Your Opinion on Shadow

Shadow works far better as a character nowadays than Knuckles. In that he actually was relevant to the story of the games in the last 15 years, even if people weren't too keen on the stories themselves.

That said, other than cameos, I think both characters could be easily left aside now with minimal damage to the series. Have them still out there, but don't feel obligated to have them in. That's another thing Unleashed did right.

 

I'm indifferent towards Shadow, he was once, like so many of Sonic Team's ideas, a good concept but the execution was terrible. I can understand that he's there as a balance to Sonic's gayness (in both senses of the word). I don't really see why Sonic has to be so cheery, I loved his attitude in SCD. He had a seriousness about him that fitted the situation, he wasn't saving the world with a cheesy grin on his face. If you said Sonic was right and Shadow was left, both their characters need to be brought closer to the centre. I didn't mind him having a gun, I think he should still have one. Not an ultra realistic one, like in ShTH, one that's slighty comical, like a laser pistol. I think it would work, I hope it would play like Shinobi.

 

I guess popular demand. Look at Marvel Comic's Venom character. He looked really cool and was kind of an opposite to Spider-man (like Shadow to Sonic), but the creators intended to kill him off. The fans wouldn't allow it. Then later, the writers for Venom comics abused the shit out of the character with horrible story lines and such (similar to shadow).

Basically, if Shadow could be written well (and feature in a game with a refreshing take on the Sonic franchise, aka no guns), I think the character could succeed.

I also just like to say franchise.

Yeah, this is almost a direct parallel to the Venom conundrum, except one is a video game and one is a comic book. I also agree with your thoughts on the Shadow game. I too expected it to delve more into the character, but it just didn't work for me.

 

great visual design, bad execution. Then again in a series of crappy dialouge and ass-grabbing homoerotica, he's not so bad in comparison.

If the character interactions (as well as the rest of the story) were written by competent writers, maybe the developers could focus on making a better game and everything wouldn't be such a sloppy mess.

 

Uninspired.
Has brought very little to the actual series.
Looks like a sloppy fanchar.
His gameplay either sucks or is redundant with Sonic's.
Washed-out "generic badass" personality that's a big cliché nowadays.
Switches willy-nilly between brooding anti-hero and stone-cold sociopath whenever it's convenient.
Wouldn't be needed at all if Sega stopped making Sonic so gay.
Overpowered.
Contradicts one of the very premises of the series (fastest thing alive etc.)
His game is an abomination.
His storylines are the textbook example of failing at beeing 'serious', 'mature' or whatever shit Sonic Team thinks they can make this cheap knockoff of a household name be.

Shadow is nothing more than an eyesore. Half of the fanchar population in the Sonic fandom manages to be better characters than that piece of shit.

 

So many of those apply to just about every single character in the franchise. It isn't as though Sonic himself hasn't been the titular character in more than one abomination since then, though of course I'm sure there are those who would argue that opinion.

If you ask me, singling out characters to pick as fucking up the franchise is insane. They aren't fucking up the franchise, they are fucked up because of the franchise.

Let's have a look at Blaze though for instance... people seem to like her in spite of the obvious fact that she's a female Shadow when it comes right down to it.

 

Knuckles - because when he came out, I too was angry and had dreads.

 

I hate Shadow in the games. His personality in Sonic Universe, however, is what it should be in the games. No brooding, no MARIAAAAA, no "I hate Sonic", no "Ultimate Lifeform" bullshit. He has a personality in that comic.

 

Because Cream is obviously Shadow's BFF.
Blaze certainly appeared as an anti-social character as well, but, as Vaiyt stated, Shadow can oscilate in between the "anti-social anti-hero that does nothing except look 'cool' to the new fandom" and "TOTAL RAGING CARNAGE SOCIOPATH" characters with no penalty or anything envolved. Blaze is not like that, she was an anti-social character, but she is also noble and at the end of her very first game appearance, learned how to trust others besides her. Plus, unlike Shadow, she doesn't hate anyone or anything, she just holds all responsability on her shoulders.

 

Total Raging Carnage? I know a couple of the plot lines in Shadow depicted that, but thats a rarity. As is just about everything else stated. More recently, Shadow is just the overly bland stoic type (like Blaze) who gets moderately emotional during certain events that affect his close friends (like Blaze). Really, he is just like Blaze in every notable way.

 

1/3 of the games in which he had active participation on the plot is not a rarity.
Plus his Maria phase had been long gone. He's just a badass loner that doesn't have any reason to do anything. Blaze is an overproud character that learned how to trust others. But yes, in personality, Blaze's a leveled-down "nowadays" Shadow + actually has friends.

 

Not trolling! Pure serious.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I'm one of the apparent few who actually likes the rich pool of characters the series has. I only wish the games would live up to the potential...

[quote post='293998' date='Mar 27 2009, 10:25 PM']More recently, Shadow is just the overly bland stoic type (like Blaze) who gets moderately emotional during certain events that affect his close friends (like Blaze). Really, he is just like Blaze in every notable way.[/quote]

I wouldn't agree with this totally - Blaze received character development in Sonic Rush, and this seemed to have stuck in Rush Adventure, where she was altogether more pleasant. Shadow, on the other hand, has had a multi-game spanning character arc and seems to have changed very little. That said, I honestly don't think their popularity has much to do with their characters.

Shadow has become the chief secondary character of the 3D games - games which have, by and large, been poorly received. He's come to represent those games, whereas Blaze is associated with the Rush series, which is generally well liked. This is Shadow's biggest problem, in my opinion: he's the poster child for a series of games that not many people like, and the perceived decline of the franchise as a whole.

As I said in an earlier comment, I don't really like or dislike Shadow. I think his characterisation has... problems, though. He's presented as a badass anti-hero, but his actions don't often live up to this promise. Out of the triumvirate of anti-heroes the series has created for itself - Shadow, Rouge and Omega - he's undoubtedly the least evil. Omega's a near-emotionless machine fuelled by genocidal rage. Rouge is motivated chiefly by greed and will happily stab her allies in the back for the right price. Shadow's 'evil' actions in SA2 seemed to stem mostly from confusion, and he's since been shown to be grumpy and occasionally selfish, but that's about it. The 'evil' cutscenes of Shadow the Hedgehog (non-canon as they seemingly are) rang very false, because by this point we've already established that Shadow is a fundamentally moral being.

Honestly, the games' main method of reminding us how 'edgy' Shadow is seems to be contrasting him with Sonic. Given how punchable many recent portrayals of Sonic have been, this might not be such a great method (Shadow the Hedgehog, in particular, made Sonic out to be a complete arsehole).

I suppose I'll agree with the sentiment that Shadow needs to be put on the back burner for a while. Overexposure is hurting him, and the best tactic is probably to cut his appearances back, and maybe bring him back a few years down the line. It worked for Big, the only character in the whole franchise I've ever actively loathed. He went from bafflingly pointless in Adventure to a creepily childlike imbecile in Heroes, but Chronicles managed to bring him back and, without really altering the fundamentals of his character, made him actually likeable. So I believe that Shadow can be rehabilitated, although I sadly doubt that Sega will be able to resist using him for any length of time. They just keep on picking at that scab...

 

Well, I think I'm a pretty cool guy. I know I can be a bit of an ass, but its just one of my quirks you know. I'm actually the definition of an "internet tough guy" because in real life I'm a bit of a puss, lol. I don't bring anything to the table ever but my mere existence is influence enough to bring the #retro up from massive levels of suck, plus I'm a pretty cool guy. Did I say that already? Oh, I did. I'm also a big fan of nachos

 

It looks like a lot of you who keep mentioning the Maria stuff and guns are still stuck in year 2005-06, it's been three whole years since then, let's keep up people.

Oh well...

Shadow is one of the characters who can really be utilized more than others. Unlike Knuckles who should be maintaining constant watch over the ME until something happens to it, Shadow actually has something going for him as he can be freely used when given the role since he doesn't actually have anything to guard.

One thing I'm sure everyone agrees with is his shitty revival. I'm not saying that I prefer him dead, I actually prefer him alive, but if they were going to bring him back they could've showed him falling out of the sky in Heroes and that could've spared us the mess his game brought with us.

Thankfully, he's moved on from all that previous junk. He can be used in similar fashion as Tails and Amy and can be brought whenever he can.

In short, Shadow's a pretty decent character overall. I mean it's not like Sonic Team haven't screwed over all the other characters which they've done in 3 games in a row. *hint hint*

Though I guess a lot of folks are just jealous of how popular he is, and seem to make up reasons why they hate him. Some I understand, some are just ridiculous.

He could do with some more emotion though, bring back some sinister atmosphere, not just a dark one.

 

I like shadow for 2 reason. He was brillinat charecter in Sonic adventure 2 and... He actually make Sonic The Hedgehog (360) Playable in my opinion.

 

Shadow needs a 'facelift'.

He'd be cool as a cocky, darker version of Sonic (not emo...sadistic? yeh, why not.) And his voice and personality need to be more powerful...no more whispering, Shadow! Its as if he's lost his entire purpose (which he has...) but he can't find anything else to do in life.

They should make him a key Bad Guy, not a ridiculous anti-hero.
And they should also improve Drastically enhance his rivalry with Sonic - The races and battles of SA2 were fantastic!

 

I personally like Shadow where he is now - he has a purpose, being an EFFECTIVE G.U.N. Agent, and he stands out from others and brings that tidbit of maturity in that I'd otherwise miss (along with Espio). That aside, I can't see him being one of the bad guys anymore - wouldn't make the least bit o' sense to me if he suddenly changed again.

I also dun get why everyone and their grandmother calls him emo when he doesn't even fit the description.

 

He should be the Metaknight to Sonic's Kirby.

...Did I get that expression right?