Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)
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Transformers: War for Cybertron was launched in mid-2010 as the first franchise in the Aligned continuity family. Set in the ancient days of the Cybertronian war, its scope ranges from the onset of war until the Dark Energon contamination of Cybertron that drove the Transformers into deep space.
Franchise elements
Hasbro has published a timeline online summarizing many events from the above.[1]
Toys
Although not labeled with the War for Cybertron brand, Hasbro produced a handful of toys based directly on designs from the video games. They were released in the Generations line, the first wave timed within days of the games and novel[2] and their on-package bios being basically in sync with that fiction:
- Cybertronian Bumblebee
- Cybertronian Optimus Prime
- Cybertronian Megatron
- Cybertronian Soundwave
- Cliffjumper (retool/redeco of Cybertronian Bumblebee)
They later appeared in TakaraTomy's United line as well, however they represented their Generation 1 counterparts.
UK online game store Shopto.net offered an exclusive War for Cybertron Starscream figure if you pre-ordered the game. The figure is a new deco of the Legends class Legends of Cybertron Starscream figure. .
Apocrypha
The author of the Exodus novel shared his unofficial short story "Bumblebee at Tyger Pax" online.
Continuity
While all elements of War for Cybertron fiction are based on the Aligned production bible, the creators of the various media products diverged from each other in many details. The events of the video games overlap with much of Exodus, and the results mesh poorly. However, Hasbro has consistently described as a single continuity not just the games and novel, but the Prime fiction as well.[3] This brings up issues such as the fact that Bumblebee and Soundwave are very Generation 1-inspired in War for Cybertron and can speak words, but they're portrayed in the Prime cartoon as quasi-mute. Cartoon Bumblebee in particular is very much like his live-action movie incarnation, speaking in electronic beeps and squawks. The aforementioned "Bumblebee at Tyger Pax" story attempts to explain this change, but the retcon occurs before the game events, so the contradiction remains.
When asked about the contradictions, Hasbro VP of Intellectual Property Development Aaron Archer replied, "reasons for the confusion will be revealed".[4] In at least one small case, Hasbro has taken a stab at reconciliation, declaring Optimus Prime's predecessor in the games, "Zeta Prime", and the one in the novel, "Sentinel Prime", to be the same individual, "Sentinel Zeta Prime".
