What is your favorite origin story?, For the Transformers, of course. Options

[Starfield]

So what is your favorite origin story? Me, I don't mind at all when the subject just never comes up, but my favorite actual origin story is probably Armada where they were created deep in the cosmos and sent out by the unique digital entity to be explorers and settled different planets, including Cybertron.

Also like evolution from naturally occurring gears, levers, and pulleys just for being so unapologeticly preposterous. Fun fact: This was their stated origin as late as issue 43 (at least in the US).

Please let me know if I am forgetting an origin.

This post has been edited by Starfield: Nov 15 2011, 11:16 AM

[Bass X0]

Thirteen were created by Primus, Quintessons came to Cybertron and used the power of Primus to create their commercial goods and military hardware.

Primus never got discovered during the G1 cartoon, the Quintessons being their creators never got discovered during the comics.

Thats my preferred origin.

[mignash]

I actually like the Universe 3H comic that said it was both Primus and the Quintessons.

[Megaplex Prime]

The Primus story is a little too Western Euro-American Judeo-Christian for me (as I am not Christian), but I can't help but have an odd fascination for it, because I love the story of the 13, and we can't have the 13 without Primus. Unless we can.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-trant.gif)

[Walky]

I'm atheist and I prefer the Primus origin. Stories should be stories, and gods can be in stories.

[Stungun]

I like the unstated origin, although the Unknown Digital Entity creating TFs to be explores is something I'd like to see. Only instead of explorers, the UDE was the remains of a precursor civilization that created Cybertron. It and the precursors created the Transformers to be guardians of life against an unknown threat; Autobots were builders to help rebuild from attacks by the threat, while Decepticons were the front line in the war against this threat. Maybe it was a previous Precursor creation, another digital entity that went haywire and seeks to destroy all life?

Sorry for rambling, guys.

[Pony of Merak]

I like the Quintesson origin because I like Transformers more as a Sci fi story than a Fantasy story. While midiclorians ruin it for Star Wars fans, reasonable explanations for things made Tf stories more interesting. Things like when BW explained alt modes as a need to survive energon radiation exposure,made it awesome for me because it was the kind of Sci fi babble I wanted.

It also made Beast Machines trascendence thing make more sense. From following basic programming to making their own choices and finally become full-fledged bio-mechanical organisms looking for a purpose in the universe.

This post has been edited by Pony of Merak: Nov 15 2011, 03:14 PM

[NICKSAUR]

I'd argue that BW's reasons for alt-modes makes BM makes even less sense, but that's me!

Primus origin wins for me, but I was a huge Quint fan first. Eventually I changed my mind, but FFoD was always one of my favorite run of episodes and I ran that VHS tape into the hugging ground.

Any history really gets me going. One of the reasons I'm loving the 13 tacked onto the Primus one.

[Pony of Merak]

The reasons used in BW might be abysmally different from those of BM but if a material is good for both things I think the point is moot. think about Oil for example: it can be used as fuel, but also when refined and separated in to it's components it has a myriad other uses like plastics and chemicals for several different uses.

I think in BM the Oracle just found another use for Organic tissue, that's all.

[Cybersnark]

Quintessons, because Primus tends to completely take over any universe he's introduced to, and inevitably becomes a literal Deus ex Machina (How did this happen? Primus did it. Where did this come from? It's a part of Primus. Why do we have to do this? Primus told us to). It also tends to make the Transformers a bit too Big and Epic for my tastes.

and we can't have the 13 without Primus. Unless we can.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-trant.gif)

13 prototypes, each designed for a specific function (thus establishing the root of the caste system). All subsequent Quintesson-created TFs are variations and elaborations of those prototype designs (TFs built after the Quintesson departure could have more unique/nonstandard designs).

[NICKSAUR]

The reasons used in BW might be abysmally different from those of BM but if a material is good for both things I think the point is moot. think about Oil for example: it can be used as fuel, but also when refined and separated in to it's components it has a myriad other uses like plastics and chemicals for several different uses.

I think in BM the Oracle just found another use for Organic tissue, that's all.

But in BW, their tissues weren't *actually* organic. They were synthetic.

[Megaplex Prime]

Although I like the premise, I really really REALLY HATE the idea of Quintessons in any shape or form. The Allspark or Primus or whatever creating working and warrior class robots I can get behind, but stupid random bass-ackwards fish-eyed tentacled morons scampering about bitching about sentencing, guilt and innocence and the end of the world for Unicron or whatever the hug just annoys the living jive out of me. When I was first exposed to the Quints in the cartoon (or TFTM; I forget which) and then I found out that they supposedly created the TFs, I was all like, "THESE things created the TFs? WTF??" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-primal.gif)

Anyway, it's just personal preference. Now I is rambling.

This post has been edited by Thunderhead: Nov 15 2011, 03:58 PM

[Pony of Merak]

The reasons used in BW might be abysmally different from those of BM but if a material is good for both things I think the point is moot. think about Oil for example: it can be used as fuel, but also when refined and separated in to it's components it has a myriad other uses like plastics and chemicals for several different uses.

I think in BM the Oracle just found another use for Organic tissue, that's all.

But in BW, their tissues weren't *actually* organic. They were synthetic.

I guess that part got lost in translation here, in spanish they said they were organic.

[Destron D-69]

other: specifically the unified G1 theory presented in Beastwars

[NICKSAUR]

The reasons used in BW might be abysmally different from those of BM but if a material is good for both things I think the point is moot. think about Oil for example: it can be used as fuel, but also when refined and separated in to it's components it has a myriad other uses like plastics and chemicals for several different uses.

I think in BM the Oracle just found another use for Organic tissue, that's all.

But in BW, their tissues weren't *actually* organic. They were synthetic.

I guess that part got lost in translation here, in spanish they said they were organic.

Ah! That's interesting to know, actually. That would make the whole thing seem like a unified plan. I'm jealous of your easier viewing experience. It definitely sounds more connected that way.

[Creature SH]

Personally, I prefer the origins of the species to be shrouded in mystery and for Optimus and Megatron to just be the latest generation in a succession of leaders. It makes the whole thing seem so silly and cliquish when it's always about the same handful of guys.

I would like a version that hints at the existence of the Quintessons as builders without ever explicitly stating it - because the earliest records were lost in the war. But with Hasbro's recent attempts at unification, I can consider that thought to be pretty much dead, I guess.

[Octavius Prime]

Primus, definitely. I would also like to see the One expounded upon, and also to see Unicron pre-mitosis.

I don't mind throwing the Quintessons in as enslavers, but I don't think they should be creators of the Cybertronians.

[Cabooceratops]

I personally like the Quintesson origin for the TFs.

Unless they're Minicons, then they came from Unicron.

[Jackpot]

Quintessons, because Primus tends to completely take over any universe he's introduced to, and inevitably becomes a literal Deus ex Machina (How did this happen? Primus did it. Where did this come from? It's a part of Primus. Why do we have to do this? Primus told us to). It also tends to make the Transformers a bit too Big and Epic for my tastes.

This. While I agree with Walky that stories about gods can be entertaining without regard for one's real-world beliefs, Primus/Unicron as presented so far have tended to lead to lazy stories. I am completely disinterested in them. There's potential, sure - I liked Optimus's misgivings about Primus's "goodness" in Marvel-G1, and I was disappointed they were resolved so quickly. Really, I'm less interested in Primus and Unicron themselves than I am in what the TFs think about them - what "godhood" means. If I have to see a Primus/Unicron story, I'd like to see one where either a) they're revealed to be more like amoral Greek deities than embodiments of good and evil, and the TFs have to deal with the reality that conflicts with their myths, or b) they're never explicitly revealed at all, and every event that might be their doing has a plausible non-supernatural explanation.

As for the actual question, I've always been a Quint fan, as silly as they are. The idea that the TFs' creators are their enemies is a great one, I think, especially since it contains the potential for hidden vulnerabilities like the switch in FFoD. I also like the Quints being used as a vehicle for explaining aspects of TF society, such as Cybersnark's suggestion that the Thirteen were prototypes that time unintentionally elevated to archetypes. I find unintended consequences more engaging than divine plans. (Though, come to think of it, a divine-plan storyline could be pretty interesting if it were more specific than what we usually see, and characters had to wrestle with free-will issues. Actually, Vector Sigma has portrayed in "The Rebirth" and BM kind of fits that bill...)

[Kil]

The reasons used in BW might be abysmally different from those of BM but if a material is good for both things I think the point is moot. think about Oil for example: it can be used as fuel, but also when refined and separated in to it's components it has a myriad other uses like plastics and chemicals for several different uses.

I think in BM the Oracle just found another use for Organic tissue, that's all.

But in BW, their tissues weren't *actually* organic. They were synthetic.

I guess that part got lost in translation here, in spanish they said they were organic.

Nothing in the Beast Wars cartoon ever actually said anything about their tissues being "snythetic."