I was discussing the TF war to a friend of mine. I explained to him that the war is a civil war and before that they were just Cybertronians, not Autobots and Decepticons. He then asked some interesting questions, "What is it like to fight a civil war?" ("Enemies, who were once our brothers."),"What does it means exactly, to be an Autobot or Decepticon?", "And what would it take to push a robot from leaving one side and and joining the other?"



For me, I would say that a civil war would be the most hardest and saddest war to fight, what if your best friend was on the other side, would you pull the trigger on them?

To be an Autobot, well I kinda liken them to the civil rights supporters back in the day, wanting change and wanting all to be equal.

To be a Decepticon, I think of anger and frustration, of being held down by the Man, until you finally snap, I think of thugs and gangsters, and Mafia-minded robots, heh

To switch sides, for an Autobot, one bot could think that Optimus is too benevolent for his own good, and that the Autobot side is too weak and therefore, switch to the "winning team". For a Decepticon, one con see the world around him, and realize that if Megatron wins, there won't be anything left of Cybertron to rule and so sides with Optimus to stop him.

Now I would like to hear from you guys and gals, on what your answers to those questions would be.

 

Autobots good. Decepticons evil. That's how I'll answer it

 

So what would it take to choose a side, is that what you're asking?

Whoever has the hotter fembots.

 

If your an Autobot you have all these rules you have to follow. But if your a decepticon you can do whatever you want.

 

To be a bully or to be a guy standing up against bullies.

I don't think I'd like to be a bully.

 

Personally, I find it interesting to explore different points-of-view, even of those I don't agree with, or who are demonstrably reprehensible...the whole 'why are they that way, how did they become that way?' question.

Reading up on personal accounts of our Civil War might give you some insights. There's a LOT more to it than you were taught in school. Also, remember that the split between Autobots and Decepticons happened millions of years ago. As time moved on, different cultures evolved out of the different needs of each side, aspects of their languages diverged, and PR on BOTH sides would have greatly colored perceptions, i.e. the Autobots coming to see 'Decepticons = evil', whereas the Decepticons may see it as 'we were fucked over, and have to fight for our rights,' or 'Autobots = evil.' On top of that, the longer a war goes on, the more the original reasons for that war are lost and/or corrupted.

--Moony

 

I'd stay neutral.

Because I can't pick sides.

 

WE'VE GOT A NAIL OVER HERE. Coward! Coward!

 

This

We've had stories of characters switching sides, namely Drift, but really wanted to get into the idea of what would make a Cybertronian switch allegiances.

 

MTMTE

Read it

 

seeing transformers as a black and white idea is total bullshit... even as a child i couldn't see autobots as good and decepticons as evil...

they are two factions with different ideologies. i'd call autobots as reformists and decepticons as revolutionaries... i don't see all decepticons as evil. they might have a lot of thugs in them, but there are good bots there too, people who believe in the revolution and the true cause...

it's like calling all revolutionaries evil... was Che evil? i don't think so. he was actually a good man. who wanted the American influence off his country. but then again he was considered evil for doing what he was considering right for his country.

i could go on and on about this, but yes... go read mtme, you'll see what i mean.

 

When Transformers launched as media e.g. comics, tv shows etc the concept of a civil war was skimmed over. It was just two factions fighting.

Only now is the granular detail of the civil war being filled out.

The concept of the Autobots being a corrupt, lazy and disrespectful dictatorship that suppressed any outspoken elements is a good starting point.

That Megatron established a splinter faction that would change the direction of the planets fate is quite massive when you think about it, but equally that he would stray from the reasons he created it is the tragic element needed.

And this is balanced out by the concept that within the ashes of the corrupt dictatorship comes an order educated by its past mistakes and propelled forward by a desire to be fair to all under a new leader who no-one trusts initially due to the past hanging over him - Optimus Prime.

 

How very dull.

 

Ultimately in a real war, there is no good or evil. That thought is determined by which side you are on. Ironhide sees Megatron as evil, Skywarp sees Optimus Prime as evil. In reality though, both sides would be doing questionable stuff if it was treated as a real war. Not because of doing something in the name of evil, but to get an edge over the other. Like in Animated when Omega Supreme was created as a weapon of mass destruction to use on the Decepticons. Also there will be noble and corrupt beings on either side as well.

Just to be honest, not every being that joins the Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals, or Predacons, joins for the ideas of the factions. Beast Wars displayed that with Silverbolt and Quickstrike. Neither had the Predacon shell program, but both were talked into joining the Predacons. Silverbolt didn't feel right about what they were doing and joined the Maximals. Quickstrike being a legit Maximal, stayed with the Predacons because he just like shooting stuff.

In real war, some join to seek glory, others to hook up with friends, and then there are some like Quickstrike, who just wants to shoot something. Then some are just drafted or volunteer out of sense of duty too. Some that joins the factions, they are not going to either heard of nor care about the leadership. Just once in a series, I want to see a soldier go "What's a Megatron?", despite fighting for the cons. It really would show the conflict is beyond Iacon, since Cybertron has other cities too.. Especially something like a Great War, that would have action going on many worlds at once.

As for leaving one side for the other, it's not black or white either. Some come to realize what they are doing is wrong (Beast Wars Silverbolt). Some just might deflect due to being promised of promotion in the other side. Some might deflect multiple times just to collect on enlistment funds. Which that happened quite often in the American Civil War.

 

Megatron will kill you if you fail,Optimus would not

 

I ain't no freeloader.

 

If Im correct you refer to Che Guevara?........ Yes he was evil. He was a terrorist.Che was a brutal murderer. He trained and commanded firing squads that executed thousands of men, women and children deemed enemies by the new Castro regime. He once put a bullet in the head of a fellow guerrilla he suspected of disloyalty. Also not a big fan of our First Amendment. He opposed freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and protest. Che fled Cuba in the mid-1960s not to spread Communism throughout the hemisphere, but because he had so totally screwed up his private life. He was a profligate adulterer who deserted two wives, countless mistresses and numerous children. There is something to strive for.

By this mentality Osama Bin Laden was just a terribly misunderstood guy. All he wanted was Americans out of the Holy Land.

 

"Peace through tyranny"
I think that sums it up right there. The Decepticons as a whole are fighting to instill order while the Autobots are fighting to maintain order. Now mind you, individual characters are going to have their own reasons to join whichever side. Some will join for their own personal interests. Some because they see one side as the lesser of two evils. Some will join for revenge.

No one sees themselves as "evil," but sometimes evil must be done for the sake of good.

 

Autobots good, Decepticons evil... but this is a generalization. The existence of noble Decepticons and base Autobots is not news to me, but unfortunately there is such a thing as guilt by association. That a character like Thundercracker has a moral compass is nice, but that he stands with characters like Starscream, Shockwave, Megatron, Dirge, and the Combaticons who are more than willing to use patently evil tactics to get what they want somewhat destroys his ablity to be counted as good. People tell me someone like Thundercracker is a good Cybertronian at spark, but then I question how he lives with himself given the kinds of things he actively participates in (genocide of other alien species being one of the nastier).

 

Are you talking about the factions or my definition of it?