Transformers

Transformers is an entertainment franchise (toys, animated series, movies, comics, video games, etc.) co-produced between the toy companies Hasbro and Takara Tomy. The storyline of this franchise is based on two robotic factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons, originating from the planet Cybertron. The designation "Transformer" stems from the ability these robots possess to transform into alternate forms, such as vehicles and animals. As of 2011, it generated over ¥2 trillion yen ($25 billion) in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The term "Generation 1" refers to both the animated series The Transformers, and the comic book series of the same name. Followed by sequels, such as the Generation 2 comic and the TV series Beast Wars. The Generation 1 characters had two reboots, Dreamwave Productions in 2001 and IDW Publishing in 2005 and a third starting in 2019. There have been other incarnations of the story based on different toy lines during and after the XX. The first was the Robots in Disguise series followed by three continuities (Armada, Energon and Cybertron) constituting a single universe called the 'Unicron Trilogy'. An action movie saga, which began in 2007, and to date already has 5 sequels and a prequel, again with different concepts from previous incarnations. While the Transformers: Animated series merged concepts from the G1 story, the 2007 action movie, and the 'Unicron Trilogy'. Throughout most of the 2010s, in an attempt to mitigate the wave of reboots, 'Aligned Continuity' was established. In 2018, Transformers: Cyberverse debuted, once again, unlike previous incarnations.

History

The franchise began in 1982, when Hasbro purchased the distribution rights to the Japanese toy brands Diaclone and Microman (both from Takara Tomy), under the trade name of Transformers. Shortly after and due to the commercial success achieved, Hasbro bought all the copyright and trademark rights of the entire line of toys in the American and European continents, Takara Tomy keeping the production, marketing and copyright in the asian market.

In 1983, the Tonka toy company created Gobots, similar to Transformers. Although initially an independent and competitive line, it became part of Hasbro's intellectual property in 1991. Subsequently, the universe represented by GoBots was established as an alternate dimension within the Transformers franchise.

Between 1984 and 1991, Marvel released The Transformers comic collection. Also in 1984, the first animated seriesː The Transformers was released, in a joint effort by Marvel and Sunbow Productions, while the animation was done by Toei, AKOM and TMS Entertainment. This would start the creation of the Transformers Universe.

Fiction

Transformers: Generation 1 (1984–1993)

Main article: The Transformers (TV)

Generation 1, is a term for Transformers characters that appeared between 1984 and 1993. Transformers got its start in the 1980s in Japan with the Micro Change and Diaclone toy lines, where robots capable of transforming into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons are presented.

Hasbro, fresh off the success of the toy line, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, which used Microman technology to great success, purchased the Micro Change and Diaclone toys, and partnered with Takara. Marvel Comics was hired by Hasbro to create a backstory for this story. newline; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter was tasked with writing an overarching story, while writer Dennis O'Neil created the characters and the name 'Optimus Prime'. Shooter was subsequently unhappy with O's work. #39;Neil assigns Bob Budiansky to create most of the Transformers characters, giving many unnamed Diaclone figures names and personalities.

The Transformers mecha were largely designed by Shōji Kawamori, the creator of the Japanese mecha anime franchise Macross (which was adapted into the Robotech franchise in North America). Kawamori came up with the idea for transformable mecha while working on the Diaclone and Macross franchises in the early 1980s (such as the VF-1 Valkyrie in Macross and Robotech), and his Diaclone mecha later served as the basis. for transformers.

The main concept of the Generation 1 comic is the battle between the heroic Optimus Prime, the villainous Megatron and their best soldiers, who are in an accident and crash-land on Earth, in the Ark and the Nemesis before awakening in 1985, Cybertron was immediately placed in a neutral zone, as a result of the war. The Marvel comic was originally part of the main Marvel Universe, with appearances by Spider-Man and Nick Fury, plus a few cameos, as well as a visit to the Savage Land, the initial idea was for a four-issue limited series to further the sale of toys.

The Transformers, the television series produced by Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions, and later by Hasbro Productions, contradicted Budiansky's stories. The TV series shows the Autobots searching for new power sources and crash landing while the Decepticons attack. Marvel interpreted the Autobots as destroying an asteroid approaching Cybertron. Shockwave is loyal to Megatron in the TV series, keeping Cybertron at a standstill during his absence, but in the comic he attempts to take command of the Decepticons. The television series also differs in the origins that Budiansky had created for the Dinobots, the Decepticon/Autobot Jetfire (known as Skyfire on television), the Constructicons (who combine to form Devastator), and Omega Supreme. In the Marvel comic, it establishes early on that Prime wields the Matrix of Creation, which brings machines to life. In the second season, the two-part episode "The Key to Vector Sigma" the ancient Vector Sigma computer was introduced, which served the same purpose as the Creation Matrix (it brought Transformers to life), its guardian Alpha Trion was also introduced.

In 1986, the film The Transformers: The Movie was made, which is set in the year 2005. This is where the Matrix was introduced as the "Autobot Matrix of Leadership", when a fatally wounded Prime gives it to Ultra Magnus, however, as Prime dies he drops the matrix, which is then caught by Hot Rod who subsequently becomes Rodimus Prime later in the film. Unicron, a planet-eating Transformer who fears the power of the Matrix and makes a deal with a dying Megatron and recreates him as Galvatron, as well as Bombshell to Cyclonus, one of the Seekers to Scourge and two other Insecticons to Scourge hunters, the sweeps. In time, Rodimus Prime takes out the array and destroys Unicron.

Season 3 followed the film's timeline, with the revelation that the Quintessons had used Cybertron as a factory, their creations becoming rogue robots, and eventually the workers becoming Autobots and the soldiers becoming Decepticons. (Note: This seems to contradict background presented in the first two seasons of the series.). Due to popular demand, Optimus Prime is resurrected at the end of the third season, and the series ended in the fourth with a 3-episode story arc. However, the Japanese broadcast supplemented the series with an OVA called Scramble City, before creating an entirely new series to continue the story, ignoring the ending of the 1987 American series. The Japanese sequel consisted of, Headmasters, Super-God Masterforce, Victory and Zone, and later in pictorial form as Battlestars: Return of Convoy and Operation: Combination. Later he would release the fourth season in OVA format in 1996 as ¨Transformers: The Rebirth¨. Just as the TV series was ending, Marvel continued to expand its continuity. He took a cue from the movie by killing Prime and Megatron. The Dinobot leader, Grimlock, takes over as Autobot leader. There was a crossover with G.I. Joe and the limited series The Transformers: Headmasters, further expanded the scope to the planet Nebulon and led to Prime being resurrected as a Powermaster.

In the UK, the mythology continued to grow. Primus was introduced as the creator of the Transformers and fighting his nemesis Unicron. The female Autobot Arcee also appeared, despite the comic stating that the Transformers had no concept of gender, to quell the accusations of sexism, the backstory that was constructed by the Autobots was created. Soundwave, Megatron's second in command, broke the fourth wall. The UK also had a crossover in Action Force, the British counterpart to G.I. Joe. The comic featured a resurrected Megatron, who was turned into a clone by Furman when he took over the American comic. The American comic would last for 80 issues until 1991, and the British comic lasted for 332 issues and several annuals, until it was replaced by Dreamwave Productions, later in the century XX.

Transformers: Generation 2 (1993–1995)

Main article: Transformers: Generation 2

It was five issues of the G.I. Joe in 1993, which would promote the return of Marvel's Transformers, with the new twelve-issue series Transformers: Generation 2, to market a new line of toys. This line was characterized by the change of the emblems of the Autobots and the Decepticons, the modifications of the models for the safety of minor children and the use of more striking colors. The first two years of the second generation were characterized by the remodeling of the original Transformers. A large number of these now included lights and sounds. There was no television series itself, what was actually seen was a rebroadcast of the classic series with a new introduction.

In the comic book story it is told how the Transformers originally reproduced asexually, though Primus prevented this by producing the evil Swarm. However, a new empire, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, is taking it back. Although the year-long arc closed with an alliance between Optimus Prime and Megatron, the last panel introduced Liege Maximus, ancestor of the Decepticons. This little cliffhanger wasn't resolved until the Transforce convention of 2001 and 2002, when writer Simon Furman wrapped up his story in the exclusive novel Alignment.

Beast Wars/Beast Machines (1996–2000)

Main articles: Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Beast Wars: Transformers, is the third line of Transformers toys and was available on the market between 1995 and 2000. In this line, the novelty was that the robots took the form of animals and not vehicles like in Generation 1. Beast Wars is also one of the first series created in 3D for television by the Canadian company Mainframe Entertainment. This new series told us how a ship belonging to Maximals (descendants of the Autobots) and Predacons (descendants of the Decepticons) crashed after a confrontation and time jump, on prehistoric Earth. Beast Machines is the direct sequel to Beast Wars. Hasbro decides to continue the success of the previous series with a new line of figures, accompanied by a new 3D television series also made by Mainframe Entertainment, which is qualitatively, graphically speaking, better than the previous one. In Japan it was known as Beast Wars Returns.

Dreamwave Productions (2001–2005)

In 2001, Dreamwave Productions began a new universe of annual comics adapted for Marvel, but also included elements of the animated series. The Dreamwave stories follow the concept of the Autobots against the Decepticons on Earth, but in 1997 on their return trip to Cybertron on Ark II. The story continues from there, in two limited six-issue series. The series also adds additional complexities, such as not all Transformers believing in the existence of Primus, corruption in the Cybertronian government which first created Megatron to start the war, and Earth having an unknown relevance to the Cybertronians.

IDW Editor (2005–2022)

The following year, IDW Publishing restarts the G1 series from scratch within several limited series. This allowed long-time writer for Marvel and Dreamwave comics, Simon Furman to create his own universe without continuity hindrances, similar to Ultimate Marvel. Furman's story depicts a Cybertron destroyed by the Pretender Thunderwing, so the Autobots and Decepticons have to infiltrate various planets to get their resources. Earth is under particular scrutiny due to a particularly potent form of energon, which Shockwave had seeded thousands of years ago, with the Decepticons. The origin of the Ark is absent in this series. The continuity was also the first to acknowledge the existence of massive displacements in transformations, such as when Megatron shrinks himself into a gun.

Alternative Histories

In January 2006, Hasbro collectors Transformers Club wrote a story based on the Transformers Classics toy line, set in the Marvel Comics universe, but excluding the Generation 2 comic. Fifteen years after Megatron will crash into the Ark with Ratchet, the war continues with the characters in their Classics bodies.

IDW Publishing introduced The Transformers: Evolutions in 2006, a collection of mini-series that re-imagines and reinterprets the G1 characters in various ways. To date, only one miniseries has been published, Hearts of Steel, in which the characters are placed in a time of the Industrial Revolution. The series was delayed as Hasbro did not want to confuse newcomers too much with the new fictional universes before the release of the live action film.

However, IDW and the original publisher of Marvel Comics have announced a crossover story with The Avengers to coincide with the New Avengers/Transformers film. The story is located on the borders of Symkaria and Latveria, and its fictional universe is between the first two stories of the New Avengers, as well as between the infiltration phase and the escalation of the IDW Transformers. IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall hinted at some of its elements being carried over into the main continuities, and that a sequel is possible.

Robots in Disguise (2000–2001)

Main article: Transformers: New Generation

First broadcast in Japan in 2000, Transformers: Next Generation was an animated series that only consisted of 39 episodes. It was exported to other countries in the following years. In this continuity, Megatron recreates the Decepticons as the Predacons on earth, a potential reference to the return of animal-based characters as in Beast Wars. It is a standalone universe, with no ties to any other Transformers fiction, although some of the characters from Robots in Disguise do end up making appearances in Transformers: Universe, including Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Side Burn, and Prowl.

The show was heavily censored in the United States, due to its content, such as destroyed buildings, references to terrorism after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The show was eventually removed from cable channels in the United States.

Unicron Trilogy (2002–2006)

Main articles: Transformers: Navy, Transformers Energon and Transformers Cybertron.

These three 1990s-style lines launched in 2001, followed by 2002 and 2006, known as the "Unicron Trilogy". Its designer was Aaron Archer. The "Unicron Trilogy" are co-productions between Takara Tomy and Hasbro (to a lesser extent), released simultaneously in both countries, with a total of 52 episodes.

Armada followed the Autobots and Decepticons in discovering the powerful Mini-Cons on Earth, which are ultimately revealed to be Unicron's weapons. Energon, set ten years later, here we follow the Autobots and Omnicons in their fight to stop the Decepticons and Terrorcons from resurrecting Unicron with energon. In Japan, the Cybertron series did not show links to the two previous series, tells his own story. This caused continuity problems when Hasbro sold Cybertron as a follow-up to Armada/Energon. The authors tried to change some plot elements from the Japanese version to remedy this, though this largely added up to nothing more than references to Unicron, Primus, and Mini-Cons.

Dreamwave Productions published the comic Transformers: Armada set in a different continuity from the cartoon. In #19, it became Transformers: Energon. Dreamwave went bankrupt and dropped all publications before the story could be completed at #30. However, the Transformers fan club has published some short stories set in the Cybertron era.

Transformers: Universe (2003–present)

Main article: Transformers Universe

The history of the Transformers Universe is set primarily after the Beast Machines. The story unfolded in an unfinished comic, exclusive to the official Transformers Collectors Convention. The comic that was being prepared for the 2005 convention was canceled due to the bankruptcy of 3H Enterprise, the company in charge of organizing the official Transfomers convention. The company that obtained the rights to produce the convention that year did not continue with Universe.

Live-action franchise (2007–present)

Main article: Transformers (scenic series)

Transformers was released on July 19, 2007, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. The main focus of the film revolved around the creator of the Transformers, who in the film is described as the Allspark, as well as his home Cybertron. The film portrays the Allspark as a large energy cube that can create life out of mechanical objects. During the Cybertronian Civil War, the Allspark was sent off-planet and eventually landed on Earth, where it was discovered by the US government. The Hoover Dam was built on it as a top-secret research facility and the base of the government. Megatron searching for the Allspark on Earth crash-landed in the Arctic and froze. Many years later he was found and taken to the same facility as the Allspark. With their world devastated by war, the Autobots were scattered throughout space. But a group of Autobots led by Optimus Prime traveled to Earth in search of the Allspark, in an attempt to revitalize their planet with two humans, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). However, the Decepticons also head there for the same purposes, as well as to activate their leader, Megatron. The film depicts the battle over the Allspark on Earth. The Transformers are depicted as mechanical beings who can reconstruct their outward appearance through scanning or touching a mechanical object sized relative to each Transformer's body. Steven Spielberg, executive producer, said Transformers is a dream come true because, he explains, ever since the toys began to be commercialized, he had the idea of bringing them to life in a summer movie.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the sequel, made its debut on June 24, 2009. The plot revolves around Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in the war of the Autobots and Decepticons, now for having in his head the coordinates of another great source of Cybertronian power, the Matrix of leadership. So, the Decepticons led under the shadows by an ancient Decepticon named The Fallen, seek revenge by finding and activating the artifact to destroy the sun and also obtain a sufficient source of energon for their planet Cybertron. The Autobots, with new members of the N.E.S.T. agency, must fight to prevent human extinction. Despite being a huge success at the box office, breaking records upon its release, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics, winning Worst Picture at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards. In 2010, Hasbro released a line of toys from the expansion of the cinematic universe. This line is simply the trademark of Transformers and contains a promo called "Hunt for the Decepticons". The promotion consists of a code number that collectors use to access online games at Transformers.com. The toy line is made up of reissues and re-casts of characters from the current films, as well as new versions of Generation 1 and Generation 2 characters. In this line, the inclusion of Starscream, Bumblebee Battle Ops Leader Class and the new redesign of Optimus Prime Voyaguer Class and Bumblebee Deluxe Class stand out.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the direct sequel was released on July 1, 2011. In this new installment, Ehren Kruger became more involved in the script, and Shia LaBeouf returns to reprise their roles as Sam. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the first two films, did not return for the third installment in the series. In a hidden extra for the Blu-ray version of Revenge of the Fallen, Bay expressed his intention to make The Dark Side of the Moon not necessarily bigger than the second installment, instead, deepen the mythos, give it more character development, and make it darker and more emotional. The plot begins when Optimus Prime finds on a mission in Chernobyl, an engine from the Ark, a ship that was lost in space in the time of the Cybertron war. They discover that it crashed on the Moon and that its former leader, Sentinel Prime, is there. Meanwhile, Sam discovers that the Decepticons are in league with humans and are murdering astronauts who had a hand in the 1960 space race. Dark Side of the Moon has grossed over $1.1 billion. dollars around the world, becoming the most watched of the franchise.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is a sequel to Dark Side of the Moon. It is directed by Michael Bay, who had initially denied it, but finally accepted, due to public interest. Shia LaBeouf will not participate in this installment, as well as no one from the original cast, in her place it stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor. The intention was to create something new, with new characters and stories. After the events that occurred in The Dark Side of the Moon due to the Chicago incident, the Autobots are considered fugitives and a CIA group, called Cemetery Wind, in charge of hunting down and destroying the Decepticons. remaining, they also do it with the Autobots in secret, but they also kill those who cross their path, being helped by a Cybertronian named Lockdown. While KSI, a robotics company, discovers what Transformers are made of and sets out to create more. Now Optimus Prime must call on the remaining Autobots along with Cade Yeager, Tessa Yeager and Shane Dyson to combat these 2 threats. This is the first film in the franchise to integrate the group of Dinobots, giant robots that can transform into dinosaurs. Despite poor reception and criticism, the film was a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide.

Don Murphy declared that Age of Extinction is the start of a new trilogy, but with the same robots. On June 18, 2014, Paramount Pictures Vice President Edward Ryan promised a fifth Transformers film to be released on June 24, 2016. On December 18, 2014, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he would return as Cade Yeager in Transformers: The Last Knight, only being on the run with the Autobots, after Optimus Prime leaves Earth, they are hunted by the TRF, an organization created by the government (on learning of Cemetery Wind's misdeeds), but a new threat makes it approach Earth, to repeat what happened just like in Chicago.

Transformers: Animated (2007–2010)

Main article: Transformers Animated

Cartoon Network produced Transformers Animated, a cartoon that aired in early 2008. Originally scheduled for late 2007 under the title Transformers. Heroes, Transformers Animated is set in the year 2050 Detroit (50 years after the ark crash) when robots and humans live side by side. The Autobots arrive on earth and assume superhero roles, fighting evil humans and Decepticons, with whom they have a smaller role until Megatron resurfaces. In the main characters include Autobots like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Prowl and Ratchet; Decepticons like Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Blackarachnia, and humans like Sari and Professor Sumdac. Various characters that were in the original Transformers cartoon and the 1986 animated film, as well as characters only seen in the comics and such, make guest appearances and cameos throughout the show.

Transformers: Prime (2010)/Robots in Disguise (2015)

Main articles: Transformers: Prime and Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015).

Transformers: Prime is a computer-generated series based on the Transformers franchise. It made its debut on November 29, 2010 on The Hub channel in the United States and ended on July 26, 2013. The series began, under the name "Transformers: Prime - The Animated Series". It consists of a total of 65 episodes and three seasons. The second season was announced, and it was broadcast on November 28, 2011. Transformers Prime: Predacons Rising, the movie of this series was released on October 4, 2013. Transformers: Robots in Disguise, is its direct sequel, scheduled to be released in the spring of 2015. This new installment features a redesign of the characters and will be set a few years after Transformers: Prime, thus counting on a new plot with Bumblebee as the protagonist.

Toy Lines

Over time, the toy line has undergone variations to which are added the changes introduced by the different franchises of the Takara Tomy and Hasbro brand for their respective markets. These lines of toys do not have a television series as such, but are re-painted from other lines or completely different and new Transformers, which do not influence the continuity of any series.

Video games