The Professor Princess Poll

[GoktimusPrime]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/Professorprincess.jpg

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4wyba945R4)

TFwiki page (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Professor_Princess)

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I personally hate this character. Human characters should only exist in Transformers for two reasons (other than background mooks): either as an empathic device for the audience (e.g.: Sari, the Witwickies etc.) or as a complication for the protagonists (e.g.: villains, teen-Sari).

Human villains is nothing new to Transformers. We had our fair share in G1 such as the Robot Master, the Road Jammers, Lord Chumley, Circuit Breaker - the list goes on. On the whole, human villains tended to suck and haven't been popular with the fandom - except for Circuit Breaker. She just rocks. This isn't including human villains who've crossed over such as COBRA, Doctor Doom etc. Even other human agencies such as III, RAAT and Sector 7, the Doctor (yeah, he's not human but for the purposes of this discussion we'll lump him with humans) served as complications for the protagonists but without being actual villains. I'll call them "human complications" since they're not all villains.

But the human villains in Animated make all the G1 human complications look good. Some of them aren't even really complications - they don't provide a substantial hindrance for the protagonists. Some do - and are yet still stupidly lame in the process (e.g.: The Headmaster). But Professor Princess is not in this league... she is just utterly _useless_ as a meaningful plot device, serving as nothing more than a distracting waste of airtime - the very reason why fans loathe characters like Daniel Witwicky, Wheelie and Jar Jar Binks.

Then there's what G1 writer David Wise calls the "Balonium Factor" (or BS factor). It abounds in the Professor Princess character. First of all, how the hell did Penny Princess get a Ph.D? She barely seems to have the emotional maturity of a kindergartener. Powdered Sugar's origin isn't explained, but I suppose if she constructed her steed and weaponry then she's obviously quite a genius... yet obviously retarded. Maybe she's severely autistic... maybe a Savant! (that might explain her obsession with people saying "please"). :p

Then there's her theme - the embodiment of several girls' toys such as My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Popples, Sailormoon etc. rolled into one character, waging a war against violent boys toys. While there is a philosophical argument over the sexism in boys and girls toys, this character fails to really address it. I find this issue was better addressed in characters like Beachcomber (via his pacifism amidst the Transformers' war).

Overall I would not miss this character at _all_ if she were to never ever reappear in Transformers canon. Ever.

I did like how they did take the mickey out of her in the "SUV" episode with Nanosec's interaction with her - effectively the writers admitting that this _is_ a lame character (much like how Lucas gave Binks far smaller roles (and with fewer spoken lines) in Episodes II and III); or at least an admission that she's not a very popular character.

No more stupid villains... please. (-_-)

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My Little Transformers (http://www.mylittletransformer.com/main.html) (My Little Pony vs. Transformers)

[liegeprime]

OKies you forgot a third reason for human characters in TF stories Gok.... hapless, fightless victims, Cannon fodder, Something to squish, maim, gore, incinerate, vaporize, exterminate, crush, eviscerate, KILL, KILL, KILL!!! hope that was clear enough...:D

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, that's what I meant by "background mooks." :)

[SMHFConvoy]

Geeze guys chillax...

She appeared in 2 episodes her role was quite small and in her first appearance Bulkhead crushed Powdered Sugar. She's cannon fodder. I think that she's probably a nod to the 80's toys for girls around at the time, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony.

What I find most amusing is that despite the fact that Gok says the character is, "retarded" he still wants a back story. How did Prof Princess make her horse? Where did she get a Ph.D?

Admit it a small part of you likes the character :D

[kup]

Geeze guys chillax...

She appeared in 2 episodes her role was quite small and in her first appearance Bulkhead crushed Powdered Sugar. She's cannon fodder. I think that she's probably a nod to the 80's toys for girls around at the time, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony.

What I find most amusing is that despite the fact that Gok says the character is, "retarded" he still wants a back story. How did Prof Princess make her horse? Where did she get a Ph.D?

Admit it a small part of you likes the character :D

Yeah one small appearance and another not so small. However this character is at such a level of suck that it just leaves you dumbfounded for the remainder of the episode.

It's like if you are watching...say Aliens...and right in the middle of the movie for no apparent reason everyone begins dancing and singing at the tune of Rick Rol for about 30 seconds then stop and go about as normal. Wouldn't that tiny amount of time ruin your enjoyment of the movie even if the rest was absolutely great?

[GoktimusPrime]

She appeared in 2 episodes her role was quite small and in her first appearance Bulkhead crushed Powdered Sugar. She's cannon fodder.
She also appeared in "Whatever Happened To Whatshisname" (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Arrival_issue_2#.22Whatever_Happened_To_Whatsh isname.3F.22), "Sound and Fury" (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sound_and_Fury) and "SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy" (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/SUV:_Society_of_Ultimate_Villainy). Her appearance in "Sound and Fury" was thankfully brief but she had more prominent roles in "Whatever Happened To Whatshisname" and "SUV." (although her appearance in SUV was the least dislikable to me).

Still - you do have a point. She's not as re-occurring as the effing Headmaster. I'd love to shove a 3m barge pole right up his tailpipe kick him in the janglies.


I think that she's probably a nod to the 80's toys for girls around at the time, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony.
No doubt's there... doesn't make her any less lame a character though. :p


What I find most amusing is that despite the fact that Gok says the character is, "retarded" he still wants a back story. How did Prof Princess make her horse? Where did she get a Ph.D?
I personally enjoy collecting knowledge on Transformers lore... I kinda have a reputation of being a walking TF encyclopaedia. :p


Admit it a small part of you likes the character
Maybe if she were 13 years older and appeared in KISS Pla--uh, I mean NO! I totally... don't... um... like her.

LOOK! A purple distraction! <flees>

[Demonac]

I don't see her as any worse than Robot Master, the Mechanic, Lord Chumley, Primacron, or a host of others I've done a better job of blocking from my mind.
And the above were major characters given heaps of (wasted) time to (not) develop.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

OKies you forgot a third reason for human characters in TF stories Gok.... hapless, fightless victims, Cannon fodder, Something to squish, maim, gore, incinerate, vaporize, exterminate, crush, eviscerate, KILL, KILL, KILL!!! hope that was clear enough...:D
You left out 'hostages' and 'slaves'.:D

[Paulbot]

She's a bit of fun, totally silly and easily forgetable.

I vote like.

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't see her as any worse than Robot Master, the Mechanic, Lord Chumley, Primacron, or a host of others I've done a better job of blocking from my mind.
And the above were major characters given heaps of (wasted) time to (not) develop.
As I said before, human (fleshling) villains have had a long and notorious history of suckage in TF history since G1. It was lame 25 years ago and it's still lame now... if not lamer. I just really hate the theme behind this character.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Lame and annoying, but that's the reason she is kind of amusing, gets a like from me.

[liegeprime]

You left out 'hostages' and 'slaves'.:D

Umm I dont believe in taking hostages, slaves yes, but any sign of uselessness, BLAM!!!, smoldering pile of cooked carbon. :)

[GoktimusPrime]

But humans do work well as hostages. It sure threw a monkey wrench in the Autobot's attack in "The Ultimate Doom" when the Decepticons used human slaves as shields. Slavery and hostages in one!

I'm gonna add Dr. Arkeville to my list of HVWDTS (Human Villains Who Don't Totally Suck). :p ;)

Circuit Breaker's still better though. Nearly nekkid super-powered babe >>> cybernetic Mr. Burns in a lab coat. :D

[i_amtrunks]

I know I am in the minority but I like Prof princess, she is a joke character, is portrayed as such, and is dealt with as such.

She's a joke at all the 80's girly cartoons expense, an amalgamation of Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Lady Lovely Locks etc made evil.

Certainly better than all other human villains in Animated bar Angry Archer.

[GoktimusPrime]

I get the joke - I just don't find it funny. And I find her to be my least favourite of the human villains in Animated... even below Angry Archer! <shudder>

Having said that, I think my favourite Animated human villain would have to be Meltdown. Of course, he's no longer human. Or living. Yeah, you get that in that line of work. And Slo-Mo is hot. ;)

[dirge]

Rainbow Brite is all about awesome. That is all.

[Golden Phoenix]

I get the joke - I just don't find it funny. And I find her to be my least favourite of the human villains in Animated... even below Angry Archer! <shudder>

But the kids might find it funny. They are the target audience. If they like her (or at least like seeing her as a bad guy) then she's going to keep coming back.
I did enjoy seeing her unicorn getting blown up and decapitated. I'm guessing others did too

[GoktimusPrime]

Well it's all subjective and my opinions are just my own. I'm sure there are people out there who love Wheelie and Daniel... and Jar Jar Binks. To each their own. :p

[kup]

Well it's all subjective and my opinions are just my own. I'm sure there are people out there who love Wheelie and Daniel... and Jar Jar Binks. To each their own. :p

I know of only one person who really likes Jar Jar. He was a bit weird though so that may have contributed to that.

[shokwave2]

I don't mind her. My kids love her because they're into My Little Pony, etc. And that's the audience the character is targeted at. Young boys and girls. No point getting worked up over a kids cartoon character. I find other TF robot characters more annoying.

[hotaru_oz]

meh I prefer My little pony

[GoktimusPrime]

Warning? - I'm not up to date with the airing of Animated Season 3 on Channel 10. This post contains information about Animated Season 3 which may or may not have aired on Australian television. Proceed at your own risk.
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Yeah but I'm still looking at it from a kid's POV and also why I've compared her to Daniel Witwicky and Wheelie - two characters who are notoriously widely disliked in Transfandom because a _lot_ of us really hated them when we watched the G1 cartoon in the 1980s as kids -- and there's a considerable census data (re: Rob Jung's Trannies) that verifies this. And the fandom was full of many people rejoicing when Daniel and Wheelie died a horrific gruesome death in the BotCon comic. ;)

Now to be fair, Professor Princess isn't quite as bad as Daniel and Wheelie. At least her appearances were _brief_ except for "Whatever Happened To Whatshisname?" where she _was_ the main antagonist in that story <shudder> and "SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy" where she did enjoy a more prominent role, but it was done to advance the story - and also, that episode paid out on her (as seen through her interactions with Nanosec)!


I find other TF robot characters more annoying.
Absolutely. The Dinobots are good example... just can't stand them in this series. And Wheelie is an example of a thoroughly loathsome TF character from G1.

The difference is that, as annoying as they are, you can forgive their appearance in the show because they're trying to market the toys -- let's face it, that's fundamentally what Transformers cartoons and comics are for, adverts for toys. I have far less patience for characters like Daniel Witwicky and Professor Princess because since there are no toys for these characters (well, there was no Daniel figurine at all during the 1980s) then what's the point of giving these characters so much air time that could've been otherwise spent showcasing more toys, er, I mean Transformer robots. I really dislike the Animated Constructicons for the exact same reason. In Seasons 1 and maybe 2 I could understand, because I think Hasbro at the time hadn't decided that they weren't going to not make toys of these characters. But seeing them appear again in Season 3, with a new Constructicon (Dirt Boss) irked me since we now know that Hasbro aren't going to make Animated Constructicon toys. I think this is the problem when develop Transformers as a cartoon first and toyline second - you end up with characters that you can't make into toys. I prefer the more traditional formula where Transformers is created as a toyline first and cartoon/comic series second.

Again, all this is JMHO. Interestingly enough the poll results are currently showing a nearly even split between those of us who like and dislike Professor Princess with a considerable number of people who just couldn't care less either way. ;)

[jacksplatt11]

Rob Jung's Trannies

Come on Gok, try to keep it family friendly :cool:

[Vector Sigma 13]

I said i dislike the character, however im am quite partial to "my little pony". Especially the cute pink ones...

[Seraphim Prime]

Her voice is painful to listen to.

But, I just picked up Transformers Animated: The Arrival Digest, and quite enjoyed her story with Starscream. It was silly and fun, and you got a sense of the playfulness of her character.

She's not really a villian (she says so herself in SUV) but is quite devilish and bratty, and sometimes ammusing...

If you only have to listen to her for two minutes at a time.

[liegeprime]

And the fandom was full of many people rejoicing when Daniel and Wheelie died a horrific gruesome death in the BotCon comic. ;)



Do you have this comic copy in particular or any link perhaps? . Im really interested to see and read how gruesome their deaths are..... hey it gives me closure alright:mad:

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, I have it. Remind me to let you read it next time you're at my place. :)
Until then and for everyone else who doesn't have this comic, you can read it about it here (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Daniel_Witwicky#Universe:_The_Wreckers) and here (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wheelie_(G1)#Universe).

Feel free to do the "Oh What A Feeling!" Toyota jump for joy. ;)

[SMHFConvoy]

You know the TFA universe has enough human villains to start it's own chapter of the Thunderbolts. Porter can be the Norman Osborn of the group.