I was thinking about all the different incarnations of various characters within the Transformers universes and a question hit me: Which do you prefer for characters?

Do you like the classic characters with their classic personalities? Like Optimus, the unwavering force of good, and Megatron, the classic villain?

Do you prefer reboots of the characters, like how Soundwave in Prime is a silent, lethal character, but still loyal to Megatron, or how Animated Optimus is a potential leader, but new and fresh?

Do you like it when a character shows up who is similar in name, yet completely different in appearance, like Prime Arcee or Animated Prowl, redefining the character?

Or completely new characters, like Knock Out and Skyquake, where there is no resemblence to the original, assuming there even is an original (Animated Bulkhead, Lugnut)


Which is your preferred type of character whenever a new show arises?

 

New characters, they are more fun since they wouldn't have ideal character habbits that fans expect from them.

 

a little bit of all of them, but out of all of them classic is the least interesting. if we get the same guy in every form of media ever, it gets old after the first two times. but if we get altered versions of characters that retain their core character type, they're recognizable but still a breath of fresh air. reboots are cool every couple of series. new characters i'm fine with as long as the name isn't one that's super iconic (like in knock out or skyquake's case, the previous uses of the names were arguably obscure, so the new uses of the names don't affect as wide of an audience) but if you made megatron be honey boo-boo's pick up truck there would be blood.

 

Usually I prefer when they try a new ideas with characters. It's part of the reason why I like Animated so much and Prime Soundwave is one of my favorite characters on the show.

 

I like a combination of all of those types. There are a few characters that I, personally, prefer to fit into a certain set of parameters, but they can deviate a bit. But I'm always for something new and fresh.

Plus, even the various types of characters you've listed all have various levels within them. They can be "altered" to many different extents, they can be "rebooted" to many different extents and so on.

I'll probably come up with some good examples later, but yeah, I like a good combination of those.

 

I like characters that are new, but reference past ones continuously.

 

i pick classic toys - g1 got dinobots , arielbots , monsterbots, seacons

 

oh, I know, i just figured since i couldnt just put one, I put that-Altered is slight difference, ala Animated Prime, while Rebooted vastly different, like Prime Arcee. Then again, its hard to say where Prime Wheeljack fits in all of that, ya know? was just the easiest way to put it

 

Reboots can be fresh and open up possibilities, but at the same time I wouldn't want them to lose basic personality traits.

 

I think something new has to be done. There has to be a twist (even if it's a toy gimmick). No point in making a new show that just recycles old ideas.

 

New. I'm so fucking tired of the same characters every series. I know it will never happen since they need character recognition and name trademarks which saddens me to no end.

 

So much this.

Its a simple thing to do, throw in the classic names under the new toy line, but don't have them in the show about the series. Like Beast Wars, there were more non show characters than show characters. Make Optimus Prime a non show character and promote some Autobot field commander that never met Prime in the tv series.

 

Any can be very good under the right circumstances. New characters have the advantage of not being constantly judged against predecessors ("X wouldn't do that! X from series B was way better!")

I guess there is a benefit to the resused, reworked, and remade - writers have half or more of the character development done for them already years or even decades ago.  

 

New, we've been doing the same thing over and over since 2007.

 

I want whatever creates the most effective characters.

For some guys, like Starscream, you need to find new angles to approach from, since otherwise, you're just telling the same story of betrayal over and over again.

For other characters, you need to redefine the character to tell the most effective story, like with BW Silverbolt, who shares nothing in common with G1 Silverbolt, but is a far superior character. Another example would be TFP Soundwave, whom I love far more than G1, and whom I'm sad to see so poorly used.

And sometimes, there isn't a character in the annals who represents what you need or want, so you have to make a new one from scratch. Rung, Lockdown, and Flatline are all great examples of this.

And sometimes, classic works best.

I do have a few specific wants though: scrap the Decepticons as guys who fought for noble intentions but lost their way, and have that cause be one that was never noble - there are plenty of causes like that in history, and you can still tell an interesting story if you have the chops for it.

Scrap Optimus as this boring, doubtful, or incompetent stereotype, as the Marvel, pre-Roberts IDW, and Aligned Continuity has created. Stop trying to portray him as a god and start portraying him as a mortal man, one how has doubts and fears, but whose incredibly strong moral core drives him onward.

Scrap the ridiculous Golden Age caste system - if the Golden Age is a tyrannical hellhole, then there's no real pathos behind its collapse. People would realistically be saying, "The war sucks, but it's no worse than what came before." I want a peaceful Cybertronian civilization worth fighting for, one where the government is of, by, and for the free people, one that, if the Decepticons destroy it, would be an actual freaking tragedy rather than the hollow version the Aligned continuity gives us.

 

Classic. Every series has to borrow so heavily from G1 that I wonder why they just don't do G1.

 

Oh yeah, I knew what you were getting at, man.   That's what I was getting at, there's so many characters that fit into a certain category, but some more than others and whatnot.

 

I agree, I mean there's nothing noble about the "dark side of the force." People can and do get seduced by ambition and power.

 

Completely new characters. No Optimus, no Megatron, no soundwave or bumblebee or Ratchet or starscream. To steal from another property, I want Transformers The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine. Hell I'd even take Transformers Voyager.


out

 

As long as it's not Transformers Enterprise, lol.