Inconsistently Admirable Wiki

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This Article Contains Spoilers - WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all.

Shadow: The last time I sat beneath stars like this… I was with her. I've felt this pain for so long. It's all I know.
Sonic: When I lost Longclaw, I felt the same way.
Shadow: Did your pain eventually go away?
Sonic: No. But in time, I learned there's something even more powerful than pain. The love we felt for each other. That's what you need to hold onto, Shadow. Maria might be gone, but your love will always remain.
Shadow: The light shines even though the star's gone. This whole mess is my fault. I've been so blinded by rage, I thought… I had no choice.
~ Shadow redeems himself after discussing loss with Sonic.
This is our last chance… to do the right thing.
~ Shadow convinces Dr. Robotnik to save the Earth.

Shadow the Hedgehog is the secondary antagonist of the 2024 film, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

He is an extraterrestrial hedgehog that crash-landed on Earth and then joined an experimental research by Professor Gerald Robotnik up until G.U.N. closed it down and froze Shadow for 50 years. After being freed, he worked with Gerald and his grandson Ivo to destroy the Earth and avenge Maria before understanding that her influence still lived in him with Sonic's help, joining him to save Earth.

He is voiced by Keanu Reeves.

His Good Ranking[]

What Makes Him Admirable?[]

  • In the past, Shadow worked with the scientists at G.U.N. in order to conduct experiments with his power for the potential benefit of all mankind as stated by Gerald.
  • While he was in the G.U.N. base, he was befriended by Maria Robotnik and once the G.U.N. agents turned against the little family, he tried to escape with Gerald and Maria before she was killed in an explosion caused by G.U.N. agents, which Gerald was framed for and Shadow was cryogenically frozen for 50 years.
  • After awakening and escaping the G.U.N. facility, when he found himself in the streets of Tokyo, he genuinely didn't want to hurt anyone and tried to get the G.U.N. agents to leave him alone, only acting in self-defense. When Team Sonic, confronted him, he did the same by trying to tell them to stay out of it and not seek further conflict.
  • While watching Robotnik’s soap opera, he was opposed to the woman in a love triangle being treated like “a prize to be won.” While he suggested she simply kill the suitors, he demonstrated respect to her (and indirectly other women) having agency as a person rather being regarded like a possession.
  • While he did critically injure Tom, it was not intentional as he believed he had encountered Commander Walters, who was partly responsible for Maria's death, and only attacked wishing to avenge her. After he realized he had struck the wrong person and seeing Sonic's distress over his injured father-figure (which reminded him of himself when he lost Maria) he chose to leave instead of fighting Sonic once more.
  • He began to have doubts because of his attack on Tom and questioned Gerald on whether the destruction of Earth was truly what Maria wanted.
  • After being defeated by Super Sonic and then spared, the two had a civilized conversation over the pain they've endured and the friends they lost, helping Shadow understand his wrongdoings and join Sonic in order to stop the Eclipse Cannon from firing on Earth.
  • He and Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds to use Super form and then fought the enforcer robots sent by Gerald together, arriving in time to stop the cannon.
  • When the Eclipse Cannon fired, he and Sonic got in the way of the beam and withheld its energy long enough for Knuckles, Tails, and Ivo to redirect the beam away from Earth, saving billions of lives.
  • Even before his redemption, he called out Sonic for abandoning his family to get revenge on him and letting his anger of him injuring Tom consume him.
    • While that was uncalled for considering that it was own fault that Sonic was consumed by hate and anger in the first place, not to mention that unlike Shadow himself, Sonic only planned on hurting him, not the whole world, this does ultimately brings Sonic back into his right senses as the blue hedgehog knows that this isn't what Tom would want.
  • After Sonic got knocked out and began falling, Shadow took it upon himself to stop the Eclipse Cannon's explosion from contaminating Earth's atmosphere and slowly killing everyone with radioactive rain, convincing Ivo to redeem himself in order to help him.
  • He removed his limiter rings and pushed the Eclipse Cannon as far as possible from Earth until it's explosion, being willing to sacrifice his own life to save the world that Maria loved.
  • After surviving the explosion, he retrieved his limiter rings to contain his own power.

What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]

  • He is far too much of a vengeful individual as he was a vital part of Gerald's plot to use the Eclipse Cannon to kill everyone on Earth out of bitterness left over Maria's death, with Shadow genuinely believing that the complete annihilation of the world was the only way to truly avenge Maria's death. Even after attacking Tom and understanding that this may not be what Maria wanted them to do, he still allowed his own hate to blind him and charged up the Eclipse Cannon, giving Gerald the power to wipe out humanity.
  • He is very jerkish and rude towards the people he's around, most notably Sonic. Though he does ditch this behavior and becomes more upbeat and cheerful once the latter gets through to him, so this isn't that preventing.
  • He is quite lethal, as he has no qualms with causing the death of over a billion innocent lives all in the name of avenging Maria, even though only G.U.N. was responsible for her demise. Even then, he also exhibits other lethal moments.
    • When he broke out of the G.U.N. facility, he took out all the guards that tried to contain him and later did the same when he was surrounded in Tokyo, not caring about the safety of those around him. He also caused a big enough explosion to be spotted by Team Sonic up in the air from several miles away.
    • When he found Tom disguised as Walters, he attempted to kill him on the spot, wounding him badly enough that he had to be taken to a hospital and was bedridden for the rest of the film. Granted, while Shadow did express shock after realizing his mistake, he still wanted Walters dead for being the one who put him in stasis to begin with.
  • He was shown to be quite the hypocrite as he called out Sonic for abandoning his family to get revenge on him and letting his anger of him injuring Tom consume him. While he was correct to do so, Sonic only acted like that because Shadow nearly killed Tom and unlike Shadow, Sonic didn't target the whole world.

Trivia[]

  • He is the third version of Shadow the Hedgehog to be Inconsistently Admirable and is also the only one to be Inconsistently Heinous at the same time.
    • He is also the second Inconsistently Admirable in the Sonic Cinematic Universe, after Knuckles and before Eggman.
  • While he's currently Inconsistently Admirable right now, this might change if he returns for the upcoming fourth installment.

External Links[]

Navigation[]

            Sonic the Hedgehog logo Inconsistently Admirable

Games
Mainline: Shadow the Hedgehog | Sage
Sonic Boom: Sonic the Hedgehog | Miles "Tails" Prower | Amy Rose | Knuckles the Echidna | Sticks the Badger

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Sonic SatAM: Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic X: Sonic the Hedgehog | Amy Rose
Sonic Boom: Sonic the Hedgehog | Miles "Tails" Prower | Amy Rose | Knuckles the Echidna | Sticks the Badger | Orbot and Cubot
Sonic Prime: Shadow the Hedgehog
Knuckles: Knuckles the Echidna

Movies
Dr. Ivo Robotnik | Knuckles the Echidna | Shadow the Hedgehog

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IDW Comics: Shadow the Hedgehog

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Willy Wonka | Indiana Jones | Tommy Jarvis | Gale Weathers | Dexter Reed | Count Olaf | Napoleon Dynamite | Chris Rock | Optimus Prime | Jetfire | Iron Man | Hulk | Samantha Carpenter | Knuckles the Echidna | Dr. Ivo Robotnik | Shadow the Hedgehog

See Also
DreamWorks Inconsistently Admirable | Marvel Cinematic Universe Inconsistently Admirable | Nickelodeon Inconsistently Admirable | Transformers Inconsistently Admirable

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