I was doing the shopping earlier today and it just kinda struck me how surreal Transformers shipping is when you get down to it. It’s like ‘I ship these two planes together’ and ‘I ship a cassette player and a UFO’ ‘One of the most popular pairings is a truck and a gun’.
Actually on the topic of Wreckers, the comics have probably gotten to this (please don’t tell me if I’m wrong about that), but man, their internal culture must have been fascinating, and not only because
there was probably always some level of don’t-ask-don’t-tell relating to how any one of them became a Wrecker, because the options are from “I couldn’t fit in with the command structure of the Autobots” to “this work serves my skills better than whatever work I was assigned” to “I wanted to chase glory in ways that being simple infantry didn’t allow” to “I genuinely had no other choice and this is my way of escaping" to “I fully expect to die during this war and this seems like the most efficient way to spend my time before that” to whatever else.
Comparing tfa and tfp always cracks me up bc you have this brightly colored teen titans-esque saturday morning cartoon in which tons of outrageous goofy shit takes place, and then you have a moody-lighting-filled serious series with gorgeous, intricate cgi in which a more grounded storyline and world-mechanics is portrayed and characters get graphically slaughtered on the regular and such…but even so the darker of the two is still decidedly not the second one
I mean it depends on your definition of “dark” I guess but tfp favoured “robot zombies and graphic murder” and tfa favoured a more “every single main character is guilt-ridden from some kind of awful failure and past trauma and as much as they all want to just go about their lives repressing it, its gonna show up sooner or later to haunt them and they’re gonna have to find a way to live with it and themselves otherwise it will destroy them” approach and like no offense but that second thing will always fuck with me to this very day
Another thing I think tfa did better than tfp was create the feeling of the heroes being the vastly outgunned underdogs. Tfp does better at creating the sense of “a war is going on” but tfa is a post-war series about a ragtag crew trying to upkeep safety and relations on a foreign planet, even if they dont have the full understanding or support of their home planet and its morally gray, bureaucratically-bogged down government. Tfp gives a sense of isolation and losing hope for the future, but its hard to take the idea that they’re underpowered completely serious due to the fact that each and every one of the main heroes wades through seas of vehicons almost every episode (until the predacon season that it).
Meanwhile, all of the main autobot crew in tfa are either half-trained or a older veteran medic, all of who are technically part of a maintenance team, and they have few weapons, all of which are ineffective most of the time. Every decepticon is at least two or three times their height and has far more fighting experience. you also get the sense that if something were to go wrong, the autobot government wouldnt exactly classify rescuing them as a priority, and you would be correct. Hell, you also get the sense that the cons themselves don’t see this team of janitors as any particular threat and are more annoyed than anything that they’ve actually been an obstacle for them at all. It creates a sense of vulnerability for the heroes I personally find very compelling (although tfp has plenty of it’s merits).
Listen…I know im heavily biased towards tfa in general but like….for the most part I genuinely prefer tfa megatron, and after thinking about it for a bit it primarily boils down to 2 things:
1) if someone told me a guy with that smile and that voice who made those speeches got a bunch of ppl to follow him into oblivion id be like “yeah, I absolutely can see that”
2) for 99% of the series he doesnt even bother remembering optimus prime’s name and for some reason or another i find that the funniest fuckign shit
Ok 3) instead of playing stupid games with starscream he just fucking shoots him
i was watching an ep of s1 TFA earlier and Megatron seemed genuinely surprised that Blitzwing was so ‘unstable’, which seems odd considering Blitzwing was one of four other mechs on the entire Nemesis as far as we know so did Megatron just. not ever talk to him
so me and @artemis-crimson decided that Megatron spent most of his time on the Nemesis in ‘strategy meetings’ with starscream and that’s why he aparently never actually talked to Blitzwing long enough to realise to what extent Blitzwing is Like That
It just occurred to me a lot of people look at TFA Optimus and go What A Cinnamon Roll lol. I do enjoy those posts but that’s someone who was ambitious to meet “the enemy,” was a trained soldier, handled danger stoically, and pretty much was ready to kill
Watch the first episode and you will see.
And last episode when he told Megatron he didn’t deserve death. (Death on the battlefield would at least be an honor wouldn’t it. He’s just as ferocious as Megatron.)
my favourite example for “hardcore straight to business things” op does is during transwarped. sari is at their base, recovering from her deadly upgrades as megatron-controlled omega supreme is attacking detroit.
well, megatron’s going to freaking kill them, so optimus tells ratchet to get ready to use this child—this small human child that they have been protecting and caring for for a whole season—and to turn her back into a weapon.
they don’t end up doing this of course, because ratchet is all about his morals, but optimus went right for that. the fact that she was a friend or he would be putting a child into danger had no apparent bearing on his decision at that time. you have no choice but to fight dirty when you’re faced with impossible odds.
and there was that one time bulkhead brought in the constructicons. optimus remarked that he didn’t think that the constructicons were capable of learning anything but pounding more motor oil. there’s that initial distrust and discrimination. he later remarks that they still have a chance to become autobots, but what a contradiction, when he didn’t believe in them in the first place?
you are so right with the way megatron contrasts with optimus in tfa. that’s a thing i didn’t even think about. like… when optimus reaches out to people, it’s genuine, but ultimately stilted and awkward. he means to help with all his spark, but he doesn’t know how to express it. megatron, meanwhile, reaches out perfectly. he tells people exactly what they want to hear as smoothly as silk. but, ultimately, it’s artificial. he doesn’t mean a word.
That’s totally it! Optimus has this autobot commonwealth mindset “every bot is a cog in the great Autobot machine.” He was trained in the elite guard academy to be a leader, actually on a fast track up to the top. That combined with his honorable and compassionate nature created the unique, conflicted bot that he is. He’s not all sunshine. He’s got ambitions, painful regrets, elitism and a hive mind in him as well. (I’d say more about the commonwealth but that’s another topic.)
That contrast you mentioned is so on point! Megatron is definitely better at reading people than Optimus. He’s a master manipulator. I’d add that as “the enemy” we didn’t get to see as much of Megatron, but there still is a decency underneath all that using people. Like when he (not so nicely) gave a chance of surrendering to the meagerly repair crew? Didn’t hurt Sari when she was trying to defend the Allspark? Asked for death instead of cussing or begging in that last episode? Things like that.
But in spite of that decency tho, he indeed smoothly tell others what they want to hear and uses them without a second thought, without genuineness. However as I’m trying to squint for positivities here, lets see under what conditions he’d use that tactic:
Situation 1: in Dr. Sumdac’s lab, he tricked Sumdac to repair his body and hide him from the Autobots
Situation 2: Played up his vulnerability to prevent Omega Supreme from killing him immediately.
Situation 3: Give the Constructions fine oil and praise their worthiness in order to employ them for his spacebridge construction.
(And just for fun, situations 4: catfished that poor scientist pretending to be a human lady in some choose your adventure book.)
In contrast, he’s pretty straightforward with his Decepticons. He seemed a bit sad even, when he mused that he had been betrayed by “one of his own.” It seems Megatron mostly uses this kind of underhanded manipulation on “others”, especially when he’s in absolute disadvantage, under someone else’s power, and trying to get out of a dangerous situation.
In situation 3 with the constructions tho, I think he did mean what he said. He used the constructicons because he did see their value, unlike Blitzwing who took one look and disregarded them as brainless brutes.
The Decepticons are chaotic evil, Megatron still trashed a human city, but the Autobots aren’t great either. I’d even say they are an ordered evil. And regular bots like Bumblebee and Optimus are pretty much brainwashed in their lies and rhetorics. There’re tons of subtext in TFA, which make it a truly great show, in my opinion!
P. S. I think the reason Optimus obsessedly reminded the Decepticons, especially Megatron his name: he was hammering home his worthiness. It’s a statement to the world that he had it in his programming.
Which Megatron do you think is better? TFA Megatron or TFP Megatron?
and no, i’m not talking about art style. I’m talking about personality. Who’s smarter? Who’s stronger? Who is a better leader?
And if you haven’t watched BOTH TF Animated or TF Prime, please don’t comment because your views are biased if you’re only basting it on what you’ve read or heard.
*breaks hands*
this is an interesting question (that i found late and then saved to my drafts while typing out a cartoonishly long response) ‘cuz they’re similar in some ways, but different in others (and wow what a vague description; that could apply to anything)
like! take the way that they get people to do what they want. tfp megatron favours brute force. like the way he treats starscream… and when orion pax doesn’t do what he wants, he basically just tells him to shut up—and when that fails, he threatens to beat him into submission. tfa megatron, meanwhile, is still willing to be violent: he’s needlessly rough when he grabs starscream’s wing in the first ep, and he makes an example out of starscream for his other troops upon revival, but his go to is manipulation. a particular case i will bring up bc it’s similar to the orion pax deal is the constructicons. when they start questioning him, megatron starts with force by pinning them to the wall, but he turns on the sweet voice the second he finds out what’s ailing them. and ofc there are all the other earthborns he lied to and manipulated as well.
i mean… both of those strategies work to get ppl to do what they want?? but tfp megatron is also surrounded by far more disloyal subordinates than tfa megs bc he tends to keep them around instead of just Killing Them Instantly. tfa megatron is excellent at making ppl think that helping him will get them exactly what they want, or that he is in the right. tfp megatron might have difficult with that luxury at the time of the show though, because what could he possibly offer when their planet has already died?
but hey! at least tfp megatron SORT OF listens to his subordinates, unlike tfa megatron who Never Takes Their Suggestions Into Account Unless It Means He Can Manipulate Them More. and he surrounds himself with yesmen anyway, lol. what kind of leader doesn’t listen to their people?? aaaand tfp megatron actually goes out and does things, unlike tfa megatron who sits on his throne and makes everyone else do the hard work.
both of their priorities are totally outta whack though!! tfa megatron keeps targeting detroit for no reason and that one time he waited for the defeated autobots to wake up is completely unforgivable. and heckin s/o to tfp megatron’s weird fixation on optimus prime where Nobody Else Is Allowed to kill him. in fact, the fact that they’re orbiting the planet at all and hunting down the autobots to their very last is completely wild, because there’s nothing to fight for anymore! it’s literally just his petty grudge! shouldn’t he focus on rebuilding somewhere else??
personally, i don’t think either of them should be in charge…
Agreed but Tfa meg is a guy you would grab a drink with and be chilled with along with giving you that false sense of safety, morr effective than tge whole ‘orion pax’ thing.
TfA would actually be a better leader on the evil villain scale. Staying behind to motor each mission behind the scenes is actually very smart because one the master mind is still safe in hiding and plans and orders to run the team without any problems. He doesn’t havd to listen to his teammates because they aren’t really viewed as teammates but more as underlings, although it would be more effective to listen he just doesn’t have to.
Tfa meg views his cons as an army so, this is all just one sided. ‘You listen but i don’t have to listen to you’ kinda thing. I only remember Starscream is the only one who wants to be heard the others seem fine with their roles and positions.
Tfp meg, on the other hand is a beautiful idiot. Boof. God, i love him but wmhus methods on some things are just hard to understand and get behind. Tfp meg motivates are run soully on dominance. Power through fighting is the only way for him. You can sit down and talk to him unless he is calm…or you are soundwave but you are indeed right when you say he listens to his teammates because that what he sees them as kinda. Even to starscream, which is good because starscream is smart. He is more open to their opinions which is nice.
Tfp megs is still more reckless and power hungry in a bad way so he isn’t a goid villain in a sense of smarts but he is still a decent leader on the whole team stand point just more fear of you dying when he is enraged.
Better megatron, in my opinion, is TFA Meg. He is smart and think alot of things through. Not reckless like Tfp Meg. Once again, being behind the scenes of the army and being the brain at a safe distance is the best thing to do in this kinda of situation. Him just attack Detroit is also wise. You want to take over a planet. Destroy your main problem so everything else can run smoothly in the future. Bots main base is in Detroit. Get rid of it.
Which Megatron do you think is better? TFA Megatron or TFP Megatron?
and no, i’m not talking about art style. I’m talking about personality. Who’s smarter? Who’s stronger? Who is a better leader?
And if you haven’t watched BOTH TF Animated or TF Prime, please don’t comment because your views are biased if you’re only basting it on what you’ve read or heard.
*breaks hands*
this is an interesting question (that i found late and then saved to my drafts while typing out a cartoonishly long response) ‘cuz they’re similar in some ways, but different in others (and wow what a vague description; that could apply to anything)
like! take the way that they get people to do what they want. tfp megatron favours brute force. like the way he treats starscream… and when orion pax doesn’t do what he wants, he basically just tells him to shut up—and when that fails, he threatens to beat him into submission. tfa megatron, meanwhile, is still willing to be violent: he’s needlessly rough when he grabs starscream’s wing in the first ep, and he makes an example out of starscream for his other troops upon revival, but his go to is manipulation. a particular case i will bring up bc it’s similar to the orion pax deal is the constructicons. when they start questioning him, megatron starts with force by pinning them to the wall, but he turns on the sweet voice the second he finds out what’s ailing them. and ofc there are all the other earthborns he lied to and manipulated as well.
i mean… both of those strategies work to get ppl to do what they want?? but tfp megatron is also surrounded by far more disloyal subordinates than tfa megs bc he tends to keep them around instead of just Killing Them Instantly. tfa megatron is excellent at making ppl think that helping him will get them exactly what they want, or that he is in the right. tfp megatron might have difficult with that luxury at the time of the show though, because what could he possibly offer when their planet has already died?
but hey! at least tfp megatron SORT OF listens to his subordinates, unlike tfa megatron who Never Takes Their Suggestions Into Account Unless It Means He Can Manipulate Them More. and he surrounds himself with yesmen anyway, lol. what kind of leader doesn’t listen to their people?? aaaand tfp megatron actually goes out and does things, unlike tfa megatron who sits on his throne and makes everyone else do the hard work.
both of their priorities are totally outta whack though!! tfa megatron keeps targeting detroit for no reason and that one time he waited for the defeated autobots to wake up is completely unforgivable. and heckin s/o to tfp megatron’s weird fixation on optimus prime where Nobody Else Is Allowed to kill him. in fact, the fact that they’re orbiting the planet at all and hunting down the autobots to their very last is completely wild, because there’s nothing to fight for anymore! it’s literally just his petty grudge! shouldn’t he focus on rebuilding somewhere else??
personally, i don’t think either of them should be in charge…
#WRITES SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS AND GIVES A COMPLETE NON ANSWER #megatron’s an bad leader put someone else in charge #tfa megatron’s just rly charismatic it makes him seem smarter than he rly is (via megarowboat)
It just occurred to me a lot of people look at TFA Optimus and go What A Cinnamon Roll lol. I do enjoy those posts but that’s someone who was ambitious to meet “the enemy,” was a trained soldier, handled danger stoically, and pretty much was ready to kill
Watch the first episode and you will see.
And last episode when he told Megatron he didn’t deserve death. (Death on the battlefield would at least be an honor wouldn’t it. He’s just as ferocious as Megatron.)
my favourite example for “hardcore straight to business things” op does is during transwarped. sari is at their base, recovering from her deadly upgrades as megatron-controlled omega supreme is attacking detroit.
well, megatron’s going to freaking kill them, so optimus tells ratchet to get ready to use this child—this small human child that they have been protecting and caring for for a whole season—and to turn her back into a weapon.
they don’t end up doing this of course, because ratchet is all about his morals, but optimus went right for that. the fact that she was a friend or he would be putting a child into danger had no apparent bearing on his decision at that time. you have no choice but to fight dirty when you’re faced with impossible odds.
and there was that one time bulkhead brought in the constructicons. optimus remarked that he didn’t think that the constructicons were capable of learning anything but pounding more motor oil. there’s that initial distrust and discrimination. he later remarks that they still have a chance to become autobots, but what a contradiction, when he didn’t believe in them in the first place?
you are so right with the way megatron contrasts with optimus in tfa. that’s a thing i didn’t even think about. like… when optimus reaches out to people, it’s genuine, but ultimately stilted and awkward. he means to help with all his spark, but he doesn’t know how to express it. megatron, meanwhile, reaches out perfectly. he tells people exactly what they want to hear as smoothly as silk. but, ultimately, it’s artificial. he doesn’t mean a word.
Cybertronian Database 