the fake one here?" As part of shaping his subtle character, Maekawa envisioned Shadow would refer to himself using the more humble Japanese pronoun boku (僕). Iizuka made sure that Shadow's introduction also brought new events to the game, as he wanted players to care about the character. Sonic Adventure 2 was intended to be Shadow's only appearance, but his popularity among fans led to him returning in 2003's Sonic Heroes. Additionally, Sonic Team wanted to feature Shadow in a spin-off game. By 2005, Sonic Team was interested in developing a high-speed shooter game. They chose to focus on Shadow—whom they felt would provide "the perfect venue... to try our hand at this genre"—leading to the development of Shadow the Hedgehog. Series co-creator Yuji Naka hoped Shadow would lead to a spin-off series about the character. When developing Shadow's design and world, Sonic Team was influenced by films such as Underworld (2003), Constantine (2005), and those in the Terminator series. The team abandoned Shadow's shooting gameplay when working on Sonic the Hedgehog in 2006. Instead, director Shun Nakamura emphasized combat to differentiate his gameplay from that of Sonic's; while Sonic was designed for speedy platforming, Shadow was designed for fighting enemies. After Sonic and the Black Knight (2009), Shadow did not appear as a playable character in a Sonic platformer for some time, until the release of Sonic Forces in 2017. Nakamura explained that Sonic Team brought Shadow back for Sonic Forces so it would appeal to fans of the Adventure games, as the character is "extremely popular" among that group. Iizuka has commented that another Shadow-oriented spin-off is a possibility. In Japan, Kōji Yusa voices Shadow. Shadow's English voice actor has changed several times. David Humphrey was the first to assume the role, but was replaced by Jason Griffith, who voiced Shadow and Sonic in the English dub of the anime series Sonic X (2003–2006), for Shadow the Hedgehog in 2005. Kirk Thornton has voiced Shadow since 2010, starting with Sonic Free Riders. Character biography Within the Sonic series' fictional universe, Shadow the Hedgehog is a clone of Sonic the Hedgehog created by Professor Gerald Robotnik through genetic engineering as part of an experiment to cure his granddaughter Maria from a deadly illness. While Shadow and Maria formed a strong bond, the government deemed him a threat. Shadow was placed in suspended animation and a military organization, the Guardian