Shadow the Hedgehog and the War on Terror | A Video Essay

You guys aren’t gonna believe this, but the video game in which Shadow the Hedgehog is encouraged by an analog for the US military to fight against an invading group that destroys entire cities and blows up US landmarks and tries to kill the president and is referred to as a group of "terrorists" by government officials miiiight be a result of a post-9/11 political ecosystem.

Thank you to Catbug’s Cryptid Sticker Club for sponsoring this video: https://patreon.com/CatbugsCryptidClu...

Video Essays on which Shadow05 Routes are “canon”:
   • The CANON Route in Shadow the Hedgehog?   by ‪@GamingTopTen‬
   • The Canon Path of Shadow The Hedgehog   by ‪@ThatSonicGamer‬
Video on Shadow and post-9/11 storytelling by ‪@heyanickel456‬    • Shadow the Hedgehog and Post-9/11 Storytel...  
Video by ‪@TurboJehtt‬ referenced in Chapter 4:    • Shadow the Hedgehog: Hero Path vs Dark Path  
Video by‪@LindsayEllisVids‬ on War of the Worlds, Independence Day and disaster movies and alien invasion movies before and after 9/11:    • Independence Day vs. War of the Worlds  

Support me on Patreon:   / hanahyperfixates  

Special thanks to the following for lending their voices for this project:
Nour368 - Voice of Shadow and Vector and Iblis https://x.com/Nourthe386th
Teddy Scott VA - Voice of Sonic https://x.com/TeddyBranScott
Ajakes /(‪@Ajakes‬ ) Voiceover for "Playing War: Military Games After 9/11" https://x.com/TheAJakes

Special shout out to ‪@WindiiGitlord‬, who has contributed TONS of translations to the Sonic fandom over the years, including the translation to Shadow Dark Beginnings in Japanese that I screenshotted from here:    • Sonic × Shadow Generations: Dark Beginning...   AS WELL as the Shadow Manga that I screenshotted/printed out: https://mangadex.org/chapter/c416144a...
They've also archived/translated a ton of stuff here: https://browniehideout.wordpress.com/
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I don’t have a capture card, so the gameplay/cutscene footage has been sourced from these videos:
   • SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG All Cutscenes (All Pat...  
   • Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) Opening Cinemat...  
   • SxSG - Shadow Generations (PS4) - The Biol...  
   • Shadow the Hedgehog - All Gun Commander Cu...  
   • Sonic X Shadow Generations - All ·Movie· C...  
   • Full Animation | SONIC X SHADOW GENERATION...  
   • Maria Robotnik gets shot in Shadow The Hed...  
   • Shadow and Maria Sonic Adventure 2  
   • Sonic × Shadow Generations: Dark Beginning...  
   • Sonic Adventure 2: The Movie (ULTIMATE Edi...  
   • Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: Last Story - Ger...  
   • [Sega Dreamcast] Sonic Adventure 2: Dark S...  
   • [Sega Dreamcast] Sonic Adventure 2: Hero S...  
   • Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 - Silver Story Cut...  
   • SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG All Cutscenes (Hero Pa...  
   • Sonic Adventure 2: The Movie (ULTIMATE Edi...  
   • Sonic Heroes - Team Dark Cutscenes  
   • Shadow The Hedgehog:Level Select  
   • Sonic Rumble - Gameplay Walkthrough Part 1...  
   • Can you beat Shadow the Hedgehog using ONL...  


Other footage used:
George bush footage:    • Either With Us Or With The Terrorists - Bush  

Music used:
Instrumental of I am… All of Me by CG Instrumentals:    • I Am... All Of Me (Instrumental)  
Westopolis Theme from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
Glyphic Canyon from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
Commander’s Memories from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
Chaos Angel (Map Ver.) from Sonic Advance 3
Mephiles Whispers from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Resurrection of Mephiles from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
White Space from Sonic x Shadow Generations
White Space (Doom Ver.) from Sonic x Shadow Generations

Book referenced:
Playing War: Military Games after 9/11 - Matthew Thomas Payne

0:00 Intro
6:34 Shadow’s Backstory (pre-2005)
17:08 Analyzing Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)
51:57 9/11 and the War on Terror
1:47:36 The Patriot Act and Shadow the Hedgehog
2:23:57 “This is WHO I AM.”


Mystery Twin Mystery Bags is a charity project selling Gravity Falls fan-merch to raise funds for charity. Pre-orders ended in January, and 100% of the profits went to The Sameer Project, to provide tents, medical care and food for Palestinian civilians in need: https://mysterytwinbags.bigcartel.com/
For this project, there is an upcoming auction selling items signed by Alex Hirsch.
Follow here for more details on when this officially begins: https://x.com/mysterytwinbags

Closed captioning by:
David Glennon
[email protected]

This video is dedicated to Roger. I miss you.