Written by The Wandering Fox
Well, I thought with this being Sonic’s anniversary I thought Id do another entry, this instance for Shadow the Hedgehog. Or more precisely the TV spin off.
The Knuckles spin off certainly divided a lot of people in more ways than I thought. Wade was my biggest problem, but the other things in there which annoyed others did surprise me. There are those who like it and well, you do you do. But I dread to imagine Shadow’s spin off being anything like this and I think Keanu Reeves may factor in why it may not be about Shadow, though he does take pay cuts so there could be some hope?
Still, I think they’ll just make it about the GUN agents than Shadow, yet what if I told you could do this Shadow the Hedgehog spin off without deviating far from him? It's easy but I think the best inspiration which does fit in my mind is the Third Doctor from Doctor Who. The majority of his era saw him stranded on Earth and had to help UNIT defend Earth from aliens, using both brains and brawn to solve these problems while having likeable supporting characters in Liz, Jo, Benton, Yates, the Brigadier. Hence the premise is simple:
Shadow helps GUN stop aliens and human criminals from causing havoc on Earth while he has supporting characters who he can connect with, you can introduce Rouge and Omega, delve in Shadow’s smarter side as he tries to solve things with tech and words than fight but will tear up a robot if he has to. Have Sonic make a special appearance, coming to see if Shadow is well okay.
Now ideally my idea for how this series works is Sonic, Tails and Knuckles leave Earth, feeling they’ve brought too much pain to those here and Sonic has to leave home. Shadow, though he stopped the Ark from crashing down, is held in custody with him feeling it's only fair he does. While inside, Shadow is approached by GUN who offer him some limited freedom if he were to help them, as though Sonic has left Earth, the fighting has drawn in aliens as well as criminals. Shadow feels it's the smart thing to do, hence he’s taken to a GUN base.
Obviously you can have Abraham Tower, though if Krysten Ritter is up for it I could see her sticking on as Captain Rockwell. You could introduce expies of other human characters like Hope, Topaz and Madonna. The Hope expy is the lab assistant who becomes a loving friend of Shadow, Topaz and Madonna are the soldiers who often go with Shadow on missions.
Ideally the first few episodes are about Shadow meeting these characters and getting use to his new life. The assistant, who I’ll just call Hope for the moment, is slightly nervous of Shadow though does warm up to him, they then get word there’s a thief stealing vital documents for criminal gangs. Shadow investigates and realises this isn’t a human burglar, but a Mobian like him. Shadow chases the thief, and we learn its Rouge, who came to Earth for the sport of thieving but ended up captured by a gang who promised her freedom if she stole them some documents, with them strapping a bomb on her if she tries to disobey. Shadow has an idea. With it, Rouge goes back to the gang with Shadow as her “captive”. Feeling satisfied in having Shadow as their slave, they let Rouge go, only for it to be a trick as she and Shadow kick their butts with GUN helping arrest them. Rouge might’ve been a slave to the gang, yet she stolen some top stuff which GUN is well with, feeling Shadow needs a partner who can sneak around; therefore, Rouge joins them.
In the season we see Shadow begin focusing on research in science and medicine as he feels helping people is what he’s supposed to do, not just fighting monsters but helping others with medicine, which only grows his bonds with Rouge and Hope. I can see the finale introducing Omega in which he was a creation of Eggman’s who was abandoned, with Stone trying to turn him on yet Omega goes berserk, with Shadow and Rouge stopping him then finally Shadow urges him to help defeat Stone.
Obviously, you continue the story with Team Dark going on more missions with Shadow connecting with more and more people, with him becoming more and more determined to protect Earth. You can maybe have the Wisps come in the series as enslaved aliens, then you finally finish the series with the Black Arms coming back, hence you have this series end with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles return to Earth to help Shadow stop the Black Arms. In the end, Shadow defeats Black Doom and his story for the most part ends with him becoming the protector of Earth.
Do you think this would do as a spin off?
I say this Shadow concept can work out well. I can see it do well. :)