Who would be the resident anthropologist in the Autobots? If they were to
be studying some civilization indirectly (without just showing up and
talking to them), who would be in charge of that mission?

I’m drawing a blank.

The scientist types we have are hard science or mad science.

Rewind is more of an archivist — storing and recalling information, but not
interpreting it.

Glyph understands linguistics, so she’s sort of close (compared to, say,
Perceptor).

I could accept an archeologist, and could figure out how to work with a
Decepticon if there’s a surprising character on that side.

— Gustavo, currently nurturing a nugget of an idea for a fanfic, but
lacking a plot or the characters, and also needing a natural way to bring
in Last Thursdayism, Dark Energy, and Preacher Casey’s “One Big Soul” from
Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath,” which seems like a pretty big lift.

On Friday, September 9, 2022 at 2:28:56 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:

> Who would be the resident anthropologist in the Autobots?

You could make a case for Jazz and Hound each having a keen interest in human culture, but neither of them is a scientist, and it seems more like their hobby than their job. Eject and Pipes are also obsessed with Earth culture, or at least sub-facets of it.

A lesser-known character would be Downshift the Omnibot, who is in love with Earth and its people. And then you could write a story where he calls kids "mini-men" and "mini-women," because apparently that's a thing he does.

I think Skids would be the best choice. His tech specs describe him as an all-around theoretician, but they doesn't specify what he actually theorizes about. Or, you could make up a fan character if there's nobody that fits into the story you want to tell.

Or, if you're looking for an Autobot/Decepticon pairing, you could do a Fizzle and Sparkstalker story. Fizzle is a strategist with highly sopisticated logistics and planning circuitry, and Sparkstalker is a mastermind and computer hacker. But, I'm also completely fascinated with the Sparkabots and Firecons right now, and they're so woefully underused as characters, so I'm sure that's coloring my answer quite a bit.

Zob (got the whole house to myself... let's gooooooooo, as the blasted youth element likes to say)

Zobovor <zmfts@aol.com> wrote:
> On Friday, September 9, 2022 at 2:28:56 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the
> Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
>> Who would be the resident anthropologist in the Autobots?
>
> You could make a case for Jazz and Hound each having a keen interest in
> human culture, but neither of them is a scientist, and it seems more like
> their hobby than their job. Eject and Pipes are also obsessed with Earth
> culture, or at least sub-facets of it.
>
> A lesser-known character would be Downshift the Omnibot, who is in love
> with Earth and its people. And then you could write a story where he
> calls kids "mini-men" and "mini-women," because apparently that's a thing he does.

It’s hard to sift out the Earthophiles from anyone useful. All transformers
are somehow enamored of Earth, but that doesn’t mean they would be
interested in something alien.

Sure, Earth should be alien, but it seems more like a missing piece of
Transformers culture because it slots in so easily, along with Titans,
Nubulons, etc. But it’s always a instant love of a culture they immediately
understand.

> I think Skids would be the best choice. His tech specs describe him as
> an all-around theoretician, but they doesn't specify what he actually
> theorizes about. Or, you could make up a fan character if there's nobody
> that fits into the story you want to tell.

I don’t like fan characters for anything major. If we need an
anthropologist or archeologist to discover something that promptly kills
them, then sure, Trowel can suddenly exist for 30 seconds before meeting
his end.

With thousands of characters, there should be someone.

I’m surprised you didn’t say Floofinator, the seventh ActionMaster from the
left in such and such. I’m now wondering what other functions are just
missing from Transformers.

> Or, if you're looking for an Autobot/Decepticon pairing, you could do a
> Fizzle and Sparkstalker story. Fizzle is a strategist with highly
> sopisticated logistics and planning circuitry, and Sparkstalker is a
> mastermind and computer hacker. But, I'm also completely fascinated with
> the Sparkabots and Firecons right now, and they're so woefully underused
> as characters, so I'm sure that's coloring my answer quite a bit.
>
>
> Zob (got the whole house to myself... let's gooooooooo, as the blasted
> youth element likes to say)
>