Units of time/Continuity - Revision history

InitialTeeHee: /* Specific unit definitions */ Linking to articles

2026-02-26T03:50:31Z

Specific unit definitions: Linking to articles

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:50, 26 February 2026
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	\|As with the ''Beast Wars'' cycle, this unit is ''on the order of'' an hour, as defined by the series' story editors. Used incongruously in "[[The Agenda (Part 1)]]" to refer to a much longer span of time. (One of the [[Tripredacus Council]] says, "His ship and the Axalon both vanished last megacycle. The Maximal probes never found them.") [[Ben Yee]] cites a statement from DiTillio that another unit—the deca-cycle—is roughly month-like in length.<ref name="BY">[http://web.archive.org/web/20070112173228/http://www.bwtf.com/bw/tvshow/geninfo.shtml Ben Yee's "general info" on the BW cartoon includes DiTillio's list of time units]</ref> This may be the unit that was intended for that line of dialogue.		\|As with the ''Beast Wars'' cycle, this unit is ''on the order of'' an hour, as defined by the series' story editors. Used incongruously in "[[The Agenda (Part 1)]]" to refer to a much longer span of time. (One of the [[Tripredacus Council]] says, "His ship and the Axalon both vanished last megacycle. The Maximal probes never found them.") [[Ben Yee]] cites a statement from DiTillio that another unit—the deca-cycle—is roughly month-like in length.<ref name="BY">[http://web.archive.org/web/20070112173228/http://www.bwtf.com/bw/tvshow/geninfo.shtml Ben Yee's "general info" on the BW cartoon includes DiTillio's list of time units]</ref> This may be the unit that was intended for that line of dialogue.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Solar cycle'''		\|'''[[Solar cycle]]'''
	\|1 Cybertronian day/20 Earth hours		\|1 Cybertronian day/20 Earth hours
	\|Rotational period (a Cybertronian "day") for Cybertron as volunteered by information provided to Ben Yee by Larry DiTillio.<ref name="BY"/><br>In the ''Beast Machines'' episode "[[The Weak Component]]", Rattrap uses the term "half a solar cycle" to describe the amount of time the Maximals would leave Megatron alone in order to regain his strength: one night, from dusk-to-dawn.		\|Rotational period (a Cybertronian "day") for Cybertron as volunteered by information provided to Ben Yee by Larry DiTillio.<ref name="BY"/><br>In the ''Beast Machines'' episode "[[The Weak Component]]", Rattrap uses the term "half a solar cycle" to describe the amount of time the Maximals would leave Megatron alone in order to regain his strength: one night, from dusk-to-dawn.
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	\|'''Nanoklik''' (Animated)\|\|~1 second\|\|In "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]", Optimus Prime enters Prowl's quarters asking, "Prowl, got a nanoklik?" Also, in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]" [[Lockdown (Animated)\|Lockdown]] tells [[Prowl (Animated)\|Prowl]] to "Wait a nanoklik." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as the duration of 8,589,934,592 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom, or about a second.		\|'''Nanoklik''' (Animated)\|\|~1 second\|\|In "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]", Optimus Prime enters Prowl's quarters asking, "Prowl, got a nanoklik?" Also, in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]" [[Lockdown (Animated)\|Lockdown]] tells [[Prowl (Animated)\|Prowl]] to "Wait a nanoklik." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as the duration of 8,589,934,592 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom, or about a second.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Orbital Cycle'''\|\|~1 month\|\|In ''[[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]'', [[Starscream (Animated)\|Starscream]], after hearing all his clones, mutters to himself: "This is going to be a LONG orbital cycle." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 32 solar cycles or about a month.		\|'''[[Orbital Cycle]]'''\|\|~1 month\|\|In ''[[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]'', [[Starscream (Animated)\|Starscream]], after hearing all his clones, mutters to himself: "This is going to be a LONG orbital cycle." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 32 solar cycles or about a month.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Solar cycle''' (Animated)\|\|~1 day\|\|In "[[Transform and Roll Out]], Part 1", Megatron says he has spent "the last four million solar cycles searching the galaxy" for the All Spark. The parallel to Generation 1's famous "four million years" implies that this unit is meant to be year-like. In "Part 3" Starscream refers to the 50 years of searching between the battle in which "he defeated Megatron" and the present as 50 solar cycles, cementing this definition. However, in "Part 2", Optimus Prime and Ratchet have an exchange in which they use "solar cycle" in a way that is a better idiomatic match for "day" than "year". Further episodes continue with the "day" definition. [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 10 megacycles, or about a day.		\|'''Solar cycle''' (Animated)\|\|~1 day\|\|In "[[Transform and Roll Out]], Part 1", Megatron says he has spent "the last four million solar cycles searching the galaxy" for the All Spark. The parallel to Generation 1's famous "four million years" implies that this unit is meant to be year-like. In "Part 3" Starscream refers to the 50 years of searching between the battle in which "he defeated Megatron" and the present as 50 solar cycles, cementing this definition. However, in "Part 2", Optimus Prime and Ratchet have an exchange in which they use "solar cycle" in a way that is a better idiomatic match for "day" than "year". Further episodes continue with the "day" definition. [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 10 megacycles, or about a day.
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	\|}		\|}
	{{-}}		{{-}}


	==Note==		==Note==

BerylRoll at 13:41, 15 February 2026

2026-02-15T13:41:49Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:41, 15 February 2026
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	\|'''Deca-cycle''' (Animated)\|\|~10 days\|\|In "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)\|Ultra Magnus]] calls to report that [[Starscream (Animated)\|Starscream]] has escaped. He says that it happened "a decacycle ago", and that he would have called sooner but their [[Tachyon transmitter]] was missing. [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 10 solar cycles.		\|'''Deca-cycle''' (Animated)\|\|~10 days\|\|In "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)\|Ultra Magnus]] calls to report that [[Starscream (Animated)\|Starscream]] has escaped. He says that it happened "a decacycle ago", and that he would have called sooner but their [[Tachyon transmitter]] was missing. [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 10 solar cycles.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Megacycle''' (Animated)\|\|~2.6 hours\|\|In "[[Lost and Found (~~episode~~)\|Lost and Found]]" Ratchet estimated that it would take 10 mega-cycles to repair the [[Omega Supreme (Animated)\|Autobots' ship]] even with the help of the [[AllSpark Key]]. The Autobots seemed to consider this to be a moderately long time, but not so long for it to be unrealistic that they might repair the ship before the Decepticons come at them in force. Later, in "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]", [[Bulkhead (Animated)\|Bulkhead]] defends the [[Constructicon (Animated)\|Constructicons]]' behavior, asserting that "they've been online two, three megacycles tops." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 100 cycles or about 2.6 hours.		\|'''Megacycle''' (Animated)\|\|~2.6 hours\|\|In "[[Lost and Found (Animated)\|Lost and Found]]" Ratchet estimated that it would take 10 mega-cycles to repair the [[Omega Supreme (Animated)\|Autobots' ship]] even with the help of the [[AllSpark Key]]. The Autobots seemed to consider this to be a moderately long time, but not so long for it to be unrealistic that they might repair the ship before the Decepticons come at them in force. Later, in "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]", [[Bulkhead (Animated)\|Bulkhead]] defends the [[Constructicon (Animated)\|Constructicons]]' behavior, asserting that "they've been online two, three megacycles tops." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 100 cycles or about 2.6 hours.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Nanoklik''' (Animated)\|\|~1 second\|\|In "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]", Optimus Prime enters Prowl's quarters asking, "Prowl, got a nanoklik?" Also, in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]" [[Lockdown (Animated)\|Lockdown]] tells [[Prowl (Animated)\|Prowl]] to "Wait a nanoklik." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as the duration of 8,589,934,592 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom, or about a second.		\|'''Nanoklik''' (Animated)\|\|~1 second\|\|In "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]", Optimus Prime enters Prowl's quarters asking, "Prowl, got a nanoklik?" Also, in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]" [[Lockdown (Animated)\|Lockdown]] tells [[Prowl (Animated)\|Prowl]] to "Wait a nanoklik." [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac\|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as the duration of 8,589,934,592 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom, or about a second.

Sabrblade: /* Robots in Disguise (2001) */

2024-11-05T15:03:22Z

Robots in Disguise (2001)

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:03, 5 November 2024
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	!width="25%"\|Duration		!width="25%"\|Duration
	!width="50%"\|Description		!width="50%"\|Description
			\|-
			\|'''Gigacycle'''
			\|???
			\|A unit of undetermined duration that was used in "[[The Hunt for Black Pyramid]]".
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Solar Cycle'''		\|'''Solar Cycle'''

Cyberlink420 at 14:28, 25 July 2023

2023-07-25T14:28:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:28, 25 July 2023
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	\|'''Cycle'''		\|'''Cycle'''
	\|1 day, shorter than an Earth day.		\|1 day, shorter than an Earth day.
	\|Defined for use in the 2019 IDW continuity by [[Brian Ruckley]] <ref name="brt">[https://twitter.com/Brian_Ruckley/status/1134770533759950850 Brian Ruckley on Twitter]</ref>		\|Defined for use in the 2019 IDW continuity by [[Brian Ruckley]] <ref name="brt">{{citesocial\|quote=Yep. A cycle is a Cybertronian day, shorter than an Earth day. A kilocycle is the equivalent of our year (not precisely a thousand cycles, technically - but close enough), a megacycle is a thousand kilocycles.\|link=https://twitter.com/Brian_Ruckley/status/1134770533759950850\|name=Brian Ruckley\|site=Twitter\|year=2019\|month=06\|day=01\|(defunct=)}}</ref>
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Demicycle'''		\|'''Demicycle'''

ShyAndroid: typo fix. finding my recent ones off a list of common misspellings so if the list is just Wrong lemme know

2023-03-25T02:28:57Z

typo fix. finding my recent ones off a list of common misspellings so if the list is just Wrong lemme know

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:28, 25 March 2023
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	\|'''Arc'''\|\|Minutes? Hours?\|\|First mentioned in "[[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading]]" when an explosion occurred at the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]], specifically at "arc 1-13 on the 5th chord of the 4th Cycle 501." Given its use to mark the moment of an explosion and the division between two numbers, arcs may be a unit similar to minutes and hours, such as something happening at 10:15.		\|'''Arc'''\|\|Minutes? Hours?\|\|First mentioned in "[[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading]]" when an explosion occurred at the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]], specifically at "arc 1-13 on the 5th chord of the 4th Cycle 501." Given its use to mark the moment of an explosion and the division between two numbers, arcs may be a unit similar to minutes and hours, such as something happening at 10:15.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Chord'''\|\|Days? Weeks?\|\|First mentioned in "[[Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc]]" as a aspect of the calendar ([[Drift (G1)\|Drift's]] encounter with [[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity\|Ratchet]] and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity\|Orion Pax]] ~~occured~~ on the 4th chord of 4th Cycle 501). The final events of the flashbacks in "[[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading]]" occur only one chord later. Given the pacing of events, a chord can't be shorter than a few hours, but certainly shorter than a month.		\|'''Chord'''\|\|Days? Weeks?\|\|First mentioned in "[[Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc]]" as a aspect of the calendar ([[Drift (G1)\|Drift's]] encounter with [[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity\|Ratchet]] and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity\|Orion Pax]] occurred on the 4th chord of 4th Cycle 501). The final events of the flashbacks in "[[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading]]" occur only one chord later. Given the pacing of events, a chord can't be shorter than a few hours, but certainly shorter than a month.
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Klik'''		\|'''Klik'''

Locoman at 17:37, 5 January 2023

2023-01-05T17:37:06Z

@@ Line 213: / Line 213: @@
 |-
 |'''Cycle'''
-|1 hour 15 minutes (1.25 hours)
+|1 hour 15 minutes
 |Defined for use in the IDW universe by Simon Furman in a forum post.<ref name="sff" />
 |-
@@ Line 244: / Line 244: @@
 |???
 |Used in [[The Ascending issue 2]]. Likely "3" of something, but who knows what.
 |}
 {{-}}

TransFormersfan1: Adding RPG units table

2022-08-30T17:47:47Z

Adding RPG units table

@@ Line 305: / Line 305: @@
 |'''Stellar cycle''' (Animated)||~1 year||In the ''Animated'' episode "[[Along Came a Spider]]", [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] says that her accident occurred "a thousand stellar cycles" ago.  Further, in "[[Megatron Rising - Part 2]]" [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] refers to both "fifty stellar cycles" and "four million stellar cycles", using the term in the way that solar cycles had previously been used.  [[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac|The AllSpark Almanac]] defines it as 320 solar cycles, or about a year.
 |}
 ==Note==

Saix at 21:18, 27 April 2022

2022-04-27T21:18:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:18, 27 April 2022
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	\|'''Nano-cycle'''		\|'''Nano-cycle'''
	\|1 second?		\|1 second?
	\|Mentioned in ''[[~~Wreckers~~: ~~Tread~~ & Circuits\|Tread & Circuits]]'' [[Tread & Circuits Part 1\|#1]].		\|Mentioned in ''[[Transformers: Wreckers—Tread & Circuits\|Tread & Circuits]]'' [[Tread & Circuits Part 1\|#1]].
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Breem'''		\|'''Breem'''
	\|1 minute?		\|1 minute?
	\|Mentioned in ''[[Transformers: Galaxies\|Galaxies]]'' [[Storm Horizon Part 1\|#10]] and ''[[~~Wreckers~~: ~~Tread~~ & Circuits\|Tread & Circuits]]'' [[Tread & Circuits Part 2\|#2]].		\|Mentioned in ''[[Transformers: Galaxies\|Galaxies]]'' [[Storm Horizon Part 1\|#10]] and ''[[Transformers: Wreckers—Tread & Circuits\|Tread & Circuits]]'' [[Tread & Circuits Part 2\|#2]].
	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Cycle'''		\|'''Cycle'''

Flicky1991: /* IDW Publishing (2019 continuity) */

2021-12-12T00:21:46Z

IDW Publishing (2019 continuity)

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:21, 12 December 2021
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	\|-		\|-
	\|'''Kilocycle'''		\|'''Kilocycle'''
	\|1 year, ~~approximatly~~ 1000 cycles		\|1 year, approximately 1000 cycles
	\|Defined for use in the 2019 IDW continuity by Brian Ruckley. <ref name="brt" />		\|Defined for use in the 2019 IDW continuity by Brian Ruckley. <ref name="brt" />
	\|-		\|-

Sabrblade: /* Specific unit definitions */

2021-11-04T22:07:38Z

Specific unit definitions

@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
 (480 Solar cycles<ref>By mathematical calculation: 400 Earth days times 24 Earth hours equals 9600 Earth hours; 9600 Earth hours divided by 20 Earth hours equals 480 Solar cycles.</ref>)
 |Orbital period (a Cybertronian "year") for Cybertron as stated by Larry DiTillio in information sent to Ben Yee.<ref name="BY"/>
 |}
 {{-}}