Sonic X Theory

Theory: In the cartoon Sonic X (2003 – 2004), the characters of Christopher Thorndyke and Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik are one and the same.

Theory Expanded: The explanation for how these two characters could be the same consists of a few different sub-theories.

1. Eggman is Chris from the future. This one is sort of the Bad Time Travel version of the theory, as well as the theory in its most basic form. Eggman is literally who Chris will become and has come back through time to be the Eggman he remembers and maybe get a head start on his plans for ruling Earth. Eggman knows all this and wants to let Chris follow his fate unimpeded, except for the times he remembers Eggman having helped or challenged him. Most of all, he can not tell Chris who he is because Chris might decide then and there not to become him, thereby erasing Eggman from existence. He used Chaos Control to travel to Mobius because of its strange time fluctuations, he is able to move through time by traveling there then later back to Earth. He kidnapped Cream and Cheese before his trip back to Earth because he remembered his maid liking them, or just to lure Sonic and friends close because they were so important to his early years.

2. Chris is a parallel universe clone of Eggman, and is destined to become the Eggman of another universe. This theory uses the idea of many parallel realities, each with an Eggman and a Sonic. Interestingly, this is also a popular theme in other forms of Sonic media, giving this theory in particular a bit more credence. Mobius, which is simply a future Earth ravaged by gene warfare, is always the battlefield between Eggman's desire to rule the world and Sonic's to save it. Perhaps there was once an Eggman who won, who killed the Sonic of his universe (or made him into a robot, creating Metal Sonic) and gathered all the Chaos Emeralds. With nothing much else to do, he decided to help another Eggman kill Sonic, and so used Chaos Control to move to a parallel universe. Due to the weird time fluctuations he arrived during that Eggman's childhood years, back before he changed his name. He takes this opportunity to train his younger self and thus begins what I call the Eggman Time Loop: every universe's "Chris" (or Ivo, or Gerald) meets the older "Eggman" in their youth, then later takes on the title of Eggman and travels to yet another universe, and all become more powerful than they might have been for it. Meanwhile the original Eggman goes on to travel the many universes, creating moon bases and such wherever he goes.

3. Chris and Eggman are the same person with very similiar lives, due to the workings of what I call Fluid Time Loop theory. Basically, fluid time is when people can actually change history using time travel because time is fluid, both malleable and flowing. When history is diverted from its path by a time traveler changing it, the change becomes true but the flow of time attempts to return to its old path; put a boulder in a river and the river will flow around it to resume its path. So when Eggman used Chaos Control to travel to his youth and brought Sonic and friends along, it became true that Sonic had always been a part of his childhood. So why does Eggman hate Sonic? Perhaps in each season after the first two, Chris visits Mobius and becomes increasingly attached to it. Each time he visits he is returned to his childlike form, then returns to Earth and ages normally. It would take roughly six seasons for him to be Eggman's age on Earth. And yet each time he visits Mobius, he wishes more and more that he was there in his adult form. As his mechanical aptitude grows, he starts to think there might be a way to do so; meanwhile he isn't taking care of himself during all this genius-level work, so he becomes fat and unkempt. Sonic and company never suspect because Chris is returned to child form each time he visits using his imperfect portal. Chris never suspects either, since he is so consumed with his work while on Earth. So when he does in fact perfect the portal and visits Mobius, he looks exactly like Eggman. Sonic, with his cocky attitude and sometimes-dull intellect, is exactly the type who would spurn Chris on first impressions when the adult finally made it to his world, even if Chris had the time to try and explain things! So Sonic and friends fear and distrust him and he returns to Earth disillusioned, then finally realizes who he has become and decides to gain his revenge for their betrayal by literally becoming Eggman. After that he just needs to tune his portal for precise time travel, which is its true power since Mobius is simply distant from ours through time.

4. Eggman and Chris are metaphorically identical, so that Eggman is simply a worst case scenario of the type of person Chris could become. In this theory Chris is technically not Eggman; Chris, being the protagonist of his story, meets Eggman simply because fate or destiny or whatever – the writer, in other words – wants to show the kind of person he might become, to give him the chance to turn away from that and become someone better. Eggman is obese and out of shape, which teaches Chris to stay active and healthy. Eggman uses his intelligence to harm other people, which teaches Chris to use his intelligence to help others. Eggman builds robots to do his bidding and treats them badly, which teaches Chris to value his real friends.

Because sub-theory (1) looks to be bad time travel science and sub-theory (4) could be true whatever the case and therefore is less interesting overall, I assume that either the Eggman Time Loop (2) or Fluid Time Loop (3) theory is the correct sub-theory. Or maybe parts from both are the truth, and also aspects of the other two may color them. For example, did Eggman know he was headed to Earth in the first episode of Sonic X, and that he would meet Chris there? If he did, he would have many of the same plans as he did for sub-theory (1).

Supporting Evidence: There are many reasons to believe that Eggman and Chris are in some way identical, ranging from the setting to aspects of their character.

- The name of Sonic's world, planet Mobius, refers to a Mobius Strip, which would be similar to both the planet (gene war causes it to become verdant but civilization brings industrialization, and so it goes back and forth between those two states) and Eggman himself (his life repeats for potentially infinity)

- Part or all of the name Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is considered assumed, and his official name is often labeled as unknown or mysterious; perhaps he assumes the name Robotnik to honor his mentor Gerald Robotnik, who is shown in photos and looks a lot like him

- Both Chris and Eggman have orange hair

- Both favor the color red for their clothes

- Both show mechanical aptitude, and as the show progressed Chris was shown to be getting better thanks to training from Tails and his uncle

- Both have strong feelings concerning Sonic; if sub-theory (3) is true, it makes sense that Chris' strong feelings of friendship would become Eggman's strong feelings of hate

- Both are rich, or at least Eggman is used to being treated as rich and powerful

- Both are human, which may not seem surprising at first but a) when the Sonic franchise introduces new characters, they are generally anthro, so Chris being human is meaningful, and b) Eggman is a human from a world of anthro characters, making his human-ness important and somewhat odd

- Chris seems starved for friendship, even though he does have several friends at his school; it makes sense that his self-perceived loneliness would cause him to build robots

- Eggman is characterized by his childishness and immaturity, pointing to the idea that his childhood was very important to his development; perhaps Chris never gets over his own childish nature

- The ending we got for Sonic X shows Eggman to have potentially redeeming qualities, as he and Sonic resume their rivalry on Mobius but with a more lighthearted tone; this makes sense if Eggman was Chris, as the events of the show perhaps rekindles their childhood friendship

Conclusions and Meaning: So who should care if Chris and Eggman are identical? Anyone who thought Sonic X for a bad show, for one.

- Sonic X was not simply a "fun kiddy show," it was at attempt to show the backstory of Sonic's greatest foe! The problem of course is that it would take the entire length of the show to reach that moment, so basically they were asking people to watch for a payoff that they didn't (and couldn't) properly advertise, only hint at.

- Chris wasn't a bad character, he was a bad hero! His destiny is to become Eggman, so his every little character weakness and foible (such as his self-perceived loneliness and his immaturity) becomes Eggman's defining traits.

- Like most good series, this one could age with the audience as we follow Chris's story! Chris ages between seasons every time he is on Earth, and because he doesn't de-age mentally when visiting Mobius, the show could soon involve his character with more mature themes.

- One possible ending to Sonic X (if it had continued) could be Chris breaking the Eggman Time Loop once and for all, proving himself a true hero by choosing not to become the villain he might have! This would make for an ultimate defeat of evil Eggman as fluid time is changed once again, and Chris could become the sort of friendly Eggman character that the franchise first envisioned.