The Intergalactic Highway

We all know that Silverbolt was created to, more or less, replace Tigatron and fill in his niche on the Maximal team. But what if these two actually met up and fought each other one on one with no interferences?

We've seen Tigatron beat opponents like Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Scorponok, and Inferno more decisively. Silverbolt has on more than one occasion lost to the likes of Waspinator and Inferno. However, Silverbolt came around in Seasons 2 and 3 where the Predacons he fought were MUCH more dangerous than the ones in the previous season *cough*Rampage*cough*. Also, Tarantulas has taken down Tigatron several times(mostly through dirty tricks though) whereas Silverbolt has beaten the spider to an inch of his life despite being blasted by his machine guns at full power. Then again, Tigatron, compared to Silverbolt, is a much more stealthy fighter who can take most opponents by surprise(minus the spiders).

Who do you think would win if the two of them went head to head?

I'd say Bolts because he has the aerial advantage that Tiggy doesn't.

Well it would be a good fight but I would say Tigatron because he always was a sneaky one.

It was a tough choice but I finally chose Tigatron. While I think Silverbolt does have superior armor and firepower, he still lacks the instincts and reflexes that Tigatron has in battle. Even though Tigatron wasn't a Transmetal(and especially not a flyer), he still tore apart Inferno in a head-on battle. Silverbolt, when going against Inferno, has gotten his shots in but for the most part, was beaten several times. Tigatron's just a lot more cunning and more able to sense danger than Silverbolt is. The wolf dog just doesn't have the heightened senses and instincts needed to fight a really decisive battle against Tigatron. I'd give this match to Tigatron.

My vote's on the wolf.

You have to consider the fact that bots can be more easily blown apart depending on a number of factors in the story, including their opponents accuracy and level of firepower, but also how long they've been in robot mode. That will contribute to a reduction in reaction time and make them easier to hit, plus Inferno has been blasted apart more easily at certain times than others since it's just part of the story and he HAS to be taken out of the battle.

My vote is for Silverbolt, he has superior armor and firepower. Tigatron may be quick and stealthy, but Silverbolt can fly. That helps. An aerial perspective gives you a greater advantage in my opinion (always helps when I play games like Battlefield 2, plus I've talked with a few military guys, both infantry and pilots, and they've told me basically the same thing). While being airborne makes you a better target in some cases. If you flew high enough you would be harder to hit. Tigatron might be able to hide, but the second he takes a shot at Silverbolt, my bet is that Silverbolt could dodge it or at least survive it, and then carpet bomb Tigatron's general area with his feather missiles and inflict fairly heavy damage on him. That's my opinion anyways.

CabooseMoose7103 wrote:My vote is for Silverbolt, he has superior armor and firepower. Tigatron may be quick and stealthy, but Silverbolt can fly. That helps. An aerial perspective gives you a greater advantage in my opinion (always helps when I play games like Battlefield 2, plus I've talked with a few military guys, both infantry and pilots, and they've told me basically the same thing).

Oh, you'd be surprised how many times throughout military history a supposedly inferior group of guerrilla fighters have defeated much larger and better equipped armies who(by all rights) should be able to waste them in the blink of an eye.

I'm not denying Silverbolt's strength because I do think that he's one of the stronger fighters in Beast Wars with better firepower and armor than Tigatron. Not only that, but I also think he has a relatively big advantage with flight and he's a somewhat physically stronger than Tigatron(though that would conceivably change if Tigatron had became a Transmetal).

Tigatron may not flaunt it but his cunning is right up there with Rattrap's. I believe that intelligence also plays a BIG part in a fight and how well you can adapt to your opponent and re-direct his energy to your own advantage. Flight can play a really important role in a fight but if you don't have the cleverness and techniques to back up your abilities, you may end up being a one-trick pony like Terrorsaur. We've seen guys like Tigatron, Rattrap, and Pre-Transmetal Cheetor take out Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Inferno many times. These fliers with all their advantages should be able to bomb the Maximal team(who had less fliers in Season 1) into oblivion but for some reason, they never accomplish it. Still, the ground-fighting Maximals are forced to become better fighters over time since they don't have the luxury of flight while some of the flyers take their advantages for granted. In short, skill makes up a big part of how successful you are in a fight and not necessarily flight. After all, if you're someone who's never had much skills in piloting a fighter jet and you jump into one, you're probably not gonna do as much damage as you're hoping to do. Besides, the higher up you are in the air, the less likely you may hit your intended target as the distance between you and your target are widened by such large degrees in the air that your line of sight will most likely be blurred as your target grows smaller and smaller on the ground.

As for strength, firepower, etc., I agree that Silverbolt outclasses Tigatron in many of these regards. However, I still believe that your skill level and how well you adapt to your opponent plays an important part in how you win a fight. While I think Silverbolt does possess a certain degree of skill and intelligence(even if it automatically drops whenever Blackarachnia is around ), they're still not up to the levels of Rattrap, Tigatron, or Optimus. While fighting Megatron in Aftermath, Rattrap should have lost as his opponent was MUCH more powerful than he was. Despite all his disadvantages, Rattrap still used his cleverness and all the skills available to him to take down Megatron by turning his own strength against him. In Tigatron's case, he's also cut from the same cloth as Rattrap in that he's a much more flexible fighter than Silverbolt and he knows how to use his quick thinking and faster reflexes to outwit and defeat opponents, even if the opponent possesses many advantages that he doesn't(ex: A Better Mousetrap, Law of the Jungle, Before the Storm).

In short, I think that Silverbolt has the strength and the firepower but Tigatron's the one with the skills and the cleverness. That's my more in-depth take on the subject. ^^

Oh, you'd be surprised how many times throughout military history a supposedly inferior group of guerrilla fighters have defeated much larger and better equipped armies who(by all rights) should be able to waste them in the blink of an eye.

Oh yeah, I know, but that also depends on leadership, intelligence (the spying kind), and any bueraucratic legislation restraining the military forces, along with skill. Sometimes though, the guerilla fighters just use hit-and-run tactics and tire their opponents until they give up and go home.

We've seen guys like Tigatron, Rattrap, and Pre-Transmetal Cheetor take out Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Inferno many times. These fliers with all their advantages should be able to bomb the Maximal team(who had less fliers in Season 1) into oblivion but for some reason, they never accomplish it.

Waspinator and Terrorsaur aren't the best shots in the world.

In short, skill makes up a big part of how successful you are in a fight and not necessarily flight. After all, if you're someone who's never had much skills in piloting a fighter jet and you jump into one, you're probably not gonna do as much damage as you're hoping to do.

Silverbolt's not exactly a novice though, is he? And I'm pretty sure he knows how to fly.

Besides, the higher up you are in the air, the less likely you may hit your intended target as the distance between you and your target are widened by such large degrees in the air that your line of sight will most likely be blurred as your target grows smaller and smaller on the ground.

Silverbolt's optics can zoom in and target faraway objects, all of the other fliers can anyways. The military today can fire an ICBM half-way around the world or drop a smart-bomb from 80,000 feet and shove it up a particular person's nose if they wanted, and the only problem they'd have with it would be deciding which nostril to aim for and the transformers are more advanced than we are at the present time. If all else fails, that's why some crazy pilot invented dive-bombing.

Silverbolt does possess a certain degree of skill and intelligence(even if it automatically drops whenever Blackarachnia is around )

Can't argue with that!

I think that Silverbolt has the strength and the firepower but Tigatron's the one with the skills and the cleverness. That's my more in-depth take on the subject. ^^

Silverbolt still isn't a dunce, and there are many other factors that can play into the outcome of a battle. Depending on the time of day, the light can have an effect, the terrain, the level of noise, the visibility (i.e. weather), the level of surprise your opponent is able to achieve during a maneuver, heck even good-old-fashioned luck can figure into the equation. There's really no way to say for certain what could happen, unless the battle actually occured.

CabooseMoose7103 wrote:

Silverbolt still isn't a dunce, and there are many other factors that can play into the outcome of a battle. Depending on the time of day, the light can have an effect, the terrain, the level of noise, the visibility (i.e. weather), the level of surprise your opponent is able to achieve during a maneuver, heck even good-old-fashioned luck can figure into the equation.

You're absolutely right. These things do play a factor in how the battle between them might go. Tigatron, in my opinion, knows this much better than Silverbolt. He's spent much more time in the wild, studying its terrains, its environments, and its geography so he, of all people, should know how to utilize these elements in his favor when fighting a battle against Silverbolt. I can see Silverbolt winning if he fought Tigatron out in an open field where he flew into the sky while the sun shined brightly behind him. That would possibly blind Tigatron's line of vision(unless he can make those sunglasses pop out over his optics like Optimus can) but Tigatron's no dunce either. He knows better than to give Silverbolt that kind of environmental advantage. He understands the environments of the Earth much better and he's probably well aware that going around and making a lot of noticeable noise isn't going to win the battle. That being said, I personally believe his geographic and environmental understanding combined with his sharply honed instincts would lurch the battle in his favor.

He's spent much more time in the wild, studying its terrains, its environments, and its geography so he, of all people, should know how to utilize these elements in his favor when fighting a battle against Silverbolt. I can see Silverbolt winning if he fought Tigatron out in an open field where he flew into the sky while the sun shined brightly behind him. That would possibly blind Tigatron's line of vision(unless he can make those sunglasses pop out over his optics like Optimus can) but Tigatron's no dunce either.

Yes, but Silverbolt was supposed to take Tigatron's place on the Maximal team (like it says earlier in this thread, and in the description of Silverbolt). I wasn't thinking of an open field, I was thinking more of a forest setting, Tigatron is in his element and technically so is Silverbolt, and the sun doesn't stop shining just because you're in a forest, you can go above the trees, and the canopy can also provide great cover as well. But I wasn't thinking only of bright light, what about dusk, or darkness? While Tigatron may be stealthy, he's white, which will show up better at night. Granted, Silverbolt is a tad on the shiny side, but he's darker in color overall when compared to Tigatron.

He knows better than to give Silverbolt that kind of environmental advantage. He understands the environments of the Earth much better and he's probably well aware that going around and making a lot of noticeable noise isn't going to win the battle.

I meant the level of ambient noise, which would make it harder to hear softer noises and pinpoint their source. But what about the fact that Tigatron spends most of his time in the North? That environment is much more different than a forest setting.

That being said, I personally believe his geographic and environmental understanding combined with his sharply honed instincts would lurch the battle in his favor.

We both have our own opinions, and I at least may be a little biased in my judgement (I mean just look at my avatar ) and while I do find this discussion interesting and fun, there is one way to decide this. *Rummages through desk drawer* We can consult the stats from the back of the figure boxes (yeah, I cut them out and saved them...someplace... ) Now if only I can find mine, I can post Silverbolt's, but I don't have Tigatron's, hopefully someone here does so we can compare them and make a judgement call based on them and any other factors like terrain, time of day, etc.

CabooseMoose7103 wrote:We both have our own opinions, and I at least may be a little biased in my judgement (I mean just look at my avatar ) and while I do find this discussion interesting and fun, there is one way to decide this. *Rummages through desk drawer* We can consult the stats from the back of the figure boxes (yeah, I cut them out and saved them...someplace... ) Now if only I can find mine, I can post Silverbolt's, but I don't have Tigatron's, hopefully someone here does so we can compare them and make a judgement call based on them and any other factors like terrain, time of day, etc.

While I also agree that this discussion is fun, I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and say that tech specs are not a very reliable measurement of the characters' abilities in the show. While the statistics for them may say one thing, things always happened in the show to contradict that. Here are the specs for Tigatron and Silverbolt.

http://www.bwtf.com/bw/toys/techspecs/silverbolt.shtml

http://www.bwtf.com/bw/toys/techspecs/tigatron.shtml

According to the states, Silverbolt's strength is a 7.0 while Tigatron's strength is an 8.0. According to that, Tigatron is physically stronger than Silverbolt despite not having any Transmetal properties. It placed Tigatron's intelligence at a 3.0 while it also placed Silverbolt's intelligence at a 10.0. Whether you like Silverbolt or not, you gotta admit... him being THAT intelligent is really debatable, especially considering some of his actions towards the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3. If you look at some of the other specs, they placed Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Scorponok at higher intelligence levels than Tigatron. The thing is, we know for a fact that Tigatron's really not that stupid and that his intelligence is a lot higher than the tech specs made him out to be.

There are dozens of other things in the tech specs that blatantly conflict with the show as well. For example, we see that Tarantulas, Waspinator, and Dinobot have a strength of 8.0 even though Dinobot proved himself to be much stronger than the two in the show. Later on, TM Tarantulas has a 9.0 in terms of strength but from what we saw in the show, Dinobot still physically overpowered TM Tarantulas. Not only that, but Depth Charge also has a 9.0 and that would place Tarry's strength around DC's level while in the show, DC could go head to head with Rampage who tore Tarantulas to pieces.

I personally consider the show's plot and characters, and the toyline's plots and character biographies to be two separate continuities. The tech specs are not dependable measurements of the characters in the show IMHO. They're just tricky and controversial like that.

Yep, I found the specs later that night and realized they were messed up when I saw them. I too went "Huh?" when I saw Silverbolt's intelligence, I was expecting an 8 or something, maybe a 9. Nevermind, bad idea. If only there was a more realistic comparison someplace.

Don't forget the toys always come first with transformers. Sometimes it doesnt seem right,especially when rhinox's techspecs showed him with about 6.0 int(intelligence).

A real cat on dog! Good fight, and very long and back and forth, but Tig wins in the end. Silverbolt's cool, and quite effective, and has the advantage of flight, but Tigatron's more focused and better at staying calm than he is. Plus, he's got that ice thing which could really cool down Silverbolt. Literally! Anyway, long fight, but Tigatron by an eyelash.