[5] Erin Bozon's initial inspiration for the character was the TV show I Dream of Jeannie, while Matt's subsequent work on the character and her universe were based on Ranma ½, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water or Hayao Miyazaki's films, as he was introduced to Japanese animation around that time while studying at CalArts.

[10] By 1997, Shantae's design was still not completely locked, as she sported brown hair, didn't wear earrings but wore golden bracelets, and had different proportions.

[11] By the year 2000, Matt Bozon had locked the final proportions and her ultimate graphical style, adding earrings and replacing the bracelets with wrist guards,[5] and coloring her hair into her signature purple.

Various experiments were done to make her feel more kid-like and heroic, but feedback was mixed, which led to reverting to a look closer to her original one, but with the clothing alterations kept.

[14] In the first game, Shantae is described as a half-genie, the offspring of a human father and Guardian Genie mother whom she never met, as they disappeared when she was only a baby.

[6] By the end of the game, she has come to terms with her nature and is relieved to hear from Mayor Scuttlebutt that the fact she is not a full genie does not matter, since she proved her worth by stopping Risky.

Shantae rescues the half-genies, defeats the Sirens' leader and receives a journal filled with messages from the Guardian Genies, including her mother.

Matt Bozon stood by Shantae, believing that she "had to exist" to see "if there was an audience reaching back", although, after the game's commercial failure, he later acknowledged that publishers probably "genuinely knew their markets".

[25][26][27] Michael Rougeau for Complex included Shantae in his list of the greatest heroines in video game history in 2013, declaring that "there's [...] something about the half-genie girl".

[9] In 2017, Robert Workman of Comicbook.com named Shantae in his list of the greatest video game heroines, having some reservations about her sexy design, but claiming that "there's no question that this genie has had no trouble making players' wishes come true".

[28] Daniel Alvarez for TheGamer.com called Shantae a "famous Half-Genie Hero herself", describing her as "the undisputed queen of indie characters".