Challenge of the GoBots: Difference between revisions

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''Challenge of the GoBots'' is considered to be a rip-off of ''Transformers''; this is only partially true. The GoBots toyline pre-dates the Transformers toyline (recycling a lot of [[Machine Robo]] toys). However, the cartoon was [[Dueling Shows|created as a response to]] the ''Transformers'' cartoon.

Despite addressing some valid and interesting science fiction tropes (as listed below), the series's biggest handicap, apart from its obvious similarity to the [[Transformers]], was probably its "toony" character design, as compared to the comic book-realism of the [[Transformers]] art. (This may account for the show's popularity in Europe, where toony character designs in [[Spartakus and ~~The~~ Sun Beneath ~~The~~ Sea|adventure shows]] and [[Tintin ~~(Comic Book)~~|comics]] are more common.)

Despite addressing some valid and interesting science fiction tropes (as listed below), the series's biggest handicap, apart from its obvious similarity to the [[Transformers]], was probably its "toony" character design, as compared to the comic book-realism of the [[Transformers]] art. (This may account for the show's popularity in Europe, where toony character designs in [[Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea|adventure shows]] and [[Tintin|comics]] are more common.)

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=== ''Challenge of the GoBots'' contains examples of: ===

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* [[Anti-Villain]] (Fi-Tor at times, especially when he is captured)

* [[Alien Non-Interference Clause]] (subverted. The Guardians ''attempt'' to abide by this in the first few episodes (hence the Earth vehicle disguises), but once it becomes clear that the Renegades have completely blown their cover, the Guardians from then on share their technology with the humans and help to establish them in the interstellar community)

* [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign]] (Done [[For the Lulz|for fun.]] Anya Turgonova once curses ''"Ish Kabibble!"'' Certainly none of the kids watching would have caught that Ish Kabibble was a famous Vaudeville comedian.)

* [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign]] (Done [[For the Lulz|for fun.]] Anya Turgonova once curses ''"Ish Kabibble!"'' Certainly none of the kids watching would have caught that Ish Kabibble was a famous Vaudeville comedian.)

* [[Barrier Warrior]] (Leader-1 could generate a protective force field. However, it took a lot of energy and was exhausting for him, so he could only maintain it for a couple of minutes at a time.)

* [[Big Brother Mentor]] (Matt to Nick and A.J.)

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]] (Turbo)

* [[Brain In A Jar]] (the GoBot race)

* [[Brain In a Jar]] (the GoBot race)

* [[The Brigadier]] (General Newcastle)

* [[The Cape]] (Leader-1)

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* [[Giant Foot of Stomping]] (Crasher's main attack is to stomp the ground, sending a crackling streak of energy along the ground toward her target.)

* [[Hanna-Barbera]]

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: [[Star Trek Deep Space Nine|Odo]] provided the voice of the mad scientist.

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Odo]] provided the voice of the mad scientist.

* [[Higher-Tech Species]]

* [[Hollywood Cyborg]] (The GoBots in general; but also the Last Engineer, who still looks human but with bionic bits.)

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* [[Iron Curtain]] (The writers could never seem to decide whether Anya Turgonova was from China or the U.S.S.R., alternately mentioning "Siberia" and "The People's Republic." Since it was the [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|Twenty Minutes Into the]] [[The Great Politics Mess-Up|Cold War future,]] perhaps they'd merged. Despite the Russian-sounding name and accent, she certainly ''looks'' Asian.)

** Given that most of Russia is in Asia, an Asian-looking Russian is not unrealistic.

* [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]]: Can never, ever be re-released or re-aired, due to the massive amount of legal tape due to copyright issues. Warner Brothers owns the cartoon but the character trademarks are owned by Hasbro (who acquired the property in the early 1990s when they bought Tonka, and also own the Transformers franchise) and character designs are owned by Bandai. Hasbro has recognized the popularity of the line however; they reused the Leader-One name for a character in Transformers Armada, created a homage to Crasher in the form of "Fracture" for the movie toyline, outright reintroduced Bugbyte as the big bad for a series of convention comics, and greenlighted Takara producing a box set of Gen1 mini-bots redecoed in the color of various Go-Bots characters. The characters and mythology of the original GoBots have been incorporated into Fun Publications' ''[[~~Transformers Timelines (Franchise)|~~Transformers Timelines]]'' as the Transformer-equivalents in their part of the Transformers [[Multiverse]].

* [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]]: Can never, ever be re-released or re-aired, due to the massive amount of legal tape due to copyright issues. Warner Brothers owns the cartoon but the character trademarks are owned by Hasbro (who acquired the property in the early 1990s when they bought Tonka, and also own the Transformers franchise) and character designs are owned by Bandai. Hasbro has recognized the popularity of the line however; they reused the Leader-One name for a character in Transformers Armada, created a homage to Crasher in the form of "Fracture" for the movie toyline, outright reintroduced Bugbyte as the big bad for a series of convention comics, and greenlighted Takara producing a box set of Gen1 mini-bots redecoed in the color of various Go-Bots characters. The characters and mythology of the original GoBots have been incorporated into Fun Publications' ''[[Transformers Timelines]]'' as the Transformer-equivalents in their part of the Transformers [[Multiverse]].

** The Renegade character Stretch also appears in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' as Porter C. Powell's limousine, brought to life by an Allspark shard (in the comics and ''Allspark Almanac II''; the normal non-living limo that became Stretch was shown in the cartoon several times).

** Apparently a deal of some sort has been hammered out with the various copyright holders. A remastered DVD release of the original five episode pilot mini-series is scheduled to be released under the Warner Archive program.

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* [[The Rival]] (Zero was the Renegades' leader before Cy-Kill defected and stole the job from him. Zero has never stopped resenting him for it.)

* [[Rival Turned Evil]] (Cy-Kill was once Leader-1's friend, but he betrayed him out of envy over his successes)

* [[Robot Girl]] (as [[Brain In A Jar|cyborgs,]] the GoBots have gender, at least on a neurological level)

* [[Robot Girl]] (as [[Brain In a Jar|cyborgs,]] the GoBots have gender, at least on a neurological level)

* [[Silicon Based Life]]: (The Rock Lords)

* [[Silicon-Based Life]]: (The Rock Lords)

* [[Single Biome Planet]] (justified. The war left Gobotron a biologically dead world long ago. Its current status as a city planet is an attempt to make the world comfortable again for its cyborg inhabitants)

* [[The Smurfette Principle]] (Averted. The show had quite a few female characters, Small Foot and Pathfinder being the two most prominent female Guardians, and Crasher being one of the lead villains. The humans had AJ and Anya (although Anya didn't show up very often after the [[Five Episode Pilot]]).)

* [[Strange Bedfellows]] (the Guardians and Renegades joining forces against insectoid creatures in the two-part "Invasion from the 21st Level" episode)

* [[Surrounded By Idiots]] (And poor Cy-Kill knows it. No wonder he values Fi-Tor so highly, since Fi-Tor is loyal, intelligent, ''and'' competent, when hardly anyone else in the Renegade army is all three. In fairness, Cy-Kill ''didn't'' hire these shnooks; the Renegades were a pre-existing army, and he seized command of them when he left the Guardians, booting Zero out of the boss position.)

* [[Surrounded by Idiots]] (And poor Cy-Kill knows it. No wonder he values Fi-Tor so highly, since Fi-Tor is loyal, intelligent, ''and'' competent, when hardly anyone else in the Renegade army is all three. In fairness, Cy-Kill ''didn't'' hire these shnooks; the Renegades were a pre-existing army, and he seized command of them when he left the Guardians, booting Zero out of the boss position.)

* [[Teleporters and Transporters]] (the Astrobeam)

* [[Terraforming]] (The humans are preparing a massive terraforming project for a planet they want to colonize, near the end of the series.)