MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Nightbeat (G1)

2020-10-02T18:33:22Z

Relena Warcraft: /* Legends Nightbeat */

== Previews? ==

Yeah, previews are kosher so long as someone takes some time to parse them in the context of the full issue once it's released.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]] 23:41, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

== Stub? ==

Does this article still qualify as a stub? Aside from a lack of information on the toy it seems to be a pretty in-depth article. --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 00:33, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

== His chest ==

This may be a wild guess but could his chest simply be explained as Floro Dery taking liberties, much like he did when he made Red Alert (alt mode kibble location), Skids (head design), the Combaticons, etc.? --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 08:05, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
:Floro Dery was let go by then, according to Floro Dery. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 08:09, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
::This has been discussed elsewhere, but I might as well bring it up now, but a lot of the later TFU art looks like [[Jose Delbo|Delbo]] to me. It's impossible to tell, without more material to work from, whether this is because he originated it or because he just copied the animation designs to make the TFU art. Regardless, everything else from that era is strictly toy-based. Floro Dery's tinkering was a distant memory. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 08:13, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

== Legends Nightbeat ==

Wouldn't it make more sense for Legends Nightbeat to be under Minerva's page? After all, she -is- an alternate universe version of the former. Could be something of a sub-page like Universe Prime/RID2001 Prime.
[[User:Relena Warcraft|Relena Warcraft]] ([[User talk:Relena Warcraft|talk]]) 14:33, 2 October 2020 (EDT)

Talk:Nightbeat (G1)

2020-10-02T18:32:51Z

Relena Warcraft: /* Legends Nightbeat */ new section

Female Transformer

2015-09-12T21:15:38Z

Relena Warcraft: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{disambig2|female Transformers in general|the [[Autobot]] resistance group led by [[Elita One]]|Female Autobots}}

{{quote|Well, I remember bringing up that question early on with Hasbro, "are any of these female?" And then I think Hasbro's attitude was, 'this is a boy toy. We don't wanna have, you know, girl robots.' So, I said, "OK, just want to clarify that."|[[Bob Budiansky]]|[http://rustingcarcass.yuku.com/topic/954 Rusting Carcass interview]}}

[[File:MCA-Arcee.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Arcee, the most famous female Transformer, poses for the boys. Way to set an example there.]]

Despite being robotic lifeforms with generally non-sexual methods of [[reproduction]], the [[Transformer]] species has almost always been shown to include both male and female gender analogues, at least mentally if not physically.

'''Female Transformers''' were originally depicted as an anomaly, specifically called out as either a thought-to-be-extinct subgroup or simply never existing in the first place. (Thanks, 1980s! Always so sensitive!) But over the course of decades, while they are still comparatively rare, they have increased greatly in numbers, prominence and overall fairness of representation, and are considered an official part of the [[Transformers brand|''Transformers'' brand]] in pretty much every continuity. Nowadays, female Transformers are basically considered a normal part of the Cybertronian population.

There's still a long way to go, since they ARE still pretty dang rare compared to the "guys" and as [[Mairghread Scott]] pointed out, this can inadvertently make any given female Transformer and their stories seem like a comment on real women.<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/71325530812/what-are-your-thoughts-on-the-idw-arcee-origin-that Shotgun Mermaid (Mairghread Scott's tumblr), December 27 2013]: specifically, arguing that IDW Arcee being driven insane by her gender change can imply the women-are-hysterical stereotype "because she is the ONLY women [sic]" in the story, being one of the few female Autobots in G1 at all.</ref> That's part of a ''way'' bigger argument for gender equality in entertainment and society at large that's a bit beyond this wiki's scope to fully explore.

A '''[[List of female Transformers]]''' from all continuities is available.

==Fandom and Terminology==
Almost assuredly as a consequence of their rarity in official fiction and toylines, female Transformers are popular in [[fan fiction]], where the term "'''femme'''" is often used to describe them, with "'''mech'''"<ref>While "femme" obviously is related to the French word for "woman", it's occasionally claimed that the use of "mech" as a name for male Transformers is derived from "mec", the French word for "guy" or "dude". This is probably more coincidence than anything, though.</ref> likewise being applied to "male" Transformers. Both terms have recently appeared in a piece of official fiction: [[Venus (magazine)|Venus]] magazine. This is the first instance "mech" has been used to specifically refer to a male Transformer, whereas the term has been used as a gender-neutral common noun for Transformers in various stories.

Alternative words to denote a female Transformer, all used about twice in canon, include: '''femme-bot''',<ref>"Just imagine all the colony worlds: naive small planetoid femme-bots, unsuspecting targets, Unguarded Energon Reserves..." -[[Buzzsaw (Cybertron)|Buzzsaw]], "[[Force of Habit]]" p4 ([[2008]])</ref> '''fembot''',<ref>[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] refers to [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] as "Ya emasculatin' fembot!" after she cuts the tip from his tail/sword in "[[Nemesis Part 2]]", while ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] wonders in "[[Endgame, Part II]]" what chance he has in flying combat against the [[Lugnut Supreme|Lugnuts Supreme]] if he "couldn't handle [[Slipstream (Animated)|Starscream's fembot clone]]" on [[Endgame, Part I|his test run]].</ref> '''girl-bot'''<ref>"When we take over Cybertron, I'm gonna have a whole harem of girl-bots! Blue ones, red ones..." - [[Overkill (G1)|Overkill]], "The Art of War issue 5"</ref> '''robot dame''',<ref>In [[This Is Why I Hate Machines]] Captain Fanzone refers to Arcee as a "robot dame in a room"</ref> and ''perhaps'' '''robotessa'''.<ref>In "[[Enter the Nightbird]]", "Robotessa" is the word missing from the line "Say good night to your [Robotessa], Megatron!"</ref>

==Appearance==
[[File:LegendsBusinessTrip11-heroladies.jpg|right|thumb|"Of course there's variety! Some of us aren't pink!"]]
[[File:BMStrika.jpg|left|upright=0.95|thumb|Our mechanics assure us this is a woman.]]
The appearance of female Transformers in most continuities would seem to suggest a level of "sexual" dimorphism is present in at least the more humanoid members of the Transformers species (the term sexual is used in a gender-based, rather than physical sense, see the reproduction link above for that whole kettle of robo-fish). In almost all cases female Transformers are portrayed as comparatively more graceful of form, and more rounded and curved in general, than their male counterparts. Often they have a more than passing resemblance to a slender human female made of metal and wearing armor and [[kibble]].

There are exceptions to this rule. Characters with toys could have been bulky and less overtly human-female-like, which was seen in the [[Unicron Trilogy]] series and some latter expansions of the [[The Transformers (franchise)|Generation 1]] series out of Japan, when the characters are often assigned to pre-existing "masculine" toys. Perhaps the best counter-example of this type is [[Strika (BM)|Strika]], who is female yet neither looks nor acts stereotypically feminine at all. This, however, has dropped away in more recent years as toy technology changes. Numerous female characters from the [[Aligned continuity family|Aligned]] and [[Movie (franchise)|Movie]] lines would turn into motorbikes, giving them thinner, daintier dimensions in robot mode. There are some exceptions, most notably the recently introduced [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] and her distinctly boxy shape.

The main real-world reason for all this can be seen from [[IDW Publishing]]'s plans to introduce more women in 2014. Plans were afoot to make two look less visually 'female' and more like "the default Cybertronian design" so readers wouldn't know they were female until their dialogue. That was dropped to make it more visually clear that ''these'' were the female characters.<ref>[http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/02/26/james-roberts-on-idws-transformers-more-that-meets-the-eye/ Women Write About Comics: "James Roberts on IDW’s Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye" 10:00 - 11:21]</ref> Humans are just conditioned to associate certain looks like certain genders. When the ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' dubbers wanted to make a male character into a female one, it's probably not a surprise that they went with [[Override (Cybertron)|the (relatively) sleek racing car]].<ref>[http://www.camphortree.net/tf/tidbits/botcon2005.txt Steve-o Stonebraker's BotCon 2005 Notes, Version 2 at his Transformers site]</ref>

{{--}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
[[File:G1femmes.jpg|upright=2.5|thumb|A bunch of Female Autobots from the G1 toon and Alpha Trion. His pimp cane was removed in post-production.]]
Within this continuity, female Transformers are a rarity, but established to have been around from the species' start. A female named [[Beta (G1)|Beta]] existed back in the slave days under [[Quintesson]] rule, and thus it seems clear females were produced alongside the males as part of the Quintessons' product lines.

No females were explicitly shown to exist among the Decepticon ranks, although the introduction of [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] and implications of an eventual upgrade didn't raise any questions or remarks, suggesting that female Decepticons exist (or that the Decepticons royally don't care about a soldier's gender).

[[The Search for Alpha Trion|27 episodes after Nightbird's appearance]], female Transformers were introduced formally through the [[Female Autobots]]. [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] at various points expresses surprise they aren't extinct, which would seem to imply females were thought to be no longer part of the Cybertronian race. While at the time a decent (though certainly not perfect) explanation for the scarce appearances of female Transformers, it didn't stop more females from showing up in the movie and season 3. Possibly Shockwave's "statement" could be considered as [[retcon]]ned and overwritten, or one of the following explanations applies:
# They were all built/"discovered" after the events of "The Search for Alpha Trion".
# Shockwave constantly calls them Autobots, never Transformers or Cybertronians. It is possible female [[Neutral]]s' (and the aforementioned female [[Decepticon]]s') existence was never thought over... and that none of them changed allegiance any time recently.
# "Female Autobot" is not used as a description, but as the team's name.
# This is the Generation 1 cartoon. You're not watching it for the flawless storytelling.

Females can be seen here and there among the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion tribe]], mostly sharing [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]'s model. [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] has a "[[Nancy|Junkion lady]]" companion according to "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (episode)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]". Just how relationships function in this isolated, media-based Transformers society is unclear, although it's notable that Wreck-Gar and his lady friend "slept" sitting up next to each other on giant thrones between television broadcast cycles. The lady's character model is actually that of a female [[Lithone (species)|Lithone]], another mechanical race, but whether this is meaningful in any way or simple model recycling is uncertain.

In [[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#European Generation 1 fiction|the French dub]] of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (but not in the TV series), both [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] and [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] were referred to as female, with [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] calling Starscream "une imbecile" at one point (French articles are gendered), and Shrapnel referred to as "Mademoiselle". The reason for this gender-switch was never fully explained, though it is possible that Starscream's and Shrapnel's rather high-pitched voices were mistaken for women's voices.
{{-}}

====''Super-God Masterforce''====
[[File:Esmeral-manga.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|This is an official Transformers character. No, really.]]
A female Transformer was created through the introduction of [[Minerva (Masterforce)|Minerva]] to the ranks of the [[Headmaster Junior]]s. The [[transtector]] she was bonded to [[A Battle... and Then...|eventually]] evolved into a being of ''her'' own.

Meanwhile, the [[Godmaster (lifeform)|Godmaster]] [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] existed out of two humans before becoming sapient: husband [[Giga]] and wife [[Mega]]. Despite the double gender, Overlord is regarded a "he".

====''Victory''====
In the manga, [[Decepticon]] females make their first (yet still to this day very rare) appearance in official fiction as [[Esmeral (Victory)|Esmeral]] ([[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deszaras]]'s wife) and [[Lyzack (Victory)|Lyzack]] ([[Leozack]]'s [[Relatives|sister]]). Both show up to show the Autobots just what it is Deszaras and his crew have been fighting for all this time: their poor families back home. This spares the Decepticons' lives in the final battle between the two forces. This certainly casts an odd light on the matter of Transformer [[reproduction]] (and on [[Masumi Kaneda|the manga author]]).

Meanwhile, in the animated series, the [[Micromaster]] [[Holi]] is shown to have a girlfriend on the planet [[Micro]], [[Clipper (Victory)|Clipper]].

====''Operation Combination''====
''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination (franchise)|Operation Combination]]'' introduced a total of 24 Micromasters, none of which got a [[bio]]. Ten years later, ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster|Micromaster]]'' did provide them, and the Micromasters [[Windy (OC)|Windy]] and [[Discharge]] were established as females.

====Marvel Comics continuity====
[[File:Nomates.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|And what will happen is like this.]]
No female ''Transformers'' are ever seen or referred to in the US stories. In "[[Recipe for Disaster!]]", [[Cloudburst]] is pressured into a relationship with the beautiful [[First One]] of [[Femax]], but he explains that Transformers, as a species, have no gender. The UK stories corroborate this and [[Simon Furman]], who wrote the bulk of Marvel's comics, had made it clear he didn't see why robots would have a gender. [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] was an exception after [[The Transformers: The Movie|the film]] has put in the UK strip's future and eventually "[[Prime's Rib!]]" would explain where she cam from: she was intentionally created by the Autobots to be the sole female Transformer in an attempt to placate [[human]] [[feminist mob|feminists]]. (See her picture above for a hint of how well that went over.)

[[File:Arceeprimesrib.jpg|right|upright=1.3|thumb|You can't shoot Squeezeplay just because he's a bloke.]]

In "[[Ladies' Night (issue)|Ladies' Night]]" and "Prime's Rib", the Autobots don't 'get' gender or humanity's gender relations and sterotypes. This lasted two minutes once Arcee was created: Optimus asked Arcee to hang back, she grumped about men, and Hot Rod went "phwoar!". In "Prime's Rib" this is played for laughs but in "[[Space Pirates!]]", Rodimus Prime can be ambushed by wanting to help Arcee first.

Despite the Transformers having 'no gender', the Marvel continuity was actually the first in introducing a female ''Cybertronian'': [[Aunty]], the onboard computer of the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', who was introduced in [[The Transformers (issue)|the very first issue]]. [[CatSCAN|Theoretically, she is not that different from other Cybertronians]] and one can only guess how to combine her existence and the "no <s>girls</s> gender"-statements.

The [[Letters page (Marvel UK)|letter pages]] mentioned another two females: Decepticon [[Clio]] and presumed Autobot [[Karmen]]. Provided they are real and [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] didn't just make them up, they might have been built after Arcee's example.

Two continuations of Marvel would introduce female Trasformers. [[BotCon]]'s ''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' fiction, while not including the UK material, introduced [[Elita One]] in "[[Games of Deception]]", in a manner similar to UK Arcee; and in Furman's ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'', [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] is the first of the second generation of Transformers.

{{-}}

====Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity====
According to DK's ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'' (written by Simon Furman), "Transformers are inherently non-gender specific, and only some quirk of their timelost origins can account for [female Transformers'] difference in appearance and attitude." [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] was [[Unreleased Dreamwave issues|in the process]] of introducing more female Transformers and explicating their links to the Quintessons in this continuity when it went out of business.

====IDW Generation 1 continuity====
[[File:Spotlight Arcee b.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Information: you are ALL going to DIE.]]

{{quote|what do 'he' and 'she' pronouns connote in a TF context? Do they connote *exactly* the same things as they do in a human context? I don't know. It hasn't been properly explored yet. All that said, let's assume that a Transformer who adopts a particular personal pronoun is doing so for the same reasons that a human would.|James Roberts [http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sj9u8i on TwitLonger]}}

IDW comics are aimed at older readers, so this is where it gets complicated.

Originally [[Simon Furman]] stated that he would not use female Transformers in IDW continuity until he came up with a reason for them to exist that made logical sense to him. He did not rule out doing so, as he said he had found a similar justification for the [[Pretender]]s, which led to the ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]'' miniseries.

Despite this, in ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]'', [[Alex Milne]] drew what are clearly intended to be female Transformers in a good number of "easter egg" cameo appearances. (Cameos included female ''[[GoBots (franchise)|GoBots]]'' character [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]], [[Elita One]], [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], and a number of generic background femmes.)

This was finally "resolved" in "[[Spotlight: Arcee]]", where it was revealed that the malevolent Golden Age Cybertronian scientist [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] introduced gender to the Cybertronian genome just to see what would happen. Tampering with the [[CNA]] of the titular character at her creation to make her Female, he discarded his experiment once he was finished, only to find she had an inherent homing instinct for his creations. Arcee's systems were severely messed up by this experiment, causing her to become tremendously unstable to the point of psychosis and fixated on getting revenge on Jhiaxus.

This... did not sit well with quite a few people, wondering just what this was saying about women, transgender or otherwise.

While the story implies that she is something very rare and unique it does not say that she was the ''only'' female Transformer Jhiaxus created, merely the first, leaving it open for the cameos in ''Megatron Origin'' to remain in continuity.

Jhiaxus specifically alters Arcee's CNA to make her female and introduce gender to the species. Exactly how deep these alterations went, how closely her form was designed to match the females of organic species on which she was based (particularly in relation to reproduction) is unknown and will likely remain so.

Another female Transformer appears in a flashback to Sunstreaker's glory days in "[[All Hail Megatron issue 14|Replay]]", staring up at him in doe-eyed adoration. She is presumably less killy than Arcee.

[[File:Windblade2coverplain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[:File:MarvelUS-19.jpg|You Asked For Her - You GOT Her]]!]]

By Hasbro edict, IDW introduced a new <s>toy</s> female Transformer called [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] in 2014. Writer [[Mairghread Scott]] made it clear that Windblade wouldn't have gender by accident or sinister design, and that female Transformers would have a new type of origin.<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/71211861958/hey-congrats-on-the-new-comic-i-voted-for-a-lady-robot Scott's tumblr: "That’s not how it works for biological women on Earth and that’s not how it’s gonna work on Cybertron. Anybody has a problem with that, you know where I am."]</ref> (This led to [[Spotlight: Arcee#Trivia|a brief conflict]] as Furman initially read this as a personal attack on his work) Windblade's arrival was used as an excuse to double the number of girls to a shocking ''four'' as her friends Chromia and new Autobot [[Nautica]] showed up with her in [[Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Chapter 8]] of the ''[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]'' crossover.

Originally as presented in [[A 'Bot and Her City|the first issue]] of ''[[The Transformers: Windblade]]'', the existence of both male and female Transformers on the planet/[[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]] [[Caminus]] was treated as a form of allopatric evolution, with females developing in isolation from Cybertron. Other generic female Transformers besides the three that first showed up in ''Dark Cybertron'' are shown or implied. (A running gag showed up where people like [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] would ask about their gender and be ignored.) [[Nautica]] was also given a "estriol-positive" spark-type, implying that Transformer gender went spark-deep—but James Roberts asked this to be edited to ferrum-positive in the trade paperback, after deciding it was "potentially (if unintentionally) offensive" to imply gender was biological.<ref>[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/12/18/no-little-bots-james-roberts-retcons-estriol-female-transformers/ Bleeding Cool: "No Little ‘Bots? James Roberts Retcons ‘Estriol’ In Female Transformers"]</ref>

The various IDW series then together revealed that gender was present on ancient Cybertron, explaining its continued presence in the colonies and strongly implying that modern Cybertron is the exception rather than the standard. [[The Crucible|Issue #34]] of ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' made the first mention of a G1 version of [[Thirteen]] member [[Solus Prime (Prime)|Solus Prime]], the first female Cybertronian in the Aligned continuity family. In [[Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|issue #37]] while speaking with Arcee, the ancient Cybertronian and recent Decepticon convert [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] stated, "we lost much from the ancient days", implying that Jhiaxus's experiments were meant to ''restore'' a lost element of Cybertronian society, rather than to ''create'' a new element. The [[The Sum and Its Parts|first issue]] of ''Windblade'' Volume 2, part of the ''[[Combiner Wars]]'' crossover, then revealed that IDW [[Solus Prime (G1)|Solus Prime]] departed Cybertron with Caminus to his namesake colony. Meanwhile, [[The Permanent Revolution|issue #39]] of ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye]]'' introduced [[Nickel]], the first female Decepticon in the IDW G1 continuity and the sole survivor of a colony world founded by the Metrotitan [[Prion]]. The [[All That Remains|finale]] of the ''[[Combiner Wars]]'' event showed that female Transformers were indeed alive and well on the rest of the colonies. Cameos include [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]] and [[Override (BW)|Override]] on the planet [[Velocitron]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] on [[Eukaris]] <ref>Later issues would also introduce Blackarachnia, [[Sonar (BW)|Sonar]], and [[Manta Ray]] as Eukariens.</ref>, and Elita One, apparent ruler of a deep-space Metrotitan.

''Combiner Wars'' also introduced a slew of fan-created female Transformers. Fans voted for the female [[combiner]] [[Victorion]] and her six components: [[Pyra Magna]], [[Stormclash]], [[Skyburst (G1)|Skyburst]], [[Dustup]], [[Jumpstream]], and [[Rust Dust]]. Victorion brings the number of female combiners up to a grand total of [[ Heavy Metal (Energon)|two]].<ref>Some female characters such as [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] serve as combiner components, although the resulting personality identifies itself as a male. </ref>

Several "male" Transformers who make use of [[holomatter|holomatter avatars]] to blend into human(oid) societies do so via female forms: we've seen this done by [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]], [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]], the latter replicating his one-time [[human]] traveling partner [[Verity Carlo]]. (The only time anyone treats this as unusual is when Magnus's companions wonder aloud why the legendarily-uptight cop specifically chose free-wheeling, lawbreaking, rules-ignoring ''Verity'' as a template.) This was mostly glossed over, but then fan speculation about [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]]'s gender—always presented as male—broke out across Tumblr when a ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' promo called him [[:File:MTMTEpromo tailgate.jpg|"The Ingénue"]], a term for a ''female'' stock character.<ref>As debated [http://konora.tumblr.com/post/84182229574 here], [http://konora.tumblr.com/post/84182229574 here], [http://raelling.tumblr.com/post/84200154095 here]...</ref> (The male version is spelt "ingénu".) This was completely unintentional on [[James Roberts|James Roberts']] part but he was happy to learn what he'd done.<ref>[http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/02/26/james-roberts-on-idws-transformers-more-that-meets-the-eye/ Women Write About Comics: "James Roberts on IDW’s Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye" 18:00 - 18:08]</ref> He's since run with the idea of playing with the gender of male characters. He first said that [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] would have had a female avatar,<ref>[https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/390899735919611904 "Not in the comic, so maybe inadmissible as evidence, but I've said that Cyclonus' avatar is female"]</ref>(and a "stern Victorian schoolmarm" <ref>[http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/02/26/james-roberts-on-idws-transformers-more-that-meets-the-eye/ Women Write About Comics: "James Roberts on IDW’s Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye" 19:12 - 19:24]</ref>), then that Tailgate's baby avatar could have been female as well<ref>https://twitter.com/jobot935/status/391053739487805441</ref> , and then that it ''was'' a baby girl at Autoassembly, before finally stating: "I absolutely think it's the case that there are male-coded TFs who self-identify as female and preferred to be called 'she', and female-coded TFs who self-identify as male and prefer to be called 'he'. I also think there's scope for a TF to adopt a different pronoun if they so choose." (We eventually got to see both of these holomatter avatars in action during [[The One Where They Go to Earth|issue #43]] of ''More Than Meets the Eye'', along with several other female holomatter avatars created by "male" characters). Roberts also said that the specifics of Transformer gender (and what terms meant) had not been explored yet.<ref>[http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sj9u8i James Roberts on TwitLonger: "TFs and gender. A clarification."</ref>

[[File:MTMTE35 Female Protester.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|''Do you hear the people sing?<br>Singing the songs of angry men...'']]

(To sum up, Tumblr loves IDW.)

In an [[Functionist Universe|alternate timeline]] created by [[Brainstorm|Brainstorm]]'s [[time travel]], at least one [[Female protester|female-identifying Transformer]] exists. It may be that in this timeline, female Transformers never disappeared from Cybertron as they did in the "main" timeline, or that she may have changed her appearance and/or gender expression; James Roberts has not discounted the possibility of transgender Transformers<ref>[http://positronicwoman.tumblr.com/post/87833950888/you-guysssssssss Roberts on the possibility of transgender Transformers on Twitter]</ref>. A third possibility is that she was born on one of the colonies, which were connected to Cybertron in universe (supported by the presence of the Camien city-speaker [[Hot Shot (Henkei!)|Hot Shot]] on Cybertron).

{{-}}

===Beast Wars===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
[[File:CrossingtheRubicron-newbody.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|She was extremely popular with fans, I wonder why...]]

Female Transformers seem to be common here, with no one showing any surprise over their presence. [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] both engage in romances with male [[Maximal]]s, the former blatantly and the latter far more subtly. [[Transmutate (character)|Transmutate]] is genderless but [[Transmutate (episode)#Notes|deliberately given "a face that vaguely indicates it is female" in script]]. (Airazor was made female by the writer's insistence)

[[File:BA Silverbolt Agenda3.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|"I tried to commit genocide four episodes ago."]]

[[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] has an old-school human-style view of women as a fairer and more vulnerable gender, as he refuses to fight Blackarachnia out of <s>lust</s> chivalry.{{storylink|Tangled Web}} {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Most of the other Transformers seem unconcerned about this but [[Optimus Primal]] sees it as part of his nobility. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} Blackarachnia herself used to find it ''bloody annoying'', beating up Silverbolt to try and get him to fight back already. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} She is eventually won over when he keeps following her and telling her what she's really like when she yells at him to go away. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}} Some Transformers have another old-school human view, considered those strange fillies to be quite inscrutable: [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] and [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] being two. {{storylink|Tangled Web}}

For the purposes of humour, over the course of the show characters will make innuendos that suggest that, at least by that era, there may have been something sex-like between Transformers. [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] dismays Blackarachnia with teenage slobbering {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}, she flirts with him regarding his body for info {{storylink|Feral Scream Part 2}}, [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] is blunt that he knows Tarantulas had "ulterior motives" for making her a spider {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}}, Blackarachnia is involved in a castration joke... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 2}}

Boy, they sure like doing this with Blackarachnia. Odd that.

Throughout the show [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] makes ''numerous'' innuendos, especially involving Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's relationship, including the rather seedy "find any new ''positions''?" after Silverbolt's been scouting the enemy (cough). {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} He also makes references to a bar on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] where the wait-staff go "without their torso-plates on"... which frankly sounds like it'd be really messy. He didn't want young Cheetor to overhear this. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}}

====''Beast Wars II'' cartoon====
[[Scylla]] is the impetus for a big ridiculous love triangle of hilarity and embarrassment in both the animated and manga continuities. She is in love with the squid-bot [[Scuba]], who wants nothing to do with her. Meanwhile, the Maximal [[Bighorn]] is in love with Scylla, who wants nothing to do with him.

The non-Transformer female robot [[Artemis]] harbors a crush on both Scuba (poor guy) and [[Starscream (BWII)|Starscream]].

====''Beast Wars Neo'' manga continuity====
The young Maximal [[Stampy (BWN)|Stampy]] has a [[Kitte Shūshū|mother]]. The actual genetics of this was not explained, but we also see a picture of a rabbit with a mustache on the wall behind her, implying a father and sexual reproduction. Just how in the hell an entire planet-wide race of breeding rabbit-robots arose from [[Tasmania Kid]], who was a Tasmanian devil, is ''also'' never explained.

Later, it was explained and it very much was sexual reproduction. {{storylink|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter}}

====IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics====
In the spin-off comics, [[Manta Ray (BW)|Manta Ray]] and [[Sonar (BW)|Sonar]] are female Transformers, though the latter was previously established in the [[3H Productions]] [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''The Wreckers'' comic]]. Neither character was specifically given a gender in their toy bios and this was seized upon as a way to get extra women in.

====''Beast Machines'' cartoon====
''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]''' [[technorganic]] reformatting raises even further questions about what it means to be a "female transformer". It is possible that the technorganic female Transformers, being merged organic and technological life to a cellular level, might actually be ''physically'' female.

[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] and [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] end up in a romantic relationship towards the end of ''Beast Machines'' ("So, I'm a tree-hugger!" Rattrap remarks). What this means for his bar-hopping days is never explored. Innuendo makes a big return when [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] and Rattrap argue about whether he'd rather insert his tail into a computer or be "plowing your little field of dreams". {{storylink|Spark of Darkness}} Yeah.

[[File:Sparkofdarkness-strikacloseup.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4|"You gonna make body jokes to my face? No? Didn't ''think'' so."]]

The [[Vehicon general]] [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] is referred to as the "consort" of [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]], and has been serving by his side, seemingly as an equal, for centuries. Some have taken this to mean the two have a romantic interest in each other, but the show itself does not offer any hints to this. This is the first time in Transformers fanfiction where a female robot has a high rank; where Elita One got to run a small rebel group, we're told Strika is a famous officer who has overseen and won numerous wars. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike}}

Story editor [[Bob Skir]] also wanted main character [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]] to be a young female Transformer, patterned after the girl "Newt" from the movie ''[[wikipedia:Aliens (film)|Aliens]]''. (When the Powers That Be nixed that, Nightscream ended up becoming [[wikipedia:John Connor|John Connor]] in ''[[wikipedia:Terminator 2: Judgment Day|Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'' instead.)<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20071202095033/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Fri_03_Dec_1999.html Bob Skir Q&A 3 December 1999] (archive copy)</ref> This would've given us a Transformers cartoon with a shocking ''four'' female main characters out of sixteen speaking bots!

===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
Females are seemingly rare in the [[Viron]] [[universal cluster]] as none appear on on-screen, if one doesn't count the female Cybertronian intelligence computer, [[T-AI]]. We know they have gender and gender relations due to both the aforementioned T-AI and [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn's]] obsessive lust for red sports cars. He was even able to plausibly pretend he had old girlfriend cars in "[[Sideburn's Obsession]]", only getting tripped up by lying it was on Earth.

In 2015, "[[Ask Vector Prime]]" said that the [[Spychanger]] [[Optimus Prime (RID)#Spy Changer continuity|Optimus]] from [[Viron 1103.12 Gamma]], and thus [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] as well, were female. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime}}

===Unicron Trilogy===
[[File:Linkage7 Twirl-Baby.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|But she's got your altmode!]]
The existence of female Transformers throughout the [[Unicron Trilogy]] is portrayed as slightly uncommon (it is a fiction aimed at young boys, after all), but hardly remarkable. They just exist, as do "males", and no special attention is called to them. Quite a few appear in various places in "[[Joyride (Cybertron)|civilian]]" roles, as [[Autobot nurse|nurses]], and even on [[Velocitron band|colony worlds]].

There are examples and hints of romantic interest between males and females in both ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' ([[Redline]] and [[Falcia]] in the [[Linkage (comic)|''Linkage'' comics]], plus [[Nightscream (Armada)|Nightscream]]'s eagerness to appease and defend his [[bulk]] partner [[Airazor (Armada)|Airazor]]), and ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' stories (most obviously [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]]'s intense infatuation with [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack's]] secret crush on [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]], plus [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]] reportedly has an unnamed "fembot life partner" lost somewhere on [[Earth]]). This too is treated as a fairly common event.

[[File:Cyb ep6 overrides challenge.jpg|left|thumb|225px|''Why do robots have to have gender?'' thought Override. ''Bloody masculinists.'']]

There are female Transformers in positions of very high power as well: in the [[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|''Energon'' cartoon]], [[Arcee (Energon)|Arcee]] is the leader of the entire [[Omnicon]] race, while in ''Cybertron'', Override is the leader of the planet [[Velocitron]]. The Unicron Trilogy is the first ''Transformers'' continuity to explicitly ''give'' female Transformers that level of responsibility... but the only other one (so far) does so via a ''direct'' analogue of ''Cybertron'' (see [[#Aligned|the "Aligned" continuity]] below for more on that).

However, in the original Japanese, Override (called Nitro Convoy) is a male Transformer. [[Cartoon Network]], the channel with the airing rights to the dub, felt it needed more female presence in the main cast and Override was chosen to change genders.<ref>[http://www.camphortree.net/tf/tidbits/botcon2005.txt Steve-o Stonebraker's BotCon 2005 Notes, Version 2 at his Transformers site]</ref>

In the French version of the ''Energon'' cartoon, Arcee is dubbed by a man. ''Why'' she was is currently unknown.
{{-}}

===Live-action film series===
====2007 ''Transformers'' film====
[[File:Arceemovie.jpg|thumb|Comic artists ''cry'' when they see this model sheet.]]

[[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] was originally going to be featured as part of the cast of the [[Transformers (film)|''Transformers'' film]], but was cut early on in the movie's development. The script writers felt they would need to explain the presence of a female in an entirely robotic race, and there was not enough time in the film to do so. Arcee was replaced in the movie by [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. Even so, Arcee was featured in IDW's [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|''Movie Prequel'' comics]] and remains in the movie toyline as both Deluxe and Scout-class toys.

One other female Autobot is featured in the movie continuity family, another Scout-class toy, [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]]. Both Elita and Arcee, however, are featured in [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|Titan Magazine's]] alternate reality stories as regular characters, with Arcee getting more prominence. Both also appear in IDW's Movie Sequel comic series ''[[Transformers: The Reign of Starscream|The Reign of Starscream]]'', with Arcee playing quite a prominent leadership role. Surprisingly, Elita-One does not fare as well as her sister-in-arms, dying at the claws of [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] himself. Although it is unusual for a female Transformer to die in fiction ([[To sell toys|compared to how often Transformer death happens in general]]), it has [[Manta Ray (BW)|happened]] [[Sonar (BW)|before]].

As for Decepticons, [[Fracture (Movie)|Fracture]], based off of the aforementioned Crasher, was recently added to the end of the movie toyline as a Wal-mart exclusive. She has been featured in Titan Magazine's comics, as of issue 18, and in IDW's ''[[Transformers: Alliance|Alliance]]'' series as of issue 3.

In all the comics where female Transformers do appear in the Movie continuity, their gender is never considered an issue. This raises questions about just how necessary "explaining" them would be in [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|future]] [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|movies]].

====''Revenge of the Fallen'' film====
And apparently, two years later gender was no longer an issue at all, as ''Revenge of the Fallen'' featured [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], who now inexplicably existed in three separate bodies, as well as [[Alice]], a Decepticon [[Pretender]]. No comment was given on the subject of the characters' femininity. Frankly, not explaining Pretenders is a bigger oversight than not explaining robot gender.

{{-}}

===''Animated''===
[[File:Animated females.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Did you ever feel like the only original designs in a sea full of homages?]]
Female Transformers were present in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'' from the very beginning of the cartoon, starting with [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]]. What this meant for the state of females in the continuity at large was not immediately apparent; in "[[Along Came a Spider]]", both [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] expressed confusion as to ''what'' Blackarachnia was. Though they were referring to her [[Technorganic|partially organic]] nature, [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] jokes "Duh, she's a girl" as a nod to the rarity of female Transformers.

As the series proceeded, multiple lady-bots were progressively introduced, among which were a [[Slipstream (Animated)|female clone]] of [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], the obligatory [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] and many more. Although they remain distinctly outnumbered by the male Transformers, this makes it clear that while female Transformers may be relatively uncommon, they aren't considered very remarkable or noteworthy—unless you're a young, male Autobot who's spent ''waaaaayy'' too much time fixing space bridges.

[[Image:Blackarachnia Venus Mag by BillForster.jpg|200px|thumb|right]]

Despite Optimus's confusion over where organic babies come from in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", implying that there is no Cybertronian equivalent to [[Reproduction|sexual reproduction]] in ''Animated'', Transformer ''relationships'' are implied to be a possibility, as in "[[Along Came a Spider]]" and "[[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]]", respectively, Blackarachnia takes advantage of [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]'s and the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]' obvious interest in her, especially [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]]'s. There's also the fact that [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] is said to be the "consort" of [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]].

[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s role as the Autobot medical officer was originally supposed to be assigned to a character named [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]], who was originally designed as a female, but then turned male. When brought in at the start of Season 3, Red Alert was female once again as an homage to the original design.

Because Sari was originally a Cybertronian protoform, she could be considered a female technorganic Transformer, although her origins were not revealed until Season 3.

{{-}}

===''Shattered Glass''===
While in most universes the number of females on the side of good is significantly larger than the number on the side of evil, this universe has more evil ladies as a result of its status as a mirror universe. The first two introduced were [[Arcee (SG)|Arcee]] and [[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]]—an (evil) Autobot and a (good) Decepticon respectively—but since then the balance has tilted.

It would seem that female Transformers in this universe are as they are in most: few in numbers, but nothing remarkable. Crasher appeared bewildered when [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (who hails from a [[#Generation 1 Marvel Comics continuity|Marvel Comics universe]]) tried to tell her that he thought her feminine shape was unusual, and no one else seems to regard the females as something noteworthy.

===Aligned continuity family===
[[File:Arcee Prime stockimage.jpg|thumb|right|170px|But ignore all the names we're listing, cos 50% of all female appearances are Arcee.]]

One-thirteenth of Cybertron's population identify as female, and are descended from [[Solus Prime (Prime)|Solus Prime]].<ref>According to [http://twitter.com/#!/HubTVNetwork/status/87976495074639872 @HubTVNetwork] and comments made at [[BotCon 2011]].</ref>

In ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]'', [[Alpha Trion (WFC)|Alpha Trion]] expounds on the nature of gender among Cybertronians. He mentions that Transformers are technically asexual, but divide themselves into two distinct categories based on how they process information. He speculated that Solus Prime required this unique cognitive structure in order to properly utilize her [[Creation Lathe]]. Before making contact with gendered aliens, Cybertronians used a single pronoun to refer to all individuals. After taking a greater role in the galactic community, they began incorporating gendered pronouns into their culture, to demonstrate that they recognized and celebrated differences among themselves while maintaining their equality (here, Alpha Trion breaks the [[Wikipedia:fourth wall|fourth wall]] to apologize to any readers who might feel insulted by Cybertron's 1:12 gender ratio).

Before the war, [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] worked with a female [[Arachnicon]] doctor named [[Cogwheel]]. The female Transformers [[Azimuth]] founded the [[Patterner]] movement. The leader of the [[Mutacon]]s is the female Transformer [[Mercury (COP)|Mercury]]. The ruler of [[Velocitron]], [[Override (Prime)|Override]], and the Decepticon soldier [[Slipstream (WFC)|Slipstream]] are also female. Additionally, [[Chromia (Prime)|Chromia]] and [[Firestar (Prime)|Firestar]] are leaders of underground cities which are destroyed when Cybertron is restored. [[Ser-Ket (Prime)|Ser-Ket]], a female member of the [[Forged]], was one of the main antagonists of the ''[[Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots|Rage of the Dinobots]]'' miniseries. [[Ripclaw (Prime)|Ripclaw]] and [[Flamewar (Prime)|Flamewar]] were both toy-only female characters, their only fiction consisting of character bios or roles in prose stories packaged with toys. [[Elita One (COP)|Elita One]], [[Moonracer (COP)|Moonracer]], and [[Akiba Prime]] also exist in the Aligned continuity family as female Transformers.

====''Prime'' cartoon====
The only female Transformers portrayed as cast members are [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] and [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Solus Prime is also briefly mentioned when her [[Forge of Solus Prime|hammer]] is discovered by the Decepticons, and momentarily seen in a flashback.
Showing up in [[Arms Micron Theater]] segments are [[Arc]], [[Arcee Blade]], and [[Ida (Prime)|Ida]].

====''Transformers Online''====
''[[Transformers Online]]'' introduced numerous female Transformers for both factions. Yes, the Chinese MMO that lasted about a year, in the continuity family where female Transformers are canonically rare, introduced more female characters than any single other source in ''years''.

====''Transformers Universe''====
The Decepticons have the female warriors [[Astraea]], [[Diabla]], and [[Duststorm (Prime)|Duststorm]] on their side, while the Autobots have [[Cameo]] and [[Catapult]].

====2015 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon====
The Autobot cadet [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] is a member of Bumblebee's team, with [[Windblade (RID)|Windblade]] later assisting the team. Among the many rogue Decepticons are [[Filch]], [[Slink]], and [[Zizza]], who sports a notably un-stereotypical body shape.

==Toys==
[[File:Airazorbwtfmtoy1.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Windblade stands on the extremely pointy shoulders of giants.]]

Though many female Transformers were featured in the fiction from the early days of ''Generation 1'', for many years they tended to either: a) not have toys made of them at all, or, b) for those very few that did get a release, end up as repaints of other molds clearly not designed with a female aesthetic in mind. Budiansky told you why that was up at the top there. There were [[Arcee_%28G1%29#Generation_1|three separate plans]] to have toys of Arcee during G1 and all three were scrapped.

''[[Transmetal]]'' [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] is the first Transformer toy designed to intentionally represent a female character that actually came out. Ironically, Airazor was written out of the show in the same year!

The big turning point for female characters came when Hasbro held a "Fan-Built Bot" programme in 2013. Gender was one of the things fans could choose and the fans voted "female", giving us [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]]. This worked out well enough that Hasbro had another contest for [[Combiner Wars]] in 2015 and fans voted for female Tranformers again: this time ''six'' that made up the gestalt [[Victorion]].

==Notes==
[[File:G1RatchetSexchange.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|On the other hand, maybe a medic who enjoyed getting skunked on tainted 40-weight [[oil]] wasn't the best example, either...]]
*It's worth comparing G1 to [[GoBots (franchise)|''GoBots'']], its big competitor. Our very own [[Chromedome|tumblr]] crunched the numbers and found ''GoBots'' turns out to have more prominent female robots, all with toys, and we had to include [[Nancy]] to have the same ''number'' of talking fembots. That's right: the GoBots were ''better'' than G1 at something.<ref>[http://tfwiki.tumblr.com/post/112170089613/if-someone-asks-why-we-need-more-diverse TF Wiki Tumblr: If Someone Asks Why We Need More Diversity]</ref> (The truly disturbing thing is the modern-day franchises are still lagging behind ''GoBots''...)
*In the [[Shout! Factory]] Matrix of Leadership Special Edition DVD set, an interview with [[Bob Budiansky]] features close-ups of his original handwritten notes for several characters. Intriguingly, these notes refer to [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] as "her" and the Autobots' "go-to gal" for repairs. While this obviously was not the final direction the character took, it does show that female characters were being considered for inclusion in the cast before someone at Hasbro told Budiansky otherwise.
* In 2013, Hasbro ran a "Fan Built Bot" poll as part of the "[[Thrilling 30]]" celebration, in which fans chose between numerous options to "build" a brand new character-toy for the 30th anniversary retail line, and "male / female" was one of the options. "Female" [[Windblade (G1)|won!]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Female Transformers| *]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Transformer culture]]

Simon Furman

2015-07-21T20:11:52Z

Relena Warcraft: /* Notes */

{{disambig3|Simon}}
{{factions|maximal|hofgold}}

{{bigquote|Who can I kill?|Simon Furman's first question upon being brought on to write for ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]<ref>[http://www.camphortree.net/tf/tidbits/botcon2002.txt BotCon 2002 appearance]''</ref>}}

[[File:Simon-Furman.jpg|thumb|But... but [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] is neither vast nor predatory nor even a bird! [[Furmanism|What is he playing at?]]]]

Comic book writer '''Simon Christopher Francis Furman''' (born [[March 22]], [[1961]] <ref>[http://www.bwtf.com/interviews/sf399/ Interview at Ben Yee's website]</ref>) is probably the most well-known of all ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' comics scribes, and certainly the most prolific. He wrote most of the UK-original comic stories of Generation 1, as well as the latter 1/3rd of the US comic run, and has been author on innumerable Transformers tales since. As a result, he is often the first, last, and occasionally ''only'' resort in penning ''Transformers'' literature, with a deep involvement in a wide variety of product. He's admitted this has left him typecast and his non-''Transformers'' work gets overlooked, but he's stated he stopped struggling against the association years ago and gives thanks for the opportunities and steady income it's given him.<ref>[http://mindlessones.com/2009/07/20/transformers-terminators-and-the-rest11-questions-with-simon-furman/ Interview at Mindless Ones blog]</ref>

A list of all of the issues written by Furman's hand would be overkill; even the list of ''titles'' he's worked on is considerable:

* [[Marvel Comics|Marvel UK's]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'']]: Furman began his involvement with Transformers as editor and author for much of the Marvel UK run, writing stories that integrated with those coming from Marvel US.
* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel US's ''The Transformers'']]: At writer [[Bob Budiansky]]'s recommendation, Furman took over the US book after Budiansky left, writing issues #56-80.
* ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]'': Furman penned the entire 12-issue run.
* [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]]: Furman scripted the final episode of the show, "[[Nemesis Part 2]]".
* [[3H Productions]]: Furman wrote a series of BotCon-exclusive stories, including several live-action voice actor scripts, the ''Beast Wars'' comic "[[Ground Zero]]", and the ''Beast Wars'' text and comic story "[[Reaching the Omega Point]]".
* [[Titan Books]]: while working for them, he pitched the idea of collecting the Marvel Transformers comics into trades, and edited the collections. Titan ended up collecting ''almost everything'' Marvel US and UK had ever done, including being able to get the issues with Marvel characters quite cheaply, ''and'' got the rights for global licensing: at this point, pre-Dreamwave, neither Marvel nor Hasbro had much investment in Transformers! <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSyBtqe67uk Moonbase 2 AA2010 interview], 7:50 -</ref> When the [[live-action film series]] was announced, Titan [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|decided to do a tie-in]] and Furman went on to write almost every issue of the first two volumes, plus a spin-off ''Animated'' issue, for 43 issues in total as of April 2012.
* [[Dreamwave Productions]]: Furman wrote two-and-a-half ''[[War Within (comic)|War Within]]'' G1 mini-series for Dreamwave, as well as most of their ''[[Transformers: Armada (Dreamwave)|Armada]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Energon (comic)|Energon]]'' comics.
* ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'', a book giving an overview of the length and breath of Transformers (toys and fiction) as it existed at the time. The book was arguably somewhat biased towards comic [[canon]] (particularly that which he penned) and, in places, invented new material wholecloth without any precedent in prior fiction. As the [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity]] was in full swing at the time Furman tended to treat it as the baseline for many of the entries and new material presented here.
* [[IDW Publishing]]: He wrote the first five Generation 1 mini-series for IDW's G1 reboot, as well as numerous ''[[The Transformers: Spotlight|Spotlight]]'' issues. His IDW run is notable for being the only instance where he has actually created the mythos from the ground up, rather than coming in after someone else had already set everything up. Other IDW titles include two ''Beast Wars'' mini-series & a ''Beast Wars'' guide book, various comics related to the film series and the belated "completion" of his Marvel (US) G1 run as ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]''.
He almost drifted into Transformers, being asked early on to pitch some ideas and quickly becoming ''the'' Transformers guy at Marvel UK, also doing the editorials and letters pages until 1989 when he went with just the scripts. His post-Marvel return to Transformers came courtesy of [[BotCon 1997]]: not only was he a guest expected to answer questions he couldn't remember the answers to, there was this thing called a "Beast Wars" they wanted him to write a short comic about. He quickly had to get back into the swing of things. After the Botcon material, he'd work for Titan Books and then go onto Dreamwave, causing him to be linked forever more with the franchise.

Contrary to the popular opinion that he is an outspoken critic of the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon series]], Furman has stated in an interview that he loves the series. He explained that when he was involved with the Marvel comic books as a twenty-something-year-old writer, he thought the show was pitched a little young and that the stories were simplistic and had huge logic flaws, but conceded that he saw them from a different perspective than the generation that grew up watching the cartoon and buying the toys as kids, and so he concentrated on his work, which he believed was more "adult" in tone. He added that, in hindsight, he went back to watch the series and now really enjoys it, particularly Season 2's strong character stories. When he wrote for Marvel comics, he was averse to episodes that dealt with the character back-stories because they clashed with his own back-stories and also caused him to worry that he wasn't presenting the characters as intended. But now he had the freedom to take the series as a viewer and admire the way they were building upon their own mythos.

In the same interview, he thought [[The Transformers: The Movie|the 1986 animated movie]] was "fantastic", and one of his stated reasons was that "characters died."<ref>Simon Furman's interview on [[Madman Entertainment]]'s ''Beast Wars'' Season 3 DVD set</ref>

He has also written and created many non-''Transformers'' characters, including [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] and "Dragon's Claws" with [[Geoff Senior]] and "Brute Force" with [[José Delbo]]. He is an editor at [[Titan Books]], which publishes collections of ''Transformers'' comics, among other material.

These days, he's a big fan of ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'', saying it's the best cartoon since ''Beast Wars'',<ref>[http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/a-touch-animated/ July 4, 2008 blog post]</ref> despite a relative lack of violent deaths. He's also a fan of West Ham United football club,<ref>[http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_furman3.php Interview on Transfans.co.uk]</ref> which perhaps explains his bloodlust.

In his spare time, Furman enjoys drinking [[Corona]] and killing off hordes of background characters. And [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]].

==Alternate mode==
When Furman became the editor of the UK ''Transformers'' comic, it opened up a dilemma, as Marvel policy, enforced by Marvel US editor-in-chief [[Tom DeFalco]], frowned on editors serving as their own writers. To circumvent this problem, it was agreed that senior editor (and frequent ''Transformers'' letterer) [[Richard Starkings]] would serve in an advisory capacity on Furman's own strips.<ref>Starkings, Richard "Prophetic Words" in ''[[Transformers: Dark Designs]]'' trade paperback (London; [[Titan Books]], 2002), page 4.</ref>
When an editorial credit for the comic as a whole was required, Furman used the credit "Chris Francis", derived from his middle names.<ref>Unknown author "Transformers UK" in ''Second Generation'' Trade paperback (London; Titan Books, 2004), page 6.</ref>

==Fiction==
===Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic===
The flesh creature known as Simon Furman pleased [[Unicron]] with his accurate depiction of Unicron's omnipotent magnificence. {{storylink|The End|Letters page for "The End"}}

===Titan Magazines movie comics===
According to [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]], Furman was a [[Maximal]] disguised as a "strategically shaved ape. Especially on his head." {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 7|#7's Star Screams}} When Starscream captured the Titan offices, only Furman escaped capture and was still at large, with a vast amount of intelligence regarding [[nucleon]] {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 21|#21's Star Screams}}.

The Autobots, however, were not much nicer. When Furman was writing his alternate universe tale, [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] "made sure" that it would have an Autobot-friendly ending... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.12|#12's Law and Disorder}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
Simon Furman was a Maximal because they had a better dental plan than the Predacons. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime}}

===''Classics''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Invasion (issue)|Invasion}}}}

==Comic bibliography==
===Marvel Comics===
* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|Marvel UK]] #13–21, 29–32, 45–50, 59–65, 74–88, 96–104, 113–120, 125, 130–138, 146–153, 160–161, 164–173, 182–189, 198–205, 213–332
* [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel US]] #56–80
* [[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|''Generation 2'']] #1–12

===Dreamwave Productions===
* [[Transformers: The War Within|''The War Within'' vol.1]] #1–6, [[Transformers: War Within: The Dark Ages|vol.2]] #1–6, [[Transformers: War Within: The Age of Wrath|vol.3]] #1–3 (#4–6 unreleased)
* [[Transformers: Armada (Dreamwave)|''Armada'']] #6–18
* [[Transformers: Energon (comic)|''Energon'']] #19–30 (#31–36 unreleased)
* "[[Perspective]]", from the ''[[20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special]]''

===Panini Comics===
* [[Transformers: Armada (Panini)|''Armada'']] #1–9

===IDW Publishing===
* ''[[The Transformers: Infiltration|Infiltration]]'' #0–6
* ''[[The Transformers: Spotlight|Spotlight]]'' #1–6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 (story by [[Klaus Scherwinski]]), 16–19 (''Revelation''), unrevealed ''Spotlight'' (status unknown)
* ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]'' #1–4
* ''[[The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation]]'' #1–6
* ''[[The Transformers: Devastation|Devastation]]'' #1–6
* ''[[Revelation (IDW)|Revelation]]'' #1–4
* ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]]'' #1–5
* ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'' #1–4
* ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascending|The Ascending]]'' #1–4
* ''[[Transformers: Movie Prequel]]'' #1–4 (with [[Chris Ryall]])
* ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Official Movie Adaptation|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen comic book adaptation]]''
* ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' [[All Hail Megatron issue 13|#13 ("Old Ways")]]
* ''[[Transformers: Tales of the Fallen|Tales of the Fallen]]'' [[Tales of the Fallen issue 2|#2]], [[Tales of the Fallen issue 4|#4]], [[Tales of the Fallen issue 5|#5]]
* ''[[Transformers: Nefarious|Nefarious]]'' #1–6
* ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One]]'' #80.5-100

===Titan Magazines/Titan Comics===
* [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|''Transformers'' Comic v1]] #1–25
*Transformers Comic v2 #1-9, #11-14 & #18-21.
* [[Transformers Animated (Titan)|''Transformers Animated'']] #1

===Madman Entertainment===
* [[The Transformers (Madman)|''The Transformers'']]

===Million Publishing/''Henkei! Henkei!''===
* "[[Starscream's New Body]]"

==Bibliography==
===DK Publishing===
*''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]''
*''[[Transformers: The Movie Guide]]''
*''[[You Can Draw Transformers]]''
*''[[Revenge of the Fallen: The Movie Universe|Transformers: The Movie Universe]]''

===Titan Books===
*''Transformers: The Art of the Movies'' (canceled)

==Convention appearances==
*[[BotCon 1997]]
*[[BotCon 1998]]
*[[BotCon 2001]]
*[[BotCon 2002]]
*[[OTFCC 2003]]
*[[OTFCC 2004]]
*[[BotCon 2006]]
*[[BotCon 2008]]
*[[BotCon 2012]]
*[[San Diego Comic-Con]] 2009
*C.O.N.S. (2011)
*NordCon 2010
*TFcon 2011
*Auto Assembly 2003
*Auto Assembly 2004
*Auto Assembly 2005
*Auto Assembly 2006
*Auto Assembly 2008
*Auto Assembly 2010
*Auto Assembly 2011
*Auto Assembly Europe 2011

==Notes==
* It is generally accepted that [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] is Furman's signature ''Transformers'' character, although a case could be made for [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]. His signature ''creation'' (according to the man himself <ref>http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=42871</ref>) is the <s>bounty hunter</s> freelance peacekeeping agent [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]], yes?.
* He spent at least some time as the writer of the Marvel UK comics letters page, setting the precedent for having a Transformer "host" reply to the kids' letters, but without patronising them. This tradition has been followed up on in [[Transformers: Armada (Panini)|other]] [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|UK]] comics.
* Chris Claremont, X-Men mega-writer, is one of Furman's key influences in comics: "Mostly how well he managed multiple characters and sub-plots, something I’ve applied to my Transformers work as much as I can ever since". Other influences are Alan Moore's Marvel UK work; 70's/80's sci-fi films like ''Blade Runner'', ''Aliens'', and ''Terminator'', as well as Assault On Precinct 13; and crime books.<ref>[http://hombreimaginario.deviantart.com/art/Interviews-10-Simon-Furman-130246343 Interview with Transformers Hispanos Forums]</ref>
* If his last words before dying aren't [[Furmanism|"hnng... never ''did'' want to live forever"]], there will be much sadness.
* Apparently, if [[Pat Lee]] wants back in ''Transformers'', he will have to climb over Simon's cold, rotting corpse to do it.<ref>Based upon a comment Furman made at [[BotCon 2008]] when asked if Pat Lee would ever work for IDW Publishing</ref>
* He stated in an interview that he considers ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' to be too dark for a children's cartoon.<ref>[[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 1|"The Last 'Action' Hero"]]</ref>
* He's not a fan of the movies either, believing they throw out characterisation and story, though he happily admits he's not the audience for them. He still admires the technical side of the films and [[Michael Bay]]'s vision.<ref>[http://mindlessones.com/2009/07/20/transformers-terminators-and-the-rest11-questions-with-simon-furman/ Interview at Mindless Ones blog]</ref>
* Simon Furman wrote a script for the Auto Assembly 2009 script reading making fun of himself and Furmanisms. He was also present for Auto Assembly 2010 where he provided a Beast Wars related script.
* [[Furmanite]] and [[Simfur]] are obvious enough [[Jhiaxus (G2)|puns]] on his name.
* At the same time that he was working on the Marvel ''Transformers'' series, Furman also wrote for ''[[Doctor|Doctor Who Magazine]]''.
* Simon Furman does not seem to be a fan of Arcee, [[Female Transformer]]s, or the idea of gendering Transformers at all. His [[Prime's Rib!|introductory issue]] for [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] in the Marvel UK G1 continuity had her created in-universe because of a [[feminist mob]] protesting about a lack of female Cybertronians. Arcee's [[Spotlight: Arcee|origin]] in the IDW continuity had her as a genderless Cybertronian that was forcibly changed into a female gendered form by Jhiaxus experimenting on her, adding gender to the supposedly previously genderless Cybertronian race, traumatizing her. His insistence that Cybertronians are genderless, not male by default, extended to a post he wrote<ref>http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2013/12/29/response-to-mairghread-scott/</ref> in response to a blog post by [[Mairghread Scott]] discussing other female Transformers in IDW, wherein she stated that she understood that Arcee's origin could be seen as offensive to women, especially those who are transgender. The two authors ''did'' talk to each other and settle the beef, afterwards.

==See also==
* [[Furmanism]]
* 80% of this Wiki.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://simonfurman.wordpress.com/ Simon Furman's blog]
* [http://www.wildfur.net/ Homepage of Wildfur Productions], original properties by [[Andrew Wildman]] and Simon Furman.
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1084210/ Simon Furman on the Internet Movie Database]

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