Tailgate is Minor-Coded
Tailgate is consistently written and framed as minor-coded.
Tailgate fell into the Mitteous Plateau and remained unconscious from repeatedly passing out for six million years with his internal chronometer malfunctioning. While his physical body aged, he didn't experience any mental or emotional growth during this time, effectively keeping his mindset at a pre-stasis level. Functionally, he did not mentally age during that time, therefore it was like he was in a coma.
He frequently describes morality in simplified, childlike terms ("good guys" vs. "bad guys") like how a child would. This is how how children conceptualize ethics rather than how adults do.
Tailgate requests a curly straw, wanting a curly straw doesn't make someone a child and on its own it’s harmless, but it definitely codes him as a minor.
Tailgate rides a hoverboard, zooming around the Lost Light and annoying the crew. The behavior is framed as playful, impulsive, and childlike.
In his character profile panels, it's noted as a trait that Tailgate is a "bad speller", which doesn't make someone a child and on its own it’s harmless but combined with the past two points, definitely codes him as a minor when he even spells like a child.
Tailgate reads the Transformers comics, lacks broader context on the franchise, and even goes on Tumblr. This directly positions him as an audience surrogate for younger readers rather than as a peer to adult characters.
One of the biggest red flags is his choice of holoforms. Tailgate's holoforms are of a baby and a toddler. While holoforms are not literal human equivalents, they are representations of how a character perceives themselves or wants to be perceived.
Tailgate is deliberately designed to be a "uwu cutie marshmallow" character meant to be protected with small size and a big visor. He is deliberately designed and written to be cute, soft, and something the audience wants to protect. That framing isn’t bad on its own, but the narrative never meaningfully contrasts it with moments of unexpected maturity. We don’t see him engage with adult concerns or display emotional depth that would contrast the infantilization.
Tailgate’s relationship with Cyclonus does not evolve toward mutual adulthood. Instead, Cyclonus is framed as a protector, particularly in relation to Getaway, who textually "grooms" Tailgate.
I'm not saying James Roberts is a pedo.
I'm not saying you're bad if you ship Cygate. Despite the weirdness, I like the ship platonically.
I'm just saying there's much better canon LGBTQ+ ships in MTME and IDW like Chromedome/Rewind, Anode/Lug, and Drift/Ratchet.
When I have to recommend MTME, I would have to warn that the Cyclonus and Tailgate stuff is a bit weird. And that's fine. But I'm not going to pretend it's not weird.