Robotnik or Eggman? A question that has plagued the minds of gamers all around the world since Sonic, the blue spiky Sega mascot, was first introduced into our consciousness. Since the sublime Sonic Adventure (the 1st one), gamers have been in a tizzle over what tocall Sonic's arch nemesis. After some research on always reliable Wikipedia, we managed to uncover the following.
"Due to a split storyline between the Japanese and American/European
Sonic games, the character of Robotnik/Eggman has been known by several names in
the various media and adaptations of the Sonic franchise. In Japan, the
character has always been known as “Doctor Eggman” since his introduction in the
first Sonic the Hedgehog game. However, in early American and European game
versions and other media he is known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Although, despite
this, both names slipped occasionally in the different regions.
In Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic, the character’s name was originally Ovi
Kintobor. But an explosive accident involving a rotten egg reversed his kindly
personality (along with the letters of his name), and he emerged as Ivo
Robotnik. The Sonic the Hedgehog animated series expanded on the character’s
name further, revealing his first name to be Julian. The Sonic the Hedgehog
comic book, which is closely based on the cartoon, gives Robotnik’s birth name
as Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo, with “Kintobor” being his family
name.
Beginning with Sonic Adventure, Sega began a process of merging the American
and European game stories to the Japanese version, including introducing the
concept of calling the character “Doctor Eggman” in the American and European
versions. Initially, both names were used in the English language version, as he
referred to himself as “Robotnik” while others mockingly called him “Eggman”
because of his round physique. In the sequel, Sonic Adventure 2, he begins
referring to himself as “Dr. Eggman”, although his grandfather and cousin share
the family name “Robotnik”.
In later games, and in the English dub of Sonic X, usage of the name Robotnik
became rare. The airboards in Sonic Riders are labeled as being built by
“Robotnik Corp.” It is also featured occasionally in Sonic X: in the character’s
eyecatch profile card from the Japanese version of Sonic X[7], and again in
Gerald and Maria’s family name."
Well that kind of answers some questions. From that page, there was some more relevant info worth posting we thought.
"In April of 1990, Sega requested a game capable of selling over one million
copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company’s mascot, as well as
to rival Nintendo’s flagship character, Mario. Several character designs were
submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an
armadillo (who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, a spiky
hedgehog (which would later become Sonic the Hedgehog), and a rabbit (intended
to use its extending ears to collect objects; these aspects were later
incorporated into Ristar).[4] A caricature of Theodore Roosevelt was also one of
the possible designs, but it lost to Sonic the Hedgehog, and eventually became
the basis for Eggman."
An American President was the basis and inspiration for Eggman?? WTF??