Transformers: 3010

[Knightfall]

I've been thinking about writing some Transformers fan fiction for some time now. However, I likely won't set it in any of the standard Transformers Universes. Instead, I have this idea that I'll advance the Generation 1 timeline so that ten generations of Cybertronians have come and gone.

But this makes me wonder... how long does a Transformer usually live? Are they considered immortal by human standards? If not, how long would be one Transformer generation?

I'm looking for insights from die hard G1 fans. I know a great deal about it but I'm no expert. For example...

G2 seems to take place in the same universe as G1, and I know that Beast Wars (and Beast Machines) existed long before G1. But what about the other Transformers incarnations?

Any help would be appreciated,

Knightfall

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

The Generation 1 cartoon makes several references to Optimus Prime being millions of years old (at least 9 million, in fact, though 4 million of that was spent in stasis lock).

Megatron is at least that old in G1, and actually a bit older. The episode arc I'm referring to is the season 2 episode where the Aerialbots are sent back in time and meet Orion Pax, a simple warehouse worker-bot. Orion's facility is attacked by Megatron and Orion is injured and then rebuilt by Alpha Trion, becoming Optimus Prime.

Beast Wars involves time travel and thus takes place in two seperate eras. The characters' native time is about 300 years after the end of the G1 cartoon. They then travel back in time, though the exact era they go back to is a bit uncertain. The early humans they encounter are still in a relatively early stage of evolution, so a few hundred thousand years. The autobots and decepticons from G1 are all still in stasis lock aboard the autobot ship when the Beast Wars characters find them.

My knowledge of the comic books lore is quite a bit less...um...encyclopedic, so I can't speak to that version.

 

[Umbran]

I'm looking for insights from die hard G1 fans. I know a great deal about it but I'm no expert. For example...

G2 seems to take place in the same universe as G1, and I know that Beast Wars (and Beast Machines) existed long before G1. But what about the other Transformers incarnations?

The various continuities are not well-connected or thought out. You can make yourself crazy trying to make the canon into a simple, consistent continuous whole. The generations are more a marketing issue than anything else.

Individually, transformers are for most purposes immortal - as noted above, Optimus Prime's been around for millions of years.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

The various seperate universes that I know of are listed below (I'm sure there's quite a few things I'm missing, but this is just a general overview).

Original

Generation 1
Generation 2
Beast Wars
Beast Machines

Robots in Disguise

Robots in Disguise

Unicron Trilogy

Armada
Energon
Cybertron

Movies

Transformers
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Animated

Transformers: Animated

Prime

Transformers: Prime

Comic Books

The various comic book incarnations essentially create seperate universes based on who the publisher is. The publishers include Marvel, Devil's Due, and IDW. In the comic books, there have also been numerous crossovers, mainly with G.I. Joe, but also with the Marvel Universe (New Avengers).

Crossovers

A short series of comics produced for BotCon for the Transformers: Universe line establish that line of toys as a crossover between the various continuities with Unicron being the catalyst, pulling transformers from various eras and universes together for his own purposes.

Binaltech/Alternators

The Japanese versions of the Alternators toys included a linked set of stories establishing the line in the G1 era between Season 2 of the original cartoon and Transformers: The Movie. However, it splits the timeline due to the time travel shenanigans of Ravage from the Beast Wars era.

 

[Knightfall]

Damn it! My post got deleted while I was editing it!

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

One thing the Generation 2 comic book (short lived as it was) did rather well was show how some of the lesser known characters dealt with having to step up and take the lead because no one else was available.

Looks like you are excising the Beast Wars and Beast Machines aspects of the continuity, which is fine, though you may want to explain why in whatever sort of foreword or introduction you put at the beginning of your work.

Some note on your character list, assuming you are following the cartoon G1 continuity.

Prowl was destroyed in Transformers: The Movie during the Decepticons surprise attack on the Autobot shuttle headed to Earth near the beginning of the movie.

Arcee became a headmaster with Daniel Witwicky (Spike's son) as her partner. By 3010 Daniel would be dead, of course, so Arcee should probably have a new partner and/or be reformatted to not need a partner.

Blurr became a targetmaster, with a Nebulan as his partner. He'd also need a new partner.

Kickback and Thundercracker were severely damaged during the battle at Autobot City and jettisoned by Starscream during the trip back to Cybertron. Later, they were reconfigured and rebuilt, along with Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Skywarp, into Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. There's a bit of controversy regarding which characters became Cyclonus and Scourge.

 

[Knightfall]

One thing the Generation 2 comic book (short lived as it was) did rather well was show how some of the lesser known characters dealt with having to step up and take the lead because no one else was available..

I've only read a bit about Gen 2, so I'm not sure how much of that I want to use. The G2 comic book series sounds interesting... I might try to find copies. Was it ever compiled into trades?

Looks like you are excising the Beast Wars and Beast Machines aspects of the continuity, which is fine, though you may want to explain why in whatever sort of foreword or introduction you put at the beginning of your work..

I haven't decided yet.

Some note on your character list, assuming you are following the cartoon G1 continuity.

Prowl was destroyed in Transformers: The Movie during the Decepticons surprise attack on the Autobot shuttle headed to Earth near the beginning of the movie.

Arcee became a headmaster with Daniel Witwicky (Spike's son) as her partner. By 3010 Daniel would be dead, of course, so Arcee should probably have a new partner and/or be reformatted to not need a partner.

Blurr became a targetmaster, with a Nebulan as his partner. He'd also need a new partner.

Kickback and Thundercracker were severely damaged during the battle at Autobot City and jettisoned by Starscream during the trip back to Cybertron. Later, they were reconfigured and rebuilt, along with Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Skywarp, into Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. There's a bit of controversy regarding which characters became Cyclonus and Scourge.

I'm not sure if I'm going to use more of the comic book continuity or the TV/movie continuity. It might be more of a hybrid continuity.

I like Prowl, so I might keep him alive.

What I do know is that the Transformer/humanoid hybrids won't be a major factor for TF3010. (I likely won't use Pretenders either.) If they still exist, they will be outlaws/outcasts.

The authorities of the humanoid societies consider them threats to be feared or tools to be exploited. The Autobots are tolerant of "masters" but the Decepticons hunt them ruthlesly, considering them weak-willed abominations.

Hmm, I need to find a list of "dead" Transformers.

 

[Knightfall]

Autobots

___________ (leader?)
Arcee
Blaster
Blurr
Cosmos
Chromia
Elita-1 (maybe)
Firestar
Gnaw
Goldbug
Grimlock
Jetfire
Kup
Moonracer
Perceptor
Prowl
Scamper (was part of Metroplex)
Steeljaw
Strafe
Tomahawk
Wheelie

Subgroups
Monsterbots
Wreckers (see below)

 

[Knightfall]

Decepticons

Sixshot (leader)
Astrotrain
Axor
Brimstone
Crankstart
Doubledealer
Duststorm
Hailstorm
Octane
Onslaught
Ravage
Rotorstorm (ex-Autobot)
Reflector
Runabout
Runamuck
Scourge (maybe)
Sideways
Soundwave
Vortex

Subgroups
Firecons
Seekers (see below)

 

[Knightfall]

Other Allegiances

Cybertronians
- Liege Maximo (leader)
- Bludgeon
- Bomb-Burst
- Finback
- Iguanus
- Jhiaxus (missing, presumed dead)
- Rook
- Skullgrin
- Stormtroopers (type of soldier)

Junkions
- Wreck-Gar (leader)
- Detritus (renagade)
- Junkyard
- Nancy
- Rubbish

Lithones
- Kranix (now lives on Earth)

Maximals [Techno-Organic]
- Silverbolt (leader)
- Apache
- Cheetor
- Chainclaw
- Depth Charge
- Longrack
- Rattrap

Predacons [Techno-Organic]
- Razorclaw (leader)
- Fangry
- Hun-Gurrr
- Rampage
- Scorponok
- Tarantulas
- Wildfly

Quintessons
- Bailiffs (many)
- Executioners (few)
- Judges (very few)
- Humanoids (making a comeback)
- Scientists (one or two)
- Security Officers (unknown)
- Sharkticons (too many)

Seekers
- Skyquake (leader)
- Dirge
- Jetblade
- Ramjet
- Slipstream
- Sunstorm
- Talon
- Terradive
- Thrust

Ultracons
- Ratbat (leader)
- Barrage
- Chop Shop
- Magnificus
- Quake
- Ransack
- Scavenger
- Venom

Vehicons
- Obsidian (leader)
- Blastcharge
- Drones (sparkless)
- Mindset
- Mirage (not the Autobot of the same name)
- Quake
- Spy Streak
- Strika
- Wind Sheer

Wreckers
- Springer (leader)
- Broadside
- Devcon
- Roadbuster
- Sandstorm
- Topspin
- Twin Twist
- Whirl