The point of Airachnid?

Discussion in 'Transformers Earthspark and Cartoon Discussion' started by ILoveDinobot, Jul 12, 2013.

  1. moreprimeland

    moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2009
    Posts:
    25,780
    News Credits:
    38
    Trophy Points:
    387
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Likes:
    +2,002
    I like this one. :thumb 

    Personally, I never cared for the character, she was the outsider...trouble maker, loosely based Con Bad Girl. Big whoop.


    :D 
     
  2. Thilda

    Thilda Treat your mother right!

    Joined:
    May 8, 2011
    Posts:
    687
    News Credits:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    117
    Likes:
    +26
    Wow, I didn't realize that people hated Airachnid so much. She's basically female TFA Lockdown and I don't remember him getting so much hate from the fandom.

    Also this:

     
  3. Sideways77

    Sideways77 #1 flareup simp

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2010
    Posts:
    18,355
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Location:
    Oregon
    Likes:
    +9,127
    Well, Lockdown was a good character who wasn't around much and had a good backstory with Prowl.

    Airachnid is just kind of there. She's not really interesting, or likable. Plus she's a full-blown Mary Sue.
     
  4. ChibiGingi

    ChibiGingi Calm Your Circuits, Red!

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2013
    Posts:
    496
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Likes:
    +2
    I don't hate her. I just don't like how little the writers did with her, and then when she DID do something, it happened that she killed one of my favorite characters.

    They could have done more her, really, but... alas, this is what happens when you make a decent character with a voice actress that likely cost them a pretty penny to keep.
     
  5. moreprimeland

    moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2009
    Posts:
    25,780
    News Credits:
    38
    Trophy Points:
    387
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Likes:
    +2,002
    So, hire another Voice actor. Plenty of them out there who would love to work, I'm sure.
     
  6. Thilda

    Thilda Treat your mother right!

    Joined:
    May 8, 2011
    Posts:
    687
    News Credits:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    117
    Likes:
    +26
    Well she does have a dramatic history with Arcee, just like Lockdown had with Prowl. Being interesting or likeable is a matter of preference I guess.
     
  7. Sideways77

    Sideways77 #1 flareup simp

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2010
    Posts:
    18,355
    News Credits:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Location:
    Oregon
    Likes:
    +9,127
    I don't get why they bury themselves with the celebrity voice actors. If they can't afford them, why bother hiring them?

    As much as I like Tony Todd, they could've hired someone inexpensive so Dreadwing can survive the damn season.
     
  8. moreprimeland

    moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2009
    Posts:
    25,780
    News Credits:
    38
    Trophy Points:
    387
    Location:
    Tennessee
    Likes:
    +2,002
    IF money was the problem at all...probably wasn't, can't say for sure either way...but for my $$ as long as the VA had the moxy they wanted for her character then rock on, no matter who it was. I think they just threw her in the series to fill bad guy gaps, kidnap mom's, fight Arcee, etc.
     
  9. ChibiGingi

    ChibiGingi Calm Your Circuits, Red!

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2013
    Posts:
    496
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Likes:
    +2
    Voice Director's decision, not mine.

    Given how many talented voice actors are on the market, it seems pointless to hire regular actors, especially when we know they'd cost a lot more.

    Dreadwing was voiced by Fred Tatsciore (sp) in the Prime video game and he did a fantastic job. Barely even noticed he was different.

    Airachnid could have easily been voiced by a voice actress for a fraction of the price that Gina Torres may have been asking for. Same with Breakdown- as much as I love Adam Baldwin, they could have easily have had another VA play Breakdown and cost a lot less in the long run.
     
  10. Meta777

    Meta777 Dr Pepper Fan

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2011
    Posts:
    15,761
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +7,057
    "No point, only trophies."
     
  11. Morbo

    Morbo Knowledge Brings Fear

    Joined:
    May 15, 2012
    Posts:
    564
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Likes:
    +4
    I doubt the decision to kill off those characters had anything to do with voice acting budget, as I don't think it usually costs that much, even for B and C list actors. Michael Ironside is the biggest name they've had so far, if they really wanted to keep the others, they could have.

    Prime's writing has always been about doing whatever to prop up the drama of the current episode without worrying about long-term effects. Bulkhead's severely injured and might never walk again? Nah, fine two episodes later. These relics are all game-changers in the war? Nah, most of the broke and the rest just sit around hardly used.

    It's not that they can't carry stuff over, and often do, but if an old plot point becomes inconvenient or they decide they want to do something different for a particular episode, they have no trouble dropping old things.

    Mostly, killing of Dreadwing was as much about clearing Decepticon space as everything. A theme this season is how they've had dwindling ranks on that side, even after adding Shockwave and Predaking. Adding them to Megs, Screamer and Soundwave gave too many bad guys to service anyway.
     
  12. Ash from Carolina

    Ash from Carolina Junior Smeghead

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2007
    Posts:
    15,966
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +3,232
    She seems like one of those good ideas full of potential but then the production team had no idea at all what to do with her character. Sort of hey Blackarachnia was a cool character so wouldn't it be cool if our show also had a bad girl spider?

    Airachnid wasn't such a horrible character as much as she suffered the same fate as so many other characters of the team just didn't know what to do with her character once they had it. Shows like the Venture Brothers and Archer know how to develop characters into something more, but sadly Transformers Prime can't rise beyond the initial ideas for a character. It's good introduction then just spin your wheels until it's time to kill off your character.

    I guess though her ending was at least better than just killing her off once the writers were out of ideas. Being defeated by Soundwave being one of the smarter characters on the show beats just being blasted to be rid of the character.
     
  13. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    Posts:
    83,294
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    462
    Likes:
    +2,907
    I don't think it's that. I mean Ernie Hudson and Agent Fowler are still around.

    But Yeah I think other actors could have done Breakdown and Airachnid. Tony Todd I'm sure would have stayed as Dreadwing had they wanted to keep Dreadwing around.
     
  14. ryu hayabusha

    ryu hayabusha Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2009
    Posts:
    1,180
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +1,714
    you negative ppl always crack me up..who's to say she wont be back for predicons rising or the next series..jeez!
     
  15. ChibiGingi

    ChibiGingi Calm Your Circuits, Red!

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2013
    Posts:
    496
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Likes:
    +2
    May not be the reason why they were killed off, but it might be a factor as to why they either got less screentime or had so few lines when compared to others. They could easily work it in as well- Breakdown's character wasn't that talkative even when he did show up, so giving Adam Baldwin less lines, they could get away with. Airachnid may have had a lot of lines, but not really that many episodes as a trade off.

    Michael Ironside has done his fair share of voice over work for video games recently, so perhaps his price tag isn't nearly as high as we believe, and no offense to Ernie Hudson, but he's not really that as high of demand now as he once was, or perhaps Ernie Hudson is one of those few that do the work for the passion and isn't demanding a huge compensation? I wouldn't know, nothing but speculation from me and I'll gladly admit to that.

    So while being celebrities might not have been the reason their characters were killed off or written out, it may have something to do with why we saw so little of them compared to Starscream, Megatron, Knock Out, etc. If they had not gone for the higher paying celebrities and hired voice actors instead, maybe we could have seen more done with them? Who's to say.

    Not all actors can be voice actors. Not all voice actors can be actors. But the price of a celebrity actor is substantially greater than a voice actor, and voice directors know that.
     
  16. Jamocha101

    Jamocha101 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2012
    Posts:
    1,441
    Trophy Points:
    207
    Likes:
    +218
    Failed fan service.
     
  17. TCJJ

    TCJJ 125% Tank Engine

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2008
    Posts:
    7,269
    News Credits:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    347
    Location:
    Island of Sodor
    Likes:
    +7,588
    I thought she was good to start off with. Not great, but good. But ever since she came back, I've thought it was pointless. I wish she'd have just been killed off in Thirst, because then it would have neatly tied up a loose thread. It would have been a kind of cheap death, but it's better than trying to bring her back into an arguably more developed cast, and trying to make her relevant again.
     
  18. gregles

    gregles quintesson

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Posts:
    3,663
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +1,078
    The point of her is that she introduces a great nasty horror element to transformers prime. She is a charismatic counter balance to all these modern emo villains who have a tragic back stories or political justification for their nasty actions, but are just not very scary as a result.

    I support the writers decision to put her on ice from time to time as if you have a nasty piece of work, wild card character around in every single episode they could easily fall foul to villain decay really fast and you don't want every single episode to have a horror element, some are better suited to being more comedy, light science fiction or action centred episodes.

    From what I have read on what it means to be a mary sue, I don't really understand how this applies to her, could anyone explain further? Sue's are usually character which are too perfect, are sometimes overpowered and are representations of the writers ideals and desires. Are you essentially saying the writers would secretly wish to torture, interrogate people and collect their heads? as I have read some nasty things levelled at the prime writers before but that would be one of the worst yet (I think)

    from what I have read in the past It seems that some of her hatred derives from fandoms inability to accept an empowered female as a sadist monster without any kind of sob story attached to make her allegedly sympathetic, I mean fandom seems perfectly fine in accepting beast wars rampage, animated Lockdown and IDW overlord but when its her they fan rage hard

    seriously if turning Airachnid into a vampire leader of a zombie insecticon army isn't knowing what to do with her, what the hell is?
     
  19. TFW10

    TFW10 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2011
    Posts:
    8,415
    News Credits:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    242
    Likes:
    +293
    I thought she was there to have another female in TFP