Sometimes people ask me where I got the name Shadowringa from, and it ends up being a sigh of either "Yep that sounds about right for Shadowringa" or "Aww you must have been very creative as a child". Yes a child, I made Shadowringa way back in 2002 after I had finally had my copy of "Sonic Adventure 2 Battle". If you know Sonic, I think you already know where this is going.
To those however who don't know the story of this life-changing game, the game is about Sonic and his friends Tails, Knuckles, and Amy once again stopping Dr.Eggman from taking over the world. But this time Eggman has help from two new characters. A Jewel Thief named Rouge the Bat and another Hedgehog, The Ultimate Lifeform, known as Shadow the Hedgehog.
Shadow the Hedgehog was made to be Sonic's New Rival for the franchise. His design clashes elegantly with Sonic's, Blue slicked back spikes & Green Eyes, sporting pointed-up Black and Red spikes and Red Eyes. My guess as to why he was created is it's because other rivals/villains like Metal Sonic & Chaos not doing so well in toy sales for kids, which besides the games itself is where most businesses get their budget money from. Which by all means was worth it! Heck Sega announced that this year for their Company will be "Fearless - Year of the Shadow", sporting new Shadow merch and games, and let's not forget him showing up soon in the Sonic 3 Movie!
Bringing it back now, my first time learning about Shadow as a kid just made me feel bad for him. To explain, Shadow was an experiment living up in space with his creator Dr. Gerald Robotnik, and his daughter Maria. When the program was shut down however, Maria tried to help Shadow escape before being captured by the government agency known as G.U.N. Doing so cost Maria her life and G.U.N still captured him in the end. Now in the game "Sonic Adventure 2 Battle", he works to get revenge for Maria's death by helping Eggman collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds and take over the world. My child self back felt extremely bad for Shadow losing their only friend, so I made him a new one; Shadowringa. Which lowkey I came up with the name and I quote "I said Shadow and Maria's name over and over till I suddenly said Shadowringa due to twisting my tongue". Yeah, it's a very stupid way to come up with a name but it's funny now!
It didn't take long for me to come up with teammates, a team name, and even a place for them to live. But it wasn't till 2005 that extended Shadowringa lore after Sonic Rush came out after learning that Blaze the Cat was Sonic from another dimension. So Shadowringa became Shadow's alternate universe self. While Shadow was a Fighter, A Lone Wolf, and saw himself as better than any other Hedgehog. Shadowringa is a Healer and a Leader but also doesn't see herself as someone important, due to her ability to heal being sometimes dangerous if not focused hard enough.
Maybe one day I'll write out Shadowringa's story as my own and not as a Sonic OC. Which mind you it is possible! So let me know if you'd like to hear her story in the comments.