Sonic Frontiers writer Ian Flynn recently confirmed that the nefarious Dr. Eggman will return, though in a way fans might not expect. The mustachioed mad genius has been a constant menace to Sonic since the very first Sonic The Hedgehog game, with the Blue Blur and his many allies usually working to stop his schemes of world domination. Sometimes Eggman finds himself forced to team up with Sonic and company to take on a greater threat, as was the case in modern installments like Sonic Adventure 2, but he is more often than not the one who unleashes said threats in the first place - only to have them escalate beyond his control later on.
Many fans naturally expect Dr. Eggman to have a similar role in the upcoming Sonic Frontiers, though the evil-but-surprisingly-romantic scientist has been completely absent from the game’s promotional material since SEGA formally announced Sonic Frontiers during the 2021 Game Awards in December. While Sonic was shown battling robotic enemies in the recent Sonic Frontiers gameplay trailers, these foes seem much darker than Dr. Eggman’s usual Badnik designs - though this doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t create them. Fan-favorite Sonic The Hedgehog voice actor Mike Pollock confirmed that he will still play Dr. Eggman in any future games early last year, and one of the creative talents behind Sonic Frontiers just revealed that the not-so-good doctor will indeed appear in Sonic’s latest adventure.
Ian Flynn, the writer of many Sonic The Hedgehog comics as well as the dialogue of Sonic Frontiers, recently sat down for an interview with IGN (via The Gamer) to discuss his work on the upcoming Sonic game. He noted that Dr. Eggman is one of his favorite characters to write for and revealed that Sonic Frontiers will take the mad scientist in “some interesting directions.” While Flynn didn’t get into specifics about what Sonic Frontiers' new direction might be, he added that the game will have a more “melancholy” plot than past Sonic games, and will be centered on how “tragedies of the past have led to the adventure today” - which suggests that Sonic Frontiers could delve into Eggman’s backstory in some way and include a much grimmer conflict between Sonic and his classic enemy.
Many fans rejoiced when it was revealed that Ian Flynn would be working on Sonic Frontiers, as the Sonic The Hedgehog comics he’s written for Archie Comics and IDW have been held in high regard for blending the colorful whimsy and humor of the Sonic franchise with heartfelt drama. However, later reports clarified Flynn’s role in writing Sonic Frontiers’ dialogue rather than its plot, something that Flynn himself later confirmed during his latest interview. He also revealed that Miles “Tails” Prower and Amy Rose are set to appear in Sonic Frontiers as well and that the game’s plot will see Sonic and his friends investigate the disappearance of the Chaos Emeralds on the mysterious Starfall Islands.
Fans now know that Dr. Eggman is indeed playing an important role in Sonic Frontiers, and Ian Flynn’s statements hint at some surprising twists involving the iconic villain. It’s possible that he has unleashed the mysterious robotic enemies that now populate Starfall Islands just as he’s done with other forces in the past, though he could instead be an ally to Sonic as he races to uncover the mystery behind these new foes. Players might not have to wait long to find out what Eggman’s role in Sonic Frontiers is, as SEGA’s latest high-speed platforming adventure will supposedly blast onto store shelves sometime later this year.