Top 10 Most Iconic G1 Decepticons

[DaptoDog]

Ok same deal as the Autobot poll. Please post your top 10 Most Iconic G1 Decepticons in order and feel free to provide any explanation if need be. Also vote ALL 10 in the poll. Use "Other" for characters not listed and note them in your list.

I've used the same criteria I used for the Autobots:

How prominent were they in the cartoon / comics?
How memorable were they in the cartoon / comics?
Have they been featured in the live action movies?
Coolness of the toy
How likely are you to see this character on a retro T-shirt?

So onto my list. I've again organised it into tiers.

The locks

1. Megatron
2. Starscream
3. Soundwave
4. Devastator
5. Shockwave

This is a rock solid top five.

The probables

6. Galvatron
7. Rumble

The questionables

8. Trypticon (far more memorable than his foe Metroplex)
9. Bruticus (was featured in some of the best episodes)
10. Predaking (Coolness of the toy elevates it here)

The honourable mentions

Astrotrain
Skywarp
Thundercracker
Cyclonus

Interestingly I've selected three Combiners and a Titan in my top 10 despite not including any in my Autobot list, I just think they were more memorable characters.

[Paulbot]

No Ravage? If there was any cassette that was iconic it'd be Ravage, just edging out Laserbeak and both of them ahead of Rumble.

[DaptoDog]

No Ravage? If there was any cassette that was iconic it'd be Ravage, just edging out Laserbeak and both of them ahead of Rumble.

I did have Laserbeak in my initial list but bumped him at the end. The fact that neither Ravage or Laserbeak can talk in the cartoon impacts their rating in my view.

[GoktimusPrime]

My picks...

MEGATRON; obvious reasons. IDW Megatron has been particularly interesting as the most fleshed out version of this character that we've yet seen. Also a more believable version of not just Megatron but the Decepticons overall; i.e. seeing themselves as heroes fighting against a brutally oppressive dictatorship (which the Autobots were under previous Primes), and the tragedy of seeing a visionary freedom fighter becoming the kind of tyrant that he had initially set out to bring down, but then the redemption in his realisation of this and journey back towards his original goal and seeking balance between these ideologies. That poignant speech from Team America: World Police (about Richards, cats and donkey-holes) pretty much sums up the conclusion of Megatron's character arc in IDW.

STARSCREAM; This is gonna freak some people out, but G1 cartoon Starscream was rubbish. He was nothing more than a recurring nuisance who never could succeed in overthrowing Megatron. The Triple Changers came closer to ruling the Decepticons than Starscream ever did. G1 comic Starscream on the other hand is where all the awesomeness was at! Underbase Saga, Zombie-Starscream, super powerful Pretender, freakin' War World Starscream powered by the Matrix! 'nuff sed. Yeah, you go and crawl in a hole and cry yourself to sleep, Sunbow Starscream.

SOUNDWAVE; Soundwave says: "What's a Deployer?"
Marvel and IDW Soundwave are also cool in that they have the vested interest of the Decepticon cause at heart, and both believe that their cause is the righteous one (and that the Autobots are evil). Again, makes them far more believable characters and lends more credence to the story overall (i.e. that good and evil are subjective notions).
RiD2015 says: "What's a cassette?"

GALVATRON; Look no further than the G1 comics to see what was essentially a demi god of a Transformer forged from the fires of Unicron. I always found the mentally unhinged G1 cartoon Galvatron to be more irritating than threatening. Galvatron terrorised the Autobots across time, space and between universes! IDW Galvatron is also quite terrifying, and a more accurate representation of the original character being not Megatron (which is accurate to the toy's G1 toy bio; although toy Galvatron's function was City Commander, not Leader).

THUNDERCRACKER; My favourite G1 Decepticon. Thundercracker was always meant to be morally conflicted, which IDW finally got right (because no other TF writer ever did). There was at least one episode of the G1 cartoon which momentarily showcased Thundercracker's conflicted nature, but some of his lines from the original script were omitted which made Thundercracker come across more as just holding a grudge against Starscream rather than doubting the Decepticon cause. But the original script had him deliver a line that demonstrated his doubt.

BLUDGEON; Initially a member of the Decepticon Mayhem Attack Squad, Bludgeon assumed leadership of the Decepticons after Thunderwing's fall. He led the Decepticons into a false alliance with the Autobots and then betrayed the Autobots before leading the Decepticons into space to plunder other worlds. Bludgeon also constructed the War World which helped them to plunder even more worlds. Even Megatron marvelled at Bludgeon's vision (shortly after having killed him ).

THUNDERWING; Thunderwing passed through trials and rose up to become leader of the Decepticons. As a Mega Pretender, Thunderwing's power was unmatched. Thunderwing was rare in being one of very few Decepticons who had a natural affinity with the Matrix. Thunderwing inherited a Matrix which had already been corrupted by evil which asserted control over Thunderwing as its vessel. Only Unicron was able to destroy the corruption within Matrix-Thunderwing.

SCORPONOK; Scorponok was the first heroic Decepticon - the first who taught us that a Decepticon could be courageous and noble. And although he eventually allied himself with Optimus Prime, he never became an Autobot. He remained a Decepticon. And his death scene was one of the most emotionally provocative moments in all Transformers history.

SHOCKWAVE; Once again the G1 cartoon version was rather dull, essentially a sycophantic lackey who was stuck on Cybertron. Even Dr.Smoov parodied this laughable character. G1 comic Shockwave on the other hand has become far more memorable and iconic as the emotionless logic driven calculating fiend. And he was actually far more successful at overthrowing Megatron than Starscream ever was, and he did it through both exercising power and logic - although he could also be countered (e.g. Megatron was occasionally able to usurp Shockwave's command so long as his logic was sound). The fight between the heartless Shockwave and impassioned Scorponok was legendary. Many subsequent versions of Shockwave have since been modelled after his G1 comic persona rather than his G1 cartoon persona (e.g. IDW G1, IDW DotM, Prime) - although Animated Shockwave was modelled more after his G1 cartoon namesake (and same voice actor too ). And Shockwave's appearance on the cover of G1 #5 is one of the most famous covers from the G1 Marvel run.

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P.S.:

Honourable Mentions
* Blitzwing, G1 cartoon Season 3. Thunderwing's personality finally saw fruition in the G1 cartoon... in Blitzwing. There's a fan theory that he was forcibly rebuilt as Octane after attempting to desert the Decepticons. #empurata
* Ravage, aside from being the Decepticon master of stealth, he was also steadfastly loyal to the Decepticon cause. It was Ravage who snapped Shockwave out of his mindless stupor (at being unable to comprehend wibbley-wobbley-timey-wimey stuff). And of course there was his unforgettable appearance in Beast Wars ("Decepticons forever!")
* Overlord. Both the Takara and Hasbro versions have very different personalities but both are awesome in their own right. Takara Overlord's journey was similar to that of Scorponok's in the Marvel Comics (only without the tragedy) - Giga and Mega are actually both honourable characters who ultimately aligned themselves with Ginrai. Hasbro Overlord on the other hand is a complete murderous psychopath. The IDW comics fleshed this character out and provided a back-story to explain why he's such a bundle o' crazy.

[Megatron]

My list:
1. Megatron
2. Starscream
3. Soundwave
4. Shockwave
5. Devastator
6. Thundercracker
7. Skywarp
8. Other (Blitzwing)
9. Astrotrain
10. Other (Rumble/Frenzy/Ravage/Laserbeak)
(11. Bruticus/Menasor)

[BigTransformerTrev]

Like the other poll, I don't think I can add much about the characters already mentioned that hasn't already been said. So I'll give an honourable mention to Blitzwing.

*the toy was/is cool! A fighter jet with missiles under the wings, a tank with a big turret and a robot with a rifle & sword! That's a Con built for battle!
*the character was/is cool! He was a Ground & Air Commander and in some episodes fulfilled that role and could be seen giving orders to others (usually the Coneheads). He also tried to take over the Cons in S2 and forced a truce to beat the Quintessons in S3.
*very prominent in all the comics, though never the main character. Hardly a battle has happened in IDW without him being there since the beginning.
*has gotten triple-changer multiverse toys such as his Animated, ConstructBots and Generations versions.

Overall, pretty cool!

[Megatran]

7. Rumble

Out of interest, which Rumble are you referring to? The red / black or blue mini-cassette.

[DaptoDog]

Out of interest, which Rumble are you referring to? The red / black or blue mini-cassette.

Oh I'm not going there lol. I'm referring to the character that was portrayed in in the cartoon since I've barely read the comics. I would imagine that Rumble and Frenzy's exposure was far more balanced in the comics, whereas in the cartoon I can't remember Frenzy saying anything.

[GoktimusPrime]

Oh I'm not going there lol. I'm referring to the character that was portrayed in in the cartoon since I've barely read the comics. I would imagine that Rumble and Frenzy's exposure was far more balanced in the comics, whereas in the cartoon I can't remember Frenzy saying anything.

Then FIRRIB it is. Unless you're watching the Japanese dub.

Frenzy's appearance in the G1 cartoon was indeed limited with only a handful of classy lines like...
"Hey, I didn't volunteer for this geeky assignment!" (Countdown to Extinction)
"Yeah, let's kick tailgate!" (The Transformers The Movie)

Frenzy and Rumble did indeed have a more balanced appearance in the G1 comics, and they had toy-accurate RIRFIB colours too (the cartoon was the only G1 canon that went by FIRRIB, every other source was RIRFIB). Also the comics portrayed Frumble more accurately in that...
* Rumble generated earthquakes by transmitting high sound waves through his body, exactly as the toy bio describes. It also makes more sense when you consider how seismic activity works in real life.
* Frenzy generated debilitating sound waves through his chest, again, being accurate to the toy bio. IDW comics modified Frenzy's ability so that he screams out of his mouth like a banshee. In G2 Wheeljack amplified Frenzy's power to the point where Frenzy vibrated himself to death (although very happily so). IMO Frenzy was more powerful than Rumble because while Rumble would make his enemies fall over, Frenzy crippled them. The only time we saw Frenzy's power in the G1 cartoon was in The Ultimate Doom, but it was used by Soundwave, not Frenzy - called 'audio disruptor waves.' These waves nullified Dr Arkeville's hypno-chips, and Wheeljack later reverse-engineered it into his "lunchbox" which he later used to free all of the Decepticons' human slaves.
* Rumble and Frenzy had different personalities. In the G1 cartoon they both had Rumble's personality - being basic punks. But in the G1 comics Frenzy was the lunatic who got off on sowing destruction, again being accurate to his bio.

The neat thing about Rumble and Frenzy's powers is that they're meant to be based on sound waves. This was cool because they were cassettes and they were partnered with Soundwave, and Soundwave's ability was his super hearing. So Soundwave and his humanoid cassettes all shared abilities that revolved around sound. This was lost in the G1 cartoon which I always thought was a shame. We know that Rumble smashes through Blaster's window through with his piledrivers, but if he'd been more toy-accurate then he could've used his hands to vibrate the glass until it smashed, similar to when Quicksilver freed Magneto in X-Men Days of Future Past. Although Rumble would've done it in a microsecond considering that he's able to vibrate the earth itself and topple structures! (not just crack the ground open)

It was also a really cool way to make kids interested in the properties of sound itself. This is one thing I really miss about G1 - they talked up to kids, not down. G1 pretty much spoke to kids like adults rather than simplifying things (which is condescending). I didn't know what sound waves were in 1984-85, but after reading Frenzy and Rumble's bios and their appearances in the comics, it made me curious to find out about it. And there's a whole bunch of stuff that I never knew which I first encountered in Transformers. I don't see that so much these days. Your average toy bio now is, "This Transformer is awesome and kicks much butt! He is unstoppable in his butt-kicking awesomeness!" yeah, every bio reads like this ... boooring ...