Rodimus Prime as a leader

[Hursticon]

Just another of many many reasons why many G1 fans prefer the comics over the cartoon.

As I read them, I'm starting to feel the same way.

For the short time it was in the cartoon, Ultra Magnus was a far better leader (Even if he couldn't load the Matrix properly within himself the first time ), he was initially reluctant but did what was asked of him anyway like a proper Soldier does.
I've always felt that (Cartoon) Rodimus' constant EMOing was a direct result of him, in Spark, still only being a kid - just in grownup shoes.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I found his to be a very weird and inconsistent character, very disappointing after the incredible beginning in the movie. What do you guys think?

Incredible beginning in the movie? All he did was chuck Galvatron out of Unicron's bum and then tell everyone to get out.

I found the cartoon Rodimus lacking in all aspects. Especially in Headmasters, where he just runs off to space after Cybertron got blown up. LOSER. I always thought the Autobots were lucky Galvs was insane otherwise he would have wiped the floor with them.

[Sam]

I always thought the Autobots were lucky Galvs was insane otherwise he would have wiped the floor with them.

+1

Regarding Rodimus' self-belief issues, I think Ultra Magnus had them as well, but as soon as he realised that he did not have to be "the leader" and could just act as a right hand man (or right hand 'bot), he did his job rather well.

[5FDP]

Worst... leader... ever! Between him, Wheelie, Daniel and Blurr, they ruined season 3

Ultra Magnus should have remained as the leader in Prime's absence. Afterall, he did have a little Prime in him

[jimoinj]

I wouldn't take the headmasters as canon. Maybe they did the bad leadership thing deliberately to lead to Optimus Prime coming back. Still, was quite an education as a kid growing up that the supposed chosen one could be so weak and childish.

[GoktimusPrime]

I wouldn't take the headmasters as canon.

But The Headmasters is canon. It may part of a "splinter" continuity from the US cartoon, but it is still official canon. It's as valid a continuation from Season 3/TF2010 as The Rebirth. Unless you'd rather we all disregard canons that we don't prefer... in which case I'd say a fair few of us would just disregard the G1 cartoon altogether. But otherwise we need to be accepting of all forms of official canon regardless of our preference. IMO the G1 comic continuity is far superior to the cartoon, but I do also acknowledge the G1 cartoon's canonical validity even though I have a preference for the comics.

Ultra Magnus should have remained as the leader in Prime's absence.

Damn straight! Ultra Magnus is a much better toy too... would've totally made more sense.

Was Optimus Prime brought back because Rodimus was failing as a leader and it was a last ditch attempt to revive the series or was it planned all along?

Optimus Prime was brought back because a lot of parents complained to Hasbro when they killed Optimus Prime in Transformers The Movie. There were children weeping in some cinemas (not in my cinema though *shrug*) and some kids actually suffered from depression with at least one child locking himself in his own bedroom and going on a hunger strike.

That's why in G.I. Joe The Movie in the scene where we see Serpentor throws a cobra through Duke's chest and blood pours out of the wound -- it fully looks like Duke's dying and everyone's crying, but the dialogue has Scarlett say "He's gone into a coma." Then at the end of the movie someone radios in and says "Duke's gonna be okay," but we _never_ see Duke's recovery... this scene was never animated. This is because in the original script Duke was meant to die, and the movie was animated accordingly. After Transformers The Movie came out, Hasbro wanted to avoid making the same mistake with G.I. Joe so they literally made a last minute change where they had the voice actors re-record some lines in those two scenes to make it look like Duke went into a coma and recovered instead of dying.

"T'is but a flesh wound!"

This is also why Optimus Prime will _never_ die for good in any Transformers continuity... he's basically on Hasbro's "Do Not Kill For Real" list... at least where the cartoon and movies are concerned. The G1 comics were more liberal in killing Prime off, but he was brought back whenever Hasbro released a new Optimus Prime toy, i.e. Powermaster, Action Master, G2.

Hasbro won't allow Transformer "heroes" to die on screen now... that's why it was a sure bet that when we saw Optimus Prime die in Revenge of the Fallen, that Sam would succeed in bringing him back to life. And I would be mighty surprised if Prime and Bumblebee didn't survive Dark of the Moon. They can kill "lesser heroes" like Jazz and Jetfire, but Hasbro won't let them kill "greater heroes" (i.e. heroes that kids care about and it would upset them if they died) -- lest they expose themselves to the same parental wrath of '86

Rodimus never really grew up.

The problem with the transition between Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime is... well, there was no transition! The youthful and reckless Hot Rod opened a Cosmic MacGuffin and became the mature and bold Rodimus Prime (i.e. A Wizard Did It). There was no development that made Hot Rod evolve into Rodimus Prime, unlike say how Cheetor evolved from being the "boy" in Beast Wars Season 1 to becoming the budding young adult in Season 3 (and then becoming a "man" in Beast Machines).

[kup]

I think that they could wipe the floor with all the TF characters in Bayformers and nobody would really give a damn - There may actually be praise

[jimoinj]

But The Headmasters is canon. It may part of a "splinter" continuity from the US cartoon, but it is still official canon. It's as valid a continuation from Season 3/TF2010 as The Rebirth.

I disagree. It is directly contradicted by rebirth, it is an alternative Japanese version of the G1 cartoon. If you choose to you can view it as canon, but it is just canon for the Japanese version of the cartoon, not the english version which is the one we all grew up with and watched.

Looking at the Japanese one, it doesn't even seem like the G1 cartoon. It was childish, very poorly voiced, with weird scenes and friendship power circles. Reminded me more of care bears than Transformers!

[kup]

Ultra Magnus should have remained as the leader in Prime's absence. Afterall, he did have a little Prime in him

lol I like that

[LordCyrusOmega]

Was Optimus Prime brought back because Rodimus was failing as a leader and it was a last ditch attempt to revive the series or was it planned all along?

Rodimus never really grew up. Like a child whose parents die and is left to look after his siblings. I've never read the comic so can't comment on them. However this is worse then losing parents in a way. He was responsible for the death then had to protect his siblings constantly from a stronger version of their killer.

from that perspective i get why he was so moany all the time. It also made the transision back to Otimus Prime easier on fans because they never got as attached to Rodimus.