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I’d like to profile some of the new characters in the upcoming movie Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen with quick little bios and pictures of each.  Please note that these pictures may or may not be accurate to what ends up represented in the upcoming movie.  Not that it’s an entirely bad thing.  I’m not one of the fanboy purists that has put a 30 minute-a-week serial commercial from our childhood on an artistic pedestal.  I loved the show, toys, and the characters as much as or more than almost anybody (at 150 or so of G1, G2, and G3 TF’s in my collection, I think I my opinion counts for something).  I thought some of the ideas and concepts the writers came up with for a kids cartoon were groundbreaking.  But at the end of the day, the show was licensed by a TOY COMPANY to sell product and gain marketshare for the independent TV stations that filled their line-ups with syndicated shows and reruns.  Okay, let’s kick away the soap box and begin.

Let’s start with the new Autobots that will join the roster in this summer’s sure-to-be blockbuster.  I apologize in advance for the large Photoshopped compilation image.  I couldn’t post all of the pictures individually for some reason. 

Sideswipe:  One of the original “Twins” with his brother Sunstreaker.  They were both Lamborghinis but didn’t look a thing alike in robot mode.  Didn’t even make sense to me when I was a kid, so I can’t explain it now.  Was one of the original G1 (generation 1) figures but played a minor role in the cartoon series.

Arcee:  She was one of the main characters in the original animated Transformers the Motion Picture, but wasn’t the original female autobot.  Alita One, a leader of a rebel all-female Autobot resistance squad and former GF of Optimus Prime, appeared on the show about a year or so before the movie was released.  As the first female headliner in the TF world, she became a big hit that Hasbro could have capitalized on with a figure.  Unhortunately, the only figure of Arcee that was released was a fan-designed “kit” that was not endorsed or designed by the toy manufacturer.  Most likely, she’s going to be used in a Bumblebee-type pairing with Megan Fox’s character in the movie. 

Jetfire:  Along with Shockwave and Omega Supreme, he heralded the release of the G2 transformers.   With removable body armor and sleek “alien” aircraft design, he looked more Robotech that TF.  In the cartoon, he made his appearance as a Decepticon defector.  A pacifist, scientist, and former friend and colleague to Starscream, Jetfire couldn’t conform to Megatron’s ideals and instead took up the cause of the Autobots.  All I’ve heard about the Michael Bay incarnation of this character is that he’s an old warhorse and walks around with a cane.  The only images I could find were pictures of the SR-71 Blackbird and some apparently bootleg snapshots of the new action figure in various stages of its’ design.

 Jolt:   Has had many incarnations over the years, from a mini Decepticon race car to a mini-con in the Cybertron and Energon series (a small transforming robot that can attach to the transformers for different power boosts).  In the movie, he’s an autobot, he’s blue, and there haven’t been many released images of him either.  Chevy has an entire page on the TF:  ROTF website dedicated to the Autobot vehicles that fall into their brand, but no robot form images have been released to date.

The Twins, Skids and Mudflap:  I know little about these characters as well.  What little information I’ve read has relegated them to the roles of comic relief.  As they are twins, my best guess is they’ll spend the movie making everybody laugh at their antics, only to have one of them sacrificed in a moment of bravery. 

Tune in later this week.  I’ll update again with the Decepticons that will be appearing.  Thanks for tuning in.  The three of us really appreciate the increasing number of visitors to our website.  We hope we’re providing enough of our brand of humor and useless information to keep our “regulars” happy and returning.  Please, feel free to comment, tell us what you think, add something we may have forgotten, correct us, or just say “hi”. 

-CWD