#shadow critical

[sonic-takes]

sega shouldve just made another character instead of giving the edgelord game to shadow. also who the Fuck thought that making him part alien was a good idea

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[sonic-takes]

Every single character that SEGA and OTHER Sonic creators have made possesses so much potential, and SEGA, being the overlord of these properties has failed almost every single one of them more often than not.

I'm applying this to many characters, but I believe this opinion most clearly befits Amy, Shadow, and Infinite (as my prime examples).

Amy has, for the most part, been written annoyingly. If she isn't a mysoginistic charicature, then she's just kind of irritating, and for a fictional character, THAT is a cardinal sin. While the Boom show's writing gave her a lot more personality, she still felt really surface level. As such a long-standing member of the Sonic roster, she deserves better, and hopefully that manifests in the firm of giving her a more concrete third dimension beyond "GIRL" and "SONIC."

Next up is Shadow. As a later but still seasoned addition to the Sonicverse lineup, Shadow started off really strong. His relationship with his early life and how it tied into his identity was an intriguing multi-game journey, and the fact that his game did so poorly not only doomed the concept of spin-off games for Sonic characters, but damned his character into such a static entity that he's gone the way of the Amy: irritating. He never learns, never grows, and never does anything decent. He's a jerk whose antics aren't endearing, much less funny.

Finally, Infinite. The newer villain's status actually ties in with Shadow's. See, Infinite is so horrifically infantile that he's hard to take seriously. "Ultimate mercenary?" That's such a dull concept. Infinite was a thug who gained a lot of power and threw a tantrum with it. If SEGA was smarter, than that could have been entertaining. In Forces, Shadow serves as a catalyst for Infinite's loss as well as his rise to power... and then doesn't play any more role. The jackal fails as a villain primarily because his heroes have no substance to their fight. He's just another powerful bad guy. There's no lesson or intent behind his tragic tale.

I'm more than open to discussion regarding these and other characters.

[sonic-takes]

Infinite could've been really cool if SEGA gave a shit about long term character development, particularly in Shadow's case. As the resident "edgelord" among the Sonic cast, as well as the catalyst behind Infinite's "origin story," Shadow would have had amazing potential with Infinite, because Shadow's actually wanted to burn down the world. We could have had an awesome dichotomy between a Shadow who had been legitimately wronged, wanted revenge, and had grown past it, and an Infinite who had been humiliated rather than killed, and tried to throw a super-powered tantrum like a child. But no. SEGA wants a static cast with a brooding Shadow and a one-time villain to bring in sales.

Which, you know, brings me to a separate Shadow tangent. He used to have character development. He used to grow. Now, he's a meme at best and bad writing at worst.

[sonic-takes]

current shadow is just boom shadow tacked onto game shadow with how much he’s total dumbass asshole now

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[sonic-takes]

I'm not a big fan of black doom, from his character and concept alone, and I'm not a big fan of shadow being related to doom

it just makes shadow boring to me imo, as if a generic edgy origin story would makes me like him

this makes me sound like I don't like shadow and I don't, it's just I wish they stuck with just being created at the lab and not related to doom at all

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[sonic-takes]

Have to anon for this one but Shadow's voice was best in SA2. He actually sounded like a depressed 15 year old insted of a 70yo smoker or a saturday morning cartoon villain.

[sonic-takes]

shadow joining g.u.n. is still the most mindboggling thing in the universe. of all the people to join what is literally the government why would it be the one who's a heroic loner and wishes to save the earth to fulfill Maria's wish. and that's without mentioning that they're the ones who ruined his life entirely. even in ShTH he just steals the motorcycle and guns from them he isnt actually working with them. I dont get why 06 did this

[sonic-takes]

Hi! Sometimes it makes me sad that many fans only see blaze as "sonic from other dimension/ sonic 2.0". Also, I feel we have seen so much the "rivalry" between sonic and shadow that It gets tired. I think the rivalry between sonic and jet has so much potential