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Arcee
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | English: Arcee Japanese: アーシー (Arcee) (more on TFWiki.net) |
| Occupation: | Autobot |
| Relationships: | varies by continuity Aileron (romantic partner) (IDW comics continuity only) Galvatron (twin sibling) (IDW comics continuity only) |
| Fandom: | Transformers |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Arcee is a popular and recurring character in the Transformers franchise.
Canon Background
[characterization, story role, further important appearances]
Major Appearances
See Arcee (disambiguation) on TFWiki.net for more of her appearances.
Popular Tropes & Fanon
TBA
Subjects of Fannish Interest & Meta
 | PPOV: Some opinions or a particular focus may take up more space than seems justified by the length of the article or by the issue at hand. Please change and expand the focus by adding to the article and check out our Plural Point of View policy. When in doubt, discuss your concerns on the talk page of the article. |
This article or section needs expansion. |
IDW Arcee
Simon Furman is a big-name writer of official Transformers media, having written much of the Transformers Generation One Marvel Comics, both in the UK and in the US, as well as the first-half of the Transformers Generation One IDW Comics. He's generally well respected by fans, though he's controversial for how he incorporates female Transformers characters into his stories.
He believes they are redundant and don't make much sense. In his words, "it’s not a sexist thing, it’s just that they’re robots."[1] He had this take on them as far back as his Marvel run in the 1980s, introducing Arcee into that series as a "fembot" built to appease a "feminist mob," upset there were no female Transformers, in 1989[2], the only Transformers series at the time to address why there were fewer female Transformers than male ones in-universe.
In 2008, with the Spotlight Arcee comic in the IDW canon, he addressed Arcee's gender with the idea that she was experimented on by Jhiaxus to introduce gender, considered a lost Cybertronian custom, back into society. This was done against her will, with the process being physical.[3] He saw this as putting rationale into the issue and that it was his own spin on the character[1]. This effectively made her story resemble that of a transgender person, but it could be argued that she wasn't transgender herself, since she didn't expressly choose to be. Simon Furman himself said that she wasn't, as "‘Transsexual’ means the swapping the characteristics of one sex for another. That’s not what happened here."[4] This plotpoint effectively implied that future female Transformers introduced into the canon by other writers had to follow in the footsteps of this plot, lessening the chances for writers to casually write female characters without an express purpose. The Spotlight issue was infamous and continues to be in fan circles.
In 2014, with John Barber as head writer, Windblade and the planet Caminus were introduced. Caminus is a colony of Cybertron that maintained the gender dimorphism Jhiaxus was trying to reintroduce into society with Arcee, thus, introducing plenty of female Transformers into the canon. Anode and Lug were also introduced, the first two Transformers to be transgender by choice without a retcon.
Following this, Arcee's backstory was retconned so her being transgender was her own choosing in 2017[5], elaborated on in the very last issue of the IDW canon in 2018, with the help of Jenevieve Frank, a Transformers fan consulted by IDW to help with Arcee's characterization. For more info, the "Conceptual origins" of Arcee on the tfwiki.
Some fans consider the retcon in bad taste and may have IDW Arcee detransitioning as a fix-it[6], though the fandom overall considers her transgender and like what was done with her character. She is transgender in the vast majority of fanworks, even before 2017. Transfic is common. Many trans fans dislike Simon Furman for the transmisogyny and overall misogyny in how he writes Female Transformers and for making the subject a hot-button issue, especially within the G1 comic-side of fandom, which tends to be mainly older men.[7][8]
Relationships
This is purposefully an incomplete list, as Arcee is shipped with many of the other Transformers. She's also popular for self-insert shipping.
Please add any notable relationships in fanworks if they are missing.
| Primary Canon | With... | Who is a(n)... | Full Label | Type | Ship Name(s) | Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Airachnid | Decepticon | Airachnid/Arcee | F/F | Airacee | Rival enemies |
| IDW | Aileron | Autobot | Aileron/Arcee | F/F | Aircee | Became canon in 2018 |
| Prime | Bulkhead | Autobot | Arcee/Bulkhead | F/M | Bulkcee | Close allies |
| Prime | Bumblebee | Autobot | Arcee/Bumblebee | F/M | Beecee | Close allies |
| Prime | Cliffjumper | Autobot | Acree/Cliffjumper | F/M | Cliffcee | クリアシ | Official media hints this is canon |
| Prime | Jack Darby | Autobot ally | Arcee/Jack Darby | F/M | Jackcee | Interspecies |
| Prime | June Darby | Autobot ally | Arcee/June Darby | F/F | Junecee | Interspecies |
| Prime | Knock Out | Decepticon | Arcee/Knock Out | F/M | Knockcee | ノクアシ | (n/a) |
| Animated | Ratchet | Autobot | Arcee/Ratchet | F/M | Ratchcee | ラチェアシ | Close allies |
| G1 Cartoon | Hot Rod | Autobot | Arcee/Hot Rod | F/M | Rodcee | Both introduced in the 1986 film |
| Prime | Starscream | Decepticon | Arcee/Starscream | F/M | Starcee | スタアシ | Enemies; Arcee hates Starscream |
| Prime | Wheeljack | Autobot | Arcee/Wheeljack | F/M | Wheelcee | (n/a) |
See List of Transformers Relationship Names for more.
Example/Notable Fanac
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fan Communities/Fan Events
- Arcee-club, Archived version, a club on DeviantArt.
- Arcee-Pairings, Archived version, a club on DeviantArt.
Wikis
Fan Fic
Fan Art
- Some doodles of an older tfa Arcee I was drawing between shifts today :’) by disformer, Archived version (2021)
- Arcee by wildpiercy-art, Archived version (2023)
General Fanworks
Fan Mixes
Meta
IDW
Doyalist
- meta by ninashiki, Archived version (2024)
- meta by blueikeproductions, Archived version (2024)
- meta by eabevella, Archived version (2023)
- meta by pajamadragon, Archived version (2023)
- meta by decepti-thots, Archived version (2024)
Watsonian
- meta by quetzalpapalotl, Archived version (2024)
- thoughts on Arcee and Prowl's relationship by quetzalpapalotl, Archived version
- meta by decepti-thots, Archived version (2023)
References/Further Reading
- ^ a b ARCEE A-GO-GO!, Archived version (19 February 2008)
- ^ Prime's Rib!, released 2 September 1989 in the UK
- ^ Arcee meta by chaifootsteps, Archived version (7 December 2023)
- ^ comment by simon furman, Archived version (5 March 2008)
- ^ New Cybertron Part 5: Future Glories Lost, released in 22 March 2017
- ^ A Fundamental Difference by Chaifootsteps, Archived version (08 June 2020)
- ^ meta by thankskenpenders, Archived version (15 November 2019)
- ^ transfemstarscream and anon, Archived version (08 March 2022)