*snrk* I hadn't thought of it that way, but that makes a remarkable amount of sense. Megatrons in general are very charismatic, but Animated Megatron trails only a smidge behind Beast Wars Megatron in terms of charisma, in my mind.
I loved the episode with Bulkhead. He put his all into that space bridge, because that's what he's good at, and he needs something to excel at.
Animated Megatron also has patience. How many years did he spend as a head, tirelessly befriending Sumdac and bending events to his will? Even when the other Decepticons showed up, he exercised restraint and caution, instead of yelling "GET ME OUT OF HERE!".
Whereas other Megatrons would have laughed or roared in triumph upon being reconstructed, AniMegs simply took it as his due and proceeded to calmly squash the Autobots and Starscream, after giving them a LOOK which said how much chance they had of stopping him now. He's more like the best bits of G1 Megatron and Shockwave - scary because he's utterly implacable, with a will of solid neutronium.
Yeah, there's a lot of Fail on the part of the Animated Autobots. Just about every episode where we've had a newly-created character (Dinobots, Soundwave, Wreck-Gar, the Constructicons) has disgusted me with the behavior of the Autobots. These are supposed to be the good guys?
G1 Decepticons are pretty clearly of the 'blow shit up, conquer the world, we are evil' variety of villains. BW Predacons are thieves, murderers, traitors, etc. AEC Decepticons vary from slavers to just wanting to conquer the world. Movie Decepticons are also big on the 'blow shit up, conquer the world' thing, and we see them casually killing humans too.
These are all pretty nasty people. The least nasty (our good ol' G1 'cons) at least go up against guys who are pretty unambiguously good.
I can't really call the Animated Decepticons good guys, but I have a hard time really accepting the vast majority of the Animated Autobots as good guys either.
it is an odd choice of storytelling, but i often wonder if they didn't write animated to appeal to the older fanbase and not the children. because honestly, most of these concepts are not ones that kids would even notice, let alone understand.
I think that odd storytelling choice makes it a very good choice, precisely because there's no clear-cut good guy. You don't see entirely good people or entirely evil people very often; you see people who have a mix of good and evil in them, people who lean evil or lean good - and sometimes can go either way depending on the situation.
I agree, and it's something I really appreciate in kids' programming. Give me choices, give me the good guys having flaws, give me moral ambiguity. Give the kids something to start a serious conversation with their parents about.
i have to admit, i'd be in animated Megatron's camp. i would totally be an animated Decepticon. i identify with his ideals and his actions way too much to think otherwise.
Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about Animated at the moment. I love the Decepticons - but I really can't root for the Autobots. o.o I think the young-and-learning Optimus was a terrible choice - he comes off as petty, whiny, and annoying, with nothing to balance him - and their insistence on introducing new characters as one-episode-wonders rather than allowing the cast to grow beyond the core characters is getting very lame. If every episode was Decepticon-centric, that'd be fine - but having to watch through several Autobot-centric eps that make me want to strangle them all, just to get to the occasional glorious Decepticon storyline, was getting wearing. Even if "A Bridge Too Close" is the most awesome thing in the whole world ever.
I like Optimus, but I wish he could have visibly learned something over the past two seasons. I hear you on the one-ep characters though. (Bring back Wreck-Gar!)
Optimus and Megatron fighting together turned me on so hard. Even when Megatron used Optimus as a shield. Especially then, and I don't think I want to examine that too closely.
Because it's callous and ruthless and colder than space and So. Totally. In. Character. for him to simply reach out his hand and use Optimus's body for his own needs?
o helo thar I think I have commented once or twice here?
But I agree! <3 Megatron isn't a SNAD, but his evils aren't quite what people think they are. Megalomaniac yes, xenophobic no, if that makes sense? He's been driven out and is operating with outcasts and rejects from society - he can't afford to view them with prejudice. And if he's going to conduct a campaign against the Autobots, he can't afford to do anything but see their true value, either.
(Kind of similar to my Starscream: he is indeed a cruel contrary lying nigh-sociopath, but he's not xenophobic and, really, he isn't a sociopath, either. It's just that his reputation precedes him, even to his own self-image, and he will live down to it, except when he doesn't, because he's also contrary. ...okay, so he has a few sociopathic tendencies.)
You've got a point there. Being picky about his followers would bite Megatron in the ass, wouldn't it? Maybe he had to learn tolerance. ...That'd be an interesting fic.
...man, that would be a pretty interesting fic. The 'cons yet again seem to be made up of outcasts, malcontents, and probably criminals, but as Lockdown and Swindle (IIRC? I didn't actually see, er, that episode) show, it's possible to be any one of the above without being a 'con...
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I loved the episode with Bulkhead. He put his all into that space bridge, because that's what he's good at, and he needs something to excel at.
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Whereas other Megatrons would have laughed or roared in triumph upon being reconstructed, AniMegs simply took it as his due and proceeded to calmly squash the Autobots and Starscream, after giving them a LOOK which said how much chance they had of stopping him now. He's more like the best bits of G1 Megatron and Shockwave - scary because he's utterly implacable, with a will of solid neutronium.
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G1 Decepticons are pretty clearly of the 'blow shit up, conquer the world, we are evil' variety of villains. BW Predacons are thieves, murderers, traitors, etc. AEC Decepticons vary from slavers to just wanting to conquer the world. Movie Decepticons are also big on the 'blow shit up, conquer the world' thing, and we see them casually killing humans too.
These are all pretty nasty people. The least nasty (our good ol' G1 'cons) at least go up against guys who are pretty unambiguously good.
I can't really call the Animated Decepticons good guys, but I have a hard time really accepting the vast majority of the Animated Autobots as good guys either.
It's an odd choice of storytelling.
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Optimus and Megatron fighting together turned me on so hard. Even when Megatron used Optimus as a shield. Especially then, and I don't think I want to examine that too closely.
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...what?
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But I agree! <3 Megatron isn't a SNAD, but his evils aren't quite what people think they are. Megalomaniac yes, xenophobic no, if that makes sense? He's been driven out and is operating with outcasts and rejects from society - he can't afford to view them with prejudice. And if he's going to conduct a campaign against the Autobots, he can't afford to do anything but see their true value, either.
(Kind of similar to my Starscream: he is indeed a cruel contrary lying nigh-sociopath, but he's not xenophobic and, really, he isn't a sociopath, either. It's just that his reputation precedes him, even to his own self-image, and he will live down to it, except when he doesn't, because he's also contrary. ...okay, so he has a few sociopathic tendencies.)
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You've got a point there. Being picky about his followers would bite Megatron in the ass, wouldn't it? Maybe he had to learn tolerance. ...That'd be an interesting fic.
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...man, that would be a pretty interesting fic. The 'cons yet again seem to be made up of outcasts, malcontents, and probably criminals, but as Lockdown and Swindle (IIRC? I didn't actually see, er, that episode) show, it's possible to be any one of the above without being a 'con...
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