I think that prime's design in AOE and TLK would've been better suited for ultra magnus

 

This looks more like Nightwatch Prime than Ultra Magnus but oh well:



I dunno, I'm not a fan of this design as either Magnus or Prime. It doesn't really scream either of them to me.

 

AOE Prime isn't a good design for any Transformer. It just looks like a robot man in a knight costume.

 

Human-inspired designs for transformers are bad. This one just happens to have a lot of polish to make it look cool.

 

Idk maybe its the shoulder pads and larger antennas for me

 

Y'know, it's funny. I think Megatron's TLK design is the single best one he ever had in the live-action movies (unfortunate as it is that that design only finally shows up in the movie that it does), even though a lot of elements of that design echo things that I've had real problems with with Optimus' AOE/TLK design - I think it's easier for me to justify such a design when whatever it transforms into is clearly not anything of this Earth.

As a robot mode that supposedly transforms into the new Earth-based alt-mode of a Transformer who already had a fairly decent robot design AND alt-mode in the previous movies, I think Optimus' knight look is pretty p/$$-poor as a re-design of that character. As a potential Ultra Magnus, however...I can actually kinda see it. Specifically, the Silver Knight look - not only does it let Optimus keep the red and blue, it also in its way veers slightly in the direction of the 'white Optimus' aspect of the original Ultra Magnus toy. In addition, the sleeker look of the robot I think is easier to buy as a robot that still has his Cybertronian alt mode and, like Megatron at his height in these movies, either hasn't gotten around to or just plain has no intention of trading that in for an Earth alt mode.

 

Back in the day I would use Evasion Mode Optimus as my “real” Optimus and TLK Prime as Ultra Magnus. He comes with so much more blue than what Prime usually gets, the only option that makes sense is for him to be Magnus, then.

 

Yeah, TLK Megatron should be everything I hate, but it's just so badass and cool, and unlike Prime the Knight motif feels less on the nose. I think little things like the asymmetrical chest and shoulders, clawed feet, and generally more organic shapes befit Megatron more than the literal plated knight armour Optimus has. For as shitty as TLK was I still really like that design.

Would be even cooler if it turned into a dragon like the concept art, though. The spaceship's still cool though.

 

Are there any pictures of that? It sounds really cool but I've never seen it before.

 

You can even see where his axe forms the tail.
Honestly, I would have had no problem with Optimus' Silver Knight design repurposed for Ultra Magnus and Megatron still sporting his dragon mode and seeing the two of them go at it.

 

Looks badass, which matters more than having pieces of a truck hanging off his body.

Plus, there's literally 100s of Transformers in every continuity that just look like people in robot suits.

 

What's the point of creating a Transformer if it isn't going to look like it's going to transform into anything?

Those suck too.

 

I mean, it really doesn't. A Transformer should always look like a Transformer.

Alt mode kibble is literally what separates them from other fictional robots. Plus the design really wasn't that badass. It was just a generic metal knight, nothing really creative or distinct about it. I think that's why Megatron is generally more appealing, since it's a cool design independent of the knight motif. He looks almost demonic, like a Dark Souls boss. Optimus is just the most generic, basic concept of a "robot knight" you can get next to the actual Knights from TLK.

I know I've said this before, but what bothers me so much about AOE Optimus is the Western Star has great shapes built into it that would work really well with AOE Prime's proportions and shapes. The fenders could easily be the pectorals, the slope of the sleeper could easily be worked into the shoulder armour (sort of how the AOE Leader does) the hood could be the arms, the bumper or windshield cap could be the collar. But instead the entire truck vanishes and is replaced by nondescript, featureless armour plates that are just lazily painted like the truck but don't match up to it in any way. Even the smokestacks on his back aren't the right shape.

 

This artist made an impressive take on improving the knight design.

 

Well hey, that's another improvement for sure. Do you have a link to this guys work? I'd love to see what else he's done!

 

Sorry this still doesn''t work for me, it doesn't fix the fundamental problem of AOE designs including Knight Prime (that they don't have enough kibble to look like they actually transform).

 

Almost all non live action Transformers have a very specific design style. You can look at them and immediately recognize they belong in a Transformers universe. This usually holds true even on characters that have little or no identifiable kibble in robot mode, like Springer or Arcee. If robots are a big focus of your series, it's usually a good idea to have a design aesthetic beyond "metal man" . Most robots from Sunday can be easily identified from coming from that series just by looking at them. Slapping a Gundam head on Knight Optimus lame ass generic body wouldn't make a good Gundam, just Like slapping a Prime head on a generic lame ass looking robot doesn't make a good Transformer.

 

It seems weird that simple ideas like "what makes a design look like what it's supposed to be" needs to be explained.

 

Animated doesn't look anything like what you're saying and it's still a decent little series.

 

...what? Animated has clearly defined car parts on the robot modes.