Application for ataraxion
PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Takato
OOC Journal: soulscandalous
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: 26
Email + IM: milesforking @ AIM
Characters Played at Ataraxion: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Shadow the Hedgehog
Canon: Sonic the Hedgehog
Original or Alternate Universe: original
Canon Point: post-Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Number: 050
Setting:
This is where it all began and this is where I'll be taking him from.
History:
50 years before the start of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Shadow was a genetic experiment born on the space station ARK. Originally developed as an experiment to cure a terminal disease his creator's granddaughter carried as a means to study immortality and use the fruits as an attempt to cure her. This girl, Maria Robotnik, would be the cause that would set everything in motion for Shadow as, despite being an experiment, he grew close to her. When the ARK was attacked by G.U.N., he attempted to escape with Maria, only for her to be shot and killed in front of him. Captured, Shadow was then shipped off to Earth and locked away on Prison Island.
Fast forward 50 years later, Shadow is released from Prison Island by Maria's cousin, Ivo Robotnik a.k.a Eggman, who was seeking his grandfather's greatest creation. Haunted by his inability to protect Maria from her death, Shadow agrees to help him in order to seek revenge on those responsible, seeing the doctor for the genius that he is and not the megalomaniac others perceive him to be. Headlining Eggman's forces, Shadow soon crosses paths with Sonic, who has been accused for the crimes he (Shadow) has committed. However, with fate twisting his arm (and a certain Amy Rose), he realized that Maria's wish was for him to save humanity rather than hate them, teaming up with Sonic in the end to stop Eggman. After defeating the Biolizard which had fused with the ARK, Shadow fell to the Earth and was presumed dead.
An uncertain amount of time later, Rouge discovers Shadow locked in a stasis tube in one of Eggman's bases, and unknowingly releases the robot E-123 Omega at the same time, who begins to attack the newly awakened Shadow. After intervention by Rouge, the three of them become Team Dark. During their time as a team, Shadow discovers he has amnesia and can't remember anything other than his name and brief images of Maria's death, finding out later that Eggman made dozens of Shadow androids and lives with the question as to whether or not he's just a robot after Metal Sonic is defeated.
It turns out that he's not a robot. Shadow is actually the dual creation of an alien being known as Black Doom and Professor Gerald. Gerald used Black Doom's blood and the DNA of an artificially processed hedgehog to create Shadow, on the promise that Shadow would deliver the Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom. He goes against this plan however, choosing instead to carve his own path and put the past behind him by destroying the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon and confronting Doom in Super form.
It's unknown when it happened, but Shadow becomes an agent of G.U.N - presumably Rouge has dragged him into this role. On a mission to recover the Scepter of Darkness, Shadow encounters Mephiles the Dark, the being trapped inside the Scepter before being sent through time shenanigans to the future, where he learns he will become the enemy of mankind due to their fear of him. Shadow will be sealed away by a reprogrammed Omega sometime during this. Since the events of the game are eventually reset, it's safe to say that this will not happen in his future, and it's left uncertain.
Personality:
EMO. But in all seriousness.
Alongside his rather dark demeanor, Shadow can also be smug, arrogant, self-absorbed and somewhat sarcastic. He's very competitive, often coming off as blunt and uncaring along with being soft-spoken and reserved. Even with a lack of trust towards others, Shadow sometimes teams up with people for the greater good rather and sometimes but not always to further his own goals and ambitions. He has rather high expectations of himself and takes failures rather hard. He's annoyed rather easily, more prone to being serious despite having his own brand of humor despite having little patience for silly behavior. Shadow has a strong sense of justice, despising evil above all else and being selfless in his actions.
Despite being all this, Shadow is not completely heartless. He does care about others, going so far as to putting himself between Rouge and Omega in canon when he's released from stasis in Eggman's laboratory. Shadow has a strong sense of self, possessing an equally strong will that makes him rarely gullible or easily manipulated by others. This is shown in canon when encountered with the possibility of being an android, he states that even if his memories are fake he's still Shadow. Shadow rarely smiles, perhaps not letting others see any happiness so he has no weakness, brushing off any sympathy or kindness, often telling them not to waste their time. It's possible that he prefers not to show emotion, preferring to be alone.
Maria's death was a hard impact on his personality. Prior to her death he was friendly and not much but perhaps a bit more sociable, at least in her presence. She truly made him the happiest and he cared deeply for her. It's possible he never opened up to anyone after her death in fear of losing another friend. It seems like he doesn't have a sense of humor or happiness, and he doesn't like others seeing him act in such a way. He rarely smiles, and when he does it's usually when he's being smug about something. In spite of this, he shows warm feelings towards his friends, even if he does reject other people.
Shadow's disturbed by the fact that he's pretty much a Weapon of Mass Destruction, showing some form of sadness in one of the many multiple endings of his titular game. He quite possibly has some kind of mental disability, possibly schizophrenia or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as seen when he often hallucinates Maria's face, and also suffers from amnesia throughout the Shadow game. There's also an ending where he admits he's good for nothing but destruction and regrets his existence. Despite this, Shadow refuses to aid Mephiles in his plans in 2006, stating that he determines his own destiny, a show of his strong will and identity.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Like all hedgehogs, Shadow has a high aptitude for speed, helped along by his air shoes. He's more agile than Sonic, often shown to be graceful when dodging obstacles and jumping, capable of performing Sonic's trademark spin dash and homing attack.
His primary abilities, however, come from Chaos Power. His own trademark move is Chaos Control, an ability that allows him to manipulate time and space so that he can move at normal speed while other objects and people are moving at abnormal speed. It's unknown whether or not Shadow needs a Chaos Emerald to perform this ability, as several times in canon he's been shown without a known Emerald in possession. It's also unknown to the extent that Chaos Control can be used, but he's been shown to take objects and people with him, suggesting he simply has to touch an object.
When Shadow loses the rings around his wrists and ankles, he's able to unlease much more power than before, sometimes coming at the expense of losing his stamina (mostly shown in the anime, but this is presumably due to the lack of needing 50 rings to keep Super form). These are called "inhibitor rings" in the Archie Comics and I'll be referring to them as such due to their nature.
In Shadow the Hedgehog, new attacks are shown - Chaos Blast. This is induced when Shadow performs acts of excessive evil. Chaos Blast is a shockwave that eliminates everything in a certain radius. Of course, this will be nerfed on the Tranquility seeing as how he needs to commit an act of destruction to do so. He's also shown to be capable of using firearms and close combat weapons and can drive a wide range of vehicles in game.
He also has the capability of turning Super, a form which gives him the look of a gold hedgehog with red stripes, when combining the power of seven Chaos Emeralds and 50 Rings. In this form, his powers and abilities are tenfold, and is capable of moving large objects with Chaos Control in Super form, such as ARK.
Inventory:
Shadow's locker will contain his inhibitor rings and air shoes, since his abilities might very well be nerfed, given that he will be in human form. It's highly doubtful that he'll have a Chaos Emerald on hand, given that they have a habit of being scattered once used and I'm taking him from the end of the game.
Appearance:
As a human, Shadow has black spiky hair with red stripes and dark red eyes (not blood red as one might assume). He'll be around about 5'7-6' in height - the average height for a male human 15 year old - and not stocky or lanky, but rather normal build.
Age: He appears to be fifteen, but he was created over fifty years ago and is also ageless due to being an experiment on immortality.
SAMPLES
Log Sample:
Shadow had lived for most of his early life on a space station, so his surroundings upon waking came to no surprise - being suspended in a clear tube of liquid was practically like a second home. Patiently waiting for the slight dizzy feeling to wear off, he attempted to take a look out the glass pane, but the strange blue fluid made things fuzzy except for the shadows he could see. There was few times in his fifty-year imprisonment where he would wake to the quiet, dead cell on Prison Island, so the shadows were a new one.
Humans? He blinked at the thought, waiting to see if one would notice the movement and come to open up his glass prison. The breathing apparatus he was inhaling oxygen through was uncomfortably placed in his mouth now that he was aware of it, making him shift a little where he floated in the tank, causing one of his hands to shift into his view. Looking through the water as much as his current suspension would let him, Shadow's dark red eyes widened when he saw his hand.
What...? It was human in appearance, five fingers and ungloved. Shadow paused, thinking he might be imagining things or the water was playing a trick on him, but upon flexing his hand and wriggling his fingers, it was apparent that the hand was his. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, looking once again out at the shadowy figures beyond the tank. What's going on here...?
Comms Sample:
[voice]
Any G.U.N units out there, this is Agent Shadow. I've been brought aboard a spacecraft known as the Tranquility through unknown measures. Situation and hostility currently unknown.
As for the people on board this ship itself; if anybody can provide me with the necessary information on who I have to take care of for turning me human and returning home, I will be appreciative and perhaps let you live.