Hot Rod is one of my all time favorites. I was hoping he'd be playable in War for Cybertron.

 

I think his personality 180 from confident to incompetent and galvatron's lunacy and 180 from his movie/megatron personality kind of started the downward spiral of old cartoon. There are many reasons other than that for the shows failure in just one season past the movie, but it was a big part.

 

While I prefer Optimus, Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime has always been a guy I've liked a lot and I always feel like he doesn't deserve the hate he often gets.

 

Hot Rod has always been a favorite character of mine. I think he's got a cool design in both modes, and his persona fits them both well. All things considered, he did a decent job as the Autobot leader for his short tenure. I would say a good strength of his would be relying on his comrades as useful resources. Rodimus Prime is an interesting character because, like the other Autobots, he reveres Optimus Prime. Op is a tough act to follow, folks.

That being said, one of the reasons I prefer Hot Rodimus/Rodimus to Rodimus Prime is because I like Optimus so much. He had a good run, but Optimus is THE Prime in my eyes.  

 

Wait...how did he not get a "fair shake" when fans were merely commenting on how the character was portrayed? Blaming the fans for reasons why a character is flawed makes no sense. If there's any blame to be placed, it's the fault of the writers.

I actually liked both Hot Rod and Rodimus. Granted, Hot Rod's stupidity resulted in Prime's death, but I guess I'm more forgiving than other fans. I guess it was a bigger deal to me when I was a kid, but now it doesn't matter since Prime returned later.

And I liked that Rodimus was a flawed leader. I liked that he was impatient and stubborn, and he also had a sense of humor...something Prime seriously lacked.

As for comparing the two...

Hot Rod vs Rodimus

The Toy: Alt Mode

Hot Rod: Futuristic freaking cool sports car with flames.

Rodimus: Winnebago. And putting flames on a Winnebago doesn't make it any less lame.

Advantage: Hot Rod

The Toy: 'Bot Mode

Hot Rod: A fair representation of his animated counterpart. And stiff in the knees, but decent articulation for the G1 line.

Rodimus: A weak representation of his animated counterpart, and as articulated as a plastic block.

Advantage: Hot Rod

The Toy: Accessories

Hot Rod: 86' version had two guns; '87, a Targetmaster weapon

Rodimus: Mobile Defense Bay and a gun as long as his legs

Advantage: Rodimus

The Characters:
TFTM and G1 TV Series

Hot Rod: Headstrong, impatient and hot-headed with an all-American teenager quality. Interferes in a fight-to-the-death between Optimus and Megatron, thus inadvertently causing Optimus' demise. In other words, an unnecessary plot device that could have been avoided.

Rodimus: Ill-prepared for having leadership thrust upon him made him a flawed leader, which humanizes him and makes him empathetic. He never wanted to be a leader, but the Autobots needed one badly so he made the best of it. Ultimately, he becomes a leader by example. He may not have wanted the title, but he accepted the responsibility for the sake of those who followed him.

Advantage: Rodimus

Again, I feel it's the fault of the writers for having Hot Rod screw up the battle between Prime and Megs. It wasn't necessary to show Hot Rod's character -- it was already established that he was brash, impatient and hot-headed. So having him interfere with the battle adds nothing to the story and they don't bother to capitalize on it through Hot Rod dealing with the the realization that he caused Prime's death. Hot Rod apologizes to Prime in the aftermath of the battle, and that's as far as they go with it story-wise.

Also, Megatron simply could have just bested Prime, or there could have been some dire reason for Prime to sacrifice himself which would have made his death more meaningful. Instead, Hot Rod tries to help and becomes the greatest case of ultimate fail in TF history.

Finally, I believe it's the fault of the TV show writers that Rodimus kept dwelling on his inadequacy. I don't think the show's viewers (certainly not the fans) needed to be reminded about it since it just served as a sideplot that we didn't really care about. And it results in Rodimus being reduced to -- what fans largely consider him to be -- a whiner.

 

What I think is funny, I never came to the idea that Hot Rod would bear any guilt in the death of Optimus Prime. Before I came to this forums, I never heard of that idea. So this must be made up by all those haters.

I like Rodimus Prime! He's one of my favourite characters.

 

Meh.  

 :

Character wise, not too familiar, but his overall G1 design = one of my faves.  :

Classics is the definitive Roddy design for me.  

 

As far as toys go, I prefer the KP Hot Rodimus myself. The Classics/Henkei Rodimus is really cool, too, though  

 

I've always liked Hot Rod, Rodimus less so. The character wasn't as interesting and the 86 movie suffered the same fate as the Highlander franchise = it's hard to franchise build when you've shown the conclusion first.
A slow build towards Hot Rod eventually being leader - similar to Cheetor but with a more concrete foundation and direction - could have been done really well, and I think it still has potential for a story now, which is why I like the idea of the current IDW comics. At least in the IDW verse Rodimus wouldn't seem whiny because EVERY CHARACTER IS EMO.

 

I really don't understand why anyone would fault the circumstances of Optimus Prime's death in the movie (1986).
Yes, it was a tragedy... but that was the point, and in my opinion it was handled remarkably well (Exceptionally well for a children's cartoon).
Optimus was infallible in life, and the writers respected this by making his death a sacrifice rather than simple defeat.
Word came down that Optimus prime had to take a fall, this was an executive decision from the very top and unavoidable.

Prime was beaten by Megatron's treachery. Having surrendered, Megs manipulated Prime's only weakness: his compassion.
Not only did Optimus resist the temptation to execute the weakened and unarmed leader of the Decepticons, he refused to fire on his attacker for risk of injuring a hostage.
The most interesting aspect I find in the final confrontation is that Prime willingly takes fire, no thought of seeking cover, no attempt at bargaining.

I guess its worth noting that most of the injuries between Prime and Megatron were already sustained prior to Hot-Rod's intrusion.
One could go so far as to claim critical damage had already been reached between opponents.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is Prime was offered a noble death, free of humiliation, or the risk of fading into obscurity. And that's why his death was so powerful, and why for many, his legacy remains to this day.

Quite frankly, I don't think Prime's sacrifice would have had the same resonance had he sacrificed himself for say, Kup, Wheeljack, Grimlock, or anyone else regardless how beloved.
Hot-rod appeared to be the very symbol of youth, and also represented naivety, exuberance, and loyalty. This goes beyond the point of 'passing of the torch' to a new group of protagonists. Basically, if Optimus Prime could have a son, Hot-Rod would be it, (This motif becomes more apparent once Roddy completes his rights of passage to become the next Prime).
I argue that rather than being 'responsible for Optimus Prime's demise', Hot-Rod gave Prime the gift of purpose and dignity in death.


Rodimus Prime had a lot of potential, I loved the fact that he made mistakes and didn't have the answer to everything, instead, the Autobots contributed as a team rather than enthusiastically following direction.

The alluded grief and regret that plagued Rodimus was unusually mature for a cartoon show, (even though I have trouble considering some season three eps as mature!). And I believe many people found it challenging purely because such a neurosis was an unusual deviation from the conventions of cartoon protagonists at that time.

While I appreciated the self-doubt and modesty in Rodimus's character, (ironically nothing like the over-confident 'hot-headed veteran' my toy box told me he was), it did feel like every time he stepped out of Optimus' shadow he'd fall back in. Its a shame he didn't get to 'grow up and be a man' (Not in an oedipal sense).

 

I don't hate him.

At least, he tries to find different ways of finding peace. He also made Galvatron retreat just by calling Galvy's threat a bluff one time.

He must've been the inspiration or even ancestor of this fan favorite character.
Cheetor (BW) - Transformers Wiki

 

I understand that Hot Rod was part of why Optimus Prime got shot but please don't you think he punished himself enough?
That does make a lot of sense. Hot Rod/Rodimus could have been Cheetor's great great great great Grandfather.   That lovable, friendly and at times brash catbot who is Cheetor. Who doesn't love that bot?

 

i liked hot rod/rodimus i got to say that besides prime,BB,blaster being my fav hotrod/rodimus is right up there on my list of favorites. he was great in the movie especially when he had the matrix i watch that over and over again it never gets old. you have to give hot rod/rodimus some respect.

 

Love Hot Rod/Rodimus, especially as leader, my fave character.

I like how his self doubting wasn't just overcome in one episode and never heard about again. To me that's unrealistic. Some people deal with overcoming their fears for their entire lives. They have their good days where they're confident and their bad days when they're not. I liked that the show displayed that real life inconsistancy. We see Op as leader at the height of his abilities, with Rod we are just seeing his first year. At the same time, I consider BHTB a turning point though and had the show gone another season think Rod would have shown himself to be confident and finally putting the ghost of Op behind him like he does in Headmasters. I really enjoyed the more confident portrayals in Energon and TFA too.

Plus he has the coolest TF silhoette/character design in robot mode, moreso as Hot Rod in car mode though definately.

 

Yeah, I thought Hot Rod was pretty rad in the movie. I just can't stand the leader questioning everything, and complaining about being the leader. It's just...he just complained and still stands as the worst autobot leader in the franchise's history. As far as animation goes, that is. I still think he has a cool design, too bad he wasn't cool himself.

 

I consider Budiansky's Grimlock and Cartoon UM worse. Mr. "I don't even know how to open the Matrix" just annoys me. He makes a great second in command for Rod though. As for Grimmy, the less said the better.

 

Rodmis Prime will always be one of my Favorites.
I think because we got to see the struggle of a young Autobot who got chosen by the matrix but did not choose by himself to lead.

He’s basically the first EMO Autobot lol. When I was 13 years old I could relate to the self doubt. Also the high standards that Prime set made it hard for anyone, Magnus, Rodimus, Grimlock to be suitable all around to leader. Not many had the chance to grow, Prime led the autobots for long time, I could imagine that there were mistakes and an awkward time for him as well.

Look at Animated Prime, he was more like a Rodimus Prime IMO then Optimus.
The whole Blackacrnia guilt and the high standers of Ultra Magnus prove that the plot works in time. It’s just unfortunate Rodimus never had the opportunity to grow after season 3. Once they brought Prime, HR was back to basically being a solider.

If you watch the Movie bumble-bee/sam is much more like Hot Rod and Daniel relationship. Kind of his protector/friend. Bumble Bee seems way stronger then most of the other autobots and would be next in line to lead. Other then being yellow and having no voice he seems way closer tp HotRod then Bee.

For me Season 3 shined the most, I was a fan before but after the 86 movie, the plot got more deep. It felt very grown up to watch TF then. Not just a toy cartoon, but with struggles and dead autobots and made it seem like it had value. Of coarse looking back today, maybe it wasn’t the greatest but you can give me season 3 over ROTF anyday..

 

well done said.

 

I loooove Rodimus Prime

 

I have no reasons to hate Hot Rod or Rodimus. Even for "guilt in the death of Optimus Prime". I like OP, but not fanatically and not from childhood. Hot Rod is handsome young guy, Rodimus Prime is cool too, especially in Superlink.