What about Optimus from Animated? He is so different yet so familiar, he is not as wise or powerful as youd expect Prime to be, yet he is noble, humble and driven by a sense of conviction, he is prob my favourite part of Animated
Honestly I think a lot of that is dna from Optimus Primal, he was a main inspiration. You can even kinda see it in the face, especially since primal kind of pioneered the retractable faceplate.
Drones in Transformers have always shown personality. The only difference between actual Transformers and Drones is that Drones don't have sparks. The Diagnostic Drone from Beast Machines established this as he shows personality but does not contain a spark... except for briefly being possessed by Megatron.
A few extras I personally feel are worth a mention, Prime Dreadwing as a character and his arch. Animated Shockwave having the Longarm disguise. The seekers in Animated being actual clones and not grunts. And Beast Machines having a series be where Megatron has already won
I'm so surprised that IDW Skids isn't here! Turning Skids' qualities as one of the most overlooked and forgotten G1 Autobots into a long-running plot and character arc was a work of genius. Who better to be a spy, than the forgettable theoretician in the back of the room? And what better way to play on Skids' traditional lack of backstory, than having it be an important (amnesiac) mystery for both him and the audience?
Thundercracker deciding to be a screenwriter and have a dog is just such a compelling thing. The thing I've always wondered is "What happens after this war is over?" and that can be an extremely interesting question for an audience and even a character to do. We see defectors and neutrals portrayed occasionally, but the idea of a person or people trying to make a life away from this galaxy-spanning, species-wide war is just really interesting. The forever war between the autobots and decepticons is some thing we often see the start and end of, but rarely the middle and the epilogue. There's a gap there that could lead to a whole lot of interesting stories.
BW Ravage is pretty great, yeah he's technically the G1 character but he's completely different in presentation. It kind of reinforced how important the G1 guys were in the mythos when a cassette is such a badass and taking out whole teams.
you know, it's interesting that Thundercracker is actually such as sympathetic character, because the character bio of his original generations toy basically said he was a racist who considered anyone who couldn't fly as inferior. It feels like they did him dirty.
animated Wasp/inator taking the buttmonkey gag character who existed so the maximals had something to blow up and making him still the universe's chewtoy but playing it straight was a inspired move i say along with making him both Bumble Bee's foil and a consequence of Bee's own actions really hammered him home
BW Megatron is such a great villian most versions of Megatron are sometimes based on him (the sympathetic past and naming himself after a much more powerful Megatron)
I kinda wish we got a Transformers series where Thundercracker was the main character. Think a mix between The Fugitive and The A-Team when it comes to tone and plot. Have him be traveling around Earth trying to be a better bot while being hunted down by Prowl.
Prime Soundwave was SO FREAKING SCARY! He was such an amazing villain. I loved watching Screamer leaking oil every time he has to talk to him. So perfect! Pity it didn't carry into later series. (Also a big lover of Prime Megatron. I thought he was extremely intimidating. The fact that he's the only Megatron to eventually bring Starscream completely to heel says something. That Frank Welker created an entirely new iteration of this character from the one he played decades earlier is a testament to his unholy ACTING TALENT!)
Honestly, TFP Soundwave is even scarier than Megatron. Megs has the power, the intellect, but he can be reasoned with. There's a chance you'll be spared his wrath. Not so much with Soundwave. He'll end anyway in his or Megatron's way without a second thought
This is why I wanna see a better sequel to prime cause rid15 did soundwave dirty. Soundwave could’ve mopped the floor against bumblebees team and I don’t understand why soundwave stayed, yea he needed parts to build a beacon to contact megatron but he could’ve flown off and stole the parts somewhere else making it extremely hard for bumblebee to find him or heck tap into a satellite network like in prime but nope he gets romped twice
I agree, Prime Soundwave is my favorite reinvented character they did. If you do plan on doing a Worst Reinvented character list, I bet it’d be a ton of Bayverse bots and cons.
honestly I'd rather only see the bayverse or the WORSE bayverse transformer in that list, because that would be a predictable list if its only Bayverse
Autobot Megatron was a brilliant move, imo. Another one I’d add is Grimlock from Cyberverse. The duality of his modes was fun and interesting. I kind of feel like Prime Predaking should be on the list, or at least an honorable mention. Good stuff all-in-all.
I love Animated Blitzwing. And I also love how the fans gave each personality a name, which as far as I can remember became semi-canon. Dietrich, Arnold, and Blot.
Animated made Bulkhead and ensemble Dark Horse. In Energon, his personality is completely different from the lovable big lug. Barricade is another great example. The movies made his police car form so iconic and became the standard for every new character barring that name. That the micromaster version of Barricade was renamed into Runner and a new G1 character based on his movie counterpart was born.
Can you really call Animated Bulkhead a reinvention of the character or just a character with the same name. The only thing the characters have in common is they are Green Autobots.
@@R0-83-RT Plus, Energon Bulkhead is actually a new version of Springer; his Japanese name is Sprung, which you can probably tell is Japanese Springer's name.
Blitzwing's crazy face actually did show up on a movie figure in the Bumblebee toy line. Not sure why when that face never appeared on screen and that version of Blitzwing is only a name slap. I think Hasbro was just trying anything they could to try to sell what should have been Starscream as a Blitzwing toy so they threw in the animated crazy face swapping gimmick. So, my favorite reimagined characters... besides Blitzwing because I absolutely agree with that one... in no particular order, and I will include name slaps when I feel like the name slap still suits the character even if they have nothing in common with the orginal name sake beyond that. Beast Wars Dinobot, Inferno, Silverbolt, and Rampage. These for are the characters that immediatly come to mind when I hear those names even above their G1 name sakes cause they had so much more characterization in Beast Wars. I'm also going to mention Ravage separately here because he actually is G1 Ravage in a new body not a new character who just shares the same name so this actually is a reimagined Ravage and his Beast Wars depiction is the reason Ravage is my favorite cassette. If we went purely how they were depicted in the Sunbow cartoon, it would be Rumble (blue). Beast Machines Thrust who is technically a reimagining of TWO characters. He's really just a name slap of the original cone head seeker but he also is a cooler version of Waspinator. And I recall Scott McNeil saying in an interview that Waspinator was orginally written as a more serious compitent character before he started doing the voice and his toy bio kind of confirms that but that's what Thrust became in Beast Machines is a version of Waspinator that was closer to his original toy bio. RID Scourge who I personally consider as more of a reimagined Motormaster than a Scourge. And later they would start using Nemesis Prime in the same kind of role but I don't think any evil Optimus Prime has been done as well as Scourge was. He was much more than just a generic Evil Optimus, he was also technically a reprogrammed Autobot protoform, and because his likeness to Optimus was caused by actually scanning Optimus along with his vehicle mode and that vehicle's human driver he's also part human. I didn't just make that up it's actually canon in the show and the reason he's able to command Fortress Maximus. Armada Blurr is the best Blurr and his introduction episode is really the only episode of the entire series that I even liked. Armada is the worst Tranaformers cartoon I've ever watched so that's saying a lot. Energon Rodimus, something this series did that I haven't seen before or sense is making Rodimus a leader in his own right who doesn't even always agree with Optimus. I actually really like that he isn't following in Optimus' shadow, he's not even a Prime, he's just Rodimus. I also really like his vehicle mode and used him as the basis for my own fan character. Cybertron there's another Scourge who I'm listing because I think making him a dragon actually fits the name better than it did either of the previous Scourge characters. I also really like this version of Soundwave... I mean I think making Laserbeak a BOMB is stupid of yeah lets transform into something that can only be used once. But Soundwave himself being able to mimick the voices of his enemies to confuse, the fact that he can also throw his voice making his enemies attack each other, it's a verry clever use of his sound abilities that even the Prime version never did. He would record voices and play them back but never in a practical way. Cybertron Soundwave didn't just play back recordings either he could actually sound like the character and say things that wouldn't have. Animated you already mentioned Blitzwing but I also really love Animated Sockwave. Being desguised as Longarm on an Autobot controlled Cybertron gives him a lot more to do than just stand by the phone for 4 billion years waiting for Megatron to call like the original Shockwave. They also reimagined Prowl and Ratchet as more fleshed out and memorable characters and Prime Ratchet tried to repeat Animated but not as well. I also like how Wreck-Gar was reimagined from a Junkion into a literal garbage truck and having Weird Al voice his just to reference Dare to be Stupid being in the movie when they were first introduced is just great. Prime Arcee and Wheeljack. A lot of people didn't like Arcee but this was really the first time she had a personality beyond just the girl. Well first time in animation I think the comics may have done this first but I'm not familiar enough with when the comics came out. And Wheeljack still looks like his name sake but he's a Wrecker rather than an inventor. There's a lot of similarities to Depth Charge. If they ever did something like this again I'd actually prefer a combination of Inventor Wheeljack and Wrecker Wheeljack. Make him the tech guy for the Wreckers. Cyberverse even sort of does this with their Wheeljack feeling a lot more intentionally chaotic than the failed inventor of G1 who's inventions blow up on accident not because he specifically made them to do that. Rescue Bots Whirl and Wedge. The original Whirl is a character I've never liked because I feel like he takes away the uniqueness of Shockwave's design. RBA Whirl however actually stands out as a unique character and not just an Autobot version of Shockwave and she instantly became my favorite character in the whole show. Wedge was a bit of a slow burn but his back story reveal being a former Decepticon who switched sides and basically taking advantage of the original toy being repainted into the Universe Constructicons really makes him a more fleshed out character from the original Wedge. RID2015 Overload... he's an actor which is already more information than we know about any previous Overload. I also really liked reimaging Galvatron as a combiner rather than an upgrade of Megatron though it had already been done before but that was the first time Galvatronus was really in fiction and not just a toy only combiner. Cyberverse Grimlock, I have never liked a Grimlock before as much as I like this version. He's a character with DID as he actually switches personality between his robot and beast modes and his alter ego was actually caused by trauma... it's not specifically a childhood trauma though Transformers don't really have a childhood like humans do so I can excuse that bit of inaccuracy. He's also not a villain so one of the verry few good examples of DID in fiction. DID is also what Animated Blitzwing has by the way but Cyberverse Grimlock is a much better depiction of the disorder. I still like Blitzwing but he does play into the stereotype that systems are always evil. He's not a verry threatening villain though as the crazy face is more funny than anything so I give him a pass. Also forgot to mention, I also agree with Prime Breakdown though I think he had some waisted potential as he got killed early on and it felt like they randomly gave what should have been his character arc to Dreadwing and Knockout after Breakdown died. And RID2015 did actually mention that Breakdown was a Stunticon when they met Motormaster's crew Bumblebee mentions he's delt with Combaticons before and name drops Breakdown. So they at least referenced that he was originally part of that team even if Prime Breakdown has very little to do with them beyond that one random reference.
Your defense of idw Megatron isn't really that outrageous. You actually make a good case for him. Actually I kind of just joined the hate train but after reading up on the idw series and listening to your interpretation I'd actually like to see more Megatron's like this.
Honestly IDW Megatron might be one of the best Villain Redemption arcs I've ever seen, because it subverts the traditional idea of a villain redemption. It's about Megatron realizing that switching sides and doing good DOESN'T make up for all the horrible things he's done, at the end of the day he has to accept punishment for his crimes
Honestly, IDW Megatron was and IMHO still is the best depection of Megatron to date. I will happily die on that hill. The Character devlopment, the depth and what they were able to do with the story because of it are all groundbreaking in the franchise and to this day has not been replicated.
TF Prime Predaking is no longer the old G1 combiner version that we all gotten use to, he’s obviously a KING & leader of the Predacons, & THEY became MORE than just a combiner group, they are a full race of predatory transformers, and that is saying something!!!
9:45, making Arcee into a ver. of Honey Kisaragi and Ibuki from Street Fighter is epic win. 21:04, I often wonder if they wanted Dreadwing to be originally Thundercracker in Prime.
Well, G1 have been pandered to for long enough. How about something NEW and FRESH? Like Bio-machines à la Guyver? Imagine Beast Wars Transmetal but vehicles instead of animals. Full of bio-organics details. Man shit would be so... *METAL!*
I'm still annoyed that they didn't remake Animated Blitzwing for Legacy and remade G1 Blitzwing instead. Especially since the altmodes on Legacy Blitzwing suck.
To be fair, the alt modes on Animated Blitzwing are almost as crap for the same reason. There's still obvious tank kibble under his wings. The "tank mode" is unconvincing.
I think it's fair to say that praising the micromasters isn't giving Pat Lee any credit, since all the work was most likely done by someone else who wasn't paid.
Here are my thoughts on the list: - Micromasters & Action Masters (DreamWave onward): very interesting to think the first major turn for those particular sub-groups were that era of the comics (but the Marvel G1 wrestling story is a fun one just from the premise) - Autobot Megatron (the stronger IDW): honestly, I like the idea of Megatron as an Autobot; sure, I think Barber & especially Roberts went off the rails toward the end of their books (plus all the executive meddling from Revolution onward muddied the waters), but taking Mark Weber's idea for Autobot Megatron and nurturing that into a pretty reasonable through-line for this incarnation of the character from Dark Cybertron on (plus the stint as a miner & a poet before his common gladiator days among the other bits that've come in & out of vogue for Megatrons' origins in later series) PLUS being a great character study of a Megatron trying to atone for so much - while I haven't read much of any comic universe directly from the pages (mostly skimming The Wiki), I think it's cool we got this kind of Megatron for once, and I hope we get at least ONE transforming Autobot Megatron toy someday (plus Alex Milne's MTMTE design is just a good Megatron, I just wish the Furai model kit wasn't the only thing). Tl;dr, I think Autobot Megatron was a good gamble & a nice change for once (and I hope the idea comes up again for a new TV show as I think Earthspark might go for the standard again) - Breakdown (Prime): eh, he's OK, I guess; Prime just isn't my speed (that's more Animated, Cybertron, Beast Wars, OG Rescue Bots, etc.), but one of the more interesting ideas from that show (also, him & Knock-Out come off more as bros than a romantic item - I know a lot of -shippers- fans prefer that direction and I know the IDW writers made that a thing, but my tastes just end up being contrary to popular opinion -and/or some of the loudest ones, but I digress-) - Arcee (Cyberverse): need to watch Seasons 2&3 plus the movies, but Arcee being a gun-toting weapons expert talking travel & war stories with an erudite Grimlock sounds like another fun variation for an Arcee (though the selfie thing is a bridge far for me); related note, I'd love to see a new Arcee get a different alt-mode like a Hummer, Jeep or ATV would be a nice palate cleanser after all the samey G1 hover-wedges we've had recently) - Blitzving (Animated): my first Blitzwing, and by God, Bumper Robinson did a fantastic job with all three parts here! While the G1 is fine enough, we haven't had a great Blitzwing since Animated - hopefully the next one in the cartoons does something fresh & fun (even if that involves a similar split-personality thing, be open to experimentation ) - Tailgate & Swerve (IDW): again, minimal reading for the comics, but Tailgate & Cyclonus becoming friends through their ties to "the old ways" like teacher & pupil or a boy & his grandpa is a very different idea for Transformers that kinda pays off -even if the way they wrote Tailgate out seems needlessly unfair to him and Cyclonus- - Starscream (Armada): similar to IDW Megs, having a Starscream *hate* his respective Megatron to just wanting him *_dead_* for his methods rather than usurping the throne does make for a great variation on the traditional dynamic (plus his final scene is remarkably powerful, even if I haven't seen Armada in full) - Predacon Megatron (Beast Wars): while I agree that he's one of the most competent & impressive Megatrons in the wider Transformers canon, I can't help but feel you undersold this Megatron - your points are absolutely fair, but this Megatron is also being extremely funny with quips both hammy & dead-pan, remarkably charismatic & endearing for a character who gets so close to beating the heroes on multiple occasions AND to top things off, this character has to be a contender for the greatest role of David Kaye's career as an actor (alongside Pyron for the Darkstalkers OVA and Clank for the Ratchet & Clank games), and being the only actor so far to play a Megatron AND an Optimus for an entire series' run (voicing O.P. in Animated as well as Lugnut & Grimlock as well as bit parts like Warpath). In short, one of the greatest all-rounders in Transformers history... *_...yesss._* - Thundercracker (IDW): still interesting how so many characters going back to G1 were never written as "intended" from the original character bios by Budiansky & his fellow legends of comics (such as the late Denny O'Neil naming Optimus Prime) going into the G1 cartoon or even the actual Marvel G1 comics; of course I'd never want to change the timeline that way (that'd risk the erasure of so many great characters over the years and I'd NEVER want that guilt), but this has to be one of those cases where going back to the well set the groundwork for a very interesting character & arc here - a Thundercracker who's more about his Decepticons' original goals and trying to steer it back from the conquest of the universe it's devolved into (as well as being the beating heart of "All Hail Megatron" that would change the trajectory of the comics going forward), whilst also being something of a mirror to the Thundercracker of Cybertron/Galaxy Force (who still has my heart as *the* greatest Thundercracker overall) - being a guy who tries to do his best and has a good heart (not-so-)deep-down, marches to the beat of his own drum, and who ultimately wants to do the right thing (even though TC from IDW doesn't join the Autobots either as he just wants to leave the war by writing goony screenplays); plus it's nice to see a Decepticon grow to care about humanity's culture and our own triumphs over tragedy as a species (alongside Autobots like a Jazz or a Hound) - thinking about it all (and our own potential to keep on keepin' on), it's just kinda nice, y'know? Didn't mean to wax on so wistfully about all this for so long, but I can say this Thundercracker also has some things going for him - not my favorite iteration, but still solid in his own right. (Also, his dog Buster's pretty cute) - and finally, Soundwave (Prime): while I still prefer other series & their casts to Prime, I can still respect it for trying things differently and doing good with some of them; having a mute Soundwave who's one of the deadliest arms of the Decepticon war machine, unsettling as commentary on how technology can be used for good or ill, action saying so much than words and speaking louder volumes, all the joining layers just make a lot of sense; I must admit I'm glad concepts like this were given proper thought & explored in the Kurtzman-Orci writer's room for Prime, and I can see why they had some success on projects like Movies 1&2 and the reboot for Hawaii Five-0 (much as my dad watches the latter constantly, I can recognize their strengths in recognizing talented writers & letting them do their jobs effectively). Not my favorite Soundwave by any means, but I'd be a fool for not acknowledging the sharp ideation of this character; not too shabby, Prime, not too shabby... Overall, I think this is a pretty solid list, but I've been writing for at least an hour and I need to get to bed... Keep Up The Good Work! (:
Agree quite a bit. My big one is probably Animated Megatron, and it comes down to an interesting shift in his relationship with Optimus and his crew: To Megatron, Optimus isn't his worthy opponent and archenemy...he's some random autobot who got in his way. Optimus has to EARN Megatron seeing him as his nemesis, and that carries into how this Megatron carries himself and behaves, especially in the end where this peon manages to foil his plans and make Megatron lose it. Of course he's also the one version of Megs who took none of Starscream's crap and killed him as soon as he could get away with it.
For a video, how about re-imaginings you'd like to see? For example, Starscream without the deceit. He's still power-hungry but aware he doesn't have Megatron's raw charisma, power, or long-term planning to be in charge. So he turns to logistics. He's not just Air/Space Commander, he's the bot who has what you need. He has caches of weapons, energon, building materials, etc on hand to fuel Megatron's schemes making him the power behind the throne.
I agree with this list, PRime had many good reinventions, like Smokescreen or Arcee. So did Animated, with Prowl, Ratchet, Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Shockwave, etc.
When he said Beast Wars, I was expecting Ravage. As cool as Megatron is, I do treat him as a totally different character since he only named himself after the original.
The live action movies should have been included here, what they did for Blackout and Barricade was instrumental in how they are seen now. A reimagining so good that the movie appearances/characterisations are the definitive versions, taking two characters with little to no development and making them A/B listers overnight.
Gonna say I'm a fan of the clone explanation for the seekers introduced in Animated, offering a reason why the seelers look like Starscream, and why there's so many of them. Funnily enough Starscream does have enough personality to go around, that each seeker in interesting while carrying only one of Starscream's taits. My personal favorites were Slipstream for the speculation on what she was based on, and Ramjet, with the gimmick everything he says is a lie creating some interesting interactions. This clone idea even seemed to have inspired Prime & IDW, with the clone plot being shortly repeated in Prime, & it being explained in IDW that all the seekers were essentially designed with the same body to perform a function, rather than being given individual bodies.
IDW's take on Megatron is one of the most beautiful redemption stories I've seen in modern fiction. Who knew he'd make a perfect foil for Rodimus and Ultra Magnus back in the day.
I thought the IDW take on Ultra Magnus was a good for a reinvention. I mean when it was revealed that there was a little robot piloting the shell, mind blown.
If they ever do a “no way home” style transformer show or tv series, they should include all these characters(plus TFP Knockout, who also should be on this list).
@@orion_paxx Spiderman(Tom Holland) is tired of having his identidy known around the world and ruining his life. So he ask Doctor Strange for help, but messes up the spell. Instead of everyone in the world forgetting him, anyone in the MULTIVERSE who knows him comes to his universe.
Should have absolutely mentioned Movie Bumblebee. Dude was so successful a reimagination that all the bumblebees now are high level team members with a sports car alt mode. Virtually no prominent bumblebee is a beetle anymore
Man I want a sequel to this. Idw Whirl, prime wheeljack mabye, idw cyclonus, a few thoughts. I might have the wrong idea of the prompt but I like em. Also what I've heard of idw sky byte(its idw right not dreamwave)
May I be one of the few that absolutely supports how this list came about? You explained your opinions well, and brought valid points for every character. Unlike how your final words for this post was expecting negativity; I wish to continue to be as positive as I can towards your content. Please keep going👍
I want to see more of Megatron being “brothers in arms“ with good old Optimus prime. That is my favorite version of the Megatron storyline. thanks aligned continuity.
Screwed up Nevsr you make amazing content I will however make fun of your reasoning for being terrified of beast wars Megatron because you’re supposed to be afraid of him because he’s evil and the autobot Exactly one of my favorites
Prime Soundwave as #1 is fantastic to see. Imo, TFP Soundwave is the best depiction of the character ever, even better than the original G1, and I really hope we get to see something similar to him again in the future.
Gotta love Swerve and Tailgate! I also think Cyclonus, Whirl, Chromedome and my boy Brainstorm were also elevated by IDW. when it comes to Cyberverse I think Grimlock is also worth mentionning (also: shoutout to girl Swoop!).
BRAVO! Done from my very own heart. Well done. Everyone on Prime got reimagined and expanded soooo well! Well... with one exception: Laserbeak got done dirty. Everybody else was stretched and grown and made far more intense & interesting, But all ol Laserbeak got was minus one face and zero personality. Not cool. I think I would have made Megatron's paldrons more angular and less horn-like though. Swapped his purple paint and inner glow for blacks & reds. Megatron never seemed like the fancy flourish guy to me. More straight forward, utilitarian, no BS kinda guy.
Soundwave should be HIGHER, because he is SUPERIOR! You should do another list of the WORSE reinventions in Transformers, personally, I think what happened to BB is the worse, where they took away his voice for radio, honestly, there is only one scene that it actually works well and that is a comical scene in ROTF, where he disapointed that he can't go with Sam to collage!
If we ever talk about Legacy toys, do you wish we get single piece (or close, assembly-wise) Legendary Weapons for Armada rehashes? We all know all of these were unstable because they were comprised of Mini-Cons, but take away the Mini-Con aspect, and they become just nothing but the weapons they're supposed to be. The primary deal of Armada is foraging these Mini-Cons and see if those ones form a superweapon both sides were finding, which is good advertising-wise, but terrible in practice.
Autobot Megatron >>> Messiah Complex Optimus Who Everyone Hates Despite Him Saving the Universe Multiple Times In regards to my favorite reinventions: Bayverse Optimus Prime: Call me a heretic, but it’s a reinvention that makes sense given the context he’s in. The Bayverse Decepticons are vicious murderers willing to harm innocents at best and downright feral at worst. Therefore, an Optimus who doesn’t kill (as he is wont to be in many continuities) wouldn’t fly in the Bayverse, nor would he be seen as a hero. Admittedly, he can be a touch excessive because Michael Bay thinks robot gore is cool, but I find the contrast between the traditional Optimus wisdom and dadliness and this new warborn aggression super interesting. Kinda wish we had more Optimii less willing to pull punches… Animated Swindle: Like TJ’s choice of TFP Breakdown, this turned a combiner limb into an independent baddie. Compared to Knock Out’s sometimes Conjunx, though, he already had something of an interesting personality, so his increased prominence just makes that personality more pronounced. And precious Primus, DJW’s redesign and Fred Willard’s voice just made him POP! Prime Ratchet: If Animated Ratchet was the start of “cranky old man” Ratchet, this was where it solidified as my favorite characterization for him. Throw in a killer performance by Jeffrey Combs, and you have the definitive version of the character. Even Alex Milne admits that TFP Ratchet is the voice he hears when drawing Ratchet for Lost Light! MTMTE Deszaras (not calling him Deathsaurus): Glad that James Roberts emphasized this guy’s dad energy. It’s so rare to have Decepticon leaders who give a darned sock about their soldiers, and since this guy is one of the few who does so, he stands out. I kinda want a story about him and Esmeral being surrogate parents to a bunch of young Decepticons (reimagined versions of the Breastforce?) just to see how cute it could get. C’mon, Deszaras needs his wife! (Also Alex Milne absolutely NAILED that redesign for him)
I think Prime or IDW Ratchet vs G1 Ratchet should be on this list as a reinvented character...his happy/nice attitude in G1 vs the grizzled/angry vet who's seen 1 to many makes him a good candidate for this type of list...
Perhaps, but what about Ratchet from Animated? He was the first major Ratchet to really do something different (veteran of *The* Great War on Cybertron, old man, a proper deep dive into PTSD and Survivor's Guilt, bridging the Generation Gap, finding new purpose in his life, righting wrongs, fighting the ghosts of his past, the introduction of bounty hunter Lockdown as his rival AND a true successor to Death's Head long after that character was stolen by Marvel, the list goes on), and both IDW & Prime Ratchets had some cool & interesting ideas with Pharma and homages to Jeffrey Combs's other works), and Movie Ratchet being lemon yellow with a beard is kinda fun in retrospect
Out of Curiosity, where does Animated Shockwave fall on your list of reimagined Characters? The fact he was hidden out in the open really showed me he could be the perfect spy, and I dont think they have really shown that in many of the bots.
I considered him for the list, he is a great reimagining, but once his deception was revealed he reverted to a more traditional Shockwave style so I docked him a few points.
I have always been a fan of Autobot Megatron. I wouldn't change anything on the list. Just add to it. But of course then we'd be adding onto it forever. Animated Swindle. Prime Bulkhead. Fall of Cybertron Grimlock. War for/Fall of Cybertron Megatron.
Soundwave was one of my favorites in Prime and in life. I thought the redesign and him not talking were cool. I mean, Frank Welker is great, but not talking added to Soundwave’s eeriness in the show and how uncomfy even other decepticons were with him. I like pretty much all incarnations of Soundwave, from the serious, to the fun
I do hope we see a new animated blitzwing soon in legacy. Animated I think in a q&a was hinted at to return and a blitzwing and by extension lug nut would be an amazing duo to have again. Lug nut I see being a leader for his size cause he’s a wide boy and blitzwing might also be a leader to properly include the triple changer but I wonder if voyager would work cause his tank and jet modes were very compact in the original figure
Well the easy one for me was animated prime but someone already said that so keeping with animated. Ratchet or ultra magnus both are different but still have roots in there classic depictions. Not to mention both have just become the cannon version of the characters. I mean when was the last time you saw ratchet not be a grumpy old bot.
DreamWave should be credited for the content, the hard work of a lot of artists doesn't need to be marginalized just because 1 or 2 people did unethical things. Content wise I still place DW over the 1st half of IDW. They didn't hit their stride until 2012.
Pat Lee ("superstar" artist and Dreamwave's president) is a turd, putting it nicely. His art exaggerates proportions, he splurged for himself and his girlfriend, didn't credit the people behind those comics, NEVER paid them, which all contributed to Dreamwave's fall. He now makes and sells NFTs.
BW megatron shouldn't be here not because I dont agree with you but it's like you said How Armarda Blur and G1 are completely separate BW is canonically separate from the original
I have nothing against Autobot Megatron, most of the people that complain about it are the "B-BUT MUH GENWUN!!!!" crowd, the same kind of people that will say Micromaster Barricade is better than Decepticop Barricade.
What about Optimus from Animated? He is so different yet so familiar, he is not as wise or powerful as youd expect Prime to be, yet he is noble, humble and driven by a sense of conviction, he is prob my favourite part of Animated
Probably not his cup of tea or he preferred the ones on list over a animated prime eh everyone has there own list tbh
@@cyberfire7191 probably, im just pointing out one I liked though, take it as a +1 to the list
I was thinking the same thing
Honestly I think a lot of that is dna from Optimus Primal, he was a main inspiration. You can even kinda see it in the face, especially since primal kind of pioneered the retractable faceplate.
Well it is a younger prime so I would i assume he probably does not view as that drastic of a change we just get to see him become a leader
Funny thing about TF:P Vehicons... they're not Drones. If anything they're more than likely clones, but they do have personality.
So even more like the cylons from sci-fi channel battlestar Galactica
I always thought they were like Genericons: the common foot soldier for the Decepticons with no identifying characteristics.
Drones in Transformers have always shown personality. The only difference between actual Transformers and Drones is that Drones don't have sparks. The Diagnostic Drone from Beast Machines established this as he shows personality but does not contain a spark... except for briefly being possessed by Megatron.
Aligned "drones" do have sparks
A few extras I personally feel are worth a mention, Prime Dreadwing as a character and his arch. Animated Shockwave having the Longarm disguise. The seekers in Animated being actual clones and not grunts. And Beast Machines having a series be where Megatron has already won
You know animated blitzwing was good when the thrilling 30 g1 blitzwing randomly had the face changing gimmick
Prime Soundwave knows how unsettling and creepy he is to everyone, and uses it to full advantage, excellent choice.
I'm so surprised that IDW Skids isn't here! Turning Skids' qualities as one of the most overlooked and forgotten G1 Autobots into a long-running plot and character arc was a work of genius.
Who better to be a spy, than the forgettable theoretician in the back of the room? And what better way to play on Skids' traditional lack of backstory, than having it be an important (amnesiac) mystery for both him and the audience?
Thundercracker deciding to be a screenwriter and have a dog is just such a compelling thing. The thing I've always wondered is "What happens after this war is over?" and that can be an extremely interesting question for an audience and even a character to do. We see defectors and neutrals portrayed occasionally, but the idea of a person or people trying to make a life away from this galaxy-spanning, species-wide war is just really interesting. The forever war between the autobots and decepticons is some thing we often see the start and end of, but rarely the middle and the epilogue. There's a gap there that could lead to a whole lot of interesting stories.
knockout: "watch out for the quiet ones" in a in semi sarcastic/scared tone to breakdown
BW Ravage is pretty great, yeah he's technically the G1 character but he's completely different in presentation. It kind of reinforced how important the G1 guys were in the mythos when a cassette is such a badass and taking out whole teams.
you know, it's interesting that Thundercracker is actually such as sympathetic character, because the character bio of his original generations toy basically said he was a racist who considered anyone who couldn't fly as inferior. It feels like they did him dirty.
animated Wasp/inator taking the buttmonkey gag character who existed so the maximals had something to blow up and making him still the universe's chewtoy but playing it straight was a inspired move i say along with making him both Bumble Bee's foil and a consequence of Bee's own actions really hammered him home
BW Megatron is such a great villian most versions of Megatron are sometimes based on him (the sympathetic past and naming himself after a much more powerful Megatron)
I kinda wish we got a Transformers series where Thundercracker was the main character. Think a mix between The Fugitive and The A-Team when it comes to tone and plot. Have him be traveling around Earth trying to be a better bot while being hunted down by Prowl.
I'd watch that!
Prime Soundwave was SO FREAKING SCARY! He was such an amazing villain. I loved watching Screamer leaking oil every time he has to talk to him. So perfect! Pity it didn't carry into later series.
(Also a big lover of Prime Megatron. I thought he was extremely intimidating. The fact that he's the only Megatron to eventually bring Starscream completely to heel says something. That Frank Welker created an entirely new iteration of this character from the one he played decades earlier is a testament to his unholy ACTING TALENT!)
Honestly, TFP Soundwave is even scarier than Megatron. Megs has the power, the intellect, but he can be reasoned with. There's a chance you'll be spared his wrath.
Not so much with Soundwave. He'll end anyway in his or Megatron's way without a second thought
This is why I wanna see a better sequel to prime cause rid15 did soundwave dirty. Soundwave could’ve mopped the floor against bumblebees team and I don’t understand why soundwave stayed,
yea he needed parts to build a beacon to contact megatron but he could’ve flown off and stole the parts somewhere else making it extremely hard for bumblebee to find him or heck tap into a satellite network like in prime but nope he gets romped twice
I agree, Prime Soundwave is my favorite reinvented character they did.
If you do plan on doing a Worst Reinvented character list, I bet it’d be a ton of Bayverse bots and cons.
honestly I'd rather only see the bayverse or the WORSE bayverse transformer in that list, because that would be a predictable list if its only Bayverse
Autobot Megatron was a brilliant move, imo.
Another one I’d add is Grimlock from Cyberverse. The duality of his modes was fun and interesting.
I kind of feel like Prime Predaking should be on the list, or at least an honorable mention.
Good stuff all-in-all.
I love Animated Blitzwing. And I also love how the fans gave each personality a name, which as far as I can remember became semi-canon. Dietrich, Arnold, and Blot.
*Talks about Autobot Megatron:* Don't worry, we're probably never gonna see it again
*Earthspark:* Yeah, about that...
Animated made Bulkhead and ensemble Dark Horse. In Energon, his personality is completely different from the lovable big lug. Barricade is another great example. The movies made his police car form so iconic and became the standard for every new character barring that name. That the micromaster version of Barricade was renamed into Runner and a new G1 character based on his movie counterpart was born.
Can you really call Animated Bulkhead a reinvention of the character or just a character with the same name. The only thing the characters have in common is they are Green Autobots.
@@R0-83-RT Plus, Energon Bulkhead is actually a new version of Springer; his Japanese name is Sprung, which you can probably tell is Japanese Springer's name.
Blitzwing's crazy face actually did show up on a movie figure in the Bumblebee toy line. Not sure why when that face never appeared on screen and that version of Blitzwing is only a name slap. I think Hasbro was just trying anything they could to try to sell what should have been Starscream as a Blitzwing toy so they threw in the animated crazy face swapping gimmick.
So, my favorite reimagined characters... besides Blitzwing because I absolutely agree with that one... in no particular order, and I will include name slaps when I feel like the name slap still suits the character even if they have nothing in common with the orginal name sake beyond that.
Beast Wars Dinobot, Inferno, Silverbolt, and Rampage. These for are the characters that immediatly come to mind when I hear those names even above their G1 name sakes cause they had so much more characterization in Beast Wars.
I'm also going to mention Ravage separately here because he actually is G1 Ravage in a new body not a new character who just shares the same name so this actually is a reimagined Ravage and his Beast Wars depiction is the reason Ravage is my favorite cassette. If we went purely how they were depicted in the Sunbow cartoon, it would be Rumble (blue).
Beast Machines Thrust who is technically a reimagining of TWO characters. He's really just a name slap of the original cone head seeker but he also is a cooler version of Waspinator. And I recall Scott McNeil saying in an interview that Waspinator was orginally written as a more serious compitent character before he started doing the voice and his toy bio kind of confirms that but that's what Thrust became in Beast Machines is a version of Waspinator that was closer to his original toy bio.
RID Scourge who I personally consider as more of a reimagined Motormaster than a Scourge. And later they would start using Nemesis Prime in the same kind of role but I don't think any evil Optimus Prime has been done as well as Scourge was. He was much more than just a generic Evil Optimus, he was also technically a reprogrammed Autobot protoform, and because his likeness to Optimus was caused by actually scanning Optimus along with his vehicle mode and that vehicle's human driver he's also part human. I didn't just make that up it's actually canon in the show and the reason he's able to command Fortress Maximus.
Armada Blurr is the best Blurr and his introduction episode is really the only episode of the entire series that I even liked. Armada is the worst Tranaformers cartoon I've ever watched so that's saying a lot.
Energon Rodimus, something this series did that I haven't seen before or sense is making Rodimus a leader in his own right who doesn't even always agree with Optimus. I actually really like that he isn't following in Optimus' shadow, he's not even a Prime, he's just Rodimus. I also really like his vehicle mode and used him as the basis for my own fan character.
Cybertron there's another Scourge who I'm listing because I think making him a dragon actually fits the name better than it did either of the previous Scourge characters.
I also really like this version of Soundwave... I mean I think making Laserbeak a BOMB is stupid of yeah lets transform into something that can only be used once. But Soundwave himself being able to mimick the voices of his enemies to confuse, the fact that he can also throw his voice making his enemies attack each other, it's a verry clever use of his sound abilities that even the Prime version never did. He would record voices and play them back but never in a practical way. Cybertron Soundwave didn't just play back recordings either he could actually sound like the character and say things that wouldn't have.
Animated you already mentioned Blitzwing but I also really love Animated Sockwave. Being desguised as Longarm on an Autobot controlled Cybertron gives him a lot more to do than just stand by the phone for 4 billion years waiting for Megatron to call like the original Shockwave. They also reimagined Prowl and Ratchet as more fleshed out and memorable characters and Prime Ratchet tried to repeat Animated but not as well. I also like how Wreck-Gar was reimagined from a Junkion into a literal garbage truck and having Weird Al voice his just to reference Dare to be Stupid being in the movie when they were first introduced is just great.
Prime Arcee and Wheeljack. A lot of people didn't like Arcee but this was really the first time she had a personality beyond just the girl. Well first time in animation I think the comics may have done this first but I'm not familiar enough with when the comics came out. And Wheeljack still looks like his name sake but he's a Wrecker rather than an inventor. There's a lot of similarities to Depth Charge. If they ever did something like this again I'd actually prefer a combination of Inventor Wheeljack and Wrecker Wheeljack. Make him the tech guy for the Wreckers. Cyberverse even sort of does this with their Wheeljack feeling a lot more intentionally chaotic than the failed inventor of G1 who's inventions blow up on accident not because he specifically made them to do that.
Rescue Bots Whirl and Wedge. The original Whirl is a character I've never liked because I feel like he takes away the uniqueness of Shockwave's design. RBA Whirl however actually stands out as a unique character and not just an Autobot version of Shockwave and she instantly became my favorite character in the whole show. Wedge was a bit of a slow burn but his back story reveal being a former Decepticon who switched sides and basically taking advantage of the original toy being repainted into the Universe Constructicons really makes him a more fleshed out character from the original Wedge.
RID2015 Overload... he's an actor which is already more information than we know about any previous Overload. I also really liked reimaging Galvatron as a combiner rather than an upgrade of Megatron though it had already been done before but that was the first time Galvatronus was really in fiction and not just a toy only combiner.
Cyberverse Grimlock, I have never liked a Grimlock before as much as I like this version. He's a character with DID as he actually switches personality between his robot and beast modes and his alter ego was actually caused by trauma... it's not specifically a childhood trauma though Transformers don't really have a childhood like humans do so I can excuse that bit of inaccuracy. He's also not a villain so one of the verry few good examples of DID in fiction.
DID is also what Animated Blitzwing has by the way but Cyberverse Grimlock is a much better depiction of the disorder. I still like Blitzwing but he does play into the stereotype that systems are always evil. He's not a verry threatening villain though as the crazy face is more funny than anything so I give him a pass.
Also forgot to mention, I also agree with Prime Breakdown though I think he had some waisted potential as he got killed early on and it felt like they randomly gave what should have been his character arc to Dreadwing and Knockout after Breakdown died. And RID2015 did actually mention that Breakdown was a Stunticon when they met Motormaster's crew Bumblebee mentions he's delt with Combaticons before and name drops Breakdown. So they at least referenced that he was originally part of that team even if Prime Breakdown has very little to do with them beyond that one random reference.
Your defense of idw Megatron isn't really that outrageous. You actually make a good case for him. Actually I kind of just joined the hate train but after reading up on the idw series and listening to your interpretation I'd actually like to see more Megatron's like this.
It’s always interesting to see a long time villan properly change sides
Honestly IDW Megatron might be one of the best Villain Redemption arcs I've ever seen, because it subverts the traditional idea of a villain redemption. It's about Megatron realizing that switching sides and doing good DOESN'T make up for all the horrible things he's done, at the end of the day he has to accept punishment for his crimes
Honestly, IDW Megatron was and IMHO still is the best depection of Megatron to date. I will happily die on that hill. The Character devlopment, the depth and what they were able to do with the story because of it are all groundbreaking in the franchise and to this day has not been replicated.
3:34 And this aspect also counts to Aligned/Prime: Megatron (especially thanks to some fan stories).
I just realized that TJ’s take on Megaplex is really similar to Armada Screamer.
I like how in Cybeverse Optimus Prime is just as responsible for the fall of Cybertron possibly more than Megatron
TF Prime Predaking is no longer the old G1 combiner version that we all gotten use to, he’s obviously a KING & leader of the Predacons, & THEY became MORE than just a combiner group, they are a full race of predatory transformers, and that is saying something!!!
9:45, making Arcee into a ver. of Honey Kisaragi and Ibuki from Street Fighter is epic win.
21:04, I often wonder if they wanted Dreadwing to be originally Thundercracker in Prime.
Well, G1 have been pandered to for long enough.
How about something NEW and FRESH? Like Bio-machines à la Guyver? Imagine Beast Wars Transmetal but vehicles instead of animals. Full of bio-organics details. Man shit would be so... *METAL!*
Breakdown is what i would call a nameslap vs being a reinvention of the stunticon
I'm still annoyed that they didn't remake Animated Blitzwing for Legacy and remade G1 Blitzwing instead. Especially since the altmodes on Legacy Blitzwing suck.
Same!
To be fair, the alt modes on Animated Blitzwing are almost as crap for the same reason. There's still obvious tank kibble under his wings. The "tank mode" is unconvincing.
Cyberverse Grimlock is great. His dino-mode is the same generic idiot, but in his robot mode he's this nice, entertaining guy.
Very interesting list!
I can only thin of one glaring omission here, and that is: Movieverse Bumblebee
I think it's fair to say that praising the micromasters isn't giving Pat Lee any credit, since all the work was most likely done by someone else who wasn't paid.
Animated or Prime Ratchet being the older combat grizzled medic/mentor was a nice change.
For me, it's gotta be movie barricade. Literally just a cool idea of making a Decepticon a police car was enough to make him a fan favorite.
I wish every version of Thundercracker was like IDW Thundercracker
Here are my thoughts on the list:
- Micromasters & Action Masters (DreamWave onward): very interesting to think the first major turn for those particular sub-groups were that era of the comics (but the Marvel G1 wrestling story is a fun one just from the premise)
- Autobot Megatron (the stronger IDW): honestly, I like the idea of Megatron as an Autobot; sure, I think Barber & especially Roberts went off the rails toward the end of their books (plus all the executive meddling from Revolution onward muddied the waters), but taking Mark Weber's idea for Autobot Megatron and nurturing that into a pretty reasonable through-line for this incarnation of the character from Dark Cybertron on (plus the stint as a miner & a poet before his common gladiator days among the other bits that've come in & out of vogue for Megatrons' origins in later series) PLUS being a great character study of a Megatron trying to atone for so much - while I haven't read much of any comic universe directly from the pages (mostly skimming The Wiki), I think it's cool we got this kind of Megatron for once, and I hope we get at least ONE transforming Autobot Megatron toy someday (plus Alex Milne's MTMTE design is just a good Megatron, I just wish the Furai model kit wasn't the only thing). Tl;dr, I think Autobot Megatron was a good gamble & a nice change for once (and I hope the idea comes up again for a new TV show as I think Earthspark might go for the standard again)
- Breakdown (Prime): eh, he's OK, I guess; Prime just isn't my speed (that's more Animated, Cybertron, Beast Wars, OG Rescue Bots, etc.), but one of the more interesting ideas from that show (also, him & Knock-Out come off more as bros than a romantic item - I know a lot of -shippers- fans prefer that direction and I know the IDW writers made that a thing, but my tastes just end up being contrary to popular opinion -and/or some of the loudest ones, but I digress-)
- Arcee (Cyberverse): need to watch Seasons 2&3 plus the movies, but Arcee being a gun-toting weapons expert talking travel & war stories with an erudite Grimlock sounds like another fun variation for an Arcee (though the selfie thing is a bridge far for me); related note, I'd love to see a new Arcee get a different alt-mode like a Hummer, Jeep or ATV would be a nice palate cleanser after all the samey G1 hover-wedges we've had recently)
- Blitzving (Animated): my first Blitzwing, and by God, Bumper Robinson did a fantastic job with all three parts here! While the G1 is fine enough, we haven't had a great Blitzwing since Animated - hopefully the next one in the cartoons does something fresh & fun (even if that involves a similar split-personality thing, be open to experimentation )
- Tailgate & Swerve (IDW): again, minimal reading for the comics, but Tailgate & Cyclonus becoming friends through their ties to "the old ways" like teacher & pupil or a boy & his grandpa is a very different idea for Transformers that kinda pays off -even if the way they wrote Tailgate out seems needlessly unfair to him and Cyclonus-
- Starscream (Armada): similar to IDW Megs, having a Starscream *hate* his respective Megatron to just wanting him *_dead_* for his methods rather than usurping the throne does make for a great variation on the traditional dynamic (plus his final scene is remarkably powerful, even if I haven't seen Armada in full)
- Predacon Megatron (Beast Wars): while I agree that he's one of the most competent & impressive Megatrons in the wider Transformers canon, I can't help but feel you undersold this Megatron - your points are absolutely fair, but this Megatron is also being extremely funny with quips both hammy & dead-pan, remarkably charismatic & endearing for a character who gets so close to beating the heroes on multiple occasions AND to top things off, this character has to be a contender for the greatest role of David Kaye's career as an actor (alongside Pyron for the Darkstalkers OVA and Clank for the Ratchet & Clank games), and being the only actor so far to play a Megatron AND an Optimus for an entire series' run (voicing O.P. in Animated as well as Lugnut & Grimlock as well as bit parts like Warpath). In short, one of the greatest all-rounders in Transformers history... *_...yesss._*
- Thundercracker (IDW): still interesting how so many characters going back to G1 were never written as "intended" from the original character bios by Budiansky & his fellow legends of comics (such as the late Denny O'Neil naming Optimus Prime) going into the G1 cartoon or even the actual Marvel G1 comics; of course I'd never want to change the timeline that way (that'd risk the erasure of so many great characters over the years and I'd NEVER want that guilt), but this has to be one of those cases where going back to the well set the groundwork for a very interesting character & arc here - a Thundercracker who's more about his Decepticons' original goals and trying to steer it back from the conquest of the universe it's devolved into (as well as being the beating heart of "All Hail Megatron" that would change the trajectory of the comics going forward), whilst also being something of a mirror to the Thundercracker of Cybertron/Galaxy Force (who still has my heart as *the* greatest Thundercracker overall) - being a guy who tries to do his best and has a good heart (not-so-)deep-down, marches to the beat of his own drum, and who ultimately wants to do the right thing (even though TC from IDW doesn't join the Autobots either as he just wants to leave the war by writing goony screenplays); plus it's nice to see a Decepticon grow to care about humanity's culture and our own triumphs over tragedy as a species (alongside Autobots like a Jazz or a Hound) - thinking about it all (and our own potential to keep on keepin' on), it's just kinda nice, y'know? Didn't mean to wax on so wistfully about all this for so long, but I can say this Thundercracker also has some things going for him - not my favorite iteration, but still solid in his own right. (Also, his dog Buster's pretty cute)
- and finally, Soundwave (Prime): while I still prefer other series & their casts to Prime, I can still respect it for trying things differently and doing good with some of them; having a mute Soundwave who's one of the deadliest arms of the Decepticon war machine, unsettling as commentary on how technology can be used for good or ill, action saying so much than words and speaking louder volumes, all the joining layers just make a lot of sense; I must admit I'm glad concepts like this were given proper thought & explored in the Kurtzman-Orci writer's room for Prime, and I can see why they had some success on projects like Movies 1&2 and the reboot for Hawaii Five-0 (much as my dad watches the latter constantly, I can recognize their strengths in recognizing talented writers & letting them do their jobs effectively). Not my favorite Soundwave by any means, but I'd be a fool for not acknowledging the sharp ideation of this character; not too shabby, Prime, not too shabby...
Overall, I think this is a pretty solid list, but I've been writing for at least an hour and I need to get to bed... Keep Up The Good Work! (:
"Here's 10" is quickly becoming some of my favorite UA-cam content. Appreciate the time spent on these vids!
Agree quite a bit.
My big one is probably Animated Megatron, and it comes down to an interesting shift in his relationship with Optimus and his crew:
To Megatron, Optimus isn't his worthy opponent and archenemy...he's some random autobot who got in his way. Optimus has to EARN Megatron seeing him as his nemesis, and that carries into how this Megatron carries himself and behaves, especially in the end where this peon manages to foil his plans and make Megatron lose it.
Of course he's also the one version of Megs who took none of Starscream's crap and killed him as soon as he could get away with it.
For a video, how about re-imaginings you'd like to see? For example, Starscream without the deceit. He's still power-hungry but aware he doesn't have Megatron's raw charisma, power, or long-term planning to be in charge. So he turns to logistics. He's not just Air/Space Commander, he's the bot who has what you need. He has caches of weapons, energon, building materials, etc on hand to fuel Megatron's schemes making him the power behind the throne.
I agree with this list, PRime had many good reinventions, like Smokescreen or Arcee. So did Animated, with Prowl, Ratchet, Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Shockwave, etc.
When he said Beast Wars, I was expecting Ravage. As cool as Megatron is, I do treat him as a totally different character since he only named himself after the original.
The live action movies should have been included here, what they did for Blackout and Barricade was instrumental in how they are seen now. A reimagining so good that the movie appearances/characterisations are the definitive versions, taking two characters with little to no development and making them A/B listers overnight.
I like the list. Number 11, Wheeljack from Armada and Wheeljack from Prime.
Gonna say I'm a fan of the clone explanation for the seekers introduced in Animated, offering a reason why the seelers look like Starscream, and why there's so many of them. Funnily enough Starscream does have enough personality to go around, that each seeker in interesting while carrying only one of Starscream's taits. My personal favorites were Slipstream for the speculation on what she was based on, and Ramjet, with the gimmick everything he says is a lie creating some interesting interactions. This clone idea even seemed to have inspired Prime & IDW, with the clone plot being shortly repeated in Prime, & it being explained in IDW that all the seekers were essentially designed with the same body to perform a function, rather than being given individual bodies.
I'm disappointed that you didn't include Animated and Prime Ratchet in this
IDW's take on Megatron is one of the most beautiful redemption stories I've seen in modern fiction. Who knew he'd make a perfect foil for Rodimus and Ultra Magnus back in the day.
I thought the IDW take on Ultra Magnus was a good for a reinvention. I mean when it was revealed that there was a little robot piloting the shell, mind blown.
I still love swerves quote “aw geez Magnus, this is almost as bad as the time megatron decided mining just wasn’t for him”
If they ever do a “no way home” style transformer show or tv series, they should include all these characters(plus TFP Knockout, who also should be on this list).
What was no way home like I didn't watch it
@@orion_paxx Spiderman(Tom Holland) is tired of having his identidy known around the world and ruining his life. So he ask Doctor Strange for help, but messes up the spell. Instead of everyone in the world forgetting him, anyone in the MULTIVERSE who knows him comes to his universe.
Should have absolutely mentioned Movie Bumblebee. Dude was so successful a reimagination that all the bumblebees now are high level team members with a sports car alt mode. Virtually no prominent bumblebee is a beetle anymore
If we do get a Legacy Prime Universe Soundwave, they had better not change his head ONE BIT
Seriously the heads on Legacy Arcee and Knockout SUCK
@@tracytron7162 I'm not wowed by any of the Prime G1ifications, but then again, I also feel that the old figures work fine on a CHUG Shelf.
@@GrimmysReviews Agree to disagree, they definitely don't fit the CHUG aesthetic for me.
Cyberverse Arcee is the best Arcee.
Man I want a sequel to this. Idw Whirl, prime wheeljack mabye, idw cyclonus, a few thoughts. I might have the wrong idea of the prompt but I like em. Also what I've heard of idw sky byte(its idw right not dreamwave)
Other ones: RBA Whirl, she's extremely cute
Also Cybertron thundercracker becuz of his super electric lightning thundercrackin punch
Also Animated and TFP Ratchet
Don't be mad at yourself we knew Armada starscream had to be in the list.
May I be one of the few that absolutely supports how this list came about?
You explained your opinions well, and brought valid points for every character.
Unlike how your final words for this post was expecting negativity; I wish to continue to be as positive as I can towards your content. Please keep going👍
For being an odd redesign at concept, they executed Prime Soundwave perfectly.
I want to see more of Megatron being “brothers in arms“ with good old Optimus prime. That is my favorite version of the Megatron storyline. thanks aligned continuity.
Knockout said it best: the eyes and ears of the Decepticons. That’s what prime soundwave is, and I really would like a figure of him in legacy.
I am so glad prime soundwave is no 1, literally the coolest and more intelligent redesign in all of TF
For a top 20 version of this video, I would’ve included prime knockout, obviously. Prime Starscream, and a few others.
The blitzwing thing actually got referenced on his bumblebee movie igniter toy, he had the same face thing the thrilling 30 had
Screwed up Nevsr you make amazing content I will however make fun of your reasoning for being terrified of beast wars Megatron because you’re supposed to be afraid of him because he’s evil and the autobot Exactly one of my favorites
Prime Soundwave as #1 is fantastic to see. Imo, TFP Soundwave is the best depiction of the character ever, even better than the original G1, and I really hope we get to see something similar to him again in the future.
Autobot Megatron is not a shift on Megatron as a character, it's just the logical continuation of his character
Animated is the best
Gotta love Swerve and Tailgate! I also think Cyclonus, Whirl, Chromedome and my boy Brainstorm were also elevated by IDW. when it comes to Cyberverse I think Grimlock is also worth mentionning (also: shoutout to girl Swoop!).
BRAVO!
Done from my very own heart.
Well done.
Everyone on Prime got reimagined and expanded soooo well!
Well... with one exception: Laserbeak got done dirty.
Everybody else was stretched and grown and made far more intense & interesting,
But all ol Laserbeak got was minus one face and zero personality.
Not cool.
I think I would have made Megatron's paldrons more angular and less horn-like though.
Swapped his purple paint and inner glow for blacks & reds.
Megatron never seemed like the fancy flourish guy to me.
More straight forward, utilitarian, no BS kinda guy.
Soundwave should be HIGHER, because he is SUPERIOR!
You should do another list of the WORSE reinventions in Transformers, personally, I think what happened to BB is the worse, where they took away his voice for radio, honestly, there is only one scene that it actually works well and that is a comical scene in ROTF, where he disapointed that he can't go with Sam to collage!
Eh, not going to berate you at all. A solid list IMHO and valid reasoning for each entry. I like it.
If we ever talk about Legacy toys, do you wish we get single piece (or close, assembly-wise) Legendary Weapons for Armada rehashes? We all know all of these were unstable because they were comprised of Mini-Cons, but take away the Mini-Con aspect, and they become just nothing but the weapons they're supposed to be. The primary deal of Armada is foraging these Mini-Cons and see if those ones form a superweapon both sides were finding, which is good advertising-wise, but terrible in practice.
Autobot Megatron >>> Messiah Complex Optimus Who Everyone Hates Despite Him Saving the Universe Multiple Times
In regards to my favorite reinventions:
Bayverse Optimus Prime: Call me a heretic, but it’s a reinvention that makes sense given the context he’s in. The Bayverse Decepticons are vicious murderers willing to harm innocents at best and downright feral at worst. Therefore, an Optimus who doesn’t kill (as he is wont to be in many continuities) wouldn’t fly in the Bayverse, nor would he be seen as a hero. Admittedly, he can be a touch excessive because Michael Bay thinks robot gore is cool, but I find the contrast between the traditional Optimus wisdom and dadliness and this new warborn aggression super interesting. Kinda wish we had more Optimii less willing to pull punches…
Animated Swindle: Like TJ’s choice of TFP Breakdown, this turned a combiner limb into an independent baddie. Compared to Knock Out’s sometimes Conjunx, though, he already had something of an interesting personality, so his increased prominence just makes that personality more pronounced. And precious Primus, DJW’s redesign and Fred Willard’s voice just made him POP!
Prime Ratchet: If Animated Ratchet was the start of “cranky old man” Ratchet, this was where it solidified as my favorite characterization for him. Throw in a killer performance by Jeffrey Combs, and you have the definitive version of the character. Even Alex Milne admits that TFP Ratchet is the voice he hears when drawing Ratchet for Lost Light!
MTMTE Deszaras (not calling him Deathsaurus): Glad that James Roberts emphasized this guy’s dad energy. It’s so rare to have Decepticon leaders who give a darned sock about their soldiers, and since this guy is one of the few who does so, he stands out. I kinda want a story about him and Esmeral being surrogate parents to a bunch of young Decepticons (reimagined versions of the Breastforce?) just to see how cute it could get. C’mon, Deszaras needs his wife! (Also Alex Milne absolutely NAILED that redesign for him)
I think Prime or IDW Ratchet vs G1 Ratchet should be on this list as a reinvented character...his happy/nice attitude in G1 vs the grizzled/angry vet who's seen 1 to many makes him a good candidate for this type of list...
Perhaps, but what about Ratchet from Animated? He was the first major Ratchet to really do something different (veteran of *The* Great War on Cybertron, old man, a proper deep dive into PTSD and Survivor's Guilt, bridging the Generation Gap, finding new purpose in his life, righting wrongs, fighting the ghosts of his past, the introduction of bounty hunter Lockdown as his rival AND a true successor to Death's Head long after that character was stolen by Marvel, the list goes on), and both IDW & Prime Ratchets had some cool & interesting ideas with Pharma and homages to Jeffrey Combs's other works), and Movie Ratchet being lemon yellow with a beard is kinda fun in retrospect
@@jaredhebert942 I agree 💯
Out of Curiosity, where does Animated Shockwave fall on your list of reimagined Characters? The fact he was hidden out in the open really showed me he could be the perfect spy, and I dont think they have really shown that in many of the bots.
I considered him for the list, he is a great reimagining, but once his deception was revealed he reverted to a more traditional Shockwave style so I docked him a few points.
@@TJOmega 100% understandable.
10:39 the accent is German, insect, remember it!
With Arcee, that's actually the second time she was reinvented. First time was in Energon.
I would've loved to see Minimus Ambus' Ultra Magnus on the list, but I agree with your picks all the same
Perfect pick for number 1! TFP Soundwave is truly superior!
Thundercracker is one of my faves too 😁
I have always been a fan of Autobot Megatron. I wouldn't change anything on the list. Just add to it. But of course then we'd be adding onto it forever. Animated Swindle. Prime Bulkhead. Fall of Cybertron Grimlock. War for/Fall of Cybertron Megatron.
Could you maybe do "here's 10 of the tallest -insert faction here- toys"? I tried to search such a list the other day but couldnt find one.
Soundwave was one of my favorites in Prime and in life. I thought the redesign and him not talking were cool. I mean, Frank Welker is great, but not talking added to Soundwave’s eeriness in the show and how uncomfy even other decepticons were with him. I like pretty much all incarnations of Soundwave, from the serious, to the fun
I do hope we see a new animated blitzwing soon in legacy. Animated I think in a q&a was hinted at to return and a blitzwing and by extension lug nut would be an amazing duo to have again.
Lug nut I see being a leader for his size cause he’s a wide boy and blitzwing might also be a leader to properly include the triple changer but I wonder if voyager would work cause his tank and jet modes were very compact in the original figure
I think the original G1 cartoon Megatron became more interesting to me once he became Galvatron.
honestly I'd love to see the prime casts cybertronian alt modes we didn't get to see much of that.
G1 Ultra Magnus to RID 2001 Ultra Magnus.
Beast wars Megatron isn’t a reimagining of G1 Megatron. That breaks your rules.
Well the easy one for me was animated prime but someone already said that so keeping with animated. Ratchet or ultra magnus both are different but still have roots in there classic depictions. Not to mention both have just become the cannon version of the characters. I mean when was the last time you saw ratchet not be a grumpy old bot.
DreamWave should be credited for the content, the hard work of a lot of artists doesn't need to be marginalized just because 1 or 2 people did unethical things. Content wise I still place DW over the 1st half of IDW. They didn't hit their stride until 2012.
Megatron. Prime knew him before he became the Decepticon Leader.
23:32 I know someone on Twitter did a fan concept, don't remember who.
Prime Soundwave is like Black Noir from The Boys.
5:56
earthspark megatron go brrrrrr
i know he wassent an autobot i know
I think Armada starscream should surpass beast Megatron and he and thundercrack should the top 2
Out of curiosity how come you don’t like the Dreamwave run on comics? & who’s Pat Lee is he a comic writer?
Pat Lee ("superstar" artist and Dreamwave's president) is a turd, putting it nicely. His art exaggerates proportions, he splurged for himself and his girlfriend, didn't credit the people behind those comics, NEVER paid them, which all contributed to Dreamwave's fall. He now makes and sells NFTs.
The Prime Vehicons were not drones they have distinct voices in their scenes they get to speak
So much IDW. Somebody is playing favorites xd
7:40 Well given what was shown in the Unite Warriors manga, you most likely can.
BW megatron shouldn't be here not because I dont agree with you but it's like you said How Armarda Blur and G1 are completely separate BW is canonically separate from the original
I have nothing against Autobot Megatron, most of the people that complain about it are the "B-BUT MUH GENWUN!!!!" crowd, the same kind of people that will say Micromaster Barricade is better than Decepticop Barricade.
I consider it my personal shame that I didn’t see [[spoiler]] at the top of the list coming