The Random Transformers Thoughts Thread

[BigTransformerTrev]

Heh - went to a pizza party last night where there were 3 little boys and only one TF toy. The arguments and whining were thick and fast until the host went and found two more of his in an old box. Funny thing is there was a cubby house and sandpit and bikes but nope - all the little lads wanted were TFs

[SuspectimusPrime]

Heh - went to a pizza party last night where there were 3 little boys and only one TF toy. The arguments and whining were thick and fast until the host went and found two more of his in an old box. Funny thing is there was a cubby house and sandpit and bikes but nope - all the little lads wanted were TFs

There is yet hope for the future.

[M-bot]

I'm sure there's a sensible explanation for it, but I always thought Sky Garry was a strange name for a Transformer. Not being very familiar with the stories in which he plays a part, I always imagine him hanging around with his mates Sky Bruce and Sky Kevin.

[GoktimusPrime]

I can't think of any logical reason for it. Bear in mind that English is an exotic sound foreign language to most Japanese people, and simply the sound or look of words can be more appealing than the meaning or any linguistic logic.

Hasbro has sometimes used illogical or even nonsensical names at times. e.g.
* Megatron. Mega is Greek for "great," but what's 'tron'? (other than the title of a Disney film franchise)
* Galvatron. 'Galva' actually comes from the name of the Italian physician, Luigi Galvani.
* Ultra Magnus. Conflicting feminine + masculine Latin genders. Not sure what the correct version should be... Ulter Magnus? Ultrum Magnus? Either way, I don't think it should be "Ultra Magnus." At least they used the correct feminine declension with Elita-1's name.
* Banzaitron. 'Banzai' (万歳) basically means, "Long live the Emperor." And yeah... Tron again.
* Kobushi. This just means, "Old Warrior" (古武士). It sounds more like a function than a name.
* Night Cruz. Cruz is just Spanish for "cross," as in the shape. It doesn't mean "cruise."
* Dr. Fujiyama. "Fujiyama" isn't a real Japanese word/name. It's the linguistic equivalent of saying words like "gooder" or "gooderest" in English. Yeah, you get what the person means, but it's wrong. Not even Thundercracker's that bad. #susanjourneyer #joshboyfriend

So yeah... English names/words matter about as much to the average Japanese person as Latin, Greek, French (etc.) matters to a lot of Anglophones. A lot of people just like it because it's exotic, but couldn't care less about the meaning or linguistic logic. Also, there are a few other odd Anglophone names used for Japanese Transformers, such as the Micromasters Joe and Alan!

[Zommael]

I can't think of any logical reason for it. Bear in mind that English is an exotic sound foreign language to most Japanese people, and simply the sound or look of words can be more appealing than the meaning or any linguistic logic.

Hasbro has sometimes used illogical or even nonsensical names at times. e.g.
* Megatron. Mega is Greek for "great," but what's 'tron'? (other than the title of a Disney film franchise)
* Galvatron. 'Galva' actually comes from the name of the Italian physician, Luigi Galvani.
* Ultra Magnus. Conflicting feminine + masculine Latin genders. Not sure what the correct version should be... Ulter Magnus? Ultrum Magnus? Either way, I don't think it should be "Ultra Magnus." At least they used the correct feminine declension with Elita-1's name.
* Banzaitron. 'Banzai' (万歳) basically means, "Long live the Emperor." And yeah... Tron again.
* Kobushi. This just means, "Old Warrior" (古武士). It sounds more like a function than a name.
* Night Cruz. Cruz is just Spanish for "cross," as in the shape. It doesn't mean "cruise."
* Dr. Fujiyama. "Fujiyama" isn't a real Japanese word/name. It's the linguistic equivalent of saying words like "gooder" or "gooderest" in English. Yeah, you get what the person means, but it's wrong. Not even Thundercracker's that bad. #susanjourneyer #joshboyfriend

So yeah... English names/words matter about as much to the average Japanese person as Latin, Greek, French (etc.) matters to a lot of Anglophones. A lot of people just like it because it's exotic, but couldn't care less about the meaning or linguistic logic. Also, there are a few other odd Anglophone names used for Japanese Transformers, such as the Micromasters Joe and Alan!

I believe Megatron is actually derived from megaton, as in the explosive power of a nuclear bomb. At the time Transformers was conceived of, nuclear war was still a looming threat, so a name derived from the destructive power of a nuke was appropriately sinister sounding.

"Tron" gets used to make things sound robot-y all the time, but I have no idea where it comes from.

ETA: I looked it up - apparently "tron" is derived from "electron", so now it starts to make sense. While "Megatron" isn't a name with a lot of meaning from a linguistic point of view, the combination of megaton with electron gives a name that has a lot of meaning due to connotation. It's a shame no-one ever decided to make anything of the similarity of the name Megatron to the Hebrew Metatron, though a religious fanatic Megatron probably isn't the best direction to take the character.

[M-bot]

There's some reasonable-sounding theories about the name Sky Garry here, but I still think it's a weird name.

[Jaxius._]

To me it's Sky Carry. Looking at his g1 toy TR Sentinel Prime could be redecoed into him.

[BigTransformerTrev]

It's a shame no-one ever decided to make anything of the similarity of the name Megatron to the Hebrew Metatron, though a religious fanatic Megatron probably isn't the best direction to take the character.

They did: http://youtu.be/LkPOqV1Ok5E

[DELTAprime]

Just played with my FOC Combaticons and made Bruticus. Can't wait to get my UW Bruticus so I can put this crappy Bruticus in storage where he belongs.