Project Shadow

Project Shadow (プロジェクトシャドウ, Purojekuto Shadō) is a project in the SKB's SP series created by Yuji Naka and Satoshi Tajiri. It was a medical research program conducted by the government over 50 years for researching and experiment with immortality.

The results of the project produced two creatures endowed with immortality: the prototype, and the final product. However, the project was shut down by the military when it was deemed too dangerous, which indirectly resulted in the deaths of Gerald and Maria.

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 * —About Project Shadow.

Beginnings
Project Shadow was conceived over 50 years before the Black Arms' arrival on the planet by the President of the United Federation at that time (13 presidents ago from the current one) under the premise of achieving "mankind's ultimate eternal dream: researching for immortality."

However, the true intent for the project was to discover an "immortality formula" which could be used to develop weapons. The President personally requested Professor Gerald Robotnik, the most brilliant mind of his time, for assistance. Initially, Gerald refused, believing that they were crossing the limits that man should not tamper with and that they would use his research for war. However, Gerald realized that he could co-opt the program in order to find a cure for Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, an incurable and fatal disease afflicting his beloved granddaughter, Maria.

As such, Gerald eventually accepted the request and agreed to led the project on the Space Colony ARK, an orbiting facility isolated from the planet. There, all advanced research on the project was strictly confidential. The project codename "Project Shadow" was derived from the attempt to create a being which did not exist, making it as intangible as a shadow.

Research and prototype
At first, everyone thought that Project Shadow was far too reckless and far-fetched to have ever been fabricated by Gerald's gifted mind. In the beginning, Gerald and his colleges researched the Chaos Emeralds, resulting in the creation of the Chaos Drives, during tests to apply chaos energy to living beings. When those tests proved successful, the project moved onto creating the prototype of an immortal lifeform dubbed "The Ultimate Lifeform."

During development, Gerald needed help with his work and as such made contact with Black Doom, the alien leader of the Black Arms race, during the 50-year return of the Black Comet. In exchange for the seven Chaos Emeralds being delivered to him in fifty years, Black Doom assisted Gerald with his research, going so far as to provide genetic material for the project in the form of his own blood. The project eventually produced the "Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform", dubbed the Bio Lizard, which was modeled after a lizard.

At 12:30 A.M. on the 27th of January, the Bio Lizard was brought to life, its eternal engine and Chaos Control-inducing organ working normally. The Bio Lizard demonstrated many of the desired traits as it grew, including regeneration and self-reproduction, though it required a Life Support System fueled by Chaos Drives to remain viable. While the researchers were overjoyed over the Bio Lizard's evolution, their joy proved brief. In addition to having an unexpected and exponentially fast growth rate, the Bio Lizard was like a primitive animal.

It also lacked the strength to walk, although its tail and neck were strong. As such, it was kept it under observation. Eventually, the Bio Lizard evolved to become so unruly that the researchers had trouble controlling it. Over time, the development of the ultimate lifeform continued and shifted. Using the DNA of Black Doom, Gerald created a new version of the prototype, but using a more desirable physique for the creature.

Unease and completion
Because of the Bio Lizard's violent nature, doubts about Project Shadow began internally from the researchers, who began questioning the duration, significance and safety of the research. Eventually, private information about the project leaked to G.U.N., presumably by the internal staff who had witnessed the prototype going out of control. Since the nature of the project also made the government uneasy following Gerald's contact with the Black Arms, they considered cutting funding.

In an attempt to keep Project Shadow going, Gerald offered the Gizoid, an ancient robotic superweapon he had discovered, to the government as a bribe. Unfortunately, the bribe did not work and the Gizoid went on a rampage on the ARK. Project Shadow was eventually completed after years of research when Gerald produced a more advanced version of the prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform with Black Doom's DNA: Shadow the Hedgehog. Gerald imparted Shadow with a heart and personality similar to that of Maria in the hopes that he would not become a weapon.

In addition to possessing immortality, Shadow did not need machinery to live, could complete tasks alone, and possessed both high intelligence and his own identity. Shadow himself became close to those living on the ARK, especially Maria who shared his curiosity of the world, though he would occasionally ponder about what his true purpose was.

Shutdown
Fearful of how dangerous and costly Gerald's experiments were, the military plotted to take possession of Shadow. The top ranking officials of GUN, who saw the research institution's uniqueness as hostile, arrived at the decision to set a plan to close the ARK itself. To this, they formulated the "ARK Seal Destruction Operation" (「ＡＲＫ封滅作戦」, "ARK Fūmetsu Sakusen") that took advantage of its current situation.

Making up a public story that a biohazard had occurred within the ARK research institution for ostensible purposes, all of the colony's residents were to be evacuated while the research facilities were sealed. The plan's true purpose however, was to close down the ARK's research facility, destroy everyone and everything (except Gerald) related to Project Shadow, and detain Gerald as the cause of the accident. Sometime after the completion of Project Shadow, the ARK was invaded by GUN Soldiers in a violent coup d'état, evacuating civilians and killing researchers.

During the attack, Gerald put his finishing touches on Shadow. As GUN's Special Forces rushed the ARK's laboratory, Gerald had Maria escape with Shadow. In the ensuing chase, Maria and Shadow got to the escape pods, but Maria was shot by a soldier when helping Shadow escape. Mortally wounded, Maria ejected Shadow to the world below in an escape pod with her last strength. Meanwhile, Gerald made sure the escape pod was rejected safely toward the planet.

Despite the complications, the military's plan went along. Within a week, the residents of the ARK had all been moved back to the planet, the ARK's research facilities had been frozen, and the people involved in Project Shadow, except for Gerald, were announced as victims of the accident told to the public. The plan was completed when the Bio Lizard was sealed away onboard the ARK after finding it in the deepest part of the space station. The ARK was then sealed off, probably to prevent the Bio Lizard from falling into the wrong hands.

Aftermath
With the operations about Project Shadow ceased on the ARK, Gerald was taken to Prison Island to continue his research under military control. The military later retrieved Shadow and brought him to Prison Island for Gerald to continue his work, but when Gerald learned that Maria had been killed, he went mad with grief. While it was thought that he was continuing his research with Shadow, Gerald secretly created a program that would cause the ARK to fall to the planet and destroy it as his revenge at humanity, going as far as to brainwash Shadow to make him carry out his revenge when he awoke.

When the military began to fear how Gerald might retaliate, however, they incarcerated him on Prison Island. Knowing only the danger of Project Shadow, the military sealed the island and abandoned the professor's research. Gerald was subsequently executed while Shadow was placed in suspended animation on Prison Island.

Legacy
Over fifty years after the shutdown, Dr. Eggman learned of the existence of Project Shadow after discovering the diary of his grandfather, Professor Robotnik. Reading of a "top-secret military weapon" that was shut down by the military because they feared it, Eggman retrieved the weapon, Shadow the Hedgehog, from Prison Island to use him for world domination. This set in motion a chain of events that initiated Gerald's doomsday program, but Shadow overcame Gerald's brainwashing and saved the the planet, as per Maria's last wish.

However during the events of an alien attack on the planet, it is later on revealed that Black Doom had his own, non-humanitarian agenda in contributing to Project Shadow: his goal was to produce an agent who would gather the Chaos Emeralds for him 50 years later so he could invade the planet and enslave the human population at this planned time.

Ironically, Black Doom was the only one who got what he wanted from Project Shadow, only for it to backfire on him spectacularly: while Shadow did collect the Chaos Emeralds as Black Doom wanted, Shadow learned the truth of his past and instead of using them for Black Doom, he used them to become Super Shadow to defeat Black Doom and destroy the Black Comet using the Eclipse Cannon, thus thwarting his invasion.

Theme songs
The video games have featured several theme songs for the character. Shadow's themes consisted primarily of the techno and industrial genres often with synched vocals that are barely audible, but have shown an increasing preference towards the hard rock genre in more recent games.



Notes & Trivia

 * Sonic and Shadow's similarities in appearance are never explained, nor explored, leaving the details of this a complete mystery.