Doctor Ivo Eggman Robotnik has been the penultimate villain for Sonic ever since the franchise’s
inception back in 1991.
He’s appeared in all but one Sonic game since then, and is one of the most notable
and recognizable characters in the series.
So today, were taking a more in depth look at the antagonist in our top 10 dr egg man
shocking facts list.
Let’s jump in.
10 His Name Let's start off this list with a simple debate;
Eggman or Robotnik?
Why does he have these two names, and which one is his actual name?
Well, it's both really.
So when the character was developed in Japan, he was given the name Dr. Eggman due to his
shape.
But then in 1991, in the North American manual for the debut Sonic the Hedgehog game, his
name was changed to Doctor Ivo Robotnik, while the Japanese one said Doctor Eggman.
The debate was ongoing for years, with North Americans referring to him by both names,
especially since manuals afterwards went by Eggman.
Yuji Naka has stated that the character's true name is Robotnik, and that Eggman is
just a nickname, a common name taken after his shape.
,
9 The Beatles Speaking of Eggman’s name, its been speculated
that the idea for the name came from the Beatles song I Am The Walrus, which contained the
lyrics "I am the egg man/They are the egg men/I am the Walrus/Goo goo g'joob."
To further the case on this, in later Sonic games, Eggman's theme, know as E.G.G.M.A.N
references I Am The Walrus, most notably with the line “I am the Eggman, it's what I am.”
There's speculation that this is why the name Robotnik was accepted as his true name and
Eggman just a nickname, so that Sega could avoid possible copyright infringement.
8 Sega’s Mascot So why was Robonik created?
Well, back in the late 80's, Sega had an unofficial mascot by the name of Alex Kidd.
He had his own games and spin off merch like comics.
But then along came Nintendo, and their mascot Mario.
Sega wanted to compete with them, and felt Alex didn't have the right gusto for the job,
so they ran an internal competition at the Sega Technical Institute that led to the creation
of both Sonic and Eggman.
Sonic overall won the competiton, but his creator Naoto Ohshima had another design,
Eggman's, in the running that Sega believed had a lot of potential.
The AM8 division of Sega, later known as the Sonic team, would eventually re-design him
and repurpose him as a villain.
7 Pyjamas Speaking of Eggman's initial design, lets
take a glimpse at how he looked.
Ohshima had designed him as a round, mustached man in pajamas.
Yep, pjs.
The original design has also been described as looking a lot like the 26th president of
the united states, Theodore Roosevelt.
6 His Eyes Keeping up with Eggman's aesthetics, in at
number six, we've got his eyes.
There's plenty of characters within the Sonic canon that are diverse, but they all share
a similar aesthetic.
You can look at them, even one you may not immidiately recgonize, and just know that
they're a Sonic character.
This comes down to a lot of similar features.
But, Eggman is one of those characters that stands out.
Not only because he's human, but because of other specific visual choices made Team Sonic
that have carried on over the years.
Sega didn’t model any eyes for the character’s 3D model in any of the franchise’s games,
which makes sense, since he mainly wears glasses.
But, there is one exception – and of course, it was for Sonic 06, which may make it more
comical - Eggman’s eyes are blue.
Neat.
5 His design If the creepy eyes are any indictator, Robotnik
has evolved over the years a few times.
His classic design was used from 1991 to 1997 before getting a makeover during the development
of Sonic Adventure (1999).
He initially was suppose to have slight updates to his design, similar to other characters
like Tails and Knuckles, but instead, Yuji Uekawa, the man in charge of the redesigns,
decided to overhaul his look, maintaining the colour scheme but ditching his wardrobe
and egg shaped body.
This ultimately gave him more realistic features, which was further embellished during sonic
06, but that redesign was luckily ditched, returning to the sonic adventure design by
the time sonic unleashed came out.
4 Dr. Ovi Kintobor Some of you may have heard the name Dr Ovi
Kintobor before.
It's a character that appeared in the Sonic the Comic series, the UK's official Sega comic.
And he's Robotnik before he became Robotnik.
Debuting in a promotional issue of the comic, Ovi was a kind good natured human scientist
who was transformed during a laboratory experiment that involved him tripping, hitting his machine
called the Retro Orbital Chaos Compressor that was abosrbing all of the negative energy
on the planet, which caused said negative choas energy to morph him and a rotten egg
– yes, he was holding one – into the Robotnik we know today.
Also, fun fact, ovum is latin word for egg.
That Sonic Team, never missing an easy oppertunity.
3 Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine While Robotnik is front and centre as the
main antagonist in almost all of the Sonic Games – minus sonic and the black knight
that is – there is only one game he starred in, an adaptation of the puyo puyo puzzle
game called Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.
There’s also a boss battle in Sonic Mania that is a direct reference to this game.
2 Pingas There’s a meme that originates from the
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the 1993 american cartoon, and Robotnik’s line “SnooPING
as usual I see”.
But when Robotnik said it, it sounded like the ping in snooping was combined with as,
which came off as Pingas.
In 2007, a video surfaced on YouTube that used the phrase, titled Robotnik has a viagra
overdose, but didn't go viral until another video called This Video Contains Win that
also featured the meme blew up.
Since then it's even used as a joke in the Archie Comics.
1 Macrocycle Inhibitor Bringing in a little science for our last
number, did you know that there's a gene in humans thats been named Sonic Hedgehog?
Also known as SHH.
It was named by Doctor Robert Riddle after he saw his daughter reading a Sonic comic
she brought from England.
So where does Eggman fit into this?
At Harvard University, a potentical marcocycle inhibitor of the gene was discovered, and
the team behind the discovery though that they should “adhere to the convention”
and name it after another Sonic character, calling it Robotnikinin.
Alright!
there we have it friends.
How many of these Eggman facts did you know?
Let us know in those comments below!
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In the meantime, thanks for watching!
I’ve been Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 gaming.
Catch you all in the next one!