MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Kevin Michael Richardson

2013-04-14T10:52:02Z

BackLash:

[[Image:KMRichardson.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Oh, Blitznak. He's not the Backstreet Boy.]]
'''Kevin Michael Richardson''' (born [[October 25]], [[1964]]) is an American actor and voice artist. His best known voice over roles are Captain Gantu on ''Lilo & Stitch'', the [[Joker]] on ''The [[Batman]]'', [[Roadblock (G.I. Joe)|Roadblock]] on [[The Hub]]'s ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]: Renegades'', several characters on ''Family Guy'', Principal Lewis on ''American Dad'', Junior on ''The Cleveland Show'' and Panthro from 2011 reboot of ''ThunderCats''. His on-screen roles include Rockefeller Butts on ''The Knights of Prosperity'' and Ed Ward on ''Like Family''.

He also does the best Bill Cosby impression known to mankind.

==Voice roles==
===''Transformers Animated''===
* [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] (season 2 only)

===''Revenge of the Fallen''===
* [[Dynasty of Primes|Prime #2]]
* [[Rampage (ROTF)|Rampage]] (credited as Skipjack)

===''Transformers: Prime''===
* Announcer ("[[T.M.I.]]")
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]]
* [[Science fair judge|Judge]]
* [[Makeshift (Prime)|Makeshift]]
* [[MECH Commando]] ("[[Operation: Breakdown]]")
* [[Decepticon Miner|Miner]]
* Newscaster ("[[One Shall Rise, Part 1]]", "[[One Shall Rise, Part 2|Part 2]]", "[[One Shall Rise, Part 3|Part 3]]")
* [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]]
* [[Vehicon (Prime)|Trooper]] ("[[Masters & Students]]", "[[Convoy (episode)|Convoy]]", "[[Sick Mind]]", "[[One Shall Fall]]")
* [[Vehicon (Prime)|Trooper Pilot]] ("[[Darkness Rising, Part 1]]")
* "[[Trypticon (WFC)|Warship]]" ("[[Flying Mind]]")

===''Transformers: Prime - The Game''===
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]]

==Convention appearances==
* [[BotCon 2011]]

==Notes==
* Yes, he is a fan of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the G1 cartoon]].
* He is the voice of "Sir Can-A-Lot", the official mascot of everyone's favorite canned meat product, Spam.

==External links==
* [http://www.kevinmichaelrichardson.com/ KMR's Official website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724656/ Kevin Michael Richardson on the Internet Movie Database]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Kevin}}
[[Category:English voice actors]]
[[Category:Hasbro Studios]]
[[Category:DreamWorks]]

Tracks (Animated)

2009-05-04T12:07:27Z

BackLash:

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig2|Tracks|the Generation 1 Autobot|Tracks (G1)}}
:''Tracks is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''
{{mainpic}}
'''Tracks''' is an extra, who'd probably look awesome as a [[Tracks (G1)|corvette]].

__TOC__

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{spoilers|Decepticon Air|5/9/09}}
Tracks was part of the crowd cheering on the return of [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel "Magnus"]] to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] with a trio of [[Decepticon]] prisoners. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

==Notes==

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]

Tracks (Animated)

2009-05-04T10:25:32Z

BackLash: Adding Tracks page

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig2|Tracks|the Generation 1 Autobot|Tracks (G1)}}
:''Tracks is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''
{{mainpic}}
'''Tracks''' is the best extra ever.

__TOC__

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{spoilers|Decepticon Air|5/9/09}}
Tracks was part of the crowd cheering on the return of [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel "Magnus"]] to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] with a trio of [[Decepticon]] prisoners. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

==Notes==

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]

File:TFAni Decepticon Air Swindle Optimus Hand.jpg

2009-05-04T01:53:08Z

BackLash:

{{TFAcap|[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] surprises [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] by jumping out of his private storage dimension.|Decepticon Air|9}}

File:TFAni Decepticon Air Swindle Optimus Hand.jpg

2009-05-04T01:48:06Z

BackLash:

Decepticon Air

2009-05-04T01:45:08Z

BackLash:

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni Decepticon Air Decepticons Freed.jpg
|caption=So which one of them is John Malkovich?
|ep=39
|title="Decepticon Air"
|airdate=[[May 2]], 2009
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Shigeharu Takahashi]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''The Decepticons aboard the Elite Guard ship decide to take down the Autobots that turned them in.'''

==Synopsis==
On [[Earth]], [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] have completed a [[space bridge]] terminal in record time, for which [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] congratulates them. However, the [[transwarp]] field sequencers still have to be recalibrated, and Sumdac and Bulkhead argue over whose fault that is. [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] insists she could have helped get it right, but both builders politely rebuff her as insufficiently knowledgeable. As they continue arguing about getting the resequencing done, she takes matters into her own hands—almost literally. Using her new abilities, she fixes the terminal's calibrations and gets it to activate, to the surprise of the others.

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Sentinel Typing.jpg|thumb||180px|left|"[[Ravage (Shattered Glass)|Ravage]] has poked me on Facebook ''how many'' times?"]]
Meanwhile, out in space, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] fruitlessly attempts to interrogate his [[Decepticon]] prisoners for info on the military cells that have been attacking space bridge outposts. He returns to the bridge after [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] tells him there's an incoming message from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. [[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]], [[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] and [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] indicate that the [[Autobot High Council]] has decided to make public the news of the assault on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]]. Sentinel tries to pull rank on them, since he's now technically the ''pro tempore'' Magnus, and advises them to keep it quiet, but Alpha Trion makes it clear that they don't quite recognize his authority. Frustrated, Sentinel tries to pull rank on Jazz instead, commanding him to take the ship at full thrust through an energy cloud, despite any risks, as that heading will be the shortest route to Cybertron. Jazz complies despite objections, and of course, his worries prove justified: The energy strikes and flows through the ship, re-energizing [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] and bringing him out of time-stasis. Swindle soon frees and re-arms the other Decepticons, even if they don't have payment up front for it, as they work for [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], his best customer. With the alarms muted by Swindle's [[Sonic Jammer 3000]], the Decepticons strike at the ship's bridge just after the ship emerges from the energy cloud. Swindle quickly takes out [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] and [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] with a demo of the SJ3k's other function, a [[stasis suspension ray]]. Sentinel and Jazz put up a fight, but to little avail, and finally, Sentinel sends a brief, encrypted call for help to his old buddy, Optimus Prime (as he's too embarrassed to call Cybertron). Shortly afterward, [[Lugnut]] strikes him down, but Swindle convinces the massive Decepticon to spare their prisoners' lives: Not only could selling off their [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] parts earn a fortune, but they could be a bargaining chip in finding Megatron.

On Earth, Optimus receives Sentinel's message, which decrypts to "[[Broken Lance]]", a coded call for help that Sentinel used with him back in their [[Autobot Academy|academy]] days. Bulkhead notes the space bridge terminal detects an unusual transwarp field aboard the Elite Guard's ship. With Sari's help, the terminal locks onto the field, providing stable coordinates for an arrival point. [[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Swindle Optimus Hand.jpg|thumb||180px|right|]] The space bridge is activated, and Optimus steps through... only to emerge from Swindle's chest, having arrived via the private storage dimension he uses for holding all his stock.

Rather than attack against overwhelming odds and attempt to free Sentinel and the others, Optimus takes off down the ship's corridors to better his situation. Most of the Decepticons give pursuit, with Lugnut ordering Swindle to watch the prisoners in the meantime. Taking an elevator to the ship's energon storage chamber, Optimus perforates a group of energon cubes with his axe, destabilizing them just enough. He then puts them in the elevator car and slices its cables, so it explodes near the bottom just as the Decepticons pry open the doors. Slightly charred from the backblast, Optimus enters one of the service ducts and works his way back to the brig area, grumbling as he does.

Meanwhile, Swindle's greed is still holding sway, and the arms dealer leaves his prisoners unguarded so he can raid the ship's stores. Prime arrives almost immediately afterward and frees his fellow Autobots, earning no gratitude from the power-tripping Sentinel. The Decepticons then return, so Optimus tells Jazz to rewire the decontamination unit on the bridge into a freezing chamber to trap them, his Autobot emblem blinking all the while. Optimus severs a steam duct, giving Jazz cover to escape, but then Lugnut punches a hole in the hull, sending everyone else in the brig out into space.

The Jet Twins prove far more capable in space combat than anticipated, giving the Decepticons a fair amount of trouble. Noting their predicament through a porthole in the storage depot, Swindle metaphorically shrugs and goes back to looting. Meanwhile, despite Sentinel's continued objections and struggling, Optimus uses him as a living spiked slingshot against Lugnut. Sentinel insists he be obeyed as leader, but this only prompts [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] to freeze him and hold him hostage. Sentinel demands they don't surrender, but Optimus convinces the Jet Twins to follow his lead instead, and they capitulate.

On the bridge, Blitzwing, [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]], and the [[Liar Starscream]] put Sentinel, Optimus and the Jet Twins in the decontamination unit with Jazz. Blitzwing sneers that Optimus shouldn't have blabbed his plan where all could hear it, as now the Autobots will suffer freezing instead. However, when he activates the chamber, the freezing tubes reverse direction, icing all the Decepticons on the bridge instead and leaving the Autobots safe. Optimus explains to a surprises Sentinel that back in the brig, he'd used his blinking emblem to send a different message to Jazz in Cybertronian optical code. They all pause as they hear a roar of engines, courtesy of a loot-filled Swindle taking off in one of the ship's shuttles. As the Decepticons are imprisoned again, Sentinel offers Optimus the Elite Guard spot that will be opening when Sentinel becomes Magnus, but Prime demurs, as he's still got plenty to do on Earth.

At [[Sumdac Tower]], Bulkhead frets as Swindle's transwarp signal moves too far away to warp Optimus back. Sari offers to help fix it, but her father points out it won't be necessary, as the Elite Guard ship has come to them. Optimus steps off the ship, and he and Sentinel trade salutes before it departs.

On Cybertron, Sentinel has a victory parade, displaying his prisoners to a cheering crowd and vowing to hunt down and offline [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] and any other Decepticon if they accept him as the new Magnus. Perceptor and Alpha Trion exchange dubious glances, but say nothing.

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Lugnut Megatron.jpg|thumb|right|180px]]
Out in space, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] warps into place near a drifting Lugnut, who abruptly finds himself plastered on the front window—right in front of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (2)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (12)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (13)
*[[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]] (14)
*[[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]] (17)
*[[Dug Base]] (18)
*[[Hubcap (Animated)|Hubcap]] (19)
*[[Freeway (Animated)|Freeway]] (20)
*[[Beachcomber (Animated)|Beachcomber]] (21)
*[[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] (22)
*[[Tracks (Animated)|Tracks]] (23)
*[[Huffer (Animated)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Powerglide (Animated)|Powerglide]] (25)
*Tiger-striped guy (26)
*[[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]] (27)
*[[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]] (28)
*[[Rosanna (Animated)|Rosanna]] (29)
*[[Autotrooper]] (30)
*[[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]] (31)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (32)
*[[Cosmos (Animated)|Cosmos]] (33)
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] (34)
|c2=
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Lugnut]] (7)
*[[Liar Starscream]] (10)
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (11)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (35)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (36)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (3)

|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (4)

}}

==Quotes==
'''Sentinel Prime''': All due respect, Alpha Trion, the Council should concern itself with more important matters, like beefing up security for the Decepticon prisoners that...ahem...''I'' captured. 
'''Cliffjumper''': I thought that was [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]].
:—Actually, they're [[Lockdown|both wrong]].

"Those bureaucratobots couldn't find their own [[Anatomic euphemism#Diode|diode]]s with a bitmap and a homing beacon."
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' talks behind the council's back.

"The Sonic Jammer 3000! Don't leave Cybertron without it! But wait—there's more! It also has a stasis suspension ray, handy for those tight spots. Picked this baby up on [[Quintessa]]. Nice folks, the [[Quintesson]]s; give you a good deal and all the oil you can drink."
:—'''Swindle''' shows off his latest invention.

"Guard the prisoners, or... loot the ship? It's a no-processor...er."

"Maybe I should help them.... or maybe I should help myself!"

"There's nothing like a shopping spree--especially when it's ''free!''"
:—The Tao of '''Swindle'''.

"Maybe that energon was a little ''too'' unstable!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' realizes he may not have thought his plan through very well.

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===
* When Sentinel calls for Jetfire and Jetstorm, the prisoners do not have their facemasks.

* Character heights vary wildly throughout the episode, mostly with the non-Swindle Decepticons being various levels of undersized. The kneeling Decepticons still tower over Swindle as he first talks to them (which seems correct, as Swindle is small), but do not appear to gain any height on him once they're upright. The final scene in particular, Blitzwing and the two clones are downright tiny, looking to be about as big as the average Autobot.

* When Lugnut is speaking as he prepares to offline Sentinel, his jaw moves sideways a few times instead of up and down.

* In the crowd scenes towards the end of this episode, characters change positions relative to each other every time the camera angle switches. Beachcomber, in particular, appears in literally four different places at once.

* When Lugnut crashes against Omega Supreme at the end of the episode, his Deception insignia is missing.

===Continuity errors===
* Safeguard is able to create a tornado in outer space?

===Transformers references===
[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air BoxScream ConeScream.jpg|thumb|180px|right|"Your conehead makes my ears look silly in comparison!" "No it doesn't!"]]
* Swindle claims to have had business dealings on [[Quintessa]], suggests they could make enough from Elite Guard parts to "retire to a beach island on [[Nebulos]]", and swears by "the fifth moon of [[Pz-Zazz]]".

* His reference to a "personal storage dimension" from which accessories can be pulled at a moments' notice hearkens back to the concept of [[subspace]].

* To help tell the Starscream clones apart, Swindle gives the Liar Starscream a [[conehead]] accessory and Sunstorm a boxy helmet resembling those of the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Seeker]]s. The new cone-head is topped with a drill. Cool.

* Sentinel's adoring public consists of a seriously crazy amount of cameos, a great many of which have not been seen before this episode. The definitely-identified members of the crowd include [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]], [[Hubcap (Animated)|Hubcap]], [[Freeway (Animated)|Freeway]], [[Beachcomber (Animated)|Beachcomber]], [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]], [[Powerglide (Animated)|Powerglide]], [[Tracks (Animated)|Tracks]], [[Huffer (Animated)|Huffer]], [[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]], [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (and a red-and-blue lookalike), [[Cosmos (Animated)|Cosmos]] (with a nacelle-less [[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]]-colored lookalike), [[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]], [[Autotrooper]] (based on [[Autrooper]]) and [[Rosanna (Animated)|Rosanna]]. There are also a few unknown faces, including two versions of the Bumblebee body-type, one white and one teal (perhaps [[Searchlight]] and [[Glyph]]?), and the rather stand-out example of a kinda freaky, skinny tiger-striped dude who we "might find out [about] next week", according to [[Derrick J. Wyatt]].

* Sentinel and the Autobot Council are carried upon [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]]. Behind them, the Decepticon prisoners are carried by a [[Dug Base|Grandus lookalike]] with yellow detailing; Derrick Wyatt stated that this was supposed to represent Grandus's ''[[Brave]]'' [[redeco]], Dag Base.

* The "Lance" in "[[Broken Lance]]" refers to Sentinel's weapon of choice.

===Real-world references===
* The title is a play on ''[[wikipedia:Con Air|Con Air]]'', a Nicolas Cage movie where prisoners being transported by plane get free and do bad things.

* Sentinel's phrase "[[Broken Lance]]" is similar to the [[United States of America|U.S.]] military term "[[wikipedia:United States military nuclear incident terminology#Broken Arrow|Broken Arrow]]", which is used to describe a cock-up involving nuclear weapons. In this context, it is more likely to be a reference to the 1996 action film [[wikipedia:Broken Arrow (1996 film)|of the same name]], in which John Travolta hijacks a stealth bomber (in order to sell the nuclear missiles on board).

* Speaking of action movies, Optimus crawling through an air shaft, while sarcastically complaining about how much fun he's having, is very similar to a famous sequence from ''[[wikipedia:Die Hard|Die Hard]]''. The exploding elevator trick also appears in the film.

* When Optimus drops out of the air shaft suspended by a wire harness, it's similar to a famous sequence from the Tom Cruise version of ''[[wikipedia:Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]''.

* Optimus claiming to have a small chamber that can trap his foes, only for them to doublecross him and force him inside it, only for him to ''triplecross'' them when the chamber is the only place safe from the real trap, is similar to a famous sequence from ''[[wikipedia:Superman II|Superman II]]''.

* Sari's fingers extending and separating when she types are a reference to ''[[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell|Ghost in the Shell]]''.

* When Sentinel uses his remote to unlock and re-lock Lugnut's mouth clamps, it makes the same noise as a car alarm remote.

* Swindle's "Don't leave Cybertron without it!" is a variation of the American Express credit card slogan "Don't leave home without it." He immediately follows that up with "But wait, there's more!", one of TV huckster [[wikipedia:Ron Popeil|Ron Popeil]]'s most famous catchphrases.

===Trivia===
*Sentinel Prime went through the space disturbance to gain some time, but in the end, agreed to go all the way back to Earth to drop off Optimus Prime. So the whole thing ended up being a rather pointless act. Lesson learned, Sentinel?
*Sentinel seems to have decided to keep his Earth alt-mode [[Autoboot Camp|this time]].
*At the end of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]", Captain Fanzone claimed that Swindle would be stripped down for parts. But other than his weapons (which would have been confiscated by the Elite Guard if the Detroit Police hadn't already taken them), nothing obvious seems to be missing from his person. Maybe Fanzone was just trying to freak him out?

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Transformers Animated (cartoon)

2009-04-12T03:51:35Z

BackLash:

{{Nav-Animated}}

'''''Transformers Animated''''' is a cartoon series which debuted on December 26, 2007, in support of the [[franchise]] of [[Transformers Animated|the same name]].

The cartoon is produced by [[Cartoon Network]], scripted in the United States, with character and background designs by the crews behind shows like ''[[wikipedia:Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Ben 10|Ben 10]]'', while animation is being provided by Japanese studios [[Mook]], [[The Answer Studio]], and [[Studio 4°C]].

''Animated'' sees several [[Generation 1]] voice actors reprise their old roles ([[Susan Blu]], [[Corey Burton]], [[John Moschitta]], etc.), and is the first ''Transformers'' series featuring [[David Kaye]] in which he won't be voicing [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]].

==Overview==
{{see|Transformers Animated timeline}}

[[Image:TransformersAnimatedPoster.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"When there's trouble you know who to call..."]]
''Animated'' follows the adventures of a small crew of Autobots who come into possession of the all-powerful AllSpark artifact. Stranded on Earth and living among the population of [[Detroit]], they face off against a series of human villains and their mighty Decepticon foes, who seek to possess the AllSpark. Though they were originally a lowly space bridge repair crew, these five Autobots must rise to their circumstances to deal with threats large and small.

The series eschews the ever-continuing space opera storylines of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] cartoons to return to the episodic approach of ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''; most episodes are standalone stories, but with larger story arcs that stretch through the whole series. The focus is on characterization, dynamic action, and humor.

The episodes center not only on the war between the [[Autobot]]s and the [[Decepticon]]s, but also on the Autobots' interactions with many of [[Detroit|Detroit's]] [[human]] supervillain denizens, including a [[Angry Archer|maladjusted marksman]], a [[Nanosec|speedy racer]], and a guy who [[Prometheus Black|looks good in a pimp suit]]. The idea is to present the Decepticons as more of an ongoing background threat instead of having them be repeatedly defeated each episode and look like bumbling fools. The arrival of a Decepticon in battle is a big deal, requiring multiple Autobots working together to stop even a single one. The human villains give the Autobots "everyday" threats, and some of their schemes are the result of Decepticon treachery. Note well: [[Doctor Arkeville|Human]] [[Lord Chumley|adversaries]] [[Circuit Breaker|are]] [[Cobra Commander|not]] [[Abdul Fakkadi|new]] [[Lazarus|in]] [[Mega|''Transformers'']] [[Giga|continuity]].

While the series is not a sequel to the [[Transformers (2007)|live-action movie]], they have many thematic elements in common, most notably the central role of the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] and the revelation that all modern technology has been reverse-engineered from the dormant body of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Hasbro also carried over some design elements from the live-action movie into ''Animated'' designs, including not just the aforementioned cube but also [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s medical readout striped deco, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s black racing stripe, and [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'s helmet. These are meant to be "connection points," helping kids who had seen the theatrical film but had no prior ''Transformers'' experience ease into understanding the new series.

The series also includes many elements and homages to prior ''Transformers'' series. Most conspicuously, it has many parallels to ''[[G1|Generation 1]]'' character designs, personalities, and major characteristics; [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] are even voiced by the same voice actors as their G1 analogues. ''[[Beast Wars]]'' gets nods in the form of the inclusion of new versions/homages of [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Wasp|Waspinator]], plus the overall plot structure: The main war is over, the good guys won, but now a small team of heroes never meant for combat roles must go up against an upstart cell of villains led by a charismatic rogue.
{{-}}

==Cast==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
;Main Cast
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] ([[Corey Burton]])
;[[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]
* [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]]
* [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]]
;[[Cybertron Elite Guard]]
* [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] ([[Townsend Coleman]])
* [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
* [[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]]
** [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
** [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] ([[David Kaye]])
;Rodimus' Team
* [[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
* [[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]]
* [[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] ([[Tara Strong]])
;Others
* [[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]]
* [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
* [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Highbrow (Animated)|Highbrow]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]]
* [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] ([[Kevin Michael Richardson]]/[[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]]
* [[Wheeljack (Animated)|Wheeljack]]
* [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] ([["Weird Al" Yankovic]])
* [[Wasp]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Yoketron]] ([[George Takei]])
|c2=
;Main Cast
* [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Lugnut]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
;[[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]]
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Dirt Boss (Animated) | Dirt Boss]] ([[John Mariano]])
;[[Starscream Clones]]
* [[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp, the Coward Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm, the Sycophant Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker, the Egomaniac Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Female Starscream|Female Clone]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Liar Starscream|Liar Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
;[[Team Chaar]]
* [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]]
* [[Cyclonus (Animated)|Cyclonus]]
* [[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
;Others
* [[Lockdown]] ([[Lance Henriksen]])
* [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] ([[Fred Willard]])
* [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave/Longarm Prime]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Wasp|Waspinator]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
|c3=
;Main Cast
* [[Sari Sumdac]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Isaac Sumdac]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Captain Fanzone]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
;[[:Category:Supervillains|Supervillians]]
* [[Angry Archer]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] ([[Peter Stormare]])
* [[Colossus Rhodes]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Fusion creature|Meltdown's Experiments]]
* [[Nanosec]] ([[Brian Posehn]])
* [[Professor Princess]] ([[Kath Soucie]])
* [[Headmaster (Animated)|The Headmaster]] ([[Alexander Polinsky]])
* [[Master Disaster]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Slo-Mo]] ([[Tara Strong]])
;Others
* [[Porter C. Powell]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Mayor Edsel]]
* [[Press Secretary|Mayor Edsel's press secretary]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Sparkplug (Animated human)|Sparkplug]] ([[Bumper Robinson]]/[[David Kaye]])
}}
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{see|List of Transformers Animated episodes}}
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"
! style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=6 | Feature-Length Premiere: 2007 [[Transform and Roll Out]]
|-
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 1: 2008'''</center>
# [[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]
# [[Total Meltdown]]
# [[Blast from the Past]]
# [[The Thrill of the Hunt]]
# [[Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec]]
# [[Along Came a Spider]]
# [[Sound and Fury]]
# [[Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found]]
# [[Survival of the Fittest]]
# [[Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster]]
# [[Nature Calls]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 1]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 2: 2008'''</center>
# [[The Elite Guard]]
# [[The Return of the Headmaster]]
# [[Mission Accomplished]]
# [[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]
# [[Velocity]]
# [[Rise of the Constructicons]]
# [[A Fistful of Energon]]
# [[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]
# [[Autoboot Camp]]
# [[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]]
# [[Sari, No One's Home]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 3: 2009'''</center>
# [[TransWarped]], Part I
# [[TransWarped]], Part II
# [[TransWarped]], Part III
# [[Three's a Crowd]]
# [[Where Is Thy Sting?]]
# [[Five Servos of Doom]]
# [[Predacons Rising]]
# [[Human Error, Part 1]]
# [[Human Error, Part 2]]
# [[Decepticon Air]]
|-
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=3 valign="top" |<center>'''[[Studio 4°C]] shorts'''</center>
# [[Career Day]]
# [[Evel Knievel Jump]] (aka "Prowl")
# [[Mime Time]] (aka "Bumblebee")
# [[Starscream Heckles Megatron]] (aka "Mocking Megatron")
# [[Explosive Punch]]
# [[Bulkhead Plays with Grimlock]]
# [[Ratchet Performs Surgery on Bulkhead]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=3 valign="top" |<center>'''Other shorts'''</center>
# [[Meet Bulkhead]]
# [[Meet Ratchet]]
# [[Meet Bumblebee]]
# [[Meet Optimus Prime]]
# [[Meet Prowl]]
# [[Meet Megatron]]
# [[Meet Starscream]]
|}

==Creative staff==
There are some talented people working on this show. Among the more prominent-

{{collist|2|
*[[Sam Register]] - Executive Producer
*[[Marty Isenberg]] - Story Editor, Writer
*[[Irineo Maramba]] - Director, Character Designer
*[[Derrick J. Wyatt]] - Art Director
*[[Jeff Shiffman]] - Co-Sound Supervisor
}}

==Home video releases==
===United States===
The American releases feature full-screen video and stereo sound in both English and Spanish.
*'''Transform and Roll Out''' (DVD, June 22, 2008)
:A single DVD containing the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out".
:Also includes the first two unaired shorts, "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".
:*A Target [[exclusive]] version came with a second disc containing the follow-up episode "Home Is Where the Spark Is".
*'''Season One''' (DVD, August 19 2008)
:A Two-disc set containing the complete first season, from "Home Is Where the Spark Is" to "Megatron Rising Part II".
:Also includes a season 2 "sneak peek" photo gallery.
*'''Season Two''' (DVD, Jan 6 2009)
:A Two-disc set containing the entirety of season 2, from "The Elite Guard" to "A Bridge to Close Part II", with audio commentary on selected episodes.
:Also includes the shorts "Starscream Heckles Megatron" and "Explosive Punch" and a photo gallery.

===United Kingdom===
Whereas in America the series was released in complete seasons, the UK instead got <s>screwed over</s> several single-disc "volumes" containing four episodes each, also featuring full-screen video, but with audio and subtitles in English and German. Yeah.
*'''Transform and Roll Out''' (DVD, August 4, 2008)
:Contains the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out" and the shorts "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".
*'''Volume One: Blast from the Past''' (DVD, October 20, 2008)
:Contains the episodes "Home Is Where the Spark Is" through to "The Thrill of the Hunt".
*'''Volume Two: Lost and Found''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.
*'''Volume Three: Megatron Rising''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.
*'''Volume Four: Mission Accomplished''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.

==Comic adaptations==
A [[Transformers Animated (IDW Publishing)|comic adaptation]] of the series was published by [[IDW Publishing]] starting in January 2008. The book used cartoon screen captures arranged in comic book style panels.

==Reception==
''Transformers Animated'' debuted January 5, 2008, at 10:30am EST as the number one television show among boys 6-11 in both cable and network television. In addition, the strength of the showing helped lift the ratings of all its neighboring shows in Cartoon Network's "Dynamite Action" scheduling block. <ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1701434,00.html ''Transformers Animated'' Premieres #1 on All Television Among Boys and Boosts Kids 6-11 and 2-11 Delivery by Powerful Double-Digits]</ref>

The immediate response to the earliest promotional materials from the online fandom was the [[Ruined FOREVER|painfully traditional one]], with an added dash of overblown paranoia that the franchise would be far too "[[Pokeformers|kid]]-[[Playskool|oriented]]" for longtime fans to enjoy, based on nothing more than its artistic style. Attitudes took an eyebrow-raisingly sharp turn with the premiere of the first footage from the show at the San Diego Comic Con and Hasbro's presentation at [[BotCon 2007]], and after the debut of the show, it was essentially only the most ardent "already-made-up-their-mind-to-hate-it" viewers who were speaking ill. In particular, many fears were alleviated with the airing of "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]", which involved [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] savagely beating [[Lockdown]] for revenge, Ratchet coping with the loss of [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]]'s memories, and a look at the horrors of war. This unusual level of maturity let many fans warm up to the new series.

The aforementioned ability of the series to carry on story arcs for multiple episodes and, in many cases, for an entire season also lends itself to enjoyment by older viewers. Multiple plot lines run simultaneously and are not resolved within a single episode, allowing a deeper, more intricate story than previous ''Transformers'' series. The return of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] took up most of season one, and the construction of the [[space bridge]] and the revelation of the identity of the Decepticon [[Shockwave (Animated)|traitor]] among the Autobots unfolded throughout the second season, while the mystery of [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] origin has been hinted at throughout the entire series.

==Notes==
[[Image:Tfa widescreen2.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The fullscreen broadcast and DVD release (top) cuts the sides off the widescreen image (bottom).]]
* Despite being animated in a widescreen format, the series is delivered to Cartoon Network in a cropped-down, fullscreen format, and is subsequently broadcast this way. Alas, the series has been released on DVD in this format, too. Fans could glimpse various widescreen images in a promo reel screened at various conventions before the launch of the series, which was later included on the DVD packaged with action figure two-pack, "The Battle Begins".
* The series is the first in over a decade to re-establish the classic ''Generation 1'' convention of blue eyes for Autobots and red eyes for Decepticons... though there is [[Jetfire (Animated)|the]] [[Swindle (Animated)|occasional]] [[Wasp|exceptions]].
* As well as the aforementioned ''Generation 1'' voice actors, [[Townsend Coleman]] returns to a ''Transformers'' series. He voiced [[Rewind]] in the original ''Generation 1'' cartoon.
* Derrick Wyatt singles out ''[[wikipedia:Mighty Orbots|Mighty Orbots]]'' and the British comic ''[[wikipedia:2000 AD|2000 AD]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s ''[[wikipedia:ABC Warriors|ABC Warriors]]'' strip as the biggest influences on the character designs, with [[wikipedia:Gainax|Gainax]] animation studio as a constant source of influence.<ref>[http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21975298&postID=8564559979841180115 Comment section of "Back from Botcon" entry in Derrick Wyatt's blog]</ref>
* In May 2008, when North American broadcasts of the series were only four episodes into season two, all the remaining episodes of the season aired in Dubai. While almost nobody in the fandom had personally seen these episodes (and no one had seen them in English as they were intended), gossip based on viewer reviews and screencaps resulted in many plot developments and potential surprises being spoiled. Hooray.

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/ ''Animated'' character designer Derrick J. Wyatt's blog]
*[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/transformersa/ The Cartoon Network's official ''Transformers Animated'' homepage]
*[http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/animated/ Hasbro's official ''Transformers'' Animated homepage]

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Television series]]
[[Category:Continuities]]

Five Servos of Doom

2009-04-04T14:54:20Z

BackLash: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=
|caption=
|ep=35
|title="Five Servos of Doom"
|airdate=[[April 4]], 2009
|written by=[[Andrew R. Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]], [[Yoshio Frank Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Sentinel Prime has incredible success capturing fugitive Decepticons, leading Prowl to suspect he's getting help. '''

==Synopsis==

In the dead of night, the [[Autobot]]s steal through the streets of [[Detroit]], on the trail of a [[Decepticon]] energy signature. With the source of the signal cornered, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] makes his move and dives through a window, only to find that the signal is coming from a beacon, and that the Autobots have been tricked. To make matters worse, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] has disappeared, and the Autobots spread out to search for him. During the search, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] spots an unfamiliar shadow, and follows it around a corner… to find the [[Sunstorm (Animated)|sycophantic Starscream clone]], captured and [[stasis cuffs|stasis-cuffed]] by Sentinel Prime. They take the prisoner back to the [[Elite Guard]]'s ship, where Optimus is stunned to discover that Sentinel has also recently captured [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], as well.
[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedDecepticons.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] and [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] are eager to know how Sentinel managed to apprehend the Starscream clone, as is Optimus, but Sentinel gets defensive and tells Optimus it does not concern him. Prime confides in Prowl his suspicion that Sentinel is hiding something, and tells him about the strange shadow he saw. Back at the Autobot plant, the pair consult computer records to see if Optimus can identify the distinctive helmet the robot was wearing, and when they find one that fits the bill, the stunned Prowl flashes back to his past on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]…

:''The helmet belongs to [[Yoketron]], the ninja master who trained Prowl centuries ago. Attempting to dodge the draft during the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], Prowl was apprehended by Elite Guardsman [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] and placed into the care of Yoketron, who saw potential in him and offered to train him in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.''

Optimus pulls Prowl out of his ruminations, and the ninja-bot silently speeds back to the Elite Guard ship to converse with [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]], another of Yoketron's old students. The pair suspect that their old sensei may somehow be on Earth, capturing Decepticons, and that Sentinel is taking the credit. Sentinel walks in on the middle of the discussion and laughs off the notion that Yoketron is even still online, before departing on another patrol. Knowing that something is not right, Jazz and Prowl shadow Sentinel, but when Sentinel rounds a corner and disappears, Prowl lapses into his memories once again, recalling when Yoketron taught him that it was the robot himself, not his tools, that made the ninja. With nothing left to do, the pair return to the Elite Guard's ship, where Jetfire and Jetstorm are working to repair their communications system. The two brothers tells the ninajs that Sentinel is waiting for them in the brig, and Jazz and Prowl are amazed to see that Sentinel has brought in [[Lugnut]]! As Sentinel gloats, Prowl calls him on the unlikihood of the whole scenario, and accuses him of having "help". The ninja-bot points out the missing weapons on all the Decepticons, and notes that [[Lockdown|only one bot]] that he knows of takes trophies from his victims, but Sentinel silences him by revealing that he has removed Lugnut's "[[Punch of Kill Everything]]" and placed it in a storage compartment in that very hallway. Embarassed, Prowl leaves, and Sentinel turns on Optimus, telling him to keep Prowl in line, lest me "bust him back to protoform". The word echoes down the hallway, and Prowl pauses…

:''As Prowl's skills increase under Yoketron's tutelage, he is deemed worthy of a weapon by his master and is given his shuriken. Yoketron leads Prowl into a chamber containing holographic busts of his greatest students, but one plinth is empty; a spot, Yoketron reveals, previously held by a former student who disgraced the cyber-ninja corps. Prowl is amazed when Yoketron uses a technique known as "[[processor-over-matter]]" to open the far wall of the chamber with the power of his mind, revealing a greater chamber beyond, its walls lined with [[protoform]]s that the cyber-ninja corps has been charged with protecting. Yoketron challenges Prowl to close the chamber using processor-over-matter, but Prowl is unable to accomplish the task, and Yoketron sends him on an "optics quest" to find his center and become a true cyber-ninja.''

Prowl's trip down memory lane is cut off as Sentinel comes down the hallway, and Prowl uses his hologram projector to disguise himself as a cabinet and listen in as Sentinel talks with parties unknown over his communicator. Prowl alerts Jazz before trailing Sentinel to [[Tigatron Stadium]], where he learns that his suspicions were correct: Sentinel is working with [[Lockdown]], who is wearing Yoketron's helmet! Prowl busts up the prisoner exchange, but it is soon revealed that Lockdown has double-crossed Sentinel, having been made a better offer by the Starscream clone. Lockdown and Prowl engage in battle, and Lockdown reveals that he was also a student of Yoketron…

:''Returning from his unsuccessful optics quest, Prowl discovers that Yoketron's dojo has been attacked, the protoforms almost all stolen, and Yoketron himself fatally wounded. As Yoketron's spark begins to fade, Prowl recovers one of the remaining protoforms and places his master's spark in it, saving Yoketron's life. Yoketron, however, is apalled by his students' actions; one must never sacrifice a piece of the future in order to save a piece of the past. When Prowl's time comes, Yoketron tells him, he too will understand. As Prowl looks on, Yoketron allows his spark to fade out.''

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-Yoketron%27sDeath.jpg|thumb|left|200px|]]

At last, all is clear to Prowl: Lockdown led the attack on the dojo and took the protoforms! Prowl pins Lockdown and demands the return of Yoketron's helmet; Lockdown appears to comply, but the helmet has been booby-trapped, and binds Prowl in a tangle of cables. The captured Prowl is taken to Lockdown's ship, where the bounty hunter intends to remove his jump jets and holo-project in order to complete a duplicate set of the armor that he loaned Prowl during their last encounter. Lying on Lockdow's "operating table", Prowl concentrates, and at last masters processor-over-matter, freeing his body from the cables with the power of his mind.

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Jetfire and Jetstorm have arrived to rescue Sentinel Prime from the clutches of the Starscream clone, but the fight is not going well, as the clone uses Sentinel for a shield most of the time. The clone takes to the air, but Prime blinds it with a faceful of foam and it crashes into the middle of the stadium field, dropping Sentinel head-first into the ground.

Back aboard Lockdown's ship, the bounty hunter turns to discover that Prowl has freed himself and donned both Yoketron's helmet and the armor, knowing that he will be able to handle its power this time because of the lesson he has finally learned: it is the ninja-bot, not the weapon. The two engage in battle once more, and their fight soon carries them out of the ship and into the middle of the other fight going on in the field outside. Optimus Prime and Jazz are in the process of dropping the stadium's scoreboard onto the Starscream clone, but Prowl and Lockdown get in the way at the last second, before they can stop the giant screen's tumble. As the dust clears, Optimus and Jazz discover that Prowl has used processor-over-matter to protect the combatants from the debris. Optimus quickly stasis-cuffs the Starscream clone, but Lockdown gets away.
A little later, everyone has returned to the Elite Guard ship, where Jetstorm and Jetfire open a communications channel with [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] on Cybertron. Cliffjumper thell the Autobots about [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'s attack on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], and rather than add to the trouble, Prime refrains from reporting Sentinel's misconduct, instead simply informing Cliffjumper of the capture of the Decepticons on [[Earth]], crediting Prowl. Sentinel thanks Optimus for covering for him, but Optimus promises that once everything is done, he and Sentinel will have it out.

Back at the Autobot base, Jazz compliments Prowl on his armor, and tells him that Yoketron would be proud to have him wear his helmet. Prowl vows to do everything he can to be worthy of it.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Yoketron]] (10)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (11)
*[[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)

|c2=
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (7)
*[[Lugnut]] (12)
*[[Lockdown]] (13)
*[[Liar Starscream|Liar Starscream clone]] (14)

}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===

*When the scoreboard crashes onto Prowl, Lockdown and the Liar, Prowl is missing his samurai armor.

===Continuity errors===
*It's not ''technically'' an error, since Prowl has always remained quiet on his history and could just have been holding back from correcting anyone, but this episode reveals that he was online during the Great War, prior to the creation of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], where previous episodes have suggested that none of the main ''Animated'' Autobot cast, except for Ratchet, were around back then. Notably, this makes Prowl older than Optimus Prime, which… sits ill, at best.

===Transformers references===
*Prowl performed the titular "Five Servos of Doom" technique back in "[[The Elite Guard]]".
*Swindle is still stuck in vehicle mode after the events of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]".
*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].
[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-TempleCameos.jpg|thumb|right|250px|]]
*In addition to Yoketron and Jazz, the busts in Yoketron’s little “hall of fame” depict ''Animated'' incarnation of various Transformers that have otherwise not appeared in the series. Those clearly visible onscreen include [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Sky Garry]], [[Devcon]], [[Dai Atlas]], [[Heavy Load (RID)|Heavy Load]], [[Star Upper]] and [[Roadhandler (G1)|Roadhandler]], but there are many more busts in the room that are only seen from a distance, and are essentially unidentifiable. [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has identified the other Transformers as [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Star Saber (G1)|Star Saber]], [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Kick-Off]], [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]], [[Motorarm]], [[Powerhug]] and [[Road Rocket]].
** Additionally, Wyatt classifies the characters as being specialists in different categories, namely Fencing/Swordfighting/Melee Weapons (Star Saber, Magnus, Dai Atlas, Springer) , Boxing/Kick-Boxing/Street-Fighting (Tap-Out, Star Upper, Sky Garry, Kick-Off, Devcon), Sumo/Wrestling (Grandus, Motorarm, Powerhug and Roadhandler) and Martial Arts/Ninja (Yoketron, Jazz, Heavy Load and Road Rocket). These classifications speak for themselves more often than not (no explanation is needed for the melee-weapon characters, nor for someone like Star Upper, who was all about boxing), but sometimes the rationale is a bit more obscure (Heavy Load, for instance, was only ever noted to be a martial artist in his [[bio]]; it never came across in the cartoon), or is a reference to some past fiction (Roadhandler being classified as a wrestler is the main example, being that it’s a reference to his stint in the squared circle from the Marvel Comics story, "[[The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!]]"). Conversely, sometimes it’s just a joke - Grandus as a sumo, for instance, is purely a gag based on the fact that he’s a big fatty fat-fat.
*[[Tigatron]] Stadium!
*Lockdown identifies Prowl's techniques as [[Metallikato]] and [[Circuit-Su]].
*Prowl's samurai armor was previously seen in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", in which Lockdown last appeared.

===Real-world references===
*The title of the episode is apparently derived from wrestler [[wikipedia:Bret Hart|Bret Hart]]'s signature "finishing sequence", the "Five Moves of Doom".
*Tigatron Stadium is most likely named after [[wikipedia:Tiger Stadium|Tiger Stadium]], the former home field of the [[wikipedia:Detroit Tigers|Detroit Tigers]], which has been partially demolished.

===Trivia===
*Like the [[Where Is Thy Sting?|previous episode]], this episode received an early online debut when a copy loaded onto the Cartoon Network website server, intended to go live after the episode premiered, was leaked out on [[March 27]], over a week before the episode premiered on television.
*The voice cast for this episode does not credit [[David Kaye]] with the role of Cliffjumper.
[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedBlitzwingFaces.jpg|thumb|right|100px]]
*Having three faces warrants three mouthclamps it seems, as the animation depicts the mouthclamps on Blitzwing's faces rotating when he switches personality.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Transformers Animated (cartoon)

2009-04-04T13:33:21Z

BackLash: /* Cast */

{{Nav-Animated}}

'''''Transformers Animated''''' is a cartoon series which debuted on December 26, 2007, in support of the [[franchise]] of [[Transformers Animated|the same name]].

The cartoon is produced by [[Cartoon Network]], scripted in the United States, with character and background designs by the crews behind shows like ''[[wikipedia:Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Ben 10|Ben 10]]'', while animation is being provided by Japanese studios [[Mook]], [[The Answer Studio]], and [[Studio 4°C]].

''Animated'' sees several [[Generation 1]] voice actors reprise their old roles ([[Susan Blu]], [[Corey Burton]], [[John Moschitta]], etc.), and is the first ''Transformers'' series featuring [[David Kaye]] in which he won't be voicing [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]].

==Overview==
{{see|Transformers Animated timeline}}

[[Image:TransformersAnimatedPoster.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"When there's trouble you know who to call..."]]
''Animated'' follows the adventures of a small crew of Autobots who come into possession of the all-powerful AllSpark artifact. Stranded on Earth and living among the population of [[Detroit]], they face off against a series of human villains and their mighty Decepticon foes, who seek to possess the AllSpark. Though they were originally a lowly space bridge repair crew, these five Autobots must rise to their circumstances to deal with threats large and small.

The series eschews the ever-continuing space opera storylines of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] cartoons to return to the episodic approach of ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''; most episodes are standalone stories, but with larger story arcs that stretch through the whole series. The focus is on characterization, dynamic action, and humor.

The episodes center not only on the war between the [[Autobot]]s and the [[Decepticon]]s, but also on the Autobots' interactions with many of [[Detroit|Detroit's]] [[human]] supervillain denizens, including a [[Angry Archer|maladjusted marksman]], a [[Nanosec|speedy racer]], and a guy who [[Prometheus Black|looks good in a pimp suit]]. The idea is to present the Decepticons as more of an ongoing background threat instead of having them be repeatedly defeated each episode and look like bumbling fools. The arrival of a Decepticon in battle is a big deal, requiring multiple Autobots working together to stop even a single one. The human villains give the Autobots "everyday" threats, and some of their schemes are the result of Decepticon treachery. Note well: [[Doctor Arkeville|Human]] [[Lord Chumley|adversaries]] [[Circuit Breaker|are]] [[Cobra Commander|not]] [[Abdul Fakkadi|new]] [[Lazarus|in]] [[Mega|''Transformers'']] [[Giga|continuity]].

While the series is not a sequel to the [[Transformers (2007)|live-action movie]], they have many thematic elements in common, most notably the central role of the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] and the revelation that all modern technology has been reverse-engineered from the dormant body of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Hasbro also carried over some design elements from the live-action movie into ''Animated'' designs, including not just the aforementioned cube but also [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s medical readout striped deco, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s black racing stripe, and [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'s helmet. These are meant to be "connection points," helping kids who had seen the theatrical film but had no prior ''Transformers'' experience ease into understanding the new series.

The series also includes many elements and homages to prior ''Transformers'' series. Most conspicuously, it has many parallels to ''[[G1|Generation 1]]'' character designs, personalities, and major characteristics; [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] are even voiced by the same voice actors as their G1 analogues. ''[[Beast Wars]]'' gets nods in the form of the inclusion of new versions/homages of [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Wasp|Waspinator]], plus the overall plot structure: The main war is over, the good guys won, but now a small team of heroes never meant for combat roles must go up against an upstart cell of villains led by a charismatic rogue.
{{-}}

==Cast==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
;Main Cast
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] ([[Corey Burton]])
;[[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]
* [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]]
* [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]]
;[[Cybertron Elite Guard]]
* [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] ([[Townsend Coleman]])
* [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
* [[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]]
** [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
** [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] ([[David Kaye]])
;Rodimus' Team
* [[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
* [[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]]
* [[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] ([[Tara Strong]])
;Others
* [[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]]
* [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
* [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Highbrow (Animated)|Highbrow]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]]
* [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] ([[Kevin Michael Richardson]]/[[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]]
* [[Wheeljack (Animated)|Wheeljack]]
* [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] ([["Weird Al" Yankovic]])
* [[Wasp]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Yoketron]] ([[George Takei]])
|c2=
;Main Cast
* [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Lugnut]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
;[[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]]
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Dirt Boss (Animated) | Dirt Boss]] ([[John Mariano]])
;[[Starscream Clones]]
* [[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp, the Coward Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm, the Sycophant Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker, the Egomaniac Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Female Starscream|Female Clone]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Liar Starscream|Liar Clone]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
;[[Team Chaar]]
* [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]]
* [[Cyclonus (Animated)|Cyclonus]]
* [[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
;Others
* [[Lockdown]] ([[Lance Henriksen]])
* [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] ([[Fred Willard]])
* [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave/Longarm Prime]] ([[Corey Burton]])
|c3=
;Main Cast
* [[Sari Sumdac]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Isaac Sumdac]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Captain Fanzone]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
;[[:Category:Supervillains|Supervillians]]
* [[Angry Archer]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] ([[Peter Stormare]])
* [[Colossus Rhodes]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Fusion creature|Meltdown's Experiments]]
* [[Nanosec]] ([[Brian Posehn]])
* [[Professor Princess]] ([[Kath Soucie]])
* [[Headmaster (Animated)|The Headmaster]] ([[Alexander Polinsky]])
* [[Master Disaster]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Slo-Mo]] ([[Tara Strong]])
;Others
* [[Porter C. Powell]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Mayor Edsel]]
* [[Press Secretary|Mayor Edsel's press secretary]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Sparkplug (Animated human)|Sparkplug]] ([[Bumper Robinson]]/[[David Kaye]])
}}
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{see|List of Transformers Animated episodes}}
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"
! style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=6 | Feature-Length Premiere: 2007 [[Transform and Roll Out]]
|-
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 1: 2008'''</center>
# [[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]
# [[Total Meltdown]]
# [[Blast from the Past]]
# [[The Thrill of the Hunt]]
# [[Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec]]
# [[Along Came a Spider]]
# [[Sound and Fury]]
# [[Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found]]
# [[Survival of the Fittest]]
# [[Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster]]
# [[Nature Calls]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 1]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 2: 2008'''</center>
# [[The Elite Guard]]
# [[The Return of the Headmaster]]
# [[Mission Accomplished]]
# [[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]
# [[Velocity]]
# [[Rise of the Constructicons]]
# [[A Fistful of Energon]]
# [[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]
# [[Autoboot Camp]]
# [[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]]
# [[Sari, No One's Home]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=2 valign="top" |<center>'''Season 3: 2009'''</center>
# [[TransWarped]], Part I
# [[TransWarped]], Part II
# [[TransWarped]], Part III
# [[Three's a Crowd]]
# [[Where Is Thy Sting?]]
# [[Five Servos of Doom]]
# [[Predacons Rising]]
# [[Human Error, Part 1]]
# [[Human Error, Part 2]]
# [[Decepticon Air]]
|-
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=3 valign="top" |<center>'''[[Studio 4°C]] shorts'''</center>
# [[Career Day]]
# [[Evel Knievel Jump]] (aka "Prowl")
# [[Mime Time]] (aka "Bumblebee")
# [[Starscream Heckles Megatron]] (aka "Mocking Megatron")
# [[Explosive Punch]]
# [[Bulkhead Plays with Grimlock]]
# [[Ratchet Performs Surgery on Bulkhead]]
| style="background:#FFFFFF" colspan=3 valign="top" |<center>'''Other shorts'''</center>
# [[Meet Bulkhead]]
# [[Meet Ratchet]]
# [[Meet Bumblebee]]
# [[Meet Optimus Prime]]
# [[Meet Prowl]]
# [[Meet Megatron]]
# [[Meet Starscream]]
|}

==Creative staff==
There are some talented people working on this show. Among the more prominent-

{{collist|2|
*[[Sam Register]] - Executive Producer
*[[Marty Isenberg]] - Story Editor, Writer
*[[Irineo Maramba]] - Director, Character Designer
*[[Derrick J. Wyatt]] - Art Director
*[[Jeff Shiffman]] - Co-Sound Supervisor
}}

==Home video releases==
===United States===
The American releases feature full-screen video and stereo sound in both English and Spanish.
*'''Transform and Roll Out''' (DVD, June 22, 2008)
:A single DVD containing the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out".
:Also includes the first two unaired shorts, "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".
:*A Target [[exclusive]] version came with a second disc containing the follow-up episode "Home Is Where the Spark Is".
*'''Season One''' (DVD, August 19 2008)
:A Two-disc set containing the complete first season, from "Home Is Where the Spark Is" to "Megatron Rising Part II".
:Also includes a season 2 "sneak peek" photo gallery.
*'''Season Two''' (DVD, Jan 6 2009)
:A Two-disc set containing the entirety of season 2, from "The Elite Guard" to "A Bridge to Close Part II", with audio commentary on selected episodes.
:Also includes the shorts "Starscream Heckles Megatron" and "Explosive Punch" and a photo gallery.

===United Kingdom===
Whereas in America the series was released in complete seasons, the UK instead got <s>screwed over</s> several single-disc "volumes" containing four episodes each, also featuring full-screen video, but with audio and subtitles in English and German. Yeah.
*'''Transform and Roll Out''' (DVD, August 4, 2008)
:Contains the feature-length premiere "Transform and Roll Out" and the shorts "Career Day" and "Evel Knievel Jump".
*'''Volume One: Blast from the Past''' (DVD, October 20, 2008)
:Contains the episodes "Home Is Where the Spark Is" through to "The Thrill of the Hunt".
*'''Volume Two: Lost and Found''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.
*'''Volume Three: Megatron Rising''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.
*'''Volume Four: Mission Accomplished''' (DVD, June 15, 2009)
:Details yet to be announced.

==Comic adaptations==
A [[Transformers Animated (IDW Publishing)|comic adaptation]] of the series was published by [[IDW Publishing]] starting in January 2008. The book used cartoon screen captures arranged in comic book style panels.

==Reception==
''Transformers Animated'' debuted January 5, 2008, at 10:30am EST as the number one television show among boys 6-11 in both cable and network television. In addition, the strength of the showing helped lift the ratings of all its neighboring shows in Cartoon Network's "Dynamite Action" scheduling block. <ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1701434,00.html ''Transformers Animated'' Premieres #1 on All Television Among Boys and Boosts Kids 6-11 and 2-11 Delivery by Powerful Double-Digits]</ref>

The immediate response to the earliest promotional materials from the online fandom was the [[Ruined FOREVER|painfully traditional one]], with an added dash of overblown paranoia that the franchise would be far too "[[Pokeformers|kid]]-[[Playskool|oriented]]" for longtime fans to enjoy, based on nothing more than its artistic style. Attitudes took an eyebrow-raisingly sharp turn with the premiere of the first footage from the show at the San Diego Comic Con and Hasbro's presentation at [[BotCon 2007]], and after the debut of the show, it was essentially only the most ardent "already-made-up-their-mind-to-hate-it" viewers who were speaking ill. In particular, many fears were alleviated with the airing of "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]", which involved [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] savagely beating [[Lockdown]] for revenge, Ratchet coping with the loss of [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]]'s memories, and a look at the horrors of war. This unusual level of maturity let many fans warm up to the new series.

The aforementioned ability of the series to carry on story arcs for multiple episodes and, in many cases, for an entire season also lends itself to enjoyment by older viewers. Multiple plot lines run simultaneously and are not resolved within a single episode, allowing a deeper, more intricate story than previous ''Transformers'' series. The return of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] took up most of season one, and the construction of the [[space bridge]] and the revelation of the identity of the Decepticon [[Shockwave (Animated)|traitor]] among the Autobots unfolded throughout the second season, while the mystery of [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] origin has been hinted at throughout the entire series.

==Notes==
[[Image:Tfa widescreen2.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The fullscreen broadcast and DVD release (top) cuts the sides off the widescreen image (bottom).]]
* Despite being animated in a widescreen format, the series is delivered to Cartoon Network in a cropped-down, fullscreen format, and is subsequently broadcast this way. Alas, the series has been released on DVD in this format, too. Fans could glimpse various widescreen images in a promo reel screened at various conventions before the launch of the series, which was later included on the DVD packaged with action figure two-pack, "The Battle Begins".
* The series is the first in over a decade to re-establish the classic ''Generation 1'' convention of blue eyes for Autobots and red eyes for Decepticons... though there is [[Jetfire (Animated)|the]] [[Swindle (Animated)|occasional]] [[Wasp|exceptions]].
* As well as the aforementioned ''Generation 1'' voice actors, [[Townsend Coleman]] returns to a ''Transformers'' series. He voiced [[Rewind]] in the original ''Generation 1'' cartoon.
* Derrick Wyatt singles out ''[[wikipedia:Mighty Orbots|Mighty Orbots]]'' and the British comic ''[[wikipedia:2000 AD|2000 AD]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s ''[[wikipedia:ABC Warriors|ABC Warriors]]'' strip as the biggest influences on the character designs, with [[wikipedia:Gainax|Gainax]] animation studio as a constant source of influence.<ref>[http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21975298&postID=8564559979841180115 Comment section of "Back from Botcon" entry in Derrick Wyatt's blog]</ref>
* In May 2008, when North American broadcasts of the series were only four episodes into season two, all the remaining episodes of the season aired in Dubai. While almost nobody in the fandom had personally seen these episodes (and no one had seen them in English as they were intended), gossip based on viewer reviews and screencaps resulted in many plot developments and potential surprises being spoiled. Hooray.

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/ ''Animated'' character designer Derrick J. Wyatt's blog]
*[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/transformersa/ The Cartoon Network's official ''Transformers Animated'' homepage]
*[http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/animated/ Hasbro's official ''Transformers'' Animated homepage]

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Television series]]
[[Category:Continuities]]

George Takei

2009-04-04T13:13:14Z

BackLash:

'''George Takei''' is an American actor and voice actor for for television and film, known for his work on the sci-fi series ''Star Trek'' playing Hikaru Sulu and ''Heroes'' as Kaito Nakamura. His best known voice over roles are Sulu in ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', Akira in ''The Simpsons'' and Ron Stoppable's Sensei in ''Kim Possible''. He also voiced characters from ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', ''Batman Beyond'' and ''Chowder''.

Oh, he's also done that Sulu guy in other Star Trek films and shows from time to time.

==Voice roles==
===Animated===
* [[Yoketron]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001786/ George Takei on IMDB]

[[Category:Voice actors|Takei, George]]

Five Servos of Doom

2009-04-04T13:07:58Z

BackLash: /* Featured characters */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=
|caption=
|ep=35
|title="Five Servos of Doom"
|airdate=[[April 4]], 2009
|written by=[[Andrew R. Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]], [[Yoshio Frank Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Sentinel Prime has incredible success capturing fugitive Decepticons, leading Prowl to suspect he's getting help. '''

==Synopsis==

In the dead of night, the [[Autobot]]s steal through the streets of [[Detroit]], on the trail of a [[Decepticon]] energy signature. With the source of the signal cornered, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] makes his move and dives through a window, only to find that the signal is coming from a beacon, and that the Autobots have been tricked. To make matters worse, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] has disappeared, and the Autobots spread out to search for him. During the search, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] spots an unfamiliar shadow, and follows it around a corner… to find the [[Sunstorm (Animated)|sycophantic Starscream clone]], captured and [[stasis cuffs|stasis-cuffed]] by Sentinel Prime. They take the prisoner back to the [[Elite Guard]]'s ship, where Optimus is stunned to discover that Sentinel has also recently captured [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], as well. [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] and [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] are eager to know how Sentinel managed to apprehend the Starscream clone, as is Optimus, but Sentinel gets defensive and tells Optimus it does not concern him. Prime confides in Prowl his suspicion that Sentinel is hiding something, and tells him about the strange shadow he saw. Back at the Autobot plant, the pair consult computer records to see if Optimus can identify the distinctive helmet the robot was wearing, and when they find one that fits the bill, the stunned Prowl flashes back to his past on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]…

:''The helmet belongs to [[Yoketron]], the ninja master who trained Prowl centuries ago. Attempting to dodge the draft during the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], Prowl was apprehended by Elite Guardsman [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] and placed into the care of Yoketron, who saw potential in him and offered to train him in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.''

Optimus pulls Prowl out of his ruminations, and the ninja-bot silently speeds back to the Elite Guard ship to converse with [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]], another of Yoketron's old students. The pair suspect that their old sensei may somehow be on Earth, capturing Decepticons, and that Sentinel is taking the credit. Sentinel walks in on the middle of the discussion and laughs off the notion that Yoketron is even still online, before departing on another patrol. Knowing that something is not right, Jazz and Prowl shadow Sentinel, but when Sentinel rounds a corner and disappears, Prowl lapses into his memories once again, recalling when Yoketron taught him that it was the robot himself, not his tools, that made the ninja. With nothing left to do, the pair return to the Elite Guard's ship, where Jetfire and Jetstorm are working to repair their communications system. The two brothers tells the ninajs that Sentinel is waiting for them in the brig, and Jazz and Prowl are amazed to see that Sentinel has brought in [[Lugnut]]! As Sentinel gloats, Prowl calls him on the unlikihood of the whole scenario, and accuses him of having "help". The ninja-bot points out the missing weapons on all the Decepticons, and notes that [[Lockdown|only one bot]] that he knows of takes trophies from his victims, but Sentinel silences him by revealing that he has removed Lugnut's "[[Punch of Kill Everything]]" and placed it in a storage compartment in that very hallway. Embarassed, Prowl leaves, and Sentinel turns on Optimus, telling him to keep Prowl in line, lest me "bust him back to protoform". The word echoes down the hallway, and Prowl pauses…

:''As Prowl's skills increase under Yoketron's tutelage, he is deemed worthy of a weapon by his master and is given his shuriken. Yoketron leads Prowl into a chamber containing holographic busts of his greatest students, but one plinth is empty; a spot, Yoketron reveals, previously held by a former student who disgraced the cyber-ninja corps. Prowl is amazed when Yoketron uses a technique known as "[[processor-over-matter]]" to open the far wall of the chamber with the power of his mind, revealing a greater chamber beyond, its walls lined with [[protoform]]s that the cyber-ninja corps has been charged with protecting. Yoketron challenges Prowl to close the chamber using processor-over-matter, but Prowl is unable to accomplish the task, and Yoketron sends him on an "optics quest" to find his center and become a true cyber-ninja.''

Prowl's trip down memory lane is cut off as Sentinel comes down the hallway, and Prowl uses his hologram projector to disguise himself as a cabinet and listen in as Sentinel talks with parties unknown over his communicator. Prowl alerts Jazz before trailing Sentinel to [[Tigatron Stadium]], where he learns that his suspicions were correct: Sentinel is working with [[Lockdown]], who is wearing Yoketron's helmet! Prowl busts up the prisoner exchange, but it is soon revealed that Lockdown is double-crossed Sentinel, having been made a better offer by the Starscream clone. Lockdown and Prowl engage in battle, and Lockdown reveals that he was also a student of Yoketron…

:''Returning from his unsuccessful optics quest, Prowl discovers that Yoketron's dojo has been attacked, the protoforms almost all stolen, and Yoketron himself fatally wounded. As Yoketron's spark begins to fade, Prowl recovers one of the remaining protoforms and places his master's spark in it, saving Yoketron's life. Yoketron, however, is apalled by his students' actions; one must never sacrifice a piece of the future in order to save a piece of the past. When Prowl's time comes, Yoketron tells him, he too will understand. As Prowl looks on, Yoketron allows his spark to fade out.''

At last, all is clear to Prowl: Lockdown led the attack on the dojo and took the protoforms! Prowl pins Lockdown and demands the return of Yoketron's helmet; Lockdown appears to comply, but the helmet has been booby-trapped, and binds Prowl in a tangle of cables. The captured Prowl is taken to Lockdown's ship, where the bounty hunter intends to remove his jump jets and holo-project in order to complete a duplicate set of the armor that he loaned Prowl during their last encounter. Lying on Lockdow's "operating table", Prowl concentrates, and at last masters processor-over-matter, freeing his body from the cables with the power of his mind.

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Jetfire and Jetstorm have arrived to rescue Sentinel Prime from the clutches of the Starscream clone, but the fight is not going well, as the clone uses Sentinel for a shield most of the time. The clone takes to the air, but Prime blinds it with a faceful of foam and it crashes into the middle of the stadium field, dropping Sentinel head-first into the ground.

Back aboard Lockdown's ship, the bounty hunter turns to discover that Prowl has freed himself and donned both Yoketron's helmet and the armor, knowing that he will be able to handle its power this time because of the lesson he has finally learned: it is the ninja-bot, not the weapon. The two engage in battle once more, and their fight soon carries them out of the ship and into the middle of the other fight going on in the field outside. Optimus Prime and Jazz are in the process of dropping the stadium's scoreboard onto the Starscream clone, but Prowl and Lockdown get in the way at the last second, before they can stop the giant screen's tumble. As the dust clears, Optimus and Jazz discover that Prowl has used processor-over-matter to protect the combatants from the debris. Optimus quickly stasis-cuffs the Starscream clone, but Lockdown gets away.
A little later, everyone has returned to the Elite Guard ship, where Jetstorm and Jetfire open a communications channel with [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] on Cybertron. Cliffjumper thell the Autobots about [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'s attack on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], and rather than add to the trouble, Prime refrains from reporting Sentinel's misconduct, instead simply informing Cliffjumper of the capture of the Decepticons on [[Earth]], crediting Prowl. Sentinel thanks Optimus for covering for him, but Optimus promises that once everything is done, he and Sentinel will have it out.

Back at the Autobot base, Jazz compliments Prowl on his armor, and tells him that Yoketron would be proud to have him wear his helmet. Prowl vows to do everything he can to be worthy of it.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Yoketron]] (10)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (11)
*[[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)

|c2=
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (7)
*[[Lugnut]] (12)
*[[Lockdown]] (13)
*[[Liar Starscream|Liar Starscream clone]] (14)

}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===

*When the scoreboard crashes onto Prowl, Lockdown and the Liar, Prowl is missing his samurai armor.

===Continuity errors===
*It's not ''technically'' an error, since Prowl has always remained quiet on his history and could just have been holding back from correcting anyone, but this episode reveals that he was online during the Great War, prior to the creation of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], where previous episodes have suggested that none of the main ''Animated'' Autobot cast, except for Ratchet, were around back then. Notably, this makes Prowl older than Optimus Prime, which… sits ill, at best.

===Transformers references===
*Prowl performed the titular "Five Servos of Doom" technique back in "[[The Elite Guard]]".
*Swindle is still stuck in vehicle mode after the events of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]".
*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].
*In addition to Yoketron and Jazz, the busts in Yoketron’s little “hall of fame” depict ''Animated'' incarnation of various Transformers that have otherwise not appeared in the series. Those clearly visible onscreen include [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Sky Garry]], [[Devcon]], [[Dai Atlas]], [[Heavy Load (RID)|Heavy Load]], [[Star Upper]] and [[Roadhandler (G1)|Roadhandler]], but there are many more busts in the room that are only seen from a distance, and are essentially unidentifiable. [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has identified the other Transformers as [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Star Saber (G1)|Star Saber]], [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Kick-Off]], [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]], [[Motorarm]], [[Powerhug]] and [[Road Rocket]].
** Additionally, Wyatt classifies the characters as being specialists in different categories, namely Fencing/Swordfighting/Melee Weapons (Star Saber, Magnus, Dai Atlas, Springer) , Boxing/Kick-Boxing/Street-Fighting (Tap-Out, Star Upper, Sky Garry, Kick-Off, Devcon), Sumo/Wrestling (Grandus, Motorarm, Powerhug and Roadhandler) and Martial Arts/Ninja (Yoketron, Jazz, Heavy Load and Road Rocket). These classifications speak for themselves more often than not (no explanation is needed for the melee-weapon characters, nor for someone like Star Upper, who was all about boxing), but sometimes the rationale is a bit more obscure (Heavy Load, for instance, was only ever noted to be a martial artist in his [[bio]]; it never came across in the cartoon), or is a reference to some past fiction (Roadhandler being classified as a wrestler is the main example, being that it’s a reference to his stint in the squared circle from the Marvel Comics story, "[[The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!]]"). Conversely, sometimes it’s just a joke - Grandus as a sumo, for instance, is purely a gag based on the fact that he’s a big fatty fat-fat.
*[[Tigatron]] Stadium!
*Lockdown identifies Prowl's techniques as [[Metallikato]] and [[Circuit-Su]].
*Prowl's samurai armor was previously seen in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", in which Lockdown last appeared.

===Real-world references===
*The title of the episode is apparently derived from wrestler [[wikipedia:Bret Hart|Bret Hart]]'s signature "finishing sequence", the "Five Moves of Doom".

===Trivia===
*Like the [[Where Is Thy Sting?|previous episode]], this episode received an early online debut when a copy loaded onto the Cartoon Network website server, intended to go live after the episode premiered, was leaked out on [[March 27]], over a week before the episode premiered on television.
*The voice cast for this episode does not credit [[David Kaye]] with the role of Cliffjumper.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Warpath (Animated)

2009-04-04T13:07:09Z

BackLash: /* Trivia */

{{disambig3|Warpath}}
{{factions|autobot|eliteguard}}
:''Warpath is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

'''Warpath''' is member of the [[Cybertronian Elite Guard]] with an attitude, and a big gun.
==Fiction==
===Animated cartoon===
{{spoiler}}
{{ongoing}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[David Kaye]] (English)
Warpath took a younger, more rebellious [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] to [[Yoketron|Master Yoketron]] after the bot tried to escape participation in the later stages of the Autobot-Decepticon War. Warpath made it clear that he believed that those who don't fight the Decepticons aren't any better than the 'Cons themselves. Prowl gave him some lip, and Warpath was tempted to take him on, until Yoketron told Warpath that he had it under control. Warpath left grumbling about Prowl being a "draft dodging peacenik" but not without uttering a "bam, plow" first. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}
{{-}}

==Trivia==
*Warpath is based on his [[Warpath (G1)|G1 self]]. Though he throws in some explosion Onomatopoeias, he's bigger and grimmer than the original.

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]
[[Category: Elite Guard]]

George Takei

2009-04-04T12:48:47Z

BackLash: New page: '''George Takei''' is an American actor and voice actor for for television and film, known for his work on the sci-fi series ''Star Trek'' playing Hikaru Sulu and ''Heroes'' as Kaito Naka...

'''George Takei''' is an American actor and voice actor for for television and film, known for his work on the sci-fi series ''Star Trek'' playing Hikaru Sulu and ''Heroes'' as Kaito Nakamura. His best known voice over roles are Sulu in ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', Akira in ''The Simpsons'' and Ron Stoppable's Sensei in ''Kim Possible''. He also voiced characters from ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', ''Batman Beyond'' and ''Chowder''.

Oh, he's also done that Sulu guy in other Star Trek films and show from time to time.

==Voice roles==
===Animated===
* [[Yoketron]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001786/ George Takei on IMDB]

Yoketron (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:47:59Z

BackLash:

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Yoketron is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].

Yoketron is a wise old Autobot responsible for training Autobots into Cyber-Ninjas, but more importantly, protecting the Autobot's cache of protoforms, which would have been used if Project Omega had failed. He was a master in the arts of [[Circuit-Su]] and [[Metallikato]].

==Story==
{{spoiler|Five Servos of Doom|April 11}}

===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[George Takei]] (English)
Yoketron trained Prowl in the ways of the ninja, and hoped to have Prowl become his replacement. However, his traitorous student Lockdown betrayed him, killing him and stealing most of the protoforms for the Decepticons. Prowl attempted to revive him by transferring his spark to a protoform, but Yoketron chastised him for not accepting fate telling him he "...must not sacrifice piece of the future to bring back the past" and the he would understand when his time came. Unlike most other Transformers in this season, he is not based on a prior character, but is an original design named for Takara's lead designer, Hideaki Yoke.{{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

==Notes==
*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]
[[Category: Ninjas]]

Yoketron (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:46:52Z

BackLash:

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Yoketron is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].

Yoketron is a wise old Autobot responsible for training Autobots into Cyber-Ninjas, but more importantly, protecting the Autobot's cache of protoforms, which would have been used if Project Omega had failed. He was a master in the arts of [[Circuit-Su]] and [[Metallikato]].

==Story==
{{spoiler|Five Servos of Doom|April 11}}

:''Voice actor:'' [[wikipedia:George Takei|George Takei]] (English)
Yoketron trained Prowl in the ways of the ninja, and hoped to have Prowl become his replacement. However, his traitorous student Lockdown betrayed him, killing him and stealing most of the protoforms for the Decepticons. Prowl attempted to revive him by transferring his spark to a protoform, but Yoketron chastised him for not accepting fate telling him he "...must not sacrifice piece of the future to bring back the past" and the he would understand when his time came. Unlike most other Transformers in this season, he is not based on a prior character, but is an original design named for Takara's lead designer, Hideaki Yoke.{{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

==Notes==
*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].

==Trivia==

* He is the first transformer (and character period) to permanently "go offline" in the ''Animated Continuity''.

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]
[[Category: Ninjas]]

Yoketron (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:46:25Z

BackLash:

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Yoketron is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].

Yoketron is a wise old Autobot responsible for training Autobots into [[Cyber-Ninja]]s, but more importantly, protecting the Autobot's cache of protoforms, which would have been used if Project Omega had failed. He was a master in the arts of [[Circuit-Su]] and [[Metallikato]].

==Story==
{{spoiler|Five Servos of Doom|April 11}}

:''Voice actor:'' [[wikipedia:George Takei|George Takei]] (English)
Yoketron trained Prowl in the ways of the ninja, and hoped to have Prowl become his replacement. However, his traitorous student Lockdown betrayed him, killing him and stealing most of the protoforms for the Decepticons. Prowl attempted to revive him by transferring his spark to a protoform, but Yoketron chastised him for not accepting fate telling him he "...must not sacrifice piece of the future to bring back the past" and the he would understand when his time came. Unlike most other Transformers in this season, he is not based on a prior character, but is an original design named for Takara's lead designer, Hideaki Yoke.{{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

==Notes==
*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].

==Trivia==

* He is the first transformer (and character period) to permanently "go offline" in the ''Animated Continuity''.

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Cartoon-only characters]]
[[Category: Ninjas]]

Yoketron (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:37:47Z

BackLash: /* Story */

Yoketron is a wise old Autobot responsible for training ninja-bots, but more importantly, protecting the Autobot's cache of protoforms, which would have been used if Project Omega had failed.

Voiced by:
*'''English''': [[wikipedia:George Takei|George Takei]]

==Story==
{{spoiler}}
Yoketron trained Prowl in the ways of the ninja, and hoped to have Prowl become his replacement. However, his traitorous student Lockdown betrayed him, killing him and stealing most of the protoforms for the Decepticons. Prowl attempted to revive him by transferring his spark to a protoform, but Yoketron chastised him for not accepting fate. Unlike most other Transformers in this season, he is not based on a prior character, but is an original design named for Takara's lead designer, Hideaki Yoke.{{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Ninjas]]

Warpath (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:35:54Z

BackLash:

:''Warpath is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

'''Warpath''' is member of the [[Cybertronian Elite Guard]] with an attitude, and a big gun.
==Fiction==
===Animated cartoon===
{{spoiler}}
{{ongoing}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[David Kaye]] (English)
In one of [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl's]] flashbacks, Warpath is taking a younger, more rebellious Prowl to [[Yoketron|Master Yoketron]] after the bot tries to escape particpation in the Autobot-Decepticon War. Warpath makes it clear that those who don't fight the Decepticons aren't any better than the 'Cons themselves. Prowl gives him some lip and he is tempted to take him on, until Yoketron tells Warpath that he had it under control. Warpath leaves grumbling about Prowl being a "draft dodging peacenik" but not without uttering a "bam, plow" first. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}
{{-}}

==Trivia==
*Warpath is based on his [[Warpath (G1)|G1 self]] including his habit of saying explosion Onomatopoeias except he is huge and takes things more seriously.
*Warpath is the first Autobot in ''Transformers Animated'' to have a gun.

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Elite Guard]]

Warpath (Animated)

2009-04-04T12:33:45Z

BackLash: New page: :''Warpath is an Autobot from the Transformers Animated continuity family.'' '''Warpath''' is member of the Cybertronian Elite Guard with an attitude, and a big gun. ==Fic...

:''Warpath is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

'''Warpath''' is member of the [[Cybertronian Elite Guard]] with an attitude, and a big gun.
==Fiction==
===Animated cartoon===
{{ongoing}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[David Kaye]] (English)
In one of [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl's]] flashbacks, Warpath is taking a younger, more rebellious Prowl to [[Yoketron|Master Yoketron]] after the bot tries to escape particpation in the Autobot-Decepticon War. Warpath makes it clear that those who don't fight the Decepticons aren't any better than the 'Cons themselves. Prowl gives him some lip and he is tempted to take him on, until Yoketron tells Warpath that he had it under control. Warpath leaves grumbling about Prowl being a "draft dodging peacenik" but not without uttering a "bam, plow" first. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}
{{-}}

==Trivia==
*Warpath is based on his [[Warpath (G1)|G1 self]] including his habit of saying explosion Onomatopoeias except he is huge and takes things more seriously.
*Warpath is the first Autobot in ''Transformers Animated'' to have a gun.

File:JohnMariano.jpg

2009-03-23T11:08:51Z

BackLash: A picture of the actor John Mariano.

A picture of the actor John Mariano.

Sparkplug (Animated human)

2008-06-11T02:09:19Z

BackLash:

{{disambig3|Sparkplug}}

[[Image:anisparkplugwitwicky.jpg|right|thumb|150px|]]

:''Sparkplug is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

'''Sparkplug''' is a construction worker in New [[Detroit]].

Whether or not he's related to [[Spike (Animated)|any]] [[Carly (Animated)|other]] [[Daniel (Animated)|citizens]] is unknown.

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Bumper Robinson]] (English), [[David Kaye]] (English)

Sparkplug was overseeing two construction bots in a mine, being paid by [[Isaac Sumdac]] to find something. Only problem was, that something found them...and it had [[space barnacles|friends]]. Sparkplug was attacked, and was presumed dead. {{storylink|Nature Calls}}

Except he got better. While the [[Autobot]]s were looking for [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] and [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]], the Autobot [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] thought that Sparkplug's truck was Mixmaster, and fired several bursts from his stingers, which did nothing to damage the truck. Upon being attacked by another alien lifeform, Sparkplug displayed both calmness and familiarity with modern slang by asking "Dude, why are you wailing on my truck?" after Bumblebee's attack. Guess that encounter in the mines wasn't as bad as we thought. {{storylink|Sari, No One's Home}}

==Trivia==
*Sparkplug is cleary a homage to [[Sparkplug Witwicky]], patriach of the [[Witwicky]] family from [[Generation 1]].

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Humans]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sparkplug (Animated human)

2008-06-11T02:04:35Z

BackLash:

{{disambig3|Sparkplug}}

:''Sparkplug is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Bumper Robinson]] (English), [[David Kaye]] (English)

{{storylink|Nature Calls}}<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sparkplug (Animated human)

2008-06-11T01:59:53Z

BackLash:

{{disambig3|Sparkplug}}

:''Sparkplug is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Bumper Robinson]] (English), [[David Kaye]] (English)<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sparkplug (Animated human)

2008-06-11T01:56:16Z

BackLash: New page: {{disambig3|Sparkplug}} :''Sparkplug is a human from the Transformers Animated continuity family.''

{{disambig3|Sparkplug}}

:''Sparkplug is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Transformers Animated (cartoon)

2008-06-11T01:53:43Z

BackLash: /* Cast */

{{Nav-Animated}}

{{SemiprotectSpoilers}}

'''''Transformers Animated''''' is a cartoon series which debuted in early 2008, in support of the [[franchise]] of [[Transformers Animated|the same name]].

The cartoon is produced by [[Cartoon Network]], scripted in the United States, with character and background designs by the crews behind shows like ''[[wikipedia:Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Ben 10|Ben 10]]'', while animation is being provided by Japanese studios [[Mook]], [[The Answer Studio]], and [[Studio 4°C]].

''Animated'' sees several G1 voice actors reprise their old roles ([[Susan Blu]], [[Corey Burton]], [[John Moschitta]], etc.), and is the first Transformers show featuring [[David Kaye]] in which he won't be voicing [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]].

==Overview==
[[Image:TransformersAnimatedPoster.jpg||thumb|250px|left|"When there's trouble you know who to call..."]]
''Animated'' follows the adventures of a small crew of Autobots, who come into possession of the all-powerful AllSpark artifact. Stranded on Earth and living among the population of [[Detroit]], they face off against a series of human villains and their mighty Decepticon foes, who seek to possess the AllSpark. Though they were originally a lowly space bridge repair crew, these five Autobots must rise to their circumstances to deal with threats large and small.

The series eschews the ever-continuing space opera storylines of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] cartoons to return to the episodic approach of ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''; most episodes are standalone stories, but with larger story arcs that stretch through the whole series. The focus is on characterization, dynamic action, and humor.

The episodes center not only on the war between the [[Autobot]]s and the [[Decepticon]]s, but also on the Autobots' interactions with many of [[Detroit]]'s [[human]] supervillain denizens, including a [[Angry Archer|maladjusted marksman]], a [[Nanosec|speedy racer]], and a guy who [[Prometheus Black|looks good in a pimp suit]]. The idea is to present the Decepticons as more of an ongoing background threat instead of having them be repeatedly defeated each episode and look like bumbling fools. The arrival of a Decepticon in battle is a big deal, requiring multiple Autobots working together to stop even a single one. The human villains give the Autobots "everyday" threats, and some of their schemes are the result of Decepticon treachery. Note well: [[Doctor Arkeville|human]] [[Lord Chumley|adversaries]] [[Circuit Breaker|are]] [[Cobra Commander|not]] [[Abdul Fakkadi|new]] [[Lazarus|in]] [[Hydra and Buster|''Transformers'']] [[Overlord|continuity]].

Season 3 is already in the works, and season 4 is quite possible.

While the series is not a sequel to the [[Transformers (2007)|live-action movie]], they have many thematic elements in common, most notably the central role of the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] and the revelation that all modern technology has been reverse-engineered from the dormant body of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Hasbro also carried over some design elements from the live-action movie into Animated designs, including not just the aforementioned cube but also [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s medical readout striped deco, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s black racing stripe, and [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'s helmet. These are meant to be "connection points," helping kids who had seen the theatrical film but had no prior Transformers experience ease into understanding the new series.

{{-}}

==Cast==
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"
! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobots]]
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticons]]
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human|Humans]]

|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
;Main Cast
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] ([[Corey Burton]])
;[[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]
* [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]]
* [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]]
;[[Cybertron Elite Guard]]
* [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] ([[Phil LaMarr]])
* [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] ([[Townsend Coleman]])
* [[Longarm Prime| Longarm/Longarm Prime]] ([[Corey Burton]])
;Others
* [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
* [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] ([["Weird Al" Yankovic]])
* [[Wasp (Animated)|Wasp]] ([[Tom Kenny]])

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
;Main Cast
* [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] ([[Cree Summer]])
* [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Lugnut]] ([[David Kaye]])
* [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
;[[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]]
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
;Others
* [[Lockdown]] ([[Lance Henriksen]])
* [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] ([[Fred Willard]])
* [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] ([[Corey Burton]])

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
;Main Cast
* [[Sari Sumdac]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Isaac Sumdac]] ([[Tom Kenny]])
* [[Captain Fanzone]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
;[[:Category:Supervillains|Supervillains]]
* [[Angry Archer]] ([[Jeff Bennett]])
* [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] ([[Peter Stormare]])
** [[Colossus Rhodes]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Headmaster (Animated)|The Headmaster]] ([[Alexander Polinsky]])
* [[Master Disaster]] ([[Bill Fagerbakke]])
* [[Nanosec]] ([[Brian Posehn]])
* [[Professor Princess]] ([[Kath Soucie]])
* [[Slo-Mo]] ([[Tara Strong]])
;Others
* [[Porter C. Powell]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])
* [[Mayor Edsel]]
* [[Mayor Edsel's aide]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Spike (Animated)|Spike]] ([[Corey Burton]])
* [[Carly (Animated)|Carly]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Daniel (Animated)|Daniel]] ([[Tara Strong]])
* [[Sparkplug (Animated Human)|Sparkplug]] ([[Bumper Robinson]])/([[David Kaye]])

|}
{{-}}

==Episodes==
{{see|List of Transformers Animated episodes}}

{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"
! style="background:#FFFFFF" | Season 1: 2007-08
! style="background:#FFFFFF" | Season 2: 2008
! style="background:#FFFFFF" | Season 3: ?

|-
| style="background:#FFFFFF" valign="top" |
# [[Transform and Roll Out!#Part 1|Transform and Roll Out! (Part One)]]
# [[Transform and Roll Out!#Part 2|Transform and Roll Out! (Part Two)]]
# [[Transform and Roll Out!#Part 3|Transform and Roll Out! (Part Three)]]
# [[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]
# [[Total Meltdown]]
# [[Blast from the Past]]
# [[The Thrill of the Hunt]]
# [[Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec]]
# [[Along Came a Spider]]
# [[Sound and Fury]]
# [[Lost and Found (Animated episode)|Lost and Found]]
# [[Survival of the Fittest]]
# [[Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster]]
# [[Nature Calls]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 1]]
# [[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]

| style="background:#FFFFFF" valign="top" |
# [[The Elite Guard]]
# [[The Return of the Headmaster]]
# [[Mission Accomplished]]
# [[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]
# [[Velocity]]
# [[Rise of the Constructicons]]
# [[A Fistful of Energon]]
# [[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]
# [[Autoboot Camp]]
# [[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]]
# [[Sari, No One's Home]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close - Part 1]]
# [[A Bridge Too Close - Part 2]]

| style="background:#FFFFFF" valign="top" |

|}

[[Category: Animated episodes| ]]
[[Category:Episode lists|Animated]]

==Reception==
''Transformers Animated'' debuted January 5, 2008, at 10:30am EST as the number one television show among boys 6-11 in both cable and network television. In addition, the strength of the showing helped lift the ratings of all its neighboring shows in Cartoon Network's "Dynamite Action" scheduling block. <ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1701434,00.html Transformers Animated Premieres #1 on All Television Among Boys and Boosts Kids 6-11 and 2-11 Delivery by Powerful Double-Digits]</ref>

==Trivia==
* The series is the first in over a decade to re-establish the classic Generation 1 convention of blue eyes for Autobots and red eyes for Decepticons.
* As well as the aforementioned Generation 1 voice actors, [[Townsend Coleman]] returns to a Transformers series. He voiced [[Rewind]] in the original Generation 1 cartoon.
* It seems like the Autobots like faceplates in this series. (i.e. Optimus, Prowl, Bumblebee, Sentinel Prime.)
* Yes, they have large chins. Shut up about it.
* For some reason, a lot of fans want to believe that ''Animated'' is full of references to the anime ''[[Wikipedia:Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', selecting lots of random, generic, anime-influenced hand motions and assorted design quirks throughout season 1 as "obvious" nods to the series. Then Derrick Wyatt announced that he hadn't even seen the show until the production of Season 1 was finished. ''HA''. Of course, the possibility exists that the second season may see some ''Lagann'' references, as Wyatt notes that it and ''[[Wikipedia:Diebuster|Diebuster]]'' have since inspired the production staff, but Wyatt singles out ''[[Wikipedia:Mighty Orbots|Mighty Orbots]]'' and the British comic ''[[Wikipedia: 2000 AD|2000 AD]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> ''[[Wikipedia:ABC Warriors|ABC Warriors]]'' strip as the biggest influences on the character designs, with ''Lagann''/''Diebuster'' producers [[Wikipedia: Gainax|Gainax]] animation studio as a constant source of influence. <ref>[http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21975298&postID=8564559979841180115 Comment section of "Back from Botcon" entry in Derrick Wyatt's blog]</ref>
*In May 2008, when North American broadcasts of the series were only four episodes into season two, all the remaining episodes of the season aired in Dubai. While almost nobody in the fandom has personally seen these episodes (and no one has seen them in English as they were intended), gossip based on viewer reviews and screencaps has resulted in many plot developments and potential surprises being spoiled. Hooray.

==References==
<references/>

==External Link==

*[http://derrickjwyatt.blogspot.com/ Derrick Wyatt's blog]

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Television series]]
[[Category:Continuities]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Transform and Roll Out

2008-06-11T01:43:01Z

BackLash: /* Miscellaneous trivia */

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_AutobotHeroes.jpg|thumb|right|350px|''Epic'']]

{{episodenav|animated|1, 2, and 3|season=1|prev=|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

'''When a small crew of maintenance Autobots comes into possession of the powerful AllSpark, a battle with their long-forgotten enemies sends them crashing toward a strange, distant planet known as... ''Earth.'''''

:'''German Title:''' "Transformieren und Abfahrt"

==Detailed synopsis==
===Part 1===

In deep, deep space, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] watches some old history videos, prompting [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to complain about him watching that "junk" when the other members of the crew need assistance. Prime wonders if they were designed for more than repairing [[space bridge]]s. The two 'Bots transform into their vehicle modes and head out into the asteroid field.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_TheAllsparkdiscovered.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Well... at least there's no [[mass-shifting]].]]

Outside, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], dangling from a high rock by his wrecking ball (and becoming quite queasy in the process), is freed by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], who also ends up taking a tumble. Bumblebee complains about the sheer amount of rocks blocking the space bridge node, and one is shattered unexpectedly by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s throwing star. Prime gives his troops a speech about teamwork (which Prowl moans at theatrically), but at that point the space bridge lights up, sending rocks and Autobots flying. Fancy footwork by Optimus saves each of his teammates from the debris, and a well-aimed grappling line shuts down the bridge. With his subordinates stunned at their leader's skills, Prime is forced to admit he trained at [[Autobot Academy|Cybertron's military academy]]. Bumblebee's query as to what the hell he's doing on a nowhere maintenance assignment is left unanswered as they notice something glowing in the rubble.

Prime clears away the debris to reveal a large, chest-like object. Ratchet is horrified and immediately demands they throw it back into the space bridge, but an alert from [[Teletran 1]] announces the arrival of a signature consistent with the long-lost [[Decepticon]]s. Ratchet then insists they take the object and just get out of there post-haste.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Decepticonship.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Yes, this ''is'' a scout ship. Way to go, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Magnanimous]].]]

On board [[Autobot ship (Animated)|their ship]], Ratchet finally reveals what they've found: the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], the source of all Transformer life that was lost centuries ago. Optimus, worried about the oncoming Decepticon signal, contacts the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] for help. After taking a bit of snark from [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus reveals what they found, which shuts Sentinel up fast. Sentinel then puts the crew through to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], who tells Optimus Prime to stay put while they send reinforcements... and not to worry about that Decepticon thing. Optimus, considering this to be a really stupid move, orders the crew to start booking it out of there.

[[Image:Ani_crew.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Scotty, engage!]]

This proves wise, as the signal is indeed a Decepticon ship—a [[Nemesis (Animated)|command ship]], in fact. The identification markings are ones that Optimus and Ratchet recognize, meaning its commander can only be one person: [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], leader of the Decepticons. On board the Decepticon ship, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] doubts the AllSpark is aboard the Autobot ship and declares Megatron a fool. [[Lugnut]] denounces Starscream as a traitor, while [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] calls Lugnut an idiot for his blind loyalty and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] just acts... well, crazy. The Decepticons continue to bicker at each other until Megatron enters, shutting up all of them. The Decepticons chase the Autobot ship, and Starscream volunteers to board them. Megatron quickly shoots that idea down. Just before he leaves, Starscream wishes his commander "luck" with a pat on the back... affixing a bomb to Megatron in the process.

Megatron makes his way to the Autobots' ship and begins to melt his way through its hull. Optimus uses external manipulator arms to grapple with Megatron, until the bomb detonates, sending the ship careening uncontrollably into a space bridge node, which explodes after they go through the gate. Starscream begins to make a speech declaring himself the new Decepticon leader, but the other three have abandoned ship, noting that the fireball from the space bridge explosion is only getting larger. Too late, Starscream realizes the trouble he's in...

An unknown distance away, the Autobot ship reappears above a [[Earth|small blue and green planet]]. Prime checks on his troops, but Megatron has gotten aboard, having survived the explosion, but at the cost of his right arm. Prime uses his grappling line to shut off the gravity, making it more difficult for Megatron to fight. All five Autobots face off against the Decepticon, but he's too strong (though Prowl does manage to cut off Megatron's damaged arm). Prime and Megatron both end up in the storage bay where the AllSpark is... and as the ship enters the atmosphere, Prime is able to blow the hatch and kick the screaming Megatron out of the ship.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Arkatmosphere.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Beast Wars, Part 1|Oddly familiar]].]]

On a small farm, a young boy hears a thud and runs to where something has landed in a not-too-distant field. He is shocked to find a robotic head staring lifelessly up at him.

Meanwhile, Prime orders his team into emergency stasis pods to prepare for a crash-landing. He manages to steer the ship away from the city below and gets to a stasis pod just before the ship plunges into [[Lake Erie]].

Fifty years later, Detroit is a city of robots. [[Isaac Sumdac]] is talking to a public school class taking a tour of his facilities, which gets interrupted by Isaac's daughter, [[Sari Sumdac]], and her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (Animated)|Sparkplug]]. As Sari is carted off to her lessons by a [[Tutorbot|robot tutor]], Isaac shows the school kids a nanotech lab, just in time to witness a roach infused with microbots grow out of control and start consuming everything in sight. Isaac tries to keep things calm, but the monster bursts out of the lab...

===Part 2===
[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Firefighters_monster.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Yeah, watering it will surely stop the beast.]]

The monster continues to grow, absorbing just about everything it touches to increase its size and power. In the process, it destroys a lot of the factory. [[Captain Fanzone]], the S.W.A.T team, the fire department, ambulances, and robot drones arrive, but the creature absorbs several of the responding vehicles, too. Fanzone uses a bazooka-type weapon and destroys the beast, despite Sumdac's objection. This protest proves well-founded, as the remnants of the creature start flowing back together again, save for one piece that drops into the nearby lake and works its way down to the Autobots' ship, its nanites seeking the absorbable technology there. It infiltrates via a small breach in the outer hull, but thankfully, the ship's intruder alert systems are functional and awaken the Autobots before any damage is done. Examining the situation, they decide to have Teletran 1 give them Earth forms so they can blend in and help out. Everyone deploys except Ratchet, who remains behind to analyze the sample of invading material.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Autobots.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Avengers]], ASSEMBLE!]]

During the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee spot Sari trying to wrest her security key from Sparkplug's mouth. Mistaking which is owner and which is pet, they approach her, but Bulkhead's greeting only scares her away. She quickly gets nabbed by the monster, but Bumblebee saves her, earning her trust and friendship. Prowl attempts to take on the bug-slug by himself, against Prime's orders, and gets absorbed. Prime orders Ratchet to join them in battle to save Prowl, but the old veteran insists that finding a "cure" code to neutralize the nanites' programming makes more sense than coming out and getting trashed. A somewhat chastened Prime agrees, and Ratchet soon delivers the goods. However, the new program must be uploaded by direct contact{{m-}}meaning from inside the monster. This means the smallest, fastest one of them has to do it. Bumblebee reluctantly takes on the task. The beast has been using some of Prowl's absorbed intelligence and comm link tech, though, so it knows what they're planning and is now smart enough to fight back. Despite this, Bumblebee succeeds in delivering the code, and the bug dissolves into a dusty shower of deactivated nanites. Prowl is soon uncovered, but he's suffered grave wounds and must be taken back to the Autobots' ship for repairs. Sari pesters Bumblebee to be taken along, and her new friend reluctantly agrees, since there's no time to make her go away quietly.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Sari_followedmehome.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Bumblebee, having a pet is a big responsibility.]]

Once on board, Sari's refusal to stay still and quiet causes 'Bee some embarrassment. He quickly and discreetly ejects her into a ventilation port and joins the others. However, the port opens onto a shaft that takes Sari right to the chamber where the AllSpark is being kept. Curious, she touches it, and it reacts to her, sending its energies into her security card key and reconfiguring it into a key of another sort entirely. Prime finds her almost immediately thereafter, but with no time left to spare away from Prowl, he has to bring her back with him to the repair table. Ratchet's prognosis is bleak, but Sari's AllSpark-charged key abruptly reacts, glowing and tugging her toward Prowl. Bumblebee, seeming to grasp what's happening, helps her onto the table, and as she approaches, her key reshapes itself to fit into a slot on Prowl's chest. She inserts it, and with a burst of energy, the Autobot ninja is whole again. The Autobots then take Sari home and, after a brief misunderstanding, are made heroes and are even invited to a ceremony.

In outer space, Starscream sits aboard the damaged but functional Decepticon ship, babbling that he will find the AllSpark, even though he's been attempting it on his own for the last fifty solar cycles. The ship's computers then detect the traces of AllSpark-like energy in action, and Starscream learns where the Autobots are...

===Part 3===
[[Image:Sariprime.jpg|right|thumb|150px|INSERT WHAT WHERE?!]]

The Autobots are later seen trying to fit in. Bulkhead gets firsthand experience in traffic jams, some birds mistake Prowl for the statue of the [[wikipedia:Hazen S. Pingree|bald guy]] next to him, Bumblebee learns how organics fuel up, and Ratchet can't get a stasis nap without getting a dozen or so parking tickets. Optimus Prime remarks that the Autobots are programmed to respect life, which they always understood to stem from the AllSpark, but as organics are life, they must respect and protect them too. Optimus also expresses curiosity about how little organics are made. Sari's whispered explanation leaves him rather... shocked. The Autobots make a new home base out of a building Sari's dad got out of a merger, an abandoned auto factory that Bumblebee describes as a real fixer-upper{{m-}}a REAL fixer-upper. All of a sudden, they get alerted to a fire. The Autobots proceed to douse the blaze and save its victims, no problem, unaware they are being watched by Starscream.

The next day, during the inauguration ceremony for the Sumdac Fully Automated Rapid Transit System (F.A.R.T.S., for short), Starscream enters Earth's atmosphere and takes on a group of fighter jets. He destroys all but one, which he scans. As the civilians and Autobots watch the aerial display of the Crimson Angels, Isaac Sumdac notices there is an extra jet present that he didn't hire. That one jet then leaves the formation and streaks toward the ceremony platform, where it transforms into Starscream, who fires his null-ray cannons at the Autobots.

After a short fight, which the Autobots lose, Starscream knocks out Bumblebee and takes him, Isaac, the mayor, and Capt. Fanzone hostage in the F.A.R.T.S. train, flying it to the top of a very tall tower. He demands that the Autobots deliver the AllSpark if they want him to release the train car. The Autobots don't trust him, but don't want to risk human lives, so Sari offers a plan, but they ignore her. She continues to tell a sob story until the Autobots listen. The Autobots proceed with her plan, and Prowl and Sari fly up to the transit pod to rescue the hostages while the other Autobots keep Starscream busy. Once Starscream realizes what's happening, he takes a brief beating but recovers quickly. Starscream then throws the train{{m-}}thus keeping his end of the deal{{m-}}with Sari, Prowl, and Bumblebee on top of/in it. Between Bumblebee's agility and Prowl's thrusters, Sari is rescued and the train lands without much damage. The Autobots then challenge Starscream to a friendly game of Keep Away, during which Starscream almost gets the AllSpark, but Bulkhead gets it instead, because he said he got it. A furious Starscream unleashes a devastating, prolonged (as in nearly 12 seconds) null-ray blast on the Autobots, briefly knocking them all senseless.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Prime_SS_Allsparkactivates.jpg|thumb|left|150px|In the old days, [[Stan Bush|The Touch]] would have started playing now.]]

With the Autobots down, Starscream takes the AllSpark from Optimus and blows a couple of blocks of Detroit right off the map. Not ready to give up, Optimus climbs all the way up a building to get it back from Starscream, which Starscream doesn't see coming because he was too busy gloating. After a quick back-and-forth exchange of possessing it, both grab it at the same time. As they struggle, the AllSpark opens and emits a strange energy wave that blasts Starscream away.

The explosion has left Prime dangling precariously, and he takes a tremendous plummet to the pavement. He notes weakly that he now knows what it feels like to be a hero, then dies, but Sari uses her AllSpark key to revive him.<ref>[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|This is something of an Optimus Prime record]]: Dead after only three episodes, revived a mere 75 seconds later. Way to go.</ref> The Autobots later go about fixing up Detroit, earning the enduring gratitude of the citizenry. Professor Sumdac is also grateful, for the Autobots saved him and Sari, but he fears what will happen if the Autobots—not to mention the rest of the world{{m-}}were to discover the source of his robotic empire.

Unseen by Sumdac, one of the [[Sensors#Optics|optics]] of his source of technology glows in a darkened room. Megatron still functions...

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Marty Isenberg]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Matt Youngberg]], [[Yutaka Kagawa]], [[Minoru Yamaoka]], [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
*'''Original airdate:''' December 26, 2007

===Featured characters===
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobots]]
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticons]]
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human|Humans]]
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (6)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (7)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Lugnut]] (9)
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (10)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (13)
*[[Daniel (Animated)|Daniel]] (14)
*[[Spike (Animated)|Spike]] (15)
*[[Carly (Animated)|Carly]] (16)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (17)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (18)
|}

==Quotes==
"Do you ever get the feeling that you were programmed for something more than just repairing space bridges?" 
"I got a diagnostics program that can delete that feeling like a bad line of code."
:—'''Optimus Prime's''' dreams are crushed into a fine powder by '''Ratchet'''.

'''Starscream''': Megatron is a fool who's been chasing a ghost for centuries...I seriously doubt we'll find this "AllSpark" on board such an ''insignificant'' vessel. 
'''Lugnut''': ''Traitor!'' Megatron is wise! Megatron is bold! Megatron will return the Decepticons to Cybertron and... 
'''Blackarachnia''': ... and wipe our homeland clean of the stench of Autobot tyranny, blah-dee blah blah blah! Did you memorize that speech, Lugnut? Or is it just hardwired into that thick, one-track processor of yours? 
''[An ice beam freezes Blackarachnia's forearm]'' 
'''Icy Blitzwing''': As usual, Blackarachnia, your demeanor is as unpleasant as that accursed organic mode of yours. 
'''Blackarachnia''': Blow it out your [[Anatomic euphemism#Actuator|actuator]], three-face. ''[Shatters the ice around forearm]'' 
''[Blitzwing switches to his hothead face]'' 
'''Hothead Blitzwing''': De name is Blitzving, insect! REMEMBER IT! 'Cause it's de last t'ing you're gonna hear before I— 
''[switches to random face]'' 
'''Random Blitzwing''': —express my feelings in song! De itzy bitzy spider... 
:—Decepticon camaraderie at its finest.

"What do you want now, Starscream?" 
''[Starscream attaches an explosive onto Megatron's back.]'' 
"Only to wish you luck, my liege." 
"I do not believe... in ''luck''". 
''[Megatron transforms and leaves.]'' 
"Neither... do I..." 
:—'''Megatron''' is arrogant, '''Starscream''' is treacherous. [[Megatron (G1)|Some]] [[Starscream (G1)|things]] [[Megatron (Armada)|never]] [[Starscream (Armada)|change]].

"'''Yes!''' ...right then. Solemn face, solemn face."
:—'''Starscream''' watches Megatron explode, then composes himself before going to tell the Decepticons he's their new leader.

'''Bulkhead''': Hi, little creature. My name's Bulkhead. Did you lose your owner-bot? 
'''Sari''':... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! 
'''Bumblebee''': AAAAHHH! That thing must be armed with some kind of high-frequency sonic weapon! 
''[Sari runs off screaming]'' 
'''Bulkhead''': I think it's scared. Don't worry, little creature! I'm not gonna hurt you! 
''[Sari is grabbed by the robot-slug]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': But that thing might!
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''' forget about the Prime Directive.

"Hi, I'm Bumblebee!" 
"I'm Sari." 
"Oh, don't be, I like my name."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Sari''' introduce themselves.

"Uh...am I going to be able to ''breathe'' down there?" 
"Oh, sure! What's 'breathe'?"
:—'''Sari''' takes a trip underwater with '''Bumblebee'''.

'''Optimus Prime''' ''[to Sari]'': How did you get aboard this ship? 
'''Bumblebee''': It followed me home... Can I keep it? 
'''Sari''': Hey, I'm not an "it", I'm a "she"! 
'''Optimus''' ''[to Bumblebee]'': So, I suppose you have an explanation? 
'''Bumblebee''': Actually, I'm narrowing it down to my top five. 
:—'''Optimus''' discovers '''Bumblebee'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s new friend.

"It's okay, they're friendly! Well, except for [[Ratchet (Animated)|the red and white one]], he's kinda grumpy! But other than that..."
:—'''Sari''' plays ambassador.

'''Optimus Prime''': But how is it you're able to make these new, smaller organics? 
'''Sari''': (Whispers) 
'''Optimus''': O_O 
:—'''Optimus''' learns that there are some things that you can't unhear.

"Ratchet, think fast!" 
"Oh crud." 
:{{m-}}'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''', as the game of keep-away starts.

{{-}}

==Other notes==
===Animation and/or technical glitches===
* Megatron's vehicle mode was depicted flying upside-down, or backwards, or possibly both. To be fair, in space, there is no up and down, (And to be even fairer, it's really hard to tell from the toys exactly what ''is'' the front of Megatron's Cybertronic spaceship mode.) but that does not excuse the fact that any propulsion system used would be in the ''back'' of the mode

*When Sari said to the Autobots it is okay to put down their hands, Bulkhead's face was black.

* As Starscream tackles Optimus Prime through a building as the Autobot tries to escape with the AllSpark, Optimus's axe is missing from Starscream's left wing. It reappears moments later for Optimus to retrieve it.

*In at least one scene, Starscream's Earth-form wing is shown with a spike, in the same manner as his Cybertronian body.

===Continuity errors===
* The train Starscream blasts from the tower falls toward the ground very, very slowly.

*When we first meet Starscream, he states that he has been searching for the AllSpark for fifty ''solar'' cycles. In later episodes, a Solar cycle is equivalent to a day and a ''Stellar'' cycle is used for years. This is the only time a Solar cycle has been used to reference years, so either Starscream entered some sort of temporal anomaly or someone messed up. For more <s>confusion</s> information, See [[Cycle|This Page]]

*Sumdac is using Megatron's hand as a chair. However, he seems to be using the right hand, which was blown up by Starscream. (It ''could'' have fallen off the Autobots' ship, as it was still clinging to the hull when last seen, but that seems unlikely.)

===Transformers references===
*The title of the episode itself is a [[Roll out|reference to Transformers lore past]].
*Footage from the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episodes "[[War Dawn]]" and "[[More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" is used as history tapes detailing the events of the first Great War, millions of years prior. [[Canon|This]] has been confirmed as pure fanwank, and should not be taken as linking Animated to G1, continuity wise.

*The [[Autobot ship (Animated)|Autobot ship]] here bears a distinct resemblance to the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], albeit with a colour scheme more reminiscent of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]].

*Sari's robotic dog [[Sparkplug (Animated)|Sparkplug]] is likely named after either [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] from G1, the Armada Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]], or both.
[[Image:Spikecarlydanielanimated.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Twenty years later, and they're still overdressed.]]
*Characters resembling [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]], [[Carly]], and [[Daniel Witwicky]] are seen at a hot dog stand, purchasing some sort of futuristic bunless wieners-on-a-stick.

*The ''Animated'' Autobots are [[Infiltration|not the first]] to use a starship parked at the bottom of one of the Great Lakes as their headquarters.

*When Optimus Prime dies, his body fades to grays, just as [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] did in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. His spark chamber opens in much the same manner as well.

*The baby carriage carrying the [[Soviet_Union|baby with the russian hat]] bears some resemblance to [[Wheelie]].

*Teletran 1 (spelled with only one "a" in this universe) dispatches a small satellite very similar to the [[Sky Spy]] satellite used on occasion by the Autobots in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. The glowing energy "boxes" with which it scans vehicles for the Autobots to transform into are lifted wholesale out of "[[More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".

*[[Sari Sumdac's key]] bears a strong resemblance to the [[Key to Vector Sigma]].

*At one point, Bulkhead refers to Optimus as "Boss-bot", echoing an epithet used for ''[[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] by the [[Fuzor]] [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]].

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* In this episode, [[Tutor Bot]] tries to teach Sari about the [[Wikipedia:Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act|Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act]] (a major economic blunder of the 1930s).
* Bumblebee's voice is slightly different in this episode from how it sounds later, as well as Lugnut's voice, which seems very metallic.
* When Prowl gets birdpooped on, he is standing next to a statue of [[wikipedia:Hazen S. Pingree|Hazen S. Pingree]], four-term mayor of Detroit and one-time governor of Michigan. In real life, the statue is located in Detroit's Grand Circus Park.
* A refurbished Michigan Central Station makes an appearance as the site for the dedication of Detroit's rapid transit system. The real-life station (abandoned since the '80s) was featured in the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 live-action movie]].
* When mocking the Autobots, Starscream actually calls Megatron "the great Megatron" without any sarcasm. Apparently, he'll only give a sincere compliment to his leader when he's insulting something else.
* When Optimus comes back to life, he asks, "Is this the [[Well of All Sparks]]?" and Sari answers, "No, it's Detroit." This is an allusion to the movie ''Field of Dreams'' when Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) asks Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) "Is this heaven?" and Ray answers "No, it's Iowa."
* According to responses at a panel at BotCon 2008, the unfortunate acronym for Fully Automated Rapid Transit System was totally unintentional...which makes it that much funnier.
* It is interesting to note how Ratchet is able to use his front windshield as a screen.
*Several elements present in this opener were changed/dropped in the main series, including expressive vehicle modes, the replacement of solar cycles with stellar cycles in terminology and the recolouring of Ratchet's magnetism from yellow to pink.
*During [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] "conversation" with the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], it shows her the faces of Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream, then the Cybertronian [[Alternate mode|vehicle modes]] for Optimus and Ratchet, the AllSpark's case and the [[Autobot ship (Animated)|Autobot's ship]]. Then Sari unknowingly shows the AllSpark a man in a suit, a woman, a boy, the planet [[Earth]], pyramids, purple flowers, a horse, an aircraft with a giant cloud coming from the back, a cell and a DNA strand. The woman has dark skin and red hair like Sari.

== Footnote ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Transform and Roll Out

2008-06-10T13:34:22Z

BackLash: /* Miscellaneous trivia */

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_AutobotHeroes.jpg|thumb|right|350px|''Epic'']]

{{episodenav|animated|1, 2, and 3|season=1|prev=|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is}}

'''When a small crew of maintenance Autobots comes into possession of the powerful AllSpark, a battle with their long-forgotten enemies sends them crashing toward a strange, distant planet known as... ''Earth.'''''

:'''German Title:''' "Transformieren und Abfahrt"

==Detailed synopsis==
===Part 1===

In deep, deep space, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] watches some old history videos, prompting [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to complain about him watching that "junk" when the other members of the crew need assistance. Prime wonders if they were designed for more than repairing [[space bridge]]s. The two 'Bots transform into their vehicle modes and head out into the asteroid field.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_TheAllsparkdiscovered.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Well... at least there's no [[mass-shifting]].]]

Outside, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], dangling from a high rock by his wrecking ball (and becoming quite queasy in the process), is freed by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], who also ends up taking a tumble. Bumblebee complains about the sheer amount of rocks blocking the space bridge node, and one is shattered unexpectedly by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s throwing star. Prime gives his troops a speech about teamwork (which Prowl moans at theatrically), but at that point the space bridge lights up, sending rocks and Autobots flying. Fancy footwork by Optimus saves each of his teammates from the debris, and a well-aimed grappling line shuts down the bridge. With his subordinates stunned at their leader's skills, Prime is forced to admit he trained at [[Autobot Academy|Cybertron's military academy]]. Bumblebee's query as to what the hell he's doing on a nowhere maintenance assignment is left unanswered as they notice something glowing in the rubble.

Prime clears away the debris to reveal a large, chest-like object. Ratchet is horrified and immediately demands they throw it back into the space bridge, but an alert from [[Teletran 1]] announces the arrival of a signature consistent with the long-lost [[Decepticon]]s. Ratchet then insists they take the object and just get out of there post-haste.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Decepticonship.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Yes, this ''is'' a scout ship. Way to go, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Magnanimous]].]]

On board [[Autobot ship (Animated)|their ship]], Ratchet finally reveals what they've found: the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], the source of all Transformer life that was lost centuries ago. Optimus, worried about the oncoming Decepticon signal, contacts the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] for help. After taking a bit of snark from [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus reveals what they found, which shuts Sentinel up fast. Sentinel then puts the crew through to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], who tells Optimus Prime to stay put while they send reinforcements... and not to worry about that Decepticon thing. Optimus, considering this to be a really stupid move, orders the crew to start booking it out of there.

[[Image:Ani_crew.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Scotty, engage!]]

This proves wise, as the signal is indeed a Decepticon ship—a [[Nemesis (Animated)|command ship]], in fact. The identification markings are ones that Optimus and Ratchet recognize, meaning its commander can only be one person: [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], leader of the Decepticons. On board the Decepticon ship, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] doubts the AllSpark is aboard the Autobot ship and declares Megatron a fool. [[Lugnut]] denounces Starscream as a traitor, while [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] calls Lugnut an idiot for his blind loyalty and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] just acts... well, crazy. The Decepticons continue to bicker at each other until Megatron enters, shutting up all of them. The Decepticons chase the Autobot ship, and Starscream volunteers to board them. Megatron quickly shoots that idea down. Just before he leaves, Starscream wishes his commander "luck" with a pat on the back... affixing a bomb to Megatron in the process.

Megatron makes his way to the Autobots' ship and begins to melt his way through its hull. Optimus uses external manipulator arms to grapple with Megatron, until the bomb detonates, sending the ship careening uncontrollably into a space bridge node, which explodes after they go through the gate. Starscream begins to make a speech declaring himself the new Decepticon leader, but the other three have abandoned ship, noting that the fireball from the space bridge explosion is only getting larger. Too late, Starscream realizes the trouble he's in...

An unknown distance away, the Autobot ship reappears above a [[Earth|small blue and green planet]]. Prime checks on his troops, but Megatron has gotten aboard, having survived the explosion, but at the cost of his right arm. Prime uses his grappling line to shut off the gravity, making it more difficult for Megatron to fight. All five Autobots face off against the Decepticon, but he's too strong (though Prowl does manage to cut off Megatron's damaged arm). Prime and Megatron both end up in the storage bay where the AllSpark is... and as the ship enters the atmosphere, Prime is able to blow the hatch and kick the screaming Megatron out of the ship.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Arkatmosphere.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Beast Wars, Part 1|Oddly familiar]].]]

On a small farm, a young boy hears a thud and runs to where something has landed in a not-too-distant field. He is shocked to find a robotic head staring lifelessly up at him.

Meanwhile, Prime orders his team into emergency stasis pods to prepare for a crash-landing. He manages to steer the ship away from the city below and gets to a stasis pod just before the ship plunges into [[Lake Erie]].

Fifty years later, Detroit is a city of robots. [[Isaac Sumdac]] is talking to a public school class taking a tour of his facilities, which gets interrupted by Isaac's daughter, [[Sari Sumdac]], and her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (Animated)|Sparkplug]]. As Sari is carted off to her lessons by a [[Tutorbot|robot tutor]], Isaac shows the school kids a nanotech lab, just in time to witness a roach infused with microbots grow out of control and start consuming everything in sight. Isaac tries to keep things calm, but the monster bursts out of the lab...

===Part 2===
[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Firefighters_monster.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Yeah, watering it will surely stop the beast.]]

The monster continues to grow, absorbing just about everything it touches to increase its size and power. In the process, it destroys a lot of the factory. [[Captain Fanzone]], the S.W.A.T team, the fire department, ambulances, and robot drones arrive, but the creature absorbs several of the responding vehicles, too. Fanzone uses a bazooka-type weapon and destroys the beast, despite Sumdac's objection. This protest proves well-founded, as the remnants of the creature start flowing back together again, save for one piece that drops into the nearby lake and works its way down to the Autobots' ship, its nanites seeking the absorbable technology there. It infiltrates via a small breach in the outer hull, but thankfully, the ship's intruder alert systems are functional and awaken the Autobots before any damage is done. Examining the situation, they decide to have Teletran 1 give them Earth forms so they can blend in and help out. Everyone deploys except Ratchet, who remains behind to analyze the sample of invading material.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Autobots.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Avengers]], ASSEMBLE!]]

During the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee spot Sari trying to wrest her security key from Sparkplug's mouth. Mistaking which is owner and which is pet, they approach her, but Bulkhead's greeting only scares her away. She quickly gets nabbed by the monster, but Bumblebee saves her, earning her trust and friendship. Prowl attempts to take on the bug-slug by himself, against Prime's orders, and gets absorbed. Prime orders Ratchet to join them in battle to save Prowl, but the old veteran insists that finding a "cure" code to neutralize the nanites' programming makes more sense than coming out and getting trashed. A somewhat chastened Prime agrees, and Ratchet soon delivers the goods. However, the new program must be uploaded by direct contact{{m-}}meaning from inside the monster. This means the smallest, fastest one of them has to do it. Bumblebee reluctantly takes on the task. The beast has been using some of Prowl's absorbed intelligence and comm link tech, though, so it knows what they're planning and is now smart enough to fight back. Despite this, Bumblebee succeeds in delivering the code, and the bug dissolves into a dusty shower of deactivated nanites. Prowl is soon uncovered, but he's suffered grave wounds and must be taken back to the Autobots' ship for repairs. Sari pesters Bumblebee to be taken along, and her new friend reluctantly agrees, since there's no time to make her go away quietly.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Sari_followedmehome.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Bumblebee, having a pet is a big responsibility.]]

Once on board, Sari's refusal to stay still and quiet causes 'Bee some embarrassment. He quickly and discreetly ejects her into a ventilation port and joins the others. However, the port opens onto a shaft that takes Sari right to the chamber where the AllSpark is being kept. Curious, she touches it, and it reacts to her, sending its energies into her security card key and reconfiguring it into a key of another sort entirely. Prime finds her almost immediately thereafter, but with no time left to spare away from Prowl, he has to bring her back with him to the repair table. Ratchet's prognosis is bleak, but Sari's AllSpark-charged key abruptly reacts, glowing and tugging her toward Prowl. Bumblebee, seeming to grasp what's happening, helps her onto the table, and as she approaches, her key reshapes itself to fit into a slot on Prowl's chest. She inserts it, and with a burst of energy, the Autobot ninja is whole again. The Autobots then take Sari home and, after a brief misunderstanding, are made heroes and are even invited to a ceremony.

In outer space, Starscream sits aboard the damaged but functional Decepticon ship, babbling that he will find the AllSpark, even though he's been attempting it on his own for the last fifty solar cycles. The ship's computers then detect the traces of AllSpark-like energy in action, and Starscream learns where the Autobots are...

===Part 3===
[[Image:Sariprime.jpg|right|thumb|150px|INSERT WHAT WHERE?!]]

The Autobots are later seen trying to fit in. Bulkhead gets firsthand experience in traffic jams, some birds mistake Prowl for the statue of the [[wikipedia:Hazen S. Pingree|bald guy]] next to him, Bumblebee learns how organics fuel up, and Ratchet can't get a stasis nap without getting a dozen or so parking tickets. Optimus Prime remarks that the Autobots are programmed to respect life, which they always understood to stem from the AllSpark, but as organics are life, they must respect and protect them too. Optimus also expresses curiosity about how little organics are made. Sari's whispered explanation leaves him rather... shocked. The Autobots make a new home base out of a building Sari's dad got out of a merger, an abandoned auto factory that Bumblebee describes as a real fixer-upper{{m-}}a REAL fixer-upper. All of a sudden, they get alerted to a fire. The Autobots proceed to douse the blaze and save its victims, no problem, unaware they are being watched by Starscream.

The next day, during the inauguration ceremony for the Sumdac Fully Automated Rapid Transit System (F.A.R.T.S., for short), Starscream enters Earth's atmosphere and takes on a group of fighter jets. He destroys all but one, which he scans. As the civilians and Autobots watch the aerial display of the Crimson Angels, Isaac Sumdac notices there is an extra jet present that he didn't hire. That one jet then leaves the formation and streaks toward the ceremony platform, where it transforms into Starscream, who fires his null-ray cannons at the Autobots.

After a short fight, which the Autobots lose, Starscream knocks out Bumblebee and takes him, Isaac, the mayor, and Capt. Fanzone hostage in the F.A.R.T.S. train, flying it to the top of a very tall tower. He demands that the Autobots deliver the AllSpark if they want him to release the train car. The Autobots don't trust him, but don't want to risk human lives, so Sari offers a plan, but they ignore her. She continues to tell a sob story until the Autobots listen. The Autobots proceed with her plan, and Prowl and Sari fly up to the transit pod to rescue the hostages while the other Autobots keep Starscream busy. Once Starscream realizes what's happening, he takes a brief beating but recovers quickly. Starscream then throws the train{{m-}}thus keeping his end of the deal{{m-}}with Sari, Prowl, and Bumblebee on top of/in it. Between Bumblebee's agility and Prowl's thrusters, Sari is rescued and the train lands without much damage. The Autobots then challenge Starscream to a friendly game of Keep Away, during which Starscream almost gets the AllSpark, but Bulkhead gets it instead, because he said he got it. A furious Starscream unleashes a devastating, prolonged (as in nearly 12 seconds) null-ray blast on the Autobots, briefly knocking them all senseless.

[[Image:TFA_TFandRollout_Prime_SS_Allsparkactivates.jpg|thumb|left|150px|In the old days, [[Stan Bush|The Touch]] would have started playing now.]]

With the Autobots down, Starscream takes the AllSpark from Optimus and blows a couple of blocks of Detroit right off the map. Not ready to give up, Optimus climbs all the way up a building to get it back from Starscream, which Starscream doesn't see coming because he was too busy gloating. After a quick back-and-forth exchange of possessing it, both grab it at the same time. As they struggle, the AllSpark opens and emits a strange energy wave that blasts Starscream away.

The explosion has left Prime dangling precariously, and he takes a tremendous plummet to the pavement. He notes weakly that he now knows what it feels like to be a hero, then dies, but Sari uses her AllSpark key to revive him.<ref>[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|This is something of an Optimus Prime record]]: Dead after only three episodes, revived a mere 75 seconds later. Way to go.</ref> The Autobots later go about fixing up Detroit, earning the enduring gratitude of the citizenry. Professor Sumdac is also grateful, for the Autobots saved him and Sari, but he fears what will happen if the Autobots—not to mention the rest of the world{{m-}}were to discover the source of his robotic empire.

Unseen by Sumdac, one of the [[Sensors#Optics|optics]] of his source of technology glows in a darkened room. Megatron still functions...

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Marty Isenberg]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Matt Youngberg]], [[Yutaka Kagawa]], [[Minoru Yamaoka]], [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
*'''Original airdate:''' December 26, 2007

===Featured characters===
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobots]]
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticons]]
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human|Humans]]
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (6)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (7)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Lugnut]] (9)
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (10)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (13)
*[[Daniel (Animated)|Daniel]] (14)
*[[Spike (Animated)|Spike]] (15)
*[[Carly (Animated)|Carly]] (16)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (17)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (18)
|}

==Quotes==
"Do you ever get the feeling that you were programmed for something more than just repairing space bridges?" 
"I got a diagnostics program that can delete that feeling like a bad line of code."
:—'''Optimus Prime's''' dreams are crushed into a fine powder by '''Ratchet'''.

'''Starscream''': Megatron is a fool who's been chasing a ghost for centuries...I seriously doubt we'll find this "AllSpark" on board such an ''insignificant'' vessel. 
'''Lugnut''': ''Traitor!'' Megatron is wise! Megatron is bold! Megatron will return the Decepticons to Cybertron and... 
'''Blackarachnia''': ... and wipe our homeland clean of the stench of Autobot tyranny, blah-dee blah blah blah! Did you memorize that speech, Lugnut? Or is it just hardwired into that thick, one-track processor of yours? 
''[An ice beam freezes Blackarachnia's forearm]'' 
'''Icy Blitzwing''': As usual, Blackarachnia, your demeanor is as unpleasant as that accursed organic mode of yours. 
'''Blackarachnia''': Blow it out your [[Anatomic euphemism#Actuator|actuator]], three-face. ''[Shatters the ice around forearm]'' 
''[Blitzwing switches to his hothead face]'' 
'''Hothead Blitzwing''': De name is Blitzving, insect! REMEMBER IT! 'Cause it's de last t'ing you're gonna hear before I— 
''[switches to random face]'' 
'''Random Blitzwing''': —express my feelings in song! De itzy bitzy spider... 
:—Decepticon camaraderie at its finest.

"What do you want now, Starscream?" 
''[Starscream attaches an explosive onto Megatron's back.]'' 
"Only to wish you luck, my liege." 
"I do not believe... in ''luck''". 
''[Megatron transforms and leaves.]'' 
"Neither... do I..." 
:—'''Megatron''' is arrogant, '''Starscream''' is treacherous. [[Megatron (G1)|Some]] [[Starscream (G1)|things]] [[Megatron (Armada)|never]] [[Starscream (Armada)|change]].

"'''Yes!''' ...right then. Solemn face, solemn face."
:—'''Starscream''' watches Megatron explode, then composes himself before going to tell the Decepticons he's their new leader.

'''Bulkhead''': Hi, little creature. My name's Bulkhead. Did you lose your owner-bot? 
'''Sari''':... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! 
'''Bumblebee''': AAAAHHH! That thing must be armed with some kind of high-frequency sonic weapon! 
''[Sari runs off screaming]'' 
'''Bulkhead''': I think it's scared. Don't worry, little creature! I'm not gonna hurt you! 
''[Sari is grabbed by the robot-slug]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': But that thing might!
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''' forget about the Prime Directive.

"Hi, I'm Bumblebee!" 
"I'm Sari." 
"Oh, don't be, I like my name."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Sari''' introduce themselves.

"Uh...am I going to be able to ''breathe'' down there?" 
"Oh, sure! What's 'breathe'?"
:—'''Sari''' takes a trip underwater with '''Bumblebee'''.

'''Optimus Prime''' ''[to Sari]'': How did you get aboard this ship? 
'''Bumblebee''': It followed me home... Can I keep it? 
'''Sari''': Hey, I'm not an "it", I'm a "she"! 
'''Optimus''' ''[to Bumblebee]'': So, I suppose you have an explanation? 
'''Bumblebee''': Actually, I'm narrowing it down to my top five. 
:—'''Optimus''' discovers '''Bumblebee'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s new friend.

"It's okay, they're friendly! Well, except for [[Ratchet (Animated)|the red and white one]], he's kinda grumpy! But other than that..."
:—'''Sari''' plays ambassador.

'''Optimus Prime''': But how is it you're able to make these new, smaller organics? 
'''Sari''': (Whispers) 
'''Optimus''': O_O 
:—'''Optimus''' learns that there are some things that you can't unhear.

"Ratchet, think fast!" 
"Oh crud." 
:{{m-}}'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''', as the game of keep-away starts.

{{-}}

==Other notes==
===Animation and/or technical glitches===
* Megatron's vehicle mode was depicted flying upside-down, or backwards, or possibly both. To be fair, in space, there is no up and down. (And to be even fairer, it's really hard to tell from the toys exactly what ''is'' the front of Megatron's Cybertronic spaceship mode.)

*When Sari said to the Autobots it is okay to put down their hands, Bulkhead's face was black.

* As Starscream tackles Optimus Prime through a building as the Autobot tries to escape with the AllSpark, Optimus's axe is missing from Starscream's left wing. It reappears moments later for Optimus to retrieve it.

===Continuity errors===
* The train Starscream blasts from the tower falls toward the ground very, very slowly.

*When we first meet Starscream, he states that he has been searching for the AllSpark for fifty ''solar'' cycles. In later episodes, a Solar cycle is equivalent to a day and a ''Stellar'' cycle is used for years. This is the only time a Solar cycle has been used to reference years, so either Starscream entered some sort of temporal anomaly or someone messed up. For more <s>confusion</s> information, See [[Cycle|This Page]]

*In at least one scene, Starscream's Earth-form wing is shown with a spike, in the same manner as his Cybertronian body.

*Sumdac is using Megatron's hand as a chair. However, he seems to be using the right hand, which was blown up by Starscream. (It ''could'' have fallen off the Autobots' ship, as it was still clinging to the hull when last seen, but that seems unlikely.)

===Transformers references===
*The title of the episode itself is a [[Roll out|reference to Transformers lore past]].
*Footage from the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episodes "[[War Dawn]]" and "[[More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" is used as history tapes detailing the events of the first Great War, millions of years prior. [[Canon|This]] has been confirmed as pure fanwank, and should not be taken as linking Animated to G1, continuity wise.

*The [[Autobot ship (Animated)|Autobot ship]] here bears a distinct resemblance to the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], albeit with a colour scheme more reminiscent of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]].

*Sari's robotic dog [[Sparkplug (Animated)|Sparkplug]] is likely named after either [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] from G1, the Armada Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]], or both.
[[Image:Spikecarlydanielanimated.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Twenty years later, and they're still overdressed.]]
*Characters resembling [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]], [[Carly]], and [[Daniel Witwicky]] are seen at a hot dog stand, purchasing some sort of futuristic bunless wieners-on-a-stick.

*The ''Animated'' Autobots are [[Infiltration|not the first]] to use a starship parked at the bottom of one of the Great Lakes as their headquarters.

*When Optimus Prime dies, his body fades to grays, just as [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] did in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. His spark chamber opens in much the same manner as well.

*The baby carriage carrying the [[Soviet_Union|baby with the russian hat]] bears some resemblance to [[Wheelie]].

*Teletran 1 (spelled with only one "a" in this universe) dispatches a small satellite very similar to the [[Sky Spy]] satellite used on occasion by the Autobots in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. The glowing energy "boxes" with which it scans vehicles for the Autobots to transform into are lifted wholesale out of "[[More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".

*[[Sari Sumdac's key]] bears a strong resemblance to the [[Key to Vector Sigma]].

*At one point, Bulkhead refers to Optimus as "Boss-bot", echoing an epithet used for ''[[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] by the [[Fuzor]] [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]].

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* In this episode, [[Tutor Bot]] tries to teach Sari about the [[Wikipedia:Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act|Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act]] (a major economic blunder of the 1930s).
* Bumblebee's voice is slightly different in this episode from how it sounds later, as well as Lugnut's voice, which seems very metallic.
* When Prowl gets birdpooped on, he is standing next to a statue of [[wikipedia:Hazen S. Pingree|Hazen S. Pingree]], four-term mayor of Detroit and one-time governor of Michigan. In real life, the statue is located in Detroit's Grand Circus Park.
* A refurbished Michigan Central Station makes an appearance as the site for the dedication of Detroit's rapid transit system. The real-life station (abandoned since the '80s) was featured in the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 live-action movie]].
* When mocking the Autobots, Starscream actually calls Megatron "the great Megatron" without any sarcasm. Apparently, he'll only give a sincere compliment to his leader when he's insulting something else.
* When Optimus comes back to life, he asks, "Is this the [[Well of All Sparks]]?" and Sari answers, "No, it's Detroit." This is an allusion to the movie ''Field of Dreams'' when Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) asks Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) "Is this heaven?" and Ray answers "No, it's Iowa."
* According to responses at a panel at BotCon 2008, the unfortunate acronym for Fully Automated Rapid Transit System was totally unintentional...which makes it that much funnier.
* It is interesting to note how Ratchet is able to use his front windshield as a screen.
*Several elements present in this opener were changed/dropped in the main series, including expressive vehicle modes, the replacement of solar cycles with stellar cycles in terminology and the recolouring of Ratchet's magnetism from yellow to pink.
*During [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] "conversation" with the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], it shows her [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], Optimus and [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet's]] Cybertronian [[Alternate mode|vehicle modes]], the AllSpark's case and the [[Autobot ship (Animated)|Autobot's ship]]. Then Sari unknowingly showed the AllSpark a man in a suit, a woman, a boy, the planet [[Earth]], pyramids, purple flowers, a horse, an aircraft with a giant cloud coming from the back, a cell and a DNA strand. The woman has dark skin and red hair like Sari.

== Footnote ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sari, No One's Home

2008-06-06T10:26:09Z

BackLash: /* Miscellaneous trivia */

{{cleanup}}

{{episodenav|animated|27|season=2|prev=Black Friday (episode)|next=A Bridge Too Close - Part 1}}

'''Left alone in the Autobots' home base, Sari must defend it against an intrusion by the Constructicons.'''

==Summary==

At the Autobot base, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] is going through his obstacle course, and passes with ease. [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] comes in, and decides that anything a living hunk of metal can do, she can do better. Prowl allows her to proceed, but only at one quarter speed, which proves to be about a quarter speed too high for her as a swinging crane arm clocks her in the back of the head, knocking her flat on her face. Sari starts complaining, and an amused Prowl consoles her, when [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] barges in, complaining about the sound of constant dripping. Tracking it down, he finds the drip in an oil leak in [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s arm. [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] offers a tune up, but Bumblebee is adamant about being in perfect working order. Before a proper argument breaks out, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] appears and turns on the news, which shows [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] robbing oil from an auto-supply shop. The Autobots debate whether or not the two bots will remember them, and the fact they have to get to them before [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. The Autobots transform and roll out, but Optimus stops Sari from following, pointing out that a) the last time she was near those two, they nearly took her head off, and b) a kid isn't going to be a match for a two story robot. Prime catches up with the rest and they head towards the pairs last known location, not noticing that Bumblebee's leak is leaving a trail straight to the factory. Sari meanwhile is moping over being left home...before realising she's been left home ''alone''! She then proceeds to stuff her face with chocolate, strap herself to a crane and have her own homemade funfair ride, and attempt Prowl's course at full pelt (it goes about as well as the first time).

The Autobots are en route with Bumblebee's leak slowly driving Bulkhead insane. After reaching his limit, he slaps an "I love Autobots" sticker on the hole, and it seems to solve the problem. Unfortunately, they were a little late, as Scrapper and Mixmaster have spotted the trail. Lamenting their inability to remember where they got the real good stuff, they decide to follow the yellow twit's road, and see if it leads em to anything worth drinking.

Unknown to all and sundry, Megatron has picked up the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicon]]s location. He hands [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] a barrel of oil, ordering him to find the pair and bring them back, while at the same time avoiding confrontation with the Autobots. Blitzwing is of course happy to oblige, transforming to jet mode and heading for the city.

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have arrived at the factory, and Mixmaster promptly melts the door. Sari, hanging out in Prowl's room with her headphones on, doesn't hear the alarm go off.

Meanwhile, the Autobots have found nothing on their search. Bublebee briefly mistakes a regular construction vehicle for Mixmaster, while Bulkhead sees what he thinks is Blitzwing, but isn't sure. Bumblebee decides to call in Sari, but she doesn't answer (unaware that Scrapper just accidently crushed Sari's phone). When he sees the Autobots, Icy Blitzwing remembers that he is not to engage the Autobots, but Hothead and Random Blitzwing decide to crush them anyway. The Autobots try to draw him away from civilians, but they end up at an on backed-up on ramp. With no where to move, Prime orders Ratchet and Bumblebee to clear the humans out, while the other take on Blitzwing.

At the plant, Sari holds a council of war (with her teddy bear) and decides to fight them off herself. Arming herself with hockey pads, she puts on a helmet and picks up a hockey stick. As they explore the rec-room, Sari attacks, and but her hockey stick shatters. Hiding in Prowl's room until the Constructicons move on, she runs through the sewers, and contacts the Autobots in the communication center. Unfortunately, they are taking a pounding from Blitzwing, so Bumblebee tells her to hide until they can get there. Unwilling to wait, Sari decides to set a trap...with some nice, delicious cans of oil. Predictably, the two neutrals walk in and see Sari with three cans of oil. Mixmaster demands the oil, despite Scrapper's fear that's it a trap. He was right, for Sari uses the machines to dump it on the ground, cause Mix and Scrap to fall down and go boom, and allow her time to escape.

Elsewhere, Blitzwing is dominating the Autobots, so Prime decides to end this with an [[Omega formation]]. Bumblebee goes in first, but his stingers do little damage. Then Bulkhead throws Prowl, allowing him to execute a high speed kick, but Ratchet's attempt to finish him off gets him taken hostage. At this point, however, Megatron orders Blitzwing to disengage, and he takes to the air.

At the plant, Mix and Scrap decide to take down Sari, but Sari sets up the machines to thrash them, put them on the assembly line, get riveted, magnetized, and dumped on the ground. Mix finally calls it quits, and the two roll out. When the Autobots return, they fear the worse after seeing the damage, but Sari shows up and tells them how she drove them off. Prime apologizes for doubting her, and gives her some praise for her bravery and ability to drive off Mixmaster and Scrapper...until he sees the candy wrappers...

On the road, Mixmaster and Scrapper are still fleeing Sari, when Blitzwing spots them. He offers them some oil, which Mixmaster remembers as the great stuff they previously had. He offers them more, if they follow him, and they walk into the sunset. After all, Megatron has plans for them.

[[A Bridge Too Close|''Endgame'' plans...]]

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Todd Casey]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Irineo Maramba]] & [[Yutaka Kagawa]]
*'''Original airdate:''' June 5, 2008 (UK)

===Featured characters===


(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
! style="background:#FFEEB8" | Others
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (10)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (2)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (9)
*[[Sparkplug (Animated Human)|Sparkplug]] (12)

| style="background:#FFEEB8" valign="top" |
*[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (7)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (8)

|}

==Quotes==
'''Mixmaster''': That little screamin' mutt is definitely hiding some premium oil in this joint, we gotta follow it. 
'''Scrapper''': Follow that thing?! That's probably how we got our memory circuits scrambled in the first place! 
''[Mixmaster punches Scrapper in the face]'' 
'''Scrapper''': Ow! 
'''Mixmaster''': What's the matter with you?! You're an excavator not a golf cart, grow a backhoe and let's get some oil! 
:{{m-}}'''Mixmaster''' telling '''Scrapper''' to man-up, I mean bot-up.

'''Hothead Blitzwing''': AUTOBOTS! I WILL POUND THEM INTO IRON FILLINGS! 
'''Icy Blitzwing''': But my orders are to find the Constructicons. 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Oh, But I do love iron fillings! Especially sprinkled on top of servo salad! 
:{{m-}}Ladies and gentlemen, Random Blitzwing just got a little scarier.

"You broke my cell-phone, but you will ''not'' break my TV! 
:{{m-}}'''Sari Sumdac''' is filled with righteous fury.

'''Hothead Blitzwing''': COME BACK HERE, SO I CAN RIP YOUR PISTONS THROUGH YOUR TAILPIPES 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Oh, and void your warranty with excess wear and tear. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
:{{m-}}Ah, Blitzwing, how we've missed you.

"Guys, Sari is alone in the plant with Mixmaster and Scrapper! We need to get back there now!" 
"Then let's finish this. Autobots, Omega Formation. Go!" 
"Sure, send the little guy head on into battle. 
:{{m-}}'''Bumblebee''' is ready to finish with Blitzwing, but '''Optimus Prime'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s plan leaves him less than satisfied.

==Other notes==

===Continuity errors===
*Although the sirens go off when the Constructicons break into the base, the Autobots seem to have had no way to detect it. Apparently, they just installed sirens for the hell of it.

===Transformers references===
* When Sari is listening to music in Prowl's room, she is humming the "[[Theme song|more than meets the eye theme]]".

* Bulkhead temporarily stops Bumblebee's oil leak with a "I heart Autobots" bumper sticker that uses a heart symbol and an Autobot faction symbol too.

===Real-world references===
* There's a general similarity between this episode and the movie "''[[Wikipedia:Home Alone|Home Alone]]''." And since Mixmaster has always sounded like [[wikipedia:Joe Pesci|Joe Pesci]]...

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* Why is Bumblebee randomly gushing oil? And why doesn't anybody really care, least of all himself? Also, why couldn't Sari just fix him with her key and he get some more oil?

* Blitzwing just stands around while the Autobots attempt to plot his downfall using a football huddle. He really is freaking <s>arrogant</s> crazy.
{{epstub}}

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sari, No One's Home

2008-06-06T02:32:49Z

BackLash: /* Quotes */

{{episodenav|animated|27|season=2|prev=Black Friday (episode)|next=A Bridge Too Close - Part 1}}

{{cleanup}}

'''Left alone in the Autobots' home base, Sari must defend it against an intrusion by the Constructicons.'''

==Summary==

At the Autobot base, Prowl is going through his obstacle course, and passes with ease. Sari comes in, and decides that anything a living hunk of metal can do, she can do better. Prowl allows her to proceed, but only at one quarter speed, which proves to be about a quarter speed too high for her as a swinging crane arm clocks her in the back of the head, knocking her flat on her face. Sari starts complaining, and an amused Prowl consoles her, when Bulkhead barges in, complaining about the sound of constant dripping. Tracking it down, he finds the drip in an oil leak in Bumblebee's arm. Ratchet offers a tune up, but Bumblebee is adamant about being in perfect working order. Before a proper argument breaks out, Optimus, appears and turns on the news, which shows Mixmaster and Scrapper robbing oil from an auto-supply shop. The Autobots debate whether or not the two bots will remember them, and the fact they have to get to them before Megatron. The Autobots transform and roll out, but Optimus stops Sari from following, pointing out that a) the last time she was near those two, they nearly took her head off, and b) a kid isn't going to be a match for a two story robot. Prime catches up with the rest and they head towards the pairs last known location, not noticing that Bumblebee's leak is leaving a trail straight to the factory. Sari meanwhile is moping over being left home alone...before realising she's been left home alone! She then proceeds to stuff her face with chocolate, strap herself to a crane and have her own homemade funfair ride, and attempt Prowl's course at full pelt (it goes about as well as the first time).

The Autobots are en route with Bumblebee's leak slowly driving Bulkhead insane. After reaching his limit, he slaps an "I love Autobots" sticker on the hole, and it seems to solve the problem. Unfortunately, they were a little late, as Scrapper and Mixmaster have spotted the trail. Lamenting their inability to remember where they got the real good stuff, they decide to follow the yellow twit's road, and see if it leads em to anything worth drinking.

Unknown to all and sundry, Megatron has picked up the Constructicons location. He hands Blitzwing a barrel of oil, ordering him to find the pair and bring them back, while at the same time avoiding confrontation with the Autobots. Blitzwing is of course happy to oblige, transforming to jet mode and heading for the city.

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have arrived at the factory, and Mixmaster promptly melts the door. Sari, hanging out in Prowl's room with her headphones on, doesn't hear the alarm go off.

Meanwhile, the Autobots have found nothing on their search. Bublebee briefly mistakes a regular construction vehicle for Mixmaster, while Bulkhead sees what he thinks is Blitzwing, but isn't sure. Bumblebee decides to call in Sari, but she doesn't answer (unaware that Scrapper just accidently crushed Sari's phone). When he sees the Autobots, Icy Blitzwing remembers that he is not to engage the Autobots, but Hothead and Random Blitzwing decide to crush them anyway. The Autobots try to draw him away from civilians, but they end up at an on backed-up on ramp. With no where to move, Prime orders Ratchet and Bumblebee to clear the humans out, while the other take on Blitzwing.

At the plant, Sari holds a council of war (her teddy bear) and decides to fight them off herself. Arming herself with hockey pads, she puts on a helmet and picks up a hockey stick. As they explore the rec-room, Sari attacks, and but her hockey stick shatters. Hiding in Prowl's room, she runs through the sewers, and contacts the Autobots in the communication center. Unfortunately, they are taking a pounding from Blitzwing, so Bumblebee tells her to hide until they can get there. Unwilling to wait, Sari decides to set a trap...with some nice, delicious cans of oil. Predictably, the two neutrals walk in and see Sari with three cans of oil. Mixmaster demands the oil, despite Scrapper's fear that's it a trap. He was right, for Sari uses the machines to dump it on the ground, cause Mix and Scrap to fall down and go boom, and allow her time to escape.

Elsewhere, Blitzwing is dominating the Autobots, so Prime decides to end this with an [[Omega formation]]. Bumblebee goes in first, but his stingers do little damage. Then Bulkhead throws Prowl, allowing him to execute a high speed kick, but Ratchet's attempt to finish him off gets him taken hostage. At this point, however, Megatron orders Blitzwing to disengage, and he takes to the air.

At the plant, Mix and Scrap decide to take down Sari, but Sari sets up the machines to thrash them, put them on the assembly line, get riveted, magnetized, and dumped on the ground. Mix finally calls it quits, and the two roll out. When the Autobots return, they fear the worse after seeing the damage, but Sari shows up and tells them how she drove them off. Prime apologizes for doubting her, and gives her some praise for her bravery and ability to drive off Mixmaster and Scrapper...until he sees the candy wrappers...

On the road, Mixmaster and Scrapper are still fleeing Sari, when Blitzwing spots them. He offers them some oil, which Mixmaster remembers as the great stuff they previously had. He offers them more, if they follow him, and they walk into the sunset. After all, Megatron has plans for them.

[[A Bridge Too Close|''Endgame'' plans...]]

==Stats==

*'''Written by:'''
*'''Directed by:'''
*'''Original airdate:'''

===Featured characters===


(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
! style="background:#FFEEB8" | Others
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (10)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (2)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (9)
*[[Sparkplug (Animated Human)|Sparkplug]] (12)

| style="background:#FFEEB8" valign="top" |
*[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (7)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (8)

|}

==Quotes==
'''Mixmaster''': That little screamin' mutt is defiantly hiding some premium oil in this joint, we gotta follow it. 
'''Scrapper''': Follow that thing?! That's probably how we got our memory circuits scrambled in the first place! 
''[Mixmaster punches Scrapper in the face]'' 
'''Scrapper''': Ow! 
'''Mixmaster''': What's the matter with you?! You're an excavator not a golf cart, grow a backhoe and let's get some oil! 
:{{m-}}'''Mixmaster''' telling '''Scrapper''' to man-up, I mean bot-up.

'''Hothead Blitzwing''': AUTOBOTS! I WILL POUND THEM INTO IRON FILLINGS! 
'''Icy Blitzwing''': But my orders are to find the Constructicons. 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Oh, But I do love iron fillings! Especially sprinkled on top of servo salad! 
:{{m-}}Ladies and gentlemen, Random Blitzwing just got a little scarrier.

"You broke my cell-phone, but you will ''not'' break my TV! 
:{{m-}}'''Sari Sumdac''' is filled with righteous fury.

'''Hothead Blitzwing''': COME BACK HERE, SO I CAN RIP YOUR PISTONS THROUGH YOUR TAILPIPES 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Oh, and void your warranty with excess wear and tear. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
:{{m-}}Ah, Blitzwing, how we've missed you.

"Guys, Sari is alone in the plant with Mixmaster and Scrapper! We need to get back there now!" 
"Then let's finish this. Autobots, Omega Formation. Go!" 
"Sure, send the little guy head on into battle. 
:{{m-}}'''Bumblebee''' is ready to finish with Blitzwing, but '''Optimus Prime'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s plan leaves him less than satisfied.

==Other notes==
*

===Continuity errors===

===Transformers references===
* When Sari is listening to music in Prowl's room, she is humming the "[[Theme song|more than meets the eye theme]]".

===Real-world references===
* There's a cunning similarity between this episode and the "Home Alone" movie.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
*

{{epstub}}

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Sari, No One's Home

2008-06-06T02:30:57Z

BackLash: /* Quotes */

Black Friday (episode)

2008-06-05T02:10:35Z

BackLash: /* Quotes */

{{disambig2|the episode of ''Transformers Animated''|the day after Thanksgiving|Black Friday}}

[[Image:Animated Black Friday Grimlock Prime lasso.jpg|300px|thumb]]
{{episodenav|animated|26|season=2|prev=Autoboot Camp|next=Sari, No One's Home}}

'''Blackarachnia enlists Prometheus Black, a.k.a. Meltdown, to aid her with a dangerous experiment, while Optimus and Dinobot Grimlock are forced to team up to stop them.'''

{{spoiler|Black Friday}}

==Summary==

[[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] is growing ever more frustrated by [[Porter C. Powell]]'s callous actions towards both herself and her father, and she wants payback. She and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] visit the maximum-security prison that is the current abode of [[Prometheus Black|Prometheus Black, a.k.a. Meltdown]], and speak to him in the undissolvable crystalline cube that is his cell. Black sarcastically welcomes them, noting that he has ever so few visitors, and Sari snarks in return that he'd probably have more friends if he wasn't always trying to mutate other people into [[Survival of the Fittest|transformational experiments]]. Sari knows that Black and Powell had once been business partners, and she asks the acidic villain for any information that would help her expose Powell as a criminal. Black asks why he should help her at all, and Sari reminds him that his own misfortunes began with the breakdown of his business partnership with Powell. Meltdown replies—with apparently genuine regret—that Powell was far too canny a businessman ever to get his fingerprints on anything truly illegal. He presents a different plan: If Sari and Bumblebee would be so kind as to break him out of prison, he would happily kill Powell himself. A bit taken aback, Sari insists she isn't willing to go that far, and she and Bumblebee depart. Later that night, however, a massive explosion signifies a break-in at the prison. At first, Meltdown confidently welcomes his visitors, assuming Sari has had a change of heart, but that confidence turns to fear when he sees he is actually being visited by the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]. [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] cryptically announces that "she" wants to see Meltdown. Though still afraid of his former flunkies, Meltdown tries to warn them away, pointing out that a prison cell constructed to hold him is indestructible—nothing can get out or in. But the Dinobots don't need to break the box when they can simply ''take'' it.

Meltdown soon finds himself transported to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], where the Dinobots are behaving very strangely indeed, chanting and bowing towards a high hill. The object of their interest soon is revealed to be [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who washed up on the island after [[Megatron Rising - Part 2|the recent defeat of Megatron]] and has since used her beauty and wily ways to captivate the simple-minded Dinobots. As she explored the island, she found Meltdown's subterranean lab complex, including his computer files on genetic manipulation. She insists that Black help her purge the organic material from her body, and since she has just drained Grimlock, becoming powerful enough to crack open his supposedly indestructible prison cell with the bonus of the Dinobots being quite willing to follow any command, Black has no choice but to agree.

Back on the mainland, [[Captain Fanzone]] and the Detroit P.D. are investigating the prison break. Porter C. Powell arrives, very agitated by the escape of his evil former associate. He produces security camera footage of Sari's visit, accusing the girl of trying to have him killed. Fanzone asks just how he got his hands on that footage, but Powell becomes more evasive. When the Autobots magnify the camera footage, they can see the Dinobots reflected on the surface of Meltdown's cube. While they ponder what to do about this, Bumblebee's constant chattering begins to wear on [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], who boldly insists that it is ''impossible'' for Bumblebee to remain silent for more than a few cycles. Bumblebee is angered by these doubts against him and tries to show how quiet he can be...which isn't at all, since he pipes in with a self-defense or denial every few moments. This bickering continues as he, Prowl, and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] head to Dinobot Island.

Once they arrive, the Autobots split up to search for evidence. Prowl finds more of Meltdown's burnt footprints, as well as yet more proof that Bumblebee really can't pipe down, since he keeps calling Prowl's name. But when Prowl investigates, he sees Bumblebee had good reason to yell: He's caught in a giant web and deactivated. Shortly thereafter, Blackarachnia attacks Prowl and deactivates him too. Rushing to help, Optimus attempts to confront Blackarachnia, but she is able to flatter and cajole Grimlock into defending her (and soundly walloping Optimus). There's no time for a real fight, though, as Blackarachnia has loaded up both Prowl and Bumblebee with a potentially lethal dose of her cybervenom. They will die unless she administers the antidote within 2 megacycles, and she'll only do that if Optimus helps Grimlock locate Meltdown's genetic modifier to make the experiment work.

[[Image:Animated Black Friday Grimlock Prime Powell.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Well, what do you know? There ''is'' karma in ''Animated''.]]
Returning to the mainland, Optimus and Grimlock attempt to work together, but it's difficult because Grimlock simply will not hear that Blackarachnia might be using him or would in any way be deceiving him. For his part, Grimlock doesn't want to work with "puny" Optimus, but has no choice, as only Optimus knows where Meltdown's original workshop had been. They find the workshop, untouched and in the same state of disrepair as [[Total Meltdown|when Black had his drastic accident]]. As they search for the genetic modifier, they are discovered by Porter C. Powell, who owns the facilities Black had been using before his accident. He orders them to leave and won't assist them in finding the device they need, but he changes his tune after Optimus has Grimlock snatch up the little man and imprison him inside his mouth for a while. The unlikely Autobot duo retrieves the genetic modifier and heads back to the island.

Once he has the necessary tools and Blackarachnia strapped down to his lab table (for her own safety, of course, he swears), Meltdown decides to change his lab procedure ever so slightly. Reminding his captor-turned-prisoner of his longstanding hatred of robots, he will still be genetically separating Blackarachnia's organic and mechanical elements...but now the mechanical will be discarded and only the organics left behind, and his goal of having created a purely organic transforming being will have been realized. Optimus and Grimlock attempt to stop Meltdown, but he summons reinforcements: his earlier mutant creations, who appear quite a bit stronger now and manage to force the robots outside the lab and battle them fairly evenly. Things aren't helped when Grimlock, in his shortsighted fury, ignores Optimus's warnings and uses his [[energo-sword]] so carelessly that it practically burns down the entire island. The tide finally turns with the arrival of the other two Dinobots. [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] lifts one of the mutants completely clear of the battlefield, keeping it from attacking further, while [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] pounds the other senseless with his giant, flaming cudgel. Optimus extinguishes the flames, then races back into the lab. He manages to detach the genetic modifier from the lab equipment, stopping the procedure before Blackarachnia can be divided up. An enraged Meltdown attacks Optimus and begins to melt his chest armor, but during the course of the action, Meltdown's body surface comes into contact with the genetic modifier. It unleashes a massive dose of energy into him, apparently causing his body to lose cohesion and degenerate into a pure liquid state, oozing out of his containment suit and leaking through cracks in the floor. Optimus frees Blackarachnia from her bonds on the table, and she senses an easy way to escape: Feigning weakness, she asks Optimus to come closer and hold her tight...as Grimlock is watching. His predictable jealousy makes him attack Optimus once again, and the sneaky spider manages to escape. When he finally sees she is gone, Grimlock begs her to return and professes his love for her, but it is too late.

A despairing Optimus returns to the web-covered bodies of Prowl and Bumblebee in the forest, apologizing to them that he was unable to rescue them in time. Then he notices the antidote has been placed right next to them. He quickly administers it just in the nick of time. Bumblebee notes with pride that he did indeed manage to remain totally silent for the whole 2 megacycles. When Prowl protests that it doesn't really count because he was unconscious and paralyzed, they have a rousing argument about the nature of the rules of their bet. An enraged Powell demands that Fanzone arrest Optimus Prime for assault and theft, but Fanzone says he's more inclined to arrest Powell for being a public nuisance and walks off. Optimus Prime begins to wonder if maybe, underneath it all, there is some good left in Blackarachnia, since (apparently) she did leave the antidote for him.

Later, in the island's abandoned underground lab, puddles of nasty-looking acidic goo begin to coalesce together around an empty containment suit. As the merging lump grows bigger, a familiar face appears on its surface. You can't keep a bad guy down....

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Rich Fogel]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Irineo Maramba]] & [[Kentaro Mizuno]]
*'''Original airdate:''' June 4, 2008 (UK)

===Featured characters===


(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s
! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (1)
*[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (5)
*[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (6)
*[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (9)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (11)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (13)
| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (8)
| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (2)
*[[Prometheus Black]] (3)
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (4)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (10)

|}

==Quotes==

"I lose more furniture that way..." 
:{{m-}}'''Meltdown''' after he (intentionally) melts the bed.

'''Blackarachnia''': With your help, I can finally purge myself of this accursed organic contamination. 
[''transforms''] 
'''Meltdown''': Ooh la la. Actually, that's a much better look for you. Why would I help you get rid of it? 
'''Blackarachnia''':Because it would make me very unhappy if you didn't. And when I'm unhappy, they're unhappy! 
'''Grimlock''': RAAARRR! Unhappy!
:{{m-}}Like his [[Grimlock (G1)|predecessor]], Grimlock makes a simple sentence [[War of the Dinobots#Notable quotes|freaking terrifying.]]

'''Grimlock:''' "See puny humans run! Dinobots RULE!" 
''[Optimus lassoes him]'' 
'''Optimus Prime:''' "We're not here to scare people! We're here to get Meltdown's genetic modifier. Maybe you'd be less conspicuous in robot mode." 
'''Grimlock:''' "Okay..." ''[transforms]'' "But me Grimlock still taller than YOU. That why Spider-Lady like me Grimlock best."
:—Pissing contest, Transformer-style.

'''Grimlock''': Autobot bad! Me Grimlock go alone. 
''[Grimlock walks away down an alley, then comes back]'' 
'''Grimlock''': Uh...where me Grimlock find genetic thingy? 
'''Optimus''': Oh, come on. I know who can get it. 
'''Grimlock''': Me Grimlock go with you....but me Grimlock go with you ALONE! 
:—Grimlock shows Optimus Prime what's what.

'''Grimlock''': Uh, me Grimlock not supposed to scare puny humans. 
'''Optimus''': ''This one'' you can scare all you want. 
'''Grimlock''': THEN GIVE US THINGY!!! 
''[transforms into beast mode, then grabs Powell with his mouth]'' 
'''Powell''': What thingy?! What's he talking about?! 
'''Optimus''': Prometheus Black's genetic modifier? 
'''Powell''': Never heard of it. 
'''Optimus''': Did I mention that my partner is awfully hungry? 
''[Grimlock throws Powell into the air and catches him in his mouth]'' 
'''Powell''': Y-you can have it! I know where it is! 
:{{m-}}After months of utter dickishness, Porter C. Powell finally ends up where he belongs{{m-}}Grimlock's mouth.

''[Prowl and Bumblebee wake up after being cured by Blackaracnia's venom]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Uhh...how long have we been here? 
'''Optimus''': Almost two mega-cycles. 
'''Bumblebee''': Ha! And you said I couldn't go ten cycles without talking! 
'''Prowl''': Mmm Hmm, all it took was being paralyzed. 
'''Bumblebee''': What, you're making new rules now? I don't think so, pay up with that sweet axle grease. 

==Other notes==

===Animation errors===
* When the Dinobots are arguing amongst themselves, Snarl's face briefly loses its red, and Swoop is shown in his beast mode.

===Transformers references===
* Blackarachnia references the defeat of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] in [[Megatron Rising - Part 2]].

===Real-world references===
* The title is a reference to [[Black Friday|the day after Thanksgiving]], a traditionally busy shopping day in the U.S., on which [[Hasbro]] often releases [[exclusive]]s.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
*This episode showcases a detailed transformation for both Prowl and Bumblebee
*Optimus states that Prowl knows Dinobot Island like the back of his hand and tells Prowl and Bumblebee to come with him, yet it is Bulkhead who has been on the island many times with Prowl. Maybe Optimus wants to see who wins the bet?
*It appears to be common knowledge that Porter C. Powell was Prometheus Black's business partner, yet in [[Blast from the Past]], he is seen among the group that witnesses the showing of the Dinobots, implying that he is working for Sumdac Systems at this point. Why would [[Isaac Sumdac]] hire the former partner of his bitterest corporate rival?
*According to Grimlock, Dinobots rule. We already knew that.
*This is the second Transformers episode where a voice actor [[The Low Road|spends most of it arguing with himself]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Friday}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Autoboot Camp

2008-06-04T12:58:43Z

BackLash: /* Transformers references */

{{episodenav|animated|25|season=2|prev=SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy|next=Black Friday (episode)}}
[[Image:Autobot Cadets.jpg|thumb|300px|Class of 2008. The ENTIRE Class of 2008.]]
'''On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.'''

==Summary==

{{spoiler|Autoboot Camp}}
[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Salute.jpg|thumb|left|"Sayonara, suckerzzz."]]
Somewhere in space, an Autobot shuttle streaks through the solar night and crash-lands on an asteroid, where its lone occupant races off across the barren ground in vehicle mode. Hot on his trail is [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who chases him to a [[space bridge]] node on the asteroid. The green-armoured escapee triggers the space bridge with a blast from a familiar pair of stingers, and Sentinel loses his quarry as the portal explodes with light.

On Earth, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reports the news of the escapee to the [[Autobot]]s. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] immediately recognizes the criminal in question as [[Wasp]], a 'bot who shares his bodyform that he met when during his [[Elite Guard]] training days.

In the [[Decepticon]]s' underground lair, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] contacts his double-agent on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], and congratulates him on orchestrating Wasp's breakout. The double-agent is concerned that they are speaking so freely on the subject, but Megatron assures him that nobody will be able to listen in on the broadcast. [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] has other plans, though, as he secretly taps into the communication frequency and bounces it to the Autobots base. Bumblebee and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on monitor duty at the time, and the message comes through exceedingly scrambled, but they are able at least able to comprehend the existence of a double-agent. Naturally, Bumblebee immediately assumes it to be Wasp, and he decides to settle his old score, with Bulkhead tagging along. Bumblebee remembers how it all went down...

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Bee Sentinel.jpg|thumb|right|Minor in all but chin.]]
''Stellar cycles ago, on Cybertron, Bumblebee meets Bulkhead for the first time when they both attend boot camp to train under Sentinel Minor, alongside Wasp, super-durable [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and telescopic-limbed [[Longarm Prime|Longarm]]. The two B's immediately earn Sentinel's ire{{m-}}Bumblebee for his impetuous bungling, and Bulkhead for his desire to be nothing more than a space bridge technician{{m-}}and the pair gets saddled with oil cleanup. Of course, Bumblebee begins goofing off, which results in a stack of oil drums collapsing on Sentinel, which results in Bumblebee being made to stand in the middle of the courtyard in the dead of night, holding up oil drums and repeatedly declaring himself a “worthless oil stain.” After a while, though, Bumblebee calls it quits, but as he is walking by a warehouse, he spots a shadowy figure speaking into a communicator, with the voice of Megatron responding! After a moment's hesitation, Bumblebee pops his stingers and commands the spy-bot to show himself… but the figure has vanished. When Bumblebee turns to leave, however, he spots Wasp walking out of the warehouse.''

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Oh Slag.jpg|thumb|left|Optimus must be kicking himself for missing this.]]
''Unsure of how to proceed, Bumblebee confides in Longarm, who encourages him to gather some evidence and present it to Sentinel. Bumblebee tries setting up a trap, planting a box with the Elite Guard symbol on it in the open, hoping Wasp will grab it… except Sentinel is the first to come upon it, and it explodes, covering him in paint. Next, Bumblebee tries a listening device, but accidentally winds up broadcasting Sentinel over the camp's loudspeakers as he jokes about Ultra Magnus being too old to hack the commander role. In traditional boot camp manner, Sentinel makes the whole team suffer for Bumblebee's mistakes, and Wasp and Ironhide take it out on the little 'bot by disconnecting his legs and stuffing him in a locker. Longarm comes to Bumblebee's rescue, but the bullying doesn't stop, as Wasp hits Bumblebee with a burst of “friendly fire” in a simulated combat training exercise. Of course, it's just a paint grenade, but when Bulkhead offers to help Bumblebee up, Bumblebee snaps and insults Bulkhead's lack of ambition before storming off. Turning a corner, Bumblebee yelps as he finds several auto-cannons pointed in his face, but then laughs as he remembers that they're only loaded with paint rounds for the simulated combat. Or rather, they ''were'', as the shadowy figure from the warehouse slinks by the cannons and switches them to active ammunition. As the cannons open figure on Bumblebee, Bulkhead speeds to his rescue and takes out the cannons by dropping a building on them with his wrecking ball… only for Sentinel to get squashed under it as well. Bumblebee encourages Bulkhead to scarper, rather than risk his career by owning up.''

Tracking the message Sumdac broadcast to them, Bumblebee and Bulkhead wander through the wilderness, reminiscing about the old days. When Bumblebee stumbles into a patch of quicksand, Bulkhead plucks him out, but the conflict between the pair from their boot camp days starts bubbling back to the surface, and Bulkhead leaves Bumblebee to the mission himself. Angrily stomping up a mountain, Bumblebee looses his footing and falls off a cliff, becoming buried in an avalanche.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Captured.jpg|thumb|right|Will go on to star in The Count of Monte Cristo.]]

''Longarm informs Bumblebee that Sentinel is about to conduct a surprise locker examination, meaning that it's his last chance to find evidence on Wasp before Sentinel can take credit for it himself. Using his extensible limbs to trip Wasp up, Longarm allows Bumblebee to “help him up” and finger his locker key in the process. As Bumblebee quickly opens Wasp's locker, Sentinel appears behind him, demanding to know what he's doing, only to be quickly silenced when Bumblebee presents him with a Decepticon communicator. Impressed with Bumblebee's work, Sentinel plans to recommend him for an Elite Guard position. After Wasp is carted off, screaming his innocence all the way, Sentinel brings up the matter of the building being dropped on him. Since nobody has owned up, he decides to kick out whoever he feels like – and he feels like Bulkhead. Before he can give Bulkster the boot, however, Bumblebee steps forward and claims responsibility, sheepishly asking if it will affect his Elite Guard position.''

''Some time later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on an asteroid, working on a space bridge node, as Bulkhead cheerfully announces “I have arrived!”''

Buried under rockslide, Bumblebee reflects on his friendship with Bulkhead outloud, and about how he saved his career, even ''if'' he never dreamed big. But Bulkhead ''did'' dream big – as the bulky bot appears above Bumblebee and hauls him out from beneath the boulders, he announces that he dreamed of being Bumblebee's friend. Bumblebee thanks his big buddy, and the pair drive off... having only been mere feet from the secret entrance to the Decepticon base.

Out in space, it turns out that Wasp didn't escape to Earth at all, and that he is still on the asteroid, huddled up in a ball. His mind clearly broken, the insectoid 'bot buzzes and twitters to himself about how he will find Bumblebee, and make him pay for ruining his life.

Back the Autobot base, our heroes contact Cybertron to alert the Autobots there about Megatron's double-agent. As it turns out, Bumblebee's old boot camp buddy Longarm is now Longarm ''Prime'', head of Cybertronian Intelligence, and he promises to root out the traitor no matter what.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron communicates once again with his double-agent... Longarm Prime! But the deception is a dual-layered one, for Longarm is, in fact, the shape-shifting [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]!

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Michael Ryan]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Ben Jones]], [[Christopher Berkeley]], & [[Shunji Oga]]
*'''Original airdate:''' 3rd June 2008 (UK)

===Featured characters===

(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s

! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s

! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s

|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
*[[Wasp]] (1)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (11)
*[[Longarm Prime|Longarm Prime]] (12)
*"Cliffjumper" (14)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (voice only) (13)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] (15)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (10)

|}

==Quotes==
'''Sentinel Minor''': Wipe that smile off your face, dull spark! 
'''Bulkhead''': Uh, I'm not smiling, sir! My jaw is, uh, tempered that way, sir! 
'''Bumblebee''': Forget Mudflap's jaw, check out the asteroid sized chin on Sarge! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': YOU GOT A COMMENT, FUNNY BOT?! 
'''Bumblebee''': Uh, no sir! 
:{{m-}}The future Sentinel Prime is a little sensitive about his chin. Maybe it's why he's such a jerk.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Now here's a bot who knows his place. You should try to be more like your friend here. 
'''Bumblebee''': He's not my friend, sir! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
:{{m-}} Mr. Personality does it again.

"You are nothing but a BUMBLER! From now on, your name is-BUMBLEBEE!"
:{{m-}}And lo, a legend was born, thanks to '''Sentinel Minor'''

''[stands in the middle of an empty yard, holding up oil drums, reciting...]'' 
"I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain... why am I even doing this?"
:{{m-}}Sentinel Minor's punishment of '''Bumblebee''' could be considered "cruel and unusual".

"You would not '''believe''' the glitches the Commander's saddled me with this time. I'm starting to think Ultra Magnus is a few circuits shy of a full processor, know what I mean? Oh sure, he was The Bot back in the day, but now? Ultra Magnus is just a rusted-out, obsolete model sorely in need of an upgrade."
:{{m-}}'''Sentinel Minor''' is a suck-up only to the boss' face. ''Quelle surprise''.

"Oh slag."
:{{m-}}'''Sentinel Minor''' forgoes his usual "eloquence" on seeing a ton of building heading for his head.

"But I'm innocent, I tell you! You're making a big mistake, all of you!" 
"Mute it, traitor!" 
''[Sentinel strips Wasp of his Autobot insignia]'' 
"I'll get you Bumblebee, '''if it's the last thing I do'''!
:{{m-}}'''Wasp''' proclaims his innocence, as he's wheeled away in restraints, while '''Sentinel Minor''' acts much as ever.

"Bumblebot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swears he find Bumblebot. Wasp make Bumblebot pay for RUINING WASP'S LIFE!"
:{{m-}}There lies a broken '''Wasp'''...

==Other notes==
===Continuity errors===
*Presumably it was Shockwave the set the autoguns to a lethal setting (why would weapons for a simulation even have something like that anyways), so it makes no sense for him to do that since he knew that Bumblebee thought that Wasp was really the spy, so he had no reason to want to get rid off him.

===Transformers references===
*Clearly, when Bumblebee and Bulkhead noted that Sentinel Prime didn't remember them back in "[[The Elite Guard]]", it was their boot camp days they were referring to.
*After it was explained back in "The Elite Guard" that "Prime" was a rank, this episode reveals that before attaining the rank, Sentinel was known as "Sentinel Minor." [[Optimus Minor|Sounds a little familiar]].
[[Image:TFA Cliffjumber Maybe.jpg|thumb|right|Wait for the Bumblebee retool...]]
*In two scenes this episode, an unnamed robot who is essentially a red Bumblebee appears, a clear reference to [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] and his physical similarity to [[Bumblebee (G1)|his era's Bumblebee]].
*It would seem that through being falsely accused of being a Decepticon spy and subsequently imprisoned, Wasp is fulfilling the legacy of his [[Waspinator|alternate universe counterpart]] in that ten different types of slag always seem to happen to him.
*In the final moments of the episode, the addled Wasp (who has spoken perfectly normally throughout the flashbacks) begins speaking in the buzzing, third-person style of ''[[Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator]].
*Bumblebee and Wasp call Bulkhead "Mudflap" as an insult. This is a reference to the Autobot turned Decepticon turned back to Autobot [[Mudflap (Cybertron)|of the same name]].

===Real-world references===
* Bumblebee's nickname of Yellow Jacket comes from another term for hornet.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* Since departing Earth, the Elite Guard (or Sentinel Prime, at least) have switched back to their Cybertronian vehicle modes. Also, as of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots, bar Prowl.
* Apparently, Autobots take new names when they get enrolled.
* Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Prowl appear in this episode, and are even spoken to, but don't say a word. This is the first episode where Prime does not speak in anyway.
* Usually, it's the [[Cliffjumper (G1)|red one]] who sees Spies everywhere.
* Sentinel Prime, the biggest jerk in Transformer history, and Longarm Prime, a double agent, are both high ranking members of the Elite Guard, while Optimus Prime, a true hero, is a washout and space bridge repairer. Either Optimus Prime did one major screw-up, or Ultra Magnus is the single worst judge of character ''ever''.
*On the other hand, if names get assigned by drill sergeants, you have to wonder exactly what levels Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] stooped to in order to get those names...
*One has to wonder exactly what horrors the Autobots visit on their prisoners to turn Wasp, - a sane, slightly aloof bot - into, well, [[Waspinator]]...
*Lugnut is not shown, but is briefly heard saying "Megatron will speak to you now." when Megatron is contacted by Shockwave in the flashback, ten minutes into the episode.
*Shockwave's power is referred to as size altering. This might be the reason why his Longarm alias has his power, although it has yet to reveal whether or not he is able to control where the size is changed, or merely a power integrated into his Longarm robot mode, akin to [[Punch/Counterpunch]].
*In the flashbacks, Sentinel behaves like a stereotypical drill sergeant.
{{epstub}}

[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Fred Willard

2008-06-02T00:35:31Z

BackLash:

[[Image:FWillard.jpg|right|230px|thumb|]]

'''Fred Willard''' (born September 18, 1939) is an American comedic actor. He first attained fame as lunkheaded straight man Jerry Hubbard on the '70s talk show spoof ''Fernwood 2 Night'', and has played a number of recurring roles on sitcoms, including ''Roseanne'', ''Mad About You'', and ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. On film, he has appeared in ''Anchorman'', ''American Wedding'', and all of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, including ''This is Spinal Tap'', ''Best in Show'', and ''A Mighty Wind''. He's also a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''.

In the realm of voice acting, Willard has made memorable appearances on ''Kim Possible'', ''King of the Hill'', and ''Grim and Evil''.

==Voice roles==
===Transformers Animated===
* [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]]

==External links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0929609/ Fred Willard at the Internet Movie Database]
{{-}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Fred}}
[[Category: Voice actors]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

File:FWillard.jpg

2008-06-02T00:33:44Z

BackLash: uploaded a new version of "Image:FWillard.jpg"

<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

File:FWillard.jpg

2008-06-02T00:23:27Z

BackLash:

<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy

2008-06-01T11:37:40Z

BackLash: /* Miscellaneous trivia */

[[Image:SUV-SocietyofUltimateVillainy-TitleCard.jpg|thumb|300px|]]
{{picsneeded}}
{{episodenav|animated|24|season=2|prev=A Fistful of Energon|next=Autoboot Camp}}

'''Aided by a mysterious benefactor, Detroit's B-level villains team up to take down the Autobots once and for all.'''

==Summary==

[[Nanosec]] is on the loose again, and leading the [[Autobot]]s for a merry chase. As they pursue him, they wonder how and why he's young again. As they're no closer to catching him, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] instructs [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] to head off down a side street and come back around to cut off his escape. Bumblebee disregards this order, reasoning that he's the "star player" and is more than fast enough to get Nanosec on his own. As he speeds up, a mysterious force hits him and stops him in his tracks, which leaves the other Autobots no room to react. Nanosec escapes, and before Bumblebee can snap out of it the Autobots crash into him. Optimus Prime expresses his disappointment in the little yellow one, and orders him back to base so that [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] can run a diagnostic on his drivetrain.

Bumblebee ignores this order as well, resolving to find Nanosec again to prove to Optimus that he isn't malfunctioning. His search proves fruitless until [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] discovers that due to his scanning of [[Captain Fanzone]]'s car, Bumblebee has a built in police scanner. Hearing a report of a robbery in progress, he reasons it's Nanosec and heads over. He's wrong though, as it turns out to be the [[Angry Archer]]. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decides to capture the ''other'' villain. Again, he is about to pursue when mysterious blue energy skids him to a halt. Sari urges him to have Ratchet check him out, but he still believes it's nothing serious. A third and final crime scene turns out to be [[Professor Princess]] trying to level a video arcade. Yet again he is stopped by the blue energy, and since it affects him in his robot mode he finally admits he has a problem. However Sari notices that her key reacts when the energy lashes out, and surmises that an AllSpark fragment may be at fault. As she deduces this, a shady figure on a rooftop skulks off.

Soon that same figure meets with the other three villains at her lair, introducing herself as [[Slo-Mo]]. She reveals that she has aided each of them on their respective heists recently, due to her timepiece which can disable machines, even Transformers. She and Nanosec hit it off immediately, due in no small part to the fact that her time-based superpowers are what restored him to the prime of youth. She proposes to all of them that they make a great team, and should form a crime syndicate. Professor Princess protests that she is not a criminal, but is quickly convinced.

Soon, news reports are everywhere regarding the new crime wave and its perpetrators. Bumblebee is quite frustrated at being repeatedly thwarted by Slo-Mo, but is soon hopeful as he hears a burglar alarm. This time the criminals have bitten off more than they can chew, having loaded themselves down with too much loot. They try to escape and are initially successful, stopping Bumblebee. However the cops soon have them surrounded without any getaway car. Slo-Mo receives a call on her watch phone, and gets an offer from an anonymous benefactor. [[Image:SUV.jpg|thumb|right|Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!]]Taking the deal, the gang pile into a garish yellow Hummer and peel out. The police in hot pursuit, their patron speaks through the vehicle's console and tells them he's a big fan of their weird, wacky adventures. He says to consider the Hummer a down payment on what he hopes will be a beautiful business relationship. Slo-Mo seems less than impressed, as she considers herself the leader of the cartel, and it's just a truck. The voice then tells her to press the red button. A humongous turret rises from the back of the Hummer, blasting the police to smithereens. Having gotten their attention, their newfound benefactor mentions a scheme of heists that should make them all fabulously rich, as they will be stealing components to a weapon they can sell on the open market.

Definitely interested, the gang heads to a Sumdac Systems factory. Angry Archer attempts to blast the lock open with an explosive arrow, but Professor Princess announces that she has defused all of his because she disapproves of violence... unless it is really colorful and pretty. Gleefully blasting an even ''bigger'' hole in the fence, she leads them in. The voice instructs them on what to steal, which is quickly rounded up by Nanosec while Slo-Mo takes care of the police robots. Bumblebee and Sari spot them and speculate on what they're up to based off of the items they stole, but hang back as they realize they'll never catch the crooks if they get blasted by Slo-Mo again. Shadowing the cartel from a safe distance, they follow them to the roof of a parking garage. The gang's unseen patron instructs them on how to assemble the device in spite of their skepticism. Archer and Nanosec ask the purpose of the device and how it's going to make them money. The voice explains that it's ultimately useless without the final piece: Slo-Mo's superpowered timepiece. The crazy doll refuses to give up her superpowers, which angers her benefactor, revealing himself to ''be'' their getaway vehicle, the Decepticon [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]].

Swindle makes it clear to them that he isn't about to take "no" for an answer, and he isn't above using his multitude of weapons systems against the puny fleshlings either. Blasting the floor out from under her cohorts, he squares off against Slo-Mo. She's initially confident that her timepiece would take care of him, but a useful purchase from the Vok proves more than enough to deflect it. Bumblebee races to intervene, but the debilitating blasts ricocheting off of Swindle's force field means he can't get near the battle. Realizing he's in over his head, with much harangueing from Sari, he calls in Optimus and the other Autobots. Leveling his main cannon at Slo-Mo, Swindle is reminded by the dame that if he blasts her, he risks destroying her watch as well. Feeling a bit silly, the Decepticon recovers quickly and reveals he could simply take it using his integrated tractor beam. The MacGuffin retrieved, he then blasts the floor out from under ''her'' too.

Slipping the timepiece into its intended slot in the device, Swindle quickly dials up his favorite warmonger, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Expressing how glad he is that the old despot was still functional (and looking well), he brags about a weapon that would easily turn the tide against the Autobots and consign them to a fate worse than being offlined. Though his interest is piqued, Megatron is nonetheless dubious as to whether Swindle could pull it off. The arms dealer proves only too eager to show off the many merits of his wondrous new invention, and pulls a "But wait, that's not all!" that succeeds in blacking out every mechanical device in Detroit... even the Autobots!

Both Bumblebee and the Autobots speeding to the scene are left frozen, unable to move or talk, but aware of their surroundings. Sari notices however that [[Sumdac Tower]] is still powered up, and deduces that its emergency forcefield kicked in, protecting it from the device as long as the emergency generators held. Unfortunately, being a little girl, Sari has no real chance of dragging Bumblebee to the safety of the tower. She receives aid from an unexpected source, the spurned cartel who want to even the score with Swindle. Aiding her in transporting Bumblebee, they watch as she uses her key to gain access to the tower, only to see to her dismay that the receptionist had been reprogrammed to announce that it was [[Porter C. Powell|Powell Tower]]. Once within the shield, both Bumblebee and Powdered Sugar are quickly revived, and Sari is able to use her key to jury-rig personal force fields for both the Autobot and his new, reluctantly-accepted team of villainous backup.

Though Swindle proves quite ready for the big payback, the villains manage to buy enough time for Bumblebee to sucker-punch the Decepticon with his stingers, whilst Sari deactivates the device with her key. Slo-Mo attempts to retrieve her timepiece and a scuffle ensues, resulting in it falling over the ledge and directly into Swindle's hands. All seems lost, but the rest of the Autobots arrive on the scene. Swindle is about to turn the timepiece upon Bumblebee's backup. The little yellow Autobot charges in and lets his forcefield deflect the Decepticon's shot, paralyzing Swindle. Optimus Prime once again scolds the young hot shot, but Bumblebee gloats, shooting out Swindle's tires. Meanwhile the villains, showing ''why'' they're B-grade, attempt to escape in Swindle only to be apprehended by the timely arrival of Captain Fanzone and the police. Fanzone notes that Swindle will be stripped at a police impound lot and sold for parts. He seems quite confident that the police department will get their Christmas bonus checks this year.

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Dean Stefan]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Irineo Maramba]], [[Ciro Nieli]], & [[Shunji Oga]]
*'''Original airdate:''' May 31, 2008

===Featured characters===

(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s

! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |

*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |

*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (10)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |

*[[Nanosec]] (1)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Angry Archer]] (7)
*[[Professor Princess]] (8)
*[[Slo-Mo]] (9)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (13)

|}

==Quotes==

"An Autobot. Verily, the arrows of outrageous misfortune seek to pierce me to the quick. ''Exeunt!''"
:{{m-}}'''Angry Archer'''. Yon criminal maketh his escape...or something.

"Explosions aren't nice.... except when they look like ''BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!''"
:{{m-}}'''Professor Princess''', ever the fashion plate.

"Ooh, I like a man who works fast!" 
"And I like a girl who takes it slow."
:{{m-}}'''Slo-Mo''' and '''Nanosec''' go over the target audience's heads. Hopefully.

"Negatronic force field emitter. A little something I picked up in an arms deal with the Vok of Nexus Zero. Nice creatures, the Vok. If you're ever in the Nexus Zero area, do yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be sorry."
:{{m-}}'''Swindle''' thinks the Vok are quite nice. It probably helps if they're not [[Planet Buster|destroying your planet]].

"Welcome to Sumdac Tower. Porter C. Powell is a booger-head."
:{{m-}}'''Receptionist-Bot''' calls it like it is...with a little help from Sari Sumdac.

'''Optimus''': You should have called us sooner. If that weapon had gotten into Megatron's hands{{m-}} 
'''Bumblebee''': I know. I guess I just wanted to prove that I still had my touch. 
'''Ratchet''': Well, I hope you learned something about team work. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh yeah. Even the star player needs backup sometimes. 
:{{m-}}Bumblebee learns the value of teamwork. Humility? Not so much...

==Other notes==

===Continuity errors===
* Nanosec's mugshot should either had a long beard, as he was [[Nanosec (episode)|apprehended]] right after Bumblebee had ran him into old age, or outside his costume, as he was also apprehended ''before'' he became a super-speedster.

* It was shown throughout the episode that the watch's slowdown effect was only temporary. It only gained the ability to "freeze" its targets permanently when it was put into Swindle's machine. Yet later, Swindle is frozen "permanently" by a reflected blast from just the watch itself. Maybe it was holding a last full charged shot?

* Swindle is all impressed by Vok forcefield technology, but apparently forcefields designed by [[Isaac Sumdac]] are just as powerful. Though Sumdac did steal all his technology from Megatron; perhaps a deal with the Vok was just (much, ''much, MUCH'') safer for Swindle.

* Either the S.U.V. team knew Swindle was time blocked and they should have know it wouldn't move, or they didn't notice it and where ready to ride within the Decepticon that tried to kill them 5 minutes ago. So what was their plan exactly?

===Transformers references===
* The final numbers on the cards the villains hold up in their mugshots correspond to the episodes in which they first appeared.

* Swindle mentions having dealings with the [[Vok]] on [[Nexus Zero]].

* Swindle mentions that he got Megatron's frequency from a "mutual bounty-hunting friend" in exchange for new weaponry. Gee, I wonder who [[Lockdown|THAT]] could be?

* Fanzone mentions Swindle will be stripped and sold as parts. [[B.O.T. (episode)|How ironic]]...

===Real-world references===
* Nanosec and the Archer's team name suggestions of "The Fast and the Villainous" and "The League of Extraordinary Criminals" are references to ''[[Wikipedia:The Fast and the Furious|The Fast and the Furious]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', respectively.

* Nanosec calls the Archer "William Smell", referencing legendary Swiss archer [[Wikipedia:William Tell|William Tell]].

* Nanosec says he is "tanned, rested, and ready," which was a slogan attached to a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DB103DF932A25754C0A961948260 fake 1988 presidential campaign] for Richard Nixon.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* This episode was first shown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It made its English language debut in Canada, one week before its American debut.

* This episode has the most "guest" voice actors yet, at three: [[Brian Posehn]] (Nanosec), [[Kath Soucie]] (Professor Princess), and [[Fred Willard]] (Swindle).

* Bulkhead appears, but has no dialogue.

* Bumblebee's stingers actually knock Swindle down{{m-}}the first time in the entire series that this weapon hasn't just bounced ineffectually off a Decepticon's hide. Maybe Swindle should trade off some of his weapons for a little more armor.

* When Professor Princess falls butt-first on Nanosec's face, there's an odd squishy sound, followed by her looking very surprised. If this isn't a case of cartoon sound-effects gone wrong, or that fall REALLY scared her.

* In the end, Swindle is trapped in a state that Bumblebee could stand being in for less than an hour, ''forever'', and the Autobots don't seem to object to him being ripped apart and sold for spare parts. That seems a ''tad'' excessive.

* Bumblebee and Sari discover that he has a built-in police scanner, which makes sense since Bumblebee scanned Captain Fanzone's car for his vehicle mode.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suv: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Anatomic euphemism

2008-06-01T10:39:27Z

BackLash: /* Diode */

Because most Transformers fiction is aimed at kids, and most Transformers don't have organic squishy bits, the fiction has introduced a lot of '''anatomic euphemisms''' for assorted bits of human anatomy, especially the one you sit on. Most are real mechanical or electronic terms, and also presumably real parts of [[:Category: Transformer anatomy| Transformer anatomy]]. A few are ''also'' the ''names'' of Transformers. Presumably, this is akin to being named [[Wikipedia:Dick Clark|Dick Clark]] or [[Wikipedia:Alfred Mosher Butts|Alfred Butts]].

==Actuator==
"Blow it out your actuator, [[Blitzwing (Animated)|three-face]]."
:{{m-}}'''[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]],''' "[[Transform and Roll Out!]]", ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]''

==Afterburner==
"Now, let's kick afterburners!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]],''' "[[Aerial Assault]]", [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]

"Say uncle, or I'll shove your nose in your afterburner!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]],''' "[[City of Steel]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"Kiss your afterburners goodbye, [[Decepticon]] slime!!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Spike Witwicky]],''' "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]", Generation 1 cartoon

''See also [[Afterburner (G1)]], [[Afterburner (G2)]].''

==Bearing==
"[[Dinobot (BW)|This guy's]] got bearings of chrome steel."
:{{m-}}'''Rhinox,''' "[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]", ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''

==Boron compressor==
"We were brilliant in battle, Megatron. The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] overwhelmed us with sheer brute force!" 
"Brilliant, my boron compressor!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]]''' and '''[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]],''' "[[War of the Dinobots]]", Generation 1 cartoon

==Command module==
"Stick it in your command module, [[Tarantulas|eight-eyes]]."
:{{m-}}'''[[Rattrap]],''' "[[Power Surge]]", ''Beast Wars''

==Crankcase==
"Sorry about yankin' your crankcase."
:—'''[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]''', "[[Total Meltdown]]", ''Transformers Animated''

''See also [[Crankcase]].''

==Diode==
"Aw, go ding your diodes and get defunct, Megatron. I'm not helping you do zilch."
:{{m-}}'''[[Gears]],''' "[[Changing Gears]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"Me Grimlock here again, Optimus Prime, to pull your diodes out of laser fire."
:{{m-}}'''[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]],''' "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"[[Lord Chumley|Chumley]], you're one royal pain in the diode."
:{{m-}}'''[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]],''' "[[Prime Target]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"I'll rip you to pieces with my ''bare claws,'' tear out your [[circuits]] with my ''teeth,'' and spit your diodes ''back'' at you!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]''' (hopefully using a different definition of "diodes") to [[Unicron]], "[[On the Edge of Extinction!]]", [[Generation 1 (Marvel Comics)|Generation 1 Marvel comic]]

==Drivetrain==
"Alright we're heading back to the plant. I'll alert Ratchet, he's got some repairs to do. Including a full diagnostic on your drivetrain."
:—'''[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]''', "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Exhaust port==
"Tell Megatron to blow it out his exhaust port. We're having a demolition derby."
:{{m-}}'''[[Drag Strip]]''' mouthing off, "[[Starscream's Brigade]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"Have [[Bumblebee (Animated)|you]] got your processor up your exhaust port?"
:—'''[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]],''' "[[Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Fan belt==
"[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]]! [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]]! Get your fan belts in gear!"
:—'''[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]],''' "[[Along Came a Spider]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Gearbox==
"What's with you two? ''[Gestures toward pants area.]'' Is my gearbox hangin' out or somethin'?"
:{{m-}}'''Rattrap,''' "[[Aftermath]]", ''Beast Wars''

==Hard drive==
"So, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], take your order, ''and'' your condescending attitude, and stick 'em in your hard drive! You're on ''my'' turf now!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]],''' "The Elite Guard", ''Transformers Animated''

==Lugnuts==
"The other equipment has been salvaged, but you took the [[Vok|alien]] [[Transmetal driver]]. Where is it?" 
"Gone. Ain't that a kick in the lugnuts?" 
:{{m-}}'''[[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]''' and '''[[Depth Charge]]''', "[[Feral Scream Part 2]]", ''Beast Wars''

''See also [[Lugnut]], [[Lugnutz]].''

==Magna fuses==
"Kiss your magna fuses goodbye, [[Autobot]]s!"
:{{m-}}'''Megatron,''' "[[Fire on the Mountain]]", Generation 1 cartoon

==Manifold==
"I've got a plan, if all of you have the cast-iron manifolds for it."
:{{m-}}'''[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]],''' "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"I don't like the idea of Megatron getting the [[antimatter]] formula. He can't be trusted!" 
"Sure can't, manifold-mouth!"
:{{m-}}'''Starscream''' and '''[[Bluestreak]],''' "[[Roll For It]]", Generation 1 cartoon

==Reactor linkage==
"I repeat, Decepticons{{m-}}surrender, or face the consequences!" 
"Yeah, and we repeat{{m-}}''go stuff it up your reactor linkage!''"
:{{m-}}'''Optimus Prime''' and '''[[Tailwind]],''' "[[The Resurrection Gambit!]]", Generation 1 Marvel comic

==Skidplate==
"Yeah? And you can [[kiss]] my skidplate, [[Optimus Primal|fearless leader]]."
:{{m-}}'''Rattrap,'''<ref>We sure do get a lot of these from Rattrap, don't we?</ref> "[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]", ''Beast Wars''

"You know me, I can't resist the upgrades." 
"And you know me, Masterson. I can't resist kicking your skidplate!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]]''' and '''Optimus Prime,''' "[[The Return of the Headmaster]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Solenoid==
"That's 'cause we kicked their sorry solenoids!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]],''' "The Elite Guard", ''Transformers Animated''

"The [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] has done nothing but bust our solenoids since they got here!"
:{{m-}}'''Bumblebee,''' "[[Mission Accomplished]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Tailpipe==
"Now they've got their tailpipes between their legs!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Bombshell]],''' "[[Quest for Survival]]", Generation 1 cartoon

"Hey, if [[Silverbolt (BW)|you]] took that broomstick out of your tailpipe every once in a while, you might have some ''fun'' for a change!"
:{{m-}}'''Rattrap,''' "[[The Agenda (Part 1)]]", ''Beast Wars''

"Whoa! What crawled up ''[[Ratchet (Animated)|your]]'' tailpipe?"
:{{m-}}'''Bumblebee,''' "[[The Thrill of the Hunt]]", ''Transformers Animated''

==Transistor==
"If you guys don't give me my circuit back, I'm gonna start kickin' transistor!"
:{{m-}}'''Gears,''' "Changing Gears", Generation 1 cartoon

"We are in deep transistor parts!"
:{{m-}}'''[[Skyfire (G1)|Skyfire]],''' "[[Day of the Machines]]", Generation 1 cartoon

==Turbocharger==
"I'm goin', too. I'm gonna boot some Decepticon right in his turbocharger."
:{{m-}}'''[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]],''' "[[More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", Generation 1 cartoon

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category: Curses]]
[[Category: Transformer anatomy]]
[[Category: Transformer culture]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy

2008-06-01T09:59:54Z

BackLash:

[[Image:SUV-SocietyofUltimateVillainy-TitleCard.jpg|thumb|300px|]]
{{picsneeded}}
{{episodenav|animated|24|season=2|prev=A Fistful of Energon|next=Autoboot Camp}}

'''Aided by a mysterious benefactor, Detroit's B-level villains team up to take down the Autobots once and for all.'''

==Summary==

[[Nanosec]] is on the loose again, and leading the [[Autobot]]s for a merry chase. As they pursue him, they wonder how and why he's young again. As they're no closer to catching him, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] instructs [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] to head off down a side street and come back around to cut off his escape. Bumblebee disregards this order, reasoning that he's the "star player" and is more than fast enough to get Nanosec on his own. As he speeds up, a mysterious force hits him and stops him in his tracks, which leaves the other Autobots no room to react. Nanosec escapes, and before Bumblebee can snap out of it the Autobots crash into him. Optimus Prime expresses his disappointment in the little yellow one, and orders him back to base so that [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] can run a diagnostic on his drivetrain.

Bumblebee ignores this order as well, resolving to find Nanosec again to prove to Optimus that he isn't malfunctioning. His search proves fruitless until [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] discovers that due to his scanning of [[Captain Fanzone]]'s car, Bumblebee has a built in police scanner. Hearing a report of a robbery in progress, he reasons it's Nanosec and heads over. He's wrong though, as it turns out to be the [[Angry Archer]]. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decides to capture the ''other'' villain. Again, he is about to pursue when mysterious blue energy skids him to a halt. Sari urges him to have Ratchet check him out, but he still believes it's nothing serious. A third and final crime scene turns out to be [[Professor Princess]] trying to level a video arcade. Yet again he is stopped by the blue energy, and since it affects him in his robot mode he finally admits he has a problem. However Sari notices that her key reacts when the energy lashes out, and surmises that an AllSpark fragment may be at fault. As she deduces this, a shady figure on a rooftop skulks off.

Soon that same figure meets with the other three villains at her lair, introducing herself as [[Slo-Mo]]. She reveals that she has aided each of them on their respective heists recently, due to her timepiece which can disable machines, even Transformers. She and Nanosec hit it off immediately, due in no small part to the fact that her time-based superpowers are what restored him to the prime of youth. She proposes to all of them that they make a great team, and should form a crime syndicate. Professor Princess protests that she is not a criminal, but is quickly convinced.

Soon, news reports are everywhere regarding the new crime wave and its perpetrators. Bumblebee is quite frustrated at being repeatedly thwarted by Slo-Mo, but is soon hopeful as he hears a burglar alarm. This time the criminals have bitten off more than they can chew, having loaded themselves down with too much loot. They try to escape and are initially successful, stopping Bumblebee. However the cops soon have them surrounded without any getaway car. Slo-Mo receives a call on her watch phone, and gets an offer from an anonymous benefactor. [[Image:SUV.jpg|thumb|right|Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!]]Taking the deal, the gang pile into a garish yellow Hummer and peel out. The police in hot pursuit, their patron speaks through the vehicle's console and tells them he's a big fan of their weird, wacky adventures. He says to consider the Hummer a down payment on what he hopes will be a beautiful business relationship. Slo-Mo seems less than impressed, as she considers herself the leader of the cartel, and it's just a truck. The voice then tells her to press the red button. A humongous turret rises from the back of the Hummer, blasting the police to smithereens. Having gotten their attention, their newfound benefactor mentions a scheme of heists that should make them all fabulously rich, as they will be stealing components to a weapon they can sell on the open market.

Definitely interested, the gang heads to a Sumdac Systems factory. Angry Archer attempts to blast the lock open with an explosive arrow, but Professor Princess announces that she has defused all of his because she disapproves of violence... unless it is really colorful and pretty. Gleefully blasting an even ''bigger'' hole in the fence, she leads them in. The voice instructs them on what to steal, which is quickly rounded up by Nanosec while Slo-Mo takes care of the police robots. Bumblebee and Sari spot them and speculate on what they're up to based off of the items they stole, but hang back as they realize they'll never catch the crooks if they get blasted by Slo-Mo again. Shadowing the cartel from a safe distance, they follow them to the roof of a parking garage. The gang's unseen patron instructs them on how to assemble the device in spite of their skepticism. Archer and Nanosec ask the purpose of the device and how it's going to make them money. The voice explains that it's ultimately useless without the final piece: Slo-Mo's superpowered timepiece. The crazy doll refuses to give up her superpowers, which angers her benefactor, revealing himself to ''be'' their getaway vehicle, the Decepticon [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]].

Swindle makes it clear to them that he isn't about to take "no" for an answer, and he isn't above using his multitude of weapons systems against the puny fleshlings either. Blasting the floor out from under her cohorts, he squares off against Slo-Mo. She's initially confident that her timepiece would take care of him, but a useful purchase from the Vok proves more than enough to deflect it. Bumblebee races to intervene, but the debilitating blasts ricocheting off of Swindle's force field means he can't get near the battle. Realizing he's in over his head, with much harangueing from Sari, he calls in Optimus and the other Autobots. Leveling his main cannon at Slo-Mo, Swindle is reminded by the dame that if he blasts her, he risks destroying her watch as well. Feeling a bit silly, the Decepticon recovers quickly and reveals he could simply take it using his integrated tractor beam. The MacGuffin retrieved, he then blasts the floor out from under ''her'' too.

Slipping the timepiece into its intended slot in the device, Swindle quickly dials up his favorite warmonger, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Expressing how glad he is that the old despot was still functional (and looking well), he brags about a weapon that would easily turn the tide against the Autobots and consign them to a fate worse than being offlined. Though his interest is piqued, Megatron is nonetheless dubious as to whether Swindle could pull it off. The arms dealer proves only too eager to show off the many merits of his wondrous new invention, and pulls a "But wait, that's not all!" that succeeds in blacking out every mechanical device in Detroit... even the Autobots!

Both Bumblebee and the Autobots speeding to the scene are left frozen, unable to move or talk, but aware of their surroundings. Sari notices however that [[Sumdac Tower]] is still powered up, and deduces that its emergency forcefield kicked in, protecting it from the device as long as the emergency generators held. Unfortunately, being a little girl, Sari has no real chance of dragging Bumblebee to the safety of the tower. She receives aid from an unexpected source, the spurned cartel who want to even the score with Swindle. Aiding her in transporting Bumblebee, they watch as she uses her key to gain access to the tower, only to see to her dismay that the receptionist had been reprogrammed to announce that it was [[Porter C. Powell|Powell Tower]]. Once within the shield, both Bumblebee and Powdered Sugar are quickly revived, and Sari is able to use her key to jury-rig personal force fields for both the Autobot and his new, reluctantly-accepted team of villainous backup.

Though Swindle proves quite ready for the big payback, the villains manage to buy enough time for Bumblebee to sucker-punch the Decepticon with his stingers, whilst Sari deactivates the device with her key. Slo-Mo attempts to retrieve her timepiece and a scuffle ensues, resulting in it falling over the ledge and directly into Swindle's hands. All seems lost, but the rest of the Autobots arrive on the scene. Swindle is about to turn the timepiece upon Bumblebee's backup. The little yellow Autobot charges in and lets his forcefield deflect the Decepticon's shot, paralyzing Swindle. Optimus Prime once again scolds the young hot shot, but Bumblebee gloats, shooting out Swindle's tires. Meanwhile the villains, showing ''why'' they're B-grade, attempt to escape in Swindle only to be apprehended by the timely arrival of Captain Fanzone and the police. Fanzone notes that Swindle will be stripped at a police impound lot and sold for parts. He seems quite confident that the police department will get their Christmas bonus checks this year.

==Stats==

*'''Written by:''' [[Dean Stefan]]
*'''Directed by:''' [[Irineo Maramba]], [[Ciro Nieli]], & [[Shunji Oga]]
*'''Original airdate:''' May 31, 2008

===Featured characters===

(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)''
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"

! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobot]]s
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticon]]s

! style="background:antiquewhite" | [[Human]]s
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |

*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |

*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (10)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

| style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top" |

*[[Nanosec]] (1)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Angry Archer]] (7)
*[[Professor Princess]] (8)
*[[Slo-Mo]] (9)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (13)

|}

==Quotes==

"An Autobot. Verily, the arrows of outrageous misfortune seek to pierce me to the quick. ''Exeunt!''"
:{{m-}}'''Angry Archer'''. Yon criminal maketh his escape...or something.

"Explosions aren't nice.... except when they look like ''BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!''"
:{{m-}}'''Professor Princess''', ever the fashion plate.

"Ooh, I like a man who works fast!" 
"And I like a girl who takes it slow."
:{{m-}}'''Slo-Mo''' and '''Nanosec''' go over the target audience's heads. Hopefully.

"Negatronic force field emitter. A little something I picked up in an arms deal with the Vok of Nexus Zero. Nice creatures, the Vok. If you're ever in the Nexus Zero area, do yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be sorry."
:{{m-}}'''Swindle''' thinks the Vok are quite nice. It probably helps if they're not [[Planet Buster|destroying your planet]].

"Welcome to Sumdac Tower. Porter C. Powell is a booger-head."
:{{m-}}'''Receptionist-Bot''' calls it like it is...with a little help from Sari Sumdac.

'''Optimus''': You should have called us sooner. If that weapon had gotten into Megatron's hands{{m-}} 
'''Bumblebee''': I know. I guess I just wanted to prove that I still had my touch. 
'''Ratchet''': Well, I hope you learned something about team work. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh yeah. Even the star player needs backup sometimes. 
:{{m-}}Bumblebee learns the value of teamwork. Humility? Not so much...

==Other notes==

===Continuity errors===
* Nanosec's mugshot should either had a long beard, as he was [[Nanosec (episode)|apprehended]] right after Bumblebee had ran him into old age, or outside his costume, as he was also apprehended ''before'' he became a super-speedster.

* It was shown throughout the episode that the watch's slowdown effect was only temporary. It only gained the ability to "freeze" its targets permanently when it was put into Swindle's machine. Yet later, Swindle is frozen "permanently" by a reflected blast from just the watch itself.

* Swindle is all impressed by Vok forcefield technology, but apparently forcefields designed by [[Isaac Sumdac]] are just as powerful. Though Sumdac did steal all his technology from Megatron; perhaps a deal with the Vok was just (much, ''much, MUCH'') safer for Swindle.

===Transformers references===
* Swindle mentions having dealings with the [[Vok]] on [[Nexus Zero]].

* Swindle mentions that he got Megatron's frequency from a "mutual bounty-hunting friend" in exchange for new weaponry. Gee, I wonder who [[Lockdown|THAT]] could be?

* Fanzone mentions Swindle will be stripped and sold as parts. [[B.O.T. (episode)|How ironic]]...

===Real-world references===
* Nanosec and the Archer's team name suggestions of "The Fast and the Villainous" and "The League of Extraordinary Criminals" are references to ''[[Wikipedia:The Fast and the Furious|The Fast and the Furious]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', respectively.

* Nanosec calls the Archer "William Smell", referencing legendary Swiss archer [[Wikipedia:William Tell|William Tell]].

* Nanosec says he is "tanned, rested, and ready," which was a slogan attached to a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DB103DF932A25754C0A961948260 fake 1988 presidential campaign] for Richard Nixon.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
* This episode was first shown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It made its English language debut in Canada, one week before its American debut.

* This episode has the most "guest" voice actors yet, at three: [[Brian Posehn]] (Nanosec), [[Kath Soucie]] (Professor Princess), and [[Fred Willard]] (Swindle).

* Bulkhead appears, but has no dialogue.

* The Vok reference is also the first indication that there are other aliens besides the Cybertronians out there in the ''Animated'' universe.

* Bumblebee's stingers actually knock Swindle down{{m-}}the first time in the entire series that this weapon hasn't just bounced ineffectually off a Decepticon's hide. Maybe Swindle should trade off some of his weapons for a little more armor.

* When Professor Princess falls butt-first on Nanosec's face, there's an odd squishy sound, followed by her looking very surprised. If this isn't a case of cartoon sound-effects gone wrong, or that fall REALLY scared her.

* In the end, Swindle is trapped in a state that Bumblebee could stand being in for less than an hour, ''forever'', and the Autobots don't seem to object to him being ripped apart and sold for spare parts. That seems a ''tad'' excessive.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suv: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Society of Ultimate Villainy

2008-05-31T23:42:29Z

BackLash:

{{disambig3|SUV}}
:''The Society of Ultimate Villainy is a group from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

The '''Society of Ultimate Villainy''' (abbreviated as '''SUV''') is a group of supervillains, led by the gangster mol [[Slo-Mo]], and who briefly worked with [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]]. Other members included [[Nanosec]] the [[Angry Archer]] and [[Professor Princess]].

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
{{stub}}

[[Category: Animated]]
[[Category: Factions]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Society of Ultimate Villainy

2008-05-31T23:42:16Z

BackLash:

{{disambig3|SUV}}
:''The Society of Ultimate Villainy is a group from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

The '''Society of Ultimate Villainy''' (abbreviated as '''SUV''') is a group of supervillains, led by the gangster mol [[Slo-Mo]], and who briefly worked with [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]]. Other members included [[Nanosec]] the [[Angry Archer]] and [[Professor Princess]]

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
{{stub}}

[[Category: Animated]]
[[Category: Factions]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Swindle (Animated)

2008-05-31T23:41:09Z

BackLash: /* Animated cartoon */

{{disambig3|Swindle}}
:''Swindle is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''
[[Image:AniSwindle.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Swindle: the Decepticons very own Heather Mills.]]
Quick, hide the silver! An entrepreneur with few equals, the smooth-talking '''Swindle''' is always ready to make a deal. Trading extensively with many alien races and loaded down with their respective technologies, his goods are highly useful to interstellar warlords, bounty hunters, and many, many others. Though nominally a Decepticon, he just views the Cybertronian civil war as yet another business opportunity, one which has kept him living posh for centuries and could be great for his bottom line again now that it's starting back up.

{{quote|Scruples? You'd sell your own motherboard to the highest bidder.|[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] on Swindle|"[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Fred Willard]] (English)

{{Spoiler|S.U.V.: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
Swindle found out about the situation on Earth after a little business transaction with [[Lockdown|a certain bounty hunter.]] Upon his arrival, he made a deal with the newly formed [[Society of Ultimate Villainy]] ; they steal components he needs, and he will give them monetary compensation. He set the arrangement up anonymously, communicating with them through the radio in their new getaway vehicle. When they had stolen the parts, he had them construct into a generator. Sadly, the deal went sour when he asked [[Slo-Mo]] to hand over her AllSpark powered time piece. She refused, and he let them in on his little secret; he was the getaway vehicle. He dispatched most of the SUV and used his forcefield (acquired in a deal with a race known as the Vok from Nexus Zero, nice folks) to protect himself from Slow-Mo's watch. He took it from her, and contacted his old client [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. After a few pleasantries, he demonstrated the generators ability to freeze everything mechanical in Detroit, including the Autobots. Unfortunately, before the deal could go through, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|a shielded Autobot]] and the SUV burst in, and managed to knock him over the side of the parking block he had stationed himself on. While he managed to reacquire watch, he was frozen in his vehicle mode when a blast ricocheted of off the Autobot's shield. He was last seen being towed [[Captain Fanzone|by the police]], who promised to strip him down and sell him at a police auction. The irony probably wasn't lost on him. {{storylink|S.U.V.: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
*'''Swindle''' (Deluxe, 2008)

: Swindle transforms into an armored Humvee-styled vehicle with roof-mounted cannon. This cannon mounts on his right arm in robot mode.
{{-}}
{{comingsoontoy}}

==Trivia==
* Swindle's design is quite heavily influenced by his [[Swindle (G1)|Generation 1 namesake]]'s animation [[character model]], from the "squarehead" with large purple optics to the windshield-chest with grill-stomach to the right-arm-mounted cannon. As a result, Swindle is the first and currently only Decepticon to not have red eyes.

* He has a [[Wikipedia:bolo tie|bolo tie]]. That's awesome.

* [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has noted that Swindle's mannerisms are based on [[wikipedia:Ron Popeil|Ron Popeil]]. (Coincidentally enough, [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] has done a song about Popeil...)

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[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>