Just realized an interesting tidbit where both Shadoles and Sproutlings are similar in that they are both described as having a collective consciousness.
Sproutlings explain in "The Cage of Dreams" that they, and all plant life in general, have shared roots and are all just part of the Mana Tree. Treant also say something similar if you unlock the second Orchard, I just can't remember the particular dialogue at the moment and I don't have screenshots of it. Flowerlings by extension also work off this, as the Flowerlings in Mindas Ruins especially show that they can communicate telepathically and even show other psychic powers.
With Shadoles, it's harder to pick up in-game that they're all just one thing themselves, since they speak with quite the snarky personality and don't seem spacey like Sproutlings are.
I just think it's an interesting comparison that these two races of characters are opposites in many ways - Sproutlings being somewhat ditzy or odd, but harmless, and they have a loving outlook. They are found all over realm of life and seem to represent life itself, but when their time comes to join the Mana Tree, they do so without a fuss.
Shadoles belong to the realm of death, often speak in a caustic manner, and seem eager to drag or lure the hopeless into a despairing existence as another Shadole in the Underworld, but they do have their own honorable duties preparing the dead, and though they seemed eager to turn Diddle into one of them, they also tell Diddle there is actually a way out, too.
Idk, I just find it interesting when themes of life and death are personified in characters and how it comes out they are similar in significant ways, too.
