G1 Autobot and Decepticon naming and faction insignia's

[Ravagecat]

I'm curious to know how Hasbro come up with these? What was the inspiration behind the names of each faction and the insignia design etc. ??

Does anyone on this board know? Can anyone point me to a website, video link, interview, pre production sketches etc.

TF Wiki talks about the brand and all it's reincarnations but I haven't been able to find much about where the names Autobot and Decepticon came from and why they designed the insignia's the way they did.

Any info would be appreciated :cool:

[Sky Shadow]

I'm curious to know how Hasbro come up with these? What was the inspiration behind the names of each faction and the insignia design etc. ??

Does anyone on this board know? Can anyone point me to a website, video link, interview, pre production sketches etc.

TF Wiki talks about the brand and all it's reincarnations but I haven't been able to find much about where the names Autobot and Decepticon came from and why they designed the insignia's the way they did.

Any info would be appreciated :cool:

The designs aren't too tricky to work out - the Decepticon insignia is Soundwave's face and the Autobot one is Prowl/Bluestreak's.

http://i.imgur.com/9mBGFr7.png?1 (http://imgur.com/9mBGFr7)

[Paulbot]

The designs aren't too tricky to work out - the Decepticon insignia is Soundwave's face and the Autobot one is Prowl/Bluestreak's.

http://i.imgur.com/9mBGFr7.png?1 (http://imgur.com/9mBGFr7)

The question is why those two though?

It's something I've pondered as well. Soundwave I can understand... biggest of the toys they were planing to sell as "Decepticons", he might have considered as a "leader" character at some point.

But why Prowl of all the Diaclone cars. Police car equals Authori-tah?

(Although I do think you have to squint more to make Soundwave's face into the symbol than Prowl)

[Sky Shadow]

The question is why those two though?

It's something I've pondered as well. Soundwave I can understand... biggest of the toys they were planing to sell as "Decepticons", he might have considered as a "leader" character at some point.

But why Prowl of all the Diaclone cars. Police car equals Authori-tah?

(Although I do think you have to squint more to make Soundwave's face into the symbol than Prowl)

I think that was totally the reason - the police car would have been the chief of the robots of justice and the cassette player with the tape minions would be the leader of the evil henchmen. The biggest toys didn't necessarily have to be the leaders - look at lines like GoBots or M.A.S.K. In the original incarnation of the toyline, Optimus Prime could have just been a dumb load hauler whose job it was to carry the mighty Prowl around in his trailer. :p

[Paulbot]

In the original incarnation of the toyline, Optimus Prime could have just been a dumb load hauler whose job it was to carry the mighty Prowl around in his trailer. :p

That's an amusing take, and worth an appearance in the multiverse. ;)

But we are just guessing at it. Would be nice to find some evidence of how and why from the people at the time (if they are still around and remember).

A little while ago I had a thread idea and this was one of the questions I was going to put in it. I'll see if anyone else can help answer Ravagecat's query and then throw some other related questions out there.

[Sky Shadow]

The names Autobot and Decepticon would have been coined by one of Bob Budiansky, Jim Shooter or Denny O'Neil. Like the faction symbols, they're obviously not very deep compound words based on automaton, robot, deception and con.

It's always been a shame that no stories from the multiverse have addressed why the faction symbols have Soundwave, Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen's respective faces. Like a revelation that the Prowl 'mould' was the first of the Quintesson's production line of consumer goods. Or Megatron trying to draw a face for his revolution, continually stuffing it up and then getting Soundwave to pose for him. :D

[DELTAprime]

I remember with ROTF Hasbro (or Michael Bay, take your pick) tried to retcon the Decepticon logo as being The Fallen's face.

As for the actual origins according to TFwiki they are based on Soundwave and Prowl's faces and thats all they say. I guess this is a gap in the knowledge the fan base has.

[GoktimusPrime]

I remember with ROTF Hasbro (or Michael Bay, take your pick) tried to retcon the Decepticon logo as being The Fallen's face.
Yeah, and canonically speaking the Autobot logo is Primus' face. However there's no in-canon explanation as to why Soundwave and Prowl's faces happen to resemble the faces of The Fallen and Primus respectively.

[Sam]

The names Autobot and Decepticon would have been coined by one of Bob Budiansky, Jim Shooter or Denny O'Neil. Like the faction symbols, they're obviously not very deep compound words based on automaton, robot, deception and con.


I always thought they were called Autobots because most of them transformed into automobiles. But that's just my guess.

[Paulbot]

I always thought they were called Autobots because most of them transformed into automobiles. But that's just my guess.

Me too.

And it's better than "Autonomous Robotic Organisms" :p

[Sky Shadow]

Yeah, and canonically speaking the Autobot logo is Primus' face. However there's no in-canon explanation as to why Soundwave and Prowl's faces happen to resemble the faces of The Fallen and Primus respectively.

The Last Autobot and Vector Prime also have Autobot faces. It's like when people get plastic surgery to look like famous people. :p

[Ravagecat]

I had read about the idea of the insignias being based on transformer heads but dismissed it as something fans had made up :o;)

I would really like to get it from the horse's mouth (and not mach kick's :p)
An interview from Bob Budiansky or Jim Shooter's (Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time) talking about how they came up with the concepts would be awesome. I wonder whether Bob borrowed/reworked some of editor Denis O'neil's ideas "that did not meet with Hasbro's expectations" to get to what part he played in the TF creation process all those years ago??

What ever you can dig up would be great paulbot :cool:
I had spoken to Griffin about this and he suggested (if possible) contacting someone like Jim Sorenson - One of the authors from the recent "Transformers 30th Anniversary Collection" (TF Comic Books), as he has no doubt done a lot of research including interviewing a lot of the author's and editors etc of the time that were involved.

[liegeprime]

The Last Autobot and Vector Prime also have Autobot faces. It's like when people get plastic surgery to look like famous people. :p

Speaking of Plastic Surgery - don't forget Tarn now that is a decepticon whose face is a sigil by choice hehehe

[Ultra Mackness]

I wonder if there'll be anything on this in the upcoming Transformers Legacy G1 artwork book?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I do like the variations they are using for the latest Botcon toys. The Autobot symbol with a sorta crown for the Knights, and the Decepticon symbol modified with some crossed blades below it for the Pirates. The Autobot symbol with the lines off each side for the Elite Guard was well done too.

I remember back when G2 came out, even as a teenager I got angry that they had changed the symbols, but then who knew how large the mythology would grow!

[UltraMarginal]

I had read about the idea of the insignias being based on transformer heads but dismissed it as something fans had made up :o;)


I think you should still dismiss it that way. I personally think that matching prowls and Soundwaves heads to the insignias is like trying to fins shapes in the clouds, if you look hard enough, squint hard enough and hold your head at just the right angle you will always find a similarity.

The designs of the insignias, while simple are very elegant, something which has stood by the brand for 30 years now. I too would love to hear the real inspiration for the original design.

The names of the factions, while probalby based on automobile and Deception, are also something I'd like to hear from Bob Budiansky or someone from that time about.

Questions perhaps for Botcon attendees to follow up if given the chance.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Last Autobot and Vector Prime also have Autobot faces. It's like when people get plastic surgery to look like famous people. :p
Yeah, but at least they're canonically explainable (same w/ Tarn).

I remember back when G2 came out, even as a teenager I got angry that they had changed the symbols, but then who knew how large the mythology would grow!
Those symbols originated from late G1 though. G2 just carried them through. They are commonly referred to as "G2 symbols" among fans, but they are technically G1 symbols. G2 had no original faction symbols. Some G2 toys had the regular G1 symbols, while others had the late G1 symbols. Some had a combination of both; e.g. 1993 G2 Optimus Prime had regular G1 symbols on his shoulders, but the late G1 symbols tampographed on his leg with "Autobot" written alongside it. :)

Then there's G2 Jetfire... an Autobot who for some inexplicable reason sports factory-applied late G1 Decepticon logos! :confused: Perhaps he decided to switch back to being a 'Con. :p

[DELTAprime]

Speaking of Plastic Surgery - don't forget Tarn now that is a decepticon whose face is a sigil by choice hehehe

I really think thats what makes Tarn a great evil character.

[Ravagecat]

Determined not to give up on this I have found a bunch of links on Seibertron.com relating to interviews or public appearances of Bob Budiansky that I have started to sift through. Surely someone has asked the same question in one of the interviews with him? :rolleyes:
If anyone is interested in joining the search, the link is here (there are numbers at the bottom of the page with more links):

http://www.seibertron.com/search.php?cx=partner-pub-0391877597621602%3Aqt7wxxandf9&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=Bob+Budiansky&sa=Search

I did find out one piece of humorous info about Bob through what I have read so far. When he was coming up with names for the Transformers, he put forward the name "Highbeams" which apparently was quietly rejected by the female Hasbro representative he was presenting to. When he asked why she had to advise him it was slang for particular parts of the female body. :D;)

[Sinnertwin]

Sure, Budiansky wrote some of the most memorable characters, but it was the advertising agency Griffin Bacal that gave us the brands: The Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons and insignias ;)



In 1983, Griffin Bacal were asked by Hasbro to adapt two Japanese toy lines, Diaclone and Micro Change, for the American market. Griffin Bacal suggested to merge the two into one single series, and Jay Bacal, Joe's son, suggested the name "The Transformers". Griffin Bacal also had the idea of making the robots the main characters of the series (the Diaclone backstory had portrayed them as piloted mecha) and make them sentient alien machine lifeforms. Lastly, Griffin Bacal divided the robots into two groups, "Autobots" (good) and "Decepticons" (evil) and designed faction logos for them, based on the heads of the robot toys that would later become known as Prowl and Soundwave, respectively.

[GoktimusPrime]

I did find out one piece of humorous info about Bob through what I have read so far. When he was coming up with names for the Transformers, he put forward the name "Highbeams" which apparently was quietly rejected by the female Hasbro representative he was presenting to. When he asked why she had to advise him it was slang for particular parts of the female body. :D;)
I guess making it singular (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/High_Beam) was less offensive (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121029021135/villains/images/2/2f/Kung_pow_betty_laugh.jpg). :p

[Ravagecat]

Sure, Budiansky wrote some of the most memorable characters, but it was the advertising agency Griffin Bacal that gave us the brands: The Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons and insignias ;)

Thanks for the info Sinnertwin. I had read somewhere I think it was on Jim Shooters (Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time) Blog page (read so much lately I'm going cross-eyed :confused:) http://www.jimshooter.com/ that Griffin Bacal were somehow involved with the Transformers but thought it was just with the process of getting the name out there. Jim claims that Hasbro came up with the name Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons as seen here http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/06/secret-origin-of-transformers-part-1.html (very bottom of page). Which all makes sense now...

Hasbro employ Griffin Bacal to do something creative with this new awesome robot line/s they have nabbed the rights to ----> Griffin Bacal come up with the Idea of calling them Transformers and break them into different allegiances ---> Hasbro accepts their idea and goes to Marvel to come up with a back story and character names and bios :D


I guess making it singular (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/High_Beam) was less offensive (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121029021135/villains/images/2/2f/Kung_pow_betty_laugh.jpg). :p

Ha ha...yeah apparently ;) Begs the question how the name Squeezeplay was ever approved ;):rolleyes:

[Sinnertwin]

Nexus Maximus. I shall say no more
:p

[griffin]

What about Powercore Combiner Spastic. That was a brain explosion by someone at Hasbro legal.

[Sinnertwin]

What about Powercore Combiner Spastic. That was a brain explosion by someone at Hasbro legal.

Wouldn't be the first time either. 2011's Voyager Strafe also had the word 'spastic' used in his bio

http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/rts-autobots-470/strafe-4543/

[UltraMarginal]

Ha ha...yeah apparently ;) Begs the question how the name Squeezeplay was ever approved ;):rolleyes:

Squeeze play (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_play_(baseball)) is also a baseball term which is the first thing I think about when hearing it.

like spastic, the American term for the word is not considered offensive compared to other places in the world, though spastic, I'm also surprised wasn't picked up.

I recall the outcry over the Black Eyed Peas song "Lets get Retarded in Here" not the public response they were perhaps looking for but oh such good publicity.