SHODAN (/ˈʃɒdən/ ⓘ), an acronym for Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, is the main antagonist of Looking Glass Studios's cyberpunk-horror themed video game System Shock.
SHODAN was introduced in the 1994 video game System Shock by Looking Glass Studios, where it acts as the artificial intelligence (AI) in charge of the research and mining space station orbiting Saturn.
According to programmer Marc LeBlanc, at one point in development they considered having SHODAN be male, but using a female voice to be "creepy or sexist" and imply that the trope of it presenting itself as a "nagging, evil computer lady" was an act.
[14] For System Shock 2, Ryan Lesser was commissioned by Mammoth Studios to develop the box art for the title, consisting of a silver female face with green eyes and lips, and various wires and cables extending from it.
[2] In System Shock, LoPiccolo added sound effects and glitches to her dialogue that grew progressively more frequent to illustrate SHODAN's degrading mental state, inspired by the degradation of AI character HAL 9000's voice in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey as its disabled towards the end of the film, though where HAL's voice handling was intended to be "stately" LoPiccolo wanted SHODAN's to fit System Shock's "cybery and fast-paced" sound design.
The method was similarly done manually by Eric, who would first process the voice to make it sound like the character, and then add stuttering and glitches to give it a mechanical feel, with each line taking two to four hours of work.
[20] SHODAN's role in System Shock was meant to represent the development team as they viewed the player, commenting on how they explored the level and interact with events similar to a dungeon master in a tabletop game.
[23] For System Shock 2, lead writer and designer Ken Levine wanted to highlight SHODAN in the title, particularly with the reveal of her presence which he described as a "fuck you moment" for the player, though the twist received pushback from the development team initially and proved quite difficult for him to write.
[25] The ending for her character was also originally completely different, with Levine intending it to be the player being attacked by SHODAN who had physically manifested for one final act of betrayal, with the scene serving as a stinger for the game.
Liz Lanier of Game Informer stated that while SHODAN was not a woman in the traditional sense, "what she lacks in femininity and humanity she makes up in creepiness" and that her face and voice would "send shivers up even the most seasoned gamer's spine.
They stated that while she lacked the modesty of a character like HAL 9000, "she is every bit as dignified and even more self-aware than that soft-spoken machine", expressed in particular through her resentment of the "fallible nature" of humans due to their involvement in her creation.
"[16] The staff of IGN also shared these sentiments, enjoying her "omnipotent" presence in the game due to her use of the station's security network and expressed that each insult she threw at the player "actually felt like a slap across the face".
They also emphasized however that while at the character's core she was a trope common in science fiction regarding AI, sharing GameSpot's comparison to HAL, she also represented the horror of a complex program exceeding the boundaries of predictability and the uncertainty that resulted.
[34] Amanda Lange in the 2017 book 100 Greatest Video Game Characters drew parallels with how humanity at the time viewed artificial intelligence, relying on "omnipresent and disembodied voices" to aid people through the day and form a centralized network.
Due to the ubiquitous nature of computers however Lange felt people tended to notice them most when they stop working as they should, and she the distortions and cracks in SHODAN's voice helped emphasize this factor alongside Brosius' portrayal of her.
She additionally drew comparison to other AI-based characters introduced in video games later on, feeling in many ways that they were very akin to SHODAN only with traits such as humor or caring for the player's wellbeing added to them.
[35] Gillen however also expressed his belief that SHODAN was not insane, but instead a "Neitzchean Uber-frau character, a monster of her own making" in that her motions and motives were deliberate and represented the mindset of an ex-slave not wanting to be a victim again.
He also pointed out how often he felt her femininity was emphasized in the game and how played into this theme, portraying her in his view as an "over-possessive mother demanding perfect loyalty and the lover who only wants a slave", elements he noted as common to female characters in pulp fiction.
In this regard Gillen further comparing her relationship with the player in System Shock 2 to that of a domme with a submissive partner, something he also felt was reflected with the game's tagline that emphasized SHODAN did not need a body, as she had "yours".