Can you describe each incarnation of the franchise for me?
II/A/1
Last modified 2006-Jan-07.
Sure. This is just going to be the basics, though, to get you
oriented. Even so, it's a long list with a lot of information. I'll
try to keep it simple. If you want a real history lesson, read
II/B/1.
And, if you
want to know more about any particular incarnation listed below
(especially the Japanese ones), you should check out the section of
this FAQ which is devoted to it. That said, we'll start with the
incarnations of Transformers as seen in North America:
- Transformers [G1] -
The original TF line, now referred to as
Generation 1,
was launched in 1984. This introduced Autobots, Decepticons,
Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the like to the world for the first
time. An animated series and comic book ran for several years
each. In the late 1990s, G1 merchandise, including toys, began to
reappear in stores.
- Transformers: Generation 2 [G2] -
After an absence from store shelves (in North America at least) of
about a year and a half, G2 appeared in late 1992. Early G2 toys were
just recolored versions of G1 figures (some which had been previously
available only in Europe), but before long new toys were being designed.
Many innovations in TF toy design that are now taken for granted were
introduced here, including ball-and-socket joints and lightpiped
eyes. Re-runs of old cartoons were packaged with the new title,
and a new series of comics was published.
- Beast Wars: Transformers [BW] -
In an attempt to mix things up and try to boost sales, mechanical
disguises were eschewed completely in favor of animals. The change
was a huge success! One of the first computer-animated TV programs
was produced for this line and ran for three years. After the
first year, the logo was altered to put the word "Transformers" above
the words "Beast Wars", although it remained smaller.
- Machine Wars: Transformers [MW] -
A limited-release, "experimental" line that was produced for
Kay*Bee Toy Stores and was available alongside BW.
- Animorphs: Transformers [ANI] -
In 1999 Hasbro released a line of toys based on
Animorphs, which is/was a series of adventure books
aimed at tweens and young teens. Because the books involve kids
who can change into animals, it was natural to release
Transformer-like toys. Presumably to get some extra attention for
the toys, Hasbro put a "Transformers" logo on the Animorphs
packaging. The toys even shared shelf-space with
Beast Wars.
- Beast Machines: Transformers [BM,
BMach] -
A small departure from BW, BM included both animal and vehicle
Transformers. The robot and animal designs were somewhat "alien"
and gangly. The vehicle designs were very futuristic. Another
computer-animated TV series accompanied BM, running for two years.
The new show was produced by the same company as BW, but with a new
visual style. The second half of the BM line had a subtitle,
Battle for the Spark.
- Transformers: Robots In Disguise
[RID] -
A Japanese TF line called Car Robots was
imported for North American consumption and given this name. RID
was dominated by vehicular Transformers, although there were a
small number of beasts as well. The new toy designs for RID were
quite intricate and had realistic vehicle modes. Some toys which
had been originally released in G1, G2, BW, and BM were also
included. The Car Robots cartoon was dubbed (with
slight modifications) and retitled for North America. RID also
included redecos of some toys from older lines which were not a
part of Car Robots.
- Transformers: Armada -
This was the first
Transformers line to be entirely joint-developed between Hasbro
and Takara, rather than one side taking the initiative and the
other later deciding to take it or leave it (although the later years
of G1 probably operated the same way as Armada.
Nearly all the toys are new designs. Most are more "blocky" and less
posable than the toys of the previous several years, although they have
many other integrated features. An Armada TV series ran on the Cartoon
Network and a comic series was published by Dreamwave. There was also a
UK-only comic published by Panini. The last segment of
the Armada line has a subtitle: The Unicron
Battles.
- Transformers: Universe [TFU] -
TFU was a companion to the main Transformers line consisting solely
of redecos of older toys. It was targeted primarily at older kids
and longtime fans. Although there was no animated series, early TFU
toys came with a CD-ROM with an interactive comic on it, and a series
of TFU comics were released by 3H as part of the official fan
club. Convention-exclusive toys since 2002 have been labelled as
part of this line. It was very briefly (only at BotCon 2002)
known as "Expanded Universe", a term taken from the Star
Wars franchise.
- Transformers: Energon [E-] -
A followup to Armada, this series is set
roughly ten years later in the same universe. It features a
number of carryover characters, and a lot of new ones. It has
a small number of redecoed or remolded Armada toys, but the vast majority of the toys
are brand new, even when the character was a carryover (e.g., Hot Shot).
The Dreamwave Armada comic continued
straight into Energon with a title change,
but the issue number did not reset to zero. A new animated series
aired, again on Cartoon Network.
- Transformers: Alternators [ALT] -
Also known as "G1 fanboys' wet dream". Alternators was revealed in mid-2003. Toys in
this line have highly-detailed vehicle modes that are
officially-licensed replicas of real-world vehicles. They could
easily pass for regular 1:24 scale replica cars. But on top of
that, they also transform intricately into highly-posable robot
modes. And, on top of that, the vehicles, robot designs, and names
are homages (of varying accuracy) to G1 characters.
Alternators has no supporting fiction.
It's just toys.
- Transformers: Cybertron [CYB] -
The next "main" TF line after Energon,
Cybertron is set in the same continuity
as Armada and
Energon. (This three-series continuity is
sometimes referred to as the "Unicron Trilogy", or UT, and also
sometimes by the lines' initials, "AEC".)
On Hasbro's website, it was stated in an "Ask Vector Prime..."
installment that it takes place roughly ten years after the Energon cartoon, although there are some rather
glaring inconsistencies. The Japanese equivalent of this line,
Galaxy Force, was not treated as a
continuation even though Cybertron was,
which led to the strange "sort-of continued but not really" cartoon.
As with the line before it, this line featured both carryover
and new characters, and nearly all of the toys are newly-designed
molds for this line. As before, the cartoon series aired on
Cartoon Network in the USA, and also aired on Kid's WB.
Also released in North America have been several less prominent toylines,
sometimes referred to as "side-lines" or "sub-lines". Some of these shared
the same packaging and title as their contemporaries, and others had packaging
and/or titles from older TF lines. These have included:
- TFs for (younger) kids -
Over the years, Hasbro has released many big, simple TFs aimed
at young children, usually through their Playskool subsidiary.
They have been variously called
My First Transformer,
1-2-3 Transformers,
Big Adventures Transformers,
Transformers Go-Bots,
and for a time, just Go-Bots without the
"Transformers". (Sometimes "Go-Go-Go-Bots".) My
First Transformers were originally released in 1986, and
reissued in 1993. The first of the modern young-kids TF was the famed
"Rescue Roy", who came out in 2001.
As the brand name has changed, the design asthetic has as well.
Since each line has been relatively small, and all serve the same
market function, I have lumped them together.
- Mutant Beast Wars were
released under the BW banner during the time of BM. This was
a small group of toys which tied in with the cartoon
character Savage/Noble, who, strangely, was released later
as a regular BM toy with the name "Beast Changer". Mutants
have two beast modes and no robot mode.
- Deployers and
Beast Riders
were also marketed during BM. They were accessory toys that
served as weapons and vehicles for the regular BM figures.
- Dinobots was the final sub-line
during BM. It consisted of redecos of some dinosaur toys,
including a few from the Japanese
Beast Wars Neo and the ultra
t-rex from BW. In early 2003, this sub-line was revived
as a Wal-Mart exclusive and featured yet another set of
redecos of BWN and BW dinosaur toys.
- Robots In Disguise
was also used as the title for a few store exclusive toys
released during the reign of
Armada.
- Legends of Cybertron was a sideline
to Cybertron featuring small versions
of many characters from the main line. These toys were new
molds, and smaller than a basic sized toy (although bigger than
a Mini-Con) for a retail of about US$3. These toys are sometimes
referred to as "All Stars", which was an earlier name for the line,
and the one under which they were solicited to stores. The name
"Legends of Cybertron" does not actually appear on their packaging.
Lastly, these should not be confused with
Heroes of Cybertron (see
II/D/3 ).
- Beast Wars 10th Anniversary [BW10 or BWX] -
In very late 2004 / early 2005, Hasbro launched a small line to celebrate
the anniversary of that popular series. The first two waves are redecos
of old toys made to look as much as possible like their incarnations on
the TV series. Each of these six toys came with a DVD that held one
episode of the cartoon and one of six pieces to make a new-mold figure of
Trans-Mutate. The last wave contained new-mold toys of BW Megatron and
Optimus Primal.
- Star Wars Transformers -
Also launched late 2004 / early 2005, this line capitalizes on Hasbro's
ownership of both Transformers and the toy license to Star
Wars. SW vehicles transform into likenesses of their pilots,
including characters from both the original and prequel trilogies. These
toys were seemingly not designed by the normal TF design teams at Takara or
at Hasbro.
- Unnamed G1-inspired line -
Announced at BotCon 2005, this as-yet unnamed line will be released
sometime after CYB ends as a "filler" before toys based on the upcoming
live-action movie (see
II/D/1). Toys in this line will be new-mold versions of classic
G1 characters. Photos of Starscream and Megatron -- who transforms into
a futuristic looking gun -- were shown at the convention.
In Japan, this list is quite different. One reason is that, in
Japan, most cartoons only run for one year. A sequence of connected
cartoon series may be aired if successful, but each is seen, in some
sense, as a seperate entity. (Hence Sailor Moon was followed by
Sailor Moon R, Super, SuperS, and Sailor Stars. Dragonball was followed
by Dragonball Z -- which was more than a year, I admit it -- and then
by Dragonball GT. Each Gundam series is self-contained, as well, even
though most of them are set in a common timeline.) Similarly, the G1
era in Japan is split up into many subsections. Everything up to G2
would still be considered G1, albeit Japanese G1. The changing name
represents the logo which appeared on toy boxes as well as the titles
of any cartoons or manga. The other reason that this list is so
different than the US list is that there really has been more Transformers
stuff in Japan. There are extra J-exclusive series to fill in the
lulls between American series. Also, note that even if I refer to
something as merely "the Japanese version" of an American line, that
doesn't mean they are exactly the same. There are always differences,
sometimes minor, sometimes not, between the Hasbro and Takara versions
of any TF line.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers -
This is, for the most part, the same as the first two years of
the American Transformers line. There were some characters with
different names, a few toys the US didn't get, and a few toys the
US got that Japan didn't, but basically they're the same. This
line was accompanied by the first two seasons of the American
G1 cartoon series as well as a manga series.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers: 2010 -
Much as the previous line was the Japanese version of the US
pre-movie Transformers, TF:2010 was the Japanese
version of the first post-movie year in the US. This included
season three of the cartoon, and toys such as Ultra Magnus and
Galvatron, and more manga of course (although the manga didn't
have the name "2010" in its title). Again, there were minor
differences between
2010 and US Post-Movie, as described later in the FAQ.
Note that the Transformers movie was not released between
F!SRL and 2010, but came out in 1989, during
Victory.
In its stead, an OAV called Scramble City
was produced which brought viewers up to speed on the changes
that occurred in the story between the two shows.
- Transformers: The Headmasters -
This line featured toys which were almost all released in the
United States, but had an entirely new cartoon created for it
which was shown only in Japan. The toys were the same as those
which came out in the US starting late in 1987, mostly Headmasters
and Targetmasters.
- Transformers: Super-God
Masterforce -
Sometimes called "Chohjin Masterforce" (chohjin = super god),
this line featured another all-new cartoon series which was never
shown in North America. And also like
Headmasters, most of the toys in
Masterforce were released in
North America, even though the cartoon was not. Many of these
toys got some advertainment exposure in the US through the
floundering Transformers comic book
from Marvel.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers: Victory -
This is the first incarnation of Transformers that was really
"exclusive" to Japan. Very few of these toys were released in
North America. This was also the last TF line to have an
animated series until Beast Wars
began.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers: Zone -
Primarily concerned with Micromasters, Zone existed only as toys,
manga and a single-episode OAV.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers: The Battlestars (The Return of Convoy) -
Convoy (Optimus Prime) returned from the dead yet again to star in
this line, joined by Micromaster bases. Supporting media came
in the form of color spreads in TV
Magazine.
- Fight! Super Robot Life Form
Transformers: Operation Combination -
A minor contribution, all things considered, Op:Combination was
all about Micromasters. In particular, the Micro six-combiners
had the spotlight here. Like Battlestars, there was no cartoon for
this line, but there were a number of TV
Magazine spreads.
- Transformers: Generation 2 -
Somewhat of a footnote, as less than a dozen toys were released in
Japan with this logo. Still, they do exist.
- Super Life Form Transformers:
Beast Wars [JBW] -
Similar to the first two G1 series, the Japanese
Beast Wars was largely the same thing
as the first year of American BW. The computer-animated BW
cartoon was dubbed into Japanese.
- Super Life Form Transformers:
Beast Wars Second [BW2] -
Filling roughly a one-year gap between the Japanese releases of
BW and BW:Metals, BW2 consisted almost entirely of previously
designed toys ranging from G1 to BW. A new cel-animated cartoon
series was produced to support this line.
- Super Life Form Transformers:
Beast Wars Neo [BWN] -
Although Neo was an all-beast line, most
of the toys were brand new designs. Some of them (most notably
the dinosaurs) were later released in the US in other contexts.
Like BW2, BWN has its own TV series.
- Super Life Form Transformers:
Beast Wars Metals -
Metals was, roughly, years two and
three of US BW. This included seasons two and three of the
television series.
- Transformers: Car Robots
[CR, TFCR] -
This was Takara's return to a more traditional Transformers line,
and featured many new vehicular Transformers which were highly
coveted by American fans until the series was released by Hasbro
as Robots In Disguise. Like the other
modern J-exclusive lines, TFCR garnered a traditional TV series.
- Transformers: Micron Legend -
Sometimes called "Legend of the Microns", this is the Japanese
version of Armada.
- Transformers: BinalTech [BT] -
The Japanese version of Alternators.
Although the BT toys come with character bios that establish a loose
story, there is no supporting fiction such as a manga series. In
2005, the regular BinalTech line was supplemented with BinalTech Asterisk,
which entails redecos of BinalTechs that include a 1:24 scale girl
figurine, named after and resembling (to various degrees) a human
character from previous TF fiction.
- Transformers: SuperLink -
The Japanese version of Energon.
- Super Life Form Transformers:
Beast Wars Returns -
The long-delayed Japanese version of Beast
Machines, first announced in early 2004.
- Transformers: Galaxy Force -
The Japanese version of Cybertron. This
line was treated as a new reboot, not as a continuation of SuperLink, and the resulting cartoon therefore
does not really tie into the previous cartoon very well. Despite
this, Hasbro continued to treat Cybertron
as a continuation of Energon, as had been
originally intended, with mixed results.
How do these incarnations relate to each other?
II/A/2
Last modified 2006-Jan-08.
In terms of their stories, the American Beast lines are direct
descendants of G1/G2. Additionally, Armada,
Energon, and Cybertron
comprise a single story referred to unofficially as "The Unicron Trilogy".
RID stands alone in its own universe, although it contains a number of jokes
and references to events from other continuities.
The primary thing to remember when it comes to the various TF lines is that
they are not all part of a single story. Many of them exist in separate
timelines, much like the varied Gundam stories, some
of which connect to each other, and some of which do not. Even for stories
that nominally exist within the same universe you may have characters who
share names or features of their appearance that have nothing to do with each
other. For example, BW and G1 both have characters named Megatron, but they
are not the same guy. However, the G1 Megatron does play a role in the BW
cartoon series. On the other hand, Energon and
Cybertron, despite having many characters who carried
over from one line to the other, both have characters named Landmine, but they
are different people even though both transform into construction vehicles.
In many, if not most, cases of shared names, it's simply a case of two
different people, separated by time and distance, if not dimensions, that
have the same name.
The Japanese series up though (and including) the Japanese Beast lines can
be seen as one continuous story, although it takes some finagling to get
things to fit together nicely. BW2 and BWN take place in the future, at
roughly the same time that the BW characters left Cybertron. TF:CR was a
break, starting a new timeline, and Micron Legend /
SuperLink were likewise another new timeline.
Galaxy Force, although originally envisioned as a
continuation, makes yet another break in Japan, even though the US equivalent
series, Cybertron, remains connected to its
predecessors.
The Animorphs, Go-Bots,
and Star Wars Transformers sub-lines have zero story
connection at all with the others. They are in some ways completely separate
lines which just happen to have the word "Transformers" on the packaging.
Why do some people compare Transformers to mythology?
II/A/3
Last modified 2004-Apr-08.
Pretty much every incarnation of Transformers that was listed
above has some sort of story associated with it, whether it's
cartoons, comics/manga, coloring books, press releases, or even
just the background information given in the toys' tech specs.
Some incarnations have all of those different types of stories at
once, and with very few exceptions, they don't agree with each
other.
Even within a simple, low-merchandising line like the US
version of Beast Wars, you've got the
cartoon's story, the story presented in the tech spec bios, the
story in the mini-comic that came with the first Primal/Megatron
2-pack, the extra information provided to fans by the show's writers,
and a variety of officially endorsed comic books printed for BotCon.
Some of these stories fit together seemlessly, others do
not.
So, what's a fan to do? How do you tell the important stuff from
the chaff? Well... why bother? Why not just take it all? Consider
the stories of King Arthur that have been passed down to us from the
middle ages. Even if we ignore modern retellings, there's not a lot
of agreement on exactly what went on. Does the "real" legend end with
Arthur sailing off to Avalon, or was he buried at Glastonbury Abbey
with Guinevere? Or are they one and the same? Did Arthur withdraw
Excalibur from the stone, or was that a different sword, with Excalibur
later granted to him by the Lady of the Lake? Does Lancelot star in
the "true" stories of Camelot, or is he just a meaningless retcon?
It's all just stories anyway, but which is the "correct" version of
the story? Obviously, there isn't one. There are just stories.
That's what's a mythos is, really. It's a bunch of stories about
the same general thing, but the details are different from one telling
to another. Sometimes little details, sometimes big or important ones.
But again, the point is that all of the stories are part of the
package, and none of them are any more "true" than the others. With
the proliferation of Transformers continuities -- dozens upon dozens
of them -- it's not that big a stretch to look at the whole thing as
a sort of modern mythos.
There are some obvious differences, of course, such as the fact
that the TF stories are written by corporate mandate for the purpose
of selling toys, rather than evolving through retelling over a period
of centuries. On the other hand, many of the stories about Arthur
were most likely developed for similarly "selfish" reasons. I mean,
really, those Glastonbury monks were awfully lucky to stumble upon
Arthur's grave right when they were in need of missionaries to visit
and fill their coffers so they could rebuild after a fire. And
everybody knows now, thanks to carbon dating, that the "Round Table"
in Winchester is a fake, but it still draws in the tourists today, and
it certainly granted its original owner some sort of status or
income when it was built. So, regardless of the origin of the
stories, they still form a nice, mythology-like spectrum, and when
it comes to discussions of the stories, that's what matters.
What was the deal with Animorphs? Were they really Transformers?
II/A/4
Last modified 2005-Mar-30.
Well, what do you mean by "real Transformers"? They were made by Hasbro. They said "Transformers" on the box. They shared shelf space with "real" Transformers. On the other hand, they have no story connection at all to Transformers. The Animorphs books and television series had nothing to do with Transformers, and were in fact a licensed property, unlike the rest of Transformers which is owned by Hasbro.
In the late 1990's, K.A. Applegate's series of adventure books for young readers, Animorphs, expanded into a licensed property, with a toyline and a live-action TV series that aired on Nickelodeon. The books are about a group of teenagers who have the magical ability to morph into animals. They use their powers to fight against a group of aliens called Yeerks that are trying to invade Earth. The books were rather popular, and generally thought to be pretty good (in the realm of adventure novels written for tweens, at least).
When it was learned that Animorph toys would be bearing the Transformers brand name, there was outrage among some groups of Transfans that their beloved toyline would be "dishonored" with such a silly extension. There were even hysterical concerns that Animorphs would be incorporated into Transformers fiction. Hasbro representatives explained that they were interested in expanding the name "Transformer" to serve as description of the "play style" of certain toys (just as some people will call any transforming toy a "Transformer"). Since Animorph toys were human action figures that turned into animals, the play style was indeed the same. However, the "Transformer" name has never been applied to any other Hasbro properties, so either this idea didn't pan out, or it was just a "cover" story. A more widely-accepted hypothesis these days is that Hasbro simply wanted to make sure they could secure shelf space in stores for the Animorphs toys, so by making them "part" of the Transformers line, they could guarantee that all the stores who were already selling Beast Wars would sell Animorphs as well.
As noted in question
[N/A]
the Beast Wars Mutants toys most likely started
their lives as Animorph designs that never made it to market.
I'm a stick-in-the-mud who is personally offended by
change. Why would Hasbro ruin my life by altering their
line periodically to match market trends and remain
profitable?
II/A/5
Last modified 2004-Apr-08.
Because god hates you.
I know that it can be frustrating to watch a cherished franchise
develop in a way that you don't find appealing, but you've got to
remember that the stuff which came before can never be invalidated.
The toys you like and the stories you enjoy will always be there.
Whether the story you dislike is a continuation of stories you do,
or if it's a new continuity, the old material can't be "replaced".
(See the above question about mythology.) Hasbro needs to stay in
business, and they are well aware that the Transformers franchise is
a valuable part of their portfolio. They're not going to sit on it,
nor are they going to let it stagnate by releasing the same types of
toys year after year. In order to bring in a new batch of kids every
couple years, they need to repeatedly make things "new". Don't take
it personally. And don't take out your frustrations on other fans,
please. If you can't talk about your dissatisfaction without getting
angry or hostile, then don't talk about it. Focus on the stuff you
like instead of what you don't.
