I don't think I have already see it so:
How come Ultra Magnus, who has kept his cybertronian form, look like Optimus Prime in his alt mode (exept for the trailer, of course).

It was an easy way to do the toy back when it was part of the old Japan lines. And that simply transferred over here.

Storywise...I always took it to be like Hot Rod was, a hybrid of both Cybertronian and Earthen modes.

In Dreamwave continuity, it was Shockwave who upgraded all the Autobots and Decepticons with Earth alt modes for an upcoming invasion.

Guhh retcon......

How do we know that none of the other guys had Earth-style alt modes? It was supposed to be twenty years in the future, and with the TFs being around on Earth all that time, it's not inconceivable that automotive technology might have therefore improved in ways it otherwise might not have. My answer is that they all had earth-style alt modes, just TF technology-influenced ones.

Actually that's one thing I wonder about: were those designs meant to be simply "futuristic" or genuinely Cybertronian? I don't get why they would have passenger compartments if they weren't "earth-style" vehicles. (This is why the alt modes of the vehicular TFs in Beast Machines made the most sense to me.)

Magnus doesn't have a Cybertronian form, at least not in G1. He did in War Within and Micromasters, but that's it.

What I was trying to mean by my Cybertronian/Earthen hybrid. Of course OM is more articulated than me...*sigh.

That's what I always figured. Kup and Hot Rod's vehicle modes look much more Earthen than the cybertronian alt modes we saw in MTMTE.

So I guess that trailer of his is just some pimped-out .... thing? With missile launchers on it?

What's wrong with missile launchers? My truck has missile launchers on it. Well, okay, I mean I WISH my truck had missile launchers. All I really have on it is an autobot logo and some dirt.

Ultra magnus WAS Convoy originally. In Diaclone, magnus was originally issued as "Powered Convoy", an upgrade to the original Battle Convoy.

As for the cartoon and comic continuities, it's possible that Magnus was rebuilt when he came to earth, unless it specifically showed him in his alt form before he left cybertron. Teletran -1 would have chosed a design for magnus that proved to be successful with the Autobot leader and would be well-suited for a command autobot like magnus.

well, the passager compartiment was for the quintesson that used them... No?

No. Cybertronians learned how to transform during the great war.

They weren't vehicule mode first? damn! Yet that was making more sense. I mean: First you are just regular vehicule doing war against war vehicule, then you get humanoïd form and get a lot more flexibility and agility against the decepticon.
Damn! an other of my assumption shattered.

NO. They had no vehicle form before the war. it was then that they learned how to change into VEHICLES.

I always thought they started out with vehicle AND robot modes, but before the war, instead of personalities, they had little plastic drivers with magnetic feet. Shows what I know.

That sound more like a "soul" past than a "historical" past.

You know he's talking about the old diaclones right?

What's a diaclone?

ok, are looking for an "in-continuity" explanation (cartoon, Marvel, DW, etc...) or a toy manufacturing explanation?

That would help. I tried to give both in my explanation.

in the cartoon, most the autobots have missile launchers on their vehicle modes. So why not Magnus.

In Marvel, he got his earth alt mode before heading to earth in Target: 2006

In Dreamwave, he's basically Optimus' brother/clone/whatever

Might I give my 2 scents?

I think that Magnus had a 100% earth alt mode a couple years before the movie, but he had his armor upgraded, his armor's alt mode was upgraded too...

he got the armor during the War Within era due to severe injuries. He needs it survive. That's why he needed to undergo some major repairs after G1 vol 2.

You're such a liar. Unless you're talking about the Autobots' magical ability to shoot laser beams in their vehicle modes from like their headlights or somewhere, despite the absence of any actual weaponry.

If magnus needed the armor to survive his wounds, is that a condition that existed because of thesetting of the war within (the autobots lacked the technology to properly repair his injuries and restore him to his previous condition), or is magnus still beyond medical help in G1 (essentially Transformers' good version of darth vader)?

I have always believed that the Movie TF's were Futuristic Earth Modes. And the main evidence that supports this belief is that in the CARTOON - which is the continuity that the movie follows (which means NOT marvel, and NOT DreamWave)

Well in MTMTE - they showed Jazz, Bumble Bee, Wheeljack, and maybe even Iron Hide(?)
in their alt forms and guess what? None of them had wheels at all. They kinda hovered.
So ANY TF who had wheels, by the Cartoon's continuity, likely based their Alt-Form off of a planet that was NOT Cybertron.

HunterRose
"who are you, Who are you this time?"

I would go with the Vader theory, since he still needs the armor to function properly. Otherwise, he just wouldn't wear it anymore. And the armor looks pretty much the same in War Within, but his vehicle mode looked like Prime's War Within mode. So his armor probably wasn't reformatted to an earth alt mode, but I could be wrong.

im still hoping that whoever picks up the tf liscence finishes the current stories that dw had in the works, i was eager to see how they explained it.

explained what, Furman himself explained the armor.

Thanks for all the answers. It's interesting. And yes , Iknew he was talking about diaclone.

Of course that whole idea is a bit silly when you're talking about robots. Darth Vader had a suit because his non-repairable human body couldn't survive without it. But if you're a robot to begin with, why not just make a new body?

also in MTMTE unless i'm mistaken when bumblebee gets shot a wheel comes off him.

also another thing that contradicts the learning to transform before the great war. Skyfire. both he and starscream transformed then megatron says "that must have been before our final fall out with the autobots".

this may have just been before the 2nd and 3rd wars but it does add a bit more mystery.

UM has the same normal robot mode as prime, thus when he came to earth he got the same mode, his armour just kept the cybertronian form

Maybe he needed that particular body for some reason? It's possible...

eh, not the way they mixed and matched in G1 (and BW and BM). Personally I think UM is a puss anyway.

the armor is obvious, im talking about why magnus looks exactly like Prime without the armor. and the brother/clone thing doesnt work for me all that well. unless for some reason they cloned prime before he disappeared between WWI vol 1 and 2

that whole "brother" thing was just an RiD ripoff anyway. I think there are a lot more creative ways to explain the similarity, especially when you're dealing with robots who don't have DNA.

So, essentially, totally rebuilding him to function normaly is out of the question. (gotta admit: in the marvel comics, prime can have his head removed and survive, but shoot him a few times in the wrong places and he keels over?)

Sorry, this just puzzles me. But then again you didn't create the story for magnus' armor, grimmy; Furman did. And some of his explanations...well, suck.

This inconsistency bothers me too. Either they are machines or they aren't. If some part of them gets blown off, you can always build a new one to replace it.

But then, Furman was always a bit weird about how he approached TFs and what it means for them to be "alive".

The only thing i can think of is damage to his spark, somehow. But would that necessitate all that armor? and what about when he's in vehicle mode on earth? Unless magnus has some heavy-duty conduits running to his trailer or something.

in Marvel and DW continuity, the TFs have a genetic make up. And some have evolved i.e. the Triple Changers. The only reason the Blitzwing and the others were chosen by Shockwave were because they had the genetic potential for such enhancements. So they're not just machines.

Magnus was around before War Within vol 1, Furman said that he received his injuries during the early stages of the war before Optronix became Optimus Prime. And after reading G1 vol 2 and War Within vol 3 (the issues that came out), not to mention the Marvel UK material, I don't see how you can say Magnus is a puss

Sorry, just basing my opinion on the pre-retcon version of Ultra Magnus.

I never said he was a puss grimmy. or was it someone else who said that?

don't call me "grimmy," it's either "Big Grim" or just "Grim." Otherwise, I'll f***ing kill you

Don't threaten ME, or i'll build an embarrasing kitbash of your avatar and post it all over TFans and Ebay!!!

dude, you are so banned

nice...

Now, where was i...oh yes: it bothers me that transformers, who are supposed to be sentient MACHINES, have a 'genetic code.' what's next, transformers developing cancer and other diseases like bronchitis?

never F*** with a Kitbasher.

seriously, if calling you that bugs you, i'll just call you BG or something from now on.

Hate plague?
cosmic-rust?

sounds like diseases to me

according to Marvel, and then DW, they are genetic. Just read teh Marvel comics and see for yourself. Heh, I wonder if nanites would be an STD then