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's The Coolest

 * 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 is slightly egotistical and self-absorbed due to his "Ultimate Lifeform" status, yet calm and heroic by the most part.
 * 3) * Despite being usually alone, he is a good friend of Rouge and E-123 Omega.
 * 4) His personality, abilities, and outlook on life make him the perfect arch-rival for Sonic, one that like Knuckles, isn't a robust roboticist.
 * 5) * Speaking of Sonic, he has a great amount of respect for the blue blur, even going as far as telling him that he might be the true Ultimate Lifeform.
 * 6) Regardless of his motivations, he has helped Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies save the world multiple times.
 * 7) Like Sonic, he has little to no trouble forgiving others, as he started working with G.U.N..
 * 8) When Silver was about to finish Sonic off, he saved the latter's life and even helped the former to discover Iblis' origin.
 * 9) Shadow has lots of amazing music in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog (game), called "Throw It All Away", "I Am...All of Me", "All Hail Shadow" and "Never Turn Back".
 * 10) He has so much popularity that it sometimes overshadows (no pun intended) other characters.
 * 11) His aforementioned (and heartwarming) friendship with Maria and Professor Gerald.
 * 12) While a loner, Shadow still has people he loves and cares for, mainly his teammates Rouge the Bat and E-123 "Omega".
 * 13) His Sonic 06 outing is unanimously agreed to be his best one yet.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) His self-titled game received plenty of negative feedback, although it was very well sold.
 * 2) Sometimes, he can show very little personality (Outside of folding his arms while looking silently at the camera with a frown).
 * 3) 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.
 * 4) He is excessively violent in Sonic X at times, to the point Cosmo was scared of him.
 * 5) *Fortunately, he redeems himself by saving both her and Chris from Black Narcissus' clutches, as well as leaving the latter unscathed.

Trivia

 * The look and feel of his character was based on movies like Underworld, Constantine and the Terminator films.
 * 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.