The Energon Pub

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Rated X wrote:Since the character never officially existed in a capacity that Hasbro could copyright

You mean other than that time that he did, right?

All TF Wiki lists is a storyline created by a semi-official source. With no image, no toy, etc, there really isn't much Hasbro can do legally. It would be like creating a new character. I would have said the same thing about "Stripes" but Hasbro finally decided to give him a visible identity.

Rated X wrote:

Doctor McGrath wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Mkall wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Mkall wrote:So I've been trying to think up a good in-theme name for this character. So far I've come up with:
Sink
Swim
Sunk
or Splash

Any others?

Since the character never officially existed in a capacity that Hasbro could copyright, why not just name him Paddles ?

Because Paddles is not a single syllable word starting with the letter S.

Why does the name have to be a single syllable word starting with the letter S ?
The other Planet X Dino names are Caelus, Neptune, Summanus, and Quirinus.

Not their Planet X name, which some of us don't refer to in our collections. The actual dinobot names, neglecting Grimlock, start with an S & are one syllable. We are trying to give Paddles a name that follows the pattern set forth by his dinobot teammates.

30 years and that never hit me as being a pattern until I read this comment. In my opinion "Grimlock" flat out kills any legitimacy to this being a pattern. Just because he was the leader doesnt make him special. But if we dismiss that, you have 2 nouns that are pretty much terms for toxic waste and two verbs in which one is a noise and the other is an action. Other than the "S" there is no real pattern. Sorry to be such a downer but I would say just leave him Paddles. He is special like Grimlock.

1. Yes, being the leader makes Grimlock special.
2. Grimlock is the exception that proves the 'S' rule.

Rated X wrote:
30 years and that never hit me as being a pattern until I read this comment. In my opinion "Grimlock" flat out kills any legitimacy to this being a pattern. Just because he was the leader doesnt make him special. But if we dismiss that, you have 2 nouns that are pretty much terms for toxic waste and two verbs in which one is a noise and the other is an action. Other than the "S" there is no real pattern. Sorry to be such a downer but I would say just leave him Paddles. He is special like Grimlock.

I asked Bob Budianski, the guy who almost single-handedly named every 1984 and 85 TF characters, about his rational behind the Dinobot names. His response was that he named them like that on purpose; where Grimlock was the leader and the others would be his disciples (yes he used that word). So I believe there is an intentional naming pattern, which I'll be following.

I'll probably call him Slapper and ignore the single-syllable rule

guarayakha wrote:I'll probably call him Slapper and ignore the single-syllable rule

HA! Slapper. Good one.

But Slapper is two syllables or does it just sound like it does. Possibly monosyllabic? But would it need two oppossing consonants to be truly syllabic?

I'm still... gonna call him Paddles. If that's all right.

Mkall wrote:

Rated X wrote:
30 years and that never hit me as being a pattern until I read this comment. In my opinion "Grimlock" flat out kills any legitimacy to this being a pattern. Just because he was the leader doesnt make him special. But if we dismiss that, you have 2 nouns that are pretty much terms for toxic waste and two verbs in which one is a noise and the other is an action. Other than the "S" there is no real pattern. Sorry to be such a downer but I would say just leave him Paddles. He is special like Grimlock.

I asked Bob Budianski, the guy who almost single-handedly named every 1984 and 85 TF characters, about his rational behind the Dinobot names. His response was that he named them like that on purpose; where Grimlock was the leader and the others would be his disciples (yes he used that word). So I believe there is an intentional naming pattern, which I'll be following.

Well I cant argue with that. Coming from you I know that story is legit.

But I gotta ask...you seem to be ok with alot of the changes newer writers have brought to the table. ( like megatron being a tank for example) With that being said, why is the the G1 Dinobot "S" tradition so important to keep ? Maybe the person who invented "paddles" decided to break the tradition purposely. I kind of like that because this new character gets a clean chalkboard in every other respect. Theres nothing G1 about him unless you shoehorn him into G1. I may be a G1 purist, but I dont mind deviation when youre working with a blank canvas.

Also "snarl" is clearly two syllables so I dunno who threw that one syllable stipulation in there.

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:I'm still... gonna call him Paddles. If that's all right.

Indeed, I don't think Mkall ever mentioned changing it for everybody. I liked his idea, though. And for the most part, it was a good conversation.

Rated X wrote:But I gotta ask...you seem to be ok with alot of the changes newer writers have brought to the table. ( like megatron being a tank for example) With that being said, why is the the G1 Dinobot "S" tradition so important to keep ? Maybe the person who invented "paddles" decided to break the tradition purposely. I kind of like that because this new character gets a clean chalkboard in every other respect. Theres nothing G1 about him unless you shoehorn him into G1. I may be a G1 purist, but I dont mind deviation when youre working with a blank canvas.

I don't mind changes. After all, things must evolve in order to stay interesting in my opinion. One can only get so much out of the original material. However the core concept must remain intact. For example I'm ok with Megatron as a Tank or Stealth Bomber so long as his helmet-head remains intact and he has that giant cannon on his arm (the chest is a bonus, but not a necessity).

Likewise It wouldn't be Sunstreaker without those crazy ear things of his.

Along that same line are the identities of the teams. Constructicons must be Green and Purple, Aerialbots must be jets (sorry Alpha Bravo) and so on. The Dinobots identity lies not only in their altmodes, but also their names as they, IMO, displays unity and cohesion.

Rated X wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Rated X wrote:Since the character never officially existed in a capacity that Hasbro could copyright

You mean other than that time that he did, right?

All TF Wiki lists is a storyline created by a semi-official source. With no image, no toy, etc, there really isn't much Hasbro can do legally. It would be like creating a new character. I would have said the same thing about "Stripes" but Hasbro finally decided to give him a visible identity.

Officially licensed books are, legally, more than "semi-official sources". Even if Hasbro or iBooks don't own the copyright(good odds they do), the writer of the story and the cover artist do by virtue of copyright laws regarding creators.

Remember, copyright is an automatic thing, not something you need to apply for.

Also something to note is that you're using the wrong term. What you're thinking of is trademarks, not copyrights.

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Rated X wrote:

Midnight_Fox wrote:

Rated X wrote:Since the character never officially existed in a capacity that Hasbro could copyright

You mean other than that time that he did, right?

All TF Wiki lists is a storyline created by a semi-official source. With no image, no toy, etc, there really isn't much Hasbro can do legally. It would be like creating a new character. I would have said the same thing about "Stripes" but Hasbro finally decided to give him a visible identity.

Officially licensed books are, legally, more than "semi-official sources". Even if Hasbro or iBooks don't own the copyright(good odds they do), the writer of the story and the cover artist do by virtue of copyright laws regarding creators.

Remember, copyright is an automatic thing, not something you need to apply for.

Also something to note is that you're using the wrong term. What you're thinking of is trademarks, not copyrights.

Im not exactly sure where you pulled that image from, because it isnt displayed on the tf wiki link provided earlier. That was the main reason I referred to it as being a "semi-official" source. Im inclined to believe if the character doesnt have some kind of visual likeness, a name wouldnt be enough to produce a successful lawsuit. (Especially when trying to sue a Chinese based company) I recall reading here about some electronic device named "Optimus Prime" and Hasbro lost the lawsuit. If hasbro or their affiliates havent established visually exactly what "paddles" is, can they really sue another company who happens to create something called "paddles" ? Of course youre picture is proof that paddles does have a visual likeness after all. The trouble is, anybody who goes by tf wiki may have not ever seen it before.

That image is from the cover of the book. The cover is on the wiki page for the book the story that I linked to is in. He's on the left side.

Blastback wrote:*Edit*

Yeah, so my headcannon is that it's Paddles that's been hanging in Loch Ness. The Dinobot's ship crashed there and he was guarding it.

Cause I'm sad like that.

that's actually kinda cool. i like it

Grim master / Grimstone is another G-named Dinobot not to there is a variety of names used for other Dinobots over the years;
T-Wrecks, Triceradon, Airraptor, Dinotron, Magmatron, Rapticon, Terranotron, Grimstone, Knockdown, Terrorsaur, Hacksaw, Chromebite, Reptix, Refuser, Ironlunge, Catilla, Rav, Windrazor, Gnashteeth, Ransack, Repticus, Dualor, Ivan, Paulie, & Thunderlips.

So that does also weaken the S names as a pattern quite a bit.
thought there is also Striker, Strafe, Stockade, Scorn, Snarl, Slog, Sling, Slug, & Slash who supports the pattern.

I'll leave the Rescuebot Dinobots to the side though even though they are sold as Dinobots and share the same general kind of alt modes as the 1980's Dinobots.

I guess there is plenty of other Dinosaurs you can happily argue if they count as "Dinobots" or not too like the cassettes.

Anyway I'm more than happy to have additional Dinobots just as I am happy to have additional Constructicons - I just tend to think of additional Dinobots as other members of the "Lightning Strike Coalition" is all.

So Paddles is a good thing.

RAR wrote:Grim master / Grimstone is another G-named Dinobot not to there is a variety of names used for other Dinobots over the years;
T-Wrecks, Triceradon, Airraptor, Dinotron, Magmatron, Rapticon, Terranotron, Grimstone, Knockdown, Terrorsaur, Hacksaw, Chromebite, Reptix, Refuser, Ironlunge, Catilla, Rav, Windrazor, Gnashteeth, Ransack, Repticus, Dualor, Ivan, Paulie, & Thunderlips.

So that does also weaken the S names as a pattern quite a bit.
thought there is also Striker, Strafe, Stockade, Scorn, Snarl, Slog, Sling, Slug, & Slash who supports the pattern.

I'll leave the Rescuebot Dinobots to the side though even though they are sold as Dinobots and share the same general kind of alt modes as the 1980's Dinobots.

I guess there is plenty of other Dinosaurs you can happily argue if they count as "Dinobots" or not too like the cassettes.

Anyway I'm more than happy to have additional Dinobots just as I am happy to have additional Constructicons - I just tend to think of additional Dinobots as other members of the "Lightning Strike Coalition" is all.

So Paddles is a good thing.

In my mind, there is a difference between the Dinobots & another transformer with a dinosaur alt mode. For instance, saying the Dinobots doesn't bring Magmatron to mind. So, to your point, the 'S' rule doesn't apply to all dinosaur alt modes, just those referred to as the Dinobots. Paddles is an unofficial member of that team to many people. That's why we were trying to give him a name that fit the given pattern.

Paddles can find a home anywhere in your collection, though.