MovieChat Forums > The Transformers: The Movie (1986) Discussion > Cyclonus vs. Starscream

Cyclonus vs. Starscream

posted 10 years ago by ab-gangulee-00
11 replies | jump to latest

When Megatron's body is crushed during his hand-to-hand combat with Optimus Prime, the evil giant robot mastermind Unicron gives Megatron a new body and allies constructed from resurrected and altered dying Decepticons and re-names them Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Scourge.

Cyclonus is Galvatron's (the new Megatron) first knight, and he replaces the wily but untrustworthy former first knight of Megatron, Starscream.

Cyclonus is everything Starscream is not, and this movie portrays that: an obedient warrior, a shrewd surveyor, a cool customer, and a pure nihilist.

We still feel intrigued by what Starscream has to offer to Megatron and his Decepticons: sarcastic wit, Machiavellian greed, ruthless ideas, etc.

It is in this strange progression in Decepticon hierarchy which we can mark symbolic artistic modernism-critique colloquializations in this colorful and eccentric animated film.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Starscream is killed in this movie but is later resurrected in the next generation of Transformers (Hasbro) animated television series following the release of this offbeat film.

[–] Ramirez24 10 years ago

Cyclonus was a cool looking character but Starscream was a more interesting character and he and Megatron butting heads all the time and the fact that Starscream tried to take over as leader any chance he got made it more interesting. That said Soundwave was more trusted by Megatron than Starscream.

[–] PreachCaleb 10 years ago

Shockwave was Megatron's most trusted soldier. He left him in charge of Cybertron in his absence.

Can't stop the signal.

[–] berserk-799-455805 10 years ago

I loved Starscream. His PMS bipolar moods really made his character shine. I also loved Cyclonus because of his loyalty and strong silent persona.

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[–] justblack00 9 years ago

I might be real late to this but I love this question?

To answer your question I loved them both. Cyclonus was calm and cool while Starscream was crazy and whiny. I loved the fact that the relationship between him and megaton was different than anything we see in cartoon show. He wanted to overthrow Megatron from the jump. It's was hilarious when he finally got his chance. "I still function!......Wanna bet!"
It came back to bite him in the ass tho.

[–] michael-judd 9 years ago

What I find interesting is that in the original comic run, Megatron and Shockwave were far more openly antagonistic, with the latter actually deposing Megatron as leader of the Decepticons for quite a few issues. He was portrayed as the equal to Megatron in strength and ruthlessness, but without the hindrance of Megatrons volatile temper, which occasionally caused him to miscalculate his battle plans. That would have been an interesting angle in the TV show.........

[–] Kitarl 9 years ago

Essentially Starscreams role in the series was:

Megatron: Decepticons attack!
*Megatron trips on a rock*
Starscream: Megatron has fallen! I am your new leader!
*Megatron blasts Starscream*
Megatron: Idiot.

And so on, so forth.

Cyclonus didn't really get any development until the season after the film where yes, he does prove himself to be a cool-headed customer utterly loyal to Galvatron.

It's nice to have people you can count on, but Starscream made it fun.

Who loves ya, baby?

[–] Megavader 8 years ago

Funny thing is the comic actually had the accurate characterization of Shockwave. The cartoon turned him into a no backbone having follower which was in direct opposite of his bio.

Spoilers are overrated...

[–] natewei 8 years ago

I thought about this once too. In season 3, the roles are completely reversed. Cyclonus is calm and rational, while Galvatron is just barbaric, attacking his own men and rarely thinking ahead. It would have been interesting to see a little more into Cyclonus's character and why he would even choose to stick around and serve someone like Galvatron.

In fact, Cyclonus speaks as though he has experience in warfare, subterfuge, etc. But where does this come from? It surely wasn't from Bombshell or Skywarp. Starscream and Megatron had the perfect vindictive backstabbing chemistry. The new duo just had nothing going for them really. Just like all of season 3.

[–] puddleglum5999 8 years ago

Personally, I would have loved to have seen a storyline (probably would have required 2 to 5 episodes, or a full movie) where Starscream actually did take over, and wound up doing a better job than Megatron. The tide turns, and it looks as if all is practically lost for the Autobots. Then a handful of Autobots and maybe a rogue Decepticon opposed to Starscream (maybe Thundercracker or Soundwave?) spend the rest of the story trying to figure out what
happened to Megatron and reinstall him as Decepticon leader. Perhaps a time travel angle where they have to go back to just before Stars cream took over and "rescue" Megatron. It would have been awesome...