The Mystery of the American Robotnik (and other U.S. oddities)

During the development of Sonic the Hedgehog, the producers wanted a villain who was simple to draw. The result: Dr Eggman. A ball-shaped man with a mustache and cape, always smiling for some odd reason.

Ha Ha!

However, when the series was brought to the US, the designs had to be made edgier. While the sprites were unchanged, Sonic went from a very adorable little fellow (whom Westerners got their first glimpse of in Sonic Generations):

Hi!

To the embodiment of 90's additude, much like the Punisher:

Way Past Cool!

Robotnik on the other hand, went from a charming "egg-man":

To a nightmare creature:

The same thing happened to Tails, from absolutely adorable:

To less adorable:

And also Knuckles:

Metal Sonic, Vector and Nack remained the same, and no American art exists of Amy, Mighty, Espio, Charmy, Ray, or the Kukus. There were also Sonic cartoons. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog harkened back to the Japanese version:

Well, sorta. He even reminds me of the current one!

While SATAM made him even more frightening:

The nightmare of a thousand 90's kids

The U.S. Comics took the "even more frightening" look:

 

While the U.K Comic used the traditional one at first:

 

Then used the AOSTH one but less whimsical:

 

And in it's twiglight made him even scarier:

 

Also, they made Chaos from Sonic Adventure scarier as well:

 

 

Also, Chaos was pure evil and also died.

When Sonic Adventure was released, designs were changed in all regions. People complained. Furthermore, Generations brought back Classic Sonic, Tails, and Eggmans' Japanese versions. Unfortunately, people were unfamilar with the japanese ones and complained.