User:Fortress Minimus/Introduction to Transformers

This is a sandbox page I made based on an idea from Repowers, Jeysie, and hx on the Community Page

Transformers is a long-running meta-franchise consisting of action figures, cartoons, comics, movies, and miscellaneous other material jointly produced and developed by Hasbro in America and TakaraTomy in Japan.

The toys

Central to all other aspects of Transformers are the toys; virtually all of the fiction exists primarily to advertise them; most often this fiction is directly tied in to current toylines, but ample amounts of "legacy" fiction exists to keep interest in the expanding brand as a whole. Transformers are robot action figures that, as their name suggests, transform, most commonly into vehicles and animals. While there are plenty of other series of transforming robot toys (indeed, the very first Transformers toys were simply recolored toys from two other toylines), few have been as popular, successful, or enduring.

Fiction: general concepts

While stories involving transforming robots are a dime a dozen, especially in Japan, Transformers differs in a fundamental way. In most other series, the robots are vehicles piloted by humans. In Transformers, however, the robots are sentient, and they themselves are the main characters.

Every Transformers story involves a war of some sort between two factions. The good guys, generally called Autobots (though they were Maximals for a while in the 90s, and both groups were until recently called Cybertrons in Japan) tend towards being noble and heroic, though the odd one can be naive, callous, or arrogant. The villains (usually Decepticons, though the Maximals' enemies were called Predacon; both groups were until recently called Destrons in Japan) tend towards being megalomaniacal, backstabbing, and occasionally cunning in a cowardly way.

Transformers come from the planet Cybertron, which in most stories have been devastated by their eons-long conflict. The fighting inevitably spills over to other worlds, most notably Earth.

What the Transformers are fighting over varies. In most cases, it's energy, or a substance that can be used to produce lots of it. Other times, it's about items of power, or even the very fabric of time.

Continuity and canon

Main articles: Canon, Continuity, Continuity family, Universal stream

Unlike other scifi series such as Star Wars and Doctor Who, Transformers does not have a single continuity or timeline. Right from the start, there were two different series - a cartoon, produced by Sunbow, and a comic, published by Marvel Comics. Both made use of the same characters, settings, and premise, but told irreconcilably different stories. Fans resolved this by assuming that the two took place in alternate universes. As time went on and more and more toylines, each with their own stories, were released, the number of different continuities has grown immensely. This leads to the situation where, in short, absolutely everything is canon, but not all at the same time.

Recurring characters

While each new incarnation of Transformers frequently starts a new continuity with a whole new cast of characters, some character types resonate strongly enough that they crop up again and again.

• Optimus: The leader of the good guys is generally a noble and stoic paragon of heroism, though sometimes is of lower rank and suffers from insubordination and lack of confidence.
• Megatron: The leader of the bad guys dreams of power, conquest and glory, and often takes glee in crushing those who stand in his way.
• Starscream: The bad guys invariably include at least one conniving, sneaky guy who stabs his comrades in the back at the drop of a hat. This character is always secretly or overtly seeking to take power for himself; despite this, he usually manages to attain a high rank, often being overall second in command.
• Hot Shot: A good guy who has a close relationship with a human. This character is usually young and naive, and at some point will learn a valuable lesson about not being so reckless. Is often being groomed for future leadership. Tends to be yellow in color.
• Jetfire: A member of the good guys, often the first among them who is able to fly. Frequently has some sort of connection to the villains.

Glossary

In more than 25 years, Transformers has accumulated a large amount of fan jargon. Most of these terms have more detailed articles elsewhere on this wiki; for your benefit, here are some bite-sized definitions.

• Altmode: A Transformer's non-robot form, generally a vehicle or animal. Short for 'alternate mode'. Some have more than one.
• Anti-kibble: Robot mode parts that are poorly concealed in the altmode.
• Articulation: A measure of how poseable a toy is; The higher the articulation, the more unique positions it can take.
• Autobot: One of the two most common Transformers factions. Generally the good guys.
• Beast mode: An altmode which is an animal. Strictly speaking, it's only a beats mode if it includes some biological components.
• Beast Era: A period lasting from roughly 1996 to 2000 in the real world, during which most Transformers toys had realistic animals for altmodes. Consists of Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars, and Beast Machines.
• Bulk: Term used by Mini-Cons to refer to larger Transformers.
• Combiner: Two or more Transformers that can combine to form a larger robot. Also denotes the robot formed by multiple Transformers linked together.
• Convoy: In Japan, an Autobot/Maximal rank equal to that of Prime. In some American material, it is a rank somewhat lower than Prime.
• Cybertron: 1: The planet from which the Transformers come. 2: Japanese name for both Autobots and Maximals.
• Decepticon: One of the two most common Transformer factions, generally the bad guys.
• Destron: Japanese name for both Decepticons and the Predacon faction.
• Dinobot: A group of Autobots in several continuities with dinosaur altmodes.
• Faux-parts: Part of a toy's robot mode that has obvious elements of the altmode, but are in fact not part of the altmode.
• Energon: The Transformers' preferred fuel. Available in cube, crystal, gas, and cookie forms.
• Furmanism: Any phrase used by writer Simon Furman freuquently enough to be noticeable.
• Generation 1: Fan term, later used in an official capacity, to refer to the original cartoon and comics as distinct from Transformers in general.
• Gestalt: A robot formed by the combination of two or more others.
• Godmaster: Japanese name for the Powermasters. Fictionally, the two concepts were presented rather differently, but theyfunctioned much the same.
• HasTak: Fan term for Hasbro and TakaraTomy as a collective entity.
• Headmaster: A Transformer whose head separates during transformation to become a smaller, roughly human-sized robot, or a human in a robot suit..
• Human: A race of intelligent, fleshy, fully organic beings about the size of Mini-Cons. They are the dominant species of the planet Earth, and sometimes exist on other worlds as well.
• Kibble: 1: (obsolete) Parts of one mode which detach and have nowhere to go in the other mode. 2: Parts of an altmode which are not only visible in, but actually hang off a robot mode. May also refer to robot mode parts that are clearly visible in the altmode.
• Maximal: The good guys from the Beast Era. Generally transform into birds and mammals.
• Mini-Con: A race of small Transformers, generally about 1.5 to 2 meters tall, that can link up with larger Transformers to enhance their power or reveal hidden weapons.
• Multiversal singularity: An entity of which there is only one in all the multiverse. May exist in all universes simultaneously, or may exist in one at a time and travel between them.
• Nebulos: A planet inhabited by (sometimes green-skinned) humans that regularly gets involved in the Transformer conflict. At least one region has an Australian accent.
• Pegwarmer: See shelfwarmer.
• Powermaster: A Transformer whose engine separates during transformation to become a smaller robot, or fleshling in a robot suit.
• Predacon: 1: A group of Decepticons from Generation 1 who transform into robotic animals, and can combine to form Predaking. 2: The bad guys in the Beast Era, as well as Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Generally transform into reptiles and arthropods.
• Pretender: A Transformer with an organic outer 'shell' that allows them to mimic a human or monster. The shell is usually capable of acting seperately from, but under the control of, the inner robot.
• Prime: A rank of high authority among Autobots and Maximals; the amount of authority it carries varies.
• Primus: The god of the Transformers, whose body is the planet Cybertron.
• Redeco: A toy which is simply another toy in different colors.
• Repaint: A redeco in which all the color changes are due to different paint applications (as opposed to the use of differently colored plastic)
• Retool: A toy which is another toy with some part, commonly the head, sculpted differently. There is no clear divideing line between a retool and an all-new toy.
• Robot mode: A Transformers' robotic form. Generally humanoid, but some are animal-like.
• Shattered Glass: A mirror universe in which Autobots are evil, Decepticons are goo, up is down, left is right, black is white, and Michael Bay's movies are known for their lack of explosions.
• Shelfwarmer: A toy which sells very poorly, just sitting on the shelf at the toy shop. Toys sold in blister-packed cards which sell this poorly are referred to as 'pegwarmers'.
• Shellformer: A toy in which all the parts of the altmode simply hang off the robot mode, rather than forming robot mode parts.
• Spark: A Transformer's soul.
• Transtector: A non-sentient Transformer under the control of a Headmaster or Godmaster.
• Triple Changer: A Transformer with a robot mode and two altmodes. These are generally a land vehicle and an air vehicle, or a vehicle and an animal.
• Trukk not munky!: A phrase used to mock people who complain that everything done by HasTak ruins Transformers forever.
• Unicron: A Satan-like counterpart to Primus, who seeks to devour all universes.
• Unicron Trilogy: A series of three toylines and associated fiction, lasting roughly from 2002 to 2006, consisting of Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron. So called because the plots of all three revolve around Unicron.
• Vector Sigma: A supercomputer at the heart of Cybertron. Possibly an avatar of Primus.