Regular listeners to the Major Spoilers podcast network may know that I have a (not entirely unjustified) reputation among my co-hosts as a contrarian. When it comes to my pop culture choices, I am somehow always leery of the things that are the most popular or beloved, because they are seldom the most interesting to me. G.I. Joe leaders Duke and Flint seemed like big jerkfaces, whereas one-shot spotlights made me interested in the stories of less commonly seen character such as Steeler, Flash and Quick-Kick. This was even true back in the early 1980s when the Transformers first appeared on American shores. Where as Cousin Elwood was enamored of the mighty Optimus Prime, whose very name is Latin for “Number One Character Voiced Awesomely By Peter Cullen” (The Romans were a very forward-thinking people), I found myself interested in vain Mirage, neurotic Grapple and the question of why in the world Ironhide has a southern accent. At any rate, when this occurred to me in the shower yesterday, I knew that it was the kind of thought process that could beg a query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) had a soft spot for Omega Supreme and find it a both sad and satisfying that his handful of appearances over the years have done nothing to torpedo (or, honestly, to earn) that reputation, asking: Who’s your favorite lower-tier Transformer of all time?
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Brawn, I just really like that even he’s one of the smallest Transformers I’ve seen him go toe-to-toe with Megatron & win (and in one case lose, but that’s not in my personal canon.) Plus I just really like the no-nonsense attitude.
Also Wreck-Gar dares to be stupid. He’s a Pepper, I’m a pepper too. He speaks TV, I speak TV. I’ve got the news at eleven that he’s fighting the frizzies. Wow! Former president James Taylor. Don’t get caught in the Crossfire!
(I would love to do a one-shot with at least Wreck-Gar if not both of these guys in a Fafard & Grey Mouser.)
One of the best lines out of THE movie
Springer – while taking aim with a rocket ” I got better things to do tonight than die”
In the marvel comics
Ratchet was crotchety as all hell. Wasn’t the most powerful but always managed to be scrappy enough to win against the odds
Nightbeat managed to bing a bit of private eye grit to the transformers
Best not to forget Deaths Head, yes?
Wreck-Gar was always one of my favorites that wasn’t as popular, but that love only soared when they brilliantly had Weird Al voice the “Transformers Animated” version. “I dare to be stupid!”
I also have a spot in my heart for Stampy from the Japanese series Beast Wars Neo solely for the fact his animal form is a bunny.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Stampy
I’m also fond of Battle Unicorn and Magna Stampede (who is pretty much just a repainted Battle Unicorn).
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Battle_Unicorn
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Magna_Stampede
Just FYI, if anyone wants to name a Gobot instead of a Transformer it still counts since they were retconned as an alternate timeline from the far reaches of the TF Multiverse.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/GoBots_(franchise)
If lower tier means anybody but Prime, Megs, and Starscream then I pick Shockwave. If Shockwave is to high, then HOUND. Who oddly enough sounds very much like James Stewart.
In other words I pick Shockwave. :)
I’m going to have to go for Beachcomber. I remember getting the toy to finishing out my collection of “all the little Transformers that I can actually afford” collection when I was a kid. Little blue dune buggy kinda thing. I’m pretty sure he never appeared in any major capacity above “Background Character” in any episode of the show or issue of the comic.
Where Optimus Prime represents the greatest of characters and Bumblebee is the Everyman, Beachcomber is the extra. He is the robotic version of the fourth person to yell “I am Spartakus!”
Was it Beachcomber or Seaspray who fell in love with a human girl?
Powerglide but seaspray got it on with a merfolk
“The Girl Who Loved Powerglide”. God I’ll always hold a soft spot in my heart for that episode.
goldbug the one who’s not bumblebee
I’m a huge fan of the Beast Wars era, and though they had a much smaller cast, there were still side characters. The best of these will always be Rhinox. For the longest time he was the only good guy on display with the rest of my Transformers toys.
Rotorstorm – A Europe exclusive toy that I had as a kid. He had never appeared in any fiction until he showed up in the brilliant Last Stand of the Wreckers mini as an arrogant (but still likeable) show-offy type. And even then he only lasted 3 isssues.
Almost the entire cast of the current More Than Meets the Eye ongoing were lower-tier characters, until James Roberts converted them all to fan-favourites. Can’t wait to get the new Swerve and Tailgate figures!
Shockwave, though he seems too mainstream. Then it would have to be Swindle followed by Cosmos followed by Powerglide.