The main enemies in Nier Replicant, Shades are mysterious shadowy creatures that cannot withstand the sunlight for too long. Creatures of the dark, Shadows are the constant enemies of the game. Players get to slash through hundreds of them before even understanding what they are. They come in various shapes and sizes and sometimes carry weapons.
Most shades are humanoids that loosely resemble humans. Some Shades take the form of a known animal but in giant proportions. Others are large beasts that are more like a monster than anything that has ever existed on earth. Either way, the more players go through the game, the more is learned about shades. In the end, they are a surprisingly interesting part of the lore.
10 Most Humans Voluntarily Turned Into Shades
Due to the illness known as the White Chlorination Syndrome, all humans were turning into salt. Upon researching science and magic, the solution that the governments came up with was to separate the people from their bodies before they would die. That way, they could save the souls of the remaining humans.
The humans were not forced into becoming gestalts. They did so by accepting the government's idea and using the grimoires to turn into this incorporeal entity until their artificial bodies, the replicants, were ready to take them back.
9 They Are Not Always Human
There is no way to know if there was any other case in the game that was similar to this one. Roc, one of the most interesting bosses of the game, is not a shade that takes the shape of a wolf. Roc is an actual wolf who went through the Gestalt procedure instead of his owner.
Roc is actually kind and wants wolves and men to get along. Unfortunately, his pack is mostly slaughtered by Replicants. This causes him and the pack to lash at the replicant tribe who did it and murder Fyra during the attack.
8 Shades Can Combine Into A Bigger Shade
Shades are generally small creatures but there are some who become scarily large. Gigantic creatures with monstrous shapes that might withstand even sunlight. Not all shades relapsed, therefore there are many that maintain their consciousness. At least as many as there are Replicants out there who are not affected by the Black Scrawl disease.
A good example of it is Goose, who is a combination of many baby Gestalts and their parents. This makes the game much darker once you get to know what the shades are.
7 Shades Might Not Always Be Crazy
This is a piece of information that only those who go through the game a second time will have. Shades do not always relapse. Meaning, many of them still have their consciousness and feelings. They can get scared, they can feel protective, they can be happy, and they can even sad.
It seems that combining into a huge boar and becoming Goose was a way that a shade thought to be the easiest to keep smaller shades safe. Another sign of humanity in the shades is how Gretel suffers alone after the death of Hansel.
6 Death Of Shades Cause Black Scrawl
The end of the game is one of those shocking moments for those who paid attention to all details. That is because the Black Scrawl disease is not a disease at all. It is an issue caused in a Replicants body due to the lack of a Gestalt for the recollection of data. Meaning, Replicants who do not have a Gestalt, or whose Gestalt has relapsed, will die from the Black Scrawl disease.
This also means that each time Nier kills a Gestalt, he is making sure that one more Replicant will die from the Black Scrawl disease. This applies to himself too since he kills the Shadowlord. And since all shades will relapse without the Shadowlord, Nier caused the end of his kind while trying to save his sister.
5 Shades Have A Good Reason To Fight Replicants
Gestalts were a state in which humans intended to transition through but it was never meant to be their permanent state. Replicants were not meant to have any consciousness. They were meant to fight off the Legion and serve as empty bodies to where the Gestalts would eventually return.
Upon regaining consciousness, the Replicants were dooming humanity to their current incorporeal state. Since they were created as bodies to the humans who were currently Gestalts, humanity just wanted their bodies back.
4 Many Of Them Were Pacific
If players pay attention to the very beginning of the game, they'll notice that the shades are not even hostile. Nier is the one initiating the aggression. Gretel and Hansel were also only guarding Grimoire Weiss, they did not go out of their way to fight Nier and the other replicants.
Upon knowing that many of the shades were not hostile, Nier's journey as a hero is becomes something entirely different. Nier is in fact a fool that commits genocide out of ignorance in order to save his sister.
3 They can bleed
Although the Gestalts are basically souls that were separated from their bodies, they can die. This is an odd characteristic of the shades that cannot be explained in any way that really makes sense. However, it has an explanation tied to the lore which is as good of a reason as we will ever get for this.
It seems that when they are hit, the bodies of the shades somehow try to return to their human state. And that, for some reason, causes them to actually be hurt and eventually die if they keep getting hit.
2 They Can Possess Replicants
At least to some extent, the shades can take over a replicant's body. Or sometimes, it can take over part of someone's body. The total take over is only seen when Gestalt Yonah takes over the body of Replicant Yonah at the end of the game. That only happens after the interference of the Shadowlord.
The other example only happens one replicant throughout the game. When Kainé is about to die, Tyrann offers to save her under some conditions. When she accepts, he becomes her missing limbs, but eventually tries to take over her body.
1 They Can Be Trapped In Inanimate Objects
Some Gestalts show up with weapons and armors, others look just like armor. Gretel and Hansel might have taken over an inanimate object in order to serve as guardians. In their case, it seems that it was done voluntarily. It is not always the case.
A total of 13 kids were forced to fight each other by Hamelin Organization. The winner had his Gestalt separated from his body and then trapped into a Grimoire. He becomes who we know in the game as Grimoire Weiss.