| NOTE: This page is about the Sonic Boom incarnation of Shadow the Hedgehog as his mainline counterpart is not Shonen Villain. Thus, only information about the Sonic Boom Shadow should be listed here. |
| “ | "Saving the world"? You?! Don't make me laugh. You're weak! And you know what makes you weak? Your loyalty to your pathetic friends. You're not going through that portal. I'm gonna show you just how weak you are! | „ |
| ~ Shadow before his fight in Rise of Lyric. |
| “ | Your shoddy craftsmanship brings shame on all hedgehog-kind! And for that, you shall perish. | „ |
| ~ Shadow arrogantly claims that Sonic's existence is an insult to their species. |
Shadow the Hedgehog is a major antagonist in the Sonic Boom spinoff series.
He is the rival of Sonic the Hedgehog, who seeks to prove his superiority over him in every way. He is also notably darker and more villainous than his counterpart.
He was voiced by Kirk Thornton in the English dub, and by Kōji Yusa in the Japanese dub.
What Makes Him a Shonen Villain?[]
- Villainous/Anti-Villainous: Shadow is one of the most heinous villains in the series, attempted to destroy the entire universe out of spite and his so called heroic traits seem to be ore selfish with his actual preventions being pretty small. He kidnaps Eggman and his alternate counterpart, Lord Eggman and put them in a secret location, knowing that it would create a catastrophic anomaly that may destroy the world. By the end of the episode, it had triggered a number of natural disasters which posed a serious challenge to the heroes and would only get worse with time.
- Powerful/Skillful: When he believed that Sonic had insulted him (Although it was actually Eggman who made a poorly edited recording of an earlier conversation), he went to fight Sonic's teammates. He effortlessly defeated them and held his own against Sonic himself, showing him to be the most powerful fighter in the series. Is combat style focuses on constant use of teleportation, dodging enemy attacks without issue and easily pulling off ruthless surprise attacks.
- Pursues a Big-End Goal: His main goal is to be a petty revenge seeker, seeking topunish those who wronged him, often at the expense of others. There is an ongoing objective but this was inconclusive is to destroy Sonic and prove that he is superior to him.
- Arrogant: In Rise of Lyric, he attempted to prevent Sonic from going into the past to stop Lyric the Last Ancient just to prove to him that his friends were weak.
- Intelligent: Despite lack of intelligence in this version, Shadow is an incredibly skilled combatant capable of taking on multiple opponents at the same time and that could overwhelm the totality of Team Sonic without any aid.
- Cold-Hearted/Ruthless: Shadow comes off as blunt, aggressive, arrogant, and uncaring. He doesn't tolerate outside interference and quickly eliminates anyone who gets in his way. He is likewise willing to bring absolute punishment to anyone over anything, minor or major, and expand his vengeance to include people who did nothing to him; such as when he repeatedly insulted Doctor Eggman and other villains, despite them treating him with nothing but respect.
- Short-Tempered: He is easily angered and aggressive to the extreme sometimes.
- Laughably Evil: He has few comedic moments such as him insulting Sonic's poor craftsmanship skills, being distracted by Eggman's childish selfie and with Sonic's mercy, where Shadow asks him for his last words. This backfires spectacularly when Sonic yells "Volcano wonder pants!" in response, confusing Shadow on how that statement doesn't make any sense and thus allowing the Blue Blur to blindside him
- Psychopathic: Shadow is fiercely independent; he operates as a lone wolf, viewing friendship as a sign of “weakness” and refusing to serve anyone but himself. An example of this is the end of Shattered Crystal, when Sticks discovers the meaning of teamwork; Shadow simply scoffs. Even when joining forces with others, he has no interest in collaborating or the listening to their plans unless they align with his own goals.
- Narcissistic: He's basically a cocky, shallow jackass who antagonizes Sonic for no other reason beyond "because I can." It doesn't help that he has no relevance to the plot other than being a boss fight. Meanwhile, he takes pride in himself no matter how bad his actions are.
- Has a Sinister Laugh: Has shown to be easily not above the occasional brash smile or witty remark.
- Sadistic: He enjoys tormenting and humiliating others, both physically and psychologically.
- Freudian Excuse: While Shadow is distraught that he may have been controlled by Lyric with a Mind Control Device, he shows no sympathy for what happened in the feud between Sonic and Tails in the first game. After being freed from Lyric's mind control by Team Sonic, Shadow decided to go after the villain to finish him off once and for all, leaving the team without even saying "thank you".
- Has Incompetent Minions: Shadow was initially willing to work with Team Eggman to fight Sonic, yet abandoned the group when he deemed them weak and incapable (although, ironically, their teamwork and collaboration was relatively efficient when they attacked Team Sonic).
- Serves as a Foil to the Hero/Protagonist: Shadow is the evil counterpart of Sonic. Since while in the games, he and Sonic are rivals, they have some respect for each other and team up on multiple occasions. In this series, their rivalry is more hostile and both of them are not in good terms, which makes them enemies instead of occasional allies and wants nothing to do with them in the games.
- Bloodthirsty: He decapitated Orbot and Cubot, who despite posed no threat to him and never provoked him. While they survived, such cruelty was still unnecessary.
- Is a Game Changer: Unlike other villains from Sonic Boom (including Dr. Eggman and Dave the Intern) and his original version, he has no redeeming qualities, is not played for laughs and his crimes are taken completely seriously.
- Is a Secondary-Color Nemesis: Like his video game counterpart, Shadow is a black hedgehog.
- Is a Dark Lord: Despite his relatively low resources, he is undeniably the most heinous villain in the series. He nearly succeeded in destroying the entire universe, killing almost every character. Not even Lyric the Last Ancient was able to match this scale of villainy. In the end, he manages to get away without suffering a definite defeat or any punishment for all his crimes turns him into a Karma Houdini.
- Calls Out Attacks: Shadow had already done this a couple of times as the boss of the Abandoned Research Facility level in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. The game begins to envelop him in a red aura that enhances his attacks and makes him practically invulnerable, he will shouts as he throws energy balls at Sonic and Tails. Here are some examples:
- CHAOS BLAST!!!
- CHAOS SPEAR!!!
- Has Black Air Force Energy: He grew so vengeful that he lost his temper and chose to exact revenge on his "pathetic" universe by attempting to destroy it, showing no sympathy for the innumerable lives that would have been lost as a result of his actions.
Trivia[]
- This is the only version of Shadow to be Shonen Villain.