User blog:BigBadSquid/PE Proposal: Dr. Robotnik (Archie Comics)



Since the Sonic movie is coming out this Friday, we might as well look at some more Pure Evil Sonic villains. Here's the Archie Robotnik.

What's the Work
Archie Comic's Sonic the Hedgehog was a comic that ran from 1993 to 2017. Originally following the events of the Sonic SATAM cartoon, it became its own separate universe starting in 2005 when it had a "reboot" of some kind and followed the story of Sonic X. Gotta go fast!

Who is Dr. Robotnik? What has he done?
If you thought the SATAM Robotnik was bad, wait until you hear his Archie incarnate's doings. Once a weapon developer for the Overlanders during the Great War of Mobius, he was interested in inhumane experiments; as in using live subjects to test his weapons. He also came up with the Ultimate Annihilator, an extremely powerful weapon strong enough to erase all traces of the target. For his crimes, Robotnik was arrested, but he escaped prison and defected to the Mobian's side (only to avoid being punished for his actions). Becoming a warlord for King Maximilian Acorn, the mad scientist introduced his machines to help the Morbians gain the upper hand in the war.

But during the peacetime, Robotnik saw flaws in King Acorn's rule and plotted a coup to get rid of the king and take over instead. Teaming up with Kodos, the psychotic magical lion wizard and another warlord, the two build a portal to the Zone of Silence, a void world comprised of nothing. When Kodos said that Robotnik would become his second in command, Robotnik used the Atomic Mace left behind by the ancient wizard Naugus to knock Kodos out from behind and threw him in the portal.

In secret to the king and the council, Robotnik attacked a village of monkeys to become subjects for cyborg soldiers. How many captured? THE ENTIRE VILLAGE. Through his brute force of experimentation, only Ken Khan survived. He sent Khan to attack a group of Overlanders. He was impressed with Khan's success, only to imprison him once he attempted to turn on him. Later, Robotnik hears about a Roboticizer developed by Charles the Hedgehog (Sonic's uncle) and decides to ditch his cyborg army plan to instead convert all Mobians into robotic slaves. Secretly sabotaging the machine to become mindless drones, he ruins Charles' plan to help his brother Jules (who was wounded in the war) become a robot drone. When Bernadette (his wife) discovered this, Robotnik has her tossed into the Roboticizer as well, turning Sonic into an orphan and ruining Charles's spirit and reputation hard enough to retire from his science field to become a chili dog stand.

Once the war was finally over for good, during the ceremony, Robotnik was promoted to the Minister of Science. But Amadeus Prower (a general from the war and Tails's father), on the day of his son's birth, discovered Robotnik's plans to take over the kingdom. Before he could warn anyone, he too was converted by the Roboticizer. That evening, Robotnik orders his assistant Snively to execute Order 66 and had their SWATbots rally the citizens for roboticization, where they were painfully turned into robots. Imprisoning King Acorn and the council within the Zone of Silence, Robotnik began his tyrannical rule and turned Mobotropolis into an industrial wasteland called Robotropolis. With Robotnik in charge, countless families were broken and millions were enslaved. Over a decade, a majority of Mobius is completely ecology-destroyed with multiple sentient Mobian breeds extinct as they have either been killed off or converted into robots.

This is where the story official starts, with Sonic and Tails part of a rebel alliance called the Freedom Fighters in a constant battle against Robotnik and his robot goons. During one mission to stop a Death Egg from being constructed for Robotnik to conquer the galaxy, Robotnik took no time in taunting both Sonic and Tails about the fate of their parents. Robotnik finally met his end during Operation: Endgame (no Thanos snaps) when he builds his long-planned Ultimate Annihilator to destroy every trace of resistance to his rule. First killing Princess Sally with the traitor Drago Wolf to frame Sonic, he kidnaps an Overlander to serve as a test shot for his superweapon. Robotnik shows no horror or remorse (rather a sick, twisted pride) as the bystander's body is completely evaporated, leaving only his atoms behind. Then when Knothole Village was targeted, Sonic (whose arrest was found to be staged) and the team infiltrate the satellite to battle Robotnik. However, Snively, hijacking the satellite to get back at Robotnik for all of his abuse and targets Robotnik within the control room. Robotnik is evaporated and the long civil war was finally over.

...Until a certain Eggman from an alternate dimension shows up to serve as the next main villain. Somehow he uses his machines to collect the Robotnik molecules to bring the old Robotnik back to life. However, it seems that a year of being dead to your molecules has a hit on your IQ as Robotnik is played as a total dimwitted idiot. However, he's able to pretend to ask for help from the Freedom Fighters to fight Eggman and reclaim his rule, but they easily detect his lies and destroy the machine, causing his molecules to scatter again. For good.

Migitating Factors
So... the "excuse" that Robotnik is given is that he was looked down at his parents in favor of his older brother. Bruh, he kills millions of anthropomorphic animals through roboticization to take over the planet with robotic slaves and feels only sick satisfaction to all the atrocities he committed. Even to his own minions, he's a total scumbag of both a tyrant and a leader. Not only does he kick around Snively just for any mistake he makes, but he also destroys one of his SWATbots simply because it came up with a better idea to take out the rebels.

Now as for that turn in stupidity after returning from the dead, like when I proposed Darkrai, even with all the slapstick he takes, he never shows any sign of guilt or sorrow for his past mistakes. Heck, he tries to manipulate Sonic to teaming up with him to get Eggman, fully intending to get rid of his replacement to take back his rule of Mobius. Pass.

Heinous Standards
The Archie comics are a bit darker than the mainstream series, but it's thanks to Robotnik that the world is the corrupted and ruined place it is. Since the Archie Sonic comic has two parts, this one called the "Pre-Super Genesis Wave", I'll only be looking at the heinous standards from here. Very little stand out as a majority of the foes that Sonic and team face are tragic figures that have been exposed to Robotnik's robotization that turned them into mindless husks following his orders. Snively also can't count as he's portrayed as a sympathetic character considering all of the abuse that Robotnik puts him through. As for the second Eggman, while he's played more seriously than his game counterpart, there are a few honorable standards that he has, such as treating Snively far better than Robotnik would ever do.

Verdict
It's a tough fight to decide if this version or the SATAM Robotnik is worse, but there's one thing that they have in common. They are both pure evil to the core. Easy keeper, moving on.