Editing The Shadow (section)

=== Background ===

In the print adventures, The Shadow is '''Kent Allard''', although his [[secret identity|real name]] is not revealed until ''The Shadow Unmasks'' (1937). Early stories explain he was once a famed aviator who fought for the [[French Third Republic|French]] during [[World War I]], known by the alias the "Black Eagle" according to one character in ''The Shadow's Shadow'' (1933). Later stories revised this alias as the "Dark Eagle", beginning with ''The Shadow Unmasks''. After the war's conclusion, Allard finds a new challenge in waging war on criminals. Allard falsifies his death by crash landing his plane in [[Guatemala]], encountering the indigenous "Xinca tribe" as a result, who see him as a supernatural being and provide him with two loyal aides. Allard returns to the United States and takes residence in [[History of New York City (1898–1945)#1920s to 1940|New York City]], adopting numerous identities to acquire valuable information and conceal his true nature, and recruiting a variety of agents to aid his war on crime, only a few of whom are aware of his other identities.

As the vigilante called The Shadow, Allard hunts down and often violently confronts criminals, armed with Colt .45 pistols and sometimes using magician tricks to convince his prey that he's supernatural. One such trick is “The Devil's Whisper”, a chemical compound on the thumb and forefinger, causing a flash of bright flame and sharp explosion when he snaps his fingers. The Shadow is also known for wearing a girasol ring with a purple stone (sometimes depicted as a red stone in cover artwork), given to Allard by the Czar of Russia (''The Romanoff Jewels'', 1932) during World War I. The ring is later said to be one of two rings made with gemstones taken from the eyes of an idol made by the Xinca tribe (''The Shadow Unmasks,'' 1937).

The Shadow's best known alter ego is '''Lamont Cranston''', a "wealthy young man-about-town". In the pulps, Cranston is a separate character, a rich playboy who travels the world while The Shadow uses his identity and resources in New York (''The Shadow Laughs'', 1931). The Shadow's disguise as Cranston works well because the two men resemble each other (''Dictator of Crime'', 1941). In their first meeting, The Shadow threatens Cranston, saying that unless the playboy agrees to allow the aviator to use his identity when he is abroad, then Allard will simply take over the man's identity entirely, having already made arrangements to begin the process, including switching signatures on various documents. Although alarmed at first, the real Lamont Cranston agrees, deciding that sharing his resources and identity is better than losing both entirely. The two men sometimes meet afterward in order to impersonate each other (''Crime over Miami'', 1940). As Cranston, The Shadow often attends the Cobalt Club, an exclusive restaurant and lounge catering to the wealthy, and associates with [[New York City Police Commissioner]] Ralph Weston.

The Shadow's other disguises include: businessman '''Henry Arnaud''', who like Cranston is a real person whose identity Allard simply assumes at times, as revealed in Arnaud's first appearance ''The Black Master'' (March 1, 1932); elderly '''Isaac Twambley''', who first appears in ''No Time for Murder'' (December 1944); and '''Fritz''', an old, seemingly slow-witted, uncommunicative janitor who works at police headquarters, listening in on conversations and examining recovered evidence, first appearing in ''[[The Living Shadow]]'' (April 1931).

In ''Teeth of the Dragon'' and later stories including ''The Golden Pagoda'', The Shadow is known in Chinatown as '''Ying Ko''', often fighting the criminal [[Tong (organization)|Tong]].

In the 2015 [[Altus Press]] novel ''The Sinister Shadow'' by [[Will Murray]], The Shadow masquerades as celebrated criminologist '''George Clarendon''' of [[Chicago]], a past member of the Cobalt Club and long-time friend of [[New York City Police Commissioner|Commissioner]] Weston.

For the first half of The Shadow's tenure in the pulps, his past and true identity (outside of his Cranston disguise) are ambiguous. In ''The Living Shadow'', a thug claiming to have seen the Shadow's face recalls seeing "a piece of white that looked like a bandage". In ''The Black Master'' and ''The Shadow's Shadow'', the villains of both stories see The Shadow's true face and remark the vigilante is a man of many faces with no face of his own. It was not until the August 1937 issue, ''The Shadow Unmasks'', that The Shadow's real name was revealed.

In the radio drama series that premiered in 1937, the Allard [[secret identity]] and backstory were dropped for simplicity's sake. The radio incarnation of The Shadow is really and only '''Lamont Cranston''' with no other regular cover identities, though he does adopt disguises and short-term aliases during some adventures. The radio version of Cranston travels the world to "learn the old mysteries that modern science has not yet rediscovered" ("Death House Rescue" in 1937). Along with learning skills and knowledge in Europe, Africa, and Asia, he spends time training with a Yogi priest, "Keeper of the Temple of Cobras", in [[Delhi]] and learns how to read thoughts and hypnotize people enough to "cloud" their minds, making himself invisible to them (as revealed in the episode "The Temple Bells of Neban" in 1937). He explicitly states in several episodes that his talents are not magic but based on science. Returning to New York, he decides he can best aid the police and his city by operating outside the law as an invisible vigilante. He is somewhat less ruthless and more compassionate than the pulp incarnation, and without the vast network of agents and operatives. Only cab driver/chauffeur Shrevvy makes regular appearances on the radio series, but the character is different from his print counterpart. Commissioner Weston and a few other supporting characters from the print stories also are adapted to radio.