The question has often been posed, to Decepticon fans as a group and to me personally, what makes the Decepticons so appealing. While I cannot answer for the entire group, I can offer some rationalization for why I am drawn to the "bad guys" of the Transformers. Several different reasons spring immediately to mind, some of them fairly simple; from a purely aesthetic standpoint, for example, I like the Decepticon symbol more than the Autobot sigil, and the Decepticons are usually painted in darker, cooler colors, which I happen to prefer over bright, warm hues. I can also list rather cliched arguments that the Decepticons represent rebelliousness and the darker side of myself, but even though these are worthy points, they pale beside the main reason. I support the Decepticon cause because my favorite characters, whom I identify with and love enough that I dare to call them my friends, are Decepticons.

While I like Starscream, Galvatron, and to a slightly lesser extent Cyclonus, for somewhat different reasons now than I did as an elementary-school-aged kid watching the show, they have always been my top favorite characters. Admittedly, I do have a special affection for a handful of Autobots, including >gasp!< Optimus Prime, but they have never excited in me the fervor of support that my Decepticon heroes have. I saw the Movie in a local theatre when I was nine years old, and while I watched with a very sad face when Optimus died, I wept when Starscream was killed. The ads threatened that Prime might be killed, but nobody said anything about murdering Starscream. Destroying him was a cruel insult.

But how did I come to love Starscream in the first place? So many fans consider him a simple nuisance, a loser. However, I do not. As a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed laughing at his often bungling antics in the cartoon, and listening to him complain in his, uhm, unusual voice, though he did hold a much deeper appeal as well. Starscream had a dream, an ambition; he wanted to become leader of the Decepticons. He never gave up trying to realize this goal, no matter how many times Megatron stopped him. In fact, I used to actively dislike Megatron, in large part because he never gave Starscream a chance to shine. I, too, have an ambitious nature, and while some of my past and present goals would be scorned as ludicrous or downright impossible by the outside world, I never considered giving them up simply because somebody else said they were unachievable. (I may have found that out on my own later, but I did so independently.) Even as a child, I admired Starscream's perseverance and determination. As I watched him successfully overthrow Megatron in the movie, I was ecstatic because at long last Starscream could realize his dream. At the same time, though, I had a funny feeling that it was too good to last. As Galvatron crashed his otherwise priceless coronation ceremony, I knew that once again Starscream's plans would be foiled-although I had no idea it would be in such a brutal manner. In my young eyes at least, the movie served to make Starscream a martyr.

So here's the real mystery: if I love Starscream so much, and felt so broken-hearted when he died, why did I also come to love his killer? Even for me, the answer is not always crystal-clear. As a young fan I did not like Galvatron's movie persona as much as I enjoyed his cartoon persona, that much is certain. Just as with Starscream, I loved to watch Galvatron's hilarious cartoon antics and laugh myself silly. As I watched reruns of the post-movie episodes, I quoted along with him as he screamed and raved at his troops, and I rooted for him whenever he wrangled with an Autobot or an errant subordinate. I preferred his cartoon voice as well; it did not seem quite so mature, or as threatening, as Leonard Nimoy's rendition did. While the movie's portrayal of Galvatron is best appreciated from an adult fan's point of view, the cartoon version of him was perfect for a fourth-grader seeking a post-movie hero.

To be fair, even Galvatron had more profound appeal for me. While I found a kindred spirit in Starscream's ambition, Galvatron's commonality lay in his fury. I have felt anger, as a result of specific events or just because, off and on for almost as long as I can remember; looking back, I can identify many periods of my life as "angry" times. I saw in Galvatron a character with a similar well of rage, who had found a way to release it (even though it wasn't in a very constructive way...!) Reflecting on my childhood, my fourth and fifth-grade years were a dark, confusing time of my life, when the world around me ceased to have control or make sense. By watching Galvatron beat up the Autobots and even his own troops whenever they irritated him, I could vicariously release my own anger and frustration.

In the back of my mind, though, I knew that hurting other people was not an acceptable way to unleash frustration, and I felt rather sorry for Cyclonus, who often caught the brunt of Galvatron's rage. I also admired the fact that he stood firm and took such abuse without so much as squirming or complaining. Scourge would take the easy way out and avoid Galvatron's wrath whenever possible, but Cyclonus would simply stand there and take whatever beating came his way. Such stoic resolve had to be appreciated.

For a time my interest in the Transformers in general cooled, but when I realized how soundly the Transformers could kick butt on Ninja Turtles, I decided to return to my childhood favorites. Seriously, though, toward the end of my freshman year the world around me threatened yet again to rip itself apart, and by rediscovering my Decepticon heroes, I found a constant to cling to when my family and friends changed more often for the worse than for the better. As I did so, I found new reasons to admire Starscream, Galvatron and Cyclonus.

While I was in my first half of high school, (which was not very long ago,) my parents fought and tried to sabotage one another's plans, and I often wound up in the middle of their conflict. While I always considered Starscream's supposed treachery to be open defiance more than crafty subversion, thanks to my parents I learned what it meant to keep secrets, to be manipulated, and to plot someone else's downfall. Most of all, I found myself sorely wishing that I could openly challenge my parents the way Starscream dared to confront Megatron, and to this day I envy his ability to defy his leader so easily. My parents have stopped fighting amongst themselves, but now I have to deal with them not seeing me as an adult capable of handling "the real world" (reality bites, thank you). Surely, I think to myself, Starscream could appreciate where I come from; everyone tells him constantly how he could never lead the Decepticons, and Starscream is determined to prove them wrong. I hold his intense, independent spirit, his persistence and his ambition in high regard, the more so now that I find myself in situations similar to his.

As I began looking at my favorite characters from a more adult perspective, I also noticed that some of them are actually quite handsome, Starscream in particular. His face has a youthful appearance, and he strikes me as being not much older than I am mentally. Although some of my closer friends scoff at me for finding Starscream, a fictional character, to be so attractive, there are far worse "real" relationships that I could be torturing myself with, and have in the past.

Having a mature outlook gave me fresh insight into Galvatron's movie persona as well, and he came to be a very sympathetic character for me. Whenever I watch the movie now, I especially feel for Galvatron in that sequence where Unicron orders him to destroy Hot Rod and the Matrix; his master is forcing him to do something that Galvatron realizes would kill him in the end. I have come to see Galvatron as a defiant, independent-minded person fighting against a cruel master who uses him for his own ulterior motives. He lashes out at his unjust creator, the same way that I would so love to lash out against the world, and my parents, that I often consider to be confusing and unjust. I can acutely identify with Galvatron's immense rage, which I know from experience can be as addictive as any drug. At times I find myself wishing I had his powerful body and his devastating cannon, so I could attack the world with a physical force to match my inner fury.

While as a child I felt more in the way of sympathy for Cyclonus whenever he got in harm's (read: Galvatron's) way, as an older fan my foremost emotion has to be respect for Cyclonus' strong dignity. A recent incident has brought this respect into sharp focus: when I inadvertently cost my parents a substantial amount of money, (the exact details are irrelevant here), my mother basically encouraged me to beg and cry to ask for my father's forgiveness. I refused, knowing that doing so would waste both our time, and that the damage had already been done. (In fact, by trying to intercede, my mother only made matters worse.) The realization hit me that Cyclonus must operate on a similar philosophy; when Galvatron gets enraged, nothing anyone can say or do will stop him. After Galvatron has gotten the anger out of his system, then he can be spoken to more reasonably, but groveling and begging for mercy on another Decepticon's part will only serve to make him a target. For one thing, Cyclonus has more dignity than that, and for another, he's not going to give anyone the pleasure of watching him cry.

Therefore, when people ask for reasons why I side with the Decepticons, I can name three-Starscream, Galvatron and Cyclonus. These three characters have shown me that it's okay to feel anger, to have ambition, and to stand firm in the face of abuse. If we deny ourselves these things, which I feel the Autobots as a group do for the sake of being so sickeningly "perfect", we deny ourselves a part of our nature. And I would much sooner remain in touch with my ambition, my anger and my resolve, even at the risk of having others denounce me for it; rather than ignore those parts of myself, simply to have others smile and say, "Oh. You're one of the good guys."

GLORY TO THE DECEPTICONS!!!

The End