Sonic the Comic Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Robotnik 105

Doctor Ivo Robotnik is the primary antagonist of Sonic the Comic. A despotic mad scientist and the sworn enemy of Sonic the Hedgehog. Born Ovi Kintobor, a laboratory "accident" (later revealed to be caused by Sonic) turned the mild mannered professor into an evil, tyrannical doctor with a thirst for power. He soon conquered Mobius and transformed its citizens into mobile, mechanical weapons known as Badniks. Sonic and his Freedom Fighters fought him for years until he was finally defeated and lost his reign over the planet. Several more years followed with many attempts to regain power. However, Robotnik never truly did regain power and went insane, trying to destroy the world on more than one occasion. Currently, in Sonic the Comic Online, Robotnik has become part of a super-computer and has launched a massive invasion of Mobius.

History[]

Doctor Kintobor[]

Little is known about Robotnik's time as Kintobor. Accidentally finding his way to Mobius, he makes friends with the planet's natives and works towards improving civilised life. It would seem he was the one to advance the planet's industries and had an indirect influence on anthropomorphising the people of Mobius. Kintobor went on to develop the ROCC to try and rid the planet of evil, discovered and tutored the incomplete Shadow the Hedgehog as well as giving Sonic the Power Sneakers which helped the hedgehog gain his blue, streamlined look.

The next day, Kintobor tripped over a cable (tightened by Sonic from the future) which, when combined with Kintobor's machinery, turned Doctor Ovi Kintobor into Doctor Ivo Robotnik. With his new body and mindset, Robotnik escaped to plan his next moves.

Early years[]

Before Sonic the Comic came the video games, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The games follow Robotnik's attempts at enslaving the world's population and Sonic's mission to stop him. These events are briefly alluded to in the comic, but the history behind them remains the same in the comic timeline. After several more losses, Robotnik eventually forces the Omni-Viewer to send Sonic into the future where the hedgehog can't stop him. In this time, Robotnik completely takes over the world, setting himself up as the outright ruler of Mobius.

Robotnik 1

Robotnik's original appearance in STC

"Ruled by Robotnik"[]

Sonic returned six months into the future to find the entire planet Ruled by Robotnik (RBR). Sonic went on to liberate the Emerald Hill Zone, but Robotnik had the entire world in his grasp. Trooper Badniks were built with the goal of keeping the planet's citizens in check. In reponse, Sonic built a group of Freedom Fighters comprising of Tails, Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis. This group, along with the later addition of Amy Rose would continue to oppose Robotnik's rule for over 3 years.

Robotnik's secondary goal, after world domination, was pollution. The tyrant built factories across the world on top of previously green areas, with the Chemical Plant Zone being the most prevalent of them all. The Casino Night Zone was also used to swindle money out of Mobians, which worked well until Sonic came along to stop operations in the Zone. Nevertheless, Mobius industrialised quickly under Robotnik's rule, with Metropolis City becoming the capital of Mobius, as well as Robotnik's heavily guarded base of operations.

A year into his rule, Robotnik's Death Egg crashed onto the Floating Island. There, he managed to convince Knuckles the Echidna that Sonic was the real enemy of Mobius and that he should join the fight against him. This allowed Robotnik to see to repairs of his gigantic space station. However, the plan fell apart when Robotnik absorbed the power of the Chaos Emeralds and Knuckles stole back the power using the Grey Emerald. Robotnik continued to use the Floating Island and only left when his Death Egg was fully completed.

Metallix, a metal doppelganger of Sonic, was created by Robotnik's chief scientist, Grimer to destroy the real hedgehog. This failed, although it soon became apparent that there were more Metallixes and had gained ambitions of their own. The Brotherhood of Metallix took over Robotnik's base in the Special Zone, the Egg Fortress, and turned their attentions to the Miracle Planet. Their following actions caused Robotnik to be wiped out of existence entirely, which forced Sonic to travel back in time and ensure Robotnik did get created, meaning the Metallixes never took control of Mobius. The robots were eventually destroyed when it was revealed that he actually had a self-destruct mechanism installed in them all the time and just wanted them to kill Sonic before activating it.

Another of Robotnik's creations turned against him soon after. Commander Brutus, a robot with Robotnik's brainwaves, gained his ambition to rule the planet and built his own Badnik army to rival Robotnik's. Brutus' revolution was a strong one, but Robotnik eventually came out on top, destroying Brutus and reaffiriming to the world that he is still a major threat.

After a brief uprising by the people of Mobius, Robotnik came down on hard on them, being more brutal and ruthless than ever before. Upon hearing that Sonic was trapped in the Special Zone, he focussed his attentions on wearing down the Freedom Fighters who were suffering without their leader. Soon, Robotnik would turn his attentions again, this time towards the Emerald Hill Folk, revealed to be on the Floating Island by Doctor Zachary.

The Final Victory and Flickies' Island[]

While tending to the Emerald Hill Folk and Knuckles, Sonic and the Omni-Viewer had transported the soon-to-explode Black Asteroid into the skies of Mobius. On exploding, the Asteroid produced a massive electromagnetic pulse, knocking out every computerised system on Mobius, most of them belonging to Robotnik. With no weapons to protect him, Robotnik was captured by the people and paraded as a fallen tyrant in Metropolis City. Grimer came to his rescue, but Sonic ultimately destroyed their last line of defence (Citadel Robotnik) and the villains were forced to flee.

Robotnik began his revenge by taking over a base on Flickies' Island and building even stronger Badniks using Flickies. Sonic and Tails found it hard against this new threat, but were aided by the appearance of a Drakon Prosecutor, taking Robotnik back to its home planet of Planet Drak. Robotnik returned with the help of the Drakons after convincing them that Sonic was the real threat to the Drakons. Sonic was brought to trial and forced to fight a new Metallix, but proved himself innocent (with the help of Tails) by defeating the robot. The Drakons continued to pursue Sonic as long as Robotnik knew the location of the Chaos Emeralds. However, after dallying for too long, Grimer betrayed Robotnik and took the Drakons to the Emeralds himself.

Robotnik Reigns Supreme[]

The invasion of the Floating Island began, with Grimer leading the Drakons to the Chaos Emeralds. However, upon securing them, Grimer betrayed the Drakons and teleported Robotnik to the island. Robotnik proceeded to absorb the power of the Chaos Emeralds, but it seemed too much for him to take, as his body turned into a crystalline statue.

09

The heroes believed that Robotnik had been defeated, but as the statue attacked Tails, Robotnik revealed he had just been storing up energy in this new body. It was too late to stop him; Robotnik had become a God. With his new, awesome power, Robotnik transformed the world into a new timeline, where he was overall ruler, the Freedom Fighters never formed and Sonic had never existed, meaning that he had never been there from to save Tails from drowning... Robotnik tormented Sonic through several bizarre and surreal scenarioes before Sonic managed to manipulate his enemy's ego, suggesting that Robotnik was giving himself so many advantages because he was scared he'd lose. After teasing Sonic with the now-disbanded Chaotix Crew and a 'Tails' that was actually Metamorpho, Robotnik eventually gave Sonic Knuckles as an ally and 100 seconds to bring him to speed. With Sonic as a distraction, Knuckles was again able to use the Grey Emeralds to absorb Robotnik's power, shrinking the tyrant to nothing.

Shanazar[]

In fact, Robotnik grew so small that he ended up in a new universe, one smaller than an atom. Upon arriving on the planet of Shanazar, Robotnik actually somehow turned back into Kintobor and transformed the city's plumbing system. Kintobor was named Grand Vizier to Princess Kupacius before Sonic arrived searching for Robotnik. The two were sent on a dangerous mission, where Kintobor turned back into Robotnik, Kintobor having suppressed Robotnik with a serum that had now lost its effectiveness. From then on, Robotnik assisted Kupacius in tracking down Sonic. Eventually, Robotnik double-crossed her, intending to merge Shanazar into Mobius to cause enough chaos and destruction that he would emerge overall ruler again. However, the plan did not work and Robotnik was transferred back to Mobius, a broken man.

Mental Breakdown[]

After one last attempt to kill Sonic, Robotnik slumped into a depression. His situation improved slightly when The Plax arrived and believed Robotnik to be their God. Using their technology, he did indeed become a God, killing The

Robotnik 178

Robotnik in his 'Sonic Adventure' clothes.

Plax before almost completely causing Mobius to fall into environmental collapse. He was eventually thwarted by Sonic and Shortfuse the Cybernik. After this, Robotnik slipped into madness. Grimer tried to cheer Robotnik up by releasing Chaos into the world. He succeeded, as his release meant the end of the world, not quite Grimer's intentions. At the final battle, Robotnik admitted he was insane with no plan to stop the rampaging Chaos.

Sonic the Comic Online[]

The online continuation of STC saw Robotnik placed into a mental asylum, with Robotnik completely unable to talk or perform conscious actions. He was broken out by The Syndicate and still displayed subconscious desires to kill Sonic. Reunited with Shadow the Hedgehog for the first time since Robotnik was Kintobor, the "ultimate lifeform" to a secret location when the Syndicate's Death Carrier started to fall. Robotnik became part of a Drakon supercomputer, launching a planet-wide invasion in a bid to become the planet's proxy ruler under control of the Drakons. With the cybernetics connected to him, Robotnik revealed he still very much has the mental capacity to become the planet's ruler, but still shows signs of drooling and catatonia.

Robotnik launched a number of assaults from the Egg Bastion, and managed to seize control of Zones. Even so, he was never allowed to gain full control of the planet and even started to lose positions on several fronts, particularly after the Iblis event saw many of his forces depleted. An attack from Shadow II on the Internet saw the Drakon system that controlled and monitored Robotnik get accidentally deleted. This allowed him to finally leave his chair and personally attack the Emerald Hill Zone.

Relationships[]

Sonic the Hedgehog[]

Since the beginning of the comic, Sonic the Hedgehog and Robotnik have been the greatest of enemies. No matter how many times Robotnik attempts to kill Sonic, the hedgehog always finds a way to stop him, yet Sonic very rarely managed to make Robotnik pay for his actions.

Robotnik vs sonic 72

Robotnik vs. Sonic

Sonic's hatred for Robotnik grew after he discovered he was reponsible for creating the dictator. He often grew more determined when his friends in danger from Robotnik. Despite this, Sonic somehow doesn't feel complete without his arch-nemesis and misses the days of action when Robotnik is deposed.

Grimer[]

Grimer was Robotnik's chief scientist for the majority of Sonic the Comic and his most loyal assistant. If Robotnik knew the concept of being friendly, they would undoubtably be friends, despite the number of times Robotnik has throttled him just for being around when he loses his temper. Grimer built many of Robotnik's robot designs,

Robotnik grimer 104

You'd think Grimer would've quit long ago with all that strangling.

including Metallix and Commander Brutus. He loyally stayed by his master when he lost control of the world and came looking for him in Shanazar. The two remained as a team until Grimer realised Robotnik's madness and quit. Sonic the Comic Online seems to show how much Grimer misses his master, as he built a Robotnik model just so he can feel as if he still serves his master every day.

Shortfuse the Cybernik[]

Shortfuse the Cybernik was once just an ordinary squirrel until he was trapped in an unpregnable suit of Megatal armour by Robotnik. Shorty sought revenge and was enraged when he learnt that Robotnik had been defeated while

Shortfuse robotnik 67

I don't want to hear your origins story! I was THERE!

he was out of action (his systems stopped working due to the EMP). His hatred never went away and would always remind Robotnik of what he did to him... in every story.

The Brotherhood of Metallix[]

Robotnik comissioned the first Metallix to be built by Grimer and targeted at Sonic. The "Brotherhood" continued to grow and eventually turned on their master, wishing to rule Mobius themselves. Robotnik knew this may someday happen and had already fitted a self-destruct system. Despite their disloyalty, Robotnik went on to improve a "Knuckles" version of Metallix which proved to be much more stable.

Mobius[]

The citizens of Mobius remained fearful of Robotnik throughout his tenure as planet leader. They knew there was little they could do against Robotnik's weapons and were thankful for the Freedom Fighters' continued efforts to stop him. Their fear eventualy turned into rebellion when they realised they could fight alongside the beaten Tails, Amy and Johnny in Solidarity. Once Robotnik was deposed, the citizens emerged stronger. Indeed, when Robotnik tried to seize power again in The Battle For Mobius, the people of Mobius were much more resilient, even without the apparant help of Sonic.

Design[]

Abilities[]

Appearances[]

See List of appearances by Doctor Ivo Robotnik for a full list.

As the main antagonist to Sonic, Robotnik appeared in many stories, including the very first. He continued to be Sonic's main threat until he turned completely insane in the last issue. Robotnik had a handful of stories to himself as well. In Sonic the Comic Online, Robotnik's appearances were much less regular, paving the way for other villains of Mobius, such as the Drakon Empire, to try their luck.

Trivia[]

  • Despite being largely the same, in the first issue, Robotnik's appearence has more of a huge resemblance to his original Japanese one for having the three giant triangular tufts sticking out from his moustache as apposed to being curvier until it suddenly turned into the latter shape in the next story matching his based appearence seen on the western Sonic artworks for the games when at the time Robotnik's original Japanese design had little to no exposure in the west.
    • Additionally, Robotnik is seen wearing his white gloves in his debut, just like his original Japanese design does, however when it came to the second issue, they suddenly vanished.
  • He was originally designed to resemble his appearence on the Western covers of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games. In later issues, his attire was given a belt going around his waist with a circular buckle in the center with a line going up to his collar which was based off his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series design combined with his classic attire. in the story "Girl Trouble" (issue 21 and issue 22), he transformed into a new body via hatching from an egg, his new design was completely based off his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog one. The change was permanent.
  • Nigel Kitching suggested an opportunity to re-design Robotnik again into his new design from Sonic Adventure, but the idea was rejected.[citation needed]
  • Starting from issue 178, Robotnik did however wear the jacket worn by his Sonic Adventure design until the comics final original storyline ended in issue 184.
  • While Dr. Robotnik now has his AoStH design, his personality is similar to his potrayal in the Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) television series where he is known for being more serious and unsettling, whereas Robotnik is notably an incompetent, silly, and bumbling idiot in the AoStH television series where his former design originates from.

Images[]

See Doctor Ivo Robotnik gallery for a selection of Robotnik pictures by different artists.

Advertisement