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What do you mean, "Prowl is not a cop"?

The essay we’ve all been waiting for. And by we I mean nobody. And by nobody I mean me.

Introduction

To me, IDW Prowl is very clearly not a cop. To some, while in agreement that Prowl does not serve the role of a cop within the narrative, he is at least written to be cop-analogous. This, however, I still do not agree with. Those who think otherwise should pay more attention to the issues the character stars in.

Back when I had just finished reading IDW, I was pondering over this topic when I suddenly came across a wonderfully heated discussion between a passionate Prowl fan and some other users in a thread on the TFW2005 boards. This fan was fiercely defending Prowl from the cop-allegations given by both fans and third party Transformers figure companies. I read said user’s comments and was quite impressed (and perhaps even a little touched) by their arguments. When I had a similar discussion with some friends many months later, I tried to refind the thread, just to find ANOTHER thread, this time made for the sole purpose of discussing IDW Prowl’s alleged cop motifs. So, because other people have put this way better than I ever could, I'm mostly just going to share parts of their discussions with you. The threads are long, chaotic and full of irrelevant clutter, so I've carefully (but NOT cherry)picked out what's relevant so that you will (hopefully) see my side of things. So here we go.

By the end of this, it's important that we have established what exactly a cop is. We will also need to have established what Prowl's role is within the IDW canon. Then, because this is just as if not more important, we need to have analyzed the writer’s intentions. Finally, we need to see if the dots connect. Spoiler alert: they don't. Not even a little bit. In fact, I'm going to show you a couple of quotes by Prowl that are so ANTI-COP that it's almost comical. But first, let’s start off with something real stimulating: forum comments. Do skip to the TLDR if you don’t wish to read through four pages of them.

Thread: XM Studios Prowl statue

“Always feels funny to me when people not familiar with the character assume that Prowl is a cop just because he turns into a police car... when really, he was a military strategist in most continuities (and second in command to Prime in some). (...)” - user BB Shockwave

“I was just about to say the same thing! Prowl is not a cop! (lol) This sculpt looks really cool. I appreciate the aesthetics... but the riot shield and truncheon show that they didn't really get what the character is about (Ironhide instead fulfills that role in 1984, or Red Alert in '85). Prowl is a high-ranking planner, calculator, strategist, and in some continuities, a plotter. He's a quiet background guy.

This is sort of like producing a Starscream statue with a bellowing rage-face, or Soundwave in a break-dancing pose, or...uh... Cliffjumper with a clipboard? (...)” - user SMOG (in reply to user BB Shockwave)

“Prowl has been a cop in a very large amount of continuities. At this point him being a cop at one point or another is more commonly used.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user BB Shockwave and user SMOG)

“Really? In which continuities is G1 Prowl a cop?

RID Prowl was a police officer, and Armada Prowl started as a security officer, but they aren't the same character... like at all.

IDW 1.0 Prowl was a former police agent in flashbacks to the pre-war period in IDW (as were Chromedome, Orion Pax, Roller) though mostly in a detective capacity (mechaforensics, technically). IDW 2.0 Prowl seems to be a security officer, but that's also pre-war, so we can assume he grows into his standard military strategist role long before he gets to Earth.

In Dreamwave, not a cop. In Cyberverse, not a cop. WFC trilogy, not a cop. In Animated, he was a ninja. In Highmoon/Prime he was a high-ranking militia officer. In Marvel he was a strategist and first officer of the Ark. In Sunbow he was... just some guy?

That doesn't seem like a very large number of continuities. Am I missing any?” - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“Prowl was at one point or another a cop in IDW, WFC/aligned, RID, and Energon by technicality (being on a swat team). And that’s not counting the continuities where he was part of a “security force” where he essentially was a cop but was named something else to sound more Cybertronian.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user SMOG)

“RID and Energon are different characters, unrelated to G1 prowl in every way except name and having "Police" stamped on their alt-modes. In WFC he was less a cop, than a high-ranking security director operating on the administrative level - a bit more akin to Intelligence than civilian policing and definitely not some beat cop with a shield and truncheon.

And as stated earlier, Prowl wasn't a standard officer in IDW -- he was a forensic specialist. The role and skillset don't quite fit the "cop" motif this statue is pushing. And IDW Prowl's depiction is so much more than "cop" -- whether it was in the writing runs of Furman, Barber, Roberts or Roche... Prowl's role was way more far-reaching and espionage-adjacent.

In fictions like IDW, where Prowl has been a top military strategist and intelligence director for millions of years during the most relevant periods of G1, why reduce him to the "law-enforcement" cliche when doing a depiction of G1 earth-mode Prowl? A more cagey or contemplative pose would have been less dynamic, but more representative of the character.

Should Optimus Prime and Chromedome now be cop-themed going forward because they were cops in IDW? And where does that leave characters who actually are explicit police-analogs like Ironhide, Red Alert, and Nightbeat (who don't have POLICE stamped on their alt-modes). Or perhaps Streetwise, who is implicitly a cop based on his bio, but not in terms of his official function.

As stated, all of these examples ultimately just stem from an ongoing, simplistic, and somewhat incorrect understanding of the character and his role. It's not a huge transgression... just a recurring pet peeve, that I think detracts from the appeal of this statue.” - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“I don't find it reductive at all.

Rather, I think it helps to show the character is multifaceted.

For me, it wasn't "Prowl is just a cop" but rather "Prowl is also a cop".

So while I consider him more of an intellectual type, it was nice to see this figure showing Prowl in the middle of the action.” - user Smasher (in reply to user SMOG)

“Does it make him multifaceted though? I mean, one can draw on millennia of combat field experience without relying on a truncheon and giant shield with "POLICE" emblazoned on it. I think Snake-Eyes can be a commando and a ninja, just based on whether he's carrying a sword or not, but I'm not sure the police paraphernalia is as versatile in the case of Prowl (considering both his origins in G1, and his growth in subsequent G1 fictions).

I believe it's reductive from its point of conception, or at least based on reductive assumptions, but yes... of course it can be additive if we choose to supply our own context.“ - user SMOG (in reply to user Smasher)

“Idk man I think you’re overthinking things. As you can see by my profile my favorite character is Barricade, who is just a decepticon cop.” - user octobotimus (in reply to user SMOG)

“Barricade is a Bayformers invention... so who knows what he's really supposed to be or if anyone gave it any thought? Is he a cop? Does he actually do any cop stuff? Or does he just disguise himself as a cop car?

Logically, he's just another warrior. Or a tracker. Or even an intelligence officer (which is why he's paired with a spy like Frenzy)

Otherwise, as a cop, wouldn't that mean his job would be to act an enforcer on civilian populaces under Decepticon rule?

As you can tell, my favourite way to engage with Transformers as a longtime fan is precisely by overthinking things. :)“ - user SMOG (in reply to user octobotimus)

“(...) [Prowl] became a military tactician once the war started. I think most saw he was a cop in one continuity and it just made sense, so everyone ran with it. (...)” - user SunSwipe5

“(...) But even if he did time as a detective on Pre-War Cybertron, I don't exactly see the Autobot supreme military strategist on Earth doing random police grunt work in his spare time. :)

I think on some level, it's just slightly tiresome to see the most obvious motif repeatedly dumped on Prowl... ie: "you are your alt-mode". Especially when he rarely gets his due as it is. :)“ - user SMOG (in reply to user SunSwipe5)

Those were some pretty compelling arguments for not just IDW Prowl but Prowl’s disambiguation, and I wasn’t even gonna go there. Also, I love octobotimus’ last comment. Of course, if you think too hard, you lose. Classic rookie mistake. Moving on.

Thread: Is PROWL a bad cop analog? (IDW)

“I saw a Facebook post in a tf group about how Prowl in IDW is a bad cop analog based on the things he's done. That list included bombing a city, leaving the autobots, becoming a part of Devastator, putting Overlord on the Lost Light, and more.

I however see it as Prowl being out for himself, and not so much about him being a crooked cop. Bombing a city was to stir up AUTOBOT ranks, which is his faction. Becoming a part of Devastator was originally not of his own will, but gives him a strike force to carry out his actions. Putting Overload on the Lost Light... maybe he was bad for that.

In any case, I can see where the argument comes from, but I don't agree with it. Prowl was never really a police analogue to begin with. His official title is as a Strategist and Analyst, which lends itself to that kind of work. True, he has the paint scheme and held the office, but that doesn't mean he fits that motif after leaving cybertron.

I dunno. Discuss if you want I suppose.” - user Tankhunter48

Author’s note: So, while I like to post comments from both sides of a discussion to keep things neutral, I’m just gonna come out and say that the first half of this thread is filled with unhinged comments that are not just based on bad opinions, but straight up say shit that is not true. I could go through each of them and give my counter-arguments like an insane person, but if I show you a bunch of bad arguments just to refute them, you’ll basically gain net zero information, and that’s a waste of both of our time. So I’m going to jump straight to the comments that are actually saying something worthwhile. But by all means, go through the thread yourself if you want to have the same agonizing experience I did.

“I have never once heard of a cop doing any of those things. Bombing a city? Never mind becoming part of a combiner. Someone on Facebook doesn't know what analog means.” - user SouthtownKid

“Fans like to make comparrisons between things they don't understand and claim it was an analogy/metaphor/symbolism a lot.

If Prowl was supposed to be a "bad cop" he'd be a stereotypical brutish, power-absusing crook on the take so-to-speak. Someone who hides behind his authority and only does the bad things he does because of the safety and freedom it grants him.

IDW Prowl is cold and calculating. Apathetically doing awful things or turning a blind eye in a misguided sense of justice and logic. He cannot see the trees for the forest as it were, focused so much on statistics and strategy he'll see widespread death and suffering as acceptable losses if it means moving closer to ending the war or achieving a goal he deems "worth it."“ - user SPLIT LIP

“(...) Exactly, he's not the "bad cop", he's the realist.” - user TGS1985 (in reply to user SPLIT LIP)

“Prowl is a good example of how the D&D alignment system is far too simplistic and restrictive to be very interesting (in my gaming days, I preferred systems without this sort of artificial character trait system). He isn't evil, or even neutral because everything he does is to promote the social good as he sees it. He does little, if anything, for his own selfish benefit. He isn't exactly good, because he's very willing to allow suffering if he sees it as ultimately advancing the public good. He certainly isn't chaotic, because he believes in and promotes a strong government presence. He isn't lawful, because he believes he, as a de facto representative of that government, has a right and obligation to step outside the bounds of the law to promote the public good as he interprets it. I suppose you could argue that makes him neutral on the L/C spectrum, but I think that's a stretch. Like many relatively well-written characters, he doesn't fit on that sort of simplistic grid.

I'd argue he isn't a bad cop, because he isn't a cop. The stereotypical cop, good or bad, is someone on the beat or in the field. Prowl is a guy behind a desk.

If you want to categorize Prowl by archetype, I think Smog has been very on point in describing him as a Magnificent Bastard. He's a Manipulator. He's an Extremist, in that he's willing to go to just about any length in pursuit of his (public, not selfish) agenda.“ - user theosteve

The perfect comment to conclude this discussion with. You can’t argue against it, can you? Indeed, Prowl neither thinks like a cop nor acts like one. The closest Prowl gets to being a cop is when he disguises himself as a cop car while stationed on earth, but, as user SMOG stated, that argument gets dangerously close to the “you are your alt-mode”-mindset.

TLDR

Cop or no cop…? Well, let’s see here. At some point Prowl was in forensics. Eventually, he turned into a military strategist. From what we see, Prowl was never some jock in the field. He’s always behind a desk, thinking of the next best move that will bring his faction closer to winning. On top of that, Prowl is not in it for himself or for those he deems superior to others - he has a vision of what a just world looks like, and fights for it. That is all that Prowl does, it’s all that he is. The thing is - he doesn’t look great doing it. And I think that, more than anything, is what makes people reduce Prowl to a bad cop - it’s the fact that he does bad things. Prowl putting Overlord on the Lost Light has nothing to do with the conversation, but it’s still an argument that’s being used, because people don’t like it. What’s funny about this is that, while exclusively in fiction good cops do exist, Prowl is not even that. This isn’t about Prowl being good or bad, it’s about whether he’s a cop or not, allegorically or otherwise. And to prove that he isn’t, I’m gonna share some very important images that are paramount to understanding Prowl as a character:

The Transformers: Death of Optimus Prime, James Roberts & John Barber

The Transformers (2014) #37, John Barber

Oh… Oh. Here we have Prowl single handedly putting an end to this discussion by revealing his past, and Spike representing the average IDW reader. How’s that for a lore dump? It’s as if Barber solely wrote this to check if anyone was still reading this shit. Nobody talks about this, despite it giving more insight into Prowl’s backstory than the first two phases of IDW, and it baffles me. Why do these discussions even exist when issue 37 of EXRID is right there? In fact, why didn’t I just show this at the very start instead of spending five hours on something that no sane person is going to read? Ugh.

Conclusion

So, Prowl is not a cop, period. Why? ‘Cus he said so. See, it’s right there. “I was a cop”. Past tense. Gottem. However…, let’s ignore semantics for argument’s sake, and focus on the big picture: Prowl saw the system for what it was (“the real criminal”, oof) and proceeded to destroy it from the inside out. It made him lose everything and everyone in the process. Despite that, he calls himself proud. Prowl even sided with the Decepticon cause for a while (calling it “our revolution” no less…!) before Megatron turned into a villain… leading Prowl to feel betrayed once again. At this point, he wants out, and he tries, but his failed attempt determines him to keep fighting for another four million years.

The conclusion is this: if you argue that Prowl is a cop, I’m just going to assume you didn’t read the comic.

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