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Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:52 am
by Banjo-Tron
Hi fellas, I would like to know your thoughts on this. While thinking about which combiners I would most like to see made by Hasbro or other, it got me thinking about who was the most worthy for a new homage. So I have arranged the combiners from least to most badass, based on their characterisation in the comics and cartoons. I restricted myself to the western cartoon/comic continuity, and left out the pretender monsters, because they were midgets undeserving of the name.

9 - Piranhacon (Seacons) :CON: :
So Pirahnacon turned up too late for the cartoon, and he hardly distinguished himself in his few comic appearances. In the UK comic, he suddenly turned up and picked a fight with Galvatron, who ruthlessly gave the Seacons a good kicking without breaking a sweat. He was similarly humiliated in his other appearances. I believe that the Seacons were the last 'Scramble city' type combiners, which is probably for the best because they were a shadow of the earlier iterations.

8 - Superion (Aerialbots) :BOT: :
Where to start with this poor guy. To be brutally honest, Superion would have been pretty badass if only Optimus Prime hadn't picked such a schmuck to be the leader. 4 out of the 5 alt modes were cool fighter planes, and 4 out of the 5 robots were not scared of heights. So no prizes for guessing which poor sap Prime decided to put in charge. It was supposed to have been the making of Silverbolt, but it didn't really work. Also, in the comics, Superion was treated as a mad collection of drones that were constantly re-boted after causing chaos.

7 - Computron (Technobots) :BOT: :
Computron sounds pretty Decepticon-like to me, and his futuristic alt modes plus the largely terracotta colour scheme was a bit of a left-field choice which worked pretty well. Unusually for a combiner, Computron retains the collective intellect of the individual components. However, this means that even simple decisions like "get out of the way of that giant boulder" need to be agreed by all parties, making this guy pretty much useless.

6) - Defensor (Protectobots) :BOT: :
The Protectobots are probably the most cohesive looking combiners (Devastator aside, of course) and their alt modes are all pretty great. The real issue I have with the Protectobots are how pious they are. Trust the Autobots to match the threat of military vehicles and souped up autos with a bunch of emergency vehicles, so at least they can whisk the human survivors to the emergency room after their town has been shellacked by Bruticus and co. The protectobots always struck me as a palliative rather than preventative countermeasure. Shame.

5 - Abominus (Terrorcons) :CON: :
In truth, I know quite little about these guys, but I know enough to see that they are cooler than any of the Autobot combiners. How do I know this? Beacause they are monsters. One of them even has 2 heads. Nuff said.

4 - Menasor (stunticons) :CON: :
Menasor was often overshadowed by Bruticus, but he was still pretty badass in his own right. This was a team of combiners with style, eschewing the Decepticon aversion to wheeled vehicles by having no less than 5 of them. 4 of these were pretty sweet supercars (including yet another Lamborghi Countach) with the central component (Motormaster) being the template for the billions of Nemesis Primes and black repaints that would follow. Motormaster even had the cajones to instigate a head-on collision with Optimus Prime himself, which of course he lost. If he had just looked at their respective tech specs first. Still, props for trying.

3 - Bruticus (Combaticons) :CON: :
If you look at the alt modes in isolation, Bruticus had a lot going for him. In fact, he was so awesome, he would reappear over a decade later in Robots In Disguise, which I suppose shows that transformers with military alt modes never go out of fashion. He was one of the meanest-looking combiners, thanks in part to the twin gun barrels either side of his head, courtesy of Onslaught.

2 - Devastator (Constructicons) :CON: :
There is supposedly some truth in the adage that the prototype is better engineered than the finished produuct, and this definately seems the case for Devastator. In the movie, his power was ramped up even more and he whupped the dinobots (OK, four of them) with consummate ease, and ws considered to be the most potent threat the Decepticons had in their armoury.

1 - Predaking (Predacons) :CON: :
Even amongst his fellow combiners, Predaking was a giant. There is also something quite menacing about a huge robot with a lion's head for a chest. Divebomb was soo badass he beat swoop up (several times), and actually stole his name, just for the fun of it. Predaking also rocked a very neon colour scheme, way before it was in fashion. You try telling a 100-foot tall robot that he looks garish. The autobots could have levelled the playing field if only they had made the Dinobots combine.

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:31 am
by RhA
Never speak of combining Dinobots again! Also, the Terrorcons had two guys with two heads, Sinnertwin and Hun-Grr.

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:43 am
by Burn
Never any love for Monstrucator. :-(

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:46 am
by Banjo-Tron
Burn wrote:Never any love for Monstrucator. :-(

LOL well I guess if I had to score him I would put him in 9th, which would push Piranhacon to 10th. Piranhacon was a bit of a midget too :)

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 6:31 am
by Burn
At least Monstrucator had knees. How many of your fancy combiners can claim that huh? HUH?

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:26 am
by Rodimus Prime
Comics: Predaking.

Cartoon: Bruticus.

A Dinobot combiner would pwn them both. At the same time.

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 11:19 am
by leviebaby
liokaiser

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:29 pm
by PrymeStriker
Bruticus or Devastator. I cannot decide. :(

Re: Who is the most badass G1 combiner?

PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 7:29 pm
by snavej
In Japan, Liokaiser is supposed to be most powerful.

For the rest of us, I guess Predaking is the best all round. He's not just strong and determined but also a skilled hunter with excellent fighting ability.

Underwater, Piranacon rules.

In the air, Superion has the advantage.

In terms of raw firepower, Bruticus wins.

The others have their strong points too, so don't count them out. Menasor is very unpredictable. Devastator has a 10,000 degree centigrade cannon. Defensor has a forcefield and tremendous determination. Computron can calculate optimal winning strategies. Abominus is savage and relentless. All the combiners have component members with special abilities and/or weapons.