Transformers Legends (トランスフォーマーレジェンズ Toransufōmā Rejenzu) is a series of comic strips by Hayato Sakamoto, showcasing the adventures of toy otaku Rattrap. It is published online to promote TakaraTomy's Transformers Legends toyline. Special Bonus Edition (出張版 Shutchōban) chapters of the comic come packed with the Legends toys.
Legends is a four-panel comic strip set in a world known as the "Legends Universe", where Transformers is a franchise of toys and fiction—essentially the real world, but instead of people it's populated by super deformedBeast Wars characters who don't consider themselves Transformers. The main characters of the comics are the Beast WarsMaximals, reimagined as a group of salarymen working at the "Axalon Trading Company" in Japan. They retain their quirky speech patterns from the jovial Japanese dub of the show. Jokes revolve around the characters being Transformers fans themselves, each representing a different facet of the fandom, the main cast being:
Rattrap, the company's new recruit who grew up with and unconditionally loves Beast Wars
Rhinox, a middle-aged man who doesn't care for anything newer than the Generation 1 of his childhood
Optimus Primal, the serious-minded boss who has no interest in toys himself, but does buy them for his son Minor
Tigatron, a moe otaku who only likes Transformers franchises with cute girls, like Kiss Players
Waspinator, an employee of Tera-Kura Co., fan of all things Transformers and expert on minor trivia, he serves to fill the other characters (and readers) in on the more obscure portions of the franchise
Early comics, preceding the launch of the Legends toyline, revolve around the Axalon employees' misadventures at the office and their visiting various real-life events. As the toyline got going, the pack-in Bonus Edition comics began telling stories about the specific characters they were packed with, often creating storylines spanning several comics. The webcomic then shifted to expanding on these characters and storylines through various prologues and epilogues.
Rattrap, a rookie salaryman, grew up loving Beast Wars and dreamt of collecting all of the toys. After drooling over a Dawn of Future's Past set in the store's window, Rattrap tries to "telepathically" force the manager, Ravage, to set it aside every day so nobody else can buy it until he can afford it. One day he finds it gone, and tries using telepathy to complain to Ravage, who doesn't understand what he's doing.
Rattrap, new member of the Axalon Trading Company, introduces himself to his coworkers, Cheetor, President Optimus Primal, and Manager Rhinox; he quickly digresses to mention his favorite cartoon, Beast Wars, to the silence of his coworkers. (Cheetor doesn't watch cartoons.) Rattrap is soon at a bar with Optimus, excitedly explaining the Transformers series after Optimus confuses Beast Wars with the live-action film series.
"The Generation Gap Part 2" (ジェネレーションギャップその2)
Rhinox reveals to Rattrap that he is also knowledgeable about Transformers and the two bond over their preference for the original names: Cybertrons, Destrons, and Cybertron Commander Convoy. However, their camaraderie hits a snag when Rhinox prefers the original truck Convoy while Rattrap insists Convoy is a gorilla.
Silverbolt asks Rattrap if he likes Transformers, to which he replies that he likes Beast Wars. Ignoring this, Silverbolt notes that he's been addicted to watching the DVDs of the live-action movies last week and plans to watch Age of Extinction. He segues into asking Rattrap who his favorite character is, and Rattrap shows the original Rattle toy as his favorite. Silverbolt is confused by the animal Transformer, and considers it "innovative". Rattrap angrily states that it's a 17-year-old toy.
"The Youth Gap 2" (若手のギャップ2)
Rattrap drags Silverbolt to the secondhand toy store, where he plans to show Silverbolt the "splendor" of Beast Wars. He points out a C-1 Convoy toy, the first in a series that had its product sell out so much that they functionally disappeared from shelves. He moves on to TM-01 Convoy, noting that it came out in 2007 with a DVD as part of the Telemocha series. Next up is the Beast Wars Reborn set, made for the tenth anniversary and with new faces for the toys. Silverbolt says that Beast Wars has been revisited a lot; Rattrap answers that the various incarnations haven't sold all that well, but then angrily says it's none of his business.
Silverbolt's off-the-wall zaniness extends from his Japanese portrayal, which was extremely high strung and energetic. Additionally, he was given an American accent in the Japanese dub, hence his love of the American Transformers film franchise.
Robot mode is used as "serious adult mode". As such, workers use it while on the job. However, Rattrap does not follow this unwritten rule and instead transforms when he stops working at 5:00, planning to go to Akihabara. This annoys Optimus Primal.
"The Gender Gap" (性別のギャップ)
Airazor is the office lady at the Axalon company, who works with the "Bat Aunt Chama" Nightscream. Rattrap thinks that they're cute, but Rhinox points out that their company does not have even one woman working there and leaves Rattrap with his shocked face.
Airazor is gender ambiguous because she is portrayed male in the Japanese dub of Beast Wars, but retains her female gender in the Beast Wars Metals manga; so she was both genders in Japan.
Nightscream's odd nickname, "Bat Aunt Chama" (コウモリのおばちゃま Kōmori no Oba Chama) is a reference to Japanese film critic Kazuko Komori (小森和子 Komori Kazuko), whose nickname was Komori no Oba Chama (小森のおばちゃま). His characterization here is based on the dub of Beast Machines, where he is played as a flamboyant gay man with a highly effeminate manner of speaking.
Chapter 5
June 24, 2014
"The Bishōjo Fan Gap" (美少女ファンのギャップ)
Tigatron approaches Rattrap, saying that he, too, is a Transformers fan. Despite Rattrap's statement that he cares more about Beast Wars, Tigatron exalts his collection of Kiss Players, Asterisk, and GT toys. Rattrap annoyingly asks if he likes anything that isn't a girl and specifically asks if he knows anything about Beast Wars. But this just makes Tigatron reminisce about the Metals Blackwidow toy's removable breastplate and the "bra" underneath, to Rattrap's exasperation.
"The Gender Gap Part 2" (性別のギャップその2)
Lio Convoy visits the company and Optimus Primal has Airazor grab the tea for the meeting. Both Lio and Optimus are enamored with Airazor while Rhinox and Rattrap watch from afar, wishing Airazor weren't a man.
Tigatron was portrayed as a stereotypical samurai in the dub, hence his extreme Japanese-ness in this comic. His obsession with cute girls is ironic, considering the Japanese dub made him canonically gay. Later strips would establish Tigatron as being in a relationship with Airazor, regardless.
Rattrap, Rhinox, Silverbolt and Tigatron visit the Transformers Celebration 2014, an event taking place on May 16th in anticipation of Age of Extinction. Rhinox cries tears of nostalgia over a trailer that transforms to reveal an Optimus Prime bust that speaks in Tesshō Genda's voice, while Silverbolt drools over a Team Mach race queen who is there to promote a collaboration between Transformers and Super GT. Following the screening of a message from Tesshō Genda and some idols (that only Silverbolt cares about), there's a 30-second countdown to when the event begins and the toys go on sale, to signify the the 30th anniversary of Transformers.
As guests browse the toys for sale, the ever beast-loving Rattrap gets into the Dinobots and buys a Grimlock. During an autograph event with TakaraTomy's toy designers, he's delighted to have Grimlock signed by Hisashi Yuki, designer of Lio Convoy and Big Convoy, and is further impressed when Shogo Hasui reveals he designed a beast called Bruticus. Meanwhile, Rhinox is happy he got a clear G1 Optimus Prime toy with his purchases, and Silverbolt gets to ride a Grimlock statue but is disappointed with the backlighting in the resulting photo. During a Q&A segment with the designers, the host, Maeda, mishears Hisashi Yuki's mention of a Masterpiece toy "on the Destron side", thinking he said "Destronger". The Axalon employees then watch the Optimus Prime trailer leave, and Rhinox is deeply moved even though, as he's forced to point out, the truck wasn't fully accurate to Prime's appearance. After a final surprise at how many people really showed up, they retire to a restaurant where Rattrap notes that most other customers also came straight from the event, making it look like a Transformers-themed cafe.
Rattrap, Silverbolt and Rhinox get together to talk about the Age of Extinction toys they got at the event. Silverbolt is first up with his Leader Class Optimus Prime, which he thinks is super cool, but to his annoyance, the other two crack jokes about its "backpack", commenting that it looks like he's a little kid going to school or that he's going hiking.
"TF4 Toys Part 2" (TF4おもちゃ会その2)
Rhinox goes next, drooling over his Classic Optimus Prime and its truck mode's accuracy to the original Optimus. He only likes the vehicle mode, however, and gets extremely upset when Silverbolt transforms the toy into its movie-based robot mode and has it ride on Grimlock.
Silverbolt refers to their business as "Ark Trading Company" instead of "Axalon" for some reason.
Chapter 7
July 18, 2014
"TF4 Toys Part 3" (TF4おもちゃ会その3)
Rattrap wants to talk about his Dinobot toys, starting with Grimlock. On seeing his robot mode, Silverbolt wonders what the thing he's holding is supposed to be, and Rattrap figures it's a mechanical version of the stereotypical cartoon meat-on-a-bone. After Rhinox tells them it's a club, a surprised Rattrap jokes that Scorn also looks surprised in his packaging.
"TF4 Toys Part 4" (TF4おもちゃ会その4)
Rattrap's Slug also confuses Silverbolt with its weapons, as it looks like he's been skewered when his swords are attached in dinosaur mode. Rhinox jokes that he's about to be spit-roasted, and that when he's done, he'll be Grimlock's weapon. In the end, the three end up talking too much about food and grow really hungry, while Primal wonders what the heck they're doing.
Rattrap pretends Grimlock is saying "daa", a reference to AnimatedGrimlock's speech quirk in Japanese dub of the Animated cartoon. This speech pattern originated with the Japanese dub of Dinobot, and was carried over to Grimlock because they were both voiced by Keiji Fujiwara.
"Tokyo Toy Show 2014 Report Part 1" (東京おもちゃショー2014レポートその1)
Rattrap, Tigatron, Silverbolt and Rhinox head off to Tokyo Toy Show 2014 to check out TakaraTomy's latest toys, but are embarrassed when they run into Optimus Primal, who is there with his son, Minor, and is wondering what four adults are doing at a toy show. Faced with how unsightly their hobby is, the group is left disheartened except for Rhinox, who, being the oldest and thus seemingly the most pathetic of them all, argues that there's nothing embarrassing about them liking toys. His attempt to back it up by dancing to an Age of Extinction-themed childrens' song only embarrasses Rattrap further, but the discovery of MasterpieceStar Saber, a toy aimed at adult collectors, cheers them back up again. Seeing this as proof that it's okay for adults to dance, too, Rhinox gets back to it, leaving Rattrap to comment that he's not doing the steps properly.
"Tokyo Toy Show 2014 Report Part 2" (東京おもちゃショー2014レポートその2)
Having a look at the Transformers-related activities at the Toy Show, the gang spots Yūki Tai hosting a stage performance and actors dressed up as AnimatedOptimus Prime and Bumblebee as well as Mach Five Racing Prime (mistaken for Safety Prime). Minor is overjoyed to see Animated characters again, and so is Rattrap, who goes on a long tangent about how he loved the many Beast Wars references in the show. Minor then plays a soccer game with the Optimus Prime actor, scoring a goal and winning an Optimus Prime toy that his dad helps him transform. Seeing father and son play together warms the hearts of Rattrap and the others, and he admits that in the end, Transformers is for the kids.
At the bar, a drunk Rhinox starts off on an impassioned cry for the '80s, recalling its beautiful women, parodies, and fan service. Even better, Transformers started in 1985! He ends up screaming for the '80s to make a comeback. Silverbolt and Rattrap start to leave, unable to relate to an era when they weren't even born. Rhinox continues muttering to himself, and they stop with interest when he says Japan didn't have a consumption tax in the '80s. (Silverbolt later looks it up and notes that, to be accurate, it started in '89.)
"The Bathroom Gap" (お手洗いのギャップ)
When Airazor and Nightscream go to the restroom, Rattrap and Silverbolt rush to discover which one they use, only to be met with separate "male" and "otokonoko" restrooms. Realizing the building has no women's bathroom, they retreat to the roof and ponder what the future holds for their company.
Optimus Primal heads out, warning the other employees not to touch his bananas. He soon returns, having forgotten to bring a banana for himself, only to find them holding a banana-themed party, using the bananas for decoration and eating them by the mouthful. He punishes Rattrap, who tries to explain that the forbidden bananas suddenly seemed so delicious.
"Head of Partying, Cheetor" (宴会部長チータス)
Cheetor is a master at the art of partying and knows how to make a lot of noise when he transforms into robot mode at night. The next day at work, Optimus Primal suggests to his tired subordinate that he transform into robot mode to get rid of his exhaustion. But Cheetor has forgotten how to transform and the ugly results send Optimus screaming in fear.
"Cheetor at Night" (夜のチータス)
Cheetor drinks after work and ends up on the last train. However, he oversleeps on the train and ends up waking up at Takao in the middle of night. Seeing Optimus the next day, Cheetor jokes about paying travel expenses and room charge.
"Cheetor in the Morning" (朝のチータス)
Cheetor oversleeps and is late for work. But since he's late, he might as well take his time. When he finally arrives at work, Optimus Primal demands to know why he's late. When Cheetor replies that he overslept, Optimus questions why he's so sparkling clean and refreshed.
Optimus Primal assigns Rattrap a trainer, Dinobot, but Rattrap suspects the drooling dinosaur wants to eat him. With a spiteful look in his eyes, Primal assures him it's fine as unlike some people, Dinobot has never eaten his bananas, and he walks off as the raptor tries to swallow Rattrap whole. In the end, Rattrap makes the best of it, and is able to deliver his monthly report even while stuck in Dinobot's mouth.
"When We Have Been Social" (うちとけてきた頃)
When Dinobot makes fun of Rattrap's "childrens' toys", Rattrap protests that some of them are actually really hard to transform and challenges his co-worker to transform Mach Kick. Dinobot is still trying to figure it out by the time Rattrap leaves work, and when they meet again the next day, he reveals he got frustrated and ate the toy. Rattrap is shocked and despairs losing part of his collection.
Dinobot's mouse and USB memories have gone missing and he's annoyed that he can't get any work done without them, but a giggling Rattrap points out that there's right there on his desk... in the form of Device Label toys! He tells Dinobot that before he can start working he'll have to learn to transform the toys... only for Dinobot to promptly eat them as well, leaving Rattrap in shock again and questioning his colleague why he keeps eating everything.
"Prank Part 2" (いたずらその2)
It's warm, so Dinobot demands Rattrap bring him a popsicle, but the icy treat he's get turns out to be made of plastic—that's right, it's a Gari Robo-kun toy! But while Rattrap laughs at him for falling for it and starts telling him what Gari Robo-kun is, Dinobot eats it anyway. Rattrap despairs that he knew that was going to happen and yet he did it and now there's another hole in his collection.
Company president Megatron introduces his Tera-Kura Co., rivals of Axalon Trading Company. Unfortunately his staff includes people like Terrorsaur, who wants to usurp his position as president; Scorponok, who has an awkward one-sided crush on him; and Waspinator, who only thinks about Transformers. Will this company really work out?
Waspinator introduces himself as a Transformers fan who knows everything there is to know about the brand, but also refuses to talk about anything else. At one point he even hangs up on a customer who calls about something unrelated to Transformers, but is caught by Megatron and broken into pieces as punishment.
Megatron beats Waspinator with his tail for playing with Transformers toys during work hours, and later pridefully retells this story to Blackarachnnia at a host club. To his surprise she's excited by the mention of Transformers, saying she's also a huge fan and would like nothing more than to hear Megatron say the names of Transformers characters. Wanting to learn more about the subject to impress her, Megatron returns to Waspinator and bashfully asks if they can have lunch together. The wasp takes it the wrong way and tells him he doesn't swing that way, and an angry Megatron retorts that he doesn't either.
"President Mega's Studies" (メガ社長のお勉強)
Waspinator teaches Megatron the names of Transformers from the movies through methods such as songs and glossary cards. When he next sees Blackarachnia, Megatron is able to repeat many of the names, greatly impressing her.
"Whirl and Roadbuster Now on Sale, Buzz" (ホワール、ロードバスター発売中だぶん)
As part of their next lesson, Waspinator teaches Megatron about Whirl and Roadbuster, two foreign Transformers who first appeared in a British comic book. The concept of "British Transformers" causes Megatron to imagine the two as English stereotypes walking the streets of London, and he asks out loud how Whirl is supposed to drink tea without a mouth. Waspinator tells him he's wrong and needs to stop focusing on the whole British thing.
"LG03 Tankor Prologue" (LG03タンカー前日談)
Rattrap wakes up as a real Transformer again, this time in his Beast Machines body, and when he gets to work he finds others in the same situation—Cheetor has become tall and slender while Optimus Primal is flat. While they're unhappy with this, Rhinox is jealous that everyone else gets to be Transformers and imagines that if the same thing happened to him, he'd be a cool robot.
Airazor and T-AI dress up in Santa Claus outfits and wish everybody a merry Christmas. Optimus Primal and Optimus Minor walk down by Ravage's store in the snow. Cheetor, Silverbolt, Dinobot, and Rattrap are at a party, where the latter two play with a Heinrad toy. Tankor, along with Roadbuster, gives out '80s Transformers toys while a perplexed Whirl looks on. Blackarachnia gives a infatuated Megatron a present. Nightscream watches Age of Extinction with Savage. Waspinator, with his sons Venin and Buzz Saw, thanks the readers for a great year.
Quickstrike arrives at Tera-Kura Co. for a job interview with Megatron, and is taken aback when Megatron asks no questions but instead produces an hourglass and demands that he "appeal to me". Waspinator explains that his behavior is caused by having watched the third movie.
"Widow-chan at Work" (ウィドーちゃん出勤)
Blackarachnia introduces herself, explaining that she's a charismatic hostess at a host club at night and a serious, professional office worker for Tera-Kura at day. When she works late one day, Megatron asks her to finish up so that he can leave for the club, unaware that she's also fretting about getting to the club in time for her shift.
Rhinox, recently turned into Tankor, is declaring his intent to return the world to the '80s when he runs into Thrust and Jetstorm, the similarly transformed versions of Waspinator and Silverbolt. He expects the two to share his love for Generation 1 Transformers, but Jetstorm protests that he only likes the Michael Bay films and while Thrust himself appreciates all Transformers, he says his kids wouldn't even know who Generation 1 Optimus Prime is. Tankor becomes angry and a battle breaks out between the three Vehicons, prompting Ai to show up and tell them to knock it off.
"Whirl Versus Roadbuster!" (ホワール対ロードバスター!)
Whirl is striding through Tokyo alongside the girl he's befriended, looking for evildoers to fight, when he runs into Roadbuster who won't forgive him for turning on Tankor. Whirl accepts his challenge but, despite calling himself a hero, takes the girl hostage inside his canopy to dissuade Roadbuster from attacking. The girl is upset and uses Whirl's controls to take control of him from the inside and force him to pick up trash, which Roadbuster admits is pretty heroic.
In Rattrap's dream, he meets Swerve. Rattrap notes that he made barely any appearances in the original cartoon, but Swerve doesn't mind being noticed or not, preferring to focus on his work, which causes an easily impressed Rattrap to call him cool. Swerve is then asked why his name was "Werve" (ウェーブ) in 2010 instead of Swerve (スワーブ). Swerve again brushes off the question, saying that you can call him whatever you want, baby. Rattrap is again impressed. The topic moves on to Swerve's bad marksmanship, to which Phaser reveals that he transforms into My First Blaster to aid his partner. The two demonstrate the First Blaster in battle with Trypticon, with all of the assorted sound effects. Rattrap says that the sound effects would just help the enemy know when to move out of the way, a revelation which alarms Phaser.
Still in Rattrap's dream, Tailgate introduces himself and his partner, Groundshaker. It is explained that Micro Transformers came to Earth in the 1980s in search of Optimus Prime and the Matrix. Due to a dimensional shockwave, they evolved and became Micromasters, able to transform and combine. Later in the war, most of the Micro Transformers fell under the command of Hot Rod, who led them in creating the planet Micro. Further, a Micron is a Micro Transformer with the ability to transform into another mode and provide their larger partners with a power up. Rattrap asks Tailgate if he could be a Micron as well, since he is also small. This proves to be strangely successful, as he incapacitates Trypticon with his ribbon bomb.
Tigatron and Rhinox remark that Rattrap's aunt, Arcee, is cute, and Rattrap reminisces about how he slept in the same bed with his aunt when he was young and how he would be bathed. When Rattrap mentions that it happened before Arcee acquired Transformers sickness, his two coworkers realize how Arcee must have looked then doesn't match up with their fantasies and walk away from the conversation.
At Bump's office, Arcee is diagnosed with Transformers sickness, which Arcee says she already knew. Bump again prescribes his treatment of throwing away all of Rattrap's toys, but Arcee refuses to discard Rattrap's precious childhood toys and continues on living with an absurdly large body.
In Rattrap's dream, he asks Brainstorm if he acquired his new form through training, and the Headmaster confirms that he upgraded himself. Chromedome accuses him of being an unfair blowhard who just got a version change, but Brainstorm insists it was gained through hard work. Highbrow tries to calm down the discussion, noting that they need all the help they can get with the rumors of MegaZarak's resurrection. But Chromedome is still angry that it's only Brainstorm who gets the upgrade, prompting Hardhead to try to get him to clam down. Rattrap notes that, being a Beast Wars fan, he doesn't find this interesting at all, which sets off Highbrow, who says that they're still the favorite of a generation, and now Chromedome is the one trying to calm things down. Fortress remarks that the Headmaster Autobots are just getting all worked up as usual...
Part 2
Brainstorm's true form, the tiny Cana, is telling Chromedome and Highbrow his Transtector has gone missing when it suddenly shows up in body mode piloted by Rattrap, who claims he too trained hard to get large. Cana demands the return of his body, but the smug Rattrap refuses and tells him to train hard again and get a new one. Angered, Cana goes ahead and combines with the body, causing its Tech Spec plate to flip down inside the cockpit and trap Rattrap, which prompts Chromedome to compare it to a mousetrap.
After losing her memory in the battle with Metroplex, Windblade wanders Akihabara, where she lands a job at a "little sister cafe". Using her charm, she manages to sell outrageously expensive lunches to "big brothers", and Starscream, another worker in the cafe, is impressed by her reliability.
Part 2
Windblade has found a job, but lacks anywhere to live, so she decides to squat at Tigatron's home. Tigatron is elated at the prospect, but his partner Airazor angrily barges in. All three somehow manage to end up in the same bed anyway, and Airazor pushes off Windblade when she tries to cuddle up with Tigatron.
Megatron has returned and upgraded to a form similar to his original body and faces off against Optimus Prime, who has similarly reformatted his body into one like his original through the power of the Reconfiguration Matrix. Megatron brags that he has learned of the secret entrance to a "world of Legends", where all of the Transformers are just children's toys. With nobody to oppose him there, Megatron plans to take all of the world's energy. Optimus thinks his eternal enemy has finally lost his marbles, but Megatron insists he's for real.
"Lord Megatron Goes to the Legends World" (メガトロン様レジェンズ世界へ行く)
Megatron goes through the entrance to the Legends Universe constructed by the Zamojin in case of emergencies. In the Legends world, his invading overlord monologue is interrupted by adoring fans shocked by the existence of a true-life Transformer in their world. Some shout out "All hail Megatron!", while Blackarachnia and Scylla give Megatron all the oil they have. A bemused Megatron internally notes that it'll be a hard "invasion"...
"TAV21 Optimus Prime Now on Sale!" (TAV21オプティマスプライム発売!)
Rattrap goes to sleep excited about Adventure series with its beast-like Transformers as well as the upcoming Japanese-original TAV21 Optimus Prime toy, and dreams about meeting Optimus Prime in the form of that toy. Impressing Rattrap with his cool long legs, Prime declares he can emit 200 sounds and phrases and proceeds to list off the names of all the Autobots in Adventure, but his throat dries up from too much talking and he has to go drink some water. Next he shows off his vehicle mode, which can store car-mode Autobots in his trailer, and Rattrap thinks up an alternate transformation that turns Prime a base-like mode for play value with smaller toys. Prime then dances to the Adventureending theme with the other Autobots while Rattrap notes that you can replicate this scene by getting all the toys.
"Presidential Inauguration! Lord Megatron" (会長就任! メガトロン様)
Installed as chairman and head of Tera-Kura Co., G1 Megatron holds a press conference during which he deflects questions about his evil plans for world domination, explaining those are fictional stories. In reality, he's only boosting his influence in this world before he makes his move to conquer it, but as he's signing autographs for a long line of people, he realizes how dull it is pretending to be nice and begins to reconsider.
"Widow-chan's Usual Day" (ウィドーちゃんの日常)
Learning that she's working under G1 Megatron comes as a happy surprise to Transformers fangirl Blackarachnia, but since she doesn't want anyone at work knowing about her nerdy hobby, she works hard to hide her emotions and act professional in front of her new boss to the point where Legends Megatron has to ask her to be more easygoing.
"LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 1" (LG14ウルトラマグナス前日談その1)
"Resurrection Chapter" (復活篇)
In the G2 days of G1 universe, Battle Convoy proposes a plan to revive Ultra Magnus, killed years earlier, to aid in the battle with Galvatron II. To the amazement of the new Generation 2 Autobots, he reveals that the spirit of Alpha Trion, integrated with the Matrix, can find Magnus's own spirit within the Matrix and recover it using the Reconfiguration Matrix. Locating Magnus, Trion tells him now is not the time to be one of the guardians of the Matrix's wisdom as his strength is still to fight for justice. Having felt from the spirit world that Optimus Prime is in trouble, Magnus takes Trion into his chest, allowing the sage to use his Matrix-granted powers to bring them both back to life. Unfortunately Ultra Magnus reawakens exactly where his body was buried—in a coffin at the bottom of ocean. He surfaces soaking wet and angry, demanding to know whose bright idea it was to throw his body in the sea and scaring the Autobot Headmasters responsible.
"LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 2" (LG14ウルトラマグナス前日談その2)
"The Mysterious Knowledgeable Grandpa Chapter" (謎の詳しいおじいさん編)
Their office building having been crushed by Metroplex, the Axalon employees settle for making the city-mode Transformer their new office. Rattrap isn't sure who Metroplex actually is, so the company's elderly janitor chimes in to explain he's a giant Autobot introduced in the "Scramble City: Mobilization" OVA in which he fought his rival Trypticon. Unfortunately his transformation cog was damaged in the duel, preventing him from transforming fully when Autobot City was later attacked during the Unicron War. Metroplex was later gravely injured in battle with a new enemy, Metrotitan, and had to be rebuilt into his current form. In an aside, the janitor also explains that Metrobase, who guarded the Ark before its reactivation, was Metroplex's kin, as there are many like them. His knowledge shocks Rattrap and even Rhinox admits he didn't know all that, causing the old man to let slip that he knows all this because he's from "the other world". The next day he finds the employees are scared of him, having assumed he meant the world of the dead, and he questions if they've ever heard of parallel universes before.
"LG14 Ultra Magnus Prologue Part 3" (LG14ウルトラマグナス前日談その3)
"The Autumn Megatron Festival Chapter" (秋のメガトロン祭り編)
Legends Megatron invites his co-workers to a night on the town, but no one shows up other than G1 Megatron. When they arrive at the diner they've reserved a table at, however, they find Armada Megatron playing with his Mini-Con toys, having used their reservation under the name "Megatron" for himself. Armada Starscream leaves for his night-time part-time job, which the two need to pay for living expenses and Armada Megatron's toy addiction, shocking G1 Megatron with the presence of a Starscream. The Megatrons begin drinking together and discussing their Starscreams—Armada Megatron explains that Armada Starscream was different in the world they come from but has lost his memory and is now a faithful servant, while G1 Megatron tells the story about how he killed G1 Starscream for betraying and killing him (a story that frightens Legends Megatron). As they steadily get drunker, Armada Megatron complains how annoying it is to slowly collect Mini-Cons through purchasing, and G1 Megatron agrees that life in the Legends Universe is a pain and he hates running a company. They suddenly realize that they don't have to live this way—with their power combined, they can just conquer the world!
"Ultra Magnus Sequel Alpha Trion Chapter" (ウルトラマグナス後日談アルファートリン編)
Alpha Trion confirms to a curious Rattrap that his current body is that of a Micron, and when Rattrap further asks him to transform into the weapon mode all Microns have, he turns into what he calls a "shield" but is identical to his car mode. Defending himself against Rattrap's suspicions with the statement "it's a shield because I say it's a shield!", Trion displays his usefulness in combat by shielding Ultra Magnus against a barrage of lasers... and failing miserably because of his small size. Ultra Magnus dies. (But not really.)
"Ultra Magnus Sequel Armada Megatron Chapter" (ウルトラマグナス後日談アルマダメガトロン編)
Returning home after his defeat at Ultra Magnus's hands, Armada Megatron reveals to Armada Starscream that he's bought an Ultra Magnus toy for the purpose of locating the Autobot's weaknesses. Starscream protests that Megatron promised not to buy any toys that aren't Mini-Cons, and Megatron defends himself with the fact that Ultra Magnus comes with a Mini-Con accessory. As he starts playing with his new toy, however, he ends up being really fond of it, causing Starscream to worry that a desire for full-size toys has awakened within him.
Rattrap and Tigatron are excitedly watching Transformers Adventure together (though Tigatron is really just excited about Strongarm) when Rattrap strikes upon the idea of using the reality-bending power of the Legends Universe to travel to the Adventure world through their dreams. His plan succeeds, and the two appear in the middle of the shocked Autobots. While Rattrap is explaining to Sideswipe where they came from, Tigatron makes a dash straight for Strongarm, who is freaked out and has both of the mysterious talking animals locked up in stasis pods. Because of this, Rattrap and Tigatron are both late for work, and find that "we were in a dream" is not an excuse Optimus Primal is ready to accept.
Tigatron asks the newly arrived Chromia why she looks different from her appearance in the cartoon, to which she responds she's just wearing different armor parts and proceeds to change into to her old armor in front of the flustered cat. After explaining she needed the change as her old armor was too tight around the chest, she details the other pros of her new form: the bike altmode is faster than the car she was previously, and her new backpack acts as a jetpack that lets her fly. Chromia then displays that she and Arcee can wear each others armor, bringing Tigatron such joy that he yells that if this is a dream, he doesn't want to wake up. But it is, and he does.
Having read up on Nightbird Shadow's creation at the hands of a Japanese scientist, Rattrap asks the ninja why she turns into a car now. She explains (through writing, being mute) that she learned to transform by training under the Six Clan, ninjas able to transform into six different modes, on their planet. However, they didn't actually teach her to turn into a car, but rather an unimpressive "swan" mode that Rattrap points out anyone can position themselves into. Continuing her story, Nightbird Shadow claims to have had two disciples, Road Rocket and Road Pig, who became enemies because of a dispute over their master. Rattrap grows unsure if he can believe anything Nightbird says, to which she responds that ninjas are always mysterious.
Part 2
The male employees of Tera-Kura Co. are swooning over Slipstream and Blackarachnia, not paying any attention to the hard-working Nightbird Shadow until she takes off her mask for a breather, revealing a cute face underneath. Taken by her cuteness, they immediately begin producing mask-less versions of Tera-Kura's Nightbird clones.
Slipstream confirms to a curious Rattrap that she came from an Animated universe using the transdimensional gyros she got while remodeling her body. She also explains that she remodeled her face to look younger in the process, causing a jealous Arcee to spurt out that she wants to go to the Animated world too. Rattrap tells her she's plenty young already.
Part 2
Reading up on Slipstream's past, Rattrap asks her about being a clone of Starscream, to which she responds that he disappeared somewhere during the war, leaving her a lone fugitive. Rattrap points her in the direction of Armada Starscream, working as a waiter nearby, and Slipstream assumes he's her Starscream and attacks him, rejecting his pleas that it's a case of mistaken identity. Starscream cries out for the nearby Blackarachnia to save him, but she assumes he's responsible for making Slipstream cry and joins her side instead. Disheartened, he later gets home to tell Armada Megatron about how scary women can be, only to be flatly ignored and told to hand over his credit card so Megatron can buy a Unite WarriorsDevastator.
"LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 1" (LG-18アルマダスタースクリームスーパーモード前日談1)
Having lost his old part-time job, Armada Starscream is lamenting having to find a new one when he witnesses Windblade collapsing nearby. She tells him she can't go to work in her condition, so he offers to take her place, only to learn once he gets there that her job is at a maid café. He's left regretting his fate in life once more while the manager, the local Starscream, berates him for not welcoming customers loudly enough.
Armada Starscream questions why they agreed to hire a man at a maid café to begin with, so Legends Starscream reveals that he's not actually running a little sister-themed café: they're normally a little brother café featuring male maids. He explains that he only hired Windblade because he felt sorry for her, lost and confused as she was, and Armada Starscream admits that his counterpart is actually a nice guy. He then notices Windblade arriving and prepares to leave, but Windblade isn't her usual self... she's regained her memories, and seeks to destroy the Legends Universe again!
The employees of the little brother cafe are directly referred to as "okama" (オカマ), a Japanese slang word for gay men. All of them, including Beast Wars II Starscream, have been previously characterized as gay or feminine in some way.
"LG-18 Armada Starscream Super Mode Prologue 2" (LG-18アルマダスタースクリームスーパーモード前日談2)
Having come to her senses again, Windblade tells Starscream about the Legends Universe's creation at the hands of the Zamojin, further explaining that it's an experiment in "spirit energy" that lets the Zamojin absorb the spirit energy of its residents to grow stronger. This energy is generated by desire, and Armada Megatron's recent unquenchable thirst for Transformers toys is threatening to make the Zamojin strong enough to take back control of Windblade. As she despairs to Starscream that she doesn't want to become her old self and destroy the world she's grown to love, the two are approached by the glowing form of Spark Grid.
Spark Grid tells them that he's a Mini-Con native to the Legends Universe, where his people live disguised as toys, and wants to help them protect his world. Starscream recognizes the Mini-Con as a toy he'd had on him—Megatron had given it to him earlier as a reward for a job well done, an occasion that had felt strangely familiar to him. Spark Grid then lends Starscream the power of the Mini-Cons, powering him up into a new form. He valiantly sets out to put stop to Megatron's aspirations, but not without promising Windblade that if she does fall under Zamojin control, he's ready to give up his life to stop her. Meanwhile, in another world, Alexis is at the beach with her friends...
Springer introduces himself, explaining that in 2005 before the Unicron War, he was the leader of the Wreckers, fighting alongside the Whirl and Roadbuster from another world. Afterwards he wished to live happily with his love, Arcee, but things didn't work out that way and he was left alone. By the G2 era during the 2030s, he has taken to comfort eating and Whirl and Roadbuster note that he's getting fat, with Whirl joking that his neglect for his appearance is the reason Arcee dumped him. This hits too close to home for Springer, leaving him disheartened (despite Roadbuster's attempts to cheer him up by having tell the story about how he saved a princess in a dream), and he vows to turn his life back around.
"LG19 Sprung Prologue Part 2" (LG-19スプラング前日談その2)
Whirl and Roadbuster tell Springer that in the Legends Universe they came from, he can get a cool new body, and an excited Springer promptly contacts Alpha Trion and has him open a portal. On arrival, the three have Rhinox, creator of Whirl and Roadbuster, rebuild Springer's body into a handsome new form. As he expresses confidence that he can now win back Arcee's heart, he is interrupted by an arrow with a message on it—a message that says "I love you", signed by Nightbird! Spotting Nightbird, Slipstream, and Blackarachnia swooning over his new body, he realizes it's finally his time to be popular.
In the year 2021, Fortress Maximus's Autobots clash with a returned Scorponok's Decepticons over a giant black hole that the Decepticon seeks to explode, hoping to destroy the Autobots and create plasma energy in one fell swoop. Accusing his nemesis of being mad with revenge, Fortress has his troops recover what explosives they can, only for Scorponok to detonate the rest with no concern for his own soldiers. Fortress sends Wheelie and their human friends to safety as the blast wave hits Autobots and Decepticons alike, shrinking their bodies into super deformed forms! An examination shows that being exposed to the exploding black hole has caused miniature black holes ("blackballs") to appear in their bodies, shrinking their mass and threatening to collapse the Autobots in on themselves if nothing is done.
The cassettes inside of Twincast prove to be unaffected and the Headmasters simply disconnect from their affected transtectors, but the other Autobots are still in danger. Seeing no other option, Fortress has their heads removed and retrofitted into Headmasters as their bodies continue to shrink and eventually pop out of existence. In order to get everyone new bodies, he then suggests they visit the Legends Universe, recalling the creation of their comrades Roadbuster and Whirl. Having tracked the dimension's spacetime coordinates from the two Wreckers' residual radiation, he sets out to travel there via solitarium straight away—because the battleship Maximus which makes up his body is also shrinking. As they depart, the Autobots wonder if the affected Decepticons have had the same idea, and indeed the Decepticon Headmasters have already reached the Legends Universe and struck a deal with Tera-Kura Co. scientist Tarantulas to make them new bodies. Furthermore, Tarantulas has his own scheme in mind, intending to use the Decepticons to conquer the world for himself!
Scorponok is revealed to have survived the destruction of his BlackZarak transtector and Devil Z in the Super-God Masterforce finale "A Battle... and Then...". His obsession with plasma energy was shown in the two-part Headmasters episode "Cybertron Is in Grave Danger".
Most of the main cast of The Headmasters cartoon reappears. Cyclonus is absent, off participating in the comicchapters of Unite Warriors. Soundblaster's cassettes can be assumed to be present inside his chest. Curiously, however, Apeface's partner Snapdragon and the Autobot Targetmasters' Decepticon counterparts are not seen. Among the Autobots, Brainstorm stands out with his absence, likely because he got his time in the spotlight already with his first Legends toy.
Sweep no. 4 appears to be dead and is now a ghost. This fits into japanese superstition due to the fact that four (四) can be read as "yon" (よん) or "shi" (し). The latter of which is the kanji for death "shi" (死).
As is to be expected, the characterizations for the cast are derived from the Japanese version of Beast Wars and Beast Machines. In most instances, these characterizations were extremely different from their Western counterparts. As such, some of the "gags" might fly over the heads of those unacquainted with the radically different Japanese version of the show.
