TL;DR I ramble about fictional robots to share a snapshot of my history with the genre and to provide context for my interpretation of Optimus Prime's characterization as an outside spectator. WHARGARBL.
Growing up, I was not a fan of Transformers. My first—and at the time, only—experience with giant, cartoon robots had been airings of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing on Toonami. The plot was heavy on story and in-universe politics, so my little-kid-brain dismissed it and the giant robot genre as boring. This logical fallacy deprived me of any Transformers-related nostalgia I could have had because I ended up avoiding the Generation One show like the plague, thinking it was going to be just like Gundam Wing: lots of humans standing around and talking with minimal giant robots. My faulty conclusions would later be laid to rest with my introduction to The Big O on Adult Swim, a stylish, neo-noir mystery set in a futuristic dystopia where androids and mecha (called "Megadeus" in-universe) are commonplace.
Growing up, I was not a fan of Transformers. My first—and at the time, only—experience with giant, cartoon robots had been airings of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing on Toonami. The plot was heavy on story and in-universe politics, so my little-kid-brain dismissed it and the giant robot genre as boring. This logical fallacy deprived me of any Transformers-related nostalgia I could have had because I ended up avoiding the Generation One show like the plague, thinking it was going to be just like Gundam Wing: lots of humans standing around and talking with minimal giant robots. My faulty conclusions would later be laid to rest with my introduction to The Big O on Adult Swim, a stylish, neo-noir mystery set in a futuristic dystopia where androids and mecha (called "Megadeus" in-universe) are commonplace.
R. Dorothy Wayneright looks on at the megadeus Big O
Around three years ago, a close friend who is a die-hard Transformers fan discovered my utter lack of appreciation for peak, mid-80s toy commercials disguised as cartoons. To remedy this travesty, he invited me to play a new game he'd purchased that promised to be a love letter to Generation One, his favorite iteration of the series: Transformers: Devastation.
Optimus tries to menace Devastator with a peashooter
Transformers: Devastation is a 2015 hack n' slash that retells the story of the G1 Autobots crash-landing on Earth and their subsequent conflict with the Decepticons. While there are examples of inspiration from older Transformers media (e.g. the IDW series, Combiner Wars, the G1 cartoon), the plot was doing its own thing; developer Platinum Games clearly wanted to take an old story and inject it with new life. The game's cliffhanger ending contains an unfulfilled sequel hook that sets up Nova Prime as a potential new villain, corrupted by Unicron to sow chaos across the galaxy. Unfortunately, publisher Activision chose not to renew their licensing agreement with Hasbro, causing digital copies of the game to disappear from all distribution platforms, spiking the price of physical PS4 hard copies, and giving the potential sequel a permanent place in Concept Purgatory. The game also earned a lukewarm reception among players who weren't charmed by the 80s-era feel, with some going as far as to say that Devastation was Platinum Games' worst product.
eBay is the worst thing to happen to games since horse armor
Despite its flaws and the flack it got, I love Transformers: Devastation. It's a fun, colorful 3D beat-'em-up with an excellent voice cast, charming cel-shaded graphics, an engaging story, and a mecha T-Rex (I was so fucking hyped when I unlocked Grimlock, you have no idea). It was my introduction to the Transformers IP, Optimus Prime, and the beginning of my fascination with Transformers-flavored storylines.
Like a majority of the media covering Megatron's beef with Optimus Prime, Devastation's narrative explores the moral and philosophical differences that cause these two titans to clash. Optimus Prime is presented in all his magnanimous glory: champion of the weak, liberator of the sentient, the ideal leader. While that's generally not the kind of character profile I gravitate towards, Optimus serves his role perfectly well: he leads and inspires with his iconic Peter Cullen impersonation. I was content with the old-but-gold, good vs evil theme. There doesn't seem to be much reason to consider Megatron's viewpoint while he makes preparations to terraform Earth and snarks at Starscream.
Optimus and Megatron catch up before the final battle at the game's climax, explaining their motives to each other in an attempt to corrode the other's resolve. I was already more than familiar with Optimus' stance, so I patiently waited to hear what kind of nonsense Megs was going to drop as justification for humanity's annihilation. No one was more surprised than I was when I heard his piece and realized that Megatron, despite his continuity-blind hatred of humans, was the most humanlike character in the game. There's an exchange between the two that's my favorite part of the script and manages to succinctly sum up their conflicting philosophies:
Like a majority of the media covering Megatron's beef with Optimus Prime, Devastation's narrative explores the moral and philosophical differences that cause these two titans to clash. Optimus Prime is presented in all his magnanimous glory: champion of the weak, liberator of the sentient, the ideal leader. While that's generally not the kind of character profile I gravitate towards, Optimus serves his role perfectly well: he leads and inspires with his iconic Peter Cullen impersonation. I was content with the old-but-gold, good vs evil theme. There doesn't seem to be much reason to consider Megatron's viewpoint while he makes preparations to terraform Earth and snarks at Starscream.
Optimus and Megatron catch up before the final battle at the game's climax, explaining their motives to each other in an attempt to corrode the other's resolve. I was already more than familiar with Optimus' stance, so I patiently waited to hear what kind of nonsense Megs was going to drop as justification for humanity's annihilation. No one was more surprised than I was when I heard his piece and realized that Megatron, despite his continuity-blind hatred of humans, was the most humanlike character in the game. There's an exchange between the two that's my favorite part of the script and manages to succinctly sum up their conflicting philosophies:
Megatron has his fair share of 'he's just nuts' depictions. What I haven't seen in other media source is Megatron potentially seeing Optimus as a kind of eco-terrorist. Flesh isn't life. How Megatron views humanity is akin to how we view livestock: a lesser species to be exploited for resources. Sure, cows are alive and all but they're just not as valuable as human life. And why wouldn't he think that way? From technology, science, and space travel to raw physical ability, Cybertronians are superior to humans. From his point of view, Optimus is decrying the removal of chickens for a space meant to become a new Cybertron. Their new home.
This brings me to my final thoughts on Optimus himself. The biggest hurdle for me when it comes to connecting with his character is that he's an ideal wearing a metal person-suit. He's not so much a character as he is a mouthpiece for a moral system that specifically benefits humans in a story about robots trying to survive the desctruction of their homeworld. I don't agree with everything Megatron does but I can understand why he does them. When it comes to Optimus giving his all to humanity, even to the detriment of his Autobots and himself, I can't help but see his motives and actions as bizarre and foreign.
Living beings have selfish needs. It's not a bug, it's a feature. Morals are how we balance our own needs with the needs of others in order to maintain social harmony. Optimus has no balance, at least as far as I've seen. He jumps from championing one great cause to another, exemplifying the trope of a Hero who resists fulfilling their own deepest desire due to fear of punishment or corruption, except Optimus will not be caught lacking. It's this stringent adherence to heroic purity that makes Optimus come across as the most inhuman character on the roster. And maybe that's by design. But it's bothered me as long as I've known this character.
If you managed to get to the end of this spontaneous rant, I humbly thank you! Please let me know how you feel about Optimus, my interpretation, the game, the anime I've mentioned, what you had for breakfast this morning, anything. Have a good one!
This brings me to my final thoughts on Optimus himself. The biggest hurdle for me when it comes to connecting with his character is that he's an ideal wearing a metal person-suit. He's not so much a character as he is a mouthpiece for a moral system that specifically benefits humans in a story about robots trying to survive the desctruction of their homeworld. I don't agree with everything Megatron does but I can understand why he does them. When it comes to Optimus giving his all to humanity, even to the detriment of his Autobots and himself, I can't help but see his motives and actions as bizarre and foreign.
Living beings have selfish needs. It's not a bug, it's a feature. Morals are how we balance our own needs with the needs of others in order to maintain social harmony. Optimus has no balance, at least as far as I've seen. He jumps from championing one great cause to another, exemplifying the trope of a Hero who resists fulfilling their own deepest desire due to fear of punishment or corruption, except Optimus will not be caught lacking. It's this stringent adherence to heroic purity that makes Optimus come across as the most inhuman character on the roster. And maybe that's by design. But it's bothered me as long as I've known this character.
If you managed to get to the end of this spontaneous rant, I humbly thank you! Please let me know how you feel about Optimus, my interpretation, the game, the anime I've mentioned, what you had for breakfast this morning, anything. Have a good one!
