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| “ | I am Doctor Starline, and I am indeed the one behind your present concerns. | „ |
| ~ Dr. Starline introducing himself to Sonic. |
| “ | I won't be conquering the world to prove myself to Dr. Eggman. I'll conquer it to prove it to myself. And I won't be proving I'm Eggman's equal. I'll prove I'm his superior replacement. | „ |
| ~ Dr. Starline deciding to abandon the Eggman Empire and take over the world independently. |
| “ | I planned everything out. Down to the smallest detail. I had every advantage. Accounted for every contingency. And I still lost. I did everything right. He destroyed all that effort in minutes. I'm a failure. An utter, disgraceful failure... | „ |
| ~ Dr. Starline's villainous breakdown and last words before his death. |
Dr. Starline is the secondary antagonist of the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.
An anthropomorphic platypus and scientist, Starline is a fanatic of Dr. Eggman who studied his career for years before meeting him in-person and restoring the memories he lost following from his previous defeat. After suffering from Eggman's verbal abuse during the Zombot outbreak, Starline decided to become an independent would-be-conqueror and attempt to upstage his idol as his superior replacement after failing to gain his recognition and respect. He briefly succeeded in taking over the Eggman Empire, but was quickly upstaged by Eggman and ended up perishing as a building collapsed on top of him.
Appearance[]
Dr. Starline is an anthropomorphic platypus with white fur and a black bill with narrow nostrils. He also has red eyes, black eyelids and a thick tail, as well as three tufts of hair on his head that are combed over to the right side of it. His front tuft also has a gray highlight on it.
Starline usually wears a satin purple shirt with gold cufflinks, a red-violet vest, and orange glasses.
Personality[]
Starline was calm, theatrical, and sophisticated most of the time, exuding an arrogant sense of pride in his intellect and abilities. Rather formal in behavior, he often addressed others as "gentlemen". However, he was also ruthless, sinister, and cruel, as he was willing to force Dr. Eggman to be a part of an evidently painful procedure against his will to bring him back to normal. Showing contempt for weakness, he possessed an incredible drive, as seen how he kept searching for Eggman despite becoming quite ill from sleep deprivation in the process. Despite possessing a calm demeanor, his patience did have its limits; after spending time with Eggman, Starline began showing occasional bouts of anger and frustration primarily directed at Eggman's imperfections, stubbornness, and refusal to listen to his reasoning. Ultimately, Starline would lose his patience after being fired by Eggman. In this state, he had proven himself emotionally unstable and prone to angry rants.
In addition to his intellect, Starline was quite manipulative. He could expertly use other people to his advantage in order to make them cooperate with him or lure them into traps, and he knew exactly to strike his foes where it hurt the most. However, despite considering himself brilliant, he originally possessed a subservient attitude towards Eggman and willingly submitted himself to his command.
Starline was an insane fanatic of the Eggman Empire. At first, he was willingly submissive to Eggman alone and his orders, although his fascination with the doctor made him blind and ignorant to the flaws of his idol at first. In fact, Starline was with Eggman at almost every turn during the Zombot apocalypse and was ready to come to his rescue despite not thinking things through too well.
Unlike Eggman's more overt ways, Starline was much more subtle. Notably, he preferred simply launching an ambush instead of luring someone into a trap with bait that exposes his activities. Starline similarly always covered up his tracks in various ways, thereby leaving him activities undetected by his enemies. Always waiting patiently for the right time to attack, he would only reveal himself when the time was perfect, at which point he allowed himself to be exaggeratingly theatrical. He was also very thorough with everything he does. Notably, he put his projects through hundreds of different tests until he was absolutely assured of their safety and has sufficient data samples to work out from, unlike Dr. Eggman, who would hastily begin implementing his plans without finishing the necessary procedures that would prevent the fallibility of his creations. Similarly, he took great care when preparing for direct confrontations with his foes, like luring Sonic into an environment where he was at a disadvantage and scouting out a whole mountain before-hand in order to use his Warp Topaz to its fullest and kill him on his first try. He also preferred working in the shadows and avoiding unnecessary clashes with his foes.
Like Eggman, Starline was unhappy with the chaotic and unpredictable state of the world that he intended to take control of. Unlike Eggman, however, who would seek to bring order to the planet with the blind obedience of machines, Starline had come to see that the ingenuity and will of living beings made them much more effective than mindless robots, and so he sought to use cyborgs mentally programmed to his will to bring the world under his control.
After seeing Eggman's Metal Virus plot grow out of control and being fired as Eggman's protégé after realizing the flaws of his idol, Starline came to realize the downside to arrogance and egotism. As such, he was very careful not to go down the same path Eggman has walked for years. He likewise believed that robots made much more suitable allies than organic creatures, as they were unquestionably loyal, tireless, and efficient, though only when properly programmed. As such, he ultimately strived to be a lone genius that did not need to rely on anyone.
Despite being cautious and systematic with his actions though, Starline was not infallible. Notably, he had a tendency to underestimate the situations he was in, especially those that he thought he was in control of. His experiences with artificial emotions and excitement in particular had led him to underestimate the possible dangers they pose in the wrong hands. Having been noted to love hearing himself talk as well, Starline frequently made video logs of virtually every operation he conducted, carefully documenting his very action and thought, unless he believed it was not relevant. Unfortunately, his careful documentations often turned against him as they allowed his more volatile associates to discover his true intentions and plans with them, which would result in a catastrophic outcome later. He is also shown to be a hypocrite. While acknowledging his shortcomings made him similar to Eggman when pointed out by Zavok, he remarks how Eggman suffers from tunnel-vision due to his obsession with Sonic even though he too suffers the same from his own obsession with Eggman and how the world never improves from the repetitive conflict between Sonic and Eggman, disregarding that he restarted it by restoring Eggman's memories. Similar to how Eggman took the Zombots growing out of his control, Starline procrastinate looking into Surge and Kitsunami's resistance to his hypnosis.
In the last few moments of his life, Starline lost all of his sanity and elegance after Operation: Remaster had failed, leading to him having a mental breakdown while contemplating how months of careful planning and hundreds of tests had gone down the drain in a matter of minutes, showing that he did not deal with failure well and possessed a very fragile ego. Additionally, he developed an intense inferiority complex, referring to himself as an "utter, disgraceful failure" due to his defeat. This also made him ignorant of the fact that he was in a dangerous environment, and he seemingly could not hear others' warnings of his impending doom, which led to his demise. This was another aspect of his that made him different from Eggman, who, despite having suffered similar defeats for years, refused to give up.
Biography[]
Restoring Eggman's Memories[]
Dr. Starline had built his career studying the tyrannical scientist Dr. Eggman and took it upon himself to ensure the villain's return after he received amnesia. At some point, Dr. Starline hired mercenaries Rough and Tumble to kidnap Eggman, who was now a kindly handyman called "Mr. Tinker", and take him to an unknown facility where Starline intends to restore his lost memories.
After being strapped into an advanced device, Eggman begged his captors to let him go while claiming he is not who they think he is. However, Starline tells him that he is definitely Dr. Eggman but currently believes to be someone he isn't. The handyman protests and says he doesn’t want to be Dr. Eggman, causing Starline to respond by saying that Eggman wouldn't want to remain as "Mr. Tinker" neither as he lowers a visor to his captive's eyes and proceeds to induced him with electric shocks.
Later, after the Resistance defeat Metal Sonic on Angel Island, Dr. Starline finishes the first part of his captive's treatment to help him regain his memories and asks him if he feels more like Dr. Eggman. However, despite his treatments, neither Eggman's memories or old personality resurfaced, much to Starline's confusion.
Rough began to express frustration with Dr. Starline. Reminding the doctor that their deal was to hand over Eggman in exchange of weapons. Starline assured the mercenaries that they will get their weapons once Eggman's mind is fully restored and theorizes that he needs some sort of emotional or mental trigger. At that moment, Metal Sonic appears and Dr. Eggman suddenly regains his forgotten memories, returning him to his old villainous self again. Dr. Starline is delighted and starts informing Eggman of more recent events while helping him repair the damage on Metal Sonic.
Working with Eggman and Meeting Sonic[]
Starline uses this opportunity to try and join the Eggman Empire's ranks by impressing his mentor with what he knows about the Warp Topaz; a gemstone capable of creating gateways and traveling across space instantaneously. However, Eggman is uninterested, prompting Starline to instead show him a suitcase containing the seven Chaos Emeralds. Dr. Eggman agrees to hire the platypus and tells him that he needs a distraction for Sonic and his allies while he prepares his next plan. Starline replies that he already has something in mind and assists his idol in testing an artificial virus that can convert flesh into metal.
During the tests, Eggman inquiries how Dr. Starline found him living in a peaceful village when his empire had failed to do so. Starline explains the Warp Topaz allows him to peer through "windows" that shows him any location he wishes and demonstrates by creating a window to where Sonic and Tails were fighting Rough and Tumble. After the two doctors watch some of the battle, Starline asks if they can continue testing with the "Metal Virus". However, he was surprised to learn that the tests were already over, as Eggman had achieved the results he wanted and desired to move on regardless of their minuscule data sample on the virus.
Upon Rough and Tumble's defeat, Dr. Starline warped them back to Eggman's base then expressed his desire to face off against the Blue Blur. He traveled with Metal Sonic to another base at Frozen Peak after tipping off his location to Silver the Hedgehog and had Badniks move equipment out of base before Silver showed up with Sonic. Metal Sonic immediately attacks the heroes but they quickly get the upper hand against him before Starline warps the robot out of harms way. The doctor then introduces himself to his enemies and reveals to Sonic that he orchestrated Eggman's kidnapping and helped restore his memories.
Sonic and Silver attempt to reach Starline but even after getting past Metal Sonic the villain uses his Warp Topaz to send the duo to the other side of the mountain and off a cliff. Dr. Starline then opens a portal back to Eggman's hideout and was about to follow Metal through it until Sonic suddenly hits him with a spin attack. Seemingly at Sonic's mercy, Starline tells him that everything in relation to Eggman's plans are inside the base's vault and gives Silver the input code to access it. However, Starline had actually given Silver the self-destruct codes instead and lets Sonic know so he will race after him just as the base explodes.
Dr. Starline excitedly proclaims victory against his foes before being pulled through an opened portal by a furious Eggman who slams him against a containment chamber. The enraged doctor tells Starline that he must be the one to destroy Sonic since vanquishing his lifelong arch-nemesis would mean nothing if he didn’t prove himself superior first. The platypus manages to mutter an apology which causes Eggman to throw him to the floor and reveal via security feed that both hedgehogs survived the base's destruction.
Spreading the Metal Virus[]
A short time later, Dr. Starline rushed to warn Eggman that Sonic and Amy Rose have gained access to unguarded files about their activities through one of his old bases computers. However, Eggman remained unconcerned and told him enjoyed these "dramatic sudden deadlines" as Rough and Tumble are prepared for their assault on the heroes. Both doctors watch via security feed as the mercenary brothers are fooled into infecting themselves with the Metal Virus before transmuting the virus into Sonic. Impressed with the results, Starline asks Eggman what is the next step in his plan, and is shown a new flying fortress called the Faceship designed to spread the Metal Virus throughout the world.
Dr. Starline inquiries as to how Eggman was able to build new fortress so quickly, to which he responds that it was thanks to his incredible intelligent and a large workforce of Badniks created specifically for building. The pair board the Faceship and Eggman offers Starline a tour of the aircraft, which Starline eagerly accepts. He shown by his mentor that the Faceship is powered the seven Chaos Emeralds that he provided earlier, and is then led to the mixing vats where large amounts of the Metal Virus is manufactured by blending it's various ingredients together. Dr. Starline notices that the ship still doesn’t have enough of the virus to infect the entire world, but learns from Eggman that he only intends to unleash the virus at key locations on the planet and let those infected (know as Zombots) to spread the condition worldwide instead.
Starline watches through tears of joy as Eggman uses his Faceship to dose the citizens of Windmill Village and orders the newly-converted Zombots to infect other towns nearby. But Starline's excitement soon faded as he questions Eggman's decision to invade Flora Forest Village, since it held no strategic value. The doctors continued to monitor the epidemic and soon discovered that Eggman's command over the Zombots had been rapidly declining since they left Windmill Village. When Dr. Eggman decides to deal with this major problem later on, Starline confined in Orbot that his idol was not the efficient conquer he was led to believe. He thought Dr. Eggman's constant failures were because of a powerful adversary like Sonic, but it now seemed Eggman was unable to adapt his plans for the long term due to his impatience, arrogance and carelessness. Orbot tells Starline that Eggman's failures are actually more 50/50 between Sonic and the doctor's own incompetence, but this does not help Starline's concerns.
Alliance with the Deadly Six[]
Later, Dr. Starline began searching for a way to regain command over the Zombots and discovered a document that recounts Dr. Eggman's failed scheme on the planet Lost Hex. Upon learning of the Deadly Six and their ability to control technology, Starline believed that they could be used to reassert dominance over all the rogue Zombots. The doctor uses his Warp Topaz to meet with Zavok on Lost Hex and offered him to make amends with Dr. Eggman by helping him retake control of the Zombots in exchange to have access to the Eggman Empires resources. Zavok accepts Dr. Starline's proposal with secret intent of betraying him later on.
As the Faceship approaches the last village unaffected by the Metal Virus, Starline and Eggman head to the Zombot infested Barricade Village to test out different radio frequencies in hopes of communicating with the Zombots. Eggman was getting annoyed with how time consuming the tests were and thought he should of broadcast recordings of himself relaying orders from the Faceship. But Starline reminded him that he agreed to using tight-band broadcasts as they were the best next step. Dr. Eggman noticed the passive aggressiveness in Starline's voice and told him if he wanted to keep his position as apprentice, then he needed to show more support in their endeavours. The platypus replied that in hindsight, it would have been better if Eggman had built a failsafe for the Metal Virus growing beyond his control.
The doctors continue to squabble until Sonic suddenly arrives and soon engages Dr. Eggman in battle. Starline had dreamed of seeing their confrontation firsthand, but after his experience working for Eggman, he felt uninterested. He remembered Metal Sonic's post-war attempt at world domination, in which Metal believed that having overwhelming power would assure victory even without a more carefully devised plan. Starline thought the robot failed because it was designed to counter Sonic, but witnessing Sonics fight with Eggman before him, the doctor now believes that failure was because Metal Sonic had already copied Eggman's data and used the same brute-force strategy as its creator. He then concludes that Dr. Eggman simply does not measure up to his own legend.
Upon Eggman's defeat, Dr. Starline manages to save him from Zombots by finally finding the correct frequency to command them. However, Sonic quickly destroys both of scientists hovercrafts before the villains warp back to the Faceship. Starline was unable to memorize the working frequency, and with Eggman not willing to try again with the broadcasts, he decides to briefly visit Zavok again to insure that the Deadly Six are ready to assist them. He already knows the Zeti are planning to betray him, so he uses the Warp Topaz to acquire the Cacophonous Conch from among his Eggman memorabilia in order to keep them in-line.
Trivia[]
- Dr. Starline was originally designed to be a spiritual successor to previous villainous doctors in Sonic the Hedgehog comics, namely Dr. Zachary from Fleetway's Sonic the Comic and Dr. Finitevus from Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog.
- His design also takes inspirations from Jareth the Goblin King, Michael Jackson's appearance in the music video to the song Thriller, the Wechnia glitch from Knuckles' Chaotix (this also being where he got his name, being a reference to a line of stars), and a "steampunk Benjamin Franklin".
- Although Starline was confirmed by Ian Flynn on the Bumblekast Discord server to be definitively dead, he mentioned that he could be brought back if there was a large enough fan demand to have him return, similar to what happened to Shadow after Sonic Adventure 2 and what lead to him returning later in Sonic Heroes.
External Links[]
- Doctor Starline on the Sonic Wiki
