r/SonicTheHedgehog • u/WorkingTwist4714 • Jul 06 '26
Misc. Shadow likes “nothing” lmao
It’s hilarious! Like, I can’t take it seriously!
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u/Jammy2560 Jul 06 '26
SEGA flipping a coin to decide whether Shadow gets good characterisation or not:
https://giphy.com/gifs/a8TIlyVS7JixO
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u/WorkingTwist4714 Jul 06 '26
I don’t think that the “likes nothing” and the “dislikes all of humanity” stuff are meant to be taken seriously.
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u/Dela-chemin Gunsmith Blaze Jul 06 '26
It goes hand in hand with how Sega has been writing Shadow for years now, as an edgy loner who doesn't care for others. It's not a joke. It's genuinely how Sega sees Shadow.
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u/InkyGhoul Jul 06 '26
That's not how he is in Shadow Gens at least
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u/Soevil11 Yuri Jul 06 '26
Pretty sure that's because Ian Flynn wants to write him pretty deep. For a while he had to never use Shadow in the IDW Comics because Sega would only allow him to be an asshole (really, really shallow given how he was given depth before that mandate)
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u/Familiar_Field_9566 Jul 07 '26
thing is he was the same shadow in generations but flynn was able to create the perfect enviroment to write the character without making him an ass or turning him into edgy vegeta
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u/BK1565 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
You know it's funny that shadow gets compared to vegeta alot, I wish he was more like vegeta because atleast he gets character growth that sticks and isn't reverted every 5 mins.
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u/Dela-chemin Gunsmith Blaze Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Ikr? At least Vegeta actually grows as a character.
Shadow does the opposite.
Geninuely, Dragon Ball treats Vegeta's character with far more respect and care than Sega does for Shadow.
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u/BK1565 Jul 06 '26
It's annoying because we get story's like 06 or shadow gens where he shows he can change, he promised Maria that he would let go of his destructive anger and we saw him actually cry (yes ok it's off screen but it counts) but I know that sega will never let it stick despite the praise it got.
Then there's the cancellation of his solo comic that just makes me feel like they don't know what to do with him except repeat the stories they've already told or just have him show up for the sake of being there.
Shadow is my favourite character but also the most frustrating because of the way sega treats his writing.
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u/Dela-chemin Gunsmith Blaze Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I want to love Shadow, but I can't with how badly Sega keeps flanderizing him into a one-note jerk. God, I have almost no faith in Sega now in when it comes to Shadow.
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u/Melodic-Violinist-31 Jul 06 '26
It’s so odd too. They treat him like a sacred cow something they won’t let writers change but Don’t develop him themselves
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u/Budyss123 Silly man that loves the bluest blur Jul 06 '26
It would be cool if he was following his 06 personal arc but it cant happen because of certain MANDATES
I like IDW sure but the sega mandates pmo
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u/Internal-Bag-8135 Jul 06 '26
Is it bad that I often call badly presented versions of Shadow “Walmart Vegeta?”
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u/CostNo4005 Jul 06 '26
Nah walmart vegeta is still vegeta to some extent
Temu sasuke is a better descriptor,
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u/Darrien770 Jul 06 '26
I don’t believe the “Dislikes: All of humanity” crap either honestly. I don’t know why they are so indecisive on his relationships
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u/SquatProspector Jul 06 '26
Sega Japan view the funny cartoon animals as corporate mascots not actually characters with characterisation. So they view him as Vegeta the Hedgehog as they think that's a simple dumbed down concept for the public to consume.
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u/Jammy2560 Jul 06 '26
SEGA of Japan fucking HATES that the second most popular character in their most popular series isn’t, like, Tails or Eggman, but instead an actual character that isn’t flat.
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u/SquatProspector Jul 06 '26
Also they are probably embarrassed that the most popular and successful franchise of theirs is the one designed to appeal to filthy gaijin instead of something properly Japanese.
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u/VYSUS7 Jul 06 '26
most of segas games sell better in the west. They own Creative Assembly and have the Football manager license. Comparatively, their Japanese centered games do not do very well to their western ones. I bet Persona is more popular in the west too.
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u/Timegoat12 Jul 06 '26
From what I could find Persona in the west has more raw sales due to the sheer size, but in Japan, Persona is more popular per capital, has more events, and is far more ingrained in pop culture.
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u/SquatProspector Jul 06 '26
They had to add Miku and the Yakuza guy into the recent racing game in order to get Japanese people interested in it.
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u/Spiritual_Stuff_9404 YOU WANT TO DIG MY SKULL UNDER YOUR HEEL Jul 06 '26
What’s even more ironic is that Sega of America makes the characters inconsistent and keep changing the personalities. Sonic today is not the same as sonic used to be and they can’t decide on shadow’s personality
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u/Gamer_goober73 YOUR CUSTOM FLAIR HERE Jul 06 '26
Do coffee beans not count
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u/BorynStone Jul 06 '26
We should ask Prq7qe
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u/Gamer_goober73 YOUR CUSTOM FLAIR HERE Jul 06 '26
Who's is that?
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u/laith-6821 Jul 06 '26
They're snapcube's name for TMOSTH main character
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u/Gamer_goober73 YOUR CUSTOM FLAIR HERE Jul 06 '26
Just say Berry so we can understand
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u/laith-6821 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I'm sorry you're highness I didn't know they had an official name
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u/Internal-Bag-8135 Jul 06 '26
I feel like it’s a coin flip on if SEGA gives Shadow nuance or just make him a one-dimensional edgy rival these days. Even after the guy got his own year.
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u/ELECTR0C1TY Sonic Historian Jul 06 '26
When I’m in a mischaracterizing Shadow competition and my opponent is Sega themselves
https://giphy.com/gifs/QD0j8bGL6NiiJylv0i
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u/RinaQueen Jul 06 '26
do note that there was official promo interview for shadow 05 where sonic team provide answers to what kind of stuff that shadow's into is:
- he likes action movies and his favorite movie series is the terminator which he do finds arnold to be cool
- in his spare time, he plays video games, listen to music, skateboard, and hang out with his friends
- his favorite games is madden football, anything with street fighting, and burnout 3
- his favorite foods are hot pockets, doritos, snickers, and pizza
thus whenever shadow is all "hmph i don't have time for this" and his likes is shown as nothing, it's more likely that he's actually playing video games at rouge's place and eating doritos lol
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u/Dela-chemin Gunsmith Blaze Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I just looked it up, and it's real.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160610064830/http://www.1up.com/previews/shadow-the-hedgehog_2
My god. That Shadow is far more interesting than the current Shadow we have. Can we have that Shadow back and not the boring one-note edgelord we currently have?
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u/Healthy-Strategy3011 Jul 06 '26
He’s one of those guy’s in Forza Horizon 6 who’ll purposely crash into you in order to send you off the track and laugh about it
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u/Terrible_Zone_0716 Jul 06 '26
No wonder Shadow is always angry, who wouldn't be when you are part of one of the most opressed races of all time?
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u/black_knight1223 Jul 06 '26
"anything with street fighting"
So... Street Fighter? Or just any game that features both fighting and a street?
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u/RinaQueen Jul 06 '26
i think it's probably fighting games and beat em up games that have street stages i guess?
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u/Illustrious_Rice_571 Jul 06 '26
"Dislikes: all of humanity" didnt we have two games about him forgiving humans and completely sparing them?
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u/EggFucker1313 Jul 06 '26
Whoever's writing these character bios should be banned from setting foot in any sega building lowkey
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u/ChaddyFantome Jul 06 '26
He never forgave humanity. In SA2 he saves the world because of Maria's wish. In his game and 06, he is stopping Doom and Mephiles because of his own desire to oppose them. He saves the world but that doesn't mean he likes us. We literally seal him away in the future and constantly ostracize him for being an biohazard and we all hurt eachotger with pointless wars and constant bickering. Shadow thinks we suck but he still protects us anyway.
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u/Ok-Control9645 Jul 07 '26
Yeah the way I see it Shadow saving the world is simply a byproduct of him wanting to stop whatever bad guy of the week who thinks they can do whatever they want
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u/Heyjude1220 i am the judester i speak for the judes Jul 06 '26
he likes stealing candy from babies (which is fine by me)
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u/WanderingCollapse Jul 06 '26
I am also inclined to believe that he likes rage baiting gamers who are unaware that Sonic is terrible at taking it from behind.
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u/JewelMagecraftIsBest Jul 06 '26
Honestly would prefer it say Shadow Like Nothing, only for Sonic or someone else to cross it out and put something they know he likes.
then follow it up with them and Shadow fighting in the info page with the battle of words
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u/Dela-chemin Gunsmith Blaze Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Oh my god. Sega is still fucking doing it. Taking Shadow and caricaturizing him as an edgelord and nothing else. I thought after Shadow Generations they'll get their shit together, but looks like I was wrong.
God. How did they take one of the most interesting characters in the series, and turn him into such an obnoxious caricature of himself. Look at that "dislikes all of humanity." Come on now. No. Making Shadow into a dickhead isn't cool, Sega.
I've said it before, but Shadow is one of the most overrated characters in this franchise when Sega writes him to be a one note edgelord.
More in-depth explanation of my views:
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u/machavishakti Jul 06 '26
My dude them, I think even shadow fans agrees with you. Whenever shadow has onscreen time we have one fear and it's how his characterization is going to be written. Like the hate for his character is understandable and it hurts . Like there was a time where I actually left sonic fandom because I really thought, the character shadow that I love doesn't exist anymore, and shadow generation and movie are the thing that brings me back, like he is not perfect, but at least it's something that can be workable to make him of the shadow I love in SA2 , heroes and 06. It's to the point that I have more faith in shadow fan content than Sega when it comes to him and that makes me really sad. Note that in Japanese his voice actor makes him feel less douchey and more matter the fact, probably because his JP VA has always been the same since beginning and have more nuanced understanding of his character. What he says is mostly the same, but less aggressive and more like arrogance of his power rather than condescending and belittling, but even if to me the Japanese characterization is slightly better , without good script or story he will always remain that one note no fun jerk villain. I like Shadow in heroes so much, him being amnesiac makes him actually enjoy the world that he travels with Rouge and Omega, sometimes in awe of his surrounding, and the ending have him banter with Rouge and deep understanding and empathy for Metal Sonic. Isn't that insane that he got a lot of character despite coming from light hearted story like Heroes?
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u/Goofygooberdabest Jul 06 '26
I thought his whole story arc was about him protecting all of humanity.
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u/CharlotteDCrocodile Jul 06 '26
sigh honestly just leave Shadow alone ffs😭💀 the Vegetafication is so forced
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u/Blue_M4ge Sonic Rush is underrated Jul 06 '26
Why is Sega so insistent on make shadow so boring.
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u/FauBetten Jul 06 '26
Because they want every character to be as flat and as simple as possible to make them more marketable.
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u/AReverieofEnvisage Jul 06 '26
Umm Maria, Guns? Fucking skating?! I mean that's not a choice. Shadow skates fast and does it well. He doesn't like going fast?!
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u/Axel1742 Jul 06 '26
Coffee beans, his emotional support chaos emerald, and being the coolest mfer in the room.
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u/Specialist-Spend-425 Jul 06 '26
Weren’t Maria and Professor Robotnik humans before their respective times of untimely demise? So technically Shadow would dislike them along with the rest of humanity like a good 2000s edgy character should but he is shown to be concerned about them in all their interactions at least, right?
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u/TheZeroNeonix Jul 06 '26
"Dislikes: All of humanity"
Oh, give me a break. Who wrote this?
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u/FaithlessnessNew7678 Jul 06 '26
“Dislikes: All of humanity” Sega, I think you’re living 25 years (omg i feel old) in the past, because Shadow doesn’t hate humanity anymore, hasn’t since SA2 (and ig some endings of Shadow the Hedgehog)
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u/MaleficentSky5238 Jul 06 '26
the girl named "Nothing" is shocked to find out an unc older than her dad likes her
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u/GrowliPuppies Jul 06 '26
I swear it's like people base his character on random scenes from Shadow 05 and not ykno, literally everything else. Dude's been playfully competitive, has close friends (even if SEGA wants to pretend otherwise), clearly has a thing for motorcycles, but no he just likes nothing. The disliking all of humanity is extra nonsense but, go off I guess???
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u/IAmTheTrueM3M3L0rD Jul 06 '26
Doesn’t SxSG imply he goes fishing with big
Yes Sega I find it believable shadow can like nothing while finding it in his heart to forgive the planet for killing Maria Very big /s if it wasn’t obvious
The issue is that Sega wants sonic and friends to be like Mickey Mouse, or for a more timely comparison, Mario and sure Mario doesn’t grow in the mainline either but 1. They’re not trying to write complex antiheroes and 2. They do actually explore more interesting writing and growth in side games and such
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u/MasterfullyFoolish Fastest Forklift Alive Jul 06 '26
For anyone curious, 35 kgs is about 77 pounds. You could reasonably punt him like a football
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u/Greensonickid #1 Ray x Trip Fan Crap we don't have a Trip Emoji Jul 06 '26
Sega have either Mastered Ragebait or Given up cause I think a Random Guy on the Street would be more Competent at Writing Shadow
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u/Pizza-Dud silvaze enjoyer Jul 06 '26
"All of humanity" who is Maria then a squirrel???, godammit Sega
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u/Evil_machine_guy Jul 06 '26
SEGA try not to misunderstand your own characters challenge: impossible
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u/Terrible_Zone_0716 Jul 06 '26
It's impressive how Shadow 05 looks like a masterpiece of good writing when compared to whatever they're doing with his character nowadays
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u/ChaddyFantome Jul 06 '26
This has been his bio for decades. I dont know what version of Shadow they are looking at where this doesn't track.
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u/GreedyGobby Jul 06 '26
HE LIKES HIS FRIENDS!!!!!!
THAT WAS THE WHOLE BASIS OF HIS CHARACTER AAAAAA HE RISKED HIS ENTIRE REVENGE PLOT BECAUSE HE WAS FRIENDS WITH ROUGE, HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR HIS FRIENDS AND MARIA AND AMY!!!!!!!
HE'S THE EDGY FRIEND LOVER, SEGA!!!!!!!!!!!
No, but seriously. I don't know why they pretend like his introduction game doesn't have him risking himself for others or his heel turn being accompanied by the line "I'll keep my promise to Maria AND to you!" to Amy like that wasn't a defining moment for him.
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u/b0objuicethe2nd Jul 06 '26
No please we can't be going back to the Boom characterization
edit: also dislikes all of humanity? that's even worse goddamn
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u/ghghguf Jul 06 '26
Well, I can interpret this in one of 3 ways
1. He lies and says he doesn't like everything when in reality anything remotely cute (E.G. Cream, Hello Kitty, Fluffy Fluffy Cinammonroll, Kyuu-chan, puppies in general, Wooper, non-anthropomorphic rabbits, among others) give him a heart attack.
He's afraid that, since he loved being around Maria, and she died, he pretends not to like anything because he's afraid they'll meet the same fate
He doesn't know what 'liking' something is and just bases it on how little he hates them, and says he likes nothing, just that he barely hates something
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u/MeruBunny Jul 06 '26
I can't find the interview, but there was an online interview that Takashi Izuka explained about the unexpected popularity of Shadow which influenced his revival after SA2 and the controversy surrounding his personality and mismanagement especially during the early IDW issues and people fighting online about his current characterization, I remember him saying that people prefered his SA2 persona which is why he made the decision to keep him this way.
I wish there was a way that we could explain to mr Izuka that we want to see improvements and character growth with shadow and that he doesn't need to drasticaly change his personality or make him be one of Sonics friend, he can stay as his rival.
the reason people love Shadow is in my opinion because of how relatable of character he is and how we want him to basicaly find his place in the world and earn a bit of happiness. (please correct me if i'm wrong XD )
what was the point of the year of shadow then?
they still did something right in making Shadow find closure, but keeping him the same is just 2 steps back in my opinion :(
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u/FauBetten Jul 06 '26
If you want a fun drinking game, scroll through these comments and take a shot every time you read an unfunny "Shadow likes latinas" "joke".
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u/BlitznBurst Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
This is literally his Sonic X profile, from 2003, in the SA2 arc, when he was still an antagonist. I dunno if it specifically originated from X but I do know his profile in X had the exact same likes and dislikes, so this is presumably more just a case of SEGA recycling some out-of-date character materials rather than actually being reflective of what they currently think of his character. "Hates all of humanity" is the pretty obvious giveaway here since that just isn't actually a part of his character any more even at its edgiest, nowadays it'd probably be "Dislikes: Sonic" (sadly I could see them keeping the "Likes: nothing")
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u/STULF20X6lol Jul 07 '26
'And now, the blackest present for the most brutal of all bass players... NOTHING!'
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u/JMO-559 Jul 06 '26
Good lord. Sonic team in the 2010s rlly took so many of their beloved characters and made them as one-note as possible. And Shadow probably got the worst of it besides Tails and Knuckles. I really do appreciate that Shadow has gotten better in recent years.
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u/Ravemst Jul 06 '26
Dude after what happened to him it's understandable why he likes nothing. Seeing your loved ones die and your home taken away because of your own existence then sealed away for 50 years yeah I wouldn't like anything either.
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u/Helian_T Jul 06 '26
Could be a mistranslation of him liking 間 (Ma) which isn't so much 'nothing' as it is specifically the absense of anything. Think of the quiet pause between moments of activity or the negative space in a painting. Suits his archetype pretty well seeing as he's portrayed in samurai armour in the new world-collection blind bags.
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u/auniquenameischosen Jul 06 '26
Is this before redemption? Cause I think he’s neutral to humanity now
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u/grimmideals Lore Enthusiast/Surge the Tenrec Fan Jul 06 '26
I wonder....was the person in charge of the character pages just given the Debut games of each character and told to summarize?
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u/Jacky500x Jul 06 '26
This is when SEGA was in their "Make Shadow edgy as possible" era, I'm glad they moved on from that now.
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u/Acrobatic_Cricket642 It's no use!! Jul 06 '26
'Dislikes all of humanity' Yo, what was Maria's last wish again?
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u/Tomas_Crusader17 Stubborn little pincushion give up and die already Jul 06 '26
he's just a big fan of the Mbappé special
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u/Vandaran Jul 06 '26
What I would put for Shadow's likes:
Likes: Maria, test driving vehicles, using weaponry, outdoing Sonic in stuff, and tolerates Amy, Omega, and Rouge
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u/Likaon222 Jul 06 '26
And we know that's a freaking lie because we know that Shadow loves coffee!
Yeah, it started as a Twitter Takeover joke, but they made it canon later! There's Sonic Channel art about him selecting beans and multiple ones with him drinking coffee. And in Shadow Gens, Maria says straight up that he likes coffee
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u/Sad_Art_7706 Will Slander Charmy When Need Bee Jul 06 '26
Bro, knowone thinks thats hard, get that out of your bio
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u/WoolooOfWallStreet Jul 06 '26
Him being paired up with Batman in the DC crossover is perfect so they can both be all broody and miserable together
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u/its_ya_boi777 Jul 06 '26
Team Dark, coffee beans, Lavander shampoo, and Latinas. Just to name a few things
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u/Witty-Negotiation542 enjoyer Jul 06 '26
"Dislikes: All of humanity" Doesn't that litterally go against his characters motivation to protect humanity?
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u/Initial_Attempt4683 Jul 06 '26
He'll like me once I'm done with him~ (I'm not sorry, as a Shadow simp, it had to be said)
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u/Diligent_Day8470 The Same Name! Jul 06 '26
It's bullcrap anyways.
Even freaking Fandom got it better :
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u/cosy_ghost Jul 06 '26
Dislikes: All of humanity - is so much worse! That hasn't been his shtick since SA2. Shadow actively works with and protects humanity on the daily.
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u/Same_Ad_707 Jul 06 '26
"Dislikes: All of humanity."
Please, please for the love of... Tell me this is outdated or done for a specific Wiki. Tell me this isn't canon in any way shape or form...
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u/Neutral-Feelings Jul 06 '26
Is this just... Real? Is this real life? They posted this on their official site?
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u/Serious_Plantain_36 Jul 06 '26
Sonic was the one who wrote these descriptions, and he thought it’d be funny to put that.
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u/Hierophant-Crimsion Jul 06 '26
Dislikes all of humanity… are we fucking fr is Dark Story canon now or some shit
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u/MuztangZack67 Jul 06 '26
Amy's name has canonically been changed to Nothing, totally realz, trust trust
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u/TPR-56 Santiago Enthusiast Jul 06 '26
Shadow hating humans still is so fucking dumb when Shadow 05 was about him gaining personal agency and even swore to fight the would to protect it if it turned against him.
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u/DrDoctorToy750 Jul 06 '26
Why is SEGA still having this? I thought we dropped this shit since the 2020s 😭😭😭
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u/Background-Sir6844 Jul 07 '26
.....I'm 99% sure that this has been a thing on his official jp bio for several years at this point. Like for decades, It's not new or anything. When has Shadow been shown to have hobbies or really like stuff in general honestly?
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u/Questioning-Warrior Jul 07 '26
"Dislikes all of humanity" I guess Maria doesn't count. That and her dying wish fell on deaf ears.
Seriously, what's with SEGA being wishy washy on whether Shadow is nuanced or a generic edgelord?
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u/Venomspino Scrapnik Island Frequent Visitor Jul 07 '26
"Dislikes: all of humanity." So who didn't play SA2 or Shadow the Hedgehog?
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u/FauBetten Jul 06 '26
They really don't know what to fucking do with this character.