Espade

Espade is the het ship between Espio and Shade from the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom.

Canon
Espio serves as an intelligent ninja warrior and member of the Team Chaotix Detective Agency. Shade is an agent, spy, and the lead member of the Marauder forces.

As Espio does not appear in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood or its comic adaptation, Shade's only appearances, the two have never met. Due to Ken Penders’ lawsuit against Sega and Shade’s similarities to Julie-Su, it is unlikely Shade will appear again, meaning Espio and Shade will most likely never meet.

The closest mutual associate of the two is likely Knuckles the Echidna. Knuckles and Shade had a close friendship in Sonic Chronicles after she joined forces with Sonic and his friends. Knuckles was originally a member of the Chaotix, and as such, could team up with him in Knuckles’ Chaotix. They also made their debut in games where Sonic and Tails also appear; although in Espio’s case, both hedgehog and fox appeared for a brief time in the aforementioned Knuckles’ Chaotix for the chameleon’s “classic” design, but as major characters in Sonic Heroes for modern.

Both characters have a couple attributes in common. Both are serious, intelligent, stealthy fighters: Espio is a ninja with the ability to turn invisible, while Shade is highly trained in the arts of stealth due to being a former Nocturnus Clan spy. They also specialize or otherwise use weapons for combat: Espio with a kunai, and Shade with Nocturnus Clan's high-tech weaponry.

Fanon
This ship is considered a rare-pairing in the Sonic fandom, being less popular for both characters compared to rival ships like Espionia and Knuxade. It has yet to have a tag on fan-fiction websites like Archive on Our Own.

On DeviantArt, content of the pairing exists, but it is rare. User LonelyChocolatChip has created ship art of Espade. Another fan-art by missplayer depicts both characters in Samurai Jack attire, with the chameleon cosplaying as the titular character, and Shade as Ashi in a black suit. A stamp of the pairing has been made by knightspeed199, who has made stamps for some Sonic pairings, but it has been deleted. However another Deviantart user, ShizukanaMono, has made a few stamps for the ship.

The common traits of stealthy-ness, intellect, and use of gear might have what motivated some to ship this pairing.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Espio/Shade tag on FanFiction.Net

DEVIANTART