Canonizing

Canonizing is the act of inserting a previously apocryphal or pseudocanonical bit of fancruft or omitted authorial intent into canon. It's kind of like fanservice for continuity freaks.

Continuity concepts

{{ #if: {{#ifexpr: 2 }}

|

2

|

• Cybertronians keeping their paraphernalia out of sight in subspace storage pockets.
• The Powerdashers having the names "Cromar", "Zetar", and "Aragon".
• Nightbird being a full-fledged Decepticon.
• The Terrorcons being Quintesson creations.
• The origins and mechanics of the Brainmasters.
• Scorpia being a female Transformer.
• The Liege Maximo being one of the Thirteen.
• Star Saber having a knight templar personality.
• Tarantulas literally being affiliated with Unicron.
• Pretender and Micromaster technology being involved in the development of the beast modes of Maximals and Predacons.<ref>This fan theory took a while to appear in full, unabridged form in-universe. In 2013, Beast Wars Shattered Glass depicted Pretender technology as an element in the invention of organic beast modes, sans downsizing. In 2015 and 2016, Beast Wars: Uprising depicted Micromaster physiology as a precursor to small-sized Maximals and Predacons, with beast modes being developed separately. However, in 2024, the Technorganic Secrets expansion for the Transformers Roleplaying Game finally featured Cheetor crediting both technologies at once. </ref>
• The Magnaboss trio being the Maximal Elders to mirror the Tripredacus trio.
• Armada Cheetor, Airazor, Rhinox, and Terrorsaur being an evil team patterned on the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|{{#if:||Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse}}]].
• Three unused toy concepts: a jellyfish, a manticore, and a triffid from the Beast Wars Telemocha Series.
• The deleted scene from "Nemesis Part 2" of Generation 1 Megatron's spark being placed back into his body.
• The Starscream in this Machine Wars art possessing the deceased body of Skyquake.
• Universe Ratchet originating from a 2001 Robots in Disguise universe.
• Universe Longhorn being a new form of Ramulus.
• Universe Repugnus being a new form of Generation 1 Repugnus.
• Bio information for Universe Stockade and Magna Stampede.
• Bio information for Universe Inferno and BotCon 2006 Inferno.
• Ultra Trion being a form of Ultra Magnus and successor to Alpha Trion.
• Universe Defensor being an upgraded Hot Spot and being equipped with the Chaos Armor.
• Energon Omega Sentinel sometimes being a group's body-type instead of an individual.
• Bio information for Binaltech Blackarachnia and Decepticharge.
• Gaiacross being a new form of Landcross.
• Optimus Primal the Protector hailing from the universe of the English version of the Beast Wars cartoon as opposed to the Japanese version.
• United EX Straxus being a dimension-hopper from the Marvel Comics continuity.
• Howlback being transgender.
• The red Diaclone predecessor of Generation 1 Sunstreaker as a Cybertronian with Sunstreaker's unused preliminary name "Spin-Out".
• Greatshot being a new form of Sixshot.
• Majin Zarak being a form of Scorponok/MegaZarak.
• Maccadam secretly being Alchemist Prime of the Thirteen.

}}

Fan-coined names

{{ #if: {{#ifexpr: 3 }}

|

3

|

• Artillery Drone
• Beast Era
• Bumper
• Cobrabreast
• Cityformer
• Darksyde<ref>Terrorsaur speaks the metaphorical line "Welcome to the dark side." in the 1996 episode "Equal Measures", but fan clamor led to this usage being canonized as the proper noun "Darkside" in the 2000 Beast Wars Transmetals PlayStation game, renamed in later media to "Darksyde" for trademark reasons.</ref>
• Discmaster
• Dinocassette
• Energon Saber Mini-Con Team
• Furmanism
• Generation 1
• Gestalt
• Gold Plastic Syndrome
• Groundpounder
• Herald of Unicron
• Kibble
• Mech and Femme
• Moon Beta
• Quintesson Executioner
• Quintesson Prosecutor
• Morphcore
• Puffer
• Punch of Kill Everything
• Rainmaker<ref>Bluestreak used "rain maker" as a generic description in the 1985 episode "Divide and Conquer", but fan interpretation as a proper noun led to canonization in the 2008 packaging bio for Universe Acid Storm.</ref>
• Recharge slab
• Re-paint
• Seeker (sort of)<ref>"Seeker" debuted in 1980s retail catalogs, but this source was evidently forgotten even as the term became ubiquitous in the 1990s online fandom, leading to prevalent use in 21st century official material.</ref>
• Sparkling
• Sparkmate<ref>The term "sparkmate" officially debuted in a minor feature in the 2000 Beast Wars Transmetals N64 game, presumably as a result of the "spark" term debuting in the Beast Wars cartoon. It was persistent usage in the fandom which led to the term's recurrence in The AllSpark Almanac and More than Meets the Eye.</ref>
• Steve
• Troop builder
• Universe War

}}

Toy trademarks which did not come to fruition

{{ #if: {{#ifexpr: 3 }}

|

3

|

• Albitron
• Big Bang
• Blue Maximus
• Braxe
• Buffalo Dump
• Carzap
• Cerberus
• Chro
• Craggor
• Crash Test
• Dactyl
• Cowcatcher
• Dominus Trannis
• Hip Bone
• Hydron
• Ironclad
• Jai-Alai
• Lazorlash
• Leatherhide
• Lizar
• Muscles
• Nightprowler
• Quakebreak
• Ramak
• Rib Cage
• Rodimus Primal
• Screechwing
• Slammoth
• Slywire
• Solarbot
• Spacewarp
• Spin-Out
• Spiketail
• Stormrazor
• Tail Bone
• Time Limit
• Ulchtar

}}

Names originating in pseudocanonical sources

{{ #if: {{#ifexpr: 3 }}

|

3

|

• Dark science
• Direwolf
• Ebon Knights
• Killzone
• Kolkular
• Galvatron II
• Hadean System
• Hulla Filament
• Magno-clamps
• Maxa Q
• Mindgame
• Mogahn the Mass
• Pinea Omicron
• Praetorian
• Pyrovar
• Stellar Galleries
• Vanguard-class Deep Space Interceptor

}}

References

<references />