"All war is deception"

[Mako Crab]

Points if you know who said that.

Recently I began thinking about the portrayal of the Decepticons across the many iterations of Transformers. For the purposes of this topic, the G1 Decepticons of the cartoon universe are the most applicable. These are the Decepticons that were built as war machines, but specifically as soldiers in the Quintesson army. After the exodus (it's big word day!) of the Quintessons we are left with two general lines of robots populating Cybertron:

1. Autobots: civillians more or less
2. Decepticons: military more or less

Yes, there's many deviations among both factions, but generally this is where it started before the Autobots were forced to become an army themselves. The portrayal of the Decepticons is what I'm interested in today. We know them as power hungry, megalomaniacal, tyrannical, "EVIL", back-stabbing, greedy, lying, scum-sucking blights upon the face of Cybertron. This is how they've been portrayed since the beginning and is how they're still portrayed today. Generally.

But if it's true that all war is deception, then the Decepticon name inadvertently casts a better light on the 'cons in my book. I'm sure the creators of the Transformers thought nothing more of the name than that it suggests the Decepticons were deceitful and deceptive. In relation to Sun Tzu's quote, taking the word deception as being analagous to war and modifying it for the name of their faction reflects on their original purpose. And for those wondering how war is decepticon, anothe quote:

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

I was going to say more, but I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Only that I thought it was interesting when I read "The Art of War".

[Gomess]

So.... are you saying the Decepticons should be applauded for their honesty?

I wanna get it, but I don't! Late night post? =p

[Mako Crab]

Late night post, indeed. And this is a too eary in the morning to be fully awake reply.

I still don't know quite what I'm on about! But it's like- it's right there on the tip of my tongue!

[Gomess]

Well I used to hang out with a philosophy student, so I'm more than happy to help you figure out, even if that involves just sitting here. X]

...Isn't it like, 9am where you are? C'mon, that's practically lunchtime. ;p

[Dominic]

The quote sounds a great deal like Sun Tzu. (Pinning the exact wording is tough, as there are so many variant translations of "The Art of War", and "Sun Tzu" is likely a composite historical figure who borders on being mythic. But, AoW makes a number of calls for sneakiness in war-fare, so....)

-just read the rest of Crab's post...I was right. (I am typing this answer as I read.)


It is a question of the Decepticons being honest about their methods. For whatever reason, (varying between iterations of the franchise), they favor war. And, Sun Tzu is correct in saying that war is an act of deception. (Remember, his idea about winning without fighting is as much, if not more, about getting the enemy to slit its own throat than it is about peaceful interaction.) The Decepticons favor war, and name themselves after a basic principle of warfare.

The Decepticons are always sneaky. Yes, many of them fight with blunt tactics. But, even Skywarp, (a dim bulb), is sneaky within the limits of his imagination. Look at Bruticus. All 5 of his components appreciate part of war. Onslaught enjoys the intellectual excercise of strategy, (which would be sneaky by necessity). Vortex is there to extract information. Swindle is a liar. Blast-off is a sniper. Brawl is the only direct combatant, (and combat is a part of warfare).

In "War Within" and "Megatron: Origins", the Decepticons are initially sneaky. They only announce their intention after they have prepared themselves, leaving the Autobots confused and vulnerable. In "Armada", the Decepticons moved quickly, using salami tactics to inrementally gain resources, (Minicons), before striking at the capital. In G1, Soundwave would just transform and wait for somebody to pick up a "really cool tape-deck" as a way to break into places.

IDW's G1 assumes the first, (and longest) stage of any Decepticon operation involves sneaking around. (Remember, even early on, the Autobots were more reactive to the Decepticons, who set the pace and tone of the conflict.)

[Mako Crab]

Uh... sure! Sounds great. That's exactly what I meant.

[Dominic]

Glad to be of help?