#tikal overlord au

[samoirax]

No way, the waterfall lady

[galaxylover06]

Just got this fun piece done! really proud of that water effect!

The sketch I worked with was made by the awesome @samoirax (and its for there AU so seriously if you haven't yet, go check out there stuff, it's way past cool lmao)

[ceemi]

so who all can see ghost tails??

anyone who's gone super can see him; so sonic, knuckles, amy, shadow, silver, mighty, and ray

chaos and tikal can also both see him as they're tethered to the master emerald

blaze is iffy. because while she more than likely could go super, she has yet to. she's only done burning blaze.

eggman can pick up on his energy (ghost hunter eggman is real /j) but he and the rest of his robots cannot see or locate him

[infinite-rabbits]

hey, hiii just wanted to ask about your thoughts/opinions on shadows character

Do you mean like.... Overall or how it’s been handled lately?

It also kinda depends on which version of Shadow. I mean, obviously from my set of 4 Shadows I have on my desk, I love him.

SO I guess we need to break it down.

Sonic Adventure 2 Shadow: I love this silly edgelord. He’s basically a teenager who’s also woken up from a really long nap. Have you ever had nap brain before? Because it sucks, and I like to think that’s part of why he’s so grumpy and also why he had so many memory problems. He might have been out of cryostasis, but his brain was still waking up. He’s moody, he’s probably going through hormone swings because, you know, teenager, and he’s trying to figure out where he stands in the world. This is the Shadow I was first introduced to when my cousin had the game system and I was watching him play it. I literally made my mom buy me a gamecube and the game because I wanted to play with Shadow. I’m always late to the game with stuff. I mean heck, I only just now started playing Sonic Forces and that’s been out since 2017, but this game REALLY impacted my view on the Sonic franchise.

Shadow in Shadow The Hedgehog: Okay so I know a lot of other people really hate his depiction in this game. They don’t like the idea of Shadow going THAT edge and liking guns and all of that stuff due to his PTSD with Maria. But honestly... I don’t mind it that much? Because there’s the whole thing about him having amnesia again or whatever. And what’s more interesting to look at from this game’s point of view is that, just like a lot of other things in the Sonic Franchise, it’s an AU. This is a choose your own adventure where you can literally decide if Shadow is going to freak out and go down the villain’s path, stay neutral and do his own thing, or realize that he needs his friends and go down the hero’s path. So even if you’re not super into him using guns, you could still have him go down that hero path and find his true self. Plus this thing has one of the most bangin’ theme songs Shadow’s ever had. Like all of his themes from games are pretty awesome, but I personally LOVE this one. Especially the extra m e t a l version by Little V.

Shadow in other games: He can be kind of hit-or-miss in the personality department here. You’ve got him in Sonic Heroes with amnesia... again. And possibly being an andriod. But honestly I love that “date to die for!” scene because it’s so dramatic! You’ve got him in Free Riders for some reason being willing to help Rouge get money in the race even though he’s never actually been willing to help before. In most games he’s just kinda sorta... there, and it feels like the writers don’t fully know what to do with him if he’s not the main focus of the game. There’s one big exception to that though:

Shadow in Sonic 06: The game everyone shits on, mostly just because of some of the graphics being shitty here and there in the actual gameplay and also the whole “Sonic hooking up with a human chick” thing. However, this is one of the best characterizations of Shadow. He cares about his friends, he gets given the support he needs, and in turn he also winds up giving that support to Silver. You know, after giving him a boot to the head. As bad as this game might have been, we did actually get relatively good character development for some of these characters, and Shadow was one of them. His willingness to do his part and take Silver “under his quills” as I’ve seen other people say, properly shows off his compassionate side rather than him just.... being dark and brooding. You know?

Boom Shadow: Eeeeh.... I’m not totally sure how to feel about this one? I love listening to his voice for sure. I like watching his fight scenes. But it feels like they’re making him edgy just for the sake of being edgy. And he’s really easily manipulated? I feel like, while Boom has done some great things with other characters, Shadow has gotten the short end of the stick. He’s kinda bland most of the time when it comes to his actual characterization, and he’s boiled down to a one-note kind of guy. So like, I don’t hate it but I really think I could do better.

IDK comics Shadow: They kinda did the same thing here. Shadow started out pretty darn great in that scene with Sonic and deciding what to do with Mr. Tinker. Seeing Sonic get under Shadow’s skin about it and making him back down was a great way of showing how the two have really gotten to understand each other over the years and that Sonic knows Shadow better than he’s willing to admit. That’s where my praise ends. Shadow then basically disappears until we get him back being stubborn as hell and jumping right into a pit of zombots and BOOM, just like that he’s taken out of the game. We’ll see how things go once this virus thing is over (because honestly I feel like it’s been lasting waaaay too long.) and if they use this to humanize him a bit more or if they keep him being super stubborn and one-note. But yeah, as of now I’m not super happy with how he’s been handled.

Shadow in the Archie Comics: HOO BOY I SAVED THE BEST ONE FOR LAST. And by best I mean worst. Where do I even begin with this one? Let me start by saying that I haven’t read all of the Archie comics yet. I’m working on it now, and I’m reading them somewhere online because they’re expensive as hell to get a hold of. But dear lord, this writing is usually horrible! Some of the writers work well together while others *cough*kenpenders*cough* don’t bother to read each other’s stories or will get pissy about their own plotlines not going anywhere and others having to fix them. Shadow is... yanked around so heavily in this series. In some stories, he’s great. He shows interesting characteristics and shows that he’s learning and growing. In others he’s just kinda.... there. In others he’s going completely against what he’s learned and is treating people like shit unless he’s manipulated to do otherwise. One of my absolute biggest complaint about the Archie series is: Tyrant Overlord King Shadow, from the 25/30 years later arch. It’s so bad, you guys. *disgruntled noises* Ken Penders basically had Shadow do a complete 180 despite everything he’s ever learned. He forcibly married Sally, became a tyrant of a king who ruled with an iron fist, and when Sonic kicked his ass and threw him in another stasis tube and he was brought back later, he unleashed this weird Tikal/Chaos creature out into the world to completely destroy it after feeding her so much chaos energy that he hurt her. Also the writer completely freaking forgot to actually END that story. Sonic and the New Freedom Fighters defeat and re-seal away “Tichaos,” but there’s no closure as to what happens to Shadow. It’s just Ken Penders going: “LOOK MY SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME OCS JUST SAVED THE DAY.” And it’s like.... okay, but what about Shadow? Did he escape? Is he still in the castle? Is there a second part to this? And sadly, that’s as far as I’ve read with that line and I don’t know if it got any further before they had to do the reboot. So yeah, Shadow is kinda shafted in these comics too.

Overall: I think he’s a really great character with a lot of wasted potential. He tends to shine more when the spotlight is fully on him because in that case, the writers realize they need to work on him more. But when he’s a side character, they boil him down to one-note and that’s really not a good thing to do with any character. (I should also note that I haven’t actually gotten to purchase the DLC yet of Shadow’s story for Sonic Forces, so I’ll need to go and watch the cut scenes before I can properly say anything on that particular game.)

The Sonic Franchise suffers overall from a case of: Too many characters. Now I wouldn’t change that about them, especially this late in the game. However we’ve been introduced to so many characters that none of them ever really get their chance in the spotlight anymore. Another artist that I can actually compare this to is actually VivziePop. She designs a LOT of characters for her works, and she puts so much effort into them that they all come across as “main character material” and completely overshadow the actual main character of the story. The biggest time that has impacted her work was in her comic Zoophobia. The main character was some human chick thrown into the world, but then she spent so long establishing all of the almost hundred characters she’d made for the world that the story itself felt like it de-railed. She’s gotten a bit better with Hazbin, but Charlie still gets really overshadowed. Some of the Archie comics got to be the same way. They had introduced so many characters at that point that they needed to do storylines that didn’t involve Sonic, and Ken Penders himself didn’t really like writing for Sonic because it was so restrictive, where as he had a lot of free reign with the other ones he’d made or that weren’t the main character. So he just kept making character after character to throw in there, and that combined with the characters we got from all of the assorted media over the years means a lot more characters to try and focus on. So the ones that don’t get their prime time in the spotlight just kinda never go anywhere. Also Shadow not being the main precious blue boy probably explains why his writing can be so wibbly-wobbly depending on the media he’s in. Because Sega isn’t breathing down anyone’s neck anywhere near as heavily as they are for Sonic.

I should probably stop typing now because I’ve written you a novel. XD

TL;DR: I love Shadow but he gets the shaft more often than not by the writers.

[samoirax]

Let go

An angsty sketch from Overlord AU.

[samoirax]

If he knew how to bend, instead of breaking

Losing my mind over this new AU I've accidentally came up with, help

[galaxylover06]

You fools saw the collab BUT DID YOU *ACTUALLY* CHECK OUT @samoirax WORK? Must I do EVERYTHING AROUND HERE?

Here's fanart for their AU!

There stuff is super cool, why would I stop at a collab?!? I simply H A D to make some fanart for them!

Hope you enjoy lmao

[samoirax]

Overlord AU brain rot is real (help)

[samoirax]

Pretty waterfall lady

[samoirax]

Take what the water gave me

[samoirax]

Guys, these are hard times, you know. That's how life goes. I can't bring myself to drawing, no matter how hard I keep trying, as you may have noticed.

What always helped me to get going were collaborations. I love them. They taught me draw, and I taught others.

The question is, is anyone here feeling like forming a team to finish my comics? And your own too, perhaps!

We will learn a lot from each in the process: team work, writing, storyboarding, etc. I'm a professional scriptwriter and I'd love to share my knowledge, for example.

I bit more than I could chew ngl with my overly ambitious ideas, and I feel awful for not finishing them. I'll pitch them in this thread and you'll let me know if you're interested in, say, a conversation here, or even a server on Discord I will make. Together we could bring to life so many fun stories, old and new. And not only Sonic franchise, but perhaps more, like Sam & Max, Final Space, or anything else, really. DM me or comment here if interested in the following:

1. Team Dark comic

Fully storyaborded part 1 since 2021 and I still can't get around to lining it. So inks are required here. Story is fully written. A coloring artist would be welcome!

It's a funny slightly detective short yet epic story with a twist.

2. Epic comic about Silver and Blaze threatened by higher powers at play

Exiled from the Sol Empire, Silver strikes a deal with a shady Hedgehog who claims to know how to get him back... For a price.

3. A wholesome yet dramatic story about Sonic, Tails, healing, and Shadow who's somewhat... different?

Part one fully storyboarded and written. Inks and colors are required.

4. Overlord AU is back!

Shadow the Overlord has come to Earth in order to save his remaining children. Tikaos (Tikal and Chaos fusion) can't let him do that, so they come to a challenging yet peaceful agreement... a marriage.

Fully written, yet to be fully storyboarded.

5. Dadow AU! Except... there's something wrong.

Partially storyboarded, fully written, needs inks and coloring.

Or perhaps it could be one of yours? Stay tuned for the Discord invite link!

[samoirax]

Bro I just stumbled across your blog and I GOTTA KNOW

Tell me about Overlord!Shadow I LOVEE the concept of the Black Arms and I love seeing everyone's different interpretations when Shadow either inherits the traits or is just straight up a pure blood aaaa! I like seeing differences and similarities with writings! Between other artists and myself in head cannons 👀🤲

I'm happy to know you like this concept! I can't stop thinking about my version. Don't know about the others but it is a very intiguing trope full of potential, that's for sure.

What I can say about Overlord Shadow in my AU is that he's pure Black Arms, the leader of his colony. His colony is on the verge of extinction and unlike Black Doom he genuinely cares about them, so he travels to Earth only to ensure their survival. The humans are still considered as the best food source for the young Black Arms, so Shadow believes this to be the way of saving their lives. However, there's Tikal who gets in his way and tries to convince him to find some other way that doesn't include violence. Meanwhile Sonic and Dr. Eggman join forces to stop Shadow, willing to save the Earth at any cost.

In short, Overlord Shadow isn't evil, he merely wants to save his kiddos no matter what.

Thank you for asking!

P.S. I'd like to hear about your headcanons if you want to share them! Oh and I like your art!!

[samoirax]

OMG I've just discovered your blog through this Overlord Shadow AU and I'm already in love shggehfgdg such a cool design ! And boy the tension—

Anyway I was wondering if you were following a Shadow the hedgehog (game) ending ? Or did you make brand new events ? I'm super curious and I hope I'm not rushing you.

Have a great day and keep up the great work !

Thank you very much, I'm glad you like it! I so want to talk about this AU. It does draw a lot of inspiration from ShTH, but it's more like Shadow being in this AU something between Black Doom and his original self. He seeks to use the inhabitants of the Earth as a power source for his colony. Tikal is trying to help him find another way so that she can save everyone. It's a combination of altered events and some roles being merged and reversed, I guess. Can't thinking about it.

Thank you for asking and have a great, too!

[angstandhappiness]

BEAUTIFUL

Just got this fun piece done! really proud of that water effect!

The sketch I worked with was made by the awesome @samoirax (and its for there AU so seriously if you haven't yet, go check out there stuff, it's way past cool lmao)

[samoirax]

He meant it.

Baby boi baby

If he knew how to bend, instead of breaking

Losing my mind over this new AU I've accidentally came up with, help

[galaxylover06]

I'M FREAKING OUT!!!! AHHHH 💞💕

If he knew how to bend, instead of breaking

Losing my mind over this new AU I've accidentally came up with, help