Shadow the Hedgehog

Series
Final Smash	Chaos Inferno
Appearances	Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Crusade
Tier	A (22)

General

Shadow the Hedgehog (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Shadou za Hejjihoggu?) is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Shadow is an artificially-created life form. His trademark hover shoes propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic, and with a Chaos Emerald he has the ability to distort time and space using "Chaos Control." Often referred to as being the "Ultimate Life Form," he is a black and crimson male hedgehog that debuted in Sonic Adventure 2. He resembles Sonic in many ways, such as the ability to travel at incredible speeds. He is Sonic's rival and is the antithesis of Sonic himself in all aspects of his life. He has been featured in a variety of media, including his own self-titled game. Shadow works together with either Sonic's group or Dr. Eggman, depending on what suits his own needs.

Changes from Brawl to Crusade

Shadow became a playable character, while in Brawl he was a assist trophy.

Attributes

Shadow's gameplay is that of a rushdown character with some pretty easy to link combos. Shadow can play a zoning game with Tornado and Chaos Spear, but can play a deadly rushdown and can space his aerials very well. As expected, Shadow is very fast and can approach fairly well with his teleport and his Dark Tornado and since he can play zoning, Shadow is hard to pin down.

The only way to pin down Shadow is by approaching him, but his zoning game and that he can space his aerials really well forces you to approach him so he can play rushdown, so you have to try to hit him with a move with insane range or disjointed hitboxes (like Link's zair or Gooey's bair). Shadow has a Jab cancel and the fact that he can move while Jab cancel, he can easily put you in an edge-guarding position where Shadow also excels at. His Fair, Nair and Dark Tornado are very good edge-guarding moves.

Shadow however has flaws. His combos, though easy to land, are limited and relies on L-Cancelling a lot. The most reliable way for Shadow to rack up damage is to Jab Cancel, but the opponent can DI out of it. His range is not so good either, His recovery, though can be extended, has very short distance and can easily be edge-guarded.

Shadow is ranked 22nd in the A tier.

Shadow's Normal Moves

Combo

• Shadow first does a swipe (2%), then spins around and kicks up high (3%) and finally kicks behind him (3%). A very quick jab that has decent horizontal knockback at high percents. 

Side Tilt

• A forward-moving side kick. This move grants Shadow good range due to the distance he moves forwards while using it. 

Up Tilt

• Shadow quickly backflips and kicks above him. This move is quite good for combos and juggling. 

Down Tilt

• Shadow creates a sort of energy crystal on the ground on either side of him. A bit slow, but disjointed, with decent damage and knockback, and fairly safe. 

Nair

• Shadow surronds himself in an energy ball that damages nearby enemies. This is a great spacing move for Shadow due to its range. It makes an effective short-hopped defense move. 

Fair

• Similar to the F-Smash, Shadow surronds his hand with a energy ball that damages anyone touching it. This is a quick aerial, boasting a 6-frame startup, and it is a key part of Shadow's combos. 

Bair

• Shadow kicks behind himself in the air. This move is not remarkable in any way apart from having decent knockback, similar to Sonic's Bair. 

Up Air

• Similar to the up tilt, Shadow backflips in the air and kicks above him. This has a great amount of hitstun, allowing for combos and juggles. 

Dair

• Shadow dives downward and kicks. When doing this attack, you fall faster than normal at a slight angle. 

Side Smash

• Shadow surronds his hand with an energy orb and damages anyone touching it. This move is a reliable finisher, posessing a strong hitbox and solid knockback. 

Up Smash

• Shadow surronds his whole body with an energy orb that damages anyone touching it. Shadow is invincible during a few frames before the move hits. This move is a solid vertical finisher at around 100% on middle- to light-weights. 

Down Smash

• Shadow surronds both his hands with an energy orb and attacks both sides, dealing damage to anyone touching any of the orbs. This has powerful near-horizontal knockback. 

Forward Throw

• Shadow grabs the enemy, then smacks the enemy away.

Back Throw

• Similar to the forward throw, Shadow grabs the enemy, then smacks the enemy away behind him.

Up Throw

• Shadow grabs the enemy and does an uppercut to the grabbed enemy.

Down Throw

• Shadow grabs the enemy and smacks the enemy to the ground. This can be used to start Uair juggle combos. 

Dash Attack

• Shadow grinds on the field, causing sparks to shoot out from beneath his shoes, damaging enemies touching the sparks. Deals solid knockback, but is easily punished.

Ledge attack

• Shadow climbs up and delivers kick resembling his Forward TIlt.

Shadow's Special Moves

Type	Name	Descriprion
Neutral Special	Chaos Spear	Shadow shoots forward a ray of light. (can be charged) When fully charged, it becomes one of Shadow's best killing moves, espcially when edge guarding.
Side Special	Shadow Charge	Shadow dashes forward a short distance in a similar matter to Fox's Fox Illusion.
Up Special	Chaos Warp	Shadow teleports a short distance away. This attack deals no damage, but can be used to evade attacks.
Down Special	Dark Tornado	Shadow spins around, creating a tornado around him that sucks up enemies, and sends them a distance away. This attack can be used to aid in Shadow's recovery, as it reduces his falling speed, and it can be controlled to go in either direction.
Final Smash	Chaos Inferno	Shadow uses Chaos Control to freeze time. All enemies are then frozen, and can not act during this time. Gathering the rest of his energy, Shadow then unleashes a mighty Chaos Blast, knocking back all enemies. Everyone on stage is effected by this Final Smash.

Trivia

• Surprisingly, most of his moves are not based on his own game, Shadow The Hedgehog. This is mainly due to most Sonic Character sprites are based of the Gameboy game, Sonic Battle.
• This could also be due to Shadow the Hedgehog being recieved poorly.

Notable Appearances

• Sonic Adventure 2 (2001)
• Sonic Heroes (2003)
• Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
• Sonic Generations (2011)

Gallery

Shadow focusing his energy. Shadow fully focused his energy. Shadow releasing the energy into a large energy spear. When not fully charged, Shadow shoots out a smaller spear. Shadow rapidly spinning to create a tornado. Shadow teleporting away. Shadow dashing and creating a small shield around himself. Shadow first freezes time. Shadow then sends out a very large blast that hits anything frozen in time.