Shadow BG

 The basic physical traits and abilities between Shadow and Sonic are virtually identical. As such, Shadow possesses many of the same skills and abilities Sonic does, along with greater raw power than Sonic, making Shadow one of the most powerful characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Superhuman Strength: Although he is not nearly as strong as Power characters like Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow is quite physically strong. With effort, he is capable of overturning large objects, such as trucks, buses and large slabs of concrete.

Superhuman Speed: Like most other characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Shadow is able to run at super speeds. With his Hover Shoes, Shadow can hover-skate at supersonic speeds, even nearing that of hyper sonic speeds, and is fast enough to nearly equal the speeds that Sonic can run at, presumably making him the second fastest character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

Superhuman Agility: Shadow is highly acrobatic, agile and an experienced athlete, capable of gracefully leaping over many obstacles that comes in his way and performing various forms of nimble movements. He has as well radical reaction time to match his movements, being able to react to danger and even opponents capable of attacking at light speed.

Superhuman Durability: Shadow possesses incredibly high physical durability and is capable of surviving things that would normally be fatal to others, even by the standards of other superhuman creatures, making him nearly indestructible. As seen in Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is completely bulletproof while becoming Dark Shadow, as he brushed off all the gun shots from G.U.N. soldiers as if they were not even there. He can also take a lot of major punishment in battle before he starts to wear down. The most prominent testament to Shadow's durability was during Sonic Adventure 2, where Shadow fell down to Earth and through re-entry in the atmosphere and still survived long enough for one of Dr. Eggman's robots to rescue him. However, he did still receive some injury, as evidenced by the amnesia he got from his fall towards the Earth. Even after receiving major damage, Shadow displays a remarkably fast recovery rate, allowing him to quickly re-enter a battle after just a few moments.

Inhibitor Rings: As shown in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Shadow is able to release tremendous amounts of energy if he takes off the rings that are on his wrists. This gives Shadow a drastic increase in overall power, reaching the point where he can plow through what appears to be hundreds of perfect copies of Mephiles the Dark, who can be regarded as one of the more powerful foes in the series. While most of the media state that Shadow's increase in power through this method comes at the expense of reducing his stamina, causing him to become exhausted after its use, Shadow has shown no sign of fatigue in the video game series when restoring to this method.

Immortality: Being the end-product of Project Shadow, which was meant to create an immortal life-form, Shadow is immortal and does not physically age. Also, given that Project Shadow was partially to develop cures for various kinds of illnesses, Shadow may be completely immune to diseases. Because he also possesses Black Doom's blood, Shadow is also immune to the paralysis nerve gas that was being leaked upon the Black Comet's descent onto Earth, and even shows resistance to mind control or forces memory loss by outside sources not regarding amnesia.

Chaos Powers: Shadow is naturally able to tap into the arcane powers of any nearby Chaos Emeralds and utilize their Chaos Energy to empower himself and use a wide variety of Chaos Powers, such as Chaos Control, Chaos Spear, and Chaos Blast. Shadow can specifically harness both positive and negative Chaos Energy, depending on his state of mind. As described in Shadow the Hedgehog, all of Shadow's Chaos powers increase in power with the number of Chaos Emeralds he possesses.

Chaos Control: Shadow's trademark move and most frequently used Chaos Power is Chaos Control: this technique can warp space and time around him to his will - such as slowing down time or teleporting various distances. Shadow is perhaps the most adept user of Chaos Control in the series, since he makes the most extensive use of it and can be considered a master of this technique; he can shape Chaos Control into a variety of offensive and defensive attacks, and can even use it delicately enough to distort space in small, centralized areas, such as around his fists, or use it to heal himself. It is currently unknown as to what extent Shadow can specifically use Chaos Control, as he has never been seen using it on another object without warping himself along with it, but it has been shown that he can warp objects and people with him, such as transporting the Black Comet off of Earth.

Chaos Spear: Shadow can warp his chaos energy into the shape of a spear and throw it as an offensive weapon.

Chaos Blast: When harnessing large amounts of negative chaos energy, he can release it in one powerful blast, damaging everything within his immediate area and a radius of at least 30 feet.

Weaponry and Vehicle Skills: In Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow has shown that he can also skillfully use a wide range of firearms, semi-automatics, heavy assault, and close-combat weapons. He can also improvise with debris, and drive a wide range of vehicles, as shown in Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). His driving skills compare that of Baby Driver.

Combat Skills: In combat, Shadow is a fierce, dangerous, and extremely powerful force that few can defeat directly. He also never holds back on his immense strength, making him a powerful, brutal and deadly fighter with a distinct killer instinct. Shadow's skills are more than a match for even the strongest characters in the series, and has been able to take down some of the most fearsome foes seen in the Sonic the Hedgehog series on his own, such as Black Doom. To best put his skills in perspective, as seen in some of the scenarios in Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow is the only person so far who has been able to utterly defeat Sonic in combat.

Transformation: Like Sonic and Silver, by harnessing the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow is able to use super transformation to enter a Super State that transforms him into Super Shadow. In this form, he is bestowed with the new abilities of flight and near invulnerability. Additionally, his innate talents such as strength, and power are greatly enhanced as well and his skills with Chaos Powers are increased to their full limit. During his first use of this transformation, Shadow found it difficult to stay in this state due to his inexperience with it, but he has since mastered it in Shadow The Hedgehog.

Fifty years ago, Project Shadow was secretly sanctioned by the government, under Professor Gerald Robotnik's supervision on the Space Colony ARK. The purpose of the project was to create immortality, and apply it to "The Ultimate Lifeform", which the United Federation president planned to harness as a weapon.

Gerald, however, had his own goal in mind: he planned to use the results of this project as a way of finding a cure for his dying granddaughter Maria, who suffered from the incurable illness known as Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or NIDS. As such, although Gerald had his own concerns about crossing a moral boundary by attempting to create immortality, he put these aside for the sake of his granddaughter.

Hitting a barrier in his research, despite all the resources given to him by the government, and out of desperation, took advantage of the Black Comet passing by the Earth on its 50 year orbit and contacted the Black Arms living on it. The leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom, offered his blood for usage in Project Shadow, in return for the seven Chaos Emeralds being delivered to him when the comet returned in 50 years.

Gerald agreed, but secretly made plans to defeat the aliens, as he had suspicions about their motives regarding the emeralds. This lead to the creation of the Eclipse Canon, a laser which could harness the powers of the Chaos Emeralds to potentially destroy the Black Comet.

Using the DNA from Black Doom, Gerald created Shadow the Hedgehog. Upon awakening, Shadow began his life on the ARK, forming a strong bond with Maria, and assisting the researchers.

However, disaster struck when the results of Project Shadow and the research behind it were leaked to G.U.N. This leak, combined with the already strained ties between the United Federation, incited fear in the upper branches of the government, who, afraid of Gerald's true involvement with the Black Arms, ordered an invasion of the ARK to shut down the project.

Raiding the ARK, the G.U.N. forces sealed the Biolizard away, and sent most of the colony's inhabitants back to Earth, while all the researchers involved with Project Shadow were killed, excluding Gerald, who attempted to flee, but was instead captured.

Shadow and Maria also attempted to flee, having been instructed by Gerald to locate an escape pod. However, before they could reach the pod, G.U.N. Soldiers arrived, and Maria was fatally shot. With her dying breathe, Maria activated the pod with Shadow in it, and implored Shadow to give all the people on Earth a chance to be happy. Confined to the pod, Shadow was forced to watch in agony as his best friend fell to the ground, before the pod was ejected towards Earth.

Shadow's pod was eventually recovered by G.U.N., the hedgehog being put into suspended animation and sent to Prison Island, where Gerald was forced to continue his research under government supervision. Having gone insane with grief after learning of his granddaughter's death, Gerald began secretly brainwashing Shadow, modifying his memories so he believed he was meant to destroy humanity.

Gerald also secretly kept a diary of his experiences, in which he encouraged anyone who found it to release Shadow should they desire mass destruction. Soon after, Gerald was executed, while Shadow was kept sealed away on the island.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

50 years later, Dr. Eggman, grandson of Dr. Gerald Robotnik and cousin to Maria, broke into the G.U.N base on Prison Island, releasing Shadow from his containment. In exchange for freeing him, Shadow agreed to aid the doctor in his plans to take over the world, hiding his true intentions: revenge for the death of Maria, or so he thought she would want.

To achieve this, the black hedgehog revealed the existence of the Eclipse Cannon to Eggman. Once he escaped Prison Island, Shadow steals the green Chaos Emerald from a bank, unknowingly also framing Sonic the Hedgehog for the deed.

Shadow participated in a second heist, alongside Dr. Eggman and Rouge the Bat, at Prison Island where he would plant explosives throughout the island as part of their getaway, although his resemblance to Sonic also resulted in Amy Rose mistaking him for the latter. However, Miles "Tails" Prower came to Amy's rescue from Dr. Eggman, he was forced to act fast due to the unexpected delay. In addition, after Rouge ended up getting caught and stranded in the containment area while recovering four Chaos Emeralds, Shadow, largely because he realized that his plans of avenging Maria would be for naught if Rouge perished in the explosion, rushed to get to Rouge, and by extension, the Chaos Emeralds.

After meeting Sonic for a second time, Shadow believes that Sonic was trying to copy him. They fight to a stalemate before Shadow is forced to leave to rescue Rouge(with Sonic also learning from Eggman via Shadow's radio that the island was about to blow up), and just barely arrived at Rouge's location and used Chaos Control to warp himself, Rouge, the four Chaos Emeralds, and presumably Eggman out at the last possible second.

After the demonstration of the Eclipse Cannon, they needed the final Chaos Emerald to fulfill their plans, Shadow pursued Tails' plane through a canyon. Although he was unable to intercept him, he nonetheless reported back to Eggman that Tails was headed his way. When Eggman discovered the presence of two emerald readings, he deduced Tails' plan of placing a fake Chaos Emerald into the cannon. Shadow departs, apparently to confront Sonic and Tails to stop them from interfering. But Eggman stopped him, wanting to deal with them personally. After Sonic was seemingly killed by Dr. Eggman via a rigged escape capsule, Shadow guessed Sonic was only an ordinary hedgehog as he witnessed the explosion.

Shadow then stumbled upon Rouge's plan to steal the Chaos Emeralds, and deduced that she was in fact a spy for the President of the United Federations, although Rouge then unveiled a report from Gerald Robotnik regarding the Biolizard, claiming that *it*, not Shadow, was the actual Ultimate Lifeform. However, Shadow was forced to depart after Eggman mentions an unknown figure headed towards the Eclipse Cannon, although not before stating that he's still Shadow despite his memories possibly being fake, and that "the fake Emerald is good enough for Rouge."

He then discovers Sonic at the area. Shadow, impressed at Sonic's ability to use Chaos Control despite using a fake Chaos Emerald, nonetheless stated that he cannot allow him to live before fighting on a collapsing runway.

In the last story, Eggman inserts the final Chaos Emerald, only to unknowingly initiate a destabilization program on the ARK. Professor Gerald Robotnik then revealed that he had made this function to have revenge for Maria, and that the ARK would destroy the Earth. Sonic, Eggman, Rouge, Tails, and Knuckles take a shortcut to the cannon's core so they could stop the Professor's mad plan.

In a twist of fate, Shadow ultimately aids Sonic when realizing, with Amy's help, Maria's true wish: *to save humanity.* Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles had reached the central core, where they reactivated the Biolizard. A scene from Gerald Robotnik's diary appears again. After Shadow defeated the Biolizard, Knuckles used the Master Emerald to stop the Chaos Emeralds. But the Biolizard, being the prototype from Project Shadow, used Chaos Control to fuse with the ARK, continuing its fall. The Ultimate Lifeform prototype became a monster, codenamed Finalhazard. Using their powers in their super states, Shadow and Sonic defeated it and executed an enhanced Chaos Control which stopped the fall and warped the ARK back into orbit. Energy expended, Shadow falls to Earth, with everyone assuming he died.

SONIC HEROES

Rouge the Bat is investigating one of Eggman's bases when she discovers an unconscious Shadow in a stasis pod located in the deepest part of the base, after he was believed to be dead. As she activated the capsule, E123 Omega scanned Rouge and the newly awakened Shadow. Omega fired a round of guns at Shadow and Rouge, Shadow ordering Rouge to back away while he took on Omega, but Rouge stepped in to break them up and quickly ending the skirmish. Shadow discovers that he has amnesia and can not remember anything before his release, aside from his name and brief flashes of Maria Robotnik's death. He begrudgingly joins forces with Rouge and Omega, forming Team Dark to find Eggman.

On their way to Eggman on Grand Metropolis, Shadow and his team met up with Team Chaotix, and began fighting against them as Rouge suspected them to be searching for "Eggman's treasure". Later, Shadow meets Dr. Eggman in a casino, asking for his identity; however, "Eggman" denied that Shadow had a "a past to remember". On another battle against one of Eggman's machines, Shadow discovers that there are clones of him, much to his already established self-confusion. After giving it a brief break, Shadow, however, chooses to proceed forward. Unbeknownst to him, Neo Metal Sonic had collected Shadow's data while the hedgehog was fighting during that moment.

In Lost Jungle, Shadow confronts Sonic and his team. When they encounter each other, Shadow has no memory of Sonic and asked Rouge about him. The two teams began taunting each other until Omega threatened Sonic and his team, Shadow starting a fight against Team Sonic. When they made it to the Egg Fleet, Shadow made up his mind to defeat Eggman once and for all even if he was not truly The Ultimate Lifeform.

After "Eggman" was seemingly defeated, Shadow remarked that Rouge's desire to steal the Master Emerald from Knuckles as she was explaining her next plan is nothing strange for him. Shortly after that, Neo Metal Sonic revealed himself to them, and began transforming as Shadow, his teammates and the other teams were witnessing that moment. Having no other option, Shadow worked with everyone to defeat the monster, and gladly gave his Chaos Emerald to Sonic. After the final battle, Shadow and E123 Omega were holding the defeated Metal Sonic.

Shadow the Hedgehog

While being haunted by the thoughts of his past, Shadow witnesses an alien race known as the Black Arms arrive to invade Earth, where the leader of the race, Black Doom, appears before him through Doom's Eye and tells him to bring him the Chaos Emeralds "as promised" before disappearing. Fueled by the desire to seek out his past and find the truth behind Doom's words in hopes of uncovering his lost memories, the black hedgehog went off to find the Emeralds.

Starting in the ruins of Westopolis, Shadow seemingly collaborated with the Black Arms before ending up at Dr. Eggman's Cryptic Castle. Believing that the doctor knew something about his past, Shadow infiltrates the castle and found Amy, whom he helped rescue Cream and Cheese, before being confronted by the scientist's Egg Breaker. With the pink hedgehog's help, however, he destroyed the mech and later found himself caught in the crossfire between the Black Arms' ancient aerial fortresses and the Eggman's Empire's Eggman Fleet. In the aftermath, he had four Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

After successfully gathering all the Chaos Emeralds and ending up at the Black Arms's Black Comet, Shadow was confronted by Black Doom, who commanded him to give him the Emeralds so that they could begin the "prosperity ritual". However, Sonic and the others, including Eggman himself, then arrived and told Shadow not to listen to the alien leader. Nevertheless, after revealing the Black Arms' intention to harvest humans as an energy source, Doom took the Chaos Emeralds from Shadow and used Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet down to the surface of the earth. The alien overload then explained that he helped Professor Gerald create Shadow, but only in return for the Chaos Emeralds, which were needed to bring the comet down to the surface, before he paralyzes everyone with a special gas and left them to be devoured by his alien offspring, the Death Leeches.

Due to having the same blood as Black Doom, Shadow was the only one not affected by the gas and continued forward as he finally put his past behind, swearing to never let anyone manipulate him again, and was determined to destroy Black Doom.

Black Doom fled, leaving Shadow behind, the only hope for the planet. Shadow caught up with Black Doom and suddenly was attacked by mind control. Black Doom told him that he could control him as they had the same blood running through their veins. Just then, Team Chaotix activated a film showing a sane Professor Gerald Robotnik sometime before the raid on the ARK. In the video, he told him that he was the only hope for the planet. It was revealed that the only way to defeat the Black Arms was to destroy the Black Comet using the Eclipse Cannon. As the video ended, Maria stepped into the frame and gave Shadow the inspiration he needed to break through Black Doom's control.

Black Doom escaped and prompted Shadow to use the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow and fight the alien leader. Black Doom, Now in his Devil Doom form, fights Shadow but was defeated. Shadow then uses a super-powered Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet back into the planet's orbit and tears it apart with a blast from the Eclipse Cannon. Onboard the ARK and with the world saved, Shadow looks at a picture of Maria and Gerald before tossing it away, resolving to put his past behind him and move forward with his life.