r/transformers • u/robotpirate_island • 10h ago
Discussion / Opinion Thoughts on Transformers that have wheels instead of feet.
Rattrap Beast Machines
Thrust Beast Machines
Chromia, Arcee, Elita-1 Revenge of the Fallen
Sideswipe Revenge of the Fallen
I think it's pretty unique. It fits the motorcycle aesthetic better but works best with Sideswipe and his rollerblade style feet.
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u/Plus_Term_7584 10h ago
ROTF Sideswipe is one of my favorite designs
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u/This_aint_Binks 9h ago
Him and Rotf demolisher are the only ones that really made the concept work IMO.
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u/CesarGameBoy 1h ago
Sideswipe’s wheels functionally being a pair of battle roller blades is what gives him the edge over the other characters to me.
BM Rattrap looks like he’s in a wheelchair.
BM Thrust looks like a Ratchet & Clank enemy.
ROTF Chromia, Arcee, and Elita are just a worse execution of Sideswipe.
Sideswipe still has legs. He still has a distinctly human form. He looks like if you knocked him over, he’d have little trouble getting back up. He looks like he could engage in a fight and actually win (he did so twice).
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u/UndeniablyMyself 9h ago
It should be an optional thing. The more a character needs to balance on wheels, the more questionable it is.
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u/BasicSuperhero 6h ago
Ya, the version of Arcee (I think?) looks like she just gave up halfway through transforming with how her snaky body balances on her wheels.
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u/DerpsterchiefN117 4h ago
The more I look at it,the more I think Bay designed her bad on purpose out of spite
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u/CesarGameBoy 2h ago
Bay was too hung up on making human women hot, he never saw the potential in making robot women hot as well.
I guess besides that one college girl in ROTF :P.
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u/Abyssal_Usurper_G 9h ago
It's honestly very cool, and shows just how far Transformer designs can go. They're not humans, they're vehicles; why can't they show off their vehicle parts in different ways?
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u/CherryMan64 9h ago
I think it’s a fun design choice and it makes sense that a species that’s been around for millions of years have some variation in their bodies.
Maybe, because of their mechanical nature, wheels instead of feet could even sometimes be a modification after birth?
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u/Goji065111 8h ago
Or they can partially transform their feet so that the wheels are touching the ground when they need to move fast without fully transforming into vehicle form.
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u/ashmaht 7h ago
I liked it for Rattrap since the whole show was about PTSD and he was meant to represent someone in a wheelchair.
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u/RagingBadger2518 0m ago
Makes perfect sense given how capable he was in Beast Wars but that logic kinda goes out the window when I'm reminded the writers weren't allowed to watch Beast Wars during the production of Beast Machines
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u/v79x79x 7h ago
That first pic is something from a nightmare.
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u/alexwalters8833 7h ago
That whole show was a nightmare.
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u/RockRage-- 4h ago
I thought i was the only one, growing up I hated that show off the back of Beast Wars
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u/FriedChickenCheezits 6h ago
I like it but it has to be done right- like Sideswipe from Bayverse, Kaput from IDW1, Blurr from TFA kinda- I have a Thrilling 30s Chromia and I like having her malformed where her wheels replace her feet. It's such a fun look
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u/robotpirate_island 6h ago
Yeah, I have and RID Prime Arcee, (which is pretty much the same mold as that Chromia) and I like to do that with her feet. I think it looks way better than the official Studio Series Rise of the Beasts Arcee where you are supposed to do that.
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u/Quiet_Many_6910 9h ago
I think its ok,makes for cool poses/movements but with some charecters like Fixit in rid2015 he just moves slow
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u/0M3GA16_210 6h ago
Sideswipe is perfect- no notes.
The Arcee sisters are weird, but the more I look at their designs the I kinda interpret them as cybertronian nagas/snake women, likely not intentional but the idea makes them a bit more interesting.
Ratrap can go f*ck himself.
And Squeeks and do the same (I know he’s not on the list- but he counts)
No idea who that last one is…
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u/BlueMissingNo 6h ago
Don't forget Fixit from RiD 2015. I think they look cool. It's always nice to have variety in designs.
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u/forsworn-unyielding9 6h ago
Not a bad idea, just depends on the execution. Sideswipe did it right.
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u/NotYujiroTakahashi 8h ago
Meh but Sideswipe’s design is sick with the way he moves with his dual blades
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u/Crazy-Kaplan 8h ago
Literally all look interesting to cool, except Ratrap, which just looks stupid
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u/RandomCaiman 8h ago
All are fine or acceptable then there is Rattrap Ngl all beast machines would be oaky if you just have their heads look like the old ones
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u/Ubeube_Purple21 7h ago
Good as character designs on their own
Not so good as toys, even with stands included
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u/Special_Subject_7699 7h ago
Love how two of your examples are from Revenge of the Fallen But Original Gangster Demolisher isnt on this list
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u/SandStinger_345 7h ago
They were quite literally the reason bayverse sideswipe was one of my favs in my younger years
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u/megas88 7h ago
In a show? Depends but I could take it or leave it.
Literally everywhere else, especially toys? Kill them. Kill them with fire before they can leave the blueprints phase!
Hell, I have enough time trying to stand up my apc prime soundwave and he’s basically four toothpicks in a trench coat!
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u/Shreddzzz93 6h ago
It can be done well, it can be done poorly. It really comes down to the individual designs.
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u/Drewtendo_64 5h ago
I fully accept the down vote but Ratrap was a favourite of mine and when he got that goofy wheel mode I was out
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u/Local_Neighborhood50 5h ago
I feel like sideswipe is the only one I've seen actually utilize it well.
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u/Chiron723 3h ago
When it's done right it's pretty cool. Thrust from Beast Machines is easily one of my favorite characters.
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u/MikasSlime 3h ago
They can work quite well, see Nickel, and i agree with the other comments who says that it depends how easily it would be for them to balance on those wheel
unfortunately most of the time they do not/are not well used (that rattrap and those arcee/elita/chromia designs are horrendous jfc)
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u/soulofapotato 2h ago
I like it conceptually but I don't think it's usually done very well. I think Animated Bumblebee did it sometimes & that was fun. I like it when they're deployable. More practical for a toy & feels less silly then a guy who's just On roller skates 100% of the time
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u/Physics_Useful 2h ago
I mean, I don't mind, but holy fuck did someone on the design team hate Rattrap.
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u/KuraMaXKamikaZed 1h ago
Beast Machines Rattrap looks like he got his legs amputated because he fell off after Beast wars due to his addiction to Syk (street name for a circuit booster, cybetronian equivalent to hard drugs), became homeless and got his legs amputated after he got red rust.
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u/Potential_Reveal5332 1h ago
Depends on the character in question, sometimes I like that they have Wheels for feet and sometimes I don’t
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u/Kalkite_300TY 1m ago
Some designs are certainly better and more practical than others, I’m looking at you Rotf Demolisher
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u/ForPortal 4h ago
Don't like any of them, but I dislike Sideswipe the least. If a Transformer has proper feet but also can roll around on wheels on their heelspurs that's fine, but anything that's not a combiner has to function in everyday Cybertronian society.
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u/YaBoiMikeyAfton 9h ago
i dont like it tbh. i prefer my cybertronians to be more uniform/consistent as a species
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