Magnus, becuase he's the one that did lead after Prime's death. 

 

you know, till he got quartered.

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I still wish they had put that in the movie...

i think none of them... jazz or prowl i thought would be good.

 

jazzimus prime. :D

But Rodimus did try to kill himself!  What does that have to say about him? :P

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Interesting preception.  :wtf I'm assuming you're refering to FFOD. As I remember it Rodimus did not try to kill himself. Not in a suicidal sense anyway. He was confused with all that was happening and had to temporarily decapacitate himself in order to become one with the matrix and seek out why he was chosen. It was a ballsy move for him to make but it had purpose unlike comitting mindless suicide.

 

As for Rodimus Prime he was a perfect contrast to what Optimus Prime was. Optimus Prime was the perfect stereotypical leader. Fits right in there with any other Bruckhiemer/Bay movie persona of a hero. Rodimus for one didn't even want to lead, but he's stuck with it and though he complains about it nonstop, and at times is indecisive, and conflicted he's characteristically more realistic as a leader than Optimus Prime. Though many don't see it I think this made Rodumas one of the more interesting characters to surface in G1. 

 

Thouugh I voted Rodimus I for one can't understand why Jetfire isn't on the list. Wasn't he considered second in command after Optimus until Ultre Magnus came along?

Did the Autobots even have a chain of command? That was never clear to me.

Did the Autobots even have a chain of command? That was never clear to me.

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I think in the tech specs there was a few mentions. 

 

In the show ... I think it depended on what characters were featured in that episode. 

Did the Autobots even have a chain of command? That was never clear to me.

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Okay of the Original 18 Autobots...

According to Tech Specs it goes:

Optimus

Prowl

Jazz/Wheeljack

Ironhide/Ratchet/Trailbreaker/Mirage/Bumblebee

Huffer/Hound/Gears

 

A lot of them tie each other since it is a number system, however if you break it down to which are more important militarily than others, here's how it goes:

 

1. Prime

2. Prowl

3. Jazz

4. Wheeljack

5. Trailbreaker

6. Ironhide

7. Ratchet

8. Mirage

9. Bumblebee

10. Huffer

11. Hound

12. Gears

13. Brawn

14. Bluestreak

15. (All Warriors) Sunstreaker-Sideswipe-Windcharger-Cliffjumper

 

None of the original Autobots had a rank lower than 5. This was because they were supposed to be the Best of the Best of the Autobot Ranks. So even one of the Warriors is still elite among some other Autobots in the ranking system, since these are the top 'bots.

 

 

In the Cartoon...

Jazz, Wheeljack, and Prowl all seem to be right there as rotatable. However, Jazz had more screentime organizing the 'bots. Prowl was more of Prime's advisor on military operations than a Second-in-Command.

 

In the Comics...

Prowl was a good leader and had all the qualities to be Second-in-Command. Jazz was Prime's right-hand "do it" guy. And Ratchet came out to be a nice leader figure as well when he had his run on things. In fact Ratchet and Prowl showed themselves to be the best leadership characters for a good amont of time.

Here's something of interest to note at least... of all of the available choices, Rodimus Prime was the only one that did not get blown up or killed.  Ironhide, Ratchet, & Wheeljack were killed, Omega Supreme & Ultra Magnus were both blown up and had to be rebuilt, and Bumblebee was crushed and had to be rebuilt into Goldbug...  Rodimus may not have been the best leader, but he was never killed, blown up, or smashed.

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That's because he avoided conflict most of the time.  When the Blot hit the fan, Optimus was always on the front line, leading his troops.  Seems like half the time, Magnus lead the Autobots in battle.  Hell, how often did we see Rodimus and Galvatron go mano-a-mano?

 

Once.  That's it.

 

That's one thing, looking back, that I did not like about Season 3--there really was no Rodimus/Galvatron conflict.  As leaders of the two armies, you'd think they would have had at least one good fight in Season 3.

prowl???

Comicwise I'd say Grimlock was a very suited leader, or became one eventually. He did things his own way, but he had is heart/spark/guts in the right place.

 

Toonwise is a toughie... Most of the original G1 bots where kinda all dependant on Prime for just about anything. But if I had to choose (Which I can, hurray.) I'd have to go with Prowl, sure he wouldn't be perfect for all the aformentioned reasons, but he's a bot with two feet on the ground.

The chain of command in the TF universe is very loose at best.  As far as G1 goes, it didn't start to take shape until season 3 when we had leader, second in command, and three liutinents. 

 

But in the end, and back to the original discussion, to say Rodimus wasn't ready is rediculous, he played the part he was supposed to play.  Kinda like Neo in the Matrix, Neo did what he was supposed to do.. then he died.  He was never meant to lead the free people of Zion, and Rodimus was never meant to lead the autobots full time, but for the time he WAS supposed to lead, he did what he was supposed to do, save the universe.