Generation 1 continuity family

This article is about the continuity family. For the franchise that it contains and is named after, see Generation 1 (franchise).

The Generation 1 continuity family is the biggest, oldest, and longest-running family in the Transformers canon. Its core is all of the fiction published under the Generation 1 franchise, which got off to a bifurcated start in 1984 with the Marvel comic and Sunbow cartoon, two distinct universes starring the same cast of characters. Alongside those two main continuities there sprang up a cluster of micro-continuities in the form of books, flyers, and more comics.

As the years went on, many subsequent franchises used strands of Generation 1 lore as the backstory of their own fiction, thus joining and extending the continuity family. Even when the main Transformers franchise is separate from Generation 1, oftentimes secondary "filler" franchises will keep the continuity going. It has also been a favorite with modern comic companies, who have been publishing a relatively steady stream of Generation 1-branded comics for most of this decade.

In Japan, TakaraTomy has not only contributed to the continuity family with unique series of its own, but it even published an "official timeline" that jammed Car Robots and the 2007 film into the Generation 1 multiverse. The inclusion of Car Robots is corroborated by Kiss Players fiction and timelines, but nothing else has touched upon the movie being part of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Franchises

The size and complexity of the various component continuities make them very difficult to list properly. So instead we will list all of the franchises whose fiction makes up this continuity family:

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

United States	Japan
The Transformers (Later called Generation 1) Transformers: Generation 2 Machine Wars Beast Wars Beast Machines Universe (2003) Alternators Classics Universe (2008) Generation 1 series Classic series Generation 2 series Beast Wars series Beast Machines series War Within series	Generation 1 Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers Transformers 2010 The Headmasters Super-God Masterforce Victory Zone Return of Convoy Operation Combination Transformers: Generation 2 Beast Wars Beast Wars II Beast Wars Neo Beast Machines Heroes of Cybertron Binaltech Robot Masters Kiss Players Henkei! Henkei!