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[ElFly]

Never liked the name Robotnik. It just sounds cold and sinister. Eggman has always been a goofy character with the exception of the western art work and SatAM. I don't see why he needs a "serious" name

dude enslaves animals inside robots for profit

that was p dark

 

[Ivan 3414]

3.) Sega decides to throw this all out because Sonic Team is still really bitter 25 years later that their character got renamed when localizing the game.

Doesn't look like it's been "thrown out" at all. Nor do I see where Sonic Team is upset about this. They unified the names and Robotnik is still a part of his name, but in-universe and basically for most people he's known as Eggman.

It's sort of like, IDK, Captain Falcon's real name is Douglas Jay Falcon. No one in the F-Zero universe and virtually no one in real life is calling him Douglas, but that's still a canon thing.

 

[Guess Who]

The thing to remember about Sonic 1 is that the push to make Sonic "cool" and "tough" was almost entirely a creation of Sega of America marketing and Sonic Team were just making a cute game about a hedgehog bopping open cute robots to reveal cute animals to save them from a goofy fat bald dude with a silly mustache. In that context Eggman works well as a name. In the context of "Sonic is a cool dude with attitude saving the world from an evil dictator" Eggman seems goofy and Robotnik is way more villainous.

 

[L Thammy]

i wish Nintendo would unify Bowser to Koopa worldwide. I really dislike that Bowser name. He's not a dog!

So he's not Bowser because he's not a dog, but he is Korean food?

 

[Vire]

Yeah, "Eggman" has been assumed to be his Villan name since like SA2.

Coincides with the fact that there hasn't been a good Sonic game since.

 

[Vlaphor]

Robotnik sounds like the name of a saturday morning cartoon villain, which is perfect for Sonic The Hedgehog.

Eggman sounds like bad localization. The kind of name you'd get from a Japanese to English online translator.

 

[MrBadger]

dude enslaves animals inside robots for profit

that was p dark

He has a robot caterpillar called Caterkiller

 

[woopWOOP]

This makes me wonder, what's the (original?) Japanese dialogue with Robotnik references like these? Something else entirely I guess?

 

[Krejlooc]

Is anybody from the original Sonic Team still working at Sega? Most of those guys have long since moved on.

Pretty sure Rieko Kodama is still at Sega.

 

[jiggles]

It's because he looks like Humpty Dumpty.

 

[Poltergust]

Coincides with the fact that there hasn't been a good Sonic game since.

Sonic Colors
Sonic Generations
A large portion of the handheld games released since then

 

[kewlmyc]

I'm a fan of Robotnik more.

 

[jennetics]

I've always prefered Dr. Robotnik (obviously since I'm in the US) but I'm okay with Eggman too. Using it as a nickname seems like a nice compromise.

 

[Astral Dog]

unfortunately, its just "Eggman" now.

unless its Gerald Robotnik

 

[C.Olimar788]

This makes me wonder, what's the (original?) Japanese dialogue with Robotnik references like these? Something else entirely I guess?

Yep, it's something else entirely.

I have zero problems with Eggman since I never had the childhood attachment to Robotnik. I do sorta wish they'd reference his full name a bit more often, though - I'm quite fond of the good ol Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Coincides with the fact that there hasn't been a good Sonic game since.

The fact that you're apparently lumping Sonic Adventure 2 in with the "good" games is pretty telling.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I've always prefered Dr. Robotnik (obviously since I'm in the US) but I'm okay with Eggman too. Using it as a nickname seems like a nice compromise.

I'm ok with Eggman, too. It's one of the many thing that separates the good Sonic games from the bad.

 

[Daria Morgendorffer]

For some reason I always thought that Eggman was Sonic's nickname for Dr Ivo Robotnik

 

[spunodi]

I come from the Kintobor -> Robotnik European localisation background.

This is an excellent condensed summary of the Fleetway (Sonic the Comic) interpretation of it.

So, come Sonic Adventure, my tiny mind was attempting to reconcile about five different continuities. I'm still a broken man.

 

[supermarioworldE]

Old news. That said, Ive never had a problem with either name. Robotnik sounds better than Eggman, but that doesnt explain the "Death Egg" or egg shaped design of the character himself. Both work well enough.

 

[Bluewind098]

Honestly I started with the games around the Adventure era so I never minded Eggman. I think the name is pretty fitting for the classic games and even the modern ones considering he's pretty goofy in those games. Games like Adventure 2 is where it might be fitting to use Robotnik. Hell it was kinda silly to keep Eggman for the supposed gritty Sonic 06

 

[Shanlei91]

I still do. I always will.

 

[LTWheels]

I come from the Kintobor -> Robotnik European localisation background.

This is an excellent condensed summary of the Fleetway (Sonic the Comic) interpretation of it.

So, come Sonic Adventure, my tiny mind was attempting to reconcile about five different continuities. I'm still a broken man.

Same. Loved those comics. Specially liked the story line regard Super Sonic being a villain

 

[Mr Swine]

Old news. That said, Ive never had a problem with either name. Robotnik sounds better than Eggman, but that doesnt explain the "Death Egg" or egg shaped design of the character himself. Both work well enough.

Why in the world would a fat moustachioed bald man have the prefix egg in all his crafts, ships and whatnot? Makes more sense when he calls himself Dr Eggman rather than Dr Robotnik. But I have no problem calling him either Dr Eggman or Dr Robotnik.

Spoiler

Also Eggmanland sounds a lot better than Robotnikland

 

[KojiKnight]

For some reason I always thought that Eggman was Sonic's nickname for Dr Ivo Robotnik

Because in the English version of Sonic Adventure 1, that is exactly what they did. "I Dr. Robotnik..." "Whatever Eggman." Which leads to a lot of confusion on why he'd use Sonic's insult as the code to enter his ship...

 

[redmetal86]

Now, if they could explain Nack the Weasel/Fang the Sniper.

 

[crim]

I'm on team Robotnik.
That's what i grew up on.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Because in the English version of Sonic Adventure 1, that is exactly what they did. "I Dr. Robotnik..." "Whatever Eggman." Which leads to a lot of confusion on why he'd use Sonic's insult as the code to enter his ship...

The answer is obvious. Sonic and Robotnik are actually lovers and 'Eggman' is Sonic's pet-name for him.

 

[AlStrong]

dude enslaves animals inside robots for profit

that was p dark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHpxCU3ib30

 

[spunodi]

Same. Loved those comics. Specially liked the story line regard Super Sonic being a villain

Oh yes indeed! Everything leading up to and including the 100th issue was intense.

 

[Weapon of War]

I never liked the name Eggman. I was a kid in elementary school who grew up on the Sonic cartoons and comics, all of which referred to him as Dr. Robotnik. The fact that Sega infighting went back on the Robotinik name is too bad. Come to think of it, Sega infighting has killed tons of stuff.

The dude turns cute animals into robots!

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Can you imagine what the cartoons would have been like with Eggman as a name? AoSH would be non-stop egg puns and who knows how SatAM would have shaped up.

Anyway I liked the Tails death question as I was that younger brother it refers to. Shame Tails wasn't allowed to join Sonic at the end of satand-alone Sonic 3 as that final boss is especially tough when the player strategy throughout has been hide in the corner and let Tails kill the boss. Well that and the first time we reached it the floor didn't load for some reason...curse you Dr. Robnonik's traps (yes I know what was collision detection bugs)

I mean, it's not like those games are known for dialogue and such.

The word "Eggman" is all over the Wing Fortress in Sonic 2, though, and that includes Western releases.

You could also view that as Eggman being the name of the Wing fortress itself?

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I never liked the name Eggman. I was a kid in elementary school who grew up on the Sonic cartoons and that Sega infighting shot that down is too bad (Sega infighting has killed tons of stuff actually...). The dude turns cute animals into robots!

Including Sega!

 

[KingJ2002]

The only eggman I know is humpty dumpty

^^this.

Dr. Robotnik is better and should remain that way.

 

[Menitta]

dude enslaves animals inside robots for profit

that was p dark

He blew up the moon in Adventure 2.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Japan should have listened to the west for this.

 

[Poltergust]

You could also view that as Eggman being the name of the Wing fortress itself?

I would assume most people thought that the name of the ship is just Wing Fortress, really.

 

[Shanlei91]

Shame Tails wasn't allowed to join Sonic at the end of satand-alone Sonic 3 as that final boss is especially tough when the player strategy throughout has been hide in the corner and let Tails kill the boss.

Younger brother: Why do I have to play as Tails? When you run too fast I vanish.

Me: You have the most important job of all. You get to fight the boss while I hide in the corner.

 

[MaximumSpider]

Eggman sounds childish as fuck.

Robotnik for life.

This IS a series for kids though...

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

This IS a series for kids though...

And many of those who prefer Robotnik were also kids when Sonic first came out...

 

[Jay RaR]

Can we have a dialogue choice to call him either Eggman or Robotnik? huehue

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

Just another reason why the franchise went to shit with Sonic Adventure.

 

[philion]

I demand a poll!

 

[Neoxon]

But Eggman makes even less sense with his newest design where he no longer looks like an egg...

Which is an alternate universe, anyway. Sonic Boom is not the mainline Sonic universe.

For some reason I always thought that Eggman was Sonic's nickname for Dr Ivo Robotnik

It is.

 

[petran79]

This IS a series for kids though...

But Tails dies....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwWYLSjizOs

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Interestingly, the name 'Bowser' was also a localization thing. His original name in Japan was Kuppa (or later, Koopa). I guess Nintendo's Japanese side is just more open to influence from western localization than Sega's Japanese side is.

 

[TheDinoman]

To be fair, I thought Eggman's Boom design was supposed to resemble an upside down egg on a cup.

 

[Krejlooc]

But Tails dies....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwWYLSjizOs

Guess that means in the good ending, both Sonic and Tails die:

 

[Bravocado]

It's Aerith all over again.

 

[L Thammy]

Interestingly, the name 'Bowser' was also a localization thing. His original name in Japan was Kuppa (or later, Koopa). I guess Nintendo's Japanese side is just more open to influence from western localization than Sega's Japanese side is.

The Koopalings were also named by Nintendo of America, with the Japanese version taking the names later. Originally they didn't have their own names.