There have been a multitude of time honored villains in pop culture since the advent of
the talkies, back when your great grandma was smokin the reefer in NYC flappin about
with her bob and showing her ankles, making people upset.
To truly make a hero great they must first overcome great adversity and without a great
villain the story would completely fall apart, just ask Sauron from the Lord of the Rings!
Why is he evil?
Who knows!
In the last 35 years or so we’ve seen the bad guys take a more interactive roll as antagonists
in video games giving us greats like Ganondorf, Dr. Wily, Shao Kahn, Sephiroth, every dick
from Far Cry who’s exactly the same, Darth Vader again…
i think you get my point.
However there is one man who kind of gets the “shit end of stick”
A man who is iconic but trivialized and often overlooked because of how piss easy he is
to beat most of the time.
A rotund, robot toting, psychiatrists wet dream with a peen stand for power and a disdain
for insectivorous mammals of the Erinaceidae (erin ay shih die) family.
A man that knows smart words like that because he has an iq of 300 which matches his waistline
making it very difficult for him to find ANYTHING to wear at old navy.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik (PHD) is the big baddy of the Sonic franchise and when I say big I mean
big.
Robonik is also fuarkin nuts and has a major vendetta against not only our azure friend
Sonic and his woodland pals, but also the entire WORLD.
Here is a man with all the potential to fix the american healthcare system but instead
he decided to build a borderline copyright infringing death star clone.
I can’t say i would have done different, but shame on him anyways!
Robotnik has been defeated more times than Sonic has even appeared in his own franchise,
and with as many shitty spinoffs as this series has that’s saying a lot, also spin offs
is another funny Sonic joke so make sure to laugh or i’m going to have to take another
trip down town and find a bum to kick.
For someone as smart as he is, Robotnik is often treated like he’s an idiot by Sonic
and fans alike, but I believe, nay, I KNOW that there is more to this man than meets
the eye, and that’s a lot…cause he thicc.
ANYWAY you’re here to learn, so let me teach you, not just about a man, but a symbol ahead
of his time!
A warning of what it means to tamper with the natural way of the world!
So prepare yourself!
For a cautionary tale of insanity and megalomania that hits a little too close to home!
For an allegory of power, corruption and the abuse of heavy metals on the american consumer.
This is Dr. Ivo Robotnik’s story, the STORY YOU NEVER KNEW
Robotnik made his first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis way back
in 1991.
He can be described as a portly fellow who skipped leg day and arm day, but rocks the
most powerful mustache of all time!
What he lacks in looks he makes up in raw intellect, the guy has an iq of 300, a score
twice as high as Stephen Hawking, for reference.
(RIP).
The guy is basically a computer.
As a child he looked up to his grandfather, a professor named Gerald Robotnik known for
being the greatest scientific mind of his generation.
Unlike Ivo, Gerald was a good dude who sought to use his gifts to benefit mankind.
Unfortunately he got himself mixed up in research attempting to develop immortality, something
he had originally protested heavily.
However, his granddaughter maria was dying of space aids and upon realizing the the potential
benefits of this unethical experimentation for her condition he inevitably complied.
After the proverbial poo hit the fan maria died anyway and Gerald lost his mind vowing
to destroy humanity entirely.
That however, is a story you didn’t know for another time, we’re talking about Ivo
who didn’t care about any of that.
Despite the stigma surrounding his grandfather he thought Gerald was a cool dude and became
a scientist himself.
Originally to benefit the human race as well.
BUT, something went wrong and somewhere down the line Ivo Robotnik’s benevolent ideals
turned to thoughts of world domination!
This is where we first meet our antagonist.
In Sonic the Hedgehog Robotnik had invaded South Island and turned all the animal inhabitants
into robot drones as well as polluted the environment with his fortresses.
He did this in order to find the 7 chaos emeralds (which are crystals with mysterious powers
that exist in the Sonic universe).
With his new army of robot bunnies Ivo conquered the land, but was thwarted by that bastard
Sonic before his dreams could be realized.
This… is pretty much how it continues to go throughout the series, Robotnik comes up
with a scheme, tries to get the chaos emeralds to either create a weapon, change time, resurrect
an ancient monster whatever, and Sonic messes up his plans.
But WHY does Robotnik want this?
What is behind his actions, what is his motivation??
So let's get to the yolk of this quandary over Eggman’s dealio.
To do that, we need to understand intelligence.
Eggman has an IQ of 300, and whether or not IQ is a good measurement of that trait or
not, you have to be special to get a score like that.
More special than any human who has ever lived.
The only person to have an IQ even close to 300 was William James Sidis and he attended
Harvard at eleven years old.
But only because they wouldn’t take him when he was SIX.
The guy had taught himself how to speak 6 languages by the time he was five, a 300 IQ
is no joke.
By its definition intelligence is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.”
On the surface its an incredibly simple thing, but in practice its possibilities are endless.
Being intelligent allows people to look at the world in new ways, to create solutions
to problems, to turn imagination into reality.
It allows people to analyze the world, society, personality, everything.
However, just like anything, intelligence can be weaponized, warped, and exploited.
Possibly the most dangerous aspect of intelligence (especially extreme intelligence) is the risk
of a superiority complex.
This is something Eggman bleeds into all aspects of his design and interactions.
He thinks he's better than other people.
Better than EVERYONE because of how smart he is.
Maybe he is?
What do you think?
A mind like Robotnik’s has already figured out everything you could say in response to
that question and was five steps ahead by the time it was even asked.
It’s a mind that can think it’s way out of everything, into everything, and calculate
every outcome of every situation presented to it.
But what we’re talking about is a skill, and just one skill.
While intelligence is important to everything humans do, it doesn't necessarily make someone
BETTER in any way.
Even that William Sidis guy was arrested for participating in violent protests and spent
most of his life with legal troubles and worrying about being arrested again.
Not to mention some of his intellectual accomplishments were largely exaggerated and full of half-truths.
Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re perfect...and it doesn’t mean you’re
as smart as you think you are either!
There are many other things that are essential to making people ROUNDED individuals.
Social skills, intuition, charisma, imagination, feeling and empathy are all necessary to accent
something like intelligence.
You need to know limits, you need to understand others and their needs.
This is something which Eggman has no comprehension of.
This is where our analysis of Eggman begins to intertwine with the real world to help
us understand this predicament we call life just a little bit better.
Instead looking at how he could help others who may not be able to help themselves, Robotnik
began to look at them as “in the way,” and worse, inferior to him.
We need look no farther than Mr. Hitler himself, (also a mustachioed gentleman…
hmmm…).
Anyway, Hitler is what happens when you start thinking other people are inferior than you.
So is every slave trade throughout history, so is the massacre of the Native Americans
by Westerners, and the genocide of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers in the rape
of Nanking during WW2.
History has a long list of large-scale tragedies and I’d recommend looking into the ones
I mentioned if you want to ruin your day.
With this knowledge, the responsibility of any large-scale organization should be obvious.
And when I say “large-scale organization” that’s a generic term that includes any
institution with far-reaching control.
I’m talking about governments, corporations, religious institutions...any organization
that (when it flexes its power) has effects that are so far-reaching that it affects the
lives of millions and is written into history books.
Eggman, in all his brilliance and in spite of his cartoony appearance, is a useful metaphor
for the darker side of these institutions.
That’s not to say that the people in high ranks of government, corporations, and so
on are “brilliant”...rather the sum of the interactions between those calling the
shots of these organizations is enough to make a decision-making entity that can enact
large-scale plans with precise execution.
In other words...when you have 5 or 10 or 20 or 100 people all thinking about what to
do next...you’ve got a lot of brains all working on the same problem and chances are
you’re going to come up with a solution no matter how complex the problem is.
Eggman, however, is hyper intelligent.
He doesn’t need to brainstorm with others.
Robotnik is his own board of directors, his own presidential cabinet, his own parliament,
his own Council of Cardinals (you know the old wrinkly dudes who advise the Pope).
When he has an itching to flex his control, he doesn’t need to collaborate to figure
out how to do it.
He already knows how.
And he feels superior enough to not lose sleep over the consequences for others.
I admit this is a cynical view of institutions mostly because I don’t have time to go into
any positives they can bring, but even if you think I’m being overly cynical...I’m
sure you’ll agree the world can be a pretty messed up place.
And if you’re looking for a concise answer as to why...just remember how important the
theme of control is in any large-scale tragedy throughout history.
Whether it’s mass deforestation or genocide is irrelevant.
A need and an entitlement for control is what drives the ones pulling the strings.
Why do you think Eggman turns the people (animals, whatever its Sonic) he defeats into robots?
Its because he can UNDERSTAND robots, and he can program them to do exactly what he
wants them to do.
He makes them his SLAVES to either work for him or die for him.
It’s dastardly, and makes bowser look like a punk little bitch.
We’re talking mass genocide and slavery here.
Not to mention the whole reason Eggman wants the chaos emeralds is to use them as weapons
of mass destruction, to force the rest of the world into submission, to bend the people
to his will because he is the greatest, HE is the smartest, and there is no other way
the world could survive without his guidance.
Ugh superiority complexes are the worst!
There is a certain kind of greed to this thought pattern, an arrogance in the idea that “my
way is the only way.
you NEED me,” its abusive even, and we see it all the time.
There are many allegories that describe Eggman’s persona.
The ideas of institutional control and a superiority complex are just two.
But if you’re wondering what the consequences of those look like, look no further than deforestation
and politics as well.
Everyday the rainforests come closer and closer to completely disappearing, taking hundreds
of thousands of species of plants and animals with them, for what?
How is this even possible that it’s still happening?
Who’s even doing it?
Do you know?
Do you care?
The self-importance of corporations and government officials who allow this to happen for those
sweet dollar bills is the same delusion that Eggman shares.
And it’s the delusion that allows him to think turning happy animals into robo-slaves
is not only okay...but good.
The idea that Eggman turns his victims into robots is no coincidence either, because the
power he desires is not only real, but in the hands of people right now who don’t
care about you.
People who make decisions FOR you, people who tell you what to think, how to dress,
and how to act; just to make a profit.
This control is flexed with commercials, sound bytes, news stories, and so on.
They control what we consume and so we are their robot armies and they become even more
powerful with our money, which we make by killing ourselves at our jobs for up to 60
years of our lives.
Then maybe you buy those hip new jeans that are “on sale”, maybe you throw a 20 into
the collection plate at your local megachurch, maybe you put your hand over your heart, recite
the pledge of allegiance and pay taxes like a good citizen.
...For real tho...pay your taxes...but you should ask where that money is going!
These institutions don’t like you, you’re in their way.
Your desire to keep on living a healthy happy life is a thorn in their side.
For instance, in the 1950’s gasoline corps lobbied against banning lead in gasoline.
LEAD.
They knew exactly what kind of health issues that would cause the public and the environment
and they fought for it.
Lead poisoning leads to lowered IQ, violent tendencies, and more health and environmental
problems than you can count.
These people knowingly ruined and ended the lives of millions of people...especially when
you include the uptick in violent crime thanks to lead poisoning.
So why would they do that?!
Because it was cheaper to make gas with lead than without.
That's just maximizing profits my friends.
And when you maximize profit, you get more money...and when you get more money you get
more...control.
Yes.
You’re getting it!
When it comes to Ivo Robotnik, it seems like he originally had good intentions.
I think a lot of people generally do, even institutions start out with good intentions!
And some of them even continue to have good intentions!
But as you surely know, money and power corrupt... in the case of Eggman he was born with innate
mental power that ended up ruining him.
Like little robot bunny slaves we hop around from place to face being fed information filtered
through a system of checks put in place by nameless faceless entities that smile upon
us from above.
These entities have charming commercials, patriotic songs, handsome and well-spoken
spokespeople, and a carefully crafted veil to hide secrets they don’t want to you know...or
at least take seriously.
I say this not because I want you to believe everything is a lie, but because as a citizen
of the world, you should understand that not everything you hear is true.
The truth is a slippery thing you see.
Lies can be told without lying.
Lies can be told by leaving out parts of the truth or by leaving out the other side of
the story altogether.
Lies can also be told by distracting you.And when all else fails...a straight up lie will
do.
Be it
by force or by persuasion control is control, and it is a tool used by those who believe
themselves wiser than the rest of us.
It’s maintained by trickery or threat or even an understanding that most people are
too busy to care what goes on thousands of miles away.
When what we do, what we know of the world, and what we have time to worry about is controlled
by a bunch of eggmen the real question is “how free are we really?”
and unfortunately for us there’s no blue blur coming to the rescue.
There’s just you, who you choose to listen to, what you choose to believe, and the path
you choose based off of those beliefs.
That’s the story of Dr. ivo Robotnik, the story of greed hidden behind a humorous, appealing
exterior, the story...
you never knew.
And...that’s my take on Dr. Robotnik!
Errr….Eggman.
You know who I’m talking about.
He’s a diabolical guy and you can learn some things about the world from him.
Yeah.
But wait!
Before you go I have something ridiculously exciting to announce!
...Are you ready?
Great!
Because I’m streaming Chapter 4 of Bendy and the Ink Machine RIGHT NOW on Twitch with
Ryan (the Real Truth dude)!
Go to twitch.tv/treesicle to check it out!
We’ve been loving the shit out of hanging out with you guys so come join the fun and
whatever.
We’ll get philosophical, sure, but we’re also gonna be playing through every nook and
cranny of Bendy Chapter 4 and if you look closely enough...you’ll get to see our artistic,
idea-crafting process in action...live!
And you can talk to us in real time and call us dumb for missing things!
It’ll be great.
Twitch.tv/treesicle is where to be right now.
Yep.
Right now.
Come hang out!
I’m Grant...and that’s all I got for today.
Bye everyone and I’ll see you on twitch!