Maria Robotnik

The granddaughter of Professor Gerald Robotnik, and a cousin of Dr. Eggman. Living on the Space Colony ARK with her grandfather during his work on Project Shadow, Maria became friends with the Professor's creation, Shadow the Hedgehog (as well as the young GUN Commander). She was killed during the GUN assault on the ARK 50 years before Sonic's time; in her last seconds she saved Shadow from GUN troopers by jettisoning him from the space station in an escape pod. Shadow made a promise to her to bring hope to humanity and give humans a chance to be happy.

Despite some mental sidetracking, Shadow fulfilled that promise not once but twice, defeating the global threats of Finalhazard and later Devil Doom.

(Source: Sonic Retro)