Star system

"Solar system" redirects here. For the actual Solar-related system, see Solar System.

To get to "another galaxy", you've got to go past a few hundred billion of these.

A star system (also referred to as planetary system, solar system, or stellar system) is a grouping of one or more stars, commonly orbited by one or more planets and various other cosmic detritus.

Transformers typically travel to different star systems in the course of their adventures. As star systems are generally several light years apart, this requires some sort of faster-than-light propulsion, or an instantaneous gateway system of some kind, such as a space bridge.

Fiction

Notable star systems in Transformers fiction include:

• The Solar System, dominated by the Sun, appears in almost every Transformers story.

Generation 1

• The Alpha Centauri system was the home system of Cybertron in Marvel comics continuity, before it was knocked out of orbit.
• The Ardurian System, home to Arduria.
• The Cybertronian System, home to Cybertron in IDW continuity.
• The Eigerson-48 System, home to Mumu-Obscura.
• Epsilon Ariadne, where Dirk Manus hails from.
• The MQ System, home to several planets.
• The Nalva System, home to Arcadroids.
• The Klovian System, home to Nebulos.
• The Kol System, home to Varas Centralus and Clemency.
• The Lenocinium Velnero System, home to LV-117 and LV-118.
• The Paradius system, which is named after its one star Paradius. It is home to various populated planets, the only one which name is known being Zel Samine.
• The Rigel System, home to Rigel III.
• The Salvvatan System, home to Salvvatan VI and Salvvatan VIII.

Beast Era

• An unnamed system containing the planet Cybertron. Cybertron's irregular orbit, seen in "The Agenda (Part 1)", indicates that it may have been moved into this star system artificially.
• The clustered planetary system Georgian.
• The Vurau System.
• The Yurina System, home to Solid.

Transformers (2007)

• The Charii system.

Animated

• The Archa system, home to Archa Seven.
• The Gpii System, where one can find Trobulum.
• The Hadeen System, home to Cybertron.
• The Quartex system, home to Quartex.

Prime

• The Dromedon System.

Those poor, confused writers

Galaxy ≠ star system

A star system should not be confused with a galaxy, which is a massive grouping of millions of star systems. A single galaxy is unfathomably huge, with our own Milky Way Galaxy containing several hundred billion stars. The distances between galaxies are several orders of magnitude greater than the distances between the star systems they contain.

Unfortunately, in Transformers fiction, "galaxy" is frequently used in places where "star system" makes a lot more sense, or at least is not as jarring. (Note that this is hardly a phenomenon limited to Transformers writers.) Given that all interstellar travel is based on fictional technologies, it's not inconceivable that characters might actually come from or travel to other galaxies. But the notion seems an unnecessary complication at best (a single galaxy is a more-than-ample playground for fictional adventures) and often outright contradicts information given elsewhere. Cartoon animation, for example, almost never supports the idea that characters actually leave the Milky Way galaxy.

Notable examples of galaxy/star system confusion include:

• Generation 1 Countdown's bio, which says his rocket base can use gravity to "slingshot across entire galaxies in seconds".
• "The Test", wherein Galvatron is delighted to find energon "just inside our galaxy", as if that meant it was nearby.
• "Primal Fear!", in which the Decepticon Warworld is said to be operating in "another galaxy".
• The Energon episode "The Return of Demolishor" features Kicker narrating, "We warped into another galaxy on the outer reaches of the Solar System." The dialogue is less confused in the original Superlink version, and may be more of a dubbing artifact than pure authorial error ("from the outer reaches of the Solar System", or switching the two terms around, would both make a lot more sense.)
• Movie Prequel #2, as Megatron describes searching "countless solar spans, through myriad galaxies, nebulae and systems".
• Transformers: Beginnings: In a voiceover monologue not taken from the comic version, Bumblebee announces his arrival in the Milky Way galaxy, despite Optimus Prime's opening narration for the movie, where he stated that the Autobots "scattered across the galaxy", thus implying that Cybertron is located within the Milky Way galaxy.
• The Reign of Starscream #1: Despite Optimus Prime's aforementioned opening narration for the movie, Starscream claims in this issue that the AllSpark's journey ends "galaxies away" when it arrives on Earth. (Issue 5 later corrects this.)

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving, revolving at nine hundred miles an hour...

Remarkably, the Generation 1 cartoon series seems to portray Cybertron consistently as being originally located outside our galaxy. The episode "Roll for It" shows Cybertron outside of a spiral galaxy (though it is also shown against a field of stars, instead of the empty black void that should be there if it's located in inter-galactic space). The episode later shows a rather confusing visual of the space bridge energy beam emanating from an empty point in space alongside a galaxy, but not going into the galaxy. Later, in "The Ultimate Doom", Optimus Prime comments that the pylons of the Decepticons' Cybertron-centered space bridge "form a pyramid, with the apex beyond this galaxy."

Galaxy ≠ universe

On more rare occasions, "universe" is used in place of "galaxy" or even "solar system", to even more ridiculous effect. Since the universe includes billions of galaxies, each containing billions of stars, the following usages of "universe" seem painfully misworded:

• In "Changing Gears", it's stated that the exploding Sun could destroy the universe. Suns have exploded on a pretty regular basis for billions of years, and so far, the universe is still ticking away.

• In "The Return of Demolishor", Optimus Prime says that by using the energon grid, they "run the risk of destroying the entire universe". Though the characters are in a new, fledgling universe where this might make some slight amount of sense, the line is in fact a dubbing error.

• Various Decepticons have made the claim that they plan to rule not merely the galaxy but rather the universe, such as Starscream in "The Revenge of Bruticus" — "I will rule the universe, even if I am the only one left in the universe!" That's a lot of conquering to do there, buddy!

Notes

• In an interview, Simon Furman claimed that the IDW version of Cybertron orbited the "star" Shaula. This piece of information has not made it into any media, and the system is only referred to as the "Cybertronian System" in "Syndromica (1)".