The Energon Pub

transforthem wrote:Hey, don't hate me for this statement; some cat named TOYDUDE made the statement on http://whohasswag.com

Here is the original post:
http://whohasswag.com/sjshow.php?swag=70

Here are my reasons the Rodimus Prime was greater than Optimus Prime

I still cannot believe that in the new Transformers movies there has been no mention of who was the new leader of the Transformers for the 90s.

1. Rodimus was a sports car. There is nothing cool or awesome about a huge American-flag colored truck. Unless that truck's name was Ultra Magnus
2. Optimus was too much of a goody goody. His do good and don't hurt anybody attitude was so played out
3. Rodimus had Ultra Magnus. Optimus never had anybody following him who was in many ways his superior… Maybe he was insecure
4. He survived the battle that killed Optimus. Say what you want about him but while one truck was dying and another truck was miserably failing Hot Rod was stepping up to the plate
5. He was futuristic and didn't play any games while Prime was always trying to be nice to humans and Decepticons.

There you have it people, my reason for believing that Rodimus Prime deserves much more respect than he is given, and he definitely deserves a prominent role in Transformers 3.

I can't wait to lay into this dude!

Ok, I'm as big a Rodimus Prime fan as anyone, but there needs to be a response.

1. Hot Rod was a sports car... more specifically, he was a "hot rod" -- a car tuned (and rebuilt?) for street racing. Rodimus Prime was a sports car modified into a truck (similar to the Citroen CX and XM Tissier conversions).
2. Of course Optimus Prime was a goody-goody. He's the "good guy" leader of an '80s cartoon. His sole purpose is to be the paragon of all we hold dear. Instead of a muscular physique with a cape, he's a long haul tractor-trailer. In contrast to that, he's also a military commander, who is often forced to make tough decisions in shades of gray. Rodimus does the same, but his shades of gray are compared to outsiders' impressions of a previous administration. It's like comparing Bush Sr. to Reagan, or Clinton to Carter, or J.F.K. to F.D.R. (please don't go here.)
3. Rodimus Prime may have had Ultra Magnus (Prime's initial, yet reluctant choice for the job), but Optimus had Prowl, Jazz, and to some degree, Ironhide. All have been by their leader's side for some time. Prowl, like Ultra Magnus, acts both like a military officer and an advisor, often asking questions contradictory to his leader's train of thought. Ironhide often did the same thing, but acted more like a cross between Kup and Springer.
4. Hot Rod survived the battle? Ignoring the fact that he started it prematurely (Megatron would have ambushed the Autobots after a safe landing anyway), Hot Rod survived because a.) Megatron didn't think enough of him than to use him as a living shield. b.) Optimus gave his last to eliminate the threat of "Megatron" (because he more than likely would have cut Hot Rod down after he'd finished with Prime.
5. He was futuristic? The movie (and later seasons) were set in an imaginary future some 20 years before the story was to be aired/screened. OF COURSE he was futuristic! That being said, Hot Rod's vehicular mode was never defined to be either a future Earth vehicle, or a Cybertronian one. Rodimus Prime's vehicle mode was simply Hot Rod's changed into Hot Rod's ideal of a paragonic form. (Pronouncing it pa-RA-gon-ic, I'm not sure if it's a real word, or something I made up.) Since his idol is Optimus, he becomes a trailer/highway truck. Since big rigs have smokestacks/exhaust at trailer height, his monster tailpipes have been so altered. If you need a comic book reference, think of Billy Batson, b.k.a. DC (and Fawcett)'s Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel's body represent's Billy's paragonic ideal of a champion, which includes some likenesses to his deceased father.
6. As for not playing any games, to be honest Rodimus would've rather been playing games than being responsible for running all things Autobot. This was also Optimus's job, but his focus was force to change, to localize once his specific unit of Autobots were marooned on Earth. He knew he'd only win if he had the support of the planet's people, even if they weren't able to directly act on the Autobots' behalf. He also knew that peace could only be achieved if he offered the Decepticons the opportunity to seek it.
7. Leader of the '90s? Rodimus Prime lead the Autobots in only one year: mid-1986 to early 1987. (All of '87 if you go by the Japanese fiction.) By the '90s, the undisputed leader of the Autobots was Optimus Prime (especially in Generation 2). Hot Rod and Grimlock got honorable mentions, but Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime didn't even get graced with another toy until 2001 (2007 for a non-reissue).

To me, Rodimus was as great as Optimus Prime, but he also couldn't deal with people comparing him to his predecessor. (It gets worse: In Japan, they made the comparison with numbers!)
-- Cybertronian.

transforthem wrote:Here are my reasons the Rodimus Prime was greater than Optimus Prime

I still cannot believe that in the new Transformers movies there has been no mention of who was the new leader of the Transformers for the 90s.

1. Rodimus was a sports car. There is nothing cool or awesome about a huge American-flag colored truck. Unless that truck’s name was Ultramagnus

What makes Magnus so much better? He was the same truck without a trailer, and he didn't look as cool to me(not that I don't like Magnus).

2. Optimus was too much of a goody goody. His do good and don’t hurt anybody attitude was so played out

And Rodimus being depressed all the time was better? I prefer Optimus, it makes you feel sorry when he loses....since you know, he wants to help you...

3. Rodimus had Ultramagnus. Optimus never had anybody following him who was in many ways his superior… Maybe he was insecure

Or maybe, Optimus was just that awesome
But I don't know, he kind of is amazing, I can't really think of a superior Autobot...
Although technically he had Skyfire, who was a giant, and awesome...and Jazz was pretty cool.
And of course, Grimlock who was supposed to be invincible in Dino-mode(unless that episode lied...).

4. He survived the battle that killed Optimus. Say what you want about him but while one truck was dying and another truck was miserably failing Hot Rod was stepping up to the plate
But...he caused Optmius' death indirectly...
5. He was futuristic and didn’t play any games while Prime was always trying to be nice to humans and Decepticons.
I haven't seen too many episodes, but so far he's just been doing the same as Prime, only more depressingly(he's still doing a decent job though).

There you have it people, my reason for believing that Rodimus Prime deserves much more respect than he is given, and he definitely deserves a prominent role in Transformers 3.

I can't wait to lay into this dude!

Maybe he deserves more respect...but then Prime is just kinda cooler, if you go by Aesthetics alone, to me Prime's appearance has always been better as the faceless look is really nice. Plus, all those 3vs1 matches Prime's had? Forest fight, Dinobots, Seekers....he's a good fighter, I don't remember any of that with Rodimus.

The main thing that turns him away from me is that he's a leader because he's so inexperienced, Jazz or even Grimlock could've been better leaders(Grimlock would've just led them to rip the Decepticons apart and jazz is supposed to have been awesome or something...).


Also...

I think they should put him into a supportive mentor role instead of simply axing him,

I had this same thought the other day! In fact when I saw the movie, I liked Hot Rod up to the point that he became Rodimus prime...

I also realize all of my arguments probably suck

Rodimus was greater Than Optimus?

LOL, Dems fightin werds punk! Yeah, you're wrong <insert a milltion and one reasons here>.

WARNING: DO NOT click on spoiler if you are: A.) Easily offendable B.) A NGE fan C.)Extremely sensitive to harsh words
They should make a new series just for Roddy: Neon Rodimus Evangelion Prime. In this delightful tale, an apocalyptic Transformer action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization Nest to fight monstrous beings called Decepticons. Nest's primary weapon against the Decepticons are giant Transformers called Autobots which are piloted by select teenagers, one of whom, Shinji Ikari, is the primary protagonist.

Throughout the adventure, Shinji/Rodimus whacks it to Misato Katsuragi (aka "Arcee") while shes passed out in a hospital ward after she gets her ass kicked by Galvatron. Toji Suzuhara (aka "Ultra Magnus") walks in and comforts the poor Shinji/Rodimus, while Kensuke Aida/Springer watches on angrily, hoping for his turn to "be alone" with Arcee.

Oh, and they all cry ALOT and have massive head trips on if its right to kill Decepticons and how their inner, uh, Chi feels about the whole thing...while crying too.

Thank you, zenosaurus, your answer to #2 is in essence why I like Prime (referring to the 1st G1 TV series). He cared for others to the point it was his greatest weekness (and Megatron and others used it against him more than once). To me, Rodimus frequently came off annoyingly indifferent.

Though rodimus did have a really cool futuristic truck mode, optimus will always be better because of the battles he had fought before hand. Plus optimus never really compared him self to anyone else, rodimus did. Optimus had compassion for all living things even if they were evil, this in its self shows that he doesn't let his emotions get to him even though he may not like the decepticons or what their doing. Although in armada they showed a whole different side to optimus showing that he hated galvatron/megatron. I wouldn't say that even if this is true that he hates the decepticon or megatron him self..he still wants to find a solution to the problem with out there being death. With rodimus, sure he had more men more things to go with but he didn't have optimus's experiences in battle, such as if jessica wasn't there when he tried to save ultra magnus and the others from the hate plague, he would of been infected right then because of his inexperience. Because of these reasons optimus will always be one of the great leaders of the autobots. I think he follows what most people should in todays world..that even though someone is doing wrong you should always treat them with compassion, just not to the point where you will trust them.

Let's be real here; we all know that either Grimlock or Ultramagnus should have been Prime's successor. unfortunately that jagbag usurped the Matrix. Interesting point, if you were to look into the Matrix today you would NOT see Hotrod in there.

there's no way Rodimus AKA (white trash prime) was better then Optimus. Screw Rod for getting Prime killed. that why he came back and beat Rod down with only one are and without the matrix.

one arm

vegetacron wrote:
WARNING: DO NOT click on spoiler if you are: A.) Easily offendable B.) A NGE fan C.)Extremely sensitive to harsh words
They should make a new series just for Roddy: Neon Rodimus Evangelion Prime. In this delightful tale, an apocalyptic Transformer action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization Nest to fight monstrous beings called Decepticons. Nest's primary weapon against the Decepticons are giant Transformers called Autobots which are piloted by select teenagers, one of whom, Shinji Ikari, is the primary protagonist.

Throughout the adventure, Shinji/Rodimus whacks it to Misato Katsuragi (aka "Arcee") while shes passed out in a hospital ward after she gets her ass kicked by Galvatron. Toji Suzuhara (aka "Ultra Magnus") walks in and comforts the poor Shinji/Rodimus, while Kensuke Aida/Springer watches on angrily, hoping for his turn to "be alone" with Arcee.

Oh, and they all cry ALOT and have massive head trips on if its right to kill Decepticons and how their inner, uh, Chi feels about the whole thing...while crying too.

^That's awesome. I think you've pretty much summed up G1 and Evangelion in a few short paragraphs. I'd suggest unblocking it for all to enjoy.

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

Dagon wrote:

sto_vo_kor_2000 wrote:

Lord Chumley wrote:Picard was better than Kirk!

Sisko was better then both.

Hells yes! I love the Thong Song!!

Wrong Sisko.

I know. And I while I know better than to incite a mighty Klingon, I just couldn't help myself.

Rodimus was a great leader but he was not has good has Optimus prime. Optimus has vast experience being a leader.

This thread is nonsense. BTW, Grimlock!

Hmm...I think the fact that Optimus Prime is used as the Autobot leader in so many fictions, genres, generations, and iterations of Transformers that he gets the nod purely for that reason. Being inducted into HASBRO's very first inductee class says something as well (It should also be noted that Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime was not even among the five fan choice bots to vote in).

Hot Rod also had to take leadership through treachery, causing the situation that led to Prime's death. Prime being the nice bot he was never even probably thought to lay blame on Hot Rod. (Yes, it's a silly POV, I'm just playing). The Autobots should have exiled him or something for that.

I think each bot had the appropriate staff to support their needs as leader, so making a case using staff as support is not really getting either side anywhere.

Those trying to support Rodimus as the better leader, I commend you in taking the harder road though.

tigertracks 24 wrote:
Those trying to support Rodimus as the better leader, I commend you in taking the harder road though.

I'd venture to argue that the thing that would make it the hardest is that the source material (I.e. Rodimus Prime himself) spends a decent portion of the Season 3 cartoon lamenting how he doesn't measure up to Optimus Prime. I know that we have far more to base this arguement on that just the G1 cartoon, but the character in question from his inception has placed himself on a lower rung than Optimus. And I'd argue that it's not just a thing of humility, but that he really does not believe himself to be on the same level or even close to Optimus at all.
I'm mentioning this not to slag the Rodimus arguemnt, and I understand that some of Rodimus' selfhate may be becuase they knew they would bring Optimus back at the end of G1, or some other marketing choice. Maybe the sales of Rodimus toys was real weak, and that's why we have gotten Optimus' in perpetuety rather than Rodimus', since we can always just say that G1 was about selling toys. If that wasn't the case, may we have had Rodimus Prime in the Bay movies instead of Optimus? Or would movieverse Rodimus Prime toys not sell as well as Optimus Prime toys, and so then the movies become about selling toys as well?

I think what I'm saying is that both Optimus and Rodimus should be their own strongest arguements in a case like this. Like, we should be able to get Optimus and Rodimus ot speak for themselves, and a large part of Rodimus' dialogue is how he's never going to be as good as Optimus was.