Black Doom

This article is about the video game character. For other uses, see Black Doom (disambiguation).

Black Doom (ブラックドゥーム^[5], Burakku Dūmu^?) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is the sinister embodiment of the Black Arms, and one of the individuals behind the creation of Shadow the Hedgehog. For thousands of years, Doom planned to impose terror on the Earth and use the local human population as an energy source for his armies. He sought to bring Shadow under his control and use him to conquer the world, but was ultimately defeated by his own offspring.

Quick Answers

Who ultimately defeated Black Doom in the Sonic the Hedgehog series?

In the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Black Doom, who transformed into Devil Doom, was defeated by Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow, using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, became Super Shadow and overpowered Black Doom, leading to his downfall.

Provided by: Fandom

What was Black Doom's plan for the human population on Earth?

Black Doom aimed to dominate Earth, utilizing humans as an energy source for his species. His intent was to feed his armies with humans, transforming the planet's appearance in the process. He planned to anchor his Black Comet to Earth's surface. In exchange for the Chaos Emeralds, he assisted in creating Shadow, which were crucial for his comet's arrival on Earth.

Provided by: Fandom

How is Black Doom related to Shadow the Hedgehog?

Black Doom is technically Shadow the Hedgehog's biological father, as he was created from Black Doom's blood in a pact with Professor Gerald. Black Doom hoped Shadow would help the Black Arms conquer Mobius, but Shadow vowed to destroy them upon learning his true purpose.

Provided by: Fandom

What are the distinctive physical features of Black Doom?

Black Doom is characterized by his Doom's Eye, red and black skin, and horizontal horns. When transformed into Devil Doom, he gains two gargoyle-like heads, each with horns, and thick round wings. His lower body merges with a boulder-like object, and his torso sprouts downward-pointing spines and horizontal mouth parts.

Provided by: Fandom

Appearance

Black Doom has a jet black^[6] and legless body with a trio of red-orange bestial eyes, twin wide horns with red tips, a set of spines on his scalp, three-fingered hands that have claw-like nails and no visible facial features.

For attire, Doom wears a dark brown worn robe with golden shoulder pads, a maroon drape scarf with tattoo markings hanging from the back, golden chains with a set of gold-spiked medallions possessing a gem, and a double black cord necklace with red, blue, yellow, and purple ornaments on one and golden and silver pendants on the other that resemble the Black Arms' insignia.

History

Past

Over two thousand years prior to Shadow the Hedgehog, Black Doom created the Black Arms legion.^[5][7] As their home of the Black Comet passed the Earth, Black Doom observed the humans and grew disgusted by their pettiness and greed. He hoped to land the Black Comet on the Earth's surface and enact a "prosperity ritual" to enslave the population as an energy source for his armies.^[8] However, he found it impossible to land the Black Comet, delaying his plans indefinitely (in the English version, this was due to the Earth's atmosphere, while in the original Japanese, it was because Black Doom could not control the Black Comet's trajectory).^[9][10] However, Black Doom did succeed in transporting a number of bird-shaped flying temples to certain locations around the Earth for a future invasion.^[7] For the following two millennia, the Black Comet passed by the Earth approximately every fifty years.^[11]

Fifty years prior to Shadow the Hedgehog, Black Doom learned of Professor Gerald Robotnik, who was trying to create the Ultimate Lifeform in Project Shadow.^[12] Interested, Black Doom contacted Gerald and offered his blood to complete the project, on one condition: that in fifty years, the resulting Ultimate Lifeform would retrieve the seven Chaos Emeralds and deliver them to the Black Arms. Black Doom planned to use Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet onto the Earth's surface and enslave humanity. Gerald accepted his terms, and soon Shadow the Hedgehog was born using the blood of Black Doom aboard the Space Colony ARK. Black Doom then departed in the Black Comet, promising to return. However, the professor understood the threat this gambit presented to Earth, and secretly planned to use Shadow and the newly-built Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet when it returned.^[13]

Shadow the Hedgehog

In Shadow the Hedgehog, when the Black Comet returned to Earth in fifty years, Black Doom and his army made a full-scale attack on the planet, ravaging various cities around the world and causing severe damage and casualties.^[14] The alien overlord appeared before Shadow in a hologram projected by Doom's Eye, and ordered him to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds as promised. Doom's Eye then departed into Westopolis, through which Black Doom would supervise the invasion and await Shadow's cooperation.

Throughout the events of the Black Arms' invasion, Black Doom continued to observe Shadow through Doom's Eye. While Doom was aided by the black hedgehog at least once,^{[note 1]} the exact events that occurred during this incident are left uncertain. In one possible outcome, Black Doom leads Shadow to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy Central City and subsequently destroy GUN and take over the planet. In another outcome, Black Doom gets Shadow to reactivate the flying temples in his conquest, clashing with Dr. Eggman in the process. In another, Black Doom became impatient with Shadow's disobedience, casting him into an illusion of the Space Colony ARK fifty years in the past to relive the tragedy of his relationship with Maria Robotnik. Black Doom can end up being fought as a boss in several Stages, including GUN Fortress, Cosmic Fall and Final Haunt.

Eventually, Shadow collected all seven Chaos Emeralds and was about to give them to Black Doom aboard the Black Comet. However, Sonic and friends arrived to stop him. Black Doom, however, took the gems and used Chaos Control to transport the Black Comet to the surface of the earth, initiating the "prosperity ritual". As he revealed his master plan and his deal with Gerald, the Black Comet emitted a paralyzing gas that incapacitated the others to prevent them from interfering. Regardless, Shadow proved himself immune to the paralysis, and gave chase through the Black Comet in The Last Way. When cornered, Black Doom tried to take control of Shadow's mind, but a video recording of Gerald projected by the Chaotix revealed the truth of the deal. Inspired, Shadow broke free and used the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Shadow. Black Doom exited the comet and fought Super Shadow in the sky using his true form, Devil Doom. Ultimately, the alien overlord was defeated, and his own son used the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet.

Shadow Generations

In Shadow Generations, Black Doom reemerges from his previous defeat, having regenerated a new body from a Death Leech on the ARK and again threatening to conquer the Earth.^[15][16] While investigating suspicious activity aboard the Space Colony ARK, Shadow comes across Doom's Eye and pursues it, only to be flung into a Doom Zone created by Black Doom. Once the Time Eater then pulls Shadow into White Space, Black Doom is pulled in as well and puts his plans into motion, forcibly imbuing Shadow with Doom Powers to begin conquering his mind, body, and soul.

After Shadow defeats the Biolizard and the Black Moon rends for the first time, Black Doom approaches him as a hologram via Doom's Eye. He congratulates Shadow, revealing that the Black Arms lived on despite their previous defeat, and explaining that the Time Eater's temporal anomalies have accelerated his plans to revive his armies and consume the planet. When Shadow challenges him, Black Doom states that he will only face him once he is "perfected", waiting for him to be consumed by the darkness of his Doom Powers.

Black Doom appears as a hologram again once Shadow defeats Mephiles the Dark. This time he sees Maria and Gerald Robotnik, claiming that Shadow will soon be his. He claims he is fated to become a destroyer and, although Shadow rebuts that he will destroy him, Black Doom expresses confidence that he has learned from his mistakes and that Shadow will inevitably belong to him.

Once Shadow unlocks the final Doom Power, Doom Wing, White Space is enveloped in a Doom Zone as the Black Moon opens the way to Black Doom. His voice calls to Shadow, calling him complete and boasting he will take his mind, body, and soul to become the perfect being.^[17]

Black Doom finally faces Shadow in the flesh in Radical Highway, transforming into Devil Doom to do battle. When this proves not to be enough, he evolves further into Neo Devil Doom, still congratulating Shadow on his progress. As the battle goes on, he grows frustrated by Shadow's defiance, finally catching him in both hands and ordering him to accept his fate. However, when Shadow breaks free, Neo Devil Doom finally realizes Shadow's strength and cries out in anger, as Shadow punches straight through his chest and causes him to explode, ending the threat of the Black Arms once more.

Personality

Black Doom is presented as a highly ruthless, sadistic, manipulative and power-hungry tyrant. He regards humans as pathetic creatures that will lead themselves to their own extinction and always looks down on them and their technology. He has neither affection nor sympathy for anybody or anything, especially his enemies, referring to foes like Dr. Eggman as "incompetent imbeciles". Regardless, he also appears to possess a degree of self-awareness, acknowledging that the actions he encourages are "evil",^[18] even reaching such levels that he outright refers to heroics as "hypocritical acts"^[19] and says that his creations will impose terror "in unimaginable ways".^[7]

Black Doom's plans for the planet extend much further than simply conquering Earth. His main goal is to have him and his armies feed off of the humans, which he states are a great energy source for them. According to Doom, once the planet is under his control, the humans will never see the sun again and the planet will cease to be blue. It seems Doom wants to conquer the planet as a step closer to conquering the entire universe.

Powers and abilities

As the ruler and creator of the Black Arms, Black Doom is an incredibly powerful entity. He commands the entire Black Arms legion, controlling and ordering them through a hive mind. Black Doom has lived for over 2000 years, and is capable of regenerating from Black Arms matter if his body is destroyed, such as from a Death Leech that was left aboard the ARK.^[15][20] By being created with his blood, Shadow the Hedgehog was gifted immortality. Because of this link, Black Doom was able to imbue him with Doom Powers, and as Shadow grew stronger by using them, so did Doom himself,^[21] eventually allowing him to achieve an evolved Neo Devil Doom form. He attempted to control Shadow's mind via their link during the first Black Arms invasion, though it ultimately failed. Later upon his revival, Shadow's growing connection to his Black Arms heritage through his Doom Powers threatened to allow Black Doom to either take over Shadow's mind, turning Shadow into Doom's ultimate weapon, or take over his body, allowing him to be reborn into an even more powerful form.^[21]

Black Doom has powers that can control and manipulate reality. His primary method of transportation is levitation, and he is also shown phasing through solid matter. He can teleport across the planet or even into cyberspace, taking others such as Shadow with him, and can project illusory copies of himself. One of his strongest abilities is the power to induce illusions and warp reality around targets, displayed when he manipulated Shadow by forcing him to relive flashbacks of his memories with Maria Robotnik. In these flashbacks, he was able to show Shadow the thoughts and feelings of those he met. He was capable of projecting his voice across the entire planet, speaking with Shadow via telepathy, and even manipulating Shadow's dreams from a long distance. Black Doom is also proficient at Chaos Control; with all seven Chaos Emeralds, he can warp reality on a larger scale, transporting the Black Comet down to the Earth's surface from outer space. When in White Space, Black Doom was able to manipulate the temporal anomalies to further his plans using the Black Moon.

Black Doom is a calculating tactician who rarely risks his own life, often using his personal Doom's Eye drones to observe and interact with battles from afar instead. He can see and speak through Doom's Eye, and it can also project a hologram of himself if he chooses to make a personal appearance.

Whilst few would challenge Black Doom, he has numerous abilities that make him a fearsome foe for those who dare. In battle, Black Doom can summon flaming meteors that fly towards enemies with devastating force,^[22] and he has a vertical energy disc attack that cut into walls.^[23] He also has the "swift strike", a horizontal light-blade boomerang that spins and bounces off of solids.^[24][25] His aim with these attacks is recognized by several characters as having deadly precision.

Devil Doom

Main article: Devil Doom

Devil Doom is the true form of Black Doom, and he appears as such as the final boss of Shadow the Hedgehog. While he is in Devil Doom form, he still can use Chaos Control, but adds the abilities to seemingly telekinetically rip up entire roads and buildings, and hurl them at Super Shadow. He can also breathe fire and summon floating, rock-like spheres that fire lasers.

Neo Devil Doom

Main article: Neo Devil Doom

Neo Devil Doom is the evolved form of Devil Doom, and he appears as the true final boss of Shadow Generations. This is currently Black Doom's most powerful transformation to date. His Chaos Control becomes even more powerful along with his abilities to alter the terrain around him.

Battle

Main article: Black Doom (boss)

Black Doom is a boss encountered in the game after completing the Hero mission of GUN Fortress, Cosmic Fall and Final Haunt. During the battle, the guide for the player is either Rouge the Bat, Vector the Crocodile or Sonic the Hedgehog.

Relationships

Shadow the Hedgehog

The relationship between Shadow the Hedgehog and Black Doom may have been brief, but it has played an important role in Shadow's life. Shadow was made of Black Doom's blood, in a deal between the alien and Professor Gerald; this technically makes Shadow Black Doom's biological son. Black Doom even states that being a part of his blood, Shadow is more akin to him than he thinks, to a point that he later claims that he and Shadow are "one and the same".^[26]

Black Doom constantly follows Shadow throughout his invasion of Earth, trying to get Shadow to see what he believed to be the truth about humanity and that they needed to be punished. Even after Shadow opposes him several times, Black Doom still insists on trying to get Shadow to join him, turn on humanity and see things his way. He even persists to do so as they fight in their final bout well after his plans have gone into action, suggesting Black Doom really did have a genuine attachment to Shadow. Black Doom sought to open Shadow's eyes to their wrong doings in order to get him to realize humanity deserved to be punished for their terrible nature and selfishness, something he does even to the bitter end during their final bout. He even tried to put Shadow on his side by playing with what was left of Shadow's painful memories of losing Maria. Regardless of the path taken during the incident, Shadow defeats Black Doom and destroys Black Comet along with Black Arms.

While Doom claims to have Shadow's best interest at heart, he does not care for him at all and is only interested in his power. He often tried to manipulate Shadow in order to turn him against humanity, but this caused Shadow to see Black Doom as his ultimate enemy in the end. Doom sees Shadow as his gateway to the Chaos Emeralds and his unusual skills would make him a great addition to the army. Doom often used Shadow to do tasks that would give him an advantage, such as destroying the humans' data servers so information could no longer be transferred among the humans, awakening dormant temples to be used as weapons, and even attempting to assassinate the president.

Throughout the events of the Black Arms incident, Black Doom threatens Shadow and demands extreme loyalty and respect without compassion, even when it helps. Nor does he tolerate any type of error or failure, no matter how difficult Shadow's task may be. In the end, Shadow refused to help him and decided to put an end to his biological father and his "offspring" after learning of his true plans.

Friends/allies

• Black Arms

Neutral

• Time Eater

Enemies

• Amy Rose
• Eggman Empire
  • Dr. Eggman
• Gerald Robotnik
• Guardian Units of Nations
  • Commander Abraham Tower
• Knuckles the Echidna
• Maria Robotnik
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• President
• Rouge the Bat
• Shadow the Hedgehog (biological son)
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Team Chaotix
  • Charmy Bee
  • Espio the Chameleon
  • Vector the Crocodile

In other media

Animation

Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings

In Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings's first episode, Shadow and Maria, Black Doom briefly appears nearing the end of Shadow's nightmare where his eyes open up and his three-fingered clawed hands reach out for Shadow as he's descending into a void. He also indirectly references Black Doom when speculating whether he survived when reflecting on the nightmare. In the bonus ending of the third episode, To the ARK, Black Doom was indirectly alluded to when Shadow mentions needing to stop a threat within the ARK, as well as by Commander Abraham Tower when explaining that he would have helped Shadow if he asked due to knowing he defeated the Black Arms earlier. In the compiled series, Black Doom makes an appearance in the post-credits scene where he opens his eyes within the ARK.

Books and comics

Archie Comics

Main articles: Black Doom (Archie) and Black Doom (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Black Doom worked with Professor Gerald Robotnik to create Shadow the Hedgehog for his own hidden agenda of conquering Mobius. However, when the time for Doom's return came, the Black Arms ran afoul with a rival group of conquering aliens, the Xorda which they engaged in a galactic war.

In the reality created by the Super Genesis Wave, Black Doom and the Black Arms made their return trip to Sonic's World and were destroyed by Shadow the Hedgehog. In the event of his death though, Black Doom left behind a successor named Black Death to finish a conquest on another planet; as such, the Black Arms endured under Black Death, who made plans to return to Sonic's World to finish what Black Doom started.

Quotes

Trivia

• Black Doom's Japanese voice actor, Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, previously provided the voice of Big Landman in Sonic Team's 1998 video game Burning Rangers.
• When Black Doom first appeared in Shadow the Hedgehog, each time he spoke, it was as though his voice was being projected out via telepathy; in Shadow Generations, however, the area of his face where his mouth would be actually moves when he speaks (similar to Mephiles), and likewise, in his Devil Doom and Neo Devil Doom forms, his mandibles actually move in sync with his voice.
• Black Doom (as Devil Doom) is the first, and only, villain Super Shadow battles and defeats on his own.
• Black Doom, and likely the rest of the Black Arms, do not know what lightning is. During the thunderstorm segment of Sky Troops, Doom's Eye will see the lightning strikes in the distance and comment, "What is that massive electric shock? Is it an attack from one of the battleships?"
• Black Doom bears a resemblance to Wizeman from NiGHTS, another Sonic Team franchise. Both characters share a "blood relation" to their respective protagonists, wear similar clothing, and lack legs. The two also share a similar power, in that Black Doom can send his third eye to watch people, whereas Wizeman uses one of his many hands, which have eyes in the palms. Maybe not coincidentally, both the NiGHTS series and Shadow the Hedgehog were directed by Takashi Iizuka.
• Some theorize that Black Doom was based on the Devil from Christianity, as both are prideful beings with fire powers and massive horns as well as a black and red color scheme, try to tempt a good soul to evil with varying degrees of success and with his true form being a multi-headed dragon monster called Devil Doom who falls from the heavens upon defeat.
  • Furthermore, the pact between Black Doom and Gerald is comparable to a deal with the Devil as Gerald gets what he wants out of the deal, but in the process is lead to ruin as the creation of Shadow ultimately brought upon the death Maria, his sole motivation for taking on the project. The similarity is even acknowledged by Gerald himself in Shadow Generations where he describes the deal as "Faustian.", the Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia, even calls it a "deal with the Devil."

Notes

References

Sonic the Hedgehog characters

• Heroes
• Antiheroes
• Villains
• Miscellaneous
• Groups

Sonic the Hedgehog

Miles "Tails" Prower

Knuckles the Echidna

Amy Rose

Vector the Crocodile

Espio the Chameleon

Charmy Bee

Big the Cat

Cream the Rabbit

Cheese

Blaze the Cat

Silver the Hedgehog

Mighty the Armadillo

Ray the Flying Squirrel

Trip the Sungazer

E-102 Gamma

Tikal

Omochao

Vanilla the Rabbit

Chocola

Emerl

Gemerl

Princess Elise

Shahra

Marine the Raccoon

Chip

Caliburn

Sir Lancelot

Sir Gawain

Sir Percival

Yacker

Mother Wisp

Sticks the Badger

Avatar

Barry the Quokka

Ariem

Shadow the Hedgehog

Rouge the Bat

E-123 Omega

Chaos

Chaos Gamma

Commander Abraham Tower

Jet the Hawk

Wave the Swallow

Storm the Albatross

Bean the Dynamite

Bark the Polar Bear

Merlina the Wizard

Shade the Echidna

Dr. Eggman

Metal Sonic

Orbot

Cubot

Silver Sonic

Mecha Sonic

Mecha Sonic Mk. II

Eggrobo

Fang the Hunter

Witchcart

Carrottia

Hocke-Wulf

Bearanger

Great Battle Kukku

Battle Kukku XVI

Dr. Fukurokov

Tails Doll

Metal Knuckles

Pachacamac

E-101 Beta

E-103 Delta

E-104 Epsilon

E-105 Zeta

E-100 ZERO

King Boom Boo

Biolizard

Mecha Knuckles

E-121 Phi

Guard Robo

Black Doom

Doom's Eye

Shadow Android

Eggman Nega

E-10000R

Babylon Guardian

Mephiles the Dark

Iblis

Solaris

SCR-HD

Metal Sonic 3.0

Captain Whisker

Johnny

Mini & Mum

Ifrit

Imperator Ix

Erazor Djinn

Captain Bemoth

Dark Gaia

SA-55

King Arthur

Time Eater

Zavok

Zazz

Zomom

Master Zik

Zeena

Zor

Heavy King

Heavy Gunner

Heavy Shinobi

Heavy Magician

Heavy Rider

Jimmy

Infinite

The End

Mirage Express

Black Dragon

Metal Tails

Metal Trip

Metal Amy

Froggy

Gerald Robotnik

Maria Robotnik

President

Secretary

Breeze

Heavy the Robot

Bomb

Honey the Cat

Birdie

Lumina Flowlight

Void

Illumina

Shadow Chao

Tabby

Colonel

Kylok

Daikun

Gardon

Norman

Professor Pickle

Su

Uh

King Shahryar

Ali Baba

Sinbad the Sailor

Nimue

Blacksmith

Sir Galahad

Sir Lamorak

Dodon Pa

Fox Bullies

Sage

Giganto

Wyvern

Knight

Supreme

Crane

Dragon

Snake

Tiger

Master King

Elder

Conductor

Conductor's wife

Professor Victoria

Team Sonic

Team Dark

Team Rose

Team Chaotix

Badnik

Eggman Empire

Chao

Chaotix Detective Agency

Animals

Flicky

Pocky

Ricky

Rocky

Cucky

Picky

Pecky

Master Robots

Knuckles Clan

E-Series

E-100 Series

Guardian Units of Nations

Beetle Series

Hawk Series

Hornet Series

Hunter Series

Rhino Series

Artificial Chaos

Pawn Series

Black Arms

Juggler Series

HEXAeco

Battle Kukku Empire

Babylon Rogues

MeteorTech

Coconut Crew

Djinn

Townsperson

Knights of the Round Table

Knights of the Underworld

Nocturnus Clan

Gizoid

Kron

N'rrgal

Voxai

Zoah

Humans

Gaia Temple guardians

Egg Fighter Series

Dark Gaia's Minions

Wisp

Deadly Six

Hard Boiled Heavies

Phantom Heavies

Jackal Squad

Eggman Army

Phantom Copy

Resistance

Team Vector

Team Eggman

Ancients

Koco

Elder Koco

Hermit Koco

Guardians

Titans

Defensive weapons

Master Koco

Metal Fighter

Egg Pawn Rangers