How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:17 pm
by LordScourge
By fanatic follower I mean a psychotic Autobot that kills in Optimus's name and has no regard for human life what so ever and I know I posted this example before but well here it goes with some tweeks.
Example: Optimus orders this Autobot too destroy an enemy Decepticon by any means neccesary only for him too succeed while also killing dozens of humans in the process and defends his actions by sayine "You said by any means neccessary Lord Optimus.". This Autobot is also willing to kill his own Autobots just for even questioning Optimus's leadership and is obsessed with emulating and pleasing Optimus all the while taking Optimus's ideals and philosophy and twisting and warping them.
I like the idea because a fanatic like this might make Optimus question his role as a leader. It also shows some complexity in the series since we have seen that there are some honorable decepticons and an Autobot like this might show that not all Autobots are neccessarily good and honorable Decepticons like Dreadwing(Prime) can show that not all Decepticons aren't COMPLETELY bad.
What do you think about Transformers having a villain like this?
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Sat Jun 02, 2012 4:37 am
by Va'al
Wheeljack kind of started out like that, then was toned down.
We still have to see whether Kup, Ironhide, and I swear there was someone else, will have any drastic changes to their more 'canonical' personalities.
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:36 am
by Blurrz
An Optimus would never let that happen.
The most similar case is Movieverse Sideswipe who had that sort of attitude.
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Sat Jun 02, 2012 12:27 pm
by Sabrblade
Optimus would simply have said Autobot maniac detained for his own good, as he'd pose a threat to others around him and would have him sent away to receive some sort of psychological treatment.
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:18 pm
by TechMenace
I think this would be a great challenge for Prime. Wheeljack was like this before and yeah Optimus sort of straightened him out as time went on
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:09 am
by G1 Smoketreader
Optimus is very good as a friend to his soldiers as well as a leader.
He's had:
*Insubordinate Autobots (eg: Armada Hot Shot,Dinobots [headstrong, impatient,etc].
*Rash Autobots (G1 Powerglide, plus Hot Shot & Dinobots again).
*Dangerous Autobots (eg: G1 Ratchet [party animal], G1 Wheeljack [not very workplace safety-like]),and,
*Mentally/emotionally unstable Autobots (eg: G1 Gears [Homesickness,depression], G1 Sunstreaker [Sociopathic,Thug],G1 TrailBreaker [Low self esteem],G1 Beachcomber [borderline depression]) to deal with and yet he never pushed them away.
There are few Autobots he expressly distrusted, one being G1 Mirage, and in that version, Optimus gave a heads-up to his inner-Autobot circle (Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, Smokescreen, Tbreaker, Hound) to be mindful about discussing sensetive business around Mirage.
Past that, traditional Optimus Prime regularly takes the time to talk/touch base with all his folks one-on-one, and never hesitates to keep the Autobots mindful of the sacrifices of previous Autobots, the wisdom of the Primes, the danger of wrecking Earth just like they wrecked Cybertron, etc. Anyone who considers Prime a Messiah would quickly be exposed to the 'worship' of the powers that made him, and would very likely switch to glorifying them instead.
THEN there's the fact that other rank an file Autobots would enforce Primes 'teachings' and 'examples' to one another, so a psychobot would effectively have to navigate peer pressure and consistently see it as wrong to remain fanatical (to his own lack of discipline which he disguises as a devotion to Optimus Prime) permanently.
At the very bottom of it all, Optimus will warn an Autobot to cease and desist wanton aggression towards innocents or else Prime will be forced to stop him, (as would a bunch of other hardcore Autobots such as Ironhide, Arcee/Elita, maybe Kup...) HOWEVER, Optimus Prime, as per TF:Prime, will spend the whole time he is fighting the 'fallen' Autobot inviting him to abandon his destructive attitude and rejoin the Autobots in the fight against 'Decepticonism'.
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:01 pm
by Windsweeper
Surprised noone's mentioned Repugnus.
Re: How do you think Optimus would handle a fanatic follower?

Posted:
Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:57 am
by alldarker
Windsweeper wrote:Surprised noone's mentioned Repugnus.
Repugnus was my first thought, actually (recently acquired his G1 toy). His character goes the furthest in the direction the TS describes. Still, his aggresion and dirty tricks are primarily directed against the Decepticons, and not against Autobots or humans...
I don't think any Autobot with an attitude as described by the TS would have much business within the Autobots. They'd find themselves in
Garrus-9 in a flash.
Adding to
G1 Smoketreaders's very interesting list, Longtooth was pretty crazy too, but not in the way the TS means.