An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
📢 SONIC FANTASY ADVENTURE: READ MY VERY FIRST SONIC FANFICTION! 📢
Summary:
When the Master Emerald—the wishing gem, symbol of Capital City—disappears from the Temple of Gaia, only an unlikely hero dares answer the call: Sonic the Hedgehog, Green Hill's most famous (and most wanted) adventurer.
But recovering the gem means facing the Illusive King, forging unlikely alliances, and discovering that some battles are fought with both speed and heart.
In a realm where demons walk the night and magic comes at a price, the real question isn't "Who will save the world?" but "Who are you willing to become to save it?"
[Third ideal chapter of the Storybook series | High Fantasy with dark elements | SLOW UPDATE]
🔹 Genre: Dark Fantasy, Adventure, Soft Horror
🔹 Themes: Self-acceptance, sacrifice, dark magic, Werehogs, vampires, Dark Fantasy Dragon Age-style
💬 PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY! 🥺
Which character intrigues you the most?
You like Sonic stories set in fantasy worlds?
Share or reblog if you're interested! Any feedback helps my fanfic reach more readers.
📚 CHAPTER INDEX (the available ones are in bold)
Intro
1. In his world
2. From Zero to Infinite
3. Skinchanger
4. We've all gotta start from somewhere...
5. Black Prince
6. Rogue Town
7. Moonlit Town
8. Patch up a broken heart
9. I can't change the things I've done
10. First days of Dark
11. Mephiles' Curse
12. Moonstrike
13. Love N Blood
14. A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
15. Eclipse in Kingdom Valley
16. Open your Heart
‼ VERY IMPORTANT ‼
If you love Storybook stories and classic fantasy, please leave a comment or a kudos on AO3. It's the fuel that helps me finish the next chapters!
🔹 Genre: Dark Fantasy, Adventure, Soft Horror
🔹 Themes: Self-acceptance, sacrifice, dark magic, Werehogs, vampires, Dark Fantasy Dragon Age-style
💬 PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY! 🥺
Share or reblog if you're interested! Any feedback helps my fanfic reach more readers.
❗❗ VERY IMPORTANT ❗❗
If you love Storybook stories and classic fantasy, please leave a comment or a kudos on AO3. It's the fuel that helps me finish the next chapters!
Welcome back to my exploration of Shadow from the SCU. In the previous Act, I outlined the character's portrayal and future potential. Specifically, I condensed his possible origins, memory issues, and Chaos abilities into one cohesive theory while still acknowledging where the films differ from the games. As mentioned last time, the fourth installment in the film series directed by Jeff Fowler will be released in spring 2027, and it's now certain that Shadow will return to the main cast in a role that's still unknown.
Furthermore, we currently know that, in addition to Sonic 4, there's a Shadow spin-off and an "event movie" in the works that we know nothing about - and today we'll focus on the former, which is easier to speculate about. Ready? Join me on this dark and terrifying journey in the second installment of my thoughtful post inspired by the (sometimes crazy, sometimes brilliant) theories of @chipmunkfanno1love!
Movie or TV show?
Before we begin theorizing about the plot, we must first put ourselves in the shoes of the creators of the SCU. As of this writing (June 2026), it consists of three feature films released in theaters and a spinoff series dedicated to Knuckles set between the second and third installments, which is exclusive to the Paramount+ streaming platform. To tell the story of an enigmatic and complex character like Shadow, dedicating a spinoff to him is a more than fitting choice, since Fowler himself admitted he would do it if the black hedgehog was successful… and indeed, the character was a hit with audiences, and his promise was kept. The Shadow spinoff will happen… yes, but what kind of spinoff?
@chipmunkfanno1love, in a post from last February, opted for the miniseries, saying she was excited to see the echidna warrior and the black hedgehog (reluctantly) team up for a common goal, supported by the considerations made in an interview with voice actors Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves. However, this path is not, in my opinion, feasible: anyone who has watched the original Knuckles miniseries in its entirety will surely have recognized the lighthearted and fun style for which the character is known, also due to the clumsiness of his human partner Wade Whipple. Shadow's stories (in the videogames, because we've only seen a minimal part of them in the films so far) fascinate us precisely because they are anything but cheerful and bright: alien invasions, evil deities, even an illusionist mercenary… not to mention his sacrifice in Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) which almost cost him his life! Plots of this scope and complexity are simply too big for a miniseries of around ten episodes with limited running time; Not to mention the fact that not all viewers have a subscription to the platform, drastically reducing the revenue from a potential success.
Nice try, girl, but the best path for Shadow is a film.
Black hearted evil or brave hearted hero
Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller, the director and one of his collaborators on SCU, were part of the team that made Shadow the Hedgehog (2005); there's no doubt about that. So, adapting the video game into a film should be relatively easy for these two veterans, right? Well… not quite.
Shadow 2005 was created along the lines of action films of the time like Underworld, Constantine, and even the Terminator saga, and represents a unique feature in the Sonic franchise: first and foremost, the ability to use weapons and drive vehicles in the stages; the pyramid-like structure of the adventure, whose progression depended on a Hero/Dark morality system that led to 10 different endings; and its distinctly underground and "dirty" end-of-the-world atmosphere. A far cry, then, from the green fields and blue skies of previous titles. On paper, it seemed like a bold game, almost a Sonic game of its kind, but low sales (for example, around 1.5 million copies for the PlayStation 2 alone), criticism from fans and the press, and equally negative reviews brought Shadow 2005 to the brink of obscurity. And then it was one of the rare cases in which a game in the franchise was unsuitable for a younger audience due to its gunplay, (green) bloodshed, and (almost) vulgar language - Shadow's infamous line, "Where's that damned fourth Chaos Emerald?", has now become a meme.
Given these bleak prospects, making a Shadow spin-off seems like a mission impossible… or not? However, we must never forget the secret to a good adaptation: capturing the spirit of the original work and closely following many of its key moments, while changing a few things here and there. We've already covered the backstory (and Shadow's possible origins) in the previous Act, but if you're reading this for the first time, let's recap what we know so far; I'll only refer to the films; the videogame counterpart will be useful later.
Shadow arrived on Earth in a meteor and became part of Project Shadow, a top-secret government experiment led by Dr. Eggman's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Upon his arrival, Shadow befriends the professor's granddaughter, Maria. However, the GUN, deeming the hedgehog a threat, invades Gerald's laboratory, causing an explosion that kills Maria. While Shadow is captured and placed in a state of suspended animation...
Until he awakens 50 years later on Prison Island, thanks to the intervention of Gerald, who yearns for revenge against humanity and is consumed by grief over his granddaughter's death. He allies himself with Dr. Eggman, and together they activate the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Earth. In his decisive duel against his newfound arch-rival, Sonic, Shadow manages to come to terms with his past and decides to help Team Sonic save the planet to honor Maria. Using the Chaos Emeralds, the two hedgehogs work together to stop the cannon, with Shadow and Dr. Eggman sacrificing themselves to destroy the weapon. However, thanks to the (brief) second post-credits scene, we discover that Shadow isn't dead and, in fact, has returned to Earth seemingly unharmed.
Another certainty is that this spin-off is slated for release in 2028, although the film is currently untitled. The fact that it will be a feature film, however, reassures us that Shadow needs a rich, detailed story, not a fragmented miniseries. And now we can start fantasizing about it…
As you can see, the day of reckoning will soon be here
Now that we've established Shadow's backstory, we need to try (hypothetically as always) to find the spin-off's starting point, that is, its chronological placement. One might think it all depends on the plot of Sonic 4, even though we only have a teaser trailer for that film and no clues about the actual story. The most plausible hypothesis is to set the spin-off either at the same time or after Sonic 4, then have the audience explain why at a certain point Shadow decides not to participate in Sonic's adventures and then returns for the final showdown; or, conversely, why he only appears from a certain point in the film onward; or even why he wanders off on his own at the end. As you can imagine, placing this film on the SCU timeline is a huge unknown due to the limited information available; but, assuming we already have a firm chronological placement, the question becomes another: what is the beginning of Shadow's solo adventure?
We've said that the easiest way is to adapt Shadow 2005, albeit modifying some passages to maintain the family-friendly tone established thus far without distorting (let alone destroying) the core of the original work. Okay, but how does the original work begin?
The opening cinematic, immediately after starting a new game (so not the spectacular intro that plays at startup), shows a pensive Shadow atop a hill overlooking a large metropolis - presumably Westopolis, the very first stage of the game. He only knows his name and the image of Maria's death, which occurred before his eyes 50 years earlier… and that's it. The adventure begins, in fact, with the black hedgehog with no memory wondering about his true identity: "Who am I… and why can't I remember anything?". Suddenly, the sky fills with blood-red clouds, and black and red monsters emerge from a hole and begin wreaking havoc on the city: the Black Arms invasion is underway. Shadow is initially uninterested, until he is approached by an alien eye projecting a hologram of the Black Arms leader. Black Doom then tasks him with finding all seven Chaos Emeralds and orders him to bring them to him "as promised." The hedgehog doesn't understand what's happening, but admits that the gems could be the key to regaining his memories of the past and his lost identity.
Reading this synopsis, we quickly understand that it wouldn't be possible to do the same thing in the videogame in the film, since Shadow probably won't suffer from amnesia after his adventure in Sonic 3. As I mentioned in the first part of this post, the hedgehog's only certain memory lapse concerns his roots ("I don’t know anything about my home"), offset by the fact that he now considers Earth his new home. A plausible and more realistic prologue scene in the spin-off, therefore, could show Shadow walking alone in an unspecified area of the planet - whether it's the area surrounding the crash site in Sonic 3's second post-credits scene, or the countryside of Green Hills if the film is set after Sonic 4. At one point, walking near a school, he spots a class of kids whose teacher asks each of them what you've probably asked yourself at least once in your life: "What do you want to be when you grow up?".
Here's a family-friendly approach to the theme of finding one's identity that Jeff Fowler would certainly adopt: children know what they want to be when they grow up, but Shadow doesn't. The SCU writers have treated the Mobians' psychology with sensitivity and care, portraying them as much more realistic and human than their videogame counterparts, thanks also to the performances of their original voice actors. For Shadow, despite being played by Keanu Reeves - an actor best known for dramatic roles (Neo from The Matrix or John Wick in his eponymous saga, to name a few) - Fowler visually depicts him not as the cold-blooded warrior we're used to in videogames, or at least not in action scenes. Instead, the director presents him as an emotional, melancholic, perhaps even lonely person, but most importantly… he's just a good guy with a heart of gold. "And you, Shadow? What do you want to be when you grow up?" the protagonist asks himself at this point, only to give a sad "I don't know" in response, despite flashbacks to the Eclipse Cannon battle that see him as a hero side-by-side with Sonic. Evening comes, and Shadow goes off to sleep somewhere (since he's currently homeless); at first, it seems like the same flashbacks with Maria we saw in Sonic 3, as does the sequence where he wakes up on Prison Island, but…
We soon realize these aren't real memories, as the hedgehog is currently dreaming. His cell on Prison Island - uncomfortably empty - begins to warp, and he suddenly feels a splitting headache as soon as he starts walking… or rather, running, as the room has transformed into a corridor stretching into darkness. The further he runs into the darkness, the more the headache hits him, and he even begins to hear whispers he can't recognize. It's an alien language, incomprehensible, until one whisper in particular stands out: a sinister voice calling him "son," and unfortunately it's not prof. Gerald Robotnik. At the end of the dark tunnel, three glowing yellow eyes light up, staring at him with interest, and the same voice commands: "Don't forget that, my son". "Forget what? Who are you?" replies the hedgehog, increasingly agitated, until a chilling laugh awakens him from the nightmare. The tunnel has disappeared, and he's sitting on his makeshift bed, but his troubles aren't over. A helicopter is coming…
Now, I don't know if Fowler will nerf a scene like this or not, but I think it's a more realistic approach than the opening cinematic of Shadow 2005. We all have nightmares, or dream memories of the past, albeit in a hazy way, but this could be considered an exception, given the director's experience as the creator of the original game's animated sequences - some of which certainly appeared distressing due to the prevalence of reds and blacks. Secondly, it wouldn't be possible to include the Chaos Emeralds as the villain's object of interest, because they'll likely be used elsewhere - as in Sonic 4. But why would Shadow, even in a dream, exhibit headaches, hear voices, and even incomprehensible whispers? A gaming veteran will surely have immediately recognized the typical "symptoms" of Reaper indoctrination from Mass Effect; so it wouldn't be surprising that the Black Arms are also capable of such features, right? After all, this alien species in the videogames was conceived as a "hive mind," meaning that each individual is connected via a psychic link to a single Alpha - in this case, Black Doom. The aforementioned "Don't forget that" also most likely refers to Shadow's original mission, the reason he was sent to Earth encapsulated in a mini-black comet 50 years ago. What could that be? The answer remains a mystery.
There's no time to waste, Shadow escapes in the dead of night from a helicopter that's evidently chasing him, still reeling from the bad dream. Depending on where the scene is set (either the area where Shadow crashed in Sonic 3 or the surrounding area of Green Hills), the chase ends in a large open space, where the helicopter is joined by men in black uniforms and familiar off-road vehicles… the GUN! A dejà vu for our hedgehog, since the scene resembles a similar one in Tokyo in Sonic 3! However, if at that point the soldiers seemed intent on capturing him, here we get the impression they're trying to negotiate with him, judging by the helicopter pilot's voice. Rather than appearing intimidated, Shadow is initially hostile, admitting that this is just a trick by the GUN to take him back to Prison Island or even kill him. At this point, despite understanding the hedgehog's indifference toward them, the soldiers opt for a more violent approach until another voice stops them from opening fire…
Talking about GUN now is very important to understanding this plot point, because the organization is currently facing a leadership vacuum. Knowing that Commander Walters died in Sonic 3 following Gerald's drone attack on Tokyo's Chao Garden, what will happen to Director Rockwell? Will she take his place, or is Walters' death merely a prelude to the introduction of the much more famous Commander Abraham Tower into the SCU? In the video games, he is the highest-ranking GUN officer, known for his iron will and heart of stone: first and foremost, he was Maria's childhood friend, as well as having witnessed Shadow's "birth." His resentment toward him stems from his belief that he was the cause of not only Maria's but also his family's death. The only problem is that there doesn't seem to be any character within the SCU that hints at Tower's future arrival: for example, in the Sonic 3 flashbacks featuring Maria and Shadow, we don't see any other kids in the GUN base, aside from Gerald's granddaughter. For now, let's just assume that leadership of the organization has passed to Director Rockwell and move forward with our theories.
This is exactly what it seems in fan stories, particularly in Shadow the Hedgehog: The Movie by UniverseV02, from Archive on Our Own. Here, Rockwell herself leads GUN, whose first appearance features the capture of Shadow and the subsequent intervention of Agent Stone in an attempt to save him. While it would be interesting to see Dr. Eggman's former rat reunite with Shadow in his spin-off - in Sonic 3, he practically babysat him for a while - his role would be much more central in Sonic 4 (perhaps as Eggman's replacement or even to aid his return from the dead), so it's not possible to have him appear here. This leaves our black hedgehog completely alone on his adventure, and he'll need some worthy supporting actors for this special occasion.
More than Meets the Eye
As we were saying, Rockwell stops the soldiers about to shoot Shadow, and he is surprised by the gesture, given the hedgehog's history with GUN. The reason she doesn't want to capture him is because he could likely represent humanity's only hope of avoiding a global catastrophe we, the audience, know nothing about… right? Actually, no, since director Jeff Fowler will move the entire sequence we've speculated about so far after the film's title screen. The introductory sequence, in fact, tells us a different story, perhaps a nod to the TRANSFORMERS 2007 film's intro.
After the usual animation of the Paramount logo with the Ring crown replacing the typical crown of stars, the first protagonists to appear on screen are, indeed, the GUN soldiers. They're crossing the Grand Canyon in a helicopter because radar has picked up strange activity nearby. The men go ashore to scout, their nerves on edge as the temperature drops with the onset of night. Meanwhile, in the darkest corners of the area, shadowy presences observe the soldiers' movements. After about an hour of quiet, however, panic quickly takes over when a soldier suddenly disappears screaming into the arms of a strange, black and red, yellow-eyed monstrous creature; the same pattern repeats itself for two more unfortunate souls, and finally, a battle erupts between humans and monsters. Due to the target audience dictated by Jeff Fowler and his team, there's no blood, but in a scene like this (worthy of Alien or Predator), it certainly wouldn't have looked out of place. Amidst this chaos, unseen, a Ring-portal opens, and a tiny figure takes cover, awaiting who knows what. Meanwhile, the battle seems to be going against the GUN, until the monsters are suddenly incinerated by the launch of a strange round grenade with a heart drawn on it, much to everyone's dismay. "Who threw that grenade?" the expedition leader shouts reproachfully. A sweet little voice replies: "Me, sweetheart". The soldiers' reaction leads them to aim their rifles at the intruder, who is… a bat girl?!?
That's right: this is how Rouge the Bat will appear in the SCU, at least in my opinion. I know @chipmunkfanno1love has completely different plans for her (describe her as an "old flame" of Knuckles'? A love triangle between her, the echidna and Shadow?), but I think the best solution would be to have her enter the scene independently, without any direct connection to Sonic and his friends. As everyone knows, Rouge is conceived as a femme fatale and jewel thief whose morality has always been deliberately ambiguous - in other words, she's neither good nor bad, a bit like Shadow. If you'd like to find out how I think Rouge will be portrayed in the SCU, let me know in the comments, and I'll write a dedicated post. For now, let's continue talking about the Shadow spin-off.
Canonically, in the Sonic franchise, Rouge debuts alongside the black hedgehog in Sonic Adventure 2, as antagonists to Knuckles and Sonic, respectively. At first, their alliance is merely a convenient one, given their shared goal of collecting the Chaos Emeralds to power the Eclipse Cannon. Over time, however, it seems the bat thief has grown fond of Shadow, because it's to her that Sonic gives one of his Inhibitor Rings at the end of the game, hinting at his sad demise in space. In the (hypothetical) plot of the spin-off, the alliance between the two takes place not at Dr. Eggman's house but in a room in the GUN base: Shadow arrives here not as a prisoner but as a "guest"… quite stubborn, for reasons we now know. For this reason, Rockwell requests Rouge's presence as an intermediary, hoping that dialogue with someone of his own kind might convince him to understand the gravity of the situation: an imminent alien invasion.
According to laboratory tests, the samples taken after the ambush at the Grand Canyon don't match any known animal DNA, nor are they of Mobian origin; they're aliens, from a race unknown to humans. If it's true that there will be an invasion, it's likely that the small group that attacked the soldiers is merely a reconnaissance platoon searching for something. Knowing that Shadow is a kind of living weapon, Rockwell sees this as a unique opportunity to use him in war against these creatures; however, her tone of voice suggests she wants to forget their mutual resentments - after all, in Sonic 3, the hedgehog saved the world from Gerald's crazy plans. He's confused by GUN's suddenly friendly attitude, but perhaps he needs to admit that people can change, even after staring death in the face. And who knows, maybe he could find an answer to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" heard at the beginning, if he accepts the offer.
I know everyone would like to wish the worst on Rockwell, given her dubious morals, but I think Jeff Fowler is as much a fan of second chances as I am. Director Rockwell is one of those second chances: perhaps, after Sonic 3, she becomes a sort of Nick Fury of the MCU, and GUN has now become the equivalent of SHIELD in the SCU. Or maybe I'm the only one in the fandom who doesn't dislike her… 🤔
This Machine
I mentioned the Grand Canyon for a reason, since it was the only thing that came to mind if Jeff Fowler were to/wanted to convert the Glyphic Canyon stage from Shadow 2005 into a real location on Earth for his Shadow spinoff. But perhaps using that video game alone would be complex, also because technically the plot is constructed by the player based on the choices made throughout the adventure. The solution would be to take inspiration from other games in the franchise, and there's already the precedent of Sonic 2, in which the director adapted the plots of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (1994) into a single film. Sonic 4 could follow the same fate, thus becoming a hybrid between Sonic CD (1993) and Sonic Heroes (2004), but as I said, we don't have any information on the plot at the moment.
So, following the same reasoning, the Shadow spin-off does indeed borrow plot-wise from the 2005 videogame… but also from Sonic Heroes. Why? Remember when I said our black hedgehog would need allies worthy of his abilities for his mission? Typically, in video games, when Shadow works as a team, he often does so with Rouge but also with a third character who we might call the company's heavyweight, and this character makes his debut in Sonic Heroes. By now you've understood that I'm talking about E-123 Omega, the latest warrior robot from the E-100 series designed by Dr. Eggman, and together with Shadow and Rouge, he forms Team Dark's trio of lambs in wolf clothing.
In Shadow the Hedgehog: The Movie by UniverseV02, from AO3, there is indeed the character of Omega, but he is introduced as an Eggman combat robot seized and reprogrammed by GUN and does not have a well-defined personality (the work has been incomplete since September 2025). Instead, in our hypothetical spin-off, I will imply that I want to keep the spirit of the original counterpart almost intact, but there is a problem: in the Sonic franchise, 5 years pass between the debut of the first models, including E-102 Gamma, in Sonic Adventure (1999), and the last one represented by Omega in Sonic Heroes; does this mean that in the spin-off it is not possible to summarize the entire history of the E-100s in a single sequence of a few minutes? @chipmunkfanno1love already answered this question in her post dated May 2025 about the possible roles of the individual members of Team Dark in the SCU.
Whatever Fowler chooses, adapting Omega for the big screen is a much more delicate undertaking, almost as delicate as the plot of Shadow 2005, and would require a very lengthy process of thought. I'm sorry to say, but unfortunately we have to scrap Omega and work solely with Rouge and Shadow… at least for now.
Embrace the Dark Side
Black Doom, the lord of the Black Arms. The main antagonist of Shadow 2005, he returned to prominence in Shadow Generations (2024), as well as occasional appearances in comics (especially Archie Comics). In the Sonic franchise, he is a recurring villain in the blue hedgehog's video game adventures: he is the leader of a bloodthirsty race of alien parasites and one of the figures responsible for Shadow's creation. For thousands of years, Black Doom planned to impose terror on the Earth and use the local human population as an energy source for his armies. He sought to bring Shadow under his control and use him to conquer the world, but was ultimately defeated by his own "son". It was, in fact, this monster who provided a sample of his blood to Professor Gerald Robotnik to create the future Shadow, on the condition that he be given the Chaos Emeralds. Therefore, yes, Black Doom can be considered our black hedgehog's biological father.
In the spin-off, things will be very different. Firstly, in Sonic 3, Shadow was born elsewhere and arrived on Earth 50 years ago in a meteorite; this transforms Gerald from the one who created him to the one who launched Project Shadow to study him, and at the same time removes the involvement of the Chaos Emeralds from the equation. Secondly - just to reiterate what was said in the first part - Black Doom may have created Shadow himself, combining the DNA of Mobian hedgehogs with his own blood. This means that the lord of the Black Arms, contrary to what @chipmunkfanno1love hypothesized in a post dated October 2025, doesn't seduce or subjugate anyone; he simply creates Shadow from scratch by playing with genetics.
Having him appear in the SCU comes at a cost, especially considering the character's original design was anything but reassuring. IMHO while staying within the constraints imposed by the target audience, I'd opt for a banal yet original approach, tied to the villain's pseudo-illusory abilities. At the moment Shadow is taken into custody by the GUN, no one seems to notice the fiery red lightning bolt that suddenly appears in the sky. It's actually Black Doom, who has arrived on Earth in an isolated location via teleportation. On screen, the director doesn't show us his face directly, except through his shadow on the ground and on objects. In fact, he knows Shadow is on this world and also knows that humans might react negatively to meeting him; therefore, with a sort of alien spell, Black Doom changes his alien-demonic appearance into that of… a man, and a shaman at that.
The alien disguised as a human isn't a new concept - Jumba and Pickley in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch (2002) are prime examples - but we're talking about Shadow's biological father here. You might think I'm taking the analogy between Black Doom and the MCU version of Ego the Living Planet, as dared by @chipmunkfanno1love, literally, but this statement is partially true: the two characters share a temporary human disguise and a relationship with the titular hero. Until now, he's only been a shadow in the darkness in Shadow's nightmare at the beginning of the film, but this is the first time the villain physically appears on screen, and his mission is to find his son. As we'll see, his paths and those of GUN will cross much later on.
The Ultimate Lifeform
In Sonic 3, he may have wired Shadow to aid him in his evil plans, but Professor Gerald Robotnik deserves credit for giving the black hedgehog a surrogate family - evident in the deep (almost brotherly) bond of friendship between him and his granddaughter Maria. As everyone knows, the videogame version of Dr. Eggman's grandfather is far from completely evil. Let's try to move over his crimes (he altered Shadow's memory and programmed the Space Colony ARK to crash into Earth once all the Chaos Emeralds were collected), which were committed more out of grief than intrinsic evil, and rest assured: at least in the video games, Gerald is a better father figure than Black Doom, since he doesn't see Project Shadow as a bio-weapon. Shadow, in fact, was designed to be the "ultimate lifeform", immortal and immune to disease, in order to find a cure to save Maria, the professor's beloved granddaughter, who was gravely ill.
With Maria's illness being removed in the SCU, the motivation behind Project Shadow remains a mystery due to the lack of official documentation… or not? Technically, in the flashback narrated by Commander Walters in Sonic 3, scientists were studying Shadow to understand how to use the Chaos Energy naturally produced by his body as an alternative energy source (such as to power the Eclipse Cannon) or even a weapon - in the latter case, with fatal consequences for Maria. So, outside of the lab tests, who or what is Shadow?
Back to the spin-off's hypothetical plot… that's exactly what he asks Director Rockwell during his interview with GUN, when he accepts her offer to work with her: the chance to read Professor Robotnik's journal to gain answers about his existence. A practically unacceptable request, since most of the organization's files have been destroyed or even classified. Rouge suggests breaking into the base's archives using her spy and hacker skills, but Rockwell refuses: the two barely know each other, and besides, it's unwise to open a vault to a thief! However, she's forced to give in when the bat-girl reminds her of saving her soldiers from aliens in the Grand Canyon. And so Shadow is granted permission to consult the files dedicated to his project from 50 years ago.
He thus learns of the Black Comet, an anomalous giant meteorite that grazed the Earth's atmosphere in the 1970s, a fragment of which broke off and fell to Earth. Shadow realizes he was born in space and literally fell from the sky, and also discovers that it was Maria who named him that… so in a previous life, he had a different name before "Shadow"? Unfortunately, part of the file's text has been deleted, and the hedgehog is forced to look elsewhere for the answers he needs. With Rouge's help using the computer, he does an internet search for the Black Comet, but the results aren't satisfying: only conspiracy theory websites and the same red, quilled spiral symbol that appears on every photograph of a supposed UFO sighting - the mere sight of which makes Shadow feel slightly dizzy. He feels like he recognizes the symbol, but can't remember where.
Rouge dismisses her partner's discomfort as a symptom of fatigue or stress, but he doesn't seem inclined to give up: he wants to get to the bottom of it, no matter the cost. In fact, his research into his true roots leads him to a recent photo of a man dressed in rags, accompanied by the usual mysterious red symbol. The headache, this time, is more severe, and a brief glimpse of three glowing golden eyes (dating back to his last nightmare) convinces Shadow to set out to find this enigmatic character the next day.
The reference to Gerald's diary was also important in the lore of Shadow's videogame version. It first appears in the Last Story of Sonic Adventure 2, and in Shadow Generations, we can even collect its pages scattered around the White Space and consult them in the Collection Room… sort of, given that part of the text is covered in black bars, though the meaning is fairly obvious given the character's history. As for the mention of the Black Comet, I kept it as it is from the games, rather than removing it entirely and moving the Black Arms' origins to the moon. This way, on the one hand, it isn't further desecrated after being split in two at the end of Sonic 3, and on the other, the aura of mystery and space threat posed by the Black Arms is maintained. If they were outside invaders in the video games, let them be in the SCU too.
Do you know why I named you Shadow…?
So, in the SCU, too, was it Maria who gave the black hedgehog the name "Shadow"? We can only speculate, as nothing official is known yet. In video games, the reasoning behind choosing this name is the most romantic one imaginable: considering a shadow not as the absence of light - and therefore darkness - but as an abstract yet benevolent concept ("A shadow will help you find the light", says Maria in Shadow Generations). In reality, however, during the design of Sonic Adventure 2, the developers gave the character this name because he was initially conceived as a Sonic's shadow (in the truest sense of the word), his dark, serious side. And second question… where does the aforementioned "red, quilled spiral" come from?
It comes from the Shadow the Hedgehog videogame logo and is supposed to represent Shadow himself, to the point that it has now become his identifying symbol, on a par with Captain America's shield - for example, it appears painted on the body of his Dark Rider. For the developers of the original game, it's nothing more than the Black Arms logo (to be clear, it's the motif repeated on Black Doom's "scarves"), itself a modified version of a tomoe, with extra curves added to represent Shadow's quills. Yet another connection between the black hedgehog and these nefarious aliens!
Returning to the SCU, we mentioned that Black Doom could take on the appearance of a shaman to interact with Shadow without frightening the other humans. Yes, but… what kind of shaman? Perhaps some would dismiss the choice to transform him into a human as an excuse to save on CGI special effects; in reality, it's not a lazy mistake, but rather a demonstration that this version of Black Doom can be both a malevolent conqueror and a patient strategist plotting in the shadows. Furthermore, making him appear as a shaman could prove a much more realistic choice for the roaming Doom's Eye seen in the videogames, as well as more faithful to his nature as a being endowed with supernatural powers. I myself tried to reconstruct his appearance using the famous figurine creation service HeroForge.com, and the result could look something like this:
Well, I know it's not 100% perfect (i.e. the character's signature necklaces are missing), but I was as faithful as possible to the official Black Doom's artwork from Shadow 2005, which you can see above - not that Shadow Generations' one, which instead has brighter, more cartoonish colors.
Hades and Zagreus
I think @chipmunkfanno1love will like what I'm about to say: Black Doom might have some similarities to Thanos from MCU! And before you yell at me, follow my reasoning: first, it would be really cute if this alien in the MCU was played by the same actor as Thanos - Josh Brolin - both as a voice actor and as a human; in that case, he'd have to spend a lot of time in the makeup and costume department for his shaman look… and his yellow contact lenses. Second, the two share a loving yet twisted father-son relationship with their respective offspring - Shadow for the Black Arms leader, Gamora for the Mad Titan - making the conquest of a planet or the destruction of half the universe a kind of family affair. We'll delve deeper into this concept later in my post.
Anyone who wants the Gamora-and-Nebula-style sibling rivalry (or Thor-and-Loki-style, if you prefer) trope in the SCU will be disappointed, because I highly doubt Jeff Fowler will include Eclipse the Darkling in the Shadow spin-off; after all, the Archie Comics events have been officially decanonized. And then, it would destroy the tradition established by the screenwriters of introducing two new characters in each film; we already have Black Doom and Rouge for this hypothetical spin-off. Given these limitations, you might tell that Black Doom portrayed this way will make audiences love him thanks to Josh Brolin/Thanos' charisma, and at the same time hate him… excuse the expression… for how much of a bastard he is!
But let's proceed in order. That same evening, while sleeping, Shadow has a vision: a rough image of the mysterious man's lair and a voice calling him: "Come… come to me, my son…". Suspicious and frightened at the same time, the black hedgehog wanders off on his own and begins to follow the directions of the voice he "hears" in his head. It's not a sound, it's a telepathic impulse that leads him out of the GUN base, then into open countryside, and finally to the spot where he crashed on Earth after the Eclipse Cannon disaster. Strange, armed figures are lurking around… clearly aliens. Shadow prepares to attack them, but inexplicably the creatures lower their weapons and bow before him, calling him "Black Prince" and "brother." At this scene, the black hedgehog is even more confused and doesn't seem to recognize the creatures, even though he understands their language! The mysterious man reassures him, revealing himself to be some kind of shaman, apparently the master of the creatures, who, in fact, are more docile in his presence.
On the contrary, Shadow experiences visions as soon as he gazes into the man's yellow eyes. The man immediately calms his panic attacks by placing a hand on his forehead before he can harm himself or others with his Chaos Powers. Indeed, the fact that the man knows Shadow and how Chaos Energy works is extraordinary, and for a moment one suspects he's a god. In reality, he's just a nomad who tells the hedgehog the legend of the Black Comet once they've taken refuge in a cave: it's none other than a planetoid that travels the stars in search of worlds devoid of sentient lifeforms on which the inhabitants - called Black Arms - can feed. Their leader and king, Black Doom, one day uses all his knowledge to forge a perfect son, inspired by the Mobian hedgehogs' philosophy of freedom and peace with nature. Thus, from the union of their DNA and his, Terios the Black Prince was born… aka Shadow himself, who is currently awestruck by the discovery of his true roots. Furthermore, his very powers are a legacy of Black Doom, even if he only knows a tiny part of them. However, it's still unclear why the black hedgehog fell to Earth: a missing soldier? A herald sent on a reconnaissance mission who hasn't yet reported? A general on a mission? A partial answer is that Black Doom is also on the planet looking for him, only he's been hiding somewhere, planning his next move… and he's probably right under Shadow's nose! In fact, the shaman is actually Black Doom in disguise, the black hedgehog's father himself - that's why he knows so much about him! This is more than enough reason to stay with him, perhaps to train to better use his Chaos Powers.
Now, don't expect happy family scenes like in Sonic 3 when Dr. Eggman found his grandfather: the Black Arms culture isn't the same as ours! They're aliens, like the Mobians. BTW at this point in the film, Shadow divides his time between training with the GUN by day and training with Black Doom by night, with a greater awareness of his now less nebulous origins (I'm summarizing as best I can; the real scenes will certainly be longer and more detailed). What neither he nor the viewer know is that Black Doom's kind nature is a facade, a diabolically constructed lie designed to easily gain the hedgehog's trust. In the videogames, in fact, there have been times when the antagonist of the moment tries to trick Shadow, but in the end he always manages to unmask the deception. Why doesn't he do it here, then? Well, simply because this is the SCU and we've already seen one attempt at manipulation - Gerald in Sonic 3 - so it's fair to assume that this counterpart of the black hedgehog is more naive than his videogame self, due to the fact that his mind (literally that of a boy, remember?) is still broken following a trauma that has scarred him forever - the death of his friend/little sister Maria. We don't yet know how his character will behave in Sonic 4, nor how his personality will evolve in the future, but we can assume that Shadow is just beginning to heal his scars at this stage.
Umph... "ally"
For those who were surprised by the appearance of the name Terios, know that all is not lost. During the development of Sonic Adventure 2, "Terios" (meaning "reflection of") was Shadow's working name, coined by Kazuyuki Hoshino, a key figure in the character's creation. Today, this name has become very popular among fans who use it in their fanfiction, while Shadow's most famous original design (see image below) has even been featured as a skin in the purchasable bonus content for Shadow Generations - which includes, among other things, new songs and the DLC for Sonic 3.
As for Rouge, however, the special bond between her and the black hedgehog is undeniable. On several occasions in the video games, she has reiterated that she will always be by his side, no matter what happens. One of her lines that I liked the most is from the recent Shadow Generations:
“Shadow… look. I don’t trust many people. I respect even fewer. You… are special. So much so I feel compelled to admit it. […] Be careful, here at the end of it all, okay? And if you need someone after it’s all said and done, I’m here for you.”
This means that, however you interpret it, the relationship between Shadow and Rouge is on another level: the black hedgehog is one of the few (if not the very few) individuals the bat thief admits to caring for. And this detail is also present in my hypothetical Shadow spin-off: we could define her as a female Tails, given her role as co-protagonist, with the difference that she boasts a more flirtatious and extroverted personality than the foxy boy - as well as more tomboyish. If this trait were maintained in the SCU, she would become as charismatic as the other Mobians. Furthermore, if we decide to give her a chance, we could also open our minds about many things.
Back to the plot. Since her partner, since arriving at the GUN base, has practically thrown himself into his work, Rouge has never seen him take a break. When she asks him to go for a walk to "unplug," Shadow's response is a flat refusal: on the one hand, he doesn't know her well, on the other, it could be an excuse to make him an accomplice in a jewel theft. Despite his terse protests, however, the bat thief decides to take him out anyway, flying out the window. Observing the surrounding landscape, it's impossible to determine the city where the GUN base is located, since the one in London was destroyed in Sonic 3; furthermore, it's unlikely the protagonists are in New York, as that's where Sonic 4 will be set (at least from what we've gathered from the first post-credits scene of Sonic 3, featuring Metal Sonic and Amy Rose).
Now that the two are outside the base, Rouge takes advantage of the calm to talk a little about herself: she says she's the youngest member of a tribe of treasure-hunting bats, and that she specializes in jewels and shiny gems. Having undergone intense training and trained in combat, stealth, and infiltrations, she recently began hunting for the mythical Master Emerald, and her research has brought her to Earth. As soon as he hears the name of the famous green stone, Shadow suspects with biting irony that Rouge is somehow connected to Knuckles, but she denies everything: she has had a history with echidnas in the past, but she's never met the strongest Team Sonic warrior, whom she imagines to be too crude or dump for her tastes (I also talked about him in my lastest post; if you're interested, go check it out). In fact, she's amusedly found the black hedgehog's company much more pleasant, even though he reacts with obvious embarrassment whenever she calls him "handsome".
In the middle of the conversation, however, Shadow senses something's wrong and feels a strange tingling in his head. I don't know how to develop this scene because I have no idea; I only know that the Black Arms are involved and that it's the first time the viewer finally sees the famous Chaos Control in action. The particular dangerous situation, in fact, makes Shadow's body glow with red sparks as usual, but the entire action freezes to represent the fact that we're seeing it from the hedgehog's point of view - the director was probably drawing inspiration from the Quicksilver-esque sequences with Sonic in the first and second films. For Rouge, however, it will be disorienting to see her partner moving so quickly from one enemy to another, as in a particular moment in the intro to Shadow 2005 (which I myself mentioned in the first part, regarding Shadow's powers):
Despite the battle being won, through their shared psychic bond, Black Doom warns Shadow of the Black Comet's arrival on June 19th, adding the same cryptic phrase that had previously haunted him in a nightmare: "Don't forget that, my son". Rouge is confused by the black hedgehog's sudden panic and tries to reassure him by taking his hand, but it has the opposite effect - in a flashback, we see Maria and Shadow's famous escape from the GUN in Sonic 3, where the two are indeed holding hands. He quickly pulls away in fear and confesses to her that the date Black Doom mentioned coincides with what he always believed was his "birthday" thanks to Maria; and they don't have much time, since this "day of reckoning" of sorts is in three days.
The Last Way
In reality, any fan of the franchise will have recognized "June 19th" as the release date of Sonic Adventure 2, the debut videogame for both Shadow and Rouge. However, the concept of dates and calendars does not exist in Sonic's (videogame) world, as it is deliberately set in an undefined present, allowing for the development of virtually infinite plots. The situation is different in the films, where the characters seemingly age and grow. Sonic's progressive increase in height is paradigmatic: in the first film, he is so small he fits in a duffel bag, while from the second onward, he reaches almost the canonical 1 meter tall. This is all the result of Jeff Fowler's decision to match the height of the Mobians to that of their canonical counterparts.
Speaking of canon, so far the (hypothetical) plot of the Shadow spin-off has diverged significantly from the 2005 videogame on which it's based due to its unique "choose-your-adventure" gameplay, so it's logical to take many artistic liberties. At this point in the adventure, I assume the climax of both games will converge in the so-called Last Story, considered by the developers to be the canonical ending of the original game. However, unlocking it required experiencing all 10 possible endings - a long and arduous task! But what exactly does this Last Story tell?
Shadow has collected all seven Chaos Emeralds and is on the Black Comet, about to deliver them to Black Doom. At that moment, Sonic and his friends arrive, warning him of the alien's nefarious intentions. The latter, in fact, reveals his plan to everyone: outraged by the greed and thirst for power of humans, who he claims are on the "path to self-destruction", the Black Arms leader intends to use the inhabitants of Earth as nourishment for his army. He also reveals that Prof. Gerald Robotnik had promised him the Chaos Emeralds to complete his plan in exchange for his blood, which he used to create Shadow. At this point, the Black Comet begins releasing a nerve gas into the atmosphere that immobilizes virtually everyone in the vicinity. Only Shadow manages to break the paralysis - he is immune to it - and faces Black Doom, who attempts to mind-control the hedgehog thanks to their blood bond.
Our protagonist thus seems to have come to an end before his "father", but Team Chaotix manages to unlock a video in which Gerald reveals that he created the Eclipse Cannon on the Space Colony ARK to destroy the Black Comet, as atonement for collaborating with Black Doom. Shadow, regaining his strength, assimilates the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Shadow and goes to finally defeat Black Doom - who has since mutated into his final form, "Devil Doom". Finally, he moves the Black Comet into space via Chaos Control so he can destroy it with the Eclipse Cannon and save Earth. Here, the black hedgehog is now celebrated as a hero, and the President decides to honor him and Professor Gerald Robotnik (despite the latter's previous attempts to destroy the world). As for Shadow, he has finally put his past behind him and bids farewell to Space Colony ARK forever, after struggling to regain his true identity.
In the SCU, things aren't like that. We've said that this version of Shadow doesn't suffer from amnesia, and the same goes for the Chaos Emeralds, which I've purposely avoided mentioning, assuming they'll play a key role in Sonic 4 (as confirmed by the teaser trailer). How, then, would it be possible to move the Black Comet close to Earth's orbit and thus trigger the dark ritual of the Black Arms? I suspect that the Chaos Emeralds aren't necessary, but rather the combined power of two Chaos Energy sources - which essentially explains why Black Doom trains Shadow in the use of his powers. Shadow previously used his own body to power the Eclipse Cannon in Sonic 3, but here we're talking about Chaos Control, whose overwhelming power requires a rendezvous with Black Doom at a very specific location (which the hedgehog will presumably go to alone). Precisely to emphasize the "alien enigma" theories perpetuated over the years, I decided to set the climax of the spinoff not on the Black Comet but near the monolithic complex of Stonehenge in England. Perhaps I was inspired by the final battle in the film TRANSFORMERS: The Last Knight (2017), which is also set there, and indeed I took some details from there…
By the way, I don't believe Shadow will forcefully materialize the Black Comet into the sky, but perhaps it will be an accidental action due to a dangerous overload of his body's Chaos Energy, combined with the power of Black Doom. And it is here that we witness the scene in which the antagonist gradually crumbles his mask of lies: Shadow is Terios the Black Prince, the progeny of an army of parasitic invaders who feed on sentient species to grow and survive. Here, too, the Black Arms lord considers humans greedy and power-hungry, like the GUN soldiers who imprisoned Shadow 50 years ago, but this one replies that there are good humans too… and the memory of Maria makes his body glow with red sparks. The argument between father and son begins to escalate as soon as Black Doom invites him to join him in the "ritual of prosperity", promising him a new home at the end of the invasion; Shadow again opposes him, shouting that his home is Earth and that his name is not Terios!
The hedgehog's emotional overload detonates a massive amount of Chaos Energy from his body, enough to trigger the teleportation needed to move the Black Comet close to Earth. It's too late: the Black Arms have already begun spreading throughout the city, targeting civilians in particular. When Shadow opens his eyes, he realizes he's alone in the crater, under a blood-red sky, haunted by the telepathic orders of his father, who has now lost the human form that had enveloped him from the beginning. Rouge and a GUN team led by Director Rockwell herself arrive on the scene and find their friend seemingly gone mad: he no longer knows who he is, haunted by the nightmare of his memories, and refuses to be touched. He then runs away at supersonic speed, now in a panic.
With Shadow compromised, Rockwell is forced to take her men and work with the local authorities to evacuate as many civilians as possible from London. Rouge, though concerned about what is happening to her friend, cannot disobey her superior and accompanies her into the city. During the operation, the GUN leader is already thinking about how to eliminate the Black Comet and doesn't have much time to order her men to prepare a bomb. In fact, Black Doom himself, in his true alien form, reaches them in London's main square and unleashes his extraordinary pseudo-magical abilities, such as teleportation similar to Shadow's and a vague telekinesis - let's just say I was inspired by the antagonist from TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). The enemy's strength is overwhelming, and despite all their good will, the heroes are ultimately defeated, much to the evil alien's delight.
This is WHO I AM inside!
Shadow has fled to a secluded place to cry, confused by recent revelations: as he had feared 50 years earlier when he confided in Maria, he has now had confirmation that he is as dangerous as "a monster from a horror movie," and not a common space hedgehog. Jeff Fowler probably won't show us the tears streaming down his cheeks, but he might hint at it by framing the hedgehog from certain angles (perhaps from behind, if he's sitting) and through his sobs. In the videogames, Shadow is the only character in the franchise to have ever been seen crying, and on two occasions (or three, if you count Sonic X): the first in Sonic Adventure 2, moved by Amy's heartfelt speech; the second at the end of Shadow Generations, as he prepares to leave White Space to help Sonic defeat the Time Eater. Thus, Shadow, despite being a mostly serious warrior, proves himself to be a character capable of revealing all his fragility under the right conditions.
This is one of those conditions: being in the SCU, it's fair to assume that this characteristic is accentuated by the fact that Shadow is a Mobian, but also a boy not yet fully healed from the traumas of his past. Now he doesn't know what to do, his house is about to be destroyed, he's made a huge mess that seems impossible to fix, and as a last, desperate act, he asks Maria for help… but she's no longer with him. "Who am I?" he asks himself at this point through tears; then we see in flashback the moment when the two tender and inseparable friends gaze at the stars in a flowery meadow, and one of Maria's words in particular catches the black hedgehog's attention:
"Your my friend. And you can do or be anything you want. Not because of your powers, but because of who you are in here."
Shadow's eyes light up and he sniffs: we return to the question found at the beginning - namely, "What do you want to be when you grow up?". And he finally knows what he wants to do, to the point that he gets back on his feet and begins running towards London under siege by the Black Arms: he wants to make his lost friend proud, he wants to be free from the darkness, and above all, to let his heart guide him to protect the Earth from the evil ones and make people happy. It's basically a paraphrase of the character's famous line uttered at the climax of Shadow Generations: "I'll continue to fight with your wish in my heart, your wish for everyone to be happy".
But at this point, how will the final showdown between the black hedgehog and Black Doom unfold? It all depends on the fate of the Chaos Emeralds between Sonic 3 and 4, as well as the spin-off's timeline: if it's set after the two aforementioned films, Shadow could transform into Super Shadow; if it's between the two films, he'll find himself fighting bare-handed… or at least at full power if he decides to remove his inhibitor rings, seriously risking self-destruction from the Chaos Energy overload. And Black Doom?
We've seen epic battles against huge bosses before: a modern, reimagined version of the Death Egg Robot from the classic Sonic games in Sonic 2, the Eclipse Cannon's defensive systems (mostly GUN war machines) in Sonic 3. Why should this spin-off be any less impressive? In the video games - Shadow 2005 and Shadow Generations in particular - Black Doom has two forms: the "weaker" starting form and a monstrous, gigantic one known as Devil Doom. Leaving aside the fact that in Shadow Generations this demonic transformation also has a more evolved form (Neo Devil Doom), a fight between such a large monster and a tiny hedgehog would leave anyone in the theater speechless. Again, it depends on what Jeff Fowler decides to do with the Chaos Emeralds in the upcoming film.
For now, let's assume that Shadow actually manages to defeat Black Doom, perhaps with some initial attempts by the latter to manipulate the black hedgehog with his psychic powers (symbiosis and hive mind, remember?), and move on to the next question: how to destroy the Black Comet? Since a bomb is out of the question, Shadow himself will take care of it. Once again, the how depends on whether the Chaos Emeralds are present or not: if he's become Super Shadow, the ending will be similar to the videogame - which I described above. If, however, he's in normal form and has removed his inhibitor rings, the operation would be even more dangerous as he could lose his life - although it would be a bit of a bore to witness the black hedgehog's (apparent) death on screen for the second time.
Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog
In any case, we've reached the film's epilogue: Black Doom is gone, the Black Comet is shattered in space, Shadow is freed from the Black Arms, and Earth is saved. All's well that ends well, then? Kinda. If you've been paying attention this far, it means that Shadow has completed the mission assigned to him by GUN, and has fully joined the organization as an operative, with Director Rockwell's approval. This is a first for the franchise because in the video games, Team Dark's admission into GUN is never explicitly explained, or it's implied that it occurred during the transition from Shadow 2005 to Sonic 2006.
But while Shadow finally has a job, his new home remains unknown. Jeff Fowler himself reassured us on this point, in a statement after the theatrical release of Sonic 3, that the black hedgehog will not be adopted by the Wachowskis, as happened with Team Sonic - perhaps even Amy, at the end of Sonic 4. This would lead us to speculate that Shadow will have his own home, perhaps shared with Rouge - admit it, you were thinking of the famous Club Rouge from the comics, right? Furthermore, we don't even know if he will have a permanent human partner who also serves as his "adoptive parent," a la Wade Whipple for Knuckles or Tom Wachowski for Sonic.
In the end, the story ends as in Shadow 2005: the protagonist has left the past behind, is more at peace with himself, and can begin his duties as Earth's guardian in memory of his beloved friend Maria. Alas, I can't mention the President's commendation given the current delicate political situation, so I assume the director will omit this part to avoid sparking future controversy.
THE END
Our journey through the SCU's hypothetical Shadow spin-off ends here. If you enjoyed this post, let me know what you think in the comments. Like and reblog to spread the word. Bye bye! 😘
Seven Chaos Emeralds, two teams of heroes, an impending demonic invasion: Sonic imagined the '90s a little differently, and instead finds himself teaming up with a steely-eyed, wordless paranormal detective-hog.
It doesn't matter that his new red-striped friend isn't very nice, or that he's being stalked by a crazed green vampire-hog. In a city filled with rumors and nightmares, Sonic might become something more than a hero: the urban legend New York needs to stop Black Doom the Devil King - in a modern, urban retelling of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), where the line between myth, nightmare, and street legend is blurrier than ever.
Surprise! You didn't expect that, did you? Instead, here's my special contribution to Sonic's 35th birthday: an adventure entirely set in the '90s. This means we're looking at an IP completely unrelated to the Sonic Fantasy Adventure saga. Let me know what you think, okay? Enjoy! 😘
💬 PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY! 🥺
Which character intrigues you the most?
You like Sonic stories set in fantasy worlds?
Share or reblog if you're interested! Any feedback helps my fanfic reach more readers.
📚 CHAPTER INDEX (coming soon)
‼ VERY IMPORTANT ‼
Please leave a comment or a kudos on AO3. It's the fuel that helps me finish the next chapters!
Guys, first of all, thank you all for participating in my poll. Still…
There's just one small problem: you're not the ones deciding that Jeff Fowler will introduce the Knuxouge dynamic into the SCU in the future, so there's no point in you making crazy mental wanks about two characters who are, in theory, RIVALS! Sorry, @chipmunkfanno1love, you won't be able to change my mind.
On that note, I'd like to reiterate some words I exchanged a few weeks ago with a very sweet French DeviantArt user, whose name I won't mention. I'll only copy and paste my answers, not the girl's. Read after the cut.
Rouge can never be just Shadow's older sister because she's the only one he can actually confide in. Knuckles isn't suited to be with her because everyone knows they're just rivals, and SEGA portrays them as such in every iteration (in Sonic X, their skirmishes are deliberately exaggerated for comic relief, and that's where fans came up with the Knuxouge ship).
Rouge isn't "too self-centered and superficial". In fact, in her interactions in Shadow Generations (2024), she's clearly concerned about Shadow, especially toward the end of the game. In Sonic X, however, her skirmishes with Knuckles are deliberately comic relief, even in my native language (the Italian dub, I presume, is as "conservative" as the American one in terms of faithfulness to canon characters). So it's unthinkable that an echidna warrior would give in so easily to the "alleged" advances of a bat thief - it's more of a tease than a genuine flirtation.
"She's not the type for Shadow, she doesn't need someone who's as emotionally unstable as he is"... wrong! The "bad girl loves good boy" trope doesn't work here, nor does its opposite, "good girl loves bad boy", even from an anagraphic perspective: Rouge and Shadow are more "adult" than the teenage Amy and Knuckles, so the latter deserve at least a peer as a partner (or none at all, in Knuckles' case). This is why the Shadouge ship makes much more sense and is more coherent than the Knuxouge ship, just as the very canonical Sonamy is more emotionally impactful.
"It's essential to accept that Rouge will never be with him: she’s with Knuckles"... false! Let's forget Sonic X for a moment (I'm serious, don't push me) and look at the canon character from the videogames: do you happen to see him accepting the bat thief's advances, perhaps through gritted teeth? No, because it's in his nature as a warrior: he doesn't see her as a potential lifelong companion, but as a mere nuisance best kept away from, and rightly so. Morally, Rouge isn't 100% good, if anything, the opposite: she's a borderline character, on the edge between Good and Evil, just as Shadow is neutral despite occasionally doing good deeds. If they were comic book characters, those two would be Catwoman and Batman, respectively - they're cut from the same cloth.
Knuckles, on the other hand, despite being a lone wolf (so to speak), has completely different principles and is on the side of good; it's impossible for him to "embrace the dark side" for love, or, conversely, to succeed in redeeming an anti-heroine like Rouge for the same reason. If there can never be love between them, at the very least they respect each other as rivals, that's all.
If you enjoyed that, let me know what you think in the comments. Like and reblog to spread the word. Bye bye! 😘
Sonic the Hedgehog 4, the fourth installment in the film saga directed by Jeff Fowler, will be released in spring 2027, and it's now certain that Shadow will return, thanks in part to the (short) second post-credits scene in Sonic 3 - in which we see him picking up one of his inhibitor rings from the ground.
Aside from that, in terms of the films' internal lore… how much do we know about him? Not much, actually. He arrived on Earth in the 1970s encased in a meteorite, was held captive for 50 years in a GUN prison, and then escaped to join forces with the Robotniks - grandfather and grandson - in his crusade of vengeance… and finally, he sacrificed himself in Eclipse Cannon disaster. But before all that?
Everything is (intentionally, I presume) shrouded in mystery, as Fowler's goal is likely to adapt the most famous moments of the Sonic videogame saga so that everything is explained slowly and piecemeal. At the moment we know that in addition to Sonic 4, there is a Shadow spin-off and an "event film" in the works, which we know nothing about - even if lately some fans have been rumoring for the Silver and Blaze's appearance.
Welcome to my thoughtful post inspired by the (sometimes crazy, sometimes brilliant) theories of @chipmunkfanno1love
Who am I... and why can't I remember anything?
"Shadow the Hedgehog... It's the only thing I can remember."
The quote above comes from the opening cinematic of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), immediately after starting a new game (so not from the spectacular intro that plays upon startup). The game's reference isn't a coincidence, since two of its former developers now work in the SCU - director Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller. So, we might expect a faithful recreation of the events of the original 2005 game in the films? Not at all, or almost.
Let's start with how Shadow is introduced to Earth. In the flashback narrated by Commander Walters in Sonic 3, we see that the black hedgehog was discovered by GUN 50 years earlier inside a black comet; so technically, he was already born when scientists began studying him. But where does he come from? From space, sure, but where exactly? Before answering that question, let's review Shadow's backstory in the videogames.
He's "the Ultimate Lifeform" created aboard the Space Colony ARK by Dr. Eggman's grandfather, the prof. Gerard Robotnik. He represents the end product of Project Shadow, a top-secret government experiment completed only thanks to Black Doom, leader of a bloodthirsty race of alien parasites, who donated a sample of his blood. It was a Faustian bargain: the birth of an immortal being immune to disease in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds, needed by the Black Arms for their invasion of Earth in the present.
But how could Jeff Fowler adapt these dark beginnings for the big screen while maintaining the lighthearted tone of the previous installment in SCU? @chipmunkfanno1love also wondered this in a post dated October 2025, but his theories don't entirely satisfy me. Instead, listen to what I think: if so far we've established that the Mobians are aliens themselves and that Shadow arrived on our planet in a meteorite, I might assume that the Black Arms are another alien race, naturally hostile unlike Sonic & Co. So Black Doom, according to this reasoning, neither seduces nor subjugates anyone; he simply creates Shadow from scratch by playing with genetics.
Remember the Quintessons from the Transformers franchise? In some versions of their origins - the 1980s G1 version, primarily - these aliens created them, while in BioWare's Mass Effect Trilogy, there's even a scientist who also successfully attempted to create a perfect living being. His name is Dr. Okeer and the end result of his research is Grunt, a friendly (in his own way) artificial Krogan, whose decision to release him or leave him locked in his tank is up to the player.
Likewise, it's plausible that Jeff Fowler implied that his Movie Shadow also has artificial origins, only he omitted this detail on purpose to create a future spinoff that explains everything without filters. He's essentially leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, the most curious of which is undoubtedly the black hedgehog's alleged amnesia. "Alleged" not because it's being covered up (quite the opposite), but because the situation is unclear… or rather, it's right before our eyes, yet fans often forget about it. What am I talking about? Let's look at Shadow's most important flashback in Sonic 3, the one in which he and Maria (prof. Robotnik's beloved granddaughter) gaze at the stars while lying in a meadow. Did you notice this line of dialogue?
SHADOW: A light shines… even though the star's gone.
MARIA: Exactly. I wonder which one you came from...
SHADOW: I don't know... I don’t know anything about my home.
MARIA: This is your home, Shadow…
You got it right: Shadow has lost his memory of his past from the very beginning, and this rules out the fan idea that he suffers from amnesia even after the ending of Sonic 3. It is true that the film is a loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), but that doesn't mean that this version of Shadow has to be a clone of the original one. Let's get this straight: in the video games, Shadow's "forgetful-ish" arc lasts only two titles - Sonic Heroes (2004) and Shadow 2005 - and ends when he finally feels at peace with himself (more or less) and has established his role in the world. Erasing his memory in subsequent SCU installments, therefore, would mean making him lose the lessons Sonic taught him about the importance of remembering loved ones over the pain of their loss - and consequently nullify any potential future friendship-rivalry between the two hedgehogs.
Bring us glory, my son!
Let's say Black Doom actually created Shadow, presumably by studying Mobian hedgehogs and combining their DNA with his own blood. What's the point of sending him to Earth if he'll then lose the memory of his roots? As mentioned, the video game version is literally the product of a pact with the devil, the main purpose of which is to create a bioweapon and the perfect soldier… or at least in the Black Arms' plans. Given the almost total absence of official material available, we must once again reason hypothetically.
Many fans have had fun imagining the introduction of these evil aliens into the SCU, but perhaps the version I liked the most is the one by UniverseV02 from Archive on Our Own. Unfortunately, his Shadow the Hedgehog: The Movie is currently unfinished and its last update dates back to September 2025; However, in the chapter dedicated to "first contact" Shadow has a dreamlike encounter with Black Doom (represented for the moment by a disembodied voice in the darkness) and the latter reveals his true purpose:
“Fifty years ago, I set my sights fell on this planet and it’s pathetic dominate specie! Unfortunately, my observations showed that despite being one of the most backwards peoples in the galaxy, the humans still had powerful weapons on their despocial. So I decided to send you, The Ultimate lifeform, my greatest creation, to this planet in advance so that you can destroy their weapons. However, when you reached the planet, I lost my psychic connection with you. For the next 50 years, there was no sign of you and I couldn’t send scouts, because the humans would have noticed them and we would have lost the element of surprise. But when the shockwave of your chaos energy reached us, I knew that you were alive and that I had no other choice but to send scouts to find you and see your progress.”
Another version I'd like to point out, also from AO3, is HiddenBookShelf's Paint It Black (and there's a lot to say about the Rolling Stones song reference here), which is also unfinished - the last update was in November 2025. This story, however, explains that Shadow is sent to Earth by the Black Arms to play a much more active role in their army - specifically, as the general of his own platoon of soldiers, complete with a personal, unnamed sentient weapon that calls him "brother". In both cases, the authors imply that Black Doom is a sort of "queen bee" (don't get me wrong!) and that the Black Arms is her offspring, using terms like "my son" and "father" in their respective works.
So, aside from a living weapon, what could Shadow's role be in the Black Arms' society in the SCU? A herald? A sleeper agent? A general? A prince from hell? Whatever the original task given to him by his "father", our favorite black hedgehog would still choose Earth as his adoptive home, effectively transforming himself into an anti-litteram Dante (the hero from Devil May Cry, so to speak) who will one day rebel against his own blood.
This is the Ultimate Power!
In short: Shadow is one of the strongest Mobians in the Sonic franchise, or at least in his category. His Chaos Powers are enviable and even the most spectacular, especially considering they were "implanted" by Black Doom when he was created. But how does all this convert in the SCU?
On the big screen, when he uses his chaos powers, Shadow is surrounded by fiery red sparks (to distinguish them from Knuckles's pinkish ones) and releases a significant amount of energy, on par with Sonic's; that's why GUN scientists study him and try to unlock his secrets. So, if there's a precedent, it seems pretty obvious how they work in the field… right? Actually, believe it or not, the answer seems no, since Sonic 3 only shows us a few of Shadow's most famous abilities.
"Are you blind, Flor? Haven't you seen that he practically always uses Chaos Control when he teleports?", you might ask. Easy, let's think about it: if that were really the case, we could have seen a special effect on screen when the black hedgehog stops time. Instead, the teleportation accompanied by a red flash represents a completely different move from Chaos Control, which many of you forget to consider.
In videogames, if Sonic is launched into the air after a jump or bounce, how does he usually target an enemy or an object like a spring? With the Homing Attack, exactly. And what if Shadow finds himself in the same situation? He uses an equivalent move, represented as a blue flash that suddenly appears on the target; this move has a name, and it's called Chaos Snap. Remember the intro to Shadow 2005, where at a certain point he hits the Black Arms with kicks and punches, teleporting from one place to another? That's the Chaos Snap! In the movie, this power seems enhanced, because it seems like he's capable of spontaneously teleporting even over considerable distances.
If Shadow were truly capable of using Chaos Control, he would need to carry one of the seven Chaos Emeralds; however, in the SCU, these are represented by a single large green gem, the Master Emerald. What's new is the use of his Air Shoes as a sort of rocket-powered boot for brief flight - i.e. in the first battle with Team Sonic in Tokyo - as well as an auxiliary means of running, of course.
No problem, however, for the Chaos Spears, the infamous bolts of light used to stun enemies and destroy obstacles (among other things). In Sonic 3, they appear only once, in the final battle, summoned by Super Shadow. Here, however, there seems to be a small, vague reference to the Doom Spears from Shadow Generations (2024), as the black hedgehog releases a large number of them at once. Perhaps the movie is implying that he can fire them one at a time under normal conditions, and that Super Form simply amplifies his existing powers.
The most plausible solution would be to introduce his most powerful and famous skills as innate powers that Shadow discovers later in his adventures. I'm not just talking about Chaos Control, but also about the Chaos Blast, which first appeared in Shadow 2005; for those who don't know, it's that sort of Chaos Energy bomb triggered by Shadow's body when he's angry, capable of wiping out anything within a radius of several meters. However, this choice could prove very complicated: while Chaos Control may be relatively simple to reproduce on the big screen - just take inspiration from the Quicksilver-esque sequences with Sonic in the first and second films - on the other hand, mentioning Chaos Blast could become an extremely delicate challenge given its notorious danger (for example, Shadow could harm himself or others if he triggers the explosion in the wrong place at the wrong time).
The Doom Powers, straight from Shadow Generations, deserve a separate discussion. While they've become popular since the game's release - such as, the so-called "Doom Shadow" has become a playable character in mobile games like Sonic Dash - and while it would be fun to use them in the SCU to accentuate the blood bond between Shadow and Black Doom, alas, I have some bad news: these abilities, while spectacular (especially the Doom Morph), are temporary, and once Black Doom is defeated, they'll disappear forever. Shadow can't keep them and use them in the future; they represent a part of his hybrid nature that he would most likely be happy to do without. He's already powerful with Chaos Control & Co., and rightly so.
TO BE CONTINUED...
If you're curious to know how a Shadow spin-off in the SCU might unfold, I'll see you in Part 2 of my thoughtful post. I'll stop here for now, and if you enjoyed that, let me know what you think in the comments. Like and reblog to spread the word. Bye bye! 😘
Rouge, Knuckles and Shadow in Sonic Cinematic Universe
Super question time: If Rouge the Bat is ever introduced into the Sonic Cinematic Universe, how do you think the dynamic between her, Shadow, and Knuckles will play out?
Knuxouge Rules; Shadow is just a friend/coworker here
Shadouge Rules; Knuckles is just a rival here
Love Triangle: he loves her, but she flirts another guy...
None of the three; the relationship between the characters remains vague
Voting ended onJun 7
Tumblr doesn't let me write longer captions, dammit! 😅
OPTION A:
Bad Girl Loves Good Boy (AKA From Rivals to Lovers): Rouge and Knuckles bicker constantly, she flirts mercilessly, until he gives in and sparks fly between them. Shadow is just a friend and colleague here; Rouge is too self-centered and superficial for him. This option is probably the result of the ambiguous attitudes of the two characters seen in Sonic X, and which fans have had the most fun with over the years.
OPTION B:
Bad Girl Loves Bad Boy (AKA From Friends to Lovers): the most balanced one. Rouge is fascinated by Shadow, not just as a co-worker, and will stick by his side even when the world falls apart. The spark that ignites between them is the most mature love story ever depicted in a Sonic work. Knuckles isn't even taken into consideration; Rouge finds him too crude or dumb, but there are plenty of occasions when the two will constantly bicker - in other words, they're rivals but somehow they respect each other.
OPTION C:
Love triangle: This one risks being comical or ridiculous. Basically, Knuckles develops a crush on Rouge, despite their rivalry, but the problem is that she spends more time with Shadow. This creates a sort of romantic rivalry between the echidna and the black hedgehog, effectively turning the bat thief into the coveted prize between the two male contenders, which she enjoys. I know full well that @chipmunkfanno1love would love this dynamic (I guess), but it's counterproductive as it would turn an action-adventure story (which is the core of the Sonic films) into a grotesque romantic comedy - there is in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as well, will be quite soft.
OPTION D:
No relationship (AKA Slow Burn): the safest one, and I'll explain why. Social media loves to gossip about fictional characters, sparking heated discussions including the infamous "Ship Wars". To avoid subsequent controversy ("Why isn't X with Y? They look good together…"), the solution would be to avoid romantic involvement between the three characters and instead build their relationships slowly and piecemeal. It might break the hearts of Shadouge or Knuxouge fans, but they also need to learn that life (and adventure) isn't just about romance, but also about platonic camaraderie. In the Sonic Universe, as in any other fandom.
are you homophobic, or do you just not like sonadow? i’m genuinely curious, i’ve seen you interacting on some sonadow ship comics/fanart in a not-very-nice way. definetly not ‘peaceful’, and certainly not respecting other peoples ships.
I know that among Sonic fanfiction (and other works) published online, the Sonadow relationship is the most popular due to the greater impact of the tension between rivals recontextualized as romantic drama, but that's not my field. Even worse if we're in a "fantasy" context where forbidden love between two polar opposites is prevalent (Arthur/Lancelot, king/jester, captain/pirate, vampire or Werehog/hunter, vampire/Werehog…). I'm part of a VERY SMALL segment of the fandom that roots for the canonical ships and completely ignores any content featuring forced ones, perhaps scripted specifically to spice up the story despite the undeniably excellent fanart. As far as I'm concerned, the occasional tensions between Sonic and Shadow stemmed not so much from their supposed mutual romantic/sexual attraction, but rather from their incompatible and/or contrasting lifestyles. The problem isn't that I don't like Sonadow, it's that you chose the wrong author!
Question but back last year the writers of the movie said Sonic'a biggest challenge yet is "girls". What do you think this would mean in the movie in your opinion? Especially on Sonic's feelings towards Amy?
Hello anom! Thanks for asking!
I find this comment so interesting because I think it's more than it seems.
The most obvious part is that the Sonic movies act as a kind of coming-of-age story, and Sonic would now be interested in girls. So, the basic interpretation is that he's growing up and starting to experience the joys (and horrors) of falling in love. And as is common knowledge, dealing with romantic feelings as a teenager is a mess, especially for a boy as complex as Sonic (besides that joke that sometimes boys don't understand girls, etc.).
HOWEVER, I think there's something deeper to it. The Sonic movies do have this layer of maturation, but they're generally tied to the themes of heroism and Sonic's development. I think Sonic's most complicated challenge will be "girls," not only because feelings are a mess, but because Amy is someone who challenges Sonic and can see beyond his facade. In the games, she confronts him several times and is empathetic and sensitive enough to see the suffering he tries to hide. And that's something he won't be ready to handle, because until then, not even Knuckles, Tails, or Shadow have confronted him so directly. Tom sometimes does, but he's Sonic's father, so it's not the kind of equal footing that's needed for that confrontation, and the difficult conversation needs to work.
The best example I think of this is Tom and Maddie (the narrative parallel to Sonamy, fight me). Sure, they're married and have this beautiful love and all, but we also see that Maddie is a voice of reason and a point of confrontation for Tom. They don't agree on everything all the time, and their relationship isn't perfect. Maddie is a listening ear, but she's also temperamental and someone who brings reason – and I think the third movie delves deeper into Maddie and Tomaddie in general. And I think that's what Amy will be for Sonic.
Sure, they'll have that romantic tension, but Amy will challenge Sonic like no one has done before. And he's NOT going to handle it well, especially because he'll be extremely traumatized after everything he's been through, and Amy will probably have her own problems too.
So yes, there's the romantic aspect of Sonamy, but also the aspect of conflict. Because when you meet someone who complements you well, it inevitably comes at the price of the other person also pointing out your flaws, wanting you to improve so that the bond between you is sustainable.
Especially with Metal appearing and how he will influence both Amy and Sonic, and how they see and interact with each other.
After several months to draft it, I present to you the character bio of Sonic the Hedgehog as he appears in my Sonic Fantasy Adventure. What you see above is the pencil concept by @virjohnnylibra99, and the final result is a little rough but adorable. Can you do better? The challenge details are after the bio…
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Sonic the Hedgehog/Wachowski
Alias: Blue Hedgehog, Rat (by Infinite), The Adventurer, Buddy (by Tom); Hedgehog (by Knuckles); Bro (by Scourge)
Race: Hedgehog 🦔
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Class: Rogue; Speed
Romance: Amy Rose (Sweetrose le Fay) 🌸
Known relatives: Jules and Bernie the Hedgehog (bio-parents, deceased); Tom and Maddie Wachowski (step-parents); Miles "Tails" Prower (step-little brother);
Origins: Green Forest, then Capital City rural district (Green Hill Kingdom)
Current base: Blackbloom Mansion, on Pumpkin Hill (Green Hill Kingdom)
Voiced by: Ben Schwartz (ENG) / Renato Novara (ITA)
BIO
He's blue, he's incredibly fast, and he can't swim. He has big green eyes, a backpack full of potions and maps, and his name is listed under "species" in a hypothetical encyclopedia: SONIC THE ADVENTURER. The world's fastest hedgehog is a about-15-years-old Mobian, gifted with incredible powers manifested since birth: supersonic running, very high jumps, a strange sense of danger, and the ability to curl up into a ball to attack his enemy using kinetic energy.
He left his home in the countryside to pursue a life of adventure, but he doesn't remember much of his childhood: only that he was adopted by the Wachowski human couple when he was still a baby. Today, Sonic's exploits have made him a legend in bardic ballads, but he remains indifferent and values the freedom and life by his own rules above anything else.
He is kind at heart, but can be short tempered and is a quick to throw himself into the middle of trouble without a second thought, remaining steadfast to the end. His personality is a juxtaposition of kindness and ferocity, as on the had he does all in his power to snuff out evil, but he also can't look away when somebody else is in trouble.
Sonic hates boredom and being tied down, so much of his time spent running towards the next danger or adventure.
NOTES
* Outfit inspired by Tangled's Flynn Ryder (see fanart above) + one gold earring on left ear (original fanart here)
* He's literally Movie Sonic in a fantasy world!
* He first encountered the world through books. So expect references to RPG features or nicknames based on literary characters (e.g., "Dracul-hog" for Shadow).
* The Lycan Later is a fundamental potion for Sonic: it prevents him from transforming into a Werehog for a few hours (but it tastes REALLY bad, like feet!)
AUTHOR NOTES
Setting a Sonic adventure in a fantasy setting inevitably leads to the protagonist being a "Knight of the Wind" or yet another mythologically incorrect King Arthur (see the precedent with Sonic and the Black Knight). The adventurer with humble origins elegantly avoids the cliché, bringing the blue hedgehog closer to the essence of works like Dragon Age, Dungeons & Dragons, and Lord of the Rings. However, despite containing a theme I categorically avoid, paradoxically, among the (many) sources of inspiration for Sonic's unconventional "thief" role, I would cite @hayweerc and his work Bound by Chaos —which, in turn, I quote, "is heavily inspired by attributes of DnD and other related rpg fantasy realms". So creating a non-knight/king Sonic is possible, albeit used in pro-fanon works.
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DRAW THIS IN YOUR STYLE Challenge
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! 😉
Can you imagine Sonic using these guidelines and drawing inspiration from/copying the fanart above? If you're a truly talented Sonic fan artist, you'll definitely take up this challenge!
Show me what you can do. I can't wait to see your fanarts! 😊
Question about the future of the story out of curiosity: Sonadow?
Nope! As explained on my FAQ page, the ships in this story are Sonamy, Silvaze, and Shadouge. (While you could always access the page from desktop, I just added it to my pinned post as well for convenience. 👍) There will, however, be lots of platonic bonding between Sonic and Shadow, as well as between them and Silver. :) Thanks for asking!
📣📢NEW SFA CHAPTER OUT NOW!!! 📢📣
🔹 Genre: Dark Fantasy, Adventure, Soft Horror
🔹 Themes: Self-acceptance, sacrifice, dark magic, Werehogs, vampires, Dark Fantasy Dragon Age-style
💬 PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY! 🥺
Share or reblog if you're interested! Any feedback helps my fanfic reach more readers.
❗❗ VERY IMPORTANT ❗❗
If you love Storybook stories and classic fantasy, please leave a comment or a kudos on AO3. It's the fuel that helps me finish the next chapters!
“Shadow…look. I don’t trust many people. I respect even fewer. You…are special. So much so I feel compelled to admit it […].
Be careful, here at the end of it all, okay? And if you need someone after it’s all said and done, I’m here for you.”
— Rouge, from Sonic X Shadow: Generations
this is a request from @mariliahelena2000 !! Sorry for taking so long, I really really hope this lines up at all with what you were picturing, I kind of did my own thing with it bc of the simple prompt. I'm assuming you meant pirate captain shadow? hope you enjoy ⋆˚࿔
── .✦ gender neutral reader, introspective
݁₊ . ݁ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━. ⊹ ݁.
✶ Shadow is quite certain something has been tailing his ship through at least the last three ports.
✶ He hasn't caught a glimpse of it just yet though, so he's avoided informing his crew for now. Being the captain of his ship, he likely feels a deep sense of responsibility for his crew, and despite how hard he drills them doesn't want them getting picked off like grapes from a vine. He doesn't know if you're aggressive at this point, but... he's keeping tabs just to be safe.
✶ It's starting to get a little blurry on why he hasn't told the crew, though. They should know about a potential threat, right? But he's not eager to undermine his authority by admitting his inability to track you down thus far, nor does he feel like explaining to the ship that the reason they've been circling the same large peninsula for the last several weeks is because he's positive this must be your hunting grounds.
✶ ...So maybe it's more than just keeping tabs on you.
✶ Shadow, above anything, is a hedgehog who does not like feeling helpless. He does not like not knowing. All this- you- it's making him feel like he doesn't have as much control over an environment that used to make him feel safe and free, not when he knows you're out there and eluding him.
✶ The sea is his space, you see. This is where he can truly be his own man, even if the oppressive laws of the mainland label him a cutthroat pirate. And to him, you're invading it. You are an unknown variable that will not stop slipping away from him and it is driving him mad.
✶ Maybe it's the nature of a merperson, to strive to make life difficult for landfolk. He's noticed he's been a little extra stern to the crew lately, a little lacking in patience and quicker to anger. He doesn't like that either. He doesn't want to act foolish, and he really doesn't want to rush headlong like an idiot into what very well may be a wild goose chase, but damn it all if there isn't something about you that makes him utterly determined to catch you.
✶ And catch you he does. Really, he's nothing if not competent.
✶ Or, well, maybe "caught" is a strong word. Merfolk are so familiar with the contours of the sea that they're only ever really seen if they want to be seen, and after finally seeing you in all your glory there's a needling thought in the back of Shadow's mind that he never wants anyone else but him to ever lay eyes on you. (He tries to crush the thought. You're his quarry, nothing more.)
✶ When he "catches" you, he's probably alone. Maybe they've finally docked at a safe (lawless) port, and he allowed his crew some rare shore leave. He's not one for the raucous parties and drinking they get up to, showing his face for only a few minutes to keep up morale and appearances before slipping away into the starlit night, back to the docks. Back to the sea.
✶ It's comforting, for him. He almost wouldn't even notice your head poking silently out of the water to look at him curiously.
✶ When he does of course eventually realize, it's probably one of the few moments in his life he's actually a little paralyzed and doesn't know what to do. That's when you'd drag yourself out of the water a little more, hands clinging to the wooden boards of the dock.
✶ He has never seen anything like you. Your tail is thick and long and glittering, undulating slowly in the water to keep your less fishy half above water. The color is stunning, and no doubt he's thanking his lucky stars he has such good nightvision so as to see the way the water dapples against it.
✶ He can't take the way you look at him. Can't take the fact that you willingly showed yourself to him, who had been hunting you for who knows how long now. Doesn't know what to do with it at all.
✶ So he stares until you've finished drinking him in, looking your fill of glossy black quills and chest fur thick with sea spray. At the very least he won't be the one to leave first. He still has his pride.
✶ After that first meeting, it becomes something of a ritual. He doesn't seek you out anymore- you come to him. You appear by the porthole of the captain's cabin, tucking yourself close against the shadow of his ship's hull to stay safe from wandering eyes. You lounge in large tidepools while he keeps watch, ears twitching with suppressed anxiety. When you first spoke it nearly scared him clear out of his fur, but now you can manage quiet nautical conversations and brief warnings of nearby riptides or rocky rapids.
✶ He eases over time, of course, but it takes a while, and likely several near-death experiences for the both of you. He'll be damned if he allows a harpoon within twenty leagues of you again.
✶ The two of you are just for each other. A guilty pleasure from land and sea, maybe scorned from both their civilizations, finding a little solace in the saltwater and stars and scales.
✶ Maybe the sea can be just for the two of you. He is a pirate, so sharing isn't something that comes naturally to him, but you're not a treasure he can bring himself to ignore any longer.
📣📢NEW SFA CHAPTER OUT NOW!!! 📢📣
🔹 Genre: Dark Fantasy, Adventure, Soft Horror
🔹 Themes: Self-acceptance, sacrifice, dark magic, Werehogs, vampires, Dark Fantasy Dragon Age-style
💬 PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY! 🥺
Share or reblog if you're interested! Any feedback helps my fanfic reach more readers.
❗❗ VERY IMPORTANT ❗❗
If you love Storybook stories and classic fantasy, please leave a comment or a kudos on AO3. It's the fuel that helps me finish the next chapters!
