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You know who could be possibly the most underrated character in all the Transformers universe, in that most people do not realize his significance?

G1 Starscream. Seriously.

If you will, take a moment to consider his character. He may be a whiny little skid-plate, but come on, you gotta feel for the guy. Who among us hasn't thought as he has? Seriously, you'd be surprised at how many of us most likely have. If you've ever been at work and found yourself saying 'Jeez, my boss is an idiot', well, then, you're thinking like Starscream. If you've ever said 'I could do things better myself', again, you're thinking like Starscream. If you've ever been completely pissed off at your boss (or anyone of a higher military or societal rank, even including parents), surprise surprise, you're thinking like Starscream. Again I say, who hasn't had at least one of these thoughts at least once in their life?

Starscream is a character everyone can empathize with. Not the egotistical popgun (Megatron), not the zombie tape deck (Soundwave)... No, that honor goes to Starscream, a jet who wants more out than he already gets and is generally dissatisfied with his lot in life.

And here we see another all too human facet of his personality: a 'the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence' sort of deal. Some people don't know when to quit when they're ahead, and apparently Transformers are no different. He's got a darn high rank as is, but still he is not satisfied, just like people are rarely content with what they have, even when they've got it pretty darn good. They always want more. Wars are fought over this. Dictators rise over this.

Starscream seems to represent the common man, wanting more, pursuing betterment and wanting to reach his full potential. Like many people, he is greedy. He also represents the folly of man's ego in that he overreaches himself and comes to ruin because of overconfidence and the fact that what he wants genuinely can never be. There are many people in the world like that. There are people who dream of being musicians but who lack the aptitude for it. The same goes for just about every profession... including leadership. It's all about natural talent. Try as they may, those who lack natural talent will always be overshadowed by those who possess it.

So let us all learn from Starscream, for his fate teaches an important lesson... Greed and overconfidence bring disaster. Dreaming too big is a bad thing. Above all, be thankful for what you DO have, rather than grousing about what you do not.

Errr...since you're new I will cut you some slack.

But, Starscream is one of the biggest fan favorites in all of the Transformers Fandom

Starscream is a spineless coward who shat his pants everytime his plan backfired, only to have Megatron come after him.

Megatron egotistical? Nah, I'm sure Screamer had a mirror in his backpocket. I mean, c'mon, he though he was better than EVERYONE.

He didn't deserve his high ranking because he was a wuss. He always begged Megatron not to scrap him. He would've been even more fantastic, if he actually had some courage.

Yes, I do like Starscream and I think that it sucked when Galvatron did him in. But hey, he really had it coming.

I don't think Starscream is underrated. He actually has legions of fan girls, or "Starscream Fangirls," as they are called, I think. I think he tends to be mostly disliked because he tends to be whiney. He also has a screechy voice that some people don't like.
There might be other things that people don't like about him, but I don't know what those are.

Starscream's one of my favorites. I just thought his whiny-ness wouldn't get him many fans. But hey, I know when I'm wrong. And Megatron's downright cool, as is Soundwave, but I just can't identify with either of them.

But that's not even the point I was trying to make. People get all deep and stuff about Megatron and Optimus Prime, but does Starscream get much respect? I may be looking in all the wrong places, but I haven't seen it if he has. I know the two leaders have great metaphorical significance and both provide great insight into human nature. They represent lofty goals, good intentions gone bad, and how people can do the wrong thing for the right reasons. But answer me this; how many people can identify with either of the leaders? What I meant to say is that Starscream is just as significant. He's like a metaphor for the common man.

Think on it this way: where do WE stand in the scheme of things? Do we all bear the great burden leadership of either faction just HAS to be? Nope. And remember Starscream's background. He used to be a simple scientist until the war came along. Many people have had to deal with this sort of thing in the past. It's referred to as 'being drafted'. It was pretty popular in the Vietnam era. Had the war never come along, he probably would have had a 'happily ever after' sort of thing, perfectly content to just be a scientist. But no, war crushed each and every one of his dreams, and he was thrust woefully unprepared (I doubt he had much military training prior to this) into a world completely different from what he knew.

I mean, can you imagine giving up your whole LIFE? ...your hopes, your dreams, your very identity? Seriously, can you imagine being forced to become an entirely different person? What would it be like to be separated from everything and everyone you ever knew, get plunked in the middle of a battlefield, and then to be left to fend for yourself? I sure can't. The feeling of utter powerlessness must be awful. Many people have reacted to this by swearing to never again let themselves fall into that position. That's where being power hungry comes into things.

Starscream provides a huge insight into the common man's reaction to being forced into war. The weaknesses and strengths of human nature... Starscream shows us this. As for his whiny cowardice, how many people here are fearless? Not me! Starscream's no fool, though he may act it sometimes. He knows when to hold on to dignity, and when to throw it aside and kiss aft. I think a lot of people have had to do this.

I'm not very good at writing, but Starscream is underrated in that very few people (i.e. none but me, it would seem) realize his metaphoric significance and what sort of insights into human nature a guy like him can provide.

You and I think a like for the most part. I am one of the biggest Starscream fans on the site. I dare not say the biggest but I am up there.

Underrated I disagree with. I would say Starscream is by far the most misunderstood character.

Same here. He would be an interesting character to explore. Some people think he's two-dimensional, but I wonder if they are not looking far enough. He iswhiney and a coward, but a lot of that seems to be because he is afraid of Megatron, and Megatron is a pretty mean guy. Most of us if we were ever face to face with Megatron would be afraid of him too. What I get out of Starscream, is that he is really resentful of his leader, and I would even say that he hates him with a passion. He is very often humiliated, berated, beaten, shot at, etc. by his leader, and it has forged his enemity into an iron hate. He wants very badly to overthrow Megs, and to humiliate him in the process. He is very impulsive, vain, and arrogant. A bunch of this is Megs fault, and some of this is Starscream's.

I would also say that Starscream may be mentally fragile. There is the possibility of beginning insanity, and this might be affecting some of his judgement. There is also the possibility that he wants to be punished. That might sound odd, but there are some people out there who feel so bad about themselves that they deliberately go out of their way to make people turn on them because they feel they deserve it. He might feel so bad about himself, but this probably comes out in narciscism (sp) and and contempt of others. He pushes others around because it makes him feel better, and wants other people to admire him and be afraid of him. You ever hear of those people who are unutterably nasty and are absolute pricks, but later you find out that secretly they feel they are crap? That might be Starscream. In time, if Galvy never got a hold of him, I would be surprised if he snapped or even to the extreme in one dark moment in his life committed suicide.

He is a true, honest, tragedy in my honest opinion.

Starscream looks for punishment...I could see that-to some extent, negative attention is still attention.

Mentally fragile, I would agree with. He may even be pushing away potential friends just so he does not lose is friends like he lost Skyfire so long ago then have that friend return and betray him.

I see him as halfway insane already. I wrote a fic where he was a bit..."loopy" I tend to write him that way. More fun.

Iron will of hate. Yes and No. There were times Megatron and Starscream got along quite well. But, I will agree with night raid on his/her idea that Starscream is reacting to Megatron like any normal Person would.

I have an example where I worked for a woman who was a real...bitch. Constantly harping, constantly belittling etc. But outside of work she was great. I liked her AND I hated her. Like Starscream and Megatron, She did not often point out when I did something okay, but heaven forbid, if I made a mistake, she was there screaming. But when she did something stupid I laughed at her, I responded to her with deep sarcasm.

Starscream had an ego, but it was fragile. He needed backup, he needed support, he needed friends. Yes, Starscream is often humiliated. He even said he made a fool out of himself in front of the other Decepticon. Starscream chastised himself for that. "They'll never respect me as a leader now". He does have a low esteem. But the other Decepticons did follow Starscream time and time again without question.

Starscream does seem to suffer "abuse". He has brought it down upon himself on a number of occasions, while other times he was innocent and had been trying to do his best (hoist goes to hollywood) he was also forced to admit stupidity.

When it comes down to begging for one's life...although the MTMTE is a but silly with him on his knees, I do feel that anyone, in a situation where there is a gun pointed at them; they will likely say "please let me live".

Megatron is an uncertainty when it comes to Starscream knowing for sure if he will lose his life over a given situation. The other Decepticons do not know for sure if Megatron will decide to make an example of them. Megatron, through pure intimidation, holds this power over Starscream and the other Decepticons. Starscream is the only one who is brave/foolhardly enough to test it.

Starscream to commit suicide; Perhaps. Or perhaps he is just reckless and has a private death wish. Too afraid to kill himself, he may be hopefully someone will do it for him. I do believe Starscream has very strong survival instincts. He would not have made it as far as he has or lived as long as he had if he did not have strong survival instincts.

Desperate. He was not so much desperate as he was opportunistic; however, keeping in mind that Starscream was second in command, some of his "attempts to take leadership" were simply him taking command while Megatron had issues. However rather than simply take over for Megatron he made it sound like he was taking over entire command.

Starscream was bright and intelligent although there were times one could question this. He often made very keen and astute observations regarding a situation. He had good predictive capabilities and could through ploys. Being that he is a master of treachery, he should know the tricks.

Starscream was good at what he did and was hard working. Again he might not have gone as far as he did in life if he was not. I feel he did deserve his rank, but as Zombie Starscream pointed out, he was going a little nuts. I think toward the end of his life, Starscream was going a bit insane. He might have been quite with it when he became second in command. This potentially could be part of the reason Megatron had issues with Starscream.

I know I am all over the place with this... forgive me.

But I better stop for now.

Edit: Starscream also has determination that sets him appart from other characters, good or bad.

What I was trying to say, you have said for me. Thank you.

(Giggle) I KNEW which "certain Transformer" you were going to talk about even before I got here!

And is Starscream UNDERRATED?!! NO WAY!

Starscream is one of the most interesting TF characters and he also stands out the most (hey, he had several episodes dedicated to him, BTW.) He's also one of the most developed characters in the whole TF universe.

First, let's talk about his appearance. He's beautifully designed with tall shoulder vents, that futuristic helmet with its "ear vents", cowboy-like boots, a boyish face that cannot frown or look cruel no matter how hard he tries, and of course, a pair of graceful silver wings at his back just like a kind of a noble warrior angel. And he also has two look-alike clones to command, which makes him stand out even more (especially with his darker face and striking colors.)

And Starscream is always standing by Megatron's side, either trying to give advice or cowering under his wrath. He also gets the blunt end of Megatron's abuse whenever he gets REALLY angry. (Megatron even ripped out Starscream's insides in one episode, BTW!) But still, Starscream stays with Megatron in spite of everything. And quietly scheming to get even with the big brute one day.

Many fans dislike Starscream because of his "treachery" and "backstabbing" ways, but ironically - and inadvertently, he acts as a monkey wrench in Megatron's plots to take over Cybertron, Earth, and the whole galaxy. In fact, Starscream is, as Optimus Prime himself somberly remarked, "the BEST weapon an Autobot could have against the Decepticons". After all, Starscream keeps betraying perhaps the MOST deadly Decepticon in the whole universe, so that makes him something of an "antihero" rather than a purely evil antagonist. (How Starscream would prove himself as a Decepticon leader is a different story, however.)

Starscream may sometimes act like a sniveling cur being constantly kicked around, but that's how he is reduced to after years of living under Megatron's brutal rule (we do not know what he's like during his early years as a scientist, BTW. Nor do I know about the status of Seekers before the war. Perhaps they weren't created solely for an evil purpose to begin with?) So Starscream tries his best to win back his ruined dignity - by trying to overthrow Megatron and take his place as a leader, of course. While at the same time, Starscream also tries to please Megatron and make him very proud of him. Perhaps some of us could relate to this kind of attitude.

I do not see Starscream as perfectly "evil", though he doesn't always behave in a very savory way (nor do most of us; since when are we perfect saints anyway?) He just works for Decepticons, period - like collecting Energon and keeping Autobots at bay, of course. And yes, he did some good deeds by accident, LIKE restoring Autobots to life when he fired at the rocks to fall onto Ark, causing Optimus Prime to be revived by the ship's computer first. And the rest is of course, history.

Starscream has so MANY sides many of us fangirls just can't help adore him for his very fleeting, overlooked qualities beneath his "scumbag" surface. And we also love "bad boy" characters like Jack Sparrow, Severus Snape, and Piccolo from Dragonball Z. Their teasing "gray areas" is what made them so damn fascinating and SEXY to us ladies.

I love Starscream, he is, always has been, and most likely always will be my favorite character. I don't agree he's underrated, but he's not overrated (*cough cough Optimus Prime cough*). I don't think he's cowardly so much as wildly driven, like his treacherous backstabbing is more a desire to see the Decepticon ideals thrive and prosper, and that 'incompetance' on Megatrons part threatens that in Starscreams' opinion. I think his plans are more coup-like than just trying to take command for vainglorious reasons, and that he strives for perfection and conquest but thinks Megatron is only a blunt object in the pursuit of conquest, lacking the mental acumen to truly get the job done. I think he sees Soundwave as a sniveling bootblack to Megatron, and while he knows these kinds of people are necessary for what the Cons are attempting to do, he'd rather have unquestioning loyalists, like Motormaster in WWI. Starscream looks too hard for the approval of others, which is why he gets so caught up in himself.
Regardless, he is one of the more complex and fleshed out characters in the Universe.

I'm a dude, by the way, not a Starscream fangirl. People should respect the Fangirls though, becuase at least they picked the right horse to back.

I don't think he's cowardly so much as wildly driven, like his treacherous backstabbing is more a desire to see the Decepticon ideals thrive and prosper, and that 'incompetance' on Megatrons part threatens that in Starscreams' opinion.

QFT

Starscream said that the Decepticons would have ended the war aeons before had he been calling the shots. This could have been boastful, but I think he feels that the war is a waste. Starscream would want prosperity for him and his race. It would look good on him and the Decepticons would live like kings.

But he also wanted to rule them as a king too. What he did is one way monarchies start, I think. One guy offs the head honcho and then declares himself king. If nobody challenges him for it he stays king, and if he takes a wife and has a son or daughter those become royalty and the wife becomes a Queen. Its kind of fascinating really.

I wouldn't be surprised if after a while he wanted to have people call him "Your Majasty" and "Your Highness" or something like that and kneel and bow to him out of respect. Its a big ego trip when people do that towards you, and man would he have enjoyed it.

I also think kings are seen to be more permanant then a leadership, which I imagine sounds like it could be fleeting.
Plus the title "King Starscream" sounds more grand and powerful then "Leader of the Decepticons."

All Hail King Starscream, Emperor of the Decepticons, ruler of the Universe.

ZS: that was what Starscream did in RP. He offed Megatron, took a wife and declared himself King...it is permanent arrangement.

Glyph wrote:

Sunstar wrote:I would say Starscream is by far the most misunderstood character.

Or he's perfectly understood by the majority of the fandom, but a vocal minority of it insist on making him 'deep and meaningful'...

He is deep.. I mean.. really deep... *swoons*

Sunstar wrote:

I don't think he's cowardly so much as wildly driven, like his treacherous backstabbing is more a desire to see the Decepticon ideals thrive and prosper, and that 'incompetance' on Megatrons part threatens that in Starscreams' opinion.

QFT

Starscream said that the Decepticons would have ended the war aeons before had he been calling the shots. This could have been boastful, but I think he feels that the war is a waste. Starscream would want prosperity for him and his race. It would look good on him and the Decepticons would live like kings.

You quoted me, so I'm returning the favor.

But I agree. I think Starscream views a large amount of what Megatron does to be grandstanding, and that does very little in terms of winning a war. Ultimate weapons are nice and intimidating and all, but really, why build a succession of useless ultimate weapons when the existant ones used in one grand fell swoop will serve perfectly well? The more time spent tinkering with ultimate weapons is time wasted. Starscream believes in a more efficient, less time wasting victory.

Starscream is on the Top3 most well-known Transformer, along whit 'Prime and Megatron! So he's not underrated!

My writing skills lack, okay?

The life and fate of Starscream provide a unique insight into the fragility of human nature and how war and adversity can change a person for better or for worse. THAT is the kind of significance I mean. He's a totally deep character, not just another face in the proverbial crowd. Yet he often gets overlooked when it comes to this sort of stuff.

Sunstar wrote:
ZS: that was what Starscream did in RP. He offed Megatron, took a wife and declared himself King...it is permanent arrangement.

Where is this story? I would like to read it What is RP?

Zombie Starscream wrote:

Sunstar wrote:
ZS: that was what Starscream did in RP. He offed Megatron, took a wife and declared himself King...it is permanent arrangement.

Where is this story? I would like to read it What is RP?

"Roleplaying".

And if Starscream actually TOOK a wife, that would sadly kill the sweet fantasy many of us fangirls are holding about him - just like a sexy rock star finally marrying, heh. (I doubt that Transformers are the marrying kind, especially since they have a very different reproduction system from ours.)

And I don't know if Starscream is misunderstood or not; he became a "scum" when he joined the Decepticons, so he will remain a "scum". (And he gladly acted the part, too...like how he would roar over the frightened humans, boasting that he would kill all the "fleshlings". So did he really kill them and did he kill MANY of them, BTW? Perhaps that didn't show in the so-called "children's" cartoon.)

Screambug wrote:

Zombie Starscream wrote:

Sunstar wrote:
ZS: that was what Starscream did in RP. He offed Megatron, took a wife and declared himself King...it is permanent arrangement.

Where is this story? I would like to read it What is RP?

"Roleplaying".

And if Starscream actually TOOK a wife, that would sadly kill the sweet fantasy many of us fangirls are holding about him - just like a sexy rock star finally marrying, heh. (I doubt that Transformers are the marrying kind, especially since they have a very different reproduction system from ours.)

And I don't know if Starscream is misunderstood or not; he became a "scum" when he joined the Decepticons, so he will remain a "scum". (And he gladly acted the part, too...like how he would roar over the frightened humans, boasting that he would kill all the "fleshlings". So did he really kill them and did he kill MANY of them, BTW? Perhaps that didn't show in the so-called "children's" cartoon.)

He may have killed "fleshlings" or he may have not, who knows? He may even have been a 'soft bully,' enjoying scaring the crap out of his victims, but not really interested in hurting them. Though it wouldn't be because he was being 'nice' but just wasn't interested. If you kill too many humans, the humans will get mad after a while instead of just scared, and they will retaliate. Humans will fight back if they get pushed too far, and its better to not let the beaten dog discover it's got teeth. So he scared them enough to make them afraid, but not enough to where they turn vicious, in theory. I think the Decepticons knew the humans had technology that could hurt them potentially, and they didn't want to badly tick off the natives.

I agree with OP. Starscream represents the American Dream.

I've always loved old Starscream. His voice makes him.

Bonger wrote:I agree with OP. Starscream represents the American Dream.

I've always loved old Starscream. His voice makes him.

Plus he has American colors!