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Thread: What G1 characterizations have been improved upon?

  1. #11
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    Basically everyone in MTMTE, including Megatron and (the more of a guest star) Prowl, and particularly all the Scavengers. In most cases just by giving the characters time to have personalities rather than just gimmicks/stereotypes.

    Quote Originally Posted by FatalityPitt View Post
    Also the fact that he sided with Getaway in MTMTE makes him seem more like a tool. I know it's a different continuity, but C'MON; he lead an Autobot Civil War against Grimlock!
    While I agree Blaster has been under used, rebelling against the leadership on Lost Light, in this case Rodimus/Megatron, is not that different to rebelling against the leadership in the comics (Perceptor, Grimlock).

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jellico View Post
    I always felt with Arcee they made a 80s action woman bio for her then when writing the show either didn't know what to do with her, or weren't allowed to.

    Say what you will about the modern interpretations, at least she isn't shuffled around from bot to bot to Daniel as an accessory anymore. That felt off even for as a kid in the 80s. I forgot how much I wanted her to deck Hot Rod, Springer, and step on Daniel then get back to kicking tail pipe with the serious Autobots. Makes me glad I didn't see the Japanese stuff.
    Quote Originally Posted by DELTAprime View Post
    I'm watching season 3 at the moment. I'm really beginning to hate Arcee and here stereotyped crap.

    Oh no, Springer just got sucked up into a machine, I guess the only thing I can do is scream like a helpless woman!

    There are problems with IDW's Acree but at least when I was reading the series the sexist stereotypes were not so much of a thing with that version of Arcee.

    In regards to the female characters from the G1 cartoon that have appeared in IDW.

    Arcee: In IDW origin story longer really makes a lot of sense now that it turns out female Transformers are quite prevalent, though I'm sure it sorta still works within the timeline. However over all the character is much better in IDW here than the cartoon.

    Elita-1: A strong leader in both, I'm on the fence about her. I liked the idea that Optimus had a paramour in the cartoon and she is a less likeable character in IDW. However she can kick butt in both so I reckon she's neither better nor worse, just different.

    Chromia: Neither better nor worse

    Firestar:
    Her hair is better in IDW but I like the character less. Prefer the cartoons character who was tough and dependable and actually transformed.

    Moonracer: Nope, don't like her much in IDW, liked her in the cartoon better.

    Greenlight & Lancer: Naturally a lot better in IDW than the cartoon as in the cartoon all they did was fill in the background. As they have just joined in a new plotline in IDW I'll be interested to see them develop further. Also the only Femmebot-Femmebot relationship I've seen so far in Transformers (no idea if there are others but not to my knowledge).


    Quote Originally Posted by Gouki View Post
    I would never want to back to the original Cyclonus compared to the IDW character.
    I dunno, I kinda liked the cartoon Cyclonus. Had a lot of honor for a Decepticon (even rescued Magnus once) and it was a change of pace to see a first lieutenant in the Cons that would stick by his leader no matter what, rather than before with Starscream who would try to seize power at the slightest opportunity.

    Makes you think - Megs was a strong leader with a backstabbing second in command. Galvatron was a nutjob, but with a competent and supportive second in command. If Megs had had Cyclonus maybe they would have won


    That said, I think Cyclonus is very cool in IDW. I think Thundercracker should have been more like him - no longer an 'Evil Con' but at the same time still tough and dangerous.

  3. #13
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    For me Transformers Prime is where characters on screen were ramped up.
    Arcee is the standout but was also written for teenage boys to crush on I'm sure (BTT knows a lot about fembot love) but she is still a positive role model for young female viewers without being overboard.
    I still function.....................while killing threads. ;-)

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky View Post
    For me Transformers Prime is where characters on screen were ramped up.

    For me with the TFPrime cartoon (my 2nd fav iteration after G1), this is how I felt/feel about the cartoon characters compared to their G1 cartoon counterparts:

    Optimus: Worse than the G1 cartoon. But then EVERY Optimus is worse than the G1 cartoon, whether that be other other cartoon, comic or movie.
    Why doesn't Optimus laugh anymore?

    Bumblebee: Worse

    Magnus: Thinking on it more, I reckon the Prime version is a bit better. I just didn't like that his Beast Hunters vehicle mode was just a blue version of Optimus. That said I ended up getting the Prime, Platinum Edition and Adventure toy versions

    Wheeljack: I reckon equal. I loves me G1 Wheeljack but I also love Prime Wheeljack for different reasons because of their differing personalities. Both have an awesome alt-mode!

    Smokescreen: A tough one - maybe equal.

    Ratchet: Too dour so G1 wins. Animated Ratchet beats them both.

    Cliffjumper: G1 was better, maybe if he had stayed alive longer in Prime I'd feel differently. Loved the character model and toy though!

    Sky Lynx: Definetly worse - a bipedal mode rather than a space shuttle mode and is now a grubby Predacon?

    Arcee: Should have been Chromia. Was meant to be Chromia but the powers that be decided that Arcee was a more recognizable name so changed it. I really like her, but no - she comes across to me as Chromia using an alias to me.


    Megatron: I'm gonna get flayed alive for this! I think the Prime version is a bit better simply due to the way the cartoon was written. His personality and voice are the most reminiscent of G1 than any other cartoon I've ever seen (go Welker!) but he played the long game and didn't just have an insane new superweapon plan each episode. Plus his alt-mode lent itself to action sequences better than a gun.

    Starscream: G1 is better but Prime is pretty good.

    Breakdown: A bit better on-screeen in Prime due to being tough and gruff rather than nervy but G1 Breakdown was amongst my first ever dozen toys so he wins for me

    Soundwave: Prime was cool, G1 was cooler

    Shockwave: A hard one, but G1 still wins out for me just

    Predaking: Both huge and powerful. Prime version was cool but G1 was cooler since he could disassemble into 5 separate Predacons.

    Skyquake: I guess the Prime version wins since the G1 toy came well after the cartoon ended so in this context he counts as MIA/a no show. But I love my G1 Skyquake toy - he was the biggest TF I owned for years - was gutted when Overlord shot him dead in the back in IDW's SOTW.

    Bomb/Hardshell: Like Breakdown and Wheeljack given a new personality. Hardshell was cool but Bombshell was a so much cooler and more interesting character.


    Quote Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky View Post
    Arcee is the standout but was also written for teenage boys to crush on I'm sure (BTT knows a lot about fembot love)
    There is a really messed up fan comic where Jack and Arcee are... well... lets just say they are trying to make a Transorganic quite vigorously - in both her modes!

    Er.... a buddy of mine told me about it. Yeah, that's it, a buddy of mine.

  5. #15
    Jellico is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jetfire in the sky View Post
    For me Transformers Prime is where characters on screen were ramped up.
    Arcee is the standout but was also written for teenage boys to crush on I'm sure (BTT knows a lot about fembot love) but she is still a positive role model for young female viewers without being overboard.
    For me, Prime was always trying to be dark and edgy. Right from the whole, "look at us, we killed the Rock in the first episode. Edgy!!!!!"

    Animated WAS dark and edgy hiding behind a cute little girl. And it set the roots for a lot of the characters that became cemented in Prime and IDW. Bulkhead and Ratchet are the standout examples. But look at things like Magnus' Hammer. Creepier competent Shockwave. Lockdown. Competent conniving Starscream. Omega living up to his WMD bio. And because it played to the G1 crowd it had a background cast of thousands and had its little influences there too.

  6. #16
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    Most (but not all) of the IDW characters are really extensions of their original G1 personas, which I find really cool as it goes to show that the writers understand those characters and want to be faithful to the source material. I also love how Megatron and Galvatron are separate characters, which is also accurate to the G1 toy canon (and was reflected in some other G1 material like the Ladybird Books etc.). And where the characters are divorced from their G1 personas, they still manage to be interesting characters in their own right.

  7. #17
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    IDW Overlord, hands down.

    Yeah, there was the Masterforce portrayal, but I'm someone who never watched them as a child and only saw advertisements for the toy in old Transformers comics and thought "man, that is a cool transformer, I wish I could find that..."

    To watch the sadistic, cruel and powerful madman in action in Last Stand of the Wreckers was great. I liked the whole 'phase-sixer' idea too, even moreso that we got Leader class figures of each recently.

    IDW Thunderwing was another example of a character I knew very little about and now wish they would hurry up and release a Leader figure of, purely because of Stormbringer. Makes the fact we probably won't be getting a POTP Thunderwing, despite him being an original pretender and made for that gimmick, a bitter pill to swallow... I like the extra lore we got for both Monstructor and Bludgeon as well, again characters that I would kill for a TR/POTP style release of.

    The IDW Dinobots, Shockwave and Cyclonus stories have been good to follow too, not necessarily different interpretations but certainly different stories for the characters. I'm hoping once Grimlock gets 'better' he isn't a total let down.

    IDW not without its faults though...
    Last edited by plakstift; 11th March 2018 at 01:42 AM.

  8. #18
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    IDW Overlord is based on Hasbro Overlord, not Takara Overlord.

    I personally prefer G1 Thunderwing over IDW Thunderwing to be honest. IDW Thunderwing is definitely more of a powerhouse, but I find him to be an utterly dull character. He's someone who tried to play god and then became a monster. Uummm... okay. G1 Thunderwing on the other had more character to him. He climbed up the ranks to become Decepticon leader and he actually cares about the Decepticons under his command. He does have a sense of responsibility towards those under his rule - it's not a position that he takes idly. He soon became obsessed with hunting down the Matrix. This desire soon ate away at his soul. One of the more emotionally moving moments was when Thunderwing backhanded Ruckus, and we see Thunderwing momentarily pausing as he realises what he has allowed himself to become, only for the Matrix-obsessed aspect of his personality to assert itself. This heightened even more when Thunderwing shot Spinister.

    "...you... You... are a fellow Decepticon -- one of my loyal warriors! Spinister, I -- GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

    Longtooth experienced this madness too, but nowhere near to the same extent as Thunderwing. Longtooth was - very obviously - obsessed like Captain Ahab from Moby Dick. Thunderwing became more like Gollum from The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings!



    That's not to say that I dislike IDW Thunderwing per se. They're both good antagonists for different reasons, but IDW Thunderwing I find to be more of a relentless and unstoppable creature rather than a person. G1 Thunderwing, once powered by the Matrix, was nigh-unstoppable too. The only thing that could destroy him in the end was Unicron.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    IDW Overlord is based on Hasbro Overlord, not Takara Overlord.
    The first time Overlord appeared in any media was in Masterforce, and unlike the rest of the cast the character was an original for the cartoon and his toy came later. As far as the western market he had a brief toy bio for his European/Australasian release, but that was all we saw of him until IDW released Last Stand of The Wreckers.

    The new Hasbro TR/ Takara Legends toys came well after this new IDW iteration of Overlord, so I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

    Totally see where your coming from with Thunderwing, he was always a real contender for a competent and effective Decepticon leader with a fleshed out personality with a matrix affinity in his original comic appearances. I liked how IDW tied in the pretender shell part in their story, yeah he wasn't as deeply explored character development-wise but the Stormbringer story line was pretty interesting with Bludgeon and his crew and the Wreckers being called in (for the first time in IDW maybe). I loved the Thunderwing design/artwork, and would love to see it in a leader-sized toy.

    But to be honest just really want a leader Thunderwing, so would be more than happy with a G1 take.

  10. #20
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    IDW Overlord is more influenced by the Hasbro toy's bio rather than Takara Overlord.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "I stand my ground... I accept any challenge... I am hungry for conflict."

    A legend by nature of his existence, he emerges as a new and deadly Decepticon anti-hero. This mighty machine has the Autobots guessing. No location is too remote and no terrain too tough for this megalithic power-monger. With amazing capabilities he traverses the dimensions, his multiple functions activated by Energon mini figures in engine mode. A tank to steamroll a path ahead and a jet for C-SAC duty (carrier, spy and air-combatant). The colossal body houses an arms manufacturing plant, producing a multitude of sophisticated super-weapons. The ultimate conversion is to Battle Station Complex. A strategic support base ready for the arrival of the Decepticon fleet... ready for all out war!
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ↑IDW Overlord is pretty much this - hungering for conflict, an unstoppable force of destruction etc. The main thing that wasn't carried over was the battle station/base mode with the weapons plant, which is actually something that Hasbro carried over from Takara Overlord's tech specs:
    「体内に兵器プラントを持ち、次々にミサイルや武器を生産する殺人兵器の集合体である。」
    "Body houses weapons plant, producing and amassing a multitude of missiles and weapons."

    IDW overlooked the base mode and Energon figures (Godmaster gimmick).

    But that's where the similarity ends. Takara Overlord's persona is very different from Hasbro's. Whereas Hasbro Overlord is described as a relentless and unstoppable force who roams about the galaxy wreaking havoc, Takara Overlord is has a more noble personality. This culminates towards the end of Masterforce when Giga and Mega choose to leave Devil Z and ally themselves with Ginrai, and as punishment they were expelled from the Overlord transtector. And we know that at the end of Masterforce, Giga, Mega and the Decepticon Headmaster Jrs. go off to lead their lives as better people.

    Post-Masterforce Takara Overlord really had zero personality. He was just a faceless goon in Transformers Zone. Really just put there alongside the others because by 1990 Takara's new Transformers were almost all Autobots. And they had to obscure these Decepticons with bling and capes because their toys were no longer in current production. Post-MF Overlord was little more than a plot complication, not a character.

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