What makes for a good new TF character concept?
Grebo
I was just musing about new TF characters. We get 'em every now and
then. (Drift comes to mind, I think.) What do you all think makes for
a really good new character concept?
Name
Does the name matter? Do you think a new TF character can overcome
using a repurposed name? (Such as Armada's Scavenger or RotF's Skids.)
Do you care if the name is clever, or cool, or does it matter?
Altmode
Is a new character obliged to offer up a new altmode? Are you tired of
seeing more cars, tanks, and jets, or is it OK to see a new character
in familiar "clothes"? Do you want more unusual altmodes, like
toasters and biplanes, or what?
Function
These seem to have been dropped from the toys nowadays (sadly) but
we're pretty used to them. Are you OK with tried and true functions
like Warrior or Scientist, or do you think a new character needs to
offer a new function to the pot?
Personality
I'm sure this matters.
History
Do you like a character with a lot of backstory, or do you care?
Something which is mysterious, or something tied into TF lore, or
what?
Faction
Do you want characters who introduce new factions, or fill out the
ranks of smaller factions? Or are plain ol' Bot and Con (or Max and
Pred) best?
Gimmick
Do you like original characters to have special or new gimmicks? Are
new characters best when they are gimmicky? Like... a fembot, or a
quad-changer, or a combiner, or a powermaster, or an action master, or
somesuch wackiness?
Archaeology
Do you prefer new characters who are mined from the depths of TF
stories? Is it best to fill in a blank rather than work from whole
cloth? Acid Storm is a good example of a character who is new, but was
still archaeologically based.
So what do you think, folks? Just curious.
Grebo!
Deathsauras
Name, Does the name matter?
The name doesn't really matter. we've had some awful TF names. the
success depends on other factors.
Altmode,Is a new character obliged to offer up a new altmode?
buyers don't like seeing the same generic alt modes. many parents,kids
think there all the same & already bought them. Fans/Collectors get
pissed when they see the same booring alt modes get re-used but
updated.
Personality ,I'm sure this matters?
to a extent it matters. a really great persona can save a crappy/
horrible toy design. example 1996 deluxe Blackarachnia. a really great
persona can take a excellent toy design to the highest desirable/
buying level. example Animated Lockdown.
Faction,Do you want characters who introduce new factions, or fill out
the ranks of smaller factions? Or are plain ol' Bot and Con (or Max
and Pred) best?
It's always nice,to see transformers living lives beyond the autobot &
decepticon war. seeing other factions plotting always makes a
interesting story/toy line.
Gimmick Do you like original characters to have special or new
gimmicks? Are new characters best when they are gimmicky? Like... a
fembot, or a quad-changer, or a combiner, or a powermaster, or an
action master, or somesuch wackiness?
I'm not a fan of over gimmicked TF toys. I prefer the gimmick be a
external part acts as a weapon,accessory or partner to the bigger
robot. example: instead of having electronics & lights inside a
transformer. I prefer the external hand weapon have a light up feature
inside it that makes noise. minicons aren't bad because there
external & can form anything a bigger bot needs. I don't consider
multichangers as a gimmick.
Archaeology,Do you prefer new characters who are mined from the depths
of TF
stories? Is it best to fill in a blank rather than work from whole
cloth? Acid Storm is a good example of a character who is new, but was
still archaeologically based?
I don't like seeing newer characters just bought on-line. because
hasbro doesn't do a great job in exploring the involved learning
process a new TF life form goes thru.
I prefer the introduction of newer characters that were always there
but not seen until now. either they were away on a long mission.
hanging around in the back ground & just stepped into the sopt light
of the viewers. were specifically called upon for there unique
abilities.
SteveD
wrote:
>Hey all,
>
>I was just musing about new TF characters. We get 'em every now and
>then. (Drift comes to mind, I think.) What do you all think makes for
>a really good new character concept?
It's not the concept, it's the writing. Anyone and anything can be written
in a horribly unappealing way. Just look at 90% of fanfic. It's also
possible to write the most boring or disgusting characters in an utterly
fascinating way - look at the top 0.1% of fanfic.
I've seen Slog and Blot and Powerdasher written well. Heck, I've seen
_Time Warrior_ written well. It's not the base idea, it's the skill of the
inkbender that gives us great characters.
-SteveD
Gustavo Wombat
> Hey all,
>
> I was just musing about new TF characters. We get 'em every now and
> then. (Drift comes to mind, I think.) What do you all think makes for
> a really good new character concept?
>
> Name
> Does the name matter? Do you think a new TF character can overcome
> using a repurposed name? (Such as Armada's Scavenger or RotF's Skids.)
> Do you care if the name is clever, or cool, or does it matter?
It's very hard to overcome a repurposed name, at least if that name
has been used by a popular character.
Beast Wars Megatron definitely stands on his own, apart from his G1
namesake.
Movie Barricade has supplanted G1 Barricade, to the point where the
name Barricade immediately conjures up the violent Movie character.
But, characters like Animated Ratchet would be so much better served
by having a different name, to allow them to stand on their own.
When a name is repurposed, it works better for the recipient when the
character is very different, and the name is used in a different
sense. Classics Tankor, Beast Wars Inferno.
> Altmode
> Is a new character obliged to offer up a new altmode? Are you tired of
> seeing more cars, tanks, and jets, or is it OK to see a new character
> in familiar "clothes"? Do you want more unusual altmodes, like
> toasters and biplanes, or what?
A character can take just about any alt-mode and make it their own. If
the character borrows someone else's distinctive color scheme though,
that's a problem.
But a new alt-mode, or an old alt-mode in a new context, is always
better. Barricade the Decepticon Police Car is brilliant. I would love
to see a Decepticon Ambulance.
Actually, I would love to see a Decepticon Redeco of the Protectabots.
> Function
> These seem to have been dropped from the toys nowadays (sadly) but
> we're pretty used to them. Are you OK with tried and true functions
> like Warrior or Scientist, or do you think a new character needs to
> offer a new function to the pot?
Brushguard the Decepticon Botanist. Love it.
Movie Inferno, Autobot Pychiatrist. Love it.
> Personality
> I'm sure this matters.
Absolutely.
> History
> Do you like a character with a lot of backstory, or do you care?
> Something which is mysterious, or something tied into TF lore, or
> what?
Some of the best characters just work, without needing to be tied into
the whole Transformers universe.
Barricade, the bad cop -- do we have any idea who he was before he
popped up in "The Unpleasant Experience" (my name for the first movie,
since it needs its own name, much as the movie I saw as a child as
"Star Wars" is now "A New Hope")? Nope. And we don't need to.
Creating too much of a backstory just limits the characters.
> Faction
> Do you want characters who introduce new factions, or fill out the
> ranks of smaller factions? Or are plain ol' Bot and Con (or Max and
> Pred) best?
There has to be a good reason to introduce a new faction.
> Gimmick
> Do you like original characters to have special or new gimmicks? Are
> new characters best when they are gimmicky? Like... a fembot, or a
> quad-changer, or a combiner, or a powermaster, or an action master, or
> somesuch wackiness?
Can take it or leave it.
> Archaeology
> Do you prefer new characters who are mined from the depths of TF
> stories? Is it best to fill in a blank rather than work from whole
> cloth? Acid Storm is a good example of a character who is new, but was
> still archaeologically based.
I love Acid Storm. I love that G1 isn't a closed universe. I love that
it keeps expanding, with new characters, stories and settings. Part of
this is that these types of characters are very rare in the
Transformers universe. I wouldn't want everyone to be some obscure
background character from MTMTE.
Gustavo!
ahsan.sa...@gmail.com
> I was just musing about new TF characters. We get 'em every now and
> then. (Drift comes to mind, I think.) What do you all think makes for
> a really good new character concept?
>
> Name
> Does the name matter? Do you think a new TF character can overcome
> using a repurposed name? (Such as Armada's Scavenger or RotF's Skids.)
> Do you care if the name is clever, or cool, or does it matter?
The name is important. Gives you a quicky "feel" for the personality
of the character. Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Omega Supreme for
instance, have these big, heavy Latin names, and you /know/ that
they're pompous, holier-than-thou, goody-goody types. Clever names are
of course appreciated. Spinister, for instance, had a great name. If
only he'd had more of a presence in the comics (other than Marvel UK
and Earthbase)....
And on the other hand, you have Windbreaker.
> Altmode
> Is a new character obliged to offer up a new altmode? Are you tired of
> seeing more cars, tanks, and jets, or is it OK to see a new character
> in familiar "clothes"? Do you want more unusual altmodes, like
> toasters and biplanes, or what?
I'm in the "unusual" camp, but I'd still prefer a toy-line that is
predominantly cars and planes. I'd just like to see more of the "other
sort" too.
> Function
> These seem to have been dropped from the toys nowadays (sadly) but
> we're pretty used to them. Are you OK with tried and true functions
> like Warrior or Scientist, or do you think a new character needs to
> offer a new function to the pot?
I did like the functions, made sense as military units. Now, though,
other than Ratchet, all the Autobots seem to be "warriors", and all
the Decepticons seem to come under the heading of "oil-thirsty
maniacs".
> Personality
> I'm sure this matters.
No, of course it doesn't. All that matters is the size of...
Oh wait, we're still talking Transformers, aren't we?
> History
> Do you like a character with a lot of backstory, or do you care?
> Something which is mysterious, or something tied into TF lore, or
> what?
I don't think we need a complete backstory for characters. It's better
if it gets built up over a period of time, with flashbacks, with
comics, that sort of thing. If you get their backstory down on day
one, it can get restrictive. Besides, do we really need twenty
different variations of "Autobot's home city was destroyed, vowed
revenge, joined the army"?
> Faction
> Do you want characters who introduce new factions, or fill out the
> ranks of smaller factions? Or are plain ol' Bot and Con (or Max and
> Pred) best?
Leave it at two. Having a "third" faction always leads to Mary-Sue/
Gary-Stu characters.
> Gimmick
> Do you like original characters to have special or new gimmicks? Are
> new characters best when they are gimmicky? Like... a fembot, or a
> quad-changer, or a combiner, or a powermaster, or an action master, or
> somesuch wackiness?
Ixnay on the immick-gay. Having a couple of gimmick characters (like
Soundwave and his cassettes in the original) is fine, but having an
entire line with nothing but gimmicks (the -masters series) is a bit
too yucky.
> Archaeology
> Do you prefer new characters who are mined from the depths of TF
> stories? Is it best to fill in a blank rather than work from whole
> cloth? Acid Storm is a good example of a character who is new, but was
> still archaeologically based.
No, not archaeology. Let's have something new, look to the future
rather than always digging through old issues and cartoons and
pointing at obscure characters, saying, "Hey look! They're calling him
Spitstorm now! And his ability was to spit lightning out of plastic
mendettas!"
Grebo
On Jan 7, 12:49 am, the mighty morphin' Gustavo Wombat
<GustavoWom...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Movie Barricade has supplanted G1 Barricade, to the point where the
> name Barricade immediately conjures up the violent Movie character.
Whoah. I'd completely forgotten there ever even was a G1 Barricade. I
had to check on tfu.info to find the original character -- a
Decepticon Micromaster Formula-1 car who is aquamarine, yellow, and
pink. Gack!
Grebo
ahsan.sa...@gmail.com
Oh my god, you're right! It didn't parse when I read it in the
Wombat's post, but yeah, Barricade was in G1, as a completely
unremarkable Micromaster.
The Movie-verse version is so much better. Probably the best thing
about the first movie, too.
Craig Little
> about the first movie, too.
I think the best thing about the first movie was Black-Out's assault on the
military base right at the start. I could watch that scene and the forest
battle from ROTF over and over again. If only the rest of the action
sequences were that high quality and tense, and the rest of the movies
around them didn't indulge in so much juvenile "humor..."
--
Craig (Who actually _liked_ both movies)
Chad Rushing
> ahsan.salahud...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I think the best thing about the first movie was Black-Out's assault on the
> military base right at the start. I could watch that scene and the forest
> battle from ROTF over and over again. If only the rest of the action
> sequences were that high quality and tense, and the rest of the movies
> around them didn't indulge in so much juvenile "humor..."
Agreed. When I saw that opening scene, I thought to myself, "Finally,
a TF storyline that presents Decepticons as lethal threats rather than
comic relief." Considering how invincibly formidable Blackout was in
that scene (set at a military base, no less!), I was really
disappointed later on when the humans were actually take down TFs in a
fight. Blackout's initial transformation into robot mode should go
down as one of the many landmark moments in sci-fi film history.
- Chad
Grebo
Seconded. I was impressed, and encouraged.
All Hail Megatron promised, for a while, to go along a similar path.
But then it became an extension of the IDW "*-tion" continuity... oy.
- Grebo!