#tf mainframe

[klematista]

starting new year with rare character

Mainframe!

I couldn't find any references to his TFA altmode and back so I made my own

[cybertronia-obscura]

Feature Character of January

Mainframe the Autobot Action Master!

Toy bio:

"A program is only as good as its programmer." A walking, talking computer terminal. Would rather attack fourth order differential equasions than Decepticons. Totally committed to his work. Views the galactic conflict as an inconvenience he must tolerate rather than a struggle in which he must participate. Is often compelled to flex his intellectual muscle, when needed. Equipped with 200,000 mega-byte capacity. His pugnatious partner, Push-Button, prefers converting to self-propelled proton rifle mode and disintegrating Decepticons over his assigned task of debugging Mainframe's various programs.

Mainframe was introduced to the franchise in 1990! When he was introduced, he was a non-transforming toy with his smaller robot partner, Push-Button. His modern toy transforms into a large computer similar to Teletraan-1, complete with the Sky Spy.

His first was in Transformers Animated where he is a member of the Autobot Ministry of Science and he shows up in a few episodes, most notably working with Highbrow on the memory-wiped Arcee. His largest role was in the 2005 IDW story, More Than Meets the Eye, where he occasionally shows up and says some lines. He also pops up in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comics, the Classics comics, the Of Masters and Mayhem, and the 2019 IDW continuity! His name is mentioned in a Transtech story and in Rescue Bots.

[dailymothanon]

@chaetocercus has been enlightened me about marsupials and Soundwave w/ his little family and I can’t help but love it a lot 🦘 it’s very cute but also very cool considering how funky marsupials are! Also consider exhibit A: red kangaroo does (females) are also called blue-flyers because of their coloring! Blue mamas that are very jacked �� it’s only the best for them (also, apparently drawing kangaroos is fun, they have a fun shape to them)

[catcake24]

I really wish one day a transformers series uses Mainframe as Teletraan I like the recent toy version.

Like, I know it doesn’t make much sense realistically, but I love the potential ideas of it.

Is there a difference between Teletraan I and Mainframe? Is Teletraan merely the name of his model of computer? Is Teletraan a basic AI which runs on Mainframe, and does Mainframe have access to teletraan when in robot mode?

Or does Mainframe loose his personhood when changing, and goes by Teletraan I since he’s basically just a computer AI while in that state? How does that affect him? Does he need to be reminded to transform if he does? Is he ashamed of being teletraan, or is he proud of being such an asset??

Story ideas are cool too - like maybe there can be conflict if Mainframe is captured, or maybe having to manage the ship while Mainframe is taking a break from being the computer. Or even silly moments like Optimus having to call him like “Hey Mainframe, sorry to interrupt your break, but we need to call the Decepticons. Yes, I promise you’ll get an extended break after this.” Or the Autobots are under attack and see a hole in the wall where teletraan is and Mainframe comes running through the door yelling “sorry!”” and transforms back into place and Prowl grumbles about him being late when he controls the damn ship.

I love the different ideas that could come through, and I’m always a sucker for seeing a large variety of alt modes with a variety of uses. And I love explorations of alt modes and why certain bots choose them (or don’t choose them).

[intothefunkyverse]

And here's Mixtape's rough reference! He's a boombox with his cassette who I haven't named yet. His backstory's main synopsis is in another post. I had to fight with myself to figure out what helm design I wanted for him.

We love men with big ponytails

[coolname45]

TFA Mainframe with G1 color scheme

[levityleviathan]

Transformers Earth Designs

I dont Post super often, but thats whatever. Ill keep it short, here's some Misc stuff ive done

In order: Ironhide Megatron Pablo Sideswipe Hauler, Bluestreak, and Mainframe Optimus Prime

[evetronia]

Dramatic Capture Series Autobot set

I really like the Mainframe but I already got 86 Jazz and ER Optimus I just wish I could get him separately.

[voix-reyna]

Everything is already predetermined

Preface: I apologize in advance for my English, but I was inspired by the TF mecha universe theme by @keferon. However, I want to add through this something that I haven't seen in all the published posts: namely the confrontation between the Quintessons and humans with the Cybertronians. And yes, I admit, due to the very large amount of creativity in this area, I can't really figure out each character. There will be deviations from canonical characters! And I also don't think I can update the story often. Don't complain that I didn't live up to someone's expectations, but each of us is our own creator. And I personally see it exactly like that, and not otherwise.

______________________

CHAPTER ONE

The time was dangerous. The Quintesson attack had irreversible consequences. And so on the destroyed Cybertron there was no possibility to function after the civil war, and they also contributed to the extermination of their race! Even Megatron... He does not know what happened then, when he ordered to evacuate with the cassettes and look for places where there is experimental energon on par with Prime, but attempts to contact were unsuccessful. It seemed that if they knew about this, the war was not fierce. They could simply end the uprising with the murder of the rulers and take their place with the restoration to repel the hostile race... But too much energon was spilled, too much tortured the entire Cybertron, which takes the form of ruins. There are not even places left that are beautiful for optics. The supplies from the energon satellites were running out, and then the Quintessons caught up with them. The Decepticons had to unite with the Autobots, if not to simply destroy the enemy, then at least to stay alive. They had to team up to create an experimental sample of synth-energon and implant deposits into planets for distribution. Shockwave and the others disappeared for many orns because of this... If there was-... If...

— ...-os... Boss! — Rumble, who projected a dozen Quintesson reconnaissance ships with visible characteristics onto the control terminal, brought him out of his thoughts about the past, "The Quintessons are after us!"This did not bode well. Even now, their probability of survival was low, if not zero. For now, there was a slight advantage in the activated field for hiding their own, but a moment later, an error about this device appeared on the terminal and a fragment of a rear view, as one of the ships attacked the air and hit them... The EM field was filled with panic, which emanated from the twins. And even in the spark, Soundwave was not sure that they would be able to survive after this. Something had to be done...

— Frenzy: redirect energy to shields and engines. Rumble: attempt an attack. Soundwave: will try to maneuver to the planet's orbit. — it seemed that it could be simpler?... Nothing! Considering that he received knowledge about piloting only from the Seekers passing by, who did not hesitate to scroll through their controls in the processor in the air in this or that situation. However, this was only a theory that could not be consolidated in practice. And Soundwave will try in these moments, in their, perhaps, last functioning, to give his cassettes a chance to survive... And himself, too.The Quintessons began firing their guns at the ship, intending to hit the force field generators. They hit the shield, then there was a response of fire, only scratching the hull. And the force field was not able to hold out for several brim of continuous fire. Soundwave's ship began to maneuver, accelerating and starting to move to the sides, diagonally, flying down and up. And the blue planet with islands of land was getting closer and closer. At some point, the shields died and the maneuverability of the mech worsened the situation. The rest of the energy was wasted and the emergency lighting was activated. Suddenly, the deck with cassettes opened, letting the smaller sparks know that they had to return there for their safety... "You're crazy! You'll deactivate!" — Rumble and Frenzy began to think in unison, sincerely worried about the mech, not wanting to part... And even more so, the rest there can easily be destroyed if their deck is damaged...

— Another way out: unknown. — Soundwave answered their question, not giving them a chance to dispute the decision. They had to accept this and transform into a cassette mod, which docked with millimeter accuracy. The deck closed. Soundwave redirected all remaining energy to the engines, which could blow up the entire ship if damaged, and continued to maneuver from the shots at three Machs, which ultimately did not end as planned. Stabilizers, left wing, weapons, sensors were damaged... The ship's skin was in a sieve. The gravity of the third planet from the star picked up this unfortunate ship and further damage began from the inside. Everything began to collapse and at some point the ceiling fell on Soundwave, transferring everyone, including the cassettes, into stasis mode. The ship after a while reached the surface of the earth, somewhere in the jungle... All wildlife was alarmed, bypassing the formed crater with the ship, red-hot on the outside and deepened a little into the cave.

2037...

Time is not safe... Millions of people suffer from the moment the invasion began. Small settlements were destroyed. Some people were taken by giant aliens, because of which it was necessary to invent a defense against them. And, except for the idea of ​​the MECHA company to create mechanical suits mecha-pilot by a chip from a genius who introduced himself to people as Doctor Harrest, there were no alternatives. And since 1984, the project was given the green light. And by this year, many soldiers were retrained as pilots who could fight back. The most interesting solution was to use bright colors for huge controlled robots to distinguish themselves from certain groups and the like. But ordinary soldiers were also given a chance to work in the rear and do the same as before.However, there was a group of desperate people who were simply unlucky enough to meet aliens. These were just soldiers who found it very difficult to wait for support and left on one of the improved APC's. And now a pair of Quintessons are following him along the Amazon, miraculously managing to dodge their shots.

— Faster, faster! They're going to catch up with us now!.. — the young guy began, who was the most afraid of all, since this was the first meeting with these...

— This car is not a racing car! — the one who was driving the car shouted back. Bishop was very unhappy with this situation, but he did not want to be destroyed right away, so he tried to keep his cool as much as possible. And now a shot was fired in front of them, which set the transport on fire.

— Damn it... Let's get out faster! Mainframe, do you need a special invitation!? — Bishop began to get out, but saw how the young soldier could not cope with his fear, so he returned him to reality with a slap. After that, he began to get out after him. And if not for this, then a minute later he would have been able to get out, but as a corpse. Now together they ran away from the transport and disappeared under the trees. One alien blew up the abandoned transport with a missile, leaving only a dense metal part.

—We would... — Mainframe began to speak, but was interrupted by a hand covering his mouth. It was not a good idea to let down his guard. These aliens were dragging their tentacles for a reason. They were just there to catch their prey and crush them. And so, silently drawing attention to himself, Bishop gestured that they should go towards the trees. Mainframe had to nod and start walking quietly, trying not to make any sounds along with the experienced soldier.

The cries of animals accompanied the two jungle fighters, trying to drive the strangers away from their territory. However, this was not addressed to them, but to the aliens. They, in turn, destroyed the living creatures there. From monkeys, wild boars and the like, to tigers. However, the fauna was pleasant. There was greenery all around, the sun illuminated some leaves that still had dew. The birds flew in the direction of the absence of aliens, telling the peaceful guests where it was safe. In turn, Bishop, grabbing Mainframe by the hand, followed the birds, stepping over poisonous plants. The young soldier did not like this attitude, but he could not argue at the moment because of the wild fear for his life.

— How strange, — Bishop asks, amazed at this situation. There is a small crater, which has already turned into a lowland. And the birds still flew inside the strange structure. Perhaps there were people here who did this. And this is only a front view for them. However, Mainframe ran forward, examining this structure from the side and ... My God ...

— Sir, this ... This ... This ... — began to repeat the same thing, not knowing how to express it in words. A storm of emotions.

— And what did you want to say, Blaine Parker? — asked a logical question, without waiting for the end of his sentence. Moreover, he will then scold for violating-... Oh, this... Under the mask, Bishop was surprised, taken aback, but quickly threw the shock aside, making it clear that in front of them was not just a structure... No... This is your motherfucking alien ship, which the Quintessons do not have. And that one was half underground and a big sieve.

—This could be one of their prototypes, — the experienced fighter asked silently, now beginning to doubt what was said, — though I don’t think our weapons could make a sieve out of it. And there was no word about it. Mainframe, launch a beacon. A rescue team of mechs will come for us through it, but for now we can wait inside.

— Yes, sir. — Having saluted, the young man began to pull out a small box from his armor, on which there was a button. And, having pressed it, he threw it near this ship before entering through the hole. Bishop followed. And now there was an interesting picture. They were standing on some terminal that was overgrown with moss, inside there were animals, which were mostly crowded at the main entrance, as you can see. And on the other side... A pile of metal that was piled on top of each other from the ceiling and...

— Mecha?.. But shouldn't they be in a special base? — Mainframe asked, mistaking the blue servo sticking out from under the rubble for their models with one exception. This form was smooth, without extraneous bulges in the form of rounding of parts. And even less than usual. And the ship itself had some kind of pinkish liquid flowing from top to bottom. By the way, if you looked at it with your body, the Geiger counter beeped. Minimum indicators, but very unusual. This liquid was some kind of nuclear source that could be used as fuel, but... He has no idea how they will do it. And even more so, it has repeatedly differed from Quintesson technologies. And for the better. However, we should not forget about the danger of possible and... Familiar sounds are heard nearby. Not very good ones...

— Ты забыл переключить частоту? — это был риторический вопрос, но испуганный взгляд Паркера все выдал. Бля... Now they can only hope for a miracle...

[thepuff09]

Ok but when is the McFeelitron figure dropping?

Like, it’s silly and all, but I think with all @chrismcfeely has done for the brand, it’s only fair. And I have the perfect idea for it!

A retool of Kingdom Mainframe.

For those of you who forgot, Mainframe came with the ARK, so it was pretty expensive. He had two alt modes, being the ARK’s bridge, as well as Teletron 1.

Now, if we can retool Mainframe so it doesn’t have the bridge mode, thus cleaning up the kibble, and maybe even improving articulation?

Finally, we have the first figure I suggest for a new Collaborative line: TF X the Fanbase.

McFeelitron (or just Feelitron), the robot mode of Teletron 1.

[transformersconfessions]

Boltax here

I think most tf content is fundamentally incapable of actually engaging in proper ambiguity when it comes to morality and actions.

Its always either "bad guy thats bad" "badguy thats charming" "good guy thats good" or "good guy thats rude"

There should be more intricate interactions between people and i think MTMTE is a leading reason for part of the issue

Megatron got no REAL push back from anyone but getaway and because of this JRO had to make getaway the focus antagonist. I think there's a serious lack of two people, neither of which being wrong, having beef.

Issue #34 of mtmte is about as close as we get between Bluestreak/Mainframe and First Aid bur it ultimately went nowhere and none of them had any discussion in the future about what happened.

Similarly there's missed opertunities for why people like Blaster, or Hound, or Bluestreak hate megatron. Showcasing the PERSONAL impact he had and making megs really recognize the extent of how he uprooted people's lives would have made his efforts to do better speak much louder, but instead he never fully engages with anything other than the genocide apologist squad [aka rod squad]

.

[blueikeproductions]

I’ve been rewatching some Japanese TF anime, and Superlink has been one I’ve been going back to in particular.

Back in the day the series, on both sides of the pond, wasn’t as successful as Armada for a number of reasons, but the primary reason cited toy wise was that the series didn’t have a cohesive play pattern like Armada did. Superlink, and the Energon dub, did emphasize Energon as the primary focus and gimmick with Stars and Weaponry, but that was secondary to the true gimmick focused on more exclusively in the anime: combining.

The Energon Dreamwave comic put far more of an emphasis on Energon itself, with the combining gimmick secondary, but the anime was not about to let its mech designs to go to waste like that, with the Autobots having a combining gimmick to emphasize team work, with the Decepticons, aside from Constructicon Maximus and Bruticus Maximus, not having any such fusion abilities because they’re dysfunctional supervillains, you see.

Superlink is generally viewed as one of the worst series due to its primitive CGI (compared to wait Mainframe was doing with Beast Wars and Beast Machines at the time) for the robots, so much so when the robots needed to emote more expressively or move more dynamically, they’d suddenly be in much better 2D animation.

Indeed perhaps the anime’s best known fight scene between a giant Optimus and Galvatron is the primary example of this.

But the other primary reason is the Energon dub, where like Armada, the scripts weren’t translated well leading to a lot of odd stilted dialog, misinterpreted character motivations and bizarrely an entire key episode missing (this happened with RiD01, but all the missing episodes were dubbed and included in official and unofficial releases and it had the excuse of 9/11 having just happened, where the Predacons pretty casually blow up buildings as a plot point in the missing episodes).

One particular instance of misaligned motivation is Ironhide yelling “GET TO THE SHIP!” when Demolisher is dying in an Energon attack, when in the original context, the young Autobot is mortified at Demolisher having made a sacrifice like that and is calling out his name in anguish as he’s dragged back to the Miranda II. In that same breath, Demolishor in the dub was merely cursing out Optimus for this attack, where as he was telling green horn Ironhide (someone he had protected from Galvatron in his own way a few times) to remember this crusty old Decepticon for the man he was, rather than what befell him.

My guess with this is less bad translations and the staff trying to hide Ironhide being remorseful at someone he previously expressed distrust and anger towards, with this sorta thing happening before in past kids anime dubs in general. That doesn’t make it right, but still.

Still, I’d argue Energon isn’t even that bad of a show, both versions aren’t perfect, but the Japanese version of Superlink does make far more sense and tries to have the same subtle sophistication Armada had in its original Micron Legend version.

Armada and Energon are the rare examples of when I’d recommend just watching the Japanese version, because the ideas are communicated far more clearly.

In some cases, I’d argue it handles certain things better than modern TF cartoons claim to do like EarthSpark and Cyberverse.

This particular moment comes to mind for example, where Ironhide and Demolisher struggle with cooperating. Hot Shot is more trusting, wanting to let old grudges die for the sake of the future but Demolisher clearly is struggling.

Superlink has this reoccurring theme of a sense of identity, one’s self worth and how they wish to live. It’s surprisingly complex and has no true straight answers, something I don’t really like modern era cartoons doing, but it surprisingly works here.

In particular it almost does LGBT themes better. Tidal Wave, especially after his upgrade, is very clearly in love with Galvatron, which some fans wonder if it has something to do with him having formally been battle armor for Megatron during Armada. Nobody really calls negative attention to it either, with at most is Snowcat thinking Tidal Wave is throwing his life away recklessly to die in an Energon Sun along with Galvatron. Galvatron also seems to have a homoerotic fixation on Optimus, only really doing half of what he does simply to get Optimus’ attention so they can fight, and is infuriated when others get in his way with Prime. In this case it’s played more like a one sided toxic gay relationship, since Galvatron is somewhat clingy and possessive, even calling the Prime “my Convoy” when addressing him. This homoeroticism was there in Armada too, but they weren’t even trying to hide it here. If you want to ship an Optimus and Megatron, do the Superlink ones, plus Optimus has the dad bod look for those that like that in a man. It’s the whole package right there.

Anyway Demolisher, a Decepticon who was mostly a generic goon during Armada, has several moments early on where he’s grappling with his role at the end of the Great War.

While still a bit bitter having to work with the Autobots, Demolisher ultimately seemed happy on his new life. It was when rumors that Galvatron was still alive did the former goon start to second guess himself, but still remained loyal to the Autobots, even turning down Cyclonus and Tidal Wave who immediately switched sides to the Terrorcons… until Galvatron appeared in the flesh.

Galvatron tries to make Demolisher shoot him, after all, he is an Autobot now, as much earlier, Demolishor seemed to want to remove his Decepticon badge, remarking somewhat philosophically how it doesn’t just come off, but the goon finds he can’t shoot his leader, and instead hesitantly shoots down the gate to Ocean City so the Terrorcons can steal the Energon.

This back and forth conflicting on Demolisher’s part persists even after he joins the Terrorcons, until he makes his ultimate sacrifice, taking the full brunt of an Energon wave attack meant for Galvatron, his exo structure crumbling but his Spark endured.

Because there was a new toy to sell, an upgraded dump truck version of Demolishor, Demolisher’s Spark was placed in this new body, that Galvatron created using Unicron’s power… However, to avoid that pesky conscious, Galvatron had reprogrammed his (mostly) loyal goon into a more ape like musclehead, devoid of his memories with the humans and Autobots, an act that even Snowcat, formally Cyclonus, found a bit unnerving.

Either way Demolishor became the Rocksteady to Snowcat’s Bebop, with the two along with Mirage, formally Tidal Wave, serving as the show’s comic relief. Demolishor wasn’t 100% loyal tho as he and Snowcat refused to die via plunging themselves into the Energon Sun, where as Galvatron, Mirage and Starscream did (more on this later).

One might think this is bad writing and a partial side effect of being a toyetic anime, but I think this is intentional to the anime’s overall theme.

The Decepticons and Terrorcons are kind of fascinating as they represent a lot of the themes about sense of self and belonging.

Galvatron is especially fascinating. Japanese media tends to cast Megatron as a somewhat childish individual, giddy like a kindergartner getting a new toy, prone to toddler like tantrums when he doesn’t get his way or hears something he doesn’t want to hear. Micron and Superlink use this characterization in particular, but it’s far more magnified in the later. While Micron does show an air of sophistication and self awareness, with moments showing he does care for his men he’s just a tough love sort, this largely gets tossed out the window in Superlink.

While starting out similar to his Armada counterpart, it’s pretty clear the reborn Galvatron is more prone to fits of sheer rage and uncontrolled violence to those who annoy him. This Galvatron and his later Master Megatron form in Galaxy Force are depicted as a corrosive influence, implying becoming a Decepticon isn’t merely a political choice, but a full on cult where using dark power, your sanity and sense of self is removed entirely so you may kiss the ring. This proves true with Nightscream, Scorponok and Inferno, who all become loyal servants or snarling animals only meant to kill. Galvatron’s corrosive nature is in full display from the get go when he takes over Alpha Q’s noble goal to use Unicron to revive fallen planets to instead use Unicron as a bio weapon. Galvatron also shows what happens to those who step out of line, brutally killing the sociopathic Shockblast and rebellious kid brother Sixshot for their constant insubordination. This mighty power and show of force is also what recruits the ancient Decepticon Combiners to his cause (it’s implied in Micron and Superlink that Optimus and Megatron are merely the current leaders with Bruticus and Constructicon Maximus not recognizing Galvatron as Megatron, so clearly Megatron wasn’t the founder of the Decepticons, but he’s clearly the one who led the longest out of spite and grit if nothing else).

This Galvatron is written to be a more direct homage to G1 Galvatron, who became insane after being stuck in a plasma pool in a far off asteroid after Unicron’s destruction. This Galvatron’s insanity seems to be partially influenced by Unicron, as he seeks to pilot the planet eater as a massive super weapon. Constantly wired into Unicron, it’s clear the seemingly dead primordial god wasn’t completely dead and was trying to possess the tyrannical Decepticon, having largely succeeded in taking him over in series end so that he may use him as his new body once fused with Cybertron and his disembodied Spark. Galvatron is all about complete control, and being unable to control Unicron like he thinks he can rankles him severely. The only thing he craves more than control is his near homoerotic obsession with Optimus as his worthy rival, this being enough to shake off Unicron when Optimus eggs him on. Taking matters into his own hands, not wanting to let Unicron control him, Galvatron lets himself die by flying into the Energon Sun, hoping the gambit will destroy Unicron also, which it does. Kinda. Galaxy Force doesn’t use Unicron but Hasbro media states the Black Hole was created by Unicron’s influence, collapsing the Energon Sun into it… So oops.

When given the opportunity, Cyclonus and Tidal Wave drop everything and go join the Terrorcons. Both are completely loyal to Megatron and the Decepticon cause, and seem far more content to be full on villains then bother with any human-Cybertron relations. For their own loyalty, Galvatron rebuilds them using Unicron’s power into Snowcat and Mirage. Once upgraded into Snowcat, Cyclonus does seem to express an awareness most of the Decepticons are clingy bootlickers, and he gives off a “Thank Primus I’m the smart one in this operation” vibe. Cyclonus always was more the type that enlisted so he could shoot stuff and this hasn’t changed but there is a certain self awareness to his character now that’s fun. Cyclonus and Tidal Wave pretty much know where they belong and are content with that for the most part.

Starscream and Scorponok have a similar arc but it goes different directions.

Starscream is a kerfluffle on both sides, but not due to dubbing errors but due to creative differences. Hasbro intended the character to be a revived Starscream with ghost powers to reference G1, but Takara and the anime staff seemed wishy washy on it. Apparently the being known as Nightscream was largely viewed as a separate character unrelated to Armada or G1 flavored Starscream. This robot was more of a nameless samurai assassin created by Alpha Q to assassinate Galvatron and distract Optimus, so Alpha Q can gather the Energon he needs for his plans. Galvatron does seem to recognize Nightscream as being Starscream, calling him his old follower, but never outright saying it IS Starscream. After using his new Unicronian powers to give the assassin the what for, Galvatron ultimately spares the robot, dubs him Nightscream with the nameless man pledging his undying loyalty to his new master (with Galvatron doing some reprogramming prior). Nightscream’s loyalty is never questioned, as he stays with Galvatron no matter what, even wishing to die alongside his master.

Scorponok also is something of a nameless man, created by Alpha Q, but in the image of his old father figure, the Planet Q Chamberlain. Because the Chamberlain’s own Spark was no more, I guess the power of Energon can’t remake Sparks, Alpha Q had to settle for the Spark of a wandering Decepticon (theorized by fans to be Thrust’s, doubly so due to Thrust and Scorponok sharing the same dub voice actors), Scorponok was created. Scorponok from the start seems to view himself as merely a soldier that does what he’s told, a mantra that persists working for Alpha Q and Galvatron. Scorponok is somewhat tragic as a father figure that Alpha Q lovingly recreated only to be yanked away by Galvatron’s selfishness. Initially more of a spy for Alpha, Galvatron sees through it and beats him into servitude, branding him a Decepticon. Scorpy still ultimately works for Alpha Q, and gains a sort of friendly rivalry with Ironhide, but it’s all for naught as Galvatron, needing the hulking robot’s Energon detection abilities, reprograms him further, wiping out his loyalty to Alpha, and turning him into a full on Decepticon with no true morals and only wanting to steal Energon and fight.

This line also feels right at home in EarthSpark, both as a critique of it and the Decepticons’ own unwillingness to change.

Scorponok constantly clashes with Ironhide, who is both trying to figure himself out but also trying to get Scorponok to see the bigger picture of Galvatron’s insanity and how that’s ruining what Scorponok and Alpha tried to build together. Scorponok refuses to budge, not seeing the value of anything other than complete servitude to Galvatron, despite being somewhat humbled when his Terrorcons express concern and share their Energon with him. Only at death and Galvatron’s seeming demise does it finally seem to sink in for Scorponok. Sadly in Hasbro markets, Scorponok doesn’t get a happier ending, as he is revived as an Energon starved zombie, though this never makes it into Galaxy Force. Perhaps this was one of the inspirations of the Prime zombie Terrorcons.

Demolishor has his arc, but funny enough, he was rereleased during Cybertron in his old Armada design but with new colors, and his bio states he largely is happy with his life post Energon, given a new opportunity at peace, but this time wants nothing to do with Megatron at all, preferring to fight Scrapmetals on the black hole entombed Cybertron than be mistreated by Megatron again. As Demolisher never appears in Galaxy Force, (although Mudflap uses his name in the Japanese version) this is a story crafted entirely by Hasbro to give Demolishor some kind of closure.

Despite being critical to the plot, Unicron himself isn’t terrible significant as a character, being quite literally the vehicle for the story to progress. While in Armada he was intelligent and wise, playing 4D chess with the humans and Transformers, creating the Mini-Cons to make himself more powerful by sprinkling them in during the Great War, in this era, he’s reduced to a primitive, snarling beast. It’s never really explained why this happened, though my personal assumption is Unicron did die, and Alpha Q and Galvatron’s meddling turned him into a planet sized zombie, whose only instinct is to consume. The more likely real world reason is they wanted to go back to Unicron’s more traditional schtick as a planet eater and force of destruction and chaos, something he technically wasn’t during Armada. Indeed the Autobots express fill awareness of Unicron being a force of nature that haunted the universe, which is funny considering they never heard of him in Armada (a similar problem in G1 also).

The Autobots have a bit of this dynamic as well. Optimus and Rodimus are at loggerheads over the complications of what to do with Unicron. Rodimus, guilt ridden over failing to help Planet Q, joins Alpha Q’s quest to use the planet eater in a mad gamble to restore life to the galaxy. Rodimus is confident this will work, despite the danger, but Optimus thinks it’s madness, knowing full well what Unicron can do first hand. They ultimately work together in the end, but there’s this agree to disagree vibe between them. Both ultimately are proven correct though: Rodimus gets to see the birth of the new planets as intended but Optimus’ fears in Unicron regaining control and destroying several of the planets also happens. It was a tough decision that ultimately failed (according to Hasbro storytelling), so Optimus was ultimately correct in his original feelings.

Ironhide is pry the most developed character in the anime, though because of the dub’s slipshod handling, a lot of his character development is missing and he comes off as a huge goober. He’s still a goober in Superlink, but he gradually grows out of it.

Ironhide is very much this meme/SpongeBob gag: he thinks he’s awesome, constantly pumping himself up as a manly man of action, but has a lot to learn, often being humbled and striving to do better. Being partnered with Kicker, something neither is really pleased with initially, does allow both to feed off each other, and grow into better people. Mostly. Kicker is still a rebellious moody 16 year old boy with father issues so that only goes so far, but he mellows out a bit, while Ironhide’s trials mature him. His ongoing rivalry with Scorponok and seeing the loss of several teammates are significant moments of his growth. Sadly Ironhide didn’t catch on despite good intentions, as the dub mangled him, his clunky fat kid design and his annoying tics in Japanese were hard to overlook. He does get some call backs in Japanese media, having a prominent moment in the Trigger PV and getting an occasional new toy, so he clearly has fans, he’s just an acquired taste it seems.

Kicker is another character that works better in Japanese, but still kind of a tough sell. The dub increased his teenage angst, so he came off as unlikable. He’s still bullheaded in Japanese but is more pragmatic and blunt. His schtick seems to be the type who is forced against his will into things, but makes the best of it under his terms, which goes back to that underlying theme of identity and choices.

Kicker is dragged to Cybertron against his will, has a poor first impression of the Transformers, here endowed with the power of Primus, and is used by his father pretty casually as an Energon detector. Following an accident in space that saw Kicker drift aimlessly and traumatize him further, it’s no surprise he has no real attachment to his dad often going out of his way to avoid being near him and his constant love bombing. This persists to the end, they never really make up and I suspect Dr. Jones will never get to know his first grand kids… I don’t think Jones is a bad person, he’s just not a good father, and he seems to at least be trying to make up for it (Sally comes off as a do-over more than anything with how well he treats her) but Kicker isn’t having it. Kicker makes the most of his rather bleak situation, mining Energon on his terms and gradually becoming good friends with the Autobots. The Autobots, and Optimus, respect his autonomy and treat him as a person rather than a fool. Optimus is more his dad than Jones his, something Kicker openly admits as he’s clearly far more agonized at the idea of Optimus dying when fighting Unicron than he is when Jones is inconvenienced by the Terrorcons, almost only coming to his aid out of a sense of paternal obligation than genuine affection for his dad. Kicker also seems subject to differing ideas; Takara seemingly casts him as more moody, athletic teen who helps combat the Terrorcons in an almost Masaru Daimon fashion ala Digimon Savers, but Hasbro stuff seemed to want him to be more like a teen superhero. The Dreamwave comics imply his connection to Energon is a mutation that gradually evolves to where he can manipulate Energon as a weapon similar to the Omnicons. He uses this power to discombobulate Mirage and utterly vaporize Demolisher. Alpha Q, here a more traditional Quintesson villain, sought to use Kicker as a conduit for his goal, to use Unicron to open a portal to another dimension where other Quintessons lie in wait to attack at his command. This notion is absent in Superlink, with the Decepticons not remotely interested in a Primus blessed human when they can just use the Terrorcons for Energon mining anyway. Kicker is cool for what he is and his arc is neat, but he too is an acquired taste, and while I like him his concept is pry more interesting than he actually is. In a way his concept seems to have been pseudo revived through the Maltos, but the difference with Kicker is he’s strong enough to knock around some Terrorcons but not so much he eclipsed the Autobots; they still take center stage not him.

The other two characters of note are Wing Saber and Inferno. Both are oddly not that significant in the scheme of things despite being main characters but they still fit the underlying themes. Inferno is a stalwart Autobot, doesn’t have much of a personality but he does his job well as a peace keeper. His most significant moment is when Galvatron intended to turn him into a Decepticon, which shows off the cult like vibe of the faction as well as Galvatron’s masochistic tendancies.

After struggling and help from the other Autobots and Kicker, Inferno is able to fight off the infection, but it’s clear the infection isn’t dealt with as his Autobot mark flickers briefly into a Decepticon logo, and when the infection inevitably takes root once again, Inferno becomes a snarling savage, shooting at anything that moves. In desperation he flings himself at the Energon Sun, trying to burn away the Decepticon mark and the virus, as Decepticons don’t do so hot in red Energon energy. This does work, but Inferno’s body is too damaged and succumbs to the heat of the sun, but Inferno is content to die as a true Autobot at least. Because of a new toy, Inferno’s Spark survived and was transplanted into a new body, becoming Roadblock in the dub, but was still Inferno in Japanese. (The later being odd as he’s not a fire engine anymore, he’s a construction crane now so the name doesn’t make sense here). You might think Inferno and Demolishor being transplanted into new bodies is lazy, and it kinda is, but there is precedent in Beast Wars, Beast Machines and Armada for such a thing, in particular Armada where Smokescreen’s body was destroyed but his Spark survived and was able to be installed in a new body now called Hoist.

Wing Saber is of a similar fate, his body being destroyed by his Spark being placed into a new body, though there are some catches. Originally a generic named Wing Dagger, he sought justice after his prisoner Shockblast escaped and killed his friend Padlock. Dying in his initial efforts, Primus and Rad saw fit to revive him, rebuilding him into Wing Saber, where he would go on to be Optimus’ primary Combiner partner to form Sonic Wing Mode, Optimus’ most powerful form second to Omega Supreme. Wing Saber was content to be Optimus’ property, existing to only Combine, something Optimus was clearly unnerved by, and encouraged Wing Saber to forge his own path. This started with Saber getting his comeuppance and closure against Shockblast, jailing him on Iron Planet for awhile. Shockblast would escape, and while it’s a point of contention for some that Wing Saber didn’t seem especially miffed about this, I’m not too fussed myself. The writers probably felt that arc ran its course, and they killed off Shockblast soon after so they likely didn’t feel the need to dwell on it. There’s an argument you could’ve had the two become full on rivals, but as modern TF media clings more aggressively to G1 lore, Shockwave having a flashy Star Saber like foil would be frowned upon by purists unfortunately.

Star Saber would go on to forge his own path outside of being just battle armor in the next series, but due to a quirk of the situation, a technically separate character, Sonic Bomber, who even in the dub was supposed to be a separate guy called Knockdown in planning, was remolded into a new version of Wing Saber, and he became a cocky son of a glitch. He was a flashy fly boy who was not afraid to tell Optimus off and even shoot at him if he felt like it, but when the chips were down, he could still be counted on to save the day and Combine once more into Sonic Wing Mode.

Finally there’s Alpha Q, another character like Kicker who had conflicting ideas on what his role was. Hasbro and Dreamwave saw him as a modern spin on the Quintessons, with his ultimate goal being to open a doorway so his battle hungry Quintesson fleet can conquer the Energon Universe (not the Skybound one). He dies horribly for his troubles in the unpublished finale of the comics. In the anime, while he’s still a Quintesson stand in, it’s never made clear if he’s actually supposed to be one or if Quintessons exist here at all. What is clear, in story, is that he used to be the child ruler of Planet Q, who couldn’t make the difficult decision to sacrifice his planet to spite Unicron who was currently eating it. Scorponok could meanwhile, self destructing the planet, and killing Unicron, explaining why he was dead in the first place when he was shown to survive and be intact at Armada’s closing. Alpha Q survived inside Unicron and built himself a new body, the Quintesson body, and sought to use Unicron’s powers to revive his planet and others Unicron ate. Rather than ask the Autobots for help, he instead sought to just take any Energon he could find using his revived subjects, now the Terrorcons. Eventually once the matter was settled and he became friends with Kicker and Mischa, the Autobots and Alpha Q succeeded in using the chaos bringer to revive planets, but due to the Decepticons, Unicron was commandeered and Alpha Q tragically died. While dead, his spirit continued to narrate events until series end, occasionally breaking the forth wall doing so.

Alpha Q is interesting since the Japanese material paint him as a traumatized child that lost everything, and was trying to salvage it. It also explains his fractured, eccentric personalities as his three main personalities are rather childish, with his forth personality being the only outright wise and smart one, but not below childish antics himself. His true fifth form is never seen, but it’s his original child self going by his voice. The original plans suggest Alpha Q would eventually shed his shell, and be revealed as a royal alien child of some kind, with it being toyed with he would either be a prince or princess in this state. What this might have looked like we don’t know, no concept art seemingly exists but it implies Alpha Q probably wasn’t a Quintesson. If anything, the Terrorcons imply in flashbacks that Planet Q was likely a colony world of other Transformers, and Alpha may have been a child like robot, but we will never know for certain. One curious change in the dub is rather than Alpha being seen as a child, they decided to rationalize his split personality as being four dominant members of his extinct race, with his true fifth face being everyone else. Alpha Q is instead a collective of millions of personalities shoved into a single body, which is definitely cooler in concept but I kinda prefer the alien child twist personally.

With all these characters trying to find themselves, there’s the Omnicons. Conceptually they were supposed to be a breed of Mini-Con, something that is implied in Dreamwave, but the Omnicons in the anime are a nomadic Transformer clan descended from Autobots and Decepticons who rejected the war and began working together to find Energon. Evolving into diligent miners and craftsmen, they assist the Autobots and humans in mining Energon for peace and prosperity. Jetfire and Kicker remark how the Omnicons are the only ones who seem to have figured out their roles in life and are at peace with it, tying the themes together pretty nicely.

I think in the glut of poor modern Transformers cartoons, it’s been a fun ride going back to what’s considered a poor older anime and find it’s actually handled better than previously thought, and is worth going back to (sub wise, as they still exist on YouTube as of typing).

[nicecream]

this head tilt when tankor finally responds to his original name is the exact moment i became hopelessly obsessed with beast machines. the animation, voice acting, music and sfx, characterization and storytelling in the entire show but especially in this scene, make my head explode every time. i think mainframe are incredibly expressive animators who are great at faces (including their non-tf work) and i am forever amazed that they got so much when having so little to work with in tankor's case

[diroxy]

So I've been working on a simpatico fic for the @tf-bigbang this whole summer and finally it's preview time! I had the honor of working with @mmskas_ (Twitter and instagram) and @elmonstro for this as my artists and man y'all I am so excited to share the whole thing with you. But for now!! Enjoy this small piece of Brainstorm having a breakdown :)

This was the last loop. The generator he had built in the first loop was running out of power. Each jump took more and more energy to maintain because of how many of himself were running around the same room. Like chickens with their heads cut off, that was how Swerve would have put it. Some Earth saying. He shuttered his optics and pressed his palms against them, venting slowly and steadily as each version of himself took up their control case and made the jump back to become the next version. Eventually, he was alone in the lab. His foot ached despite shutting down the sensors in it no less than five loops ago, and he felt sick down to his spark. He’d failed. There was no cure. He’d created the very weapon that took those closest from him away, and he’d made it so foolproof that even _he_ couldn’t undo it. He’d _failed_. He reached into his subspace, pulling out Perceptor’s lens. Running a thumb across it, he could feel the grit of the cracks catching on his derma. His next ex-vent caught, shuddered, and he bent over his own knees as the tears welled. He was never going to see Perceptor again, never going to work with him on something that didn’t even matter in the long run again. It wasn’t _fair_. The damn war was _over_. This should never have _happened_, and it was all _Getaway’s_ fault. He let his mask fall to the ground, pressing his free hand against his mouth to stifle the sobs spilling out of him. His fuel tank twisted, his pump lurching, and he gasped for the air his systems needed. All at once, he stood and kicked over his chair, a sound somewhere between a wail and a snarl pulled from him. He knew, he _knew_, that throwing a fit wasn’t going to solve anything, but he was so tired. He had worked so hard and lost track of the days and in the end it was his own creation— His hands were dirty with the energon of other bots, even if he’d never pulled the trigger himself. _Perceptor’s_ energon was on his hands. Perceptor and Mainframe and Atomizer and— He hurled the broken prototype of the gun meant to reattach fuel lines at the far wall, panting harshly as it broke in three and sparked. The fuel cells had cracked. _Good_. He dashed a hand over his face, smearing cleanser, and hiccuped as his intake vents seized. Before he knew it, another failed prototype was hurled at the wall. And another, and another, and— He knelt in the destruction of his own lab, staring at the quantum engine in the corner of the room, watching the fuel gauge tick down.

[tuhbanbuv]

Blues just looking up at Zero like: “How tf are you immune to the Maverick Virus—bitch that shit nearly killed me.”

“Eh im just built different”

“IT LITERALLY ATE MY MAINFRAME—“

[intothefunkyverse]

Mainframe and Mixtape

The two of them are like two sides of the same coin. One is bitter and hangs on to the past, the other has let go, and become carefree.

Mainframe defected to the Decepticons after she, Mixtape, and their team were caught in an asteroid belt, where two asteroids crushed their ship, killing everyone on board except for Mixtape and Mainframe. Mixtape disappeared, and Mainframe assumed he was dead. Mainframe was left to try and drag her team out of the rubble, desperately trying to keep them alive long enough for help to arrive. However, after tapping into a nearby commlink using her Outlier (she is able to secretly hack into any frequency as long as it's in range) she discovers that while there was another Autobot ship nearby, they had been ordered not to risk their lives for a single motley patrol crew. She realized then that the higher ups viewed her and bots like her as expendable; unimportant.

Mixtape, on the other hand, was knocked out by the collision. He was sent flying through space by a piece of debris, where he was found by the Autobot ship. They told him what had happened, and while he secretly knew the truth, he accepted what had happened. For all he knew, going back to find his crew would just be a mission to find corpses. Plus, he knew that even if he was angry at the Autobots, being with the Decepticons would go against everything he stood for.

Both of them still hate asteroids and explosions.

Two friends driven apart not by the same experience, but how they let it shape them.