Female Transformers Characters

Gender in Transformers fiction and fandom is the topic as Jen, known online as Trixter, joins John DeLuna for her first Mini-cast. The two have known each other since BotCon about 16 years ago. Jen credits Transformers Animated with bringing a wave of women into the fandom. She makes the case for Blackarachnia as one of Beast Wars’ best-written characters. They also discuss the IDW Arcee controversy and what it changed, and why convention leadership needs diverse voices.

Transformers Animated and the New Wave of Fans

Jen first noticed BotCon becoming more colorful when Transformers Animated arrived, with far more cosplay. She says much of that audience followed the creative team over from Teen Titans, which had a large following of young women. She remembers the year of the big Animated panel with David Kaye and Weird Al. Speaking broadly, Jen says women in fandoms tend to focus on fiction, fan art and fan fiction and follow the creators closely. Men lean toward collecting.

Arcee and Blackarachnia

As a kid, Jen loved Arcee. The pink one felt like her character, and she never saw Arcee as sexualized until fan art in the late 1990s. Rewatching Beast Wars episode by episode for her own podcast, Jen found Blackarachnia a nuanced, well-written character who always keeps her agency. She says Blackarachnia used her wiles mostly on characters who had it coming, like Tarantulas. She regrets that the character is often remembered only for her appearance. Jen recommends a Beast Wars rewatch for the 20th anniversary.

IDW’s Arcee and What Came After

Jen calls Arcee’s IDW introduction problematic. She does not believe Simon Furman meant harm, and suggests he did not realize it would be a problem. People were always offended, she says, but now they can be heard, and writers have more resources to write diverse characters. She contrasts Tumblr communities drawn in by More Than Meets The Eye with older message board fans who prefer third-party toys. Jen credits the backlash with pushing editors toward writers like James Roberts. She praises Rung as the crew’s therapist.

Diversity at Conventions

Jen was critical of Fun Publications’ BotCon from the start, and says she never felt invited there. She recalls helping with fan art and diversity concerns in earlier convention years. She shares a secondhand story about a woman attendee whose registration package did not cover the dinner event. John says that as a man of color he also stood out at early conventions. He argues that diverse convention leadership produces more nuanced inclusion than token panels. Jen hopes whatever body runs Hasbro’s future convention brings in diverse voices.

Contributors: John DeLuna, Jen (Trixter) (guest)