I was thinking about this the other day when I was reviewing some G1 tech specs. Since G1 Prowl and Onslaught seem to be top ranking strategists of the Autobot and Decepticon armies, were either of them ever noted as being more skilled than the other? I can't personally remember, but it's been a while since I've seen the cartoon and I never read the Marvel or IDW comics.

My question to you all is, if the two of them were to draw up plans for a battle that would take place in a neutral environment and then lead a squadron of 20 grunts into said battle, who do you think would come out on top? Prowl or Onslaught?

Follow up question: Who do you think would win in a one-on-one fight? Let's say the fight takes place in an abandoned city. This means there's plenty of cover, destructible surroundings, and no endangered humans to throw Prowl off his game.

What do I think? I'm not really basing this off any comic book or cartoon feats, but here's how I think both of these scenarios would unfold.

As far as drawing plans and leading troops into battle, I think it's a tough call. Prowl being one of Prime's top lieutenants (or his second in command, depending on which medium he's in), so he's almost certainly a qualified leader. Onslaught is one as well, considering how frequently he leads a team as elite as the Combaticons. However, as impressive as Onslaught's leadership of the Combaticons are, Prowl is second in command of the entire Autobot army. Additionally, the tech specs list Prowl as being slightly more intelligent than Onslaught. My money would on Prowl's squadron winning the battle.

However, I do believe that Onslaught would pull ahead in the one-on-one fight. I believe that while Prowl would be at a speed advantage as a police cruiser, Onslaught's stun-gun and his anti-air cannon would overwhelm Prowl from a distance. I guess in theory Prowl's speed might allow him to close the distance and engage Onslaught in close-quarters, but I think even then Onslaught would win. He's so damn big and he's described as being a ferocious fighter when he's angry.

 

My guess would be if this was done Battle Royal/Death Battle style, Onslaught would take initiative and a bunch of Autobot grunts would fall. Prowl would realize the strategy at play and come up with a counter that Onslaught wasn't expecting, downing some Decepticon grunts. Then Prowl preps for Bruticus and is taken out when it proves to be a faint and Onslaught and the cons finish them off in a man-to-man onslaught (pun intended).

Though, if you wanted to be true to form, Prowl and his squad move in, they take out some Decepticon grunts, or at least they think they do, and the city is blown to ashes and every Autobot is dead. If you regard their abilities, Onslaught has a staggering amount of firepower; his missiles are easy intercontinental ranged (I'm talking he could stand in New York and practically bomb Tokyo) and each missile turns into three independently targetable shells that each are the equivalent (Well a little more from some reports) of the Halifax Explosion; that is, the largest pre-nuclear explosion in human history. If both barrels fire, that's 6 shells, six Halifax Explosions.

It's a shame that for all the work Budiansky did coming up with all those varying weapons, with different pros and cons (including limited ammo), along with different speeds, ranges, and so forth for their alt modes as well, that the majority of media reduced them to colored lines or largely ineffective missiles and made them all virtually the same.

 

In a one on one fight, Onslaught is stronger and larger and would have a physical advantage.

He is prone to anger if his plans fail while Prowl's tech specs depict him as quiet, logical and patient.

I believe Prowl would win from a strategic viewpoint.

I also believe Shockwave would be Prowl's opposite number as Military Operations Commander.

It's a shame that none of the media ever depict Prowl as per his tech specs. The closest was Budiansky and Dreamwave.

I always liked that characterisation not the moody prick that he's become know as.

 

It depends. Onslaught have the overwhelming advantage of being able to combine with his team into Bruticus, and given than I'm for combiners being more than the sum of their parts, this should be enough to secure a deception win.
Is Prowl allowed to bring a combiner team to counter that? In that case he should the advantage, having Defensor or Superion to match Bruticus power while maintaing the ability to coordinate the rest of his team.
In a one on one fight I agree with Onslaught as the winner, being stronger, bigger and with a military armed vehicle as alternate mode.

 

I would go with Onslaught. Onslaught is not working machine like, like prowl does. He can be flexible in his decisions and strategies. He is also far larger and stronger on one on one battle.

In a battle royal, again I can seen Onslaught outmanouvering Prawl for two reasons: Most Autobots are not fighter types, ergo are weaker than a Decepticon strike force. Furtheremore Prowl as an Autobot cant strategise with the moto 'ends justify the means', which closes a large number of tactics available to him. Onslaught has no such qualms.

 

Prowl would be more cynical so he would win

 

I'm a bit biased, but here we go:

Prowl, no question. He'd never engage in a one on one fight - and even if he did, he would probably use every single sneaky, low-down weasel move to win, and he'd know that hundreds of thousands of moves in advance. Army on army? Prowl. He'd sacrifice whole units just to win the objective. Just because he's an Autobot, it doesn't mean that he's not going to break some eggs.

 

Just to clarify, in the former scenario (20 troop battle) the troops are generic grunts. Onslaught doesn't have his Combaticons with him and thus Bruticus is not a factor.

 

Batman doesn't kill (mostly) and usually wins.

I see Prowl as the Autobot Batman. As a friend of mine said to me over 2 decades ago in college, "The thing about Batman is, he's smarter than everyone else".

I had never thought of him like that before but it is absolutely true. That is how I see Prowl.

I also think someone as patient, intelligent and logical as G1 Prowl's tech specs portray him, would have the discipline to become an extremely skilled fighter much like his Animated self.

That's how I want Prowl to be written in future incarnations. Not a whiney, table tossing prick.

He can be smart and sneaky, without being portrayed as amoral. That's how Batman is written and No one calls him amoral.

Would have been nice to see him take down Grimlock in the G1 comic as Batman does any hulking opponent, skillfully and efficiently, all the time remaining intimidatingly quiet.

 

All good guys do that because they are good guys  

He is not amoral, he is a lighter version of shockwave. Truth be told I can relate with IDW Prowl because...Well as much as I dont want to admit it, he is an extreme case of myself. Just x100. He just doesnt trust people to do what must be done. Batman on the other hand, was clever but was not stuck on his logical analysis. He felt more and there were many times where he did show trust to people. Prowl on the other hand...Even when he combined with Optimus, he still was adamant on his ways.

 

All good points. Prowl, along with Rodimus Prime, has always been my favourite Autobot. I just wish his portrayals in fiction were closer to his original tech spec.

I never forgave Furman for starting his reputation as a whiner.

Speaking of his tech spec, I often felt that, rather than making him Autobot Batman, he could work if you wrote him similar to Data from Star Trek. Again logical and capable.

Anyway I'm digressing. It's just wishful thinking due to my dislike of how he's portrayed in fiction.

 

Rodimus is the least likeable character for me. I always felt they had a very good oportunity to depict the young, gun ho Hotod in contrast to so many other serious characters, and they chose to swap him with Rodimus...bad move.

Been a toon fan, Prowl was a bit indifferent to me, but in comics he was quite....awkward. Furman did flesh him out as a bit annoying, but thuth be told the annoyance factor peaked under Robberts care.

 

That's a tough call.

Both have shown their military prowess in the battlefield and their skills.
Prowl is shown to be very skilled and honed, not to mention his talent of keeping an eye on everything and everyone at .0000000001 seconds. He can track all of Onslaught's movements and his attacks and coordinate his own counterattacks.

Onslaught on the other hand, is more of a refined tactician. He's very hands off, and of course, he has way more firepower than Prowl.
I mean seriously, if Prowl can die from a Laser shot, than Onslaught's firepower is more than enough to kill him.

If they were deploying troops, Onslaught definitely would win. He can cause immense amounts of damage, and of course, he can deal much more damage within a shorter amount of time. And he has Bruticus.

But if it were longer and more drawn out, than it would be Prowl, because he's more cool-headed, logical thinking, and can keep his calm while Onslaught would throw a tantrum and probably zerg-rush Prowl to no avail.

So it's a bit of a toss-up, but they're both evenly matched in many categories, so it's hard to say.

 

Oh I don't think anyone has written Prowl worse than Barber but then I think Barber is the worst writer the franchise has seen since the G1 cartoon.

 

Hesitantly going with Prowl as being more effective as a strategist, and all because as @Prime Noble pointed out, the difference in temper/patience.

Onslaught is unlikely to come up with a strategy based on defense: he would go for the offense. Prowl would know this. If Prowl would come up with a good (counter) strategy to Onslaught's moves, disrupting Onslaught strategies at a level he hadn't predicted, he would become frustrated and join the fight himself. And when does so, according to his bio, he's a very violent fighter. And when you're in the middle of the battle, it's more difficult to keep the overview and adapt the plans. Also, Onslaught is described as sticking to his plans to long, even when it's clear they don't work.

Prowl on the other hand, is very patient and detached. He would see things through. He's also very logical, meaning that if a plan didn't work, he would adapt quickly. On the downside, Prowl is very sensitive to things that are not logical.


But in one-on-one...Prowl likely wouldn't stand a chance.

 

Prowl, most of the Decepticons have some sort of psychological problem that would effect them in battle. Plan all you want but when your troops are easily distracted or can't shoot for shit your going to fail.

 

From a combat standpoint Onslaught has a clear advantage. I mean, we're talking artillery vs police car. Not to mention Prowl is the kind of CO who hides behind a desk and rarely fights with his men. Onslaught has a tight bond with his Combaticons that has lead to him and Blast Off being a couple in one continuity. Both are strategists, but they're also different kinds of leaders.