Minerva (Transformers Generation 1)

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Name: Minerva
Allegiance: Autobots
Function: Emergency Medical Technician
Sub-group: Headmaster
Timeline: Generation 1 (Japanese Generation 1 Timeline)

When saving lives, there is no time to be afraid.

Profile:

The half-French daughter of Mont Porte's ambassador to Japan, Minerva is a charming, cheerful and compassionate young woman. Something of an idealist, Minerva joined the Autobots in order to "fight evil" without fully understanding what she was getting involved in; after having her wish granted and receiving a Transtector, Minerva quickly realised that a millennia-long war waged across the galaxy was no proper place for a teenage girl. Minerva has always been uncomfortable with violence, and found it particularly hard to come to terms with how children like her could be so casually swept into the age-old war for Cybertron. The consequence of these feelings means that Minerva finds it difficult to join battle as a soldier and cause harm to other living beings, especially opponents like the Decepticon Headmaster Jrs who, like her, are little more than children caught up in the war. Not wanting to completely abandon her friends, Minerva has chosen to serve as a battlefield medic, tending to the wounded - civilians, friends, and even enemies. Her compassion is so great that she has even caused a few of her enemies to question their allegiance. Outside of battle, Minerva's easy-going attitude often lightens the mood. Minerva enjoys cooking, painting and dancing, activities which make her very popular among the Autobot ranks and have made her the object her teenage teammates' affections. Even the usually stoic and reserved Ginrai admits to liking Minerva, viewing her as the little sister he never had.

Ambulance mode:

Author notes:

For Minerva, I had the pleasure of choosing a function for the character. I revised this profile as a part of a series on my Instagram page celebrating the medics of Transformers, so I'd had a whole bunch of characters with the function of "medic" over the course of the series, and I really wanted some less standard functions. In Minerva's case, I decided she'd be more of a paramedic type character, which is why I decided to designate her as an EMT. One of the things that really appealed to me in the old Transformers profiles were things like the unique functions, and when I write my profiles I try to inject a bit of that into my writing.

I also need to give a big shout out to Heroic Decepticon and Charticon in this article! Back in 2013, Charticon published a set of custom English language tech specs for a bunch of Japanese Transformers characters, including Minerva. The great thing was these included all the hallmarks of a Generation 1 tech spec, including a motto. I'd really struggled trying to come up with a motto for Minerva that summed up her personality in a handful of words - and Charticon had done an excellent job with their tech specs. I knew when I read their motto for Minerva I could never do better - and so I decided to incorporate Charticon's motto into this post. A big thanks to Heroic Decepticon for making the tech specs available online.

Minerva's personality is also a really fun juxtaposition between someone who wants to help people, but really shouldn't be anywhere near a battlefield. She's almost a cautionary tale about dreaming of being a robot hero and then when you get to live your dream, you find out it really isn't what it is cracked up to be. There's probably a decent story around that plot thread in there - although Masterforce had some darker themes, it never really delved into that one, which I think is largely for the best. Certain storylines, even if they seem logical explorations of characters, are perhaps best left unexplored. I think Minerva is a perfect example of that.

Toys of Transformers Generation 1 Minerva

Transformers Chojin Masterforce Minerva

Showcased here is a Korean knockoff of the original Minerva, since like many fans the actual Minerva toy is something out of my price range. As knockoffs go, this is a decent quality one, and the differences from the original Minerva means nobody will pass this off as the genuine article (also: I quite like the black body, it contrasts nicely with the red and the white).

This Korean copy came with a few interesting extras - including a lightbar that plugged into the roof of the car mode and a sword, neither of which were accessories of the original toy. They're weird extras, the lightbar I normally just leave in the box, but I may have to appropriate that sword for someone else.

As far as the base toy goes... It's a G1 toy. The poseability is limited to the arms, which move up and down and a little to the side, and that's it. You can't really do cool or dynamic poses, but that wasn't much of a priority when these were released. The transformation is standard G1 too, where you unfold the arms and flip over the back end of the car for feet. It's not anything spectacular, but it gets the job done.

More information on Transformers Chojin Masterforce Minerva at TFW2005

See more Transformers Chojin Masterforce toys in my collection.