The Energon Pub

Have we ever seen that happen?

In BW/BM you had Primal and Yess Megatron. But even then we had the original G1 Optimus Prime appear. Same goes for Rescue Bots.

Those two names Optimus and Megatron have been constants throughout. I'm not sure about the Japanese shows.

If that is the case, who would like to see a show without ever mentioning them? Do you think as a franchise we will ever have that? Or is Hasbro so inclined on keeping them to preserve their trademarks?

In comics, it is a bit more free. But MTME is the longest story arc I've seen without Optimus being physically there, but they dedicate issues via flashbacks.

I think it would be a cool idea if we saw another team of autobots and decepticons fighting elsewhere in space without the appearances of Optimus and Megatron. (Apparently, its too much to simply ask for them not to be mentioned.)

Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

And in the movie leading into Season 3, Optimus Prime was gracefully killed off "permanently", leaving millions of kids traumatized. That was in 1986, and times will not change for the better.

And to be a bit pedantic (not to mention tease Sabrblade a bit), RiD Megatron was never meant to be based on the iconic character we know and love. Instead, in Car Robot he was a run-of-the-mill bad guy with a bad case MCSPS (Multi-Change Split Personality Disorder): each of his modes had a different personality and voice, which only got worse when he upgraded to a 10-changer.

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

What about these cartoons isn't Hasbro related? It's TF cartoons, all in the same continuity. If you're going to ask questions like that, you might as well ask a question like 'what TF-cartoon didn't have Bumblebee, not counting AEC, BW, BM and RiD?'*

*not a complete list, just an example.

RhA wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

What about these cartoons isn't Hasbro related? It's TF cartoons, all in the same continuity. If you're going to ask questions like that, you might as well ask a question like 'what TF-cartoon didn't have Bumblebee, not counting AEC, BW, BM and RiD?'*

*not a complete list, just an example.

As in "not commissioned by Hasbro", be it production or dubbing.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

RhA wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

What about these cartoons isn't Hasbro related? It's TF cartoons, all in the same continuity. If you're going to ask questions like that, you might as well ask a question like 'what TF-cartoon didn't have Bumblebee, not counting AEC, BW, BM and RiD?'*

*not a complete list, just an example.

As in "not commissioned by Hasbro", be it production or dubbing.

I still refer to season 3 and possibly Headmasters.

RhA wrote:I still refer to season 3 and possibly Headmasters.

Season 3 does count because Hasbro was involved in its creation.

The Headmasters, however, did not have Hasbro's involvement.

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:I still refer to season 3 and possibly Headmasters.

Season 3 does count because Hasbro was involved in its creation.

The Headmasters, however, did not have Hasbro's involvement.

Despite popular belief if I may add. The Rebirth was made to properly end it after the funds for a cartoon were cut, but Takara continued on its own for a few more years. That's why Headmasters and co. have quite a few things that only the Japanese would properly understand.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The Rebirth was made to properly end it after the funds for a cartoon were cut,

And yet, in spite of that, Sunbow went and made "season 5" with new Tommy/PM Optimus material.

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The Rebirth was made to properly end it after the funds for a cartoon were cut,

And yet, in spite of that, Sunbow went and made "season 5" with new Tommy/PM Optimus material.

Of which the live-action segments only took a single week to record. The rest was just a precursor to Generation 2.

Slashercon wrote:I think it would be a cool idea if we saw another team of autobots and decepticons fighting elsewhere in space without the appearances of Optimus and Megatron. (Apparently, its too much to simply ask for them not to be mentioned.)

That would be something I'd watch. Some deep space exploration maybe. The protectobots on a mission and they encounter Seacons or a group of Seekers.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The Rebirth was made to properly end it after the funds for a cartoon were cut,

And yet, in spite of that, Sunbow went and made "season 5" with new Tommy/PM Optimus material.

Of which the live-action segments only took a single week to record. The rest was just a precursor to Generation 2.

Holy feta! There is a season 5, you guys were right. Never knew. And they got Cullen to do the part. Cool

RhA wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

What about these cartoons isn't Hasbro related? It's TF cartoons, all in the same continuity. If you're going to ask questions like that, you might as well ask a question like 'what TF-cartoon didn't have Bumblebee, not counting AEC, BW, BM and RiD?'*

*not a complete list, just an example.

Same should go for Bee, Starscream, and now maybe Ironhide and Soundwave. But as a constant looks like it's only Prime and Megs are the ones that appeared.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:And in the movie leading into Season 3, Optimus Prime was gracefully killed off "permanently", leaving millions of kids traumatized. That was in 1986, and times will not change for the better.

And to be a bit pedantic (not to mention tease Sabrblade a bit), RiD Megatron was never meant to be based on the iconic character we know and love. Instead, in Car Robot he was a run-of-the-mill bad guy with a bad case MCSPS (Multi-Change Split Personality Disorder): each of his modes had a different personality and voice, which only got worse when he upgraded to a 10-changer.

I guess that's why they couldn't let him die in Revenge of the Fallen or TFP. Makes it sound like Optimus Prime as we know him is the entire brand. It's his world, and everybody is just living in it.
In the eyes of Hasbro, without Optimus, it's just robots that don't sell too well.

Each mode had a different voice? lol, I really gotta watch that show sometime. Come on Netflix bring RID.

Sabrblade wrote:

RhA wrote:Japanese Headmasters, Masterforce, Victory and Zone.
-edit- and a large part of season 3.

It was Hasbro-related cartoons that were specifically asked about. The Japanese ones don't count.

But season 3 does, as it had Rodimus Prime and Galvatron instead (minus three episodes where Optimus did appear).

you're right, Season 3 had reduced Prime and entirely lacked Megatron. And from what I was told Season 3 was a gongshow that ended up ruining the show.


Of course many fan fictions have been Primeless for years. I wonder when that step will phase to official. Maybe with what's going on with MTME, the franchise has matured enough to allow that to happen. And as you guys have described, Japanese shows had no Optimus either. A more risky approach. But I'm guessing the Japanese aren't as invested into Optimus as the American market, since his persona is an American symbol. The Japanese analog would be wing saber style?

Come to think of it, is there an Autobot like Optimus? HotRodimus doesn't fit his dedication, he's unsure. When you think of Optimus, you think of a strong leader. Not even Magnus, or Prowl. Many like Megatron, but I think Optimus is alone. How many Autobots have we encountered, too many? Who could be a true replacement for him? Definitely not Bee, especially after he went silent in aligned. My candidates would have to be any of the smaller faction leaders, Silverbolt or Hotspot.

Oh, slag! I completely forgot that there is an American-made TF cartoon that not only doesn't have Optimus or Megatron in it, but has NO characters with any familiar names (the closest name to an iconic name was "Silver-Bot", whose initial toys were named "Silverbolt" before they got renamed in later releases).

This TF cartoon:

budmaloney wrote:Each mode had a different voice? lol, I really gotta watch that show sometime. Come on Netflix bring RID.

That was only in the Japanese version that JelZe was talking about him having different voices for each mode. The English version has all of RID Megatron's modes have the same voice.

budmaloney wrote:you're right, Season 3 had reduced Prime and entirely lacked Megatron. And from what I was told Season 3 was a gongshow that ended up ruining the show.

You haven't seen season 3 yet?

IMHO, while it is far from perfect, season 3 had both some of the best and some of the worst episodes of the G1 cartoon. It's worth watching at least once.

budmaloney wrote:Of course many fan fictions have been Primeless for years. I wonder when that step will phase to official. Maybe with what's going on with MTME, the franchise has matured enough to allow that to happen. And as you guys have described, Japanese shows had no Optimus either. A more risky approach. But I'm guessing the Japanese aren't as invested into Optimus as the American market, since his persona is an American symbol. The Japanese analog would be wing saber style?

Thee have been other comics aside from MTMTE that didn't have Optimus or Megatron in them. But since this topic asked about cartoons, I didn't bring up any comics.

budmaloney wrote:Come to think of it, is there an Autobot like Optimus? HotRodimus doesn't fit his dedication, he's unsure. When you think of Optimus, you think of a strong leader. Not even Magnus, or Prowl. Many like Megatron, but I think Optimus is alone. How many Autobots have we encountered, too many? Who could be a true replacement for him? Definitely not Bee, especially after he went silent in aligned. My candidates would have to be any of the smaller faction leaders, Silverbolt or Hotspot.

Two words: Star Saber.

Well, they keep Optimus and Megatron because they are the most famous Transformers trademarks.

Also, remember that even if Optimus seems to be practically the same in all series (except for Beast Wars/ Beast Machines). Megatron as a character was changed many times. For exmple, Megatron from Beast Wars and Megatron from Prime are really completly different characters.

I think that simply different characters name or they apperance won't change anything, it is'nt that simple.

Also, I woukld love to se series where each fraction have a leaders, not a single leader. It would be more realistic.

Well, Prime/Convoy is a rank. So technically...

budmaloney wrote:

Slashercon wrote:I think it would be a cool idea if we saw another team of autobots and decepticons fighting elsewhere in space without the appearances of Optimus and Megatron. (Apparently, its too much to simply ask for them not to be mentioned.)

That would be something I'd watch. Some deep space exploration maybe. The protectobots on a mission and they encounter Seacons or a group of Seekers.

Well, TF Exodus and the TFP RID toyline introduced Thudertron and the Star Seekers, so why not have a show focus on a group of bot & cons dealing with their presence?

Sabrblade wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:The Rebirth was made to properly end it after the funds for a cartoon were cut,

And yet, in spite of that, Sunbow went and made "season 5" with new Tommy/PM Optimus material.

thats because the original plans for "the rebirth" ws not for it to be an ending but a new beginning.