TF Views

If you make any changes to your votes, please post them separately, let me know clearly that you're making changes or else I'll probably miss those changes.

Tigermegatron wrote:Here's my votes:

(1) Rodimus Prime/Hotrod,their the same persona bot,so they count as one not two.
(2) Ultra Magnus
(3) Galvatron
(4) Sixshot
(5) Blackarachnia

I was going to go with you on the Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime being the same character thing, but then you mention Galvatron and I realized that if Galvatron and Megatron are different guys, then Rodimus and Hot Rod could be too. I'll count it for now, but some more input would be helpful. Thoughts?

Mako Crab wrote:I'm going to try and get a good sampling from the many different TF lines out there.

1. Rhinox- brains, brawn, and a great personality.
2. SkyByte- he's the smartest shark in town.
3. Cybertron Scourge- I like his look, his dragon mode, and his character arc.
4. Arcee- the most famous fembot in TF history. Plus, she's not half bad either.
5. Armada Sideways- my favorite incarnation of Unicron's herald.
6. Blackarachnia- One of my all-time favorites from Beast Wars.

Please only include 5 votes, I will not be counting any votes beyond that.

Also, I am counting Arcee there as the G1 character, but I suppose we now definitively have to make it clear since there's the Prime character.

Dominic wrote:JT, what is the dead line on this?

Second paragraph in the thread, it's one lone sentence. Why do I even bother? March 1st, a scant 6 days away.

My initial choices:

-Barricade: New and recognizable character from the movie.

-Mirage: Iconic character from G1. Had defining moments in early issues of the comics and episodes of the cartoon.

-Prowl: An iconic character that has gotten a sustained and meaningful push in recent years

-Thundercracker: Iconic character. And, post-Thundergate.

-Bludgeon: A late run character that has become iconic.

I will assume you intend this to be in RANKED order, but if not I'm reminding you that I'm inputting those votes as such.


Just changed my list, pulled Ravage for Tarantulas.

JediTricks wrote:I was going to go with you on the Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime being the same character thing, but then you mention Galvatron and I realized that if Galvatron and Megatron are different guys, then Rodimus and Hot Rod could be too. I'll count it for now, but some more input would be helpful. Thoughts?

If I may weigh in on the Galvatron/Rodimus thing, I think various contexts, and how the characters are and have been treated has a lot to do with it. Galavatron (in G1) was rebuilt from what was left of Megatron, but was generally treated as a new/separate character by just about all of the media, and the characters within. On top of that, the most recent iteration of Galvatron has him as a new character who has nothing to do with Megatron (or even the Decepticons; technically, he’s an Autobot!). Saying that Galvatron counts as just another version of Megatron would be like trying to argue that Scourge and Thundercracker are the same character when, really, they aren’t.

Conversely, Rodimus Prime is generally treated as just the powered-up version of Hot Rod. Hell, the name ‘Rodimus’ is used interchangeably on toys for both versions these days, and in the current comics, the ‘upgrade’ from Hot Rod to Rodimus Prime consisted *solely* of a name change. Trying to argue that Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime are separate characters is like trying to argue that Tidal Wave and Mirage are separate characters when, really, they aren’t.

Guys like Rhinox/Tankorr, now *that’s* where things get murky.

Kinda feel like I should swap Galvatron into my list now...

BWprowl wrote:

JediTricks wrote:I was going to go with you on the Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime being the same character thing, but then you mention Galvatron and I realized that if Galvatron and Megatron are different guys, then Rodimus and Hot Rod could be too. I'll count it for now, but some more input would be helpful. Thoughts?

If I may weigh in on the Galvatron/Rodimus thing, I think various contexts, and how the characters are and have been treated has a lot to do with it. Galavatron (in G1) was rebuilt from what was left of Megatron, but was generally treated as a new/separate character by just about all of the media, and the characters within. On top of that, the most recent iteration of Galvatron has him as a new character who has nothing to do with Megatron (or even the Decepticons; technically, he’s an Autobot!). Saying that Galvatron counts as just another version of Megatron would be like trying to argue that Scourge and Thundercracker are the same character when, really, they aren’t.

Conversely, Rodimus Prime is generally treated as just the powered-up version of Hot Rod. Hell, the name ‘Rodimus’ is used interchangeably on toys for both versions these days, and in the current comics, the ‘upgrade’ from Hot Rod to Rodimus Prime consisted *solely* of a name change. Trying to argue that Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime are separate characters is like trying to argue that Tidal Wave and Mirage are separate characters when, really, they aren’t.

Guys like Rhinox/Tankorr, now *that’s* where things get murky.

Kinda feel like I should swap Galvatron into my list now...

How do you guys let IDW get away with stuff like that Galvatron situation?

Rodimus is used only because Hasbro didn't protect the name "Hot Rod" when they had it. But the character is different when he has the Matrix, it's just that as a character, Rodimus Prime sucks and thus falls back to Hot Rod levels, where Scourge/Thundy and Megs/Galvs (minus that IDW thing, c'mon folks!) are more definitive in personalities.

Thanks for the input.

JediTricks wrote:How do you guys let IDW get away with stuff like that Galvatron situation?

It gets worse: Goldbug is a completely separate character from Bumblebee in IDW.

I honestly wasn’t crazy about it at first. In fact, Spotlight: Galvatron, which introduced the character, was my single most hated comic of that year. Of course, there was plenty that was un-Galvatron about the character besides the fact that he didn’t used to be Megatron. Anyway, then Dan Abnett took IDW Galvy and did even lamer things with him in Heart of Darkness, and then finally Costa made him halfway interesting in Chaos (I was the only one who thought so, though. I get the feeling Chaos is going to be my new Energon, except I think Chaos was legitimately good.). My point is, they *kinda* made it work, and IDW throws enough crazy differences between itself and 80’s G1 to begin with (same reason I like their take on Arcee, after all), that parsing Megatron and Galvatron when the two didn’t have terribly much in common to begin with didn’t seem like too big a departure.

Rodimus is used only because Hasbro didn't protect the name "Hot Rod" when they had it. But the character is different when he has the Matrix, it's just that as a character, Rodimus Prime sucks and thus falls back to Hot Rod levels, where Scourge/Thundy and Megs/Galvs (minus that IDW thing, c'mon folks!) are more definitive in personalities.

See, but Rodimus Prime fully remembers and acknowledges his time as Hot Rod, draws from those experiences and memories, plus everyone knows that Rodimus Is Hot Rod (hell, anyone remember the Blackthorne comics where it seemed like they were treating Rodimus Prime like the appears-periodically, He-Man-to-Prince-Adam-style alter-ego of Hot Rod?). Rodimus IS Hot Rod, just Hot Rod having to shoulder the responsibility of the entire Autobot army, and thus experiencing all the personality shifts that would result from such a thing. Similarly, would you say that Orion Pax is a separate character from Optimus Prime? This is as opposed to Galvatron, who acknowledges to himself his time spent as Megatron and the memories of it within himself, but strives to surpass those and become his own being, never admitting to others his previous incarnation. The fact that the two have radically different personalities helps the distinction. Galvatron USED TO be Megatron, but he’s not anymore, he’s somebody new.

Though I’ll be honest, while Megatron and Galvatron are definitely ‘more separate’ characters compared to Hot Rod/Rodimus, I’d be hard-pressed to say ‘how separate’ they are, at least in ‘classic’ G1. It might come down to a question like whether Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are separate characters or not, though I’d at least say that Megatron/Galvatron are a few more degrees separated than Anakin/Vader.

Thanks for the input.

Hey, no problem, that’s what this board is here for, right? And this could turn into a halfway-interesting discussion.

I will weigh in on the character questions in the other thread.

But, yeah, JT, treat Barricade as #1 (top choice) on my list.


Dom

Good thinking on taking the conversation to the other thread, I will too.

I guess I'll take what I was gonna chime in with over there as well.

1. Devastator: Not my favorite combiner at all, but he was the first combiner in TFs. Besides, when Devastator was the only combiner, then combining meant something. The Autobots couldn't get, say, the Protectobots to combine to fight him, they were just boned. Remember the scene in the G1 movie where Devastator showed up? Real sense of menace on his part, and general boned-ness on the Autobot's part? That's why he's #1 on my list.

2. Unicron: I know he's kind of old hat now, but the basic concept (planet that turns into a robot! CRAP!) is pretty solid. And if it wasn't cool in the first place, it wouldn't have been done to death.

3. Bludgeon: Pretty much for the same reasons already expressed. Cool-looking new villain character that was kind of a big deal in the later comics.

4. Ravage: Just a unique character when he showed up, and pretty damn weird when you think about it. Robot kitty?

5. Lockdown: I like that he was a new character, that he had a cool appearance and a freaky gimmick to his character, and that he had one of my favorite actors as his VA. I don't need a "good" reason, just a reason, right?

Hm.... Choices, choices...

1. Ravage
2. Blackarachnia
3. Wheeljack
4. Jetfire
5. Predaking

Since we can only pick 5, I took Cybertron Scourge off my list.

Sparky Prime wrote:Hm.... Choices, choices...

1. Ravage
2. Blackarachnia
3. Wheeljack
4. Jetfire
5. Predaking

Now that's interesting. I'm curious, Sparky, why Predaking? Don't get me wrong, I'm a very pro-Predaking kind of guy, but he seems like an odd choice. I'm certainly not looking to argue the point, but care to share your reasoning behind that selection?