Orbot

"Ergo, another repercussion of your hasty actions."

- Orbot


 * This article is about the comical robot from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. You could be looking for Orbinaut.

Orbot, also known as SA-55 or "Ergo", is the robot that appears in Sonic Unleashed as an assistant to Doctor Eggman. He usually points out Eggman's mistakes and often somewhat insults him because of them. He also constantly annoys Eggman with his non-stop talking. Orbot is a very small and round robot with the ability to retract into a travel sized sphere and has glowing blue eyes. His main function seems to be simply for relaying information to Dr. Eggman and making sure the processes of his plans are carried out correctly. His eye of efficiency may be what allows him to constantly criticize Eggman or inadvertently point out his flaws, however. Orbot actually hates Eggman and doesn't skip out on the chance to be critical to the doctor and his feelings when he sees fit, though he does not mean to insult his master, just trying to give him constructive critisim for that is what he was programed to do, though all it does is just makes things worse.

Sonic Unleashed
His main role throughout the game was simply following his function. He relayed to Dr. Eggman the information he needed to know regarding how his plan was being carried out and did the mechanical processes that were needed to continue it. He was first heard in the first fight with the Egg Cauldron (if the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are taken into account), and then first seen in a cutscene located in Mazuri where he ended up laughing at Dr. Eggman for being pegged in the face by a rock from Kwod (a kid from Mazuri in the Xbox 360 version). He continued to act his usual critical and straight-forward way throughout the game up until the very end. In the final cutscene with Eggman he was seen being chased off into the sunrise by the angered Eggman after relaying to him how he had failed miserably and could begin anew.

Sonic Colors
He returned in Sonic Colors along with his counterpart, Cubot. His name has been officially confirmed as "Orbot," and he now sports a new paint job, with the top of his head being red instead of white, and his eyes being light blue instead of pink. Plus he has a new voice box that makes him talk like a loyal butler. And he does not seem to insult Eggman for his mistakes as often as before, but he still likes to insult Eggman by being sarcastic towards him. After the Boss fight against 'Big Boy' he loses an arm of Big Boy that jams Eggman's mind control ray. Orbot is more mature than both Eggman and Cubot. Orbot is the one who had created Cubot's voice but added the wrong chip, he tries to fix up Cubot's voice with two different voice chips but failed, until he slapped Cubot's back in appreciation, Cubot got his voice back resulting Orbot feeling very proud.

Name
Orbot's name was not used in Sonic Unleashed. He was dubbed "Ergo" by fans because he frequently used the word ergo (meaning therefore, in Latin) in his speech, indicating that he was making a conclusion.

Ian Flynn, head writer of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book from Archie Comics, later revealed that the robot's name was SA-55, having seen the name in a script for Sonic Unleashed. (SA-55 is l33t-speak for sass.)

Orbot's real name was eventually revealed by ArchangelUK on Sonic City Blognik, an official Sega blog, for Sonic Colors.

Trivia

 * In Sonic Unleashed, according to an interview with Mike Pollock, he is voiced by Chris Collet who also voices some humans in the cutscenes and also acted as voice director for the game.
 * His name, Orbot, is a portmanteau of the words "orb" and "robot".
 * Orbot is an anagram of "robot".
 * In Vectorman, a Sega Genesis game included in the Sonic Gems Collection, the titular protagonist was a type of robot also referred to as an Orbot.