Sorta like when I’m doing work in my sleep. I have to stop and remind myself that, no matter how good a job I do, or how important the task is, I won’t be getting paid for it, and I don’t have any way to store or transfer the files I work on while I’m asleep.
Well, yeah, they were homogeneous, but at least they didn’t make you think they were going to eat your head. And I’d argue that most of the later G1s did have personality, especially the movie-era bots. Hot Rod is limber and youthful, Ultra Magnus is big and commanding, Galvatron is almost kingly, Wreck-Gar is thrown-together, Unicron is demonic, and Arcee is feminine.
The 1986 movie guys were the first Transformers designed to be Transformers, so, yeah, they were the first attempt at having their personalities be apparent in their designs. They were also the only Transformers (until decades later) to be designed first as animated characters and second as toys. Afterwards, for the next five years of G1, it was back to the ol’ personalities-come-second status quo. It wasn’t until the live-action movie that Transformers were designed as toys second again. So G1 Hot Rod and Movie Bumblebee have that much in common.
Though, man, I dunno if I’d single out “feminine” as an exceptional character trait. That narrows Arcee’s personality down to, what, half of humanity? That’s like pointing to Ultra Magnus and saying his personality is “masculine.”
(Which is, frankly, all his character design really says. He’s not “big and commanding” until you see that he’s scaled bigger than the other guys and has a deep voice and you get a chance to watch him command. He’s one of the few exceptions of the ’86 movie designs, being a Diaclone toy. He’s not drawn with any different proportions that suggest “big” or “commanding.” He’s just a stock ’84/’85-style cartoon design. If you gave him any other personality it wouldn’t seem off.)
But “most”? Heavens, no. We’re talking about Hot Rod, Springer, Kup, Blurr, Arcee, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, Wreck-Gar, and Unicron. Out of hundreds of guys. That’s not “most.” And that’s only IF you think their designs match their personality. Many of them don’t! Cyclonus was designed to look like a horned demon, but his personality is “competently loyal to his insane commanding officer.” He’s a flawed, honorable warrior, not a demon. The Marvel UK material wrote Cyclonus and Scourge pretty differently, with Cyclonus as more self-interested and subservient to Scourge rather than the other way around, and their designs never felt out of sync with their personalities. And I’m not sure Blurr looked particularly fast to me, nor Springer particularly Han Solo-y. Those traits became clear only after voice acting and animation.
But Hot Rod does look young and flashy, Kup does look old, and Galvatron does wear a crown and looks like a more powerful Megatron, and Unicron is totally robot Satan. So that’s four!
What about the Dinobots? They were totally lovable beasts and the Insecticons were ravenous drones. The movie Decepticons had very little in the way of personality (aside from Megatron and the Italian stereotype-bot). Not that I’m taking a side here, just stirring the pot as it were.
Sorta like when I’m doing work in my sleep. I have to stop and remind myself that, no matter how good a job I do, or how important the task is, I won’t be getting paid for it, and I don’t have any way to store or transfer the files I work on while I’m asleep.
True. but I would argue that the designs were simpler and more accessible.
And the color. Don’t forget the color. The primary way to tell Ironhide and Ratchet apart.
Well, yeah, they were homogeneous, but at least they didn’t make you think they were going to eat your head. And I’d argue that most of the later G1s did have personality, especially the movie-era bots. Hot Rod is limber and youthful, Ultra Magnus is big and commanding, Galvatron is almost kingly, Wreck-Gar is thrown-together, Unicron is demonic, and Arcee is feminine.
The 1986 movie guys were the first Transformers designed to be Transformers, so, yeah, they were the first attempt at having their personalities be apparent in their designs. They were also the only Transformers (until decades later) to be designed first as animated characters and second as toys. Afterwards, for the next five years of G1, it was back to the ol’ personalities-come-second status quo. It wasn’t until the live-action movie that Transformers were designed as toys second again. So G1 Hot Rod and Movie Bumblebee have that much in common.
Though, man, I dunno if I’d single out “feminine” as an exceptional character trait. That narrows Arcee’s personality down to, what, half of humanity? That’s like pointing to Ultra Magnus and saying his personality is “masculine.”
(Which is, frankly, all his character design really says. He’s not “big and commanding” until you see that he’s scaled bigger than the other guys and has a deep voice and you get a chance to watch him command. He’s one of the few exceptions of the ’86 movie designs, being a Diaclone toy. He’s not drawn with any different proportions that suggest “big” or “commanding.” He’s just a stock ’84/’85-style cartoon design. If you gave him any other personality it wouldn’t seem off.)
But “most”? Heavens, no. We’re talking about Hot Rod, Springer, Kup, Blurr, Arcee, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Gnaw, Wreck-Gar, and Unicron. Out of hundreds of guys. That’s not “most.” And that’s only IF you think their designs match their personality. Many of them don’t! Cyclonus was designed to look like a horned demon, but his personality is “competently loyal to his insane commanding officer.” He’s a flawed, honorable warrior, not a demon. The Marvel UK material wrote Cyclonus and Scourge pretty differently, with Cyclonus as more self-interested and subservient to Scourge rather than the other way around, and their designs never felt out of sync with their personalities. And I’m not sure Blurr looked particularly fast to me, nor Springer particularly Han Solo-y. Those traits became clear only after voice acting and animation.
But Hot Rod does look young and flashy, Kup does look old, and Galvatron does wear a crown and looks like a more powerful Megatron, and Unicron is totally robot Satan. So that’s four!
Hearing or reading someone saying “I don’t gotta” hurts my soul.
That’s impossible, you don’t have a soul.
What about the Dinobots? They were totally lovable beasts and the Insecticons were ravenous drones. The movie Decepticons had very little in the way of personality (aside from Megatron and the Italian stereotype-bot). Not that I’m taking a side here, just stirring the pot as it were.
Neither the Dinobots nor the Insecticons had robot mode designs that hinted towards their personality.
Ethan has a point, just because it the original doesn’t mean it’s the best.