Game Theory - Shadow Is ACTUALLY A Genie?! (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

Move over Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog is making a comeback. He's finally getting a brand new game and he's the star villain in the new movie. Voiced by Keanu Reeves, no less. Your colorful bunch. People have been going nuts for Shadow the last few months and who can blame them? He's just like Sonic, but better. He's an anti-hero, he's broody, he's cool, he can use chaos control to warp time and space to his will. He's literally the ultimate life form.

And he's also a genie. Yeah, I bet you didn't see that one coming. Hello internet! Welcome to Game Theory, the show that always loves a bad boy. Where's that d-de-fourth Chaos Emerald? So before Lee can get his grubby pause on another one of my franchises, I wanted to make sure that we covered one of my favorite anti-heroes in all of gaming, Shadow the Edge Lord, I mean, Hedgehog.

I was there in 2001 when he first hit our screens, the ultimate life form, able to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds and created by Eggman's grandfather. I was also there in 2005 when they leaned a little too hard into his edgy persona and decided to give him a gun and have him fight a bunch of evil aliens. Yeah, it was a weird time to be a shadow fan. Since then, Shadow has mainly sat in the background. But now, finally, Shadow is returning as the main character in this new game, Sonic X Shadow Generations. I am psyched for this one. But with both this game and the new movie focusing a lot on Shadow's origins,

it reminded me of a detail that Sonic Team was clearly hinting towards when they introduced the character. but one that the series has never really explained. Shadow the Hedgehog is actually an all-powerful genie. No, no, no, no, no, don't go anywhere. I promise you I'm not crazy. Okay, maybe I am, but not about this. He may not be big and blue, but he certainly shares a lot of his powers and stories with genies from across modern media, folk tales and mythology.

Him being a genie also fits within the established canon of the Sonic Universe. I recognize I'm not really helping with the whole crazy thing, so tell you what you all, Listen to the evidence I found and if I can convince you that Shadow is a genie by the end of this episode, you have to promise me that you'll hit that subscribe button. If nobody subscribes, then I'll know I fully lost the plot. But that's not going to happen because I really do think we're onto something here. So grab your Chaos Emeralds and Magic Carpets, friends, because it is time for us to live and learn Shadow's true origins. Before I get into the crazy part, let's do a quick refresh on Shadow.

He was first introduced to us in the game Sonic Adventure 2 for the Sega Dreamcast. It starts with Eggman infiltrating an underground military base in search for a weapon that he can use for world domination, Project Shadow. It's been sealed away for 50 years, but he uses a password, gets in and finds our angsty hedgehog locked away inside. Shadow awakens and after escaping, he supplies Eggman with access to the space colony arc. An abandoned military base orbiting Earth that can serve as Eggman's palace from which he can rule over his Eggman Empire. As time goes on, Shadow clashes with our main group of heroes, though, he easily outmatches them. He reveals his ability to use the Chaos Emeralds to teleport,

breaking into an underground prison to free his Rule 34 treasure-stealing ally, Rouge. Eventually, Shadow gathers all of the Chaos Emeralds and portrays Eggman, sending the Ark plummeting towards Earth. It turns out that Shadow was actually tasked with destroying humanity after the military raided the Ark and killed Shadow's only friend, Maria. But just before everything goes to heck, Shadow regains a crucial memory. Despite knowing what was going to happen, Maria actually wanted Shadow to help humanity, not destroy them. This causes Shadow to shift gears.

He destroys the giant lizard, goes Super-Sayan, destroys the giant lizard again, and saves the day, sacrificing himself in the process. Only to show up again in almost every game since. That's a gross oversimplification, and there's a lot more to Shadow's story beyond this one game. However, it's more than enough for us to start connecting the dots with this whole genie thing. In fact, this game lines up pretty darn well with one of the most famous stories about a genie to ever exist. You may have heard of it. It's called Aladdin. No, I'm not talking about the Disney version.

I'm talking about the original Aladdin story from the Arabian Knights. Although, could you imagine if Robin Williams was the voice of Shadow? Genie of the lamp! Rest in peace, you talented soul. Anyway, the original Aladdin story follows an evil magician as he seeks out the genie of the lamp. With it, he will be able to be able to be. were to have any wish he desires granted. The genie is locked away in a cave underground and can only be accessed by muttering some magic words. Are you starting to see the connection? Aladdin is then

sent by the magician to steal as much treasure as he can only to end up trapped in this underground cave of wonders. After a couple of days, he is saved by a genie who teleports him back to the surface. From there, he goes on to do what you might expect. Make some wishes, fall in love with a princess and become a prince. Though when the evil magician returns, he is able to retrieve the lamp from Aladdin and the first thing the genie does for him is provide a stolen palace and puts it in a remote part of Africa, away from everything and every one. In both cases, we have our magical character locked away underground. The villain needs to use magic words to access them and the magic character then gives the villain a stolen building to use as their base of operations far away from everyone. We even have a treasure thief being freed from the underground place by the magical character.

The dark story from Sonic Adventure 2 mirrors that of the genie and the evil magician beat for beat. I mean, technically, in the original Aladdin story, it's the genie of the ring that frees Aladdin, not the genie of the lamp. But in other retellings, including Disney's, they combine the two, so I'm still going to count it. Sonic Team didn't stop there with the genie inspiration, though. In other stories, the genies tell us that they've been locked away for many, many years by the time they are released. In the story Dragon Bones, it's for quote, hundreds of years. In the movie 3,000 Years of Longing, it's, well, 3,000 years. And then of course, there's the classic Disney adaptation of Aladdin, where we get this iconic line.

10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck. He's just so good. Will Smith could never. Shadow, likewise, was locked away for a very long time. Maybe not long by genie standards, but, you know, 50 years is still a decent chunk of time to be bottled up on the ground. Speaking of being locked away, while the reason for the genies imprisonment varies from story to story, it usually comes from them rebelling against a powerful ruler or sorcerer, like King Solomon in the city of Brass. Because these genies are so powerful, they are considered a threat.

And so they get sealed away to keep them from using their powers for evil. Throughout history, genies have also been depicted to wear gold bangles. While this was common for those with power and wealth at the time, in a lot of modern interpretations of genies, These bangles are depicted more like shackles, a representation of their imprisonment and the restrictions placed on their power. Shadow was also locked away because the people in charge, the military, were afraid that he would become too powerful and that he would eventually rebel against them. And if you take a look at Shadow, do you notice anything about his design? Gold bangles. In the law, these are called inhibitor rings, and you'll never guess what they do, they are there to physically inhibit and restrict Shadow's overwhelming power. But these rings aren't only restricting his power.

Just like a genie, they are also symbolic of Shadow being bound to serve the desires of others. I mean, when Shadow first awakened, he literally says, Since you were so kind to release me, my master, I will grant you one wish. Seriously, who else says that other than a genie? I know some of you might say that Shadow is being for seizures here. I mean, just look at that smirk. And when it comes to Eggman, you very well may be right. Shadow does end up betraying him after all, but that's because he was already bound by the wishes of someone else.

The thing that drives Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2 is his promise to carry out the final wish of Maria. As I've mentioned, he mistakes this wish to mean enacting vengeance on humanity, but as he remembers more and more, he realizes that she really wanted him to save humanity so that they could pursue their own dreams and wishes as well. Easy mistake to make happens to me all the time. He does then go on to save the day. sacrificing himself for humanity. And when Sonic returns to the Ark after the fight,

he reveals the only thing left of Shadow is one of his inhibitor rings. In some genie interpretations like the Dancing River gods or 3,000 years of longing, a genie isn't actually freed by their master wishing for their freedom. Instead, they become free simply by fulfilling the wishes of their master,

which is exactly what Shadow does at the end of the game. He fulfilled Maria's final wish. He saved humanity and so he shed his bangles. He is no longer changed. No longer a prisoner. He has finally been freed from his duty. There are just too many connections here for this to not be what Sonic Team intended.

They intended for Shadow to be a genie. However, I'm sure there are some of you out there that are deep into the Shadow Law and you're not convinced for one very specific reason. I've only spoken about his first game. Four years after Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow's own solo title was released, Shadow the Hedgehog. In it, Shadow tries to regain all of his memories, exploring his origins in more depth. And in doing so, he discovers that he is not a genie, but rather, an alien.

If this is your first time hearing that? No, I'm not joking. Shadow is canonically an alien. How does that work? Well, it turns out the only reason Eggman's grandfather was able to make Shadow was thanks to some help from an alien overlord, Black Doom. And so, Black Doom's alien blood runs through Shadow's vein. If Shadow was meant to be a genie originally, clearly Sonic Team Recond it to make him an alien instead. Because that is so much less weird.

So, there you have it, theory busted. Or is it? Don't worry, I'm not going to try and disprove the alien thing. That would be crazy. Black Doom is in Shadow Generation, so they're definitely sticking with that storyline. Instead, what I'm suggesting is that, according to the law of the Sonic Universe, Shadow being an alien, doesn't technically stop him also be in. a genie. A year after Shadow the Hedgehog, another Sonic game was released called Sonic Riders.

It's a spin-off racing game where Sonic and his friends ride hoverboards and compete in tournaments. Yet despite its spin-off status, it is still considered canon. In that game, we are introduced to a new race of beings, the Babylonians. They are an ancient civilization that possessed immensely powerful technology that blurred the lines between magic and science. One of their finest technological creations was, and I'm being completely serious, a flying car. Once again, we're seeing Sonic team bringing in connections from the Arabian Knights. Although it's actually from the tale of Ahmed and Parabano, not Aladdin like Disney would have you believe. The place they find this magic carpet also looks like it's straight out of Arabian nights.

And the final boss has all the key features you'd expect of a classic genie. Cuffs, ghostly bottom half, even a lamp. But the big thing is that when the gang finds this magic carpet, Sonic's new rival Jets, a descendant from the Babylonians, says this. I never imagine that we Babylonians could be descendants of real genies. Genies not only exist in the Sonic Canon, but their descendants can also be anthropomorphic animals. However, at the end of the sequel, Sonic Rider's Zero Gravity, the explanation of what this race is changes slightly. But the people of Babylon... I can't believe they were the descendants of aliens.

Is that another retcon by the Sonic team turning genies into aliens? What have you guys got against Genies? Well, it's not quite that simple. In Sonic Riders, what they're showing us is how myths work in the real world. Before the huge advancements in science, technology, and travel, there were many things humans couldn't explain. And so we created myths to help us make sense of the world around us. Tales of magical creatures or gods that would explain things like natural phenomena that we otherwise couldn't. Now, as science has developed and more information comes to light, we begin to understand the truth behind the myths.

For example, in Japanese mythology, there's a Yo-Kai, called Namazu, a giant catfish whose unruly tail causes earthquakes. This idea was thought to have come from fishermen that noticed catfish acting strange during an earthquake and so made the connection between the two. The catfish must be causing this. But as time has gone on, scientists have discovered that it wasn't the catfish causing the earthquakes. They were just sensitive to the electrical changes in the earth and so 80% of the time would freak out a few hours before an earthquake would occur, dispelling that original myth. That's exactly what we're. what we see happening in Sonic Riders.

These Babylonians were a powerful, technologically advanced society, and the rest of the Sonic world couldn't really understand them. So, they saw them as magic, creating the mythos of genies. But as we explore more of their history and technology in the second game, we're being shown the truth behind that mythology. So what we might see as mythological genies are actually advanced alien species in the Sonic universe. And Black Doom, Shadow's Alien Daddy, is no different. Firstly, there are the obvious visual connections that Black Doom shares with Genies.

He has gold bands around his wrists at the end of his cloak. He clearly skipped Legday and just floats above the ground. He's also wearing a number of different jewels and symbols, one of which is a crescent moon with a jewel inside it. This bears a striking resemblance to the crescent and star symbol from Islam. Although this symbol has also been used across history throughout the Middle East and ancient Arabia. The same place the Arabian Knights and the stories of genies originate. But really, the thing that shows us that Black Doom and Shadow are not only aliens, but also genies,

comes from an in-universe legend about the Babylonians. I found a story about a boy who received an angel wing from the Babylonians as a gift. The story says that with it, the boy was able to rule the world. A character was given wings by the Babylonians, genie aliens. That's not something we've ever really seen in Sonic. That is, until the trailers of Sonic X-Shadow Generations. I'll take this power and use it as my own. We see Shadow being taken over by Black Doom's gross alien tentacles,

giving Shadow new alien powers, including wings. Shadow is the boy from the legend. He was given wings by a race of alien genies, Black Doom. It's also worth noting that during Sonic Riders, Tales mentions a different legend about the Babylonians and how they angered the gods, causing them to be scattered and never found again. While he's telling the story, we see a mural, but the image of the god destroying the Babylonians is nearly identical to the one Eggman showed us about the boy with the angel wing.

This would imply that the boy the Babylonians gave their power to went on to use that same power against them. Shadow has also done this. At the very end of Shadow the Hedgehog, even though he was given life and power by Black Doom, Shadow uses that same power to destroy Black Doom and his army. And now, in Shadow Generations, he's going to be doing. it all again. He's going to defeat Black Doom with these new powers that Black Doom has given him. And that, my friends, brings us back around full circle. By defeating Black Doom, Shadow is going to finally end his genie arc. Because the one thing that you see across many interpretations of Genies is they all long for one thing. Freedom. But didn't I say that he was freed at the end

of Sonic Adventure 2? He fulfilled Maria's wish. He saved humanity. He shed the shackles that showed his servitude to others. But then, what do we see in his other appearances? Shadow is still wearing his gold rings. If he's free, why is he still chained? Is it for the same reason as Jeannie in the Aladdin sequels? Only thing I'm a slave to is... Fashion! These things go great with a tasteful string of pearls. I mean, yeah, probably. He wouldn't really look like Shadow without them. But, it does also act as further symbolism. Ultimately, Shadow is still a slave. Not to a lamp or a specific, master, but to his past. Thanks to the supernatural being The Time Eater, the original Sonic Generations was all about

having a grand old time cruising down memory lane. For Shadow, though, it's a very different story. His past isn't all sunshine and following his rainbow. It's full of pain and suffering where he has tried desperately to move on from. However, this game is going to bring all of that back to the surface, showing that while he may have thought he moved on, those memories, those people, they still have been. power over him. All of Shadow's greatest foes are due to return in this game. But I suspect the greatest one Shadow will have to overcome isn't going to be Black Doom, or Mephalis from Sonic 06,

or even Sonic for old time's sake. It's going to be the one whose loss sent him on this path in the first place, Maria. No, she's not going to be some secret final boss. But as we see in the story trailer, seeing her again is going to be a shock for Shadow. While he absolutely wants to erase Black Doom from all of time and space, I could see him weighing up the idea of not saving the day this time. If he doesn't fix the weird time and space mess caused by the time eater, he can stay with Maria. They could just be together forever, outside of time.

But if Shadow wants to be free, and I mean truly free, he's going to have to reject that offer. At the end of the day, Maria's wish was to save humanity. He's going to have to fix everything. And that means saying goodbye to Maria once. last time, once again fulfilling her wish and finally shedding his chains of trauma and gaining what every genie wants. Freedom.

Maybe then we'll finally get to see the full power of Shadow Unleashed. Hopefully he doesn't become a werehog. Nobody wants to see that again. But hey, that's just a theory. A game theory! Thanks for watching.