Maria is the Granddaughter of the late Gerald Robotnik and the closest friend of Shadow the Hedgehog. Born with a rare disease known as NIDS, Maria was taken on board the Space Colony ARK by Gerald in an attempt to develop a cure. Gerald eventually came up with the idea to create a life form that was immune to all forms of disease so he could reverse engineer a cure. After many attempts, Shadow the Hedgehog was created. Maria took a shine to Shadow as soon as she met him, even coming up with his name. She formed a very strong bond with the Hedgehog and became his best friend. Maria took it upon herself to teach Shadow about the intricacies of life and the world down below. Having grown up on the ARK, Maria always dreamed of living on Earth which often upset her due to her inability to leave the ARK. This all culminated on the day the ARK was raided, Shadow tried his best to escort Maria to safety at all costs, but the girl was gunned down in front of him. She used her dying breaths to get Shadow off the ARK, making him promise to protect the world she never got to see.