Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog is an anthropomorphic black hedgehog appearing in Sonic Vs. Garfield: Battle for Syria. Joel (username JuhJuhButt) often refers to himself as this character, after joking about a meme with Shadow in it. The joke could have been misinterpreted as being from Shadow's point of view, thus prompting Tanner to say, "Joel is Shadow confirmed". Joel embraced the statement and has since decided that he is Shadow the Hedgehog.

 Joel being Shadow the Hedgehog is not canon to any official SEGA games or to Sonic Vs. Garfield: Battle for Syria 

Publicly, he is a character appearing in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise. The sexy black hedgehog was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa and debuted in the series' 2001 installment Sonic Adventure 2. Although this was intended to be his only appearance, Shadow proved so popular among fans that developer Sonic Team decided to include him in 2003's Sonic Heroes. Shadow has since featured in numerous entries in the franchise, including a self-titled spin-off game in 2005. He also appears in Sonic television adaptations, comics, and merchandise.

Within the Sonic franchise's fictional universe, Shadow is an immortal, anthropomorphic black hedgehog created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of series antagonist Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. After witnessing the murder of his best friend Maria Robotnik, Shadow vows to keep his promise to her that he would protect the world from danger. As an antihero, Shadow has good intentions but will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, putting him at odds with series protagonist Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow shares many attributes with Sonic and thus controls similarly in games but is distinguished by his uses of vehicles and firearms.

The idea for Shadow originated during the development of the original Sonic Adventure in 1998, with Iizuka and Maekawa ensuring he would be a subtle, "cool" character players could care about. His design was influenced by films such as Underworld, Constantine, and Terminator. Although Shadow is one of the series' most popular characters and was named one of the greatest video game characters by Guinness World Records in 2011, he has proven divisive among video game journalists. Some have praised his role in Sonic Adventure 2 and his levels' preservation of the Sonic theme, but others have mocked his dark characterization.