Archie Shadow
Background:
Shadow the Hedgehog is a mobian hedgehog and the end result of Project: Shadow, an effort to create the Ultimate Lifeform. After the project was forcibly shut down by the government, Shadow was put into stasis for fifty years and then awakened by Dr. Eggman, Gerald's grandson, to help him take over the world. Shadow sought instead to destroy the world to avenge Maria, who had been killed during the raid onboard the Space Colony ARK, where they both had lived. However, after realizing he had been led astray by false memories, Shadow would join forces with Sonic the Hedgehog and his allies to save the world, afterwards becoming a hero who helped to save the planet on multiple more occasions.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Self-Sustenance (Doesn't need nourishment),
Immortality (Doesn't age),
Acrobatics,
Expert Hand-to-hand combatant,
Weapon Mastery,
Homing Attack,
Hovering (With Air Shoes),
Fire Generation (By shooting fire from his Air Shoes to burn opponents),
Aura,
Chaos Energy Manipulation,
Space-Time Manipulation,
Weapon Creation,
Explosion Inducement,
Statistics Amplification,
Teleportation,
Dimensional Travel,
Time Travel,
BFR,
Electricity Manipulation,
Paralysis Inducement,
Resistance to Extreme Cold,
Cosmic Radiations,
Power Nullification,
Mind Manipulation, and Perception Manipulation
Same as before on a greatly enhanced scale,
Forcefield Creation
All previous abilities on an unfathomably higher scale, Likely most of the abilities from Power Rings, as they're the by-products of the Chaos Emeralds and have a limited amount of their power, Self-Sustenance (Type 1 and 3),
Acausality (Characters with this type of Acausality are rendered immune to changes in the past and standard temporal paradoxes, but remain just as vulnerable in the present and can be affected by normal Causality Manipulation and similar abilities.),
Intangibility,
Invulnerability,
Reality Warping,
Causality Manipulation,
Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1),
Memory Manipulation,
Non-Physical Interaction,
Soul Manipulation,
Existence Erasure,
Law Manipulation,
True Flight,
Resistance to Magic,
Matter Manipulation,
Reality Warping,
Existence Erasure,
Transmutation,
Biological Manipulation,
Conceptual Manipulation, and Law Manipulation
Weaknesses: Cannot sustain his Chaos Shadow form too long as it drains energy, though he was able to endure a prolonged struggle with Black Death.
Vincent Valentine
Background:
Previously part of Shinra Company's elite Turks, Vincent Valentine was a bodyguard for the Jenova Project's scientists in Nibelheim. This project centered on a newly discovered life form named Jenova. During this assignment, Vincent developed feelings for researcher Lucrecia Crescent. However, Lucrecia, indirectly responsible for the demise of Vincent's father in a prior experiment, distanced herself, turning to Professor Hojo. Vincent's dismay intensified upon learning the project's extreme measures: Lucrecia and Hojo, expecting a child, decided to infuse the fetus, Sephiroth, with Jenova's cells. Appalled, Vincent confronted Hojo, only to be shot and subjected to cruel experiments.
Ultimately deemed useless by Hojo, Vincent was left in a near-death state until Lucrecia intervened, infusing him with the essence of an ancient entity, Chaos, and the Protomateria. This rendered Vincent transformed and distraught. Haunted by his perceived failures regarding Lucrecia and the Jenova project, Vincent secluded himself in the mansion's concealed basement. Years later, ex-SOLDIER elite Cloud Strife discovered him. Initially hesitant, Vincent joined Cloud upon learning of his pursuit of Sephiroth, hoping to confront Hojo and find closure.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics;
Master Marksman with several kinds of firearms;
Expert Martial Artist;
Enhanced Awareness and Reflexes;
Acrobatics;
Regeneration (The ability to regenerate lost limbs, limited brain damage, and even severe organ damage or destruction, including traditionally fatal wounds and disembowelment or horizontal bisection. For machines and vehicles, this would be regenerating minor parts and more extensive internal damage.),
Immortality (Resilient and regenerative undead);
Self-Sustenance (Doesn't need nourishment);
Limited Flight (thanks to his mutated body, Vincent can momentarily stay afloat in the air);
Minor Energy Absorption (can absorb smaller sources of energy, such as Mako Points, to restore his own power);
Transformation (via his Limit Break, Metamorphize, which let him transform into four different monster forms);
Resistant to;
Mind Manipulation and Memory Manipulation (his mind has grown strong enough to not collapse nor be eroded under the weight of the Spirit Energy of the Lifestream, and through the powers of Chaos he is unaffected by Nero's Tainted Lifestream);
Soul Manipulation, Soul Absorption and Empathic Manipulation (his spirit was not forcefully diffused nor reabsorbed by the Lifestream);
Biological Absorption,
Deconstruction and Matter Manipulation (his physical body wasn't absorbed nor was dissolved by the Lifestream to retake his Spirit Energy);
Corruption (Types 1 and 2, despite immense exposure to Spirit Energy, on several occasions, he never became a Makonoid, and later thanks, to the powers of Chaos inside him, the Tainted Lifestream had no effect on him. Additionally, was unaffected by Jenova's Virus despite confronting her directly);
Extreme Heat and Extreme Radiation (withstood Sephiroth's Supernova);
Mind Reading,
Perception Manipulation,
Illusion Creation,
Telekinesis and Possession (by the time of the final battle, he had grown strong enough to resist Sephiroth's mental abilities);
Darkness Manipulation (eventually could resist to Nero's tainted Lifestream which emulate the negative effects of the Lifestream, thanks to the presence of Chaos within himself);
Power Mimicry and Power Absorption (Vincent's tranformations, including Chaos who is Tainted Spirit Energy now part of his own, as well as their special moves, like Limit Breaks are born from the user's Spirit Energy, which shapes their mind and soul, and cannot be copied or imitated, the sole exception being Zack who is acknowledged as an unusual case, and even then creates a variant of the original move).
Statistics Amplification (via his transformations which increase his natural capabilities);
Energy Manipulation (can empower his attacks with Spirit Energy during his Limit Breaks for greater power and different effects);
Attack Boost in the form of raw damage boost (via the special attacks of his Limit Breaks, which are stated to reach power much greater than the usual capabilities of the user)
and Additional Effects:
Fire Manipulation, Homing Attack and Durability Negation (via Beast Flare, which goes through regular defenses);
Electricity Manipulation (via Livewire),
Status Effect Inducement (Sleep Inducement, Poison Manipulation, Silence Inducement, Madness Manipulation, Transmutation into Frogs and Size Minimization via Nightmare).
All previous abilities, except for Metamorphize, plus:
Statistics Amplification (all of his capabilities are enormously increased);
Afterimage Creation;
Energy Projection (via Chaos Saber);
Death Manipulation and Poison Manipulation (via Satan Slam);
Darkness Manipulation (Chaos is born from tainted Lifestream, the stagnation of life, which he can use similarly to Nero the Sable);
Stronger Resistance to Darkness Manipulation,
Mind Manipulation,
Soul Manipulation,
Empathic Manipulation,
Memory Manipulation,
Absorption,
Corruption (Type 2) and Banishment (as Nero mentions, his powers don't work on Vincent given those with the power of Negative Lifestream ingrained in them, which is born from Chaos itself, are resistant to it, which has the negative effects of the Lifestream itself).
Energy Projection,
Resistance to Poison Manipulation (which also protects Vincent from Acid Manipulation);
Paralysis Inducement;
Sleep Inducement;
Blindness;
Silence Inducement;
Transmutation;
Curse Manipulation;
Power Nullification (of physical, spiritual, mental and magical abilities);
Petrification;
Size Manipulation;
Madness Manipulation;
Berserk Inducement; plus additional resistance to Empathic Manipulation (thanks to the Ribbon he wears in honor to Aerith, Vincent is protected from most of the game's Status Ailments),
Damage Boost (via Deathblow);
Magic Attack Boost (via MP Turbo); Life Absorption (via HP Absorb) and Energy Absorption (via MP Absorb); Automatic Follow-Up (via Added Cut),
All previous abilities enhanced, possible Immortality (Type 8,reliant on her Crystal which let Cosmos' group return from fading from existence after Cosmos' death) & Regeneration (Low-Godly),
Willpower Manipulation (a person's will is power there and enables them to do a multitude of things the stronger their will),
Reactive Power Level (the greater someone's will, the greater their power),
Law Manipulation (Beings with strong wills can overwrite the laws of the world and bend them to their will),
Creation (With a powerful enough will, once can create various things such as phone lines, airships and even entire countries and worlds),
Sealing (Can seal off large areas and people with her will, such as Cecil sealing himself in Castle Baron or the cast sealing Kefka inside a Torsion),
Dimensional Travel (Characters can open Torsions, rifts in space-time to travel various dimensions),
Resistance to Mind Manipulation,
Soul Manipulation (Via Zalera, the Death Serpah, who was going to absorb the souls of every living being on the planet),
Corruption & Body Puppetry (Due to their light, Warriors of Materia can dispel attempts to control them),
Empathic Manipulation, and Madness Manipulation (Type 3; Resistant to the effects of the True Moon, which is capable of affecting the hearts and minds of all living beings on the planet),
Gravity Manipulation (Unaffected by the gravitational pull of the True Moon, which even the Lunar Whale couldn't escape from),
Spatial Manipulation,
Deconstruction, and BFR (Can withstand the attacks of Atomos, who manipulates space),
crush enemies down to a molecular level),
and can warp them into another dimension),
Extreme Cold and Cosmic Radiations (Can fight and survive on the moon),
Absolute Zero (Can survive Shiva's ice attacks, including Diamond Dust).
Weaknesses: Vincent's firearms are constrained by ammunition capacity, necessitating periodic reloading. His command over Chaos is conditional, relying on the Protomateria for cognitive clarity. Following the events in "Dirge of Cerberus," Vincent loses his Chaos form after successfully preventing Omega's exodus from the Planet.
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Song: Final Ark (Brandon Yates)
Vincent Valentine, known as the Weapon and Vessel of Chaos, kneels before the crystal tomb holding the immortal form of his love, Lucrecia Crescent. Despite his numerous heroic deeds, saving the world multiple times over, Vincent still takes a moment of quiet contemplation and respect, knowing that it was Lucrecia who ultimately spurred him on throughout his extraordinary journey.
Suddenly, Vincent's moment of tranquility was shattered as a red and black hedgehog walked into the crystal cave, having stumbled upon the secluded space. With a stern and uncompromising tone, Vincent gruffly addressed the intruder, stating,
"This is your only warning; leave. I require my solitary moment of peace."
Shadow defiantly crossed his arms, displaying his dislike for being commanded by a stranger. He retorted with a hint of arrogance,
"I'll go wherever I please. This cave is not yours to claim ownership over."
Vincent, irked by Shadow's defiant response, swiftly aimed one of his Cerberus pistols, a hefty firearm with three barrels, and fired a barrage without even looking. As the bullets flew through the air, Shadow used his rocket-powered shoes to effortlessly soar out of their path, effortlessly avoiding the incoming attack. With swift precision, he then conjured his own pistol and fired a retaliating shot back at the former Turk.
However, Vincent remained unperturbed, quickly whipping out his second Cerberus pistol and firing three powerful bullets from its three barrels. Without any effort, the shots effortlessly destroyed Shadow's pistol. Yet, Shadow's quick reflexes and acrobatic abilities allowed him to teleport out of harm's way, albeit only temporarily. With his trained aim, Vincent patiently tracked the hedgehog's movements and fired at his new location, hitting his mark on the third attempt. The shot pierced the hedgehog through the cave walls and slammed Shadow into a tree before he crashed to the ground below.
"Damn."
The hedgehog cursed, his voice tinged with pain as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground. Astonished, Shadow inspected himself, discovering three holes in his body. He had endured bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing injuries before, but these wounds felt far more severe and damaging. The hedgehog suddenly realized that his opponent was no ordinary human; they possessed exceptional strength and capabilities.
"I need to step it up. I am the Ultimate Lifeform!"
Shadow proclaimed, determination flaring in his voice. He summoned the seven Chaos Emeralds, unleashing their incredible power to transform into his Super State. His color scheme shifted from black and red to a more lemon creme hue, signaling his ascension to this enhanced form. As he channeled the power of the Emeralds, his gun injury magically healed, leaving no trace of the previous damage.
Vincent swiftly aimed his Cerberus pistols at Super Shadow a he acrobatically emerged from the hole, firing several rounds, each unleashing three bullets apiece. Despite Super Shadow's new invulnerability to physical damage and materia effects, the sheer force from the shots made the hedgehog grunt with exertion as he was propelled backward by the powerful barrage.
"Chaos control!"
Super Shadow roared, his voice powerful and commanding. The world around them froze, the very essence of time itself coming to a halt as the color of the environment inverted. The bullets were suspended mid-air, frozen in place, and Vincent stood motionless, completely unaware that time had been halted.
Super Shadow charged at Vincent, unleashing a powerful punch that sent him flying. Regaining his balance, Vincent stumbled for a brief moment, only to find himself stuck briefly in the frozen time once more as Super Shadow conjured a sword and launched an upward slash at him. Vincent was then hurled skyward, and Super Shadow quickly teleported up to meet him, delivering multiple relentless slashes in the air before forcefully slamming the former Turk with a powerful blow back down into the ground.
Undeterred by the punishing onslaught, Vincent Valentine managed to rise to his feet, firing another barrage of bullets from his Cerberus pistols at Super Shadow. In response, the hedgehog summoned a barrage of Chaos Arrows with a swift wave of his arm, efficiently destroying the bullets. Super Shadow attempted to attack with his sword, but Vincent skillfully evaded the strike and retaliated with a shot to the hedgehog's back. Despite the hit, the powerful hedgehog only staggered slightly.
Vincent unleashed another volley of bullets at Super Shadow, who dexterously evaded most of the shots while swiftly closing the distance and attempting to slash at his opponent with his sword. Vincent countered with a relentless barrage of gunfire, but the hedgehog swiftly outmaneuvered him, positioning himself behind the former Turk and slamming into him with a powerful spin dash attack.
Despite his best efforts, Vincent struggled to maintain his momentum against Super Shadow's relentless onslaught. His guns, though powerful, merely served as irritants in comparison to the hedgehog's extraordinary abilities. Super Shadow unleashed Chaos Control once more, freezing time and leaving Vincent temporarily defenseless. Suddenly, the former Turk found himself surrounded by a tempest of Chaos Spears strategically flying at him from various directions, exploding upon impact with his body and wreaking havoc on his body.
Super Shadow stood at a distance, an air of arrogance and pride around him. He proudly stated with confidence,
"Hmph! I'm the coolest."
However, his moment of self-admiration was cut short when Vincent's voice echoed through the smoke, announcing his transformation into the powerful Gilian Beast through a Limit Break.
Super Shadow observed Vincent's transformation into the Gilian Beast with nonchalance, clearly unafraid of the powerful creature before him. The Gilian Beast launched into a frenzy, lunging at the hedgehog with the intent to tear him apart. Meanwhile, Super Shadow generated a protective force field around himself to fend off the onslaught. Utilizing Vincent's assault, Shadow swiftly curled up and charged a potent spin dash, charging at full speed and ramming into the Gilian Beast with incredible force. The impact sent the beast sprawling backward, slamming him straight into a towering mountain.
Undeterred, the Gilian Beast unleashed a fearsome breath of fire towards Super Shadow, forcing the hedgehog to retreat briefly. In retaliation, the Gilian Beast unleashed a torrent of fireballs through a powerful Beast Flare. Super Shadow quickly responded by firing a barrage of Chaos Arrows to detonate the projectiles before they could reach him. Not content with merely retaliating, the hedgehog then fired a potent Chaos Spear, directly striking Vincent and igniting an explosive impact.
As the Gilian Beast's power subsided, Vincent reverted back to his human form, coughing up blood as a consequence. Super Shadow swiftly summoned a sword and moved to assail the former Turk with it, but Vincent, quick on the draw, raised his Cerberus pistol to counter. He fired a precise shot that knocked the sword out of the hedgehog's grasp, leaving him momentarily weaponless.
"I don't need a sword to finish you off."
Super Shadow declared confidently, freezing time momentarily to kick the guns out of Vincent's grip. As time resumed, the hedgehog grabbed the former Turk by the neck, dragging him through the ground in an encircling motion around the entire planet multiple times in a single second, showcasing his incredible light speed.
However, as Super Shadow dragged Vincent across the surface of Gaea at an incredible speed, he suddenly felt the burden he was carrying becoming progressively heavier and unwieldy. Pausing, the hedgehog glanced down to discover the cause: Vincent's second Limit Break, the towering Death Gigas. The creature, evocative of Frankenstein's monster, roared defiantly, taking Super Shadow by surprise with its unexpected emergence.
The Death Gigas raised its colossal fist and slammed it forcefully into Super Shadow, creating a deep and wide crater in the ground. The hedgehog grunted in pain as the relentless barrage of powerful punches continued, sending him deeper and deeper beneath the earth's surface. Despite being untouchable, the sheer force and speed of the assaults became so great that the Death Gigas was literally punching Super Shadow through the planet's crust, breaking through the rocky mantle and plunging him all the way to the core of Gaea itself.
Feeling the edge of his transformation approaching, Shadow removed two power-limiting rings, causing the planet of Gaea to shudder from the immense power he unleashed. With unparalleled speed, he broke through the other side of the planet and hurtled through the boundless reaches of space, merging his Super and Chaos states to ascend to even greater heights to match the formidable Death Gigas.
"Nothing nearby? Perfect. Chaos Blast."
Super Shadow proclaimed, preparing to release his devastating power. Unleashing an unparalleled surge of Chaos energy, he outputted an unfathomable force, as if several septillion supernovas had detonated simultaneously, fueled by his limitless Chaos energy. The roaring of the Death Gigas was drowned out in the resulting explosion, and the creature reverted back to Vincent Valentine. Despite his indomitable spirit, Vincent was overpowered by the sheer intensity of the blast, and was utterly obliterated, overwhelmed by the power that enveloped him.
Utilizing the power of Chaos Control, Shadow instantly teleported back to Gaea, returning to his normal form as he replaced his power-limiting rings. With a hint of pride in his voice, he remarked,
"It seems he couldn't behold the sheer might of my power."
Strength: Both characters are multiversal level fighters. Vincent Valentine stands among Final Fantasy characters who can fight Shinryu, a dragon who could destroy the entire multiverse, including the 16 game titles that boast their own infinities. In contrast, Chaos magic wielded by a Super form like Super Shadow can rewrite the infinite timelines in Archie Sonic's multiverse, plus the extradimensional realms outside, like the Chaos Force, pocket Zones, Mega Man's own infinite universe, and so on. So they were effectively even in raw physical and magical power.
Speed: Vincent Valentine ranks among characters who can move and react at speeds of 72.4 quintillion times light, which is certainly one of the fastest calcuable speed feats in fiction, but Archie Super forms breaks the laws of time and space, moving faster than speed can exist.
Skill: I'm not really sure how to measure skill between the two directly. They're both certainly skilled enough to fight characters with more naturally more trained skill than their own, but the amount of training they have themselves is a bit murky.
Experience: Vincent Valentine likely boasts having spent the longer time fighting, but otherwise, they each fought a variety of enemies that the other would likely defeat short of Super form level individuals.
Powers: If Vincent could carry all the materia he could use instead of a limited amount, the former Turk could match all the basic abilities of Shadow's reality warping, and can resist most of the hax that the Ultimate Lifeform could try pulling on Vincent. However, if there's a few things that he can't overcome, it's Super Shadow's invulnerability and time manipulation. However resilient Final Fantasy enemies can get, nothing is completely impervious to all damage and effects, so that gave Shadow the edge while Vincent would tire himself out. Especially as Shadow can attack him at any moment with how much he can abuse Chaos Control to stop time at any moment he wished.
The winner is Shadow the Hedgehog.
