Transformers: Energon (franchise)

This article is about . For other uses of "Energon", see Energon (disambiguation)|The name or term "Energon" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Energon (disambiguation).}}

Transformers: Energon is a followup to Armada. Its fiction is set in the same Unicron Trilogy universe, and it features many returning characters. It was produced concurrently and cooperatively with Takara, who named the series Transformers: Super Link (トランスフォーマー スーパーリンク Toransufōmā Sūpā Rinku) in their markets.

The Energon franchise featured the following primary components:

• A toyline
• A cartoon series
• A comic book series from Dreamwave Productions
• A series of mini-comics that came packaged with toys.
• An Official Guidebook published by Reader's Digest.

As with Armada, merchandise was available from third-party firms, such as boxed Valentine's Cards and individual birthday cards.

Homages

Energon was saturated with frequent and obvious Generation 1 references and homages, presumably intended as a celebration of the Transformers' 20th anniversary year. While many characters referenced previous characters of the same name, others were less obvious. See individual character pages for specific details.

New characters

A recurring theme in Energon is that of old characters getting new bodies, often ones with only tangential relation to their former appearance. This has led to fan speculation that Hasbro originally intended these toys—specifically, Snow Cat, Mirage, and Demolishor—to be new characters, only to have that intent overridden by Takara and/or the producers of the cartoon, who made them into new versions of old characters. This theory was confirmed several years later via one of Hasbro's Q&A sessions.

The notion is not without precedent. Roadblock was treated by the cartoon as an upgraded Inferno—yet Hasbro issued a character bio which established him as a new and separate character.

Likewise, following in the footsteps of Armada redeco Thundercracker (who was cast as a powered-up Starscream by the cartoon), the redecos Landquake and Beachcomber were treated by the cartoon as powered-up versions of characters the molds were originally created for.