Project Shadow (Reasearch Projct)

Project Shadow (プロジェクトシャドウ) is a project in the anime series Sonic X. It was a medical government operation conducted over fifty years ago to experiment with immortality. The results of Project Shadow produced two creatures endowed with immortality: the prototype named the Bio Lizard, and the final product, Shadow the hedgehog. However, the project was shut down by the military when it was deemed too dangerous, which indirectly resulted in the deaths of Gerald and Maria Robotnik.

Past
Project Shadow was a government operation conceived over fifty years ago and was carried out on the Space Colony ARK, an orbiting facility isolated from earth. The project was developed by Gerald Robotnik, the most brilliant mind of his time. Its objective was to experiment with the concept of eternal life and develop an immortal lifeform dubbed the "ultimate creature." Despite its shady nature, Gerald's ultimate goal with Project Shadow was to make a creature that would benefit the good of mankind. The project codename "Project Shadow" was derived from the attempt to create a being which did not exist, making it as intangible as a shadow.

During the development of the ultimate lifeform, the scientists used research on the Eosimias. The project eventually produced the prototype of the ultimate creature, an unruly and primitive being dubbed the Bio Lizard. After that, Gerald managed to create the final product of Project Shadow: an immortal being named "Shadow" who possessed high intelligence, his own identity, and independence. Living exclusively onboard the Space Colony ARK, Shadow became very close to Maria Robotnik, the granddaughter of Gerald, who shared his interest in earth, though he would occasionally ponder about what his true purpose was.

Fearful that they would not be able to control a dangerous creature like Shadow, the military plotted to take possession of Shadow. Making up a public story that an accident had occurred within the ARK for ostensible purposes, the ARK was to be shut down for safety. The plan's true purpose however, was to close down the ARK's research facility and get rid of everyone and everything (except Gerald) related to Project Shadow. Many soldiers knew this plan was an excuse, but none had the guts to protest.

After Project Shadow's completion, GUN soldiers invaded the Space Colony ARK in a violent coup d'état, apprehending those involved in Project Shadow. In the ensuing chase, Maria and Shadow got to the escape pods, but Maria was shot by GUN soldier Mr. Schmitz when helping Shadow escape. Mortally wounded, Maria safely ejected Shadow to earth in an escape pod with her last strength. Despite this, the military's plan proceeded as planned and the people involved in Project Shadow were announced as victims of the accident told to the public. The military's mission ended when they sealed the Bio Lizard away in the deepest part of the Space Colony ARK. The ARK was then promptly abandoned for the next five decades.

Having survived the invasion, Professor Gerald was imprisoned in the Union Army Prison on Prison Island. Shadow was later found and put into stasis on Prison Island. When Gerald learned that his beloved Maria had been killed, he went mad with grief. Before his execution, Gerald created a program that would cause the Space Colony ARK to fall to earth and destroy it as his revenge at humanity, going as far as to brainwash Shadow to make him carry out his revenge.

Coverups were subsequently made to erase Project Shadow's existence. All records of the project were destroyed by the President of the government at that time (13 presidents ago from the current one), except for Gerald Robotnik's diary in GUN's database which was protected by a password, and an organization independent from the government was formed by GUN to keep info on the project suppressed. Regardless, some info on Project Shadow still leaked to the public, prompting journalists to pursue the story, including Scarlet Garcia's father who died during the investigation.

Shadow Saga
Over fifty years after the shutdown, Dr. Eggman learned of the existence of Project Shadow after stealing the diary of Professor Gerald, who was Eggman's grandfather, from GUN's database. Reading of a confidential weapon that was sealed up by the military, Eggman retrieved the weapon, Shadow the hedgehog, from Prison Island to use him for world domination. This set in motion a chain of events that initiated Gerald's doomsday program, but Shadow overcame Gerald's brainwashing and saved the earth, as per Maria's last wish. Meanwhile, the government agent Mister Stewart teamed up with Scarlet Garcia to uncover the truth of Project Shadow while being hightailed by the organization working to preserve Project Shadow's secrecy.

Trivia

 * It is unknown if the green lizard seen when Mister Schmitz was recalling the events is the Bio Lizard or not.
 * Sonic and Shadow's similarities in appearance are never explained, which becomes even more confusing when one realizes that Shadow was technically created in another universe with different time zone.