Sonic the Hedgehog (2020): Dr. Robotnik (ENTJ)

Here’s the final installment in our Sonic the Hedgehog diversion. Dr. Robotnik actually changed personalities from his original video game/cartoon form, which was interesting, and probably due to Jim Carrey’s heavy involvement in the character’s development and portrayal. (Our video game typing can be found here: Sonic X Characters Part 1) Obviously, if you continue reading past this point, you may run across spoilers so be sure to check out the movie first if that bothers you. We hope you enjoy!

Te:

“In a sequentially ranked hierarchy based on level of critical importance, the disparity between us is too vast to quantify.”

“You’re not allowed up there! That’s one of the Seven Wonders!”

“I’M IN CHARGE!”

Dr. Robotnik is very status focused and authoritative. The first thing he does upon arriving on the scene is to assert his authority and take command of the scene. Of course, the moment the major tries to reinforce his own rank, Dr. Robotnik rubs his authority in the major’s face as much as possible. You see this happen with everyone that he comes into contact with. He over-emphasizes his own brilliance, and undervalues the usefulness of everyone else, whether via mocking, threatening, patronizing, name calling, etc. He wants everyone out of his way so he can do what he needs to do, and anyone involved needs to obey his every command. Dr. Robotnik states that he prefers machines better than people because they actually do what they’re told. He generally appears to prefer to bark orders rather than do things himself.

While he makes his own rules, Dr. Robotnik’s recognition of authority and rules clearly demonstrates his own Te/Fi. For instance, he sarcastically berates Sonic for running up one of the Seven Wonders, and then immediately proceeds to fire at it.

Ni:

“Confidence… a fool’s substitute for intelligence!”

“I was not expecting that!… But I was expecting to not expect something, so it doesn’t count.”

Ni was a little harder to tack down, but there are a few things we can point to that seem to suggest the use of Ni. The first thing we noticed is that he tends to like predicting what other people are going to do before they do it, or proclaiming that he was expecting something to happen shortly after it happens. In one particular scene later in the movie, he is genuinely surprised when Sonic throws Tom and his wife off of a skyscraper, but then circles around by proclaiming that he was expecting to not expect something today ergo, it didn’t count. The abstract and unclear way he goes about all this seems to point toward Ni. He also establishes a timeline shortly after arriving on the mushroom world, proclaiming that he will be back on Earth by Christmas. This specific deadline suggests a plan-oriented nature, which falls right in line with Te-Ni.

Another thing we noticed is that his robot designs tend toward having a robot within a robot within a robot. This follows the same logical strain of having a plan within a plan within a plan that high Ni users are known for. He also finds ways to speak in a more high falutin or indirect way in order to display his superiority. This can be shown in a couple of the quotes that we’ve listed. Additionally, his detachment from the sensory world, like in the way he has robots do everything for him, is suggestive of an intuitive or low Se, but more on that in the next section.

Se:

“Pin yourself to the wall!”

“Tell him to stop, or I’ll pull up his search history.“

Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik has a relatively high level of physicality (ESFP bleed), which was interesting, yet the character somehow managed to portray a detached, low Se nature. To explain that statement, we’ll first point out the dancing, very exaggerated facial expressions, and very exaggerated body language style of humor. He is shown setting the mood in his lab with music, setting up a scene where he’s running from a virtual dinosaur from Jurassic Park, and etc. He also licks one of Sonic’s quills, which is another demonstration of Se.

However, throughout the movie, he has a tendency to order people to do things for him so he physically doesn’t have to do them himself. For instance, he tells Agent Stone to relay responses and statements to the major, while the major is standing within earshot. He also tells Agent Stone to pin himself to the wall, as if to fill the physical aspect of the role for Dr. Robotnik. This would not be typical for a high Se user. He also undervalues running, by telling Sonic that it is unnecessary and bad for the joints.

Fi:

Dr. Robotnik’s inferior Fi comes out the most in the constant ego-stroking. He needs people to see him as intelligent and in authority. Challenges to his authority are unacceptable. In fact, he is willing to go to extreme measures to prove a point, which is described in his story about the kid who had bullied him. His reaction was essentially overkill, resulting in the kid eating out of a straw for a year following the incident. This suggests an unstable Fi/Te relationship, meaning dominant versus inferior.

Dr. Robotnik values himself very highly, and takes offense when others do not. He appears offended when Tom hangs up on him. He also makes self-oriented value statements like proclaiming that a “lesser man” would have been trapped on the mushroom world for forever.