Post by alainaprana on Oct 23, 2013 23:40:58 GMT -5
Cont. from my Transformers: Armada review/overview. 
Characters
Optimus Prime
Optimus doesn't get much actual development throughout the series, but that's understandable since he's freaking Optimus Prime. He's the leader for a reason. I've mentioned before I've only seen one or two incarnations of Transformers, and this Optimus is the most lax. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. We see him taking his position seriously later in the show, and he is quick to straighten out the wrinkles the Autobots have. It's more than obvious he has the heart of a leader, which is the most important aspect. Sacrificing himself to save the planet earth was one of his highlights, his all too expected return was all right, and then there is the final battle where his whole ideals become a muddled mess between Unicron talking him down and Galvatron baiting him into a real fight again. At the end he is not even sure if he is worthy to carry the Matrix anymore, since it's implied he fell back into an old self of his. His last battle with Galvatron was no holds barred, and it showed. Does this mean Optimus was more...bloodthirsty in his younger days? There is alot implied here and not much answer for it, which is a little disappointing.
Red Alert
Red Alert also doesn't get alot of development, he's a bit of a stiff with high technical knowledge and generally the one that patches everyone up when they get hurt. We see that he is a decent fighter but definitely more of a technician as he tells even Optimus at one point to just leave something alone and leave it to him. He has a smile every once in awhile but he's generally a stern faced serious kind of guy. He generally views the kids antics in an almost parental type of way. Stern but not harsh.
Hot Shot
Hot Shot was the character for the Autobots. The first thing we notice is that he is a bit of a loose cannon. Generally impatient and more of a scrapper than a real fighter. In short terms, his name reflects his personality. When he recieved the Star Saber he grew overconfident, falling into almost Starscream levels of overconfidence. In his fight with Starscream, Starscream was actually the more determined and level headed of the two, and that is really saying something. The swift kick is the butt for him came when Sideways betrayed him and he lost the Star Saber. He felt guilty about it for a long time, and practiced carefully afterwards, especially after Scavenger took him him. After all that even we find out Hot Shot has a PAST. Sideswipe just appeared at the Autobot base in search of his idol Blurr. As it turns out, Blurr saved Sideswipe from a sticky situation and has admired him since. Blurr has no interest in the bumbling newbie, so Hot Shot is stuck with him. This is where Hot Shot is reminded of another new soldier he was once charged with, named Wheeljack. Wheeljack and Hot Shot grew to be good friends, and during one battle Wheeljack was pinned by wreckage and in the middle of an intense fire. Hot Shot left to get help, since it was obvious that he couldn't life the wreckage on his own. Wheeljack didn't want Hot Shot to leave however, and Hot Shot nearly begged for Wheeljack to be okay with him leaving, he was desperate to get Wheeljack out of that situation. By the time Hot Shot had found help though, the flames had grown too much and his commanding officer forced him to stay. Hot Shot disobeyed orders and went back in after Wheeljack anyway, never making it and blacking out, waking up in the medical bay.
Wheeljack shows up on earth, taunting Hot Shot and sporting a darker color and a Decepticon logo. Hot Shot bows to him, leaning on one knee and everything, begging an apology. Wheeljack shoots Hot Shot at point blank range, sending him into 'intensive care' back at the Autobot base. Sideswipe questions about the black colored car that shot Hot Shot, and that's where Hot Shot spills the story. Optimus mentions to Blurr that the reason he took Hot Shot under him was ultimately because of Hot Shot's pained past.
Hot Shot leaves the base, getting a bit of angsty alone time before confronting Wheeljack again. Wheeljack offers to duel, and they fight, but Hot Shot isn't really giving it his all. Eventually Wheeljack pulls his gun on Hot Shot, and Hot Shot grabs the barrel and puts it right to his chest, where the spark chamber is. He tells Wheeljack to do it properly this time. Eventually, Sideswipe gets caught up in everything and Wheeljack recreates the firey situation from the past and Hot Shot barely manages to save Sideswipe. Still, they escape, and Sideswipe idolizes Hot Shot instead of Blurr, referring to him as 'Bro' from then on.
By the time Optimus sacrifices himself, Hot Shot is still a bit of a loose cannon. Optimus mentions on more than one occassional how much of a handful he is. He's become wary, and has grown tired of being betrayed. He demands Optimus to tell him why he trusted Starscream, and never really gets an answer. Just a 'you'll understand...someday' speech. He's humble enough this time around to realize he isn't ready for the Matrix yet, and respectfully declines it. When Scavenger gives him the beatdown for being a moron set on revenge, he doesn't get it until his minicon Jolt stands up to him as well. When he finally realizes that he should focus on what Optimus would do and not what he should do, it's a look of relief from everyone, including him. After his sincere apology, they make him commander and re-offer him the Matrix. He still refuses the Matrix, and settles a little uncomfortably into the commanders position. He relinquishes it upon Optimus's return with no fuss, and also returns to the position in the final battle rather easily.
By the time the final few episodes roll around Hot Shot has become much more confident, sure of himself and ready to take charge. His bold dash into the enemy stronghold is one of desperation to save everyone, not just the Autobots, not just himself, but for his entire planet and race. The scene of him rushing through geared with a blaster rifle and his own wits is actually pretty intense and you get a real feeling of desperation from him, like he feels he HAS to do this. It makes sense, given his recent leader position and how he has had a taste of those responsibilities, even though he was generally a loose cannon beforehand.
Smokescreen/Hoist
Smokescreen is kind of an action guy, his longarm (before his body was remade) was used to launch the Skyboom Shield to those who needed it on the battlefield. He was a bit of an analyst and just generally useful in battle and around the base. His shining moment though is when he stood up to Megatron in an attempt to protect the Requim Blaster minicons. Even with his body falling apart and his obvious near-death-ness he trudges towards the Decepticon leader like not even death will stop him. Some of his final words before his lights dim was 'I tried'.
I still find it crap they just pulled and revival on him, maybe I would have felt differently if he was a character that had alot more to him like Hot Shot. When I first saw this episode and didn't know he was going to come back I felt BAD about it. But rewatching the series and knowing? It made the entire scene lose quite a bit of it's potency. Maybe it would have been better if they all hadn't given him the farewell salute, I don't know.
Blurr
Blurr is just kind of there. He is a cool-looking character that does little than comment on what's going on and evens out the teams. I like his voice though.
Scavenger
Scavenger got the 'mysterious traveler' introduction, with his brown wrapped up cloak and acting all ambiguous and commenting and random battles. Bonus points for having a history with Optimus and both of them being totally tight lipped about it, though that may not be intentional I still like to think that way. It actually reminds me alot of Rakusho from Medabots, since Scavenger never really FEELS like a Decepticon. He comments on how Starscream seems like he will be the fall of the Decepticons. His face heel turn towards Autobot seems very natural too, since Optimus sent him on that mission in the first place, and his mentorship towards Hot Shot is natural. It's only touched upon slightly, I would have liked to see more of it, but I did like what little bit I did see. He has a bit more of a personality, which is there again not explored much, but we do know he is a bit lazy that naps often.
Jetfire
Jetfire is there to sell toys. He has a tiny bit of a personality that hints he is more of a loose cannon than even HOT SHOT as he goes off to face some enemies alone and tells the others to not inform the currently injured Optimus about it. He is our second in command for the Autobots!! Seriously. His major use comes in the form of Power Linking with Optimus, forming Jet Optimus. It sells toys.
Sideswipe
Sideswipe is a newbie by the book soldier that's main reason was to give Hot Shot a bit of character. Because he needed more of it apparently. He also has a use in technical issues though, as he mentions he's good with codes and stuff. That would be cool, but the only time we really see him putting those skills to work is when they get some information off of the Autobot side Starscream. Which...couldn't Starscream just TELL them what the codes are? Why does Sideswipe need to go through all this work to decode something if there is a person who can read it right...freaking...there?! I...didn't really get it. Other than that he's just a warrior with main character status in battles.
Megatron/Galvatron
Megatron is a little odd. He is intimidating at times, and feels like a pushover at times. He constantly makes the mistake of letting 'weaklings' go and his actions don't really start living up to his reputation until he fires upon Smokscreen. Well. Maybe when he nearly killed Starscream. Either or, he doens't really change much. His goal is leader of the known universe, and total domination. One evil guy, right? Still, every Decepticon fears him, even the smarter ones, the only exception being Starscream on occassion. I think Megatron feels intimidated by Starscream because of his potential. It's obvious Starscream is smart and has talent and far outclasses the other 'elite' Decepticons. He even goes as far as to create a plot to make Starscream look bad so he doesn't have to confront Screamer directly.
It seems like he's made a bit of a change when Starscream sacrifices himself, but he later states that that was a foolish thing to do, even though he was a dedicated, true Decepticon. It's strange, his opinion seems to change with the tide of war. Megatron is a little complex in the fact that you never know how he is going to react to a situation. When Optimus died he was sorely dissappointed, feeling let down that his rival would die is such a bleak and useless way. The Decepticons keep thinking it's going to cheer up but his mood just sours and worsens until Prime actually comes back to life. I'd say Megatron has some serious issues to deal with via therapy...
Demolisher
Dumb as rocks Demolisher, but he arguably has the more caring personality of the Decepticons. He saves Starscream not once, but twice, one time insisting he was saving the Star Saber and not the comrade, and the second time he stopped Megatron from actually killing Starscream. He has a hard time thinking things through, but knows what is in front of him at least. He is loyal, but walks around with a dumb thought and always questions whats going on more out of curiousity and misunderstanding than anything. He is shown to care for some things, when scoping out Unicron he saves Cyclonis' life and when Hot Shot retrieves his minicon for him (which he took for lost when it fell down a chasm) he is at a loss of words from gratitude. I get the feeling not too many Decepticons would act the same.
Cyclonis
Cyclonis is ax crazy and has a sadistic laugh. I've noticed that the Decepticons have decidedly more character than the Autobots in that it's shown more. Sure they don't do much either, but you can always tell that Cyclonis is gonna say something stupid or go on a weird rant. He gets this giddy sound when he talks, leading into his laugh. It's almost creepy, like he's getting high on spouting thought whatever is hanging on the top of his head. Because of this you can tell he has a hard time controlling his thoughts and therefore his mouth. A bad mix sometimes when you're the subordinate of a sadistic Megatron. I'm honsetly surprised he didn't get beat up more often like Starscream, but I guess Starscream was pulling attention away from his stupidity. Either way, I like this character. If only for that awesome laugh.
Starscream
Oh Screamer where do I begin with you. Where Hot Shot had alot going on, he wasn't very complex. Starscream has a lot going on and is very complex. You never really know quite what this guy is thinking. He starts off as the overconfident failing warrior that is typical of Starscream, but then we get to the point where he starts treating the minicons like equals, and switches to the Autobots. The thing with Starscream is, it's the human KIDS of all things that give this guy his good side. If there was any a time the kids served a decent purpose it was to provide development for Starscream.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
Starscream is our typical bragging, overconfident warrior with potential to start off with. He doesn't do much other than hog screen time for the first season or so. We see him as somewhat loyal to Megatron for a long time, but occassionaly questioning Megatron's reasoning for some things. There is a specific scene where Demolisher has recovered a minicon and Megatron demands it be turned over to him. Starscream watches rather broodingly and notes it a rather harsh punishment for such a close subordinate. He challenges Megatron once or twice, and always loses and has his life spared. Then...there was the scene where Megatron nearly beat him to death. I'm going to count that as a gory discretion shot because we hear plenty of clanging and banging behind that closet door before Demolisher kicks it in to stop Megatron from killing Starscream.
I've mentioned this before but we get alot of shots of Starscream being quiet and observative. He's shown to be smart yet overconfident and have a questioning loyalty. It's probably BECAUSE he's smarter than the average Decepticon that he has issues following Megatron blindly. It's when he's abandoned on the battlefield that he really starts to wonder and grow confused, questioning everything he's known up to that point. The desperation in his voice when he screams to the sky in total and utter pain is evident. I have to give props to the voice acting for Screamer. He finally does go on an anger rampage after overhearing Thrust and Megatron laughing about the situation that caused him such pain and vows he will get even with Megatron, even if he has to join the Autobots. Which of course...
One of the first times we see Starscream roaming the Autobot side his minicons (including the Star Saber ones) are all trying to comfort him in his brooding. Alexis attempts to talk to him as well, but they are all blown off. Being branded a full blown traitor, he has alot to think about. Optimus points out that Decepticons and Autobots have different base programming, and his clashing attitude towards the autobots is understood by Optimus and Optimus alone. He generally slacks off and blows off chores, which is typical Decepticon behavior from what we can tell. But the Autobots don't really work that way. Hot Shot has a decidely difficult time trusting him after what happened with Sideways and Smokescreen, even challenging him immediately. He ends up going on a mission with Jetfire, after finding a minicon signal near Mars. The kids get all excited, and they ask Jetfire to bring them a souvenier since they can't go. Well, when the two return it's STARSCREAM that leaves a shiny Mars rock nonchalantly for the kids to find and get excited over. As a result, the kids hold a surprise party for Starscream, with a cake and everything. He is thoroughly taken by surprise and has no idea what to do. They even gave him a hand made shammy as a present, and he just stares at it. Almost disbelieving.
The kids are mentioned to have little understanding of Transformer lifestyles, and are surpsied at the idea that Starscream has never had gift, not 'even for his birthday'. Starscream replies no and askes them what he should do in this situation. Alexis tells him a 'Thank you' would suffice, and he just does that. They start asking him about Mars when another Autobot asks him to come and help with the work. He shrugs it off, saying someone will do it, obviously just wanting to talk to the kids. The kids berate him a little, and Starscream begins to wonder...just what excalty is he doing with the Autobots?
These scenes with him just looking confused and trying to interact like an actual normal person is almost...sad. It's obvious he just wants a bit of recognition, which is why he was such a braggart while he was with the Decepticons. But, Decepticons BEING Decepticons, they would just laugh it off and put him down. And he's been through that...for eons. That would be difficult to handle. I can't help feeling that if he had earned even just ONE compliment ONCE in his entire life he would have had something to feel good about.
His goal at this point is to defeat Megatron. And the Autobots aren't really into helping him achieve that. They are focused on the minicons. So he really begins to question himself and what side he's on. Distrust forms when the Star Saber minicons go missing (turns out they were talking a walk with the kids), and fingers are getting pointed towards Starscream. Hot Shot, surprisingly, has taken Starscreams side in this even though Starscream says its already pointless. He ends up getting manipulated by Thrust to return to the Decepticons, but his inner monologue tells us he definitely isn't sure if it's the right decision or not, and he tosses the shammy the kids had made for them, saying that even though he is leaving, he will never forget their kindness.
His uncertainty is more than present throughout the rest of the series. When he's told to fire the Hydra Cannon upon the earth, he nearly panics on what he should do, visibly SHAKING at the control panel and is more than relieved that the Autobots had interrupted the firing. Then he throws the fight outside, saving Optimus and allowing the planet to be saved. He is also physically distressed when he hears that Optimus is dead. Then later on the planet with Nemesis Prime, he tried to protect Hot Shot and Red Alert from the firing of the Requim Blaster by calling out to Megatron, and saved their lives via convincing the bad guy that they were worth it.
It's obvious he wants the Autobots to win, he just doesn't know how to feel or act around them because he is so different. The entire time after he left the Autobots I kept getting this anxious feeling, waiting for him to FINALLY do something good and cement his 'good guy' status. Everything is brought all the way around when he saves the kids on Cybertron from the rockslide and Alexis keeps hanging around, having hope in him and everything. And it's just such a gut wrench when he walks away from them after the fact, Hot Shot even asking him to return to the Autobot side, and Starscream looking over his shoulder and saying that he doesn't want to risk betraying them again. Apparently they don't deserve a second backstabbing. Alexis tries to insist that that won't happen, and he just laments and says he isn't sure it won't, and that he isn't sure of anything anymore. He thanks Alexis for believing in him and just...walks off, going back to try to convince Galvatron that he is trustworthy.
The whole Unicron thing was a realy kick in the pants to the Decepticons, but Starscream is the only one who realizes that the Decepticons can't beat him without the help of the Autobots. He gets called a fool, is laughed at, and put down by Galvatron, even though Starscream keeps insisting it's the thing to do, or else they will all be destroyed. Later, when Optimus and Galvatron are fighting, he interrupts and takes Galvatron on himself, ultimately losing. Starscream is obviously desperate at this point, and has even become entirely unselfish as he realizes that the only thing that matters at this point is the safety of their home planet. Galvatron has shoved the Star Saber into Starscream's chest, and wonders aloud how Starscream grew so powerful. I'm gonna call it here and say it was the 'power of friendship', Lord knows the situation called for it. Actually, I'm glad it didn't go that way. There is also mention of an oath that Starscream took way back in the day, and he could never fully strike back to Galvatron because of it. Wait...was he holding back in ALL of his duels with Megatron? I mean by the time he has the chance at a fair fight while on the Autobots side he's constantly stopped and never gets a real chance at it...and when he went berserk and attacked Thrust and Megatron after being abandoned he fled because he was massively overpowered. So...it's entirely possible that Starscream is indeed the more powerful fighter, but instead of him winning this fight, Starscream falls backwards and proceeds to give the most depressing speech.
"I tried to gain favour from you. But nothing was ever good enough. No matter how many battles I fought, you always found fault. Then I saw how Optimus treated his men, and I realized he was a leader of integrity. Unlike you."
(Galvatron ) "You were too weak to ever gain my respect."
"None of that matters now. You must listen — do as Optimus says and join forces with the Autobots, or else every last one of us is doomed! Please sir... do it for me..."
He then proceeds to rip the Star Saber from his chest, spark bared, and launches a powerful blast towards Unicorn with a battle line.
What's really sad here is that his blast comes just short of hitting Unicorn. It just disintigrates and precisely the wrong moment. It's like a symbol that Starscream was doomed to never really get a win, which I guess is par for the course for him but STILL.
Jeebus, this whole thing was sad. What's worse is that he is definitely dead. I mean never gonna come back dead. If there was one I WANTED to come back alive it was this one here and not Smokescreen! Having Starscream come back as a fully rehabilitated good guy would have been perfect. Sure his spark can't be replaced but with a new body made for him could have been sign of a real and direct change for him.
This dark end for him is good too though. I mean it still leaves me with feelings for sure, I just wish it could have been good feelings. It's still good. It's very good. It's just I can't get over that Smokescreen got the big recovery and it just seemed like such a WASTED bit. There was nothing more for Smokescreen to do! Starscream was still interesting and complex and everything that made a character good. He could have continued to grow and change given a second chance. Smokescreen is already developed. He's just a character that's there and nothing more. Where Starscream...well, even Galvatron of all people has something nice to say...
(Galvatron) "Right now, all I can think about is the comrade we lost. Sure, he challenged my authority in a failed coup attempt, and even though Starscream was a traitor, he never lost sight of his oath to the Decepticons. He was a true soldier, unlike most of you!"
Thrust
Thrust came into the show as a famous tactician for the Decepticons, and did a good job of it, minus the unknown factors that kept appearing in his otherwise carefully planned out strategies. It's clear that he's intelligent, even going so far as to point out in front of Megatron that his subordinates need disclipine and teamwork. Megatron takes the advice as kindly as you would expect, but Thrust lives to the next episode so yay for him.
He spends quite a bit of time manipulating some of the other Decepticons, especially after he decides to ally himself with Sideways. The one thing common about him is that everyone seems to make fun of his shape. He gets called cone-head more than once, and in a later episode, Megatron himself starts reffering to him as 'squid head' when giving out an order even.
Thrust is out for himself, a natural born schemer being a military tactician and all, and out for power for himself. His greed becomes his undoing, as siding with Sideways earned him nothing. Believing Unicron to be all powerful, he believes himself to be in league with that power and confidently stands on the outside of Unicron while the giant Transformer starts its assault on the planet Cybertron. Whe Unicron doesn't seem to be responding to him he has a brief glimpse of doubt that Sideways may have lied to him, but shakes it off. Galvatron, descending on the 'insignificant worm' does little as Thrust boasts about his newfond leadership and power. In response, the ground opens up underneath him, trapping him in what seems to be a sinking wire trap and the flooring slowly comes back together, spinning grinders at the edges of the open flooring. This scene actually gets very gruesome as he begs for his life before Galvatron, the Decepticon leader giving him the option of being finished off then and there and getting out of the situation himself.
We then see Thrust being slowly squished alive as his head and upper body balloon up in grotesque manner. Cue gory discretion shot complete with death-inducted screams and yells, Galvatron walking away like nothing had happened.
UGH the last few episodes started upping the ante on dark themes. Many veiwers think that you know it's a robot so they can get away with that kind of stuff, but all I see is a person get slowly squished like a bug. Especially with the way his head swells as the energon, a Transformers blood basically, pushes up into his upper body.
Jeebus.
Tidal Wave
Tidal Wave is occassionaly called Shockwave throughout the series, which is slightly distracting but not a real issue. He is a big lumbering powerhouse, and doesn't do much else. He speaks in broken sentances, almost like a zombie. He is shown to have a mini army in all of one episodes, and it's never really utilized. Thrust mentions it in his introductory episode, but that is all we really see or hear of it. It's a little annoying how underused he is, but his design is cool at least. I'm sure he made an awesome toy!
Sideways
Sideways was another character with that whole 'mysterious aura' thing going on. He didn't have the brown tattered cape though, so no bonus points for him. Still, it was curious to see what he was up to. It was legitamitely hard to tell until it was obvious he served a higher power. Anyone who has seen a Transformer anything could put two and two together at that point and say it was Unicron. Still, his agenda was unclear, his design was sleek and cool, he was a shady character all around and took advantage of his situations in smart and intelligent ways. I was honestly surprised when he was caught by the Decepticons, but at the same time they couldn't actually beat him which just made him all the more of a curious character.
His death at the end was a little quick and short lived though, and he really didn't change at all through the series. Just a really cool ambiguous character.
The humans
Brad, Carlos, Alexis, Billy, and Fred. Oh geez. The human kids, from seventh grade. These guys don't add much to the show except when it comes to Starscream, and even then that is mostly centers around Alexis. Brad has his whole vision things with Highwire which is his entire reasoning for his call to adventure but it just seems so...awkward to me. Alexis I actually kind of like, she is a bit of a tsundere type but a little more believable. She actually ACTS like a young lady at points, which is more than I can say for Brad. Brad acts older than his age, which is fine, but it just seems weird for a seventh grader to be acting all responsible like this.
And yet I'm still buying into some of it. His voice actor doesn't help, all I freaking hear is Miroku through the entire damn series. It's weird.
Oh yes...and he's an environmentalist. Yeah, we get spoonfed a 'green' message in one of the early episodes. It's the single most annoying episode. It's even refrenced once. Someone gag me.
Carlos acts more his age in that he's overexcited and easy to please as well as quick to anger. But...that is what makes him annoying. He still acts like a younger kid so its gonna get annoying.
Billy and Fred take the cake on annoyance though. Fred is a bigger kid and his schtick centers around food...
HA. HA. It's funny. Right? Because he's drawn to look a bit bigger and he's is seen eating a bag of potato chips all the time. And he's always hungry and complaining. It's funny!
No. No it's not funny, not really. It's stupid and annoying.
Billy doesn't help he's a throw away character tossed in as a companion for Fred. His voice is annoying, his actions are annoying, and he and Fred do not even get a minicon companion like the other three. Just...useless characters. They served as hostages for a single episode. That was about it...
Overall none of them change much, maybe Alexis and Brad a bit. Alexis seems a little less bossy and more reserved after her experiences with Starscream. Brad seems to have grown too, but as a said I find it a little odd for a seventh grader to be displaying the level of responsibility he had. Wanting to help the Autobots badly enough to be shot into unknown space territory is still a dumb idea, destiny or no. And yet, I have to admit the revelation with the whole thing was actually pretty good. I didn't really expect it and it gave a legitamite reason for the minicons to land on earth. Which...I will take a legitamite reason over logic anyday in anime. It's getting rather hard to come by.
Minicons
Eh, the minicons don't do much except serve as a purpose for the show to have conflict and weapons of mass destruction. Or in other words...
Toys. Lots and lots of toys. It's a mark of marketing brilliance on Hasbro's half, and I honestly don't mind it. They ARE kind of cool and the powerlink sequences gave us something nice to look at between the bad cut to shots during fight scenes. Other than the shy and reserved Requim Blaster minicons (which we really only get to focus on one of them) none of them have any personality besides that they want peace. The Star Saber minicons are partial to Starscream because of the kindness and protectiveness he shows towards them, and even Swindle seems partial to his partner. Jolt seems to be the most mentioned one, as Hot Shot proabaly beats Optimus even as far as main character status goes. Starscream exceeds even Hot Shot for the Decepticon side.
The kids' minicons though, Highwire, Grinder, and Sureshock, who combine into the taller Perceptor, seem to be the only ones that matter as characters and not weapons. Though they have little to no personality, it's obvious they are partial to their human partners and provide exposition and timely advice and hints during the last few episodes. Oh yeah, and all minicons speak in bleeps and boops, until towards the end. It's revealed they were never programmed for full speech, and only certain characters can understand them. It's a mystery as to how they start actually talking towards the end.
They mostly serve as time wasters, unfortuantely, with the kids even trying to take the Star Saber minicons out of the base to a farm hideout. A very bad scene with Thrust ensues, where the kids run off the tactician with Home Alone style tricks before Optimus shows up to point out their obvious silliness at taking the minicons away from the bots that can ACTUALLY protect them. Also if the kids weren't in the picture the Star Saber cons would have never gone for a walk and Starscream would not have been doubted and been sucked into Thrust's manipulation...that was a bummer.
Characters
Optimus Prime
Optimus doesn't get much actual development throughout the series, but that's understandable since he's freaking Optimus Prime. He's the leader for a reason. I've mentioned before I've only seen one or two incarnations of Transformers, and this Optimus is the most lax. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. We see him taking his position seriously later in the show, and he is quick to straighten out the wrinkles the Autobots have. It's more than obvious he has the heart of a leader, which is the most important aspect. Sacrificing himself to save the planet earth was one of his highlights, his all too expected return was all right, and then there is the final battle where his whole ideals become a muddled mess between Unicron talking him down and Galvatron baiting him into a real fight again. At the end he is not even sure if he is worthy to carry the Matrix anymore, since it's implied he fell back into an old self of his. His last battle with Galvatron was no holds barred, and it showed. Does this mean Optimus was more...bloodthirsty in his younger days? There is alot implied here and not much answer for it, which is a little disappointing.
Red Alert
Red Alert also doesn't get alot of development, he's a bit of a stiff with high technical knowledge and generally the one that patches everyone up when they get hurt. We see that he is a decent fighter but definitely more of a technician as he tells even Optimus at one point to just leave something alone and leave it to him. He has a smile every once in awhile but he's generally a stern faced serious kind of guy. He generally views the kids antics in an almost parental type of way. Stern but not harsh.
Hot Shot
Hot Shot was the character for the Autobots. The first thing we notice is that he is a bit of a loose cannon. Generally impatient and more of a scrapper than a real fighter. In short terms, his name reflects his personality. When he recieved the Star Saber he grew overconfident, falling into almost Starscream levels of overconfidence. In his fight with Starscream, Starscream was actually the more determined and level headed of the two, and that is really saying something. The swift kick is the butt for him came when Sideways betrayed him and he lost the Star Saber. He felt guilty about it for a long time, and practiced carefully afterwards, especially after Scavenger took him him. After all that even we find out Hot Shot has a PAST. Sideswipe just appeared at the Autobot base in search of his idol Blurr. As it turns out, Blurr saved Sideswipe from a sticky situation and has admired him since. Blurr has no interest in the bumbling newbie, so Hot Shot is stuck with him. This is where Hot Shot is reminded of another new soldier he was once charged with, named Wheeljack. Wheeljack and Hot Shot grew to be good friends, and during one battle Wheeljack was pinned by wreckage and in the middle of an intense fire. Hot Shot left to get help, since it was obvious that he couldn't life the wreckage on his own. Wheeljack didn't want Hot Shot to leave however, and Hot Shot nearly begged for Wheeljack to be okay with him leaving, he was desperate to get Wheeljack out of that situation. By the time Hot Shot had found help though, the flames had grown too much and his commanding officer forced him to stay. Hot Shot disobeyed orders and went back in after Wheeljack anyway, never making it and blacking out, waking up in the medical bay.
Wheeljack shows up on earth, taunting Hot Shot and sporting a darker color and a Decepticon logo. Hot Shot bows to him, leaning on one knee and everything, begging an apology. Wheeljack shoots Hot Shot at point blank range, sending him into 'intensive care' back at the Autobot base. Sideswipe questions about the black colored car that shot Hot Shot, and that's where Hot Shot spills the story. Optimus mentions to Blurr that the reason he took Hot Shot under him was ultimately because of Hot Shot's pained past.
Hot Shot leaves the base, getting a bit of angsty alone time before confronting Wheeljack again. Wheeljack offers to duel, and they fight, but Hot Shot isn't really giving it his all. Eventually Wheeljack pulls his gun on Hot Shot, and Hot Shot grabs the barrel and puts it right to his chest, where the spark chamber is. He tells Wheeljack to do it properly this time. Eventually, Sideswipe gets caught up in everything and Wheeljack recreates the firey situation from the past and Hot Shot barely manages to save Sideswipe. Still, they escape, and Sideswipe idolizes Hot Shot instead of Blurr, referring to him as 'Bro' from then on.
By the time Optimus sacrifices himself, Hot Shot is still a bit of a loose cannon. Optimus mentions on more than one occassional how much of a handful he is. He's become wary, and has grown tired of being betrayed. He demands Optimus to tell him why he trusted Starscream, and never really gets an answer. Just a 'you'll understand...someday' speech. He's humble enough this time around to realize he isn't ready for the Matrix yet, and respectfully declines it. When Scavenger gives him the beatdown for being a moron set on revenge, he doesn't get it until his minicon Jolt stands up to him as well. When he finally realizes that he should focus on what Optimus would do and not what he should do, it's a look of relief from everyone, including him. After his sincere apology, they make him commander and re-offer him the Matrix. He still refuses the Matrix, and settles a little uncomfortably into the commanders position. He relinquishes it upon Optimus's return with no fuss, and also returns to the position in the final battle rather easily.
By the time the final few episodes roll around Hot Shot has become much more confident, sure of himself and ready to take charge. His bold dash into the enemy stronghold is one of desperation to save everyone, not just the Autobots, not just himself, but for his entire planet and race. The scene of him rushing through geared with a blaster rifle and his own wits is actually pretty intense and you get a real feeling of desperation from him, like he feels he HAS to do this. It makes sense, given his recent leader position and how he has had a taste of those responsibilities, even though he was generally a loose cannon beforehand.
Smokescreen/Hoist
Smokescreen is kind of an action guy, his longarm (before his body was remade) was used to launch the Skyboom Shield to those who needed it on the battlefield. He was a bit of an analyst and just generally useful in battle and around the base. His shining moment though is when he stood up to Megatron in an attempt to protect the Requim Blaster minicons. Even with his body falling apart and his obvious near-death-ness he trudges towards the Decepticon leader like not even death will stop him. Some of his final words before his lights dim was 'I tried'.
I still find it crap they just pulled and revival on him, maybe I would have felt differently if he was a character that had alot more to him like Hot Shot. When I first saw this episode and didn't know he was going to come back I felt BAD about it. But rewatching the series and knowing? It made the entire scene lose quite a bit of it's potency. Maybe it would have been better if they all hadn't given him the farewell salute, I don't know.
Blurr
Blurr is just kind of there. He is a cool-looking character that does little than comment on what's going on and evens out the teams. I like his voice though.
Scavenger
Scavenger got the 'mysterious traveler' introduction, with his brown wrapped up cloak and acting all ambiguous and commenting and random battles. Bonus points for having a history with Optimus and both of them being totally tight lipped about it, though that may not be intentional I still like to think that way. It actually reminds me alot of Rakusho from Medabots, since Scavenger never really FEELS like a Decepticon. He comments on how Starscream seems like he will be the fall of the Decepticons. His face heel turn towards Autobot seems very natural too, since Optimus sent him on that mission in the first place, and his mentorship towards Hot Shot is natural. It's only touched upon slightly, I would have liked to see more of it, but I did like what little bit I did see. He has a bit more of a personality, which is there again not explored much, but we do know he is a bit lazy that naps often.
Jetfire
Jetfire is there to sell toys. He has a tiny bit of a personality that hints he is more of a loose cannon than even HOT SHOT as he goes off to face some enemies alone and tells the others to not inform the currently injured Optimus about it. He is our second in command for the Autobots!! Seriously. His major use comes in the form of Power Linking with Optimus, forming Jet Optimus. It sells toys.
Sideswipe
Sideswipe is a newbie by the book soldier that's main reason was to give Hot Shot a bit of character. Because he needed more of it apparently. He also has a use in technical issues though, as he mentions he's good with codes and stuff. That would be cool, but the only time we really see him putting those skills to work is when they get some information off of the Autobot side Starscream. Which...couldn't Starscream just TELL them what the codes are? Why does Sideswipe need to go through all this work to decode something if there is a person who can read it right...freaking...there?! I...didn't really get it. Other than that he's just a warrior with main character status in battles.
Megatron/Galvatron
Megatron is a little odd. He is intimidating at times, and feels like a pushover at times. He constantly makes the mistake of letting 'weaklings' go and his actions don't really start living up to his reputation until he fires upon Smokscreen. Well. Maybe when he nearly killed Starscream. Either or, he doens't really change much. His goal is leader of the known universe, and total domination. One evil guy, right? Still, every Decepticon fears him, even the smarter ones, the only exception being Starscream on occassion. I think Megatron feels intimidated by Starscream because of his potential. It's obvious Starscream is smart and has talent and far outclasses the other 'elite' Decepticons. He even goes as far as to create a plot to make Starscream look bad so he doesn't have to confront Screamer directly.
It seems like he's made a bit of a change when Starscream sacrifices himself, but he later states that that was a foolish thing to do, even though he was a dedicated, true Decepticon. It's strange, his opinion seems to change with the tide of war. Megatron is a little complex in the fact that you never know how he is going to react to a situation. When Optimus died he was sorely dissappointed, feeling let down that his rival would die is such a bleak and useless way. The Decepticons keep thinking it's going to cheer up but his mood just sours and worsens until Prime actually comes back to life. I'd say Megatron has some serious issues to deal with via therapy...
Demolisher
Dumb as rocks Demolisher, but he arguably has the more caring personality of the Decepticons. He saves Starscream not once, but twice, one time insisting he was saving the Star Saber and not the comrade, and the second time he stopped Megatron from actually killing Starscream. He has a hard time thinking things through, but knows what is in front of him at least. He is loyal, but walks around with a dumb thought and always questions whats going on more out of curiousity and misunderstanding than anything. He is shown to care for some things, when scoping out Unicron he saves Cyclonis' life and when Hot Shot retrieves his minicon for him (which he took for lost when it fell down a chasm) he is at a loss of words from gratitude. I get the feeling not too many Decepticons would act the same.
Cyclonis
Cyclonis is ax crazy and has a sadistic laugh. I've noticed that the Decepticons have decidedly more character than the Autobots in that it's shown more. Sure they don't do much either, but you can always tell that Cyclonis is gonna say something stupid or go on a weird rant. He gets this giddy sound when he talks, leading into his laugh. It's almost creepy, like he's getting high on spouting thought whatever is hanging on the top of his head. Because of this you can tell he has a hard time controlling his thoughts and therefore his mouth. A bad mix sometimes when you're the subordinate of a sadistic Megatron. I'm honsetly surprised he didn't get beat up more often like Starscream, but I guess Starscream was pulling attention away from his stupidity. Either way, I like this character. If only for that awesome laugh.
Starscream
Oh Screamer where do I begin with you. Where Hot Shot had alot going on, he wasn't very complex. Starscream has a lot going on and is very complex. You never really know quite what this guy is thinking. He starts off as the overconfident failing warrior that is typical of Starscream, but then we get to the point where he starts treating the minicons like equals, and switches to the Autobots. The thing with Starscream is, it's the human KIDS of all things that give this guy his good side. If there was any a time the kids served a decent purpose it was to provide development for Starscream.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
Starscream is our typical bragging, overconfident warrior with potential to start off with. He doesn't do much other than hog screen time for the first season or so. We see him as somewhat loyal to Megatron for a long time, but occassionaly questioning Megatron's reasoning for some things. There is a specific scene where Demolisher has recovered a minicon and Megatron demands it be turned over to him. Starscream watches rather broodingly and notes it a rather harsh punishment for such a close subordinate. He challenges Megatron once or twice, and always loses and has his life spared. Then...there was the scene where Megatron nearly beat him to death. I'm going to count that as a gory discretion shot because we hear plenty of clanging and banging behind that closet door before Demolisher kicks it in to stop Megatron from killing Starscream.
I've mentioned this before but we get alot of shots of Starscream being quiet and observative. He's shown to be smart yet overconfident and have a questioning loyalty. It's probably BECAUSE he's smarter than the average Decepticon that he has issues following Megatron blindly. It's when he's abandoned on the battlefield that he really starts to wonder and grow confused, questioning everything he's known up to that point. The desperation in his voice when he screams to the sky in total and utter pain is evident. I have to give props to the voice acting for Screamer. He finally does go on an anger rampage after overhearing Thrust and Megatron laughing about the situation that caused him such pain and vows he will get even with Megatron, even if he has to join the Autobots. Which of course...
One of the first times we see Starscream roaming the Autobot side his minicons (including the Star Saber ones) are all trying to comfort him in his brooding. Alexis attempts to talk to him as well, but they are all blown off. Being branded a full blown traitor, he has alot to think about. Optimus points out that Decepticons and Autobots have different base programming, and his clashing attitude towards the autobots is understood by Optimus and Optimus alone. He generally slacks off and blows off chores, which is typical Decepticon behavior from what we can tell. But the Autobots don't really work that way. Hot Shot has a decidely difficult time trusting him after what happened with Sideways and Smokescreen, even challenging him immediately. He ends up going on a mission with Jetfire, after finding a minicon signal near Mars. The kids get all excited, and they ask Jetfire to bring them a souvenier since they can't go. Well, when the two return it's STARSCREAM that leaves a shiny Mars rock nonchalantly for the kids to find and get excited over. As a result, the kids hold a surprise party for Starscream, with a cake and everything. He is thoroughly taken by surprise and has no idea what to do. They even gave him a hand made shammy as a present, and he just stares at it. Almost disbelieving.
The kids are mentioned to have little understanding of Transformer lifestyles, and are surpsied at the idea that Starscream has never had gift, not 'even for his birthday'. Starscream replies no and askes them what he should do in this situation. Alexis tells him a 'Thank you' would suffice, and he just does that. They start asking him about Mars when another Autobot asks him to come and help with the work. He shrugs it off, saying someone will do it, obviously just wanting to talk to the kids. The kids berate him a little, and Starscream begins to wonder...just what excalty is he doing with the Autobots?
These scenes with him just looking confused and trying to interact like an actual normal person is almost...sad. It's obvious he just wants a bit of recognition, which is why he was such a braggart while he was with the Decepticons. But, Decepticons BEING Decepticons, they would just laugh it off and put him down. And he's been through that...for eons. That would be difficult to handle. I can't help feeling that if he had earned even just ONE compliment ONCE in his entire life he would have had something to feel good about.
His goal at this point is to defeat Megatron. And the Autobots aren't really into helping him achieve that. They are focused on the minicons. So he really begins to question himself and what side he's on. Distrust forms when the Star Saber minicons go missing (turns out they were talking a walk with the kids), and fingers are getting pointed towards Starscream. Hot Shot, surprisingly, has taken Starscreams side in this even though Starscream says its already pointless. He ends up getting manipulated by Thrust to return to the Decepticons, but his inner monologue tells us he definitely isn't sure if it's the right decision or not, and he tosses the shammy the kids had made for them, saying that even though he is leaving, he will never forget their kindness.
His uncertainty is more than present throughout the rest of the series. When he's told to fire the Hydra Cannon upon the earth, he nearly panics on what he should do, visibly SHAKING at the control panel and is more than relieved that the Autobots had interrupted the firing. Then he throws the fight outside, saving Optimus and allowing the planet to be saved. He is also physically distressed when he hears that Optimus is dead. Then later on the planet with Nemesis Prime, he tried to protect Hot Shot and Red Alert from the firing of the Requim Blaster by calling out to Megatron, and saved their lives via convincing the bad guy that they were worth it.
It's obvious he wants the Autobots to win, he just doesn't know how to feel or act around them because he is so different. The entire time after he left the Autobots I kept getting this anxious feeling, waiting for him to FINALLY do something good and cement his 'good guy' status. Everything is brought all the way around when he saves the kids on Cybertron from the rockslide and Alexis keeps hanging around, having hope in him and everything. And it's just such a gut wrench when he walks away from them after the fact, Hot Shot even asking him to return to the Autobot side, and Starscream looking over his shoulder and saying that he doesn't want to risk betraying them again. Apparently they don't deserve a second backstabbing. Alexis tries to insist that that won't happen, and he just laments and says he isn't sure it won't, and that he isn't sure of anything anymore. He thanks Alexis for believing in him and just...walks off, going back to try to convince Galvatron that he is trustworthy.
The whole Unicron thing was a realy kick in the pants to the Decepticons, but Starscream is the only one who realizes that the Decepticons can't beat him without the help of the Autobots. He gets called a fool, is laughed at, and put down by Galvatron, even though Starscream keeps insisting it's the thing to do, or else they will all be destroyed. Later, when Optimus and Galvatron are fighting, he interrupts and takes Galvatron on himself, ultimately losing. Starscream is obviously desperate at this point, and has even become entirely unselfish as he realizes that the only thing that matters at this point is the safety of their home planet. Galvatron has shoved the Star Saber into Starscream's chest, and wonders aloud how Starscream grew so powerful. I'm gonna call it here and say it was the 'power of friendship', Lord knows the situation called for it. Actually, I'm glad it didn't go that way. There is also mention of an oath that Starscream took way back in the day, and he could never fully strike back to Galvatron because of it. Wait...was he holding back in ALL of his duels with Megatron? I mean by the time he has the chance at a fair fight while on the Autobots side he's constantly stopped and never gets a real chance at it...and when he went berserk and attacked Thrust and Megatron after being abandoned he fled because he was massively overpowered. So...it's entirely possible that Starscream is indeed the more powerful fighter, but instead of him winning this fight, Starscream falls backwards and proceeds to give the most depressing speech.
"I tried to gain favour from you. But nothing was ever good enough. No matter how many battles I fought, you always found fault. Then I saw how Optimus treated his men, and I realized he was a leader of integrity. Unlike you."
(Galvatron ) "You were too weak to ever gain my respect."
"None of that matters now. You must listen — do as Optimus says and join forces with the Autobots, or else every last one of us is doomed! Please sir... do it for me..."
He then proceeds to rip the Star Saber from his chest, spark bared, and launches a powerful blast towards Unicorn with a battle line.
What's really sad here is that his blast comes just short of hitting Unicorn. It just disintigrates and precisely the wrong moment. It's like a symbol that Starscream was doomed to never really get a win, which I guess is par for the course for him but STILL.
Jeebus, this whole thing was sad. What's worse is that he is definitely dead. I mean never gonna come back dead. If there was one I WANTED to come back alive it was this one here and not Smokescreen! Having Starscream come back as a fully rehabilitated good guy would have been perfect. Sure his spark can't be replaced but with a new body made for him could have been sign of a real and direct change for him.
This dark end for him is good too though. I mean it still leaves me with feelings for sure, I just wish it could have been good feelings. It's still good. It's very good. It's just I can't get over that Smokescreen got the big recovery and it just seemed like such a WASTED bit. There was nothing more for Smokescreen to do! Starscream was still interesting and complex and everything that made a character good. He could have continued to grow and change given a second chance. Smokescreen is already developed. He's just a character that's there and nothing more. Where Starscream...well, even Galvatron of all people has something nice to say...
(Galvatron) "Right now, all I can think about is the comrade we lost. Sure, he challenged my authority in a failed coup attempt, and even though Starscream was a traitor, he never lost sight of his oath to the Decepticons. He was a true soldier, unlike most of you!"
Thrust
Thrust came into the show as a famous tactician for the Decepticons, and did a good job of it, minus the unknown factors that kept appearing in his otherwise carefully planned out strategies. It's clear that he's intelligent, even going so far as to point out in front of Megatron that his subordinates need disclipine and teamwork. Megatron takes the advice as kindly as you would expect, but Thrust lives to the next episode so yay for him.
He spends quite a bit of time manipulating some of the other Decepticons, especially after he decides to ally himself with Sideways. The one thing common about him is that everyone seems to make fun of his shape. He gets called cone-head more than once, and in a later episode, Megatron himself starts reffering to him as 'squid head' when giving out an order even.
Thrust is out for himself, a natural born schemer being a military tactician and all, and out for power for himself. His greed becomes his undoing, as siding with Sideways earned him nothing. Believing Unicron to be all powerful, he believes himself to be in league with that power and confidently stands on the outside of Unicron while the giant Transformer starts its assault on the planet Cybertron. Whe Unicron doesn't seem to be responding to him he has a brief glimpse of doubt that Sideways may have lied to him, but shakes it off. Galvatron, descending on the 'insignificant worm' does little as Thrust boasts about his newfond leadership and power. In response, the ground opens up underneath him, trapping him in what seems to be a sinking wire trap and the flooring slowly comes back together, spinning grinders at the edges of the open flooring. This scene actually gets very gruesome as he begs for his life before Galvatron, the Decepticon leader giving him the option of being finished off then and there and getting out of the situation himself.
We then see Thrust being slowly squished alive as his head and upper body balloon up in grotesque manner. Cue gory discretion shot complete with death-inducted screams and yells, Galvatron walking away like nothing had happened.
UGH the last few episodes started upping the ante on dark themes. Many veiwers think that you know it's a robot so they can get away with that kind of stuff, but all I see is a person get slowly squished like a bug. Especially with the way his head swells as the energon, a Transformers blood basically, pushes up into his upper body.
Jeebus.
Tidal Wave
Tidal Wave is occassionaly called Shockwave throughout the series, which is slightly distracting but not a real issue. He is a big lumbering powerhouse, and doesn't do much else. He speaks in broken sentances, almost like a zombie. He is shown to have a mini army in all of one episodes, and it's never really utilized. Thrust mentions it in his introductory episode, but that is all we really see or hear of it. It's a little annoying how underused he is, but his design is cool at least. I'm sure he made an awesome toy!
Sideways
Sideways was another character with that whole 'mysterious aura' thing going on. He didn't have the brown tattered cape though, so no bonus points for him. Still, it was curious to see what he was up to. It was legitamitely hard to tell until it was obvious he served a higher power. Anyone who has seen a Transformer anything could put two and two together at that point and say it was Unicron. Still, his agenda was unclear, his design was sleek and cool, he was a shady character all around and took advantage of his situations in smart and intelligent ways. I was honestly surprised when he was caught by the Decepticons, but at the same time they couldn't actually beat him which just made him all the more of a curious character.
His death at the end was a little quick and short lived though, and he really didn't change at all through the series. Just a really cool ambiguous character.
The humans
Brad, Carlos, Alexis, Billy, and Fred. Oh geez. The human kids, from seventh grade. These guys don't add much to the show except when it comes to Starscream, and even then that is mostly centers around Alexis. Brad has his whole vision things with Highwire which is his entire reasoning for his call to adventure but it just seems so...awkward to me. Alexis I actually kind of like, she is a bit of a tsundere type but a little more believable. She actually ACTS like a young lady at points, which is more than I can say for Brad. Brad acts older than his age, which is fine, but it just seems weird for a seventh grader to be acting all responsible like this.
And yet I'm still buying into some of it. His voice actor doesn't help, all I freaking hear is Miroku through the entire damn series. It's weird.
Oh yes...and he's an environmentalist. Yeah, we get spoonfed a 'green' message in one of the early episodes. It's the single most annoying episode. It's even refrenced once. Someone gag me.
Carlos acts more his age in that he's overexcited and easy to please as well as quick to anger. But...that is what makes him annoying. He still acts like a younger kid so its gonna get annoying.
Billy and Fred take the cake on annoyance though. Fred is a bigger kid and his schtick centers around food...
HA. HA. It's funny. Right? Because he's drawn to look a bit bigger and he's is seen eating a bag of potato chips all the time. And he's always hungry and complaining. It's funny!
No. No it's not funny, not really. It's stupid and annoying.
Billy doesn't help he's a throw away character tossed in as a companion for Fred. His voice is annoying, his actions are annoying, and he and Fred do not even get a minicon companion like the other three. Just...useless characters. They served as hostages for a single episode. That was about it...
Overall none of them change much, maybe Alexis and Brad a bit. Alexis seems a little less bossy and more reserved after her experiences with Starscream. Brad seems to have grown too, but as a said I find it a little odd for a seventh grader to be displaying the level of responsibility he had. Wanting to help the Autobots badly enough to be shot into unknown space territory is still a dumb idea, destiny or no. And yet, I have to admit the revelation with the whole thing was actually pretty good. I didn't really expect it and it gave a legitamite reason for the minicons to land on earth. Which...I will take a legitamite reason over logic anyday in anime. It's getting rather hard to come by.
Minicons
Eh, the minicons don't do much except serve as a purpose for the show to have conflict and weapons of mass destruction. Or in other words...
Toys. Lots and lots of toys. It's a mark of marketing brilliance on Hasbro's half, and I honestly don't mind it. They ARE kind of cool and the powerlink sequences gave us something nice to look at between the bad cut to shots during fight scenes. Other than the shy and reserved Requim Blaster minicons (which we really only get to focus on one of them) none of them have any personality besides that they want peace. The Star Saber minicons are partial to Starscream because of the kindness and protectiveness he shows towards them, and even Swindle seems partial to his partner. Jolt seems to be the most mentioned one, as Hot Shot proabaly beats Optimus even as far as main character status goes. Starscream exceeds even Hot Shot for the Decepticon side.
The kids' minicons though, Highwire, Grinder, and Sureshock, who combine into the taller Perceptor, seem to be the only ones that matter as characters and not weapons. Though they have little to no personality, it's obvious they are partial to their human partners and provide exposition and timely advice and hints during the last few episodes. Oh yeah, and all minicons speak in bleeps and boops, until towards the end. It's revealed they were never programmed for full speech, and only certain characters can understand them. It's a mystery as to how they start actually talking towards the end.
They mostly serve as time wasters, unfortuantely, with the kids even trying to take the Star Saber minicons out of the base to a farm hideout. A very bad scene with Thrust ensues, where the kids run off the tactician with Home Alone style tricks before Optimus shows up to point out their obvious silliness at taking the minicons away from the bots that can ACTUALLY protect them. Also if the kids weren't in the picture the Star Saber cons would have never gone for a walk and Starscream would not have been doubted and been sucked into Thrust's manipulation...that was a bummer.