Shadow the Hedgehog
| Shadow the Hedgehog | Gallery |
| "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!" |
| - Shadow the Hedgehog to Mephiles the Dark, from Sonic '06 |
Shadow the Hedgehog is a major character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
He is the "Ultimate Life Form" and a primary antihero and rival to Sonic, created 50 years before the main series timeline by Dr. Eggman's grandfather Professor Gerald Robotnik on the Space Colony ARK. Engineered using alien DNA (from Black Doom of the Black Arms species of aliens) and Chaos energy, Shadow possesses unparalleled power, including superhuman speed, immortality, and the ability to manipulate space and time via Chaos Control using the Chaos Emeralds.
His tragic origin story centers on his deep bond with Gerald's granddaughter and Eggman's cousin, Maria Robotnik, and her subsequent death at the hands of the government organization G.U.N. The trauma and Gerald's final corrupted wish for revenge initially set Shadow on a path to destroy humanity, but he ultimately chooses to protect the world, honoring his original promise to Maria.
Tournament History
Shadow's first tournament appearance was in King of /v/ 2020; seeding below average, he pulled a relative upset against Dick Gumshoe but was taken out in the second round by Chris Redfield. He seeded better in 2021, but jobbed the first round to Brad Armstrong.
Due to a rule at the time restricting the series limit slots of the previous year's Elite Eight to two instead of three, Shadow was barred from King of /v/ 2022, as he received less votes in the qualifiers than Sonic and Metal Sonic, falling short of overtaking Metal Sonic's position by 6 votes. If not for the two-per series limit, he would have seeded 57th.
Shadow did manage to return in 2023, although he lost to newcomer and up and coming Elite Eight member Rayman in the first round.
Now in King of /v/ 2024 Shadow found his big break thanks to a large influx of Shadow-related media in the months prior, such as the release of the game Shadow Generations and the release of the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which starred Shadow. Owing to this hype boost he landed his highest seed yet, 9th, and saw a large increase in support. This followed into him winning one of the biggest blowouts of round 1 against Freddy Fazbear. His campaign continued to grow, fostering large amounts of fanart in the style of the kinds of edgy "cringekino" Sonic fanart and videos one might find on Deviantart in the early-mid 2000s, as well as a Tails Gets Trolled inspired comic, two small flash games, and a steady stream of other high quality fanarts.
With the help of the "Year of Shadow" hype and dominant campaigning presence, Shadow won further matches against former Elite Eight member Leon Kennedy, fellow Sonic rep Metal Sonic, the hyped up Regigigas, and the 2022 fourth-placer AM. He faced off against Jetstream Sam in the semifinals, and using the power of "The Sameralds" against his opponent, he prevailed and moved on to the finals. His final opponent was JC Denton, and though both were favorites throughout the tournament with steady campaigns, Shadow's momentum proved to be enough to overcome this final challenge and emerged as the 2024 winner.
Having forged his legend as King of /v/ 2024, Shadow will be retired for all future King of /v/ editions.
Results
- Qualifiers
- 2022 - 164/122 votes (seed 57) [BARRED BY 2 PER CHARACTER SERIES LIMIT]
| King of /v/ | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - Seed 82 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | |||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (47)  Dick Gumshoe
|
Ace Attorney | 867 - 741 | 53.9% | |||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (18)  Chris Redfield
|
Resident Evil | 480 - 682 | 41.3% | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 - Seed 56 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | |||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (73)  Brad Armstrong
|
LISA | 523 - 636 | 45.1% | |||||||||||||||
| 2023 - Seed 70 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | |||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (66)  Rayman
|
Rayman | 325 - 383 | 45.9% | |||||||||||||||
| 2024 - Seed 9 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | |||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (100)  Freddy Fazbear
|
Five Nights at Freddy's | 657 - 269 | 71.0% | |||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (55)  Leon Kennedy
|
Resident Evil | 463 - 368 | 55.7% | |||||||||||||||
| Round 3 | (118)  Metal Sonic
|
Sonic the Hedgehog | 470 - 275 | 63.1% | |||||||||||||||
| Round 4 | (17)  Regigigas
|
Pokémon | 483 - 376 | 56.2% | |||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | (3)  AM
|
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | 458 - 373 | 55.1% | |||||||||||||||
| Semifinals | (18)  Jetstream Sam
|
Metal Gear | 507 - 373 | 57.6% | |||||||||||||||
| Finals | (5)  JC Denton
|
Deus Ex | 556 - 474 | 54.0% | |||||||||||||||
