Roboticization

The roboticization process

Roboticization (also known as Robotization) is the process by which an organic creature is converted into a robotic being. This is usually accomplished by a Roboticizer, though other species such as the Bem are able to roboticize through other means. The reversal of the process is simply called deroboticization. Roboticized Mobians were eventually dubbed Robians.

The process was first developed by the brilliant scientist Sir Charles Hedgehog, who intended it to prolong the life of the elderly and sick. When his brother Jules Hedgehog was critically wounded, Charles decided to roboticize him in hopes of saving his life; however, when he discovered that the process had removed Jules' free will as well as turned him into a robot, Charles abandoned the project. The technology was stolen by the Warlord at the time, Julian Kintobor; during his military coup and the war that followed, he used the roboticizer on countless captured Mobians, creating a personal force of labourers. While many remained as Robians for years, almost all were eventually restored to their former bodies by the Bem scientist Ceneca 9009. As an after-effect, those restored by the Bem's process are apparently now immune to further roboticization, making the process now ineffective against a large percentage of the population. However, Jules Hedgehog remained roboticized, as reversing the process would prove fatal due to the injuries he suffered prior to roboticization. However, thanks to Robo-Robotnik latest plan, Operation: Clean Sweep, the world has been "reset," thus rendering all Mobians vulnerable to roboticization again.

Robians typically lose their free will, becoming almost mindless automatons; however, there have been cases in which Robian mental capabilities were restored while the bodies remained robotic. Usually this happens via magical objects, such as Power Rings or the Sword of Acorns. In some cases, the subject's original personality may break through through sheer force of will, though this is often rare and short-lived. In some cases, usually due to reprogramming, Robians may act on their own and even recall facts of their previous lives in order to allow them to better operate on their own; in these cases, their memories have often been altered or rewritten, resulting in a twisted shadow of the subject's true personality. A small device, known as the Neuro-Overrider, may allow one to undergo the process of roboticization without losing free will; however, some later-model roboticizers incorporate a program known as Brain Burn-Thru, designed to ensure the subject's total obedience.

As an oddity, unwilling Overlanders who are roboticized become little more than functionless statues. However, a willing Overlander can be roboticized while retaining both mobility and free will.

General

Doctor Robotnik's mechanical legions ("Badniks") used small animals as a kind of "organic battery". Robotization referred to the imprisonment of a creature inside one of these robots; the organic creature remains intact and viable, but trapped and presumably not very happy. When defeated by Sonic, and the gang, the badnik would explode and the trapped creature be set free.

Although Robo-Robotnik has branched out from the use of living creatures as power sources in later model robots, the classic animal-containing badnik still appears in some of the more modern era.

Robotizer

See also: Veg-O-Machine

The mass-robotizer in Mount Mobius

On Mount Mobius, at the core of the Doctor's facility lies the Veg-O-Machine, a mass-robotizer device which can transform woodland critters into robots in mere seconds.

On the Little Planet, Robotnik used plant seeds instead of animals as a power source for his badniks. Travelling into the past allows Sonic to find a crackling electric... thing, which, if destroyed, obliterates all badniks across all time frames within the Act in question, paving the way to acheiving a Good Future. Whether this machine produces the badniks or simply sustains them in not known, though the former seems likely as the the device is inactive if found in the present or Bad Future, while the robots keep rolling.

Mentality

Although the roboticizer robs its victims of their free will, people who have been put through the process maintain their overall awareness of everything that is going on around them. They simply aren't in control of their actions. The "slave mind" effect can be fought, however. Sonic was able to help his Uncle Chuck regain his free will on multiple occasions, most notably through the use of emotion; Sonic finally managed to use his Uncle's emotional attachments and loyalties against his programming. However, if a subject is still roboticized, he or she can be plugged into a device that renders them subservient even after they have regained their free will.

De-Roboticizer

The De-Roboticizer is a device that reverses the effects of Roboticization. It would effectively render the Roboticizer useless. Unfortunately, the device suffers major drawbacks. The De-Roboticizer models built on Mobius are unrefined, and also potentially lethal. Some device's effects are only temporary, though they do allow the user to retain their free will.

By far, the worst De-Roboticizer is designed to scam money out of fearful aristocrats. The device supposedly restores people to normal, and claims to immunize them against Roboticization. Sadly, the device is a fraud, and Robotnik even made it into a Roboticizer to use on the Royal Hedgehogs as a trap. However, just as Sonia the Hedgehog was about to be roboticized, the inventor grew a conscience and pushed her out of the way, in the process getting himself roboticized.

Known Subjects of Roboticization

Captured Mobians forced to undergo roboticization.

• Jules Hedgehog
• Sir Charles Hedgehog
• Bernadette Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sally Acorn
• Bunnie "Rabbot" D'Coolette (partial)
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Muttski
• Knuckles the Echidna
• Robo-Robotnik
• Snively Kintobor
• Carl Condor
• Friar Buck
• Crystal-La
• Lupe Wolf
• Lobo
• Marcos
• Maria (Wolf)
• Sabina Dragon
• Tig Stripe
• Spot Long
• Sir Peckers
• MP Bull Bones
• Trey Scales
• Fly Fly Freddy
• Armand D'Coolette
• Isabella Mongoose
• Sleuth "Doggy" Dawg
• Flying Frog
• Lightning Lynx
• Sergeant Simian
• Predator Hawk
• Drago Wolf
• Beauregard Rabbot
• Matilda the Armadillo
• Lady Agnes
• Colin Kintobor
• Nate Morgan
• Cheddermund