How to Make Dr. Eggman a Credible Villain | Characters In-Depth 

He’s actually the only character whose voice actor always sounded good to me

I'll give Forces credit for one thing: It was the first time in a long while where he felt like a guy with a plan. He had no less than two back-up plans, another final robot inside his final robot (even if it was just a rehash) and it's even implied he had preparations in case Infinite betrayed him. They may have heavily underutilized the concept of him ruling the world, but at least he showed some competency and foresight. I want more of that in the future.

One thing I like about Eggman is that he's ironically the least human character in the franchise. He puts living creatures into slave robots, builds chemical plants and laboratories that pollute the air and water, and he's willing to destroy the planet and build whatever is left on top of it. He doesn't care about life, something Sonic swore to protect. It's something that I love that the movie mentioned. I think it's one thing that made SA2 so impactful. Despite how evil Dr. Eggman might seem, even he believes that he's the hero, and that was shown with how he admired his grandfather. No one believes their doing the wrong thing, and that's one of the messages SA2 gave us. I guess I'm still against Dr. Eggman always being treated as a side villain instead of the main course. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 did a great job handling him as a threatening villain, while introducing a newer more powerful foes, but after, it really did feel cliche, and overused. I do agree that he was also poorly handled though. The more cliche it is, the more the newer foe loses that impact. It makes them look boring and stale. I just don't want them to do it all the time, and prefer that they can mix it up once and a while.

I'm suprised there is no "pissing on the moon" joke in the comments

"You've turned into a big-time villain, doctor!" A Strangely Proud-Sounding Sonic 2001

I don't mind Eggman being a comedic villain, but I don't want it to be overdone to the point where he comes across as a push over like in Boom. I think the comedy could come from Eggmans overblown ego. Eggman can have serious and threatening moments, but when his plans backfire, he releases his anger on Orbot and Cubot

I always enjoyed the idea that Eggman is as I call it "book smart, street dumb" in that he has a lot of knowledge and can use it effectively but his narcissism blinds him to foresight and his enemies craftiness leading to his downfall.

Adventure 2 Eggman will always be the ideal Eggman to me. He's an evil genius with a goal in mind and will do anything possible to achieve his goal, but will joke around every so often to give you a genuine laugh. At a moment's notice, he'll do something to remind you he's the bad guy. Prime example? Putting a gun to Amy's head and ejecting sonic into space into the pod. So dark, yet in that same game he's scratching his butt while watching tv lol.

Eggman destroying the moon in half in SA2, and then doing the same thing to earth in Sonic Unleashed, are my 2 favorite moments of him.

I've always loved Eggman as a villain from how they could take someone so comical in appearance and in personality, yet still make him feel like a real threat - even intimidating in some portrayals. I also really like that hint humanity he shows in SA2 through his admiration of his grandfather - the one person he holds above even himself (and I really hope they keep it in and explore this in the movie franchise) To me, the best depiction of Eggman would be a combination of the Cold & Calculating rendition of him in SA2 with the Humor & Energy of his Unleashed portrayal. But the video brought to mind that a major issue with Eggman's current portrayal is having minions/sidekicks that constantly tell him (and the audience) how foolish & incompetent he is. Fortunately, they seemed to have learned from that for Forces; so let's hope they learn from the other mistakes too for the next game.

I miss his intimidating moments, like the egg-walker boss in tails story from SA1 it just shows that despite his goofy traits, he's still a big threat with fridge horror intentions

I don't mind Eggman being both a comedic & threatening villain, it gives him more depth and balance than being a one-note evil dictator or a Dick Dastardly Saturday Morning villain. (Kind of like what "Samurai Jack" does with Aku, "Powerpuff Girls" with Mojo Jojo, and most of the main villains from several Power Ranger adaptations) By the way, how did you like the portrayal of Eggman in the movie? I personally think they were on point with the character.

dude Sonic Unleashed Eggman was poggers broski. He actually won at the beginning, all Sonic was trying to do was undo Eggmans destruction. not only that, but have you even played the egg dragoon fight? he actively tryna kill Sonic

I really love the way you interpret videogame characters personalities and how they can improve, please keep making more videos, I really enjoy them!

Adventure era eggman: who are you? meta era eggman: I’m you but my characters ruined

I got to say this: eggman is absolutely fantastic in the sonic 2 movie. It describes him perfectly while giving some new personality.

Eggman is one of my favorite sonic characters and villains ever. From the games Eggman was his best in SA2 and Unleashed imo.

I love him in the comics, a great mix of egotistical, goofy, and threatening, he dedicated an entire car in his bullet train to a Custom foosball table, or before the genesis wave he watched an abandoned project almost kill sonic, but because it wasn’t him who’s killing sonic he just whips up a little robot to destroy the abandoned project in like a minute, saving sonic just so he would have the pleasure of killing him And in the IDW comics he doesn’t fail because he’s an idiot, he fails because of his ego, he’s to brilliant for his own good, the metal virus worked, it had the freedom fighters on their last legs, the problem was his own ego got the better of him, it was to much for even him to control, admittedly this is a common motive for Eggman, he likes to test the limits of his brilliance without thinking about the repercussions, that’s why he’s always getting bitched by gods of destruction, he things so highly of himself “usually with good reason” that he refuses to see or admit when he’s out of depth

I loved the part of SA2 where they're all working together to stop the ark. Idk how but I would like Sonic and Eggman to work together for whatever reason in the next game

Deem Bristow’s performance as Eggman was the absolute peak of his characterization.

I hope that one day Dr. Eggman can be once again more competent in the new games. By being competent, I mean more predictable. It’s been a while we didn’t see Eggman actually a genius on something else than his machines, he could at least be more strategic on building his robots, especially the one who’re programmed to beat Sonic, I mean, he knows the hedgehog for a really long time, he could at least analyze him like every evil genius can do, then knows his weaknesses and his flaws, (so we could have challenging bosses). Even though he looks like a round shaped egg, he is still charismatic, but it seems that the games don’t show this side anymore and no one of us takes him seriously actually, except Sonic, but NOT that seriously… Sonic sees Eggman has a treat, but has a comical threat, he is so cocky that he and we just don’t take him seriously, so he could gave him the nicknames of Egghead or Baldy Mcnosehair especially in the new games, but Sonic Unleashed proves us the contrary, by trapping Super Sonic in a magnetic high energy shield that separate him from the Chaos Emeralds. In conclusion, Eggman should be writed as the predictable, charismatic and evil mastermind guy. Sometimes, I wish that he could excels the ones with great power on his side who tries to betray him, so they could be at Eggman mercy, Eggman is well-knowed to be one of the biggest mastermind in the video game universe, cause he’s the Eggman, that’s what he is.

I’m really glad you included Eggmanland. He finally accomplished his goal, and it’s not even a big deal. Eggmanland never got destroyed either. In Sonic Colors and its amusement park theme, made me think Eggmanland was gonna be the final zone. It would have made so much sense. After running down in Terminal Velocity, it could have led to a final showdown there.

Eggman is already a credible villain. He only looks non-credible in games like Heroes and 06 that disrespect his status as the iconic villain to push other villains. Canon Eggman is a manchild who wants to mechanize the world who does what he does since he's too self-centered and/or too out-of-touch with reality to realize the harm he's doing. At the same time, he appreciates Sonic as a good rival among other admirable qualities. He's a villainous Willy Wonka. Not Hitler or Dr. Weil. And that's fine. It gives him dimensions that villains like Mephiles and SatAM's Julian don't have (no one has told what depth Mephiles has).

5:40 What I hear: We can all agree that eggman was at his best in SA2 What my mind hears: *O H Y O U D O N E D I D I T N O W*

We really need goofy exterior but really smart man with the master plan and oddly intimidating demeanor back Akin to say his cruelty in colors (minus the writers influence) Or planning skills in SA2 Or even his regal mastermind like demeanor in 06 [EDIT] and his charm from the movie to balance out the 06 demeanor

While it’s understandable to have a villain be intimidating, I honestly love Dr. Eggman’s portrayel as a not-so-harmless comedic villain. He’s being incredibly goofy and mocked CONSTANTLY by everyone around him, and yet he manages to cause a LOT of destruction, like breaking the entire world into pieces if only JUST to unleash an eldritch abomination, building Eggmanland (which a lot of Sonic fans will tell you, might be the hardest level in the franchise), he captured an entire race of aliens, managed to capture PLANETS, had a plan that literally only failed because of luck, threatened time and space, built a device that could suck energy from the world which also includes energy from living beings, and conquered 99% of the world (even if it honestly doesn’t feel like that most of the time, like you said). Plus, you can argue that he’s like this after going insane from losing to Sonic so many times. And I really love hearing Mike Pollock voicing him.

The best version of eggman is the the archie comics version he's funny and yet also deeply disturbing and wicked heck even orbot and cubot get in on the whole funny yet dangerous train please talk about THAT version of the good doctor

He's hella dangerous in the comics, and frankly, I'm fine with that. The games just don't seem like they're gonna be better any time soon, so it's high time to switch to a better canon.

Can you please do some CID videos of these Sonic characters? 1:Sonic the Werehog 2:Cream the Rabbit 3:The Chaotix 4:Chris Thorndyke 5:Chris’s family 6:Vanilla the Rabbit 7:Cosmo the Seedrian 8:The Metarex 9:Babylon Rogues 10:Princess Elise 11:Mephiles the Dark 12:Chip Also please do a ranking video of certain characters when it comes to their character development, skills, strengths, and abilities: 1:All of the main Dragon Quest characters (1-11)

I wonder in terms of becoming an ultimate villan, Do you think eggman's character would be extremely benefited or ruined if he actually killed off one of the Sonic characters? Regardless of the answer, would this give a different outlook to eggman's personality for future games?

4:46 That sounds like something Movie Sonic would say.

I notice that with a lot of anime villains they start out intimidating, but after getting dommed by the protagonist a couple of times, they become domesticated goofballs. *Cough, cough, Orochimaru*

A solid video with some fantastic points. It's just too bad that the majority of the Sonic fan base will completely ignore all of this and think that the only way to fix him is to permanently change his name to Robotnik and, similar to the inclusion of Classic Sonic, he can suddenly do no wrong!

IDW Eggman Is the perfect blend of being both threatening and funny

Counterargument: Heroes: He didn't have control of anything, that was Metal Sonic. Shadow: While he could've had more screentime, the game was largely about Shadow. And the android thing could've been a combination of trying to trick Shadow (matrix) and/or thinking it was just a capable android (Lava). The events are loosely connected in that game. 2006: I actually like this portrayal due to him acting more refined and cunning compared to most other portrayals. It could also be argued he was trying to get information from Elise, or just didn't have the right tools yet. And it is the portrayal that fits Mike Pollock the best for me with his Eggman. Unleashed: One could argue that his overambition got the better of him there with sillier moments to better resemble the more lighthearted tone. That, and I just like the whole "it's part of the big picture response" when asked about accidently throwing Sonic out with the Emeralds, if only because the response was the most unironic he could've made it while knowing full well it was an accident.

I'd like to raise some defenses for Eggman in the later games. Unleashed: He makes Eggmanland and he's not only responsible for awakening Dark Gaia but also for amassing him into a more stabilized form. Colours: Pulling off that amusement park is a big deal in the first place. Generations: It's a little hard to understand, but Modern Eggman was in control of the Time Eater the all along. Classic Eggman was kidnapped by his modern counterpart at the Death Egg, and he was planning on destroying Sonic with the Egg Dragoon but still had the Time Eater as backup. Lost World: Yeah ok he kinda sucks in this game, but he does have fantastic moments like the scene in Frozen Factory. Forces: He himself is never shown to be weak in this game and is always a step ahead of the heroes, but he also subverted the cliche of him being supplanted as the Final Boss by the next random God Monster, by instead betraying the God Monster. Modern saga: From Unleashed to Generations there's a singular plotline developing with Eggman as he gets more and more unhinged after each defeat, and he's always written with some of the most ridiculous plot armour I've ever seen. After Generations he was stuck in a timeless void and managed to get out before Lost World even started.

To be fair to Bowser, he's plenty threatening in the Galaxy games and Odyssey, not to mention some of the 2D games. Never was a fan of joke Bowser.

Eggman's personality in the Adventure games will be incorporated into my show Amy Resistance.

Hey guys, its SEGA’s 60th anniversary today YEY! And there is that they have something to showcase at the NGXP Tomorrow that could possibly shake the gaming industry, possibly much bigger than the PS5!

As Captain Theory, I am legally obligated to advocate for Sonic Unleashed. I believe Eggman was done really well in that game. Not on the level of SA2, but I'd put it up there with SA1. He has his comedic moments, but most of them happen externally. Not all of them, of course. He makes a mistake early on, but he refuses to admit it because his ego can't handle it, as opposed to Pontaff Eggman, who would crack yet another joke about how he screws everything up. The humor comes from him trying to cover up a flaw instead of drilling the flaw in for the 14th time in as many minutes. The kid in Mazuri throws a rock at him, but it's funny _because_ they were afraid of him. After SA-55 laughs at him for a bit, Eggman regains his composure and verbally threatens them. The humorous moment is over in an instant. Comedic moments aside, he really shows his genius in this game. Aside from the glorious master plan that starts off the game, a tiny little moment that I love that nobody ever talks about is Eggman off-handedly mentioning how difficult it would be to gather up the pieces of Dark Gaia, and before he can even take another breath, he has already invented a machine in his head that acts as a beacon to Dark Gaia's energy, bringing it all to him, which allows him to finally construct Eggmanland. It's not a perfect representation of the character, but I believe it belongs in the "done right" category.

I like this video quite a bit, but using Dedede as an example of a villain who opposes just because bothers me, Dedede is even rarely a villain, with only one instance of his actions being purely harming others to benefit himself, Dedede may be a simpleton, but he is also one of the heroes of Dreamland, just with his methods usually causing trouble as well. Perhaps after you finish making videos on the Sonic cast, you could check out Kirby's characters, there's more to most of them than meets the eye

@10:33, That’s an interesting point. Hell, Vaas from Far Cry 3 was written really good and he wasn’t the final villain.

You channel is making hella growth, just a month or two ago you only had like 500 subs, keep it up.

3:08 Eggman is so willing to try to manipulate gods that it could seem as "he is so confident about that he can do it and that´s cool" or "he is so crazy that he think that he can do it" xd

To paraphrase him in Shadow: "How can the comic relief provide a mild break from the drama if there IS NO DRAMA?"

I know that this isn't Eggman from games, but I personally really enjoyed the way the Sonic movie had portrayed him being such a narcissist and still coming across as comedic at times. They also have him have an intent and a well though out plan to capture Sonic making him more of a threat. This all made him fun to watch and enjoyable as a character unlike the newer Sonic games.

I think Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2 is like the villain from The Rock. He never really intended to blow up the planet, it was an empty threat. All he wanted was to rectify his loss in Adventure 1.

I agree. Eggman was really toned down as a villain. It got to the point where he is no longer seen as a genuine threat.

There's a reason why Eggman's my favorite villain: He's the perfect combination of menacing & comical. Another villain who has that combination is Dr. Neo Cortex, but only Eggman does it right.

"I'm gonna go higher, and piss on the MOON!!" -EGGMAN PROBABLY

He's dangerous in comics and satam. Robotocizing innocent mobians. I still love him in classic era

He is the eggman that’s what he is he is the eggman he’s got the master plan

I sure would like Eggman to become more intimidating myself. I'd especially change him from often being betrayed by whatever ancient being or whatever he decides to partner with to him just letting it run loose. Make him an actual scientist ready to study and learn and use a weapon more than once and upgrade it every time he whips it out again.

i will vouch that unleashed - even if it portrayed eggman poorly - did well in making him a THREAT. when sonic sees egg beetle, he puts on his game face, and prepares to battle with no snappy remarks until after the fight. when the werehog fights egg dragoon, he's completely giving it his all, even wrecking the egg mobile as soon as the fight is over. he's an active antagonist who makes every possible move to inconvenience sonic, and tossed him out into space, of all things, in the opening intro. perhaps he wasn't portrayed the best in unleashed, but damn, he was definitely an engaging, active and dangerous threat.

Ok so hear me out. In the Sonic X anime there’s a scene where Eggman realizes that he’s not from Mobius but was actually born on Earth. It’s never explained how he got to Mobius or how long he’s been there, but he knows/ remembers enough that learning about Dr. Gerald Robotnick and Shadow makes him realize he’s not from Mobius. And that got me thinking. What if the reason Eggman wants to conquer the world is because when he arrived on Mobius, he was scared and confused. Humans are used to living in big cities where they can be accommodated and kept safe from the elements. So the wild untamed nature of Sonic’s world was threatening to him. And he set out to make the place habitable by making it more like the world he was from, even if he couldn’t exactly remember what it was like. I’m not necessarily saying Eggman is the victim, since he clearly is aware of what he’s doing and that it’s wrong/ malicious. But this could serve to give him some motivation outside of, “evil guy who wants to conquer the world for reasons”

I love how he is written in sa1 & 2 and a little in something forces because he had 2 backup plans but in the other ones his just a comic relief or not good at all and I like this video that points the best things of eggman.

Fun little fact, I actually have a bit of a difficulty referring to Dr. Ivo Robotnik as "Eggman". I'm not exactly sure why, but my closest guess has to be that his nickname sounds more like a "RU-vid Password" than a "Villainous" insult. So whenever I rewrite any Sonic the Hedgehog storyline for my own little bit of fun, I have only Sonic and Knuckles call him that name. Sonic because yeah, Sonic is supposed to be a young teenager with incredible powers of speed, as Knuckles does it because EGGMAN HAS NOT ONLY STOLEN HIS MASTER EMERALD, BUT INSULTED HIM BY TURNING HIM INTO SOME SORT OF VILLAIN IN SONIC 3 & KNUCKLES!

Not gonna lie but Robotnik and Scourge were the 2 reasons I gave the comics (from 160 to Worlds Collide) a shot. Worth it ? YES.

This video is great for an Eggman analysis.

Shadow the hedgehog did him pretty well. He felt like the same eggman.

11:59 _internal screaming at comparing bowser to dedede_

For a person as a 300 IQ Suregets bet by a blue talking Hedgehog and a two tailed fox it and echidna with knuckles with spikes on them.

6:34 I think it’s because eggman knows how powerful metal sonic is hence why he is in the position he was in

The one problem that i had is Dr.Eggman having a robotic sidekick that just remind me of the three baffoons in Sonic X

Dr. Stewart's theme? Subscribed.

How to make Eggman better: make E.G.G.M.A.N (SA2 version) play during the second phase of all of his fights.

Eggman was the GOAT He give me the best meme And he have actually backstory related to shadow

shadow dont like eggman no more for no explained reason.

I do actually like how in the Sega Scourge's "What If Sonic Never Lost the Werehog Form" video, Eggman realizes early on that if he completes Dark Gaia, there's a chance that he may turn on him like Chaos did, so he gets the idea to use the same technology he was using to hypnotize and lure the Dark Gaia Spawn to control the completed Dark Gaia, which results in the second half of the Egg Dragoon fight being Chip and Gaia Colossus vs. a mind-controlled Dark Gaia, and Sonic the Werehog vs. the Egg Dragoon on top of the Gaia Colossus. I feel like this would've made Eggman a little bit better of a villain in Sonic Unleashed.

I think Eggmans surprise factor is one of his best qualities, that's why he can easily work as a villain that is easily foiled/comic relief to being a legitimate and massive threat. (Adventure 1, 2 and 06) Even though these qualities are literally parallel his character really plays his part well in any story, he's a character you can do A lot with, and can always turn his game up to 11 in the blink of an Eye. qualities that are all tied up with a big ego and charisma to match.

12:00 King Dedede isn't really a good example here. He may call himself Kirby's arch-rival, but he only ever been The Villain twice. Most of the time they fight, it's because of a misunderstanding, or because he's possessed by something truly evil, like Dark Matter.

Youve turned into a big time villain doctor

At least Eggman isn’t a Bowser clone like a certain Sonic villain.

Make him like he was in the adventure games, unleashed opening and satAM insane, funny, evil and kind of like a tame Eric Cartman.

Can we all agree that when Eggman broke the ice and SAID HE'D STRANGLE A ZETI in Sonic Lost World, we all were shocked? Gosh damn i loved that moment

Thanks for this video. I didn't know that there were times where Eggman sounded that menacing. It would be amazing if Eggman, rather then acknowledging his plans never work to sonic, suggests that he only gets closer each time and will one day win. He would feel like an ever lasting threat. Damn, really runs home how much of a waste these years of Sonic were. Lets hope for the best.

My friend and I had a little joke about SA2's Eggman. "Right now, he ain't Eggman, he's Robotnik!" I miss that incarnation of him the most. Goofy as he may look, this is the man who indirectly destroyed a huge city, broke the planet (twice), created a robot faster than Sonic, blew up the moon to threaten a nation, and altered timelines, on more than one occasion. Eggman is my ideal villain. Funny sometimes, but you know when he ain't playing games.

While in sonic unleashed he seems goofy, he technically destroyed the planet and achieved his dream of eggmanland

You want to see a good example of Eggman written well outside of the Adventure games, then look no further than Sonic and Tails R!

Personally I never understood why he chooses to use animals to power bandits. It reminds me of using humans in the matrix-wouldn't anything else make a better battery?

I… just realised that Eggman and Maria are siblings

That said, I do love Mike Pollock

In SA2 Eggman was really badass and dangerous but does something goofy sometimes. In modern games he's just a complete clown who gets bullied by himself and every other character and villian.

5:00 this is the most smartest piece of dialogue i've heard in a game cutscene

I'd like if Eggman's serious and comedic side were able to merge together. He doesn't need to be stupid in order to be funny.

Im seriously gonna start studying this serie for the Sonic AU Im making so that I can get the characters right lmao

12:02 DeDeDe was only ever a villain in Dreamland 1, aka, the first damn game. Every other time he has “””bad””” was because he was trying to protect Dreamland, it because he was possessed. DeDeDe is NOT, by ANY means, a villain. He is a hero.

Dr. Eggman is the most smartest, funniest and the most unpredictable villain ever known. He has the IQ of 700! Plus he tried to control Demigods and take over the world. He also can fool and trick some of the sonic characters, knuckles, shadow and sonic him self!!! If that isn't cool an I don't know what is.😁🤓😈👨‍🔬

The mother wisp should've been the true final boss

Don't forget he took over Victoria's Secret, Best Buy and the news, and he pissed on the moon so hard it exploded.

Maybe this video will help Eggman finally overthrow Bowser as the #1 villain.

Eggman is my favorite fictional villain tied with Bowser.

You turn into a Big time intro CID

I like Eggman the way he’s portrayed, a menacing but goofy villain!

I remember, as a young kid, feeling legitimately scared for characters against Robotnik in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and never again afterwords. When he's threatening Tails in the street in front of the casino it felt like when you walk in on a bloody fight scene in a movie your dad is watching with how suddenly not-for-children it felt. Perhaps it's "merely" the strength of the performance, but it really feels like a complete package of writing, direction, and performance. "You fool. Run before I make mincemeat out of you." It legit feels like someone going to mug you in a dark alley, and Tails would not have been able to deal with it without his development over that story. It feels very natural for him to, out loud, remind himself that, "I can do this!" Great direction helped, too. That whole game was directed well (Big being the only lame part), and very ambitious, especially for its time. Like he said in the video, when Robotnik is pointing a gun at a character, it still puts me on edge because he genuinely feels like he could really pull the trigger. Because he felt like a human being who was fed up with the circumstances of the plot making him get desperate. They don't even bother with him as a character anymore.

Well, for the last game it might've had to do with the whole resistance just becoming the new pest that he had to deal with or that he was more focused on essentially stomping out the memory of Sonic for good.

I love comic relief villains.

You know. There are times I wish Lex Luther and others villains of that type was more like Robotic. The Lex Luther I like is in the old days. He only hated Superman because he saw him...as the ultimate challenge for his intellect. He was evil because he saw that being evil was a way to put his mind to the fullest possiblies.

Ol' Ivo can be written two ways, and I think both are valid depending on the needs of a given story. He can be funny, with a menacing undercurrent, or menacing, with a funny undercurrent. In Grand Plots he should probably be the latter, but in a lighter story that's basically an excuse to bundle some fun levels together (or fill some time while writers in nongame appearances let the new status quo settle in and set things up) the goofier side can come out, and that's fine.

SATAM Eggman was a threat