The recently released Sonic Frontiers has brought the Sonic fanbase back together. It has been five years since Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania, and considerably longer than that since a 3D Sonic has garnered largely positive impressions. Through Sega and Sonic Team's constant efforts to reinvent the franchise, they may have finally stumbled upon a new direction in the more open Sonic Frontiers. With huge environments that enable Sonic to flex his powerful traversal abilities, the hedgehog's future is looking a lot brighter, although Shadow's is more dubious.
Frontiers treated most of the usual Sonic cast well. Sonic's main allies have been gathered together for an adventure throughout the Starfall Islands, with each isle focused on saving and cooperating with one specific friend. Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles “Tails” Prower are all present in top form, and Dr Eggman has another great showing on top of that. But with Frontiers' story developments affecting the core Sonic cast, a key absence has become more noticeable. Despite ostensibly being a major character, it seems Sonic's rival-turned-ally Shadow the Hedgehog is nowhere to be found.
Shadow Isn’t The Integral Sonic Figure He Once Was
Shadow the Hedgehog is a somewhat controversial figure in the Sonic series, having been introduced in Sonic Adventure 2. From there, he replaced Knuckles and Metal Sonic as Sonic's main rival, dominating the overarching plot of the franchise for several years. Shadow took a backseat after his arc concluded in the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog, and has been working with the G.U.N. organization since Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. He holds a fairly significant role in the official Sonic comic series and has made scattered appearances in modern games, but Shadow’s time in the spotlight has concluded for now.
There isn't much for Shadow to do in Sonic Frontiers with Sonic around, as they could both theoretically break out of Cyber Space captivity and Sonic arguably has more chemistry with the other characters present. Still, with how deeply the game draws on Sonic Adventure 1 and 2’s lore, one might expect to see Shadow turn up somewhere. As the new character Sage has drawn comparisons to Maria Robotnik, it would be interesting to see Shadow meet her. Whether that is in the cards remains to be seen, though it sounds like Shadow could be getting more prominent roles soon — with some limits in place.
Where Shadow the Hedgehog Could Appear Next
A couple of recent interviews may have shed some light on why the black hedgehog has seen a reduced role. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka confirmed to Shacknews ahead of Sonic Frontiers’ launch that Shadow would not be in the game. Iizuka seems fond of the character, and states that he would like to bring Shadow into more content. Why he isn’t around was not disclosed, but an earlier interview with the writers of Sonic Boom provides a hint. According to Alan Denton and Greg Hahn, Sega is protective over how Shadow is used, and couples his appearances with many notes and restrictions. Sonic Frontiers’ and IDW Sonic comics’ head writer Ian Flynn shared this interview on social media, implying that he had encountered the same difficulties.
With Sonic Frontiers making a point to develop its characters, it's fairly clear why the already developed Shadow couldn't find a role to fill. Fans will need to wait and see if Shadow participates in the next Sonic game, but he does have a couple of roles lined up before then. The upcoming Sonic Prime Netflix series will include Shadow to some extent, though what he'll be doing remains unclear. The next live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie will also feature Shadow, presumably hearkening back to his original Adventure 2 appearance as an antagonist. Shadow the Hedgehog is far from obsolete, and fans can expect to see more of him in the future.
Sonic Frontiers is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
