05-07-2010, 11:53 AM
Welp, I'm back ^^ Perhaps only for the time being, I have a tendency to be a bit of a flake these days, but at least for now I'm here and ready to rejoin the game with a fresh new take on the sour old Ultimate Life Form. Enjoy ^^
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Name - Shadow the Hedgehog
Alias - The Crimson Knight
Age - 50+, though he appears roughly 17+
Sex - Male
Species - Hedgehog
Alignment - Neutral with Heroic intentions
Appearance - Shadow possesses semi-glossy black fur, with red stripes on the tops of his quills, his forearms, his lower legs, and the topmost corners of his eyes. He has large eyes with red irises. His ears are triangular, and stick up straight from his head. The insides of his ears and the area around his mouth and nose is covered with tan fur. He possesses white, furry, tufted chest hair, and six large head quills, as well as two smaller back quills and a very short tail. His quills are aligned in two rows and three columns, with the two outermost sets of quills turned upwards about halfway down their length, and the center most quills drooping down, similarly to Sonic’s. He wears white gloves, fastened with gold rings, a relatively plain brown cloth bag that hangs from a leather belt around his waist, and primarily white Air Shoes with a red fringe and a black heel. These shoes also have a number of red jets lining the bottom of each shoe. When disguised as The Crimson Knight, he changes his attire substantially. He wears a long red cloak, the same shade as his stripes, with a deep hood that hides his features entirely. He wears a relatively light silver-black breastplate, with a silver-white pattern in the center similar to the patch of chest fur directly beneath, matching gauntlets and plating over his air shoes colored similarly to the shoes beneath, and he wears a leather sword harness across his back underneath his cloak. His face is further hidden by a metal helmet fitted over his central quills, colored silver-black and red to match the color of the quills beneath, and which covers his face with a six-slotted faceplate, leaving his mouth and the beige area around it exposed. When not wearing the armor, he keeps both it and his sword in the brown bag on his belt, which is enchanted to hold a vast amount of objects.
![[Image: Sir_Lancalot___Shadow_by_Shadow_4ever_Club.png]](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/052/7/c/Sir_Lancalot___Shadow_by_Shadow_4ever_Club.png)
The Crimson Knight's armor, minus the cloak
Personality - Shadow is, for the most part, exactly how he's always been: cold, distant, and condescending. He believes wholeheartedly that he is exactly what he was created to be, the Ultimate Life Form, and he acts accordingly superior. He holds a general dislike for humans and an outright grudge against the military and indeed most government in general, showing complete disregard for laws and regulations and occasionally even direct defiance. He has a great deal of determination, and once he's set his eyes on a goal he doesn't let anything or anyone get in his way. He has a tenancy to act on whims, especially when bored, but in general he remains quiet and reserved. However, in the wake of the merging of the worlds and the destruction of the Chaos Emeralds. As a living conduit of Chaos energy, the surge of energy released with the destruction of the Emeralds had an effect on him akin to an electrical surge through a computer: it fried him, leaving some parts intact but drastically altering his mental state in unexpected and even dangerous ways, making him as unstable as the new world itself. This culminates most obviously in a sort of partial split personality disorder, one being the normal Shadow everyone knew before, the other being a twisted, unstable shadow of his normal self, a shadow that calls himself the Crimson Knight. This new mindset can manifest itself spontaneously at any time without Shadow even realizing his mind had shifted, but especially when triggered by external stimuli. In this mindset he tends to take both his promise to Maria and his grudges and hatreds to their extremes, donning the attire of a masked vigilante and protecting the innocent and defenseless from those that would do them harm, and seeking blind vengeance against all those he considered evil, fighting not to win but to kill with absolutely no mercy. Unfortunately, in this unstable state not only were those that were actually evil targeted, but almost anyone he had once been enemies with becomes the victim of his wrath as well... including and especially a certain spiky blue hedgehog and his friends and allies.
Family - Professor Gerald Robotnik (his creator) and Maria Robotnik (Gerald’s granddaughter) are the only people who ever came close to a family for Shadow.
Transport - Whatever vehicle is nearby, although he usually uses his feet to get around, to which end he wears a pair of Air Shoes, an extremely advanced system that draws in air and fires it back out through the rockets lining the bottoms of the shoes, allowing for a variety of functions. With them Shadow can walk silently on a cushion of air, go from motionless to top speed in an instant, run on water and even double jump.
Weapons - Normally, whatever's on hand; Shadow is at least proficient with most weapons and firearms. However, as the Crimson Knight he wields one weapon in particular, a wide, curved, ornate sword of unknown origin that he calls Arondight, and with which he is extremely skilled. The sword seems to possess some kind of innate Chaos energy, increasing the strength of Shadow's abilities somewhat while he wields it and providing him with a small pool of energy he can draw upon for particularly strong attacks or emergencies. Whether this energy was present in the sword before the destruction of the Emeralds is unknown.
![[Image: 120px-Arondight.png]](http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091217171232/sonic/images/thumb/3/3c/Arondight.png/120px-Arondight.png)
Arondight
Biography -
A little over 50 years ago, high up in the secret research facilities of the Space Colony ARK, an enormous scientific project was underway, under the careful supervision of Prof. Gerald Robotnik. It was dubbed “Project: Shadow” and it’s purpose was to create the Ultimate Life Form, the perfect being, and the perfect weapon. This project underwent a number of failed attempts, and finally resulted in Shadow the Hedgehog, a being that could not die of old age or sickness, possessing strength far beyond his size, and having mastery of the unique and mysterious force known as “Chaos Control”.
The project had gone quite well, until the Guardian Units of Nations, or GUN, discovered the research. Deemed a threat to all mankind, GUN troops invaded the Space Colony ARK, destroying all the research and killing all but Shadow and the Professor himself. This included Maria Robotnik, the only person in the world Shadow had come to know as a friend. As he watched her die before his very eyes, Shadow was ejected from an emergency pod and sent to the earth, with nothing but his memories, and Maria’s last words: to make the people of the world safe and happy. Upon landing, GUN immediately captured the black hedgehog and put him into stasis, a stasis that would last fifty years.
Shadow was finally freed when Dr. Ivo Robotnik, grandson of Gerald Robotnik, discovered Project: Shadow and went in search of the ultimate life form his grandfather had created. He found him in an extremely secure holding facility on Prison Island. Shadow, whose memory had been inexplicably altered, believed that Maria had wanted him to reap his revenge upon the earth for what they had done.
This led to a long adventure, which eventually resulted in Shadow bringing the Eclipse Cannon, a lethal planet-destroying laser, online by using the seven Chaos Emeralds. This activated a secret mechanism, devised by the late Professor, which caused the ARK to be sent plummeting into the earth with obliterating force. Shadow, who had apparently known of this plot, was unmoved, and merely stood watching from the bridge as the space colony plummeted down to the doom of all. However, with a little help from Amy Rose, Shadow remembered Maria’s true intentions, and he immediately left to combat the Biolizard, one of the early prototypes of Project: Shadow, and the guard of the chamber that housed the Chaos Emeralds that powered the colony’s decent. Shadow defeated it and, with the help of Sonic and Knuckles, deactivated the Emeralds.
All was not well, however, for the Biolizard, which also possessed the abilities of Chaos Control, attached itself to the Eclipse Cannon and pulled the ARK forward once more. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Shadow entered their super forms and teamed up to defeat the lizard and warp the Space Colony back into it’s safe orbit using Chaos Control, finally defeating the Professor’s evil machinations and saving the world.
Tragically, Shadow the Hedgehog plummeted to the earth, his power expended. For a time he was presumed dead by all. By the grace of good fortune however, this was not the case, as Shadow was still in his invincible super form when he fell, and so, while he left his super form on impact and fell unconscious for some time, Shadow the Hedgehog still lived.
It was not long, a scant month or so, before Shadow returned to consciousness, for the most part no worse for the wear. He took the opportunity to start anew, living a life free of heroics and saving the world, a relatively carefree life. In time he revealed himself to his new-found friends, though he kept his existence relatively secret from the general public. For some time he lived in this manner, simply enjoying life like he'd never had the chance to before, growing somewhat closer to his new friends, learning about all he'd missed out on in the fifty years he was in stasis, and even going a few (relatively) friendly rounds with Sonic. He gave up villainy and heroics both, happy with his new mostly normal life.
Sadly, this was not meant to be. When the worlds began to collide, twisting, shattering, and reforming in new ways, Shadow was caught up in all the chaos. Living alone at the time, far from civilization or any kind of help, nobody knew what became of him, but what had really happened to him was worse than anyone might have imagined. When the Emeralds were destroyed and their powers scattered and infused across the land in a tremendous burst it hit Shadow hard, twisting and bending his mind just as it did to the land itself. When it was over Shadow was completely insane for some time, lost in the wilderness, mad and alone. In time he recovered, somewhat, but the permanent damage was done: his mind had been twisted apart, leaving two distinct halves: the normal, sane half which retained his original personality for the most part, and a twisted, almost demented half, a crueler and all-around more radical and extreme version of his old self. This new side manifested itself as the Crimson Knight, a merciless vigilante out to protect the weak and innocent and destroy all that would oppose him.
Blissfully unaware of his dangerous new condition, not even realizing when he shifted from one personality to the other, Shadow sought to return to civilization and assure his friends of his safety, as nobody had seen him since before the climactic and destructive event. Partially from the influence of the Crimson Knight, he became convinced that he could not return to his old "normal" life, but had to instead once and for all take up the mantle of the hero. He sensed a strong source of Chaos energy somewhere in the mountains he had been wandering before the Chaos burst, and sought it out, finding himself a sword who's name he somehow instinctively knew: Arondight. It's origins were a mystery to him, most likely a relic of another world fallen through the seams on time and space, but as the Crimson Knight he took it up as his signature weapon, quickly discovering that he had a tremendous level of innate skill with the weapon that he'd never known he'd had. As the Crimson Knight he found a small medieval village in the mountains not far from Arondight's location and forced the local blacksmith to forge him a set of armor to his exact specifications, donning it to complete the Crimson Knight's vigilante image.*
He failed to realize that the Crimson Knight, while earnest in his desire to protect the innocent and destroy all evil, had an extremely twisted view of what was good and what was evil...
Moves -
Shadow possesses an incredible repertoire of moves, rivaling that of Sonic.
- Chaos Control
Shadow is capable of bending space and time with the potent energies of Chaos Control in order to warp short distances. Normally Shadow can warp relatively short distances, up to twenty or maybe thirty feet maximum, and cannot warp in rapid succession (once per turn, per every other turn if the warp is over ten feet). He is also incapable of warping anywhere he has not seen clearly with his own eyes recently, making warping through solid objects like walls impossible unless he has very recently had a clear view of his destination on the other side. As with all his powers his Chaos Control grows more potent with Emeralds or their shards, allowing him to warp longer distances (roughly a foot per shard, and a bonus ten feet per emerald) and more often (wait time shortens by one turn per two full Emeralds).
- Chaos Spear
Shadow is capable of focusing Chaos Energy into golden bolts, or “spears”. These appear around Shadow and remain in place for a few moments before launching at their intended target. Shadow can create a maximum of ten spears at a time without any Emerald shards, and they generally only have a paralyzing effect upon impact. Of course, with Emerald shards, he can create more (one extra per shard, bonus five per emerald), and they grow stronger with every shard, and vastly so with every completed Emerald, shifting slowly along the spectrum from a paralyzing burst to a strong concussion blast to an outright explosion (0 emeralds-3 1/2-7). It can also be noted that without any Emeralds or shards the spears fire in a straight line like rockets, but after he obtains a full Emerald they begin to home in on their targets, and their accuracy further increases exponentially with every Emerald.
- Chaos Blast
Shadow is capable of gathering the pure destructive essence of Chaos Energy into his being and releasing it in a powerful shock wave. Without any Emerald shards, this technique is relatively weak, with enough force to hurl away light opponents and knock back heavier ones within about ten feet. Obviously, the closer to the blast center an object is, the more effect the blast has. The blast grows stronger with every Emerald shard he collects, and with a complete Chaos Emerald the blast becomes much more potent, however it also consumes much more energy and leaves Shadow tired after one use. The Chaos Blast is unique among Shadow’s Chaos abilities in that the Chaos Emeralds do not have a stacked effect on it. In other words, it is weak with no Emeralds, but it is as strong with seven Emeralds as it is with one. With at least one Chaos Emerald, the blast becomes incredibly destructive, blasting back almost anything that isn’t bolted down and many things that are within a thirty foot radius of Shadow, and it still has a potent knock back at up to sixty feet. A similar effect can be created by drawing on the power of Arondight and simultaneously expending all his immediately available energy at once.
- Spinball/Spindash/Homing Attack
Shadow is capable of curling into a ball and rotating on a horizontal axis at great speeds. His quills make this ball capable of doing a good deal of damage to enemies. Shadow can spin in place to exponentially increase his rotation, thus creating a powerful speed boost upon releasing position. Shadow, like Sonic, also has the unique ability to enter a spinball state in midair, alter his direction in midair while still holding his position, and then launching himself at a target. When launched at a wall, Shadow can stand and run on the wall for a short period of time (about ten seconds).
- Super Shadow
When Shadow collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, he enters a super state in which his black fur turns a beigeish-gold, of a much lighter hue than that of Super Sonic. In this temporary state his abilities are brought above and beyond their maximum potential, and he also possesses the ability to fly. This combination makes him a force greater than most any weapon.
-Inhibitor Release
When Shadow removes both of his inhibitor bracelets, his full latent power as a living conduit of chaos energy, normally restrained and controlled, is released. His abilities become far stronger, and his power surges out of him so strongly as to create a cushioning barrier of energy, visible only as a golden glow around him. This barrier makes approaching him extremely difficult, as it forcefully repels anything that gets too close. However, because he can't restrain his power and it is constantly surging out of him, he loses power at an exponential rate, quickly becoming weak and tired. The barrier lasts for only a couple of minutes (three turns) before he has too little power left for his exuding energy to be noticeable, and it will not return until he's worn his bracelets long enough to allow his full energy to return to him (which takes days). He can still fight and use his chaos powers, even after the barrier fades, and they will be exponentially stronger, but as long as he isn't wearing the bracelets he becomes exhausted extremely fast. This is a last-ditch gambit, something Shadow will only do if he is completely outmatched and truly has no choice, as even after he puts his bracelets back on it takes some time for him to return to full strength.
-Arondight/Chaos Slash
When Shadow wields the blade Arondight under the guise of the Crimson Knight, he gains access to it's powers, allowing him to draw on its strength for a short boost in power (1 turn, once per battle), greatly reducing the tax of his techniques and increasing their power somewhat (roughly equivalent to the effect of a complete Chaos Emerald). The possession of Emerald shards increases the sword's strength as well as his own, giving it a deeper reservoir of energy so that he can call on it more often (one extra use per battle per half Emerald). Additionally Shadow can focus his energy through the sword in a manner vaguely similar to a Chaos Spear, and for about as much cost. This allows him to launch a blast of energy with a slash of his sword. Without any shards this blast is relatively unfocused, creating a fairly weak wave of power akin to a heavy punch, but with Emerald shards it grows in both strength and focus. With a completed Emerald it becomes essentially a projected slash, cutting into what it impacts and basically letting Shadow sword-fight at range. With only a single Emerald it is still not very powerful and does not cut deeply, but each Emerald gives it extra focus until eventually the strength and lethality of the slash surpasses that of the original sword.
Skills - Shadow is proficient in the operation of basic vehicles: cars, small trucks, and motorcycles. Shadow also possesses basic proficiency with almost any kind of weapon imaginable, although in general his speed, agility, and jumping ability is hindered while carrying a weapon. The exception to this is Arondight, with which he is tremendously skilled and which does not seem to have an effect on his natural physical performance. Shadow also has the ability to detect strong sources of Chaos energy, an ability that has grown even stronger in the wake of the chaos surge.
Strengths:
- Shadow is fast. Really fast. He may not be able to run quite as fast as Sonic, but his powerful skate-like Air Shoes make up for most, if not all of the difference.
- Shadow is also quite agile, and his skill with the operation of his Air Shoes allows him to pull stunts he normally couldn’t do.
- Shadow is ridiculously strong for his size. He’s no Knuckles, but he’s able to dent metal and crack stone with strong blows.
- Shadow is very skilled with his Chaos abilities, and they often give him the edge in combat.
- An expert swordsman seemingly overnight, Shadow's skill with Arondight is tremendous indeed, easily on par with the elite swordsmen of the world.
- When in the guise of the Crimson Knight, Shadow wears a set of armor. The breastplate and helmet specifically increase his physical resistance somewhat, lessening the damaging effect of direct physical attacks to those areas such as punches, kicks, sword blows, essentially almost anything directly physically damaging. It does little to lessen the knockback effect of such attacks, only the damage, and it has little effect on most other attacks, such as bullets, elemental attacks, magic, etc.
Weaknesses:
- It’s not much of a weakness, since Shadow never takes them off, but without his Air Shoes Shadow’s physical abilities are weakened.
- Although Shadow’s Chaos abilities are strong, Shadow looses much of his destructive potential without a Chaos Emerald.
- Shadow is confident to a fault, and he is easily angered when his pride has been hurt. In most cases he will keep fighting a superior enemy even after his defeat was obvious, right up until the last possible moment. This is even more the case when he's the Crimson Knight.
- While slow to anger, Shadow's anger is indeed something to behold. Unfortunately this is not much of a good thing, as his anger burns so brightly as to severely cloud his judgment and drive him to extremes he would not normally go to. This is even more a weakness with the unstable mind of the Crimson Knight, who's broken mind is far easier to enrage and for whom the effects of his anger are far more pronounced.
- Shadow’s Chaos abilities are very taxing. While very short-distance Chaos Control is fairly easy, using it in rapid succession quickly drains Shadow’s energy. Longer distances, Chaos Spears, and especially Chaos Blasts can take their toll on his stamina. This effect is somewhat lessened when in the possession of a Chaos Emerald, even more so with each Emerald, but the strain of Shadow’s abilities on his endurance never fully goes away unless Shadow is in his Super Form. As he uses his powers his other physical abilities begin to fade: his superhuman strength, speed, and agility all decline when his Chaos powers are overused, making him slower, dulling his senses and reflexes, and making him weak. When his power is almost completely consumed, such as after an Emerald-fueled Chaos Blast or after his Inhibitor Release is expended, his strength vanishes, and he finds it difficult and even somewhat painful to move at all, not to mention he can't use his powers at all until his energy has been restored to a certain degree. He's even been known to slip into a coma for long periods of time until enough of his power was naturally restored.
- The Crimson Knight is borderline insane. Therefore, in this mindset, he is more susceptible to taunting and suggestion, especially the questioning of his reasoning and motives. These things can lead him to erratic behavior and a loss of the focus and determination that make up so much of his strength and lethality in combat in both mindsets.
- While wearing his armor, Shadow loses a number of his Air Shoes special abilities: he cannot walk silently on a cushion of air, he can no longer skate over water and while his jumping ability is still very significant he falls faster, making slowing a fall with his Air Shoes nigh impossible. In the same line, while in the possession of Arondight, either in hand or in it's scabbard on his back, going into a spinball is impossible.
*Arondight and the Crimson Knight's armor, as well as his spontaneous mastery of the sword, are inspired by Shadow's weapon and armor in Sonic and the Black Knight, in which he played the role of Sir Lancelot and wielded the sacred sword Arondight.
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Name - Shadow the Hedgehog
Alias - The Crimson Knight
Age - 50+, though he appears roughly 17+
Sex - Male
Species - Hedgehog
Alignment - Neutral with Heroic intentions
Appearance - Shadow possesses semi-glossy black fur, with red stripes on the tops of his quills, his forearms, his lower legs, and the topmost corners of his eyes. He has large eyes with red irises. His ears are triangular, and stick up straight from his head. The insides of his ears and the area around his mouth and nose is covered with tan fur. He possesses white, furry, tufted chest hair, and six large head quills, as well as two smaller back quills and a very short tail. His quills are aligned in two rows and three columns, with the two outermost sets of quills turned upwards about halfway down their length, and the center most quills drooping down, similarly to Sonic’s. He wears white gloves, fastened with gold rings, a relatively plain brown cloth bag that hangs from a leather belt around his waist, and primarily white Air Shoes with a red fringe and a black heel. These shoes also have a number of red jets lining the bottom of each shoe. When disguised as The Crimson Knight, he changes his attire substantially. He wears a long red cloak, the same shade as his stripes, with a deep hood that hides his features entirely. He wears a relatively light silver-black breastplate, with a silver-white pattern in the center similar to the patch of chest fur directly beneath, matching gauntlets and plating over his air shoes colored similarly to the shoes beneath, and he wears a leather sword harness across his back underneath his cloak. His face is further hidden by a metal helmet fitted over his central quills, colored silver-black and red to match the color of the quills beneath, and which covers his face with a six-slotted faceplate, leaving his mouth and the beige area around it exposed. When not wearing the armor, he keeps both it and his sword in the brown bag on his belt, which is enchanted to hold a vast amount of objects.
The Crimson Knight's armor, minus the cloak
Personality - Shadow is, for the most part, exactly how he's always been: cold, distant, and condescending. He believes wholeheartedly that he is exactly what he was created to be, the Ultimate Life Form, and he acts accordingly superior. He holds a general dislike for humans and an outright grudge against the military and indeed most government in general, showing complete disregard for laws and regulations and occasionally even direct defiance. He has a great deal of determination, and once he's set his eyes on a goal he doesn't let anything or anyone get in his way. He has a tenancy to act on whims, especially when bored, but in general he remains quiet and reserved. However, in the wake of the merging of the worlds and the destruction of the Chaos Emeralds. As a living conduit of Chaos energy, the surge of energy released with the destruction of the Emeralds had an effect on him akin to an electrical surge through a computer: it fried him, leaving some parts intact but drastically altering his mental state in unexpected and even dangerous ways, making him as unstable as the new world itself. This culminates most obviously in a sort of partial split personality disorder, one being the normal Shadow everyone knew before, the other being a twisted, unstable shadow of his normal self, a shadow that calls himself the Crimson Knight. This new mindset can manifest itself spontaneously at any time without Shadow even realizing his mind had shifted, but especially when triggered by external stimuli. In this mindset he tends to take both his promise to Maria and his grudges and hatreds to their extremes, donning the attire of a masked vigilante and protecting the innocent and defenseless from those that would do them harm, and seeking blind vengeance against all those he considered evil, fighting not to win but to kill with absolutely no mercy. Unfortunately, in this unstable state not only were those that were actually evil targeted, but almost anyone he had once been enemies with becomes the victim of his wrath as well... including and especially a certain spiky blue hedgehog and his friends and allies.
Family - Professor Gerald Robotnik (his creator) and Maria Robotnik (Gerald’s granddaughter) are the only people who ever came close to a family for Shadow.
Transport - Whatever vehicle is nearby, although he usually uses his feet to get around, to which end he wears a pair of Air Shoes, an extremely advanced system that draws in air and fires it back out through the rockets lining the bottoms of the shoes, allowing for a variety of functions. With them Shadow can walk silently on a cushion of air, go from motionless to top speed in an instant, run on water and even double jump.
Weapons - Normally, whatever's on hand; Shadow is at least proficient with most weapons and firearms. However, as the Crimson Knight he wields one weapon in particular, a wide, curved, ornate sword of unknown origin that he calls Arondight, and with which he is extremely skilled. The sword seems to possess some kind of innate Chaos energy, increasing the strength of Shadow's abilities somewhat while he wields it and providing him with a small pool of energy he can draw upon for particularly strong attacks or emergencies. Whether this energy was present in the sword before the destruction of the Emeralds is unknown.
Arondight
Biography -
A little over 50 years ago, high up in the secret research facilities of the Space Colony ARK, an enormous scientific project was underway, under the careful supervision of Prof. Gerald Robotnik. It was dubbed “Project: Shadow” and it’s purpose was to create the Ultimate Life Form, the perfect being, and the perfect weapon. This project underwent a number of failed attempts, and finally resulted in Shadow the Hedgehog, a being that could not die of old age or sickness, possessing strength far beyond his size, and having mastery of the unique and mysterious force known as “Chaos Control”.
The project had gone quite well, until the Guardian Units of Nations, or GUN, discovered the research. Deemed a threat to all mankind, GUN troops invaded the Space Colony ARK, destroying all the research and killing all but Shadow and the Professor himself. This included Maria Robotnik, the only person in the world Shadow had come to know as a friend. As he watched her die before his very eyes, Shadow was ejected from an emergency pod and sent to the earth, with nothing but his memories, and Maria’s last words: to make the people of the world safe and happy. Upon landing, GUN immediately captured the black hedgehog and put him into stasis, a stasis that would last fifty years.
Shadow was finally freed when Dr. Ivo Robotnik, grandson of Gerald Robotnik, discovered Project: Shadow and went in search of the ultimate life form his grandfather had created. He found him in an extremely secure holding facility on Prison Island. Shadow, whose memory had been inexplicably altered, believed that Maria had wanted him to reap his revenge upon the earth for what they had done.
This led to a long adventure, which eventually resulted in Shadow bringing the Eclipse Cannon, a lethal planet-destroying laser, online by using the seven Chaos Emeralds. This activated a secret mechanism, devised by the late Professor, which caused the ARK to be sent plummeting into the earth with obliterating force. Shadow, who had apparently known of this plot, was unmoved, and merely stood watching from the bridge as the space colony plummeted down to the doom of all. However, with a little help from Amy Rose, Shadow remembered Maria’s true intentions, and he immediately left to combat the Biolizard, one of the early prototypes of Project: Shadow, and the guard of the chamber that housed the Chaos Emeralds that powered the colony’s decent. Shadow defeated it and, with the help of Sonic and Knuckles, deactivated the Emeralds.
All was not well, however, for the Biolizard, which also possessed the abilities of Chaos Control, attached itself to the Eclipse Cannon and pulled the ARK forward once more. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Shadow entered their super forms and teamed up to defeat the lizard and warp the Space Colony back into it’s safe orbit using Chaos Control, finally defeating the Professor’s evil machinations and saving the world.
Tragically, Shadow the Hedgehog plummeted to the earth, his power expended. For a time he was presumed dead by all. By the grace of good fortune however, this was not the case, as Shadow was still in his invincible super form when he fell, and so, while he left his super form on impact and fell unconscious for some time, Shadow the Hedgehog still lived.
It was not long, a scant month or so, before Shadow returned to consciousness, for the most part no worse for the wear. He took the opportunity to start anew, living a life free of heroics and saving the world, a relatively carefree life. In time he revealed himself to his new-found friends, though he kept his existence relatively secret from the general public. For some time he lived in this manner, simply enjoying life like he'd never had the chance to before, growing somewhat closer to his new friends, learning about all he'd missed out on in the fifty years he was in stasis, and even going a few (relatively) friendly rounds with Sonic. He gave up villainy and heroics both, happy with his new mostly normal life.
Sadly, this was not meant to be. When the worlds began to collide, twisting, shattering, and reforming in new ways, Shadow was caught up in all the chaos. Living alone at the time, far from civilization or any kind of help, nobody knew what became of him, but what had really happened to him was worse than anyone might have imagined. When the Emeralds were destroyed and their powers scattered and infused across the land in a tremendous burst it hit Shadow hard, twisting and bending his mind just as it did to the land itself. When it was over Shadow was completely insane for some time, lost in the wilderness, mad and alone. In time he recovered, somewhat, but the permanent damage was done: his mind had been twisted apart, leaving two distinct halves: the normal, sane half which retained his original personality for the most part, and a twisted, almost demented half, a crueler and all-around more radical and extreme version of his old self. This new side manifested itself as the Crimson Knight, a merciless vigilante out to protect the weak and innocent and destroy all that would oppose him.
Blissfully unaware of his dangerous new condition, not even realizing when he shifted from one personality to the other, Shadow sought to return to civilization and assure his friends of his safety, as nobody had seen him since before the climactic and destructive event. Partially from the influence of the Crimson Knight, he became convinced that he could not return to his old "normal" life, but had to instead once and for all take up the mantle of the hero. He sensed a strong source of Chaos energy somewhere in the mountains he had been wandering before the Chaos burst, and sought it out, finding himself a sword who's name he somehow instinctively knew: Arondight. It's origins were a mystery to him, most likely a relic of another world fallen through the seams on time and space, but as the Crimson Knight he took it up as his signature weapon, quickly discovering that he had a tremendous level of innate skill with the weapon that he'd never known he'd had. As the Crimson Knight he found a small medieval village in the mountains not far from Arondight's location and forced the local blacksmith to forge him a set of armor to his exact specifications, donning it to complete the Crimson Knight's vigilante image.*
He failed to realize that the Crimson Knight, while earnest in his desire to protect the innocent and destroy all evil, had an extremely twisted view of what was good and what was evil...
Moves -
Shadow possesses an incredible repertoire of moves, rivaling that of Sonic.
- Chaos Control
Shadow is capable of bending space and time with the potent energies of Chaos Control in order to warp short distances. Normally Shadow can warp relatively short distances, up to twenty or maybe thirty feet maximum, and cannot warp in rapid succession (once per turn, per every other turn if the warp is over ten feet). He is also incapable of warping anywhere he has not seen clearly with his own eyes recently, making warping through solid objects like walls impossible unless he has very recently had a clear view of his destination on the other side. As with all his powers his Chaos Control grows more potent with Emeralds or their shards, allowing him to warp longer distances (roughly a foot per shard, and a bonus ten feet per emerald) and more often (wait time shortens by one turn per two full Emeralds).
- Chaos Spear
Shadow is capable of focusing Chaos Energy into golden bolts, or “spears”. These appear around Shadow and remain in place for a few moments before launching at their intended target. Shadow can create a maximum of ten spears at a time without any Emerald shards, and they generally only have a paralyzing effect upon impact. Of course, with Emerald shards, he can create more (one extra per shard, bonus five per emerald), and they grow stronger with every shard, and vastly so with every completed Emerald, shifting slowly along the spectrum from a paralyzing burst to a strong concussion blast to an outright explosion (0 emeralds-3 1/2-7). It can also be noted that without any Emeralds or shards the spears fire in a straight line like rockets, but after he obtains a full Emerald they begin to home in on their targets, and their accuracy further increases exponentially with every Emerald.
- Chaos Blast
Shadow is capable of gathering the pure destructive essence of Chaos Energy into his being and releasing it in a powerful shock wave. Without any Emerald shards, this technique is relatively weak, with enough force to hurl away light opponents and knock back heavier ones within about ten feet. Obviously, the closer to the blast center an object is, the more effect the blast has. The blast grows stronger with every Emerald shard he collects, and with a complete Chaos Emerald the blast becomes much more potent, however it also consumes much more energy and leaves Shadow tired after one use. The Chaos Blast is unique among Shadow’s Chaos abilities in that the Chaos Emeralds do not have a stacked effect on it. In other words, it is weak with no Emeralds, but it is as strong with seven Emeralds as it is with one. With at least one Chaos Emerald, the blast becomes incredibly destructive, blasting back almost anything that isn’t bolted down and many things that are within a thirty foot radius of Shadow, and it still has a potent knock back at up to sixty feet. A similar effect can be created by drawing on the power of Arondight and simultaneously expending all his immediately available energy at once.
- Spinball/Spindash/Homing Attack
Shadow is capable of curling into a ball and rotating on a horizontal axis at great speeds. His quills make this ball capable of doing a good deal of damage to enemies. Shadow can spin in place to exponentially increase his rotation, thus creating a powerful speed boost upon releasing position. Shadow, like Sonic, also has the unique ability to enter a spinball state in midair, alter his direction in midair while still holding his position, and then launching himself at a target. When launched at a wall, Shadow can stand and run on the wall for a short period of time (about ten seconds).
- Super Shadow
When Shadow collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, he enters a super state in which his black fur turns a beigeish-gold, of a much lighter hue than that of Super Sonic. In this temporary state his abilities are brought above and beyond their maximum potential, and he also possesses the ability to fly. This combination makes him a force greater than most any weapon.
-Inhibitor Release
When Shadow removes both of his inhibitor bracelets, his full latent power as a living conduit of chaos energy, normally restrained and controlled, is released. His abilities become far stronger, and his power surges out of him so strongly as to create a cushioning barrier of energy, visible only as a golden glow around him. This barrier makes approaching him extremely difficult, as it forcefully repels anything that gets too close. However, because he can't restrain his power and it is constantly surging out of him, he loses power at an exponential rate, quickly becoming weak and tired. The barrier lasts for only a couple of minutes (three turns) before he has too little power left for his exuding energy to be noticeable, and it will not return until he's worn his bracelets long enough to allow his full energy to return to him (which takes days). He can still fight and use his chaos powers, even after the barrier fades, and they will be exponentially stronger, but as long as he isn't wearing the bracelets he becomes exhausted extremely fast. This is a last-ditch gambit, something Shadow will only do if he is completely outmatched and truly has no choice, as even after he puts his bracelets back on it takes some time for him to return to full strength.
-Arondight/Chaos Slash
When Shadow wields the blade Arondight under the guise of the Crimson Knight, he gains access to it's powers, allowing him to draw on its strength for a short boost in power (1 turn, once per battle), greatly reducing the tax of his techniques and increasing their power somewhat (roughly equivalent to the effect of a complete Chaos Emerald). The possession of Emerald shards increases the sword's strength as well as his own, giving it a deeper reservoir of energy so that he can call on it more often (one extra use per battle per half Emerald). Additionally Shadow can focus his energy through the sword in a manner vaguely similar to a Chaos Spear, and for about as much cost. This allows him to launch a blast of energy with a slash of his sword. Without any shards this blast is relatively unfocused, creating a fairly weak wave of power akin to a heavy punch, but with Emerald shards it grows in both strength and focus. With a completed Emerald it becomes essentially a projected slash, cutting into what it impacts and basically letting Shadow sword-fight at range. With only a single Emerald it is still not very powerful and does not cut deeply, but each Emerald gives it extra focus until eventually the strength and lethality of the slash surpasses that of the original sword.
Skills - Shadow is proficient in the operation of basic vehicles: cars, small trucks, and motorcycles. Shadow also possesses basic proficiency with almost any kind of weapon imaginable, although in general his speed, agility, and jumping ability is hindered while carrying a weapon. The exception to this is Arondight, with which he is tremendously skilled and which does not seem to have an effect on his natural physical performance. Shadow also has the ability to detect strong sources of Chaos energy, an ability that has grown even stronger in the wake of the chaos surge.
Strengths:
- Shadow is fast. Really fast. He may not be able to run quite as fast as Sonic, but his powerful skate-like Air Shoes make up for most, if not all of the difference.
- Shadow is also quite agile, and his skill with the operation of his Air Shoes allows him to pull stunts he normally couldn’t do.
- Shadow is ridiculously strong for his size. He’s no Knuckles, but he’s able to dent metal and crack stone with strong blows.
- Shadow is very skilled with his Chaos abilities, and they often give him the edge in combat.
- An expert swordsman seemingly overnight, Shadow's skill with Arondight is tremendous indeed, easily on par with the elite swordsmen of the world.
- When in the guise of the Crimson Knight, Shadow wears a set of armor. The breastplate and helmet specifically increase his physical resistance somewhat, lessening the damaging effect of direct physical attacks to those areas such as punches, kicks, sword blows, essentially almost anything directly physically damaging. It does little to lessen the knockback effect of such attacks, only the damage, and it has little effect on most other attacks, such as bullets, elemental attacks, magic, etc.
Weaknesses:
- It’s not much of a weakness, since Shadow never takes them off, but without his Air Shoes Shadow’s physical abilities are weakened.
- Although Shadow’s Chaos abilities are strong, Shadow looses much of his destructive potential without a Chaos Emerald.
- Shadow is confident to a fault, and he is easily angered when his pride has been hurt. In most cases he will keep fighting a superior enemy even after his defeat was obvious, right up until the last possible moment. This is even more the case when he's the Crimson Knight.
- While slow to anger, Shadow's anger is indeed something to behold. Unfortunately this is not much of a good thing, as his anger burns so brightly as to severely cloud his judgment and drive him to extremes he would not normally go to. This is even more a weakness with the unstable mind of the Crimson Knight, who's broken mind is far easier to enrage and for whom the effects of his anger are far more pronounced.
- Shadow’s Chaos abilities are very taxing. While very short-distance Chaos Control is fairly easy, using it in rapid succession quickly drains Shadow’s energy. Longer distances, Chaos Spears, and especially Chaos Blasts can take their toll on his stamina. This effect is somewhat lessened when in the possession of a Chaos Emerald, even more so with each Emerald, but the strain of Shadow’s abilities on his endurance never fully goes away unless Shadow is in his Super Form. As he uses his powers his other physical abilities begin to fade: his superhuman strength, speed, and agility all decline when his Chaos powers are overused, making him slower, dulling his senses and reflexes, and making him weak. When his power is almost completely consumed, such as after an Emerald-fueled Chaos Blast or after his Inhibitor Release is expended, his strength vanishes, and he finds it difficult and even somewhat painful to move at all, not to mention he can't use his powers at all until his energy has been restored to a certain degree. He's even been known to slip into a coma for long periods of time until enough of his power was naturally restored.
- The Crimson Knight is borderline insane. Therefore, in this mindset, he is more susceptible to taunting and suggestion, especially the questioning of his reasoning and motives. These things can lead him to erratic behavior and a loss of the focus and determination that make up so much of his strength and lethality in combat in both mindsets.
- While wearing his armor, Shadow loses a number of his Air Shoes special abilities: he cannot walk silently on a cushion of air, he can no longer skate over water and while his jumping ability is still very significant he falls faster, making slowing a fall with his Air Shoes nigh impossible. In the same line, while in the possession of Arondight, either in hand or in it's scabbard on his back, going into a spinball is impossible.
*Arondight and the Crimson Knight's armor, as well as his spontaneous mastery of the sword, are inspired by Shadow's weapon and armor in Sonic and the Black Knight, in which he played the role of Sir Lancelot and wielded the sacred sword Arondight.