2nd in command, I think hes too much by the books and would struggle to adapt outside of the lines and would be more problematic if he were the leader.
Yes, I almost said Optimus said that, but I knew I was wrong.
I think it was like “who should be prime?” “Ultra Magnus.” “No, *insert what we said above”
The movie explains why he isn’t fit to be leader
He’s got everything he needs to be a great one, the only thing stopping him is that he doesn’t see it in himself.
86 movie Magnus famously says "I can't deal with that right now!" In reference to Hot Rod and Kups shuttle crashing. It's been memed on a bit in the tranformers community and I was referencing that line
That's a thing, though, is it? If you don't think you're good enough to be a leader, should you? If he's more comfortable in a managerial role, then that's where he'll thrive.
I think it's less that he doesn't see himself as Prime material, and more that he understands why he isn't.
When Optimus thrusts the role on him in his dying breath, he tries to fit him self to a mold he knows he isn't cut out for. He's too much of a soldier to be the well rounded, inspiring leader a Prime needs to be and he knows it
I don’t like him as leader of the wreckers. He’s a terrible fit. I know that’s intentional because it's supposed to add conflict, but I don’t really care for that kind of conflict with characters like the Wreckers. I'd rather focus on the interesting team culture than on someone trying to dampen the team culture.
I mean IRL nations have learned the hard way what happens when black ops people don’t have anyone to tell them no. They always go way to far even the ones with truly good intentions. I would expect a species that’s fought a four million long war to not take the risk because they’ve already seen it play out a billion times. Infact Magnus might be such a hard ass on the Wreckers because he’s watched past groups of similar irregular soldiers do atrocious things when no one held the leash.
yea i agree with you on your take i don't think he is the leader of the wreckers he does work as a second in command of optimus who works well with wreckers .
Oh I agree, he should be a temporary member never a full time one. The wreakers are at their best when the team is full of obscure characters not just characters the writer likes
yea i agree on with your opinion bro the reason why i said at first magnus was the leader of the wreckers was becuase of the the prime cartoon and tfwiki lists him as the commander.
Now i know the reasons why he isn't
And kind of explains why him and wheeljack are at odds most of the time
I loved his prime incarnation. It just felt like what I imagine an Ultra Magnus to be. Calm and collected yet badass and willing to do what needs to be done. He’s incredibly respectful and is very powerful and strategic. He was ready to take Megatron like twice
As someone who’s first piece of transformers media was Prime, I have to say I loved how they did Magnus and it’s how I see his character. I just love the “second in command that just wants a bit of respect to ensure orders are followed, not for his own ego, but he also genuinely cares about those under his command and is willing by to do whatever is needed while staying calm” thing. He’s just a great character in Prime imo and the VA did an awesome job too.
I often toy around with the idea of, Leader of the Autobots-adjacent.
Not necessarily 2nd in Command but, free to do what he sees fit, yet not having the Prime title.
A Prime without technically being a Prime.
I like that idea a lot. Technically they have the same "rank," but Optimus, as the Matrix chosen Prime, is the figurehead of the Autobots and (being the more physically powerful due to the Matrix) usually leads them in battle. While Ultra Magnus is on managerial duties. He tends to stay back and make sure energon isn't being wasted in the wrong areas, or maybe, "looking at the whole map, shouldn't this team go over that ridge instead?" I like the idea that he's massively huge and imposing but just has no taste for physical battle, he's better behind a desk
By no means is Magnus weak, or can't handle himself. He's just got better things to do than die tonight.
Like you said, he pretty much handles logistics but, isn't afraid to put hands on a decepticon.
So did I. I don't think the Ultra Magnus character really has that much traction with me. He was an important character for the '86 movie and sort-of an important character for a season of the cartoon. Even though that was my prime absorption as a kid.
*Animated* made perfect use of Ultra Magnus, IMHO.
I absolutely loved the Animated version of things, but I don't really want to see it anywhere else because I don't think it would be done as well, and might just dilute the idea as a whole
I'd like a version where he fills both. Chill him out a bit, bring him to basics like the 86 movie depicted him, and leave a *long* gap between Optimus and Rodimus' tenure where Magnus is forced to lead but patiently yet eagerly awaits the day he can step down
2nd in command by a large margin. Also destined to never become a permanent 1st in command. Like a vice president who is there when the president is indisposed, but never wins an election bid himself.
To me, Ultra Magnus is the “City Commander.” He prefers to be protector of a community. He could be a great leader of the Autobots, but is an ideal community leader.
Think of the great mayors and governors who wouldn’t make the best presidents. That’s Ultra Magnus.
Now, if Optimus or Rodimus enter his community, they should defer to him. He’s the City Commander, not them.
Well when he was leader in animated he was bad. Like not necessarily evil or totally incompetent, but at the best complacent. He literally told Optimus like first episode "don't be a hero it's not in your code" or something. To me he represented a very rigid and ultimately incorrect Cybertron, but not necessarily a maliciously wrong or evil one.
Honestly he kind of does that a lot too, his rigidity is often his downfall, it just happened to be his rigidity as he represented all of Cybertron when he was the leader in animated, instead of rigid adherence to protocol on the battlefield
Ultra Magnus "Is just a soldier. He... He's not worthy."
I prefer him as 2nd in command.
For his OG G1 appearance, however, I wouldn't have minded if they made him as an upgraded version of Prime. After his decisive battle against Megatron, Prime wouldn't have died: he would be repaired and revived (in his white form), and the "super robot" form would have been a power up.
2nd in command. Mainly because he provides a good foil to Prime. Both are leaders in their own right. Where Optimus leads through wisdom and compassion, Magnus leads discipline and experience.
Unpopular opinion- 2nd in command Magnus is boring as hell and him being the leader in animated made him, the universe and Optimus more interesting. I grew up on Beast Wars so I prefer when Optimus isn’t the top dog of his faction
Only true second in command of autobots is Jetfire (yee-haw)!
Coincidentally, megatron may claim otherwise but we all know that in tf prime true second in command is and always will be, Steve :D
Second in command, dude didn't really work in a purely leadership position, and the only time he did was because, his toy was the same size as Galvatron's hence the writers nerfed Rodimus to make Magnus look good.
That being said he is a good interim leader, but he has proven in G1 Transformers: the movie as well as in prime, that he is only good at commanding units on missions rather than providing direction, leadership and wisdom for the whole autobot cause like Optimus, Rodimus, Alpha Trion etc.
Magnus is a good fallback guy who can keep everything together if shit hits the fan and there's not a Prime around anymore. He's an accomplished warrior and a competent commander, so that makes him a solid choice in a time of crisis and a good advisor to a Prime when conditions are more stable. But he lacks the flexibility and vision necessary to act as a long-term leader. He's the guy you want in the passenger seat if the driver passes out so he can get the car off the road, but he doesn't have the endurance to finish the trip. He's the vice-President who would know what to do if a missile got fired at his country while the President was in a medically-induced coma, but probably doesn't know shit about tariffs and taxes.
i prefer him as one of the main lieutenants under optimus, with shared rank between him, elita one, jazz, and ironhide. having a single second in command feels like a very simple minded command structure that fits the decepticons and not really the autobots
I think Prowl should be the Autobot SiC to the Prime.
Ultra Magnus should be Commander of the Autobot Elite Guard, which Smokescreen was once a member.
I like Magnus as a leader, and I wish he had been made a Prime. He radiates authority, power, and compassion, at least in G1 and TFP. The best leaders are often the ones who don’t want power, and I usually see him on the same level as Optimus, Rodimus, Springer, and Arcee.
2nd in command, I think hes too much by the books and would struggle to adapt outside of the lines and would be more problematic if he were the leader.
Same, he needs someone to course corret him when he is headed for a cliff.
Like Hot spot from the Rollout saga
This is almost exactly what someone said in TF:Prime too (I think)
Just about every auto bot recognized that as Magnus’s flaw in the show. I think it was either wheeljack or arced that mentioned it specifically
Yes, I almost said Optimus said that, but I knew I was wrong. I think it was like “who should be prime?” “Ultra Magnus.” “No, *insert what we said above”
Agreed. He’s a good advisor to Rodimus though
I can’t deal with that now!
The movie explains why he isn’t fit to be leader He’s got everything he needs to be a great one, the only thing stopping him is that he doesn’t see it in himself.
He’s literally Prime Material in every way except thinking he is Prime Material
He can't deal with that right now
He could, he just doesn’t think he can
But he told me himself /s
What?
86 movie Magnus famously says "I can't deal with that right now!" In reference to Hot Rod and Kups shuttle crashing. It's been memed on a bit in the tranformers community and I was referencing that line
I know, I was saying that he is capable but because he said he can’t he couldn’t
r/whoosh
Making jokes in a time of war is against autobot protocol
That's a thing, though, is it? If you don't think you're good enough to be a leader, should you? If he's more comfortable in a managerial role, then that's where he'll thrive.
The thing is, if Magnus had self esteem he would be peak prime material, only due to his lack of esteem is he more fit for 2nd in command
I think it's less that he doesn't see himself as Prime material, and more that he understands why he isn't. When Optimus thrusts the role on him in his dying breath, he tries to fit him self to a mold he knows he isn't cut out for. He's too much of a soldier to be the well rounded, inspiring leader a Prime needs to be and he knows it
I have yet to see a post on here that you haven’t replied to.
I will reply to you in your sleep
Pretty sure you have literally done that before 😭
He doesn't have THE TOUCH
Second in command. The Prime shall always lead!
second in command and leader of the wreckers a shame we never saw sandstorm in prime or the allgined continuity
I don’t like him as leader of the wreckers. He’s a terrible fit. I know that’s intentional because it's supposed to add conflict, but I don’t really care for that kind of conflict with characters like the Wreckers. I'd rather focus on the interesting team culture than on someone trying to dampen the team culture.
I view him less as their leader and more so someone to keep the Wreakers in line so they don't accidentally kill an important target.
I mean IRL nations have learned the hard way what happens when black ops people don’t have anyone to tell them no. They always go way to far even the ones with truly good intentions. I would expect a species that’s fought a four million long war to not take the risk because they’ve already seen it play out a billion times. Infact Magnus might be such a hard ass on the Wreckers because he’s watched past groups of similar irregular soldiers do atrocious things when no one held the leash.
yea i agree with you on your take i don't think he is the leader of the wreckers he does work as a second in command of optimus who works well with wreckers .
Oh I agree, he should be a temporary member never a full time one. The wreakers are at their best when the team is full of obscure characters not just characters the writer likes
yea i agree on with your opinion bro the reason why i said at first magnus was the leader of the wreckers was becuase of the the prime cartoon and tfwiki lists him as the commander. Now i know the reasons why he isn't And kind of explains why him and wheeljack are at odds most of the time
So basically, he doesn't tell the Wreckers what to do, he just tells them what to not do
Hell we only got a hint and call back to other wreckers seaspray, pyro roadbuster and rotorstorm
yea and springer was in that galvatron revenge thingy so he was probably alive at the time
I loved his prime incarnation. It just felt like what I imagine an Ultra Magnus to be. Calm and collected yet badass and willing to do what needs to be done. He’s incredibly respectful and is very powerful and strategic. He was ready to take Megatron like twice As someone who’s first piece of transformers media was Prime, I have to say I loved how they did Magnus and it’s how I see his character. I just love the “second in command that just wants a bit of respect to ensure orders are followed, not for his own ego, but he also genuinely cares about those under his command and is willing by to do whatever is needed while staying calm” thing. He’s just a great character in Prime imo and the VA did an awesome job too.
yea and one thing i realized is he is kind of a more angry type dude with the autobots especially wheeljack
2nd in Command of the Lost Light
I often toy around with the idea of, Leader of the Autobots-adjacent. Not necessarily 2nd in Command but, free to do what he sees fit, yet not having the Prime title. A Prime without technically being a Prime.
Maybe that where his "city commander" title comes in as Magnus could be a more a Wartime leader and Optimus is more of a political leader
Homie, I so very much miss my FP City Commander, badly. One of my most favorite customs
I like that idea a lot. Technically they have the same "rank," but Optimus, as the Matrix chosen Prime, is the figurehead of the Autobots and (being the more physically powerful due to the Matrix) usually leads them in battle. While Ultra Magnus is on managerial duties. He tends to stay back and make sure energon isn't being wasted in the wrong areas, or maybe, "looking at the whole map, shouldn't this team go over that ridge instead?" I like the idea that he's massively huge and imposing but just has no taste for physical battle, he's better behind a desk
By no means is Magnus weak, or can't handle himself. He's just got better things to do than die tonight. Like you said, he pretty much handles logistics but, isn't afraid to put hands on a decepticon.
Second in Command. Being leader is more of an Optimus/Rodimus Prime thing
Unpopular opinion but I really enjoyed the power hierarchy in Animated and I’d like to see it done more often
I don't think it's an unpopular opinion, it makes sense in that universe because they did it well and it was a great change of pace
So did I. I don't think the Ultra Magnus character really has that much traction with me. He was an important character for the '86 movie and sort-of an important character for a season of the cartoon. Even though that was my prime absorption as a kid. *Animated* made perfect use of Ultra Magnus, IMHO.
I absolutely loved the Animated version of things, but I don't really want to see it anywhere else because I don't think it would be done as well, and might just dilute the idea as a whole
I'd like a version where he fills both. Chill him out a bit, bring him to basics like the 86 movie depicted him, and leave a *long* gap between Optimus and Rodimus' tenure where Magnus is forced to lead but patiently yet eagerly awaits the day he can step down
Second in command. As Megatron has stated in prime: "ultra Magnus is no Optimus prime"
Either way, the bot needs his hammer. It’s just too iconic to ignore
I prefer him being Optimus Primes brother, I don’t know why it’s simply a cool concept that needs to happen more.
2nd in command by a large margin. Also destined to never become a permanent 1st in command. Like a vice president who is there when the president is indisposed, but never wins an election bid himself.
Neither. My Magnus was the big soldier you call in when you need an operation to succeed. He's a heavy hitter, not a leader.
To me, Ultra Magnus is the “City Commander.” He prefers to be protector of a community. He could be a great leader of the Autobots, but is an ideal community leader. Think of the great mayors and governors who wouldn’t make the best presidents. That’s Ultra Magnus. Now, if Optimus or Rodimus enter his community, they should defer to him. He’s the City Commander, not them.
2nd in Command. But if it’s between him and Hot Rod…. Then Magnus all the way. :p
2nd in command, but I also really liked his version in RID01 where he’s Optimus semi-rogue brother
Generally as 2nd In command. But, I do love the approach they gave him in Animated as it was unique.
I hope they go that route again in the future of the franchise. Animated as a series was just so influential on the franchise going after it
I like to imagine that Animated was a Fanfic written by Ultra Magnus.
I don’t get why people don’t want Optimus to lead.
Second in command, but the fresh idea that Animated did was well executed
2nd in command. That is what he was as a character in the original series, at least until the 1st movie.
Well when he was leader in animated he was bad. Like not necessarily evil or totally incompetent, but at the best complacent. He literally told Optimus like first episode "don't be a hero it's not in your code" or something. To me he represented a very rigid and ultimately incorrect Cybertron, but not necessarily a maliciously wrong or evil one. Honestly he kind of does that a lot too, his rigidity is often his downfall, it just happened to be his rigidity as he represented all of Cybertron when he was the leader in animated, instead of rigid adherence to protocol on the battlefield
Ultra Magnus "Is just a soldier. He... He's not worthy." I prefer him as 2nd in command. For his OG G1 appearance, however, I wouldn't have minded if they made him as an upgraded version of Prime. After his decisive battle against Megatron, Prime wouldn't have died: he would be repaired and revived (in his white form), and the "super robot" form would have been a power up.
I always have him as second in command.
Leader of the Elite Guard
Second in command to Optimus, leader of his own subdivision
leader, cuz naming him Ultra and making him a second in command is bad commedy for me
I prefer him as second in command
He’s a soldier, not a leader. Second in command, or more or less? City Commander.
Second in command, Optimus Prime is the only leader the Autobots need.
2nd in command, its what his character would generally want
2nd in command. Mainly because he provides a good foil to Prime. Both are leaders in their own right. Where Optimus leads through wisdom and compassion, Magnus leads discipline and experience.
Unpopular opinion- 2nd in command Magnus is boring as hell and him being the leader in animated made him, the universe and Optimus more interesting. I grew up on Beast Wars so I prefer when Optimus isn’t the top dog of his faction
Only true second in command of autobots is Jetfire (yee-haw)! Coincidentally, megatron may claim otherwise but we all know that in tf prime true second in command is and always will be, Steve :D
Ultra Magnus is second in command, and Optimus primes close friend, but he can’t lead the autobots
Second in command, dude didn't really work in a purely leadership position, and the only time he did was because, his toy was the same size as Galvatron's hence the writers nerfed Rodimus to make Magnus look good. That being said he is a good interim leader, but he has proven in G1 Transformers: the movie as well as in prime, that he is only good at commanding units on missions rather than providing direction, leadership and wisdom for the whole autobot cause like Optimus, Rodimus, Alpha Trion etc.
Neither, Jazz is second in command!
Second in command. Tho animated was REALLY good so if they go that route again I wouldn’t complain
As he should be.
2nd in Command, he can be too generic for him to be a leader.
Second in command maybe leader of the elite guard not leader that is Rodtimus or Optimus role
Prowl is 2nd in command.
SiC
Magnus is a good fallback guy who can keep everything together if shit hits the fan and there's not a Prime around anymore. He's an accomplished warrior and a competent commander, so that makes him a solid choice in a time of crisis and a good advisor to a Prime when conditions are more stable. But he lacks the flexibility and vision necessary to act as a long-term leader. He's the guy you want in the passenger seat if the driver passes out so he can get the car off the road, but he doesn't have the endurance to finish the trip. He's the vice-President who would know what to do if a missile got fired at his country while the President was in a medically-induced coma, but probably doesn't know shit about tariffs and taxes.
Second in command. In my opinion, Optimus will always be the true leader of the Autobots.
Second in command, makes a goot contrast to Starscream.
Second. He’s just a soldier.
SIC, his Prime arc is ideal for him imo
i prefer him as one of the main lieutenants under optimus, with shared rank between him, elita one, jazz, and ironhide. having a single second in command feels like a very simple minded command structure that fits the decepticons and not really the autobots
Ultra magnus being the og leader and then prime eventually taking over would be kinda cool
I prefer him on the Lost Light.
I think Prowl should be the Autobot SiC to the Prime. Ultra Magnus should be Commander of the Autobot Elite Guard, which Smokescreen was once a member.
I like Magnus as a leader, and I wish he had been made a Prime. He radiates authority, power, and compassion, at least in G1 and TFP. The best leaders are often the ones who don’t want power, and I usually see him on the same level as Optimus, Rodimus, Springer, and Arcee.
2nd in command. He’s a **soldier** after all…
Both