The Energon Pub

For the longest time, Transformers fans have asked the big question: Why do the Autobots need human sidekicks in almost every series?

Many have pondered this, and many have speculated their own answers. But now, we finally have the true reaosn that human kid allies are put into so many Transformers series.

For those of you who saw the Transformers: Prime Hub Exclusive on the Hub, the answer was given there. If you did not see it, you can viewed either on the Hub's website here, or on YouTube here.

In this video, two of the voice actors, Andy Pessoa and Jeffery Combs, give the reasons as follows:

Andy Pessoa: "It's really awesome how they pulled in a few humans so it shows, like, the human side of it, and how people would react to something like this."

Jeffery Combs:"I think every kid secretly wishes that they had a relationship with a Transformer. Kids everywhere can put themselves in the position of these three kids and go, 'That! I wish that could be me!'"

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The reason that human kids are put in as allies to the Autobots are so that we can see how human kids would react to the Transfomers, and so that young viewers can relate to the kids characters who interact with their metallic heroes.

...

...yeah, um. So, comments? Thoughts? Opinions?

We've known that for years.

It's always been so kids could relate to the TF's, it helps drive sales of the toys. Nothing new there.

I still don't give a crap. I don't want humans in Transformers. It's old. Of course, I wish this would happen to me, but it's not. Besides, I wouldn't even side with the Autobots. I'd go with the Decepticons. They need to make a series where one of the kids actually sides with the Decepticons, thats the crap I'd buy.

SlyTF1 wrote:I still don't give a crap. I don't want humans in Transformers. It's old. Of course, I wish this would happen to me, but it's not. Besides, I wouldn't even side with the Autobots. I'd go with the Decepticons. They need to make a series where one of the kids actually sides with the Decepticons, thats the crap I'd buy.

Sounds like a terrible idea based on the "rule of cool" rather than a thought out rationale.

The Decepticons intend to kill anything in their way and/or that they view as lesser creatures, of which, we are in their eyes.

That's like making a partnership with Satan because you think he respects you as a person.

Counterpunch wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:I still don't give a crap. I don't want humans in Transformers. It's old. Of course, I wish this would happen to me, but it's not. Besides, I wouldn't even side with the Autobots. I'd go with the Decepticons. They need to make a series where one of the kids actually sides with the Decepticons, thats the crap I'd buy.

Sounds like a terrible idea based on the "rule of cool" rather than a thought out rationale.

The Decepticons intend to kill anything in their way and/or that they view as lesser creatures, of which, we are in their eyes.

That's like making a partnership with Satan because you think he respects you as a person.

Have we forgotten about Masterforce so soon?

Sabrblade wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:I still don't give a crap. I don't want humans in Transformers. It's old. Of course, I wish this would happen to me, but it's not. Besides, I wouldn't even side with the Autobots. I'd go with the Decepticons. They need to make a series where one of the kids actually sides with the Decepticons, thats the crap I'd buy.

Sounds like a terrible idea based on the "rule of cool" rather than a thought out rationale.

The Decepticons intend to kill anything in their way and/or that they view as lesser creatures, of which, we are in their eyes.

That's like making a partnership with Satan because you think he respects you as a person.

Have we forgotten about Masterforce so soon?

Beat me to it!

This is news how? I figured this out in 1984!

That certainly makes sense.

It makes sense for them to have not only children, but people in general with the series. For the movies and cartoons anyways. It brings in that human element that people deep down look for.

While this, as others have said, has been known for quite a while. And it does indeed make since from a marketing standpoint.

One thing that's always annoyed me is that it's almost always kids... which in truth would be horrible allies for transformers...

Children would have no power(physical,intellectual,or political), lack education, be fickle, and frankly annoying as hell.

I had more to say on this but it will have to wait, I've gotta go to work.

It's what I liked about G1, actually. Sparkplug and Marissa as 'sidekicks'. Adults!

Bradimus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:I still don't give a crap. I don't want humans in Transformers. It's old. Of course, I wish this would happen to me, but it's not. Besides, I wouldn't even side with the Autobots. I'd go with the Decepticons. They need to make a series where one of the kids actually sides with the Decepticons, thats the crap I'd buy.

Sounds like a terrible idea based on the "rule of cool" rather than a thought out rationale.

The Decepticons intend to kill anything in their way and/or that they view as lesser creatures, of which, we are in their eyes.

That's like making a partnership with Satan because you think he respects you as a person.

Have we forgotten about Masterforce so soon?

Beat me to it!

Never heard of it. Either way, I'd still side with the Decepticons, and a series needs to have humans side with them out of fear. Because every one knows if you scare people enough, every one will fear you and follow you until you die, or you kill them.

I know that these kids are supposed to be endearing, but most (Er Herm Kicker) made me wish that the Cons would stomp on a few of them.

Catalyst Prime wrote:One thing that's always annoyed me is that it's almost always kids... which in truth would be horrible allies for transformers...

Children would have no power(physical,intellectual,or political), lack education, be fickle, and frankly annoying as hell.

Kids were/are the target audience, so they put in humans that kids would like to relate to (kids/teens) instead of those that they wouldn't (adults).

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:It's what I liked about G1, actually. Sparkplug and Marissa as 'sidekicks'. Adults!

Yeah... except that Spike started off as a preteen kid in seasons 1-2 of G1, being even younger than Jack and Miko here (he wasn't old enough to drive, so he couldn't have been 16 yet)

SlyTF1 wrote:Never heard of it.

*Crucify him, we want Barabas!*

But seriously, you are living under a rock if you have not even heard of Transformers: Chōjin Masterforce (Super-God Masterforce), or any of the series like The Headmasters, Victory, Zone, Return of Convoy, and Operation Combination.

It is completely obvious that this series has the best humans of all TF series. They were the most competent, capable, and useful of all the TF humans. Not to mention the most powerful as well. They were practically gods among men, so to speak.

The following is a list of all the great human characters from that series:

Autobots
Headmaster Juniors

Shūta Gō (A.K.A. Goshooter)




Cab




Minerva




Godmasters

Ginrai







Lightfoot




Ranger





Road King





Decepticons
Headmaster Juniors

Wilder



He killed a puppy!


Bullhorn




Cancer




Godmasters

Giga


Mega


Overlord (Giga & Mega combined)


Hydra




Buster (Note that this is a guy )





Autobot/Decepticon
Godmaster

Clouder (A.K.A. Doubleclouder)







And that still doesn’t include all the characters from this series. There were Pretenders, normal Headmasters, a Six-changer, the Seacons, the Decepticon Sparkdash (Japanese Firecons), a gun like G1 Megs (though he was always small and didn’t Size Change), and a god!

Sabrblade wrote:

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:It's what I liked about G1, actually. Sparkplug and Marissa as 'sidekicks'. Adults!

Yeah... except that Spike started off as a preteen kid in seasons 1-2 of G1, being even younger than Jack and Miko here (he wasn't old enough to drive, so he couldn't have been 16 yet)

True, but unlike Miko at least he brings actual mechanical skill with him. Guy knows his way around tools and parts, there.

Besides, Sparkplug and Marissa. Adults.

Sabrblade wrote:

Catalyst Prime wrote:One thing that's always annoyed me is that it's almost always kids... which in truth would be horrible allies for transformers...

Children would have no power(physical,intellectual,or political), lack education, be fickle, and frankly annoying as hell.

Kids were/are the target audience, so they put in humans that kids would like to relate to (kids/teens) instead of those that they wouldn't (adults).[/quote]

Yes, that's obvious, I was simply stating, that kids, in all reality would not be a wise choice for allies, despite the "target audience".



One thing that I definitely appreciate about some of the newer series and especially Transformers Prime compared to the G1 series is...THAT THE HUMANS HAVE HUMAN NAMES!!!
Who's bright idea was it to have human characters named/nicknamed: Spike and Sparkplug?(Don't answer that I already know) But seriously? Their not transformers, so don't give them a transformers name. It would make since if the Autobots had nicknamed them that, but instead they introduced themselves as such.

I think when I have a kid I'll name him Gearshaft and see how long he/she last at school before they get their asses ridiculed...

The girl I work with has a brother called Nathaniel but his nickname is Spud, and that's how he introduces himself. So why is it wrong for Spike and Sparkplug to introduce themselves using their nicknames?

Burn wrote:The girl I work with has a brother called Nathaniel but his nickname is Spud, and that's how he introduces himself. So why is it wrong for Spike and Sparkplug to introduce themselves using their nicknames?

Fighting back my terrible feeling that this will become some inflammatory statement in interpretation, I must say that I think hating on "Spike" and "Sparkplug" is just some anti-GeeWun sentiment. As you said Burn, people in real life introduce themselves by their nicknames, or introduce others by said nicknames, so having nicknames is not some unrealistic notion that people would not be called by their full given name at all times. We use nicknames here on Seibertron to identify ourselves, as I'm not entirely certain your parents names you Burn, and I can say with authority that mine did not name me Dagon. If Sam in the movieverse had some nickname I'm sure it would be perfectly acceptible, and I really am not trying to offend here, but I think it's just peeing on the past because some people don't share your view of the present.

As for human sidekicks, this issue is something that's overanalyzed in my opinion, and that's why we still talk about it. We need human-esque characters to relate to since we comprehend the things we understand. But, since TFs are essentially human characters in terms of personality, I find it hard to believe that people can't relate to them. Like we can't understand wanting power or being afraid or wanting people to get along in peace? There aren't any humans in The Lion King, but no one seems to express inabilities to relate to Simba or Pumbaa or anyone in that movie. And if the humans are only there for commerialism, why has it taken 26 years for Hasbro to start selling poorly painted human figures in the Human Alliance line? I can't count the *-masters in that equation, because while I know of Masterforce, I know the *-masters through the US continuity, so for me they are Nebulons who merge and not people who drive robo-bodies.
IF we needed human figures to relate to the TFs, then why didn't the toy line reflect Microman or whichever was the JApanese series with the little pilots? Then we'd have human characters to relate to. TFs would just be vehicles that changed instead of independant characters. Why, or better yet HOW, can Beast Wars even be kind of popular, since it had no human characters for the auidence to relate to? The proto-humans don't really count, because a person, if they cannot relate to a human-styled and human-emotional robot, cannot be expected to relate to Cro-magnon man.
Again, not meant to offend, but this arguement, only popularized after the 07 movie, reeks of trying to justify what some people see as being poorly written human roles as being integral to the locomotion of a story that should be focusing on the robots by people who like the human characters. I am heartfeltedly sorry if that comes across badly, but I don't apologize for the opinion. Human characters from 1984 to 2010 have been dull and lame, and we've always complained about them...'member Kicker, or Carlos? It only seems to be up for serious discussion in light of the on-going movie appeasement process.

Maybe Spike is his name. It is a name, after all.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Maybe Spike is his name. It is a name, after all.

And such names like "Spike", "Chip", "Buster", "Butch", etc. were more common back then than they are now.

"Sparkplug" on the other hand... well, it was definitely a nickname in the Marvel Comics, with his real name being either "William" or "Irving".

My main theory is that the Autobots NEED some human friends as Earth ambassadors so they can learn our way of life. Yes, "downloading info on the net" is the easy way, but Optimus prime and his crew are social enough to come out of their basements and actually MEET some people. That they make human friends and they want to stick around (even at the risk of a horrible, horrible death) is natural.

The only kind of human sidekick that get on my nerves is the "little kid who is such a genius, he can hack into the matrix with a stick".

My favorite kind of human sidekick? The ones that are... MORE than human. Like some who are becoming the head of a Transformers or the ones that where never really human to begin with...

Sabrblade wrote:For the longest time, Transformers fans have asked the big question: Why do the Autobots need human sidekicks in almost every series?

Many have pondered this, and many have speculated their own answers. But now, we finally have the true reaosn that human kid allies are put into so many Transformers series.

For those of you who saw the Transformers: Prime Hub Exclusive on the Hub, the answer was given there. If you did not see it, you can viewed either on the Hub's website here, or on YouTube here.

In this video, two of the voice actors, Andy Pessoa and Jeffery Combs, give the reasons as follows:

Andy Pessoa: "It's really awesome how they pulled in a few humans so it shows, like, the human side of it, and how people would react to something like this."

Jeffery Combs:"I think every kid secretly wishes that they had a relationship with a Transformer. Kids everywhere can put themselves in the position of these three kids and go, 'That! I wish that could be me!'"

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The reason that human kids are put in as allies to the Autobots are so that we can see how human kids would react to the Transfomers, and so that young viewers can relate to the kids characters who interact with their metallic heroes.

...

...yeah, um. So, comments? Thoughts? Opinions?

I don't read Superman and wish I was Jimmy Olsen.

craggy wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:(let's quote everything without editing out the parts that are less relevant to what I'm going to comment about. Thus, adding a lot of weigh to the whole page for nothing)

(And for the longest quote possible, let's leave the shortest comment possible).

Jezz, guys, I know I'm kinda new here, but there's lots of posters that are guilty of over quoting. A little effort, please?

hey, Kanrabat-, welcome to Seibertron! Ba weep granna weep screw yourself!

craggy wrote:hey, Kanrabat-, welcome to Seibertron! Ba weep granna weep screw yourself!

You puny organic! Prepare to FEEL MY WRATH!

Kanrabat, this is not the Autobot way.

But Prime he's annoying as hell! Can I just at least scare him a little?

*Stare* Autobots, transform, and roll out!

Hrrpf... (transforming_sound.mp3) You got lucky, kid...