Dr. Eggman or Dr. Robotnik?

[Myst]

Which do you prefer?

I know he's is supposed to be a 'silly' villain, but he's supposed to be evil at the same time, and I find it hard to take a guy who calls himself "Eggman" evil or sinister. So i'm going with Dr. Robotnik.

[Sion-Ta]

I don't care... I honestly can't think of anything else to add to this post.

[Tobbii]

I like Eggman being his nickname and Robotnik being his real name, but I really don't care that much. I mostly say Robotnik, but sometimes Eggman slips in here and there.

[Nepenthe]

Eggman, because he is a man that is shaped like an egg. Does there really need to be more justification?

But honestly, I didn't have to be dragged into the Great Canon Switch of 1999 kicking and screaming, so I just accepted it from day one.

[Robogaman]

Eggman!

[Mangoaxe5]

I call him Robotnik.

Eggman makes him sound like a goofy villain, which sadly is what he has become.

Sega needs to make Robotnik more evil again.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Darkfox

[Preston]

Eggman, but only to spite people who fuss about the name.

[Tobbii]

I call him Robotnik.

Eggman makes him sound like a goofy villain, which sadly is what he has become.

[Senator NinjaShark]

I know he's is supposed to be a 'silly' villain, but he's supposed to be evil at the same time, and I find it hard to take a guy who calls himself "Eggman" evil or sinister. So i'm going with Dr. Robotnik.

[BlazingTales]

Eh, both are fine, I use them interchangeably. Eggman suits the villain due to his shape and silly nature, and Robotnik suits him because... well, he builds robots. Both names have a cool sound and have a nice, semi-menacing ring to them, and I'm glad they both stuck around.

But I think the real question is whether she should be called Princess Toadstool or Peach?

Edited May 5, 2011 by BlazingTales

[Nepenthe]

But I think the real question is whether she should be called Princess Toadstool or Peach?

[Tobbii]

Princess Peach. That shouldn't even be a debate.

[Cuz]

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik

The best of both worlds; haha.

I've personal grown tired of this question. For the longest time I use to only refer to him as Robotnik but, as time went on I've found myself using both names more or less equally... Maybe just a little more on the Robotnik side.

[Diogenes]

Eggman makes him sound like a goofy villain, which sadly is what he has become always been.

[Nepenthe]

Bowser or Koopa?

[BlazingTales]

Princess Peach. That shouldn't even be a debate.

Edited May 5, 2011 by BlazingTales

[Badnik Mechanic]

Robotnik. Because Robotnik doesn't just sound more scary, it has a lot more depth to it than Eggman does.

As well all know, Robotnik has the word Robot in it, which is why most people think he was called that. Well I did some research on the name Robotnik a long time ago and what I found out was quite interesting.

Robotnik is a word that was first used as the title of a book written by a Russian (or Polish can't quite remember) man, the book itself is about working/workers. I could never find an indepth synopsis of the plot or if it was even a work of fiction or if it was some kind of manifesto or ideal. For instance was it a story? Or was it a vision of a mans view for the future.

From the little bit of information that I could find, Robotnik when translated roughly means 'worker,' the book itself is about a workforce that needs advancing, in terms of productivity and efficiency, so the author decides that the best way to do this is for the human workers to become/be replaced by robots.

Now from that alone, we get the idea of 'robotization' the thing that early Robotnik tended to do a lot of, we also get a sense of Dr Robotniks vision, that the world needs to become machine like, that robots will do his work better than a human army could.

I thought that was quite a significant find, it does put a bit more interest into robotniks name, that it wasn't just a random thing, that there might be a real reason/homage for him to be called that.

[Myst]

I don't mind the name "Eggman" if it's used in a silly show like AoSTH or games like Sonic Colors, Mario/Sonic Olympics, Sonic Shuffle or Sonic Heroes.

But if we're talking about a Sonic game that tries to have a little bit of seriousness here and there, (as much seriousness as a game can have with a talking blue hedgehog and a fat guy in a flying teacup) then I prefer the name Dr. Robotnik.

Like Tobbii said, Eggman could be a nickname and Robotnik be his real name. I thought Sonic Adventure was a great compromise, allowing both the japanese and american names to be used. Wish they would've stuck with that..

Edited May 5, 2011 by Myst

[Tobbii]

I don't mind the name "Eggman" if it's used in silly show like AoSTH or games like Sonic Colors, Mario/Sonic Olympics, Sonic Shuffle or Sonic Heroes.

But if we're talking about a Sonic game that tries to have a little bit of seriousness here and there,(as much seriousness as a game can have with a talking blue hedgehog and a fat guy in a flying teacup) then I prefer the name Dr. Robotnik.

Like Tobbii said, Eggman could be a nickname and Robotnik be his real name. I thought Sonic Adventure was a great compromise, allowing both both the japanese and american names to be used. Wish they would've stuck with that..

But they did stick with that though, didn't they? Gerald/Maria Robotnik is not Gerald/Maria Eggman now right? It's just that Robotnik prefers his own nickname now it seems.

[Dr. Mechano]

Which do you prefer?

I know he's is supposed to be a 'silly' villain, but he's supposed to be evil at the same time, and I find it hard to take a guy who calls himself "Eggman" evil or sinister. So i'm going with Dr. Robotnik.

Mechano's NERDRAGE has been triggered.

Hi! Which "Robotnik" are you referring to, exactly? Quite honestly, your description is really vague! After all, AoStH Robotnik is a lot sillier than Game Eggman, whilst SatAM Robotnik is all grimdark. And- oh right- Robotnik is also a perfectly acceptable name for canon game Eggman as well, since in canon it's his family surname.

Helpful hint! All Eggmans are Robotniks. Not all Robotniks are Eggmans.

With that said, my favorites are (in order):

1. Sonic X (Comic) Eggman

2. Sonic X (Anime) Eggman

3. Game Eggman

4. OVA Eggman

5. AoStH Robotnik

6. Archie Eggman (Current)

7. Archie Robotnik (Julian era)

8. Underground Robotnik

9. SatAM Robotnik

You'll notice Fleetway isn't on my list, and that's because I haven't read enough of it to judge that incarnation of Robotnik. Oh well!

I think it's clear which take on the character I favor by which way my list skews. I find X comic Eggman to be the most human, and most identifiable, while SatAM is the hardest performance to believe just because of how flat and stereotypically evil he is. But that's just my opinion.

EDIT: Oh, how could I forgot- Seconding comments that Eggman has always been a silly villain. Go look at the old games without the cartoons and comics to taint your view of the storyline, and you'll see that classic Eggman was a jolly fat goofball in a clown suit, who would sometimes literally skip and frolic away from you while grinning mischievously. If we're comparing him to Joker, classic Eggman was Cesar Romero, not Heath Ledger. The deadly gadgets and contraptions were all there, but his personality was always on the high end of the silliness scale.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Dr. Mechano

[Mangoaxe5]

Why do people say that Robotnik was always a silly villain?

He wasn't silly at all in the Sonic Adventure games. In SA2 he was at his most dangerous, and almost killed Sonic. Plus in one of the cutscenes in SA2 he held a gun to Amy's head.

So no he wasn't always a silly villain.

[Preston]

Actually, since I see the Sonic series as a multiverse, I can him Eggman or Robotnik depending on which universe I'm talking about. When talking about AoSTH, SatAM or the Julian era Archie comics, I call him Robotnik because he never called himself Eggman in those universes. When talking about the games, Sonic X or the current Archie comics, I simply call him Eggman because that's what he's known as in those universes despite his family name being Robotnik.

[Tobbii]

Why do people say that Robotnik was always a silly villain?

He wasn't silly at all in the Sonic Adventure games. In SA2 he was at his most dangerous, and almost killed Sonic. Plus in one of the cutscenes in SA2 he held a gun to Amy's head.

So no he wasn't always a silly villain.

I agree that he hasn't always been silly, but he surely started out as silly. But yes, both Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic 2006 had him pretty serious.

[Myst]

EDIT: Oh, how could I forgot- Seconding comments that Eggman has always been a silly villain. Go look at the old games without the cartoons and comics to taint your view of the storyline, and you'll see that classic Eggman was a jolly fat goofball in a clown suit, who would sometimes literally skip and frolic away from you while grinning mischievously. If we're comparing him to Joker, classic Eggman was Cesar Romero, not Heath Ledger. The deadly gadgets and contraptions were all there, but his personality was always on the high end of the silliness scale.

Um. Duh. I never said he wasn't a silly villain. I'm just saying he has a balance of being both silly and evil. And i'm not talking about different incarnations of the character, i'm talking only about the game version.

His personality can shift from being both comical to ruthless. SA2 opened with him breaking into a military base, guns blazing, cackling as he did so. He blew up the military base later on, held a gun to Amy's head, shot Sonic into space then blew him up (Though he obviously survived) and in Unleashed, he just sat there while Sonic was on the ground frying. He also electrocuted Knuckles in S&K, then left his body to fall down into pit while he flew away to continue his plans. He can be pretty ruthless at times, not just comical. There are two sides to his personality.)

I like both names, I was just saying that the reason I prefer Robotnik is because Eggman is so silly that it makes him sound wimpy. Robotnik, while not exactly a scary name by any means, gives you the idea that he's capable of causing vast amounts of destruction or chaos if he desires.

And for the record, I loathe the comics and cartoons.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Myst

[Indigo Rush]