Character discussion : This Week 'Rodimus Prime'

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:02 am

Ah Roddy...
Disaster? of Autobot destiny?
Matrix afinity?
Galvatrons bitch?
Better left as hotrod?
Shame firebolt died?
Best moments?
Worst moments?
End of the road...

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:38 am

Best moments:

The movie, obviously.

Wiping the floor with Ghyrik in Space Pirates (probably my fave Hot Rod/Rodimus story as far as his portrayal is concerned)

Killing a 'con in cold blood in UK 114. "Request denied!" Indeed...

Worst moments: (all of which I enjoyed reading by the way)

Head stamped on by Galvatron
Beaten up by Death's Head
Trodden on by Cyclonus and Scourge
Slapped again by Galvatron (Time Wars)
Disembowled by Galvatron (Rhythms of Darkness)

I could go on really.

I enjoyed Hot Rod as a character until Dreamwave made him more annoying than usual.

I actually enjoyed Rodimus in the cartoons. Others will call him whiny, I just enjoyed seeing an Autobot leader with actual characterisation. The way he went back to being Hot Rod after was swept under the carpet, a bit like "well you weren't much cop mate, rejoin the rank and file where you belong..." An outright pointer that he was a complete failure, but not addressed.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:27 pm

Prob I have with his cartoon portrayal was the complete 180 on the character when he got the Matrix.

Hot Rod was this brash arrogant punk. Suddenly he becomes leader and gets all the wisdom of the Matrix. So, surely he should (at least for a little while) be brash arrogant leader, right? No... he's suddenly all worldly wise and ridden with an inferiority complex.

Why go to the bother of establishing a character who you're going to elevate to leader if you're simply going to couple the elevation with a complete rewrite of his overriding traits? It effectively makes him a different character straight off the bat.

I just feel it would have been better if he'd slowly come to realise that he's not All That and has a lot to learn... it would have made his journey to competent leader much more satisfying. Not that he ever got there, of course.

It's the Chris Jericho syndrome.

- "Hey, this guy who's not quite a face and not quite a heel is really popular - let's turn him all-out heel and make him world champion!"
- "Right, he's champion. And he's loved for the character he used to have... let's build on that by giving him cheap wins over the top faces that make him look cowardly and weak, despite that not being what made him popular."
- "Hrm. This has been a bit of a disaster, hasn't it? Obviously he's not upto scratch - take the title off him and never let him near it again."

[points for anybody who knows what I'm talking about]

Bouncelot · Post by **Bouncelot** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:29 pm

Greatest achievement - gaining control of a good chunk of Cybertron (compared to no control of any of it) in less than a year between the movie and wanted: Galvatron.

Best moment: request denied

Worst moment: Actually, I quite liked comic Rodimus, and I've not seen enough of season 3 to comment on the cartoon version.

anna · Post by **anna** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:21 pm

i liked him he had potental to be a great leader too bad we never got the chance he dids need to grow up though but i bet in time he would have(that was the one sucky thing about optimus's return)

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:37 pm

Brendocon wrote:Prob I have with his cartoon portrayal was the complete 180 on the character when he got the Matrix.

Hot Rod was this brash arrogant punk. Suddenly he becomes leader and gets all the wisdom of the Matrix. So, surely he should (at least for a little while) be brash arrogant leader, right? No... he's suddenly all worldly wise and ridden with an inferiority complex

You're right! Missed opportunity...

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:06 pm

Rodimus Prime: Not just a tool, but the whole friggin' hardware store.
He really should have stayed as Hotrod - or at least been slightly incompatible with the Matrix and kept turning back to Hotrod at the most inopportune moments.
He was great as a wiser Hotrod in Space Pirates - it was like Rodimus in Hotrod's body. I really liked him in that story, and wasn't too bummed when he became Rodimus again.
Pity that the cartoon didn't have as good a set of writers as the comic. They were stuck being in the future when the Targetmasters came along -so they had to turn him back to Hotrod to sell the toys. At least the comics were still in the present day, so Hotrot could just be brought down from Cybertron to be a Targetmaster. Still, a Targetmaster Rodimus could have been cool - they could have got the damn toy right this time too. Friggin' chunk of unarticulated plastic.
It was also a pity his Nebulan partner got killed (and 'offscreen' too, if I remember correctly) - having Firebolt around may have given his character a bit more of a chance to mature, which would have made his ascent to 'Prime' a bit more likely.
The cartoon could have scored points if Optimus AND Rodimus had commanded together for a while. It would have made for a brilliant student/mentor series of episodes. THEN Prime could have got back the Matrix (perhaps if Hotrod's 'incompatibility' (my idea above) had become permanent).
Personally, I'd like to see a Hotrod/Rodumus Binaltech toy - where there's a Hotrod figure and a separate trailer. The trailer links to his car mode for Rodimus' truck mode. Then - in all the good Prime traditions - the trailer combines with Hotrod's robot mode to make him Rodimus Prime.

Yes? No?

I just don't know. I liked Hotrod a lot - but Rodimus screwed him all up.
Perhaps Magnus (or Arcee

) should have been the next Prime.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:19 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:Better left as hotrod?

Definitely... I like Hot Rod both in the Movie and the comics.

I think Rodimus really works at the end of the movie. I love that moment when he grabs the Matrix and then throws Galvatron out of Unicron. It would be perfect ending to the series. That's not the case though, and here the problems start. Season 3 is my favourite season and I generally like not-so certain Rodimus much more than the personified perfection Optimus was in the cartoon, but... it's still the cartoon. Which means, there is a reset button at the end of almost every episode. There were a couple of eps where Rodimus proved everybody (and the most importantly, proved himself) that he's a capable leader. And one week later, he whines and whines how he's not as good as Optimus again.

In comics, he was handled much better, he was that annoying and as was mentioned, he rocks in Space Pirates. I like him in Legacy of Unicron, too. And that scene in #114 is one of the most memorable moments from the Marvel series.

Darth Aux · Post by **Darth Aux** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:29 pm

The toy sucked, he stole Magnus' thunder, he caught Galvatron off guard once and then continued to get owned. Moaned a lot about being trype, because he was and so on. He was rubbish, a waisted opportunity, I blame the writers for not giving the most important Bot (Once Prime had died) a fighting chance.

He should have been nails and a 'bot like Hotrod would've known and shown it too

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:29 pm

Is he as strong as Optimus?

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:19 am

Rodimus Prime? Crap. Whiny bastard.

For me, I just can't forgive the toy, especially. One of my least favorite.

And Brendocon, I know what you're talking about.

Warcry · Post by **Warcry** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:32 am

Better off as Hot Rod, in my opinion. While I like both characters, I think elevating Roddy to Prime-hood so early in his career kneecapped his potential.

I mean, he went from being a low-level soldier with virtually no responsabilities to being supreme leader of his entire race in a day. He wasn't ready, and with the Matrix inside him he was wise enough to know that he wasn't ready.

If he'd been eased into the role, gradually earning more responsability and trust, then he would have been confident enough to do the job without constantly second-guessing himself. And then he could have been something special, instead of essentially a place-holder Prime.

After Time Wars, it looks like Prime is keeping Hot Rod pretty close at hand. Grooming him to take command if needed, I suppose...

Best Moments:
-The Movie, obviously.
-Going up against Prime in Dark Awakening.
-Beating Ghyrik in Space Pirates.

Worst Moments:
-Time Wars: Getting slapped down by Galvatron as if he was nothing.
-Getting his carcass hung from the ruins of the World Trade Center in Rhythms of Darkness.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:42 pm

I guess with Optimus dead tho he had a great responsibility to stand up for the Autobots, and perhaps the Matrix told him, maybe even OP told him he had to.
I wonder if OP's spirit is in the matrix and he tells roddy that Magnus is a gimp?

Is roddy stronger then Optimus? not PMOP

YDuzItBurnWhenIP · Post by **YDuzItBurnWhenIP** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:22 pm

Brendocon wrote:Prob I have with his cartoon portrayal was the complete 180 on the character when he got the Matrix.

Hot Rod was this brash arrogant punk. Suddenly he becomes leader and gets all the wisdom of the Matrix. So, surely he should (at least for a little while) be brash arrogant leader, right? No... he's suddenly all worldly wise and ridden with an inferiority complex.

Why go to the bother of establishing a character who you're going to elevate to leader if you're simply going to couple the elevation with a complete rewrite of his overriding traits? It effectively makes him a different character straight off the bat.

I just feel it would have been better if he'd slowly come to realise that he's not All That and has a lot to learn... it would have made his journey to competent leader much more satisfying. Not that he ever got there, of course.

It's the Chris Jericho syndrome.

- "Hey, this guy who's not quite a face and not quite a heel is really popular - let's turn him all-out heel and make him world champion!"
- "Right, he's champion. And he's loved for the character he used to have... let's build on that by giving him cheap wins over the top faces that make him look cowardly and weak, despite that not being what made him popular."
- "Hrm. This has been a bit of a disaster, hasn't it? Obviously he's not upto scratch - take the title off him and never let him near it again."

[points for anybody who knows what I'm talking about]

you are referring to mr "I almost ended Trip's career and ultimately ended his characterization" Who was kind of a toolbox, but everyone loved it. Then became the UNDISPUTED champ before there were 2 titles after beating Triple H and I believe Kurt Angle.

Then came the Y2J fiasco and now we have resorted to calling anyone and everyone assclown.

This goes out to all my Optimus Prime Rib-aholics out there (sorry OPRaholics wasnt gonna happen)

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:02 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:Is he as strong as Optimus?

Apart from throwing Galvatron out of Unicron's ass (ew!), there was never really a good exhibition of Rodiumus' Matrix strength. He never struck me as even as strong as Ultra Magnus, let alone Optimus.
Op Prime seemed to have the strength even without the Matrix (and he never got bigger when he had it in him (ooer) - unless you want to subscribe to the Dreamwave history of Optimus

). Of course, when the Matrix Quest was going on, Optimus had his Powermaster body, so he was well catered for strengthwise anyhow.
Final conclusion:
In a straight fight, Optimus would kick Rodimus' arse. Matrix or not.

bobaprime85 · Post by **bobaprime85** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:04 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:Is he as strong as Optimus?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Wait, was that a serious question?

Anyway, it seems to me that, as has been mentioned, Rodimus should have been left as Hot Rod. I will admit that Roddy started out good, laying the royal smackdown on Galvatron, but right after that things started to go south. Yes, he halted Unicron's assault on Cybertron, but didn't finish the job, thereby leaving Unicron a threat. As a leader, he kept trying to fill the shoes Optimus left, never quite realizing that those particular shoes could NEVER be filled, and that he had to establish his own, unique, brand of leadership. There were times he looked like he was going to get there, but to me he never made it.

It seems to me that all the Matrix did was give him a bit of a power boost, and didn't really enhance his leadership capabilities much. It's basically a "Here Hot Rod - you're now in charge!" At least to me.

Perhaps he would have been better if he had kept his reckless nature. Be the kind of leader that would jump in the middle of a battle and storm the barracades with his men. That at least would have been more interesting than his friggin' mope-fest.

Legion · Post by **Legion** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:07 pm

This just came to me... i dunno why, i'm half way through creating a website... but anyway... The problem with Rodimus is thus:

- The Matrix took HotRod and turned him into a new leader.
- It gave him (temporarily) enough strength to defeat the 'Con leader.
- The "Cybertronian Wars" ended.

If it had all ended there, Roddy would have been fine. I reckon the Matrix created him as a peace time leader, not a war one. Roddy would have done fine if not for that nasty war business. The Matrix juiced him up enough to defeat Galvatron and Unicron and then switched him over to peaceloving mode...
Further proof, after the movie, during the "lull" in the war, he managed to gain control over vast portions of cybertron in very little time, it was only when Shockers restarted the war that it all hit the fan for Roddy...

my twopence

Dead Head · Post by **Dead Head** » Wed May 04, 2005 12:34 pm

Autobloke wrote:Apart from throwing Galvatron out of Unicron's ass (ew!)

Apart from this fortuitous throw, his fighting skills (if they existed in the first place) were totally pushed out in order to make room for the glowing ball of magic.

Though it has to be said, Rodimus/Hot Rod's robot design is very appealing. He's a "pretty boy" for sure. Combine that with Hot Rod's 'punk' attitude and his cool car design and you could see why H.R. was destined to be so popular.

It's a shame that Rodimus Prime had to exist at all - Hot Rod was a far better guise.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Wed May 04, 2005 1:32 pm

Legion wrote:. I reckon the Matrix created him as a peace time leader, not a war one.

I'd never thought of that before.

Poor Roddy.

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Wed May 04, 2005 2:20 pm

I for one never cared for Plot Devicimus Prime or Plot Rod at all. As such I really hated the whole Matrix gimmick (something I actually love as a concept) was/is so intertwined with him. Hmph.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:31 pm

Legion wrote:it was only when Shockers restarted the war that it all hit the fan for Roddy

Well, that and Roddy's Galvatron-hunting absence from Cybertronian command.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:06 pm

Señior's Covenant wrote:I for one never cared for Plot Devicimus Prime or Plot Rod at all. As such I really hated the whole Matrix gimmick (something I actually love as a concept) was/is so intertwined with him. Hmph.

Yeah, Optimus didn't have to whip the Matrix out to solve every problem that came his way.

Post by **Best First** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:12 pm

i just hate the whole friggin concept that the Matrix has been hanging around waiting to jazz someone up when in fact the fight against evil has always (in my favoured continuity) been led by those who emerged from the rank of file.

TF the movie would have been cooler if someone had really stepped out of Prime's shadow rather than someone being power boosted out of it.

The whole personality thing is gash as well, as Brend points out.

Hotrod was cool, Roddy was ill concieved and never really gets over it.

IMO.

Stormwolf · Post by **Stormwolf** » Thu May 05, 2005 6:34 pm

I'm not a big fan of Rodimus Prime, so I'll keep things short for each continuity:

cartoon: He was a whiney little bitch, crying in front of your own troops will really boost morale.

comic: Hey, atleast he was a cool corpse.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:54 am

I'm not a fan of the later b&W Rodimus stuff...where he's possessed by Unicron in the Matrix or whatever. It just seems weak...

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:02 pm

I've got a Q. Something slipped my mind, don't have my comics to reference at the moment and it's bugging the hell out of me I can't remember. Was Galvatron (in the Marvel run) from a future where Unicron had been destroyed or was still kickin'. Still kickin', right?

Stormwolf · Post by **Stormwolf** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:11 pm

Señior's Covenant wrote:I've got a Q. Something slipped my mind, don't have my comics to reference at the moment and it's bugging the hell out of me I can't remember. Was Galvatron (in the Marvel run) from a future where Unicron had been destroyed or was still kickin'. Still kickin', right?

Yes and no

Let's look at it like this:

Target 2006: kickin.
Legacy of Unicron: somewhat kicking.
Space Pirates: possibly destroyed.
Timewars: still kickin in the 80's timeframe.
Rhythems of Darkness: He was still there and he ate Cybertron.

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:59 pm

Was it ever explianed why Rodimus absorbed Unicron into the Matrix? I mean, wouldn't he have just died without a shell to contain him? Or was it Unicron himself who went into the Matrix to hide himself?

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Fri May 06, 2005 9:00 pm

Stormwolf wrote:Yes and no

Let's look at it like this:

Target 2006: kickin.
Legacy of Unicron: somewhat kicking.
Space Pirates: possibly destroyed.
Timewars: still kickin in the 80's timeframe.
Rhythems of Darkness: He was still there and he ate Cybertron.

Damn

time-traveling

bs. It wasn't even the same Galvatron each time was it.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Fri May 06, 2005 9:29 pm

Nope. The one in 'Aspects of Evil' was a different one too.