"The artist's task is to save the soul of mankind." ― Shade
Shade, also known as The Root of All Evil, as the Shaman?, and as the White Mask, is a character in Everhood 2. They are the main antagonist, puppeteering others and creating conflict.
Characteristics
Appearance
Shade is a black humanoid-shaped entity.
Personality
Shade is both chaotic and playful in nature. They are a mysterious, malicious, but somewhat kind and quirky individual. They do not show much emotion until after the credits roll, in which they are quite goofy and playful. They state their driving motivation is simply their joy of battles.
Battle
The Root of All Evil
The fight against The Root of All Evil occurs near the beginning of the game, after the player collects the Stopwatch from The Threshold. If the player chooses "Story Mode" or "Easy" for their difficulty during the questionnaire, they will fight an alternate slower-paced version of The Root of All Evil, where the player lacks the ability to absorb notes. It contains blue, red, and green notes. Raven eventually appears and carries the player out of the battle, forcing it to end.
If the player chooses "Medium" or "Hard" for their difficulty, they will fight the standard version of The Root of All Evil, where the player retains their ability to absorb notes. If the player does not deal a certain threshold of damage towards them prior to at least the speedy red notes section, then Raven eventually appears and carries the player out of the battle, forcing it to end. They must deal damage to remain in the fight. Defeating The Root of All Evil will unlock the "Defeat the root of all evil" achievement, while defeating them in one hit will unlock the "One hit kill root of all evil" achievement. Theoretically the latter achievement cannot be achieved during the story and must be unlocked at the Battle Colosseum, due to Raven ending the fight early if the player does not attack.
The Medium/Hard fight against The Root of All Evil starts with normal and wide blue notes erratically scattered across the lanes. Normal, tall, and tall chain green notes begin to appear in place of the blue notes but are soon accompanied by them, with an occasional string of black notes. Speedy red notes begin to materialize as the background behind The Root of All Evil begins to distort and spiral. Blue notes return interspersed with the speedy red notes, followed by wide black notes that force the player to jump, before leading into an onslaught of black notes. Many groups of tall rainbow notes followed by strings of black notes appear, along with blue notes and tall green notes.
Afterwards, the fight loops back to the speedy red note portion of the battle. If the player gets The Root of All Evil to critical health, they will remark that they are becoming frustrated with the player.
Shaman (The Abyss)
Scary Shade
Shade Post Credits
Story
At The Threshold, the player picks up the Stopwatch lying on the ground. Shade, The Root of All Evil, manifests from the darkness and threatens to punish thieves. They attack the player, engaging them in their first battle. If the player defeats Shade, they will become frustrated and claim that the player likely save-scummed in order to defeat them. Whether the player wins or loses, Raven appears and rescues them from the encounter.
Shade, dressed as a hoodlum, stands in an alleyway in Neon City, next to the 10,000 club. They offer to trade the player's MacDallers for 100 Schmuckles each. The player obtains the MacDallers from Bobo and trades them to Shade several times to make at least 300 Schmuckles to progress through the blocked door within the 10,000 club.
Past the blocked door and within the Neon Jungle, the player meets the Shaman?, Shade wearing another outfit, sitting within a temple. They give the player the Elixir of Truth, and after the player drinks it, they climb up the stairs, deeper into the temple. At the top floor, they encounter Shade again, who is wearing swim trunks and standing next to a dark tunnel labeled "The Abyss." If spoken to, they encourage the player to enter it.
At the Veggie Castle, Shade can be briefly seen in the darkness during the split moment before the player and Sam's photos are taken by the veggies. Shade is seen again standing nearby the Juice Master. Similarly during Year 0, Shade is seen standing next to the Dimension Master, and at the ROM Unit, they are seen standing next to the alleged God Fruit.
During the Year 1000, Shade appears in the darkness when the portal the aliens showcased to the player begins to malfunction. The player helps power the portal and stabilizes it. From the powered-up portal, a hand grabs the player and drags them inside. The White Mask taunts them and destroys their body by crushing them in their hand, which sends them back to Raven's Hub.
If the player defeats the GOD MACHINE during the Year 2000, the White Mask reveals themselves to be Shade. They grant the player a Soul Weapon created from the remains of the aliens that died.
After the player opens the Door of the Dead at the Ocean Bedrock, Shade appears when the player is offered the choice to meet god.
While the player fights Bobo the Jester God during the second Vessel ride, Bobo melts away upon their defeat. The White Mask appears, removing their mask to reveal that they are Shade. They flippantly lament that they have run out of puppets to utilize.
As the player wanders through the Torment Realm version of the Hillbert Hotel, an optional cutscene can occur where they are teleported a short distance away while Shade's smile flashes across the screen. If Sam is spoken to, they eventually run away, with Shade commenting that the cat is running back to the safety of reality.
The player travels west out of the hotel and into the darkness, where Shade is heard speaking to them, guiding them the correct way as they pass by Red Slimes. They fight Scary Shade, and if they lose, then find themselves in a red-and-black checkered facility. They head upward and reach a hallway with two diverging pathways labeled "Insanity" and "Stagnation."
If the player chooses to travel to "Insanity," they eventually enter a door labeled "GODMACHINE," where they witness Shade appear from the destroyed remains of a machine labeled "EVERHOOD," the same one seen during the Dev Gnomes fight from Everhood. If the player chooses to travel to "Stagnation," they venture through a long hallway leading to the right. They can attempt to leave early through an upper door labeled "EXIT," but Shade stops them from doing so. If they continue rightwards to the true exit, they find themselves in a black void filled with Red Slimes, which Shade states are shells of their former selves, left to wallow until they become revitalized once again.
At the end of either pathway, Scary Shade fights the player, and the conclusion of the fight teleports the player into the Cottage. Shade gives a tour of the White Room and tells them to avoid traveling rightwards towards the End of Time.
The player can choose to follow Shade back to the left, where a fraction of the Cottage remains. Shade sits on a couch, poised next to a SMEGA Station and a TV set. They offer the player a chance to try out Farm Simulator. After the player unintentionally softlocks the game, Shade guides the player through the White Room and shows them a painting known as "The beginning," an artwork that is also seen in Floor Green. Shade shares some of their wisdom on the power of art and sends them flying away via the same power.
Eventually, the player travels rightwards to the End of Time, which sends them to the Liminal Space. If the player is able to open the Cat God door, they are offered the chance to become god, but Shade points out that this is impossible as the player is already one. They describe how they and the player are part of a duality. They quickly follow up with offering the "god" question to Riley, who happily accepts.
Shade gives Riley godhood and also uses them as their puppet. However, the player defeats Riley within their kingdom, leaving Shade puppetless again. Shade shows the player portraits of Irvine and Sam, explaining that they are too kindhearted for Shade to fight against, and reveals that they died. Shade gives the player a tour of the Battle Colosseum, before initiating a dance battle and "ending" the game. They send the player back in time to the moment before their second Vessel ride.
Trivia
- Although not necessarily Shade themselves, their smile appears on a building in the Acid Slums, the "Addiction: Alcohol" painting in Floor Green and wave 5 of the second Vessel ride, Indigo Mushroom in the Mushroom Bureau, a small running figure in Irvine's Pocket Dimension, the neon Evil Corp sign in ROM Unit, and the bottled virus captured by Doctor Dump.
- The Medium/Hard battle against The Root of All Evil shares the same battle theme with the Insect Amalgamation.
Gallery
- Main article: Shade/Gallery