The best part about Sonic Hedgehog is that it actually has a cure, and that cure was called Robotnik (What they used to call Eggman back in the day for all you youngin’s that don’t get it… He’ll always be Robotnik to me, I"m sorry the name Eggman is just terrible, sounds like a character in a PSA trying to tell me about healthy breakfast choices with his wife Bacon Woman)
Technically his name is Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, but the name Robotnik is so rarely used (The last time a Sonic game even mentioned it beyond occasionally name dropping Mean Bean Machine was the first Sonic Riders game and that was only in text descriptions) that it might as well not exist.
Even in the comics which normally are allowed more leeway than the games, even characters who it would make more sense to call him Robotnik than Eggman (Like anyone in the Classic Era timeline, Fang especially… or Dr. Starline in the Modern Timeline who worships the ground Robotnik walks on), the name Eggman is exclusively used.
The only media that treats Robotnik as his name and Eggman as a nickname is the movie, the same movie that wanted to call Sonic’s World Mobius, but Sega wasn’t having that. (Sega’s a xenophobic company that fought hard to take away Sega of America’s creative freedom and they’re not about to let the name Mobius or the Freedom Fighters sneak in the back door… to such an extreme that Mobius has to be called “Sonic’s World” according to Sega Mandates)
Oh wow, was not aware of that. I haven’t followed Sonic lore in a while (last games I played extensively were Sonic Mania and before then probably Sonic Advance 3), so thanks!
Wasn’t Eggman the original name, changed to robotnik for the US version, since they didn’t want to say you’re fighting people, so they made them all robots instead?
Eggman was the name SEGA came up with, but back in the earliest days SEGA worked closely with their American branch and formed a team called “STI” to develop Sonic. As the goal was to create a mascot that would appeal to American audiences, as that was the most profitable market and that demanded a new competitor as Nintendo was the only game in town in a literal sense.
The Japanese branch wanted a very specific story about an American woman who created Sonic The Hedgehog as a children’s book character based on her late husband (a fighter pilot), only for Sonic to be real one day, apparently her husband reborn on “Christmas Island”… With Sonic having Eggman as his big rival, with the two more or less being Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in their characterization. There was also the idea of Sonic running a band with characters called Sharps and Vector (who was later recycled for the game Knuckles Chaotix), but that was veto’d early on when the band wouldn’t fit on the Sonic 1 cartridge.
America basically stood up and said “That story is weird and very little of that actually translates into a game format” and came up with a different plot where Sonic was from the planet Mobius and fought against the evil Dr. Robotnik who had conquered the planet, with Sonic having Freedom Fighter pals who helped him on the fight.
The Japanese portion of STI basically rebelled against the American portion for actually doing the job they were hired for (Americanizing their Sonic idea, which was designed to be Americanized to begin with), kicked them off of Sonic 2, and delegated the Americans to spinoffs like Sonic R, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and a game called Sonic Xtreme (that was ultimately cancelled because the Japanese
SEGA is a highly xenophobic company, and their history of spiting the American Branch extends far past the Sonic series (With one of the more infamous examples being SEGA demanding Eternal Champions’ sequels, toy line, and cartoon be cancelled because the Virtua Fighter director was salty that Americans liked Eternal Champions better… even though the reason was because Eternal Champions was a home console game at a time when Arcade Games like Virtua Fighter were losing favor…)
Robotnik was NEVER a robot (Outside of the early Archie Comics where they mistakenly labeled him as one a couple of times, but that’s hardly the oddest thing in Early Archie) in any continuity, the reason the name Eggman was changed to Robotnik was due to the American Team warning the Japanese Team that the name “Eggman” would not be taken seriously as a villain name and would have to be changed. Dr. Robotnik was what they picked since “His thing is robots, not eggs.”
It never had anything to do with censorship
The American Team was right as when Robotnik’s name was changed to Eggman in the US, many outlets complained that the name was absolutely ridiculous and the fanbase largely refused to use that name until younger people who grew up with the Eggman name entered the fandom. Now even in fan circles the name Eggman is more common except for the one or two grey muzzles like myself who insist on Robotnik and that the dang kids need to stay off our lawns. (Even a recent and popular fan-game Dr. Robotnik’s Ring Racers which has the name Robotnik in the title still calls him Eggman in the actual game)
The American Plot has largely vanished with occasional elements of it cropping up from time to time (With the Freedom Fighters now called Team Sonic and excluding all American Made additions like Sally Acorn and Bunnie Rabbot, Mobius now just called “Sonic’s World”, Sonic liking Chili Dogs, and the name Dr. Robotnik occasionally showing up in promotional material and the Live Action Films)
tl;dr - The name Eggman was rejected by the American Staff hired to do the Marketing because it wasn’t a good villain name, then Sega of Japan insisted on putting the Eggman name back when the story was being told directly in actual games instead of being poorly parroted spinoff comic books and cartoons. Robotnik/Eggman himself was NEVER a robot, with the exception of Robo Robotnik/Eggman from Archie Sonic, but that’s another continuity altogether.
(In the Archie Sonic continuity, they were adamant about never doing reboots until they were forced to, so… in order to justify the name and design change from the American Robotnik to the Japanese Eggman, they just wrote that Robotnik and Eggman were two different characters and that Eggman took over when Robotnik died. Spoilers: Around issue 50 or so, Robotnik is killed off for the rest of the book)
The best part about Sonic Hedgehog is that it actually has a cure, and that cure was called Robotnik (What they used to call Eggman back in the day for all you youngin’s that don’t get it… He’ll always be Robotnik to me, I"m sorry the name Eggman is just terrible, sounds like a character in a PSA trying to tell me about healthy breakfast choices with his wife Bacon Woman)
What do you mean he’s no longer Robotnik? I thought Eggman was his nickname.
Technically his name is Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik, but the name Robotnik is so rarely used (The last time a Sonic game even mentioned it beyond occasionally name dropping Mean Bean Machine was the first Sonic Riders game and that was only in text descriptions) that it might as well not exist.
Even in the comics which normally are allowed more leeway than the games, even characters who it would make more sense to call him Robotnik than Eggman (Like anyone in the Classic Era timeline, Fang especially… or Dr. Starline in the Modern Timeline who worships the ground Robotnik walks on), the name Eggman is exclusively used.
The only media that treats Robotnik as his name and Eggman as a nickname is the movie, the same movie that wanted to call Sonic’s World Mobius, but Sega wasn’t having that. (Sega’s a xenophobic company that fought hard to take away Sega of America’s creative freedom and they’re not about to let the name Mobius or the Freedom Fighters sneak in the back door… to such an extreme that Mobius has to be called “Sonic’s World” according to Sega Mandates)
Oh wow, was not aware of that. I haven’t followed Sonic lore in a while (last games I played extensively were Sonic Mania and before then probably Sonic Advance 3), so thanks!
For the Gaijins out there
Wasn’t Eggman the original name, changed to robotnik for the US version, since they didn’t want to say you’re fighting people, so they made them all robots instead?
Eggman was the name SEGA came up with, but back in the earliest days SEGA worked closely with their American branch and formed a team called “STI” to develop Sonic. As the goal was to create a mascot that would appeal to American audiences, as that was the most profitable market and that demanded a new competitor as Nintendo was the only game in town in a literal sense.
The Japanese branch wanted a very specific story about an American woman who created Sonic The Hedgehog as a children’s book character based on her late husband (a fighter pilot), only for Sonic to be real one day, apparently her husband reborn on “Christmas Island”… With Sonic having Eggman as his big rival, with the two more or less being Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in their characterization. There was also the idea of Sonic running a band with characters called Sharps and Vector (who was later recycled for the game Knuckles Chaotix), but that was veto’d early on when the band wouldn’t fit on the Sonic 1 cartridge.
America basically stood up and said “That story is weird and very little of that actually translates into a game format” and came up with a different plot where Sonic was from the planet Mobius and fought against the evil Dr. Robotnik who had conquered the planet, with Sonic having Freedom Fighter pals who helped him on the fight.
The Japanese portion of STI basically rebelled against the American portion for actually doing the job they were hired for (Americanizing their Sonic idea, which was designed to be Americanized to begin with), kicked them off of Sonic 2, and delegated the Americans to spinoffs like Sonic R, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and a game called Sonic Xtreme (that was ultimately cancelled because the Japanese
SEGA is a highly xenophobic company, and their history of spiting the American Branch extends far past the Sonic series (With one of the more infamous examples being SEGA demanding Eternal Champions’ sequels, toy line, and cartoon be cancelled because the Virtua Fighter director was salty that Americans liked Eternal Champions better… even though the reason was because Eternal Champions was a home console game at a time when Arcade Games like Virtua Fighter were losing favor…)
Robotnik was NEVER a robot (Outside of the early Archie Comics where they mistakenly labeled him as one a couple of times, but that’s hardly the oddest thing in Early Archie) in any continuity, the reason the name Eggman was changed to Robotnik was due to the American Team warning the Japanese Team that the name “Eggman” would not be taken seriously as a villain name and would have to be changed. Dr. Robotnik was what they picked since “His thing is robots, not eggs.”
It never had anything to do with censorship
The American Team was right as when Robotnik’s name was changed to Eggman in the US, many outlets complained that the name was absolutely ridiculous and the fanbase largely refused to use that name until younger people who grew up with the Eggman name entered the fandom. Now even in fan circles the name Eggman is more common except for the one or two grey muzzles like myself who insist on Robotnik and that the dang kids need to stay off our lawns. (Even a recent and popular fan-game Dr. Robotnik’s Ring Racers which has the name Robotnik in the title still calls him Eggman in the actual game)
The American Plot has largely vanished with occasional elements of it cropping up from time to time (With the Freedom Fighters now called Team Sonic and excluding all American Made additions like Sally Acorn and Bunnie Rabbot, Mobius now just called “Sonic’s World”, Sonic liking Chili Dogs, and the name Dr. Robotnik occasionally showing up in promotional material and the Live Action Films)
tl;dr - The name Eggman was rejected by the American Staff hired to do the Marketing because it wasn’t a good villain name, then Sega of Japan insisted on putting the Eggman name back when the story was being told directly in actual games instead of being poorly parroted spinoff comic books and cartoons. Robotnik/Eggman himself was NEVER a robot, with the exception of Robo Robotnik/Eggman from Archie Sonic, but that’s another continuity altogether.
(In the Archie Sonic continuity, they were adamant about never doing reboots until they were forced to, so… in order to justify the name and design change from the American Robotnik to the Japanese Eggman, they just wrote that Robotnik and Eggman were two different characters and that Eggman took over when Robotnik died. Spoilers: Around issue 50 or so, Robotnik is killed off for the rest of the book)