Considering the lore of modern Transformers storytelling, all the robots can be described as panromantic/aromantic asexuals with flexible genders. This of course falls under LGBTQ+ and would include same gender relationships as a norm. Watch for the explanation of these terms and for the evidence.
I can get behind the idea when someone says they dont like the concept of romance in TF stories. In the end, its still about giant robots fighting each other, and some people just are'nt into romances. However what really makes my blood boil, are the people that claim they dont like things like MTMTE because of the romance, but had absolutely *no problem* with things like the third season of Beast Wars.
Im all for the concept of them being fluid and technically not being gendered, but reading the comics it kinda feels weird how often its brought up because one of the creators was so stuck on there should not being any females cause this is a mens franchise. And then further down the line future writers had to creatively run with this that resulted in everyone being male gendered and gay, plus Arcee being a literal trans character in that continuity (turned against her will mind you) with violent bloodthirst feels the weirdest and most disturbing to me. And I don't know if this counts but the IDW Megatron and Starscream's relationship's also the most disturbingly abusive I've ever seen, and its plain disturbing. Im more for the concept of genders and some of its characteristics existing that can differentiate bots, but like humans (or perhaps more common for them) the cybertronians can just choose.
Fun fact: Acidstorm in cyberverse is shown with both the male and female seeker body type, and when asked about why it changes back and forth in an interview, one of the writers said something along the lines of “it’s just something he likes to do”
I always thought Cybertronians were genderless due to the fact they are built rather than born. And the gender aspect of the characters are sorta just placed as a means of making it easier for the viewers to identify characters. So whenever I saw two cybertronians in love, male model to male model vs female to female, I always thought “two robots in love” rather than “two homosexual robots in love” not because I don’t feel like calling two robots gay, but because how Cybertronians aren’t really too connected to humanity’s standards of relationships. And it’s especially why I have more interest in Cybertronian relationships than that of the Bay movies human relationships. Mainly because it can’t be tagged as black and white as human relationships can be.
It’s kind of ironic that for a bunch or mechanical beings, IDW made the relationships feel organic and real. I don’t usually like romance plots (I just find them boring), but this will always be an exception in my book because of how interesting they made them.
I have a feeling that you aren’t part of the lgbtq+ community, and that is totally fine and I can see why all of these queer presenting relationship can feel like a bit much. But after years of all of these franchises that are dear to our hearts only having straight, Cis etc. it can be refreshing to us to see someone who we can relate to more, especially since most of these franchises started from a place where they only catered to the straight white male demographic, and I’m not saying that’s bad in itself, but I think they are just trying to expand so that people from different communities and ethnicities etc. can enjoy it even more. Not trying to attack you, just trying to show my perspective on the matter.
It has never occurred to me that in some works of fiction, female characters exist solely as the “sex appeal” or “love interest” for the male characters simply because of the fact she is female. Thank you for bringing it to light.
Oh my God who cares. They sound like men or women and that's good enough for a children show. They shouldn't be sexually attracted to anything in children's cartoons. It's also not important to see yourself television. Your sexuality or who you sleep with should not define who You Are. Does not matter if you are straight or part of the lgbtq + community fat or skinny and you need to see yourself represented in the media. Then if not you got to have some mental issues. You have way bigger problems. Seeing people with different races colors handicaps and some birth defects. That is fine. Your sexuality obesity and underweight anorexia should not be should only be represented in adult media. And only representative in realistic proportions. There's nothing wrong with being lgbtq overweight or obese or even anorexic and should be treated with respect and acceptance. But we got to be very careful that you don't influence anyone to be part of any of those groups. Because the fact is being part of any of those groups have a high rate of death and suicide. That is a fact not a feelings. Plus me personally. Watching movies television or the media is an escape from everyday life. I don't need to see myself. I rather see someone that inspires me to either get in better shape be smarter work harder. not be told I am perfect just the way I am. Because that is a lie no one is perfect just the way they are and you should strive your whole life to better. Nothing hurts people worse than telling them they are perfect the way they are. Because that type of person well believe they are perfect and never have to change so when they hear any criticism of pushback. Will feel like a victim will never do anything to help themselves or change their situation. Because in their minds they are perfect in every one else is wrong.
This actually makes so much sense about cybertronians gender identity, after the quintisons were gone and mainly after the war ended, being free to choose how you Express yourself and who you want to be is an absolutely amazing thing seeing as to the quintisons they were no more than just machines filling a roll, nor did that change with the cast system, but once the war ended and everyone felt safe again it just makes so much sense that they started exploring how they felt and learning about who they were 😊
@@elxr9434 yeah but you not wanting to hear about it and people complaining about it when straight couples are plastered everywhere is ridiculous, if you don’t want to hear about queer couples or representation then we might as well remove all straight presentation in media. It just makes no sense and yet all we hear about it “oh well i dont want to hear about it or have it everywhere” but straight couples are. It makes no sense.
@@lowkey-y 1 my point exactly and 2 if you want to normalize something (if that's their goal) you don't shove the idea down everyone's throat that's how you make people bitter and distasteful towards it, you ease it in and give a small taste of it you let it simmer with them and gradually over time add more and show them that it's normal and you DONT absolutely DO NOT make a big deal of it because then it won't ever feel normal it will feel special and out of the ordinary (sorry this is so long btw)
@@elxr9434 yes and i get that, i never try to push my sexuality onto others and keep it relatively to myself but the issue lies in the current media and society as a whole, because any representation of lgbtq is seen as shaving down throats or in your face when they aren’t, you may not want to be super interested but the problem is when people lash out at attempts to normalize and slowly introduce couples. Homophobes love to shout about how its hurting the kids and what not while straight couples are seen as normal and good and yet there is no difference, I always grew up celebrating lgbtq representation before I knew my sexuality because it felt good to have these barriers pushed. Im glad to see you arent against lgbtq and I can see how things look from the outside as I was raised that pride month and everything was gay people pushing their sexuality onto others while in reality it’s wonderful people can finally say who they are without being hurt and shunned.
Can we all agree that "TraNsFormERs iS foR ChILdrEn!" is an excuse that needs to get ditched? I honestly found many modern day TF media way more mature that people get them credit for. Of course there's still some TF media directed more to kids (Cyberverse, Rescue Bots) but those usually don't portrait many relationships beyond frienship. Aside from that, I completely agree and I would like to add, to be honest, if people were so ok with transformers only being "etero" then... this is a whole kind of guys who'll never get into a relationship since the ratio is something like 12 males to 1 female! Let's spread the love! As a post scriptum, I know we have our differences in ideas regarding Starcream, but I'm glad I found someone else who enjoys his Prime design so much!
No I have disagree. See transformers are made for children let's not get this mixed up. Except maybe a few that are made for a more mature audience. And a kid does not think about this stuff and shouldn't. So the might start to think they are gay or etc. This can cause a disadvantage in life. Because kids are stupid and don't understand these topics. So than some kids will think they are gay before they are even attracted to someone. Which is happening right with kids who think they are trans but than change there mind. You have to let them found out on there own with no influence from anyone or anything. I want to say thank you if you read this and I hope that I can change your mind. That is ok at least I made you challenge your ideas.
@@twotontim322 why shouldn't a kid think about this stuff? Kids are more open minded than adults. If you can't confront a child's curiosity and provide context,empathy and understanding, then you can't prepare a child for the complexity of society. Trans people and gay people exist. There's no need to shield children or anyone from that reality. Beast Machines dealt with genocide! I would argue that mass murder is way more inappropriate than gender identity for children, yet killing is commonly depicted as a problem solver. I would rather my child pick up understanding, empathy and relatability from an LGBTQ representation than learn to solve problems with violence.
I do think the shows are mostly targeted at children, but then still you can add lgbt characters because they aren’t super sexual like straight people make them to be
@@twotontim322 I'm sorry but I basically disagree with everything you've just said (I'm not answering in a particular order, sorry if it's percieved as messy): -children are far from stupid and I found this argument extremely offensive. Kids can be brilliant and able of logical processes far more effective than adult ones. -transformers was far from being for kids from the beginning, with the first comic books in the '80s depicting extreme violence and gruesome scenes (look up for Megatron/Ratchet fusion or Prowl being molt from the inside out), right now it only added the themes of acceptance THAT SOMEHOW TRIGGERS PEOPLE EXTREMELY OK WITH VIOLENCE. -this whole thing of "exposing children too early" has being proven to be the exact opposite of the truth: in Norway kids are exposed to sexual education from the age of 4 and it's the european country with the lower grade of sexual crimes, STDs, juvenile pregnancies and the later loss of verginity (21 yo), teaching children from the get-go to respect people for who they are is a great thing. The more you wait to teach such a thing the more bigots are going to be infecting our society. -you can't "teach" a child to be gay or transexual! I cannot believe I am reading such a thing in 2021! This is something I expect from maybe the 15th century!
I’m glad you made this, some people need it. I only wish you were more popular. You tackle real problems and we all know how that goes over in this world. Thank you for this video and I enjoy watching. I feel like I’m with my people if that makes sense. People that understand, sexuality, sex, gender, and attraction. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well.
"Representation of same gender couples is important for normalizing depictions of LGBT+ relationships." and "Cybertronians are an asexual race that don't experience gender and gender attraction in the same way humans do." are two statements that can and should co-exist.
Hmm, maybe. But she also might not care too much and just uses male pronouns to help the mantises understand her since she's so much smaller than people like Optimus and Megatron.
You know she would suplex Airachnid after all the Hell that Spiderbitch gave, they may have some similar color palettes but you can tell that Arcee would want to be a better woman than that thing of a bug.
@@kobyrne6634 @White Diamond Yeah but in the situation we're referencing, Arcee, Megatron, and Startscream are interacting with a praying mantis alien race. And in praying mantises, males are much smaller than the larger, bulkier females. So since I was proposing the idea that Arcee doesn't care about what pronouns she uses, and that cybertronians use alien pronouns to help other understand them better, Arcee in this situation would use male pronouns.
Can I just say how much this video means to me, and swelling happiness in my soul the whole time watching it? Like, dang! You put into words my feelings every single time I heard someone say transformers can’t be queer. Also I love how well you described gender and romantic orientation! It made me sad when people would equate them being asexual to being completely cold and loveless brings. I can’t wait to see what you create in the future! Also if I had a nickel for every time I found out a transformers fan I really look up to was asexual, I’d have two nickels but it’s weird That it happened twice.
I sexually identify as an -Inator. Nice reference there buddy, good taste. 😏👉 Also that reminds me. The Rainbow-inator is actually a real thing. But it just has to do with cereal dye powered aerosols or something.😅
I used to not like any sort of romance in Transformers because I thought it didn't make sense for robots to fall in love, but I've come to realize that, since they're robots with emotions, it doesn't make sense why they wouldn't fall in love. Now I wish we got "IDW-style" romance in the cartoons. Also, female Lugnut is less drastic of a change (to me) than Wheeljack's character in Transformers Prime (though I'd prefer they kept Lugnut's name).
I always was reminded of transformers from Steven Universe. I mean, most gems appear to be “female” and most of them use the pronouns of women in Earth but- well it’s the same thing. They’re alien, not even biological. Our views of gender only coincidentally apply to them sometimes.
Both SU and IDW Transformers has done something with LGBTQ+ concepts that I think more shows should try: treating it like it is a normal thing rather than dramatically presenting it like they are doing some revolutionary thing. When you pose something as different it is usually treated as different, in these media a character being gay is treated as if they are defying the entire world and from hence forth they shall be "the gay one," it becomes who they are rather than a part of who they are without having much in the ways of homophobic characters to give them a reason to have it treated like an abnormality. It acts like it simultaneously has everyone around them accept them while treating it like something that is abnormal for no real narrative reason. This often feels more like they are driving a wedge between the character and everyone else than making them part of the same whole.
Personally, as long as the the two characters have chemistry and are written well, I don’t care what they are. Skids and Nautica, Chromedome and Rewind, it don’t matter as long as the relationship is well developed and interesting.
I'll be honest i spoke to a friend of mine who's a part time transformer fan i asked her if she was in a relationship with a dude would she be a bird or spider. She says spider then i tell her, "you may find a guy who likes flying dogs" i have been dating my girlfriend for five years now she said she would be bird so i would be tiger as a call back to tigatron and tigatron.
I find it perfectly understandable that bots have genders assigned to them, but come on, it's a bunch of metal that should he on the next level really. So why not have relationships? Both "straight" and "gay". But I feel like they would have pretty much asexual relationships. No kissing, no flirting, just "Yeah, this is my sparkmate. We live together, we fight together, we die together."
It's SOOOO refreshing to see a video about the super specific subject I love to talk about, the relationship between transformers and gender is so fascinating from the irl writing to the in-world connotations, I fucking LOVE thinking about it, it's so fun!
Tfp fanfiction is mostly cancerous and really really bad. With the only exception of emperor kumquats fanfics. He always writes the characters surprisingly well and believably.
@@nil981 You should seriously read the ones in AO3, many of them are incredible and very well worked, don't judge a book by its cover just because you don't like it, give everything a chance.
Since Transformers has a multiverse, and thus endless universes, I'd say yes. They are canon in their own universes. I like to write TF fics where I change one thing in the show(s), and then see what happens from there. I often end up making up backstories though, mostly through guessing as we don't know most of the characters' backstories in detail. I don't include sexuality in my stories, though I do still include mentioning of "interface", but it's Spark-merging instead of the messy stuff, as I find the former more comfortable and more logical than the latter, and more possible to be a thing than the other is. I like the concept of Sparklings, but not so much with sexual stuff, so I've decided to prefer them being either from the Well or made through Spark-merging. And then thrown up when it's time to be born. Coz that makes more sense to me.
I'd never really considered this topic before. If a Transformer can physically turn from a humanoid figure into an aircraft carrier I don't see why logically they can't be fluid in other aspects of their existence. Very thought-provoking video. Being a fairly exclusive G1 fan I've not really seen many of the more modern shows so these relationships haven't reached my attention before.
I like the concept at 16:53 very much and would love to see it used more in not only official Transformers content, but fanworks as well. My favorite example I've encountered was a fanfic for the Bumblebee movie where Ironhide went by she/her when speaking english. Nothing about the character's personality had changed, still the same old deep voiced, grizzled, asskicking machine. Just also a bot that felt very strongly about her own gender in relation to humans. Ratchet even got preemptively defensive on her behalf before anyone could verbally question why she had such a deep, masculine, Southern drawl, lmao. Alien gender is fun.
This video is not only so relevant and needed but is also very well put together. It effortlessly flows from one important LGBTQ+ topic/misconception to the next which just further signifies why these relationships and normalities belong in something like Transformers. You covered so much ground here not just for Transformers-specific content, but also very applicable conflicts within the LGBTQ+ and female representation communities. I'm just a cis straight white guy creator, so I can't say much in the way of this helping my representation, but I can absolutely commend you for an amazing and well-written educational video that hits so many points home in such an effortless way. Fantastic work and well said :)
Given the natural variety of human body types the differences in Cybertronian characters works well, but until recently realizing I was trans Waspinator was likely the one character that pushed me to think somewhat differently of the canon within the franchise
This is really good and correct Also I was listening to this video alone while driving and when you said you were asexual I just said out loud "We stan an asexual king!" I hope that gives you some kind of positive emotion lol
the joke about Knock Out being a “glitch in the allspark” hits so close to home…it’s just so ignorant to find that funny?? Like, so many queer people grow up feeling like something is wrong with us and even I myself wouldn’t have the gall to make a joke about it
I’m okay with any romances (both Heterosexual and LGBT) as long they are well-developed, no problematic tropes and fetishization going on. Luckily IDW handled those romance type like relationships well, my favorite being Cyclonis and Tailgate.
I love these videos. Your content makes it easier to learn about a fandom I adore, and other people. I'm still trying to learn about LGBTQ+ and I find content like this helpful if that makes sense.
Great video! I always thought it was absolutely bonkers in that G1 episode where we first meet Elita-1, Chromia, etc how the random assortment of Autobots that went on that mission just happened to be all the female Autobots' boyfriends. Like what on earth are the odds of that?? Yet some people only question the logic with there being homoromantic relationships in IDW and claim it has nothing to do with the fact that they're 'gay'.... lol yeah ok.
I was looking forwards to this vid, but I’m too tired to watch it right now lol. At least I know what I’m doing first thing tomorrow morning. Edit: Screw that. Sleep can wait. Also, how did I get a Chic Fil A ad on this vid?
I love that you mentioned lesser known shows like Victory which one of my favorites. I also love you brought up Asexuals, I'm an Ace too and I feel like we often get ignored so discussing it makes me happy. Good job thank you for the great video.
As an aroace person, I’ve always loved Transformers because, due to the lack of clear genders and romance, the stories were more prone to focusing on platonic relationships and emotions, which is something I can relate to a lot more and am generally way more invested in. They’re transforming alien robots caught in a millennia-long war, they’re interesting enough as it is without having to insert romance.
I will simply say that love is everything and if it sounds corny and stupid, but I am a person that if I am going to love it is with all my soul and I hope that the other person loves me the same, because we all deserve to love and be loved, Very few people find love in their many lives and much more few can give it because they do not have to give it, it is a gift like life itself. PD: that scene at the end always touched my soul, poor Ratchet, the only thing that mattered to him in his life and that is his first concern (apart from his second concern, which is his planet, which has already been fulfilled). Fate, how sad Ratchet throughout the franchise has always had to suffer wherever, seriously Hasbro or the company in charge of transformers because they do not give him the happiness he deserves so much, no matter who he is.
As a fellow G1 Transformers Fan, this video is genuinely fascinating and made me realize a new perspective on the newly expanded lore in the Transformers franchise! I'm Now Really considering reading the IDW COmics i've been hearing great things about!
I haven't watched Transformers in a long time - only recently getting back into it after being recommended one of your videos - and it's astounding how well this show can be used as a parallel to not only show that relationships outside of the traditional hetero-normative exist, but can be shown as complex and real (rather than having it being the only defining trait for one or more characters).
I liked that you went through this with the transformers I love this franchise since i was a kid and always welcome anything new with this great franchise.
I’ve never thought about romance in transformers, neither wanted really, i only thought of them as cool robots fighting a war; i guess energon exchange is a thing
@@sashabraus9422 There is only one of myself. I mean, even the pfp is the same, but the gray is blue. Anyway, funny to meet you here Sasha, how have you been?
Thank you so so so much Kumquat!! I'm still in the middle of watching but I'm super compelled to just share my deepest gratitude for making this. Would you have any groups or discord server, what have you? I just want to follow you more.
I've been waiting so long for this video to come into existence. I've been saying this for so long, and it's a grueling task to maul over the explanation on why Transformers aren't straight or gay. On another note of Polyamory: I believe that Redalert, Fort Max, and Cerebros were confirmed to be in a relationship with one another. To call Cybertronians[or colonists] incapable of romance because they are Robotic, is like devaluing them as characters. Cybertronians are social entities, which is why characters matter. The relationships they harbor with one another is the REASON that it took off the way it did. Conjunx relationships matter just as much Amica ones. IDW is amazing.
Loved the breakdown on the gender/sexual "issues" within Transformers, to be honest when I watched Beast Wars I didn't see any characters I could identify with (female specifically) and while I liked Waspinator my headcanon was that "he" was actually a "She" and not because of body type but rather because this was the only character since episode one that I felt I could identify with. Personal taste and design preferences can easily influence how one reads into the characters, especially as in Chris McFeely's "The Basics on Romance" stating that the Japanese version of Beast Wars made the Tigatron/Airazor pairing homosexual as Airazor was dubbed as a male. My only critique with the romance of Beast Wars was that Airazor and Tigatron didn't have a fleshed out/explored relationship like Silverbolt and Blackarachnia did and Waspinator (while comic relief) never had a chance to develop a relationship (romantic or otherwise) with anyone baring Rattrap's references of affection and I'd have liked to see Waspinator and Rattrap together (just a personal view)
In Hungarian we don't have he, she or it, we use one "ő" so if we are talking about somebody, we don't say they gender right away, but when we describe the person, other people mostly realise their gender, or they can ask it. So I really understand these explanation videos and I love them so much, as they make so much sense! Thank you for your amazing videos.
Personally, I don’t care one way or the other about their perceived gender and sexuality, because I’m here for the stories, some of which are outstanding (looking at you, MTMTE/LL); I’m into comparative mythology and I love my archetypes. Kudos to Hasbro for supporting IDW in their depiction of a race struggling to come to terms with the end of an extended socially defining war and individuals starting to feel able to reconnect in an intimate manner specific to their norms while suffering all kinds of PTSD. Poor Pipes. He never got to meet his ideal significant other...
Hi! I'm glad TH-cam recommended this video! As someone who's part of the lgbtq+ community (pan non-binary), as well as an avid transformers fan, I greatly enjoyed listening to you explain how lgbt and transformers are intertwined. As someone who uses they/them pronouns, it is a bit disappointing to only see transformer characters use conventionally gendered pronouns, but I guess that's what original characters and storylines are for.🙂 Your video is much appreciated, both in research and in terms of someone else who may realize that transformers characters may eventually portray how fluid we are as humans. (Idk if that made sense...)💙
This gave me more to think about, when I first saw an example of "gay" transformers I had the impulse reaction that I didn't want this. When I began to think of why it might have bothered me I came to the conclusion that; because they are alien robots, they don't have sexual attraction and are satisfied with an emotional connection. Which in turn made me feel that I could understand the LGBTQ community more, and that just like another community, they probably get a bad rep from a loud few who are just trying to get attention on the internet. Another great video tackling transformers topics that I never gave a second thought to.
I mean... Tailgate and Cyclonus are a better written couple than many other straight transformers couples out there, so it's really pointless to say no to good writting
Honestly they are the only non straight couple that isn't trash I know because 99% of gay pairings is not about the relationship but how gay they are over and over again.
I'm so used to LGBTQ+ couples being a big deal in media what when I've started reading comics I was like "They are so calm about them being in the plot, wow :)" This made me so happy because: 1) I am a part of LGBTQ+ 2) This is just logical for me to be honest, they are robots, not humans
The whole thing was an awesome break down and made a lot of sense… then we got to the last few seconds. “Whoop there it is” All the proof we needed and now I’m crying because the that was the saddest ending you could ask for in Prime.
Yeah many people really disagree with this which is upsetting cause LGBTQ poeple just want to be represented in a way to relate to its really nice to see this thank you for discussing this like what others say it means a lot
Honestly, i believe it depends on person's opinion! In my opinion, all transformers can be whatever sexuality they're supposed to be! If its straight, then its straight! If its gay, then its gay!
I agree with all the points made on this video. I do however have to express my personal problem I have with Clobber, and that problem I have is that she was not a hardcore loyal to Megatron decepticon, and there was no Lugnut I knew from Animated to exist simutaniously and make up for that lack of hardcore loyal to Megatron decepticon. Lugnut has not existed in anything other than Animated, so when I saw what I thought was Lugnut in Cyberverse, I was *extremely* excited, but then I'm hit with the infamous psyche as I see "Wait, this isn't Lugnut in any capacity." I guess in short my problem is that I miss Lugnut. 😭
I grew up with G1 reruns and the early days of Beast Wars. The only affordable option for internet was dial-up (broadband was still new), and fanfiction sites were still in their (relatively) early days. (Primus, I feel old). One of the first Transformers fanfics I ever read showed a romance between Prowl and Jazz, two Cybertronians that, in G1, were both canonically male, and were both male in said fic. I didn't see anything wrong with that and accepted it as normal. I still do. The first officially acknowledged gay couple in Transformers that I know of/remember was from the dub of Beast Wars released in Japan. For reasons that either were not fully known or I don't remember, the Maximal Airrazor was male in the japanese dub. By the time the ones in charge realized that Airrazor and Tigertron were scripted to be a couple, it was too late for them to retcon Airrazor's gender. They left the genders alone, effectively saying, "Yes, they are what we humans recognize as gay. This is [more or less] normal." My thanks to Chris McFeely and his series "Transformers: The Basics" for my knowledge of this. I am by no means an expert, though I have read quite a bit of fanfiction, and my knowledge of canon lies primarily with the american TV shows and the War for/Fall of Cybertron games. However, I have noticed a bit of a pattern. The VAST majority of media I have encountered, both official and unofficial, all seem to agree that gender plays little, IF ANY, role in Cybertronian reproduction. They do tend to fall under at least one of three categories (names subject to change): [1] {Build-a-Bot} ~ A new Cybertonian body is built (either via assembly line, custom order, or a DIY project) and then brought to life through some artificial means (i.e. Vector Sigma, the Matrix of Leadership, etc). First seen in official G1 media, gender for those Cybertonians created/birthed this way is far more a state of mind and soul/spark than it is a state of body. Any deviation from this would primarily be attributed to the builder. [2] {Well of AllSparks} ~ A new Cybertronian emerges form the Well of AllSparks (or a similar location/artifact) either fully formed or as the Cybertronian equivalent of a baby. Far more common in recent continuities, gender is, again, primarily a state of mind and spark instead of body. The extent may vary from one continuity to another. [3] {Life Finds A Way} ~ A new Cybertronian is birthed through some biological form of reproduction. Primarily, if not exclusively, seen in fanfiction, a significant majority of those that utilize human-esque reproduction at the very least imply that any "gender" can serve the biological role of both "mother" and "father". The very EXISTENCE of gender is often open to interpretation and continuity. In the G1 episode [i]The Search for Alpha Trion[/i], Shockwave says, "Female Autobots? I thought they were extinct," almost implying that, instead of an actual gender, "female" Cybertronians are a subspecies. A few of the most common "taboos" in a society seem to be related to a species ability to reproduce. For a race where gender is irrelevant to the process, any gender-related taboos will (theoretically) be significantly reduced in number, assuming there are any in the first place.
Interesting bit: Airazor's a guy in the Japanese dub of Beast Wars. A lot of his dialogue with Tigatron is changed to be mentor/apprentice, but then Other Voices happened and the dub couldn't hide it anymore. Yeah, the first gay romance in Transformers is only in Japanese.
They are that thing Ratchet said in the first movie. They can love whomever they want. Human thinking gets flawed. As long as there is mutual consent, love whomever you want.
You mentioning that some well-established male characters being changed to female, I’m curious about a future Transformers depiction with a female Optimus Prime…
As long as the story is good, characters have substance and relationships are relatable - I have 0 problems. And we shouldn't shy away for dumb reasons to showcase that these relationships exist.
This argument seems a little odd since I’m pretty sure Arcie (Prime) has or had feelings for Cliffjumper (and possibly Wheeljack too if I’m reading the wiki correctly). That being said, there was also a big bromance between Wheeljack and Bulkhead as well as Breakdown and Knockout having pretty obvious chemistry so... eh grain of salt.
I'll be honest, not complaining either: I've seen a lot more "same sex" relationships than "straight" ones in Transformers. Of course I've seen both but one out weighs the other as far as I've seen so far. I've seen Tailgate with Cyclonus and Elita 1 with Optimus Prime, I like the diversity of the relationships. Some are serious and fleshed out and others are already there and have humour. I think the relationships among Cybertronians has been developed wonderfully. I myself am straight but seeing a mix between the supposed "gay" "straight" "lesbian" couples is a nice reminder that people are changing as time passes. Sure a lot of us all became introvert online zombies, but we've become people who can share an opinion and relate to one another (some people can't though for some reason) and because of people being more accepting Transformers has developed like us too. And I'm happy they made it a way that explains the whole "sexuality" part in Cybertronian couples. Overall, I wish Humans were like Cybertronians in one way.
Right, like I don't think anyone has a problem with it being thrown in here and there cause we're focused on the main story, I think the only problem people have is when it's too forced
My usual expression on "new" Skywarp and Lugnut - "Look how they massacred my boy" The reason why people protest, is because people don't like it. And saying that you should not protest about something that brings joy to other people, is like saying that you SHOULD protest about something that brings no joy to you. Thus I will protest as loud and as hard as I like.
I've actually tried a Transformers Dating Simulator type of game (w/Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave). Quite an eye opening experience and emotionally... shocking. Their build does not make any difference, what matters is how the very concept of romance fits with their jobs. Oh, and I would not recommend Optimus Prime because you'll always come second to Megatron (this is canon, really), and with Megatron (who actually says in IDW one of his driving forces being LUST), well there is a high chance he will throw you out the window at some point, Soundwave cares only about information really plus he's a gestalt made of a network of cassettes, making dating kind of awkward, and Shockwave... by Primus is he difficult to impress.
In idw's spotlight:arcee, arcee specifically said that gender was *introduced* to the cybertronian species by jhiaxus. So if ratchet and drift were a couple they're not queer, i mean queer means wierd, and it's not wierd to their species. Transformers can't be queers because there are no gender to begin with, they were introduced later. Also not only "female bots have bigger chests and are thin and curvy", rotb bumblebee's got big tiddies too
I love that all transformers are ace since there is not much ace representation out there. All your points were so well said and thought out as always great video it really means a lot to me as a queer transformers fan.
Okay so. I am ace. And I personally don't like that almost ALL ace rep is robots and/or aliens. I don't like the implication that being asexual removed you from humanity. It doesn't. That's why I prefer Transformers fanon, where they often aren't.
Considering the lore of modern Transformers storytelling, all the robots can be described as panromantic/aromantic asexuals with flexible genders. This of course falls under LGBTQ+ and would include same gender relationships as a norm. Watch for the explanation of these terms and for the evidence.
Cool! Happy Pride Month! I am non-binary and as you can tell aro ace! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ I love the comics for their artstyle efforts and story.
I can get behind the idea when someone says they dont like the concept of romance in TF stories.
In the end, its still about giant robots fighting each other, and some people just are'nt into romances.
However what really makes my blood boil, are the people that claim they dont like things like MTMTE because of the romance, but had absolutely *no problem* with things like the third season of Beast Wars.
Im all for the concept of them being fluid and technically not being gendered, but reading the comics it kinda feels weird how often its brought up because one of the creators was so stuck on there should not being any females cause this is a mens franchise.
And then further down the line future writers had to creatively run with this that resulted in everyone being male gendered and gay, plus Arcee being a literal trans character in that continuity (turned against her will mind you) with violent bloodthirst feels the weirdest and most disturbing to me. And I don't know if this counts but the IDW Megatron and Starscream's relationship's also the most disturbingly abusive I've ever seen, and its plain disturbing.
Im more for the concept of genders and some of its characteristics existing that can differentiate bots, but like humans (or perhaps more common for them) the cybertronians can just choose.
In before these replies blow up in arguments. Thank you for the video kumquat ^^
Você sabe que lgbt+ é uma seita religiosa maligno que obriga você ser a favor dele, é se não for eles ter trata com fobico.
Megatron sexually identifies as a threat
Okay this is the first time in a while I actually laughed at a comment in years
XD TRUE
Agreed.
😐
Vortex identifies as an attack helicopter.
Thats funny😆😆
Fun fact: Acidstorm in cyberverse is shown with both the male and female seeker body type, and when asked about why it changes back and forth in an interview, one of the writers said something along the lines of “it’s just something he likes to do”
Or the artists can't stay on model, loll
He's a crossdresser
Acid Storm is Genderfluid, and we stan
Acid storm is a queen/king.
They've got an extra body somewhere and swap heads I guess.
Starscream identifies as the true leader of the Decepticons
In context of trans people, the irony of Starscream calling himself something he isn't and expecting to be treated accordingly shouldn't be lost.
_"Oh 'female' bots have bigger chests and are thin and curvy"_
In TFP:
Shockwave: 👁
Starscream: 👁👁
Soundwave:
this has me cackling at 2AM
idw drift's thighs: 👁👄👁
Meanwhile Strika:
THE EYES LMFAO
Soundwave: 🔻
just in case you didn't understand that triangle is meant to be his visor
I always thought Cybertronians were genderless due to the fact they are built rather than born. And the gender aspect of the characters are sorta just placed as a means of making it easier for the viewers to identify characters. So whenever I saw two cybertronians in love, male model to male model vs female to female, I always thought “two robots in love” rather than “two homosexual robots in love” not because I don’t feel like calling two robots gay, but because how Cybertronians aren’t really too connected to humanity’s standards of relationships. And it’s especially why I have more interest in Cybertronian relationships than that of the Bay movies human relationships. Mainly because it can’t be tagged as black and white as human relationships can be.
That's what I believe to be true
@@starfieldproductions9282 That's not canon.
@@starfieldproductions9282 What? No! The Michael Bay movies aren't canon is what I meant.
@@starfieldproductions9282 Nah, it's barely fanfiction.
@@starfieldproductions9282 I don't care. It's not in any way, shape or form canon, in any aspect a canon Transformer work
It’s kind of ironic that for a bunch or mechanical beings, IDW made the relationships feel organic and real. I don’t usually like romance plots (I just find them boring), but this will always be an exception in my book because of how interesting they made them.
Ok? Just don’t read it? I just like seeing well written relationships no matter who’s involved which I believe IDW Transformers has done.
@@kiranmason4943 okay with lgbtq relationship in transformers as my favorite was Blast Off x Onslaught .
@@kiranmason4943 ehhh , but you're right . 2019 comics has only one gay relationship current gay relationship : lightbrght and arcee .
I have a feeling that you aren’t part of the lgbtq+ community, and that is totally fine and I can see why all of these queer presenting relationship can feel like a bit much. But after years of all of these franchises that are dear to our hearts only having straight, Cis etc. it can be refreshing to us to see someone who we can relate to more, especially since most of these franchises started from a place where they only catered to the straight white male demographic, and I’m not saying that’s bad in itself, but I think they are just trying to expand so that people from different communities and ethnicities etc. can enjoy it even more. Not trying to attack you, just trying to show my perspective on the matter.
What's up fellow Kiran? Awesome name.
It has never occurred to me that in some works of fiction, female characters exist solely as the “sex appeal” or “love interest” for the male characters simply because of the fact she is female. Thank you for bringing it to light.
Well the opposite happens too
Have you been living under a rock?
Oh my God who cares. They sound like men or women and that's good enough for a children show. They shouldn't be sexually attracted to anything in children's cartoons. It's also not important to see yourself television. Your sexuality or who you sleep with should not define who You Are. Does not matter if you are straight or part of the lgbtq + community fat or skinny and you need to see yourself represented in the media. Then if not you got to have some mental issues. You have way bigger problems. Seeing people with different races colors handicaps and some birth defects. That is fine. Your sexuality obesity and underweight anorexia should not be should only be represented in adult media. And only representative in realistic proportions. There's nothing wrong with being lgbtq overweight or obese or even anorexic and should be treated with respect and acceptance. But we got to be very careful that you don't influence anyone to be part of any of those groups. Because the fact is being part of any of those groups have a high rate of death and suicide. That is a fact not a feelings. Plus me personally. Watching movies television or the media is an escape from everyday life. I don't need to see myself. I rather see someone that inspires me to either get in better shape be smarter work harder. not be told I am perfect just the way I am. Because that is a lie no one is perfect just the way they are and you should strive your whole life to better. Nothing hurts people worse than telling them they are perfect the way they are. Because that type of person well believe they are perfect and never have to change so when they hear any criticism of pushback. Will feel like a victim will never do anything to help themselves or change their situation. Because in their minds they are perfect in every one else is wrong.
@@chestnut4860 XD for real.
This actually makes so much sense about cybertronians gender identity, after the quintisons were gone and mainly after the war ended, being free to choose how you Express yourself and who you want to be is an absolutely amazing thing seeing as to the quintisons they were no more than just machines filling a roll, nor did that change with the cast system, but once the war ended and everyone felt safe again it just makes so much sense that they started exploring how they felt and learning about who they were 😊
How can anyone be a transformers fan and be homophobic/transphobic at the same time
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" Optimus said it
No one said they should be executed or enslaved most of us just don't care and don't want to hear about it
@@elxr9434 yeah but you not wanting to hear about it and people complaining about it when straight couples are plastered everywhere is ridiculous, if you don’t want to hear about queer couples or representation then we might as well remove all straight presentation in media. It just makes no sense and yet all we hear about it “oh well i dont want to hear about it or have it everywhere” but straight couples are. It makes no sense.
@@lowkey-y 1 my point exactly and 2 if you want to normalize something (if that's their goal) you don't shove the idea down everyone's throat that's how you make people bitter and distasteful towards it, you ease it in and give a small taste of it you let it simmer with them and gradually over time add more and show them that it's normal and you DONT absolutely DO NOT make a big deal of it because then it won't ever feel normal it will feel special and out of the ordinary (sorry this is so long btw)
Cause ppl can be dumb asf
@@elxr9434 yes and i get that, i never try to push my sexuality onto others and keep it relatively to myself but the issue lies in the current media and society as a whole, because any representation of lgbtq is seen as shaving down throats or in your face when they aren’t, you may not want to be super interested but the problem is when people lash out at attempts to normalize and slowly introduce couples. Homophobes love to shout about how its hurting the kids and what not while straight couples are seen as normal and good and yet there is no difference, I always grew up celebrating lgbtq representation before I knew my sexuality because it felt good to have these barriers pushed. Im glad to see you arent against lgbtq and I can see how things look from the outside as I was raised that pride month and everything was gay people pushing their sexuality onto others while in reality it’s wonderful people can finally say who they are without being hurt and shunned.
Nice breakdown once again 👍
Trans make a theory on why transformers actually have private parts like bumblebee did in the bay verse
Please no.
@@l00myn84 answer bay humor
@@l00myn84 N O
N O
N O
N O
@@l00myn84 Um, duh, he has the exhaust port for removing used oil from his body.
Can we all agree that "TraNsFormERs iS foR ChILdrEn!" is an excuse that needs to get ditched?
I honestly found many modern day TF media way more mature that people get them credit for.
Of course there's still some TF media directed more to kids (Cyberverse, Rescue Bots) but those usually don't portrait many relationships beyond frienship.
Aside from that, I completely agree and I would like to add, to be honest, if people were so ok with transformers only being "etero" then... this is a whole kind of guys who'll never get into a relationship since the ratio is something like 12 males to 1 female! Let's spread the love!
As a post scriptum, I know we have our differences in ideas regarding Starcream, but I'm glad I found someone else who enjoys his Prime design so much!
No I have disagree. See transformers are made for children let's not get this mixed up. Except maybe a few that are made for a more mature audience. And a kid does not think about this stuff and shouldn't. So the might start to think they are gay or etc. This can cause a disadvantage in life. Because kids are stupid and don't understand these topics. So than some kids will think they are gay before they are even attracted to someone. Which is happening right with kids who think they are trans but than change there mind. You have to let them found out on there own with no influence from anyone or anything. I want to say thank you if you read this and I hope that I can change your mind. That is ok at least I made you challenge your ideas.
@@twotontim322 why shouldn't a kid think about this stuff? Kids are more open minded than adults. If you can't confront a child's curiosity and provide context,empathy and understanding, then you can't prepare a child for the complexity of society. Trans people and gay people exist. There's no need to shield children or anyone from that reality. Beast Machines dealt with genocide! I would argue that mass murder is way more inappropriate than gender identity for children, yet killing is commonly depicted as a problem solver. I would rather my child pick up understanding, empathy and relatability from an LGBTQ representation than learn to solve problems with violence.
I do think the shows are mostly targeted at children, but then still you can add lgbt characters because they aren’t super sexual like straight people make them to be
@@twotontim322 if that is true then their should be no romance at all
@@twotontim322 I'm sorry but I basically disagree with everything you've just said (I'm not answering in a particular order, sorry if it's percieved as messy):
-children are far from stupid and I found this argument extremely offensive. Kids can be brilliant and able of logical processes far more effective than adult ones.
-transformers was far from being for kids from the beginning, with the first comic books in the '80s depicting extreme violence and gruesome scenes (look up for Megatron/Ratchet fusion or Prowl being molt from the inside out), right now it only added the themes of acceptance THAT SOMEHOW TRIGGERS PEOPLE EXTREMELY OK WITH VIOLENCE.
-this whole thing of "exposing children too early" has being proven to be the exact opposite of the truth: in Norway kids are exposed to sexual education from the age of 4 and it's the european country with the lower grade of sexual crimes, STDs, juvenile pregnancies and the later loss of verginity (21 yo), teaching children from the get-go to respect people for who they are is a great thing.
The more you wait to teach such a thing the more bigots are going to be infecting our society.
-you can't "teach" a child to be gay or transexual! I cannot believe I am reading such a thing in 2021! This is something I expect from maybe the 15th century!
Personally, I don't give a shit provided the romance (along with everything else) is written well.
Exactly
I completely agree with you.
Absolutely!
I agree
I agree too.
I’m glad you made this, some people need it. I only wish you were more popular. You tackle real problems and we all know how that goes over in this world. Thank you for this video and I enjoy watching. I feel like I’m with my people if that makes sense. People that understand, sexuality, sex, gender, and attraction. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well.
"Representation of same gender couples is important for normalizing depictions of LGBT+ relationships." and "Cybertronians are an asexual race that don't experience gender and gender attraction in the same way humans do." are two statements that can and should co-exist.
That's one hell of a oxymoron
@@theoneandonlyufomini-bot Yup
@@theoneandonlyufomini-botnot really an oxymoron but ok 👍
It’s really understanding how transformers might be trans cuz they are trans-formers
Not really :/
I am trans btw
Damn bro you got the whole squad laughing ._.
@@mikathomo391 My condolences
As a trans guy, this was.. slightly funny
I wasn't expecting this, but it did make me laugh
Hold up, i refuse to accept that Arcee wouldn’t identify herself as female on the insect planet, she too much like the boss mantis ladies.
Hmm, maybe. But she also might not care too much and just uses male pronouns to help the mantises understand her since she's so much smaller than people like Optimus and Megatron.
You know she would suplex Airachnid after all the Hell that Spiderbitch gave, they may have some similar color palettes but you can tell that Arcee would want to be a better woman than that thing of a bug.
@@aflamingidiot4427 true
@@brawmankerlexterminateurde860 I agree as well
@@kobyrne6634 @White Diamond Yeah but in the situation we're referencing, Arcee, Megatron, and Startscream are interacting with a praying mantis alien race. And in praying mantises, males are much smaller than the larger, bulkier females. So since I was proposing the idea that Arcee doesn't care about what pronouns she uses, and that cybertronians use alien pronouns to help other understand them better, Arcee in this situation would use male pronouns.
Can I just say how much this video means to me, and swelling happiness in my soul the whole time watching it? Like, dang! You put into words my feelings every single time I heard someone say transformers can’t be queer. Also I love how well you described gender and romantic orientation! It made me sad when people would equate them being asexual to being completely cold and loveless brings. I can’t wait to see what you create in the future!
Also if I had a nickel for every time I found out a transformers fan I really look up to was asexual, I’d have two nickels but it’s weird That it happened twice.
I see dat Doof reference~ =w=
And actual Nickel as well away from the leech Tarn is?
I sexually identify as an -Inator.
Nice reference there buddy, good taste.
😏👉
Also that reminds me. The Rainbow-inator is actually a real thing. But it just has to do with cereal dye powered aerosols or something.😅
@@tylertichoc7330 - I thought Phineas & Ferb invented that, & they don't put "inator" at the end of the names of their creations. 🤔
You have no cognitive ability
I just headcanon that clobber is lugnuts’ “sister”
Yeah I say that just cuz lugnut is such a diffrent character. Lugnut would never join the Autobots
@@trailbreakertv8918 for the glory of megatron
Reasonable
@@MoussyDonuts yes we are not worthy
Lol
I used to not like any sort of romance in Transformers because I thought it didn't make sense for robots to fall in love, but I've come to realize that, since they're robots with emotions, it doesn't make sense why they wouldn't fall in love. Now I wish we got "IDW-style" romance in the cartoons.
Also, female Lugnut is less drastic of a change (to me) than Wheeljack's character in Transformers Prime (though I'd prefer they kept Lugnut's name).
Her name being Clobber is literally the only thing that saves her from being an utter disappointment.
@@commanderblargh6300 how dare leave my dumb daughter alone. She’s amazing!
@@infiniteoctopaw My apologies, what I mean to say is that she is nothing like Lugnut, so calling her Lugnut would just be a crime.
I think Prime's wheeljack was an interesting change like with Breakdown, and Shockwave Imo
So I'm a treehugger, deal with it.
Rattrap-2000
And I can't be the only one that found it funny that Croc accidentally called Nautica a dude.
I always was reminded of transformers from Steven Universe. I mean, most gems appear to be “female” and most of them use the pronouns of women in Earth but- well it’s the same thing. They’re alien, not even biological. Our views of gender only coincidentally apply to them sometimes.
Both SU and IDW Transformers has done something with LGBTQ+ concepts that I think more shows should try: treating it like it is a normal thing rather than dramatically presenting it like they are doing some revolutionary thing. When you pose something as different it is usually treated as different, in these media a character being gay is treated as if they are defying the entire world and from hence forth they shall be "the gay one," it becomes who they are rather than a part of who they are without having much in the ways of homophobic characters to give them a reason to have it treated like an abnormality. It acts like it simultaneously has everyone around them accept them while treating it like something that is abnormal for no real narrative reason. This often feels more like they are driving a wedge between the character and everyone else than making them part of the same whole.
As long as its a well-written and well-thought out story, you can put any relationship in it that is morally and legally just imo.
Preach!
Very true
So just straight ones, good then
Personally, as long as the the two characters have chemistry and are written well, I don’t care what they are. Skids and Nautica, Chromedome and Rewind, it don’t matter as long as the relationship is well developed and interesting.
I'll be honest i spoke to a friend of mine who's a part time transformer fan i asked her if she was in a relationship with a dude would she be a bird or spider. She says spider then i tell her, "you may find a guy who likes flying dogs" i have been dating my girlfriend for five years now she said she would be bird so i would be tiger as a call back to tigatron and tigatron.
did you mean tigatron and Airazor?
@@chaoticproductions3922 yes
How is being a "part time Transformers fan" possible? XD
@@MechWomanWarrior15 she only saw the movies. She said she likes hound.
You did an amazing job explaining, now I know!
Also that last clip.. I agree wholeheartedly
I find it perfectly understandable that bots have genders assigned to them, but come on, it's a bunch of metal that should he on the next level really. So why not have relationships? Both "straight" and "gay". But I feel like they would have pretty much asexual relationships. No kissing, no flirting, just "Yeah, this is my sparkmate. We live together, we fight together, we die together."
Imagine if g1 tracks and prime knockout were in the same room
They would be…very very good friends to say the least.
It's SOOOO refreshing to see a video about the super specific subject I love to talk about, the relationship between transformers and gender is so fascinating from the irl writing to the in-world connotations, I fucking LOVE thinking about it, it's so fun!
well they ain't called "cisformers"
Enantiomers
Wha-
does this mean TFP fanfiction is in a way canon (don't ask what rabbit hole i've jumped into to find that, i wanna die now)
Uhhh depends on which fan fiction your talking about I guess??
Continuity wise they probably still aren't, more like they are a likely possibility
Tfp fanfiction is mostly cancerous and really really bad. With the only exception of emperor kumquats fanfics. He always writes the characters surprisingly well and believably.
@@nil981 You should seriously read the ones in AO3, many of them are incredible and very well worked, don't judge a book by its cover just because you don't like it, give everything a chance.
Since Transformers has a multiverse, and thus endless universes, I'd say yes.
They are canon in their own universes.
I like to write TF fics where I change one thing in the show(s), and then see what happens from there.
I often end up making up backstories though, mostly through guessing as we don't know most of the characters' backstories in detail.
I don't include sexuality in my stories, though I do still include mentioning of "interface", but it's Spark-merging instead of the messy stuff, as I find the former more comfortable and more logical than the latter, and more possible to be a thing than the other is.
I like the concept of Sparklings, but not so much with sexual stuff, so I've decided to prefer them being either from the Well or made through Spark-merging.
And then thrown up when it's time to be born. Coz that makes more sense to me.
I'd never really considered this topic before. If a Transformer can physically turn from a humanoid figure into an aircraft carrier I don't see why logically they can't be fluid in other aspects of their existence. Very thought-provoking video. Being a fairly exclusive G1 fan I've not really seen many of the more modern shows so these relationships haven't reached my attention before.
thank you for making this video i'm tired of having to explain things like this to transformers fans and non fans a like
I like the concept at 16:53 very much and would love to see it used more in not only official Transformers content, but fanworks as well.
My favorite example I've encountered was a fanfic for the Bumblebee movie where Ironhide went by she/her when speaking english. Nothing about the character's personality had changed, still the same old deep voiced, grizzled, asskicking machine. Just also a bot that felt very strongly about her own gender in relation to humans.
Ratchet even got preemptively defensive on her behalf before anyone could verbally question why she had such a deep, masculine, Southern drawl, lmao. Alien gender is fun.
That sounds so cool, what's the name of the fanfic? :D
Second. Also great video I was really looking forward to this one
This video is not only so relevant and needed but is also very well put together. It effortlessly flows from one important LGBTQ+ topic/misconception to the next which just further signifies why these relationships and normalities belong in something like Transformers. You covered so much ground here not just for Transformers-specific content, but also very applicable conflicts within the LGBTQ+ and female representation communities.
I'm just a cis straight white guy creator, so I can't say much in the way of this helping my representation, but I can absolutely commend you for an amazing and well-written educational video that hits so many points home in such an effortless way. Fantastic work and well said :)
Given the natural variety of human body types the differences in Cybertronian characters works well, but until recently realizing I was trans Waspinator was likely the one character that pushed me to think somewhat differently of the canon within the franchise
This is really good and correct
Also I was listening to this video alone while driving and when you said you were asexual I just said out loud "We stan an asexual king!"
I hope that gives you some kind of positive emotion lol
We do Stan him!
Megatron on Mantisworld: I'm definitely the one that bites the heads off of the other!
the joke about Knock Out being a “glitch in the allspark” hits so close to home…it’s just so ignorant to find that funny?? Like, so many queer people grow up feeling like something is wrong with us and even I myself wouldn’t have the gall to make a joke about it
That was pretty weird. How could he be a glitch if they dont sexually reproduce?
I’m okay with any romances (both Heterosexual and LGBT) as long they are well-developed, no problematic tropes and fetishization going on. Luckily IDW handled those romance type like relationships well, my favorite being Cyclonis and Tailgate.
Clobber was amazing addition and something I wanted to see for a good long while. A Female coded Goon.
I love these videos. Your content makes it easier to learn about a fandom I adore, and other people. I'm still trying to learn about LGBTQ+ and I find content like this helpful if that makes sense.
Glad to hear it!
Great video! I always thought it was absolutely bonkers in that G1 episode where we first meet Elita-1, Chromia, etc how the random assortment of Autobots that went on that mission just happened to be all the female Autobots' boyfriends. Like what on earth are the odds of that?? Yet some people only question the logic with there being homoromantic relationships in IDW and claim it has nothing to do with the fact that they're 'gay'.... lol yeah ok.
I was looking forwards to this vid, but I’m too tired to watch it right now lol. At least I know what I’m doing first thing tomorrow morning.
Edit: Screw that. Sleep can wait. Also, how did I get a Chic Fil A ad on this vid?
I don’t know, but someone liked your comment right before I did
I love that you mentioned lesser known shows like Victory which one of my favorites. I also love you brought up Asexuals, I'm an Ace too and I feel like we often get ignored so discussing it makes me happy. Good job thank you for the great video.
I support LGBT+ couples. This allows to every character to be unique and more interesting.
And, to be honest, Transformers romance spices up the story
I agree 110%
Its indeed good
I am okay with this 150%.
Thank you emperor kumquat you helped me understand this and you brought more light towards the topic
Awesome!
As an aroace person, I’ve always loved Transformers because, due to the lack of clear genders and romance, the stories were more prone to focusing on platonic relationships and emotions, which is something I can relate to a lot more and am generally way more invested in.
They’re transforming alien robots caught in a millennia-long war, they’re interesting enough as it is without having to insert romance.
I will simply say that love is everything and if it sounds corny and stupid, but I am a person that if I am going to love it is with all my soul and I hope that the other person loves me the same, because we all deserve to love and be loved, Very few people find love in their many lives and much more few can give it because they do not have to give it, it is a gift like life itself.
PD: that scene at the end always touched my soul, poor Ratchet, the only thing that mattered to him in his life and that is his first concern (apart from his second concern, which is his planet, which has already been fulfilled). Fate, how sad Ratchet throughout the franchise has always had to suffer wherever, seriously Hasbro or the company in charge of transformers because they do not give him the happiness he deserves so much, no matter who he is.
Love is the way, love is life, love is the only thing driving me exist.
There is not a gender identity nor force in this universe that could stop knockouts flirting
As a fellow G1 Transformers Fan, this video is genuinely fascinating and made me realize a new perspective on the newly expanded lore in the Transformers franchise! I'm Now Really considering reading the IDW COmics i've been hearing great things about!
If they’re all genderless meaning that they’re all the same gender meaning every relationship is gay
I haven't watched Transformers in a long time - only recently getting back into it after being recommended one of your videos - and it's astounding how well this show can be used as a parallel to not only show that relationships outside of the traditional hetero-normative exist, but can be shown as complex and real (rather than having it being the only defining trait for one or more characters).
I liked that you went through this with the transformers I love this franchise since i was a kid and always welcome anything new with this great franchise.
I’ve never thought about romance in transformers, neither wanted really, i only thought of them as cool robots fighting a war; i guess energon exchange is a thing
Honestly I'm just here for the badass fight scenes.
Bruh same lmao 😂 but I also like cute relationships xd
Same
We come for the badass fight scenes but stay for the story and relationships
True like dreadwing vs bulkhead and the forest battle from rotf
@@brawmankerlexterminateurde860 Don't forget the most awesome moment from DOTM. The 2:15:00 mark. God I love it
Nice video, now I don't have to write an essay to explain this to my friends.
Aren't you the same foxeen I've met in meme team?
@@sashabraus9422 There is only one of myself.
I mean, even the pfp is the same, but the gray is blue.
Anyway, funny to meet you here Sasha, how have you been?
@@Foxeen515 Yeah but you never know, I've been alright. Just doin Sasha stuff.
Thank you so so so much Kumquat!! I'm still in the middle of watching but I'm super compelled to just share my deepest gratitude for making this. Would you have any groups or discord server, what have you? I just want to follow you more.
Thanks! If you want more things, follow me on Tumblr where I post a lot
I've been waiting so long for this video to come into existence.
I've been saying this for so long, and it's a grueling task to maul over the explanation on why Transformers aren't straight or gay.
On another note of Polyamory: I believe that Redalert, Fort Max, and Cerebros were confirmed to be in a relationship with one another.
To call Cybertronians[or colonists] incapable of romance because they are Robotic, is like devaluing them as characters. Cybertronians are social entities, which is why characters matter. The relationships they harbor with one another is the REASON that it took off the way it did. Conjunx relationships matter just as much Amica ones.
IDW is amazing.
Loved the breakdown on the gender/sexual "issues" within Transformers, to be honest when I watched Beast Wars I didn't see any characters I could identify with (female specifically) and while I liked Waspinator my headcanon was that "he" was actually a "She" and not because of body type but rather because this was the only character since episode one that I felt I could identify with. Personal taste and design preferences can easily influence how one reads into the characters, especially as in Chris McFeely's "The Basics on Romance" stating that the Japanese version of Beast Wars made the Tigatron/Airazor pairing homosexual as Airazor was dubbed as a male. My only critique with the romance of Beast Wars was that Airazor and Tigatron didn't have a fleshed out/explored relationship like Silverbolt and Blackarachnia did and Waspinator (while comic relief) never had a chance to develop a relationship (romantic or otherwise) with anyone baring Rattrap's references of affection and I'd have liked to see Waspinator and Rattrap together (just a personal view)
Two years later, there is a character that uses they/them pronouns, and people are going utterly insane over it.
We should be going insane over the promotion of insanity
@@subifyouhatetiktokandreddit234 Trying to process if your saying transformers is doing that or another media is-
@@subifyouhatetiktokandreddit234 its insaine that people are mad over a sentient robot with gender-neutral programing.
"Shows like this are supposed to represent a society that reflects ours, with it`s changes and lifelike situations"
I haven't watched you for about a year and holy crap your voice completely changed!
In Hungarian we don't have he, she or it, we use one "ő" so if we are talking about somebody, we don't say they gender right away, but when we describe the person, other people mostly realise their gender, or they can ask it. So I really understand these explanation videos and I love them so much, as they make so much sense! Thank you for your amazing videos.
the final scene with Ratchet was to break a ton of sparks, wasn't it? :""") also, great video with great explanations :DD you're amazing!
I love this video
Everytime I see a video by you I make sure to turn off ad block
😄
I hate it that people don't understand this point. I hope more will understand this concept through your great video.
The fact you are on the ace spectrum and have a partner gives me some hope- thanks for sharing!
-* Puts on armour and a helmet. *
“Primus give me strength.”
* Enters the comment section after this video has been up for a while. *
Did you survive with minimal damage?
This video is so good, thank you. I may even use this as a way to help explain LGBTQ+ identities to some people, it's that good
Personally, I don’t care one way or the other about their perceived gender and sexuality, because I’m here for the stories, some of which are outstanding (looking at you, MTMTE/LL); I’m into comparative mythology and I love my archetypes. Kudos to Hasbro for supporting IDW in their depiction of a race struggling to come to terms with the end of an extended socially defining war and individuals starting to feel able to reconnect in an intimate manner specific to their norms while suffering all kinds of PTSD.
Poor Pipes. He never got to meet his ideal significant other...
16:47 well we can scratch that old note out lmao
🎉
Hi! I'm glad TH-cam recommended this video! As someone who's part of the lgbtq+ community (pan non-binary), as well as an avid transformers fan, I greatly enjoyed listening to you explain how lgbt and transformers are intertwined.
As someone who uses they/them pronouns, it is a bit disappointing to only see transformer characters use conventionally gendered pronouns, but I guess that's what original characters and storylines are for.🙂
Your video is much appreciated, both in research and in terms of someone else who may realize that transformers characters may eventually portray how fluid we are as humans. (Idk if that made sense...)💙
This gave me more to think about, when I first saw an example of "gay" transformers I had the impulse reaction that I didn't want this. When I began to think of why it might have bothered me I came to the conclusion that; because they are alien robots, they don't have sexual attraction and are satisfied with an emotional connection. Which in turn made me feel that I could understand the LGBTQ community more, and that just like another community, they probably get a bad rep from a loud few who are just trying to get attention on the internet. Another great video tackling transformers topics that I never gave a second thought to.
I mean... Tailgate and Cyclonus are a better written couple than many other straight transformers couples out there, so it's really pointless to say no to good writting
Honestly they are the only non straight couple that isn't trash I know because 99% of gay pairings is not about the relationship but how gay they are over and over again.
Arcee and Greenlight were great as well
I'm so used to LGBTQ+ couples being a big deal in media what when I've started reading comics I was like "They are so calm about them being in the plot, wow :)"
This made me so happy because:
1) I am a part of LGBTQ+
2) This is just logical for me to be honest, they are robots, not humans
What part of it are you just saying( im very curious ;-;)
@@challenger8bit572 Oh, I'm bi. What about you? :)
@@tired_lazarus i am just a straight boi;-;
And thanks for answering my question it is greatly appreciated:)
@@challenger8bit572 Okie, cool
The whole thing was an awesome break down and made a lot of sense… then we got to the last few seconds.
“Whoop there it is”
All the proof we needed and now I’m crying because the that was the saddest ending you could ask for in Prime.
Yeah many people really disagree with this which is upsetting cause LGBTQ poeple just want to be represented in a way to relate to its really nice to see this thank you for discussing this like what others say it means a lot
Honestly, i believe it depends on person's opinion!
In my opinion, all transformers can be whatever sexuality they're supposed to be!
If its straight, then its straight!
If its gay, then its gay!
You would have to look at the lore and realize their asexuality and capability for unrestricted love
I agree with deepsix let people think what they want
@DeepSix I agree with you
@@darthwyrrlok9442 yep
They can’t be straight though. They are all male coded and had no females if Simon Furman can get his way on it.
I agree with all the points made on this video.
I do however have to express my personal problem I have with Clobber, and that problem I have is that she was not a hardcore loyal to Megatron decepticon, and there was no Lugnut I knew from Animated to exist simutaniously and make up for that lack of hardcore loyal to Megatron decepticon.
Lugnut has not existed in anything other than Animated, so when I saw what I thought was Lugnut in Cyberverse, I was *extremely* excited, but then I'm hit with the infamous psyche as I see "Wait, this isn't Lugnut in any capacity."
I guess in short my problem is that I miss Lugnut. 😭
I grew up with G1 reruns and the early days of Beast Wars. The only affordable option for internet was dial-up (broadband was still new), and fanfiction sites were still in their (relatively) early days. (Primus, I feel old). One of the first Transformers fanfics I ever read showed a romance between Prowl and Jazz, two Cybertronians that, in G1, were both canonically male, and were both male in said fic. I didn't see anything wrong with that and accepted it as normal. I still do.
The first officially acknowledged gay couple in Transformers that I know of/remember was from the dub of Beast Wars released in Japan. For reasons that either were not fully known or I don't remember, the Maximal Airrazor was male in the japanese dub. By the time the ones in charge realized that Airrazor and Tigertron were scripted to be a couple, it was too late for them to retcon Airrazor's gender. They left the genders alone, effectively saying, "Yes, they are what we humans recognize as gay. This is [more or less] normal." My thanks to Chris McFeely and his series "Transformers: The Basics" for my knowledge of this.
I am by no means an expert, though I have read quite a bit of fanfiction, and my knowledge of canon lies primarily with the american TV shows and the War for/Fall of Cybertron games. However, I have noticed a bit of a pattern. The VAST majority of media I have encountered, both official and unofficial, all seem to agree that gender plays little, IF ANY, role in Cybertronian reproduction. They do tend to fall under at least one of three categories (names subject to change):
[1] {Build-a-Bot} ~ A new Cybertonian body is built (either via assembly line, custom order, or a DIY project) and then brought to life through some artificial means (i.e. Vector Sigma, the Matrix of Leadership, etc). First seen in official G1 media, gender for those Cybertonians created/birthed this way is far more a state of mind and soul/spark than it is a state of body. Any deviation from this would primarily be attributed to the builder.
[2] {Well of AllSparks} ~ A new Cybertronian emerges form the Well of AllSparks (or a similar location/artifact) either fully formed or as the Cybertronian equivalent of a baby. Far more common in recent continuities, gender is, again, primarily a state of mind and spark instead of body. The extent may vary from one continuity to another.
[3] {Life Finds A Way} ~ A new Cybertronian is birthed through some biological form of reproduction. Primarily, if not exclusively, seen in fanfiction, a significant majority of those that utilize human-esque reproduction at the very least imply that any "gender" can serve the biological role of both "mother" and "father".
The very EXISTENCE of gender is often open to interpretation and continuity. In the G1 episode [i]The Search for Alpha Trion[/i], Shockwave says, "Female Autobots? I thought they were extinct," almost implying that, instead of an actual gender, "female" Cybertronians are a subspecies. A few of the most common "taboos" in a society seem to be related to a species ability to reproduce. For a race where gender is irrelevant to the process, any gender-related taboos will (theoretically) be significantly reduced in number, assuming there are any in the first place.
Interesting bit: Airazor's a guy in the Japanese dub of Beast Wars. A lot of his dialogue with Tigatron is changed to be mentor/apprentice, but then Other Voices happened and the dub couldn't hide it anymore. Yeah, the first gay romance in Transformers is only in Japanese.
Thank you for this! I knew most of the stuff already but i do think you did an amazing job on this video 😁❤
They are that thing Ratchet said in the first movie. They can love whomever they want. Human thinking gets flawed. As long as there is mutual consent, love whomever you want.
I was forced to watch transformers fanarts for 1 hour straight
somebody please end my suffering
🔫
Just talk to Bayverse prime. Shouldn't take long.
You mentioning that some well-established male characters being changed to female, I’m curious about a future Transformers depiction with a female Optimus Prime…
As long as the story is good, characters have substance and relationships are relatable - I have 0 problems.
And we shouldn't shy away for dumb reasons to showcase that these relationships exist.
I always saw Shockwave as the best girl.
Best chest
This argument seems a little odd since I’m pretty sure Arcie (Prime) has or had feelings for Cliffjumper (and possibly Wheeljack too if I’m reading the wiki correctly).
That being said, there was also a big bromance between Wheeljack and Bulkhead as well as Breakdown and Knockout having pretty obvious chemistry so... eh grain of salt.
I think depending on the canon, Knock Out and Breakdown are together
I'll be honest, not complaining either: I've seen a lot more "same sex" relationships than "straight" ones in Transformers. Of course I've seen both but one out weighs the other as far as I've seen so far. I've seen Tailgate with Cyclonus and Elita 1 with Optimus Prime, I like the diversity of the relationships. Some are serious and fleshed out and others are already there and have humour. I think the relationships among Cybertronians has been developed wonderfully. I myself am straight but seeing a mix between the supposed "gay" "straight" "lesbian" couples is a nice reminder that people are changing as time passes. Sure a lot of us all became introvert online zombies, but we've become people who can share an opinion and relate to one another (some people can't though for some reason) and because of people being more accepting Transformers has developed like us too. And I'm happy they made it a way that explains the whole "sexuality" part in Cybertronian couples.
Overall, I wish Humans were like Cybertronians in one way.
Right, like I don't think anyone has a problem with it being thrown in here and there cause we're focused on the main story, I think the only problem people have is when it's too forced
I don't get why people can complain about Chromedome and rewind because that's just adorable
I've always wondered about this. glad to have it all cleared up for me.
All I can say is…
*THANK. YOU.*
My usual expression on "new" Skywarp and Lugnut - "Look how they massacred my boy"
The reason why people protest, is because people don't like it. And saying that you should not protest about something that brings joy to other people, is like saying that you SHOULD protest about something that brings no joy to you.
Thus I will protest as loud and as hard as I like.
Imagine publicly admitting you're a troglodyte lmfao
@@Peasham I don't know, you tell me.
I don't get it. What happened to Skywarp and Lugnut?
I've actually tried a Transformers Dating Simulator type of game (w/Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave). Quite an eye opening experience and emotionally... shocking. Their build does not make any difference, what matters is how the very concept of romance fits with their jobs. Oh, and I would not recommend Optimus Prime because you'll always come second to Megatron (this is canon, really), and with Megatron (who actually says in IDW one of his driving forces being LUST), well there is a high chance he will throw you out the window at some point, Soundwave cares only about information really plus he's a gestalt made of a network of cassettes, making dating kind of awkward, and Shockwave... by Primus is he difficult to impress.
Transformers are genderfluid, ace panromantics. Wow. You blew my mind. 🤯🤯🤯❤️❤️❤️
When the trans in transformers is finally serving its purpose-
In idw's spotlight:arcee, arcee specifically said that gender was *introduced* to the cybertronian species by jhiaxus. So if ratchet and drift were a couple they're not queer, i mean queer means wierd, and it's not wierd to their species. Transformers can't be queers because there are no gender to begin with, they were introduced later. Also not only "female bots have bigger chests and are thin and curvy", rotb bumblebee's got big tiddies too
I love that all transformers are ace since there is not much ace representation out there. All your points were so well said and thought out as always great video it really means a lot to me as a queer transformers fan.
Okay so. I am ace. And I personally don't like that almost ALL ace rep is robots and/or aliens. I don't like the implication that being asexual removed you from humanity. It doesn't. That's why I prefer Transformers fanon, where they often aren't.