Optimus vs Rodimus vs ... ?

[Lord_Onslaught]

It's also like how they have written Sentinel Prime in the comics, as he is the Prime that has to die, so Optimus can lead. so why not make him an ass?

[Bubbah]

It's also like how they have written Sentinel Prime in the comics, as he is the Prime that has to die, so Optimus can lead. so why not make him an ass?

Yeah if you know a character is going to either die, or be limited down the road, make his spotlight time really shine. Either turn him into a complete ass, and let him kick some serious ass and go down in a massive blaze of glory, ESPECIALLY if it's a leader role you're working with. But what they did with Rodimus was just, well embarassing to him. It's like "here, we're going to take away your leadership role, AND turn you into a wimp ... enjoy the rest of your life" lol

[bugstomper1973]

I never really liked Rodimus Prime. Hot Rod was a much more interesting character. I would have been perfectly happy to have seen a showdown between Ultra Magnus and Galvatron at the end.

[Jason X]

I'm still waiting for a well written Rodimus. The Animated version seemed selfless and heroic but was smoked almost instantly by cosmic rust of all things. The IDW version started out douchey but pulled off some cool shit before the new improved Megatron slaughtered him. I'm hoping we haven't seen the last of him as he has potential. All other Rods have sucked.

 

It's sad because the character has a lot of potential in general. It's like people get ahold of him and don't know what to do so they either make him a wuss or kill him outright. One day we'll see a decent representation if we're lucky. Maybe Prime will deliver....

 

More on the topic though, Ultra Magnus would've brought a lot to the table as a leader in G1. I think it actually would've been cool to see a Combiner as leader. Superion or Defensor would've have been decent as their composite personalities were competent and well rounded. Additionally, at any point they could break down into their component team members and almost provide counsel to themselves as each disparate personality would have a unique viewpoint to share on any given situation.

[Bubbah]

I'm still waiting for a well written Rodimus. The Animated version seemed selfless and heroic but was smoked almost instantly by cosmic rust of all things. The IDW version started out douchey but pulled off some cool shit before the new improved Megatron slaughtered him. I'm hoping we haven't seen the last of him as he has potential. All other Rods have sucked.

 

It's sad because the character has a lot of potential in general. It's like people get ahold of him and don't know what to do so they either make him a wuss or kill him outright. One day we'll see a decent representation if we're lucky. Maybe Prime will deliver....

 

More on the topic though, Ultra Magnus would've brought a lot to the table as a leader in G1. I think it actually would've been cool to see a Combiner as leader. Superion or Defensor would've have been decent as their composite personalities were competent and well rounded. Additionally, at any point they could break down into their component team members and almost provide counsel to themselves as each disparate personality would have a unique viewpoint to share on any given situation.

I actually really like that idea of Superion or Defensor and having them council each other as individuals. Plus it could be educational without people even really knowing it by teaching a bit about democracy to kids, with the whole majority rule thing lol. Entertaining, effective and educational, what more could people want in a kids show? But I have always had a soft spot for Magnus :tfgrin

 

Haha don't worry about being more on topic, half this topic is the pros and cons of Rodimus. Although I really expected more people to start wondering what was wrong with me for not liking Rodimus ... definitely took me by surprise lol.

[Lord_Onslaught]

I would go with Computron myself

 

But yeah Bubbah, Rodimus has never been written well. That is why most people do not like him and prefer him as Hot Rod. As Hot Rod was written well. Rodimus Prime just became cannon fodder because he was never intended to continue leading

[Cybcouncil]

Ahh Rodimus Prime The boy that became Leader and cried the whole time during it. Personally I hate G1 Rodimus's Character. I was kinda Glad he took a walkabout in the Headmasters cartoon. A self doubting leader does not make for good stories. But he did have an effect on a Bunch of Tf series down the line.

 

Before the Movie Primes were considered strong Wise and the "Strongest" of all Autobots. Prime was Megatron's Equal. After the Movie Not so Much. Rodimus was in no way a Match for Galvatron. In every series since Prime has been weaker and Needed "Help" to defeat Megatron.

 

Then there is the Self doubting thing. Since Rodimus Every Optimus (Except for Primal and Rid Optimus) has had their Bout of Self Doubt. Hell the Unicron Trilogy Prime had it 3 times Guess he didn't learn it the First time.

 

Then there is the whole Young guy who could become Leader stuff. Can we say Cheetor and Hot Shot?

 

So While I kept wishing Rodimus would be actually Scrapped like in that Awesome Marvel Comics Issue by Galvatron. That Whiny Cry baby has had a Lasting effect on Transformers.

 

 

Now as for the Leader thing. Back then because none of the Bots were really given too much of a back story Id have to go With Huffer cause he was Pure Awesome. J/K on the whole Leader thing Not the Awesomeness that is Huffer. Id have to go with Prowl or Ultra Magnus. They just had that Second in Command feel to them.

[RUMBLEBEE]

I would have been happy with Ultra Magnus. EXTRRRREEEAAAAAMMMLY happy. Ultra Magnus bought the goods and when I started seeing the first toy commercials with Ultra Magnus VS Galvatron, I was all too excited. It was almost like the ultimate show down and just couldent wait to see how everything went down. Oh yeah, there's no doubt in my mind that Ultra Magnus would have been one of the greatest leaders and have thought it would have been just natural progression. We had Optimus Prime and now we'd have Ultra Magnus but then Rodimus came to us. Surprise Surprise! The movie had me sold! Then the series came to me with Rodimus's wining and pining. "He wasn't like this in the movie"!! I was wanting Goldbug to all of a sudden gain The Matrix of Leadership and suddenly become bad asses! He already was going to the progression of becoming more Prime like with his face mask and all and would almost make sense.

 

Rodimus' self doubt always left a bad taste in my mouth. I would have thought that Prowl, Jazz, Jetfire and to some extent, Grimlock (Because although it was in comics, I would have loved to see how this would play on the screen if he became more intelligent with the intergration of the Matrix. And maybe he'd also have a way of upgrading the other Dinobots to become Dynobots! ^_^) would have made another logical choices.

 

Combining leaders, oh yeah. I thought of thet as well and my money would have been all over Computron. It would have been cool to see the implications and value of this type of leadership.

[Jason X]

Ultra Magnus would've brought a more structured, militiristic style of leadership to the Autobots that would've been beneficial to them as a whole. As great as Prime is, he allowed a little too much tomfoolery amongst the ranks. Spike's mind never would've made it into an Autobot body on UM's watch. Under Rodimus, Spike would've never gotten out.

 

Of course, the same thing could've been accomplished with a Combiner. After all, who would have to know more about structure and teamwork than five TFs functioning as a single bot?

[ShellformerV1]

Ahh Rodimus Prime The boy that became Leader and cried the whole time during it. Personally I hate G1 Rodimus's Character. I was kinda Glad he took a walkabout in the Headmasters cartoon. A self doubting leader does not make for good stories. But he did have an effect on a Bunch of Tf series down the line.

 

Before the Movie Primes were considered strong Wise and the "Strongest" of all Autobots. Prime was Megatron's Equal. After the Movie Not so Much. Rodimus was in no way a Match for Galvatron. In every series since Prime has been weaker and Needed "Help" to defeat Megatron.

 

Then there is the Self doubting thing. Since Rodimus Every Optimus (Except for Primal and Rid Optimus) has had their Bout of Self Doubt. Hell the Unicron Trilogy Prime had it 3 times Guess he didn't learn it the First time.

 

Then there is the whole Young guy who could become Leader stuff. Can we say Cheetor and Hot Shot?

 

So While I kept wishing Rodimus would be actually Scrapped like in that Awesome Marvel Comics Issue by Galvatron. That Whiny Cry baby has had a Lasting effect on Transformers.

 

 

Now as for the Leader thing. Back then because none of the Bots were really given too much of a back story Id have to go With Huffer cause he was Pure Awesome. J/K on the whole Leader thing Not the Awesomeness that is Huffer. Id have to go with Prowl or Ultra Magnus. They just had that Second in Command feel to them.

 

I'm reasonably someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Optimus spend a lot of time questioning himself in the G1 comic series? It actually seemed like a kinda sorta trademark with him in the comic. Basically, you had two interpretations of him inbetween the anime and the comic.

 

Ultra Magnus questioned himself all through TF:TM, and even his bio in Dreamwave's MTMTE painted much the same picture of a gifted leader plagued by self-doubt and fear of ultimate responsibility. Outside of TFA, Ultra Magnus has never wanted to be anything more than a soldier.

 

Prowl is a better choice in some respects, but not in others. Prowl was the second-ranked Autobot in Season One, acting as Prime's Lieutenant, but...would he have both the stature and relationship with his troops to truly LEAD them? Prowl was too logic-driven and stand-offish IMO to lead the Autobots, or even to function in any fashion outside of his role as military analyst and strategist.

 

Grimlock get my vote...and not the shitty character we saw in the American anime. I'm talking about the Grimlock represented in his G1 bio and the G1 comic. He's willing and able to make the difficult decisions, and unlike Prowl, Grimlock could stand up to a Decepticon leader without a full upgrade. He also already functions in a leadership capacity and seems to be more popular with fans than Ultra Magnus. He's definitely more popular than Prowl, which would be important from a marketing viewpoint. Besides, outside of the classic "youthful character grows up and grows into a leadership role", Grimlock's struggle would be the most significant. He's already practically more Decepticon than Autobot. Overcoming both his colossal ego and Darwinist approach would be pretty significant.

 

Rodimus was horribly written in Season III. Horribly. He was written to fail. It's a shame, since he was CHOSEN by the Matrix to lead, and destroyed the pre-eminent threat to known space in the TF continuities.