

Shadow シャドウ『クライド』 , Shadō (Kuraido) ? , lit. Shadow (Clyde)) Party member gameplay (Final Fantasy VI) Portraits Sprites Enemy appearances Boss Other appearances Opera Omnia

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Brave Exvius

All other appearances Biographical information Home Unknown Age [1] or late 30s[2] depending on source) Unknown (under 30or late 30sdepending on source) Affiliation Unaffiliated (mercenary) Occupation Mercenary assassin Hobby [1] Unknown Loves [1] Hard-boiled eggs Hates [1] Dreams Treasured possession [1] Pocket watch with a portrait inside Physical description Race Human Gender Male Height [1][3] (5' 10") 178 cm(5' 10") Weight [1][3] (145 lbs.) 66 kg(145 lbs.) Gameplay details Type party member info) Player character ( Job class Assassin Unique abilities Throw Desperation Attack Shadow Fang Weapon Ninja daggers, daggers Armor Universal shields, hats, light armor Ultimate weapon Oborozuki Behind the scenes information Designer Tetsuya Nomura Japanese voice actor Yoshito Yasuhara

He comes and goes like the wind, swearing allegiance to no one. Hidden behind his wintry gaze lies a face known to none who live... Game description

Shadow is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. He is a wandering mercenary and assassin who travels the world with his only companion, his dog Interceptor. Shadow's only allegiance is to himself, and he will work for anyone for the right price and then will depart when he feels like it.

Shadow's past remains a mystery to the party, but players can glimpse his backstory through a series of dreams he has when resting in inns with the party.

Shadow wears a black ninja outfit consisting of spiked shoulderpads, a sash on his waist, and a cowl that conceals his face but for his eyes, which appear blue in his SNES sprite and red in his iOS sprite and his concept arts. He wears an armored band around his cowl with a crest above his eyes, and two spikes emerge from the sides. Some details of Shadow's outfit, such as the color of his shoulderpads and headcrest, are colored differently depending on the source; he has brown details in his SNES sprites, purple details in his iOS sprites, and blue details in his concept arts. Some concept art depict Shadow with blue robes on his torso and yellow or white pants, but this design has never been used in-game.

In his past as "Clyde", Shadow wore a light brown cloak with folds around his shoulders, a blue tunic, and boots. His eyes in his sprites are dark brown.

Shadow's weaponry in spin-off titles varies, but he commonly wields ninja blades and throwing stars.

That's Shadow... He's an assassin. He'd kill his own best friend for the right price... Edgar

Shadow is regarded by others as a cold-blooded mercenary who would kill anyone if he was paid. He typically only shows kindness to his dog Interceptor. When he joins the party he rarely speaks or gets involved in their affairs. He opens up to the party a bit more over time, first when advising Terra about "people who have killed their emotions", encouraging her not to do the same. In Thamasa, Shadow rescues the party from a burning house, though he claims it was only to retrieve Interceptor who was with them.

Despite his cold and taciturn exterior, Shadow does develop a kinship with the party. By the end of the game, he acknowledges them as friends, and fights alongside them to save the world from Kefka.

Connection to Relm [ edit | edit source ]

Throughout Final Fantasy VI, there are hints of a connection between Shadow and Relm. Such hints include: Shadow's dreams reveal he found his way to Thamasa and fathered a daughter before leaving to keep his past from catching up with his family; an NPC in the town mentions a rumor that Relm isn't really Strago's granddaughter, just a friend's daughter; Relm is the only person other than Shadow that Interceptor is friendly with; at the end of the game, Shadow gives his reasons for living as "friends... and family."

While not explicitly stated in any version of Final Fantasy VI, it was confirmed in an interview with the developers that Shadow is Relm's father.[4]

Shadow is an archetypal Ninja, focusing on striking enemies rapidly and evading attacks. He has attacks based on the Throw ability and can grant himself Blink status to nullify enemy blows. In Final Fantasy VI Interceptor has a chance to block physical attacks on Shadow and then use one of two counterattacks, Takedown and Wild Fang. Spin-off appearances often incorporate these mechanics into Shadow's moveset, either letting him use Takedown and Wild Fang as attacks or causing his attacks to be followed up by an attack from Interceptor.

Shadow is an Assassin. His main ability is Throw, which allows him to throw weapons. This can be used to throw weapons no longer required, but is primarily used to throw specific offensive throwing items (either shuriken for pure physical damage or scrolls for elemental damage). Shadow's dog Interceptor joins the fray randomly, intercepting attacks on Shadow and retaliating with physical attacks on the enemy.

Shadow is an optional recruit on the first two occasions he joins the party, and is only required in Albrook when the expedition to Thamasa begins, and on the Floating Continent. If the player escapes the Floating Continent without waiting for Shadow, he is presumably killed in its fall and is not available in the World of Ruin. When Shadow is recruited in the World of Ruin, he is a permanent addition to the party.

Shadow's Desperation Attack is Shadow Fang, which deals magical damage and inflicts Sap on one enemy.

Sleeping in inns or other rest points with Shadow in the party lets the plater view dreams of his past. The dreams can be viewed at any time in either the World of Balance or World of Ruin, but trigger randomly; the player can rest repeatedly in the same spot with Shadow in their party to view all of them at once.

Shadow is fought as a boss in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum.

Musical themes [ edit | edit source ]

Shadow's theme has a style reminiscent of spaghetti western soundtracks, such as ones by Ennio Morricone. When the player enters a location where Shadow is present, such as the South Figaro and Kohlingen pubs, the background music abruptly switches to his leitmotif, indicating his presence. His theme has an orchestral reprise in the "Ending Theme" between 09:16 and 10:04.

Other appearances [ edit | edit source ]

Shadow has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:

Behind the scenes [ edit | edit source ]

After it was decided Final Fantasy VI would feature an ensemble cast with no clear main protagonist, everyone in the development team was encouraged to provide ideas for characters and their episodes. Shadow's character and story were colored by influence from Tetsuya Nomura.[5] Shadow is based on an idea Nomura has for Final Fantasy V. He had had jobs in mind, such as a ninja with a dog, a gambler who fought with dice and cards, among others. These ideas were not used for Final Fantasy V, but when work started on Final Fantasy VI, they were used for Shadow and Setzer.[6] Shadow's past as a thief may allude to the transition from Thief to Ninja in the original Final Fantasy.

Shadow and Relm's relationship was officially confirmed in developers' interviews in 1995. The developers considered having a scene in a bar (presumably in Thamasa) where Strago asks Shadow to reveal his identity. The dialogue was supposed to be as follows:[4][7]

Strago: I have one request... Show me your face. Even if you are him, I have no intention of wasting time trying to talk you into staying. I just want to know... for Relm's sake... Shadow: ...... (He takes off his mask and shows Strago his face. However, his back is turned so that the player can't see.) Strago: Thank you... Shadow. ...Come, let's have a drink.

Shadow's sprite has minor oddities compared to the other playable characters in the game. He has no animation for casting spells, he uses a static sprite (though two frames of the identical sprite exist in his sprite sheet). He has no "winking" animation, an oddity shared with Mog and Umaro (as well as characters with unseen eyes like the Imperial Trooper and Ghost). However, Shadow's "wink" animation does have a difference between the two frames, a single pixel that is colored differently on his breast, likely an error on the part of the sprite designer. This same pixel error occurs on his "blinking" animation, which does make Shadow's eyes disappear and reappear properly.

The game data contains lines and placement for Shadow on board the Blackjack, however, the player never gets to board the airship with Shadow in a normal playthrough. The lines can only be seen by hacking Shadow into the party or using the airship glitch.

In the SNES version, if the party chose to save Shadow on the Floating Continent, in the World of Ruin when he is found in the Cave on the Veldt instead of Relm, he will be called a "her". The PSX version changed this line to "him", ironically using the line for Relm as well. The GBA and subsequent versions avoid using gendered pronouns in the line.

In the Japanese version of the game, Shadow's line when he stays behind in Kefka's Tower is for Baram to "embrace [him] warmly", being more explicit in Shadow's intention to allow himself to die in the tower's collapse. However, it is still ambiguous if he did perish or not.

A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. A fitting name for an assassin.

His real name may refer to the famous thief Clyde Barrow.