Sonic the Hedgehog has had many enemies over the years, whether it be his primary enemy Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, a Mad Scientist who leads the Eggman Empire and its proxy groups and regularly attempts to use his vast robot army to conquer the world, or a Villain of the Week.Note: Classic series entries will refer to the Doctor as "Robotnik", while the modern ones will refer to him as "Eggman".
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Classic Games
Home Console Games
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Dr. Robotnik's first scheme has him kidnap all of the animals in South Island, turn them into Badniks and collect the Chaos Emeralds.
- Sonic CDnote : Dr. Robotnik builds Metal Sonic and tries to conquer Little Planet, a planet that appears once a year.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Dr. Robotnik returns and launches the Death Egg, a planet-sized weapon of destruction which he plans to use to destroy the planet.
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles: After the Death Egg crashes on Angel Island, Dr. Robotnik partners with the island's native Knuckles the Echidna in order to stop Sonic and Tails. It turns out that Robotnik tricked Knuckles into serving him so that he could take the Master Emerald, a powerful emerald which Knuckles guards, and use it to repower the Death Egg.
- Sonic Mania: Dr. Robotnik seeks the Phantom Ruby to conquer the world. Heavy King, the leader of a group of five modificated Egg-Robos that Robotnik created from the Phantom Ruby, turns against him and tries to steal the Ruby for himself after Robotnik's defeat in the Titanic Monarch, resulting in both becoming the Final Boss.
- Sonic Superstars: Dr. Robotnik recruits the treasure-hunter Fang the Hunter and the clumsy Trip the Sungazer in another attempt to take over the world. Later, Trip has a Heel–Face Turn, and gets her own story mode where she defeats Fang after being fed up with his constant abuse. After that, the Black Dragon, a being which Eggman wanted to summon, resurfaces, and Super Sonic has to defeat it.
Handheld Console Games
- Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit): Dr. Robotnik, in a scheme similar to his one in the game's 16-bit counterpart.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit): Dr. Robotnik kidnaps Tails and tries to recollect the Chaos Emeralds again.
- Sonic Chaos: Dr. Robotnik manages to steal one of the Chaos Emerald and tries to conquer South Island again.
- Sonic Triple Trouble: A Big Bad Ensemble between Dr. Robotnik, who steals a Chaos Emerald and tricks Knuckles into serving him again, and Fang the Hunter, a treasure hunter who wants to collect the Chaos Emerald to make money of them.
- Sonic Blast: Dr. Robotnik accidentally shatters a Chaos Emeralds into five smaller ones, and tries to recollect them.
Modern Games
Home Console Games
- Sonic Adventure: Dr. Eggman teams up with Chaos, the God of Destruction, to gather the Chaos Emeralds and turn Chaos into Perfect Chaos, destroy Station Square, and rebuild Robotnikland on top. Until Chaos betrays Eggman and goes his own way destroying Station Square.
- Sonic Adventure 2: Dr. Eggman once again attempts to collect the Chaos Emeralds, this time to power the Space Colony ARK's cannon and terrify the world into surrendering to him, with Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat as his Co-Dragons (All three of them are also Playable Characters). However, it is later revealed that while Eggman's the face of the operation, it's Shadow who's masterminding it. Later, in the Last Story, they both team up with the heroes (along with Rouge) note to fight the Biolizard/Final Hazard, Dr. Gerlad Robotnik' creation who is trying to destroy the planet on behalf of its creator.
- Sonic Heroes: Dr. Eggman has built up a fleet of battleships which he intends on using to conquer the world, and challenges Team Sonic to stop him, while Team Dark, Team Rose, and Team Chaotix go after him for their reasons, but it turns out to actually be Metal Sonic impersonating Eggman after betraying him and collecting all of the data from Sonic and the other characters just to fight Sonic.
- Shadow the Hedgehog: Black Doom is the leader of an alien race known as the Black Arms, who spearheads a planetary invasion so they may devour the population, while Dr. Eggman has his own plans to conquer the world. Depending on which path you take and who you side with, G.U.N. may oppose you as well, although they fall more into the Hero Antagonist group.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2006): The overall antagonist is Solaris the Sun God, who was split into Mephiles the Dark and Iblis and attempts to make himself whole again so he can Kill All Humans as revenge for being experimented on, and is the True Final Boss fought in the Last Episode. Each story has its own antagonist in turn:
- Sonic's Story has Dr. Eggman, who kidnaps Princess Elise of Soleanna so he may combine her power with the Chaos Emeralds and rule over space and time.
- Shadow's Story has Mephiles the Dark, the consciousness of Solaris who orchestrates the events of the game so that he may join with his other half, Iblis, and annihilate all of humanity, while Shadow tries to stop him.
- Silver's Story has Iblis, the lava monster and raw power of Solaris who destroyed the Bad Future that Silver and Blaze came from.
- Sonic Unleashed: Dr. Eggman and Dark Gaia serve as the antagonists, with Eggman being the one who split the world into pieces and aims to harness Dark Gaia to conquer the world, while Dark Gaia, split into a legion of monsters, attempts to destroy the world, Sonic fighting Eggman by day and Dark Gaia's monsters by night, though Dark Gaia defeats Eggman once awakened and serves as the final boss.
- Sonic Colors: Dr. Eggman builds the Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park by enlsaving the alien Wisps and plans to power his Mind-Control Device with them and mind-control Sonic's world.
- Sonic Generations: The Time Eater kidnaps all of Sonic's friends and transports them to various worlds from Sonic's past, though the monster is actually subservient to both Modern and Classic Eggman.
- Sonic Lost World: Zavok is the leader of the Deadly Six, members of a race known as Zeti, that Eggman attempts to use for his own gain. However, they end up hijacking his scheme and decide to destroy the world themselves as revenge. That said, Eggman still ends up being the final boss following their defeat.
- Sonic Forces: Dr. Eggman and Infinite, having teamed up and successfully conquered the world, want to stop Sonic and the Resistance from overthrowing them.
- Sonic Frontiers: Dr. Eggman, this time, has gained control of the power of the Ancients and is behind the capture of Sonic's friends, and is ordering Sage to stop Sonic from saving them. Except he's doing this to maintain the seal of THE END, the mysterious voice that goads Sonic into fighting the Titans to free his friends, who is actually an Eldritch Abomination that wiped out the Ancients and wants to be free so it can continue destroying worlds and bring the universe to order.
Handheld Console Games
- Sonic Pocket Adventure: Dr. Eggman.
- Sonic Advance Trilogy:
- Sonic Advance 1: Dr. Eggman, once again, tries to collect the Chaos Emeralds.
- Sonic Advance 2: Dr. Eggman returns, tricking Knuckles into serving him again and trying to abduct Cream the Rabbit and Tails before kidnapping Cream's mother, Vanilla.
- Sonic Advance 3: Dr. Eggman builds Gemerl, a robot based on the Gizoid Emerl. (See Sonic Battle). However, after Sonic and Tails defeat Eggman, Gemerl goes berserk and uses the Chaos Emeralds to transform into a powerful form, forcing Sonic and Eggman to team up and defeat him.
- Sonic Rush: A Big Bad Duumvirate between Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega, his counterpart from the Sol Dimension.
- Sonic Rush Adventure: Captain Whisker, a robotic pirate from the Sol Dimension. [[spoiler:But after Sonic and Blaze defeat him and his first mate, Johnny, they're revealed to have been created by Dr. Eggman and Eggman Nega.
Spinoff Games
Classic
- SegaSonic the Hedgehog: Dr. Robotnik kidnaps Sonic, Mighty and Ray and traps them in his tower.
- Sonic Spinball: Dr. Robotnik builds a base on a volcano in another attempt of world domination.
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine: Despite having his name in the title, Dr. Robotnik (Based on his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog incarnation) is still the antagonist in this game (And the player character is not Sonic, but a little creature named Has Bean). Robotnik kidnaps the residents of Beanville (Where Has Bean comes from) and plans to turn them into Badniks.
- Knuckles Chaotix: Dr. Robotnik rebuilds Metal Sonic (Referred to as "Metal Sonic Kai" in the Japanese version) and tries to collect the Chaos Rings found on a mysterious island. But while he's fought numerous times in the game, It's actually Metal Sonic who takes the role of the Final Boss and uses the Chaos Rings to transform into a giant monstrous form.
- Sonic Labyrinth: Dr. Robotnik replaces Sonic's speed shoes with slower ones and traps him in his labyrinth.
- Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island: Dr. Robotnik arrives at the mysterious Flicky Island and turns it's inhabitants into Badniks.
- Tails Skypatrol: Wendy Witchcart, a Wicked Witch aiming to take over Cocoa Island with her three henchmen and turn anyone who opposes her into crystals.
- Tails Adventure: Great Battle Kukku XV, the evil ruler of the imperial Battle Kukku Army who leads his forces to Cocoa Island in the hopes of seizing the Chaos Emeralds.
- Sonic the Fighters: Dr. Robotnik builds Death Egg 2. Metal Sonic is the final boss.
Modern
- Sonic Shuffle: Void, who seeks the Precioustone in order to fill his own emptiness.
- Sonic Pinball Party: Dr. Eggman brainwashes Sonic's friends.
- Sonic Battle: Dr. Eggman discovers Emerl, a Gizoid that can learn the moves of the people he observes. Using the moves he learnt from Sonic and his friends, Emerl defeats Eggman, but the amount of power he recieved causes him to go haywire, becoming the Final Boss and forcing Sonic to fight him.
- The Sonic Riders Trilogy:
- Sonic Riders: Dr. Eggman starts an Extreme Gear tournament and recruits the Babylon Rouges into helping him find ancient Babylonian technology. The final boss is the Babylonian Guardian
- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity: SCR-HD, a robot created by Dr. Eggman's company, MeteorTech, that went rampage after collecting the Babylonian's treasures, Ark of the Cosmos.
- Sonic Free Riders: Dr. Eggman, who used his disguise of King Doc of Toreggmania who organized another Extreme Gear tournament in order to obtain the racing data of it's participants and become the best racer in the world.
- Sonic Rivals: Eggman Nega, Dr. Eggman's more vile descendant from the distant future, serves as the main villain in the in contrast to working along with Eggman in Sonic Rush.
- Sonic and the Secret Rings: The Erazor Djinn is the evil genie of the lamp that forces Sonic to gather the World Rings for him so that he may erase Arabian Nights and remake it In Their Own Image, then move on to Sonic's world and do the same there.
- Sonic and the Black Knight: King Arthur, a formerly just king became corrupted and rules Camelot with an iron fist. In reality though, Merlina is the true antagonist. Having manipulated Sonic into defeating King Arthur, she uses the scabbard of Excalibur's magic to make Camelot eternal...at the cost of unleashing the armies of the underworld upon it. Unlike most examples in the series, Merlina gets a Heel–Face Turn after her defeat.
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal has Lyric, an ancient cyborg snake who seeks to eradicate all organic life and replace it with machines via the chaos crystals in the former and the titular crystal in the later.
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Mirage Express, the sentient Badnik train, influences Espio to "kill" Sonic so it can deliver him to Eggman just so Dr. Eggman can grant its wish of having the Conductor never leave the train.
- Sonic Dream Team: Dr. Eggman attempts to use the Reverie to turn his dreams of conquering the world into a reality.
Comics
- Sonic the Comic has the ruler of Mobius Dr. Robotnik who takes the role of overall Big Bad however other villains try to take the role of Big Bad.
- In Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Sonic's Arch-Enemy Dr. Robotnik/Eggman has always been the overall Big Bad of the series, but occasionally the series has had other villains being the driving force behind events:
- The Iron Queen was Big Bad of the "Iron Dominion" arc (while Eggman was incapacitated by a Villainous Breakdown.)
- Dr. Finitevus, for the "Enerjak Reborn" arc.
- Sonic's Evil Twin Scourge, a long-time Big Bad Wannabe, finally earned Big Bad status during the "Bold New Moebius" arc.
- King Shadow acts as Big Bad for the X Years Later stories.
- Ixis Naugus and Mammoth Mogul have had their turns at being Big Bad several times over the course of the series, and Snively got his turn for a little while, after the original Robotnik died but before Eggman replaced him.
- Meanwhile, Dimitri - the original Enerjak - was more or less the Big Bad of Knuckles' spin-off series.
- The Worlds Collide crossover with the Mega Man comics has a Big Bad Duumvirate of Doctors Eggman and Wily. The sequel series, Worlds Unite, has them both being Demoted to Co-Dragons by Sigma.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)
- First Saga: In an interesting case for the franchise, Dr. Eggman isn't the main antagonist, being out of commission due to suffering from Identity Amnesia after the events of Sonic Forces. Instead, the forces of Eggman Empire are now under the control of Neo Metal Sonic, who intends to finish what Eggman started.
- Metal Virus Saga: Eggman is restored to the spotlight as he unleashes the Metal Virus on the world, which quickly begins to overwhelm Sonic and his allies. However, near the end of the arc, a failed attempt by Doctor Starline to one-up Eggman results in the Deadly Six taking over their resources and seeking to use the Zombots to conquer what's left of the uninfected world.
- After the Metal Virus is cured, Eggman, Starline, and the Zeti alternate being the main villains of different smaller arcs between the Metal Virus and Imposters Sagas, but of all of them, Starline is the most prominent, as he carries out actions across multiple arcs that all build towards a master plan meant to supplant Eggman as the greatest threat around.
- Imposters Saga: Starline enacts his long-term plan, intending to use his new minions Surge and Kit to destroy Eggman and Sonic alike, then set his creations up as the new "heroes" that he'll secretly control while replacing Eggman. When his gambit ultimately fails with Eggman effortlessly trouncing him, Starline has a Villainous Breakdown that results in his death; at this point, Surge (who was planning to double-cross him anyway) takes Starline's place as the new main antagonist, intending to destroy all heroes and villains alike as "punishment" for her suffering as Starline's experiment.
Other
- Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM): Dr. Robotnik, an Evil Overlord that took over Mobius before the series began and transformed most of its citizens into his robotic slaves. The entire series centers around Sonic and the Freedom Fighters trying to put a stop to his empire and free Mobius from his control.
- Film Series
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2020): Dr. Robotnik. He's a government agent employed to track down Sonic and take the secrets of his powers, which he does with extreme prejudice, although to exploit that power for himself.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Robotnik returns in this role, now teaming up with (and manipulating) Knuckles the Echidna in order to obtain the Master Emerald and use its power to conquer the multiverse, driving Sonic to team up with Tails and Knuckles after the latter's Heel–Face Turn to stop him.
- Sonic Drone Home: Unit, one of Robotniks Badniks, upgrades itself with material from a scrapyard and seeks to Take Over the World before having a Heel–Face Turn after an intense battle with Sonic and his friends.
