Extraterrestrials (Team Sonic) | Earthlings (Robotnik & Co.)
Robotnik Family
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Gerald's sons and their spouses are never acknowledged outside of Ivo saying he was an orphan.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: While Gerald genuinely cared for Maria and Ivo craved his grandfather's affections, the death of Maria and unexplained absence of Ivo's parents have left the surviving Robotniks far too dysfunctional to be a proper family.
- Color-Coded Characters: Red for Ivo, White for Gerald and Blue for Maria.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Both Ivo and Gerald are implied to have gained some enhanced physiology from licking charged up hedgehog quills. Ivo survived falling from his eggrobo and after several months' recuperation showed no signs of permanent injury, while Gerald prolonged his life a full 50 years without further aging.
- Freudian Trio: Gerald is the Id (wants to wipe out all of humanity including himself over some ill-conceived vengeance plot), Maria is the Superego (provides Shadow with a sense of humanity) and Ivo is the Ego (a Card-Carrying Villain and certifiable nutjob, but his motives are far more reasonable than his grandfather's).
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: All-Loving Hero Maria is Nice, Omnicidal Maniac Gerald is the Mean and while Ivo hates everyone, he doesn't see any sense in killing them all.
- Non-Specifically Foreign: They presumably all grew up in the United States and live there, but Robotnik/Rabotnik is a fairly uncommon Slavic name (and yes, the word robot is derived from it). Gerald and Ivo, meanwhile, are Germanic names more common in Western Europe. Maria itself is reasonably common, but still less so than its variant Mary. It's possible that Gerald or his close ancestors were somewhere from Europe, perhaps around the Volga river.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Ivo is the Sensitive Guy to Gerald's Manly Man, the latter wanting to destroy all of humanity with no remorse and the former being more tame in comparison.
- Shared Family Quirks: All three members have eccentric personalities, ranging from precocious to snarky. They also get to show off their dance moves. At one point, Maria is seen wearing goggles not unlike her cousin's.
- Troll: They all get their jollies by riling up others, even their closest friends, as seen with Ivo and Stone or Maria and Shadow.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik / Dr. Eggman
Portrayed by: Jim Carrey
Voiced by: Mike Pollock (Sonic Dash)Foreign VAs
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Sonic's arch nemesis. A brilliant yet deranged roboticist who's completely full of himself, with the IQ and evil ambitions to match, as a scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik was hired by the US government in their attempts to detain Sonic. He invents and controls various machines, most of which are piloted remotely.
- Ace Pilot: He pilots a vehicle that fires laser bullets and rockets which he uses to try and kill Sonic, and the sequel features him using his classic Eggmobile against Sonic.
- Actor Allusion: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 shows Robotnik empowered by the Master Emerald, which envelops him with a green aura and in one instance his eyes even glow green. Green tends to be a recurring color in Jim Carrey's filmography, and getting an Imagination-Based Superpower from the Master Emerald's power adds another reference to The Mask.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: He reveals to Tom that he grew up as an orphan, and he was bullied as a child. In the games, his past is left vague, but it is implied that he had parents, as he at least had a grandfather, which is explored in the third movie.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the first film, Robotnik looks much more dashing than in the games, as he's in better shape, has a full head of hair, and his mustache is well-groomed. Subverted in The Stinger, which shows that after ending up stuck on the Mushroom World, he has shaved his head and grown out his mustache so it's now bushy like his game counterpart, but has retained the more fit body, albeit having gained a bit of weight. By the third film, he spends his time hiding that he lets himself go, making him look closer to his game counterpart, though has grown his hair out to be long and scraggly enough that Stone needs to shave him back to bald.
- Adaptational Badass: Dr. Eggman never used Chaos energy to empower himself in the games, but in the second movie, he directly juices himself up with Chaos energy, allowing him to teleport, sense electricity in people’s brains, and telekinetically build his giant robot. He's also shown engaging in hand-to-hand combat at times, something his game counterpart rarely does without mechanical aid.
- Adaptational Context Change: In the games, he is given the nickname "Dr. Eggman" based on his cartoony oval shaped body. In the movie, Sonic gives him the nickname based on his flying drones, which are ovoid and white.
- Adaptational Heroism: Minor, but one of his most infamous actions in the games is his destruction of half the moon to make a point that he was legitimately not messing around with his intentions to threaten the Earth into falling under him with the ARK's Eclipse Cannon. In the movie proper however, Eggman never intentionally destroys the Moon here, instead it being a purely accidental casualty as him, Tails, and Knuckles tries to divert the Eclipse Cannon away from the Earth. Eggman even calls Tails and Knuckles out on it when they cut the moon in half, even though he is as much responsible for it.
- Adaptational Jerkass: While no version of Robotnik is a Nice Guy, in the games he holds a certain amount of respect for his adversaries and has a sense of self-restraint when it comes to achieving his goals. Here, he's portrayed as a massive Jerkass who is pretty much incapable of being in the vicinity of another living being for very long without being rude and condescending to them.
- Adaptational Name Change: Played With. While the doctor's name remains the same, this is the first time he is primarily referred to as "Robotnik" in official capacity since the late 90s to early 2000s in the US before his nickname "Eggman" in Japan took over worldwide. Sonic and friends still call him "Eggman" as an Embarrassing Nickname, but Robotnik never reclaims the name for himself like his video game counterpart (as revealed in Sonic Frontiers).
- In the third movie, we see a broadcast warning about Robotnik's activities being broadcast in Japan, where the announcer very clearly says "Eggman" (With the name "Robotnik" instead being affiliated with Professor Gerald). It seems, in this universe, the Eggman/Robotnik split between the USA and Japan is inverted.
- While his first name is still "Ivo", the novelizations for the second and third films give him the middle name "Gerald", which never came up in the games.
- Adaptational Nationality: In the games, despite usually being depicted with an American accent, Robotnik's nationality has always been left a mystery, though is suggested to be of European descent. Here, however, Robotnik is all but stated to be an American citizen, having been raised and born there.
- Adaptational Wimp: Two variants.
- While this Dr. Robotnik is just as dangerous, if not more so, as any other, he lacks what most others versions have: an empire. His mainstream game counterpart, even after being defeated, usually has some base to retreat to or has recourses gained from shell-companies or just Offscreen Villain Dark Matter. Comics and Cartoon versions have the world or a chunk of it under their control. This one relies on government funding (which gets frozen by the second film) and the Master Emerald (which he also loses) before ever achieving something of an empire.
- In addition, his mainstream game counterpart has a massive ego and self-confidence that is genuine, believing deeply that he's the best and has a Determinator attitude that makes him never give up despite his huge failure record (Team Sonic Racing reveals he has over two hundred and twenty seven thousand defeats under his shoulders). This Robotnik's confidence and ego feels less genuine and more fragile and like he's got a chip on his shoulder, getting insecure and desperate to impress others and moping about how nobody wants him and how he doesn’t have a family - something game Eggman never cares about - and The third film shows he gets into a major funk after suffering two defeats from Sonic.
- Adaptation Dye-Job:
- Played With in regards to his hair color. In the games, his hair has varied in color between orange, auburn red, and dark brown. Here, Robotnik starts out with a full head of dark brown hair and a moustache that's the same color, then in The Stinger, he's shaved his hair off to be bald and has gained a more reddish mustache. His appearance in Sonic 2 has him retain his look, minus the gut.
- In the games, the few times Robotnik has been shown with his goggles off he's had blue eyes. Here Robotnik has Jim Carrey's brown eyes.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Sonic Adventure 2, Dr. Eggman took pride in having Shadow on his side, while Shadow could understand the doctor enough to use him and directly implants ideas to further his goals. Shadow also treats him with begrudging respect due to his more soft spoken nature, referring to him as Doctor rather than Eggman. In this universe, the two barely interact as Eggman has issues with working with yet another alien animal (possibly still wary after his team up with Knuckles and certainly can't stand to see another alien hedgehog) while Shadow doesn't seem to care about him one way or the other, putting more focus on his interactions with Gerald.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Speaking in alliterations is just one of the ways Robotnik hams it up, e.g. calling the Mushroom Planet a "portobello purgatory" or Knuckles "simple-minded space trash".
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When cornered by Super Sonic, Robotnik immediately starts putting on airs of letting bygones be bygones, and that there's good people on both sides as he's all but begging to not get his butt stomped. It really was to buy time to prep a giant Death Egg Robot punch… which doesn't work.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Robotnik's Heroic Sacrifice left Sonic and his friends shaken, despite how much enmity they had with him.Tails: Shadow and Robotnik, they sacrificed themselves... to save everyone.
Sonic: (sadly) You always have a choice... - All There in the Script: His first name, Ivo, is never mentioned in the first two films. It's only brought up in a Nickelodeon TV Spot
, confirmed in the second episode of Knuckles, then used frequently by Gerald Robotnik in the third film. - Always Second Best: His rivalry against Sonic can be considered a Lensman Arms Race of this, with Sonic always finding a way to up his game the moment Eggman finally has him cornered. When he finally has him good as dead in the first movie, Sonic reinforces his Chaos Energy and trashes his ship into the Mushroom Planet with ease. The second film shows Robotnik one-upping that in the form of Knuckles and the Master Emerald's power, only for another near victory to be met with Super Sonic and a second obliteration.
- Ambiguously Bi: Ship Tease with Stone aside, he never shows any particular romantic interest in anyone. However when trauma-dumping on Sonic in the third film, he states that his personality repels any prospective suitors from "all possible genders".
- Ambition Is Evil: In the second film, it's revealed that Robotnik's ultimate goals are to build a robotic empire and enslave all organic life, which is apparently something he's been planning for a long time, but was unable to attain due to lack of resources. Absorbing the power of the Master Emerald gives him the power to finally achieve his ambitions.
- AM/FM Characterization: Robotnik enjoys listening to "Where Evil Grows" by The Poppy Family and he holds a low opinion of Limp Bizkit. Eagle eyed viewers will also notice that he has Crush 40 on his playlist.
- And Then What?: Sonic asks this of him in the sequel after Robotnik gains the power of the Master Emerald for himself. Robotnik defies his expectations by explaining that he plans to enslave humanity to use them to build an army of machines, and then repeat this task across the universe and then the multiverse.Robotnik: I'm going to enslave humanity and force them to service my machines. First Green Hills, then the universe, then the multiverse, then who knows?! Maybe it'll be enough? Full disclosure: you won't be there.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: After Robotnik's disappearance to the Mushroom Planet, the United States government pretends he never existed, and they're all too happy to forget about him.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Quotes the trope when attacking Sonic's house with Knuckles.
- The Anti-Nihilist: A trait that he shares with his cousin, Maria, in a way. Despite sharing his disdain for humanity with his grandfather, he loves the Earth in his own "take over the world" way that he does not want to see it destroyed, and that he would rather see himself dead and the Earth saved than both himself and Earth dead."If I can't rule the world, I might as well save it!"
- Arch-Enemy: To Sonic, like in every iteration of the franchise. His status as this is officially cemented at the end of the first movie when Sonic banished him to the Mushroom Planet, where his already fragile psyche shatters from isolation and hunger, growing fixated on exacting revenge on the hedgehog. He was so utterly obsessed with destroying Sonic that it's used against him in the climax of the sequel, where Sonic draws his attention long enough for Knuckles and Tails to sneak aboard the Death Egg Robot and separate him from the Master Emerald.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: 50 feet is an understatement. In the second movie, he makes a Death Egg Robot that absolutely dwarfs the environment, making Sonic look like an ant in comparison.
- Audience Surrogate: His reactions to the first fight between Sonic and Knuckles practically speak for the audience, with him gleefully chowing down on popcorn as he watches.
- Ax-Crazy: Robotnik is already crazed to begin with, but his growing frustration with Tom and Sonic worsens his sanity. By the end of the film, he's long gone off the cliff, despite being convinced that his grasp on sanity is "absolute". He effectively lives in this state throughout the second film, which in his private moments is at times Played for Laughs — but he regularly has his moments where his cheerfully manic demeanor is played as dangerously unhinged. That being said, he still has enough sense not to blow up the planet, which causes him to turn against Gerald in the third movie after he finds out his grandfather is legitimately insane enough to do that.
- Badass Boast: At the end of the first movie. Despite being trapped on the Mushroom Planet with barely more than the clothes on his back, and freely admitting "a lesser man would die here", Robotnik brandishes Sonic's quill and declares that he'll "be home by Christmas". The second movie has Robotnik make good on his promise, managing to find his way back to Earth in just about 9 months!
- Badass Bookworm:
- While briefly recounting his childhood to Tom after their initial encounter, he mentions that he was once punched in the face by a school bully and put said bully in hospital in retaliation, leaving them "eating through a straw" for at least a year after.
- Later, when he encounters the same bar brawler who shrugged off being hit in the head by a bottle (and Sonic's Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs), he ends up throwing him through a window.
- Badass Longcoat: He starts out wearing one, but later on he starts wearing his standard red outfit. In the sequels Robotnik splits the difference and wears long red coats.
- Badass Normal: In a universe that is filled with superpowered anthropomorphic animals, Dr. Robotnik is still the greatest threat, based solely on his genius alone.
- Bald of Evil: At some point after he is banished to the Mushroom Planet, he shaves his head with a sharp piece of debris from his ruined flying machine (complemented by a wilder 'stache).
- Beneath the Mask: Robotnik makes it very clear he prefers to be alone and views other people as insubordinate and meaningless (except for Stone). Hence, why he prefers to have his machines do the work and shows more care for them. This misanthropic viewpoint stems from Ivo being orphaned with no family and being bullied as a kid. However, despite this, the moment he finds out he has a grandfather who's willing to spend time with him, he immediately grows attached and cherishes having family. It's made all the more tragic when Gerald reveals he only used his grandson for his own plans of revenge. And Eggman finally admits to Stone for being his only true friend and sincerely thanks him before his supposed death.
- Benevolent Boss: Downplayed. While Agent Stone is the only person that Robotnik shows any kindness to, Robotnik treats him not unlike how the SatAM version of Robotnik treated Snively. In spite of this, the film Robotnik genuinely considers Stone to be a dear friend that he values the most, even entrusting Stone with backup plans in case his previous plan would go awry while being completely honest with him about his evil schemes; he even willingly obliged to take Stone with him while assembling the Giant Eggman Robot to attack the heroes.
- Berserk Button: Other people using his technology without his knowledge is one for him. Seeing his drones being used by someone else is enough to motivate him to get off the couch and shave his head back to baldness.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Robotnik is a goofy Manchild that makes robot noises when he moves, dances and plays leg guitar in the middle of his schemes, and enjoys flaunting his superiority over others. But make no mistake, he is not someone to be taken lightly, because he is also a misanthrope with extremely high intelligence, little morality or empathy, and a very determined drive to succeed no matter the obstacles. In the first film he controls an army of highly advanced military drones he can command with a control console built into his gloves, and built an experimental personal aircraft that, with Sonic's quill to power it, can fly at supersonic speeds. As the films progress he repeatedly proves to be far more resourceful and ruthless than Sonic (or viewers) would expect given his behavior otherwise. This is also one of the only Robotniks to be depicted straight up killing another human on screen, something the franchise usually shies away from. Gerald might have had it coming, but still.
- Big Bad:
- In the first film, Eggman is a government agent employed to track down Sonic and take the secrets of his powers, with his vast intellect and advanced resources making him the only person conceivably capable of doing so. However, it's clear he has ulterior motives to exploit that power for himself.
- He continues this role in the second film, searching for the Master Emerald so he can use its power to take over humanity and manipulating Knuckles to act as his enforcer.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Subverted. In the third film, he works with his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, in hopes of using Shadow's power to take over the world. However, Gerald is ultimately using him to completely obliterate Earth, something even Eggman and Shadow find insane which forces them into an Enemy Mine with Sonic against Gerald.Sonic: There's two Eggmen now?!
Dr. Robotnik: Double your villains? Double your fun.
Prof. Gerald: Two Robotniks are way worse than one. - Big Badass Rig: His lab in the first movie can be described as an oversized Badnik in the form of a semi-truck. An all black 2014 Freightliner Argosy cab to be exact.
- Big "WHAT?!": A colossal one in the third film upon learning of Gerald's plans to destroy all of humanity and the Earth, including themselves, by firing the Eclipse Cannon, growing increasingly horrified as he realizes just how off his rocker his grandfather actually is.
- Blinded by Rage:
- After Tom learns of Robotnik's Trauma Button, Tom starts deliberately pressing it to make Robotnik angry enough to slip up. Tom warps up to Robotnik's hovership with a Ring and starts punching him repeatedly in the head, angering Robotnik enough to lose focus on Sonic at a critical moment and set him up directly for his defeat.
- This repeats itself in the sequel, where Sonic realizes that Robotnik now has an obsessive, seething hatred towards him, and puts himself in the crosshairs to make him lose focus on all else.
- Boomerang Bigot: Robotnik looks down on humans as inefficient, even though he is human himself. Given how deluded he is, it's possible he thinks he's the sole exception to the rule or above normal humans.
- Break the Haughty: Following his defeat at the end of the second movie, Robotnik has been falling into a depressive slump in his hideout and unsure what to do with himself until Team Sonic decides to ask for his help against Shadow.
- Broken Pedestal: Much like the games, once Robotnik learns he has a grandfather and he's both alive and is seemingly interested in connecting with him, Robotnik is over the moon sharing time with Gerald and indulging fully into the promise of being with the one thing he was denied growing up by having a connection with family — unaware that Gerald is simply using him and his resources to help carry out his genocidal mission to destroy all of humanity in Revenge — so, when Robotnik learns the truth of his plans and Gerald spells it out for him that he never cared for Ivo to begin with, the good doctor rightfully disowns him right there and tries to stop his plans to save the world. The pedestal is so thoroughly shattered by end that when Robotnik ends up killing Gerald by launching him into the energy field of the Eclipse Cannon via Ass Shove, there is absolutely no feelings lost as he makes a wisecrack about his grandfather's humiliating demise.
- Brought Down to Badass: After becoming a powerful Omnicidal Maniac from the Master Emerald's energy, he's nearly impossible to take down... until Knuckles gets his deserved revenge by punching Super Robotnik so hard, he extracts the Master Emerald from his body which leaves him helpless and vulnerable. However, he was still able to utilize his genius intellect to use the still-functioning Death Egg Robot in a desperate attempt to retrieve the Master Emerald at all costs.
- The Bully: Though he hates bullies due to his childhood trauma of having to deal with one as a child, Robotnik is no better than one. He is rude and unpleasant to everyone he comes across, and uses his authority and resources to threaten and demean others, as well as throwing his weight around them.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He is extremely weird and a huge asshole, but is also one of the most intelligent scientists in the world, hence why the US military (reluctantly) has hired him for some dirty jobs and brings him on to investigate the Pacific Northwest blackout. In the third movie, even Sonic himself resorts to teaming up with him in order to defeat Shadow when he ran out of options.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He calls his drones "Badniks", acknowledges his truck as an "Evil Lair", has his lab labeled as "Evil Lab" on his circuit breaker, and dances to "Where Evil Grows" by the Poppy Family
while studying Sonic's quill. It only gets more blatant in the sequel, where he refers to himself as "diabolical evil". - Chewing the Scenery: Robotnik does this in just the first few minutes of his introduction, interrupting the major in charge with a loud, demanding voice. He doesn't slow down from there.
- Clothing Reflects Personality: His gloves contain controls for his various machines; notably, the controls are located on the palms of his gloves, reflecting that while he isn't doing his own heavy lifting, he's too much of a Control Freak not to take a "hands-on" approach to oversight.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He's quite the wacky character, and clearly gets even wackier after his banishment in the Mushroom Planet. Being played by Jim Carrey certainly helps.
- Companion Cube: In the first stinger, stranded on the Mushroom Planet, he has made himself a new "Agent Stone" to keep him company/boss around... by taking a literal stone, carving it into the likeness of the real one, and throwing it around to go on "rock-connaissance".
- Composite Character:
- Played With. Robotnik being a goverment scientist is shared with his grandfather from the games, Gerald Robotnik. His disdain for organic life and instead trusting only machines, while implied with Eggman in the games and several other incarnations, is more in line with Lyric from Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric due to how far more overt Robotnik is about it.
- The first movie’s final outfit, based on a red flight suit, is in line with Eggman's design in Sonic Boom, with a certain dash of his infamous 2006 design. Both of these designs are known for not having the ol' doctor as a comical Fat Bastard, but instead looking fit or average in shape. Additionally, he doesn't wear glasses like his US portrayal of the character and has goggles on his head like his modern incarnation.
- In the second movie he is given reality-warping powers by the Master Emerald, and uses that power to become a God above all humanity to try to ruthlessly kill Sonic and his friends and take over the universe. This is very similar to the Sonic the Comic Robotnik in the Robotnik Reigns Supreme arc, who does the same thing. His super form in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was likewise powered by the Emeralds and transformed him into a giant. Here, instead he builds a giant robot in his own image that mimics his movements, to the same effect.
- Control Freak: Why he prefers machines to other humans: they can only do exactly what he wants them to do, and do so without hesitation or doubt.
- Cool Shades: As is standard for the character, he wears sunglasses in a few of his scenes, at least until they're distorted following his first encounter with Sonic. In the sequels he gains Exhausted Eye Bags that resemble his blackened eyes from the cartoons and American game art in the 90s.
- Costume Evolution: Robotnik starts off with a black outfit with maroon lining before switching to a red flight suit with his trademark googles. In the sequel he dons a new red and black coat with a High Collar of Doom and new goggles. The third film finally has him don the iconic buckled coat from the games, with a fat gut to top it off.
- Crazy-Prepared: He had the foresight to design an armed robotic vehicle to deploy a smaller one from its underside in the event it gets tipped on its side, and the smaller vehicle can in turn continue functioning so long as it has even one wheel left. Even if it loses that, its eye can take flight and has some manner of cutting laser. If it stops working in that form, it becomes a Sticky Bomb. If one looks closer at the designs for the larger segments of the creations, you can see even more eventualities being planned for, such as having literal eyes in the back of its 'head'. Even his Death Egg Robot is also not exempt from this trope; he had it originally powered by the Master Emerald, but also made sure it had backup power to keep trucking on, as well as making it compatible with his usual glove interface in case he somehow managed to lose the all-powerful artifact. More humorously, he also included an instruction manual for all the functions of said Robot, including weapons he didn't know it had, despite having built it with his mind and Chaos energy on the fly.
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: After gaining the power of chaos, Robotnik develops black markings around his eyes, which when combined with his Glowing Eyes of Doom evoke his menacing appearance in the various Sonic cartoons that came out in the 90s. He keeps this trait by the third film, but instead of showing him as this menacing, all-powerful evil, it shows how far he's fallen on hard times and how his obsession with hating Sonic has ruined him so thoroughly he clearly doesn't get enough sleep anymore as he remains in hiding.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check:
- Zigzagged throughout the movie. His brilliant inventions could earn him a lot of honest money, but he does work for the American government, meaning he has an "honest" job — even though it's mentioned he helped in coups against nations in the Middle East. Then, after obtaining one of Sonic's quills, he uses it for his own purposes of building more robots, instead of researching it as a new green energy source.
- It actually works against him in the sequel. His government connections mean that once G.U.N. is aware of his return, they're easily able to track him down. After he obtains the Master Emerald, he may have godlike power, but G.U.N. freezes all of his assets and has his hideout in the Mean Bean coffee shop surrounded already. If he didn't have the Emerald, he'd have been screwed right there.
- Dark and Troubled Past: A Played for Laughs example. He was orphaned as a child, and at school, he was punched in the face by The Bully. Instead of reporting it to the principal like normal, he took his own revenge, and somehow left the bully in question only able to eat through a straw for at least a year. Also, that's how he got the Trauma Button about being punched.
- Dastardly Whiplash: He's got a prominent chin, curled mustache, black coat, and flamboyantly villainous personality. His mustache grows even bigger when stranded on the Mushroom Planet. Ironically, Jeff Fowler stated
that he wanted to defy certain aspects of this trope, calling the game version of Robotnik "moustache-twirly" and saying he wanted this interpretation to be more "grounded." Sonic himself describes him as "a madman with a mustache from the Civil War". - Deadpan Snarker: As hammy and crazed as he is, Robotnik also has a penchant for snarky one-liners.Robotnik: I'm initiating a sweep sequence! [inputs commands on his glove to activate his flying drones] Ten miles in every direction should suffice. Is he [Bennington] still looking at me funny?
Stone: Yes, he is.
Robotnik: [nonchalantly] Tell him to stop, or I'll pull up his search history. - Death by Irony: In the words of the President from Shadow the Hedgehog, after the way humanity treated Eggman, he saved them all in the end.
- Decomposite Character: His role in freeing Shadow from his stasis in Sonic Adventure 2 was given to Gerald Robotnik instead.
- Defiant to the End: Though it's ambiguous, it's presumed that he fell to his death when the Death Egg Robot was toppled over by Sonic. Not only did he try to trick Sonic by pretending to surrender to get the drop on him, when he was toppled off the Death Egg he lets out a mocking "Later, hater!"
- Determinator: Even after being banished to the Mushroom Planet, spending 87 days there alone, and completely losing his mind, Robotnik refuses to give up and is determined to find a way back to Earth. The second movie reveals that he does, thanks to Knuckles giving him a way off.
- Devil in Plain Sight: As the man himself lampshades, Knuckles really should've known better than to think the Obviously Evil Mad Scientist was a trustworthy friend.Robotnik: You poor, naive creature! It's not your fault. A more advanced intellect would have seen this move coming a mile away. …Or 1.6 kilometers.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: While telling Knuckles that he had served his purpose, he further taunts him by saying he was foolish for being willing to trust him and thinking they were friends.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He threatens to pull up Major Bennington's search history for continuously looking at him funny. He also develops a vendetta against Tom for the sheriff slugging him across the face, and vows to ruin his life out of revenge as well as capture Sonic. He also admits to having done so in his younger days, mentioning that a bully once punched him in the face and humiliated him in front of the school, and Robotnik, instead of simply reporting him to the principal, retaliated by doing... something that left said bully hospitalized and unable to eat anything without a straw for nearly a year.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He's this for Commander Walters in the first film. He is technically being employed by Walters to capture Sonic, but his vast resources, immense intellect, and grander ambitions outside make him pretty much an independent Big Bad.
- The Dreaded: When Commander Waters suggests bringing Robotnik in to investigate the blackout in the Pacific Northwest, his peers react with dread and ask if there's any other recourse, not because they're scared of him, but because he's such an asshole.
- Drink-Based Characterization:
- He drinks lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk, which are prepared by his lackey Agent Stone, to showcase his ludicrous standards and overbearingness.
- In the sequel he tries making beverages from pulped mushrooms, which taste awful. Funnily enough, by the time he gets to try another of Stone's lattes, he's become accustomed to the taste of mushrooms and states that the latte could use some.
- Emerald Power: Robotnik's Master Emerald-fueled super mode, fittingly, is accompanied by green-colored energy.
- Emperor Scientist: His end goal is to enslave humanity under his own regime, with ambitions of making it a multiversal empire. Unlike his games counterpart, however, he never actually manages to start one.
- Empowered Badass Normal: In the first movie (and also in the second to a decent extent), he is mostly a threat due to his Super-Intelligence and mechanical arsenal. In the second movie, he directly empowers himself with the Master Emerald in the climax, granting him levitation/flight, teleportation, and telekinesis.
- Enemy Mine: Subverted but later, played straight in Sonic 3. In that film, Ivo decides to team-up with Team Sonic due to somebody using his tech without his permission. However, after he finds out that the culprit was Gerald, he decides to betray Team Sonic, and work with Gerald and Shadow. However, after he finds out the true extent of Gerald's plans, he decides to team-up with Team Sonic for real this time to put an end to Gerald's plans.
- Energy Absorption: As the Reality Warper Super Robotnik, the doctor "eats" a display bagel by converting it into pure energy and consuming it in one gulp.
- Establishing Character Moment: When Robotnik meets with the military, he wastes no time in showing everyone how insufferably vain and abrasive he is.Robotnik: I'm sorry, Major. What was your name?
Major Bennington: Benningt-
Robotnik: NOBODY CARES! Nobody cares! Listen, Major Nobody-cares, you know why nobody cares who you are? Because nobody cares about your feeble accomplishments. And nobody cares how proud your mommy is that you're now read at a 3rd grade level. Have you finished Charlotte's Web yet? Spoiler alert; she dies at the end. But she leaves a big creepy egg sac. - Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Despite how he sometimes treats him, he does value Agent Stone as his Only Friend. Before he goes down with the Eclipse Cannon in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, he transmits a final message to Earth via livestream addressing Agent Stone, proclaiming him the only friend he ever had and the sole reason he's bothering to save the Earth, and tearfully admitting he loves his lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk and the way Stone makes them.
- He's legitimately overjoyed when he finds out his grandfather, Gerald, is still alive and is hurt when Gerald reveals he only ever saw him as a means to an end.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Not him personally, but he does get a few Played for Laughs examples.
- While chasing after Sonic in his prototype flyer, he calls out Sonic for making an illegal left turn, and chastises him for running up one of the pyramids of Giza, pointing that they are one of the seven wonders of the world (even though he blew up the Sphinx's head beforehand).
- When Sonic shoves Tom and Maddie off a building, Robotnik is shocked, and even states, "I was not expecting that". But he was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count.
- It's played straight in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where even someone as unapologetically evil as him not only disapproves of Gerald's plan to blow up the planet as revenge for Maria's death from a practical Evil Versus Oblivion standpoint, but rightfully expresses shock and outrage over how said plan is downright insane. Said aversion to Gerald's plot is so huge, Ivo turns on his grandfather.Robotnik: WHAT?! We can't annihilate the Earth!!
- Not him personally, but he does get a few Played for Laughs examples.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- Robotnik is genuinely confused as to why Tom is going out of his way to help Sonic, despite how much chaos he's brought into his life. Tom's reply is simple, but effective:Tom: He was my friend.
- Zig-zagged in the second movie. While he claims that friendship means nothing, he's at the same time aware that friends are "open, honest and vulnerable with each other". It's maybe possible that following the events of the first movie and having to rely on Knuckles and Stone, Robotnik at least understands the benefits of friendship at a surface level… but still views himself as above such things.
- This is finally subverted in the third movie. When Shadow enlists his help to stop the Eclipse Cannon from destroying the Earth, Robotnik is visibly moved by Shadow's sincere determination to protect the planet, and he decides to help save the world on behalf of one very special henchman: Agent Stone. Robotnik's subsequent Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye to his "syco-friend" is heartfelt and even tearful at one point, showing that he has come to genuinely value his friendship with Stone.
- Robotnik is genuinely confused as to why Tom is going out of his way to help Sonic, despite how much chaos he's brought into his life. Tom's reply is simple, but effective:
- Evil Counterpart:
- To Sonic. Sonic is an alien hedgehog who ultimately just wants companionship, and makes it a point to look out for those who care about him. Robotnik, meanwhile, is ultimately a power-hungry sociopath who doesn't care about friendship and is a total dick to just about everyone except Agent Stone sometimes, despite being human. Not to mention that both of them have been orphans at one point in their lives.
- He's also this to Tom, albeit more subtly: both are ultimately normal humans in roles of authority and respect, but Tom is a small town sheriff beloved by his hometown for being reliable and kind, whereas Robotnik is a high-ranking government agent who unsettles even his own employers, thanks to his unstable personality and incredible Jerkass traits. Because of this, and being the super-intelligent narcissist he is, Robotnik views Tom as exactly the kind of "mediocre" everyman that represents his contempt towards humanity, which only serves to further his breakdown when it turns out this "rural chum" is more crafty and resourceful than he thought. In the end, Tom foregoes leaving Green Hills for the SFPD, having gained a sense of mattering to the people of his town from his adventure with Sonic, while Robotnik's mad scheme for world domination results in him being banished straight to the Mushroom Planet and getting unpersoned by the government. In the sequel he also has Knuckles as an alien companion like Sonic to Tom, even calling their quest a road trip, similar to Tom and Sonic's journey from the first movie.
- Tails and Dr. Robotnik are both geniuses with a knack for engineering and a connection to Sonic. However, Tails' inventions are harmless for the most part, with even his weapons designed to incapacitate the targets rather than hurt or kill them, and he adores Sonic. By contrast, Robotnik uses his machines to hurt and destroy above all else, and he absolutely loathes Sonic to the point of wanting him dead.
- Evil Genius: He creates rather impressive gadgets and machines, but he's also in this solely for his own motivations. He's also a completely Smug Snake.
- Evil Gloating: Robotnik wastes no time in trying to take control of the situation and then bragging about it. A noticeable trend about his brand is that it's very matter-of-fact and dependent on how in-control he actually is, so anyone with sufficiently cutting wit or a long enough winning streak against him can get under his skin even when he has a decisive advantage. Despite Tom being a normal, average-intelligence sheriff of a small town, Robotnik's gloating barely fazes him because of passing slights like Tom punching him in the face or hanging up on him during a phone rant.
- Evil Is Hammy: Jim Carrey is clearly having the time of his life bringing Robotnik to the big screen, combining his penchant for loud and manic characters with the already bombastic nature of the source character. Whether it's him dancing while preparing his vehicles, to screaming about his love of lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk, his portrayal is definitely one to be remembered. Then there's the moment Robotnik has a Freak Out, complete with exaggerated movements, after Sonic destroys his robots on the highway.Robotnik: [stomping around his base] OUUUUUGH! GIVE ME A BIG! FAT! BREAK!
- Evil Is Petty: He wants to ruin Tom's life in addition to capturing Sonic because Tom punched him in the face. It reminds Robotnik too much of a childhood bully.
- Evil Laugh: While Robotnik generally takes himself too seriously to let out a laugh, he lets off a truly hamtastic one over his bizarre "rock-connaissance" joke, made more menacing by his Vocal Evolution. It even sounds somewhat like a bleating goat.
- Evil Orphan: Robotnik off-handedly mentions growing up as an orphan to Tom at least twice: once when they first meet, and the next while he's threatening him over the phone when he and Sonic are at the truck stop.
- Evil Sorcerer: He becomes one in the second movie thanks to harnessing the Chaos energy directly. He can use it to float and conjure up bolts of energy from his hands.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: Just like his game counterpart, he wants to rule the world, not destroy it, and so turns against his grandfather after learning he plans on doing the latter (and failing to talk him out of it with an offer of We Can Rule Together).
- Evil Wears Black: Compared to his game counterpart's red and black attire, this Robotnik is introduced wearing an almost completely black outfit
, though he later changes into a red flightsuit
that makes him look more like his game counterpart. In the second movie, he changes to a different red outfit with black highlights, which gets turned into a black outfit with green highlights when he absorbs the Master Emerald, and then reverts back to red and black when the Master Emerald gets punched out of him. - The Exile: At the end of the film, Sonic and Tom foil Robotnik's plans by banishing him to the Mushroom Planet. However, he insists that he'll be "home by Christmas" with one of Sonic's quills. The second movie's first trailer shows that he does just that, with Robotnik finding his way back to Earth after only nine months.
- Fantastic Racism: Robotnik has a massive disdain for any organic life compared to technology, as it does what it's told and is much more efficient. Played With, in that he himself is a human who possesses these beliefs, as opposed to an evil robot or an AI.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Knuckles saves him from being run over by a large boulder by holding up a trap door long enough for him to get through. Robotnik returns the favor by stealing the Master Emerald from him and leaving him to die in the collapsing temple.
- Face Death with Dignity: Robotnik doesn't seem terribly fazed by the prospect of dying in the process of stopping the Eclipse Cannon from destroying Earth, even broadcasting a Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye to Agent Stone to admit the former, deep down, did consider Stone a friend despite the various types of abuse Robotnik heaped onto the latter throughout the three films.Robotnik: It's been a real drag! Thanks for nothing.
- Fat Bastard: He's let himself go from living in hiding by the time of Sonic 3, leading him to gaining the round gut that characterizes his video game counterpart.
- Fatal Flaw: Wrath. Robotnik engineers his own defeat in Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 by focusing entirely on someone other than who he should be focusing on. When Robotnik gets mad enough, he becomes so obsessed with the target of his ire that it blinds Robotnik to the actions of Sonic's friends until it's too late.
- Fate Worse than Death: If Robotnik's remark about the Mushroom Planet is anything to go by, this is essentially his ultimate fate upon his banishment there. With that said, he proclaims that this won't hold him for long, and come the second movie, he makes it off the planet back to Earth to enact his revenge.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's able to act civil and polite when he wants to, but even then, it seems he can't even be in the same vicinity of another human being for long without being rude and insulting in some manner. This is best shown when he tracks Sonic to Tom's house; he introduces himself to Tom cordially, but soon devolves into bragging about his intelligence while mocking Tom's own before casually threatening him with a drone for Sonic's location.
- Fetishized Abuser: Agent Stone is head over heels for Robotnik despite the doctor's awful treatment of him. A key moment being when Robotnik belts Stone in the sternum for no reason and Stone is implied to enjoy it.
- Foil: To Sonic. Whereas Sonic has humble ambitions, is content to live a quiet life within Green Hills and mainly dreaming of modest things like having friends and taking part in a baseball game, Robotnik's ambitions include the enslavement of humanity to construct a machine empire. This is taken to its logical extreme in the second film. When Robotnik gains the power of the Master Emerald, he sets about constructing the Death Egg Robot that would allow him to enslave humanity before moving onto the rest of the universe. But, when Sonic absorbs the power of the Chaos Emeralds, he only uses it to defeat Robotnik, summon a few chili dogs, and willingly gives up the incredible power with no prompting, as he's content just being an average kid in Green Hills.
- Formerly Fit: While the first film makes Robotnik out to be something of a cerebral fitness freak, by the third movie he's revealed to have really let himself go while in hiding, developing a large paunch that brings him one more step closer to resembling his video game counterpart. The way he talks about it implies that this is because he has completely stopped caring how others view him.
- Freudian Excuse Denial: He grew up orphaned, with no friends, bullied at school and with a burdensome power, much like Sonic. Unlike Sonic, he decided to embrace the loneliness by retreating into his ego, deciding he was superior to the rest of humanity and that friends would only drag him down, and uses his power for his own irresponsible self-benefit rather than to help anyone else. In the present day, he gladly boasts about his troubled childhood as having helped him become the "superior" person that he is now.
- Freudian Excuse: While too prideful to admit it, Robotnik grew up as a bullied orphan with no one who cared about him. Jim Carrey has stated he hates Sonic so much because he's jealous of his found family, while Gerald observes Ivo's isolated and troubled childhood helped make him who he is. Ultimately, when he finally gets the family he was denied all of his life, only to find said "family" never cared for him, does he finally begin to realise that said issue is no excuse for his villainy and attitude.Gerald: Humanity is a failed experiment! If anyone should know that, it's you. All your life, you've been rejected by this world. You have nothing down there... no one who cares about you.
- Genius Bruiser: Downplayed. While he consistently overpowers any human that attempts to fight him and is a hardy survivalist, he would much rather just use his machines to do the heavy lifting and relax in his chair.
- Geniuses Have Multiple PhDs: Dr. Ivo Robotnik is mentioned early on to have five doctorates, as well as an absurdly high I.Q. (and being "a psychological tire fire") as the reason why the Pentagon tries to tolerate him as a specialist.
- A God Am I: In the second movie, he obtains the Master Emerald and gets upgraded into a super powerful human who is one with darkness (as he puts it). After boasting about how powerful he is, he transforms the metal around him into a giant mech robot.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Not that he was all that sane to begin with. Having been stranded in the Mushroom Planet for 87 days and shaving his head completely bald hasn't given his sanity any help. He even adopts a Companion Cube rock and calls it Agent Stone after his former lackey. In spite of this, he makes a Badass Boast that this isn't going to hold him back.
- Glowing Mechanical Eyes: Not him, but his inventions tend to have one akin to HAL 9000.
- Godzilla Threshold: The entire reason the US government hired him to capture Sonic in the first place. It's made clear that they can't stand him, since he's a rude, obnoxious Insufferable Genius with little in the way of ethics or restraint, but they feel that they have no choice but to hire him for an unknown threat such as Sonic's EMP.
- Gratuitous Japanese: When he examines a strand of Sonic's quills up-close, he says "omoshiroi" ("interesting"), for no apparent reason.
- Gratuitous Spanish:
- He says "¿Dónde has estado toda mi vida?" while admiring the Master Emerald. It becomes Gratuitous Italian in the Latin American Spanish dub.
- In the third movie, he says "Vaya con Dios, erizo apestoso" right before he and Super Shadow perform their Heroic Sacrifice to save the Earth from the Eclipse Cannon.
- Green and Mean: His eyes, outfit, and energy are all vivid green when he's charged with the Master Emerald. All three traits disappear after Knuckles punches the Emerald out of him.
- Green-Eyed Monster: According to Jim Carrey, one of the reasons he hates Sonic so much is because he has a Found Family while Robotnik grew up an orphan who was rejected by everyone.
- Hated by All: Robotnik is despised by almost everyone except for Agent Stone, and given he's a rude, obnoxious Mad Scientist with no scruples, it's not hard to see why. The government only hires him because he's just that good, in spite of how much of a jerk he is, and only bring him in to capture Sonic once they realize they have no other choice. When Robotnik is banished to the Mushroom Planet, they're happy he's gone, and immediately remove any trace of his existence.
- Heel–Face Turn: This version of the mad doctor is the first ever version of the character to flat out be redeemed as he sacrifices himself by preventing the Eclipse Cannon from destroying Earth along with Shadow. Somewhat downplayed by him still admitting that if circumstances were different, he'd still gladly have conquered the world.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He stays behind on the Eclipse Cannon as it's being destroyed to help Shadow prevent it from destroying the Earth.
- Hidden Depths:
- He might be a card-carrying villain, but he was bullied as a kid, left the bully eating through a straw, and still seethes with anger when he talks about it.
- For someone who hates humanity, he's also a remarkably good dancer. According to the third movie, it's genetic. Or Gerald just likes to dance. Or he learned just to manipulate Ivo.
- He apparently hate-watched Green Lantern (2011) when it came out in 2011. Ironically his Master Emerald form is a fairly accurate depiction of a Green Lantern, albeit on a supervillain.
- Horrible Judge of Character: When Agent Stone tells him that Gerald is someone that Ivo shouldn't trust, Ivo refuses to believe Stone, and proceeds to continue to work with Gerald until his grandfather makes it clear that Ivo should have trusted Stone in the first place.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: In stark contrast to Sonic, an alien hedgehog who is ultimately revealed to be very friendly, Robotnik is a cruel, sociopathic, rude, abrasive, and power-hungry human. Tom even lampshades it during the climax, remarking that Sonic knows more about being human than Robotnik ever will.
- Humongous Mecha: He constructs a huge robot out of any and all metal in the surrounding area during the climax of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with the power of the Master Emerald. He then controls it directly by channeling the Master Emerald's power straight into the robot until Knuckles separates him from the Master Emerald. However the titanic machine can still be controlled through Robotnik's conventional glove and console-based interfaces as a backup.
- Hypocrite:
- Robotnik constantly harps on how machines are better than people because machines are efficient and obey him without fail, yet he gets mad at Agent Stone for prioritizing his safety over taking the initiative and chasing after Tom and Sonic when they get away.
- When Robotnik catches Knuckles invading his mech alongside Tails, he remarks that the echidna is disloyal, even though he's the one who betrayed him first.
- His first scene in the third movie has him claiming that family is nothing but an unnecessary burden. He quickly changes his tune when he meets his long-lost grandfather, being openly affectionate and close with him. Of course, learning about Gerald's plan pretty much kills any love between the two; Ivo even sends Gerald to his death with nothing less than glee.
- Iconic Attribute Adoption Moment: Each film sees Robotnik adopt more of his video game counterpart's traits. In the first film, he's fit and well-groomed with a small mustache, slicked back hair, and black clothes with sunglasses, and then he dons a red coat and goggles for the climax when piloting his aircraft. By The Stinger, after getting banished to the Mushroom Planet, he's shaved his head bald to deal with the humidity while his mustache has grown out and become much bushier, and when he returns to Earth in 2 he dons a new coat that is primarily black but incorporates more red. In 3, his time eating junk food while in hiding has given him a significant gut and his mustache has grown even further, and in the climax his grandfather reveals a pair of matching coats for them that are an exact match to Eggman's modern design. The result of all this is a pitch-perfect, game-accurate Eggman in both physique and attire.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: He'd never admit it out loud to anyone, but Robotnik does crave genuine affection from others even if he's too self-centered to actually want to change himself for others. He's very quick to join forces with his grandfather Gerald and revels in being able to enjoy the pleasures of a close family and he's genuinely heartbroken to hear straight from Gerald's lips that he was always using him and that he's "no Maria". Even after he fights Gerald to try and stop the Eclipse Cannon, he still finds himself ready to admit that he still loves his grandfather due to the time they got to spend together. The feelings are not reciprocated.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Robotnik will readily flip from lording his superior intellect over everyone within earshot to berating someone for so much as mentioning an experience or ability he lacks. He especially has trouble with anyone talking back to him, particularly if they got a good zinger in.
- Informed Attribute: At no point in the first movie does Robotnik claim to want to take over the world, as claimed in outside material. He's arrogant and a misanthrope, but the movie gives the impression he merely wants to test his machines using Sonic's power. Any world domination plan can only be implied. This is averted in the second movie, where he seeks the power of the Master Emerald to use it to turn humanity into his robotic slaves and eventually become a Multiversal Conqueror.
- Insufferable Genius: The United States government doesn't want to work with him. Within minutes of Robotnik meeting the military, it's clear why: Robotnik immediately declares himself superior to Major Bennington and mouths off to him.Robotnik: In a sequentially ranked hierarchy, based on level of critical importance, the disparity between us is too vast to quantify. Agent Stone?
Stone: [matter-of-factly] The doctor thinks you're basic. - In-Series Nickname: At the beginning of the first film's climax, Sonic bestows the classic "Eggman" nickname upon him, though here it's based on the design of his robots rather than his physique. In a simulation we see a Robotnik-themed amusement park called "Eggmanland", showing that he's accepted the nickname.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: It's implied that he was a child genius, which unfortunately made him an outsider amongst his peers and contributed to his ego and lack of empathy for others.
- Irony:
- In the second film, he spends a majority of the film manipulating Knuckles into thinking they were friends. Come to the third film, where Ivo was the one getting manipulated by Gerald.
- In the third film, Ivo decides to give his life to save the Earth from being destroyed by the ARK's explosion, even when he had all the reasons in the world not to.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: During the climax of the first movie, he outright calls Sonic a "thing" while questioning why Tom would throw his life away to help him. Subverted by the second film onwards, where he calls Sonic by name, including his species name hedgehog. Being isolated on the Mushroom Planet certainly gave him time to think about him.
- It's All About Me: Robotnik cares little about the United States, the government, or anyone except himself. He wants to capture Sonic and study him because he wants to build better robots.Robotnik: That's one small step for man... one giant leap for me.
- It's Personal:
- After Tom sucker-punches him, Robotnik explains the last time he was punched was by a bully in school. He then got his revenge and swore that nobody would ever punch him again. Tom just did, so making Tom suffer is now one of Robotnik's goals in addition to catching Sonic.
- After his defeat by Sonic at the end of the first movie, Robotnik develops a deep hatred toward him to the point of changing his approach from simply catch and discover his power to outright destroy him by any means necessary as soon as he return from the mushroom planet.
- I Was Quite the Looker: When we first see him, he started off as a slim, well-built, flexible man with combed dark hair, a neatly groomed moustache and tidy clothes. Throughout the films, following each of his defeats, he ends up with a shaven head, slightly tanned skin and tattered clothes, his moustache becomes comically thick and bushy, he puts on a little weight, he becomes disheveled and fat from binge-eating and by the end of the third movie, he's the spitting image of his video game counterpart.
- Jerkass: He's a rude, obnoxious, and condescending asshole who can hardly finish a sentence without insulting someone, and he's trying to kill Sonic for his own greedy purposes. He's such a jerk that when he's banished to the Mushroom Planet, the government pretends he never existed and tries to forget about him.
- Jerkass Realization: A very minor example given just how much of a jerk he is, but after being strung along and then abandoned by his own grandfather, Robotnik uses what seems to be his final moments to save the world and while he does brag about it, he spends most of his final moments telling Agent Stone that he was his "sycofriend", implying he's finally realised that never receiving any family love or compassion does not excuse his decision to be a villain.
- Jive Turkey: Despite his age, Robotnik makes sure to keep up with modern slang and references to ensure that his intellect is always current with its insults and boasts.
- Joker Immunity: Being Sonic's most iconic Arch-Enemy in the entire franchise and played by Jim Carrey, Robotnik has always come back from the brink of Uncertain Doom, whether it be seemingly dying or being banished to another planet with little to no chance of escape. The only reason he even has these Uncertain Doom endings in the first place is to give Carrey a means to jump off from future Sonic projects should he ever feel disinterested in playing Robotnik again.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Downplayed. Robotnik's a Card-Carrying Villain right off the bat, but he's at least nominally well-intentioned and operating under the U.S. government's orders even if he's motivated primarily by harnessing Sonic's power for his machines. By the time of the sequel, any pretenses of morality are gone and Robotnik's goals have shifted to universal domination.
- Kick the Dog: One of his specialties.
- When Sonic appears to be dead in the first movie, Robotnik bluntly suggests putting his "body" on ice, and coldly remarks that he was just a "silly little alien" who never belonged on Earth in the first place.
- In the midst of betraying Knuckles, he mockingly claims that a more advanced intellect would have seen the betrayal coming.
- When Agent Stone tries to warn him that Gerald has far worse plans than world domination, Robotnik coldly claims that Stone is simply jealous, and proceeds to both fire and insult him. He ultimately regrets it.
- Klaatu Barada Nikto: Robotnik shouts it as an alien triggers one of his traps on the Mushroom Planet.
- Lack of Empathy: This is to be expected of a villain as cartoonish as Eggman. A good example is when Sonic pushes Tom and Maddie off a building (in order to save them), Robotnik is at first surprised, saying he wasn't expecting that, but then shrugs it off, saying "I was expecting not to expect anything, so it doesn't count" while showing an utterly callous lack of concern towards Tom and Maddie falling to their (apparent) deaths. Later, when Sonic is apparently killed, Robotnik taunts the grieving Tom by eagerly going on about how he wants to put the hedgehog's body on ice and dissect him as an alien, while calling him a "thing".
- Lame Last Words: Robotnik shouts "Later, hater!" to Super Sonic as he falls to his Uncertain Doom. As he (maybe) dies in the third film, his last words are a sarcastic "Thanks for nothing!".
- Large Ham: Being a mad scientist played by notorious ham Jim Carrey, this is a given. When angry or flustered, he's prone to Milking the Giant Cow and shouting at the top of his lungs.
- Laser-Guided Karma: As if being banished to a faraway planet isn't enough, the self-centered doctor gets the icing on the cake in the form of being officially forgotten by the U.S. government.
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone refers to him as "Robotnik," including the doctor himself. The only person who doesn't is Sonic, who calls him "Eggman" after the shape of his drones. His first name is finally mentioned in the third movie, by his grandfather.
- Last of His Kind: In the third film, Robotnik proudly remarks that he will be the last of his lineage as he is an orphan, a shameless misanthrope and is considered repellant by almost everyone he meets. Should he have survived the Eclipse Cannon's explosion, this'll be the case for real.
- Laughably Evil: While he's mostly devoid of redeeming qualities, Robotnik is still one of the funniest characters in all three films. Any time he's on screen, there is always at least one moment that he has that you can't help but find absolutely hilarious. Being played by Jim Carrey, this is to be expected.
- Lean and Mean: Unlike his Fat Bastard video game counterpart, this Robotnik starts out slim, though like his video game counterpart, he's still the same asshole we know and love. After being banished to Mushroom World, Robotnik looked to be gaining weight but at the beginning of 2 he's lost the excess weight he carried. The trailer for 3 shows he's developed a Balloon Belly and really let himself go.
- Leitmotif: He has his own menacing theme
in the first movie, which is a close soundalike to his theme in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. His ringtone samples the opening to "E.G.G.M.A.N." from Sonic Adventure 2 - Love Is a Weakness: In direct opposition to Sonic's outlook of I Just Want to Have Friends, Robotnik vocally makes a point of having no friends. In his stated opinion, the simple fact that people are fallible, while machines can only serve in their designed capacity, is cause enough in itself to forego such attachments altogether.
- MacGyvering: At the end of the first film he's banished to the Mushroom Planet and is shown to have nothing but Sonic's charged-up quill and a backpack of scrap parts salvaged from his wrecked supersonic flyer. But those limited resources are all he needs; Robotnik survives eight months alone, building elaborate machinery and traps with little more than mushrooms, vines, and rocks, while using the scrap and Sonic's quill to build a signal beacon to trick someone into coming to rescue him. The first film caps off how hopeless it seems with this summative Badass Boast, which he lives up to;Robotnik: Here's the sitch: uninhabited planet, no resources, no supplies, no apparent way home. A lesser man would die here. I'll be home by Christmas.
- Madness Makeover: In The Stinger of the first movie, he's shaved his head bald and his mustache has grown much longer and more unkempt, reflecting his classic appearance from the games. In the third movie his hair has grown back rapidly enough to become a tangled mop.
- Mad Scientist: He tends to act quite kooky and hammy, and is an evil scientist hired to hunt down Sonic and aiming to find the source of his powers for his own ends.
- The Men in Black: Though he doesn't fit the look, he does still wear all black, and fits the trope otherwise. Even before the US government made him an Un-person and erased their records of him, its strongly implied that a lot of the work he did for them was off the books and top-secret, plus as an independent contractor he can work outside the system and allow them plausible deniability. The Secretary of Defense says that Robotnik has intervened with foreign affairs to stop coups and topple budding nations without anyone (officially) knowing he was there or that such an incident even occurred. Not to mention this line he throws out when Tom tries to threaten him using his authority as sheriff.Robotnik: How can you threaten someone who never existed?
- Malicious Misnaming: Like with the Wachowskis, Sonic refers to him as Eggman because of his white, egg-shaped drones. Unlike the Wachowskis, of course, it's more of an insult.
- Meaningful Name: Robotnik/Rabotnik is an actual Slavic surname, meaning "worker" or "laborer", quite befitting his line of work and dedication to it. Fittingly, the word "robot" is derived from the same source.note
- Minor Injury Overreaction: A simple punch in the face from Tom is enough to set him off in a major way and decide that It's Personal. Though it could be because it reminded him of the traumatic time a bully in school gave him a serious injury.
- Misanthrope Supreme:
- He's a human who hates humanity. Robotnik finds humans to be a letdown, thinks everyone is stupid except for him, and makes a point of having no friends. The reason Robotnik loves machines is because of their greater efficiency and how they can only do as they're told.
- Downplayed in Sonic 3. It becomes more apparent his distain for other people is because of how he had no family of his own growing up who showed him love and affection. While his opinion on humanity hasn't changed much by the end of the movie, he does admit to Agent Stone to being his one true friend in his life before his Heroic Sacrifice… albeit in his own, very Robotnik way.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: While Robotnik is already appalled enough with his grandfather's true plan to blow up the Earth, the latter disowned him when he tries to talk him over to rule the world together as a family instead becomes a final nail in the coffin for his adoration toward him.
- Morality Pet: The only nice thing he does in the entire movie is compliment the way Stone makes lattes when offered one. Despite claiming he's not going to miss Stone when they depart, on the mushroom planet he names a literal rock "Agent Stone" and takes the rock with him, indicating he does miss Stone deep down. The sequel shows him acting more friendly with Stone once the two reunite, with Robotnik admitting he missed him. He even takes him to his Humongous Mecha without any hesitation after gaining the powers of the Master Emerald.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: He insists on being called a doctor, and certainly likes less than savory approaches to science, down to saying to a KO'd Sonic that he'll love dissecting his body.
- Movie Superheroes Wear Black: In the first movie, he is introduced wearing an all-black suit, rather than his traditional "red jacket, black pants" look from the games. He goes on to Subvert this, however, by adding more and more red color to his outfit as time passes.
- Multiversal Conqueror: Played with. As Super Robotnik, he talks about how he plans on eventually conquering the multiverse but he's stopped by Sonic and friends before he can try to carry out such an ambitious plan.
- Narcissist: He is an incredibly insufferable egomaniac. It's to the point that he spends half the time in the presence of others telling them how much better he is than them. The fact that he keeps Agent Stone around as his Yes-Man shows that he needs constant reaffirmation for his ego. His Establishing Character Moment shows him constantly asserting his dominance over the military crew he's working with, belittling the major's credentials without letting him get a word in edgewise, and almost immediately telling him that his men work for Robotnik now. Ironically, his narcissism actually ends up serving into a virtue in his own right as his intense want for validation proves he has a stronger value for life than his grandfather, as in no way would he stoop to destroying the Earth when he wants to be acknowledged for his greatness and is even willing to save the world at the cost of his own life, if only because the heroism of the act would be rewarding enough for his ego.
- Near-Villain Victory: Even when he's confronted by the combined alliances of Team Sonic, Super Robotnik, along with his Death Egg Robot, was still too much for them to properly defeat. Getting the Master Emerald punched out of him (thanks to Knuckles) didn't really dwindle his capabilities too much, as he used his intact mecha to slowly track Sonic down with each thunderous stomp while the latter was heavily limping towards the Master Emerald. Tom and Maddie were able to rescue him in time before the blue speedster became a blue pancake, but Robotnik did manage to crush him and his family... right after the Chaos Emeralds were absorbed by Sonic, which he uses to transform into Super Sonic; this allows him to save them all at the last second and give the wicked doctor a taste of his own medicine. But the fact remains: if Robotnik had been a little bit quicker, there wouldn't have been an angry golden hedgehog raining vengeance upon him— just a smear on his mech's giant foot. Tails and Knuckles likely wouldn't have stood a chance afterward, either.Robotnik: I GOT HIM! I finally got him! (cackles madly)
- Nerdy Bully: The World's Smartest Man, and he never passes up the chance to rub it in someone's face.
- Never Found the Body: While searching the wreckage of Robotnik's mech, G.U.N fails to find him or his corpse... though Stone's presence disguised as a G.U.N agent suggests Robotnik may not be gone. The third movie confirmed he survived.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: He's the In-Between to Maria's Nice and Gerald's Mean. While he spends the first two movies being an unrepentant Card-Carrying Villain, in the third movie he expresses horror over Gerald's plan to destroy the world and seemingly sacrifices himself to destroy the Eclipse Cannon, though not before broadcasting a message for Agent Stone letting him know that he truly considered him a friend.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His initial appearance seems to take cues from Friedrich Nietzsche.
◊ Fitting, really, considering that Robotnik thinks of himself as an intellectual Übermensch that scoffs at sentimentality. - Noodle Incident:
- He apparently provided support for the US government during coups against Pakistan and Azerbaijanistan, though what kind of support he gave to them is left unexplained. Judging by a remark from the Navy Chief of Staff regarding the latter ("It's not even a country."), it probably wasn't pleasant.
- As Robotnik mentions to Tom in a phone call, a bully once punched him in the face as a child. Robotnik did something in retaliation that led to the bully eating through a straw for a year. It's how Robotnik got his Trauma Button about being punched in the face.
- Not So Similar: Both he and Sonic grew up orphans, with no friends and a burdensome power (Sonic his Super-Speed, Robotnik his Super-Intelligence). That's where the similarities end: whereas Robotnik is a Jerkass and Misanthrope Supreme who embraces his loneliness and makes a point of having no friends at all, Sonic is a Nice Guy who Hates Being Alone and just wants to have friends. They do both like to make pop culture references, though.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: At the start of the first film, he's working for the American government to investigate a massive blackout and eventually apprehend the possibly dangerous alien lifeform that turns out to have caused it, which could be seen as a worthy goal. However, it quickly becomes obvious that he doesn't really give a damn about the government except as a convenient source of funding for his technology, and as soon as he discovers the kind of potential Sonic holds, all he really cares about is harnessing this unlimited power for himself and his machines.
- Obviously Evil: He wears black with the later addition of red, is a total dick to everyone he interacts with, installs ominous glowing eyes in his robots, and wants to capture Sonic for his own nefarious purposes. The fact that his mobile lab and robots are labeled "Evil Lab" and "Badniks" on the lab's breaker-box should tell you everything.
- Oh, Crap!:
- He's got a hilariously shocked look on his face when Sonic totals his eggpod and launches him into the horizon.
- Robotnik doesn't get sad, or terrified that he got the Master Emerald punched out of him.. he gets mad, and still attempts one final kill move on the blur blue. Then Super Sonic emerges, and one can practically see the aghast horror in Robotnik's face as he realizes his prior godlike power is now inside his arch-nemesis. Doesn't stop him from trying to fight back, and that really doesn't work.
- Only Friend: Agent Stone is this for him, especially in the sequels. Most exemplified in the finales of the second and third movies: while Super Robotnik has just finished betraying Knuckles and is now a borderline Physical God with no need for anyone else, he still obliges Stone's request to Take Me With You, lets him control the Death Egg Robot's weapons, and openly thanks him, a level of kindness no one else genuinely receives from the Doctor. Meanwhile in 3, despite having previously thrown Stone aside in favor his grandfather Gerald, Robotnik takes the time out of his Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye to tell Stone that he was more than a sycophant, but a "syco-friend", and that he really did enjoy his lattes.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During the finale for the third film, after learning the truth behind Gerald's intentions to destroy the Earth rather than conquer it as he was led to believe, Eggman demonstrates he does have some scruples and immediately opposes his grandfather to save the Earth despite how repeatedly he lauded how much of a Card-Carrying Villain he is in the series — this is explicitly doubled down when the Eclipse Cannon's reactor is overloading, Eggman himself earnestly volunteers to sacrifice himself to save the Earth to buy Shadow enough time to push the Eclipse Cannon out of orbit and showing a surprising amount of humility about the action, using his opportunity to broadcast to the world in his final moments and praise Stone for having always been a "sycofriend", as opposed to just gloating about himself saving the world. Granted, he goes out pretty defiantly by telling the world, "It's been a real drag! Thanks for nothing," showing that he's still a proud jerk to the very end.
- Oral Fixation: After getting Sonic's quill, he has a knack to stick it in his mouth multiple times... and gets mildly electrocuted each time.
- Parental Abandonment: He grew up in an orphanage, he never met his parents, and when Tom points out he was breastfed by his mother, Robotnik calls him a braggart.
- Pass the Popcorn: After he introduces Knuckles to Sonic, Robotnik just casually grabs himself a bowl of popcorn while watching the two have their first encounter.
- Pet the Dog:
- Robotnik is a misanthrope who hates other people, but he has a consistent soft spot for Agent Stone, who proves himself a competent and loyal Number Two. He appreciates his lattes and openly says he loves how Stone makes them, and when he's stranded on the mushroom planet he names a rock "Agent Stone" as his companion. When he returns to Earth in the sequel, he recruits Stone to be his aide again and in the climax takes him with him aboard the Death Egg Robot to help him pilot it, even though by this point Robotnik is a Physical God who has no need for him, even shown to briefly be visibly concerned for him when he is knocked out cold at one point. In the Pre-Quill comic series, Robotnik leaves a manifesto for Stone to help him survive and prepare for his return, and in it, Robotnik remarks that while Stone is a half-wit compared to him, compared to normal humans he's a genius in his own right.
- This is escalated further in the third movie, where upon learning about Gerald's plot to destroy the Earth, Robotnik willingly helps Sonic and the others in redirecting the Eclipse Cannon away from the Earth (even Shadow tags along as well). And while in the process of sacrificing himself to stabilize the collapsing Eclipse Cannon long enough for Shadow to push it out of Earth's orbit, he transmits a final message to Earth via livestream addressing Agent Stone, earnestly calling his assistant the best friend he ever had (or his "syco-friend") and how he enjoyed his lattes before he dies to save the world from his own actions.
- The Pig-Pen: The third movie shows that he hasn't really been keeping up with his hygiene after going into hiding. His lair is also a total pigsty.
- Physical God: After betraying Knuckles, he absorbs the Master Emerald to become Super Robotnik, and using his newfound power, he builds his giant Death Egg Robot with the scraps different vehicles and objects around Green Hills.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: Robotnik is well-versed in pop culture. Examples include quoting The Wizard of Oz when confronting Sonic after his return and admitting that he hate-watched Green Lantern (2011).
- Power Glows: Upon empowering himself with the Master Emerald in the second movie, he is constantly depicted surging with green electricity, not unlike the blue and red lightning coming off of Sonic and Knuckles respectively.
- Power-Up Full Color Change: Much like Super Sonic, "Super Robotnik" also gets a complete color change after absorbing the Master Emerald, with the red parts of his outfit changing to black and the black parts changing to green.
- Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye: While remaining on the crumbling Eclipse Cannon to stabilize its failing core and buy Shadow time to push it away from Earth, he makes a public livestream dedicated to Agent Stone, thanking him for being a good friend and admitting he loves how his henchman made his lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He wants to rule the world, hence why turns against Gerald's scheme to destroy it. Afterwards, he performs a seeming Heroic Sacrifice to stop the Eclipse Cannon's explosion from irradiating the planet… though given how this is Robotnik we're talking about, it's possible that he also wanted the planet to stick around so that if he survived, it could be available for his conquest next time.
- Precision F-Strike: Delirious with disbelief and anger, he gives Tom a pointed one after Tom knowingly invokes his anger by relentlessly beating him about the head to save Sonic.Robotnik: Who the hell do you think you are!?
- Psychopathic Manchild: It wouldn't be Robotnik otherwise. His very hammy personality and delight in being evil show him as a very childish and immature man. He is also very petty, as shown when he makes things personal with Tom after being punched in the face by him. And when he reunites with his grandfather in the third movie, he spends his time together like a little kid in the VR simulation.
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: When addressing Major Bennington, Robotnik constantly cuts him off.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He tends to give these out in quick succession to whomever he feels isn't complying with his demands in the manner to which he is accustomed and then gets one himself from Tom after it seems he's killed Sonic.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Robotnik initially wears a black suit and coat, but once he gets into his prototype hovercraft, he swaps it out for a black and red flight suit and goggles that look more like his traditional outfit.
- Redemption Equals Death: Shockingly for someone otherwise unrepentant about his evilness, he ultimately dies sacrificing himself to stop the Eclipse Cannon from destroying the Earth.
- Replacement Goldfish: Initially believes himself to be one for his grandfather Gerald in the third movie, until Gerald tells him to his face that he's not Maria and doesn't care for him, subverting this trope.
- Robot Master: Natch. He builds drones, giant robots, and flying machines. He says he does this because machines can only perform in their designated capacity, unlike humans.Robotnik: The time for talking is over! It's time to push buttons!
- Running Gag: Robotnik has a weird obsession of licking Sonic's quill, getting electrified by it in the process. He does this at least once or twice per movie.
- Sad Clown: The third movie hints that a lot of his eccentricities are a result of him constantly feeling alone in the world so he doesn't even bother being socially acceptable.
- Sanity Slippage: As seen in The Stinger, being trapped on the Mushroom Planet does a number on his already questionable mental health, the results of which are seen in the sequel, where he does things that aren't so much mad genius as they are plain mad, like leaping onto the windshield of Tails' commandeered police car and licking it.
- Screams Like a Little Girl:
- He lets loose a high-pitched scream upon seeing Sonic for the first time, which gives Tom enough of a distraction to punch Robotnik right in the face. It's too bad for Tom that this makes it personal with Robotnik, who has a personal Trauma Button against being hit in the face.
- He does it again at the start of the second movie (as in, it's literally the exact same scream from the last example) when he gets zapped and flung away after activating his handmade beacon with Sonic's quill in an attempt to get off the Mushroom Planet.
- And a THIRD time in the threequel, when he sees Stone and Team Sonic gazing at him slapping his newfound gut, acting as if he was doing something…different.
- Sealed Evil in Another World: His fate in the first film is him being stranded on the Mushroom Planet. The opening of the second film has him escaping by using Sonic's quill and tech salvaged from his aircraft to send an interplanetary distress beacon, Knuckles responding and bringing him back to Earth due to his target just happens to live there.
- Self-Made Orphan: He kills Gerald, his grandfather and only living relative, but only in order to stop the Eclipse Cannon from destroying the Earth. Even Tails and Knuckles are impressed by it.
- Shock and Awe: His new gloves give him the ability to discharge yellow electricity from his fingers.
- The Sociopath: Jim Carrey describes Robotnik's character in an interview as "pure, unadulterated evil", and it shows. Despite his humorous qualities, Robotnik is a ruthless narcissist who sees people only as tools to benefit him, has no problem killing anyone who gets in the way of his plans, doesn't care about any collateral damage, and his intentions are purely selfish. Despite this, he does at least seem to share a genuine friendship with Agent Stone, coming to appreciate Stone and his company, actually allowing Stone to join him in his Death Egg Robot, teaming up with Sonic and the others to foil Gerald's plot in destroying the Earth, and eventually admitting that he saw Stone as a friend before his Heroic Sacrifice. Given this, and its implication, Ivo can feel genuine empathy for other people, it's likely he doesn't qualify for sociopathy, but rather very extreme narcissism.
- Sore Loser: As this character analysis
points out, this version of Robotnik hates to lose. While his defeat in the first film can be seen as a setback rather than him completely losing, his defeat in the second film caused him to go into a depressive spiral. - Spiteful Suicide: Maybe. Still, when Super Sonic confronts him in the second film with full intent on making him pay once and for all and the robot is blowing up all around him, Robotnik jumps off the robot and vanishes in the chaos while yelling "later, hater!"
- Stephen Ulysses Perhero: His name is Dr. Robotnik and he is a supervillain Gadgeteer Genius who uses robots and drones for his evil deeds.
- Stronger Than They Look: He looks like the type of guy who relies on robots to do the fighting for him, but he is able to throw a man much heavier than him through a window and easily knocks Tom off his hovercraft after getting blindsided. Case in point, a
Deleted Scene in 3 that explained Robotnik's survival at the end of the prior film, despite falling dozens of stories to his seeming death, Agent Stone found him Only Mostly Dead with every single bone in his body broken and multiple ruptured organs... and yet with the sheer advanced technology Robotnik had at his disposal, he was able to recover completely with no long term side-effects whatsoever because he is simply that resilient, albeit after months of recovery. - Super-Intelligence: The closest thing that Robotnik has to a superpower that contrasts Sonic's Super-Speed is his own immense intelligence (he has 5 PhDs and an IQ of 300). To wit:
- He generally create revolutionary advanced technology many years ahead of it's time, allowing the American government to topple multiple nations in covert operations.
- In the first film, he's able to accurately guess Sonic's physical appearance with little evidence to go on, and reverse-engineer Sonic's Super-Speed by empowering his Eggpod with one of Sonic's quills.
- During his year long exile in the Mushroom World, he's able to survive by identifying which of the fungi is edible while simultaneously creating a beacon through the salvaged parts of his destroyed Eggpod along with Sonic's quill.
- Super Mode: In the climax of the sequel, he absorbs the Master Emerald to obtain a Super form of his very own, colored black with green highlights. He channels its energy to power the newly-built Death Egg Robot which he constructs through the state's psychokinetic prowess and the ability of the Master Emerald to turn thoughts into power.
- Super-Speed: In the climax of the first film, he achieves this by empowering his Eggpod with one of Sonic's quills, allowing him to keep up with Sonic as the latter tries to outrun him.
- Take Over the World: Upon discovering Sonic and his immense power, he decides to throw the government under the bus and kill Sonic himself. Why? So that he can steal his energy to power his robot army, which he plans to use to achieve global domination. After receiving the power of the Master Emerald, he directly states that he intends to take over the Earth, then the universe, then the multiverse.
- Touché: Upon seeing Tails using his tails like a helicopter to fly Sonic to safety, Robotnik gives off an impressed chuckle and comments, "Foxy move!"
- Tragic Villain: While he tries to deny it, Robotnik is ultimately the same lonely, bullied orphan he was as a child, only he now uses his vast intellect and Card-Carrying Villain personality to hide his insecurities and force people to respect (or fear) him. This is accentuated by the fact that, despite dismissing things like friendship and family as worthless, he nevertheless keeps Agent Stone around for company and immediately joins Gerald upon learning that the latter is his long lost grandfather, proving that deep down, Ivo desperately craves the very things he was deprived of throughout his childhood.
- Tranquil Fury: He talks with Tom on the phone about the latter punching him in the face in a calm yet threatening tone, making it clear he will ruin Tom's life for it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Coffee. In particular, lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk. While trapped on the Mushroom Planet, he attempted to make a mushroom-based coffee substitute, with limited success, and his first stop on Earth after making an attempt on Sonic's life is Agent Stone's coffee shop for a long-overdue latte.
- Trapped in Another World: At the end of the film, Sonic uses his rings to banish him from Earth and trap him on the Mushroom Planet. By the time of The Stinger, he's been trapped there for 87 days and has gone mad from the isolation, but nonetheless vows to return to Earth and succeeded.
- Trauma Button: A Played for Laughs variant, but being punched in the face. It reminds him of unpleasant childhood memories. When Tom does it, he makes it personal with Robotnik, making the doctor want to ruin Tom's life as much as he wants to capture Sonic.
- Tricked-Out Gloves: Before he switches over to fingerless gloves, he wears black gloves that have a device in them that scans footprints and lets him remotely control his robots, among other things. The first style of gloves returns in the sequel.
- The Unfettered: Robotnik does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and has no concern for the consequences.
- Took a Level in Kindness:
- Heavily downplayed, but he does treat Stone better in the second movie compared to their first outing.
- Come the third movie, even before his Heroic Sacrifice, he's ever-so-slightly more soft-spoken and less quick to lash out, even calmly trauma-dumping upon Sonic when they split up in the G.U.N. fortress after the group splits up and teaming up with them in the first place for next to nothing in return, not even putting up a fight. Then when his final moments do come, he broadcasts a Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye directed at Agent Stone, proclaiming him as his friend, a stark contrast to his crude treatment to him in the past.
- Uncertain Doom:
- He's last seen plunging into the remains of his own collapsing, exploding mecha. G.U.N. seems to believe he's dead, but they're unable to find any trace of his body at the end—that and the presence of Stone among the agents heavily suggests the good doctor managed to find a way to survive the explosion, but nothing's confirmed at the end of the film. There’s also the fact that Eggman in the games is known for Joker Immunity and surviving much worse. He is shown to have survived in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which goes unexplained save for a
Deleted Scene where it is revealed that Agent Stone recovered him from the debris that night and nursed a severely wounded Robotniknote back to health. - The third film has him seemingly dying in a Heroic Sacrifice to make sure that the Eclipse Cannon doesn't destroy the world. However, given how an army of Metal Sonics are shown during The Stinger, and Eggman created Metal Sonic in the games, it begs the question if Ivo survived once more, especially since Shadow has revealed to have survived in The Stinger.
- He's last seen plunging into the remains of his own collapsing, exploding mecha. G.U.N. seems to believe he's dead, but they're unable to find any trace of his body at the end—that and the presence of Stone among the agents heavily suggests the good doctor managed to find a way to survive the explosion, but nothing's confirmed at the end of the film. There’s also the fact that Eggman in the games is known for Joker Immunity and surviving much worse. He is shown to have survived in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which goes unexplained save for a
- The Un-Favorite: In the third movie, Gerald makes it clear that he still favors Maria over Ivo, who doesn't take this kindly.
- Un-person: At the end of the film, he is banished to another planet by Sonic, and upon doing so, the government, who never liked him anyway and only hired him because they had to, is quick to erase all traces of him from existence. When questioned about Robotnik by Tom, Commander Walters says "no such person exists". Ironically, early in the movie, Robotnik threatens to unperson Tom when the local sheriff gets in his way. This likely means there wasn't much for the government to clean.
- Vetinari Job Security: This is the entire reason the government puts up with Robotnik and continues to hire him for such things as capturing Sonic. Yes, he's a rude, obnoxious, sociopathic asshole, but he's also a legitimate genius and just that good at what he does.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Despite being in a lighthearted buddy comedy film and having humorous qualities himself, Robotnik still stands out for being a self-centered, cruel, unpleasant, sociopathic asshole with few redeeming traits.
- Villainous Breakdown:
- Throughout the first film, he gets more and more frustrated by Sonic and Tom's ability to avoid him. At the finale, he really loses it. When his Trauma Button gets pressed by Tom, he loses focus, and Sonic banishes Robotnik to the Mushroom Planet with a Warp Ring as a result. There, Robotnik starts to Go Mad from the Isolation, complete with a Madness Makeover. In spite of that, Robotnik confidently vows that he'll find a way back and take his revenge on everyone.
- He suffers this experience again in the second film's climax, which happens right after Knuckles literally beats the power of the Master Emerald out of him, causing the mythical gemstone to fall out of the opened hatch of his Death Egg Robot. When he realizes that he's no longer in his Super Mode, Robotnik becomes anxious as well as infuriated by the situation that forces him to use his robot by using natural operations to ensure his interrupted conquest before Sonic can grab ahold of it to defeat him.Robotnik: Move, you hunk of junk! […] No!
- Villain Team-Up: The second trailer for the third film implies that Robotnik would betray the Enemy Mine with Sonic's Team in favor of his tearful reunion with his grandfather, Gerald. He quickly breaks the alliance when he realizes Gerald is going to outright destroy the planet and himself with the Eclipse Cannon as revenge for Maria's death.
- Villain Has a Point: In the second film, just as he betrays Knuckles by taking the Chaos Emerald for himself, Knuckles furiously objects to this by saying that it wasn't part of the deal they made, and that he trusted Robotnik as a friend. However, Robotnik wisely points out that true friendship involves being open, honest, and vulnerable with each other, and that Knuckles should've known better than to put his trust in Robotnik in the first place. As cruel as he puts it, Robotnik is correct about the ideal of true friendship, especially regarding the fact that he genuinely considers Agent Stone to be his only friend, due to being very open and honest with him.
- Villain Opening Scene: The first scene of the second movie starts with him stranded on the Mushroom Planet for 8 months, creating a beacon to find a way of escaping the "piece of shitake planet!".
- Villains Out Shopping: While examining the energy output of Sonic's quill, he happily dances to "Where Evil Grows" and accepts a latte from Agent Stone. His return in 3 shows that he finally developed his signature physique from the games by spending a large chunk of his downtime watching sappy telenovelas and scarfing down junk food.
- Villainous Friendship: The closest thing he has to a friend is Agent Stone, and even then, Robotnik barely tolerates him, acting rude and contemptuous of him, occasionally using him as his punching bag, and even threatening to ditch him multiple times despite Stone acting very polite and doing everything Robotnik asks him to. That said, it is ultimately shown that Robotnik does consider Stone a true friend, going as far as admitting he missed him when he returns from his banishment in the second film. In the third film, when he's about to be blown up with the unstable Eclipse Cannon as part of his Heroic Sacrifice, he dedicates one last livestream to Stone, calling him not a mere sycophant, but a "syco-friend".
- Villainous Valour:
- Robotnik doesn't just think he's an apex predator— it's how he does his business. Beyond how his only response to Sonic's destructive otherworldly power is gleeful curiosity about how he can exploit it, his approach to dealing with an uncooperative biker thug is to simply chuck him out a window without so much as a second thought. Come the third act of the first film, his response to Sonic getting back up at full power and racing towards him is to slide down his goggles with only so much as a smirk, and manages to keep his valour throughout the final clash until he's banished to the Mushroom Planet. However, despite now being potentially millions of light years from home, he's still dead-set on finding a way back to Earth using nothing but his raw expertise and one of Sonic's quills.
- In the second movie despite being vastly outmatched by Super Sonic pure power Robotnik doesn't give up and fights to the bitter end. He shows how prepared and resourceful he is by having means to control his massive robot without its main power source as well. What he has in brains and arrogance he has in tenacity.
- Villains Want Mercy: Subverted at the climax of the second movie. When he witnesses Super Sonic making short work of his Death Egg robot, his reaction is to beg for peace and try to get him to drop their whole conflict as a way of buying time to hit him with a punch. It fails, however, and he takes his defeat with surprising nonchalance.Robotnik: Ohh, it's like that? Okay, we're not friends! (falls out of the Death Egg Robot) LATER, HATER!!!
- Vocal Evolution: Throughout the first film, Robotnik's voice is more or less Jim Carrey in Large Ham mode, but by the time of the ending, his voice has noticeably become a lot gravellier since his banishment to the Mushroom World. In fact, it comes off as quite an impressive impersonation of Eggman's most famous voice actor, Mike Pollock. In the second movie, his voice is still a bit deeper but retains Carrey's other mannerisms, coming off as a mix between the two vocal styles. Upon obtaining the Master Emerald and gaining his Super Mode, his voice gains an eerie, almost autotuned echo that makes him sound demonic, especially when he's speaking through the Death Egg Robot.
- We Can Rule Together: In the third movie, Ivo remarks to his grandfather that by combining the genius of them two, they can rule humanity together. Unfortunately, already deep in his misanthropy, Gerald doesn't return the sentiment.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He's more than eager to harvest an alien hedgehog for the sole purpose of making better robots.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: After being empowered by the Master Emerald, Robotnik's goal long jumps from "kill Sonic" to "enslave the universe". He outright admits to Agent Stone that he's not all there at the time.
- World's Smartest Man: As with the source material, Robotnik sees himself as this, and can definitely back it up, given how much more advanced his inventions are than anything else in the world. This trope is the reason the government puts up with his incredibly unlikable personality. That said, his grandfather proves himself capable of comparable and even greater feats, and spends the third movie playing him like a fiddle.
- The Worf Effect: During Sonic the Hedgehog 3, in addition to being even more out of shape, Robotnik has even less resources and never has the same lethality from the previous two films. This is especially apparent when he fights his grandfather.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: As described by Jim Carrey, Robotnik is the way he is because he lacked nurturing, love, or guidance in his formative years. In Jim's own words, "He hates the world because the world abandoned him".
- Would Hurt a Child: Throughout the movie, he is trying to capture and eventually kill Sonic, who is just a teenager.
- You Are What You Hate: Not only is Robotnik a human who looks down on other humans, he's also an even bigger bully than his childhood tormentors, given his own jerkass behavior and domineering personality. However, he is less compared to his grandfather, who is more malevolent.
- You Don't Look Like You: Subverted. In the first half of the film, Jim Carrey's Robotnik only vaguely looks like Eggman. He resembles Jim Carrey himself a lot more, but with a smaller yet cartoonishly styled brown mustache, as well as wearing a long black coat and square sunglasses in his initial scenes. He also has hair, something that the original Eggman never had. This changes over the course of the movie, as he eventually dons his trademark red bodysuit and goggles later on, and finally appears like the game version with a shaved head and bushy dark red mustache in The Stinger and the sequel, which also gives him a new suit that adds some yellow to the red coloration. By the third film, he has gained a noticeable gut that makes him much closer to Eggman's proportions, and right before the climax Gerald gifts him an outfit that is a direct recreation of his outfit from Sonic Adventure onwards, finally perfecting his look.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After he steals the Master Emerald, he plans to leave Knuckles with Sonic in the collapsing temple, and tells Knuckles that he was incredibly dumb to trust him and think that they were the best of friends. But he doesn't do the same with Stone; when the latter pleads with Robotnik to take him with him, Robotnik obliges without hesitation.Robotnik: (to Knuckles) Sadly, you are as useful to me now as a backstage pass to Limp Bizkit.
Professor Gerald Robotnik
Played by: Jim CarreyForeign VAs
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The leading director of Project Shadow, as well as Maria and Ivo's grandfather. Decades later in the future, Gerald allied himself with his surrogate son/former test subject to achieve their revenge against those who took the most important person in their lives with the help of Eggman, his long lost grandson.
- Acrofatic: Like his grandson, he has a visible gut but is surprisingly agile, especially given his age.
- Actor Allusion:
- Gerald's appearance and voice bring to mind Carrey's take on Ebenezer Scrooge and/or Count Olaf.
- At one point, he dresses like Santa Claus, which Carrey had done before.
- Adaptational Badass: In the original games, while immensely smart, Gerald was very much a Non-Action Big Bad in part because he was a Posthumous Character by the time of the plot, and also because he never designed his technology to be weaponized intentionally until after Maria's death and only had enough time to invoke a long-term Thanatos Gambit in an attempt at Revenge due to being captured and executed before he could carry it out proper. Due to being Spared By Adaptation in the film series, Gerald proves to be comparable if not outright superior to his grandson both in ingenuity and physical ability despite his advanced age because he's spent the last fifty years in captivity preparing to claim his revenge. It takes an Enemy Mine between Eggman, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles to defeat him and foil his plot for good.
- Adaptational Comic Relief: Zigzaged. Professor Gerald in the games has no comical traits to speak of while Gerald in the movie-verse is played by Jim Carrey with all the wacky antics that entails. While it is eventually revealed that this goofiness is simply an act to manipulate Ivo, and he is still a genocidal madman who wants all of humanity, himself included, eradicated to pay for Maria's death at the hands of GUN, he still acts a bit comical during his final battle with Ivo near the end.
- Adaptational Intelligence: While significantly less accomplished than his game counterpart given Shadow's origin change and The Ark not existing in this continuity, Gerald is still able to present the same level of threat to the Earth with only a smaller version of the Eclipse Cannon and Shadow at his disposal.
- Adaptational Jerkass:
- In Sonic Frontiers, Eggman expressed frustration that everyone spoke about the deceased Maria as such a saint while neglecting him, which at best has an inkling of truth as shown by Gerald's diary in Shadow Generations. However, he explicitly says he never personally knew his grandfather, and does not seem to dwell on their lack of a relationship. Here, Gerald explicitly favored Maria, dismissing Ivo completely as a means to an end when the facade drops. The same can be said for Shadow, who he notes has outlived his usefulness by the time he betrays their mission.
- In this version, he apparently has a sexist streak, as evidenced by his interaction with Director Rockwell, while in the original franchise he had no such bigoted tendencies. Part of this might be because he hasn't directly interacted with the rest of the world since the 1970s, so he is out of touch with society.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the games, Gerald was a kind-hearted scientist who only wanted to use his discoveries for the betterment of mankind, including creating Shadow the Hedgehog to find a cure for an incurable disease and the Eclipse Cannon to protect the Earth from alien invaders. He was driven to genocidal insanity due to the loss of his granddaughter, which he at least partially believed was his own fault for working with Black Doom and G.U.N., and he died well before his final plan went into motion. In the movie, while his love for Maria is genuine, because he lived until the present day without reconsidering his Revenge plot, his hatred for humanity becomes more malicious, and it is clear that he is emotionally manipulating Shadow into destroying the world. He made the Eclipse Cannon specifically to destroy humanity, and even treats his living grandson like garbage the second he doesn't agree with his plan. There's also no indication that his experiments with Shadow had a benign purpose, since he merely found Shadow and exploited his Chaos energy, and his Shared Family Quirks with Dr. Robotnik implies that he is genuinely evil and not just a grieving grandfather. Also, he's a misogynist, which his game counterpart never showed any sign of being.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In his original appearances (Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow The Hedgehog), Gerald displayed a kind grandfatherly demeanor before shifting into a vengeful madman who is played 100 percent seriously. Here, his personality is a Large Ham who is Laughably Evil just like his grandson, mainly due to also being played by Jim Carrey. It's later revealed to partially be an act, and he actually possesses the same deranged fury that his game counterpart did over Maria's death, but still is as hammy and comedic when fighting against his grandson.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the games, Dr. Eggman has enormous respect for his grandfather's work, but the two of them never personally meet as Gerald remained on the ARK when Maria got her illness while the rest of the family stayed on Earth.(
Word of God states Eggman's age is ambiguous, but less than 50
, meaning the two weren't even alive at the same time) In the third movie, they both warmly greet upon meeting for the first time and join forces to take over the world. Or so it seems. In reality, Gerald was only putting on an act in order to manipulate him into helping him reactivate the Eclipse Cannon in order to destroy the planet, which is similar to what he did in Sonic Adventure 2, albeit posthumously and not targeted at Ivo specifically. - While both the film and the game version of Gerald ultimately saw Shadow as a tool for revenge against humanity as they were driven into insanity, there's nothing shown if Gerald had the same heartwarming relationship he had with Shadow in the games through the film. Though Gerald did warn Maria that the military was trying to take Shadow from them, with the hedgehog listening to Gerald as a friend, but nothing is confirmed beyond this.
- Having died decades before the first installment takes place, the Gerald Robotnik of the games obviously never met Sonic and co. This one has, and expresses a similar distaste for them as his grandson, albeit seeming more annoyed than truly hateful of them and treating them as an obstacle at worst.
- In the games, Dr. Eggman has enormous respect for his grandfather's work, but the two of them never personally meet as Gerald remained on the ARK when Maria got her illness while the rest of the family stayed on Earth.(
- The Ageless: Gerald looks like the same old man he was fifty years before, and is a proud supercentenarian.
- Age Lift: Gerald was around 60 when he met his demise before the events of Sonic Adventure 2. Since this Gerald survived to the present day, he's now a whooping 110 years old, something which he proudly proclaims.
- Always Someone Better: To his grandson Ivo, despite his advanced age (or rather, because of, albeit slowed). Not only that he's seemingly smarter than Ivo due to his experience in research, being able to hijack Ivo's Egg Robots and design the Eclipse Cannon while in captivity, but during the climax, he manages to gain the upper hand against his grandson due to the simple fact that he's the one who built their suits' tech in the first place, showing more mastery while Ivo makes an error. He only loses because Ivo receives outside help from Tails and Knuckles.
- Ambiguous Start of Darkness: Although his ultimate end goal is the same, it's not clear if he's a Fallen Hero like his game counterpart was. The movie omitting Maria's terminal illness from the games and having Shadow be an extraterrestrial Gerald took in rather being an artificial lifeform Gerald created to cure his granddaughter leaves it ambiguous if Gerald was once a benevolent scientist or if he was developing destructive technology prior to GUN raiding his base of operations. The fact that he shares many of the same personality quirks as his grandson, Ivo, suggests he might have legitimately been a Mad Scientist even before Maria's death. That said, when he found GUN was attempting to put Shadow on ice, he tried to help him escape but it's unknown if this was because he respected Shadow's autonomy, he didn't want Maria to lose her friend, or if it was for his own research.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: When Ivo gets his revenge and sends Gerald careening to his death, Knuckles and Tails cheer and all Ivo does is remark that Gerald "made one hell of a bug-zapper". Given Gerald's Omnicidal Maniac plans, it's appropriate that nobody loses sleep over his demise.
- Ascended Extra: While Gerald did play a vital role in Sonic Adventure 2, he was a Posthumous Character who had no direct involvement in the story. Here, he is still alive in the present day and forms a Big Bad Duumvirate with his grandson (who never met him in the games), and later becomes the sole Big Bad by the third act.
- Asshole Victim: The idea of using the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Earth and bring closure for Maria's death is literal overkill; even Eggman himself knows it as he defeats Gerald by launching him to his death in the Eclipse Cannon's energy field.
- Ass Shove: On the receiving end — courtesy of Ivo shoving one of Sonic's quills up his rear when Gerald thought he had killed him — which ends up leading to his own death as the sheer energy launches him hundreds of feet into the air straight into the Eclipse Cannon's energy field, instantly vaporizing him like a fly hitting a zapper.
- Ax-Crazy: Once his true goal is revealed, he makes Ivo look downright sane in comparison.
- Bait the Dog: At first, he acts like a caring grandfather who's looking forward to forming a bond with his grandson, but then it's revealed he never cared for Ivo, only seeing him as a means to an end.
- Batman Gambit: He deliberately used his grandson's technology in order to lure him out, as he knows that Ivo would want to track whoever stole his tech.
- Berserk Button: During his and Ivo's fight, Ivo uses his nanobot-insect arms to cut off a quarter of Gerald's mustache. This makes Gerald go from angry to straight up furious.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Exaggerated. Beneath all of his goofy and comedic behavior lies a man who nearly destroyed the entire world, and ultimately proves to be more evil than his grandson.
- Big Bad: While he shares the role with his grandson Ivo, he ascends to be the true villain of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, having manipulated Shadow and Ivo the entire time so that he could reactivate the Eclipse Cannon and use it to destroy the Earth in revenge for Maria's death.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Like grandfather, like grandson. He outright refers to the Eclipse Cannon as his "masterpiece of malevolence".
- Composite Character:
- Being Eggman's grandfather makes him like the original Gerald Robotnik but him being a white haired villain that is working with the real Robotnik makes him like Eggman Nega from Sonic Rush. Fittingly enough, just like Eggman Nega he is a much more evil villain, who is completely obsessed with destroying the world for their own deranged reasons.
- In Sonic Adventure 2, Eggman's the one to release Shadow from his stasis. In the film, Gerald's the one to release him instead, with there being no evidence of Ivo knowing of Shadow's existence before the two of them met.
- In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow manipulates Eggman throughout the entire game in order for Shadow to enact his revenge on humanity. Here, Gerald does more-so the manipulation instead of Shadow.
- Gerald's threat level has him replace the Biolizard, who he served as the Greater-Scope Villain to in the game, as the final antagonist of the film. Fitting enough this was even hinted at in the original game when we see the images representing Gerald's despair and anger fly into the Biolizard.
- In Shadow the Hedgehog, Black Doom, Shadow's biological father, is the one who keeps pushing Shadow to further villainy, intending to use Shadow as either a weapon to destroy Earth or a meat puppet, as of Shadow Generations. Here, Gerald takes over that role intending to manipulate and then betray him.
- The Corruptor: He acts as the devil on Shadow's shoulder, keeping him on the path of revenge whenever Shadow has second thoughts.
- Costume Evolution: While he wears a labcoat like his game counterpart, he later adopts a white version of his grandson's flight suit, something no other version of him ever did.
- Crazy-Prepared: When designing the Eclipse Cannon, Gerald makes sure that his plans are nigh-foolproof, preparing any countermeasure against threats that will stop his plan to destroy the world.
- In order to combat outside threats while preparing to fire, the Eclipse Cannon is equipped with robots for self defense, regardless of wherever the threats start to attack, either in atmosphere or outer space. While Gerald anticipates the military to fight back, considering that Shadow's origin is unknown and he has witnessed his powers beforehand, he has the right to fear the extraterrestrials attacking from space too.
- Just in case there's a mutiny from the inside of the cannon, Gerald also built high tech suits that's capable of generating weapons for self-defense. This comes in handy when Ivo tries to stop his evil plan, and Gerald gains the upper hand simply because he's the one who designs the suits in the first place.
- Lastly, the Eclipse Cannon is designed for one-time use only. After that, the cannon will self destruct, and Gerald ensures that the radiation from the core destruction will bring upon apocalypse. As Ivo states, the radioactive atmosphere will create acid rain that melts the flesh and kills the crops, arguably a worse way to die than just being nuked. Should the Eclipse Cannon be used for other than its purpose, or misses the fire, the world is doomed either way. It takes Ivo stabilizing the reactor and Super Shadow pushing away the cannon after removing his Inhibitor Rings to prevent the apocalypse.
- Death by Irony: Gerald was addicted to licking Shadow's quill to extend his lifespan. Ivo sneaks up behind him (with help from Tails and Knuckles) and jabs that exact same type of quill into Gerald's rear, which sends Gerald flying into his own doomsday machine. The energy field that incinerates him was also the same type of Chaos energy Shadow generates and was only there because Gerald manipulated Shadow into building it.Robotnik: Who said life was pointless? Oh right. You did.
- Death Seeker: While his game counterpart knew he'd be long dead by the time his revenge plan unfolded, this version shows that he intends for his doomsday plan to kill himself as well.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the games' continuity, Gerald was executed via firing squad. In the films' canon, he is zapped in the butt by Ivo and sent flying into the Eclipse Cannon's energy field, instantly vaporizing him.
- Didn't Think This Through: For all the care Gerald shows towards Ivo, he's somewhat certain that his grandson shares his misanthropy, believing that Ivo grew up without love, and nobody cared for him. To his surprise, not only Ivo doesn't want to destroy the world despite his views on humanity, but Gerald seems to forget that there's someone who genuinely cares about Ivo: Agent Stone, leading Ivo to try and stop Gerald at all cost. To be fair, Gerald witnesses Ivo ditching Stone and his warnings earlier, so he may be convinced that Ivo doesn't like his underling.
- Disowned Parent: Disowned Grandparent in this case. After Gerald tells his grandson Ivo that Maria was the only family he had, Ivo not only disowns him back but attempts to destroy him to prevent the destruction of the world.
- Disproportionate Retribution: His wish to cause The End of the World as We Know It via a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum because of the death of his beloved granddaughter is this. While his grievance toward GUN is understandable, wanting to end humanity for the actions of a secretive government organization most don't know about after 50 years is rather overkill.
- Et Tu, Brute?: When he sees that Shadow betrayed him, he does not take well to it at all.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Even after falling to villainy, he still loves his deceased granddaughter Maria, and on some level, he cared about Shadow before losing his mind. Subverted with Ivo, his grandson, who he only saw as a tool for his vengeance.
- Evil Counterpart: While he is obviously an evil-er counterpart to his grandson Ivo, he's also one to Tom. Gerald is the toxic, manipulative parental figure that pushes Shadow down the path of vengeance. Tom is the well-meaning father figure to Team Sonic and guided Sonic in particular to be a better, kinder person.
- Evil Genius: Like the games, Gerald is a brilliant scientist who found ways to harness Chaos Energy before technology was even as advanced by the present compared to his time fifty years ago. Having even discovered a way to create the Eclipse Cannon without the Chaos Emeralds. He was even able to hack his grandson's network for his Egg Drones, develop unique nanomachine technology that could transform into different weapons, and make a 'black marble' that could actually create an artificial black hole itself. That's not even mentioning all the advanced machines he helped G.U.N. make that he unleashed upon Shadow and Sonic from the Eclipse Cannon.
- Eviler than Thou: To his own grandson. Despite Dr. Eggman having gone substantial Adaptational Jerkass in the film series with having almost little to no redeeming qualities and was practically a Card-Carrying Villain who was Laughably Evil and reveled in how much of a Jerkass he is — once Gerald casts off his mask of being a compassionate grandfather to him and shows himself to be far more deranged and psychotic than even him to the point he desires to wipe out all of humanity and the Earth, Eggman actually develops something almost equivalent to a moral compass because of just how depraved his grandfather's plans are; even Agent Stone and Shadow all follow up to the same mindset as Eggman.
- Evil Old Folks: He was already pretty old 50 years ago, claims to be 110 now, and wants to destroy the world to Put Them All Out of My Misery just like his game counterpart.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Implied when Gerald tells Ivo he's "no Maria", who unlike Ivo never showed any misanthropy.
- Fat Bastard: He has an even more noticeable gut than Ivo post-depression and is a lunatic who wants to destroy the world.
- Faux Affably Evil: He acts pretty affable to both Ivo and Shadow. However, it gets revealed during the climax that Gerald never actually cared for Ivo and Shadow, and only saw them as tools for revenge.
- The Generation Gap: Being a 110-year old man who hasn't seen the outside world since the '70s, Gerald is quite shocked to discover that women have joined the military.
- Genius Bruiser: His advanced age doesn't dull his intelligence and physical prowess, and is more than capable of beating his only living grandson in the climax.
- Grief Makes You Crazy: To say he did not take the accidental death of his beloved granddaughter Maria at the hands of G.U.N. well would be an understatement. So humongous was his sorrow that he plotted a Murder-Suicide on the whole planet as revenge on all mankind using a Kill Sat built to his specifications, having nothing left to live for ever since that tragedy. Even when his grandson tries to appeal to their familial bond, he coldly rejects him, to Eggman's grief.Gerald: Oh, Ivo... you're no Maria.
- Gruesome Grandparent: While he genuinely loved Maria, he sees Ivo as a means to an end and when his grandson turns on him, Gerald tries to kill him.
- Hero Killer: Early in the film, Gerald kills Commander Walters through the drones he hijacked from his grandson.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Gerald's obsession with vengeance against humanity results in him becoming no better, if not worse, than the humans who took his granddaughter away from him.
- Hidden Depths: He is apparently an avid geek, as he had planned to go to Comic Con before the whole Earth's destruction thing. Also, like Robotnik, he's a fantastic dancer.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Although he partners with Ivo, he finally tells the younger Robotnik exactly what he thinks of him near the end: Namely, that he's no Maria.
- High Collar of Doom: Besides the color, the biggest difference between his and his grandson's outfits in the finale is that Gerald's has a high collar, which implicates him as the more sinister of the two.
- Humans Are Bastards: When he reveals his true plan to use the Eclipse Cannon to annihilate Earth and all of humanity to avenge the death of his granddaughter Maria, Gerald tells his grandson Ivo that humanity is a failed experiment and that he has been rejected by the people and makes it clear that he (nor anyone else) never really cared about him.Gerald: Humanity is a failed experiment! If anyone should know that, it's you. All your life, you've been rejected by this world. You have nothing down there… no one who cares about you.
- Identical Grandson: Gerald looks exactly like an older version of his grandson Ivo, and is also played by Jim Carrey.Ivo: But the resemblance is uncanny. It's as if...
Ivo & Gerald: ...We're two characters in a movie being played by the same actor! - Ignored Epiphany: Gerald had a perfect set up for a Heel–Face Turn in his grandson. But when Ivo opposes his plan, claiming they don't need to destroy the Earth because they have each other, Gerald cruelly dismisses him.
- I Have No Son!: Or grandson in this case. After telling Ivo that he is no Maria in response to him saying they're family, Gerald states that he no longer has a family after said granddaughter's death.
- Immortality Inducer: He smuggled a few of Shadow's energized quills with him into prison and it's implied that regularly zapping himself with them slowed his aging to a crawl; Word of God would outright confirm that a deleted scene more implicitly showed him via regularly dosing samples of the Chaos Energy still attached to them to slow his aging to a crawl.
- The Irredeemable Exception: Out of the major villains in the third film, while Ivo, Stone and Shadow pull a Heel–Face Turn at the end, Gerald is the only one not to pull a Heel–Face Turn, as he ultimately dies as a villain.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Even though his villainy put Ivo's to shame, he at least tried to bond with him. However, the climax revealed he doesn't care about him, while coldly telling him to his face that he's "no Maria".
- Just Between You and Me: A darkly justified example. When the Eclipse Cannon is charging up and getting ready to fire, Gerald finally lets all pretences drop and informs Ivo of the weapon's full scope and his intended aim for them and the whole planet, furthermore callously dismissing Ivo's attempts to reason against this because "you're no Maria". Whilst he still somewhat expected Ivo to play along past that, being surprised he'd attack him and try and stop the weapon, it turns out that the Eclipse Cannon was built intentionally flawed so that charging it up would eventually overload the reactors, resulting in a World Ending Wave that'd scorch the planet bare even if the direct strike was thwarted. Whilst Gerald does everything in his power to stop Ivo and Shadow interfering, by that point his victory was guaranteed without the duo's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Karmic Death: After proving to be a particularly nasty Manipulative Bastard who preyed on both Eggman and Shadow's feelings to satisfy his own need for Revenge against the world — tossing away the former when he's served his usefulness and trying to kill the latter when he has a Heel–Face Turn — it is immensely cathartic to see him dismantled by both. Eggman is the one to kill him in a particularly undignified fashion as he shoved a supercharged quill up his butt that launches him into the Energy Field of the Eclipse Cannon, instantly vaporizing him like a fly hitting a zapper. The Energy Field in question was created by Shadow at Gerald's own insistence making it doubly karmic.
- Kick the Dog: Once his plans are in motion, Ivo tries to talk him out of his murderous scheme of destroying the Earth by telling him that they are still family. Gerald coldly retorts that his grandson is "no Maria". After a fight between him and Ivo where the latter tries to stop Gerald's plan, Gerald has Ivo dangling over an airlock and mockingly asks him if he has any last words. When Ivo starts to suggest that he may still love his grandfather despite how things turned out, Gerald mocks the notion and kicks him to his near demise. The same goes for Shadow; Gerald has no qualms about setting an army of killer robots on Shadow the moment the latter has a Heel–Face Turn.Gerald: Shadow... I see you've chosen betrayal. And you were once so useful to me.
- Large Ham: Shares his grandson’s over-the-top attitude, as shown by how he questions if him being here is possible. While it turns out his compassionate behavior to his grandson is a mask, his over-the-top antics are not and goes full-out in Chewing the Scenery as he tries to destroy the world.
- Laughably Evil: While not quite to the exact same extent as his grandson and while he may be an overall darker character than Ivo as well, you still have to remember that Gerald is still played by Jim Carrey and he of course shows the exact amount of goofiness and comedy that you come to expect from a role from him. Whether it be him having silly and comical talks with his grandson that have them Breaking the Fourth Wall over how they're played by the same actor and giving an Aside Glance in the process when they first meet, him engaging in dancing with his grandson in order to get past G.U.N's laser hall, him losing his dentures, him comically spanking his grandson during his final battle with him, or even his death where he gets a Super powered quill shoved up his butt and zapped to nothing by the Chaos Energy powering the Eclipse Cannon like a fly to a light.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: During Gerald's first interaction with Team Sonic, when he has them tied up.Sonic: (to Gerald) So you're the one behind all this! The Shadow breakout!Tails: The attack on Walters!Knuckles: That musty old-man smell!Gerald: How dare you insult me with your unsolicited exposition!
- Like a Son to Me: Subtly done when he calls Shadow and Maria kids when they needed to evacuate. But after Maria’s death he started seeing Shadow as a tool to destroy the world.
- Light Is Not Good: He's usually seen in a white labcoat and then wears a white version of Ivo's suit in the climax.
- Love Makes You Evil: Like in the game continuity, Maria's death at the hands of G.U.N. turned him into a madman obsessed with destroying the world in revenge. It's shown in the flashback to Maria's death that Gerald was as heartbroken as Shadow himself as they knelt over her body.
- Loving a Shadow: No pun intended. He only ever loved his own versions of Shadow and Ivo, as Gerald has no problems manipulating the actual ones to get what he wants. Once the younger Robotnik realizes his true intentions to destroy the Earth, Ivo disowns him and the two get into a huge brawl. While Shadow teams up with Sonic to stop Gerald's Eclipse Cannon. The only one he truly loved without question was Maria.
- Manipulative Bastard: He exploits his familial connections with Ivo and Shadow in order to manipulate them into helping him achieve his goal of destroying the world in revenge for Maria's death. Notably, he intended to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy G.U.N headquarters without any care of possible collateral damage from it when his actual target is much bigger than that.
- Mask of Sanity: Well, more ''arguable'' sanity if anything, as he's a comically Large Ham already but he hides his genocidal tendencies well enough until he's but moments away from finally enacting his plan, at which point he drops any attempt at being Affably Evil and is clearly off his rocker as he's obsessed with only Revenge to the point of wishing to enact a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum by firing the Eclipse Cannon.
- Misanthrope Supreme: The Professor takes his grandson's disdain to another level, and he proclaims humanity a "failed experiment" that deserves to be wiped out as justice for the few who killed his granddaughter. He may have not always been this way, as Walters remembers he hoped Shadow's chaos energy would usher in "a new era" for humanity.
- Moral Myopia: He wants to destroy the world to avenge Maria's death, but has no problem belittling and attempting to kill his other grandchild Ivo. Plus, he didn't care of the fact that destroying the Earth would doom trillions of lifeforms to death, especially millions of children who would suffer the same fate as Maria; even Ivo and Shadow have second thoughts over this.Gerald: The moment I lost her, my family was gone forever! The only way to give Maria's life meaning is to destroy the world that took her from me... SO I'M BURNING IT ALL DOWN!!!
- He also accuses Ivo of elder abuse when he manages to chop off his mustache, despite plotting a Final Solution against all of humanity, elderly civilians included.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: He's the Mean to Maria's Nice and Ivo's In-Between. His plan to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the world horrifies even his grandson, whom Gerald then callously dismisses as being "no Maria".
- No Body Left Behind: During the climax, when his grandson throws Gerald into the Chaos Energy generated by Shadow, he's instantly vaporized with nothing left behind.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis; Played With: Gerald is as Laughably Evil as his grandson, and a fairly goofy Card-Carrying Villain, but when it comes to killing any targets he wants to, he's remarkably direct and effective. He sends a squad of hacked Badniks to attack Commander Walters and steal his key to the Eclipse cannon, and the attack is evidently successful enough that even by the movie's end, Walter's survival is unclear. When he has Team Sonic tied up at his mercy, he doesn't shoot them outright, but he does have Shadow use his energy to charge a black-hole generating device (the suction of which is incredibly effective against a speedster-based team) which reduces the entire mountain range they were within to a crater in under a minute. It was only due to Tails' Power Rings (a power Gerald seems unaware of) that they survived. His final battle with Ivo has plenty moments of slapstick, but when he has him dangling over the edge of the cannon and threatening to be sucked out into space, he goes through with it without any hesitation or mercy, even mocking Ivo was attempting to appeal to his emotions not to kill his only remaining kin. And when it comes to his endgame with the Eclipse Cannon, it turns out that even charging the weapon up to fire already guarantees his victory, as Gerald designed the weapon with an intentionally flawed design that'd ensure it'd overload and explode with a World Ending Wave if it was ever fired. Whilst he goes to every effort possible to stop Ivo and Shadow from interfering in the direct strike against Earth, it ultimately takes a Heroic Sacrifice from both of them to thwart him ambitions from hurting anybody else.
- Older Than He Looks: He already looked like an old man 50 years ago, but what makes him this trope is that he lived to present day and looks exactly the same. It's implied the Quill he was fond of zapping himself with Shadow's Chaos energy may have played a role in his extended longevity and suprising vitality for an old man, but it's never outright confirmed, outside a cut scene according to Director Jeff Fowler
. - Omnicidal Maniac: Like his game counterpart, he is driven to destroy the Earth in revenge for Maria's death. Because he lived to the present day, he is able to personally carry out his omnicidal plans.Gerald: The only way to give Maria's life meaning is to destory the world that took her from me... So I'm BURNING IT ALL DOWN!!!
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Like his grandson, Gerald Robotnik is a genius in many fields including but not limited to robotics, nanotechnology, engineering, physics, extraterrestrial biology and the making of space craft. Compared to the games, he doesn't have bioengineering as Shadow was found rather than created, but his skill with robots is given greater highlight.
- Only Friend: Heavily Downplayed. Its made clear that only Maria was Shadow's friend. However, while the exact relationship between Gerald and Shadow is unclear, Gerald addressed both Maria and Shadow as his kids when it was time to escape GUN. In the present day, Shadow listens to Gerald willingly and without question until the climax. Just a shame that by present Gerald only saw Shadow as a tool and acts as the Big Bad Friend and Toxic Friend Influence towards the hedgehog.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He spends the entire film acting as cartoonishly silly and over-the-top as his grandson but when he and Shadow preparing the Eclipse Cannon, he is eerily calm as he explains to Ivo that he plans to destroy the Earth as justice for Maria's death and that the event would kill them both as well.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He outlived his granddaughter Maria and he presumably outlived whatever children he had since Ivo is an orphan.
- Pain to the Ass: During the climax of the film, he gets stabbed in the butt by his grandson with Sonic's Master Emerald-powered quill, its immense energy launching him straight towards the stream of Chaos energy powering his Eclipse Cannon that disintegrates his body with a comically small zap.
- Parental Favoritism: Or "Grandparental Favoritism" to be more precise. For Once Ivo learns that Gerald plans to destroy the world and kill them both to avenge Maria, he appeals to his grandfather that he still has him and they can rule the world together. In response, Gerald bluntly tells his grandson that he's "no Maria."
- Parental Substitute: Much like his granddaughter, Gerald also grew fond of Shadow, treating him not only as a test subject but as a surrogate son. This parental affection he had for the Ultimate Lifeform led the professor to create a more nurturing environment for Shadow in the laboratory, ensuring he felt a sense of belonging, even in the midst of scientific testing. He's the only one that Shadow was willing to listen to after everything the two had been through, which is Played for Drama since by the time Gerald frees him, the professor had gone completely insane as he is hell-bent on destroying the planet.
- Pet the Dog: On the way to London to steal the Eclipse Cannon, Gerald suggest he and Ivo spend some quality time with VR headsets, during which he acts like a Doting Grandparent teaching his grandson how to ride a bicycle, dressing as Santa Claus to bring him gifts and eating cotton candy together. It's mostly subverted once Gerald reveals his genocidal plans and that he doesn't really care about Ivo, dismissing him as "no Maria". Still, it's as nice as he gets and implied he at least gave him one perfect day before destroying the world. He also seems to have some fondness left for Shadow due to their shared love for Maria and resentment over her loss, and he even once tried to break him out of the G.U.N. base where he was being kept prisoner in a disastrous escape that led to Maria's death. When it was time to run, Gerald referred to both Maria and Shadow as his kids.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: On top of his general misanthropy, he's disgusted to see women in the military have become normal in his 50-year absence. While this could be justified by the fact that Gerald is decades behind the modern world, not only has his game counterpart never shown such a trait, but Shadow himself doesn't share the same view as the doctor despite being sealed for the same amount of time, if his reaction to the telenovela is any indication.
- Power Born of Madness: In pursuit of revenge, he has lived to be more than a hundred years old, and his advanced age has done nothing to dull his superior intelligence, which may well outshine even his grandson's.
- The Power of Hate: Despite being over 100 years old, Gerald's intellect and physical abilities are not eroded in the slightest. Why? Because he intends to make all of humanity pay for Maria's death.
- Put Them All Out of My Misery: After Maria's death, Gerald became completely obsessed with vengeance, deciding that humanity was a "failed experiment" that all needed to be wiped out. The Eclipse Cannon was created with this in mind, which would not only destroy the Earth, but anyone on the Cannon itself, including him. Eggman lets out a Big "WHAT?!" when he realizes the scope of Gerald's vengeance, since Eggman wants to rule the world, not destroy it. Even an attempt to convince Gerald to use the Eclipse Cannon to merely threaten humanity and rule it falls on deaf ears.
- Revenge Before Reason: His grandson tries to appeal to him not to destroy the world. When Gerald points out that the human race had brought nothing but hate and suffering unto them both, Ivo responds by bringing up that they have each other now. However, Gerald's response is to say that Ivo is "no Maria" and cares more about punishing the human race for killing her, which in his mind counts as providing a warped source of "justice".
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Ever since Maria's death, he's been plotting to settle the score against G.U.N. and the entire world by activating his latest invention, the Eclipse Cannon, that would wipe the Earth clean off of any life. He also ropes Shadow and Ivo into his scheme by convincing them that the Earth isn't worth fighting for and everyone despises there them. While he doesn't get what he wants, he still manages to land a deadly hit on the moon.
- Sad Clown: He puts on a wacky front but it's clear, even in his most affable moments that Gerald is hiding a lot of hurt and hatred behind his antics.
- Salt the Earth: His design of the Eclipse Cannon would cause this in case the laser fails to kill everyone. It is intended to suffer a core failure, explode, and unleash enough radiation to poison the atmosphere and destroy Earth ecosystems.
- The Scapegoat: Like the games, but still unique to the films: to cover up their role in Maria's death, the government falsely claimed the explosion that took her life was due to a reckless experiment led by Gerald and sentenced him to prison, where he was forced to provide the designs for a new superweapon in exchange for his release. Later subverted in his grand plot in utilizing that same superweapon in order to destroy the entire Earth as revenge for Maria's death.
- Shadow Archetype:
- Gerald serves as this to both Sonic and Shadow. He is what both Sonic and Shadow would have become had they let their anger born from pain of losing their loved ones get the better of them.
- Gerald also serves as this to his grandson Ivo, as he is clearly what Ivo would have become had he abandoned whatever moral standards or redeeming qualities he had left.
- Shared Family Quirks: He's addicted to zapping himself with Shadow's quill just like his grandson is with Sonic's.
- The Sociopath: The pain from his granddaughter's death turned Gerald into one by the present day. He is ruthless to the point of preying on Ivo's desire for family and Shadow's pain of losing Maria to serve his omnicidal endgame and having no problem killing his own family once they try to interfere with his plans, and is so self-centered that when asked by Shadow if destroying humanity is what Maria would want, he callously disregards her wishes by responding that it's not about what she wants but what humanity deserves, therefore revealing that he cares more about making himself feel better than honoring Maria.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the games, Gerald Robotnik was executed 50 years before the events of Sonic Adventure 2, but in the third film, he's still alive to meet his grandson in the flesh. Subverted by the climax, as his death turns out to be belated.
- Stepford Smiler: An interesting variant on this trope. While he's with Ivo, he follows his grandson's steps as a hammy Card-Carrying Villain with a love of theatrics. While the hamminess is not an act, the theatrical goofiness is, as shown during the instances where he's talking exclusively with Shadow. Underneath the supervillain bravado is a lunatic positively simmering with Tranquil Fury who is much colder when it comes to getting to business.
- Straw Nihilist: Once the Eclipse Cannon has been activated, Gerald matter-of-factly reveals to Ivo that he sees no value at all in ruling the world or even living to see the aftermath of his weapon's destruction of Earth. As he puts it, humanity is nothing but a failed experiment, his family died when Maria died, and the only way to give her death some meaning is to burn the entire world that took her from him down.
- Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Gerald's end goal. Maria's death left him with nothing else to live for, leading him to attempt to bring about The End of the World as We Know It using the Eclipse Cannon. Considering the cannon itself is in Earth's low orbit, it'd likely be vaporized in the ensuing blast - something Gerald is very much aware of, as he tells Robotnik.
- Sympathetic Villain, Despicable Villain: Gerald and Shadow are co-conspirators whose endgame is to wipe out the earth in retaliation for Maria's death, but it's Gerald who formulates that plan and exploits Shadow's prior trust and grief to keep him in line. Once he thinks he is unstoppable, he drops all pretenses of caring, sneering to his grandson Ivo's face that his familly ended with Maria, and trying to kill Shadow for no longer being "useful" to him. Sonic only tries to reason with Shadow, recognizing Gerald as The Corruptor. Though the heroes mourn when they believe Shadow has died (and they even mourn Eggman for his sacrificing himself to save the Earth), no tears are shed for Gerald's death at Ivo's hands.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Implied. Not much is seen of Gerald before the inciting incident but having his research cancelled and being blamed for the explosion that killed Maria caused Gerald to fully embrace being the mad scientist that GUN saw him as.
- Tranquil Fury: He eerily does not raise his voice at all when he tells Shadow that they need to punish the planet for Maria's death.
- Undignified Death: Unlike the games, not only does he die as a villain, but he also dies by his own machine. Even worse, this was done by Eggman shoving a suped-up quill up Gerald's butt (complete with loud fart sound effect) which sends the elderly Robotnik kicking and screaming into the chaotic energy field that fuels the Eclipse Cannon, zapping him into nothing like a bug with no dignity whatsoever. The energy field was also something he ordered Shadow to make, so it's triply his own fault.Ivo: Who said life was pointless? Oh right! You did.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: While he's got his fair share of goofy antics like his grandson, in the midst of this Zany Action-Comedy world, he wants to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy all life on Earth, including his own, to avenge his granddaughter's death. Even Eggman, Stone, and Shadow are horrified by this.
- Villain Has a Point: Subverted. Gerald hopes to destroy the Earth since he thinks Ivo doesn't have anyone on Earth who truly cares about him... but he didn't account for Agent Stone.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: It cannot be denied that Gerald is pure evil, but watching his granddaughter be unjustly murdered right in front of him by a corrupt government agency, then being forced to spend 50 years in prison as a scapegoat by that same agency, no doubt took quite the toll on his sanity. Given his plan at the end of the film, this trope becomes very literal.
- Would Hurt a Child: Gerald was the one who sent the Badniks to attack Team Sonic and Walters at Chao Garden, and he could've easily killed any of the several children that were present (thankfully, they all escape unharmed). Not to mention that he intends to destroy the Earth. Pretty hypocritical too, considering his evil plot was motivated by the death of his own grandchild.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Gerald spends the movie manipulating Eggman and Shadow into helping him achieve his own ends, and the moment they turn on him, he has no qualms about labeling them traitors and trying to kill them.
Maria Robotnik
Played by: Alyla BrowneForeign VAs
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The late granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik and Eggman's late cousin. While her grandfather was investigating what the Ultimate Lifeform truly was, Maria developed a deep bond with the mysterious Shadow until one day, G.U.N raided the laboratory, causing an explosion that led to Maria's death — a tragedy that led Shadow and Gerald to go on a crusade for vengeance.
- Abled in the Adaptation: In the games, Maria was diagnosed with the fictional Neuro-Immunodeficiency Syndrome, and it hinders her to the point where she can't exert much energy before collapsing, and Shadow's creation was a part of an attempt to cure it. Here, she's never depicted to have any sort of condition, and is shown to be more active without any negative effects. It helps that this version of Shadow wasn't created to cure her, merely discovered. It's also possible that her disability wasn't known by the filmmaker, given that it was never mentioned in primary material until Shadow Generations, which came out the same year as Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- Adaptational Costume Change: Maria's clothes in the games were fairly conservative, consisting of a blue shirt and a light blue dress. Since the movie flashbacks take place in the '70s, Maria wears jeans and only 70s-inspired clothes.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In the games, Shadow remembers her as a saint and she never receives much characterization beyond that. In the movie, as well as being kind and sweet, she's deepened so that you can see why both Shadow and Gerald adored her so much. She plays music, she likes stargazing and art, she's mischievous, she likes sleepovers, and she's implied to have an interest in science.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the games, it's revealed in Sonic Frontiers that according to Dr. Eggman's diary, he never really knew his cousin Maria, and had something of a one-sided Sibling Rivalry with her due to their family seemingly neglecting him over her, though he doesn't particularly resent her for it and is more curious as to the kind of person she was to receive such adoration. Since Eggman grew up as an orphan in the film series, he never knew Maria at all, and the bitter Gerald dismisses him as "You're no Maria".
- The Anti-Nihilist: In one of her talks with Shadow, she mentions how the light of stars can take years to reach Earth and when it does, the stars might not be there anymore. She finds this inspiring instead of depressing.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Compared to the rest of the Robotnik family that we see, her goofy looking grandfather and cousin, both of whom have malevolent intentions, she's a pretty girl, with a kind and loving heart.
- Cosmic Motifs: Maria draws stars on Shadow's containment tank, they decorate her roller skates, moving box, guitar, and her room, and there are star-shaped lights in their blanket fort. Her Friendship Moment with Shadow takes place while stargazing, and his observation at that time, "The light shines even though the star is gone," comes back around after the brawl between Super Sonic and Super Shadow to refer to her.
- Death by Irony: The GUN soldiers use weapons developed by her grandfather using Shadow's Chaos energy to try and shoot her. And accidentally hit other containers with that energy, which kill Maria in the explosion. Also, Gerald tried to run with her and Shadow because "They're trying to take Shadow away from us, Maria!", but that made him lose his other grandkid.
- Death by Origin Story: Similar to her video game counterpart, Maria's death is closely tied to Shadow's origin and motivation. The first trailer doesn't even bother hiding the fact that her death fuels Shadow's vengeance.
- Death of a Child: Much like Maria's game counterpart, the movie version of Maria is long dead by the time the movie starts. The first trailer for Sonic 3 shows her corpse, with Shadow and Gerald kneeling over her.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the games, she is shot by a G.U.N. officer, while in the movie, even as a soldier aims a gun, the then-Captain Walters tries to wrestle the officer's gun away from him to protect her. Unfortunately, his shot hits an explosive tank instead, the explosion killing her instantly. As a result, she has no dying words for Shadow, unlike her game counterpart.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing she does upon meeting Shadow inside his tube is to draw a bunny face on the glass where his face is. This establishes her as a Friend to All Living Things who saw the good in Shadow, unlike the others who viewed him as a dangerous entity to be cautious of.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: What is she wearing when she shows the beauty of the stars to Shadow? A blue dress and matching headband. What's the next scene following that? Her and Shadow running in a hallway holding hands, and then an explosion...
- Friend to All Living Things: She had a genuine love for Earth and all life. She was the only person to treat the extraterrestrial Shadow as a friend and not a specimen to be researched.
- Friendship Moment: When Shadow gets reminded that everyone else thinks of him as an "alien freak," Maria sneaks him out of the lab to look at the stars as a pretense to reassure him of his place on Earth. When he's still unsure, she outright states he's her friend and takes his hand. It's no wonder that this memory ultimately motivates Shadow to back out of Gerald's plan and save humanity to honor her memory.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Like in the games, Maria is a young blonde girl with endless compassion who opens her heart to Shadow and becomes his best friend.
- Hidden Depths: This version of Maria knew how to rollerskate, dance and play acoustic guitar.
- Mirror Character:
- She is one to Tom Wachowski, as Tom is Sonic's first friend he made on Earth, similar to how Maria was the only person to treat Shadow as a friend before her death. Additionally, Maria's death and Tom's critical injury both serve as catalysts for the alien hedgehogs' Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- She is one to Longclaw, as both are loved ones that Sonic and Shadow lost beforehand.
- She is one to Sonic himself. Both wear blue in their own way (Maria wears blue clothes, while Sonic is a blue hedgehog), both are mischievous, love watching movies, dancing, and have huge hearts. Both Sonic and Maria end up being catalysts for Shadow's Heel–Face Turn.
- Morality Chain: To both Shadow and Gerald, to the point where her death is the primary motivation for both characters' antagonism.
- Morality Chain Beyond the Grave: Despite her tragic death, Shadow still tries to hold true to his memory of her, asking Gerald if their plan is what Maria would want. Tragically subverted with Gerald, who tells him it's not about what Maria would want, but what "[humanity] deserves".
- Naughty Is Good: Practically a saint who saw the best in Shadow, but also a real hell-raiser who roped Shadow into all kinds of mischief around the lab, to the exasperation of the staff. She also enjoyed riling Shadow up from time to time, simply because she thought he was too serious.
- Nice Girl: Maria was practically a saint of a young girl, being nothing but genuine and kind towards Shadow. She was the only person to treat Shadow as something other than a freak or weapon, befriending the alien hedgehog. She also goes out of her way to show Shadow the beauty of the Earth and teach him to appreciate it.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: She's the Nice to Gerald's Mean and Ivo's In-Between. She's the only one in the family never to start a life of villainy, and doesn't have a single malevolent bone in her body.
- Only Friend: Whereas everyone feared Shadow, Maria was the only one to befriend the alien hedgehog and comfort him, treating him like a person instead of something dangerous to be careful of.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Just as in the games, Maria's death is what causes Shadow and Gerald to start their quest for revenge. It's said in the first trailer for Sonic 3 that Shadow found "only pain and loss" in his past, which Maria's death is a part of.
- Posthumous Character: Like in the games, Maria is already dead long before the events of the third film take place. The first trailer for Sonic 3 shows both Shadow and Gerald kneeling over Maria's body as soldiers stalk closer to them. Also, it's her death that triggers Shadow and Gerald's crusade to exact revenge on all mankind.
- Rollerblade Good: Roller skating seems to have been a hobby for her, one she would share with Shadow. Her first introduction scene has her roller skating throughout the laboratory, heavily implying that she bore responsibility for Shadow's air shoes; fittingly, she roped Shadow into a game of "rollerblading" with a rope tied around his middle so that she could hold it and roller skate behind him. Shadow's flashback to those happier times is even prompted by him picking up one of her time-worn skates.
- Shared Family Quirks: She shares her grandfather and cousin's affinity for goofy humor, spending her time with Shadow engaging in plenty of their own antics.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She has very little screentime, but her death ultimately serves as Shadow's and Gerald's Cynicism Catalyst.
- Spoiled Sweet: It's pretty clear that Maria enjoyed certain benefits of being the granddaughter of a renowned scientist seeing as she was allowed in a classified base but had her own room, can roller skate without much problem, and causes some mischief with her antics which she ropes Shadow in. Even then, she's still a sweet girl who befriended Shadow and is generally nice to others.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She is the most virtuous and compassionate of the Robotniks and dies young in an explosion accidentally caused by G.U.N., never getting to experience the rest of her beautiful life.
- True Blue Femininity: She wears a few different outfits which all contain some blue in them, from blue jeans to a blue skirt or her blue nightdress that she died in.
- White Sheep: Compared to the rest of her family, Maria was a kind and compassionate young girl, who had a love for Earth, and all life.
- Window Love: Platonic variant - Maria reaches out to Shadow, who's behind a glass container in liquid, where they give each other a warm smile. It's her passing that causes Shadow to go on his rampage.
Associates
Agent Stone
Portrayed by: Lee MajdoubForeign VAs
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Robotnik's right-hand man, and, in contrast to how despised the doctor is by everyone else, a complete sycophant towards his boss.
- Affably Evil: In stark contrast to his boss, Agent Stone bears no real malice towards the heroes, and only opposes them out of a sense of duty. He does, however, get to show that he's legitimately evil and not just out of work when it's revealed in the prequel comic that he can be just as cruel and manipulative to other humans as Robotnik is when he sets his mind to it and if they incur his wrath, even if he's not nearly as super-intelligent as his boss. Even then though, he still lacks the doctor's default hostility towards others, as those who don't incur his wrath do not become targets of it. Notably, one scene in 3 has him interacting with Tails without a trace of bad blood, affectionately calling him "adorable" and asking about his friendship with Sonic. In contrast to Ivo Robotnik, who seems to dislike Shadow solely because he's another hedgehog, Stone is nice to him too when they're alone and tries to make small talk when they're making guac together to pass the time while the Robotniks fetch the key they need for their plan.
- Ambiguously Gay: Bordering on intentional Homoerotic Subtext, Stone's loyalty to and obsession with Robotnik comes off as a full-blown crush at times, especially in the sequel, from the latte art to a picture of Robotnik in a French Maid Outfit on the screen at the Mean Bean.
- Ascended Extra: Owing to his popularity, he's given more screentime and prominence in the third movie, allowing him to interact with anyone else outside Robotnik.
- Badass Normal: To a degree, Stone showcases some skill as the third film has him riding a motorcycle which he crashes through a window and saves Team Sonic from the hijacked Egg Drones and drives off without looking back.
- Battle Butler: He's Robotnik's assistant and handles his day to day work on top of his evil bidding. He's also not helpless in a fight and surprisingly competent when he needs to be.
- Berserk Button: Unless your name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, do NOT mistreat or take advantage of him. He’ll make your life Hell in any number of ways, from stranding you in a secluded location to framing you for money laundering.
- Big "YES!": Well, he doesn't say "yes," but given his reaction to Robotnik returning, he might as well have.Stone: He's back... HE'S BAAAACK...!!
- Breakout Character: For a movie-only character, Sonic fans have really taken a liking to Stone as a loyal lackey for Robotnik due to their incredible on-screen chemistry, to the point that there's been tons of fanart created of him, especially when paired up with Robotnik. Additionally, he was popular enough to get his own solo story in the prequel comic for the second film. Besides, Stone stands out among Eggman's many henchmen due to the fact that he isn't a robot, he's not afraid of Robotnik, he genuinely likes the Doctor, and he's smart and competent in his own right. He is also the closest Robotnik ever had to a genuine friend, and the Doctor's decision to bring Stone along for the ride after building the Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2, even though Robotnik had no use for a henchman at that point due to having become a Physical God, further cements it.
- Butt-Monkey: His only purpose is to be the doctor's punching bag both verbally and in a few instances, physically.
- Canon Foreigner: He was created specifically for the movie, filling the role of Robotnik's lackey that previous continuities have in characters such as Snively, Grimer, or Metal Sonic.
- Cassandra Truth: When Shadow says a little too much about his and Gerald's true intentions, Stone tries calling Robotnik to warn him. Unfortunately, too enamored with the idea of having a family, Robotnik ignores his warning and even fires him, though he later clarifies that he still cares for him.
- Chekhov's Skill: He's able to brew a latte that even Robotnik has to compliment. He's later shown to be laying low at a coffee shop as a contingency plan.
- Composite Character:
- He takes Commander Walters' role in going to visit the Wachowskis in the first movie’s novelization.
- Stone embodies the role that Rouge the Bat served from the original games:
- Both are government agents who team up with the main antagonists (in both cases, Shadow and Eggman) and provide the backbone/assistance of the operations, on top of having genial personalities that make them Friendly Enemies rather than full-blown villains. However, Rouge is more of a dangerous menace and Action Girl when the situation calls for it, while Stone is less skilled at fighting. Both are also skilled at espionage and manipulation.
- Rouge has some Ship Tease with Shadow while Stone has some Ship Tease with Eggman. However, both Shadow and Eggman view them respectively as work partners and are rather stand-offish to them at first, though they learn to appreciate them more later.
- Rouge's friendly banter with Knuckles is mirrored with Stone's friendly banter with Tails — they both bond over their similar role on the team (Rouge/Knuckles over handling the Emeralds, Stone/Tails over being The Smart Guy).
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) amps this up by having Stone take Rouge's place as Eggman and Shadow's confidant in their scheme to Take Over the World. The "Dark" story of Sonic Adventure 2 had Rouge, Shadow and Eggman working as a trio before Eggman was discarded in favor of Omega in future games.
- Stone is a Minion with an F in Evil. One of the ways Rouge isn't truly villainous is that she sticks to her ideals — i.e. giving Knuckles her share of the Emeralds because he saved her life.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Though mostly a comical Yes-Man and Butt-Monkey, Stone shows that he can be a cunning and efficient villain in the "Official Movie Pre-Quill" comic, where he masterminds a bank heist and swiftly disposes of the staff of a coffee shop to take it over in order to advance Robotnik's schemes. That's not even mentioning his skills with a motorcycle in the third film.
- Cuteness Proximity: In the third movie, when Team Sonic, Robotnik, and Stone split up and Stone goes with Tails, Stone confesses that he thinks the little fox is adorable.
- A Day in the Limelight: He gets his own solo story in the prequel comic for Sonic 2. It turns out the coffee shop he was working at was part of a contingency plan left behind for him by Robotnik. He asks that Stone take the business over and use it as a base to prepare for his eventual return to Earth. Stone does so in less than a week.
- Deadpan Snarker: When under Wade’s "interrogation" right before Robotnik returns with the Master Emerald in tow during Sonic 2.Stone: I’m not telling you anything. And that is a display bagel.
- The Dragon: To Robotnik in the first movie, which carries on into the sequel. While he and Knuckles serve as Co-Dragons, it’s shown that Robotnik fully intended all along to betray Knuckles once he had gotten the Master Emerald, firmly establishing Stone as his true second-in-command.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Inverted. After the Death Egg Robot is destroyed, he evades G.U.N.'s forces by disguising himself as one of their soldiers.
- Dub Name Change: In the Spanish dub, Stone's name is "Roca." Which means "Rock."
- Even Evil Has Standards: In the third film, Stone clearly suspects that Robotnik's grandfather Gerald is utilizing the Eclipse Cannon for something far worse than world domination, and even tries to warn Robotnik to initially no avail.
- Extreme Doormat: At one point, Robotnik sucker-punches him in the chest. Stone doesn't so much as utter a word of complaint about it. However, he does not tolerate his manager at the coffee shop treating him similarly, though, as he caps off his plan to infiltrate Green Hills by framing her for money laundering and taking over her shop.
- Faux Affably Evil: When Robotnik isn't around to be a dick to everyone, Stone proves to be surprisingly manipulative, and manages to take over a coffee shop to set up a new secret base for when Robotnik returns.
- Friendly Enemy: In the third movie, when Stone is alone with Tails, he has a friendly chat with the young fox and calls him adorable.
- Green-Eyed Monster: In the second movie, Stone seems to resent Knuckles since Robotnik chose to take the echidna along on his journey instead of him in the previous film.
- Harmless Villain: He doesn't seem to be a malicious guy, in spite of working for Robotnik. He doesn't do anything evil in the movie. In the comic prequel to the second movie, however... The third movie also shows he's surprisingly competent with a motorcycle and capable of combat when the situation calls for it.
- Jerkass to One: In the third movie, Agent Stone acts civil to Sonic and even acts friendly to Tails, but he mocks Knuckles for being scared of ghosts. It seems Stone still has a grudge against Knuckles for the events of the last movie, where Knuckles accidentally crushed his hand with a handshake and Robotnik took Knuckles along on his journey instead of Stone.
- Mad Scientist: Not quite to Robotnik's extent, but Stone is shown to be a capable scientist in his own right. After Robotnik's sent away and his resources are confiscated, Stone's able to control and keep the Badniks in working order. He takes over a coffeeshop in the Pre-Quill, and by Sonic 2 has turned it into a hi-tech secret base. Whatever devious schemes the doctor cooks up, Stone is eager to go along with them.
- Minion with an F in Evil: He seems a little too nice to be working for someone like Robotnik. When Sonic and Tom are fleeing from Robotnik, Stone's instinct is not to chase them but cater to his master and see if he's alright. He becomes more efficient and ruthless in the prequel comic for Sonic 2, managing to use some leftover resources and Badniks to take over the local coffee shop by either leaving the employees stranded somewhere else and framing the previous owner with tax fraud. While he did nearly kill Tails in 2 with the Death Egg Robot's Stash-Mashernote , he does tries to befriend Tails in 3.
- Morality Pet: While still abusive toward him, he's the only person Robotnik shows any form of kindness to, as Robotnik compliments how he makes lattes and even makes a rock named Agent Stone on the mushroom planet, showing he does miss Stone despite claiming he wouldn't when they parted ways earlier in the film. At the end of 3 during his Pre-Sacrifice Final Goodbye, Robotnik finally admits that Stone is his "sycofriend".
- More Despicable Minion: He serves as Robotnik's right hand man, but this trope is actually the other way around, since he lacks the doctor's maliciousness.
- No Full Name Given: Is "Stone" his first or last name? Either way, his full name is never mentioned.
- Nominal Villain: Agent Stone works as an assistant to the evil and insufferable Dr. Robotnik, but seemingly has no bad intentions, and puts up with Robotnik's abuse while keeping a positive attitude the whole time.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Official Movie Pre-Quill proves that he can be a ruthlessly efficient Chessmaster when he wants to be, as his disrespectful former coworkers learn the hard way. Near the end of Sonic 2, Stone uses the Death Egg Robot's Stash-Masher to destroy the Tornado, nearly killing Tails with it.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Despite getting knocked out in the middle of the final battle against the Death Egg Robot, he somehow survives its destruction with only minor injuries which also leaves open the possibility that Robotnik also survived despite losing the Master Emerald's power.
- Only Friend: As much as Robotnik treats Agent Stone like crap, he's probably the closest thing to a friend that Robotnik has. He compliments him when he gets him a latte that he likes, and when he's stranded on the Mushroom Planet, he carves a rock in Agent Stone's likeness and lugs it around, in spite of his open contempt for people and their inefficiency. When Super Robotnik builds his Death Egg Robot, he takes Stone with him at his request with zero hesitation. Then confirmed by Robotnik at the climax of the third film before the evil genius seemingly dies off for good in a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: In The Pre-Quill, Robotnik admits that Stone is a genius in his own right, even if he's leagues behind Robotnik himself.
- Properly Paranoid: In the third movie, he comes to realize that Gerald, despite appearing otherwise, has intentions far darker than simply conquering the world. He tries to warn Ivo, but Ivo brushes him off and accuses him of being jealous. Ivo later learns the truth about his grandfather's plan, realizing too late his henchman-cum-best friend was right.
- Satellite Character: His role in the movies revolves entirely around serving as Robotnik's personal lackey. The Pre-Quill comic sheds more light on him, including revealing him to be a genius in his own right.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Between Eggman's Co-Dragons in the second movie, Knuckles is the Manly Man who routinely invokes honor and possesses Super-Strength, while Agent Stone is the Sensitive Guy who makes art in latte foam.
- Sycophantic Servant: No matter how much Robotnik belittles and abuses him, he serves with an enthusiastic smile and a latte with steamed Austrian goat's milk. Even Robotnik being banished does little to dissuade his loyalty. It should be noted he's not a true sycophant, as he's willing to go against Robotnik to warn him about Gerald's true plans and bring Team Sonic to their lair so they can get their help to find who's been using his machines without his permission.
- Translator Buddy: After Robotnik's long tirade toward Bennington, Stone sums up the doctor's opinion of the Major in five words:Stone: The doctor thinks you're basic.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The circumstances are very bittersweet, but in the third film Robotnik finally acknowledges Stone as a friend and thanks him for all he's done for the doctor.
- Undying Loyalty: An absolute kiss-up to Robotnik. Ironically, despite Robotnik complaining that humans are useless compared to perfectly obedient machines, Agent Stone does everything he's told without question or complaint. Furthermore, he's likely the only person who's actually happy with Robotnik's return from his banishment. This is slightly Deconstructed in the third movie, as while still fully loyal to Robotnik, Stone does crave some acknowledgement from him in return.
- Unexplained Recovery: Unlike Robotnik whose fate remained unknown after the destruction of the Death Egg Robot up until the third film, Stone managed to survive the whole ordeal and disguise himself as a lowly G.U.N. Soldier in The Stinger of the second movie despite being knocked unconscious early on.
- Villainy-Free Villain: He doesn't do anything truly villainous other than be Robotnik's assistant. Robotnik doesn't do anything illegal or villainous either, until he tries to kill Tom, which Stone did not participate in. This is fully Averted in the second movie's prequel comic, where he masterminds a bank heist to retrieve one of Robotnik's Control Gloves, and then actively and intentionally ruins several people's lives to gain ownership of a coffee shop.
- Virtuous Character Copy: Stone bears a few similarities to Snively of the Archie comics and Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), with both acting as aides to Dr. Robotnik. However, while Snively is routinely condescending to his superior (even not being above wanting to usurp the role of leader for himself); Stone remains friendly and loyal to Robotnik through and through, helping him with everything from making his coffee to building his various machines.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- He's initially never seen again when Robotnik heads to San Francisco in the first movie, with the second movie reveals that he's been working at a coffee shop, which he took over through some evil schemes.
- This is Averted altogether at the end of the second movie. After Robotnik's apparent demise, he is shown during The Stinger to have disguised himself and infiltrated G.U.N.
- In the end of the third movie, after Robotnik has seemingly died, Agent Stone is still alive and free on Earth, and it’s unknown what he’s going to do now that his beloved boss is seemingly gone.
- Yes-Man: He sucks up to Robotnik at all times, following his instruction without question.
- You Are a Credit to Your Race: Robotnik acknowledges Stone as a genius compared to other humans, and sees the man as his only trusted friend.
The Buyer
Played by: Rory McCannForeign VAs
Appearances: Knuckles

A mysterious inventor and colleague of Dr. Robotnik. He has an interest in capturing Knuckles so that he can power his inventions.
- Bad Boss: He'll kill his employees if they fail him. When Mason and Willoughby fail to catch Knuckles, Willoughby does manage to convince him to give them one more chance, but he tells them that if they do succeed this time, they won’t be paid and their only reward will be that they get to keep living.
- Big Bad: Overall, he is the main threat of the Knuckles miniseries, as his obsession with Knuckles and his powers, combined with his vast resources and general intimidation factor, make him by far the biggest threat of the whole series. In addition, he’s Willoughby’s and Mason’s boss.
- Big Bad Ensemble: However, that doesn’t stop him from sharing the status with Pistol Pete, as he’s the one that drives the more personal stakes of the series while The Buyer provides the story’s greater obstacles. In the end, The Buyer is undoubtedly the more dangerous of the two, and takes the sole Big Bad status by the end of the show.
- Canon Foreigner: He doesn’t exist in the games and was created for the Knuckles series.
- Celebrity Paradox: Game of Thrones exists in this universe, with Maddie mentioning the Iron Throne. No one comments on the Buyer's resemblance to the Hound, also played by Rory McCann.
- Composite Character: Being a genius human inventor who makes two henchmen go after his enemies and acts like a Bad Boss makes him more similar to Robotnik in his earliest incarnations, but his plan of going after Knuckles and him once working for Robotnik makes him similar to Eggrobo when playing as Knuckles in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
- The Dreaded: Mason and Willoughby are both very scared of what he’ll do to them if he finds out they failed to catch Knuckles.
- Evil Genius: He was able to work together with Robotnik, who would accept no less than another such evil genius.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He speaks in a similar growling tone as Sandor Clegane just to further tip you off that he's a deadly threat.
- Eviler than Thou: Towards Mason and Willoughby, who both fear him. When the Buyer finds out they failed him, he has his other henchmen capture the two and they can only plead for their lives.
- Final Boss: The final opponent both Knuckles and Wade face in the series, and by far the most dangerous one.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Although he's never mentioned in the previous movies (since he didn't exist yet), it's insinuated that he was just a normal underling who used to work for Robotnik. However, after the doctor went missing and insane, the Buyer used his remaining resources that weren't seized by G.U.N. and went underground, turning him into the notoriously feared arms dealer that Mason and Willoughby fear him for being.
- Humongous Mecha: Pilots a gigantic bipedal war machine that bears some resemblance to the Phantom Egg during "What Happens in Reno, Stays in Reno".
- Knight of Cerebus: Every scene with him in the otherwise goofy Knuckles series is played very seriously, highlighting what a dangerous villain he is.
- Make an Example of Them: He destroys an Egg Drone Badnik with a welding torch during "Reno Baby" to show Agents Willoughby and Mason how he’s about to kill them for failing him.
- Manly Facial Hair: Has a thick, bushy beard that, alongside the welding he's often seen doing, helps to emphasize his toughness in comparison to his bumbling minions, Mason and Willoughby, as well as meek hero Wade.
- No Name Given: His real name is never revealed in the series. And probably never will be, given how he was crushed by a large casino sphere.
- Revenge: The Buyer used to work for G.U.N. before it was named that, working directly under Robotnik. After Robotnik went rogue and G.U.N. wrote him off as having never existed, they tried to erase all their connections to Robotnik, including the Buyer, and they sent agents to try to kill him. Although he was scarred, he ultimately escaped and went into hiding. He now wants to destroy G.U.N. for betraying and attempting to kill him.
- The Sociopath: Agent Willoughby outright calls him an absolute sociopath.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's essentially a poor man's version of Robotnik, being an evil Gadgeteer Genius who wants to capture an alien animal to harness his power (in the Buyer's case, Knuckles).
- Villain Respect: He comments that anyone who comes after Knuckles had better be ready for a fight. Upon meeting Knuckles, he tells him that it’s an honor.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: He talks with an indeterminate accent.
- You Have Failed Me: He almost does this, but it’s subverted. When he finds out Mason and Willoughby let Knuckles escape, he captures them and plans on killing them for their failure. However, Willoughby relates to him about their shared desire to make G.U.N. suffer for how the organization treated them both, and he gives them one more chance to catch Knuckles, telling them that instead of paying them, their reward will be that he won’t kill them.
Machines
Ivo's Machines
The Badniks
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Dr. Robotnik's personal army of robots. They come in a variety of forms, from standard egg-shaped drones to powerful tank-like vehicles.
- Adaptational Badass: Their use of deadly lasers and missiles on the field make them much more destructive than the standard Badniks of the games. The lasers the Buzz Bombers have in Sonic 2 eventually make their way into the games via Sonic Superstars.
- Adaptational Mundanity: Physically so. The games' Badniks are colorful robots with a plethora of unique designs, usually based on egg-laying animals. Here they are primarily white in color with plainer, less expressive designs, though the second film does introduce a new variant based on the Buzz Bomber. The prequel comic to the second movie includes Crabmeat-like Badniks as well, but they only appear for one panel, destroying Tina's car while she's taking a vacation.
- Adaptation Name Change: A giant Crabmeat appears in the third film as Eggman's base of operations, but it is simply referred to as "The Crab".
- Adapted Out: In the games, Eggman infamously used innocent animals as "organic batteries" for his minions, and you were able to free them after destroying the robots. Understandably, this doesn't happen in the films; one could say that No Animals Were Harmed in the making of these Badniks.
- Airborne Mook: Both the egg drones and Buzz Bombers are specifically designed to fly.
- Asteroids Monster: The tank variant is capable of breaking off into smaller robots, its most basic form being a one-wheeled vehicle.
- Bee Afraid: The Buzz Bombers make their debut in the second movie. While the regular drones are shaped like eggs, these guys resemble giant bees.
- Big Badass Rig: A giant black automated rig with a Badnik eye serves as Robotnik's mobile laboratory in the first movie.
- Blind Obedience: The main reason that Robotnik enjoys using them opposed to humans since they all do everything he tells them to do without hesitation. The only to subvert this is the one Badnik Robotnik programmed to think for itself, which changes its mind later on.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: While the wasp-shaped models are called Buzz Bombers in the games, they go nameless in the films.
- Everything Is an iPod in the Future: Unlike the colorful, cartoony Badniks of the games, these Badniks have shiny, white, sleek designs.
- Giant Enemy Crab: A Crabmeat variant appears in the Pre-Quill comic, a giant robotic crab roughly the size of a car. Sonic 3 features a massive Badnik called "The Crab" which acts as a mobile base for Robotnik.
- Glass Cannon: While undoubtedly advanced machines, they're still very flimsy. Tom himself can destroy the standard drones just by hitting them with mundane objects. In the sequel, Sonic is able to take them out with snowballs.
- Laser Sight: The standard egg drones have these. Tails gets surrounded by them in the second film, signaling to the heroes that Robotnik has arrived.
- Mecha-Mooks: Like in the games, they are the primary enemies that Sonic and friends have to fight off.
- Mechanical Insects: The Buzz Bombers are robots that resemble giant bees.
- Took a Level in Badass: After Robotnik steals the Master Emerald in the second film, he upgrades his robots with shiny black and green chrome builds resembling the A3G15 from Dragon Quest and Emerald-powered lasers.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Every Badnik sports a glowing red eye, an indication of their lethal nature as well as harkening back to both Metal Sonic and Robotnik's early cartoon designs.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The mobile lab variant Robotnik used in the first movie disappears in the sequel, being replaced by the disguised lair set up in the Mean Bean Coffee Shop. It's likely that it got confiscated by the authorities in the interim.
Unit
Voiced by: Aaron Landon
Appearances: Sonic Drone Home (Animated short)

An Eggman robot who appears in the animated short, Sonic Drone Home. It is notably the first Badnik in this continuity that can actively speak and think for itself.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Unit is first introduced upgrading itself in order to Take Over the World, while still claiming to have grown beyond its programming. Sonic manages to talk it down by pointing out that the whole "take over the World" thing is Robotnik's shtick and asks the Unit what it truly wants to do. This manages to calm the rogue drone down, leading to it admitting that it has a fondness for poetry of all things, and leads to its Heel–Face Turn.
- Artificial Intelligence: The first of Robotnik's goons to actually have sentience and a personality.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Downplayed, but Unit stops trying to kill Sonic because no one has ever asked Unit an actual question before, and Sonic was the first to ask one.
- Benevolent A.I.: Though hostile at first, Unit eventually cools down and befriends Sonic and Tails after they get to know it through its love of poetry.
- Elite Mook: Unit is alarmingly effective at upgrading itself with whatever it can find in the junkyard (using a fridge to eject anyone it traps inside, a paint sprayer as a Red Herring, and a propeller in case if its enemy tried to escape using flight) and almost succeeds at destroying Sonic without being given direct orders.
- Evil Is Hammy: Despite its Heel–Face Turn, it contines to speak in dramatic villain dialogue and even its poetry refects this theme.Unit: (reading a poem) It's Unit's ambition to crush all opposition...
- Expy: He is basically E-102 "γ" (Gamma) from Sonic Adventure. Both are robots created by Robotnik that learn to grow past their programming and befriend Sonic and his friends in the end.
- Giant Scrap Robot: Unit is first introduced upgrading itself with a body made entirely of junk from the scrapyard. Its makeshift parts include a construction excavator for an arm, a busted car for a torso, and built-in helicopter propellers.
- Heel–Face Turn: After an intense battle with Team Sonic, Sonic is able to calm Unit down and have a genuine heart-to-heart with it. It quickly lightens up and befriends the trio, though it still somewhat iffy toward Knuckles.
- Hidden Depths: Would you believe that the scrappy junkyard robot has a thing for poetry? It even writes its own material, and happily shares it with Sonic and Tails, earning their friendship.
- It Can Think: Unit holds the honor of being the first Paramount Sonic Badnik to show any self-awareness. It's smart enough to strategize without being given direct orders and writes its own poems.
- Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Played for Laughs; it puts on a pair of glasses to read its poem, despite being a robot with one eye.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after it befriend the trio and has different interest in mind with poetry, Unit remain focused on its quest to "conquer" the world.Unit: (Towards Knuckles) Soon, Unit will master the poetry forms and the world will cower. You will be the first to fall before this unit's superior prose, red mean thing.
- Third-Person Person: In a robotic fashion, Unit always uses its name in place of words such as "I" and "my."
The Eggpod / the Prototype
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (destroyed) | Sonic Dash (2020 event-exclusive boss)

An experimental aerial assault vehicle created and used by Dr. Robotnik to battle Sonic in the finale of the first movie.
- All There in the Manual: It's only called the Eggpod in the modeling schematics for CGI rendering until being officially named in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill comic that is.
- Bullet Time: Once Dr. Robotnik connects Sonic's quill to the Eggpod's systems, he can move so fast that Time Stands Still.
- Composite Character: The Eggpod has a lot of elements from vehicles of past Sonic games.
- The wings and the way it flies at Sonic bears a resemblance to the Egg Hawk from Sonic Heroes.
- Its Beam Cannon and the way it fires missiles is like the R-1/A Flying Dog from Sonic Adventure 2.
- It flies through San Francisco and destroys everything in its path to capture or otherwise eliminate a fugitive Sonic, similar to the GUN Military Truck in Sonic Adventure 2 that does the same thing, while inflicting a similar amount of destruction to a San Francisco-like city.
- It's also very reminiscent in design and proportion to the redesigned Eggmobile from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), but with a covered canopy and a while color scheme instead of silver.
- In the end of the movie, Sonic destroys it in rapid fire attacks like Robotnik's Ship in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
- More Dakka: It's packing heat with missiles, bullets, and a laser cannon.
- No Name Given: It's only called "the Prototype" by Dr. Robotnik in the film, though subverted in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill comic.
- Super Prototype: It's the first invention Dr. Robotnik created that involves being empowered by Sonic's quill.
- Super-Speed: By empowering the Eggpod with Sonic's quill, Dr. Robotnik can match Sonic's speed through flight, completed with the same Bullet Time effect.
- Wave-Motion Gun: While chasing Sonic, the Eggpod is equipped with a laser cannon located from the bottom.
- Wrecked Weapon: It ends up being destroyed by a supercharged spin dash from Sonic in the first movie. By the beginning of the second movie, Dr. Robotnik salvages the destroyed parts to create a homing beacon empowered by Sonic's quill for alien assistance to get back home.
The Death Egg Robot
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

- Adaptational Badass: The Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2 is a hard boss and mostly reduced to Warm-Up Boss in its later appearances, but it was still able to be taken down by Sonic in his regular form, and utterly trounced should Sonic have access to his Super form. In the movie, the Death Egg Robot is created and controlled by a Master Emerald-powered Robotnik, meaning Sonic has to go Super to even have a chance of an equal fight.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It's a gargantuan robot that Robotnik uses to rampage through Green Hills. It's up to Sonic and friends to take it down during the climax.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: It is clearly the Death Egg Robot of the games, but since the Death Egg space station doesn't appear, it's never called that. Merchandise simply calls it the "Giant Eggman Robot" (though this is incidentally the name of the regular final boss of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which is another giant Eggman mecha) while the book manual that Agent Stone read refers to it as "Egg-Robotnik".
- Composite Character:
- It has the color scheme of its classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2 iteration and relies on a similar Megaton Punch ability.
- Its overall power, flamethrower weapon in its nose, and the lasers powered from the Master Emerald comes from the Giant Eggman Robo in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
- Its power level and position as Eggman's ultimate weapon is like the Death Egg.
- Its similar in size to the Titanic Monarch from Sonic Mania, as it's so huge that Team Sonic can travel inside it, and Robotnik controlling it like a suit of armor with the Master Emerald he's bonded to is similar to his own Final Boss mech suit from the same game by using the Phantom Ruby.
- The way it gets assembled using chaos energy and scrap metal is just like Metal Madness from Sonic Heroes. It also resembles the Egg Emperor from the same game.
- Cut the Juice: Subverted after Robotnik loses the Master Emerald as its main power source, as he also built it with an alternate power source and could be controlled manually with control panels and his gloves.
- Eye Beams: It can shoot Emerald-powered lasers from its eyes.
- Final Boss: Befitting of a classic Sonic boss, it serves as the last enemy that Team Sonic has to take down in the sequel, and even more fittingly, the final confrontation is between it and Super Sonic.
- Humongous Mecha: A mechanical colossus that bears the sinister likeness of its creator.
- Macross Missile Massacre: It unleashes a missile barrage from its chest, nearly taking out Sonic and Tails while they're riding the Tornado.
- Motion-Capture Mecha: With the power of the Master Emerald, Dr. Robotnik can control the Death Egg Robot with his own body movement while levitating in the air. After losing the Emerald, Robotnik has to switch to manual control panels.
- Nasal Weapon: The "snot rocket", which is a laser that's fired out of the robot's nose.
- No OSHA Compliance: It doesn't really have much safety features for anybody that's actually inside it. Robotnik gets away with this mostly by floating, but Agent Stone isn't so lucky.
- Off with His Head!: Super Sonic uses his newfound powers to decapitate the robot, allowing him to confront Robotnik face-to-face.
- Punch Catch: After Sonic emerges in his Super form, Robotnik uses the mecha to deal one more rocket-powered punch on his foe. Super Sonic manages to stop its fist with one arm, without even flinching.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Like the other Badniks, it sports red eyes and an entire face to go with it (though only after losing the Emerald's power).
- Rocket Punch: It's a giant mech suit, so it has to have rocket-powered fists.
- Walking Spoiler: Good luck bringing up anything about this, since it's part of the climax.
Gerald's Machines
The Eclipse Cannon
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Gerald Robotnik's Magnum Opus and greatest weapon. A giant Kill Sat made in his image designed to destroy the world. His plan is to manipulate Shadow and Ivo into helping him use it.
- Adaptational Badass: In the games, the Eclipse Cannon was able to blow a hole in the moon, but only after having procured six Chaos Emeralds to power it, and even then it needed a full-day to recharge. With all seven, it's poweful enough to destroy the Black Comet, though it's never been clarified if the Cannon could destroy the planet at full-power, the threat instead being the ARK performing a Colony Drop. Here, not only does it need a mere sample of chaos energy taken from Shadow to become fully-operational, but a direct hit from a fully-charged Eclipse Cannon would definitely destroy the Earth, or at the very least be powerful enough to render the planet incapable of fostering life, and, judging by Gerald's certainty that they would die as well, cause an explosion so massive it would reach back up into space and destroy the cannon itself.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the games, Gerald initially created the Eclipse Cannon to prevent an Alien Invasion and some petty backlash against GUN by designing a weapon too powerful to even use at a single Earth target without destroying the planet, but after he went insane over Maria's death, he reprogrammed it so that if all seven Chaos Emeralds are used to power it, it will instead cause the Space Colony ARK to crash into the planet. Here, the Eclipse Cannon was designed as part of Gerald's cooperation with G.U.N. to be a weapon used on anywhere on the planet, but he intended all along for it to destroy the planet, if not through its laser, then the cannon overloading and irradiating the atmosphere, dooming all life.
- Artifact of Doom: The machine is not alive or sentient, but it's still an incredibly dangerous weapon that poses a threat simply by existing. If it's ever activated and fired, even if not aimed at Earth, it's designed to explode and destroy the planet anyway.
- Composite Character:
- The Eclipse Cannon borrows elements from the various Death Egg models from the game series, as well as Eggman's other models like Dead Line from Sonic Rush, being a giant Kill Sat made in the image of the Death Star with the power to destroy a planet.
- In the original games, the Eclipse Cannon was simply a component of the already existing Space Colony ARK, rather than its sole function, that was meant as a defensive measure against Alien Invasion eventually repurposed as a weapon against the world when Gerald had his Sanity Slippage after Maria's death. Here, the Eclipse Cannon is effectively the whole station itself as an unambiguous Kill Sat rather than just one part designed far after Maria's demise with a singular purpose to destroy the world one way or another.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Gerald's master plan was to use the cannon to cause one of these. Even in the event it misses, the cannon would overload and explode in the Earth's orbit, causing an apocalypse almost as severe.
- Faceship: After being activated, some solar panels and lights on the outside activate to create a replica of Gerald and Ivo's face, with the solar panels being the moustache.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The whole purpose of the station really; much as it is designed as a Kill Sat, Gerald explicitly built it in such a way that no matter the outcome of it's usage it would result in some kind of catastrophic The End of the World as We Know It scenario to claim his Revenge for Maria's death, be it through the usage of its cannon to cause an Earth-Shattering Kaboom or through it's own Phlebotinum Breakdown that was factored into it's design from the beginning to cake the Earth with such apocalyptic amounts of radiation that it would be uninhabitable and then some (and to also screw over GUN if they ever managed to use it before he could). It takes a whole different approach to avert Gerald's ambition, at the seeming sacrifices of both Eggman and Shadow, and deny both outcomes altogether.
- Kill Sat: Its laser has the power to destroy the planet, and it ends up slicing a part of the moon clean off.
- No OSHA Compliance: Gerald designed the Eclipse Cannon to both destroy the world one way or another, and to function as his final, orbital tomb. It's riddled with structural flaws along those lines, such as its ability to return to Earth tied to a single console, and no way to abort a discharge. And there are no handrails. Fittingly, Gerald's own malevolent negligence leads to his undoing, as the chaos energy reactor has no shielding for the cannon's passengers, allowing Ivo to blast him into it with one of Sonic's quills, killing him.
- Walking Spoiler: The Eclipse Cannon is the key to Gerald's true endgame, and thus a massive spoiler to even mention it.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The Eclipse Cannon deploys one of these as an apocalyptic superweapon capable of cutting clean through a planet like butter, with Gerald's intent to fry the entire planet with a singular blast aimed directly at the Earth... and should it miss or be stopped somehow, the sheer power required to operate the beam would overload the reactor of the satellite and destroy the Earth anyway.
GUN Hunters
Appearances: Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Designed by Gerald Robotnik as part of the Eclipse Cannon's defense systems under GUN, these machines serve as one last obstacle for our heroes.
- Adaptational Badass: Zigzagged. They are treated as a much more serious threat than the GUN Hunters from the games but this is rendered moot as they are faced by Super Sonic and Super Shadow, who easily tear them to shreds.
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. While GUN Hunters in both games and the movies are just following orders, and them attacking the heroes in Sonic Adventure 2 even while they're trying to stop the Eclipse Cannon from crashing into the Earth was likely pre-programmed, here the orders they follow are malicious from the get-go.
- The Aesthetics of Technology: Contrasting Ivo's iPod inspired designs on his machines, these robots are more boxy and military looking, fitting that they were ostensibly made for the benefit of GUN.
- Composite Character: Rather than being standard mooks, they inherit the Biolizard's role as Gerald Robotnik's last line of defense, faced by Super Sonic and Super Shadow.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Despite their firepower, they're no match for the combined strength of Super Sonic and Super Shadow.
- Hold the Line: The biggest danger they pose isn't their own strength, but in them buying time for the Eclipse Cannon to fire.
- The Worf Effect: Are considered to be more powerful and dangerous than the Badniks Sonic has faced before. Unfortunately for them, against Super Sonic and Super Shadow, the most they can do is buy time for Gerald as they're easily destroyed in droves.



