Scenic Origin & Friends

Dear Transformers fandom: You’re getting Shattered Glass wrong. No, seriously. You’re getting it really, really wrong. Or at the very least, you’re flanderizing the hell of it as nothing more than a reality where Autobots are bad, Decepticons are good, and everyone is a hilarious opposite of their original portrayal. This is not the case. I’m not saying that the Shattered Glass universe doesn’t rely significantly on creating “opposites" of their G1 personality. I mean, Shattered Glass Starscream is pretty much the inverse of his G1 portrayal, and he’s not exactly alone. But there’s also this assumption that this is what every single Shattered Glass character is like… and that is simply not the case. There are a great deal many SG characters who aren’t just their G1 character “hilariously flipped around.“

Let’s look at some examples of SG characters that are NOT like this, shall we?

Ratchet - Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak, writers of the SG text stories, have described SG Ratchet as, more or less, what happens when you take Marvel G1 Ratchet at face value and not as a character in a toy commercial. For those of you who don’t know, Marvel G1 Ratchet did things like rebuild Goldbug back into Bumblebee because he “liked him better that way.” The reason for this was because Bumblebee’s Pretender toy was on shelves and the comics had to advertise it, so Ratchet basically modifying Bumblebee’s body without consent is glossed over. In SG Ratchet’s case, this kind of thing is not just exemplified, it’s shown to be flat out terrifying.

Wheeljack - Wheeljack in Shattered Glass is a classical mad scientist. The “EVIL LAUGH" and “THEY CALLED ME MAD!“ type. Those people who are familiar with G1 know that Wheeljack is… already a scientist, and just a bit mad. If SG Wheeljack were his G1 counterpart’s opposite, he wouldn’t be a scientist at all. In Wheeljack’s case, he’s a flip in the original Wheeljack’s alignment with his crazier tendencies dialed way, WAY up.

Ultra Magnus - There’s no real gimmick to this guy. He’s… Ultra Magnus with a skull face whose as crazy as balls. He’s extremely straightforward as a character, and not really meant to be a reversal of G1 Magnus, or even a play on any of his notable traits at all. He’s an Autobot leader whose crazeballs. That’s it. No. Wait. He’s basically Skeletor.

The Predacons - Razorclaw, Divebomb, and Rampage are diminutive Mini-Cons who happen to turn into beasts. Razorclaw is a scholar who has the other two as his students, and he often tries to teach them even in combat. This is wholly original, and not dependent on any of the G1 Predacons’ characterizations whatsoever.

Star Saber - In this case, he’s an inversion… but not of G1 Star Saber’s character. Rather, he’s an inversion of Star Saber’s ROLE. G1 Star Saber was the Supreme Commander of the Autobots in his time, and a living legend. SG Star Saber? Is a rank and file nobody. And he’s listed here because he shows you can still do the “reversal” thing without just turning the character into a bizzaro version of their G1 selves.

Tracks - As you can see from his bio card, which I posted above, Tracks isn’t a reversal of his G1 character at all. In fact, he’s basically his G1 character, only evil. Or, as the TF wiki jokes, he’s “basically Knock Out.“

These are but a few examples, and they’re not alone in Shattered Glass. That being said, there’s more to the Shattered Glass characters that are “reversals” than just being their G1 characters in new context. For instance, did you know that…?

Rodimus’s speech and mannerisms are based on the character of Vinnie Barbarino from “Welcome Back Kotter", who was played by John Travolta. This is roundabout homage to the fact that G1 Hot Rod was portrayed by Judd Nelson, who also played a teen “heartthrob" in “The Breakfast Club.“

Beachcomber talks entirely in song lyrics.

SG Optimus is partially based on Venger, the villain of the “Dungeons and Dragons” cartoon, who was also voiced by Peter Cullen.

SG Big Daddy speech patterns are based on Bing Crosby.

So yeah, again, this is just some examples. The point, in the end, is that Shattered Glass has a lot more depth than people give it credit for, and the fandom either ignores or squanders the potential it has. Not to mention… Shattered Glass is very meta, and pokes fun not just at Transformers storytelling conventions, but 1980’s cartoon writing, its various sister franchises such as GI Joe and Inhumaniods (it also references them!), and loads and loads of different, myriad things.

So when you’re writing for Shattered Glass, or trying to think of an SG version of a character, keep that in mind, okay? And if you’re trying to create an SG version of another continuity, try to follow the same rules. Like say, look at Transformers Prime! Ratchet is voiced by Jeffery Combs, right? Wouldn’t it be hilarious and awesome if he were in some way based on Herbert West from the “Re: Animator" movies?

That’s just one potential example. The possibilities are vast.

Oh, and one last note… the SG Seekers? Aren’t the guys who look like Thundercracker, Starscream, and Skywarp. They’re a group of Autobots composed of Blurr, Rodimus, and Goldbug, and they’re all cars. Additionally… the SG versions of Starscream and Thundercracker are completely different, appearance-wise. Just saying.

🐝 send me a fake fic title, and I’ll make up a summary for it!

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who even is this dude? someone needs some anger management classes.

love how he keeps reminding us that “I HAVE THREE GIRLFRIENDS”, “THEY ALL KISS ME”, and “THEY SMOKE WEED HURRP DURR”.

and let’s not forget the “Blaiz” and her “wicked tat”, or that he doesn’t “wanna see you standing outside [his] home at 3 am holding your weird dripping brown bags ever again”, and that this is “the FINAL FUCKING WARNING”.

“the goo pile that is now your body”

i’m dying over here, jesus

ᴰᵒⁿ'ᵗ ʷᵃᵏᵉ ᵘᵖ.

| A lovely, endless dream. But just a dream. |