Death Egg

The Death Egg (デスエッグ) is a massive orbital fortress, constructed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. A true study in evil mega-engineering, the spherical space station resembles the face of Dr. Robotnik himself, with concave eye-sockets and a mustache rendered in kilometers of vacuum-hardened plasma-steel. Hosting some of the Doctor's most deadly creations of all time, this vast stronghold serves as the scientist's final base in the early Sega Genesis-era games.

Game Appearances
The whole plot of Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles is driven by Sonic and Tails' efforts to destroy the original version of this space station and preventing the mad scientist from using the Chaos Emeralds to power it. Robotnik's greatest work is, however, robust stuff - over the course of those three games, the Death Egg survives a fall from space and a failed launch, yet still makes it back into orbit eventually.

Although the original battle station is destroyed during Sonic &amp; Knuckles' Death Egg Zone, Dr. Robotnik has created new iterations of the facility in later games; Sonic Battle being the most recent.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)
Previous level — Sonic 2 (Mega Drive) — Next game: Sonic 3

The first iteration of the Death Egg comes in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as the eleventh and final level of the game. After Wing Fortress Zone's destruction, and hitching a ride to space aboard Robotnik's fleeing rocket, Sonic makes his way inside the battle station - to be greeted immediately by the two final bosses in the game: Silver Sonic and a brief showdown with Robotnik. There are no rings in the entire zone.

Silver Sonic
Silver Sonic is perhaps the Sonic robot which bears most resemblance to our spiny hero - apart from being a little taller, and steel. Since there are no rings, just one slip-up is deadly. Silver Sonic has many different attacks that are mostly similar to Sonic's, such as the turbo-dash and spin-jump. However, the most challenging move of Silver Sonic's is his jump-and-spike-launch-attack. The best way of avoiding this is to kill the robot before he gets a chance to use it; spin dashing Silver Sonic the moment his jet-boots touch the decking. Sonic can hit him 4 times in one bout if one times it right. Then accrue another 4 hits (total of 8) to the robot's head to defeat him.

Once Silver Sonic is vanquished, Sonic enters a quick chase scene with Dr. Robotnik, before he jumps into the final boss robot.

Final boss
This mecha towers over twelve feet tall (about four times Sonic's height), bristling with antennae and sensor dishes. Its torso is spherical, with red and yellow paintwork mimicking the Doctor’s own jumpsuit. Immense robotic limbs branch from the central mass, secondary motors roaring as the arms swing and titanic feet ram down one in front of the other. A pink dome of a head bulges out from the top of the central sphere; vast metallic mustache twitching back and forth beneath its pointed nose.

It's the final battle. With no rings at all, one hit will be instant death. Robotnik's attacks include launching his arms like rockets, trying to stomp on Sonic, and dropping right on his head with his targeted slam-down. Also, don't get caught behind the robot - Dr. Robotnik launches a pair of grenades which almost guarantee death. Just be patient, and attack the head or underside only when the mecha bows its feet after landing from one of its jet-pack flights. As you attack the robot, be careful not to accidentally hit the spikes on his arms or you're done for. The robot, despite the bombs, is actually vulnerable at the back. The best strategy for dealing with this boss is to move right to the edge of the screen when Robotnik jumps into the walker's cockpit. When the robot is in position, you can get two free hits this way, as it moves, aim for it's backside and be careful of the jetpack. This tactic makes this boss much easier.

After 12 hits the boss is defeated. If the player defeats this boss, the Death Egg explodes, and Sonic just about survives by hurling himself out of an airlock into space. Looking like the end for Sonic as he descends through the Earth's stratosphere, Tails appears and catches Sonic on the Tornado, thus ending the game, but if the player has all 7 Emeralds, Tails doesn't catch Sonic, instead Sonic flies next to the Tornado in his Super Form.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the Death Egg, slowly floating above the clouds, begins a gradual decent towards Earth, eventually crashing into the floating Angel Island, forcing it into the ocean. In an attempt to repair the Death Egg, Robotnik tricks local guardian of the Master Emerald, Knuckles, into collecting the Chaos Emeralds (currently in the possession of Sonic and Tails) for him, to use them to power the ship. Robotnik and Knuckles then team up to defeat Sonic, but he's just too fast for them. Robotnik then attempts to re-launch the Death Egg and take over the world again, but Sonic sends it plummeting back to the island. Rocket engines were seen attached to the Death Egg during its launch, which apparently helped it with its launch. These engines were presumably jettisoned when it reached a high enough altitude.

Sonic & Knuckles
The Death Egg is sent crashing into the top of the Lava Reef Zone in the events of Sonic & Knuckles (or in the second half of Sonic 3 & Knuckles for those playing it locked on). In a last ditch-effort to fix the Death Egg, Robotnik hatches a scheme to steal the Master Emerald from Knuckles. He does so, and Knuckles sees Sonic and Tails as the bad guys and the scientist as the good guy, but realizes that Sonic and Tails are the real good guys once Eggman steals the Master Emerald right from Knuckles. The three of them set off to catch Robotnik, and Sonic and Tails leap onto the now-rising Death Egg from a tall pillar in the Sky Sanctuary. Sonic battles his way through a horrendous zone, full of rocket launchers, electrical hazards, and some very mean badniks. Instead of a single mini-boss, as in the rest of the game, Sonic has to face two. Firstly Red Eye, then after act two, the Death Ball, controlled by the doctor himself, who stands out of harms way, controlling his latest contraption with a control board of sorts. after this, Robotnik flees, leading Sonic into Act 3.

Great Eggman Robo
Sonic then faces off against a giant mech named Great Eggman Robo. This giant robot looks like an EggRobo for the most part, except for its staggering size; its eye is as big as Sonic! The Robo attempts to squish Sonic with its 3-fingered hands, of which each finger can be destroyed with 3 hits. After destroying the robot's hands, the mech stomps after Sonic, shooting flames from its nose. A quick bop on its nose tempts Robotnik to open the robot's large chest, where the Master Emerald can be seen. This huge compartment also contains a weapon powered by the emerald; a sort of magnifying glass, which uses the emeralds power to shoot a laser beam at Sonic. Although dangerous, this cannon is the only weak point on the entire robot. Sonic destroys it, and the gargantuan robot falls for good. The scientist flees the scene in his Eggmobile with the Master Emerald, but is quickly stopped by a few hits from Sonic.

Destruction of the Death Egg (Doomsday Zone)
If, over the course of the game, Sonic obtains all the Chaos Emeralds, he then transforms into Super Sonic and has the final showdown with Robotnik in outer space, against a blue ship known as the Egg Missile. Super Sonic destroys the mech by making it hit itself with its own missiles while dodging the hazardous asteroids that are scattered through the battle. Sonic continues to chase the doctor through space, who is now in the Egg Bomber, an Egg Robo similar to the Giant Mech from Sonic 2. After it's destroyed, Sonic pulls the Master Emerald back to the planet, drops it safely on Angel Island, and restores peace and harmony. The Death Egg was destroyed in the final fight against Robotnik. But he will return again with the Death Egg in a few more games.

List of enemies

 * Spike Bonker
 * Chain Spike

Sonic the Fighters
Main Article: Death Egg II

Sonic the Fighters features the appearance of the Death Egg II. Sonic and friends have a tournament to see who gets to fly up to it and destroy it. The player's character of choice flies up and has a fight with Metal Sonic, followed by Robotnik. After defeating the scientist, the Death Egg II explodes, and the game ends. It seems to have an EggRobo face rather than a Robotnik face.

The stages Death Egg's Eye and Death Egg's Hangar both take place aboard the Death Egg.

Sonic Battle
In Sonic Battle, another Death Egg makes a brief appearance at the end, although it is just a small arena for the game's final bosses, Doctor Robotnik himself and then a berserk Emerl. The arena is completely open, and requires strong attacks to compensate for the lack of shelter. This is most likely its strongest incarnation as it is shown to have the ability to destroy stars using its "Final Egg Blaster". Strangely, it was never shown to have been destroyed.

Sonic Drift 2
Previous track — Sonic Drift 2 — End game >> The Death Egg serves as the final racecourse in Sonic Drift 2 for the Sega Game Gear. This stage is the sixth track of the Blue Grand Prix (Blue being the hardest of the three available tournaments), coming after Milky Way, and also serves as the venue for the Final GP, a two-car battle around just this one course. As with most other races in the 2nd Chaos Grand Prix, you have to complete three laps of the track to finish, and the fastest racer gets a Chaos Emerald.

The Death Egg racetrack appears to be constructed on the outside of Robotnik's battle station, if the starry sky is any indication. Mirrored surfaces line the track, reflecting the starlight back off the metallic ground, and in the distance, massive steel facilities and megawatt spotlights crowd the artificial horizon.

From a practical racing standpoint, Death Egg is a cornering nightmare, with straight sections of track few and far between. On the plus side, the player can't fall off, but the sparking electric pylons scattered around the sides of the course will zap the rings right out of him/her if slammed into.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, there is a track called Egg Hangar that is based on the Death Egg. Ristar also makes a cameo appearance as seen on the picture on the left.

Sonic Generations
Death Egg returns in Sonic Generations and it can be seen in the background of Sky Sanctuary. Like in original zone of Sonic & Knuckles, EggRobos come out inside of it at beginning of classic Sonic's act. Death Egg can also be seen before Death Egg Robot boss fight, which takes place in timeline of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Death Egg has slightly different appearance. The most notable change is for example wide smile on its face.

Death Egg Robot
''For the boss stage of the same name, please go to: Death Egg (Sonic Generations).  This boss returns for the 360 and PS3 versions of Sonic Generations'' as the boss of the Classic Era. Only Classic Sonic is playable in the boss fight. The battle is like the original battle from Sonic 2, as the Death Egg Robot battle starts out with it jumping and bending over, during which time, Classic Sonic can attack it. After doing so, the battle changes up, as Sonic and the robot are transported to an area with floating platforms, rings, and buttons. To win the battle, Classic Sonic must set off a bomb by pressing a button and making the robot's arm hit it as it goes off. Then Classic Sonic rolls up the arm, and hits the head of the robot.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
The Death Egg may return in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II. Leaked gameplay screens show Little Planet in the background of some levels and a structure resembling the Death Egg appears to be being built around it.

http://segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/deathegg.jpg

Sonic SatAM
A variant of the Death Egg called "Sky Spy" appeared in the episode "Harmonic Sonic." It was used to spy on the Freedom Fighters and it was later destroyed by Sonic the Hedgehog when he took out the sensor tube and threw it at the ground which caused the Sky Spy to plummet towards the Great Forest. It was stopped however, thanks to a giant magnet made by Rotor.

Other Space Stations
Although they don't take the name "Death Egg", several of Robotnik's other orbital facilities are clearly designed along the same lines as the original station. See the main articles for more details on:
 * Silver Castle Zone, which looks a lot like the Death Egg when falling in the ending, is the final zone in Sonic Blast.
 * Dead Line, in Sonic Rush.
 * Egg Utopia, from Sonic Advance 2.

Space Colony ARK
While Doctor Eggman may have been taking inspiration from his initial space station in designing the cosmic fortresses mentioned above, it seems that even the first Death Egg wasn't entirely his own idea. In Sonic Adventure 2 Space Colony ARK, an orbital research facility built over 50 years ago by Ivo's grandfather is introduced. The designer was Professor Gerald Robotnik. The ARK is fairly similar to the Death Egg(s), with the exception that the actual structure is a hemisphere as opposed to the Death Egg's full sphere. On the 'face' of the ARK lies a super-weapon named the Eclipse Cannon, which, when viewed from below, makes the space station resemble Professor Robotnik's face in the same manner as the Death Egg resembles his grandson.

Archie Comics
In the Archie Comics, the Death Egg has a three-issue story, fitting titled the "Death Egg Saga".

The Death Egg was a massive airborne weapon created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik in 3235. Its difference from the games in shape is that the Death Egg is actually is shaped more like an egg than a sphere. While the games were at best vague about what exactly it was the space station was supposed to do, the Archie storyline specified it as a mass-roboticizer, capable of converting all life on Mobius. Although it successfully made it airborne, the Death Egg met with destruction when Tails set it to self-destruct while Robotnik was distracted battling Sonic.

The Death Egg's development began some time in mid-3235. Production of the super weapon fell behind schedule when Robotropolis was struck by a massive earthquake. Shortly afterwards however Robotnik ensured that his SWATbot work force picked up the pace and completed the Death Egg on schedule. Following the Mecha Sonic fiasco, the Death Egg was ready to ascend into the sky. Dr. Robotnik left his nephew Snively in charge of the city's reconstruction efforts (the city was almost completely destroyed when Mecha Sonic and Mecha Knuckles smashed into it causing a mini nuclear blast) while he personally oversaw the Death Egg's launch.

Later, when Robotnik Prime was destroyed, Dr. Eggman went into hiding for the past many issues of the comic book series, but it was revealed that he was working on the latest Death Egg in issue 224. It was all part of his plan to defeat Sonic.

Fleetway Comics
The Death Egg appears in the UK Sonic the Comic, which remained mostly true to the game portrayal, apart from specifying the Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 space-stations as separate entities (a necessary plot device, as the total destruction of the Sonic 2 iteration had been shown in some detail within the comics). Also, the Death Egg's impact did not cause the Floating Island to splashdown into the sea.

History
The station's back-story is the same as that which appears in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the events of which occurred some time before the first issue of the series. The events of the game are alluded to in Sonic the Comic #27, "Part 2: A Tale of Tails". In particular, the Silver Sonic and Robotnik mech are known to have existed on the satellite. After Sonic defeated Robotnik in this game, the space station was abandoned.

Some time later, the Death Egg's orbit began to degrade and the Kintobor Computer projected that it would crash in the Emerald Hill Zone. Sonic and Tails returned to the space station, which was in a state of great disrepair. They also encountered a heavily damaged (but still functional) Silver Sonic, which Sonic destroyed by kicking off its head. Sonic was able to pilot the Death Egg to crash in the ocean, and the two escaped in an escape pod.

Eventually, Robotnik constructed a new space station, called the Death Egg II, but it fell out of orbit on its first flight (while Robotnik was still aboard) and landed in the Ice Cap Zone on the Floating Island. The crash site was discovered by Knuckles the Echidna, whom Robotnik tricked into believing that he was a humble scientist and that Sonic was the true threat. Knuckles allowed Robotnik to set up his Launch Base Zone on the Floating Island, but after discovering Robotnik's true nature he sought to destroy the base, the Death Egg, and everything else Robotnik had brought to the island.

Nevertheless, Robotnik continued to rebuild the Death Egg, even transporting a new thruster from his bases on Mobius. This new version of the Death Egg was also able to hover at relatively low altitudes over Mobius, and was equipped with Death Rays in its eyes.

When the repairs were complete, Robotnik sent Metallix to steal the Master Emerald for him to use as a power source. Although Metallix was destroyed by Super Sonic, it nevertheless succeeded in delivering the Master Emerald, allowing the launch to proceed. Robotnik planned to use the ultimate weapon to destroy the Emerald Hill Zone. In an attempt to stop him and recover the Master Emerald, Sonic infiltrated the Death Egg, destroying an army of EggRobos and smashing in through a window. Meanwhile, Knuckles activated the Floating Island's ancient control systems, using its limited remaining Chaos Energy to pilot the Floating Island towards the Death Egg, and then fire a succession of powerful energy blasts into the space station's hull. These attacks crippled the station, and gave Sonic the distraction he needed to recover the Emerald, thereby also depriving the Death Egg of its power source. The Death Egg, utterly finished, plummeted back down to the surface of Mobius, although Robotnik and his armies were able to escape.

Trivia

 * The Death Egg is an extremely obvious reference to the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's giant planet-destroying battle station from the Star Wars movies (specifically A New Hope and Return of the Jedi). Unlike the Death Egg, the much larger and better-equipped Death Stars had colossal amounts of weaponry, including a single super-laser capable of destroying an entire planet.
 * In Sonic 2 through Sonic 3, the Death Egg's real purpose was never actually revealed until Sonic and Knuckles.
 * When Knuckles attacked Sonic in the Lava Reef Zone, the next act shows Sonic on a platform with the Death Egg in the background where its eyes light up and the whole place becomes covered in a white flash. When everything becomes visible again the whole Volcano is shown to be mildly active again, with pieces of the Zone becoming fragile and floating among the Lava and effectively making the Boss fight with Robotnik more difficult. This suggests the Death Egg is a World Devastator and may have been used to strike fear of rebelling against Robotnik. This would seem to parody the Death Star, which was made for the same purpose of striking fear in the Galaxy.
 * In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, through the debug menu, Knuckles can enter Death Egg Zone, but he isn't able to complete the first act on account of his inability to jump very high, and the sub-boss is just right out of his jumping reach.
 * In the boss battle of the Lava Reef Zone, and just in the Hidden Palace Zone, you can see the Death Egg in the background. It was also seen after the boss battle at Launch Base Zone.
 * In Sonic X, an object called the Egg Moon resembles the Death Egg, except it's only half mechanical and it doesn't have Doctor Eggman's face.
 * In Sonic OVA the Egg Generator looks kind of like the Death Egg.
 * In Sonic Battle, the new Death Egg has been equipped with a Final Egg Blaster, which was used to destroy stars, but when Emerl uses it, he was going to use the laser to destroy the planet. This further shows how the Death Egg is based off of Star Wars' Death Star, which had a laser that could destroy a planet.
 * Though the Death Egg is never seen in Sonic 2 from the outside, you can asume it has the same design as the one in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. In Sonic Generation the Death Egg has the design from Sonic 3 & Knuckles but has the boss from Sonic 2, making the Death Egg most likley the one from Sonic 2.
 * Assuming the Death Egg in Sonic Generations is the same as in Sonic 2 (due to the boss) you can see Classic Sonic run through a room in the cutscene before fighting the Death Egg Robot, most likley this is where Silver Sonic is supose to be but Sonic leaves the room before he had a chance to appear yet.