Japan's thoughts on West's Robotnik?

[Austroid]

I don't know if this has been documented at all, but have there ever been comments/discussions by Japanese Sonic fans/developers on the Western redesigns of Eggman to Robotnik? I've always wondered what they thought of these different interpretations of the mustachioed madman.

 

Also there's that SA1 concept art of Eggman that seemed to have some SatAM vibes; so its possible that some at SOJ must've seen these designs at some point.

Any dug up or recent info would be appreciated! 

[FlameStream]

There is not much that is documented on this. Even the old American Sonic (that we dubb Mohawk Sonic) is not talked about.

Not sure about today's opinions, but I did ask about it to a friend about 5 years ago or so, and the answer I've gotten is that he is (too) scary.

Not surprising since Sonic X portrayal seemed to be the most known/liked one.

[SBR2]

I'm kinda glad they didn't go with that. I honestly have never been a big fan of the SatAM Robotnik in design or personality so I don't know how I'd feel if they gave Eggman a cyborg arm.

As for Japan's opinions yeah we don't know. Nobody at Sega has ever expressed any opinions on the DIC Cartoons but they did incorporate Sonic's love of Chili Dogs so I don't think they hate them or anything.

[Tracker_TD]

He actually showed up in an official Puyo Puyo calendar once, in reference to Mean Bean Machine; the calendar was made up of fanart, but afaik it was an officially licensed SEGA product, so it was amusing all the same. 

[Dr. Mechano]

13 hours ago, Tracker_TD said:

He actually showed up in an official Puyo Puyo calendar once, in reference to Mean Bean Machine; the calendar was made up of fanart, but afaik it was an officially licensed SEGA product, so it was amusing all the same. 

Yeah, this is the one:

I also kinda do wonder if AoStH Robotnik at least had a loose influence on Sega Eggman, namely Orbot and Cubot acting as the games' version of Scratch and Grounder. Giving Eggman two comic-relief minions to banter with feels like a very "American cartoon villain" trope.

It's hard to say if other western continuities like SatAM/Archie/Fleetway really had any impact though. Forces' premise of Eggman ruling the world does hearken to those takes on the character, but I also feel like that's a general enough idea that it could also be coincidental. 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I never understood why they not only changed it, but made two different versions of it, and on top of that, used it in licensing like the Sonic 3 Happy Meal.

You know... the one based on the hit video game? Where he very much does not look like that?

[Austroid]

4 hours ago, Dr. Mechano said:

I also kinda do wonder if AoStH Robotnik at least had a loose influence on Sega Eggman, namely Orbot and Cubot acting as the games' version of Scratch and Grounder. Giving Eggman two comic-relief minions to banter with feels like a very "American cartoon villain" trope.

I might've believed that if Sonic X didn't do it first with Decoe and Bocoe. (plus Bokkun to AoStH's Coconuts perhaps?) 

But who's to say?

4 hours ago, Dr. Mechano said:

It's hard to say if other western continuities like SatAM/Archie/Fleetway really had any impact though. Forces' premise of Eggman ruling the world does hearken to those takes on the character, but I also feel like that's a general enough idea that it could also be coincidental. 

Ugh, don't get me started on that missed opportunity for Forces. Can you imagine the vast amounts of apocalyptic Eggman imagery we could've seen throughout the whole game!? Makes me sad, man...

[VO.SUPER]

7 hours ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

I never understood why they not only changed it, but made two different versions of it, and on top of that, used it in licensing like the Sonic 3 Happy Meal.

You know... the one based on the hit video game? Where he very much does not look like that?

My theory is that when Dic redesigned Robotnik for their cartoons, SoA was really resistant to the idea at first (we do know from interviews that the Dic creators ran into a lot of problems with SEGA.) 

When the cartoons finally broadcasted, SOA said, "screw it" and decided AoStH Robotnik was the face going forward since he was on the cartoon with the most episodes, and the more marketable face. 

They probably felt it wasn't worth getting worked up about it while their series was still developing an identity in the American market. 

[Dr. Mechano]

7 hours ago, Austroid said:

I might've believed that if Sonic X didn't do it first with Decoe and Bocoe. (plus Bokkun to AoStH's Coconuts perhaps?) 

But who's to say?

Ugh, don't get me started on that missed opportunity for Forces. Can you imagine the vast amounts of apocalyptic Eggman imagery we could've seen throughout the whole game!? Makes me sad, man...

Well, I think game Eggman would be a very different kind of ruler than SatAM Robotnik. If anything, I feel like he'd be closer to Underground Robotnik - an egotistical manchild who only roboticized (or in Sega Eggman's case, imprisoned?) some of the population, not literally every citizen on the planet. He kept the wealthy around to fund his empire through taxes, and frequently threw lavish self-serving celebrations in his own honor.

In a series that got pretty much everything else about Sonic wrong, I do feel like this is the closest to how game Eggman should act if he managed to rule the world. He wouldn't intentionally try to rid the planet of all organic life or relish the scent of pollution like ol' Julian did. He'd make it about satisfying his own ego, and having enough of an actual populace to praise and adore him (or else!).

[Scritch the Cat]

I will add to the crowd of voices that don’t like SatAM Sonic Robotnik.  He’s scary to children due to his appearance and voice, but to more adult sensibilities he’s just an embarrassingly one-dimensional caricature of evil, who simultaneously has no personality besides being evil and isn’t allowed to do anything truly devastating and/or suspenseful because it’s an episodic children’s show.  He doesn’t really even feel like he has much of an ego or selfish agenda; merely a desire to fill the world with killer robots because the plot demands killer robots.

[Dr. Mechano]

1 hour ago, Scritch the Cat said:

I will add to the crowd of voices that don’t like SatAM Sonic Robotnik.  He’s scary to children due to his appearance and voice, but to more adult sensibilities he’s just an embarrassingly one-dimensional caricature of evil, who simultaneously has no personality besides being evil and isn’t allowed to do anything truly devastating and/or suspenseful because it’s an episodic children’s show.  He doesn’t really even feel like he has much of an ego or selfish agenda; merely a desire to fill the world with killer robots because the plot demands killer robots.

I feel like he had a little nuance, but it wasn't much.

He seemed to genuinely love Cluck, and while the roboticized citizens and mass-produced Swatbots acted like mindless drones, the robots he custom-built himself seemed to have some semblance of personality, like the musician bots from "Spy Hog." He even gives the robots a little bad-guy bar to hang out in!

Any Robotnik who invents a two-headed saxaphone robot has to have at least a little Eggman in him.

[Scritch the Cat]

13 minutes ago, Dr. Mechano said:

I feel like he had a little nuance, but it wasn't much.

He seemed to genuinely love Cluck, and while the roboticized citizens and mass-produced Swatbots acted like mindless drones, the robots he custom-built himself seemed to have some semblance of personality, like the musician bots from "Spy Hog." He even gives the robots a little bad-guy bar to hang out in!

Any Robotnik who invents a two-headed saxaphone robot has to have at least a little Eggman in him.

Yeah, but that episode was just plain weird.  I think it was also in Season Two, when the series got goofier.

[Austroid]

16 hours ago, Dr. Mechano said:

Well, I think game Eggman would be a very different kind of ruler than SatAM Robotnik. If anything, I feel like he'd be closer to Underground Robotnik - an egotistical manchild who only roboticized (or in Sega Eggman's case, imprisoned?) some of the population, not literally every citizen on the planet. He kept the wealthy around to fund his empire through taxes, and frequently threw lavish self-serving celebrations in his own honor.

In a series that got pretty much everything else about Sonic wrong, I do feel like this is the closest to how game Eggman should act if he managed to rule the world. He wouldn't intentionally try to rid the planet of all organic life or relish the scent of pollution like ol' Julian did. He'd make it about satisfying his own ego, and having enough of an actual populace to praise and adore him (or else!).

I can definitely see that. But I think in the case of Forces with everything feeling near-hopeless for the good guys, being at their last rope and such, having the world be in a state of disarray while still being controlled by the Eggman Empire makes it all the more dramatic and effective; à la Sonic CD's bad future levels. Eggman just doesn't care about the state of things as long as he's in charge!

(But either way, a missed opportunity to add to the long list lol)

[Pengi]

On 12/28/2020 at 5:45 PM, VisionaryofSUPER said:

My theory is that when Dic redesigned Robotnik for their cartoons, SoA was really resistant to the idea at first (we do know from interviews that the Dic creators ran into a lot of problems with SEGA.)

Do you have a link to the interview(s) where they talk about this (specifically the redesign)?

[SBR2]

On ‎12‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 8:56 PM, Dr. Mechano said:

I feel like he had a little nuance, but it wasn't much.

He seemed to genuinely love Cluck, and while the roboticized citizens and mass-produced Swatbots acted like mindless drones, the robots he custom-built himself seemed to have some semblance of personality, like the musician bots from "Spy Hog." He even gives the robots a little bad-guy bar to hang out in!

Any Robotnik who invents a two-headed saxaphone robot has to have at least a little Eggman in him.

See in anything else I could totally believe Eggman would create these guys but with SatAM's intense "No Fun" agenda it's really hard to believe this guy created these.

Hell it's hard to believe he created anything considering how much shit he stole.

[Dr. Mechano]

It wasn't stated outright in the show, but Robotnik's robots seemed to have a hierarchy of sorts.

At the lowest rung were roboticized Mobians, who were always tasked with menial labor and seemed completely devoid of personality. Above that, you had the grunt Swatbots acting as rank-and-file officers; However, they displayed some sentience, and on a few occasions could even be seen laughing and enjoying themselves. And then the highest class were custom-built robots, like Cluck, or the fake Sally robot, or the skilled bots manning the spy satellite - these robots displayed personalities and interests, and in Cluck's case would even be doted on and shown affection by Robotnik.

I could believe that SatAM Robotnik - even though he wanted to roboticize the planet into mindless drones - would still ultimately have a society of adoring subjects in the form of the robots he built himself, since those robots still had actual personalities.

[Warheadz]

Man, times have changed. The current lack of love for SatAM, its characters, and all the old Western media really goes to show this series has been running 30 frickin' years. Crazy. Anyway, I'm just here to say I think it would have been badass to see Eggman's redesign feature the roboticized arm, imo. I mean if they did it right of course, just slapping it on to the design we have now definitely wouldn't look good. But in hindsight, really, who cares? A slight nod here or there isn't going to kill the franchise. They're obviously very aware of the American and European adaptations. There's too many to ignore them all and there's absolutely no way they have not once found a little inspiration in some part of it. It's just probably been incorporated in a way we didn't recognize.

[Dr. Mechano]

3 hours ago, Warheadz said:

Man, times have changed. The current lack of love for SatAM, its characters, and all the old Western media really goes to show this series has been running 30 frickin' years. 

I mean, I appreciate SatAM as its own thing but I just wouldn't want that version of Robotnik to supplant the lovable goofball Eggman of the games.

As old western Robotniks go, I have a lot of love for AoStH Robotnik. I feel like his bombastic ego and pettiness are fundamentally in line with Eggman's basic character traits - just in a super exaggerated way. Modern takes on Eggman even do have slight nods to him every now and then, like Boom Eggman quoting AoStH Robotnik's iconic catchphrase: