Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Shadō za Hejjihoggu?) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is an anthropomorphic hedgehog/Black Arm hybrid and the arch-rival of Sonic. Shadow was created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, using the DNA of Black Doom, and is the end result of Project Shadow.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) His entire backstory is very tragic and sympathetic while trying to destroy humanity for the loss of his best friend Maria. But in a change of heart promised her to protect Earth.
 * 2) A serious loner by nature, Shadow constantly refers to himself as "The Ultimate Lifeform" as he is egotistical, serious and self-absorbed, yet calm and heroic by the most part.
 * 3) His personality, abilities, and outlook on life make him the perfect arch-rival for Sonic, one that isn't a robust roboticist.
 * 4) Regardless of his motivations, he has helped Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies save the world multiple times.
 * 5) Shadow has lots of amazing music in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, called "Throw It All Away", "I Am...All of Me", "All Hail Shadow" and "Never Turn Back".
 * 6) While a loner, Shadow still has people he loves and cares for, mainly his teammates Rouge the Bat and E-123 "Omega".

Bad Qualities

 * 1) His self-titled game received a very bad reception, but it was a huge success.
 * 2) Sometimes, he can show very little personality. (Outside of folding his arms)
 * 3) His popularity sometimes overshadows other Sonic characters, such as Tails and/or Knuckles.
 * 4) In recent years he has been portrayed as a one-dimensional edge-lord who can be excessively edgy to be likable, but not as bad as his Sonic Boom counterpart.
 * 5) While not as unlikeable as his Boom iteration, he still is excessively violent in Sonic X at times, to the point Cosmo was scared of him.

Trivia

 * The look and feel of his character was based on movies like Underworld, Constantine and the Terminator films.
 * However, it did have high sales.
 * Although Shadow is one of the series' most popular characters and was named one of the greatest video game characters by Guinness World Records in 2011, he has proven divisive among video game journalists.