Okay y’all might have to put me down after this. Because I just spent like an hour of my actual life to do RESEARCH on bulldozers and Monster Trucks ALL for Sentinel Prime!! And I’m loosing it over this guy! I’ve never even watched the show and yet I’m obsessed with him!
So, here’s what I’ve gathered in my brief, unprofessional search.
1, different kinds of bulldozers.
The two I’m going to go over at first is the Wheeler and Crawler. Now, in case you don’t know the difference/never heard of these, a wheeler uses large rubber tires to move, while the crawler uses treads! Like a tank! Now, the reason I went on such a tangent is because, I was trying to wrap my head around why Sentinel just feels a little small, like monster trucks and bulldozers are big! And if he’s potentially both (we’ll get more into that in second), then wouldn’t he be like noticeably bigger than most Autobots? I thought so, but turns out that there are a large variety of sizes for bulldozers! I know, duh! But the point is almost all of the time, a wheeler bulldozer is lighter than a crawler and the difference is actually quite drastic!
When I was trying to figure out what bulldozer is closest to Sentinel with my limited knowledge on both the character and construction machinery, I found that medium sized wheeler bulldozers range from about 15 to 40 tons. While crawler bulldozers can range from a modest 8 tons to a whopping 120 tons! Now obviously Sentinel doesn’t have treads so it does immediately cross out crawler bulldozers as a viable option for him.
Oh and while I have you here, let me clarify by saying that I’m talking about his cybertronian form, not his earth mode! Which will be discussed further in the rant!
While looking at the difference between the two, to figure out how or what made him so different to other potential bulldozers and how it might correlate to his different demeanor from let’s say mixmaster (seeing as I think we only ever see 2 or 3 constructibots which isn’t a lot to go off!) and I found some interesting things!! Wheelers are often faster, lighter, and more agile than crawlers. Typically they are used for lighter work and easier terrain. Now why does that matter? Well for many reasons but the big ones I’m gonna highlight is that Sentinel lives in a pretty packed city with tight turns and even ground/roads. In an earlier post I was thinking about what it might mean to have a bulldozer that lives in the city and how that impacts his life. Well to put it blank, it wouldn’t be a problem! Since wheelers are great at traveling across roads (without damaging them too much mind you) and can make tight turns, it’s obvious Sentinel could learn to thrive in it! Which I will add probably further adds to why he might not like organic planets or rural places as crawlers do better on dirt while wheelers tend to struggle with looser terrain (not to mention that they are typically much lighter so they have less downwards force to really push through it)
And I also commented on Sentinels apparent obsession with looking nice/clean. Well, if wheelers can go on nice clean roads, and they are used for “light” (they are a multi ton vehicle, they got oomf to em!) and speedy work, it’s not too absurd to clean up a bit here and there. Especially since he doesn’t have to usually worry about dirt and mud. To top it off, Sentinel just doesn’t really move anything to begin with, he’s a pencil pusher really. So when he polishes, he STAYS polished for a while!
So I thought, wow! This is great! And makes sense on why/how he’s smaller than other constructibots and stays shiny, lives in the city, and has wheels instead of tracks. Guess I’m done now-!
No.
I found more.
I dug DEEPER.
2. Monster trucks
Since Sentinel was also described as a monster truck, I figured I’d look into them as well!
Now monster trucks started off as souped up pickup trucks, but nowadays they are their own league. The typical monster truck ranges from 5-6 tons, quite small when you consider that wheeler bulldozers are usually at least 15 from what I just said but oh well it’s not perfect. Now monster truck doesn’t fit the bill for his cyber mode, seeing as it is quite dense and VERY low to the ground. But for his earth mode? Yeah no his literally a monster truck with a plow. I’m not buying the whole “2008 ford f-150 pickup truck with a plow” the frames don’t match like at all! Sentinel’s suspension and frame matches the monster truck far more than a pickup. Sometimes he is described as a monster pick up so fine I’ll give them that. Now monster trucks are GREAT at jumping, so the suspension on his earth mode makes sense, he might even have it in his cyber mode too.
3. Hybrid
I don’t know what possessed me to feel the NEED to combine monster and bulldozer into sentinel but it happened and is here to stay. So for the finally?
Remember when I said I dug deeper into bulldozers?
How I said the weight of the monster trucks don’t line up with typical wheeler bulldozers?
Yeah.
Because there apparently is such a thing.
Known.
As.
A.
MINIATURE. FREAKING. BULLDOZER!!
I don’t think any of you can even BEGIN to understand the amount of enlightenment I got when I discovered this! And it fits him so well!!
Miniature bulldozers can come in wheeler and/or crawler, and guess how much they weigh?? Well you don’t have to because they weigh 7-10 tons! That is such a perfect match for a monster truck which might I add is that weight because of safety reasons and why they don’t go any heavier. His really large wheels match up with both monster and mini bulldozer! Thus I am CLAIMING (unless otherwise stated by someone else ☝️) that Sentinel is a monster truck and mini bulldozer hybrid! Once you combine the two, it makes so much sense! He has the combination of both wheel types, the frame of a bulldozer, the power of one too, but with the added bonus of speed, grip strength, agility, and maybe even terrain capabilities of a monster truck! And if sentinel is able to use his suspension like he did with his earth mode, then he could do well in a lot of terrain! (Think of that one car from cars with the hydrolics and bumper tattoos)
But having said all that. HE STILL MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE BECAUSE DO YOU KNOW WHAT I REALIZED WHEN LOOKING AT SENTINEL??
Do you see it?? It’s fine if you don’t because I never realized it either. And that is…
HE HAS 6 WHEELS IN TOTAL!!
WHERE DO THE OTHER 4 WHEELS GO WHEN HE TRANSFORMS!? WHERE DID THEY GO WHEN HE TURNED INTO HIS EARTH MODE!?
