#make aosth great again

[sage-nebula]

Tails ~

What I like about them

Tails fits the definition of a classical antihero. While nowadays we think of antiheroes as brooding types who are willing to do less-than-heroic things to get the job done, in classical literature an antihero was a character who, while heroic, displayed personality traits that weren't often associated with heroes. For instance, a classical antihero might be wrangle with self-doubt where a classical hero is confident. A classical antihero may be physically weak where a classical hero is physically strong, so on and so forth. Frodo Baggins is an example of a classical antihero, and so, too, is Tails. And I like this because it gives us interesting avenues to explore his character from. Sonic is great, but as a traditional hero he doesn't wrangle with things like self-doubt or anxiety. What you see is what you get with him: just a guy who loves adventure. But perhaps in part due to being a literal genius, Tails is a lot more cerebral and there's a lot more introspection with him, particularly given his shortcomings and weaknesses. Exploring the ways he grows and learns to work with his anxieties and traumas, rather than against them, makes his character really interesting.

Also, he is so fucking cute oh my god.

What I dislike about them

His character writing has been, to put it politely, inconsistent over the years. He went through all that growth in the Adventure games just to have it completely ripped the fuck away from him in later ones (particularly Forces). It's not great and most days I pretend I do not see it.

Favourite moment

In the games: Either the moment he threw hands with Eggman when he thought Eggman had killed Sonic in Adventure 2, or the acknowledgement of his issues and his whole arc in Frontiers rolled up into one.

In animation: Either saying that Sonic was his "mom, dad, and picket fence" in AoStH, or the episode in AoStH where Sonic was turned to stone and so Tails spent the whole episode trolling Scratch and Grounder Home Alone style. Again, he is so fucking cute oh my god.

In the IDW comics: Either catching Sonic with the Tornado in the middle of the Angel Island arc, or crashing the airship into Neo Metal at the end of that arc, or when he said goodbye to the Cyclone because he had to sacrifice her during the Metal Virus arc, or when he figured out how to take down Surge in their fight against her in the city, or defending Sonic from Kit, or immediately building guns to go save Sonic in the Scrapnik Island mini series, or . . .

Least favourite moment

Forces 🙃All of Forces. I hate it so fucking much.

Also not a fan of how they made him fight Sonic in the Archie comics. Really, any situation which pits those two against each other is an automatic Nope.gif in my books. I will smack that back button so fast, don't test me.

A situation with this character that I want to see explored more

How he's developing his technology to utilize clean energy! We see that he's using hydro power to fuel the Mystic Ruins workshop in the IDW comics; I want more exploration on how Tails' development of technology is not only not detrimental to the planet, but actually works to reverse the damage that Eggman does. Technology doesn't have to destroy the planet; it can be a clean force for good, too!

An interesting AU for this character

Can I promote my own fic Beyond Oblivion? Because that's an interesting AU to me!

A crossover

I'm still very much in love with my Night in the Woods crossover, where Tails spends an autumn in Possum Springs during his solo journeys. All anthro stories take place in the same universe and this one happens in my head and in my heart even if Sega thinks it could never work in canon. Sega doesn't pay me, they can't dictate what I do.

OTP (or OT3+ etc…. just… favourite ship)

None. In fact, adaptations that have tried to give Tails romances (Archie, Sonic X, Boom) are off-putting to me because they try to give Tails romances. He doesn't need a romance for his story to be interesting! In fact, I think a romance arc for him is far more boring than the alternatives like exploring how he overcomes his inner demons or focusing on the clean energy alternatives he creates to improve the world. And even if you want to explore him with other characters, platonic relationships and platonic love stories are a thing! Tails' brotherly relationship with Sonic, his friendships with Amy and Knuckles—these are interesting stories and romance isn't a part of them. Destroy the heterosexual notion that every character must be paired off for a story to be good.

Other ships?

Nope.

BROTP

His big bro Sonic, of course! Like I said above, platonic love stories are a thing, and the platonic love story in Sonic and Tails finding a family in each other when they were both orphaned has been one of my favorites since I was four years old. I don't think that's going to change any time soon.

NOTP

I wish people who ship Sonic with Tails romantically a very do not ever interact with me, ever, in any capacity. Thank you.

An assortment of headcanons!

I have a lot! You can read some here, and here, and here :)

#tofukitten #character meme #miles tails prower #thanks for the ask!

[egg-emperor]

Since Games Eggman is your favorite incarnation (I believe so anyway lol), which version would be your least favorite if you have one? Sorry for the rather negative question, I'm just curious xD

You miiight be able to tell that game Eggman is my favorite with how my whole blog is about him and I gush about him and very strictly stick to him for character accuracy in stuff I analyze and create XD You can't get better than the original, the definitive, the character he was created to be by Sega JP. He's absolutely perfect in every single way and I kinda don't feel that any other version comes close to having everything that makes him so great intact at once like the games.

For that, I actually don't like many versions that isn't classic/modern in the games lol. I used to share my opinions on the others a bit more and my thoughts and criticisms but it made people mad and I pretty much said all I needed to say for them. And I don't really care enough to rank them since I don't really like them in the first place, I don't feel strongly enough about it.

The only versions I really care about nowadays is the game, small parts of Archie and IDW (when it feels accurate to game Eggman), X (again when it feels accurate to game Egg), Prime (if they actually used him, he has potential), and they're the only official medias I care about in general really. Not a Boom series, movies, Fleetway, AoStH, SatAM, Underground, etc fan.

Yeah, the only way I've ever liked other versions in media outside the games at all is when it still looks and feels like modern Eggman, even if it's not all the time as there can still be many personality and actions differences and I usually dislike those differences but when it feels like game Eggman then it's really enjoyable to me.

The version I dislike the least of those that I don't care much for is Boom Eggman probably. Not the hugest fan (Casino AU Egg would kill me lol) but I like him above other versions that vastly change him and he's fun to use in my AU and Egg x Egg stuff. He's funny and entertaining. It's just his very different personality doesn't click, not villain enough for me as he doesn't hold a candle to game Egg's diabolical actions.

Not sure how to rank the others. I don't really know which I dislike the most? The more different they are from game Eggman, the more I dislike them but I just tend to disregard them nowadays after realizing they're just not for me but as long as they don't replace game Eggman I don't care and they'll only come and go, so I i just mumble "that's not my Eggman" and move on.

I asked my brother what it seems like my least favorite is and he said jimbotnik. XD Probably because of my rants about how he's literally just carrey with a mustache in the first movie. He's not fat, it was hardly established why he was the bad guy in the first movie, they understand his narcissism but don't present it in an Eggman-like way, he still doesn't look or feel like him at all to me.

But I don't know if I'd say he's my least favorite because I don't feel about the others strongly enough to compare and order them to figure that out. Maybe if I refreshed myself on them I would, but I haven't seen any of them in a while and don't plan on it so we'll probably never know. I'm also done sharing my opinions on versions I don't like anyway, since it tends to piss people off a lot and I don't need the drama lol

(No problems with this ask though, I appreciate the interest for my thoughts)

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #opinion #my post

[laziarteest]

I keep finding myself trying to find more ways to avoid watching the new season of Sonic Prime lol I’m sure it’s fine, and a lot of people seem to like it but like

Idk I’d probably have less of a problem with the show if they weren’t trying to push it as canon to the games’ story? Cause the Sonic in this show and the Sonic in the games are clearly not the same Sonic AoStH, SatAM, and Underground are all plenty different from canon Sonic, but I can still watch those and have a good time, for the most part, because they aren’t claiming to be the mainline Sonic Plus, with the exception of Underground, those all came out when Sonic was relatively new And then Sonic Boom is great, probably the show I revisit most, just because it’s funny. It doesn’t bother me that the characters are out of character compared to their main series counterparts because being exaggerated caricatures of themselves is part of the point But then with Prime, I kept wanting to turn the show off because Sonic came off as so annoying. I get that they wanted to leave room for character development, but did they have to make Sonic have the same character as every other protagonist I’ve seen from a Man of Action cartoon? It’s just Ben 10/ Zak Storm/ MegaMan Fully Charged all over again. A motor-mouth kid that isn’t funny and constantly makes stupid choices. Maybe season 2 (aka episode batch 2) will change my mind. Maybe they’ve done way better here. I’ve heard good things about Shadow at the very least, so I’ll just have to watch and see. Though I’m also salty that Netflix won’t let me watch with Japanese audio........ I just want to hear Junichi Kanemaru as Sonic, I don’t care if the dialogue and subtitles don’t match.....................

#ellie talks to herself #ellie rants about sonic prime #i just have very strong feelings about this guys

[srkizer]

aosth is like a music. a song. it kind of repeats but every single one of them is good. and then i do love the musics used in aosth; theybare so fun to begin with. add the aosth voices and it's damn great. such a great cast with exaggerated entertaining voices.

sucks now that i've completed another run of the show.

it's funny how aosth is the only sonic media that has moments that i remember that make my eyes wet.

now what? maybe watch boom again? for granted there are some dull moments that makes me want to skip some episodes, but i really do not like skipping a single episode on a run.

#kizer.txt

[sonicthecringehog]

Remember when I made that fake anime screenshot of Grounder from AoSTH like three years ago-

Maybe I should make more idk. Hope you’re all having a wonderful day! ❤️

#adventures of sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #scratch and grounder #grounder #fake anime screenshot #art #fan art #cute #you would not believe your eyes #make aosth great again

[larabar]

I would personally love to hear you rant about sonic x as I too loved that characterization of him ;w;

There was more than a few episodes of him legit going against the grain and being perceived as “the bad guy” and he didn’t care just cause he thought it was the right thing to do and I friggen LOVE that. I know some games have that characterization as well but it was just neat to that on a show

fair warning my ramblings get off the rails VERY quick get ready for this. its very long

i wanted to wait to answer this till after id watched more of the jp version because id only seen like. the last 3 eps. as much as i love the 4kids cast the original's just. so good man. watch it. i like sonic's personality in both versions but still

k. so

one of my favorite parts of his characterization in the show is how much it embodies his sa1/sa2 theme it doesnt matter.

so uh first thing that comes to mind is how. not self-centered he is. like i dont know where that characterization came from but its all over sonic media (dont get me wrong i still love that personality and think its hilarious. boom!sonic looking at you) but its just not how id describe his character in general

ANYWAYS like you said he literally Does Not care if something is 'good' or 'bad' he just does what he feels is right which is SO COOL for a character like him

like that one section of the show where egggman was making weird moon things for people's yards or something and sonic took one look at that and said Nope. literally everyone else was like bro?? we kinda need that light to live what are you doing?? and once again he Did Not care like he knew something was up and it wasnt good

and honestly i think its the little things about his personality that stand out to me the most. from his love for flowers. to spontaneously deciding to look for a small field of flowers in the mountains in the middle of nowhere becuse he knew cream had been feeling homesick. to random naps on rooftops because he feels like it. that kinda stuff

also he doesnt talk as much as his other characterizations. he figures stuff out silently in his head and you never really know exactly what hes thinking because his brain's moving a mile a minute (real adhd moment there) which is another thing thats not brought up much hes actually really smart? favorite example is the dark sonic episode (you know the one) when cosmo leaves to talk with black narcissus or whatever his name was. nobody knows where she is and everyone starts panicking but sonic's already figured out that she left the ship with the help of chris to get past the security. can we talk about how smart he is more often its one of my favorite characteristics of his

little off topic but theres also an episode of aosth (case of the missing hi-tops or something like that) where hes like a mini sherlock holmes and figures out who stole his shoes how they stole his shoes and why they stole his shoes and its. such a great episode guys please watch it. okok back to sonic x

i forgot what i was gonna say. uhhhhhhhhh oh yeah the race episode

sam sets up a giant race and pulls up to the thorndyke's house with the entire city lined up parade style at like 3am and challenges sonic to a race to which he once again says No and goes back to sleep. he could care less about what the city wants he just. idk man this whole situation is so funny. sonic finishes the race wayyy before sam, poses for the camera, goes back to sam, and finishes the race in an almost-tie i love this episode so much. im getting off topic again

ok i know everyone talks about the helen episode but im gonna talk aboout the helen episode. sonic just casually tells chris he promised one of his classmates he'd take her to an island in the middle of a lake and he Does It. with the entire army following him because he refused to go to a party with the president. how could a better episode be written its perfect

can i talk about cruise blues now. cool so cruise blues is one of my favorite episodes because it completely changes up his character and at the same time keeps it the same but also gives him character development ? that sounds really complicated just bare with me. sonic doesnt like boats. at all. for good reason tho theres no room to run theres water everywhere and also seasickness is a thing. anyways sonic takes the situation really well and decides the only way off this boat other than launching himself off the deck 30 times is to psychologically manipulate everyone on the ship through various means that leave him hanging on for dear life to a pole so amy doesnt smash him to pieces. he learns his lesson after that i think

point is by the end of the episode he learns to relax and its just all in all really chill at the end? he learns he needs to take it slow and rest sometimes and i think its the only ep to actually try to develop sonic's character

idk what else to talk about. ep 26 and the last two eps of s2 are really good but i have no idea how to put them into words

tl;dr: sonic x is good (understatement)

#ever wonder why i draw instead of write skjbfjhb #i get off track very easily nothing is coherent ever #but if you guys want me to ramble more i will write a 5 paragraph essay on sonic's personality in unleashed. watch me #i usually keep my stuff to my notes app but this was very fun actually #sonic x #rambles

[thankskenpenders]

Since this sort of thing comprises like half the questions I get on here (seriously, I get a TON of questions about this), I decided to say fuck it and make a giant tier list of Sonic characters who aren’t in the IDW comics, ranked by how likely I think they are to return. Note that I have no insider information and some of this could be very wrong. This is just based on things the creative team have said and speculation based on general trends

This isn’t every character ever, obviously, but it sure is a lot of them, and you can figure out the trends yourself to account for other characters that weren’t on the two tier makers I combined to make this

Explanations for the tiers below the cut

HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD

Could come back? - Characters from the games who could theoretically show up with no major obstacles that I know of. (Honey is the most tenuous here. I don’t know if Sega would consider her a Classic character instead, or restrict her usage)

Classic Sonic only - Still on the table, it would just have to be in a Classic Sonic story since Sega is keeping that stuff separate. (The Battle Bird Armada are probably less likely to return than the other characters in this tier, who all made appearances in Mania, but who knows)

Humans - The IDW comics currently take place exclusively on Sonic’s world, which doesn’t have humans. They would have to travel to Earth to use the human supporting cast

MEDIUM LIKELIHOOD

Deceased, etc. - Self explanatory. Not off-limits to my knowledge, but they’re dead. (Tikal is not in this tier because she can appear as a ghost.)

Served their purposes - Could maybe come back, but it feels like they were only really created to appear in one game and Sega is in no rush to bring them back

Currently off limits - We know for sure that Sega doesn’t allow the use of these game characters right now, but this could always change

Sonic Boom - With the Sonic Boom subfranchise canceled, it’s unknown if any of the characters will ever pop up in other media. (Sticks is the most likely to return, of course, having been used already in a couple non-Boom spinoff games)

LONG SHOTS

DiC characters - The casts of SatAM and AoStH. We know that Ian is fighting for the Freedom Fighters to return in some form, but it’s not gonna be easy to get them back, and the rights situation there is confusing. (That being said, it’s definitely not impossible.)

Archie reboot cast - This is less of a rights thing and more of a “they want to tell new stories and not recycle too much Archie material right now” thing. Status unknown. It’ll be a nice surprise if any of them come back, but don’t count on it

GONE FOREVER

Pre-reboot Archie exclusives - Due to the legal battles, all characters introduced by Penders are his property and there’s no way in hell he’s ever giving them back. Sega could hypothetically negotiate with the other writers to license their characters, like Mina or Finitevus, but the odds of Sega having any interest in that are basically nonexistent. Don’t count on any of these characters ever showing up again outside of fan works and The Lara-Su Chronicles

From the games and cartoons - The echidnas from Sonic Chronicles are off limits forever due to the legal battles with Penders. Sega does not own the Sonic X cast or the cast of the OVA and is unlikely to license them. Sonic’s family from Sonic Underground are almost definitely gone forever because Sonic does not canonically have any relatives, and like hell would they ever bring back Sleet and Dingo. Ian has outright said that his attempts to use Tiara Boobowski have been shot down and Sega is unlikely to ever change their minds

THE MYSTERY ZONE

I just genuinely have no idea what the deal is with these characters. Like, Sega owns Wendy Witchcart, but would they ever use her? And do they have any interest in using the robot doppelgangers other than Metal Sonic these days? Who knows

All this is, of course, on top of the regular Modern Sonic cast, as well as all the new fan favorites like Tangle, Whisper, and Dr. Starline. There’s certainly no shortage of characters for the IDW comics to use, and they’re making great use of the ones that they have. I just get a ton of questions about all the characters who haven’t shown up, so like, here’s that

#tkp post

[aawesomepenguin]

RATING EVERY SONIC FROM THE SONIC MULTIVERSE

How much of a good boy they are? All of this in this thread.

Disclaimer: Of course, this is my opinion. You might feel different. You’re welcome to disagree!

(MAIN UNIVERSE - Universe 1991)

The Sonic from the games, a true good boy. He does things on his way, his own way, he aims to do what he believes is right, hates injustice. He cherishes his freedom above everything.

He loves to explore the world, always running around. Doesn’t have a house.

Doesn’t like to see tears. He also likes to crack some jokes to have fun with his friends. Is a hedgehog of action, usually doesn’t think twice before taking action.

Also has not shown much interest in doing romance.

10/10, this is my favorite Sonic

(UNIVERSE 1991A - 1991 Promotional Manga)

This Sonic is the vocalist of his world’s most famous band, and also has cool sharp fangs. A lot of human girls have a crush on him.There are certain rumors circulating around that he might be dating a human girl named Madonna... could it be true?

He is also a good boy, takes action when he sees others in danger, and is also determined to fight against injustice.

9/10

(UNIVERSE 1991B - American Sonic)

Originally brown, Sonic was a great friend of Dr. Ovi Kintobor, a good human scientist. Kintobor studied the Chaos Emeralds with the intention to get Mobius rid of all evil.

Kintobor gives Sonic cool new red sneakers as a gift, and after getting involved in an accident on one of Doctor’s inventions, Sonic turns blue. Eventually Sonic and Kintobor become enemies after the Doctor trips and breaks the machine that stored the Chaos Emeralds, becoming Robotnik.

A good boy, a dude with atitude, also way past cool, and full of 90s charm.

9/10

(UNIVERSE 1992 - Sonic the Hedgehog Manga)

Nicky is a shy boy, he has a younger sister, his father is a pilot, and his mom is a housewife. Nicky is a nerd dedicated to math and all kind of things related to it. He’s very coward and shy, and has a huge crush on Amy Rose.

But, when there’s danger on the horizon, Nicky’s second personality shows up! It’s Sonic, a way more brave dude, and with no reason to be shy! Sonic always fights against the tirany of the evil Dr. Eggman! After his duty of saving people is done, he turns back into Nicky.

Nicky does not have memories of what he did as Sonic, but Sonic retains the memories of what he does as Nicky. Nicky is a VERY good boy, a nerd, awkward and shy, I love him a lot 10/10

(UNIVERSE 1993 - ARCHIE’S SONIC/PRE-SGW) This Sonic is also a good boy. But, differently from the Sonic from the 1991 Universe, this Sonic is more “domestic”.

He has a place where he lives regularly, being it New Mobotropolis. He also has a father, mother, uncle and even a pet dog. This Sonic also does have some interest in dating/romance, having relationships with some girls in the past. But his main love is Sally, someone who he knows since he was a child. Currently dating Sally Acorn. But even with all of those differences, he still has a big sense of justice, always fighting agains Dr. Robotnik’s tirany and also Dr. Eggman’s. Just like some other Sonics, he sometimes allows his emotions to take over, which sometimes makes him do some unfortunate choices, but he eventually sees how he messed up and tries to do his best to fix things. This Sonic also has a certain ego, but he grows and learns as a person more and more as time passes. 9/10, a good boy

(UNIVERSE 1993B - SONIC THE COMIC)

This Sonic at first can see to be a little hard to approach. He has an even bigger ego than the other Sonics, and can say some things that can hurt his friend’s feelings.

But inside he is extremly unsure about himself, and tries to play “tough” in front of others to hide it. He also has shown some difficulty in reading other people’s emotions, which has put him in some complicated situations in the past.

He’s been trying to improve and be more friendly and approachable with others after being yelled at by Tails and Amy.

He has the same origins as American Sonic, being born brown and a friend of Kintobor. This Sonic was wrongly acused of crimes through an out of context video that was shown for all of Mobius to see. He’s been trying to regain people’s trust and show how much he has improved since.

His Super Sonic is an evil entity that has intentions of hurting all of those that Sonic cares about.

He is trying his best, 8/10

(UNIVERSE 1993C - AOSTH)

This Sonic is also a good boy. He’s an excelent older brother for Tails, that in this universe is only 4 and a half years old. Sonic always tries to be an exemplary figure for Tails.

He has atitude, likes to play and mess around, and lives running around Mobius. Just like Main Sonic, he also doesn’t have a house. He lives fighting all injustice wherever he goes through.

But, he can be a little bit of a womanizer, always getting himself a little carried away with the girls he crosses path with in his adventures. A cool dude, 9/10

(UNIVERSE 1993D - Sonic SatAM)

Blue streak. Speeds by, Sonic the Hedgehog. 

He’s a cool dude to talk and hang out with, he’s very chill. He can be a little bit of an airhead and is not very bright-- but in compensation he has a heart of gold, caring a lot about his friends and family. 

He also fights to have his Uncle Chuck back. Just like Archie Sonic, he also has a home. In this case being Knothole. But, now with Robotnik defeated, it’s maybe time to bring Mobotropolis back to its’ glory days.

He also has a big ego, and can be a little bit full of himself. But Sally keeps this side of him in check.

He dates Sally, that acts as Sonic’s conscience a lot of times.

A good boy, look out, when he storms through. He’s the fastest thing alive. 9/10.

(UNIVERSE 1994 - SONIC ADVENTURES)

This Sonic, just like Game Sonic, is full of attitude, brave, and fights against all kinds of evil he finds in his way.

He also becomes friend with an Echidna Lady. He has a thing going on with Amy Rose. He also has a cool mohawk.

8/10

(UNIVERSE 1996 - SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: THE MOVIE OVA)

This Sonic at first can seem a little bit arrogant, but inside he hides a huge heart full of compassion. He lives on a plane that crashed on South Island a long time ago, possibly the coolest house any Sonic has ever had.

Tails is his best friend, and lives together with him. Both usually either relax on the beach or go on adventures to fight against Dr. Eggman.

A very carefree Sonic, that takes action, and very rebellious.

10/10, an absolute good boy

(UNIVERSE 1997 - SONIC: MAN OF THE YEAR)

A Sonic that clearly fights against Eggman’s evil schemes for a long time. Was chosen as the Man of the year, even though he’s clearly a hedgehog.

Eggman ruins his image when disguises as him. I hope he got it back together, since we never got a continuation to this.

Just looking at him, you can tell he’s full of charm and has that Animaniacs flair in his animation, just from this alone I give him a 9/10

(UNIVERSE 1996B - SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: WONDERS OF THE WORLD)

This Sonic, unlike others, is a fictional character even in his own universe. He ends up going to the real world through an invention done by Josh’s dad. Josh is a real world kid that becomes Sonic’s friend.

This Sonic is a good boy, he believes that the powers of the Chaos Emeralds shouldn’t be used so carelessy, and helps Josh fights against his insecurities, while at the same time he saves his world from the evil Dr. Robotnik, that also ran away from the videogame world.

7/10

(UNIVERSE 1999 - SONIC UNDERGROUND)

He swore his mother will be found. He was raised by Uncle Chuck. He also wants to save Mobotropolis. He’s also a prince, being the son of Mobotropolis’ original Queen, Aleena.

He has two siblings, Manic and Sonia, and while they ocasionally fight between themselves, they care a lot about each other.

He also plays musical instruments, he can invoke a guitar through his necklace. Playing music somehow solves his problems.

7.5/10, a good boy

(UNIVERSE 2003 - SONIC X)

One of my favorite Sonics. This Sonic is more calm and reserved. Loves to take naps. He is usually more reserved about his emotions, and hates to show emotional weaknesses in front of others.

He likes to read, hates injustice, and likes to pass most of his time alone. But he is shown sometimes to have a romantic interest in Amy Rose.

Extremely helpful, always tries to do his best to make his friends happy. Ditches a meeting with the president to make his friend happy.

An EXTREMELY good boy, 10/10 for him 

(UNIVERSE 2003B - SONIC: DASH & SPIN)

This Sonic is probably one of the zaniest Sonics there is, he’s pretty up there with AoStH Sonic. He fights against Eggman’s evil plots, that in this universe can go from stealing a bank to using Sonic’s flu to cover the world with his snot (I’m serious).

He also can count with his friends for help, is full of attitude, nothing will stop him. He likes snowboarding.

7/10. 

(UNIVERSE 2013 - ARCHIE SONIC POST-SGW)

This Sonic resembles Game Sonic in a lot of ways, but he is also part of the Freedom Fighters. But he also likes to have his own adventures across his world.

This Sonic, diferent from his other Archie version, isn’t much interested in dating.

He cares a lot about his friends, but he don’t want them to worry a lot about him, usually hiding any signs of weakness.

In general, a good boy, and an excelent friend you can trust.

10/10

(UNIVERSE 2014 - SONIC BOOM)

This Sonic, like Archie’s Pre-SGW Sonic, is also very domestic. He has a house, lives in a calm island, and just likes to have fun with his friends, specially Knuckles and Tails.

He has a huge crush on Amy Rose, and there are a lot of signs pointing that they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

He likes to constantly foil Eggman’s schemes, saving the Bygone Island a LOT of times.

He can lose his patience sometimes due to dumb stuff said or done by his friends or townsfolk; or also with the surreal situations he gets involved.

9/10

(UNIVERSE 2011 - CLASSIC SONIC’S DIMENSION)

After the events of Sonic Generations, the timeline has split in two, thanks to alterations done to the past. Because of this, we’re having brand new adventures with Classic Sonic.

He’s also a good boy, fights against all kind of evil he faces against, and cares a lot about his friends. Doesn’t talk much, prefering to keep quiet during most of his adventures. 10/10, a cute mute wholesome boy

(UNIVERSE 2018 - IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG)

Passing in an universe after the events of Sonic Forces, IDW’s Sonic is, in a lot of ways, the Sonic from the games.

He has no fixed place to live in, always running around, making this his own way. Is constantly fighting against Dr. Eggman.

He usually believes that everyone can get redeemed or improve. This sometimes can come back to bite him in the ass, though.

A good boy, 9/10. Give him some rest, let him sleep

(UNIVERSE 2020 - THE SONIC MOVIE)

This Sonic found himself on Earth after running away from his home planet. He becomes best friends with the Sheriff of the city of Green Hills. He ends up being adopted by him. Tom is now his dad.

He is super hyperactive, full of energy and can get easily distracted. He is a Sonic that doesn’t have much of a notion on how big the world can be. Some times can feel very lonely. Unlike some other Sonics, he seeks affection and interaction with others, doesn’t like being alone.

An absolute good boy, I LOVE HIM A LOT, 10/10

(UNIVERSE ZERO - ZONIC THE ZONE COP)

Zonic is responsible for patroling the Sonic Multiverse, checking if everything is in order. He takes his profession very seriously.

Works for Zobotnik, as much as he believes that Zobotnik shouldn’t be the one protecting the Multiverse prison.

This Sonic is a lot more serious and mature than the others, but he has shown to have a sense of humor to the Sonic from the 1993 Universe.

8/10. This Sonic isn’t a good boy though, he is a good man.

(ALTERNATE 1993 UNIVERSE - SCOURGE THE HEDGEHOG)

Coming from a mirror dimension from the 1993 Universe, Scourge was born in an extremly peaceful Moebius. His father was a politician loved by all. Scourge felt neglected by him, deciding to become a rebellious punk to tease and provoke his father.

He forms the Supression Squad with Anti-Sally,  Anti-Tails, Anti-Rotor and Anti-Antoine. They decide to commit acts of vandalism and robbery all across Moebius.

Scourge also antagonizes Dr. Kintobor, a benevolent scientist that tries to bring the best for the Planet’s citizens.

Eventually he becomes the King of Moebius, but Sonic managed do defeat him. He plans to have his revenge on Sonic. This one is a bad boy, he’s an asshole Sonic. I kinda like him. 8/10.

(UNIVERSE 1993E - CYBORG SONIC)

In this universe, Robotnik manages to capture the Freedom Fighters, but something goes awry during the roboticization process, and as a result, Sonic and the others ended up as cyborgs.

A lot more stronger than they originally were, the Freedom Fighters decide to end with Robotnik once for all. But, Robotnik roboticizes himself as a last ditch resort, becoming the mighty Robo-Robotnik.

6.5/10, he mostly exists to make The Terminator References

(UNIVERSE 1993F - SONIC BATMAN)

He is the night. He is also the speed. 

8/10.

(UNIVERSE 616 - SONIC WOLVERINE)

An angry Canadian Sonic with claws.

8/10.

(UNIVERSE 697 - FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE GALAXY) This Sonic spent a while in space after some circunstances. Thanks to Einsten’s Law of Relativity, when he returns to Mobius, 2000 years have gone by. This Sonic allies himself with the descendants of the Freedom Dighters, and tries to stop Silver Snively and Robotniklactus’ evil schemes.

He’s kinda lame. A 5/10.

(UNIVERSE 1993FT - Light Mobius)

This Sonic accomplished defeating Robotnik, and with Mobius finally in peace, he married Princess Sally. He grew up, became an adult and had kids.

But he didn’t count with the fact that Robotnik had a Plan B-- the scientist sent his inteligence to a space ship, and from space he sent nukes to Mobius-- killing this version of Sonic in the process. This Robotnik would eventually go to universe 1993 and adopt the name of Eggman.

F to pay respects for this Sonic. F/10.

(UNIVERSE 1993FT2 - MOBIUS X YEARS LATER)

This Sonic went through a lot. After having to rewrite his own timeline to save the universe, he had to win back his friends’ friendship and the love of his life, Sally.He eventually marries Sally, has two kids, and lives happily. Can you believe this Sonic is almost 50 years old? He’s 47 years old!8/10, a good dad

#Sonic Articles #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sally Acorn #Sonic #Amy Rose #Sonamy #Sonally #Look I love Sonic so much I had no reason to do this but yet here we are #I feel like I might have missed other relevant Sonic #I'll do a part 2 if needed in the future #Archie Sonic #IDW Sonic #Sonic Movie #AoStH #Sonic SatAM #Sonic Underground #Sonic X #Archie Sonic Online #Sonic the Comic Online #Scourge the Hedgehog #Zonic the Zone Cop #Sonic Boom #Sonic OVA

[notanothersonicblog]

SatAM/AoStH’s 25th Anniversary Charity Fanzine?

(doing this again because I deleted the original post because I’m an idiot, it means it will show up in tags)

As some of you know I’ve commissioned a few AoStH related art pieces down the years, and recently someone half-jokingly suggested I make a fanzine.

Well, I’ve been thinking about it and as it’s Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog’s and ABC’s Sonic the Hedgehog’s big quarter century rolling up, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, would it?

Would you lovely people be interested in a fanzine, physical or digital, that featured a bunch of nice SatAM/AoStH art, 20/20 pages. Perhaps even giving all the proceeds to charity? Or Milton Knight, AoStH Robotnik designer?

I’m serious here, I’ve never done this before and your suggestions/advice would be great, plus the general number of notes/reblogs would help me gauge the numbers of people who would be interested in buying. Not to mention artists who would want to participate.

#SatAM/AoStH 25th Fanzine #please respond #sorry for doing this again #AoStH #Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog #SatAM #Sonic SatAM #Saturday Morning Sonic The Hedgehog

[crusherthedoctor]

Unpopular Sonic Opinions?

Sonic himself is not one of my favourite characters in the series.

Sonic not knowing when to shut up has been a problem for a long time, not just since 2010.

I prefer Robotnik to be a real threat and a total bastard. Not in the one-dimensional sense, I’m not saying he should be a cardboard cutout like the SatAM version. I just like my Eggmen to be ominous whilst retaining their more comical qualities.

I have fun with 3D Blast.

While I don’t mind Shadow as a character, his backstory was convoluted from the very beginning, and it’s one reason for why I find Adventure 2’s story in general to be overhyped. Subsequently…

Adventure 2’s story was one of the biggest catalysts in this franchise’s serious (heh) problems with keeping a balanced tone.

And with a few exceptions, I think Adventure 2’s soundtrack is mostly samey and underwhelming, especially when compared to Adventure 1’s varied soundtrack.

I like Rush, but I like Rush Adventure more.

I don’t think Shiro Maekawa and Ian Flynn are that amazing as Sonic writers.

I acknowledge the effort and love put into Unleashed, but there are too many issues and grievances for me to consider it one of the best in the series.

With a few exceptions like Misty Lake and Faraway Avalon, Black Knight has some of the dullest settings I’ve ever seen in a Sonic game. It also has one of the most forgettable soundtracks in the series.

I like the Deadly Six, and I’d be all for them getting improved rather than being left in the dust.

I’d like to see Marine again.

Captain Whisker is a better Eggman Nega than Eggman Nega.

One of the reasons for why Rouge is one of my favourite characters is because despite first appearances, she’s NOT a total bitch.

Rise of Lyric is a bad game, but JUST a bad game. Bland and unremarkable. NOT the next Sonic ‘06 like so many fans and non-fans make it out to be.

I prefer AoStH over SatAM. Neither of them are that great, or fitting for the series, but at least it’s easy to have fun taking the piss out of AoStH. SatAM is just a generic 90′s cartoon and nothing but for the most part. (Also, SatAM didn’t give us Long John Baldry.)

I think it’s possible for Metal Sonic to have signs of a personality while remaining fiercely devoted to his creator.

Neo Metal Sonic’s design is goofy and laughable for what’s supposed to be a “cooler” upgrade for him. Elf shoes? Ripped dress? Starfish head?

I don’t mind Elise too much, and I think some of the reasons people use for hating her are silly.

Sonic X’s portrayal of Robotnik is my least favourite of the lot.

Season 3 of Sonic X was the worst one.

I like Erazor Djinn despite otherwise not caring for the game he comes from.

Merlina’s betrayal wasn’t really foreshadowed that well.

Thunderbolt doesn’t do much for me. Harley Quinn-type characters generally annoy me more often than not.

Due to not much happening in the middle of Unleashed’s story, Sonic and Chip’s relationship falls a little flat for me when I’m expected to see them as really close friends by the time they’re in Adabat.

I don’t see the Create Your Own Character system in Forces as something that will ruin the franchise more than ever, let alone kill the franchise. Not when the franchise has made far bigger and arguably crazier risks in the past.

People really need to chill out about Pontac and Graff. Even for this fandom’s standards, many fans take their contempt for them way too far, and far too often. They also express even more double standards than usual when the subject is about them. (”Enough with the Sonic self-deprecating, LEGO Dimensions! Besides, they should have made fun of a Pontaff game instead!”)

Black Doom is one of the best comic relief characters in the franchise.

#Crusher's Asks #Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Shadow the Hedgehog #Rouge the Bat #Princess Elise #Marine the Raccoon #Chip #Dr. Ivo Robotnik #Metal Sonic #Neo Metal Sonic #Black Doom #Eggman Nega #Erazor Djinn #Captain Whisker #Merlina #The Deadly Six #Thunderbolt the Chinchilla #Sonic 3D Blast #Sonic Adventure 2 #Sonic Rush #Sonic Rush Adventure #Sonic Unleashed #Sonic and the Black Knight #Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric #Sonic Forces #The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic SatAM #Sonic X #Sonic Music

[robotnik-mun]

Robotnik Retrospective Part Five: A Robotnik by Any Other Name

It’s that time again folks! Hello and welcome to another edition of The Robotnik Retrospective, where we delve into the depths of SatAM Robotnik, providing insight into why I like the guy so much and all the things that helped to contribute to that, both from within the series itself and without. Having thoroughly covered the in-series aspects of the character, we are now going to veer beyond his origins and take a look at this model’s utilization in other major adaptations within the franchise. In doing so we are going to take a look at how they impacted my perception of the character... as well as address a rather sizeable elephant in the living room. If you follow my blog enough, you’ve likely already guessed as to what THAT could be.

Because no matter how stringent a lot of us tend to be about this sort of thing, we cannot help but take something or the other from other adaptations, especially if those adaptations go into directions not covered by the source- especially when they can fill in the gaps that we might appreciate seeing covered, or various other details we might find fitting for the character. Adaptations can serve as a nifty way to enhance a character!

And with that said, let's get a move on!

On of the great and frustrating things about growing up with Sonic in the 90s? Brand confusion. There were so many versions of the character and his story running around it could be hard to keep track of, and with the advent of the internet it only got worse. Which was the ‘real’ Sonic? The one in the games? The one in the show with Scratch and Grounder? The one in SatAM? The comics in the US or across the pond in the UK? Yeah, the early days were something else, and for a lot of people it could get real confusing. Many fans like myself didn’t really do all that much to differentiate between the adaptations and mediums- Robotnik was Robotnik whether he looked like this, this, or this. Sonic was Sonic, robots were to be fought, and everything else was gravy. Of course, there were always those who liked to scream very loudly about who the ‘real’ Sonic was, but most of us didn’t really care.

I already detailed how that began to change once Sonic Adventure came along and SEGA decided they wanted something a bit more concrete for their setting, but in those days? It was pretty much jungle law. It could be a great thing, and it could be a horribly frustrating thing. The early 2000s in particular could be a pretty nasty time once SEGA decided to put more emphasis on storytelling and pushing a unified vision of Sonic, as you had game purists clashing with people who had preferred the spin-offs getting into a pissing match with one another.

War stories aside though, the nature of Sonic’s franchise during the Pre-Adventure Era was such that there were many many different takes on Sonic available, and as I had estasblished with the Adventures model of Robotnik, this meant that designs introduced in the animated adaptations would be re-utilized for comics meant to tie into the games and shows. The strangest of these adaptations, without contest, had to be Sonic Underground.

Sonic Underground was a very weird chapter in the franchise, with a premise so out there that many half-jokingly wonder what kind of drugs were being inhaled or injected when it was thought up. In some ways a spiritual successor to SatAM, Sonic Underground once more operated under the premise that Robotnik already ruled Mobius and Sonic was fighting to remove him from power. This time however, Sonic was helped along by a pair of siblings, Manic and Sonia, used magical musical instruments to help fight, and of all things was a *prince* whose mother was a queen on the run from Robotnik, who feared a prophecy involving all four that would topple his empire.

The premise alone is so out there that it leaves one to wonder if maybe this was meant to be a different show entirely and simply had Sonic slapped onto it for brand recognition (astoundingly enough though, this WASN’T the case... which is honestly a lot weirder than if it had been another show altered for a quick tie-in). Sonic Underground was notable for being the first western made Sonic show to feature Knuckles... and for being the ONLY Sonic show to never use tails. Infamous for it’s crazy premise, weird designs and shoddy animation, Sonic Underground is a somewhat contentious subject in the fandom- much like everything else really.

Is it bad? Personally... I don’t really think so. There’s a lot wrong with it, but it has things that I feel make it an okay show. Definitely not irredeemably awful. But I digress, we’re not here to analyze Sonic Underground- just a single part of it as it pertains to Robotnik, which is namely the Underground incarnation of Robotnik.

As I said, Underground was in many ways something of a successor series to SatAM- it included much of the original writing staff for that show and re-used mainstays of the series such as Robotropolis and Roboticization, and of course, re-used the design for Robotnik to serve as the basis for the Robotnik of Underground’s setting. So, how did this version measure up?

Well...

Not all that well, sadly. While still a global dictator, this Robotnik’s behavior was decidedly of a more comedic bend than his predecessor. Even more short tempered, bellicose and vain than SatAM’s Robotnik, this Robotnik was much more often subjected to physical comedy buffoonery, and his case wasn’t helped by his voice actor Gary Chalk (who had previously voiced Grounder in AoSTH). Now, Gary Chalk is a very talented and experianced voice actor, but the performance he gave for this Robotnik was less “Menacing Dictator” and more “Pompous Windbag”- and I suspect that was the point.

Other points against him where that unlike his SatAM self, this guy’s reign over Mobius was dependent upon the nobility paying taxes to fund his operations, and that even though he had personally wronged Sonic and his siblings, the emotional impact of his actions were blunted by the fact that they didn’t treat him with the same level of hostility and fear as his predecessor was often treated. His more comedic-by-comparison traits similarly undermined his credibility- he was at once the supreme dictator of Mobius who none the less was often much more thoroughly humiliated than his predecessor, putting him in an awkward middle ground between a comedy villain and a more serious kind of villain that didn’t really work that well.

Adding to that, this Robotnik had absolutely no backstory. While SatAM Robotnik wasn’t exactly a deep well of details when it came to his past, at the very least there was a context to him- he was once the leader of the Kingdom of Acorn’s military and a trusted friend and advisor to the king, who used his influence over the robot army he had constructed to keep the peace to conquer the kingdom from within. In Underground however, there is nothing provided, nothing to contextualize how he came into power to begin with or how he exactly relates to the hedgehogs. At times I’m not even sure his robotic arm is even really robotic, given that there have been times that *flesh* was seen underneath...

At this point you probably think I wholly dismiss this incarnation of Robotnik or that I disdain it. Well, surprise surprise, but I don’t. There are in fact interesting aspects to this version. While him ruling over people through somewhat more legitimate means made him less threatening than his SatAM Predecessor, it IS on it’s own an interesting and unique twist on things that Robotnik is able to rule via the consent of the nobility, allowing them free reign in return for paying for his various schemes while the commonfolk fit the bill. Similarly, Roboticization being dolled out as a punishment for transgressions rather than the default fate for anybody who is captured by the guy is an interesting use of the concept. And hey, I rather enjoy the wide variety of robots and vehicles that this Robotnik got to use. Also, for all about him that was taken lightly? He did get at least one *really* cool moment in the series- blackmailing Knuckles into helping him by essentially holding all of Mobius hostage, declaring that if he couldn’t rule Mobius then he would rather see it destroyed. That’s actually a pretty legit awesome moment there, and it’s the only thing that I ever took from him.

So yeah, I wouldn’t say that this is a ‘bad’ depiction of Robotnik- it has its merits, but in the end he just didn’t capture my attention the way his predecessor did, nor did the bulk of his actions impress me in the same way.

Which brings us to the REAL meat of this section- Archie Comics.

One thing I’ve mentioned in this retrospective and elsewhere is that my timing when it comes to Sonic has always been rather weird. The first game I played was Sonic 3, AFTER I had already seen Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog on TV. My first encounter with Amy and Super Sonic came from an issue in Fleetway. My first episode of SaTAM and first encounter with Robotnik was the Doomsday Project, and my first issues of the Archie Series? Was the last two issues of the Endgame Saga.

Boy, what a time to come into things, eh?

As I once said, for the longest time I didn’t really ‘process’ continuity when it came to Sonic. Since this comic featured Sonic and the Freedom Fighters and the familiar model of Robotnik, I just viewed it as an extension of the show, and lemme tell you... it blew my mind away. This comic featured things like Robotnik framing Sonic for killing Sally and ended with what remains one of the coolest looking fight scenes in the comic, with Sonic pushed to the very brink and nearly dying as he strove to take down Robotnik once and for all, ending in a final victory for Sonic and the Freedom Fighters!

I mean, how could I *not* be impressed?

I later got the Director’s Cut version, and it became even better as it expanded his evil deeds and set up and finished the final fight in an even better way. That was some seriously kickass stuff, my younger self thought.

What I didn’t realize at the time though, was that all that stuff I had seen? Was ultimately an outlier. Or that my ability to discern quality storytelling was soooooorely lacking.

See, because I lived overseas, my early exposure to Archie came in bits and pieces each summer for a while. As such, I really had no idea what the earlier books were like. See, while Archie was indeed made to tie into SatAM, the original miniseries was published *before* SatAM, and as such while there were designs and general characters and used from the show, the actual tone and characterization of the series aligned more to the Adventures cartoon then it did SatAM, and the things that WERE included were based off earlier production materials. Sally for example was an orange furred blonde in the miniseries before having her hair and fur switched to pink and black, Antoine took several issues before he finally got his trademark accent (and was evidently envisioned as being *British*, and Rotor was initially addressed with his early name of ‘Boomer’ and retained his design and color scheme from the SatAM pilot episode.

Naturally, this meant that while Robotnik in Archie had the same design as his SatAM counterpart, his personality was more aligned to the Adventures model. It’s kind of funny actually, because it’s the opposite of what happened over in the UK with Fleetway- there, Robotnik would eventually take on the design of the Adventures incarnation, which had been for a comedy show, and went on to become one of the most terrifying incarnations of Robotnik out there.

Fun little bit of irony, isn’t it?

Anyway, the point is, for the longest time I was quite unaware of the fact that in Archie, Robotnik had spent the bulk of his career as a comedy villain, and it was only after his death that some of his nastier deeds were elaborated upon. For most of his time within the comic though, Robotnik was a comedic villain- a petulant manchild with a major league hate-on for Sonic. As time went on he would go on to be less and less comedic... but he never really reached the same levels as his Archie counterpart in terms of personality *or* dialogue. This Robotnik was very talkative and tended towards a more casual tone of voice even when fighting Sonic and company. Even his better moments in the book (such as the Mecha Madness Storyline) didn’t really help to give him the same kind of gravitas or presence that his predecessor possessed. Not helping matters was the fact that multiple writers handled him, giving him a shaky and unsteady voice throughout much of the book. Even picturing his dialogue with Jim Cummings’ voice speaking the lines didn’t really help. It was only with Endgame that Robotnik truly began to show the same kind of menace as his source.

However, this Robotnik DID have something else going on for him- a greatly expanded backstory. Here we learned that Robotnik was an ‘Overlander’, a member of the enemy faction during the Great War who defected over to the Kingdom of Acorn and with his insight into Overlander tactics helped deliver victory to the Kingdom. It was further revealed that he was from a prestigious family called ‘The House of Ivo’, that he had a brother called Colin (who himself was a ranking member of the Overlander army and the father of Snively), and that during the Great War he sabotaged the Roboticizer before its first use, resulting in Sonic’s own father Jules becoming the first Robian.

As you can imagine, I ate it up, and gleefully applied it to the SatAM Robotnik, because honestly, at some level I still conflated the two. Yep, I was really, very much influenced by all the details that the Archie comics provided for Robotnik and all too eager to make use of them. Who could be responsible for so much that brought me joy, eh?

That sound your hearing? Is the sound of an elephant firmly planting itself in the room. I mentioned that I would be addressing said elephant in the last retrospective post, and for those of you that know this blog, you already know who I’m talking about.

The guy responsible for all these developments was Ken Penders.

Yup. Ken Penders. That fucker. I don’t really need to go on about him- I’ve said more than enough about the guy in general, and I don’t need to elaborate on it really. I deeply dislike Pender as a person, as a writer, as an artist... just in general really. No more needs to be said about that, as I’ve said MORE than enough elsewhere on this blog.

However... for a time, I was once a fan of his, and I really, truly loved everything that he had done, both for Robotnik and for Sonic in general. It would be dishonest for me to pretend otherwise. At some level I saw the comics as being an extension of SatAM, one that happened to include things from the games, especially including Knuckles and giving him more to do. Best of all worlds. Hard to believe given how often I criticize the man and his works, but its all true. I loved his stuff and it became a huge part of why I loved Sonic and why I liked Robotnik as a character, even as I began to differentiate the various continuities from one another and began to grasp that each one was contained to the self. I did not care. Even as I got older and began to notice certain discrepencies in the stories I liked so much, I still did my best to take them and make sense of them, creating my own take on familiar stories and bits of lore and forming it into something more logical and whole (even in the  fanboy days I thought the canonical end to the Great War was a weak one). Yep, it’s safe to say that I owe a lot of what I liked in Sonic to Penders.

Then, the lawsuit happened. That he would pursue legal action over characters that were clearly Sonic characters did a good deal to sour me on the guy. Then, by the grace of my good friend Fini-Mun, I was directed over to his forum and his twitter... and that was when it dawned upon me that this man, who I owed so much happiness to, was a horrid, horrid person. After that I began to delve around and learn the full scope of his antics, and it was here that I really began to open my eyes. I was now able to re-read his works, and I was now able to realize something that many people before me had already known but that I had refused to accept- Penders was a terrible, terrible writer. His dialogue was dull and stale, his plotting was drawn out and aimless, he was overly reliant upon exposition, while character development was often done with little build up and rarely built upon. To say nothing of his over reliance upon references to other franchises to act as substitutions for actual worldbuilding, and his disastrous and utterly baffling attempts to insert ‘real world’ subjects into the book.

Sadly, even my beloved Endgame was rife with this- the plot ultimately moves along due to happenstance, and Sonic is only triumphant due to events beyond his control. It became clear that if Sonic had done literally nothing, then the outcome of the storyline would have been more or less the same, ending in Robotnik’s death and with Sally alive and well. It dawned on me that save for a few neat fight scenes... Endgame on the whole kinda sucked. Kinda really, really sucked.

Except for this- this was awesome, at least. 

Last cool thing out of Endgame, I promise.  

So, what does any of this have to do with Archie Robotnik? Well as I mentioned, the events of Endgame and the backstory material that Penders provided for him really helped to enhance my enjoyment of the character and Sonic on the whole... and in slowly peeling away the layers of Penders’ mediocrity, a new picture began to present itself, a final nail in the coffin that was my enjoyment of the man’s work.

Divorcing my negative feelings regarding the lawsuit and the revelation of just how bad a lot of his writing was from an objective standpoint, his various statements and actions soon made it clear that he had little real respect for Robotnik as a character, along with the franchise that he was meant to be working on. Killing off Robotnik in Endgame might have seemed like a daring move, but evidently Penders felt that it should be a permanent arrangement and even fought to keep Robotnik dead in the aftermath of Endgame, claiming that it would ‘allow for new challenges’. Problem is that Robotnik, or Eggman or whatever you call them is the principal villain of the series and by default must be a constant. To this day, I still think the fact that it was Robo-Robotnik who returned rather than Robotnik proper was done as a compromise to appease Penders and allow him to have his precious 'moment’.

Point of order though, there was something suspicious about this to me. Curiously though despite his insistence upon Robotnik dying and staying dead, he never seemed all that eager to do away with the villains he had created for his Knuckles the Echidna comic, The Dark Legion. Even after the comic was canceled Penders continued to try and build up the Legion as a major threat, despite having previously used the failure of a miniseries to justify the killing of a major character he didn’t know (Princess Sally, and that wasn’t the only excuse he gave), even seeing fit to have Dark Legion characters survive into the world of Mobius: 25 Years Later. Not at all helping his case was the discovery of his opinion that the Dark Legion could ‘eat Eggman and any of his incarnations for breakfast’, when asked about the Dark Legion going over to Eggman’s employ during Flynn’s run.

The real breaking point though came when I discovered that not only had he permanently killed Dr. Robotnik off, but twice tried to replace his role in the book with cheap knockoffs of his own creation.

The first one, naturally, debuted in the Image Crossover Super Special, one of the most notoriously awful books in the entire Sonic line and easily deserving in the place of Top Ten Worst Issues. The Image Crossover was a bizzare concept, namely the heroes of the then nascent Image Comics Universe encountering the heroes of Archie’s own Sonic comic. Strange, but it could be workable. Unfortunately, the Image Crossover would not only fail to truly exploit its premise, it ultimately served as little more than a glorified commercial for Penders’ own intended Image Series, The Lost Ones. The villain of this book, introduced without any context or build-up or foreshadowing of any kind was this guy- Dr. Ian Droid.

Before you ask, no, that name isn’t a slam on Ian Flynn, it’s just a stupid pun. This guy’s name was never uttered in the book itself, nor his precise origins, but on his message board it would be revealed that Ian Droid was indeed a counterpart to Dr. Robotnik (specifically stated him to be another version of Robo-Robotnik), and eventually the utimate menace of 25YL-THIS guy would be the one to pilot the Robotnik mech seen in Locke’s visions, which kicked off Locke genetically modifying Knuckles to begin with.

Yep. That’s right. This incredibly generic looking refugee from the 90s was meant to be a legitimate counterpart to the incredibly distinct looking and behaving Dr. Robotnik, a copy of a copy (Robo-Robotnik) and the ultimate menace of everything. Oh, but even better? He was also the main villain of the Lost Ones. He didn’t do squat there either! But yes, you heard me right- Ken Penders tried to create a character owned by himself, and then through his connections at Archie, tried to make this character into a legitimate, in-universe equivalent to a character he didn’t own, belonging to a franchise he didn’t own, all so that he could try and promote his goddamn failure of an independent comic. And not only was he meant to be a counterpart, but the ultimate threat of the book. This guy, who literally has no distinct design or personality features at all. Even his freaky square pupils were lifted off of Galactus!

Oh yeah, incidentally, that giant Robotnik mech? First debuted in Sonic Live, being made by dozens of Robotniks from other zones. 

Yep, that’s right folks- the big, super evil weapon that Locke saw his son fighting? The thing that would ultimately kickstart the Big Epic Storyline of Knuckles and gradually damn near overtake the entire Sonic comic line under Penders? Had its origins in Sonic Live, easily one of the absolute worst books in the entire franchise (not unlike the Image Crossover), another one that justifiably tends to rank high in the ‘Worst Issues’ lists people tend to make. This thing is so awful, it basically caused the Knuckles series to happen! 

What could have possibly motivated Penders to think that ‘Ian Droid’ was a good idea is something that is unknown to this day, beyond the warped need to try and use the Sonic franchise to boost his own projects even back when he was still on the book. 

As I said though, there were *two* attempts at this, and Droid was only the first. The second time around, Penders would display *slightly* more savvy by crafting an explicit connection between his creation and Robotnik/Eggman... and in doing so, even further highlighted the utter redundancy of the addition. 

In his last run on the book, a gold plated clone of Gamma called “Isaac” would show up and reveal himself to be from the Pre-Xorda days of humanity, acting as a caretaker for his master... Dr. Ivan Kintobor, born June Sixth of 2006 AD. Yep. Born 6/6/6. Oh and also he was the one who dissected a Xorda which caused them to destroy the Earth, which in turn caused the creation of Mobius. 

Yeeah, you can see where this is going. Penders was very clearly setting up for Ivan Kintobor to become a new, major threat... despite Eggman already being in the picture and more than established as the central villain of the series. Mercifully, Penders left before he could implement whatever he was building Ivan Kintobor up to, and when Flynn came on board he immediately nipped that one in the bud.

The point I am trying to get at though? It becomes very clear that Penders had very little respect for Robotnik as a character, or for the games that the book was made to promote, or the show that it had been made to tie-in to, and this knowledge has all but shattered my ability to fully appreciate this incarnation of Robotnik, particularly since in the long run, his list of truly cool deeds is incredibly limited. Similarly, knowing that the man responsible for that would think of the book’s main villain, an incarnation of the franchise’s principle enemy, was so disposable that he could just replace him with “my version but better” twice over, as well as view them as being inferior to villains he himself created? Is intolerable.

It’d be like if someone at DC earnestly managed to kill-off Darkseid...

.... and then immediately tried to replace him with THIS.

“Darkthornn”.

The key difference though is that when Liefeld made that mardi-gras colored mockery, he used him exclusively for his own book rather than trying to make him an in-universe counterpart for Darkseid or trying to replace the guy with his own creation.

So yeah, in the end? Penders did a lot to flesh out Robotnik, and for a while I was cheerful to use it as my own... but knowing his mentality and how many of the little details were really badly written (in particular, the nauseating fact that the Overlanders were little more than a straw humanity to contrast Penders’ straw Utopian mobians) has soured my once rather deep enjoyment and desire to utilize this version’s details. It feels like a validation for a man who ultimately saw the franchise on the whole as a personal stepping stone for his own ideas. If anything good came of it though, it has in fact made me doubly appreciative of the SatAM incarnation of Robotnik.

Penders however wasn’t the only one to provide some interesting ideas for this Robotnik. Karl Bollers never really got to write in-depth for the character, being the one to usher-in Robo-Robotnik and his ascension to Eggman. I’m not going to cover him given that he’s really a separate character entirely and technically ceased to be SatAM Robotnik-based, but I’ll say this much- while it was a confusing as hell means to re introduce Robotnik and later Eggman’s SA design into the comic, I actually did kind of like the concept, that of a Robotnik from another Zone who had managed to triumph and, bored with victory, left his own Zone to re-live the thrill of conquest on another Mobius. Driven more by amusement than anything else, it’s a unique motivation for a Robotnik/Eggman. Also, I thought the Roboticization touch thing was a cool idea.

Moving on though, Bollers DID add a few details regarding Archie’s Robotnik that helped to enhance the character and ultimately my perception of the Robotnik that spawned him.

One of these was the revelation that in the past, Robotnik had a mentor, a kindly fellow called Nate Morgan.

Nate Morgan’s proper origins actually begin with SatAM, where an unused character by that name was envisioned as a wizard allied with the Freedom Fighters.

The Nate Morgan shown in the concept art however had very little to do with the character Bollers introduced. This Nate Morgan, in the past, served as a teacher and mentor to Julian, and allowed him to assist in secret research that would eventually lead to the creation of the power rings. Betrayed by his student, Nate would be exiled from Overland and wander into the Kingdom of Acorn, where his technological expertise would be used to raise the Mobians out of the medieval era stage of development they were in, and he would later go on to be a close advisor to King Max and mentor CHarles Hedgehog, before a conspiracy from Kodos and Naugus would force him to go into self-exile.

Like many things in the comic, Morgan was not a very well utilized idea, but for his concept alone I appreciated him all the same. I enjoyed the irony of the idea that someone like Robotnik could be mentored by someone as kind and gentle as Nate, and appreciated the connection he gave to Charles beyond them both working directly for the King. There was potential for stories in there regarding both Charles AND Julian, particularly regarding how Nate might have responded to seeing the damage his two students did to the world and how it would impact him, knowing that their knowledge sprang from him to begin with. Either way though, I appreciated the way this guy enhanced Archie Robotnik AND Chuck’s backstories.

The other thing was a really just a minor gag, but one I got a lot of mileage out of- namely the four robotic replacement bodies under Robotropolis, built by Robotnik Prime and later utilized by Robo-Robotnik, which served as a means to upgrade Robotnik’s design to Eggman’s.

This panel just amuses and intrigues me on *so* many levels, because it leaves open soooo many questions about how this Robonik’s vanity operates. Only one of those bodies could be considered conventionally attractive, and that one lumpy looking fella is even *uglier* than how Robotnik normally looks. Otherwise? They’re all just variations of Robotnik’s features of being bald, fat, and possessing extensive facial hair. I just find it fascinating that, given the chance to have an entirely new body, Robotnik only made one that could be regarded as an idealization of himself while making the rest different takes on his usual features. In particular, with the hindsight of realizing that he surely based the 'Eggman’ body off of his own grandfather, it made me wonder if perhaps this Robotnik deliberately chose to grow out his mustache in direct homage to the man. It’s a shame they never came up or were used again, but oh well, they were pretty memorable for all the single panel that they showed up on.

While never directly relating to “Robotnik Prime” properly, there were a few other things that I enjoyed for the intriguing possibilities they presented- and one of them was none other than M.

M didn’t have a lot going for her, but her existence did make me wonder what would motivate Eggman to specifically create a ‘daughter’, and to specifically give her the features that he did. The implications intrigued me, particularly in the way that they could reflect off of Robotnik Prime’s own backstory, aligning with a few ideas I had held for the SatAM version. I won’t get into details, but Mecha ended up having a bit more of an impact with me than you might think, regardless of how little real use she got.

And finally, there was one of my favorite Bollers contributions- Hope.

Hope’s character presented an intriguing concept- the White Sheep of a family with a heavily checkered past in general and an ESPECIALLY horrible reputation thanks to the actions of her uncle (and his counterpart). Notable for being one of the few Overlander characters in the book to sympathize with Mobians, Ian Flynn later got a lot of mileage out of her by revealing that, much like her half-brother, uncle and great-grandfather, Hope had inherited the Kintobor affinity for machinery and the scientific genius to go with it. Determined to restore her family name after her uncle and brother had dragged it through the mud, Hope was a really great idea and a great character. She never interacted with her ‘real’ uncle, but her existence and antagonistic relationship with the rest of her family none the less served as wonderful story fodder all the same. Helping matters was the fact that, by a wonderful coincidence, Hope managed to strongly resemble the long dead Maria Robotnik despite debuting before her. 

In conclusion? My relationship with the Archie Robotnik is a complicated one with a complicated history, with my forgiving attitude of ‘good idea, bad execution’ clashing with and ultimately losing to ‘realizing the guy writing for him didn’t give a crap really’. Though I will not deny that this one’s existence greatly enhanced my enjoyment of SatAM Robotnik and, once upon a time, I was all too willing to use the precise details of his life and conflate them with SatAM Robotnik, and at one point I might have even called him my favorite. With the realization of how poorly handled his characterization was and that his only real time to truly shine (in a convoluted and poorly explained story) came only in the same arc as his death, along with understanding the dismissive and self-serving motivation of Penders, that is no longer even remotely the case.

Ah well. Mecha Madness was still cool. 

However, the bottom line is though that these two re-interpretations of SatAM Robotnik, Underground and Archie alike, were none the less unique takes upon the doctor, spinning interesting new interpretations of his character to fit the new worlds that they were a part of. While neither of them really matched the original deal, they were both memorable in their own right, and that is more than enough.

With that, we move on past the other models of Robotnik that existed, and prepare to veer into the next retrospective. The subject of which is a... personal favorite of mine- criticisms of the doctor, and my counterpoints to those criticisms. Fun times ahead, lemme tell ya.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Robotnik #Analysis

[egg-emperor]

How would you redesign Eggman, while keeping the essence of the character?

personally I just wouldn't really redesign him. I've always felt that every redesign of classic (like AoStH and SatAM) weren't necessary except for modern, and then after modern he never needed to be redesigned again for 06 or anything else because they already peaked. I think Naoto Oshima, Yuji Uekawa, and anyone else in SoJ that were involved with the designing of classic and modern had the best ideas already and created the two equally best, definitive, timeless versions that deserve being the two they continue to use to this day for good reason. I think they're perfect in every way, the outfits are great, his facial features are great, the proportions are great, he's cartoony and wonderfully shaped and unique in ways that have always fascinated and captivated me and had a huge part in what pulled me in.

I can't really think of any ways I possibly could redesign him if I were to because of that. I only like to come up with new outfits and accessories and such for classic and modern and I think that alone doesn't really count as redesigning, does it? the most drastically different looks I've came up with for him weren't much and I don't know if they count, but I've come up with how he looks throughout different stages of life. and even then, my idea of child Ivo is very close to classic, teen Ivo is very close to modern, younger adult is closer to classic again, and future older Eggman is the same as modern but heavier and with a gray stache and maybe different outfits. then there's my alternate universe Casino Eggman design with a different outfit and accessories and is heavier too but again, even he still has modern's design base with no drastic alterations to his core features.

it just doesn't feel right to me to change anything drastically because I love his design the way it is. I've noticed that the majority of fan redesigns tend to merge aspects of different already existing versions with classic and modern Eggman together but I'm personally not a fan of the aspects of any of the other designs enough to really be into the idea of combining them all like that. the one different fan created look for him that I can recall taking a liking to off the top of my head is the Crushing Thirties Eggman design and it's no surprise why because he's essentially modern Eggman in a slightly different outfit and a bit heavier.

I just truly think he's already perfect as is and that's why I find it hard to come up with or take a liking to the idea of his design changing too much, except for classic to modern and I can accept 06 for only appearing for one game. but it's especially hard for me to think of a way that you could make any other design while still keeping his essence and having enough differences to really be considered an actual redesign. Eggman's defining traits that give him his essence are his round body, bald head, and his big nose, smile, and mustache. so I'm not sure what you can change aside from his outfit and accessories while still keeping his full essence.

classic and modern are very dear to me, I'm very attached to their designs as is and I've never been a huge fan of any change aside from different outfits and similar minor adjustments. he has a very cool and very handsome design as is and I adore it 🥰💜💘💕

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #my post #opinion

[egg-emperor]

Clearly the answer is that Eggman uses both pronunciations of his name as he sees fit.

well so far, the only time Eggman has said his name correctly in anything official and recent (cus AoStH ain't the same guy) he did pronounce Ivo as "ee-voh", he said it right again in the fan made Big's Big Fishing Adventure 3 which was fan made, then he said it wrong in Sonic and Tails R because Mike Pollock forgot or those that were there for the recording wanted him to say it that way or something but that's fan made too.

if Eggman himself were to say it wrong in something official in the future and it doesn't get noticed, like when Tails did in the English TailsTube video (I really hope not when they got it right before aagghhh), I'll choose to apply the silly idea I had when hearing Mike Pollock mispronounce it in Sonic and Tails R- Eggman keeps hearing people say his name wrong, he tries to correct them but they don't learn, then it makes him slip up and mispronounce his own name too.

that's happened to me a few times, where I keep trying to tell my brother the right way but he keeps saying it wrong so much that it makes me say it wrong and I'm like FUCK and he has a ha gotcha moment lol. which reminds me, they had a joke like that in Boom with Eggman's Octopus Bot. Sonic kept calling it a squid, he kept saying it was an octopus but Sonic didn't stop, so he ended up accidentally saying it was a squid too and was like "great now you've got me doing it!" when you hear someone say something wrong so many times, it becomes very easy to fumble even if you know the right way.

I think a kind of similar situation but with modern when it comes to pronouncing his own first name would be pretty funny. XD because I don't want to think that he wants to mispronounce his own name, I think he'd like how it sounds like "evil" depending on how you say it because it sounds cooler that way. unless maybe... in a situation where he's playing a good guy act for a trick, he decides to intentionally mispronounce it as "eye-voh", so people don't think he's calling himself evil and get suspicious maybe shfnsbglnsmgmgm

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #my post #pronunciation

[sonicthecringehog]

Y’all ever just-

#adventures of sonic the hedgehog #make aosth great again #aosth #photoshop #cringe #Reddit #Robotnik #Pingas #meme #memes #dankest of the dank #sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #sonic #scratch and grounder

[sonicthecringehog]

Another fake anime screenshot I made a long time ago but I thought I’d post it here - I know a Coconuts doesn’t have as much detail as I’d like there to be, but I am proud of the background I guess😅❤️

#AoSTH #adventures of sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #coconuts #scratch and grounder #make aosth great again #fake anime screenshot #anime #weaboo #cringe

[sonicthecringehog]

Just looked at one of the official AoSTH works and found this gem-

#dankest of the dank #meme #aosth #scratch and grounder #grounder #xannys #makeaosthgreatagain #make aosth great again #sonic the hedgehog #official art