Shadow the Hedgehog is a Prince of Heart. His arc over the course of the games is him facing different false versions of himself. In Adventure 2 it's Sonic, Heroes its the Shadow Androids, and in 06 his villain is a dark reflection of himself. Even Forces, for as much of a nothing story it is, has a light rivalry between Shadow and Infinite
His own game is entirely about Shadow grappling with his identity, with each of the 10 base endings being a different reflection of who he could be. He states in each ending "This is who I am," sometimes as the leader of an android revolt, a willing servant of the invading aliens, the lone guardian of his home. Only after exploring those possibilities do we get the final true ending. The rock ballad during the final boss is literally screaming "I am all of me."
Interestingly, if we look at Shadow's origin story, there's a really cool edge to this. In his original appearance, Shadow was created to be the Ultimate Lifeform, a protector of the world. However, based on some conscious design, it's possible that Shadow was based on a mural depicting Super Sonic. The entire time he's calling Sonic a faker is him trying to prove to himself that he's the Ultimate Lifeform. If Sonic really is the Ultimate Lifeform, then that makes him the fake, it means that Maria truly died for nothing. The ending of the game is Shadow acknowledging that Sonic's the true Ultimate Lifeform, and demonstrates this by having Shadow "die" and be bested by Sonic
The first half of his arc is him trying to find himself, and after Shadow the Hedgehog, he's found who he is. So instead of questioning his identity, he's instead facing reflections of his true self. It's him firmly stating who he is and destroying false versions of himself
And he is all of him
For those interested:
#shadowthehedgehog #classpect #PrinceofHeart