The Energon Pub

I recently wrote an article about Wheelie on my site and have been getting lots of mail, some of them 'hate' mail, about it (some of the gentler ones can be read in the comments section).

This articles can be found here:

Why Wheelie?
Why not Rodimus?

First part is mirrored below

***

Why Wheelie?

A thought popped into my head; a thought related to Wheelie.

It’s a given that Trans-fans hate Wheelie with a passion. I can see a few reasons for this: (1) uninspiring name bordering on stupidity; (2) lousy toy and not so good box art; (3) wears a sun-visor like thing in robot mode; (4) arguably horrid colours; (5) lacklustre character; and (6) incessant rhyming speech patterns.

I’m not so sure about point (1), (4) and (6) myself.

With regards to (1), Worse Transformer names than Wheelie comes to mind- Big Daddy, Vroom, Erector, Slow Poke, Hubs, Aquafend, Road Pig, Space Case and Hooligan just to name a few.

With regards to (4), worse Transformer colour schemes exists. I'll name a few to colour my point- Metrotitan, Circuit, Slicer, Turbo Master and Battle Gaea.

I think speaking in rhymes for (6) is pretty cool in a fun way, but maybe not in a Transformer way. It would have been quite a challenge for writers to script Wheelie lines; maybe they were the original Wheelie haters and maybe it is for this reason that Furman refuses to write Wheelie into his stories?

The thought that popped into my head is a question.

The question is this: is there a Transformer that is more hateful than Wheelie? The answer is yes, that Transformer could be Rodimus Prime.

Part 2: Why not Rodimus?

The question is this: is there a Transformer that is more hateful than Wheelie? The answer is yes, that Transformer could be Rodimus Prime.

Why?

He is a Prime and he made a mess of it; in fact, he created the mess that resulted in his ascendancy to Prime-hood. Here it is...


Hot Rod: 'No you don't Megatron.'
Optimus Prime: 'Out of the (fraggin') way Hot Rod (because I can't get a clear shot when you're there and I'm too nice to risk hitting you).'
[screen captures from Seibertron.com]

In the history of G1, both the cartoon and comics, there is no worse Autobot leader than Rodimus Prime. As a leader, he is inferior to Grimlock, Perceptor, Springer, Fortress Maximus and of course Optimus Prime… and he has to constantly whine about it to boot. I have to look no further than the whole of Season 3 as prove of his incompetence. Since TFTM, Rodimus Prime has never had another decisive win over Galvatron and the Decepticons in either cartoon or comic.

There may have been some dubious leaders over the course of G1, but none (except Optimus) had the very power and wisdom of the Matrix at their disposal- none but Rodimus Prime, and he stilled sucked.

The Rodimus Prime toy lowers the stature of this character even further. I recall my disappointment on receiving him during my childhood.

I think that (1) its head is poorly sculpted; (2) it has one of the most simplistic and uninspiring transformations for a toy of its size and its price range; (3) in robot mode it has all of 2 points of articulation and is rigid like a viagra overdose; (4) it is badly proportioned as a robot; and (5) its vehicle mode feels like a lump of solidified lead.


Transformer with cataracts. No wonder he doesn't have a clear vision
[image from Seibertron.com]

With the above in mind, how can Trans-fans hate Wheelie more than Rodimus Prime? Surely they must hate Rodimus Prime if they are to hate Wheelie. At the very least, Wheelie doesn’t whine and didn’t get used as a shield and indirectly aided Megatron in killing the greatest Autobot of all. In fact, the Wheelie toy even has 2 points more articulation than the Rodimus toy.

For myself, I know that Rodimus Prime stands quite a few rungs lower than Wheelie in my Transformers ladder.

Rodimus was a more developed character than many of the others. He grappled with the pressure of leadership. He wanted to be a good leader, but felt unprepared and sometimes unworthy of the job. He lived with regret for what happened to Prime. His most heroic moments were not leading Autobots into battle, but saving them from danger.

Wheelie, on the other hand, is annoying and embarrasing. If the movie is playing and non-TF fans come by, I gringe when Wheelie is up on the screen. In an attempt to appeal to kids, his character insults their intelligence. His character could have been cool - the lone survivor on a Junkion planet, but none of that transitioned to the show. His character had the chance to be developed, but he remained the one dimensional Jar Jar Binks of the TF series.

And so it begins. For some reason, and after all this time I still don't know why, there are people who continue to confuse "whiney" with "developed" and "interesting." Rodimus himself said he wasn't as a good a leader as Prime, but people still leap to his defense. Beats me why. I can't think of a single episode he was in that wouldn't have been better without him. "The Ultimate Weapon": a great character study on First Aid, but interspersed with Rodimus falling for the single lamest Decepticon plot ever. "Stay back or I'll use my ULTIMATE WEAPON!!!!"

And for the record, Rodimus didn't "develop" as the series progressed. In his final appearences (Return of Optimus Prime), he remains as reckless as Hot Rod ever was. "Some sort of virus, you say? Obviously, the best approach will be to send my best warriors in a head-on attack without any protection, or attempt at reconnaissance."

To be fair to Wheelie, me and all my friends used to love him when we were 6 years old. When playing Transformers in elementary school the fight was always over who would be Optimus Prime 1st, then Wheelie 2nd. Hard to explain why we thought he was so cool back then.

Of course, now I find him irritating. I put Wheelie on the same level as Daniel, hoping that the hundredth tiem is see the movie they both get stomped on and killed. I don't know why I cling to the idea that watching a movie 100 times will change the plot. I guess I need some hope to hang on to.

My point is: Wheelie is a cool character to 6 year olds. Since most fans of G1 are no longer 6, Wheelie is now a terrible character.

Wheelie shot Galvatron in the face.

He's gansta.

~Windcharger~ wrote:I don't know why I cling to the idea that watching a movie 100 times will change the plot. I guess I need some hope to hang on to.

While I can't change the plot of the movie for you I can provide you with the comic where both Daniel and Wheelie meet their ends. Enjoy.

http://www.botcon.com/archive/story/2001/index.html

waaaaghlord wrote:

~Windcharger~ wrote:I don't know why I cling to the idea that watching a movie 100 times will change the plot. I guess I need some hope to hang on to.

While I can't change the plot of the movie for you I can provide you with the comic where both Daniel and Wheelie meet their ends. Enjoy.

http://www.botcon.com/archive/story/2001/index.html

Oh thanks you man who has his head on the wrong way round, thanks you so verrry much!
Take that Daniel and Wheely!

In fifty years time, waaaaghlord will look like Uncle Albert from Only Fools And Horses.

waaaaghlord wrote:

~Windcharger~ wrote:I don't know why I cling to the idea that watching a movie 100 times will change the plot. I guess I need some hope to hang on to.

While I can't change the plot of the movie for you I can provide you with the comic where both Daniel and Wheelie meet their ends. Enjoy.

http://www.botcon.com/archive/story/2001/index.html

I am now at peace. Thank you waaaaghlord.

Sledge wrote:In fifty years time, waaaaghlord will look like Uncle Albert from Only Fools And Horses.

During the Beast Wars...

In fifty years time waaaaghlord will already be dead from lung and liver rebellion.

Better to die of alcohol poisoning than live with the knowledge you were sober.

Do TF fan's livers shout "SHEEEAKKK!" just before they die?

Its a matter of opinion maybe? Different people have different tastes.. I still like wheelie better thatn rodimus prime..

I posted comments there just now...

waaaaghlord wrote:

Sledge wrote:In fifty years time, waaaaghlord will look like Uncle Albert from Only Fools And Horses.

During the Beast Wars...

In fifty years time waaaaghlord will already be dead from lung and liver rebellion.

I see you noticed the source of my comment!

Screw the whole developed character thing, it comes down to this:

Rodimus is a Winnebago

Wheelie is not

Wheelie is therefore cooler than Rodimus Prime.

End of arguement.

Thanatos Prime wrote:Screw the whole developed character thing, it comes down to this:

Rodimus is a Winnebago

Wheelie is not

Wheelie is therefore cooler than Rodimus Prime.

End of arguement.

Dude, that is the best way to say it!

Winnebagos are awesome!

Counterpunch wrote:Wheelie shot Galvatron in the face.

He's gansta.

Best quote of the day..in fact....*sigged*

Anyhoo, I guess Wheelie was a little cooler...pioneer of rap and all.

Wow, no wonder everyone seems to use rap as a punching bag nowadays! It's just like beating the crap outta Wheelie in musical form!

Wheelie may be a hip-hop dancin', radical rhymin', gangsta rapper with enough guts to stand up to Galvatron....

But he's still a turd.

In all honesty, I bet as "Gangsta" as Wheelie ever gets is using the "Hiphopapotamus Vs Rhymenocerus" song from Flight of the Conchords.

Wheelie: "You are trash, you son of bitch, you dont' know who you're dealing with!"

Galvatron: "Oh, and who am I dealing with?"

Wheelie: "They call me the Rhymenocerus, the beats are fat and the birds are on me back, and I'm horny, i'm horny, if you choose to procede, you will indeed conceed... *Gets blasted in the face.*

Deadpool. wrote:I posted comments there just now...

Saw your comments Deadpool! Seems like our anonymous friend has replied to yet again. I've put up some comments there myself.

Seems that the discussion on my site is more focused on either loving Rodimus or bashing Rodimus rather than Wheelie.

Links to comments
Why Wheelie?
Why not Rodimus?

Dead Metal wrote:

Thanatos Prime wrote:Screw the whole developed character thing, it comes down to this:

Rodimus is a Winnebago

Wheelie is not

Wheelie is therefore cooler than Rodimus Prime.

End of arguement.

Dude, that is the best way to say it!

Dudes, I love this analogy too!

In the greater scheme of things, I’d prefer Wheelie to Rodimus if I had to choose.

heroic_decepticon wrote:

Deadpool. wrote:I posted comments there just now...

Saw your comments Deadpool! Seems like our anonymous friend has replied to yet again. I've put up some comments there myself.

Seems that the discussion on my site is more focused on either loving Rodimus or bashing Rodimus rather than Wheelie.

Links to comments
Why Wheelie?
Why not Rodimus?

Dead Metal wrote:

Thanatos Prime wrote:Screw the whole developed character thing, it comes down to this:

Rodimus is a Winnebago

Wheelie is not

Wheelie is therefore cooler than Rodimus Prime.

End of arguement.

Dude, that is the best way to say it!

Dudes, I love this analogy too!

In the greater scheme of things, I’d prefer Wheelie to Rodimus if I had to choose.

I would too, I hate Rodimus, Wheely is just anoiy, but Rodimus!

Dude that's a cool Blog, you should start making money with it!

Thanatos Prime wrote:Screw the whole developed character thing, it comes down to this:

Rodimus is a Winnebago

Wheelie is not

Wheelie is therefore cooler than Rodimus Prime.

End of arguement.

You forgot to add in FLAMING just before Winnebago.