Catalyst Prime wrote:Wow, I didn't know there was a Sixshot character in Energon?!?!
I may just have to grit my teeth and watch energon again.
(The first time I tried watching it I only made it to episode 15 before I got fed up with it.)
Yeah, he doesn't show up until the very tail end of the series, though. He's a palette swap of Shockblast in yellow/orange colors, and he's a lot like Thrust from Armada. He's not as psychotic or violent as his brother, but he's definitely on the same level of dangerous. He's sort of the evil mastermind of the duo - intelligent, cunning, ruthless. But he's also got a sense of play and a stubbornness to him that makes him fun to watch. At one point, Galvatron is forced to have all of his lieutenants guard Sixshot in the control room to make sure he doesn't try to sabotage anything.
Energon in itself is a hard show to appreciate, due to certain elements that don't jive well with hardly any of the fans. In fact, I'd venture to say that I'm probably the
only TransFan that ranks it in my top 3. The dialogue is occasionally cornball, the plot gets a little broken toward the middle (even I had no idea what was going on at one point), a lot of the space battles are fought with laser rifles using very little melee combat, and there's an extremely heavy reliance on the human protagonist, Kicker. On the bright side, though, it's one of the only 2 TF arcs to be set almost entirely in outer space, and it transitions from Armada seamlessly.
And a lot of people consider Kicker to be an annoying character, but comparing him with some of the other TF humans, is he really that bad of a protagonist? I could imagine him fitting in as the main hero in a number of different anime, and he uses Minicon weaponry and wears a TF hardsuit into battle. And he was actually useful to the plot, given the fact that he could sense Energon deposits and held close emotional ties with the alien Alpha Q. If you think back to G1, Spike really had nothing to offer the Autobots beyond friendship, and neither did a lot of the other humans from other series. Adding to this, Kicker actually
hated the Autobots for a bulk of the early episodes, which made him stand out even further as a unique character in TF lore. People will still hate him, though, because he's a human and he's crucial to the plot. That, and I suspect that his anime stylings probably threw a lot of people off, as well.
As for gimmicks, there are several - the Spark of Combination, custom-built temporary Energon weapons, and the specialized mining teams on either side of the war, the Omnicons & Terrorcons. The Spark of Combination made for a great partnering system, in which Autobots would have to train together and build trust in order to be effective in combat. And given the fact that the Decepticons in this series are extremely overpowered in the weaponry department (they're basically all bristling with Energon cannons and lances), the team-up mechanic actually becomes a life-or-death thing, much like the Minicons were in Armada. To combat the Decepticons' enhanced firepower, the Autobots' resident mining team, the Omnicons (who are themselves a sort of splinter race of ancient Autobots) are able to construct red Energon axes, pikes and swords for the 'Bots before every battle, as well as some temporary Energon shielding in the form of red armored chest plates that generate temporary forcefields. This kind of thing really adds to a sense of desparation and realism to the war - the soldiers are no longer simply relying on their unique special abilities, but actual weaponry and armor as well to get the job done.
Energon also has what is in my opinion the best portrayal of the David Kaye Megatron. In Megs' first battle after returning to life, he uses Scorponok (who had commanded his troops while he was dead) as a body shield while descending from the sky upon the Autobots. When he gets close to the planet's surface, he casts Scorponok's shredded body aside and whips out his sword, landing with his troops to face Prime. Now
that's the kind of thing I'd expect from a serious Megatron. He also murders Inferno in a spectacular fashion, essentially engulfing him in white flames after breaking his mind with telepathy. And, as Galvatron, he squashes Sixshot under his boot, killing him instantly. He's just a total badass in this series, and that fact seems to go unnoticed by a lot of fans.
This is also the only series in which Starscream is completely loyal, obedient, and feared by the Decepticon troops as Megatron's silent enforcer. Throughout the entire series (after he joins the ranks, of course), he functions as Megatron's body guard, as well as his eyes and ears among the ranks. It's truly surreal to see Starscream reach what is essentially his greatest potential - an unthinking, unfeeling killing machine as high up on the Decepticon food chain as a soldier can get. Megatron also rewards this loyalty and skill by giving him the honor of being the second to bathe in the super energon spring toward the end of the series, effectively making him super-powered. If this sort of thing had gone down in G1 or even Cybertron afterwards, Starscream would have been plotting and scheming to get a chance to take a dip, and Megatron would have made damn sure that he was kept away from it. Here, though, Starscream actually looks to his master for extra assurance before descending into the spring. He's portrayed as the loyal samurai under Megatron, and it's a convincing, chilling part.
And finally, Optimus is probably at his most serious and battle-hardened in this series. Ever since the final battle in Armada, during which Optimus came to the realization that he actually hungers for battle just the same as Megatron does, he's become somber and introverted. At the point in time when the Energon storyline occurs, he's basically in take-no-sh*t mode. He's a hardened commander, and he's firm in his decisions and expects obedience and order from his men. This is a very different Optimus than most are used to, which is probably another reason as to why the show is so oft-derided. For me personally, though, I was tired of seeing the same old grandfatherly Optimus with the heart of gold, who would sooner take the blame for something himself than scold his troops. This is an Optimus I can actually believe in - a commander with the weight of worlds resting on his shoulders, with hidden doubts about himself and his abilities.
So yeah, sorry to go off on a tangent there, but Energon is definitely one of my favorites. A lot of people bash RiD and Armada, but those still always have the occasional straggler fans. Energon seems to get the brunt of the hate from pretty much everybody, and I've never quite understood that.
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