Shadow The Hedgehog
(Smash reveal intro appears)
The shot opens on Sonic The Hedgehog's shoe-which is unbuckled. He kneels down and begins to fix it up. The camera zooms out to reveal that this is a Mario Kart race track-and next to Sonic are some of the fastest characters in Ultimate (most of them, anyways), getting warmed up. Doc Louis is coaching Little Mac, and Pokemon Trainer is doing the same for Charizard. Wario is making adjustments to his bike and simultaneously eating ungodly amounts of garlic. Captain Falcon is stretching his legs, Hero is opening his commands menu and has his cursor set on Acceleratle, Banjo and Kazooie are both running in place, Mario is adding gas to his kart, Bowser is lifting Bowser Jr as a weight (who is pretending to be an airplane), and Zelda is transforming into Sheik.
Many characters from Smash's current roster are standing on the sides and cheering the racers on. Lakitu is being ref. He blows into a whistle, which means it's sixty seconds until go time. Everyone in the race steps up to the checkered squares. Sonic bumps fists with Captain Falcon, and Mario and Wario exchange looks that could kill-but when Bowser roars at them both, everyone in the stadium cowers in fear. Little Mac chugs a water bottle and throws it behind him, where Doc catches it. Squirtle and Ivysaur stand behind Charizard, smiling and clapping for him. Lakitu flies to the front and above the racers, and holds up his starting lights.
3…
Sonic and many others bend down. The sound of leather squeaking against the paved ground can be heard.
2…
Mario and Wario's vehicles begin to rev for the instant speed boost. Charizard flaps his wings, and Hero gets ready to choose his spell.
1…
Banjo and Kazooie swap out for the Talon Trot. Bowser has smoke coming out of his mouth, and Sheik charges up her needles.
GO!!!
Everyone runs off at once-except for Wario, who didn't time his engine right and spun out. He starts behind everyone else.
Squirtle and Ivysaur are covered in dust. They cough. Then, Toad hops up from the top seat and hits the floor (the racers are long gone by now). Everyone stares at him, wondering why-until he curiously picks up a piece of black hair or fur. "What is this?" he asks no one in particular.
Sonic and Hero are neck and neck. "You might be fast…" says Sonic, "But how's your Magic Points, Eleven?"
Eleven/Hero looks down-it reads 5, and is whittling down every second. Hero panics and tries swinging his sword at Sonic. Sonic dodges, and Hero's Magic fades away as he falls to the ground. He looks up, not only to see Sonic far ahead but the other racers close behind him. Hero gets up, finds two Slimes in the grass next to the road, and begins to partake in a turn-based battle with them to farm more Magic. But after one turn each, someone or something-a black blur-zooms by and takes out the Slimes in one fell swoop. Hero is bewildered, but after looking around, picks up the MP and begins running with Accelerate again.
Mario and Wario are close behind Captain Falcon, who is right next to Sonic. Mario runs into an item box, and gets three green shells and smirks. He throws one at Wario, who gets hit and spins out. With him out of the picture, Mario tosses the other two at Sonic and Captain Falcon-who dodge them gracefully. Mario's starting to get angry now, so he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Mushroom-but then a black blur swoops by and takes it.
Mario looks surprised. Then he looks back in his rearview mirror and sees that the racers behind them are either super far behind or are knocked out cold. Mario says "Stop!" to Captain Falcon and Sonic, who look back, see the damage, and obey. Mario stops as well, and hops out of his vehicle. The trio ball their fists and get ready for a fight-when all of a sudden, with a flash of green, they become stunned. Then, a black blur, and now it's just Mario and Sonic. They go back to back and start circling, trying to find out who the wrongdoer is. Sonic senses something, sighs (like Samus did in the Ridley trailer) and hops over Mario before doing a flip and kicking the perpetrator right over the head. Whoever it is looks dazed-but soon they aren't there anymore, and with one more blur Mario is gone as well, going out with a very Mario-y yell.
"Hey, shads, didn't you get the memo? You're not invited!" Sonic says.
"Maybe not. I took this from a tall purple man-he looked too silly to be in Smash." Says the mysterious voice, who we now see the dark outline of, in front of Sonic. He's holding a SMash invitation. "But the way I see it," he says as he clenches his fist, "this is a way for strong beings all over the world to prove just how strong they are. And I consider myself to be...Ultimate, wouldn't you say, you so-called 'fastest thing alive'?" We now see Shadow in all his glory.
SHADOW
Unleashes the Chaos!!
We get some gameplay footage of him. Before the trailer ends, we see Sonic and Shadow, racing neck to neck for the finish line that's in sight, the other racers close behind, just recovering from being knocked out. It looks like it'll be a tie or very close-and then, at the last second, Hero jumps over the pair of them and crosses the finish line! Sonic and Shadow come to a halt, confused. They look away from each other, annoyed, finally agreeing on something-a rare sight indeed.
Shadow was created as the Ultimate Life Form by Gerald Robotnik 50 years ago, aboard the Space Colony Ark. Gerald wanted to create an invincible being that could heal and help the people of Earth. Aboard the Ark, Shadow felt fond of Gerald's granddaughter, Maria. They were best friends-that is, until the government raided the ship, stole some of Gerald's experiments, and murdered Maria. Gerald was thrown into a blind rage, losing sight of his well-meaning goals, and wiped Shadow's memories, making him think he had to avenge Maria's death by murdering the human population.
50 years later, and Gerald's grandson Ivo takes Shadow out of the ice he's been contained in, using him to fulfill his vision of destroying Earth.
Over time, Shadow regained his memories, and when he remembered the true promise Maria made him keep-to give those on Earth a chance-he teamed up with his rival Sonic to save the planet and prevent the Space Colony from crashing into it.
Shadow has a special connection with the Chaos Energy that hails from the Chaos Emeralds-the lifeblood of the world that possess unlimited power. His connection with them is so powerful, in fact, that over time he has learned to do certain Chaos techniques without the use of an Emerald. He truly is the Ultimate Life Form, and ever since the events of Sonic Adventure 2, he has remained an ally to Sonic and his friends, ready to stop the evil Doctor in his tracks whenever possible, in Maria's name. He is not a good guy, nor is he a bad guy-he does what he thinks is most right and lives by his own way.
Shadow's fighting style relies on brutal hand-to-hand combat, utilizing a variety of roundhouse kicks, punches and jabs. He's just as fast as Sonic and shares nearly all the same attacks as Sonic He also possesses many Chaos techniques, which use Chaos Energy to enhance his abilities or give him entirely new ones. He's no stranger to firearms either, and though he's not the friendliest of people, he'll accept help from his allies if he thinks he needs it. He also has his Air Shoes, which let him hover in the air and strengthen his foot attacks. Finally, he possesses inhibitor rings on his wrists and ankles, which limit his abilities-and if he takes them off, he becomes a near unstoppable force. And his most powerful ability, when he assembles all seven Chaos Emeralds, he becomes Super Shadow, and is truly a force to be reckoned with.
Tagline
Shadow Unleashes The Chaos!!
Stats
Shadow's height, weight, ground speed, and rolls/dodges/techs are all equal to Sonic's, due to them having equal agility, speed, weight and height in the games. Jumps are a bit higher than Sonic's, due to his Air Shoes (it should also be noted Shadow does not go into a ball like Sonic during his jump which allows him to use said Air Shoes).
Shadow has two special characteristics: hovering and Chaos Boost. Hovering is very similar to the hover Peach and Daisy have-he can do it thanks to his Air Shoes (I might say Air Shoes a lot in this doc
). Just like Paisy, he can do attacks, move left and right, and hover cancel. He even has a move he can only use during a hover, his Chaos Attack neutral air.
Special Moves
Neutral B: Chaos Spear
In the games, Shadow uses the power of a Chaos Emerald to attack his opponents with various Chaos powers, and one of them is Chaos Spear-several electric spears that hone in on the opponent and pursue at high speeds. In Ultimate, Shadow snaps his fingers with one hand and holds the Chaos Emerald in his other hand (The costume he's using decides the color of said Emerald, with one referencing the fake Chaos Emerald from Sonic Adventure 2 and the others being the actual Emeralds). Right as he snaps, a Chaos Spear appears above his head. After a few frames, the Spear (8%) launches itself at the opponent. When hit, the opponent is stunned for a short time before they are knocked back. This means Shadow can follow up the Spear with a fast attack, granted that he is close enough to his opponent. If he is too far away to follow up, he can still press the button a second and third time to use more Spears (4%). These Spears will always hit the opponent and damage them but do zero knockback. It takes 10 frames for the first Spear to launch and 8 frames for the other two to launch if activated.
Side B: Boost
This is a move more closely associated with Sonic, but as Sonic Forces proves, Shadow also has this power. When activated, it has a frame 18 startup, and afterwards Shadow boosts forward, knocking away any opponents in his path with high speeds. He is invincible at this time. The move has high knockback, but it does have a few downsides. When it hits a shield, Shadow stops in his tracks and has 30 frames of endlag, not doing too much damage to the shield. Like Wonderwing he can be grabbed out of his Boost. And if Shadow doesn't hit anything during the attack, he'll likely fall offstage and have to recover.
Up B: Chaos Control
Shadow's signature move since 2001's Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow teleports away and reappears somewhere else. In Ultimate, this move is functionally identical to Metwo's teleport-but it has one key difference. When activated next to an opponent, Shadow kicks the opponent in the direction indicated by the player's control stick. When Shadow reappears, he will kick the opponent again in the direction indicated by the player's control stick. After this Shadow can act again in the air but he cannot use Chaos Control again. The reason for the way this move works is
this cutscene from Sonic Forces. Shadow also does a similar thing in
this cutscene from Shadow The Hedgehog, and
this scene from the Sonic Boom television show. Also, when it is angled down it is a spike, and Shadow uses his two hands to smash them down, sort of like Mii Brawler and Diddy Kong (you can see this in action in the above clips). It has a pretty miserable startup for a teleport move, meaning you can't use it as a reliable OOS option against most moves (Frame 11).
Down B: Chaos Counter
This move is inspired by
this scene from Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). Works very similarly to Greninja's counter. Shadow holds up a Chaos Emerald, and if he is attacked, time stops thanks to Chaos Control, and Shadow flies forward and kicks his opponent into the direction they were attacking him from. For example, if Mario hit Shadow during Chaos Counter's active frames with a forward aerial or back aerial from the left side of Shadow, Shadow will fly behind Mario and hit him to the left. If Mario hits Shadow from the top, Shadow will teleport above Mario and send him down with a forceful Sonic Eagle (more on that later), spiking him. If Mario hits Shadow from below, Shadow teleports below Mario and uppercuts him. This is a very strong counter move, and is great for punishing your opponents for trying to edgeguard you. Has the same frame data as Greninja's counter because of their similarities.
Standard Attacks
Jab
A jab, leading into a kick, that leads into another kick that sends the opponent straight up, and afterwards Shadow flies up to their level and summons Chaos Energy spheres to his hands, hitting the opponent away in a rather powerful jab.
This is one of Shadow's ground attacks from Sonic Battle. It cannot combo into anything and has no rapid jab variant, however it does kill at ledge after 85% on most characters. (18%)
Forward Tilt
Shadow pulls his fist back and backhands the opponent with another Chaos Energy sphere-
yet another reference to one of his Sonic Battle moves. It's a move with considerable knockback that can kill as early as 90% at the ledge on most characters. It comes out on frame 17. (15%)
Down Tilt: Fire Somersault
A move Sonic and Shadow use in Sonic Adventure 2. It's a move that instantly spins you forward at a slow speed, breaking metal crates and destroying enemies. In Ultimate, it's a slow move that slides Shadow forward, a little faster than Joker's down tilt for comparison. However it is a very good kill move. (Pretend the image is of Shadow and not Sonic, couldn't find an image for him). It comes out very fast (frame 8) and has considerable endlag. (20%)
Up Tilt
Shadow does a flip kick, utilizing his Air Shoes to create a fiery blaze around him, damaging anyone caught in the blast and hitting them up in the air for combos. This move does not directly reference anything. It is visually similar to Min Min's up tilt. (8%)
Dash Attack: Slide
The move from the Boost Sonic games, it lets you slide under obstacles and attack enemies all while maintaining your speed. In Ultimate, Shadow slides low on the ground, attacking opponents and staying low to avoid high or mid hitting attacks. Functionally the same as Cloud's down tilt, or Joker's, for comparison. (Shadow performs this move in Forces, sorry I couldn't find a screenshot of him doing it). He hits the opponent straight up for a follow up attack until about 60%, when it doesn't combo anymore. (7%)
Grab Game
Grab
Since Silver will likely never make a playable appearance in Smash, I decided to make him part of Shadow's moveset (he's my favorite character so I may be slightly biased). When pressing the grab button, Silver teleports from out of nowhere in front of Shadow (though he has no hurtbox) and grabs the opponent with his psychokinesis (it's an ability that lets him pick up living and nonliving objects with his mind). When pummeling, Silver clenches his fist, damaging the opponent. (Pictured below is the Silver fight from Sonic 06).
Back Throw
Silver tosses the opponent behind him, and following up with a pistol, Shadow fires a round into the opponent, which they could dodge at certain percentages. It's incredibly strong, both in knockback and in percent, but only if the opponent gets hit by the bullet. (5% and weak knockback with no bullet, 15% and kill knockback with bullet)
Forward Throw
Silver steps out of the way, and Shadow dashes through and Boosts right into the opponent, knocking them far bac (this does not have anything to do with his side b).. It is a kill throw that does considerable damage as well. (Pictured below is the rival fight from Sonic Generations). (14.5%)
Up Throw
Silver does an uppercut into the opponent, letting Shadow follow up. Can be combo'd off of until 50% when the opponent is too far away. (10%)
Down Throw
Silver steps out of the way for Shadow, and Shadow places his Air Shoe onto the opponent with force, and shoots them with his pistol. In fact, it very closely represents this statue from Sega's E3 2005 to promote their then-upcoming release Shadow The Hedgehog (pictured below). They are sent at a good angle for combos granted that they are at low percent. (19%)
Smash Attacks
Forward Smash
Shadow snaps his fingers and a rift of Chaos Energy appears in front of him-
another one of his Sonic Battle moves. It's the quickest of his smashes albeit the weakest. (16%, worst knockback of the smashes but still a kill move)
Up Smash: Black Tornado
In Sonic Heroes, the Black Tornado has Shadow spin in his ball form in the air for a bit, greatly damaging flying opponents and armored ones as well. In Ultimate, it accomplishes a similar thing: Shadow creates a Black Tornado above him and sends his opponent straight up if they're caught in the multi-hit attack. (18%, good knockback)
Down Smash: Spin Kick
In Sonic 2006, Shadow's Spin Kick lets him pull in enemies while also damaging them in a breakdance-like sweep. In Ultimate, it functions similarly. When charging, there's a windbox that pulls in nearby opponents, and the longer you charge, the stronger the windbox and power of the kick becomes-when released, the windbox stops Shadow performs the kick. It's his slowest smash attack, a little bit slower than up smash. It can break shields! (21%, most knockback of his smashes)
Aerial Attacks
Forward Air: Sonic Eagle
Shadow flips midair and brings his Air Shoe down onto the opponent, leaving with it a fiery trail like his up tilt. The fiery trail is easier to hit with and doesn't spike, while the shoe and leg do spike but are harder to hit with. This attack references the Sonic Eagle attack from Sonic Battle-Shadow cannot perform the attack in Battle, but he did later on in Sonic The Hedgehog's IDW comic issue #31 against Metal Sonic, in a move that looks strikingly similar. Couldn't find an image of the panel unfortunately. (19%)
Down Air
The stomp move from the Boost games. Can break shields the same as Yoshi's down b. Has high knockback and is pretty fast as well. (19%)
Neutral Air: Spin Attack/Chaos Attack
In Sonic 06, after performing a homing attack with Shadow, pressing the A button multiple times will have Shadow attack the target with various punches and kicks. In Ultimate, it works a little differently. When in the air normally, Shadow will spin around in his ball form, identically to Sonic's nair. (12/ 8/5% depending on hitbox). However, if you utilize Shadow's hover ability (more on that at the end when I discuss his special mechanics), you can do the Chaos Attack for as long as you hold down the A button or until your hover runs out. When you let go of A Shadow will deliver a finishing blow. This move is very good for racking up considerable damage. (22% if you get every blow, which is difficult but doable).
Back Air
Exactly the same as Sonic's but with a fiery effect and slightly larger hitbox thanks to said fire. (14%)
Up Air
Similarly to Min Min, Shadow's up air is a faster, stronger, aerial version of his up tilt. It too has a fiery trail that slightly extends the hitbox. (14%)
Final Smash
Shadow assembles the seven Chaos Emeralds and unlocks his most powerful form, Super Shadow. Super Shadow rushes forward after the slowdown and hits the opponent into a cutscene (if he doesn't, there's a good chance he'll fall to the side blast zone). In the cutscene, Super Shadow flies to the ruined streets of Westopolis, where he throws the opponent onto the ground. He delivers several strong punches before grabbing them and throwing them up. He teleports up to them, grabs them by the chest, holds a Chaos Emerald, and yells, "Chaos...BLAST!!" A huge dome of Chaos Energy surrounds Shadow, decimating the nearby city and laying waste to your opponent. If they're above 100% after the Final Smash they poof as a cloud of smoke.
Taunts
Up Taunt: Shadow juggles the Chaos Emerald, like he does in his first Hero Story cutscene from Sonic Adventure 2.
Side taunt: Shadow points at his opponent and says "You're too slow!" in a much more aggressive tone than Sonic in Brawl.
Down taunt: Shadow crosses his arms and lets out a "You're weak." (This is what he says to Infinite multiple times in Sonic Forces).
Winning animations
Winning animation 1: Shadow performs
his winning animation from Sonic Adventure 2, saying, "Here we go!" If he is fighting against Sonic, he'll instead say, "You're not even good enough to be my fake!"
Winning animation 2: "You'll never understand the power of CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow says, holding up a gleaming emerald. After the splash screen, he disappears.
Winning animation 3: Shadow stands next to a results screen that is inspired by various results screens from Sonic games. He looks it up and down as it totals up Rings, Time, and Score (Time will actually be counted with the match but won't affect the ranking. Playing on Golden Plains also increases your Ring Count proportionately to your number of coins collected.) Shadow sees himself get an S rank just as the splash screen appears. He crosses his arms and smiles at the screen. "Ultimate victory!" He says.
Losing animation: Shadow scratches his forehead and frowns, in deep thought.
Misc.
His getup attacks feature kicks.
His rolling animation has him sliding backwards on his Air Shoes.
When dying in Stamina mode, he says, "Maria…" This is to reference his death line from that game. He also says it when being spiked, to reference the end of Sonic Adventure 2.
Alternate costumes:
Color 1: Shadow's default color. Uses a green Emerald for attacks (this is the one he is most commonly seen with).
Color 2: Super Shadow. Not as bright as Super Shadow and doesn't have a glow effect either. Uses a clear Emerald for attacks.
Color 3: Mephelis, the antagonist from the game Sonic 06. Uses a purple Emerald for attacks (this is one Mephelis is often associated with given his color scheme when crystalized, and it's the last Emerald he obtains before killing Sonic).
Color 4: Shadow android. A robotic version of Shadow from Shadow The Hedgehog. Uses a yellow Emerald for attacks. (Render by Nibroc-Rock)
Color 5: Sir Lancelot, Shadow's alternate dimension self from the world of King Arthur. Uses a red Chaos Emerald.
Color 6: A blue Shadow android. Uses a blue Chaos Emerald. (Thanks to Nibroc-Rock once again)
Color 7: Shadow's redesign from the Sonic Boom era. Uses a fake Chaos Emerald.
Color 8: Shadow wears his Sonic Riders gear. Uses a cyan Chaos Emerald.
Stage: Radical Highway
The first Shadow stage from Sonic Adventure 2. This part of Radical Highway in Ultimate is on the bridge segment near the middle. It's basically a plane of flat land with some overturned cars that can be destroyed. There are often G.U.N. robots that will fly in occasionally, and defeating one will net you a Chaos Drive, and depending on the color of said Drive it can upgrade a certain stat (Purple=jump height and air speed, green=running speed, red=power, and yellow=defense). This is from Sonic Adventure 2's Chao Garden where you collect Drives in action stages and feed them to Chao in the Chao garden,, and the only one I changed the function of was yellow, since yellow in that game improves swimming, and Radical Highway has no water.
Classic Mode: I Am The Ultimate Life Form!!
Shadow fights characters who are canonically the strongest on the roster. This includes characters like Palutena, Bayonetta, Kirby, Sonic, Rosalina, Zelda, Mewtwo, and Meta Knight. Ends in a fight against Rathalos, with Sonic as an ally and Final Smash Meters turned on.
Spirits
Maria-****
Gerald Robotnik-**
Biolizard-
* (can enhance into Final Lizard-**)
Black Doom-***
Mephiles-
* (can enhance into Solaris-**)
Shadow Android-*
Doom's Eye-*
Songs
Radical Highway
Throw it all away
Final Chase
White Jungle
Westopolis
I Am...All Of Me
All Hail Shadow
This Machine
Metal Harbor
Final Rush
Solaris Boss Phase 2
Shadow Rival Fight (Sonic Generations)
Virtual Reality (Supporting Me Remix)
Wave Ocean (The inlet)
Radical Train (The Chase)
Crisis City (Sonic Generations Act 2 remix)
Playstyle
Chaotic Glass Cannon
Shadow's moveset is simple yet brutal, and the same goes for his combos. However, he has the Boost and the Chaos Spear to play passive if needed, but not to the degree that Sonic has, as it's pretty easy to dodge the Spears if that's all Shadow is throwing out. His playstyle will revolve around getting as much damage as quickly as possible, because he's as light as Sonic and therefore a glass cannon. I was even considering giving him a Chaos Boost, that would damage him over time and make him stronger as a result, but I figured that would make him too strong. Overall he's a character where you want to get in, and if you can't maintain your advantage state, get out. His main problem will come from his lightness and his lack of "get off me" moves. He can also be unwieldy at times due to his high speed and weight. He can't cancel his fast burst option like Sonic can, so you have to be careful with your approaches. His endlag from moves is also not great, since his only safe aerials come from utilizing hovering (except for bair, which is always safe if spaced). Overall Shadow is the kind of character that can get pushed around all stock but still gain the upper hand if you read where the opponent will be or bait it, and then attack accordingly. Moves like his up b and down smash are great for punishing because of their early kill potential and semi-big hitboxes.
This was my first moveset and I'm very thankful if you've made it all the way here! I have to admit I've been messing around with the idea of making a Shadow set since back in May, but never really organized my thoughts until now. I appreciate all kinds of feedback, praise and criticisms, so I can use those to make a better set next time.
effect: lightweight 1 slot
