It is this. Windblade outside of Metroplex has no real purpose. She hasn't develop in full fledge character. Chromia has and she been around for years, Nautica has as well but my impression it is due to the fact she is not fan built. Windblade, needs time to develop and she was thrust into the spotlight was not smart move. I would use Windblade as a foil to Starscream and which I have seen the most development for this character.

 

Lets see a Autobot like Siren and Gears get a gender transformation.

 

This Chromia hasn't been around for years. The trouble is in my opinion people are mistaking archetypes for character development. I love Nautica but she is very much the bumbling nerd girl archetype, Chromia is the wise cracking hardass archetype. This is not a criticism of them, I love them both immensely. Windblade is far less archetypal, she is a leader but relatively inexperienced, a bit naive, a bit teasing, a bit solemn and well out of her depth. She isn't the big badass, she isn't the social awkward and unintentionally hilarious geek. Her character is being developed, it is just being done over multiple issues rather than just being an in your face archetype.

 

She has one clearly visible personality trait - being inexperienced.
Once she's past that phase she'll end with... None?

Comic books are all about archetypes and distinct personalities. Especially in series as heavy with as many characters as are IDW TF comic books, nobody really has time to wait that many issues for a development of fairly ordinary personality.

 

Edit: Ok that cam out ruder than intended.

I could not disagree with you more on this. There is a lot more to Windblade than just inexperience and honestly I think people are letting their dislike of the fan poll and perhaps other factors blind them to what is actually going on on the page.

 

It is not about character archetype. It is about if the character is strong or not. Windblade is spiritual leader but not a military one nor a political one. I comparing her to a female of similar structure Kikyo from Inuyasha although she is not the main character. I just think it was too soon without much thought to put Windblade in a spotlight before developing her. I could compare her to Drift but later is far more complicated than new age ninja fighting style mecha. Drift from his own mini-series out was much stronger character than Windblade is currently in her own mini series. I would believe Drift as Spiritual Leader sooner before I believe Windblade. It would make sense to have Windblade as journey woman city speaker not a full fledge city speaker. To help her grow her character. That would mean to make Windblade a supporting character instead of main one in a ongoing.

 

Of course, if the usage caught on, it would start to become normalized.

I just don't think it will catch on. Admittedly, I prefer "it" to any of the more contrived neologisms like "hir" or "s/he"

Haha! Looks like an acute case of 1970s Comixitus!  

Yep. That's pretty much how I read it too...  

Absolutely. Yeah, I agree on that count.

Love it!  

I think you're maybe being premature in your assessment of Nautica... that's definitely where she fell in her very brief introductory moments in Dark Cybertron, but in MTMTE she's not quite painted in as broad strokes. That said, I think she's still pretty mushy, so we'll see if a real personality firms up soon...

Archetypes are great... I agree that sometimes the line between "boring cliche" and "fun archetype" can be nebulous though. The problem right now is that I find Windblade, lacking a strong archetype, is pretty bland also. You can itemize all the things that she is not, but when it comes to describing what she is in terms of positives, it gets harder. She's currently really flat, aside from the "naive, doing the best they can" aspect.

That's a common problem with central characters... they often fall into being flat, undefined characterizations (to make them more relateable, presumably), while their supporting cast of strong archetypal characters ends up carrying the show.

Yeah, I think I agree with this. Which is not to say that long character arcs can't be explored in comics... but a long boring character arc, to arrive somewhere equally boring, regardless of how "real" the person is, is just not good writing.

It's rare that bland central characters carry much weight. With Superman, his appeal now rests in his iconic, role-model value... not being "emo Superman". A character like Mark Grayson from Invincible is incredibly dull, being a very conventional "decent, well-meaning young man"... so I'm still not quite sure why he and that series remain compelling. I guess he acts as an anchor point for all the craziness around him?

Well, remember that Drift was kind of a dull cliche when he first arrived, and has only really developed that painfully earnest idealistic persona (stretched thinly over a sociopathic killer) in his recent MTMTE appearances. I think Windblade can certainly persevere as a character, but it will require a writer to take her in new directions... pick her up and dust her off, basically. Scott might be able to pull that off, but at the moment her Windblade is a bit too bland.

zmog

 

Even when Drift at his blandest moments his story did not have boring moments. I agree with Windblade needs a new direction.

 

Sometimes even when "things are happening" they can still be a bit boring.

I found Drift's Spotlight and miniseries were both a bit... dull? Nothing really impressed me or caught my attention. Very predictable stuff. Something was just not quite there.

I think Windblade's series is more interesting than the Drift solo stuff so far. But she is not the most interesting thing about her own series...

zmog

 

I am going to agree. I find the people around her more interesting.

 

I'd agree with all of this. Windblade isn't the most interesting thing about her own series but I still see a lot of personality there, it's just understated. In my opinion.

I can't even remember what happened in Spotlight: Drift, genuinely unmemorable to me.

 

Only thing to remember about about Stoplight: Drift is Perceptor's chest got blown the fuck up, causing him to go science sniper. Other than that, not much of interest happens.

 

Drift only became a good character in MTMTE. Everything before that was bland, shallow or predictable.

 

The most memorable thing about Drift, for me, was Turmoil. A good depiction how Decepticon commander may think and act while not being ridiculously over-the-top barbaric and "eeeeviiiiiil".

 

Ah-ha! You you're the fan, as in 'Fan favourite returns!' cause honestly, everyone else was like 'Meh.' when he turned up in RID.

 

They can. Yes. Should they? Not until they develop the ones they have now.

 

They should certainly develop the ones they have now, I don't see why that should prevent them introducing more even as background characters. There are hundreds of manbots with little character development who just appear in teh background sometimes.

 

Especially since it is unrealistic to expect a separate book for every introduced bot.
Background characters can be developed when situation demands it.

We have it in MTME, large part of the Lost Light's crew is just a background, but they are moved into spotlights when needed.

 

Really? For me Turmoil was exactly that. Everyone treats him like some kind of scumbag war criminal (even other cons), he speaks in brutal supervillain cliches, he's got a pretentious name, a giant cannon for an arm, and an incredibly boring design. I'm amazed that Turmoil even got to come back in RID... he was clearly a character designed with minimal effort to be killed off immediately.

I guess someone's got to love those ugly ducklings.  

By my count, Turmoil's one sole contribution to this fiction was being totally owned by Starscream. Sadly, this is something that Starscream rarely ever is allowed to do.  

Absolutely. It also feels more natural that way... you have characters present in the environment, and then we recognize them when they become more significant. That's part of what makes the TF fiction interesting... the vast panorama of characters that populate the world, and who can come forward when needed.

zmog