#I /could/ talk about the general devaluation of soft skills vs hard skills

[pajamadragon]

I EMERGE FROM THE DEPTHS OF OBSCURITY TO BESTOW UPON YOU A HOT TAKE

Spike in G1 gets a bad rap from a lot of fandom because he's a 15 year old in an 80's cartoon and contractually obligated to make bad decisions. But I think this is unfair, as Spike does actually help the Autobots in a very important way that I don't think too many people actually talk about.

Spike is the Autobot's main networker.

With the exception of Marissa Faireborn (who answered Blaster's call for help in season 3) and Raoul (who got seduced by Tracks), every single recurring human ally in G1 is there because of Spike. Sure, that's including family, but it still stands. And this is even backed up by the fact that Spike's actual grown up job is diplomacy! It's easy to assume that at least some of the once off humans were contacted with Spike's help throughout the series because that’s why he’s a valued autobot ally, he recruits other allies!

I'd love an official cartoon/comic that really hones in on this. Have Spike riding with Bumblebee to repair jobs (maybe in a lab! Mechanics who can repair lab equipment are *very* valuable), and while he's doing so, he's feeling out the people around him to see who's positive towards the Autobots, and if they have connections or skills that the Autobots need.

While it's easy to look at Carly and Chip and see their value to the story in the form of their hard scientific skills, Spike's softer, social skills are very much important to the story, and G1 would be worse without him.