Red Shadows

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The last remnants of the Arashikage ninja clan, the highly trained Red Shadows serve as Storm Shadow's personal army and the foot soldiers of Baron Ironblood's anti-Cybertronian alliance. Already formidable opponents on their own terms, exposure to biological augmentations, cybernetic enhancements, and, more recently, alien technology have pushed the ninjas past the limits of peak human ability.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Following his near-death at the hands of the Dire Wraiths, General Joe Colton as "Baron Ironblood" began recruiting various supervillains from across the world, preparing for a genocidal attack on Cybertron itself. Ironblood won the loyalty of Storm Shadow and her legions by promising to use the extraterrestrial Talisman to upgrade the cyborg ninjas far in advance of human technology. Redcliffe Club The Shadows were promised further upgrades after Cybertron had been conquered. Hitting the Big Time

With the now-transhuman Red Shadows now firmly under Colton's control, the ninjas were deployed to scavenge supplies for the abandoned Section Sabine moonbase, which had become Ironblood's new command center. Enter the Shadow One such group encountered G.I. Joe in Tokyo; though their mechanical enhancements were sufficient to resist the Joes' weapons, they were convinced to stand down when G.I. Joe deployed the ace in their sleeve: Skywarp. G.I. Joe vol. 5 #1

When Action Man was accidentally brought to Section Sabine, Storm Shadow and the Red Shadows were present, and pursued him through the base when he tried to escape. Several more tried to impede Kup when he broke into the base, but were merely sucked into the vacuum. Those that survived the initial onslaught used their new biological implants to battle the Micronauts, Garrison Blackrock, and Mayday, but evacuated the base when its supply of Ore-13 was destabilized.

More Red Shadows joined Ironblood when the villain himself launched an attack on Blackrock's Onyx facility in Buenos Aires, battling against Robert Savage. When Eagles Scream

A group of Red Shadows engaged Skywarp, dragging the ex-Decepticon to his knees. Mayday exploited another's Dire Wraith limb to act as an improvised bungee cord to allow her to reach a lower level of the tower, the Red Shadow falling to their demise as a result. The surviving Red Shadows were teleported out by the M.A.S.S. Device and bore witness to Joe Colton's declaration that it was time to take the fight to Cybertron. Ghost in the Machine

Not long afterwards, the Red Shadows formed the backbone of Ironblood's attack on Cybertron itself; smuggling themselves inside M.A.S.K.-enhanced robotic shells, they disguised themselves as Cybertronian civilians before the shells opened to disgorge legions of ninja. First Strike #1 The Dire Wraith-like biology that the Talisman had bestowed upon the Red Shadows was detected by the Solstar Order, who placed Cybertron under quarantine as a result. First Strike #2

As Colton's group delved deeper into Metroplex, he set up a trap of Red Shadows. Sunstreaker's squad triggered this trap but the yellow Autobot managed to evade them and catch up with the human invaders only to be shot into stasis. First Strike #4 A second Red Shadow trap was set up in Cybertron's underground but Optimus Prime and Scarlett's team managed to best them. First Strike #5

During Unicron's attack on Earth, some Red Shadows joined forces with Predaking and Sly Rax to fend off the Maximals besieging Venice. Ceremony

Notes

• The Red Shadows are the IDW interpretation of the villains of the Action Force franchise, the UK equivalent of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Rather than ninjas, the original Red Shadows were a paramilitary force who eventually became Cobra. Baron Ironblood leading this version of the Red Shadows also hearkens back to their original counterparts.