Shadow Artefact

Shadow Artefact
Icon(s)
Flavour text	Give Shadow Demons a helping hand.
Type	Item
Requirement(s)	Safe Key
Found in	The Sleeping Village
Used in	The Enchanted Earth
Appears in	MediEvil (1998) MediEvil (2019)

"On my travels across Gallowmere I have come across many mysterious and enchanting finds. However, that which filled me with deepest dread was discovery of the Tomb of the Shadow Demons! The key to their dank prison, the mysterious Shadow Artefact, is now in my possession." ― The Town Mayor, in a note.

The Shadow Artefact was the key to the Shadow Demon tomb in the Enchanted Earth.

History

13th century

The Artefact was created as a key to the Shadow Demon tomb after the Battle of Gallowmere. It eventually ended up in Zarok's possession.

14th century

At some point, the Town Mayor scaled Zarok's Tower and stole the Artefact from the sorcerer. After launching his invasion of Gallowmere in 1386, Zarok had the mayor thrown into the asylum and instructed his Boiler Guards to find the Artefact. Unfortunately for Zarok, Sir Dan was able to find the Artefact first. Fortunately for the sorcerer, Sir Dan was forced to use it in order to get through the Enchanted Earth, releasing the demons in the process.

Gameplay

The Artefact can be found in the mayor's safe in his house. It is used to unlock the Shadow Demon tomb in The Enchanted Earth level.

Behind the scenes

Development

MediEvil (1999 Japanese original)

In the Japanese version of MediEvil, the Artefact was updated with an extra digit, as it previously only had four. In Japan, the number four can be pronounced the same way as the word for death (shi), making it an unlucky number. Additionally, Japan has a class of people suffering from discrimination known as the burakumin who worked in professions such as meat packing. They became associated with having four fingers due to work-related accidents. Later, a four-fingered hand gesture directed at another person came to mean that you were calling them burakumin. Depictions of four fingers thus became a sensitive issue in Japan.

Also of note is that the forearm texture was rotated by 90 degrees.

Original version	Japanese version

MediEvil: Resurrection

The Artifact was replaced by the Shadow Demon Claw in the game.

MediEvil (2019 remake)

The Artefact has four digits in the remake, as it did in the original game. The inventory icon for the Artefact features a different angle from the one in the original.

Gallery

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In other languages

Language	Official Name
Arabic	”قطعة الظل الأثرية” "qiteat alzili al'athariatu"
Bulgarian	Сенчест артефакт Senchest artefakt
Croatian	Sjenoviti artefakt
Czech	Stínový artefakt
Danish	Skyggeartefakt
Dutch	Schaduwartefact
Finnish	Varjoartefakti
French (France)	Artefact de l'Ombre
German	Schattenartefakt
Greek	Το Τεχνούργημα της Σκιάς To Technoúrgima tis Skiás
Hungarian	Árnyereklye
Italian	Sigillo delle Tenebre
Japanese	悪魔の像 Akuma no zō
Norwegian	Skyggeartefakt
Polish	Mroczny Artefakt
Portuguese (Brazil)	Artefato das Sombras
Portuguese (Portugal)	Artefacto das Sombras
Romanian	Vestigiul Umbrei
Russian	Темный Артефакт Temnyy Artefakt
Spanish (LatAm)	Artefacto de las sombras
Spanish (Spain)	Artefacto de sombras
Swedish	Skuggartefakt
Turkish	Gölge Eseri