Is Shadow in Sonic Frontiers?

With Sonic Frontiers being canon to the series franchise, that means characters who have been in previous games exist in this timeline. However, that leaves one particular hedgehog in question. Is Shadow in Sonic Frontiers? If so, what role does he play and what fate will he face here? This is what we know.

This article is spoiler-heavy, so don’t proceed unless you’ve experienced the story.

Is Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic Frontiers?

To the disappointment of many fans, Shadow is not in the game at all. While the characters at some point make references to past endeavors that involved him, he won’t actually have any screen time. He’s also not a playable character.

The story of Sonic Frontiers focuses more on the original Team Sonic, consisting of the Blue Blur himself, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Of course with Eggman playing a role as the game’s antagonist, he’s taking on new ways to at least take Sonic down, setting the course for the game’s plot.

Plus, this game doesn’t take place in a world that would necessarily be accessible to the extensive cast of the franchise. These mysterious islands were something that the tight-knit group of friends go out to venture into. Of course, it’s not a vacation because something always goes wrong.

If there’s anything to take away from the absence of everyone’s favorite anti-hero of this franchise, the characters on screen are more developed. We get to know more about them and see how they interact to foil Eggman’s plans once again. With every other major game being canon to the series, we also get to experience many callbacks to major events in the Sonic timeline.

These major events will be withheld as they may contain spoilers for Frontiers. There’s a reason why you’re collecting several Memory Tokens and even Egg Memos. Think of it as bridging the timeline more together and providing fan service for veterans of the franchise!

Sonic Frontiers is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.