What's your favorite saga of the Project Shadow lore? Do you enjoy the added story from Sonic Battle and Shadow 05? Or do you think it actually hurts the overarching narrative? Also, huge thank you to 1v1.LOL for making this video possible! Download 1v1.LOL, the hyper battle royale for FREE! onevone.onelink.me/B5hL/5t0x8urp
Definitely hurts, his arc was complete at the end of SA2. Heroes had a decent explanation for him being back but it was handled poorly since nobody but Rouge seems to care or be shocked that Shadow is back.
it's weird but i always liked it more when the world in the games was primarily populated by humans, especially in relation to arcs like project shadow. it feels more... intruiging, strangely.
Just know that Shadow's iconic symbol is also the Black Arms' military thingie meaning he straight up wiped out a whole species while also taking their symbol for himself he most likely did this to show any other threat to humanity what will happen if they even dare try to harm earth in any way
Not only does Project Shadow tie into the Black Arms, it also ties into Sonic Battle and Dark Chronicles. This is probably the best and only arc that spans across many games
However, Emerl's story doesn't really stop there. Sonic Advance 3 is pretty much the epilogue for the entire Project Shadow Saga, tying up any loose ends left behind by Sonic Battle, such as Emerl's ultimate fate (it was later discovered by Eggman and actually rescued by him, the same way the scientist had saved Shadow from his own demise). This in turn, allowed Dr. Eggman to honor his grandfather's legacy by completely pacifying the upgraded Emerl, now known as Gemerl with the aid of Super Sonic. The FIRST Sonic Advance is actually a prologue to the events of the entire saga, since Big the Cat is nowhere to be seen. Cream's debut appearance is Sonic Advance 2, setting up the events of Sonic Heroes nicely. In a way, when you look at the Project Shadow saga this way, it paints a more complete picture.
In a way, Project Shadow was able to tell a coherent, yet tragic story in the span of several games which began with a simple question. "What is my purpose?"... A question frequently asked none other by the guardian of the Master Emerald himself, Knuckles, and the many mysteries surrounding the seven gems and their controller. Incidentially, the Black Arms was more or less, a reality check for the grape-loving echidna, and the answer to his question, if he liked it or not.
@@Gaia_BentosZX5 Now that you mentioned it, it does make sense now what Black Doom was talking about when he said he had thousands of years of experience with the chaos emeralds. It gave us a glimpse into the origin of the Chaos Emeralds not being from earth. So that would mean the Ancients were not native to earth too. Its weird how Sonic stories seem complex at first but when you actually take the time to read it, it starts making sense at least this one anyway.
@@kappadarwin9476i mean, we already knew the Ancients weren't from Earth/whatever the planet is called. Iirc there's a cutscene that shows them escaping their old home in a spaceship and being drawn to Earth via Chaos Emeralds being drawn to the Master Emerald
@@ZekromAndYugiAndDrago123 This means that the ancients (and to an extent, the wisps) were constantly harassed by the Black Arms in seemingly endless war. The End was essentially the final nail in the ancient's coffin. The echidnas on earth saw the tech's potential and tried to reverse-engineer that to the best of their abilities before being yeeted themselves.
Shadow’s backstory reminds me a lot of Zero’s from Megaman, both of their Creators made them with the intent of being bad but both would somehow end up becoming good in the end. Shadow working with Sonic on saving the Earth from the Collision of the Ark and Zero defeating a Dr. Weil fused with the Ragnarok Space Staion also preventing a collision with the Earth, both would end up dying too in the end.
And, Zero and Shadow came back (Zero came back as a biometal, which should count, since he's still alive, just in a different body). But, Shadow reminds me of Mewtwo, both lost their loved one, both were modified to some extent, and both turned out to be better in the end.
"Both of their creators made them with the intent of being bad" That's not really true. Shadow was created for a GOOD purpose (unless you count the part where Gerald brainwashed him to make him think that Maria wanted him to destroy all of Earth)
@@PatchRabbi Also Live & Learn and Falling Down are awesome tracks, the latter which deserves more recognition. The actual “Live & Learn” of Megaman is the MM2 Wily Castle Stage 1 if you ask me.
I'm currently finishing sonic adventure 2 now. It's also good to see this as it's the year of shadow. WAIT! GERALD DIDN'T JUST MAKE LIFE! BUT MADE A SOUL!!! HOW FUCKING SMART IS WAS THIS MAN!!!
That's what I was thinking! Chaomix just glosses over the whole "modelling Shadow's soul off of Maria" thing, but like, LITERALLY HOW??? How do you just *make* a soul and model it off of someone else!?! 😭😭😭
@@jamiegioca9448 Soul originally meant self or yourself and your own identity. So he couldn't make a soul by copying another but instead he'd be copying or cloning a personality. Shadow himself made his own soul.
All he meant by "modeling Shadow's soul off Maria" was that he was left to spend time her. The discussions they, the bonds they made, and the sharing each other's dreams is what gave Shadow his soul.
Earth using the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet was probably part of Gerald's plan, actually. GUN presumably would have known of its existence and its purpose, so when the emeralds were collected and installed in the cannon instead of charging the canon to destroy the comet it just causes The ARK to crash and obliterate everything. the final hope turning into the ultimate destruction.
And it would still be a massive middle finger to Black doom since he'd lose the emeralds and shadow in a just before he could get them after 50 years of waiting.
This game is just a little older than me, but man, this story has me almost crying every time. Just imagine if Shadow and Maria got to experience earth together. There really is so much more to Sonic than goofy memes or whatever.
A subplot revolving around the Wachowskis trying to uncover on what actually happened 50 Years Ago on the ARK regarding Project Shadow in the third film would be awesome. I would probably be more invested in that than the actual plot of the film.
Such a complex and sad story for a video game about hedgehogs fighting a dude that looks like an egg ! Shadow's backstory is my favorite and you explain it so well. Thank you ! 😄 It would be AMAZING to have the whole lore from the start to the latest game covered too ! Some kind of documentary on the universe of Sonic the Hedgehog ! 😁
It’s a shame that… due to *specific* reasons after Sonic Chronicles release, the lore of the Nocturnus Clan relating to the Gizoid was booted from the overall canon. So all that we know about Emerl’s origin is that it was created by the “Fourth Great Civilization”, until the group was destroyed by Emerl.
This video is definitely a masterpiece when it comes to in depth lore. Tying the project into Sonic Adventure 1 and Mystic Ruins as well as knowledge of the official names of the Chaos replicas are top tier lore gold nuggets. Great work my friend Also as a final note. I love the duality of Shadows personality and true purpose through Maria. Him being dark themed and named Shadow, its implied hes supposed to be a embodiment of evil. But actually hes the exact opposite through his love for Maria, a beacon of light and hope for all the people of Earth. A embodiment of prosperity and happiness, he just had to find his memories again and remember who he was down to the core of his soul. He ultimately did this fulfilling his promise to Maria, giving his life to save the people of Earth, harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow, and give it all in a heroic epic finale, showing the ultimate act of love as spoken in the Bible, laying down his life for his friends and family.
I find it so funny that SA2 was my fav game growing up and now I study neuroscience and aging in a lab in grad school. My friends joke I could make project shadow 😂😂😂😂
Just wanna tell you Chaomix, thanks for talking about Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 so much. I decided they must be really good if you liked them so much, so I got them both for the first time a month or two ago and I am addicted! Love both of the games and Shadows character development and backstory makes him one of my favorites. I even made a drawing for SA2 on my channel! I’m currently going for all 180 emblems so wish me luck!
I think it’s important to note that Shadow chose to truly put the past behind him and joined G.U.N. as one of their agents. The hard levels in Shadow the Hedgehog are contextualised as Shadow’s training regiment. Later, in Sonic 06, he’s actively working on missions assigned by G.U.N. Even in Sonic Forces, where no humans appear and G.U.N. isn’t a thing, Shadow is still performing work as an agent, along with Rouge and Omega.
Bro, this was great. The one thing I was missing was the true ending of shadow the hedgehog. I’ve just assumed that every shadow we’ve seen since sa2 was an android. Wow
it's not that hard to figure out the Shadow you play as in Heroes was the real one. cause why else would Metal Sonic go to the trouble of tricking Rouge into freeing him when Metal had TONS of Shadow Androids to get Shadow's data from? the answer is that he NEEDED the original. in Team Dark's version of the post-Egg Albatross cutscene, Metal Sonic even says "ultimate life form data has been copied". proving that Team Dark's Shadow was the real one, the non-canon neutral endings of Shadow 05 where he declares himself an android was just the real Shadow going insane.
Oooh, there's a bit you might have missed since it's only in the Hard mode light side for Shadow the Hedgehog. The Hard Mode is treated as training simulations that GUN devised. The President and the Leader of GUN both express how much they regret what the government and GUN did to him and his family, and the simulations are for his training as a Member of GUN. It's the reason why he shows up as a GUN Operative in 06. He really went on to fulfil Maria's wish, and became the guardian of humanity, until Sonic Forces forgot he existed for 90% of the story because who knows?
12:35 god damn it why am I tearing up over a story about a hedgehog?!?! 😭🦔 SA2s story was SOOOOO GOOD!! I WANT MORE STORIES LIKE THAT IN SONIC AGAIN!!! 🙏🙏🙏
The interesting part is that in the movieverse Gerald wouldn't have had any way to access the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds with in it. To create the Chaos Drives and embed Shadow and the Biolizard with their Chaos Powers. Meaning he would need to get them from Black Doom's blood. So the contact with the Black Comet would have to have happen quite earlier in the timeline of Project Shadow.
Yep, Im sure the movie will be also about Black doom and company... not ALL that sure but they have hinted theyre taking inspo from ShadowTH, and Generations pulling BD out of void dimension is very telling considering no Sonic media could use him before
Gerald would've likely seen the mural in the Siberian temple left by the Mobian owls, or other temples that were secretly built by the owls and/or echidnas when they visited Earth, this inspires Gerald to study Chaos Energy and Mobians, coming to the conclusion that Shadow could harness the Master or Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow and use his Chaos powers to cure Maria's NIDS
@@neo-warkid4edwards222 Nope. Remember this would be 50 years ago. That puts it right in the middle of the Cold War. No way in hell the Soviets would allow an American scientist in to snoop around in their territory.
@@vi6ddarkking there are likely OTHER secret temples that were hidden in American territory and other countries in the west with similar murals. after all, the Master Emerald was hidden under the oceans of Hawaii
It's so crazy that Sonic, a series primarily directed to kids, did SUCH a dark story for the series. I know that in the 2000s, games back then went in the edgy direction, however, not all of them. Listening to this proves that even a kids game can have a dark story, but it has to be done right
I remember reading another lore that it was also discovered (Probably by Gerald with his research) that it was specifically the hedgehog species that had something in their DNA, microbiology and/or their organs being the most compatible with chaos energy and are able to perfectly synchronize and stabilize its energy compared to other species. That was another reason Gerald chose a hedgehog, it was inevitable that the Ultimate Lifeform would be the perfect vessel for chaos powers.
I can't thank you enough for making this video. You have no idea how much it helped me in the creation of my Shadow-inspired nerdcore song. If it weren't for you, I probably would've spent HOURS researching this topic, but a 35-minute video was much more convenient and easy to take notes on for me. I might even use the notes for a future essay! :D
Pretty sure Emerl causing that incident on the ARK is what caused G.U.N. to investigate closely and launch their raid. If Gemerl has any of Emerl's memories, I'd love to see him talk with Shadow about the events and come to an understanding over them.
33:50 I want to include this, the only way to get this recording is by spending more than 5 minutes into the boss fight. Anyone who sped through this fight would never have known this. Meaning you have to INTENTIONALLY drag out the fight and pass the 5 minute mark in order to get this crucial piece of information.
This turned out great! I loved the original videos, and love seeing them combined for a cohesive story. Wouldn't even know they were separate videos had I not seen them before. I didn't get a chance to say hi to you at the CLE Sonic Symphony, so hi 👋
I never had the chance to play Sonic Adavance or finish The Dark Brotherhood and I didn't know there was so much lore I was missing Thank you for this!
Im really happy for this video, both as a retrospective over Project Shadow for myself for the upcoming Shadow Generation tomorrow and as easily digestible way for my wife to know all about the important parts as we're both excited for the game
If Sonic Frontiers indirectly fleshed Chaos out, I'd like to see the rumored sequel do the same for Shadow (maybe reveal other ultimate lifeform prototypes, for example)
If the rumors are true and Sonic gets some kind of life beyond the upcoming 3, theres potential to see Shadow's story portrayed through spinoffs. Both his past, and some kind of adaptation of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
I can't believe that this lore has been made through a video game (sa2) and after that it had an anime adaptation (sonic X) and this year we are getting a live-action one (sonic movie 3) this lore has done everything 😅
This was incredibly well thought out and researched. Well done, chaomix! I interested to see how Sonic Movie 3 adapts Shadow's lore into their film narraitive.
I recently started playing Sonic Rivals 2 and now I have the question When did Gerald discover and investigate Ifrit? I think it was while I was investigating the Echidnas and their clans
Ngl the in video mobile game ad looks pretty 🔥 for a phone/multi-platform game. Also the Egg Carrier theme is to this day one of the most fire theme songs ever created.... The while SA1 soundtrack is absolutely legendary
When you've been there since the very first Sonic game but the lore is so confusing and constantly being added into so you've got to watch videos to refresh your knowledge.
Watched this while drawing, and I didn't even know some of that info in this video related to shadow's backstory, hearing it for the first time (the Sonic battle side plot) so its good to know great video 👍
I really hope Sonic Rivals is mentioned in this. Gerald did discover an ifrit from a separate dimension, But it's unrelated so I wouldn't blame him for excluding it.
😮If you really think about it and add it all up. Maria, overall, is the most powerful character in the Sonic universe. Maybe not in terms of physical power or anything, but her golden soul gave her the ability to turn absolute weapons of mass destruction good and make them defenders of hope and justice; modeled after her good nature and soul. No matter how far evil actors go into reprogramming or corrupting these characters, the pure power of her golden soul always seems to break through in the end and show cause for the greater good. Were it not her beautiful inner nature, none of these ultimate beings would have found greater good and hope/light for all the innocent people of Earth.
Good video. Better overall than the last one. You still got a feeeew details mixed up (probably due to the format spliting it up between games instead of chonologically) but its much better.
When The black arms were initially introduced, it felt way too sudden to just drop aliens into the sonic universe. But with space being a larger part of sonic lore now, this feels better as a whole than the individual piece in Shadow 05. Like sonic X having alien races that know about the chaos emeralds since the emeralds aren't from earth.
This would be perfectly wrapped if the 06 arc was in this, establishing that humanity still feared Project Shadow, and sealed him up after Iblis' release
What's your favorite saga of the Project Shadow lore? Do you enjoy the added story from Sonic Battle and Shadow 05? Or do you think it actually hurts the overarching narrative?
Also, huge thank you to 1v1.LOL for making this video possible! Download 1v1.LOL, the hyper battle royale for FREE! onevone.onelink.me/B5hL/5t0x8urp
36 seconds, 3 reviews?!?! Chaomix fell off
I think the best saga is the original
Definitely hurts, his arc was complete at the end of SA2. Heroes had a decent explanation for him being back but it was handled poorly since nobody but Rouge seems to care or be shocked that Shadow is back.
06 Shadow is the G.O.A.T
My favorite? Hm.. probably the Shadow clones thingy. or the Sonic X stuff!
project shadow to me is proof that humans can work in the sonic universe, they just have to be used properly
Agreed
this shouldn't even be a discussion at this point in time, but yeah
it's weird but i always liked it more when the world in the games was primarily populated by humans, especially in relation to arcs like project shadow. it feels more... intruiging, strangely.
Eggman has been a thing since day 1
Agreed
Shadow: I lost my family, even my "father" turned out to be an alien overlord hive-mind that I had to destroy.
Knuckles: that's rough buddy.
Zuko agrees with this comment
Big oof.
Zuko liked the comment
rough, rougher than the rest of th
@@sonicbones8233 Where's that damn fourth Avatar element?
Just know that Shadow's iconic symbol is also the Black Arms' military thingie
meaning he straight up wiped out a whole species while also taking their symbol for himself
he most likely did this to show any other threat to humanity what will happen if they even dare try to harm earth in any way
I just realized lately that Shadow was on Prison Island with his creator Gerald. Which explains how he was able to tamper with Shadow’s mind.
Yeah, I always wondered about that. For some odd reason I never realized that they still had him work on Shadow while in prison.
Project Shadow is one of my all time favorite Sonic stories.
Mine too
It’s I bit mid
I wish they would do another long-spanning arc like this again...
It was originally not supposed to be that though
Sa2 was supposed to be the last sonic game!
@@CMJ06now they need to make sa3 sa4 sa5 sa6 sa7 sa8 sa9 sa10 sa11 all the way up to one hundred
@inkedthedemon one day! Though honestly I'd only trust Kiyoko Yoshimura to write Sonic Adventure 3!
@@CMJ06 I know, but it was still cool to see.
@@rhthehuman866 agreed
Sonic lore: Eclipse cannon
Snapcube lore: The piss enhancer
MY SUPER…
@@MaxsAnimations22 Lazer piss
@@MaxsAnimations22 L A S E R
*P I S S !*
🌕 -> 💥 -> 🌙
Not only does Project Shadow tie into the Black Arms, it also ties into Sonic Battle and Dark Chronicles. This is probably the best and only arc that spans across many games
I love in the thumbnail how Maria is draw, it's look like the DBZ style for me
it looks like it came from an OVA from the 80s or 90s and now i lowkey wish something like that existed
Get used to it by now. CM is both a Sonic and a DBZ fanboy
@@jamiegioca9448 i know
@@jamiegioca9448Is that a bad thing? I'm also both a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z and Sonic
There's definitely a big overlap between Sonic fans, Spider-Man fans and DBZ fans
I haven't seen the video yet, but Shadow has such deep and dark lore. I think Keanu will do justice to Shadow in Sonic 3.
I’m sure you’ve seen the trailer by now, but it looks fantastic, and I think Keanu did some great work for Shadow
@auxvii I've seen the trailer and it was good. Also, what's green work?
@@Rishi123456789 sorry, autocorrected from “great work” to green work for some reason. i’ll go ahead and fix that
He lost his family that day. His whole life.
Imagine not only being the only survivor but the one left behind…
WTF this thumbnail is just painfully gorgeous
Real
The watermark ruins it though.
However, Emerl's story doesn't really stop there. Sonic Advance 3 is pretty much the epilogue for the entire Project Shadow Saga, tying up any loose ends left behind by Sonic Battle, such as Emerl's ultimate fate (it was later discovered by Eggman and actually rescued by him, the same way the scientist had saved Shadow from his own demise). This in turn, allowed Dr. Eggman to honor his grandfather's legacy by completely pacifying the upgraded Emerl, now known as Gemerl with the aid of Super Sonic. The FIRST Sonic Advance is actually a prologue to the events of the entire saga, since Big the Cat is nowhere to be seen. Cream's debut appearance is Sonic Advance 2, setting up the events of Sonic Heroes nicely. In a way, when you look at the Project Shadow saga this way, it paints a more complete picture.
In a way, Project Shadow was able to tell a coherent, yet tragic story in the span of several games which began with a simple question. "What is my purpose?"... A question frequently asked none other by the guardian of the Master Emerald himself, Knuckles, and the many mysteries surrounding the seven gems and their controller. Incidentially, the Black Arms was more or less, a reality check for the grape-loving echidna, and the answer to his question, if he liked it or not.
@@Gaia_BentosZX5 Now that you mentioned it, it does make sense now what Black Doom was talking about when he said he had thousands of years of experience with the chaos emeralds. It gave us a glimpse into the origin of the Chaos Emeralds not being from earth. So that would mean the Ancients were not native to earth too. Its weird how Sonic stories seem complex at first but when you actually take the time to read it, it starts making sense at least this one anyway.
Emerl was an experience that felt wholly unique.
@@kappadarwin9476i mean, we already knew the Ancients weren't from Earth/whatever the planet is called. Iirc there's a cutscene that shows them escaping their old home in a spaceship and being drawn to Earth via Chaos Emeralds being drawn to the Master Emerald
@@ZekromAndYugiAndDrago123 This means that the ancients (and to an extent, the wisps) were constantly harassed by the Black Arms in seemingly endless war. The End was essentially the final nail in the ancient's coffin. The echidnas on earth saw the tech's potential and tried to reverse-engineer that to the best of their abilities before being yeeted themselves.
this kind of lore is exactly why I love this series so much still, even when it hasn’t really appealed to me for quite some time.
"Shadow... it's me... the DEVIL!!! I'm here to convince you to do sin! Steal candy from babies and small businesses! I'm not talkin' about Walmart."
"Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, wassuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup! It's meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
"Shadow, it's me, the Devil. I love you!!!! I'm having so much fun with you!!!"
ugh
I will NEVER do such a thing! I'll sin in my own way!
"Woah. Woah! Those things look so sick it makes me wanna bark like a dog!"
*barks aggressively*
Shadow’s backstory reminds me a lot of Zero’s from Megaman, both of their Creators made them with the intent of being bad but both would somehow end up becoming good in the end. Shadow working with Sonic on saving the Earth from the Collision of the Ark and Zero defeating a Dr. Weil fused with the Ragnarok Space Staion also preventing a collision with the Earth, both would end up dying too in the end.
And, Zero and Shadow came back (Zero came back as a biometal, which should count, since he's still alive, just in a different body). But, Shadow reminds me of Mewtwo, both lost their loved one, both were modified to some extent, and both turned out to be better in the end.
"Both of their creators made them with the intent of being bad" That's not really true. Shadow was created for a GOOD purpose (unless you count the part where Gerald brainwashed him to make him think that Maria wanted him to destroy all of Earth)
Speaking of, the Biolizard fused to the ARK just like Dr. Weil fused with the RSS
You can throw Crash bandicoot in there as he was a mutant created to be evil but turned out a hero.
@@PatchRabbi Also Live & Learn and Falling Down are awesome tracks, the latter which deserves more recognition. The actual “Live & Learn” of Megaman is the MM2 Wily Castle Stage 1 if you ask me.
The Dark Beginnings anime is gonna be so good holy shit, they’re finally piecing everything together the way hardcore fans deserve.
I'm currently finishing sonic adventure 2 now. It's also good to see this as it's the year of shadow. WAIT! GERALD DIDN'T JUST MAKE LIFE! BUT MADE A SOUL!!! HOW FUCKING SMART IS WAS THIS MAN!!!
That's what I was thinking! Chaomix just glosses over the whole "modelling Shadow's soul off of Maria" thing, but like, LITERALLY HOW??? How do you just *make* a soul and model it off of someone else!?! 😭😭😭
@@pinkie723 god damnit... I read this in pinkie pie's voice...
@@pinkie723 If you ask me, "soul" is a metaphor for personality and sense of morality
@@jamiegioca9448 Soul originally meant self or yourself and your own identity. So he couldn't make a soul by copying another but instead he'd be copying or cloning a personality. Shadow himself made his own soul.
All he meant by "modeling Shadow's soul off Maria" was that he was left to spend time her. The discussions they, the bonds they made, and the sharing each other's dreams is what gave Shadow his soul.
Earth using the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet was probably part of Gerald's plan, actually. GUN presumably would have known of its existence and its purpose, so when the emeralds were collected and installed in the cannon instead of charging the canon to destroy the comet it just causes The ARK to crash and obliterate everything.
the final hope turning into the ultimate destruction.
big brain
And it would still be a massive middle finger to Black doom since he'd lose the emeralds and shadow in a just before he could get them after 50 years of waiting.
I need humans in Sonic because they can do those "humans are the actual evil" storylines and they can for sure make it work.
That is what Sonic was always rooted in. Sonic 1 was about humanity's greed with machinery and destroying nature, and so was every other game
@@BatsOnSaturn yeah that Nature vs Technology imagery and theming is what always drew me to Sonic besides Sonic himself.
Damn Black doom calm down
Chaomix, this is the third video! How much Shadow lore will you make!? But i still watch *EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.*
This game is just a little older than me, but man, this story has me almost crying every time. Just imagine if Shadow and Maria got to experience earth together. There really is so much more to Sonic than goofy memes or whatever.
A subplot revolving around the Wachowskis trying to uncover on what actually happened 50 Years Ago on the ARK regarding Project Shadow in the third film would be awesome. I would probably be more invested in that than the actual plot of the film.
22:00. - 20:15. This rampage will be seen in Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings.
You got everything down to perfection.
I'm impressed and glad to see someone who pays close attention to lore within this franchise. Excellent work.
Such a complex and sad story for a video game about hedgehogs fighting a dude that looks like an egg ! Shadow's backstory is my favorite and you explain it so well. Thank you ! 😄
It would be AMAZING to have the whole lore from the start to the latest game covered too ! Some kind of documentary on the universe of Sonic the Hedgehog ! 😁
It’s a shame that… due to *specific* reasons after Sonic Chronicles release, the lore of the Nocturnus Clan relating to the Gizoid was booted from the overall canon.
So all that we know about Emerl’s origin is that it was created by the “Fourth Great Civilization”, until the group was destroyed by Emerl.
And one person
I don't really think so, because Shade and her backstory appeared in Sonic Encyclospeedia
She appears but us also stated that the game is non canon
This video is definitely a masterpiece when it comes to in depth lore. Tying the project into Sonic Adventure 1 and Mystic Ruins as well as knowledge of the official names of the Chaos replicas are top tier lore gold nuggets. Great work my friend
Also as a final note. I love the duality of Shadows personality and true purpose through Maria. Him being dark themed and named Shadow, its implied hes supposed to be a embodiment of evil. But actually hes the exact opposite through his love for Maria, a beacon of light and hope for all the people of Earth. A embodiment of prosperity and happiness, he just had to find his memories again and remember who he was down to the core of his soul. He ultimately did this fulfilling his promise to Maria, giving his life to save the people of Earth, harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow, and give it all in a heroic epic finale, showing the ultimate act of love as spoken in the Bible, laying down his life for his friends and family.
I find it so funny that SA2 was my fav game growing up and now I study neuroscience and aging in a lab in grad school. My friends joke I could make project shadow 😂😂😂😂
Just wanna tell you Chaomix, thanks for talking about Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 so much. I decided they must be really good if you liked them so much, so I got them both for the first time a month or two ago and I am addicted! Love both of the games and Shadows character development and backstory makes him one of my favorites. I even made a drawing for SA2 on my channel! I’m currently going for all 180 emblems so wish me luck!
I got all 180 :)
I think it’s important to note that Shadow chose to truly put the past behind him and joined G.U.N. as one of their agents. The hard levels in Shadow the Hedgehog are contextualised as Shadow’s training regiment. Later, in Sonic 06, he’s actively working on missions assigned by G.U.N. Even in Sonic Forces, where no humans appear and G.U.N. isn’t a thing, Shadow is still performing work as an agent, along with Rouge and Omega.
Bro, this was great. The one thing I was missing was the true ending of shadow the hedgehog. I’ve just assumed that every shadow we’ve seen since sa2 was an android. Wow
it's not that hard to figure out the Shadow you play as in Heroes was the real one. cause why else would Metal Sonic go to the trouble of tricking Rouge into freeing him when Metal had TONS of Shadow Androids to get Shadow's data from? the answer is that he NEEDED the original. in Team Dark's version of the post-Egg Albatross cutscene, Metal Sonic even says "ultimate life form data has been copied". proving that Team Dark's Shadow was the real one, the non-canon neutral endings of Shadow 05 where he declares himself an android was just the real Shadow going insane.
Everything in this video will be confirmed and adapted in Shadow Generations. Well done, Chaomix!
Oooh, there's a bit you might have missed since it's only in the Hard mode light side for Shadow the Hedgehog. The Hard Mode is treated as training simulations that GUN devised. The President and the Leader of GUN both express how much they regret what the government and GUN did to him and his family, and the simulations are for his training as a Member of GUN. It's the reason why he shows up as a GUN Operative in 06. He really went on to fulfil Maria's wish, and became the guardian of humanity, until Sonic Forces forgot he existed for 90% of the story because who knows?
12:35 god damn it why am I tearing up over a story about a hedgehog?!?! 😭🦔 SA2s story was SOOOOO GOOD!! I WANT MORE STORIES LIKE THAT IN SONIC AGAIN!!! 🙏🙏🙏
The interesting part is that in the movieverse Gerald wouldn't have had any way to access the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds with in it.
To create the Chaos Drives and embed Shadow and the Biolizard with their Chaos Powers.
Meaning he would need to get them from Black Doom's blood.
So the contact with the Black Comet would have to have happen quite earlier in the timeline of Project Shadow.
Yep, Im sure the movie will be also about Black doom and company... not ALL that sure but they have hinted theyre taking inspo from ShadowTH, and Generations pulling BD out of void dimension is very telling considering no Sonic media could use him before
Gerald would've likely seen the mural in the Siberian temple left by the Mobian owls, or other temples that were secretly built by the owls and/or echidnas when they visited Earth, this inspires Gerald to study Chaos Energy and Mobians, coming to the conclusion that Shadow could harness the Master or Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow and use his Chaos powers to cure Maria's NIDS
@@neo-warkid4edwards222 Nope. Remember this would be 50 years ago. That puts it right in the middle of the Cold War.
No way in hell the Soviets would allow an American scientist in to snoop around in their territory.
@@vi6ddarkking there are likely OTHER secret temples that were hidden in American territory and other countries in the west with similar murals. after all, the Master Emerald was hidden under the oceans of Hawaii
you absolutely COOKED with this thumbnail
It's so crazy that Sonic, a series primarily directed to kids, did SUCH a dark story for the series. I know that in the 2000s, games back then went in the edgy direction, however, not all of them. Listening to this proves that even a kids game can have a dark story, but it has to be done right
Amazing video covering this story!!! I really loove that thumbnail too, gorgeous art man
I remember reading another lore that it was also discovered (Probably by Gerald with his research) that it was specifically the hedgehog species that had something in their DNA, microbiology and/or their organs being the most compatible with chaos energy and are able to perfectly synchronize and stabilize its energy compared to other species. That was another reason Gerald chose a hedgehog, it was inevitable that the Ultimate Lifeform would be the perfect vessel for chaos powers.
This rings a bell for me. I've heard this too, but I can't recall where I read it…
I remember something like that as well. I also just love the idea of hedgehogs being naturally chaotic. 😂
Instant like at 8:27 for acknowledging the possibility that Gerald saw this mural, I thought I was the only one with this theory!
I can't thank you enough for making this video. You have no idea how much it helped me in the creation of my Shadow-inspired nerdcore song. If it weren't for you, I probably would've spent HOURS researching this topic, but a 35-minute video was much more convenient and easy to take notes on for me. I might even use the notes for a future essay! :D
Pretty sure Emerl causing that incident on the ARK is what caused G.U.N. to investigate closely and launch their raid.
If Gemerl has any of Emerl's memories, I'd love to see him talk with Shadow about the events and come to an understanding over them.
That thumbnail goes insanely hard.
Woah the day has finally come for project shadow
Wait my shadow is making a project? Cool, hope you do good shadow.
33:50 I want to include this, the only way to get this recording is by spending more than 5 minutes into the boss fight. Anyone who sped through this fight would never have known this.
Meaning you have to INTENTIONALLY drag out the fight and pass the 5 minute mark in order to get this crucial piece of information.
That thumbnail makes me wish something like that was able to be shown in games like sa2
This turned out great! I loved the original videos, and love seeing them combined for a cohesive story. Wouldn't even know they were separate videos had I not seen them before.
I didn't get a chance to say hi to you at the CLE Sonic Symphony, so hi 👋
Can't wait for episode 4 once Sonic × Shadow Generations releases and inevitably gives us more info about Project Shadow.
this is the earliest ive ever gotten to you videos, also LOVE SHADOWS STORY!
I never had the chance to play Sonic Adavance or finish The Dark Brotherhood and I didn't know there was so much lore I was missing
Thank you for this!
What G.U.N. Did disgusts me. They just used Gerald Robotnik and his team and then literally discarded them when they where finished with them….
wait until you find out some of the things actual government organizations have done
Gerard Robotnik when encountering a powerful humanoid being : I’m gonna download Maria’s soul within it !!
"the truth of 50 years ago" love let's gooooo
Im really happy for this video, both as a retrospective over Project Shadow for myself for the upcoming Shadow Generation tomorrow and as easily digestible way for my wife to know all about the important parts as we're both excited for the game
If Sonic Frontiers indirectly fleshed Chaos out, I'd like to see the rumored sequel do the same for Shadow (maybe reveal other ultimate lifeform prototypes, for example)
It’s so depressin n crazy just how dark of a lore the sonic franchise has..but I love it n it’s just beautifully executed..
Shadow is just an amazin..
The most horrifying thing about this to me is that it is so uncomfortably realistic in substance
If the rumors are true and Sonic gets some kind of life beyond the upcoming 3, theres potential to see Shadow's story portrayed through spinoffs. Both his past, and some kind of adaptation of Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
I was confused about Shadow's whole character for a while, but this video cleared things up for me! Thanks!
This video is a godsend, thank you so much for making it!
the whole shadow lore is the most entertaining saga to EXIST.
Shadow just a brave little boy we must protect him at all cost
This is so weird. I randomly got curious about the lore for this and the first result is one from seven hours ago. I really did not expect that.
22:13 if you wondering how it was subdued, it was shadow.
I can't believe that this lore has been made through a video game (sa2) and after that it had an anime adaptation (sonic X) and this year we are getting a live-action one (sonic movie 3) this lore has done everything 😅
new lore drop with the Pre order bonuses of sonic x shadow generation and it looking good
Yep
When it gets down to it, everything in Sonic seems to be two degrees of separation from aliens
This was incredibly well thought out and researched. Well done, chaomix! I interested to see how Sonic Movie 3 adapts Shadow's lore into their film narraitive.
Nice thumbnail! Your art never fails to impress
"Hey Babe wake up chaomix uploaded"
Wow the actual complete version. I remember last time you covered this you were missing info from the other games.
Love the thumbnail art :)
YOU LOVE THUMBS IN NAILS 😰
@@Jelly_shy_guy_man yes
I recently started playing Sonic Rivals 2 and now I have the question
When did Gerald discover and investigate Ifrit?
I think it was while I was investigating the Echidnas and their clans
Ngl the in video mobile game ad looks pretty 🔥 for a phone/multi-platform game. Also the Egg Carrier theme is to this day one of the most fire theme songs ever created.... The while SA1 soundtrack is absolutely legendary
This video practically reminded me that, if a lot of these elements are in Sonic 3, the movie is gonna go hard!!
When you've been there since the very first Sonic game but the lore is so confusing and constantly being added into so you've got to watch videos to refresh your knowledge.
Amazing Video.
So good to see Emerl and the Gizoids getting some love. They deserve it.
Watched this while drawing, and I didn't even know some of that info in this video related to shadow's backstory, hearing it for the first time (the Sonic battle side plot) so its good to know
great video
👍
I really hope Sonic Rivals is mentioned in this. Gerald did discover an ifrit from a separate dimension, But it's unrelated so I wouldn't blame him for excluding it.
Gerald was a blessing to the planet
I love science.
@@silverbandit721 AND a curse. JS
😮If you really think about it and add it all up. Maria, overall, is the most powerful character in the Sonic universe. Maybe not in terms of physical power or anything, but her golden soul gave her the ability to turn absolute weapons of mass destruction good and make them defenders of hope and justice; modeled after her good nature and soul. No matter how far evil actors go into reprogramming or corrupting these characters, the pure power of her golden soul always seems to break through in the end and show cause for the greater good. Were it not her beautiful inner nature, none of these ultimate beings would have found greater good and hope/light for all the innocent people of Earth.
Who else is here from the Dark Beginnings animation teaser?
Yep...
PROJECT SHADOW
Good video. Better overall than the last one. You still got a feeeew details mixed up (probably due to the format spliting it up between games instead of chonologically) but its much better.
Well I thoroughly enjoyed this video
Guess now you have to update this video with what we learned in Dark Beginnings and Shadow Generations.
Watching this after the Shadow Dark Beginnings animation
Keep up the great work and videos chaomix love the video
i would just like to point out that this guys voice reminds me A LOT of sonics voice
Chaomix's thumbnail art just gets better and better istg 🙏
When The black arms were initially introduced, it felt way too sudden to just drop aliens into the sonic universe. But with space being a larger part of sonic lore now, this feels better as a whole than the individual piece in Shadow 05. Like sonic X having alien races that know about the chaos emeralds since the emeralds aren't from earth.
The Project Shadow storyline is example of why Shadow is definitely one of the more complex and fascinating characters in the Sonic franchise.
Damn, this video slaps hard
Harder than my dads belt
@@Jelly_shy_guy_man frfr
@@CHAOSEDITZ772 yes
How the blue rat game made a bunch of grown adults chant for a child to get shot
Never underestimate sonic speed.
Or in this case, Sonic lore
I’m really interested about what details they’ll give us in Shadow Generations
This would be perfectly wrapped if the 06 arc was in this, establishing that humanity still feared Project Shadow, and sealed him up after Iblis' release
This lore is still better than the history lessons I take.