GoBots

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The name or term "GoBots" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see GoBots (disambiguation).
Note: not actually robots. Also, very occasionally not actually vehicles.

In a dimension beyond the records of even the Transcendent Technomorphs two factions of metallic beings, one friendly and one evil, fight an ancient war on a ravaged technological world. After untold years of battle that war has spilled over onto Earth, where the combatants alter their bodies to take on disguises of land and air vehicles and continue their conflict among us!

Yet these seemingly mechanical beings are not Autobots or Decepticons. They're not even robots, but cyborgs: Guardians and Renegades from the shattered planet Gobotron. They are the GoBots.

Strange as it seems, these beings of metal and flesh may be their universe's counterparts to the Transformers as, according to an edition of Ask Vector Prime in Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II, their home planet Gobotron is the aspect of the omnipresent Primus for their very distant portion of the multiverse.

Fiction

Bandai is very unhappy.

A Cataclysm began to threaten the very existence of the GoBots' universe. Doctor B discovered the source of the Cataclysm. With the devastation reaching a critical stage, the normally antagonistic Guardians and Renegades combined forces with Earth to send a team out into the multiverse to locate the cause and, if possible, reverse the damage.

This team was held up in the city of Axiom Nexus. The GoBots were told that several events in one particular universal stream caused a splintering. One of the newly-created universes was replacing the GoBots' home universe. Eventually, the team arrived at their original destination, Earth of the universe that was destroying their own home.

Soon after, a larger force of GoBots would follow. Withered Hope

Bug Bite decided he'd rather try to get revenge on the universe responsible for the disaster, but it went tits up for him. Games of Deception

The destruction of Primax 207.0 Epsilon allowed the Gargent universe to begin repairing itself. However, many denizens of Gargent 984.08 Alpha had already exodused to other universes. Ask Vector Prime




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Toyline

The Tonka GoBots were the main competition for Hasbro's Transformers in the 1980s. Notably, their launch actually preceded that of the Transformers own, although they ultimately proved not to have the same level of lasting popularity.

Premiering in 1984, Tonka's GoBots toys were mostly small, similar in size to Transformers' Mini Vehicles, although they were generally more complex than similarly-sized Transformers. After the line's initial success, a series of larger Super GoBots toys was also released, featuring both new characters and larger versions of some pre-existing toys. Tonka also released a number of supporting toys such as spaceships, bases, the monster "Zod", and later a set of combining "Power Suits" which GoBots figures could be placed into.

In 1991, Hasbro bought Tonka and its subsidiaries (including Kenner), and at that time acquired all of Tonka's intellectual property, including jurisdiction over GoBots-related names and trademarks. The rights relating to the toys that made up the GoBots line, however, are still owned by Bandai, who had merely licensed them to Tonka for GoBots.

Pre-GoBots

GoBots got its start as a Japanese toyline called Machine Robo, which was created by Takara-competitor Bandai's spinoff company Popy, shortly before Popy was re-absorbed into Bandai proper. Machine Robo toys were initially marketed in the United States under the name Machine Men by Bandai themselves, but the line didn't see widespread success until Tonka adapted the toyline into GoBots and created a new animated series for the brand, as well as an array of supporting merchandise such as coloring books, stickers, and even an official GoBots magazine.

For Transformers fans, this situation is similar to how some Generation 1 Transformer molds were released by Takara in the Diakron toyline before their partnership with Hasbro began.

International

Besides distributing them in the United States as Machine Men, Bandai also sold the Machine Robo toys in other non-Asian countries before their partnership with Tonka began. Bandai appeared to retain the international marketing rights to the series following the change to GoBots, and so adapted their international toylines when the line was rebranded.

In Europe, where the toyline began as Robo Machine, the packaging changed over a period of time to reflect Tonka's developments, eventually touting itself as Challenge of the GoBots: a Robo Machine product. In Australia, however, the toyline began with the Machine Men title, which it evidently retained even after the rebranding in the United States.

Cartoon

This was printed in an issue of the Marvel Transformers comic. Proving the old adage that, if you can't beat 'em — subvert their publications to your own ends!

The cartoon, called Challenge of the GoBots, was produced in the United States by Hanna-Barbera (and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan). It aired in some markets outside the US (such as Australia) with the title Challenge of the Machine Men.

The cartoon focused on the interstellar struggle between the friendly Guardian GoBots, led by Leader-1, and their enemies, the Renegade GoBots, commanded by Cy-Kill.

In addition to the leaders, the main GoBot cast included Turbo (a rough-and-tumble Guardian), Scooter (a cowardly young Guardian), Crasher (a cackling Renegade madwoman), and Cop-Tur (a dumb, thuggish Renegade). The series was rounded out with human allies and enemies, along with various GoBot guest stars and other aliens.

Despite the tagline "Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles" the background material for the cartoon established (most notably in the episode Sentinel and the multi-part GoBotron Saga) that the GoBots are not true robots, but rather alien cyborgs. The GoBots began as a race of alien humans, who, after a great catastrophe, had to put their brains into "GoBot forms" to survive.

Crasher's organic brain, from the episode "Sentinel".

The GoBots appeared in one theatrically released film, Challenge Of The GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, where they met the Rock Lords, voiced by television and movie icons such as Margot Kidder, Roddy McDowall, and Telly Savalas. Rock Lords was a short-lived spinoff toy line Tonka was launching involving alien humanoids that transformed into different sorts of rocks. (Yes, rocks. No, they must not have seen It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.)

In France, both the American GoBots cartoon and the Japanese Machine Robo: The Revenge of Chronos series were aired. The latter was renamed Revenge of the GoBots and was dubbed as a sequel to the American series. The show took place in the future, and the voice actors from the French dub of Challenge of the GoBots returned to voice their roles (or as many equivalents as were applicable) in Revenge of the GoBots.

This makes France the only country to combine the American and Japanese GoBots shows into one story. We salute them.


Influence on the Transformers brand

“ This is a universe of nigh-infinite possibilities, so perhaps... ”

—Unicron reflects on the possibility of GoBots in Transformers, TF Armada #18 (letters page)

Though the Tonka toyline was idle for many years, following Hasbro's acquisition of Tonka, Kenner and the GoBots intellectual property, the GoBots universe has slowly but steadily bled into mainstream Transformers in a wide variety of ways:

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