Titan Magazines movie timeline
Back in the 1980s, an American Transformers comic and a UK one were able to simultaneously co-exist, the latter weaving around the continuity of the former to create a larger, richer tapestry that essentially remained one singular universe. In the 21st century, Titan sought to continue this dream with their movie-based Transformers comic, but after managing only a few issues that wove themselves around what IDW Publishing was doing with their own titles, lack of room to manoeuvre and a general absence of knowledge about what would be coming next for the movie universe made it apparent that in the long-term, this was an unworkable goal.
To compensate for this hurdle, Titan took a surprising approach: for the remainder of its first volume, the comic would be set in an alternate universe, one where Megatron had won the battle of Mission City, claimed the AllSpark, and dominated the Earth. This freed up the creators to do whatever they wished with the movie characters, and allowed them to incorporate other toy-only characters without fear of disrupting the continuity.
The alternate universe story was brought to a close so that the comic could be rebooted for a second volume, which would tie in with the imminent Revenge of the Fallen. Now realizing the impossibility of a successful interwoven story with IDW's material, Titan essentially said "Sod it," and produced their own prequel to the film, centering on Skids and Mudflap. The original material continued after this story, with new stories set after the second film that firmly established themselves as separate timeline from the "American" one.
The timelines of both these takes on the movie universe are featured in this article. The divergences only settle in in 2007, following the events of the Transformers movie, so that is where each timeline begins; for a full coverage of the history of the movie universe prior to this point, see the "mainstream" movie timeline.
Main timeline
Pre-21st century
Primus was the first Cybertronian and he begat the Dynasty of Primes, who ruled Cybertron and protected the AllSpark thousands of years ago. (The later Primes, for their part, didn't believe Primus had spawned them) But at a time when seven Primes ruled, one of their number, Megatronus Prime, betrayed the other six in his lust to harvest Earth's sun! He imprisoned them (except when he killed them), but they sacrificed themselves to keep the Creation Matrix from him and imprison him on one of Saturn's moons. Sentinel Prime profile Jetfire Profile The Fallen Profile
A Prime on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime, ruled the Autobots after this betrayal and would continue to do so throughout the pre-war period. He named Optimus his successor when he left for deep space, but his Ark was damaged and presumed dead by Decepticon fire. Megatron bestrode the planet, obsessed with using the power of the AllSpark; at some point, he'd made contact with the Fallen and released him from his prison (thanks Megs). Ratchet, Optimus' chief liason to the High Council of Ancients, tried to negotiate a peace and was lucky to survive. Transformers: The Movie Guide Optimus studied the entire history of intergalactic warfare from any datatrack he could find, ensuring he could match Megatron with high strategic knowledge. [1]
Numerous battles raged across Cybertron. Arcee, an attempted 'freelancer', would be captured by Decepticon agents and was rescued by Kup. Ironhide, among his other duties, would train up Autobot recruits with on-the-job experience.
Resolving to keep the power of the captive AllSpark out of Megatron's hands, Optimus Prime decided to launch it into deep space... only too late having a vision that this would bring the war to other planets. Prequel: Optimus Prime Observing the AllSpark as it takes off, Megatron immediately pursues it into space, but is delayed by an Autobot tractor beam before he can stop it from plunging into the Alkaris Anomaly. In response, he has the overzealous Devastator detonates a foldspace warhead that warps himself, Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz to the four corners of the universe.Prequel: Megatron
Ratchet helps quell an alien civil war, Lost in Space 1 Devastator defeats psychic apparitions of his worst fears, Lost in Space 2 Ironhide encounters digital "ghosts" on a derelict ship with some kind of ancient connection to the AllSpark Lost in Space 3 and Jazz is nearly overwhelmed by the lure of a planet of pure information Lost in Space 4 before they are able to return to Cybertron.
A piece of Ark lands in Fiesole, Italy, in 1962. An English priest buried it in the local cathedral, fearing a religious backlash if the object (which he believed supernatural) was known about. Fight for Fiesole
2007
In the minutes that follow Megatron's death at the conclusion of the battle of Mission City, Starscream immediately sets about cementing his position as new Decepticon leader by destroying the lingering AllSpark Mutations and harvesting the animating AllSpark energies from their bodies. Using these energy fragments, Starscream reanimates the bodies of Barricade, Blackout and Brawl as zombies and sends them to attack the Autobots. They initially prove unstoppable, but when Ratchet deduces that they are being animated by AllSpark energy, the Autobots are able to target the cube's energy signature and take them out. Starscream escapes. Starscream's Milita
Later, continuing the Decepticon clean-up operation, Ironhide is teamed with a squad of Army Rangers to hunt down Scorponok, still hiding in the Qatari desert. Ambushed by the arachnoid Decepticon, Ironhide's motor functions are overriden by Scorponok and he is forced to attack his allies until they can shoot Scorponok off him, allowing Ironhide to finish him off. Scorpion Sting
2007 to 2009
Starscream comes under the command of The Fallen, and returns to the dead Cybertron to assemble an army that will scour Earth for the Matrix of Leadership. Training Day Soundwave, meanwhile, establishes a staging base on Phobos, a moon of Mars, from which the army shall carry out its attack on Earth. The pair apparently get the notion to take the power of the Matrix for themselves, cutting the Fallen out of the deal. Back-to-Back
In response to the message Optimus Prime sent into space, Arcee and Sideswipe arrive on Earth and join up with the new joint Transformer-human organization being established on the planet, NEST. New TricksReversal of Fortune The Autobot Twins Skids and Mudflap also receive the message, but blow it off, electing to remain on the deserted Cybertron where they can have fun. Their minds are changed for them when they stumble across Starscream and his army and overhear talk of the star harvester, and they decided to head for Earth to pass the information along. Training Day Starscream's troops fail to prevent their escape to Earth, so The Fallen has Soundwave call upon one of his Seekers, Ransack, to intercept them and prevent them from making contact with the other Earthbound Autobots. Bumblebee saves the Twins from Ransack. Dogfight! The Twins refuse to give their intel to anyone other than Optimus Prime, but he is away on an extended mission in Australia with Arcee, hunting the Decepticon Sideways.
Reversal of Fortune The other Autobots are not convinced by the Twins' claims, prompting the two young 'bots to defy orders and tag along on a NEST mission to Las Vegas in order to prove themselves. Unfortunately, their interference allows Grindor to escape with the memory core of a deactivated Seeker. Learning Curve Ravage is dispatched by Soundwave to learn what the Twins have done with their information. The ferrous feline knocks out their training instructor Sideswipe to get to them, but the Twins are able to use a training simulator to take him down. Unfortunately, Ravage escapes, and Sideswipe believes that the Twins were responsible for everything, causing the Autobots to further distrust them. New Tricks
The Twins' reputation steadily worsens when Optimus and Arcee return with the captive Sideways, and their bumbling accidentally allows him to escape. Believing their actions deliberate, the Autobots take them into custody and prepare to exile them from the planet. Reversal of Fortune Having observed the Twins' series of unfortunate events, Soundwave exploits it for his own ends by sending Wheelie in to "rescue" the pair from the Autobots. Now on the run from their own faction, the Twins are approached by Soundwave, who offers them a place in the Decepticon ranks. Outlaw Blues They pretend to accept in hopes of gaining more concrete proof of the villains' plans, unaware that Soundwave intends to use them as bait to flush out Ransack, who knows the location of the Matrix but is refusing to answer to anyone other than The Fallen directly. Turnabout They succeed in bringing Ransack to the Decepticon's Phobos base, but as Soundwave and Starscream attempt to force the information from him, the Twins make their play, allowing Ransack to escape, threatening to tell the Fallen of Soundwave and Starscream's conspiracy (he is quite likely murdered before he can talk). The Decepticon army from Cybertron arrives and Skids and Mudflap fear they are done for... until Optimus Prime and the Autobots arrive to save them, convinced of their good intentions at last. Welcomed into the ranks of NEST, the Twins decide to keep that "Fallen" stuff to themselves. Back-to-Back
2009 to 2010
Following the defeat of The Fallen in Egypt, the Decepticon faction is once again left in disarray despite the resurrection of Megatron, with many warriors carrying out their own agendas. More and more Autobots continue to arrive on Earth, and although they are put through their paces by NEST and veteran combat officer Springer, Rules of Engagement a lot of them remain reckless and impetuous: not least of all Jolt, who blacks out all of Las Vegas apprehending Bludgeon. Culture Shock But the fractured Decepticons are not all the Autobots have to worry about: human enemies also spring up in the form of groups like the Free Men militia, Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime and although Megatron himself remains behind the scenes, he begins experimenting on the protoforms from the Nemesis, creating the monstrous Dead End. Spare Parts!
2010
Concurrently with the World Cup final in Bloenfontein, South Africa, Bludgeon stages an escape from NEST's local holding facility with the aid of the smuggled-in Scalpel. The numerous Decepticons that he frees fall into line behind him as a splinter faction of Decepticons under his command. Inside Out! Bludgeon's Decepticons recover the remains of Devastator and attempt to rebuild him in the mountains of British Columbia, but the plan is foiled when it is inadvertently discovered by the Autobot Stratosphere. Head in the Clouds Decepticons like Reverb prove dissatisfied with Bludgeon's leadership, prompting the attempted recruitment of those Autobots with more violent tendencies, such as Blazemaster, to thankfully no success. Turn and Burn The numerous acts of destruction Bludgeon's forces are able to carry out turns public opinion against the Autobots, prompting the formation of a new stealth unit headed by Bumblebee, operating below NEST's radar.
This convinces Bludgeon to declare full-scale war. Shadow War
As all of this goes on, Soundwave and Starscream are left to investigate Earth's mysteries on their own. Soundwave stumbles into the Bermuda Triangle, Making Waves while Starscream tries looking for anything in the Amazon rainforest, and winds up being worshipped by a native tribe. The Kingdom of Starscream
At Christmas, Sam Witwicky allows Bumblebee to secretly observe the festivities at the family home. Dead End attacks during the night, but Bumblebee defeats him, leaving the Witwicky parents none the wiser. The Nightmare Bee-4 Christmas
2011
The Autobots deduce the location of Bludgeon's primary command hub in Russia, but their stealthy approach is blown when Wheelie, angered that the Autobots have yet to fully accept him into their ranks, returns to his old Decepticon ways and reveals their position to Bludgeon. As the Autobots and Bludgeon clash, Wheelie then contacts Megatron himself, calling him down upon the battle so that he can put his house in order by defeating all those who would oppose him. Divided Loyalties Wheelie's dreams are realized as Megatron lays Bludgeon low and reconsolidates the Decepticons under his command, but the scrap done doesn't live long enough to enjoy it, as the marauding Dead End rips him apart for spare parts. A Short, Sharp Lesson!
An archaeologist in Italy discovers a fragment of some alien artifact and calls in NEST. The Autobots are unaware of what it is but the Decepticons know: it's a fragment of Sentinel Prime's Ark and could lead the Autobots to him, a prospect that terrifies Starscream and Soundwave. Starscream makes a single-handed attack on Fiesole Cathedral, almost dying in a (successful) attempt to steal the fragment. Fight for Fiesole
Alternate timeline
2007
The Battle of Mission City results in Decepticon victory; Sam Witwicky is killed, Megatron gains the AllSpark, and Optimus Prime is taken prisoner, kept in cryo-stasis in Sector Seven's old base at Hoover Dam. North America is conquered, resulting in the death of the President of the United States. Megatron develops a control module that allows him to directly manipulate the AllSpark's energies without fear of harm, and sets about using those energies to transform Earth into a new Cybertron. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Mikaela Banes and Tom Banachek go underground as rebels. Russia works alongside NATO, trying to prevent the Decepticons from expanding their borders. Twilight's Last Gleaming Parts 1-5
2008
By the start of the year, NATO's efforts to contain the Decepticons have met with failure, and Paris, France is bombed in retaliation. As the powers of the world contemplate resorting to a nuclear solution, the Autobots stage a desperate rebel action, with help from a team of Autobot reinforcements led by Arcee who arrive from space. Bumblebee and Mikaela penetrate Hoover Dam to rescue Optimus Prime and recover a nano-virus designed by Sector Seven to block the AllSpark's energy. Megatron himself arrives to stop them, but while Bumblebee and the reinforcements keep him busy, Mikaela is able to free Prime from cyro-stasis and locate the virus. Prime takes over the fight, giving Bumblebee the chance to infect Megatron's system with the virus. His control over the AllSpark broken, Megatron's body is torn apart by its energies and he is apparently destroyed. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Parts 1-5 Unbeknownst to any present, however, he actually uploads his consciousness into the AllSpark interface module, which Starscream unwittingly recovers and integrates into his own systems. The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself
Concurrently with Bumblebee and Mikaela's mission, Ironhide and Ratchet target the Savannah, Georgia facility that houses the AllSpark. They overcome resistance from Bonecrusher to successfully destroy the facility and the AllSpark with it, leaving only scattered fragments. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Parts 1-5 Unfortunately, this does not stop the AllSpark infection, which continues to damage the Earth. Worse still, the Decepticons, now under Starscream's command, begin waging scorched earth tactics to prevent the liberated America from recovering, while simultaneously using cerebro-strips to covertly control key human begins, including the new President, Theodore Allen. Aftermath, Parts 1-2 In the midst of this chaos, Ratchet uses an AllSpark fragment to resurrect Jazz, but the AllSpark's energies prove to have been corrupted through extended contact with Megatron, and Jazz returns to life as an amoral double-dealer who abandons the Autobots for a mercenary career. Dark Spark
Increasing numbers of Autobots arrive on Earth and join the effort to suppress the worsening AllSpark-born devastation of the planet. Believing an untapped fuel from Cybertron known as Nucleon may hold the answer, Optimus Prime sends a team of Autobots back to their home planet, where they discover that a small rebel cell of Decepticons led by Stockade has already started using Nucleon as their own power source. Stockade's Decepticons have made contact with a mysterious entity from deep space that can allegedly restore the dying Cybertron to life, but when it arrives, it possesses the planet, revealing itself to be Unicron. The planet-eater teleports Cybertron into the Solar System with the intent of consuming Earth, but Optimus Prime and Stockade's teams join forces, draining off the nucleon for use on Earth, and leaving Unicron with no power source, reducing him to a dead husk. Unfortunately, while the Autobots' attentions have been focused on Unicron, the Decepticons have exploited the opportunity to expand their operations, allowing them to create the Decepticon Heartland and to make Mikaela their latest mind-controlled pawn. Return to Cybertron, Parts 1-4
2009
Almost immediately upon the Autobots' return to Earth, Optimus Prime is targeted for assassination by Jazz, hired for the job by Starscream. When a rival assassin named Kullt tries to steal the kill, Jazz takes him down instead, but refuses Prime's offer to rejoin the Autobots. Hard Target Presumaly, the nucleon is used to heal the AllSpark corruption soon after. That done, the Autobots stage a rescue mission, disabling the cerebro-strip controlling Mikaela with a jamming frequency and recovering her from the Decepticon Heartland. With this failure, Starscream realizes that his actions have all along been controlled by Megatron, whose consciousness has been dwelling within his own mind he absorbed the AllSpark interface module. The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself
The Decepticons stage a series of lightning strikes around the United States in order to force the government to the bargaining table with the promise of peace in return for the Autobots being exile from the planet. Pressured into compliance, the Autobots depart, only for Starscream to have them shot out of the sky by a nuclear missile that he instructs President Allen to order the firing of. In actuality, with the aid of Tom Banachek, the Autobots have merely staged their demise in order to return to Cybertron, where they strike a deal with Stockade's group. While Stockade's team heads to Earth and defend it against the Decepticons, who have reneged on their deal and set out of re-conquer America,
the Autobots study the systems of the inert Unicron. Revolution, Parts 1-3
Two weeks later, Starscream uses an AllSpark fragment and the interface module to restore Megatron to life in his own body so that he can put down Stockade's rebellion, but no sooner has he returned than Prime and the Autobots make their move, using Unicron's teleportation systems to send all the Decepticons to Cybertron, then teleport the planet itself to the far reaches of the galaxy, with no hope of return. The Decepticons are left exiles on an dead world, while the Autobots themselves are happily "stranded" on Earth, victorious at last. [2] Revolution, Parts 3
Other chronologies
- Movie timeline—The chronology of the "mainstream" live-action movie universe, incorporating comics, novels and more.
- Sector Seven ARG timeline—Detailing the history of the "alternate reality" that presents Transformers as real beings, and the fiction associated with them a cover story propagated by Sector Seven. Also includes material from Titan's letters pages, which take the same approach.
