darthfather2005 Posted on Dec 7 2004, 08:21 PM

Dude,

Hot Rod Was just trying to help Prime, why would he want him to loose? Come on, he loved his carefree life, and did not want to be a leader, it was thrust upon him. I think is a pretty cool Character, and is probably the coolest looking G1 Car that was made

 

 

 

:pfx

Dude,

Hot Rod Was just trying to help Prime, why would he want him to loose? Come on, he loved his carefree life, and did not want to be a leader, it was thrust upon him. I think is a pretty cool Character, and is probably the coolest looking G1 Car that was made.

Why did Hot Rod have to get reformatted and become Rodimus Prime? His new vehicle mode sucked, and his new name sucked even more. Why not just have Hot Rod carrying around the Matrix, still being a young pup, being the Chosen Leader under the watchful care of tutors like Ultra Magnus, Kup, Springer, Prowl, and Alpha Trion?

Geez, whats next? Was Starscream really an autobot spy?!? :tfhuh

 

Heres another choice, maybe Hotrod was trying to commit suicide but it backfired and Prime got it instead. :roll

I am a HUGE fan of Rodimus Prime. As Hot Rod, I think he meant well in trying to save Optimus Prime. The result ended up having him have self doubt as leader of the Autobots. I relate to Rodimus Prime in getting management sometimes before I am ready. I learn to get better with experience though.

Well, let's see:

 

- Megatron strongest of all the decepticons secretly reaches for a gun to shoot OP

- Hot Rod (much weaker than Megatron) could've simply shouted to warn Prime (didn't), could've used any of the weapons he carries to destroy the gun Megatron was reaching for (didn't). The dumbest thing Hot Rod could do was attack Megatron with his bare hands (which he did)

 

Conclusion:

 

He's a moron !

 

 

(Then again, he failed in attacking Megatron, but he did manage to knock the much stronger Galvatron to the ground with a single punch...Weird movie!)

Heres another choice, maybe Hotrod was trying to commit suicide but it backfired and Prime got it instead. :roll

I wish he succeeded.

 

Could you imagine watching that movie as a child again in this scenario....

 

Prime dies, and later that night, suicidal HotRod is sitting on the toilet with his own tailpipes in his face. Ultra Magnus comes in and tries to talk him down, and then BLAM.....Ultra Magnus - "NOOOOOOOO....PYYLLLLE....(I mean) HOTROOODDDDD!".

 

...then UM opens the Matrix, which true power is turning back time 13 seconds, and because UM sucks he still can't save HotRod!

 

I'm sorry, it's late here.

 

BTW - everybody clamoring for an MP decepticon, but I'd love to see an MP Hotrod/Rodimus

Wasn't a bad guy.. not my favorite Autobot though..

K, my avatar and sig obviously make me a little biased here. Having said that...

 

I don't think Hot Rod did a thing wrong. It's the heat of battle, and he saw a situation where his leader was about to be killed. A lot of people seem to overlook the fact that Hot Rod had total respect and admiration for Optimus Prime. He was trying to save the guy's life. Now in a sudden panic situation, you don't really think about what you need to do for that long, you just do it. So I think it's a little silly to expect him to stand there for a few seconds and ponder, "Hmm, should I lunge at Megatron or shout from afar?" I doubt very many people in this board have ever been in a war, but if you've been in any kind of stressful physical situation, you know that instinct just kicks in and you act on that.

 

So what was Hot Rod's instinct? Bravery. Self-sacrifice. Initiative. Decisive action. We call those the quality of a natural born leader folks, and that's exactly what The Matrix recognized in Hot Rod at Prime's death bed and in the bowels of Unicron.

 

But back to that dreadful moment. So Hot Rod does what any brave soldier who loves his leader would do, he throws himself into danger to save Optimus Prime. What does he get in return for his brave actions? That whiny pacifist sits there and lets himself get shot to pieces by Megatron, thereby sacrificing his own life needlessly and rendering Hot Rod's sacrifice completely in vain. Does it ever occur to Optimus that Hot Rod would have been willing to sacrifice his life to save his leader-- to play the old "shoot the hostage" scenario and let fate decide if he were to live or die? Prime's life was the one at stake from the get-go. Optimus changed the scenario by refusing to have the stomach to sacrifice a warrior for the greater good.

 

One Autobot soldier being used as a human shield, killed for the purpose of destroying Megatron forever? Sounds like a good exchange to me, and Hot Rod would have agreed. But instead, he hesitates and loses the best chance the Autobots ever had at finishing Megatron. No wonder the Matrix chose Hot Rod to succeed as leader. Surely its sensor sweeps indicated a backbone in that robot body, which was more than Op ever had.

 

Hot Rod/Rodimus' only mistake was overly idolizing Optimus, and eventually bringing him back to life. He showed more real leadership skill than Optimus ever had.

And let's not forget that his character was written COMPLETELY differently in Season 3. Biggest disappointment in a season full of disappointments IMO.

 

Here's what I always thought would have been cooler: since Rodimus carried the Matrix, he would theoretically have been able to communicate with Optimus Prime whenever he wanted (without having to short-circuit himself :redface). So you could have still had the "young, untested leader" thing, BUT with Optimus Prime's wisdom and guidance. In a way, it could have been like the relationship between Optimus and Alpha Trion. I think that also would have helped the kiddies who had been traumatized by Prime's death in TF:TM.

 

Sadly, I think the writers just set Rodimus up for failure. The only real exception to this (as I've mentioned before) is "Dark Awakening," which provided an extraordinary glimpse at Rodimus' inner conflict (and actually helped him to resolve it!!). That SHOULD have been the "guilt-removing" episode, after which he was free to lead without that burden hanging over his head. "I don't know if I'll ever be the leader you were; but for sure, I'm gonna try." Loved it.

:pfx with everything above.

 

Also to add though, I think his occasional doubting, his imperfection-- that's what makes Rodimus so much more interesting to me than Optimus. Op is just too perfect... at least on the show he was. In the comic, Simon Furman got much more into his mind and his doubts, it made him a much more intriguing character. But the point is, Rodimus was like that on the show and I thought it made him deeper.