Characters / Sonic the Hedgehog - Team Dark

Sonic the Hedgehog characters index
Main Characters (Sonic the Hedgehog) | Recurring Characters (Team Dark) | Eggman Empire (Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik) | One-Shot Characters | Classic Era Antagonists | Modern Era Antagonists 1 | Modern Era Antagonists 2 | Other Groups and Species

Team Dark

Rouge: You two ready?
Omega: Warning — immediate destruction if distracted.
Shadow: Hmph. Just hope you can keep up with me.

Originally a team made purely out of convenience; in Sonic Heroes, Rouge snuck into one of Eggman's secret bases after hearing rumors about treasure and there she found a sealed pod with the recently thought deceased Shadow the Hedgehog. After freeing Shadow, Rouge accidently also awakens E-123 Omega, the last line of Eggman's E-Series robots tasked with destroying any intruders. Shadow rescues Rouge and prepares to engage Omega, but before the two can come to blows, Rouge puts a stop to it and demands answers. After a brief talk, Rouge learns that Omega wants revenge on Eggman for abandoning him while Shadow has developed amnesia and cannot remember his past nor the events of the last game. Rouge suggests a temporary truce so that they can all get what they want, forming an uneasy alliance.

Essentially a collective Evil Counterpart team towards Team Sonic, they share many moves with each other in Sonic Heroes. Their levels are much more complex and more elaborate, effectively serving as the game's Hard Mode. Their Team Blast is "Chaos Inferno", where Shadow activates Chaos Control to temporarily stop time, while Rouge air lifts Omega, who obliterates all enemies in the immediate area; afterwards, time shall stand still until the Team Blast gauge is depleted.

Outside of Sonic Heroes, the group make occasional appearances together in various spin-off titles and play a major role in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) within Shadow's campaign, supporting him in his battle against Mephiles the Dark.

Tropes applying to the group as a whole

• Aloof Ally: All three of them are this to Team Sonic, as unless their interests line up with the former, they're much more content to do their own thing, no matter what the cost may be.
• Anti-Hero Team: While none of them are villainous, they still happen to be Nominal Heroes on the regular. Rouge is a thief who's mostly looking out for herself, but she does help the heroes in saving the world when a threat endangers it. Shadow is greatly mistrustful and his personal reasons for protecting the planet are usually grounded in him further proving himself as the Ultimate Life Form (and to a lesser extent, his promise to Maria). Omega is a robot created by Eggman to be a walking arsenal, but he decided that he had enough of Eggman and rebelled against him. Word of God has also stated that Team Dark are not a true unit in-universe (as has been acknowledged in this episode of the BumbleKast), and this claim is not without merit; Shadow indirectly states in Sonic Battle that he prefers to view Rouge and Omega as "allies" rather than as straight-up friends, and there has been no indication that the three remain in contact with one another outside of work or when new situations arise.
• Badass Crew: The ultimate lifeform, a walking armory, and a treasure hunter/super spy/cat burglar who takes no sass from anyone. Yeah, don't mess with them!
• Brains and Brawn: Rouge is the brain to Omega and Shadow's Brawn. Though sometimes Shadow is portrayed as the brain and brawn, depending on the game.
• Call-Back: The name of Team Dark is a throwback to Sonic Adventure 2, where Shadow and Rouge were both on the Dark Side of the conflict.
• Cast Herd: After Sonic Heroes, they were rarely seen apart, much like Team Sonic. This lasted until Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) where they began to fall Out of Focus along with the rest of the supporting cast and if they do appear, they rarely interact with each other.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Their team name is literally "Team Dark," they have a darker color scheme than the other teams in the series, and they aren't completely morally scrupulous heroes, but they aren't evil, either.
• Darker and Edgier: This trope sums them up pretty well, and it's invoked for good measure. Compared to fun-loving Sonic, the honorable Knuckles and excitable Tails, Team Dark is composed of the cynical Shadow, the violent Omega and the greedy Rouge.
• Elemental Powers: Due to the game mechanics of Sonic Heroes, they were (like every other team) each given an element. This didn't really stick with them after Heroes, and they have occasionally been associated with other elements at different times (Shadow has used all three of them, amusingly enough).
• Fighter, Mage, Thief:
  • Omega is the largest and physically strongest of the trio making him the Fighter.
  • Shadow's chaos powers make him the Mage.
  • Rouge is a Thief by trade and is the weaker of the three in terms of physical power.
• Fire-Forged Friends:
  • Shadow and Rouge started off as aloof when they first met in Sonic Adventure 2, but during the course of the series, they both grow to care for another and have become allies with a degree of mutual respect.
  • Omega to Shadow and Rouge in Sonic Heroes. Omega greeted Shadow by shooting at him and didn't really care about Rouge being caught in the crossfire, but over the course of the game and further into the series he went from threatening to destroy them if they deviated from the hunt for Eggman to considering them the closest things he has to Only Friends.
• Friendly Rivalry: Rouge has one with Knuckles, Shadow has one with Sonic, and to a lesser degree Omega and Shadow have this to each other.
• Freudian Trio:
  • Id: Omega, Destructive and vengeful towards Eggman for sealing him away and his first response to any threat is to terminate it with extreme levels of violence, and tends to not be open to alternative solutions otherwise.
  • Superego: Shadow is quiet, reserved and mainly focused on getting the job done in the most efficient way possible, but has no patience for anyone he sees as beneath him.
  • Ego: While Rouge is pretty selfish and vain, she is neither as destructive as Omega nor as emotionally distant as Shadow and leads the group.
• Geodesic Cast: Since Sonic Heroes, Shadow is in the Speed-type category, Rouge in the Fly-type (Technique-type in Team Sonic Racing), and Omega the Power-type.
• Image Song: "This Machine".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They're somewhat selfish and aloof to anyone outside their trio, but they all have signs that they care much more than they let on.
• Just a Machine: Surprisingly, Shadow and Rouge treated the new robot (Metal Sonic) on their team like that in Sonic Free Riders. However, they never thought of Omega in such a way.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Shadow and Rouge fought in Sonic Rivals 2.
• Limit Break: Their Team Blast "Chaos Inferno" in Sonic Heroes, which damages enemies and temporarily stops time.
• Meaningful Name: They are a special ops team that is able to take on missions without need of authority ("going dark") or participate in ones that are deemed too dangerous to others. For example, Sonic Heroes has their missions tougher and longer than others.
• Moveset Clone: Even when none of the teams are particularly different from each other in their abilities, they're still nearly identical-playing to Team Sonic.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: A downplayed example, for a given value of "nice":
  • Nice: Rouge. Despite her selfish, greedy ways, she's the closest to nice in the group and by far the most social.
  • Mean: Omega. A Killer Robot who's on the team for the sake of destroying anything related to Dr. Eggman.
  • In-Between: Shadow. Cynical, aggressive, hard-headed, and rough. Underneath it all, however, he does have a caring side to him and remains on the side of justice.
• Odd Friendship: Rouge's friendship with Omega and Shadow is far from what you would expect. She's social, upbeat, and somewhat of a tease while Shadow is quiet, cold, and cynical and Omega is violent, blunt, and somewhat single-minded.
• Playing with Fire: Omega. He could shoot Shadow and Rouge out of his hands, covering them with an aura of fire, and had an AOE where he shot fire out of his arms like flamethrowers. Shadow previously had this element in Sonic Adventure 2, where he could perform a flaming somersault.
• The Psycho Rangers: Whenever they're in the same game as Team Sonic, they always have comparable stats to them.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: A brooding Artificial Hedgehog, a treasure-hunting bat, and an Ax-Crazy Robotic Psychopath.
• Satellite Character: As Shadow is one of the three main protagonists of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Rouge and Omega are mostly just present to support him and don't play a major role in the story otherwise.
• Shock and Awe:
  • Rouge could launch an electrified Shadow and Omega at enemies in Sonic Heroes.
  • Shadow's Chaos Spears sometimes have an electrical effect.
• The Smurfette Principle: Well, Omega's a robot, but he's identified as a male, making Rouge the only female member.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Whenever Rouge fights with Knuckles and Shadow fights Sonic. Omega during his two battles with Mephiles.
• Terrible Trio: Rouge is the leader (albeit only in Sonic Heroes is this explicit, though she's the one giving out orders to the other two), Shadow and Omega (and at one point Metal Sonic) are the henchmen.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Without personal stakes or drama in the matter, Rouge and Shadow show their nastier side in Free Riders, being openly greedy in Rouge's case and openly condescending and competitive in Shadow's case. Likewise, they treat their team member, a random E-10000B robot, like dirt to which many competitors which beg them to be more considerate, which it falls on dead ears.
• True Companions: Downplayed. They don't share the straight-up camaraderie as Sonic and his immediate group of friends, but the three trust each other more than other folks. This carried over into Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) where Rouge and Omega choose to support Shadow despite the fact that the world may one day turn on him. This trait of theirs has been downplayed though when they all began to fall Out of Focus.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Omega and Shadow are the guys and Rouge is the girl.
• Undying Loyalty: For a group of distrustful Wild Cards, all three have this for each other. Even Rouge, which is proven by her words to Shadow.
  Rouge: Even if you believe everyone will go against you, know that I'll always remain by your side.

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog

Debut: Sonic Adventure 2
Voiced by: Koji Yusa (Japanese); David Humphrey (English, 2001-2004), Ryan Drummond (English, some lines in Sonic Adventure 2), Jason Griffith (English, 2005-2010), Kirk Thornton (English, 2010-present)^{Additional VAs}Benoît Du Pac (French, 2011-present), Riccardo Lombardo (Italian, 2011), Maurizio Merluzzo (Italian, 2011), Claudio Moneta (Italian, 2013-present)

"If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have."

An artificially created hedgehog made by the late professor Gerald Robotnik. 50 years before the start of the series, Gerald made a deal with an alien named Black Doom that he'd create the ultimate weapon for Doom in exchange for his immortal blood to cure his ailing granddaughter, Maria. G.U.N. caught wind of Project Shadow and had the entire project shut down - but not before the project in question could come to fruition. They stormed the ARK and Shadow was sealed away until Dr. Eggman released him during the events of Sonic Adventure 2. Over the course of the game, Shadow reveals he was carrying out Gerald's will and worked to destroy the planet as revenge for Maria's death. However, Amy manages to convince Shadow to help, and he remembers Maria's wish to protect humanity. He and Sonic team up to destroy his own prototype, and he apparently dies in the effort.

Later, it is revealed that you can't assume you killed the Ultimate Lifeform just because you saw him burning up through the atmosphere, and he returns with a case of amnesia and a distinct uncertainty as to whether he's a robot or a clone, eventually going on to confront his genetic donor Black Doom and save the planet.

Shadow is a very straightforward individual; he's aloof, taciturn, and ambitious. Because of his attitude, he is extremely hard to get along with and has a very independent nature, preferring to work on his own more often than not. While he's often ruthless and extremely pragmatic, he can show both empathy and compassion when the situation calls for it. He prefers a straightforward, rather blunt approach to problems, and tends to handle situations in a fist-to-face, foot-to-groin, knee-to-head kind of way, regardless if he feels like it or not, and most of the time he does feel like it.

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• '90s Anti-Hero: He never fully played this trope, but he's always sort of leaned on it (his name and color scheme being pretty harsh and a vengeful personality). He shows more traits of this for his own game, though (guns, swearing, and motorcycle riding galore).
• Above Good and Evil: When it comes to his goals, he will achieve them at all costs.
• Abusive Alien Parents: Shadow's "father," Black Doom, is a manipulative, tyrannical sociopath who plans to use him as a tool for his plans. In the majority of Shadow's self-titled game, Black Doom attempts to take advantage of Shadow's memory loss and use him to destroy the planet. After he learns the truth about his past, though, Shadow rebels against Black Doom and destroys him for good.
• Aesop Amnesia: Despite being amnesiac and wondering who he was, Shadow made peace with it by the end of Sonic Heroes, declaring that even if he is not real, he is still the Ultimate Life Form. This gets ignored in his titular game, where Shadow once again questions who he is to the point of brooding too much about it. Luckily, his Character Development stuck from this point.
• The Ageless: Most likely due to the genetic material contributed to Project Shadow by his biological "father," Black Doom. The reason behind this was that Shadow's creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik, wanted to study immortality and use the fruits of his research to find a cure for his granddaughter (and Shadow's surrogate sister) Maria, as she was terminally ill and suffering from a fatal disease known as Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The only thing that show age are his shoes, with the soles' paint flaking off in most 3D artworks of Shadow.
• Air-Dashing: Like Sonic, Shadow is capable of dashing forward in midair in games where he's playable, often as a homing attack.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Sonic Adventure 2 ends with Shadow being reminded of Maria's kindness and sacrificing himself to honor her memory. Afterwards, the entire main cast is left shaken, particularly Sonic.
  Shadow: Maria… this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you.
• Alleged Lookalikes: It's often stated he looks like Sonic, but he really doesn't,^note his older design◊ when he was named "Terios" does look like Sonic at least not any more than any other hedgehog in the series (Amy or Silver) does. The closest you can get to saying Sonic and Shadow cut a similar silhouette is when you compare Shadow to Super Sonic, and even then that only applies to the Super Sonic design seen in Adventure 1 and 2, where Super Sonic's quills do indeed have the same configuration as Shadow's.
• All for Nothing: His long, complex scheme to Kill All Humans in Adventure 2 was his way to fulfill Maria’s dying wish by avenging her. At the end of the game, he realizes that this "memory" was actually a lie programmed into him by Gerald Robotnik; Maria's actual final wish was for Shadow to protect humanity, meaning everything he'd done was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
• Aloof Ally: While he is willing to team up with Sonic and the others for the benefit of the world, he still remains pretty standoffish and tends to not engage with their more spirited activities.
• Alternate Self: In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), it is revealed that the version of Shadow from Silver's timeline was captured and trapped by humanity after they blamed him for Iblis' awakening. Mephiles shows him to Shadow briefly before trying to join his side. Whatever happened to Future Shadow is unknown, as Silver doesn't mention him after the Cosmic Retcon.
• Always Someone Better:
  • This is what separated him from Sonic's other rivals at the time of his debut. Shadow was always one step ahead of Sonic throughout Sonic Adventure 2, until their final confrontation aboard the ARK put them on equal footing where Sonic is finally able to defeat him. Afterwards, they're generally portrayed as being on the same level across all media, albeit with Sonic being slightly ahead.
  • He's this to Infinite as well. As "Episode Shadow" of Sonic Forces showed, Infinite considered himself the "ultimate mercenary," until Shadow whipped Infinite's butt with hardly any effort, even making Infinite shake in fear of Shadow. Not only did this fuel Infinite's Inferiority Superiority Complex, but he vowed he'd never lose again, especially not to Shadow.
• Ambiguous Situation: Why does Shadow look like Sonic? This is a rather frequent question in Heroes and Shadow's titular game, but there is no answer to it. It seems to just be a Contrived Coincidence.^note  Some fans have theorized that, due to Professor Gerald doing research on Angel Island, he may have been inspired by a prophetic image of Super Sonic fighting Dr. Eggman, but this is unconfirmed.
• Amnesiac Hero: His fall to Earth at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 caused him to lose his memory for a time.
• Amnesiac Resonance: Despite reawakening with zero memory of his past in Sonic Heroes, his first instinct is to dive forward and save Rouge (previously his ally in Adventure 2) from an incoming attack.
• Antagonist in Mourning: A rival variant, although he's a frenemy to Sonic and not an antagonist.
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, as he watches the escape capsule Sonic was trapped in explode, he commented about how he isn't a "fake" hedgehog after all in a slightly disappointed tone.
  Shadow: I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he closes his eyes in grief when Sonic was killed by Mephiles in order to make Elise cry.
• Anti Anti Christ:
  • Black Doom provided the genetic material necessary to complete the project so as to have someone to aid him in conquering Earth. However, Shadow eventually went against said destiny, destroyed Black Doom, and is now one of the chief defenders of the planet.
  • This happens to Shadow a lot. The reason Shadow was originally developed was to be an immortal Super-Soldier for the military. Post-breakdown Professor Gerald reprogrammed Shadow's mind to carry out his plot to destroy Earth, but his memories of Maria caused him to decide to save it instead. Later, Mephiles tried to convince Shadow to fill the role of destroyer again, but he'd finally learned his lesson and would have absolutely none of it.
• Anti-Hero: The most prolific example in the series. He is also known for achieving his goals by all means necessary, even it means playing the villain's game on occasions. But he does have moments of heroism, like sacrificing himself to save the world and helping Silver realize that Mephiles has used him as a pawn.
• The Anti-Nihilist: His response to Mephiles's Hannibal Lecture; the day may come when humans turn on him out of fear, but that's not going to stop him from continuing to do what he believes is right.
  Mephiles: It's futile. The world will betray you. Why fight at all? Why risk your life for those who will persecute you later?
  Shadow: If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have.
• Anti-Villain: At first, he plotted to destroy the planet on his creator's will, but he still had plenty of sympathetic traits. Namely, he was acting on what he felt was justice for what happened to his surrogate sister, he saves Rouge from Prison Island blowing up when he had no reason in doing so (something she notices), and he develops a grudging respect for Sonic through their confrontations, to the point where he laments about his apparent demise at Eggman's hand before they can have their final confrontation and is almost relieved when he not only survives, but learns Chaos Control in the process.
• Arch-Enemy: To Black Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog, Mephiles the Dark in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and temporarily Infinite in Sonic Forces, although Infinite eventually turned his attention to Sonic and the Avatar.
• The Artifact: Shadow's supposed resemblance to Sonic was obsolete as early as his very first appearance in Adventure 2. Being Sonic's Criminal Doppelgänger only ever made sense during an early phase of Adventure 2 development when the character that eventually became Shadow actually looked like Sonic's Evil Twin. By the time of the game's actual release, Shadow's design had changed enough to make him easily distinguishable from Sonic, but the game's storyline still behaves as if they're identical.
• Artificial Human: Or hedgehog, in this case. He was artificially created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik on the Space Colony ARK from the cells of Black Doom.
• Badbutt: Shadow is as badass as a family-friendly video game character can get. He snarks almost constantly, has a gun and motorcycle, he even gets to use words like “damn” and “hell”. He’s also the most merciless and intimidating character, one that even Sonic takes seriously.
• Badass and Child Duo: Was the badass to Maria's child, before she died.
• Badass Armfold: His usual pose.
• Badass Boast: He's very fond of these, to the point of being this trope itself for the Sonic series:
  • From Sonic Adventure 2:
    "My name is Shadow. I'm the world's Ultimate Life Form. There's no time for games, farewell!"
    "Behold the true power I possess!"
    "Before this is over, I'll show you the true power of Chaos Control!"
  • From Shadow the Hedgehog:
    "Behold, the ultimate power!"
    "Death to all who oppose me!"
    "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I and only I, know what is best! No one can tell me what to do. This is who I am!"
    "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. And now... I am the most powerful hedgehog in the world! The power of these Emeralds make me invincible! I am the ultimate hedgehog! THIS IS WHO I AM!"
    "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I've left the past behind me. No one can tell me what to do now! I will destroy you, Black Doom!"
  • From Sonic the Hedgehog (2006):
    "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have."
    "A super-dimensional being...Heh. This might even be a fair fight!"
• Badass Driver: The trailers for Shadow the Hedgehog emphasized him driving his motorcycle, sometimes to the exclusion of any of his other abilities.
• Bash Brothers: Often with Sonic, when the two put aside their differences. Sonic has at least come to respect Shadow's capabilities, even if the two will never fully get along due to being polar opposites.
• Batman Gambit: Pulled one on Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist getting a chance to conquer the world. In the end, Shadow had his own motivation.
• Berserk Button: There are a few things that set him off.
  • Getting in the way of his goals.
  • Hurting his friends, namely Rouge, Omega, or Maria.
• Big Bad: Of Sonic Adventure 2, where it's revealed that he had been using Eggman the entire time in order to complete Gerald's final wish of wiping out humanity.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, he manages to teleport Rouge (and three of the Chaos Emeralds, of course) off of Prison Island mere seconds before the whole island explodes.
  • In Sonic 2006, he was the second person to rescue Sonic from being killed by Silver (the first being Amy).
  • In Sonic Forces, he rescues Sonic again, this time by defeating his clone who was going to charge into him.
• Big "NO!": In Sonic 2006, he yells a big "NOOOOOOOOO!" every time he falls into a Bottomless Pit.
• Blood Knight: Shadow finds contentment in challenging a worthy opponent for the sake of indulging himself or proving his power and showcasing his superiority.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Shadow will follow and break rules based on furthering his own goals and objectives. Morality-wise, he's constantly in flux, striking an odd balance of achieving missions by sparing opponents out of genuine mercy and killing them for standing in his way only as a result of his ruthless beliefs about doing what he feels is right.
• Book Ends:
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow begins the Dark Story by swearing to keep his promise to Maria, and ends the Last Story by following through on it.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog opens with him struggling to remember and grapple with his Dark and Troubled Past, and ends with him finally letting it go.
    Shadow: Goodbye forever… Shadow the Hedgehog.
• Born as an Adult: As a creation of Gerald Robotnik, Shadow was created as a full-grown adult. Or possibly teenager...
• Bottomless Bladder: Throughout the majority of the series, he's typically never been shown to ingest any matter of food or doesn't even tend to drink either. There's a possibility that since he's a genetic artificial being, Shadow either contains self-sustenance in his body or was made to survive without requiring any nourishment for himself. However, in the second animated short of Team Sonic Racing: Overdrive, he's shown feasting on a bag of popcorn (that he stole from a Chao) which shows that he's perfectly content with eating food regardless.
• Breakout Character: Due to his very fleshed out character arc, and complicated relationship with Sonic, Shadow has become the most popular character in the entire franchise, surpassed only by Sonic himself and above the likes of Tails, Knuckles and Dr. Eggman, all of whom have been a fixture in the franchise long before he showed up. Even after being Demoted to Extra since Sonic Unleashed, he still has rather notable appearances as a boss fight in Sonic Generations, the first additional character to be included in Sonic Boom after the main quartet, and got his own storyline in Sonic Forces, thereby making him the first character to be playable in a 3D game since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). His enduring popularity earned him his debut as The Stinger in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), and he seems to be set to reprise his initial antagonistic role in the sequel, beating out other classic characters like Amy and Metal Sonic.
• Broken Ace: He has skills and capabilities that rival Sonic's, and never has to worry about aging due to his immortality. All of this comes with deep-seated emotional scars as a result of his creation and subsequent loss of his surrogate family.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Before she died, Shadow and Maria were a non-romantic version of this.
• Brutal Honesty: He doesn’t hold back on his opinions.
• Bullying a Dragon: Often on the receiving end of this from anyone who tries to manipulate or persecute him, such as Eggman, Black Doom or Mephiles. It never ends well for them. Infinite was also very self-assured that he could beat Shadow in a fight, which resulted in Shadow beating him with no effort.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A perfect case happens in Sonic Forces: Episode Shadow. For Shadow, it was just another day taking out Dr. Eggman's minions during an infiltration mission. But for Infinite, it was his Start of Darkness as Shadow killed the members of his mercenary group and gave him a Curb-Stomp Battle that he took very personally. Afterwards, he was infused with the Phantom Ruby and became the tool necessary for Eggman to finally Take Over the World, but not before toying with Shadow, who, as he predicted, doesn't even remember him.
• Byronic Hero: A family-friendly version, anyway. He's cynical, brooding, and spiteful, but he's also passionate, fiery, and does have a few close relationships, such as with Rouge and Omega.
• Canon Immigrant: The Inhibitor Rings (see Power Limiter for more info), first seen in Sonic X, became canon as of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
• Carpet of Virility: Well, he's a hedgehog, and covered in fur, but his coloration invokes this.
• Captain Ersatz:
  • Given the series creator's love of Dragon Ball, Shadow was most likely based off of Vegeta. A constantly scowling, prideful Foil to the more lighthearted, optimistic protagonist.
  • Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII. They're both the results of experiments involving the DNA of world-consuming eldritch entities that resulted in them becoming the resident Super-Soldier compared to everyone else, but the circumstances behind said experiments (that involved both of them being put in a capsule for an extended period of time, and coming out of the experience with a scrambled memory that the Greater-Scope Villain would take advantage of), as well as seeing someone they cared deeply about get gunned down in front of them by a soldier kill squad traumatized them deeply and resulted in the brooding Anti-Hero everyone knows them as. Also, while it's confirmed with Cloud, it's implied that the tragedy that occured in his life prior to being sent to Earth on top of being created with his current physical age of 15 years resulted in Shadow's current personality, as he might not know how else to act around others besides being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Another startlingly close resemblance is to Mewtwo from the Pokémon films. Each is a dark, mysterious Ultimate Life Form who was created to cure the ill daughter/granddaughter (Maria/Amber) of a brilliant scientist (Gerald/Dr.Fuji) reluctantly working with a villain (Black Doom/Giovanni), ends up befriending the girl only for her to tragically die, resulting in said ultimate life form seeking revenge against humanity and the world to cope with their deep sense of loss.
• Challenge Seeker: Shadow never turns down a chance to test his abilities against potentially strong opponents like super-dimensional beings, dragons, and of course, Sonic himself.
• Character Catchphrase: He does have a few catchphrases unique to him, which help highlight an aspect of his personality.
  • "I'm the ultimate life form!" — Typically a Badass Boast which emphasizes his cocky nature and how his status as such makes him superior to his enemies
  • "This is who I am!" — what he says after in every ending of Shadow the Hedgehog, proclaiming who he is and his purpose in life after seeking for answers in his titular game^note It was also meant to tie into a cut credits song for the game, "Who I am" by Magni-Fi as well.
• Character Development:
  • Shadow originally only cared about avenging the loss of his old friend and didn't even care if his own memories were fabricated into doing so. About two games later, he has accepted Maria's death and wishes to protect the world that she loved in honor of her memory and live his own life unshackled by past transgressions.
  • He forms a genuine bond with Rouge (who he wanted nothing to do with in his debut) and Omega, even calling them his friends (or rather "allies" if Sonic Battle is any indication).
• Characterization Marches On: Shadow had a cordial rivalry with Sonic in his debut game and Sonic Heroes, but following his titular game his rivalry with Sonic has been consistently been portrayed with Shadow finding Sonic annoying but a worthy challenge, '06 being an exception.
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow's personality was very much like that of an Evil Counterpart to Sonic's, namely he was rather cocky and even prone to smirks like his blue rival. This was retained until roughly Sonic Battle and his game where his more stoic and straightforward attitude took hold. Then starting in Sonic Free Riders, he's more of a typical Stock Shōnen Rival and jerk, though this can be justified as his competitive spirit taking hold during the championship.
• Char Clone: Downplayed compared to most, but there are definitely elements of it—an aloof and cynical rival to the main hero who features red prominently in his design, and is subject to a Heel–Face Turn while nevertheless remaining something of an antihero. His debut game ending with his apparent death in what is a clear reference to Char's Counterattack helps.
• The Chessmaster: Was clearly making use of Eggman's world-dominating ambition throughout Sonic Adventure 2 in order to further his own goal (and Gerald's) in wiping out humanity in revenge for the murder of Maria Robotnik. The only reason he didn't succeed was that Amy convinced him to not go through with the plan. This also happened in the Pure Dark - Hero ending, where he takes Black Doom's orders in order to get the Chaos Emeralds to remember his past, then later he ends up turning on him to take revenge against humanity on his own.
• Combat Pragmatist: Despite his natural power, his own game and the 2006 game show that he'll use guns, swords, vehicles, a stop sign and pretty much anything as a weapon if the situation calls for it.
• The Comically Serious: His overly serious demeanor is sometimes played for laughs, particularly when juxtaposed with Sonic. Once in a while, he makes a few wits and one-liners.
• Conjoined Eyes: Like most Sonic characters.
• Consummate Professional: In Sonic '06 and Sonic Forces, he always shuts down any attempts to make small talk in order to focus on the mission at hand.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • Like Knuckles, Shadow makes his debut as The Dragon towards Dr. Eggman and serves as a red-colored rival to Sonic, but that's where the similarities end. Unlike Knuckles who was Eggman's Unwitting Pawn, it's Shadow who was pulling Eggman's strings. Knuckles was ultimately a good person who foolishly trusted Eggman, while Shadow is driven by vengeance. Even after having a change of heart, he still remains rather distant from Sonic and friends, being an ally or antagonist depending on his motivation.
  • To the other main villain introduced in the Adventure duology, Chaos. Both are sympathetic Anti-Villains who want to wipe out humanity due to outside influences (the Chaos Emeralds for Chaos, Gerald messing with his memories for Shadow), but they wildly differ from there:
    • Chaos was mutated into his current form, but Shadow was created to be the Ultimate Life Form.
    • While it's debatable how loyal he was, Chaos worked for Eggman until the end of the story. Shadow on the other hand acted as The Dragon to Eggman but was really pulling his strings the whole time.
    • Chaos' first encounter with Sonic ended with the Blue Blur handily beating him, while Shadow got the upper hand during his.
    • Chaos suffers no repercussions after being fought as the Final Boss of Adventure, while Shadow seemingly dies after helping Sonic fight the final boss of Adventure 2.
• Contrived Coincidence: His resemblance to Sonic is only a coincidence, seeing as he was created many years before Sonic was born.
• Cool Bike: In the intro of his self-titled game, he rides a bike into battle before crashing it into a Black Arms enforcer. Despite the reception of his game, Shadow riding a motorcycle has stuck in many games, including 06. In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, his motorcycle is named the Dark Rider.
• Cool Shades: Wears some in the Sonic Riders series, which are above his head.
• Create Your Own Villain: Did this (accidentally) with Infinite.
• Criminal Doppelgänger: Sonic is blamed by the government for breaking into a top secret facility and stealing a Chaos Emerald. This was actually done by Shadow and Sonic is able to put two and two together once they come face to face. In an interesting variant of this trope, all of this was completely unintentional on Shadow's part and Shadow initially assumes Sonic to be his fake when they meet up.
• Cute Little Fangs: Has these, though they're very hard to see.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: In his first ever scene, he's seen using his air shoes to fly. Not once in any game has he been able to replicate this feat, with the closest exception being his titular game, where he'll temporarily hold himself in the air while shooting a sub-machine gun or variations, and never rising up into the air on them alone as he did there.
• The Cynic: In contrast to Sonic’s carefree nature.
• Cynical Mentor: During his chapter in Sonic Battle, he takes up this role toward Emerl, willingly letting the latter learn his techniques while warning him of how dangerous his power can be, while also making it no secret that he suspects Emerl may eventually turn on the heroes and destroy the Earth.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Shadow was created by Professor Gerald as a means to cure his terminally ill granddaughter Maria, whom Shadow formed a close bond with. When GUN raided the Ark to shut the project down, they captured many of the researchers and killed the rest, Maria being one of the casualties. To twist the knife further, Shadow had to watch her die in front of him and was completely helpless to save her. Needless to say, Shadow did not take it well and his debut is carrying Gerald's will and exacting revenge on the planet. It's only by remembering Maria's last words of giving humanity a chance to be happy that he starts to get over it and move on with his life, but Shadow never truly gets over it and maintains a very distant attitude even to this day.
• Dark Is Evil: At first in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog depending on the player's choice.
• Dark Is Not Evil: At the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and games beyond.
• The Dark Side: In Shadow the Hedgehog, he can draw on the power of evil and unleash his Chaos Blast.
• A Day in the Limelight: Tends to get these a lot given his own popularity.
  • At the height of his popularity, he got his own game.
  • He also had his own free DLC campaign in Sonic Forces titled Episode Shadow, set before the events of the main game.
  • In the Updated Re-release of Sonic Generations he once again gets a campaign centered on him in the aptly titled Sonic X Shadow Generations where he has to fight a freshly resurrected Black Doom.
• Deadpan Snarker: He can be very snarky sometimes, especially when bantering with Sonic.
• Death Glare: He often shows one when staring down his opponents.
• Defrosting Ice King: After finally moving on from his past with his loss of Maria and the realization of being biologically related to the Black Arms, he doesn't seem as cold towards Sonic and others as he was before.
• Demoted to Extra: Shadow was essentially the deuteragonist of the entire franchise for a time after his debut, playing a major role alongside Sonic in every game he was in. Nowadays he mostly shows up in cameos and the occasional boss fight. Tropes Are Not Bad however as many fans agreed that he had a rather disproportionate amount of focus compared to the rest of the cast.
• Depending on the Writer: How much of a jerk Shadow is will depend on the game he's in: sometimes he's simply an Aloof Ally who's The Stoic but shows kindness his own way. Other times he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who's brusque and doesn't care much for cooperation, though still stands by doing good and protecting what he cares about. And there are times where he is nothing but a jerkish Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy that mocks allies and enemies alike, derides The Power of Friendship and does nothing but be entitled to get what he wants for as long as possible because he is the Ultimate Lifeform.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: In Sonic Adventure 2 back on the ARK, struggling with finding out why he was created. And then again in Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, due to his amnesia.
• Determinator: He will always fight on even if it's the world against him; also, in any goal he wants to carry out, he is near unstoppable.
• Deuteragonist: For a while after his debut, he had a major role in almost every main title alongside Sonic himself.
• Disney Villain Death: After defeating the Finalhazard, Shadow lost his super form and fell back down to Earth at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, where he was then presumed dead. He survived.
• Disproportionate Retribution: His initial appearance had him attempting to destroy the Earth to avenge the murder of Maria Robotnik. He gets better.
• Divergent Character Evolution:
  • In both Adventure 2 and Heroes, he's little more than a Moveset Clone of Sonic. By Shadow the Hedgehog, he finally gets to use his own Chaos abilities in-game, and eventually gets a completely different playstyle than anything Sonic has ever done in '06. He returns to being a Moveset Clone of Sonic for Forces, however.
  • Personality wise, he diverts from Knuckles as the serious, no-nonsense foil to Sonic. Namely, Shadow never formally joins Sonic's circle of friends and chooses to straddle the line between being an Aloof Ally or a Stock Shōnen Rival towards his blue counterpart.
• The Dragon: To Black Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog's Dark and Semi-Dark storyline. Also served as this to Professor Gerald Robotnik in Sonic Adventure 2. While he appeared to be one to Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Forces, see Dragon with an Agenda below for the former and the latter was a fake version conjured up by the Phantom Ruby. The real Shadow never once switched sides.
• Dragon with an Agenda: To Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2, the agenda being annihilating the entire world as part of Professor Gerald's reprogramming before he was sealed.
• The Dreaded: Almost all media portrays Shadow like this, with him being possibly the most intimidating and fear-invoking character in the series. Sonic himself treats him more seriously than any rival and enemy he has fought and acknowledges him as a dangerous obstacle that he must take on without holding back.
  • Black Doom even lampshades this in Shadow the Hedgehog. He tells him that the humans feared him enough that they wanted him destroyed (and succeeded).
  • Mephiles likewise tries to turn Shadow to his side by showing him his fate in Sonic '06's Bad Future, stating that humans feared him after the incident that they had mobilized Omega to imprison him for all eternity.
• The Eeyore: Appears to be his way of coping with Maria’s death. Even after putting the past behind him, he still remains gloomy, cynical and sarcastic.
• Energy Ball: He uses these in Sonic Battle and Sonic Riders.
• Epic Fail: In The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow learns that he was supposed to get Amy a birthday gift and tries to buy concert tickets for her at the party, locking all the doors on the train to do it in secret. He then accidentally prints out the ticket webpage before realizing they're not even on sale yet and forgets Amy's Birthday Key can unlock the doors, resulting in the surprise being spoiled. Espio also uses Shadow's sketchy behavior to try to pin the murder on him.
• Evil Brit: When voiced by David Humphrey in Sonic Adventure 2 (when he was at his most villainous), Shadow spoke with a very slight Transatlantic/British accent.
• Evil Counterpart: To Sonic, at first. Then Character Development happened, and he became more of a Neutral Counterpart to him; not evil, but not entirely good either.
• Evil Laugh: Does these in the Dark endings of his game.
• Fake Memories: Gerald altered Shadow's memories so that he could carry out Gerald's plan to take revenge on humanity. Fortunately, Shadow's actual memories of his promise to Maria shone through despite this.
• Fangs Are Evil: The cover art of Shadow the Hedgehog has Shadow snarling, prominently showing his fangs, and one of his alternate paths in the game can have him fully embrace evil. Granted, these never really show up in the gameplay sequences nor are the evil paths canon.
• Fantastic Nuke: His Chaos Blast, which generates an explosion that destroys anything in the immediate vicinity.
• Fatal Flaw: Wrath. While Shadow is mostly The Stoic, he is also extremely vindictive and prone to more violence than what is necessary. His debut had him planning to cause planetary genocide all because his surrogate family and home were taken from him, albeit rather unjustifiably. And no, this trait does not go away even after he stops being a villain, and it's one of the main sources of friction between him and Sonic, as the latter is content to simply disable his opponents and let them walk away.
• Final Boss: Of the Hero Side Story of Sonic Adventure 2.
• Flanderization: In Sonic Adventure 2, he did partake in some minor brooding, but that wasn't a primary character trait. Much like Cloud Strife in his original appearance, he could make a joke, take a joke, and he didn't care about his hazy past; all he cared about was accomplishing his current goals by any means necessary. However, in his self-titled game, Shadow turned into a Byronic Hero who would never stop brooding and pondering about his past. However, once he learns about his past, that apparently satisfied his ponderings and relaxed into a characterization close to his original just in time for the next game, being a stoic Pragmatic Hero who used both his skills and cunning to solve problems.
• Flash Step: Capable of this even without a Chaos Emerald although he appears to be limited to teleporting short distances. This ability of his was coined in Sonic X and then adapted back into game canon by Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) where Shadow is seen teleporting in the opening cutscene and one of his unlockable moves is Chaos Snap which lets him teleport towards a nearby enemy.
• Flight: When using his air shoes, Chaos Control, or if he's Super Shadow.
• Foil: He serves as one to Sonic. Whereas Sonic is the friendly, adventure-seeking hero, Shadow is the cold, deadly serious Anti-Hero. While they may be on the same side, often their methods of taking action can lead them to clash with one another.
• Forgot About His Powers: In Sonic Heroes, he doesn't assist Super Sonic in the final battle, despite having a super form himself as the previous installment, Sonic Adventure 2, demonstrated. Justified as he had amnesia at the time, but it doesn't explain why everyone else doesn't remind him of it.
• Fragile Speedster: When balanced, he's usually some combination of this and Glass Cannon, generally offered as an alternative to Sonic. Notably in Sonic Battle, where he's very strong and very fast, but has the absolute worst healing skills of all the playable characters.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: While he's not exactly disliked by the cast,^note In fact, during the final level of expert mode of Shadow the Hedgehog, which in of itself is framed as being after the events of the game, the whole cast of characters at the time were all very supportive of Shadow his independent and arrogant attitude makes it extremely hard for him to get along with the others. It's rather noticeable that he only has two characters that he can call close friends and one other person he doesn’t act like a dick towards.
• Friendly Rivalry: Develops one with Sonic in later games. Despite his annoyance with the blue hedgehog, Shadow still acknowledges and respects Sonic as a Worthy Opponent, which Sonic finds mutual. He even stayed at Sonic's birthday party in Sonic Generations after fighting him. He also has a smaller, but still prominent one, with Omega, as the two will occasionally make mentions of challenging one another, not unlike Sonic's rivalry with Knuckles.
• Genius Bruiser: Though not at Tails's level and mostly downplayed, Shadow is also cunning, strategic and occasionally displays some degree of scientific and technological know-how.
• The Gloves Come Off: In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006); when Mephiles uses the Chaos Emeralds in his possession to create an army of clones and has Team Dark on the ropes, Shadow decides to break out the big guns and takes off his inhibitor rings. A few minutes later, Mephiles and his army have been reduced to a big puddle of ooze.
• Golden Super Mode: A different, lighter shade of gold than Sonic's, but still counts.
• Good Is Not Nice: His heart is (usually) in the right place, but his attitude could definitely use some work. His aloof and somewhat apathetic nature makes him come off as cold and uncaring towards people and his ego and violent tendencies also make it hard to get along with him.
• Good Is Not Soft: Has no compunctions against lethal force when against an evil foe. The Black Arms learned the hard way that this also means no compunctions against genocide when dealing with exceptional evil. And if the heroes get in the way of his current goals, they're as much of a target as the villains.
• Hates Small Talk: When Shadow is focused on a mission, friendly conversations or the like are out of question for him.
• Haughty "Hmph": He's a frequent user of short, haughty "Hmph!"s. It's his way of expressing how arrogant and disapproving he is towards others.
• Heartbroken Badass: Although it was familial love and he doesn't express it often, Maria's death hit him hard.
• The Heavy: In Sonic Adventure 2, while he pretends to act as The Dragon to Eggman, it's his presence that drives the plot, and he is in fact manipulating Eggman for his own purposes and on Gerald's will.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: According to his backstory, he was a face, then after a tragic incident, he became a heel. He later became a face for the ending of Sonic Adventure 2 thanks to Amy convincing him to spare Earth, which triggered memories of Maria’s real last request to him. After his revival, he was neutral before settling on being a face.
• Heroic RRoD: It's implied at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 that he was overwhelmed by the power of his Chaos Emerald-induced Super Mode, which may be part of why he lost his power and fell into Earth's orbit during the Heroic Sacrifice mentioned below. It's also implied that his inexperience with a super state, in conjunction with the emotional stress he was likely dealing with, factored into it.
  • Sonic X gives him this attribute in the Japanese original: it's shown he has to take off his inhibitor rings to take out Knuckles, but he collapses to the floor for a moment after doing so. This attribute would later be carried into the games like '06.
• Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of Sonic Adventure 2, he helps save the world from the Final Hazard, but uses up all of his power before he falls from space towards the Earth. He was initially believed to have died, but Sonic Heroes reveals that he survived, but became amnesiac as a result.
• Hero of Another Story: Since Shadow is an Aloof Ally to Sonic's group, he's often working behind the scenes in parallel to his blue counterpart.Two notable examples:
  • In Sonic Forces, he is the trigger for Infinite's Start of Darkness before the events of the main campaign.
  • In Sonic x Shadow Generations, while Sonic and his past self are trying to rescue their friends from the Time Eater, Shadow has to fight a Back from the Dead Black Doom and prevent him from taking over the world.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In his efforts to exact revenge on the people that killed his best friend during his debut, Shadow winds up concocting a far grander scheme with far more destructive consequences.
• Hidden Depths: He eats coffee beans according to The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, which is a reference to the November 2017 episode of the non-canon series Twitter Takeover. In the same visual novel, he's apparently pretty good at Super Monkey Ball, where he taught Vector and Knuckles how to play.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He's a violent, egotistical jerk whose actions border on out and out villainy on occasion, but he's always on the side of justice and he genuinely cares about others and only acts cold and distant to others because he doesn't want anyone to get close to him, so he doesn't lose them like he lost Maria.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: His initial attitude, regarding the humans as heartless due to the tragic incident on the ARK. Despite this, Shadow still put it aside to give them a chance as he promised to Maria.
• Human Weapon: More of Funny Animal weapon, but Black Doom wanted Shadow created so he could have him get the chaos emeralds, whilst G.U.N. wanted a sort of Super-Soldier according to supplementary materials.
• Iconic Item: Since his introduction, Shadow has been associated with the green Chaos Emerald, as it is the first emerald he collects in his debut. It's the first or even only Chaos Emerald he'll collect to use the bulk of his chaos powers. When Shadow was among the few Assist Trophies in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to gain a slight revamp, he was given said gem and the sole Chaos Emerald he collects in Sonic Prime is the green one.
• Identical Stranger: Related to Criminal Doppelgänger above. Even Shadow himself remarks in Sonic Heroes that Sonic could be his twin. To the audience it would be hard to mistake them having different fur color, quill shape, and even different outfits as far as boot and glove designs go. Apparently on whatever In-Universe metric to tell the anthropomorphic characters apart the two are almost identical.
• It's All My Fault: How Shadow felt in the Slightly Hero ending, when the GUN commander falsely accused him for being behind the events on the ARK.
  Shadow: "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A research experiment gone deadly wrong... I caused so much destruction... I should have never have been created... This is who I am."
• Image Song: He has more than any character in the series. Throw It All Away, All Hail Shadow, Rhythm and Balance, The Supernatural, Supporting Me, I Am (All of Me), Almost Dead, Waking Up, Chosen One, Never Turn Back, Who I Am.
• Immortal Immaturity: He's technically over 50 years old, but is physically the same age as Sonic, and behaves as such. Justified, he's been in suspended animation for most of those years, and didn't have very much time to mature as a consequence, though the question of whether he can mature is something of an open one.
• Immortality Begins at Twenty: Or at somewhere in the teens, at any rate. He generally is portrayed is being of an age to Sonic (who is 15-ish) but thanks to Gerald Robotnik's research, he is ageless and immune to disease. Despite being 50+ years old, however, he technically spent most of that time in stasis, so it's ambiguous if his body really has stopped aging.
• Ineffectual Loner: He is used to being a lone wolf, since he doesn't put a lot of value in teamwork when getting things done. It also doesn't help that he doesn't seem very fond of anyone's presence that much.
• Insufferable Genius: Tends to have low tolerance for incompetence and snarks at his allies for making rash decisions.
• Informed Ability: He tends to be fragile, despite his Immortality. Considering the nature of Gerald's research, it's more of "an absolute immunity to age and illness".
• Informed Attribute: Shadow is reported to be immune to aging, yet was kept in stasis for fifty years by GUN.
• Irony:
  • Shadow loathed GUN for killing Maria Robotnik; he now works for them after having forgiven them since they're a whole lot better now and regret their actions from 50 years ago.
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow acknowledged Sonic as the real ultimate life form after seeing him use the fake Chaos Emerald. After he lost his memory, he went back to referring to himself as the ultimate life form and viewing himself superior to Sonic.
  • He is introduced as Sonic's impostor. Since then, he's had to deal with impostors of himself on three separate occasions.
• I Was Just Passing Through: Whenever Shadow helps or saves someone, he will state that it is linked to his personal goals.
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, he saves Rouge by using Chaos Control before Prison Island explodes, and then claims that he didn't come to save her, he came for the Chaos Emeralds.
  • In Shadow the Hedgehog, after helping Sonic eliminate a number of Black Arms soldiers in Westopolis, he tells him that he didn't come to save him, although Sonic expected him to say that.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his aloof, arrogant, and violent tendencies, he's always at the front lines whenever a new threat arises and is capable of working with the heroes too when they're on the same page. He has also shown genuine care for several characters, such as his late surrogate sister, Maria, Professor Gerald, his friends/partners, Rouge and Omega, Amy (who he opened up to after making him remember his true promise to Maria, helped her find Cream in Shadow the Hedgehog, and attended her birthday party along with giving her a present in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog), and even his arch-rival Sonic.
  • This is on display quite frequently in Sonic Heroes, where he has amnesia for most of the game. Despite that, the very first thing he does upon waking up is save Rouge from getting shot by a rampaging Omega simply because he could. Despite fighting against Team Chaotix and Team Sonic and making threatening remarks, he makes no attempt to inflict fatal damage on either team. Finally, in the Final Episode, he is immediately willing to partner with the other teams to stop Metal Sonic despite having no personal investment in the conflict at this point.
• The Juggernaut: Simply put, once Shadow gets started on something, he is nigh-unstoppable. Barriers, walls, entire armies are nothing but doorstops to him. Nothing^note Besides a few individuals such as E-123 Omega according to the Bad Future in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is going to slow him down, much less stop him. Best seen in the ending to his story in 06, where after being swarmed with Mephiles clones, he removes his Power Limiter rings, grabs his teammates, and runs through them all.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He eventually becomes this after the events of Shadow the Hedgehog. Pretty much his only reason for fighting for the world is because Maria told him to before she died. This was best demonstrated in Sonic 2006 when Mephiles tries to bring Shadow over to his side by telling him that the world will turn on him one day, Shadow simply responds by saying he'll fight like he used to.
• Knight of Cerebus: Almost anything concerning Shadow is grimly serious and a harsh turn away from the jovial attitude the main protagonist embodies.
• Knight Templar: In some iterations in the franchise, he is this, and will use any means to ensure his own sense of justice is carried out, and will kill anyone to illustrate how far he will go.
• Loner-Turned-Friend: Over time, he develops a genuine friendship with his partners, Rouge and Omega.
• The Lancer: Even though he's the most recognizable of Team Dark, he functions as this to Rouge, at least in Sonic Heroes. He also functions as a more general one towards Sonic along with Knuckles, being a darker foil towards his blue counterpart.
• Large Ham: Shadow's capable of being rather boastful in combat despite his usual reticence. Mostly in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) to a lesser degree. He engages in some Ham-to-Ham Combat with Mephiles in the latter.
• The Leader: He is Team Dark's figurehead and the heart and soul of the Team. Both in destructive and precise heavy assault performance and being the cold and brutal antithesis of Team Sonic as a reminder of the latter's skill and fame. That said, he doesn't do much to coordinate their efforts or lead them around, with Rouge being the one most likely to give orders and coordinate with others. So while the other two follow his lead, he's more akin to the figurehead.
• Leitmotif: His original one is "Throw It All Away" from Sonic Adventure 2. Post-Sonic '06, it's been "All Hail Shadow", the hero ending theme of Shadow the Hedgehog, as his main theme in '06 (the Crush40 version from this game being the one that is used the most), and as his Theme Music Power-Up in Sonic Generations and his dynamic entry moment in Forces.
• Lightning Bruiser: When he's not balanced, he's usually this. He's fast enough to keep up with Sonic thanks to his Hover Shoes. And his sheer natural power and skill alone is enough to make the option of fighting him virtually suicide.
• Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: The "dark" to Sonic's light naturally. While neither of them have any powers associated with the respective element, they're both thematically tied to them. Shadow's entire motif is rooted in darkness, right down to his given and team name and being part Black Arms. While in contrast, his and Sonic's respective Super Modes are golden in color.
• Meaningful Appearance: Shadow's Tricked-Out Shoes are a subtle clue that, while he rivals Sonic, he's not quite on the same level, since while they can both reach rival speeds, Sonic doesn't rely on special technology to do so.
• Meaningful Name:
  • A Sonic Channel comic suggests that Maria thought up the name Shadow, with a meaning in mind.
    Maria: Darkness can be anywhere you go, but a shadow represents the direction in which the light is shining!
  • Other sources have suggested his name comes from the program that created him, "Project Shadow," which was named as such because of how likely it was to succeed.
• Messianic Archetype: Professor Gerald originally worked on Project Shadow to find a cure for his granddaughter's disease. Maria, whom Shadow befriended, who encouraged him to help humans. When GUN learned of Gerald's deal with Black Doom, they stormed the ARK in an attempt to shut down the project, where they ended up killing Maria and kept Shadow in stasis. Once Shadow is awakened, he enacts Gerald's revenge for Maria's death although he later goes against it when he remembers Maria's Dying Wish to protect Earth. He then seemingly dies saving the Earth, but is later revealed to have survived. In his self-titled game, Shadow goes against Black Doom who intended for him to help the Black Arms use humanity as their food source and saves Earth from them. In Sonic '06, Mephiles reveals to Shadow that humanity will turn against him, and shows trapped in stasis in the future, with the future Shadow being in a Crucified Hero Shot. Said betrayal happened due to a friend turning against him (though in Omega's case, it's implied to be against his will). In spite of that, Shadow refuses to give up on doing what's right and fights Mephiles.
• Mini-Me: Raising a Dark Run/Run Chao in Sonic Adventure 2 will make it look like a miniature Chao version of Shadow. Said Chao has been featured in many official art as well the tie-in comics.
• Misanthrope Supreme: He starts as this in Adventure 2, though it's somewhat justified as humans created him and then just sealed him away when they no longer needed him. After Amy gives him a Patrick Stewart Speech near the end he decides humans aren't so bad after all. That said, after his amnesia kicked in, his misantropy returned, calling humans "pathetic" in his titular game. It appears that even if he will keep his promise to protect the planet, he won't like humans.
• Moveset Clone: In many of his playable appearances like Adventure 2, Heroes and Forces, he plays identically to Sonic.
• My God, What Have I Done?: His feelings about his past in the Semi-Hero - Hero ending of his titular game aren't particularly happy ones.
  Shadow: I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I am a research experiment... gone deadly wrong! I've caused so much destruction... (shakes head) I should have never been created! This is who I am...
• Mysterious Past: Was first presented as being a doppelganger of Sonic with a mysterious past involving the loss of a loved one. Ironically, this is subverted at the end of his own Story Arc; more about his past has been revealed than any other character in the series, including Sonic himself!
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While he couldn't've known at the time, Shadow beating Infinite up and calling him worthless sparks Infinite giving himself the powers of the Phantom Ruby, and that leads to Sonic being defeated and Eggman taking over the world. Cue Sonic Forces. Even then, however, Infinite and his group of mercenaries were already working under Eggman anyway.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: In-Between. Usually pretty cynical, aggressive, and dark overall. Underneath it all, however, he does have a caring side to him and remains on the side of justice.
• Noble Demon: During his Anti-Villain phase. He wants to wipe out humanity to exact revenge before Maria's death, but he's still capable of showing compassion for Rouge and respect for Sonic.
• Nominal Hero: After Sonic Adventure 2 had him pull a Heel–Face Turn, he protects the world only because Maria wanted him to, or to boost his ego and superiority over others as the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow has been shown as willing to cross any line to succeed in his mission and goals, which may or may not be for the good of Earth. Most of the time, it is, but it's always about Shadow achieving his own ambitions first.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Once a misguided nemesis to Sonic, who is now his serious and bitter arch-rival.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: G.U.N. accuses Shadow for being evil and blame him for Maria's death. In reality, Shadow tried to save Maria from them, and strives to protect the planet despite their judgments and mistakes.
• Not So Above It All:
  • Although he's far more dark and serious than the other characters, he can sometimes embed the cockiness of Sonic, like when he called himself "the coolest" (at least in the English dub).
  • There are numerous times where he breaks his stoicism and banters back and forth with Sonic, usually when the two are about to go toe-to-toe.
    Sonic: Didn't you know? We have a date with Eggman too.
    Shadow: Is that so... Well then, it will be a date to die for!
    Sonic: Hey! That's my line!!
  • Despite being very distant and solitary, he does sometimes show up at events with the other heroes, such as the racing challenges, and even at Sonic's birthday party.
  • The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog not only has him compete against Knuckles and Vector for the high score on a Super Monkey Ball arcade machine, but he taught them how to play in the first place. Is Shadow possibly a fan of Super Monkey Ball?
  • Despite his Super-Speed, Shadow is frequently seen riding a Cool Bike. In the Archie comics, Rouge teases him about the G.U.N. issued bike, noting how Shadow had it custom painted and maintains it personally.
    Shadow: I really like that bike.
• Not So Stoic: He does show his vulnerable side at times, especially where he sheds a tear when being reminded by Maria in Adventure 2.
• Offscreen Villainy: He's attributed to the destruction of Infinite's Jackal Squad in Sonic Forces, but that action is never seen in the game.
• One-Man Army: Has decimated entire armies single handily. In Shadow the Hedgehog, depending on which ending a player gets, he could take out the highest members of G.U.N, Black Doom's army, and Eggman's forces, all by himself.
• Only Mostly Dead: His reappearance in Sonic Heroes confirmed he survived his apparent death in Sonic Adventure 2.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He seemingly pulls this off by intervening in a fight between Sonic and Silver, saving Sonic from a potentially fatal blow, offhandedly making sure he's okay, then fighting Silver in his place. That time, he had a very good reason besides this trope to save Sonic, as he deduced that Mephiles is intending to eliminate the past. Later on in the same game, he expresses silent remorse at Sonic's death, but once he finds out that the Chaos Emeralds can undo this, immediately takes on the toughest challenges in order to retrieve the gems.
• Out of Focus: In his heyday, he had more plot and character focus than Sonic himself. In later games, he made mainly cameo and boss appearances, up until Sonic Forces where he or rather, a copy conjured up by the Phantom Ruby is one of the main enforcers in Eggman's army, and even has his own campaign that takes place before the game starts.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:
  • His entire plan to Kill All Humans in Sonic Adventure 2 was the result of him witnessing the death of his closest friend at the hands of humanity.
  • Some of the endings of his titular game end with him executing the defenseless Black Doom or Dr. Eggman. Given that they're two of the most notorious Evil Overlords in the franchise, it's hardly unwarranted.
  • The canonical ending of Shadow the Hedgehog sees him use the Chaos Emeralds to utterly decimate Black Doom as payback for invading Earth and indirectly causing all of the tragedy in Shadow's past, as well as to remind him who the real Ultimate Life Form is.
  • In the Episode Shadow DLC for Sonic Forces, Shadow wipes out a band of mercenaries without a second thought and mocks their Smug Snake leader after deeming him Not Worth Killing. This ends up being deconstructed, as this event leads to said leader becoming something far worse.
• Perpetual Frowner: You'll only see him either frowning, indifferent, or smirking. Only in non-canon spin off games like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, can you catch him smiling if he does well at an event or Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, where he'll occasionally fist pump in excitement with a decidedly Out of Character look on his face before starting a race.
• Person of Mass Destruction: He's a walking mini-nuke with the power (depending on the number of Chaos Emeralds he has) to devastate cities and fortresses.
• Pet the Dog: As much of an aloof jerk Shadow is, he’s been shown a few times to have moments of kindness:
  • He considers Rouge and Omega to be friends of his, as much as he doesn't want to admit and has consistently shown to have their backs, going out his way to save Rouge whenever she’s in trouble even when he doesn’t personally benefit from it.
  • Even though they aren’t shown to directly interact that much, it’s been shown a few times that he has a soft spot for Amy, most likely because she reminds him of Maria. In Sonic Adventure 2, he changes his mind about destroying Earth after Amy convinces him not to, explicitly telling her he’s going to keep his promise to both Maria and her. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he takes the time to help Amy look for Cream and Cheese, even if it doesn’t help him find a Chaos Emerald. Finally, in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, he attends Amy’s birthday party and attempts to gift her tickets to one of her favorite bands.
  • While he doesn't always express it, Shadow has quite a bit of respect for his blue rival. He has stepped in to save Sonic quite a few times, stopping Silver from killing him in Sonic 06, and stopping his phantom Ruby clone from attacking him in Sonic Forces. While he didn't show up for Sonic's birthday party at first, by the end of Sonic Generations, instead of doing whatever he was doing, he decides to stick around, and even cheers Sonic on during the Final Boss beforehand. The most notable example is probably him admitting that Sonic himself might be the true Ultimate Lifeform in the climax of Sonic Adventure 2.
• Physical God: After getting all seven Chaos Emeralds he can transform into his Super form which is powerful enough to destroy the entire world.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's the same size as Sonic and can take out towering monsters and giant robots with nothing but the shoes on his feet.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • A lot of Shadow's conflict with everyone else comes from his inability to just talk with them and accept their help instead of acting like a lone wolf.
  • In Shadow the Hedgehog, he apparently never thinks to ask any of his friends about his past, even though every single one of them (except Omega) both know him well as well as found out about his past in Adventure 2. This is rather up in the air, though, as he does point out Sonic in Sonic Heroes as "that hedgehog", implying that Rouge actually did tell him about what all happened to him and he simply wishes for the memories to actually click in his mind.
• Power Incontinence: The first time he used his Super Mode, he couldn't control it very well and was gradually losing energy. He was able to hold out long enough to help Sonic put the falling Ark back into orbit before ultimately succumbing and falling towards the planet.
• Power Limiter: His Inhibitor Rings on his wrists and ankles. The rest of this article's description of his power is what he's like with them on. When he takes them off, the increase is substantial enough to allow him to thrash bosses like they were the weakest of mooks. On the other hand, he cannot control such strength and causes massive unintentional destruction with it, so he's hesitant to take them off.
• Power of the Void: As shown in Sonic Battle (Chaos Nightmare), he is capable of distorting space-time around him to damage enemies.
• Pragmatic Hero: Unlike the rest of the main cast, Shadow will Shoot the Dog as many times as he needs to if it means saving the world.
• Promoted to Playable: In Sonic Generations, Shadow was a rival boss fought for a Chaos Emerald. He becomes playable for and is included in the title of the Sonic X Shadow Generations Updated Re-release.
• Quest for Identity: His entire Story Arc from Sonic Adventure 2 to Shadow the Hedgehog.
• The Quiet One: He was never the type to talk much. Particularly in Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
• Really 700 Years Old: Much due to being an immortal. Despite appearing to be the same age as Sonic, he was created 50 years ago.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Though the "evil" part depends on the game.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Both in his default state, and when he's in super form.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Inverted when it comes to him and Sonic. Shadow has a partially red color scheme, but is reserved and collected most of the time in contrast to the blue, but very extroverted Sonic.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even if he's fighting along the side of good since Sonic Adventure 2 and aside from having amnesia after his Heroic Sacrifice, Shadow still remains stoic, deadly serious, and quite cold towards everyone around him and maintains his rivalry with Sonic.
• Replacement Flat Character: Shadow had taken the role of the stoic and deadly-serious rival from Knuckles who was becoming more of an ally to Sonic over time.
• Reverse Grip: As Lancelot in Sonic and the Black Knight, where he wields his sword in this fashion.
• The Rival: He's not the first of Sonic's rivals, or even the last, but he's by far the most recognizable. The template established by Shadow would later be used for the likes of Jet and Silver. Speaking of, he also had some bouts of this with Silver in Sonic '06 and the Rivals series.
• Rival Turned Evil: He becomes this in his own game if the player completes the last dark missions.
• Rollerblade Good: He moves using rocket skates.
• Sanity Slippage: In a few of the "evil" endings, he will go insane after learning more about what GUN put him through, either setting himself to destroy the world or conquer the universe, with an Evil Laughter to demonstrate.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He was held in suspended animation in Prison Island after GUN raided the ARK. True to form, Eggman releases him.
• Sealed Good in a Can:
  • Happens after Sonic Adventure 2, but in Sonic Heroes, Rouge releases him.
  • In the Bad Future of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), but this time no one releases Future Shadow.
• Shadow Archetype: Pun aside, Shadow is this to Sonic. He is what Sonic would be if he was less sociable and more willing to go through some extremes to get the job done.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He may not have been in a traditional war, but, as an uncaring loner who pretty clearly has untreated PTSD (as shown in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog), he otherwise fits this trope to a T.
• Ship Tease: This happens surprisingly often with Rouge in later games.
• Shock and Awe: His Chaos Blast, in which he either makes an explosion of Chaos Energy from his body ^*As seen in Sonic Battle, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Sonic and the Black Knight, or shoots out a concentrated version through his hands ^*as seen in Sonic Battle.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: He pulls this on both Black Doom and Mephiles, when they try to get him to join their respective causes.
  Black Doom: You still don't understand, do you? The future we offer is the only option for these humans.
  Shadow: I've heard enough! You're boring me to death, Black Doom! You're going down!
• Signature Move: Chaos Control. It's not exclusive to him, but he's the most proficient user, and even has several other Chaos attacks exclusive to him. Its uses include Teleportation, the ability to warp space and time (although actual time travel requires two users), and the ability to pull off a Flash Step.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Shadow is mostly of good intentions, but is not afraid to break the rules if he feels it’s neccesary. That includes stealing, lying and occasionally killing (though only when he feels someone really deserved it).
• A Sinister Clue: Shadow is often seen wielding handguns with his left hand, and some of his body language (such as the way he crosses his arms, as pointed out here) also implies that he is left-handed. It's most obvious in his own game, but not limited to it. Given that he is an Evil Counterpart to Sonic (at least, at first), his left-handedness is being used to emphasize his nature.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Only in his own game and even then, it's considerably mild in comparison to most examples. That said, he does curse with nearly every sentence he speaks.
• Smarter Than You Look: This is only really noticeable in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and it shows how dangerous Shadow can be. He is the only person in the entire game who is aware of what's really going on and seeks to put a stop to it. He even convinces Silver that he's been deceived by Mephiles. Unfortunately, Shadow's plan proves only 99% effective, as one fragment that escaped causes the Last Story.
• Smug Smiler: He sometimes smirks out of smugness or confidence.
• Smug Super: A trait he shares with Sonic, albeit in a different way. While Sonic is prone to verbally putting down his opponents and not taking them seriously, Shadow will use every ounce of his power to prove his superiority over others and mock them for even daring to face him, all without a change in expression.
• Sour Supporter: Shadow is willing to help out the other heroic characters, but don't expect him to be particularly nice about it. The other characters at least recognize that his heart is in the right place, even if he's a jerk about it.
• Spirited Competitor: Shows this with Sonic recently. It's even more apparent that even god like beings like Solaris excite him.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: A rather infamous example of this within the Sonic franchise. Due to his popularity, Shadow tends to get a lot of preferential treatment by the developers at the expense of other, more neglected members of the cast. Even within his own group, Team Dark, he tends to be the centerpiece of it, overshadowing fellow members Rouge and Omega (most prominent in games written by Shiro Maekawa). A lot of fans tend to forget that Rouge, not Shadow, is the founder and leader of Team Dark.
• The Starscream: In the Pure Dark - Hero ending of Shadow the Hedgehog, where he turns on and usurps Black Doom and plans to conquer the universe.
• Stock Shōnen Rival: Contrasting Sonic's upbeat and carefree attitude, Shadow is dour and soft-spoken and tends to prefer solitude than socializing with people. Notably, it wasn't being defeated by Sonic that triggered his Heel–Face Turn, but coming to terms with his past transgressions and learning to move forward with his life. What notably separates him from most other examples of this trope is that his original intentions were to serve the desires of someone else (Maria), as opposed to merely having a purely selfish motive.
• The Stoic: He very rarely emotes, but he does let it slip at times, which leads to times when he is Not So Stoic.
• Story-Breaker Power: He can stop time using Chaos Control, and this comes with his ability to teleport. Needless to say, he never seems to use this ability to its fullest potential. This does require a Chaos Emerald, but Shadow often has one on him anyway and can still warp short distances even without one.
• Straw Nihilist: He was this prior to his Character Development, believing humanity to be beyond redemption.
• Strong and Skilled: Shadow's fighting ability is comparable to being one of the strongest people around due to raw strength and speed alone, however, he's able to both manipulate chaos energy however he wants and tends to use it in ways that no one else can manage.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Eventually develops into this over the course of his character arc, forming a strong bond with his teammates and even mellowed down his rivalry with Sonic to an extent.
• Superhero Packing Heat: Unlike Sonic, he has no qualms using any firearms he can get his hands on.
• Superpower Lottery: Considering he was made to be the perfect weapon, this is hardly surprising.
• Super-Speed: Enough to rival Sonic's. Although unlike Sonic and is highly speculated, he relies on his Hover Shoes to propel himself at fast speeds, but considering his natural super human reflexes and coordination that precisely equals Sonic's athleticism, its safe to say he has real super speed yet a different type of propulsion in contrast to Sonic's running.
• Super-Strength: In his self-titled game, he can overturn buses and giant slabs of concrete that fell off highways with one hand, as well as punch through solid steel and concrete.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine:
  • Eggman, who Shadow duped into activating Gerald's scheme in Adventure 2, attempts to inflict this in Shadow The Hedgehog, exploiting Shadow's amnesia to trick him into thinking he is an android created by him. By the end of the respective story branches, however, it's Gone Horribly Right.
  • Infinite, whose Start of Darkness was pivoted by Shadow's handy defeat of him, also starts upon this in Sonic Forces, giving him one hell of a Mind Screw in Episode Shadow before starting upon Eggman's conquest in the main game.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Knuckles in both Sonic Rivals games. Despite working together, they bicker through and through as well as bitterly competing.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: In Shadow the Hedgehog, the commander accuses Shadow of being responsible for the murder on the ARK, and is judged to be evil by GUN and most of humanity. In the "evil" endings, after learning only the gruesome parts of his past, Shadow goes to take revenge against humanity, believing that Humans Are the Real Monsters.
• Time Master: While he's not the only character in the series capable of warping time and space with Chaos energy, he is the most proficient in its usage.
• Took a Level in Badass: When he debuted in Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow needed to use Chaos Emeralds to use Chaos Control, which was then limited to the applications of Time Stands Still and Teleport Spam. In Sonic Battle, Shadow the Hedgehog, and later games, not only do his Chaos techniques have more variety, he can use them without emeralds.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Not that he was an angel beforehand, but in Sonic Free Riders, he has no problem with helping Rouge steal the cash prize from the World Grand Prix and regarded E-10000B as Just a Machine, which is pretty different from the bond he had with Omega in Sonic the Hedgehog '06. He regains some of his more balanced characterization by Forces, where it's clear he cares for Rouge and Omega.
• Tragic Villain: In his debut, Shadow wasn't really an evil person at his core; rather, he was trying to fulfill a horribly misguided promise to avenge his closest friend, taking very little pleasure in doing so.
• Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Shadow's falling back to Earth at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 gave him amnesia, which he's shown to be suffering from throughout Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog.
• Tsundere:
  • After his return, Shadow still acts somewhat cold towards pretty much everyone, and borders on a destructive nature. Despite this, he's shown to care about others deep down, also developing a bond with his partners, Rouge and Omega.
  • Shadow and Rouge, especially Rouge trying to loosen Shadow up, playfully flirting/teasing him or get him bother by her safety. Kinda crosses over with Slap-Slap-Kiss.
  • Although Sonic is still his rival, he does respect him to a degree and always shows up to help him when he needs it the most. Lampshaded in Sonic Colors.
    Shadow: Looks like I don't need to be worried.
    Sonic: What was that?
    Tails: Were you worried if we would get hurt, trying to save the wisps?
    Shadow: Hmph!
    Sonic: I'll take that as a compliment.
• Tsurime Eyes: Compared to Sonic's style of eyes. He also has triangular markings around the outer corners of his eyes, making them appear even sharper than they actually are.
• Ultimate Life Form: Trope Namer. He is ageless and has a perfect immune system. If he's never killed by outside forces, he will live forever. And that never happens either, since he's basically able to beat anyone.
  • The Final Boss fight with the Finalhazard does have him bring up the question of whether Sonic is actually the real Ultimate Life Form which is a valid proposal considering everything he can do compared to Shadow who's manufactured and requires rocket skates to keep up with Sonic. This topic is never brought up again in later games though.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • To Maria, keeping his promise to her at all cost, even if it means protecting the humans he despises.
  • He also develops this with his Team Dark partners, Rouge and Omega.
• The Unfettered: The key difference between him and Sonic. The latter wears his heart on his sleeve and always acts on how he feels; Shadow, on the other hand, will not let his personal feelings get in the way of getting the job done.
• Universal Driver's Licence: He can pilot hang gliders, Humvees, motorcycles, and alien hovercraft. He doesn't even own any of this himself, he just finds them lying around!
• Unscrupulous Hero: Shadow does what he can to protect the Earth and his people. His intentions are good, but at the same time, he doesn't care what he has to do in order to achieve his goals, which leads to aggressive and often destructive acts. He also doesn't care what others think of it, which is what separates him from Sonic and his friends.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He is responsible for Infinite's Start of Darkness in Sonic Forces, having given him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and derided his weakness.
• Unwitting Pawn: In Shadow the Hedgehog, he this to both Doom and, to a lesser extent, Eggman.
• Villainous Friendship: Forms one with Rouge in Adventure 2. Despite denying that their connection is anything other than professional, Shadow still saves her life when he really doesn't have to, with Rouge being grateful after the fact. Upon reawakening in Heroes, Shadow's first instinct to protect Rouge from Omega's blasts, despite having no memory of her at that point.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • He and Rouge tend to snark at each other on occasion.
  • He also displays this with Sonic as evident in Shadow the Hedgehog where he is irritated of the blue hedgehog's friendly attitude and adventurous nature.
• Vocal Evolution: Kirk Thornton's take on Shadow in Generations and the Boom sub-franchise was rather deep and gruff, and almost sounded villainous (which fits the latter, as Shadow is much more evil in his Boom appearances). By the time he voices Shadow in Forces and the 2017 Twitter Takeover, he's hit a voice that's more similar to David Humphrey or Jason Griffith's take on the character, downplaying the deepness in his voice.
• The Voiceless: In Sonic Forces, the Shadow virtual constructs never talk or even vocalize a sound during the main campaign. Considering the Zavoks can do both, it makes the Shadows' lack of speech odd.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • He is a very warped example in Sonic Adventure 2. Thanks to Gerald Robotnik altering his memories, Shadow genuinely believes that Maria's final wish was for him to get revenge on humanity. As such, Shadow vows to wipe out Earth both to honor her memory and to destroy the corrupt species that ended her life.
  • Even after his Heel–Face Turn, Shadow remains an Unscrupulous Hero who is more than willing to get his hands dirty for the greater good. As recently as Sonic Forces, he's shown wiping out the Jackal Squad to keep them from assisting Eggman's plans, all without an ounce of hesitation.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Being immortal, Shadow will outlive most of the supporting cast. Curiously, it is unknown whatever happened to Shadow in the future timeline after the Cosmic Retcon. Silver does not mention him, and the two meet for the first time in Sonic Rivals.
• With Friends Like These...: He and Sonic's rivalry seemed to have become slightly more friendly over time, but he's still annoyed of the blue hedgehog's unserious attitude, and their rivalry is still rather intense and aggressive when not putting it aside.
• With Us or Against Us: He doesn't fully play with this trope, but if he feels that you're hindering him from reaching his objectives, he will assume that you're against him and will stop at nothing to attack you. He states this in his game after clearing a mission.
  Shadow: Anybody who gets in my way is my enemy.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In Sonic Adventure 2, his initial goal was to end humanity after G.U.N killed off his family, Maria and Gerald. In general, those experiences are the reason why Shadow is so isolated and reserved. And depending on which path you take in the Shadow the Hedgehog game, he can also be this. Both in the evil ending where after learning his Dark and Troubled Past, goes back to his revenge quest in his debut, or in the Slightly Hero ending where he feels so guilty about letting Black Doom use him to destroy the humans that he feels like he should never have been created.
• World's Best Warrior: Shadow is called The Ultimate Life Form by himself and many others, including Doctor Eggman, and he is considered one of the very few people that can truly challenge Sonic in terms of both speed and power.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Considers Sonic as this, and the feeling is mutual. In Sonic Adventure 2, he seemed pretty upset when it looked like Sonic died in Eggman's trap and was impressed when not only he survived, but managed to use Chaos Control with a fake Chaos Emerald. It was at this point Shadow acknowledged Sonic as his equal and how dangerous he is. From then on, Shadow seems to enjoy the occasional bouts he and Sonic have.
  • One of the endings to Shadow the Hedgehog invokes this as well. The route makes Shadow pretty much a complete hero, but if you chose to do the dark mission right before the Final Boss, you'll be fighting Sonic (and a mech powered by the GUN Commander) and he asks why Shadow is siding with the Black Arms. Shadow claims he doesn't really care about the Black Arms and just wanted a chance to fight Sonic, and winning has him boasting about being the "Ultimate Hedgehog".
  • While not as pronounced as his rivalry with Sonic, Shadow respects Omega's strength and is hinted to have sparred with him in the past to see which one of the two is stronger, fittingly they both use the title of Ultimate to describe their power.
• Would Hurt a Child: Simply put, there's no one he won't beat up. Gender or age is no deterrent. If you're the target or a hindrance to his goals, then you're just as eligible for a beatdown as the villains.
  Shadow: (After finding a Chaos Emerald in plain sight.) A Chaos Emerald? You've got to be kidding me, guys! This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me!

Rouge the Bat

Rouge the Bat

Debut: Sonic Adventure 2
Voiced by: Rumi Ochiai (Japanese); Lani Minella (English, 2001-2004), Kathleen Delaney (English, 2005-2010), Karen Strassman (English, 2010-present)^{additional VAs}Marie Lenoir (French, 2011-present), Jasmine Laurenti (Italian, 2011-present)

"I despise anyone who takes jewels from me... all the world's gems are mine to keep!"

A treasure-hunting bat in search of gemstones. She also works as a freelance government agent — paid in jewels, of course. After Eggman had released Shadow, The president of the United Federation had assigned her to infiltrate the inner circle of GUN and gather as much info on "Project Shadow" as possible. Sometime later, she came across the Master Emerald and tried to add it to her collection, but an intervention by Eggman and Knuckles thwarted her attempt. Afterward, she continued with her mission while trying to gather any Master Emerald shards before Knuckles could. After her mission was completed, she tried to make off with every set of emerald shards, but after a threat from Shadow and a final confrontation with Knuckles, she cut her losses and tried to escape before Professor Gerald's plan forced her to work with the rest of the cast to save the planet. Soon after, she gets wind of Eggman having a secret treasure and opts to loot it for herself, but only discovered an amnesic Shadow and the walking armory Omega, Rouge assumes leadership over the operation and an unlikely alliance is formed in order to get answers. Afterward, Rouge makes occasional appearances apart of Team Dark and as a freelance agent of GUN proper.

Rouge is vain, shady, manipulative, and cunning. She loves getting her way and absolutely despises people who deny her that. Despite her questionable personality and motives, she does have a conscience. While it started off as professional, she does grow to genuinely care about her comrades' well-being, and shows gratitude towards gestures of kindness. She's also willing to put aside her selfish ways when there's a big enough threat.

---

• Affably Evil: She might seem like an evil, chiropteran thief working for Eggman and Shadow in her first appearance, but she actually works for the president, which means that she was on the good side, so she's obviously not evil. She also acts polite towards her friends.
• Affirmative Action Girl: The first additional female character added to the series after Amy and debuted as The Rival to Knuckles in Sonic Adventure 2.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She has shown romantic interest in both Knuckles and Shadow. The former is a hard-headed guardian of Angel Island, and the latter is an Anti-Hero with a violent streak. Subverted with her attraction to Sonic, who’s a laidback Nice Guy.
• Almost Kiss: With Knuckles after he saves her from falling into a molten metal pit in Sonic Adventure 2. Also shares one with Shadow in Sonic Battle after letting him spend the night in her house so he could recover from a fight. She also offers Sonic a kiss in the DS version of Sonic Colors, but he politely turns her down.
• Anti-Hero: She's a spy for the government, and actively engages in world saving missions, but is greedy, vain, and expects to be paid or rewarded for things more altruistic heroes do freely. She also wants to take any gem that catches her fancy without regard for how it might affect others (ie. Trying to take the Master Emerald for herself even after being told it is the only thing that keeps Angel Island afloat).
• The Artifact: Rouge being an agent of the government and GUN tends to be referenced quite a bit, even though none of these elements had a prominent role since 2006 and humans other than Eggman haven't appeared in the games since 2008. By the time of Sonic Forces, her background is a complete mystery, though incidental dialogue in various games still indicate she's a prominent treasure hunter and thief.
• Ascended Extra: Despite spending most of her time being a supporting cast member inherently linked with Team Dark, Sonic Prime and Sonic Dream Team have positioned her as part of the main cast, with Dream Team not featuring Shadow or Omega in any capacity.
• Authority in Name Only: Played With. She's the official leader of Team Dark, but Shadow is more aggressive and stubborn in his goals, so more often than not, she follows his lead. Though she's the one most likely coordinating them as a team and giving out orders, so she does have some authority in the team.
• Badass in Distress: She is locked inside a safe on Prison Island in Sonic Adventure 2. Shadow saves her before the island explodes.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She’s the only female member of Team Dark and has a feminine personality, and she often wears crop tops, such as her two-piece outfit from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, her outfit from the Sonic Riders series and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, her race outfit and raider outfit from Sonic Rivals 2, her business tycoon outfit from Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and her beach outfit from the April page of the 2024 Calendar Comedy.
• Beauty Is Bad: She is the Ms. Fanservice of the Sonic series, and is manipulative, sassy, greedy, and full of herself, being the least nice of the four female heroes. However, she is still a kind-hearted person deep down. This trope applies most strongly in her first appearance as an antagonist in Sonic Adventure 2.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: This is the main reason that she gives Knuckles the remaining Master Emerald pieces after he saves her life in Sonic Adventure 2.
• Berserk Button: Don't come between her and jewels if you know what's good for you.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's a notorious criminal and an incredibly vain person, yet the government keeps her under their employ because she's just that good at performing spy work.
• Casting a Shadow: Her "Black Wave" Limit Break from Sonic Adventure 2 as a boss and 2P Battle Mode character.
• Characterization Marches On:
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge had a bratty streak^note Such as when she panicked and throttled Knuckles for breaking "her" Master Emerald and occasionally a haughty one, but in games released after Sonic X premiered, she's a Deadpan Femme Fatale. Notably, the latter portrayal is more in-line with her character art from Adventure 2, if not her actual in-game role.
  • When she debuted in Sonic Adventure 2, Rouge was positioned opposite Knuckles, being his Foil and Mirror Character by turns. But starting with Sonic Heroes Rouge became formally attached to Shadow and this constant connection has seen their relationship become more developed than the one she has with Knuckles.
• Classy Cat-Burglar: While she'll insist that she's a "treasure hunter", Rouge is a thief well-known for getting into just about any high-tech security system if it means stealing what she wants.
• Combat Stilettos: Equipped with metal soles on her boots that allow her to dig into the earth like Knuckles does, and also aid her in combat.
• Cool Car: Has one in Sonic Adventure 2 and it's shaped just like the Batmobile.
• Cute Little Fangs: She has subtle fangs in her mouth.
• Dark Action Girl: In her debut, she was an Enigmatic Minion with questionable agenda at best. Afterward, she's more or less working for the good guys, if only because she's often forced into it.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Downplayed. Despite using attacks of darkness like "Black Wave", she's more of an Anti-Villain than pure evil. Certainly when compared to the likes of the Black Arms or Mephiles the Dark, Rouge is a moral paragon by comparison.
• Deadpan Snarker: She never holds back her sass. She's particularly fond of riling up Knuckles with it.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She became a much more caring person after striking up a friendship with Shadow. By the time of Sonic Generations, she's the only member of her team to be on such good terms with Sonic and his friends that she was invited to his birthday party.
• Demoted to Extra: While she was the founder and leader of Team Dark when it first appeared in Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) relegated her to Shadow's supporting cast when he became The Face of the team. The next decade's mainline games generally featured her in cameo roles at most, but starting with Sonic Forces, she has assumed a more assertive role, and in some media is seen alongside the core four of Amy and Team Sonic.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Rouge started off as a Moveset Clone of Knuckles in Sonic Adventure 2, retaining all of his techniques such as gliding and digging. Upon returning in Sonic Heroes, Rouge was reworked as a Fly-type character to contrast with Knuckles' Power-typing, granting her a completely different moveset from him^note She originally was supposed to be the power type character of Team Rose, which would've kept her status as a female counterpart to Knuckles. But she was changed to team Dark instead and was changed to the flyer since Shadow and Omega wouldn't qualify. However, she was made a Moveset Clone of Tails instead, to the point of retaining all of his moves, even his dummy ring bomb attack on-foot. Later appearances such as Sonic Battle give her a completely different moveset than either of them, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) gave her her now-signature bat bombs.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Despite seemingly working for Eggman in Adventure 2, it's clear that Rouge has her own motivations beyond simply stealing the Master Emerald. As it turns out, she's an agent of G.U.N. sent to collect intel on both Eggman and Shadow; stealing emerald shards is just a nice bonus.
• Dude Magnet: Knuckles is implied to have a thing for her, and a mini-game in Sonic Generations shows that she's so sexy that even Eggman's robots fall for her.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Most of her Emerl card skills in Sonic Battle mention her receiving intensive training as an agent and even implies that it's where her boulder-shattering leg strength and most of her general abilities and skills come from. Even her Beauty Shock attack, which is her creating a wave of ultrasonic energy (which also stems from her being a bat), is stated to be a move she learned through training.
• Even Evil Has Standards: She instantly turns against Shadow at the end of Adventure 2 upon realizing that his true goal is to wipe out the planet.
• The Face: Being The Social Expert, The Tease, and The Heart, Rouge serves as someone who knows how to socialize and liven things up the way she wants.
• Femme Fatale: She's sexy, and she knows it. She often uses it as a distraction or to get what she wants.
• Flight: In most of her appearances, her wings allow her to fly.
• Foe Romance Subtext: She has plenty of Ship Tease with Knuckles, who guards the Master Emerald which she wants to steal for herself; she often flirts with him and enjoys seeing him get flustered, and he in turn seems to reluctantly enjoy her company. It's downplayed in later games after both end up Out of Focus, but still present in games such as Sonic Rivals 2 (where they pull an Enemy Mine) and Sonic Generations (where they have a friendly conversation during Sonic's party).
• Furry Reminder:
  • In Sonic Adventure 2, when Rouge first introduces herself to Shadow and Eggman on the ARK, she appears hanging upside down from the ceiling, just like real bats do when they perch. Rebel Rouge, one of her Shatterverse counterparts, does the same thing while she's sleeping in Sonic Prime.
  • Certain media like the Sonic X anime tends to give her a weakness towards loud noises.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She’s obsessed with jewels and dresses and behaves in a very ladylike manner at the surface, but her way of thinking and some of her interests are masculine.
• Guile Heroine: She's quite clever and crafty. She manages to talk her way onto Eggman's team in Sonic Adventure 2 despite spying for the president, and even gets pretty close to breaking Shadow's morale in the same game with information about Project Shadow.
• Greed: Part of what makes her a Wild Card is that she's often just interested in what benefits her, even if that means screwing over her allies in the process. She loves jewels a bit too much - she wishes that all the world's gems were hers, and doesn't have a problem with simply stealing them. She has special interest in the Master Emerald in Sonic Adventure 2, despite Knuckles warning her that it's the only thing that keeps Angel Island afloat. This gets downplayed as time goes on, mainly because she gets wrapped up in plots that take priority over her own vices.
• Hartman Hips: She is noticeably curvy on the hips, which also fits her status as Ms. Fanservice.
• The Heart: Literal hearts on her suit aside, Rouge is a very downplayed and non-traditional case. Rouge is both the one who gets Omega and Shadow to stop fighting as well as the one to band them together, even being their leader to help them be a cohesive unit. However, she's very much not this to anyone else, as while she can be nice and help out others, she's usually just focused on her self-interest rather than trying to support anyone emotionally.
• Heroic Neutral: She would prefer to be entirely left alone with her jewels, or planning heists to steal said jewels. The various forces that threaten the world often give Rouge no choice but to act, lest she lose any chance at stealing what she wants.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: She may be a thief and obsessed with jewelry, but she's far from being one of the bad guys. When push comes to shove, she will help others and do the right thing.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Whether Rouge is going to help or hinder Team Sonic relies entirely on her interest at the time. She's had times where she saves the world when bigger threats show up, but she's also had her moments where she ignores the bigger issues to do what benefits her (for example, planning to use Emerl to help her steal things) and fights Team Sonic to make sure they don't take any treasure from her.
• Hot Witch: She had a hidden costume in the battle mode of Sonic Adventure 2 where she was dressed as a witch. This witch outfit would later be incorporated in other media, such as a Sonic Channel illustration◊ and Sonic Forces Speed Battle.
• Humanoid Female Animal: Aside from her head, ears, wings, and tail, she has the most human-like body proportions in the series. She also has less fur than even other mammalian animal characters.
• Image Song: "Fly in the Freedom".
• Improbable Age: She's a high-ranking government agent at the age of 18 years old.
• Informed Attribute: Rouge is the leader of Team Dark, but because Shadow is a foil to the franchise's main character and tends to be placed front and center in the lineup, Rouge's status as leader is not so apparent (outside of Sonic Heroes, at least).
• It's All About Me: She likes to act this way, though she's smart enough to know it's not actually true.
• It Must Be Mine!: Rouge has a fascination with jewels in particular, and she gets around the fact that they don't belong to her by insisting that they already do.
  Rouge: All the world's gems are mine to keep!
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's a selfish, sassy, and vain seductress who feels that all of the world's gems are hers to keep. But she's capable of expressing gratitude when someone helps her, and shows genuine concern for her two comrades. She changes more as the series goes on, and slowly becomes more heroic.
• Jiggle Physics: In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Team made extremely liberal use of this when designing Rouge, to the point where her bust bounced pretty much constantly. It's been toned down significantly since then, but it still exists in much subdued form.
• Kick Chick: She primarily attacks with her powerful legs which are just as strong as Knuckle's fists and punches. She even has metal soles on her boots for digging, using them to drill into the ground.
• The Leader: What the manual to Sonic Heroes ''says'' she is, but in practice, Shadow is the one who tends to be front and center and acting as the figurehead. That said, she does seem to be the one with her head in the game most of the time and giving out orders. She's also the one most likely to coordinate with other heroes, such as Vector or Team Sonic.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Dark to Amy's Light Feminine.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Rouge is a criminal, but in the face of Dr. Eggman or his latest Eldritch Abomination, she comes off as small-time.
• Limited Wardrobe: Averted. Unlike most characters which basically keep the same outfit game after game, she regularly had different costumes. Her outfit from Sonic Adventure 2 is her most common one, but she also had a different spysuit in Sonic Heroes that was later the basis for her outfit in Sonic Prime and Sonic Speed Simulator.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: A downplayed example, as most of the time the "lovable" far outweighs the "alpha bitch" part, but still certainly knows how to use her looks and sex appeal to get her way.
• Lovable Rogue: She's a government agent, but she's still a thief, too.^note In this case, the title works even if you misspell it!
• Male Gaze: She intentionally poses in ways that highlight◊ her cleavage◊.
• Manipulative Bitch: Sometimes treads into this territory when jewels are involved. She tried breaking Shadow's resolve in Sonic Adventure 2 even though it didn't work, and tried stealing the Master Emerald for no reason except that she wanted it.
• The Mole: In Adventure 2.
• Moveset Clone:
  • She was more or less created to be a female counterpart to Knuckles in her first appearance in Sonic Adventure 2 (much like Shadow to Sonic) and thus, has the exact same moveset as him. Only differences are either aesthetic (Kicking instead of Punching) or for 1 upgrade Knuckles has that she doesn't (Air necklace).
  • She was initially planned to also play like Knuckles in Heroes as the power character of team Rose (with Amy and Cream still being speed and flying respectively). But she was then put on Team Dark with 2 characters who couldn't fly and thus, took on that role and became a clone of Tails as a result.
  • 'Sonic '06'' split the difference and she instead plays like Tails and Knuckles combined, having the long range bombs that Tails has, combined with the ability to glide and climb like Knuckles.
  • Her appearance in Dream Team is a much straighter and deliberate example, where she plays exactly like Knuckles; they both can glide and climb special walls the other characters (Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Cream) can't.
• Ms. Fanservice: To ludicrous degrees, what with her overtly flirty attitude, large bust, wide hips, and tight, low-cut, backless outfit. Her unlockable outfits in Sonic Adventure 2 cement this further, with at least one of them being outright fetish-wear that bumped up the game's rating when it was discovered.
• Ms. Vice Girl: Despite being heroic, no matter what side of the line she is on at the time, she wants "all the world's jewels".
• Ms. Exposition: Rouge, being the smartest and most knowledgeable person of Team Dark, tends to be the one who explains a lot of things. This is especially prominent in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), where she frequently explains the going-ons of Soleanna.
• Narcissist: Her victory quotes in Sonic Adventure 2 has her bragging about her accomplishments. She in general holds herself in very high esteem, very often bragging about her skills, looks, and intelligence.
  (getting a "B" rank) It's all too easy for me!
  (getting an "A" rank) How was that? Perfect, like me?
• New Job as the Plot Demands: A thief in some media, but is also either a treasure hunter like Knuckles or an agent of Team Dark.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Downplayed but the nice one of the three. Though she isn't the friendliest person in the world, she's the closest to nice in the group and by far the most social.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Kathleen Delaney's voice for Rouge heavily resembles Angelina Jolie.
• Non-Indicative Name: Zigzagged. Despite being named after the French word for "red" she doesn't have any red on her (unless you count pink as a kind of red). On the other hand, "rouge" is a catch-all term for makeup, which Rouge is definitely wearing.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Her design eschews the Rubber-Hose Limbs of the rest of the cast and gives her actual anatomy -- namely human-like breasts and hips.
• Not Quite Flight: In Adventure 2, Battle, and Sonic 06, her wings allow her to glide like Knuckles.
• Odd Friendship: Despite not interacting much, she gets along fairly well with Sonic despite him being Shadow's rival and her being Knuckles and Amy's rival.
• Only in It for the Money: If Rouge is on the scene, that's because there are jewels and/or gems nearby. She does her "treasure hunting" when not on government business.
• Parent Service: Her appearance and many of her quirks were built for titillation.
• Pink Means Feminine: The front of her suit is shaped like a pink heart.
• Proud Beauty: She often brags about her looks, and wears a lot of tight outfits that show off her cleavage and/or midriff.
• Punny Name: Rouge the Bat —> Baton Rouge.
• Sensual Spandex: She wears a skintight outfit and acts as the resident Ms. Fanservice.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: Her outfit has no back on it. Unlike all the other Fanservice tropes surrounding her, it's justified by the fact that she has wings.
• Shadow Archetype: To Knuckles. While he cares about his emerald because of his job as its guardian, she believes that it's her job to collect all the jewels in the world for her own personal gain. Also, though they both have a tendency to stay calm in tough situations, Knuckles is far more hot-headed, which is one of the reasons why she likes teasing him as well.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Rouge has a slender, curvaceous physique and she enjoys wearing outfits that show off her body.
• Ship Tease: She gets this a lot with both Knuckles and Shadow.
• Skewed Priorities: In any scenario she's in that involves jewelry, the jewels always come first.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Shadow and Knuckles (to a lesser extent).
• The Smart Girl: She's easily the most cunning and clever of Team Dark, and in general, her craftiness is right up there with the likes of Eggman.
• Smarter Than You Look: Said to be mistaken for a ditz due to her frivolous and flighty nature, but she's very sharp, cunning, and it's very well likely her intention.
• Smug Snake: When she thinks she's right, she'll love rubbing it in her target's face. When she confronted Shadow in Adventure 2 with information that he wasn't the "original" Shadow, she lowered her eyes and put on a knowing smirk. Too bad for her that Shadow didn't really care.
• The Social Expert: Rouge is quite smart, and knows just how to manipulate people to help her get what she wants without throwing a single punch. Granted, it doesn't always work in her favor, but her skill is there regardless. She'd also have to be this when she's considered True Companions with two arrogant, antisocial, stubborn, and generally unpleasant people like Shadow and Omega.
• Spy Catsuit: Her standard outfit, complete with Impossibly-Low Neckline. Her Sonic Heroes outfit has a Cleavage Window instead.
• Stealth Expert: One of two people in Sonic's universe that can really qualify for this. She's shown being able to frequently sneak up on people and infiltrate all sorts of areas with relative ease.
• Super-Scream: The basis of her "Shot" attack in Sonic Battle, complete with a sound clip of a vaguely bat-like screech that plays whenever she fires it.
• Team Mom: Not as much as Amy is to Team Rose, but it's still pretty apparent that Rouge treats the rest of Team Dark like this in Sonic Heroes.
  Rouge: Now you two make up so we can start looking for Eggman together! [gets Shadow and Omega to form a Team Hand-Stack with her] Aw, yeah, baby! This makes us a team!
• The Rival: Her relationship with Knuckles skirts around this. She and Amy aren't on particularly good terms either.
• The Tease: Particularly towards Knuckles, Shadow, and Sonic.
• Teen Genius: She's an expert treasure hunter and government agent despite being only 18 years old.
• Teen Superspy: Rouge is a master thief who works for the G.U.N. military force. She is also 18 years old.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Knuckles in Sonic Rivals 2.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Uses Dummy Ring Bombs in Sonic Heroes and Heart Bombs in '06 and Generations.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The diamond obsessed girly girl to Wave's inventor tomboy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: As time goes on, we see she is willing to do the right things without the rewards, putting her closer and closer to an actual heroine.
• Token Flyer: She is the "flight" member of Team Dark. Shadow needs his Tricked-Out Shoes or Super State to fly.
• Token Good Teammate: Of the Dark Side path in Adventure 2. She had no truly villainous or vengeful intentions, but she was still assisting Eggman to complete the Eclipse Cannon.
• Tragic Keepsake: When Shadow supposedly dies in the Last story of Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic gives Rouge Shadow's Inhibitor Rings.
• Undying Loyalty: In '06, she tells Shadow that even if the world turns against him, she will always be by his side.
• Ungrateful Bitch:
  • Invoked in Sonic Adventure 2, where she has an Almost Kiss with Knuckles after he saved her from falling down to the lava, only for her to reel back and start insulting him to ward off any chance of Rescue Romance. Nonetheless, she gives him back the pieces of the Master Emerald that she stole, under the premise that 'they stink like echidnas do'.
  • In spin-offs, she has a habit of manipulating people who honestly just wanted to work with her to accomplish a goal.
• Vaporwear: The top half of her outfit is backless, and it's pretty clear from that fact that she's not wearing a bra.
• Villainous Friendship: Despite secretly working behind their backs, she gets along surprisingly well with Shadow and Eggman during the events of Adventure 2. Her friendship with Shadow in particular leads to her being both shocked and overjoyed upon seeing him alive in Heroes.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Shadow post Heroes, even declaring to stand by his side no matter what in Sonic '06. Although she and Shadow tend to snark at each other on occasions.
• Vocal Dissonance: Kathleen Delaney's Rouge voice makes her sound much older than the 18-year-old Rouge is.
• Vocal Evolution: Kathleen Delaney's voice for Rouge initially starts off rather soft-spoken in Shadow the Hedgehog, though subsequent games would see her deliveries become more energetic over time.
• Weak, but Skilled: For a given measure of "weak" anyway, she's strong enough to destroy Eggman's robots with ease and her kicking is just as strong as Knuckle's punching but she lacks the raw destructive firepower or powerful; chaos abilities of Omega or Shadow. That said, she is very quick-thinking, agile and quite durable, in addition to being a talented thief that makes use of a seemingly endless barrage of ring bombs, her magical charm and deafening bat shrieks to disorientate large amounts of enemies at the same time. She knows how to quickly fly around without getting exhausted (unlike Tails or Cream) and can scale walls, swim, and dig into certain areas. Sonic Adventure 2 also establishes she's Knuckles' equal as a combatant due to her techniques having more finesse and skill to them despite being slightly weaker than him in terms of physical strength.
• When She Smiles: Look carefully in Sonic Adventure 2 after her fight with Knuckles. After he leaves, she makes not one, but two genuinely beautiful smiles that are completely different from her normal devious and seductive expressions.
  • In the same game, she genuinely throws Sonic a smile when he gives her one of his Inhibitor Rings, showing the apparent love and affection she developed with Shadow as a teammate to a friend, and how much his sacrifice meant to her.
• White Hair, Black Heart: She's not evil, but she's selfish and manipulative enough to qualify.
• Winged Humanoid: She's a Humanoid Female Animal with impossibly tiny bat wings that she can fly with.
• Younger Than They Look: Even keeping up with Rouge's greediness and obssession with jewels and treasure, her status as The Tease, Vaporwear and Team Mom makes her seem to be much older than she stated to be by canon.

E-123 Omega

E-123 Omega

Debut: Sonic Heroes
Voiced by: Taiten Kusunoki (Japanese); Jon St. John (English, 2004), Jeff Kramer (English, 2005), Maddie Blaustein (English, 2006-2008), Vic Mignogna (English, 2010-2017), Aaron LaPlante (English, 2019-present), Roger Craig Smith (English, TailsTube Episode 6)^{additional VAs}Luc Boulad (French, 2017-present), Marco Pagani (Italian, 2011-present)

"I am Omega, the ultimate E-series robot!"

The last robot in Eggman's E-series line, fittingly named "Omega". After Eggman had moved onto to building bigger and better robots, he locked Omega away in one of his bases, with the implied purpose being to contain Shadow. After Rouge unwittingly awakened him, he decides to take revenge upon his creator to prove his worth, joining Rouge and Shadow on their quest. Sometime later, he would join his two friends as apart of GUN.

Fittingly, Omega has a very robotic personality, only single-mindlessly focused on his revenge mission and nothing else. He does grow to consider Shadow and Rouge close friends though, and will always prioritize their word above anything else. Since he was designed as a battle robot, his first directive is to shoot first and ask questions never.

---

• Ambiguous Situation: For a time, it's unknown if Omega has a Flicky powering himself like Gamma and the rest of the E-series. But given that Omega is still active 200 years later in Sonic '06, it's doubtful he has anything organic in him.
• And Then What?: It's only made explicit in Shadow The Hedgehog, but after Omega achieves his revenge, he's perfectly willing to rule over a robot empire and in a couple non-canon endings, he does just this with Shadow.
• Anti-Hero: In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), seeing how he also expresses regret when it was revealed that he was the one who sealed Shadow away, and it was implied to be against his will.
• Anti-Hero Substitute: To E-102 Gamma, who was a Anti-Villain before making a Heel–Face Turn out of care for others. Omega is a Anti-Hero who's less "reformed" than "on the side that lets him defeat Eggman".
• Arch-Enemy: Considers himself Eggman's, but it's pretty one-sided on his part as Eggman barely acknowledges him as a threat.
• Arm Cannon: Two that have many weapons in them.
• Berserk Button: Anything relating to Dr. Eggman. Also, in 06, Mephiles referencing his (presumably unwilling) participation in sealing Shadow in the future.
• The Big Guy: He's considered the "Power" of Team Dark and it shows.
• Beta Test Baddie: Being abandoned by Eggman in favor of other robot models has lead him to seek and destroy them to prove he is the best.
• Blood Knight: He shows more shades of this in the Japanese version of Heroes, which is justified due to him being driven by revenge. He consistently shows an aptitude for violence and frequently voices a desire to decimate anything — and anyone — that stands between him and Dr. Eggman.
• Brutal Honesty: He's rather blunt, and doesn't care to filter out his thoughts, which makes it incredibly awkward for anyone outside of his True Companions trying to know him better, as he'll make it known he just doesn't care to share the sentiment. It also makes it that much more notable when Omega comforts Rouge when she's uncertain if Shadow's the real deal or not.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He seems to consider himself an evil force, since he taunts Eggman by claiming that Team Dark will "show him what true evil is". He sort of gets better on later games, though.
• The Comically Serious: A few remarks of his sound like this, seeing as he is, after all, a robot (this is especially present in the Japanese version). His lines during stages like Casino Park and Bingo Highway are pretty good examples.
  "Beaten by fruits. How weak they must be."
  "Calculating odds: Jackpot."
  
  Shadow: BINGO on this table.
  Omega: Just a reminder, but...
  Rouge: I know, I KNOW. But we can't work without having a bit of fun!
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Like Gamma, Omega is a member of the E-100 line of robots, has also turned against Eggman, and even somewhat shares Gamma's character design. However, Omega is a lot more violent and destructive than Gamma is, as Omega will destroy anything that gets in his way, whereas Gamma only destroyed what needed to be destroyed. Furthermore, while Gamma grew beyond his programming when he came to realize the immorality of Eggman's actions, Omega opposes Eggman out of sheer spite.
• Deadpan Snarker: This observation for when the rest of Team Dark fall off the stage arena in Heroes, and continues this attitude throughout his portrayals:
  Well, that's a load off my back.
• Demoted to Extra: By far the one who suffers from this the most among his group; Shadow is a one-man Spotlight-Stealing Squad and still gets major appearances, Rouge occasionally shows up even if its only in a minor role and has reemerged as a major character in some media, but poor Omega hardly shows up at all. For reference, after Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Omega's only appearances outside of spin offs were a cameo in the handheld version of Sonic Colors, as a character profile in Sonic Generations, and only has two scenes in Sonic Forces, one of which he was deactivated and doesn't show up again until the climax. That's eleven years.
• Determinator: One of the most stubborn and determined characters in the franchise, it doesn't matter what happens to him, he'll keep pushing forward no matter what. Case in point: after subjected to a beat down so bad by Infinite, Omega is left dysfunctional for several months, his very first action after coming back online is to try to get his revenge.
• Do-Anything Robot: He has a weapon built in for any situation.
• Dumb Muscle: A notable aversion. Despite seeming like a dumb bucket of bolts craving nothing but violence, Omega is actually decently observant and capable of being empathetic and analytical. However, he chooses to really only focus on destruction.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Despite his robotic voice, he does show a good level of this in his voice tone; more so in Japanese. Downplayed, however, as Omega isn't evil so much as very anti-heroic and a jerk.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: Omega uses a pair of Flamethrowers in Heroes for his Level 2 Three-Strike Combo, and can also use them as a technique in Sonic Chronicles. He also has a pair of Napalm Cannons that he can use in mid-air to rain explosive fireballs down on any foes below.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed, but he's only actually friends with Shadow and Rouge, to everyone else he's kind of an ass who doesn't really care about what anyone thinks beyond whether or not it lines up with his own personal goals. As such, Sonic, Tails and the like are never really sure what to say to win him over, but they at least consider him important enough to have Tails try to repair him after he's been beaten by Infinite.
• Gatling Good: Has a pair of concealed Gatling Cannons that he's very fond of using.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: He's usually on the good guys' side (even if his motives aren't that heroic), but he enjoys violence a bit too much and his dialogue can be rather disturbing at times.
• Hidden Depths: Despite all of his Killer Robot tropes, Omega is capable of empathy. When Rouge shows concern in Sonic Heroes that Shadow might not be the real Shadow, Omega states, in a roundabout way, that the real Shadow must exist which gives Rouge hope. He's also shown to be genuinely upset when told by Mephiles that he'll betray Shadow, attacking the former and telling the latter of this as soon as possible.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: There is no other explanation for all his weapons. In Heroes he even launches multiple giant drill-tipped missiles that seem larger than his entire arm, and that's after his hands retract and seemingly vanish into thin air. Downplayed in Sonic 06, where Omega's arsenal is (somewhat) more limited and he mentions having to reload with spare magazines.
• Image Song: This Machine.
• Jerkass: He can be pretty violent and Trigger-Happy, and never addresses any character by name other than Shadow, Rouge and Dr. Eggman.
• Jerkass Has a Point: No one's going dispute the fact that being created as a ridiculously powerful robot only to be sealed away for an indefinite amount of time isn't reason to lash out at Eggman and his creations.
• Jerkass to One: Inverted. He's a jerk to everyone but Rouge and Shadow.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Just like Shadow and Rouge. Much like them, Omega is on the side of good (although in some cases not for the same motives) and he genuinely cares for his teammates, even if he doesn't really show it traditionally.
• Killer Robot: On the very subtle end of the spectrum.
• Lack of Empathy: Unless he's talking to Shadow or Rouge, he could care less about anyone else.
• Large Ham: He's loud, dramatic, and violent.
• Last of His Kind: He's the final and most powerful model of the E-100 line of robots, which is fitting as Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
• Leeroy Jenkins: In Issue Three of the Sonic Forces prequel comic, Looming Shadow (and in the Episode Shadow DLC that depicts this moment), Team Dark was supposed to use stealth to infiltrate Eggman's base, but Omega decides to abandon that strategy and goes in head first and guns-blazing, much to Rouge's annoyance. This ends up biting him hard in his shiny metal ass when he encounters Infinite, who wastes no time dealing out a Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Machine Monotone: How he talks in every game, though some voice actors add a bit of "monster truck announcer" inflection on top of it.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Has missile launchers as some of his many weapons.
• Made of Iron: In addition to being one of the physically strongest heroes, he's also undoubtedly the toughest.
• Meaningful Name: Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. He is the last — and by far, the strongest — in the line of the E-100 series of robots.
• Mighty Glacier: He's very powerful, but a lot slower than most other Sonic characters. That being said, he can at least keep up with his faster teammates with his jetpacks. He was designed to keep Shadow contained after all.
• More Dakka: He's a walking arsenal who's packing more heat than the US Military can dream of.
• Motive Decay: He seems to have at least partially gotten over his grudge against Eggman for abandoning him, although it's evident he still loathes the doctor.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Mean to Rouge's Nice and Shadow's In-Between. A hulking, brutish Killer Robot who's (mostly) on the team for the sake of destruction and revenge.
• Noisy Robots: Definitely. Especially noticeable in '06.
• Nominal Hero: He only ever does anything heroic either because it involves his goal of getting revenge on Eggman for abandoning him for other robots, or because Shadow and Rouge asked him to help them out.
• Not So Above It All: A few of his lines in Heroes have him (in his monotone robot voice) reacting to stuff much like his teammates. He can also have fun with his teammates, as Team Sonic Racing (and the comics and animation based around the game) portrays him as perfectly willing to participate in the race, despite it being non-violent beyond driving cars. He's also willing to dress up for Halloween despite looking down on organics.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Considering his single-minded desire to destroy Eggman, you know it's a big deal when he formally changes targets to Metal Sonic in Sonic Heroes.
    Omega: New target acquisition! Sights locked on Metal Sonic!
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) he makes no attempt to attack Eggman, who is in the vicinity while Solaris is destroying everything.
    Omega: Our targets are the Chaos Emeralds. I will begin the search immediately.
• Only Friend: Rouge and Shadow are his True Companions and the only ones he'll really listen to and respect; everyone else however, has a far more strained relationship he doesn't much care for.
• Out of Focus: He's easily the character with the least amount of screen time or appearances in Team Dark and when he is on screen, his interactions are more often than not with Shadow or Rouge. This is partially justified however, unlike Shadow who often has connections to other characters plotwise, and Rouge who is by far the most social and willing to cooperate, Omega is antisocial when it comes to anything outside of his desires and uninterested in interacting with anyone but his friends.
• Pet the Dog: Despite his single-minded obsession with killing Eggman, he comforts Rouge at the end of their story in Heroes when she worries Shadow might be a clone or android.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: Compared to Gamma. Omega is only 4 feet and 11 inches tall, whereas Gamma was 7 feet and 1 inch. That said, he is a lot wider and heavier, tipping the scales at 1230.512kg (2712.82lb) against Gamma's leaner 825.256kg (1819.378lb) frame.
• Power Floats: As with Gamma, he too can hover, though he doesn't seem to use this ability as often.
• Pride: For a robot, Omega has a ridiculous amount of pride, outshining the likes of Shadow and Sonic; he constantly views himself as the strongest thing around and won't accept the idea that he can't beat an opponent, which risks him running into Too Dumb to Live territory when he gets in danger despite being told of risks beforehand and simply brushing it aside.
• Purple Is Powerful: Omega isn't purple himself, but he has a purple "aura" in Sonic Heroes when performing actions like jumping and is the physically-strongest member of Team Dark, capable of defeating and containing even Shadow (as seen in the Bad Future for '06).
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Downplayed; Omega is red and black and is a both a Nominal Hero who only wants revenge on Eggman and a major Jerkass to everyone except Shadow and Rouge.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: How he's first seen in Sonic Heroes, he doesn't live down the menace, much.
• Red Is Violent: His color scheme is red and he's pretty Trigger-Happy.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: By contrast with the stoic and collected Shadow, he's pretty violent and hammy.
• Revenge: He wants revenge on Eggman for abandoning him for other robots, but is willing to hold off on it if there is a significant threat that must be disposed of such as Metal Sonic or Solaris. Even when he has a clear shot at Eggman who is in the vicinity.
• Robo Speak: "Affirmative." Sonic Heroes played this mildly, with a cold monotone befitting an unfeeling robot but fairly smooth speech, 06 plays this painfully straight, with noticeable pauses between every syllable. Forces seems to have gone back to his Heroes speech pattern.
• Robot Buddy: To Shadow and Rouge. Those two are the only people that Omega would consider to be his "friends".
• Robotic Psychopath: Omega is a relatively heroic example but he still counts, having a penchant for violence.
• Satellite Character: Became one to Shadow and Rouge after Sonic Heroes - he never shows up without them and anything not related to destroying Eggman's robots is related to Team Dark somehow.
• Skewed Priorities: No matter what situation he faces, destroying Eggman and his armies always comes first. Especially shown in Shadow the Hedgehog where despite the fact there was an alien invasion happening, his only priority was Eggman. Which is jarring considering there are other times he changes targets such as in Sonic Heroes where his priority is Metal Sonic and in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) where his priority is to gather the Chaos Emeralds to defeat Solaris. Even when he has a clear shot at Eggman who is in the vicinity.
• The Slow Path: He takes a Chaos Emerald and enters standby mode for about 200+ years to help Shadow when he was trapped in the future.
• Smug Super: Omega considers himself to be the best of Eggman's creations and views every other robot created before or after him to be complete rubbish. To be fair, he's legitimately powerful and probably is one of Eggman's best. In Episode Shadow of Sonic Forces, Infinite even refers to him as "the world's most powerful robot," and treats his effortless victory over the mech as further proof of the Phantom Ruby's immense power. If there was any doubt about his power, Omega even defeated Shadow and sealed him away in the Bad Future in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
• Spectacular Spinning: His entire body rotates while his legs stay still. In Heroes, if Omega's leveled up, the third hit of his Power Combination attack involves spinning around to shoot at pretty much everything in sight (with either bullets, flamethrowers or missiles, depending on his current level). He also does this for Team Dark's Team Blast.
• Static Character: Compared to his teammates, Omega's personality doesn't really change or develop throughout his appearances, not that this is minded by his fans.
• Strength Equals Worthiness: One of his many motivations for fighting Eggman and his robot armies, and the main motivation for his destructiveness in general.
• Superior Successor: He has far more weaponry than his "brother" Gamma ever did. While Gamma only had a single lock-on blaster and a jetpack, Omega has machine guns, flamethrowers, missiles and giant claws, in addition to being far more durable as well.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Omega has been on both sides of this trope.
  • Omega mixes and matches traits from the Eggman-betraying E-102 Gamma and the extra-lethal Killer Robot E-101 Beta. And he knows it, too—get an E-rank as Team Dark in Sonic Heroes and Omega may gripe about failing to outdo either of those robots.
  • Omega failed to appear in Sonic Battle (which was developed alongside Sonic Heroes, but released just ahead of it by a month), which instead features a copy of Gamma named Chaos Gamma—Rouge notes that the newcomer reminds her of Omega.
  • Omega was also left out of Sonic Free Riders, and the "power-type robot on Team Dark" role went instead to E-10000B.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Initially with Shadow in Heroes. They get better in later games.
• Telescoping Robot: How his Arm Cannons seem to function.
• Tin Man: As a robot, he's mostly emotionless, but he is capable of understanding the emotions of others and reacting accordingly.
• Token Robot: While he's not the only robotic companion in Sonic's franchise, he's the only returning one on the side of good in the main games.
• Token Evil Teammate: Not so much evil as he is a Nominal Hero. Omega's just a violent, revenge filled person with no worries about anything other than the status of his friends and pursuit of his goals. In non-canon Shadow routes, Omega has no issues helping Shadow do morally grey actions and makes no attempt to steer him on a better path, even intending to rule an empire by his side.
• Token Good Teammate: Technically. He's the only (active) Eggman robot that's frequently working against Eggman and actively despises him, even if his motivations and methods aren't too heroic.
• Trigger-Happy: Not that he means to, but his shooting sprees do usually come out of left field.
• Turned Against Their Masters:
  • If there was one word to describe him, his relationship with Eggman, it certainly wouldn't be "loyal".
  • In Shadow the Hedgehog, Omega wants to take control of Eggman's army to create his own robot empire.
• Unexplained Recovery: In Sonic Forces, his encounter with Infinite leaves him damaged and offline, with Tails being unable to fix him despite his best efforts. After Tails' attempt to fix him, he is never seen or mentioned until the Resistance's final stand against Eggman and Infinite, where he abruptly returns in inexplicably perfect condition to get his revenge on Infinite.
• Unknown Rival: To Eggman, who never really seems to acknowledge him as a threat.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Omega seems to be this: He's got quite the powerful arsenal and he's up there with one of the physically strongest character, but his strategy tends to be More Dakka and destroying everything as fast as possible with no remote hint of finesse.
• Walking Arsenal: And how. Omega's wide arms conceal a terrifying (and frankly, insane) amount of weapons, including Gatling Guns, Flamethrowers, Napalm Cannons, Lock-On Missiles and Laser Guns of both the Wrist-Mounted and Cannon kind. Even his regular hands are razor-sharp steel claws.
• Wave-Motion Gun: Omega combines this with Spectacular Spinning during Team Dark's "Chaos Inferno" Team Blast in Heroes. He retracts his arms into massive laser cannons as Shadow uses Chaos Control to stop time, allowing him to wipe out every enemy in sight.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Shadow and Rouge treat him with more respect than they do most people, and are tolerant of his violent comments and occasional single mindedness. For the most part, Sonic and friends treat him as if he were flesh and blood (even if they can be uncertain of how to interact with him). Eggman treats him as a failed, replaceable machine.
• World's Best Warrior: He boasts about being the "Ultimate E-Series Robot" which is true in that he is far more powerful than any of his predecessors. He also claims to be the "Ultimate Robot", a claim that is not as clear cut, but is specifically cited as such by Infinite.
• Worf Had the Flu: He's easily defeated by Infinite due to both surprise attacking him and being unprepared for the power of the Phantom Ruby, which was entirely his own fault due to rushing in without thinking.
• Worthy Opponent: He considers Shadow to be the only person worthy of being his rival, and will occasionally express desire to test out which one would come on top, a sentiment Shadow shares.

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