Mini-Con
Mini-Cons are a race of small Transformers capable of powerlinking with a larger Transformer and to impart extra abilities or greatly increase their strength.
Beast Era
Ramulus mentions the existence of Mini-Cons.
Unicron Trilogy
Animated Continuity
Unicron created Mini-cons using human souls and sent them to Cybertron as an agitating element to cause civil war. Initially presented as 'smart tools,' Mini-cons eventually 'woke up' and achieved their own consciousness (the result of contact with time-traveling humans.) When Unicron attacked Cybertron int he present, the Mini-cons appear to have undergone a mass evolution, unlocking vast power which they sued to combat Unicron. Following the Chaos-Bringer's defeat, most Mini-cons moved to floating cities off-world. Those that remained (usually Autobot allies) no longer exhibited the ability to boost Transformer strength so greatly.
Dreamwave Comic Continuity
Mini-Cons are a 3rd race of Transformer, mostly living in designated sectors to to themselves, which left the open to attack when Megatron led his Decepticons on capture raids. Mini-Cons are capable of adding their power (disproportionate to their size) to a Transformer with whom they powerlink. Mini-Cons are also capable of tapping an extradimensional energy source of unknown origin, but are wary of doing this, and most have inhibitors installed to prevent this from happening.
Over-Run, a Mini-Con refugee from another dimension led Cybertron's collected Mini-Cons in tapping that dimension's energies and channeling them into an attack on Unicron which left him stranded on the far fringes of space. After Unicron's defeat, Most Mini-Cons re-established their villages in the Mini-con sector. When Unicron appeared again 10 years later, no one went to fetch the Mini-cons to kick his giant metal butt again, so it seems likely the Mini-Cons connection to their extradimensional power source was severed.
There is no indication that Mini-Cons are related to Unicron in Dreamwave continuity.
