The Eggman Philosophy -- Utilizing Self-Appreciation -- Why He's A Worthy Role Model
Updated: Mar 12
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As I've written before, Dr. Eggman from the Sonic franchise is a very interesting character, despite his constant failures to defeat his arch-nemesis. He very much reminds me of Nietzsche's Overman; a person who is "beyond" the societal conditions and limitations we "lesser" beings are ruled by.
Despite his immense power over a global empire, he is a one-man-show, and only rarely he has faithful allies who are more than just nameless robots. He is a very masculine character. An evil, subverted verison of a mensch. A man who wishes to bring to the world both progression and scientific advancement, but also tyranny and oppression to all living beings.
A power-hungry tyrant, who seems to channel his immense physical and mental energies to an eternal struggle for world domination -- and beyond.
This character is one that I am very amused by, despite him basically being a failure. It's not the fact that he has a so-called 300 IQ, and it's not the fact that his personality is appealing. By the way, the real life example of the highest recorded IQ -- 210-250 -- is that of William James Sidis.
What makes him so inspirational for me, is his ability to serve a threat big enough to threat the entirety of Sonic's world -- and beyond -- with only his own mechanical genius, and drastic schemes. Like that time he blew up the moon to hold the world hostage, in exchange for their freedom.
Only rarely a doctor has such immense power -- over armies, over battleships, over oversized space stations and other overstretched monstrosities, simply because he can; Can, with the mere power of intellect, and at times, with little else in addition. He is his own board of directors, his own advisors, and so on. He is the true, and only, brains behind his operations.
I knew this character since I was a child, as some of us did. He was introduced in the early 90's, and I wasn't even born yet at the time.
As to how a single man can gather massive armies and facilities is really beyond me. Can truly a person of such ridiculous IQ level be able to create so much, with his own hands at the beginning?
Of course, he's not perfect at all. In fact, he won against the hero only rarely; very rarely. One could think how such powers aren't able to defeat a single enemy or a bunch of enemies, is beyond me.
Many in Eggman's stead would give up, seeing their plans foiled over and over again, seeing their inventions reduced to scrap in a matter of minutes or even seconds. And yet, something within him, drives him so much, that he doesn't really see any reason to give up, especially when he was able to defeat his decades-old nemesis (even by a bit).
It appears that Dr. Eggman's main source of motivation, is nothing but himself. His own image, his own vision for the world, embedded in his glory. You can even see his face everywhere, throughout the games and other media.
He is truly a megalomaniac of the highest order, and perhaps that is the core thing that keeps him on the move, planning on the next plan, that has a high chance to fail (like the rest of his plans).
If you played Sonic games, you could see how self-obsessed Eggman is. His Egg Pawns armies, the Death Egg, and even his own emblem -- all portray him in one way or another. Being egg-shaped, he sometimes shapes his robots as such as well, and due to his overly large moustache, some of his bases also have moustaches appear in plain sight.
He is truly narcissism-incarnate, and should had he been humbler, and think of worthier things to pursue, perhaps we would have less Sonic games throughout the decades.
I admire this monster of a being only because of his great motivation. He does not give up on his plans for world domination; a motivation, dependant solely on the Ego. Perhaps that's why some of you might consider me a narcissist as well, even though I do not identify myself as such.
I do adore the concept of the Ego, the fact that one could be more self-reliant and thus stronger as one. Sure, some of Eggman's machines were doomed from the very beginning, but his defeats do not seem to inflict a single scar on his massive ego.
I don't want to have a massive ego like his. I guess that I keep thinking about him due to his near-invincible immunity from emotional harm. Whenever I was encountered by a hater, they planted a seed of doubt within me, and perhaps harmed my mental health a bit.
It was the seed that said that it is all worthless; all the articles, the books, the poems; all are a waste of time done by someone who was too fatigued to get his philosophy degree. (I am quite the brutally honest person).
So, yes. Eggman is sort of my role model. A role model merely for his resilience from harm and defeat. Such tenacity is supreme. We can in general learn from him that nothing ensures victory, but as long as we will aspire to be victorious, we could at least say that we've tried our best, right?
And for Eggman, the best is not enough! He will strive to be even better than his previous "best", if that means achieving his goals! Quite the desireable trait in men, right?
So what if he is an absolute outcast from society? The overman from Nietzsche's was too intended to be an outcast. When you are "beyond" society, whatever that actually means, solitude is near-inevitable, and so is rideculation, from those who care less for you.
I named my Quora's Space "The Tomasio Base" as an homage to this character; the one who also names things after him. He couldn't care less as to what others might think of him, he doesn't care that he is a weirdo. It is the ego, and its vast potential, that ensures him, the hope of the highest order, to survive and to try and strive against his enemies.
People may tell each other to curb their egos. What if the ego, however, is a competent drive for motivation? Not only competent, but very, very efficent?
His mindset is, therefore, a very practical one, wouldn't you agree? His execution might be very poor, but at least he has the mindset... of a world-conquering god. Wouldn't you want at least a glimmer of that mindset? It is the one, that allegedly grants one immunity... from despair and depression.
