Name: Minerva
Allegiance: Autobots
Function: Field nurse (in training)
Timeline: Transformers Animated
Who are you calling high maintenance!?!
Profile:
Constructed into a noble family, Minerva shocked many of her peers when she chose to pursue a career in medicine, instead of more "appropriate" activities for a 'bot of noble descent, such as serving in the Cybertronian off-world relations division as an ambassador. An optimistic and upbeat - if somewhat demanding and stuck-up - young 'bot, Minerva excelled in her studies at Protihex Medical Mechanics University, completing her first three stellar cycles of study with high honours. When it came time to take on a placement with one of Cybertron's leading medical 'bots, Minerva turned down opportunities to study under respected medics like Fixit, Red Alert and First Aid. For Minerva, only the best is good enough - and that meant taking a trip to Earth to study with Protihex's greatest alumni - Ratchet. Unfortunately for Minerva, she hasn't exactly got the best sense of direction. Her trip to Earth involved more than a few unplanned detours, and culminated in her landing in the wrong place - she touched down in Quebec, rather than New Detroit. Shortly after arriving, Minerva scanned a Japanese car and made friends with the young woman who drove it. Minerva's new friend helped to introduce her to the Earth and its many customs, such as "hanging out at the mall" and "ice cream". Minerva quickly fell in love with the Earth, enjoying long drives along country roads and taking selfies with Earth's unique landscapes and landmarks, which she posts on her Instatraan account. Eventually, Minerva found her way to Detroit, where she was upset to learn that Ratchet was in no mood to take on a student - although Minerva didn't help by showing up out of nowhere and demanding the old 'bot be her mentor. But Minerva quickly found a solution to her predicament, and she is now the first Cybertronian student to attend the Toronto School of Nursing.
Cybertronian car mode:
Author notes:
For Animated Minerva, I decided to have a little fun with the original bio. The original bio had Minerva come to Earth to train under Ratchet, but she goes off course and makes friends with a young woman who is clearly meant to be the original Minerva. I decided to flesh out the story a bit, adding in a variation on the original Minerva's backstory as a daughter of an ambassador, and made her an upper class character. This played into the Botcon Minerva's tech spec motto where she's commenting about being high maintenance - I basically made her a bit stuck-up, demanding, and generally only accepting the best of everything. The rest was then leaning into how Minerva is a robotic version of a teenage girl - I just liked the idea of a giant robot sitting in a lecture theatre, or in a mall food court.
Basically, I just took the general concept of Animated Minerva and went wild with the possibilities this character offers.
Toys of Transformers Animated Minerva
BotCon Exclusive Transformers Animated Minerva
I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate to own this one. Animated Minerva was a toy that you could only get at the Botcon customising class in 2011. In fact, she was the last year that the toy was only available at the class, every year thereafter you could get an assembled but unpainted version of the class figure. So she's a real rarity, and probably one of the rarest pieces in my collection.
Because of her rarity and the "DIY" nature of her construction, I always handle her with a lot of care. She doesn't feel as solidly built as a lot of the mass retail toys I own. But she looks really nice, she's a great alternate version of the character, and the resin "ears" help to distinguish her from Arcee. They're incredibly fragile, but as I said, I handle this one with a lot of care. I'm really happy to own her.
More information on BotCon Exclusive Transformers Animated Minerva at TFW2005
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BotCon Exclusive Transformers toys in my collection.
