
Although Shadow is one of the series' most popular characters and was named one of the greatest video game characters by Guinness World Records in 2011, he has proven divisive among video game journalists. The idea for Shadow originated during the development of the original Sonic Adventure, with Iizuka and Maekawa ensuring he would be a subtle, " cool" character players could care about. Shadow shares many attributes with Sonic and controls similarly in games, but is distinguished by his use of vehicles and firearms. As an antihero, Shadow has good intentions but will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, putting him at odds with series protagonist Sonic the Hedgehog. After witnessing the death of his best friend Maria, Shadow vows to keep his promise but had got memories changed from Gerald Robotnik to enact his plan to destroy the world and he remembered his promise to Maria Robotnik that he would protect the world from danger. Within the Sonic franchise's fictional universe, Shadow is an artificial, anthropomorphic black hedgehog created 50 years before titular character, Sonic the Hedgehog was born, by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of series antagonist Doctor Eggman.

He also appears in Sonic film and television adaptations, comics, and merchandise.

Shadow has since featured in numerous entries in the franchise, including the spin-off Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Although this was intended to be his only appearance, Shadow proved so popular among fans that developer Sonic Team decided to include him in Sonic Heroes (2003).

Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa and first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 (2001). Shadow the Hedgehog is a character appearing in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Ryan Drummond (few lines, Sonic Adventure 2).
