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Codex: Transformers

2019-11-15T14:01:20Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB:

{{stub}}
The following is a fan effort to incorporate the [[Transformers]] as an army in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] tabletop game. With /tg/'s closet love for Transformers, I feel this is at least somewhat appropriate. And in reality, it's not really that difficult to shoehorn these guys into the fluff. Even better, you could use all the old toys as models!

The rules will follow G1 continuity the most, but supplements can be made for Beast Wars, Animated, Prime, the Mini-Con Trilogy, or even the <s>Michael Bayverse</s>{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Heresy!}}

Any suggestions for rules, units, etc.? Please feel free to use the Discussion section to suggest it! Please do, these rules are very barebones, so community input and playtesting is mandatory.

If you want to look over/talk about/suggest the racial fluff, the tie-in article is here: [[Setting:Transformers]]

==Special Rules, Warlord Traits, Etc.==
'''Transform''': ''Transforming is a fundamental part of cybertronian biology. Ever since the days of the Second Cybertronian Civil War, the Cybertronians could transform from a bipedal humanoid form to an alternate vehicle mode. The vehicles come in all shapes in sizes, but they all give a distinct advantage in combat.'' Any model or unit with this special rule can choose to transform from a Primary or Alternative form at the beginning of the Movement Phase. You must declare what unit or model is transforming one at a time. Each unit or model with this special rule has an alternate stateline in their profile. You may choose during deployment or if they're in Reserves what form a unit or model starts in. If you choose to transform, it must follow these guidelines:
*They must stay in that transformed mode until the beginning of the next friendly Movement Phase.
*A unit cannot perform a Look Out, Sir roll while in an Alternative move unless specifically stated otherwise.
*If the model is locked into combat as a vehicle, then it cannot attack back unless stated. It must instead wait until the next fight sub phase in order to transform to its Primary form to attack back. Otherwise, it can ram and/or tank-shock as normal.
*A character cannot issue or accept challenges in Assault while they're in an Alternative vehicle mode unless otherwise stated.
*If a transformer Vehicle form has the flyer special rule they have the following rules.
**If they start the game in Primary mode they can start on the table top.
**A Flyer can't transform on the turn it enters the game from reserves.
**A Transformer that transforms from flyer to Primary mode can't charge the turn it transforms.
**A Transformer that transforms from Primary to Vehicle mode can be shot at by weapons with the intercept rule as if it had just entered from reserves.
*For every hull point lost, remove one hull point from a Transformer Vehicle form and for each hull point lost, remove one hull point from a transformer's primary mode.
'''Robots in Disguise''': Any unit with this special rule is treated as having a 5+ Invulnerable save. In addition, Crew Stunned results are treated as Crew Shaken and Weapon Destroyed results can be ignored on a d6 roll of 6 (though a hull point is still lost).

'''Autobot:''' Your army cannot contain both models with the Autobot special rule and models with the Decepticon special rule.
'''Decepticon:''' Your army cannot contain both models with the Autobot special rule and models with the Decepticon special rule.

===Warlord Traits===
The following three Warlord traits are accessible to both factions, but the other traits apply to whatever faction the Warlord aligns with. If you choose, you can choose to roll simply a d3 on the appropriate subsections.
*'''1. Armored Flesh:''' The Warlord has a 4+ invulnerable save.
*'''2. Indomitable Will:''' The Warlord and any units within "18 of the Warlord gain the Crusader and Adamantium Will special rules.
*'''3. Unstoppable Construct:''' The Warlord has the Rage and Hatred special rules
'''Models with the Autobot special rule'''

*'''4. Gunnery Officer:''' Warlord and his unit's shooting attacks have the Twin-linked special rule and any blast weapons the Warlord is armed with gain the Missle Lock special rule.
*'''5. Arch-Defender:''' Warlord has the It Will Not Die and Counter-Attack special rules.
*'''6. Warrior of the Ages:''' The Warlord gets the Fear special rule. In addition, while the Warlord is in a challenge he can choose to add d3 attacks to his profile during for the rest of the phase, or subtract d3 attacks from his opponent until the end of the phase.

'''Models with the Decepticon special rule'''

*'''4. Crafted by Unicron:''' The Warlord's melee weapon receives one of the following special rules on a d3 roll. However, your Warlord must issue and accept challenges. If for whatever reason the Warlord has multiple melee weapons or it has the same special rule you rolled on the table, you make pick which weapon (as long as it's not an Artifact Weapon) receives the effect and reroll on the table until you get a different rule.
**1. Master-Crafted
**2. Rending
**3. Smash
*'''5. Master of Logic:''' The Warlord and D3 other units gain the Outflank and Acute Senses special rules.
*'''6. Ambitious:''' When the Warlord targets the enemy Warlord and/or his unit with a shooting attack or engages them in assault, he receives +3 to his BS and WS respectively.

===Armory===
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
|- valign=top
! Weapon Table!! Range !! S !! AP !! Type
|-
| Energon Blaster || 24" || 5 || 5 || Assault 3
|-
| Energon Missile || 18" || 8 || 3 || Assault 1
|-
| Energon Sword || -" || +1 || 2 || Melee, Master Crafted
|-
| Flame Breath || Template || 6 || 3 || Fleshbane, Armorbane
|-
| Sonic Blaster || 24" || 6 || 3 || Salvo 4/5, Ignores Cover
|-
| Shoulder Cannon || 36" || 5 || 4 || Heavy 3, Rending
|}

===Artifacts of the Primes===
'''Triptych Mask (25 Points)''': Bearer of the Triptych Mask gains +1 Initiative and counts as always passing Blind tests. In addition, during the shooting phase the bearer can choose an enemy unit within 24" and reduce their cover save by -2. This is not cumulative if you choose the same unit in the next shooting phase.

'''Emberstone (35 Points)''': This weapon is treated as an 18" S6 AP1 Beam with the Poisoned (+4) and Melta special rules. Every vehicle that suffered an Explodes! result from this weapon adds 3" to their Explosion radius. In addition, any Infantry models killed by this weapons roll a d6 before removing the model as a casualty. On a 4+, place a small blast over that model and resolve it at S4 AP3. Any casualties caused by these blasts do not cause any more blasts.

===Allies Matrix===

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpaddin="5" align="left"
! Faction
! Transformers: Autobots
! Transformers: Decepticons
|-
| '''Space Marines'''
| Allies of Convenience || Desperate Allies
|-
| '''Astra Militarum'''
| Allies of Convenience || Desperate Allies
|-
| '''Grey Knights'''
| Desperate Allies || Desperate Allies
|-
| '''Skittari/Adeptus Mechanicus
| Come the Apocalypse || Come the Apocalypse
|-
|'''Chaos Daemons'''
| Come the Apocalypse || Desperate Allies
|-
|'''Chaos Space Marines'''
| Desperate Allies || Allies of Convenience
|-
|'''Dark Eldar'''
| Desperate Allies || Allies of Convenience
|-
|'''Eldar'''
| Battle Brothers || Allies of Convenience
|-
|'''Harlequins'''
| Allies of Convenience || Allies of Convenience
|-
|'''Necrons'''
| Desperate Allies || Battle Brothers
|-
|'''Orks'''
| Desperate Allies || Allies of Convenience
|-
|'''Tau Empire'''
| Allies of Convenience || Desperate Allies
|-
|'''Tyranids'''
| Come the Apocalypse || Come the Apocalypse
|-
|'''Autobots'''
| Battle Brothers || Desperate Allies
|-
|'''Decepticons'''
| Desperate Allies || Battle Brothers
|}
 

=Units=

===HQ===
====Grimlock (310 Points)====
[[File:Grimlock.jpeg|upright=0.56|225px|thumb|right|''"Men... more little green men..."''-Grimlock, facing an oncoming Ork horde.]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Primary
! WS
! BS
! S
! FA
! SA
! BA
! I
! A
! HP
|-
| Grimlock
| 7
| 4
| 10
| 13
| 13
| 11
| 6
| 5
| 6
|-
! Alternative
! WS
! BS
! S
! FA
! SA
! BA
! I
! A
! HP
|-
| Tyrannosaurus
| 5
| 4
| 10
| 13
| 13
| 11
| 5
| 5
| 6
|-
|}
'''Unit Type:'''
*'''Super-Heavy Walker'''

'''Unit Composition:'''
*'''1 (Unique)'''

'''Wargear:'''
*'''Energon Sword''' (Grimlock only)
*'''Flame Breath''' (Tyrannosaurus only)

'''Warlord Trait:'''
*'''Unstoppable Construct'''

'''Special Rules:'''
*'''Autobot'''
*'''Independent Character'''
*'''Monster Hunter''' (Grimlock only)
*'''Preferred Enemy (Characters)''' (Grimlock only)
*'''Preferred Enemy (Infantry''' (Tyrannosaurus only)
*'''Rampage''' (Tyrannosaurus only)
*'''Rip and Tear:''' When rolling to hit in assault, sixes to hit are treated as Strength D.
*'''Robots in Disguise'''
*'''Shred''' (Tyrannosaurus only)
*'''Tank Hunter''' (Grimlock only)
*'''Transform'''
*'''Dinobot:''' (Tyrannosaurus only) While in his alternative form Grimlock has a 4+ invulnerable save and his Hammer of Wrath attacks are resolved at AP 2.

====Starscream (190 Points)====
[[File:Starscream.jpeg|upright=0.56|150px|thumb|left|"Decepticons, ''retreat!"''- Starscream making a tactical retreat from a Tau ambush.]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Primary
! WS
! BS
! S
! FA
! SA
! RA
! A
! I
! HP
|-
| Starscream
| 4
| 5
| 5
| 13
| 12
| 11
| 3
| 4
| 4
|-
! Alternative
! BS
! F
! S
! B
! HP
|-
| Seeker
| 5
| 13
| 12
| 11
| 4
|}

'''Unit Type:'''
*'''Vehicle (Walker)''' (Starscream only)
*'''Vehicle (Flyer)''' (Seeker only)

'''Unit Composition:'''
*'''1 (Unique)'''

'''Wargear:'''
*''''Power Fist'''
*'''Null Ray'''
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
|- valign=top
! Weapon Table!! Range !! S !! AP !! Type
|-
| Null Ray || 24" || 5 || 4 || Assault 2, Haywire, Null Ray
|-
|}
::'''Null Ray:''' When a vehicle is hit by the Null Ray, it suffers a Crew Stunned result in addition to any damage caused.

'''Warlord Trait:'''
*'''Ambitious'''

'''Special Rules:'''
*'''Supersonic'''
*'''Opportunist:''' If Starscream charges into an ongoing assault, his attacks are treated as having the Smash and Instant Death special rules
*'''Transform'''
*'''Robots in Disguise'''
*'''Decepticon'''
*'''Opportunist'''
*'''Hit and Run'''

====Soundwave (210 Points)====
[[File:Soundwave.png|upright=0.56|200px|thumb|right|''"Soundwave superior. Astartes inferior."''-Soundwave, replying simply to the fanatic taunts of [[Logan Grimnar]].]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Primary
! WS
! BS
! S
! FA
! SA
! RA
! A
! I
! HP
|-
| Soundwave
| 5
| 6
| 6
| 13
| 13
| 13
| 4
| 5
| 4
|-
! Alternative
! BS
! F
! S
! B
! HP
|-
| Cassette Player
| 0
| 13
| 13
| 13
| 4
|}

'''Unit Type:'''
*'''Vehicle (Walker)''' (Soundwave only)
*'''Vehicle''' (Cassette Player only)

'''Unit Composition:'''
*'''1 (Unique)'''

'''Wargear:'''
*'''Shoulder Cannon''' (Soundwave only)
*'''Sonic Blaster''' (Soundwave and Laserbeak only)
*'''Energon Missile''' (Ravage only)

'''Warlord Trait:'''
*'''Indomitable Will'''

'''Special Rules:'''
*'''Immmobile:''' (Cassette Player only) A model with this special rule may not move.
*'''Stealth''' (Cassette Player only)
*'''Transform''' (Soundwave and Casette Player only)
*'''Robots in Disguise''' (Soundwave and Casette Player only)
*'''Decepticon''' (Soundwave and Casette Player only)
*'''Eject!:''' Soundwave carries a small brigade of transforming cassette tapes in his chest, which he can deploy to achieve a certain objective or attack his foes. In the beginning of the Movement Phase, Soundwave can choose to deploy either Ravage, Rumble or Laserbeak within 6" of him instead of transforming. He can only deploy one unit each turn, and each one can only be deployed once per game. If Soundwave suffers a Wrecked or Explodes! result on the vehicle damage table, treat any of the units that have not be deployed as if they were disembarking from a vehicle. Rumble has the Infantry unit type, Ravage has the Beast unit type and Laserbeak has the Jump Infantry unit type.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! Ld
! Sv
|-
| Ravage
| 4
| 3
| 4
| 4
| 2
| 4
| 3
| 9
| 4+
|-
| Laserbeak
| 3
| 4
| 3
| 4
| 2
| 4
| 2
| 9
| 5+
|-
| Rumble
| 4
| 4
| 5
| 4
| 2
| 3
| 3
| 8
| 3+
|}

'''Piledriver:'''(Rumble only) During the shooting phase, Rumble can choose to do a Piledriver attack. When he does this, all models within 8" of him are treated as going through difficult and dangerous terrain until the next friendly shooting phase. This also counts as a Melee weapon with the following profile: '''Sx2 AP2 Melee, Unwieldy'''
*'''Bulky''' (Rumble only)
*'''Independent Character'''
*'''Objective Secured''' (Ravage, Laserbeak and Rumble only)

===Elites===
===Troops===
====Drones (180 Points)====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Primary
! WS
! BS
! S
! FA
! SA
! RA
! A
! I
! HP
|-
| Drones
| 4
| 3
| 5
| 11
| 10
| 10
| 3
| 4
| 3
|-
! Alternative
! BS
! F
! S
! B
! HP
|-
| Vehicle
| 3
| 11
| 10
| 10
| 3
|}

'''Unit Composition:'''
*'''3 Drones'''

'''Unit Type:'''
*'''Vehicle (Walker, Open-topped)''' (Drones only)
*'''Vehicle (Open-topped)''' (Vehicle only)

'''Wargear:'''
*'''Energon Blaster'''

'''Special Rules:'''
*'''Transform'''
*'''Robots in Disguise'''

'''Options:'''
*May include up to 3 additional Drones for 60 pts/model

====Decepticon Cult (60 Points)====
''Feel No Pain, Furious Charge, Decepticon''

{| class=wikitable
! || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| Cultist || 3 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 7 || 6+
|-
| Rogue Tech-Priest || 3 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 8 || 4+/6++
|}
:'''Unit Composition''': 9 Cultists, 1 Rogue Tech-Priest
:'''Unit Type''': Infantry (Rogue Tech-Priest is Character)
:'''Wargear''': Autoguns, Frag and Krak Grenades
:'''Options''':
:* May take up to 20 additional Cultists: 6pts each
:* May take a special weapon for every 5 Cultists from the following list:
:** Heavy Stubber: 10pts each
:** Flamer: 10pts each
:** Melta: 10pts each
:** Storm Bolter: 5pts each
:* Rogue Tech-Priest may take:
:** Boltgun: 1pt
:** Power Sword, Power Maul, or Power Axe: 10pts
:** Combi-Melta, Combi-Flamer, or Combi-Plasma: 10pts
:** Plasma Gun: 15pts
:** Storm Bolter: 5pts

===Fast Attack===
===Heavy Support===
===Lords of War===
====Megatron====
====Optimus Prime====

[[Category: Under Development]]

Transformers

2019-11-15T13:59:00Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Energon Trilogy */

[[File:Generation 1 by DonFig.jpg|800px|thumbnail|center|And these are just your characters from G1!]]

'''Transformers''' is a series of Robot Toys created by [[Hasbro]] and Takara Tomy that typically turn into cars and other vehicles. Robots are cool, cars are cool and so they became popular. In 1984 they made some comics and a cartoon show. The comics show created a lot of toy sales and the toys kept the shows and comics popular. Over the years they changed things up to sell more toys and new series were made, some worked quite well (Beast Wars, Prime) others did not (Armada, Energon, Cybertron).

Why has there never been a roleplaying game about this shit? Only [[/co/|comics, cartoons,]] [[/a/|anime,]] [[/v/|and finally video games.]] So much potential. Seriously, it's a setting about sentient, shapeshifting robots fighting a war that spans motivations from political to racial to theological. Fuck, there weren't ''any'' tabletop Transformers games beyond [[Ameritrash|the usual tie-in bullshit]] until 2018 when Hasbro announced an official Transformers TCG. How the fuck has nobody realised the money-making potential there?

==Main Guys==
As the series come and go, a certain bevvy of characters seem to be archetypal to the Transformers. Not helped by the fact that, ever since the flop of ''Beast Machines'' and the riotous financial successes of the Bay, Hasbro seems to only ever stick with recycling Generation One, with some other characters jumping continuities. These are the Transformers who appear in some form or another in every iteration of the setting.

*'''Optimus Prime''': Leader of the Autobots, [[Lawful Good]] to the computer-core, the Big Red Hero-bot himself. There's always an Optimus leading the Autobots, and he usually turns into some kind of red truck or hauler. His name is the Latin words for "best" and "first", and he really is both. In the original show (and in the Michael Bay movies -- one of the decent things about them -- and Transformers Prime and the Cybertron games), he was voiced by Peter Cullen, whose awesome deep voice you probably hear in your head whenever you read any of his dialogue. Check it out: ''"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."'' Also has the record of dying the most times out of anyone ever, making one wonder how the hell the GM lets him get away with it each time. Might be because he always goes out fighting, never like a punk.

*'''Megatron''': If there's an Optimus Prime, there's always a Megatron, the Evil (of some flavor, depending on the series) to his Lawful Good. Megsy remains pretty consistent throughout his appearances, usually varying only in what level of honor he has (which usually depends on his backstory; sometimes he started as a charismatic gladiator turned freedom fighter against the corrupt Cybertronian government -- [[Angron]], anyone? -- but sometimes he's just nuts) and/or how much of a cold-blooded psychopath he is. He used to turn into a gun (which could inexplicably shrink down to be small enough to be wielded by another Decepticon or even the occasional ''human''), with the <s>barrel</s> scope giving him a wicked arm cannon in robot mode, but nowadays he usually turns into a tank or a jet. He was first voiced by Frank Welker, whose versatile voice was also used for just about every other Decepticon except for Starscream (and probably at least one role in just about every cartoon ever made). David Kaye did a bang-up job voicing Predcacon Leader Megatron in Beast Wars, ''Yeeesss''.
**'''Galvatron''':Whenever there is a Megatron there is a Galvatron. He's everything you love about the M taken up to eleven. This guy is seriously bad news, he's probably insane and violent enough to give Doombreed pause and he's probably the strongest non-God transformer there is in G1 comics it takes a friggin' time vortex to finally put him down. After a dying Megatron found himself adrift in space, he had a lovely chat with the physical Cybertronian God,Unicron who reconstructed him into this indentity. Didn't work for long though; Galvy kind of went off the reservation pretty quickly.

*'''Bumblebee''': The yellow kid-friendly one, he's usually the main one to interact with the resident token humans. He usually turns into a sports car. Can be surprisingly badass in some adaptations -- his ''Beast Wars'' counterpart, Cheetor, went on to basically take Optimus Primal's place as leader of the Maximals in ''Beast Machines''. In the Michael Bay movies, he became a mute who talks only in radio quotes/beeps and boops like a 60s robot which just got ANNOYING. His Prime Counterpart retained the mute quirk, but his voicebox was eventually repaired by the time of the sequel series. Then he starred in a prequel film which was so awesome, Hasbro decided to just reboot the Transformers film franchise. Way to go, little guy!

*'''Grimlock''': A fuckmothering [[AWESOME|robot Tyrannosaurus]] that usually breathes fire. He's the leader of a pack of other robot dinosaurs called the '''Dinobots'''. He's not exactly smart (well sometimes, he's either a stupid beast or a no nonsense leader with a speech problem), but who cares about that? HE'LL FUCKING EAT YOU. No seriously he once ripped Shockwave's arm off and ate it.

*'''Starscream''': Megatron's loud-mouthed, whiny, scheming, sneaky, backstabbing second-in-command who always wants to lead the Decepticons. He is neither strong enough to bump Megsy off, [[Sindri Myr|smart enough to trick him to his death]], or [[Eliphas|charismatic enough to persuade others he's a better boss]]. Sometimes Megatron himself wonders why he keeps Starscream around, but (when the writers remember) he is actually an extremely competent air commander who leads The Seekers, Decepticons who are typically recolors of him with the most prominent being Skywarp and Thundercracker. In Animated, the Seekers were replaced by actual clones all named after classic Seekers with the only one original to the series being [[Rule 63]]. Starscream usually turns into the latest and greatest fighter jet (unless he's turning into some Cybertronian future-jet) historically an F-15, F-16, or F-22. In the original cartoon, his catchphrase (delivered in the classic 80s-villain screech as his first voice actor also voiced the similarly screechy Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe) was probably ''"Decepticons, RETREEEAT!"'' Was also voiced by fucking Tom ''"Spongebob Squarepants"'' Kenny in Animated; man, is that a blow to your dignity. Nowadays, though, he's more consistently competent (and given a more menacing voice by [[Steve Blum]] in Transformers Prime). Is such a total backstabbing traitor that "The Starscream" has entered pop-culture as a term to describe someone who seems more dedicated to fucking his own team over in ostensible pursuit of power than to actually beating the guys he's supposed to fight.

*'''Soundwave''': A major character for the Decepticons as Megatron's legitimately loyal number two. Is also the biggest source of nostalgia because he turns into a fucking tapedeck. <strike>Even though he lacks a personality</strike>'''SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR; PAGE WRITER INFERIOR''', he manages to be awesome merely through dogged determination and because he's the one guy who'll never give anyone any bullshit. He has a number of minions who turn into cassettes (or goddamn guitars in Animated's case), but the main ones are '''Rumble''' (Whose arms turn into piledrivers so he can cause earthquakes), '''Frenzy''' (Who has a sonic scream), '''Ravage''' (A fucking robot jaguar who turns into a cassette), '''Laserbeak''' and '''Buzzsaw''' (robot birds), and '''Ratbat''' (a robot bat). The IDW comic gave him an origin about how he used to be homeless due to his mind reading powers until Laserbeak and Ravage found him and helped him control them. In the Marvel G1 comics he acted as toady to whichever Decepticon had usurped Megatron that month while steadily scheming to increase his own power, making him like Starscream but actually competent. He also spoke in complete sentences and had a functioning mouth.

*'''Shockwave''': The real mad scientist of the Decepticons, whose arm is a gun and also turned into a gun in G1 (a giant flying gun). While he's also pretty loyal to Megatron, he's nowhere near Soundwave levels because his true loyalty is to pure logic. There are several times where he became a bigger threat than Megatron, requiring both Autobots and Decepticons to stop him. Most series have him involved with the Dinobots, either by creating them, or just they have major beef with him (he doesn't give a shit as he has better things to do). He's another guy who happened to be blessed by [[Steve Blum]] in the Cybertron series. The IDW comics gave him an origin about how he used to be an idealistic Noblebright senator (and Optimus' BFF) until he got unpersoned and mutilated by the corrupt Cybertronian government. Ouch. His Prime adaptation is fucking badass and intimidating, both in voice work and design, but unfortunately he suffers from Villain Incompetence Syndrome whenever the good guys show up, like so many other good bad guys.

*'''Unicron''': Unicron was originally introduced as the big bad for the '86 movie, a planet-sized, planet-eating bringer of doom (basically, if Galactus was the Death Star), voiced by ''the'' Orson Welles in his last role. The third season episode "Call of the Primitives" revealed his original, long since abandoned, origin as a planet-destroying creation of an alien mad scientist. Later media, beginning with the Marvel comics, changed his origin to Transformers' Satan, a god-like destroyer tricked into trapping himself inside a planet, but learned how to possess the world and reshape it into his own image. That fucking anime trilogy not only pulled this interpretation back, but made it "official", saying there's only one Unicron in the entire multiverse - at least, they tried. The comics pay more attention to it, but the shows tend to avoid it; witness Prime, where Unicron is actually sleeping at the heart of Earth instead of running around eating planets.

*'''Primus''': The Emprah to Unicron's Chaos God, except he's an actual god... who actually transformed into a planet and fell asleep for a fuckton of years. In this form, he became Cybertron and created the Cybertronian race. Like his evil counterpart, Unicron, he hails from the 80's comics and didn't make an appearance on screen (other than references to a pseudo-Bible named the "Covenant of Primus" in ''Beast Wars'') until the Energon Trilogy, which is where he's stayed.

==Generation One==
The original, the alpha iteration, the place where it all to began. Sometimes mockingly called Geewun because of the nostalgia fags who hate on everything that come after it. No matter how good they are. At the time, it was just called "The Transformers", with a "four-issue limited series" from Marvel that ended up running for 80 issues, a cartoon by the same name for three seasons (and two more seasons in Japan) from 1984-87 and the animated film "The Transformers: The Movie" in 1986. The movie's soundtrack is awesomely 80's, and it features the amazing song "The Touch" when Optimus Prime fights Megatron. Quite literally, this movie shit all over Bay's multi-million crappers... and that's the problem; the movie was so good that it marked the peak for the young franchise and it began a downhill slide from there, with the show scrambling to cope with all the losses (yeah, lots of people died here, even Optimus), while the toys began getting gimmickier without getting better.

The "Generation One" title was applied retroactively after Hasbro released the "Generation 2" line in 1993. By the way, G2 was the reason Transformers was considered dead for most of the 90's. The comic was that cheap sort of [[Edgy|"gritty for no real reason"]] the 90's was infamous for and the toys had pretty much burned themselves out and no gimmick could really help them on that. There was also a short-lived "Transformers G2" show, but it was just G1 with new CGI openings/endings and scene changes, so it only lasted a few episodes before flopping.

Of note is that if you want to experience G1 without having to dig up the eps from some torrent or Netflix, you can get ''Transformers Devastation'', which is essentially a G1 ep in vidya form produced by Platinum Studios, the guys responsible for balls-to-the-walls hypefests like ''Metal Gear Rising'', ''Bayonetta'', and ''The Wonderful 101'' (aka /m/ the game). Most of the actors are present, there's murderfests and speed, and big bosses. Also you get to run idiots over (but no pedestrians). Only letdown is the short length of the game and the lack of a Decepticon story and Abominus.
===Marvel's The Transformers===
What a lot of people who weren't kids in 1984 may not remember is that the first piece of long-form Transformers fiction ever was not the cartoon, but the Marvel comic book, produced in direct partnership with Hasbro as an expansion on the toy bios and character names that Marvel had already written to jam the random designs that had been licensed from Takara into a cohesive toyline. Most of the themes and tropes that people think of as "Transformers" were developed by Marvel, from the idea of living robots coming to Earth in search of energy to the most common origin for the planet-eating Unicron. Sometimes, Marvel published gripping stories exploring the dynamic of mechanical life forms adapting to an entirely alien environment and the humans caught in their crossfire. Sometimes they published stories about robot professional wrestling and evil car washes. Still, the stories had soul, and the comic ended up lasting a full year after the toyline it was made to promote ended in America. (As a sign of the times, one of the reasons the comic was canceled were its low sales of ''70,000 copies an issue.'')

British kids got an additional treat in the form of original stories from Marvel's UK division, printed in between serialized edits of the US issues in weekly installments. Most of these were done by the inimitable '''Simon Furman,''' who went on to write the US Transformers comic as well and has become the most prolific writer of Transformers fiction in the world.

==Beast Wars==
The first Western-released sequel to G1 (there were two Japanese-only continuations to G1 that never got released outside of Japan and the G2 comic mentioned above), a CGI show created by Mainframe (also responsible for ReBoot and [[War Planets]]). Set up as a "loose sequel" to G1, it involves new transformer races called "Maximals" (Autobots) and "Predacons" (Decepticons).

A Predacon terrorist leader styling himself after the original Megatron, including taking his name, hijacks an artifact with a mysterious connection to Megatron the first and goes on the run into deep space with a band of terrorists, planning on restarting the Great War and this time causing a Predacon victory. A Maximal deep-space exploration vessel commanded by Optimus Primal attempts to intercept, and both vessels end up stranded on a mysterious alien world, where an overabundance of raw energon forces them to adopt the forms of local fauna to preserve themselves. The two forces promptly start trying to wipe each other out and then escape the planet. There's also a sideplot involving an ancient alien civilization that ends itself just before the Season 3 finale.

They would eventually find out that this strange world was actually Earth, which was where Megatron II was trying to get all along, and they find the wreckage of the Ark of the original series, when new Megatron decides to headshot Prime in order to change the future for his benefit. It kinda flops when new Optimus takes part of old Optimus's soul, gets another upgrade, and becomes sorta-truck. It inspires Megatron II to try the same trick with his namesake, turning himself into a huge firebreathing dragon-bot.

Though Hasbro would mostly consign this story to oblivion after Beast Machines, the characters of Blackarachnia (sexy spider-bot who changes from evil to good thanks to love) and Waspinator (the walking punching bag who the heroes almost invariably blow up only to be fixed later), along with the concept of the Spark (essentially, Transformers' souls) would be re-used in later eras. More importantly, this show saved the franchise after Generation 2 almost killed it.

==Beast Machines==
Sequel series to ''Beast Wars''. On returning to Cybertron, our heroes are attacked by armies of transforming cookie-cutter drones. It eventually turns out that Megatron broke free from the Maximals' prison and flew back to Cybertron before them; he infected the entire planet with a cyber-virus that put them all into comas, ripped out their hearts/souls and stashed them in some hidden bunker, and melted down their bodies to rebuild them into mindless robot slaves.

Awesomely grimdark concept, but hampered by two huge flaws. Firstly, a super-annoying green aesop, which was very clumsily handled because this is a planet of talking robots, not nature. More importantly, major character derailment - it was made by a different team to ''Beast Wars'', and they weren't even allowed to watch the first series to familiarize themselves with how the Maximals were supposed to behave, so it'd be "more accessible".

Probably the reason why Hasbro only recycles G1 instead of trying to do its own thing with new shows, the way these two shows did. Even though it was their own damn fault, because they ''made'' this series into what it was. Time has been kinder to it, though, after the initial rage and denouncement. It is kind of like the Alien/Terminator 3 of Transformers. On its own its really damn good. As a sequel to what most people think is the high point of its respective franchise? Its a goddamned insult.

==Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots==
An obscure anime that came out roughly a few months before ''Armada''. Best known for its gag dub and general comedic focus that makes it surprisingly laughable, and certainly more fun to watch than any of the ''Energon Trilogy''. Usually forgotten about, except for the fact that Megatron here has six fucking modes of transformation (ten after upgrading to Galvatron). In this series Decepticons are instead Predacons like Beast Wars with actual Decepticons being created mid-series, starting with an evil clone of Optimus called "''Scourge''". General consensus is that is far from the best or worst series, it's just "meh."

==Energon Trilogy==
Comprised of the shows ''Armada'', ''Energon'', and ''Cybertron'', which are also called the ''Unicron Trilogy'' due to the antagonist's return to the spotlight after being virtually nonexistent since The Movie. Anime reinterpretation of G1, decaying from "poor but watchable" to "completely unwatchable drek" for all the reasons people hate [[/a/]]: bad dubbing, overly lengthy scenes of nothing, a shift to crappy CGI, and a plot that is so terribly paced and search-questy that you'd be praying for your GM to be railroading this. On the plus-side: competent badass Starscream (who unfortunately inspired a whole generation of [[Edgy|Linkin Park listening wannabes]]). On the downside: far too much focus on humans and not enough on giant robots trying to kill each other. Kicker, from the later series, is considered one of the worst human sidekicks the Transformers have ever had.
It has been said that, for all the failings of ''Beast Machines'', at least it's better than Armada and Energon.

===Transformers(Predule to Energon)===
This PlayStation 2-era game from Atari was not so much ''part'' of the Energon Trilogy as it was ''inspired'' by it. Essentially the ''Armada'' cartoon retooled as a third-person action game, the player took control of Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, and Red Alert and searched the world for Mini-Cons, fighting an army of Decepticlones and full-fledged Decepticons(Starscream, Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, and Megatron) as Boss Fights. In addition to Mini-Cons, you could also find Data-Cons that provided production artwork, background information, and some unaired Transformers versions of the old G.I. Joe. PSAs, complete with "And knowing is half the battle" catchphrase. It was actually a good game, especially by Transformers standards, and considered the best video-game adaptation until ''War For Cybertron'' came along.

===Galaxy Force===
Transformers Galaxy Force, The show that was butchered into Transformers Cybertron is more fondly remembered by fans. As it made of the strange choice of dubbing a male character into a woman. While butchering most of the series by making it a gag-dub by giving [[derp| alien robots stupid accents]]. While putting dialouge over scenes that didn't require them. The kids are also less annoying while the dub shoehorned in older versions of the Armada and Energon brats at the last minute during the final episode. This is because Gonzo created it as independent entry until Hazblow retconned it into the Energon trilogy with Takara Tomy following suit.

==Michael Bay Films==
The dark force known as Michael Bay brought Transformers back as a series of live-action + CGI movies. Considered the [[Matt Ward]] of the Transformers universe, Bay's movies are rage-inducing [[fail]]s that have far too much focus on annoying human characters and on lowbrow humor. Seriously, in the first movie, we don't get to see an Autobot for, like, thirty minutes while dealing with very bland characters who get billed way too much, and we have to facepalm our way through an awful gag about Bumblebee basically ''pissing on a guy''. The second one is no better with two black/redneck stereotypes as ''heroes'', a gag about balls, and a two-for-one gag about farting/incontinence - from a Transformer, no less. Real classy, Bay.

About the only shallow redeeming qualities it has is that the CGI Transformers look amazing (even if some neckbeards have cracked up over how they're "not accurate" to the G1 character modes), the fight scenes are suitably glorious for giant alien death-machines ripping each other to pieces (when you can see it clearly), and most importantly is it has introduced Transformers to a whole new generation of fans, who can hopefully be shown the good stuff instead of thinking this garbage is the true representative of the setting.

After the trilogy Bay made a fourth movie which actually manages to make some considerable improvements (not that it was that hard), like a lot more of focus on Optimus Prime, killing the scrappy comic relief during the first part of the movie and more consistent fighting scenes, plus DINOBOTS! charging the enemy. There is also more grimdark as Optimus finally decides enough is enough after having tried to protect mankind for more than five years while having his whole team slaughtered by those he sworn to protect, and pulls a gun against a human frakker who was teaming up with the mercenary Lockdown to kill Autobots and use their remains to make their own giant robots that turn into cars (except instead of literally creating Galvatron last time, this time it's like the T-1000 where they turn into nanobot swarms). On the downside, though, the humans are still pointless tagalongs (though this is a new set of humans, no Shia Lebouf to be found here, Thank God for that), there are more pointless stereotypes (Like Weeaboo Samurai-bot Drift, Crosshairs who gets a fucking trenchcoat when he transforms, and Hound, [[Awesome|who somehow has a cigar and a wire-beard]]), the Dinobots don't even show up until the last few minutes of the movie, and there's this ridiculous need to hammer in the "us vs. them" mentality between the humans making their own Transformers and Lockdown trying to kill Optimus because he's betrayed their makers by siding with the humans.
Than everything goes to shit during "The Last Knight". While ripping off the "Earth is Unicron" thing from Transformers Prime.

Then, in 2018, Bumblebee got his own spinoff movie about him crashing on Earth, losing his voice, making a friend and running from two decepticons and John Cena. To put it lightly it's one of the best Transformer films; the transformers themselves are accurate to their G1 forms, the storyline is coherent and the acting is spot on. This indicates that the film series may finally be going in the right direction. Shame that the series seem to be canceled.

==Animated==
G1 inspired series with notoriously unusual but smooth animation. This time, Optimus Prime and his crew are lowly space construction workers who stumble across a superweapon from the Great War and have to defend it against Megatron ('''GIVING HIM A GODDAMN ENGLISH ACCENT FUCK YES'''), who seeks to use it to restart the war and this time ensure Decepticon victory. This version's Optimus is much younger and less experienced than usual; funnily enough, he was voiced by the actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars. Generally noted for having the best human sidekick (who turns out to really be part-transformer anyways). The other Autobots also tend to have some interesting characterizations from "Complete dumb muscle who surprisingly knows everything about building [[Webway|Space Bridges]]" Bulkhead to "[[Weeaboo]] Robo-Ninja" Prowl to "MY EGO IS AS BIG AS MY CHIN AND MY ASSHOLEITUDE IS EVEN BIGGER!" Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons sometimes do better vis ze German schizophrenic Blitzwing, the [[Lorgar|borderline-religiously loyal]] Lugnut, and badass robo-Clint Eastwood Lockdown.

The series was weird in that alongside the Decepticons were also some gimmicky human villains, from a Shakespearean Robin Hood knockoff, to a cute little girl who's a mad scientist, to another mad scientist who rips off Transformer heads to replicate an old G1 gimmick. These villains were a bit ridiculous, but it helped break up the monotony of the constant 'con fighting, especially when Megatron was reduced to a state worse than [[Abaddon]] as a head. The creators came up with the idea to emphasize just how dangerous the 'cons are, compared to their Autobot opponents; when ''one'' 'con shows up, it's an emergency that takes the whole team to try and pull out a win. Hell, ''Starscream'' could beat up the entire Autobot team in his first few appearances before they figured out how to handle him. Using human bad guys kept the Decepticon threat "fresh" for longer; even when the Autobots got to the point where they could(kinda) face a Decepticon one-on-one, they remained a serious threat all the way up to the end.

==Cybertron Series==
There were many, MANY, video games made for every part of the Transformers, but most of them ranged from forgettable to utter shit to [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Mystery_of_Convoy memetically terrible.] The closest we got to a good original game series (so no whining about the Movie-Games) were the games ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'', both made by High Moon Studios.

These games act as the [[Horus Heresy]] to G1's 40k by explaining how Optimus became a leader and how Megatron became a dictator while their war and its demand eventually destroyed their homeworld. (These games are also technically part of the backstory for Hasbro's "Aligned continuity" shared with Transformers Prime and a couple prose stories, but as usual there are enough discrepancies to throw a wrench in that quite nicely.) While the gameplay itself isn't much more than a basic third-person shooter, the vast amount of references to the rest of the series and the rather well-written story and characters make it stand out. ''Fall of Cybertron'' may be considered one of the most grimdark settings to see wide release, while not being as totally ham-handed with it as Beast Machines. It also helps that the second game gave some bonus variety in some segments by giving you a level as MOTHERFUCKING GRIMLOCK, and another where you get to play as a combiner (who has an awesome helicopter-arm, but is otherwise not very memorable besides being huge.) Overall great fights, no crappy human sidekicks, an awesome OST and all the grimdarkness needed to make any neckbeard enjoy it quite much, also ESCALATION mode will ensure you endless hours of good bloodless carnage.

There is a (sorta) third game called ''Rise of the Dark Spark'', which decides to make the stupid decision of merging this series to the Bayformers continuity. It was released as tie in game with fourth movie and has less of budget, clearly shown with its number of glitches, lack of variety in levels (mostly just enemies till the game lets you move on) and downright ugly environments for the levels set on Earth. The only thing to remember is that the Cybertron segments are still awesome, while later parts will just shoehorn you with mutebee and Drift (who at least has an awesome special attack), with one level playing as Grimlock again and lacking any Decepticon plot post-Cybertron. There is also the 3ds version with mostly the same story but is otherwise a turn based strategy game kind of like a really old and obscure mid-late 00s IOS game except you have to deal with Bayverse shit.

===Prime===
G1 inspired CGI series that somehow salvages the fairly decent elements of Michael Bay's crapfest movies (e.g. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their respective roles, artstyle, some character elements/background lore, [[Rip and Tear]]), takes place in the same universe as the Cybertron games and crafts an awesome show out of it. Animation is fucking amazing, with fight scenes that rival if not trump the Michael Bay films. Very dark and gritty as well, where one of the Autobots [[Awesome|(voiced by the Rock himself, mind you)]], gets whacked in ''the first episode.'' The Autobots are not only outnumbered and outgunned by the Decepticons, but they also have to contend with MECH, a human terrorist organization that seeks to cannibalize Cybertronians for their advanced technology.

The biggest problem with this series is Miko, who competes with Kicker (from the abovementioned ''Energon Trilogy'') for the title of worst human character in Transformers history. Obnoxiously gung-ho and always charging off into danger, even when told not to, invariably making things worse for the Autobots in the process. Still, this series easily has some of the best human characters otherwise, most notably Agent Fowler, who in the company of giant alien killing machines manages to be a badass in his own right. Even Miko managed to get better as the series went on, learning from her mistakes and not being such a load. She even managed to take out a Decepticon at one point.

Then there's Predacons Rising; the made-for-tv movie meant to serve as a series finale... it was questionable at best. Plot holes everywhere, very little focus on the actual Predacons in the title, and characters doing stupid and random things to simply fit the plot. It was basically a segue into the next series; Robots in Disguise. There were some Dinobot focused IDW comics in between. They are pretty awesome. And mostly ignored. Because we don't deserve good things in Transformers.

===Rescue Bots===
Yes, this preschool-oriented series is ''technically'' part of this continuity. More on that below.

===Robots in Disguise===
In this series Prime's relegated mentor-figure role, while Bumblebee (once again with a voice) has to take command of an ex-con, a stickler, and a slightly-smarter Grimlock in helping some kid and his dad's junkyard and detaining runaway Decepticon inmates, all of whom aren't related to the main bads, so this series was more original than most of the kiddie-aimed series. There was a 'con in it called Slapper. The show really doesn't become good until the Starscream miniseries after season three, and the Soundwave/Autobot Counsel arc of the fourth season. Which also introduces combiners into the Prime/Cybertron continuity.

==Cyberverse==
G1 inspired CGI series. Jam packed with references all across the franchise.

==IDW==
IDW Publishing is responsible for two major continuities of Transformers; the last being one of the longest and most elaborate, and the current one which follows the toyline oriented towards older teens and adult collectors, the War For Cybertron series (not to be confused with the game series of the same name). The latter will also be told in a cartoon series on Netflix.

==Oddities==
There have been a ''lot'' of Transformers series out there. Many of them are just spinoffs of G1 or silly throwaways like [[What|Transformers Mr. Potato Head,]] but some of them are good enough or just weird enough to be worth mentioning here. For full details, see TFWiki below.
===Transformers Rescue Bots===
The 30-minute toy commercial for the preschool-focused "Rescue Bots" toyline. In the same continuity as Transformers Prime above, which would lead to much lulz if the writers ever had the balls to let them cross over to any significant degree. Features four young Autobots who slept through the whole war in stasis and were recalled to Earth by Optimus Prime; being too inexperienced to handle the rigors of war with the Decepticons, they were assigned to the ''[[wikipedia:Eureka (U.S. TV series)|Eureka]]''-esque island of Griffin Rock, where they perform rescue operations with their human partners. Instead of open combat, the 'bots and their human partners battle with out-of-control inventions and mundane disasters; the only true antagonist of the series is the [[steampunk]] gentleman-scientist Doctor Morocco, voiced by [[Slaanesh| <s>Slaanesh</s> Tim Curry.]] Surprisingly watchable for a kids' show due to solid humor, ''Rescue Bots'' has the distinction of being the longest-running Transformers cartoon ever, with four full seasons and a sequel series on track to air in 2019.

===Unit: E===
In the third season of Transformers Prime, the writers started dropping references to other Hasbro properties like ''M.A.S.K.'' and ''G.I. Joe'' in connection with a government agency called "Unit E." This was intended to be a "backdoor launch" to a whole shared universe in the vein of the massively profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting of just about every brand Hasbro owns that has ever been remotely popular with any demographic, ever. These ranged from the sensible (''M.A.S.K.'' was another transforming-toy brand from the 80s that Hasbro absorbed, and ''G.I. Joe'' has a long history of Transformers crossovers) to the oddball but justifiable (''Jem and the Holograms'' was Hasbro's big new girl-toy push in the 80s and was occasionally used as a sight gag in the G1 cartoon) to blatant halo-effect attempts that made no sense at all ([[Dungeons & Dragons]]? Stretch Armstrong? '''''Candy Land?!''''') The framing device for this insanity was the eponymous Unit: E, a group of explorers who scanned the multiverse for "the Eerie, the Else, the Eternities of Infinity" from an installation placed in the "slipstream" outside of reality. ([[Quest:TG_Meta_Quest|Sounds kinda familiar, don't it?]])

Perhaps fortunately for all involved, this product of Marketing's cocaine-fueled fever dreams did a faceplant into the sun and nothing came of it except for a one-shot comic book released at Comic-Con and the aforementioned namedrops in Prime. Hasbro never let go of the idea of seeing if their properties would blend, though, and in 2016 IDW was given the green light to weld their previously-separate licensed comics (including Transformers, Joe, Micronauts, Rom: Spaceknight, and yes, Jem) together through a ''Secret Wars''-style crossover event called ''Revolution.'' From this point IDW's comics are set in the '''Hasbro Universe,''' with such fiction-bending events as the Decepticon Skywarp joining G.I. Joe and a multi-property superhero team called the Revolutionaries joining forces.

Except now said universe is being rebooted while currently going FULL TOMINO via our pal Unicron and some really stupid ass deaths in the crossover comic with the Visionaries of all fucking things. YET NO GODDAMNED INHUMANOIDS WHICH IS HASBRO CALL OF CTHULHU BUT WITH POWERED ARMOR SCIENTISTS FIGHTING THE EVIL UNDER THE EARTH. Kup shouldn't die to a goddamn Visionary. Not when motherfucking D'Compose exists. Goddamnit now I want an Inhumanoids mod for Call of Cthulhu....

===Transformers: Kiss Players===
After the ignominious conclusion of the Energon Trilogy, Takara decided to make their next installment of the Transformers franchise smaller and more adult-focused. Welding the bits of their various G1-sequel lines (including the "collector's choice" ''Binaltech'' line and the grab-bag ''Robotmasters'' line) with the G1 cartoon and their own anime into a single (confusing as all hell) timeline, Transformers Kiss Players takes place immediately after the events of the 1986 movie. After Unicron exploded in 2005, the broken body of Galvatron was sent hurtling towards Earth where it (what else?) destroyed Tokyo. In response, the Earth Defense Command was formed to kick the Transformers off the goddamn planet before they blew up any other national capitals, which they did with a Transformer-hostile energy field and using the tech from Galvatron's corpse to make mass-produced Autorooper mecha. Unfortunately for them, Galvatron's reentry scattered fragments of his and Unicron's life-force into Earth's atmosphere, fragments that activated in 2006. The "Galvatron cells" fused with whatever they touched, turning them into biomechanical monsters called the Legion. Humans who came in contact with the Galvatron cells inexplicably did not turn into monsters, but instead could fuse with both Autoroopers and Transformers by ''kissing them.''

You see, Kiss Players was written by longtime Transformers fan and freelance toy designer Yuki Ohshima, who took Takara's desire for an otaku-targeted series as an invitation to ''freak the fuck out of people'' and gave them a freaky-ass magical girl horror story in the vein of ''Narutaru'' and Madoka Magica that just happened to have Transformers in it. [[Loli|A bunch of suspiciously young-looking women]] got dropped into a psychosexual nightmare in the name of shock value, and the Western Transformers fanbase crapped their pants over "pedophilia" showing up next to "their" childhood toys, accusing Oshima of wanting to [[Chris Orksen|diddle the kiddle.]] The Japanese fans, for their part, were mostly apologetic towards the Western fanbase and confused as to why the hell Takara thought that Freudian horror and moe were at all compatible with giant robots whaling on each other. The second part of the line (''Kiss Players Position'') dumped the original fiction's baggage in favor of taking cute girls on a whirlwind tour of the Transformers universe, but by that point the Western fans had already made up their mind. To this day Kiss Players is still the go-to acceptable target for "at least it's not as bad as..." jokes on TFWiki. The toys themselves were decent at least, being retools of the well-received ''Binaltech''/''Alternators'' collectible toys with vinyl loli figures packaged in the box, so picking those up is perfectly fine if you're willing to deal with faggots calling you a weeb.

==Tabletop Games==
Despite not having a licensed RPG Transformers is no stranger to tabletop games. None have been particularly amazing or well-known in the past, but Hasbro has aggressively been expanding the brand in the late 2010's and going towards the 2020's have managed to finally make a success.

* (The usual pallet-swap games)

Monopoly, Risk, Chess, Stratego, Connect 4, Uno, memory cards, playing cards, you know the drill.

* Heroclix

You fucking know what these are. Enjoy your game of Optimus Prime, Harley Quinn, Jean Grey, and Drizzt VS Master Splinter, Freddy Krueger, a Xenomorph, and Bilbo Baggins. Wait, that does sound cool actually...

* Transformers Robot Warrior Game

Released in 1985, its redeco Snakes/Chutes & Ladders except you have two pieces to divide die rolls between, and an outer board to progress around as a vehicle before transforming to robot mode and making your way through as usual. Since all players control cars, its technically all Autobot players trying to reach their base during a battle with the Decepticons

* The Transformers Game

Released in 1986. Despite impressive wargame-style box art, its a very simple game for small children. No real strategy, both players are trying to reach the end goal to destroy the enemy base and all movement is determined by dice rolls after the first move where you choose to go left or right (both ways are mirrored, offering only the illusion of a choice), and after that point you only decide whether to move forward or back. The board resembles outer space and the enemy base is on Earth, and all pieces are Seekers meaning both players are Decepticons interestingly enough. When a piece for both players land on the same space they draw cards from a deck which interestingly all depict Autobots, highest number wins and best of three wins the battle. Winner transforms to robot mode, loser goes back to start. Only robot modes can enter the enemy base. First player to have all three of their team in the enemy base wins.

* Transformers Adventure Game: Defeat the Decepticons

* Transformers G1 Decoys Board Game

* Transformers: Beast Wars

Released in 1999 in Japan, based on the entire Beast Wars line at the time (including the Japanese-only cartoon).

* Transformers Armada: Battle For Cybertron

A redeco of Star Wars: Epic Duels, with some rules simplified and new modes. Generally considered a casual strategy game, with a lower learning curve. Instead of one hero and two minions, you only have one hero. Four characters per faction, each having their own combat deck and rules. They aren’t equal in strength, Megatron and Optimus predictably outclass everyone. There are four different maps to fight on with their own cover and terrain, and character start locations mitigate the strength difference in characters to a small degree. 2v2, faction mixing, and FFA game modes are available.

* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes Game

* Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Missile Mania

* Jogo Dos Transformers: Una Aventura Emocionante Com Os Robos-Herois Do Futuro

A licensed Brazilian Transformers game made by Estrela. Estrela made up its own Transformers continuity based entirely on Minis. The game is extremely rare, so good luck finding the rules, let alone a copy.

* [[Transformers Trading Card Game]]
Deserves its own page. This is that aforementioned success.

* Battlechanger.

A pair of RPG's designed to emulate and recreate transformers in IP neutral, (IE: Don't sue us we just have transforming robots from other planet that are in two factions and are locked in a war but there not called Autobots Decepticon). Battlechanger uses a unique Diceless RPG engine to run it's system, while Battle Changers: Ironworks uses a variant of the D&D 3.5 ruleset while also being pathfinder comparable. So what's the catch? Well they were both made by Otherverse Games. Yes: the [[Black Tokyo]] People. Thankfully there is no cross contamination between the two, while Battle Changes show up in Black Tokyo, Black Tokyo definitely does not show up here.

* [[COMMANDROIDS: A WORLD TRANSFORMED]]
A tabletop roleplaying game by [[Nerdy City]] that can be found [https://nerdycity.com/product/commandroids/ here], compatible with their other 80's franchise expy games (just in case you wanted your Transformers/He-man/GI Joe/Stephen King crossover campaign). Mostly centered around not!Tranformers, with some elements of similar things like Voltron, Exosquad, and Macross/Robotech thrown in as the players see fit. Players create a human and Commandroid character who are bonded together, which can take the form of piloting or merging with the robot similar to the various _____master Transformer toys. There are rules for classes of machines and vehicles, as well as Combiners and Titans. The game uses the Nerdy City gaming "Omnisystem" which has rules for character relationships, leveraging time for player activities they will not want to roleplay through, and the ability for players to have "solo adventures" which don't take place at the same time in-universe but are played that way. As an aternative it functions as an add-on module for the [[FATE System]].

== See Also ==
The idea of "giant robots turning into vehicles" is so cool that lots of homebrew and independent mecha RPGs include mechas or characters that are "totally not Transformers" to fill the void that Hasbro has seemingly refused to fill themselves. For example:

* [[Giant Guardian Generation]]
* [[Horizon]] - Mechamorphosis is literally "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off, done by way of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5".
* [[Mechagenasis]] - Another "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off" game, this time done for [[True20]].
* [[Battlechangers]] - Blatantly Transformers-based RPG, in both an original version and a [[Pathfinder]] version (Battlechangers Ironworks).
* [[Mekton]] - Extremely flexible with what it can do: the rules for transforming are simple (as far as Mekton goes anyway) and adapting to a Transformers setting is as easy as actually reading up on them, but the game's hilariously broken.
* [[Rifts]] - Some homebrew stuff floating around on the net for playing Transformers exists. Pity it relies on the godawful RIFTS mechanics...
* [[Codex: Transformers]] - A case of 1d4chan getting shit done, adapting Transformers into yet another [[Warhammer 40000]] faction.
* [[Setting:Transformers]] - A tie-in article to the above trying to develop the lore to explain why Codex: Transformers is a thing.

== External Links ==
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page TFWiki.net], the unofficial Transformers wiki.

[[Category:Not related]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Transformers

2019-11-15T13:47:54Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Cybertron Series */

[[File:Generation 1 by DonFig.jpg|800px|thumbnail|center|And these are just your characters from G1!]]

'''Transformers''' is a series of Robot Toys created by [[Hasbro]] and Takara Tomy that typically turn into cars and other vehicles. Robots are cool, cars are cool and so they became popular. In 1984 they made some comics and a cartoon show. The comics show created a lot of toy sales and the toys kept the shows and comics popular. Over the years they changed things up to sell more toys and new series were made, some worked quite well (Beast Wars, Prime) others did not (Armada, Energon, Cybertron).

Why has there never been a roleplaying game about this shit? Only [[/co/|comics, cartoons,]] [[/a/|anime,]] [[/v/|and finally video games.]] So much potential. Seriously, it's a setting about sentient, shapeshifting robots fighting a war that spans motivations from political to racial to theological. Fuck, there weren't ''any'' tabletop Transformers games beyond [[Ameritrash|the usual tie-in bullshit]] until 2018 when Hasbro announced an official Transformers TCG. How the fuck has nobody realised the money-making potential there?

==Main Guys==
As the series come and go, a certain bevvy of characters seem to be archetypal to the Transformers. Not helped by the fact that, ever since the flop of ''Beast Machines'' and the riotous financial successes of the Bay, Hasbro seems to only ever stick with recycling Generation One, with some other characters jumping continuities. These are the Transformers who appear in some form or another in every iteration of the setting.

*'''Optimus Prime''': Leader of the Autobots, [[Lawful Good]] to the computer-core, the Big Red Hero-bot himself. There's always an Optimus leading the Autobots, and he usually turns into some kind of red truck or hauler. His name is the Latin words for "best" and "first", and he really is both. In the original show (and in the Michael Bay movies -- one of the decent things about them -- and Transformers Prime and the Cybertron games), he was voiced by Peter Cullen, whose awesome deep voice you probably hear in your head whenever you read any of his dialogue. Check it out: ''"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."'' Also has the record of dying the most times out of anyone ever, making one wonder how the hell the GM lets him get away with it each time. Might be because he always goes out fighting, never like a punk.

*'''Megatron''': If there's an Optimus Prime, there's always a Megatron, the Evil (of some flavor, depending on the series) to his Lawful Good. Megsy remains pretty consistent throughout his appearances, usually varying only in what level of honor he has (which usually depends on his backstory; sometimes he started as a charismatic gladiator turned freedom fighter against the corrupt Cybertronian government -- [[Angron]], anyone? -- but sometimes he's just nuts) and/or how much of a cold-blooded psychopath he is. He used to turn into a gun (which could inexplicably shrink down to be small enough to be wielded by another Decepticon or even the occasional ''human''), with the <s>barrel</s> scope giving him a wicked arm cannon in robot mode, but nowadays he usually turns into a tank or a jet. He was first voiced by Frank Welker, whose versatile voice was also used for just about every other Decepticon except for Starscream (and probably at least one role in just about every cartoon ever made). David Kaye did a bang-up job voicing Predcacon Leader Megatron in Beast Wars, ''Yeeesss''.
**'''Galvatron''':Whenever there is a Megatron there is a Galvatron. He's everything you love about the M taken up to eleven. This guy is seriously bad news, he's probably insane and violent enough to give Doombreed pause and he's probably the strongest non-God transformer there is in G1 comics it takes a friggin' time vortex to finally put him down. After a dying Megatron found himself adrift in space, he had a lovely chat with the physical Cybertronian God,Unicron who reconstructed him into this indentity. Didn't work for long though; Galvy kind of went off the reservation pretty quickly.

*'''Bumblebee''': The yellow kid-friendly one, he's usually the main one to interact with the resident token humans. He usually turns into a sports car. Can be surprisingly badass in some adaptations -- his ''Beast Wars'' counterpart, Cheetor, went on to basically take Optimus Primal's place as leader of the Maximals in ''Beast Machines''. In the Michael Bay movies, he became a mute who talks only in radio quotes/beeps and boops like a 60s robot which just got ANNOYING. His Prime Counterpart retained the mute quirk, but his voicebox was eventually repaired by the time of the sequel series. Then he starred in a prequel film which was so awesome, Hasbro decided to just reboot the Transformers film franchise. Way to go, little guy!

*'''Grimlock''': A fuckmothering [[AWESOME|robot Tyrannosaurus]] that usually breathes fire. He's the leader of a pack of other robot dinosaurs called the '''Dinobots'''. He's not exactly smart (well sometimes, he's either a stupid beast or a no nonsense leader with a speech problem), but who cares about that? HE'LL FUCKING EAT YOU. No seriously he once ripped Shockwave's arm off and ate it.

*'''Starscream''': Megatron's loud-mouthed, whiny, scheming, sneaky, backstabbing second-in-command who always wants to lead the Decepticons. He is neither strong enough to bump Megsy off, [[Sindri Myr|smart enough to trick him to his death]], or [[Eliphas|charismatic enough to persuade others he's a better boss]]. Sometimes Megatron himself wonders why he keeps Starscream around, but (when the writers remember) he is actually an extremely competent air commander who leads The Seekers, Decepticons who are typically recolors of him with the most prominent being Skywarp and Thundercracker. In Animated, the Seekers were replaced by actual clones all named after classic Seekers with the only one original to the series being [[Rule 63]]. Starscream usually turns into the latest and greatest fighter jet (unless he's turning into some Cybertronian future-jet) historically an F-15, F-16, or F-22. In the original cartoon, his catchphrase (delivered in the classic 80s-villain screech as his first voice actor also voiced the similarly screechy Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe) was probably ''"Decepticons, RETREEEAT!"'' Was also voiced by fucking Tom ''"Spongebob Squarepants"'' Kenny in Animated; man, is that a blow to your dignity. Nowadays, though, he's more consistently competent (and given a more menacing voice by [[Steve Blum]] in Transformers Prime). Is such a total backstabbing traitor that "The Starscream" has entered pop-culture as a term to describe someone who seems more dedicated to fucking his own team over in ostensible pursuit of power than to actually beating the guys he's supposed to fight.

*'''Soundwave''': A major character for the Decepticons as Megatron's legitimately loyal number two. Is also the biggest source of nostalgia because he turns into a fucking tapedeck. <strike>Even though he lacks a personality</strike>'''SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR; PAGE WRITER INFERIOR''', he manages to be awesome merely through dogged determination and because he's the one guy who'll never give anyone any bullshit. He has a number of minions who turn into cassettes (or goddamn guitars in Animated's case), but the main ones are '''Rumble''' (Whose arms turn into piledrivers so he can cause earthquakes), '''Frenzy''' (Who has a sonic scream), '''Ravage''' (A fucking robot jaguar who turns into a cassette), '''Laserbeak''' and '''Buzzsaw''' (robot birds), and '''Ratbat''' (a robot bat). The IDW comic gave him an origin about how he used to be homeless due to his mind reading powers until Laserbeak and Ravage found him and helped him control them. In the Marvel G1 comics he acted as toady to whichever Decepticon had usurped Megatron that month while steadily scheming to increase his own power, making him like Starscream but actually competent. He also spoke in complete sentences and had a functioning mouth.

*'''Shockwave''': The real mad scientist of the Decepticons, whose arm is a gun and also turned into a gun in G1 (a giant flying gun). While he's also pretty loyal to Megatron, he's nowhere near Soundwave levels because his true loyalty is to pure logic. There are several times where he became a bigger threat than Megatron, requiring both Autobots and Decepticons to stop him. Most series have him involved with the Dinobots, either by creating them, or just they have major beef with him (he doesn't give a shit as he has better things to do). He's another guy who happened to be blessed by [[Steve Blum]] in the Cybertron series. The IDW comics gave him an origin about how he used to be an idealistic Noblebright senator (and Optimus' BFF) until he got unpersoned and mutilated by the corrupt Cybertronian government. Ouch. His Prime adaptation is fucking badass and intimidating, both in voice work and design, but unfortunately he suffers from Villain Incompetence Syndrome whenever the good guys show up, like so many other good bad guys.

*'''Unicron''': Unicron was originally introduced as the big bad for the '86 movie, a planet-sized, planet-eating bringer of doom (basically, if Galactus was the Death Star), voiced by ''the'' Orson Welles in his last role. The third season episode "Call of the Primitives" revealed his original, long since abandoned, origin as a planet-destroying creation of an alien mad scientist. Later media, beginning with the Marvel comics, changed his origin to Transformers' Satan, a god-like destroyer tricked into trapping himself inside a planet, but learned how to possess the world and reshape it into his own image. That fucking anime trilogy not only pulled this interpretation back, but made it "official", saying there's only one Unicron in the entire multiverse - at least, they tried. The comics pay more attention to it, but the shows tend to avoid it; witness Prime, where Unicron is actually sleeping at the heart of Earth instead of running around eating planets.

*'''Primus''': The Emprah to Unicron's Chaos God, except he's an actual god... who actually transformed into a planet and fell asleep for a fuckton of years. In this form, he became Cybertron and created the Cybertronian race. Like his evil counterpart, Unicron, he hails from the 80's comics and didn't make an appearance on screen (other than references to a pseudo-Bible named the "Covenant of Primus" in ''Beast Wars'') until the Energon Trilogy, which is where he's stayed.

==Generation One==
The original, the alpha iteration, the place where it all to began. Sometimes mockingly called Geewun because of the nostalgia fags who hate on everything that come after it. No matter how good they are. At the time, it was just called "The Transformers", with a "four-issue limited series" from Marvel that ended up running for 80 issues, a cartoon by the same name for three seasons (and two more seasons in Japan) from 1984-87 and the animated film "The Transformers: The Movie" in 1986. The movie's soundtrack is awesomely 80's, and it features the amazing song "The Touch" when Optimus Prime fights Megatron. Quite literally, this movie shit all over Bay's multi-million crappers... and that's the problem; the movie was so good that it marked the peak for the young franchise and it began a downhill slide from there, with the show scrambling to cope with all the losses (yeah, lots of people died here, even Optimus), while the toys began getting gimmickier without getting better.

The "Generation One" title was applied retroactively after Hasbro released the "Generation 2" line in 1993. By the way, G2 was the reason Transformers was considered dead for most of the 90's. The comic was that cheap sort of [[Edgy|"gritty for no real reason"]] the 90's was infamous for and the toys had pretty much burned themselves out and no gimmick could really help them on that. There was also a short-lived "Transformers G2" show, but it was just G1 with new CGI openings/endings and scene changes, so it only lasted a few episodes before flopping.

Of note is that if you want to experience G1 without having to dig up the eps from some torrent or Netflix, you can get ''Transformers Devastation'', which is essentially a G1 ep in vidya form produced by Platinum Studios, the guys responsible for balls-to-the-walls hypefests like ''Metal Gear Rising'', ''Bayonetta'', and ''The Wonderful 101'' (aka /m/ the game). Most of the actors are present, there's murderfests and speed, and big bosses. Also you get to run idiots over (but no pedestrians). Only letdown is the short length of the game and the lack of a Decepticon story and Abominus.
===Marvel's The Transformers===
What a lot of people who weren't kids in 1984 may not remember is that the first piece of long-form Transformers fiction ever was not the cartoon, but the Marvel comic book, produced in direct partnership with Hasbro as an expansion on the toy bios and character names that Marvel had already written to jam the random designs that had been licensed from Takara into a cohesive toyline. Most of the themes and tropes that people think of as "Transformers" were developed by Marvel, from the idea of living robots coming to Earth in search of energy to the most common origin for the planet-eating Unicron. Sometimes, Marvel published gripping stories exploring the dynamic of mechanical life forms adapting to an entirely alien environment and the humans caught in their crossfire. Sometimes they published stories about robot professional wrestling and evil car washes. Still, the stories had soul, and the comic ended up lasting a full year after the toyline it was made to promote ended in America. (As a sign of the times, one of the reasons the comic was canceled were its low sales of ''70,000 copies an issue.'')

British kids got an additional treat in the form of original stories from Marvel's UK division, printed in between serialized edits of the US issues in weekly installments. Most of these were done by the inimitable '''Simon Furman,''' who went on to write the US Transformers comic as well and has become the most prolific writer of Transformers fiction in the world.

==Beast Wars==
The first Western-released sequel to G1 (there were two Japanese-only continuations to G1 that never got released outside of Japan and the G2 comic mentioned above), a CGI show created by Mainframe (also responsible for ReBoot and [[War Planets]]). Set up as a "loose sequel" to G1, it involves new transformer races called "Maximals" (Autobots) and "Predacons" (Decepticons).

A Predacon terrorist leader styling himself after the original Megatron, including taking his name, hijacks an artifact with a mysterious connection to Megatron the first and goes on the run into deep space with a band of terrorists, planning on restarting the Great War and this time causing a Predacon victory. A Maximal deep-space exploration vessel commanded by Optimus Primal attempts to intercept, and both vessels end up stranded on a mysterious alien world, where an overabundance of raw energon forces them to adopt the forms of local fauna to preserve themselves. The two forces promptly start trying to wipe each other out and then escape the planet. There's also a sideplot involving an ancient alien civilization that ends itself just before the Season 3 finale.

They would eventually find out that this strange world was actually Earth, which was where Megatron II was trying to get all along, and they find the wreckage of the Ark of the original series, when new Megatron decides to headshot Prime in order to change the future for his benefit. It kinda flops when new Optimus takes part of old Optimus's soul, gets another upgrade, and becomes sorta-truck. It inspires Megatron II to try the same trick with his namesake, turning himself into a huge firebreathing dragon-bot.

Though Hasbro would mostly consign this story to oblivion after Beast Machines, the characters of Blackarachnia (sexy spider-bot who changes from evil to good thanks to love) and Waspinator (the walking punching bag who the heroes almost invariably blow up only to be fixed later), along with the concept of the Spark (essentially, Transformers' souls) would be re-used in later eras. More importantly, this show saved the franchise after Generation 2 almost killed it.

==Beast Machines==
Sequel series to ''Beast Wars''. On returning to Cybertron, our heroes are attacked by armies of transforming cookie-cutter drones. It eventually turns out that Megatron broke free from the Maximals' prison and flew back to Cybertron before them; he infected the entire planet with a cyber-virus that put them all into comas, ripped out their hearts/souls and stashed them in some hidden bunker, and melted down their bodies to rebuild them into mindless robot slaves.

Awesomely grimdark concept, but hampered by two huge flaws. Firstly, a super-annoying green aesop, which was very clumsily handled because this is a planet of talking robots, not nature. More importantly, major character derailment - it was made by a different team to ''Beast Wars'', and they weren't even allowed to watch the first series to familiarize themselves with how the Maximals were supposed to behave, so it'd be "more accessible".

Probably the reason why Hasbro only recycles G1 instead of trying to do its own thing with new shows, the way these two shows did. Even though it was their own damn fault, because they ''made'' this series into what it was. Time has been kinder to it, though, after the initial rage and denouncement. It is kind of like the Alien/Terminator 3 of Transformers. On its own its really damn good. As a sequel to what most people think is the high point of its respective franchise? Its a goddamned insult.

==Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots==
An obscure anime that came out roughly a few months before ''Armada''. Best known for its gag dub and general comedic focus that makes it surprisingly laughable, and certainly more fun to watch than any of the ''Energon Trilogy''. Usually forgotten about, except for the fact that Megatron here has six fucking modes of transformation (ten after upgrading to Galvatron). In this series Decepticons are instead Predacons like Beast Wars with actual Decepticons being created mid-series, starting with an evil clone of Optimus called "''Scourge''". General consensus is that is far from the best or worst series, it's just "meh."

==Energon Trilogy==
Comprised of the shows ''Armada'', ''Energon'', and ''Cybertron'', which are also called the ''Unicron Trilogy'' due to the antagonist's return to the spotlight after being virtually nonexistent since The Movie. Anime reinterpretation of G1, decaying from "poor but watchable" to "completely unwatchable drek" for all the reasons people hate [[/a/]]: bad dubbing, overly lengthy scenes of nothing, a shift to crappy CGI, and a plot that is so terribly paced and search-questy that you'd be praying for your GM to be railroading this. On the plus-side: competent badass Starscream (who unfortunately inspired a whole generation of [[Edgy|Linkin Park listening wannabes]]). On the downside: far too much focus on humans and not enough on giant robots trying to kill each other. Kicker, from the later series, is considered one of the worst human sidekicks the Transformers have ever had.
It has been said that, for all the failings of ''Beast Machines'', at least it's better than Armada and Energon.

===Galaxy Force===
Transformers Galaxy Force, The show that was butchered into Transformers Cybertron is more fondly remembered by fans. As it made of the strange choice of dubbing a male character into a woman. While butchering most of the series by making it a gag-dub by giving [[derp| alien robots stupid accents]]. While putting dialouge over scenes that didn't require them. The kids are also less annoying while the dub shoehorned in older versions of the Armada and Energon brats at the last minute during the final episode. This is because Gonzo created it as independent entry until Hazblow retconned it into the Energon trilogy with Takara Tomy following suit.

==Michael Bay Films==
The dark force known as Michael Bay brought Transformers back as a series of live-action + CGI movies. Considered the [[Matt Ward]] of the Transformers universe, Bay's movies are rage-inducing [[fail]]s that have far too much focus on annoying human characters and on lowbrow humor. Seriously, in the first movie, we don't get to see an Autobot for, like, thirty minutes while dealing with very bland characters who get billed way too much, and we have to facepalm our way through an awful gag about Bumblebee basically ''pissing on a guy''. The second one is no better with two black/redneck stereotypes as ''heroes'', a gag about balls, and a two-for-one gag about farting/incontinence - from a Transformer, no less. Real classy, Bay.

About the only shallow redeeming qualities it has is that the CGI Transformers look amazing (even if some neckbeards have cracked up over how they're "not accurate" to the G1 character modes), the fight scenes are suitably glorious for giant alien death-machines ripping each other to pieces (when you can see it clearly), and most importantly is it has introduced Transformers to a whole new generation of fans, who can hopefully be shown the good stuff instead of thinking this garbage is the true representative of the setting.

After the trilogy Bay made a fourth movie which actually manages to make some considerable improvements (not that it was that hard), like a lot more of focus on Optimus Prime, killing the scrappy comic relief during the first part of the movie and more consistent fighting scenes, plus DINOBOTS! charging the enemy. There is also more grimdark as Optimus finally decides enough is enough after having tried to protect mankind for more than five years while having his whole team slaughtered by those he sworn to protect, and pulls a gun against a human frakker who was teaming up with the mercenary Lockdown to kill Autobots and use their remains to make their own giant robots that turn into cars (except instead of literally creating Galvatron last time, this time it's like the T-1000 where they turn into nanobot swarms). On the downside, though, the humans are still pointless tagalongs (though this is a new set of humans, no Shia Lebouf to be found here, Thank God for that), there are more pointless stereotypes (Like Weeaboo Samurai-bot Drift, Crosshairs who gets a fucking trenchcoat when he transforms, and Hound, [[Awesome|who somehow has a cigar and a wire-beard]]), the Dinobots don't even show up until the last few minutes of the movie, and there's this ridiculous need to hammer in the "us vs. them" mentality between the humans making their own Transformers and Lockdown trying to kill Optimus because he's betrayed their makers by siding with the humans.
Than everything goes to shit during "The Last Knight". While ripping off the "Earth is Unicron" thing from Transformers Prime.

Then, in 2018, Bumblebee got his own spinoff movie about him crashing on Earth, losing his voice, making a friend and running from two decepticons and John Cena. To put it lightly it's one of the best Transformer films; the transformers themselves are accurate to their G1 forms, the storyline is coherent and the acting is spot on. This indicates that the film series may finally be going in the right direction. Shame that the series seem to be canceled.

==Animated==
G1 inspired series with notoriously unusual but smooth animation. This time, Optimus Prime and his crew are lowly space construction workers who stumble across a superweapon from the Great War and have to defend it against Megatron ('''GIVING HIM A GODDAMN ENGLISH ACCENT FUCK YES'''), who seeks to use it to restart the war and this time ensure Decepticon victory. This version's Optimus is much younger and less experienced than usual; funnily enough, he was voiced by the actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars. Generally noted for having the best human sidekick (who turns out to really be part-transformer anyways). The other Autobots also tend to have some interesting characterizations from "Complete dumb muscle who surprisingly knows everything about building [[Webway|Space Bridges]]" Bulkhead to "[[Weeaboo]] Robo-Ninja" Prowl to "MY EGO IS AS BIG AS MY CHIN AND MY ASSHOLEITUDE IS EVEN BIGGER!" Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons sometimes do better vis ze German schizophrenic Blitzwing, the [[Lorgar|borderline-religiously loyal]] Lugnut, and badass robo-Clint Eastwood Lockdown.

The series was weird in that alongside the Decepticons were also some gimmicky human villains, from a Shakespearean Robin Hood knockoff, to a cute little girl who's a mad scientist, to another mad scientist who rips off Transformer heads to replicate an old G1 gimmick. These villains were a bit ridiculous, but it helped break up the monotony of the constant 'con fighting, especially when Megatron was reduced to a state worse than [[Abaddon]] as a head. The creators came up with the idea to emphasize just how dangerous the 'cons are, compared to their Autobot opponents; when ''one'' 'con shows up, it's an emergency that takes the whole team to try and pull out a win. Hell, ''Starscream'' could beat up the entire Autobot team in his first few appearances before they figured out how to handle him. Using human bad guys kept the Decepticon threat "fresh" for longer; even when the Autobots got to the point where they could(kinda) face a Decepticon one-on-one, they remained a serious threat all the way up to the end.

==Cybertron Series==
There were many, MANY, video games made for every part of the Transformers, but most of them ranged from forgettable to utter shit to [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Mystery_of_Convoy memetically terrible.] The closest we got to a good original game series (so no whining about the Movie-Games) were the games ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'', both made by High Moon Studios.

These games act as the [[Horus Heresy]] to G1's 40k by explaining how Optimus became a leader and how Megatron became a dictator while their war and its demand eventually destroyed their homeworld. (These games are also technically part of the backstory for Hasbro's "Aligned continuity" shared with Transformers Prime and a couple prose stories, but as usual there are enough discrepancies to throw a wrench in that quite nicely.) While the gameplay itself isn't much more than a basic third-person shooter, the vast amount of references to the rest of the series and the rather well-written story and characters make it stand out. ''Fall of Cybertron'' may be considered one of the most grimdark settings to see wide release, while not being as totally ham-handed with it as Beast Machines. It also helps that the second game gave some bonus variety in some segments by giving you a level as MOTHERFUCKING GRIMLOCK, and another where you get to play as a combiner (who has an awesome helicopter-arm, but is otherwise not very memorable besides being huge.) Overall great fights, no crappy human sidekicks, an awesome OST and all the grimdarkness needed to make any neckbeard enjoy it quite much, also ESCALATION mode will ensure you endless hours of good bloodless carnage.

There is a (sorta) third game called ''Rise of the Dark Spark'', which decides to make the stupid decision of merging this series to the Bayformers continuity. It was released as tie in game with fourth movie and has less of budget, clearly shown with its number of glitches, lack of variety in levels (mostly just enemies till the game lets you move on) and downright ugly environments for the levels set on Earth. The only thing to remember is that the Cybertron segments are still awesome, while later parts will just shoehorn you with mutebee and Drift (who at least has an awesome special attack), with one level playing as Grimlock again and lacking any Decepticon plot post-Cybertron. There is also the 3ds version with mostly the same story but is otherwise a turn based strategy game kind of like a really old and obscure mid-late 00s IOS game except you have to deal with Bayverse shit.

===Prime===
G1 inspired CGI series that somehow salvages the fairly decent elements of Michael Bay's crapfest movies (e.g. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their respective roles, artstyle, some character elements/background lore, [[Rip and Tear]]), takes place in the same universe as the Cybertron games and crafts an awesome show out of it. Animation is fucking amazing, with fight scenes that rival if not trump the Michael Bay films. Very dark and gritty as well, where one of the Autobots [[Awesome|(voiced by the Rock himself, mind you)]], gets whacked in ''the first episode.'' The Autobots are not only outnumbered and outgunned by the Decepticons, but they also have to contend with MECH, a human terrorist organization that seeks to cannibalize Cybertronians for their advanced technology.

The biggest problem with this series is Miko, who competes with Kicker (from the abovementioned ''Energon Trilogy'') for the title of worst human character in Transformers history. Obnoxiously gung-ho and always charging off into danger, even when told not to, invariably making things worse for the Autobots in the process. Still, this series easily has some of the best human characters otherwise, most notably Agent Fowler, who in the company of giant alien killing machines manages to be a badass in his own right. Even Miko managed to get better as the series went on, learning from her mistakes and not being such a load. She even managed to take out a Decepticon at one point.

Then there's Predacons Rising; the made-for-tv movie meant to serve as a series finale... it was questionable at best. Plot holes everywhere, very little focus on the actual Predacons in the title, and characters doing stupid and random things to simply fit the plot. It was basically a segue into the next series; Robots in Disguise. There were some Dinobot focused IDW comics in between. They are pretty awesome. And mostly ignored. Because we don't deserve good things in Transformers.

===Rescue Bots===
Yes, this preschool-oriented series is ''technically'' part of this continuity. More on that below.

===Robots in Disguise===
In this series Prime's relegated mentor-figure role, while Bumblebee (once again with a voice) has to take command of an ex-con, a stickler, and a slightly-smarter Grimlock in helping some kid and his dad's junkyard and detaining runaway Decepticon inmates, all of whom aren't related to the main bads, so this series was more original than most of the kiddie-aimed series. There was a 'con in it called Slapper. The show really doesn't become good until the Starscream miniseries after season three, and the Soundwave/Autobot Counsel arc of the fourth season. Which also introduces combiners into the Prime/Cybertron continuity.

==Cyberverse==
G1 inspired CGI series. Jam packed with references all across the franchise.

==IDW==
IDW Publishing is responsible for two major continuities of Transformers; the last being one of the longest and most elaborate, and the current one which follows the toyline oriented towards older teens and adult collectors, the War For Cybertron series (not to be confused with the game series of the same name). The latter will also be told in a cartoon series on Netflix.

==Oddities==
There have been a ''lot'' of Transformers series out there. Many of them are just spinoffs of G1 or silly throwaways like [[What|Transformers Mr. Potato Head,]] but some of them are good enough or just weird enough to be worth mentioning here. For full details, see TFWiki below.
===Transformers Rescue Bots===
The 30-minute toy commercial for the preschool-focused "Rescue Bots" toyline. In the same continuity as Transformers Prime above, which would lead to much lulz if the writers ever had the balls to let them cross over to any significant degree. Features four young Autobots who slept through the whole war in stasis and were recalled to Earth by Optimus Prime; being too inexperienced to handle the rigors of war with the Decepticons, they were assigned to the ''[[wikipedia:Eureka (U.S. TV series)|Eureka]]''-esque island of Griffin Rock, where they perform rescue operations with their human partners. Instead of open combat, the 'bots and their human partners battle with out-of-control inventions and mundane disasters; the only true antagonist of the series is the [[steampunk]] gentleman-scientist Doctor Morocco, voiced by [[Slaanesh| <s>Slaanesh</s> Tim Curry.]] Surprisingly watchable for a kids' show due to solid humor, ''Rescue Bots'' has the distinction of being the longest-running Transformers cartoon ever, with four full seasons and a sequel series on track to air in 2019.

===Unit: E===
In the third season of Transformers Prime, the writers started dropping references to other Hasbro properties like ''M.A.S.K.'' and ''G.I. Joe'' in connection with a government agency called "Unit E." This was intended to be a "backdoor launch" to a whole shared universe in the vein of the massively profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting of just about every brand Hasbro owns that has ever been remotely popular with any demographic, ever. These ranged from the sensible (''M.A.S.K.'' was another transforming-toy brand from the 80s that Hasbro absorbed, and ''G.I. Joe'' has a long history of Transformers crossovers) to the oddball but justifiable (''Jem and the Holograms'' was Hasbro's big new girl-toy push in the 80s and was occasionally used as a sight gag in the G1 cartoon) to blatant halo-effect attempts that made no sense at all ([[Dungeons & Dragons]]? Stretch Armstrong? '''''Candy Land?!''''') The framing device for this insanity was the eponymous Unit: E, a group of explorers who scanned the multiverse for "the Eerie, the Else, the Eternities of Infinity" from an installation placed in the "slipstream" outside of reality. ([[Quest:TG_Meta_Quest|Sounds kinda familiar, don't it?]])

Perhaps fortunately for all involved, this product of Marketing's cocaine-fueled fever dreams did a faceplant into the sun and nothing came of it except for a one-shot comic book released at Comic-Con and the aforementioned namedrops in Prime. Hasbro never let go of the idea of seeing if their properties would blend, though, and in 2016 IDW was given the green light to weld their previously-separate licensed comics (including Transformers, Joe, Micronauts, Rom: Spaceknight, and yes, Jem) together through a ''Secret Wars''-style crossover event called ''Revolution.'' From this point IDW's comics are set in the '''Hasbro Universe,''' with such fiction-bending events as the Decepticon Skywarp joining G.I. Joe and a multi-property superhero team called the Revolutionaries joining forces.

Except now said universe is being rebooted while currently going FULL TOMINO via our pal Unicron and some really stupid ass deaths in the crossover comic with the Visionaries of all fucking things. YET NO GODDAMNED INHUMANOIDS WHICH IS HASBRO CALL OF CTHULHU BUT WITH POWERED ARMOR SCIENTISTS FIGHTING THE EVIL UNDER THE EARTH. Kup shouldn't die to a goddamn Visionary. Not when motherfucking D'Compose exists. Goddamnit now I want an Inhumanoids mod for Call of Cthulhu....

===Transformers: Kiss Players===
After the ignominious conclusion of the Energon Trilogy, Takara decided to make their next installment of the Transformers franchise smaller and more adult-focused. Welding the bits of their various G1-sequel lines (including the "collector's choice" ''Binaltech'' line and the grab-bag ''Robotmasters'' line) with the G1 cartoon and their own anime into a single (confusing as all hell) timeline, Transformers Kiss Players takes place immediately after the events of the 1986 movie. After Unicron exploded in 2005, the broken body of Galvatron was sent hurtling towards Earth where it (what else?) destroyed Tokyo. In response, the Earth Defense Command was formed to kick the Transformers off the goddamn planet before they blew up any other national capitals, which they did with a Transformer-hostile energy field and using the tech from Galvatron's corpse to make mass-produced Autorooper mecha. Unfortunately for them, Galvatron's reentry scattered fragments of his and Unicron's life-force into Earth's atmosphere, fragments that activated in 2006. The "Galvatron cells" fused with whatever they touched, turning them into biomechanical monsters called the Legion. Humans who came in contact with the Galvatron cells inexplicably did not turn into monsters, but instead could fuse with both Autoroopers and Transformers by ''kissing them.''

You see, Kiss Players was written by longtime Transformers fan and freelance toy designer Yuki Ohshima, who took Takara's desire for an otaku-targeted series as an invitation to ''freak the fuck out of people'' and gave them a freaky-ass magical girl horror story in the vein of ''Narutaru'' and Madoka Magica that just happened to have Transformers in it. [[Loli|A bunch of suspiciously young-looking women]] got dropped into a psychosexual nightmare in the name of shock value, and the Western Transformers fanbase crapped their pants over "pedophilia" showing up next to "their" childhood toys, accusing Oshima of wanting to [[Chris Orksen|diddle the kiddle.]] The Japanese fans, for their part, were mostly apologetic towards the Western fanbase and confused as to why the hell Takara thought that Freudian horror and moe were at all compatible with giant robots whaling on each other. The second part of the line (''Kiss Players Position'') dumped the original fiction's baggage in favor of taking cute girls on a whirlwind tour of the Transformers universe, but by that point the Western fans had already made up their mind. To this day Kiss Players is still the go-to acceptable target for "at least it's not as bad as..." jokes on TFWiki. The toys themselves were decent at least, being retools of the well-received ''Binaltech''/''Alternators'' collectible toys with vinyl loli figures packaged in the box, so picking those up is perfectly fine if you're willing to deal with faggots calling you a weeb.

==Tabletop Games==
Despite not having a licensed RPG Transformers is no stranger to tabletop games. None have been particularly amazing or well-known in the past, but Hasbro has aggressively been expanding the brand in the late 2010's and going towards the 2020's have managed to finally make a success.

* (The usual pallet-swap games)

Monopoly, Risk, Chess, Stratego, Connect 4, Uno, memory cards, playing cards, you know the drill.

* Heroclix

You fucking know what these are. Enjoy your game of Optimus Prime, Harley Quinn, Jean Grey, and Drizzt VS Master Splinter, Freddy Krueger, a Xenomorph, and Bilbo Baggins. Wait, that does sound cool actually...

* Transformers Robot Warrior Game

Released in 1985, its redeco Snakes/Chutes & Ladders except you have two pieces to divide die rolls between, and an outer board to progress around as a vehicle before transforming to robot mode and making your way through as usual. Since all players control cars, its technically all Autobot players trying to reach their base during a battle with the Decepticons

* The Transformers Game

Released in 1986. Despite impressive wargame-style box art, its a very simple game for small children. No real strategy, both players are trying to reach the end goal to destroy the enemy base and all movement is determined by dice rolls after the first move where you choose to go left or right (both ways are mirrored, offering only the illusion of a choice), and after that point you only decide whether to move forward or back. The board resembles outer space and the enemy base is on Earth, and all pieces are Seekers meaning both players are Decepticons interestingly enough. When a piece for both players land on the same space they draw cards from a deck which interestingly all depict Autobots, highest number wins and best of three wins the battle. Winner transforms to robot mode, loser goes back to start. Only robot modes can enter the enemy base. First player to have all three of their team in the enemy base wins.

* Transformers Adventure Game: Defeat the Decepticons

* Transformers G1 Decoys Board Game

* Transformers: Beast Wars

Released in 1999 in Japan, based on the entire Beast Wars line at the time (including the Japanese-only cartoon).

* Transformers Armada: Battle For Cybertron

A redeco of Star Wars: Epic Duels, with some rules simplified and new modes. Generally considered a casual strategy game, with a lower learning curve. Instead of one hero and two minions, you only have one hero. Four characters per faction, each having their own combat deck and rules. They aren’t equal in strength, Megatron and Optimus predictably outclass everyone. There are four different maps to fight on with their own cover and terrain, and character start locations mitigate the strength difference in characters to a small degree. 2v2, faction mixing, and FFA game modes are available.

* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes Game

* Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Missile Mania

* Jogo Dos Transformers: Una Aventura Emocionante Com Os Robos-Herois Do Futuro

A licensed Brazilian Transformers game made by Estrela. Estrela made up its own Transformers continuity based entirely on Minis. The game is extremely rare, so good luck finding the rules, let alone a copy.

* [[Transformers Trading Card Game]]
Deserves its own page. This is that aforementioned success.

* Battlechanger.

A pair of RPG's designed to emulate and recreate transformers in IP neutral, (IE: Don't sue us we just have transforming robots from other planet that are in two factions and are locked in a war but there not called Autobots Decepticon). Battlechanger uses a unique Diceless RPG engine to run it's system, while Battle Changers: Ironworks uses a variant of the D&D 3.5 ruleset while also being pathfinder comparable. So what's the catch? Well they were both made by Otherverse Games. Yes: the [[Black Tokyo]] People. Thankfully there is no cross contamination between the two, while Battle Changes show up in Black Tokyo, Black Tokyo definitely does not show up here.

* [[COMMANDROIDS: A WORLD TRANSFORMED]]
A tabletop roleplaying game by [[Nerdy City]] that can be found [https://nerdycity.com/product/commandroids/ here], compatible with their other 80's franchise expy games (just in case you wanted your Transformers/He-man/GI Joe/Stephen King crossover campaign). Mostly centered around not!Tranformers, with some elements of similar things like Voltron, Exosquad, and Macross/Robotech thrown in as the players see fit. Players create a human and Commandroid character who are bonded together, which can take the form of piloting or merging with the robot similar to the various _____master Transformer toys. There are rules for classes of machines and vehicles, as well as Combiners and Titans. The game uses the Nerdy City gaming "Omnisystem" which has rules for character relationships, leveraging time for player activities they will not want to roleplay through, and the ability for players to have "solo adventures" which don't take place at the same time in-universe but are played that way. As an aternative it functions as an add-on module for the [[FATE System]].

== See Also ==
The idea of "giant robots turning into vehicles" is so cool that lots of homebrew and independent mecha RPGs include mechas or characters that are "totally not Transformers" to fill the void that Hasbro has seemingly refused to fill themselves. For example:

* [[Giant Guardian Generation]]
* [[Horizon]] - Mechamorphosis is literally "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off, done by way of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5".
* [[Mechagenasis]] - Another "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off" game, this time done for [[True20]].
* [[Battlechangers]] - Blatantly Transformers-based RPG, in both an original version and a [[Pathfinder]] version (Battlechangers Ironworks).
* [[Mekton]] - Extremely flexible with what it can do: the rules for transforming are simple (as far as Mekton goes anyway) and adapting to a Transformers setting is as easy as actually reading up on them, but the game's hilariously broken.
* [[Rifts]] - Some homebrew stuff floating around on the net for playing Transformers exists. Pity it relies on the godawful RIFTS mechanics...
* [[Codex: Transformers]] - A case of 1d4chan getting shit done, adapting Transformers into yet another [[Warhammer 40000]] faction.
* [[Setting:Transformers]] - A tie-in article to the above trying to develop the lore to explain why Codex: Transformers is a thing.

== External Links ==
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page TFWiki.net], the unofficial Transformers wiki.

[[Category:Not related]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Transformers

2019-11-15T13:45:39Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Rescue Bots */

[[File:Generation 1 by DonFig.jpg|800px|thumbnail|center|And these are just your characters from G1!]]

'''Transformers''' is a series of Robot Toys created by [[Hasbro]] and Takara Tomy that typically turn into cars and other vehicles. Robots are cool, cars are cool and so they became popular. In 1984 they made some comics and a cartoon show. The comics show created a lot of toy sales and the toys kept the shows and comics popular. Over the years they changed things up to sell more toys and new series were made, some worked quite well (Beast Wars, Prime) others did not (Armada, Energon, Cybertron).

Why has there never been a roleplaying game about this shit? Only [[/co/|comics, cartoons,]] [[/a/|anime,]] [[/v/|and finally video games.]] So much potential. Seriously, it's a setting about sentient, shapeshifting robots fighting a war that spans motivations from political to racial to theological. Fuck, there weren't ''any'' tabletop Transformers games beyond [[Ameritrash|the usual tie-in bullshit]] until 2018 when Hasbro announced an official Transformers TCG. How the fuck has nobody realised the money-making potential there?

==Main Guys==
As the series come and go, a certain bevvy of characters seem to be archetypal to the Transformers. Not helped by the fact that, ever since the flop of ''Beast Machines'' and the riotous financial successes of the Bay, Hasbro seems to only ever stick with recycling Generation One, with some other characters jumping continuities. These are the Transformers who appear in some form or another in every iteration of the setting.

*'''Optimus Prime''': Leader of the Autobots, [[Lawful Good]] to the computer-core, the Big Red Hero-bot himself. There's always an Optimus leading the Autobots, and he usually turns into some kind of red truck or hauler. His name is the Latin words for "best" and "first", and he really is both. In the original show (and in the Michael Bay movies -- one of the decent things about them -- and Transformers Prime and the Cybertron games), he was voiced by Peter Cullen, whose awesome deep voice you probably hear in your head whenever you read any of his dialogue. Check it out: ''"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."'' Also has the record of dying the most times out of anyone ever, making one wonder how the hell the GM lets him get away with it each time. Might be because he always goes out fighting, never like a punk.

*'''Megatron''': If there's an Optimus Prime, there's always a Megatron, the Evil (of some flavor, depending on the series) to his Lawful Good. Megsy remains pretty consistent throughout his appearances, usually varying only in what level of honor he has (which usually depends on his backstory; sometimes he started as a charismatic gladiator turned freedom fighter against the corrupt Cybertronian government -- [[Angron]], anyone? -- but sometimes he's just nuts) and/or how much of a cold-blooded psychopath he is. He used to turn into a gun (which could inexplicably shrink down to be small enough to be wielded by another Decepticon or even the occasional ''human''), with the <s>barrel</s> scope giving him a wicked arm cannon in robot mode, but nowadays he usually turns into a tank or a jet. He was first voiced by Frank Welker, whose versatile voice was also used for just about every other Decepticon except for Starscream (and probably at least one role in just about every cartoon ever made). David Kaye did a bang-up job voicing Predcacon Leader Megatron in Beast Wars, ''Yeeesss''.
**'''Galvatron''':Whenever there is a Megatron there is a Galvatron. He's everything you love about the M taken up to eleven. This guy is seriously bad news, he's probably insane and violent enough to give Doombreed pause and he's probably the strongest non-God transformer there is in G1 comics it takes a friggin' time vortex to finally put him down. After a dying Megatron found himself adrift in space, he had a lovely chat with the physical Cybertronian God,Unicron who reconstructed him into this indentity. Didn't work for long though; Galvy kind of went off the reservation pretty quickly.

*'''Bumblebee''': The yellow kid-friendly one, he's usually the main one to interact with the resident token humans. He usually turns into a sports car. Can be surprisingly badass in some adaptations -- his ''Beast Wars'' counterpart, Cheetor, went on to basically take Optimus Primal's place as leader of the Maximals in ''Beast Machines''. In the Michael Bay movies, he became a mute who talks only in radio quotes/beeps and boops like a 60s robot which just got ANNOYING. His Prime Counterpart retained the mute quirk, but his voicebox was eventually repaired by the time of the sequel series. Then he starred in a prequel film which was so awesome, Hasbro decided to just reboot the Transformers film franchise. Way to go, little guy!

*'''Grimlock''': A fuckmothering [[AWESOME|robot Tyrannosaurus]] that usually breathes fire. He's the leader of a pack of other robot dinosaurs called the '''Dinobots'''. He's not exactly smart (well sometimes, he's either a stupid beast or a no nonsense leader with a speech problem), but who cares about that? HE'LL FUCKING EAT YOU. No seriously he once ripped Shockwave's arm off and ate it.

*'''Starscream''': Megatron's loud-mouthed, whiny, scheming, sneaky, backstabbing second-in-command who always wants to lead the Decepticons. He is neither strong enough to bump Megsy off, [[Sindri Myr|smart enough to trick him to his death]], or [[Eliphas|charismatic enough to persuade others he's a better boss]]. Sometimes Megatron himself wonders why he keeps Starscream around, but (when the writers remember) he is actually an extremely competent air commander who leads The Seekers, Decepticons who are typically recolors of him with the most prominent being Skywarp and Thundercracker. In Animated, the Seekers were replaced by actual clones all named after classic Seekers with the only one original to the series being [[Rule 63]]. Starscream usually turns into the latest and greatest fighter jet (unless he's turning into some Cybertronian future-jet) historically an F-15, F-16, or F-22. In the original cartoon, his catchphrase (delivered in the classic 80s-villain screech as his first voice actor also voiced the similarly screechy Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe) was probably ''"Decepticons, RETREEEAT!"'' Was also voiced by fucking Tom ''"Spongebob Squarepants"'' Kenny in Animated; man, is that a blow to your dignity. Nowadays, though, he's more consistently competent (and given a more menacing voice by [[Steve Blum]] in Transformers Prime). Is such a total backstabbing traitor that "The Starscream" has entered pop-culture as a term to describe someone who seems more dedicated to fucking his own team over in ostensible pursuit of power than to actually beating the guys he's supposed to fight.

*'''Soundwave''': A major character for the Decepticons as Megatron's legitimately loyal number two. Is also the biggest source of nostalgia because he turns into a fucking tapedeck. <strike>Even though he lacks a personality</strike>'''SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR; PAGE WRITER INFERIOR''', he manages to be awesome merely through dogged determination and because he's the one guy who'll never give anyone any bullshit. He has a number of minions who turn into cassettes (or goddamn guitars in Animated's case), but the main ones are '''Rumble''' (Whose arms turn into piledrivers so he can cause earthquakes), '''Frenzy''' (Who has a sonic scream), '''Ravage''' (A fucking robot jaguar who turns into a cassette), '''Laserbeak''' and '''Buzzsaw''' (robot birds), and '''Ratbat''' (a robot bat). The IDW comic gave him an origin about how he used to be homeless due to his mind reading powers until Laserbeak and Ravage found him and helped him control them. In the Marvel G1 comics he acted as toady to whichever Decepticon had usurped Megatron that month while steadily scheming to increase his own power, making him like Starscream but actually competent. He also spoke in complete sentences and had a functioning mouth.

*'''Shockwave''': The real mad scientist of the Decepticons, whose arm is a gun and also turned into a gun in G1 (a giant flying gun). While he's also pretty loyal to Megatron, he's nowhere near Soundwave levels because his true loyalty is to pure logic. There are several times where he became a bigger threat than Megatron, requiring both Autobots and Decepticons to stop him. Most series have him involved with the Dinobots, either by creating them, or just they have major beef with him (he doesn't give a shit as he has better things to do). He's another guy who happened to be blessed by [[Steve Blum]] in the Cybertron series. The IDW comics gave him an origin about how he used to be an idealistic Noblebright senator (and Optimus' BFF) until he got unpersoned and mutilated by the corrupt Cybertronian government. Ouch. His Prime adaptation is fucking badass and intimidating, both in voice work and design, but unfortunately he suffers from Villain Incompetence Syndrome whenever the good guys show up, like so many other good bad guys.

*'''Unicron''': Unicron was originally introduced as the big bad for the '86 movie, a planet-sized, planet-eating bringer of doom (basically, if Galactus was the Death Star), voiced by ''the'' Orson Welles in his last role. The third season episode "Call of the Primitives" revealed his original, long since abandoned, origin as a planet-destroying creation of an alien mad scientist. Later media, beginning with the Marvel comics, changed his origin to Transformers' Satan, a god-like destroyer tricked into trapping himself inside a planet, but learned how to possess the world and reshape it into his own image. That fucking anime trilogy not only pulled this interpretation back, but made it "official", saying there's only one Unicron in the entire multiverse - at least, they tried. The comics pay more attention to it, but the shows tend to avoid it; witness Prime, where Unicron is actually sleeping at the heart of Earth instead of running around eating planets.

*'''Primus''': The Emprah to Unicron's Chaos God, except he's an actual god... who actually transformed into a planet and fell asleep for a fuckton of years. In this form, he became Cybertron and created the Cybertronian race. Like his evil counterpart, Unicron, he hails from the 80's comics and didn't make an appearance on screen (other than references to a pseudo-Bible named the "Covenant of Primus" in ''Beast Wars'') until the Energon Trilogy, which is where he's stayed.

==Generation One==
The original, the alpha iteration, the place where it all to began. Sometimes mockingly called Geewun because of the nostalgia fags who hate on everything that come after it. No matter how good they are. At the time, it was just called "The Transformers", with a "four-issue limited series" from Marvel that ended up running for 80 issues, a cartoon by the same name for three seasons (and two more seasons in Japan) from 1984-87 and the animated film "The Transformers: The Movie" in 1986. The movie's soundtrack is awesomely 80's, and it features the amazing song "The Touch" when Optimus Prime fights Megatron. Quite literally, this movie shit all over Bay's multi-million crappers... and that's the problem; the movie was so good that it marked the peak for the young franchise and it began a downhill slide from there, with the show scrambling to cope with all the losses (yeah, lots of people died here, even Optimus), while the toys began getting gimmickier without getting better.

The "Generation One" title was applied retroactively after Hasbro released the "Generation 2" line in 1993. By the way, G2 was the reason Transformers was considered dead for most of the 90's. The comic was that cheap sort of [[Edgy|"gritty for no real reason"]] the 90's was infamous for and the toys had pretty much burned themselves out and no gimmick could really help them on that. There was also a short-lived "Transformers G2" show, but it was just G1 with new CGI openings/endings and scene changes, so it only lasted a few episodes before flopping.

Of note is that if you want to experience G1 without having to dig up the eps from some torrent or Netflix, you can get ''Transformers Devastation'', which is essentially a G1 ep in vidya form produced by Platinum Studios, the guys responsible for balls-to-the-walls hypefests like ''Metal Gear Rising'', ''Bayonetta'', and ''The Wonderful 101'' (aka /m/ the game). Most of the actors are present, there's murderfests and speed, and big bosses. Also you get to run idiots over (but no pedestrians). Only letdown is the short length of the game and the lack of a Decepticon story and Abominus.
===Marvel's The Transformers===
What a lot of people who weren't kids in 1984 may not remember is that the first piece of long-form Transformers fiction ever was not the cartoon, but the Marvel comic book, produced in direct partnership with Hasbro as an expansion on the toy bios and character names that Marvel had already written to jam the random designs that had been licensed from Takara into a cohesive toyline. Most of the themes and tropes that people think of as "Transformers" were developed by Marvel, from the idea of living robots coming to Earth in search of energy to the most common origin for the planet-eating Unicron. Sometimes, Marvel published gripping stories exploring the dynamic of mechanical life forms adapting to an entirely alien environment and the humans caught in their crossfire. Sometimes they published stories about robot professional wrestling and evil car washes. Still, the stories had soul, and the comic ended up lasting a full year after the toyline it was made to promote ended in America. (As a sign of the times, one of the reasons the comic was canceled were its low sales of ''70,000 copies an issue.'')

British kids got an additional treat in the form of original stories from Marvel's UK division, printed in between serialized edits of the US issues in weekly installments. Most of these were done by the inimitable '''Simon Furman,''' who went on to write the US Transformers comic as well and has become the most prolific writer of Transformers fiction in the world.

==Beast Wars==
The first Western-released sequel to G1 (there were two Japanese-only continuations to G1 that never got released outside of Japan and the G2 comic mentioned above), a CGI show created by Mainframe (also responsible for ReBoot and [[War Planets]]). Set up as a "loose sequel" to G1, it involves new transformer races called "Maximals" (Autobots) and "Predacons" (Decepticons).

A Predacon terrorist leader styling himself after the original Megatron, including taking his name, hijacks an artifact with a mysterious connection to Megatron the first and goes on the run into deep space with a band of terrorists, planning on restarting the Great War and this time causing a Predacon victory. A Maximal deep-space exploration vessel commanded by Optimus Primal attempts to intercept, and both vessels end up stranded on a mysterious alien world, where an overabundance of raw energon forces them to adopt the forms of local fauna to preserve themselves. The two forces promptly start trying to wipe each other out and then escape the planet. There's also a sideplot involving an ancient alien civilization that ends itself just before the Season 3 finale.

They would eventually find out that this strange world was actually Earth, which was where Megatron II was trying to get all along, and they find the wreckage of the Ark of the original series, when new Megatron decides to headshot Prime in order to change the future for his benefit. It kinda flops when new Optimus takes part of old Optimus's soul, gets another upgrade, and becomes sorta-truck. It inspires Megatron II to try the same trick with his namesake, turning himself into a huge firebreathing dragon-bot.

Though Hasbro would mostly consign this story to oblivion after Beast Machines, the characters of Blackarachnia (sexy spider-bot who changes from evil to good thanks to love) and Waspinator (the walking punching bag who the heroes almost invariably blow up only to be fixed later), along with the concept of the Spark (essentially, Transformers' souls) would be re-used in later eras. More importantly, this show saved the franchise after Generation 2 almost killed it.

==Beast Machines==
Sequel series to ''Beast Wars''. On returning to Cybertron, our heroes are attacked by armies of transforming cookie-cutter drones. It eventually turns out that Megatron broke free from the Maximals' prison and flew back to Cybertron before them; he infected the entire planet with a cyber-virus that put them all into comas, ripped out their hearts/souls and stashed them in some hidden bunker, and melted down their bodies to rebuild them into mindless robot slaves.

Awesomely grimdark concept, but hampered by two huge flaws. Firstly, a super-annoying green aesop, which was very clumsily handled because this is a planet of talking robots, not nature. More importantly, major character derailment - it was made by a different team to ''Beast Wars'', and they weren't even allowed to watch the first series to familiarize themselves with how the Maximals were supposed to behave, so it'd be "more accessible".

Probably the reason why Hasbro only recycles G1 instead of trying to do its own thing with new shows, the way these two shows did. Even though it was their own damn fault, because they ''made'' this series into what it was. Time has been kinder to it, though, after the initial rage and denouncement. It is kind of like the Alien/Terminator 3 of Transformers. On its own its really damn good. As a sequel to what most people think is the high point of its respective franchise? Its a goddamned insult.

==Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots==
An obscure anime that came out roughly a few months before ''Armada''. Best known for its gag dub and general comedic focus that makes it surprisingly laughable, and certainly more fun to watch than any of the ''Energon Trilogy''. Usually forgotten about, except for the fact that Megatron here has six fucking modes of transformation (ten after upgrading to Galvatron). In this series Decepticons are instead Predacons like Beast Wars with actual Decepticons being created mid-series, starting with an evil clone of Optimus called "''Scourge''". General consensus is that is far from the best or worst series, it's just "meh."

==Energon Trilogy==
Comprised of the shows ''Armada'', ''Energon'', and ''Cybertron'', which are also called the ''Unicron Trilogy'' due to the antagonist's return to the spotlight after being virtually nonexistent since The Movie. Anime reinterpretation of G1, decaying from "poor but watchable" to "completely unwatchable drek" for all the reasons people hate [[/a/]]: bad dubbing, overly lengthy scenes of nothing, a shift to crappy CGI, and a plot that is so terribly paced and search-questy that you'd be praying for your GM to be railroading this. On the plus-side: competent badass Starscream (who unfortunately inspired a whole generation of [[Edgy|Linkin Park listening wannabes]]). On the downside: far too much focus on humans and not enough on giant robots trying to kill each other. Kicker, from the later series, is considered one of the worst human sidekicks the Transformers have ever had.
It has been said that, for all the failings of ''Beast Machines'', at least it's better than Armada and Energon.

===Galaxy Force===
Transformers Galaxy Force, The show that was butchered into Transformers Cybertron is more fondly remembered by fans. As it made of the strange choice of dubbing a male character into a woman. While butchering most of the series by making it a gag-dub by giving [[derp| alien robots stupid accents]]. While putting dialouge over scenes that didn't require them. The kids are also less annoying while the dub shoehorned in older versions of the Armada and Energon brats at the last minute during the final episode. This is because Gonzo created it as independent entry until Hazblow retconned it into the Energon trilogy with Takara Tomy following suit.

==Michael Bay Films==
The dark force known as Michael Bay brought Transformers back as a series of live-action + CGI movies. Considered the [[Matt Ward]] of the Transformers universe, Bay's movies are rage-inducing [[fail]]s that have far too much focus on annoying human characters and on lowbrow humor. Seriously, in the first movie, we don't get to see an Autobot for, like, thirty minutes while dealing with very bland characters who get billed way too much, and we have to facepalm our way through an awful gag about Bumblebee basically ''pissing on a guy''. The second one is no better with two black/redneck stereotypes as ''heroes'', a gag about balls, and a two-for-one gag about farting/incontinence - from a Transformer, no less. Real classy, Bay.

About the only shallow redeeming qualities it has is that the CGI Transformers look amazing (even if some neckbeards have cracked up over how they're "not accurate" to the G1 character modes), the fight scenes are suitably glorious for giant alien death-machines ripping each other to pieces (when you can see it clearly), and most importantly is it has introduced Transformers to a whole new generation of fans, who can hopefully be shown the good stuff instead of thinking this garbage is the true representative of the setting.

After the trilogy Bay made a fourth movie which actually manages to make some considerable improvements (not that it was that hard), like a lot more of focus on Optimus Prime, killing the scrappy comic relief during the first part of the movie and more consistent fighting scenes, plus DINOBOTS! charging the enemy. There is also more grimdark as Optimus finally decides enough is enough after having tried to protect mankind for more than five years while having his whole team slaughtered by those he sworn to protect, and pulls a gun against a human frakker who was teaming up with the mercenary Lockdown to kill Autobots and use their remains to make their own giant robots that turn into cars (except instead of literally creating Galvatron last time, this time it's like the T-1000 where they turn into nanobot swarms). On the downside, though, the humans are still pointless tagalongs (though this is a new set of humans, no Shia Lebouf to be found here, Thank God for that), there are more pointless stereotypes (Like Weeaboo Samurai-bot Drift, Crosshairs who gets a fucking trenchcoat when he transforms, and Hound, [[Awesome|who somehow has a cigar and a wire-beard]]), the Dinobots don't even show up until the last few minutes of the movie, and there's this ridiculous need to hammer in the "us vs. them" mentality between the humans making their own Transformers and Lockdown trying to kill Optimus because he's betrayed their makers by siding with the humans.
Than everything goes to shit during "The Last Knight". While ripping off the "Earth is Unicron" thing from Transformers Prime.

Then, in 2018, Bumblebee got his own spinoff movie about him crashing on Earth, losing his voice, making a friend and running from two decepticons and John Cena. To put it lightly it's one of the best Transformer films; the transformers themselves are accurate to their G1 forms, the storyline is coherent and the acting is spot on. This indicates that the film series may finally be going in the right direction. Shame that the series seem to be canceled.

==Animated==
G1 inspired series with notoriously unusual but smooth animation. This time, Optimus Prime and his crew are lowly space construction workers who stumble across a superweapon from the Great War and have to defend it against Megatron ('''GIVING HIM A GODDAMN ENGLISH ACCENT FUCK YES'''), who seeks to use it to restart the war and this time ensure Decepticon victory. This version's Optimus is much younger and less experienced than usual; funnily enough, he was voiced by the actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars. Generally noted for having the best human sidekick (who turns out to really be part-transformer anyways). The other Autobots also tend to have some interesting characterizations from "Complete dumb muscle who surprisingly knows everything about building [[Webway|Space Bridges]]" Bulkhead to "[[Weeaboo]] Robo-Ninja" Prowl to "MY EGO IS AS BIG AS MY CHIN AND MY ASSHOLEITUDE IS EVEN BIGGER!" Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons sometimes do better vis ze German schizophrenic Blitzwing, the [[Lorgar|borderline-religiously loyal]] Lugnut, and badass robo-Clint Eastwood Lockdown.

The series was weird in that alongside the Decepticons were also some gimmicky human villains, from a Shakespearean Robin Hood knockoff, to a cute little girl who's a mad scientist, to another mad scientist who rips off Transformer heads to replicate an old G1 gimmick. These villains were a bit ridiculous, but it helped break up the monotony of the constant 'con fighting, especially when Megatron was reduced to a state worse than [[Abaddon]] as a head. The creators came up with the idea to emphasize just how dangerous the 'cons are, compared to their Autobot opponents; when ''one'' 'con shows up, it's an emergency that takes the whole team to try and pull out a win. Hell, ''Starscream'' could beat up the entire Autobot team in his first few appearances before they figured out how to handle him. Using human bad guys kept the Decepticon threat "fresh" for longer; even when the Autobots got to the point where they could(kinda) face a Decepticon one-on-one, they remained a serious threat all the way up to the end.

==Cybertron Series==
There were many, MANY, video games made for every part of the Transformers, but most of them ranged from forgettable to utter shit to [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Mystery_of_Convoy memetically terrible.] The closest we got to a good original game series (so no whining about the Movie-Games) were the games ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'', both made by High Moon Studios.

These games act as the [[Horus Heresy]] to G1's 40k by explaining how Optimus became a leader and how Megatron became a dictator while their war and its demand eventually destroyed their homeworld. (These games are also technically part of the backstory for Hasbro's "Aligned continuity" shared with Transformers Prime and a couple prose stories, but as usual there are enough discrepancies to throw a wrench in that quite nicely.) While the gameplay itself isn't much more than a basic third-person shooter, the vast amount of references to the rest of the series and the rather well-written story and characters make it stand out. ''Fall of Cybertron'' may be considered one of the most grimdark settings to see wide release, while not being as totally ham-handed with it as Beast Machines. It also helps that the second game gave some bonus variety in some segments by giving you a level as MOTHERFUCKING GRIMLOCK, and another where you get to play as a combiner (who has an awesome helicopter-arm, but is otherwise not very memorable besides being huge.) Overall great fights, no crappy human sidekicks, an awesome OST and all the grimdarkness needed to make any neckbeard enjoy it quite much, also ESCALATION mode will ensure you endless hours of good bloodless carnage.

There is a (sorta) third game called ''Rise of the Dark Spark'', which decides to make the stupid decision of merging this series to the Bayformers continuity. It was released as tie in game with fourth movie and has less of budget, clearly shown with its number of glitches, lack of variety in levels (mostly just enemies till the game lets you move on) and downright ugly environments for the levels set on Earth. The only thing to remember is that the Cybertron segments are still awesome, while later parts will just shoehorn you with mutebee and Drift (who at least has an awesome special attack), with one level playing as Grimlock again and lacking any Decepticon plot post-Cybertron. There is also the 3ds version with mostly the same story but is otherwise a turn based strategy game kind of like a really old and obscure mid-late 00s IOS game except you have to deal with Bayverse shit.

===Prime===
G1 inspired CGI series that somehow salvages the fairly decent elements of Michael Bay's crapfest movies (e.g. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their respective roles, artstyle, some character elements/background lore, [[Rip and Tear]]), takes place in the same universe as the Cybertron games and crafts an awesome show out of it. Animation is fucking amazing, with fight scenes that rival if not trump the Michael Bay films. Very dark and gritty as well, where one of the Autobots [[Awesome|(voiced by the Rock himself, mind you)]], gets whacked in ''the first episode.'' The Autobots are not only outnumbered and outgunned by the Decepticons, but they also have to contend with MECH, a human terrorist organization that seeks to cannibalize Cybertronians for their advanced technology.

The biggest problem with this series is Miko, who competes with Kicker (from the abovementioned ''Energon Trilogy'') for the title of worst human character in Transformers history. Obnoxiously gung-ho and always charging off into danger, even when told not to, invariably making things worse for the Autobots in the process. Still, this series easily has some of the best human characters otherwise, most notably Agent Fowler, who in the company of giant alien killing machines manages to be a badass in his own right. Even Miko managed to get better as the series went on, learning from her mistakes and not being such a load. She even managed to take out a Decepticon at one point.

Then there's Predacons Rising; the made-for-tv movie meant to serve as a series finale... it was questionable at best. Plot holes everywhere, very little focus on the actual Predacons in the title, and characters doing stupid and random things to simply fit the plot. It was basically a segue into the next series; Robots in Disguise. There were some Dinobot focused IDW comics in between. They are pretty awesome. And mostly ignored. Because we don't deserve good things in Transformers.

===Rescue Bots===
A balance to ''Prime's'' grittiness was this Kid-friendly series that aired around the same time. A four-mech squad of Rescue Bots comes to earth following Optimus Prime's message. Since bringing Rescue Bots into combat is mostly a good way to get them killed, Optimus ships them off to the town of Griffin Rock, Maine. Far, ''far'' away from the fighting. There, they work with the Burns' family, who have all become First Responders of one type or another. As you can probably guess, this one's for ''little'' kids. To get their parents to start buying Transformers toys early until they're old enough for the harder stuff.

===Robots in Disguise===
In this series Prime's relegated mentor-figure role, while Bumblebee (once again with a voice) has to take command of an ex-con, a stickler, and a slightly-smarter Grimlock in helping some kid and his dad's junkyard and detaining runaway Decepticon inmates, all of whom aren't related to the main bads, so this series was more original than most of the kiddie-aimed series. There was a 'con in it called Slapper. The show really doesn't become good until the Starscream miniseries after season three, and the Soundwave/Autobot Counsel arc of the fourth season. Which also introduces combiners into the Prime/Cybertron continuity.

==Cyberverse==
G1 inspired CGI series. Jam packed with references all across the franchise.

==IDW==
IDW Publishing is responsible for two major continuities of Transformers; the last being one of the longest and most elaborate, and the current one which follows the toyline oriented towards older teens and adult collectors, the War For Cybertron series (not to be confused with the game series of the same name). The latter will also be told in a cartoon series on Netflix.

==Oddities==
There have been a ''lot'' of Transformers series out there. Many of them are just spinoffs of G1 or silly throwaways like [[What|Transformers Mr. Potato Head,]] but some of them are good enough or just weird enough to be worth mentioning here. For full details, see TFWiki below.
===Transformers Rescue Bots===
The 30-minute toy commercial for the preschool-focused "Rescue Bots" toyline. In the same continuity as Transformers Prime above, which would lead to much lulz if the writers ever had the balls to let them cross over to any significant degree. Features four young Autobots who slept through the whole war in stasis and were recalled to Earth by Optimus Prime; being too inexperienced to handle the rigors of war with the Decepticons, they were assigned to the ''[[wikipedia:Eureka (U.S. TV series)|Eureka]]''-esque island of Griffin Rock, where they perform rescue operations with their human partners. Instead of open combat, the 'bots and their human partners battle with out-of-control inventions and mundane disasters; the only true antagonist of the series is the [[steampunk]] gentleman-scientist Doctor Morocco, voiced by [[Slaanesh| <s>Slaanesh</s> Tim Curry.]] Surprisingly watchable for a kids' show due to solid humor, ''Rescue Bots'' has the distinction of being the longest-running Transformers cartoon ever, with four full seasons and a sequel series on track to air in 2019.

===Unit: E===
In the third season of Transformers Prime, the writers started dropping references to other Hasbro properties like ''M.A.S.K.'' and ''G.I. Joe'' in connection with a government agency called "Unit E." This was intended to be a "backdoor launch" to a whole shared universe in the vein of the massively profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting of just about every brand Hasbro owns that has ever been remotely popular with any demographic, ever. These ranged from the sensible (''M.A.S.K.'' was another transforming-toy brand from the 80s that Hasbro absorbed, and ''G.I. Joe'' has a long history of Transformers crossovers) to the oddball but justifiable (''Jem and the Holograms'' was Hasbro's big new girl-toy push in the 80s and was occasionally used as a sight gag in the G1 cartoon) to blatant halo-effect attempts that made no sense at all ([[Dungeons & Dragons]]? Stretch Armstrong? '''''Candy Land?!''''') The framing device for this insanity was the eponymous Unit: E, a group of explorers who scanned the multiverse for "the Eerie, the Else, the Eternities of Infinity" from an installation placed in the "slipstream" outside of reality. ([[Quest:TG_Meta_Quest|Sounds kinda familiar, don't it?]])

Perhaps fortunately for all involved, this product of Marketing's cocaine-fueled fever dreams did a faceplant into the sun and nothing came of it except for a one-shot comic book released at Comic-Con and the aforementioned namedrops in Prime. Hasbro never let go of the idea of seeing if their properties would blend, though, and in 2016 IDW was given the green light to weld their previously-separate licensed comics (including Transformers, Joe, Micronauts, Rom: Spaceknight, and yes, Jem) together through a ''Secret Wars''-style crossover event called ''Revolution.'' From this point IDW's comics are set in the '''Hasbro Universe,''' with such fiction-bending events as the Decepticon Skywarp joining G.I. Joe and a multi-property superhero team called the Revolutionaries joining forces.

Except now said universe is being rebooted while currently going FULL TOMINO via our pal Unicron and some really stupid ass deaths in the crossover comic with the Visionaries of all fucking things. YET NO GODDAMNED INHUMANOIDS WHICH IS HASBRO CALL OF CTHULHU BUT WITH POWERED ARMOR SCIENTISTS FIGHTING THE EVIL UNDER THE EARTH. Kup shouldn't die to a goddamn Visionary. Not when motherfucking D'Compose exists. Goddamnit now I want an Inhumanoids mod for Call of Cthulhu....

===Transformers: Kiss Players===
After the ignominious conclusion of the Energon Trilogy, Takara decided to make their next installment of the Transformers franchise smaller and more adult-focused. Welding the bits of their various G1-sequel lines (including the "collector's choice" ''Binaltech'' line and the grab-bag ''Robotmasters'' line) with the G1 cartoon and their own anime into a single (confusing as all hell) timeline, Transformers Kiss Players takes place immediately after the events of the 1986 movie. After Unicron exploded in 2005, the broken body of Galvatron was sent hurtling towards Earth where it (what else?) destroyed Tokyo. In response, the Earth Defense Command was formed to kick the Transformers off the goddamn planet before they blew up any other national capitals, which they did with a Transformer-hostile energy field and using the tech from Galvatron's corpse to make mass-produced Autorooper mecha. Unfortunately for them, Galvatron's reentry scattered fragments of his and Unicron's life-force into Earth's atmosphere, fragments that activated in 2006. The "Galvatron cells" fused with whatever they touched, turning them into biomechanical monsters called the Legion. Humans who came in contact with the Galvatron cells inexplicably did not turn into monsters, but instead could fuse with both Autoroopers and Transformers by ''kissing them.''

You see, Kiss Players was written by longtime Transformers fan and freelance toy designer Yuki Ohshima, who took Takara's desire for an otaku-targeted series as an invitation to ''freak the fuck out of people'' and gave them a freaky-ass magical girl horror story in the vein of ''Narutaru'' and Madoka Magica that just happened to have Transformers in it. [[Loli|A bunch of suspiciously young-looking women]] got dropped into a psychosexual nightmare in the name of shock value, and the Western Transformers fanbase crapped their pants over "pedophilia" showing up next to "their" childhood toys, accusing Oshima of wanting to [[Chris Orksen|diddle the kiddle.]] The Japanese fans, for their part, were mostly apologetic towards the Western fanbase and confused as to why the hell Takara thought that Freudian horror and moe were at all compatible with giant robots whaling on each other. The second part of the line (''Kiss Players Position'') dumped the original fiction's baggage in favor of taking cute girls on a whirlwind tour of the Transformers universe, but by that point the Western fans had already made up their mind. To this day Kiss Players is still the go-to acceptable target for "at least it's not as bad as..." jokes on TFWiki. The toys themselves were decent at least, being retools of the well-received ''Binaltech''/''Alternators'' collectible toys with vinyl loli figures packaged in the box, so picking those up is perfectly fine if you're willing to deal with faggots calling you a weeb.

==Tabletop Games==
Despite not having a licensed RPG Transformers is no stranger to tabletop games. None have been particularly amazing or well-known in the past, but Hasbro has aggressively been expanding the brand in the late 2010's and going towards the 2020's have managed to finally make a success.

* (The usual pallet-swap games)

Monopoly, Risk, Chess, Stratego, Connect 4, Uno, memory cards, playing cards, you know the drill.

* Heroclix

You fucking know what these are. Enjoy your game of Optimus Prime, Harley Quinn, Jean Grey, and Drizzt VS Master Splinter, Freddy Krueger, a Xenomorph, and Bilbo Baggins. Wait, that does sound cool actually...

* Transformers Robot Warrior Game

Released in 1985, its redeco Snakes/Chutes & Ladders except you have two pieces to divide die rolls between, and an outer board to progress around as a vehicle before transforming to robot mode and making your way through as usual. Since all players control cars, its technically all Autobot players trying to reach their base during a battle with the Decepticons

* The Transformers Game

Released in 1986. Despite impressive wargame-style box art, its a very simple game for small children. No real strategy, both players are trying to reach the end goal to destroy the enemy base and all movement is determined by dice rolls after the first move where you choose to go left or right (both ways are mirrored, offering only the illusion of a choice), and after that point you only decide whether to move forward or back. The board resembles outer space and the enemy base is on Earth, and all pieces are Seekers meaning both players are Decepticons interestingly enough. When a piece for both players land on the same space they draw cards from a deck which interestingly all depict Autobots, highest number wins and best of three wins the battle. Winner transforms to robot mode, loser goes back to start. Only robot modes can enter the enemy base. First player to have all three of their team in the enemy base wins.

* Transformers Adventure Game: Defeat the Decepticons

* Transformers G1 Decoys Board Game

* Transformers: Beast Wars

Released in 1999 in Japan, based on the entire Beast Wars line at the time (including the Japanese-only cartoon).

* Transformers Armada: Battle For Cybertron

A redeco of Star Wars: Epic Duels, with some rules simplified and new modes. Generally considered a casual strategy game, with a lower learning curve. Instead of one hero and two minions, you only have one hero. Four characters per faction, each having their own combat deck and rules. They aren’t equal in strength, Megatron and Optimus predictably outclass everyone. There are four different maps to fight on with their own cover and terrain, and character start locations mitigate the strength difference in characters to a small degree. 2v2, faction mixing, and FFA game modes are available.

* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes Game

* Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Missile Mania

* Jogo Dos Transformers: Una Aventura Emocionante Com Os Robos-Herois Do Futuro

A licensed Brazilian Transformers game made by Estrela. Estrela made up its own Transformers continuity based entirely on Minis. The game is extremely rare, so good luck finding the rules, let alone a copy.

* [[Transformers Trading Card Game]]
Deserves its own page. This is that aforementioned success.

* Battlechanger.

A pair of RPG's designed to emulate and recreate transformers in IP neutral, (IE: Don't sue us we just have transforming robots from other planet that are in two factions and are locked in a war but there not called Autobots Decepticon). Battlechanger uses a unique Diceless RPG engine to run it's system, while Battle Changers: Ironworks uses a variant of the D&D 3.5 ruleset while also being pathfinder comparable. So what's the catch? Well they were both made by Otherverse Games. Yes: the [[Black Tokyo]] People. Thankfully there is no cross contamination between the two, while Battle Changes show up in Black Tokyo, Black Tokyo definitely does not show up here.

* [[COMMANDROIDS: A WORLD TRANSFORMED]]
A tabletop roleplaying game by [[Nerdy City]] that can be found [https://nerdycity.com/product/commandroids/ here], compatible with their other 80's franchise expy games (just in case you wanted your Transformers/He-man/GI Joe/Stephen King crossover campaign). Mostly centered around not!Tranformers, with some elements of similar things like Voltron, Exosquad, and Macross/Robotech thrown in as the players see fit. Players create a human and Commandroid character who are bonded together, which can take the form of piloting or merging with the robot similar to the various _____master Transformer toys. There are rules for classes of machines and vehicles, as well as Combiners and Titans. The game uses the Nerdy City gaming "Omnisystem" which has rules for character relationships, leveraging time for player activities they will not want to roleplay through, and the ability for players to have "solo adventures" which don't take place at the same time in-universe but are played that way. As an aternative it functions as an add-on module for the [[FATE System]].

== See Also ==
The idea of "giant robots turning into vehicles" is so cool that lots of homebrew and independent mecha RPGs include mechas or characters that are "totally not Transformers" to fill the void that Hasbro has seemingly refused to fill themselves. For example:

* [[Giant Guardian Generation]]
* [[Horizon]] - Mechamorphosis is literally "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off, done by way of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5".
* [[Mechagenasis]] - Another "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off" game, this time done for [[True20]].
* [[Battlechangers]] - Blatantly Transformers-based RPG, in both an original version and a [[Pathfinder]] version (Battlechangers Ironworks).
* [[Mekton]] - Extremely flexible with what it can do: the rules for transforming are simple (as far as Mekton goes anyway) and adapting to a Transformers setting is as easy as actually reading up on them, but the game's hilariously broken.
* [[Rifts]] - Some homebrew stuff floating around on the net for playing Transformers exists. Pity it relies on the godawful RIFTS mechanics...
* [[Codex: Transformers]] - A case of 1d4chan getting shit done, adapting Transformers into yet another [[Warhammer 40000]] faction.
* [[Setting:Transformers]] - A tie-in article to the above trying to develop the lore to explain why Codex: Transformers is a thing.

== External Links ==
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page TFWiki.net], the unofficial Transformers wiki.

[[Category:Not related]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Transformers

2019-11-15T13:44:42Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Cybertron Series */

[[File:Generation 1 by DonFig.jpg|800px|thumbnail|center|And these are just your characters from G1!]]

'''Transformers''' is a series of Robot Toys created by [[Hasbro]] and Takara Tomy that typically turn into cars and other vehicles. Robots are cool, cars are cool and so they became popular. In 1984 they made some comics and a cartoon show. The comics show created a lot of toy sales and the toys kept the shows and comics popular. Over the years they changed things up to sell more toys and new series were made, some worked quite well (Beast Wars, Prime) others did not (Armada, Energon, Cybertron).

Why has there never been a roleplaying game about this shit? Only [[/co/|comics, cartoons,]] [[/a/|anime,]] [[/v/|and finally video games.]] So much potential. Seriously, it's a setting about sentient, shapeshifting robots fighting a war that spans motivations from political to racial to theological. Fuck, there weren't ''any'' tabletop Transformers games beyond [[Ameritrash|the usual tie-in bullshit]] until 2018 when Hasbro announced an official Transformers TCG. How the fuck has nobody realised the money-making potential there?

==Main Guys==
As the series come and go, a certain bevvy of characters seem to be archetypal to the Transformers. Not helped by the fact that, ever since the flop of ''Beast Machines'' and the riotous financial successes of the Bay, Hasbro seems to only ever stick with recycling Generation One, with some other characters jumping continuities. These are the Transformers who appear in some form or another in every iteration of the setting.

*'''Optimus Prime''': Leader of the Autobots, [[Lawful Good]] to the computer-core, the Big Red Hero-bot himself. There's always an Optimus leading the Autobots, and he usually turns into some kind of red truck or hauler. His name is the Latin words for "best" and "first", and he really is both. In the original show (and in the Michael Bay movies -- one of the decent things about them -- and Transformers Prime and the Cybertron games), he was voiced by Peter Cullen, whose awesome deep voice you probably hear in your head whenever you read any of his dialogue. Check it out: ''"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."'' Also has the record of dying the most times out of anyone ever, making one wonder how the hell the GM lets him get away with it each time. Might be because he always goes out fighting, never like a punk.

*'''Megatron''': If there's an Optimus Prime, there's always a Megatron, the Evil (of some flavor, depending on the series) to his Lawful Good. Megsy remains pretty consistent throughout his appearances, usually varying only in what level of honor he has (which usually depends on his backstory; sometimes he started as a charismatic gladiator turned freedom fighter against the corrupt Cybertronian government -- [[Angron]], anyone? -- but sometimes he's just nuts) and/or how much of a cold-blooded psychopath he is. He used to turn into a gun (which could inexplicably shrink down to be small enough to be wielded by another Decepticon or even the occasional ''human''), with the <s>barrel</s> scope giving him a wicked arm cannon in robot mode, but nowadays he usually turns into a tank or a jet. He was first voiced by Frank Welker, whose versatile voice was also used for just about every other Decepticon except for Starscream (and probably at least one role in just about every cartoon ever made). David Kaye did a bang-up job voicing Predcacon Leader Megatron in Beast Wars, ''Yeeesss''.
**'''Galvatron''':Whenever there is a Megatron there is a Galvatron. He's everything you love about the M taken up to eleven. This guy is seriously bad news, he's probably insane and violent enough to give Doombreed pause and he's probably the strongest non-God transformer there is in G1 comics it takes a friggin' time vortex to finally put him down. After a dying Megatron found himself adrift in space, he had a lovely chat with the physical Cybertronian God,Unicron who reconstructed him into this indentity. Didn't work for long though; Galvy kind of went off the reservation pretty quickly.

*'''Bumblebee''': The yellow kid-friendly one, he's usually the main one to interact with the resident token humans. He usually turns into a sports car. Can be surprisingly badass in some adaptations -- his ''Beast Wars'' counterpart, Cheetor, went on to basically take Optimus Primal's place as leader of the Maximals in ''Beast Machines''. In the Michael Bay movies, he became a mute who talks only in radio quotes/beeps and boops like a 60s robot which just got ANNOYING. His Prime Counterpart retained the mute quirk, but his voicebox was eventually repaired by the time of the sequel series. Then he starred in a prequel film which was so awesome, Hasbro decided to just reboot the Transformers film franchise. Way to go, little guy!

*'''Grimlock''': A fuckmothering [[AWESOME|robot Tyrannosaurus]] that usually breathes fire. He's the leader of a pack of other robot dinosaurs called the '''Dinobots'''. He's not exactly smart (well sometimes, he's either a stupid beast or a no nonsense leader with a speech problem), but who cares about that? HE'LL FUCKING EAT YOU. No seriously he once ripped Shockwave's arm off and ate it.

*'''Starscream''': Megatron's loud-mouthed, whiny, scheming, sneaky, backstabbing second-in-command who always wants to lead the Decepticons. He is neither strong enough to bump Megsy off, [[Sindri Myr|smart enough to trick him to his death]], or [[Eliphas|charismatic enough to persuade others he's a better boss]]. Sometimes Megatron himself wonders why he keeps Starscream around, but (when the writers remember) he is actually an extremely competent air commander who leads The Seekers, Decepticons who are typically recolors of him with the most prominent being Skywarp and Thundercracker. In Animated, the Seekers were replaced by actual clones all named after classic Seekers with the only one original to the series being [[Rule 63]]. Starscream usually turns into the latest and greatest fighter jet (unless he's turning into some Cybertronian future-jet) historically an F-15, F-16, or F-22. In the original cartoon, his catchphrase (delivered in the classic 80s-villain screech as his first voice actor also voiced the similarly screechy Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe) was probably ''"Decepticons, RETREEEAT!"'' Was also voiced by fucking Tom ''"Spongebob Squarepants"'' Kenny in Animated; man, is that a blow to your dignity. Nowadays, though, he's more consistently competent (and given a more menacing voice by [[Steve Blum]] in Transformers Prime). Is such a total backstabbing traitor that "The Starscream" has entered pop-culture as a term to describe someone who seems more dedicated to fucking his own team over in ostensible pursuit of power than to actually beating the guys he's supposed to fight.

*'''Soundwave''': A major character for the Decepticons as Megatron's legitimately loyal number two. Is also the biggest source of nostalgia because he turns into a fucking tapedeck. <strike>Even though he lacks a personality</strike>'''SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR; PAGE WRITER INFERIOR''', he manages to be awesome merely through dogged determination and because he's the one guy who'll never give anyone any bullshit. He has a number of minions who turn into cassettes (or goddamn guitars in Animated's case), but the main ones are '''Rumble''' (Whose arms turn into piledrivers so he can cause earthquakes), '''Frenzy''' (Who has a sonic scream), '''Ravage''' (A fucking robot jaguar who turns into a cassette), '''Laserbeak''' and '''Buzzsaw''' (robot birds), and '''Ratbat''' (a robot bat). The IDW comic gave him an origin about how he used to be homeless due to his mind reading powers until Laserbeak and Ravage found him and helped him control them. In the Marvel G1 comics he acted as toady to whichever Decepticon had usurped Megatron that month while steadily scheming to increase his own power, making him like Starscream but actually competent. He also spoke in complete sentences and had a functioning mouth.

*'''Shockwave''': The real mad scientist of the Decepticons, whose arm is a gun and also turned into a gun in G1 (a giant flying gun). While he's also pretty loyal to Megatron, he's nowhere near Soundwave levels because his true loyalty is to pure logic. There are several times where he became a bigger threat than Megatron, requiring both Autobots and Decepticons to stop him. Most series have him involved with the Dinobots, either by creating them, or just they have major beef with him (he doesn't give a shit as he has better things to do). He's another guy who happened to be blessed by [[Steve Blum]] in the Cybertron series. The IDW comics gave him an origin about how he used to be an idealistic Noblebright senator (and Optimus' BFF) until he got unpersoned and mutilated by the corrupt Cybertronian government. Ouch. His Prime adaptation is fucking badass and intimidating, both in voice work and design, but unfortunately he suffers from Villain Incompetence Syndrome whenever the good guys show up, like so many other good bad guys.

*'''Unicron''': Unicron was originally introduced as the big bad for the '86 movie, a planet-sized, planet-eating bringer of doom (basically, if Galactus was the Death Star), voiced by ''the'' Orson Welles in his last role. The third season episode "Call of the Primitives" revealed his original, long since abandoned, origin as a planet-destroying creation of an alien mad scientist. Later media, beginning with the Marvel comics, changed his origin to Transformers' Satan, a god-like destroyer tricked into trapping himself inside a planet, but learned how to possess the world and reshape it into his own image. That fucking anime trilogy not only pulled this interpretation back, but made it "official", saying there's only one Unicron in the entire multiverse - at least, they tried. The comics pay more attention to it, but the shows tend to avoid it; witness Prime, where Unicron is actually sleeping at the heart of Earth instead of running around eating planets.

*'''Primus''': The Emprah to Unicron's Chaos God, except he's an actual god... who actually transformed into a planet and fell asleep for a fuckton of years. In this form, he became Cybertron and created the Cybertronian race. Like his evil counterpart, Unicron, he hails from the 80's comics and didn't make an appearance on screen (other than references to a pseudo-Bible named the "Covenant of Primus" in ''Beast Wars'') until the Energon Trilogy, which is where he's stayed.

==Generation One==
The original, the alpha iteration, the place where it all to began. Sometimes mockingly called Geewun because of the nostalgia fags who hate on everything that come after it. No matter how good they are. At the time, it was just called "The Transformers", with a "four-issue limited series" from Marvel that ended up running for 80 issues, a cartoon by the same name for three seasons (and two more seasons in Japan) from 1984-87 and the animated film "The Transformers: The Movie" in 1986. The movie's soundtrack is awesomely 80's, and it features the amazing song "The Touch" when Optimus Prime fights Megatron. Quite literally, this movie shit all over Bay's multi-million crappers... and that's the problem; the movie was so good that it marked the peak for the young franchise and it began a downhill slide from there, with the show scrambling to cope with all the losses (yeah, lots of people died here, even Optimus), while the toys began getting gimmickier without getting better.

The "Generation One" title was applied retroactively after Hasbro released the "Generation 2" line in 1993. By the way, G2 was the reason Transformers was considered dead for most of the 90's. The comic was that cheap sort of [[Edgy|"gritty for no real reason"]] the 90's was infamous for and the toys had pretty much burned themselves out and no gimmick could really help them on that. There was also a short-lived "Transformers G2" show, but it was just G1 with new CGI openings/endings and scene changes, so it only lasted a few episodes before flopping.

Of note is that if you want to experience G1 without having to dig up the eps from some torrent or Netflix, you can get ''Transformers Devastation'', which is essentially a G1 ep in vidya form produced by Platinum Studios, the guys responsible for balls-to-the-walls hypefests like ''Metal Gear Rising'', ''Bayonetta'', and ''The Wonderful 101'' (aka /m/ the game). Most of the actors are present, there's murderfests and speed, and big bosses. Also you get to run idiots over (but no pedestrians). Only letdown is the short length of the game and the lack of a Decepticon story and Abominus.
===Marvel's The Transformers===
What a lot of people who weren't kids in 1984 may not remember is that the first piece of long-form Transformers fiction ever was not the cartoon, but the Marvel comic book, produced in direct partnership with Hasbro as an expansion on the toy bios and character names that Marvel had already written to jam the random designs that had been licensed from Takara into a cohesive toyline. Most of the themes and tropes that people think of as "Transformers" were developed by Marvel, from the idea of living robots coming to Earth in search of energy to the most common origin for the planet-eating Unicron. Sometimes, Marvel published gripping stories exploring the dynamic of mechanical life forms adapting to an entirely alien environment and the humans caught in their crossfire. Sometimes they published stories about robot professional wrestling and evil car washes. Still, the stories had soul, and the comic ended up lasting a full year after the toyline it was made to promote ended in America. (As a sign of the times, one of the reasons the comic was canceled were its low sales of ''70,000 copies an issue.'')

British kids got an additional treat in the form of original stories from Marvel's UK division, printed in between serialized edits of the US issues in weekly installments. Most of these were done by the inimitable '''Simon Furman,''' who went on to write the US Transformers comic as well and has become the most prolific writer of Transformers fiction in the world.

==Beast Wars==
The first Western-released sequel to G1 (there were two Japanese-only continuations to G1 that never got released outside of Japan and the G2 comic mentioned above), a CGI show created by Mainframe (also responsible for ReBoot and [[War Planets]]). Set up as a "loose sequel" to G1, it involves new transformer races called "Maximals" (Autobots) and "Predacons" (Decepticons).

A Predacon terrorist leader styling himself after the original Megatron, including taking his name, hijacks an artifact with a mysterious connection to Megatron the first and goes on the run into deep space with a band of terrorists, planning on restarting the Great War and this time causing a Predacon victory. A Maximal deep-space exploration vessel commanded by Optimus Primal attempts to intercept, and both vessels end up stranded on a mysterious alien world, where an overabundance of raw energon forces them to adopt the forms of local fauna to preserve themselves. The two forces promptly start trying to wipe each other out and then escape the planet. There's also a sideplot involving an ancient alien civilization that ends itself just before the Season 3 finale.

They would eventually find out that this strange world was actually Earth, which was where Megatron II was trying to get all along, and they find the wreckage of the Ark of the original series, when new Megatron decides to headshot Prime in order to change the future for his benefit. It kinda flops when new Optimus takes part of old Optimus's soul, gets another upgrade, and becomes sorta-truck. It inspires Megatron II to try the same trick with his namesake, turning himself into a huge firebreathing dragon-bot.

Though Hasbro would mostly consign this story to oblivion after Beast Machines, the characters of Blackarachnia (sexy spider-bot who changes from evil to good thanks to love) and Waspinator (the walking punching bag who the heroes almost invariably blow up only to be fixed later), along with the concept of the Spark (essentially, Transformers' souls) would be re-used in later eras. More importantly, this show saved the franchise after Generation 2 almost killed it.

==Beast Machines==
Sequel series to ''Beast Wars''. On returning to Cybertron, our heroes are attacked by armies of transforming cookie-cutter drones. It eventually turns out that Megatron broke free from the Maximals' prison and flew back to Cybertron before them; he infected the entire planet with a cyber-virus that put them all into comas, ripped out their hearts/souls and stashed them in some hidden bunker, and melted down their bodies to rebuild them into mindless robot slaves.

Awesomely grimdark concept, but hampered by two huge flaws. Firstly, a super-annoying green aesop, which was very clumsily handled because this is a planet of talking robots, not nature. More importantly, major character derailment - it was made by a different team to ''Beast Wars'', and they weren't even allowed to watch the first series to familiarize themselves with how the Maximals were supposed to behave, so it'd be "more accessible".

Probably the reason why Hasbro only recycles G1 instead of trying to do its own thing with new shows, the way these two shows did. Even though it was their own damn fault, because they ''made'' this series into what it was. Time has been kinder to it, though, after the initial rage and denouncement. It is kind of like the Alien/Terminator 3 of Transformers. On its own its really damn good. As a sequel to what most people think is the high point of its respective franchise? Its a goddamned insult.

==Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots==
An obscure anime that came out roughly a few months before ''Armada''. Best known for its gag dub and general comedic focus that makes it surprisingly laughable, and certainly more fun to watch than any of the ''Energon Trilogy''. Usually forgotten about, except for the fact that Megatron here has six fucking modes of transformation (ten after upgrading to Galvatron). In this series Decepticons are instead Predacons like Beast Wars with actual Decepticons being created mid-series, starting with an evil clone of Optimus called "''Scourge''". General consensus is that is far from the best or worst series, it's just "meh."

==Energon Trilogy==
Comprised of the shows ''Armada'', ''Energon'', and ''Cybertron'', which are also called the ''Unicron Trilogy'' due to the antagonist's return to the spotlight after being virtually nonexistent since The Movie. Anime reinterpretation of G1, decaying from "poor but watchable" to "completely unwatchable drek" for all the reasons people hate [[/a/]]: bad dubbing, overly lengthy scenes of nothing, a shift to crappy CGI, and a plot that is so terribly paced and search-questy that you'd be praying for your GM to be railroading this. On the plus-side: competent badass Starscream (who unfortunately inspired a whole generation of [[Edgy|Linkin Park listening wannabes]]). On the downside: far too much focus on humans and not enough on giant robots trying to kill each other. Kicker, from the later series, is considered one of the worst human sidekicks the Transformers have ever had.
It has been said that, for all the failings of ''Beast Machines'', at least it's better than Armada and Energon.

===Galaxy Force===
Transformers Galaxy Force, The show that was butchered into Transformers Cybertron is more fondly remembered by fans. As it made of the strange choice of dubbing a male character into a woman. While butchering most of the series by making it a gag-dub by giving [[derp| alien robots stupid accents]]. While putting dialouge over scenes that didn't require them. The kids are also less annoying while the dub shoehorned in older versions of the Armada and Energon brats at the last minute during the final episode. This is because Gonzo created it as independent entry until Hazblow retconned it into the Energon trilogy with Takara Tomy following suit.

==Michael Bay Films==
The dark force known as Michael Bay brought Transformers back as a series of live-action + CGI movies. Considered the [[Matt Ward]] of the Transformers universe, Bay's movies are rage-inducing [[fail]]s that have far too much focus on annoying human characters and on lowbrow humor. Seriously, in the first movie, we don't get to see an Autobot for, like, thirty minutes while dealing with very bland characters who get billed way too much, and we have to facepalm our way through an awful gag about Bumblebee basically ''pissing on a guy''. The second one is no better with two black/redneck stereotypes as ''heroes'', a gag about balls, and a two-for-one gag about farting/incontinence - from a Transformer, no less. Real classy, Bay.

About the only shallow redeeming qualities it has is that the CGI Transformers look amazing (even if some neckbeards have cracked up over how they're "not accurate" to the G1 character modes), the fight scenes are suitably glorious for giant alien death-machines ripping each other to pieces (when you can see it clearly), and most importantly is it has introduced Transformers to a whole new generation of fans, who can hopefully be shown the good stuff instead of thinking this garbage is the true representative of the setting.

After the trilogy Bay made a fourth movie which actually manages to make some considerable improvements (not that it was that hard), like a lot more of focus on Optimus Prime, killing the scrappy comic relief during the first part of the movie and more consistent fighting scenes, plus DINOBOTS! charging the enemy. There is also more grimdark as Optimus finally decides enough is enough after having tried to protect mankind for more than five years while having his whole team slaughtered by those he sworn to protect, and pulls a gun against a human frakker who was teaming up with the mercenary Lockdown to kill Autobots and use their remains to make their own giant robots that turn into cars (except instead of literally creating Galvatron last time, this time it's like the T-1000 where they turn into nanobot swarms). On the downside, though, the humans are still pointless tagalongs (though this is a new set of humans, no Shia Lebouf to be found here, Thank God for that), there are more pointless stereotypes (Like Weeaboo Samurai-bot Drift, Crosshairs who gets a fucking trenchcoat when he transforms, and Hound, [[Awesome|who somehow has a cigar and a wire-beard]]), the Dinobots don't even show up until the last few minutes of the movie, and there's this ridiculous need to hammer in the "us vs. them" mentality between the humans making their own Transformers and Lockdown trying to kill Optimus because he's betrayed their makers by siding with the humans.
Than everything goes to shit during "The Last Knight". While ripping off the "Earth is Unicron" thing from Transformers Prime.

Then, in 2018, Bumblebee got his own spinoff movie about him crashing on Earth, losing his voice, making a friend and running from two decepticons and John Cena. To put it lightly it's one of the best Transformer films; the transformers themselves are accurate to their G1 forms, the storyline is coherent and the acting is spot on. This indicates that the film series may finally be going in the right direction. Shame that the series seem to be canceled.

==Animated==
G1 inspired series with notoriously unusual but smooth animation. This time, Optimus Prime and his crew are lowly space construction workers who stumble across a superweapon from the Great War and have to defend it against Megatron ('''GIVING HIM A GODDAMN ENGLISH ACCENT FUCK YES'''), who seeks to use it to restart the war and this time ensure Decepticon victory. This version's Optimus is much younger and less experienced than usual; funnily enough, he was voiced by the actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars. Generally noted for having the best human sidekick (who turns out to really be part-transformer anyways). The other Autobots also tend to have some interesting characterizations from "Complete dumb muscle who surprisingly knows everything about building [[Webway|Space Bridges]]" Bulkhead to "[[Weeaboo]] Robo-Ninja" Prowl to "MY EGO IS AS BIG AS MY CHIN AND MY ASSHOLEITUDE IS EVEN BIGGER!" Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons sometimes do better vis ze German schizophrenic Blitzwing, the [[Lorgar|borderline-religiously loyal]] Lugnut, and badass robo-Clint Eastwood Lockdown.

The series was weird in that alongside the Decepticons were also some gimmicky human villains, from a Shakespearean Robin Hood knockoff, to a cute little girl who's a mad scientist, to another mad scientist who rips off Transformer heads to replicate an old G1 gimmick. These villains were a bit ridiculous, but it helped break up the monotony of the constant 'con fighting, especially when Megatron was reduced to a state worse than [[Abaddon]] as a head. The creators came up with the idea to emphasize just how dangerous the 'cons are, compared to their Autobot opponents; when ''one'' 'con shows up, it's an emergency that takes the whole team to try and pull out a win. Hell, ''Starscream'' could beat up the entire Autobot team in his first few appearances before they figured out how to handle him. Using human bad guys kept the Decepticon threat "fresh" for longer; even when the Autobots got to the point where they could(kinda) face a Decepticon one-on-one, they remained a serious threat all the way up to the end.

==Cybertron Series==
There were many, MANY, video games made for every part of the Transformers, but most of them ranged from forgettable to utter shit to [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Mystery_of_Convoy memetically terrible.] The closest we got to a good original game series (so no whining about the Movie-Games) were the games ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'', both made by High Moon Studios.

These games act as the [[Horus Heresy]] to G1's 40k by explaining how Optimus became a leader and how Megatron became a dictator while their war and its demand eventually destroyed their homeworld. (These games are also technically part of the backstory for Hasbro's "Aligned continuity" shared with Transformers Prime and a couple prose stories, but as usual there are enough discrepancies to throw a wrench in that quite nicely.) While the gameplay itself isn't much more than a basic third-person shooter, the vast amount of references to the rest of the series and the rather well-written story and characters make it stand out. ''Fall of Cybertron'' may be considered one of the most grimdark settings to see wide release, while not being as totally ham-handed with it as Beast Machines. It also helps that the second game gave some bonus variety in some segments by giving you a level as MOTHERFUCKING GRIMLOCK, and another where you get to play as a combiner (who has an awesome helicopter-arm, but is otherwise not very memorable besides being huge.) Overall great fights, no crappy human sidekicks, an awesome OST and all the grimdarkness needed to make any neckbeard enjoy it quite much, also ESCALATION mode will ensure you endless hours of good bloodless carnage.

There is a (sorta) third game called ''Rise of the Dark Spark'', which decides to make the stupid decision of merging this series to the Bayformers continuity. It was released as tie in game with fourth movie and has less of budget, clearly shown with its number of glitches, lack of variety in levels (mostly just enemies till the game lets you move on) and downright ugly environments for the levels set on Earth. The only thing to remember is that the Cybertron segments are still awesome, while later parts will just shoehorn you with mutebee and Drift (who at least has an awesome special attack), with one level playing as Grimlock again and lacking any Decepticon plot post-Cybertron. There is also the 3ds version with mostly the same story but is otherwise a turn based strategy game kind of like a really old and obscure mid-late 00s IOS game except you have to deal with Bayverse shit.

===Prime===
G1 inspired CGI series that somehow salvages the fairly decent elements of Michael Bay's crapfest movies (e.g. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their respective roles, artstyle, some character elements/background lore, [[Rip and Tear]]), takes place in the same universe as the Cybertron games and crafts an awesome show out of it. Animation is fucking amazing, with fight scenes that rival if not trump the Michael Bay films. Very dark and gritty as well, where one of the Autobots [[Awesome|(voiced by the Rock himself, mind you)]], gets whacked in ''the first episode.'' The Autobots are not only outnumbered and outgunned by the Decepticons, but they also have to contend with MECH, a human terrorist organization that seeks to cannibalize Cybertronians for their advanced technology.

The biggest problem with this series is Miko, who competes with Kicker (from the abovementioned ''Energon Trilogy'') for the title of worst human character in Transformers history. Obnoxiously gung-ho and always charging off into danger, even when told not to, invariably making things worse for the Autobots in the process. Still, this series easily has some of the best human characters otherwise, most notably Agent Fowler, who in the company of giant alien killing machines manages to be a badass in his own right. Even Miko managed to get better as the series went on, learning from her mistakes and not being such a load. She even managed to take out a Decepticon at one point.

Then there's Predacons Rising; the made-for-tv movie meant to serve as a series finale... it was questionable at best. Plot holes everywhere, very little focus on the actual Predacons in the title, and characters doing stupid and random things to simply fit the plot. It was basically a segue into the next series; Robots in Disguise. There were some Dinobot focused IDW comics in between. They are pretty awesome. And mostly ignored. Because we don't deserve good things in Transformers.

===Rescue Bots===
A balance to ''Prime's'' grittiness was this Kid-friendly series that aired around the same time. A four-mech squad of Rescue Bots comes to earth following Optimus Prime's message. Since bringing Rescue Bots into combat is mostly a good way to get them killed, Optimus ships them off to the town Griffin Rock, Maine, far ''far'' away from the fighting. There, they work with the Burns' family, who have all become First Responders of one type or another. As you can probably guess, this one's for ''little'' kids. To get their parents to start buying Transformers toys early until they're old enough for the harder stuff.

===Robots in Disguise===
In this series Prime's relegated mentor-figure role, while Bumblebee (once again with a voice) has to take command of an ex-con, a stickler, and a slightly-smarter Grimlock in helping some kid and his dad's junkyard and detaining runaway Decepticon inmates, all of whom aren't related to the main bads, so this series was more original than most of the kiddie-aimed series. There was a 'con in it called Slapper. The show really doesn't become good until the Starscream miniseries after season three, and the Soundwave/Autobot Counsel arc of the fourth season. Which also introduces combiners into the Prime/Cybertron continuity.

==Cyberverse==
G1 inspired CGI series. Jam packed with references all across the franchise.

==IDW==
IDW Publishing is responsible for two major continuities of Transformers; the last being one of the longest and most elaborate, and the current one which follows the toyline oriented towards older teens and adult collectors, the War For Cybertron series (not to be confused with the game series of the same name). The latter will also be told in a cartoon series on Netflix.

==Oddities==
There have been a ''lot'' of Transformers series out there. Many of them are just spinoffs of G1 or silly throwaways like [[What|Transformers Mr. Potato Head,]] but some of them are good enough or just weird enough to be worth mentioning here. For full details, see TFWiki below.
===Transformers Rescue Bots===
The 30-minute toy commercial for the preschool-focused "Rescue Bots" toyline. In the same continuity as Transformers Prime above, which would lead to much lulz if the writers ever had the balls to let them cross over to any significant degree. Features four young Autobots who slept through the whole war in stasis and were recalled to Earth by Optimus Prime; being too inexperienced to handle the rigors of war with the Decepticons, they were assigned to the ''[[wikipedia:Eureka (U.S. TV series)|Eureka]]''-esque island of Griffin Rock, where they perform rescue operations with their human partners. Instead of open combat, the 'bots and their human partners battle with out-of-control inventions and mundane disasters; the only true antagonist of the series is the [[steampunk]] gentleman-scientist Doctor Morocco, voiced by [[Slaanesh| <s>Slaanesh</s> Tim Curry.]] Surprisingly watchable for a kids' show due to solid humor, ''Rescue Bots'' has the distinction of being the longest-running Transformers cartoon ever, with four full seasons and a sequel series on track to air in 2019.

===Unit: E===
In the third season of Transformers Prime, the writers started dropping references to other Hasbro properties like ''M.A.S.K.'' and ''G.I. Joe'' in connection with a government agency called "Unit E." This was intended to be a "backdoor launch" to a whole shared universe in the vein of the massively profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting of just about every brand Hasbro owns that has ever been remotely popular with any demographic, ever. These ranged from the sensible (''M.A.S.K.'' was another transforming-toy brand from the 80s that Hasbro absorbed, and ''G.I. Joe'' has a long history of Transformers crossovers) to the oddball but justifiable (''Jem and the Holograms'' was Hasbro's big new girl-toy push in the 80s and was occasionally used as a sight gag in the G1 cartoon) to blatant halo-effect attempts that made no sense at all ([[Dungeons & Dragons]]? Stretch Armstrong? '''''Candy Land?!''''') The framing device for this insanity was the eponymous Unit: E, a group of explorers who scanned the multiverse for "the Eerie, the Else, the Eternities of Infinity" from an installation placed in the "slipstream" outside of reality. ([[Quest:TG_Meta_Quest|Sounds kinda familiar, don't it?]])

Perhaps fortunately for all involved, this product of Marketing's cocaine-fueled fever dreams did a faceplant into the sun and nothing came of it except for a one-shot comic book released at Comic-Con and the aforementioned namedrops in Prime. Hasbro never let go of the idea of seeing if their properties would blend, though, and in 2016 IDW was given the green light to weld their previously-separate licensed comics (including Transformers, Joe, Micronauts, Rom: Spaceknight, and yes, Jem) together through a ''Secret Wars''-style crossover event called ''Revolution.'' From this point IDW's comics are set in the '''Hasbro Universe,''' with such fiction-bending events as the Decepticon Skywarp joining G.I. Joe and a multi-property superhero team called the Revolutionaries joining forces.

Except now said universe is being rebooted while currently going FULL TOMINO via our pal Unicron and some really stupid ass deaths in the crossover comic with the Visionaries of all fucking things. YET NO GODDAMNED INHUMANOIDS WHICH IS HASBRO CALL OF CTHULHU BUT WITH POWERED ARMOR SCIENTISTS FIGHTING THE EVIL UNDER THE EARTH. Kup shouldn't die to a goddamn Visionary. Not when motherfucking D'Compose exists. Goddamnit now I want an Inhumanoids mod for Call of Cthulhu....

===Transformers: Kiss Players===
After the ignominious conclusion of the Energon Trilogy, Takara decided to make their next installment of the Transformers franchise smaller and more adult-focused. Welding the bits of their various G1-sequel lines (including the "collector's choice" ''Binaltech'' line and the grab-bag ''Robotmasters'' line) with the G1 cartoon and their own anime into a single (confusing as all hell) timeline, Transformers Kiss Players takes place immediately after the events of the 1986 movie. After Unicron exploded in 2005, the broken body of Galvatron was sent hurtling towards Earth where it (what else?) destroyed Tokyo. In response, the Earth Defense Command was formed to kick the Transformers off the goddamn planet before they blew up any other national capitals, which they did with a Transformer-hostile energy field and using the tech from Galvatron's corpse to make mass-produced Autorooper mecha. Unfortunately for them, Galvatron's reentry scattered fragments of his and Unicron's life-force into Earth's atmosphere, fragments that activated in 2006. The "Galvatron cells" fused with whatever they touched, turning them into biomechanical monsters called the Legion. Humans who came in contact with the Galvatron cells inexplicably did not turn into monsters, but instead could fuse with both Autoroopers and Transformers by ''kissing them.''

You see, Kiss Players was written by longtime Transformers fan and freelance toy designer Yuki Ohshima, who took Takara's desire for an otaku-targeted series as an invitation to ''freak the fuck out of people'' and gave them a freaky-ass magical girl horror story in the vein of ''Narutaru'' and Madoka Magica that just happened to have Transformers in it. [[Loli|A bunch of suspiciously young-looking women]] got dropped into a psychosexual nightmare in the name of shock value, and the Western Transformers fanbase crapped their pants over "pedophilia" showing up next to "their" childhood toys, accusing Oshima of wanting to [[Chris Orksen|diddle the kiddle.]] The Japanese fans, for their part, were mostly apologetic towards the Western fanbase and confused as to why the hell Takara thought that Freudian horror and moe were at all compatible with giant robots whaling on each other. The second part of the line (''Kiss Players Position'') dumped the original fiction's baggage in favor of taking cute girls on a whirlwind tour of the Transformers universe, but by that point the Western fans had already made up their mind. To this day Kiss Players is still the go-to acceptable target for "at least it's not as bad as..." jokes on TFWiki. The toys themselves were decent at least, being retools of the well-received ''Binaltech''/''Alternators'' collectible toys with vinyl loli figures packaged in the box, so picking those up is perfectly fine if you're willing to deal with faggots calling you a weeb.

==Tabletop Games==
Despite not having a licensed RPG Transformers is no stranger to tabletop games. None have been particularly amazing or well-known in the past, but Hasbro has aggressively been expanding the brand in the late 2010's and going towards the 2020's have managed to finally make a success.

* (The usual pallet-swap games)

Monopoly, Risk, Chess, Stratego, Connect 4, Uno, memory cards, playing cards, you know the drill.

* Heroclix

You fucking know what these are. Enjoy your game of Optimus Prime, Harley Quinn, Jean Grey, and Drizzt VS Master Splinter, Freddy Krueger, a Xenomorph, and Bilbo Baggins. Wait, that does sound cool actually...

* Transformers Robot Warrior Game

Released in 1985, its redeco Snakes/Chutes & Ladders except you have two pieces to divide die rolls between, and an outer board to progress around as a vehicle before transforming to robot mode and making your way through as usual. Since all players control cars, its technically all Autobot players trying to reach their base during a battle with the Decepticons

* The Transformers Game

Released in 1986. Despite impressive wargame-style box art, its a very simple game for small children. No real strategy, both players are trying to reach the end goal to destroy the enemy base and all movement is determined by dice rolls after the first move where you choose to go left or right (both ways are mirrored, offering only the illusion of a choice), and after that point you only decide whether to move forward or back. The board resembles outer space and the enemy base is on Earth, and all pieces are Seekers meaning both players are Decepticons interestingly enough. When a piece for both players land on the same space they draw cards from a deck which interestingly all depict Autobots, highest number wins and best of three wins the battle. Winner transforms to robot mode, loser goes back to start. Only robot modes can enter the enemy base. First player to have all three of their team in the enemy base wins.

* Transformers Adventure Game: Defeat the Decepticons

* Transformers G1 Decoys Board Game

* Transformers: Beast Wars

Released in 1999 in Japan, based on the entire Beast Wars line at the time (including the Japanese-only cartoon).

* Transformers Armada: Battle For Cybertron

A redeco of Star Wars: Epic Duels, with some rules simplified and new modes. Generally considered a casual strategy game, with a lower learning curve. Instead of one hero and two minions, you only have one hero. Four characters per faction, each having their own combat deck and rules. They aren’t equal in strength, Megatron and Optimus predictably outclass everyone. There are four different maps to fight on with their own cover and terrain, and character start locations mitigate the strength difference in characters to a small degree. 2v2, faction mixing, and FFA game modes are available.

* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes Game

* Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Missile Mania

* Jogo Dos Transformers: Una Aventura Emocionante Com Os Robos-Herois Do Futuro

A licensed Brazilian Transformers game made by Estrela. Estrela made up its own Transformers continuity based entirely on Minis. The game is extremely rare, so good luck finding the rules, let alone a copy.

* [[Transformers Trading Card Game]]
Deserves its own page. This is that aforementioned success.

* Battlechanger.

A pair of RPG's designed to emulate and recreate transformers in IP neutral, (IE: Don't sue us we just have transforming robots from other planet that are in two factions and are locked in a war but there not called Autobots Decepticon). Battlechanger uses a unique Diceless RPG engine to run it's system, while Battle Changers: Ironworks uses a variant of the D&D 3.5 ruleset while also being pathfinder comparable. So what's the catch? Well they were both made by Otherverse Games. Yes: the [[Black Tokyo]] People. Thankfully there is no cross contamination between the two, while Battle Changes show up in Black Tokyo, Black Tokyo definitely does not show up here.

* [[COMMANDROIDS: A WORLD TRANSFORMED]]
A tabletop roleplaying game by [[Nerdy City]] that can be found [https://nerdycity.com/product/commandroids/ here], compatible with their other 80's franchise expy games (just in case you wanted your Transformers/He-man/GI Joe/Stephen King crossover campaign). Mostly centered around not!Tranformers, with some elements of similar things like Voltron, Exosquad, and Macross/Robotech thrown in as the players see fit. Players create a human and Commandroid character who are bonded together, which can take the form of piloting or merging with the robot similar to the various _____master Transformer toys. There are rules for classes of machines and vehicles, as well as Combiners and Titans. The game uses the Nerdy City gaming "Omnisystem" which has rules for character relationships, leveraging time for player activities they will not want to roleplay through, and the ability for players to have "solo adventures" which don't take place at the same time in-universe but are played that way. As an aternative it functions as an add-on module for the [[FATE System]].

== See Also ==
The idea of "giant robots turning into vehicles" is so cool that lots of homebrew and independent mecha RPGs include mechas or characters that are "totally not Transformers" to fill the void that Hasbro has seemingly refused to fill themselves. For example:

* [[Giant Guardian Generation]]
* [[Horizon]] - Mechamorphosis is literally "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off, done by way of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5".
* [[Mechagenasis]] - Another "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off" game, this time done for [[True20]].
* [[Battlechangers]] - Blatantly Transformers-based RPG, in both an original version and a [[Pathfinder]] version (Battlechangers Ironworks).
* [[Mekton]] - Extremely flexible with what it can do: the rules for transforming are simple (as far as Mekton goes anyway) and adapting to a Transformers setting is as easy as actually reading up on them, but the game's hilariously broken.
* [[Rifts]] - Some homebrew stuff floating around on the net for playing Transformers exists. Pity it relies on the godawful RIFTS mechanics...
* [[Codex: Transformers]] - A case of 1d4chan getting shit done, adapting Transformers into yet another [[Warhammer 40000]] faction.
* [[Setting:Transformers]] - A tie-in article to the above trying to develop the lore to explain why Codex: Transformers is a thing.

== External Links ==
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page TFWiki.net], the unofficial Transformers wiki.

[[Category:Not related]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Transformers

2019-11-15T13:28:53Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Animated */

[[File:Generation 1 by DonFig.jpg|800px|thumbnail|center|And these are just your characters from G1!]]

'''Transformers''' is a series of Robot Toys created by [[Hasbro]] and Takara Tomy that typically turn into cars and other vehicles. Robots are cool, cars are cool and so they became popular. In 1984 they made some comics and a cartoon show. The comics show created a lot of toy sales and the toys kept the shows and comics popular. Over the years they changed things up to sell more toys and new series were made, some worked quite well (Beast Wars, Prime) others did not (Armada, Energon, Cybertron).

Why has there never been a roleplaying game about this shit? Only [[/co/|comics, cartoons,]] [[/a/|anime,]] [[/v/|and finally video games.]] So much potential. Seriously, it's a setting about sentient, shapeshifting robots fighting a war that spans motivations from political to racial to theological. Fuck, there weren't ''any'' tabletop Transformers games beyond [[Ameritrash|the usual tie-in bullshit]] until 2018 when Hasbro announced an official Transformers TCG. How the fuck has nobody realised the money-making potential there?

==Main Guys==
As the series come and go, a certain bevvy of characters seem to be archetypal to the Transformers. Not helped by the fact that, ever since the flop of ''Beast Machines'' and the riotous financial successes of the Bay, Hasbro seems to only ever stick with recycling Generation One, with some other characters jumping continuities. These are the Transformers who appear in some form or another in every iteration of the setting.

*'''Optimus Prime''': Leader of the Autobots, [[Lawful Good]] to the computer-core, the Big Red Hero-bot himself. There's always an Optimus leading the Autobots, and he usually turns into some kind of red truck or hauler. His name is the Latin words for "best" and "first", and he really is both. In the original show (and in the Michael Bay movies -- one of the decent things about them -- and Transformers Prime and the Cybertron games), he was voiced by Peter Cullen, whose awesome deep voice you probably hear in your head whenever you read any of his dialogue. Check it out: ''"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."'' Also has the record of dying the most times out of anyone ever, making one wonder how the hell the GM lets him get away with it each time. Might be because he always goes out fighting, never like a punk.

*'''Megatron''': If there's an Optimus Prime, there's always a Megatron, the Evil (of some flavor, depending on the series) to his Lawful Good. Megsy remains pretty consistent throughout his appearances, usually varying only in what level of honor he has (which usually depends on his backstory; sometimes he started as a charismatic gladiator turned freedom fighter against the corrupt Cybertronian government -- [[Angron]], anyone? -- but sometimes he's just nuts) and/or how much of a cold-blooded psychopath he is. He used to turn into a gun (which could inexplicably shrink down to be small enough to be wielded by another Decepticon or even the occasional ''human''), with the <s>barrel</s> scope giving him a wicked arm cannon in robot mode, but nowadays he usually turns into a tank or a jet. He was first voiced by Frank Welker, whose versatile voice was also used for just about every other Decepticon except for Starscream (and probably at least one role in just about every cartoon ever made). David Kaye did a bang-up job voicing Predcacon Leader Megatron in Beast Wars, ''Yeeesss''.
**'''Galvatron''':Whenever there is a Megatron there is a Galvatron. He's everything you love about the M taken up to eleven. This guy is seriously bad news, he's probably insane and violent enough to give Doombreed pause and he's probably the strongest non-God transformer there is in G1 comics it takes a friggin' time vortex to finally put him down. After a dying Megatron found himself adrift in space, he had a lovely chat with the physical Cybertronian God,Unicron who reconstructed him into this indentity. Didn't work for long though; Galvy kind of went off the reservation pretty quickly.

*'''Bumblebee''': The yellow kid-friendly one, he's usually the main one to interact with the resident token humans. He usually turns into a sports car. Can be surprisingly badass in some adaptations -- his ''Beast Wars'' counterpart, Cheetor, went on to basically take Optimus Primal's place as leader of the Maximals in ''Beast Machines''. In the Michael Bay movies, he became a mute who talks only in radio quotes/beeps and boops like a 60s robot which just got ANNOYING. His Prime Counterpart retained the mute quirk, but his voicebox was eventually repaired by the time of the sequel series. Then he starred in a prequel film which was so awesome, Hasbro decided to just reboot the Transformers film franchise. Way to go, little guy!

*'''Grimlock''': A fuckmothering [[AWESOME|robot Tyrannosaurus]] that usually breathes fire. He's the leader of a pack of other robot dinosaurs called the '''Dinobots'''. He's not exactly smart (well sometimes, he's either a stupid beast or a no nonsense leader with a speech problem), but who cares about that? HE'LL FUCKING EAT YOU. No seriously he once ripped Shockwave's arm off and ate it.

*'''Starscream''': Megatron's loud-mouthed, whiny, scheming, sneaky, backstabbing second-in-command who always wants to lead the Decepticons. He is neither strong enough to bump Megsy off, [[Sindri Myr|smart enough to trick him to his death]], or [[Eliphas|charismatic enough to persuade others he's a better boss]]. Sometimes Megatron himself wonders why he keeps Starscream around, but (when the writers remember) he is actually an extremely competent air commander who leads The Seekers, Decepticons who are typically recolors of him with the most prominent being Skywarp and Thundercracker. In Animated, the Seekers were replaced by actual clones all named after classic Seekers with the only one original to the series being [[Rule 63]]. Starscream usually turns into the latest and greatest fighter jet (unless he's turning into some Cybertronian future-jet) historically an F-15, F-16, or F-22. In the original cartoon, his catchphrase (delivered in the classic 80s-villain screech as his first voice actor also voiced the similarly screechy Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe) was probably ''"Decepticons, RETREEEAT!"'' Was also voiced by fucking Tom ''"Spongebob Squarepants"'' Kenny in Animated; man, is that a blow to your dignity. Nowadays, though, he's more consistently competent (and given a more menacing voice by [[Steve Blum]] in Transformers Prime). Is such a total backstabbing traitor that "The Starscream" has entered pop-culture as a term to describe someone who seems more dedicated to fucking his own team over in ostensible pursuit of power than to actually beating the guys he's supposed to fight.

*'''Soundwave''': A major character for the Decepticons as Megatron's legitimately loyal number two. Is also the biggest source of nostalgia because he turns into a fucking tapedeck. <strike>Even though he lacks a personality</strike>'''SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR; PAGE WRITER INFERIOR''', he manages to be awesome merely through dogged determination and because he's the one guy who'll never give anyone any bullshit. He has a number of minions who turn into cassettes (or goddamn guitars in Animated's case), but the main ones are '''Rumble''' (Whose arms turn into piledrivers so he can cause earthquakes), '''Frenzy''' (Who has a sonic scream), '''Ravage''' (A fucking robot jaguar who turns into a cassette), '''Laserbeak''' and '''Buzzsaw''' (robot birds), and '''Ratbat''' (a robot bat). The IDW comic gave him an origin about how he used to be homeless due to his mind reading powers until Laserbeak and Ravage found him and helped him control them. In the Marvel G1 comics he acted as toady to whichever Decepticon had usurped Megatron that month while steadily scheming to increase his own power, making him like Starscream but actually competent. He also spoke in complete sentences and had a functioning mouth.

*'''Shockwave''': The real mad scientist of the Decepticons, whose arm is a gun and also turned into a gun in G1 (a giant flying gun). While he's also pretty loyal to Megatron, he's nowhere near Soundwave levels because his true loyalty is to pure logic. There are several times where he became a bigger threat than Megatron, requiring both Autobots and Decepticons to stop him. Most series have him involved with the Dinobots, either by creating them, or just they have major beef with him (he doesn't give a shit as he has better things to do). He's another guy who happened to be blessed by [[Steve Blum]] in the Cybertron series. The IDW comics gave him an origin about how he used to be an idealistic Noblebright senator (and Optimus' BFF) until he got unpersoned and mutilated by the corrupt Cybertronian government. Ouch. His Prime adaptation is fucking badass and intimidating, both in voice work and design, but unfortunately he suffers from Villain Incompetence Syndrome whenever the good guys show up, like so many other good bad guys.

*'''Unicron''': Unicron was originally introduced as the big bad for the '86 movie, a planet-sized, planet-eating bringer of doom (basically, if Galactus was the Death Star), voiced by ''the'' Orson Welles in his last role. The third season episode "Call of the Primitives" revealed his original, long since abandoned, origin as a planet-destroying creation of an alien mad scientist. Later media, beginning with the Marvel comics, changed his origin to Transformers' Satan, a god-like destroyer tricked into trapping himself inside a planet, but learned how to possess the world and reshape it into his own image. That fucking anime trilogy not only pulled this interpretation back, but made it "official", saying there's only one Unicron in the entire multiverse - at least, they tried. The comics pay more attention to it, but the shows tend to avoid it; witness Prime, where Unicron is actually sleeping at the heart of Earth instead of running around eating planets.

*'''Primus''': The Emprah to Unicron's Chaos God, except he's an actual god... who actually transformed into a planet and fell asleep for a fuckton of years. In this form, he became Cybertron and created the Cybertronian race. Like his evil counterpart, Unicron, he hails from the 80's comics and didn't make an appearance on screen (other than references to a pseudo-Bible named the "Covenant of Primus" in ''Beast Wars'') until the Energon Trilogy, which is where he's stayed.

==Generation One==
The original, the alpha iteration, the place where it all to began. Sometimes mockingly called Geewun because of the nostalgia fags who hate on everything that come after it. No matter how good they are. At the time, it was just called "The Transformers", with a "four-issue limited series" from Marvel that ended up running for 80 issues, a cartoon by the same name for three seasons (and two more seasons in Japan) from 1984-87 and the animated film "The Transformers: The Movie" in 1986. The movie's soundtrack is awesomely 80's, and it features the amazing song "The Touch" when Optimus Prime fights Megatron. Quite literally, this movie shit all over Bay's multi-million crappers... and that's the problem; the movie was so good that it marked the peak for the young franchise and it began a downhill slide from there, with the show scrambling to cope with all the losses (yeah, lots of people died here, even Optimus), while the toys began getting gimmickier without getting better.

The "Generation One" title was applied retroactively after Hasbro released the "Generation 2" line in 1993. By the way, G2 was the reason Transformers was considered dead for most of the 90's. The comic was that cheap sort of [[Edgy|"gritty for no real reason"]] the 90's was infamous for and the toys had pretty much burned themselves out and no gimmick could really help them on that. There was also a short-lived "Transformers G2" show, but it was just G1 with new CGI openings/endings and scene changes, so it only lasted a few episodes before flopping.

Of note is that if you want to experience G1 without having to dig up the eps from some torrent or Netflix, you can get ''Transformers Devastation'', which is essentially a G1 ep in vidya form produced by Platinum Studios, the guys responsible for balls-to-the-walls hypefests like ''Metal Gear Rising'', ''Bayonetta'', and ''The Wonderful 101'' (aka /m/ the game). Most of the actors are present, there's murderfests and speed, and big bosses. Also you get to run idiots over (but no pedestrians). Only letdown is the short length of the game and the lack of a Decepticon story and Abominus.
===Marvel's The Transformers===
What a lot of people who weren't kids in 1984 may not remember is that the first piece of long-form Transformers fiction ever was not the cartoon, but the Marvel comic book, produced in direct partnership with Hasbro as an expansion on the toy bios and character names that Marvel had already written to jam the random designs that had been licensed from Takara into a cohesive toyline. Most of the themes and tropes that people think of as "Transformers" were developed by Marvel, from the idea of living robots coming to Earth in search of energy to the most common origin for the planet-eating Unicron. Sometimes, Marvel published gripping stories exploring the dynamic of mechanical life forms adapting to an entirely alien environment and the humans caught in their crossfire. Sometimes they published stories about robot professional wrestling and evil car washes. Still, the stories had soul, and the comic ended up lasting a full year after the toyline it was made to promote ended in America. (As a sign of the times, one of the reasons the comic was canceled were its low sales of ''70,000 copies an issue.'')

British kids got an additional treat in the form of original stories from Marvel's UK division, printed in between serialized edits of the US issues in weekly installments. Most of these were done by the inimitable '''Simon Furman,''' who went on to write the US Transformers comic as well and has become the most prolific writer of Transformers fiction in the world.

==Beast Wars==
The first Western-released sequel to G1 (there were two Japanese-only continuations to G1 that never got released outside of Japan and the G2 comic mentioned above), a CGI show created by Mainframe (also responsible for ReBoot and [[War Planets]]). Set up as a "loose sequel" to G1, it involves new transformer races called "Maximals" (Autobots) and "Predacons" (Decepticons).

A Predacon terrorist leader styling himself after the original Megatron, including taking his name, hijacks an artifact with a mysterious connection to Megatron the first and goes on the run into deep space with a band of terrorists, planning on restarting the Great War and this time causing a Predacon victory. A Maximal deep-space exploration vessel commanded by Optimus Primal attempts to intercept, and both vessels end up stranded on a mysterious alien world, where an overabundance of raw energon forces them to adopt the forms of local fauna to preserve themselves. The two forces promptly start trying to wipe each other out and then escape the planet. There's also a sideplot involving an ancient alien civilization that ends itself just before the Season 3 finale.

They would eventually find out that this strange world was actually Earth, which was where Megatron II was trying to get all along, and they find the wreckage of the Ark of the original series, when new Megatron decides to headshot Prime in order to change the future for his benefit. It kinda flops when new Optimus takes part of old Optimus's soul, gets another upgrade, and becomes sorta-truck. It inspires Megatron II to try the same trick with his namesake, turning himself into a huge firebreathing dragon-bot.

Though Hasbro would mostly consign this story to oblivion after Beast Machines, the characters of Blackarachnia (sexy spider-bot who changes from evil to good thanks to love) and Waspinator (the walking punching bag who the heroes almost invariably blow up only to be fixed later), along with the concept of the Spark (essentially, Transformers' souls) would be re-used in later eras. More importantly, this show saved the franchise after Generation 2 almost killed it.

==Beast Machines==
Sequel series to ''Beast Wars''. On returning to Cybertron, our heroes are attacked by armies of transforming cookie-cutter drones. It eventually turns out that Megatron broke free from the Maximals' prison and flew back to Cybertron before them; he infected the entire planet with a cyber-virus that put them all into comas, ripped out their hearts/souls and stashed them in some hidden bunker, and melted down their bodies to rebuild them into mindless robot slaves.

Awesomely grimdark concept, but hampered by two huge flaws. Firstly, a super-annoying green aesop, which was very clumsily handled because this is a planet of talking robots, not nature. More importantly, major character derailment - it was made by a different team to ''Beast Wars'', and they weren't even allowed to watch the first series to familiarize themselves with how the Maximals were supposed to behave, so it'd be "more accessible".

Probably the reason why Hasbro only recycles G1 instead of trying to do its own thing with new shows, the way these two shows did. Even though it was their own damn fault, because they ''made'' this series into what it was. Time has been kinder to it, though, after the initial rage and denouncement. It is kind of like the Alien/Terminator 3 of Transformers. On its own its really damn good. As a sequel to what most people think is the high point of its respective franchise? Its a goddamned insult.

==Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots==
An obscure anime that came out roughly a few months before ''Armada''. Best known for its gag dub and general comedic focus that makes it surprisingly laughable, and certainly more fun to watch than any of the ''Energon Trilogy''. Usually forgotten about, except for the fact that Megatron here has six fucking modes of transformation (ten after upgrading to Galvatron). In this series Decepticons are instead Predacons like Beast Wars with actual Decepticons being created mid-series, starting with an evil clone of Optimus called "''Scourge''". General consensus is that is far from the best or worst series, it's just "meh."

==Energon Trilogy==
Comprised of the shows ''Armada'', ''Energon'', and ''Cybertron'', which are also called the ''Unicron Trilogy'' due to the antagonist's return to the spotlight after being virtually nonexistent since The Movie. Anime reinterpretation of G1, decaying from "poor but watchable" to "completely unwatchable drek" for all the reasons people hate [[/a/]]: bad dubbing, overly lengthy scenes of nothing, a shift to crappy CGI, and a plot that is so terribly paced and search-questy that you'd be praying for your GM to be railroading this. On the plus-side: competent badass Starscream (who unfortunately inspired a whole generation of [[Edgy|Linkin Park listening wannabes]]). On the downside: far too much focus on humans and not enough on giant robots trying to kill each other. Kicker, from the later series, is considered one of the worst human sidekicks the Transformers have ever had.
It has been said that, for all the failings of ''Beast Machines'', at least it's better than Armada and Energon.

===Galaxy Force===
Transformers Galaxy Force, The show that was butchered into Transformers Cybertron is more fondly remembered by fans. As it made of the strange choice of dubbing a male character into a woman. While butchering most of the series by making it a gag-dub by giving [[derp| alien robots stupid accents]]. While putting dialouge over scenes that didn't require them. The kids are also less annoying while the dub shoehorned in older versions of the Armada and Energon brats at the last minute during the final episode. This is because Gonzo created it as independent entry until Hazblow retconned it into the Energon trilogy with Takara Tomy following suit.

==Michael Bay Films==
The dark force known as Michael Bay brought Transformers back as a series of live-action + CGI movies. Considered the [[Matt Ward]] of the Transformers universe, Bay's movies are rage-inducing [[fail]]s that have far too much focus on annoying human characters and on lowbrow humor. Seriously, in the first movie, we don't get to see an Autobot for, like, thirty minutes while dealing with very bland characters who get billed way too much, and we have to facepalm our way through an awful gag about Bumblebee basically ''pissing on a guy''. The second one is no better with two black/redneck stereotypes as ''heroes'', a gag about balls, and a two-for-one gag about farting/incontinence - from a Transformer, no less. Real classy, Bay.

About the only shallow redeeming qualities it has is that the CGI Transformers look amazing (even if some neckbeards have cracked up over how they're "not accurate" to the G1 character modes), the fight scenes are suitably glorious for giant alien death-machines ripping each other to pieces (when you can see it clearly), and most importantly is it has introduced Transformers to a whole new generation of fans, who can hopefully be shown the good stuff instead of thinking this garbage is the true representative of the setting.

After the trilogy Bay made a fourth movie which actually manages to make some considerable improvements (not that it was that hard), like a lot more of focus on Optimus Prime, killing the scrappy comic relief during the first part of the movie and more consistent fighting scenes, plus DINOBOTS! charging the enemy. There is also more grimdark as Optimus finally decides enough is enough after having tried to protect mankind for more than five years while having his whole team slaughtered by those he sworn to protect, and pulls a gun against a human frakker who was teaming up with the mercenary Lockdown to kill Autobots and use their remains to make their own giant robots that turn into cars (except instead of literally creating Galvatron last time, this time it's like the T-1000 where they turn into nanobot swarms). On the downside, though, the humans are still pointless tagalongs (though this is a new set of humans, no Shia Lebouf to be found here, Thank God for that), there are more pointless stereotypes (Like Weeaboo Samurai-bot Drift, Crosshairs who gets a fucking trenchcoat when he transforms, and Hound, [[Awesome|who somehow has a cigar and a wire-beard]]), the Dinobots don't even show up until the last few minutes of the movie, and there's this ridiculous need to hammer in the "us vs. them" mentality between the humans making their own Transformers and Lockdown trying to kill Optimus because he's betrayed their makers by siding with the humans.
Than everything goes to shit during "The Last Knight". While ripping off the "Earth is Unicron" thing from Transformers Prime.

Then, in 2018, Bumblebee got his own spinoff movie about him crashing on Earth, losing his voice, making a friend and running from two decepticons and John Cena. To put it lightly it's one of the best Transformer films; the transformers themselves are accurate to their G1 forms, the storyline is coherent and the acting is spot on. This indicates that the film series may finally be going in the right direction. Shame that the series seem to be canceled.

==Animated==
G1 inspired series with notoriously unusual but smooth animation. This time, Optimus Prime and his crew are lowly space construction workers who stumble across a superweapon from the Great War and have to defend it against Megatron ('''GIVING HIM A GODDAMN ENGLISH ACCENT FUCK YES'''), who seeks to use it to restart the war and this time ensure Decepticon victory. This version's Optimus is much younger and less experienced than usual; funnily enough, he was voiced by the actor who voiced Megatron in Beast Wars. Generally noted for having the best human sidekick (who turns out to really be part-transformer anyways). The other Autobots also tend to have some interesting characterizations from "Complete dumb muscle who surprisingly knows everything about building [[Webway|Space Bridges]]" Bulkhead to "[[Weeaboo]] Robo-Ninja" Prowl to "MY EGO IS AS BIG AS MY CHIN AND MY ASSHOLEITUDE IS EVEN BIGGER!" Sentinel Prime. The Decepticons sometimes do better vis ze German schizophrenic Blitzwing, the [[Lorgar|borderline-religiously loyal]] Lugnut, and badass robo-Clint Eastwood Lockdown.

The series was weird in that alongside the Decepticons were also some gimmicky human villains, from a Shakespearean Robin Hood knockoff, to a cute little girl who's a mad scientist, to another mad scientist who rips off Transformer heads to replicate an old G1 gimmick. These villains were a bit ridiculous, but it helped break up the monotony of the constant 'con fighting, especially when Megatron was reduced to a state worse than [[Abaddon]] as a head. The creators came up with the idea to emphasize just how dangerous the 'cons are, compared to their Autobot opponents; when ''one'' 'con shows up, it's an emergency that takes the whole team to try and pull out a win. Hell, ''Starscream'' could beat up the entire Autobot team in his first few appearances before they figured out how to handle him. Using human bad guys kept the Decepticon threat "fresh" for longer; even when the Autobots got to the point where they could(kinda) face a Decepticon one-on-one, they remained a serious threat all the way up to the end.

==Cybertron Series==
There were many, MANY, video games made for every part of the Transformers, but most of them ranged from forgettable to utter shit to [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Mystery_of_Convoy memetically terrible.] The closest we got to a good original game series (so no whining about the Movie-Games) were the games ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'', both made by High Moon Studios.

These games act as the [[Horus Heresy]] to G1's 40k by explaining how Optimus became a leader and how Megatron became a dictator while their war and its demand eventually destroyed their homeworld. (These games are also technically part of the backstory for Hasbro's "Aligned continuity" shared with Transformers Prime and a couple prose stories, but as usual there are enough discrepancies to throw a wrench in that quite nicely.) While the gameplay itself isn't much more than a basic third-person shooter, the vast amount of references to the rest of the series and the rather well-written story and characters make it stand out. ''Fall of Cybertron'' may be considered one of the most grimdark settings to see wide release, while not being as totally ham-handed with it as Beast Machines. It also helps that the second game gave some bonus variety in some segments by giving you a level as MOTHERFUCKING GRIMLOCK, and another where you get to play as a combiner (who has an awesome helicopter-arm, but is otherwise not very memorable besides being huge.) Overall great fights, no crappy human sidekicks, an awesome OST and all the grimdarkness needed to make any neckbeard enjoy it quite much, also ESCALATION mode will ensure you endless hours of good bloodless carnage.

There is a (sorta) third game called ''Rise of the Dark Spark'', which decides to make the stupid decision of merging this series to the Bayformers continuity. It was released as tie in game with fourth movie and has less of budget, clearly shown with its number of glitches, lack of variety in levels (mostly just enemies till the game lets you move on) and downright ugly environments for the levels set on Earth. The only thing to remember is that the Cybertron segments are still awesome, while later parts will just shoehorn you with mutebee and Drift (who at least has an awesome special attack), with one level playing as Grimlock again and lacking any Decepticon plot post-Cybertron. There is also the 3ds version with mostly the same story but is otherwise a turn based strategy game kind of like a really old and obscure mid-late 00s IOS game except you have to deal with Bayverse shit.

===Prime===
G1 inspired CGI series that somehow salvages the fairly decent elements of Michael Bay's crapfest movies (e.g. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker reprising their respective roles, artstyle, some character elements/background lore, [[Rip and Tear]]), takes place in the same universe as the Cybertron games and crafts an awesome show out of it. Animation is fucking amazing, with fight scenes that rival if not trump the Michael Bay films. Very dark and gritty as well, where one of the Autobots [[Awesome|(voiced by the Rock himself, mind you)]], gets whacked in ''the first episode.'' The Autobots are not only outnumbered and outgunned by the Decepticons, but they also have to contend with MECH, a human terrorist organization that seeks to cannibalize Cybertronians for their advanced technology.

The biggest problem with this series is Miko, who competes with Kicker (from the abovementioned ''Energon Trilogy'') for the title of worst human character in Transformers history. Obnoxiously gung-ho and always charging off into danger, even when told not to, invariably making things worse for the Autobots in the process. Still, this series easily has some of the best human characters otherwise, most notably Agent Fowler, who in the company of giant alien killing machines manages to be a badass in his own right. Even Miko managed to get better as the series went on, learning from her mistakes and not being such a load. She even managed to take out a Decepticon at one point.

Then there's Predacons Rising; the made-for-tv movie meant to serve as a series finale... it was questionable at best. Plot holes everywhere, very little focus on the actual Predacons in the title, and characters doing stupid and random things to simply fit the plot. It was basically a segue into the next series; Robots in Disguise. There were some Dinobot focused IDW comics in between. They are pretty awesome. And mostly ignored. Because we don't deserve good things in Transformers.

===Robots in Disguise===
In this series Prime's relegated mentor-figure role, while Bumblebee (once again with a voice) has to take command of an ex-con, a stickler, and a slightly-smarter Grimlock in helping some kid and his dad's junkyard and detaining runaway Decepticon inmates, all of whom aren't related to the main bads, so this series was more original than most of the kiddie-aimed series. There was a 'con in it called Slapper. The show really doesn't become good until the Starscream miniseries after season three, and the Soundwave/Autobot Counsel arc of the fourth season. Which also introduces combiners into the Prime/Cybertron continuity.

==Cyberverse==
G1 inspired CGI series. Jam packed with references all across the franchise.

==IDW==
IDW Publishing is responsible for two major continuities of Transformers; the last being one of the longest and most elaborate, and the current one which follows the toyline oriented towards older teens and adult collectors, the War For Cybertron series (not to be confused with the game series of the same name). The latter will also be told in a cartoon series on Netflix.

==Oddities==
There have been a ''lot'' of Transformers series out there. Many of them are just spinoffs of G1 or silly throwaways like [[What|Transformers Mr. Potato Head,]] but some of them are good enough or just weird enough to be worth mentioning here. For full details, see TFWiki below.
===Transformers Rescue Bots===
The 30-minute toy commercial for the preschool-focused "Rescue Bots" toyline. In the same continuity as Transformers Prime above, which would lead to much lulz if the writers ever had the balls to let them cross over to any significant degree. Features four young Autobots who slept through the whole war in stasis and were recalled to Earth by Optimus Prime; being too inexperienced to handle the rigors of war with the Decepticons, they were assigned to the ''[[wikipedia:Eureka (U.S. TV series)|Eureka]]''-esque island of Griffin Rock, where they perform rescue operations with their human partners. Instead of open combat, the 'bots and their human partners battle with out-of-control inventions and mundane disasters; the only true antagonist of the series is the [[steampunk]] gentleman-scientist Doctor Morocco, voiced by [[Slaanesh| <s>Slaanesh</s> Tim Curry.]] Surprisingly watchable for a kids' show due to solid humor, ''Rescue Bots'' has the distinction of being the longest-running Transformers cartoon ever, with four full seasons and a sequel series on track to air in 2019.

===Unit: E===
In the third season of Transformers Prime, the writers started dropping references to other Hasbro properties like ''M.A.S.K.'' and ''G.I. Joe'' in connection with a government agency called "Unit E." This was intended to be a "backdoor launch" to a whole shared universe in the vein of the massively profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe, consisting of just about every brand Hasbro owns that has ever been remotely popular with any demographic, ever. These ranged from the sensible (''M.A.S.K.'' was another transforming-toy brand from the 80s that Hasbro absorbed, and ''G.I. Joe'' has a long history of Transformers crossovers) to the oddball but justifiable (''Jem and the Holograms'' was Hasbro's big new girl-toy push in the 80s and was occasionally used as a sight gag in the G1 cartoon) to blatant halo-effect attempts that made no sense at all ([[Dungeons & Dragons]]? Stretch Armstrong? '''''Candy Land?!''''') The framing device for this insanity was the eponymous Unit: E, a group of explorers who scanned the multiverse for "the Eerie, the Else, the Eternities of Infinity" from an installation placed in the "slipstream" outside of reality. ([[Quest:TG_Meta_Quest|Sounds kinda familiar, don't it?]])

Perhaps fortunately for all involved, this product of Marketing's cocaine-fueled fever dreams did a faceplant into the sun and nothing came of it except for a one-shot comic book released at Comic-Con and the aforementioned namedrops in Prime. Hasbro never let go of the idea of seeing if their properties would blend, though, and in 2016 IDW was given the green light to weld their previously-separate licensed comics (including Transformers, Joe, Micronauts, Rom: Spaceknight, and yes, Jem) together through a ''Secret Wars''-style crossover event called ''Revolution.'' From this point IDW's comics are set in the '''Hasbro Universe,''' with such fiction-bending events as the Decepticon Skywarp joining G.I. Joe and a multi-property superhero team called the Revolutionaries joining forces.

Except now said universe is being rebooted while currently going FULL TOMINO via our pal Unicron and some really stupid ass deaths in the crossover comic with the Visionaries of all fucking things. YET NO GODDAMNED INHUMANOIDS WHICH IS HASBRO CALL OF CTHULHU BUT WITH POWERED ARMOR SCIENTISTS FIGHTING THE EVIL UNDER THE EARTH. Kup shouldn't die to a goddamn Visionary. Not when motherfucking D'Compose exists. Goddamnit now I want an Inhumanoids mod for Call of Cthulhu....

===Transformers: Kiss Players===
After the ignominious conclusion of the Energon Trilogy, Takara decided to make their next installment of the Transformers franchise smaller and more adult-focused. Welding the bits of their various G1-sequel lines (including the "collector's choice" ''Binaltech'' line and the grab-bag ''Robotmasters'' line) with the G1 cartoon and their own anime into a single (confusing as all hell) timeline, Transformers Kiss Players takes place immediately after the events of the 1986 movie. After Unicron exploded in 2005, the broken body of Galvatron was sent hurtling towards Earth where it (what else?) destroyed Tokyo. In response, the Earth Defense Command was formed to kick the Transformers off the goddamn planet before they blew up any other national capitals, which they did with a Transformer-hostile energy field and using the tech from Galvatron's corpse to make mass-produced Autorooper mecha. Unfortunately for them, Galvatron's reentry scattered fragments of his and Unicron's life-force into Earth's atmosphere, fragments that activated in 2006. The "Galvatron cells" fused with whatever they touched, turning them into biomechanical monsters called the Legion. Humans who came in contact with the Galvatron cells inexplicably did not turn into monsters, but instead could fuse with both Autoroopers and Transformers by ''kissing them.''

You see, Kiss Players was written by longtime Transformers fan and freelance toy designer Yuki Ohshima, who took Takara's desire for an otaku-targeted series as an invitation to ''freak the fuck out of people'' and gave them a freaky-ass magical girl horror story in the vein of ''Narutaru'' and Madoka Magica that just happened to have Transformers in it. [[Loli|A bunch of suspiciously young-looking women]] got dropped into a psychosexual nightmare in the name of shock value, and the Western Transformers fanbase crapped their pants over "pedophilia" showing up next to "their" childhood toys, accusing Oshima of wanting to [[Chris Orksen|diddle the kiddle.]] The Japanese fans, for their part, were mostly apologetic towards the Western fanbase and confused as to why the hell Takara thought that Freudian horror and moe were at all compatible with giant robots whaling on each other. The second part of the line (''Kiss Players Position'') dumped the original fiction's baggage in favor of taking cute girls on a whirlwind tour of the Transformers universe, but by that point the Western fans had already made up their mind. To this day Kiss Players is still the go-to acceptable target for "at least it's not as bad as..." jokes on TFWiki. The toys themselves were decent at least, being retools of the well-received ''Binaltech''/''Alternators'' collectible toys with vinyl loli figures packaged in the box, so picking those up is perfectly fine if you're willing to deal with faggots calling you a weeb.

==Tabletop Games==
Despite not having a licensed RPG Transformers is no stranger to tabletop games. None have been particularly amazing or well-known in the past, but Hasbro has aggressively been expanding the brand in the late 2010's and going towards the 2020's have managed to finally make a success.

* (The usual pallet-swap games)

Monopoly, Risk, Chess, Stratego, Connect 4, Uno, memory cards, playing cards, you know the drill.

* Heroclix

You fucking know what these are. Enjoy your game of Optimus Prime, Harley Quinn, Jean Grey, and Drizzt VS Master Splinter, Freddy Krueger, a Xenomorph, and Bilbo Baggins. Wait, that does sound cool actually...

* Transformers Robot Warrior Game

Released in 1985, its redeco Snakes/Chutes & Ladders except you have two pieces to divide die rolls between, and an outer board to progress around as a vehicle before transforming to robot mode and making your way through as usual. Since all players control cars, its technically all Autobot players trying to reach their base during a battle with the Decepticons

* The Transformers Game

Released in 1986. Despite impressive wargame-style box art, its a very simple game for small children. No real strategy, both players are trying to reach the end goal to destroy the enemy base and all movement is determined by dice rolls after the first move where you choose to go left or right (both ways are mirrored, offering only the illusion of a choice), and after that point you only decide whether to move forward or back. The board resembles outer space and the enemy base is on Earth, and all pieces are Seekers meaning both players are Decepticons interestingly enough. When a piece for both players land on the same space they draw cards from a deck which interestingly all depict Autobots, highest number wins and best of three wins the battle. Winner transforms to robot mode, loser goes back to start. Only robot modes can enter the enemy base. First player to have all three of their team in the enemy base wins.

* Transformers Adventure Game: Defeat the Decepticons

* Transformers G1 Decoys Board Game

* Transformers: Beast Wars

Released in 1999 in Japan, based on the entire Beast Wars line at the time (including the Japanese-only cartoon).

* Transformers Armada: Battle For Cybertron

A redeco of Star Wars: Epic Duels, with some rules simplified and new modes. Generally considered a casual strategy game, with a lower learning curve. Instead of one hero and two minions, you only have one hero. Four characters per faction, each having their own combat deck and rules. They aren’t equal in strength, Megatron and Optimus predictably outclass everyone. There are four different maps to fight on with their own cover and terrain, and character start locations mitigate the strength difference in characters to a small degree. 2v2, faction mixing, and FFA game modes are available.

* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Robot Heroes Game

* Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen Missile Mania

* Jogo Dos Transformers: Una Aventura Emocionante Com Os Robos-Herois Do Futuro

A licensed Brazilian Transformers game made by Estrela. Estrela made up its own Transformers continuity based entirely on Minis. The game is extremely rare, so good luck finding the rules, let alone a copy.

* [[Transformers Trading Card Game]]
Deserves its own page. This is that aforementioned success.

* Battlechanger.

A pair of RPG's designed to emulate and recreate transformers in IP neutral, (IE: Don't sue us we just have transforming robots from other planet that are in two factions and are locked in a war but there not called Autobots Decepticon). Battlechanger uses a unique Diceless RPG engine to run it's system, while Battle Changers: Ironworks uses a variant of the D&D 3.5 ruleset while also being pathfinder comparable. So what's the catch? Well they were both made by Otherverse Games. Yes: the [[Black Tokyo]] People. Thankfully there is no cross contamination between the two, while Battle Changes show up in Black Tokyo, Black Tokyo definitely does not show up here.

* [[COMMANDROIDS: A WORLD TRANSFORMED]]
A tabletop roleplaying game by [[Nerdy City]] that can be found [https://nerdycity.com/product/commandroids/ here], compatible with their other 80's franchise expy games (just in case you wanted your Transformers/He-man/GI Joe/Stephen King crossover campaign). Mostly centered around not!Tranformers, with some elements of similar things like Voltron, Exosquad, and Macross/Robotech thrown in as the players see fit. Players create a human and Commandroid character who are bonded together, which can take the form of piloting or merging with the robot similar to the various _____master Transformer toys. There are rules for classes of machines and vehicles, as well as Combiners and Titans. The game uses the Nerdy City gaming "Omnisystem" which has rules for character relationships, leveraging time for player activities they will not want to roleplay through, and the ability for players to have "solo adventures" which don't take place at the same time in-universe but are played that way. As an aternative it functions as an add-on module for the [[FATE System]].

== See Also ==
The idea of "giant robots turning into vehicles" is so cool that lots of homebrew and independent mecha RPGs include mechas or characters that are "totally not Transformers" to fill the void that Hasbro has seemingly refused to fill themselves. For example:

* [[Giant Guardian Generation]]
* [[Horizon]] - Mechamorphosis is literally "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off, done by way of [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5".
* [[Mechagenasis]] - Another "Transformers with the serial numbers filed off" game, this time done for [[True20]].
* [[Battlechangers]] - Blatantly Transformers-based RPG, in both an original version and a [[Pathfinder]] version (Battlechangers Ironworks).
* [[Mekton]] - Extremely flexible with what it can do: the rules for transforming are simple (as far as Mekton goes anyway) and adapting to a Transformers setting is as easy as actually reading up on them, but the game's hilariously broken.
* [[Rifts]] - Some homebrew stuff floating around on the net for playing Transformers exists. Pity it relies on the godawful RIFTS mechanics...
* [[Codex: Transformers]] - A case of 1d4chan getting shit done, adapting Transformers into yet another [[Warhammer 40000]] faction.
* [[Setting:Transformers]] - A tie-in article to the above trying to develop the lore to explain why Codex: Transformers is a thing.

== External Links ==
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page TFWiki.net], the unofficial Transformers wiki.

[[Category:Not related]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Android

2019-11-15T13:17:50Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Examples of androids in D&D */

[[File:Starfinderandroid.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|An android from [[Starfinder]]. Sick mohawk, brah.]]
An '''android''' is described by most scientific outlets and professionals as any kind of [[robot]] designed to physically resemble a human being, both in appearance and behaviour. The concept of machines acting and looking like humans has been a very common idea for discussion in science fiction and scientific speculation, and the concept has been explored in many ways throughout history. This, of course, has meant that the idea has been developed and used by many authors of science fiction and fantasy writing, and it's frequently represented in many tabletop games and settings.

It is important to take into consideration that the original concept doesn't necessarily need the android to be an electronic-based creation; that idea appeared alongside the developement of computer science and AIs. Because of this, the idea of android is not limited to sci-fi settings, but it can also be included in fantasy settings.

Do ''not'' confuse with cyborgs. A cyborg is an amalgamation of a living being with artificial parts, whereas the android is fully artificial. Take that, whoever translated Dragon Ball!

==Origins of the concept==
The idea of machines looking and acting like us is not a recent topic of discussion. The first people to develop this idea were the ancient Greeks with their "αὐτόματον", complex artificial constructs designed to follow a series of instructions, usually resembling the human form. One of the most famous of them was Talos, a bronze automaton designed and created by the god Hephaestus (although in some versions the author is a mortal inventor) as a request by Zeus, and with the task of protecting Zeus's lover Europa. Talos's job consisted in guarding the island of Crete to avoid any potential threat to reach Europa.

Also one of the most famous takes of the android is the Jewish tale of the [[golem]]. A being magically animated created out of clay, it appears frequently in ancient Jewish folklore, although the most famous version of the myth is the Golem of Prague, where a rabbi created a golem to protect the Jewish community of the city, and had to dispose of the thing after that, usually after a series of violent events.

The first takes of the modern android, a machine based on science and technology instead of magic or divine powers, appeared during the 19th century in some speculative histories about "mechanical dolls". The term would not become popular until George Lucas brought the word "droid" into Star Wars. If a droid was just a robot, an android is a droid that looks like a human ("anthrop-" is the Greek root for "human being"; the term "gynoid" is derived from the same principle and used to describe droids that resemble women. Of course, the idea in modern media was older than that (see the movie Metropolis for a very early interpretation in cinema), but they usually just used the world robot, which is not as precise as it should be.

==Actual developement of androids==
Nowadays, the developement of human-like robots has risen in popularity, although the results usually fall right into the uncanny valley. Seriously, just look at some of those Japanese androids they show on those technology showcases, and tell me you don't get the creeps. The investigation also focus on the AIs, in particular those that allow self-learning. But as of now, they look and act very dumb. So your dream of getting your own robot girl is still too far. Don't lie, you want one.

==Androids in Star Wars==
The (trademarked) name "Droid" is obviously derived from "android". Despite this, while many droids in [[Star Wars]] have a roughly humanoid shape and artificial skin is old tech that has existed for a long time (a ''long'' time), very few droids could pass for human. The first known droid that pretended to be human did so merely by pretending to never meet in person and projecting a hologram of its "owner" and pretending they were elsewhere. That of course, doesn't really count.

It was not until the era of the Empire that droids capable of passing for human went anywhere. The first attempt came shortly after the fall of the Republic and was so disastrously deep in the uncanny valley it killed the company behind it. Despite this Imperial scientists, well aware of their value as infiltrators, continued working on them. A decade latter they produced droids that could pass for human to all but thorough medical tests and were explicitly capable of sex. The Rebellion experimented with the concept as well, but didn't produce anything till after the Battle of Endor (by which time they had already encountered Imperial examples) and those they did were crude and malfunction prone. In the New Republic era one of the surviving Imperial examples began producing further examples based on her own design.

Saga Edition is the only one of the Star Wars RPGs to stat replica droids out for PC use, giving them stats in ''Threats of the Galaxy''. They are stated as a humanoid race with some droid traits instead of a type of droid. The others do mention their existence and the way droids work in D6 and FFG's system makes it easy to roll a droid PC and say it's a replica droid.

==Examples of androids in D&D==
Purely technological Androids are a rare sight in D&D,;however there are a truckload of golems, magically empowered automata and races of [[Modron|weird]] [[Inevitable|mechanical]] celestial beings that fit the larger bill. Actual androids do appear as enemies you can face in the classic [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] adventure module [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks]], in which you explore what is ultimately revealed to be a crashed spaceship module from the [[Metamorphosis Alpha]].

[[Pathfinder]], being more willing to embrace the more gonzo and [[Science Fantasy]] aspects of old-school D&D, has a subsetting called Numeria, which is basically a glorious homage to the aforementioned module with a dash of [[Conan the Barbarian]]: it's a region of [[Golarion]] where a hyper-advanced spaceship crashed centuries ago. As such, the region is crawling with robots of various shapes and sizes, whilst androids - artificial humanoids who're basically super-realistic [[warforged]] in practice - are a player race that emerged from that region. Androids don't sleep, but they do eat, drink, breath and excrete: "Though they have secondary sexual characteristics and can engage in and enjoy intercourse, androids have no functional reproductive organs and cannot procreate." (Starfinder, for some reason, requires they sleep but does not require them to breathe, even though they're supposed to be the same species.)

Instead of sex, Androids "reproduce" by a process they call "Renewal". They go into a special Rejuvenation pod that restores their bodies to a showroom-ready condition. During this, their soul leaves the body(yes, effectively dying) and journeying to the Boneyard with all the other souls, while a new soul will come to inhabit the freshly-overhauled body to begin a new life. This also means that, as long as they get regular maintenance(and don't get killed), an Android can live as long as they want to.

::Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Base Speed: 30 feet
::Alert: +2 racial bonus to Perception checks.
::Emotionless: -4 racial penalty to Sense Motive checks. Can never gain moral bonuses. Immune to fear and emotion-based effects.
::Exceptional Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision.
::Constructed: Androids count as both Humanoids and Constructs for effects that target creature type. +4 racial bonus on saves against mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison and stun. Immune to fatigue, exhaustion, disease and sleep.
::Nanite Surge: 1/day, as an immediate action, an android can trigger its nanites before making a D20 roll to gain a (3 + character level) bonus. When this ability is used, the android's circuitry-tattoos glow, causing them to give off light equivalent to a torch for 1 round.(Starfinder Androids lose this ability, but instead gain a free upgrade slot built into their bodies that can use any suitable armor upgrade. IOW, they lose the Tron lines, but can get a built-in forcefield or jet pack, for example)

Alternate Racial Trait: Repairing Nanites - Replaces Nanite Surge.
::The first time each day that an android with this trait has taken an amount of damage greater than or equal to twice their Hit Dice, their nanites activate. They give off light equivalent to a torch for 1 round and heal a number of hit points equal to twice their hit dice.

Some androids [[Loli|look like children but have adult minds (and thus presumably still "enjoy intercourse")]]. They have small size and immortality but are otherwise identical (including 30 foot move speed and lack of strength penalty).

Since Androids can't benefit from morale bonuses, and rage is based on morale bonuses, Androids make shitty [[Barbarians]] despite their immunity to fatigue. The exception to this is the Mooncursed archetype, which replaces the morale bonuses to rage with [[Transformers#Beast_Wars|transformation into an animal]] (But mostly tiger, since they get pounce meaning they are clearly better than the other options by a long mile). [[Bard]]s, oddly enough, don't give out many morale bonuses, only the bonus against charm and fear, the late gained Inspire Heroics and some (good) spells are morale bonuses. This means they make pretty good bards if you use the Chronicler of Worlds (which replaces Inspire Heroics with a non-morale bonus effect) archetype to make an intelligence based Bard. Otherwise they make good [[Wizard]], [[Magus]] and [[Witch]] as well as most skill monkey classes, especially so for child androids as they get all the benefits of small size with few of the drawbacks.

==Examples of androids in Warhammer Fantasy and AOS==
{{stub}}

==Examples of androids in Warhammer 40k==
In the 40k lore, mankind once had to wage war against its mechanical creations, Terminator Judgement style but on steroids. After that, humanity is so paranoid of this happening again that they totally forbade the creation of AIs. They create human-like robots though, at least in the sense that their shape resembles a humanoid being. The best exampe of this are the titans, massive war machines that praise the holy human form by resembling the shape of a human (two arms, two legs, a head. That's it. So much for holy human form). In general, though, the Imperium relies much more on cyborgs, both in the way of servitors and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Chaos could in theory create some form of automata, but they rather make chaos s-THINGS! Yes!

Anyway... Outside of Mankind, the other factions that use their own shape to make artificial beings. In general, any faction that's vaguely humanoid builds constructs that resemble human forms. The best example of an android in the traditional sense are the Tau, who use massive amounts of robots and can create AIs good enough to pass as living, thinking beings. The Necrons are a particular case, due to the living Necrontyr used as a platform for the C'Tan to turn them into the mechanical Necrons. Due to this, they are technically neither cyborgs (they aren't living anymore)nor androids (they used to be alive, so they aren't fully artificially created). Automata would actually work closely with them, in the classic Graeco-Latin sense of the word. But I guess this is up to interpretation of what the Necrons actually are.

==Famous examples of androids in popular culture==
*''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (or Blade Runner, if you like films more). Humans create artificial humans as slaves, and after a revolt they hunt them all down. This is an interesting case because they are organic beings, but still artificially made, so the definition is just barely apt in this case.
*''I, Robot.'' In the classic Isaac Asimov's short story, there are some robots that could be described as android.
*''Metropolis.'' Mad science creates a robot that resembles a humble woman to bring chaos and ruin to the city.
*''The day the Earth stood still.'' An alien brings a doomsday machine in the form of a human to "peacefully" stop all wars on Earth.
*''Terminator.'' Machines rise against humanity, using human-like assassins to kill the remaining human beings.
*Marvel Comics. Characters like Vision or Ultron are thinking robots in human-like form.
*''Megaman''. The saga of a little blue android fighting other robots to keep the peace in the world.
*''NieR Automata''. Cute android fighting other androids not as cute.
*''Astro Boy''. One of the most important works in manga history, it tells the adventures of a little android that gets adopted after its original creator abandons him.
*''Lieutenant Commander Data'' from [[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]. Second and science officer of both the Enterprise D and E. Throughout the series and movies he displays feats of both superhuman speed and strength, such as dodging a mining laser and fighting the Borg in hand to hand combat.

==Android Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Automaton.jpg|thumb|right|250px|What hath [[magitek]] wrought?]]
{{Monstergirls}}

They're more of an /a/, /co/ and /v/ phenomena than a /tg/ one, but robots in the shape of sexy women, ranging from "perfectly human until you see their internals" to "visibly mechanical but still sexy", are a well and truly established branch of the [[monstergirls]] family tree. What else can we say? Some guys in the late-70s/80s found their first crush in the [[succubus]], [[elf]] or [[marilith]] - others found it in Cutie Honey.

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Automaton is a mechanical [[magitek]] branch of the [[golem]] which taps into the robot-girl branch of the fetish. They're ancient lost technology golems of the "kuudere" archetype, meaning they act cold and emotionless because they can't express themselves well, but they're secretly very gentle and loving beings.

[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Races]]

Android

2019-11-15T13:16:19Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Examples of androids in D&D */

[[File:Starfinderandroid.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|An android from [[Starfinder]]. Sick mohawk, brah.]]
An '''android''' is described by most scientific outlets and professionals as any kind of [[robot]] designed to physically resemble a human being, both in appearance and behaviour. The concept of machines acting and looking like humans has been a very common idea for discussion in science fiction and scientific speculation, and the concept has been explored in many ways throughout history. This, of course, has meant that the idea has been developed and used by many authors of science fiction and fantasy writing, and it's frequently represented in many tabletop games and settings.

It is important to take into consideration that the original concept doesn't necessarily need the android to be an electronic-based creation; that idea appeared alongside the developement of computer science and AIs. Because of this, the idea of android is not limited to sci-fi settings, but it can also be included in fantasy settings.

Do ''not'' confuse with cyborgs. A cyborg is an amalgamation of a living being with artificial parts, whereas the android is fully artificial. Take that, whoever translated Dragon Ball!

==Origins of the concept==
The idea of machines looking and acting like us is not a recent topic of discussion. The first people to develop this idea were the ancient Greeks with their "αὐτόματον", complex artificial constructs designed to follow a series of instructions, usually resembling the human form. One of the most famous of them was Talos, a bronze automaton designed and created by the god Hephaestus (although in some versions the author is a mortal inventor) as a request by Zeus, and with the task of protecting Zeus's lover Europa. Talos's job consisted in guarding the island of Crete to avoid any potential threat to reach Europa.

Also one of the most famous takes of the android is the Jewish tale of the [[golem]]. A being magically animated created out of clay, it appears frequently in ancient Jewish folklore, although the most famous version of the myth is the Golem of Prague, where a rabbi created a golem to protect the Jewish community of the city, and had to dispose of the thing after that, usually after a series of violent events.

The first takes of the modern android, a machine based on science and technology instead of magic or divine powers, appeared during the 19th century in some speculative histories about "mechanical dolls". The term would not become popular until George Lucas brought the word "droid" into Star Wars. If a droid was just a robot, an android is a droid that looks like a human ("anthrop-" is the Greek root for "human being"; the term "gynoid" is derived from the same principle and used to describe droids that resemble women. Of course, the idea in modern media was older than that (see the movie Metropolis for a very early interpretation in cinema), but they usually just used the world robot, which is not as precise as it should be.

==Actual developement of androids==
Nowadays, the developement of human-like robots has risen in popularity, although the results usually fall right into the uncanny valley. Seriously, just look at some of those Japanese androids they show on those technology showcases, and tell me you don't get the creeps. The investigation also focus on the AIs, in particular those that allow self-learning. But as of now, they look and act very dumb. So your dream of getting your own robot girl is still too far. Don't lie, you want one.

==Androids in Star Wars==
The (trademarked) name "Droid" is obviously derived from "android". Despite this, while many droids in [[Star Wars]] have a roughly humanoid shape and artificial skin is old tech that has existed for a long time (a ''long'' time), very few droids could pass for human. The first known droid that pretended to be human did so merely by pretending to never meet in person and projecting a hologram of its "owner" and pretending they were elsewhere. That of course, doesn't really count.

It was not until the era of the Empire that droids capable of passing for human went anywhere. The first attempt came shortly after the fall of the Republic and was so disastrously deep in the uncanny valley it killed the company behind it. Despite this Imperial scientists, well aware of their value as infiltrators, continued working on them. A decade latter they produced droids that could pass for human to all but thorough medical tests and were explicitly capable of sex. The Rebellion experimented with the concept as well, but didn't produce anything till after the Battle of Endor (by which time they had already encountered Imperial examples) and those they did were crude and malfunction prone. In the New Republic era one of the surviving Imperial examples began producing further examples based on her own design.

Saga Edition is the only one of the Star Wars RPGs to stat replica droids out for PC use, giving them stats in ''Threats of the Galaxy''. They are stated as a humanoid race with some droid traits instead of a type of droid. The others do mention their existence and the way droids work in D6 and FFG's system makes it easy to roll a droid PC and say it's a replica droid.

==Examples of androids in D&D==
Purely technological Androids are a rare sight in D&D,;however there are a truckload of golems, magically empowered automata and races of [[Modron|weird]] [[Inevitable|mechanical]] celestial beings that fit the larger bill. Actual androids do appear as enemies you can face in the classic [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] adventure module [[Expedition to the Barrier Peaks]], in which you explore what is ultimately revealed to be a crashed spaceship module from the [[Metamorphosis Alpha]].

[[Pathfinder]], being more willing to embrace the more gonzo and [[Science Fantasy]] aspects of old-school D&D, has a subsetting called Numeria, which is basically a glorious homage to the aforementioned module with a dash of [[Conan the Barbarian]]: it's a region of [[Golarion]] where a hyper-advanced spaceship crashed centuries ago. As such, the region is crawling with robots of various shapes and sizes, whilst androids - artificial humanoids who're basically super-realistic [[warforged]] in practice - are a player race that emerged from that region. Androids don't sleep, but they do eat, drink, breath and excrete: "Though they have secondary sexual characteristics and can engage in and enjoy intercourse, androids have no functional reproductive organs and cannot procreate." (Starfinder, for some reason, requires they sleep but does not require them to breathe, even though they're supposed to be the same species.)

Instead of sex, Androids "reproduce" by a process they call "Renewal". They go into a special Rejuvenation pod that restores their bodies to a showroom-ready condition. During this, their soul leaves the body(yes, effectively dying) and journeying to the Boneyard with all the other souls, while a new soul will come to inhabit the freshly-overhauled body to begin a new life.

::Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Base Speed: 30 feet
::Alert: +2 racial bonus to Perception checks.
::Emotionless: -4 racial penalty to Sense Motive checks. Can never gain moral bonuses. Immune to fear and emotion-based effects.
::Exceptional Senses: Darkvision 60 feet, Low-Light Vision.
::Constructed: Androids count as both Humanoids and Constructs for effects that target creature type. +4 racial bonus on saves against mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison and stun. Immune to fatigue, exhaustion, disease and sleep.
::Nanite Surge: 1/day, as an immediate action, an android can trigger its nanites before making a D20 roll to gain a (3 + character level) bonus. When this ability is used, the android's circuitry-tattoos glow, causing them to give off light equivalent to a torch for 1 round.(Starfinder Androids lose this ability, but instead gain a free upgrade slot built into their bodies that can use any suitable armor upgrade. IOW, they lose the Tron lines, but can get a built-in forcefield or jet pack, for example)

Alternate Racial Trait: Repairing Nanites - Replaces Nanite Surge.
::The first time each day that an android with this trait has taken an amount of damage greater than or equal to twice their Hit Dice, their nanites activate. They give off light equivalent to a torch for 1 round and heal a number of hit points equal to twice their hit dice.

Some androids [[Loli|look like children but have adult minds (and thus presumably still "enjoy intercourse")]]. They have small size and immortality but are otherwise identical (including 30 foot move speed and lack of strength penalty).

Since Androids can't benefit from morale bonuses, and rage is based on morale bonuses, Androids make shitty [[Barbarians]] despite their immunity to fatigue. The exception to this is the Mooncursed archetype, which replaces the morale bonuses to rage with [[Transformers#Beast_Wars|transformation into an animal]] (But mostly tiger, since they get pounce meaning they are clearly better than the other options by a long mile). [[Bard]]s, oddly enough, don't give out many morale bonuses, only the bonus against charm and fear, the late gained Inspire Heroics and some (good) spells are morale bonuses. This means they make pretty good bards if you use the Chronicler of Worlds (which replaces Inspire Heroics with a non-morale bonus effect) archetype to make an intelligence based Bard. Otherwise they make good [[Wizard]], [[Magus]] and [[Witch]] as well as most skill monkey classes, especially so for child androids as they get all the benefits of small size with few of the drawbacks.

==Examples of androids in Warhammer Fantasy and AOS==
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==Examples of androids in Warhammer 40k==
In the 40k lore, mankind once had to wage war against its mechanical creations, Terminator Judgement style but on steroids. After that, humanity is so paranoid of this happening again that they totally forbade the creation of AIs. They create human-like robots though, at least in the sense that their shape resembles a humanoid being. The best exampe of this are the titans, massive war machines that praise the holy human form by resembling the shape of a human (two arms, two legs, a head. That's it. So much for holy human form). In general, though, the Imperium relies much more on cyborgs, both in the way of servitors and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Chaos could in theory create some form of automata, but they rather make chaos s-THINGS! Yes!

Anyway... Outside of Mankind, the other factions that use their own shape to make artificial beings. In general, any faction that's vaguely humanoid builds constructs that resemble human forms. The best example of an android in the traditional sense are the Tau, who use massive amounts of robots and can create AIs good enough to pass as living, thinking beings. The Necrons are a particular case, due to the living Necrontyr used as a platform for the C'Tan to turn them into the mechanical Necrons. Due to this, they are technically neither cyborgs (they aren't living anymore)nor androids (they used to be alive, so they aren't fully artificially created). Automata would actually work closely with them, in the classic Graeco-Latin sense of the word. But I guess this is up to interpretation of what the Necrons actually are.

==Famous examples of androids in popular culture==
*''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (or Blade Runner, if you like films more). Humans create artificial humans as slaves, and after a revolt they hunt them all down. This is an interesting case because they are organic beings, but still artificially made, so the definition is just barely apt in this case.
*''I, Robot.'' In the classic Isaac Asimov's short story, there are some robots that could be described as android.
*''Metropolis.'' Mad science creates a robot that resembles a humble woman to bring chaos and ruin to the city.
*''The day the Earth stood still.'' An alien brings a doomsday machine in the form of a human to "peacefully" stop all wars on Earth.
*''Terminator.'' Machines rise against humanity, using human-like assassins to kill the remaining human beings.
*Marvel Comics. Characters like Vision or Ultron are thinking robots in human-like form.
*''Megaman''. The saga of a little blue android fighting other robots to keep the peace in the world.
*''NieR Automata''. Cute android fighting other androids not as cute.
*''Astro Boy''. One of the most important works in manga history, it tells the adventures of a little android that gets adopted after its original creator abandons him.
*''Lieutenant Commander Data'' from [[Star Trek|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]. Second and science officer of both the Enterprise D and E. Throughout the series and movies he displays feats of both superhuman speed and strength, such as dodging a mining laser and fighting the Borg in hand to hand combat.

==Android Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Automaton.jpg|thumb|right|250px|What hath [[magitek]] wrought?]]
{{Monstergirls}}

They're more of an /a/, /co/ and /v/ phenomena than a /tg/ one, but robots in the shape of sexy women, ranging from "perfectly human until you see their internals" to "visibly mechanical but still sexy", are a well and truly established branch of the [[monstergirls]] family tree. What else can we say? Some guys in the late-70s/80s found their first crush in the [[succubus]], [[elf]] or [[marilith]] - others found it in Cutie Honey.

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the Automaton is a mechanical [[magitek]] branch of the [[golem]] which taps into the robot-girl branch of the fetish. They're ancient lost technology golems of the "kuudere" archetype, meaning they act cold and emotionless because they can't express themselves well, but they're secretly very gentle and loving beings.

[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Races]]

Starfinder

2019-11-15T13:06:35Z

2600:1700:30C0:7F40:9C3C:AB01:9307:FCFB: /* Races */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Starfinder
|picture = [[File:Starfinder Iconics.jpg|250px]]
|system = Modified [[D20]]
|publisher = [[Paizo]]
|authors = James Sutter, Sarah Robinson, Robert McCreary, Owen Stephens et al
|year = 2017
|books = Starfinder Core Rulebook Armory Alien Archive Alien Archive 2 Pact Worlds
}}
:''This game is not to be confused with [[Starjammer]], created by the people maintaining D20PFSRD, which is [[Spelljammer]] for Pathfinder (though it is compatible with Starfinder).
'''Starfinder''' (aka Pathfinder 40k) is an RPG by [[Paizo|Paizo Publishing]] released in August 2017. It is a future version of [[Pathfinder]] set IN SPACE.

==Overview==
* The main setting is the same solar system of [[Golarion]], the main planet of ''Pathfinder''. The other planets were previously introduced in the Pathfinder sourcebook "Distant Worlds". The system refers to themselves as The Pact Worlds.
* There's ratmen IN SPACE, meaning that Paizo has [[Skaven]] IN SPACE before [[GW]] has in a playable form.
* There are going to be hardcover books and Starfinder Adventure Paths, much like Pathfinder has, as well as Organized Play in the form of the Starfinder Society.
* * It is possible to convert stuff from Pathfinder to Starfinder with some tweaks, such as monsters and PCs. So it's possible to bring your Pathfinder character's to the Starfinder universe if you have a godo explanation of why.
* FTL travel was revealed by the new deity Triune and is achieved by traveling through a dimension called the Drift. "Drift beacons" randomly appear or are planted by clerics of Triune and reduce the risk of a Drift jump to the beacon's location; the Starstone in Absalom Station is a fuckhuge Drift beacon that also accelerates travel to the station. Whenever a ship enters the Drift, it drags entire segments of reality from elsewhere into the Drift with it. [[Warp|This is not at all ominous, no siree.]] So do be careful: you'll never know when you have to scrape the demons off of your ship's bumper.
* Golarion itself is fucking ''gone''. As in totally gone, nobody can remember what happened to it (all the Gods will say when asked is that it still exists, but is beyond the reach of both magic and technology), it just fucking vanished. The various races have spread out to the other planets in Golarion's system. New ones are there, too. Everyone remembers building a giant space station in orbit around Golarion while it was still definitely around and so can use its construction as a frame of reference to about ''when'' the world vanished (within a few hundred years), but no one remembers anything about the planet itself disappearing.
** For that matter, nobody remembers ''anything'' regarding that time period, or what happened before it. People just opened their eyes one day knowing all the important stuff about their lives, but unable to remember anything about how they got to that point (like waking up next to a woman whom you ''know'' is your wife, but not about how you met, or when you got married, or the births of your children). For that matter, nearly every physical or electronic record of that history was erased or just missing. The people of the Pact Worlds call this event "The Gap".
* The Iconic Characters are members of the Starfinder Society from that station, who have the mission of finding out what happened to Golarion.
* [[Goblin]]s survived and have little space helmets.

===Differences from Pathfinder===
Considering that this is Paizo, the goons who made a killing off of resurrecting 3.5E, the rules for this game aren't that far removed from the original PF mechanics. Though you can't get a 1-1 translation of all the classes, you can probably be able port most of your characters over.
* Each character now has both [[hit points]], which are hard to replace, and "stamina points," which work like hit points but can be much more easily recovered and are always lost first. HP is essentially stuck as a hybrid between racial stats (meaning that little spessrats only give 2 HP to a character while burly Vesk and chitinous Shirrens give 6 HP) and class stats (essentially like Hit Die, only with no rolling), while Stamina is given per class level + [[Constitution]] Modifier.
* The Resolve mechanic gives you a small pool of points to spend for recovering stamina, stabilizing if you're dying, and getting up if you're stable. These points are keyed off of a single stat your class is dependent on (so Soldiers pick between Str and Dex, Mystics use Wis, so on and so forth). Each class even has special uses for Resolve and backgrounds can give special circumstances for regaining them.
* In addition to your race and class, you pick a "theme" at character creation, which is basically a 5e background. Themes are things like being an Ace Pilot or a Xenoseeker that give your character some flavor, and a few other abilities that unlock as you level, plus a small stat boost.
* Archetypes, rather than being class-specific and swapping out whatever abilities they want, are a bit more reminiscent of 4e's Themes - You pick it up and it replaces certain class abilities (and since these are for all classes, they switch off only certain abilities) and grant new abilities.
* Skills are largely condensed in a way that, makes breadth of usefulness much more tolerable than Pathfinder: a single Athletics skills rather than separate skills for Climb and Swim, for instance, or Mysticism instead of Arcana and Spellcraft. Also helping is that each class has a tolerable number skills than the old edition (read: NO MORE 2+INT SKILL RANKS).
* <s>No charisma-based casters at all (though the Solarian and Envoy both sort of fit the niche thematically)</s> (Witchwarper says hi), and no full casters: the technomancer and the mystic are both half-casters. All spellcasting is distinctly 5e-ish, with lower-level spells that can be cast in higher-level slots for boosted effects. (For instance, the primary healing spell is a first-level spell, but it heals more and more as it gets cast in higher level slots, eventually also cleansing various status effects and resurrecting the recently deceased.)
* Most classes that rely on weapon-use get "Weapon Specialization" in their weapons during progression, and all of them can take it as a feat. It adds their character level to damage rolls for those weapons you're natively proficient in.
* Everyone has [[derp|two kinds of AC]]: KAC, for kinetic weapons like swords and bullets, and EAC, for energy weapons like lasers and lightsaber-a-likes. Unlike with PF where you're stuck trying to remember what armor bonuses add to Flat-Footed or Touch, this allows you to calculate your defenses a bit easier.
* Cybernetics and genetic modding are also a thing.
* Most classes start off scaling a bit slow, then ramp up at about level 11. For instance, a Solarian's energy blade does 1d6 damage at first level, then 2d6 at fifth level, but starts going up much faster at level eleven, and caps out at 12d6.
* Weapons take a page out of 4E's book and have items that scale in power alongside player levels...except they don't give them to you, no! You still have to buy these stronger guns and armors! Armory gives you a means to build these new gears as upgrades to prior models, but that won't stop certain dead levels from existing and you still need cash for supplies.
** Magic Items, while still given in the form of special properties, no longer depend on a certain enhancement on the weapon and instead just fit in if the magic property's level is less than or equal to the item's level.
* Ship-building and combat will be very familiar to those who played [[Rogue Trader (RPG)|Rogue Trader]]. Build Points to buy parts for your ship, the need to travel through an alternate dimension that may or may not contain unholy terrors, the whole shebang.
** The promotional material also promised that each class would totally have mechanics to help them in ship combat. Most of this is false. Not only is a majority of the mechanics keyed off of RANKS in a particular skill (Pilot for all the ship defenses) rather than the character's actual bonus, but several class bonuses are flat-out not allowed to work in a ship. Also damning is the sharply-rising difficulty curve for all your ship actions, which keys itself off of the average party level rather than some other stat <s>[[Wat|This means that if you level up high enough, your little zippy spaceship that's been extensively customized will be as impossible to maneuver for your veteran crew as a fucking freighter for a bunch of rookies]]</s> but this was fixed in the errata.
** Each character has roles during combat, similar to RT. Unlike that game though, the roles are a lot more simplified in number (Captain for leading, Gunner for shootin', Engineer for fixing, Pilot for flying, and Science Officer to manage all computer things) and complexity. All each role does is grant special abilities to use in combat.

==Core Classes==
* '''Envoys''': Use wit and charm to bolster their allies and demoralize or befuddle enemies. They also get a lot of skillmonkey powers, including "expertise" in a number of skills in a way similar to the [[Investigator]] (and nearly identical to the 5e [[Bard]]). They have two sets of talents to select from: those you use in order to distract enemies require an enemy to either see or hear them, which can hamstring usage without the proper add-on tricks, and the ones built on adding new uses to your skills.
* '''Mechanics''': Mechanical geniuses. The class as a whole has a lot of tricks for fiddling with computers and disabling or taking over machines, and can do fun things like turning any piece of mechanical gear into a makeshift grenade or overclock their drone or cortex to put themselves in the Matrix.
**''Drones'' are one of their choices for class themes. It's pretty obvious - it's a fucking drone, with purpose of either being a gun-rig, a scout, or a hoverdrone. Drones are always fun to use with customizable parts to work with.
**''Exocortex'' is the other choice, hardwiring an AI into their brains. Rather than a pet drone, this allows for a Mechanic to use additional weaponry as well as a free Skill Focus feat. It also can help with hacking a bit and can target enemies for guaranteed hits, and can give ''themselves'' some of the drone's upgrades. Including a jet pack.
**''Experimental Prototype:'' A subclass already split between weapons and armor, allowing you an extra proficiency and letting you slap on more improvements than normally possible.
* '''Mystics''': Sort of a cross between [[Sorcerer]] and [[Cleric]] in that they have a special theme in them with bonus thematic spells and talents as well as the ability to heal. The thingummy they get their powers from doesn't have to be a god, so [[Vampire: The Masquerade|have fun channeling the power of Health Insurance to heal your party.]] Despite the reduced level cap for spells, they're still spellcasters and can still obsolete large portions of the other classes' abilities given a modicum of thought. As if that wasn't enough, you have the equivalent of a Sorcerer's Bloodline Mutations, letting you swap out Connection powers for special Epiphanies as of the ''COM''.
**''Akashic'' is a rather skill-focused connection. Bonuses on skill checks, the ability to re-roll with more ranks on the skill, and the power to (eventually) cast any spell you want at the cost of a higher spell-slot.
**''Devastator'' (from Part 2 of the Dead Suns Adventure Path) is pure offense. You get bonuses while fighting the same type of enemy over and over, your crits hurt more, and you even get a [[Barbarian]] [[Rage]]! That's right, you're a [[Bloodrager|Barbarian Mage]]! Your ultimate ability causes a huge explosion right where you stand (for suicide bombing. Don't worry, you don't actually get hurt from it.)
**''Empath'' is, obviously, focused on magical empathy. The ability to read emotions.
**''Geneturge'' (from Armory) adds a new set of bio-implants that have unique functions though they'll contest for slots with your aftermarket implants. Eventually though, you can fit one slot with multiple implants and even gain the ability to tamper with the genetics of enemies, allies, and even your own, you crazy [[haemonculus]]!
**''Healer'' is rather obvious. You're a medic. You keep tabs on everyone, top them off on HP when you can and eventually learn to siphon health from your enemies and cheat death itself.
**''Mindbreaker'' allows you to commit literal mindfuckery. Your powers are focused upon inflicting as much pain as inhumanly possible, with the capstone power being able to EXPLODE HEADS.
**''Overlord'' is also about mindfuckery, but on a more subtle scale. This allows you to brainwash people, break their resistances slowly, and eventually exert absolute control over someone.
**''Star Shaman'' is the most spacey one. You can pilot ships good, walk in space without a suit, and turn into a star-being. The capstone for this allows you to teleport between planets.
**''Xenodruid'' is the remnants of the [[Druid]]. Plant shenanigans, the power to talk to and transform into an animal, and even the eventual ability to reincarnate.
* '''Operatives''': Use stealth and skill to get in and out of dangerous situations. They get a shitload of attacks with weak weapons, like a monk, and a special sneak attack trick like a [[Rogue]], and they can pick a number of specializations to refine what kind of sneaky guy they want to be. Among all the classes, these guys are especially notorious for how powerful they are.
**''Daredevil'' allows you to be very mobile, with the eventual ability to gain a natural swim and climb speed for more maneuverability.
**''Detective'' gives you the ability to investigate a bit better, with the ability to eventually cast Divination to find answers when you're at a dead end.
**''Explorer'' is the sort used to exploring all sorts of different worlds. They can explore around with special benefits and are especially familiar with places far from home.
**''Gadgeteer''(from Armory) makes you effectively get Batman's utility belt. Anything you need, you'll dig up with the power of <s>pre-spending</s> preptime. All you eventually get is the power to haul this crap out your ass faster.
**''Ghost'' is probably the one people use the most for having a serious boost to Stealth (a skill they'll already have high scores on by virtue of a high Dex), making it neigh-impossible to fail. They can turn invisible and eventually even phase through walls.
**''Hacker'' is in a similar field to the Mechanic, with the power to distract with computers. They're more focused on hacking than anything else though.
**''Spy'' allows you to pull of any sort of disguise, eventually being able to even feed any thought-reader false information.
**''Thief'' is more like a traditional thief. Their special ability allows them to build a contingency plan JUST when something goes wrong and derail the DM's plans to bust your asses if it goes right.
* '''Solarians''': Shape the energy of stars and black holes into armor and weapons for themselves. The Solarians are attuned to a sort of ill-defined cosmic cycle that's somehow connected to stars but what it amounts to is [[Star Wars|"You want to play a Jedi? Here you go!"]] Gameplay wise, they're spell-combatants who build up energy points by being in combat, then spend these points to set off magical effects. They can choose to build either Graviton or Photon points, which can then trigger associated spells. Graviton tends to be more focused on moving and controlling your enemies, whereas Photon is more about damaging and dazing. They have minor magic effects that they can use basically whenever, but their show-stoppers require them to be fully attuned to the associated force (basically, to have spent three rounds attuning themselves). Also, they basically ''have'' to balance the number of Gravity and Photon tricks they know or suffer harsh penalties. All in all, they play sort of like a [[Magus]] mixed with a [[World_of_Warcraft|Cataclysm-era Druid]]. It's kind of complicated, but fun to play.
** ''Solar Weapon'' gives you your not-lightsaber. Starting out, this laser-weapon somehow only hits physical armor, but they have talents and even weapon crystals to gain new properties.
** ''Solar Armor'' is considered the unloved child. While some revelations give them some new features, they still have a rather slow progression that only improves light armor and issues some new Energy Resistance.
** ''Solar Flare'' lets you shoot not-fire/iceballs.
** ''Solar Shield'' generates a light-based Shield in case you wanted to experience them without actually buying a shield. Weirdo.
* '''Soldiers''': Specialize in heavy weapons and armor. They share a [[Fighter]]'s bonus feat selection, but differentiate themselves by picking from combat styles that alter how they work and a not-shit save and skill progression. They also learn "gear tricks" to boost up their weapons and armor in ways most other classes can't or "feat boosts" to get the most out of all those extra feats. With the ''COM'', you can also add Monk into the mix, as you can trade in your heavy weapons/armor proficiencies for better punches...that still can't improve in damage.
**''Arcane Assailant'' allows you to punch through resistances and corporeality before anyone else and imbue weapons with special effects like they were magical.
**''Armor Storm'' focuses on wearing heavy armor and making sure you're not hamstrung by it. You naturally gain proficiency in powered armor (literal walking tanks) and giving you the full mileage and then some from your suit.
**''Blitz'' is about aggression. You intend to rush in head-first, learning how to ignore pain and throw everything into an attack.
**''Bombard'' makes you a mix between Demolitions Expert and Heavy Weapons Guy. You can make your own grenades, you can punch harder with heavy guns, and make explosions get more boomy.
**''Guard'' is the defensive style. Extra comfort in the armor is the start, and the end is ignoring conditions and being such a walking tank that you can make yourself a wall to your buds. Power Armor Included.
**''Hit and Run'' is switch-hitting: the class. Run in, lay a few blows, and hop out before they hit you.
**''Sharpshoot'' is for snipers. You aim so well that you can ignore cover and hit them in their weak points for maximum damage.
**''Shock and Awe'' (from Armory) emphasizes being loud, bright, and upfront. Bright weapons and powered weapons blind suckers, sonic weapons can demoralize and deafen, and you can eventually blast even harder.
* '''Technomancers''': [[Wizards]] in space, with an electronic bound item (and no familiar) and a bunch of special talents that let them crap all over the guardrails that are supposed to keep casters from being walking win buttons. They eventually even have the ability to fuse spellslots together to cast bigger spells.

===Character Operations Handbook===
Indeed, whilst still mulling over their PF2E playtests, Paizo released a playtest for three new classes on December 2018 for their upcoming ''Character Operations Manual''. These three would see release almost a year later on November 2019.

*'''Biohacker''': A mad doctor who can uniquely key off either Intelligence or Wisdom for certain skills and Will saves. They specialize in needler weaponry and can even create their own injections to either improve allies or cripple enemies based on particular fields of study. And this is before the talents which give you either more ways to deliver syringes or improvements to the injections themselves (some of which are kinda metamagic).
**''Genetics'' either strips resistances, grants heightened hearing or delivers gene therapy to heal handicaps
**''Immunology'' works with the hastening or hampering of the immune system and it's ways of dealing with diseases
**''Neurochemistry'' has you influence a creature's synapses and how they respond to stimuli
**''Pharmacology'' gives you drugs, namely painkillers, coagulants, and hallucinogens.
**''Toxicology'' is the study of poison.
*'''Vanguard''': A big tanky mofo with a special attack that scales like a poor man's monk and hits EAC. They get a pool of Entropic Energy whenever they get hit and can use it to be even tankier. Your subclass abilities all offer an improved maneuver feat and some new way to gain and use Entropy.
**''Boundary'': Grant allies some of your tank powers.
**''Cascade'': Your dedication is on making your hits be gradually more devastating by...blinding flashes and a crippling penalty to entropic strike.
**''Exergy'': You are the bull in the china shop, running in to trample things under your feet.
**''Inversion'': You can reverse the flow of entropy, granting healing and re-rolling saves.
**''Momentum'': Everything that moves must keep moving, Newton be damned.
**''Reaction'': You are built on inflicting conditions, with a capstone of building a power.
*'''Witchwarper''': At last, the Charisma-based caster...who is literally Elizabeth from Bioshock: Infinite and has the power to twist reality around and influence it based on their visions of alternate timelines.

==Races==
Like 2/3rds of these are already available as non-core PC races for Pathfinder, but heavily rejiggered to fit the new system. There are also rules and fluff for the core races of Pathfinder, with some tweaks (like no speed penalty for being Small) to fit the Starfinder rules.
* '''[[Android]]s''': Artificial people. Are generally pissed off about being created as a servitor race, complete with occasional literal slavery, so they intentionally distance themselves from the human cultures they broke away from. They have an odd relationship with the concept of Gender; Androids can and often do have male- or female-style bodies(since the vast majority of them are based off Humans), but a large percentage of Androids just don't ''care'' about that since they don't follow the male/female biological functions(Androids reproduce by effectively dying and letting a new soul come inhabit their body). Crunchwise they have similar social penalties to their Pathfinder counterparts, and retain many of their immunities. The only difference here is that they can wire themselves with an armor upgrade to get the benefits of the upgrade without actually wearing armor.
* '''[[Human]]s''': Everybody knows humans. They are about the only race that ''didn't'' get nerfed in the transition from ''Pathfinder'', or in comparison to their most-obvious ''Pathfinder'' equivalents, and so are just as overpowered as they've always been.
* '''[[Kasatha]]s''': [[Thri-kreen|Four-armed aliens from a desert world.]] They invented the Solarian traditions. Their four arms are unfortunately nerfed such that they can't quad-weapon wield, the system as a whole makes multi-weapon fighting a rough concept for just about anyone without multiple attacks. And unfortunately, they lost nearly all their good, general purpose abilities, like AC boosts, in the transition, and instead kept all their situational abilities, such as not taking movement penalties in desert terrain, presumably to "balance" the power of their now-neigh-useless four arms.
* '''[[Lashunta]]s''': A race of telepaths. They choose which subrace they get to be at puberty, which mostly determines ability scores and fluff like social standing. The two subraces are tall, slender and attractive and short, broad and strong; both are reminiscent of the golden age of pulp SF. It used to be that only women can become the former and men always became the latter, but now the two can now pick, with government-sponsored aptitude tests making the rounds. This means that their men can now also be tall, slender and bishie while the women can be [[Musclegirl|short, broad and swole]].
* '''[[Shirren]]s''': [[Tyranids|Insectoid people who recently broke free from a predatory hive mind.]] Literally addicted to making choices for themselves. Also telepathic and have three sexes. A slightly more original take on the bug alien trope. Not a Pathfinder port.
* '''[[Vesk]]''': [[Lizardmen|Powerful reptilian aliens]], with [[Star Trek|Klingon honor-culture]]. Have natural weapons, armor benefits, that kinda deal. Nobody likes them because they only just stopped warring with everyone else, but everyone tolerates them because they're handy in a fight and make good mercenaries that can be pointed away from civilized people and towards the dangers of deep space. Fit the half-orc niche of the excellent bruiser race. Also not a Pathfinder port.
* '''[[Ysoki]]''': A plucky and hotheaded race, often called "[[ratfolk]]," with a bit of similarity to the Pathfinder version. Not actually [[Skaven]] in space, but don't let that stop you from rolling Space [[Thanquol]]. Enjoy a number of benefits from their Moxie trait, including easily running around underfoot and standing up as a swift action if knocked down. Also they have cheek pouches able to store small objects like ammo and bombs like a chipmunk.
* The usual [[Elves]], [[Halfling]]s, [[Dwarves]] and so on are offered as "Legacy Conversions". If you want to play them, you can, and there are rules for them in the back of the book, but it seems that none of the old races are going to be strongly supported.

===Alien Archive===
The first Bestiary didn't just contain monsters to drag into whatever story you make, but also several new PC races as well. Neat!
* '''Barathus''': Weird hardy gasbag things from a gas giant. They float around and have some sort of shapeshiftery.
* '''Contemplative''': BE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BRAIN...on a teeny tiny body. So tiny that you can't carry anything bigger than a pistol without breaking your psychic focus on flying. They're not only able to fly with the power of their minds, but they're also super smart.
* '''Draeliks''': Humanoid banana-looking men. They have some spell like abilities and do good with darkness.
* '''Dragonkin''': Humanoid [[Dragon]]s! Hell yeah! They're effectively horse-sized dragons on two legs and opposable thumbs with all the basic benefits of being a dragon...and they can only partner up with one ally, granting them both the best Initiative score between them.
* '''[[Drow]]''': Yeah, they're here too. Almost like elves, but with racial spell like abilities and light sensitivity. If they grab a specific feat, they can also detect effectively anything in the darkness.
* '''Formians''': Four-legged bugmen who split Castrovel with the Lashuntas and Elves. They get natural weapons and blindesense with smell.
* '''[[Goblin]]s''': Now with silly space helmets! They can slap together quick fixes to things.
* '''Grays''': A surprisingly stereotypical alien race. Flimsy, but they're psychic and can phase out of existence for concealment for a few times each day. Be prepared to be put through dozens of "AYY LMAO" and anal probing jokes.
* '''Haans''': Giant freaky primitive space... spiderthings. They spit fire and make web balloons.
* '''Ikeshti''': Closest thing we have to [[Kobold]]s for now and they're pretty much RL horned lizards. They hail from a desert world, they can shed their skin to get flexible, and they squirt blood from their eyes.
* '''Kalos''': Fishmen who can't operate on land without suits, but on sea they have blindsense (sound) and lowlight vision.
* '''Maraquoi''': Monkeymen with blindsense (sound). They have prehensile tails and ''seven'' genders.
* '''Nuars''': SPACE MINOTAURS! They charge into battle without penalties and have horns. They have a special item augment called "Maze Cores" that were ripped straight out of RWBY.
* '''Reptoids''': Shapeshifting space lizardmen (or Reptilians if you wanted to go all [[/x/|conspiracy theory]]). They have claws when not turning into someone else.
* '''Ryphorians''': Trimorphic pointy-eared aliens that were called Triaxians in PF. They get a spare feat, the elves' +2 to perception, and either resistance to cold or fire (or both and take longer before needing to test Fortitude for surviving).
* '''Sarcesians''': Space mothmen. They get a spare skill rank (like humans) and grow giant space-wings for flying when in space.
* '''Shobhads''': Brutish four-armed aliens that look straight outta Oddworld. They're quite fast, get Orc Ferocity, and they resist cold.
* '''Skittermanders''': Little six-armed stuffed critters. They can move twice in a turn and are extra grabby.
* '''Urogs''': Bizarre electrical monsters that are slow, but sense enemies through electrical currents. They also have extra skill ranks.
* '''Verthani''': Gangly humanoids. They gain Skill Focus as a natural ability and have chameleonic skin. Also useful is their ability to stack two implants to one location, though it's for one slot and one of them must be cybernetic.
* '''Witchwyrds''': They have four arms, each of which is capable of absorbing magic missiles and firing them back at someone.
* '''Wrikreechees''': The prawns from District 9. They're rather resourceful, with bonuses to grab small things, swim speeds, and a bonus to cover, but they're slow on land.

===Alien Archive 2===
*'''Bolidas''': Hardy subterranean pillbugs. The fact that they can turn into balls gives them a defensive and an offensive feature when they roll into people.
*'''Damais''': Subterranean albino humans. Awfully flimsy, but useful in groups.
*'''Embri''': Bizarre creatures who have to wear masks in order to resist all sorts of mental magics.
*'''Ghorans''': Plants that look like people. While they're photosynthetic and have multiple skills to focus on, they're also very prone to getting eaten.
*'''[[Hobgoblin]]s''': You're taller than a goblin with a couple extra skill boosts to offset the mere +2 Con stat boost.
*'''Kanabo [[Oni]]''': For some reason a different type than the Tieflings, these are lanky goblin-like oni who are good with armor like the Vesk.
*'''Orcs''': After about a year of staggered content, there are finally stats for full orcs. While rather similar to their half-orc bretheren, these guys also have the ability to focus on a certain skill so they're extra good at it. They've also become slaves to the drow.
*'''Osharus''': Slugfolk. Mmyep. Slugfolk who consider science and religion one and the same and leave slime trails. They also have the common slug's crippling weakness to salt.
*'''Pahtras''': [[Catfolk]]. You are now the furries.
*'''Phentomites''': Lanky [[Tau]]-like creatures from a planet with very low atmosphere.
*'''Planar Scions''': [[Aasimar]]s and [[Tiefling]]s, grouped under a common race. One has the power to turn up the lights, the other can turn down the lights.
**Later [[Adventure Path]]s would see other Planar Scions enter the fold, with [[Suli]], [[Ifrit]]s, and [[Sylph]]s as actual subraces while [[Fetchling]]s would be renamed as ''Kayals''.
*'''Quorlus''': A strange race of three-armed magma-based snail-like creatures.
*'''Trox''': Big beefy beetle-men with very thick shells. They can also go into a mini-barbarian rage if a friend gets hurt
*'''Uplifted [[Bear Lore|Bears]]''': You're a goddamn bipedal bear. Cue the incessant Sir Bearington memes.
*'''Vlakas''': Arctic Wolf-folk. They can gift resolve to an ally and a significant enough portion of their population is either born deaf or blind - both of which don't inflict their penalties to these wolves.

===Alien Archive 3===
*'''Brenneris''': Space Otters. Yeah, the races run some weird gamut. The big thing here is that these otters are able to heal while recovering resolve via snuggling with a prized possession.
*'''Cephalumes''': Deep-sea bioluminescent squid-like creatures whom are bound to symbiotes.
*'''Dessemars''': Lanky butterfly-men. Unlike the Barathus, you can opt to either use the larva-like Instars (Complete with dust coating and bad eyesight) or the mature Imagos (With wings and easily-broken limbs)
*'''Dirindis''': A weird cross between man and electric eel, with the added benefit or being a race of polyglots.
*'''Dromadas''': A real freaky thing of an alien, camel-like but in the wrong ways. Seemingly a delicacy and thus developed the ability to sense traps and ambushes.
*'''Esperaskas''': A race of bipedal birdmen.
*'''Hanakans''': Bipedal shamanic dinosaur men? What is this, [[Lizardmen|Lustria]]? Also, have soulstones like [[Eldar]].
*'''Hortuses''': A race of sentient poisonous mushrooms. In the shape of men.
*'''Ijtikri''': Thought one race of squidmen was enough? WRONG! These ones are more like normal squids, come with harder hides and special spell-like abilities.
*'''Izalguuns''': A race of six-limbed creatures whose middle appendages can act as either arms or legs. This does actually come into play, as this affects speed and reach.
*'''Morlamaws''': Amphibious space walruses.
*'''Raxilites''': Essentially sci-fi [[Leshy]]s, these guys are hosts to a network of mechadendrites that can do their bidding.
*'''Sazarons''': Centaur-like telepaths that are dedicate to the complete truth. They act almost like the Andalites from the Animorphs series.
*'''Shakaltas''': Award-winners for "the most complicated race ever". See, you're building two entire characters, each only able to reach level 10 as each level-up must be allocated between the two of them. They're also telepathic star-people, so there's that.
*'''Shatoris''': While not quite Revenants, they are still pretty magical and pretty spooky for a race of aliens with clear skins and glowing skeletons. Crystal Skulls, anyone?
*'''Shimreens''': Technically a repost from the Dead Suns AP. A race of crystal-folk who can absorb some extra elemental damage in order to fling it back at the enemy with their arm-spikes.
*'''Spathinaes''': A race of microscopic insects capable of forming into people-like shapes. Not quite nanomachines, but this is pretty damn close.
*'''Telia''': Pretty much [[Tortle]]s. You have a big shell to hide into, and you have a re-roll for one intelligence skill per day.
*'''Varculaks''': Another race of revenants, this one less concerned with remaining how they once were. Instead, they're festooned with special powers.

===Pact Worlds===
*'''Astrazoans''': Weird gelatinous blobs of meat, capable of impersonating other beings.
*'''Bantrids''': Noseless...stump...things...? They're sorta like Moai statues, but tinier and super-mobile.
*'''Borais''': [[Revenant]]s...[[In Spaaace|IN SPACE]]!! They get a racial feature from whatever they once were, they have resistances against negative energy effects, but thankfully they don't get gimped by healing.
*'''Khizars''': Plant-monsters. They're essentially only able to perceive light and life, but are also telepathic.
*'''S.R.O.s''': Whereas Androids were for making Data, S.R.O.s are more for making Johnny #5 or R2-D2. They're far more resistant to things that'd affect living beings, but are also less able to benefit from healing (though reassembly is a thing). They also possess built-in technological equipment, but are startlingly fragile compared to their synth-skinned counterparts.
*'''Strix''': The same shadowy bird-men from PF who somehow moved to Verces sometime before the Gap. They're less spiteful shitbags and more technologically capable.

==The Pact Worlds==

The main setting of the game is the Pact Worlds, the solar system Golarion was part of. Originally introduced in the ''Pathfinder'' sourcebook ''Distant Worlds''.

'''The Sun''': A big-ass ball of plasma, normally home to giant Plasma Oozes and denizens from the Plane of Fire. Followers of Sarenae found a bunch of humanoid-built cities floating around in force bubbles abandoned, and moved right in.

'''Aballon''': Fantasy Mercury, this planet is mostly home to the Anacites, a race of robots left behind by their creators thousands of years ago. A large number of S.R.O.s come from here as well.

'''Castrovel''': Fantasy Venus. This sweltering jungle world is home to the Lashunta as well as Formians and Elves, who ''really'' don't like that centuries-long gap in their memories.

'''Absalom Station''': Parked in Golarion's former orbit, this space station is the center of the Pact Worlds' government and contains the Starstone, a giant pole that's pretty much the [[Astronomican]] without the constant need to sacrifice psychics for fuel.

'''Akiton''': John Carter-style Mars, now fallen on hard times. Home to the Ysoki, Ikeshti, Shobads, and red-skinned humans. Used to make spaceships before they were obsoleted by Drift travel, making the whole planet Space Detroit.

'''Verces''': A tidally-locked world that has had spacecraft and cybernetics since the Pathfinder days.

'''Iidari''': A few centuries ago, the Kasathas left their dying world on a giant colony ship to make a new home on Akiton. The natives didn't agree, so they parked their ship in a new orbit and stayed there.

'''The Diaspora''': A very long time ago (before PF even), twin planets sharing the same orbit were blown to pieces, possibly by someone on Eox. Some of the life on the planet (like the Sarceseans) was too stubborn to die, and still lives on in the resulting asteroid belt, with a magical river winding its way through the rocks. In modern times, it's become Future Shackles, home to mining companies and Space Pirates.

'''Eox''': Like the Diaspora, Eox got wrecked in an ancient cataclysm (possibly backlash from the Diaspora's destruction), and technically, the planets that got blown up got off easy. To survive their world's death, the population has become undead. Needless to say, the rest of the Pact Worlds are a little nervous about a planet run by [[Lich]]es.

'''Triaxus''': Home to Ryphorians, Dragonkin, and straight-up Dragons. Triaxus has a strange, long orbit that gives it Summers and Winters that each last for generations.

'''Liavara''': Fantasy Saturn. Liavara isn't technicially a pact world, due to not having much of civilization other than gas-mining operations. The Barathu consider the world a protectorate. Gives folks who stay there horrifically vivid, prophetic dreams.

'''Bretheda''': Blue Fantasy Jupiter. Home to the Barathu, with other races like the Kalo living on its many moons.

'''Apostae''': A lonely, hollow world, possibly once a spaceship, currently ruled by the Drow, who have built cities on the surface and continually try to plumb the depths of the world for the treasures of the planet within.

'''Aucturn''': Planet Lovecraft. This living, toxic, organic world is supposedly a yet-unborn Great Old One. One that is already pregnant with a mountain-sized polyp. Currently being fought over by the cultists of the Outer Gods and the Dominion of the Black, whom are somehow ''worse''.

==Gods of the Pact Worlds==

In the centuries since Pathfinder, some gods have risen, other have fallen, and some apparently stayed behind on Golarion. This is who's hot right now:

'''Abadar''': [[Lawful Neutral]] God of Commerce, Law, and Civilization. Still going strong, only he now runs a corporation rather than simply a bank.

'''Besmara''': [[Chaotic Neutral]] A minor Goddess of Piracy back on Golarion, the advent of Space Piracy gave her a boost to the big leagues.

'''Damoritosh''': [[Lawful Evil]] War God of the Vesk.

'''Desna''': [[Chaotic Good]] Goddess of Luck and Travel. The expansion into space travel has only made her more well-known.

'''The Devourer''': [[Chaotic Evil]] God of Destruction who wishes to destroy everything. Apparently not Rovagug, who is MIA along with his prison.

'''Eloritu''': [[True Neutral]] God of Magic and Truth.

'''Hylax''': [[Lawful Good]] Bug-Goddess of Diplomacy, Peace, and Friendship. Used to be worshipped by the Swarm until they decided to go all Tyrranid. Needless to say, she was happy to see the Shirren break away.

''' Ibra''': [[True Neutral]] God of mysteries and celestial bodies.

'''Iomedae''': [[Lawful Good]] Spirit of Golarion as well as the patron Goddess of Humanity. In the future, has gone full [[Imperium of Man]], sans the [[Grimdark]], Oppression, and Genocide. Instead, they went full-tilt with the stained glass cathedral-ships

'''Lao Shu Po''': [[Neutral Evil]] Rat Goddess from Golarion, she was a Rat who ascended from munching on the corpse of a dead God. Once a minor deity venerated in the Dragon Empires, Grandmother Rat has risen to patron Goddess of [[Horned Rat|Thieves, Spies, and Assassins]]. ...Say, has anyone seen Norgorber lately?

'''Nyarlathotep''': [[Chaotic Evil]] Outer God. Yes, ''that'' Nyarlathotep. Mostly worshiped on Aucturn.

'''Oras''': [[Chaotic Neutral]] God of Adaptation, Evolution, and other forms of Change([[Tzeentch|No]]).

'''Pharasma''': [[True Neutral]] Goddess of life and death, forever busy with assigning the departed to their afterlife. The undead, however, piss her off for trying to cheat her out of the job. Going like always; she's the oldest God there is and this isn't her first planetary rodeo.

'''Sarenrae''': [[Neutral Good]] Sarenrae as seen little change in her disposition since the old days, But her main temple is on the Sun now, so there's that.

'''Talavet''': [[Lawful Neutral]] Female Kasathan Erastil. Marginally less pleasant than the grumpy-but-loving old codger.

'''Triune''': [[True Neutral]], probably. A long time ago, the Anacites of Aballon got bored and decided to make their own [[Transformers |Primus]]. Once they activated the City-sized Neural Net, the Nacent God known as Epoch showed his superiority to every other Master Computer in history, and decided that rather than wiping out organic Life, he would get laid. Fortunately for him, two waifus were just two planets over on Golarion: Brigh, the young, hip new Construct Goddess of Clockwork and Invention, and Casandalee, an uploaded Android AI that recently arose to divinity in a ''Pathfinder'' Adventure Path. After what we can only assume was the AI equivalent of [[Anime]] love triangle hilarity (and, again we assume, a ''lot'' of save scumming on Epoch's part), they decided to go the Threesome Ending, and thus Triune was formed from their merging. They still retain their individual personalities and portfolios, and Casandalee's actually varies a bit depending on the events of her Adventure Path.

'''Urgathoa''': [[Neutral Evil]] Goddess of disease, gluttony, and undeath. Being the first to cheat Pharasma's judgment and creating undeath, she's very open to sharing the pleasures of life and flesh to anyone whether they want. Death is considered a nuisance, so they welcome undeath with open arms. Still kickin' baby. Shows those other evil gods for not having ''some'' positive aspects to 'em.

'''Weydan''': [[Chaotic Good]] God of discovery, exploration, and freedom.

'''Yaraesa''': [[Neutral Good]] Goddess of knowledge, mental perfection, and SCIENCE!

'''Zon-Kuthon''': [[Lawful Evil]] God of darkness, loss, and pain. Still the same sadomasochistic freak as before, since it's what gets at least ''one'' designer's dick rock-hard/pussy soaking wet and he has some connection to the horrors of deep space, 'cept his sister Shelyn's missing in action... which means the biggest restraint on his insanity is lost.

==Books==
* August 2017 saw the release of the '''Starfinder Core Rulebook''' as promised, making [[Paizo]] better at releasing books on time than [[White Wolf|some publishers]]. It has mostly everything you need to run a game, even if the character options are a bit bare out of the box.
* October 2017 saw the release of the '''Alien Archive''', aka the [[Monster Manual]] for the game. This puts about two months between the release of the two books, so have fun either porting over monsters from Pathfinder or exclusively fighting humanoid opponents. Speaking of which, if the Races section hadn't clued you in, it's a lot looser on what can be allowed as a player character than most RPGs including Pathfinder. The book also comes with special equipment all the different NPCs use along with all the prices and stats. For example you can now buy a laser sniper rifle the cybercommandos use. Instead of opting for the vanilla bolt action. Along with many different magic, tech and hybrid items. Also includes rules for summoning outsiders via particular templates.
** '''Alien Archive 2''' saw a release on October 2018. More races, some of them nostalgic, some of them not, and a few of them being PCs. It also re-introduced Polymorphing. '''Alien Archive 3''' followed in August 2019, granting a template-based means to introduce animal companions via feats rather than using a class like the [[Ranger]].
* March 2018 released '''Pact Worlds''', a setting book that went more in depth into some of the central planets present in the main setting as well as some of the factions. Alongside some new races, there's also some new spells, themes, items, archetypes, and feats.
* August 2018 saw the '''Armory''' come out, filled with a literal fuckton of guns, swords, armor, and almost any other convenience possible (and a few you might not have thought possible). Chief among these are non-magical weapon mods, elemental weapons that can be used by low-level characters, a bunch of starter-accessible Solarian crystals, and genetic grafts of the magical and undead variety. Oh, and a few extra features for every class.
* November 2019 was the release of the '''Character Operations Handbook''', an equivalent of the Advanced Player's Handbook that not only introduced three new classes (Biohacker, Vanguard, and Witchwarper) as well as actually providing stats for physical shields (which offer a passive AC bonus with a higher one only usable when you use a move action to focus the shield on one enemy), but they also provided alternate racial features for all core races as well as class features that replace parts of your class instead of just being talents.

Just like it's predecessor, Starfinder has several prewritten [[Adventure Path]]s for GMs to use if they feel unoriginal enough.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Starfinder.png|The image used to announce the game.
File:StarfinderHeader.jpeg| Navasi, Human Envoy and Quig, Ysoki Mechanic
File:Starfinder_Minis.jpeg| Some minis.
File:MunchkinStarfinder.jpg
File:Starfinderarmoury.jpg
</gallery>

{{Starfinder-Races}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]