Shadow (Final Fantasy)

Shadow
(Clyde)
Final Fantasy character

Shadow as drawn by Yoshitaka Amano
First game Final Fantasy VI (1994)[1]
Designed by Tetsuya Nomura[2]
Fictional profile
Class/Job Assassin
Weapon Throwing blades (starting with a kunai)
Race Human

Shadow (シャドウ Shadou), also known as Clyde (クライド Kuraido), is a player character in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VI released by Square in 1994. Shadow is a mysterious and cynical assassin and mercenary, always accompanied by his faithful attack dog, Interceptor (インターセプター Intāseputā); during the course of the game, he joins the player's party. Both Shadow and his dog were very well received, and he has been often regarded as one of the best ninja characters in video games.

Appearances

Final Fantasy VI

Shadow with his dog Interceptor in an art by Yoshitaka Amano

During the first half of the game, Shadow operates only on a freelance basis, at times available to the player for a fee and at times appearing in the employ of the Gestahlian Empire. In two instances within the World of Balance, Shadow is forced into the player's party Crescent Island and the Floating Continent. Shadow's fate is determined entirely by player action on the latter area; should the player have too little time remaining attempting to escape the Continent's destruction, Shadow is presumed to have perished during the collapse of the world. However, if the player has enough time to wait before leaping to the airship, Shadow will eventually accompany the party aboard the Blackjack and be available for permanent recruitment in the World of Ruin.

In the second half of the game, Shadow is found injured within the Cave on the Veldt and is returned to Strago's home in Thamasa to heal. Later on, he may be acquired by betting an item he seeks at the Dragon's Neck Coliseum and winning the ensuing match. Whenever Shadow is placed in the party, his backstory is revealed through dreams and nightmare sequences by using a Tent or resting at an Inn. Shadow's actual name is Clyde and he once lived a life of crime with his partner, Baram ("Billy" in the Japanese version). The pair are infamous in the pre-war period before the game begins as a duo of train robbers known as the Shadow Bandits, but Baram eventually suffers mortal wounds during a failed railway heist. Baram tasks Clyde to finish him off, but Clyde instead panics, fleeing his friend. An indeterminate span of time passes, seeing Clyde collapse from exhaustion upon reaching Thamasa, found by a young woman and her dog. It is heavily implied (and was actually confirmed in a 1995 interview with the games developers[3]) that Clyde fathers Relm with this woman, eventually departing Thamasa under the guise of Shadow to escape his guilt over abandoning Baram.

Gameplay-wise, Shadow avoids engaging in close combat, instead opting to throw ninja weapons at distance.[4] His special ability "Throw" enables him to throw unequipped weapons that may inflict extremely heavy damage on an enemy. Being a Ninja class character, Shadow has high speed and strength but low defense and average magic statistics. His weapons are various daggers and he can also use specialized throwing weapons to attack multiple enemies. If an enemy hits him with a physical attack, there is a chance that Interceptor will block it, absorbing all or most damage. Interceptor's counterattacks ("Wild Fang" and "Takedown") can inflict powerful non-elemental damage on non-floating enemies.

At the game's conclusion, Shadow remains within the crumbling ruin of Kefka's tower, quietly separating from the party and encouraging Interceptor to flee with the others. His final words are directed to Baram: "It looks like I can finally stop running... Come and find me all right?" (Japanese version: "I don't need to flee anymore. Embrace me warmly.") Interceptor is later seen with Relm in Strago's section of the ending. In Final Fantasy VI Advance it is implied that Shadow remained behind in Kefka's tower as it collapsed, allowing himself to die.

Other appearances

Shadow is featured in the 1995 Nintendo 64 technical demo Final Fantasy VI: The Interactive CG Game.[5] He makes a cameo appearance in the 2008 action-RPG / fighting game hybrid Dissidia Final Fantasy as a tutor from the in-game manuals, appearing with Interceptor, and is an ally and a summonable "Legend" asssist character in the 2008 social role-playing mobile game Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. He also appears in the role-playing mobile games Final Fantasy Record Keeper (2014)[6] and Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius (2015),[7] as well as in the collectible card game Final Fantasy Trading Card Game.

Reception

Despite appearing in only one major role, the character was well received, including being voted at number seven in a popularity poll for Final Fantasy series characters by V Jump in 1995.[8] Shadow was featured in numerous top lists of the best ninja characters in video gaming, including by The Armchair Empire in 2006, Japanator.com in 2007, and Wild Gunmen in 2010.[9][10][11] He was ranked as the fourth greatest video game ninja by Devin Coldewey of CrunchGear in 2008,[12] and as sixth on a similar list by Steve and Larson of ScrewAttack in 2011,[13] while Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar has mentioned him as one of "few standout examples" of ninja characters in video games in 2008.[14] He was also included among the "manliest men" of the Final Fantasy series by Christina Winterburn of Destructoid in 2007,[15] and was ranked as the tenth swiftest ninja in video games by Rich Knight of Complex in 2012,[16] as well as the eight best assassin in video games by Brittany Vincent from the same magazine in 2013.[17]

In addition, his dog, Interceptor, won the Nintendo Power Awards '94 at first place in the category Best Goodie ("the most popular good guy that isn't quite the main hero of the games").[18] In 1997, ranking Final Fantasy VI as the eighth greatest Nintendo game, they also noted it "had everything you could wantheroes, world-shattering events, magic, mindless evilplus Interceptor the wonder dog!"[19] In 2013, Complex ranked Interceptor as the sixth top canine in video games.[20] According to Nathan Schlothan of RPGamer, "few RPG dogs are quite as iconic as Interceptor," an "incredibly loyal and friendly dog" that is "the one thing that ties Shadow to the past he has otherwise cast aside" as well as "an invaluable asset in battle."[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shadow - IGN". Uk.stars.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  2. ↑ Inoue, Akito. "元Road of SQUARE　データベース" (in Japanese). Critique Of Games. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  3. ↑ Chad Concelmo, The Memory Card .90: In her father's Shadow, Destructoid, 05.12.2011.
  4. ↑ Nintendo Power #65 (November 1994), p.31.
  5. ↑ "Game - Final Fantasy VI - Final Fantasy VI - N64 TECH DEMO 01 (rare material)". Crunchyroll. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  6. ↑ "'Final Fantasy Record Keeper' Announced For North America: Another Cheap Cash Grab From Square Enix? : PERSONAL TECH". Techtimes.com. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  7. ↑ "Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius Shows Vivi, Cecil And Others In Pixel Art Style". Siliconera. 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  8. ↑ "人気投票" [Popularity Poll]. V Jump (in Japanese). Shueisha. December 1995. p. 184187. Lay summary.
  9. ↑ Jeff Nash, Top Ten: Best Ninjas, The Armchair Empire, March 6, 2006.
  10. ↑ God Len, TOP TEN: God Len's top ten list of greatest ninja ever!, Japanator.com, 03/29/2007.
  11. ↑ The Top 10 Ninjas In Video Games, Wild Gunmen, September 15, 2010.
  12. ↑ Devin Coldewey, CrunchArcade: Top Ten Video Game Ninjas, CrunchGear, March 31, 2008
  13. ↑ Machinima.com, Top 10 Ninjas in ALL of Gaming!, YouTube, February 12, 2011.
  14. ↑ Mikel Reparaz, The Top 7... Assassins, GamesRadar, February 6, 2008.
  15. ↑ Christina Winterburn, The manliest men of Final Fantasy: Part two, Destructoid, 02.14.2007.
  16. ↑ Rich Knight, The 10 Swiftest Ninjas in Games, Complex.com, January 25, 2013.
  17. ↑ Brittany Vincent, The 10 Best Assassins And Hitmen in Video Games, Complex.com, January 4, 2013.
  18. ↑ Nintendo Power #72 (May 1995), p.52.
  19. ↑ 100 Best games of all time. Nintendo Power 100, page 89. September 1997.
  20. ↑ Brittany Vincent, Video Game Canines That Would Make the Dog From "Call of Duty: Ghosts" Look Like a Little Puppy, Complex.com, July 12, 2013.
  21. ↑ "> Feature > An Adventurer's Best Friend". Rpgamer.com. Retrieved 2015-04-04.

External links