Drift

[SilverDragon]

Considering how much the fandom loves the Generations Drift toy, I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.

Without the toy, Drift was to IDW what Scrappy-Doo was to Scooby-Doo, i.e. the one character that nearly everyone hated. Considering how much he's actually done within the comics (not much), this hate seems rather out of proportion. In my view, what's really to blame for Drift's unpopularity is a combination of IDW hype backlash, Drift not actually doing much despite what IDW have said, appearing in AHM (and so becoming the figurehead for the bad things about it), and the whole 'bad fancharacter' aspects.

(Some may claim Drift to be a Mary Sue (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue), or the male equivalent, Marty Stu. I direct those people to IDW Spike, who is much more of a Marty Stu than Drift ever was)

How do we rescue Drift from the Scrappy heap? I think the answer's simple: give him things to do. A character is not improved by not doing anything with them, and Drift has done nothing outside of AHM and his spotlight (the Robot Heroes book doesn't count). In the ongoing, Drift has appeared twice, both times as a background character. This hardly endears him to the audience, and so he isn't improving.

Drift's redemption may come in the upcoming miniseries exploring his origins, but I don't think there's much in his backstory that needs expanding on, unless it turns out that there IS. If he's to really improve, he needs to be able to contribute to the ongoing, considering that's where the plot is.

[Sky Shadow]

Considering how much the fandom loves the Generations Drift toy, I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.

Kill him.

...

...

...

"We all know that sometimes when cartoon characters die, they're back again the very next week. That's why I'm presenting this sworn affidavit that Drift will never, ever, ever return!"

[SharkyMcShark]

i.e. the one character that nearly everyone hated.

Not true. It's my experience having talked to other fans both online and in person that it's the very vocal minority that hate him. Most people don't mind him, or acknowledge that he's not done enough to warrant the amount of hate he gets.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Put him in a wreckers book and kill him, just look at Rotorstorm!

[Sky Shadow]

How do we rescue Drift from the Scrappy heap? I think the answer's simple: give him things to do. A character is not improved by not doing anything with them, and Drift has done nothing outside of AHM and his spotlight (the Robot Heroes book doesn't count). In the ongoing, Drift has appeared twice, both times as a background character. This hardly endears him to the audience, and so he isn't improving.

I'm pretty sure there's a rhetorical fallacy in there:

--

IDW [Punches SKY SHADOW in the shoulder several times.]

SKY SHADOW: Stop that!

SILVERDRAGON: Hmm... you sure don't seem to like being punched in the shoulder. I think I see the problem - you haven't been punched enough.

IDW [Punches SKY SHADOW some more.]

SKY SHADOW: Ow! Seriously, stop it. No, I just don't like being punched.

SILVERDRAGON: I get it. The punching is too subtle.

IDW [Punches SKY SHADOW harder.]

SKY SHADOW: #@*%! SilverDragon! I said I don't like being punched. There's nothing good about being punched. At all.

SILVERDRAGON: Ah. So we have to bring the punching to the forefront so you can like it more. IDW?

IDW [Punches SKY SHADOW in the face. SKY SHADOW is knocked out.]

SILVERDRAGON: Yes, that's much better.

[SharkyMcShark]

So essentially what you're saying is that the character has no redeeming features whatsoever, no potential to bring anything new to the table, and any and all use of him in any imaginable story arc (that doesn't involve his immediate death) is a slap in the face to you as a fan?

[Sky Shadow]

So essentially what you're saying is that the character has no redeeming features whatsoever, no potential to bring anything new to the table, and any and all use of him in any imaginable story arc (that doesn't involve his immediate death) is a slap in the face to you as a fan?

I agree with everything above except for the slap in the face bit.

[griffin]

Try to restrain yourself Skyshadow... I think everyone knows how negatively you feel about Drift. This is a topic asking about ways to improve the character. Anything derogatory towards the character is off-topic.

[liegeprime]

How do we rescue Drift from the Scrappy heap? I think the answer's simple: give him things to do.

Send him in the kitchen and chop up some onions, were also low on carrot slices and celery stick. He might as well put them 3 swords to good use.:p:D

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Well for a start, we could look at his change from Decepticon to Autobot. hopefully nothing too cheesey in the old horror stories stakes. I would be pleased with the a ideological shift in thinking via some speech that was made by a commanding officer/Megatron which has 2 ways of being interpretted and Drift thinks to himself, that's not what I think. Or something like that.

I agree that he hasn't done much, but sadly all he did do was stand around looking like a tool and being the stereotyped shallow 'cool, calm, collected arse kicking guy' which is what irritated me the most for some reason. I think he should've had a bit more input into a story earlier as there wasn'tt anything to support his character at all.

To summarise: An origin story.

[Tallestblue]

I think the people hate Drift hate him because he's new, and as a general rule, those Transformers fans seem to hate change. Ironic, because that's technically the point of Transformers. He's an Awesome toy, one of the best I've purchased this year, and certainly deserves a fair go.

Certainly Drift's backstory is a cut and paste of anime cliches, but in twenty years time maybe it won't look so bad, I mean, is Drift as bad a character concept as say Bludgeon? Bludgeon is aSkull-faced Samurai transformer constantly announcing he's a master of Metallikato. Okay, we get it. If Drift were created by Simon furman 20 years ago would he be so hated by that vocal minority? I thoroughly doubt it.

How to improve him? Maybe spend less tim focusing on how Awesome hes and more how flawed. Perhaps a few moment can spent detailing How Drift feels after a Decepticon attack? Or maybe be confronted by one of his past victims? Don't belabour the point til we are sick of it, but, Do something with him. other than what we've seen thus far.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Or for some real depth, have him as an Autobot confront a Decepticon that was one of his friends.

I agree with you on the new character point there TB. Made especially hard since he is trying to fit in with G1 as well, as opposed to a more recent series.

[Oilspill]

I don't think he's a bad character at all. He just hasn't done much yet - which I actually think was the better way for IDW to play it. It seems better that he be introduced gradually, get recognised in some minor roles, then later have a story focusing on him.

I mean, people were raging that Drift was being introduced and was somehow going to be written to be more awesome than every other character and save the day. But that didn't actually happen, so I think there would have been more rage if he played a bigger part.

I think the dislike may be partly to do with the way IDW and Shane McCarthy presented him on the IDW boards, interviews, blogs etc, and partly due to the fact that AHM messed up a lot of the existing continuity, and thus Drift became the posterboy for AHM hate. But not so much based on what he actually did in-continuity.

Personally I find Ongoing to have messed up the continuity moreso than AHM, and worse - it's boring. But that's just me.

But, back on topic, the Drift mini-series will be the deciding factor here on whether his character is interesting. And this will hopefully be the origin story that (as Tetsuwan was saying) Drift needs. If it's good, he may be redeemed in a few peoples eyes, if it is bad, then there will be only one thing that could save him...

...being written by Nick Roche & James Roberts :D

[Lint]

Considering how much the fandom loves the Generations Drift toy, I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.


Two words...

More swords

As for characterisation, a whole new miniseries which describes how he got his current swords in flashbacks while he quests for the new ones :p

I mean if he's going to be some bushido type character he may as well have a cookie cutter bullshido backstory to boot. :D

[Sharky]

Well for a start, we could look at his change from Decepticon to Autobot. hopefully nothing too cheesey in the old horror stories stakes. I would be pleased with the a ideological shift in thinking via some speech that was made by a commanding officer/Megatron which has 2 ways of being interpretted and Drift thinks to himself, that's not what I think. Or something like that.

I agree that he hasn't done much, but sadly all he did do was stand around looking like a tool and being the stereotyped shallow 'cool, calm, collected arse kicking guy' which is what irritated me the most for some reason. I think he should've had a bit more input into a story earlier as there wasn'tt anything to support his character at all.

To summarise: An origin story.


isnt that something they are kinda trying to maybe possibly in some potential explore with thundercracker he is a decepticon but doesnt quite believe in the way things are going at the moment.

drift i wouldnt say i hate, but i dont know why they couldnt flesh out an existing character in his place. one of the pretenders or powermasters that didnt get alot of page time....

to improve him, i like the idea of him confronting a former friend, not a commanding officer which he had it in for but someone he depended on/trusted and respected, have him tested with the decepticon idea again... really tested, remembering the good old days, touch on why he didnt want to be part of the decepticons, what drove him to seek redemption, (he didnt want to be an autobot straight away, only a bot cause kup asked)

more importantly i think they need to show us in a little depth who he was before drift the murder the mayham the darkside otherwise we wont care about the transition or why he is doing it or the story explaining it

[GoktimusPrime]

Not true. It's my experience having talked to other fans both online and in person that it's the very vocal minority that hate him. Most people don't mind him, or acknowledge that he's not done enough to warrant the amount of hate he gets.
Simply because most people you've spoken to don't like Drift doesn't mean that most of the fandom likes him. Likewise just because most people I know don't like Drift doesn't mean that the fandom in general hates him either. Remember that "the people we know" are just a portion of the fandom. For example, a lot of my friends who are TF collectors have collections numbering over a thousand, yet my studies show that we are actually a minority, with most collections actually numbering 100 or less. This year's survey may show different results, but past surveys have shown that the average collection is quite small. By simply saying "people I know" we're just presenting anecdotal evidence.

Also, some people like George Lucas insist that the people who hate Jar Jar Binks are a "vocal minority" of the fandom. And he could be right. You could be right too. But just because an opinion is in the minority doesn't make it any less valid or worthy. For example, most fans like Beast Wars - but if someone doesn't like Beast Wars and they have their own valid reasons for it, then it doesn't make their opinion less worthy than those of us who love Beast Wars right? You may not agree with those reasons, but it doesn't mean they're less valid. If I were a fan of the Drift character I'd welcome criticism and avidly defend the character; just as I'll vehemently defend Beast Wars (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showthread.php?t=8613) should anyone want to criticise that franchise (as they are entitled to do).

Also, in a thread where we're discussing how to improve Drift we need to acknowledge any potential problems - cos obviously if we think Drift doesn't have any problems then there's nothing to improve on.

I'll discuss some of the problems with Drift first, then look at ways to improve. My main gripes with Drift are:
1/ He's a Gary Stu, or as role play gamers call them - "Munchkin". A character develops through complications presented to him/her within the plot/story. Little complication (challenge) means limited opportunity for decent character development and depth. This is what differs someone becoming an actual character or just being an archetype. This was the problem with the G1 cartoon - it was full of archetypes rather than developed characters, and the Marvel Comics were better at giving us actual characters which is why I preferred them.
2/ He sticks out like a sore thumb amidst a cast almost completely comprised exclusively of "GeeWun" characters. There is a WEALTH of existing characters in G1 and G2 who still remain untapped and I would much rather see them being exploited rather than just making up some character - that's one thing I liked with Last Stand of the Wreckers. Toys I've had for years like Ironfist and Rotorstorm suddenly became cool. And probably for the first time ever there was a peak in demand for Pyro (heh). :p The fact that he's among all these GeeWun characters - to me - makes it look like they're trying to pretend that Drift is a GeeWun character and that he's been there the whole time. As MV75 and others have aptly said when the topic of Drift was raised... "Who?"

So how can we improve on this?

My suggestions:
1/ This is simple - give him greater complications. As others have said, he needs more stories, and these stories should be presenting him with complications. A protagonist only improves by facing against greater challenges. Even Superman has his Kryptonite (and his greatest flaws are emotional ones; difficulties with social interaction (e.g. Lois Lane) etc.). As Stan Lee often said, it's a hero's flaws that make him (or her) interesting.
2/ Easy solve: Introduce more post-GeeWun characters. Mix it up more, then Drift won't look so out of place! Bring back Skram damnit! :)

[Lord_Zed]

Easy way to improve Drift, have him screw up royaly. The chracter just seems to perfect as is, as said above he needs some flaws, and to fail all the other Autobots have.

And then after failing he commits seppuku, no wait just kidding but he should fail.

I'd like to see him actualy get a nemesis who can actualy defeat him, a Megatron to his Prime so to speak. Bludgeon would be a good candidate as he's been around for a lot longer and has always been portrayed as a master of Metalikato. Does anyone even know what sort of martial art Drift practices?

[Sky Shadow]

Try to restrain yourself Skyshadow... I think everyone knows how negatively you feel about Drift. This is a topic asking about ways to improve the character. Anything derogatory towards the character is off-topic.

I've been doing some thinking, and I've got some ideas to improve the character.

1.) Drift needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

2.) Two, whenever Drift's not in frame, all the other characters should be asking "Where's Drift?"

3.)...

[The_Damned]

make him voyager size not deluxe

[Gutsman Heavy]

I'd like to see him actualy get a nemesis who can actualy defeat him, a Megatron to his Prime so to speak.

Lockdown might be filling that role, he'll be making his geewun debut in the Drift mini-series

[GoktimusPrime]

Certainly Drift's backstory is a cut and paste of anime cliches, but in twenty years time maybe it won't look so bad, I mean, is Drift as bad a character concept as say Bludgeon? Bludgeon is aSkull-faced Samurai transformer constantly announcing he's a master of Metallikato. Okay, we get it. If Drift were created by Simon furman 20 years ago would he be so hated by that vocal minority? I thoroughly doubt it.
Simon Furman didn't create Bludgeon, Hasbro did. Sure, Furman made the character cool and popular - but the character existed well before Furman introduced him into G1 canon. And as I said before, that's one thing that threw some people off with Drift -- when he appeared some people were like, "Who is this guy??" (whereas when Bludgeon came along we all knew who he was -- we just wished the toy had a sword :p)

There have been some good ideas from others here - I like the idea of expanding on his past as well as running into a former Decepticon friend (come nemesis).
"When

I think Bludgeon would be a good candidate because he's also a really good swordsman and is also bound by a Bushido like code of honour (which emphasises loyalty). Lockdown's more of a 'professional' bounty hunter (much like Death's Head) and doesn't strike me as the kind to hunt Drift down for a personal vendetta. Only if someone paid him enough. :)

"Drift betrayed and murdered Deadlock. When he became an Autobot he ceased being Deadlock and became Drift. So what I told you is true... from a certain point of view." ;)


make him voyager size not deluxe
The thread is about improving the character, not the toy dude. :)

From post #1:

I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.

[kup]

I've been doing some thinking, and I've got some ideas to improve the character.

1.) Drift needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

2.) Two, whenever Drift's not in frame, all the other characters should be asking "Where's Drift?"

3.)...

Aside from the time machine, Drift actually did manage to live up to those points during the AHM run :p

However I will admit that IDW's Spike 'Too cool for school' Witwicky is a lot more obnoxious with more direct negative impact to the story than Drift. I haven't picked up or even read a pirated IDW comic since I read that drivel.

[GoktimusPrime]

Thinking about comments people made about fleshing out his background, and particularly tying it in with Bludgeon... it's starting to sound cooler...

Consider the following:
+ Drift is a one-three-three-seven swordsman 1337!
+ Drift's toy has the word "Samurai" printed on his doors
+ The Decepticon martial art of Metallikato, practised by Bludgeon, includes the use of the sword and is similar to the Samurai code of honour (Bushido) - of which one of its core principles is loyalty.
+ Drift defected and became an Autobot; thus seen as a traitor in the eyes of loyal Decepticons
+ If Drift holds any such code of honour demanding loyalty, then how does he justify his defection to himself? Perhaps he's somewhat morally conflicted in this area and has a need to redeem himself from his loss of honour (much like Dinobot in Beast Wars). G1 pointed out that under Decepticon Metallikato, dishonour was a fate WORSE than death (hence why Carnivac decided to avenge Catilla by defeating Bludgeon in battle and letting him live with the shame of defeat!)

...the story almost writes itself really. ;)

P.S.: I personally would like to see at least one moment where Drift speaks Japanese. Maybe a scene where he comes to Earth and is in Japan (I dunno... chasing Kremzeeks or something - maybe he scans a Japanese drift sports car there as his alt mode) and has dialogue in Japanese (with captions in English to translate of course). :) He could make a shocking revelation like...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/dorifuto.jpg
This is why I hate science fiction! :D

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

isnt that something they are kinda trying to maybe possibly in some potential explore with thundercracker he is a decepticon but doesnt quite believe in the way things are going at the moment.

I can't say what the comic is doing now, as I am not reading it, but Thundercracker has always been slightly unsure of the Decepticon cause. He has neven been unsure enough to change alliegences though.

I've been doing some thinking, and I've got some ideas to improve the character.

1.) Drift needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.

2.) Two, whenever Drift's not in frame, all the other characters should be asking "Where's Drift?"

3.)...
If you don't like drift so much and won't add anything constructive, why do you keep replying to this thread?


Simply because most people you've spoken to don't like Drift doesn't mean that most of the fandom likes him.
ShrakymcS did say it was a minority that weren't fond of Drift, not the majority.

[griffin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Damned
make him voyager size not deluxe

The thread is about improving the character, not the toy dude. :)

From post #1:

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverDragon
I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.



Please leave the moderating to the staff. This topic wasn't even being derailed.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Send him in the kitchen and chop up some onions, were also low on carrot slices and celery stick. He might as well put them 3 swords to good use.:p:DDrift on Iron Chef would be awesome.:D
Also, he should speak in Japlish, and/or be a creepy otaku.
Even Superman has his Kryptonite (and his greatest flaws are emotional ones; difficulties with social interaction (e.g. Lois Lane) etc.). As Stan Lee often said, it's a hero's flaws that make him (or her) interesting.Drift fights Superman for the love of Lois Lane - I'd read that.:cool:
Easy way to improve Drift, have him screw up royaly. The chracter just seems to perfect as is, as said above he needs some flaws, and to fail all the other Autobots have.

And then after failing he commits seppuku, no wait just kidding but he should fail.

I'd like to see him actualy get a nemesis who can actualy defeat him, a Megatron to his Prime so to speak. Bludgeon would be a good candidate as he's been around for a lot longer and has always been portrayed as a master of Metalikato. Does anyone even know what sort of martial art Drift practices?This. Whether he's got crippling insecurities and just covers them well, or whether his 'con programming causes him to go on a brutal killing spree/overdo it somehow - characters without any major presonality flaws (as in, intentional flaws rather than mere Gary Stu-ness) are usually pretty poor.

[GoktimusPrime]

ShrakymcS did say it was a minority that weren't fond of Drift, not the majority.
Gah yes... that first "don't" shouldn't have been in that sentence. My bad.


Please leave the moderating to the staff. This topic wasn't even being derailed.
My apologies.


Also, he should speak in Japlish, and/or be a creepy otaku.
KISS Play Drift! :) I think a KISS Play toy might be cool - considering that KISS Play Transformers are, engineering-wise, akin to Binaltech. Might be better than a Voyager. Ooh... he could come with a figurine of a Verity! :D

If HasTak made a Voyager then the engineering would just be slightly above that of a Deluxe, and they'd justify the expensive price point with an electronic gimmick - so you could have a sound chip that speaks Japlish. Press a button and hear Drift cry, "To rank first among similar robots new appearance in definitely full real styles to insure a like new form let me throw in the conjectures combat inside!"

[Bartrim]

I'd like to see more wit from Drift instead of just being smug. Like Jensen from "The Losers"

[Sam]

I do not hate Drift as a character, but feel his background of evil-turned-good-and-i-come-with-cool-swords-plus-ninja-skills is derivative and not "different" enough.

The way he was portrayed in the comics (e.g. that issue when he fought against the swarm on Cybertron) made him out to be some super-elite-bot.

What I'd like to see is him go up against a strong Decepticon and come away defeated, as this would give some variation and depth to stories involving him.

[liegeprime]

Drift on Iron Chef would be awesome.:D
Also, he should speak in Japlish, and/or be a creepy otaku.

Today's challenger has chosen Iron chef Cybertronian .. Drift sama... and the main secret ingredient.... Energon cubes:p

to segway - I particularly like the way the current ongoing Tf series is putting more input in the characterization of Thundercracker - erm he... Spoiler ( as if anybody reads' the series anyhow:p) switches sides, from the looks of the next "cover". They shouldve done a Thundercracker spotlight ;)

okay back again to improving Drift topic...

[LordCyrusOmega]

I didn't like drift at first but after a while I brought him and he's growing on me. He just seemed to perfect. I don't read the comics but I think that his changing sides is pArt of his flaw/ strengths. The questioning of his own beliefs and his chosen path. I'd like to read the in-depth story of why he changed sides and what lead him to this.
That's what I think would make his character more solid.

As for the toy; I like it.

[1AZRAEL1]

Today's challenger has chosen Iron chef Cybertronian .. Drift sama... and the main secret ingredient.... Energon cubes:p

Talking about Iron Chef, I was watching that last night...

And Drift, I haven't had the chance to read his back story, only the little snippits that are in LSOW and AHM. But from what I read, I liked.

[GoktimusPrime]

I didn't like drift at first but after a while I brought him and he's growing on me. He just seemed to perfect. I don't read the comics but I think that his changing sides is pArt of his flaw/ strengths. The questioning of his own beliefs and his chosen path. I'd like to read the in-depth story of why he changed sides and what lead him to this.
That's what I think would make his character more solid.

Others have made similar comments - but thus far we haven't really had much exploration into the history of why he switched sides. So far he kinda walks around like a "Born Again Autobot"... little wonder his former Decepticon comrades just wanna slap him. ;)

[LordCyrusOmega]

Nothing worse then a born again autobot.

[Grievous]

I personally don't really have an opinion on Drift...I mean I don't really
like or hate him...I'm indifferent...

The toy is pretty sweet...but I'm kinda surprised one was made for him
so soon...considering there are other "classic" G1 characters who haven't
had a toy in recent times...Wheeljack and Trailbreaker spring too mind...
:confused:

[GoktimusPrime]

The toy is pretty sweet...but I'm kinda surprised one was made for him
so soon...considering there are other "classic" G1 characters who haven't
had a toy in recent times...Wheeljack and Trailbreaker spring too mind...
not to mention Time Warrior. I think that's part of what irks some people about Drift - there's so much attention given to a character who was never part of the original G1 series when there are so many other G1 characters yet to be explored. And that's one thing that was cool about Last Stand of the Wreckers -- they used Hasbro's Overlord! I never thought Hasbro's Overlord would ever see the light of day in Transformers lore (ya know, beyond the toy's tech specs bio) :)

But one thing that is pretty cool about Drift getting a toy is that it's the first time in Transformers history that a Transformer character that originated from a comic book was made into a toy. The Transformers comics are littered with a lot of cool characters that were made for the comics but never had toys. First we got Drift, and we got StraxusDarkmount on the way... hopefully Hasbro will consider creating more comic characters like Impactor and many more! :)

[SharkyMcShark]

Not to mention Mindset on the way as well (while Hailstorm was released first the mold was designed from the beginning to be Mindset)

[Grievous]

hopefully Hasbro will consider creating more comic characters like Impactor and many more!
You make a great point...and I think many fans would
love a Generations Impactor...I know I would.
:D

[The Scream Man]

Im all for new characters actually, and i think goktis poin og being the only one is a good one. my Transformers memory is very limited (I have trouble with the names) so Im justr after someone memorable. Ive only read is AHM appearance, so I have no feeling sother than show me more, for now.

[Sky Shadow]

+ If Drift holds any such code of honour demanding loyalty, then how does he justify his defection to himself? Perhaps he's somewhat morally conflicted in this area and has a need to redeem himself from his loss of honour (much like Dinobot in Beast Wars). G1 pointed out that under Decepticon Metallikato, dishonour was a fate WORSE than death (hence why Carnivac decided to avenge Catilla by defeating Bludgeon in battle and letting him live with the shame of defeat!)

...the story almost writes itself really. ;)

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z144/MikePriest/3.jpg

[GoktimusPrime]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/gif_movie-bumblebeedance.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/jaam_yum.gifhttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/gif_g1-cliffjumperdance.gif

[Bartrim]

Thats a bit harsh. Shane McCarthy said in an interview (I'm sorry I didn't book mark it so I can't share the link as evidence) that they actually gave him two options. 1. Use a pre-existing G1 transformer for the role or 2. Create your own transformer. Now who here if given this chance to create your own piece of G1 and watch it come to life would opt for option 1?:rolleyes:

[kup]

Thats a bit harsh. Shane McCarthy said in an interview (I'm sorry I didn't book mark it so I can't share the link as evidence) that they actually gave him two options. 1. Use a pre-existing G1 transformer for the role or 2. Create your own transformer. Now who here if given this chance to create your own piece of G1 and watch it come to life would opt for option 1?:rolleyes:

McCarthy does not appear to have created Drift to fulfill some desire or dream of making his very own TF. He himself has said that the idea came about because his room mate was into Japanese drift cars and he thought it would be cool if a TF did that - That's it.

So he created Drift more out of a whim with characteristics which he thought people (and Hasbro) would consider to be cool. Then he and IDW decided to persist on it and the IDW bigwigs do seem to like these superficial 'kick ass' over the top characters.

There is no 'great fan passion' behind the creation of Drift. It is clear that McCarthy does not have more than a geewunner's level of understanding of the franchise (along with the stereotype misconceptions) to have such a passion. Drift appears to have come about in a not to dissimilar way to Poochie the dog and marketed that way. This is why people make all the satiric comparisons to that Simpsons character.

However Drift exists and he is here to stay and there isn't much anyone can do about it. The best one can hope for is for Drift to have better character reimplementation/development in which the current caricature personality is written out and then replaced with something with a bit more cleverness and depth within the writing.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree with what kup's said.

Having writers create new characters for fiction is nothing new. We've had plenty of them for ages like Xaaron, Alpha Trion, Impactor, Rack'N'Ruin, Straxus, Spanner, Scrounge, Maccadam, Dion, Hauler, Sentinel Prime, Sunstorm, Acid Storm, that-blue-Seeker-that's-not-Thundercracker, the female Autobots etc. - and even in Neo-G1 we continue to have new characters like Zeta Prime, Piston, Fasttrack (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Fasttrack_%28IDW%29), Borehole, Wingblazer, Spin-Out etc. - but none of them were Munchkin-esque Poochies like Drift.

Also, back in the days of G1 you had restrictions that prompted the wider use of invented characters like:
+ Limited number of toy characters to draw from - especially in the early days of G1. Neo-G1 writers have the luxury of retrospect and can draw from a massive pool of existing G1 characters... _many_ of whom have never seen the light of day in canon (beyond toy tech specs/packaging/catalogue stuff). Look at Last Stand of the Wreckers... the principal characters in that story were drawn from existing G1 toys who were previously under-represented in existing canon. Time Warrior's just begging for some action!
+ Hasbro dictated which toy characters you could insert and remove from continuity - because at the time G1 canon's primary objective was to sell toys. Want to kill the leader of the Wreckers? Can't be Springer, cos he's a toy that's currently on sale that Hasbro wants marketed... create Impactor - he's a non-toy character and therefore can be killed when Furman wants to kill him (and not when Hasbro tells him to).

Writers of Neo-G1 stories have much greater freedom over characters and stories compared to G1 writers of the 1980s-90s.

As kup also said, what's been done's been done... and no amount of complaining about this character is going to change what's happened - but we can only hope that writers will salvage Drift into a better character.