Transformers (toyline)
Transformers is the name of a toy line produced by Hasbro from 1984 onwards, and also of a number of spin-offs based on the toys including a Marvel Comics series, an animated television series that began airing on 1984 and a feature-length movie, . The original series was followed by a number of spin-offs with varying levels of popularity.A Transformer is a large humanoid robot (although not all are humanoid and not all are huge) that is able to reconfigure itself into the form of a more common and innocuous machine, such as a car or an airplane. The taglines "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Robots in Disguise" reflected this ability for disguise.
Transformers originally featured two main factions warring for control of their home planet, Cybertron. The heroic Autobots were led by Optimus Prime, and their opponents the Decepticons were led by Megatron.
Floro Dery was responsible for the look and feel of the Transformers cartoon series and was the visual creator of the Transformers: The Movie. He interpreted the toy box art and created the models that would become the visual guidelines both for the comics book and the animated cartoon.
See also Beast Wars.
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2 The Autobots 3 The Decepticons 4 Others 5 External links |
Transformers TV series
US
Japan
See Transformers Series for more detailed information on the series, including the comic book adventures.
The Autobots are the protagonists and are lead by Optimus Prime. Their ship crashed on the planet Earth and now they must stay here until they can repair the ship. They must also defend Earth from the Decepticons.
The Decepticons are led by the cunning and mighty Megatron, who is obsessed to a fault with power and domination. Their role in the original television series begins four million years ago on the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron. Ravaged from the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Cybertron was almost completely drained of its energy resources. Neither side had enough energy reserves to continue the battle, which led to a stalemate. The Autobots, with their leader Optimus Prime, leave their home planet to seek new sources of energy. The Decepticons pursue them and board the Autobot starship (called the Ark in the comic). During the ensuing fight they crash-land into a volcano on prehistoric Earth. Awakened in 1984 when the volcano erupts, the Decepticons are repaired by the ship's computer and flee, leaving the still-deactivated Autobots behind. Megatron soon discovers that Earth has nearly limitless energy resources. Hoping to tip the war's balance in favor of the Decepticons, Megatron plans to transfer Earth's energy to Cybertron even if it means ruining the Earth in the process.
Unfortunately, the Decepticons made a fatal mistake by leaving the Autobots behind. Just after the Decepticons were awakened, the Autobots were still deactivated and among them on the Ark. In a twist of fate, the Decepticons failed to terminate them when they had the chance. Upon fleeing, the Decepticons blasted the rocks around the ship to seal the entrance. The jolt moves an Autobot into the Ark's repair beam. The remaining Autobots are subsequently revived and rise up to become the protectors of life on Earth and the Decepticons' nemesis.
Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons. His arch-nemesis is Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. Megatron is often in conflict with the Autobots and tries to destroy them. In the cartoon, when he is defeated he often says, "Decepticons, retreat!"
He was reformated into Galvatron by Unicron in Transformers: The Movie.
The Autobots
The Decepticons
Megatron
Others
External links