The Soapbox IV: Top 10 Characters of All Time

[STL]

hmmm agree on most except Hotshot. Oh and everytime I see the Armada version, i just cant help but think of Grimlock13's "special" Hotshot, such a retard heheheheheh

They are pretty hilarious.

Cant think of a character to put or recommend for that slot though....

What? Even a sparkling, minty brand new Overlord courtesy of the oh-so generous Pulse couldn't prompt you?

[Pulse]

What? Even a sparkling, minty brand new Overlord courtesy of the oh-so generous Pulse couldn't prompt you?

[STL]

You have no sense of charity.

[Tober]

I'd swap out Hotshot with Skyfire, and it's not just the Macross thing....

Whenever I have discussions with people about Transformers (looooong before I came to this board) I always get asked when 'they' are going to re-release Jey/Skyfire cos he was such a cool character and toy.

I was mildly suprise Dinobot didn't make the list as well... hmmm... maybe as an honorable mention, yeah, he would have liked that..

[1orion2many]

I don't mind Hotshot in your top 10 even though he annoyed me in Armada, if I replaced him I would guess Ironhide would be my choice. You need you ever dependable stalwart.

[SilverDragon]

I agree with pretty much everyone on that list, except the respective placings of Bumblebee and Starscream. Starscream has been in essentially every TF continuaty (except RiD) ever, whereas Bumblebee has only been in three.

In my opinion, Devastator is also memorable because the character is so ironic. You have construction vehicles turning into an engine of destruction.

Wheelie should make the number 10 spot for being The Most Annoying Transformer Of All Time. He is important because he sucks.

[i_amtrunks]

I have to agree with 9 out of 10 of the list.

Hot Shot is a decent choice, but I do not think he has had the time (or will have the time) to grow in importance to the series thanks to the general feeling that Armada was a bad series (only the first half was bad!).

Perhaps in another 10 years when the people who grew up watching Armada and Energon will see him as a more iconic character, but for now he does seem more like a background player.

Dinobot is a popular character from the BW series, and would probably make a good choice for #10, he seems to be the iconic character (along with Cheetor) from the series.

[Pulse]

You have no sense of charity.

Minicons = Charity

Overlord = Over my dead body

[dirge]

jay, for me the magic of Transformers has always been the cleverness of the Transformation. And that doesn't strictly mean a _complex_ transformation, but a good design. In general, Armada put little effort into the transformation and a _lot_ of effort into gimmicks that, frankly, weren't always that clever.

If I'm understanding kup correctly, I think he's saying that Armada's focus was "off" compared to most Transformers toylines.

As a very long time collector, I was unimpressed with Armada for that reason, but at the same time, I generally liked the (smaller) Energon toys and Cybertron toys. Some of the Cybertron toys were designed really well.

I can't speak for anyone else in this respect, but I'm often annoyed by Hasbro's lack of care/attention - and their penchant for repainting is a good example of this. I don't expect them to do everything 100% right, but there are times when they just don't seem to be trying - such as the slew of variant Movie repaints (blue paint in cylinders, First Strike Prime). I can live with repaints, even those that aren't tributing G1 or BW or... whatever... so long as the repaint offers something. A great example, again from the movie line, would be Salvage - a new name, very different paint mask, and using a good mould.

STL... okay. I'll disect your list.

1) Optimus Prime - not really a very interesting character, in concept. But yeah, he's iconic. So fair enough, I'll live with that one.

2) Megatron - again, iconic. A more interesting character than Prime, overall.

3) Bumblebee - a good character, used a lot, developed well. I agree.

4) Starscream - no way. Very well known, but not really a character I've ever found especially interesting. He did receive a lot of attention (if not character development), despite being a fairly simple character. As an icon, he's fairly well known, but I'd easily rank Soundwave above Screamer.

5) Soundwave - Iconic, well developed in the G1 comic (if not the cartoon). The concept of the character is good, even if Sunbow really didn't use it.

6) Devastator - Not really much character there, but as an identifiable icon - which is where you seem to be coming from, yeah he's right up there.

7) Grimlock - A good character, developed well whenever used. Not usually the nicest guy but the flawed characters are often the most interesting. Iconic and just plain fun!

8) Unicron - Okay, again not a whole lot of character, since he's really just a giant eating machine. But in terms of profile, he's up there.

9) Blackarachnia - Not really iconic, but like Grimlock she's a really good concept which has been developed well.

10) Hot Shot - bwahahaha. The kids in the ad breaks had more character development than anyone in Armada. I'm sorry.

My ten? Well, I'm taking their icon status/recognition into account, but really I'm looking for the character that have made TFs memorable...

1) Megatron - the embodiment of evil for a generation.

2) Soundwave - such an icon, "that cassette guy" probably the best known G1 Decepticon. Sure he wasn't much more than a storage for the cassettes in the G1 cartoon, but the comic gave him the depth he deserved.

3) Optimus Prime. Yes, he's Captain America trapped inside a truck, but he's too iconic to ignore, despite being a shallow character. If the character was more interesting to begin with he'd be #1.

4) Grimlock - A really good concept which was developed well. And an icon.

5) BW Megatron - a much more sinister and cunning version of the G1 version

6) Optimus Primal - The flawed hero is just much more exciting. This guy is forced to be a hero, and does a good job. And he's not Mr Perfect as Optimus Prime is often portrayed.

7) Blackarachnia - just a really well developed character, who added so much to Beast Wars.

8) Bumblebee - I'll lump the G1 & Movie boys together here, since they're really representing the same concept. The small, tough, Autobot makes the franchise accessible.

9) Cheetor - A character who developed very well through Beast Wars. And he even managed to survive as the same concept into Beast Machines, despite that series throwing out the history of many BW characters. The concept of Cheetor is fairly unremarkable, but he was just done so well.

10) Ginrai. Yeah, he's obscure. Yeah, he's technically a human in charge of a transtector. But, like Optimal Primal, he had the mantle of leadershp thrust on him - and also had to deal with becoming a giant robot. During the course of the Masterforce cartoon his character was well developed from the young, carefree, traveller to the bloke who accepts he has to save the world.

Honourable mentions to go Shockwave (comics) & Sky-Byte. Tarantulas probably would have made this list if BW hadn't been canned before all was revealed about him.

Yes, I realise I haven't included much from the later years. Armada was rubbish in terms of character depth, I haven't seen Energon or Animated, nor enough Cybertron to really comment on the characters there (hence my ignoring those series). RiD's character were generally shallow, although Sky-Byte was just so much fun!

[Lord_Zed]

j

STL... okay. I'll disect your list.

1) Optimus Prime - not really a very interesting character, in concept. But yeah, he's iconic. So fair enough, I'll live with that one.

2) Megatron - again, iconic. A more interesting character than Prime, overall.

3) Bumblebee - a good character, used a lot, developed well. I agree.

4) Starscream - no way. Very well known, but not really a character I've ever found especially interesting. He did receive a lot of attention (if not character development), despite being a fairly simple character. As an icon, he's fairly well known, but I'd easily rank Soundwave above Screamer.

5) Soundwave - Iconic, well developed in the G1 comic (if not the cartoon). The concept of the character is good, even if Sunbow really didn't use it.

6) Devastator - Not really much character there, but as an identifiable icon - which is where you seem to be coming from, yeah he's right up there.

7) Grimlock - A good character, developed well whenever used. Not usually the nicest guy but the flawed characters are often the most interesting. Iconic and just plain fun!

8) Unicron - Okay, again not a whole lot of character, since he's really just a giant eating machine. But in terms of profile, he's up there.

9) Blackarachnia - Not really iconic, but like Grimlock she's a really good concept which has been developed well.

10) Hot Shot - bwahahaha. The kids in the ad breaks had more character development than anyone in Armada. I'm sorry.

My ten? Well, I'm taking their icon status/recognition into account, but really I'm looking for the character that have made TFs memorable...

1) Megatron - the embodiment of evil for a generation.

2) Soundwave - such an icon, "that cassette guy" probably the best known G1 Decepticon. Sure he wasn't much more than a storage for the cassettes in the G1 cartoon, but the comic gave him the depth he deserved.

3) Optimus Prime. Yes, he's Captain America trapped inside a truck, but he's too iconic to ignore, despite being a shallow character. If the character was more interesting to begin with he'd be #1.

4) Grimlock - A really good concept which was developed well. And an icon.

5) BW Megatron - a much more sinister and cunning version of the G1 version

6) Optimus Primal - The flawed hero is just much more exciting. This guy is forced to be a hero, and does a good job. And he's not Mr Perfect as Optimus Prime is often portrayed.

7) Blackarachnia - just a really well developed character, who added so much to Beast Wars.

8) Bumblebee - I'll lump the G1 & Movie boys together here, since they're really representing the same concept. The small, tough, Autobot makes the franchise accessible.

9) Cheetor - A character who developed very well through Beast Wars. And he even managed to survive as the same concept into Beast Machines, despite that series throwing out the history of many BW characters. The concept of Cheetor is fairly unremarkable, but he was just done so well.

10) Ginrai. Yeah, he's obscure. Yeah, he's technically a human in charge of a transtector. But, like Optimal Primal, he had the mantle of leadershp thrust on him - and also had to deal with becoming a giant robot. During the course of the Masterforce cartoon his character was well developed from the young, carefree, traveller to the bloke who accepts he has to save the world.

Honourable mentions to go Shockwave (comics) & Sky-Byte. Tarantulas probably would have made this list if BW hadn't been canned before all was revealed about him.

Yes, I realise I haven't included much from the later years. Armada was rubbish in terms of character depth, I haven't seen Energon or Animated, nor enough Cybertron to really comment on the characters there (hence my ignoring those series). RiD's character were generally shallow, although Sky-Byte was just so much fun!

I think you missed the point a bit, although truth be told STL did say character, what he should have said is Icon. The explanation he gave implies these are Iconic characters that are recognisable beyond just the fandom. in that regard Prime is more recognisable than Megatron.

If you were writing a list of the most interesting characters or personalities then that would be a lot different. In that regard I'm not sure what your aiming for in the your list.While #4 onwards are all deserving interesting characters Megs, Soundwave and Prime are pretty simple. All 3 are iconic but their personalities are simple. G1 Megatron is your cut and dried cartoon megalomaniac, Soundwave had more personality on the comic but he was limited to just being a schemer who feigned loyalty, no development there. And Prime well you already summed that up.

In terms of TF characters with depth, no list would be complete without Dinobot and Scorponok.