best representation of Shadow. I think my favorite part is his relationship with Omega; they truly feel like friends. Omega puts himself in stasis just so he can wake up at the right time to save Shadow from Mephiles. Mephiles reveals that it was Omega himself that hunted down Shadow and helped the humans seal him away. And when he tells Shadow this, that doesn't make Shadow hate him at all. Rouge also saying that even if the world turned against Shadow, she would still be his friend, is also incredible. I love this Team Dark so much: the team that is absolutely ride or die for each other. Sometimes a family is a genetically engineered alien hedgehog, an angry robot, and a thief. And I love it.
39:42 Sonic was trying to tell him that he could stave off the virus if he got touched the same way hed been doing. Shadow just misinterpreted how Sonic was using the word run.
Shadow in Sonic Chronicles is better than you give him credit for. Sure his story boils down to just looking for Omega, but if you read all that he has to say, it becomes clear just how much Shadow cares about him. He was deeply concerned that his friend went missing, to the point that he didn't really care about what Sonic was up to or what Sonic wanted, his sole focus was to find his missing friend. And when he does find him and sees that he's broken down, he gets really upset about it. He doesn't like to see Omega hurt. When Eggman offers to fix Omega, Shadow threatens Eggman because he doesn't want Eggman to tamper with Omega in any way. It was only after Tails agreed to help and some convincing, that he allowed Eggman and Tails to repare him. Shadow was so happy when he got Omega back.
I definitely love this video so much and I must say, 06 Shadow is my top favourite, indeed the real Ultimate Lifeform himself. Also, little fact about him from the Sonic X series: I watched the japanese version of it and in the last episode his shadow could be seen standing in front of Molly's tombstone along with a flower he probably brought there to honor his fallen friend, the scene lasts only a few seconds, but I am really glad they included it in the japanese version at least. It gives his character an amazing depth and I love it so much.
52:09 Shadow's promise to Maria has literally nothing to do with his motivations. He made it explicitly clear in the Japanese version of StH that he wants nothing to do with his past and is completely done with it.
This. And imo the reason why Shadow is such a misunderstood character. Crazy how jp and en versions can have completely different scripts with minor differences giving off drastically different vibes. For example the infamous "taking candy from a baby" line, in the original jp version it was "bold of them to put an emerald in such an obvious spot without expecting me to take it" or something along the line. I played Sonic Frontiers with jp subtitles on with en voices and the translation is all over the place. God knows how many more lines were like this in previous games Especially when you realize it has been happening since sa1
@@xXxHornpubPremiumxXxdude like why they couldn't just keep the exact same script, at least write a similar line with different words,those cringe suckers
@@ultray1522 It works well for simple characters like Sonic himself. But Shadow, being a complex character, differences between scripts becomes severe problems. My guess is that's also the reason why SEGA is just too scared to further develop this character anymore and benched him for years. And when it comes to making a new game for him, they simply dive into his past, where character development is already done
@@xXxHornpubPremiumxXx i believe with sonic frontiers, the English script was written first and the japanese translation was the adapting of the english script. Previous games was usually the other way around with english having to be the translated script.
I don’t think Big Red Button are the main ones to blame when it comes to how Shadow was handled. Pretty sure SEGA was the one really pushing for archrival Shadow, which you can see in a lot of his portraits in the 2010s. They especially with Boom, both in terms of the game teams and the cartoon staff, since they have the excuse that this is a new version of the character. Just wanted to say that because I feel Big Red Button gets a lot of unnecessarily blame shifted to them when a lot of the problems Boom had stemmed from SEGA and it’s likely this is no exception.
Lancelot swings the sword backhanded because he (and Shadow) were supposed to be left handed. (shadow 05, Shadow uses all weapons with his left, Sonic 06, Shadow handles the shepter with his left to seal Mephiles - including a gesture that resembles the handling of a pen - and uses his left to hang when he gets helped by the hawks). It was just the Wii control that forced a right handed stance.
I'm not kidding Sonic 06 at least had an awesome story when it came to characters like the dynamic seemed to work well between them. Some parts could have been left out maybe but overall i think, as so many others already said, this game could have been so awesome if it wouldn't have been screwed up so hard.
I lived through my entire childhood and young adulthood not being a sonic fan and as a grown 28 year-old man, I find myself to be a filthy Shadow fanboy. I even got obscure shadow merch. My life is spiraling, in what direction I'm unsure.
I was always a fan of the Sonic franchise since early 2000s but my favourite character has been Shadow due to his personality, also Sonic was always my other favourite character
Bro you post apex videos💀 your life is already spiraling lmao, plus lots of people are a shadow fan..? So why tf would you just call yourself a filthy shadow fanboy..? This comment is just cringe and kinda pointless tbh
In my opinion, Sonic and Shadow (written well) are two sides of the same coin. While they both are very similar in having immense speed and a deep care for the world and stopping at nothing to save the world, they still feel like at least partial opposites. While Sonic is an open book in his caring nature and making sure to live life to the fullest when not saving it, Shadow is much more closed off, and trying to prevent the next threat, instead of enjoying his time off. Also while Sonic seems to focus on his speed and physical strength, and while not really focusing on the chaos emerald abilities, Shadow focuses more on his chaos abilities, while still focusing on speed, but not quite as much as Sonic. Also Shadow does focus on thinking things through, not focusing on one particular thing and looking at the whole picture (mainly after Shadow the Hedgehog) while Sonic doesn’t think through his actions quite as much, dealing with one problem at a time
I love shadow's portrayal in the later Archie comics. I will highly suggest reading Sonic Universe #67-70 and #87-90. if you asked me, this is up there with Shadow 06.
And that's pretty much the only version which is up there with 06 Shadow. Though, I'd recommend you to read fan continuation of UK Fleetway comics, they have bizarre yet pretty interesting take on Shadow.
im glad at least the shadow the hedgehog game at least had one path that was A tier, i feel like people overhate on the game sometimes or just try to forget about it, but I think its fun for what it is
"And i think that friendship means more..." bro i thought my app was bugging out you editted thecsame line in twice😭 Awesome video though! Keep up the great work!
I agree with everything you have said. Shadow is my fave character in scenes, but game play its sonic. The ability to engage is chosen by our circumstances.
Sonic 06’s portrayal of Shadow is particularly endearing to me because it’s basically the only time where Sonic and Shadow are not only working together but also getting along. He isn’t being a jerk towards him or trying to challenge him for no reason, they’re both up in arms trying to get shit done. And I love that, I wish we would see more of their cooperation.
I don't count the Shadow Androids as Shadow, since they are just robot copies. It would be like saying Metal Sonic is Sonic. Conversely, I don't count Super Shadow as a separate Shadow, since it's just the Shadow from whatever game Super Shadow is in, but glowing yellow and a bit stronger.
On the matter of Eggman Nega: He is from the future and he is a descendant of Eggman's. That has been definitively established by Iizuka-san since… I think 2015… and Maekawa-san, who wrote the scenario for Rush and 06 (and ShTH, SA2 and SA1) also implid in an old Twitter post from 2018 that Blaze is originally from the future but that her sacrifice at the end of 06 seals her in the Sol Dimension. This is then speculation, but it is likely that blowing Solaris out of existence, with Blaze in this different dimension WITH IBLIS SEALED INSIDE HER, results in the establishment of the Sol Dimension. In Rush, Blaze doesn’t say Nega is from her world, only that she's been fighting him for some time. Silver explicitly states Nega is from the same time and future as Silver himself in the Rivals game. Given that Sonic (and Tails) never learn that Nega is Eggman Nega, believing him to be Eggman, it seems rather clear that Rush and Rush Adventure happen BEFORE the first Rivals game. Therefore, in all likelihood, Nega grew frustrated by Eggman's incompetence because Nega literally has experience on the matter from the Rush games. It's entirely possible that Nega discovered dimensional travel before he did time travel, and so he paints himself as Eggman's counterpart to lessen the scrutiny on himself, and it also explains why he never reveals himself properly to anybody in the Rivals games beyond Silver and Shadow; because anybody else would know him from the Rush games and instantly up their game to take him out. So, to summarise: Nega is from the future but discovers dimensional travel first. This leaves him in the Sol Dimension for a time, often skirmishing with Blaze as a result. He manages to find a way to break the dimensional stability in Rush, and teams up with Eggman, his ancestor, to get some first-hand experience on his character. Following this, Rush Adventure happens. After another failure, Nega blames it on Eggman and starts resenting him, prompting him to do absolutely insane things like trying to erase his ancestor from existence by turning him into a card. And with the Ifrit in Rivals 2 being from another dimension… well, Nega has experience breaking dimensional barriers, so the only way he could know that is if he's done it before - ergo, the Rush games happened before the Rivals games. Makes sense?
In one of the recent Tails Tube videos, it was dedicated to Sonic and Shadow (who before recent events were just treated as 'heh, im better than you' 'shut the hell up') saying some respectful stuff about each other. I'm really hoping this means they patch up the broken respect they had between them.
at the end of the last sonic x episode (at least in the sub, idk about dub), you see shadow's shadow over molly's grave, implying he survived and is gonna carry on mollys dream of seeing her planet get restored.
Given the fact Sonic X was dubbed for 4Kids, they most likely cut it because apparently in the eyes of 4Kids, kids should never be taught about death, I mean look at the episode on the Ark I believe where in the original Japanese dub, Shadow can be seen physically attacking Chris but in the Dub, we see Chris is hit off screen
@@PrinceYamiUchihaCosplay in the dub maria is 'taken away' but in the sub you see the young soldier shoot with regret, and it cuts back to him as an old man just in silence at the atrocities he did back then.
@gameboy3800 for all their flaws and weird editing decisions, such as Zorc's downstairs region, 4Kids will always be part of our childhoods with the Anime they dubbed for us and the memes that came from them especially Yu-Gi-Oh!'s infamous invisible guns haha
48:08 I think with the exception of rouge it makes sense that shadow addresses the rest of the cast of sonic friends. He never really interacts with tails or knuckles unless it’s directly tied to Sonic they’re more so acquaintances ratter than friends which can also be said for silver and blaze
I have to put idw in A tier he's just great the whole metal virus situation was kinda unavoidable if he stayed unzombiefied the arc would've been over the moment he got a chaos emerald the writers also couldn't really do anything significant to his character due to Sega so I'm willing to just excuse that one instance of his character because he's pretty good for the rest of the comic so far he even gains character development during the chao Park arc as when he wants to go after starline rogue stops him and he listens
12:50 so the thing about that is... we kinda do have a version of Emerl, G-Emerl, a rebuilt version of emerl made by eggman, and then reprogrammed by tails to protect Cream and Vanillas home, and the relationship between Cream And G-emerl is earily similar to Maria and Shadow. 14:42 So my personal headcanon with that is that he IS from the future, but after being defeated by Sonic and Co. In Rivals, he decides to attempt taking over the Sol dimension, not knowing that Blaze is just as much of a threat to his plans as Sonic
Sonic X's Shadow is what i grew up with, i was 6 (i was born in 2004) and i barely own any games from sonic, i love him so fricking much, he's my childhood and to this day all the episodes about him are my favourite and i watch them religiously and i'm only 20 ahah
For me, the first game I played with a lot of Shadow is Sonic Battle. I played that game way too much and love that it looks like we're getting a caring Shadow but also my favorite character from that game, Emerl, back. I really hope Emerl isn't just some throwaway for the trailer but plays a big part in that game.
Am I crazy for thinking that if 06 got a complete remastering and all the bad gamplay and glitches were fixed it would be the fan bases favourite game?
To be fair in SA2 when Shadow said that he was still "Shadow" he didn't exactly say it with confidence so I don't think it's out of character for a Shadow that doesn't remember anything to not be entirely confident about his identity, especially when he is still looking for the truth of who he is and what happened in his past. It wasn't until after Shadow the Hedgehog that he learned about his past and made the choice to move on from his past and to let go of the things holding him back from moving forward with his life. Which is why by Sonic 06 he doesn't care about the issues of his past nor does he have any problem working with GUN.
I remembered playing Shadow the Hedgehog all the time, Sean Schemmel did a great job as Black Doom, since we know Black Doom looks to be in the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sean Schemmel needs to reprise his role
Shadow 06, a justapposition of serenity and melancholy.But actually I just love when is Shiro Maekawa to write him. His Shadow feels so natural compared to the others incarnations/writings.
Really well made video! I enjoyed how you even studied and went over the versions of Shadow in even non-canon series. I agree with you that Sonic 06 Shadow is the best Shadow with SA2 shadow being very close. Sonic 06 Shadow and his relationship with Mephiles being a sort of "devil on his shoulder" and trying to guide Shadow to use his power to dominate others for his own freedom really hits home on a lot of the themes carried in the mainline entries of the Sonic timeline (SA2, Heroes, Shadow 2005, and finally ending with Sonic 06). I really do think Sonic 06 had some really great ideas, especially in the writing department. I hope Sega returns to telling some deeper stories that get the characters to better question their motives and how they've perhaps changed with time. Granted, Sega doesn't even do this much nowadays and the main cast is mostly static but perhaps they tell stories like this again one day.
06 may have a shitty story, but Shadow's character is arguably at its best in 06. Weird how things work out like that. Also, Shadow in Shadow Generations is PEAK!!
In regards to 05, do wish he covered more of the Characterization across the 3 kinds of paths And/or covered the Last Story Segment (even if there's not much to pick apart there)
Don't get me wrong, I think a video this long was challenge enough already, but the conjecture of Neutral Shadow "not gaining other abilities" is a really bad take considering the gameplay of his own title literally forces you to gain good and bad chaos energy either way. There is no action that does not eventually lead to being able to use Chaos Control or Chaos Blast, but that's a minor complaint compared to the other endings of Shadow's own game. I think that each of the 5 ending levels could've been merged with because obviously the routes and non-linear cutscenes can make it hard to interpret a consistent Shadow per ending, but stuff like Shadow regretting his own birth or assuming that he's only a worthless android with no free will are probably like the deepest introspection we've ever had in the franchise. Sure it's not getting past his great moments, but covering the multiplayer only Shadow Androids who have no story attached to them? Weird way to cover the '05 era.
You forgot the “Last Story” Shadow from Shadow 05, where he straight up decides to put his past behind him and stop Black Doom once and for all and save the earth.
40:25 it’s also even more ridiculous when Sonic tells him to run so he doesn’t get fully infected. And Shadow hears Sonic say this and proceeds to die anyway.
There is a reason Shadow is my number 1 favorite character in the Sonic Franchise, he’s cool, caring, extremely serious, a damn mood, and even rivals/surpasses the main character in coolness factor and power, but just by a bit.
Yes. I agree. While Sonic 06 was not the best Sonic game. It certainly gave us a perfect representation of Shadow!
"if the world chooses to become my enemy, i will fight like i always have!" 06 Shadow is the best
He should come back. Imo we might get that in shadow gens. It’s seeming more and more that we would get that
Mhm. One of the very few things Sonic 06 got right was Shadow. Definitely the best version of the Ultimate Lifeform we've ever got.
Honestly, 06 isn't the best, but it's far from the worst too. I would even go as far as to call it a great game, but a broken one. If SEGA keep riding this wave of quality and remasters, then I'd love to see an 06 remaster that fixes the gameplay issues and makes the in-game cutscenes look better.
I also agree. Sonic 06 has the best Shadow and it’s such a shame that Sega mistreated him for so long after that. Shadow Generations so far seems like it’s gonna make Shadow cool again and I hope they continue to make it that way.
Did you know that in Shadow The Hedgehog 2005, Eggman straight up reveals that the Shadow we've been playing as IS the ORIGINAL Shadow that Gerald created
I was literally about to comment this. It seems they didn't finish the true ending of the game because during the boss fight, eggman literally says to shadow that he lied about shadow just being one of the many androids that were created, and that he himself was THE shadow. It also makes sense since the androids were shooting missiles out of their hands in game play, showing they didn't have the actual abilities of shadow.
@@TahniZCat2 I don’t think it has anything to do with unlocking the final story or not, it’s mainly the fact that Eggman only says it if you wait like 10 minutes in a boss that takes 3. It’s pretty obscure even after accounting for all the effort needed to get there
So SA2 shadow was a clone?
@@ElJags no, SA2 Shadow is the same guy who was on the Ark with Maria. And Heroes-onward Shadow is the same as that guy too
Errr so he did survive his sacrifice@@Bertiboy
Sonic Riders Shadow: "Shadow is a dick, but I like his drip... C tier."
😂😂
46:11 Shadow did survive this. There is a Japanese version of the show, which shows in the last scene Shadow’s shadow next to Molly’s grave. After the final battle he visited her grave. It is removed from the English version because they thought it was too much for kids. So yeah, Shadow is still alive in Sonic X
Yeah usually Japan gets all the cool stuff and content.
@OnePunchYume I hear their version of the Sonic Adventure 2 finale even had the original music from the game in it.
I was disappointed at no "Live & Learn" in the 4Kids version.
@@MetroXLR99 RIGHT?! Last anime convention I went to I bought a copy of the Japanese Blu-ray among other series I picked up so as soon as I'm not distracted by my big backlog of games, anime/shows to watch I'll definitely binge watch Sonic X in it's original awesome version!
What's really funny about this is that for some reason they thought kids thinking shadow was DEAD was less tramatic then us seeing him alive and visiting a loved one's grave.
Hehe, Shadow’s shadow.
For Sonic X (Japanese version), they show in the credits that Shadow is alive.
He's visiting Molly's grave (you don't see him, but his shadow is on top of the grave that was built).
WAIT WHAT
@@itsprobablynotpedro3175 Yep, I think the scene plays during the credit section of the last episode in the Japanese dub (either that or second to last episode).
@@itsprobablynotpedro3175 I was shocked too but it is an actual scene in the Japanese version
His *Shadow* huh?
The problem with the Metal Virus arc for Shadow is not due to the writers. Ian Flynn stated on his podcast, the Bumblekast, that the thing was going to go differently - Shadow was going to take off his inhibitor rings after getting overwhelmed, trying to save everyone, and it would cause the virus to spread quicker; not only that, it would have caused Shadow to become corrupted as he turned into a Zombot - but SEGA is literally mandating that Shadow be portrayed as Vegeta 2.0. NONE of the writers like the way they're being forced to write Shadow because this isn't Shadow. But it's a SEGA mandate, so they can't do anything about it if they want to include Shadow in the story.
So, please don't say that Ian Flynn needs to take inspiration from how he wrote Shadow in the Archie comics. He WANTS to write Shadow that way but SEGA WON'T ALLOW him to. And whatever SEGA says goes, and unfortunately, there is a mandate on how Shadow needs to be portrayed.
Ian Flynn can't go against those mandates and just write Shadow how he wants, ignoring the mandates, because then SEGA will just tell IDW to fire him and find a new writer for IDW Sonic, and as this is a licensed comic… yeah, SEGA can actually do that.
Yet people still get on Ian if they are going to get mad at him it should at least be for saying the end is no. 2 compared to Solaris even though it makes no sense Solaris was beat up by super sonic plus s and s meanwhile the end needed super sonic 2 and cyber sonic to beat it yes the final horizon is canon since sage is alive and dream team is post frontiers 👍
What’s weirder though is if that’s the mandate SEGA wanted to enforce, then why not go with Ian’s vision? Honestly, Shadow unleashing his inhibitor rings and going all out in a desperate sacrifice to a planetary level threat draws a lot of parallels to Vegita’s prideful sacrifice to Majin Buu. Would’ve been amazing to read, but once again, sega gets its own way.
@@TeddyMacSoFly It's probably a thing that he's not allowed to do anything grand or selflessly heroic.
@@TeddyMacSoFlyAccording to Sega Shadow shouldn't just be Vegeta. He should be exclusively Cell Arc Vegeta.
I don't believe that, because _Forces_ portrayed a better Shadow than IDW.
Shadow in IDW was always going to go down to the Zombots due to his ego. Ian always intended to write Shadow out of the Metal Virus Arc that way. The original plan was for Shadow to confront the Zombots and thinking that because he was the Ultimate Lifeform, he wouldn't succumb to them. But when he got infected, he would remove his Inhibitor Rings and go into "Chaos Shadow" to try and burn off the Metal Virus with the excess energy, but it would backfire and he'd succumb to the infection. Ultimately, his hubris would be his downfall. All SEGA denied was the removal of said Inhibitor Rings. And honestly, nothing would have changed. Shadow still went out like a punk for the sake of Ian's half-baked pseudo-zombie apocalypse story. The issue with Shadow is not how SEGA wants him, but rather, him being portrayed by Ian as an idiot who's focused on his ego.
And Shadow was done dirty in IDW before the Metal Virus Arc. In Issue 6, Sonic guilt-tripped Shadow by comparing him to Eggman and asking if he should take out Shadow along with Eggman, and the "If he can't be forgiven, can you" question was so loaded and insincere, it's disgusting.
I honestly wish fans like you would stop taking Ian Flynn's word as gospel, especially when the Bumblekast is not officially sponsored by anyone and is more of a place for random questions and for fans to line Ian's pockets.
The way that shadow says "It's still me, Shadow!" has to be the funniest delivery of that hard ass line. He sounds more like a child than serious.
And isn't he actually a child tho? I know he doesn't age, but at the end of the day he's still a kid who's family was taken away from him and was forced to live with that, I think is cool to be reminded that Shadow is still as young as Sonic
@@obitoo6625 he was in a cryo freeze he's a 50 year old who is def more mature than the rest of the characters but he doesn't have the emotional control a 50 year old should have because of being sealed away... And seeing your best friend die in front of you.
@@imbadatusernames8206 but being in cryo stasis doesn't prevents him to "grow"? I mean if you put Maria in stasis for 50 years she wouldn't have 62 years, she should be 12 still. So I think it's fair to assume that shadow is actually younger than most people believe he is.
@@nicocali7863 I mean, he's still more mature. While in crypfreeze, im pretty sure he's still conscious his physical body is still a child, but he is still 50 years old.
Prime Shadow was amazing, instead of the arrogant Edgelord we know, he's actually mature, and in the final episode he actually shows he cares for Sonic, he showed a ton of emotion in one scene, and then Shadow saves Sonic, Shadow then goes on to use Chaos control to hide the Paradox Prism, he also gives us the sick line which is "I am the Ultimate lifeform, I go where ever I please."
Fr
I always saw the moment as more of a “I’m not trusting you with this thing again, you destroyed it once, and I’m not letting you do it again”
Fun fact, Shadow is in the DS version of Sonic Colors! He only has like 10 lines though 😅
I was just about to mention that, also 3DS generations he has some voicelines
Shadow from Sonic X will forever be the perfect Shadow…
He was everything in that show. Perfect balance of tragic hero and antihero. Edgy but in a more “dutiful” kind of way
Caring even when he doesn’t want to show it
I was worried that X!Shadow was ranked low from looking at the thumbnail.
He’s essentially SA2 Shadow but in anime form.
Agreeeee. This is the first version of Shadow that I was introduced to, and continued to be the version I have of him in my head.
We do play as the original Shadow from SA2.
During the final story (canon ending) while Super Shadow against Devil Doom, I believe around 9 minutes in, Eggman contacts Shadow telling him he is the original.
Makes sense, as all the androids were stored together in one room, whereas original Shadow is guarded by Omega in a base by himself.
Yep and literally the best shadow
Also after defeating the Egg Albatross as Team Dark Metal Sonic literally says "Ultimate life form data has been copied" again proving we were playing as the real Shadow since Metal wouldn't have been able to copy Shadow's data if it was just another android copy of him.
Sonic 06 was a tragedy. I really like what they were trying to do, it's a shame the game released in the state it did. Shadow and Silver's stories were the highlight.
They weren't just the highlight, but the actual damn plot. Sonics arc is basically straight up a filler plot where he (badly) tries to save the affected party (Elise) where as Shadow and Silver actually deal with the damn threat at hand (Mephilis and the Flames of Disaster)
@@meimmakoto3224yeah, I didn’t like that Sonic is the one going on a wild goose chase trying to help Elise, whereas Shadow and Silver were the main protagonists in reality. If you search it up, most people will say Mephiles is the main villain of 06, and he appears ONCE in Sonic’s story.
@@tarheelpro87 I agree the execution with Sonic's story is pretty bad but in concept I actually like the idea of Sonic mostly dealing with Eggman while Silver deals with Iblis and Shadow deals with Mephiles. It makes a lot of sense and I think the main way to fix the problems with the execution would be to make Eggman more crucial to the story than just kidnapping Elise repeatedly.
@ agreed. That’s all I didn’t like, is that Eggman pretty much had no real significance to the main villain of the game besides indirectly causing him to break out of his seal. It would’ce fine to have Sonic doing his own thing during the whole story, but Eggman is just “Time to kidnap Elise for the third time” and we gotta save her, AGAIN.
With Shadow Generations already showing us that Shadow does have a caring side in the game, understanding that the Biolozard is suffering and wanting to end that suffering, it makes me optimistic that Shadow will be done justice once more after the awful 2010s
💀
@@CMJ06 Problem?
@epiccarrot88 I'm just confused on why it's not better to actually help the lizard instead of murdering it
@@CMJ06 Because the Biolizard's existence is pretty much one huge mutation. It has body parts a creature like it should never have, and the energy running through its body causes it excruciating pain. Heck, the only thing keeping it alive is the life support on its back, which looks like it goes pretty deep into its body. Even if there was some magical way to help it, it's ultimately an animal. It wouldn't understand what you're doing, and would just thrash out. And unlike an animal, the Biolizard thrashing out would probably level a city, if not more.
Sometimes, the only way to help an animal is to put it down.
@epiccarrot88 yeah I know the lore...
But I can see other ways to help it!
Anyhow would you put down a human this is the question im asking
10:00 It says a lot that people STILL aren't sure if the Shadow from Heroes onward is the real one or not. The answer to that question is during the True Final Boss of Shadow the Hedgehog, but you have to spend TEN MINUTES in the fight in order for the dialogue to trigger, even though the boss only really takes 3 minutes to beat. For context, Eggman radios Shadow and admits that he lied to Shadow, and that he is the original.
Shadow in IDW gets a LOT better in the Eggperial City arc. Somehow the mandates don't apply to Evan Stanley I guess because he's back to liking Team Dark, helping Sonic and getting character moments with Silver. Worth a read.
Idk what kinda Speech Check Evan passed, but yeah Shadow absolutely bangs in Eggperial
My guess is that Sega loosened the mandates after the backlash from the Metal Virus Arc
@@33pandagamer or maybe they just don't like Ian flynn.
@@keelanbarron928 I find that pretty likely. If Ian likes the fans, then SEGA hates him.
@@33pandagamerthere was an interview in 2023 confirming they were loosened around shadow specifically as one of the writers had expressed not wanting to write him how they had been up until that point
I like all varients of Shadow, doesn't matter if the writing is good or bad, hes still shadow no matter what
"Even if my writing is bad, it's still me, Shadow"
@@purplebruh947 exactly!
If we're going off the Arthurian legend for black knight, lancelot will eventually go on to steal Sonic's wife.
It always ends with a Shadow stealing someone’s wife.
In that case, I’m sure sonic will have to make an announcement…
@@rayvenkman2087 and then ending up pissing the moon!
@@rayvenkman2087 No! You are NOT ALLOWED to steal my wife! Shadow! What the fuck?!
It's kind of ironic how Sonic 2006 - a game meant to be paying respect to Sonic - wasn't the best game for Sonic, but was absolutely the best depiction we've ever had of Shadow. Seriously, his dynamic with Team Dark, his interactions with Silver, his calm and focused attitude with a vulnerable side and bit of dark edge - I LOVED IT. Shit on 06's gameplay all you want, but it's the superior game depiction of Shadow.
Shadows lacking representation in IDW mostly comes down to the writers having to work around SEGAs mandates. Ian has talked about it extensively in the past but he just finds it kinda difficult to write for shadow in the current canon since SEGA is insistent that he’s just Sonic rival antihero friend and that’s it. Things have got a bit better since Metal virus since Shadows decisions aren’t directly putting more people in harm now at least. But quick extra thing regarding the mandates; in Sonic prime a stipulation was given to Man of Action saying Shadow and sonic could meet in a cave but their could be no indication he actually lived in said cave. That is how specific and weird SEGA gets about the characterizations. Anyway here’s to hoping ShadowxSonic Gen gives shadow a bunch of cool stuff to do!
the cave thing was actually about the sonic boom tv show, not prime
I like Shadow's SA2 voice the most, so that iteration is probably my favorite. He sounded melancholy in a way, which made a lot of sense to kid me given his backstory.
so glad to see many agree that despite what the game is, sonic 06 has the best written shadow hands down and its truly a shame that it was the last time he was written in such a way for such a long time... hoping for better things moving forward for his character 🙏
What's worse Shadow's arc in 06 is void because the entire events never happen so in the grand scheme of things its irrelevant.
It really is a shame Sonic character's characterization dropped off after 06 turned out the way it did. I'd love to see more writing in line with it and the Adventure games back.
I agree I really liked Shadow in Sonic X and The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. But I also think Sonic Prime had one of the best Shadows.
15:31 Eggman what now?
42:03 ngl a human reminding a hedgehog of a human makes slightly more sense than a hedgehog reminding a hedgehog of a human... Unless Maria was a hedgehog!?!?
I feel like both work, since Amy reminds him in the form of her compassion, while Chris is a human just like Maria
1:13
"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND MIXING!"
This is why Shadow didn't know what Maria's final wish was. He couldn't hear her over the loud rock music and just assumed she'd want revenge like anyone else.
Though we don't know much about Sonic movie 3's Shadow I'm not worried at all at this point. Jeff Fowler clearly loves him if he was willing to get to Shadow as quickly as possible. Fowler clearly wants to be the director to introduce him to the general audience and with that kind of passion we can expect amazing results. He's handled the other charachters so well too even better than Sega until recently.
It's so funny how the worst Sonic game (to a lot of people, not to me) has the absolute best representation of Shadow. I think my favorite part is his relationship with Omega; they truly feel like friends. Omega puts himself in stasis just so he can wake up at the right time to save Shadow from Mephiles. Mephiles reveals that it was Omega himself that hunted down Shadow and helped the humans seal him away. And when he tells Shadow this, that doesn't make Shadow hate him at all.
Rouge also saying that even if the world turned against Shadow, she would still be his friend, is also incredible. I love this Team Dark so much: the team that is absolutely ride or die for each other. Sometimes a family is a genetically engineered alien hedgehog, an angry robot, and a thief. And I love it.
39:42 Sonic was trying to tell him that he could stave off the virus if he got touched the same way hed been doing. Shadow just misinterpreted how Sonic was using the word run.
38:18 Well, Metal Sonic didn't kidnap Mr. Tinker, Rough, and Tumble do. Metal Sonic just so happens to remind Mr. Tinker of his old self.
Fun Fact :
Sonic and Shadow are not always the enemies of each other. Both are ultimate allies each other.
What about the true ending for Shadow05 where he faces Devil Doom?
I Know This Is The Year Of Shadow But I Would Love For You To Make This Kind Of Vid For Silver! Coz This Vid Was Awesome!
yes!!!
Oooooo definitely
Saying Mephiles is one of the best Sonic villains is not an opinion, it’s a fact.
to my knowledge he is the only sonic villain to this day to ever succeed in actually killing him
Hopefully Sonic Movie 3 takes notes from 06 as well as Adventure 2 for Shadow’s personality
Shadow in Sonic Chronicles is better than you give him credit for. Sure his story boils down to just looking for Omega, but if you read all that he has to say, it becomes clear just how much Shadow cares about him. He was deeply concerned that his friend went missing, to the point that he didn't really care about what Sonic was up to or what Sonic wanted, his sole focus was to find his missing friend. And when he does find him and sees that he's broken down, he gets really upset about it. He doesn't like to see Omega hurt. When Eggman offers to fix Omega, Shadow threatens Eggman because he doesn't want Eggman to tamper with Omega in any way. It was only after Tails agreed to help and some convincing, that he allowed Eggman and Tails to repare him. Shadow was so happy when he got Omega back.
Yeaaaasss 06 is what we need the standard to be for shadow!! He’s not this heartless jerk. He’s a devoted protector!
38:24 that's actually a fancomic where Eggman decides to stay as Mr. Tinker
48:54 the way knux just threw shadows gun away makes me giggle like a kid
I definitely love this video so much and I must say, 06 Shadow is my top favourite, indeed the real Ultimate Lifeform himself. Also, little fact about him from the Sonic X series: I watched the japanese version of it and in the last episode his shadow could be seen standing in front of Molly's tombstone along with a flower he probably brought there to honor his fallen friend, the scene lasts only a few seconds, but I am really glad they included it in the japanese version at least. It gives his character an amazing depth and I love it so much.
Too bad 4Kids removed it because of course they would, I mean they never dubbed Season 4 of GX and doubt they dubbed all of 5Ds
52:09 Shadow's promise to Maria has literally nothing to do with his motivations. He made it explicitly clear in the Japanese version of StH that he wants nothing to do with his past and is completely done with it.
This. And imo the reason why Shadow is such a misunderstood character. Crazy how jp and en versions can have completely different scripts with minor differences giving off drastically different vibes. For example the infamous "taking candy from a baby" line, in the original jp version it was "bold of them to put an emerald in such an obvious spot without expecting me to take it" or something along the line.
I played Sonic Frontiers with jp subtitles on with en voices and the translation is all over the place. God knows how many more lines were like this in previous games Especially when you realize it has been happening since sa1
@@xXxHornpubPremiumxXxdude like why they couldn't just keep the exact same script, at least write a similar line with different words,those cringe suckers
@@ultray1522 It works well for simple characters like Sonic himself. But Shadow, being a complex character, differences between scripts becomes severe problems. My guess is that's also the reason why SEGA is just too scared to further develop this character anymore and benched him for years. And when it comes to making a new game for him, they simply dive into his past, where character development is already done
@@xXxHornpubPremiumxXx yet they miserably fail to write the said simple character
@@xXxHornpubPremiumxXx i believe with sonic frontiers, the English script was written first and the japanese translation was the adapting of the english script. Previous games was usually the other way around with english having to be the translated script.
If it makes you any better, I cried in Sonic x when I thought Shadow died
I don’t think Big Red Button are the main ones to blame when it comes to how Shadow was handled. Pretty sure SEGA was the one really pushing for archrival Shadow, which you can see in a lot of his portraits in the 2010s. They especially with Boom, both in terms of the game teams and the cartoon staff, since they have the excuse that this is a new version of the character. Just wanted to say that because I feel Big Red Button gets a lot of unnecessarily blame shifted to them when a lot of the problems Boom had stemmed from SEGA and it’s likely this is no exception.
Lancelot swings the sword backhanded because he (and Shadow) were supposed to be left handed. (shadow 05, Shadow uses all weapons with his left, Sonic 06, Shadow handles the shepter with his left to seal Mephiles - including a gesture that resembles the handling of a pen - and uses his left to hang when he gets helped by the hawks). It was just the Wii control that forced a right handed stance.
I'm not kidding Sonic 06 at least had an awesome story when it came to characters like the dynamic seemed to work well between them. Some parts could have been left out maybe but overall i think, as so many others already said, this game could have been so awesome if it wouldn't have been screwed up so hard.
I lived through my entire childhood and young adulthood not being a sonic fan and as a grown 28 year-old man, I find myself to be a filthy Shadow fanboy. I even got obscure shadow merch. My life is spiraling, in what direction I'm unsure.
I was always a fan of the Sonic franchise since early 2000s but my favourite character has been Shadow due to his personality, also Sonic was always my other favourite character
Bro you post apex videos💀 your life is already spiraling lmao, plus lots of people are a shadow fan..? So why tf would you just call yourself a filthy shadow fanboy..? This comment is just cringe and kinda pointless tbh
14:18 Who gave you the pass?
😭
Your mom.
In my opinion, Sonic and Shadow (written well) are two sides of the same coin. While they both are very similar in having immense speed and a deep care for the world and stopping at nothing to save the world, they still feel like at least partial opposites. While Sonic is an open book in his caring nature and making sure to live life to the fullest when not saving it, Shadow is much more closed off, and trying to prevent the next threat, instead of enjoying his time off. Also while Sonic seems to focus on his speed and physical strength, and while not really focusing on the chaos emerald abilities, Shadow focuses more on his chaos abilities, while still focusing on speed, but not quite as much as Sonic. Also Shadow does focus on thinking things through, not focusing on one particular thing and looking at the whole picture (mainly after Shadow the Hedgehog) while Sonic doesn’t think through his actions quite as much, dealing with one problem at a time
I love shadow's portrayal in the later Archie comics. I will highly suggest reading Sonic Universe #67-70 and #87-90.
if you asked me, this is up there with Shadow 06.
And that's pretty much the only version which is up there with 06 Shadow. Though, I'd recommend you to read fan continuation of UK Fleetway comics, they have bizarre yet pretty interesting take on Shadow.
@ashesGeek I will try it, I didn't even know that there was a fan continuation of the UK Fleetway Sonic. It sounds cool
im glad at least the shadow the hedgehog game at least had one path that was A tier, i feel like people overhate on the game sometimes or just try to forget about it, but I think its fun for what it is
Been a fan of Shadow since the og Dreamcast. I love this video you've made. Nice work. 👍🏾
From peeing on Eggman's wife to becoming king of Hell is true character development.
Thank you for existing ❤
I didn't know there were so many versions of vegeta :o
Indeed
Shadowgeeta
Ian Hanlin, Jason Griffith, and David Humphrey are the best Shadow voices.
Not Jason Griffith
@@vanillanights Yes Jason Griffith
@@SPIDERKN1GHT0327 No
@@vanillanights Yes no takesies backsies
Humphrey voice is kinda high pitched to me idk
"And i think that friendship means more..." bro i thought my app was bugging out you editted thecsame line in twice😭
Awesome video though! Keep up the great work!
I agree with everything you have said. Shadow is my fave character in scenes, but game play its sonic. The ability to engage is chosen by our circumstances.
Multiple shadows existing? IMPOSSIBLE! As he once said: “I AM ALL OF ME!” (Ok that was kinda cringe to say…)
I understood that reference
35:51 "and I think that friendship means more shadow than it does Sonic most of the time" *x2*
Sonic 06’s portrayal of Shadow is particularly endearing to me because it’s basically the only time where Sonic and Shadow are not only working together but also getting along. He isn’t being a jerk towards him or trying to challenge him for no reason, they’re both up in arms trying to get shit done. And I love that, I wish we would see more of their cooperation.
There's a few times where you also repeat some things. Maybe alternate takes forgotten to be removed?
cool video man, i enjoyed it
The thing with shadow the hedgehog 05 is that like 95% is not canon the only part that is is final story where i actually really like him.
I don't count the Shadow Androids as Shadow, since they are just robot copies. It would be like saying Metal Sonic is Sonic. Conversely, I don't count Super Shadow as a separate Shadow, since it's just the Shadow from whatever game Super Shadow is in, but glowing yellow and a bit stronger.
On the matter of Eggman Nega: He is from the future and he is a descendant of Eggman's. That has been definitively established by Iizuka-san since… I think 2015… and Maekawa-san, who wrote the scenario for Rush and 06 (and ShTH, SA2 and SA1) also implid in an old Twitter post from 2018 that Blaze is originally from the future but that her sacrifice at the end of 06 seals her in the Sol Dimension. This is then speculation, but it is likely that blowing Solaris out of existence, with Blaze in this different dimension WITH IBLIS SEALED INSIDE HER, results in the establishment of the Sol Dimension.
In Rush, Blaze doesn’t say Nega is from her world, only that she's been fighting him for some time.
Silver explicitly states Nega is from the same time and future as Silver himself in the Rivals game.
Given that Sonic (and Tails) never learn that Nega is Eggman Nega, believing him to be Eggman, it seems rather clear that Rush and Rush Adventure happen BEFORE the first Rivals game.
Therefore, in all likelihood, Nega grew frustrated by Eggman's incompetence because Nega literally has experience on the matter from the Rush games.
It's entirely possible that Nega discovered dimensional travel before he did time travel, and so he paints himself as Eggman's counterpart to lessen the scrutiny on himself, and it also explains why he never reveals himself properly to anybody in the Rivals games beyond Silver and Shadow; because anybody else would know him from the Rush games and instantly up their game to take him out.
So, to summarise: Nega is from the future but discovers dimensional travel first. This leaves him in the Sol Dimension for a time, often skirmishing with Blaze as a result. He manages to find a way to break the dimensional stability in Rush, and teams up with Eggman, his ancestor, to get some first-hand experience on his character.
Following this, Rush Adventure happens. After another failure, Nega blames it on Eggman and starts resenting him, prompting him to do absolutely insane things like trying to erase his ancestor from existence by turning him into a card.
And with the Ifrit in Rivals 2 being from another dimension… well, Nega has experience breaking dimensional barriers, so the only way he could know that is if he's done it before - ergo, the Rush games happened before the Rivals games.
Makes sense?
Truly amazing video I learned so much about my favourite hedgehog Shadow
we need more video's like this one👌
In one of the recent Tails Tube videos, it was dedicated to Sonic and Shadow (who before recent events were just treated as 'heh, im better than you' 'shut the hell up') saying some respectful stuff about each other. I'm really hoping this means they patch up the broken respect they had between them.
I agree on list and this year is great for him!
This Tier list was quite an interesting take!
Dare I even say, a breeze if fresh air?
40:45 “Nah, I’d win” ahh Hedgehog 🦔
Early archie shadow, with the tan chest fuz, looks really cool god damn
at the end of the last sonic x episode (at least in the sub, idk about dub), you see shadow's shadow over molly's grave, implying he survived and is gonna carry on mollys dream of seeing her planet get restored.
Given the fact Sonic X was dubbed for 4Kids, they most likely cut it because apparently in the eyes of 4Kids, kids should never be taught about death, I mean look at the episode on the Ark I believe where in the original Japanese dub, Shadow can be seen physically attacking Chris but in the Dub, we see Chris is hit off screen
@@PrinceYamiUchihaCosplay in the dub maria is 'taken away' but in the sub you see the young soldier shoot with regret, and it cuts back to him as an old man just in silence at the atrocities he did back then.
@gameboy3800 for all their flaws and weird editing decisions, such as Zorc's downstairs region, 4Kids will always be part of our childhoods with the Anime they dubbed for us and the memes that came from them especially Yu-Gi-Oh!'s infamous invisible guns haha
Boom is the reason why people hate shadow and call him an edgy. 06 is the reason why he is my favorite even after all
48:08 I think with the exception of rouge it makes sense that shadow addresses the rest of the cast of sonic friends. He never really interacts with tails or knuckles unless it’s directly tied to Sonic they’re more so acquaintances ratter than friends which can also be said for silver and blaze
something i actually miss from the comics was how the characters would interact with each other outside of Sonic's influence.
I have to put idw in A tier he's just great the whole metal virus situation was kinda unavoidable if he stayed unzombiefied the arc would've been over the moment he got a chaos emerald the writers also couldn't really do anything significant to his character due to Sega so I'm willing to just excuse that one instance of his character because he's pretty good for the rest of the comic so far he even gains character development during the chao Park arc as when he wants to go after starline rogue stops him and he listens
10:34 you forgot the True Ending of Shadow The Hedgehog
12:50 so the thing about that is... we kinda do have a version of Emerl, G-Emerl, a rebuilt version of emerl made by eggman, and then reprogrammed by tails to protect Cream and Vanillas home, and the relationship between Cream And G-emerl is earily similar to Maria and Shadow.
14:42 So my personal headcanon with that is that he IS from the future, but after being defeated by Sonic and Co. In Rivals, he decides to attempt taking over the Sol dimension, not knowing that Blaze is just as much of a threat to his plans as Sonic
Sonic X's Shadow is what i grew up with, i was 6 (i was born in 2004) and i barely own any games from sonic, i love him so fricking much, he's my childhood and to this day all the episodes about him are my favourite and i watch them religiously and i'm only 20 ahah
For me, the first game I played with a lot of Shadow is Sonic Battle. I played that game way too much and love that it looks like we're getting a caring Shadow but also my favorite character from that game, Emerl, back. I really hope Emerl isn't just some throwaway for the trailer but plays a big part in that game.
Sonic 06 shadow the hedgehog is really awesome and badass I love him so much in my opinion.
Am I crazy for thinking that if 06 got a complete remastering and all the bad gamplay and glitches were fixed it would be the fan bases favourite game?
Given how Project 06 is turning out, i'd say probably.
This list was so good I was agreeing with everything you say EXSPECALY about boom shadow and 06 shadow
To be fair in SA2 when Shadow said that he was still "Shadow" he didn't exactly say it with confidence so I don't think it's out of character for a Shadow that doesn't remember anything to not be entirely confident about his identity, especially when he is still looking for the truth of who he is and what happened in his past. It wasn't until after Shadow the Hedgehog that he learned about his past and made the choice to move on from his past and to let go of the things holding him back from moving forward with his life. Which is why by Sonic 06 he doesn't care about the issues of his past nor does he have any problem working with GUN.
You forgot about the final ending in shadow. Real shame.
I remembered playing Shadow the Hedgehog all the time, Sean Schemmel did a great job as Black Doom, since we know Black Doom looks to be in the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations, Sean Schemmel needs to reprise his role
Shadow 06, a justapposition of serenity and melancholy.But actually I just love when is Shiro Maekawa to write him. His Shadow feels so natural compared to the others incarnations/writings.
Really well made video! I enjoyed how you even studied and went over the versions of Shadow in even non-canon series. I agree with you that Sonic 06 Shadow is the best Shadow with SA2 shadow being very close. Sonic 06 Shadow and his relationship with Mephiles being a sort of "devil on his shoulder" and trying to guide Shadow to use his power to dominate others for his own freedom really hits home on a lot of the themes carried in the mainline entries of the Sonic timeline (SA2, Heroes, Shadow 2005, and finally ending with Sonic 06). I really do think Sonic 06 had some really great ideas, especially in the writing department. I hope Sega returns to telling some deeper stories that get the characters to better question their motives and how they've perhaps changed with time. Granted, Sega doesn't even do this much nowadays and the main cast is mostly static but perhaps they tell stories like this again one day.
How is this video well made when this dude repeated himself multiple times throughout the video..?💀 clearly NOT well made you npc lol
06 may have a shitty story, but Shadow's character is arguably at its best in 06. Weird how things work out like that.
Also, Shadow in Shadow Generations is PEAK!!
love the tier list
No way this man predicted Emerl coming back for Sonic x Shadow Generations
“ count how many sand is here omega”
In regards to 05, do wish he covered more of the Characterization across the 3 kinds of paths
And/or covered the Last Story Segment (even if there's not much to pick apart there)
sonic 06 will always be my favorite shadow of all time
Shadow telling Infinite about Eggman would have been a waste of time.
Infinite already knows, and is fine with what he is getting into.
Don't get me wrong, I think a video this long was challenge enough already, but the conjecture of Neutral Shadow "not gaining other abilities" is a really bad take considering the gameplay of his own title literally forces you to gain good and bad chaos energy either way. There is no action that does not eventually lead to being able to use Chaos Control or Chaos Blast, but that's a minor complaint compared to the other endings of Shadow's own game.
I think that each of the 5 ending levels could've been merged with because obviously the routes and non-linear cutscenes can make it hard to interpret a consistent Shadow per ending, but stuff like Shadow regretting his own birth or assuming that he's only a worthless android with no free will are probably like the deepest introspection we've ever had in the franchise. Sure it's not getting past his great moments, but covering the multiplayer only Shadow Androids who have no story attached to them? Weird way to cover the '05 era.
20:01 That had me dying 😂😂😂
You forgot the “Last Story” Shadow from Shadow 05, where he straight up decides to put his past behind him and stop Black Doom once and for all and save the earth.
22:21 They all died
Its what happened after sonic left since there basing it off the true king Arthur book
40:25 it’s also even more ridiculous when Sonic tells him to run so he doesn’t get fully infected. And Shadow hears Sonic say this and proceeds to die anyway.
There is a reason Shadow is my number 1 favorite character in the Sonic Franchise, he’s cool, caring, extremely serious, a damn mood, and even rivals/surpasses the main character in coolness factor and power, but just by a bit.