The Shadows is the name given to an ancient race who were among the oldest of the First Ones. The name "Shadows" was given to them by the younger races as their actual name is unknown, though it is said to be over 10,000 letters long and unpronounceable by any of the younger races.
Biology[]
The Shadows are insectoid hexapeds that resemble a cross between an Earth spider and praying mantis with a small triangular head and seven pairs of pinpoint eyes in two stacked rows (3 above, 4 below.) Externally, they're colored in shades of dark purple and black and possess the ability to cloak themselves from most visible wavelengths. They can however sometimes be seen as figures of static in the upper end of the infrared spectrum.
Shadows, like Vorlons, have evolved into beings of energy, but unlike them prefer to assume material form.
Shadow speech sounds like a dynamic screeching that can be understood by their thralls, servants, and allies through implants.
Technology[]
The Shadows use organic technology in virtually everything. Their ships resembled huge black spiders and are simply referred to as Shadow Vessels. Capable of phasing in and out of hyperspace without using jumpgates or any known form of Jump point, they require a living sentient being as the central processing unit for their ships; humans have been used for this purpose. They have powerful beam weapons, are capable of de-stabilizing jump points of enemy ships, and can launch shadow fighter squadrons.
The Shadows are also capable of tying their technologies directly into the mind and the body. They can make a person say or do what they want. By 2262 AoL, it was also discovered that they could control alien ships by remote. They used black pods, probably some kind of organic war computer, to navigate the ship, destroy targets and deal with any opposition.
All Shadow tech can be disrupted by telepathic activity. This resulted in the Shadows eliminating some telepaths from the population of some worlds, as with the Narns. The Vorlons realizing this created telepaths on many different worlds to be used in the next war. In an attempt to correct this weakness, the Shadows, with help of the Psi Corps, were given telepaths which they adjusted with neural devices in order to fight for them. However, it seems that this was ineffectual since Sheridan, with the help of Bester, got to them first. This allowed the telepaths to be used against their ships very effectively. While, after allying with the Alliance of Unrelenting Darkness, the Shadows had access to AoUD PsiTech to counter this, telepaths can still, although more limitedly, disrupt Shadow ships.