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This article is about the battle that comprises Act 1 of The Transformers: The Movie. For the eponymous mobile game event, see The Battle for Autobot City..

In ur base, killin ur doods.

The Battle of Autobot City was a protracted battle between the Autobots and Decepticons taking place at Autobot City, the primary base of the Autobots on Earth, taking place in the year 2005 in several reality streams. By its end, the leaders of both the Autobot and Decepticon forces were suffering fatal injuries, numerous combatants on both sides had been killed, and events were set in motion that would lead to the creation of Galvatron and, eventually, the passing of the Matrix of Leadership.

“	Their defenses are broken. Let the slaughter begin!	”
—Megatron, The Transformers: The Movie

Prelude

This is before everything went to hell.

The Decepticons had succeeded in driving Autobot resistance entirely off Cybertron. However, the Autobots retained staging grounds on two of Cybertron's moons , as well as significant energy-production facilities and alliances on Earth. Optimus Prime while cautious in his assessment of his troops ability to retake the planet, had preparations well underway for just such a campaign, and dispatched a shuttle to Earth to collect a final shipment of Energon cubes from the Earth production facilities, entrusting a good portion of his command staff with the mission.

The future of pratfall technology: the Exploding Banana Peel.

Unfortunately for the Autobots, the Decepticon spy Laserbeak got wind of the Autobots' plans and warned Megatron, ruler of the Decepticons. Megatron led a sizeable contingent of Decepticons against the small Autobot crew on the shuttle, ambusing and boarding it as it passed some small celestial bodies on approach to Earth.

Heavily outnumbered and outmatched, the Autobots were overwhelmed. Brawn,Prowl,Ratchet and Ironhide became the battle's first casualities, though Ironhide clung onto life just long enough receive a point-blank shot to the face from Megatron's fusion cannon.

Now in control of the shuttle, Megatron revealed his plan to a doubting Stascream: the shuttle was to be used as a "Trojan Horse", conveying the Decepticons for a surprise attack on Autobot City itself, which Megatron seemed to think would vanquish the Autobots forever.The Transformers: The Movie

There is a reason Megatron thought this—the original script makes it clear that Autobot City is, in fact, a massive energy-gathering facility, equipped with energy gathering devices such as hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, and solar panels. Thus, if the Decepticons destroy the city, the Autobots will be without an energy supply, pretty much crippling their war effort.

The Battle

Events not shown in the animated movie are in italics.

First Phase

Megatron had calculated correctly in that the Autobot shuttle would not set off Autobot City's defences even if carrying a Decepticon crew. It was sheer chance that the young human Daniel Witwicky noted there was a hole in the shuttle and alerted the young Autobot Hot Rod, who investigated further and quickly learned the truth of the situation. Hot Rod opened fire on the shuttle, damaging it to the point that the Decepticons were forced to disembark and launch their attack earlier than planned.

Launch Black Tiger squadron, and prepare the Wave Motion Gun for firing...oh, sorry, wrong anime.

The Autobots, though surprised and outnumbered, quickly rallied to the defense. Ultra Magnus, commanding the City, ordered Blaster to contact Optimus Prime on Moonbase One to obtain reinforcements, Springer to transform Autobot City into its battle mode, and Blurr to assist in alerting Autobots to the attack.

Springer and Arcee began the transformation of the city into battle station mode, offering the Autobot population greater defensive capability to meet the Decepticon assault. It also had the added bonus of trapping Starscream's right foot, forcing him to inflict a wound upon himself to avoid getting crushed.

Kup and Hot Rod, speeding toward the city, saw that the two Insecticons Shrapnel and Kickback were eating through one of the doors, but Kickback was taken across a chasm by the retracting bridge. Using the Insecticon as a springboard, Hot Rod and Kup were able to clear the gap and enter the city moments before the armored doors closed.

Meanwhile, Blaster managed to make brief contact with the Cybertronian Autobots, but the signal was cut off by the intervention of Soundwave, who deployed Rumble, Ravage, Frenzy and Ratbat to wreck the communications tower and all inside. However, Blaster evened the odds by deploying his own quartet of assistants into the fight: Ramhorn, Steeljaw, Rewind, and Eject. The Transformers: The Movie

Elsewhere, Menasor and Bruticus made a concurrent attack on the Ark, as a means of a distraction to prevent Omega Supreme, Defensor and Superion from aiding the Autobot forces at Autobot City. The Gathering Storm

Though unable to penetrate Autobot City's defenses by conventional means, the Decepticons were still able to pick off individual Autobot soldiers, such as Wheeljack, Windcharger and Beachcomber. The Transformers: The Movie The Gathering Storm Realizing that a frontal assault was futile, Megatron ordered the Constructicons to merge into the gestalt Devastator. The giant robot quickly made his presence felt, penetrating the first line of defenses by literally tearing them open, and shattering one attempt by Springer, Kup, Hot Rod and Arcee to put him out of action. But even so, the two sides were so evenly matched that the battle continued over the course of the remainder of that day and throughout the night. The Transformers: The Movie

Second Phase

"Will you stop being such a baby about this? Just hold on a second. I can see the splinter. It's right ... there ..."

One shall stand, one shall fall.Optimus Prime on seeing Megatron, TFTM

"Megatron is responsible for Prime's death, not me!"

However, the city could not hold out forever; by the next morning Autobot defenses had been broken by relentless Decepticon assaults, and Megatron ordered his troops to begin the final phase. It was at this crucial point that Autobot reinforcements commanded by Optimus Prime arrived. The Dinobots were deployed to attack Devastator—with some success—but could not halt the Decepticons' advance into Autobot City.

Upon entering the city, Devastator clawed his way through the rubble, only to be confronted by Ultra Magnus, Tracks, Red Alert and Sideswipe; who brought the gesalt down, separating him into his individual components. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Autobot squad instantly pulled back, while the Constructicons gave chase. Whilst retreating, Red Alert was gunned down by the Constructicon pursuers, as Megatron watched on in triumph. A Flash Forward

In an attempt to prevent anymore casualties, Optimus Prime made a heroic frontal assault against the elite members of the Decepticon army still positioned outside. In tractor-trailer mode, he mowed down Thrust and Shrapnel, while narrowly missing Blitzwing before transforming to robot mode and using his ion blaster to singlehandedly blast the other Decepticons, fighting his way to engage Megatron in what he assured all listeners would be their final battle.

The battle between the two leaders was brief and intense, but resulted in a seeming-victory for Prime. But Megatron had spotted a gun a matter of yards away from him. Stalling for time with false pleas for mercy, Megatron crawled towards the gun while Optimus pointed out the irony of Megatron, pleading for mercy given his prior actions. Before either could take a shot, Hot Rod intervened, trying to overpower the Decepticon leader. But his efforts backfired, as Megatron grappled the young Autobot, used him as a shield and shot Optimus repeatedly. Tossing aside Hot Rod, Megatron prepared to finish off his longtime nemesis. Prime, however, managed to gather his remaining strength to deal a haymaker powerful enough to knock Megatron off a ledge and into a crippling fall.

Seeing their leader conclusively defeated in this way broke the Decepticons spirit. Starscream, taking interim command, ordered Astrotrain to transform and ferry the Decepticons away in a general retreat. Unsurprisingly, Starscream appeared ready to leave Megatron to die, but Soundwave carried him to Astrotrain. Gathering up their wounded, the Decepticons fled, leaving the Autobots to similarly gather up their own casualties. The Transformers: The Movie

Aftermath

"One of you must take the Matrix."
"Not it!"
"I wasn't talking to you, Blurr."

Galvatron, or just plain old TRON?

Large numbers of Autobots and Decepticons had either been terminated or wounded as a result of the battle. Windcharger, Wheeljack, and Huffer were among the casualties, and even the mighty Optimus Prime soon succumbed to his wounds and expired, but not before passing the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus as his successor, unaware that the Matrix had chosen Hot Rod to become the new Autobot leader.

Several wounded Decepticons—including Megatron—were thrown out of Astrotrain when the latter's fuel reserves proved insufficent to return to Cybertron. They would later be found by the Chaos-Bringer Unicron and reshaped into Galvatron, Cyclonus and his armada, as well as Scourge and the Sweeps.

The Unicron War would be the next major Transformer battle, its events spinning directly out of the Battle of Autobot City. The Transformers: The Movie By 2006, Autobot City had been fully repaired and had more personnel stationed there. Five Faces of Darkness

Known participants

Autobots	Decepticons
Ultra Magnus Springer Arcee Hot Rod Kup Perceptor Blaster Eject Rewind Steeljaw Ramhorn Blurr Hound Huffer Bluestreak Grapple Wheeljack Windcharger Warpath Tracks Red Alert Sideswipe Beachcomber Optimus Prime Grimlock Swoop Slag Sludge Snarl Sunstreaker Ironhide Ratchet Prowl Brawn	Megatron Starscream Soundwave Rumble Frenzy Ravage Ratbat Laserbeak Thundercracker Skywarp Shockwave Shrapnel Kickback Bombshell Blitzwing Ramjet Thrust Dirge Reflector Astrotrain Lugnut Devastator Scrapper Bonecrusher Hook Scavenger Mixmaster Long Haul

Notes

Logic dictates that I put in a token appearance.

• Okay, we're going to be honest here. The whole point of this battle is to off your favorite characters in violent ways, then replace them with newbies who we've never seen before.
• It's not shown how Megatron managed to beat the Autobot shuttle to Earth's solar system. Astrotrain, perhaps?
• Storyboards that have found their way to the public over the years show additional scenes that were scripted and planned, but (in all probability) never animated:
  • At the beginning of the shuttle segment, the Autobot shuttle would have been shown dodging through an asteroid storm, thus explaining why they didn't at least detect the approaching Decepticons. Some of this concept made it into the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie.
  • Hot Rod's adventures outside the city would have been a bit longer and more dramatic. A short scene would also show him getting reprimanded by Ultra Magnus inside the city itself.
  • Mirage would have stealthily blasted Bombshell before getting shot at by Megatron (given the emphasis on body-count, and the fact that Mirage never appears after the movie, it's likely this would have killed him).
  • Tracks, Sideswipe, Red Alert, and Ultra Magnus would have finally brought down Devastator with a missile barrage. The Constructicons would subsequently kill Red Alert as the Autobots retreated.
    • In 2012, the Transformers Collectors' Club comic "A Flash Forward" directly adapted this scene into the Wings Universe, a continuity nearly identical to the Generation 1 cartoon.
  • Several Decepticons would have dogpiled Optimus Prime at the start of his confrontation with Megatron, only for him to trounce them all soundly.
    • Just before this, Blitzwing would have knocked Optimus Prime's gun out of his hands. In the final version of the movie, Optimus's gun just seems to have disappeared for no reason when he finally finds Megatron.
  • Trailbreaker's lifeless body would have been seen as the Decepticons retreated.
• Alternate footage of the opening stage of the battle was part of a promotional trailer assembled early in the movie's production.
• Counting characters who were meant to be there, were seen outside, or were killed, the Autobots had Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr, Springer, Arcee, Blaster, Perceptor, Grapple, Huffer, Trailbreaker, Bluestreak, Windcharger, Wheeljack, Smokescreen, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Mirage and 4 cassettes, totaling 22 - the Decepticons, meanwhile, had Megatron, six Seekers, three Insecticons, six Constructicons, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Soundwave and 4 cassettes, totaling 23. In the grand scheme of things, that’s pretty evened up, making Perceptor’s assertion that the Autobots suffered a “distinct tactical deficiency” somewhat exaggerated, especially considering their fortifications. That is, of course, assuming the ‘Cons didn’t bring a ton of generics or Insecticon clones with them; even if they didn't, the presence of a combiner on the Decepticon side is more than enough to tip the odds against the Autobots.
• The events of "Five Faces of Darkness" imply that Metroplex was present at the battle, but unable to transform to robot mode because his transformation cog was damaged. Some fiction suggests that Metroplex is part of (or the same thing as) Autobot City. (All sorts of fanon ensues from placing these two facts in close proximity. Use caution.)
• The fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron was remade into the commercial of 2008 Universe toyline, with CGI models based on their Masterpiece toys.
• The "Rodimus vs. Cyclonus" comic book retcons Lugnut and Warpath into the battle, as well as confirming Tracks' participation in the battle.