Transformers Animated timeline

This timeline covers the history of the Transformers Animated cartoon continuity. Note that since the timeframes for some events are given in only vague terms, the exact ordering of portions of the timeline is a "best guess". Also, the Animated units of time "solar cycle" and "stellar cycle" both appear to be rough equivalents of an Earth year.

10 billion years ago

• Before time began, there was the AllSpark.
• The Transformer race is "born". Blast from the Past <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup>

"4 million stellar cycles" ago

• Megatron begins his search for the missing AllSpark. Transform and Roll Out! Megatron Rising - Part II
• Starscream begins attempting to destroy Megatron and become leader of the Decepticons. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
• Lockdown captures Ratchet and Arcee to bring to Megatron so he can acquire the access codes in Arcee's data banks. Lockdown also steals Ratchet's E.M.P. Generator. Ratchet reluctantly uses it to erase her memory core, but not before Lockdown overloads it. Her current status is unknown. The Thrill of the Hunt

"2 million stellar cycles" ago

• Omega Supreme sacrifices his spark to win the Great Wars and is put into modified stasis thereafter. A Bridge Too Close, Part II

"Centuries" ago

• Seemingly quite some time after the AllSpark is lost, the Great War ends with the Decepticons defeated. Transform and Roll Out! <sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a></sup>

"A thousand stellar cycles" ago

• Optimus, Sentinel, and Elita-1 explore an alien planet in search of a crashed Decepticon ship and its store of energon. After a battle with indigenous giant spiders, the guys escape, but Elita is left behind. She then becomes Blackarachnia. The Decepticons later find her, and she joins their ranks. Along Came a Spider
• Optimus and Sentinel join the Elite Guard, though Optimus is kicked out. Sentinel is promoted with the rank suffix of Minor. Mission Accomplished Autoboot Camp
• Shockwave infiltrates Autobot Boot Camp in the guise of Longarm, in hopes of becoming an Autobot intel bot. Autoboot Camp <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Bumblebee goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Elite Guard soldier. Autoboot Camp <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Ironhide goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Autobot soldier. Autoboot Camp
• Wasp goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Autobot commander. Autoboot Camp <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Bulkhead leaves the energon farm and goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an expert in Space Bridge technology. Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part I <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Sentinel becomes the drill sergeant of Boot Camp. He gives the crew their names and, no thanks to Bumblebee, punishes them with lots of Transform-ups. JERKS! Autoboot Camp <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Shockwave, in order to keep the suspicious Bumblebee off his trail, puts his gear in Wasp's locker. Wasp takes the fall for being a spy and goes to jail. Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part II <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>
• Despite exposing the assumed spy, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are sent to become Space Bridge technicians with Ratchet, Prowl (unknown how he got here, as of now), and Optimus, while Longarm graduates from Autobot Academy, becoming head of Cybertron Intelligence, and is promoted to Prime. Bulkhead gets a higher score on his Space Bridge aptitude test than any other scientist and becomes Cybertron's top Space Bridge expert. Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part I <sup class="noprint">[<span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag needs references to reliable sources." style="white-space: nowrap;">citation needed</span>]</sup>

Some year

• A crew of Autobot repairbots led by Optimus Prime, working on a damaged space bridge gateway, stumble upon the lost AllSpark. After a battle with Megatron and the Nemesis, their ship crashes on Earth, settling underwater in Lake Erie. Transform and Roll Out!

50 years later (22nd century)

• The Autobot repair crew awaken sometime in the 22nd century and become celebrities in the city of Detroit. Transform and Roll Out Blast from the Past Megatron Rising - Part II<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a></sup>
• Sari Sumdac, daughter of Isaac Sumdac, meets the Autobots and encounters the AllSpark, which turns her her security key into an ultra-powerful MacGuffin. Transform and Roll Out
• Sari shows the Autobots a new home. Transform and Roll Out
• The Nemesis crash-lands on the Moon. Transform and Roll Out Lost and Found
• Starscream and Blackarachnia arrive on Earth. Transform and Roll Out Along Came a Spider
• Starscream scans a Harrier jet. Transform and Roll Out
• Starscream attacks Detroit, wanting the Allspark. He fights all the Autobots, and Optimus is destroyed in the fight, but is revived by Sari's key. Transform and Roll Out
• Megatron awakens and learns of his imprisonment and Starscream's betrayal. Home Is Where the Spark Is Blast from the Past
• Prowl develops a fascination with organic life. Home Is Where the Spark Is Nature Calls
• Porter C. Powell cuts Prometheus Black's funding and, as a result, Black turns into Meltdown. Total Meltdown
• Megatron helps Sumdac rebuild animatronic dinosaurs. Blast from the Past
• Sari's key accidentally turns the dinosaurs into Dinobots. After a rampage, Prowl & Bulkhead save them and take them to Dinobot Island. Afterwards, the Dinobots learn how to transform. Blast from the Past Survival of the Fittest
• Lockdown is hired by Blitzwing to capture Optimus Prime for destroying Megatron, both unaware of Megatron's weakened state. The Thrill of the Hunt
• Ratchet encounters Lockdown again and takes back his E.M.P. Generator. The Thrill of the Hunt
• Nanosec is hired by Megatron to steal some Destronium for him. However, Bumblebee uses his new turbo boosters to detonate it in the atmosphere. Nanosec suffers rapid premature aging and is arrested. Nanosec
• Optimus learns of Blackarachnia's true identity. Along Came a Spider
• For Sari's birthday, Megatron "helps" Sumdac create Sari's present: a musical robot named Soundwave. Soundwave eventually gains a mind of his own and begins a brief robot revolt against the humans, which is thwarted by the Autobots. Sound and Fury
• Blitzwing and Lugnut arrive on Earth. Megatron contacts Lugnut and has the two of them go after the Allspark. The Autobots almost leave Earth, but instead, they reactivate some of their ship's defenses and defeat Blitzwing and Lugnut. Starscream returns. Lost and Found
• Meltdown uses the Dinobots to kidnap Sari, intending to use her as his new experiment test subject. Prowl, Bulkhead, and Police Captain Fanzone stop his plans and save Sari. Survival of the Fittest
• A newly hired Sumdac employee, Henry Masterson, is fired for building technology for warfare use and then takes on the persona of the Headmaster. He steals Bulkhead's body and threatens to blow up the city, but is stopped by the Autobots. Headmaster
• A monster made of space barnacles shows up outside Detroit, and Bumblebee, Prowl, and Sari defeat it. Nature Calls
• The Decepticons steal Sari's key. Megatron gets a new body and seemingly kills Starscream. The Autobots and Decepticons duke it out on Dinobot Island. Optimus disperses the Allspark. Sumdac is captured by Megatron. Megatron Rising - Part 1 Megatron Rising - Part 2
• The Cybertron Elite Guard arrive on Earth. The Decepticons set up a base in a mine. Megatron begins his next plan to create a Space Bridge of his own. The Elite Guard
• Porter C. Powell becomes the new CEO of Sumdac Systems. Sari is kicked out of Sumdac Tower and is revealed to have no legal identity. She goes to live with the Autobots. The Elite Guard The Return of the Headmaster
• Henry Masterson is rehired by Powell. He steals Sentinel's body, but avoids going to jail. The Return of the Headmaster
• Random Decepticon attacks occur near Cybertron. Mission Accomplished
• The Elite Guard tries to force Optimus's team off of Earth. Starscream is kept alive by an Allspark fragment. He fails several times to eliminate Megatron, and so then sets a trap for the Decepticons, which draws the attention of the Elite Guard. He is arrested by the Elite Guard, and Optimus's team remains on Earth. Mission Accomplished
• The (hilarious) robot known as Wreck-Gar is created. He causes several mishaps, but (sort of) learns the error of his ways, saving Detroit from the threat of over-consumptive nanobots. Garbage In, Garbage Out
• Bumblebee enters an underground street race hosted by Master Disaster, which features a mysterious blue race car. Velocity
• Two oil-guzzling robots called Scrapper and Mixmaster are created and cause a bit of trouble. Rise of the Constructicons
• Starscream escapes captivity. Prowl teams up with Lockdown to hunt him down. Starscream creates clones of himself. A Fistful of Energon
• Several of Detroit's minor super-criminals join together for a crime spree. A mysterious benefactor helps them, so long as they help him out. The benefactor is revealed to be the arms dealer Swindle. His plans are thwarted. SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy
• Wasp escapes his captivity, swearing revenge on Bumblebee. Autoboot Camp
• Bulkhead and Bumblebee, having received a mysterious message, search for the Decepticons, while remembering their Autobot Boot Camp days. Autoboot Camp
• Blackarachnia has the Dinobots abduct Meltdown and forces him to try to remove her organic half. Optimus and Grimlock team up to help as well, but both she and Meltdown double cross everyone. Black Friday
• The Constructicons show up at the Autobots' warehouse base looking for oil, and Sari is the only one there to stop them. Blitzwing takes them to Megatron, where they are made into full-fledged Decepticons. Sari, No One's Home A Bridge Too Close, Part I
• Megatron completes his Space Bridge with the help of the Constructicons and Bulkhead. The blue race car is revealed to be the Elite Guard member Blurr, who leads the Autobots to the Decepticons' base. A Bridge Too Close, Part I
• Starscream creates several more clones of himself and launches his own attack on everyone in the Decepticon base. A Bridge Too Close, Part I A Bridge Too Close, Part II
• Ratchet and Sari, using the AllSpark fragments, revive the their ship's true identity: Omega Supreme. They attack the Decepticons all at once. Several characters are flung into the Space Bridge, including Megatron, Starscream (just his head) and Omega Supreme himself. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
• Sari is revealed to be more than an ordinary human girl. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
• Megatron and Starscream('s head) are left floating in space, bickering with each other. A Bridge Too Close, Part II

See also

• Units of time

Footnotes

<div class="references-small"> <ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0"><a href="#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> Ratchet stated that "We've been around for 10 billion years." It is not made explicit, but from the context, it seems as if he was referring to the Transformer race as a whole. <li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> There are three references to the war ending "centuries ago" in "Transform and Roll Out, Part 1": two spoken by Ratchet and one by Optimus Prime. It is unclear whether this is an "Earth century" or a Cybertronian one... but Optimus' crew hadn't yet had contact with Earth when these statements were made. <li id="cite_note-2"><a href="#cite_ref-2" title="">↑</a> The packaging blurb on the "Transform and Roll Out" DVD refers to the 22nd century. Additionally, Professor Sumdac mentions that his updates to Dino Drive's animatronic dinosaurs "bring[s] Dino Drive into the 22nd century."</ol></div>