Editing Maria Robotnik (section)

==History==
===Past===
It has been implied that Maria comes from a long line of brilliant scientists.<ref>[[Backbone Entertainment]], [[Sega Studio USA]] (24 November 2006). ''[[Sonic Rivals]]''. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: [[Meteor Base Zone]] ([[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]]'s version). "'''[[Eggman Nega]]''': Heh heh heh... I'm here to change my destiny! I come from a long line of brilliant scientists, but that lineage was disrupted with Dr. Eggman's failures!"</ref> She was born on Earth, and when she was young she traveled to [[Spagonia]] with her family.<ref>[[Shadow Generations]]. Area: [[White Space]]. '''Maria:''' "The food on the ARK is okay, but I really miss the cooking on Earth. Before I got sick, I went to Spagonia with my family. The food there was amazing! Have [[Shadow the Hedgehog|you]] found a favorite food? All I've ever seen you have is coffee."</ref> Sometime after, Maria contracted the incurable and fatal disease [[Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome]] (NIDS).<ref>[[Gerald Robotnik's Journal]] entry #428.</ref> As a result of this, her grandfather [[Gerald Robotnik]] brought her aboard the ARK in order to try and develop a cure for her illness.<ref>[[Gerald Robotnik's Journal]] entry #428.</ref> Due to her illness, which left her frail and weak, Maria needed constant attention, which meant she could not leave the ARK's hospital, leaving her confined in space.<ref name="SA2Guide" /> Additionally, her condition was only mitigated by the low gravity onboard the ARK, further confining her to the station.<ref name="ESI">{{Cite book|first1=Ian|last1=Flynn|last2=[[Sega]]|title=[[Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia]]|publisher=[[Dark Horse Books]]|date=8 December 2021|page= 119|isbn=978-1506719276|quote=Maria Robotnik - A loving and generous girl suffering from NIDS (Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome). She lived aboard the ARK so that the low gravity would keep her condition in remission.}}</ref> Despite getting medical help, Maria only grew weaker over time. While looking down at the earth from the ARK, Maria developed an interest in it and longed to return home.<ref name="SA2Guide" />

Onboard the ARK, Maria was looked after and cared for by her grandfather.<ref name="SA2Guide" /> Maria came to mean everything to Gerald,<ref name="diary">[[Sega Studio USA|Sonic Team USA]] (23 June 2001). ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]''. [[Dreamcast]]. [[Sega]]. Cutscene: Last Story. "'''[[Gerald Robotnik|Gerald]]''': I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me! And I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything!"</ref> and the two of them would work and live together onboard the ARK.<ref name="SC">[[Wikipedia:BioWare|BioWare]] (30 September 2008). ''[[Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood]]''. [[Nintendo DS]]. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: Codex. "'''[[Gerald Robotnik|Prof. Gerald Robotnik]] entry''': His most remarkable creation was the Space Colony ARK, where he lived and worked with his granddaughter."</ref> Maria also befriended a young boy named [[Abraham Tower|Abe]] whom she would play with.

[[File:SandM.png|thumb|left|225px|Maria and [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]] watching the [[earth]] together, from ''[[Sonic Adventure 2: Battle]]''.]]
In an attempt to save Maria's life, Gerald, who was the greatest scientific mind of his time, agreed to work on [[Project Shadow]], a government project for creating an immortal life form. The reason for this was that Gerald believed that he could make a cure for Maria's illness with the creature they sought to make.<ref name="SA2Guide" /><ref name="SA2J">{{Cite book|publisher=Enterbrain|date=10 October 2001|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205100113/http://sonichq.mobiusforum.net/newsite/news/index.php/id.54|chapter=５０年前の真実"|title=ソニックアドベンチャー2パーフェクトガイド|language=Japanese|isbn=978-4757706255|accessdate=5 February 2007}}</ref><ref name="SC" /> Gerald's research eventually led to the creation of [[Shadow the Hedgehog]], an immortal and powerful creature, who received a soul identical to Maria's.<ref name="SB">[[Sonic Team]] (27 February 2004). ''[[Sonic Battle]]''. [[Game Boy Advance]]. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: [[Gimme Shelter]]. "'''[[Rouge the Bat|Rouge]]''': He was not interested in researching weapons. He was researching a way to bring happiness and hope to all people. But, he was forced by the government and by the military to use his research for war. That's why he gave you and Gizoid a "soul." A soul identical to his beloved granddaughter, Maria."</ref> Maria eventually befriended Shadow and they grew very close to each other. While raised together,<ref name="SA2Guide" /><ref name="SegaA" /> Maria remained by Shadow's side and they would spend their time together gazing down upon the earth from the ARK's control room, wondering what the planet was like and wishing to visit it. At one point, she encountered Shadow looking at a [[Death Leech]]. After hearing the black hedgehog express a degree of self-loathing due to essentially being created from the [[Black Arms]] DNA, Maria assured him that he possessed a heart and that he'll eventually find people who he can care for.<ref>''[[Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings]]'' Episode 2: "[[Finding the Way]]"</ref> At another point, Maria saw the events of the aurora borealis and hurriedly had Shadow come with her to see its beauty. Because she in her excitement ended up over-exerting herself, she had a brief fainting spell from her NIDS condition. Afterwards, Maria and Shadow had a short discussion of living on Earth. She also comforted Shadow when he expressed frustration at how, despite being created to cure maladies, they still hadn't found progress to curing Maria yet. Maria assured her friend that she was nevertheless happy to spend time with him. However, Shadow and Maria then witnessed the violent escape of another of Gerald's research projects, [[Emerl|the Gizoid]], as well as it heading directly for Gerald Robotnik's laboratory, prompting her to request Shadow to save her grandfather. Shadow then vowed to save Gerald and return in one piece.<ref>''[[Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings]]'' Episode 1: "[[Shadow and Maria]]"</ref>

When the [[Artificial Chaos]] went on a rampage onboard the Space Colony ARK, Maria sought out Shadow to help save the ARK. Shadow complied with Maria's wishes, saying that he would do anything to protect her and the ARK, and the Artificial Chaos crisis was soon after averted by the combined forces of Shadow and G.U.N..<ref>[[Sonic Team]] (15 November 2005). ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]''. [[Nintendo GameCube]]. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: [[Lost Impact]].</ref> 

When the government began growing suspicious about Project Shadow, Gerald prepared a contingency video for Shadow where he told the black hedgehog about Project Shadow's imminent shutdown and about how he was meant to defeat the [[Black Arms]], an evil alien race who helped create Shadow, with the [[Eclipse Cannon]] when they returned in fifty years to conquer earth. During the recording, Maria joined her grandfather and promised to help Shadow protect the planet alongside him.

Sometime after the completion of Project Shadow,<ref name="SC" /> Maria's peaceful existence was shattered when [[Guardian Units of Nations|G.U.N.]] attacked the Space Colony ARK to eliminate everything and everyone related to the project, as the military had come to believe that Project Shadow was too dangerous. Meeting up with her grandfather during the attack, Maria was entrusted with Shadow by Gerald, who told her to escape the ARK with Shadow in some escape capsules.<ref name="SA2J" /> While Gerald distracted G.U.N., Maria and Shadow tried to escape the raid,<ref name="SA2J" /> but Maria was unwilling to leave the other researchers in the captivity of G.U.N. and pleaded Shadow to help them.<ref name="The Doom">[[Sonic Team]] (15 November 2005). ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]''. [[Nintendo GameCube]]. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: [[The Doom]].</ref> After Shadow had made his decision, he and Maria continued onward, but were attacked by a [[Heavy Dog]] on their way to the escape capsules. Fortunately, Shadow defeated the Heavy Dog, allowing him and Maria to resume their escape.<ref name="The Doom" />

[[File:Shadow Generations Shadow's Flashback 2.jpg|thumb|225px|right|Maria making her request to [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]], from ''[[Shadow Generations]]''.]]
Eventually, Maria and Shadow got to the ARK's escape pods in the research center. There, Maria saved Shadow by initiating his escape pod's launch with him in it. However, the G.U.N. soldiers were right behind them, and Maria ended up being mortally wounded by a G.U.N. Soldier's gunshot. With her last strength, before saying goodbye, Maria asked Shadow to protect the world for her sake and give everyone a chance to be happy, just as the black hedgehog was jettisoned from the ARK. Afterwards, as Maria perished, her last words were "Bring hope to humanity."<ref name="Journal">[[Sonic Team]] (27 February 2004). ''[[Sonic Battle]]''. [[Game Boy Advance]]. [[Sega]]. Area/Level: [[Prof. Gerald's Journal]] [[Prof. Gerald's Journal#Journal 7|#7]]. "My beloved granddaughter... They tell me her parting words were, 'Bring hope to humanity.'"</ref>

===Legacy===
{{Quote left|[[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]], I beg of you! Give [[Earth|them]] a chance to be happy!|Maria Robotnik, ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]''|file = QuotMariaRobotnik.ogg}}
Maria's death was an event that had a huge impact on the friends and family of the young girl, strongly influencing several conflicts that would determine the fate of the world. [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]], who witnessed Maria's death first-hand, was traumatized by this sight and came to loathe humanity for what they did. [[Commander Abraham Tower|Abe]] (who later became the commander of [[Guardian Units of Nations]]) also suffered a deep loss, as Maria was like a sister to him, which made him develop a life-long grudge against both [[Gerald Robotnik|Gerald]] and Shadow for their perceived role in her demise. However, none was more affected by Maria's death than her grandfather, Gerald, who went mad with grief and made a plan to destroy the world to avenge her by having the [[Space Colony ARK]] collide with the earth once all seven [[Chaos Emerald]]s was inserted into the [[Eclipse Cannon]]. To ensure his plan's success, the professor brainwashed Shadow, twisting his memory of Maria's last request so that Shadow would be motivated to seek revenge at the human race.<ref name="SC" /> Before he went insane though, Gerald made Maria's last words the keywords that would activate [[Emerl]]'s free-willed emotion-based A.I.<ref name="Journal" /> It has also been implied that the moments leading to Maria's demise were a partial motivating factor behind Shadow rushing to rescue Rouge the Bat from dying in Prison Island's destruction after she was caught in a similar situation.

Contemporaneously, Maria was allegedly seen in a very positive light amongst the people, even after her death. This sparked some jealously from her cousin, [[Doctor Eggman|Ivo]], who, despite never actually meeting her in person, appeared to dislike her because of her being seen as someone very special despite having died, leading to him not getting much attention from relatives. However, during the [[Starfall Islands]] [[Sonic Frontiers|incident]], over fifty years after Maria's death, Ivo, now having become the infamous Dr. Eggman, would wonder if she was much like his own "daughter", [[Sage]].<ref>''[[Sonic Frontiers]]''</ref>

Maria's last request for Shadow to protect the world and its people would be a driving force in the hedgehog's life, which Shadow made the promise to keep despite his loathing of humanity. When Shadow was reawakened nearly fifty years later though, he sought to avenge Maria's death (due to Gerald manipulating his memories)<ref name="SC" /> by destroying the human race. It was not until the eleventh hour that Shadow remembered Maria's dying wish, and he aided [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] and his allies in stopping the very plan he had set into motion, seemingly sacrificing his life in the process. Shadow survived his ordeal only to lose his memories, with the exception of a disturbing image of Maria being shot. When the Black Arms invaded and set Shadow out to rediscover his purpose, [[Black Doom]] would use Maria's demise at the hands of the humans to sway Shadow to his side. Fortunately, Shadow learned of his true purpose from a final video message from Maria and Gerald, which gave him the motivation needed to obliterate the Black Arms.

Currently, Shadow strives to keep his promise to Maria,<ref name="SegaA">{{Cite web|author=[[Sega/Sega of America|Sega of America]]|publisher=[[Sega]]|url=http://www.sega.com/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050305082053/http://www.sega.com:80/sonic/globalsonic/post_allabout.php?article=soniccharacters|accessdate=26 October 2017|archivedate=5 March 2005|title=Shadow|quote=Maria, who was raised with Shadow and was Shadow's only friend, died in front of his very eyes; her final wish was that Shadow save the world. Saving the world from what is a secret only Shadow knows. Traumatized by the grief of her death, Shadow remains strong enough to keep the promise he made to her.}}</ref> which has made him save the world multiple times.

====''Shadow Generations''====
Maria, along with Gerald, was pulled from a time before their deaths by the [[Time Eater]] and stranded in [[White Space]]. At one point, Maria saw Shadow on the other side of White Space and tried to get to him, but her grandfather stopped her. Later, after Shadow completed [[Sunset Heights (Shadow Generations)|Sunset Heights]], he heard someone scream. Maria was seen being chased by three [[Black Warrior]]s that were trying to kill her, but she was saved by Shadow. Upon being saved, she reunited with a surprised Shadow, who was shocked to see her and her grandfather again. After Shadow lost the [[Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Generations)|rival match]] to the likes of a [[Sonic the Hedgehog|blue hedgehog]], Maria commented on how nice Sonic seemed. When Black Doom came and proclaimed that Shadow would be his servant, Maria replied that the black hedgehog would never serve Black Doom and that they were nothing alike. Afterwards, when Shadow began to be corrupted by [[Doom Powers|his powers]] and his anger towards Black Doom, Maria calmed him down and revealed the reason why she named him "Shadow": without light there is only darkness, but a shadow guides the way to the light. Later, Maria encouraged Shadow before he went to face [[Devil Doom (Shadow Generations)|Devil Doom]]. 

After the defeat of [[Neo Devil Doom]], Maria and Gerald began to return to their own time. A frantic Shadow attempted to stop [[Rouge the Bat|Rouge]] and use [[Chaos Control]] to freeze them in time, but Maria stopped Shadow and reminded him that his friends needed his help. She told Shadow that she would see him again and that she would always be in Shadow's heart. Though overcome by emotion, Shadow reluctantly left, shedding a tear, and Maria returned to the past with her grandfather.