#actually for me the ideal Elita would be one that combines traits from both Skybound and wfc... 👀

[truuskn]

i find it really curious how differently elita may experience and react to similar events in her life in different universes. and before we begin, let's close our eyes to the fact that different writers worked on these two images, that the show and the comics differ greatly in ideas, atmospheres, ratings, etc, etc :D

i think wfc elita and skybound elita are her possible best version and her worst version, and i'm talking about her as a person, not as a character. two extremes, two paths she can step on. in two very similar worlds she can either rise up or break down

in skybound we see how war can disfigure elita, weaken her spirit, torment her spark, almost destroy her personality. her entire being is built on saving cybertron and resisting decepticons and it did not affect her in a positive way. there is nothing left in her life but struggle, pain and an animal hatred for the enemy and anyone who dares to take a step away from her views. she is cruel, cynical, she praises the fire in arcee, noticing how fiercely she wants revenge for ultra magnus, how she lashes out at shockwave, threatening his life (while optimus talks arcee out of hurting another living being, even decepticon, reminding her of what it means to be an autobot), she cheers the violence from prime, enjoying his momentary return to his former self (while optimus is sickened by the realisation of what he's just done). she really is the worst version of herself. she's not a bad person, no. but she's broken. and it's leading her down a completely new, unfamiliar for us scenario. the ruthless world has inflicted the worst wounds on her and this time she had no strength left to remain herself

despite everything, she's still an autobot, of course, she's an autobot! there is no world where things would be different. but... it's just that the concept of this term have blurred for her over the years. hope, faith in the best in every person, forgiveness, choice not in favor of violence but of words, caring for everyone in need and so on and so forth - all of these is forgotten by her. now it's a weakness, not an advantage. perhaps, a long time ago she had joined the autobots inspired by prime's speeches, fully sharing his belief in a bright, fair future, but those days are gone. that elita is gone. now being an autobot for her is solely about fighting and destroying the decepticons from the face of cybertron. her and optimus still have similar goals, but critical different desires, opinions and approaches. they both want peace. they both want to give their people a new, free life. but if optimus is ready to wait, temporarily step off or even move on, ready to shift his focus on another planet, then elita will never be able to let go of cybertron, not for a single second, no matter what's going on around them. she's not ready to put aside centuries of suffering, she's not ready to forget all the sacrifices they've made in trying to stop the invaders, she can't forget all those fallen soldiers, ruined lives and lost years so easily. she's not ready to prioritise anyone else. the centre of her life is cybertron and the autobots. and nothing in the world can change that. she means no harm to earth, she means no harm to optimus, but she will do anything to protect her home

wfс elita lives similar life. she’s at the lowest point of her existence. a dying, blighted cybertron. a completely decimated autobot army. she, abandoned, alone, leads frustrated and frightened soldiers just like her. no hope for optimus' return, no faith in her people's victory, the fight for justice and a better world is over, now the only goal is to simply try to survive. it couldn't be worse. elita started losing faith in the autobot cause a long time ago, each day she understood less and less what they continued to fight for, she grew disappointed, lost her fervour, and now, in the most scary time, it would seem that anyone would gave up. but not her. this world was breaking her, was trying to break her, but she kept holding on, clinging to optimus' hope, continuing to follow him and his beliefs, never taking a step into the darkness

she never forgot what set her apart from her enemy and as much as she hated them all, she would never dare to hurt them the way they hurt her. she decided for herself once and for all - she will not stoop to their level, she won't let her fears corrupt the reasons she became an autobot in the first place. no matter how much pain she was in, no matter how desperately she wanted to end it all in any way, she never gave up snd continued to march proudly forward, protecting each and every one of them to the last drop of her blood, helping even the opponent's soldiers when needed. she fought for her planet and for all its people, for all those who called cybertron their home. megatron would pay the worst price for what he had done, but no one else would pay for his sins. she will not allow the hatred to spread further. she knows how to forgive. she doesn't forget, but she lets go of grudges. because she knows someone has to be first, someone has to set an example, that's always been the point of the autobots. and you know what? skybound elita would never do that. she wishes the decepticons nothing but harm, nothing but the trial of terror and fear that they, the autobots, have felt all these years because of them. if it were up to her, they, every last one of them, would burn with hell flame, as much longer as it's possible

it turns out that the same fight can lead to very diverse consequences... i'm amazed by that difference, honestly

oh, and the last - their main similarity, the thing that's happening in most of her stories. elita loses optimus. maybe it's their fate to be separated forever, huh?

wfc elita let optimus go. she realised that his departure was inevitable and important. perhaps, she thought it was a mistake, yes, she was unsure of his plan, she was afraid of losing him and she did try to talk him out of it, but she knew that he believed it was the right thing to do and if optimus believed, then so would she. she believed, but she chose her own path. without any regrets. she was saddened, hurt by their parting, optimus was one of the most important things to her and it would be hard to continue without him as a leader and soulmate, she needed him, they all needed him. but if fate was to take him away from her and their fight, so be it. it's her job to protect cybertron. and she can handle it. even if she has to act alone

for skybound elita optimus' departure, his willingly choice of earth, was the last straw. time after time she had withstood every blow dealt to her by fate but this? cybertron did not just lose optimus prime. optimus prime betrayed them. he made that decision on his own. he abandoned them, chose outsiders over his own people and his own home, denied them, lost, frightened, begging him for help, needing him more than anything else. it was truly the worst thing that had ever happened to her, the cruelest and most vile event of her entire life, and this pain was brought by the person most precious to her. she's in hell. the real hell. but she's not giving up. because elite-one never gives up. she wipes away her tears, gets up off her knees, picks up her gun and continues her fight. okay. if he's not going to do what he has to do, she will. she's cybertron's only hope, she truly is