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This character exists primarily or exclusively within the Sonic Boom continuity.
Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity.
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The Motobug[2] is a character that appears in the Sonic Boom series. It is a mass-produced, ladybug-based Badnik model created by Dr. Eggman which makes up a part of Eggman's robotic foot soldiers. They are usually stationed at Dr. Eggman's lair where they guard Eggman's fortress[3] and have been used against Team Sonic on numerous occasions.

Appearance[]

The Motobugs are relatively diminutive robots. While most are about Orbot's size, some may be smaller or larger. As per their template, the Motobugs resemble ladybugs, with an oval-shaped and narrow body with red elytra, a swirled rear, and two black spots on each side of their elytra and one in the middle of it. Their head is grey with two sharp mandibles, four stubby spikes down their face, cyan eyes with slit-like pupils, and two lighting bolt-shaped antennas. They also have two short yellow and grey arms with a claw for a hand, a black tire on the bottom of their body and an exhaust pipe on their left side.

History[]

TV series[]

Season one[]

Evil living room

Motobugs surrounding Tails.

When Tails invaded Eggman's lair (destroying its Motobug guards on the way) to free UT, some Motobugs would corner him before he gave his services to Eggman in exchange for UT's freedom. More Motobugs were later stomped when trying to stop Team Sonic's rescue of Tails.[3] Several Motobugs were soon after called in to stop Team Sonic from breaking Amy out of Eggman's lair, only to get destroyed and mess up the lair for Modern Lair Magazine.[4] The Motobugs would be called into battle again against Sonic after Eggman turned Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks evil. However, they got caught in the crossfire between Eggman's new allies as they turned on each other and were destroyed by Sonic and Eggman (the latter having been turned temporarily good).[5] Eggman soon after brought some Motobugs to a revenge attack against Sonic and Tails at Sonic's Shack, only for them to get trashed.[6]

When Dr. Eggman held a surprise party for Orbot and Cubot, a number of Motobugs participated in the festivities until Eggman brought them to an end.[7] To guard the captured Team Sonic, T.W. Barker ordered a batch of Motobugs from Eggman which were all destroyed when the heroes escaped.[8] A lone Motobug was also used to test a freeze ray against Cowbot,[9] and another helped Eggman with his laser tag exercise, during which it lost to its master.[10] Sonic (while stuck in Eggman's body) later assumed command of the Motobugs and the other Eggman robots for an attempt to recover his body from Eggman.[11] Another time, a Motobug and other Badniks were called in to battle Sonic after Eggman got out of a depression, only to get smashed.[12] Then, when he failed to sue Sonic legally, Eggman brought in some Motobugs to fight him and Team Sonic.[13]

SB S1E22 Amy chase Motobug

A Motobug on the run from Amy.

A Motobug would join Eggman in a battle against Team Sonic in the jungle, only to get driven off by the heroes.[14] When later working on a Motobug, Orbot and Cubot felt neglected by Eggman in favor of his new friend Nominatus and left, though not before Orbot bid goodbye to a dear Motobug. However, Nominatus soon showed his true colors by taking control of the Motobugs to destroy all life forms, and used them to attack his enemies. Nominatus was soon defeated though, freeing the Motobugs.[15] A Motobug soon after came with Eggman to Meh Burger to hold his place in the court, only to get overlooked by Sonic. More Motobugs and other robots were soon after sent after Sonic by Eggman when he wanted personal payback at the hedgehog. The bots got trashed when Sonic's team came to the rescue however.[16]

The Motobugs were eventually abandoned when Eggman deserted technology until the incompetent Lightning Bolt Society took over Eggman's lair, who made the Motobugs go on random rampages in both the Village and at the lair until Team Sonic and Eggman reclaimed the lair.[17] Multiple Motobugs and other Badniks were later summoned by Eggman to kill Dave the Intern and destroy Chez Amy, but due to Team Sonic, they only accomplished the latter.[18] Eggman also brought in his Motobugs to force Monkey-Boy into his service. Team Sonic, however, would destroy all the Motobugs.[19] As Eggman later shot his mind-enslavement movie, some Motobugs were used in several scenes. Some Motobugs later attended the screening, but when the movie turned out a failure, they were sent away by Eggman.[20]

SB S1E34 Sonic attack Motobugs

Sonic tearing through Motobugs.

Eggman eventually brought some Motobugs with him on an attack on Seaside Island, only for Team Sonic to destroy them as they arrived.[21] The Motobugs later tried miserably defending Eggman's lair from a Knuckles from another dimension until Eggman caught him. More came when Sonic, Amy and Sticks broke into the lair to rescue that Knuckles, but got smashed.[22] A Motobug squadron would also accompany Eggman to the Valley of the Cubots to exterminate the residential Cubot prototypes. With Sonic and Tails protecting the prototypes though, the surviving Motobugs would retreat.[23] Another time, several Motobugs joined Giant Robot for an invasion of the Unnamed Village, but they were all destroyed by Tails.[24]

Eggman would later assemble his Motobugs again for a mission he sponsored to remove Knuckles as the host of the Comedy Chimp Show as a part of a sponsor deal with Comedy Chimp (during which the Motobugs advertised Eggman Industries). However, Team Sonic made them retreat.[25] Another time, the Motobugs were assigned to protect Hypnobot which Eggman used to steal Tails' inventions. As the Motobugs fought Team Sonic, Tails got Hypnobot to stop the Motobugs by making them dance.[26]

S1E46 26

Motobugs getting super-charged.

When Eggman had a surplus of solar power, remotely super-charged Motobugs were sicced on the Village, but Team Sonic destroyed them. Eggman later hid the Motobugs in his lair from the Archipelago Homeowners Association, who were onto his illegal housing of robots, while he had them over for dinner to convince them he had no robots, or risk eviction. However, the Motobugs went haywire from power overload during a thunderstorm and blew Eggman's cover. While Eggman avoided eviction by convincing the association that his Motobugs were art, he spent the night getting them under control.[27] The Motobugs would later join Team Eggman as they launched an attack on Team Sonic. Regardless, the villains still got defeated.[28]

Season two[]

Some Motobugs came with Dr. Eggman to retaliate against Tommy Thunder's "challenge" on TV, only to get smashed when Sonic came to Tommy's aid.[29] The Motobugs later came with Eggman to ambush the Village while Sonic was stuck on another plane of existence. As they swarmed Team Sonic, the Motobugs and other Badniks were pushed into defeat when Tails brought Sonic to the fight. One Motobug fled though, much to Eggman's anger.[30] Another time, the Motobugs were summoned alongside other Badniks by Eggman to fight Team Sonic when they broke free of Dreamcaster's mind-control, but they were all defeated.[31]

Ojqyjg9vTL1u5cb23o2 1280

The Motobugs striking.

Fed up with Eggman's callous attitude, the Motobugs would join Orbot and Cubot's strike action while also scorning Eggman's replacement lackeys. As they were about to give up though, Eggman cracked and agreed to treat them better (but still without respect).[1] Later, when Orbot became an independent villain, he took some Motobugs with him to attack City Hall, but these units were stopped by Team Sonic.[32] The Motobugs would soon after engage Team Sonic again, but the heroes easily wiped them out.[33] Not long after, a Motobug would fight Team Sonic again and lose despite the heroes being short one member.[34] Another batch of Motobugs also got defeated by Team Sonic when Eggman used them for another onslaught on said team.[35]

The Motobugs eventually got infected by malware from Hypnobot, who made them attack the Village alongside other infected robots. There, their onslaught was kept at bay by Team Sonic, whose members eventually split up, leaving the Motobugs with fewer foes to deal with.[36] As the battle raged on, the Motobugs slowly overwhelmed the remaining heroes, even after Og joined the fight, until the villagers began fighting back too. Hypnobot's control was subsequently broken, and the remaining Motobugs returned to Eggman.[37] The Motobugs fell under Hypnobot's command again though when he and Eggman made an alliance. Joining the villains' army for an invasion of Morristown, the Motobugs met opposition from Team Sonic and their allies after arriving in the city, until the heroes fell back when Hypnobot began turning the robots in the city against them. However, the Motobugs were defeated when Team Sonic returned with Team Cybonic as support and destroyed Hypnobot.[38]

MotobugVsSticks

A Motobug attacking Sticks.

Some Motobugs were called in by Eggman to fight Team Sonic when they came to Eggman's lair, but the Badniks had little success despite the team being crippled by FleaBots.[39] Discovering later that Amy and Sticks had played him for a fool with a Sonic doll, Eggman attacked the girls with his Motobugs, but the duo quickly destroyed them.[40] Several Motobugs later attacked Team Sonic when Eggman lured the team into a trap, only to be destroyed by the heroes. Eggman soon called the Motobugs in to fight Team Sonic once more, but they quickly got overpowered by the team.[41] T.W. Barker managed some time afterward to con Eggman out of all his properties, effectively making the Motobugs his. The Motobugs would be used by Barker to attack Team Sonic, who had a hard time handling the Motobugs due to the strategies Barker deployed. However, the Motobugs turned on Barker when Eggman had them infected with a virus. After Eggman forced Barker to give him back his properties, the scientist deactivated his Motobugs' virus and had them battle Team Sonic again.[42]

Back in the lair, when Eggman's Anti Gravity Ray got stuck on Cubot in high gear and messed with Cubot's mind, a few Motobugs got called in by Eggman to help the doctor when he got caught in his device's anti-gravity field. However, they too got caught by the device. When Cubot and the device then got flung out of the lair on a small trip, one of the Motobugs got pulled along until Team Sonic grounded it.[43] When Eggman then had to keep Sonic from delivering the doctor's order from Meh Burger to his lair within three minutes, in an attempt to humiliate Sonic for his incompetence at delivering his order on time, a few Motobugs would serve as obstacles at Eggman's lair. However, they got smashed when trying to stop Sonic.[44] The Motobugs soon after met up with Eggman after he stole Bolts' intelligence chip. When Team Sonic, Mighton and Cyborg Sonic fought Eggman for the chip however, it ended up in a Motobug. Although it benefitted from the chip, the Motobug passed it onto another Badnik before it got smashed by the heroes. This continued until Eggman surrendered the chip after it ended up in Mombot.[45]

A battalion of Motobugs eventually came to Eggman's defense when the Cubot prototypes and D-Fekt tried to take down Eggman. However, the Motobugs were no match for D-Fekt, who easily defeated them.[46] More Motobugs were later called in by Eggman to fight Sonic after the hedgehog upset the doctor. Like always however, the Motobugs got pulverized by Sonic. Later on, Eggman had his Motobugs and other Badniks fight a losing battle against Team Sonic while he mo-capped the heroes' moves for a video game.[47]

Archie Comics[]

Boom Shaka-laka[]

Moto Bug Sonic Boom Archie

A Motobug, from Sonic Boom #5.

A few Motobugs were called in by Dr. Eggman to destroy Sonic, only to get smashed by Team Sonic. At the Eggtoberfest, hordes of Motobugs were also unleashed on the villagers by Eggman when he could not earn the villagers' trust. Fortunately, they were crushed by Team Sonic.[48]

Game appearances[]

Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom[]

Motobug Sonic Dash

Motobugs in Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom.

In Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, the Motobug is one of the enemies encountered during the stages. When they spot the playable characters, they will start driving towards them for a premature collision. Like other enemies, they can be defeated with a single attack.

In later updates to the game, the Motobug makes an appearance on the High Score menu, holding the thirteenth place with a score of 10,000 points.

Personality[]

Incapable of speech, the Motobugs are most of the time single-minded, ruthless in battle, and unquestioningly dedicated to their leader's orders. While they have no noteworthy personalities, they do possess an AI that grants them a degree of free will and emotional capabilities, allowing them to make their own choices and express things like dislikes, festive behavior, celebrative actions, surprise and even fear.[1][7][29][30] Regardless of this, the Motobugs are weak-willed and depend on Eggman to avoid being sent to the scrapheap, meaning they cannot act independently for long before coming groveling back to the doctor.[1]

As per their programming, the Motobugs will only obey orders after being threatened.[11]

Powers and abilities[]

Moto Bug Missile Launcher

A Motobug with its launcher activated.

The Motobugs have moderate speed thanks to their design and are equipped with several additional abilities. They are capable of flight for aerial combat,[6] possess a laser targeting system on their forehead,[10] and can fire small energy beams.[14] They are also each fitted with a retractable missile launcher/laser cannon for ground- and aerial combat.[8][17][25] As Eggman robots, they are also able to receive power remotely from Eggman's lair.[27][49]

Weaknesses[]

The Motobugs are rather clumsy and when they crash they are practically incapacitated. They are also fragile, as a simple well-aimed, and sometimes even weak, whack is enough to disable them.[3][37] Their antennas are especially weak points as pulling them out will make them fall apart.[13] Additionally, their missiles are so sensitive that they can be intercepted with paper airplanes.[41]

Being Eggman robots, the Motobugs rely on Eggman's lair to provide them with power. As such, should the lair run out of power, then they will too.[49]

Trivia[]

  • The Motobug was the first Badnik-based robot from the Sonic the Hedgehog video games to appear in the Sonic Boom television series and the first to be addressed by name.
    • Coincidently, the Moto Bug was the first enemy encountered in the video games.
  • The Motobugs are the only Badniks whose name do not have the word "Bot" as a suffix.
  • According to Eggman, the Motobugs are costly to produce.[11]
  • Bill Freiberger has explained that the reason the Motobugs have retained their name from their game counterparts is because their name describe what they are, as opposed to the Crabmeat/Crab Bot and Buzz Bomber/Bee Bot.[2]

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Beardmore, Marie (14 January 2017). "Strike!". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 62. Boomerang.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Bill Freiberger on Twitter. Twitter (28 November 2015). Retrieved on 30 November 2015. "Dustin Phillips: "Crab Bots?" You can get Motobugs right but not Crabmeat? #SonicBoom / Bill Freiberger: It's not a question of getting it right. We decided to call them Crab bots in #SonicBoom. / Dustin Phillips: Fair enough. I just found it weird since the Motobugs were called by name. / Bill Freiberger: That's because Motobugs describe what Motobugs are whereas crabmeat does not describe what Crab Bots are."
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Polsky, Dave (15 November 2014). "Translate This". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 3. Cartoon Network.
  4. Watson, Mitch (22 November 2014). "Fortress of Squalitude". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 6. Cartoon Network.
  5. Derrien, Jean-Christophe; Liemt, Romain Van (6 December 2014). "Eggheads". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 8. Cartoon Network.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Beechen, Adam (17 January 2015). "Guilt Tripping". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 9. Cartoon Network.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (24 January 2015). "Dude, Where's My Eggman?". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 10. Cartoon Network.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Banker, Mark; Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (7 February 2015). "Circus of Plunders". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 12. Cartoon Network.
  9. Pugsley, Tom; Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (31 January 2015). "Cowbot". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 11. Cartoon Network.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Polsky, Dave (14 February 2015). "Unlucky Knuckles". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 13. Cartoon Network.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Van Liemt, Romain; Derrien, Christophe (21 February 2015). "The Meteor". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 14. Cartoon Network.
  12. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (28 February 2015). "Aim Low". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 15. Cartoon Network.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Harrison, Reid (14 March 2015). "Don't Judge Me". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 17. Cartoon Network.
  14. 14.0 14.1 Lieblich, Doug (18 April 2015). "The Curse of Buddy Buddy Temple". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 22. Cartoon Network.
  15. Raut-Siezac, Natalys (25 April 2015). "Let's Play Musical Friends". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 23. Cartoon Network.
  16. Gutierrez, Freddie (2 May 2015). "Late Fees". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 24. Cartoon Network.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Harrison, Reed (16 May 2015). "Eggman Unplugged". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 26. Cartoon Network.
  18. Harrison, Reid (13 July 2015). "Chez Amy". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 27. Cartoon Network.
  19. Raut-Siezac, Natalys (15 July 2015). "Curse of the Cross Eyed Moose". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 29. Cartoon Network.
  20. Freiberger, Sam (21 July 2015). "Eggman the Auteur". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 33. Cartoon Network.
  21. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (22 July 2015). "Just a Guy". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 34. Cartoon Network.
  22. Moarbes, Charles-Henri (23 July 2015). "Two Good to Be True". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 35. Cartoon Network.
  23. Grenier, Benoit (24 July 2015). "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 36. Cartoon Network.
  24. Harrison, Reid (22 August 2015). "Tails' Crush". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 40. Cartoon Network.
  25. 25.0 25.1 Harrison, Reid (5 September 2015). "Late Night Wars". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 42. Cartoon Network.
  26. Van Liemt, Romain; Grenier, Benoit (26 September 2015). "Robot Battle Royale". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 45. Cartoon Network.
  27. 27.0 27.1 Freiberger, Sam; Crede, Phaea; Shatraw, Justin (3 October 2015). "No Robots Allowed". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 46. Cartoon Network.
  28. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (14 November 2015). "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog". Sonic Boom. Season 1. Episode 52. Cartoon Network.
  29. 29.0 29.1 Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (29 October 2016). "Tommy Thunder: Method Actor". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 53. Cartoon Network.
  30. 30.0 30.1 Grenier, Benoit (3 December 2016). "Alone Again, Unnaturally". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 56. Boomerang.
  31. Shriver, Paul (31 December 2016). "In the Midnight Hour". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 60. Boomerang.
  32. Grenier, Benoit (21 January 2017). "The Evil Dr. Orbot". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 63. Boomerang.
  33. Raut-Sieuzac, Natalys (28 January 2017). "Knuck Knuck! Who's Here?". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 64. Boomerang.
  34. Grenier, Benoit (25 February 2017). "Knine-to-Five Knuckles". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 68. Boomerang.
  35. Sellner, Joelle (1 April 2017). "Mombot". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 73. Boomerang.
  36. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg; Freiberger, Bill (13 May 2017). "Robots From The Sky Part 2". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 79. Boomerang.
  37. 37.0 37.1 Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg; Freiberger, Bill (20 May 2017). "Robots From The Sky Part 3". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 80. Boomerang.
  38. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg; Freiberger, Bill (27 May 2017). "Robots From The Sky Part 4". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 81. Boomerang.
  39. Beardmore, Marie (3 June 2017). "Flea-ing From Trouble". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 82. Boomerang.
  40. Denton, Alan; Hahn, Greg (24 June 2017). "Sticks and Amy's Excellent Staycation". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 85. Boomerang.
  41. 41.0 41.1 Freiberger, Sam (1 July 2017). "Inn Sanity". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 86. Boomerang.
  42. Joly, Sandrine (15 July 2017). "The Haunted Lair". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 88. Boomerang.
  43. Beardmore, Marie (29 July 2017). "Eggman's Anti Gravity Ray". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 90. Boomerang.
  44. Gutierrez, Freddie (30 September 2017). "Three Minutes or Less". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 97. Boomerang.
  45. Harrison, Reid (28 October 2017). "Eggman Family Vacation". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 101. Boomerang.
  46. Pontac, Ken; Graff, Warren (4 November 2017). "Return to Beyond the Valley of the Cubots". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 102. Boomerang.
  47. Derrien, Jean-Christophe (11 November 2017). "Eggman: The Video Game Part 1". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 103. Boomerang.
  48. Sonic Boom #5, "Eggtoberfest!"
  49. 49.0 49.1 Raut-Sieuzac, Natalys (4 March 2017). "Blackout". Sonic Boom. Season 2. Episode 69. Boomerang.
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