[BW] MR&DR: Why Dinobot is the Greatest Character in Transformers
Robert Powers
Manic Ramblings and Delirious Ranting
re: Why Dinobot is the Greatest Character in Transformers
3/18/00
It distresses me to no end to hear people denigrate the Beast Wars
character Dinobot. While nowadays we're mostly free from the "Grimlock
would kick his sorry organic butt!" outbursts that appeared when BW was
new, the seeming vogue today is to attack the erstwhile Predacon for being
a despicably wishy-washy traitor with an arbitrary code of so-called
honor. Even if you think that's the case, though -- and I'll address
those points and many others below -- it's completely missing the point
about Dinobot.
Dinobot is a great *character*. Not a character like your weird Uncle
Bob, but a *literary* character -- a fictional creation who transcends his
own nonexistence to become something universal, something that reflects
our own human condition on an intensely personal and perhaps disturbing
level. Like the mad McBeth, he's not someone you would necessarily want
to know personally -- indeed, much the opposite. But through the course
of his story, he paints for the viewer a picture of some very human
struggles. And in doing so, he becomes more 'real' than the vast majority
of characters in the Transformers mythos.
Dinobot's history, motivations, desires, and morals are all vague and
complex. Let's start with a history, so we're all on the same foot here:
Dinobot is, by all accounts, a warrior by trade. In the setting of the
Beast Wars show, this means he is a fighter on a planet where there is no
enemy to fight. As with all the BW Predacons, the exact nature of his
relationship with the rouge Megatron is never clarified -- but the two
apparently share some degree of history. "You know me better than that,"
Dinobot tells him in "Maximal No More", referring to the time before
Dinobot joined the Maximal side. "That Predacon chip still ticks beneath
your armored hide," Megs says of Dinobot in "Chain of Command", again
implying some past familiarity beyond simple recruitment. So it would
seem a safe wager that Dinobot -- unlike Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and
perhaps Tarantulas -- had been at least a close acquaintance of Megatron's
on Cybertron. His joining was no arbitrary whim, but a carefully
considered maneuver.
In the BW pilot, Dinobot believes Megatron has failed as commander --
squandering a golden opportunity to vanquish the pursuing Maximals, and
stranding his crew on what is apparently the wrong planet. He challenges
him to a duel for leadership... a duel which Megatron sidesteps by having
Dinobot blasted over the horizon. A disgruntled (I dare say infuriated,
based on Primal's comments in "Equal Measures") Dinobot turns to the
Maximals to gain the strength he requires to overthrow Megatron. He
challenges their leader to a duel for leadership... a duel during which
Dinobot passes up an easy chance to defeat Optimus Primal, on the grounds
that it would be "lacking in honor. I would not have earned the right to
lead." And when Primal gets him down, he urges the Maximal leader to
finish him off... and rejects the proffered offer of mercy, choosing to
attack instead. The duel finally ends in a draw when the other Predacons
attack without warning (or provocation, interestingly -- and several of
them seem eager to send Dinobot plummeting to his doom.) At this point,
it is Primal who saves Dinobot a second time, at considerable risk to
himself.
After this short battle, Dinobot begins to assimilate into the Maximal
camp. He offers advice to Primal on what Megatron will do next, and joins
in the two skirmishes on the Maximals' sides (blasting rather eagerly at
Terrorsaur and Waspinator at one point; saving Primal from a missile hit
at another.) "My actions do not imply loyalty, Optimus Primal. I owed
you my life. Now we are merely... even," he says as the episode ends.
Over the next few episodes, Dinobot displays an eager bloodlust for
victory over his one-time allies. In "Chain of Command", he would be
happy to blast the Predacon base and all its occupants to atoms. He uses
and disposes of Terrorsaur in the same episode (in a relatively harmless
manner, it should be noted -- rather than shoot him, he simply stuffs him
in an airlock and fires him over the horizon. He also gives no verbal
consent to any sort of partnership. From the look on its face, he clearly
intends to play Terrorsaur for the fool right from the start.) In
"Gorilla Warfare", he waxes militaristic to Primal, emphasizing the need
for constant vigilance and non-stop effort to defeat their foes. And he
flat-out rejects Megatron's offer to rejoin his forces in "Fallen
Comrades", telling him instead to "Eat SLAG!!"
A new, surprising side of Dinobot is introduced in "Victory": he is
clearly affected by the news that his former comrades are apparently dead.
"I knew him, Cheetor," he says of Tarantulas -- again, implying some
degree of past familiarity.
In both this and in a similarly-themed episode, "The Probe", Dinobot has
little desire to return to Cybertron with the Maximals. "You're so eager
to return 'home'... but your home is not mine," he tells Rattrap. "On
Cybertron, I will be merely a Predacon criminal," he says elsewhere. He
would rather remain behind on prehistoric Earth, "to conquer and rule".
Yet upon discovering that the Predacons in "Victory" are still alive, his
first thought is to warn Primal.
Dinobot's reactions in "Double Jeopardy" are curious: when Rattrap has
apparently joined the Predacons, Dinobot is most eager to have him
"neutralized and brought to justice." "You're a fine one to talk!" Rhinox
tells him, speaking perhaps for the audience as well.
The parallel issue of military desertion is dealt with in the stand-out
episode "Law of the Jungle". A scheming Dinobot stalks off alone in
pursuit of Tigatron, who has decided simply to drop out of the Beast Wars:
"*Predacons* know how to deal with those who won't fight." Dinobot is
prepared to kill -- or at least seriously combat -- Tigatron, rather than
allow him to leave the Maximal forces. His respect for Tigatron is clear
(as is a thinly-veiled threat): "You have a warrior's instinct... you know
when danger is near." Surprisingly, he first attempts to *talk* Tigatron
back into the ranks ("If Megatron seizes the energon wealth of this world,
he will start a war that will consume Cybertron and shatter galaxies!"
Dinobot's own feelings about this prospect are not made clear.) He and
Tigatron have the following exchange:
"THAT is the law of the jungle: the hunters and the hunted. Scrap or be
scrapped!"
"Animals hunt to SURVIVE!"
"And what do you think WAR is about?"
When that fails, he turns to force, first with a shot that misses ("A
Predacon wouldn't have missed," he says afterwards.) His second attempt
is interrupted by Primal's arrival, and he departs in disgust.
With Primal gone in "Aftermath", Dinobot makes an almost obligatory bid
for leadership -- but is quickly put down by Rhinox. Abandoning that
route, he is among the first to observe that, after the changes wrought in
"Other Voices", it is now evident that they *are* on Earth. Megatron was
right, he realizes. Acting on his own initiative, Dinobot immediately
infiltrates the Predacon base, disposes of Waspinator (who, like
Terrorsaur, foolishly presumes to form an alliance), and seizes the two
Golden Disks, and gives the most vocabulary-intensive speech ever seen in
a TF episode:
"These disks I hold... are they a record of what will be, or only of what
may? For if the future is indeed immutably foretold, then my demise is
but moments away from that confirmation -- for I could not live if not the
master of my fate! But, if indeed the future can be changed -- if these
disks record only one path of all the myriad ways the cosmos might conform
-- then their power is infinite! And yet, still limited, for they could
be used but once -- and then in that change be rendered fiction forever
more. I could destroy them! But, no.... t'would be a coward's answer. I
will know the truth instead. Then -- it will be either them, or me, that
face oblivion..."
He hides the original disk, and brings the alien one back to the base --
hiding it at first, but apparently giving it over to Rhinox some time
after "Coming of the Fuzors". He and the surviving Maximals then undergo
what is nearly a fight to the death with the Predacons. "At least we go
with honor," he says, when defeat seems eminent.
Two episodes later is the pivotal Dinobot episode, "Maximal No More".
While rather disappointing plot-wise, it does deliver the goods as far as
Dinobot's character is concerned. We get several nuggets of Predacon
philosophy: "Predacons live to command." "We're on Predacon ground.
There is always battle here." "Am I really willing to betray my Predacon
heritage for these Transmetal Maximals?" Dinobot is worried over
Megatron's continuing plans. Ambushed while on patrol with Rattrap,
Dinobot finds himself captured and in the Predacon base. In the face of
probable destruction, he offers his renewed allegiance to Megatron
(instead of taking the chance to assassinate the Predacon leader at the
cost of his own life.) "I believe victory will soon be in your grasp... I
would share in that victory."
Dinobot's willingness to fight brutally is tested in a match with
Quickstrike... a match in which Dinobot refuses to destroy his vanquished
opponent, claiming that "he is a good fighter... he will serve us well."
Megatron then takes Dinobot to reclaim the Golden Disk, a task that
Dinobot accepts with obvious reluctance. The disk securely his again,
Megatron is about to run Dinobot through from behind, when Rattrap
interrupts. Dinobot downs Rattrap, but ultimately refuses to kill him,
turning instead on Megatron with the assertion that "your ambition has
made you insane... it will destroy both Maximal and Predacon alike, and
all who came before." Megs departs as the other, shocked Maximals arrive.
"How could you? Your honor--" Silverbolt asks. "Is not Maximal honor.
It is Predacon honor. I *am* Predacon... I wish to fight with you till we
win the Beast Wars or are destroyed trying. If you will not have me, I
will fight Megatron alone."
Rejoining the Maximals, Dinobot fights wholeheartedly through the next
few episodes. He urges Primal to attack when the Predacons have lost two
of their number in "Bad Spark" -- "Victors do not spurn opportunity!" --
before initiating his mysterious download into the Maximal computer.
And at last... "Code of Hero". Dinobot grapples with some unspoken
internal strife at this episode's beginning, contemplating what many have
interpreted as ritual suicide. He can't do it, instead tossing aside his
sword. Rattrap later on tells him that his recent actions "pretty much
speak for themselves", a sentiment that Dinobot can't help agreeing with.
Bespeaking regret of unspecified deeds, he sets off to see if they "may
yet be mitigated." He viciously ambushes Tarantulas, eventually coming
across Megatron's scheme to wipe out the human race at its inception.
"The question which once haunted my being has been answered. The future
is not fixed, and my choices are my own... and yet, how ironic! For I now
find, I have no choice at all." Dinobot, ever the warrior, resigns
himself to the battle at hand... a battle in which he single-handedly
defeats the entire Predacon band, excepting Megatron, at the ultimate cost
of his own life. He withholds from attacking Megs in order to prevent
harm to an innocent bystander (a captured proto-human), before finally
seizing and destroying the Golden Disk and its record of the future.
Megatron retreats as Dinobot shares final words with the Maximals: "There
is nothing to regret... Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it
truthfully, the evil deeds along with the good, and let me be judged
accordingly. The rest... is silence."
And there we have it... the life and times of Dinobot.
The first thing to note is that Dinobot at the end of "Code of Hero" is
not entirely the same person he was in "Beast Wars" Part 1. That Dinobot
would never have had a second thought for Megatron's prisoner; indeed,
seeing Megatron on the cusp of such a great victory, he probably would
have willingly joined in. But life with the Maximals has changed him --
not into an unrecognizably different being, but one with an expanded
awareness of the world around him. In his first few episodes, Dinobot
seems motivated primarily by anger and frustration -- he wants revenge on
Megatron. By comparison, in mid-Season 2, he shares the others' sense of
urgency at stopping Megatron's schemes as an inherently worthy goal, even
if he disagrees on the tactics that should be used.
Why did Dinobot switch sides? And how can doing so be accorded with his
self-purported sense of honor? Is he a traitor for doing so?
Taking it case by case... the first switch was born more of circumstances
than choice. Dinobot didn't leave the Preds -- Megs booted him out. And
at the very next encounter, the Predacons attacked him without warning and
without provocation -- while he was fighting one of their enemies! Is it
any wonder Dinobot did not seek to return to them?
His first battle with Primal apparently served to persuade him that
defeating Primal fair and square would not be so easy -- why else would he
relinquish the effort to do so? Either that or something in Primal's
handling of the fight won his grudging respect. Or, possibly, Dinobot
decided that the goal of defeating Megatron was of greater importance than
his aspirations to leadership of the Maximals.
Yet, my feeling is that he *did* ultimately plan to return to the
Predacon side -- by defeating Megatron, one way or another. This is born
out by Rattrap's suspicions in "Victory", when the Preds are all
supposedly gone -- "Lookit him. He's a soldier!... He'll snuff you out
the minute you turn your back!" As time goes on and this goal fails to
materialize, however, the alliance of convenience becomes more permanent.
By Season 2, Dinobot is a trusted military commander for Primal. And it
is then that, in a plot twist hinted at in several previous episodes, he
switches sides yet again.
This time, his motives are questionable in more ways than one. Is the
switch "a transparent ploy to save your own hide", in Megatron's words?
Or did he intend all along to return to Megatron's group? It is here that
I see one of the ambiguities of Dinobot's character that make him so
well-written: to me the answer is both, and more.
Unable to reach a decision in the matter, unable to overcome his own
inertia and resolve the dilemma which torments him in the early Season 2
episodes, Dinobot simply rolls with the flow of events, letting
circumstance make the choice for him. Perhaps he interprets his capture
as destiny's way of saying it's time to return to the fold. Consider that
he was merrily blasting away at Inferno right up until his capture... and
when he awakens, he's offering allegiance to Megatron. The ambiguity is
far more interesting than if he'd simply marched into the Pred base and
announced "I wish to rejoin you", or if he'd never left in the first
place. This is an incredibly *human* dilemma: Dinobot doesn't know what
the right choice is, and whatever moral compass he uses to guide himself
by has increasingly failed him. Things that once seemed certain to him
have now been called into question -- not in a cartoonish "I see the light
now!" manner, but through a subtle, gradual change of heart that brings
not joy, but confusion, doubt, and hesitation. For all his exterior
aggressiveness, within he is a passive bystander -- an aspect compounded
or perhaps driven by his obsession with being the master of his own
destiny.
So he makes the big switch, returning to the Predacons -- and, once the
rush of his battle with Quickstrike is over, feeling heavily the mounting
doubts as a result of his decision. Yet again, this is a phenomenally
human moment -- finally reaching a momentous personal decision, and then
being struck by the awful, creeping suspicion that it was the wrong
choice. The hesitation, the look on his face -- all this speaks volumes
of his feelings about returning the Golden Disk to Megatron, despite his
recent pledges of allegiance. Megatron's grandiose, high-stakes schemes,
in his view, seem as likely to destroy the Predacons as lead them to
glory. And Dinobot, by this point, has become so used to obligatorily
thinking of his alliance with the Maximals as one of convenience that he's
apparently surprised to discover that he has brought back a lot of
philosophical Maximal baggage along with him.
But for all the potential tampering with history and the fate of his
race, it is the life of one individual that forces him to confront head-on
the decision he has made -- and rescind it. Faced with killing Rattrap...
he can't do it. Is it for reasons of personal friendship? Warrior's
camaraderie (remember the thumbs-up they exchanged in "The Probe"?)
Simple respect for life (first Quickstrike and then Rattrap are spared in
this episode)? Mounting doubts about the path Megatron is following?
Guilt over betraying the Maximals, who have grown to trust him? I would
not cite any one of them as being pivotal -- it is the combination of them
all, presented right there in the tangible form of Rattrap, that spurs
Dinobot to reconsider what he really wants. The turnabout he has done
comes home to him; in the face of all this, the choice is no choice at
all. Dinobot, ashamed of having abandoned the comrades and the principals
he had originally considered "temporary", returns to them wholeheartedly.
This is the beauty of the character. By the choices he had to make, and
his back-and-forth attitude about those choices, Dinobot is perhaps the
most real and empathic character ever to come out of the TF mythos. You
might not *want* to be like him... but in some respects we all are.
Having to make hard decisions about what you're going to believe, where
you're going to stand on an issue, what moral code you're going to live by
-- these are issues that every thinking human being must deal with at some
point in their life. And in real life, there are no easy answers, no
clearly divided "yes or no" questions, no diametrically opposed factions
to which you clearly do or don't belong. Unlike 99% of Transformer
characters, Dinobot was not painted as black-or-white
one-side-or-the-other. He changed his mind -- more than once. He weighed
the evidence, his loyalties, his beliefs... and wasn't sure what to do.
In real life -- and in great literature -- it happens all the time; it's
one of the classic dilemmas. In Transformers it's been pretty rare.
(For comparison, consider, say, Silverbolt... hardly five minutes into
"Coming of the Fuzors", a friend of mine watching BW for the first time
declared "He's really a Maximal!" Blackarachnia? Another great
character, yes, but she joined purely for reasons of selfish survival
(notice she sure wasn't having anything to do with the Maximals before
"The Agenda"'s finale) then was reprogrammed. G1's Skyfire? Was there
ever a second's doubt where his allegiance would end up?)
What about Dinobot's so-called 'honor'?
Predacon honor, as I see it embodied by Dinobot, is not about defending
the weak, nor is it about sticking with allies through thick and thin. It
is about winning -- proving your worth by conquering with strength; rising
to the top, whether as an individual or an entire faction. Treachery?
Acceptable. Defeat? Unthinkable (though dying in battle is honorable, if
you've fought a good fight to the best of your ability -- ref: "Coming of
the Fuzors" 2.) There is honor in a victory earned by your own wits and
strength. And if former allies of yours failed to see the path necessary
for that victory, then the dishonor belongs to them, not you. Personal
loyalty is not Dinobot's way, not the Predacon warrior's way. "The
Maximals have made you weak," Megatron says to him -- an assertion that in
Megatron's view would likely be backed up by Dinobot's refusal to kill
Rattrap for reasons of personal friendship.
When Dinobot was ignominiously booted out by Megatron, he did not concede
defeat, nor did he come crawling back. Instead he implemented a creative
and daring strategy to return in force. When he sensed Megatron was
nearing victory, he humbled himself and asked to return to the fold. But
then, as mentioned above, Dinobot finds out that his values have changed.
"Victory at all costs" has been displaced by a wider-ranging philosophy.
That, however, doesn't mean that Dinobot agrees with all things Maximal.
He still is disgusted by the emphasis on individuals at the cost of
victory ("They have lost two; we have lost only one," he says to Primal,
urging an attack on the Preds in "Bad Spark"; "They are casualties of war!
Better to concentrate on saving ourselves," he says of Tigatron and
Airazor in "Other Visits"). But the lengths to which he will go to
achieve that victory seem to have been tempered somewhat. The
black-and-white philosophy he began the Beast Wars with has been muddled
into shades of grey, as he discovers that life does not consist of
absolutes.
Is Dinobot a "hero"? In the absence of context, it's a meaningless
question, given how Dinobot changes over time. The only definite "yes" I
would give is at the end of "Code of Hero". There, Dinobot selflessly
gave his life in the defense of others who could not defend themselves.
That is the very essence of heroism. It also accords with both his sense
of honor and his desire for a proper battlefield death -- he fought and
triumphed, even at the cost of his own life.
Does this make him a role model, someone worthy of admiration or
emulation? Given his convoluted history, I would say 'no'. Even at his
death he was still contentious, warlike and confrontational (though he is
also courageous, innovative, persistent, and determined.) Does it
'redeem' him? Redeem in what sense and in whose eyes? Whatever evils he
may have caused along the way ultimately proved to be negligible in
comparison to his final act, one which preserved the very existence of
billions of future lives. If this is not "redemption", then what is?
A secondary plot thread to Dinobot's character is his obsession with
fate, destiny, and predetermination. Though only hinted at a few times
("Fuzors", "Maximal No More", and "Code of Hero"), it's yet another
driving force for him. Dinobot demands to be the master of his own
destiny. He wants nothing less than for his choices to be his own -- to
be able to control and alter his own future -- and he speaks of suicide
should he find the universe to be structured otherwise. Yet he refuses to
accept anything but the truth of the matter, regardless of what he wants
it to be. One may speculate this matter is what's driving him at the
beginning of "Code of Hero", and perhaps motivating him to steal the disks
as well -- to test the possibilities one way or the other.
Dinobot is almost too multifaceted to attempt to sum up in one paragraph.
There is his sense of honor... his Predacon warrior nature... the
evolution of his moral framework during the course of the show... his
convoluted and tense relationships with other characters, most notably
Rattrap and Megatron... his internal debate over the nature of destiny and
self-determination, a topic I've hardly even touched upon here... Few
characters in Transformers have had this much going on with their
personality. And none of them have had it so well put-together as
Dinobot.
--
Robert Powers of the Ever-Changing .sig
repo...@netaxs.com
http://www.netaxs.com/~repowers/ __________________________________
| Or... maybe not. Maybe I'm just reading too much into all this. |
| Yeah... I think I am. Forget all that stuff I just said. ;] ____|
Túrin
Robert Powers wrote:
>
> Manic Ramblings and Delirious Ranting
> re: Why Dinobot is the Greatest Character in Transformers
> 3/18/00
>
Spot on. The story of Dinobot is the story of redemption. I think a
lot of people missed out on a lot of the meaning, thinking that Dinobot
"turned Maximal" in the pilot. Uh-uh. He didn't fit into the good/evil
dichotomy.
Dinobot *wasn't* a hero for most of Beast Wars. He was interesting as
anything, but no hero. His motives were not pure. He switched sides
several times. He was violent and unsympathetic to just about everyone.
But he changed.
His flip-flop allegiance was because he was changing. He was making
decisions, balancing what he knew to be right with what his base desires
told him.
He wanted power. He wanted to rule, even at the expense of others. And
he *always* knew that this was bad. It's not like he didn't know. But
it's not something he worried about. He didn't think about it. People
who crave power like Dinobot or Megatron know right from wrong. They
just don't *care*.
Having been in the company of the Maximals, he began to understand their
view of morality better, and began to understand Megatron's
ruthlessness. He began to see the other side.
But his desire was still for power, and you don't root out those
feelings quickly. It's hard, and uncomfortable, and it requires
accepting feelings of guilt for past misdeeds. And *nobody* likes
feeling guilty.
So he tried to hide from his guilt. He tried to re-immerse himself in
dreams of conquest, and associate with people that would reinforce those
feelings: desire for conquest, ruthlessness, violence, selfishness.
But he had changed too much. And this speaks highly of Dinobot's
character: he couldn't return to his old life because he could no
longer bury the guilt. He knew consciously what he'd always known
unconsciously, but ignored: that killing and enslaving people for the
sake of power is wrong. That acting like everyone else in the universe
is inferior and not worthy of consideration is wrong.
He knew, and so he did what not too many humans do: he decided to turn,
face the truth about himself, and do the right thing.
This is something that I think people may miss: in order for Dinobot to
believe that it was wrong for Megatron to kill the proto-humans, he had
to accept that *his own attitudes for most of his life* were wrong too.
Because he was not as unlike Megatron as we'd like to think. Most of us
aren't strong enough to look in the mirror and see ourselves to be
monsters. We'd rather turn away. But at the end, he looked at himself
and accepted what he saw, and did the right thing anyway. And died for
it.
Dinobot was never a hero, except at the end, when he finally made that
choice to do the right thing. At the end, he was redeemed.
I love the story of Dinobot, because it took *time*. I have never
believed that garbage in "Return of the Jedi" where Darth Vader kills
billions without mercy, then saves his *own son* and has somehow managed
to turn good.
It *doesn't* happen that fast. That was totally bogus.
Dinobot's story is real.
Túrin
Radio Free Cybertron
http://rfcybertron.cjb.net/
TF Fanfic and Song Parodies
http://knoledge.org/mormegil/
The (Unofficial) Official Beast Wars Non-Show Character Site
http://knoledge.org/NSCS/
Michael Kil
Robert Powers <repo...@netaxs.com> wrote:
::: snipped all :::
:::: well, execpt for.... :::
::: Acting on his own initiative, Dinobot immediately infiltrates the
Predacon base, disposes of Waspinator (who, like Terrorsaur, foolishly
Ehhh, no. Terry tried to form an alliance, yes, and was stupid enough
to think he had succeeded. Waspy (the actual greatest character in
Transformers, in my book) was merely stalling. But, that is not the
subject at hand.
Here now, my own take on Dinobot's motivations:
Dinobot was, how to put this.... a Predacon's Predacon, that might be
the right phrase. Or maybe not.
To explain - what he wants to see more than anything else is the
Predacons to achieve the glory they, like their Decepticons ancestors,
feel is their birthright. That as the greatest warriors in the galaxy,
it is thus their destiny to be the masters of said galaxy.
The problem is that first, they must become the masters of their own
world. In this, the Decepticons failed. In the first war with the
Autobots for control of their newly won from the Quints homewold, it
was the unexpected development of transform technology by the 'Bots
that defeated them. In the second war, they were on their way to
victory when their greatest leader dissappeared for four million years.
When he returned, victory was again in their grasp - then came Unicron,
and Megatron fell, to be replaced by the madness of Galvatron. And then
came ultimate defeat.
Now, the Autobots decendants rule Cybertron, while the Decepticons
decendants lack the capablities to begin the war anew with any hope of
victory. And what matter if that lack could be rectified? What would be
the point of plunging Cybertron back into chaos for another million
years or more, with who knows what new unforseeable events lurking over
the horizon? Would the simply starting the war all over truly bring the
Predacons any closer to their goal?
But.... what if there was another way?
What if some how, some way, history could be changed, the Decepticons
made victorious, and thus their Predacon decendants made the rulers of
Cybertron, and perhaps the galaxy as well, with no need to tear
Cybertron apart again?
It's this promise of bringing glory to the Predacons without destroying
Cybertron in the process that brings Dinobot into Megatron's fold.
Though apparantly Dinobot was never told the specifics, he did know
that the Golden Disks contained information that could be used to
accomplish this on prehistoric Earth. But then, when the Predacons get
there...
Not only has Megatron seemingly incompetently led them to the wrong
planet, not only does he cowardly refuse Dinobot's challenge for
leadership, he seemingly abandons his plan out of lust for this appaant
non-Earth's vast amounts of energon, and the power it could bring not
to the Predacons, but to himself.
Dinobot feels utterly betrayed. Megatron is not the man, errr... bot,
Dinobot believed him to be. He is not the visionary who will lead the
Predacons into their new era of glory - he is a power hungry fool who
wants not glory for his people, but glory for himself, and will plunge
them, and all of Cybertron, back into darkness. He must be stopped.
And so we have, IMO, Dinobot's intial reasons for "joining" the
Maximals - their goal is the same as his, to stop Megatron from
starting the war. And despite his activation code change, Dinobot at
first hasn't become Maximal himself at all, he's simply entered into an
alliance with a very small group of them.
And then, victory. Or rather, "Victory." The goal has been
accomplished. Megatron has been stopped, and all his followers
destroyed. That second pat saddens Dinobot, for all that he had fought
to do just that as hard as he could - a warrior can do no less in a
war - Megatron had been his true enemy, his and all the Predacons as a
whole. But alas, those very Predacons would now never accept him should
he return to Cybertron. He had aided Maximals in the destruction of his
own comrades - he was a traitor. He had done only what had to be done
for the good of his people, but they would still see him as a traitor.
And what of the Maximals? His alliance with them had led to a growing
respect and even the begins of true friendship, but he was still not
truly one of them, nor did he have any desire to be. Returning to
Cybertron was not option. So he chose to remain the mysterious planet,
where he could live as Predacons are meant to live - at the top of the
food chain.
Of course, Megatron and his forces had not actually been destroyed, and
things went back to as they had been. Until the arrival of the planet's
alien landlords, and their thwarted attempt at eviction changed
everything.
Suddenly, his original goal seems once again acheivable. And yet, it
would still be Megatron, who he now knows to be motivated purely by
self-interest, who would be doing the acheiving. But did that truly
matter, so long as the Predacons took their rightful place in the
Universe? And then there's the two M's for him to think about - the
Maximals, and the Moon.
Yes, the Moon. The Moon whose markings now matched those of Earth's
moon. The Moon that hadn't had those markings until the planet-buster's
destruction caused them. The planet-buster's destruction that never
would have happened had they not traveled back to this time. Far from
changing the course of history, they seemed to be steering history into
the path it was meant to take all along. His desire to believe in
Megatron's promises had blinded him to truth about Megatron himself.
Had it also blinded him to the truth about reality? Could the future,
and the destiny of the Pedacons, be changed at all? Or was it already
written in stone? If so, what gave them the right to try and change it?
And could the act of tampering with fate have consequences had even
imagined?
As if this wasn't enough for DB to have to try and sort out in his own
mind, there was the small matter of the other "M".
The Maximals were no longer mere allies. He had fought beside them,
lived with them, risked his life for them as they had risked theirs for
his. He now had much more in common with them than a goal, and felt for
them far more than just respect. They had become his friends, his
family. Any yet, they were still Maximals, and he was still Predacon.
Or was he?
And so, Dinobot steals the diskes, to stall Megatron's plan will
contemplating whether or not he should try and aid it, and whether or
not there's a even a point in trying to change fate. But then, he sees
the pattern of Pred installations matching the pattern on the Disk.
Megatron, it seems, still believes that the future can be altered, and
even lacking the Disk itself, is continuing his efforts.
(What exactly was the deal with the pattern of jamming towers and such
matching up with the Disk pattern anyway? Was Megatron _trying_ to get
Dinobot to return to the fold, and return the Disk, by tricking him
into thinking that he didn't really need it? Certainly there's no
history altering or anything going on in the deployment of those
towers, right?)
Eventually, Dinobot decides that his honor and duty as a Predacon must
once again make him into a traitor. He betrays the Maximals and rejoins
the Predacons. He returns the disk to Megatron, who is then clearly
(behind Dinobot's back) about to thank him with a nice, warm, death
sentence, when Rattrap - the Maximal who, whether he'd admitted it to
himself or not, he was closest too and cared the most about - arrives
on the scene. Had it been Silverbolt, the Beast Wars might have turned
out quite differently.
Although he knew might now be forced to do so in battle, Dinobot found
himself unable to kill Rattrap in cold blood, err... mech fluid, and
thus all his doubts and questions showed themselves to be far from
settled. They swirled in his mind and quickly settled back on the cause
he had been fighting for throughout the entire Beast Wars - stopping
Megatron. And he would do it with or without the Maximals.
I'm gonna stop there, because I really don't wanna get into that pile
of slag known as "Code of Hero". Well, maybe "pile of slag" is a
little too harsh... but then again, it really isn't. See, I'm doing it
already.
Well, that there was my little take on Dinobot's motives. He truly was
a great character.
But Waspinator was still a better one.
-Kil
who really, really missed this place
-------
Michael Kilborn McCarthy,
whom once upon a time was Wazzpin8or
_Kilb...@juno.com_
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Tengu
In article <38D47839...@SPAMBLOCKknoledge.org>,
morm...@SPAMBLOCKknoledge.org says...
<Awesome discussion snipped, even though I don't think Dinobot is the
greatest character in Transformers. :)>
> Dinobot was never a hero, except at the end, when he finally made that
> choice to do the right thing. At the end, he was redeemed.
>
But does Dinobot's defining moment then become that simple act of
heroism? Or is it in the bumps and bruises along the way? Long before
the time Dinobot gave his life for those poorly-designed "protohumans,"
it was already pretty clear to me what path he had chosen. While you
paint a damned cogent picture of Dinobot's final, major struggle, I view
him in reference to disparate, very graduated changes in his personality.
Look at his relationship with the other Maximals: from uneasy ally, to
sometimes-friend, to full-fledged, trusted member of the team. The
little smile he gives in one ep, the pal-around posture in another; these
are the things that define Dinobot's journey for me. He really is a
great character from either angle, I guess- as you and Rob have more
adequately presented. :)
> I love the story of Dinobot, because it took *time*. I have never
> believed that garbage in "Return of the Jedi" where Darth Vader kills
> billions without mercy, then saves his *own son* and has somehow managed
> to turn good.
Your reasons for disliking Vader's redemption seem almost similar
to your reasons for liking Dinobots: that one salient moment of moral
apotheosis. Vader made a "good" choice, but should that alone make him
good? I think it's a bit tenuous to compare Vader's denouement to
Dinobot's, personally. IMO, they exist in distinctly different genres.
So much of Star Wars is about a novelic rehashing of mythic form that I
find it difficult to so strictly interpret the films' events. But that's
just me. :)
> It *doesn't* happen that fast. That was totally bogus.
>
> Dinobot's story is real.
One could argue that neither story is more real than the other. I
find it quite poignant that Vader's redemption came in one sweeping,
spiritual moment. I find it similarly compelling that Dinobot's road was
longer and more tortuous. What must essentially be remembered is that
Vader's story was written allegorically, which in and of itself does not
make it bogus. Dinobot's story was more heavily novelic, and relied upon
cross-characterization to make it effective. From a literary standpoint,
I can agree that Dinobot's character development seems more "real" in a
way, but that's just a function of the genre. (Or non-genre, if that's
how one views novelic form.)
Tengu:<>
Scott E. Kampa
In article <MPG.133ee55a9a7...@news.mindspring.com>,
Tengu <te...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> <Awesome discussion snipped, even though I don't think Dinobot is the
> greatest character in Transformers. :)>
Yeah, that clearly belongs to Sludge. :)
> But does Dinobot's defining moment then become that simple act of
> heroism? Or is it in the bumps and bruises along the way? Long before
> the time Dinobot gave his life for those poorly-
>designed "protohumans," it was already pretty clear to me what path
>he had chosen. While you paint a damned cogent picture of Dinobot's
>final, major struggle, I view him in reference to disparate, very
>graduated changes in his personality. Look at his relationship with
>the other Maximals: from uneasy ally, to sometimes-friend, to full-
>fledged, trusted member of the team. The little smile he gives in one
>ep, the pal-around posture in another; these are the things that
>define Dinobot's journey for me. He really is a great character from
>either angle, I guess- as you and Rob have more adequately
>presented. :)
I would have to agree with you on this. Dinobot's journey was what
defined more than just is sacrifice alone, or at least made it even
more meaningful. You stated his path (uneasy ally to kinda friend to
full-fledged member), and you'd probably doubt that Dinobot in "Beast
Wars" would sacrifice himself Ugh Witwicky and his friends. But it is
even more telling of the strength of his character *after* "Maximal No
More", I think.
He comes back to the group after MNM and everything seems hunky-dorey,
but it isn't. Dinobot will try to chat with Rhinox or slap Rattrap on
the back in what looks like friendship. But after MNM, everybody
(except perhaps Silverbolt) is back to being uneasy about him. Rhinox
tells Dinobot that Optimus trusts too much in regards to Dinobot and
the golden disk. Rattrap lays into him in "Code of Hero". Cheetor
says quite angrily "That's what I'd expect from a Predacon" in "Other
Visits". Even Optimus, arguably his biggest ally, gets PO'd at him
in "Bad Spark" ("I'll remember that...next time *you're* trapped in an
energon storm"). Even after all this, Dinobot still does
what's "right" because he recognizes his mistakes. Goes to show the
strength of the character IMO.
Scott, guess Rob's essay makes my "POW" essay on Dinobot unnecessary,
at least for now :)
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
"I will not disgrace his memory with lies. He was a stinking
omnivorous pestilence. Yet, in some perverse way, I will
miss him."
-------------------------------------------------------------
Come visit Prime's Watercloset!
http://sekampa.tripod.com/index.html
Darwinian Road Kill
: But it is
: even more telling of the strength of his character *after* "Maximal No
: More", I think.
: He comes back to the group after MNM and everything seems hunky-dorey,
: but it isn't. Dinobot will try to chat with Rhinox or slap Rattrap on
: the back in what looks like friendship. But after MNM, everybody
: (except perhaps Silverbolt) is back to being uneasy about him. Rhinox
: tells Dinobot that Optimus trusts too much in regards to Dinobot and
: the golden disk. Rattrap lays into him in "Code of Hero". Cheetor
: says quite angrily "That's what I'd expect from a Predacon" in "Other
: Visits". Even Optimus, arguably his biggest ally, gets PO'd at him
: in "Bad Spark" ("I'll remember that...next time *you're* trapped in an
: energon storm"). Even after all this, Dinobot still does
: what's "right" because he recognizes his mistakes. Goes to show the
: strength of the character IMO.
Perhaps it is a blatant and oft-abused plug, but I did write a little fic
showing just how far from "hunky-dory" his status was with regards to
MNM...
It's called (though I'm sure you already know) "Truth and Consequences",
and I think I pegged things fairly nicely, even if I needed to insert
someone else's fanfic char to get the point across in places.
But, canonicty aside for a while, I think that it's probably the best
example of what would have happened, or what did happen.
If by some chance you haven't seen it yet, then hop on over to...
http://www.geocities.com/tuxedoprime/dinobot.txt
...and tell me if I nailed it.
Ryan :>
--
"After 4 million years I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!"
(Founder of the new #tfu, and #aptenos)
"People who like penguins are nice people" -- Eric Bennett
(Fact: If my sig get over 10 lines, you can hit me)
My half-baked site: www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/8720
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