Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:52 am

Black Hat wrote:How about a Top 5 mythical beast Transformers list? I'd say it would make sense to limit the choices to TFs with alt modes based on actual mythical creatures rather than just any "original" fantastical monsters with no prior precedence- so Tigerhawk and the Fuzors, as cool as they are, wouldn't make the list due to being (AFAIK) purpose-made for Beast Wars.

I'd probably include (in no particular order):
>TM2 Megatron/Cryotek (dragon)
>Cybertron Scourge (dragon, possibly a hydra with his key gimmick)
>POTP Blot (troll)
>Battle Unicorn (unicorn, fairly obviously)
>RID Megatron (Take your pic but specifically I was thinking of his two-headed dragon mode).
Honourable mentions go to Heinrad (tanuki), RID Bruticus (Cerberus, granted he isn't exactly a good toy but a Cerberus is an interesting idea) and the unproduced Manticore TF that nearly got made for the BW Telemocha series.

My list only contained actual mythological creatures. Each have a link to that creature, including tigerhawk.

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 12:06 pm

Updated with the latest lists

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:34 pm

Here's an idea that's been jostling in my mind for a while: character traits.

To be exact, a Top 5 or Top 10 unique character traits. As in, the less characters that have a particular trait the higher it ranks. Like Blurr's speed in talking, Wreck-Gar's pop culture pastiches, Animated Lugnut's POKE, or Animated Blitzwing's 3 personalities would rank pretty high because they haven't been replicated (that much) by newer characters, just their newer versions.

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:25 am

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's an idea that's been jostling in my mind for a while: character traits.

To be exact, a Top 5 or Top 10 unique character traits. As in, the less characters that have a particular trait the higher it ranks. Like Blurr's speed in talking, Wreck-Gar's pop culture pastiches, Animated Lugnut's POKE, or Animated Blitzwing's 3 personalities would rank pretty high because they haven't been replicated (that much) by newer characters, just their newer versions.

Would you like to write it?

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:17 am

Top 10 must worthless alt-modes, seems a good concept to take stock of across the franchise. Be that the practicality of the "disguise" [looking at you, G1 Predacons AND Dinobots] to it's functionality amid its contemporaries IE Retrax in Beast Wars, Botanica in Beast Machines.

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 10:37 am

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Top 10 must worthless alt-modes, seems a good concept to take stock of across the franchise. Be that the practicality of the "disguise" [looking at you, G1 Predacons AND Dinobots] to it's functionality amid its contemporaries IE Retrax in Beast Wars, Botanica in Beast Machines.

The predacons were in disguise? I never saw it that way

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 10:40 am

william-james88 wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Top 10 must worthless alt-modes, seems a good concept to take stock of across the franchise. Be that the practicality of the "disguise" [looking at you, G1 Predacons AND Dinobots] to it's functionality amid its contemporaries IE Retrax in Beast Wars, Botanica in Beast Machines.

The predacons were in disguise? I never saw it that way

I always thought that was the idea. Robots in Disguise and all that.

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 11:25 am

I'm with Will on this one, I think at a certain pont the disguises lost their marketing point, especially in the futuristic setting of the season 3 cartoon. I can think of only one instance in season 3 where disguises were important, and that's when they stole Trypticon transformation Cog. Wasn't Botanica given a similar reason for her alt mode? Being that it was what she scanned?

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 11:32 am

ZeroWolf wrote:I'm with Will on this one, I think at a certain pont the disguises lost their marketing point, especially in the futuristic setting of the season 3 cartoon. I can think of only one instance in season 3 where disguises were important, and that's when they stole Trypticon transformation Cog. Wasn't Botanica given a similar reason for her alt mode? Being that it was what she scanned?

Yeah, she was on a planet where the life forms were plants and so she scanned a plant. I dont see how that makes it a worse alt mode than others.

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sat Aug 10, 2019 11:33 am

Yet everyone else from season 3+ still looked like a vehicle of some kind. The Predacons just kind of show up with Robotic Earth animal forms and no context.

Botanica isn't a question of the practicality of her disguise, as what it actually consists of. Very minor superficial differences between bot and altmode.

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:13 pm

william-james88 wrote:
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's an idea that's been jostling in my mind for a while: character traits.

To be exact, a Top 5 or Top 10 unique character traits. As in, the less characters that have a particular trait the higher it ranks. Like Blurr's speed in talking, Wreck-Gar's pop culture pastiches, Animated Lugnut's POKE, or Animated Blitzwing's 3 personalities would rank pretty high because they haven't been replicated (that much) by newer characters, just their newer versions.

Would you like to write it?

I'd like to, it would take a bit of research into quirks unique to, and that define the character. Any help is appreciated

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Oct 12, 2019 7:49 pm

Man, as I was doing the updates to this thread, I saw that we are almost done with our 4th year of me writing these lists. At the start of 2020, it will be 5 years since the first list. Every two weeks, non stops, gives us 123 lists so far.

Any specific characters or toylines that you want to see explored that I havent yet?

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 2:18 am

Congrats! You've lasted longer than Sunbow ;)^

On that note, how about Top 10 original [non-G1] characters?

No Convoys, no Megatrons, no Prowls etc

A legitimate way of celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Entire Series (and your own milestone too)

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 6:35 am

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Congrats! You've lasted longer than Sunbow

On that note, how about Top 10 original [non-G1] characters?

No Convoys, no Megatrons, no Prowls etc

A legitimate way of celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Entire Series (and your own milestone too)

So no Beast Wars Megatron?

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 9:54 am

william-james88 wrote:So no Beast Wars Megatron?

Sadly so. I think sometimes the fanbase needs reminding not every great Transformers character comes from the same pool of a dozen reused names/tropes.

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:28 am

What about characters like Burning Convoy who were never supposed to be Optimus Prime but had that name forced on them for the English dub? Same with Gigatron (though he at least kept that name when IDW got round to him with the Empire of Stone Miniseries)

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 11:17 am

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
william-james88 wrote:So no Beast Wars Megatron?

Sadly so. I think sometimes the fanbase needs reminding not every great Transformers character comes from the same pool of a dozen reused names/tropes.

I dont know, i see this turning into a discussion on technicality rather than anything productive. Like Armada hotshot was initially named bumblebee, hence why he serves the same role, but his name having changed during production would mean you'd allow him even though he is less of an original character than Beast Wars Megatron is.

I am curious though, what would be your top 5 list if you wrote it?

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 12:25 pm

I think end product name should be the mitigating factor, as some often have multiple names at the concept stage. A top 5, off the top of my head?

1. Tarantulas
2. Bulkhead
3. Rattrap
4. Tidal Wave
5. Waspinator

It is funny how much you have to think through a list when you can't use a single namesake. Bear in mind, this is a quickfire list I would likely tweak with some longer thought. Rhinox being my favourite Maximal, after all, is absent. It was frustrating that BW Rampage, being another one of my all time favourites, is now non-applicable. I was on the fence with Dinobot though. As it technically is and isn't a name reuse? You are better positioned to make such a judgement call than I, though.

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 1:18 pm

See I would make an exception for when all they share is a name and nothing else, as BW Rampage is nothing like G1 Rampage, after all the big thing with names what sounds cool, and what they can trademark (or what trademark will they lose if they don't use it... Aka the other reason we see Prime and Megs so often)

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:16 am

That's the whole point of the list though. Showing that good characters exist, outside reused trademarks. As that is all these recycled G1 names are to HasTak: branding.

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:11 pm

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:That's the whole point of the list though. Showing that good characters exist, outside reused trademarks. As that is all these recycled G1 names are to HasTak: branding.

You know what, I think we uncovered something even more interesting through our discussion. What about the reinvention of characters and brand names? Rampage is good, Hound is another one (or even Bumblebee while we are at it). Silverbolt, Prowl (from animated) and of course Beast Wars Megatron. I think we have something brewing here. Dinobot would be an honourable mention due to the name being associated to G1 but not being a character outright before.

News Credits: 4501 · by **william-james88** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:44 pm

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I think end product name should be the mitigating factor, as some often have multiple names at the concept stage. A top 5, off the top of my head?

1. Tarantulas
2. Bulkhead
3. Rattrap
4. Tidal Wave
5. Waspinator

I thought of this a lot and if I were to write a list, I think it would come out like this:

Blackarachnia
Lockdown
Rung
Depthcharge
Rhinox

No order yet.

As for my other list of name reuses, I think it would go like this:

Beast Wars Rampage
Animated Prowl
MTMTE Ultra Magnus
Beast Wars Megatron
Prime Dreadwing

Honourable Mention: Beast Wars Dinobot

News Credits: 1350 · by **ZeroWolf** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:34 am

Both look like good lists, I'm happy that animated Prowl made the reused name one, and that Rung, Lockdown and Blackarachnia made the original name list. By the by would Animated Blackarachnia fall under the reuse list as she's completely different in that incarnation, even down to her origin

News Credits: 6 · by **AllNewSuperRobot** » Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:56 am

william-james88 wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I think end product name should be the mitigating factor, as some often have multiple names at the concept stage. A top 5, off the top of my head?

1. Tarantulas
2. Bulkhead
3. Rattrap
4. Tidal Wave
5. Waspinator

I thought of this a lot and if I were to write a list, I think it would come out like this:

Blackarachnia
Lockdown
Rung
Depthcharge
Rhinox

No order yet.

I'd agree with three out of five of those.

I was quite surprised by the names that came to me. My thinking behind them was characters that, without a pre-associated name, instantly stood out as something New to Transformers. I really loathe comic relief characters, but there wasn't really anything like Waspinator or Bulkhead before their respective debuts. I would definitely include Depthcharge, if the list were longer and maybe switch out one of the others for Rhinox.

william-james88 wrote:As for my other list of name reuses, I think it would go like this:

Beast Wars Rampage
Animated Prowl
MTMTE Ultra Magnus
Beast Wars Megatron
Prime Dreadwing

Honourable Mention: Beast Wars Dinobot