TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on HOT ROD

this week it's the final basics episode of 2020 and when christmas rolls around i always like to try to deliver on a popular request from the comments section this year it's a big one the original turbo revving young punk hot rod and his alter ego autobot leader rodimus prime the character of hot rod was created for 1986's the transformers the movie voiced by actor judd nelson he was an impulsive young autobot from the year 2005 who dreamed of heroism and wasn't afraid to break a few rules if you're gonna ride dano ride in style unfortunately it was this rashness that led him to throw himself into the middle of a showdown between optimus prime and megatron and his interference wound up giving megatron the opening he needed to kill optimus before dying prime recounted the prophecy of the chosen one who would unlock the power of the mystical autobot matrix of leadership a prophecy that hotrod then fulfilled when he used the matrix to save cybertron from the monster planet unicron in the process being transformed and matured by the matrix's power into radomus prime the new leader of the autobots like most of the film's new cast members both hot rod and rodimus prime were created for animation first by character designer flor o'deary whose artwork was then used as the basis for the toys the opposite of how transformers characters were normally created at the time as the toys usually came first hot rod transformed into a futuristic sports car while rodemus was a futuristic truck with a trailer that opened into a battle station however a combination of the character designs being further modified after production of the toys began and hasbro then deciding to make some changes to the colors meant that the figures looked rather different to the character's appearance in animation mainly the toys were both just red while in the cartoon hot rod was magenta and rodimus was maroon after the movie the third season of the transformers animated series followed rodemus prime now voiced by actor dick gautier as he struggled in his new position as leader though a brave commander with a deadpan's sense of humor at times he was overwhelmed by the weight of his responsibilities and by his own self-doubt believing he could never live up to optimus prime's example i don't think i've got what it takes to be our leader maybe it's time i turned over the reins to someone else at times he became separated from the matrix and without its power would turn back into hot rod he was rarely unhappy about the change but destiny would always demand that he assumed the mantle of leadership once again sadly the viewing audience of kids also struggled to accept rodemus as leader they weren't happy that optimus prime had been killed off and their angry letters soon forced hasbro to walk back the decision in the third season finale optimus was resurrected and reclaimed the matrix allowing rodomus to return to his carefree life as hot rod in 1987 hot rod's toy was re-released as a target master a kind of transformer who came with a partner minifigure that transformed into a gun for them to wield hot rod's partner was firebolt an alien scientist from the planet nebulos the story of how hot rod became a target master was told in the animated series finale the rebirth in which a group of autobots were blasted across the universe to nebulose where they joined forces with nebulon rebels however hasbro's japanese partner takara opted not to release the target master hot rod figure in their markets or to air the rebirth in japan instead a japanese original sequel series was produced transformers the headmasters in which takara reversed hasbro's reversal by killing optimus prime again and turning hot rod back into radomus prime but he was still phased out of the show early on when cybertron was devastated by a decepticon bombing rodemus departed on a quest with cup and blur to search for a new planet the transformers could call home leaving command of the autobots to fortress maximus takara would bring him back a few years later as part of the japanese exclusive return of convoy toy line in 1991 by which time he had reverted into hot rod once more and become a tiny micro master hot rod also appeared in the marvel comic published in the united kingdom which also based his appearance on flor o'deary's earlier designs this series featured original stories set in the future era seen in the movie continuing on from the film's events but unconnected to the cartoon which chronicled more of radimus struggles with the burden of leadership as he fought to protect both the past and the future from the time-traveling galvatron in this continuity though optimus wouldn't return to retake command and rodimus's story ended on a bleak note stranded in an alternate timeline his withered body fighting to keep the evil spirit of unicron from possessing him it wasn't until the release of his target master figure that hot rod joined the cast of the american comic book in which his younger present-day self appeared among a crew of autobots who relocated to nebulos in an effort to escape the war though he was never a major character in this series he would make regular appearances in the comic even after his toy was discontinued in 1988 and he also featured in its sequels 1993's generation 2 and 2013's regeneration one for much of the 21st century hot rods occupied a curious position in transformers lore he's always carried the stigma of being a failed attempt by hasbro to replace optimus prime and fans have often blamed the character for getting prime killed in the first place but at the same time there's no denying that he's one of the brand's most significant legacy characters and many new toys of him both as hot rod and as radomus prime have been released over the years unfortunately hasbro couldn't trademark the name of hotrod which meant that for a good 15 years or so his toys had to be called something else he's been radimus major rodimus miner and most often just plain old rodimus now we don't know if it was because of this problem but new transformers cartoons released during these 15 years tended not to feature hot rod and instead gave his classic role as the archetypal impetuous young hero destined for greatness to other characters like bumblebee smokescreen and most notably hotshot who was so much like hot rod that at times he sported designs and color schemes based directly on him in the few instances where hot rod did appear on tv he was already a mature commander using the name rodimus rather than a hot-headed youngster such was the case with the first new incarnation of the character to be introduced in 2004's transformers energon this radomus was a great autobot hero who long ago left cybertron with a legion of followers abandoning the war to seek a new future elsewhere on his travels radimus encountered the alien alpha quintesson whose homeworld was consumed by unicron and he vowed to help him co-opt unicron's power to bring his planet back to life this mission initially brought radomus into conflict with optimus prime who was determined to destroy unicron but the two commanders eventually came to an understanding and worked together to help restore all that unicron had destroyed early plans for 2007's transformers animated also cast rodimus in the role of a rival for optimus prime but in the finished series the part wound up being played by sentinel prime instead and rodimus appeared only briefly in the show's third season in 2009 as the leader of the autobots team athenia defending a space bridge against decepticon attack until he was taken out by an infection of cosmic rust though his time on the series was short it did see judd nelson return to reprise the role for the first time while hot rod's animated appearances were limited he did also pop up in other media like video games and pros but it was in comic books where he really enjoyed the spotlight both as hot rod and asradamus he appeared in stories from companies like dreamwave productions and official convention botcon who memorably introduced an evil mirror universe version of the character in their shattered glass series in 2008 but mainly there were idw publishings comic books which debuted hot rod in his own spotlight one shot in 2006 and went on to feature him as a major character in their various series for over a decade idw's hot rod was the original turned up to 11 an inspiring charismatic daredevil who actually wanted to be a leader but whose short-sighted ego-driven recklessness was his own biggest obstacle to success notable storylines saw hot rod compete with bumblebee for command of the autobots after optimus prime stepped down and after changing his name to rodomus in the 2012 series more than meets the eye he became captain of the starship lost light and led its crew on a quirky quest for the legendary promised land of cyber utopia it was in the late 2010s that hot rod finally began to make a big return to prominence outside comics after hasbro at last secured his name for use on toys again one of the first modern figures to sport the classic name was released in 2016's titans return toy line with another following in the 2018 sequel series power of the primes which could combine with its trailer to become radomus prime these toys earned hot rod a role in machinima's tie-in prime wars trilogy animated series for which judd nelson once again returned to voice him this generation 1 themed series was set on a post-war cybertron ruled by a council that included radomus prime but after he was tricked into letting starscream get his hands on the all-powerful enigma of combination the ashamed radimus decided to relinquish the matrix and return to being hot rod only to then be temporarily possessed by unicron and transformed into rodemus unichronis a recolor of the power of the primes toy based on botcon shattered glass version of the character hot rod also made his live-action debut during this time in 2017's the last night though this version of the character was an unusual one lacking the characteristic flame decals and color scheme shared by all others instead he transformed into a black and orange lamborghini centenario he was brothers in arms with bumblebee wielded a gun that could slow the flow of time and had a french accent is he french no he just likes the accent no no no i hate the accent but i can get rid of it most recently hot rods enjoyed a big role in 2018's transformer cyberverse which took him back to his roots as a turbo revving young punk who piled around with fellow legacy kid appeal characters bumblebee and cheetor during the autobots adventures on earth but destiny called when the quintessons invaded cybertron and hotrod now sporting a new black paint job after a dunk in some toxic energon waste was forced to step up and become leader of an underground autobot decepticon resistance who fought back against the aliens with a new figure on the way in 2021 as part of the studio series toy line to celebrate the 35th anniversary of his first appearance it feels like hot rod is definitely back to the big time after years away he's a bot who's always believed that actions speak louder than words and hopefully he's still got many more years of action ahead of him and those are the basics on hot rod he's been a divisive character with an uneven history share your thoughts and feelings about him in the comments like and subscribe for more transformers history and lore support the show on patreon if you can and i'll see you in january for obscure characters month 2021

Channel: Chris McFeely

Views: 750,089

Keywords: rodimus prime, rodimus major, rodimus minor, rodimus, generation 1, the transformers the movie, judd nelson, matrix, dick gautier, targetmaster, firebolt, headmasters, return of convoy, micromaster, marvel, unicron, hot shot, bumblebee, smokescreen, energon, animated, idw publishing, more than meets the eye, lost light, shattered glass, dreamwave, prime wars trilogy, combiner wars, titans return, power of the primes, rodimus unicronus, the last knight, studio series, history, lore

Id: nPoGOtTwDSQ

Length: 13min 25sec (805 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 19 2020