Shadow

As one of the more violent characters in the series at times, Shadow's ruthlessness and aggression lead to his enemies never treating him lightly. Alongside his often dark demeanor, Shadow can be arrogant and stubborn. He usually treats others in a very callous manner, throwing in his opinion no matter how cold-hearted it is and caring little for the response. Shadow is also shown to have a sharp wit; during the Space Colony ARK incident, after being called a faker by Sonic, he replied that the latter was not worth being considered his fake.

Shadow is a rather conflicted character, often experiencing painful flashbacks and still deeply affected by his troubled past. On one occasion, during the Space Colony ARK incident, seeing police sirens triggered an intense flashback to Maria's death. Even prior to the events of the ARK raid, Shadow demonstrated some degree of self-doubt, most notably expressing frustration over how, despite being created as the Ultimate Lifeform as a means to cure various maladies, he is still unable to help his friend Maria, questioning whether he has a place on the planet. Similarly, largely because of his creation involving Black Doom, Shadow during this time showed signs of self-loathing, seeing himself as no better than any other Black Arm. Shadow was soon able to overcome this in the Black Arm and Emerl Incidents, during which he chose to move on from the past while continuing to keep Maria in his heart. Despite still being weighed by his past, Shadow has chosen to confront it, not forgetting what he has experienced, but refusing to let it hold him back or stop him from fulfilling Maria's final wish to help humanity.

Shadow originally had disdain for humanity, being a misanthrope, but rarely attacked them outright, merely looking at them as a distant observer. During the events of the Space Colony ARK incident, Shadow was planning to destroy the planet both ordered by Gerald Robotnik through brainwashing, and as revenge for the death of his only friend, Maria Robotnik. Shadow eventually moves past his hatred for humanity by remembering his promise to Maria. Later on, Shadow decided to protect humanity and those on earth to honor Maria's dying wish despite their original misgivings. Now, Shadow has moved on from the past and decided to protect humanity on his own accord. He does, however, have some lingering guilt over Maria's death, to the extent that he at least once came close to having intrusive visions of a scenario where Maria didn't die before reminding himself that chance ended a long time ago.

During the many incidents that Shadow takes part in, he pursues his foes with a relentless, unwavering determination. He will usually go to any length to accomplish something he desires or feels should be a certain way, no matter what the cost. Before the War to Take Back the Planet, it is heavily implied that Shadow ruthlessly massacred an entire mercenary band known as the Jackal Squad not only in an extremely dismissive, nonchalant manner (as he did not even remember the incident a few months later), but also seemed slightly proud, mocking the mercenary defense squad by saying they themselves needed a defense squad. He also demonstrated rather coarse language during the Black Arms incident.

Shadow possesses a strong sense of identity; after falsely being told by Rouge that he was not the Ultimate Lifeform due to a lab report, he stated to her that, even if his memories were fake, he was still Shadow the Hedgehog. These qualities make him rarely susceptible to being manipulated by others.

In Shadow's own words, he is not interested in peace, nor does he care about what happens to others. In truth, he simply does not like it when foolish people do whatever they please. While this may make it seem like Shadow stands firmly in opposition to villainy, he is actually very indiscriminate about who he faces, as he chooses to stand against anyone who he condemns for being "foolish", be they villains like Dr. Eggman or heroes like Sonic. He similarly does not want thanks for the help he provides when he does something heroic, believing that showing gratitude is a waste of time. However, the grim and uncaring disposition he puts on is not entirely accurate considering the lengths he goes to save others including even sacrificing his own life. In contrast to his words, Shadow acts in a way that ultimately protects others. Deep down, he cares about those around him, only hiding his more caring side to keep himself shielded and distant. He is still shaken by the death of Maria, which is mostly why he keeps to himself; he does not want to become close to anyone else for fear of losing them like he did Maria. Despite his apathetic nature, he does feel sympathy for others, and since reforming himself at the end of the Space Colony ARK incident, he has fought for the greater good, most noticeably to prevent letting other people experience past tragedies, specially the ones that he has been through. Due to being given a "soul" identical to Maria's, he is afraid of his power and has never used it recklessly or to cause suffering. Once, he also saw himself as a weapon since he was created as one, thus causing him to believe that he and other weapons would eventually have to be destroyed to achieve world peace.

Shadow was often depressed about the loss of Maria, which is why he keeps to himself, but his relationship with her is obvious as he goes to great lengths to protect the planet and keep her dream of peace and prosperity alive. He also maintains a strong bond with his teammates, Rouge and Omega, proving that while his attitude makes him seem like a careless person, he does have compassion, more than he otherwise lets on. Still, Shadow brushes off most kindness or sympathy that is sent his way; during the Neo Metal Sonic incident, when Rouge showed concern for Shadow when he saw a broken android of himself, suspecting Team Dark's Shadow might be an android too, Shadow curtly brushed her concern away. During the Black Arms incident, after Sonic suggested some "friendly competition", Shadow bluntly rejected his offer. At times, however, Shadow is shown to appreciate genuine care; at the climax of the Space Colony ARK incident, after Amy Rose made him remember his promise to Maria, Shadow openly decided to keep his promise to protect the planet both to Maria and her. Another instance is during the aborted Solaris incident, when Rouge told him that she would always be by his side, he acknowledged her.

Shadow has some strange tastes. He could eat normal food but enjoys the feeling of a squirming prey in his stomach. He tries to melt his prey into slop in his stomach as fast as possible, not caring about there cries and pleases. He also likes to lick his preys face and tease them about how they are gonna be nothing but slop to be absorbed. Other than that he is usually very serious when digesting something, maybe messing with them a little. He has found humans to be his favorite meal. he usually likes to sneak up on his prey.