The best TF cartoon character

[Dark Stranger]

It's gotta be a three-way (ooer) between RID Sky-Byte, BW Inferno and BW Waspinator. I absolutely love each of those guys to bits and each has made me laugh out loud.

Thoughts?

[grahamthomson]

I don't think we got Transformers "characters" (except maybe Omega Supreme, oddly) until Beast Wars came along.

I will always have a soft spot for Waspinator.

[Bogatan]

Grimlock, Slag, Jazz, Waspinator, Skybyte, Bulkhead, Prowl. Blitzwing.

Quite a lot of the animated cast in truth. Almost tempted to add a few from Cybertron too. Scourge ended up being quite funny.

Andy

[Kingoji]

If you're thinking of cartoon versions over comics, then it's a toughy. The comic generally tends to win out with character, if not so much with personality. But from the top of my head the only cartoon version of a comic character that stands out to me is Ironhide.
I'd be tempted to mention a few others like, say, Warpath, but the truth is I think I'd prefer him to be somewhere between the two. Maybe having his 'tics' occurr only occasionally, and certainly not every time he speaks.

Outside of Gen 1, then my tops tend to be from Beast Wars as well. Rattrap and Tarrantulas over the others, but really, they were all just fantastic.

Also, a mention to Animated Blurr for taking what was a one-note gimmick and actually making it add to what was already an interesting character.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

All the very best characters in Transformers cartoons are in Masterforce (1988). Most of them are human-controlled Transformers, but some of the pure robots - Metalhawk, Sixknight, etc. - are quite well developed too.

Martin

[Andy Turnbull]

I'm with Martin on this, the best developed characters are predominatly in Masterforce. However, some of the most enjoyable are in Beast Wars and let us not forget Sky-Bite in RID.

Andy

[skillex]

I'd probably have to err on the side of Beast Wars, mainly thinking of Rattrap, Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. They were all good characters on BW though!

Animated had some good ones too, Ratchet in particular.

[Gav]

My all-out favourite is Sky-Byte from RiD. I've never been quite as entertained by a character as with him.

Honourable mentions go to TFA Ratchet and Sentinel Prime.

[legios]

My favourite characters tend to be those who get plenty of development and either reveal new sides to themselves or undergo growth and development

For this reason my top tier of characters would have to include Wilder - who goes from henchman and thug when he is first introduced into Masterforce to someone who is conflicted about the path he has chosen and thence to a Damascene conversion in a story arc that feels very natural. He finds himself sharing space with Ginrai, who grows steadily as a person from the moment we meet him - from a laidback guy who lacks ambition but is quite content enjoying a somewhat freewheeling life, to finding in himself the strength to shoulder an ever increasing burden of responsibility and power.

Masterforce also gives us Overlord - whom (I think that is the word - being as Overlord is two people) is probably the best defined and most rounded Decepticon/Destron leader in Transformers animation.

An honourable mention has to go to Optimus Primal in Beast Machines. He is a rarity in that the series actually follows his journey down the wrong path for about half its running time, allowing him to be definitively wrong and to learn from his errors. It is a rare step and marks him out from supposed paragons such as Prime and Star Saber.

Karl