Elita One (G1)

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

The name or term "Elita One" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Elita One (disambiguation).

Elita One is a female Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Sexy posing is an important part of her characterization. (By "important," we mean "nonexistent.")

Elita One (also Elita-One or Elita-1) is a devoted Autobot and powerful warrior, fearless in the face of the enemy, but compassionate to those who need her help.

She was the simple manual laborer Ariel who became a renowned Autobot resistance leader, a female counterpart to Optimus Prime. Elita One leads the Female Autobots in a desperate gamble to keep Cybertron out of the hands of the Decepticons. She is sometimes the wielder of a great special power: the ability to stop time through the creation of a field with a fifty foot radius around her. Sadly, this ability drains all of her life force and is thus almost assuredly fatal, leaving her to only use it in the most dire of situations.

Her chassis is the color of Energon, which is pretty intimidating!

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Marlene Aragon (English), Samantha Newark (Ariel, English), Kazue Komiya (Japanese), Eiko Yamada (Ariel, Japanese), Yu Hong (Chinese)

Robots with plunging necklines and ponytails... somehow.

Nine million years ago, Cybertron was a peaceful, prospering world, and within this era lived a young dockworker called Ariel. She had a boyfriend named Orion Pax and shared a good friend with him in their colleague Dion. Among the many developments brought forth during their lifetime was the invention of flight, which fascinated Orion and Dion to no end. However, as mere dockworkers, they didn't have much expectation of seeing the results in action themselves anytime soon.

One day, Orion brought a group of five visitors he just met into the energy storage facility they were working at. Ariel was introduced to them, after which Orion was called outside by Dion and she and the visitors followed. It turned out that Dion had spotted "flying robots" travelling overhead, the sight of which prompting him and Orion to voice their wish to meet them. The visitor Silverbolt gave his doubt that an impressive ability necessarily made for a person they would want to know, to which Ariel added she had heard that the flying robots had put together an army and attacked one of Cybertron's outer cities. Dion laughingly dismissed her as gullible, and Orion remarked that even if true, they had Guardian robots to protect them, so it wasn't any of their concern. With that, the three left the Aerialbots and resumed work.

A short time later, Orion again brought a visitor along, this time no one less than one of the flying robots, Megatron. Chaos followed soon after, when Megatron suddenly ordered for his transport drones to attack and aimed the first shot at Orion. In the midst of the assault, Ariel ignored Dion's plea to not interfere and tried to stop Megatron from further harming Orion, only to be gunned down herself by the Decepticon.

Optimus Prime's sister from the same transistor.

Fortunately for her, the Aerialbots returned to help them. They picked up the deactivated Orion and brought him to Alpha Trion, who recreated the young robot as the first of Cybertron's new defenders — Optimus Prime. Optimus and the Aerialbots then asked Alpha Trion to try reconstructing Ariel too. Agreeing to send some droids for her, Alpha Trion mused to himself that "Elita One" would be a good name for a female warrior. War Dawn

Elita One combatted her way through the next five million years of warfare, until the launch of an Autobot starship that would go in search for energy for the starving planet. It would be captained by Optimus Prime himself. As Iacon came under Decepticon attack during the launch, Elita tried to board the ship, wishing to be with her partner. While she and Optimus discussed the matter, the bombardment got a good hit near the ship, to all present seemingly destroying Elita One and several other soldiers.

Waw chikka bow bow, chikka chikka...

In truth, she dodged death once more. In the next four million years, Elita One held command of a team of six Autobots that continued the fight on Cybertron, utilizing their exaggerated deaths to work under cover of secrecy. Moonracer's carelessness eventually revealed their continued existence, a piece of knowledge Megatron appreciatively used to set up a trap for Optimus Prime. He sent a unit consisting of Starscream, Ramjet, Astrotrain and Rumble to Cybertron to capture Elita One as soon as Shockwave would succeed in locating their base. Though Elita was already taking preparations to relocate after first winning advice from her mentor, Alpha Trion, the Decepticons arrived too soon. Elita subsequently fought three of them, forced into battle by Rumble's actions that endangered her team still within the base and as a bonus to the Decepticons prevented them from coming to their leader's aid.

Elita One was taken captive and used as bait to lure Optimus Prime to Cybertron, where he easily was captured too. Upon seeing him, Elita attempted an escape, but was shot down by Starscream. The enemy Air Commander prepared to execute her on the spot, but Shockwave had "a better idea". Optimus was hung over a vat of acid while Elita would be spared only long enough to see her beloved perish. Desperate, Elita triggered her time-stopping power, which allowed her to save Optimus... but expended nearly all her life force doing so.

Following Elita's directions to bring her to Alpha Trion, Optimus begged the ancient Autobot to save her. Alpha Trion then revealed to Optimus that only he could save Elita by interfacing to her with his power filter. An astonished Optimus Prime stated that only his creator could know that, which Alpha Trion deemed an educated guess.

Yeah, this is all you see.

After Elita One was re-energized, she and Optimus Prime arrived in time to save both a group of Earth-stationed Autobots who had followed Optimus to Cybertron plus Elita's own troops from certain death at the hands of the Decepticons. Elita shot down Shockwave, while Optimus scared off the Earth-stationed Decepticons. The two leaders were thanked with much jubilation by their troops.

Though sharing his regrets that they'd be apart again so soon, Elita elected to continue her duties in the war fought on Cybertron while Optimus and his troops returned to the battle on Earth. With their original secret base discovered and in ruins, Alpha Trion quickly set Elita's team up with a new, better one. Goodbyes were exchanged not much later, the situation not preventing Elita from telling her partner not to stay away TOO long... The Search for Alpha Trion

Japanese cartoon continuity

MC Axis comics

She actually says "prease".

Elita One and her team toppled a colossal Decepticon warrior. Though her team was jubilant at their victory, Elita knew that this one victory was far from enough to win the war, and longed for Optimus to return so they could re-take their homeworld. The Transformers: Elita One

Legends/Unite Warriors

Why does one of those robots have to be a dude? Robots don't have gender! Bloody tokenism.

Elite One was among the heroic female Transformers who appeared in one of Tigatron's dreams to protect him from the evil female Transformers, assuring him she'd keep him safe using her secret power. (Elita, no! It'll kill you!) Bonus Edition Vol. 11

When Megaempress attempted to use her secret power to brainwash Optimus, the Autobot leader resisted by shouting the name of his true love, Elita. Megatronia Chapter

Wings Universe

Wings Universe is based on the Generation 1 cartoon, but deviates from it in cosmetic ways and continuity points.

Nine million years ago, Ariel, along with her friends Orion Pax and Dion, worked at storage yard 67. This idyllic period in her life was cut short when she and her friends were murdered by Megatron and his growing Decepticon army. Battle Lines, Part 1 She was present when Optimus's team prepared to go track down Megatron. Battle Lines, Part 2 A week later, she was part of the Autobot forces at Iacon's city walls as the Decepticons broke through with Devastator. Battle Lines, Part 5 The battle was won, but several Autobots died in the process, including Dion.

Five million years later, to gather energy for the sapped Autobots, a crew was formed to pilot the Ark. Elita One was to be part of the crew, but a Decepticon attack blocked her and others from reaching the ship before it departed. Soon after, as their current reserve of energies was dangerously low, Elita joined her comrades still on the planet in stasis hibernation pods to await the return of energy resources to their planet. Battle Lines, Part 6

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Optimus likes 'em with some armor-plating on their circuits.

Elita One was the leader of an elite squad of five warriors under the command of the Quintessons. The team was waiting for intel from their Autobot sleeper agent, Arcee, in preparation for a mission on Cybertron. When Arcee reported on the awaited situation, the rest of the team was called in to prepare for departure. As the Quintessons were gloating about how smooth matters were proceeding, Elita One entered and aggressively threw her lance through the screen then displaying Hot Rod, one of the mission's objectives. The Quintessons found this amusing. The Route of All Evil

Generation One ceased publication before the story could conclude. The following would have taken place in unpublished issues.

Elita One used a space bridge to get to the Autobase on Cybertron, where she was discovered by Hot Rod. Hot Rod attempted to shoot the intruder down, but Elita knocked the guns out of his hands and challenged him to hand-to-hand combat. Hot Rod confidently accepted, but was taken out with ease. Gnaw and Wheelie witnessed this, and Gnaw urged Wheelie to run. Elita contacted her team on Quintessa and the remaining three followed after their leader to Cybertron. Seeing this, Gnaw opened attack, but was taken out by Moonracer and Elita One. Elita One ordered Chromia to take an unconscious Hot Rod with her to Quintessa, whereas Moonracer and Firestar were to join her into the Autobot facility. Soon after, the trio found Optimus Prime's badly damaged body in a repair chamber. Generation 1 #11

Classics

Elita WHAT?

Elita-1's [sic] existence was a surprise to everyone but Grimlock, who quietly added the female Autobot to the crew aboard the Graviton. Everyone had an idea about where she came from, but Grimlock kept her origin a secret. Since the others knew so little about her, Elita felt she had to work harder to gain their respect, and so she took unnecessary risks. In battle, she carried a hyper-concussive missile launcher that converted into an EMP scrambler. She could blend into her surroundings due to her camouflaging skin made of mimetic alloy armor, which could also refract laser fire into blinding bursts of light. BotCon 2009 Elita-1 profile card

Elita-One [sic] was one of the Graviton's crewmembers who manned the controls as the team chased Bug Bite's Decepticons to Earth. Reminding the others of Optimus Prime's orders to stay incognito on populated worlds, she and Swoop were sent out to spy on Bug Bite's crew up close while the rest remained on a safe distance. For a moment, her team was slightly worried she had been spotted when it seemed the Decepticons were looking for something, but it turned out to be Mirage who had been found. As the Decepticons left with Mirage as their prisoner, Grimlock ordered Swoop and Elita to track them. Through this, the two stumbled upon Megatron's hideout.

"Grimlock? Mirage? You don't look so good."

Elita-One fought the sentry, Ravage, to gain passage for the team. She was sent ahead again to the command center to check on the situation and the odds of saving Mirage. Upon her findings, the team burst in, saved Mirage and completely wrecked the place. Games of Deception

Later, Acid Storm, Drag Strip, and Overkill were waiting on a dusty planet when Elita-1 and the rest of Springer's rogue team of Autobots attempted to hunt them down. At Fight's End

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Just because I will not lie does not oblige me to correct every lie I hear.Elita One, "Heavy"

Don't ask her to decorate your living room.

An erroneous account placed Elita One at Bumper and Fastback's funeral. Megatron Origin #3

In actuality, however, Elita One was a descendant of Liege Maximo's tribe. This group of Transformers had turned against their evil master following Megatronus's murder of Solus Prime Heavy and sworn an oath to keep their former leader detained aboard his own Titan Vigilem: repurposed into "Carcer", a nomadic living prison. Rubicon Elita One became the captain of this prison ship and the "First One", ruling from a throne made of her people's greatest heroes, all of whom had sacrificed their lives and bodies to maintain their ship. All That Remains The Will of the Few Under Elita's command, the straitened Carcerians valued three core tenets that defined their existence: security, efficiency, and truth. The Will of the Few Another law she upheld was that Carcer would never again transform, for fear of releasing Liege Maximo. Desperate Measures

When Elita's second-in-command Obsidian reported to her that combiners from Cybertron had briefly touched their Titan, Elita One took the news with amusement, All That Remains concluding that Cybertron had devolved into a civilization of conquerors looking to enslave her people. The Will of the Few

When representatives from Cybertron arrived a few weeks later, Elita One posted an armed detachment around her Titan's space bridge, which intercepted Windblade and Starscream as they appeared on her ship. Claiming that her ship was in fact the lost Titan Tempo, Elita led them through her home while explaining her people's straitened lifestyle. Starscream offered Elita an idea of a perfect Cybertron, and tempted her with the ideas of rich resources and land for the Carcer's leader. Like any normal bot, she called Starscream out on his lying by ordering a gun be put to his head to execute him. Windblade salvaged the situation by persuading her that Carcer needed Cybertron; Starscream was a scumbag and that killing him would bring war. Elita One believed Windblade and let Starscream go free, but she gave them a warning about lying on her ship, unaware that Windblade knew that she was lying about the heritage of her vessel. Regardless, Elita One sent representatives to Cybertron to the Council of Worlds signing with Obsidian and Strika as the delegates. The Will of the Few

Don't ask her to transform Carcer.

When Starscream declared Chosen One Day day to be a thing, Elita One's troops celebrated by throwing a parade in her honor. Choose Me

With Carcer now a member of the Council, the Titan's crew began ordering new parts from Cybertron to repair their home. One shipment, however, was delayed by a mnemosurgical attack on a Decepticon supplier. Elita One ordered Obsidian to mention the attack at the next meeting of the Council. 07:00:00

When a horde of undead Titans attacked Cybertron, Elita coordinated the space battle from atop her throne. Starscream contacted her to request that Carcer be transformed to robot mode and brought down to the surface of Cybertron to aid Metroplex. Elita politely but bluntly refused before hanging up. Ping Starscream called back and she refused again, stating that the whole galaxy could be destroyed but that Carcer would never access his robot mode. She later contacted Starscream to ask him if the ships off the port bow were attacking Carcer. They were. As Devastator began attacking the ship, Elita ordered Obsidian to attack, before shooting down his idea to inform the Cybertronians of the Titan's true nature. Desperate Times Elita remained on her throne until Obsidian informed her of Windblade leading a team to the armoury. Enraged, Elita went to confront the group herself, easily defeating, them only to learn that "Windblade" was actually Lightbright under a holographic cloak, much to her anger. Desperate Measures

And don't ask her to perform brain surgery, either.

Unaware of the danger she was unleashing, Windblade established a Cityspeaker link with "Carcer"... only to discover that she had awakened a very angry Vigilem, who immediately began transforming into his robot mode. Ordering her crew to hold off Liege Maximo for as long as possible, Elita made her way to the Titan's brain chamber, where she found that Vigilem had regained full control of his body and wormed his way into Windblade's consciousness. The sight was enough to prompt Elita into action, opening fire on Vigilem's brain module and killing him. Rubicon

Elita received great praise from the people of Cybertron for her releasing of "Carcer" to save Cybertron, and his subsequent "sacrifice". She was soon called to a meeting by Starscream where he demanded to know why she'd kept Maximo a secret. She responded by telling them the tale of Liege Maximo's rise to power and his subsequent fall, ending with the justification that knowledge of him was too dangerous to spread, in the fear that an idiot would try to free him in the hopes of gaining power. She then brushed off the Council's concerns and simply said that all Cybertronians would need to begin preparing for Maximo's return, before she went off to turn Vigilem's corpse into something useful. At some point after these events, Elita replaced Strika as a delegate on the Council. Heavy

When reforging Starscream's spark into a mental copy of his true form, Elita was of the many spectres that Windblade called on to fight Vigilem, as Elita had had a significant impact on Starscream's life. Your First Mistake

I mean, if you're into that.

Elita was present as a Carcerian delegate when Earth had appointed Marissa Faireborn as their representative to the Council of Worlds. When Baron Ironblood launched an attack on Iacon, Elita was in the Spire with Starscream, where they exchanged accusations of treachery back and forth before Elita decided to kill all humans, starting with Marissa, to restore order to Cybertron. Though Optimus insisted the problem was his fault (something which Elita agreed with), the femme had made up her mind before Marissa gave Elita the scolding of a lifetime, prompting the Carcerian to contact her ship for reinforcements. Much to her rage, the Space Knights of the Solstar Order had arrived in orbit, detecting unusual Dire Wraith energy signatures emanating from Cybertron's surface and broadcasted a message saying Cybertron was under quarantine. Unwilling to challenge the Solstar Order, Elita glumly informed a not entirely convinced Starscream that they were on their own. First Strike #2 After Strika and Ironhide brought members of M.A.S.K. and G.I. Joe before the Council, Elita ordered them executed. First Strike #3 The decision was quickly overruled, prompting Elita to suggest mass deportation instead, which was again overruled before she and Optimus traded words. Though Knock Out supported Elita, Starscream declared his authority over Cybertron, and voiced that if the humans had Soundwave vouching for them, they were likely telling the truth, before declaring all suspicious humans to be locked up. When Scarlett protested, Elita asked what Colton's plan was, only for the human to reveal she did not know, save that it involved getting to the core. When Optimus tried again to make his voice heard, Elita scoffed at him for starting the whole debacle with his annexing Earth. First Strike #4

After Optimus had gone rogue and broken the humans out of jail, Elita brought the information to Starscream, who sent Ironhide after him with orders that there be no casualties. Though Elita agreed on the surface with Starscream's decision and offered herself and Obsidian as additional support, she revealed to her subordinate that she planned to see all humans dead. First Strike #5

Optimus is the only one who remembers that time they went on a date to Bumper and Fastback's funeral.

The Council taskforce caught up with the terrorists near Cybertron's core, breaking up the fight between Scarlett and Colton. Before she could kill them, Arcee and Shazraella rammed into Elita, allowing Optimus to seize her. At Scarlett's order, Matt Trakker then infected Elita with a techno-virus that placed her systems under Gloria Baker's control, forcing her to attack her allies. Nonetheless Elita's mind was still her own, and she ordered Obsidian to kill all invaders. Elita was then forced into combat against Shazraella, before Storm Shadow stabbed Baker, freeing the Carcerian, who joined Starscream in beating down Optimus. After Garrison Kreiger revealed himself to be an alien wizard known as Merklynn and created New Prysmos within Cybertron, he teleported all combatants back to Iacon, where Elita stood behind Starscream when Colton "confessed" his crimes, before she aimed her weapon at Miles Mayhem to shut him up. She then joined Ironhide in escorting the Iron Ring to their cells. First Strike #6

When discussing the unpalatability of Cybertron's energon in the wake of the crisis, Elita proposed repaying the humans' kindness and invading Earth for its resources before Marissa shut her up. The Dead Come Home, Part 1

Vote for me and you'll live longer!

After Windblade revealed Liege Maximo's freedom to the people, Elita pushed Starscream for elections, garnering enough signatures to secure herself as a candidate. The night before the debates, Obsidian reported the polls suggested a victory for Elita, before she ordered him to prepare battle plans for Maximo's return, while she prepared her speech. After Windblade's speech however, Starscream confessed to all his crimes, with Windblade emerging victorious as a result. The Chosen One

The Council later assembled to oversee Optimus delivering a shipment of Ore-13 before Liege Maximo finally returned to Cybertron, as a prisoner of Onyx Prime. Surfeit of Primes When the Council granted Onyx an audience, Elita raged that she'd had her fill of Primes, before the Mistress of Flame silenced her. Another Mine

Power of the Primes marketing material

Vector Prime is her Prime Master of choice, of course.

The Autobot warrior Elita-1 could wield powers of the Primes by linking with Prime Masters. Power of the Primes Elita-1 packaging bio

For a list of powers manifested by Elita-1, see this chart.

Games

The Transformers (PS2)

During the mission on Zel Samine in 2003, Optimus Prime was reminded of Elita One by Arcee's exasperation over Wheeljack and Kup's behaviour. He lamented he hadn't seen her in a long time and wondered what she was doing.

Also, apparently Optimus likes to be scolded by Elita. The Transformers

Transformers Legends

One butt cheek is worth 7000 hit points, apparently.

Long ago, Ariel was an archivist in the Iacon Archives working alongside Orion Pax. They and their dock worker friend Dion encountered a group of time-traveling Aerialbots, following which the Archives fell under attack by Decepticons. Gravely wounded, Pax and Ariel were taken to Alpha Trion by the Aerialbots, and the old bot rebuilt them into Optimus Prime and Elita One respectively. Golden Age

Elita 1 and her team attacked Decepticon bases but were thwarted by Decepticon hunting parties led by Slipstream and Flamewar. Fatal Furies

Following the return of the Aerialbots from a trip to Cybertron, they told Optimus and Elita One about how they'd encountered Orion Pax and Ariel. Golden Age

In response to Flamewar's squad's retaliatory attacks on a number of Autobot bases, Elita dispatched Moonracer and Chromia to deal with the female Decepticons. Fatal Furies: Flamewar's Revenge

Transformers: Earth Wars

After Ratchet had a therapy talk with Seaspray, he told Nurse Elita One to prepare the screens. Seapsray Research

• Class: Special
• Lowest Star Rating: 2 star
• Ability: Death from Above: Fly to your target and strike the ground, dealing damage to nearby enemies and disabling them

Elita-1 at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki

Toys

Timelines

Barbie dream boat!

• Elita-1 [sic] (BotCon attendee figure, 2009)
  • Accessories: Missile launcher, 2 missiles , Earth Cyber Planet Key

A redeco of Cybertron Thunderblast, Elita-1 transforms into a speedboat of undetermined model via shellforming. She has a small, rotating (non-firing) machine gun and a large missile rack on a rotating and elevating base in this mode. Inserting a Cyber Planet Key into the back of the missile rack opens it up to reveal a spring-loaded missile launcher, which uses the torpedoes mounted under her hydrofoils as ammunition. The rack becomes a hand-held weapon for her robot mode. She comes with a pink-bordered Cybertron-style key. Limited to 2000 sets, Elita-1 came bagged with Razorclaw. In contrast to the previous few years' worth of attendee sets, Elita and Razorclaw did not sell out at BotCon, and were available on the Transformers Collectors' Club online store for several months after the convention.

This mold was also used to make Chromia White Version. It also served as the basis of the non-toy Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Scylla.

• More information on Elita-1 at TFU.info

Generations

Ariel-bot

• Elita-1 (Voyager Class, 2018)
  • Japanese ID number: PP-26
  • Japanese release date: 2018-08-26
  • Accessories: Two blasters, 2 Prime Armor/combiner feet, Autobot Enigma

Part of the second wave of Power of the Primes Voyager Class toys, Elita-1 is a retool of Starscream, transforming into a Cybertronian jet. She can also form the torso of "Elita-Infin1te" using any selection of Combiner Wars or Power of the Primes Deluxe Class figures as limbs.

Elita-1 includes Prime Armor that can hold a Prime Master or turn into feet for Elita-Infin1te. Like all the other Voyager Class figures, Elita-1 includes an Enigma of Combination (dubbed the "Autobot Enigma"), based on a Prime Master, which can attach to her via the previously mentioned Prime Armor or the combined mode chest. Stock photos show the Prime Armor being in unpainted peach-colored plastic, but the final toy has it painted in black.

Her stickers include the phrase "Ariel Evolved", a reference to her past history, and the number "700-58", which was the Marvel Productions internal code for her origin episode War Dawn. Other stickers spell her name as "Elita One" (see below).

Some units had her feet swapped in robot mode. While they can be switched by unscrewing, the panels that hold the spring-loaded combiner ports can be dismantled along with it, so care must be taken during disassembly.

Merchandise

MC Axis Kit

So that's how it's spelled!

• Elita One (1996)

This Japanese "garage kit", an unpainted resin model, was made by MC Axis, and was also the first official product made of Elita One. The packaging gave her Tech Spec numbers as well as an official spelling of her name. (The spelling/pronunciation was a point of contention in the early online fandom. See Notes below.) It also included among the paperwork a single-page comic strip starring Elita One and the rest of her squad. It is not known for its exceptional quality control - numerous unsightly air bubbles in the plastic are not an uncommon thing to encounter.

The resin parts need to be washed first to prevent the paint from smearing off.

• Fan review of the Hot Rod and Elita One model kits
• Photos and review of unpainted and unused complete Elita One kit at HeroicDecepticon.com

Diamond Select Transformers

• Elita-One [sic] (2009)

And Optimus thought Elita would be scared by his lack of feet.

Released by Diamond Select Toys in 2009, Elita-One was sculpted by Mark Wong of Art Asylum and limited to 600 pieces. It was exclusive to BigBadToyStore. The sculpt is based upon her cartoon appearance, though some creative liberties have been taken, such as the fact she carries a large rifle that is similar in design to Optimus Prime's instead of the small pistol she was most commonly seen with. The schematic of her altmode on the back of the base of the bust is the first time the vehicle has been seen in full, though it is equally not an accurate depiction of the cartoon version. The bust gives Elita-One a second tech spec, with numbers that drastically differ from the first set of numbers. Her attributes are as follows: Strength 8.5 Intelligence 9.0 Speed 8.0 Endurance 7.0 Rank 9.5 Courage 8.0 Firepower 9.0 Skill 9.0

EX Gōkin

• Elita One (TBA)
  • Accessories: Gun, alternate head, display stand

A non-transforming Elita One action figure produced by Art Storm as part of their EX Gōkin Transformers Series line. It was first revealed at the Japanese 2014 Transformers Expo alongside Arcee but has not been shown again since Wonder Festival 2015, leaving its release uncertain.

Notes

All hell breaks loose!

• Elita One's name is one of the most troubled in all of Transformers history. As it is intended, her name mirrors her male counterpart's in both spelling and root meaning as "Best First". Furthermore, "Elita" is derived from "elite", which comes from the Latin electa, meaning "chosen". So her name also translates as Chosen One. It seems simple enough, but since the debut in 1985, the actual spelling and thus meaning of Elita One's name was the subject of much fandom debate for years to follow. The MC Axis kit was the first product to reveal an official spelling for the name, which was later confirmed by the episode scripts and the production bible to be correct. Despite this, younger canon continues to feature the name in alternative forms, most commonly as either "Elita-One" or "Elita-1", names by which her "namesakes" from other franchises are known. In addition, more contrived varieties such as "Eleta-1" and "Aleta-1" have also occasionally shown up.
• A Cybertronian battle scene in TV Magazine depicts Elita One fighting the Decepticons alongside other pre-Earth Autobots. It was reprinted in Transformers Generations, along with a sketch version that reveals she wasn't originally planned to be included in the scene.
• According to writer David Wise, he did not intend for Ariel to be rebuilt as Elita One when writing "War Dawn". In fact, he did not even know who Elita One was at that time! Ariel was originally supposed to die as a way of adding weight to the episode, her eventual survival being the result of other writers noticing the similarity between her and Elita One.
• Elita One's alternate mode was never depicted in its entirety during the original cartoon. As shown above, only the very front end was seen, the rest hidden by Optimus Prime's truck mode. Her bust by Diamond Select Toys does display the entire vehicle, but it is an appearance the artist created himself, as the model sheets for all of the Female Autobots have yet to resurface.
• In "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4", the dancers shown in the post-Quintesson peace era share Elita's model.

Wouldn't that be a great opening line for Optimus though? "Hey, you look just like the sexy lady silhouette on my mudflaps."

• In the The War Within #4, Elita One's silhouette is depicted on Optimus Prime's mudflap in vehicle mode, similar to the "Trucker Lady" silhouette decal seen on modern vehicles. Optimus Prime also has a bobble-head of her inside his cab. The War Within takes place long before he'd meet her in the Dreamwave continuity, so these images are Easter eggs.
• Elita 1's character artwork in Transformers Legends caused quite a bit of controversy due to its overly sexualized "boobs and butt" pose. A game update changed the art to cover up some of the art's more outrageous aspects.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Elita One (エリータ・ワン Erīta Wan), Ariel (エリアル Eriaru)
• Italian: Elita Uno
• Mandarin: Elita (艾莉塔 Aìlìtǎ), Jīn-yīn Yí-hào (Taiwan Generation 2 cartoon, 精英一號, "Elite One")
• Portuguese: Elita Um (Brazil cartoon)
• Russian: Elita (Элита)
• Ukrainian: Elita Persha (Еліта Перша, "Elita The First")