Shadow the hedgehog has Autism (ASD) and here's why
Here's my character analysis on the one and only Shadow the hedgehog and why this edgy little rat is very obviously autistic!
The source you ask? Me of course, cuz I'm autistic/j
Alot of autistic people are often overwhelmed by touch, some will avoid it at all cost and others are only ok with it if they are the one who start the hug. Our senses are heightened more than the Allistic individual so we tend to get overwhelmed with certain things more easily.
Shadow seems to get overwhelmed when he doesn't want to be touched or isn't expecting it, his response is either aggression (such as getting annoyed, yelling or even getting physical) or to just freeze entirely which is a common response from autistic people who don't like being touch.
Monotone voice and being non verbal
Shadow's voice is quiet and monotone which is another every autistic trait. His voice doesn't vary too often and even when it does it's when extreme emotion is at play like when he's angry. David Humphrey's proformence as Shadow in particular really shows it the best in my opinion, Shadow remains mostly monotone but still emotional and you can tell what he's feeling.
Even in the comics he doesn't speak too often and when he does it's something short and straight to the point. It's even been shown that he's nonverbal most of the time especially when stressed.
Alexithymia and Low empathy
Shadow is shown several times to have Low empathy and is unable to really connect or understand others emotions very well (not understanding yours or others emotions is called Alexithymia btw!)
No empathy doesn't mean no emotions, it just means you don't feel empathy as easily as others do and Shadow has shown often times to have low empathy, even in sonic adventure 2 when he was at his most emotional he was still fairly closed off from others emotionally only crying when Amy reminded him of Maria.
This one is pretty simple I'll just put some examples here.
Random little autistic thing he does
Intense eye contact, the cross armed pose cuz pressure is comfortable, being blunt and literal, doesn't like large spaces n stands in the corner and hyper focuses on things!
Feel free to add more ty for reading ^^
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