#boom! free compelling character dynamics and conflicts!

[lgbtlunaverse]

Some absolutely masterful wordlbuilding and storytelling synergy on Ryoko Kui's part is that canonically the winged lion specifically likes to eat desires that are both very complex as well as intense. His ideal prey is someone with deep multilayered goals that they are extremely dedicated to.

You know, traits that just also happen to make someone a really good character.

The things that make Laios and Marcille perfect characters to center a story around are also the things that make them prime targets for the main antagonist! They'e automatically plot-relevant merely by being interesting. And the same logic goes for Thistle and Mitrhun, them having been Dungeon Lords requires them to have novel intricate motivations, even if we only ever get to see echoes of them in Mithrun, with his having been taken away.

It makes sense logical sense for what the winged lion is. Of course a being that eats desires would find rare, deep, and itensely wanted desires more appetizing! But the real mastery is in the fact that it automatically lends itself to good storytelling.

Which is really the primary goal of good worldbuilding. Not how cool it is on its own, or how much internal logic it has, but how well it fascillitates telling a compelling story.

[smuthuttpodcast]

Name/Handle/Alias

rlogarbagech1

About how long would you say you’ve been rooting for Reylo?

I tend to dive into things intensively, so while I knew there was an intriguing dynamic to Rey and Kylo's TFA interaction and I enjoyed what was teased in TLJ when it came out, I think it was a random wading into Reylo fanfic circa Aug 2019 that really got me into the fandom in a deep way. (Throwback to me thinking: eh maybe I'll give Reylo oneshots a try? And BOOM four months later I'm in a daze wondering how I've read like 80 fics, ended up in a writing discord - shoutout to The Writing Den! - and have five stories cooking in my head at one time.)

I like that the fandom takes what was on film in TLJ and expands the contours of that universe, stretching it into all sorts of configurations that somehow still made sense thematically for what Rey and Ben were going through. Whether that's in the context of warring lawyers (eversoreylo), Kyril Ren and Irena (voicedimplosives), archaeology Rey and Ben (disasterisms), a Harry met Sally AU (slipgoingunder), or Canadian politics (saint_heretical)... the creativity of the fandom and how it grapples with SW themes through all these different lenses of interpretation blows my mind. IMO it shows how SW's story themes can be individually interpreted, yet utterly universal.

What did you think of the way Rise of Skywalker handled Rey and Kylo’s relationship?

It felt like a backstep/retcon to what had happened in TLJ. I think CT and JJ wanted to make certain narrative choices but couldn't fully commit to them for whatever reasons, and the story suffered overall in a big way 'cus of that.

TRoS clearly went into the enemies -> lovers arc but leaned way too far into 'enemies', making the arc to 'lovers' within 2.5 hours way very weirdly paced, so it didn't feel like it was earned. The reaction of the audiences I was in for both screenings validated that. At the first screening, there was awkward laughter because it felt so left-field in the context of the film. In the second screening, the GA people I was watching it with felt 'this is really unnecessary' which I can understand because of the lack of buildup in TRoS to that moment.

Reylo in TLJ was at its best because there was time for it to breathe. I rewatch the force skype scenes often and the complete silence, the subtle acting, and the framing of those scenes, is so unusual and bold for a blockbuster at that level. There was also so much gorgeous subtext in what was going on, you could read into it what you liked, but there was definitely an attraction or a pull there for both characters.

You could tell that Adam and Daisy were delivering equally layered acting work in 9, but it was extremely rushed and weirdly edited. The ensemble could also have been a greek chorus for the audience/a bellwether for how we should be feeling towards Rey and Kylo in 9 but they didn't really utilise them that way and Palpatine ended up overshadowing the entire story as the big bad. The more interesting choice obviously was Kylo as the conflicted big bad and a redemption arc, but maybe Disney just isn't ok with that or was pushing for a different direction.

Overall, 9 made me wish we had more time to live in the push-pull dynamic between these two characters and the longing they have for each other despite all the odds, but luckily we have fanfic and art for that, which is why it's so great. Just a shame the film couldn't line those pieces up well enough for a satisfying landing.

Do you think the film understood why you, and other people, felt like Rey and Kylo had something together? Did it get their chemistry?

I'm sure they understood it on some surface level but CT was the wrong person to write that story imo. And JJ on some level disliked RJ's choices so he was trying to wind it back to the TFA dynamic which was more enemies-enemies with a subtext of them being compelled by each other, but not necessarily with a romantic resolution.

I think it's testament to the intelligence of the fandom that we saw the train tracks being laid in ep8 for a more interesting ending, just that whatever story-wrestling/behind the scenes drama/ego was going on at DLF meant nobody was able to actually able to execute that story with the justice it deserved. Locking out the story group also seems like a huge mistake and would've avoided a lot of the larger plot holes they seem to have ended up with, the dissatisfying Reylo arc in ep9 being just one symptom of it. 

What about the handling of Kylo’s redemption? Was it something you had to think through in your stories? 

How I envision Kylo/Ben's redemption and Rey's response to it is summarised by a lot of the fic that's already out there! And in the fanfic thread I've pinned on my Twitter. e.g. Starstuff by voicedimplosives, Morning by disasterisms, Astrometric Binaries by pontmercy44, Tactical Surrender by Trebia... there are a lot of ways it could have gone. A recent comic (08 Jan?) by Miss Bliss is also a great example and she distilled it down to 15 simple panels, not to say she simplified the ethics of the redemption arc of course.

The biggest effect that TRoS had on me as an aspiring creator/writer is because the film DIDN'T give me the redemption arc, I'm interested to explore how that looks like in fanfic. So maybe that will become a theme in my writing. Let's see!

I'm still laughing about how they yeeted Ben into the pit though. Can't believe those leaks were actually true. 

What did you think of where Rey landed at the end? There had been a lot of excitement around Star Wars having a female protagonist. Do you think she lived up to the promise of her character?

A lot of the discourse has already covered this but my take is: in TLJ Rey was the centre of the story, all of her actions were driving the plot and it was a female-centric story about incredible themes like self-discovery, belonging, loyalty, 'lightness', 'darkness', attraction, sexuality. And TLJ was very nuanced in presenting how Rey's role shaped the overall story, the symbolism in the film (all of which had meaning or at least tried to), and her clear growth through it.

With TRoS it felt like her needs took a backseat and were kind of ancillary to the action of what was happening. Or that she was a lot more of a passenger to the story. I guess that's how I would sum it up. If I think back to how TRoS ended I don't think there was a satisfactory character conclusion for ANY of them... and don't even get me started on how they did Rose completely dirty. 

There’s criticism of the movie that argues it’s akin to “fan fiction” and that is has too much fan service. As fans and fan-fiction writers, how do you react to that?

It doesn't actually bother me that much. I think it comes from a place of negative stereotyping and misunderstanding of what fandom is all about, especially for the Reylo community – because apparently believing in romance, redemption, and love is meaningless, simple, and weak.

The people that are in the fandom and know it well know that the fandom has a lot of diverse views in it, different perspectives, and some of the most startlingly intelligent and thoughtful people across the spectrum including creators, readers, analysts, community organisers etc.

The fact that there's a WHOLE ECOSYSTEM with fanfic and fan art and discord servers and gift exchanges and comedy memes and metas and all of this stuff just enhances my enjoyment of it overall. And it's an ecosystem that despite critics' attempts to dismiss it since 2015, continues to thrive.

I challenge those skeptics to look at some of the novel-length Reylo work on Ao3, the detailed sketches and concept art, the hours of thoughtful podcasting and REVIEWS OF FANFIC and say this community's not worthy of credit or attention. Even if you don't like Reylo, there's a discussion worth having about why people want to engage with it on a deep level and the transformative work that's come out of it.

We are doing this for free. Out of enjoyment and fun and discovering meaning. The level of artistry and engagement in this fandom is really astounding in that way.

I wish people would talk more about *that* side of the Reylo fandom rather than dismissing it as 'fluffy romance 50 shades in space y'all are rabid crazy' or whatever.

TLDR the question of whether Rey and Kylo have/had toxic and abusive dynamics is an interesting one to ask and we need to continue having the discussion, because from my POV it wasn't 100% clear cut from TFA, and it evolved in TLJ and in TRoS. BUT it should be situated in the context of the broader fandom and the range of views within it, + the many other interpretations of the Reylo relationship through fic and art, which The Atlantic's article missed. 

Are you still writing any Star Wars fanfic? Tell us about it! (Don't forget your Ao3 handle!)

I'm late to the game but am interested in writing SW fanfic as a way of exploring my own capacity to write and create, so yes! Did my first drabble in mid December and have a few ideas cooking, the first which looks like a two-chapter modern AU oneshot. Watch this space…

Thanks to rlogarbagech1!

[robotnik-mun]

Robotnik Retrospective Part Four: All the Little People

And here we are, once again, to take time out of your life to discuss an outmoded variation of villain from a series of children’s video games! Are you lucky or what?

Heh, but I digress. Welcome to the fourth installment of the retrospective! Last time around we finally stopped beating around the bush to take an in-depth look at the doctor himself, analyzing his actions and observing his demonstrated personality and traits, taking a deeper look into what makes him tick. One thing though that was missing from that analysis was arguably one of the biggest parts of his character- Sonic the Hedgehog himself.

Well, I can safely say to you that that was a deliberate ommission- given how goddamn enormous that post already was, I felt it best to make this a separate section entirely, covering not only his relationship with Sonic the Hedgehog but with the other Freedom Fighters and taking a look at how that not only enhances his character, but their’s as well.

Let’s get rolling.

One of the great truths of fiction is that every great hero needs a great villain. Great villains provide a challenge to overcome, a threat to be beaten, a danger to address- they’re the great facilitators of change and growth within a story, plus, they help to keep things interesting. How they go about this is as myriad as the stories that they appear in- some threats are obvious and direct, some are insidious and hidden. At the end of the day though, all of them are part of what makes a hero (or if you want to be more flexible, a protagonist) great and what helps make their stories so compelling.

In short? Great heroes need great villains, and that’s what helps to make them great. What a lot of people don’t consider though is that the opposite is just as true. Stories are often just as much about the villains as they are the heroes, showing them as they try their damndest to defeat the hero and make their own ambitions come together, and what makes them impressive in turn is their ability to continually challenge the heroes as they do. A story where the villain always wins effortlessly is every bit as boring and unreadable as a story where the hero always effortlessly manages to win, with an extra dosage of unbearable given that villains have a tendency to do awful awful things to boot. Villains are every bit as enhanced by their heroes as heroes are by their villains.

It is with that conceit that I move onto this aspect of Robotnik and his being, which is probably the one that I love most of all- his relationship with the other characters, and what his presence brings out in them and compels them to do because of it.

Naturally, first and foremost among all that is Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic and Eggman’s rivalry is one of the most iconic of video games, and with good reason. Both thematically and visually the two are stark opposites- Sonic is a young, athletic, short blue hedgehog who prefers to settle problems with his own physical abilities and has many friends, while Eggman is a tall, fat old man dressed in red who eschews friendship and uses his brains to do things, expressed through the endless machines that he builds. Sonic lives and fights for freedom, whether it is his own or the freedom of others, while Eggman cheerfully enslaves others to power his machines and seeks to rebuild the world in his own image. Sufficed to say there’s a reason why those two are such an iconic pair- even in the classic era before either of them had a voice or detailed mannerisms to express, they’re able to play off each other in such a fundamental way that even just relying on visuals and pantomime there is something about them that just resonates so well.

As with everything else in this setting, SatAM takes the pre-existing conflict and spins it in a different direction to what was presented in the games or in the early Adventures series. Whereas in the games Robotnik was an obstacle to overcome and in Adventures Robotnik was a nemesis to harangue, harass and humiliate ala Looney Tunes, in SaTAM Robotnik was a deadly threat and menace that needed to be thwarted for the good of everyone and everything. In my opinion it was a fitting dynamic- Sonic is said to personify freedom as a character after all, and who better to oppose a champion of freedom than a corrupt, tyrannical authority figure striving to *destroy* freedom once and for all?

Naturally, this meant that Sonic was still the same daring, cocky, reckless but ultimately brave and heroic individual that he had been in the last iteration of things, but here there was a slight difference- uniquely for any Sonic series out there, there was a new dimension to the conflict here, an element that had never been present in any of the past depictions of Sonic and his fight with Robotnik. For here it is established that for all the jokes and insults that Sonic saw fit to hurl time and again at Robotnik, beneath it all... Sonic is very, very much afraid of Robotnik and what will happen if he should ever fail.

Despite what his attitude might suggest, Sonic in this series is very, very much aware of what’s at stake and what will become of his friends and family would Robotnik ever manage to defeat him once and for all and uncover Knothole. In “Sonic’s Nightmare” we get a glimpse of what terrifies Sonic the most- it is a devastating scene of his innermost fears, his speed being robbed from him while Robotnik manages to capture Sally. He is unable to reach her and is forced to watch as she is roboticized before his very eyes, haunted by her last words as she demands to know where he was when the brains were handed out. This dream haunts him deeply throughout the subsequent episode as events from the dream seem to leave the impression that the dream was in fact a premonition, and Sonic has to actively fight through the panic and overcome the terror to save his friends and ensure that this vision does not come to pass.

Naturally he succeeds with flying colors, but the fact remains that, no matter how reckless he gets and no matter how lightly he seems to take the doctor, everything he does to fight the guy is tinged by this fear. In fact, it would be pretty safe to say that one of the reasons he displays such constant confidence and defiance is not unlike the same reason Spider-Man does- it helps to cover for the very real, very abiding fear and doubt that Sonic feels and helps him to carry through against Robotnik, which in turn helps others by showing them to not be scared enough to fight.

It helps that we are shown precisely why Sonic fears Robotnik and hates him so. Sonic didn’t just lose his only family to the Roboticizer- he personally witnessed it happened and very nearly wound up suffering the same fate, and over the course of the series we are treated to more than one occurrence of other Freedom Fighters who never made it back- Cat in “Sonic Boom” is taken away and never seen again. A pair of Freedom Fighters in the opening of Blast to the Past are immediately captured and Roboticized and in ‘Game Guy’ he fails to rescue Ari from the Void. Then of course there is Bunnie, a constant reminder of what will happen to everything he cares about if he should fail, to say nothing of the pain that her condition causes her. One of the great writing conceits of this show is that few victories are ever utterly complete- in Sonic Racer, Sonic doesn’t get to win the race even as the side mission being pulled while Robotnik’s attention is on him goes off. In Sonic Boom, information about King Acorn is acquired, but Cat is lost. Sonic twice restores his Uncle Chuck to free will, but in both occasions has to lose him- first to when the liberation wears off, and secondly when Chuck is forced to live away and do spy work in Robotropolis, something he must continue to do even after his cover is blown in “Spy-Hog”. As well as the fact that at the end of the day, Sonic cannot really avenge everyone who is victimized by the doctor, nor can he always have a clean victory, particularly since no matter what, at the end of the day Robotnik still manages to rule the world. It’s a daunting thing to face day in and day out, yet still, Sonic gets up, goes out, and gives his all to push back Robotnik’s conquest, even if it is only by centimeters. It makes Sonic all the more admirable that even as the dread of what might be picks at him, he continues to soldier on and do his best, despite the danger and despite the odds being against him.

It is what helps me to truly appreciate this particular iteration of Sonic, which in turn helps feed into my love of Sonic in general- things are not easy for him, nor is he totally un-phased by what he’s up against. He’s been put through a lot thanks to the doctor, owing every terrible thing that has happened to him in his life thanks to the guy. His lost home, his lost family, friends lost or mutilated by the doctor’s actions, it is safe to say that Sonic is decidedly *not* fond of Robotnik. Several times over the course of the series he expresses happiness at the idea of Robotnik being dead and disappointment over Robotnik’s continued survival. When not joking about the guy, he has nothing but scorn and contempt for Robotnik, and he has plenty of reason for both. His playfulness in encounters with Robotnik take on a harsher tinge, done deliberately to piss off and undermine the aura of menace and control the doctor projects, because he is keenly aware that Robotnik is the biggest, baddest guy on the planet... and because of that, he knows the best way to get at the guy is by refusing to acknowledge that fact when fighting him, reducing him to a subject of laughs rather than terror.

For all this? Robotnik hates Sonic right back, and fittingly, he allows that hatred to consume him utterly, and this in turn is how Sonic manages to enhance Robotnik’s character- by giving him a very, very palpable weakness.

One of the great defining characteristics of Robotnik is his hatred. Hatred of others, hatred of the world around him, but more so than anything else, Robotnik is driven and controlled by his utter and complete hatred of Sonic and Sonic alone. This makes a great deal of sense when you consider where he is coming from- for ten years Robotnik has managed to reign supreme over the world, and any opposition that he encountered before Sonic and company was clearly not enough to stop him. Then comes along Sonic- a mouthy little teenager who, despite everything, is able not only halt Robotnik’s operations, but escape punishment time and again. Robotnik is a scientific genius, a former military leader who managed to win a war and who later managed to conquer an entire planet. Yet no matter what Robotnik does... no matter how close he gets, no matter what he does, Sonic always seems to slip through his otherwise ironclad grip.

Worse than that, Sonic is eventually revealed to have been the one to cost him his arm. This creates a parallel to the famous, destructive hatred that Captain Ahab reserved for Moby Dick, having lost ships and his leg to the great White Whale. Whereas Ahab had the White Whale, Robotnik has a Blue Hedgehog, and his pursuit of his prey over the course of the series fittingly leads to his own inevitable defeat. Over the course of the 2nd Season of SatAM, Robotnik’s hatred for Sonic reaches such an extent that it begins to spiral out of his control- this is the season where Robotnik doesn’t just want to kill or roboticize Sonic, but to utterly and completely humiliate him in the process, to break him in order to avenge his wounded ego. Some criticize this season for overplaying his hatred of Sonic and making him fall into the ‘BondVillain’ pitfall (as ‘Game Guy’ so illustrated), but I would counter that this is a very natural development for Robotnik as the continued victories of the Freedom Fighters and Sonic in particular begins to take a toll on his sanity. In particular, his focus on Sonic to the exclusion of everything else makes it clear that for as much as Sonic is legitimately involved in dismantling his plans, Robotnik has turned Sonic into a scapegoat for *all* of his failures, bringing his hateful obsession to murderous new heights.

Even before the second season though it was pretty clear that Robotnik’s hatred for Sonic went above and beyond ordinary. Each time he spoke of ‘the hedgehog’ he did so with a very potent amount of venom, and one incident in particular makes it clear that when it comes to Sonic, Robotnik’s hatred has always been self-destructive. There’s a spectacular scene in “Sonic’s Nightmare” towards the end- Robotnik and Snively are in his ship, in stealth mode, having narrowly escaped the destruction of a blimp designed to induce acid rain- don’t laugh, it’s a perfectly valid tactic for a man whose enemies live in the forest and who desires a lifeless world of machines. Sonic and Co cannot see them, but they are in a perfect position to attack. Robotnik readies a missile, but is then informed by Snively that the damage they’ve taken is too much, and if he fires the weapon there’s a good chance that they’ll go down too.

Faced with the decision between killing Sonic once and for all or saving his own life, Robotnik is given pause.

His finger hovers over the button, his hand shaking. It’s not a rash decision he’s making, but one where he clearly is weighing the pro’s and cons. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, he pushes the button. Thankfully for Sonic (and probably Robotnik and Snively), the circuits fuse, and the window of opportunity closes, forcing them both to return to Robotropolis, but the fact remains that Robotnik hates Sonic so much that he would willingly risk his own death if it meant Sonic were to die as well. He would *gleefully* shoot himself in the foot, provided that the bullet came out the other end and killed Sonic as well. It’s a beautiful and terrifying demonstration of the depths that he’ll go to kill Sonic, as well as a convincing display of how Sonic truly is his greatest weakness, more than setting his downward spiral during Season 2 as his desire for vengeance begins to go out of control.

In this, Robotnik is strengthened as a character, because he is given a very identifiable weakness that drives him to commit believable mistakes, and by the same token, Sonic’s own character is better off for it due to the very personal nature of his conflict with Robotnik and the struggle that Robotnik has made out of his life. Struggle drives conflict, and it makes Sonic’s victories all the better for it.

Ah, but it is not Sonic alone who ‘benefits’ from Robotnik’s presence! Others in the cast are similarly impacted, and for the better.

Enter Princess Sally.

Sally’s entire situation in life is incredibly tragic once you sit down and think about it. She was born a princess and destined for an easy life with a loving father... and in a flash, it was all taken away from her. Her home, her father, her future, all of it stolen by a man her father trusted- who she trusted. Forced to live in hiding while the madman who betrayed her father and stole her life turned the world into an industrial hellhole, Sally was able to rise against the circumstances and lead her friends in a nearly hopeless guerilla war against a seemingly unstoppable foe. She may be called a ‘princess’, but she is aware of how little meaning her title has- she is not a leader because of her blood but because of her actions. She leads missions into the city- a city her family founded and ruled for centuries, now twisted and corrupted into a blighted, lifeless mechanism designed to create endless robots and consume everything. She does this in person, risking life and limb along with her friends, whom she has known since childhood, fellow survivors all of them, time and again going into that nightmarish place for the sake of her people. For the sake of the kingdom that no longer exists.

She’s not even eighteen years old, and it wears on her something awful. Losing her kingdom, losing her father, having to watch out not only for her friends lives but the lives of everyone in Knothole, constantly planning and strategizing and hoping that this time isn’t the time where it all goes wrong. All the while having to be strong, and cool and calm and collected for the sake of her people, because she is their leader and alongside Sonic, she is a symbol of hope- of a possible return to better days. Leadership is her privilege and her burden, and it’s all she can do to not buckle under it on those days when things go wrong- and they happen. In ‘Blast to the Past Part 1‘ we open with such a failure, and her reaction afterward. The kind of stress this girl has been put under is unimaginable. She’s only sixteen.

And what of Bunnie?

Bunnie is a walking reminder of what will happen if the Freedom Fighters fail. Generally she is a cheerful and upbeat person, but even that doesn’t stop her from hating what she has become... what Robotnik nearly turned her into. Every time she looks in a mirror she gets to remember what Robotnik did to her and the fact that her chances at a normal life were dashed some time ago. At the same time she has not given into the despair despite how much she hates what she has become- she has instead learned to empower herself, taking what Robotnik did to her and turning it against him, using her abilities to fight his empire and make him pay for what he did to her and to everyone else.

So it goes with all the other Freedom Fighters- Tails is an orphan, a child being raised by children forced to take on the role of adults and who do their best to give him a normal childhood in the most horrible of times imaginable. Rotor must try his hardest to be there for his friends as an inventor and as someone to talk to when they need it. Dulcy hasn’t seen another of her kind in years. Antoine lives in terror because he can never felt safe again. Even in the minor characters it shows- everyone is in hiding, everyone has lost something or something to lose. Everything the heroes have been through has been because of Robotnik. Because of what he did... because of what he is doing.

Every life stolen...

Every moment of despair...

Every family torn apart..

Every child orphaned...

Every dream broken...

Every natural wonder desecrated...

Every civilization destroyed...

Every scar inflicted...

...all of it leads back to one man. To Robotnik. His deeds and the consequences of those actions reverberate throughout the entire series and at every level. He is an enemy who is everywhere, who controls virtually everything around the heroes. The world is dying by inches as he consumes more and more of it. The heroes do not have access to the same resources as he- everything they have is scrounged from his leftovers, and they must do everything they can to maintain their hiding places. Knothole is shown to have parts that break down, and Lower Mobius lives in constant dread of its energy source burning out. This is what Robotnik has done to the heroes. This is the position he has put them all in.

This is what makes their triumphs so amazing.

For against those odds, against everything that Robotnik has ever done to them, the heroes collectively continue to go out time and again to fight against Robotnik. To show that that will not simply lay down and wait for him to take them to the Roboticizer or for his SwatBots to exterminate them. They will rise up against the tyrant, rise up against him despite how badly the odds skew against them, and each time they will make him pay a little more for what he has done as they reclaim their lives, inch by inch and yard by yard. They maintain hope against him, against everything they maintain hope. The heroes of this show are collectively made all the more impressive for it, all the more heroic, for the simple fact that they fight back as hard as they do. Even Antoine is stronger for this- for as clumsy and constantly terrified as he is, he still goes back into Robotropolis over and over again to do his part. Even with everything that is flawed and imperfect about him, he is still brave enough to set foot in that horrible. Can any of you say you would do the same?

Robotnik is what makes Sonic and the others so great as heroes, because he takes so much from them and takes so much *out* of them when trying to fight back, that it makes their victories all the more meaningful even if they are not always as straightforward as we might like- and that’s perhaps what I like most about this iteration of Robotnik, because he helps so much in making me like Sonic and Sally and everyone else.

It isn’t just his interactions with the heroes though that make Robotnik more whole. There is of course the matter of the OTHER evildoers in this series.

Snively’s relationship is one that fascinates me most because of how much is implied in it. Snively initially debuted as a fairly typical Evil Lackey, though one marked by a fair amount of abuse from his employer. What gave him distinction though was what was revealed about his precise relationship with Robotnik- that he was the man’s nephew and that once upon a time, Snively admired and trusted him. The idea that Robotnik would so callously manipulate, use and abuse someone who once adored him is easily one of the most personally despicable things that Robotnik has done, and at once it makes you hate him more and pity Snively on an entirely new level, beyond what even his wretched status as Robotnik’s assistant/stress ball would make you feel.

Robotnik’s interactions with Snively are fascinating for the fact that while Robotnik enjoys belittling, insulting and hurting him... he does not treat Snively with absolute content. He entrusts his nephew to oversee important tasks and on occasion even listens to him. This would seem to indicate that for all the open contempt he has for Snively, he is at least aware that Snively is not an idiot (much as he enjoys calling him that). Snively in the meantime is shown to resent his position more and more, becoming defiant and catty in the second season. It makes sense given Robotnik’s own deterioration in that season, and the simple fact that Snively is surely aware that he is living on borrowed time. The world that Robotnik is creating would have no room for Snively, and if Robotnik were to ever win it would mean the end of Snively eventually. In time Robotnik would get bored of his screams and Roboticize him as well. Robotnik is able to grant Snivley his greatest moment in the series- surviving Doomsday despite being left to die, and emerging from the rubble to claim his seemingly fallen Uncle’s empire.

Cluck is another relationship I rather like, because of how typical it seems until you consider the implications.

It’s a real shame Cluck was chucked for the second season, as I really did enjoy her. At first glance she would seem to be the only thing in creation that Robotnik actually cares about, for he treats her with far greater affection than he does his own nephew. That impression only lasts until you realize why he’s so affectionate- she’s ultimately just another projection for his bloated egomania. Her entire existence is basically Robotnik going ‘Oh hey, nature? That thing you made? I made it better. So there!’. Robotnik doesn’t love Cluck because of anything genuine, he loves her because she is just another thing he can look at and admire himself for the brilliance he displayed in creating her. That’s how I see it anyway. Again, it’s a real shame she wasn’ kept around, but oh well. Point of order, I see Cluck was a brilliant testament to the raging ocean of self-centered narcissism that is Robotnik, and I love her for it.

You know what? I even like his relationship with Naugus.

Bet you weren’t expecting that, eh? Bet you were expecting me to rail against the fact that there’s something that utterly breaks down Robotnik’s aura and demeanor of unshakable and utter evil. Well I got news for you- I do in fact enjoy the fact that Robotnik is *petrified* of Naugus. He has every reason to be, having endured the sorcerer’s tortures back in the old days when he was assisting him with his experiments within the Void. It provides a humanizing element to Robotnik- a reminder that for all the evil he does and all the terror he inflicts, Robotnik is still a man, and like most men there is something he is afraid of. I appreciate that quality because it implies a limitation to eventually be overcome and conquered. It represents a chance to grow and develop into something more, and it helps to establish that Robotnik is not invincible. These are important things for a character to have, I feel, and so I actually enjoy that Naugus can bring such start and total fright to the Big Round Guy. Characters who are totally without fear tend to come off as boring, irritating or just plain stupid, to say nothing of suspense-breaking.

And with that, I conclude this portion of the analysis. Sufficed to say, while I like Robotnik on his own terms, the thing that really makes him shine in my eyes is not him and him alone, but rather what he does to others and what he brings out in the other characters. It’s a symbiotic relationship in my mind, the way that Robotnik is able to enhance them and how they do the same for him, and it’s a big part of what made this show so compelling to begin with. I love a good villain- even more than that, I love when a good villain has an even better hero to challenge and thwart him, especially when things are made difficult for the hero because of the villain.

Next time around, we will take a look at the others who were made in the image of SatAM Robotnik... and in doing so, tackle a rather sizeable elephant in the room. See you next time, boys and girls!