Nuclear weapon

This article is about the weapon of mass destruction. For the potent and addictive substance made from chronal enriched nucleon, see Nuke.

DO NOT RIDE THE BOMB

Nuclear weapons, also known as atom bombs or nukes, are extremely powerful weapons that harness atomic energy.

This is a "no-nuke" show; there should be no mention of nuclear energy in the stories.Further notes from the Generation 1 cartoon series' production bible

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Although his father was apparently quite relaxed about the arrival of giant transforming robots in Oregon, even going so far as to dress up like Optimus Prime to drum up business, "O" was more concerned about what might happen if they started firing nukes and wanted no part of it. The Last Stand

As G.B. Blackrock was preparing to unveil his new his new weapon to deal with the giant robots in the area at the Blackrock Motor Speedway, a journalist asked him if it was true that the weapon fired nuclear missiles. DIS-Integrated Circuits!

Metroplex was so strong that nothing less than a nuclear bomb could even scratch him. The Transformers Universe

During his time in control of the Ark, Shockwave reprogrammed the combat drone Guardian and booby-trapped it with a thermo-nuclear bomb. The Wrath of Guardian! With the bomb's countdown timer ticking, Swoop carried Guardian away from the Ark, saving the Autobot base from the explosion but seemingly at the cost of his own life. The Wrath of Grimlock!

After an incredibly powerful explosion in Kalis shook the subterranean Autobase there, Springer initially suspected that the Decepticons had started nuking them. Legion of the Lost!

Rhythms of Darkness!

With the North American continent under the control of Galvatron, the governments of the Earth's remaining free nations planned to eliminate the Decepticon threat with a nuclear strike. However, thanks to the efforts of Spike, Lisa, and a handful of Autobots, the US flag was raised above the Decepticon Powerbase as a sign that America was still fighting and the strike was called off. Rhythms of Darkness!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

The Decepticons sent a party to raid Nevada Alpha, the most modern nuclear arms cache of the United States, but the station managed to get a distress call to the Autobots and a squad is dispatched, led by Powermaster Optimus Prime. Despite the Decepticons being outnumbered, the battle was even and although the Autobots eventually claimed victory, Darkwing got away with three of the nuclear missiles.Save Nevada Alpha

Having stolen three nuclear missiles from the United States, Megatron sent an ultimatum to Earth—send him one million tons of oil or New York City, Berlin, and Moscow will be destroyed! To counter this threat, Optimus Prime volunteered Bumblebee, Jazz, and Grimlock to become Classic Pretenders and the three Autobots fought Pretender Starscream, the Firecons, and the other Decepticon Pretenders at the Decepticon base. Ultimately Bumblebee was able to stop the nuclear countdown and the Autobots took back the nuclear missiles. Megatron's Ultimatum

Regeneration One

"The cake will be burned!"

When Megatron was revived on Earth in 1994 and began systematically conquering the world, the humans resorted to nuclear tactics but he was able to hack into their missile systems and use their own weapons against them, destroying major population centres and reducing much of the planet to a wasteland. Loose Ends, Part 3 Alerted to the situation by the Wreckers, Optimus Prime finally arrived in 2012 to confront his old foe and Megatron gleefully revealed that he had taken steps to ensure that this would be their last confrontation: when their duel reached its end, whatever the outcome, the Ark's computer would launch nuclear missiles all across the world, destroying winners, losers, and everyone else. Fortunately Circuit Smasher was able to stop Megatron's final solution by shorting out the Ark's computer systems and shutting down the missiles. Loose Ends, Part 5

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Events from The Transformers Trilogy novels are in italics.

DO NOT PUNCH THE BOMB

As the Autobots and Decepticons fought in San Francisco, General Hallo decided to fire a nuclear missile at the city to wipe out all the Transformers, Prime Directive #5 forcing Superion to sacrifice his life to save everyone else. While the actual missile strike was stopped, the shock wave from the blast still hit the city. Prime Directive #6 San Francisco was contaminated with radiation from the fallout. Hardwired

As an alliance of Autobots and Decepticons battled the Keepers in Las Vegas, the US government jumped the gun on their plans and launched a nuclear missile in the hopes of ridding themselves of all the Transformers and aliens in one fell swoop. The missile detonated, but Optimus Prime was able to use the power of the Matrix to absorb the nuclear fire and direct it all at the Keepers. Annihilation Megatron would then publicly reveal the President's decision to launch the nuke as a warning not to interfere with his plans in future. Fusion

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

Peace talks around the issue of nuclear weapons being held in Washington, D.C.—and their attendant protests—were interrupted by a sudden attack by the terrorist organisation Cobra, using never-before-seen technology. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #1

Later, Wheeljack and Bumblebee intended to partner with G.I. Joe in an attack on Cobra Island to rescue the captured and brainwashed Autobots, but the humans' higher-ups disagreed, planning to nuke the island instead. Hawk regretfully incapacitated the robots with a magnetic pulse, but Wheeljack stayed conscious enough to overhear their plans and warned Hawk that a nuclear impact on Cobra's energon stockpile would cause a chain reaction and send half the planet into a nuclear winter. With this revelation, Hawk broke orders and went ahead with the original strategy.G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4

Upon arriving at the island, Wheeljack patched through a message to all Autobots that the United States had decided to nuke Cobra Island despite having their own troops located there. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5 He quickly improvised a way to avoid the impending nuclear holocaust by using the SPS Satellite's solar-powered energy beams to shoot down the nuclear warheads before they arrived. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #6

2005 IDW continuity

DO NOT CUDDLE THE BOMB

During the 1960s, twenty-three nuclear fusion weapons were detonated on Bikini Atoll, leaving deposits of fissile materials such as Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 on the island. Full Fathom Five

In 2008, the Decepticons seized New York City and began hitting other sites across the planet. A group of world leaders met in Versailles and discussed plans for a European Union assault on New York, and a plan within that plan to hit New York with a nuclear bomb during the attack, without telling all the nations involved. All Hail Megatron #6

With Megatron and his Decepticons squabbling over control of New York, the EU launched the strike against them. All Hail Megatron #10 However, the plane carrying the nuclear bomb turned out to be Tankor in disguise. All Hail Megatron #11 Megatron ordered Tankor to drop the bomb anyway, but it was ultimately intercepted and diverted into space by Thundercracker. All Hail Megatron #12

After catching wind of a Transformer battle at the Chinese-North Korean border, Russia launched a nuclear bomb forcing Cosmos to intercept the warhead. Thanks to some clever rewiring on his part, it detonated harmlessly in the Arctic Circle. All My Sins Remembered

After the Transformers left Earth, G.I. Joe and Cobra fought a war in Nanzhao that resulted in the complete nuclear devastation of the country, a destructive act second only to the Decepticon invasion in all of Earth's history. Secret Raiders

Thundercracker's movie Last Laugh: The Life and Death of Chuckles depicted the title character saving the entire world from Cobra Commander's fiendish plot to launch nuclear missiles.Starscream: The Movie

The Cobra terrorist Cesspool, assisted by his mutant Army Ants, held Mexico City to ransom with a nuclear bomb. As G.I. Joe arrived to shut his plot down, Cesspool threatened to detonate his bomb but was taken out by Lady Jaye with a laser javelin to the back. Scarlett's Strike Force #1

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

Having infected Saturn, Mars, and the Moon with its technological touch, Cybertron was now directly above planet Earth. General Flagg appealed to the "Jugglers"—a secret cabal within the government—to let him nuke Cybertron, but he was rebuffed. Expelled from the Garden

Ask Vector Prime

With the success of the Autobots' S.T.A.R.S. program, the Decepticons of Primax 185.0 Beta responded with their own Decepto-Packs, enslaving humans to augment their capabilities and help them conquer the planet. Galvatron eventually provoked a nuclear strike that provided him the energon necessary to have his slaves build Zod drones, which he unleashed across the universe, conquering many systems. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/04

2019 IDW continuity

The Thraal carried out a policy of deliberate, targeted sterilization of the A'ovan homeworld by bombarding the planet with nuclear weapons. Nautica: Home Though a small population of A'ovan refugees were able to find sanctuary on Cybertron, their planet was left an irradiated wasteland. The World In Your Eyes Part Two

Panini Armada comic

Having established a base on the Moon, Megatron planned to simply nuke Autobase. Negotiations with the Mini-Cons bought the Autobots the time they needed to repair their space bridge and link it to the Decepticons' one, so when Megatron fired the missiles, they were warped straight back into his own short-lived base. Earthshaker!

Live-action film series

Movies

Dark of the Moon film

Dino, Que, Bumblebee and Sideswipe were sent on a mission to take out an illegal nuclear weapons site in the Middle East. They were able to penetrate the base with ease thanks to Que disguising himself as the car of the country's Defense Minister, but Dino transformed to robot mode the instant they were through the barrier and, blades flashing, politely requested that the human guards lie on the ground while the Autobots went about their destructive business. Dark of the Moon

The Last Knight film

With Cybertron in orbit above Earth, NASA scientists devised a plan to destroy the ignition chamber by nuking a nearby chunk of the planet, causing it to detach and swing into the chamber. Despite the devastating impact, the chamber continued to function before coming to rest on another part of Cybertron. The Last Knight

IDW movie comics

Though he was instrumental in the US winning World War II thanks to his hand in inventing the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer's socialist background led to him being accused of communism and disgraced by Bill Simmons and others. Frozen

After the Decepticons had been defeated in Mission City, their bodies were dumped in the Laurentian Abyss and buried by a nuclear blast. Movie Adaptation #4

Titan movie comics

In a divergent timeline, the Decepticons succeeded at Mission City and conquered the United States. NATO tried both communications and conventional military force against the Decepticons, to no avail and calls began to grow for a nuclear strike against Decepticon-held territory. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1 Eventually, a nuclear assault was ordered, with fleets in the Bay of Biscay and Newfoundland preparing to attack... when the Decepticons whacked them first. Ten minutes of combat saw NATO losses of 11,506 before the Decepticons finished their victory by obliterating the NATO headquarters in the Palais Bourbon and everyone in it. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 2

Later, the President of the United States Theodore F. Allen (under the control of a Decepticon cerebro-strip) convinced Congress to vote for the eviction of all Autobot forces from the nation in the hope of appeasing Decepticon terrorists. Once the Autobots actually set off, Allen had a nuclear missile fired at their ship, seemingly killing them all... Revolution Part 1

Bumblebee Movie Prequel

The Decepticon Malignus sought to inflame the Cold War into open conflict, intending to use the cover of a nuclear war to allow the Decepticons to move about undetected. As he prepared to launch a nuclear missile from an abandoned castle on a peninsula of the United Kingdom at the Soviet Union, his plans were foiled by the interventions of Bumblebee, David Reeve, Diana Lux, and ultimately, Diabla. From Cybertron with Love

Aligned continuity family

Titan Prime comic

A nuclear weapon was "forgotten" in Autobot Outpost Omega One when the United States of America turned it over to Team Prime. When the Autobots discovered and activated it while testing their new Safe. After the Autobots had chased away the Vehicons who mistook the radiation for energon, they turned over the warhead to William Fowler's team of scientists who managed to defuse it. Optimus Prime then told the humans to take the bomb with them as they left. The Safe and the Failsafe

Prime cartoon

Following the establishment of a Decepticon fortress on Earth and the devastation of Jasper, Agent Fowler contacted General Bryce about the evacuation, only to be told that the military were of a mind to nuke the Decepticons. Darkmount, NV