Continuity

2010-07-13T19:30:45Z

99.7.214.246: /* Major continuity families */

[[Image:Continuities.png|right|450px|thumb|Now you put all that in a blender and you get the Japanese continuity.]]
A '''continuity''' is a fictional universe or timeline that is characterized by recurring characters and settings and an internal consistency with regards to characterization and depicted events.

Typically, stories that are produced by a particular licensor (such as [[IDW Publishing]]) or in a particular form of media (such as comic books) are ''in continuity'' with each other, meaning that they are meant to all take place in the same "world".

This is not always the case, however. For example, the IDW comic [[Evolutions|''Transformers Evolutions'']] consists of stories that are explicitly set in different universes than the other IDW comics. IDW's own ''Beast Wars'' comics are also separate from their "main" continuity. The various [[Marvel Books|coloring books]] published by [[Marvel Comics]] in the 1980s might all take place in the same universe as each other, but there are no direct ties between them, and they could easily each be [[Micro-continuity|"in their own little world]]."

Still, even in cases such as these, there are important similarities. Even though ''Evolutions''' first story, "[[Hearts of Steel]]", can't fit in the same story-world as ''[[Infiltration|Transformers: Infiltration]]'', they are alternate worlds in a relatively minor sense; the same Transformers characters are present in both, they just interact with Humanity at different points in time. Marvel's coloring books disagree on many points with the Marvel comic books, but they agree on many points as well. Thus, although the coloring books and the comics are not in continuity with each other, their similarities allow both to be categorized as being members of a [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] "[[continuity family]]".

{{quote|Do you know that there are more than fifteen quadrillion concurrent universes? It's true!|[[Bug Bite (G1)|Bug Bite]], "[[Games of Deception]]"}}

==Multiverse==
More so than most science-fiction franchises, ''Transformers'' has been, from the very start, a collection of many varied continuities. Even before the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] premiered, there was the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel Comics series]] and an array of Marvel-produced storybooks which cannot be reconciled with each other, resulting in myriad [[Micro-continuity|micro-continuities]]. There have been ''so many'' mutually exclusive Transformers continuities that a truly exhaustive list would be nearly impossible to complete. However, it is relatively easy to list the major continuity "families".

There is a subjective component to all of this, and each fan decides for themselves how "fine-grained" they want their own personal list of continuities to be. Ultimately, it could be argued that almost every story exists in its own exclusive continuity, even different stories that were clearly intended to be set in the same universe. For example, two episodes of the G1 cartoon series that make no explicit references to events in each other, but are both "descendants" of the three-part "[[More than Meets the Eye (episode)|More than Meets the Eye]]", could arguably exist in different universes. There may be no particular reason to assert that they don't share continuity, but there is also no clear internal evidence that the events of one affected the world of the other. They might conceivably be set in different branches of a timeline that started with MTMTE.

The most inclusive perspective is to consider all [[canon]]ical Transformers stories as existing within a multiverse which contains countless—perhaps infinite—alternate universes. Some of these universes are more closely related to each other than others, but they are all part of the same whole. This approach has been officially sanctioned in a number of stories:

*The [[Universe (2003 franchise)|2003 ''Transformers: Universe'' franchise]], which takes the existence of an overall ''Transformers'' multiverse as the core of its story.

* The [[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|''Armada'' comic]] storyline "[[Worlds Collide]]" made explicit multiple parallel universes able to sometimes interact. 75,890,008 realities are scanned in the course of the story, though [[Astroscope]] claims that there are an infinite number of alternate realities.

* Several of the [[Fun Publications]] ''[[Timelines (fiction)|Timelines]]'' tales, most notably the "[[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]]" stories, expand on the multiversal concept by treating the continuity families as "clusters" of [[Universal stream|universal streams]] that have been studied and catalogued for millennia.

:''Japanese name:'' '''Multi-Verse of Eternity'''<ref>Takara's "World of Transformers" site.</ref>

==Meta-continuity==
[[Image:TFUjailbreak.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Hey, there's Waldo!]]
The [[Universe (2003 franchise)|2003 ''Transformers: Universe'']] franchise (sometimes referred to as "TFU") attempted to create an overarching structure to the ''Transformers'' multiverse. It was helmed, fiction-wise, by [[3H Productions]], who then held the license to run the official ''Transformers'' convention, [[BotCon]]. Convention fiction starting in the year 1997 was directly incorporated into ''Universe'', although it wasn't until [[BotCon 2002]] that the term ''Transformers: Expanded Universe'' appeared on a BotCon toy box, and the name was shortened to just ''Transformers: Universe'' afterwards. The [[Universe (2003 toyline)|''Universe'' toyline]] eventually became the home of not just convention-exclusive toys, but also other redecos and store [[exclusive]]s that were sold in normal retail outlets. The [[bio]]s for the ''Universe'' characters were primarily the responsibility of 3H.

The ''Universe'' meta-continuity officially established the idea of a ''Transformers'' multiverse and pulled together many elements from other ''Transformers'' continuities, focusing heavily on variations of ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' and [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]. 3H's comic book series, ''Wreckers'' and ''Universe'', brought together characters from many parallel universes and are the primary sources of information about this meta-continuity. Character bios published in convention programs, fan club newsletters, and on the 3H and Hasbro websites also contribute.

Among other things, the ''Universe'' universe makes some reconciliation between conflicting origins for [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and the Transformers race that were presented in the original comics, cartoon, and [[Beast Machines (cartoon)|''Beast Machines'' cartoon]]. It also incorporates the otherwise ignored sub-toylines ''[[Mutant (BW)|Beast Wars Mutants]]'' and ''[[Dinobots (toyline)|Dinobots]]'' into its fiction, and is the earliest example of a story that asserts (or implies) that there is only one [[Unicron]] who travels from one universe to another, rather than an infinite array of Unicrons in different universes.

[[Fun Publications]], the company that followed 3H in running the official convention and fan club, has since continued this approach. The Fan Club comic storyline "[[Balancing Act (issue)|Balancing Act]]" takes place primarily during the ''[[Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' cartoon, but features a multiversal battle fought by characters culled from other continuities. The setting changes after an arc ends as characters migrate from continuity to continuity. The "science" of the multiverse was further expanded upon in the stories set within the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]] "hub" universe.

==Major continuity families==
At this time, there are five primary [[Continuity family|continuity families]] in the ''Transformers'' multiverse. These are:

*'''[[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1 / Beast Era]]''' (the "Primax Cluster" according to the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]])
*'''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]''' ("Viron Cluster")
*the '''[[Unicron Trilogy]]''' ("Aurex Cluster")
*the '''[[live-action film series]]''' ("Tyran Cluster")
*'''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]''' ("Malgus Cluster")

Additional continuity families include:

*The "mirror universe" ''[[Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]''
*A much less prominent family centered on the Playskool [[Go-Bots (toyline)|Go-Bots toyline]] ("Yayayarst Cluster")

Every (or nearly every) ''Transformers'' story can be easily fit into one of these families, even if its precise continuity can't be pinned down.

For further information about these continuity families and families in general, please see '''[[Continuity family]]'''.

==Prominent ''Generation 1'' continuities==
Within Generation 1, there are an almost uncountable number of established alternate universes. Some of these continuities are extremely obscure, such as the timeline which houses [[Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth|the second Commodore 64 video game]]. On the other hand, the G1 cartoon is so widely known that even many members of the general public (i.e., not fans) would be familiar with it, and quite possibly be unaware that there even ''are'' other Transformers stories besides it and the 2007 live-action film.

Following is a ''very'' incomplete list showing only the most prominent G1 continuities and their relationships to each other. For the purposes of this list, only G1-proper will be considered, and not the extended-G1 that includes G2, MW, and the ''Beast'' series. Additionally, in keeping with Transformers Wiki's policy, the live-action film is not included, as it is treated as an independent continuity family rather than a part of G1.

*[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Cartoons (American)]] - Three complete seasons of varying length, ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', and a 3-episode "fourth season". Probably the best known of all continuities.

*Cartoons (Japanese) - Includes the first three seasons of the American cartoons as well as three additional TV series, two OVAs and a [[manga]] series.

*[[Marvel Comics continuity|Marvel US comics]] - Includes ''[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Transformers]]'', ''[[Headmasters (comic)|Transformers: Headmasters]]'', and the character profile series ''[[Transformers Universe (Marvel comic)|Transformers Universe]]''. The comic book adaptation of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' is out of continuity with the other Marvel comics.

*Marvel UK comics - Includes both the American comics and UK-originated material, amounting to a similar total volume, that was published exclusively in the UK until being reprinted internationally in the 2000s.

*[[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Dreamwave G1 comics]] - A new continuity with much of the flavor of the original cartoon series, but a very different history. Includes the three "G1" volumes as well as three volumes of ''The War Within'' and a ''Micromasters'' miniseries.

*[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW G1 comics]] - Yet another new continuity, based on earlier versions of G1 featuring classic characters but with some large revisions of basic story premise and character designs. Begins with ''Transformers: Infiltration'', published in 2005, and continues through most (though not all) of IDW's Transformer miniseries.

==Unified Japanese continuities==
[[Image:Japaneseflowchart.jpg|right|450px|thumb|So that's where Machine Wars goes.]]
In Japan, every Transformers cartoon until the release of ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Car Robots]]'' (the original, Japanese title for ''Robots in Disguise'') can be somewhat easily fit into a single unified continuity, much like the unified American G1/Beast continuity. This includes the American G1 cartoon (minus Season 4, which Japan did not air) and Beast series as well as ''[[The Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]'', ''[[Super-God Masterforce (cartoon)|Super-God Masterforce]]'', ''[[Victory (cartoon)|Victory]]'', ''[[Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!|Zone]]'', ''[[Beast Wars II (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'', and ''[[Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. In the 21st century, they also developed a fondness for new fiction that was retroactively inserted into available gaps in the G1 timeline, like [[Binaltech]], ''[[Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'' and ''[[Robot Masters]]''. Despite this additional story material, all of these stories fit together (save for Binaltech, which was spun off into its own alternate timeline as its story progressed).

In Japan, then, ''Car Robots'' was the first full reboot. Following CR, ''[[Armada (franchise)|Micron Legend]]'' and ''[[Energon (franchise)|Superlink]]'' were connected into a third major Japanese continuity, and then, as noted above, ''[[Cybertron (franchise)|Galaxy Force]]'' started a fourth.

In 2007, [[TakaraTomy]] performed some significant retcons to their Generation 1 timeline, most visible in a [http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/TF/table.html timeline] posted on their website (accompanied by a flowchart, at right), and ''much'' more extensively in [[Generation 1 cartoon timeline (Japan)|another one]] printed in the ''[[Kiss Players/15 Go! Go! Compilation]]'' graphic novel. The most significant aspect of this retcon was to insert ''Car Robots'' into the Generation 1 timeline, establishing that its characters came from the future and exploiting ''[[The Stargate Battles]]'', unfinished manga from ''[[Super Robot Magazine]]'', to explain why the Generation 1 cast was not present during the events of the series. The website timeline also made the rather ''bizarre'' claim that the 2007 live-action movie also somehow took place in the Japanese Generation 1 continuity in 2007, but this was not reflected by the accompanying flow-chart, and was established to ''not'' be the case by the ''Kiss Players'' timeline (which noted that the movie-verse Autobots and Decepticons came from another universe).

In addition to this serious working-over of the Generation 1 universe, the website timeline also took a moment to retcon ''Galaxy Force'' back into the same timeline as ''Micron Legend'' and ''Superlink'' (as it had always been presented in the West). American fans who had spent a year whining about how Hasbro had totally ruined the show by ignoring the super-cool and awesome Japanese intent were promptly pointed and laughed at.

In addition to the above, nearly every Japanese TF franchise has had ancillary manga published in magazines such as ''[[TV Magazine]]'' and ''[[Comic Bom Bom]]''. The relationship between the manga and cartoons varied. For example, the manga associated with the first two years of ''Transformers'' (pre-movie) can easily fit into the cartoon continuity, but would not contribute much of substance to the timeline. Some of the later G1 manga, however, such as those associated with ''[[Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Super-God Masterforce]]'' and ''[[Victory (franchise)|Victory]]'', contradict the cartoons bearing the same names.

==Continuity soup==
[[Image:Sparkholderprimevaldawn.jpg|right|225px|thumb|Optimus Prime's spark isn't naked. It has decency.]]
With the labyrinth of branching and criss-crossing timelines, it can be difficult at times to say exactly what makes up the history of any given ''Transformers'' universe. Over and over through the history of the ''Transformers'' brand, stories have been written which both extend pre-existing stories and also "fill in" pre-existing stories, adding details and retcons big and small. These extensions may be written years or even decades after the stories from which they are descended. There may be multiple extensions which conflict with each other, written at different times by different people for different licensees, targeting different markets. ''Branching'' timelines, on their own, are not that difficult to keep straight, but the relationship between various ''Transformers'' stories is much more complex than that because of the way new stories will pick and choose elements from old stories. There are no real answers to the questions that arise from this practice. It becomes a very messy question of subjective tastes and opinions, leading to the idea of a [[personal canon]].

Consider the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' television series]]: It borrows elements from the American G1 cartoon and G1 comics. The past history of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon's timeline is a mishmash, something that probably resembles the G1 cartoon more than anything else, but which differs from the cartoon in unknown ways and may include more (or less) of what we see in the Marvel Comics. BW is set in '''a''' G1 universe for which we have never seen—and probably will never see—more than tiny glimpses of the "G1 part". The history of that universe ''is not known'', even though we presumably know its broad outline.

So, what significance does information from ''Beast Wars'', such as the idea of the [[spark]], hold for those older stories? Since being introduced in "[[The Spark]]", sparks have become one of the most important and unifying concepts in all ''Transformers'' fiction, yet fiction which predates ''Beast Wars'', of course, never mentions them. G1-era fiction which was written post-''Beast Wars'' almost always includes them. Retconning sparks into most vintage G1 fiction is not all that difficult, but should it be done? Obviously, the G1-esque universe in which the Beast series are set has sparks, but what about the ''actual'' G1 cartoon and comic universes? Do they have sparks? Does the G1 cartoon's future (and past) look like ''Beast Wars'' or like something else?

What if a new story instead claimed that its past was ''exactly'' like an old story rather than merely similar to it? The main storyline of the ''Universe'' and ''Wreckers'' comics is ostensibly set in the BW/BM cartoon continuity, happening alongside and immediately afterwards. Are revelations from ''Universe'' "true" in ''Beast Machines'', or is ''Universe'' actually set in a timeline which is identical to the BM timeline aside from those extra events occurring? Does your answer change when [[IDW Publishing]] releases a [[The Gathering|''Beast Wars'' comic]] which ''also'' claims to occur alongside the BW cartoon, but which cannot be reconciled with ''Universe''?

What do you do with something like the [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|''Classics'' comics]] published in the official fan club newsletter? Those stories are set in the future of the US G1 comic, except...that they ignore the UK G1 comic ''and'' the US G2 comic. According to G2, there is an [[Cybertronian (faction)|offshoot race of Decepticons]] running around in space who have been away from Cybertron for millions of years. Is that still true in ''other'' offshoots of the G1 comic? Is [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] out there in ''Classics''-comics space somewhere, and simply not visiting, or does he not exist at all? He ''could'' exist...but there is no way to know.

Another curious case is that of [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]. While there are divergent continuities, such as the UK published [[Transformers Animated (Titan)|Titan stories]], there is also [[The Arrival|a comic series]] and a brace of [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac|guide]] [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2|books]] that are explicitly set in the same continuity as the cartoon. Since these books were produced concurrently with the cartoon, and by many of the same creators, does that influence our understanding of how continuity works for this series?

The only objective way to deal with all of this would be to take a very strict viewpoint on every story and never assume that anything is "true" unless it is explicitly stated in that story. Taken to an extreme, though, this stance can make it impossible to declare ''any'' two stories to share continuity, even two sequential episodes of a given TV series. For all we know, the new episode is set in a universe closely parallel to that of the previous episode but a little different. We wouldn't want to ''assume'' that a scene which wasn't shown in the recap actually occurred, after all. Especially if there's a continuity glitch of some sort, like the dialog in a recap being slightly different than the dialog from the earlier episode. So an absolutist "only what they showed" viewpoint can't really work. There has to be ''some'' concession; even "I'm going to treat all the episodes of this series as if they are one big story" is a subjective decision, one which another fan may find too restrictive or too liberal (especially if two of those episodes directly contradict each other!).

==We...are family?==
Lastly, all of this means that it is difficult to tease out questions of which continuities are subsets of others, how closely related two different continuities are, etc. A significant example of this is the categorization of the various [[IDW Publishing]] and [[Movie (franchise)|Movie]] continuities. Both are clearly beholden to ''Generation 1'' in many ways, but are generally thought to be notably "further out" from the G1 "core" than most other G1 continuities. Should they be considered new families or not? How do you quantify this? Do differences in physical form such as the movie's drastically different aesthetic make a difference? If so, should it also make a difference that most IDW characters have had their alt-modes altered slightly? What ratio of character rehashes to original characters is required to count as part of the old family instead of the start of a new one? What if, instead of a straight-up rehash, it's more of an amalgamation of a few old characters, as in the case of [[Frenzy (Movie)|''Movie'' Frenzy]]?

Again, the reader is referred to the article on continuity families, in particular the section [[Continuity_family#Quibbles|"quibbles"]], for a brief explanation of the categorizations that have been adopted on this wiki.

==Fiction==
Many Transformers continuities are self-contained and do not self-reference themselves as being in part of a greater multiverse. It is through fiction in other (otherwise unrelated) continuities that we learn they are part of the multiverse. When alternate universes are acknowledged, [[black hole]]s are one way Transformers travel between them.

===Generation 1===
====Cartoon continuity====
=====''The Transformers'' cartoon=====
A [[Quintesson]] ship with a captured [[Autobot]], [[Decepticon]], [[human]], and [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]] aboard passed through a black hole to a [[negative universe]] where the color spectrum was reversed. They returned by traveling back through the hole, which was now "white." {{storylink|The Killing Jar}}

The Quintessons also used other dimensions as a place to banish criminals.{{storylink|Madman's Paradise}}

=====''The Headmasters'' cartoon=====
Planet [[Sandra]] exists in a parallel dimension, occupying the same space that [[Earth]] does. {{storylink|SOS from Planet Sandra}}

====Marvel Comics continuity====
Marvel Comics featured various alternate "Marvel Comics continuity" timelines within its storylines, but otherwise did not recognize itself as being part of the greater Transformers multiverse.

[[Galvatron II]] was transported from an alternate future by [[Unicron]] in order to assist him with his conquest of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Eye of the Storm}}

Despite the appearance of [[Spider-Man]] in [[Prisoner of War!|issue #3]], the letter page of [[Deadly Obsession|issue #64]] clearly states that the Transformers and Marvel Universes are separate entities.

Marvel UK comics featured stories in the "Marvel UK future timelines" which take place after events similar to ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' happen. This timeline was effectively replaced with the actual events of the comic {{storylink|Primal Scream (issue)|Primal Scream}}, and before that it had been openly replaced with a ''new'' future timeline where events had happened differently {{storylink|Aspects of Evil!}}.

{{stub}}

===Robots in Disguise===
The Generation 1 character [[Axer]] traveled through a black hole into the Robots in Disguise universe.<ref>Axer's Robots in Disguise on package bio.</ref>

===''Armada'' Dreamwave Comics continuity===
You could not ''move'' for alternate universes in the ''[[Worlds Collide]]'' storyline. This was the first story to have [[Unicron]] hopping from reality to reality, and had slightly tweaked Generation 1 characters appearing as his minions; brief cameos were shown of the ''[[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'', ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'', and ''[[Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]'' continuities, shown as alternate universes being spied on. The Mini-Con [[Over-Run (Armada)|Over-Run]] was a refugee from a consumed reality, and brought with him a weapon that saved this one.

===TransTech===
Virtually every story set in the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]] continuity involves dimensional travel, either explicitly or implicitly.

===Animated===
[[The AllSpark Almanac]] included several pan-dimensional elements, including musings from [[Vector Prime]] and a transdimensional magazine called [[Venus (magazine)|Venus]].

==Trivia==
* Many other fictional "universes" are explicitly Multiverses, among these is the Marvel Universe, which in the manner of a Venn diagram also overlaps to include a portion of the Transformers Multiverse (Earth-84217 for instance).
* Due to crossovers between properties it has been argued by some fans that all (or nearly all) Hasbro toy properties (including all fiction published under ''The Transformers'', ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[The Inhumanoids]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Jem (TV series)|Jem and the Holograms]]'', ''[[wikipedia:C.O.P.S. 'n' Crooks|C.O.P.S.]]'', ''[[Beastformer|Battle Beasts]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Action Man|Action Man]]'', ''[[wikipedia:M.A.S.K.|M.A.S.K.]]'', ''[[Tonka GoBots|Challenge of the GoBots]]'', ''[[My Little Pony]]'' and ''[[Visionaries]]'') may be part of the same extended multiverse. (Sadly ''[http://www.virtualtoychest.com/a/airraiders/airraiders.html Air Raiders]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Sky Commanders|Sky Commanders]]'' have yet to join the fun.)

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Stories]]
[[Category:Continuities]]

MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Continuity