Combiner Wars

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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BWprowl
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Re: Combiner Wars

Post by BWprowl »

Dominic wrote:
Which is even weirder (that idiotic plot twist being one reason I dropped the book notwithstanding) given that Devastator isn't *supposed* to be a Scamble-City-type Combiner, so whether he can be the 'same' guy while made up of different individual components wouldn't generally be an issue.
For somebody who usually complains about TF being too stuck in the 80s, you seem really hung up on Devastator's "rules" being changed.
I'm more hung up on the 'rules' of Combiners (Scramble City especially) in general, and I was just making the point that Devastator, now the single case we have of combining into the same named individual despite the 'leader' component being different, wouldn't have been par for the course until now, which was unusual.

(Honestly, the surviving Constructicons being retrofitted into a Scramble-City Combiner for use with Megatron is actually a really cool idea, it was just executed spectacularly badly and at the worst possible place in the story to do so.)
Sparks wrote:I wouldn't go so far as to say IDW Devastator is a near-Scramble-City type. Certainly he's modified to be more modular as a means to replace Scrapper, but Prowl isn't replacing a whole limb or the torso. He only makes up the head while the rest of Devastator's body is still made up of the 5 remaining Constructicons. With that in mind, and like Shockwave pointed out with Onslaught, I tend to think the main body of the Gestalt is what determines the combine entities identity.
That's a thing though, what defines 'main body' in this case? Does this mean that if the Hook/Long Haul 'main body'/torso of IDWevastator combined with four different limbs plus a different head, it would still be Devastator? Is Menasor still Menasor so long as it's Motormaster in the middle, even if he's not combined with those specific four race cars who hate him?
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Combiner Wars

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BWprowl wrote:That's a thing though, what defines 'main body' in this case? Does this mean that if the Hook/Long Haul 'main body'/torso of IDWevastator combined with four different limbs plus a different head, it would still be Devastator? Is Menasor still Menasor so long as it's Motormaster in the middle, even if he's not combined with those specific four race cars who hate him?
That's how I see it, particularly with the Scramble-City type's, that the main body/torso component would contain the 'core' of the Gestalt's identity. So regardless of interchangeability of the limbs the Gestalt always retains the same identity, while the limbs contribute to the personality and effectiveness of the Gestalt. Taking Menasor as an example, the Stunticons don't fuse together into one cohesive personality, but yet he still identifies as Menasor despite the Stunticons inability to seamlessly work together with Motormaster.
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JediTricks
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Re: Combiner Wars

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So far, Hasbro hasn't touched on scramble-city-style combining being a thing, they share a combination system but they aren't meant in Hasbro's mind to swap parts. They didn't do it in the Energon line either, from what I can remember. Power Core didn't care either. And Cybertron's 2-bot combinations didn't seem to matter much to the actual storytelling. So until Hasbro puts it into official storytelling, it doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things - you can have fun with it all you want, come up with crazy explanations like mental changes and personality changes - but without official storytelling additions, ONLY those teams can form their characters, and IDW has sidestepped this with specific manipulations rather than examples that anyone can do it at any time.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Combiner Wars

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JediTricks wrote:So far, Hasbro hasn't touched on scramble-city-style combining being a thing, they share a combination system but they aren't meant in Hasbro's mind to swap parts. They didn't do it in the Energon line either, from what I can remember.
Superion Maximus did in the final showdown between the 3 combiners. As I recall, he used his own limbs to pin Constructicon Maximus to a wall in order to take him out, and then Bruticus Maximus destroyed Superion's limbs, forcing him to finish the battle by combining with the Constructicon Maximus limbs instead.
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Re: Combiner Wars

Post by JediTricks »

Sparky Prime wrote:
JediTricks wrote:So far, Hasbro hasn't touched on scramble-city-style combining being a thing, they share a combination system but they aren't meant in Hasbro's mind to swap parts. They didn't do it in the Energon line either, from what I can remember.
Superion Maximus did in the final showdown between the 3 combiners. As I recall, he used his own limbs to pin Constructicon Maximus to a wall in order to take him out, and then Bruticus Maximus destroyed Superion's limbs, forcing him to finish the battle by combining with the Constructicon Maximus limbs instead.
There was a ghost brother involved too and central core bots that had both the gestalt personality as well as a totally separate personality, so I'm really not taking any of that as weighty considering it was not a main focus of that nonsensical shitshow called Energon.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Combiner Wars

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JediTricks wrote:There was a ghost brother involved too and central core bots that had both the gestalt personality as well as a totally separate personality, so I'm really not taking any of that as weighty considering it was not a main focus of that nonsensical shitshow called Energon.
I'm not so sure the central core bot's were both personalities, considering the series never really covered the individual robots that made up the combiners. But yeah, I wouldn't put much weight behind it either given the show really doesn't go into it, however, it is an example of a Gestalt using another team's limbs in the fiction.
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Re: Combiner Wars

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JediTricks wrote:So far, Hasbro hasn't touched on scramble-city-style combining being a thing, they share a combination system but they aren't meant in Hasbro's mind to swap parts.
Except for that art they put out of Optimus Prime combined with the Aerialbots...

Just for kicks, I asked Gomess about it too, since it was an interesting subject to me and he's the funnest geewunnest guy I know. His thoughts:
Gomess wrote:One school of thought: majority rules. If four Stunticons combine with Optimus Prime, they override his mind through force of will and *make* him part of Menasor.

Alternatively: only the preset teams get the preset names, everyone else gets mashups. Three Terrorcons+ two Combaticons = Abrutimus. This could get convoluted, but fun.
Amusing!
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JediTricks
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Re: Combiner Wars

Post by JediTricks »

BWprowl wrote:
JediTricks wrote:So far, Hasbro hasn't touched on scramble-city-style combining being a thing, they share a combination system but they aren't meant in Hasbro's mind to swap parts.
Except for that art they put out of Optimus Prime combined with the Aerialbots...
I haven't seen this yet. But either way, if it's in Hasbro promo art it MUST be correct, just ask Evolutions Strafe how he evolved from a sci-fi jet into a Pteranodon. :p Dude, they're just sellin' toys here, it's just to show off the combination system. And why shouldn't the limbs merge with OP? He's the leader of the Autobots, they should all kiss his ass! ;)
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Combiner Wars

Post by Sparky Prime »

JediTricks wrote:
BWprowl wrote:Except for that art they put out of Optimus Prime combined with the Aerialbots...
I haven't seen this yet. But either way, if it's in Hasbro promo art it MUST be correct, just ask Evolutions Strafe how he evolved from a sci-fi jet into a Pteranodon. :p Dude, they're just sellin' toys here, it's just to show off the combination system. And why shouldn't the limbs merge with OP? He's the leader of the Autobots, they should all kiss his ass! ;)
I recall seeing a comment from TFW2005's coverage of the Hasbro SDCC panel after they showed that image that they made Optimus a combiner just for the fun of it. Although I have to say it wouldn't surprise me if IDW incorporates that into their upcoming Combiner Wars storyarc, considering how they've been using the toys in the comics and in how they explained Devasator's ability to combine with anyone of compatible design.
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Re: Combiner Wars

Post by Onslaught Six »

Honestly, the entire "Prime combines with Aerialbots" is probably just so they could show that Prime was a Motormaster remould.

Speaking of, did they get his name back, or what? The last few Motormaster homages have been named Menasor.
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
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