- "Look at all this stuff. This was more than just a military base or a lab. It was a home. People lived here. He had a family."
- ―Sonic the Hedgehog to Doctor Eggman[src]
Gerald Robotnik's Laboratory was a secret research facility owned by G.U.N. and located in the Rocky Mountains. It was where Project Shadow took place. After G.U.N. raided the facility, the laboratory was left abandoned until Shadow the Hedgehog destroyed it with a Black Hole Orb.
History[]
Project Shadow[]
Researching Shadow the Hedgehog[]
Shadow's meteor is brought into the lab
Around the early 1970s, a meteor containing an alien Hedgehog crash-landed in the state of Oklahoma. G.U.N., a military organization regarding extraterrestrial investigation, arrived at the scene to haul the meteorite to one of their classified facilities, a laboratory. Initiating Project Shadow after Professor Gerald Robotnik was assigned as project leader, the meteor was placed into a cryostasis pod, deteriorating to unveil the Hedgehog, eponymously named "Shadow the Hedgehog."
Shadow runs laps across Lab 03
It was discovered that Shadow could generate chaos energy and possessed various abilities. He was given Limiter Rings to subdue his powers and Air Shoes to help advance his super speed, which was tested in Lab 03. While Shadow ran across the lab as scientists observed from a watchtower, Robotnik inspected Shadow's statistics and observed the aggregate of energy contained within a vial, wielding one of Shadow's quills.[1]
Maria Robotnik's Arrival[]
- "Hey! This is a restricted area."
"It's okay. She's the professor's granddaughter. He takes her everywhere. Welcome to the lab, Maria. I'm Captain Walters."
"Oh, do you know where my room is?"
"Yeah. Down the hall to the right. Make yourself at home. But, uh, let's lose the skates, okay, kiddo?" - ―Military Man, Walters and Maria Robotnik[src]
By 1974, Robotnik had his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, move into the lab. Captain Walters allowed her to enter as long as she took off her roller skates. Moving onto her room, Maria stopped to approach Shadow in his cryo-pod. Shadow turned around to face Maria, whom mocked his stern expression and drew the face of a rabbit upon the glass to mock him further. Amused, Shadow placed his hand on the glass when Maria did the same creating a bond between the two.
Maria often interrupted research on Shadow, bringing him along to teach him how to dance and race around the laboratory. In the former scenario, Maria once snuck Shadow away from the medical room and attached a rope onto him, donning her roller skates and a pair of goggles before telling Shadow to start running. They eventually crashed into a food cart containing many desserts, making "snow angels" in them.
After having watched Beware the Alien Freak!!, a movie in which a giant alien is feared by a city's inhabitants, Shadow grew disheartened, Maria stealing a scientist's ID to stargaze with him above the laboratory as a means to cheer him up. Shadow asked if he poses a threat, noting the way the scientists oftentimes look at him. Unsure of his nature, it was affirmed to Shadow that he was Maria's friend, capable of being or doing what he wants because of his heart. Shadow thanked Maria for her kind words, stating he wouldn't know what to do without her.[1]
Raid of Gerald Robotnik's Laboratory[]
- "A terrible accident destroyed the lab, taking human lives with it. The project leader was blamed for the incident and imprisoned. With the program canceled, Shadow was a loose end no one knew how to deal with. Too dangerous to be walking free. Too valuable to destroy. So, I had him placed into stasis. Indefinitely."
- ―Walters to Team Sonic[src]
Eventually, G.U.N. had declared Shadow's powers as hazardous, despite their initial belief that they would usher in a new era in human history. They thusly invaded the laboratory in search of Shadow, Gerald alerting him of their arrival when he listened to Maria playing her guitar.
Shadow and Gerald grieve over Maria as soldiers surround them
During their attempt at evacuating, Gerald elaborated the reason for G.U.N.'s raid to Maria, soldiers of the organization gaining up on them. When one soldier aimed his weapon at the three, Captain Walters arrived to try and stop the soldier from firing. The soldier struggling against Walters, he accidentally shot a laser at a vial containing chaos energy. The vial cracked and burst, erupting an explosion that claimed many lives, including that of Maria's. Shadow regained consciousness to attend to Maria's body with Gerald, both mourning her death as soldiers approached them.
Gerald is arrested and brought out of the lab
Gerald was arrested and blamed for the incident, still carrying Shadow's quill while being set to one of G.U.N.'s top-security prisons. Shadow, deemed too dangerous to roam free and too valuable to exterminate, was caged in a pod and placed in cryostasis on Prison Island in Tokyo Bay, Japan.[1]
Rediscovery[]
Walters learns of the lab's found coordinates
- "When we were wiping Robotnik off our database, we found something; A file buried deep in our system and dating back over 50 years."
"What was it?"
"Coordinates, sir."
"Coordinates? To what?"
"A secret research facility. It was a black site, sir. Someone worked very hard to keep this hidden." - ―G.U.N. Mean Bean Agent and Walters[src]
In 2023, following the Battle Against the Giant Eggman Robot, now-Commander Walters, leading a reestablished G.U.N. that was devoted to protect Earth against extraterrestrial threats, was approached by one of his agents searching for signs of Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, Gerald Robotnik's grandson. The agent revealed that, while erasing Eggman's records off G.U.N.'s database, they rediscovered hidden files from the 1970s containing coordinates to Robotnik's laboratory, which had since become a black site. Walters finally deduced that the files were related to Project Shadow.[2]
Search for Gerald Robotnik[]
- "You're probably wondering why I brought you here."
"You didn't bring me here. I used my unparalleled intellect to track you down."
"For the plan I've concocted with my unparalleled intellect. You'll see. I have the answer to everything. Come on, kiddo." - ―Gerald Robotnik and Doctor Eggman[src]
Living off of the chaos energy emitted by Shadow's quill, Gerald Robotnik hid inside the abandoned laboratory after being freed for his development on the Eclipse Cannon for G.U.N. during his imprisonment. In 2024, Robotnik hijacked the systems at Prison Island controlling Shadow's dormancy, allowing for him to escape. He also had Team Sonic, a group of heroic extraterrestrials, partner with his grandson Doctor Eggman following his attack on Walters. After Shadow confronted Team Sonic in Tokyo, Japan, he traveled to the laboratory as to reminisce, being greeted by Robotnik at his cryo-pod. Robotnik invited Shadow into his revenge plot against G.U.N. and humanity.
Sonic and Doctor Eggman approach the lab
Team Sonic and Eggman and his assistant Stone arrived outside the laboratory in search of Robotnik, Knuckles the Echidna busting the doors open. Shadow prepared to attack them once the doors' fall echoed throughout the lab, but was calmed after Robotnik explained that their arrival was part of the plan. The group entered the lab, Sonic the Hedgehog wondered if the base was haunted considering its abandonment, triggering Knuckles' fear of ghosts. Facing three hallways, Sonic had the group split up, Knuckles going alone. Trying to combat his phasmophobia, he was scared by Shadow appearing behind him. Shadow did the same to Tails and Stone.
Eggman comes across his long-lost grandfather
Sonic and Eggman investigated Maria's room, Sonic remarking the fact that a family had lived in this military base, a concept which Eggman detested. Sonic searched further as Eggman monologued about how the bloodline will end with him, losing track of Sonic. Sonic approached Shadow's cryo-pod, believing to understand Shadow's anger as his "room" doesn't seem comfortable. Wondering what happened, Sonic was slammed against the cryo-pod, thrown against a control panel, and knocked out by Shadow. Meanwhile, Eggman wandered off and reunited with his grandfather after retrieving his hijacked Flying Egg Badniks. Eggman aligned himself with Gerald and had his plan explained to him.
A black hole sucks up the laboratory
Team Sonic and Stone were tied to a pole in Lab 03, Stone being freed once Eggman, Gerald and Shadow approached Team Sonic. Shadow took one of two Eclipse Cannon Keycards from Team Sonic, "Team Robotnik" planning on retrieving the second keycard at Guardian Units of Nations Headquarters in London, England and activating the Eclipse Cannon to fire its destructive laser upon said building. Departing in Eggman's Mecha Crab, Shadow stood atop the watchtower and deployed a Black Hole Orb while refusing to heed Sonic's attempts and reasoning with him. He teleported as a black hole erupted from its confines and absorbed the laboratory from inside, Team Sonic managing to escape with a ring. The black hole left a gaping hole in the mountain in which the lab was situated, Sonic jokingly telling his friends to alert Google Maps.[1]
Trivia[]
- In the video game series, Gerald Robotnik and a team of scientists conducted Project Shadow aboard the Space Colony ARK. Both facilities were raided in G.U.N.'s effort to capture Shadow the Hedgehog, said raid being codenamed the "ARK Shutdown Operation" in the video game series.
Behind the Scenes[]
- The production team of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 referred to Gerald Robotnik's Laboratory as the "Shadow Base."[3]
References[]
