The Energon Pub

just wondering.

Producers included Spike, Daniel, and kids in these TF shows so kids in the audience would have a "proxy" they could "relate" to.

I think this is also the reason for the presence of younger sidekicks in old superhero comics.

Now, personally, it never worked for me. Actually, I loathed these "kid proxies." I want to see action. I want to see fights. And if there were some characters that I can relate with, those would be the robots.

So, I was wondering what these cartoon makers were thinking of when they came up with them kids. Do kids really relate with kids?

At least Sparkplug and Spike were present to serve as guides to Earth, more than "audience proxy." and Chip Chase? man, that's another issue. If the producers wanted to deliver the message that "nobody's really disabled as long as they have courage," they could have used a transformer with caterpillar treads instead of feet and the message would have probably resonated more. Hell, if it were up to me, I won't even give humans any role in TF stuff, except for collateral damage.

So, why include audience proxy kids in the show? IMO, these are irritating at best, trivial at worst.

What do you guys think? Have you ever related with Daniel?

mechajol wrote:What do you guys think? Have you ever related with Daniel?

No never not at all. In Fact and i'm quoting my self

Autobot420 wrote:I hate that little S.O.B. seriously if I was an autobot i'd just snipe the little sh*t during a battle and blame it on the decpticons. come on who are they gonna belive me or some slaggin decpticon?

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Out of the humans in any series, I'm definatly closely related to Spike (Premovie) except that I have absoutly no mechanical skills. Well allso I don't really keep a Journal like he did but I use to, actully had to at one time for school.

Nope. Never related to any of them.

I really liked that Spike in the G1 series began keeping a journal about his time with the Transformers. I think it would be an interesting intro device for the second movie in 2009, as well.

If by "relate" you mean "wish a 'bot would step on them, turning them into fleshling goo" than, yes every one of them.

Yes. Because I SO would have jumped into the front seat of a VW bug if I knew it was going to take me right onto a battlefield.

by relate i meant "see myself as the kid"

me, i wish they all would just be crushed in battle. specially daniel.

I remeber being 5, wathcing Aoutobot X, and wishing that was the end of Spike. Enough said right?

Spike and Sparkblug were the only two human characters in the cartoons I actually liked, though Sparkblug seemed to be the better character, he actually did stuff and helped out. OF the rest of the series I've watched I disliked the kids... they seemed stupid, inept and useless.

Now the comics on the other hand at least made an effort to make believable human characters. I like the IDW humans the most.

Nope, never.

And we never needed them.

Hence Cheetor. A kid robot. Its a robot, AND someone you can relate to. Brilliance!

I liked Carly. =(

Couldn't stand Spike or Daniel, they never did anything to justify their presence. They just existed to get into trouble so the Autobots would bail them out. Didn't mind the other G1 humans. Chip wasn't overused and he was actually useful. Sparkplug ditto. Carlos showed up in two episodes where he was relevant, and he wasn't sucking up to the 'Bots the whole time. Never related to any human, though.

To be honest, I never saw why the humans were deemed necessary. Does any kid ever relate to the young sidekick character? I never did. I never wanted to be Spike or Robin. I wanted to be Optimus Prime or Batman.

Nope, I understand that Humans are importent to teach the robots the eartling ways, but they are all crap in the toons!
The IDW humans are cool and imo the best!

I think that people related most the actual transformers instead of the humans in the cartoons.

Here's some prime examples:

Silverbolt: He had a fear of heights and showed that he could overcome it. Lots of people can relate to that.

Starscream/Jetfire: Here's a pretty common scenario. You meet up with a old friend, but bot of you have changed. You both realise that it can never the same again as it was in the old days.

Never liked the token humans.

I don't think that corporate mentality really understands the idea of relating, anyway. Kids (and even older viewers) don't want any stand-ins. If they're gonna project, they'll project into the ideal, the larger-than-life characters.

Creature SH wrote:
I don't think that corporate mentality really understands the idea of relating, anyway. Kids (and even older viewers) don't want any stand-ins. If they're gonna project, they'll project into the ideal, the larger-than-life characters.

yes! thank you! just goes to show that corporate people don't understand their target market!

I never related to the kids. I related to the Transformers. I couldn't stand Kicker. I wanted him to become an 'accident' so very very much. I DID sort of like Alexis though. But even that is a stretch.

Personally, I could understand Spike and Sparkplug. But all the other children? I mean, really. Who is going to be better able to teach the Transformers about Earth and the way things work here? A ten year old kid or a twenty-eight year old adult?

Personally I have always wondered if the Autobots really liked those children. What kind of responsible adults (robotic or not) would take children into the middle of a war zone?

Susinko wrote:I never related to the kids. I related to the Transformers. ...

... What kind of responsible adults (robotic or not) would take children into the middle of a war zone?

Exactly! I've never seen G1 but I'm hoping to remedy that soon enough. I have seen Armada and I hated the kids. I thought they'd be a good idea at first, you know, show the TFs around and how to fit in. Then I found out just how much they really sucked. At some points it seemed as though the kids were telling the Autobots how to do their jobs! Umm, Alexis dear, they've been alive for millions of years longer than you and will outlive you. Please just shut up.

I didn't really mind Spike and Sparkplug, although Spike is pretty foolish to rush into battle with the autobots even though he knows he's pretty much useless.. I really, really hate Kicker in the energon series.. I kept wishing that one fine day an autobot would 'accidentally' step on him.