Robotropolis

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Robotropolis, sometimes known as Mobotropolis, is a location appearing in many pieces of Sonic media, most notably in DiC's Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground animated series, Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series and in Studio Pierrot's Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (where it is known as Eggmanland in Japan).

Commonly depicted as a dark and dangerous industrial city, it serves the role of Dr. Robotnik's base of operations in most of its appearances.

Conceptual history

Early SatAM concept art of Robotropolis, featuring a large, robotic bat.

Robotropolis was originally conveived by Len Janson, Bruce Shelly and Reed Shelly in 1992 for the SatAM series Bible. Said Bible contains a monologue written from the perspective of Sonic the Hedgehog, where he describes it as Robotnik's scary, dark, dirty and ugly city full of polluting factories and junkyards that's constantly growing larger, likening it to the environments of the 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner. He also explains the city's origins before Robotnik, disclosing that Robotropolis, formerly known as Mobotropolis, was once an eco-friendly city full of tall buildings, recreational venues, restaurants and vegetation, all while being powered entirely by renewable energy.Media:SonicTH-SatAM Revised Bible 1992-03-11.pdf

While most subsequent depictions of the location are based on this description at least partially, the idea that the dystopian city of Robotropolis had formerly been a utopian city of Mobotropolis is notably absent from certain incarnations. Notably, neither Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie do anything to imply that the city had ever been anything other than Robotropolis. Conversely, Archie Comics writer Ian Flynn has explained that Mobotropolis had never been turned into Robotropolis in the comic series' rebooted continuity, first introduced in issue #252.

Appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

Robotropolis as seen in "Harmonic Sonic".

In SatAM, Robotropolis is a dark, industrial city on the planet Mobius, located by a bay connected to a sea. Formerly a technologically advanced city known as Mobotropolis, it was populated by animals who lived in harmony with nature. The city's transformation into Robotropolis began when its ruler, King Acorn, was banished into a dimension known as the Void by Dr. Robotnik, the leader of the city's War Ministry. Subsequently, Robotnik took control of the city, used a roboticizer taken from Sir Charles Hedgehog to transform 85 percent of its population into robot workers and used an aircraft known as the Destroyer to both wipe out all flora in the city as well as transform its buildings into industrial facilities.

Mobotropolis as seen in the SatAM opening.

Mobotropolis was characterized by its light-colored buildings, futuristic architecture, ubiquitous water features and an overwhelming amount of greenery. Notable landmarks included the ziggurat-like Royal Palace, Palace Fountain, Sir Charles Hedgehog's laboratory and a chili dog kiosk. What appears to be the structure of an elevated railway can also be seen in the episode "Blast to the Past (Part 1)".

Robotropolis, on the other hand, is abundant with dark, metallic edifices, including factories and power plants. Other types of structures include large pipes, junkyards and prison facilities. Due to excessive pollution, the skies over Robotropolis are always dark, with little sunlight making it through the smog. Under the city is an extensive network of tunnels that even Robotnik isn't fully aware of.

Robotropolis' most notable landmark is Robotnik's egg-shaped headquarters, which was converted from the former Royal Palace. The headquarters acts as the residence of Robotnik and Snively and houses the war room where the two humans operate from.

Seemingly no organic beings live in Robotropolis aside from Robotnik and Snively, with most of the inhabitants being either SWATbots, Surveillance Orbs, Tech-Bots or robot workers. While the other robot models are constructed in factories, the robot workers are the city's former animal residents, roboticized and enslaved by Robotnik. They mainly work in logistics and maintenance in and around Robotropolis.

Like many other aspects of the series, Robotropolis' appearance slightly differs from its depiction in the rest of the series in "Heads or Tails", the pilot episode. In the episode, the city's smoggy skies appear yellow rather than dark blue, there are a lot more facilities with active smoke stacks and Robotnik's headquarters is depicted as a gaunt tower structure rather than an egg-shaped citadel.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comics)

In Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, Robotropolis had many similarities with its SatAM counterpart, although many aspects of the city were also narratively expanded upon.

History

A large city on the continent of Northamer, it was initially founded as Mobotropolis by Alexander Acorn. The first multcultural city on planet Mobius, it served as the capital of the Kingdom of Acorn until the year 3220, when Overlander forces managed to briefly take control of the city during the Great War.

After the war's conclusion, the House of Acorn's rule over the city was once again interrupted by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who conquered the Kingdom of Acorn for himself and ruled over the now rechristened Robotropolis for the next ten years. While control of the city briefly returned to King Maximillian Acorn in 3235, it was eventually conquered by Robo-Robotnik, an incarnation of Robotnik from an another dimension who later became known as Dr. Eggman. He would rule over the city until its eventual unintentional destruction at the hands of G.U.N., after which its radioactive ruins were converted into a power source for New Mobotropolis.

In the altered timeline created by the Super Genesis Wave, Mobotropolis was located in Royal Hills Zone on Westside Island. The city had been ruled over by King Nigel Acorn until Dr. Eggman's conquest of it during the Eggman Invasion. King Nigel was eventually restored to power thanks to the efforts of the Freedom Fighters.

Description

As seen in Sonic the Hedgehog issue #71, Mobotropolis originally resembled many real life medieval cities from Europe and the Middle East, being defined by its brick buildings, onion domes, ornate roof finials, flagpoles, stained glass windows and large amounts of foliage. Located at the very center of the city was Castle Acorn. As time progressed, Mobotropolis remained in a pre-industrial state, as using the fossil fuels required to power advanced technology didn't align with the Mobian philosophy of conserving nature.

Following the Golden Age of the Kingdom of Acorn brought about by Power Ring technolgy, Mobotropolis grew into a bustling metropolis, while still remaining unreilant on advanced technology. This incarnation of the city was full of tall, sleek buildings embroidered with terraces, gardens and water features, resembling its depiction in SatAM.

As Robotropolis, the city's appearance has varied throughout its appearances in the comic series. In early issues, commonly in ones penciled by Scott Shaw and Dave Manak, Robotropolis was usually portrayed as a conglomeration of contemporary factories, power plants and warehouse buildings, with the ground being muddy and covered with litter. In this depiction of Robotropolis, many buildings and devices were labeled "Robotnik Inc.", while Dr. Robotnik himself was usually seen operating out of a ground-level office with a work desk and a large window.

In later stories penciled by Patrick Spaziante, Art Mawhinney, Ken Penders and Manny Galan, the city's depictions were much more in line with the sci-fi aesthetic of SatAM's Robotropolis, albeit sometimes more colorful in comparison to the dark, metallic hues as seen in SatAM. This sudden shift into more faithful depiction of Robotropolis was likely due to Penders receiving SatAM reference material around the time when he was working on issues #47-#50.

At the center of Robotropolis was Robotnik's headquarters, a large egg-shaped building converted from the former Castle Acorn. Many other buildings of the former Mobotropolis, such as the Mobotropolis Library and Uncle Chuck's chili dog kiosk were simply abandoned instead. The city was sometimes portrayed as being located next to a body of water, presumably Lake Alice, and according to a sign located outside of the city, its population was 4,286,720 robots, one evil doctor and zero living beings.

In the re-established Mobotropolis following the First Robotnik War, most of Robotnik's buildings were repurposed, such as his headquarters becoming Castle Acorn again. All of the polluting factories were shut down, the damage caused by the Ultimate Annihilator's destruction was repaired, trees were planted on sidewalks, the old Mobotropolis Library was found and new businesses, such as Deer John's, were opened.

From the beginning of the Second Robotnik War up until its destruction, the city was once again known as Robotropolis and resembling its SatAM incarnation, although propaganda posters and accommodation for the group of Overlanders who were briefly staying there was added. After the city was destroyed by a nuclear strike, it was covered by a force field that prevented the radioactive fallout from spreading beyond its perimeters.

In the rebooted continuity following the Super Genesis Wave, Mobotropolis largely resembled New Mobotropolis, being a radial city surrounded by a wall with Castle Acorn in the center.

Gallery

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  Robotropolis as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog issue #34.

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  The original Mobotropolis as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.

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  The restored Mobotropolis as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog issue #68.

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  The ruins of Robotropolis as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog issue #207.

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  The Post-Super Genesis Wave timeline's Mobotropolis as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog issue #256.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Robotropolis makes its only appearance in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog in the special Sonic Christmas Blast.

Sonic Underground

In series Sonic Underground, the former ruler of Mobotropolis had been Sonic's mother, Queen Aleena Hedgehog. The city in this cartoon was attacked and conquered by Robotnik, and the queen fled the city. Sonic himself, along with his siblings Manic and Sonia, were heirs to the throne, and fated to one day form a council of four with their mother and take back control of Mobius.

In look and design, Robotropolis in Sonic Underground is exactly like it was in "SatAM"; however, the Robotropolis in Sonic Underground is still inhabited by Mobians, possessing a run-down slum for the underclasses and more upscale areas for the aristocratic elite.

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

In Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, Robotropolis is the massive techno-city constructed by Robotnik in the Land of Darkness and is near or is in a post-apocalyptic city which resembles New York City, called Ancient Ruins. In the original Japanese version Mobotropolis is not referred to and the name for the city is Eggmanland. It was changed to Robotropolis in the English dubbed version to tie it in with the American continuity.