To suggest that the differences between the 'cons and 'bots is only politics is what we call moral relevancy and it's a load of malarkey.

 

The Con's aim is to kill and conquer until they have wiped out all resistance and have subjugated all life that opposes them. Anyone that disagrees with them needs to die, in their collective opinion.

 

The Bots on the other hand fight to prevent the Cons from carrying out their subjugation of the universe at large. They defend species that couldn't otherwise survive against the Cons and you might have noticed they HAVE welcomed cons that swore off their old ways. In TFTM they shot at the retreating Cons because a) One less unrepentant Con to go out and kill people is a good thing and b) The Cons just spent the last 12 hours or so maiming and killing any Bot they could get near and they were hoping to reduce the chances of that happening again any time soon.

Bots were built as workers

Cons wetre built as wariors

Bots were built as workers

Cons wetre built as wariors

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So then they had no choice in the matter? I don't buy it.

 

If the Cons are wiped out, it's only because it's the consequences of their own choices.

 

but really..... this is digging a bit deeper than is warranted. I seem to remember seeing "Heroic Autobot" and "Evil Decepticon" on every TF box when I was a kid. If they had wanted it to be understood differently, they could have rephrased that, don't you think?

 

Anyway, "good vs. evil" was very much on the minds of people in the early 80's, when everyone was wondering if we were going to get nuked by the Soviet Union.

Bots were built as workers

Cons wetre built as wariors

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but really..... this is digging a bit deeper than is warranted. I seem to remember seeing "Heroic Autobot" and "Evil Decepticon" on every TF box when I was a kid. If they had wanted it to be understood differently, they could have rephrased that, don't you think?

 

 

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like, "Mostly heroic robot but with a tendancy to have deep nuetrul thoughts concerning his place in life and those around him during the war." 

I just think all this "oh the Autobots weren't really noble/heroic" is just projected bullsh*t. Come on. They're obviously written as heroic characters. It's a kids' toy property. If you want to be all subversive about stuff, choose something a bit more mature to test your theories out on.

I agree, LM.  I don't speak for the others, but I for one never meant to imply otherwise.  The example I used has always just been bad or questionable writing, imo.  Totally out of character for the otherwise clear cut, heroic Autobots.

G2's ancient Decepticon race was pretty awesome in the fact that they even hated the newer generation of 'Cons. I still think they were from Cybertron though. Maybe Decepticons just have some sort of glitch that makes them the way they are. You know, kind of like how some of today's doctors try to rationalize murderers and such? :roll

G2's ancient Decepticon race was pretty awesome in the fact that they even hated the newer generation of 'Cons. I still think they were from Cybertron though. Maybe Decepticons just have some sort of glitch that makes them the way they are. You know, kind of like how some of today's doctors try to rationalize murderers and such? :roll

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:tfhuh who does that?

 

Anyway, there's a difference between explaining behavior and justifying it. Everyone is responsible for their choices.

 

but as I said, this is perhaps digging a bit too deep, given the subject matter in question. :tflaugh

G2's ancient Decepticon race was pretty awesome in the fact that they even hated the newer generation of 'Cons. I still think they were from Cybertron though. Maybe Decepticons just have some sort of glitch that makes them the way they are. You know, kind of like how some of today's doctors try to rationalize murderers and such? :roll

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:tfhuh who does that?

 

Anyway, there's a difference between explaining behavior and justifying it. Everyone is responsible for their choices.

 

but as I said, this is perhaps digging a bit too deep, given the subject matter in question. :tflaugh

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HOT SHOT TRANSFORM... HEROICALLY AND WITHOUT SELF ACCUALIZATION!!!!

Bots were built as workers

Cons wetre built as wariors

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So then they had no choice in the matter? I don't buy it.

 

If the Cons are wiped out, it's only because it's the consequences of their own choices.

 

but really..... this is digging a bit deeper than is warranted. I seem to remember seeing "Heroic Autobot" and "Evil Decepticon" on every TF box when I was a kid. If they had wanted it to be understood differently, they could have rephrased that, don't you think?

 

Anyway, "good vs. evil" was very much on the minds of people in the early 80's, when everyone was wondering if we were going to get nuked by the Soviet Union.

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I'll take a crack at it.

 

Why are the Autobots considered as good? Why the Decepticons considered as evil? Obviously, it's not because of religious reasons, but rather, based on the new morality of the secular culture.

 

The Autobots - they go around preaching freedom, protection, and doing the common good for all life. They go around donating their spare time to help those they can afford to do so. They claim to fight the evil Decepticons so that the humans and Autobots won't get hurt. They won't, however, interfere with internal squabbles (re: Triple Takeover, when Optimus Prime told the Autobots to back off from a Decepticon standoff.) They go around on patrol, making sure those evil Decepticons don't have an opportunity to spread their evil ways and if they do, they will respond in kind. They won't allow Autobots to work along side with the Decepticons on non-combative ventures (re: Master Builder) or else the said Autobots would get into trouble. I guess that makes George W. Bush Optimus Prime, then.

 

Decepticons want to establish their hegemony within the Universe to promote their own power base. They don't go out of their way to help the natives, they destroy those who oppose them, and impose their way on people. They have no beliefs of a higher being, but will do so if it would further their own expansionist cause. They revise histories (re: Megatron's Master Plan), spread propaganda, and make themselves look good at times of trouble. Sounds a lot like the Europeans during the 1500s to the 1900s (colonalist period) to me.

 

Good and evil isn't so clear cut. Even though the characters are written to be "heroic" or "evil," it is what the writers consider as such that is questionable.

 

I bet you the Autobots won't seem so heroic to a lot of Americans if they were written by members of Al Qaeda....