Jack of Harts

Transformers, along with Star Trek and Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and Narnia, and stories of that style, have been some of my favorite stories and universes to think about and imagine writing stories about for my entire life. The reason is simple. The common theme of good versus evil. And good generally wins.

In all of these stories, and in Transformers in particular, good wins. And good is good. Optimus Prime said that “freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” Fortress Maximus said that “we must be brave enough to wage peace.” The good guys were good. The bad guys were bad. And yes, most of them had rogues in the middle that lots of people liked, such as Grimlock. Grimlock would have been a great Decepticon if he had wanted to be. He agreed with them and their style on a great many things. In some versions, he was one of the gladiatorial robots that mostly became Decepticons. He was their brother in arms and they knew him. And yet he chose to be an Autobot. And many people like those characters. I have always loved the ones that were not conflicted. Optimus Prime and Fortress Maximus. They were good people who wanted other other people to live in peace. And they were people with the courage to fight and sacrifice so others could live in peace.

Those are the stories I love, and the stories I like to write. Transformers encapsulates this in ways that almost seem odd by today’s standards. They were a true black and white. Heroic Autobots. Evil Decepticons. But it is that clear distinction that there is good and evil, that there is right and wrong, that I love. They were not afraid to say that, and they wrote it in stories every week and every month for children to see. Many of us grew up looking up to Optimus Prime or Fortress Maximus. They were the heroes who would never stop. The ones who would protect us against anything if the time required it. They would die to defend others if they had to. They would never quit.

Those are the heroes I seek to write. Even if they don’t see themselves like that. It is those actions and those types of people that I like to bring to life in my stories. Because they are the heroes I want to highlight. That we should seek to be like in our lives.

I love to write stories of Transformers and Heroes because I wish we had more of them, and I will do what I can to show them.