- “Citizens of earth, lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully! My name is Dr. Eggman- the world's greatest scientist, and soon to be the world's greatest ruler. Now witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!”
- ―Dr. Eggman, Sonic Adventure 2
Dr. Ivo Robotnik (ドクター・ロボトニック Dokutā Robotonikku, lit. "Doctor Robotnik"),[1] better known by the alias Dr. Eggman (ドクター・エッグマン Dokutā Egguman),[2] is the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a human and the arch-nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog. This large scientist with an IQ of 300[3] dreams of dominating the world, but his constant plots to create his Eggman Empire are always thwarted by Sonic and his friends.
While the doctor's plans initially consisted of building incredible armies by turning animals into robots and using them to dominate the land, Dr. Eggman's schemes have since branched into much more global threats as he built war machines, used nuclear devices to threaten entire nations, and even relied on mythological and ancient deities bent on destruction to achieve his goals. Eventually, the mad scientist has gone as far as to target the entire universe and cooked up schemes to control time and space itself.
While all these plans end in failure thanks to the continued efforts of Sonic and his friends, the mad doctor is somehow always able to slip away from certain death or imprisonment and escape at the last moment, making him a constant threat to the universe and a thorn in Sonic's side.
Concept and creation[]
Dr. Eggman's original design in 1991.
In April 1990, Sega petitioned its research and development department, AM8 (later became Sonic Team), to create a character who would replace Alex Kidd as the company's mascot, as well as compete against Nintendo's flagship character, Mario. A caricature of Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas was among the proposed designs. Combined with the idea of an egg-shaped character, it eventually became the basis of the visual design for Dr. Eggman. In creating the "bad guy" for the Sonic series, the development team wanted a character who was "the opposite of Sonic"; a character who represented "machinery" and "development" to play on the then-growing debate between developers and environmentalists. The character was also designed to be easy for children to draw.
One of the concepts for the hero of what eventually would be known as Sonic the Hedgehog.
Although Eggman was always depicted as having pince-nez glasses in Japanese media, initial American localized material, including the covers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, frequently depicted Robotnik as having no eyes in his eye sockets (or, in the case of various cartoon adaptations, having black sclera and red pupils), and was not depicted with eyewear in localized materials until Sonic Adventure.
Naming[]
The original English instruction manual for his 1991 debut game Sonic the Hedgehog described the character's full name as "Doctor Ivo Robotnik" while the Japanese version's instruction manual for the same game called him "Doctor Eggman"; "Robotnik" was initially conceived as the western name for the character. In 1998's Sonic Adventure, he was referred to with both names, the doctor calling himself "Robotnik" and the rest of the characters naming him "Eggman", with all following English releases to date referring to him as the latter.
Yuji Naka has explained that Robotnik is the character's true last name while Eggman is a "common name taken after his shape."
While "Robotnik" is still occasionally recognized in more recent titles (such as in Sonic Generations), Eggman's profiles such as the one on the Japanese Sonic Channel and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II list his full birth name as unknown.
Appearance[]
Dr. Eggman, from Sonic Advance.
In general, Eggman is depicted as being rotund in appearance. He possesses a dome-shaped head and no visible neck, a bald head, a bright red nose, and a very bushy mahogany moustache. During his early years, Eggman had a completely round torso with normal-looking arms and legs. Back then, he also wore a red shirt/jacket with yellow triangles (which can be described as either a collar or part of a cape, which can be seen on his back), with black pants with connected boots and silver-colored round buckles, white gloves, and mirrored pince-nez glasses.
In the present day, Eggman remains obese, but has become somewhat burlier, taller and less flabby with long, almost disproportionately thin arms and legs. He now wears both his tinted glasses and green-lensed goggles as headwear, though his mustache retains its length, density and mass. Gone are the cape and his suit-like clothes, in their place an elegant, red coat sporting two square metal buttons on both sides of the chest in gold. These buttons have white straps that run across the coat's sides to identical buttons on the back. The coat also has silver, zipper-like linings down the back, arms and front, yellow cuffs, and two extensions on the front that have large silver buttons. In addition, Eggman also wears white, cuff-less gloves on his hands and a pair of black pants with matching boots seemingly attached to them bearing circular plates on the both sides of the ankles and three square ones riding up the shin.
In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he was given a radically different appearance owing to the more realistic designs of the game. In particular, he has yellow bolt-like buttons on his red coat where the buckles were originally, as well as a slightly raised collar obscuring his chin. His moustache, while still bushy, also looks more groomed, and he also, while still overweight, looks very lean by comparison to his usual designs. His nose is also colored the same as the rest of his skin.
Personality[]
Dr. Robotnik's profile in Sonic Jam.
Eggman is a short-tempered, raucous, pompous, and cruel evil genius who is constantly planning to take over the world. His primary motivation throughout most games is his psychotic belief of self-entitlement. Arrogant and narcissistic, he constructs countless technological wonders in his own image to fuel his massive ego, usually reinforced by his goal of finally constructing the Eggman Empire, and doesn't care where it starts. His narcissism is such that when he first discovered the Phantom Ruby, what it showed as his deepest desire was Eggmanland complete with various labels of his names and statues to himself, and was saddened when the illusion ended.
Although Eggman is a villain, he helps Sonic when the world is at stake; though the reason is always because he knows there would be nothing left for him to conquer if the planet was destroyed. In some of his incarnations, he actually displays a begrudging respect of his arch-enemy, Sonic.
Despite his intelligence, Eggman can be very immature, throwing temper tantrums when Sonic manages to wreck into his plans. An example of his immaturity is in the ending of Sonic Unleashed, when Orbot begins to insult him over his constant failures and calls him a loser; Eggman screams "Oh, shut up!!", attempts to kick him only to comically fail, and then chases him through the desert while making agitated noises and violently flailing his arms in an attempt to grab him.
Although Eggman is known for childish outbursts when angry, there are a few rare instances where he comes across as stoic and even-toned when extremely aggravated or during very serious situations. Notable instances of this include the Station Square incident, after Tails not only beat him to his crashed missile but also disarmed it, leaving any chance at him destroying Station Square to be impossible, he proceeded to threaten the young fox while barely even raising his voice; and the Deadly Six incident, where he, after being taunted by the then-renegade Zeti about their impending destruction of the world via their stolen Extractor, threatened them in an even-handed manner to destroy everything they desired before smashing the ice-block communication set they were using and retaining this tone when telling Orbot his hands are okay from smashing the ice blocks so long as he can strangle a Zeti with his bare hands.
Eggman seems to overlook crucial details in his plans, such when he orders his robots to fire at Sonic while he is escaping with Princess Elise, failing to realize that they could possibly injure or kill Elise if they land a direct hit on Sonic and overlooking Dark Gaia's immature release. He also was shown in Sonic Colors to be somewhat sarcastic, as evidenced when questioned by Orbot and Cubot as to whether he wanted the remaining aliens, to which he told them in a flippant manner that he actually wanted a cheeseburger and a shake. Similarly, he has occasionally utilized a rather bleak sense of humor, such as in Sonic Colors with his PA announcements at Starlight Carnival, where he says in one of them "We seem to be losing pressure on level seventeen. Please hold your breath against the harsh vacuum of space until you pass out from oxygen starvation. After that, you won't care. Enjoy the ride!", as well as in his propaganda video "Come Join the Eggman Empire", where he jovially narrates that being in an area filled with pollution is a lot better than with clean air especially after a robotomy treatment that saps its citizens of their ability to eat, sleep, and think ever again that he claimed was the "good life."
While Eggman's motives for conquering the planet and attempting to wipe out entire populaces are never made clear, what is clear that Eggman is primarily concerned about obtaining power and dominance for himself, with his violent tendencies and insanity mounting as the series continues.
Dr. Eggman's profile in Sonic Generations.
To this end, Eggman has never shown a willingness to do good or help others without it serving his own ends in some shape or form. While displaying a comical disposition later on in the series, he is quite clearly a cruel minded and brutal man who will use any opportunity presented to him to fuel his self-serving desires, even if that means exploiting worldwide catastrophes to obtain power and dominance. From abducting and transforming animals into robot armies, to leading large scale attacks on a terrorist level, Eggman's numerous crimes and exploits continuously transition into more destructive ramifications. He never acknowledges the results of his actions such as the pollution from his fortresses and strongholds that poison the surrounding environments or the ruins that are left from his own attacks on various cities and lands. His exploits have led to numerous tragic events, such as Chaos flooding and utterly destroying all of Station Square and Dark Gaia nearly consuming the whole planet, as well as threatened the welfare of time, space, and the universe itself. Throughout the series, Eggman has been shown to celebrate too early, or shown to be blindingly cocky.
However, despite his desire for world domination, Eggman does have a human side, and does not appreciate senseless destruction, tormenting and killing from other individuals and forces who are beyond his control. In Shadow the Hedgehog, he is shown to be disgusted and shocked at the thought that his own grandfather would sacrifice his own people for the sake of research and aid the Black Arms. This demonstrates that even if Eggman does not mind causing chaos and destruction, he ultimately knows that there is a line that others should not cross and was afraid his grandfather did so through betraying humanity and aiding a species that wanted to eliminate the human race. This shows that the doctor has some form of loyalty to the human race and could not fathom the idea of betraying his own species to that of a vicious and demonic alien empire, despite some of their actions mirroring his own in terms of the scope of their plans and the destructive ramifications of their actions.
While this seems contradictory towards Eggman's previous exploits of joining forces with other creatures bent on destruction, it seems that he still wishes to paint his grandfather in a positive light as he was his hero in his childhood. This more humane side to the doctor is shown in full force at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, where he has an honest and genuine conversation with Tails about how much he adored his grandfather, questioning the actions of his fallen idol and wondering if he intended to destroy him as well. Additionally, in Sonic Lost World, he unhesitatingly jumped in to save Tails from being attacked by a Crabmeat-controlled Cubot, and when questioned by Sonic over having rescued one of his worst enemies, Eggman admits that he's "a complicated guy."
Despite this, Eggman seems to have no problem in committing senseless killing and destruction as long as he is the one in control of the forces doing so. It would seem that the doctor is so bent on authority, that he refuses to let other forces destroy his planet unless they are under his complete control. This is shown when Chaos betrays Eggman and floods all of Station Square, an action that Eggman had planned Chaos to do from the very beginning regardless of the beast's betrayal against him, but refused to allow his rampage to continue as Chaos was no longer under his control. Additionally, in Sonic Adventure, he launched a missile deep into the heart of a heavily populated Station Square to utterly destroy it, even if that meant killing himself (even going as far as to state 'I'll take the whole city with me'), as a twisted form of revenge and victory over Sonic after his plans to use Chaos to dominate the planet failed. In Sonic Adventure 2, his desire for destruction appears at its height as he laughs insanely at the Eclipse Cannon's impending firing at the planet, which would have had devastating effects to billions of lives, until his grandfather's true operations were activated. He also admits that had he had the chance to use the space colony ARK to collide with earth, he would've done so a long time ago, showing admiration towards his grandfather's mad projects, and only decides to prevent them from coming to fruition in order to save his own life as escape was impossible with the colony on its collision course.
In Sonic Unleashed, there is a possibility, realistically speaking, that he murdered millions when reawakening Dark Gaia by splitting the planet itself apart, though the effects of the quake in relation to the earth's populace is never touched upon. In Sonic Lost World, Eggman contemplates destroying one of his own doomsday machines to ultimately destroy the Deadly Six, even if it means taking many innocent lives with them, much to Sonic's disgust. According to his PA announcement in Sonic Colors, his park can be considered a lethal weapon in itself as most of the rides lead to horrifying and agonizing deaths and circumstances should anyone ride them. Lastly, in the beginning of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), he orders his robots to launch numerous missiles at Sonic with no regard for any that may be caught in the crossfire.
Regardless of how many lives may or may not have been lost to Eggman's various schemes, the evil scientist clearly demonstrates a complete disregard for all life, even his own on occasions, as well his own creations, and will go to any means necessary as long as his goals of destroying Sonic and his friends, conquering the planet, and establishing his empire are met with full success. With the means for Eggman's plans to succeed often resulting in massive amounts of chaos and destruction, the success of his schemes would also result in a world slowly dying away from Eggman's ruthless and tyrannical rule.
Sonic Forces showcases a world nearly conquered by Eggman and his forces, with the villain going as far as to attack and utterly destroy entire cities in order to drive out and eliminate the last pockets of resistance against his rule, and has even gone as far as to plan to conjure a second sun to crash down on the earth to wipe out any remaining pockets of resistance, making clear that he intends to recreate the earth to be his Empire from its ashes as a result. While urban areas are utterly devastated, the areas previously overflowing with nature are now slowly dying, as Eggman's forces begin constructing fortresses and factories throughout, depleting the area's resources and causing massive amounts of pollution, which eat away at the surrounding environments. In addition, in his capitulation message requesting for the resistance to surrender and trying to negotiate the terms of surrender, he lets slip that he intends to lock them away in an underground prison before stopping himself. On a similar note, it was also implied that part of the reason he recruited the Ultimate Mercenary and his Jackal Squad into his plans of creating his new empire via the Phantom Ruby was due to being genuinely impressed with the mercenary's innate desire to cause the world to become war-torn after seeing his vision via the Phantom Ruby.
The various, dark futures within Sonic CD also provide a glimpse of the horror that would be a world under Eggman's control; twisted steel, pollution, and ruin, to the point that even Eggman's own creations are in pitiable states, illustrating that once Eggman has seized control of the world, he will become a ruthless tyrant who will exploit all of the planet's resources to the point that they are polluted or depleted as even his own creations suffer. This could imply that once Eggman has conquered the world, there will be little need of his robotic army as he primarily uses them to conquer territory and will be seen as expendable to him and left to rot. This would further be indicative towards how Eggman has previously treated his robots if they failed him, ordering torturous redesigns on his various E-Series robots if they did not complete their missions and even abandoned Orbot and Cubot in the vastness of space without a second's hesitation, though they would later rejoin the doctor sometime later despite this. Also, in Sonic Lost World, Eggman is content with conquering what is left of the world after the Deadly Six's actions, supporting that Eggman does not care what condition the world is in as long as he is the one ruling it.
Perhaps the most frustrating and deadly aspect about Eggman is his tendency to always escape at the last minute, even as all his creations and machines crumble and blow up around him, ensuring that he will always be back again with another scheme to endanger the planet and beyond. No matter how close Sonic appears to be finally catching the villain and putting him out of commission, the doctor always has an escape plan, which ironically enough, are the only plans he can formulate that Sonic has been known to fail in foiling, making it nearly impossible for both individuals to defeat the other for good, making their battle a never ending one.
One of Eggman's more admirable, if not dangerous, traits is his courage throughout life threatening situations. Despite Eggman's continuous use of machinery to both protect himself and fight his opponents, Eggman shows considerable bravery and very rarely shows fear, regardless of who or what he is facing. Even in the wake of the Black Arms invasion, Eggman remains very composed and even enters their base of operations without showing any fear. His persistence to control other creatures bent on mass destruction and approach them to ultimately tame them, including Chaos and Dark Gaia, also illustrate his apparent lack of fear. However, if he's caught without any backup plan to fall on, he isn't above fleeing, such as when the Deadly Six took over his army after Sonic kicked away his Cacophonic Conch.
Eggman, while sending out his army to do most of his dirty work, has also been known to lead missions personally with himself in the field for both amoral and noble deeds, though with self serving interests always at the forefront of his mind. His apparent lack of fear during these missions can be owed partially to the fact that Eggman has previously shown a disregard for even his own life on several occasions (as in the case of his attempted suicide bombing of Station Square with a missile), as long as his plans come to full fruition. In Sonic Adventure 2, Eggman tells Shadow that he might not survive his battle with Sonic in the space colony ARK and instructs him to finish their plans to use the Eclipse Cannon to dominate the planet and possibly even use the weapon to destroy large portions of it. While the villain has been known to panic when his plans spiral out of control, especially when victory previously seemed assured, he is always able to compose himself long enough to either finish the mission at hand or escape at the last minute.
Ultimately, while not openly violent and ruthless, Eggman is still a highly brutal and amoral villain with an insatiable lust for power, dominance, and, since meeting Sonic, revenge. While still harboring a more humane side and displaying comical undertones, Eggman's ruthless and violent nature can still be seen throughout the series. His uncompromising persistence shared with his appetite for authority and control fuel the conflicts throughout the entire series and guarantee that Sonic will always be needed to stop him.
Powers and abilities[]
Dr. Eggman piloting one of his robots.
Eggman's most well known ability is his masterminded plots and schemes which only fail due to Sonic and his friends. He is a remarkable scientist and engineer, as evidenced by the numerous armies of robots, warships, and other mechanical inventions he has created. Eggman also has incredible skill in operating various vehicles, from his own Egg Mobile, to his various mechs, to racecars like the Egg Booster. In fact, his rivals as a machine pilot is rivaled only by Eggman Nega and Tails.
Owing to his masterminding plots and schemes, he was also shown to be a genius in strategy and tactics, which was best demonstrated twice: The first time was in Sonic Adventure 2, where Eggman not only came up with the plan to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds, but also guided Tails, Rouge, Knuckles, and Sonic through the path to the Cannon's Core and advised them on how to bypass the various security measures, and even gave some tips on how to defeat the Finalhazard, and even earlier managed to deduce that Sonic and his friends were planning to use a Fake Emerald to undo his plan and proceeded to outsmart them by trapping Sonic, anticipating that he had the fake emerald (and tricking Tails into confirming it). The second time was in Sonic Forces, where he not only made sure to build a backup generator for the Phantom Ruby due to anticipating the possibility that the Resistance would destroy the primary one, but also left disinformation about how the Phantom Ruby was actually generating power and leaving the "generator" as a decoy.
Eggman has considerable physical strength as seen in Sonic Lost World where he was able to shatter a large wall of ice with his bare hands,[4] and in Sonic Riders, Eggman is classified as a Power Type, further implying a high level of strength.[5] As seen in some games' endings he is also quite resistant to damage, being catapulted or falling vast distances only to come out scratched up but mostly unharmed.
Despite his physical structure, Eggman is also very athletic; during their early battles, there is almost always a point where Sonic chases Eggman and despite of his weight and Sonic's speed, he always manages to outrun his nemesis long enough to reach his next escape vehicle or weapon. In one cutscene of Sonic Lost World, Eggman flees from the Deadly Six around the same pace as Sonic.
Equipment[]
Doctor Eggman using his eyewear in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
Eggman's glasses are shown to be a highly advanced technological eyewear. With it, he could locate the Chaos Emeralds' locations in the corners of the distorted world after they were flung there by Solaris.[6]
Relationships[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Sega of America (February 2004). Yuki Naka on Sonic's Past, Present, and Future part 2. Sega of America. Archived from the original on 24 January 2004. “Sega.com: Did Sonic have a hand in changing Dr. Robotnik's name to Dr. Eggman for the United States games? If so, was he trying to make fun of his nemesis? / Yuji Naka: To tell the truth, his name has not changed. Robotnik is his real name and Eggman is a common name taken after his shape. Possibly, it may have been Sonic, who uttered this alias for the first time! I feel, though, Sonic uses this name affectionately, rather than trying to make fun of the doctor.”
- ↑ Eggman's profile from the Sonic Adventure manual
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSC - ↑ Afterwards, he even said "as long as [he] can still strangle a Zeti, [his] hands are fine". This was seen in the cutscene after Frozen Factory Act 2.
- ↑ His character type in Sonic Riders and its sequel being power
- ↑ Sonic Team, Blindlight (24 November 2006). Sonic the Hedgehog. Xbox 360. Sega. Cutscene: The time-space rift.
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