Weird thought about Eggman

[Blazey Firekitty]

Do you think it's possible that Eggy did some legitimate business before deciding to go supervillain? The Riders games seem to suggest that he'd do just fine for himself financially if it weren't for his obsession with world domination, and maybe the "Interstellar Amusement Park" could have worked out had it not been powered by aliens or been one big dangerous death trap. Maybe for a while, "Dr. Ivo Robotnik" wasn't a name to run away from, and it was only later that he decided to become "Eggman" and play for higher stakes?

[Scott]

So I read this title, came into the topic, felt awkward when realising you didn't have the same thought as me o.o

Dr. Eggman tricking Sonic, Tails and Knuckles into an Anthropomorphic Centipede ._.

[buba]

Oh... So this isn't an Eggman fetish topic

[Blazey Firekitty]

Uh...

Hmm. Lol. I guess I should have realized how broad the term "weird" can be. XD

[Octarine]

I've always been kind of intrigued by Eggman's past. We know about his very early life (kind of; I mean, we know about his grandfather dying, anyway), but between that and his first try at flattening Sonic with a wrecking ball there's this vast swath of blank space.

Anyway, re: Eggman only having become a supervillain shortly before Sonic 1. Generations spoilers kind of thing:

You could always use this as an excuse for why Classic Tails knows Classic Eggman as "Dr. Robotnik". It sort of works if you squint at it: Tails, being a world-class geek, would recognize the Robotnik name from Eggman's civilian scientific exploits, while the Doctor himself seems to have adopted the supervillain name fairly recently and is trying to distance himself a little from his past identity ("nobody calls me that anymore").

Or, y'know, it's just a self-aware little joke with no inherent meaning, which it obviously is. But dammit, why can't it be both?

[Dr. Mechano]

I actually think this is a pretty viable theory.

It's entirely possible Robotnik Corp. was founded before Eggman launched his criminal career. It could even be a family business that he inherited. The Robotniks being an extremely affluent family would shed some light on how Eggman- a fugitive with no job- finances some of his operations, though he certainly seems to make a fair bit of money from his shady businesses and outright theft throughout the games.

While it's unclear what he did before assuming the identity of a supervillain, I like to think Ivo Robotnik used his genius for good- or at least not entirely bad- purposes; Even if that purpose was just personal profit.

Let's see... Eggman has launched businesses of varying legitimacy in quite a few titles:

- Sonic Battle, where he sells outdated Guard Robos to local homeowners and businesses to use as security bots.

- It's really unclear if Circus Park in Shadow the Hedgehog was open to the public, or if it was just a base with an extremely festive motif. There are games and attractions though, so it could have been open to visitors.

- Sonic Riders, where we're introduced to Robotnik Corp, which manufactures Extreme Gear. It's unclear if they make anything else.

- Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, we're introduced to Eggman's second company, MeteoTech, which sells security robots. Unlike his previous two businesses, Eggman actually bothers to hide his identity.

- Eggmanland in Sonic Unleashed sells gifts and refreshments, and Eggman apparently even has a hot dog vendor working for him as his first onscreen human employee.

- Most recently, Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park. While it wasn't getting a ton of tourism due to Eggman's dubious reputation, perhaps he envisioned people flooding his lovely park once the planet got a blast of his brainwashing beam. It'd be the perfect retreat for Eggman's new horde of fans to shower him with love, adoration, and undying loyalty~

Looking at this list, only a scant few of these businesses are directly tied to world domination, with most being simple endeavors to raise capital. In light of that, I think it's indeed feasible that Ivo could have been a successful entrepreneur prior to his foray into villainy. It'd definitely be an interesting bit of his past to delve deeper into.

You could always use this as an excuse for why Classic Tails knows Classic Eggman as "Dr. Robotnik". It sort of works if you squint at it: Tails, being a world-class geek, would recognize the Robotnik name from Eggman's civilian scientific exploits, while the Doctor himself seems to have adopted the supervillain name fairly recently and is trying to distance himself a little from his past identity ("nobody calls me that anymore").

Or, y'know, it's just a self-aware little joke with no inherent meaning, which it obviously is. But dammit, why can't it be both?

Ooh, I like that theory.

It makes sense too. I've always considered the name "Robotnik" neutral, as it's his real family name. It itself doesn't evoke any sort of villainous connotations in Sonic's universe, but his supervillain identity of "Dr. Eggman" definitely does. Since I feel in canon, he's always referred to himself by this title since Sonic 1 (or shortly before perhaps), as evidenced by him naming so many of his weapons "Egg [X]" and the like, which fits with his villainous motif.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Dr. Mechano

[Tori Himemiya]

Eggman must had been in the machine industry until he got the crazy thought of making everything into the Eggman Empire that's filled with evil robotic carnivals. How else did he get his knowledge?

[SuperStingray]

He seems more into robotics than business, but I suppose they're not mutually exclusive areas of interest. To be able to integrate entire animals into the functionality of machines, though- that probably takes a strong background in bioinformatics.

[SchemingMinor]

Oh... So this isn't an Eggman fetish topic

Damn. You got me in here for nothing.

Well it is hinted that Eggman does run multiple businesses within the course of some of the games with noting Mechano has built off of some of our knowledge and inner game reference from previous late night IM chats between us.

However this doesn't mention the nepotism that Robotnik might have from his grandfather and perhaps other family members. Granddaddy Robotnik is a pillar that Ivo tends to worship on some small degree and apparently tries to base his own actions ( no matter how illegal or eccentric) off of his atavism. This could be telling since Gerald was a mastermind behind many inventions and theories of his day - most importantly the Chaos Drives and Heal Units seen in the games. If G.U.N. didn't have a full patent on these inventions, I could say that Professor Gerald would have probably five times his financial income from the profits these and many other creations he had a hand in.

I wouldn't doubt that Ivo and his family is as loaded as a fully garnished baked potato - estimating up in the billions - Robotnik is living on what is termed "old money", basically funds from the family bank account. No wonder he could afford all of those robots, parts, materials and even private islands.

Now comes a much more interesting aspect of this - if Ivo Robotnik is living off of old money, then why does he have businesses of his own and scrimp and sell off old robots for cash and sexy parties?

A couple of theories: Robotnik is also business minded and loves the turmoil of the financial world. After all it is a powerhouse minded climb to the top where aggressive and even psychotic traits are praised in order to turn profits. The man is also a charismatic social butterfly, nevertheless harbors a child-like state ( think wealthy eccentric ) which allows him to flirt with other high-standing people ( not literally...well...maybe.) Robotnik looooves people and even more he loves his ego to get stroked by others, especially when they talk and gloss over his favorite subject, him. And bacon.

This love for sociability might be explained by the amount of toilets seen on the Egg Carrier in contrast to the amount of prisoner cells built. Eggman might throw fancy parties once in a while on the Egg Carrier and it is built to accompany guests ( Which for another good reason, why does Eggman seem to have a fetish for the male body in statues? Unanswered questions of the Egg Carrier, I suppose. ) And if I remember, robots don't have to take a leak, unless they happen to be Fry in a shoddy tin costume disguising as a robot - in which you are just merely leaking coolant.

Also you had that really big aquarium which also means that Eggman must like his natural marine life co-existing with his robotic creations. Impressive centerpiece indeed.

Second is that his assets are frozen by the government and he is running out. This might explain the other business he has that have no connotation towards the Eggman-esque insignia and name (MeteoTech before it was foiled, Accivice which could be but more than likely a subsidiary of Robotnik Inc. HexaECO could be another Robotnik company due to Eggman having the strange ability and knowledge of shutting off the power flow, but this could be because he is just intelligent. )

Eggman does complain in one of the files found in the Shadow the Hedgehog voice rips that his robot ideas are indeed getting stolen by the government, so this complaint isn't that unfounded after all. He may sell robots that are probably purchased by the government ( similar to the US selling weapons that end up in the hands of enemy countries) but more than likely most of the similarities between his and the government's designs may be from casualties from the battlefield. Overall, Eggman shouldn't whine if it is from the result of old technology that he directly or indirectly sold to make a quick buck.

Then there is this old concept art which was finally spoilered in Generations:

This idea of Robotnik dipping his hand in business goes far back, it appears.

Edited October 29, 2011 by Kintobor

[The Weeb with No Name]

I think of him as a once sane man of science who had a secret desire to be a theme park tycoon.

Then some crazy Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde shit happened and he turned into Eggman, a menace of a genius who puts those once innocent ambitions to dangerous effect.

[Marcello]

I like to think of him planning to take over the world in his crib. So, I guess always evil.

[No more]

What ever he said

Most likely, I'd say his situation can be compared to Heihachi Mishima's (from the Tekken games).

Maybe a lot of the money spent is counterfeit or possibly made from smuggling illegal items but looking at SEGA's target market the latter explanation is extremely unlikely

[Dr. Mechano]

New insight on Eggman's past! Generations-related, so spoil at your own risk!

At the end of Sonic Generations, after the credits, the two Eggmans are talking with each other, and it leads to this exchange.

Classic Eggman: Bah! Maybe I'll go back and get my teaching degree.

Modern Eggman: That's a great idea! I always enjoy telling people what to do!

So before delving into supervillainy, Eggman once had aspirations of education. Who knew?

Personally I think that's pretty cool- I'd love to have Eggman as a teacher, haha.

(I also find this pretty funny, since I'm about to get my Master's degree in education myself. The Doc and I have more in common than I thought.)

Edited October 29, 2011 by Dr. Mechano

[No more]

At the end of Sonic Generations, after the credits, the two Eggmans are talking with each other, and it leads to this exchange.

Classic Eggman: Bah! Maybe I'll go back and get my teaching degree.

Modern Eggman: That's a great idea! I always enjoy telling people what to do!

So before delving into supervillainy, Eggman once had aspirations of education. Who knew?

Personally I think that's pretty cool- I'd love to have Eggman as a teacher, haha.

I had a dream once that Eggman replaced my Maths teacher and did a better job of it than she could have ever done. Weird

Edited October 29, 2011 by iVYRAVE

[midori]

He had to do something to get funds for all these robots and creations, after all. It's not like he was given all that money as a scholarship to let him reach his noble goal of world domination.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

So.... Eggman is the Sonic version of the Penguin and Lex Luthor combined?

You know. Legitimate Businessman/Scholar/Engineer with shady going ons in the background, but is also an evil maniacal guy/calm detached sociopath styled person who secretly tries to rule the world. Also uses an alias to cover up his wrongdoings/redirect them even though its blatantly obvious they are the same person (Clark Kenting I believe is the proper phrase for the Superhero version of this). Of course then again, most video game governments are 99.99% repeating blind to the obvious villain in front of them, so its not surprising.

Edited October 29, 2011 by Enigma2

[edge.]

I always thought that Eggman was just a business man became a little power hungry in his corporation.

[Blazey Firekitty]

I'm happily surprised that so much speculation and analysis came up in this thread, and that some found ways to work Generations into it.

[SchemingMinor]

New insight on Eggman's past! Generations-related, so spoil at your own risk!

At the end of Sonic Generations, after the credits, the two Eggmans are talking with each other, and it leads to this exchange.

Classic Eggman: Bah! Maybe I'll go back and get my teaching degree.

Modern Eggman: That's a great idea! I always enjoy telling people what to do!

So before delving into supervillainy, Eggman once had aspirations of education. Who knew?

Personally I think that's pretty cool- I'd love to have Eggman as a teacher, haha.

(I also find this pretty funny, since I'm about to get my Master's degree in education myself. The Doc and I have more in common than I thought.)

No you aren't. Shaving your moustache erased everything you had in common with him.

Again this brings up the prospect that Eggman lives off of old money and that he was probably trying to achieve the status of professor by getting this teaching degree since he already holds a doctorate in god knows what field. Eggman likes to brag and even lie, but I don't think he would fib about already having the title Doctor - his ego wouldn't allow it.

[Koopalmier]

(I also find this pretty funny, since I'm about to get my Master's degree in education myself. The Doc and I have more in common than I thought.)