Set in the fictional world of Sequin Land, the series follows Shantae, a half-genie who serves as the guardian of her hometown, Scuttle Town, and more generally Sequin Land as a whole, protecting it from various threats, which generally involve to some extent her nemesis, the pirate Risky Boots.

In 1994, during their engagement, Erin got a flash of inspiration while coming back from her camp counsellor days, and created the character, naming her "Shantae" after one of the campers, as well as developing her dancing abilities.

[3] Matt also elaborated a bit on the development of Sky's character, who was initially named "Twitch" and had a different appearance.

[3] Voiced by: Meagan Glaser (Risky's Revenge), Cristina Vee (all other appearances) Shantae is a half-genie, the daughter of a human father and genie mother.

[8] Voiced by: Karen Strassman Sky is Shantae's friend, a war bird trainer and the daughter of a Relic Hunter.

Voiced by: Nathan Sharp (Half-Genie Hero), Ross O'Donovan (Seven Sirens) Bolo is Shantae's friend and sparring partner.

Voiced by: Cherami Leigh Rottytops is a sentient zombie girl who is described as being mischievous and constantly getting others into trouble for fun.

Voiced by: Cristina Vee Risky Boots the lady-pirate is Shantae's evil nemesis and the series' primary antagonist.

She constantly seeks to conquer Sequin Land or take revenge on Shantae for ruining her schemes.

Risky is aided by her pirate crew, made up of tiny humanoid creatures called Tinkerbats.

The game was re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on July 18, 2013, with a Nintendo Switch re-release releasing later on April 22, 2021, with a special Game Boy Advance-enhanced mode, featuring a bonus Tinkerbat transformation and save states, multiple display options, control improvements, and a mini art gallery.

The second game in the series, Shantae: Risky's Revenge, was released for the Nintendo DSi via the system's DSiWare service in 2010, and was later ported to iOS in 2011.

In the early 2000s, WayForward experimented with protoyping a 3D Shantae game for the GameCube, but these plans were set aside in favor of focusing on a handheld sequel.

[49][50] Shantae was planned to be featured as a playable supporting character in the crowdfunded game Indivisible, but was later canceled.

[51] A set of cosmetics based on Shantae and Risky Boots was released as free downloadable content for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night in 2024.

These include a line of Charagumin model kits from Volks, and a Nendoroid figure from Good Smile Company.