FIRRIB

Yes, in AHM Rumble is RED.Joana Lafuente

Okay guys, let's get this right this time. Rumble is BLUE, Frenzy is RED!Derrick J. Wyatt

[Frenzy]'s blue because Hasbro said so.Shane McCarthy

Rumble and Frenzy. Or Frenzy and Rumble. Whatever.

An acronym sometimes bandied about by fans, FIRRIB means "Frenzy is red, Rumble is blue". The phrase originated on alt.toys.transformers circa 1994, essentially as a (largely joking) rallying cry for those who favored the original cartoon over various other media portrayals of the Transformers. In time, the counterpoint FIBRIR emerged, standing for "Frenzy is blue, Rumble is red". The forms RIBFIR and RIRFIB are also known.

The debate revolves around the colors of the Decepticon Mini-Cassettes, Rumble and Frenzy. It was Hasbro's intent that Rumble be black and red, and Frenzy be two shades of blue. These color schemes are used in the toyline, Marvel Comics and many storybooks and ancillary media from the early years of Generation 1, and naturally, it was intended for the cartoon series to render the characters in this manner as well (as proven by the show's production bible, which identifies Rumble as the "red robot"). However, as a result of some unspecified error somewhere in production, the two robots had their color schemes swapped, leaving the animated incarnation of Rumble blue, and Frenzy red.

Due to the widespread recognition the cartoon received, the concept of Rumble as the blue robot was ingrained into the minds of many viewers. As such, years later, fans would argue vehemently (though often tongue-in-cheek) over which coloration was "correct", based mainly on their personal preference for the cartoon or comic.

The FIRRIB movement was codified by a cartoon fan named Scott Wells in 1994, who coined the acronym FIRRIB. The FIRRIB idea quickly caught on with other cartoon fans on alt.toys.transformers, frequently appearing in signature files; its counterpoint, the comic- and toy-based FIBRIR, soon appeared as well. After endless discussion threads fueled by little more than personal preference, the subject eventually landed in the group's FAQ file as a do-not-ask question.

The Japanese dub of the Generation 1 cartoon rectified the error, making the animation match the toys by simply switching the characters' names around.

As later incarnations of the characters draw on both the cartoon and toys as influences, the waters have become muddier still:

Items in the following table are listed in release order. E.g., the original toys came first.

	Frenzy	Rumble
Original toys	Blue	Red
Marvel comics	Blue	Red
Ladybird Books	none	Red
Kid Stuff	none	Red
US cartoon	Red	Blue
Japanese cartoon	Blue	Red
Dreamwave comics	Blue	Red
Devil's Due comics	Red	Blue
IDW comics	SEE BELOW
Alternators toys	none	Red
Diamond Select	Red	Blue
Music Label earphones	Blue	Red
Robot Heroes	none	Red
G1: The Awakening	Blue	Red
Transformers (2010 toyline)	none	canceled
Transformers United	Blue	Red
Masterpiece	Blue	Red
Transformers Legends	Blue	Red

It is generally agreed that pointing out Rumble was actually kinda purple in the original cartoon is not helpful (particularly since he still has blue in the places where Frenzy has red). Nor is pointing out the fact that for a brief moment in the movie (when Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat, and Ravage jam Blaster's transmission) both of them were red. Or that the Marvel US coloring had Rumble as red and blue. Or that the Generation 2 Go-Bot version of Frenzy was purple, and the planned corresponding Rumble was to be both red and blue.

IDW Generation 1 comics

The treatment of Rumble and Frenzy in IDW comics bears special mention. Some might believe that this "controversy" is not to be taken seriously, but IDW comics show that FIRRIB/FIBRIR is being fought to this day on the battlefields of IDW comics' art and editing rooms. Whereas most entries on this list at least remain consistent within a given continuity, FIRRIB/FIBRIR has changed repeatedly back-and-forth in IDW comics over the years.

Rumble and Frenzy first appeared in IDW's early limited series, Megatron Origin. Seen in their toy colors of one blue and one red-and-black, the duo went the entire series without being individually addressed by name. Although the red robot used piledrivers on occasion, at the time this was potentially ambiguous thanks to prior media, such as the Generation 1 cartoon, depicting both Rumble and Frenzy with those weapons. However, IDW's stance on the matter appeared to be cemented in their next appearance, All Hail Megatron, which firmly established Rumble as a red robot with piledrivers and Frenzy as a blue robot with sonic powers and drills. This setup continued into the era of the new ongoing series, with Frenzy's appearance in companion miniseries Bumblebee coloring him blue.

However, when the duo were reunited to appear in the ongoing series itself, they were switched to their cartoon configuration; the sonic-blasting Frenzy was now red-and-black, while piledriving Rumble was distinctively cartoon purple. After the ongoing series' conclusion, the FIRRIB layout returned in the digital series Autocracy, set during the early days of the war.

Currently, as cast members of the ongoing Robots in Disguise series, the duo have undergone yet more color switches. After an unnamed cameo for the red-and-black robot in issue 1, Rumble and Frenzy reappeared in the Priscilla Tramontano-colored issue 11 with Rumble firmly back as the red-and-black cassette and Frenzy, for the first time ever, colored cartoon purple. For their subsequent, Josh Perez-colored appearances during the Decepticon uprising, the duo had new tank bodies built for them, and Frenzy was toy blue instead of cartoon purple. When Tramontano returned to color issues 21 and 22, she once again utilized red-and-black and cartoon purple color schemes, only now pile-driving Rumble was purple and Frenzy was red!

Quite which of these numerous color changes are the result of deliberate artistic choice, innocent mistake, or even maybe Hasbro mandate is wholly unclear.

Similar cases

While the coloration of Frenzy and Rumble is the most well-known instance of the original cartoon's color choices not matching the toys its characters are based on, there are similar cases, some of which have also resulted in fan dissent regarding the question which is to be considered the "correct" coloration for the character in question:

• Red Alert's toy sported a black head, but possibly in order to differentiate him further from his mold-mate Sideswipe, the cartoon changed the head's color to red. His comic appearances usually use the toy's black head, while new toys are a mixed bag (TakaraTomy leans more towards a cartoon-accurate red head, while Hasbro appears to prefer the original toy's black head). Thus far, however, none of Takara's reissues of the original toy have featured a show-accurate red head (as the headpiece is molded together with other components of the figure, such as the fists, front calf plates, and front bumper, as evidenced on G2 Sideswipe having these components in red).
• Grapple's original toy sported a black head, but the cartoon changed it to orange, possibly to differentiate him further from his mold-mate Inferno. The episode "Auto Berserk", however, consistently gave him a (mostly) toy-accurate black head. The Marvel comics once again followed the toy's coloration.
• Bluestreak is a huge mess: While early catalogs depicted him in a blue and silver deco based on his original Diaclone colors, which is also used for the instructions and the toy's package art, the toy itself sports an entirely silver deco for the vehicle mode. The cartoon, on the other hand, gave him a silver and black vehicle mode deco based on another Diaclone color scheme. Later toys have alternatively used variations of any of the three color schemes, although only Takara have thus far released a reissue of the original toy in "show colors" through e-HOBBY, and there has been no reissue in the "blue" Diaclone deco at all yet.
• Then there's the thing with Astrotrain's animation model using the colors of an early prototype (as shown in early catalogs), while the actual toy sports an entirely different deco... and Takara released a variation of the toy in yet another different deco. Takara later released a reissue of the original toy in a color scheme resembling (but not identical to) the prototype through e-HOBBY, while other toys by Hasbro and Takara have been alternatively based on any of the three decos.

Notes

Product #5731 also includes Ravage.

• In the season 1 episode "Heavy Metal War", Teletraan I displays files on the Decepticons. The texts are, for the most part, lifted directly from the show's production bible, including Hasbro's product code numbers for the toys (which are listed on the toys' packaging). As a consequence, Rumble (misspelled "Runble") is given the detail "red robot".
• Hasbro Aligned continuity family material, such as War for Cybertron and the Transformers: Prime toyline, uses the cartoon "FIRRIB" color choices for its Frenzy and Rumble characters, whilst Takara continued to use "FIBRIR" for their version of the Prime toyline. Though clearly patterned after their Generation 1 predecessors, they represent different-universe versions of these characters, so they're listed here instead of the chart above.

External links

• LilFormers' answer to this dilemma.