The Ultimate Life Form ~ Shadow the Hedgehog for Smash Ultimate! (Maria...)

[TCT~Phantom]

"I now understand why I am here. I made a promise and I'm here to keep it. Today, I put the past behind me."

Surprisingly there was no Shadow thread in the Directory. Given recent events I figured I would fix that.

Shadow the Hedgehog first was conceived after the creation of Sonic Adventure as an antagonist to Sonic; a dark anti hero who appeared physically similar to Sonic, but had vastly contrasting goals and personality. This was partially the case to tie into the heroes vs villains of Sonic Adventure 2. In essence, Shadow was created to be the Anti Sonic. Promotional coverage even called him Anti Sonic before his name was revealed. Fan demand and popularity lead to Shadow surviving his apparent death in Sonic Adventure 2. Since then, Shadow has remained one of the most popular Sonic characters, and easily the most popular created in the post Genesis era.


OK, I know about Shadow. He is the assist trophy from Sonic, he is super edgy, why should he be in over other Sonic Characters?

Well, Sonic seems to have had a noticeable shuffle, with Knuckles now playing the role of assist trophy. Furthermore, the Shadow assist trophy, despite being in both Brawl and Smash 4, has not been sighted yet. Finally, the discussion on echo fighters can lead to Shadow potentially becoming Sonic's echo fighter, with minor differences to show of his Chaos abilities. This essentially helps us have a perfect storm where Shadow the Hedgehog becomes a realistic possibility. Shadow having a similar body to Sonic and using Homing Attacks and Spin Dashes help the idea of Shadow being a Sonic Echo/Clone/preferred nomenclature. While other Sonic characters have a greater legacy than Shadow in the franchise, none are as realizable.

Shadow offers more than just being a Sonic clone, however. Having an antagonist of any kind is good for Smash. As of this writing, Smash Ultimate has 10 antagonists playable. While we already have got one antagonist returning from being cut and one added as a newcomer, more antagonists are always welcome in the game. Combine this with how easy it is to realize Shadow in the wake of his Assist Trophy being mysteriously absent, and you have a fighter that could easily make it in. Sonic Adventure 2's popularity also helps Shadow. Sonic Adventure 2 was for many Nintendo fans the first time they had ever played a Sonic game on their home console. Shadow's starring role in that game helps his case.

While Shadow did take a hiatus from the limelight of the Sonic Series around the turn of the decade, he still has had some notable appearances. Sonic Generations highlighted him as a boss fight within the Sonic Adventure 2 section of the game. Sonic Forces, in spite of some hiccups in quality, did highlight Shadow as an important character in the story, even getting his own mini episode as DLC. Team Sonic Racing's trailer further shows his modern relevancy as Sonic's current rival.

Ok I get your case, but Sonic won't get another rep. No third party franchise will get a second rep.
Yes, and third parties must have a strong relationship to Nintendo or there won't be more than one third party character per company. These rules are kind of arbitrary. Furthermore, if any third party series "deserves" a second rep it is Sonic, due to it having the strongest track record with the Smash series.

Fine, whatever, do you at least have some music?

Sure! Sonic is known for its music, and the Adventure games are no exception. We all know Live and Learn or Open Your Heart, but there are plenty of other great choices fitting for Shadow.

Spoiler: music

Supporter List

1. TCT~Phantom
2. ThoughtfulWanderer
3. smash puffle
4. Wonks
5. NIckynickReviews
6. Travix Man
7. SonicMario
8. AustarusIV
9. SegaNintendoUbisoft
10. Sean Wheeler
11. dangeraaron10
12. majorasmaskfan
13. slambros
14. SmashChu
15. Geoffrey Druyts
16. Mogu
17. ZTurtle
18. GM_3826
19. KMDP
20. 7NATOR
21. Camc10
22. violetsmashfan
23. 92MilesPrower
24. DarkFoxTeam
25. Tornado_Man
26. hermes
27. Mikegamer0608
28. Chocolatgelato
29. Sirfishe
30. SHSL Jedi
31. GoldenYuiitusin
32. VexTheHex
33. AreJay25
34. putuk
35. TerminatorLOL
36. Pinkanator
37. Klimax
38. BluePikmin11
39. Tikivoy
40. UltraMadman
41. Arthur97
42. IanTheGamer
43. StormC
44. The Legendary Beast
45. Takasmash
46. TMNTSSB4
47. SchAlternate
48. Mikegamer0608
49. Mastermiine
50. P.Kat
51. Erotic&Heretic
52. Dixie Kong
53. Houndstooth
54. Troykv
55. vVv Rapture
56. SEGAGameBoy
57. SuperNintendoKid
58. ZagarTulip
59. zeldasmash
60. ShadowTheHedgehogZ
61. Dragoncharystary
62. JesseMcCloud
63. Legendary Spirit Tamer
64. FooltheFlames
65. Arkaizer
66. MainJPW
67. smashingDoug
68. Dee Dude
69. CrusherMania1592
70. Sølid
71. ShortcutButton
72. kylexv
73. Giga Kaiju
74. TheFVGuy
75. Shiny Porygon
76. LeeSmash4Me
77. magiciandude
78. The King of Skulls
79. MonkeyDLenny
80. xNaz
81. grizby2
82. Saiko18
83. Smashoperatingbuddy123
84. Xenorange
85. Akg0001
86. BravadoMan_13
87. YoYoFantaFanta
88. Chrono.
89. RC-3197

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

I support. He and the series as a whole may not be quite what they used to, but I have enough fond memories of the Dreamcast/Early GameCube titles to still appreciate Shadow and his humanizing backstory. More music from the series is never a bad thing either.

 

[smash puffle]

Sure, why not, I will support. I don't really mind him being an echo fighter, but it does feel a little odd considering all of the stuff hes able to do compared to Sonic, so I don't know if he has enough differences to make him a different character instead of an echo fighter.

 

[Wonks]

A week ago, I would have told you "absolutely not." I don't have anything strongly against Shadow, but being a Sonic fan since its inception, I placed Tails and Knuckles as a higher priority, and it seemed believable.

Yet now, knowing that Knuckles is an assist trophy, how limited new characters will be (which likely excludes Tails), and the greater chance of a new Sonic rep. being an Echo Fighter, I'll gladly welcome Shadow with open arms.

You have my support.

 

[NIckynickreviews]

Add me as a supporter! Shadow is looking quite likely as an echo character, and his inclusion would make a lot of people happy. I can already imagine I Am All Of Me playing in the background while Sakurai talks about Shadow

 

[Travix Man]

I fully support. Although King K. Rool is my most wanted newcomer, the evidence lines up well for Shadow. This is especially since Dark Samus, another antagonist, is also missing from the Assist Trophy list. I can definitely see both of them appearing as Echo characters this time around.

If he had a trailer, I can imagine "All Hail Shadow" blaring in the background as he beats down his enemies. Since cinematic final smashes are a thing now, Shadow could use Chaos Control and beat down other characters with the same moves he did in the intro cutscene in his game and when he defeated Infinite in Episode Shadow.

 

[SonicMario]

I can support... to an extent.

If echo fighters are the only way Sonic is going to get a 2nd rep. Then I'd gladly be ok with Shadow as he makes the most sense in terms of echoes. Sure his fans would be disappointed that other then maybe his Final Smash the chaos powers he has would be completely missing. But Shadow does have an excuse to be an echo considering he was pretty much a clone in Adventure 2 and most recently Forces.

But if there's room for the next Sonic character to at least be semi-unique. I'd hope they bring Tails in first. Tails has always had his flight ability and would not make sense at all as an echo as a result.

I will admit though that now if Sonic does get a 2nd rep, it will be Shadow simply because of the echo fighter thing. And I'm not confident they go for 3 characters for Sonic even if one is an echo.

 

[AustarusIV]

I wouldn’t mind Shadow to be playable. Although I would prefer Tails to be the next Sonic newcomer, Shadow has the build, fan base, and appeal to be an interesting (Echo) fighter in his own right, and it would be a lot easier to put him in over Tails, who’d likely demand a more unique moveset.

 

[SegaNintendoUbisoft]

While I would prefer a completley new character for a second Sonic rep, Shadow as an Echo Fighter is looking very likely, too the point where I'll be shocked if he isn't at all.

Shadow as an Echo Fighter would be pretty cool, maybe they can add some Chaos elements to differeniate him a little bit.

 

[Sean Wheeler]

Honestly, I would like Shadow to stay as an Assist Trophy. And Tails would be my pick for the second Sonic character. But if Shadow gets promoted to playable, I wouldn't be complaining too much.

 

[dangeraaron10]

Given them showing off Knuckles' AT right off the bat and show it having so much work done, and no trace of Shadow so far, I think Shadow would make an ideal Echo character.

I'd say give him a unique running animation (rocket skates), maybe ditch the spring for a rocket jump, and have Chaos Control as a unique Final Smash (Dark Pit is nearly identical to Pit except for neutral B, side B, and Final Smash which uses his rifle blast instead of what is now the Chariot, his rifle blast (err, "staff") is back in Ultimate) and you got a decently true-to-source Shadow the Hedgehog.

Would be very nostalgic for me. When I was a kid/teen, I played a lot of 3D Sonic games. Outside of Sonic 2 (my very first game, ever), all the Sonic games I played were all 3D Sonic games or spinoffs and all but 1 featured Shadow. I hardly knew the franchise before Shadow.

He'd be fun to fight against. I need more anti-heroes/villains/rivals to battle. Ultimate is doing good work by adding better Ganondorf, Ridley, Wolf, and potentially Dark Samus.

Edit: He's not my favorite Sonic character, that would go to Vector. Then Espio, then Tails, then Knuckles and so on and so forth. Shadow's up there, but I think if it's very unlikely we'll see a unique Sonic character (if we did, that honor would go to Tails), Shadow is perfect for the Echo role, with a few spruce ups and flourishes to make him stand out from Sonic.

Plus, with playable Shadow, you can re-enact Super Mario Bros Z.

 

[majorasmaskfan]

Il support, whatever I like shadow

If sonic ever got a nd non clone character I'd want eggman.

Hope we gt a mania stage. And actual remixes this time unlike 4

 

[slambros]

I've been wanting Shadow for a long time. I'd love to support!

 

[SmashChu]

I think it will happen. Most guest series usually don't get request after the first character gets in with the exception of Sonic (notice how Black Mage died when Cloud was added). I'm also sure a lot of younger players requested a lot of Sonic characters in the ballot. I'd even venture to say if you add all the Sonic request, it was probably the most requested character among the guest characters. I don't think there will be too many echoes are they seem to be addressing fan demand when possible. I think this is one such instance where it makes sense.

 

[Sean Wheeler]

Given them showing off Knuckles' AT right off the bat and show it having so much work done, and no trace of Shadow so far, I think Shadow would make an ideal Echo character.

I'd say give him a unique running animation (rocket skates), maybe ditch the spring for a rocket jump, and have Chaos Control as a unique Final Smash (Dark Pit is nearly identical to Pit except for neutral B, side B, and Final Smash which uses his rifle blast instead of what is now the Chariot, his rifle blast (err, "staff") is back in Ultimate) and you got a decently true-to-source Shadow the Hedgehog.

Would be very nostalgic for me. When I was a kid/teen, I played a lot of 3D Sonic games. Outside of Sonic 2 (my very first game, ever), all the Sonic games I played were all 3D Sonic games or spinoffs and all but 1 featured Shadow. I hardly knew the franchise before Shadow.

He'd be fun to fight against. I need more anti-heroes/villains/rivals to battle. Ultimate is doing good work by adding better Ganondorf, Ridley, Wolf, and potentially Dark Samus.

Edit: He's not my favorite Sonic character, that would go to Vector. Then Espio, then Tails, then Knuckles and so on and so forth. Shadow's up there, but I think if it's very unlikely we'll see a unique Sonic character (if we did, that honor would go to Tails), Shadow is perfect for the Echo role, with a few spruce ups and flourishes to make him stand out from Sonic.

Plus, with playable Shadow, you can re-enact Super Mario Bros Z.

The differences between Pit and Dark Pit make me wonder why Falco, Toon Link, Lucas, Young Link, Roy and Dr. Mario aren't Echo Fighters. I hate how they branded Dark Pit, Lucina and Daisy as Echo Fighters and didn't give them their own numbers. The Smash fandom hate clones as much as Spider-Man. Why glorify them? Anyway, yeah he should have his rocket skates and Chaos Control. But Chaos Control shouldn't be his Final Smash because there's Super Shadow. Chaos Control should be his Down Special instead and work more like Bayonetta's Witch Time.

 

[dangeraaron10]

The differences between Pit and Dark Pit make me wonder why Falco, Toon Link, Lucas, Young Link, Roy and Dr. Mario aren't Echo Fighters. I hate how they branded Dark Pit, Lucina and Daisy as Echo Fighters and didn't give them their own numbers. The Smash fandom hate clones as much as Spider-Man. Why glorify them? Anyway, yeah he should have his rocket skates and Chaos Control. But Chaos Control shouldn't be his Final Smash because there's Super Shadow. Chaos Control should be his Down Special instead and work more like Bayonetta's Witch Time.

I honestly hate the idea of anything remotely resembling Witch Time.

We should have less of that, not more. But that's just me.

Chaos Control as an FS makes good sense, as Echos can and do have unique FS moves. Also due to the fact that Echo Fighter is something they are pushing as a bullet point and it'd be super weird to not capitalize on it. I think Shadow's chance to get in is based on being an Echo. Hence why there likely not being any drastic differences in the base moveset, with FS being a notable exception (since Dark Pit still has his rifle final smash and not Pit's new chariot.)

But given how Echo Fighters are nearly identical to their base character, you can get creative with the animations while keeping the "mechanics" the same. A bare minimum for Shadow would have him skate around on his rocket shoes as opposed to running super fast like Sonic.

 

[SonicMario]

The differences between Pit and Dark Pit make me wonder why Falco, Toon Link, Lucas, Young Link, Roy and Dr. Mario aren't Echo Fighters. I hate how they branded Dark Pit, Lucina and Daisy as Echo Fighters and didn't give them their own numbers. The Smash fandom hate clones as much as Spider-Man. Why glorify them? Anyway, yeah he should have his rocket skates and Chaos Control. But Chaos Control shouldn't be his Final Smash because there's Super Shadow. Chaos Control should be his Down Special instead and work more like Bayonetta's Witch Time.

The Links, Lucas, Roy, and Dr. Mario aren't Echoes because they actually have some degree of difference from the character they're cloned by. And usually at least one huge difference between the special moves in particular. But Dark Pit and Lucina, as well as Daisy will be nearly 1:1 with the character they're based off of.

The most different arguably of the echoes are Lucina who doesn't have a tipper who instead does the same damage and knockback no matter where you hit opponents with her sword. But otherwise she was mostly the same as Marth.

Echo Fighters is like the only way characters like Daisy and Shadow would make it in. Cause as unique fighters they'd be out prioritized by much more popular and/or iconic characters. I think maybe that instead of Shadow using a spring for the recovery move he may use Chaos control in order to teleport but will otherwise do the exact same thing as Sonic's spring. Just that Shadow disappears and reappears.

 

[Sean Wheeler]

Well, I still hate the whole "Echo Fighter" label. Sakurai should have numbered them normally. The non-Echoes from Mario to Palutena could keep their numbers. Dark Pit should be #55. Pac-Man should be #56. Lucina should be #57. We should add 2 to the fighter numbers between Robin and Inkling. Daisy should be #67. Ridley should be #68. And Sakurai should have pointed out more differences for the Echo Fighters instead of implying that they are the exact same carbon copies that could be easily used as costumes. Anyway, since this is the Shadow thread, I shouldn't get too much into Echoes. But I would prefer Shadow as a semi-clone instead of an Echo. Or better yet, keep him as an Assist Trophy.

 

[SonicMario]

Well, I still hate the whole "Echo Fighter" label. Sakurai should have numbered them normally. The non-Echoes from Mario to Palutena could keep their numbers. Dark Pit should be #55. Pac-Man should be #56. Lucina should be #57. We should add 2 to the fighter numbers between Robin and Inkling. Daisy should be #67. Ridley should be #68. And Sakurai should have pointed out more differences for the Echo Fighters instead of implying that they are the exact same carbon copies that could be easily used as costumes. Anyway, since this is the Shadow thread, I shouldn't get too much into Echoes. But I would prefer Shadow as a semi-clone instead of an Echo. Or better yet, keep him as an Assist Trophy.

Let's be honest, there was a fair bit of backlash to Dark Pit, and to a lesser extent Lucina in the past game. But having a label like this makes it somewhat easier to accept because we can go in thinking Echo fighters have lower standards then the regular characters. Having them not have their own numbers also helps with that distinction.

It may kinda suck for their fans who'd like these characters to be treated just as fairly as every other character. But for most echo fighter possibilities, it's either this or they're not playable at all. I don't think Shadow is going to be playable, if he isn't an echo.

 

[Geoffrey Druyts]

I support. I'd rather have Knuckles, but he's pretty much dead now so I'll go for my second favorite Sonic character. I think he'd become a echo fighter instead of an whole new character, honestly.

 

[Sean Wheeler]

Still, with all those people who hated clone characters, there should be a lot of backlash against the reveal of Echo characters. How Daisy was revealed as one had upset me because I wanted Daisy to be in the game as long as she was inspired by the sports games and wearing shorts. The Peach clone was not what I wanted. If Shadow has to be an Echo to be playable, then he should stick to being an Assist Trophy. Two hedgehogs with similar moves would make the Sonic series seem boring to some Smash-only players.

 

[Mogu]

Support this, would love to see Shadow as an Echo Fighter for Sonic the more I think about it. Sure, him being brand new with Chaos Control power would be more ideal but in this instance I'd take what I can get.

 

[TCT~Phantom]

Updated the supporters list.

 

[ZTurtle]

Put me down as a supporter too. Shadow may get a lot of flak nowadays, but I still unironically really like the ol' Edgehog. I'd be down for seeing him as an Echo Fighter.

 

[GM_3826]

I'd be fine with Shadow as a Sonic echo.

 

[KMDP]

You can list me as a Supporter too.

Support this, would love to see Shadow as an Echo Fighter for Sonic the more I think about it. Sure, him being brand new with Chaos Control power would be more ideal but in this instance I'd take what I can get.

Hell, you can take most of Shadow's moves from Sonic Battle and fill a significant amount of a Smash moveset.

 

[7NATOR]

Also me as a Supporter of Shadow the Hedgehog, but not as him being a Carbon Copy of Sonic with Two Spindashes and a Spring

I know this Echo fighter thing got you guys thinking of Thoughts of Shadow being a Clone "Echoing" in your mind, like that's the only way for him besides AT. But, it isnt the only way for him

 

[Camc10]

Put me on the Support list.Shadow can pretty much resemble Sonic's moveset to a T. id also like to ask what would they use for his character introduction thing on the since since he doesn't really have any music from him aside from Live and Learn.

Also me as a Supporter of Shadow the Hedgehog, but not as him being a Carbon Copy of Sonic with Two Spindashes and a Spring

I know this Echo fighter thing got you guys thinking of Thoughts of Shadow being a Clone "Echoing" in your mind, like that's the only way for him besides AT. But, it isnt the only way for him

I honestly do. Before echo characters became a thing, would always say that no 3rd party series would get a 2nd character, but that i could see 3rd party companies getting a 3rd series (Puyo Puyo/Yakuza for Sega, Monster Hunter/Ace Attorney for Capcom.) Shadow getting in as a echo (or Ken/Akuma/Evil Ryu for Ryu) is the only way i could see a guest series getting 2 characters.

 

[SonicMario]

Also me as a Supporter of Shadow the Hedgehog, but not as him being a Carbon Copy of Sonic with Two Spindashes and a Spring

I know this Echo fighter thing got you guys thinking of Thoughts of Shadow being a Clone "Echoing" in your mind, like that's the only way for him besides AT. But, it isnt the only way for him

But Semi-clone/Fully unique wise, Shadow probably wouldn't come before Tails or possibly even Dr. Eggman. Both of them around far longer, and more synonymous with the franchise. If they wanted to put the hard work into a 2nd Sonic character, a more classic character would more likely come first.

Being an echo fighter is Shadow's only real shot at Smash despite the disappointment of many of his fans that he'd lack Chaos power use outside of the final smash. And there have been games before where Shadow only does what Sonic can do (In both his debut game in Sonic Adventure 2, and in the most recent game Sonic Forces where he has a few stages of his own and becomes playable in all of Modern Sonic's stages. Both games there's little to no differences between them in terms of gameplay)

Maybe instead of the spring, Shadow simply teleports using Chaos Control but otherwise in the way the move is executed still plays out the same way it works with Sonic's spring (I guess it would be weird to only being able to teleport up when characters like Zelda and Mewtwo are able to direct their teleports but hey). But otherwise if Shadow's playable in Smash Ultimate, he's going to play like Sonic does.

 

[7NATOR]

Put me on the Support list.Shadow can pretty much resemble Sonic's moveset to a T. id also like to ask what would they use for his character introduction thing on the since since he doesn't really have any music from him aside from Live and Learn.

I honestly do. Before echo characters became a thing, would always say that no 3rd party series would get a 2nd character, but that i could see 3rd party companies getting a 3rd series (Puyo Puyo/Yakuza for Sega, Monster Hunter/Ace Attorney for Capcom.) Shadow getting in as a echo (or Ken/Akuma/Evil Ryu for Ryu) is the only way i could see a guest series getting 2 characters.

We Shall See whether its the only way...

But Semi-clone/Fully unique wise, Shadow probably wouldn't come before Tails or possibly even Dr. Eggman. Both of them around far longer, and more synonymous with the franchise. If they wanted to put the hard work into a 2nd Sonic character, a more classic character would more likely come first.

Being an echo fighter is Shadow's only real shot at Smash despite the disappointment of many of his fans that he'd lack Chaos power use outside of the final smash. And there have been games before where Shadow only does what Sonic can do (In both his debut game in Sonic Adventure 2, and in the most recent game Sonic Forces where he has a few stages of his own and becomes playable in all of Modern Sonic's stages. Both games there's little to no differences between them in terms of gameplay)

Maybe instead of the spring, Shadow simply teleports using Chaos Control but otherwise in the way the move is executed still plays out the same way it works with Sonic's spring (I guess it would be weird to only being able to teleport up when characters like Zelda and Mewtwo are able to direct their teleports but hey). But otherwise if Shadow's playable in Smash Ultimate, he's going to play like Sonic does.

You Say Shadow Wouldn't come before Tails and Dr.Eggman, yet he was the Character that was an assist Trophy for Sonic while Tails Was (and Still is) a Background Character in Green Hill, and Dr.Eggman nowhere to be seen. Knuckles is in the Assist Trophy spot, while Tails still a background character. Just because Tails and Eggman were around longer than Shadow, doesnt mean they automatically take priority over Shadow, Especially since Shadow is the most popular Sonic character after Sonic, and is more requested to be in Smash more than Tails and Eggman are.

and just because there were games where Shadow plays similiar to Sonic, doesnt mean you can just ignore the game where he had Differences (Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog, etc) not to mention his boss appearances where he displays his Chaos abilities.

and unfortunately with your idea, even if you try to make Shadow use Chaos Control for his up-special (even if it only teleports up), that would go against the concept of an Echo fighter. an Echo fighter has to have 100% of the base moveset (excluding final Smashes) so Shadow having Chaos Control instead of the Spring would go against that idea.

 

[Camc10]

With Shadow being a clone, he'd probably be guaranteed good from how Sonic was in 4, But yeah, i doubt (just a feeling) that Sakurai would prefer to add a 2nd character to a 3rd party franchise instead of new 3rd party franchise unless they were a clone, and while i myself am hoping for a character from another 3rd party franchise from Sega, i don't think we will get a 3rd series from Sega/Capcom in the base roster. I wouldn't have said that for Sega during Smash 4, but then Puyo Tetris got released overseas and became a official competetive game in Japan, Yakuza was one of the big games of 2017, Shenmue coming back, Atlus itself, and all these series probably being more popular than Sonic in Japan.

 

[SonicMario]

You Say Shadow Wouldn't come before Tails and Dr.Eggman, yet he was the Character that was an assist Trophy for Sonic while Tails Was (and Still is) a Background Character in Green Hill, and Dr.Eggman nowhere to be seen. Knuckles is in the Assist Trophy spot, while Tails still a background character. Just because Tails and Eggman were around longer than Shadow, doesnt mean they automatically take priority over Shadow, Especially since Shadow is the most popular Sonic character after Sonic, and is more requested to be in Smash more than Tails and Eggman are.

I don't necessarily think an assist trophy always means they're all next in line to be playable in Smash. We've only gotten one promotion to an Assist Trophy in Little Mac and arguably it's more so Punch-Out Wii that got him in Smash 4 more then "He's here as a consolation prize until the next game, where he'll have a great chance at making it!". I think it's more likely they picked Shadow for an Assist Trophy because of the effect he could have in the battle (Even though it's pretty much a clone of the Timer item. Just without the chance of it backfiring on the user). There are ideas that could be done for Tails and others for how they'd go as Assist Trophies, but Shadow was probably a pretty easy one to place in (Reminder that Sonic was last-minute in Brawl so naturally some of the content included kinda fell suit with that) since it's again very similar to the timer item and a little bit of acknowledgement of his popularity. But not much more.

Shadow's popular yeah, but I don't think he's the ideal choice for a 2nd Sonic rep if we're going either way for a fully unique (Dr. Eggman) or semi-clone (Tails being Sonic's Luigi pretty much, he's no slouch in the popularity department either. Just not quite as loud as Shadow's base) route. He is however the ideal choice for an echo fighter should Sonic get one. Which is why this is his best bet.

Not even completely sure if Sonic will get a 2nd character in general though. Echo fighters might only apply to first party characters for all I know. And DLC may prioritize newer 1st party characters like Spring Man, Rex, etc or new series 3rd parties like Crash.

 

[KMDP]

Personally, I think Shadow as an Echo Fighter would be a double-edged sword.
Yes, we'll get Shadow, but he'll pretty much be the new Ganondorf.

 

[GM_3826]

Personally, I think Shadow as an Echo Fighter would be a double-edged sword.
Yes, we'll get Shadow, but he'll pretty much be the new Ganondorf.

Far from it. He doesn't even use Chaos Control in a lot of games.

 

[ZTurtle]

Far from it. He doesn't even use Chaos Control in a lot of games.

Y'know, that's a pretty good point. I think the only games where Shadow uses Chaos powers as part of his regular moveset, are Sonic 06, Sonic Battle, and... maybe Black Knight? It's been so long since I played that game so I forgot, but I suppose it probably wouldn't really matter anyway. In pretty much the rest of his playable appearances, Chaos Control is limited to super attacks (Adventure 2 Multiplayer, Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Rivals, and so on) so just incorporating Chaos Control exclusively into his Final Smash wouldn't really be out of place all things considered. While this doesn't mean that Shadow couldn't have a unique moveset using these powers and his own style of fighting, it does give a bit of justification for him being a Sonic Echo (Especially since, as other people have mentioned, he's generally a Sonic clone in most of the games he's playable, even in Heroes where Espio and Amy actually had their own unique moves)

 

[92MilesPrower]

I was originally going to make a Shadow thread a couple of weeks ago but I completely forgot about it somehow. So glad there's finally a Shadow support thread, I 100% support him. Also, it's a complete injustice to not include this song on your list of music related to him:

 

[Mogu]

I was originally going to make a Shadow thread a couple of weeks ago but I completely forgot about it somehow. So glad there's finally a Shadow support thread, I 100% support him. Also, it's a complete injustice to not include this song on your list of music related to him:

I agree and would also love to see this make it in if Shadow is confirmed playable.

Imagining a Sonic vs Shadow match in Smash with this playing makes me giddy.

 

[Camc10]

Btw, im surprised no one have though about any of the remixes from recent games

Especially this since its from the most recent game, and because it does take place in Green Hill.

 

[DarkFoxTeam]

You can definitely count me in as a supporter! He's my favorite Sonic character and I've always wanted to see him in Smash. I've honestly never given him much hope before, but, I think he has a solid chance now as an Echo Fighter. However, If I'm being honest, I don't think being an echo fighter does him justice. He has his own unique moves he can have like Chaos Spear, Blast and teleports. I'd still gladly take him as an echo fighter though. And if he does become an echo fighter then in his trailer (or victory quote) I need him to say "You're not even good enough to be my fake!". I think that'd be pretty funny.

Also, I know this would be unlikely, but I'd like to see Radical Highway make it in as a stage. It's theme on Green Hill Zone would do just fine if they don't though.

 

[Tornado_Man]

I'd much prefer Tails or Eggman, seeing as I'm not a huge fan of Shadow. Being third party though, and seeing as Knux replaced(?) him as an AT, circumstances are really... odd here. I could see Shadow getting in as an echo if only because ever since the Brawl days countless people expressed interest in playing Shadow in Smash, and Nintendo seems to have good enough relations with SEGA to make it happen. I suppose I wouldn't complain if it happened.

As for music, Live & Learn does apply to both Sonic and Shadow after all.