The Undeniable Brilliance of Team Dark - A Team Dark Analysis (Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge, Omega) 

Team Dark is precisely what i want from the Sonic series I don't want jokes, i want charm, characters and growth

It still irritates me that SEGA mandated Team Dark as a “brand” and nothing more. In case you didn’t know, Ian Flynn, the lead writer for the IDW comics, basically said that SEGA had very specific mandates on how characters in the series should be presented, which is why Shadow is mischaracterized HARD in the IDW comics. Team Dark is a special team that resonated with a lot of fans because of how their bond was shown through their actions rather than through words. While I’m more of a Team Chaotix fan, I respect everything that Team Dark had and want them to have a proper return to the series as something besides fan service and where there relationship is properly shown.

Shadow lost his original family so he found a new one. That fact alone is why Team Dark need to return. It’s the ultimate show of his progression as a character. Shout out to the Archie series for having PEAK team dark writing. Ian knows how to write this team, Sega just needs to let him.

I think the character that is easily most damaged from the whole "no team dark" mandate is omega, shadow and rouge on their own atleast have other stuff going for their characters. Omega was made with the intent to serve as the muscle/3rd wheel to Team Dark, without Team Dark, what is Omega left to do. Honestly, just fuck Sega for trying to write off the best written trio in the series.

Maekawa's writing for Shadow and the rest of his Team over the course of SA2, Heroes and '06 were the high-point of those games' writing to me as a kid. Seeing a greedy cat-burglar, genetically engineered perfect being and a bloodthirsty walking armory slowly grow to care for each other makes for such a unique dynamic, and it really speaks to Maekawa's strengths as a writer that he pulled off the task of creating a believable sense of camraderie between all three members in spite of their disparate personalities. It truly is a shame that SEGA insists on making Shadow a one-note marketable angry loner when his allies really brought out the best in him back in the day.

I have recently found myself considering the prospect of what if when they brought back Shadow in Heroes he never had amnesia, and instead his team up with Rouge and Omega was more about addressing where he and Rouge left off in SA2 - the tensions from their confrontation of each other followed by new feelings sprouting because of Shadow’s sacrifice - and the fact Shadow would probably have been feeling lost and purposeless after that game’s events, no longer really knowing what to do with himself - yes he would still believe he should fulfil Maria’s promise but he probably would have been lost as to how to go about it. Along with the whole surface goal of wanting answers from Eggman as to what happened and how he ended up on that base. Then even his own spinoff game could still have remained largely the same, except instead of finding his memories, it focuses simply on Shadow grappling with the discovery of his true origins as the creation of Black Doom, who meant for him to lead the Black Arms invasion and ultimately destroy Earth all along, and his promise to Maria, his friend who basically helped raise him from when he was born and who he made himself, and Rouge and Omega clearly would have been key to helping Shadow decide to choose the path that he made for himself, choosing to protect the world Maria loved so much and where the friends that he’s now made live too. The chemistry and dynamics of Team Dark is just absolutely incredible. I wish so dearly that it could be brought back with good writers and stories. Here’s to hoping the changes they seem to be making to the series, including new writers, can help this along. (If only they can get rid of the god awful mandates surrounding the characters like Shadow especially. Bring him back to the character he once was.) #ReviveTeamDark

I don't care what sega saids team dark will always be friends. We as fans are going let them know. Shadow was able to overcome mephiles not by himself but by working together as a team. Shadow is at his strongest when he has others bounce off of. Also let me throw one misconception away shadow is not really arrogant at all actually this is seen in adventure 2 where shadow saids sonic may also be the ultimate lifeform. Team dark is great.

"If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!" Still the most badass line in the Sonic franchise.

I feel like people seriously miss the question - what does Rouge ACTUALLY know about his past? "You might be the ultimate life-form, or you might be a fake created by a madman who wanted to end the world. Then you tried to end the world right until you tried to save it. You're probably not gonna randomly turn into a giant aquatic lizard at some point."

This was a great video... I really really hope Team Dark comes back under GUN or their own private organization of sorts, saving the world without trying to beat Sonic at car races or something silly like that...

So, rouge and knuckles are my two favorite characters in the entire series. Rouge is a character that earns her keep and is one of the only characters in the series with an actual character arc that hasn't been deleted. They haven't done anything with her which is a shame, but I do think bringing back team dark (which kinda has been in IDW), is the best move.

Team Dark could be the outlet to tell more mature stories. Not that regular Sonic games can't be mature but it will always have a decent amount of lightheartedness and straight forward stories. They are able to use Team Dark to tell more complex and mature stories that resonate with the older fanbase. I would completely reboot the Shadow the Hedgehog series and give it a more focused Identity. Also I would allow it to be able to have a higher age rating if needed. Not saying it needs gore, swearing,sex, and drugs but at least allow death.

I love how you used Waking Up as the music in the beginning, it's my all time fave piece of Sonic music!

Can't believe I found this video a year too late. Agreed with what you said. Team Dark deserves to be a proper team and not just some brand. I want them to return like they did in Heroes and 06. I still remembered that moment at the end of Sonic Heroes intro when Shadow and Rouge actually fist-bump. Come on, they are comrades! Friends that trust each other!

Teams is a really good way to introduce and develop characters. Team Dark shows us what a good team can do, and I can see Shade, Sally, and Cosmo making a good team should they be reintroduced.

I mean. You can argue that in heroes that Shadow isn’t not even the same character anymore, just by name and tendencies. A literal shell of the person he once was

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Shadow the Hedgehog, IDW. When the main character of the team is the one who acts like the biggest douchebag.

To be fair to Rouge she only knew Shadow for about a week so yeah she knows the sa2 events, but she doesn't really know anything about Shadow's memories prior to all that or how he ended up in an Eggman base. I like to think she filled him in on what she could, but he still had some answers he wanted to address. Also how do you tell a guy he helped blew up the moon and almost did the same thing to the earth. I can see the struggle of how to tell him all that without making him feel awful.

I really want to see team dark back in action again

Really enjoyed this. Team Dark is one of my favorite parts of the franchise so I love seeing them get the recognition they deserve. Looking forward to the next video.

Look Team Sonic is a group of friends. Team Dark is a *found family.*

A bit late, but wasn't the implication in 06 that Omega wasn't just in storage, but was actually there to contain Shadow if needed? Though it seems Omega was unaware of this directive or maybe in becoming self aware overrode that and forgot. The cloning line also seems a bit odd if these were androids.

Sega take notes

Sonic Heroes be like: Shadow - can't remember anything Omega - violent and crazy Rouge - just wants some shiny rocks

What SEGA thinks of Team Dark: They are not friends and never will be What everybody else thinks of Team Dark: We're a couple of misfits, We're a couple of misfits, What's the matter with misfits? That where we fit in.

I like that Shadow wasn't butchered in Forces, but he should be more important, as the on who triggered Infinite's creation.

2001 - Shadow and Sonic handclasp and nodding, spontaneously. 2003 - Shadow smiling at Rouge, talking carefree. 2007 - ongoing "mandates, shadow no friends, no fun, selfish edgelord, so cool only for 12 years old kids".

Yes team dark is so good.They go really well with each other. #reviveteamdark!

Just binge watching While I work out

I need the G.U.N. Team Dark cop show omg! What do you think about how team dark is written in the IDW Sonic comics? Maybe a future video idea :o #reviveteamdark

Why SEGA like to ruin anything good with the franchise ? Team dark had the best developed bond out of all teams .

Bro you know what would be awesome? If they made a spin off series with these three idc if it's in the form of a TV show or a videogame it can be either one or both! Either way we need more of team dark

It pisses me off how SEGA has thrown away all Adventure Era continuity, including Team Dark

Ah yes shadow rouge and R O B O M A N

Wait, team dark was disbanded?!

#bring back team dark I agree they need to bring them back

The real reason Rouge didn’t tell Shadow the truth in the beginning? It’s simple. Sonic Heroes is a filler game. No real actions of consequence happened in that game. No character development, nothing. Sonic even came face to face with Shadow and neither, Tails, nor Knuckles said anything either. Then, in Shadow’s game, there was basically zero reference to Sonic Heroes aside from Shadow being acquainted with the cast already. I love Sonic Heroes, but they didn’t do a good job with the writing in that game. No character acted true to themselves, not even Sonic. 😞

i have high hopes for the 3rd Sonic Movie. (Spoiler Alert!) Due to the teaser of Shadow at the end of the 2nd movie and since the Movies have been broadly following the games story wise, with Sonic 1, sonic rises up to face the mechanized threat of Robotnik and the 2nd movie combining Sonic 2, 3, and Knuckles into one story, im guessing that the 3rd movie will be based on Adventure 2 meaning that Rouge may very well make her movie debut.

As a guy who's gonna adapt sonic heroes my own way, each deep analysis is so good but so bad, how do you take something amazing, then try to keep it amazing in your own way? 😂 Man, team dark is so cool and even better now that you broke down on it

The reason why Dr. Eggman put Shadow in the capsule between the events of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, because he was trying to recover and restore Shadow's lost memories. However Rouge released and woke up Shadow, and his memories were not fully recover and restore yet. This was all Rouge's fault. If she never found Shadow in Dr. Eggman's secret base in the first place, none of this would ever happen.

Lol the shadow video is privated but I'd love to watch it

I get why people love team dark and I do think completely separating these characters is dumb BUT just like with almost all of Sonic Heroes teams does it create 1 issue I hate. Massive limitation of Character interactions. What I mean is that the moments these old Team roles come back these characters almost exclusively interact with in their own teams with each other. Meaning we Team Dark Members are stuck with Shadow, Rouge and Omega only interaction with each other. Like seriously when was the last time Omega interacted with anyone but Team Dark and Eggman in the games? pretty hard to come up with something right because he is almost entirely stuck with Rouge and Shadow. Rouge to a less degree also has this issue as she was introduced alongside Shadow and outside of her SA2 rival does she hardly get to interact with other characters as well.

Thinking like Movie team Dark

Do you think there is hope for a Team Dark return with SxSh Generations? Rouge and Omega are on the cover...

hashtag bring back team dark

1:09 is that where that confused emote in fortnite came from?

The edgelord obsessed with killing and destroying, has a red and black color scheme, most known for his use of guns and appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog. Oh yeah there’s also Rouge and Shadow I guess, but nobody cares about them right?

#reviveteamdark #shadowisbetterthansonic

I think team dark is good in modern games like forces where he act really well in forces

11:53 Aside from, you know, _their continued existence._ You might have forgotten that Metal was planning on killing all organic life and/or those whose stood in his way, including Team Dark.

If there's ever a Shadow the hedgehog 2, I want it to be all about Team dark. To give the team as a whole their own game with unique dialogue and situations would be such a treat.

I could listen to people talking about Team Dark for hours on end. There's just something special about them that's always resonated with me, and I'm torn between wanting to see them again; well more like I do really want to see them return in full glory, but before I can want to see them in a game I need to know that the writing direction has changed to something... Good, half decent even. #ReviveTeamDark

As a relative newcomer still, I do really feel like Rouge and Omega ought to have some independent character development -- especially Rouge. Shadow brings out a side of her that goes beyond her passion for treasure and doesn't force awkward "romantic tension" between her and Knuckles. And although I love that Rouge and Shadow have this special relationship with only each other, I do want to see the way she is without him explored and developed further (preferably as a decently-rounded character, of course. Same goes for Shadow, really). Omega is already pretty perfect, though; he just wants to kill everything except his best friends he would very willingly die for. That's a character I can absolutely get behind. 👍 That said, Rouge, Shadow and Omega definitely all share an apartment together and no one can change my mind about this. #ReviveTeamDark

Man, I hope Sonic games go back to these great character interactions and story moments!

Man I love team dark it's a shame that Sega striped them all apart like that whenever we see them in cut scenes it's usually Shadow or rouge or Shadow and Omega they're never together anymore I don't think Sega appreciates their brilliant characters

I can definitely get behind #reviveteamdark! It's completely baffling they chose to disband them. Admittedly, there are a great many baffling decisions in the last decade of this series, but still, this one is particularly high on the list! I never finished Shadow's story in 06, so I wasn't actually aware of any of the Team Dark stuff beyond Shadow & Rouge working for GUN together. Now I kinda want to give it another go. Dear God, I can't believe I'm considering playing Sonic 06 to see an element of the series done right! Truly, we live in the darkest timeline. One ironically fucking absent of Team Dark!

Team Dark is the most mature and subtle teams the franchise's ever done. It has a real tone of subtle kinship and brotherhood between each member, all with their own unique abilities and characteristics. A group of misfits perfectly fit for each other; you could say it's the Sonic franchise's Guardians of the Galaxy. I feel very bummed how they either dissapeared or pop up just to be misrepresented or put as a glorified cameo. They still have potential as a team and stuff to improve as individuals: Shadow still may be holding on to that promise he did for the good and for the bad; Rouge is a more open character, but still hasn't gone over her jewel-thieving antics and if she did, may have trouble cleaning her slate; Omega is a robot which can't even comprehend much of humanity; above all, all of them still struggle to open up to each other, even if they respect and care for each other. They need to come back. There is lots to be still learned (and fun to be had watching it happen).

Amazing analysis. Team Dark have been seriously hard done by and deserve so much better. The fact that storytelling has been so poor in the Sonic series recently just boggles the mind when they have stuff like Team Dark up their sleeve and are just refusing to use them. #ReviveTeamDark

Sega: "So what do people think of Team Dark?" Sonic haters/detractors: "Urgh, they suck! Some emo, edgelord version of Sonic, some mouse thing with wings and boobies who all the weirdo furries have the hots for, and some dumb robot whose name I don't even bother to remember! God they're the worst things ever! Sega should just get rid of 'em, and all of Sonic's stinky friends too! Sonic games should just be about Sonic running through loops and jumping on robots, AND NOTHING ELSE! Not all this BS with lame stories like cringey fan fiction, and emo characters that no one even likes! Nobody, repeat NOBODY plays Sonic games for story and characters! And if you do, then you must be a freak!" Actual Sonic fans: *This Video* Sega: "Wow, that's too long to watch! Let's just listen to the other guys! They CLEARLY know what they're talking about!" I cannot stand this negative attitude towards the Sonic series that's basically dictating what can and can't be in a Sonic game! It just isn't helping anything!

“Omega! Shadow! R O U G E. Team Dark is simply unbeatable!”

Fantastic video, made me realise how much I miss Team Dark! They really have been treated so poorly considering just how popular they are. We just have to hope that Sega start treating every character with the care they deserve and Team Dark can get some attention again! Also, "This Machine" is hands down one of the best songs in the Sonic series!

Team dark is the coolest trio . They don't show it a lot but they are good friends and care for each other . And Sega forgot it , just like how they forgot the other good things about sonic games ...

I really hope SEGA don’t just use Team Dark as “that team that were friends but not anymore” and use them for cameos as their dynamic and characters fit really well. They feel like people who care for each other but are still able to fall apart and criticize each other, becoming stronger in the process

Looking at this and seeing the drastic changes done with the recent departure of not just the voices but the current writers has me cautiously optimistic. I want there to be writing where things like the original team dark can shine, but even if we get good writers, it won't matter. SEGA needs to look back at their past work and see what worked and what didn't. A pity how negative feedback speaks louder volumes than positive feedback sometimes. Another thing is that if most of the voices have been axed I just hope they get a voice that fits Shadow better. Rouge is ok, and Omega just needs to not have a voice like in 06. For Shadow, like you said in your Shadow video he needs to stop being an edgy dick and care for his buddies. And yeah Rouge needs to be the voice of team dark again. And Omega can like destruction, but like Shadow, we need to see he cares for Rouge and Shadow. Anyway, nice video. Needed something good to listen to while eating breakfast. 😌

Man, I’ve been noticing a lot of changes in sonic recently, but the one thing I hope most is changed is for team dark to be fixed. Honestly, since 06 they have been doing nothing but ruining this team.

In "Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood" we can see more interactions of Team Dark, they have a special attack and a lot of dialogue, when you meet Shadow for the first time, he says that he has been looking for Omega, if you ask him "why? " he will say that omega is his friend, and when you find omega in a bad state, Shadow is the first to run to help him, he even threatens dr. eggman with hitting him because he said a bad comment about omega, in that game, Shadow cares about omega and rouge, SEGA should represent him like this more often

I totally agree that team dark deserve to come back, but only if they are well written, personally I didn't liked how Shadow passed by Rouge and Omega in Sonic Team Racing Overdrive (a great example of how not to write them)

The only person in the group who they didn't ruin at this point is Omega. Vegeta the Hedgehog and Rouge the Wallpaper barely have personalities at this point. By the way, How does Shadow's backstory even work without humanity?

#ReviveTeamDark #FixShadow #Sonic30 #SaveSonic #Redemption4Shadow Team Dark is a fascinating concept and should be respected, not thrown out and treated like garbage. SEGA has to see the light, take more feedback from Shadow fans and resurrect Team Dark. Nice vid.

Letss go

We need a new Shadow game with his 06 personality that heavily ft team dark.

Hopefully we’ll see team dark brought back for more than a cameo in the next game

They be ma main man, ma gal pal, and brobot.

If they were to make a Team Dark game I would be all over that! They could have different play styles that help the other members along in their mission in different ways. I think Shadow would probably have the most basic to sonic gameplay form with going fast and platforming obstacles but he also has his Chaos abilities like Chaos Spear, Blast, and Control. He's also probably going to be serving the role of primary protagonist in the story but it shouldn't be about his past, he's done living in the past. Rouge's gameplay could be based around stealth and espionage like a batman game where she's moving around in secret or sneak attacking enemies to gather information or sabotage the enemy to help progress Shadow's story. And E-123 Omega is the one I am most excited for, a beat'em up style gameplay reminiscent of the Warriors games where Omega goes full 1-bot army mode against hordes of enemies showing of that he is truly the superior robot!

Eggman locking Omega away for fear of it turning against him...ironically allowed that to happen. Sad, isn't it?

Sonic team/Sega: team dark is not a thing. Me: Then how come there called team dark in team sonic racing and heros. Sonic team/sega: ...

Shadow is my favorite Sonic character. Team Dark are Shadow's closes friends, and proof of his growth as a character. They prove that Shadow is far deeper than, "I edgey". He cares about people, even if he is not the best at showing it. It annoys me how in recent games they made Shadow so competitive, so against the very notion of friends. That is not who Shadow is. Yeah, Shadow can be competitive, and egotistical, but that is not the entirety of his personality, of who he is. He has friends who he cares deeply about, friends who he would trust more than anyone. Sega took those characters and threw them away, taking one small aspect of their personality and saying that that is all there is to them. And it hurts to see them be treated this way. #ReviveTeamDark

Great video Ace. Love the deep dive analysis into the characters. You really make sure to find the good in each one. You also don’t hold back and give an honest view. Keep up the fantastic work.

Theory: Rouge did tell Shadow about what happened in SA2 but Shadow still can't remember. For example in all those movies or episodes of a character falling and getting amnesia the characters try to remind them of their history together as friends or/and family but even though they are told they still can't get over the guilt and huge curiosity of their lost memories. In the little cutscene of Team Dark encountering Team Hero in the front forest, Shadow exclaims something along the lines of "There is that hedgehog!" It might be that he doesn't remember Sonic but recognizes him because Rouge told him about a blue hedgehog.

10:17 This was a nice prospective about Rouge refraining to discuss anything about Shadow's past. Rouge is a character that seems to pray onto other people's feelings to her advantage with this time using Omega and Shadow to reach her goals via Eggman's secret treasure. IT could also be since she works for GUN and that she is not allow to give out too much info what she's up to.

the more i've looked at team dark, the more i see them as team sonic adventure. obviously, sonic adventure 2 is where shadow and rouge came from, but omega was the last in the line of the e-series robots, which first appeared in sonic adventure. to me, they represent everything that was sonic adventure, since shadow was modeled after prophecies of super sonic fighting chaos, rouge was/is a spy for g.u.n, and as i said, omega was the last of e-series, plus, they all ended-up working for g.u.n, which first showed-up in sonic adventure 2. what's my point? i- i dunno. just that they all were repesentative of what was new/unique about the sonic adventure games, and i liked/miss that.

we actually have no proof that Rouge DIDNT say anything to Shadow-Shadow wanted to remember his past, not to get a retelling of the past, but Rouge may have talked to him off screen. that’s why he says “some things never change” at the end, or “remembers” Sonic’s rivalry

I cant wait to see the huge action scene they’re gonna have in the dark beginnings prologue, I already know its gonna give the unleashed opening a run for its money🔥

I am a bit late but… Will we ever see Team Rose? I’ve never seen a video on Team rose anywhere, I’ve seen one for Team Chaotix, and we have all seen enough of Team Sonic. Where is Team Rose? I know that they are just there to save their friends because they aren’t super heroes, they are just a group of friends out to help one another. I think they are the Healthiest team in all of Sonic Heroes. That’s just my opinion

14:58 while youre talking about how great of a team they are, Shadow bodyslams Rouge off the fucking rail

It's almost a little silly how well they created all these characters, their dynamics and MOs. Team Dark is amazing and has so much potential and the best part is you could split all of them up, let them have a solo adventure in the next Sonic game only to slap 'em together in the next one and see how their character growth ripples through their team. Don't have a good story or game play reason to include Rouge? She's got a gem on the other side of the planet on her radar, but you bet your ass the boys will make references or remember her. Shuffle as you will with whatever character fits the game best. They all have good reasons to appear in any narrative, while also providing good excuses why they wouldn't show up in any given title. What's kinda crazy with the whole "they're just stupid mascots for kids" notion is that this applies to virtually all the characters. Knuckles has both Angel Island and his friendship to Sonic and Cream as a kid just doesn't always get to participate in the big adventure. You can always find a reason for the heroes to work together, or even oppose one another, since they're different enough. Sure, it'd be sad if your favourite character didn't show up, but ideally you'd get them in the next one. It would keep both characters and their teams from going stale, while also retaining their dynamic by acknowledging that the others still exist and have impact on them. This shit writes itself with how well the characters were written. They don't need to be literary masterpieces to work in tandem with one another and it shows in the games that aim for that. Buuuut instead we got whatever the hell SEGA went for. Just... just why. I know the common reasons, but still. why.

#ReviveTeamDark

I always thought Rouge had more chemistry and a stronger bond with Shadow than with Knuckles, so I never understood why Knuxouge was so much more popular than Shadouge. Rouge and Shadow don't even interact in Sonic Prime for crying out loud!

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are siblings, but Team Dark is a family.

Team sonic and team dark are perfect, even team rose is almost perfect but Big doesnt fit well

Yet another team of heroes torn apart and left to rot by modern Sega... 😔

I deny its brilliance! sorry... but with a title like that, I just can't resist, you know.

Brilliant vid I agree mate also thought u liked heroes pal?

To be fair, whether it’s the right thing to do or not it might not have been the best idea to tell Shadow his origin from the get-go in Sonic Heroes. I mean imagine what that sudden shock would do to his mental state: “Hello Shadow, my name is Rouge. We work together once where you helped save my life from explosion that would’ve destroyed a military base. Oh also the same military force killed your best friend and locked you away for 50 years. Anyway you sacrifice yourself to save them along with the rest of the world. Take this information as you will.” Something tells me that wouldn’t have ended well.

I absolutely love team dark probably my most favorite next to team chaotix When I heard that SEGA doesn’t see them as friends I was kinda annoyed I mean have they played sonic 06 or Sonic heros!! But anyway I’ll have to give it to Evan Stanley here (One of IDW writers) yes obviously she couldn’t have shadow old personality because they have strict rules but I love how she does shadow in the end Shadow actually is worried for the girls in one story and gives the chao that looks like him an apple She knows that shadow character is not everyone favorite rn and probably never will be with how he’s written and Evan shows all this With rouge Rouge gives shadow a talk after star line gets away I can’t exactly remember the words but I heard someone say it’s almost like Evan is telling us something Saying she gets it She doesn’t like shadows character too And I really like that Team dark has always meant a lot to me all of the teams have but If you asked me which was my favorite team I’d probably say team dark immediately And I can kinda see the purpose of all the teams Team sonic is well it’s in the name It’s a team for sonic because well the main guys has to have a team too right? Don’t get me wrong I love the dynamics these guys have but honestly we see these guys work together a lot so it’s nothing really special if they’re a team or not Idk much about team rose so I’ll just move on Team chaotix is like the comedy type They never really have something serious going on when they’re around and yes sometimes they do but most of the times they’re kinda there for the laughs And then team dark Like shadow I feel like they were made for people to relate to These are all misfits and kids can kinda relate to that myself including Sega can try all the want to make me love idk team sonic more (jk) But I will always and forever love team dark I know I’m one year late I became a sonic fan like 6 months ago or so So ya heh I’m kinda late to the party But anyway Amazing video! I agree with everything you said Edit: I didn’t mean to put Ian Flynn I meant to put SEGA but Ian was in my head for some reason so heh Ya Sorry- I changed it tho

I think one of the big reasons why Rouge didn't tell Shadow about his past is because she knows how agonizing it was for him. "Hey you're actually a lab experiment, your best friend was murdered in front of you, you almost destroyed the entire world but changed your mind last minute, and everyone thought you died when you sacrificed yourself to save it." Like c'mon. That's a lot to dump on someone. Imagine what Shadow would have done when _all_ of those memories started flooding back at once. Hell, Rouge saw the lengths that he went to in SA2. Given how much closer they are by the end of Heros, it makes sense that she wouldn't want to inflict that mental torment on him again.

Shadow is not ready for the world at all, because Sega turned against him to hurt the fans for some reason.

This is a pretty old video, but something I wanna bring up, I feel like Rouge started to care about Shadow in SA2 earlier then the end of the game, but around when Shadow saved her life on Prison Island (which would also mirror her not fighting Knuckles anymore and just giving him the master emerald shards after he saves her later as well). Rouge seemed to noticeably be nicer to Shadow after that, down to genuinely being concerned when she brings up the Biolizard to Shadow, the idea that its the real Shadow, and he's simply a fake, when he finds out she's a spy. But this might be me looking too deep into things, Shadow and Rouge's development with one another during the 2000s has made me a shipper of the two admittedly. Also as far as we're aware, Eggman never finds out that Gamma turned on him, as the last time Eggman sees Gamma is when he has him fight Sonic, so from Eggman's PoV, Gamma was likely destroyed. This is kind of backed up a bit by both SA2 and Sonic Battle, Eggman makes robots based on Gamma in both games, so it makes me think he had so much respect for Gamma that he made other robots in his likeness, but this is me just assuming. To answer your question at the end of the video, I'd love for them to try their hands at a Shadow 2, but instead of just Shadow, its a game revolved around Team Dark, as I feel like their camaraderie would make for a far more interesting dynamic then a game solely focused on Shadow.

Team Dark is a truly beautiful team. And to think this team almost never happened at all. You see, in *Sonic Heroes* , they almost put Amy, Cream and Rouge together as a team. I can kind of see why. "Let's put the girl counterparts of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles together. They can have some fun interactions." To be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing that. It does sound very interesting. But... they decided to bring Shadow back, so they instead stuck Big in with Amy and Cream, had Rouge lead Team Dark, and create Omega from scratch. And it was a brilliant move. Rouge is the heart of the team, keeping Shadow and Omega in line, but also having a few shady deeds here and there. Shadow keeps everyone on the straight and narrow, as well as learning about what the Earth has to offer and learning to move on from Maria's death. Omega is fresh out of the workshop, and is keen to get revenge on his master, but becomes a loyal friend.

IDW needs to seriously reaffirm if Team Dark is a thing of not. Does G.U.N. exist in that universe? I hope it does as the stories of Team Dark as G.U.N. in the Archie series were great stories and gave Shadow a way to keep his protect the world (Mobious in that case) with his two friends that he trusts. I even hear that the past IDW story arc "Chao Races and Badnick Bases" was meant to be a Team Dark centered story but changed into what we got which wasn't bad...but the original idea sounded better. Also seeing Shadow portrayed as overly grumpy gets old fast.