Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[heroic_decepticon]

does anyone know who cyclonus ,scourge and the sweeps actually were before unicron got to them,

This has been discussed to death over the past decade and then the decade before that. However, I feel very much for it and have put my thoughts down permanently.

This is what I think and a full explanation of why - in a nutshell Cyclonus = Skywarp and Scourge = Thundercracker. (the article is actually the very first result in google if you type "who became cyclonus", wow).

Therefore, in my world, the below is just wrong!

Bombshell it is for now.
I'll never mention it again.

I accept that G1 continuity is messy and inconsistent and all that. However, my BIGGEST gripe is that Bob Budiansky didn't take the opportunity to set the score straight when he 'wrote' The Transformers Animated Movie for IDW (aka the modern adaptation of TFTM).

If there is one person that could authoritatively conclude this issue one way or another, it is Bob, one of the key creative talents behind the original Transformer profiles and stories. This was the perfect opportunity to set the Cyclonus record straight but sadly no move was made to clarify Cyclonus’ reformatting. Don Figueroa drew the reformatting scene as an almost exact reproduction of TFTM (1986), that is with Bombshell and Skywarp being reformatted into 2 Cyclonus’.

[Sky Shadow]

If there is one person that could authoritatively conclude this issue one way or another, it is Bob, one of the key creative talents behind the original Transformer profiles and stories. This was the perfect opportunity to set the Cyclonus record straight but sadly no move was made to clarify Cyclonus’ reformatting. Don Figueroa drew the reformatting scene as an almost exact reproduction of TFTM (1986), that is with Bombshell and Skywarp being reformatted into 2 Cyclonus’.

But again, the way it is drawn, Thundercracker is Scourge, Kickback is a Sweep, Bombshell is Cyclonus and Skywarp is his armada.*

Yes HD you have good arguments as to why Skywarp could be Cyclonus, but anyone can do the same with Bombshell.

Bombshell is Cyclonus because:

- Function: A saboteur is someone who secretly subverts and obstructs, either physically or psychologically in order to cause some kind of damage or change. It requires intelligence and finesse. Thus - Bombshell. Also, Cyclonus is constantly gauging and adapting to Galvatron's psychological problems in the cartoon, to the point where he checks him in to see a psychiatrist. Cyclonus is far from just a warrior.

- Weapons: Cyclonus has an incendiary bomb rack. Bombshell fired mortar bombs.

- Balance: It is poetic if Galvatron's two offsiders each represent one of Megatron's teams from Season 1 - one from the Seekers and one from the Insecticons.

- Colour and curves and pointy things on their heads: Bombshell and Cyclonus are both purple and curvy with pointy things on their heads.

(And so on and so forth.)

I'm sure nobody involved in the making of Transformers: The Movie cared at the time about why they made Bombshell into Cyclonus - there was no big plan, it was just something they did. They never thought anyone would care about what they did in a kids' cartoon - they had to replace the old toys with new ones.

*