Transformers
Transformers Media
Classic Transformers franchise logo used until 2014
Costume characters at Universal Studio Hollywood
Transformers are make-believe robots that are made by a toy company named Hasbro. In the story, they come from a planet called Cybertron. There are two main types of Transformers. These are the Autobots, the heroes, and the Decepticons, the villains. The leader of the Autobots is named Optimus Prime, and the leader of the Decepticons is named Megatron. Transformers can transform into different things like cars, planes, guns, and animals. Transformers were first made in 1984. There have been many different Transformers toys and stories since then.
Generation One (1984–1992)
Some people call the first Transformers toys, shows, and comics "G1" or "Generation One". The first Transformers toys were made in Japan. In Japan, the toys were from different toy lines called Microman and Diaclone. Hasbro took some of the same toys, gave some of them different colors, and called them Transformers. They asked a comic book writer named Bob Budiansky to name the robots. Bob Budiansky also decided what the robots liked, what they disliked, and how they felt about things. In Japan, at first the robots did not have names and were not alive. They were just machines that were driven by people. Bob Budiansky also wrote the Transformers comic book that was made by Marvel Comics. Spider-Man was even in one of the early Transformers comics.
There was also a Transformers cartoon on TV. The TV show told a different story than the comic book. In the cartoon, the Autobots were looking for energy (called energon, which was also the life-blood of the Transformers.) and the Decepticons chased them to Earth. In the comic book, the Autobots had to stop an asteroid (a big rock in space) from crashing into Cybertron. Another difference is that the story behind each character is different in the cartoon for a lot of robots, like the Dinobots, Jetfire (who is called Skyfire on TV), the Constructicons, and Omega Supreme. Even the way new robots were created was different. In the comic book, Optimus Prime uses the Creation Matrix to make new Transformers. In the cartoon, there is a computer called Vector Sigma that can make new robots. Modern Transformers Lore accepts that the Transformers were created by Primus, the god of the transformers, and that the supercomputer Vector Sigma is used for a different purpose.
In 1986, a Transformers movie was made. It was called The Transformers: the Movie and was a story about the future. In the story, it is the year 2005. Optimus Prime is killed by Megatron, and passes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership to a new Autobot called Ultra Magnus, who becomes the new Autobot leader. However, in the end an Autobot named Hot Rod actually becomes the new leader, as the Matrix had deemed him worthy, and he becomes Rodimus Prime. The Autobots have to stop a planet-eating monster called Unicron, who can also transform into a giant robot. Unicron also meets Megatron and gives him a new body and a new name, and he becomes Galvatron. At the end of the movie, Unicron is destroyed.
"I have summoned you here for a purpose." -Unicron
The TV show also told the story of the year 2005. We learn that the Transformers were once robot slaves who had to work for aliens called Quintessons. The Autobots did not like being slaves, so they chased the Quintessons away from Cybertron. Kids liked Optimus Prime and were sad that he died, so the writers made a story in which he came back to life, but it was too late and the show was soon discontinued in America. In Japan, the TV show continued with new cartoons that were not seen in America.
The comic book was still being made after the TV show ended. Many robots who were not seen in the cartoon were in the comic book, like Darkwing and Skids. There was even a story about how the Transformers met G.I. Joe, another Hasbro toy line.
Beast Wars and Beast Machines (1996–2001)
Beast Wars was about Transformers who could turn into animals. They looked like real animals, but they were robots in disguise. The heroes were called Maximals, and their leader was Optimus Primal. The enemies were called Predacons, and their leader's name was Megatron. (He was a different Megatron from the Decepticon leader.) In the story, the Maximals and Predacons crashed on Earth a very long time ago, but they did not know where they were. Also, there was too much energy on the planet and it hurt their bodies. They turned into animals to protect themselves from the energy. They could only turn into robots for a short time before the energy started to hurt them.
Later in the story, many of the robots turn into Transmetals, which means they looked like robot animals instead of real animals. The Predacons find out they are on Earth, and Megatron tries to find the Autobots and Decepticons, who are on a space ship called the Ark. Megatron tries to kill Optimus Prime, who is still sleeping, so that he can change the future.
There was another show called Beast Machines that continues the story that started in Beast Wars. At the end of Beast Wars, the Maximals tried to catch Megatron. At the beginning of Beast Machines, he escapes and takes control over Cybertron. There are only four Maximals left and Megatron tries to stop them. Megatron creates new robots called Vehicons, who try to catch the Maximals. Later, we learn that the Vehicons are really Maximals or Predacons that Megatron caught and tried to control. In the story, we also learn that even though Cybertron is a dead, metal planet, it used to be a living planet like Earth.
Lore
The origins of the transformers vary throughout the media. It is generally accepted that the original transformers, the 13 primes, were created by Primus, the god of the Transfomers, to stop Unicron, the dark god. However, in the original series, the Quintessons claim to have created the Transformers, though in modern lore they have been accepted to be lying.
In the beginning, there were two gods, Primus and Unicron. where they came from, we do not know. The one who created them is only known as "the one." The brothers traveled together for a time, exploring the universe. but they saw it differently. Primus was amazed by life and all of the beautiful things on the planets they passed, but Unicron saw it all as inferior and wanted to destroy it all. Eventually, Primus tried to stop Unicron. They fought a battle that raged across the cosmos, neither one able to best the other. But Unicron grew stronger. He devoured planets, and gained more energy. Primus knew that he could not win, that eventually he would be overtaken. No matter where in the universe they were, the Gods could find each other. So, Primus hid. He changed the game, turned the table. He took himself out of the game, because he knew he could not win. He shifted into a new form, and powered down to an eternal slumber. He created new beings to stop Unicron, giving them each a part of his own power, something that Unicron could never do. He created the Thirteen Primes. Soon, Unicron would be defeated.