User:Kung Fu Man/SHODAN

Critical reception

Liz Lanier of Game Informer named SHODAN one of the best female villains in video games, stating that while she 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." The sentiment was shared by the staff of IGN, who praised her "ominiponent" 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."

The staff of GameSpot praised how "she seems to be one step ahead of you all the while and taunts you every step of the way" in System Shock, and felt the tight-corridor based environment of the game was one ideal for her. Comparing her to 2001: A Space Oddyssey's rogue AI HAL 9000, they stated that while she may lack HAL's modesty, "she is every bit as dignified and even more self-aware than that soft-spoken machine". In particular, they felt SHODAN was conscious she was made by human hands, and that she held resentment in particular towards their involvement in her creation due to their "fallible nature".