STH - Shadow the Hedgehog - Stargazing

Appearance : ———————————————————————— Shadow has been noted to physically resemble Sonic, though his physical appearance is differentiated in several aspects. He is a black-furred anthropomorphic hedgehog with red eyes, a patch of white fur on his chest, a black nose, a tan muzzle and small and triangular ears with tan canals. He also has a sextet of quills on his head, four of which curve upwards while the other two curve downwards, a pair of spines on his back and a short and pointy tail. He has red stripes on each of his head quills, around the edges of his eyes and on his arms and legs.

For attire, Shadow wears white gloves with black cuffs and red tongues, and Air Shoes which, like his gloves, have black cuffs and red tongues. Shadow also wears Limiter Rings, one on each of his wrists and ankles. ———————————————————————— Personality : ———————————————————————— Being, in many ways, Sonic the hedgehog polar opposite, Shadow has a much more reserved and colder disposition. He usually acts with a cool indifference, rarely showing his vulnerable side. He is seldom seen with others for an extended period of time and usually distances himself from everyone whom he does not trust. He is usually blunt and rarely bluffs; if he makes a threat, he has every intention of carrying it out.

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 come 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.

Despite the fact that Shadow often fights for the greater good, he is considered an anti-hero for the most part due to his morality and ends justify the means approach to missions. He does whatever is necessary to get what he wants or feels is right, though this enthusiasm causes him to take risks and jump into situations without fully thinking them through. While not necessarily evil, Shadow's ruthless, and determined personality has sometimes entailed the dangerous purity of turning himself into an enemy of Sonic. Alongside Rouge, he has also taken prize money and jewels upon winning in the second EX World Grand Prix, and the two disregarded the opening and closing ceremonies for the event, showing up late without a third teammate and, at the end of the EX World Grand Prix, walking off right away with what turned out to be dummy versions of the prize money and gems. Regardless, Shadow does have his moments of selflessness and heroism; he nearly sacrificed his life at the end of the Space Colony ARK to save the Earth, and helped Silver uncover the truth of the Solaris Project after saving Sonic from him in an aborted timeline.

In spite of Shadow's serious and no-nonsense attitude he is occasionally willing to spend time doing leisurely activities or social events like celebrating Amy's birthday at a murder mystery party on the Mirage Express. He even got Amy a present along with participating in the murder mystery event. Shadow has also competed in a variety of racing and sports competitions, having a strong competitive spirit with Shadow himself passing even going to a celebration party in Spiral Hill Village after the Metal Virus plague when asked by Rouge.

He possesses a willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve these goals once he has set his sights on them, including using lethal force. This natural vehemence, however, tends to blind him with anger and make him prone to reckless decisions. It can also cause him to hold grudges, to the point where, if the object of his grudge is in sight, he is blinded to everything else; after being bested by Dr. Starline at the White Park Grand Chateau, Shadow decided to chase after him while ignoring not only Rouge and Tails being captured, but also an avalanche that would have injured or even killed everyone else. However, Shadow ultimately worked with Sonic to try to stop the avalanche. He also does not tend to take others into consideration, and sometimes his desire for revenge overwhelms his own sense of safety. Being an anti-social lone wolf, Shadow is generally not in favor of team-ups either; although he may occasionally cooperate with others, it is typically for his own reasons and does not guarantee that he is willing to follow orders. He also often leaves without saying goodbye or thanks.

He also does not tend to hold back against anyone, especially against those who get in his way. Additionally, he is stubborn and prideful to the point of foolhardiness and never runs away from a fight; while he and Sonic were defending Sunset City from a horde of Zombots, Sonic ran off to burn his Metal Virus infection into remission while advising Shadow to do the same should he get infected, only for Shadow, who considered running to be a coward's tactic (and believed himself to be wholly immune to the Metal Virus), to continue fighting, which sealed his fate upon being infected by the virus.