:: computerAdministrator ::
Favorite Characters Intro
CA: Two of my favorite characters across all media that I watch are
Mewtwo from Pokemon and
Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
CA: As soon as I became aware of these two lab-grown edgy "ultimate life forms," I fell in love immediately.
CA: I wanted to compare and contrast the two in order to describe what I love about them!
CA: As soon as I became aware of these two lab-grown edgy "ultimate life forms," I fell in love immediately.
CA: I wanted to compare and contrast the two in order to describe what I love about them!
:: computerAdministrator ::
Mewtwo Intro
CA: My first Pokemon game was
Pokemon Red, but I also soon got the Blue and Yellow versions.
CA: I can't remember if I caught Mewtwo when I was a kid, but I do know that I watched Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, and I loved it so much.
CA: In the movie, we learn more about Mewtwo's backstory, where he was cloned from the DNA of Mew by a team of scientists led by Dr. Fuji under the control of the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni.
CA: Dr. Fuji started the project because he wanted to bring back his deceased daughter Amber, and so he started with the prototypes of Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo (who later eventually evolved into Venusaurtwo, Charizardtwo, and Blastoisetwo) before moving on to Mewtwo and Ambertwo.
CA: Unfortunately, Ambertwo died, and this affected child Mewtwo severely, so much so that Dr. Fuji tried to remove the memories from Mewtwo.
CA: All of the information about Amber and a lot of the above information was removed from the English release of the first movie, but I still find it imporant to Mewtwo's story.
CA: As a kid, I still knew that he was a clone of Mew, was jealous of Mew, and had an inferiority complex about that fact.
CA: Mewtwo retaliated against the team of scientists that created him, and Giovanni approached him after the wanton destruction of New Island and gave him armor that helped him control his psychic powers while he was still practicing.
CA: Eventually, Mewtwo rebelled against Giovanni and Team Rocket as well, returning to New Island and creating his own castle there.
CA: He creates an army of cloned Pokemon, with their DNA sourced from the Pokemon of the Pokemon Trainers that followed Mewtwo's invitation to the island.
CA: Over the course of the movie, he and Mew end up fighting, and he learns an important lesson:
CA: "I see know that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant."
CA: "It is what you choose to do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
CA: After that, he erases the memories of the Pokemon Trainers that were present for this change, and he safely deposits them in a safe location, ready to continue their Pokemon journey.
CA: Mewtwo took the cloned Pokemon with him, establishing a village for the cloned Pokemon on Mount Quena in Johto (although the location is not establisted in the first movie).
CA: I love Mewtwo, and his quote about the circumstances of one's birth not being relevant but the way we choose to life our life determining who we are means a lot to me.
CA: I felt a lot of insecurity about where and how I grew up as a kid, and seeing Mewtwo strike back against his origins and be a strong figure meant a lot to me.
CA: I try my best to leave the hurtful parts of my past behind me, and Mewtwo is a role model for me in that way.
CA: I can't remember if I caught Mewtwo when I was a kid, but I do know that I watched Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, and I loved it so much.
CA: In the movie, we learn more about Mewtwo's backstory, where he was cloned from the DNA of Mew by a team of scientists led by Dr. Fuji under the control of the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni.
CA: Dr. Fuji started the project because he wanted to bring back his deceased daughter Amber, and so he started with the prototypes of Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo (who later eventually evolved into Venusaurtwo, Charizardtwo, and Blastoisetwo) before moving on to Mewtwo and Ambertwo.
CA: Unfortunately, Ambertwo died, and this affected child Mewtwo severely, so much so that Dr. Fuji tried to remove the memories from Mewtwo.
CA: All of the information about Amber and a lot of the above information was removed from the English release of the first movie, but I still find it imporant to Mewtwo's story.
CA: As a kid, I still knew that he was a clone of Mew, was jealous of Mew, and had an inferiority complex about that fact.
CA: Mewtwo retaliated against the team of scientists that created him, and Giovanni approached him after the wanton destruction of New Island and gave him armor that helped him control his psychic powers while he was still practicing.
CA: Eventually, Mewtwo rebelled against Giovanni and Team Rocket as well, returning to New Island and creating his own castle there.
CA: He creates an army of cloned Pokemon, with their DNA sourced from the Pokemon of the Pokemon Trainers that followed Mewtwo's invitation to the island.
CA: Over the course of the movie, he and Mew end up fighting, and he learns an important lesson:
CA: "I see know that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant."
CA: "It is what you choose to do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
CA: After that, he erases the memories of the Pokemon Trainers that were present for this change, and he safely deposits them in a safe location, ready to continue their Pokemon journey.
CA: Mewtwo took the cloned Pokemon with him, establishing a village for the cloned Pokemon on Mount Quena in Johto (although the location is not establisted in the first movie).
CA: I love Mewtwo, and his quote about the circumstances of one's birth not being relevant but the way we choose to life our life determining who we are means a lot to me.
CA: I felt a lot of insecurity about where and how I grew up as a kid, and seeing Mewtwo strike back against his origins and be a strong figure meant a lot to me.
CA: I try my best to leave the hurtful parts of my past behind me, and Mewtwo is a role model for me in that way.
:: computerAdministrator ::
Shadow the Hedgehog Intro
CA: My first Sonic games that I owned were Sonic Advance 3 and
Sonic Riders, and
Shadow the Hedgehog isn't a main character in either of them.
CA: While he is an unlockable character after you complete the Hero Story in Sonic Riders (and his default Extreme Gear is a pair of Skate-Type Gear, referencing his Air Shoes), he doesn't have an impact on the plot at all.
CA: The first game that I played with him in a prominent role was Sonic Heroes, where he acts as the leader of Team Dark, a group of anti-heroes that includes Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega.
CA: However, Sonic Heroes takes place after the first two games where Shadow was featured, Sonic Adventure 2.
CA: In that game, Shadow is initially aligned with Dr. Eggman and Rouge the Bat.
CA: In the Dark Storyline and the True Ending, we learn more about Shadow's origin and the reasons he was created.
CA: Shadow the Hedgehog was created by Gerald Robotnik, grandfather of Dr. Eggman and Maria Robotnik, on the Space Colony ARK as part of Project Shadow, a program funded by the United Federation with the aim of achieving immortality.
CA: Shadow and Maria became close friends, but unfortunately, she was eventually killed when the Guardian Units of Nations or G.U.N. raided the Space Colony ARK to stop Project Shadow.
CA: The plot of Sonic Adventure 2 happens after this point, and so I won't go into super detailed account here, but the broad strokes of Shadow's backstory are founded here.
CA: Then his appearance in Sonic Heroes occurs, but he has lost most of his memory related to the events of Sonic Adventure 2.
CA: Afterwards, we learn more about Shadow's backstory through his eponymous game, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
CA: Part of Shadow's genome was synthesized using the DNA of Black Doom, an alien who acts as the leader and priest of a legion known as The Black Arms.
CA: The mechanics of the game allow you, as Shadow, to choose between a Hero path, a Neutral path, and an Evil path, with the endings being labeled as Hero, Semi-Hero, Neutral, Semi-Dark, and Dark.
CA: You have to complete the previous five endings before reaching the Last Story, which is considered the true ending to the game.
CA: I find this part of Shadow's development as a character to be fascinating; I really like the ambiguity of Shadow's potential being explored in a game as controlled by the player.
CA: The latest game that explores Shadow's backstory is Sonic X Shadow Generations, which incorporates the idea of Shadow having latent Black Arms powers due to Black Doom's DNA, and so he has a number of Doom Powers that help him traverse various levels in this game.
CA: I feel like various different parts of the series handle Shadow better than others, but I'm always very happy to see him.
CA: I really like how Shadow lives his life on his own terms, breaks free of the doomsday plot that he was meant to be a part of resulting from Gerald Robotnik's despair, and chooses to uphold the promise of hope and protection that he made to Maria.
CA: How he chooses to uphold those values are up to him, but he is ultimately well-meaning, if sulking and broody.
CA: While he is an unlockable character after you complete the Hero Story in Sonic Riders (and his default Extreme Gear is a pair of Skate-Type Gear, referencing his Air Shoes), he doesn't have an impact on the plot at all.
CA: The first game that I played with him in a prominent role was Sonic Heroes, where he acts as the leader of Team Dark, a group of anti-heroes that includes Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega.
CA: However, Sonic Heroes takes place after the first two games where Shadow was featured, Sonic Adventure 2.
CA: In that game, Shadow is initially aligned with Dr. Eggman and Rouge the Bat.
CA: In the Dark Storyline and the True Ending, we learn more about Shadow's origin and the reasons he was created.
CA: Shadow the Hedgehog was created by Gerald Robotnik, grandfather of Dr. Eggman and Maria Robotnik, on the Space Colony ARK as part of Project Shadow, a program funded by the United Federation with the aim of achieving immortality.
CA: Shadow and Maria became close friends, but unfortunately, she was eventually killed when the Guardian Units of Nations or G.U.N. raided the Space Colony ARK to stop Project Shadow.
CA: The plot of Sonic Adventure 2 happens after this point, and so I won't go into super detailed account here, but the broad strokes of Shadow's backstory are founded here.
CA: Then his appearance in Sonic Heroes occurs, but he has lost most of his memory related to the events of Sonic Adventure 2.
CA: Afterwards, we learn more about Shadow's backstory through his eponymous game, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
CA: Part of Shadow's genome was synthesized using the DNA of Black Doom, an alien who acts as the leader and priest of a legion known as The Black Arms.
CA: The mechanics of the game allow you, as Shadow, to choose between a Hero path, a Neutral path, and an Evil path, with the endings being labeled as Hero, Semi-Hero, Neutral, Semi-Dark, and Dark.
CA: You have to complete the previous five endings before reaching the Last Story, which is considered the true ending to the game.
CA: I find this part of Shadow's development as a character to be fascinating; I really like the ambiguity of Shadow's potential being explored in a game as controlled by the player.
CA: The latest game that explores Shadow's backstory is Sonic X Shadow Generations, which incorporates the idea of Shadow having latent Black Arms powers due to Black Doom's DNA, and so he has a number of Doom Powers that help him traverse various levels in this game.
CA: I feel like various different parts of the series handle Shadow better than others, but I'm always very happy to see him.
CA: I really like how Shadow lives his life on his own terms, breaks free of the doomsday plot that he was meant to be a part of resulting from Gerald Robotnik's despair, and chooses to uphold the promise of hope and protection that he made to Maria.
CA: How he chooses to uphold those values are up to him, but he is ultimately well-meaning, if sulking and broody.
:: computerAdministrator ::
Origin Similarities
CA: I do love a character with a backstory where they were created in a lab for a specific purpose, broke free from those bonds,
and then created their own life purpose inspired by their experiences after breaking free.
CA: I also really love a character who has some form of artificial limitation that is used to control their power, but they can remove these shackles when necessary to handle obstacles in their way.
CA: Both Mewtwo and Shadow the Hedgehog were created in a lab for a specific purpose and eventually broke free of that influence to follow their own paths.
CA: I feel that the armor that Mewtwo wears and the Limiter Rings that Shadow wears to fulfill slightly different narrative roles, though, since Mewtwo is forced to wear the armor by Team Rocket's Giovanni in order to limit his powers to control him, while Shadow's Limiter Rings are meant to be a way for Shadow to control his strength, as he tires out quickly without them.
CA: Still, they both burst through the limiters to achieve the goals that they found the most important, taking back agency from their creators and their "fates."
CA: I like that these characters define their own goals after escaping, and that they do their best to follow their own paths.
CA: The phrase "live up to your potential" is fraught for me, so seeing characters refuse to be confined by the expectations of others is cathartic, and I really like how they each explore that theme.
CA: Mewtwo's quote from Mewtwo Strikes Back has always stuck with me: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
CA: The main theme song of Sonic Adventure 2 is Live and Learn by Crush 40, and the lyrics are about moving on from past regret and holding on to hope.
CA: And that is what Mewtwo and Shadow represent to me.
CA: I also really love a character who has some form of artificial limitation that is used to control their power, but they can remove these shackles when necessary to handle obstacles in their way.
CA: Both Mewtwo and Shadow the Hedgehog were created in a lab for a specific purpose and eventually broke free of that influence to follow their own paths.
CA: I feel that the armor that Mewtwo wears and the Limiter Rings that Shadow wears to fulfill slightly different narrative roles, though, since Mewtwo is forced to wear the armor by Team Rocket's Giovanni in order to limit his powers to control him, while Shadow's Limiter Rings are meant to be a way for Shadow to control his strength, as he tires out quickly without them.
CA: Still, they both burst through the limiters to achieve the goals that they found the most important, taking back agency from their creators and their "fates."
CA: I like that these characters define their own goals after escaping, and that they do their best to follow their own paths.
CA: The phrase "live up to your potential" is fraught for me, so seeing characters refuse to be confined by the expectations of others is cathartic, and I really like how they each explore that theme.
CA: Mewtwo's quote from Mewtwo Strikes Back has always stuck with me: "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
CA: The main theme song of Sonic Adventure 2 is Live and Learn by Crush 40, and the lyrics are about moving on from past regret and holding on to hope.
CA: And that is what Mewtwo and Shadow represent to me.
:: computerAdministrator ::
Super and Corrupted Form Similarities
CA: Mewtwo and
Shadow the Hedgehog both have several powered-up forms each, and
these are less of a one-to-one comparison for thematics since they are playing off of existing tropes in shonen media.
CA: I still find it interesting to compare and constrast them to see how those form affect the characters and the worldbuilding.
CA: Starting in Pokemon X and Y, Mewtwo gained two Mega Evolutions, one being Mega Mewtwo X and the other being Mega Mewtwo Y.
CA: Mega Evolution requires the Pokemon to hold a Mega Stone while its Pokemon Trainer holds a Key Stone, and the two need to share a strong bond.
CA: For Mewtwo, it needs to hold a Mewtwonite X to transform into Mega Mewtwo X and it needs a Mewtwonite Y to transform into Mega Mewtwo Y.
CA: However, there is a Mewtwo who could Mega Evolve in to Mega Mewtwo Y without a Trainer in the Genesect and the Legend Awakened movie, but I haven't seen it, so I'm a little unsure if they have some other explanation for that transformation.
CA: Super Shadow is a form achieved by Shadow as part of Super Transformation after absorbing the positive energy from the Chaos Emeralds.
CA: These two types of transformations are quite different, considering that one of them requires a strong bond with a secondary person, while the other simply requires proximity to powerful items.
CA: I would argue that, when discussing Mewtwo and Shadow, these powered-up forms are going to be the ones most commonly associated with their repsective characters.
CA: The next category that I will discuss are "corrupted" forms, generally a way for the character to receive great power, but often from a dangerous source or at great cost to the lives and safety of themselves and those around them.
CA: With Shadow Mewtwo, this is an individual instance of a Mewtwo on Ferrum that was corrupted by a Shadow Synergy Stone, allowing it to absorb Gaia energy / Synergy Power, which increased its internal power and strength.
CA: Eventually, this led to a Shadow Synergy Burst, which caused Shadow Mewtwo to Mega Evolve into Mega Shadow Mewtwo X.
CA: This form needed to be defeated by the protagonist of Pokken Tournament, which purged the Shadow Synergy Stone from this particular Mewtwo, allowing it and its Trainer to leave.
CA: Shadow received his Doom Powers from Black Doom in Sonic X Shadow Generations.
CA: These powers are caused by a mutation that altered Shadow's Black Arms DNA, allowing him to access five sub-powers: Doom Wing, Doom Spears, Doom Blast, Doom Surf, and Doom Morph, each of which either enhances his natural strengths or gives him the mobility to traverse new terrain.
CA: Black Doom bestowed these powers onto Shadow in order to increase their connection, with the ultimate goal of making Shadow into a controllable puppet for himself.
CA: At the end of the game, Shadow defeats Black Doom, which removes these new powers, likely to explain why he doesn't have them in other games that take place later in the timeline.
CA: Both Shadow Mewtwo and Doom Shadow draw their powers from dangerous sources, one from a corrupted version of an energy source used by other characters and one from a villain with ties both to their past and their DNA.
CA: So far, these "corrupted" forms haven't been super lore-relevant to other games in their respective main series, but the fact that they exist at all has been a fun point of speculation for fanworks.
CA: I love seeing "super" and "corrupted" forms for characters in shonen media, and it's fun for me that two of my favorite characters of all time both have these transformations.
CA: Even if the forms themselves are playing off of existing, well-trodden tropes, I'm happy that they exist.
CA: I still find it interesting to compare and constrast them to see how those form affect the characters and the worldbuilding.
CA: Starting in Pokemon X and Y, Mewtwo gained two Mega Evolutions, one being Mega Mewtwo X and the other being Mega Mewtwo Y.
CA: Mega Evolution requires the Pokemon to hold a Mega Stone while its Pokemon Trainer holds a Key Stone, and the two need to share a strong bond.
CA: For Mewtwo, it needs to hold a Mewtwonite X to transform into Mega Mewtwo X and it needs a Mewtwonite Y to transform into Mega Mewtwo Y.
CA: However, there is a Mewtwo who could Mega Evolve in to Mega Mewtwo Y without a Trainer in the Genesect and the Legend Awakened movie, but I haven't seen it, so I'm a little unsure if they have some other explanation for that transformation.
CA: Super Shadow is a form achieved by Shadow as part of Super Transformation after absorbing the positive energy from the Chaos Emeralds.
CA: These two types of transformations are quite different, considering that one of them requires a strong bond with a secondary person, while the other simply requires proximity to powerful items.
CA: I would argue that, when discussing Mewtwo and Shadow, these powered-up forms are going to be the ones most commonly associated with their repsective characters.
CA: The next category that I will discuss are "corrupted" forms, generally a way for the character to receive great power, but often from a dangerous source or at great cost to the lives and safety of themselves and those around them.
CA: With Shadow Mewtwo, this is an individual instance of a Mewtwo on Ferrum that was corrupted by a Shadow Synergy Stone, allowing it to absorb Gaia energy / Synergy Power, which increased its internal power and strength.
CA: Eventually, this led to a Shadow Synergy Burst, which caused Shadow Mewtwo to Mega Evolve into Mega Shadow Mewtwo X.
CA: This form needed to be defeated by the protagonist of Pokken Tournament, which purged the Shadow Synergy Stone from this particular Mewtwo, allowing it and its Trainer to leave.
CA: Shadow received his Doom Powers from Black Doom in Sonic X Shadow Generations.
CA: These powers are caused by a mutation that altered Shadow's Black Arms DNA, allowing him to access five sub-powers: Doom Wing, Doom Spears, Doom Blast, Doom Surf, and Doom Morph, each of which either enhances his natural strengths or gives him the mobility to traverse new terrain.
CA: Black Doom bestowed these powers onto Shadow in order to increase their connection, with the ultimate goal of making Shadow into a controllable puppet for himself.
CA: At the end of the game, Shadow defeats Black Doom, which removes these new powers, likely to explain why he doesn't have them in other games that take place later in the timeline.
CA: Both Shadow Mewtwo and Doom Shadow draw their powers from dangerous sources, one from a corrupted version of an energy source used by other characters and one from a villain with ties both to their past and their DNA.
CA: So far, these "corrupted" forms haven't been super lore-relevant to other games in their respective main series, but the fact that they exist at all has been a fun point of speculation for fanworks.
CA: I love seeing "super" and "corrupted" forms for characters in shonen media, and it's fun for me that two of my favorite characters of all time both have these transformations.
CA: Even if the forms themselves are playing off of existing, well-trodden tropes, I'm happy that they exist.