Top 10 Most Iconic G1 Autobots

[DaptoDog]

I saw this posted on TFW and thought it would be fun to get people's views here. So please reply with your top 10 Most Iconic G1 Autobots 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.

So what makes a character iconic? The Cambridge dictionary defines it as "very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time".

The criteria I have used to come to my list are:

• 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 organised it into tiers.

The locks

1. Optimus Prime
2. Bumblebee
3. Jazz
4. Grimlock

The probables

5. Ironhide
6. Wheeljack
7. Rodimus Prime / Hot Rod

The questionables

8. Ratchet
9. Ultra Magnus
10. Prowl

The honourable mentions

Hound
Mirage
Sideswipe
Sunstreaker

So what say you? I will also post the equivalent Decepticons thread.

[UltimateGalvatron]

Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Ironhide, Jazz, Hound, Wheeljack, Hot Rod, Ratchet and Cliffjumper (other).

[Paulbot]

So thinking this through...

I really want to include Omega Supreme in this list.

I'd definitely include Optimus Prime, Grimlock and Bumblebee. No question.

Jazz, Prowl, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Ironhide, Ratchet are all more iconic Autobot cars over Trailbreaker, Hound, Mirage, Bluestreak, or Sunstreaker. but narrowing the list is hard without mt preferences coming into play. Apart from Bumblebee the other Minibots aren't really iconic as much I'd like them to be.

Of the year two newbies: Perceptor? Blaster? Jetfire? Swoop?

Of the year three newbies: Hot Rod, Arcee, maybe Ultra Magnus.

Okay, I'll say the top 10 are: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Hot Rod, Arcee, Ironhide, Jazz, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Omega Supreme

[GoktimusPrime]

My picks and reasoning...

* OPTIMUS PRIME: Pretty obvious. Flagship character across all continuities who also had the second most number of toys made during the G1 run. Not including variants there were 3 G1 Optimus Prime toys - original, Powermaster and Action Master (or replace AM with Star Sabre in Japan, either way it equates 3 for both Hasbro's and Takara's markets). The single most reissued Transformer toy plus four figures in G2. Optimus Prime appears in every G1 continuity too.

* BUMBLEBEE: Prominent appearance in early G1 stories as the kid appeal character (although the G1 cartoon replaced him with Wheelie). Bumblebee had the most number of toys made in the G1 run out of any Transformer. Not including variants there were four; original, Goldbug, Classic Pretender and Action Master, and several reissues plus 2 toys in G2 (original and Go-Bot). While Goldbug's appearance in the G1 cartoon was brief, he did have a more recurring role in the G1 comics until he was slaughtered in the Underbase Saga then later rebuilt as a Pretender.

* JAZZ: Optimus Prime's right hand man and the Autobots' equivalent of James Bond only with an American brand of being the suave special agent. Also had 3 toys in G1 (I mention this because it was unusual for Transformers to have more than 1 toy back then!) - original, Pretender and Action Master. Reissues include Classic, TFC, Commemorative Series and Encore, as well as the G2 version.

* GRIMLOCK: Thanks to Simon Furman (who's always admitted that Grimlock is his favourite Transformer), Grimlock appeared very prominently in the G1 comics and was quite reasonably fleshed out as a character. Grimlock was even Optimus Prime's chosen successor in the comics (a much better choice than Hot Rod!). The G1 Dinobots weren't as developed as characters, but they were certainly more physically powerful than their comic book counterparts.
Comic Book Guy: "I don't understand."
If we were to compare the Dinobots' strength with movie Quicksilver's speed, then the Marvel Dinobots would be Age of Ultron Pietro Maximoff and the Sunbow Dinobots would be more like X-Men Peter Maximoff.
Comic Book Guy: "I understand completely."
And again, 3 toys (original, Pretender, Action Master) with the original reissued in the gold box Classic series and the mould was reused in G2.

WHEELJACK: The Autobots' nutty professor and he has the honour of being the very first Transformer to appear in the G1 cartoon! Lover of laser disc technology, some of Wheeljack's notable inventions that didn't backfire on him include the hypno-chip disabling lunchbox (Sunbow), the Dinobots (SB), the Aerialbots/Superion (Marvel) and Victory Leo (Toei)! 2 toys (original & Action Master), and the original toy was reissued at least twice - first as a mail away exclusive then as a gold boxed Classic reissue.

* HOT ROD/RODIMUS PRIME: Flagship character from 1986-87 with Rodimus Prime prominently appearing in the third season of the G1 cartoon series. Appearance in the G1 comics was initially not as prominent, restricted to an alternate future timeline, but then Hot Rod eventually appeared in the main timeline but never became Rodimus Prime (instead becoming a Targetmaster). 2 toys; Hot Rod & Rodimus Prime with Micromaster Hot Rod also released in Japan.

* RATCHET: In the cartoon he was often partnered with Wheeljack where they both acted not only as medics but as inventors, and thus was the co-creator of the Dinobots. Met a tragic but heroic end in TFTM. In the comics he was a more emotionally tormented soul, overwhelmed by the casualties that kept piling up in his clinic (especially after the Underbase Saga). Ratchet discovered and recovered the Dinobots who were buried in an ancient tar pit by Shockwave in the Savage Land. A much more tragic and heroic fate was met by G1 comic Ratchet (ignoring IDW's ReGen1).

* ULTRA MAGNUS: As DrSmoov's parody put it, this is the Autobot who should have replaced Optimus Prime as leader of the Autobots instead of Rodimus Prime! Not just as a better character, but a FAR superior toy. Honestly, the Rodimus Prime toy is just rubbish (the original Hot Rod toy is actually way better). But Ultra Magnus always felt like an 'upgrade' of Optimus Prime (pretty much was in Diaclone).

* PROWL: Autobot strategist, Prowl had a more prominent role in the G1 comics where he became de facto Autobot leader for a while and was killed in the Underbase Saga... although it was the mind of Prowl from his own future whose consciousness had travelled back in time and was occupying his past body to thwart Megatron's consciousness who had possessed Snaptrap's body. So while past Prowl was physically killed, it was future Prowl's consciousness who was in that body, so I guess that means that past Prowl wasn't aware of it... only that he was because future Prowl remembers the events from past Prowl's eyes and... uh... time travel is confusing! #daysoffutureprowl Marvel Prowl also had a bit of a not so shiny element to him (although not nearly as nasty as his IDW counterpart) - Prowl secretly coveted Autobot leadership and saw himself as Optimus Prime's successor. He became bitterly jealous of Grimlock as Prime's chosen heir. Nepotism! 2 toys and 3 reissues.

* SPRINGER: Selected this as my "Other" option. Springer was by far the most prominent of the Autobot Triple Changers across multiple G1 continuities and became the leader of the Wreckers after Impactor's demise. Only 1 toy in the G1 run, although it was reissued once.

Honourable Mentions
+ IRONHIDE; the Autobots' old war veteran, only not as socially embarrassing as Kup.
+ BLITZWING; one of few (only?) Transformers in the entire G1 cartoon who underwent proper character development! Definitely the only Decepticon. Also my favourite of the G1 Triple Changer toys.
+ DAI ATLAS; an Autobot leader who didn't take prisoners! Pretty much like Michael Bay's Optimus Prime, only without the bipolar disorder (i.e. Dai Atlas consistently stuck to his principles instead of flip-flopping between altruism and consequentialism).

[DaptoDog]

So thinking this through...

I really want to include Omega Supreme in this list.

I'd definitely include Optimus Prime, Grimlock and Bumblebee. No question.

Jazz, Prowl, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Ironhide, Ratchet are all more iconic Autobot cars over Trailbreaker, Hound, Mirage, Bluestreak, or Sunstreaker. but narrowing the list is hard without mt preferences coming into play. Apart from Bumblebee the other Minibots aren't really iconic as much I'd like them to be.

Of the year two newbies: Perceptor? Blaster? Jetfire? Swoop?

Of the year three newbies: Hot Rod, Arcee, maybe Ultra Magnus.

Okay, I'll say the top 10 are: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Hot Rod, Arcee, Ironhide, Jazz, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Omega Supreme

Nice inclusion of Omega Supreme! You know I wanted to put the big guy in because he is one of my personal favourites, I just thought I was overrating him because he didn't say much in the show. Was probably also remiss of me to exclude Arcee as a listed option.

Nice run down Gok. Our lists only differed on Springer vs Ironhide.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

My take on 'iconic' is a little different I think. For me, 'iconic' is about being the most recognisable/famous/well-known. So, when trying to make this list I tried to think about the Autobots that a non-fan would know/recognise, even if it was just 'oh yeah, that tape-guy, he was cool' or 'Wasn't there that one who turned into a steam train or something?'.
There are a few clear/easy choices, but after that it gets a bit trickier.

1: Optimus Prime. He's pretty much 'the face' of the Transformers brand, plus the only one who almost everyone knows the name of, though Bumblebee may also qualify these days.

2: Bumblebee. Almost everyone knows about/remembers 'the little yellow guy', even if a lot of that is because of his being reused/recycled/re-imagined in most subsequent series.

3: Grimlock, a.k.a. "Oh yeah, that one who turned into a dinosaur/T-Rex". Also widely recognised, though a few steps down from both Prime and Bumblebee.

After these guys it all gets a bit harder. Prime, 'Bee, and Grimlock are all definite 'icons', but after them it starts coming down to exposure or personal favourites from mostly-forgotten childhoods. So, the characters on the list and/or order thereof are rather more open to debate. Still, here's my take.

4: Jazz. Being one of the characters reintroduced/reimagined as one of the initial Bay characters would have given him quite a boost re. 'icon' status, but he's still one of the more recognisable/prominent characters from G1 and has graced a fair few T-shirts/bedspreads etc. His speakers/light-and-sound gimmick was pretty memorable too. He might not be instantly recognisable, but he's one of the more-likely-to-be-recognised characters IMO.

5: Superion/the Aerialbots. Not 'iconic' in terms of characters exactly, but definitely 'the' Autobot combiner. Combiners were and still are a pretty 'iconic' feature/line from Transformers, especially G1.

6: Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime. Being the new 'leader' toy and having a prominent role in the Movie makes him pretty recognisable, as does his visual design. Most people probably wouldn't know who he is, but there's a pretty good chance they would have seen him on a T-shirt or something.

Again, there's a pretty substantial drop-off re. reconisability here.

7: Arcee. Basically because she's The Girl. Plus her head design looks like Princess Leia's iconic A New Hope hairdo, further reinforcing her Girl-ness.

8: Sideswipe. It's probably more because of his alt-mode than anything else, but he's also had his fair share of T-shirts/merchandising.

9: Tie between Ironhide and Ratchet. Again, lots of T-shirts, and lots of character-name/archetype-reuses in subsequent series. You could pretty comfortably swap them out on the list with Ultra Magnus as well.

10: Almost-but-not-quite tie between Omega Supreme and Metroplex. Omega wins out in terms of appearances 'back in the day', but Metroplex has featured more heavily in recent media and had that huge-ass toy. Much like Superion is 'the' Autobot combiner, Metroplex is 'the' Transformer city.

A few others I'd say qualify as reasonably iconic are Wheeljack (distinctive design and alt-mode, reasonable amount of merchandising back in the day), Mirage ('that guy who could turn invisible', also fairly popular re. merchandising), and Blurr (mostly memorable due to John Moschitta's voice-acting, but also partially due to his distinctive design).

Interestingly, there's rather more 'iconic' (in this sense) Decepticons than there are Autobots.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I don't think I can add much about the characters that have already been discussed by I think an honorable mention also has to go to Blaster

*He was fairly prominent in Season 2 of the cartoon, with even a few episodes where he was one of the main characters
*He got a few good scenes in the 86 movie
*He cropped up quite a bit in Season 3
*He had his own little cardre of warriors in the movie and cartoon
*He was quite a prominent character in the G1 comics and has also appeared in the Dreamwave and IDW comics as well
*He got recreated as Twin Cast in the JP Headmasters cartoon
*He got 2 G1 toys based on him
*He's had Robot Hero, Universe, FOC and Titan Master toys based on him as well as a tiny MP version that came with Tracks

Also he has his own cassette warriors: Rewind, Eject, Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Grand Slam and Raindance. Since then he has added Stripes (smart phone), Blockrock (a bomb), Sunder (data disk) and Twincast (Titan Master) so thats at least 10 sidekicks! . It's even more if you count the ones he had when he was Twin Cast or ones that were double agents!

Overall - pretty cool!

[DELTAprime]

For my others I'd add Springer, Blurr and Arcee. That movie left a major impression on me both because of the deaths and the new cast.