I was just thinking of the guys in Animated who originally showed up in G1 (or BW in the case of Blackarachnia), and how the writers of Animated have taken these guys and really fleshed them out and/or made them new. In your opinion, which character has benefited the most from getting the Animated treatment? I put "other" in case I forgot any, or if you think that Cliffjumper's wordless cameo was better than the entirety of his G1 appearance.

edit: FYI I voted for Starscream and Ratchet. It was a tough call with both of them, since I also think that Megatron has also been vastly improved. But I can't argue with Starscream's battle against the Autobots in "Transform and Roll Out" or him shooting Ultra Magnus in the f*cking face like a badass. He talks a lot of shit but he's able to back it up. And he's also smart (except during his "attempted coup" montage ).

Ratchet gets massive points for his backstory. And the fact that he even has one. Prime was a close second for me, as was Bumblebee (believe it or not) since I think that Bumblebee *should* be a little punk bitch. Dan Gilvezan's Bumblebee was a great character by G1 standards, but he really didn't earn it -- he just happened to have a lot of screen time.

I voted for prowl and blitzwing.

I always felt that for all the airtime that prowl got in G1, he was among the most boring characters with the least amount of personality for such an important character. Now I don't really see Animated Prowl as having any connection to G1 Prowl, but that's good because now he's a zen master ninja with well defined characteristics.

Blitzwing on the otherhand was basically just a soldier in G1, he had some fleshed out personality, but again was mostly just there to transform twice and lose a fight. Now he's Megatron's Crazy go to man, he's kick some ass, and He's got 3 interesting personalities, way to improve on a cool concept that never really reached as far as it could.

I voted the exact same as NLTAG, and for the exact same reasons. I have only one thing to add:

Blitzwing is made of sheer win and even though his character isn't deep it's one of the most creative and entertaining I've ever seen, especially in a medium such as a Saturday morning cartoon.

I went Ratchet/Blitzwing for the reasons mentioned already.

Meh... I don't think any of them are substantially better than their fore-running namesakes. :/ In some cases, I just see them as far too much of being entirely different characters that I can't bring myself to make the comparison. Like Ratchet - aside from being a medic/ambulance he's nothing like G1 Ratchet. Persona-wise he's actually more like Kup. Prowl is absolutely nothing like G1 Prowl. That doesn't make them bad characters... just not the same.

Anyway, for the Autobots I chose Sentinel Prime. An odd choice because I actually dislike the character - he's a completely shallow and one-dimensional arsehole. But he is technically who I would consider the most improved of the Animated Autobots compared to their fore-running namesakes... except for IDW, no other Sentinel Prime ever really had characterisation - shallow or otherwise. In G1 Sentinel asPrime briefly appeared in a flashback letting us know that he was Optimus Prime's predecessor who passed the Matrix to Optimus as he laid dying in Optimus' arms. In The War Within, we only see Sentinel Prime's remains after being torn apart by Megatron (with his bare hands! Raargh!).

Decepticon-wise I chose Megatron. Meh... none of the other Decepticons really strike me as being really better than their fore-runners, but I think Animated Megatron is reonably clever and resourceful - and best of all - unlike G1/G2 Megatron, he woke up to himself and refuses to take Starscream back!! He's not the best Megatron (that honour goes to BW Megatron IMO) but he is the most improved out of the Animated Decepticons IMO.


Out of all G1 Transformers, Prowl is more like Bludgeon - just not evil (although he's demonstrated the potential to be).


Blitzwing was a conscientious objector to the war! That makes him pretty fleshed out and a cool character IMO. It showed that he actually a thinker, not just a brute. ("Five Faces of Darkness")

I have nothing more to add to that.


As for Autobots I chose Optimus. It may be an odd choice, but I like him better in the position he's in now, forced to lead instead of just being the leader.

It's Prowl & Megatron for me.

for me it's Megs and Ultra Magnus

For the Autobots I went with Jazz. For the Decepticons I wanted to go with Blitzwing, but I opted for 'Screamer instead.
I went with Jazz and SS for pretty much the same reasons. I think they're both superior/more fleshed out version of their G1 counterparts.

Especially 'Screamer. He's everything I wanted G1 SS to be.


JMO, but I would say Ratchet and Prowl are just as close to their G1 selves as Sentinel Prime is (BTW IDW Sentinel Prime is my favourite Autobot leader).

jazz and swindle. I love the character they have made swindle here. it fits the name so much better.

Prowl. Went from boring prick (G1) to super-cool ninja-guy. I dig the entire Autobot crew, though, and with the exception of Sentinal Prime, every Autobot character introduced thus far. However, if I could be ANY Autobot from the show, Prowl is the one I'd want to be.

I WANTED to vote for Blitzwing, but ended up voting for Starscream. Why?


^this^

Reading over more of the responses, I keep thinking to myself "That's so true" and "Man, maybe I should've voted for that one." This is actually really hard because it makes me realize that ALL the characters in are so vastly improved.

I'm starting to agree with one of Madhammer's earlier posts: is stealing my G1 nostalgia. If I were to play word-association, like what is the first thing I think of when someone mentions a TF character, Optimus Prime and Starscream are probably the only ones where G1 is the first thought that comes into my head, though Megatron is a toss-up and G1 Starscream is fading fast. If someone says to me, "Prowl" or "Bumblebee" or "Blitzwing" or "Ratchet", the Animated characters are easily the first thing I think of, because the characters are so much more meaningful.

Eh.... that's a lot to read into a few lines of dialogue. I think the issue with him was more that he recognized that the Decepticons were being played. IMO a conscientious objector doesn't try to end a fight through the barrel of a gun.

But re: Blitzwing, I *do* really like how Animated took the triple changing toy gimmick and actually integrated it into his personality. It makes soooooo much more sense that way. (of course, anything is "so much more" than none.)

P.S. Smooth Jazz, thanks for the height comparison pic in your sig

You're welcome LM, though I really didn't intend it to be anything more than just showing off my new Animated collection since I lurv those toys.

I picked Prowl and Blitzwing. They went from no personality to Prowl being the next best thing to GI Joe's Snake Eyes. He's really cool. Blitzwing really made out. He went from zero to three personalities in one.

where is the luv for swindle. his new characterization is .

...as opposed to his G1 characterization, which was "Hi, I'm one of Bruticus' legs."

Au contraire! Swindle got his own episode in G1, which is more than most characters can say.

Not that there was a lot of depth to "selling off your buddies for parts" but it made me lol.

Quiet, you!

I like the description for B.O.T. over at Teletraan 1...Worst. Episode. Ever.

I voted Prowl and Starscream - for altogeher different criteria.

Prowl: neat new take on a bland character whom I barely remember from G1.

Starscream: written the way we always wanted G1 Starscream to be characterized.

"The Autobot Run" would like to have a word with the staff at Teletraan.

I would even go so far as to say that I think future G1 comics/homages should incorporate the characterizations we have here, but a bit more subtly.

IMHO, IDW's Prowl should be a nature lover and a bit of a dick like toon Prowl. Maybe toned down but still...

Make Ratchet just a bit more cantankerous in the G1 fiction. Doesn't have to go full-on Kup like he is in Animated but really play him up as a vet who's seen horrors as a medic that he doesn't share.

Play up Bumblebee's impulsively in the G1 comics and such.

Hell, I'd be THRILLED if they just did a G1-ish comic starring all the Animated characters in their G1 forms.

So, y'know, Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Prowl... and maybe Warpath or Ironhide? Heck, retcon a G1 Bulkhead as a repaint of somebody that EHobby can make a fortune on.

Vs. Megatron, Blitzwing, Soundwave, Shockwave, the Seekers, etc. And go ahead and retcon a Lugnut in.

And just make it Animated for older readers. Use the Classics/Universe body designs. Make very vague references to the Marvel continuities.

Hell, call it Generation 3.

Actually, with Sentinel we just don't know what his G1 self was like because he never had any!! He could've been an absolute prick too, we don't know.


The only time he was ever really kind of a prick was when he was green with envy when Optimus Prime named Grimlock as his successor instead of Prowl and went into super-nag mode with Grimlock. Prowl was proven wrong for trusting in the Autobot-Decepticon Alliance, but I don't think that being too optimistic/idealistic would necessarily make him a prick. Besides, Prowl was a decent second in command for Earthforce and he died twice in the Underbase Saga. He wasn't the most thrilling guy around - but he was pretty good considering his role and character.



Although Car Robot did that first - and (Devil) Gigatron had 6-10 personalities.

To bad they didn't do it in the US. I had no Idea that RID's Megs had a personality.

lol, seriously

Well we got a decent look at him in Megatron: Origins.
And now that you mention it he did seem prick-ish. He still kicked ass though

A little OT, but I'm currently reading IDW's G1 story, and I'm using voices for Ratchet, Prowl, Bumblebee, and Starscream, as well as Blitzwing's Colonel Klink voice.
Still going BW/BM/UT for OP and Megs though.

Heh, I have subconsciously substituted Animated Bumlbebee's voice when reading IDW's comics, too. Still use G1 Cliffjumper's voice though, dammit!

I voted for Bumblebee and Screamer. Bumblebee because he NEEDED to have this attitude, its so cool. he's sorta like me, only a little more rude (but thats ok). I voted for Starscream because he the first Starscream EVER to have the balls to try to kill Megatron, and shoot the Autobot Supreme Commander in the freakin face.I almost voted for Prime because I like the twist on his position, and Megs because he equally had the balls to actually learn from Starscream's betrail, and try to kill him. I also like how they actually explained why Starscream was invincible (which both lead to the best Tf montage ever.)

Yeah, but IDW is more like "neo-G1" as opposed to original G1 (1984-93). IDW Sentinel Prime is the best though - full of munchkiny goodness.

AKA Shaggy from Scooby Doo Oh and the Top 40 radio countdown... Oh and a bunch of other voice-overs!

You seem to be forgetting that the poll is basically about G1 cartoon, not G1 comics. >.>

I can't decide, so I will not vote.

Goki seems to think that citing non-sequitors make him look smart.

The thread topic and initial post by LM only states G1 and doesn't actually specify any particular G1 medium, thus anything Transformers related produced before G2 qualifies (factual).

Now that you mention it, I realize that Starscream is just as brash and impulsive as Bumblebee except from a Decepticon point of view. How many times did he have to die and revive before he realized that a head-on direct approach wouldn't work against Megatron? And that's the funny thing; unlike Bumblebee, Starscream actually learned not to be so brash and impulsive, and actually use his brain.

Why would LMH be comparing the cartoon to the comic? Thats like apples and oranges.

What I object to is not that you read the comics - Yay you! so did I when I was young.

BUT - you have your head buried so far into the comic continuity minutiae that you love to obsess on the most trivial points. And that alone isn't the problem here is the problem -
You post in threads that are Obviously discussing the CARTOONS (ie - TF: ANIMATED) and you bring up this random minutiae, from the comics like its so important.

And your attitude is never like - "hey guys you know there are a number of variations on Character X - Did you know that in the Comics he got more screen time than in the cartoon and i really enjoyed how they portrayed this ability or that personality"

Your attitude is closer to this: "Duh! Character X was in one panel in the comic and he said this and did that - any transformer fan knows that!"

You know that the cartoons are the primary distribution method for the Transformer Mythos. And its great that there are other sources as well. It doesn't benefit any discussion for you to pretend that it isn't. And it certainly doesn't help the discussion when you insist that your minutiae trivia is common knowledge. Because you know it isn't.

So please join us in our hobby and stop talking down to us from your self imposed pedestal.

And now to illustrate my point, a picture of Optimus Prime molesting a small child:

That costume is weird. It's both high quality yet completely shotty at the same time. o_O

I didn't know they had comics. I had most of the figs and watched the show religiously but had no idea of the comics. so yea, g1 is pretty much up till the end of season 3 and even that hardly counts, among the common fan anyway. technicality really doesn't mean much to me. once the action master toys came out I just stopped buying altogether for several years. barely bought anything after the movie. hated the pretenders. ugly chunks of shyt with lame@ss tranformers inside. I just got tired of how all of a sudden all the decepticons were animals (not literally but the majority were). none of them looked like real vehicles and then bam, they didn't even change anymore.

Now my understanding of this thread is for us to compare Animated characters with their G1 and BW counterparts. I think Animated Sentinel Prime is the most improved character - even though I actually don't really like the character that much - because when I'm comparing the amount of characterisations between Animated characters and their G1/BW counterparts, Sentinel Prime is the most improved. This is because Sentinel Prime received no characterisation at all in G1! He just appeared briefly and was just seen passing the Matrix to Optimus Prime before dying. His name is repeatedly mentioned, but otherwise we have absolutely no idea what he was like!

Some people say that Prowl was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud... fine... but even as a stick-in-the-mud G1 Prowl still had some characterisation! Sentinel Prime had nothing in G1.

So my decision had nothing to do with which particular G1 mediums these characters come from - I'm just comparing which G1/BW character is most improved in terms of character construction in comparison with their G1/BW counterpart. Animated Sentinel Prime is by no means the best written character - he's very much a one-dimensional jerkface who's really more of a caricature than a character. But even as a shallow caricature, he's still a far more thoroughly better developed character than his G1 counterpart! In other words he receives the "most improved" award.

If I had to compare Animated TFs with only their G1 cartoon counterparts, then I'd say the best improved Autobot is Ultra Magnus and the best improved Decepticon would be Megatron. I like how Ultra Magnus is a far more confident character compared to his G1 cartoon counterpart. And I like how Megatron is far cleverer villain than his G1 cartoon counterpart; and one thing that makes him better than all of his G1 counterparts (cartoon, comic etc) - the fact that he won't take Starscream back!!

It was a tough call for me deciding on Prowl or Ultra Magnus. I hated UM in the G1 show and toys, but he's full of pwnage in Animated, both show and toy. In the end, I went with Ultra Magnus and Megatron. Their toys are shaping up to be the best TF's ever, and their characters are much improved as well (especially Earth mode Megs over Galvatron).

My opinion of G1 Magnus:
+ Toy = love!
+ Cartoon = meh. Decent soldier, but poor leader. His death was also really pathetic.
+ Comic = like! Okay, he got pwned a lot, but that was because he was always up against Galvatron, who was a like a freakin' demi-god in the comics.
+ Animated = Confident leadership + über-mjolnir = munchkiny goodness (like IDW Sentinel Prime! ;p).

The über-mjolnir is what really sets him apart for me. Good call by the designers, and I don't care if other people think the weapon is stupid.

Ultra Magnus w/o a doubt for the Autobots. Finally a UM that is worthy of a leadership position, plus his figure kicks all kinds of ass.

Megs for the Decepticons b/c as stated above, he is smarter than G1 Megs and seems to be more successful. Also, his figure seems to be improved greatly. I will admit though that it was a toss-up b/w Megs and SS. TFA SS seems pretty bad ass as well and as others have said, everything G1 SS wanted to be and wasn't.

BTW Ratchet is disgusting in the show. He's got a human butt-chin face with what looks like a 5 o' clock shadow. Rest of him looks cool but that face just makes me flacid.

I chose Starscream and Optimus.

Starscream is very improved cause he's far more ballsy than in G1 and his no qualms about much, and a little better at pulling things off. Until the last moment in "A Fistful of Energon" when Bulkhead came in with the second drone, all the Decepticons totally believed that they had the real Starscream. And let's not forget in "Transform and Roll Out" he was able to sneak a detonator on Megatron's back w/o the guy noticing it, using such a typical move (a pat on the back for luck). (I know Megatron later finds out it was him, but still, that first moment was sheer win for Screamer). Than just shooting Magnus w/o mercy. This Starscream is a total bada$$ IMO.

Optimus is also improved. Instead of being a leader from the get go, he's just the guy who everyone looks up to, much like Primal. And he's forced into the role of leader, much to his dismay, and has quickly learned, and he's still learning, how to be an effective team leader. His skills have impressed Magnus as such as to leave him behind on Earth in command of the Autobots there and round up the Decepticons and All Spark fragments. There was a time in the season one finale where he took the commander thing a little far and wound up realizing his mistakes from it and became better because of it. He's also been shown to have moments of where he's unsure of himself, which I like in a character.

I hope they keep up the good work.

Of course, one of my fav Decepticons is Lugnut. His slavish loyalty to Megatron is insane to the point where it's funny in it's own way. Almost like an Animated version of BW Inferno IMO.

Totally Starscream on the Con side of things.. he's not a pansy, he's more treacherous, actually accomplished knocking megs out of the way for awhile.. and.. uhh.. he's a zombie that keeps coming back regardless of how many times he's brought offline.

Prowl because he seems like he has more of a personality and less of a tight ass.. (if he is a tight ass at all, its because of his zen thing) .. G1 Prowl really didn't do much other than get pwned really.. I mean, calling Chip Chase in to save his ass?

I dunno... Starscream absolutely pwned all in the Underbase saga. He was also full of win when he used the Matrix to merge himself with Warworld, although that was G2, not G1.


Comics: In his youth he was part of a rash team of Autobots known as the Magnificent Six. He also assumed leadership of the Autobots after Optimus Prime was decapitated by Shockwave. At Jazz's behest he also forged the alliance between the Autobots and G.B. Blackrock, which of course was extremely instrumental to the Autobot effort on Earth. He also nearly sacrificed himself during the Dinobot Hunt. He was later displaced into limbo during Target: 2006 with the arrival of the future Decepticons. He was later a participant in the Autobot civil war (Ark vs Steelhaven) on the moon. He was also a member of Earthforce. He was later killed (twice!) during the Underbase Saga. He was later revived by Grimlock via Nucleon (so he was destined to become an Action Master, but G1 got cancelled before he ever went into the Chrysalis stage) - he became Grimlock's unofficial advisor. He participated in the battle of Klo. In an alternate universe, Prowl was part of a small team of Autobots who'd allied themselves with humans in a resistance effort against the Decepticons who'd successfully conquered America.

In G2 Prowl was a member of a rescue team headed by Grimlock, saving Optimus Prime from destruction at the hands of Megatron. He also participated in the battle of Ethos.

Cartoon: As you said, he LANed with Chip Chase. He was also used as parts for a throne built by Scrapper. He was then killed in TFTM but mysteriously reappeared in The Headmasters! Phwoar!

True. However, that was just one instance. But, like all bad guys who gain a huge upper hand over the good guys (even to the extent of other bad guys), the opposition come through stronger and more determined than ever, and he eventually was defeated. But most of the time, the moment the tide turned, even before whoever was commanding the Decepticons at the time (I forget who commanded besides Megatron and Shockwave) saw it, and turned tail and ran. He turned tail and ran after every failed attempt at taking the command post of the Decepticons. Not so with Animated Screamer. He may have not succeeded, but he just didn't give up, and is still trying.

Umm... not really. Starscream killed Afterburner, Air Raid, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Blot, Bluestreak, Brawn, Buzzsaw, Chase, Cutthroat, Fireflight, Freeway, Gears, Goldbug, Grimlock, Hoist, Hound, Hun-Gurrr, Jazz, Jetfire, Laserbeak, Lightspeed, Mirage, Nautilator, Nosecone, Octane, Omega Supreme, Overbite, Rippersnapper, Rollbar, Scattershot, Searchlight, Seawing, Silverbolt, Sinnertwin, Skalor, Skydive, Skywarp, Slag, Slingshot, Sludge, Snaptrap, Snarl, Soundwave, Strafe, Swoop, Tentakil, Thundercracker and Wide Load - and none of them barely even scratched Starscream!

And none of his enemies were able to defeat him.


Ratbat (who'd assumed command after Shockwave's demise) and Scorponok were Decepticon commanders at the time of the Underbase Saga


Yeah but that's only because he's undead. He knows that he can keep dying and coming back. This wasn't the case for G1 Starscream, who - believing that he was mortal - had to be more conniving. And he was, such as when he sowed seeds of dissent amongst Scorponok's ranks, then allying with Shockwave's separatist faction and declaring civil war against the Earth-based Decepticons.

Autobots: this was rather hard, but I give it to Wreck-Gar. "Weird Al" Yakovich voicing Animated Wreck-Gar = . Though Ultra Magnus comes as a close second. He's not in Optimus Prime's shadow in Animated, which really brings him up. Plus he was able to deter the Dinobots from making Sentinel into "Dino-chow"! (but why did he have to save him? Oh, right, he didn't say "Spoooooooon!" yet! ) But, Animated Wreck-Gar just tosses his G1 self away! In fact, he did just that in his debut episode, "Garbage In, Garbage Out"!

Animated Wreck-Gar: "I am Wreck-Gar! I am only good for GARBAGE!!!! I must deliver garbage to all!"

And now for the Decepticons. The most improved character award goes to... Sponge Star Scream Pants! Starscream in had the ball-bearings to plant a bomb on his leader's back! He's no longer the butt-kisser to Megatron (when he wasn't betraying Megatron), he leaves that to Lugnut!

what season and episode was that again?