The Shadows were an ancient race that stayed behind when the other "Fist Ones" passed beyond the rim. They stayed behind to over see and care for the younger races, as Lorien had done for them. In the duty of "Care Taker", the Shadows worked with another race, the Vorlons. The Vorlons disagreed on how to best help the younger races, thus war began millions of years ago. The Shadow's asked the question "What do you want", and believed that chaos and conflict was the only way to encourage growth and evolution. Recently, the Shadows have passed beyond the rim, with the other First-Ones.

The Shadows have been a space faring people (i.e. Hyperspace capable) since around 100 million B.C. The Shadows come from a, long dead, planet called Z'Ha'Dum. Amazingly, they appear to physically exist phased somewhere between "real space" and first level "Hyperspace". They seem to be telepathic as well as having some type of telekinetic powers.

Shadows Ships
Planetkiller
The Shadow Planetkiller is not really a ship, it works more as pure weapon. It is composed of a cloud of particles (presumably nano-technology) and huge missiles. When attacking a planet, the cloud surrounds it, devouring the atmosphere and everything in it, while thousands and thousands of missiles are lauched towards the surface. These missiles drill down into the surface and explode, gradually tearing the planet apart. The cloud can also be effective against ships, where the cloud particles attach themselves and disable vital ship systems. Nothing else is known about this peculiar weapon.

Mothership
The Shadow Motherships are incredibly powerful ships, only rivaled in power by Vorlon ships. They resemble huge black spiders, with 10 spines sticking out on each side. The ships seem to be organic in nature. Shadow Motherships are extremely maneuverable for ships of their size, they appear to be at least 1 km wide between the farthest "spine"-tips. The weapon of choice is an extremely powerful beam weapon that easily slices through most ships and space stations. They can also launch jump-point de-stabilizers, destroying ships that attempt to escape. The Motherships also carry many Shadow fighters that can be launched together. The Shadow Motherships enter and exit hyperspace by "phasing" in and out of normal space, a more advanced and faster method than using jump-points. This "phasing" is often mistaken for "cloaking", which it is not.

Scout
The Shadow Scout is a small ship, although much larger than a Shadow Fighter. While it does not have a very powerful weapon, it is very maneuverable. The Scout is used for scouting out an area before a Shadow attack. It can phase in and out of hyperspace.

Fighter
The Shadow Fighter is, like the Mothership, based on advanced organic technology. It is very maneuverable, and its overall length appears to be 30-40 meters. It appears to have only one weapon, a "ball" of energy that it shoots out of the frontal opening. As the Fighter fires, it expands and contracts, earning its nickname "Spitfire". A Shadow Fighter can also phase in and out of hyperspace on its own.

The Shadows!