I talk a lot about Eggman gaslighting and lying to the real Shadow to make him believe he's an android, as it's one of the most interesting underutilized concepts in the games to me
But something I haven't talked about but also find cool and interesting is how the Shadow androids in 2 player Battle Mode seem to believe themselves to be real and the others to be fake, with the voice clips of "You might look like me but I know you're just a fake" and "Let's see which one of us is the fake then". I thought up a fun way to canonize it
Eggman programmed them with a desire to fight and prove themselves to be the real Shadow. Any could have an identity crisis just like the real Shadow, which Eggman tried to take advantage of. I can see the bastard programming the android copies with the same issues to try to get the real Shadow to be less suspicious of his own uncertain feelings. Brought them into a life of confusion and desperation to prove themselves as the real and best one (a lot like Metal but without knowing they're artificial).
I headcanon that another reason he specifically included the identity crisis in the cloning process besides not wanting the real Shadow to stand out in his feelings is to make them violent and fight each other to prove themselves for good battle training, so they can have what it takes to combat Sonic, like he said he created them for. Also that by giving them a neverending desire to prove themselves to be the best and real one of many, they'll keep doing their absolute best for Eggman no matter what and work all the more harder for him.
It's out of not just a programmed desire but a desperation to prove they're real and worthy. It makes them aggressive and destructive with intense feelings of urgency. And Eggman would never give the praise and approval they want because the desperation only increases that way and it's a good thing, it drives them to push so hard for his satisfaction. So they have to exist with feelings of uncertainty and insecurity and a fear of being thrown away if they don't prove themselves but they try to hide it with an act of confidence and extreme violence.
And I bet Eggman would like messing with their heads just like the real Shadow. Because he could've programmed them to be aware that they're androids but with an immense loyalty to serve him but he opted for a trait that makes them insecure, desperate, tormented by themselves and their copies with the notion that they're weak and not real and the fake if they can't destroy the other. He enjoys the mental damage, suffering, and vulnerability and exploiting that, talking to them in ways that confuses them, stirring up the fear inside of them of being thrown away, making them hateful and violent to the others
Even to the death for his entertainment and to find out which one is stronger and worthy of keeping while the other is scrapped. They tear each other apart and learn each other are made up of wires and "bleed" black. When they first see it, they don't want to believe the same artificial "organs" and "blood" are inside them, until it happens to them too and they can't escape the harsh truth that there the same inside, just artificial copies, fakes. The two androids fighting both discover that neither are real and they just brutalized and/or killed each other to prove they're real and worthy but their entire existence is a lie
Eggman loves seeing their devastation and finding out who is the strongest and most worthy of keeping, also taking sadistic pleasure in seeing one rip the other apart to impress him. He has his ways of making sure this discovery won't allow them to betray him in the future, if they find out the truth and live on and have to serve him after the battle. The way he'll treat them will make them wish they were the one that had been destroyed, along with how they now feel like inferior copies with no heart and soul- until he takes their ability to feel away after he's done toying with their feelings- or beats them into submission
I'm imagining these battles mostly happening at Lava Shelter, since it's the only stage in 2P Battle mode that's actually one of Eggman's bases
The others are G.U.N, so maybe Eggman sends them to fight at their bases sometimes so they'll go and fuck up and destroy G.U.N and all their shit while they're at it battling to the death too!
I love the Shadow androids, especially the metallic different colored ones in 2P mode. They have a lot of untapped potential in multiple areas that I really wanna explore more 💜
