Dr Eggman - A Terrible Villain?

I love Eggman because of how flexible he is as an antagonist. In one story, he could be an incredibly funny character that bounces off the heroes really well, and in another, he could be the scariest person imaginable, capable of some real, inhumane cruelty.

By far, one of my favorite moments from Eggman comes from the IDW comics. In short, Eggman himself answers the question of why he's been struggling to beat Sonic all these years despite his 300 IQ: he wants to beat Sonic at his own game. If Eggman simply wants Sonic dead, he can carpet bomb the hedgehog anytime he wants or go to some other similar extreme. However, this is about pride. It's not a win for Eggman unless he can prove his superiority over Sonic. It's like: "Yes, I could pick up a gun, shoot this high-level martial artist in the face and win like that. However, to prove that I'm truly better than them, I'll fight them in their area of expertise and win." This motive for Eggman also explains why Metal Sonic and other such creations exist. Fight fire with fire.

Eggman works BECAUSE he can be very nuanced in his writing, simply because he clearly shows even HE has people he cares or cared about...

Personally I think eggman is awesome. He can be in the more funny than threatening side sometimes but he he’s very enjoyable. One of my favorite things about him is that he’s still rather successful even when sonic is foiling his plans. He has a massive empire of robots and fleets of ships, that’s impressive

Eggman is a fine villain as you can incorporate him in a ton of different moods and it can still work. Eggman is threatening enough to do some heartless and low actions to get any advantage over Sonic, but he is also goofy and funny so you can depict him as a person with some level of good and conscious to them like in Sonic Frontiers. Eggman just suffered from flanderization and a poor script in the mid 2000s - the 2010s as they either deprived him of any comedy in Sonic 06 or usually made him nothing except comedic relief like in pretty much most games.

To me, Eggman's always been the kind of villain who enjoys being goofy and bombastic, but at the same time knows when to take things seriously and be really menacing. It's a shame the writing wasn't really good over the last games, but thankfully Frontiers came to show him once again in all his glory.

Honestly, I love Eggman. To the point where I've almost come to see him as more of a draw to the Sonic games than Sonic himself, or at the very least I've come to like him more than Sonic. And while he does lack some consistency and balance between being a serious or goofy villain, it kinda feels like that works in his favor, making his character more flexible so that he can still feel like a faithful adaptation of the same character in almost any role he's put in. It's never really felt like he's acting out of character, regardless of whether he's slipping and falling over like a goof, or strapping a bomb to his enemies and launching them into space. He could be written better, but he still has that odd silly/serious charm that a lot of Japanese media does so well. Being a goofball is fine, but they need to dial back how dumb he can be, because that is the one sticking point in his characterization for me. After all, being as smart as he is, I find it REALLY hard to believe he would've ever released ancient evils like Dark Gaia or the Flames if Disaster after that mishap with Chaos in the first Sonic Adventure.

You mentioning how Eggman isn’t a man of destruction even though he could easily destroy everything reminds me how Eggman Nega is truly his opposite in that regard. While Eggman is only interested in ruling, Nega is a man who only cares to see the world burn around him and wishes to cause as much destruction as possible. It sucks that we don’t get to see the two doctors interact more.

To me, Dr. Eggman is a Fun Villain, he can be entertaining and can be very terrifying. It all depends on who knows how to write him and How Sega wants him to act.

He’s a great villain specifically because of how flexible he is. His methods, aesthetics, even his goals are very easy to twist. Him being a genuine apocalyptic threat is just as natural as him being a Goofy Villain. He wants to rule the world, uses animals to power his machines and his perfect empire is Theme Park themed. He can desolate landscapes, summon Eldritch monsters and enslave innocent creatures and how dark you want that to be is entirely on you because it’s entirely valid

Eggman is a great villain because he can be either A legit MENACE or a goofy silly guy or straight up both. It all just depends on how effective it’ll be based on the writing

I love how IDW Eggman threw Starline off guard with his easy going and goofy attitude and pulled the UNO reverse card on him later down the line with exactly that. Being silly while staying true to the threat you pose as a character is something i absolutely love about this specific iterration of the evil genius. It really puts him on this level of being so good at what he does that he doesn't see the risks...of course that's also a huge weakness that's been exploited by multiple people...but thats why i think he's so great. Can't write a good character without flaws that are as crucial as his strengths eh?

I think right now Archie Eggman during Ian Flynn's run is my favorite version of the character, with a close second being IDW Eggman. No other version of Eggman has pushed Sonic to his limit quite like Archie Eggman. I'll never forget that time he completely razed Sonic's home and made him think all his friends were dead. And I'll never forget that when Sonic sprinted from coast to coast while screaming "Limit?! I'll SHOW YOU MY LIMIT!" Eggman's mech took the hit, and no sold it. No other version of Eggman has been quite as much of a threat to Sonic as Archie Sonic.

I think egg man is a perfect villain for the sonic universe being the lines of chaotic evil and sometimes chaotic neutral when it fits the theme sonic goes for he's like a joker to the batman his goals are never quite clear but for all intended purposes he keeps the audience entertained by his numerous antics schemes and plans and you know its to oppose sonic he also works as a perfect foil to sonic with him being a human who wants to control everything and sonic being a animal who just wants to be free and freedom for all

Personally I think Eggman is a Great Villain and I don’t mind when he’s a goofball(when it’s not too much ofc) bc it makes his serious moments that more intense although I do love when his Goofy and menacing side are at a balance with each other like in the Archie comics/Idw comics, Adventure games, and Unleashed

I loved his Archie counterpart the best. There he actually killed people or worse. He was a legit threat with real success and ruled most of the world. It was great and I really miss that version.

My personal favorite eggman is from the boom cartoon. I tend to like comedic villains way more than serious villains and I just find him so dang funny in that show

Idw comic Eggman is a MENACE Definitely has that DAWG in him

Eggman will probably always be my favourite villain. There are definitely better written more impactful ones but there's something about the bad doctor that tickles my fancy. His eccentric nature, his charisma, his awesome mechs, his freaking laugh all make excited for his next evil scheme. Another cool part about him is relationship with Sonic. They both have a lot of pride and ego to them but especially stubborness. Eggman will never stop coming back and enacting some plot of world domination and Sonic will never stop thwarting said plot. They'll never say it to each others faces but there's a lot of respect there. For me personally, I like Eggman with a mix of both comedy and seriousness. I want it to feel like there will be dire consequences if I let this egg shaped super genius win but let's all be honest, no one's taking a guy named Eggman riding around in his Egg Mobile seriously 100% of the time. I feel like Eggman's the type of character you want to nail a balance with and really add a sense of unpredictability to him, never knowing what he'll do next. It's just that the 2010's did an awful job balancing it (still think Eggman was the most entrrtaining in the cast at this time. Not saying much, I know).

One part I found interesting from the IDW comics is when Dr. Starline tries to blow up Sonic and Silver Eggman berates him for it, not wanting some new lackey of his to take down the hedgehog. When Starline asks if Eggman wants him gone, Eggman says he could bomb Sonic whenever he felt like but that's too easy. That's why Eggman waited 6 months to actually drop Sonic into space intead of getting a Zavok illusion to strangle him or something. Eggman wants the last laugh. For Sonic's final moments to be ones where Eggman seems unstoppable. This has a pattern of not working but Eggman's too prideful to just go to Sonic sleeping under a tree and nuke him. He needs to beat him.