Characters / Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) - Eggman Empire

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) Main Character Index
The Restoration | Eggman Empire | Clean Sweep Inc. | Independent Antagonists | Other Characters | Classic Era Characters

The Empire and Badnik army commanded by Dr. Eggman himself. He had managed to successfully conquer the world prior, but was ultimately defeated by The Resistance and Eggman himself disappeared. Without its leader, the Empire was nowhere near as effective with mostly random and uncoordinated attacks around the world. Recently however, their attacks have become more organized and dangerous when it was taken over by a new leader.

After a series of events, Eggman has now resurfaced and resumed leadership of his empire, once more terrorizing Sonic's world in a bid to make it his once more.

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As a whole

• Brainwashed and Crazy: When Starline usurps the Eggman Empire in Issue #49, every Badnik is brainwashed with a signal sent throughout the world. It doesn't last long, as Eggman defeats him in the following issue and promptly takes control of them back.
• Decapitated Army: Following Eggman's defeat and disappearance in Sonic Forces, his Badnik army was left aimless, with random attacks on locals as their only means of threat. However, by the time events of Issue #1, they've had become much more organized. This leads Tails and Sonic to determine that something is controlling the army. That something turns out to be Metal Sonic. It takes Eggman coming back to the fold for the army to be back to its full strength.
• The Dreaded: Eggman and his robots are feared and loathed by everyone, even if they aren't the only evil in Sonic's world.
• Egopolis: Eggman tends to name a lot of his bases after himself, including the Eggman Empire itself. Eggperial City, his home base during the Imposters Saga, is among the more notable examples; Shadow in Issue #61 outright calls the city a testament to the doctor's hubris.
• Elite Mooks: Super-Badniks. The main characters who become Zombots are also this until cured of their infections.
• Evil Costume Switch: Eviler, but the Badniks that end under Starline's servitude have some of his colors, such as purple in the case of Egg Pawns and Motobugs.
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit: Eggman is occasionally shown with his Face Framed in Shadow to make him look more intimidating, leaving only his specs (and sometimes his trademark Cheshire Cat Grin) visible. The interiors of his bases are often dimly-lit as well.
  • The Metal Virus' named victims spend almost their entire time as Zombots in the shadows. Some moments in the All or Nothing arc have said characters wholly silhouetted even in broad daylight.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Not all Badniks can shoot, but those that can are this trope in spades, which bodes ill for them against the extremely athletic and agile protagonists.
• Joker Immunity: Naturally, given that they're the original villains of the entire franchise. For all his defeats, Eggman has a weird knack for avoiding death or even jailtime, and his Badniks, if not too prolific to be fully wiped out, often get off easy thanks Sonic and co., and any destroyed ones are easily rebuilt by the doctor.
• Killer Robot: Badniks in a nutshell, from Motobugs to Egg Hammers to Metal Sonic, the doctor's Magnum Opus.
• Paper Tiger: Dreaded as they are, Eggman's Badniks are easy prey for Sonic and co. or rival antagonists. With the invention of Wispons during Sonic Forces, even random civilians can make short work of most Badnik models.
• The Rival: Eggman to Tails in smarts and mechanical aptitude, and Metal Sonic to Sonic in speed.
• We Have Reserves: Except for Metal Sonic, Orbot, and Cubot, Eggman generally considers his Badnik army expendable, as he regularly sends wave after wave of them against the heroes to no avail. Irked as he gets whenever Sonic and co. wreck his stuff, he is willing to destroy his own infrastructure just to try and destroy them.

Leadership

Dr. Eggman

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik/Mr. Tinker

"I'm bringing peace and unity to the world, and providing it with my brilliant guidance."

^{Click here to see him as Mr. Tinker}

Introduced in: Issue #4

The main recurring threat and Sonic's perpetual foe.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Nobody likes Eggman. He's a tyrant, Bad Boss, and all around danger to anyone on his side or against him. Most of the planet hates and fears him and he tends to employ mindless automatons because they are less likely to betray him. Only Metal Sonic seems to actually like him and even then he had to have that loyalty programmed into him after a previous betrayal. As much as he respects Eggman, Starline is frustrated at Eggman's methods and lackadaisical attitude which ultimately results in him turning on the evil doctor. Even Orbot and Cubot, who were built to be loyal to Eggman, only follow him out of fear.
• Acrofatic: Despite his ovoid physique, Eggman is in excellent physical shape, and being over twice the size of most other characters gives him an enormous advantage in both strength and reach. On multiple occasions he's shown to be capable of grappling and throwing his opponents with just one hand, even when his foes have superhuman strength.
• Adaptational Villainy: Playing off Ian Flynn's prior work with Archie, Eggman in the IDW series is much more overtly malevolent and sociopathic than his depiction in the games.
• Aesop Amnesia: Despite Eggman deciding to "learn from his mistakes" in Sonic Forces, having back-up plans in case something went wrong with the power source of his weapons, alongside studying the Phantom Ruby for months and replicating its power with replicas, Eggman returns to making old mistakes in IDW with the Metal Virus. The moment he sees it works, he uses it without further testing it or having a counter-measure.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: As Mr. Tinker, he's a helpful, peaceful Nice Guy who just wants to help people and do good, the exact opposite of his usual self. Issue 40 expresses that he truly was a wonderful man who meant well by building for the sake of others rather than himself.
• Amnesiacs are Innocent: In issue 5, Sonic and his friends come across Dr. Eggman, who lost his memory after the final battle of Sonic Forces and is living under the name of Mr. Tinker. As Mr. Tinker, Eggman is the exact opposite of his usual self: a humble and modest Nice Guy and Friend to All Children who enjoys helping people. Sonic even decides to let him be and go about his new life. Sadly, that all comes to an end when Dr. Starline tracks Eggman down and brings his memory back, restoring him to his old villainous self again.
• Arch-Enemy: Like always, he's Sonic's greatest foe and vice versa.
• Badass Normal: He has no superpowers or special abilities, just his supreme intellect at his disposal, but that doesn't stop him from bring scarily competent against anyone not Sonic. Just ask Starline, once they've finally come to blows as they fight one-on-one, after they've expended all their weapons and technology.. and Eggman bests Starline without a scratch with his bare hands, practically ragdolling the platypus with tactful and brutal counters and his much larger size letting him just catch the attacks that come his way with ease.
• Bad Boss: With the exception of Metal Sonic, Eggman is a terrible boss to everyone. He pushes Cubot and Orbot around, uses Rough and Tumble as test subjects, and even though he respects Starline's loyalty and intelligence, he's quite willing to manhandle him when he gets frustrated.
• Berserk Button: It doesn't take much to set him off, but two things in particular drive Eggman up a wall: seeing Sonic and being called "Baldy McNosehair".
• Betrayal Insurance: Treachery is one of the few things Eggman has the foresight to adequately prepare for. While programming his Badniks to be blindly loyal hampers their combat effectiveness, it ensures they can't turn against him unless hijacked by a third party.
  Eggman: (to Starline) Did you honestly think I'd let you serve by my side with that kind of power on hand without taking some precautions?
• Big Bad: As expected of a Sonic property, he's the overall main antagonist of the series, either independently or as part of a Big Bad Ensemble.
• Blinded by Rage: Orbot confesses to Starline that this is part of the reason Sonic always beats him; when Eggman isn't being foiled by his inability to form long-terms plans and contingencies, he's being foiled by getting wrapped up in his hatred of Sonic and self-destructing.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Eggman is more concerned with over-the-top schemes and elaborate gestures to defeat Sonic instead of more pragmatic tactics. While manhandling Starline for nearly killing Sonic with a booby trap, Eggman explains that killing Sonic and actually defeating him are two totally different things; he wants to actually break Sonic's spirit and prove his superiority, and if he wanted to just kill him, he'd carpet-bomb him and be done with it.
• Brilliant, but Lazy:
  • He actually can come up with contingency plans if properly motivated, but prefers to let his ego direct his schemes more.
  • Mecha Sonic mentions that Eggman once devised a helmet that would allow him to control his Badniks with his mind. As soon as he'd succeeded at making a prototype, he got bored and scrapped the whole project.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Eggman openly boasts that all his actions are for himself, and often mocks anyone who serves as collateral damage, enemy or ally, for taking it personally. He treats his accomplishments as Mr. Tinker as a wistful but fruitless breaktime from his evil ambitions, and after being met with both Belle and Starline's disownment of the doctor for his past actions against them, he dismisses them both as being too "clingy".
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Sans Metal Sonic, Orbot, and Cubot, Eggman will unhesitantly betray and/or discard his allies at the first given opportunity. In All or Nothing and Overpowered, he and Metal Sonic strike a truce with the heroes only to double-cross them at the climaxes of those same arcs, leaving Amy to the Zombots in the first case and trying to capture a beaten Surge in the second.
• Chronic Villainy: Sonic calls him out on this in issue 23. As he points out, even if Starline restored his memories, Eggman could have simply gone back to living peacefully as Mr. Tinker in Windmill Village, but instead, he chose to continue his villainous ways. While Eggman laughs off the idea, he does briefly reflect on his time as Mr. Tinker and admit those days were relaxing.
• Complexity Addiction: Eggman tends to employ elaborate and over the top schemes to defeat Sonic, as opposed to Starline's more pragmatic methods. To highlight this, Eggman spends time toiling away on a roboticization virus that functions like a zombie plague, whereas Starline nearly kills Sonic on his first try with simple misdirection and a bomb. This actually pisses Eggman off, as he states that if he just wanted to kill Sonic, he could carpet bomb him from his ship, but he wants to defeat him first and prove his superiority through his inventions.
• Create Your Own Villain: Even after his death, both Sonic and Eggman are left dealing with the Villainous Legacy of Dr Starline via Surge and Kit. Tails even lampshades they could have avoided this if Eggman had ever gave Starline the approval he so craved from him, which an amused Eggman replies just isn't his style. He will openly commend the legacy of a rival he downed however.
• Deconstruction: The series goes into more detail than before about Eggman's reasons for constantly failing against Sonic, demonstrating that he has the potential to be nigh-unstoppable — were he not consistently Blinded by Rage for his constant failures by that hedgehog causing him to end up making even more failures, combined with a reckless mix of Bond Villain Stupidity and some nasty Complexity Addiction that makes his grand schemes a danger to everyone, including himself. However, it also swiftly displays that he's anything but an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, as the Metal Zombot Virus was entirely his doing and he was willing to abandon the planet altogether despite it potentially killing everything, and his actions towards anyone not Sonic are so ruthlessly pragmatic that the cast are seriously forced to consider him as a threat worth killing if it came down to it for how destructively dangerous and spiteful he can be. Sonic convincing them not to do so ends up letting Eggman cause the virus outbreak, because Eggman simply refuses to not be evil.
• Didn't Think This Through: Orbot reveals to Dr. Starline that this is one of the main reasons Eggman always loses: he has big ideas and big executions but often rushes things without thinking long-term and devolves into his hatred of Sonic, which costs him every time. No better is this displayed than in the Metal Virus arc. While Starline opted to conduct more tests to realize the extent of its capabilities, Eggman decides to use it the moment it appears to work, reasoning that he can fix any bugs later as they crop up. This leads to the Zombots slowly getting out of control, to the point they begin to disregard Eggman's vocal commands.
  Dr. Starline: I'd always assumed Sonic defeated him because he was so unnaturally powerful. But now it looks like the real cause is Eggman can't plan for or adapt to the long term.
  Orbot: Eh, it's about fifty-fifty to be honest. Big idea, big execution, Sonic shows up, "I hate that hedgehog", big explosion. Rinse, repeat.
  • Zigzagged ultimately, as when Eggman claimed he didn't need a cure for the Virus, he meant in regards to a genuine back-up plan (if an extreme one); just evacuate to another planet and start anew. Where this trope still applies, however, is not telling Starline such (heavily implied to be because he intended to leave him to get infected), choosing to play dumb and expecting Starline to shut up about it in the meantime. Instead, Starline hits his Rage Breaking Point with the doctor's supposed incompetence and makes his own (ultimately ill-judged) plan of hiring the Deadly Six to control the Zombots, ruining Eggman's scheme.
  • On another note, Eggman kept little to no track of Starline's activities after firing him and doesn't find out the true scope of Starline's designs until late in the Eggman's Legacy Saga. While he knew Starline would return and makes short work of him when he does, Eggman didn't count on his wayward lackey creating his own doppelgängers of Sonic and Tails, and Starline's death lets said doppelgängers, Surge and Kit, off their leash. The two imposters become a much bigger and sharper thorn in Eggman's side than Starline ever was, and by harassing Metal Sonic, they ensure the Restoration learns about Eggperial City, leading to its destruction. Eggman goes back to square one knowing that Starline got the last laugh on him from beyond the grave.
• Dirty Coward:
  • Turns out to be this in Issue 29, throwing Amy into Zombot Big before trying to escape on the shuttle. He doesn't get far thanks to Zombot Froggy. Even before then, in Issue 25, he freely admits he had given up on trying to control the Metal Virus and was planning to flee to another planet.
  • As much as he hates Sonic, Eggman also fears his power, which he knows he'd face in full if the Blue Blur snaps. His Villainous Breakdown in Issue 61 is in fact triggered when he realizes he's pushed Sonic too far.
• Ditzy Genius: While undoubtedly an Evil Genius, Eggman suffers from major Complexity Addiction in regards to defeating Sonic and is virtually incapable of planning ahead or anticipating the long-term consequences of his actions. Case in point: the minute the Metal Virus appears to work, Eggman decides to employ it without any further tests, reasoning they can just fix any bugs as they pop up; as a result, the Zombots start getting out of control and disregarding Eggman's vocal commands. Orbot even tells Starline that this is the main reason Eggman always loses to Sonic; he either rushes things ahead without thinking or gets Blinded by Rage and ends up picking up the Idiot Ball.
• Due to the Dead: Discussed. Due to Dr. Starline being a Greater-Scope Villain in the Overpowered arc, Eggman only really shows him any open reverence after his death, even noting he was one of the greatest scientific minds after himself. Tails lampshades they probably could have avoided all this hassle if he'd just shown him that recognition in life. Eggman, however, retorts that there's quite a difference between kissing Starline's ass to his face and commending a fallen rival for his Villainous Legacy (especially since the latter only looks better on him for defeating Starline in the first place).
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Interestingly, Metal Sonic. Dr. Starline's treatments fail to return his memory, but once he sees Metal Sonic, he instantly has a flashback to one of the times he repaired him, and acts like a doting parent. After this he instantly goes back to being the Eggman we know and love to hate. He continues to show affection for Metal, often treating him like a surrogate son.
• Evil Counterpart: A variation of sorts to Sonic. Their rivalry is escalated by their showboating and reckless attitudes, and throughout their war, both sides are called out for not thinking long term and how their complacency and tunnel vision on each other as opponents leads to them forget that other people can end up collateral damage. However, while Sonic's thoughtlessness is simply just that, and he is shown increasingly to regret harm his poor foresight causes and try to fix things at all costs, Eggman as time passes is shown less to not think through but simply not care, seeing everything and everyone both foe and ally as replacable resource and being willing to one-up Sonic over anything just short of his own life. As best observed with the Metal Virus, while Sonic deeply regrets how his decisions indirectly caused so much devastation, Eggman, while preferring to have the virus controllable, remains indifferent, as rendering the whole planet infected still grants him the last laugh on Sonic.
• Evil Genius: Would he be Dr. Eggman otherwise?
• Evil Is Hammy: And how! When he isn't screaming bloody murder to vent, he's doing it just to show off. Best shown at the beginning of Issue 32, where he loudly announces his presence to the Restoration before dropping the volume to pose hammily atop his mech; at the climax of Bad Guys when he confronts Zavok via video chat; and at the end of Issue 50 during his PSA to Sonic, Tails, and Belle.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite his loftier ambitions, Eggman can't resist indulging in needlessly nasty and cruel acts just to prove he can.
  • In Issue 18, he chooses to attack Cream's hometown specifically not because of any strategic merits, but simply to spite and hurt Sonic because he often passes through the village and some of his friends live there.
  • In Issues 31 and 32, he whips up a Humongous Mecha and attacks Spiral Hill Village in the middle of the gang throwing a party to celebrate the destruction of the Metal Virus. Even when Sonic returns and helps them win over Eggman, he decides the day is his because he crashed and ruined their party.
• Evil Versus Evil: Apart from Sonic and his friends, Eggman also has rival villains to contend with.
  • In Bad Guys, Eggman and Zavok have a short battle after the latter is framed for Starline's raids by Mimic. As Starline himself and the other villains make a break for it, Eggman has his Badniks blow his Eggnet Hub off the map, nearly killing Zavok in the process.
  • During the Imposters Saga, Starline manages to conquer Eggperial City while Surge and Kit take out Metal Sonic. However, Eggman evades capture and, after an intense mech duel, defeats Starline through a successful Batman Gambit. He then curb-stomps Starline in CQC and leaves him to die.
  • In Issue #55, Eggman, in the Eggwalker, duels Surge in Starline's base, intending to reclaim his Dynamo Cage and capture her for his own ends. Surge, who'd previously captured Whisper's Wisps, uses their power to gain the upper hand, leaving Eggman cornered since the late Starline removed his access codes for the base. She attacks him again in the following issue to fake out and eliminate Metal Sonic, effectively nullifying their truce with Sonic and Tails against her.
• Face Framed in Shadow: As detailed under Evil Is Not Well-Lit, Eggman's face has this effect in order to to make him look more intimidating, leaving only his specs (and sometimes his trademark Cheshire Cat Grin) visible. These usually appear when he has the advantage over the protagonists or about to enact one of his schemes.
• The Farmer and the Viper:
  • Windmill Village took him in and cared for him while he was amnesiac. Eggman repays the village by making them ground zero for the Metal Virus outbreak, mocking their kindness all the while.
  • Amy saves him from the Zombots, and in response, Eggman throws her to them, infecting her in the process, and tries to pull a Villain: Exit, Stage Left.
• Fatal Flaw: This series delves more into exactly why Eggman's plans always fail and why Sonic always beats him despite his intelligence and resources.
  • Pride. Eggman is far too focused on overly complex schemes to defeat Sonic, in addition to assuming that any plan he comes up with will automatically succeed. He never bothers to come up with contingency plans in case something goes wrong, and he's far too prideful to ever consider reflecting on any mistakes he might have made. And when something does go wrong with his plans, rather than trying to stay calm and seek a solution, he throws tantrums and forgoes any further strategy. Sonic is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, but Eggman is his own worst enemy at the end of the day.
  • Hatred. While Sonic is his Arch-Enemy, Eggman's hatred of the Blue Blur reaches a point that he'll forgo long-term planning or throw what few plans he does make out the window if it means there's even the smallest chance that Sonic can be beaten, right there and right then. Invariably, this blows up in Eggman's face and he has to go back to square one, but he never learns his lesson.
  • Tunnel-Vision. Going hand-in-hand with his hatred of Sonic, Eggman seldom plans out how he'll overcome Sonic's allies. When he actually accounts for them properly, he's a legitimate threat to everyone, but he often dismisses the effect Tails or Shadow or Blaze can have in combating him if Sonic is present, even with full knowledge of just how intelligent Tails is or how varied Shadow's skillset is. This is a trait Metal Sonic is implied to share as a consequence, since Metal Sonic is fantastic at fighting Sonic but can be overwhelmed, like Eggman, if caught out by Sonic's allies.
  • Self-centeredness. Eggman views everything and everyone as an expendible resource to his goals, leading to a total lack of pragmatism, with wasteful use of his artilery and a willingness to backstab nearly every ally he has over the pettiest of convinience, arrogantly convinced he will remain unhindered. This reached its extreme in the Metal Virus arc, where Eggman let the virus spread out of control with no intent on a cure or failsafe. This was not fully out of carelessness like Starline assumed, but simply because Eggman was fine killing the whole planet if it meant he won, on the outlandish handwave he could simply immigrate to another and start anew. The plan being so feckless on paper inevitably leads to Starline hijacking and ruining the plan, and Eggman getting infected, comically after another spur-of-the-moment betrayal during his Enemy Mine with the heroes. Eggman deeming Starline surplus is an act he is still suffering setbacks from, even long after the platypus died.
• Faux Affably Evil: Just as he was written in the Archie comics. Eggman has an exuberance and charm to him even as he enslaves and destroys. When he's being cruel, he's sure to be having a fun time.
• Galactic Conqueror: Planned to become this with the Metal Virus. Once it overtook the population of the world, he intended to to use the population as an army to spread it through other worlds.
• The Ghost: For the first four issues, he's not seen, but is mentioned as having disappeared after Sonic defeated the Death Egg Robot, as in Forces. He briefly appears at the end of Issue 4, making his first full appearance in Issue 5.
• Greater-Scope Villain: For Year One and the Tangle & Whisper mini-series. In Year One, he's suffering from amnesia but Metal Sonic goes on the warpath to find him, making him indirectly responsible for the first year's story arc. After regaining his memories, he plays the role straight in the Tangle & Whisper mini-series, with Mimic working on his behalf to kill Whisper, the last of his former Diamond Cutter comrades but is largely distant from the events of that story.
• Guilt by Association Gag: In the opening of the Zeti Hunt arc, Sonic holds Eggman responsible for the fact that the Deadly Six are running loose in the world, despite the fact that Starline went behind his back to get them involved in the Metal Virus incident. When Eggman points this out to him, Sonic retorts that Starline was his lackey at the time (Eggman only fired him after the fact), so it's Eggman's fault either way.
  Sonic: You've got a list of evil deeds a mile long, and you're trying to weasel your way out of this one with semantics?
• He's Back!: Villainous example. He gets his memories back in Issue 12 and gets right back to business.
• He's Just Hiding: In-universe example. After Sonic Forces, he disappeared after the Phantom Ruby and his Death Egg were defeated. A fact that is acknowledged at the start of the comic and how his lack of fanfare during the more coordinated Badniks attacks are unlike him. Sure enough, Issue #4 sees that he has been hiding, still roughed up after the events of the game. And with total amnesia... until his memories are restored in Issue #12.
• Hidden Depths:
  • According to Rouge, despite his weight, he has a meticulous cardio regimen^note Then again, considering he could outrun Sonic when forced on foot in the original games....
    Sonic: Huh, you think you know a guy.
  • In the 2020 annual, he reveals that he makes toys as a fun hobby during his downtime. It's something he keeps secret from everyone else, with Starline only accidently happening upon it. It seems that that aspect of his personality came to the surface when he was Mr. Tinker.
• His Own Worst Enemy: This incarnation of Eggman has a very severe self-destructive streak; he constantly enacts complex schemes to beat Sonic, never bothers to come up with contingencies, his ego prevents him from reflecting on and learning from his mistakes, and whenever something does go wrong, rather than stay calm and seek a solution, he ends up throwing tantrums and forgoing any further strategy. Orbot even comes right out and admits to Starline that while Sonic's skill and power undoubtedly play a part, it's mostly Eggman's own flaws and inability to plan ahead for the long-term that lead to his numerous defeats.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Is frequently a victim of this.
  • In Issue #29, after causing Sonic and co. untold pain and suffering with the Metal Virus, Eggman himself contracts it when he trips on a Zombot-ified Froggy. He only avoids Zombot-ification himself thanks to Super Sonic and Super Silver and is thereafter left lying on the ground in defeat, with Froggy still perched on top of him.
  • In "Out of the Blue", Eggman kidnaps Omega and integrates him into a Humongous Mecha to attack the Sonic's friends while they're celebrating the destruction of the Metal Virus. However, Sonic, who was M.I.A., returns home with help from Blaze and frees Omega from the already-damaged mech, which the furious robot then obliterates on the spot. Eggman just barely ejects in time to avoid a fiery death.
  • In "Test Run", Eggman uses a VR visor to remotely harass Sonic, Tails, and Amy, who are stuck in his towering Badnik testing facility. After Tangle rescues the trio and accidentally destroys the tower due to overloading the portal she came through, Eggman gets electrocuted by his own visor.
• Ignored Epiphany: When Sonic finally confronts Eggman face to face he asks him why he gave up being Mr. Tinker. Even beyond the amnesia, Sonic wanted to know why Eggman threw away his new life. Eggman responds by sardonically listing off all of the accomplishments Mr. Tinker had that he considers meager only to find that deep down a part of himself might actually miss that life. He quickly brushes it aside and states he prefers the loftier ambitions of his old evil ways.
• Insufferable Genius: The main reason he doesn't just simply shoot or blow up Sonic is because he wants to prove his intelligence and superiority to the hedgehog first.
• Internal Deconstruction: The comics' Eggman can be considered one for the character's ensured vigilance throughout the franchise. This Eggman is portrayed as exceptionally complacent in the face of numerous failures, assured due to both his near limitless batalion and Sonic's Thou Shalt Not Kill moral code that he will always bounce back, deeming anything and everything around him expendible resources and rarely planning for contingencies as a result. This characteristic is true to Eggman in most takes, though usually unquestioned as the series status quo (and even then most versions of Eggman are shown to have some level of pragmatism), while in the comics, it is recurrently treated to make Eggman seem incredibly thoughtless and horrific, with even many villains (particularly Starline) finding the doctor's disinterest in pragmatism to be utterly feckless. This reaches a climax in Urban Warfare where it seems Eggman has finally prodded these factors too far, and suffers a particularly brutal Karma Houdini Warranty. Granted, he still has his Joker Immunity, but his Villainous Breakdown is framed as him massively second-guessing his survival. By the next arc, he's completely fine and laying low as he plans his next scheme.
• It's All About Me: All that matters to Eggman is that he has to be in complete control of the world, everyone else—good or bad—be damned.
  Eggman: (to Starline) I don't share! If you really understood me, you'd know I won't settle for less! It's All or Nothing! And you are nothing before me!
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In Issue 6, Sonic tries to stop Shadow from killing the amnesiac Eggman by bringing up some good things he's done, such as helping them out during the Space Colony ARK incident and the Black Arms invasion. Shadow is quick to remind him that Eggman caused the Space Colony ARK incident to happen to begin with, due to desiring to take over the world through the Eclipse Cannon.
  Sonic: It's not like he was trying to destroy the world.
• Karma Houdini: Is as skilled as Sonic at cheating death and pulls a Villain: Exit, Stage Left after each defeat to avoid capture.
• Kick the Dog: Causing pain isn't just a means to an end for Eggman, it's also something of a fun pastime for him.
  • When testing his metal virus in small increments, he happily picks up an infected animal on a fishing rod and dabs it on another to increase its infection, laughing all the way.
  • When he's ready for mass distribution of the virus, where's the first place he goes? The village that cared for him as Mr. Tinker; mocking their altruism as he enslaves them.
  • In #18, he later targets Cream's village despite Starline noting it didn't have any strategic merit for him. Eggman states it's mostly due to a spot Sonic crosses through but likewise just due to being a place where some of his friends live.
  • After being saved by Amy from Zombots, he repays her by literally kicking her towards Zombot Big, infecting her in the process.
• Knight Templar: Eggman has many reasons for what he does, one of which is an extremely selfish vision of a better world. This is actually somewhat in-line with his game counterpart, where he was mostly originally motivated by the concept of creating a world where he'd rule because he felt, as a genius scientist, that he knew what was good for the rest of civilization.
  "Soon everything will be perfected. No more illness! No more hunger! And best of all? No more free will!"
• Lack of Empathy:
  • When Silver shows up from his failed attempt to rescue the citizens of Ice Paradise from the Zombots and bemoans that his future may very well be doomed due to his failures in the present, Eggman flippantly asks if he's always this melodramatic. Amy rightfully tells him to shut up.
  • His posthumous admiration of Starline's work and attempt to capture Surge for his own ends highlights his apathy to her and Kit's plight. Sonic and Tails are so visibly outraged by his indifference that when Eggman sees their Death Glares, he worries he may have pushed them too far.
• Large and in Charge: As the Token Human in a world of anthropomorphic animals, this is a given. Only Big eclipses him in size.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • He spends the entirety of the Metal Virus arc flippantly trying to find a way to control the Metal Virus, to the extent of refusing to make an actual vaccine in favour of his own failsafe of evacuating to another planet. During the climatic battle with Zavok and the Zombots, he tries to flee in the Restoration shuttle, giving himself a headstart by shoving Amy into Zombot!Big. However, he ends up tripping on Zombot!Froggy and gets infected by him. He only manages to avoid becoming a Zombot when Sonic and Silver finally destroy the Metal Virus.
  • In addition, Starline unwittingly giving control of the Virus to the Deadly Six in the first place was due to Eggman keeping quiet about his failsafe, as he was seemingly planning on double crossing him to the virus. This in turn leads to Starline's firing, coup, death and a Villainous Legacy that is still inconviniencing Eggman's schemes. Starline is still giving Eggman headaches, all because he had decided he grown bored of him.
  • Throughout the comics, Eggman forgoes any care or even pragmatism for that around them, enemy or ally, viewing everything up to the planet he walks on as an expendable resource for his plans. In Urban Warfare however, Eggman's overconfidence is severely shaken when Sonic, finally pushed too far, is ready to destroy Eggperial City's tower base with him in it, causing him to frantically plea that he is needed to prevent the emeralds powering it detonating. The heroes know this isn't a bluff, but choose to deal with that problem themselves in favour of giving the doctor what he deserves. Eggman finally suffered his Karma Houdini Warranty because he was deemed expendable.
• The Last Straw: After Starline's plan to enlist the Deadly Six worsens their lack of control over the Zombot infection, a clearly fed up Eggman demands he hand over the Warp Topaz to fix this mess. After Starline loftily refuses and tries to escape via a portal, Eggman has Metal forcibly take it off him and politely makes clear he has burned his bridges.
  Eggman: Thank you Metal!
  Eggman: (grins evilly) Starline? You're fired.
• Laughing Mad: Cackles in amusement almost at random.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Given how short his temper is, Eggman usually comes off as more immature than threatening. If pushed far enough, though, he's much more menacing and competent, especially against a foe that isn't Sonic. Dr. Starline found this out the hard way.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Upon seeing Belle via video-chat in Issue #40, he quickly recognizes her from his days as Mr. Tinker, confirming he is indeed the one who made her. She doesn't take it well.
• Mad Scientist: His entire thing is building robots to cause mayhem.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: His indirect murder of Starline in Issue #50 proves Eggman's superiority and gives him back control of Eggperial City. However, Starline is summarily replaced by the much more dangerous Surge and Kit, the former of whom almost kills Eggman several times in Overpowered. Furthermore, Starline's botched coup d'etat exposes Eggperial City's existence to the Restoration, leading to its demise in Urban Warfare and putting Eggman back at square one once more. Even more ironically, the whole incident actually leaves Eggman impressed by Starline, meaning the late doctor finally got the respect he desired from him in life.
• Moral Myopia: After Starline unwittingly gives control of the Metal Virus to the Deadly Six, Eggman fires him. The whole reason for Starline doing such however is because Eggman withheld his failsafe plans for the Virus, with "Eggman's Day Off" heavily implying this was because he intended to leave Starline to get infected. Eggman even has the audacity to label Starline a "traitor" when he first sees him conspiring with the Zeti.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Averted in Issue 50. Even though both Eggman isn't the perfect picture of muscularity, Eggman is still twice most of his opponents' size, follows a meticulous cardio workout, so he has enough strength to toss his opponents around. He easily defeats Starline with his bare hands once technology is no longer a factor, and is able to throw Surge off his Eggwalker by just her quills.
• Never Recycle Your Schemes: He applauds Metal Sonic for his machinations without him, but even after Starline points out that they could pull the robot's plan off bigger and better with the data they now have, he scraps it for something new instead as a change of pace. His claim turns out to have merit when Starline attempts to reuse his Lost World scheme and promptly gets betrayed by the Deadly Six.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Not to Sonic, as he is very nonsensical to a neurotic fault. Instead, he becomes this to Starline after his betrayal. Both times he directly confronts the man, he shuts down Starline as ruthlessly and efficiently as he possibly can, and when it seems like all of his technology's been disabled, promptly uses his bare hands to deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle, strip Starline of his power, and leave him to die. The whole time, Starline is completely caught off-guard because he believed Eggman was so blinded by reckless pride that he'd never be so utterly pragmatic and nigh-unstoppable.
• "Not So Different" Remark: In Issue 23, he claims this of himself and Sonic, remarking that they both have their own styles that they won't change. Sonic admits as such, but retorts that retorts that Eggman's style is evil while his is not.
• Not So Similar: When they find him as Mr. Tinker, Sonic refuses to let Shadow harm him, insisting that Eggman should be forgiven for his past crimes and should have a second chance just as Shadow was. However, Sonic's argument holds little water due to several details he doesn't take into account. For starters, Eggman has thrown away every chance at redemption he's ever gotten, while Shadow only needed one. Furthermore, Shadow's evil actions were due to being Brainwashed and Crazy by Professor Gerald, whereas all of the atrocities Eggman has committed were done of his own free will. Finally, Shadow saw the light of his own volition and chose to change for the better before he had amnesia, whereas Eggman continued to do evil, with his kindness as Mr. Tinker being because of his amnesia, and he returns to his evil ways without hesitation the instant he gets his memory back. Finally, Shadow helped Sonic save the world because of a promise he made to his late best friend, whereas Eggman only ever helps Sonic save the world so he can take it over himself.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: In Issue 23, Eggman proudly boasts to Sonic that his actions are "bringing peace and unity to the world, and providing it with [his] brilliant guidance." It falls flat considering that in addition to unleashing a robotic Zombie Apocalypse as he says that, Eggman has committed all manner of atrocities, such as blowing up the moon and splitting the planet itself open, and has earned himself nothing but hatred and fear from the world at large. When Sonic rightfully counters that Eggman is not bringing peace and unity to anyone, the doctor merely retorts, "Agree to disagree."
• Oh, Crap!: Certain things can perturb or upset Eggman easily. Having Zavok (a Zeti) loose in a protected Eggnet Hub really puts fear into the Doc. He pulls out everything available from his headquarters air force to ensure the base and its occupants are carpet-bombed into oblivion.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Won't let anyone kill Sonic other than him. He practically read Starline the riot act when it seemed he killed Sonic and Silver with a bomb trap, making very clear Sonic is his prey and his alone, before critiquing him for not even defying that rule properly. In his point of view, simply killing Sonic and actually defeating him (breaking his spirit and proving his superiority) are two very different things.
• Parental Favoritism: Technically not a parent, but the closest thing to it as Metal Sonic's creator. He significantly favors Metal over his other Badniks, and for good reason. It's quite telling that Metal is the trigger needed to restore his memories, when all his previous inventions wouldn't.
• Pass the Popcorn: In Issue #59, Eggman sits back and relaxes with a bowl of popcorn while watching the Restoration struggle against the Shadow Androids in the Eggperial City, using his security cameras to make the attempted destruction of his enemies into some dinner theater.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Done twice to Dr. Starline.
  • After Starline royally screws up bringing the Deadly Six to heel and makes the Zombot situation even worse, Eggman finally has enough and swipes his Warp Topaz before "firing" him by having Metal Sonic chuck him through a portal to parts unknown. None of the heroes object to this, considering Starline was the cause of Eggman's return to villainy.
  • Much later, after Starline has raided his bases, stolen his tech, and usurped his throne, Eggman strikes back in spades, defeating his traitorous Fanboy so thoroughly that the platypus dies a broken man. Again, the heroes are fine with it, with only Belle mourning Starline's death and only briefly so.
• Person of Mass Destruction: If there's one consistent thing about Eggman, it's that he always ends up wreaking unspeakable carnage across the world, from cracking the planet open to causing what amounts to a Zombie Apocalypse.
• Pet the Dog: Downplayed, but Eggman seems genuinely impressed with Belle's tinkering skill to fix Metal Sonic and even offer her a partnership as his mechanic in issue #50, something that the puppet quickly reject as she already found her place with her friends.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Surprisingly for Eggman (especially this incarnation), his initial goal for the whole Metal Virus plot was not to create an unstoppable army, but to drastically increase his workforce supply.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: His quote before attacking Starline with the Egg Emperor in Issue #50:
  Eggman: Excuse me, Doctor...you're in my seat.
• Ray Gun: He has a pistol that he draws when he decides to get his hands dirty. As shown in Issue #32, the blasts it fires are incredibly destructive for something of its size. The blasts can also be narrower, as he demonstrates when he shoots at Surge in Issue #55 and Amy in Issue #60.
• Redemption Rejection: Something Sonic calls him out on. He had the perfect chance to start a new life as Mr. Tinker, and could have gone back to Windmill Village to continue it even after Starline and Metal restored his memory. Eggman laughs off the very idea, stating outright that he's evil and likes it that way.
• Sadist: Eggman absolutely thrives on the misery of others. Best shown in issue 18; he goes out of his way to infect Floral Forest Village, a remote area with no strategic merits, solely because Cream lives there, gloating about the pain it will cause Sonic to know his friends are infected.
  Eggman: What better way to break his will than to hit him where it hurts! Having fun, Sonic?! [Evil Laugh]
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In #25, Eggman freely admits that this was his plan for after the Metal Virus had infected the entire world: to just evacuate to another planet and move on. That's right; the good doctor deemed that it would be more practical for him to just abandon the planet he's spent years trying to conquer than sit around trying to manage his wayward creation. Of course, Starline bringing in the Deadly Six puts the kibosh on that plan.
  • He attempts this during the final battle with the Zombots by attempting to flee to the Resistance airship, even getting Amy infected to give himself a headstart, only to be stopped and infected by Zombot!Froggy.
• Skewed Priorities: His concerns aren't always quite what they should be, to his own detriment. He even prioritizes appearance over performance when designing his machines, rendering most of them easy prey for the heroes. In Issue #53, when he finds Surge wearing one of his devices, he prioritizes reclaiming said device over terminating her, ordering his robots not to headshot her so he can get his property back in one piece.
• Slasher Smile: His trademark Cheshire Cat Grin doubles as this at times.
• Smarter Than You Look: Regardless of how often he grabs the Villain Ball, Eggman is still an Evil Genius, and not just In Name Only. Starline learned this the hard way and paid for it with his life.
• Smug Snake: While he's undoubtedly smart, Eggman never once considers the possibility that he could ever fail. He never works out contingency plans or analyzes his mistakes, and assumes his plans are always automatically foolproof and will succeed.
• The Sociopath: Eggman has shades of this. He cares for nothing and no one but himself and his own vanity, and despite his greater goals and ambitions, delights in causing pain and suffering just because he can, committing such acts as attacking Windmill Village, who took him in and cared for him while he was amnesiac, while mocking their kindness and specifically targeting Cream's hometown just to spite and hurt Sonic because he knows he often passes through the village and some of his friends live there, and shows no remorse or empathy for any pain he witnesses or causes, as seen when he dismisses Silver's laments over failing to save his future as being melodramatic. He also has a grandiose sense of self-worth and a massive ego, constantly assuming any of his Evil Plans will succeed, never reflecting on or learning from his mistakes, and a lack of impulse control, with his numerous failures being brought about because whenever Sonic shows up, he tends to devolve into blind rage and forego any further strategy. He also has no qualms against firing and disposing of Dr. Starline, who went out of his way to locate him and restore his memory, the very instant Starline refuses to go along with his plans or what he wants.
• Status Quo Is God: Since he is and always will be Sonic's main nemesis, him being Mr. Tinker was never going to last. Rival villains displacing him as the Big Bad never lasts either: he lets the heroes take down the Zeti if the latter hijack his plans, and Starline's brief usurpation of him leads to the platypus' demise.
• Stout Strength: He's strong enough to lift Starline by the throat and slam him into glass hard enough to crack it, in one swift movement. He also bare-handedly one-shots Starline, slamming him into the ground holding him by the leg, after defeating him in Issue #50.
• Token Human: So far, he's the only human being seen in the comic. Word of God claims humans do exists in this universe, but for a good chunk of the comic, he's the only one around.invoked
• Too Clever by Half: Eggman is undoubtedly an Evil Genius with access to all manner of technology and resources... but always loses to Sonic because he never plans for or adapts to the long-term and is too arrogant to consider the possibility he could ever fail. The entire reason the Metal Virus Saga happens is because he starts mass producing the virus after conducting the bare minimum of tests, rationalizing that if any problems or side effects pop up, he can just deal with them as they arise.
• Too Dumb to Live: In addition to his flippant nature with finding a way to control the Metal Virus, when Starline pressures him about vaccinating the two of them against it the doctor informs them that there is no vaccine and he doesn't see the need to make one. His "plan" for avoiding infection boils down to "don't touch any Zombots", and Starline's well-founded concerns of there being an accident in the ship or another mutation in the virus are brushed off as nitpicking his methods. Issue 25 reveals he had another reason for that: as the Metal Virus continues to mutate, it becomes unsustainable; any infected eukaryote cells will eventually suffer a form of apoptosis, disintegrating within two hundred years. Eggman flat-out states that he hadn't cared for finding a cure or vaccine because everything was going to be dead eventually anyway, and because he was intending to evacuate to another planet once he was done infecting this one.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • Windmill Village took him in and cared for him in his amnesiac state. But once he gets his memories back and goes back to work, he made the village the first target of his Metal Virus. Even mocking them for their kindness.
  • In Issue 29, Amy saves him from Zombots. In response, he throws her to the Zombots and tries to make a break for it.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As Tails calls him out on, his Bad Boss tendencies are the entire reason the Starline Empire exists, with both sides having to put up with a rampant Surge and Kit and the lingering Villainous Legacy of a vengeful Starline. Eggman seems more amused by this than anything.
• Villain Ball:
  • While a lot of Eggman's plans are very solid, his rashness, egomania, lack of foresight, and obsession with Sonic are massive drawbacks, and constantly lead to his numerous defeats. Orbot even admits to Starline that all of the above are why Sonic always manages to win.
  • Eggman's so bad with it, it's contagious. In Issue #23, Starline realizes that Neo Metal Sonic's failure to revive the Eggman Empire isn't because he was designed as a "ballistic missile with a built-in grudge" against Sonic, but because he copied Eggman's bio-data, leading to the exact same failures in the exact same places.
• Villainous Breakdown: More than once, although granted, he's not the sanest or calmest guy to begin with. The one he has in Issue #61 stands out: with Sonic and the Restoration finally at their wits' end with him, he makes a panicked Last Villain Stand and then equally frantic pleas for mercy—all to no avail.
• Villain Has a Point: While his new world domination plans tend to blow up in his face, Eggman has a valid point in not retrying one of his previous schemes instead as Starline's attempt to reuse his plan of enslaving the Deadly Six backfires spectacularly on him.
• Villain Respect: A downplayed instance in Bad Guys. When Orbot suggests that Tails was covering "Sonic's" on one of Eggman's facilities, Eggman responds that the operation was too sloppy to be Tails's handiwork.
  • Played With in the case of Dr. Starline. While Eggman never gives the platypus the time of day while he's alive, and in fact dismisses him as nothing compared to himself during their final showdown, he does admit in Issue 55 that the creation of Surge and Kit, which required mastery of multiple different scientific fields while working with secondhand resources and a shoestring budget at best, was quite impressive. Eggman being Eggman, he justifies this by claiming that recognizing the genius of a defeated foe shows just how great he himself is, smart as he thought Starline was, he would never say it to his face in life.
• Villainous Glutton: Whenever things don't go his way, he typically engages in some Comfort Food, such as leaving to eat after Starline "ruined his good mood" or asking Metal Sonic to have a snack prepared when he returns to Eggperial City in Issue #56 after his failure to retrieve the Dynamo Cage. Even his Classic counterpart in the Seasons of Chaos one-shot asks for a Grilled Cheese once all his robots run out of power.
• We Have Reserves: An implied reason Eggman forgoes pragmatism most of the time is because he has resources and artillery in droves to spare. It reaches the extent that he considers the Earth he walks on expendible, and if his attempts to crush Sonic become that destructive, he can simply emigrate his machinations to another planet. Even other, more pragmatic villains such as Zavok and Starline openly loathe the doctor's wastefulness.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Eggman refrains from using this trope, since he claims that if he wanted Sonic dead, he could carpet bomb him from his ship, but that's not the same as defeating him (i.e. breaking his spirit) and proving that he's superior. This may actually hold water; in Bad Guys, when he discovers Zavok has hijacked one of his bases, he forgoes any theatrics and goes straight to carpet bombing the entire complex and nearly killing Zavok.
  Eggman: I could carpet bomb him any day! That's not enough—that's not the point! I have to beat him! I have to prove I'm superior! There's a right way and a wrong way to vanquish your life-long nemesis and you did it very, very wrong!
  • Considering he had Starline Out-Gambitted all along, Eggman could have won their battle sooner. However, he instead prioritizes knocking his Loony Fan down a peg and breaking him. Indeed, Starline is so broken after Eggman defeats him that he makes no attempt to save himself, getting crushed to death under rubble as a result.
  • Eggman is actually quite formidable whenever he does invoke this, as Tails, Surge, Amy, and Tangle have all found out. Issue 61 actually has him hold his Ray Gun to Tangle's head, and he was likely about to pull the trigger when Whisper and Lanolin intervened.
• Wicked Wastefulness: A greatly emphasized trait with Eggman in the IDW Comics is how he forgoes a lot more pragmatic measures, being complacent in the face of numerous failures and is assured that anything that his enemies destroy are both easily expendable and replaceable, due to both his near limitless reserves. This lack of long-term care towards some of his creations emphasizes how evil and wicked he is, considering that anything can just be rebuilt or replaced by him. Zavok, of all villains, expresses his disgust at Eggman's lack of regard for his own infrastructure, such as looking to destroy his own Eggnet Hub to kill him.
  Zavok: You would destroy such a crucial installation?
  Eggman: I can always rebuild. Taking you down while staying out of range of your EM-powers is Worth It!
  Zavok: Such a waste! And I hate waste!
• Worthy Opponent:
  • If his speech to Starline is any indication, he finds Sonic this. So much so that he foregoes Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? because he wants to break Sonic's spirit first before finishing him.
  • Zigzagged for Starline himself. In life, he was unappreciated as Eggman's lackey and was swatted rather pathetically in his attempted coup. As the doctor notes upon his death however, he did respect his scientific mind, and was sincerely amused by the Villainous Legacy he left behind (especially since it looked even better on himself for defeating him), though had zero intent of ever giving the little weasel the smug satisfaction of knowing that.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Whoever allies themselves with Eggman is just asking to be backstabbed and discarded later. The sole exceptions to this are Metal Sonic, Orbot, and Cubot.
  • While he accepts Rough and Tumble as employees at first, Eggman soon double-crosses them by using them as Metal Virus test subjects, tricking them into Zombot-ifying themselves.
  • The 2020 Annual heavily implies that he intended to turn Starline into a Zombot at some point, keeping quiet about his evacuation plans against the Metal Virus. This backfires after the silence convinces Starline that Eggman is incompetent, hiring the Deadly Six behind Eggman's back and quickly losing control of the Virus to them. With his scheme ruined, Eggman skips the formalities and has Starline non-fatally disposed of by Metal Sonic instead.
  • After Amy saves him from an infected Big in Issue 29, Eggman betrays her and gets her infected by kicking her into Big's gut. Obviously, the heroes are no longer any use to him by that point.

Badniks and Other Creations

Eggman's mechanical minions, ranging from baseline Mecha-Mooks to specialized units like Metal Sonic.

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Metal Sonic

Metal Sonic

"But I serve the Eggman Empire. The only one who can truly rule it is Dr. Eggman."

^{Click here to see him as Neo Metal Sonic}

^{Click here to see him as Super Neo Metal Sonic}

^{Click here to see him as Master Overlord}

Introduced in: Issue #7

Sonic's robotic doppelganger created by Eggman. Like in Heroes, he has shapeshifting abilities; unlike in Heroes he has a Restraining Bolt to prevent any more betrayals.

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• Adaptational Badass: Like his previous incarnations within the Archie comics and Fleetway comics, Metal Sonic is far more narratively imposing than he is in the video games. Not only is he a physical match for Sonic and Shadow, but as Neo Metal Sonic, he's able to outsmart him too due to having Eggman's bio-data. And he deals out a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle to Sonic & Knuckles after utilizing a Super form.
• Adaptive Ability: Everytime a hero beats him into the ground he copies their bio-data and bounces back even stronger.
• Arc Villain: With Eggman suffering from amnesia, Metal picks up the reigns as main antagonist for Year One as Neo Metal Sonic and reorganized the Egg Empire to recover his master and restore him to power.
• The Bad Guy Wins: His plan may have been foiled by the Resistance and he may not have realized it at the time, but Metal Sonic ultimately succeeded in what he set out do: finding Eggman and restoring his memory.
• Behind the Black: Metal Sonic is an ambush predator and excels at making Dynamic Entries from out of nowhere. He skewers Gemerl in one such ambush, tackles Surge in another before she or Kit even hear, let alone see, him coming, and even gets the drop on Sonic at Starline's base. He later spams this again in Issue #60, only to pay for it when Tangle becomes fed up with his sneak-attacks.
• Berserk Button: Considers himself to be the "true, perfected" Sonic, so being told otherwise is a big one. Sonic uses this to distract him at the end of the Battle for Angel Island arc, mocking him for the claim since his Master Overlord form doesn't even look like a hedgehog anymore. It winds up leading to defeat at the end of the arc.
• Big "NO!": When Knuckles plucks the Master Emerald out of his chest, robbing him of his power, Metal's defeat is sealed and he howls a very big "No!"
• Blood Knight: As stated by Eggman, Metal's software craves battle and conquest. Even after the Restoration removed his weapons, his sole desire was to find a way to become dangerous again. Hence, him going back to Eggman.
• Breaking the Bonds: At the start of Issue 12, the Resistance has him bound by chains while Tails repairs him just enough to move, so Sonic can try to form a truce. Upon being activated, the mere sight of Sonic spurns Metal to break out of the chains in an effort to attack him, despite his damages.
• Brought Down to Normal: After he's defeated, he reverts back to his base form.
• Cain and Abel: The Cain to Belle's Abel. As they're both creations of Eggman, he's technically her "older brother".
• Chronic Villainy: As with Eggman, Sonic calls him out on this during the climax of the Metal Virus arc. While Eggman didn't have a chance to stay good before Starline brought him back to his old self, Metal did have a chance at freedom and a new life, and voluntarily threw it away to serve the doc again. Overhearing this, Eggman butts into the conversation, stating that that's because Metal is specifically programmed with a desire for battle and conquest.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: His Master Overlord form is very powerful, but it's less maneuverable and makes him a much larger target for everyone to focus their attacks on. The Master Emerald that he draws power from is also a blatant weakness that Knuckles takes full advantage of.
• Co-Dragons: With Dr. Starline to Dr. Eggman before Starline went rogue.
• Combat Pragmatist: He's not afraid to get his own hands dirty, but will use anything in his arsenal to finish the job.
• The Comically Serious:
  • In Issue 12, Sonic makes a genuine effort to bury the hatchet with Metal, or at least strike a truce. He emphasizes Metal doesn't have to be a weapon for Eggman anymore and that he's free to be his own person. Metal blankly stares at Sonic's outstretched hand for a moment... before slapping it away and promptly leaving. Metal's expression really clinches it.
  • Again, in the same issue, when Metal Sonic restores Eggman's memories, the doctor remembers an instance where he repairs Metal Sonic, leading to this exchange:
    Eggman: How dare that Sonic damage you! He wouldn't recognize a work of art if it punched him in the face! You did punch him in the face, right?
    Metal Sonic: (silently gives a proud thumbs-up)
    Eggman: Attaboy!
  • In Issue 56, he straight up has to push Eggman out of their collapsing lair, and looks visibly exasperated afterwards.
• Composite Character: He's Metal Sonic, but takes the ability to go Super via the Master Emerald from Mecha Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.
• The Creon: Thanks to Eggman's reprogramming after a coup attempt in the past, Metal Sonic has no desire to usurp his master and is perfectly content to serve under him. Even when he finds himself in charge of the empire after Eggman goes missing, he dedicates all his resources to finding him just to put him back in charge.
• Crippling Overspecialization: His Fatal Flaw. Metal Sonic excels at his purpose of combating the real Sonic and other speedsters, but lacks his template's heart and soul and doesn't count on his targets receiving outside help. Surge and Kit exploit Metal's inability to multitask in Imposter Syndrome #4, leading to an upset victory against the robot. It comes up again near the end of Urban Warfare, where Metal is so dead-set on killing Sonic that he neglects to guard Eggman and later chases the Blue Blur into a whole cadre of heroes...including Omega, who guns him down in short order.
  Surge: You wanna be the "real" Sonic?! You ain't got the heart! You ain't got the soul! (...) And you ain't got the backup!
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Delivers one to Sonic and Knuckles as Super Neo Metal Sonic.
  • He later receives one from Zavok when he uses his Technopath powers.
  • Was delivering one to Surge in Issue #4 of Imposter Syndrome until Kit intervened.
• A Day in the Limelight: The story Reflections from the 2020 Annual follows Metal Sonic. He quietly walks about in Eggman's base, observing videos on the Metal Virus's effects on Sonic and pondering on his own immunity to it. The story subtly implies Metal's curiosity and envy over his counterpart.
• Deflector Shield: The climax of the Metal Virus Saga reintroduces his "Black Shield" ability from Sonic Adventure 2's multiplayer mode. When activated, he is encased in an octahedral Force Field strong enough to No-Sell any attack thrown at him.
• Demoted to Extra: Metal's role is downplayed significantly in the Metal Virus saga as Starline acts more in line as The Dragon to Eggman. Besides one fight with Sonic and Silver early on in the arc, Metal remains in the background for the most part. He returns to being Eggman's chief minion after showing Starline the door.
• The Dragon: Like always, he's Dr. Eggman's most powerful creation and chief Badnik. He shares the spot with Dr. Starline for Year 2, but becomes Eggman's sole second-in-command again in Year 3 after he ousts Starline for going against the doctor's wishes.
• Dragon Ascendant: After Eggman's defeat in Forces, Neo Metal Sonic assumed leadership of the Empire but fully intended on reinstating Eggman again once he found him.
• Dragon Their Feet: He was in the process of being upgraded during the events of Forces but by the time he was completed, the Resistance had already won and Eggman was nowhere to be found.
• Finger-Tenting: Does this while the Egg Fleet begins their assault on Angel Island at the end of issue #7.
• Flight: Granted by the same built-in jet engine that enables his Super-Speed.
• Gemstone Assault: As Master Overlord, he starts raining chunks of crystal down on Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles' heads.
• Genius Bruiser: Besides being a powerful machine that can fight Sonic on the ropes, Eggman has also given Neo Metal Sonic his own bio-data as part of his upgrade, making Neo as smart as Eggman himself.
• Get Out!: Non-verbal example, but he chucks Starline through one of his own portals after Eggman terminates his apprenticeship. Inverted in the 2020 Annual issue, when Starline catches him checking out some Metal Virus liquid in his quarters; Starline orders him to leave and Metal obliges.
• The Heavy: For the first 11 issues. With Dr. Eggman suffering from amnesia, and thus unable to lead the Empire, Neo Metal Sonic takes over and becomes the driving force of the plot for the first year of the comic.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Even without Eggman to hold his leash, Metal Sonic is still very intelligent and demonstrated remarkable leadership capabilities in his tenure as head of the Empire. Even Eggman himself was impressed.
• Implacable Man: Once he locks onto his targets, he won't stop chasing them until they're down for the count, alive or dead. Best shown in Issue #52, where he pursues Sonic's group until Surge's antics endanger Eggman, forcing Metal to (reluctantly) break off. Issue #60 also has him go after Tangle following her initial escape from Eggman.
• I Will Find You: Metal Sonic's mission is to find the missing Doctor. Sonic tries to use it as a good reason not to kill him, but Neo Metal reassures him that he'll find the Doctor even if he has to ravage the entire world to do so.
• The Juggernaut: He's fast, Flight-capable, and durable enough to take thrashings that'd reduce any other Badnik to spare parts. Zavok and Kitsunami are the only ones thus far to overpower him single-handedly; others, even Sonic himself, struggle to do the same.
• Just the First Citizen: Neo Metal Sonic may be the one keeping the army together, but he makes it clear that he sees himself as a servant to their empire and that the leader will always be Eggman.
• Lightning Bruiser: Being a robot, he has considerable strength to match his speed.
• Logical Weakness: Despite all his power, he's still a robot, and is susceptible to short circuiting from a combination of water and electricity. This allows Surge and Kit to defeat him in issue #4 of Imposter Syndrome.
• Magnum Opus: The absolute pinnacle of Eggman's robotic designs. Able to keep up with and battle Sonic repeatedly without being permanently destroyed, with the ability to absorb bio-data, transform into a super state, and having an ultimate form capable of destroying the entire world, Eggman considers Metal a work of (violent) art. He even serves as an emotional trigger for the doctor, snapping him out of his amnesiac state after tracking his creator down.
• Moral Dilemma: After the Eggperial City is attacked and puts Eggman in peril, he's forced to choose between continuing a fight where he had Sonic on the backfoot, and saving his master. He looks visibly upset with having to make the choice, but chooses Eggman's life over Sonic's demise.
• Neck Lift: Does this to Rough in response to a veiled insult, and later to Starline before chucking him through his own Warp Topaz portal.
• No-Sell: As noted above, he can do this on a whim using his Black Shield. Even without it, he is durable enough to shrug off most attacks directed at him.
  • Being a robot, he is immune to the Metal Virus and could touch Zombots without harm until they ceased to be. This comes in handy at the climax of the Metal Virus Saga, during which he is the only robot left on the battlefield. With Silver too busy juggling the Chaos Emeralds, the task of flying Sonic into battle against Zavok falls to Metal Sonic.
• Power Copying: Regains his ability to do this from Heroes, and puts it to good use against Sonic.
• Redemption Rejection: After his defeat and being returned to base form, Sonic tries to bury the hatchet with Metal, offering him the chance to be his own person with Eggman gone. Naturally, Metal doesn't take. Come the climax of the Metal Virus arc, Sonic calls him out on it.
  Sonic: Y'know, in a way, Eggman didn't get a chance to stay reformed. Starline put him back on that path. But you... you just had to go back to him, didn't you? You couldn't be like Gemerl or Omega. You just had to be a one-note jerk.
• Restraining Bolt: Eggman installed obedience programming after his mutiny in Heroes.
• The Reveal: He's the mysterious figure that's been leading Eggman's army in his absence.
• Scaled Up: Once he obtains Shadow's bio-data, he combines that with Sonic's and the power of the Master Emerald to become the Metal, or in this case Master, Overlord once again.
• Shock and Awe: In his super state, he can shoot golden lighting bolts from his hands. He also has access to his standard electricity abilities, including the V Maximum Overdrive.
• Silent Antagonist: Unlike his Archie or Fleetway Comics version, he never speaks at all. He could speak as Neo Metal Sonic but after he was reverted to his base form he loses the ability to talk. Sonic even pokes fun at it.
  Sonic: "Oh right, you can't talk as plain old vanilla Metal Sonic. Was that the real reason you went back to being Neo Metal Sonic? So you could do more than 'beep-boop'? Because this is a major downgrade."
• Something Only They Would Say: Right before revealing himself as the impostor Eggman, he calls Sonic "my loathsome copy", which only he would have reason to call Sonic.
• Spikes of Villainy: As Neo Metal Sonic, he has far more sharp spikes and edges on him than in his standard form.
• Starter Villain: The first arc-wide villain faced in the series. Being the one pulling the strings behind the events of the first few issues before ultimately climaxing in a showdown against him.
• Super Mode:
  • Eggman upgraded him back to his Neo form from Sonic Heroes to be used in the events of Sonic Forces.
  • In issue #9, he uses the Master Emerald to become Super Neo Metal.
  • In issue #10, he goes even further, Shadow and Knuckles' bio-data along with the Master Emerald's power to become Master Overlord, an Expy of his Metal Overlord form from Sonic Heroes.
• Super-Speed: Naturally, since he's based off of Sonic.
• Token Competent Minion: Metal Sonic is far more deadly than Orbot and Cubot or Rough and Tumble. He took control of Eggman's forces while the doctor was missing and was so efficient that the heroes briefly thought Eggman was back. In Issue #4 of Imposter Syndrome, Metal Sonic is the only one of Eggman's robots who gives Surge and Kit a real fight before being defeated.
• Undying Loyalty: In an interesting twist compared to his other incarnations, this version of Metal Sonic is completely obedient and loyal to Eggman. While he did attempt a coup in the past and had this loyalty programmed into him, Metal's relationship with Eggman appears to be genuine, akin to a father-son relationship.
• Villain Ball: Decides to cement his victory by destroying the Resistance all at once before destroying the captive Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow in his Master Overlord form. As Sonic notes, he's just bringing them closer to reinforcements and the three are quickly freed once the Resistance counter-attacks.
  • Briefly discussed as Starline grows increasingly disillusioned with Eggman. He realizes that, since Eggman was probably the first bio-data he scanned, Metal most likely acquired the doctor’s flaws (rashness, lack of foresight, obsession with Sonic), which led to him being defeated despite his earlier success. Essentially, Metal inherited the Villain Ball from Eggman.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • His calculating facade falls apart as soon as he becomes Master Overlord. Sonic provokes him further with a Pretender Diss to cover the Resistance's approach. The Resistance then attacks him en masse and he loses it entirely, leading to his defeat.
  • He has another one in Issue #52 after Kit hands him his ass on Sonic's behalf. Sonic even lampshades this when he and Metal Sonic clash again a few issues later.
    Sonic: That sure was something back in Egghead's city. I haven't seen you that mad in a while.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: It hasn't gone unnoticed by Sonic or Eggman that Metal Sonic's programming seems to affect his personality in this way, making him come off as a hard-headed teenager who's trying to make his father proud.
• The Worf Effect: Suffers this hard, and repeatedly so, after the Metal Virus Saga.
  • While initially dominating against Surge in their first encounter, Metal Sonic became overwhelmed when fighting her and Kit at the same time, resulting in him being short circuited due to the combination of their powers. Surge herself, using the Dynamo Cage, takes Metal out again five pages into Issue #56, even though he held his own against Sonic and Tails combined the issue before.
  • In Urban Warfare, Metal Sonic initially takes a back seat to the Shadow Androids (of whom he is visibly envious). After Shadow himself wipes out the horde, Metal is sent into the fray...and ends up being such a pushover for the heroes that, for the first time (on-page) in the comic, Eggman reprimands him. His final charge at the heroes gets him shot and Left for Dead in the crumbling Eggperial City.
• Would Hit a Girl: He doesn't pull his punches against female adversaries—even fellow Badniks such as Belle.

Orbot & Cubot

Orbot & Cubot

Spherical crony / Cubical crony

Introduced in: Issue #2

Two service robots created by Dr. Eggman to assist him in his day-to-day routines. Started out in series as serving Metal Sonic (while disguised as Dr. Eggman himself), then assisting Dr. Starline return Eggman to his former self. When the Deadly Six show up, they instantly swap sides to avoid being controlled by the Zeti, while also doing their best to leak information to the Resistance. After the Zeti are defeated and the Metal Virus destroyed, Orbot and Cubot resume their places at Eggman's side.

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• Bad Liar: After the events of Issue #40, they take a brief vacation from Eggman, and don't re-appear until the Imposter Syndrome miniseries. When Eggman confronts them on where'd they been, Orbot states they were "doing reconnaissance," which Eggman clearly doesn't buy.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: They are infected with Starline's virus and become his servants after he successfully usurps Eggman.
• Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Rarely ever seen apart from each other.
• Bumbling Sidekick: The pair aren't known for their success rates.
• Demoted to Extra: With folks like Rough, Tumble, and Starline around, Orbot and Cubot's roles were diminished for the first two years of the comic. However, the new villains lose Eggman's good graces over time, and by the end of the Metal Virus Saga, Orbot and Cubot have become Eggman's main assistants once more.
• Fake Defector: When the Deadly Six usurp control of the Faceship, Orbot pretends to defect to them and makes Cubot do the same. In reality he contacts Rouge and acts as a mole for her and the Resistance.
• Hidden Depths: Cubot is apparently a fan of a virual idol known as Cyber Singer Mika, and owns a 10-inch figure of her.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Cubot is pretty friendly for a bot created by a madman; when the Chaotix raided one of Eggman's former bases, he was happily playing patty-cake with Charmy.
• Mook Lieutenant: Serve as middle-management for the Eggman Empire.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Neither of them are particularly malicious and don't appear to do much aside from occasionally snarking at Eggman and running errands. Orbot allows Starline to confide in him in exchange for not telling their boss about his next break.
• Secret-Keeper: Most believe that Eggman has returned to head his army but Orbot and Cubot seemed to be aware of Metal Sonic's duplicity and labored under him rather than the false Eggman.
• Servile Snarker: Though he never pushes it too far, Orbot has made a couple of cracks about Eggman's lack of success (including his less-than-stellar success rate with trying at Hijacking Cthulhu and why he keeps losing) to Mr. Tinker and Dr. Starline.

Metal Virus & Zombots (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Metal Virus & Zombots

Metal Virus

^{Click here to see the Zombots}

Introduced in: Issue #12

The product of Eggman's latest scheme after his memory returns, the Metal Virus infects any living thing it touches like a plague, converting it into metallic tissue that results in a "Zombot" when the infected is sapient. After mutating beyond Eggman's control and being appropriated by the Deadly Six, it is ultimately destroyed by Super Sonic and Super Silver, save for a modified, less dangerous strain within Surge and Kit.

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• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The virus eventually veers into this territory courtesy of Eggman's disinterest in testing beyond "it works". The further it spreads by exposure, the more mutations arise in the virus' coding, making the Zombots less receptive to his commands. Eggman is confident that he can find a way to fix any bugs "in post", but by Issue #25 it is so out of control that he ultimately gives up on it. The Deadly Six have far less trouble controlling the Zombots, but they still need the Chaos Emeralds to control an entire horde; otherwise, they can command only a handful of Zombots at a time.
• And I Must Scream: Averted unlike several versions of roboticization. Once the transformation into a Zombot is complete, the infected's mind seems to be placed into a suspended state as the virus takes full control of their faculties. Once the Metal Virus is pulled from its infectees, the freed victims are shown to be more confused and disoriented than horrifically traumatized, and any trauma is more based on what happened while being infected (like being mobbed by a horde of Zombots or the mounting horror of transforming) than what they did as infected.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: Fitting for a zombie infection parallel. Several named characters succumb to the virus, starting with Rough and Tumble being used as test subjects before Sonic becomes infected. The infection later claims (in order): Charmy, Cheese, Chocola, Gala, Shadow, Vanilla, Vector, Jewel, Tangle, Froggy, Big, Zeena, Cream, Zomom, Zor, Master Zik, and Knuckles. Sonic himself was physically Zombot-ified, but stayed conscious just long enough to avoid terminal infection. Amy, Eggman, and Tails were also infected, but were saved before it claimed them.
  • Fifteen organic characters manage to avoid infection altogether: Silver, Rouge, Espio, Whisper, Blaze, Marine, Lanolin, Zavok, Zazz, Dr. Starline, Mimic, Belle and the Babylon Rogues. Omega, Gemerl, the Scrapniks, and all of Eggman's Badniks were immune by virtue of being non-organic. Whether Mimic (who was in jail at the time), Clutch, Nite, and Don did so or not is unknown, while the repurposed virus strain in Surge and Kit is neither contagious nor zombifying.
• Appropriated Appellation: Eggman takes the name "Zombot" from Sonic's exclamation to seeing them for the first time, admitting it's catchy. Dr. Starline and Tails are less than impressed, but use the name anyhow.
• The Assimilator: Being infected makes you a carrier of the virus, spreading it through touch to any living organism. This includes people and plants, but not processed wood, food, or other metal objects. Eggman delights in this detail, as it means infrastructure will remain intact when everyone around it is changed.
• Body Horror: The Zombots can take some nasty injuries and heal from them with ease. Many of them grow spikes and while at first they're tame and symmetrical, as time goes on a number of Zombots sprout random spikes all over their bodies like a terrible skin infection.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The virus led to one of the darkest tonal shifts in the history of the franchise. Those who weren't turned into Zombots were backed into a corner throughout the arc and couldn't even start turning things around until Starline got the Deadly Six involved in the incident.
• Elite Mooks: The more powerful named characters turn into especially difficult Zombots. While they do end up losing access to their abilities (Rough and Tumble lose their speed, Shadow cannot use his hover skates, Tangle never bothers using her tail, etc.), they still end up being stronger and more skilled than the average Zombot, especially after Zavok enslaves them and groups them together. Big in particular is outright invincible as a Zombot, with a mighty hammer-swing from Amy being an absolute No-Sell.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: Shadow, Vector, Tangle, and Knuckles look downright hideous in their Zombot forms.
• Fate Worse than Death: The virus provides a horrifying example of what the characters can endure in this comic without being killed off. Almost the entire cast become Zombots, and whoever doesn't endures a Trauma Conga Line for the record books, drowning in Survivor Guilt at the Despair Event Horizon.
  • Later on in the Saga, Eggman confirmed that the Zombots would disintegrate within a hundred to two hundred years eventually, which Silver backs up, believing that his lifeless future was the result of the current crisis. If the virus wasn't dealt with in the present, this trope would have been subverted.
• Healing Factor: The virus grants this to its infectees. The Zombots, and later Surge and Kit, are highly resilient and any damage they sustain heals in seconds, rendering them nearly indestructible. For example, Rough and Tumble regenerate from being (accidentally) maimed by Amy and holed by Sonic, respectively, while Surge survives being crushed by an Egg Breaker's mace with little more than some Clothing Damage.
• Hurl It into the Sun: The virus' ultimate fate at the hands of Super Sonic and Super Silver.
• Implacable Man: If the Zombots are injured they don't seem to feel it, and if they're damaged to the point of losing a limb it simply regenerates and, being made of metal, that's not easy to do. And because they are coated with a viral coating, they can't even be touched without infecting the victim.
• Knight of Cerebus: Collectively serves this role. The comic becomes more like a tense zombie outbreak movie once the Metal Virus is introduced. There's very little room for humor until it's finally destroyed.
• Logical Weakness: The virus infects living organic beings but does not affect mechanical ones at all. A positive for Eggman since his forces are almost entirely robots, but it also means that the robots on Sonic's side will still be unaffected and must be dealt with through other means. In addition to metal, processed wood and stone, and even food, can't be infected, either; this renders wooden robot Belle as immune as well. Wisps are a special case, as they can't be infected in their energy forms, so Whisper can make use of their powers with low risk.
• Meaningful Name: "Zombot" is a fusion of the words 'zombie' and 'robot', courtesy of Sonic. Victims are trapped in a metal coating to look like robots after it hardens. Unlike normal zombies, zombots don't need to kill or even bite other victims to infect. They simply need to touch or be touched.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Roboticization was a big plot point in this comic's predecessor series, which Flynn confirmed on his podcast that the idea for the Metal Virus Saga was originally planned for the Archie series and he decided to retool it for IDW.
  • People infected turn into monochromatic metallic versions of themselves with black sclerae and red irises, making them reminiscent of the "metal skin" Easter Egg from Sonic Heroes' two-player mode.
• Nightmare Face: The Zombots look scary enough by default, but Adam Bryce Thomas' art style depicts them as Sinister Silhouettes with horribly misshapen eyes and mouths.
• Not Quite Dead: Well, sort of. In its original form, the Metal Virus was destroyed by Super Sonic and Super Silver, but Starline later injects Surge and Kit with a new, non-contagious strain to make them more durable; it thus lives on in some form within the duo, even though they aren't true Zombots.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Unlike undead zombies, Zombots are live victims trapped in a metallic substance and "programmed" to attack others. They are adapted to be impervious to most attacks and overall unkillable, becoming markedly more powerful than they were organic. They obey Eggman's commands (at first) and exhibit aggression without direction. To spread infection, they just need brief physical contact instead of biting victims.
• Painful Transformation: Turning into a Zombot isn't a pleasant experience. Though most are infected very quickly, Tangle noted that the gradual transformation can hurt quite a bit.
• Reduced to Dust: The eventual fate of the Metal Virus' victims until its effects were reversed, resulting in yet another Bad Future that Silver has to avert.
• Robotic Undead: The Zombots in a nutshell, where they are robots that exhibit zombie-like behavior.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: The virus ends up claiming every character that served as comic relief (hero or villain), except for Orbot and Cubot.
• The Speechless: Once a Zombot transformation is complete, the unlucky victim is immediately rendered mute, and remains so until cured of the virus.
• Spikes of Villainy: Those turned usually have spike protruding from their wrists or tails.
• There Is No Cure: This, all accounts. However, it's because Eggman never bothered to make a countermeasure for the Metal Virus in case it gets out of control, which it soon does when he and Starline discover that the Zombots are starting to ignore his commands. Tails comes closest to finding something to fight it, but he loses the data to a Zombot attack near his lab. The heroes had to think outside the box via Chaos Emeralds and Warp Topaz to finally eliminate the virus for good.
• Touch of Death: Kind of. All the Zombots need to do is touch their victim to spread the virus, making it difficult for the heroes (sans robots) to fight them without a long range weapon of sorts. Facing them head-on while infected will only accelerate the spread. It can be justified since there is no cure made by Eggman before unleashing the virus, and closest Tails comes to making one is destroyed by an attack near his lab. Basically, being highly contagious, even a single drop on you seals your fate; the question being how long before you succumb to it.
• Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Eggman performs the bare minimum of tests on the Metal Virus, and once he's satisfied that it spreads like he wanted, he immediately throws it into mass production despite Starline's warnings that he only just created the virus and should run more tests to be sure there's no unforeseen effects. Eggman claims he can fix it in post once it has done its job of infecting the world, though later admits he felt no pressure to make one as he has the means to simply migrate his base to another planet as a second resort. Naturally, it doesn't take long for control to slip from his grasp. This bites him in the ass hard after the Deadly Six usurp control of the Zombots, culminating in Eggman himself getting infected by a Zombot Froggy before he can carry out his immigration plan.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Zombots are almost impossible to stop and are stronger than they were as flesh-and-blood, but they're also nearly mindless and don't have any capacity for strategy or skill outside of blindly attacking. When Shadow is converted his fighting style not only becomes sloppier, he can't even use his Hover Skates (though he's still faster than the average Zombot).
• Unwilling Roboticization: The Metal Virus makes its victims act like robots, but not necessarily turn them into one.
• The Virus: Eggman manufactures the Metal Virus in order to infect Sonic and others. It affects all organic matter, so not only people, but plants and trees as well.
• Walking Spoiler: The virus is responsible for turning almost the entire population, as well as most of Sonic's friends and allies, into walking robotic zombies. One of the biggest characters that comes into contact with the virus is Sonic himself, making him a danger to those he is trying to save, with other major on-page characters like Shadow, Charmy, and even Tangle succumbing to the virus. It's hard to discuss the story arc when several characters get turned into zombies and the virus is the major focus of a nearly two-year long Saga.
• Your Days Are Numbered:
  • If you end up infected, the main question is how long you have before the virus eventually/inevitably overtakes you. Most characters tend to go from seconds to hours before succumbing, depending on additional contact with Zombots or the virus itself. Tangle was able to prolong hers by using furniture and other items around her. Sonic is the only one who was able to burn off his (temporarily) before it mutates to bypass this. Shadow is implied to have the same ability, but his Pride got in the way. Only the power of the Chaos Emeralds can prevent a victim from being fully turned; just one Emerald was enough to keep the virus from affecting Zavok (in his titan form), even as he grabbed handful after handful of Zombots to throw at Angel Island.
  • A variation in that the timeframe ultimately does not matter. The Zombots are invulnerable and never age, but Eggman reveals that the virus will eventually break down their constitution and they'll crumble to dust. In the same breath, Eggman further notes that it will take two centuries for it to happen.
• Zerg Rush: A common tactic for the Zombots is to just overwhelm their foe with sheer numbers to either infect them or beat them down if they aren't affected.
• Zombify the Living: The Metal Virus isn't immediately fatal once you've succumbed to it; rather, it simply Zombot-ifies you alive. When cured, its former victims are rather confused but otherwise perfectly fine.

Shadow Androids

Shadow Androids

"Welcome to Eggperial City! My Shadow Androids will be happy to show you around! Enjoy your stay...short as it may be!"

Introduced in: Tangle & Whisper #3

An elite group of Badniks based on Shadow the Hedgehog. They possess super speed and strength.

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• The Bus Came Back: After only appearing once in a video recorded flashback in the Tangle & Whisper miniseries, the androids make their first appearance in the main comic in Issue #59.
• Continuity Nod: The Shadow Android has been in a few Sonic games and these ones are based on the orange model from the Battle Mode of Shadow the Hedgehog albeit without a grenade launcher. There are also models that have teal/grey-ish quill highlights, which are similar to when Mephiles imitated Shadow's form from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), as well as coming in various colors other than orange.
• Elite Mooks: They're stronger than the average Badnik. Three of the Diamond Cutters are trapped in a room with the Androids and, though the Androids take heavy casualties, they emerge victorious and kill them. Said characters were already established to have been able to defeat standard Badniks with ease; the Shadow Android's durability and skill coupled with the ambush and lack of support won them the day. During the Urban Warfare arc, they overwhelm the real Shadow and his allies, resisting Blaze's fire, Silver's psychic powers, and even catching Amy's Piko-Piko Hammer with relative ease.
• Out of Focus: Despite their potential as dangerous foes to the Resistance, there is no in-story justification for why they aren't used, before or after the war was over. They are sent out to face off against Sonic, his friends, and Team Dark once Eggperial City's under attack during the Urban Warfare arc, with Eggman even noting he's been holding onto them for a while.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The moment the Androids activate, their lined red eyes click to life and the killing begins.
• Robot Me: They're robot versions of Shadow, Smithy even notes the similarities between them and Metal Sonic. Interestingly enough they don't actually fight the real Shadow in the comics (until the Urban Warfare arc of the main comics) and are introduced fighting other heroes. Whisper expresses discomfort being around Shadow because of their resemblance.
• Silent Antagonist: Like base form Metal Sonic, they don't speak, though unlike Metal Sonic they have mouths.

Former Affiliates

Largely independent villains or characters who have once worked with Eggman in the past.

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Dr. Starline

A former admirer turned assistant to Eggman. He was "fired" during the events of the Metal Virus arc due to a blunder involving The Deadly Six. After the events of Bad Guys, he decided to strike out on his own and created his own faction, becoming a direct competitor to Eggman for world domination.

See his folder in Independent Antagonists

Rough & Tumble

Two skunk brothers that briefly served as henchmen to Eggman. They were used as guinea pigs to test the Metal Virus in the field. After they were cured, they swore off working with the doctor again.

See their folder in Clean Sweep Inc.

Mimic

A cold-blooded mercenary who only seeks to serve himself. He used to be part of a team dubbed "The Diamond Cutters", but sold them out to Eggman and lead them into their deaths, save one: Whisper. While he wasn't under Eggman's employ outside taking a job for his own welfare, Mimic is nonetheless fearful of the doctor and tries his hardest to stay off his radar.

See his folder in Clean Sweep Inc.

Scrapniks

A group of old, rusted-up hodge-podges of Classic-era Badniks. Despite being former Eggman creations, they're actually not hostile. They live away from the doctor's influence, residing on an island consisting of old machine parts dubbed Scrapnik Island. It is led by E-117 Sigma, a robot from Eggman's E-100 series line.

See their folders in Other Characters

Mecha Sonic

Another robotic doppelganger of Eggman's eternal nemesis, where he was deployed during Eggman's successful re-launch of the Death Egg from Angel Island. After his defeat at the hand of Sonic and Knuckles, he ended up offline, washing up on Scrapnik Island sometime later.

See his folder in Other Characters

Mecha Knuckles

A robotic duplicate of Knuckles the Echidna that was created during the events of Sonic Advance. He was deployed to guard Angel Island, trying to disguise himself as the real Knuckles. It didn't work, resulting in his defeat by Sonic and friends. In his current state, he lives alongside the other scrapniks on the island, taking the role as its dutiful protector.

See his folder in Other Characters

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