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robotnik-mun · 7 years

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Robotnik Retrospective Part Six: Rage Against The Machine

Hello again, everybody, and welcome back to another exciting (*coughBullcrap*) addition to the Robotnik retrospective! Well folks, you’ve stuck through five of these things already, and really I thank all of you for that, but the reality is that this crazy train is swiftly reaching its destination- this post here will be the last of the proper retrospective posts. After this we will conclude our series with an afterward, a summation, what have you, and at last this insane party of Robotnik fan obssession will come to an end. Been a fun ride folks, but all good things must come to an end.

So far we have covered how I came to enjoy this Robotnik so much, his design and the history behind it, an in-depth look at his character, a look at how he as a character is shaped by his relationships with others and how they are in turn shaped by him, and most recently we examined the other Robotniks that were spawned from this one and featured in both Archie Comics and Sonic Underground. Sufficed to say, over the course of the retrospective we’ve covered a loooot of ground regarding ol ‘Buttnik, and it is here that we cover one last little area regarding this Robotnik.... namely, the criticisms.

Oh yes. Within the Sonic fandom all things tend to be a matter of contention, and this model of Robotnik is no different. One thing I notice across the fandom is a certain set of criticisms, criticisms that I feel tend to ignore certain contexts with this guy, or rely upon certain double standards- especially since more often than not, when these criticisms are made, it’s almost always done in relation to the Eggman of the games, despite the fact that more than a few of those criticisms can be leveled at Eggman himself, and often treat personal opinion as an objective fact.

Now obviously, this is not a demand for people to love the guy- it’s patently impossible for everyone to agree on everything. I just feel though that a lot of these criticisms are a bit lopsided, and so, I am offering up counterpoints to at least provide an alternative view or to contextualize things, and to perhaps debunk a few here and there. I’m actually kind of nervous about this one because of how easy it could be to slide into pathetic fan-whining, so hey, here’s hoping we get through this without me getting personal.

Let’s get it on.

As I said, everything in Sonic is a subject of contention or controversy to somebody. One man’s favorite is another man’s mistake of the franchise. That’s just covering the games- the various spin-offs and adaptations the games have enjoyed over the years tend to attract a particular amount of controversy. Differing interpretations, utilization or lack of utilization of materials and lore from the games, the precise nature of the world Sonic lives in, interpretations and use of characters, whether or not humans are included beyond Eggman... all of it tends to be scrutinized rather harshly. I do earnestly believe that at some level, spin-off media gets more criticism than it warrants due to the fact that, by its very nature, it is viewed as being ‘less legitimate’ than the games proper, despite existing with SEGA’s endorsement and approval each and every time. Even Sonic Underground, the most radically different Sonic adaptation out there, couldn’t get made unless SEGA gave the okay.

Another layer to all of this is the fact that the overwhelming majority of these spinoff materials were made in the USA, for American Audiences, based upon the localizations of the games. This adds another factor to the Legitimacy Debate, given that SEGA of Japan runs the show, and Sonic Team’s lore has always differed from the localized takes. Much like the ‘Subs vs Dubs’ debates within Anime fan communities, the merit of the differences and interpretations between regions is something of a warzone in itself, resulting in a very weird situation where you often see the Adaptations derided purely for being a Western invention rather than springing from the ‘true’ source of Sonic, which is Japan. The irony of this logic is that Sonic has been incredibly popular everywhere BUT Japan, and the sorts of people who espouse this viewpoint are often from Western countries themselves.

Ah, but I must digress, lest this turn into a dissertation about the nature of the fan-divide and becomes even longer than it is already shaping up to be. Point of order- the spinoff adaptations that once speckled the franchise of the 90s tend to rack up a lot of strong opinions for good or ill, and due to the sheer number of designs and interpretations Eggman/Robotnik underwent between each adaptation. In some ways it’s almost symbolic of a lot of the arguments about Eggman himself these days- how evil is he, how humorous, does he have good traits, what should his exact relationship with Sonic be, and so on and so forth. A lot of these spinoff takes often seem to embody one end of the scale or the other to varying extremes, and that is particularly evident in the SatAM model of Robotnik.

So, having brought all of that up, it is *finally* time to take a look at the most common criticisms I find of the SatAM model Robotnik, and to offer up a few rebuttals. Thank you for your patience.

Now then... on with the criticisms.

“He doesn’t look like Eggman!”

This one comes up a lot, and really, it’s quite indisputably true.

Yeah, pretty fair observation there- these two are pretty far apart design wise, and even accounting for the artistic interpretations that were used on Eggman in Western box art during that time, it is nakedly apparent that the SatAM Robotnik is veeery different looking to the guy from the games, whether in the classical era or the modern era. So yeah, there’s no denying it- he really doesn’t look like Eggman.

However... is it really *that* big of a deal?

SatAM Robotnik is pretty far removed from Eggman from a design standpoint, but in the end, he does actually share the same basic features- bald, obese, huge mustache, and a red, yellow and black color scheme distributed by the top half being dominated by red while the bottom half is dominated by blackm and of course shaped like an egg. In this, Robotnik isn’t straying that far- he does in fact possess all the iconic features that make the Eggman design, simply re-interpreted to other extremes. Heck, Robotnik accentuates the Egg motiff in his look even more than Eggman himself! An irony I rather appreciate.

I find it hard to believe that THIS aspect of Robotnik is really *that* much of a dealbreaker, particularly since the Robotnik who first started this design trend in AosTH never seems to receive the same criticism.

Yeah, not exactly a loyal replication of the game design there, now is it? If Adventures Robotnik can get a pass for his own divergent design, then I feel that the same courtesy can be extended to SatAM Robotnik.

It’s actually a bit of an ironic twist that SEGA themselves toyed with the idea of making Eggman into a cyborg as well.

While clearly they didn’t go with this, it should be noted that Sonic Team themselves didn’t seem to think it was that much of a stretch for Eggman himself to have cybernetics as well. Just something to consider.

Heck, for extra irony points, consider SEGA themselves don’t seem to be all too concerned about whether ol’ Eggy looks the part of a man called ‘Eggman’ these days.

‘He looks like an upside down egg!’

My hairy butt he does.

A buff Eggman is arguably a far, far more drastic divergence than what SatAM Robotnik’s got going on, given that it completely inverts one of the core design aspects of the character, one that has been utilized by every other incarnation out there- his obese, ovoid physique to which he owes the name ‘Eggman’ to begin with.

So yeah, I rest my case. You’re free to like or dislike a design, but this claim specifically doesn’t really seem to hold much water with regards to being a strike against him.

“He’s practically a different character!”

Weeeelllllll.... yes, and no. This is one of those criticisms that kind of misses out on certain contexts and makes a pretty big assumption- namely that Eggman has always existed as we now know him. Cause the thing is, up until Sonic Adventure? “Eggman” never really existed in the West. Confused by what I mean? Well, allow me to elaborate a bit.

While Dr. Eggman was always such back in Japan, when it came time for the games to come over to Western shores, the story and characters of the game were localized in the hopes of making the game more marketable to local audiences. As such Dr. Eggman, who had evidently already been an enemy of Sonic’s for a while before the events of the first game, now became “Dr. Ivo Robotnik”, and was given a more detailed background- that once upon a time, he was a good and kindly scientist called Ovi Kintobor, who was a friend of Sonic’s until an accident involving CHaos Emeralds and a rotten egg transformed him into the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who immediately set off to conquer Mobius.

Various bits and pieces from Sonic of America’s official documents consistently characterize Dr. Ivo Robotnik as being ‘pure evil’, and his design was altered in the cover art for the games to reflect his sinister nature.

You know, I never really noticed that the Sonic 2 Cover Art made it look like he had a beard going on along with that mustache. Funky.

Anyway!

This was to form the basis of the character in the US, and thanks to the open-ended nature of his actions in the game proper, said actions became cast in a more sinister light due to the more openly obvious and malevolent nature of Robotnik that was presented. It is from all of this then that SatAM Robotnik, and all the other Robotniks introduced in the spinoff materials at the time derive their character from, and since all the details provided painted Robotnik as an evil, evil person, it was up to the writers for these spinoffs to interpret whether they should be played for laughs or for chills.

In short? Eggman didn’t exist in the West when SatAM Robotnik was created. The criticism that he is practically a different character from Eggman is reliant upon a false premise- he cannot be faulted for being a different character to Eggman when he was created at a time when “Eggman” wasn’t even a part of Sonic as far as Western Audiences were concerned, until Sonic Adventure happened and things changed to better fit how things had always been in Japan. Similarly, the scant details we know about Eggman’s life hadn’t even been conceived of at the time.

It is at this point though that I feel compelled to point out though that while Robotnik’s differences from the current understanding of Eggman is simply a result of the time he was created, it should be noted that Robotnik is still a pretty inaccurate representation of the Robotnik from the games. SatAM Robotnik’s real name is Julian, his backstory doesn’t utilize the Chaos Emerald accident at all, he’s already the ruler of Mobius and has been for a while now, and his robots are completely different. While he still turns animals into robots, the concept has been re-interpreted so that rather than using people as batteries for his robots, the Roboticizer converts flesh and blood creatures into mechanical slaves for Robotnik’s empire.

Now these are all traits that I personally quite enjoy, but I’d be an idiot to suggest that it isn’t a pretty huge divergence from the lore that the games themselves establish. The thing of it is though, that SEGA themselves were not particularly interested in enforcing the aforementioned lore. In the earlier Adventure series, bits and pieces of Robotnik’s backstory were revealed, and much like the later SatAM , there’s not a lot that aligns with what the games had presented- Robotnik here was evil from the moment he was born and had a family in the form of an even more crazed and evil mother who constantly berated him for not destroying Sonic. Similarly, Game!Robotnik’s schtick of ‘turning animals into robots’ didn’t come up all that much, if at all.

The simple reality is? SEGA of America didn’t really care to enforce the lore it had created, and SEGA of Japan didn’t see fit to do similar. SEGA desiring a more universal approach for the setting it had created was something that came about with the advent of Sonic Adventure, and before that? Well, the most game accurate Robotnik out there, was the Robotnik from Fleetway.

Yeah, THAT terrifying bastard.

And don’t think for an instant that Sega of Japan themselves were any better at this. Back in Japan they released a series of Manga to tie into the games. Wanna know how that turned out?

Gotta confess, I don’t recall any of this happening at any point in the game. Cool robots though!

Another Manga would take it a step further and give a wholly new story- Sonic was the heroic identity that a shy hedgehog boy called Nicky could transform into. Nicky would have a family consisting of a mother, a father and a little sister, as well as having a girlfriend who would later form the basis for Amy Rose.

And then there was a manga that was released to tie into Sonic 2 for the game gear. Being a direct adaptation meant to promote the game, this would surely do a more than sufficient job of accurately portraying-

JESUS.

... so...

...uh...

...yeeah, long story short, Sonic on the whole didn’t really have a set idea, whether for Robotnik/Eggman or anything else. I once used the term ‘Jungle Law’ to describe how things were for the franchise in the 90s, and I must once more reiterate that that was precisely the case during that time, both in the US and everywhere else. People are of course free to feel about SatAM Robotnik and how he relates to the games (or rather doesn’t) as they wish, but one thing I would ask when doing that is to at least consider the time in which he was created, and to understand that even if he had been made to be game accurate at that time, he’d still be wildly, wildly different than the Eggman everyone is now familiar with.

“He doesn’t invent anything!”

I honestly have no idea where this one came from... well, actually, that’s a lie, I know exactly where it stems from- the fact that Robotnik stole the Roboticizer from Uncle Chuck rather than inventing it himself wholesale. I can see why that would be a turn-off. Heck, I myself find it somewhat diminishing that he stole the invention rather than creating it himself wholesale, even as I love the horrible, horrible twist that it was a medical device created by Sonic’s own uncle, and the blood on Charles’ hand because of it. On that front though, I would point out that innovation is not just a matter of wholesale creation, but of taking things that existed before and taking them in new directions, and while maybe as not as grand as him being the sole creator of the Roboticizer, he still took the device and modified it towards a capacity it was never intended towards. I would argue then that it’s still pretty ingenious.

That being said though, 'never’ invents anything?

That just isn’t supported by anything seen in the series. Every last machine and robot witnessed is created by him. Taking precisely one incident and then declaring that he 'doesn’t invent anything’ because of it is a preposterous exaggeration built upon a premise thats overblown and inaccurate to begin with. No, he didn’t 'invent’ the original technology, but as I said, he took it in a direction never dreamt of before by its original creator- that’s still an application of intelligence and scientific skill.

It’s a particularly baffling accusation given that it’s not as though the games themselves dedicate huge amounts of time observing Eggman in the process of creating his machines, whether in the present time or back in the 90s. The reason I bring this up is because at times, part of what seems to fuel this criticism is that Robotnik is only rarely seen constructing his devices. Rarely however is not the same thing as ‘never’, and even then common sense would decree that the scientific genius does in fact make stuff even if you don’t see it happen.

It’s one thing to be annoyed by the fact that roboticizer isn’t his own- that’s quite understandable really. Going off of that to claim that he ‘invents nothing’ though? That’s just blatantly untrue.

“He’s lazy!”

Now unlike the last one, this is one that I just legitimately do not get. He runs an empire and personally oversees all operations from his command room. Of course he’s not going to be running around everywhere at all times, and even then, there are several episodes where he personally investigates things or direct operations personally. There’s really not a lot that can be said about this one because it’s probably one of the weakest criticisms out there, and ironically enough is itself very lazy.

“He’s unoriginal/derivative/a ripoff!”

Well I mean, yeah? He’s literally the re-interpretation of a character from a video game, he’s quite derivative by default-

Heh, okay, okay, I’m being facetious here. I know what the actual gist of the criticism is, and to a degree it’s quite correct- Robotnik is a character who fulfills a very specific character archetype, that of the Evil Overlord. He’s big, he’s evil, he’s got a cape, and he’s got a hankerin’ for some oppressin’. Though I suppose calling it an ‘archetype’ is being a tad kind given that whenever this particular one is brought up the word that enters the vernacular more often than not tends to be ‘cliche’. Comparisons that often follow tend to accuse him of being a dime store version of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget or Darth Vader from Star Wars (not sure why that’s a negative comparison- those two are awesome!), and I can see that to a certain degree. This character type is an old one, and Robotnik himself doesn’t exactly break new ground.

Thing is though? This criticism is almost always made by drawing an implicit comparison to his counterpart from the games, with the implication being that Robotnik is the derivative creation/concept, as opposed to Eggman. This, even more than the criticism itself, is what particularly bothers me, because frankly? This assertion is a pretty big double-standard, one of the two major double-standards that tend to arise when SatAM Robotnik is compared to his games counterpart. More than anything, I find the both of them to be incredibly rankling for precisely those reasons- we will cover the other one once we are finished with this one.

An Evil Overlord isn’t exactly a big innovation... but neither are mad scientists who are out to conquer the world with robot armies. That one had been done to death long before Sonic, and will continue to see use long after the franchise is dead and gone.

Many of Eggman’s traits are not exactly unique to him, even within video games. A bald mad scientist with a big mustache, who primarily travels around in a hovering machine, who uses armies of robots with cartoonish features and big goofy looking eyeballs? Where have I heard that before... wherever have I heard that...

Oh, hey there Dr. Wily!

But wait, I can do it across two mediums! Bald scientist, bushy mustache with mechanical engineering skills who exploits animals for his evil schemes and is constantly thwarted animals that are much smaller than himself.... remind you of anybody at all, hmm?

He’s even voiced by Jim Cummings!

Yeah, an unkind soul might accuse ol’ Eggman of being an off-brand version of Dr. Wily, and an even less kind soul might simply dismiss him as the end result of tossing Nimnul and Wily into a blender and hitting puree. Before you get worked up though know this; I do not *actually* think this, and it would be ludicrous to think of Eggman as being a ripoff or being overly derivative of those two (the traits are there, undeniably, but these are not to the detriment of the character or his originality in the least). I would be incredibly incensed at anyone earnestly suggesting that Eggman was unoriginal or a ripoff of those two or anything along those lines... but the thing is, I feel the exact same way about similar statements being hurled towards SatAM Robotnik with regards to his originality as a character. There are things that are similar to what other characters have done, sure, but there is more than enough that is distinct about him, whether its his look, his personality or M.O, that calling him a copy or derivative is fairly unwarranted, and I would say the same to anybody declaring such things about ol’ Eggy.

In conclusion? This criticism isn’t invalid by itself as we all have different tastes and such, but given the context of how it is often used, there is something of a double-standard at work- traits that would be regarded as cliche or derivative are perfectly acceptable within Eggman, but a similar courtesy cannot be extended to the SatAM Robotnik. It’s a rich thing to call one incarnation ‘a ripoff’, when the character that spawned him was most famous for using a parody of the Death Star as an ultimate weapon prior to Sonic Adventure.

Which brings me to the very last criticism I keep hearing, this one a... personal favorite.

“He’s boring/lacks depth/is uninterestng/doesn’t have a personality!”

One thing I’ve established is that some criticisms tend to be made with a direct comparison to Eggman in mind, and this one? This is the one that tends to come up the most frequently and is the most insisted upon, and often the one most loudly declared (in as much as anything on the internet can be ‘loud’). Many times when this one is made, it is done with the obvious implication that this Robotnik is deficit in these areas when compared to his game counterpart. Depth is what makes a character more than what we see on the surface- its things like history, facets of personality, flaws, strengths, weaknesses, how they express their world view through words and actions, who they are related to and how they relate or do not relate to the people in their lives, and how they develop. In short, it’s a matter of how realized a character is.

It’s also one of the most singularly *baffling* accusations to use, not because of Robotnik himself, but because of the nature of characterization within the wider Sonic franchise and the fandom’s somewhat tortured relationship with it.

One of the very ugly truths about Sonic as a series? Is that precious few of the characters can truly be seen as ‘deep’ or ‘developed’, largely as a consequence of the way this series operates. Character developments from past games are rarely if ever built upon, past details are scarce and only barely referenced after initial introductions, and personality traits are either ramped up or dialed back based on the demands of the games, which are not always written very consistently. There is nothing particularly wrong with this- this being a long running video game series with no planned end, it is to be expected that each of the characters would more or less be the same person they were the last time around, frustrating as it is when more intriguing details are waylaid as a result (looking at you, Knuckles).

The only noteworthy exception to this trend, ironically enough, is Shadow the Hedgehog.

On paper Shadow should be a rather terrible idea- a black and red furred hedgehog with a brooding attitude and powers that match Sonic’s, along with a few extra abilities Sonic doesn’t possess, who is involved in Eggman’s own family history that was never mentioned before that point? Everything about Shadow screams ‘baby’s first fancharacter’. Yet despite that fact, Shadow is ultimately the biggest recipient of character development and evolution in the series- his backstory is the most explored, he has undergone the most development, and is the only one to have grown out of the role that initially defined him. It’s all rather astounding given that he debuted explicitly as an ‘Evil Twin’ to challenge Sonic, only to ultimately wind up having more concrete details than the hero he was created to challenge.

Otherwise though? There’s not really a lot to most Sonic characters beyond a few traits that give a teensy amount of depth. This includes our good buddy Eggman.

Eggman has no real past and no real motive for his goals of world conquest, nor are any details provided with regards to what his precise vision for the world is. Since he gained the ability to talk Eggman has frequently displayed himself to be a bellicose, immature egomaniac who has never done a single genuinely selfless thing throughout the entirety of the series, nor are we given a lot of indication as to what he’s like when he isn’t actively plotting against the world. He has all of exactly one detail that gives him any kind of depth beyond being a by-the-book video game nemesis, and that’s the fact that when he was a child he admired his grandfather Gerald Robotnik and wanted to be like him. This admiration however never leads anywhere, and the last time it was mentioned was in Shadow the Hedgehog, and even then only because the plot revolved around Shadow and Gerald’s actions in the past. Contrary to what he claimed in Sonic Lost World, Eggman isn’t really a ‘complicated guy’.

Otherwise we are never provided any insight as to how the ARK incident impacted him or how it factors into his motivations, if at all- one can theorize that the treatment of his grandfather might be one of the stronger motivating factors of his mission for world conquest, but on the other hand, one can just as easily come to the conclusion that while he indeed respects and admires his grandfather and was probably upset over what happened, his goals are disconnected to that incident and his motivations are purely ego driven. Could be one, could be the other, but the fact of the matter is that there is not definite answer because it is never actually explored in the games. We don’t even have a clue as to what his thoughts or feelings about Maria and her death were.

You see where I’m getting at with this?

Much about this franchise is what we can take from what we are provided with, what we can interpret and how we can explore mud puddles as if they had the depths of the ocean. It’s about looking past what’s set in stone, peering through the cracks and wondering what more there could be. It’s about exploring the aspects that the games themselves don’t see fit to elaborate upon. There are thousands of interpretations and ideas for how things came to be the way they are, thousands of ideas about what we *aren’t* shown or told about the characters and how they are when we do not see them in the games. It’s what makes this fandom so diverse and so wonderful.

So with all that in mind, you can imagine how I feel whenever I see this particular criticism, accusing Robotnik of being ‘boring’ or ‘lacking depth’ or anything of the like. Especially given that the character he’s being compared to when it comes up isn’t exactly a vast ocean of depth himself. People are free to disagree with the direction or the interpretation, but in a lot of cases this is one of those times when a personal opinion is being treated as an objective fact. It’s hypocritical and utterly maddening, and it carries with it a certain degree of ‘your shit stinks and mine doesn’t’.

And you know, if SatAM Robotnik DOES come off as less developed... well frankly, what do people expect? He is from a series that was made twenty years ago with a run of twenty six episodes, and no more. He is literally stuck in time, a time when his existence was perfectly acceptable according to SEGA’s policy and marketing strategies. Otherwise? He isn’t used. The universe he is a part of isn’t used. He’s not even really referenced in a meaningful way anymore. There is literally no way for him to go any further than when the series ended. By contrast, Eggman will always be used for as long as the games are made and always be allowed to try new things, use new machines, commit new acts and rise to new heights or sink to new lows. For this though, SatAM Robotnik is innately lesser?

And you know, I can understand where a good portion of it comes from, beyond the game purists who kinda hated all the spinoffs for not matching the games by default. For the longest time this version of Robotnik was touted as the ‘best’, and for those who were not fans of this depiction it could get impossibly grating to hear it over and over again, this endless praise of something they couldn’t get the appeal of to begin with. When you’re told something is great over and over again when you don’t like it, or if something you might otherwise feel neutral about is similarly shoved into your face constantly, you start looking for flaws out of the simple resentment that it almost seems like you’re being *forced* into liking something. Heck, even when you might be neutral about a subject, having it overhyped can sour you to it.

So, having said aaaalll of that? The point of order is that I do not agree with this criticism, nor do I agree with the bulk of the mentality behind it. It frames things in such a way that makes it seems like the two incarnations are actively competing with one another, which is ludicrous given that the Games Eggman is... well... Games Eggman. He’s never, ever going to go anywhere or be replaced, so long as the games are made. I like Eggman, and I like SatAM Robotnik, and I like the fact that they are distinct from one another. I don’t need Eggman to become more like Robotnik- and for the record, I don’t think he’s a pussywillow or anything, even limiting his actions to the classic games. As outlined here, Eggman is a pretty nasty character beneath all the goofiness, having a bevy of truly horrible deeds to his name. I find complaints about him being ‘too evil’ in Archie to be fairly ludicrous given all of his actions across the games. What was the Death Egg gonna do thenm if it had successfully carried out its purpose? Pop open and spray confetti over everything while a big banner unfolded with the words “GOT YA!!” written on it, complet with a doodle of Eggman blowing a raspberry? Eggman is pretty damn nasty as is. I just feel that his SatAM counterpart is *nastier*, and as the many posts preceding this have established, I have a heavy appreciation for that fact.

In sumary- we all have different tastes, we all have different likes, and it’s impossible to get everybody to like what they like. These are acceptable. What I don’t find acceptable is when facts are ignored or details downplayed in order to make the things that I enoy seem flatter or more limited than they actually are. Especially given how, when used, this particular criticism is often based more on opinion. As such, I heavily, heavily dispute this particular argument regarding this incarnation of Robotnik’s value as a character.

With that, the academic (for a loose definition of ‘academic’) portion of the retrospective officially comes to a close. All that remains now is to post the next installment, which will conclude the entirety of the retrospective.

Until next time, folks!

#Sonic the Hedeghog #Dr. Robotnik #Analysis

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