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What's With All The Jokes About Shadow Saying 'I Love Latinas'? The 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Meme And Fan Art Trend Explained
The internet has been on a Latin American meme kick the last couple of years — from Brazilian Miku to Brazilian Sadako, now, Sonic fans are getting in the mix.
A bunch of them are convinced that Shadow the Hedgehog has a thing for Latinas. Honestly? He does give off that "mysterious guy at the reggaeton club" energy.
The joke took off after TikTok animations of Shadow professing his love for Latina women went viral in 2023, and fans ran with it, even pointing out that Rouge the Bat is kind of Latina-coded.
Is this canon? No. Should it be? Absolutely. Let’s break down how "Shadow Loves Latinas" became the internet’s favorite new Sonic meme.
Where Did The Jokes About Shadow 'Loving Latinas' Come From?
TikToker @tyller._ is widely credited for starting the rumor that Shadow the Hedgehog is obsessed with Latina women. Back in May 2023, he enlisted the help of voice actor @odetari to make a series of animations in which Shadow very enthusiastically expressed his adoration for brown women.
The videos have gathered millions of views since and kicked off the Shadow Loves Latinas trend the following year.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7230511538103258374
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7234505799098273067
How Did 'Shadow Loves Latinas' Jokes Spread?
In July 2023, X user @KookieStar_22 posted an image of Shadow from the animated Sonic Prime show, with the subtitle edited to read, "I just love Latinas, Sonic."
On July 14th, 2023, voice actor Jehtt posted an edit of a scene from the Sonic Prime animated series based on the joke, with Sonic asking Shadow about the purpose of his trip to Mexico and Shadow replying, "I just love Latinas, Sonic." The video gathered over 4.3 million views on YouTube and 3.1 million views on Twitter in one year.
How Did The 'Shadow Loves Latinas' Joke Go Viral Online?
The popularity of memes like Brazilian Miku and Brazilian Sadako in late August 2024 led to renewed fan art efforts that paired Shadow with various brown-skinned women, as seen in an August 30th, 2024, post by X user @AbstractPurple, which shows an imagined Discord interaction between the Miku and Shadow, gathering over 24,000 reposts and 267,000 likes in one week.
Memes and jokes about Shadow loving Latinas continued to gain traction online in subsequent months, showing Shadow being a Passport Bro, cozying up to South American pop culture icons or straight up admitting to his obsession on his deathbed.
For the full history of Shadow Loves Latinas, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
