Dr. Eggman
From Sonic Retro
- "Robotnik" redirects here. Maybe you were looking for Gerald Robotnik (Ivo Robotnik's grandfather) or Maria Robotnik (Ivo Robotnik's cousin).
In Sonic the Hedgehog video games, Doctor Eggman, or, technically, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, is the archnemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog. His character designer is Naoto Ohshima.
Contents
Personality and Main Details
Dr. Eggman, the grandson of Prof. Gerald Robotnik, is an evil genius with an I.Q. of 300 and a very childish demeanor. He always tries to take over the world by enslaving the population inside robots to serve his every whim. Of course, Sonic and his friends are always there to stop him. He is 6 feet tall, and weighs 281.6 lbs.
According to the Sonic Heroes booklet, he is "a romanticist, feminist, and self-professed gentleman."
In appearance he is obese, possessing an egg-shaped body. Despite this, he is actually somewhat athletic to a certain degree, as seen in Sonic Adventure 2s Chao Garden stages. Sometimes he is portrayed with long spindly arms and legs and sometimes with shorter, stumpier limbs. He tends to almost exclusively wear combinations of red, black and/or yellow, and is often depicted with tinted, round pince-nez spectacles. In other (non-canonical) depictions his eyes are either black with red, glowing pupils or are replaced entirely with camera lenses. His trademark mustache is always depicted, but the color is either red or brown, depending on the depiction.
He has designed and built several airships, such as the Egg Carrier and a space station called the Death Egg. He has also designed and built countless robots, a number of which resemble either himself or his longtime rival, Sonic. It is suggested that in the 'original' Sonic the Hedgehog games, he build his creations individually by hand - however, since adopting a 'quantity over quantity' theme regarding his creations since Sonic Heroes, it is assumed that his robot armies are built automatically or mass-produced to his own designs, leaving himself free to create larger, more impressive creations.
Unlike many other video game villains, in most of the Sonic games Eggman appears as the boss of every level, in a different machine each time. Most games only feature the main villain as the boss in the final stage.
He was one of the suggestions for the hero in the game that would eventually be called Sonic the Hedgehog. However, the blue hedgehog was won the in-house design contest and Eggman had to settle for villain.
Eggman's name may have been inspired by The Beatles' "I am the Walrus" (I am the eggman, they are the eggmen). His look, in particular his facial appearance, was most likely inspired by U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt.
Creations
Eggman's Mobile
As the vastness of Dr. Eggman's mechanical kingdom requires omnipresence to maintain a tight control, Eggman's Mobile (also known as the Eggmobile in the Sonic Adventure Sound Test, or the Egg-O-Matic in US comics and cartoons) allows the doctor to cruise around his factories in a speedy fashion. The small hovering craft has a very distinct egg-like shape with a small circular lamp on the front, and can be fitted with a seemingly endless amount of gadgetry. Not only does the doctor use it as his mode of transportation but also as the cockpit of even larger doomsday devices. When these are destroyed, Eggman and his mobile will inevitably emerge unscathed from the fires.
Badniks
- Main article: Badniks
The helpless animals that inhabit the islands of Sonic's world are usually the first to fall victim to Dr. Eggman diabolical schemes, as the evil doctor will gather them in large droves to be transformed into his loyal worker drones. The badniks are most often used to build Eggman's weaponry, such as the Death Egg space station, but they play a more visible role as the enemies Sonic encounters on his quest to defeat the evil doctor. These badniks come in all sizes and shapes, usually accommodated to the particular environment of the zone in which they appear. A simple bump to the head of each robot is enough to free the animal inside of it.
It should be noted however that not all badniks contain animals. Some of them are invincible to Sonic's attacks and detonate by means of self-destruct (most famously the Bomb robots from Star Light Zone and the Astrobots from Metropolis Zone). Others were created as more intelligent mechanics to oversee the construction of Eggman's facilities and posses a personality of their own. Most prominently these include the Badnik duo Heavy and Bomb, first seen in Knuckles' Chaotix.
Since Sonic Adventure, Badniks have often been abandoned in favor of Eggman's E-Series units. In Sonic Heroes it appears that the Eggpawns have replaced the Badniks as Eggman's main infantry units. Eggman still uses the Eggpawns in Shadow the Hedgehog and variations of them in Sonic Rush.
Egg robots
The doctor's Eggman-shaped robots have evolved throughout the series, first appearing in Sonic & Knuckles as the simple but numerous Egg-Bots or Eggrobos. Soon after, Eggman followed up with more lethal incarnations that could think for themselves -- the E-Series Robots. Notable E-Series Robots include E-101 Beta, E-102 Gamma, E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, E-105 Zeta, E-121 Phi and E-123 Omega.
Gamma was forced by Eggman to defeat his brother Beta, who was theoretically his superior. Seeing Beta's desire to be useful Eggman let him in on the operation but ridiculed him as "spare parts". After an encounter with Amy Rose, and his accidental witnessing of Beta being taken apart and remade, Gamma decided to free the animals imprisoned in all of Eggman's robots, including the ones inside the E-Series. Beta was actively reengineered and modified in the meantime. Gamma, having destroyed all the other robots and freed the animals inside, went on to have a final showdown with Beta, going into battle with one thought in mind: he too has an animal imprisoned inside.
Omega, on the other hand, is a prototype robot which Eggman quickly dumped after he began work on the next line of robots, the E-2000. Infuriated by this, Omega joined Team Dark with Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat in Sonic Heroes.
Phi is a grey robot that looks similar to Emerl (Sonic Battle). He looks very different to the other E-series robots because of this. There are 14 versions of him who all have different attacks (i.e. Phi #1 has Sonic's attacks while Phi #14 has Rouge's attacks). At the end of the game they are all destroyed by Emerl.
In Sonic Heroes, Dr. Eggman ditched the animal-powered Badnik designs and, in their place, started developing Eggman-resembling grunts simply called Eggpawns. These had no animals inside and had rather poor intelligence and stamina, but they usually attacked in groups to make up for their lack of fighting power. Eggman continues to use the Eggpawn model in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Rush and may do the same in future games. It should also be noted that in Sonic CD and bonus stages of Sonic Advance 3 his robots contain flower seeds instead of animals, but in Knuckles' Chaotix and normal stages of Sonic Advance 3 they contain Rings.
Sonic robots
- Main article: Metal Sonic
Robotnik, aside from the huge mechas and robots he builds in his likeness, also seems to enjoy trying to make robot Sonic knock-offs to pit against his rival. His first attempt was called the Roller, which was in the Spring Yard Zone of Sonic 1. Overall, they were a failure since they could only roll and Sonic could destroy them very easily. Mecha Sonic was his second attempt and featured as the penultimate boss of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Mecha Sonic was an improvement over the Roller, but was still a dismal failure due to the fact that it was the total opposite of the original -- slow, unwieldy, big, and stupid. In Sonic & Knuckles it was later upgraded with a much sleeker and more aggressive design, and it was also faster and able to fly. It returns as the boss of the Sky Sanctuary Zone on three different occasions. Sonic thought he had defeated it in the Sky Sanctuary Zone of Angel Island, but it later reappeared and fought Knuckles. Mecha Sonic got hold of the Master Emerald and attacked Knuckles as Super Mecha Sonic, but, not being able to absorb the Emerald into its being, needed to constantly recharge his power. Knuckles soon managed to defeat it during these recharge lapses.
Eggman's most successful and persistent Sonic copy to date is Metal Sonic. He made his first appearance in Sonic CD to capture Amy Rose and race Sonic on the Stardust Speedway. Unlike the previous attempts, Metal Sonic was built with a sleek form built for speed. Metal Sonic, after his first defeat at the hands of Sonic, went on to harass the Chaotix, where he was able to turn into a huge, red, Godzilla-sized version of himself via the Chaos Rings and wreak havoc for a while, until he was defeated once again. Since then, he's been seen around participating in any kind of racing or fighting Sonic joins in, in hopes of defeating him one day. In Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic impersonates Eggman in an attempt to copy the Sonic Heroes' DNA and finally put an end to their rivalry, once and for all.
In Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman created an army of android versions of the titular character. The design of the Shadow androids was much more similar to their source material than Metal's design was to Sonic, to the point where they were mostly indiscernible from the genuine article. Eggman attempted to use this to his advantage, claiming that Shadow himself was an android too, but later admitted to lying near the very end of the game.
Eggman has also built robot copies of other characters, such as Metal Knuckles and Tails Doll.
Eggman's bases
Throughout the games Dr. Eggman has had several bases to plan his evil schemes. All of them were inevitably destroyed by Sonic and his allies, much to Eggman's dismay. With each game he has a new base up and running, filled to the brim with traps, enemies, and the egghead himself.
Set in the Mystic Ruins, this base was Eggman's sanctuary when the Egg Carrier was grounded. Sonic had to fight his way through several traps, spike-balls, badniks, and pitfalls. At the center of the base Eggman was ready to fight in the Egg Viper, but even this didn't stop Sonic from defeating him and dismantling the place. Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic can be seen in stasis capsules in the base.
Eggman's new base was an ancient pyramid re-modeled with machinery and computers. This base did not have much variety in enemy types, with only E-series robots, a bomb bot, a fire bot and his robot monkeys. This base was abandoned by Eggman in favor of Space Colony ARK. This base is older than anyone could have guessed, because the pillar in the centre of the base has "E-01" near the top of it.
- Space Colony ARK (Sonic Adventure 2)
The ARK was Eggman's base for the rest of the game. It held the weapon of his ultimate plan: The Eclipse Cannon. But when the ARK was sent on a crash course to Earth, Eggman had no choice but to team up with Sonic and co. to stop the countdown. The ARK is also seen in the game Shadow the Hedgehog. There are research experiments that resemble Chaos in some of the stages.
The name game
In various continuities, Eggman has been known by several names. In the Japanese games, he has always been known simply as "Dr. Eggman". In all the Sonic games released in America and Europe up to Sonic Adventure, however, he was known as Dr. Ivo Robotnik. "Robotnik" is a Polish word meaning "worker" that was the root of the word robot, first used in Rossum's Universal Robots. Coincidently, "robotnik" is also a Czech work meaning "villain".
Fleetway's Sonic the Comic and other European continuities claimed that his full name was, in fact, "Dr. Ivo Robotnik", but that he had once been called "Dr. Ovi Kintobor" (Dr. Ivo Robotnik spelled backwards, and also incorporating an egg reference) before an accident made him an evil mastermind. The Archie comics and SatAM storylines had his family surname be Kintobor, as Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo. He rechristened himself Robotnik when he staged his coup d'etat and seized control of Mobius (although he donned the facade of a loyal and righteous being while serving King Acorn, he had always been evil). In these continuities, Sonic and his friends referred to Robotnik by a number of unflattering nicknames, including "Ro-butt-nik", and sometimes just, "Butt-nik". The first name of "Ivo" might refer to DC Comics supervillain and Justice League enemy Professor Ivo, the creator of Amazo, another DC villain.
In Sonic Adventure, however, Sega began a process of getting the American and European gaming communities used to the Japanese name, Dr. Eggman. Initially, both names were used, and he referred to himself as Robotnik while others called him Eggman. In later games, and also in the dub of Sonic X, the name Robotnik was dropped almost entirely, though it can still be found on some promotional material and in fan works. Prior to this, both names slipped occassionally in all regions. For example, Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Wing Fortress Zone and Sonic Drift 2 only had Eggman, Sonic Triple Trouble had Robotnik Winter Zone, and Sonic Jam had both names, as his profile was Robotnik and his statue next to Sonic said Eggman on it. This is similar to Princess Peach's name in the Mario series.
General consensus now is that his real name is Ivo Robotnik and his nickname (which he calls himself sometimes) is Eggman. This is supported by the fact that in the Japanese version of Sonic X his eyecatch profile card gives his name as: "ROBOTNIK (Dr. Eggman)" and also by the surname of his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Also, most airboards in the in the game Sonic Riders were built by "Robotnik Inc.". The name Ivo has yet to appear in Japanese games, except Sonic Jam because it had Digital Manuals in Japanese and English.
In the Archie series, the original Dr. Robotnik (Julian Kintobor, see above) was destroyed. This Robotnik was never called Eggman. His replacement, a Robotnik from a parallel universe, has been known as Robotnik, Robotnik Mk Ⅱ, Robo-Robotnik, and Eggman. Currently he goes by Robotnik but is sometimes called Eggman.
Despite this information being stated over and over in several areas, there are still those who mistakingly believe Ivo Robotnik to be Eggman's grandfather.
Contrasting stories
Several continuities emerged in the first few years that the Sonic series existed - "SegaSonic" Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (AOSTH), Sonic the Comic (Fleetway), Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM, and Archie).
SegaSonic
The "SegaSonic" continuity, as it is known by fans, was created by Sega of Japan for the original game, and is generally thought of as the "official" storyline. This is mainly because of the belief that, since Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese creation, the Japanese storyline should be the true one. It does not have a very extensive backstory for Dr. Eggman, only that he is a mad scientist who wants to conquer Earth, and attempts to do so by enslaving the animal population in robots and trying to find the Chaos Emeralds to harness their power. This story was later developed into the current continuity used in the modern-day games. Despite the fact that the newer games have introduced a few other members of Eggman' s family, his backstory is still largely unknown.
The Sonic mangas, the Sonic OVA (often referred to as Sonic Anime) and the newer Sonic X anime series all (more or less) based their respective continuities on the SegaSonic continuity.
AoStH
Next came the AoStH continuity, shorthand for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the first Sonic animated series, which had little history for Robotnik, merely presenting him as a villain who sought to rule Mobius. Notably, the design of Robotnik in this series was wildly different from his portrayal in the games. At least once per episode, Robotnik declares his hatred of Sonic, by saying "I hate that hedgehog", usually at the end.
In the episode "Best Hedgehog" (which was the first episode to air, but the thirteenth in production order), it was revealed that, in high school, Robotnik harbored a crush on his classmate, Lucinda, who, according to him, was the one thing he treasured most besides power. But since she was already in love with fellow classmate Lucas, his feelings were obviously unreturned. Ivo attempted to get revenge on Lucas with one of his inventions, but it failed and resulted in him being expelled. Somewhere along the line, Robotnik managed to get a doctorate degree, which he proves by way of a diploma he flaunts often. In this episode there are two flashbacks, one is Lucas' where an acne-ridden Robotnik sets a robot on Lucas and promises Lucinda money if she "went steady with him". He, however, was rejected. The second is a made up account by Robotnik told to Scratch and Grounder, in which a handsomely portrayed Robotnik's feelings for Lucinda were returned. When Lucas turns up, Robotnik beats him up.
Interestingly, this version of Robotnik has invented far more than all of his other incarnations put together. His flaw, though, is that all of his robots, among them Scratch and Grounder, aren't very intelligent, and as a result, they always fail in their schemes.
This is the only continuity where one of Robotnik's parents is ever seen. Mama Robotnik is usually kept under control of Mobius' local asylum, but she occasionally escapes to make a special guest appearance. She is quite a mad woman, to the point where even Ivo himself fears her.
This version of Robotnik was also featured in the Genesis and Game Gear game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - notably, that was the only game to feature Eggman as the titular character. Robotnik's AoStH design was also used in American Sega display cases and in most European Sonic merchandise from 1994 up until the release of Sonic Adventure.
The AoStH Robotnik's designer, Milton Knight, designed this version with the intention of making him "animation's sexiest fat man!"
Fleetway
The Fleetway continuity originates with a short "official" storyline created by Sega of America for the original game, which was then expanded upon by the book, Stay Sonic, and even further by the enduring Sonic the Comic, as well as some other UK novels. As this extended continuity mainly featured in Sonic the Comic, is known as the Fleetway continuity, named after the comic's publisher. However, since, for a while, StC's storyline used aspects of SegaSonic storyline such as South Island, the differences between the two blur in places. In general, however, both are based on the game series.
Here, Doctor Robotnik (as he was consistently called, even when the Western video games switched to using the "Eggman" name) had a particularly different origin to anything from any other country. Originally, he was not Doctor Ivo Robotnik, but was Doctor Ovi Kintobor, a kindly scientist from Earth who embarked on a one-man science exploration of space, but wound up stranding himself on Mobius. The planet was a world of peace, and so he vowed to eradicate even the tiniest traces of negative energy from it. Using a machine he named the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (ROCC), formed of many purifying golden rings, he slowly gathered all the negative energy on Mobius. Requiring a container for chaotic energy, Kintobor discovered emeralds that served the job very well, locating six of them. It was then that a brown hedgehog named Sonic came tumbling into his lab.
Kintobor quickly became friends with Sonic, and helped him to advance his speed - while testing a new invention of Kintobor's termed "Power Sneakers," Sonic ran so fast that he broke the sound barrier, and the shockwaves fused his quills and tempered his body cobalt blue. Sonic used his new speed to help search for the seventh and final emerald, which was required to stabilise the energy transfer. Their efforts were in vain, but Kintobor eventually apparently discovered a way to complete the transfer without the seventh emerald. Before the process was initiated, the pair decided to have lunch, but going to the fridge, they found only one rotten egg. With it in his hand, muttering about it, Kintobor went back to the ROCC... and tripped on a cable, falling over and slamming his hand into the machine's control panel. The ROCC exploded, bathing Kintobor - and the egg - in chaos energy, and scattering the golden rings that comprised it across the planet. As the smoke cleared, Sonic made a terrifying discovery - the chaos energy had transformed Kintobor, along with the rotten egg he had been holding. Now, he was no longer Ovi Kintobor - now, he was Ivo Robotnik.
At the start of the Fleetway continuity, Dr. Robotnik looked and acted very similarly to the SegaSonic continuity. However, just under a year into the comic's life, it was decided to change his look to match that of his "AoStH" counterpart, (as the cartoon had recently begun airing at the time in the UK). In the comic, Robotnik, in his base inside the Special Zone, encased himself in a giant egg, and hatched as the new-look Robotnik, who proved to be more sinister and more of a dictator. Towards the end of the series, in a story arc based on the "Sonic Adventure" game, Robotnik's changed outfits to match the game character's appearance (though he didn't undergo any physical transformation).
Although his goals and actions where always evil, originally Robotnik's character was very tongue in cheek having silly characteristic (for example, replace in 'ex' with 'eggs' ("eggs-actly")). However over time his character became darker and more sinister. After achieving near-godhood at least twice and yet still being thwarted by Sonic, Robotnik fell into deep depression. His last act in the comic (before it was cancelled) would have resulted in the destruction of the planet. He had ceased to care about being its ruler and simply wanted to 'end it all' and take the rest of Mobius with him. He was again thwarted. The unofficial continuation of the comic, StC Online, depicts Robotnik as being muted and insane after years of defeat by the Freedom Fighters.
It is worth mentioning that this 'evil dictator' had control of planet Mobius for several years. During which he spent some of his time in the Metropolis Zone within his Citadel. Through the comic's run Robotnik did not just rely on his creations, but he also hired many bounty hunters and other 'hired help' to do his work.
One of his best creations was the Emperor Metallix, a large red/gold Metallix (Metal Sonic) that would work on building an army of advanced Metallix to fight against Sonic, although this Emperor did the job, he and his army turned on their master. This leads Robotnik to work on the Knuckles model Metallix. The Emporer Metallix is later revealed to be designed by Grimer, Robotnik's snivelling green subordinate, allowing the Metallix to exist in an altered timeline where Robotnik did not. However, Robotnik was responsible for the addition of a self-destruct mechanism, which he could control, in the Metallix' design, which lead to their ultimate destruction in the restored timeline.
The Emperor Metallix has two origins, first being the final Metal Sonic of the game Knuckles Chaotix (his mass produced Metallix are introduced at the same time as the Chaotix Crew.) and second, (although this cannot be confirmed) based on the Master Sentinel from the X-Men comics and cartoons.
Robotnik also created an advanced badnik called Commander Brutus to share command of his empire. Brutus had a copy of Robotnik's own brain patterns and eventually built a hidden army and turned on Robotnik after turning Amy Rose and Johnny Lightfoot into Cyberniks, a more advanced version of the badnik (as in Shortfuse the Cybernik).
From those points Robotnik learned to never give command to anyone and made sure he controlled everything. This increased greed could have contributed to his eventual loss of his empire. His empire crumbled when an electromagnetic pulse disabled the bulk of his army, leaving him helpless.
SatAM
The last continuity began with the SatAM cartoon, which is known as SatAM due to its original airing time (Saturday AM). Vastly different from the SegaSonic and Fleetway continuities, the only characters used from the original story are Sonic, Tails and Dr. Robotnik. Unlike his other incarnations, the SatAM Robotnik is by no means a mad scientist plotting world domination. In contrast, he is a malevolent dictator who has already conquered most of the planet Mobius. What we know of his history is revealed mostly in the second season, especially when Sonic and Sally travel back to the past. His name was Julian, and the earliest detail we know about him is that he was an assistant for Naugus, the wizard who discovered the limited dimension known as the Void. Julian betrayed Naugus and trapped him within the Void. Later, he headed up the Ministry of War in King Acorn's regime, and was instrumental in winning the Great War for the monarchy (the Great War is not explained any further than that). King Acorn allowed Julian to dismantle the military - from Acorn's perspective, this was presumably because the War's finale no longer necessitated it, while Julian's main motive was obviously to set up a coup. Additionally, he stole the plans for the Roboticizer from Sir Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle. Robotnik's coup culminated in his banishment of Acorn to the Void, and his roboticization of 85% of the Mobian population in Mobotropolis. In the show's final episode entitled, The Doomsday project, Sonic and Sally used the Deep Power Stones to become super and destroy Robotnik's title building, causing Robotnik to flee in his hovercraft. But as the building exploded, Robotnik disappeared without a trace.
Due to the role he plays in the series, this Robotnik was given a sinister design to distinguish him from the often comical appearance of his counterparts. While other versions of this character often go after Sonic themselves, this Robotnik directs his forces from a command chair while petting his robotic pet bird, Cluck (seen only in Season 1). SatAM Robotnik seems to have many things in common with the Baron Harkonnen from the book and movie series Dune, including the descriptions of his SWATbot hover units as well as his own personal ability to levitate (Seen in one episode of Season 1 and the last episodes of Season 2). Whether or not this is coincidence, the similarities often make this version of Robotnik an intimidating and fierce character. The cartoon ended after two 13-episode seasons, but the characters continued to appear in the American comic book series based on it, produced by Archie Comics, which developed its own continuity.
Archie Comics
In this universe, Dr. Robotnik begins his existence as Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo, the son of a human-like Overlander and a human from the city of Station Square. He studied under the genius scientist, Dr. Nate Morgan for an extended period of time. Once his mentor passed unto him everything he knew, Julian conspired against Morgan and had him banished. During the breakout of the Great War, he worked as a high-profile weapons engineer for the Overlander armies, brainstorming the most sophisticated military hardware in history. Due to his engineering prowess, the Overlanders nearly pushed their Mobian adversaries t o the brink of defeat. However, Julian's methods were put into question when it was revealed that he utilized live Overlander test subjects to evaluate his destructive brainchildren. He was tried in court by his brother Colin in response to this revelation, and was presumably sentenced to either death or life imprisonment. Regardless of the verdict, the court rulings did not bode well with his plans for the future; and he eventually escaped confinement. After barely evading law enforcement officers, he made it to the Mobian border and found himself welcomed by the Kingdom of Acorn. Swearing allegiance, he vows to contribute his inside knowledge on their enemy. The Kingdom's Warlord, Kodos, took the man under his wing - only to suffer the same fate as Morgan. After Kodos "disappeared", Julian assumed the mantle of Warlord.
After defeating the Overlanders in the Great War, he (like his SatAM counterpart) used Charles' invention, the roboticizer, to his own twisted ends. After sabotaging it to turn Sonic's father Jules into a drone, he conspired to have Sonic's mother, Bernie, roboticized, and soon Tails' father Amadeus followed. His plotting culminated with a successful coup to usurp power over all royal territories. Adopting the sinister moniker of Dr. Robotnik, he transfiguring the once beautiful capital city of Mobotropolis into an industrial wasteland he dubbed Robotropolis. Once his power over the Mobian regions was secure, the tyrant then focused his attention on consolidating the rest of the planet. Soon enough, he had nearly all of Mobius under his thumb; only a select few locations were kept hidden from his all-encompassing power. He would continue to rule Mobius with an iron fist, with his loyal henchman Crabmeat, and his wayward nephew, Snively. As time went on, Robotnik disseminated various regional governors across the planet called "Underbosses" to enforce his will and to lead campaigns against local dissenters.
With the Overlanders forced into hiding by Robotnik's armies of SWATbots, his reign continued to last undisputed. Things changed however, when he found resistance in the form of burgeoning rebel cells calling themselves "Freedom Fighters", particularly in the Knothole group led by the King's daughter Princess Sally, and championed by a now grown Sonic the Hedgehog. He continually attempted to crush the resistance for 50 issues, until the four-issue "EndGame" story, where, in addition to trying to have Sally killed and Sonic framed for the murder, discovered the location of Knothole, held the Freedom Fighers at gunpoint, and planned to unleash a weapon called the "Ultimate Annihilator" (In later issues it is referred to as the "Ultimate Nullifier"), a powerful weapon that could warp reality itself. Decisive victory was at hand for the dictator; it appeared as if all of hope for Mobius was lost. Unfortunately for Robotnik, Snively tampered with his ultimate weapon, and after grueling final battle with Sonic, Julian Ivo Robotnik was supposedly killed when the weapon backfired.
It was later discovered that Robotnik survived, trapped in a dimensional void (different from the Zone of Silence or "the Void") of nonexistance. He returned temporarily with the help of a device invented by Eggman, and soon formulated a plot with his contemporary to reverse the process with Sonic and his comrades. He tricked his former enemies in Knothole Village into thinking he had escape the clutches of Eggman (who he claimed resurrected him to steal his memories). King Acorn went along with the scheme, but it was revealed that the Freedom Fighters only granted him amnesty in an attempt to sabotoge the device that brought him back. His return was cut short in a quarrel with Eggman after it was determined that his existence on this plane of reality was limited. Unfortunately for Robotnik, the machine was since destroyed. Nevertheless, that does not mean the dreaded despot will be gone for good.
Prior to the "EndGame" storyline, a Robotnik from another universe appeared, calling himself "Robo-Robotnik." In his univers e, in addition to transforming Sonic and his cohorts into nightmarish cyborgs, he roboticized himself, making himself more powerful. In addition to using a variation of SWATBots known as Shadow Bots (ironically, they were defeated by Robotnik Prime's forces), he sought a legendary weapon called the Giant Borg. He temporarily gained its power, until he was struck down by the force of thousands of multi-dimensional Sonics. The destruction of his weapon seemingly destroyed him, leaving him nothing more than a head — or so everyone thought.
Robo-Robotnik would live on, by transferring his consciousness to a space station in his dimension (which is either a plot error or his dimension somehow changed because he was originally from a cyborg Mobius, not the future one). After encountering the temporarily displaced original Robotnik, he decided to "get back in the game" as it were, and supposedly eliminated his version of Sonic along with the royal family. Feeling dissatisfied, he conspired to return to Sonic's dimension, and after a series of manipulations over several issues, he revealed himself after capturing all the Robians on Mobius. This plan to destroy Sonic failed, though he succeeded in conquering Robotropolis and controlling many of the Robians on Mobius (though he would later lose them). However, his body was destroyed, and he uploaded into a new form based on that of the character's current video-game based design, giving birth to Eggman (though he would still be called Robotnik half of the time in an attempt not to confuse readers).
The series continued, and after his body was destroyed numerous times, he found himself, Snively (who had by that point been roboticized), Sonic, and Tails captured by an alien race known as the BEM. Eggman and Snively were transformed back into humans (or Overlanders), and forced to battle for their lives against a roboticized Sonic and Tails in order to prove whether or not flesh was superior to metal. They were returned to Mobius without being changed back, and have remained so ever since.
After the Xorda, an alien race that had attacked Mobius in the ancient past when it was still known as "Earth", attacked the planet again, Sonic was lost in space. This granted Eggman the opportunity to spread his power base, and conquered small portions of Mobius, thereby creating the "Eggman Empire." His robot legions are controlled by a sentient computer named ADAM, and he has a robotic "daughter" named Mecha (or "M" for short). He also changed his main base of operations from the nuclear wasteland of Robotropolis (after being tricked into lowering the shields, nuclear missiles infiltrated the city and irradiated the area) to New Megapolis (Ironically Old Megapolis is New York City)
Robo-Robotnik has supposedly taken the original Robotnik's place on Mobius Prime for the time being, but his power over Mobius has diminished to significantly less than that of the world's former autocrat. Although originally a similar alternate reality Robotnik, the character of Eggman has evolved to the point where there are considerable differences between the two. Incidentally, while Robotnik Prime became more and more like his SatAM self as the comic progressed, Eggman (Robo-Robotnik)has grown to act very similar to his game counterpart.
Robotnik's name is a reversal of his family's surname (Kintobor -> Robotnik). After conquering Mobius he adopted the sinister moniker of "Robotnik" to differentiate himself from his past. He has several relatives - Snively, his nephew, being one of them. There is also his brother, Colin (who was roboticized and then later destroyed), and Snively's half-sister, Hope Kintobor. Finally, from Station Square, there is his deceased grandfather and cousin, Gerald and Maria Kintobor - just as in the games. Hope greatly resembles Maria, and currently lives with the Freedom Fighters in the newly christened Kingdom of Knothole.
Robo-Robotnik is not the only alternate version of Robotnik. Another version features Robotnik as a planet eater with the powers of Galactus. There is also Ivana Robotnik, a female counterpart from a Sailor Moon-style Mobius. Ivana comes to Mobius Prime looking to monsterize Sonic, but is thwarted by Sally Moon and Tuxedo Knux. Other Robotniks include the benevolent version in the Giant Robotno zone, and the good Dr. Kintobor on the Anti-Mobius.
Sonic Underground
Like the Robotnik of SatAM and Robotnik Prime of the Archie continuity, SU's Dr. Robotnik has already taken over most of Mobius. Like his counterpart, this Robotnik's greatest nemesis is Sonic the Hedgehog. However, he must also contend with Sonic's siblings, Sonia and Manic. Other than that, SU's Robotnik has a history much like that of SatAM's, including deposing the rightful ruler (SatAM's King Acorn, SU's Queen Aleena Hedgehog). Additionally, this version of Robotnik has the same design as the SatAM Robotnik, but wears a red cape rather than a yellow one. Even his voice was different, performed by Gary Chalk who played Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Instead of Snively, who was not in the series, Robotnik's assistants were two canine bounty hunters named Sleet and Dingo.
Modern day
Following Sonic Adventure, Eggman's role has often been shared by the influence of other enemies. Additionally, Eggman has often been betrayed by his own allies and has sometimes even aided Sonic once his plans have spiraled out of control. In this way, Eggman is rarely the final boss of the Sonic games.
- In Sonic Adventure (later released as Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut for the Gamecube), his ally throughout the game, Chaos, who becomes Perfect Chaos after consuming all seven Chaos Emeralds, turns on him and destroys the Egg Carrier 2 shortly before the final battle, in which Sonic defeats Chaos as Eggman flees.
- In Sonic Adventure 2 (later released as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle), Eggman aids Sonic in order to save himself and the Earth from destruction by stopping the ARK's crash course and the Biolizard, the creation of his grandfather. He is also one of the six playable characters.
- In Sonic Battle, Eggman intends to use the robot Emerl for his own purposes after he finds out what it can do, but Emerl joins Sonic instead. Eventually, however, Emerl becomes evil and self-destructs after a final battle with Sonic.
- In Sonic Heroes, he is captured by his own creation, Metal Sonic, who then disguises himself as Eggman in order to complete his own evil plan. Eggman offers little aid (except with the Chaotix), but encourages the heroes to defeat Metal Sonic.
- In Sonic Advance 3, Eggman builds the robot Gemerl out of Emerl's remains, but Gemerl turns on Eggman, who teams up with Super Sonic to defeat Gemerl.
- In Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman is a featured character but is either an ally or an enemy based upon the player's choice. Although he commits some minor villainous acts (such as stealing rings from around the world as Tails mentions in Circus Park), his main goal in the game is actually to protect the world from Black Arms so that the planet he hopes to take over won't be destroyed. He is, in addition, the only ally who is both a Hero and Dark character, the former only in stages where both he and Black Arms are involved. His status as a comic relief and secondary villain are made far more obivious, the former due to Mike Pollock's take on the character and the latter due to the fact that the Black Arms are clearly shown as being the game's main villains right at the start. In three of the game's endings, it is implied that Shadow kills Eggman. However, he is present during the Last Story. When Eggman aids the player, he appears as a floating screen with his face on it.
- In Sonic Rush, Eggman encounters another version of himself from another dimension, Eggman Nega. Eggman Nega is crueler and calculating, however the two work side by side to achieve their unanimous goal of creating a multi-dimensional Eggman Land. This is, as a result, one of Eggman's rare modern-day appearances as the final enemy, in which he is not overthrown by a bigger threat at the last minute due to betrayal (Chaos, Metal Sonic, Gemerl) or outside forces (Biolizard, Black Arms).
- Dr. Eggman also plays a part in Sonic Riders. He hires the Babylon Rogues to race against Sonic and friends in a racing tournament. Eggman is also an active competitor in this tournament, and is one of the relatively few racers to not use a hoverboard (he uses an air bike instead).
Sega has admitted to this trend, and has explained that Eggman has actually become less evil and is now somewhat fond of Sonic, treating him as a rival rather than an enemy. This idea has often been expressed in Sonic X also.
Theme Songs
- In the SegaWorld stage show "Sonic in Sydney", Robotnik has a song called "Give Me Chaos."
- In AoStH a whimsical harpsichord played a series of iconic notes for scenes depicting Robotnik.
- In the first season of SatAM, Michael Tavera composed an orchestral piece with sweeping strings and a harsh piano to represent the dictator.
- In Sonic Adventure, Eggman's theme song is simply named "Theme of Dr. Eggman".
- In SA2, it is "E.G.G.M.A.N." by Paul Shortino
- In Shadow the Hedgehog, "event 3", a remix of "E.G.G.M.A.N." is his theme.
- In Sonic Riders, Eggman's theme is a guitar riff called "Eggman Again!"
Voice Actors
He has been the primary antagonist in all of Sonic's cartoons, each with a different voice:
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Long John Baldry
- Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) - Jim Cummings
- Sonic Underground (US, France) - Gary Chalk
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Anime, Japan) - Edwin Neal
- Video Game series (Sonic Adventure onward) - Chikao Otsuka (Japan), Deem Bristow (US; died 1/15/05 [1]), Mike Pollock (US)
- Sonic X - Chikao Otsuka (Japan), Mike Pollock (US)