Gerald Robotnik


 * This article is about Gerald Robotnik. You may be looking for the main villain of the game continuity, Doctor Eggman.

"All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss, and despair!"

- Gerald Robotnik, Sonic Adventure 2

Professor Gerald Robotnik (プロフェッサー・ジェラルド・ロボトニック) is a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series who first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2. He was a human scientist and the grandfather of Maria Robotnik and Dr. Eggman. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest scientific minds of all time, Gerald was responsible for several groundbreaking creations, such as the Space Colony ARK, the Biolizard, Artificial Chaos, the Chaos Drives, and his greatest achievement, Shadow the Hedgehog. Even decades later, his discoveries and research would come to play an important role in the fate of the world.

Over fifty years prior to Shadow the Hedgehog, Gerald was asked to lead Project Shadow, a medical program for researching immortality, which he accepted in hopes of finding a cure for a fatal illness afflicting his dearly loved granddaughter. While Gerald completed the project by creating the "Ultimate Lifeform", Shadow the Hedgehog, though not without drastic measures, Gerald was taken into custody by the military when his work was deemed too dangerous. When hearing Maria had been killed by the military, Gerald slipped into madness and spend his last days plotting revenge at humanity before his execution.

Appearance
Gerald Robotnik bore a distinct resemblance to his grandson. He had broad and elevated shoulders, a round, almost egg-shaped, torso (though not with as large a girth as Eggman), slightly over-proportioned arms and legs, and large hands and feet. He was also bald with a dome-shaped head, a long and large nose, and low-set small ears. Like Eggman, he also had an oversize whitish grey mustache, except that his was more voluminous and smooth. He was also not very tall of stature, only being about half a head taller than Maria

Gerald's general attire consisted of a brown turtleneck sweater and a white lab coat with black buttons. He also wore blue pince-nez glasses which had a distinct ripple-like pattern on them. In Sonic Adventure 2 he was shown wearing white pants, while in Shadow the Hedgehog he is seen wearing brown pants and blue shoes.

In Sonic Adventure 2 and its remake, Gerald's design was slightly different. In these games he was skinnier, had more normal body proportions, his head was slightly pointier, and his mustache was more ragged. His glasses also had no ripple pattern.

Early Life
Nearly nothing is know about Gerald Robotnik's early life, besides that he grew to become the greatest scientific mind of his time. He set out to help the world and dedicated his life's work to the people of earth, using his research to bring happiness and hope to them through the power of science. During his carrier, Gerald accomplished many great things, his most remarkable creation being the Space Colony ARK, the world's first space colony which he designed and came to live on. Other accomplishments he achieved included discovering and researching an interdimensional beast called the Ifrit and how to release it, and being the first to propose the existence of the Fourth Great Civilization which he wrote a book about called The Fourth Great Civilization.

At some point, Gerald got a granddaughter named Maria Robotnik. Gerald came to grow extremely fond of Maria and she became his whole world. He would eventually live and work together with Maria on the Space Colony ARK.

Project Shadow
Over fifty years prior to Shadow the Hedgehog, Gerald got a letter from the by then-President of the United Federation who requested his help with a medical project named "Project Shadow" which was meant to research immortality and create an "immortality formula." Initially, Gerald stubbornly refused this request, believing they were crossing the limits of man and that this research could be used to make weapons. However, Gerald changed his mind because of Maria, who was suffering from Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, an incurable and fatal disease. Realizing that the immortality research could be used to develop a cure for Maria's illness, Gerald accepted the President's request in the end and agreed to led the project on the Space Colony ARK.

In the first stages of Project Shadow, Gerald researched the Chaos Emeralds which resulted in the Chaos Drives, which were a test to apply the Emeralds' infinite energy to living beings. With the Chaos Drives, Gerald and his colleges moved to the next phase which was to create an immortal lifeform dubbed "The Ultimate Lifeform" with the first goal being to create a prototype.

During the development of the ultimate lifeform, Gerald needed help to create such a creature which led him to making contact with Black Doom, the alien leader of the Black Arms race, during the fifty-year return of the Black Comet, and they made a deal. Gerald promised to deliver the seven Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom in fifty years and in turn, Black Doom would help Gerald with his work, even providing his blood to Gerald as DNA for the project. However, Gerald eventually discovered that the Black Arms planned to use the Chaos Emeralds to destroy earth and enslave the human population. Realizing he had made a terrible mistake, Gerald secretly plotted against Black Doom and developed the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet and the Black Arms with it when they returned.

Eventually, Gerald and his colleges managed to create the "Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform," dubbed the Biolizard. While the Biolizard lived up to many of Gerald and the others' standards as it grew, the creature proved too flawed. In addition to a bestial nature, weak limbs and reliance on machinery for survival, Gerald noticed the Biolizard was growing too fast and requested the control part on its vital organs was reinforced. Eventually, the Biolizard became unruly and hard to control, causing many problem's onboard the ARK.

Despite the shortcomings of the Biolizard, Gerald and his colleges could to move onto the main project. Using the DNA of Black Doom, Gerald began creating a new version of the Biolizard, but with a more desirable physique, which was named "Shadow the Hedgehog." Still unwilling to make Shadow a weapon however, Gerald gave him a heart and personality similar to Maria's, hoping that he would not breed conflict. Additionally, Gerald planned for Shadow to the one to stop the Black Arms when the time came as he would the only one capable of doing it.

While conducting Project Shadow, Gerald presumably also developed the weapon-like Artificial Chaos, supposedly under orders from the government or military.

The Gizoid
During Project Shadow, Gerald discovered an ancient robot called the Gizoid from a warehouse. Believing it was made by an ancient people, Gerald experimented on it with Chaos Emeralds and accidently activated it. By researching papers related to the Gizoid and the Emeralds, and later an ancient stone tablet which he found, Gerald theorized this robot was what caused the destruction of the Fourth Great Civilization. His further research also revealed the Gizoid could mimic combat abilities and weaponry, and that it possessed vast amount of data melee combat and weapons of its age, data that crashed Gerald's most advanced computers. Theorizing the Gizoid's full potential should it be fully restored, Gerald realized he had uncovered a horrible weapon.

As Gerald continued to research the Gizoid, he discovered on the stone tablet that the Gizoid would swear loyalty to those with great power by establishing a "Link." To keep the Gizoid under his control and from being used for evil, Gerald successfully made a Link with it by demonstrating his model weapon collection to it. However, in fear of someone with evil intentions forming a Link with the Gizoid, Gerald researched how to re-establish a Link with the Gizoid.

Government and Shadow
When Shadow neared his completion, Gerald learned the government had become uneasy about Project Shadow and they considered cutting funding and shut it down. Unwilling to let Maria die, Gerald made a big risk and offered the Gizoid as a bribe to the government to keep Project Shadow going. While Gerald ordered the Gizoid not to absorb dangerous technologies, he soon learned that other researchers were trying to form a new Link with the Gizoid through power. Eventually, Gerald's fears was confirmed when the Gizoid went on a rampaged that destroyed most of the ARK before it was subdued. Deeming the Gizoid too much of a liability which could destroy the world, Gerald tried to destroy the Gizoid's core, but failed due to its advanced technology, and instead resorted to reprogram it with free-will and emotions, giving it a "soul" in the image of Shadow's so that it would not become a weapon either.

Eventually, Gerald's research bore fruit when Shadow was finally created, with both him and Black Doom overseeing Shadow's awakening. Shadow proved to be everything Gerald had hoped for, possessing both immortality, high intelligence, own identity, and independence. Learning however that the government planned to cease his research due to Shadow having been deemed too dangerous and a threat to mankind, Gerald prepared a contingency video for Shadow to see, explaining his intention for Shadow to make up for his past mistake by stopping the Black Comet in fifty years.

Imprisonment
Gerald's suspicions was later confirmed when GUN attacked the Space Colony ARK some time after the completion of Project Shadow to eliminate everything and everyone relate to the project and shut the ARK down. While the attack was being executed, however, Gerald put his finishing touches on Shadow. When GUN's Special Forces then rushed into the ARK's research institute, Gerald entrusted Shadow to Maria and told her to escape in some escape pods with him before running in the opposite direction to draw unwanted attention away from the two. He later watched one of the escape pods being ejected from the ARK.

Gerald was eventually captured by GUN under the guise of disappearing under mysterious circumstances and imprisoned on Prison Island. Meanwhile, when it was released to the public that the ARK was shut down due to an ancient, Gerald was blamed for this. When Gerald saw Maria was among the list of casualties when the ARK was shut down, he was grief-stricken. Unable to cope with his loss, Gerald began to lose control of his thoughts as he could only think of avenging Maria and ending everything, something which scared him. During this period, Gerald got a hold of the Gizoid again and use this opportunity while he was still in control of his mind to make Maria's dying words the keywords that would activate the Gizoid's free-willed emotions-based AI.

In the end, Gerald lost his grip on reality and went insane. Devoted to revenge at humanity, Gerald created a program that would cause the Space Colony ARK to fall to earth and destroy the planet once the seven Chaos Emeralds was placed into the Eclipse Cannon, and set as well the Biolizard up to ensure this. At some point (either before or after Shadow's encapsulation), Gerald got a hold of Shadow and brainwashed him, altering his memories so that he would carry out his wish for revenge. When he was to be executed, Gerald's last action was leaving behind a record explaining his revenge on the ungrateful earth before he was killed in his cell.

Personality
Before his descend, Gerald was a good man and a profound humanitarian, the very much opposite of his psychotic grandson Eggman. He was devoted to using his great intellect to help mankind and bring people happiness and hope, and believed that this was the reason for his existence.

Gerald was a man of strong ethical standards. He refused to use his genius for the wrong reasons, initially dismissing to lead Project Shadow because he believed it was crossing the limits of man to obtain immortality, and he had no interest in making or giving weapons for war. However, he was not above breaking his own standards for certain reasons, like being forced to by the higher-ups or when he thought it was for the greater good such as participating in Project Shadow or handing over the dangerous Emerl to find a cure for her dying granddaughter. Even when in such situations however, Gerald would go out of his way to make sure the products of his research would have the capability for good as well, like when he gave both Shadow and Emerl feelings so they could choose not to fight and that he planned to share Shadow with the world to help mankind. He also held the strong belief that power born from the desire to protect rather than the desire to conquer would make all conflicts cease to exist.

When Maria was killed, Gerald went through a profound change as he was consumed by grief and went insane. He eventually became a psychopath, developing a deep hatred for humanity as he blamed all for Maria's death and became obsessed with getting revenge at everyone by committing global genocide. Even in his last moments, all Gerald had to express was his contempt at humanity.

Powers and Abilities
Gerald was an extremely knowledgeable scientist, possessing a well above genius-leveled gifted intellect, and is regarded as both one of the most brilliant minds of all time and the most intelligent-gifted researcher of all time, only matched by his grandson Eggman.

Gerald possessed many and various talents in the fields of science. He was the one who designed the world's first bernal sphere space colony, the Space Colony ARK, and developed incredible devices and machinery such as the ultimate weapon known as the Eclipse Cannon, the Chaos Drives which could contain the Chaos Emeralds' mystical energies, and the Artificial Chaos which were composed of countless nanobots. He was also skilled in the fields of genetics as he was able to create living creatures with different powers such as the Biolizard and Shadow the Hedgehog (the latter of which used alien DNA). Additionally, he was also a skilled archeologist as demonstrated in his research of the Gizoid and the Fourth Great Civilization where he managed to uncover many of their secrets from ancient stone tablets.

Maria Robotnik
Maria Robotnik was Gerald's granddaughter and undoubtedly the most important person in his life. Gerald was extremely fond of Maria and loved her dearly to the point where she meant everything to him and that it was because of her that he found joy in an otherwise harsh world. After Maria had been diagnosed with Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, Gerald's main priority above all else was to find a way to save her life, and nearly all his late research was all dedicated to finding a cure. Because of Maria, Gerald was willing to break his own ethical standards and take enormous risks in search of a cure for her, such as agreeing to work on Project Shadow to find a cure despite finding the research unethical, handing over Emerl to the government to buy more time to make Maria's cure despite Emerl posing an imminent danger, and contacting Black Doom for help only to discover he helped Black Doom with his doomsday plans.

When the ARK was shut down because of his research, Gerald's only concerns was that Maria was safe. When he later learned that Maria had been killed, Gerald lost all reason to live and he felt responsible for her demise, which eventually caused him to go mad with grief. Gerald would afterwards devote the remainder of his life to avenging Maria by wiping out humanity who he blamed for his loss.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Shadow the Hedgehog is Gerald's greatest achievement of his scientific carrier, an immortal, intelligent being. Gerald was the one who created Shadow, but while the government wanted to use Shadow to produce an "immortality formula," Gerald's plans for Shadow was that he could provide a way to develop a cure for the fatal sickness afflicting his granddaughter, Maria. However, Gerald wished not for Shadow to become the goverment's mindless weapon and gave him a "soul" similar to Maria's so he could choose not to fight and even help cease conflict. While Shadow was created to help him save Maria, Gerald cared a great deal about Shadow as a individual, as he considered him his own son, and had as well great trust in him as entrusted him to correct his past mistakes by defeating the Black Arms. When Gerald later went mad with grief over losing Maria, however, Gerald used Shadow as his tool to get revenge at humanity, going as far as to brainwash him and alter Shadow's own dear memories about Maria to ensure he would carry out his revenge.

The Space Colony ARK
The former home of Gerald, Maria, the would-be commander of G.U.N., and various researchers and soldiers, the ARK was a gigantic space colony where great research was performed. The entire place also worked as a life support system for Maria. While Gerald focused on making inventions for the good of mankind (such as the Heal Unit), little known devices of mass destruction were being made (the Ultimate Life form and the Eclipse Cannon), mostly under the influence of and preparing against Black Doom. Others who lived aboard the ARK were Shadow (who protected the ARK from danger until it was shut down), the Biolizard and Emerl (until he was transported to G.U.N.'s fortress). When Shadow failed to protect the ARK from an inside attack, the ARK was shut down. Many died (including Maria) and Gerald himself went insane. The ARK was later rediscovered by Dr. Eggman, who used it as a temporary base.

Eclipse Cannon
The Eclipse Cannon is an extremely powerful weapon that is located inside the "nose" of the Space Colony ARK (the ARK resembles Gerald's face). It is powered by Chaos Emeralds, and can destroy planets or even pierce stars with all seven. Gerald built it to destroy the Black Arms when they arrived near Earth, but after he went insane, he reprogrammed it to send the ARK flying into the Earth the next time it was activated with all seven Emeralds. Eventually, it was used for its original purpose.

Artificial Chaos
Artificial Chaos are Gerald's first noteworthy creations. They resemble Chaos from Sonic Adventure and are most likely modeled after him as Maria states that Gerald created them based on "a god of an ancient culture". The Artificial Chaos are made up of a core (the head, shaped like that of Chaos 0) and trillions of nanobots that both protect the core and provide the body for it. While the Artificial Chaos seen in Shadow the Hedgehog had red, half-closed eyes and red marking on their heads, the ones in Sonic Adventure 2 have larger green eyes and an emblem on their foreheads.

When first created they began acting out and attacking the ARK (according to Gerald in  Shadow the Hedgehog' s Expert Mode, they had their electrode conductors reversed), but G.U.N. (and possibly Shadow), stopped them. They were later fixed, and then adopted by the government to protect the ARK. In Shadow the Hedgehog, when the Black Arms invade the ARK, Doom's Eye calls the Artificial Chaos "the legacy of Gerald" and then announced that they belonged to the Black Arms now, suggesting that the aliens somehow took control of them.

Biolizard
Biolizard was the Prototype of the Ultimate Life. It was a giant lizard hooked up to a life support system. The Biolizard was deemed a failure as it went out of control and had to be sealed up. After Gerald went insane, he programmed the Biolizard to stop anyone from hindering the ARK crashing into the Earth, but it was stopped.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Perhaps Gerald's most brilliant achievement, this was the finished result of Project Shadow, the immortal Ultimate Life form who would never age. Shadow was created after Gerald had gone into a pact with the alien leader Black Doom, using his alien blood to create Shadow with a promise that Shadow would help Black Doom retrieve the Chaos Emeralds 50 years later. However, Project: Shadow was cancelled a week after Shadow was created, and Shadow was eventually captured and hidden away by G.U.N.

Heal Units
Portable box-like devices that send out energy that replenish health and are still used to this day by G.U.N.. The Heal Unit may have inspired the creation of the Heal Cannon, a Bazooka-like weapon that fires shots with the same healing capabilities. Maria Robotnik feels it is Gerald's greatest creation.

Bomb Units
The Bomb units produce an unlimited supply of bombs. These are used in the game Shadow the Hedgehog to break walls and find secret passage ways. Their design is very similar to the Heal Units design.

Archie Comics
Gerald Robotnik also appears in Archie Comics as the maternal grandfather of Dr. Robotnik.

Sonic X
Sonic X, with some differences, retold the story of Gerald Robotnik. He played a similar role to his Sonic Adventure 2 counterpart, instigating the crash sequence of the ARK. However, his diary entry and ultimately, his motivations, were different, where he was escorted to Union Army Prison and wondering who could possibly believe that someone arrested him. He also implies in his rants in his diary that he was the creator of the "pseudo-perpetual mobile Chaos Drives." He also wonders if his arrest had anything to do with a conspiracy by G.U.N. to take over the Eclipse Cannon and Artificial Chaos, and mentions that Project Shadow is the only thing in his mind, and that he won't stand for such immorality. The diary omits any references to Maria's death or the fact that her death drove him insane. It also contained two cases of swearing in the diary ("Oh, hell" when he discovers that he was going to be locked up in the Union Army Prison and "for christ's sake" when expressing his distaste at being locked up and citing his being the father of the pseudo-perpetual mobile Chaos Drives), a rarity at the time.

Trivia

 * In the official game guide for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) they wrote Gerald's name as "Gerard"