The Shadowbot was a mass-produced robot soldier created by Dr. Eggman in the original timeline of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics. They somewhat resembled the SWATbots created by the original Dr. Robotnik, but were larger and more deadly.
Overview[]
The Shadowbots were humanoid robots that stood between 7 and 8 feet tall. They had bulky frames that were completely black in colour, sporting broad shoulder pads, thick armour plating and dome-shaped heads with a horizontal red visor. They were among the stronger robots of Dr. Eggman's army, possessing great physical strength and endurance. Even Sonic the Hedgehog would sometimes find it difficult to destroy these machines.
Shadowbots had somewhat limited AI; they were perfectly capable of understanding whatever orders they were given, though were quite rigid in the way they executed commands. While the SWATbots they were based on were capable of expressing some level of personality, the Shadowbots had little to no personality at all and were solely focused on carrying out Dr. Eggman's orders.
Shadowbots were capable of operating various types of machines, such as hover-pods and walkers. They were armed with lasers built into their palms and an Opti-Burst disintegration beam fired from their visors.
History[]
When Robo-Robotnik arrived on Mobius Prime from his home dimension, he brought along an army of Shadowbots in order to seize the territories once held by his Prime Universe counterpart. After luring Sonic and the Knothole Freedom Fighters to his space station, Robo-Robotnik set his Shadowbot guards upon them. While tougher than their SWATbot predecessors, the Shadowbots still proved to be ineffective at combating Sonic and his friends. However, while the Freedom Fighters were busy fighting Robo-Robotnik on his satellite, Shadowbots were transported down to the surface, overwhelming the army of the Acorn Kingdom and seizing control of Robotropolis. While several Mobians managed to flee from the city, many were captured by the Shadowbots and subjected to roboticization.
Although Robo-Robotnik's body was destroyed along with his space station, his computer consciousness was transported into the Dr. Eggman style body, which lay a half mile beneath Robotropolis. From there, the Shadowbots made a sweep of the city to look for any more Mobians who had not been successfully evacuated to Knothole. When Sonic and the Freedom Fighters re-entered the city in order to plant a computer virus in the city's computer systems, the Shadowbot defense force proved useless against Sonic's abilities. With help from Snively, the computer virus was planted and Dr. Eggman was unable to download the location of Knothole into his memories. Downloading the computer virus instead, Dr. Eggman grew sick each time he attempted to download Knothole's location, using his Shadowbots to help him move around or help him lay down.
As Eggman gained control of his predecessor's territories, be began putting Shadowbots to work attacking other settlements and spreading his influence across Mobius. He dispatched Shadowbots to infiltrate Angel Island and shatter the Master Emerald as part of a plot to awaken the water monster Chaos. He later had them capture and imprison Prince Elias Acorn, prompting an attempt by the Acorn Kingdom Army to rescue him.
Following the return of the Megapolis Overlanders from outer space, Shadowbots were used to defend them from the attacking Monkey Khan as well as escort them safely to Robotropolis. The constant presence of the Shadowbots within the city was explained by Dr. Eggman, who called them "Protector Bots", as the city's protectors from would-be Mobian attackers. This was widely accepted by the Overlanders, particularly after they chased off a psychotic Kodos. Shadowbots continued to patrol the city at all times, ensuring curfew was enforced and making security sweeps of the city.
For months, the Shadowbots remained the primary foot soldiers of Dr. Eggman's army, though mostly remained confined to Robotropolis. However, when the numerous Robians in Robotropolis had their free will restored by the Sword of Acorns and were subsequently rescued from Robotropolis, the Shadowbots took on the role of labourers as well. Some of these jobs included burning oil or simple construction duties. After Robotropolis was destroyed in a nuclear strike by the United Federation, the seat of power for Eggman's empire was moved to New Megaopolis and Shadowbot production ceased. The Shadowbots would be replaced by an updated version of the SWATbot and later the Egg Pawn series.