Gerald Robotnik (Sonic Speed)

Gerald Robotnik is a character in ''Sonic Speed. ''He was a human scientist and the grandfather of Maria Robotnik and Dr. Eggman. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest minds of all time, Gerald was responsible for several groundbreaking creations including his greatest achievement, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Background
Gerald Robotnik comes from a long line of brilliant scientists and being the greatest mind of his time, Gerald set out to help the world by dedicating his life's work to the people of Earth and bring them happiness and hope through science. During his career, Gerald accomplished many great things, his most remarkable creation being the Space Colony ARK, the world's first space colony which he designed. Eventually, Gerald had a granddaughter named Maria Robotnik, which he became extremely fond of. Gerald would come to live and work with Maria onboard the ARK, where he took care of his granddaughter, who needed constant attention because she suffered from Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, an incurable and inevitably fatal disease.

Over fifty years prior to season six, Gerald, at the height of his career, got a letter from the by-then President of the United Federation who requested to help with a medical project named "Project Shadow" which was mean't to research immortality and create an "immortality formula". Initially, Gerald stubbornly refused the request, believing they were crossing the limits of man and that this research could be used for war. However, when realizing that the project could be used to develop a cure for Maria's illness, Gerald eventually accepted the President's request and agreed to lead the project on the Space Colony ARK.

Gerald and his colleagues eventually produced the prototype of the ultimate lifeform, the Biolizard. While it lived up to many of their expectations as it grew, the creature was too flawed. In addition to unruly nature, weak limbs and reliance on machinery for survival, Gerald noticed the Biolizard grew too fast and requested to control part on it's vital organs was reinforced. Despite these results, Gerald and his colleagues could move onto the main project and created a new version of the Biolizard, but with a more desirable physique, Shadow the Hedgehog. Unwilling to make Shadow a weapon though, Gerald gave him a heart and soul similar to Maria so he would not breed conflict. During Project Shadow, Gerald would also create more artificial creatures on behalf of GUN who wanted their own "Chaos monsters". His experiments eventually led to the creation of the experimental Artificial Chaos units.

When Shadow neared his completion, Gerald learned the government became uneasy about Project Shadow and they considered cutting funding. Eventually, Gerald's years of research bore fruit when Shadow was finally created, possessing both immortality, high intelligence, own identity and independence. Learning however that the government planned to cease the research after deeming Shadow a threat to mankind. During the time Shadow was raised, Gerald unintentionally had an accident with the Artificial Chaos which caused them to run loose. Gerald himself dictated this mistake to his old age but fortunately, Shadow ensured the situation was brought under control.

Gerald's suspicions were confirmed when GUN attacked the Space Colony ARK some time after the completion of Project Shadow to eliminate everything and everyone related to the project and shut the ARK down. During the attack however, Gerald put his finishing touches on Shadow. When GUN's Special Forces rushed into the ARK's research institute, Gerald entrusted Shadow to Maria and told her to escape in some escape pods with him before running in the opposite direction to draw unwanted attention away from the two. He later watched one of the escape pods being ejected from the ARK and was sure that Shadow and Maria had escaped.

Gerald was eventually captured under the guise of disappearing under mysterious circumstances and taken to Prison Island, where he was forced to continue his experiments under military control. Meanwhile, when it was released to the public that the ARK was shut down due to an accident, Gerald was blamed for causing it. Gerald saw Maria among the list of casualties when the ARK was shut down and was grief-stricken. Unable to cope with his loss, Gerald began to lose control of his thoughts as he could only think of avenging Maria and ending everything, something which scared him.

In the end, Gerald lost his grip on reality and went insane, devoting himself to avenging Maria by destroying humanity. When it was thought that he was continuing his research with Shadow, Gerald secretly created a program that would cause the Space Colony ARK to fall to Earth and destroy the planet once the seven Chaos Emeralds were placed into the Eclipse Cannon and set as well the Biolizard up to ensure this. Gerald then brainwashed Shadow, altering his memories so that he would carry out his plan. Soon afterwards, Gerald was incarcerated on Prison Island by the military when they began to fear how he could retaliate. Just before he was executed, Gerald's last action was leaving behind a recording where he would condemn the ungrateful world to destruction for the fate of Maria.