Well Devastator is Devastator so regardless of how fitting a name might be with hindsight, officially he will always be Devastator.

But since the 3rd parties can't call him that they have the opportunity to rename him and they dubbed him Hercules. Hercules is the name that I'm not in love with. Since they had the opportunity to rename Devastator I would have called him Hephaestus.

Now for the other comments in this thread, I suppose perhaps I'm more learned in ancient Greek mythology than the common man. (By the way, that totally wasn't meant in a negative way so please don't take it as such) I hadn't considered that people might not know of Hephaestus.

Still, I think I would have gone that route.

 

awesome  

 

Wouldn't it be Vulcan, since Hercules is the Roman spelling?

Hephaestus:Vulcan::Heracles:Hercules

 

Sht! You'll bring down the ghost of Gene Roddenberry on all of us!

 

Good point. I knew there was a version spelled like Heracles but couldn't remember it and certainly didn't remember if it was Greek or Roman.

But I feel Vulcan is an even better name for this. Although most would probably think of the Star Trek race before the Roman god.

 

Strange. "Hephaestus" is the romanized spelling of the name, much like "Cerberus" is the romanized form of "Kerberos."

 

What's the Greek spelling of Hephaestus?

 

I'm not entirely sure. I would guess the most accurate transliteration would be "Hephaestos," pronounced like "Heh-pie-stows."

I just know words repurposed for Latin grammar when I see them.

 

If we're looking at taking a name independently of the character this toy is supposed to represent, then I could see an argument for Hephaestus (although I prefer the Roman name Vulcan), given that it's composed of construction vehicles.

But, given the attributes of the character the toy is supposed to represent (G1 Devastator), naming it Hephaestus makes little sense, IMO. Hephaestus was intelligent, clever and a skilled craftsman who is credited with creating much of the equipment used by the various deities. G1 Devastator, on the other hand, is completely lacking in intelligence, to the point where he's too stupid to use any of the construction abilities of his component parts, although he is physically capable of doing so. The Greco-Roman gods called on Hephaetus/Vulcan to design their weapons and armor (etc) for them; the Decepticons don't call on Devastator to design anything, they just send him out on the battlefield to destroy stuff. I'm not sure what would have been a better name, but Hephaetus definitely doesn't feel right for the character the toy represents.

 

I get confused when people mention "Colossus".

 

Don't you kill Hephaestus in God of War 3? He's the freaky looking fucker in the underworld if I'm not mistaken?

 

They probably went with Hercules because that doesn't sound like an STD.

 

I facepalm that people keep claiming that Hephaestus sounds like a disease. Diseases are named in latin but not all latin names are diseases.

 

Yeah cause he tries to kill you after making that one weapon.

I always thought Giant and Hercules should switch names, since Maketoy's Devy looks bulkier combined, and TFC's is taller.

 

No offense, but you seem to be portaying your own, personal opinion in a manner that suggests that the guys who actually designed and named the figure/figures in question did something wrong. The fact is you're trying to push your idea that Devestator should be named for something he simply is not. Yes, the Constructicons build things, but Devestator doesn't. Why name a behemoth created for utter destruction after the Roman god of fire and the forge? Hercules is known for his strength, and as stated Devestator is still said to be one of the strongest Combiners around. Strength, of course, being the ONLY thing he's especially good at, since he's kind of slow and is dumber than the average Preschooler.

Latin isn't exactly a common language used in modern day speak by the average joe.

It also doesn't help that in the Percy Jackson series, all the Roman gods (save Hades, Zeus*, and Posiedon**) are all but explicitly stated to get around with the human population, if the number of children each god has at "Camp Halfblood" is any indication.

*He of course actually did have an affair. Zeus is known for getting around, just read the story of Io.

**If you've read the first book, it should be obvious why I'm making this note.

 

Just pose your Hercules choking out Razorclaw and stabbing Hun-grr and it'll be fine.

 

Regardless of its meaning, that ridiculous name sounds like a STD.

 

I've been pretty blatant in stating that this is my opinion. An opinion can't be wrong. There is no wrong choice here. The creators of Devastator and Hercules obviously disagree; and there is nothing wrong with it. I'm merely voicing my opinion.

And my opinion isn't even very strong on this. I'm not up in arms. I'm not demanding name changes. I'm not even upset about it. It's just a passing thought I decided to share.

You are taking this far to personally and reading too much into what I've said.

 

I think you mean Vulcan, with the whole Roman name route and all.