Shadowman wrote:Henry921 wrote:So few of his actions are motivated for his personal benefit that it's hard to see him as a "bad guy".
I hate to drag in Godwin's Law, but Hitler did what he did for the sake of Germany. Just because you're not doing it for personal gain doesn't make it right.
Granted, but the same argument can be made about any extremist. I'd also argue there's a huge difference between what actions are acceptable for the sake of the health of a single country versus what actions are acceptable for the sake of an entire planet. Hitler killed 6,000,000 people for his country. Shockwave tortured five Autobot POWs for the sake of Cybertronians as a whole.
Shadowman wrote:Henry921 wrote:Shockwave is a scientist. Science itself is neither good nor bad. Shockwave's motivations -what we've been privy to and haven't been obfuscated- have been to reboot Cybertron, find a planet with a supply of natural energy, find new, more energy-efficient bodies for Cybertronians (the third point tying into the second, with the Dinobots serving as a test, and the Insecticons possibly a related experiment), and later to use the same information in serving his leader.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Shattered Glass? I haven't played FOC yet, but so far from what I have seen, Shockwave is far from a heroic Decepticon.
SG Shockwave is an ambassador, not a scientist. As far as I know, anyway. If you play
Fall of Cybertron and listen to Shockwave's logs you learn about his experiments with the Dinobots and the Insecticon swarm and how their organic components make their bodies more energy efficient.
Shadowman wrote:Henry921 wrote:Megatron is a villain, I have no doubts about that. Those who serve him, on the other hand...
Are also villains.
Well, no, I'd say they're not. Especially in the case of Soundwave, Shockwave, Dreadwing and the Vehicons.
The Decepticons are the
majority of the remaining Cybertronian race. The Autobots are a small resistance movement fighting to restore an old order that caused the oppression that led to the Decepticon uprising in the first place.
Megatron may have once been an idealist, but he has come full circle to tyrant. Starscream is an overly ambitious jerk with a sadistic streak. Knock Out is a medic, but prefers hurting people to injuring them. Breakdown is just a thug, apparently. Airachnid is quite possibly worse than all of them.
Soundwave is a former gladiator and member of that oppressed minority. He saw Megatron as the savior of Cybertron and the one who would return the planet from corruption to a new Golden Age. He also took the Mini-Cons, rejected by other facets of Cybertronian society, as his own allies and led to their joining the Decepticon ranks, despite Megatron's disapproval. He also apparently keeps an historical record of the war, and is quite possibly the only one left doing so.
Shockwave I've covered.
Dreadwing is a warrior first, and Decepticon second. I think we saw firsthand that his honor and loyalty to his twin outweighed any allegiance to the Decepticons. He followed Megatron because Megatron was his master, but clearly had standards on what he deemed permissible. Optimus clearly views his Decepticon allegiance as a tragedy, though Dreadwing himself cannot ultimately join the Autobots, as he has become embittered by the long conflict and the damage done to their homeworld.
And the Vehicons. Despite getting little characterization, they are apparently
happy to follow Megatron. They believe in him as their master and the rightful leader of their race. They have also been shown to have something resembling a democratic process, as they voted to bring Knock Out and Breakdown aboard to repair Megatron, and Starscream honored the results.
As Ratchet put it:
"Being a Decepticon is a
choice."
And in this continuity, while the Decepticons have monsters in their ranks, many more of their number are fighting to restore Cybertron's golden age, which the Autobots have prevented.