"The advantage I have is time. As an immortal, I can wait you out. I may not defeat you, but you will never know peace. Nor will your children...Or their children."
"Gotcha! The fortress reactor was just a decoy! A true winner always keeps his trump card hidden until the end."
— Dr. Eggman, Sonic Forces
Sonic and his companions have been rollin' around at the speed of sound since the '90s and have come up against a huge variety of brilliant and adaptive opponents that constantly leave them hanging on the edge of tomorrow.
Sections by release date.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
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Video Games
Examples
- SegaSonic the Hedgehog: Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik's objective in this game is to kill Sonic, Mighty and Ray. He starts out by successfully kidnapping them before imprisoning them in Eggman Island, an entire island designed to kill them. Then, he attempts to kill them in their prison with an advancing wall of spikes. When they escape, Eggman tries to kill them in the most over-the-top ways through the levels, with a giant ball of lava, falling giant stalactites, collapsing sand areas, giant rolling cylinders, boulders, trapped ladders, water and spike mines. He also traps the bridge leading towards his tower, expecting the heroes to cross it, and said trap ends up working. When the heroic trio confronts him, he successfully escapes and activate the tower's self-destruct sequence with only 20 seconds to spare. Leaving Sonic, Mighty and Ray screaming and panicking through the whole game, Eggman, despite being hammy, reminded them that his I.Q. of 300 wasn't for show.
- Adventure: Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik's objective in this game is to destroy Station Square in order to build his own city, Robotnikland. To do so, he freed Chaos and turned him into his ally. Since Chaos grows stronger by absorbing the Chaos Emeralds (and would eventually destroy Station Square once he has all seven), he decides to collect them. As such, he attacks Sonic and Tails to steal their Chaos Emerald. Despite his defeat, he succeeds in stealing the Emerald when they are distracted. He then reveals to them his plan, expecting them to collect the Emeralds before him, which would allow him to easily steal them. While his plan works, he also collects two emeralds by himself, obtaining 6 Emeralds. When Chaos 6 is defeated by Sonic and Knuckles, Eggman fires a missile at Station Square, only falling because of the missile malfunctioning and Tails' interference. Despite his silly, over-the-top attitude, Eggman remains constantly a step ahead of the heroes for half of the story, reminding you why he's Sonic's archnemesis.
- Adventure 2:
- Shadow the Hedgehog is an Ultimate Lifeform that lost his best friend Maria and his creator Dr. Gerald Robotnik when they were killed by the government. Imprisoned but eventually released by Gerald’s grandson, Dr. Eggman, Shadow enacts a plan to destroy all of humanity as revenge. Playing on Eggman's ego and his grandfather's legacy, Shadow manipulates the doctor into gathering Chaos Emeralds, misdirecting everyone into thinking it is for powering a Kill Sat. This diverts everyone's attention from his real plan of performing a Colony Drop. He even manages to expose Rouge as a government agent. Shadow's plan is only foiled because Amy Rose helps him remember Maria's final request for Shadow to protect the people of Earth and so he decides to help stop his own scheme, almost sacrificing himself. Shadow, in his first appearance, was as devious as Sonic villains come and even as a hero is one of the franchise's most competent characters.
- Rouge the Bat is a government agent with a hobby of thieving, whose skills are unmatched. First trying to steal the Master Emerald, Rouge then infiltrates the inner circle of Dr. Eggman and partners with Shadow the Hedgehog to acquire the Chaos Emeralds, stealing Emeralds all while secretly working against Eggman's plots and uncovering the truth about the conspiracy behind Shadow. When Earth is in danger, Rouge's quick-witted brilliance creates a plan to save the world from the dangerous Finalhazard. Upon once again meeting Shadow, she mediates an alliance between Shadow and the robotic E-123 Omega, forming and leading Team Dark against whatever foes cross their path. Rouge proves brilliant time and again, whether serving the government or committing crimes for her own entertainment. Never truly on any side but her own, Rouge always follows her belief that all the world's gems are hers to keep, no matter the challenge in taking them.
- Heroes: Metal Sonic gains enough sentience to overthrow Dr. Eggman and graduate into a much more serious threat. Flawlessly impersonating his creator, Metal Sonic issues a challenge to Team Sonic that would either end in him obtaining their data in their counterattack or conquering the world to start a "robot kingdom." Disguising himself as the real Sonic, Metal Sonic kidnaps Chocola Chao and Froggy to gain the data of Chaos and its shapeshifting abilities. He also lures Team Sonic with the Egg Albatross in Bullet Station to buy time for the Egg Fleet to deploy. Despite the involvement of four different capable teams, Metal Sonic takes everything in stride under the radar, acquiring more data than initially planned and playing them all until Dr. Eggman's real location is discovered. Although his statements as Metal Overlord bring his sanity to question, Metal Sonic remains one of Sonic's most dangerous foes. Even after being reprogrammed to be obedient, Metal Sonic shows his penchant for undercover gambiteering when he copies the data of all World Grand Prix participants for one final Extreme Gear race.
- Chronicles: Dr. Eggman is Crazy-Prepared and resilient in his usual scheming. By planting a robot that could nurse him back to health, Eggman survives his presumed death before the game and presents himself as reformed when tracked down by Team Sonic. Despite lingering mistrust, Eggman keeps everyone on board by emphasizing their common enemy in the Marauders. Having built Metropolis, Eggman uses his knowledge of the city to hunt down the Marauders, even after an avalanche and a plane crash force him to use back-up plans. He also gains Tails' friendship by collaborating on upgrades to the Tornado and a device to banish the Marauders to their home dimension. With the team ready to chase down the Marauders, Eggman stays behind to ensure a safe return, only to instead build the Eggman Empire while his archenemy is away.
- Black Knight: Merlina the Wizard flawlessly masterminded the entire plot of the game completely beneath notice. Summoning Sonic from his world to slay a corrupted King Arthur, she takes the arcane Scabbard of Excalibur to utilize its power of immortality, casting a powerful spell on the Kingdom of Camelot. Having foreseen the ruinous future of her world, a despairing Merlina places Camelot under a kind of magical stasis, fueled by the dark forces from the Underworld, in hopes of keeping it eternal. Showing absolute conviction to her cause, Merlina even fights back against Sonic and Caliburn as the Dark Queen. Although ultimately defeated, Sonic spares and convinces Merlina to abandon her nihilistic outlook, proving her to be a lost, if understandable soul who needed her hope restored after resorting to extreme measures to keep her world intact.
- Lost World: This version of Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik starts off with complete control of the Deadly Six through the use of the Cacophonic Conch and only loses them due to Sonic's recklessness. Now stripped of his machines and resources, Eggman decides to ally with Sonic and Tails and take advantage of his past habit of uniting against a stronger force. He even goes so far to save a suspicious Tails's life to make his alliance seem completely altruistic. In the climax, Eggman seemingly sacrifices his life so Sonic can defeat the Deadly Six, but Eggman faked it by using a jetpack to break his fall. Spending the time beneath notice building a mech powered by the energy the Extractor had absorbed, Eggman claws his way back to Final Boss status in a stunning display of manipulation and patience.
- Mania: The Heavy Magician is the most crafty and charismatic of Dr. Eggman's Hard-Boiled Heavies. Encountering Sonic in Mirage Saloon Zone, she conjures several Badniks, including a Caterkiller she turns giant, before shooting the Tornado down in disguise and using her disguises in a magic show battle. In Plus's Encore Mode, after surviving the destruction of the Titanic Monarch, she disguises as one of Sonic's captured friends to steal the Phantom Ruby, revive the other Hard-Boiled Heavies, and continue Eggman's world domination plot.
- Forces: In this work Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik researches the Phantom Ruby in his attempt at world domination. Recruiting Infinite through promises, he implants him with a Phantom Ruby prototype and christens him as the Eggman Empire's high commander. With everything in place, Eggman lures Sonic into a savage beatdown, and with him out of the way, conquers the world in a matter of months. Eggman proceeds to display foresight and cunning in trying to keep his iron-fisted hold on the planet—ordering his forces to destroy any remaining prototypes, keeping multiple power sources unbeknownst to his enemies, and targeting critical points in the Resistance. He also factored in multiple ways to eliminate the Resistance outright, culminating in a virtual Colony Drop when they were gathered in one place. Even in the final fight, Eggman pulls out all the stops, having kept the real Phantom Ruby with the whole time, and has to be stopped by the combined might of Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the Avatar.
- Frontiers: Sage is an A.I. created by Dr. Eggman to research the Starfall Islands and help him Take Over the World. Detecting a dangerous entity on the islands, Sage sucks Eggman into Cyber Space for his own protection while she studies the islands, before trapping Sonic and his friends as well to keep them out of her way. Upon Sonic's escape, Sage summons the Titans to hunt him down, repeatedly shooting him out of the sky, hindering him at every opportunity, and lethally testing him to analyze his abilities as a potential ally, only withholding information due to Eggman's commands. After bonding with Eggman as his "daughter" and witnessing Sonic's love for his friends, Sage convinces her "father" to join forces with Sonic and collect the Chaos Emeralds to stop the destruction of Earth. After taking control of a Titan from THE END and battling alongside Sonic, Sage allows herself to be destroyed to stop THE END's rampage, telling Sonic to "look after Father."
Comic Books
Examples
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
- Pre-Genesis Timeline: Mammoth Mogul is a cultured, ancient wizard with a persistent desire to Take Over the World. It is he who founded the Order of Ixis as one of many attempts in gathering an army to serve him in his conquests. A mammoth with powerful rhetoric, Mogul is not above convincing people to his side through words alone while simultaneously planning on how to use them for his own ends. This is best displayed when Mogul led Mighty, Tails, and Mina to suicidal situations to make Sonic submit and become part of his new Fearsome Foursome. Even so, Mogul is all too willing to make the universe bow to his will, shown when he becomes the all-powerful Master Mogul and tried to take over alternate universes. After one too many defeats despite his variety of schemes, Mammoth Mogul contents himself with living the life of a businessman, patiently waiting until Sonic and his allies grow too old to oppose an immortal wizard like himself.
- Post-Genesis Timeline: Breezie the Hedgehog is the flirtatious yet cunning former apprentice of Dr. Eggman. Originally, she pretended to be a helpless hostage of Eggman for Sonic, using her situation to feed intel to Eggman to launch surprise Bandik attacks on Sonic. She then left Eggman to build a global entertainment industry and secret criminal empire, along with taking in forgotten Bandiks and caring for them as her employees. After finding a Chaos Emerald needed to save the shattered planet, she devises a scheme to take advantage of the broken state of the world. She creates a fighting tournament for ownership of the Emerald, taking advantage of Sonic and Eggman’s desires for the Emerald to make them part of the show. She manipulates the brackets of the tournament, taking advantage of Espio adding Knuckles to the roster to make him Sonic's last opponent, along with turning Eggman’s bounty hunters against each other. Anticipating Eggman’s attempt to have Metal Sonic steal the Emerald, she uses lackluster security to force the heroes to fight Metal and create a grand finale to the tournament that would put the eyes of the whole world on her, and increase her wealth and influence to the point of making her “worth half a planet”. At the end of the day, Breezie does not take sides, but will do whatever it takes to profit herself.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW):
- Metal Sonic, having underwent upgrades during the events of Sonic Forces, discovers that the Eggman Empire has been defeated and that Eggman himself has gone missing. Shapeshifting into Eggman and ruling the empire in his place, Metal Sonic leads coordinated attacks across the world while searching for Eggman to have him regain his place as ruler of the Empire. After discovering that Knuckles is on the surface from his observations of Sonic, Metal Sonic takes over the unprotected Angel Island and obtains the Master Emerald, ensuring that he'll be able to negate Sonic's Super form if he tries to use it. Even when defeated, the mercy of the heroes allows Metal Sonic to find the amnesiac Eggman and succesfully restore his memories leading Eggman to return to his old ways. After the events of the Metal Virus, Metal Sonic single-handedy buys time for Eggman to escape by lying in wait and critically injuring Gemerl when the latter is about to apprehend Eggman. Proving to be as cunning as he was during Sonic Heroes while maintaining his loyalty to the doctor, Metal Sonic shows why Eggman views him as his greatest creation.
- Rouge the Bat is an affable and cunning spy. Rouge is the first to discover the location of an amnesiac Eggman, and to prevent Shadow from killing him or causing a scene, she anonymously tips off Team Chaotix to where Eggman is, predicting that the Chaotix would call Sonic in, and that Sonic would be able to talk down Shadow for her. She plays a pivotal role during the Metal Virus incident: leading the evacuation of Sunset City, infiltrating the Faceship, and warning Sonic and friends of the Deadly Six’s takeover. Using Orbot and Cubot as agents, she locates all the Chaos Emeralds held by the Zeti across the world, allowing her teammates to launch a counterattack. Taking advantage of the chaos, she manages to steal the last Emerald powering the Faceship, destroying the ship and its ability to spread the virus. As part of her personal heists, Rouge is able to come out on top even against rivals and heroes, taking advantage of Rough and Tumble’s superstition or Tangle's naivety to successfully claim her treasure. Just as capable as her game counterpart, Rouge is a skilled yet untrustworthy ally for Sonic and friends.
Anime
Examples
- Sonic X:
- Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, while already a brilliant adversary, becomes even more impressive in Season 3. Saving Sonic after the latter's fight against Dark Oak, Eggman plants a bug on him to spy on him and thus learns of his plans to go to space with his friends to collect the Chaos Emeralds and defeat the Metarex. Following them in the hopes of getting the Emeralds and take over the world, Eggman works with and manipulates all sides of the conflict as it suits his needs, seeing through Rouge the Bat's attempts at double-crossing him and getting her to work with him, repeatedly outsmarting the monstrous but fairly brilliant Pale Bayleaf, and working with the Metarex to lure Sonic and his friends to a near-successful ambush that even led to a temporarily unconscious Sonic, a move even the latter considered one of Eggman's few victories over him. Ultimately working against the Metarex, Eggman saves Sonic and his friends from a fatal ambush by disguising his ship as their ship, allowing them to escape unarmed and later on assists them with vital information that help them defeat Dark Oak in the long run.
- Dark Oak, supreme leader of the Metarex, is a chilling combination of power and tragedy. Originally an alien lifeform named Lukas, he fell out with his lover Earthia and parts of his own species trying to save his world from destruction. His ambition and sound intentions eventually corrupted him to become Dark Oak, an Evil Overlord bent on creating a galaxy free of war and conflict by annihilating everything except plants and botanical lifeforms like himself. Introduced trouncing Super Sonic in an attempt to get all seven Chaos Emeralds, Dark Oak strays to the background and creates strategies to systematically crush his opposition that, even in failure, will give him an idea of what they are capable of. Dark Oak's cruelest but most ingenious act was forcing a sleeper agent within the ranks of Sonic and crew from the very beginning. Said person had a tracking device that relayed valuable information to the Metarex as they captured the Chaos Emeralds and the Planet Eggs for "Forestation." At the end of a hard-fought battle, Lukas dies realizing the errors of his ways and reconciles with Earthia in the afterlife.
- Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form, lost his best friend Maria and his creator Dr. Gerald Robotnik when they were killed by G.U.N. in the Space Colony ARK. Desiring revenge, when Gerald's grandson Dr. Eggman releases him, he manipulates him into gathering all seven Chaos Emeralds and putting them in the ARK's Eclipse Cannon, which in truth would lead to a Colony Drop. Shadow's plan is only foiled when Chris convinces him to help save the world. He would have died doing so if Eggman didn't save his comatose body. Amnesiac, he returns and saves Chris from death, destroys a Metarex and retrieves an Emerald for Eggman out of gratefulness. Learning that Cosmo is a sleeper agent for the Metarex, he tries to kill her. In his attempt, he outsmarts Tails thrice by hacking into the Blue Typhoon's heat source search program, then into the ship's camera system when Tails locks the heat program and by teleporting back in the ship when Tails launched him into space. Only stopped in his attempt by Cosmo's amulet teleporting him, Shadow helps the heroes in the final battle against the Metarex. After attempting to save Cosmo from Final Mova, he sacrifices himself by moving everyone to safety as Final Mova exploded. Ruthless but caring, Shadow surpassed his game counterpart in sheer audacity and brilliance.
- Rouge the Bat is a thief obsessed with jewels, starting a stealing spree upon appearing on Earth. Once she learns the location of a Chaos Emerald, she misdirects Sonic while she collects the emerald. However, it was a trap from G.U.N.; she improvises by accepting to become a G.U.N. agent and in return, is granted immunity and keeps her loot. When E-70 Noizi almost defeated her by using her weakness to sound, she used a bomb attached to her wrist to win. Unlike her game counterpart, she succeeds in stealing the Master Emerald during the "Shadow Saga" and joined Eggman and Shadow while hiding her loyalty to G.U.N.. When she later participates in a tournament for a Chaos Emerald, she fights Tails who's stronger than expected. She wins by kissing him and then throwing him out of the ring. When facing Knuckles, she has him agree to fight inside a dark tent, making him fight blind. During the Metarex Saga, she blackmails Bokkun into suggesting to Eggman a plan to obtain an emerald for himself, while she plans to swoop in and steal it. Skilled and manipulative, Rouge was one of the anime's most competent characters.
Western Animation
Examples
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Wes Weasely is a charismatic salesman who'll help anyone for a quick buck. From convincing Robotnik into buying his products after they fail to stealing from the doctor's bank account, Wes manages to consistently steal his money, remaining friendly and professional throughout. In his most clever appearance, he lures all of Sonic's friends onto his cruise boat under the guise of a party, trapping them all on it while allowing Robotnik to imprison Sonic underwater. After figuring out he's been scammed by the doctor, Wes immediately breaks out Sonic and helps humiliate Robotnik, throwing Sonic a real party afterwards out of gratitude.
- "Grounder The Genius": Grounder, upon accidentally inserting the Genius Chip into himself, becomes an affable schemer with a plan to take out Sonic. Anticipating that he'll arrive to stop Robotnik in a disguise, he rigs the entrance to trap Sonic in stone, throwing him in the dungeon. He then waits for Sonic's friends to come and rescue him, luring them into a coliseum to be ambushed and destroyed by a lightning rod. In between his plan, he successfully overthrows Robotnik out of revenge for his abuse, planning on ruling Mobius himself. His plan going flawlessly, he's only thwarted by Scratch's sudden bumbling, something that he calmly admits even he couldn't have seen coming.
- SatAM's "The Void": Naugus is the former master of Dr. Robotnik who was banished to the Void by him, and spends his banishment plotting revenge on his traitorous apprentice. Realizing Sonic's speed is the key to releasing him, he attempts to capture him using a device, only to instead end up capturing Sally and Bunnie instead. Realizing that Sonic would likely attempt to rescue them, he uses them to lure Sonic to him and attempts to convince him to help him escape. When Sonic refuses, he disguises as the King, who was also banished to the Void, and effortlessly convinces Sonic to get him out. Revealing his deceptions after escape, a grateful Naugus allows Sonic to rescue his friends while he takes care of Robotnik, reveling in humiliating the traitorous doctor. Discovering that, thanks to spending too long in the Void, he'll die if he spends too long outside of it, he scares off Robotnik and retreats alongside the King, content to plan his revenge for another day.
- Boom's "Robots from the Sky" four-parter: Hypnobot, Tails' robot with a Hypno Ray, is given sentience after being abandoned, swearing revenge on his creator. To this end, Hypnobot sent the robots of Sonic's world to assault Tails and the village, while controlling the robots who saved him to create a stronghold in Morristown. With Team Sonic splitting up, Hypnobot is able to overwhelm both factions, injuring Sonic and nearly killing Tails before being knocked out of the sky. Once rescued by Eggman, the two form a coalition, with Hypnobot controlling their combined forces. Team Sonic, vastly outmatched, only narrowly win the final battle when they build cyborg duplicates to double their manpower. In a series where the heroes Curb-Stomp their foes regularly, Hypnobot stands out as one of Team Sonic's most formidable villains.
