Relatives

Throughout the Transformers multiverse are many Transformers who consider themselves family and refer to each other as such. The most common case is when two Transformers regard each other as siblings.
Given that Transformers are not organic life and likely do not reproduce sexually, the origin, distinction, and exact meaning of many of these terms is frequently unclear.
Possible explanations
The Dreamwave More Than Meets The Eye guide provides a partial possible answer. According to the guide, when a spark naturally splits as it's being introduced to a protoform, it creates two robots who are "brothers", such as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. When such a spark division is artificially induced, the less balanced and self-reliant pair created are referred to as "clones". (This definition of "brother" may or may not apply to RID Prime and Magnus, whose brotherhood was said to result from the special circumstance of having been created simultaneously by Alpha Trion).
However, the "Beast Era" widened the issue of reproduction with Rattrap referring to his "great-aunt" Arcee and in general the practice of Maximals and Predacons referring to the Autobots and Decepticons as their respective "ancestors", as well as themselves as being their "descendants", implying a direct genetic (for want of a better term) lineage. Various sources of debatable canonicity suggest that Optimus Primal is specifically descended from Optimus Prime, usually through the phrase "his ancestor Optimus Prime." In the absence of sexual reproduction, the use and meaning of these genealogical references is difficult to explain. One possible explanation might be a situation such as when Airazor is brought to life. Her spark and protoform are heavily damaged, and Cheetor allows some of his parts to be used as replacements while Rhinox guides the procedure. The Spark To compare to humans, this is something like assisting with childbirth and donating blood or organs. It seems unlikely that this happened enough to cause two large societies to consider themselves "descendants" of two other, ancient large societies.
Other family designations exist as well. Wheelie has "parents" who were lost in his crash on Quintessa, according to some background material. The Mini-Con Twirl very specifically calls Falcia her "mother" (which Falcia hates) and seems to treat Redline like a father, since the two's spark frame energies went into constructing her physical form. Linkage Part 7 In the Armada cartoon, Side Swipe refers to Hot Shot as his brother after Hot Shot saves his life, suggesting at least an understanding of the concept; on the other hand, the Armada cartoon is originally Japanese, and in Japan, 'brother' and 'sister' can be used as terms of affection or respect to an unrelated person. The Unicron Trilogy universe has also used the term "cousin" for certain Transformers on occasion. The Victory manga from the Japanese Generation 1 era features Decepticon wives and children. Even the live-action movie features an Optimus and Megatron who are brothers, and it is mentioned in the related Nintendo DS game that Megatron "took the spark" of their father.
IDW has Ratchet mentioning that his "batch proto-initiator told me there'd be moments like this...", when he was wondering if he should take the humans and investigate the bunker in Nebraska. Infiltration issue 3
Notable siblings
Generation 1 / Beast Era
- Sideswipe and Sunstreaker
- Fastlane and Cloudraker
- Frenzy and Rumble
- Topspin and Twin Twist
- Blaster, Karmen and Toaster in Marvel UK continuity<ref>Letters Page to Marvel UK 310 at Transfans.net</ref>
- Blaster and Bluster in IDW continuity
- Pounce and Wingspan
- Hot Foot and Piranha<ref name="G2annual">Crossword clues in the Official Transformers Generation 2 Annual</ref>
- Electro and Volt<ref name="G2annual"/>
- Gearhead and Greasepit
- Roulette, Shadow Striker and an unnamed third sister
- Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus in Dreamwave continuity
- Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker in IDW continuity<ref>Mentioned by Megatron in "All Hail Megatron" #3</ref>
- Japanese continuity
- Sideswipe and Red Alert in Japanese toy bios
- Decibel and Legout
- Shōki and Yukikaze
- Fortress Maximus and Grand Maximus
- Leozack and Lyzack in the Victory manga
- Sixliner and Sixtrain
- Clamp Down and Deep Cover
- BWII Galvatron and Megastorm
- DJ, Motorarm and Gimlet
Car Robots / Robots in Disguise
- Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus
- X-Brawn, Prowl and Side Burn — the Autobot Brothers
- Gas Skunk, Dark Scream and Slapper (Only in Japanese toy catalogs)
Unicron Trilogy
- Inferno and Rodimus (Toy bio only)
- Jetfire and Overcast
- Landmine and Landquake
- Shockblast and Six Shot
- Superion Maximus and his brother
- Signal Flare and Offshoot
- Hardtop and Swindle
- Undermine and Repugnus
Live-action film series
- Optimus Prime and Megatron
- Arcee, Chromia and Flareup
Twins
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Transformers Animated
Shattered Glass
Parents and children

- Alpha Trion is ("more than almost like a") father to Optimus Prime and Elita One in the cartoon continuity.
- Additionally, Optimus Prime may have a mother.<ref>In an advertisement for Pepsi Convoy that shows him in a refrigerator (along with Destron Pizza), a note attached to a nearby piece of tupperware reads:

- Dear Convoy
- Warm it before you eat
- Mom
- Although the ad itself is for Pepsi Convoy, he is a separate character, and it can be assumed that the note was left for Convoy/Optimus Prime himself.</ref>
- Wheelie's parents are mentioned in "The Story of Wheelie, the Wild Boy of Quintesson".
- Grimlock is father to the Technobots in the cartoon continuity.<ref>Nosecone: "Are...are you my father?"</ref>
- Quickswitch is Sixshot's son. <ref>Quickswitch's commercial</ref>
- Lio Junior is the "son" of Lio Convoy.<ref>Lio Junior was created by the influence of pure energy upon Lio Convoy’s Energon Matrix.</ref>
- Stampy's parents are mentioned.
- Cohrada's father is mentioned.
- Longrack's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-...well, a LOT of his ancestors are mentioned.<ref>Most of the main Maximals in the Beast Wars Neo manga have families because they spring from whole races of rabbits, cobras, giraffes, etc. They were evolved into Transformers from actual organic animals in this story.</ref>
- Sideways has a mother.<ref>Sideways calls out his mother when he's about to be blasted in "City".</ref>
- Jetfire alleges that he has a mother and a father.
Cousins
Shattered Glass
Beast Era
Unicron Trilogy
- Skywarp and Starscream
- Swindle and Zapmaster
- Bulkhead and Quickstrike
- Overhaul and Brushguard
Other relatives
- Rattrap calls Arcee his "great-aunt".<ref>Rattrap said "What in the name of my great-aunt Arcee is going on!?" This is an in-joke referring to Susan Blu, who was not only voice director on Beast Wars, but the voice of Arcee in the Generation 1 cartoon series and Transmutate in the Beast Wars cartoon. Transmutate</ref>
- Artfire and Fire Convoy are relatives.
- Rampage and his descendant.<ref name="pred_dofp">See "Items of note" in Dawn of Future's Past</ref>
- Tantrum and his descendant.<ref name="pred_dofp" />
- Headstrong and his descendant.<ref name="pred_dofp" />
See also
Footnote
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