98 Fun Facts About Transformers

What are the two warring factions in Transformers called?

Autobots and Decepticons have fought since the original cartoon; the 1990s beast-era shows renamed the sides Maximals and Predacons, while the rival GoBots line split its robots into Guardians and Renegades.

What is the name of the Transformers' home planet?

Cybertron is the Transformers' metal home world; Iacon is one of its great cities, and Energon is the fuel its inhabitants run on rather than a place.

Which Autobot medic transforms into an ambulance in the original series?

Ratchet, the Autobots' chief medic, turns into a white ambulance van; his toy shares its Nissan Vanette mold with Ironhide, the red van.

The original Transformers toys were rebranded from which Japanese company's Diaclone line?

Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toys became the first Transformers; Takara merged with Tomy in 2006 to form Takara Tomy, Hasbro's long-standing partner on the line.

Which publisher did Hasbro hire to write the Transformers backstory in 1984?

Marvel Comics got the job: editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wrote the treatment and Bob Budiansky named most of the characters, and Marvel's own Transformers comic ran alongside the cartoon.

Which Macross creator designed the Diaclone truck toy that became Optimus Prime?

Shōji Kawamori designed Diaclone's Battle Convoy, the truck toy that became Optimus Prime, and also created the transforming VF-1 Valkyrie fighter for Macross.

Which Canadian voice actor has played Optimus Prime since the 1984 cartoon?

Peter Cullen, born in Montreal, based Optimus Prime's voice on his older brother Larry, a Marine and Vietnam veteran who told him real heroes do not yell.

Optimus Prime's original truck mode was most likely based on which real vehicle?

A Freightliner FL86 cab-over semi was the model for the original toy; its trailer opened into a combat deck holding the scout drone Roller, and the 2007 film switched him to a Peterbilt.

What did the original Megatron toy transform into?

The toy was a Walther P38 pistol, modelled on the modified U.N.C.L.E. Special from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; in the Micro Change line it was a hero before Hasbro made him the villain.

Why did Hasbro initially object to the name Megatron?

Hasbro worried that Megatron sounded too frightening for a children's toy line; writer Bob Budiansky replied that the lead villain's name was supposed to frighten, and the name stayed.

Which treacherous Decepticon second-in-command constantly schemes to replace Megatron?

Starscream, Megatron's air commander, schemes against him in nearly every episode and finally seizes command in the 1986 movie, only for the newly created Galvatron to destroy him at his coronation.

Megatron's communications officer transforms into what in the original series?

The communications officer's original body is a microcassette deck; the tapes he ejects from his chest, such as Ravage and Laserbeak, transform into a jaguar and a condor.

Grimlock leads which group of Autobots?

Grimlock commands the Dinobots, five Autobots built on Earth with dinosaur forms; he himself turns into a Tyrannosaurus rex and speaks in blunt 'Me Grimlock' sentences.

Which company sold the rival GoBots line from 1983 to 1987?

Hasbro bought Tonka in 1991, and the GoBots universe was later folded into the Transformers multiverse as an alternate reality.

In what year is The Transformers: The Movie (1986) set?

The movie jumps to 2005, twenty years after the cartoon's second season; the third season then picked up directly from the film's ending.

Which legendary actor voiced the planet-eating Unicron in his final film role?

Orson Welles recorded Unicron on October 5, 1985 and died five days later; his weakened voice was reportedly run through a synthesizer to give the planet-eater its rumble.

Which Star Trek actor voiced Galvatron, the rebuilt Megatron, in the 1986 film?

Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek's Spock, voiced Galvatron in 1986 and returned to the franchise 25 years later as the turncoat Sentinel Prime in Dark of the Moon.

Which Autobot catches the Matrix of Leadership and becomes Rodimus Prime in the 1986 movie?

Hot Rod catches the Matrix when it slips from the dying Optimus Prime, who had meant it for Ultra Magnus; in the climax he opens it, destroys Unicron and becomes Rodimus Prime.

Stan Bush's song 'The Touch', a highlight of the 1986 movie, was originally written for which film?

Stan Bush wrote The Touch for Sylvester Stallone's 1986 action film Cobra, which passed on it; the song later resurfaced in Boogie Nights and in the Bumblebee movie.

The 1996 series set among the Maximals and Predacons was the first Transformers show to do what?

Vancouver's Mainframe Entertainment made it, with the good Maximals mostly mammals and birds and the evil Predacons mostly bugs and dinosaurs.

Who directed the 2007 live-action Transformers film?

Spielberg was executive producer; Bay took a 30 percent pay cut to keep the shoot in Los Angeles with his usual crew.

Which actor plays Sam Witwicky, the teenager whose first car turns out to be Bumblebee?

Shia LaBeouf played Sam Witwicky in the first three live-action films; his Bumblebee is a Chevrolet Camaro, a deliberate break from the character's classic Volkswagen Beetle look.

In the 2007 film, what is the lost artifact both sides are hunting for on Earth?

The AllSpark, the cube that gives Transformers life, was hidden inside the Hoover Dam by the secret agency Sector 7, next to a frozen Megatron.

Which 2009 sequel won the Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture yet out-grossed the original?

Revenge of the Fallen took the 2009 Razzie for Worst Picture yet grossed about $836 million worldwide; its finale at Giza has the Constructicons merge into Devastator to uncover a Star Harvester.

Which city hosts the climactic battle in Transformers: Dark of the Moon?

Chicago hosts the final battle, its downtown turned into an occupied war zone; Gary, Indiana stood in for Chernobyl, and the plot ties the crashed Ark on the Moon to the Apollo 11 landing.

Roughly how much did Dark of the Moon gross worldwide, a franchise first at the time?

Dark of the Moon grossed about $1.12 billion worldwide, the first Transformers film past the billion mark; Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replaced Megan Fox as Sam's girlfriend.

Who took over as the human lead, inventor Cade Yeager, in the fourth live-action film?

Mark Wahlberg took over as Texas inventor Cade Yeager in the fourth film and stayed for the fifth; its climax has Optimus riding Grimlock into battle in Hong Kong.

Transformers: The Last Knight opens in AD 484 with which wizard seeking Transformers' help?

Merlin, played by Stanley Tucci, is a drunken fraud whose magic comes from a staff lent by a Transformer; the film also reveals Earth to be the dormant Unicron, drained via Stonehenge.

In which year is the Bumblebee (2018) film set?

Bumblebee is set in 1987, with a soundtrack of period hits; Hailee Steinfeld's Charlie finds him as a battered yellow Volkswagen Beetle in a scrapyard, a nod to his Generation 1 look.

Which stop-motion studio veteran, director of Kubo and the Two Strings, directed Bumblebee?

Travis Knight, head of the stop-motion studio Laika and director of Kubo and the Two Strings, made Bumblebee, the first film in the series to earn generally positive reviews.

What is Bumblebee's designation before Charlie gives him his name?

B-127 is the scout's designation in the film; he loses his voice box fighting Blitzwing in the opening act, and Charlie later gives him the name Bumblebee.

Which New York borough is home to Noah Diaz in Rise of the Beasts?

Rise of the Beasts is set in 1994 and follows Brooklyn ex-soldier Noah Diaz and museum intern Elena Wallace before the action moves to Peru.

Which car does Noah Diaz try to steal in Rise of the Beasts, only to find it is the Autobot Mirage?

Mirage, voiced by Pete Davidson, hides as a silver-and-blue Porsche 911 of the 964 generation, and Noah is trying to steal it for a chop-shop job when it drives itself away.

Which two actors voice the young Optimus Prime and Megatron in Transformers One (2024)?

Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax, the future Optimus Prime, and Brian Tyree Henry voices D-16, the future Megatron; both begin as cogless miners beneath Iacon.

Which former Pixar director made Transformers One?

Josh Cooley, who directed Toy Story 4 at Pixar, made Transformers One; the origin story was well reviewed but grossed only about $129 million worldwide.

In Transformers One, what is the robots' home planet itself formed from?

The planet is the body of the deity Primus, whose core lies at its heart; writer Simon Furman introduced the idea in the British Transformers comic in the late 1980s.

Which comic-book cosmic villain inspired the characterisation of the planet-eating Unicron?

Galactus, the world-devouring giant of the Fantastic Four comics, was the model for Unicron; illustrator Floro Dery designed the planet-eater's look for the 1986 film.

Which Japanese studio did the main animating work on the first two seasons of the 1984 cartoon?

Toei Animation did the bulk of the animation for the first two seasons; Sunbow produced the show for first-run syndication, and the Korean studio AKOM took on more of the work later.

What was the very first live-action Transformers film's approximate worldwide gross?

The 2007 film grossed about $710 million worldwide on a budget of roughly $150 million, making it the year's fifth-highest-grossing release.

Which Transformers film was the highest-grossing movie of 2014 worldwide?

Age of Extinction grossed about $1.1 billion, the only 2014 release to cross the billion mark, despite scathing reviews.

Which fan-favourite Transformer, left out of the 2007 film, topped a USA Today poll for the sequel?

Soundwave topped the USA Today poll; he appeared in the 2009 sequel as a satellite in orbit and came down to Earth as a Mercedes SLS in Dark of the Moon.

Which country made cel-animated series to fill gaps between Beast Wars seasons?

Japan made Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo in traditional cel animation because the 13-episode second season was too short for a Japanese broadcast run.

Which female Autobot did the UK comic explain was built to counter human accusations of sexism?

Arcee was built, in the British comic's story Prime's Rib!, specifically to answer human accusations of sexism, after the comic had earlier said Transformers had no concept of gender.

Which Weird Al Yankovic song plays during the Junkion scenes of the 1986 movie?

Dare to Be Stupid, Weird Al's Devo-style parody, scores the Junkion sequence; the soundtrack mixed it with hair-metal tracks and Vince DiCola's synthesizer score.

Which coldly logical Decepticon transforms into a laser pistol in the original series?

Shockwave, the coldly logical lieutenant left behind to guard the home world, transforms into a purple laser pistol; his toy came from Toyco's Astro Magnum rather than the Diaclone line.

Season three of the original cartoon revealed which alien race had used Cybertron as a factory?

The Quintessons, five-faced alien judges, had built the robots as products; the consumer-goods line rebelled to become the heroes' faction and the military line became the villains'.

Which Beast Wars Maximal transforms into a gorilla?

Optimus Primal, the Maximal commander, takes the form of a gorilla after the crash on prehistoric Earth; the crew adopt organic beast modes to survive the planet's raw Energon.

In Dreamwave's The War Within comics, Optimus Prime was originally a clerk with what name?

Optronix, a data clerk, is chosen as Prime and renamed Optimus in Dreamwave's 2002 series The War Within; the publisher collapsed soon after, leaving several storylines unfinished.

Transformers: Animated (2008) is set in a futuristic version of which US city?

Detroit, rebuilt as a robotics capital around Sumdac Systems, is the setting; the Autobots act as local superheroes against mostly human villains until Megatron resurfaces.

Who voiced Megatron in the first three live-action Transformers films?

Hugo Weaving recorded Megatron's lines for the first three films in a few studio hours without ever meeting the director; Frank Welker, the cartoon's Megatron, voiced him in The Last Knight.

Which Autobot became the first to die in the live-action films, torn in half by Megatron?

Jazz, the cartoon's music-loving Porsche, became a Pontiac Solstice voiced by Darius McCrary in the 2007 film, where Megatron tears him in two during the Mission City battle.

Which wrestler-turned-actor plays Sector 7 agent Jack Burns in Bumblebee?

John Cena, a WWE star before acting, plays Agent Jack Burns, the Sector 7 soldier hunting Bumblebee who finally lets him and Charlie go in the last act.

In the original cartoon's third season, Bumblebee is rebuilt and takes what new name?

Bumblebee is rebuilt as Goldbug in the two-part 'The Return of Optimus Prime' after being badly damaged; Dan Gilvezan, his voice throughout the series, kept the role.

Which comics writer coined the name "Optimus Prime" before being replaced on the project?

Dennis O'Neil, best known for Batman, was the first writer assigned to the project and named Optimus Prime; Jim Shooter disliked the rest of his work and handed the job to Bob Budiansky.

Which Winnie the Pooh character did Optimus Prime's longtime voice actor also voice?

Eeyore, the gloomy donkey, was his from 1988's The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh through the 2000s; the same actor supplied KARR in Knight Rider and the Predator's clicks.

Megatron's original voice actor has played which Scooby-Doo character since 1969?

Frank Welker has around 850 credits, took over Scooby himself in 2002, and his films have grossed more than $17 billion combined.

Transformers: Prime (2010–13) originally aired on which US network?

The Hub, co-owned by Hasbro and Discovery, launched in October 2010 and premiered Transformers: Prime that November with the five-part 'Darkness Rising'; the channel later became Discovery Family.

Transformers: Prime's Autobots hide in a missile silo near which fictional Nevada town?

Jasper, Nevada is the fictional town; the Autobots' base is a former missile silo nearby, and their human allies Jack, Miko and Raf attend the local high school.

Rescue Bots' island of Griffin Rock lies off the coast of which US state?

Griffin Rock is a fictional island off Maine; there Heatwave, Boulder, Blades and Chase are partnered with the Burns family of first responders, and the show quietly teaches hazard safety.

How many episodes did the original 1984–87 Transformers cartoon run for?

The original cartoon ran for 98 episodes: 16 in season one, 49 in season two, 30 in season three and a three-episode fourth season.

Which 2015 series was the first to make Bumblebee, not Optimus Prime, the lead character?

Robots in Disguise (2015) sent Bumblebee to Earth to recapture the escaped inmates of the crashed prison ship Alchemor; Cartoon Network aired it until 2017.

In Transformers: Armada, both factions fight over which race of small power-up robots?

Mini-Cons are small robots that boost any Transformer they link with; their ship crashed into the Moon and scattered the rest across Earth in stasis panels that both factions race to collect.

In Beast Wars, what artifact guides the Predacon Megatron's hunt for energon?

He also stole a ship called the Darksyde, and the Maximals pursued him aboard the Axalon until both crashed on prehistoric Earth.

In the 1999 Beast Wars sequel, what mindless drones rule a depopulated Cybertron?

Vehicons, mindless vehicle-mode drones under Megatron's control, police the emptied planet in the 1999 sequel, whose story was plotted as one serialized arc from the outset.

Prime's third-season subtitle was first the working title of which 1999 Maximal series?

Beast Machines, the 1999 sequel, carried the working title Beast Hunters before the switch; Hasbro reused Beast Hunters as the subtitle of Prime's third season in 2013.

Japan skipped which three-part 1987 US finale, making its own Headmasters series instead?

The Rebirth, the three-part US finale, was never aired there; the Headmasters series made instead has small Transformers become the heads of giant Transtector bodies, not Nebulan humans.

Who returned in Fall of Cybertron to voice Grimlock for the first time in 25 years?

Gregg Berger, Grimlock's voice in the original cartoon, reprised him in the 2012 game, where Grimlock's Tyrannosaurus mode is unlocked late in the campaign.

Which Decepticon disguises himself as a police car in the 2007 film?

Barricade poses as a Saleen-modified Ford Mustang police cruiser whose door reads 'To punish and enslave', a twist on the LAPD's 'To protect and to serve'.

With Hoover Dam, which building let the 2007 film's crew in for the first time since 9/11?

The Pentagon admitted the crew, the first film shoot allowed there since the September 11 attacks; the Hoover Dam meanwhile stands in for Sector 7's secret vault in the film.

In Revenge of the Fallen, the elderly Seeker Jetfire disguises himself as which aircraft?

Jetfire hides as the SR-71 Blackbird displayed at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center; a former Decepticon who switched sides, he teleports the heroes to Egypt to find the Matrix of Leadership.

Which Candyman actor voiced the ancient Prime Megatronus in the 2009 sequel?

Tony Todd, Candyman himself, voiced the ancient Prime Megatronus in the 2009 sequel; he later joined Transformers: Prime as Dreadwing, out to avenge his twin brother Skyquake.

The Petra shoot for Revenge of the Fallen was aided by which country's sci-fi-fan king?

King Abdullah II of Jordan, a Star Trek fan who once appeared as an extra in Voyager, opened Petra to the crew after the secretive Giza shoot arranged with antiquities chief Zahi Hawass.

Which band's "New Divide" served as the main theme of Revenge of the Fallen?

Linkin Park wrote New Divide for the film after What I've Done served the 2007 original; the single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.

Which Apollo 11 astronaut appears as himself meeting Optimus Prime in Dark of the Moon?

Buzz Aldrin appears as himself, telling Optimus what Apollo 11 really found; the plot reimagines the Moon landing as a cover for inspecting the crashed ship, the Ark.

Megan Fox lost her Dark of the Moon role after comparing its director to whom?

Fox told Wonderland magazine in 2009 that working for the director was like working for Adolf Hitler; he said Spielberg ordered her firing, which Spielberg denied.

In Dark of the Moon, Optimus's traitorous mentor disguises himself as what vehicle?

Sentinel Prime hides as a red-and-black Rosenbauer Panther fire truck, an airport crash tender; his betrayal hands Megatron the space-bridge pillars.

In Age of Extinction, Optimus trades a rusty Marmon for a truck from which maker?

Optimus scans a new Western Star 5700 XE, keeping his flame decals, after Cade Yeager finds him hiding in Texas as a rusty Marmon cab-over.

What is the name of the rogue CIA unit hunting Transformers in Age of Extinction?

Cemetery Wind is run by Kelsey Grammer's Harold Attinger, who works with the alien bounty hunter Lockdown; Lockdown wants Optimus Prime for his mysterious Creators.

Which Downton Abbey actor voiced the sociopathic butler-bot Cogman in The Last Knight?

Jim Carter, Downton Abbey's butler Mr Carson, voiced Cogman, the diminutive, violence-prone butler-bot who serves Anthony Hopkins's Sir Edmund Burton.

Which Churchill-linked stately home was draped in Nazi flags for The Last Knight?

Blenheim Palace, Churchill's birthplace in Oxfordshire, was dressed with swastika banners for a Second World War flashback, which drew complaints from veterans' groups.

Which pair voiced the triple-changing Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick in Bumblebee?

Angela Bassett voiced Shatter, a red Plymouth Satellite that also becomes a Harrier jet, and Justin Theroux voiced Dropkick, a blue AMC Javelin and Bell AH-1 attack helicopter.

Which single did Hailee Steinfeld release from the Bumblebee soundtrack?

Back to Life was Steinfeld's single for the film, released in December 2018 and played over the closing credits, alongside a soundtrack of 1980s hits.

Which character does Scarlett Johansson voice in Transformers One?

Elita-1, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, is a mining-crew supervisor demoted to waste management after Orion Pax's stunt; she joins him, D-16 and Bee on the journey to the surface.

Which veteran actor voices Alpha Trion in Transformers One?

Laurence Fishburne voices Alpha Trion, the last surviving Prime, found in a cave beside the remains of the other Primes, who exposes Sentinel as a fraud.

Which Euphoria actor voiced the planet-eating Unicron in Rise of the Beasts?

Colman Domingo, Euphoria's Ali, voiced Unicron, here the master of Scourge; the planet-eater's first proper live-action appearance came after The Last Knight teased him as Earth's core.

Which Game of Thrones star voices the trophy-hunting Terrorcon leader Scourge?

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones' Tyrion Lannister, voiced Scourge, who turns into a black Peterbilt 359 truck and seemingly kills Bumblebee in the film's first act.

Michelle Yeoh voices which falcon-formed Maximal in Rise of the Beasts?

Airazor, the peregrine-falcon Maximal, is Michelle Yeoh's character; corrupted by Scourge, she attacks Elena and is reluctantly killed by the Maximal leader at her own request.

Rise of the Beasts ends with Noah recruited into which other Hasbro franchise's unit?

Noah is recruited by an agent who hands him a card reading G.I. Joe, setting up a crossover; the 1982 G.I. Joe relaunch was Hasbro's other big action-figure line of the era.

In Cyberverse, which telepathic Autobot helps an amnesiac Bumblebee recover his memories?

Windblade, a telepath who can read a bot's memory banks, leads Bumblebee back through his memories episode by episode; the pair later find Grimlock on Earth.

In EarthSpark, the new breed of Earth-born Transformers are called what?

Terrans are the Earth-born Transformers, starting with the twins Thrash and Twitch; they bond with the Malto kids through cyber-sleeves in the Pennsylvania town of Witwicky.

In Angry Birds Transformers, what are the villainous pig characters called?

Deceptihogs are the pig villains and Autobirds the heroes in Rovio's 2014 run-and-gun game, which IDW adapted as the comic Age of Eggstinction.

Monty Python's Eric Idle voiced which leader of the Junkions in the 1986 film?

Wreck-Gar, leader of the Junkions on the scrapyard planet Junkion, speaks entirely in television catchphrases and advertising slogans; Eric Idle voiced him in the 1986 film.

After the 1986 movie, Galvatron's Decepticons are exiled on which ruined world?

Chaar, a burnt-out world of ash, is where Galvatron's defeated troops regroup in season three; in 'Five Faces of Darkness' they scrabble for energon before Galvatron retakes command.

In the 1984 pilot, how long had the crashed Autobots and Decepticons lain dormant?

The Ark had crashed into a volcano 4 million years earlier; a 1984 eruption woke the ship's computer Teletraan I, which rebuilt both crews with Earth vehicle modes.

Hasbro representatives first encountered the future Transformers toys at which 1983 event?

At the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show Hasbro staff saw the Diaclone and Micro Change lines; the truck that became Optimus Prime was then sold as Battle Convoy, with a tiny human pilot Hasbro dropped.

Which ceremony gave Optimus Prime a Lifetime Achievement honour in March 2023?

The Kids' Choice Awards gave Optimus Prime a Lifetime Achievement honour at the March 2023 ceremony in Los Angeles, a promotional tie-in ahead of that June's Rise of the Beasts.

Which female Autobot combiner, born of the Enigma of Combination, stars in Combiner Wars?

Victorion, a female combiner formed through the Enigma of Combination, is the heroine of Machinima's 2016 Combiner Wars web series, which ran in short episodes on go90.

In Transformers lore, which god created Unicron and split him into twins with Primus?

The One, the supreme being of the comics' mythos, created Unicron and split off Primus as his twin; Primus later imprisoned both of them inside metal planets.