Childhood Misunderstandings

As a minor I initially misunderstood the depiction of various Transformers characters (in my case all G1). Usually my misunderstanding arose from limited information - either I had only seen the character flash by in a cartoon episode or had only seen the toy in package or shown in a catalogue. My imagination filled in speculative gaps, with the following results:

- Megatron turned into a rifle, not a gun with extensions.

- Shockwave turned into a fixed position cannon, not a handgun.

- Rumble's only alt-mode was not a cassette, but rather those pile-drivers.

- Wheeljack and Ratchet were the same character. Wheeljack clearly appears as a van in the first episode, and the lights flanking his face were presumably his ambulance mode emergency lights.

- The hood-like structure over Huffer in robot mode looks like some kind of shovel so he must have been a construction vehicle.

- Some years later, I read Scourge's tech-spec as saying he literally lead a 'wolf-pack' and imagined the Sweeps as a group of domesticated cyber-wolves.

- Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod were something like uncle and nephew, a common relationship depicted in cartoons.

Did anyone else make these sorts of mistakes, for whichever generation or toy line? :)

For the longest time as a kid, I thought the good guys were called "Transformers" instead of Autobots.

I think the biggest misunderstanding for me was the timeline of the cartoons. I was about 4 when I got into transformers and really started with the cartoons. I used to mostly watch them by hiring out the VHS tapes from the local video rental store. Most of the ones that I saw first were season 3 I think so I thought Rodimus was a Prime before Optimus as I saw all the Season 3 eps then ultimately the Return of Optimus Prime. It was a confusing time before the internet and the ability to figure out the watching order :p

It’s “more then meets the eye” right? Young Paulbot thought so.

I called the Monster Planet from the movie Unicorn. Then I was reading #75 and noticed it said Unicron. And when I checked I realised I was always reading it as Unicorn despite what was on the page.

I initially thought that Spike Witwicky was just the cartoon name for Buster Witwicky (similar to how Jetfire was renamed Skyfire); I thought that, names aside, they were the same character.

Before TFTM came out...
* I thought that Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime were entirely different and unrelated characters. And I pronounced Rodimus as "Row-dimus" instead of "Roddy-mus."
* I never thought that the Sweeps were just clones of Scourge. I thought that they'd be more like the Mayhem Attack Squad.

Grotusque; saw this toy in the 1987 catalogue before seeing it in shops, and from the catalogue I thought that he was a retool of Snarl. I also mispronounced his name as "Grow-tuss-kew."

I thought that the red Tracks on the 1985 packaging diorama was a separate Autobot called Lightning Strike and that he had Thor-like powers.

I thought that the "M" on some of the Autobot Mini-Cars like Brawn, Huffer, Gears etc. stood for "Minibot."

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

I thought that the "M" on some of the Autobot Mini-Cars like Brawn, Huffer, Gears etc. stood for "Minibot."

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You idiot, Gok. It obviously stands for Microchange and you should have known this as a kid. :p

For the longest time I thought Apeface's name was Ap-ee-face. Even though I was completely aware he transformed into a Gorilla! Took me ages to accept that it's actually Ape-Face.

Also for some unknown reason, I instinctively type his name as Apreface.
Every
Damn
time.

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Originally Posted by Tha_Phantom

You idiot, Gok. It obviously stands for Microchange and you should have known this as a kid. :p

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Serves me right for not having Googled it on Wikipedia in the 1980s. :p
https://i.ibb.co/r02LQYg/temp.jpg

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Originally Posted by DELTAprime

For the longest time as a kid, I thought the good guys were called "Transformers" instead of Autobots.

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This reminds me of the Japanese faction names of Cybertron and Destron. Both that and your misconception seem to suggest a greater claim to true identity or possession of territory for the heroes.

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Originally Posted by Raider

I think the biggest misunderstanding for me was the timeline of the cartoons. I was about 4 when I got into transformers and really started with the cartoons. I used to mostly watch them by hiring out the VHS tapes from the local video rental store. Most of the ones that I saw first were season 3 I think so I thought Rodimus was a Prime before Optimus as I saw all the Season 3 eps then ultimately the Return of Optimus Prime. It was a confusing time before the internet and the ability to figure out the watching order :p

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The outer space setting of Season 3 also gives it a kind of timelessness compared to the Earth-bound older seasons.

I was old enough to have seen it on TV and moreorless in sequence but, the time-jump and shift in style post-movie was a bit jarring. Mind you, I came to prefer Season 3 story-telling, even if I was less into the 1986-87 toys.

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

I called the Monster Planet from the movie Unicorn. Then I was reading #75 and noticed it said Unicron. And when I checked I realised I was always reading it as Unicorn despite what was on the page.

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I swear to this day that, in the movie version of the theme song, Lion sing "the evil unicorn". Maybe they knew no better than that. :)

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

I initially thought that Spike Witwicky was just the cartoon name for Buster Witwicky (similar to how Jetfire was renamed Skyfire); I thought that, names aside, they were the same character.

Grotusque; saw this toy in the 1987 catalogue before seeing it in shops, and from the catalogue I thought that he was a retool of Snarl. I also mispronounced his name as "Grow-tuss-kew."

I thought that the red Tracks on the 1985 packaging diorama was a separate Autobot called Lightning Strike and that he had Thor-like powers...

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I sort of assumed Buster and Spike were the same too. I understand now that things of often more complex than that, but still think of them as the same character, with names that seem more like nicknames.

Grotusque does look like he borrows a lot from the Snarl transformation and, overall, the Monsterbots seemed like Dinobot successors to me, in the same way Throttlebots were the new Autobot Mini-Vehicles.

Where did you pull the name Lightning Strike from? :eek:

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Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

For the longest time I thought Apeface's name was Ap-ee-face. Even though I was completely aware he transformed into a Gorilla! Took me ages to accept that it's actually Ape-Face.

Also for some unknown reason, I instinctively type his name as Apreface.
Every
Damn
time.

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I was too old by the time of Transformers to make that sort of mistake, but with the older Star Wars figures I definitely did. One of my more extreme misreadings was that the Ugnaughts from Cloud City somehow became "Unkajites" to me. Kids!

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Originally Posted by Dan

Where did you pull the name Lightning Strike from? :eek:

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I just imagined that he the power to summon/project lightning bolts (like Thor, Zeus etc.) and gave him the rather unimaginative name of "Lightning Strike." :p About as silly as creating a Decepticon who can create thunder cracks and calling him Thundercrack. :p I should've called him Lightning Striker... now that would've been classy!

Coincidentally I later saw this Ladybird Book in stores and then just assumed that it was the canonical debut of Lightning Strike. I later bought the book and read it, and even though there's no such character in the story I just assumed that Lightning Strike was in it (as part of the Autobot team)... just never explicitly mentioned or seen. Just "off screen" (or "off page") as it were... not seen or heard but present. Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense. :p I just imagined him to be in the story because I wanted this character to exist so badly.

But this is also why I jumped on the eHobby pre-order for Road Rage and Crosscut. I was excited to see the red Tracks character finally being canonised. :)

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

I just imagined that he the power to summon/project lightning bolts (like Thor, Zeus etc.) and gave him the rather unimaginative name of "Lightning Strike." :p

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Seems like a perfectly acceptable name construction for a Transformer. :)

I always thought there were six Dinobots and six Insecticons (not counting the deluxes, just six of the little yellow and purple guys). Not sure why, except possibly with the Constructicons around I just assumed six was the default number for themed teams. I still catch myself doing it, I was thinking not long ago it'd be nice to have Insecticons to go with my Siege Decepticons, but then thinking it'd be unlikely they'd fill up six release spaces over multiple waves just to complete the set.

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Originally Posted by Miss Kitty Fantastico

I always thought there were six Dinobots and six Insecticons (not counting the deluxes, just six of the little yellow and purple guys). Not sure why, except possibly with the Constructicons around I just assumed six was the default number for themed teams. I still catch myself doing it, I was thinking not long ago it'd be nice to have Insecticons to go with my Siege Decepticons, but then thinking it'd be unlikely they'd fill up six release spaces over multiple waves just to complete the set.

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I first heard about Insecticons from a school friend, who had seen the 1985 catalogue before me, and I think he conflated the two groups and just told me there were several Insecticons. It would have been great if there were more, because there's a world of wonderful insect alt-modes out there, and to have them in a uniform aesthetic. The Deluxe Insecticons just never fit, although I'd like to see them as part of a Beast Wars collection.

I guess that, with Slash, we now do have six Dinobots. :)

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Originally Posted by Dan

I first heard about Insecticons from a school friend, who had seen the 1985 catalogue before me, and I think he conflated the two groups and just told me there were several Insecticons. It would have been great if there were more, because there's a world of wonderful insect alt-modes out there, and to have them in a uniform aesthetic. The Deluxe Insecticons just never fit, although I'd like to see them as part of a Beast Wars collection.

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I've always seen the Deluxe Insecticons as part of the Insecticons... just as the Deluxe Autobots are also Autobots (although I guess the Deluxe Autobots are their own group). But we have other groups that don't have uniform designs.
e.g. Autobot Mini Vehicles: Bumblebee, Bumblejumper, Cliffjumper and Hubcap are all deformed vehicles really based on Choro Q/Penny Racer toys rather than real world vehicles. Their aesthetic clashes with the more realistic proportions of the other Mini Vehicles. Even Cosmos is realistically^accurately proportioned to George Adamski's photo of a Venusian flying saucer! (that totally wasn't a fake photo of a modified surgical lamp :p). Then there's Wheelie... ;)

Needless to say that the Deluxe Insecticons' aesthetic certainly are different from the Insecticons since they're from totally different pre-TF toylines (not that any of us knew that in the 80s). :) I'm surprised that you even saw any Deluxe Insecticons at the time since they were never released in Australia! I'm guessing that you or someone you knew must've gotten them from overseas (I know NZ had them).

As for Beast Wars, the Deluxe Insecticons' alt modes have all appeared in BW.
* Venom = cicada ---> Cicadacon & DJ
* Barrage = rhinoceros beetle ---> Ram Horn & Motorarm
* Chop Shop = stag beetle ---> Insecticon, Beetle & Scarem
* Ransack = locust ---> Scourge

Although I'd like to see a Transformer with a realistic/organic looking locust mode rather than a robotic/cybernetic Transmetal 2 locust mode (not really a robot in disguise).

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

I've always seen the Deluxe Insecticons as part of the Insecticons... just as the Deluxe Autobots are also Autobots (although I guess the Deluxe Autobots are their own group). But we have other groups that don't have uniform designs.
e.g. Autobot Mini Vehicles: Bumblebee, Bumblejumper, Cliffjumper and Hubcap are all deformed vehicles really based on Choro Q/Penny Racer toys rather than real world vehicles. Their aesthetic clashes with the more realistic proportions of the other Mini Vehicles. Even Cosmos is realistically^accurately proportioned to George Adamski's photo of a Venusian flying saucer! (that totally wasn't a fake photo of a modified surgical lamp :p). Then there's Wheelie... ;)

Needless to say that the Deluxe Insecticons' aesthetic certainly are different from the Insecticons since they're from totally different pre-TF toylines (not that any of us knew that in the 80s). :) I'm surprised that you even saw any Deluxe Insecticons at the time since they were never released in Australia! I'm guessing that you or someone you knew must've gotten them from overseas (I know NZ had them).

As for Beast Wars, the Deluxe Insecticons' alt modes have all appeared in BW.
* Venom = cicada ---> Cicadacon & DJ
* Barrage = rhinoceros beetle ---> Ram Horn & Motorarm
* Chop Shop = stag beetle ---> Insecticon, Beetle & Scarem
* Ransack = locust ---> Scourge

Although I'd like to see a Transformer with a realistic/organic looking locust mode rather than a robotic/cybernetic Transmetal 2 locust mode (not really a robot in disguise).

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I saw the Deluxe Autobots (setting aside the different company origin I have since discovered) as more like two unique standalone toys lumped into one grouping for the sake of catalogue formatting. You could have called Jetfire the Super Deluxe Autobot (given that back then deluxe denoted greater detail and tricky transformations).

More generally I regard them as an out-of-fiction grouping. They never need explanation in-story as a group. The same applies to the Autobot Mini-Vehicles. I get what you say about the aesthetic clash within that group but for me the bigger clash is between that group and others. It is more than a size difference since the micro-cassettes looked as classy (I cannot think of a better word) as (say) a Decepticon Plane or Autobot Car. The Autobot Mini-Vehicles seemed to be blatantly more childish.

Oh and I never saw Deluxe Insecticons. it was just rumour and misunderstanding based on someone seeing a catalogue and then telling others about it. ☺

One more thing about what one assumes exists in and out of story - as a kid I initially believed that Transformers was just the brand name and that the characters were all Autobots or Decepticons. It was a shock to hear them saying "Transformers" within the cartoon.

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Originally Posted by Dan

One more thing about what one assumes exists in and out of story - as a kid I initially believed that Transformers was just the brand name and that the characters were all Autobots or Decepticons. It was a shock to hear them saying "Transformers" within the cartoon.

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As far as the 80s were concerned, you weren't wrong! The first time we heard any in-universe use of the term "Transformers" was in the Season 2 episode "The Autobot Run," which didn't air here until 1986 (I know the US air-date is 31/10/85; but back then our shows were about a year behind the Yanks). That was basically Megatron breaking the fourth wall though, really. :p

Although my assumption that all Cybertronians were Autobots and Decepticons, and that being Autobot and Decepticon were separate races, was broken pretty early in the G1 comics as they had unaligned politically neutral Cybertronians (e.g. Maccaddam, Spanner, Wheezel etc.)... which I think is a good thing. As an adult I've never been comfortable with the whole "racialisation" of Cybertronians; there really shouldn't be any such thing as a "good" or "evil" race... just individuals who make good or bad decisions (which in turn defines their characters). This is something that I think that Beast Wars did better with, as...

• There were defining "racial" characteristics (re: eye colour) between the factions (I'm sure we all know about Jane Elliott's famous blue eyes/brown eyes school experiment)

• Being good or evil was shown to be a choice, not a "genetically imprinted" thing. Characters like Dinobot switched sides, and Maximal Protoforms like the Fuzors chose (and switched) sides without the need for Predacon brainwashing. Even Blackarachnia chose to become a good guy before she had her Predacon shell program removed (and it was only removed later on as it was threatening her life). And Depth Charge showed how even a previously heroic character could become a fallen anti-hero.

• The Predacon Shell program wasn't really an "evil program" (unlike the G1 ep, "Attack of the Autobots" where the 'Bots literally got recharged with Evil Energon(TM)). It was to make the protoforms predisposed to serving Megatron; and even its effectiveness was dubious at best. It didn't fully work with Blackarachnia as she became a schemer pretty early on; possibly due to tampering from Tarantulas, but she wasn't loyal to him either. It did work very well with Inferno, but that was possibly also due to his scrambled logic circuits imprinting Megatron as his Queen; so Inferno was loyal to the Predacon cause because he saw it as an extension of The Colony. ;)

This reminds me, that scene from the history lesson in Desertion of the Dinobots led me for a while to think the Decepticons (in the cartoon) came from another planet and were invading Cybertron. (The Decepticons landing as if from space?)

It might be my memory being faulty, but I don’t remember most of the G1 teams as being combiners. The Constructicons were the Constructicons and the aerialbots were the aerialbots, nothing more. Then again I did get one of the Micromaster Constructicons (Buckethead as Scrapper, my favourite) and remember trying to combined mode, so maybe I did remember Devastator.

The big one for me though was that in Web World when the therapist doctor people try to cure Galvatron of “being Galvatron” with the insect, I thought that he was going to be turned back into Megatron, which honestly would have been cool. It was driven home by the fact that he changed white because of the lighting in that scene, so I was on the edge of my seat at the time.

There also wasn’t a big concept of Earth existing much in S3 as I watched it, I thought they’d all just left or had gotten lost in space. This one is a bit more understandable, as the mood and themes of the whole show changed.

I also never really separated the minibots and Autobot cars as separate groups up until getting more serious into collecting, when I realised they were supposed to be a great deal smaller.

Shockwave was Sharkwave to me for at least a little while I think, because of the accent. Similarly I thought Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender was named “Sarka” (or whatever spelling would make that pronunciation).

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Originally Posted by Bidoofdude

Shockwave was Sharkwave to me for at least a little while I think, because of the accent.

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Same here!

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Originally Posted by Bidoofdude

Shockwave was Sharkwave to me for at least a little while I think, because of the accent. Similarly I thought Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender was named “Sarka” (or whatever spelling would make that pronunciation).

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This was often a problem for me. Bob from Sesame Street was 'Barb'. Later, in the Transformers I knew that Megatron was calling his minions 'cretins' but it sure sounded like he thought they came from the island of Crete.