Aligned continuity family

2011-05-28T21:58:22Z

78.148.18.42: /* Creative vision */

{{noname-unconfirmed}}

The '''Aligned continuity family''' was launched in 2010 with the intention of being the foundation of most ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' projects for the decade to come.<ref name="decade">[[Hasbro Q&A/January 2011: Answers|TFWiki.net Hasbro Q&A, Jan. 2011]]</ref> Its core is a 400-page [[production bible]] that borrows elements from all previous "[[Franchise|generations]]".<ref>[http://collider.com/roberto-orci-jeff-kline-interview-transformers-prime/75039/ Collider.com interview with ''Prime'' cartoon story editors Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman]</ref> The [[Continuity family|family]] currently comprises the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)|War for Cybertron]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Prime (franchise)|Prime]]'' franchises,<ref name="aligned">[http://www.allspark.com/content/view/8189/20/ Hasbro continuity declaration]</ref> and it has some influence on [[Transformers Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] character portrayal.<ref name="newaligned">[http://www.tfviews.com/news/main/hasbro-q-and-a/1024 TFviews.com Hasbro Q&A, July 2010]</ref>

{{note|[[Hasbro]] has not given this family an official title. We derived the name "Aligned" from Hasbro statements referring to this as a new "aligned continuity".<ref name="aligned" /><ref name="newaligned" />}}

==Creative vision==
The Aligned venture appears to be Hasbro's attempt at synthesizing a grand unified [[continuity]] out of all of the previous lore. An expression of this can be seen in the Hall of Fame profiles, one of which was officially confirmed as being "based off of" Aligned continuity.<ref name="newaligned" /> That one and several others present each character as an anagrams of traits from disparate continuities, ranging from ''[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]'' to the [[Unicron Trilogy]] to the [[live-action film series]] and more (see [[#Hall of Fame profiles|below]]).

This is a significant departure from Hasbro's [[Universe (2003 franchise)|previous]] [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|forays]] into meta-continuity, which preserved the integrity of old timelines as separate, coexistent universes within a single [[multiverse]]. In that schema, the Aligned family would be simply one more [[universal stream]] added to the mix, beholden to preestablished concepts like [[Multiversal singularity|multiversal singularities]]. But when asked about how [[The Fallen|a certain singularity]] would relate to the new fiction, Hasbro replied, "Anything you know from past generations of the brand may or may not be factual in the new continuity."<ref name="fallen">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=74182&view=findpost&p=1675011 Allspark.com Hasbro Q&A, Nov. 2010]</ref>

Where, exactly, this leaves the Aligned fiction in relation to the rest of the multiverse is unclear. [[Dark of the Moon (franchise)|Other]] [[Wings of Honor continuity|contemporary]] [[BotCon 2011|fiction]] has continued to tell stories set in older universes, so it seems at least that Aligned material is not meant to supersede the continuities from which it draws.

==Continuities==
Hasbro consistently refers to all Aligned fiction as one "continuity", and while different storylines may appear to contradict each other, "reasons for the confusion will be revealed".<ref name="decade" /> However, that ideal is hampered by the fact that various elements of the fiction have separate creative teams with distinct visions that sometimes conflict. For that reason, this wiki takes the more cautious route of calling it a "continuity family". Branches of fiction include:

===Hall of Fame profiles===
In May of 2010, before any Aligned franchises had launched, Hasbro announced a "Transformers Hall of Fame" honoring characters and people associated with the ''Transformers'' brand. The spot for one inductee was put to a fan-vote: [[Transformers Hall of Fame#Nominees|Five character profiles]] were published on Hasbro.com, and users could cast a vote for one of them. Most of them were described with a combination of traits from various continuities; for example, [[Jazz (disambiguation)|Jazz]] is pictured in [[Jazz (G1)|his ''Generation 1'' form]] but described as a "[[Cyber-Ninja Corps|Cyber-Ninja]]" like [[Jazz (Animated)|his ''Animated'' incarnation]].<ref>[http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/movie-news/TRANSFORMERS-HALL-OF-FAME-Nominee-3.cfm Jazz's Hall of Fame profile]</ref> [[Soundwave (disambiguation)|Soundwave]], also looking like [[Soundwave (G1)|his ''Generation 1'' self]], is said to have a mysterious origin like [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|his ''Cybertron'' counterpart]], his partners are called "[[Mini-Con]]s" instead of "[[Mini-Cassette]]s", and he has [[Soundwave (ROTF)|his live-action movie incarnation]]'s vulnerability to simultaneous sonic booms.<ref>[http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/movie-news/TRANSFORMERS-HALL-OF-FAME-Nominee-1.cfm Soundwave's Hall of Fame profile]</ref> Later, a [[Hasbro Q&A]] answer stated that Jazz's entry is based on Aligned continuity.<ref name="newaligned" /> [[Jazz (WFC)|The character does appear in ''War for Cybertron'' fiction]], but with no particularly Cyber-Ninja-like attributes.

===''War for Cybertron'' video games===
Created by [[High Moon Studios]] under Game Director [[Matt Tieger]] with tie-in games by [[Next Level Games]] and [[Vicarious Visions]], [[War for Cybertron games|these games]]' aesthetics and characterizations are heavily based on ''[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]''; for example, [[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] and [[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] speak words, despite both being quasi-mute in the [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|''Prime'' cartoon]]. Set in the ancient days of the [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]ian war, the games' plot focuses on [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]]'s quest to harness [[Dark Energon]], which ends up corrupting the planet itself and leaving it uninhabitable for millions of years. Those events overlap a large portion of the simultaneously-released ''[[Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron|Exodus]]'' novel, but they [[Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)#Synopsis|differ in many details]].

===''Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron'' novel===
Written by [[Alex Irvine]], this book describes the beginning of the war and then, as mentioned above, covers the same ground as the ''War for Cybertron'' games with many differing details. (Hasbro did take a small stab at reconciliation by declaring [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]]'s predecessor in the games, "Zeta Prime", and the one in the novel, "Sentinel Prime", to be the same individual, "[[Sentinel Zeta Prime]]".)<ref>[http://www.ripten.com/2010/06/26/creators-talk-transformers-war-for-cybertron-at-botcon-2010-panel-lbd416/ Ripten.com's coverage of the BotCon 2010 Activision panel]</ref> Irvine also wrote the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron (comic)|''War for Cybertron'' comic]] and the apocryphal short story [[Bumblebee at Tyger Pax]], both set in the novel's pre-game period. The comic contains no major discrepancies, other than maintaining the "Sentinel Prime" name, but the short story features [[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] losing his ability to speak words before the game events.

===''Generations'' toy bios===
[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)#Toys|A handful of toys]] were created directly from ''War for Cybertron'' designs and sold as part of the [[Generations (toyline)|''Generations'' toyline]]. While lacking the phrase "War for Cybertron" on their packaging, the release of the first wave was timed within days of the games and novel,<ref>[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69812 Allspark.com toy-sighting forum reports]</ref> and their on-package [[bio]]s are basically in sync with that fiction as well. Megatron's, for example, focuses on his penchant for upgrading his body with "bleeding-edge" technology,<ref>[http://www.seibertron.com/images/toys/files/127/cybertronian-megatron-011.jpg Cybertronian Megatron's on-package bio]</ref> which may be an allusion to his lustful utilization of Dark Energon. Bumblebee's says he was once a "chatterbox" but is now a "silent warrior",<ref>[http://www.seibertron.com/images/toys/files/127/wfc-bumblebee-009.jpg Cybertronian Bumblebee's on-package bio]</ref> which appears to be a bridge between his ''War for Cybertron'' and then-upcoming ''Prime'' portrayals; however, it's not strictly accurate because in ''Prime'' he can still vocalize, just [[R2-D2|not in words]].

===''Prime'' cartoon===
Overseen by the team of [[Jeff Kline]], [[Duane Capizzi]], [[Roberto Orci]] and [[Alex Kurtzman]], this show is set on modern-day [[Earth]] with a unique aesthetic somewhere between the [[live-action film series]] and ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]]''. Released five months after ''War for Cybertron'', it also features Dark Energon as a primary plot element, but it seems to be a more mysterious substance with the added quality of being able to [[Terrorcon (Prime)|reanimate corpses]].<ref>[[Darkness Rising, Part 2|''Prime'' episode "Darkness Rising, Part 2"]]</ref> Also, strangely, Megatron is able to create an army of such creatures by crashing Dark Energon into the dead world of Cybertron,<ref>[[Darkness Rising, Part 2|''Prime'' episode "Darkness Rising, Part 5"]]</ref> despite the reason for the planet's demise in ''War for Cybertron'' being its complete infection with the stuff. A [[Transformers: Prime (comic)|prequel comic]] written by [[Mike Johnson]] shows events on Cybertron immediately before the cartoon, incorporating the ''Exodus'' notion of [[space bridge]]s being a lost art and Megatron's backstory as a [[Kaon]]ian miner.

==Notes==
* Instead of giving this continuity family an official name, Hasbro has instead referred to it with brief descriptors such as "new aligned",<ref name="newaligned" /> "aligned",<ref name="aligned" /> "modern",<ref name="decade" /><ref name="fallen" /> and "War for Cybertron/Exodus".<ref name="newaligned" /> VP of Intellectual Property Development [[Aaron Archer]] said at a [[BotCon 2010]] panel that he had considered naming it "Epochs" but then decided not to.
* The [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|subtitle-less ''Transformers'' toyline launched in 2010]] and its companion line, ''Generations'', share some of the Aligned spirit, since they likewise contain characters and concepts from previous franchises with little separation. But the only real connection between those toylines and Aligned material is the small number of [[#Generations toy bios|previously-mentioned]] ''War for Cybertron''-inspired toys. Hasbro has referred to the [[Power Core Combiners]] subline as "exist[ing] in the modern world continuity",<ref>[[Hasbro Q&A/November 2010: Answers|TFWiki.net Hasbro Q&A, Nov. 2010]]</ref> but the context of that statement doesn't suggest a specific reference to Aligned.
* The ''Hubworld Transformers: Prime'' TV special featured footage of BotCon attendees taking a ''Transformers'' quiz, with the questions being what Optimus Prime's original name was, what his job had been, and which soap opera was the Autobots' favorite. The soap opera (''[[As the Kitchen Sinks]]'') is from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|''Generation 1'' cartoon]], but the "correct" answers to the first two questions were said to be "Orion Pax" and "data clerk". Aligned continuity is the only source where both of those ideas are true. This seems to reflect Hasbro's current policy of treating Aligned material as the default ''Transformers'' "truth". Something similar occured durring the [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] era, where [[DK Publishing|DK]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'' treated that continuity as the default "truth," so this not a completely new phenomenon.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Continuity families]]
[[Category:Prime| ]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron| ]]

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Aligned continuity family