The Ark is the name given to the Autobot spaceship that, in most versions of the Generation 1 story, originally carried Optimus Prime and Megatron's troops to Earth.
The Ark is a Vanguard-class Deep Space Interceptor.
It has 5 Decks and houses a full crew compliment of 300 Transformers. (Although it can be flown by only a handful if necessary.) Its environment is fully-automated and self-sufficiant. For engines it features 4 Hyperfuel Intake Accellerators
It is armed with 16 particle-combustion canons (port), 16 laser emitters (starboard), a primary starfield missile launcher, and an Overshock sonic battery.
The Ark's launch in the first episode of Transformers, 'More than Meets the Eye Part 1', first aired in 1984.
The Autobot ship in the G1 cartoon is never actually named. Fans have generally called it The Ark however, borrowing the name from its Comic counterpart.
The Cartoon version of the ship tends to have a more rounded ovoid look to it and is a goldish-yellow color. It has a main computer designated Teletraan I.
Other Vanguard-class ships, pretty much identical to the Ark, are seen taking refugees from Cybertron on a history tape in Desertion of the Dinobots. It is suspected that the settlers of known Autobot colonies such as Junkion were among these.
The Ark was launched to search for fuel but ran afoul of two colliding asteroids. Then the Decepticons attacked and boarded it. Out of control, the Ark crashed to Earth, smashing into a volcano in what would eventually become a desert. The exact location is unknown, but closely resembled the American southwest. There it rested until a volcanic erruption four million years later reactivated it and its inhabitants. From that point (1984 AD) on the Ark served as the Autobots' base of operations until the construction of Autobot City sometime before 2005 AD.
The Ark's crew consisted of all the 1984 Autobots. A vehicle resembling Grapple's alt-mode and called Hauler is also seen shortly after the Autobots revived on Earth and may represent another crew member. (It is speculated by some fans that a number of the 1985 Autobots may have been aboard the Ark as well, as they suffer the effects of Cybertronium depletion at the exact same time as those that left the planet aboard her. It is possible they were crew members of the ship as well but were not recovered or repaired until later on in the show.)
In 2006 (2010 in the Japanese version), the Ark and Teletraan I are destroyed by Trypticon, much to the chagrin of the minibots who were assigned to protect it.
Marvel Comics continuity
The Ark as it first appeared in the Marvel Comics...
The comic version of the ship tends to have a more squared-off look to it and is frequently (though not always) shown as being a metalic silver. It has a main computer designated Auntie.
In the comic the Ark was refered to as "the last of the Great Arks" suggesting that, as in the Toon, there had been previous Vanguard-class ships. It is also refered to as the most powerful starship in Cybertron history and control of it was considered a huge tactical advantage.
It was launched to clear a path for the wandering planet Cybertron through an asteroid feild. When this was done and her reserves depleated the Decepticons attacked and boarded her. Hoping to end the threat of Megatron forever Optimus Prime PURPOSELY crashed the ship into the passing planet Earth. The Ark crashed into Mt. Saint Hillary, a volcano located a small distance outside of what would one day become Portland, Oregon.
...and as it came to be fairly consistantly portrayed as the Comics progressed.
After the crash some of the Ark's systems still functioned and when they detected the Decepticon Shockwave making planetfall the ship revived 5 of her Autobot crew and rebuilt them into the Dinobots. Upon the disapperence of these warriors in their attempt to destroy Shockwave the Ark shut iself down.
Four million years later, Mt. St. Hillary errupted jarring the ship back to life. It revived and, unable to distinguish Autobot from Decepticon or to detect organic life (clearly it had suffered additional malfunctions since creating the Dinobots) it revived both sides to transform into the machines it percieved as the planet's dominant lifeforms.
The Ark became the Autobot's main base of operations on Earth until, during Grimlock's first term as Autobot leader, he had the ship repaired and returned to space. The Ark hung around near Earth space for a time, until it was abandoned in orbit when Primus teleported all nearby Transformers back to Cybertron to face Unicron. It was recovered by the Dinobots and flown to Cybertron to engage Unicron. Grimlock, being the master of tactics that he is, physically rammed Unicron with the powerfully armed starship which was then abandoned and crashed on Cybertron. It was recovered this time by Shockwave and Starscream who repaired it and took it to Earth to conquer that planet with it. This plan was foiled by Galvatron, Megatron and Ratchet crashing the party. Their battle caused the ship to crash to Earth again, into the Canadian wilderness. This time it was recovered and repaired by Megatron who attempted to take it back to Cybertron and conquere THAT planet with it. This was foiled by Fortress Maximus and Spike Witwicky who sacrificed their lives to cause an anti-matter explosion that finally destroyed the great ship.
The Ark's original crew in the Comics consisted of the 1984 Autobots, plus the Dinobots, the recorded mental engrams of a number of the 1985 Autobot cars, and Toaster.
Beast Wars Continuity
The Ark via flashback in "Agenda, Part 3."
The Ark seen in Beast Wars was based visually on the Ark from the Generation 1 cartoon, however it was officially named "The Ark," retroactively confirming the designation fans had long given it. It is revealed that the Ark was built using "die-cast" construction, a lost art by the Beast Wars era.
The Ark first entered into the Beast Wars cartoon in The Agenda three-parter. Megatron had originaly come to prehistoric Earth following instructions recorded by Megatron (G1) on the Golden Disk from the Voyager Space probe. His original plan was to destroy the deactivated Autobots aboard her and change the outcome of The Great War.
Dreamwave Comic continuity
There is some question as to The Ark's appearence in the Dreamwave continuity, as it is never shown in totality in an actual comic story. Pictures are seen in the final issue of their More Than Meets The Eye guide and there it is drawn to look mostly like the Cartoon model ( though oddly missing the rear "spoiler"). However the DK Transformers Ultimate Guide, whose main focus was Dreamwave Continuity gives a cutaway diagram of the Ark drawn in the Marvel Comic style instead, only colored yellow-gold as in the Cartoon.
6.2 million meta-cycles ago the first legendary vessel to be designated as the Ark was lauched from Cybertron. It's mission was to plot a safe pasage from the Cybertronian Quadrant of the galazy through the Benzuli Expanse. Twenty-thousand astro-cycles out it dissapeared with all hands lost. Over the eras following its loss rumor, myth and legend spun up around the ship obscuring the few existing facts surrounding its fate.
(This Ark appears in the flashbacks to look a bit like a merging of the older Cartoon and Marvel Comic designs.)
In the modern era the Autobots utilize numerous ships designated Ark each distinguished by a number following the title.
In the present day the fate of the first Ark is one of the big mysteries that Nightbeat likes to dig into in his free time. He gets a lead on possible remains of the ship, but it turns out to be a trap intended specifically to draw him in. On Gorlam Prime he finds wreckage of the correct type and age to come from the ship and far beneath the surface a vast interdimensional portal. Before he can dig into the mystery even more he is overtaken by a strange group of Transformers who capture him and mess with his head, eventually erasing his memory of being there at all.
Back on his ship, with no memory of what has passed, he recieves a message from Optimus Prime, to rendezvous with his ship the Ark-32 on route to Earth.
Toys
Titanium Series
Wooosh.
Autobot Shuttle Ark (3-inch Robot Masters)
The first ever tangible representation of the Ark was a die-cast Titanium figurine at the 3-inch scale. The very forward section was based on the Ark's appearance in the original cartoon, but attached to it is an approximation of the back 2/3s of another space ship, the "Electronic Star Bird" created and sold by Milton Bradley in 1978. [1] Odder yet, the technical information on the back refers to the Tiny.Marvel Comic Ark's destruction at the hands of Fortress Maximus, and that Ark, as seen above, does not resemble either the cartoon Ark or this toy at all.
The very forward portion of the Titanium is removeable, allowing for a more accurate toy. (Ironically, the most iconic portion of the Ark, the rear engines which were often seen protruding from its rocky resting point on Earth, are not present due to placement of the attachment point.)
