Favorite Western Robotnik design?

[Austroid]

                                      

                                                                                                   (What are they pointing at!?)

I've come to like/appreciate the SatAM design more, because in addition to looking cool in his own right, he at least kept some of the Classic Eggman design elements; the pointy collar pieces, yellow cape, as well as the general shape of Classic Eggy's 'stache. (Also whenever Archie Sonic artists like Steven Butler or Spaz drew him, he always looked magnificent!)

                                                               

                                                                                                                   (Magnificent!)

AoSTH is fine, but some of the changes are questionable; like the dwarf shoes, having Sonic's uni-eyes, and his banana-like nose. His look overall just didn't scream "bad guy" quite like SatAM's did.

[retroverlord]

The SatAM design for sure. I especially love how his eyes are a single red dot instead of a more detailed pupil, like the one in AoSTH. This, along with his robotic arm and the bolts in his head, make him seem less human, really adding to how much more evil and terrifying he is compared to other (Eggmans? Eggmen?). In my opinion, he's the most evil Eggman we've gotten so far.

[sonicclaasic]

I think both designs are great I grew up with the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Dr Robotnik and from the 90's Sonic game as well. But I would go with my favourite Sonic SatAM cartoon version of Dr Robotnik on the left

I think this design of Dr Robotnik Is a better version here.

[Blue Blood]

I've always disliked the designs used in the early cartoons and other western media, including existing characters like Robotnik and Sonic and the original characters. They all leaned away from the relatively simplistic and clean look of the hybrid anime/rubber-hose design into something much more typical of 80s and 90s cartoon character design instead. I've never been a big cartoon enthusiast, and the way that the western media focused on more garish and grotesque features was always a turn off. I just don't like it. 

And above all else, they're just so incredibly different to the Classic or Modern Robotnik designs that its really hard to see them as the same character. 

Maybe this is a cop-out an answer, but... 

This design works an absolute treat. Unlike the designs used in earlier cartoons, this one has more in common with Eggman than just a moustache and basic colour scheme. He's portrayed as something of a cross between a military leader and scientist here, rather than as a caricature of all things evil and ugly. He's clearly a bad guy and a threat, but is also pretty affable. And personally, that's an angle that I like to see Eggman taken in. Dude's an evil genius, but there are more layers to him then just that.

Bonus mention to Robotnik in the second movie. Jim Carey playing a slim Robotnik should not have been okay. 

But it worked! Something about the militaristic angle for Robotnik is actually highly effective. The outfit that they chose for movie Robotnik was again very clean, with his main feature being his 'stache. 

[Austroid]

20 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

Maybe this is a cop-out an answer, but... 

This design works an absolute treat. Unlike the designs used in earlier cartoons, this one has more in common with Eggman than just a moustache and basic colour scheme. He's portrayed as something of a cross between a military leader and scientist here, rather than as a caricature of all things evil and ugly. He's clearly a bad guy and a threat, but is also pretty affable. And personally, that's an angle that I like to see Eggman taken in. Dude's an evil genius, but there are more layers to him then just that.

Bonus mention to Robotnik in the second movie. Jim Carey playing a slim Robotnik should not have been okay. 

But it worked! Something about the militaristic angle for Robotnik is actually highly effective. The outfit that they chose for movie Robotnik was again very clean, with his main feature being his 'stache. 

Boom Eggman's design was decent; though I liked the concept art version more:

To me having his 'stache be all groomed takes away from his "mad scientist" aesthetic. Also I like how the collar covered most of his mouth; similar to the '06 look. But in the end the redesign hardly matched how he was written; less "evil madman" and more "disgruntled neighbor."

Jim Eggman looked great but idk, the way his outfit was tailored seemed a bit... cheap? Compare it to all the texturing his flight suit had in the first one, and this seemed a bit TOO simplistic for a big budget movie. Like, you can buy a cosplay of the outfit on Etsy for about $150 and it looks near-identical!

[Stasis]

AoStH Robotnik gave birth to the best version of Dr.Robotnik 

 

[castell-neath]

I hated both to be honest and HATED it when Sonic The Comic adopted tHE AoSTH design from issue 11 (or around then) onwards. It just ruined its game adaptation stories too when they did S3&K.

I still dont understand why the west did both tbh. They left the rest alone, why change Robotnik at all. Sonic OVA showed the original design could still be evil and cunning. 

[Tornado]

6 hours ago, castell-neath said:

They left the rest alone, why change Robotnik at all.

Western Sonic adaptations changed everyone. Sonic was probably the least changed, but he still wasn't the same character as depicted in Japanese media.

 

6 hours ago, castell-neath said:

Sonic OVA showed the original design could still be evil and cunning. 

The Sonic OVA came out so much later in the franchise's lifespan that it was functionally dead at the time; and irrelevant to anything SoE/SoA tried (good and/or bad) when they were trying to transform the IP into a multimedia franchise.

[tailsBOOM!]

20 minutes ago, Tornado said:

Western Sonic adaptations changed everyone. Sonic was probably the least changed, but he still wasn't the same character as depicted in Japanese media.

 

The Sonic OVA came out so much later in the franchise's lifespan that it was functionally dead at the time; and irrelevant to anything SoE/SoA tried (good and/or bad) when they were trying to transform the IP into a multimedia franchise.

I'd say Tails was the least changed (At least intentionally) based on some recent comments by Totoya-san.  Apparently he sent the images that were the basis for the DIC designs, but the printer used wasn't the best, leading to the him being colored differently

Edit: Here's the sprite work that was mentioned for further context,  done by Totoya-san himself:

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by tailsBOOM!
extra context

[AlexHidanBR]

Saturday Morning Cartoon Robotnik is menacing and its awesome

[LongcrierCat]

I know some of ya'll aren't gonna hate on the most famous Black Cartoonist's take on the Sexiest Fat Man in Animation. Ian Jones Quartey would be disappointed.

Y

You are a liar if you say you hate this design. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was great at being the Felix the Cat cartoon Sonic needed in the 90s, faithfulness to the games aesthetic be damned.

And SatAM Robotnik is great at playing the menacing colonizer he needed to be for SatAM.

Embrace the different. Not everything has to be canon accurate.

Also I know you all love how he would don different outfits almost every episode in Adventures. Milton Knight's Robotnik was versatile.

This is something I cannot say for most Robotniks.

What I find most fun in Knight's notes is: "When drawing him keep that adult you hated when you were in a child in mind. Or your least favourite politician."

W

What do you mean Simpsons did it first, Adventures did it first.

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, LongcrierCat said:

I know some of ya'll aren't gonna hate on the most famous Black Cartoonist's take on the Sexiest Fat Man in Animation. Ian Jones Quartey would be disappointed.

Y

You are a liar if you say you hate this design. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was great at being the Felix the Cat cartoon Sonic needed in the 90s, faithfulness to the games aesthetic be damned.

And SatAM Robotnik is great at playing the menacing colonizer he needed to be for SatAM.

Embrace the different. Not everything has to be canon accurate.

Also I know you all love how he would don different outfits almost every episode in Adventures. Milton Knight's Robotnik was versatile.

This is something I cannot say for most Robotniks.

What I find most fun in Knight's notes is: "When drawing him keep that adult you hated when you were in a child in mind. Or your least favourite politician."

W

What do you mean Simpsons did it first, Adventures did it first.

Nah, shit's bad. 

[Adamis]

I like SatAM's Robotnik but he's still too cliché even for a 90s villain. 

I mostly grew up with the Classic Japanese design and AoStH's, so I'll stick with the latter. But StC managed to take that design and make it actually menacing and imposing without going "too far".

But in the last ever story, they mixed this design with the Adventure outfit and it is brilliant.

 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

It's kind of a hard thing to answer. The classic and modern designs along with Sonic Boom are obviously the actual good designs for the guy, because they're fundamentally derived from a lot of the same design principles as Sonic, being constructed out of circles and triangles for an effect of very clean, gestural work. I never have and never will prefer the 90s cartoon/comic designs, 06 Eggman or Jim Carrey (though obviously I don't blame him for being a real person) because they break from this logic. The SoA/E designs in particular twist and contort Eggman's face and anatomy into different shapes for the purposes of making him ugly and gross, and I really just don't jive with that philosophy for the character. He's all about the big toothy grin! The perfectly circular shades glowing in the darkness! You don't get that when you change the shape language.

...But if I had to judge the western looks, I wouldn't actually immediately call them terrible on their own, just fundamentally not-Robotnik to me. SatAM is the better-received of the DiC cartoons, but I think Adventures has the more interesting surrealist visuals, thanks to Milton Knight's creative vision. His Robotnik is expressive! He perfectly fits the tone they're going for, and if I have to judge the best impression given by the Ugly and Gross™ version, he does a good job, aided massively by Baldry's performance. There's a reason he's the highlight of the show.

SatAM isn't without its perks, namely whenever they have him chew the scenery. They're good at playing up the "Robotnik is scary" angle...when they actually try to. The problem is that SatAM and Underground don't use the hammy monster qualities of Robotnik enough to really leave as good an impression. He gets some killer lines enhanced by Jim Cummings' chilling performance, but he needed to be on that grind the whole time to really sell it.

The comics...fail at all of this. Patrick Spaziante draws the SatAM design really well, but the writers took the goofy tone way more often for the majority of Robotnik's appearances pre-Eggman, and it falls flat. Fleetway meanwhile abandons the much better original Eggman look for the AoSTH design, only to take it seriously...running straight into the blandness valley.