The Transformers Profile

Main Characters:

Autobots
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Jazz
Ironhide
Sunstreaker
Hound
Ratchet
Wheeljack
Grimlock

Decepticons
Megatron
Starscream
Soundwave
Ravage
Frenzy
Laserbeak
Shockwave

Location:

Cybertron (Homeworld)
Earth (Current)

First Appearance:

In Television Series: More Than Meets The Eye Part One (1984) In Comic Books: Transformers #1 (1984)

Created By:

Hasbro and Takara Toy Companies

Powers:

The Transformers are giant sentient robots. They do not breath, drink, or eat conventional food, but must recharge themselves with an energy known as energon. In its purest form, energon is highly unstable and explosive, but once it goes through certain processing techniques, it becomes a liquid form, allowing the Transformers to drink it. This is not only to recharge them, but it is also used to give them a high, not unlike alcohol.

Being giant robots, the Transformers are able to withstand massive amounts of damage and can theoretically live forever if they do not sustain damage. They are even able to survive in the vacuum of space.

The Transformers also have many weapons. These are energy based weapons similar to laser beams that they use to shoot at their targets. The energy seems to have an explosive nature upon contact. There have been times when certain Transformers, such as the Autobot leader Optimus Prime and the Decepticon leader Megatron have used energon to create close combat weapons such as axes, maces, or flails. These are highly devastating and can rend limbs from their robotic opponents.

Probably the most notable of their powers is their ability to change. They can “transform” themselves into one or sometimes two different variations such as Optimus’ ability to transform into a semi truck, or Megatron’s ability to transform into a laser cannon. They have at times, through various means been able to change what they are able to change into, such as Megatron becoming the triple changing Galvatron, or when the Autobot Hotrod was transformed by the energy of the Matrix into Rodimus Prime. This has sparked their taglines, “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” and “Transformers: Robots In Disguise.”

Team Affiliations:

The Transformers are broken into two teams, The evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots.

Currently Seen In:

Transformers Movie Adaptation, Transformers: Escalation, Transformers: Evolution

Interesting Fact:

The Transformers started out as a revamp of some of the toy lines from Japanese toy company Takara. Much of the storyline, characters, and personalities of the Transformers were created by Marvel editor Jim Shooter and writer Denny O’Neil. Two movies have been made on the franchise. The first movie was in 1986 and the latest in 2007. Both movies and the entire television series have seen Optimus voiced by the same actor, Peter Cullen.

Origin:

It should be noted that the Transformers history has become very convoluted over the years with the many different incarnations of cartoon series, comic books, and movies. What follows is a basic overall origin that is mostly from the original series of comics and cartoons.

Millions of years ago, a planet known as Cybertron housed workers and soldiers. The planet was a factory which created robots to serve and robots to fight. At one point in time, the workers rebelled against the oppressive soldier robots. The soldiers eventually became what we know as the Decepticons and the workers became the Autobots. The battle ravaged the planet and when their precious energy known as energon began to run out, the Autobots decided to leave Cybertron and seek out alternative sources of power.

The Autobots departed in a spaceship known as the “Ark” with the Decepticons following behind in their ship know as “Nemesis.” During a subsequent battle, both ships were forced to land on primitive Earth, where they laid dormant for four million years.

They awoke in present day time, finding that Earth had the energy source called energon. Their fight became a battle that raged all over the earth and brought in the forces of the world and sometimes Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man and Nick Fury into the fray.

The two forces opposed each other at every turn but the Autobots banded together with the earth’s forces to work to stop the Decepticons from destroying Earth and its inhabitants.

The current comic book storyline from IDW Publishing has rebooted continuity as well, having the Autobots and Decepticons fleeing a destroyed Cybertron and coming to Earth, which was seeded with energon by the Decepticon Shockwave. The Autobots and Decepticons use their transforming abilities to occupy Earth unnoticed, until the time is needed.