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Dr. Robotnik (other media)
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Dr. Robotnik or Eggman is a video game character and villain from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games. Since the games were first released, several distinct continuities have emerged, each based on the original video game continuity, and each presenting different depictions of the games characters. Doctor Robotnik, now almost exclusively called Doctor Eggman in the games themselves, is arguably the character that has differed the most between incarnations. This article describes his various incarnations from television shows and comics. A larger number of his other media incarnations are actually more fiendish than his video game persona.
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Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the first Sonic animated series ever produced, had little history for Robotnik; He was merely a comical villain who sought to rule Mobius. Notably, the design of Robotnik in this series was wildly different from his portrayal in the games - his mustache is much larger, his head is conical, his eyes are black and his costume is very different from the original design from the games, yet it still retains a red-yellow-black color scheme (he even wore a yellow cape one time). At least once per episode, Robotnik declares his hatred of Sonic with his unmistakable scream of "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"
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 was, however, rejected. The second is a fantisized account by Robotnik that he relates to Scratch and Grounder, in which a slim, handsomely-portrayed Robotnik has his feelings for Lucinda returned. When Lucas turns up, Robotnik beats him up. Robotnik's side of the story makes no sense whatsoever considering that Lucas stole Lucinda away from him.
Interestingly, this animated version of Robotnik has invented far more things than his later SatAm counterpart. 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. Dr. Robotnik even created a robot wife called Omaletta (which malfunctioned due to water) and a son called Robotnik Jr, who turned to Sonic's side and got disowned. This show was the one of only two continuities where one of Robotnik's parents are ever seen (both parents have briefly been depicted in the Archie comic book). 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 fact that even Robotnik himself fears her. Robotnik also has a cousin called Dr. Warpnik whom Robotnik banished to the Land of Confusion since he is a "loonie".
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. One example would be a variation of the cover art for Sonic Spinball.
The AoStH Robotnik's designer, Milton Knight, designed this version with the intention of making him "animation's sexiest fat man!"[1]
Also, in the fictional Sonic The Hedgehog book series by Troll Associates (based on the SatAM series), this incarnation of Robotnik was used on the cover art of "The Fortress of Fear" and "Robotnik's Revenge" books, depicted alongside the SatAM cast of characters, who never appeared on AoSth.
This version of Robotnik was voiced by Long John Baldry, whom incidentally passed away the same year as Deem Bristow, who did the American voice acting for Robotnik for Sonic Adventure and every game between until Sonic Advance 3.
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The Sonic the Comic continuity originates with a short "official" storyline created by Sega of America for the original 16-bit game, which was then expanded upon by the book, Stay Sonic. The orgin tale was revamped even further by the enduring Sonic the Comic series by Egmont Fleetway, as well as some other UK novels. Although his goals and actions were always evil incarnate, this incarnation of Robotnik often showed many foibles, such as in early issues replacing the "ex" in words with "eggs" (e.g. "eggs-actly"), and acts of pettiness such as throwing fruit at pictures of Sonic and having Badniks attack Zones he already rules just to show that he can.
Originally, he was Doctor Ovi Kintobor, a kindly scientist from Earth who, through unexplained means, accidentally wound up stranded on Mobius. Setting up an underground laboratory in the Emerald Hill Zone, Kintobor resolved that he would make the peaceful Mobius a true paradise by literally eradicating the 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, and, requiring a vessel to contain it, acquired six of the mysterious Chaos Emeralds to finish the job.
It was then that an inquisitive young brown hedgehog named Sonic came tumbling into his lab. Kintobor quickly became friends with Sonic, and helped him to advance his speed (although accidentally turning him blue in the process). Sonic used his new speed to help search for the Grey Emerald, which was said to serve as a "control Emerald" and which would stabilize 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, they decided to have lunch, but found only one rotten egg. With the egg in his hand, 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. Overloaded with pure evil energy, he was transformed into the demented Doctor Ivo Robotnik. He swiftly created sub-orbital space warps to keep the Emerald's out of anyone's hands, abducted scores of Mobians and turned them into Badniks, and attempted to conquer Mobius.
After two attempts to take over Mobius, as chronicled in the first two Sonic the Hedgehog video games, Robotnik employed a different tack, taking control of a portion of the weird alternate dimension known as the Special Zone and establishing a fortress there. Putting the sentient energy-field known as the Omni-Viewer under his control, Robotnik had his pawn transport Sonic and a group of his friends six months into Mobius's future. During their absence, Robotnik's forces overran the planet and Sonic returned to find Robotnik now had unquestioned control of Mobius.
Recommended by his image consultants to try a new look, Robotnik abandoned his traditional game-based appearance by enclosing himself in a gigantic egg, from which he "hatched" in a new body based on his AoStH incarnation. Galvanised into more aggressive action by this transformation, Robotnik and his lackey Grimer poured his time into "Project: Metallix" which bore fruit with Metal Sonic, who derived power from a cyberformed Miracle Planet. Myriad schemes, robots and technology ensued in his constant war with Sonic. Robotnik's goal always remained to acquire the reality-warping power of the Chaos Emeralds for his own, and he was offered his chance when a mechanical failure on his orbital Death Egg satellite caused the craft, with him aboard, to plummet out of the sky. Before impacting with Mobius, however, the spacecraft landed on the legendary Floating Island, where Robotnik encountered Knuckles the Echidna. Convincing him that Sonic had stolen the Chaos Emeralds, Robotnik allowed himself to be captured by the Freedom Fighters, allowing Knuckles to follow him to their base, where they ransomed Porker Lewis to acquire the ancient gems. Returning to the Floating Island, Knuckles, using a device of Robotnik's that would take the place of the Grey Emerald, reintegrated Sonic's six emeralds with the six kept on the island. Using his device to seize control of the chaos energy, Robotnik grew to giant size and performed such feats as turning Tails to glass, before Knuckles revealed he'd secretly had the Grey Emerald all along and depowered Robotnik.
Smarting after this defeat, Robotnik's first action was to return to the Freedom Fighters' base with an army of Badniks and destroy it, forcing Sonic and his team into operating out of a mobile headquarters. The Death Egg, however, remained on the Floating Island, and Robotnik soon returned there to supervise its repair, arranging for a new model of Metallix to steal the Master Emerald to power the deadly device. With the Death Egg active, Robotnik was poised to unleash its death ray upon the Emerald Hill Zone before Knuckles activated ancient weaponry on the floating island and crippled the ship. Invading it and stealing the Master Emerald, Sonic went up against Robotnik in a suit of armour, eventually sending him toppling back to Mobius. Enraged by the idignity, Robotnik vowed vengeance, moving his base of operations out of the Special Zone and into "Citadel Robotnik" in the Metropolis Zone, but he found himself unable to exact his revenge on the Emerald Hill folk, as they had been secretly moved into seclusion on the Floating Island.
Coincidentally, Robotnik's next two greatest opponents were not the Freedom Fighters, but his own renegade creations. Using a copy of the Omni-Viewer, the rebellious Brotherhood of Metallix altered the timeline so that Kintobor never became Robotnik and took over Mobius, necessitating that Sonic restore the natural order of things (meaning that, in turn, Sonic was actually responsible for creating Robotnik). Subsequently, Commander Brutus, a Badnik trooper that Robotnik programmed with a copy of his own brain patterns, constructed his own army and invaded the Metropolis Zone, having acquired Robotnik's ambition for conquest. On the verge of defeat and his Badniks overrun, Robotnik faced his mental twin down in combat armour, spraying him with liquid nitrogen and shattering his body. He then took control of Brutus' Badnik army and taunted Mobius with his continued reign.
A chain of seeming good fortune for Robotnik ultimately led to his downfall when he discovered that Sonic had become stranded in the Special Zone. Encountering the fatally wounded echidna Doctor Zachary, who had fallen from the Floating Island in battle with Knuckles, Robotnik restored him with cybernetic components and learned the Emerald Hill folk were hiding on the Island. Striking while Knuckles was absent, Robotnik and Zachary used the hapless Emerald Hillers to create a giant biological computer. Seconds before he was able to activate the grotesque device, however, a massive electro-magnetic pulse - created by Super Sonic - swept across the planet, utterly destroying his robots and computer systems. Left utterly defenseless, Robotnik was captured by the returned Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, and although he was liberated by Grimer and went into hiding, he had firmly been toppled as ruler of the planet.
Long having planned to investigate the mysterious Flickies Island, Robotnik used his fall from power as a chance to finally explore the island. He discovered that the Flicky birds which populated it came from another dimension via a Mobius Ring, and that the Flickies made excellent organic batteries for new Badniks. However, as a result of tampering with the Mobius Ring, Robotnik was abducted by the alien Drakon Empire and brought through the ring to their homeworld. Ever the entrepreneur, he struck a deal with the aliens, arranging for Sonic to be placed into trial by combat against his new Metallix model; in return, Robotnik would help Emperor Ko-Dorr find the Chaos Emeralds. Triumphing over his robot opponent, Sonic was pronounced innocent.
Robotnik was left at something of a loose end, conducting a series of random (and easily beaten) Badnik attacks on Mobius from his Flickies Island base, while trying to manipulate the Drakons by feigning ignorance of the Emeralds' location and encouraging them to go after Sonic. He then arranged a complicated double-cross where Grimer pretended to defect to the Drakons' side and reveal the location of the Emeralds to them. Once the Drakons had taken out all of the Island's defences, Grimer teleported them back to Drak and Robotnik was able to finally take control of the jewels in their full-power state. The sheer energy apparently proved too much for his body to contain, however, as he was transformed into a crystal statue.
This was, however, soon revealed to be a chrysalis stage as Robotnik's body adapted to the immense energies it now contained. Once this was done, Robotnik used his new power to alter history, removing Sonic from the timeline and showing the hero the Mobius that would have existed without him. Putting Sonic through a myriad of torments, from warping reality around him to pitting him against an army of his strongest foes to even showing Sonic that he was destined to grow old never being able to defeat Robotnik, Robotnik then made the mistake of allowing Sonic to goad him into restoring Knuckles as his ally. With the echidna's aid, Sonic drained the emerald power from Robotnik's body with the Grey Emerald, but, barely able to exist without the power, Robotnik shrank away to nothing.
He ended up in a sub-atomic universe on the planet Shanazar, and reverted back into Kintobor (presumably due to the energy drain). Found by inhabitants of Shanazar City, Kintobor was brought before Princess Kupacious, who made him her grand vizier and he began bringing technological improvements to the city.
Finding that he was beginning to turn back into Robotnik, Kintobor quickly formulated an elixir that held off the transformation. Sonic, Grimer and Nack the Weasel arrived in Shanazar in pursuit of him, the latter two being arrested, and Sonic and Kintobor were sent on a mission to the Mystic Mountain. Unfortunately the elixir's effects wore off, and he became Doctor Robotnik once again. (Nigel Kitching proposed using this as a way of bringing in the "Dr Eggman" design for Robotnik [1], but this did not go through)
Retaining his position as vizier, Robotnik had a court magician wipe Sonic's mind of the memory of the device he had used to come to Shanazar, so, while Sonic went on the run, Robotnik and Grimer fashion the device into a machine which would fused Mobius and Shanazar into one composite world. Intending to protect himself from any harmful effects with a magic gem so that he might emerge as the ruler of the combined planet, Robotnik was thwarted when Princess Kupacious, turned into a frog by more magic, stole the gem for herself. Regardless, the scheme amounted to nothing when Mobius and Shanazar fused without any ill effects.
Confronted by Amy Rose with the possibility that his own evil methodology had been self-defeating, Robotnik began a dark, downward spiral. Tiring of his long-running war with Sonic, he decided that it was time to bring the game to an end - no longer would he strive to conquer Mobius, but instead, he would destroy it outright. A chance encounter with the robotic alien race the Plax gave Robotnik the opportunity he desired; mistaken by the Plax for a spiritual leader, the "Great Destroyer," that their legends spoke of, Robotnik used their technology to drain the "living" energy from both Mobius and its sister world, Earth, forcing both planets into total ecological collapse. Once again, Robotnik's own evil ways proved to be his undoing when the renegade super-badnik he had created, Shortfuse the Cybernik, wired himself into the energy-transfer machine and used it to undo the damage to the planets.
Having been caught in a cave-in as his base collapsed around him following this confrontation, Robotnik reached his lowest point. Not rising from his chair, or even eating, for days on end, a suicidal depression overcame the former dictator. Desperate to snap his master out of his grim state, Grimer unearthed a container holding a creature made of living chaos that Robotnik had discovered years before, and unleashed it upon the Freedom Fighters. Unaware - but soon informed by Robotnik - that he was unable to control the Chaos creature, Grimer thought that he had succeeded as Robotnik's interest in watching the battles between Sonic and the monster grew. When Chaos targeted the Chaos Emeralds and Knuckles reacted by scattering them across Mobius, Robotnik went into action, gathering the emeralds at his fortress in the mountains, drawing Chaos and the Freedom Fighters there. Grimer was shocked, however, when he discovered that this was not part of some grand plan by Robotnik — the crazed villain had, in actuality, drawn his enemies there so that they might all die together as Chaos absorbed the emeralds. But Robotnik was denied even the embrace of oblivion when Super Sonic arrived to absorb Chaos's energies into his own body, and then be re-integrated back together with Sonic.
The fan-made continuation of Sonic the Comic (viewed by some as "unofficially official", due to its endorsement by some of the creators of STC) has furthered the story of Robotnik, who had completely lost his mind, and was left a drooling maniac. Deemed to be too insane to stand trial, he was locked away in an asylum where he remained deathly silent, never eating or sleeping. Liberated from imprisonment by Doctor Zachary, Robotnik became part of his criminal "Syndicate" who unleashed the artificial lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog - who was grimly loyal to Robotnik. After his battle with Sonic aboard Robotnik's Death Carrier, Shadow used all the Chaos Energy he had left (seemingly dying in the process) to teleport Robotnik to safety.
His current whereabouts and state of mind remain uncertain, although his loyal assistant Grimer was shown maintaining a robotic duplicate of Robotnik to keep his master 'alive'.
STC Online has also added some material to Kintobor's established history (see Kintobor).
Like the Robotnik of SatAM and Robotnik Prime of the Archie continuity, Sonic Underground'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 he wears a red cape rather than a yellow one and both of his arms are roboticized, unlike the SatAM version who only has one roboticized arm. In a dream sequence, it is revealed he can extend his robotic arms. His voice was also 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.
This version of Robotnik did not appear in every episode, with Sleet and Dingo serving as the ever-present villains instead (as they were pursuing Sonic Underground while Robotnik remained in Robotropolis). Unlike his SatAM counterpart, he did not Roboticise the whole population of Mobius; that was reserved for those who broke the laws (of which there were many), leaving an underclass for him to have fun oppressing and an aristocracy which he taxed heavily. While he is often viewed as less evil than his SatAM version, one of his goals is to find Sanctuary — where Freedom Fighter's leave their children — and exterminate all the children in it. He also once was willing to let the entire planet be destroyed by Chaos Energy if it meant the Sonic Underground would be destroyed as well. However, he does not seem nearly as intimidating or fierce as his SatAM counterpart, and resembles the more imaginative and calculating trickster seen in the video games. It also appears to have a slight respect for society, due to the laws he creates and exploits.
This version of Robotnik also appeared as an alternate reality incarnation in the Archie Comics. In Sonic Super Special #10, Sonic Prime, Sonic Underground Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, teamed up with zone cop Zonic to stop this Robotnik, who had taken control of Robo-Robotnik's Giant Borg after Evil Sonic recollected the pieces and delivered them to this Robotnik.
Doctor Eggman in the anime series Sonic X closely mirrors his game counterpart. He first appears along with the other main characters in the first episode, experimenting with Chaos Emeralds when Sonic attacks his tower base. Eggman's experimental machine malfunctions after being damaged, and the entire cast is sent to Earth via a giant Chaos Control. Eggman decides to conquer this new world instead, and repeatedly clashes with Sonic while looking for the Chaos Emeralds. He also finds and releases Chaos, Shadow, and Emerl, effectively creating cartoon adaptions of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Battle. By the end of the second season, Eggman leaves Earth along with the other characters, teleporting back to their homeworld. In the third season, Eggman is no longer the main antagonist, with the alien Metarex taking that role, similar to how in the video games other more dangerous villains take the role of the main villain from him. Still, Eggman follows the rest of the cast into outer space, where he battles both Sonic and the Metarex multiple times.
This Eggman looks exactly like his videogame counterpart in terms of appearance, and often personality as well. However, he's much more comical here then in the videogames. In fact, as the series goes on he becomes more and more of comic relief character. Though usually depicted as a dumbling idiot, he has occasionally shows moments of cunning. He is often seen with his personal assistant robots Decoe and Bocoe, who help him with his schemes and are in a way similar to Scratch and Grounder, the robots that help the "AoStH" Robotnik. He also has an alien messenger by the name of Bokkun, who he uses to send (generally explosive) messages to Sonic and friends.
An odd note about this Doctor Eggman is that while he appears to come from Sonic's homeworld, his grandfather Gerald and cousin Maria, who appear mirroring their game roles, still hail from Earth. His discovery of his grandfather's work on Project Shadow leads him to the conclusion that he himself also originates in the human world, although it is unknown in which world he was born.
Dr. Eggman appears in the ongoing Sonic X comic book nearly exactly like he does in the anime, along with Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun. Running parallel to the anime series (even referencing events in the episodes), this comic is still set on Earth, where Eggman hatches various plans to get hold of the Chaos Emeralds and eradicate Sonic. He also takes a page from his original video game incarnation in that he has designed robots with live animals (and even people) trapped inside them as power sources, though has apparently given up on this tactic for the time being.
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