most absurd alt mode

[jacksplatt11]

This thread is about Transformers, so he's talking about Transformers Animorphs, which are the toys. The books, TV show etc. aren't part of Transformers

true, but we know the animorphs toys are derived from the books/tv show, so we know what their toy alt modes are meant to be, they are just executed very poorly.. i think its a bit unfair to label the alt modes absurd when we know what they are meant to be, but the toy just doesn't faithfully represent it..

i mean, if we are talking toys, i can think of a few transformers toys that when you look underneath them, give away that they are transformers, or aren't quite right in their execution...

i was under the impression we were talking about alt modes in the transformers fiction, which as you said wouldn't include animorphs, for obvious reasons..

[jaydisc]

The Beast Wars alarm clock squirrel with the big ballsack.

[Bartrim]

In defence of Botanica, there's nothing inherently wrong with her alt mode. As she explained, she and her crew landed on a planet full of sentient plants and they scanned them as their alt modes, just as G1 Transformers scanned vehicles and Beast Wars Transformers scanned animals.

Using that defence you could say that no transformers have absurd alt modes. Plus we aren't talking about which modes are wrong we are talking about (as far I as can gather) alt modes that are just silly and IMO Botanica takes the cake in that department.

BTW Jay... lol

[kup]

Using that defence you could say that no transformers have absurd alt modes. Plus we aren't talking about which modes are wrong we are talking about (as far I as can gather) alt modes that are just silly and IMO Botanica takes the cake in that department.

BTW Jay... lol

I totally agree. Also within the context of BW and BM her alt mode (and 'robot' mode) also does not make any freaking sense whatsoever.

Transformers which reformat themselves to suit the environment their in are still robots even if they are trying to mimic organic life. You see that in Beast Wars as their 'realistic' features were just on the outside.

Botanica seems to be Technorganic right off the bat unless the powers of the 'Oracle' reached offworld.

It was a stupid alt mode idea and the execution was every bit as bad. She is also a good example on what was wrong with the Beast Machines cartoon as a whole.

[GoktimusPrime]

true, but we know the animorphs toys are derived from the books/tv show, so we know what their toy alt modes are meant to be, they are just executed very poorly.. i think its a bit unfair to label the alt modes absurd when we know what they are meant to be, but the toy just doesn't faithfully represent it..

When it comes to Transformers, we can only refer to the Transformers Animorphs toys. And seriously... they're bad. Look at Rachel/Lion -- that is such a freakin' ridiculous toy! Her human face has that stupid lion face covering it that cannot be permanent retracted... her lower legs only ever look like lion hind legs... and most TF Animorph toys heavily rely on detachable kibble to complete the animal modes, kibble that's easily lost.

The only exception that I can think of is Tobias/Hawk who's actually a reasonably decent figure. The human mode looks reasonably human and transforms into a fair facsimile of a hawk! The other TF Animorphs all transform into freakin' were-beasts, not humans (e.g.: Casse/Wolf's human mode is a freakin' werewolf mode!!).

i mean, if we are talking toys, i can think of a few transformers toys that when you look underneath them, give away that they are transformers, or aren't quite right in their execution...

Yes, but TF Animorphs look bad from any angle. Tobias/Hawk is the only exception I can think of - he is like most other Transformers in that he looks convincing from most angles (of course there is always one angle that gives it away). But the rest of them are crap.

i was under the impression we were talking about alt modes in the transformers fiction, which as you said wouldn't include animorphs, for obvious reasons..

Autocon never specified fiction or toys or anything - he just said which TF has the most strange/absurd/bizarre alt mode, so anything TF-related counts!

The Beast Wars alarm clock squirrel with the big ballsack.

That is an absurd mode, yet simultaneously so full of awesomesauce!!

Using that defence you could say that no transformers have absurd alt modes.

Well I suppose we could look at alt modes that are absurd even in the context of what they're meant to be.

For example, Laserbeak, Raindance and Grand Slam's alt modes as cassette tapes is silly in the context of being Cybertronian alt modes with supposedly super-futuristic technology... yet still using magnetic analog data storage devices. Blargh. Paulbot was saying that Raindance and Grand Slam's individual robot modes are impractical because they're really just vehicle modes... which means that they essentially have two alt modes but not true robot mode (I suppose they're like G1 Mutant Beasts ). They're very limited in what they can do unless they combine together!

But TBH Autocon hasn't specified any set definition of "absurd" so it's really open to everyone's own interpretation.

Botanica seems to be Technorganic right off the bat unless the powers of the 'Oracle' reached offworld.

It was a stupid alt mode idea and the execution was every bit as bad. She is also a good example on what was wrong with the Beast Machines cartoon as a whole.

Botanica's plant mode was organic before Primal reformatted her into her technorganic form.

<--pre-technorganic <--technorganic

Again, I don't see her tree mode as being any more or less absurd than other Beast Machines Maximals. She transforms into a technorganic tree that is capable of locomotion and -- HOLY POOP ON A STICK! -- I just realised which planet Botanica must've landed on where she and her crew acquired sentient tree modes!!


MIDDLE EARTH!!

[SilverDragon]

The Beast Wars alarm clock squirrel with the big ballsack.

I agree. In a cartoon where everyone transformed into real animals (okay, there were the Blendtrons, but they're excused since they're minions of Unicron), we get this giant raccoon with an alarm in it with giant freakin' balls.

[dirge]

Heinlad's alt mode isn't absurd. It does need to be taken in context, however. He transforms into a Tanuki - a racoon-like animal endemic to Japan. They have huge testicles. Granted, they don't have built in alarm clocks, but the tanuki is pretty much as you'd except of a tanuki toy.

Sofaman's example of Refute is a much better example of a nothing alt mode. It's not a fortlift, it's not a clamp, it's what happens when the designer works while under the influence of illegal substances.

[SofaMan]

MIDDLE EARTH!!

Hurhur.

[jaydisc]

Heinlad's alt mode isn't absurd. It does need to be taken in context, however. He transforms into a Tanuki - a racoon-like animal endemic to Japan. They have huge testicles. Granted, they don't have built in alarm clocks, but the tanuki is pretty much as you'd except of a tanuki toy.

Firstly, if you choose to excuse the absurdity of the testicles due to anatomical correctness, you only exaggerate the claim of absurdity for the clock.

Secondly, I'm not sure anatomical correctness can excuse absurdity. Mammoth's can have three foot long penises. If Big Convoy had genitalia, I'd consider him absurd too.

[GoktimusPrime]

*goes to Google* Okay, that's like 9.1m...

Anyway, it's not meant to just be a biologically correct tanuki. He has two variant tanuki modes, the one on all fours is more representative of a real tanuki - and in that stance the testicles aren't that visible. The other one is the tanuki from popular Japanese mythology - stands upright and carries a gourd of sake and a ledger (note: real tanuki don't carry ledgers or drink sake ). It's an extremely popular icon in Japanese culture that is very endearing to kids in Japan.

Real tanuki:


Pottery statue of a mythological tanuki:


Tanuki holding its enlarged scrotum in a print by 19th Century Ukiyo-e artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi


Tanuki stretching their testicles as parachutes:
　<--click to view trailer video
(Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko - from Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle & Princess Mononoke)

So in a Japanese cultural context, it makes sense. Just as we put boxing gloves on kangaroos - real kangaroos don't wear boxing gloves and in fact, while kangaroos do box, they don't actually punch. They use their arms to claw/scratch and typically stand on their tails and deliver double-kicks (as kangaroos are unable to swing their legs indepedently of each other, that's why they never walk, only hop/jump). If you ever look at a kangaroo's paws, especially on a male, you can see these razor-sharp claws that would make it impossible for them to form a fist but are extremely potent slashing weapons.

Star Upper's kangaroo mode is also based on the mythological boxing kangaroo.


The alarm clock thing is kinda strange, but it makes sense in context of his Time-Freeze ability. And it's also a pretty cool gimmick for that toy.