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ckret2 · 26 days ago

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Lately I've been thinking about getting into transformers, but I don't know where to start. So I wanted to ask you, a professional fan, what should I watch and what is better to avoid, if it's no trouble for you, thanks :)

okay this is a tricky one because Transformers is over 40 years old, every few years they reboot the series as a fresh new AU continuity, sometimes they have several continuities running at the same time, and sometimes 3-4 series in a row are actually the same continuity, and sometimes they give different continuities the same name.

Before going in, you've gotta know a little bit of lore: the Autobots led by Optimus Prime are the good guys, the Decepticons led by Megatron are the bad guys, they're fighting for control of their home planet Cybertron (and possibly the galaxy), and the series usually starts with the Bots & Cons bringing their war to Earth. there that's the lore

So, here's several potential starting points and why:

Transformers One (2024)(movie)

this is the only one worthy of being above the read more.

one of the newest pieces of transformers media and one of the goddamn best transformers stories we've ever gotten. It's a backstory to the aforementioned war; it's a FANTASTIC introduction to several of the most important characters, tropes, places, and plot lines in the franchise; it's purely focused on the robots (which can be a frustrating element with some other series—they ease you into the TFs' world through the eyes of human characters, which is frustrating when you just wanna get to the bots); and beyond all that, it's just an extremely good movie. the character arcs are gripping, and devastating. it's great for new fans and even better for long-time fans who recognize all the background characters. this is the kind of transformers movie TF fans have been wishing for for DECADES.

The only things I can say against it are that because it shows off much of the best of the series, it doesn't prepare you for the worst of the series (and how much time you have to watch humans in most other TF works lmao); and it's focused on a small cast of 2 main characters, 2 sidekicks, and 1 villain, when a majority of TF works are more of an ensemble cast.

But that said, start here if you can.

Transformers Animated (2007)

if you're asking me for advice, it's probably because you're following me because i write fanfic about 2000s/2010s kids' cartoons. If you like plot-heavy 2000s/2010s kids' cartoons with strongly-written characters, an ongoing plot, and good cartoony art, try Animated. it's not my personal fave but i'm in the minority there lol and it's a strong entry point into the series and lore.

It's an oddity in that the series starts post-war with the Autobots having won, the Decepticons in exile and plotting retaliation, and Optimus being a low-ranked officer rather than the leader. Transformers has its ~*formula*~ that it's attached to, but some of the more interesting series deviate from it.

Beast Wars (1996)

this one comes with several caveats: it's a cgi cartoon from the 90s so you've gotta be cool with some oooold-ass cgi; it's actually a sequel series (to the original 1984 cartoon); and it's about robots turning into animals instead of turning into vehicles. HOWEVER—to this day, Beast Wars still has THE best writing of any Transformers cartoon.

Being a sequel to the '84 cartoon, it also starts post-war with uneasy peace between the factions; the Maximals and Predacons are the descendants of the Autobots and the Decepticons, and the show focuses on a tiny crew of Predacons trying to restart the war and a tiny crew of Maximals trying to stop them.

Transformers Generation 1 (1984)

G1, the original series. it's still a fun watch, but like... it doesn't exactly have the depth and sophistication of a mid-2010s lore-heavy cartoon masterpiece, yknow? it's a cartoon from the 1980s—one of THE first cartoons produced in the wake of a change in laws that allowed toy companies to create shows based on their toys. if you've ever watched the 80s series of he-man, g.i. joe, scooby doo, tmnt, care bears, mlp, jem & the holograms—that's the kind of quality level you can expect, both in animation and in writing. so not bad—but there ain't any multi-episode plot arcs about coping with grief or whatever like more modern shows might do (or, heck... like even beast wars did). and occasionally you've gotta cringe your way past some racism that'd never fly in a modern series.

but, it's got one of the biggest casts of any transformers series, which offers a lot of fun you don't get out of "four good guys and five bad guys" TF series. It introduced a LOT of the basic concepts and worldbuilding ideas that most future series are in conversation with, whether that means adopting them without question (ex: sure, transformers only eat one food and it's almost all used up) or exploring & subverting them (ex: how can one faction be ALL good guys and the other faction be ALL bad guys?) A lot of the concepts from G1 have also been adopted & adapted directly into popular fanon ever since, even for works set in unrelated series, and they're so embedded in the fandom culture that a lot of people don't even know which series they're from.

If you're used to old cartoons, G1 is a good starting point. If you're not used to old cartoons, I'd start with a newer continuity—but G1 is one you wanna get around to eventually. If nothing else, watch the '86 movie once you have a little tf experience under your belt.

Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers (2010)(comic)

In the late 2000s, Transformers as a whole started to make a swing toward more complexity & nuance in how it depicted Autobots & Decepticons, and in my opinion that was spearheaded by TF Animated (depicting some corruption worming into the Autobot ranks) and the 2005 IDW comics line (which added in the idea that the Decepticons might have been founded for a sympathetic, just cause). This movement fully took the reins of the franchise in 2010, with the cartoon Transformers Prime and the comic Last Stand of the Wreckers, and it's been running the show ever since. For the most part I think it's been a positive move in TF's storytelling.

A warning: the comics have always had more leeway than the cartoons, and LSotW takes full advantage of that. It's gory, it's a grim war story, it's a horror story, and it's one hell of a downer ending. Do not—I cannot emphasize this enough—do NOT get attached to any of these characters. The don't all die... but that's the most I can promise.

But it's a great, very well-written downer ending. It's a self-contained 5-issue story, so it's a good sampler for what Transformers has been like from 2010 onward, albeit the extreme end of it—more moral complexity, more warfare that feels like warfare instead of like adventures, a bigger focus on the Cybertronians' impact on worlds beyond Cybertron and Earth.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye (2012)(comic)

Possibly the best character-driven writing in any Transformers series, right up there with Beast Wars. ENTHUSIASTIC fanbase. This is an immediate post-war story: the war's over, everyone's disillusioned, so one charismatic Autobot rounds up a bunch of other Autobots to track down some mythical heroes that can repair their war-torn planet, shenanigans ensue. There's no other word for it. Top to bottom shenanigans. Shenanigans that will move you to tears.

The only reason I didn't list it higher is because of the art: for a few issues, it's hard to tell the characters apart. Even longtime transformers fans struggled for a bit because a lot of the characters in MTMTE were (until this comic) pretty obscure. There's a lot of white-and-orangy-red bots with little spiky bits on their helmets and a lot of their faces are pretty similar. And I don't want anyone to get discouraged and drop the series because of that lmao.

If I were asked to list the best Transformers series, MTMTE would be in the top 3. But since I was asked to list the best STARTER Transformers series, MTMTE's lower.

But, since it kicks off immediately post-war, it does give you a good jumping off point to ease into a brand new story rather than get plopped into an ongoing one. This is a great place to start as long as you know you'll be confused for a bit.

If you're willing to deal with a little confusion over who's talking, after a few issues you get used to the art style, you learn how to tell these bots apart based on their armor, you glance back at the first few issues and realize that now you can tell everyone apart, and as soon as you have things figured out you're grossly sobbing over a letter a dying bot left his husband.

Oh this is also the first series to canonize gay Transformers. 🏳️‍🌈 i promise most of them don't die

Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2012)(comics)

A companion story to MTMTE, about the bots who didn't leave Cybertron. This is one that's more rewarding if you know the characters, but—being post war—it is an okay jumping on point. If you're REALLY into byzantine politics and cloak & dagger shit, RID's a good comic. But if you want a more convetional TF experience, hold off on RID until you know who these characters are.

Transformers Prime (2010)

The darkest TF cartoon we got before they started making shows actually marketed at adults instead of kids. this is gritty "war is hell" transformers. everyone's exhausted, everyone has combat ptsd, megatron's doing drugs, the autobot medic is making drugs, they kill an autobot in the first episode (spoilers), an enormous monstrous threat that other continuities tend to save for movies or series finales is introduced in season 1.

its biggest flaw is that the ongoing plot isn't as tightly written as, say, Animated or Beast Wars—they have a tendency to drop some ideas they shouldn't have and rush other parts—and since it does have a heavy ongoing plot, it can't get away with being episodic the way G1 does.

Rescue Bots (2011)

listen. rescue bots is the cutest transformers series ever made. the only reason it's not listed higher is because, while every other tf series is about optimus prime and megatron and The War For Cybertron's Future, rescue bots is about four autobots living on an island in maine helping humans with firefighting and search & rescue operations and stuff. and it's aimed at 4-year-olds. it's not a very Transformers-esque Transformers series. they don't even have decepticons.

BUT. it's goddamn adorable, the characters are all extremely lovable, and at some point you really should watch it even if it's not necessarily a good introduction to "what transformers is like."

Transformers Armada (2002)

Are you a weeb? Have you considered studying Japanese to fuel your anime-watching habits? Did you ever have a phase where you tried to learn not just how to draw cartoons/comics, but specifically how to draw in manga style?

If these accusations are uncomfortably accurate, start with Armada. Same "the Bots and Cons have brought their war to earth" setup, but this one has the added gimmick that they're trying to find & collect tinier Transformers called Mini-Cons that give the bigger 'bots EXTRA POWERS.

It's extremely anime. Which makes it a great starting point if that's your thing, but a terrible one if it isn't. I was a weeb and Armada got me into Transformers.

Bumblebee (2018)(movie)

I do not recommend starting with the live action movies. but if you really really really want to start with the live action movies, I DO NOT RECOMMEND STARTING WITH THE MICHAEL BAY MOVIES.

Bumblebee is not a Michael Bay movie. It's the first movie produced after they finally let somebody other than Bay direct, and so it's the first live action TF movie that's actually good. It's like E.T. if E.T. was a yellow car and violent.

But I don't consider it a good entry point because there's, like,, only three transformers and two of them were made up just for this film. at its heart it's more a hollywood action movie than a transformers movie. Still a good watch though.

Transformers Cyberverse (2018)

I'm softly recommending this one at the bottom of the list, because the first season was promising, but then I got hooked into another fandom so I didn't finish it. Other folks have praised it though.

AND THOSE ARE ALL MY RECOMMENDATIONS. HERE'S WHAT I RECOMMEND AGAINST:

the Michael Bay directed films, a.k.a. the "bayverse movies." unless 99% of your media consumption is high-budget explosion-stuffed action/war/superhero movies and you're happy with some absolute shit as long as there's enough shooting. otherwise, do NOT watch a live action movie made before Bumblebee. you can watch bayverse later once you've got some transformers experience—but as a starting point, it's most likely to turn you off. (some fans join the fandom based on the bayverse movies, but I wouldn't risk it.)

Beast Wars aside, any series that's a sequel to another series. Beast Machines is a sequel to Beast Wars, don't start there. TF Energon (2004) and TF Cybertron (2005) are sequels to Armada, don't start there. TF Robots In Disguise (2015) is a sequel to Prime, don't start there.

most of the Japanese series outside Armada, primarily because a lot of them are increasingly-obscure offshoots of Generation 1 that take the plot in wild directions that aren't later embraced by the main English continuities.

video games or book adaptations. books & games just don't receive the core Transformers experience, they're more periphery materials.

SERIES I'M INDIFFERENT TO:

I'm not familiar enough with these to speak on them: the Marvel comics, the 2019 IDW comics continuity (different from the 2005 IDW continuity that includes LSotW and MTMTE), the Prime Wars trilogy, Earthspark, 2001 Robots In Disguise

the Dreamwave comics, the BotBots cartoon, and the War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron games are alright. like they're okay, i like them, but i wouldn't start there.

AND A VERY IMPORTANT WARNING:

Transformers loves to reuse names. For characters, and for series. There's a reason I put dates on all of the above recommendations. More Than Meets The Eye is the name of an IDW comic, a Dreamwave comic companion book, an Armada book, an Animated book, the pilot episodes of G1, an episode of TF Robots in Disguise (2015), an episode of Rescue Bots, an episode of Rescue Bots Academy, and events in two different mobile gacha games. Robots In Disguise is the name of a 2001 cartoon, a 2015 cartoon, and another IDW comic. "TFA" used to mean Transformers Armada until it became Transformers Animated. There's 44 guys name Megatron, a Megatronus, and a Megatronia. Eventually you get a sense for which series people are talking about, but until then, tread cautiously.

The Transformers wiki is one of the best organized fandom wikis in the world. It's an invaluable resource to help keep all this stuff straight. Use it often.

#anonymous #ask #transformers #maccadam #(<- another tip for fandom newbs:#(for a while tumblr's transformers tag was COMPLETELY overrun with repetitive spam about the human actors in the michael bay movies)#(so we collectively adopted maccadam as a secondary tag to signal actual tf fandom content. it's the name of a cybertronian bar owner.)

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