R.B.R. ("Ruled By Robotnik" for short), sometimes spelled "RBR", also called R.R. and sometimes spelled "RR" ("Robotnik Rules" for short), is a phrase used to define the era in which Dr. Ivo Robotnik dominated Mobius as the planet's dictatorial master, with Sonic the Hedgehog leading the cohort of Freedom Fighters against him. It thus encompasses all events on Mobius between "Issue 9" and "Issue 100" of Sonic the Comic. This event plays an eponymous role in the complete Sonic the Hedgehog story "R.B.R." appeared in "Issue 227" of Sonic the Comic Online.
This age of tyranny however came to a climactic end when Sonic and his friends along with their allies won the battle for Mobius against Robotnik at his namesake Citadel which soon collapsed as the mad "emperor" was dethroned and his technocratic "kingdom" was out of power, but that gave rise to a new enemy faction, the sinister fanatic cult known as the Doctor Robotnik Appreciation Tribe (D.R.A.T.) who are "sympathizers" of the doctor and his "good work" and they seek to return the entire world to the "glory days" of Doctor Robotnik's rule.
Trivia
- The phrase "Ruled By Robotnik" was first employed in the Sonic story Megatox (Issue 10), although in that story the acronym used was "RR". "RBR", which flows more easily and reflects the age-old tradition of TLAs, was used in all subsequent stories.
- The R.B.R. era is implied to have lasted from 1993 to 1997, as it's been shown in multiple issues that Mobius uses the same calendar as Earth, and the comics generally take place in the same year they were published in.
