Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik

This article is about the mainstream version of Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik - you can find information on other versions on the disambiguation page "HOHOHOHOHO!"

- Dr. Ivo Robotnik aka Dr. Eggman laughing.

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a genius bent on world domination and the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.

Although a universally evil (if slightly goofy) scientist and warlord in the cartoon series and early games, Dr. Eggman has slowly become more of a "grey morality" character who will ally with Sonic when he feels the need to do so. Though he is a fairly treacherous "ally" and views Sonic as a worthy opponent, but also a thorn in his side who must be eliminated, when the hedgehog messes with the doctor's plans. Dr. Eggman also has a short temper whenever his plans are foiled. Recent games, however, have returned Eggman to being the full main villain and final boss, even in the 3D games.

Early Games
Originally known exclusively as Dr. Ivo Robotnik in the localizations outside of Japan, Dr. Eggman did not have much of a story going for him. In the first game, he was trying to conquer South Island and create his own mechanical paradise known as Eggmanland, and was eventually foiled by Sonic.

In the second game of the main Genesis series, Sonic's friend Tails joins the blue hedgehog to stop Robotnik, who has conquered West Island. Sonic eventually defeats Doctor Robotnik in a skirmish on the doctor's space station, the Death Egg. In GameGear version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the good doctor takes Tails for ransom, asking for 6 Chaos Emeralds in return.

In Sonic CD, Eggman arrives in a world with seven gems that can control time. Planning ahead, he created a robotic version of Sonic, dubbed Metal Sonic to keep him busy.

In the third game of the main series, after being damaged by Sonic, Eggman's space station, the Death Egg, started falling out of orbit. It lands on a floating island, known as Angel Island. Here he meets Knuckles the Echidna, the last member of his tribe, who was responsible for guarding the Master Emerald, which kept the island levitating. Eggman tricks Knuckles into believing that Sonic would come to steal his emerald, and so makes him Sonic's enemy.

In Sonic and Knuckles expansion, after once again being damaged, the Death Egg falls onto Angel Island once again, and lands in a crater. As Doctor Robotnik prepares his Death Egg for a new launch, he drops a bomb on Knuckles, which infuriates him and sends on a search for Sonic. The complete Sonic3&Knuckles ends with the heroes destroying Eggman's robotic creations on the Death Egg and taking the Master Emerald back from Robotnik during the Doomsday event.

Eggman has appeared as the main villain of nearly every other earlier Sonic title, such as SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles' Chaotix, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic the Fighters, Sonic 3D Blast, and Sonic R, with Sonic defeating Eggman at the end of each except SegaSonic the Hedgehog (in which there is no boss battle), Knuckles' Chaotix (in which Knuckles and his team fights him), and Sonic Labyrinth (in which one of Robotnik's creations is the final boss).

Later Games
Sonic Adventure games reveal some parts of Robotnik's backstory and unite the use of his alias "Eggman" (in English versions of Sonic Adventure) and his surname "Robotnik" (Sonic Adventure 2 feauteres first official appearance of the name "Robotnik" in Japanese versions). Sonic Adventure 2 reveals that Eggman's cousin Maria Robotnik and grandfather Professor Gerald Robotnik (who was Ivo's hero and idol) were killed by the government's agents. That act was shocking for Ivo Robotnik, turning him into the terrorist, trying to destroy the government and create his own ideal Robotnik Empire (and, in later games, the industrial Eggmanland).

In Sonic Heroes Metal Sonic rebels against Dr. Eggman and locks him on Robotnik's own flagship. In the meantime, Metal Sonic impersonates the doctor, fighting the heroes and gathering data to upgrade his own battle capabilities. Robotnik coordinates Team Chaotix and waits for detectives to free him and later unites the teams to fight Metal Sonic, also reminding them about the power of Chaos Emeralds. After Metal was defeated, Eggman attemps to sneak away from paying Vector, only to spotted by him, forcing him to run away from the now angry Team Chaotix.

In Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman is the secondary villain and the Eggman Empire is one of the factions which Shadow the Hedgheog can ally himself with. Dr. Robotnik can either give missions to the hedgehog or fight him as a boss. Robotnik's forces take part in defending the planet from Black Doom's alien army and the doctor himself ends cheering on protagonist in the canonical "Last Story" ending. During the final boss (if the player continues fighting for 8-10 minutes), Eggman reveals to everyone, including Shadow, that the Shadow they've been working with since Heroes is indeed the real and original Shadow. After Black Doom is defeated, Eggamn tries to go take the Chaos Emeralds, only to be chased by Knuckles.

In Sonic Riders, Eggman is the main villain and searches for the treasure in Babylon Garden, getting the Babylon Rogues to win the Chaos Emeralds for him, however, is disappointed at the treasure being a carpet (unaware that it was a magic carpet). In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, he attempts to use MeteoTech robots and Arks of the Cosmos to take over the world, but they turn on him, and are destroyed by Sonic. In Sonic Free Riders, he disguises himself as "King Doc" and hosts a Grand Prix, having reprogrammed Metal Sonic to race for him and collect data from Sonic, Amy, Shadow, and Jet's teams, however, Metal Sonic betrays him yet again and collects the data for himself, but loses the last race to Sonic.

In Sonic Rush, Eggman teams up with, seemingly, his "counterpart" from Sol Dimension, Eggman Nega, to create an Eggmanland beyond all dimensions by abusing the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds, however, they are defeated by Sonic and Blaze. In Sonic Rush Adventure, they team up again, this time in Sol Dimension, creating Captain Whisker to find the Jeweled Scepter for them so they can use it to awaken the Power of Stars. After Whisker is destroyed, they steal it themselves, but are defeated by Sonic and Blaze. Nega tries to use "Planet-Buster Laser" to undo the creation, but is interrupted by Marine the Racoon and ends up destroying their robotic Egg Wizard. Eggman survives and returns to the Chaos dimension.

In Sonic Rivals, Eggman is imprisoned in a card by Eggman Nega, who is revealed to be Ivo Robotnik's descendant from 200 years in the future, who hates the good doctor for disrupting their line of brilliant scientists with his failures and wants him removed from the timeline. However, Eggman is released by Shadow and Silver, and helps them get to Nega's base. In Sonic Rivals 2, he reprograms Metal Sonic as a mindless servant and has him team up with Shadow to stop Eggman Nega from releasing the Ifrit and destroying the world.

In Sonic Unleashed, Eggman is once again the main villain. He awakens Dark Gaia in an attempt to take over the world and defeat Sonic. After he is defeated by Sonic and puts Dark Gaia back together, he is knocked into the distance by Dark Gaia, who won't take orders from him. He survives, however, and is last seen chasing his robot assistant Orbot into the distance for calling him a loser.

In Sonic Colors Dr. Eggman is again the main villain and has opened an amusement park pretending to have redeemed himself, however he was really harvesting thousands of aliens for use in the creation of a mind-control device which he planned on using to take control over the entire universe. When it fails, Eggman, in anger, finally snaps and decides to focus completely on killing Sonic, and attacks him with the Egg Nega Wisp (AKA Nega Wisp Armor). After his defeat, he is left in the middle of space with his robot assistants Orbot and Cubot to move his Eggmobile. This appearance has marked the first time in a 3D Sonic game to feature Eggman as the final boss.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which chronologically takes place after Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Doctor Robotnik starts a new scheme, using the space station once again. Sonic defeats him, but the good doctor is not finished yet. In fact, he is about to activate Metal Sonic, one of the deadliest rivals of Sonic the Hedgehog. In Episode II, Robotnik heals Metal Sonic from his defeat in Sonic CD in Episode Metal (which takes place between Episodes 1 and II) and activates the Death Egg mkII, but is defeated by Sonic.

In a surprise reverse twist from past 3D games, Classic and Modern Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik are not only the main villains, but the final boss of Sonic Generations. Eggman finds a supernatural machine called Time Eater, which he uses in an attempt to alter time and erase his previous defeats. He kidnaps and teams up with his past self from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, however, both Eggmans are defeated, destroying Time Eater in the process, resulting in them being trapped in limbo, unable to escape. During this they realize they will never beat Sonic, and plan to get a teaching degree if they ever get out.

In Sonic Lost World, Eggman somehow escapes limbo (and obviously doesn't take up a teaching degree) and tries to harness the power of the Deadly Six to take over the world, but they rebel against him, forcing him and Sonic to work together to defeat them. After the Deadly Six are defeated, Eggman (who had faked his death during his alliance with Sonic to power a machine) turns on Sonic revealing he had been using him to defeat (and possibly kill) the Deadly Six, effectively becoming the true main villain. He is defeated by Sonic shortly after, and falls off the Lost Hex, seemingly to his death (though neither Sonic or Tails care). It's revealed in the end that he survived by falling into soft dirt, but lost half his mustache due to a rabbit mistaking it for a carrot stalk while he was unconscience.

Powers and Abilities
Usually in spite of his very advanced intellect and scientific know-how (being the smartest character in the series with a recorded I.Q. of 300 (possibly higher)), he fights Sonic and his friends in attacking machinery, but he has 2 superpowers: super strength and super speed, the latter being somewhat inconsistent. Eggman has been shown to be strong enough to destroy pillars, cars, and walls of ice with his fist with as much ease as Knuckles.

Theme Music
Over the years Dr. Robotnik had many musical pieces associated with him. Most of these were boss music in the classics, however, since the Sonic Adventure era the good doctor started getting distinct themes even outside of boss fights, such as Paul Shortino's "E.G.G.M.A.N." or the dark "Theme of Dr. Eggman" leitmotif which had been used since the 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog. E.G.G.M.A.N. is considered his official and main theme, while Theme of Dr. Eggman is considered to be a warning/danger theme.

Trivia

 * Eggman's first name 'Ivo' is simply a backwards spelling of the latin word 'ovi' which means 'egg'.
 * Eggman's basic characteristics, such as his clip-less glasses, toothy smile, and moustache are based on the features of US president Theodore Roosevelt.
 * Eggman's character design has gone through more changes than any other Sonic series character.