Ivo Robotnik's coup d'état/Pre-SGW

Ivo Robotnik's coup d'état was an event that took place in the Kingdom of Acorn where the evil scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik took over the city of Mobotropolis, from which he launched his campaign to conquer the rest of Mobius. This would lead to his eventual conflict with Sonic the Hedgehog and the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

Planning and Deceit
The planning for the coup took place years before it actually occurred. The Overlander Julian Kintobor had been taken in by the Kingdom of Acorn after fleeing from his own kind, who was planning to imprison him for conspiracy to commit murder on his own people. Once taken in, Julian became the assistant to the Acorn Kingdom's Warlord, Kodos, to assist him in defeating the Overlanders and help win the Great War. Kodos, who was originally planning on launching the coup and taking control, offered Julian to join him. Inspired by the idea of conquest, Julian instead knocked Kodos unconscious with the Atomic Mace and threw him into the Zone of Silence. Following the "disappearance" of Kodos, Julian assumed the mantle of Warlord. From there, he began the construction of various machines and devices which ultimately allowed the Mobians to defeat the Overlanders in the Great War. (StH: #50, #72, #74)

During the war, Julian's wayward nephew Colin "Snively" Kintobor Jr. defected to his side and aided him in both his war tactics and his plans for the coup. Julian, needing an army to overthrow both King Maximillian Acorn, and the Overlord Charlemagne, raided the neutral village of Kar Leung and captured its residents. He turned them all into cyborgs, but only Ken Khan survived the process and rebelled against Julian for killing his people, forcing Julian to lock him up in stasis. Julian would later arrange a sword duel between King Max and the Overlord, and the loser's faction would have to surrender. However unknown to the two, Julian planned for this duel to make his takeover easy. He saw that if Max won, Charlemagne's regime wouldn't be a threat to Julian's new order, and if Charlemagne won, Julian would lead the Mobians into endless war. King Max was able to defeat the Overlord and spared his life, however. The Overlanders then surrendered and left Mobius much to Julian's dismay who wanted to enslave his species, and neither one of his politicial rivials were killed. (StH: #78, #86, #87)

Prior to the Great War's end, Julian had discovered the Roboticizer, a device created by Sir Charles Hedgehog in order to prolong the life of the sick and elderly. Believing it could come very useful in his rule, Julian sabatoged the Roboticizer. When Charles roboticized his brother due to an injury the latter received during a battle in the Great War, he discovered Jules lost his free will and that roboticization caused more problems than it solved. Thus, he decided to give away the device to Julian believing he could perfect it more better and end his career as a scientist. Eventually, this would become a fundamental part of Julian's coup. (StH: #77, #78)

The Coup
Shortly after the end of the Great War, King Maximillian Acorn informed Warlord Julian that he was to dismantle the War Ministry immediately, as the king had made him the Minister of Science and there was no need for the army now. Unbeknownst to King Max, Julian had other plans. By this point, Julian had developed the SWATbot model and had it in full production. That night, Julian gave Snively Robotnik permission to deploy the SWATbots and begin the coup.The Kingdom came under siege in several various locations simultaneously in order to prevent retaliation. King Max was soon brought before Julian, where Julian's schemes were finally revealed. Having renamed himself Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Julian demonstrated to King Max the roboticization process on several captured Mobians. Following this he proceeded to banish King Max into the Zone of Silence as he had with Kodos during the Great War. With the king now disposed of, Robotnik had his SWATbot army round up the remaining citizens of Mobotropolis and the Kingdom then roboticized them. Approximatly ninety percent of the city's population was roboticized, while the rest managed to escape to the Great Forest. (StH: #43)

Aftermath

 * See also: First Robotnik War

Robotnik's military coup had lasting global impacts and marked the beginning of Robotnik's ten year rule over the entire planet. Following his takeover of Mobotropolis, which he renamed Robotropolis - the main city of Robotnik's empire, the despot sent out his hordes of robotic armies to capture and roboticize other Mobians. Not long after taking Mobotropolis, Robotnik had even sent an army of SWATbots to his home city of Megapolis, only to discover it was completely abandoned. From the far off Kingdom of Mercia and Sand Blast City, to the wandering Lost Tribe of Echidnas, to the distant continent of Downunda, Robotnik managed to capture and roboticize Mobians all over the globe. From there, he placed various Lieutenants and regional dictators, such as the infamous High Sheriff and Crocbot, to ensure that any rebellious acts would be quelled. (StH: #58, #61, #62, #72, KtE: #11)

Background Information

 * Robotnik's coup and oust of King Acorn are slightly reminiscent of the events that took place in the SatAm series in the second season's two-part episode Blast to the Past. However, in that episode, the coup happened on day 13, 3224 as apposed to the comic book, in which it occurred on day 297-298, 3225.