Gerald Robotnik

Professor Gerald Robotnik (ジェラルド・ロボトニック, Jerarudo Robotonikku) is both a fictional character and deuteragonist from the Sonic the Hedgehog series created by Yuji Naka. He was a human scientist and the grandfather of Maria Robotnik and Dr. Eggman. A world-renowned scientist who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest scientific minds of all time in history, Gerald was responsible for several groundbreaking creations, including his greatest achievement, Shadow the Hedgehog, making him a modern day scientific Da Vinci.

Over fifty years ago, Gerald was asked by the President of the United Federation to lead Project Shadow, a medical program for inventing immortality, which he accepted in hopes of finding a cure for a fatal illness afflicting Maria. Eventually, Gerald managed to create Shadow the Hedgehog, though not without drastic measures; he was taken into custody by the military when his work was deemed too dangerous. When learning that Maria had been killed by the military, Gerald slipped into madness and spent his last days plotting revenge against humanity.

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

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice actor: Eric Stuart (English), Hiroshi Iwasaki (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Manfred Erdmann (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Carlo Reali (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Wiesław Sławik (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Turkish), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

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 oversized mustache, except his was whitish gray, 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 slippers.

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.


 * Hair Color: Gray (originally Brown)
 * Skin Color: Peach
 * Eye Color: Not Known
 * Age: Not Known (Deceased)
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: 170 cm (5' 7")
 * Weight: 88 kg (194 lb.)

Personality
Before his descent, Gerald was a good man and a profound humanitarian, the very much opposite of his psychotic grandson Eggman. He was devoted to using his intellect to help mankind and bring them happiness and hope through the power of science, which he believed was the reason for his existence. While he was much more serious about his work than Eggman, Gerald remained a caring person towards his family. As old age began to catch up to him, though, Gerald would become more forgetful.

Gerald was a man of strong ethical standards, refusing to use his genius for the wrong reasons. He initially refused to lead Project Shadow since he thought obtaining immortality was against nature and because he had no interest in aiding with war. That said, he was not above breaking his ethics for certain reasons, like when being forced by the higher-ups or when he thought it was for the greater good, such as joining Project Shadow or handing over the dangerous Emerl just to find a cure for his dying granddaughter. Even when in such situations, however, Gerald went out of his way to make sure his research would have the potential for good as well, like how he gave both Shadow and Emerl genuine feelings and 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 slowly went insane. He eventually became a rage-filled psychopath, developing a deep hatred for humanity who he blamed for Maria's death, and grew obsessed with revenge by committing global genocide. Even in his last moments, all Gerald had to express was his contempt for humanity, and he died a broken man.

Friends/Allies

 * Emerl
 * Space Colony ARK researchers

Family

 * Maria Robotnik (granddaughter)
 * Biolizard (prototype creation)
 * Shadow the Hedgehog (creation)

Enemies

 * Black Arms
 * Black Doom
 * Guardian Units of the Nations
 * United Federation

Powers and Abilities
Gerald was an extremely knowledgeable and gifted scientist with an incredible intellect, even when compared to present-day geniuses. As a testament to his intelligence, he is regarded as both one of the most brilliant minds ever and the most gifted researcher of all time, only matched by his grandson Eggman.

Gerald possessed many talents, having mastered several areas of study, including architecture, science, astrology and foremost biology, along with genetics to astrophysics to robotics. 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 the Eclipse Cannon, which has the power to destroy planets and even pierce stars, the Chaos Drives which could contain the Chaos Emeralds' mystical energies, the Artificial Chaos units, the Heal Units, and the Bomb Units. He was also behind the creation of incredible creatures such as the Biolizard and Shadow the Hedgehog (the latter of which used alien DNA), both of whom are powerful, nearly unstoppable and capable of harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Additionally, he was a skilled archaeologist as demonstrated in his research of the Gizoid and the Fourth Great Civilization where he uncovered many of their secrets from ancient stone tablets and papers.

Skill

 * Genius-level intellect

Early life
It has been implied that Gerald comes from a long line of brilliant scientists. The greatest mind of his time, Gerald, who believed his purpose in life was to bring the people of the world happiness and hope through science, set out to help the world by dedicating his life's work to the people in the world. 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. Other accomplishments included discovering and researching an interdimensional beast called the Ifrit, which he wrote several files about, and being the first to propose the existence of the Fourth Great Civilization which he wrote a book about called The Fourth Great Civilization.

Eventually, Gerald had a granddaughter named Maria Robotnik, whom he became extremely fond of. Gerald would come to live and work with Maria onboard the Space Colony ARK, where he took care of his granddaughter, who needed constant attention because she suffered from Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, an incurable and inevitably fatal disease.

Project Shadow
Over fifty years prior to Shadow the Hedgehog, Gerald, at the height of his career, got a letter from the by then-President of the United Federation who requested his help with a medical project named "Project Shadow", a medical program meant to research immortality and develop an "immortality formula." Initially, Gerald stubbornly refused this request, believing they were crossing the limits of man and that this research could be used for war efforts. However, upon realizing that the immortality research could be used to develop a cure for Maria's illness, Gerald eventually accepted the President's request and agreed to lead the project on the Space Colony ARK in secrecy.

Initially, Gerald's fellow researchers doubted the project's success, even with Gerald's brilliant mind on their side. In the first stages of Project Shadow, Gerald researched the Chaos Emeralds, which resulted in the creation of the Chaos Drives, during tests to apply chaos energy to living beings. When those test proved successful, Gerald and his colleagues moved onto creating an immortal creature dubbed the "ultimate life form". During the development however, Gerald needed help with his research. He thus contacted Black Doom, the leader of the Black Arms, an extraterrestrial race of aliens from the Black Comet, a celestial body that was passing by the planet at the time, and they made a deal: Black Doom would help Gerald with his work, even providing his blood as DNA for the project, and in return, Gerald would have his creation deliver the seven Chaos Emeralds to Black Doom in fifty years, which would be when the Black Comet made its return to the planet. However, Gerald eventually discovered Black Doom's plans to use the Chaos Emeralds to devour the human race. Realizing his mistake, Gerald secretly plotted against Black Doom by developing the Eclipse Cannon, a weapon capable of destroying the Black Comet, and the Black Arms with it, upon their return.

Gerald and his colleagues eventually produced the prototype of the ultimate life form, dubbed the Biolizard. While it lived up to many of their expectations as it grew, the creature proved too flawed. In addition to a bestial and unruly nature, weak limbs and reliance on machinery for survival, Gerald noticed the Biolizard grew too fast and requested that the control part on its vital organs was reinforced. Despite these results, Gerald moved on with the project. Using the DNA of Black Doom, Gerald created a new version of the Biolizard, but with another physique, dubbed "Shadow the Hedgehog." Unwilling to make Shadow a weapon though, Gerald gave him a "heart" and "soul" similar to Maria's in hopes that he would not become a weapon of mass-destruction. He also secretly changed him to be the savior of mankind by helping stop the Black Arms upon their return, believing that only someone with their powers could stop them.

During Project Shadow, Gerald would create more artificial creatures on behalf of GUN who wanted their own "Chaos monsters". His experiments eventually led to the creation of the experimental Artificial Chaos units, synthetic life-forms based on the god of an ancient culture.

The Gizoid
During Project Shadow, Gerald uncovered an ancient robot called the Gizoid from a warehouse. Believing it was made by an ancient civilization, Gerald experimented on it with Chaos Emeralds and accidentally activated it. By researching papers related to the Gizoid and the Chaos Emeralds, and later an ancient stone tablet which he had discovered, Gerald theorized this robot was what caused the destruction of the Fourth Great Civilization. His further research and observations also revealed the Gizoid could mimic combat abilities and weapons, and that it possessed vast amount of data on melee combat and weapons of its age, data that which crashed Gerald's most advanced computers when he tried scanning it. 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 that the Gizoid would swear loyalty to those with great power by establishing a "Link" with them. 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 should it be lost.

Government and Shadow
When Shadow neared his completion, Gerald learned the government had become uneasy about the outcome of Project Shadow following his contact with the Black Arms. With Gerald's invention beginning to be perceived as potentially dangerous to humanity, the government considered cutting funding. Unwilling to let his study get ceased now that he was so close to finding a cure for Maria, 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, other researchers tried to form a new Link with the Gizoid by demonstrating great power. Eventually, Gerald's fears were confirmed when the Gizoid went on a rampage that destroyed most of the ARK before it was subdued. Deeming the Gizoid too dangerous, Gerald tried to destroy its core but failed due to its advanced technology. Instead, he reprogrammed the Gizoid with free-will and emotions, giving it a "heart" and "soul" similar to Maria's in hopes that these qualities would prevent it from becoming a weapon of mass-destruction.

Eventually, Gerald's years of 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. In addition, Shadow became very close to the residents of the ARK, especially Gerald's granddaughter, Maria. Learning however that the government planned to cease his research after deeming Shadow a threat to mankind, Gerald prepared a contingency video for Shadow. In it, Gerald discussed the government's plans to close Project Shadow, while also explaining how Shadow was meant to stop the Black Arms when the Black Comet returned in fifty years.

During the time Shadow was raised, Gerald unintentionally had an accident with his Artificial Chaos which caused them to run loose. Gerald himself dictated this mistake to his old age. Fortunately, Shadow and GUN ensured the situation was brought under control.

Imprisonment
Gerald's suspicions were confirmed when GUN attacked the Space Colony ARK sometime after the completion of Project Shadow to eliminate everything and everyone related to the project and shut the ARK down. During the attack, Gerald put his finishing touches on Shadow. When GUN's Special Forces rushed into the ARK's laboratory, Gerald entrusted Shadow to Maria and left them to flee in the ARK's escape pods. He later made sure that one escape capsule was ejected towards the planet, and Gerald assumed that Maria and Shadow had escaped to safety.

Gerald was eventually captured under the guise of disappearing under mysterious circumstances and taken to Prison Island where he was forced to continue his experiments under military control. Meanwhile, when it was released to the public that the ARK was shut down due to an accident, Gerald was blamed for causing it. When the military later found Shadow, who got placed in suspended animation, and brought him to Prison Island for Gerald to continue his research, Gerald saw Maria among the list of casualties when the ARK was shut down and was grief-stricken. Unable to cope with the loss of his granddaughter, Gerald began to lose control of his mind as he could only think of avenging Maria and ending everything, something which terrified him. As a result, he would unwillingly scribble calculations he made for a doomsday plan in his cell. During the period where he was still had control over his mind, Gerald got a hold of the Gizoid again and use this opportunity to make Maria's dying words the keywords that would activate the Gizoid's free-willed emotions-based AI once all seven Chaos Emeralds were inserted into it.

In the end, Gerald lost his grip on reality and went insane, devoting himself to avenging Maria by destroying humanity. While it was thought that he was continuing his research with Shadow, Gerald secretly created a program that would cause the Space Colony ARK to fall to the world and destroy the planet once the seven Chaos Emeralds were placed into the Eclipse Cannon, and set as well the Biolizard up to ensure this. Gerald also brainwashed Shadow, altering his memories of what Maria wanted of him as her final wish so that he would carry out his plan once he was awoken. Gerald then left a note behind in his diary that encouraged the reader to release Shadow if they wanted to cause global destruction. Soon after, Gerald was incarcerated on Prison Island by the military when they began to fear of how he could retaliate. Just before he was executed, Gerald's last action was leaving behind a recording where he condemned the ungrateful world to destruction for the fate of Maria by giving his estimate for how long it would take for the ARK to collide with the world.

Legacy
Because of the tragic deaths Gerald's research indirectly caused and the potential dangers to humanity his discoveries posed, many would view Gerald with contempt. The Commander himself came to consider Gerald insane and held a life-long grudge against him for creating Shadow, which indirectly led to the death of Maria. Many of Gerald's late creations, research and, discoveries which would form his legacy were either sealed or placed under tight security due to their potential for calamity. Gerald's Chaos Drives continued to be used by GUN as power sources for their mechs. Prior to his execution, he also conducted several mathematical equations within his prison cell, which would later be found by Amy Rose the Hedgehog.

Despite Gerald's bad reputation, Gerald's grandson Dr. Eggman looked up to him and admired him for the great things he accomplished. This inspired him to become a scientist, though Eggman would use his intellect to try achieving world domination. Gerald's research surrounding Shadow, the Eclipse Cannon, Emerl and the Ifrit would also be uncovered over time by his descendants and counterparts, namely Dr. Eggman and Dr. Eggman Nega, who would use it for their own nefarious purposes.

Gerald's plan to destroy the world was set into motion when Eggman awoke Shadow. Like Gerald had intended, Shadow set out to destroy the world to avenge Maria, unaware that he was carrying out Gerald's will. Once the Space Colony ARK was set on a collision course with earth, Gerald's last video recording was played around the world. Gerald's doomsday plan was averted however by Sonic the Hedgehog and, ironically, Shadow, who managed to recover his true memories of Maria.

During the Black Arms' invasion of earth, Gerald's contingency video to Shadow was played worldwide as well thanks to Team Chaotix, where he explained his plans for Shadow to save mankind from the Black Arms. This gave Shadow the resolve needed to defeat Black Doom. Realizing they had been wrong about Gerald all along, the President and the Commander decided to pay homage to the professor by working towards a brighter future.

Notes & Trivia

 * In the official game guide for Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Game Guide, Gerald's name was mistakenly written as "Gerard."
 * According to Eggman, the appearance of the virtual Eggman sprite used in his virtual world scheme was based off of his grandfather's appearance at a younger age, meaning that Gerald's initial hair color was brown much like his grandson's before aging.
 * When closely examining Gerald's picture in Shadow the Hedgehog, his eyewear has swirls, which is a typical Japanese trope to indicate one's glasses were thick.
 * After Gerald's rant, he was asked if he had any further words, to which he replies "no" before a squad is signaled. This is meant to imply that Gerald was sentenced to death by firing squad.