Unspace

Sandwiched between the infinite universal streams that make up the multiverse, there is a an expanse of nothingness that acts as a buffer between dimensions. This interdimensional space has many names—including unspace, overspace, underspace, infraspace, subspace, foldspace, and the bleed—but it is most famously known as transwarp space, since that name is often used for much of the technology built around exploiting its properties.

Transwarp space—or just "transwarp", and also spelled "Transwarp" or "TransWarp"—has become an integral component of many well-known Cybertronian technologies, even if its creators do not always understand the specifics, or even the fact that they are utilizing transwarp at all. Subspace radio allows broadcasts to span galaxies by beaming them through transwarp space, while personalized extra-dimensional pockets give Transformers the ability to store their weapons, and in some cases shunt their mass, outside their dimension. The most famous use is surely the space bridge, which allows a traveller to traverse vast intergalactic distances almost instantaneously by means of a "short-cut" through transwarp space. As transwarp space exists beyond the laws of reality, it is even possible to travel through time itself by crossing it. The ultimate expression of the technology came with the development of the portable Transwarp Drive, powered by transwarp cells, which removed the need for a fixed departure/arrival location system and allowed whole vessels to independently voyage across time and space at will.

However, its widespread use does not necessarily mean that transwarp space has a glowing reputation. The precision and energy needed to access it often makes the technology required very temperamental, and hugely susceptible to disruption if its delicate balance is disturbed. Make one wrong move when voyaging through transwarp, and it is very likely that you may not end up in the same time period, or even the same universe, than you started in... if you're fortunate enough to end up in a universe at all, and not cast adrift in its formless non-space. And even this is not the worst that could befall a hapless castaway, because despite its seeming emptiness, transwarp space is home to a collection of enigmatic, malignant, shapeless entities, and for them to take notice of a stranded traveller is a fate far worse than a mere eternity of solitude. Fortunately, the inhabitants of one of the older, more advanced realities have appointed themselves stewards of the multiverse and taken it upon themselves to trawl transwarp space, oftentimes rescuing both the on-purpose and the accidental travellers that find themselves lost in its unending expanse.

Conceptual history

The idea of "extra-dimensional space" used for highly accelerated travel is, of course, not unique to Transformers, being a long-standing trope of science fiction. Though not often discussed in detail, this method of transit was in play from virtually the very beginning of Transformers fiction: space bridges explicitly operated on the principle in both the Generation 1 cartoon and Marvel comic, with the dangers of the interdimensional void occasionally serving as plot points. Many subsequent Generation 1 stories would feature pieces of technology that operated on this system, with many different names for the interdimensional space involved being used.

Early on, the concept of Transformers making use of extra-dimensional space was much more prolific as one of the earliest bits of widespread fanon in the burgeoning online fandom. Dubbed "subspace" by fans—again, a popular science-fiction term for the concept—it essentially arose as an explanation for perhaps the most famous question of all: "Where does Optimus Prime's trailer go when he transforms?" When the Autobot leader transformed into robot mode in the Generation 1 cartoon, his trailer would almost always slide out of the frame, not to be seen again until he transformed back into truck mode, at which point it would come sliding in to connect back up with him. Fans warmed to the notion that it was being shunted into this subspace, where it remained until Prime summoned it back, a concept that also helped to explain the assorted cases of size changing evident in Transformers fiction, with the notion that characters who shrank when they transformed did so by shunting their extraneous mass into subspace.

"Where'd you get that?" "Editing mistake- in my favor!"

This "subspace" theory also helped to explain where characters' weaponry disappeared to when they transformed into vehicle mode, and happened to line up well with a sparse few instances in the cartoon that featured the animation "cheat" of having some characters' weapons appear or disappear in a simple flash of light (a similar effect was even used on Optimus Prime's trailer in "The Ultimate Doom, Part 2"). Subsequent Japanese-exclusive Generation 1 cartoons Super-God Masterforce and Victory would later make prolific use of this effect, even turning it into a plot point in one instance, bringing more concrete validation to the idea.

Eventually, subspace was canonized, by name, in 2004 by the Story of Binaltech, which established it as the void between dimensions, and saw characters travel through it to reach separate dimensions.

In 1996, the Beast Wars cartoon introduced the world to transwarp technology. This tech was explained to operate by opening a window into "transwarp space", through which travellers could access entire other times and dimensions, and it was shown to do just that in the very first episode, before going on to play a recurring key role in numerous stories throughout the rest of the series as beyond. As the most prominent, consistent and wide-ranging use of inter-dimensional-transit technology, its name began to be used in other fictions too, such as Animated, where space bridges explicitly used transwarp technology.

The 2008 prose story "Gone Too Far", produced for the Transformers Collectors' Club by longtime fans Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop, brought the myriad depictions of interdimensional space together under the umbrella name of "transwarp", establishing that they were all the same thing and the various technologies that accessed them worked off the same principle. In the process, they canonized the fanon idea of "subspace storage pockets", in which Transformers could keep their personal paraphernalia.

A few other barren extra-dimensional realms have sporadically appeared in Transformers fiction, perhaps most notably the utter void of complete non-existence left in the wake of Unicron's passing. Sepelak and Troop's "Withered Hope" noted that this is what exists outside of all reality itself, while transwarp space is what is between dimensions, a slight but key distinction. Others exist that are so sparsely explained that they are harder to quantify and relate to the transwarp concept, such as the UK Generation 1 comics' parasite-infested Limbo, or the fleetingly-referenced, more metaphysical "infraspace" from IDW's Escalation. For these and other more vague, possibly-related concepts, see the list below.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Energon cubes are transported through the "cold dark void" traversed by the space bridge, riding within a beam of light.

Stranded on Earth in 1984, the Decepticons developed space bridge technology in order to facilitate the transport of resources to and from Cybertron. The bridge operated by opening a portal into interdimensional space—described by Megatron as a "cold, dark void"—and generating a path across it in the form of a beam of light, which a traveller was required to focus upon, lest they risk becoming lost in nothingness. To become lost was to "cease to exist", according to Megatron, Transport to Oblivion or in the more dramatic parlance of Shockwave, to be "catapulted into oblivion". The Ultimate Doom, Part 1 Although they would occasionally hijack the space bridge for their own purposes, the Autobots never developed a system of their own, instead working in concert with humanity in the early 21st Century to create a network of warp gates that operated on a similar principle, with the advantage of fixed entry/exit points, versus the constant relocation the Decepticon space bridge design required. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3

Say hello to my leetle friend!

Instances of Transformers visibly displacing their weapons and paraphernalia were rare, but not unheard of; Ravage's proton bombs disappeared in a flicker of purple light when he transformed to enter Teletraan I More than Meets the Eye, Part 2; Kickback's gun manifested in his hands in a purple flash during the Insecticons' first battles with the Autobots A Plague of Insecticons; Cyclonus summoned his oxidating laser into his hand while confronting the Autobots in their mausoleum Dark Awakening; and Blurr once did the same to his electro-laser. 1986 commercial bumper The glow-effect seen to accompany these displacements also appeared in a few other vanishingly rare instances that subspace can probably be attributed to: Jazz's forearm once glowed orange when he substituted his hand for his grappling hook More than Meets the Eye, Part 2; Optimus Prime's trailer sported a pronounced golden glow in one instance when he called it to him The Ultimate Doom, Part 2; and Soundwave shimmered with a white halo as he grew back to full size in one unique transformation sequence. Transport to Oblivion

The Quintessons had also perfected a means of interdimensional travel, using a secret chamber to teleport criminals of their race away to different dimensions. One such realm was described as a "dimension without substance"; subsequent evidence indicates that this realm was actually interdimensional space itself. Madman's Paradise

Japanese cartoon continuity

Transit through a destabilized space bridge was punctuated by lightning-like bursts of energy.

The Autobot/human alliance that brought about warp gate technology began with the development of the Trigger space station, which even the Decepticons recognized as superior to their own space bridge system and attempted to appropriate. Damage done to the Trigger's systems in the attempt caused it briefly punch a hole through time. The Battle of the Star Gate By the year 2011, however, warp gates had fallen into disuse among the Autobots, who instead finally adopted space bridge technology for themselves, setting up a network between Cybertron, Autobot City on Earth, and their secondary command post on Athenia. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky The Trainbots usually ferried travellers through the inter-dimensional space the bridge traversed, though transit grew dangerous when the gravimetric balance of the bridge was destabilized following the destruction of Mars. The Autobots' access to Earth was subsequently greatly diminished when their space bridge was destroyed by the Decepticons. Daniel Faces His Biggest Crisis Ever!!

Weaponry displacement gradually became a much more common sight in the years that followed 2011; Godmaster warrior Ginrai was often seen to summon up his cannons into his hands with a flash of light. The great users of this technique, though, were Star Saber, Deathsaurus and their warriors, who would regularly manifest their various weapons during battle. Their frequent use of the technique offered some more insight into its working, suggesting that a Transformer uses some of their personal energy supply in summoning a weapon, and in keeping it summoned: When Deathsaurus was poised to slay Star Saber with his Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon, the weapon fizzled out and de-materialized because he did not have the energy to spare. Attempting to summon his sword immediately afterward, Deathsaurus could only manifest the blade for a moment before it too faded out. Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress

Story of Binaltech

To increase the Autobots' manpower, Chip Chase invented the Genetronic Translink System, which allowed a Transformer's spark to be safely stored in subspace, and from there, control multiple Binaltech bodies via translink ports installed on them. GT Units Online! Later, Wheeljack attempted to use the GT System to transfer Prowl's spark into a new body from across the solar system by moving it through subspace. Unfortunately, a Decepticon attack caused the system to malfunction, and Prowl's spark was lost to the void. Prowl & Chase A few years later, Prowl's spark found its way through the infinite vastness of subspace and materialized in a parallel timeline where the Binaltech project had died out. Unfortunately, this did not put him beyond the reach of his timeline's Decepticons, who used a neuro-net frame, hooked up to subspace node, to locate his spark across the dimensions and drain energy from it to power a synthetic electrum monster they had created. An Autobot from the timeline Prowl had travelled to, Bluestreak, voyaged across subspace to team up with the Autobots of Prowl's home time, stop the Decepticons, and restore Prowl to his true body. Unfinished Business, Part 1 Unfinished Business, Part 2

Marvel Comics continuity

It's real purple in there.

The Decepticons' space bridge was designed to resemble a suspension bridge, and when activated, the swirling void of interdimensional space became visible through the "cables" that formed its sides. To fall from the bridge into the void was to be immediately and explosively destroyed, a fate met by several Autobots and Decepticons during an attempt by Blaster's rebel cell to destroy the bridge. The Bridge to Nowhere!

To counter the space bridge, the Autobots later bridged the interdimensional gulf with their new trans-time dimensional portal technology. King Con! When Megatron attempted to use this technology to escape an impending implosion in his base on Cybertron, he was stopped by Ratchet, Skin Deep, only for the subsequent blast to first hurl the two combatants through the portal, then damage the device enough to cause it to shut down before they could emerge on the other side. Consequently, the pair were left stranded in interdimensional space—called "unspace" by Nightbeat, the "nothingness between realities"—before being recovered by an automated probe the Autobot detective sent into the void to find them. Eye of the Storm

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

3H comics

Transwarp technology in Shokaract's 32nd century operated by passengers travelling in a quantum tunnel through overspace. Schism Heralds Antagony Herald and Cataclysm were sent to prehistoric Earth using transwarp to secure the continued existence of the Dark Essence for Shokaract. In transit, Cataclysm battled Windrazor and was pushed out of the quantum tunnel into the chaos of overspace. Schism Thanks to the failure of his Heralds, Shokaract himself traveled through overspace to Earth. Paradox