Why Robotnik Is The Best Game Villain
There have been many game villains over the years, but none manage to balance goofy fun and sinister evil like Dr. Robotnik/Eggman.
With every video game hero there must also be a diabolical villain for them to stop. Mario must save Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil clutches of the warmongering Bowser. Link must fight Ganon to save Hyrule and Princess Zelda. However, one villain has always stuck with me in ways no other villain could. He is a perfect combination of intelligence and stupidity all rolled into one. He can create amazing things, but only uses them to further his ego. His name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik a.k.a. Eggman.
Eggman is one of my favorite video game villains because he often strikes that perfect balance between silly and sinister. Eggman is often depicted as a bumbling buffoon who gets beaten time and time again by a teenage blue hedgehog and his friends. However, when you actually look at his plans they can be quite vile. He plans on taking over the world by kidnapping small animals and using them as batteries to power his army of robots. He also transforms the inhabitants of the world into his robotic slaves to serve as his workers.
In Sonic Adventure he tried to nuke a city, and in Sonic Adventure 2 he blew up half the moon while threatening to destroy entire continents if the world didn't surrender to him. Eggman is a brilliant scientist who creates various robots and vehicles. He canonically has an I.Q. of 300 and is one of the most brilliant men alive. He could do great things with all of his knowledge and power, but he's often tripped up by one major flaw; his ego.
Eggman is a brilliant scientist and he knows it. This is why he plasters his likeness on all of his robots and vehicles, and why he believes he should rule the world. Every time he tries to take over he attempts to construct Eggmanland, a city with large statues of himself where he rules. Despite his intelligence, he is constantly foiled by a young and speedy hedgehog named Sonic. This is another example of his ego getting in the way of his plans.
Every time Eggman loses to Sonic he gets more and more frustrated, causing him to act irrationally out of anger. You can see, in many versions of the character, that being constantly beaten by a wise cracking teenager really starts to take a toll on his sanity. He obsesses over this hedgehog and does everything in his power to stop him. This is where Eggman strikes the perfect balance between credible threat and comic foil.
Eggman can cause a lot of harm to innocent people and the world. He has the capacity to destroy the world and rebuild it in his image with ease. However, every time he comes close to achieving his goal, Sonic shows up and then his ego gets in the way. He always goes after Sonic and always fails in his plans. Eggman is a terrifyingly brilliant man, but his ego will always lead to his demise.
