Last time on Nightwatcher's Retro Bout I pitted two of the biggest family friendly comedy characters against each other to see who would come out on top should they have ever had a cross over, and it wasn't difficult to see that Ernest had a huge edge over Pee-wee. For this installment I was going to have a fight between my favorite super hero Batman and one of two Marvel heroes, either Iron Man or Dare Devil. Unfortunately, not only could I not decide between them but I figured that their personal histories are to long and complicated to fit into a reasonably sized article. Meanwhile I was also trying to think of a fight that could feature my favorite anti hero Shadow The Hedgehog, especially since he has already lost to the Dragon Ball anti hero Vegeta in a certain online video series (I would rather not talk about it, thank you) but someone then mentioned on that same page another opponent that Shadow could square off with and upon doing research on the character I realised that it would be the perfect fight. So without any further stalling I present my Retro Bout round two.






Both are creatures born in laboratories, both were intended to be their respective universe's ultimate life forms, both have tragic histories and both have powers that are virtually immesurable. Shadow and Mewtwo are interesting characters from the video game world especially since their back stories just about mirror each other, but one burning question still remains: if Shadow and Mewtwo were ever to meet, which one would kick the other one's a** in a fight? Well it looks like we may finally find out right here on retrojunk, although, as a fellow retrojunker has been known to say...







First Appearance - Sonic Adventure 2 (SEGA Dreamcast, 2001)
Species - Hedgehog / Black Arms alien creature
Age - N/A: He's designed to be ageless
Gender - Male
Height - 3'4"
Weight - 77 lbs.
Status - Former villain turned anti hero, Sonic's friendly rival / dark doppelganger,
ultimate life form
Home Base - Space Colony ARK

Shadow was created by Prof. Gerald Robotnik aboard Space Colony ARK some sixty years ago as part of an experiment in finding the key to immortality. While spending his life aboard the colony Shadow befriended Robotnik's grand daughter Maria and the two were pretty much inseperable. Then, one dark day the president at the time had decided that "Project Shadow" was a threat and sent in soldiers from the military to shut it down. They overran the ARK, destroying the lboratories and killing all of the scientists who were involved, except for Robotnik himself who was arrested and returned to Earth where he was quickly imprisoned. Meanwhile, as Maria helped Shadow reach an escape pod, she was shot to death by one of the soldiers. Upon the knowledge of this a saddened and angrily deranged Robotnik saught to get revenge on the world...by destroying it. He quickly reprogrammed the ARK wirelessly through a laptop computer in his cell to destroy the Earth at a later time when Shadow was reawakened, after which he was executed. Meanwhile, Shadow had made it to Earth but was trapped in stasis until fifty years later when Prof. Robotnik's grandson, Dr. Eggman Robotnik, found him in a hidden underground chamber on Prison Island and freed him. Shadow then attempted (behind Eggman's back) to complete Prof. Gerald's twisted plan until having a heart-to-heart with Amy whereupon Shadow realised the error of his ways and helped Sonic and company to save the planet instead. It was believed that Shadow had died at the end of that last battle until he returned in Sonic Heroes where he helped Sonic and friends save the world again, this time by helping to defeat Metal Overlord (the advanced form of Metal Sonic). Next Shadow, and we, finally learned his full back story in Shadow The Hedgehog, where we found out that his alien DNA comes from the Black Arms leader Black Doom, which effectively makes Doom Shadow's real father. This didn't seem to bother Shadow however, since he destroyed Doom and the entire Black Arms army along with their home, the Black Meteor, at the end of the game, thus having saved the world yet again.




Since then Shadow has come to terms with his past and, for the most part, has spent the series as both a loner and a spy for G.U.N. (Guardian Unit of Nations), despite the fact that it was the same military group that killed Maria so long ago. Shadow is Sonic's friend to a certain extent though he also wishes to surpass his heroic counterpart, doesn't talk much (remember, he's a loner) and serves just causes even though his conscience isn't evenly balanced. Sometimes Shadow becomes determindly set on a goal or objective and if anyone tries to stop him or convince him to stray from it, they usually pay a hefty and painful price. Shadow's weakness is his sad and tragic past, especially the part about Maria, which Eggman will not hesitate to exploit. Shadow may be strong and powerful, but we will soon find out how he holds up against his latest opponent...





First Appearance - Pokemon Red and Blue ( Nintendo Game Boy, 1996-1998)
Species - Genetic Pokemon / Clone of Mew
Age - N/A: Mewtwo is a clone and it remains unknown if Pokemon age
Gender - N/A: Pokemon don't have genders
Height - 6'7"
Weight - 269 lbs.
Status - Part time villain / anti hero, Ash and Pikachu's freindly rival, ultimate life form
Home Base - Formerly the lab on Cinnabar Island (now in ruins), currently unknown though it could be anywhere in the world

Mewtwo has two different origin stories, in the anime Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back it was created by the Team Rocket criminal group to be their ultimate Pokemon, and their leader Giovanni had hoped to control Mewtwo so that he could use it as a weapon in order to conquer the world. Needless to say, the plan backfired badly. I prefer the origin from the games because it is a much better story and pretty much mirrors Shadow's. For years a solitary scientist named Dr. Fuji, operating from the lab on Cinnabar Island, conducted horrific experiments in gene splicing in hopes of developing a Pokemon that was so powerful that it could easily dominate all the others. The result was Mewtwo, a clone of the rare Pokemon called Mew which, at the time, was believed to have been extinct. Along with Mewtwo, Dr. Fuji had also created a clone of his previously deceased daughter. As a child Mewtwo befriended the little girl communicating with her telepathically and the two were pretty much inseperable. Sadly the little girl's clone DNA proved unstable and, one tragic day, she died (is this starting to sound familiar yet?). Mewtwo was traumatized by this and Dr. Fuji was forced to put it under sedation until it's body finished developing which lead to the events of the first film, while in the games the player finds out about Mewtwo by reading Fuji's research papers which can be found scattered throughout the "Pokemon Mansion" on Cinnabar Island. The lab was reduced to ruin by Mewtwo shortly before the events in both versions when it proved to powerful to contain and escaped, destroying the entire facility in the process. Mewtwo returned in the games Pokemon Gold and Silver where players could now capture it for use in battles which added a new mechanic in which players would have to experiment with their captured Pokemon to find a way to counter another player who might be using Mewtwo. Most recently Mewtwo appeared as a catchable Pokemon in Pokemon X and Y where it learned a new trick (more on that in just a bit). Mewtwo was cloned from the DNA of Mew, a powerful legendary, psychic type Pokemon giving Mewtwo the same power and strenght, but unlike Mew, Mewtwo was designed exclusively for fighting and so it was never given a warm heart. This is not to say that Mewtwo does not have a conscience, it is just really small and as such, Mewtwo is beleived to be the fiercest and most vicious of all the Pokemon. In the original games Mewtwo was number 150 on the first list of Pokemon. Once it was realised that a single Mew still exhists it was added as number 151.




In a battle between two lab born titans like these two anything can happen, which is why research comes in really handy. I've learned all I can about Shadow and Mewtwo and since I don't have the exact measurments of their powers in all forms down to a point, I will do the best I can here to determine a possible out come (emphasis on 'possible'). So with the info I have been able to gather, let the battle begin!

First off I would like to remind everyone that this is only my research and opinion used in an article for this site and does not pertain to any material such as an online video of this fight, especially since no such material exists (at least not yet). This is soley for entertainment purposes and is not intended to tick off fans of either character, including myself.

Now, to start off with battle wise, I wanted to point out that both characters have worn armored suits at least once each. Say hello to Armored Up Shadow and Mewtwo.



Above are the appearances of Shadow as Sir Lancelot from Sonic and the Black Knight on Nentendo Wii and Armored Mewtwo from the Pokemon anime. In this instance Mewtwo would have somewhat of an advantage because it's futuristic techno armor, which enabled Giovanni to finally take control of the powerful Pokemon, grants it partial enhanced strength while Shadow's dark ages type armor is really just meant to look cool. The sword however, being a piece of the mystical blade Excalibur (which in itself is pretty sweet), contains magic to a certain degree although it's uncertain if magic would have an effect on a Pokemon. Even though these were only one shot deals and probably wouldn't be used in an actual fight between these two, it's still a pretty sick look for both of them.

I'm going to do the characters' analysis again only this time they are much closer in the way of fighting skills and powers than Ernest and Pee-wee were so a winner will be trickier to call this time. As I said above, I'll do the best I can and remember, this is only one probability so don't any one get angry if your character loses as this is only one person's opinion. Okay, enough with the tech talk, on with the fight!

We'll start with the combatants in their normal forms. Shadow and Mewtwo both have conciderable strength and are very powerful, however, they also both share the same fault:

Speed - Shadow makes up for this with his ability to use the power of Chaos Control where he can weild the power of a single Chaos Emerald to bend time and space itself. This causes it to appear that Shadow is phasing in and out of reality and it could possibly enable him to run circles around Mewtwo. Shadow also has his hover shoes which he uses like roller blades (remember those?) to race along at speeds that allow him to rival Sonic and he can also float in place for a limited time if he so chooses.

Mewtwo on the other hand, makes up for it's lack of speed by using it's psychic abilities to grab and throw it's opponents. Um...okay.


Durability / Vulnerability - Shadow was one of two results of experimentations into finding the key to immortality (the other being the Biolizard), and even though this atribute of Shadow's hasn't been fully explored it has been hinted at. Shadow is nearly invincible in his normal form alone and has been known to have been able to survive a fall back to Earth from space. Just to put that into perspective, a meteorite entering our atmoshpere can hit the planet's surface at anywhere from a minimum of 7 miles per second to a mximum of 40 miles per second. I'm no rocket scientist so I can't do the complicated math here (which might be a good thing for the sake of the article) but I know that that makes for several thousand kilo tons of pressure slamming into the Earth thus leaving a sizeable crater, while the meteorite naturally disintegrates. Not to mention that objects entering the atmosphere can reach a temperature of approximately 20,000 degrees or more due to the emmense friction. Shadow seems to be able to walk away from this, somewhat battered but surprisingly alive. Of course Shadow has gotten some help from his advanced form (more on that coming right up) in most instances when he has had to leave the planet but it would wear off after a few seconds leaving him exposed for the majority of the fall. Yet, somehow, Shadow has survived every time.

As for Mewtwo, while it could probably stand up to some, if not most, of Shadow's attacks, it's most important attrbute here is that it can regenerate allowing it to recover even from near fatal injuries.


Powers, Abilities and Weapons - Here's where it gets interesting. Shadow has been created with a large arsenal of attacks including Chaos Spear; a series of small but painful glowing yellow projectiles that shoot out of his finger tips, the above mentioned Chaos Control giving some much needed speed and his most powerful attack Chaos Blast, a devistating explosive shock wave that can destroy anyone and anything in it's path. He also has a new trick called Chaos Boost, aka Dark Shadow, which surrounds Shadow in an eerie red glow and grants him enhanced abilities similar to his enhanced form only it's much more temperary. There are also the more recently added Chaos Snap and Chaos Attack along with a few more that haven't even been named yet. All of these can also be powered up with a single Chaos Emerald making Shadow a virtually unstoppable force. There is one thing, however, that was not only unused in the online video series I mentioned earlier, but wasn't even factored in. That one thing is Shadow's ultimate weapon: the Eclipse Cannon, a giant super laser with enough punch to pulverise a planet given it's magnitude is turned up enough. Here's Eggman's example of it's shear power from SA2:




Mewtwo has some impressive attacks as well, for one thing it can float with it's telekinetic abilities and it can also grab and throw opponents as mentioned above. It can also form a psychic energy sheild around itself which could possibly protect against most of Shadows attacks and it can project a powerful psychic energy blast from either of it's paws.

These are nothing however compared to both characters when they get powered up. In Pokemon X and Y Mewtwo was given the abilty to mega evolve by using a special gem called Mewtonite. First it used a piece of Mewtonite X to mega evolved into Mega Mewtwo X.



This bumped up Mewtwo's powers and made it so strong that it's muscles actually buldged. This was only it's first mega evolution though as it still had yet to reach it's final form which it does with a piece of Mewtonite Y. That along with Shadow after having gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds would be quite a show. Behold, the ultimate powers: Super Shadow and Mega Mewtwo Y!




In his advanced form Super Shadow is invincible and all of his powers and abilities are enhanced, however there is a drawback; this form only lasts as long as Shadow keeps a cache of gold rings, once they run out he turns back to normal again. Shadow can also use Chaos Boost while in this form which makes him truly invincible and can possibly even extend the duration of his super form (holy crap!). Shadow can also reach his full potential while in super form by shedding his gold ring arm and ankle bands although he will only be able to use one attack at this point before his power becomes exhausted and fizzles out (hmm, not one of Prof. Gerald's better ideas, huh?).

Mega Mewtwo Y also has everything enhanced but, as far as I know, it is still not invincible and, in fact, it's mega evolved form will last only as long as the fight, after which Mewtwo will revert back to normal again. It is also more down to Shadow's size in this form at 4'11" which still makes it taller than Shadow by almost two feet but I think, in a fight like this, size hardly matters. Also, and mind you I'm no Pokemon buff, but the only element I know of so far that can counter psychic is fire which is pretty much what Shadow's Chaos Blast is so, well, there you go.

Here is how I see this playing out: Shadow and Mewtwo meet for the first time and spit insults at each other (because that would be hilarious) - Shadow pulls out a Chaos Emerald and uses Chaos Control to toy with Mewtwo by phasing in and out of the space/time continuum, throwing punches and kicks at the Pokemon each time - Mewtwo sheilds itself but can't get a lock on Shadow via telepathy due to his passing in and out of time and space - Mewotwo uses Mewtonite X to become Mega Mewtwo X and is better able to counter Shadow, Shadow pulls out a second emerald increasing Chaos Control and throwing most of his attacks at Mewtwo, now it's on! - Seeing that Shadow is becoming more of a problem, Mewtwo uses Mewtonite Y to reach it's final evolution: Mega Mewtwo Y - Shadow sees a problem here and decides to pull out all the stops (or in this case, emeralds) and becomes Super Shadow - Mewtwo throws everything it has at Shadow but can't hurt him in his super form, Shadow wisely activates Chaos Boost (Dark Super Shadow! S**t!) - Shadow uses Chaos Blast (super version!) to stun Mewtwo then quickly Chaos Controls to the ARK (God willing this takes place in the Sonic universe and outer space. If not, Shadow could always Chaos Control both of them there) and inserts the emeralds into the Eclipse Cannon, blasting Mewtwo at full force and reducing it to ash (so to speak).






So there you have it. This would be a very close fight but I'm pretty sure that Shadow would most likely get the upper hand, especially if you throw in everything he's got, unlike the hosts of a certain online video series, that particular episode of which I really wish they would do over. And no, I didn't give it to Shadow just because I'm a huge fan, don't forget, if not for the Eclipse Cannon Mewtwo would have more of an edge here because all it would have to do is wait for Shadow's super form to wear off and then blast him, not that it would do much. Then again, it wouldn't know about that either since these characters have never actually met (yet, anyway). I'll let you guys decide which fight you want to see for round three. My first idea was Dracula vs. Kain but if anyone still wants to see the Batman vs Iron Man and/or Dare Devil fight, please let me know in the comments box below, and I hope everyone enjoyed this article because it took me a while to write. Until next time, Nightwatcher out.