Ask Vector Prime

The longest running of all the Facebook pages, and easily the most dense in terms of material, Ask Vector Prime is something very special to me. The previous year had been an extremely low point in my life, and, as silly as it sounds, AVP saved me from falling deeper into spiral. Waking up everyday, knowing there would be something new from Vector...it helped a lot.

Anyway.

Ask Vector Prime was created by Hasbro back during the Transformers: Cybertron days, where Vector Prime was introduced. A feature on their website, fans could ask about whatever, and Vector would respond-though usually with a combination of marketing speak and somewhat vague and unhelpful answers. Jim Sorenson, when writing The AllSpark Almanacs, would bring it back, hiding it in Cybertronian text in the background of the pages, starting with the second volume. Come 2015, with the set-up for BotCon being in the TransTech universe, this new edition started, and would prove to be the most popular Facebook page from the Club, with thousands of subscribers and 400,000 page views at its peak.

May 13: Vector Prime's profile picture is the boxart for his Universe 2008 toy, done most likely by Marcelo Matere. The page banner is a stary expanse, with the Cybertron seen in the Cybertron cartoon edited in.

The first question is, obviously enough, a bit referencing the fable of the Three Little Pigs. Deceptihogs are the name of the EggSpark-mutated evil piggies from Angry Birds Transformers. The Cluster name, Rovio, was introduced in The Complete AllSpark Almanac, itself named for the company behind Angry Birds. The Uniend Cluster is the "Aligned" continuity, also introduced there. Porcineacon (derived from porcine) is a new term, derived from the various Cybertronian species mentioned in the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon. The Fornax Cluster is the world of the Kre-O building block toyline; the Fornax Cluster was introduced in the aforementioned The Complete AllSpark Almanac. Curly straws are a real-world thing, but Transformer versions of them were seen in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye comic. Energon sticks were seen in the Marvel Comics adaptation for The Transformers: The Movie, prototypical versions of energon goodies. These are obviously chosen because the three pigs built their houses out of bricks, straw, and sticks, respectively.

The second questions refers to the Dynasty of Primes from Revenge of the Fallen, seen in flashback and when Sam Witwicky briefly died. This answer is the sort of unhelpful/point-missing one seen in the original Ask Vector Prime feature.

Question 3: the Malgus cluster is the various worlds of Animated, while Viron is the various universes of the 2001 Robots in Disguise series. Negative polarity universes, or more simply "mirror universes", are the likes of Shattered Glass.

Question 4: The Knights of Unicron-Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, and Smooth Jazz-were a set of toys exclusive to San Diego Comic-Com 2014, Generations toys redecoed with clothing and hair accessories as a homage to the hair metal era of rock and roll. The Kranix Memorial Stadium was mentioned on the Till All Are One tour t-shirt. Kranix and the Lithones were seen in The Transformers: The Movie, where Lithone was destroyed by Unicron and Kranix killed by the Quintessons. The term "Spawn of Unicron" was an insult hurled by Megatron at the deceased Tarantulas in Beast Wars episode "Nemesis Part 1"; meant to be along the lines of "spawn of Satan", later fiction took it a bit literally, as Vector lampshades here. This is one of the first answers that avoids answer the question; we'll get a lot of those as time goes on.

Question 5: I think this was my first question asked! The Legends manga was at the time a gag-strip about the various aspects of the Transformers franchise and fandom, which would go on to evolve into a strip tying in various aspects of JG1 continuity, and which would be derided for its....oh, how shall we say, quite unsavory depiction of female characters, among other things.

Ahem.

Question 6: The "Who is Cyclonus" debate argues which Decepticon Cyclonus was created from in The Transformers: The Movie; the Insecticon Bombshell, or the Decepticon Jet Skywarp. Vector answered that question in The AllSpark Almanac Addendum. At this point, no one had translated The Complete AllSpark Almanac's AVP questions, and it would take two years for it to be annotated in full by yours truly.

Question 7: Eurythma and its harmony was seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Carnage in C-Minor".

Question 8: This question refers to 2001 Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime meeting Cybertron Optimus Prime in "Revelations Part 6", and the gathering of the Convoy seen in "Invasion Prologue". The latter included 2003 Universe Sam's Club-exclusive Optimus Prime and Cybertron Jungle Planet Optimus Prime. Later posts from Andromeda's page would clarify that the Cybertron Primes were not the same, but the Robots in Disguise ones are.

Question 9: The Quadwal cluster is the "real world"; obviously, Vector can't go there.

Question 10: Logos Prime was seen in the Japanese-exclusive prose stories for Beast Wars Reborn (to which the universal stream designate here refers). He had shape-shifting abilities, which led to a semi-popular fan theory that he and Amalgamous Prime, a Thirteen member from the "Aligned" continuity, introduced in Exiles and gone into more depth in The Covenant of Primus, were the same being, a notion dispelled here. The idea of the Thirteen's membership being different across universes, despite their supposed "singularity" nature, is important; pay attention to it for later...

Question 11: Nothing too obscure here.

Question 12: The Iocus cluster is made up of all the various cross-continuity merchandising toylines that don't really fit into one category, among other things. The question refers to Bots Shots, Hero Mashers, Construct-Bots, and Battle Masters. Vector brings up one more group: Robot Powered Machines, referring to the "R.P.M." subline of small toy cars introduced in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline.

Question 13: Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a real-life cereal; one era of its marketing had commercials depicting adults seemingly unable to find out why children craved the cereal. Vector Prime's answer is a paraphrase of Roy Batty's final words from Blade Runner: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die." Zeotopia is the planet the where short-lived Hasbro toyline Xevoz was set; the Hyperfuries were among the factions in that toyline. It appeared on Swindle's planet map in The AllSpark Almanac II. The Hulla Filament was mentioned in the pseudo-canonical novella, Alignment, continuing on from the Marvel Generation 2 comic.

Question 14: This question sort of smooths the contradictions between two different answers to two different questions about multiversal singularities answered by Forest Lee. In an answer to a question about a potential Shattered Glass version of the Fallen asked at BotCon 2009, Lee stated that there would be no such thing. In an answer from the Hasbro 2009 July Q&A to a question about how the Fallen could be truly a multiversal singularity when there's so many very different depictions of him, Lee explained how the Fallen would be influenced by the particular rules and nature of the universe, such that, for example, if time went backwards in that dimension, the Fallen would also experience time backwards.

Question 15: As seen in The Covenant of Primus, Megatronus/The Fallen and Solus Prime were originally lovers until the machinations of Liege Maximo resulted in Megatronus killing Solus in a fit of rage. Megatronus is the real name of The Fallen, one of the original 13 Transformers. He was introduced in the Dreamwave Productions mini-series, The Dark Ages. Solus, meanwhile, was originally introduced in the "Aligned" continuity novel Exiles.

Question 16: Optimash Prime and Bumble Spud are Mr. Potato Head versions of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Optimash was sold as part of the merchandising craze accompany the 2007 live-action Transformers film, while Bumble Spud was sold two years later as part of the merchandise for Revenge of the Fallen. They can lend ears due to their modular nature; potato "eyes" are a term for sprouts that grow on a potato. Vector confirms them to be from the Iocus Cluster.

Question 17: This question and answer are derived from the "woodchuck could chuck wood" tongue-twister, whose apparent origin comes from the 1902 song "The Woodchuck Song", which was written by Robert Hobart Davis for the musical The Runaways. The song is more well-known from a 1904 edition recorded by Theodor Morse.

Question 18: Various pieces of fiction, including the backstory for Universe 2003 Ramjet, the prose story "Withered Hope", and others, indicate that the Elder Gods from the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft inhabit Transwarp space. I think I asked this question as well.

Question 19: Originally, the stream designation given for Beast Wars: Uprising was Primax 209.0 Gamma, as it was given in other places. It would later be replaced with Primax 215.19 Epsilon (derived from the date of publication for "Broken Windshields") in an attempt by Jim and Dave to rectify the various details from the early profiles that didn't really fit with the overall Beast Wars: Uprising universe. The story concerning infrastructure mentioned here is "Burning Bridges", published in August.

Question 19: Another one I asked. Infestation was a crossover event from IDW Publishing that involved Zombies from their Zombies Vs Robots comic spilling over into the universe of their CVO comics, and from their several of their licensed properties, including Star Trek, Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe, and of course Transformers. There, Kup was zombiefied by the extra-dimensional vampire-turned-zombie Britt. Yeah, I know. It's all a bit silly.

Question 20: This question refers to the Rodimus Star, originating from IDW Publishing comic series More than Meets the Eye, along with the Lost Light. Rodimus would totally give Vector a Rodimus Star for doing his job.

Question 21: This answer is much more introspective, a type that, in hindsight, were my favorite answers. The Primal Program is the code in the Creation Matrix that gives life to Transformers, and by which many Transformers swore in the Marvel comics. Rhisling is Vector Prime's sword.

Question 22: Rescue Bots were introduced in the franchise of the same name, part of the "Aligned" continuity. Pretty sure I asked this one as well.

May 14:

Question 1: Nexus 208.0 Epsilon is the universal stream designation for the TransTech universe. Another bit here about how the Thirteen experience negative polarity worlds. The Gargent Cluster is the continuity family of the GoBots franchise, Transformers main rival in the 80's, which has since gone on to be heavily linked with the world of the Transformers. The Malgus cluster is the continuity family of Animated. The negative polarity Animated universe mentioned here was meant to show up in the unproduced season four and went on to appear in The AllSpark Almanacs and various BotCon materials. The lyrics Vector quotes here are from Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)".

Question 2: A miyake joint, more popularly known as a "c-joint" (the miyake joint name comes from Tomoya Miyake, who first used it on the Revenge of the Fallen Recon Ironhide toy) was a type of accessory mounting system that saw heavy use in the 2010 Transformers and early Generations toylines. The high-ranking member of the Convoy Council (seen originally in Beast Wars Neo) is Lio Convoy from Beast Wars II. Primax 498.1 Alpha is the world of those two anime. Lio joined the Convoy in "Invasion Prologue". His journey to Gargent 984.08 Alpha (the world of the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon, although...well, we'll get to that when we get there) was seen in the then not-yet-published Spatiotemporal Challengers. His journey to a Uniend Cluster universe is from his Arms Micron Leo Prime toy, which indicated he was the BWII character and journeyed to that universe to help stop the threat of Unicron. All of this, of course, hasn't happened in real time yet, as "Cybertron's Most Wanted" will show him as still being on Axiom Nexus. The probability Vector gives here (three thousand, seven hundred and twenty to one) is the same figure C-3P0 gave to Han Solo for their survival when the Millennium Falcon was in an asteroid field, in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Sideways is a Unicron-serving dimension hopper from many continuities; we'll divulge into him a bit later.

Question 3: A popular fan theory for IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye at the time was that Tarn, leader of the Decepticon Justice Division, was actually Roller, a friend of Optimus and fellow Rodion police officer who hadn't been seen in any post war stories. It would eventually be revealed a little over a year later that he was actually Glitch/Damus. Vector does another one of his "Dodging the question" routines; obviously because it isn't AVP's purview to answer the question. The Tarn who is a judge on Cybertron's Got Talent was mentioned in Andromeda's post the same day.

Question 4: The Complete AllSpark Almanac confirmed that the Challenge of the GoBots universe, having previously been shown to be breaking down thanks to the creation of the Classics universe in "Withered Hope", was beginning to mend after the Classics universe was destroyed in "Invasion". The resolution to this storyline would be told in Spatiotemporal Challengers, which took a little under two years to conclude. The group Vector mentions here is the Monster GoBots, a group of Renegades with monstrous alternate modes, who have settled into the Beast Wars: Uprising universe. We saw Creepy in "Broken Windshields" and Vamp in "Head Games".

Question 5: Botanica is pretty obvious to those of you who have seen Beast Machines, but just in case, she was a Maximal ambulatory plant from that series. Flytrap (who obviously takes his name from the venus fly trap) is based on concept art from the Beast Wars Telemocha Series for a Transformer with a triffid alternate mode (trifids are a fictional species of aggressive plants from the John Wyndham novel, The Day of the Triffids). Fly Trap was a Renegade garbage truck from GoBots. The Treant Troop is named for both treants, a species of sentient walking trees from Dungeons & Dragons, and Transformers author Trent Troop. Memory crystals are fairly generic in the world of sci-fi; you might know them best from the Superman films.

Question 6: Safeguard is Vector Prime's Mini-Con partner. Vector's words here indicate that form him, the Cybertron series took place only a few days ago...

Question 7: ...and that in linear time, it's been a few decades. Lori, Coby, and Bud were the human sidekicks from Cybertron; the final episode, "Beginning", indicated that Bud went on to be a movie director, while Lori and Coby became astronauts and had married. Galactic Guardians was Bud's favorite TV show.

Question 8: Jet-kun, Dump-kun, and Racer-kun (their Japanese names) were from the First Transformers toyline, the first ever toyline for Transformers aimed at one- to three-year-olds, released by Playskool in the US in 1986, and by Takara in Japan in 1987. The Yayayarst cluster was indicated to be the world of the latter Playskool toylines 1-2-3 Transformers and Go-Bots, and they follow suit here. Jet-kun appeared in the seventh installment of the Japanese Kre-O manga.

May 15th:

Question 1: The Cybertron Satellite Town Commanders were part of a tie-in with the Japanese release of Prime, where various cities and neighborhoods across Japan were given a mascot character in the Town Commander, with aspects of their designs based on the history of the region. Uniend 713.01 Alpha is the world of the Go! cartoon. The rank of "Prime" in Animated wasn't that of a leader, but more equivalent to say, a general or head of operations.

Question 2: Nothing too obscure here.

Question 3: Aurex 802.23 Alpha is the world of the Unicron Trilogy cartoons; Armada, Energon, and Cybertron. The Unicron Triology tended to re-use names a LOT with Mini-Cons. The Mini-Con Thunderblast was a redeco of Armada Bonecrusher and member of the Air Defense Mini-Con Team from the Cybertron toyline. There are two Mini-Cons from the Aurex Cluster who share Ransack's name-a Mini-Con Jeep from Armada and a Mini-Con Tyrannosaurus from the 2008 Universe toyline. The Mini-Con Crumplezone, meanwhile, was Cyclonus' partner from Armada.

Question 4: The Liege Maximo was an ancient Transformer who led the Cybertronian faction and was the ancestor of the Decepticons, from the Marvel Generation 2 comics. He would later be declared a member of the Thirteen in modern fiction. The colors the Liege tricked Vector into using is the colors of his Hasbro Cybertron toy, rather than that of his Takara Galaxy Force toy.

Question 5: Megatron X appeared in the Nintendo 64 version of the Beast Wars Transmetals video game. Primax 1099.01-N6 Kappa refers to the Japanese release of the game, while Primax 700.12-N4 Kappa refers to the North American release (with N6 and N4 obviously derived from N64). The high state of flux in events in these universe, with fixed, stable endings, is a way to describe how video game-based universes work; after all, while the game ends the same, the way one can achieve it will almost always vary. The 12 "stable quantum-hyperwave endstates" are the endings for each character in the game (think Mortal Kombat); Primax 700.12-N4 Kappa IV is the ending for Tigatron and Airazor in the NA release, while Primax 1099.01-N6 Kappa XI is the ending for Tarantulas in the Japan release. Tigerfalcon is the Japanese name for Tigerhawk. Primax 1099.01-PS Kappa and Primax 700.12-SP Kappa are the universe of the Japanese and North American release of the PlayStation version of Beast Wars Transmetals (with PS and SP derived from "PlayStation"). Unlike the N64 version, there were only two, more vague endings for the two factions.

Question 6: Blurr's fairly obvious; Nanosec was a human supervillain from Animated. Velocitron and its races were seen in Cybertron.

Question 7: The idea that Tarantulas and Sideways may be the same character is a semi-joking meme created by David Willis. I think this one was a question of mine; obviously Vector didn't quite get what I meant.

Question 8: The Critias Gateway is named for the Critias Gate, a piece of technology from the Alternity storyline, itself named for the dialogue Critias by Plato.

Question 9: Ah, yes. The first of several questions asked by a My Little Pony fan. The little girl encountered by Ironhide in the 2007 live-action Transformers movie had a plush My Little Pony toy. Primax 613.28 Lambda is the universe of the convention exclusive cover to issue #5 of IDW Publishing's My Little Pony Micro-Series. And, for anyone reading this in the years since the My Little Pony fandom has mostly calmed down, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls were part of the 2010 modern reboot of the franchise, and bronies are the fans of the franchise.

Question 10: DreamMix TV World Fighters was a Japanese crossover fighting game, featuring characters from the properties of Takara, Hudson Soft, and Konami. Released on the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube, both Optimus Prime and Megatron was amongst the roster of characters. Megatron has been depicted as a gladiator going all the way back to Marvel UK-exclusive prose story "State Games".

Question 11: Fireflight was an Autobot jet from the 2003 Universe toyline, redecoed from Beast Machines Vehicon Spy Streak and sold with redecoes of the Armada Mini-Cons Firebot and Thunderwing. He was revealed to have ended up in the Wings Universe continuity (Primax 509.28 Epsilon) in the Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur Facebook page. The fact that the Wings Universe doesn't see much dimension travel is because of real-life mandates that, for the most part, kept it out of the multiversal storyline that much of the rest of FunPub's output was involved in.

Question 12: I think I asked this one. Thrustinator is the merged form of Beast Wars Waspinator and Beast Machines Thrust, sold as part of the 2014 Transformers Figure Subscription Service and seen working with the TransTech version of Heinrad in contemporary stories.

May 16: The number of questions per day begins to be limited to four starting here, something that will usually last until the initial run's end on September 30th.

Question 1: The concepts of a Conjunx Endura and an Amica Endura (the Cybertronian equivalent to "married couple" and "best friend", respectively) were introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. The original Hasbro Ask Vector Prime feature gave Vector Prime's age as nine billion years old. The Autobots listed here are all Vector's comrades from Cybertron. The Malignus were an evil faction of Mini Vehicles from the Brazilian release of the original toyline, while the Guardians were the heroic faction of GoBots. The AllSpark Almanac II indicated they were some of the earliest Cybertronian factions in the Animated universe. Mogahn the Mass was an entity mentioned in Alignment; we'll get to him more later. Shokaract was a BotCon 2000 exclusive redeco of Beast Wars Transmetal Predacon crab Rampage. He was a genocidal dictator from an alternate future, who possessed the powers of Unicron via the Matrix of Conquest. The Argos Cluster was mentioned in the prose story "Herald", where Shokaract's forces fought that of Horus.

Question 2: The original Ask Vector Prime feature indicated that Vector held the Matrix in (a version of) the Golden Age, before passing it on when he became guardian of time and space. Remember that, it becomes important later...

Question 3: Point One Percenters and spark types are yet another concept from IDW's More than Meets the Eye.

Question 4: Functionism and the Functionist Council are, again, concepts from IDW's More than Meets the Eye, though functionism was first introduced earlier in the 2009-2011 Transformers ongoing. Primax 1114.26 Gamma is the world of the Functionist Universe, created during Perceptor's fiddling with Brainstorm's time case and first seen in issue #35. Bit of a centrist, aren't ya, Vector? /:)

May 17:

Question 1: There's nothing explicitly annotations worthy here, but basically Vector is saying "it's complicated".

Question 2: Fornax 813.0 Gamma is the world of the online Japanese Kre-O manga. The events described here are from the 10th installment, where both Vector and Sideways had cameos. Indeed, Sideways had made several cameos up to that point (albeit with only his leg visible).

Question 3: Obviously, the question is talking about Brave, Takara's brief successor to the Transformers franchise in the 90's, with several anime series done by Sunrise, the animation studio behind Gundam. Several molds in the toyline were shared with Transformers toys, such Brave Command Dagwon's Dag Base and Return of Convoy's Grandus. Vector sidesteps the question by instead talking about the Disney-Pixar film, Brave, in which Princess Merida accidentally turned her mother into a bear using a potion given to her by a witch. Mor'du was an antagonist from that film, a man turned into a monstrous bear.

Question 4: the Predacons of the "Aligned" continuity were introduced in the Beast Hunters subline of Prime. In the cartoon, Shockwave cloned several of them from fossils in the modern day. Primax 984.17 Alpha is the world of the Sunbow cartoon. The Trans-Organics, including the Dweller, were seen in season three episode "The Dweller in the Depths". Unicron being a myth is an idea from several pieces of modern fiction, such as Devil's Due Press' G.I. Joe vs the Transformers: Black Horizon mini-series.

May 18:

Question 1: The Dark Spark comes from the Rise of the Dark Spark video game. The game started off in the world of the War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron video games, but a little over halfway through the game, the Dark Spark would be transported to a movieverse universe set around the time (with a fair few differences) of Age of Extinction. Angolmois energy is Unicron's lifeblood, seen in Beast Wars II; the Dark Spark proved somehow connected to Dark Energon, the lifeblood of Unicron seen in the "Aligned" continuity. The Dead Universe was seen in the original IDW Publishing comics continuity; the D-Void, the malevolent intelligence that personified the Dead Universe, was introduced in the Heart of Darkness mini-series. Violen Jiger was the main antagonist of the Japanese Zone storyline, an evil entity formed from the souls of dead Decepticon warriors; the Dark Spark was believe to be the opposite of the Matrix of Leadership. The Megatron mentioned here and his plot to assimilate all sparks is from Beast Machines. Mortilus is the Cybertronian god of death in the Guiding Hand pantheon, from IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye (and who would eventually be revealed, in that universe at least, to just be a normal Cybertronian). The Ebon Knights were mentioned in Alignment; this is the first indication that they serve the Elder Gods of Lovecraft lore. It's revealed here that the Dark Spark is responsible for the "Aligned" continuity's reconnection to the main multiverse, as Hasbro had initially tried to keep them separate.

Question 2: Synergy is from Jem and the Holograms, the supercomputer who gave Jem and her band their titular holographic abilities. T-AI was the Autobot's computer assistant from the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon. Emmett Benton was the father of Jem. T-AI indicate that Teletraan I was her father in the second episode of the series, "An Explosive Situation". "Truly outrageous" was part of the lyrics for the Jem theme song. The question is illustrated with the character model for Synergy; Jim had collected a lot of Sunbow The Transformers and G.I. Joe: A Real American Heroes for his and Bill Forster's art books The Ark and the G.I. Joe: Field Manual; presumably, he collected it during that time.

Question 3: The Origin Matrix was introduced in the "Beast Wars Shattered Glass" storyline in 2013. Nexus Prime-one of the Thirteen original Transformers whose components made up the main storyline of the first 5 years of the Collector's Club magazine-had his backstory told in his profile in issue #30 of the magazine, which is where Prima's Star Saber was introduced. Prima was the first Transformer ever created, as revealed in issue #65 of the original Marvel comic. Solus is added in here, revealed to be the one who shattered the Star Saber, as is the Fallen, his treachery being revealed as the reason it was separated in the first place. Primax -408.24 Epsilon is the world of Shattered Glass. The Vok were seen guarding the Origin Matrix in "Beast Wars Shattered Glass". The Terminus Blade ripped a whole between the Classics universe and the Shattered Glass universe in "Invasion"; while the Earth and everyone on it were transported to the present day and close by Cybertron, two ships, led by Ultra Magnus and Megatron, were sent to the prehistoric Earth where the Origin Matrix resided. The TransTechs sent Depth Charge to recover it in "Invasion: Epilogue"; Ultra Magnus-or rather, Ultra Mammoth-recovered the artifact, and took it to the present day of Cybertron, as seen in the concurrently published "Another Light". A hint of things to come...

Question 4: Convobat and Megalligator are the Japanese names for the Basic class toys of Beast Wars Optimus Primal and Megatron, which turned into a bat and an alligator, specifically. The Japanese toyline got the toys in both their American decos, and an "Amazon Showdown" pack with a red and blue Convobat and a purple and black Megalligator. Their bios indicated they were the originals, and indeed, before the Mainframe cartoon came along, that was the plans for the American release. Primax 209.0 Epsilon is the world of the Beast Wars: Uprising universe's early fiction (and the idea of them being separate characters applies to the prose stories as well). Primax 196.0 Beta is the world of the original Beast Wars toyline bios-where the original blue bat Optimus Primal and green alligator Megatron come from.

Question 5: Dirigibles are similar vehicles to blimps, though far more rigid in construction.

May 19:

Question 1: In The AllSpark Almanac II, Vector Prime answered a questions about the Primes seen in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4". About a year later, in the ninth installment of Recordicons by David Willis, a ticker at the bottom of the ABN (ran by the evil Autobots of Shattered Glass) claimed he always lied about it.

Question 2: Clue is a real-life game, also owned by Hasbro. Brimstone was a Decepticon Pteranodon from the Jungle Planet from Cybertron. Gigantion, also known as the Giant Planet, was also introduced in Cybertron. The Umbral Blaster also comes from Cybertron; formed by the Deep Space Mini-Con Team, it was redecoed from the Armada Requiem Blaster.

Question 3: The Quintesson Vector speaks of here is Aquarius, from Shattered Glass. The AllSpark Almanac II depicted him as part of the Cybertronian Zodiac.

Question 4: Xobitor is the continuity of Robotix, a short-lived Milton-Bradley/Hasbro toyline (that they apparently no longer have the rights to) which, like The Transformers, had a cartoon by Sunbow, albeit in the form 6-minute shorts, later combined into a “movie” for its home release. On the planet of Skalorr, the reptilian Protectons and Terrakors were forced to go into stasis when their sun went nova; however, their bodies were ruined by the solar radiation, and so the Compu-Core, the artificial intelligence running the technology for the hibernation chambers, transferred their essences into Robotix bodies. These forms, when combined with a human pilot, could transform in various different ways. The AllSpark Almanac II indicated it was part of the multiverse, in the Xobitor cluster.

May 20th:

Question 1: Overload was an Autobot from Armada, who could combine with Optimus Prime to form a sort of weapons rack. Rollout was his Mini-Con partner, who became part of his chest and his head. Binary-bonding is the way in which one becomes a Headmaster, Targetmaster, or Powermaster in western Transformers media. Cyberdroids originate from Micromaster, as the type of Transformers-small Cybertronians who had not yet mastered the ability to transform-the titular characters were before being mutated into Micromasters. This term would be retroactively applied to the Headmasters and Targetmasters of The Headmasters anime series. The blurring of lines between Cyberdroid, Micromaster, and Mini-Cons will be seen more in Beast Wars: Uprising.

Question 2: Another question from the My Little Pony guy. Strada and the Thoroughbred Corps were seen in Beast Wars Neo; Mach Kick was the sole survivor of the group.

Question 3: Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was given the nickname Megatron by teammate Roy Williams. Transtectors are the lifeless bodies to which Headmasters and Godmasters combine to become larger in Japanese continuity; humans became Godmasters in the Super-God Masterforce series. Pretenders are obvious enough for most reading this, but to be complete, they're Transformers with organic shells to mimic humans, monsters, or other biological creatures (for the most part).

May 21:

Question 1: Sentinel Maximus is the merged form of Apelinq and Primal Prime, (meant to be) sold at OTFCC 2004 and redecoed from Armada Overload and Rollout. Primax 698.20 Theta is the world of the "Visitations" script-reading...though it probably should just be a part of the normal 3H Productions continuity. Maybe it's the designation for Shokaract's apocalyptic future...

Question 2: The quadrillion number comes from Bug Bite's words in BotCon 2007's "Games of Deception", including omniversal realities. "Occasionally, the quantum-string vibrations of one of these universes drift close enough for one of them to temporarily merge with a reality stream in my domain" refers to the various crossovers we've had over the years. The idea that for Cybertronians to exist in a universe, humans have to exist as well is fairly obvious enough, since we're the ones writing the stories. Unspace is another term for Transwarp, used by Nightbeat in issue #69 of the Marvel comic.

Going to skip Rook's bit for now, as it fully happens later on.

Question 3: Kind of a "lol random" question, innit?

May 22:

Question 1: Transformers: The Ride is an attraction at the Universal Studios theme park, and the universal stream designate here is derived from its opening in the Singapore park.

Question 2: I think I asked this question, referring to the events of season three Sunbow cartoon episode "The Killing Jar", when these guys ended up in a negative universe with their colors reversed.

Question 3: Primacron was seen in the Sunbow cartoon season three episode "Call of the Primitives", where he was revealed to be the creator of Unicron. In the IDW Publishing Stormbringer mini-series, Jetfire swore by him. He was also mentioned on Swindle's planet map in The AllSpark Almanac II. And here we go, one of the biggest warping of our understandings of multiversal singularities, started with The Complete AllSpark Almanac: the idea that the cartoon Unicron is somehow not part of the singularity.

Question 4: Nothing too notable here.

May 23:

Question 1: Nothing too notable here, unless you somehow don't know who Santa Claus is.

Question 2: Primax 514.29 Gamma is the world of Cloud, home to a version of Autobots who act as stewards over the multiverse.

Question 3: Ah, this was early in the run, and we'll get a much better answer out of this later. In the Marvel Comics continuity, Transformers had no biological sex (though they were almost always gendered as male). Primax 496.22 Alpha is the Beast Wars cartoon; Tigerhawk is the merged form of Tigatron and Airazor. Primax 488.12 Alpha is the world of the Super-God Masterforce cartoon; Overlord was formed by the husband-and-wife team of Giga and Mega. Spittor was a Predacon frog from the second year of the Beast Wars toyline; multiple characters in the Beast Wars cartoon, such as Tigatron, Waspninator, and Inferno, had scanned female animals. IDW Publishing's Arcee had her body altered in Spotlight: Arcee, though the works of John Barber would later retcon her so that she was in fact, always trans, and that Jhiaxus' experiments were about him basically downloading a bunch of malware into her brain. Escargon and Cybertron's Got Talent were mentioned on Andromeda's page, but I'll go over them again: Cybertron's Got Talent was mentioned in the pack-in material for the SDCC 2014 "Knights of Unicron" set, and is a pastiche of America's Got Talent, Britain's Got Talent, and the like. Escargon was a Maximal snail created by Shōji Imaki as an example design for a Comic Bom Bom Character Design Contest for Beast Wars II. His ability to flip genders comes from his "Love-Love Lancer", and obviously comes from the fact that snails are hermaphrodites. Second-Born Intellects is a term from "Alone Together", a term that Lord Imperious Delirious prefers over "artificial intelligence". We'll see them and the Confederated Terran Colonial Fleet in future Beast Wars: Uprising stories.

Question 4: Under-3 was part of the 1996 McDonald's Beast Wars promotion. His alt-mode was a lion's head, which he achieved by just folding him in half. He was sold to the toddlers, obviously. Lionhead is his Japanese name; he was said to be headmaster of the Maximal Academy in Beast Wars: Uprising in Jawbreakers profile, publishing in issue #57 of the Club magazine. Obviously, the question-asker meant the Headmasters who transform into heads.

May 24:

Question 1: Maximals and Predacons (especially Tarantulas) were seen eating organic food several times in the Beast Wars cartoon. The Insecticons and their voracious appetites were seen in the Sunbow cartoon depictions. Pink alchemy was introduced in the two-page comic "Escape", from the hardcover for IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers series; it would later be seen again in More than Meets the Eye.

Question 2: This question refers to a joke running on the Allspark Forums at the time, about the kids from Superbook going to the Beast Wars cartoon. Robik is the Ukrainian of Gizmo, the robot from Superbook, who appeared with that name in the manual for Ninja Gladiator in The AllSpark Almanac II.

Question 3: This refers to a bit in a crossword puzzle from The AllSpark Almanc II, which stated Wheelie's parents came from GoBotron.

Question 4: This one's obvious enough.

May 25:

Question 1: Primax 706.05 Gamma is the world of IDW Publishing's Hearts of Steel; the Ice Age Wars were seen briefly at the start of issue #1. Mammoths and saber tooth tigers, I'm sure you're familiar with, but for those who don't know the others: peccaries are pig like mammals still around today; Glyptodons are prehistoric relatives of armadillos; and Harpagornis or Haast's eagle was the largest species of eagle known to live.

Question 2: Most of the answer is based in real-world theories-look up inflaton on Wikipedia for more, cause it's above my head and I'm not going to explain it. The One-or, as it was originally known, "the sentient core of the universe"-was introduced in the Marvel Comics. The idea that it created Unicron and split it into two to form Unicron and Primus comes from DK Publishing's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. The Forest Leer takes its name from Forest Lee, the man at Hasbro who invented the concept of multiversal singularities, and who did much to define how the Transformers multiverse worked at the start of Fun Publication's run with the fan club.

Question 3: Dunno what this guy expected.

Question 4: Another question from the My Little Pony guy, he's talking about the Allicorns from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, ponies who have both a unicorn horn and Pegasus wings. Vector instead talks about the Allicons, alligator-like Transformers who serve the Quintessons. They were introduced unnamed in The Transformers: The Movie and were eventually given their designation by Dreamwave Productions in the early 2000s.

Question 5: Well, duh.

May 26:

Question 1: Most of these are obvious enough, though some of you might not know "Transformers who can split their spark"; that's for characters like Sky Lynx and the Duocons.

Question 2: Sandra was seen in The Headmasters episode "SOS from Planet Sandra"; a planet similar to Earth from an alternate universe. Apparently, that universe had no Cybertronians. The Alternity are the hyper-evolved Autobots of the future, from the Alternity storyline.

Question 3: This question had input from fandom archivist Matthew "Monzo" Karpowich. The cover for G.I. Joe vs the Transformers II #3 had a random Decepticon generic on it. Multiples of the Decepticon appeared on the last page of the previous issue, in an alternate apocalyptic future that members of G.I. Joe and Cobra were sent to so they could recover Ratchet. Named for the end of the gods from Norse mythology, a character named Ragnarok was mentioned in DoopSpeek (the language in which Doop speaks in the Marvel X-Statix comic) text in the online comic "Timeless". Shiva is one of the main deities from the Hindu religion, and is known as "the Destroyer" within the Trimurti. Primax 1104.10 Lambda is the world of the cover Ragnarok was on. Heinrad was a time-traveling Maximal takuni from Beast Wars Neo.

May 27th:

Question 1: Kup sarcastically claimed to be Teaspoon, Cybertron's chief washer, when questioned by the Quintesssons in Sunbow cartoon season three episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2".

Question 2: This question is referring to the "Elegant Chaos" storyline from IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye, where Perceptor's tampering of Brainstorm's time case changed the universal mechanics involving time travel, allowing for realities to offshoot from it.

Question 3: The Protectons and Terrakors required human partners so they could use their abilities to their full extent.

Question 4: We'll learn just how different the IDW Thirteen are a few years later, especially Onyx... The "Aligned" Thirteen's roster were separated by the barrier shattered by the Dark Spark. More foreshadowing for the "Another Light" storyline...

May 28:

Question 1: LOL.

Question 2: The Doctor from Doctor Who has made a few cameos and had references to him throughout the franchise. In the Marvel UK story "To a Power Unknown!" Starscream pick up a bit of audio from one episode being broadcast. In the Malgus universe, there's Natasha Pyraniac (we'll get to her in a second) and the planet of Skaro, from where the Daleks, one of the Doctor's nemesis, hails from. Not entirely sure why they bring up the Lukas cluster (Star Wars); maybe there's some old Marvel UK comic written by Alan Moore or Steve Parkhouse and drawn by Alan Davis that has Darth Vader in the background, or something. Update: Apparently there was a Doctor Who novel, Forever Autumn, that said Star Wars was real and that George Lucas was receiving telepathic messages from Jar Jar Binks. Okay then.

Natasha Pyraniac comes from Animated choose-your-adventure book, Time-Quake. She's based on several concepts from Doctor Who, most notably fellow timelord the Rani. An Ask Vector Prime bit from The Complete AllSpark Almanac indicated she had changed history in the main Animated universe. The closest the Doctor himself has ever gotten to interacting with the Transformers multiverse is when he happened upon Death's Head, who had been transported from the 2006-era Marvel UK universe, in the Doctor Who Magazine strip "The Crossroads of Time".

Question 3: This question clears up a bit about the previously mention Ask Vector Prime "Five Faces of Darkness" answer, which stated that Prima fought against Sentinel Major, who would later become Sentinel Prime. A Sentinel Major had already been introduced in the Wings Universe, based on Animated Sentinel Prime. Here it's clarified that they are separate, though they are related. Animated Sentinel was seen as Sentinel Minor in "AutoBoot Camp", and became Magnus in season 3 after Ultra Magnus was grievously injured in "Where is Thy Sting?" The AllSpark was reformed as the AllSpark Matrix in the series finale "Endgame, Part II".

Question 4: Both 1-2-3 Transformers and the Japanese release of the Go-Bots toyline as Kids' Transformers: Rescue Hero Go-Bots gave the characters human names. Rescue Roy comes from the former, while Billy was the Japanese release of Buzzer-Bot from the latter. Humans mentioned by Vector include the previously mentioned Calvin Johnson/Megatron; Phoenix, aka Dave Farrell, bass player for the band Linkin Park, whose songs were featured in the first three live-action Transformers films; and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who voiced Cliffjumper in the first episode of Prime.

May 29:

Question 1: The newscaster Rook is appearing over on his own page, a TransTech version of the Universe Mini Vehicle from BotCon Europe 2002. The SWAT vehicle Rook was a new member of the Protectobots introduced in the Generations Combiner Wars toyline. The Cybertronian faction Rook was Jhiaxus' underling from the Marvel Generation 2 comic. Armada Rook was one of Sideways Mini-Cons, who could form his head. This is the first indication of a connection between the Cybertronian Empire and Planet X from Cybertron. Combi-Micromasters were a concept mentioned by Dreadwind in the letters page for issue #269, where two or more Micromasters combine into one robot mode-Andromeda's page had previously describe Rook as one.

Question 2: Several times in the Beast Wars cartoon, Maximals and Predacons got decapitated (usually Waspinator). Vector obviously never bothered to learn how humans work.

Question 3: The 2003 Dinobots toyline, exclusive to Wal-Mart, was a precursor to the Universe toyline, consisting of various Dinobots redecoed from Beast Wars and Beast Wars Neo molds including Grimlock (from Beast Wars Dinobot), Sludge (from Beast Wars Neo Sling), Triceradon (from Beast Wars Neo Guiledart), Snarl (from Beast Wars Neo Saberback), Terranotron (from Beast Wars Terrorsaur), and Slapper (from Beast Wars Neo Bazooka). The Destructicons were a pair of Decepticon redecoes of Generation 2 Hero Optimus Prime and Megatron as Scourge and Bludgeon, sold exclusively at KB Toys for the Robots in Disguise toyline. Dreadwind and Smokejumper were Target-exclusive Robots in Disguise toys redecoed from Generation 2 Dreadwing and Smokescreen; they're retconned into Destructicons as well. Viron 403.0 Beta, the universe mentioned here, was originally introduced in The AllSpark Almanac II, as the home for the multiversal meddlers Dreadwind and Smokejumper.

Question 4: Primus doesn't exist in the Animated universe. The "non-linear WY-att pulse function" is named for Derrick J. Wyatt, lead character designer for the Animated cartoon, who had always been very clear about his dislike of the concept of multiversal singularities.

Question 5: Leader-1 and Cy-Kill are the leaders of the Guardians and Renegades from GoBots, while Argus and Nemesis are the leaders of the Protectons and Terrakors from Robotix. We'll see Vector Prime proven right later on in the run...

May 30:

Question 1: Cetaceans are whales.

Question 2: Nothing too obscure to annotate here, but Vector explains why he's allowed in Axiom Nexus while being a Prime; they think he's senile.

Question 3: The Evil One was an ancient, evil GoBot seen in Challenge of the GoBots episode "In Search of Ancient GoBonauts". I asked this question here, inspired by an edit to the Fallen's TFWiki page by User:Derik a few years back that had been quickly reverted. This question follows suit, connecting the two, both of whom are ancient members of their race associated with pyramids (as the Fallen was in Revenge of the Fallen) with an Egyptian motif. His Dark Heart was also seen in that episode; the Nazca lines are a real thing, giant works of art in the Nazca Desert of Peru, only visible from miles up. Devil Z was the mysterious entity leading the Decepticons in Super-God Masterforce. He freed Pretenders Blood and Dauros from their prisons in the pyramids and the Nazca lines (along with Gilmer from his prison in Atlantis) to serve him. We have the character model for the Evil One here; Jim had most of them. If you own or have seen the model for Loco's train mode, you should contact him.

Question 4: "The Beast Within" and "The Beast Within Part 2, Consequences" were...well, let's just say amateurish mini-comics included with the Metrodome DVDs for Sunbow's Season Two Part Two and Season Three/Four, respectively, featuring the monstrous Dinobot combiner the Beast. The Hytherion is a time-devouring predator introduced in the Alternity toyline, not really malicious but still very dangerous, named for the Titan Hyperion and the Greek word for beast, "therion".

Question 5: A good question, and one that would be explored in several pieces of fiction, perhaps most notably IDW's comics...though whether or not they were good explorations is up to you...

Question 6: This coloring book Vector mentions isn't real. In the days of Dreamwave's comics and the early days of IDW, Cy-Kill or another Gobot was often drawn as being brutally murdered for "le epic meme", and this Megatron look-alike suffers the same fate.

May 31st:

Question 1: Undoubtedly you know Unicron, and I've already gone over Sideways. "Morpho-thorn" is derived from morphobots, a species of robotic plants from Sunbow season two episode "Quest for Survival". The Gigatron mentioned here is a versin of Masterforce's Overlord, specifically the version from the Heroes of Cybertron line of PVC figures. His tech specs for that release indicated he had regenerative abilities (tied into here with Sideways trans-phase mode as "transmorphic regenerative abilities"), while the tech specs for his original toy's European release indicated he was a dimension hopper. Primax 400.05 Alpha is the world of the Car Robots cartoon, dubbed into English and seperated from the G1 continuity in Robots in Disguise; Gigatron is known as Megatron in the west, while the Destrongers are known as the Predacons. Back story published in catalogs before the cartoon started indicated they were dimension hoppers.

Question 2: Evidently Vector's never met Megatron or Starscream's Shattered Glass counterparts!

Question 3: Rimmerworld is a planet from the Red Dwarf episode of the same name, inhabited by clones of Arnold Rimmer. I feel like "Galactic Galavanter" is a term used to refer to the main characters, but I never watched it, so oh well.

Question 4: Primon was somewhat inexplicably mentioned in the "Reaching the Omega Point" story "Covenant", an outlier in the line of Primes established by the author of the story, Simon Furman. He was connected to Alpha Prime (from the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye series of profile books) in The AllSpark Almanac II. This answer establishes that he is indeed older than Prima despite the latter being the first Transformer; as he, like the members of the Covenant, pre-date Cybertron.

June 1st:

Question 1: I have a feeling this question was trying to get the McDonald's Changeables toys from the 80's in the Transformers multiverse. Stampy was a Maximal from Beast Wars Neo.

Question 2: Originally Vector's answer said "voiding rituals" as in peeing and pooping, but "voting" is much funnier. Swindle, Swindle, and Swindle was a store seen in the TransTech prose stories seen in "Withered Hope" and "I, Lowtech", run by three Swindles. Remember that, it becomes important later.

Question 3: The Mutants were part of the final year of the Beast Wars toyline, toys originally designed for the licensed Animorphs toyline, shuffled over when that toyline was cancelled. They were Transformers who had two beast modes, a hidden robot mode head, and on three of them, hidden mechanical parts. They included: Icebird, the Arctic owl/polar bear; Poison Bite, the scorpion/barracuda; Razor Claw, the wolverine/Velociraptor; and Soundwave, the bat/alligator. Noble Savage is from Beast Machines, a fully organic Transformer with humanoid wolf and dragon modes, created from the organic half of Megatron. He's retconned to be a Mutant as well here.

Question 4: The DJD, or Decepticon Justice Division, are from the works of James Roberts for IDW Publishing's comics. A group of sadistic Decepticons charged with hunting down deserters and traitors, their torture devices/alt modes make them unlikely to get any toys from Hasbro anytime soon, and as of 2019, the only piece of merchandise for them is a non-transforming figure of Tarn from Flame Toys. Vector avoids the question here, as he usually does with questions about upcoming toys.

Question 5: The Multiforce, a group of combining "Deluxe Micromasters" from Victory, were transported back in time by said dimensional shockwave to before the Autobots and Decepticons woke up in 1984 in the Micromaster storyline. Primax 984.20 Gamma is the world of the Marvel UK comics. The Cybertronian referred to here is Cyclonus, from the alternate future of the Marvel UK 2006 storylines, who had his head ripped off by....well, let's call him Megatron, it's a long story that I'll get into latter, in issue #189 of the comic. This led to the "Time Wars" storyline and explained the dimensional rift that destroyed Quintessa in the "Space Pirates" storyline. Primax 290.03 Gamma is the world of the black-and-white "Earthforce" comics, comics not particularly workable in-continuity published later on in the Marvel UK run partially to promote the "Classics" series of European reissues. It takes its designations from the publishing date of issue #255, which was the first of the "Earthforce" stories. Micro is the planet of the Micromasters, introduced in Victory. The Predators were a group of Decepticons who mostly turned into jets released in 1992 of the European toyline. The Skomiloch Territories are the Predator's turf, mentioned in Snare's profile from the trade paperback of the IDW Publishing mini-series Last Stand of the Wreckers. The Vega Sector was mentioned in the final episode of Victory, where they were made governors of the sector. The Praetorian was a threat mentioned in "Alignment"; the Reconfiguration Matrix, originally mentioned as part of Optimus Prime's internal biology in his Generation 2 Go-Bot toy's tech specs, was made into a part of the Matrix of Leadership in the Japanese G-2 story pages and manga, able to reformat Prime in a matter of seconds. Scrapmetals were Cybertronian vermin seen in the Cybertron series, with spider-tank alternate modes.

June 2:

Question 1: Thor (the Marvel Comics version of the Norse god of thunder) had a toy in the Crossovers toyline that transformed into an A-10 Thunderbolt II. The profiles for this toyline explained how Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) built transforming mech suits using alien technology.

Question 2: Rock creatures were seen in the Robotix episodes "Attack of the Rock Creatures" and "All for One". Rock Lords was a spin-off toyline from Tonka's GoBots featuring transforming rocks.

Question 3: Unicron cultists were seen in issue #74 of the Marvel comic, where they said much the same as this guy claims one did.

Question 4: This question refers to an semi-infamous scene in the Zone OVA, where Predaking's midsection, upon being cut in half by Dai Atlas, includes what looks like an organic brain. The GoBots, in both early Tonka story material and most famously in the Hanna-Barbera Challenge of the GoBots cartoons were cyborgs, having placed their brains in robotic bodies. I think this is the first time that they're said to have "sparks" in their brains? Obviously in the form of neuron impulses. The Violent Chigger is one of the alternate romanizations for the name of the main villain of Zone, Violen Jiger, before the publications of Jim and Bill's The Ark II, which gave a definitive translation; chiggers are a type of mite, fitting Violen Jiger's arthropod design. The Chronarchitect was the god of time from the same pantheon as Primus and Unicron; he was seen in the 3H Productions "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline running from BotCon 1998 to BotCon 2000. The Japanese here translates to "Ruler of Space and Time" an entity mentioned in the Beast Wars Neo manga whom Heinrad works for. The two had previously been connected in The AllSpark Almanac II, where the constellation of the Chronarchitect in the Cybertronain Zodiac was a tanuki, Heinrad's alternate mode.

June 3:

Question 1: This question refers to the famous cover of issue #5 of the Marvel comic. Featuring Shockwave, the logo is combined with some text Shockwave has scorched across the wall, reading "THE TRANSFORMERS ARE ALL DEAD". I've already gone over the Knights of Unicron plenty at this point.

Question 2: The Transformer mentioned here with the piano alternate mode was seen in issue #82 of the Marvel UK comic. Piano keys are sometimes called ivories; elephant tusks and the like are made of ivory. Hence, Tusks. We'll see another Tusks in "Derailment". Scales was a Renegade lizard-creature with a F-1 racing car alternate mode, from GoBots. Scales are a concept in music; go read it on Wikipedia, I don't know much about music theory.

Question 3: Rage was a jellyfish Transformer, and ruler of planet Wednesday, seen in the Beast Wars Neo manga. She was given the English name "Rage" in "Broken Windshields". Cnidaria are the phylum to which jellyfish belong. Aurex 503.21 Gamma is the world of the short-lived Panini Armada comic. The Unicron Singularity (not the multiversal singularity of Unicron, but the black hole) was the overarching threat of the Cybertron series. Alpha Q, his realm and the planets in it, and the Energon Sun were all seen in Energon. Super Energon was also seen in that series, while Dark Energon was introduced in the "Aligned" continuity with the War for Cybertron video game. The War of the Waves was the name of a two-pack in the 2008 Universe toyline including Autobot Air Raid and Decepticon Storm Surge; it was also the name of a war mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II that took place on Antilla. Aurex 615.03 Epsilon is the world of this very post. A few of the other wars mentioned her also appeared in the aforementioned Almanac, and I'll go over which planets they took on in that universe as we go along. The War of the Mines took place on Vespa, referring to Rattrap's previous profession as a miner in the Vespa System, mentioned in Beast Wars episode "Dark Voyage". Purple worms, umber hulks, ankhegs, and xorns are all creatures from Dungeons & Dragons. The Ice Age War wasn't mentioned in the AAII; it comes from IDW Publishing's Hearts of Steel mini-series. The Data War takes its name from another Universe 2008 two-pack, this time with Clocker and Hardtop. It took place on Bk'n in the AAII. "Mechamorphs" refers to the Galvanic Mechamorphs, the species of Upgrade from Ben 10. The Colossus War appears to be a reference to an event from the Mobage Transformers Legends game entitled "The Colossus War". I've already gone over Rock Lords. The Elemental War is all new here, tying in with the Battle Beasts. Battle Beasts was a toyline released by Hasbro in 1986 featuring anthropomorphic cyborg animals; it was released the following year by Takara in Japan as Beastformers and tied to Transformers via appearances in The Headmasters cartoon. Each Beastformer had a "rubsign" depicting an elemental power of either fire, water, or wood. The Dust War was originally mentioned in the AAII, and took place in the Beta System, referring to a line from Kup in The Transformers: The Movie about the dust on Beta 4. Oni, tengu, and kappas are all creatures from Japanese myth. Beast Wars are obvious enough, and I've already gone over Alternity.

Question 4: this question is paraphrased from a line in UK sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, specifically from the Talkie Toaster in episode "White Hole".

June 4:

Question 1: The question refers to the end of Beast Machines.

Question 2: The Decepto-Packs were a "transforming" backpack of sorts sold by HG Toys, which could convert to a set of armor. Jim flexes his creative muscles here, giving the somewhat innocuous toy a horrific background. Primax 185.0 Beta takes its designation from the Decepto-Pack's release date. S.T.A.R.S. was the first ever Transformers fan club, which had its "story" told in pack-in mail-order flyers. Galvatron, usually depicted as the upgraded form of Megatron and leader of the Decepticons, had his function given as City Commander on his original tech specs. Dr. Arkeville and his Hypno-Chips were seen in the Sunbow season 1 three-parter, "The Ultimate Doom". Stroboscopic opticons were seen in issues #30 and #31 of the Marvel comic, in the latter of which the Decepticons used a car wash to brainwash humans into becoming their slaves. Gold Plastic Syndrome is a fan given name for a problem with several Transformers toys, in which the swirly gold plastic becomes brittle and eventually crumbles. Photodegradation, meanwhile, is a problem that affects white toys, where they become yellow and discolored over time. Galvatron's Decepticon Powerbase, and his plan to use a nuclear attack to absorb the resulting radiation for energon, was seen in the alternate future in issue #67 of the Marvel comic. Zod was a Renegade-aligned reptilian drone from GoBots; clones of him were created by Cy-Kill using the enslaved human race, as seen in the opening Challenge of the GoBots five-part mini-series, "Battle for GoBotron". The Quintesson Pan-Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere was an area of space ruled by the alien squids first mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II, named for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a concept created by Imperial Japan in the WWII era. The Terrorcons served Alpha Quintesson in the Energon cartoon and comic. Ratchet's identity as "The Autobot", and him teaming up with cyborg Dreadnoks (Cobra-aligned ruffians from G.I. Joe) in an alternate apocalyptic future is a reference to the G.I. Joe versus the Transformers II mini-series from Devil Due's Press. The Galvaburg II was the ship of Beast Wars II Galvatron and his Predacons. Galvatron's "Grand Galvatron" plot was seen in The Headmasters cartoon. The Galactic Council was introduced in the works of James Roberts for the original IDW Publishing comics continuity. Attached to this post is the model sheet for Zod.

Question 3: As with the question before it, the Terrorcons are linked more heavily with the Quintessons, with comparisons drawn between them and the Sharkticons/Allicons.

Question 4: Ratchet's party-loving attitude was a behavioral trait that never really showed up outside of his original tech specs.

June 5:

Question 1: This question goes over the origins of Planet X from the Cybertron cartoon. The energy pod-producing Planet X was mentioned in the sixth chapter of the Victory manga. Primax 994.0 Gamma is the world of the Fleetway Generation 2 comic; the Cybertronian Empire were introduced in the Marvel Generation 2 comic. The metal-eating insects are the Dorya, seen in Victory episode "The Death-Bringing Space Insects!!" Liege Maximo attempted to rise to godhood in Alignment. Jhiaxus was the Liege Centuro in the Generation 2 comics. Firecrest was a Cybertronian Empire member of the Primum Fugae, from Regeneration One. The Veteran is the Maximal and Predacon era Swoop, seen in the "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline. We learned the backstory relaid here about how the world was dying in Cybertron episode "Challenge". The term "X-Dimension" was introduced in the Japanese Micron Legend toyline, where most of the Mini-Con teams were sold in an alternate color scheme as [Team Name] X-Dimensions; The AllSpark Almanac II mentioned it in passing as a physical location.

Question 2: The Giant Purple Griffin was seen in Sunbow season two episode "Aerial Assault". A cartoon version of the griffin, named Pickles, appeared on the Burger-Bot placemat in The AllSpark Almanac II.

Question 3: We have a little crossover with the ANN pages here. Rook interviewed Rhinox a few weeks back. Beast Wars Rhinox and Cybertron Vector Prime were both voiced by Richard Newman. The human terrorist leader Vector refers to is Cobra Commander, who was voiced by Chris Latta in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, the same voice actor who played Starscream. Zeemon Magnus and the Great Purge were mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II; Zeemon Magnus is the Animated version of Super GoBot Zeemon, who was one of GoBotron's leaders in the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon. The Great Purge was initiated by Nova Magnus and his Protectons, in an attempt to get rid of all "undesirables" on Cybertron. Epistimus is the Cybertronian god of knowledge from IDW Publishing's continuity, and member of the Guiding Hand. Taurnotron was a member of the Covenant, a prototypical version of the Thirteen from the "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline. Triad is a card game from Battlestar Galactica. Dixosol is a Cybertronian day (we'll go over it more later), named after Sunbow writer Buzz Dixon. Bossbot was the nickname Cheetor gave to Optimus Primal in Beast Wars. Max-Lock is a reference to Matlock, a real-life legal drama and favorite of Grandpa Simpson from The Simpsons.

Question 4: Mechanimal is a term for Cybertronian animals that's popped up over the years; I'm not sure where it originated from. In some continuities, Ravage, Laserbeak, and the like are depicted as animals. Bob is an Insecticon, kept by Sunstreaker in the IDW Publishing comics. Action Masters came with transforming partners that turned into guns, many of which were animals. Nucleon is the substance that turns one into an Action Master.

One more little post, tying back into the crossover with Rook, where the Editor apologizes for Rook's behavior.

June 6:

Question 1: "Twilight's Last Gleaming"/Tyran 208.28 Epsilon was an alternate universe in the Titan Magazine Transformers comic, springing off from the 2007 Transformers film. In it, the AllSpark failed to kill Megatron, and empowered by it, he took over America. It ran for nearly 20 issues. The Fallen, Sentinel Prime, and Lockdown were the main villains of the 2007 film's sequels, Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, and Age of Extinction. The physical Covenant of Primus was seen in the Beast Wars two-part series finale, "Nemesis"; datatrax were introduced to the franchise in Beast Wars. Datatrax 223.1961 comes from the birthdate of Transformers author and writer of the "Twilight's Last Gleaming" storyline Simon Furman, March 22, 1961. "It Never Ends" is a phrase he uses often in his story.

Question 2: There's some real-world physics ideas here-go read about it elsewhere, I'm not a physicist. During an AllSpark fueled rant in his college classroom, Sam Witwicky mentioned there was 17 basic dimensions in the universe, as seen in Revenge of the Fallen.

Question 3: You probably know Arcee. Flamewar was a fanatical Decepticon dedicated to restoring the faction to its former glory. She first appeared at BotCon 2005 as a redeco of Energon Arcee; a Prime version of her was made as a redeco of the Cyberverse Legion-class Arcee toy, whose bio depicted her as a fanatic obsessed with Arcee and destroying her.

Question 4: Megatron defected to the Autobots in IDW Publishing's More than Meets they Eye. We'll see Megatron's road continue until the continuity's final publications in 2018...though again, whether it was a good exploration depends on who you ask.

June 7:

Question 1: This question is talking about Energon Omega Supreme, who was a Headmaster. Omega only got a name in Japan; more blending of the Mini-Con/Micromaster/Cyberdroid. The Omega Sentinel was a redeco of Omega Supreme from the Energon toyline, based on the blue and white Guardian robots from the Sunbow cartoon, to which Omega Surpeme belonged. The "Guardian" name is obviously derived from "Guardian robots". The Omega Sentinel backstory here follows Aaron Archer's plans for the toy; his tech specs made him an individual. We'll get back to that.

Question 2: This answer was one by Jesse Wittenrich, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, it had been forgotten that the TransTech prose stories showed that Axiom Nexus did have organics living in it, with the TransTech easily able to replicate necessary environments for them. Thankfully, this was quickly pointed out, and the Editor steps into to correct Vector.

Question 3: I've gone over Pretenders. Holomatter avatars were introduced in the first mini-series of IDW Publishing's comic continuity, Infiltration. They are hard-light constructs, used by Cybertronians to give the illusion that they have the driver, and to enter locations where they're physically incapable of fitting in.

Question 4: The Lambda concept was introduced in The Complete AllSpark Almanac; it covers all the various illustrations in the Transformers franchise, whether it be comic covers, DVD box art, story pages, lithographs, and more. The idea that they're more easily able to brush with the Omniverse probable comes from the fact that a lot of comic covers and illustrations from IDW Publishing, Fun Publications, various Japanese companies, and more feature Transformers interacting with external properties.

June 8:

Question 1: The Universe war was the storyline for the 2003 Universe toyline, told in the unfinished 3H Productions comic. I'll make a note here; in these Facebook pages, the TransTech are depicted in a way that, for all their advancements, they're a bit inept. Jim once likened it to how despite modern day humanity's technology being more advanced that say, the technology from a few thousand years ago, we're still fundamentally the same.

Question 2: This answer goes into a backstory for Planet X given by the liner notes in the Galaxy Force DVD, which doesn't really make sense with what the show presented. The notes claimed that Planet X was the body of Unicron after having much of his energy absorbed by Cybertron Megatron, using the bodies of Transformers he had devoured to create new minions. Aurex 105.08 Alpha is the world of the Galaxy Force anime. Primax 886.0 Gamma is the world Marvel Comics adaptation of The Transformers: The Movie. Tyran 609.08 Kappa is the world of the Revenge of the Fallen video game. The Tenth Planet is the location where Violen Jiger was created from the souls of dead Decepticons in Zone; it's implied here that he was the result of Unicron's revival of the Cybertronians he consumed. The Star Harvester was seen in both the mobile game and the Revenge of the Fallen film; "binary end-state universe" refers to how you either one the game and stopped (Movieverse) Megatron, or lost as Megatron destroyed Earth's sun. Primax 290.0 Zeta is the world of the Zone story pages; the Zodiac and the paradise planet created from Planet X were seen in those story pages. Gigalonia is the Japanese name for Gigantion, the Giant Planet from Cybertron.

Question 3: To the point. We too, saw how Nightscream and Botanica originally looked in flashback in Beast Machines episodes "Forbidden Fruit" and "Home Soil"; they were mostly generic robots.

Question 4: Apophenia was a city mentioned in issue #9 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. It's also a real-world concept, where one sees connections in meaningless or random data. Some self-critique there, Vector? /:)

June 9:

Question 1: The Cataclysm that was destroyed the Challenge of the GoBots universe was seen in "Withered Hope".

Question 2: The Shattered Glass pacifist Quintesson Aquarius' companion, whom he nicknamed "Dorothy" in a big The Wizard of Oz metaphor, was seen in installments 6 and 12 of the Transformers I.Q. feature in the Club magazine. Based on the partner released with the Diaclone toy that would become Sunstreaker, she is given the name Chifumi Takahashi here. The nickname is derived from the Diaclone toy's desgination, the "Countach LP500S", and the fact that it turns into a Lamborghini Countach. The Cymond cluster is new here; it covers the various pre-Transformers and related toylines from Takara and Tomy. Cymond's name is derived from "Cyclone Diamond", much the same way Diaclone is.

Question 3: Reverse pretender technology is an idea from The AllSpark Almanac, a name given to parts of the commercials for the 1986 range of toys in the original toyline, where a kid would transform into Ultra Magnus, Galvatron, and the like. The negative-universe versions of Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster used the technology to imitate Decepticons, so as to facilitate their interviews with the more dangerous faction. Mega Pretenders are Pretenders who shells convert to alternate modes and can combine with the inner robot to form a super vehicle. Ultra Pretenders are Pretenders whose shells can transform, and who come with a bigger vehicular shell. Pretender Vehicles are Pretenders with a vehicular shell. And the Double Pretenders were a pair of unreleased Pretenders patterned after a gorilla and spider, whose shells hid two robots. The BotCon 2015 exclusive Oilmaster is the identity given to the gorilla by the e-HOBBY comic "Badlands", published with the Generations Magnificus toy.

Question 4: One of the hallmarks of the Marvel UK comic, the letters page was hosted by actual Transformers-including Soundwave, Ratchet, Grimlock, Dreadwind, and Blaster. The universal stream designation, Primax 785.13 Zeta, is taken from the first installment of "Soundwaves" in issue #22 of the comic.

Question 5: Different pieces of Transformers media depicts time travel in different ways. The Flaternity, or Planicrons, were Transformers from a two-dimensional universe, evolved into a higher-dimensional being from the Alternity storyline. I've already gone over the Dead Universe and the Elder Gods. Time is the fourth dimension.

June 10:

Question 1: As stated previously, the Covenant were a prototypical version of the Thirteen from the "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline. In the prose story "Covenant", they were revealed to be a "dry run" by Primus, created by the Transformers race, on the moon of Protos. The planet which Protos orbits, Methusula, is named for Methuselah from the Book of Genesis, grandfather of Noah and the oldest figure mentioned in the Bible. "Trans-dimensional harmonic resonance" is basically technobabble for "characters looking similar and acting similar in different stories". Primon, again, was inexplicably mentioned in the "Reaching the Omega Point" story "Covenant", an outlier in the line of Primes established by the author of the story, Simon Furman. The AllSpark Almanac II connected him to the "Ancient Robot" seen in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4", who had a prototypical version of the Autobot symbol on his head-hence the term, Ancient Autobot. Primacron and his assistant were seen in Sunbow season three episode "Call of the Primitives"; The AllSpark Almanac II established that Primacron's lab was on Protos in the Animated universe, and the same is true here. Japanese continuity has retroactively made Primacron's assistant their version of the Transformers creator-god, Primus.

Question 2: This question refers to a scene in Ben 10: Omniverse episode "The More Things Change, Part 2". Onboard the alien bounty hunter Khyber's ship, one can see the sword of Animated Grimlock, and the hook arm of Animated Lockdown. Derrick J. Wyatt served on both Transformers: Animated and Ben 10: Omniverse as art director. Jim is a big fan of the Ben 10 franchise. Benjamin Kirby Tennyson is the titular hero's full name; he has been seen to travel dimensions a fair few times, including in Omniverse and the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien crossover with fellow Cartoon Network and Man of Action show, Generator Rex. Vector Prime refers to "species and musical ensembles" in the multiverse drifting over from the realities of Ben; the post about the Alpha Q universe’s Beast Wars mentioned mechamorphs, after Galvanic Mechamorphs, species of Upgrade, one of Ben's first ten aliens. The musical ensemble bit refers to Shag Carpeting, favorite band of Ben 10's grandfather Max, which were mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac.

Question 3: Transformers based on Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Fly were part of the proposed "Vintage Horror Movie Series", revealed in the Transformers Generations Deluxe book. A subline for the original toyline, the toys never made it past the concept art stage. Likely, this was due to legal reasons; while Dracula is in the public domain, the rights for Creature from the Black Lagoon belonged to Universal, and the rights to The Fly belonged to 20th Century Fox.

Question 4: UniKREON was the Kre-O version of Unicron, mentioned in the online bio for Kre-O Micro-Changers Galvatron.

June 11:

Question 1: In both the IDW Publishing comics continuity (thanks to retconning) and the Aligned continuity (specifically the world of the novels are mentioned here), the Decepticons started off as a rebellion against a corrupt government. Vector spits some straight fire here. "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" and "peace through tyranny" are the mottos of Generation 1 Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Question 2: Zarak Maximus was a generic Decepticon seen in the original commercial for the Micromaster transports; his character model was an amalgamation of Fortress Maximus, Cerebros, and Scorponok. Zone was introduced as the Planet Micro in Victory, home of the Micromasters; it was renamed Zone in the franchise of the same name. Primax 1086.0 Kappa is the world of the Commodore 64 video game, The Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth. For some unknown reason, the game depicts Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime as two separate characters. The Nebulans battle against the Cybertronians is reminiscent of their relations depicted in the Marvel Headmasters comic, though the Decepticons also arrived at the same time, and both sides were wiped out. Zarak, Scorponok's Headmaster partner in other continuities, is given the full name of "Mortilus Zarak" here. In IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Ultra Magnus, he was given the full name "Mo Zarak". Mortilus, as mentioned previously, is the Cybertronian god of death from the Guiding Hand pantheon, introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye comic series. The Arvassian mountain range was seen in the Marvel Headmasters comic. Grax is the Headmaster partner of Skullcruncher; he was established to own several communications facilities in the Marvel comic. Vorath was the Headmaster partner of Mindwipe, while Hi-Test was the Powermaster partner of Dreadwind. Llyra was the daughter of Zarak, seen in the Marvel Headmasters comic. Olin Zarak was introduced as Zarak's son and Llyra's half brother in the Wings Universe material for BotCon 2014; he was depicted as Llyra's son, rather than half-brother, in the Beast Wars: Uprising stories. Bio Ranger Iga was one romanization for Violen Jiger's name, before it was confirmed. Micropolis might be named for the city from the Micronauts toyline. Zodiac energy comes from Zone. The Thirteen Great Demon Generals are this universe's version of the Nine Great Demon Generals from Zone.

Question 3: We'll see more of Vec-Tor later. Go-Being is a term from the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon.

Question 4: The disco ball Transformer was mentioned in the original Ask Vector Prime; she's established to be female here. A shame she never got a name; Inferno would fit perfectly!

June 12:

Question 1: Xal was an entity mentioned by Cybertronian Empire commander Mindset in issue #9 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic. He appeared on the Zodiac chart in The AllSpark Almanac II. Being the first Seeker would fit for him, given the most famous Seeker, Starscream, is something of a trickster. It's possibly Furman meant for Xal to be another name for the Liege. Coming from beyond the Omniverse probably means he might another trickster, perhaps Loki or Coyote.

Question 2: Another one with input from Monzo. I've gone over Megatronus, the Liege Maximo, and Logos plenty at this point. Hytherion too. Dr. Herman Manglar comes from Inhumanoids, an evil scientist who died and was resurrected by D'Compose to become the monstrous Nightcrawler. The planeswalker Tirac and his Rainbow of Darkness comes from My Little Pony. Koh-Buru-Lah is a monstrous eldritch god inspired by the ancient civilization of Cobra-La (from G.I. Joe: The Movie), introduced in IDW Publishing's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe maxi-series, by Tom Scioli and John Barber. Horri-Bull was a Decepticon Headmaster with a monstrous bull-like alternate mode, from the fifth year of the original toyline. His tech specs described how he was always dripping and venting noxious odors.

Question 3: This guy's probably asking about Metallikatto and the like-Transformers martial arts whose names don't give obvious counterparts, like Circuit-Su. Jet judo was mentioned in Sunbow season one episode "Roll for It".

Question 4: Transformers GT: Mission GT-R was a 2013 toyline from TakaraTomy. Created in collaboration with the Super GT racing series, it featured four toys, all retooled from Alternity Optimus Prime with new racing parts, and a GT Sister, a Microman-like posable figure, explained in-fiction as being a personification of the Transformer's "spirit", specifically the portion containing their wisdom. The backstory for this toyline was told in pack-in text stories, a one-shot manga from Kerokero Ace, and a series of story pages from Dengeki Hobby, in which they told how the war was replaced with a bloodless racing competition. Vector Prime will go in-depth later on about how streams that are both their own thing and part of something else work...

June 13:

Question 1: Starriors was a 1984 toyline from Tomy, featuring a range of robots with various gimmicks, such as built-in weapons like drills or buzzsaws, transforming robots, and large, motorized animalistic robots. Vector obviously mixed them up with Star Wars; the Lukas Cluster is the cluster containing Star Wars Transformers and Crossovers, where the vehicles of various characters could transform into mechs. The Lukas Cluster was originally mentioned in The Complete AllSpark Almanac. Obviously, the barrier between it and the multiverse probably comes from the fact that most of it is outside the multiverse. Jim has told me that if he had done it later on, they would have just been a part of the Iocus cluster.

Question 2: "Worlds Without End, Part 1" and "Worlds Without End, Part 2" were a two-parter from the first season of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, where several Joes were transported to an alternate world during an experimental weapons test, where Cobra had defeated the Joes and ruled the world, the world of (As described here) Primax 1185.04 Alpha. Both of the Sunbow cartoons for The Transformers and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero were indicated to be connected, mostly in the former, thanks to little easter eggs in season two and more explicit stuff in season three. As with the "More than Meets the Eye" three-parter, the Transformers on the Autobots’ spacecraft were woken up when Mt. Saint Hilary erupted. The M.A.S.S. Device was a Cobra-built teleportation device from the first five-part miniseries for the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon, "The M.A.S.S. Device". The Weather Dominator was a device built by Destro for Cobra from the second five-part miniseries, "The Revenge of Cobra". The underground resistance force mentioned here is the remnants of G.I. Joe, along with Cobra double agents like the Baroness. The Insecticons were part of the initial Decepticon forces separated from the others when they boarded an escape pod, as seen in "A Plague of Insecticons". Skyfire had journeyed to Earth and gotten buried in the Arctic a few million years before the Autobots and Decepticons landed, as revealed in "Fire in the Sky". The Constructicons entered the war in "Heavy Metal War". The Pyramids of Darkness were Cobra-built weapons from the third five-part miniseries and opening of season one, "The Pyramids of Darkness". Dr. Arkeville was a mad scientist and Decepticon ally from the three-part "The Ultimate Doom" and "Countdown to Extinction". Dr. Lucifer was a Cobra-aligned mad scientist from the season one episode "Cobra's Creatures". In the main timeline, Megatron created the Space Bridge in "Transport to Oblivion". The Sub-Atlanticans and their magnetic dysfunction ray were seen in The Transformers season two episode "Atlantis, Arise!" The genetically modified Cobra troopers with gills were seen being developed in the season one episode "Memories of Mara". Megatron was locked in his pistol alternate mode and brandished by Cobra Commander in the Devil's Due Press comic miniseries, G.I. Joe vs the Transformers. I've gone over the Alternity plenty. Attached to the post are the animation models for the Weather Dominator and the M.A.S.S. Device, collected by Jim and Bill for their book, the G.I. Joe Field Manual.

Question 3: The "Aligned" version of Vector Prime had a beard.

Question 4: Yatter was the Transformers version of Twitter, introduced in the Shattered Glass prose story "Eye in the Sky". AskVectorPrime is a real twitter account-it's still up, as well!

June 14:

Question 1: The Megatron mentioned to here is Sports Label Megatron, a Transformer who turned into a shoe as part of a Nike tie-in. Soundwave transformed into a Cybertronain lamp post in the first Sunbow cartoon episode, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". In the 2007 Transformers film, a Mountain Dew vending machine was turned into a Transformer when the AllSpark fell on the ground, unleashing a wave of energy; Hasbro would later give him the name Dispensor.

Question 2: This question refers to a line in the humorous script reading "Visitations" where, after Megatron learns that Antagony found him via Ben Yee's website, Megatron murders him. Wonko the Sane was his online screenname at the time, taken from a character in the Douglas Adam's novel So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Raksha was a Transformers fan from the 90's, known mainly for her love of the Decepticons and her distaste for the Beast Wars cartoon; she was mentioned by Megatron as her "greatest enemy" in "Visitations". The AllSpark Almanac II had given the stream designation for "Visitations" as Primax 698.20 Theta, but being a BotCon script reading, Epsilon equally works for it. The AllSpark Almanac II originally gave the mirror universe seen in Challenge of the GoBots episode "Transfer Point" the designation Gargent -1084.22 Alpha; The Complete AllSpark Almanac would correct it to Gargent -1185.01 Alpha.

Question 3: Obviously, the question asker meant "event". The Steelhaven was Fortress Maximus and his Autobot's ship from the Marvel comic. Nebulite is a metal found on Nebulos, from the Ladybird Books story "Decepticons Underground".

Question 4: We round out the rest of the multiversal Thirteen here. I've already gone over Nexus Prime, Solus Prime, Prima, Logos Prime, Megatrons, and the Liege Maximo. Onyx Prime, Alchemist Prime, and Micronus Prime come from the "Aligned" continuity; Onyx and Micronus were introduced in The Covenant of Primus, while Alchemist was mentioned in Exiles. Epistimus and Solomus were part of the Guiding Hand, from IDW Publishing's comic continuity. Onyx was the first bestial Transformer. Alcehmist Prime is implied to be Maccadam, proprietor of the neutral Maccadam's Old Oil House from the Marvel UK comics, who had been hinted to be a Thirteen member in several pieces of prior media. Alchemist's connection to the bartender stems from both the fact that, according to the "Aligned" novels, he was the only Prime besides Alpha Trion to remain on Cybertron after the others had left, and Galvatron's description of his consumption of "rancid engex" in The Transformers #35. Autonomous Maximus, as would later be confirmed, is the Last Autobot seen in the final two issues of the original Marvel comic, who stood sentinel down in the depths of Cybertron. Alpha Trion, Quintus Prime, Amalgamous Prime, and the Thirteenth, would be reincarnated as Optimus Prime, were all part of the "Aligned" Thirteen. Alpha Trion was introduced in the Sunbow cartoon episode "The Search for Alpha Trion", and the Aligned version of him was revealed to be a member of the Thirteen. Amalgamous was mentioned in Exiles. while Quintus was mentioned in The Covenant of Primus; the final Prime was revealed to be Optimus in a former life in that book, and both the Liege and Solus were revealed to be killed during conflicts amongst the siblings. This is the first time it has been explicitly stated that Logos was driven mad by the Hytherion; the fourth chapter of Beast Wars Reborn mentioned a "beast of time", presumably the Hytherion.

Question 4: Part of the 2010 Transformers toyline, Pan-Handler, Brake-Neck, Drivetrain, and Swashplate were Mini-Cons sold at stores like Family Dollar. Pan-Handler was redecoed from Classics Mini-Con Sledge, while Brake-Neck, Drivetrain, and Swashplate were redecoed from Cybertron Six-Speed, Reverb, and Jolt, of the Recon Mini-Con Team. Aurex 503.01 Gamma is the world of the Linkage manga, packed in with the DVDs for Micron Legend.

June 15:

Question 1: So Calvin Johnson.

Question 2: In the Energon cartoon, Superion Maximus had an identical brother who never received a name until now. They guarded the Super Energon Temple.

Question 3: Johnny Five, from the Short Circuit films, showed up on the Maccadam's Old Oil House menu in The AllSpark Almanac II.

Question 4: Diaclone and Micro Change were the two main toylines from which the toy molds from the first two or so years of The Transformers toys were sourced. I've already gone over Brave and Starriors. The Deluxe Insecticons’ molds came from the Armored Insect Battalion Beetras toyline. Roadbuster and Whirl's toys came from the Armored Trooper Dorvack toyline. The toy that became Omega Supreme was originally released by Toybox as "Super Change Robo Mechabot-1". Jetfire's toy was originally the VF-1S Super Valkyrie from Macross. Zoids was a line of mechanized robotic animals released by Tomy. Cymond 772.0 Beta is the world of the Henshin Cyborg, Kronoform, and Diakron; the former was Takara's creation based on the original 12-inch G.I. Joe toys, which later evolved and downsized into Microman, while the latter two were Takara's attempt to sell Diaclone and Microman toylines in America, before partnering with Hasbro for The Transformers. The Originators and the Terminators were the good guys and bad guys from Kronoform. The Big Crunch is one of the end of the universe scenarios, where eventually expansion stops and reverse, all of time and space collapsing into a single point. Cymond 381.0 Beta is the world of the New Microman toyline, including Micro Change. These toyline contained much of the molds that would be used for The Transformers, thus their labeling as linear ancestors here. Cymond 1184.0 Gamma is the world of the Marvel Starriors comic-Wastors, Cosmittors, and Trashors are all types of Starrior. Cymond 290.03 Alpha is the world of the Brave Exkaiser anime; the various Brave toylines reused several molds from The Transformers. Cymond 999.04 Alpha is the world of the Zoids: Chaotic Century anime; the mirror-universe Bill Forster's disguise as a Decepticon, Megadeath, turned into a Guylos EX-038 Assault Craft, or an "Elephander", from Zoids. The abrupt acosmogenesis event here, between the universe spawning of Beast Wars Reborn and Hearts of Steel, refers to the merger between Takara and Tomy, which happened between those two series being published. The idea of the Megaverse comes from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe-the Megaverse covers series published by them that don't really fit into the main Multiversal model, such as the New Universe or the Ultraverse. More foreshadowing for the events of "Another Light" here, with reference to Nexus Prime's "drastic actions".

June 16:

Question 1: A more direct answer is "it isn't." In the 2007 Transformers film, Sam Witwicky accidentally dropped the AllSpark, which sent out a wave of energy that brought a steering wheel, a X-Box 360, and a Mountain Dew vending machine to life. Several pieces of tie-in media, like the novel and some children's books, indicated that it also brought to life other things we didn't see onscreen.

Question 2: Phreaker was seen several times in the Cybertron cartoon, hanging out with Signal Lancer. Phreaking is basically computer hacking, but for phones.

Question 3: The letters page for the Titan Transformers comic indicated Furman was a Maximal.

Question 4: The Vok were enigmatic aliens from the Beast Wars cartoon; their home, Nexus Zero, was seen in "Other Victories". The "Primeval Dawn" back-up strip from the 3H Productions Wreckers comic indicated that the Vok, the aliens from the Beast Wars cartoon, served the One, the "sentient core of the multiverse". The idea that they were descended from the Swarm, from Marvel's Generation 2, was Larry DiTillo's idea, which was canonized in "Primeval Dawn". Oxide sharks were mentioned in the online bio for 2010 Transformers release of the Legends-class Revenge of the Fallen Devastator toy, exclusive to Toys R Us. The Sentient Core comes from the Marvel comic- it was mentioned in both issues #61 and #74. The Time Walker is the Chronarchitect, whom I've gone over before-the title of "Time Walker" was mentioned in the BotCon 2000 comic, "Terminus". The idea of the five-god pantheon the Guiding Hand, from IDW Publishing's comic continuity, is linked to the five-faced aliens the Quintessons. The idea that the One either splits into seven or thirteen references both the Dynasty of Primes from Revenge of the Fallen, of which there were seven, and the Thirteen. The idea of the Light Gods and Dark Lords comes from the origin story of Unicron and Primus told to Death's Head, from issue #150 of the Marvel UK comic. The first issue of the Marvel comic claimed that Transformers evolved from naturally occurring levers, pulleys, and gears, which was given the name "atechnogenesis" in the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye guidebooks. The "music of the spheres" or musica universalis is an ancient philosophical concept, which posits the proportions in the movements of celestial bodies as a kind of music.

June 17:

Question 1: "Christmas Maximus" and the arrogant officer were seen in Armada episode "Past", who reused the models of The Headmasters Fortress Maximus and Sureshot. Peritus Maximus is takes his name from an adviser role in the Catholic Church, seemingly in reference to the More than Meets the Eye character Pious Maximus, who was thought to be a homage to "Christmas Maximus" until the artists behind him said otherwise. Sentinel Minor is named for another blue and orange jerk, Animated Sentinel Prime, who was known as Sentinel Minor when he was a boot camp instructor, as seen in "Autoboot Camp".

Question 2: Fracture was a Walmart exclusive redeco of Classics Mirage, sold in the 2007 live-action movie Transformers toyline. Colored in homage to GoBots Crasher, she was initially intended for the 2008 Universe toyline, where her bio would have indicated her to be the same character. Vector canonizes that intention here, also clarifying that all the Cybertronian Fractures seen in other live-action movie media were created after she entered her Tyran stream; "he Tyran Cluster realities are so volatile that she was quickly split and duplicated and copied across multiple streams, many of which have subtle differences" refers to the various adaptations and backstories based around the movies, all of which follow the same basic plotline. Other Cybertronian versions of Crasher have appeared in other media, such as IDW Publishing's Megatron Origin, and a mention of one who might have been the original Crasher in The AllSpark Almanac II.

Question 3: Hoo, boy. Okay, so a lot of this goes over my head. The definition of a solar cycle in the Animated universe was given in The AllSpark Almanac. Animated takes place roughly 50 years in the future compared to the movies and the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon. Many Cybertrons have no sun, like the one in the Marvel comic.

Question 4: The Ruler of Time and Space from the Beast Wars Neo manga, who has previously been connected to the Chronarchitect, was said to be the creator of the universe. The Creator was a figure mentioned in the Cloud text stories-this is our first mention of a Cloud Heinrad, who served the Ruler of Time and Space.

June 18:

Question 1: Interpretive morphing was mentioned in the Andromeda post on Cybertron's Got Talent. Don't think any of the others come from anything. Not sure what the use of skinning means here, perhaps similar to the idea of "skinning" in computer animation; a Cybertronian projecting anything they want on their environment.

Question 2: Nothing too notable here.

June 19:

Question 1: The Cybertronian calendar system was introduced in The AllSpark Almanac II. The Marvel The Transformers comic, again, featured a free-floating Cybertron. The Gregevorian Calendar takes its name from both the real-world Gregorian Calendar, and the Romanized English name put on the packaging for Adventure Greejeeber. The days are all taken from various writers on the cartoon from the franchise. In the order on the post, there is: Flint Dille (Dillesol), Steve Gerber (Gerbesol), Paul Davids (Davisol), Bryce Malek (Maleksol), Christy Marx (Marxsol), Donald F. Glut (Glutsol), Robbisol (Dick Robbins), Marv Wolfman (Wolsol), Buzz Dixon (Dixosol), and David Wise (Wisesol), Hadeen is the sun of Cybertron, mentioned in Alignment and canonized in The AllSpark Almanac II. Months include: Ferruneon (“Ferrum” is Latin for “iron”), Navitaneon (from the NAVI computers in the Japanese Beast Wars cartoons), Primaneon (obviously from), Inrituneon (unknown), Chokoneon (from Chokon Power, the mysterious energy of Super-God Masterforce), Zetcaneon (a Godmaster warrior from the Super-God Masterforce toyline), Boltaneon (from Boltax, guardian of the Underbase in the Marvel The Transformers comic), Rokuneon and Heptaneon (“roku” is Japanese for “six” and “hepta” is Greek for “seven”), and Bahneon (unknown).

June 20:

Question 1: LOL.

June 21:

Question 1: T-AI was the Autobot's computer assistant from the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon. I have no idea what the question asker is talking about-Kiss Players, maybe?

Question 2: Mechanometers were a unit of measurement mentioned in Sunbow season two "City of Steel".

Both Masterpiece MP-01 and MP-10 Optimus Prime did come with a Matrix of Leadership accessory.

June 22:

Question 1: Derrick J. Wyatt, art director for Animated, has mentioned the Church of Primus in his various social media posts.

Question 2: The Japanese cartoon timeline is a long and winding series of fiction, still having stories published in it to this day. Primax 785.06 Alpha is the world of the Japanese dub of the Sunbow cartoon, known as Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers. Primax 1206.0 Beta and Primax 807.11 Zeta are the two worlds for both versions of the Japanese Generation 1 timeline, published with slight differences in both the Kiss Players Autorooper toy and the Kiss Players/15 Go! Go! manga collection. Scorponok/MegaZarak destroyed Cybertron in The Headmasters episode "Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2". Cybertron was called the "stable axis of the multiverse" by Ramjet in "Balancing Act, Part 2".

June 23:

Question 1: The Brainmasters were the main Autobot gimmick of the toyline accompanying the Victory cartoon. Star Saber, along with the three components of Road Caesar, each came with a small robot. When the figure was turned into robot mode, the small robot would go into a slot in the larger figure's chest. When the hatch was closed, the figure would be pushed up on, filling in the head and brain of the larger figure. This backstory here was never relayed in any of the original Victory fiction, but thanks to Japanese Transformers fan extraordinaire Hirofumi Ichikawa, it has been brought to light for the first time. From Jim:

"I will admit to being rather pleased with myself on this one. Hirofumi unearthed some interviews with the production staff, and this was the original idea for the gimmick. Takara thought it would be too confusing for kids, so it never got used in the context of the show or the manga. I thought it was very cool and was happy to get a chance to share it in the context of AVP."

They're sort of a reverse-Headmaster; the smaller robot is Transtector into which the bigger robot downloads their consciousness. Nouha Bunshin Program roughly means "Brainwave Offshoot Self Program". Burein Kinō means "Brain Power"; the idea that their brainwaves and thus their intelligence, skill, courage etc. were boosted by the Brainmaster process was relayed by Holi in Victory episode "Attack! Leozack". Uchū Bōei Gun translates to "Galactic Defense Force", the military wing of the Galactic Peace Alliance from Victory. Kirk, Trizer, and Shuffler are members of the Headmaster Teens, Headmasters with no Transtector bodies of their own, whose fictional appearances depicted them as still being "in training". They were sold individually in the toyline and had only one sole appearance in The Headmasters cartoon.

Question 2: The previous question about Energon Omega Sentinel had some pedants whine about how his tech specs depicted him as an individual. So, Vector in turn tells them they're also right and to shut up. The Guardians of Cybertron were mentioned in his tech specs, and I believe, in the Energon cartoon. Aurex 604.0 Beta is the universe of these tech specs.

Question 3: A bit more into the Nexus stream; turns out Axiom Nexus and the TransTech are nigh-unique. Wars are still less common, but technological advancement is unevenly distributed. The fact that the TransTech are in the top 1% of the Nexus cluster is a riff on the top 1% of wealth in America, the richest of the rich who make more money in minutes than the people on the bottom do in their entire lifetime.. The Malignus, as I previously noted, were the bad guy faction from Estrela's imported The Transformers toyline, created from the Mini-Bots Brawn, Gears, and Windcharger as Jipe, Pick-Up, and Camaro. The Terrakors were the bad guy faction from Robotix. We will eventually see a negative polarity TransTech universe...

Question 4: The original Cybertron cartoon Backstop was an Autobot-aligned rhinoceros from the Jungle Planet. A Backstop was mentioned in the Wings Universe Facebook page Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur, as a member of the Wreckers. The other Aurex Backstop Vector is thinking of is the Mini-Con backhoe from the 2008 Universe toyline, sold as part of the K-mart exclusive "Mini-Con Class 12 Pack".

June 24:

Question 1: This post was written with assistance from Simon Furman, who introduced the "Rhythms of Darkness"/Primax 490.0 Gamma universe from which Galvatron II hailed in issue #67 of the Marvel The Transformers comic. At the end of that issue, Galvatron II (his name as given in the pseudo-canonical novella Alignment) was snatched from his universe by Hook, Line, and Sinker to serve the main Marvel Comics universe's Unicron. And so, from the final pages of that issue, this post goes on to tell how New York and all of Earth were freed from the Decepticons. The Confederation of Terran Worlds had been set up by the Beast Wars: Uprising prose stories already released; the highly evolved society of the human race. They too, were formed partially because of a Galvatron-funny, then, how their relations with Cybertronians are so different. Galvatron II noted that he was given Earth after Unicron destroyed Cybertron. You probably know about Nebulos at this point; Nebulos is also a huge deal in the Beast Wars: Uprising stories with the CTW and Cybertron. The Cybertronian Empire were the main antagonists of the Marvel Generation 2 comic, resulted from the "budding" process of Reproduction that diluted the presence of Primus within them. The Liege Maximo was their ruler; Jhiaxus, a high-ranking officer known as the Liege Centuro. The "vast network of planets" mentioned here was seen throughout the series, planets cyberformed to become new Cybertrons as part of the Hub, the occult geometry of which would allow him to ascend to the astral plane. The prophecy mentioned here was told by the Keeper in issue #61 of the Marvel comic. The trio mentioned here Jazz, Prowl, and Inferno, the last three Autobots seen alive at the end of issue #67. The prison moon of Styx was seen in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Hot Rod; a penal colony containing Autobot prisoners of war and Decepticon deserters and traitors. It's named for the river in the Underworld of Greek mythology. Evidently, the Liege Maximo used the Hub to rise to the astral plane to face off against Unicron.

Question 2: Convoy was the Japanese name for Optimus Prime, and thus, following that, Prime's would be called Convoys in Japan-Rodimus Convoy, Lio Convoy, Big Convoy, Fire Convoy, etc. Nexus Prime was originally called Nexus Maximus, due to Hasbro's wishes that there would not be too many Primes. When it turned out that he shared a name with a dildo, this was quickly changed. Maximo is obviously derived from the Liege Maximo. Vector Prima-Vectorum is the name of Animated Vector Prime, according to Derrick J. Wyatt. Hermes was the messenger of the Gods from Greek mythology; remember this, it becomes important later.

Question 3: In 2014, TakaraTomy released a redeco of the Masterpiece MP-10 Optimus Prime in the green and purple colors of Eva-01 as part of Transformers x Evangelion crossover with the seminal anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Accompanying this toy were four online prose stories, the universe of which is given here. Angels were the alien antagonists of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Question 4: The Mega-Blaster was seen in a....confusing image from the Transformers: Generation 2 Coloring and Activity Book "Autobot's Advantage", where Starscream and five nigh-identical duplicates were seen above the Earth as explosions ripped across the continents. The Z Foundation was a front created by Lord Zarak and his Decepticon-aligned Nebulons seen in issue #46 of the Marvel comic.

Question 5: Hoo boy. So, to clarify: in 1987, Cyclonus' toy was re-released with a Targetmaster partner, named Nightstick. At least, that was the case in America. In the Japanese toyline tying in with The Headmasters cartoon, Targetmaster Cyclonus was not released, and instead the Nightstick toy, using the same name, was released with the Autobot Artfire. To make matters more confusing, Artfire's fellow Japanese-exclusive Targetmaster, Stepper, known by his English name Ricochet, was released in America in Commemorative Series line of reissues...with his partner, Nebulon, renamed as Nightstick. Vector ignores this confusion and just talks about Bumblebees instead. We'll get a little bit into the Nightstick thing in later Beast Wars: Uprising stories.

June 25th:

Question 1: This question is a reference to a running gag in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, talking about the bird swallow. Vector confuses them with eating and er...oral sex. Mile high club, anyone?

Question 2: Getting back to Ragnarok, his name is made even more poignant, a cycle of death and rebirth like that of Norse mythology. The multiples are all revealed to be him, as well, due to his special powers. Starscream's ghost from the third season of the Sunbow cartoon was explained in Beast Wars to be the result of his mutant indestructible spark. Starscream is called an "argent ouroboros"; the early version of Starscream's The Transformers Universe profile published in The Transformers Comic Magazine gave him the nickname "Silver Snake". For those of you who don't know, the ouroboros is a symbol dating back to ancient Egypt, a snake eating its own tail. Outliers was a term from IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye, the name for the special superpowers exhibited by Transformers, like Trailbreaker's forcefield or Windcharger's magnets. Ragnarok's abilities are compared to budding, a mitotic form of reproduction from the Marvel Generation 2 comics. CNA is the name for Cybertronian genetic material, a concept that's existed since Marvel's Generation 2 but which wasn't given that name until IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Arcee. The laser core is something of an early form of the spark concept, mentioned in several episodes of the Sunbow cartoon.

Question 3: This is something that's never really been explored in Transformers fiction. Obviously, beast mode Transformers have their eyes at the location the animals they're based on have it. In the Big Looker Storybooks, Earl Norem would draw Transformers as having "eyes" in their headlights, and other fiction has indicated much the same. The Sunbow cartoon episode "The Ultimate Doom, Part 2" had Optimus "reverse the polarity" of his windshield during a thunderstorm, indicating he saw out of them. In the Animated short, "Career Day", Optimus explained to a bunch of school children that Cybertronians have a visual network lined throughout their vehicle modes, while the Shattered Glass prose story "Blitzwing Bop" indicated that the titular character had a sensor package in his headlights. "Proprioception" is one’s sense of their body in relation of the position of its parts.

Question 4: Energon Z comes from the Japanese Zone OVA and story pages. Stanix was an area of Cybertron first mentioned in the Marvel UK prose story "The Magnificent Six!" Janquore is a substance from the novel New York 4012 by Jann Nogra. It and Stanixian Energon were mentioned on the menu for Maccadam's Old Oil House in The AllSpark Almanac II. Leobreaker was an Autobot lion from Cybertron. Red energon was a speed and strength enhancing form of energon from the Prime cartoon.

June 26:

Question 1: Roulette and Shadow Striker were 2003 Universe exclusives at OTFCC 2003, redecoed from 2001 Robots in Disguise Side Burn. Their backstory mentioned that they had a sister killed by nomadic invaders. The Maraudicons were a Decepticon subfaction led by Cannonball, mentioned in Wings Universe prose story "A Team Effort".

Question 2: This guy is asking about the Combiner Wars toys redecoed into Generation 2 colors. We did get Superion and Menasor, but unfortunately, we never got Defensor. Obviously, Vector, or rather Jim, can't answer this because he doesn't know and it's not his field. Generation 2 toys were known for their garish color schemes.

Question 3: I think this guy was talking about the black hole Unicron Singularity from the Cybertron cartoon. The Weak Cyberic Principle is named for the Weak Antrophic Principle, which states that only universes capable of supporting intelligent life can have their existence observed by intelligent beings. I've already talked about the big crunch; entropic heat death is another theory on the end of the universe, which states that eventually, the universe will no longer have or be capable of supporting thermodynamic free energy, and thus, would be unable to support the processes that cause entropy. Primax 703.09 Gamma is the world visited by Armada Optimus Prime, where Cybertron was all that remained, and Spinister the last person alive in the universe, in the "Worlds Collide" arc of the Dreamwave Armada comic.

Question 4: Comet was an offworlder with a reindeer alternate mode, seen in the TransTech prose story "Withered Hope", where he was murdered by Challenge of the GoBots Bug Bite. Perhaps a bit too vague in your question, huh guy? ;)

June 27th:

Question 1: We think the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon is amusing because of it's Digimon-style dub.

Question 2: Ah, a big one. We previously saw the Bio Ranger Iga and Zarak Maximus a few weeks back. You know of the Quintessons, no doubt. Hydratron was a giant robot jellyfish with a city alternate mode, from the Transformers: Retribution novel. Byzantium, for those of you who don't know history, was the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire in its later days. The word as used here is the definition meaning "excessively complicated administrative system". Planet Dinosaur was the homeworld of Beast Wars Neo Magmatron and his Predacons; it was eaten by Unicron. Volcanicon and Obsidian were a pair of Micro-Changer combiners from the Kre-O toyline. As part of a tie-in with Age of Extinction, Volcanicon and Obsidian, along with their Autobot counterparts Grimstone and Lazerbolt, were described as Dinobots. Of note, only the word "twins" is used to describe their relationship. "Derailment" would later have Liftoff (one of Volcanicon's components) and Freefall (One of Obsidian's components) as female. Perhaps then all the others are, as well. You know who Shockwave is; Sixshot was the Decepticon six changer from 1987. This is the first time the Generation 1 characters have been made brothers. In Energon, Shockblast (that series' version of Shockwave, named so due to trademark issues) had a twin brother named Six Shot. This combines that Six Shot with his G1 counterpart. Sixshot was a ninja in The Headmasters cartoon. Note the use of the word filicide here; in the commercial for 1988 Autobot six-changer Quickswitch, he was noted to be Sixshot's son.

The Ebon Knights were previously mentioned as having eldritch ties (again, they come from Alignment). Monstructor is the combined form of the Pretender Monster's, whose profile in the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye guidebooks presented as an eldritch being of sorts. The Gigatron seen her is a combination of Robots in Disguise 2001 Megatron (named Gigatron in the Japanese version, Car Robots; early material for Car Robots depicted him as a time/dimensional traveller from the future, and in that series his Predacons were called Destrongers) and Super-God Masterforce Overlord, named Gigatron in America due to trademark reasons (Overlord's European release's tech specs indicated he, too, was a dimensional traveller; Chōkon Power was a mysterious energy used by the Godmasters in Super-God Masterforce). The Robots in Disguise 2001 Ruination seen here is the Wal-Mart exclusive redeco from the latter days of the toyline. This Ruination had a grey-ish "urban camo" color schemes. Greengard was an icy planet from the Beast Wars Neo manga, where the presence of Angolmois Energy prevented the planet's World Tree, Yggdrasil, from maintaining its previous paradise state.

The Toxitron seen here was previously mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II, an Autobot combiner formed from the Combatibots, in a riff on the Combaticon's origin episode from the Sunbow cartoon, "Starscream's Brigade". Named for the unreleased 2003 Universe redeco of Generation 2 Optimus Prime, he was made up of a number of unreleased toys: Spiketail and Screechwing (cancelled redecos of Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Maximals Stinkbomb and Sonar, from the Beast Machines toyline), Nightprowler and Leatherhide (redecoes of Beast Wars Cheetor and Soundwave, intended for the 2003 Universe toyline as part of two Wal-Mart exclusive "Halloween Horrorcons" two-packs), and Albitron (a redeco of Beast Wars Basic-class alligator Megatron, licensed by Men in Black for their Transcon2 convention but due to a contractual violation, never released). The Starscream analog mentioned here is Ulchtar, the early name created by Denny O'Neill for Generation 1 Starscream, before Bob Budianksy came onboard. Ulchtar is specifically a version of Armada Starscream, the one mentioned here from the Universe 2003 CD-ROM game, "The Energon Within". Machiavellian is a term you've undoubtedly seen before, but here's a brief history lesson for you: Niccolò Machiavelli was a 15th/16th century Italian philosopher, who is best known for his work The Prince, in which he describes immoral and unscrupulous behavior in politics as normal, and in some cases, advocates for it.

We've already gone over Ragnarok plenty at this point. Genetronic comes from the Binaltech technology, the Genetronic Translink System, which allows one spark in subspace to control multiple bodies. Puzzler was a Renegade combiner from GoBots; we'll learn a bit more about him later. Shokaract was the main villain of the 3H Productions storyline "Reaching the Omega Point"; originally known simply as "The Hunter", Shokaract was a lowly Predacon from a possible future, who stumbled across the essence of Unicron on a post-apocalyptic Earth and was given great power. He conquered the future Cybertron and would eventually travel back to prehistoric Earth to ensure Unicron's essence was not tampered with by the visiting Maximals and Predacons, an event known as Point Omega. Galvatron is the combiner form of Combiner Wars Cyclonus. Cyclonus forms the torso, and Galvatronus hypnotizes any four combiner limbs into forming with him. The Dead Universe was an semi-sentient and...well, dead alternative universe from the IDW Publishing comics continuity. Along with a few others, Galvatron and Cyclonus were stranded there, and enslaved by the reality. The Deceptigod was a monstrous combiner formed by the numerous Sweeps and the enslaved Decepticons, controlled by the Dead Universe's malevolent intelligence, the D-Void. It was seen in the "Chaos" storyline of the 2009-2011 The Transformers ongoing series.

Now, for a few weeks, the page would be taken over by Sideways, who captured Vector Prime for his nefarious plans. Go to the Ask Sideways annotations page to follow along and come back here once you're done.

July 8: Vector has been rescued from Sideways, and so he returns the page to normal.

Post 1: On the day it was posted, there was like, 2 hours in between this in the second post, making people actually think we were finished. Remember though, linear time isn't a concept when Vector's around...

Post 2: Hydrus IV was first mentioned in issue #59 of the Marvel comic, and is the location of Nucleon, the substance that turns Transformers into Action Masters. Cuddlex was mentioned in it the prose story "Signal to Noise" in issue #13 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye, where haemoslaves are bred to fight in the service of an entity called the Antigod. I believe the four characters mentioned here are the TransTech versions of Optimus Prime, Cheetor, and TransTech versions of Animated Bulkhead and Robots in Disguise 2015 Strongarm. Ofsted XVII was a "lectureworld" introduced in issue #31 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. I've already gone over Cloud World.

Question 1: Off the top of my head...probably Animated Omega Supreme and anyone else who transforms into something with a transwarp drive have FTL capabilities.

Question 2: In the Beast Wars Telemocha Series toyline, the original Maximal wolf Wolfang, from the second year of the Beast Wars toyline, was somewhat oddly redecoed as a Predacon with the same name, to ensure that both Maximals and Predacons had equal toys in the toyline. "Trigger Warnings" would detail the two's connection, although it wouldn't be published until little over a year later.

Question 3: The Steelhaven is the ship of Fortress Maximus and his group of Autobots from the Marvel comic. It last appeared in issue #44 of the comic, having been sent in issue #41 during Ratbat's attack on the Moon-stationed Ark to get Optimus Prime's consciousness to Nebulos. Evidently, it did manage to get some damage, as it never appeared again, and VP clears up that gap.

July 9

Question 1: I've already gone over Galactic Guardians. Webmovies is one of those illegal movie websites; I'm not even sure if it's around anymore. Sideways head exploded from being stressed and annoyed at being called Tarantulas. In Prime episode "Operation Bumblebee, Part 1", Ratchet explained the t-cog (short for "transformation cog", introduced in Sunbow season three's opening miniseries "Five Faces of Darkness") was a part of a Cybertronian's biology. Technorganic Transformers were introduced in Beast Machines. The Waruder invasion happened in BotCon 2015's "Cybertron's Most Wanted".

Question 2: Dunno what this guy was hoping for.

Question 3: The Primal Program is the code in the Creation Matrix that gives life to Transformers, and by which many Transformers swore in the Marvel comics.

Question 4: Cyclonus' Armada was briefly introduced in The Transformers: The Movie, a sole singular Decepticon identical to Cyclonus created from Skywarp. Or, depending on who you ask, Bombshell. After that appearance, he just kind of disappeared, while Scourge's Sweeps continued to appear, even in the seasons of the cartoon following the movie.

July 10:

Question 1: The being referred to here is "It", a skeleton-like mechanoid first seen in a vision by Rodimus Prime in Sunbow episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2", and again later in the season in events referred to here from "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2".

Question 2: Oh, hey, it's my first post on Ask Vector Prime! Jim offered me a chance to write a few posts for it, for which I am eternally grateful. I won't lie though, looking back on this one, I don't very much like it, mostly because it falls into one of the main criticism of Ask Vector Prime: that it links stuff at random. Oh well, I suppose. If I had to write it now, I wouldn't have used the universe I did.

Majin Zarak was a monstrous creature seen in the Beast Wars II theatrical special, "Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!" According to behind-the-scenes information I was given by Jim, this special was originally meant to feature Headmasters Scorponok, whose larger form was known as MegaZarak in Japan. In the final version, the only link was the name; he looked nothing like Scorponok and was a large lumbering beast with an aircraft carrier alt-mode. The universe I used here was the German Transformers Comic-Magazin prose story universe, starting with issue #2. Released by Condor Verlag and nominally set in the Marvel Comics continuity, these prose stories are infamous for their...well, nigh-incomprehensible premises and randomly colored art lifted from a variety of sources.

The dimensional bridge and the Alaskan Blackrock Industries oil spill were seen in "The Transformers' Grand Hour: Headmaster of the Dimensions", the prose story in issue #9. The Argos Cluster and Horus were seen in the prose story "Herald", from 3H Productions' "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline. Confusingly, the 1988 Autobot Headmaster Hosehead was called "Horsehead" in all of his appearances in the German stories. The Covenant of Primus is the main religious text of the Transformers, seen in Beast Wars episode "Nemesis Part 1" Oil tankers were involved like, five separate prose stories; sending an oil tanker flying into space is far from the weirdest things that happened in these stories. Fun fact: one was just a re-used Thundercats story with the names and places changed.

Ghennix was the home world of Hook, Line, and Sinker from the Marvel comics, destroyed by Unicron in issue #66. Neutronia was the home planet of the Mutacons, ravaged by the Rust Plague in The Covenant of Primus. Thermia was a planet from Galaxy Quest that was destroyed by the Warmonger Sarris; it was seen on Swindle's planet map in The AllSpark Almanac II. Galvatron was the leader of the Predacons in Beast Wars II, while Lio Convoy was the leader of the Maximals. Primax 1298.19 Alpha is the world of the theatrical special, a subworld of the main Beast Wars II cartoon.

Question 3: Megatronus, or the Fallen, was in love with Solus Prime, as seen in The Covenant of Primus. The most famous of Prime's relationships was with Elita One, as seen in Sunbow episode "The Search for Alpha Trion". As I mentioned earlier, the original Ask Vector Prime told that before he became Guardian of Space and Time, he was a Matrix bearer in a Golden Age. Scorpia was an Autobot watch and scorpion originally made for the Takara Kronoform toyline, which was released as a Transformer in the Generation 2 toyline. She never had a bio, but her name ending in "-ia" suggested the possibility that she was female, something that is canonized here. Being a watch, her relationship with Vector isn't entirely surprising. I came up with her relationship with Vector Prime, and this was set up for the second post of mine.

Question 4: Optimus Prime and Marissa Faireborn (from the third season of the Sunbow cartoon) and their relationship was seen in the infamous Kiss Players. Ginrai was the Autobot Godmaster leader from Super-God Masterforce, a Japanese man who had bonded with a transtector originally intended to resurrect Optimus Prime to become a Transformer. What a weird question.

July 11:

Question 1: Convoy was the Japanese name of Optimus Prime up until 2007. In Animated, Prime was a rank equivalent to a captain, general, director, or other such leadership position, underneath the Autobot commander rank of Magnus. In the "Aligned" continuity, any Prime who isn't of the original 13 is a pretender to the name. Beast Wars Optimus Primal's name was also Convoy in his original organic gorilla body. The Prime Spark was seen in the short story of the same name in the Transformers Legends anthology book. It was held by Primes across the multiverse, specifically seen with Generation 1 and Armada Optimus Prime, and Beast Wars and Beast Machines Optimus Primal. Nitro Convoy, Flame Convoy, Live Convoy, and Megalo Convoy were the Japanese Galaxy Force names for the Cybertron characters Override, Scourge, Evac, and Metroplex. The four were the leaders of their colony worlds: Velocitron, Animatron, Earth, and Gigantion, respectively. Reverse Convoy was the Autobot commander of the colony of Vehicon, whose body was used by the disembodied and time tossed Megatron in the Robotmasters storyline.

Question 2: M.A.S.K. was a Kenner toyline from 1985, centered around the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand and their enemies, Venom. It received a carton from Dic Entertainment, and its intellectual property became Hasbro's when they bought out Kenner. I've already gone over the Megaverse. Of course, it obviously isn't a part of the Sunbow timeline. Various Transformers-related appearances by M.A.S.K. include the Unit:E comic from NYCC 2011, initially intended to be part of a larger Hasbro crossover; mentioned in Prime episode "Project Predacon" as the source of Optimus Prime's second Earth alternate mode; and M.A.S.K.'s HQ, Boulder Hill, was part of the Knights of Unicron "Till All Are One" tour, as seen on the t-shirt for the tour. Eventually, a full-on crossover would happen in 2016, with IDW Publishing's Revolution crossover. "Illusion is the ultimate weapon" was the slogan for the M.A.S.K. toyline.

Question 3: Micron is the Japanese name for Mini-Con. I've already gone over the X-Dimension, but to repeat: The term "X-Dimension" was introduced in the Japanese Micron Legend toyline, where most of the Mini-Con teams were sold in an alternate color scheme as [Team Name] X-Dimensions; The AllSpark Almanac II mentioned it in passing, as something of a hell dimension. They were made as the same characters in the toyline but are here established also to be separate characters of their own, presumably existing alongside the main teams. The Zephyr Blade Mini-Con Team was established in Andromeda's page, based on the X-Dimension Air Defense Mini-Con Team. All of them use the characters Japanese names. In order of the ones here: the Coastal Defense Team (Sail, Knot, and Float) are the X-Dimension Sea Mini-Con Team (Oceanglide, Stormcloud, and Waterlog); the Rapid Deployment Mini-Con Team (Shot, Bomb, and Crack) are the Land Military Mini-Con Team (Wreckage, Bonecrusher, and Knock Out); the Burning Rubber Mini-Con Team (Drift, Spin, and Indy) and their combined form, the Cosmotector shield, are the Race Mini-Con Team (Dirt Boss, Downshift, and Mirage) and their combined form, the Skyboom shield; the Urban Protection Team (Bank, Wheelie, and Arcee) and their combined form, Bumble, are the Street Action Mini-Con Team (Grindor, High Wire, and Sureshock) and their combined form, Perceptor; the Nocturnal Assault Mini-Con Team (Flame, Glide, and Recon) are the Air Military Mini-Con Team (Thunderwing, Gunbarrel, and Terradive); the Accident Recovery Mini-Con Team (Prowl, Draft, and Twist) are the Emergency Mini-Con Team (Prowl, Firebot, and Makeshift); the Heavy Machinery Mini-Con Team (Wheel, Crush, and Duster) are the Destruction Mini-Con Team (Buzzsaw, Drill Bit, and Dualor); the All-Terrain Excursion Team (Junk, Winch, and Spike) are the Adventure Mini-Con Team (Iceberg, Ransack, and Dune Runner); and the Cosmic Exploration Team (Mir, Move, and Apollo) and their combined form, the Astro Blaster, are the Space Mini-Con Team (Astroscope, Payload, and Sky Blast) and their combined form, the Requiem Blaster. In the "Unicron Trilogy" cartoons, most Mini-Cons talked in bleeps and bloops.

Question 4: The 2015 Transformers Hall of Fame was presented at BotCon 2015 by Megatron, in the form of clips of Megatron from the Sunbow cartoon, dubbed over with new lines from Frank Welker. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqaGBO8XMOY I've already talked about Heinrad. Primax 785.13 Zeta, as previously mentioned, is the universe of the Marvel UK comic's letters page, which the Transformers themselves answered.

July 12:

Question 1: The Penbots were three small robots sold in four color schemes (grey, red, black, and blue) in the 1987 year of the Japanese The Transformers toyline. They served as pen-toppers, and could transform; one was a fighter jet, one was a submarine, and one was a tank.

Question 2: Iota streams cover online-exclusive/website fiction in the universal stream classification system. Primax 514.23 Iota, again, is the world of Transformers x Evangelion. Tyran 609.22 Iota is the world of Burger King's promotional website tying into the release of Revenge of the Fallen, featuring the Transformer version of their "King" mascot and the Transformer Your Way contest. The site used the Ancient Autobot font created by Jim Sorenson, based on symbols seen on the Autobot of Antilla in Sunbow episode "Cosmic Rust". Aero-Bot, leader of the Earth-bound Go-Bots from the Playskool Go-Bots toyline, went on an expedition with his team into the X-Dimension, as noted in The AllSpark Almanac II. ALTernity Today, the unofficial website promoting the book, noted he was found in Tyran 609.22 Iota after he escaped from the hell-dimension.

Question 3: My second post, and in my opinion, far better than the first. Rhisling is the sword of Vector Prime; I believe that name came from his profile in issue #5 of the Club magazine. The brother Vector mentions here is Nexus Prime, who was split into Skyfall, Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin, and Heatwave to protect Prima's sword, Star Saber, as revealed in his profile in issue #30 of the Club magazine. I've mentioned it before, but I was specifically drawing on these two posts from the original Ask Vector Prime to tell his history in this post:

Q: Were you a leader back in your day?

A: Yes, I was a leader. During the golden age of Cybertron I was given the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. I led for many years until I was called into service as the protector of time and space.

Q: Why are you the guardian?

A: I am a guardian of time and space because Primus called me to action. After I stepped down as leader of the Autobots, I became the watcher of time. I have seen worlds born and destroyed...

Aurex 404.11 Kappa is the world of the PlayStation 2 Transformers video game based on Armada. Devron was a former Decepticon leader, whose statue was seen in the Hall of Heroes in The Transformers: The Movie and named on model sheets by Floro Dery. In The AllSpark Almanac II, the Animated version of Devron was said to the leader of the Destrons, the faction that would evolve into the Decepticons. Sparkeaters are mutated Cybertronians who feast of the sparks of others, introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. Megazarak was a redeco of Armada Megatron, and part of the 2003 Universe toyline; he was sold exclusively at OTFCC 2004. In The AllSpark Almanac II, that universe's version of Megazarak founded the Decepticons as a subfaction of the Destrons, only to be defeated and exiled by Megatron. The Destructons were introduced in #3 of the Blackthorne Publishing The Transformers in 3-D comic, the only issue released of a three-part storyline. They appeared again nearly 30 years later in the 2014 Club magazine comic storyline, "Alone Together". Set in the Beast Wars: Uprising storyline, the Destructons menaced the Cybertronian outcasts Trans-Mutate and Protoform X. In that story, the Destructon leader Lord Imperious Delirious showed disdain for the term "artificial intelligence," preferring instead the designation "Second-Born Intellect". In Sunbow episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4", Optimus Prime mentioned in Rodimus Prime's trip to the Matrix that the current Great Wars was also known as the Third Cybertronian War; evidently, this means that Vector Prime's Great Wars and Golden Age proceeded the time of Optimus Prime and Megatron and their war.

As a reminder, the Chronarcitect, also known as the Time Walker, was the Cybertronian god of time, introduced in the 3H Productions storyline, "Reaching the Omega Point". Guardian Major is named for Guardian Prime, the holder of the Matrix before Sentinel Prime, as told in Dreamwave Productions' More than Meets the Eye guidebooks. The AllSpark Almanac II established he was one of the Prime's seen Rodimus' vision from "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4"; he was the one that looked like a simplified Rodimus Prime and followed Prime Nova and preceded Zeta Prime as the bearer of the Matrix.

I talked a bit about Scorpia already. Kaltor, Autoceptor, and Deceptor were all originally toys from Takara's Kronoform toyline, sold in 1985 as The Transformers toys. Kaltor turned into a digital calculator watch; Autoceptor turned into a car and watch; and Deceptor turned into a jet and watch. Their packaging describes their watch modes as "time machines". The Time Warriors take their name from the mail-away Time Warrior toys, wristwatches with an Autobot symbol on them that "transformed" by splitting open to reveal the time display underneath.

Magmatron was the Predacon leader from Beast Wars Neo. Primax 206.15 Gamma is the world of the two IDW Publishing Beast Wars mini-series; The Gathering and The Ascending. At the end of The Gathering, Magmatron was knocked out of phase with reality by Razorbeast. I've gone over the X-Dimension plenty at this point. Primax 514.3 Gamma is the world of IDW Publishing's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, by Tom Scioli and John Barber. The horrors mentioned here are Koh-Buru-Lah, an eldritch snake god introduced in that series, named after the ancient society of Cobra-La from G.I. Joe: The Movie. LV-117 was introduced in Spotlight: Wheelie, where the titular character crashed and met with the shapeshifting alien Varta, a native of the planet. IDW Publishing's comic Robots in Disguise revealed in issue #7 and #10 that LV-117 was dislodged from time, and was moving throughout time and space non-linearly, with the inhabitants of the planet having built a time machine for Turmoil and his Decepticons. Mogahn the Mass was mentioned as a threat faced by the Autobots in Alignment. His Cyber Caliber and its connection to the Rhisling is a funny one. The TFWiki article for the Rhisling had, at one point, claimed that it was also known as the Cyber Caliber according to instruction sheets/Japanese material, but nothing confirming this has been found. As such, it was used as the name for a sword in the Exiles novel, and editors realized the name apparently came from nowhere. The Realm of the Primes was seen in the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon, a pocket dimension where the deceased Primes dwell. I've already gone over Amalgamous; he's connected here to Adaptus, the Guiding Hand member and god of transformation from IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye; I think that was an addition Jim added to my post. An earlier post said that Amalgamous was only part of the "Aligned" Thirteen; more shifting of memories and events, foreshadowing the later chapters of the "Another Light" storyline.

Question 4: Gunrunner was an Autobot Pretender Vehicle from the 1988 range of the original toyline. In the year of the toyline accompany the Zone fiction, the Micromaster Gunrunner was released with the Landshaker ATV/Micromaster base, redecoed from Roadhandler and Groundshaker's ATV, respectively.

July 13:

Question 1: You probably know about the Battle of Autobot City from The Transformers: The Movie. Primax 903.0 Beta is the world of Binaltech; the universe was split off from the main timeline due to the machinations of the Beast Wars-era Ravage.

Question 2: G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 was the anime-style reboot of the franchise from 2005. G.I. Joe: Resolute was an "edgy" animated mini-series that aired on Adult Swim and was written by Warren Ellis. G.I. Joe: Renegades was the 2010 cartoon reboot, airing on the Hub alongside Transformers: Prime. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation were the two live-action films, from 2009 and 2013.

Question 3: This is a big one! The Rainmakers (As they were called by fans) first appeared in the Sunbow cartoon episode "Divide and Conquer", where they menaced the Autobots by seeding the clouds with acid rain. The three unnamed Decepticon Jets-one green, one yellow, and one blue-were memorable despite their otherwise identical looks to all the other Jets. Eventually, in the 2008 Universe toyline, the green one would be given the name Acid Storm, and Ask Vector Prime follows suit here, giving the yellow one the name Nova Storm, and the blue one the name Ion Storm. Accompanying this post is art of the three. Acid Storm and Ion Storm's line-art were done by Betsy Blackie, while Nova Storm's was done by Rui Onishi, and both were colored by Brandy Dixon, longtime fan of the Rainmakers. The Rainmakers described here hail from the Wings Universe. Shockwave commanded Cybertron while Megatron was on Earth during the first two season of the Sunbow cartoon. Trilithium is a real material, though it's known for its usage in sci-fi fiction like Star Trek; in the Sunbow season 2 episode "The Insecticon Syndrome", the titular characters were said to have Trilithium stomachs. Sunstorm was given his name for his Collector's Edition toy from e-HOBBY, based on one of the Seeker "welcoming party" members from "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". In Dreamwave Productions' Generation One comics, Sunstorm was a clone of Starscream created by Shockwave. The chromosphere is the second layer of a star.

Question 4: Socket, Plier, and Bit were part of the fourth wave of Micron Boosters, blink-packed Mini-Cons. They and the rest of their wave tied in with the then current Galaxy Force series (known as Cybertron in English markets). The three were redecoed from the Recon Mini-Con Team members Six-Speed, Reverb, and Jolt.

July 14:

Question 1: A nice, personal question. Note how Vector specifically says "being a factory"-a super-cool touch.

Question 2: The Cryo Saber and its components (Snowblind, or as he was originally known, Beacon, Lens, and Quantum), were part of the second wave of Micron Boosters, tying in with Super Link (Energon). They were redecoed from the Energon Saber Mini-Cons Wreckage, Skyboom, and Scattor.

Question 3: Told you we would come back to Reverse Convoy. Another one that I worked on, with edits from Japanese fan Hirofumi Ichikawa. Reverse Convoy comes from the era of Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. The Convoy Council were the ruling organization of Cybertron, introduced in Beast Wars Neo. Lio Convoy was the leader of the Maximals on Gaea in Beast Wars II. Fire Convoy is the Japanese name of Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime; early fiction for Car Robots indicated he had followed Gigatron/Megatron and his Predacons back to the 21st century from the far future. Galaxy Convoy is the Japanese name of Cybertron Optimus Prime and is a Maximal version of the character. Temporal probes were seen in Beast Wars episode "The Probe". The Tripurans came from Ichikawa, I had nothing to do with them. They appear to be all new here; they're named for the Tripura, three great cities from Hindu mythology. Vehicon was mentioned as Reverse Convoy's home in Robotmasters. The term Emperor of Destruction has been the label used by Japan for most Decepticon/Predacon leaders. Megatron was busy conquering Cybertron during the Binaltech storyline, setting the way for The Transformers: The Movie. The Warp Gate known as the Trigger was seen in the manga The Battle of the Star Gate, where it was possessed by the ghost of Starscream from the future, and destroyed by Prime and Megatron, tearing an explosion that sends Autobots and Decepticons tumbling to Earth. Megatron's original tech specs noted he had a personal subspace link to a black hole. His disappearance was part of the backstory for Robotmasters, which allowed for Beast Wars Megatron to take over the Decepticon forces. The Blasty Zone was a dimensional portal from that storyline, which allowed for Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals, and Predacons from the future to arrive on the 2004-era Earth. Solitarium was a mysterious substance that was the main object of conflict of the Robotmasters storyline.

Question 4: A previous post had Vector claim he was known as Hermes on Earth, during the time of ancient Greece. This is a bronze statue of Hermes; it appears to be a promotional image for a replication of some statue. The Caduceus was Hermes' staff in Greek Mythology. It's a staff with a pair of wings on the top, with two snakes wrapped around it; you tend to see it on the side of ambulances. The Axiom Nexus Auto-Censors were introduced in Ask Sideways; they rejected most images of Hermes probably cause the sculptures included his penis. Apparently, Liege Maximo and Onyx Prime masqueraded as goddesses; we'll see more on them later. "When in Rome" is a clipping of a saying attributed to the Roman Bishop Ambrose.

July 15th:

Question 1: Minimus Ambus was the true identity of the modern-day Ultra Magnus, as seen in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. Micro Machines were tiny toy cars made by Galoob, which had Hasbro respond with their Micromasters. In the first Beast Wars: Uprising story, "Broken Windshields", one of the Cybertronix sections mentioned a Cyberdroid Minimum Ambus. Bravemasters was a series proposed by Hayato Sakamoto, which would have used various toy-only Movieverse characters in a setting inspired by the Takara/Sunrise series, Brave. IDW Publishing's Ultra Magnus is secretly a position that has been held by multiple Autobots.

Question 2: "Walky" is the screenname of David Willis, owner of the TFWiki. Let's just say that AVP was...contentious, with some of the members on there.

Question 3: The Sky Scorcher Mini-Con team was mentioned in the Fun Publications Cybertron prose story, "Force of Habit". Effect, Blitz, and Seeker were part of the third wave of Micron Boosters in Super Link (Energon); they were redeced from Air Military Mini-Con Team members Gunbarrel, Terradive, and Thunderwing.

Question 4: This post was originally accompanied by the animation model for Puzzler but was removed due to legal concerns with Warner Brothers. See the bottom of the page for what the image looked like, because Google Sites' new editor is a pain in the ass to get to work. In the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon episode "Auto Madic", Puzzler and his components were non-sentient drones created by Cy-Kill and the Renegades. The Puzzler mentioned here, meanwhile, hues closer to the version as depicted on his toy's packaging, made of six sentient Renegades. Gargent 1184.10 Gamma is the world of the Eagle Robo Machines comic, published in the UK. In that story, the Robo Machines (as they were known in European market) came from the planet Robotron and were fully robotic. It was a somewhat darker story, compared to the lighthearted tone of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

July 16:

Question 1: Another one of mine! I based Hyperdrive's characterization here off of Thunder Clash's, from the IDW Publishing series More than Meets the Eye. Hyperdrive was an unmade toy, intended for the 1992 Turbomaster toys, who existence was originally revealed in the Decepticon Predator leader Skyquake's Megavisor slides, which is the universe mentioned here. The 2004 Transformers Generations Deluxe book revealed his identity.

The Elite Guard was introduced in Transformers: Animated. Yuss was a town mentioned in the Marvel UK prose story, "The Magnificent Six!", where it was a neutral town. Hunter-seeker skyships were seen in issue #17 of the Marvel Comic; the Decepticon Ferak was among their numbers. Hyperdrive's Hyperion Cannon is named for the Titan from Greek mythology.

Straxus was the Decepticon leader on Cybertron, introduced in issue #17 of the Marvel comic. The Iron Hope was the ship of Energon Ultra Magnus, from "Force of Habit". Verminator was mentioned in the DoopSpeak sections in "Timeless", a Decepticon rabbit inspired by the killer rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The petro-rabbits were mentioned by Kup in The Transformers: The Movie. Delta Pavonis V is in the same system as Delta Pavonis IV, a planet home to humanoid cats and dogs seen in the Sunbow season 3 episode, "The Big Broadcast of 2006". The S.S. Exton 9 was a scientific space station seen in issue 2 of Transformers in 3-D. Space Barnacles were parasites seen in Animated episode "Nature Calls". The Intruder Empire were mentioned in "Alone Together", and Destructon Medusa's profile in issue #59 of the Club magazine. They're based on the Intruders, caveman-like strongmen from another world from the Adventure Team range of G.I. Joe in the 1970s. Optimus Prime retired after he fought Action Master Megatron; I intended for that to be an upgrade from Galvatron. Thunder Clash served as the leader of the Turbomasters, his toy released in 1992. Emirate Xaaron was an Autobot leader on Cybertron, introduced in the Marvel UK comic "And There Shall Come...a Leader!", from the 1985 Transformers annual. Dai Atlas was the Autobot leader in Zone.

Forestonite was a substance from the Comic Bom Bom G-2 manga, which had a big presence in the Wings Universe stories set in the Generation 2 era. The Apex Armor is from the Commemorative Series reissue of Powermaster Optimus Prime, which contained Super-God Masterforce character Godbomber, reimagined as "Apex Bomber", who could form the Apex Armor for Optimus Prime. The name has been used several times since. Rotorstorm was a Turbomaster helicopter from 1992 and was seen on Skyquake's other megavisor slide. New Kaon is the capital of the Decepticon Empire in Animated, introduced in issue #1 of IDW Publishing's The Arrival.

Pyro was an Autobot Obliterator from 1993, who was the biggest Autobot that year. The Cybertron Alliance was the joint merging of the Autobots and Decepticons, seen in the Japanese G-2 storyline. Corrodia Gravis is a disease that causes a Transformer's body to slowly waste away into rust, introduced in issue #284 of the Marvel UK comic.

Question 2: The Enigma of Combination was the artifact of Nexus Prime that allowed Transformers to combine, introduced in The Covenant of Primus. Confusingly, a separate artifact called the Infinite Combinatoric was mentioned in the Exiles novel. Jupiter, Odin, Ahura Mazda, and Marduk are the head gods of the Roman, Norse, Zoroastrianism, and Mesopotamian religions, who all occupy a similar position, but are separate beings.

Question 3: I've already talked about the Big Crunch and entropic heat death. The Big Rip is the end-of-the-world scenario which states that eventually, the universe will expand so much it tears itself apart. In the Robots in Disguise 2001 cartoon, the united children of Earth were able to control Fortress Maximus.

Question 4: The Inferno was an early name for the Pit, the Transformer version of Hell introduced in Beast Wars. It generally stopped being used when the Predacon Inferno was introduced.

July 17

Question 1: Mile, Hover, and Solar were part of the second wave of Micron Boosters in the Super Link (Energon) toyline. They were redecoed from the Sea Mini-Con Team members Stormcloud, Waterlog, and Oceanglide. The littoral zone is the part of a body of water that is near the shore.

Question 2: This post is inspired by the fables of Aesop, obviously. The Malignus, as I previously noted, were the bad guy faction from Estrela's imported The Transformers toyline, created from the Mini-Bots Brawn, Gears, and Windcharger as Jipe, Pick-Up, and Camaro. The Titans, the name given to the city-bots Metroplex, Trypticon, and the like by IDW Publishing, were initially accidentally called the Metrotitans in the More than Meets the Eye annual. I think Jim knows that, though, given he used the name in "Head Games". I believe the Rainbow City is all new.

Question 3: This question paraphrases a quote from Fight Club: "On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero,"

Question 4: I've already gone over The Covenant of Primus. In Robots in Disguise 2015's first season, members of the Thirteen like Micronus Prime, the Fallen, and even Vector himself all showed up.

July 18:

Question 1: This refers to Armada episode "Past", in which there were flashbacks to Hot Shot's time on Cybertron, where he was accompanied by Autobots who reused the characters models for Wheelie and The Headmasters Sureshot. "Sureshot" was given the name Sentinel Minor in an earlier post.

Question 2: Dunno if I ever mentioned it before, but the Fornax Cluster (AKA the world of Kre-O) was established in the Ask Vector Prime sections of The AllSpark Almanac. We saw Kre-O versions of Straxus and Scrounge in Axiom Nexus in "Cybertron's Most Wanted". I think what was intended was that they wouldn't be able to link up with parts of the world like they could back home; this sailed above the heads of some. The universe referred to here is the Robots in Disguise mobile game, where the Kre-O toys of the Robots in Disguise characters were able to be summoned with power-ups.

Question 3: Again, Dice, Jack and Plug are from the fourth wave of Micron Boosters in the Galaxy Force (Cybertron). They were redecoed from the Cybertron retools of the Armada Street Speed Mini-Con Team members Backtrack, Spiral, and Oval.

Question 4: Bit of an odd one, this question. Anser is the genus that grey geese belong too. The term for male geese is "gander".

July 19:

Question 1: The Guardian Microns/Guardian Mini-Con Team (Guardian Powered, Guardian Speed, and Guardian Sky) were promotional items for the Japanese Revenge of the Fallen toyline, given away when one spent 2,000 yen on items from the toyline. The first two were sold at Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera; Guardian Sky was sold at ToysRUs. Guardian Speed was previously established to be female in a post on Andromeda's page. They were redecoed from the Cybertron Recon Mini-Con Team (Reverb, Six-Speed, and Jolt).

The Hellflame Microns/Hellflame Mini-Con Team (Bulge, Graviton, and Quasar) were exclusives in the Galaxy Force (Cybertron) toyline. Bulge was included with any Galaxy Force toy sold at a "TF Station"-affiliated store; Graviton was sold with Flame Convoy (Scourge) at JUSCO; and Quasar was included with any purchase of a Galaxy Force toy at Ito Yokaido. They were redeceoed from the Armada Emergency Mini-Con Team (Makeshift, Firebot, and Prowl). Death crystals were shed by the monsterous alien Chaos, as seen in Sunbow season three episode "Chaos". Moleculon missiles were seen in issue #2 of Marvel's adaptation of The Transformers: The Movie. An ionic displacer rifle was Generation 1 Astrotrain's weapon of choice.

The Mighty Microns/Mighty Mini-Con Team (Mighty Dozer, Mighty Bull, and Mighty Strike) were another Japanese Revenge of the Fallen toyline promotional team. Dozer was sold at ToysRUs with 2000-yen worth of toys, while the same was true for Bull and Strike at "Edion Group" stores. They were redecoed from the Classics Mini-Con toys Wideload, Sledge, and Strongarm. Mighty Dozer's personality is derived from "dozing off". Stasis-naps were introduced in Animated. Mighty Bull's personality comes from the term "bullshitting". Mighty Strike's original Japanese name was "Mighty Stra", which made no sense. The Cyber-Ninja Dojo was introduced in Animated episode "Five Servoes of Doom".

The Caliber Microns/Caliber Mini-Con Team (Hyakurai, Ichibi, and Mugen) were a set of promotional exclusives in the Galaxy Force (Cybertron) toyline, associated with Sonic Bomber (Wing Saber); Hyakurai at Ito Yokaido/TF Station stores, Ichibi at Ito Yokaido/Hello Mac, and Mugen at Joshin Denki. They were redecoed from the Armada Air Military Mini-Con Team (Gunbarrel, Thunderwing, and Terradive).

Question 2: Primax 787.3 Alpha is the world of The Headmasters. Cybertron was destroyed by Scorponok in "Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2". Sandra was seen in The Headmasters episode "SOS from Planet Sandra"; Vector previously described it as a being from an omniversal universe, with it being the version of Earth, and seemingly no Cybertronians. Vector Sigma was established to be the JG1 version of Primus in Kiss Players; it was the timeline included with two pieces of Kiss Players media (the pack-in booklet with the Autorooper, and the timeline in the manga collection) that gave two different points for the Godmaster origins from Super-God Masterforce. The Autoroooper toy gave the origin told by Cancer in "A Strange Friendship: Cancer and Minerva", where they were fragments of an alien god known as Godmaster; Godmessanger, meanwhile, was Devil Z's original name. "Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!", meanwhile, claimed they were simply Transtectors developed by the scientist on planet Master. Japan's Generation 1 cartoon timeline is long, containing a lot of probably unnecessary stories-like the Beast Wars: Telemocha Series pack-in DVD shorts. Car Robots, the Japanese version of Robots in Disguise, seemed to be its own continuity at first; the Kiss Players timeline would retcon it into JG1.

Question 3: I already talked about most of these guys; the Quantum Operatives Skids and Screech were mail-away exclusive from Transformers Generations 2009 Vol. 3. They were characterized as guardians of the multiverse.

Question 4: Apparently a few people didn't get that Autonomous Maximus was the Last Autobot from the final few issues of the Marvel comic. He does rather look like Vector.

July 20:

Question 1: This was edited from the original post:

Q: Dear Vector Prime,

So if you're Hermes, then were the other Twelve in Greek/Roman Mythology? Was Hades Megatronus? Was Solus Athene?

A: Dear Mythological Moniker Maker

Indeed they were, at least in some reality streams. Your technology was not sufficiently advanced for us to assume inconspicuous forms, so we primarily interacted with your people with holomatter avatars, with our bodies perched atop a mountain peak.

Megatronus was not Hades, but Ares, for he was full of rage and anger. Hades was in fact Mortilus, who alone among us remained in our ship, buried deep under the rocks and earth. Solus Prime. content to build and toil. was known as Hephaestus. Athena, known for wisdom, was Alpha Trion, or sometimes Solomus.

As for the rest, my eldest brother, Prima, was addressed as Zeus. Nexus Maximus, his strong right hand, was called Hera. Onyx, content to hunt and enjoy the verdant fields of Earth, was called Artemis. Alchemist Prime indulged in all manner of concoctions, was addressed as Dionysus. Liege, ever-quick to form bonds and manipulate others, became known as Aphrodite. Amalgamous, drawn to the fluid and chaotic nature of the sea, assumed the visage of Poseidon. Epistemus' intellect was applied to agriculture and law, and became known as Demeter. Autonomous, the Last of us, with his legendary healing abilities, they called Apollo.

I don't 100% remember the reasons why this was edited, but I believe it had something to do with editorial becoming more involved after the Rainmakers post? Anyway, most of this information was relayed later, but I'll go through what is here on the original post not in the edited one. Mortilus, Solomus, and Epistemus are all members of the Guiding Hand, introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. The Thirteen's ship had become the Underworld, where Mortilus, the Guiding Hand god of death, dwelled; Hades is the Greek god of death. Solomus, the Guiding Hand god of wisdom, wasn't mentioned in later versions of the post. Amalgamous, the member of the Thirteen from Aligned responsible for the modern-day ability of transformation, was later replaced by Adaptus, the Guiding Hand god of transformation. Epistemus was the Guiding Hand god of Knowledge. Demeter is the Greek Goddess of the harvest, sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. More indications that Autonomus is the Last Autobot; he had healing abilities as seen in the final issue of the Marvel comic, much like Apollo, the Greek god of many things, including healing, archery, the Sun, music, and more.

Now, for the stuff in the final edited version of the post:

The mountain where the Thirteen's bodies were perched is Mount Olympus, home of the gods in Greek mythology. Ares was the Greek god of war. Hephaestus, like Solus Prime, was the blacksmith of the Gods. Athena was the goddess of wisdom. Zeus was the head of the Greek pantheon. Nexus Maximus was Nexus Prime's original name, as Hasbro didn't want too many Primes; when it turned out "Nexus Maximus" was the name of a dildo, Fun Publications opted to just change it to Nexus Prime. Hera was the head goddess of the Greek Pantheon, and wife of Zeus. Artemis was the goddess of the Hunt. Dionysus is, among other things, the god of wine; another connection between Alchemist Prime and Maccadam. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, and like Liege, was manipulative. More general multiversal confusion as the result of upcoming events in "Another Light". Attached to this is an image of Prima's holomatter avatar: the sculpture Jupiter of Smyrna at the Louvre Museum in Paris, taken by Marie-Lan Nguyen. Poseidon was the god of the sea. In mythology, Hermes was the son of Zeus, making Poseidon and Hades his uncles. The same could be said of the Guiding Hand and Vector.

Question 2: The Courier Mini-Con Team (Brakedown, Clocker, and Override) were redecoes of the Armada Street Speed Mini-Con Team (Oval, Spiral, and Backtrack), intended to be sold with Energon Ultra Magnus, only to be replaced with redecoes of the Space Mini-Con Team at the last second. Hasbro would use the names a year later with the Autobots of the Speed Planet, Velocitron, in the Cybertron toyline. Data-Cons were seen in the PS2 Transformers video game for the Armada series.

Question 3: The guy is trying to ask about Primax 302.06 Gamma, the world of Dreamwave Productions Generation One comics. In the mini-series, The War Within, two Decepticons were seen based on Diaclone toys that hung out together. One was based on a variant of the toy that would become Wheeljack in The Transformers, with a new head and a color scheme, and new endorsement decals from Marlboro Cigarettes, renamed "Marlboor" to avoid legal trouble. The other was one of the Triplechangers, the No. 2 Helicopter Type, who turned into both a jet and a helicopter. In 2015, Masterpiece Wheeljack was retooled into Exahust, based on "Marlboor Wheeljack". Get it, "exhaust fumes"?

Question 4: Chōkon Power was a mystical energy seen in Super-God Masterforce. Devil Z, the main antagonist, used his "Devil Power" several times throughout the series. Jinchōkon is the form of Chōkon Power tied to humanity. 魔超魂 means "Machōkon". The Chaos Trinity (Bludgeon, Mindwipe, and Bugly) were a group who followed the Fallen in Dreamwave Productions The Dark Ages, prior to that experimenting with "dark science". Direwolf was a Predacon from the novella Alignment, who used dark science to revive the comatose Megatron.

July 21:

Question 1: Vector quotes a bit from C-3P0 from Return of the Jedi.

Question 2: This person is asking how Optimus Primal had an Energon Matrix (given to Convoys in the Beast Era in Japanese continuity) in the Beast Wars II theatrical special "Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!", despite not being shown to have one in the regular Beast Wars cartoon. The special is noted to be a sub-timeline of the main one. Primax 1097.01 Alpha is the world of the Japanese dub of Beast Wars. I've already gone into Majin Zarak; both Primal and Lio Convoy used their Energon Matrices to stop him, with Primal becoming "Burning Convoy" and Lio becoming "Flash Lio Convoy".

Question 3: I've talked about Aero-Bot and his trip to the X-Dimension plenty at this point. Some time-bending stuff, here.

Question 4: Transformers Legends was a mobile game made by Mobage.

July 22:

Question 1: The "Red Waitress Transformers" was seen in the first chapter of the "Battle Lines" storyline, from the 2011 year of the Club magazine. She was based on Robots in Disguise 2001 T-AI. Ask Vector Prime had been getting a lot of questions about random generics at this point, and I think Jim was kind of sick of it.

Question 2: Tyran 609.23-PX is the world of the PS3 version of the Revenge of the Fallen video game; the Decepticon campaign (Tyran 609.23-PX Kappa II) ended with Megatron killing the Fallen for lying to him. The brother whose tales Vector mentions is obviously the Liege. Most of the post is an alternate telling of Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction. The Ark landing on the moon, the Xantium, the space bridge, Sentinel Prime and his treachery, and Decepticon ally Dylan Gould come from the former, while Cemetery Wind, Harold Attinger, Lockdown, the Seed, and the Dinobots come from the latter. Protomatter is one of the terms for the living metal that makes up Transformer life, introduced in IDW Publishing's Beast Wars: The Gathering.

Question 3: Aww.

Question 4: The original post for this read as this:

Dear Vector Prime,

What is the story behind Gaiacross, and what universe is he from?

Dear Multiforce Meister,

Gaiacross is the ultimate form for a team of combiner Autobots who have happened to cross the multiversal tides and land in a universe not their own. There the team bravely defend against hordes of Decepticons looking to spread evil to all corners of the universe.

I'm not sure what it was changed for. Gaiacross was formed from six model kits, sold as "candy toys" by Kabaya. The original version of the post basically restates what their original bio said, claiming that he fought Decepticons in another dimension. The final version changes that to him being an evolved form of the Multiforce/Landcross, from Victory. The foe in the Vega Sector is the Praetorian and his Scrapmetals, as mentioned in an earlier post.

Question 5: The Offroad Mini-Con Team (Torque, Crunch, and Spoil) were part of the second wave of Micron Boosters, in the Super Link (Energon) toyline. They were redecoed from the Armada Adventure Mini-Con Team (Ransack, Dune Runner, and Iceberg).

July 23:

Question 1: As stated previously, the Realm of the Primes was introduced in the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon. The Blades of Time come from Transformers: Exiles, where Optimus met with Vector in a nameless pocket dimension, retconned here to be the Realm of the Primes. And indeed, we did learn more about that Realm in Robots in Disguise.

Question 2: As I previously mentioned, the Quantum Operatives Skids and Screech were mail-away exclusive from Transformers Generations 2009 Vol. 3, redecos of the original toys in the colors of Revenge of the Fallen Skids and Mudflap. They were characterized as guardians of the multiverse. Vector worked with the pair in Primax 308.13 Beta; the world of the pack-in manga with toys from the Henkei! Henkei! Transformers toyline. Primax 209.20 Gamma is the world of the Henkei! Henkei! manga in the three Transformers Generations 2009 books, where the ghost of Starscream from the world of the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon timeline crossed over to, and who was fought by Skids and Screech in "Starscream's New Body". Starscream's spark has exhibited time and space travelling abilities since the Beast Wars episode "Possesion". Skids homeworld, Primax 308.0 Zeta, is the world of the Henkei! Henkei! Transformers -Visualize- prose stories, published in Figure Ō magazine. Screech's homeworld, Primax 1008.15 Gamma, is the world of the Henkei! Henkei! manga published in Comic Bun Bun. Screech's bio told how he was accidentally brought into Skids' universe and stranded there during his counterpart's experiments in dimensional travel. I've talked plenty about the Source at this point.

Question 3: As you probably know, in the final few episodes of the Beast Wars cartoon, the Predacon Megatron absorbed the Decepticon Megatron's spark into his body, upgrading into his Transmetal 2 dragon form. In the series finale, "Nemesis Part 2", there was a deleted scene that would have shown Optimus Primal placing the original Megatron's spark back in its body, that never got beyond the early stages of animation. The American DVD releases from Kid Rhino and the Australian release from Madmen Entertainment included this delete scene. Also, lol, fourth wall.

Question 4: The First Responder Mini-Con Team (Cluster, Rotor, and Groove) were sold in the second wave of Micron Boosters in the Super Link (Energon) toyline. They were redecoed from the Armada Emergency Mini-Con Team (Firebot, Makeshift, and Prowl).

Question 5: In the Beast Wars Neo manga, the lifeblood of Unicron, Angolmois Energy, was seen to have the ability to evolve normal animals into full Transformers. More comparisons between Angolmois and Dark Energon. The Time Walker, again, is the Chronarchitect. Grimlock created the Technobots using Unicron's head in Sunbow season three episode "Grimlock's New Brain"; this post is specifically talking about the Wings Universe version.

July 24:

Question 1: Darth Vader and the Sith are from Star Wars, obviously enough. Both Star Wars and Transformers were part of Hasbro's Attacktix toy game thing, similar to HeroClix and the like. The "Intergalactic Showdown" pack contained Star Wars characters Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, an AT-RT and its driver; Cybertron Optimus Prime and Megatron; and Energon Omega Sentinel. Iocus 606.0 Beta is the world of this "Intergalactic Showdown" pack and marks a shift from the Iocus Cluster just being "where all the other stuff goes" to being the place where universes with characters from multiple continuities, like Attacktix, go.

Question 2: A caliph is a religious and political ruler in a caliphate, a form of Islamic state. The origin for the Godmasters as told here was originally told by Cancer in Super-God Masterforce episode "A Strange Friendship: Cancer and Minerva". Godmessanger, the early form of Devil Z, was added in the recap of this for the timeline included in the Kiss Players Autorooper toy. Godmessanger's name comes from Giga and Mega claims that their kind served the Decepticons as messengers. Light Gods, I've talked about before; Primus was one of them in the first version of his backstory, in Marvel UK issue #150. 天超魂 means Tenchōkon, Chōkon Power associated with the heavens. 地超魂 is Chichōkon, Chōkon Power associated with the Earth. Godmaster's origin is relaid mostly straight in the second part, although the idea that they helped evolve civilization is new, I believe. 人超魂 is Jinchōkon, Chōkon Power associated with the human race. 天地人 means Ten-Chi-Jin, all of the types of Chōkon Power together. Godmaster's eight parts would eventually become Ginrai, Lightfoot, Ranger, Road King, Doubleclouder, Hydra, Buster, and Overlord. And Godmessanger's story of their transformation into Devil Z is fairly straight forward. The Super-God Masterforce special, "Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super-Secrets!" claimed the Godmasters had different origins, being creations of the scientists of planet Master from the G Nebula 89. It was stated there that Ginrai's transtector was intended for Optimus Prime. Overlord's transtector, meanwhile, is stated here to be intended for Gigatron, the Japanese name of Robots in Disguise 2001 Megatron; when Hasbro used Overlord in their PVC figure line, Heroes of Cybertron, they were unable to use the name Overlord, and called him Gigatron instead. The two have previously been connected in the posts on the Thirteen Great Demon Generals. The Legends manga would later opt to go for the more boring version (G Nebula 89), but who cares what it says.

Question 3: This question was asked because of a bit of meme on the Allspark Forums, where some random guy asked if Archforce could even be considered to be real. Archforce was the European release of the Generation 2 Hero Megatron toy, with his "MEGATRON RULES" sticker removed and characterized as a different person. Nano-fleas were mentioned in issue #2 of the 3H Productions Transformers: Universe comic.

Question 4: the "Minicon 8 Pack" was a European exclusive set of Mini-Cons. Three were redecoed from the Cybertron Giant Planet Mini-Con Team (Longarm, Overcast, and Deepdive) as Reachout, Airlift, and Diveplane; the others were all redecoed from Classics Mini-Cons Thunderwing, Oil Slick, Firebot, Broadside, and Wideload as Barrel Roll, Iron Claw, Buckshot, Ironside, and Heavy-Liftor. The Unicron Trilogy versions of the characters come from the world of the Linkage manga. The Micromaster versions come from the early Beast Wars: Uprising universe of profiles and other early material; Reachout and Diveplane appeared in the main universe in "Derailment". Barrel Roll, surprisingly enough, showed up as a full-sized Aerialbot in IDW's Robots in Disguise #3.

Question 5: The Thirteen Great Demon Generals post depicted Shockwave and Sixshot as brothers, in reference to Energon Shockblast and Six Shot.

July 25:

Question 1: Battle Masters was a 2014 line of figures inspired by the likes of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, based both on Marvel Comics and Transformers. Iocus 214.24 Kappa is the world of the accompanying Battle Masters mobile game. Each of the toys in the Transformers range of figures had an arena nickname; Lockdown's was the steel shredder. Unfortunately, the second way is the only way; his toy was cancelled.

Question 2: Slog was one of the Pretender Monsters from 1988. His tech specs detailed how he made art out of Autobot corpses.

Question 3: The Japanese guidebook Beast Wars Universe mentioned the Star Conclave and Galacticon Order as factions within the Predacon alliance, below the Tripredacus Council.

Question 4: The Search and Destroy Robot, a redeco of Armada Nightbeat, was the "Mini-Con" partner of Oil Slick, redecoed from Armada Side Swipe, sold with Crystal Widow as a K-mart exclusive in the 2003 Universe toyline. Animus is Latin for "the mind" or "the soul".

Question 5: Again, talking about Hot Shot's compatriots from Armada episode "Past"-Peritus Maximus and Sentinel Minor were named in the past. "Wheelie" gets the name Endo here. Endo is another term for a stoppie, where on a motorcycle one balances on the front wheel; in other words, a reverse wheelie.

July 26:

Question 1: So, Cyberverse.

Question 2: I just talked about these guys; they were part of the European exclusive "Minicon 8 Pack" from the 2010 Transformers toyline.

Question 3: Trachis was the student of Rodimus Prime, seen in issue #223-227 of the Marvel UK comic. Rodimus taught him the nature of evil, only for his student to turn to the dark side at the end of the story. Trachis is named for Ephialtes of Trachis, who betrayed his homelands and turned to the Persians. This version of Trachis would have been from the Classics universe.

Question 4: Moon Alpha was mentioned in Dreamwave Productions two mini-series, The Dark Ages and The Age of Wrath. It is pretty obvious. Moonbase One and Moonbase Two were the moons' names in The Transformers: The Movie; Luna 1 and Luna 2 are their names in the IDW Publishing 2005 comics continuity.

Question 5: Mass-shifting happens when a Transformer changes size for an alternate form, whether by become something smaller (Megatron into a gun, Laserbeak into a cassette tape, etc.), becoming bigger (Astrotrain into a space shuttle, Broadside into an aircraft carrier, etc.), or by being part of a combiner.

July 27:

Question 1: Outliers, like I said, is a term for Transformers with "superpowers", like Trailbreaker, introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye. Like I said, Sideways' trans-phase abilities allow him to jump through time and space, and regenerate from seemingly fatal injuries.

Question 2: Apex Bomber was the name applied to Godbomber, for the reissue of Super-God Masterforce God Ginrai as Powermaster Optimus Prime. The tech specs described Apex Bomber as a "roller drone", after Optimus Prime's original little buggy friend/component, Roller.

Question 3: Reptilion was an evil Minion of Unicron from the 2003 Universe toyline, redecoed from Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Iguanus. Primax 399.19 Kappa is the world of the Game Boy Color Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle video game.

Question 4: Thunderclash was the Mini-Con partner of Armada Skywarp; when Skywarp was redecoed as Universe Ramjet, Thunderclash remained the mold's partner.

July 28:

Question 1: Alpha Trion wasn't declared a member of the Thirteen-which would make him a multiversal singularity-until about 2010 with the start of the "Aligned" continuity. Two/three years earlier, an evil of him would appear in the Club magazine storylines, from the Shattered Glass universe. Viron 704.08 Gamma is the world of the sole Dreamwave Productions Robots in Disguise comic, published in the 20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special. This Unicron is described as being based on his Cybertron "alien tank" mode, and ruler of Planet X, Unicron loyalists from Cybertron. Omega Prime is the combined form of Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus.

Question 2: I legitimately have no idea how this guy came to this conclusion. Blackarachnia, Shadow Striker, Nemesis Strika...

Question 3: Raiden was an Autobot combiner formed by the six Trainbots, from The Headmasters. Rail Racer was a combiner formed by the three members of Team Bullet Train, from 2001 Robots in Disguise. Sixliner was formed by the six Micromaster members of the Liner Team, from 1991's Return of Convoy; his older brother and remold, Sixtrain, was introduced in the following year's Operation Combination. Dominus Trannis was a proposed redeco of Robots in Disguise Rail Racer for OTFCC 2004; two of his component's names, Astrotrain and Steamhammer were decided upon, while Glen Hallit was fond of the name Loco. Trannis was the Decepticon leader on Cybertron between Megatron and Straxus, according to the Marvel UK prose story, "Cybertron: The Middle Years!"; Dominus Trannis' name was inspired by him. The Robo-Smasher was a deviced used by Megatron to turn the Constructicons and other Autobots/neutrals into Decepticons, as seen in Sunbow season two episode "The Secret of Omega Supreme". Defensor was a planned remold of Robots in Disguise 2001 Optimus Prime, first planned for OTFCC 2004 and then pushed back to the never-happened OTFCC 2005. He would have been from the same post-apocalyptic world as OTFCC's Megazarak, who we'll get into a bit more in a few days time.

Question 4: We did see Prime return to Earth in The Last Knight, though the Creators seen in Age of Extinction were dropped in favor of Quintessa.

July 29th:

Question 1: 13+14=27, geddit?

Question 2: This post had involvement from both Chris McFeely and, I believe, Hirofumi Ichikawa. The brown-ish Decepticon friend of Megatron was seen in the Japanese G-2 story pages and pack-in manga, his death at the hands of Humans the cataclyst for Megatron, having made a truce with Optimus to create the Cybertron Alliance, dissolving the alliance to begin the war anew. The friend is given the name Kiloton here, after a nickname for the IDW Publishing version of Wrecker leader Impactor mentioned in his profile in issue #5 of Last Stand of the Wreckers; IDW's Impactor was Megatron's friend prior to the beginning of the war. Primax 509.28 Epsilon is the Wings Universe; the Second Generation of Transformers of that universe were seen in "Generation 2: Redux". The Quintessons created the Transformers in the Generation 1 cartoon timelines; Kiloton's descended from military strategy models created by them. It's implied here that he and Megatron were perhaps more than friends. Ultrix was a city seen in issue #9 of IDW Publishing's Autocracy. Gpii II was a planet in the Gpii System; the system was introduced in the "Choose Your Adventure" Animated: Be the Hero book "Web of Deception", while Gpii II was explicitly mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II. Kiloton came back online after Megatron left Cybertron onboard the Nemesis to chase down the Ark, in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". Megatron was revived by Dark Nova in Return of Convoy, and, after having his evil energies drained by Straxus in "Metrowars", made the Cybertron Alliance with Optimus Prime, as seen in the backstory of the G-2 series. When Starscream was last seen (at the time, ignoring whatever bullshit the Legends manga had come up with), he had been given a new corporeal body by Unicron in "Ghost in the Machine". Starscream was turned into a Classic Pretender in the 1989 year of the original toyline, alongside Bumblebee, Jazz, and Grimlock. The four were sold in the Victory toyline sans Pretender shells as part of the "Hero Set", something which was mentioned in the JG1 timeline published in Kiss Players. Scrash was the Decepticon High Regent from Operation Combination, who invaded the Earth while many of the Autobots were away; United EX indicated he was more than a normal Transformer, supernatural in nature. The Soviet Union was shown to be around as late as Super-God Masterforce in the JG1 timeline. Cymond is the dimension of various pre-Transformers toylines/Tomy toylines. MC-11 Gun Robo S&W Magnum 44 was part of the Micro Change portion of the Microman toyline, turning into the gun that it's named after, and represents versions of Kiloton with an Earth alternate mode. Megatron's first Earth mode was that of a Walther P-38 pistol, having also stated life as a Micro Change toy.

Question 3: Nancy was Wreck-Gar's consort, seen in Sunbow season three episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006", given the name Nancy in various Japanese guidebooks. Vector posits that she's named after Nancy Reagan, wife of Ronald Reagan. "Just Say No" was the slogan of an anti-drug campaign championed by Nancy Reagan.

Question 4: Vector used Rhisling to open dimension gates in the Cybertron cartoon. The EDC had a warp gate, as seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3". The manga The Battle for the Star Gate showed Earth's prototypical warp gate, the Trigger. In first issue of the Marvel Generation 2 comic, Grimlock and his squad of Autobots were noted to have personal warp gates. Vector's metaphor here shows his gates are far more advanced than either form of Warp Gate. An F-22 Raptor, for those of you who don't know, is a real-world jet fighter; Movieverse Starscream turns into one.

July 30th:

Question 1: Another dodge answer.

Question 2: Hoo boy, a big one. Beta Maxx was a redeco of Cybertron Safeguard, included with Shattered Glass Alpha Trion (himself a redeco of Vector Prime) at BotCon 2007. Viron 704.31 Epsilon is the post-apocalyptic world described in OTFCC 2004 exclusive Megazarak's profile, and seen in the comic "Shell Game", published at that convention. Megazarak was a redeco of Armada Megatron.

The Universe Battles was mentioned on the packaging for the 2003 Universe toyline, and in the 3H Productions comic for the series. Among the Autobots abducted here include: Fireflight, a Child of Primus redecoed from Beast Machines Spy Streak from the Universe toyline. Side Burn and Prowl, two of the Autobot brothers from Robots in Disguise, whose toys received Wal-Mart exclusive redecoes in the Universe toyline. Ironhide, the Autobot Spychanger from Robots in Disguise, specifically the translucent blue version of his toy exclusive to Kay-Bee Toys, which would later be sold as Hoist in the Universe toyline. Drydock, a bit of the odd one out, a cancelled redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Depthcharge intended to be sold with the Decepticon Undertow as part of the 2010 Transformers toyline. Ratchet was a redeco of Robots in Disguise X-Brawn in the Universe toyline. And Swerve, somewhat confusingly, was an European exclusive toy in the Universe toyline, an all-new mold licensed by Chevrolet as part of a promotion for the Chevy Aveo. The final Autobot Brother, X-Brawn, was left behind; Generation 1 Hound and Sky Lynx were seen as corpses in "Shell Game".

Megabolt was a KB Toys exclusive in the final days of the Robots in Disguise toyline, redecoed from Megabolt Megatron, a toy initially intended for Beast Machines Megatron, but ultimately sold as Robots in Disguise Megatron instead. He is described here as being rebuilt from the corpse of Megatron. Brave Maximus is the Japanese name of Robots in Disguise Fortress Maximus; the Megabolt Megatron/Megabolt toy, when the spider legs are removed, can fit in the spot where Cerebros/Emissary/Grand/etc would go on the Fortress Maximus mold. The Commandos were redecoes of the Generation 1 Combaticons from Robots in Disguise; they recieved a Wal-Mart exclusive "desert camo" redeco in the Universe toyline. The Robots in Disguise Build Team were redecoed as the Target exclusive Constructicons for the Universe toyline; like Dominus Trannis before them, they used to be the Build Team, before being subjected to the Robo-Smasher. Shell programs were seen in Beast Machines, overriding the natural minds of Rhinox, Silverbolt, and Waspinator to turn them into the Vehicons Tankor, Jetstorm, and Thrust.

Ultra Magnus was the brother of Optimus Prime in Robots in Disguise. Their father, Alpha Trion, was mentioned in Robots in Disguise episode "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!" Ultra Trion was seen in "Shell Game", where he was killed by Megazarak.

The Decepticon Sky Lynx from the Energon Wars card game, we'll go into later. The Autobot Sky Lynx mentioned here is from the Wings Universe. We'll go into the other Universe Swerve and his partner, Roadhandler, in a bit.

Venus was a magazine for Decepticon girls, seen in The AllSpark Almanac. On the cover of the issue featured in that book, it mentioned an interview by Cybertron Thunderblast with Mini-Con versions of Beta Maxx and Caliburn, Megazarak's Micromaster partner. The "Shell Game" Beta Maxx is a Micromaster; he was noted to be able to serve as an alternative to the Key of Vector Sigma in his online profile, placing him as predating the Great War by millions of years.

We've previously gone into Dominus Trannis. Astrotrain, based on the Generation 1 triple-changer, was made from Railspike. Steamhammer was made from Rapid Run; the idea for his personality, according to LV!/Graham Weaver, was that he would be a Decepticon version of Kup. Loco was made from Midnight Express. Cowcatcher was a name advocated for the Club Timelines Astrotrain's Mini-Con partner, who, due to some confusion on the wiki, was claimed to be a name considered for one of Dominus Trannis' components. "Phantom station announcements" were another thing planned for his backstory, suggested by someone and embraced by Glen Hallit.

Scourge was the head Decepticon from Robots in Disguise, redecoed from Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime. In this world, Megatron was killed by Omega Prime, rather than Galvatron being captured by Omega in the main Robots in Disguise cartoon. Tox-En was a toxic form of energon introduced in Prime episode "Toxicity". Toxitron was a planned redeco of Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime, meant to be part of the Universe toyline. The Animated version of Toxitron was depicted as being incompetent, inspired by DC Comics Superman clone, Bizarro.

Sky-Byte, Dark Scream, Gas Skunk, and Slapper were Robots in Disguise Megatron's underlings.

This alternate Megazarak was described in the profile for 2003 Universe Nemesis Prime, published in issue #6 of the Club magazine. Redecoed from Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy, Nemesis was a clone of Optimus made by Unicron. The alternate Megazarak's underlings-Sunstorm, Dreadwind, and Smokejumper-were mentioned in his MTMTE-style profile printed in the OTFCC 2004 convention guide. We'll go into them more later. Aurex 304.0 Epsilon is the world of the MegaWing Galvatron instructions, printed in the first and only issue of the 3H Club magazine. Again, we'll go into it more later. Tornedron was a vampiric energy being created by Primacron, seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Call of the Primitives". We've already gone over Hytherion plenty at this point.

Emissary was the "big Headmaster" component of Robots in Disguise Fortress Maximus, redecoed from Cerebros. Megabolt Megatron's head mode was described as an "Emissary Mode" in his tech specs.

The personalities of Constructicons Bonecrusher, Scavenger, and Long Haul are all based on their Generation 1 counterparts, while Hightower's is based on Generation 1 Hook. The Build Team components use their Japanese names: Build Boy (Wedge), Build Hurricane (Grimlock), Build Typhoon (Heavy Load), and Build Cyclone (Hightower). Their combined form still used the English name, Landfill; he's described as the build king, after Landfill's Japanese name, Build King. The Build Team were based on their Wal-Mart exclusive yellow redeco, sold at the tail end of the Robots in Disguise toyline.

Question 3: A fairly standard post here, with no overt references. I could list a number of times that unconscious Transformers were controlled by humans, but I won't.

Question 4: The Zeonomicon and Logos Prime were seen in Beast Wars Reborn. Solus Prime created the Artifacts of the Primes, as seen in Exiles.

July 31:

Question 1: The Robots in Disguise Predacon Bruticus turned into a Cerberus, a three-headed dog from mythology. The Terrorcons Hun-Gurrr and Sinnertwin both turned into twin-headed reptile things. Battle Unicorn was a Maximal...well, unicorn, from Beast Machines. Ursagryphs are an obscure mythological creature; Prime Grimwing turns into one. There are a fair few winged wolves; Generation 1 Sixshot and Beast Wars Silverbolt, for example. Bludgeon's Pretender shell is a skeletal samurai. There have been plenty of zombie Transformers, and Transformers with dragon alternate modes.

Question 2: The Micromaster Combiners from Operation Combination (Sixtrain, Sixturbo, Sixwing, and Sixbuild) were re-released and (in some cases) slightly redecoed for the Universe toyline as single-packed members of the combiner teams the Railbots (Rail Racer), the Protectobots (Defensor), the Aerialbots (Superion), and the Constructicons (Devastator), as K-B Toys exclusives in the Universe toyline. Aurex 1104.30-DB Zeta is the world of "Lonesome Diesel", a prose story in the Transformers Legends anthology, the "DB" coming from the story's author, David Bischoff. Nominally set in an Armada-style universe, thanks to the authors misunderstanding of The Ultimate Guide, some Generation 1 elements snuck in. Dr. Brian Jones was an Autobot ally from the Energon cartoon. The Maximus-style combiners were from Energon as well: Superion Maximus, Bruticus Maximus, and Constructicon Maximus. The Micromasters used to be Mini-Cons before being upgraded into their combiner forms. Combiner Wars was the main subline of the Generations toyline in 2015, featuring the titular teams. The Unicron Singularity was a supermassive black hole threatening all of reality in Cybertron. Defensor was one of the Transformers imprisoned in the Cauldron and freed by Optimus Primal, as seen in Universe issue #2.

Question 3: A Decepticon with a Superfund armored truck mode was seen several times in the Chicago portion of Dark of the Moon. "Loader" was a name on the card deck featuring dead Cybertronians, owned by Harold Attinger in Age of Extinction. He seemingly shared a body-type with Revenge of the Fallen Scrapper.

Question 4: As a joke, Animated Slipstream, the female clone of Starscream, represented the "feminine side" of Starscream, but this was never said explicitly, always being brushed aside. As a result, the extremely literal-minded fandom assumed her personality was a mystery meant to be sold. Carl Jung was a famous psychoanalyst. The Axiom Nexus Auto-Censors crop up again, after their introduction in Ask Sideways.

August 1:

Question 1: A previous post by Vector had linked Alpha Trion and Solomus, before being edited to only mention the former. Some more talk about the Olympian Thirteen; Onyx Prime, the first Beast mode Transformer, was Artemis, goddess of the Hunt. I'm not entirely sure of the image's precise author (I've been linked to the Theoi Project by Google, whatever that is), but this is the Diana of Versailles, a statue of Artemis (known in Roman mythology as Diana), currently at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Apollo was indeed Artemis' twin brother; the two were the children of Zeus and Leto. Apollo was connected to Autonomous Maximus, the Last Autobot, in the first version of the Olympian Thirteen post; it's made canon here again. Among other things, Apollo was the god of healing; the Last Autobot was shown to have great healing powers, using them to heal the all-but destroyed Autobots on Klo in the final issue of the Marvel comic. The image here is cropped from the painting Apollo and Diana, by 18th century painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Question 2: The Spy Changers became Super Spy Changers in the Car Robots toyline (the Japanese name for 2001's Robots in Disguise) series, as told in the catalog promoting the toys sold at the very end of the toyline, which mentioned an unnamed threat that the Spy Changers had to face, after the other Autobots left with their Predacon prisons onboard Fortress Maximus. I've talked plenty about Maccadam's Old Oil House. The Mutants were Cybertronians who lived in the planets Underworld, seemingly predating the Transformer race, introduced in issue #245 of the Marvel UK comic. Chainsaw and most of the others are all new characters here. I believe the Cybertron Net is new; Upper Petrohex is the counterpart of Lower Petrohex, the home of IDW's version of Rewind in issue #22 of More than Meets the Eye. The Global Space Bridge allowed the Autobots to travel all around the world in the Robots in Disguise cartoon. Bruticus was a Predacon Cerberus from the American Robots in Disguise toyline, a figure originally intended for the Beast Machines toyline. Daichi Onishi was the father of the human's Autobot ally Koji Onishi, and a brilliant scientist who had been captured by the Predacons; he was known as Kenneth Onishi in Robots in Disguise, according to episode summaries by Fox Kids. Spark Engines were mentioned in the Japanese and English profiles of the Autobot Brothers. Haruma Gō was the father of Shūta Gō and an ally of the Autobot Pretenders, seen in the first few episodes of Super-God Masterforce before getting killed during a Decepticon attack; he worked at the Space Astronomy Research Center, and it too was destroyed in the attack. He gets a first name for the first time here. Go-Brillium was an energy source from the Playskool Go-Bots series, which granted the Go-Bots enhanced strength and speed, as well as semi-invisibility. A further link between the Spy Changers and the Go-Bots is the fact that the Spy Changers were all redecoed from the Generation 2 Go-Bots.

Artfire is the Japanese name of Hot Shot. Meathook was a Mutant seen in the Classics prose story "The New World". Mount Kilimanjaro is an inactive volcano in Tanzania. Ox is the Japanese name of Ironhide. Woodchipper, too, is new. The Palenque was a Mayan city-state in 7th century Mexico, its ruins remaining there today. Wars is the Japanese name, of, well, W.A.R.S. Dirty Bomb is another new Mutant; a dirty bomb is a theoretical bomb that would be used to disperse radioactive material over a large area, contaminating it. New Orleans is of course a city in Louisiana. Counter Arrow is the Japanese name of Mirage. Jackhammer was one of the Mutants from issue #245. If you don't know what Antarctica is, I can't help you. Eagle Killer is the Japanese name of R.E.V. Burnout is another new Mutant. You also should know Greece. Junko is the Japanese name of Kelly, the hapless human girl who kept getting caught up with the Autobots. X-Car is the Japanese name of Crosswise. Gangrene is another new Mutant, named after the type of tissue death. The 2002 FIFA World Cup's final match was held at International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. The Super Spy Changers were also sold with clear plastic variants, which ties back to the go-brillium connection. I'm not sure if this is saying that the clear schemes were the Super Spy Changer ones, or the second clear-plastic release of the Robots in Disguise Spy Changers are KB Toys.

Question 3: I've talked plenty about Devil Z at this point.

Question 4: Processor, Saber, and Triac were sold in the third assortment of Micron Boosters in the Super Link toyline, redecoed from Armada Thunderclash. Processor and Saber were given bios and English names in 2007 by the Transformers Collectors' Club, Flashdrive and Barnstorm, which established they were part of the Elite Flying Corps. Flashdrive's bio mentioned a male Mini-Con named Trickshot, who was intended to be the English name of Triac...but because this wasn't recorded on the wiki, she's given female pronouns and the English name Bingo instead. Their Japanese names are made the names they were given by Unicron after they encountered him while look for Energon, now named the Apocalypse Brigade Mini-Con Team. Genetronic is derived from the Genetronic Translink system, technology from the Binaltech story, which allowed the Binaltech Autobots to use their sparks to animate multiple bodies.

August 2:

Question 1: The Master-Braces allowed humans to become Headmasters and Godmaster in Super-God Masterforce. Binary Bonding is the process by which Nebulons and Humans become Headmasters, Targetmasters, and Powermasters in the Western version of them. Reverse Pretender technology was mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac, where the negative-universe Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster used it to create Decepticon disguises to interview the evil robots. It was derived the 1986 Transformers commercials, where kids would "morph" into Ultra Magnus and Galvatron. The guy in the comments comes up with a number of other times; as seen in the Challenge of the GoBots cartoon, the titular characters use to be humans, before their transferred their brains in robotic bodies. The mind transfer device was seen in Sunbow episode "Autobot Spike". Synthoids were artificial humans seen in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon; Old Snake, the former Cobra Commander, provided some to crime lord Victor Drath, who used them to store the minds of Autobots who he captured as he and his organization used their bodies. Prometheus Black, AKA the supervillain Meltdown, attempted to create organic Transformers, resulting in the creation of the monstrous fusion creatures, as seen in Animated episode "Survival of the Fittest".

Question 2: A nice, personal question. The Swindle mentioned here is probably one of the owners of Swindle, Swindle, and Swindle, seen in the TransTech prose stories. Hyper-frame are the bodies used by the higher dimensional Autobots of the Alternity to interact with the physical world, seen in Alternity.

Question 3: Repugnus and Overbite were a Target-exclusive two pack in the Universe toyline. Repugnus was a redeco of Beast Wars Fuzor Buzzclaw, based on the Generation 1 Monsterbot. The question asks if he comes from the Wings Universe, but instead, Vector says he's a Maximal version of the character from Primax 1104.30-TW Zeta, the world of the story "Collect and Save" from the Transformers Legends anthology-TW being derived from the story's author, Tim Waggoner. Overbite was redecoed from Beast Wars II Cyborg Beast Hellscream and is here connection to the Generation 1 Seacon. Jawbreaker was an early dropped name for Overbite, which was accidentally used in the Marvel UK comic.

Question 4: I've talked about Majin Zarak previously. In the Beast Wars II theatrical special, "Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!", the monster was summoned when Galvatron was trying to summon Megatron using a time machine. It's presumed by Vector here that he was trying to summon the Predacon Megatron of the world of the Japanese Beast Wars dub.

August 3:

Question 1: The Energon Saber Mini-Con Team (Scattor, Skyboom, and Wreckage) were remolds of the Armada Air Defense Mini-Con Team in the Energon series. Their packaging only labelled them as the "Energon Saber"; they get their team name here.

Question 2: The living metal that makes up Cybertronian bodies has gone by various names. Sentio metallico comes from the IDW Publishing comics of James Roberts, who originally termed in his fan novel, Eugenesis, as a name for the living metal seen in the Generation 2 Marvel comic. Cyber-matter comes from the "Aligned" continuity. Protomatter has been used in a few different sources, including The AllSpark Almanac II. Transformium was the name created by Kinetic Solutions Incorporated, or KSI, for the material in the 2014 film Age of Extinction, a deliberately cheesy name that nevertheless most fans were too stupid to realize it was intentionally dumb. Now, for whatever reason, this question prompted a user on the Allspark Forums to do a passive aggressive post about how it left out all the times Transformers weren't made from protoforms, from when the concept didn't exist, setting the stage for these attached posts. The Dinobots were built on Earth by Ratchet and Wheeljack in the Sunbow cartoon, while Shockwave created the Constructicons on Earth in the Marvel comic. In the Sunbow cartoon, the Stunticon's bodies were originally normal cars, modified by the Decepticons and granted life by Vector Sigma. The Aerialbots, meanwhile, used to be Cybertronian ships, modified by the Autobots to look like Earth planes and granted life by Vector Sigma. The Combaticon's disembodied personality components were placed in abandoned World War II vehicles by Starscream. Cold construction, I've talked plenty about, but again, in IDW's comics, cold constructed Transformers are those whose Sparks were created by the Matrix and placed in pre-constructed bodies. The idea that Transformers could turn normal plastics and metals placed into their bodies into living ones was brought up in the Shattered Glass prose stories. Armani is an Italian fashion company.

Question 3: The female president of the United States was seen in the Cybertron cartoon. To promote The AllSpark Almanac II, Jim and Bill set up the non-canon ALTernity Today website, which expanded on the newspaper seen in the episode summary for "This Is Why I Hate Machines". One of the sections on the website gave her name as Gabriella Constanza, the first female president of America from the Animated Choose-Your-Adventure book, "Time-Quake". Alexis, one of the Autobots human friends from Armada, was established by The AllSpark Almanac II to be her Secretary of State, as she cameod in the final Cybertron episode "Beginning" alongside her.

Question 4: In the montage at the end of "Beginning", Cybertron Sideways, Soundwave, and Laserbeak were seen having discovered an alternate Planet X, after being blown out of the universe where Gigantion resided in "Showdown". This universe, Aurex 906.29 Alpha, takes its designation from the airdate of "Beginning".

August 4:

Question 1: Scorponok's Headmaster partner, Zarak, was given the first name of "Mo" in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Ultra Magnus. Wings Universe stories tying in with BotCon 2014's "Hoist the Flag" revealed that their version of cartoon Zarak had that first name as well. The Zarak who became Zarak Maximus, as detailed earlier in Ask Vector Prime, had the full first name of Mortilus, after the Guiding Hand God of Death from IDW Publishing's comics. Wings Zarak (who was part of the Hive, a group of tyrants who ruled Nebulon) is given the middle name Olin; after he died, Zarak's son, Olin Zarak, took over as Scorponok's Headmaster, as revealed in BotCon 2014 Scorponok's tech specs. IDW Zarak (who was a scientist and businessman aligned with Scorponok) is given the middle name Quixotol; Quixotol was an ancient Nebulon scientist who determined that Nebulos was round, mentioned in the Marvel UK prose story "Stylor's Story" in the Transformers Annual 1987. Primax 489.0 Zeta, again, is the world of the German Condor Verlag Transformers Comic-Magazin. Monzo was the Headmaster partner of Scorponok's underling, Weirdwolf. Mollox was one of the components of Grimstone, one of the new Micro-Changer Combiners from Kre-O toyline tying into the Age of Extinction movie. Mogahn refers to Mogahn the Mass, who has previously appeared in Ask Vector Prime, having been mentioned in Alignment. Modrex refers to Baron Modrex, a villain from the Hasbro Air Raiders toyline, previously mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II. Mongo either refers to the home planet of Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, also mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II, or one of the former NEST soldiers recruited by Epps to infiltrate Chicago in Dark of the Moon.

Primax 1285.0 Gamma is the world of the short Marvel UK comic "Plague of the Insecticons!" published in the Transfomers Annual 1985, where Optimus Prime and a group of Autobots met with Ronald Reagan. Kord was the name given to Fortress Maximus' original Nebulan partner Galen in a trio of prose stories from the Marvel UK Transformers Annual 1987. In Japanese media, the fully robotic Headmaster component is called Scorponok, with the bigger Transtector being known as MegaZarak. IDW Scorponok was bonded with human Abraham Dante, as seen in the Escalation, Devastation, and Maximum Dinobots.

Question 2: As previously mentioned, Oil Slick and his Search and Destroy Robots were redecoes of Armada Side Swipe and Nightbeat, from the Universe 2003 toyline, sold with Crystal Widow as a K-Mart exclusive. Ransack and Refute, meanwhile, were redecoes of Armada Hoist and Refute, sold in a "Battle in a Box" set with Smokescreen and Liftor in the Universe toyline. Swerve and Roadhandler were redecoes of Armada Blurr and Incinerator in the Universe toyline. The Unicron virus was seen in the 3H Productions Universe comics. Aurex 203.26 Zeta is the world of the Reader's Digest Armada children's novels.

Question 3: "Bee in the City" and "The Return of Blurr" were script readings featuring Animated characters at BotCons 2008 and 2015, respectively. "The Return of Blurr" is said to specifically take place in the world of the Animated cartoon (minus the fourth-wall breaking gags, presumably). "Bee in the City" isn't, although that might be because most of it took place in the world of TransTech.

Question 4: Carly was the girlfriend/wife of the Spike Witwickies of the Sunbow cartoon and the Animated cartoon. Carly Spencer was Sam Witwicky's girlfriend from Dark of the Moon. Obviously, Vector doesn't understand what a maiden name is.

August 5:

Question 1: Trannis was mentioned in "Cybertron: The Middle Years!", a text story published in issue #83 of the Marvel UK comic. The story explained how Cybertron went from the Autobot/Decepticon stalemate seen four million years ago at the start of the comic, to the Decepticon-ruled planet of the modern day. After Prime and Megatron left, the Autobot faction split apart, and Trannis took over the Decepticon armies. Eventually, he was assassinated, only for the even worse Straxus to rise and take his place.

Trannis would go on to be mentioned in the Wings Universe prose story, "A Team Effort", in 2010, where he was one of the Decepticon Warlords in the early days of the Third Cybertronian War. He and most of the others were assassinated by Deathsaurus, the Decepticon leader from Victory. Here, Vector links him to the early Decepticon leader seen in the Sunbow season 3 episode, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4", who was a bearded, horned, purple and red Cybertronian vaguely reminiscent of a Junkion (his model would be reused for a generic Junkion in later episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006", even). He led generic Decepticons, green and grey in color, which were shown to have existed since the days of the Quintessons earlier in the flashback that they appeared in, as military robots. They're given the designation of the ASD-324-ddd-3e3c1 model military robot; I'm sure that's a reference to something, maybe in hexadecimal code, but I can't find anything. His weapons are given names here. His whip is called a lightning whip, the weapon of 1988 Autobot Pretender Cloudburst. His guns are quagma rifles; quagma is a term in physics that's way over my head, but several Transformers have wielded weapons utilizing it, including the 2007 Transformers movie toyline Autobot Longarm's quagma cannon, and Prime Fallback's quagma wave blasters. He was defeated by a blue and orange Autobot leader whose name was given as "U-Haul Robot" in the script, presumably for his "storage carrier"-esque alt-mode; The AllSpark Almanac II gave him the name of Sentinel Prime, Optimus' predecessor as Matrix bearer in the Marvel comics.

The second version of Trannis Vector describes is much closer to the Marvel UK version of the character, who comes from the world of the Fun Publications Classics series that continued the world of the original Marvel comics. It was destroyed by Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus in BotCon 2012's "Invasion".

Question 2: I appreciate the guy's response here. Very earnest.

Question 3: In the 2003 Universe toyline, two separate combiners were given the name "Constructicon Devastator" on their packaging-along the lines of "Autobot Jazz" or "Decepticon Rumble". The first was a redeco of Operation Combination Sixbuilder; the second, a redeco of 2001 Robots in Disguise Landfill. I've gone over them here before.

Question 4: In the TransTech prose story, "I, Lowtech", Bulletbike (the main character), met a version of the Autobot Scrounge from issue #17 of the Marvel comic, who claimed to be a version of Emirate Xaaron (the leader of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron from the Marvel UK comics) from "Primax 093.0 Epsilon", which doesn't exist.

August 6:

Question 1: Another one that wrote. In the 2003 Universe toyline, Armada Thrust was redecoed into Sunstorm, based on the yellow-orange Seeker seen in the first episode of the Sunbow cartoon, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", who was given the name Sunstorm by e-HOBBY in 2003. He came with Thrust's Mini-Con Inferno, who was also given a new deco, and a redeco of the Armada Street Action Mini-Con Team of High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock, characterized as evil versions of the characters. He showed up as a Minion of Unicron in the OTFCC 2004 script reading, serving under Reptillion.

Sunstorm comes from the world of the Galaxy Force manga published in Comic Bom Bom. I described Sunstorm as Thrust's brother; the Unicron Trilogy often characterized toys redecoed from another as having a familial link; for example, Armada Skywarp was Starscream's cousin; Energon Overcast was Jetfire's brother, and Cybertron Brushguard was Overhaul's cousin. Armada Thrust was depicted as a tactician in the cartoon. The Mirtonian Star Quadrant is a bit of an odd one. The 1994 Lunartix Empire alien Carcass, from the "Star Brigade" line of G.I. Joe toys, came from the planet of Mirtonia. In 1995, the Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime toy's tech specs described how he had acquired that form after a showdown in Sector 17 of the Mirtonian constellation. It's since been referenced under other names in Transformers media, such as the Mirtonian Quadrant in Shattered Glass, and the Mirtonian Star Cluster in Rescue Bots. The Ultimate Warrior was the apocryphal name that Bludgeon knew the Last Autobot by, as seen in the final issue of the Marvel comic. Sunstorm was given a religious bent in the comics by Dreamwave Productions, believing himself to be a servant of Primus. Thrust left for Earth in the Armada episode "Tactician". The Unicron Battles took place in the final arc of the Armada cartoon.

Thrust had switched sides, joining up with Sideways in the episode "Crack", though his betrayal wouldn't become apparent until later. He was killed when he was caught in-between Unicron mid-transformation and left to die by Galvatron in "Union". Inferno's fate wasn't seen. Galvatron died in "Mortal Combat", absorbed by Unicron. The Servility Program forces a Mini-Con to be obedient to the larger Autobots and Decepticons, as seen in the Linkage manga.

The comments were answered by Jim, not me. The Street Action Mini-Con team comes from Aurex 604.24 Gamma, the world of the fourth Energon pack-in mini-comic, which was originally sold with the Japanese release of Energon/Super Link Wing Saber. The idea here, I believe, is that Unicron summoned a Galvatron-but not Sunstrom's Galvatron. This is the Galvatron of the Cybertron era, who died fighting Optimus in "Unfinished". His astral form was seen battling Vector Prime (who died getting the Autobots back home in "Guardian") in the afterlife at the end montage of "Beginning"

Question 2: The Solitarium War happened in Robotmasters, where the Blasty Zone, a portal through time, brought characters from across time, including the eras of Victory, Beast Wars, and Beast Wars II, to the year 2004. Omega Point was the focus of the 3H Productions "Reaching the Omega Point" storyline, concluded in BotCon 2000's "Terminus" comic. There, Shokaract and his Predacons from a post-apocalyptic Cybertron traveled to the final days of the Beast Wars cartoon, waging a war that would see the pre-Cybertron Transformers the Covenant, Maximals and Predacons from other universes, and the Autobot and Decepticons heroes of legends travel to fight against the mad warlord. Primax 614.21 Theta is the world of the BotCon 2014 script reading "Prevenge", where the Skuxxoid, a recurring alien villain from season three of the Sunbow cartoon, kidnapped Transformers from across the multiverse. Those he abducted came from the Uniend Cluster (Rescue Bots Blades), the Primax Cluster (Sunbow cartoon Snarl, IDW Publishing Ultra Magnus, Shattered Glass Ravage, and Beast Wars Sonar), the Viron Cluster (Robots in Disguise Ironhide), the Malgus Cluster (Animated Arcee), and the Aurex Cluster (Dreamwave Armada Sureshock). Being a reading at BotCon, it could also be an Epsilon universe. Delta streams are those that are live-action media. Malgus 410.03 Delta is the universe of the live-action segments added to the Transformers: Animated cartoon's dub in Japan, featuring the Transformers-loving Otoboto family.

Question 3: Hoo, boy.

This starts a string of posts, about the Chinese MMO Transformers Online; the original characters introduced all had Chinese names. The post on Andromeda's page promoting Ask Sideways gave two of these characters English names-Flash Runner and Hurricane Hunter. This led to some very unsubtle questions about the other characters to get them English names, starting here. Some of these names are straight translations, others are a bit more modified. Star Crusher's original name translated to "Star-Crushing Iron Arm". He was characterized as something of a war hawk in his online bio. Psychic Pointman was characterized as excitable. Aegis Vanguard's original name was Zhòngjiǎ Xiānfēng, which translates directly to "Heavy Armor Vanguard"; he was characterized as a kind and friendly Autobot. Chevalier's original name translated directly into "Flying Chevalier Combat Cop"; she was characterized as a pre-war vigilante who joined up with the Autobots to continue her mission of justice. The sadistic Supernova Flame's original name translated directly into Supernova Flame Stream. Shadow Assassin was originally a....well, assassin. Paradron was a peaceful Cybertronian colony world seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Fight or Flee". Metal Thunder's original name translated into "Metal Wings of Thunder"; her profile stated she no longer knew why she was fighting. Night Dancer's original name, Yè Míng Wǔzhě, translated to "Dark Night Dancer"; her profile indicated she had a mysterious past.

Question 4: This cover was the Apocalypse Comics Retailer Exclusive for IDW's All Hail Megatron issue #1, drawn in homage to Brian Bolland's cover for the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke. The "R" in Primax 708.10-R Lambda comes from Retailer Exclusive. Megatron's actions against Prowl here mirror the Joker shooting Barbara Gordon pointblank, shattering her spine, and ending her career as Batgirl.

August 7:

Question 1: I wrote this one about Universe Razorclaw, a Decepticon redecoed from Beast Wars Tigerhawk, who was characterized as an evil version of the character who killed his Megatron. Each paragraph starts "Know that...", a meme from the first issue of the 3H Productions Universe comic, where Razorclaw introduced himself with the line "Know that I am Razorclaw..." Primax 496.22 Alpha is, again, the world of the Beast Wars cartoon. Primal died in "Other Voices, Part 2", when Megatron sabotaged the stasis pod he used to destroy the Planet Buster. Silverbolt's pod landed in the main timeline in "Aftermath". With him gone, the Maximals were slaughtered in this universe's version of the events of "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)". Tigatron and Airazor were abducted by the Vok in the main timeline in "Other Visits (Part 1)"; they were merged into Tigerhawk in "Other Victories". Megatron absorbed the original Megatron's spark in "Master Blaster". The main universe suffered from a time storm when Megatron attempted to assassinate Optimus Prime in "The Agenda (Part III)". The Generation 1 Predacon Razorclaw has been indicated to be the original Beast Era Predacon leader and founder of the faction in several continuities, including "Dawn of Future's Past". Razorclaw was last seen in flashback in "Revelations Part 2", as the Unicron Singularity tore his master apart. This is one of the times Vector refuses to give a stream designation; he'll do it with Unicron's "Worlds Collide" heralds later.

Question 2: This is fairly similar to an original Ask Vector Prime question, where Vector shouted "NEVER" when asked if he was evil.

Question 3: "It never ends" is a common phrase in Transformers writer Simon Furman's work. Primax 984.0 Gamma is the world of the original Marvel comic. The battle of Klo was seen in the final issues of the series; branching universes mentioned in the questions include the Club's Classics comics and prose stories, the Marvel UK prose story "Another Time & Place", and the IDW Publishing Regeneration One comic. Generation 2 and Alignment are depicted as the "true" future of the original comic universe. Jhiaxus was the main antagonist of the Generation 2 comic. Mogahn the Mass, the Ebon Knights, and the battle of Pinea Omicron were all mentioned in Alignment, which featured the Liege Maximo as the main antagonist, and ended with the implication that the future would lead directly into the Beast Wars cartoon. Primax 496.22 Alpha is the world of the Beast Era American cartoons, Beast Wars and Beast Machines; the Spark Wars took place in the latter. Aurex 802.23 Alpha is the world of the Unicron Trilogy cartoons; the battle for the Mini-Cons took place in Armada, the Energon conflict in Energon, and the quest for the Cyber Planet Keys in Cybertron. Uniend 911.05 Alpha is the world of the Prime cartoons; Optimus Prime sacrificed himself in the end movie of the Prime cartoon, Predacons Rising, leading into the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon, where Bumblebee led a team of young Autobots on Earth. Tyran 707.04 Delta is the world of the live action movies; the AllSpark conflict happen in Transformers, the Fallen returned in Revenge of the Fallen, Sentinel Prime betrayed the Autobots in Dark of the Moon, and Lockdown came to Earth in Age of Extinction.

Question 4: This question refers to Dr. Sidney Biggles-Jones, a scientist introduced in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issue #135, who joined up with Cobra-although she revealed she was secretly a double agent as well, latter. She was involved with the Transformers crossover from issues #138-142 and Generation 2 #2, where she was captured by Megatron, who intended to core her so he could learn her rail gun technology for his own ends.

August 8: Decepticharge and Blackarachnia's roles here were intended to be revealed in the story packed with Blackarachnia's unreleased Binaltech toy; when she was cancelled, the story went unused, and was later published by Hirofumi Ichikawa in his publication The Transformers Binaltech Stories: Profiles and Technical Specifications. It's canonized here for the first time. Decepticharge was the only new character in the Alternators toyline, a Decepticon redeco of the earlier Binaltech Overdrive (released as Windcharger in Alternators) with a new head designed for Windcharger. Windcharger ultimately ended up never getting an accurate toy in Alternators or Binaltech. The EDC is the Earth Defesne Command, from the third season of the Sunbow cartoon, who were heavily involved in the Binaltech storyline. Prowl's spark was lost in subspace in "Prowl & Chase", the chapter of the Binaltech story included with his toy; I'll go a bit more into that later. The blue GHS Prowl body here is probably based on the Binaltech Prowl "Vivid Blue Pearl Edition". In the Binaltech story, the timeline was changed by the Beast Wars-era Ravage, preventing the events from The Transformers: The Movie from happening in "Changing Lanes". He brought back Shockwave, who had his body destroyed earlier on, using a Binaltech body; presumably, Starscream feuded with him for leadership. Laser cores, I've gone over before; their relationship with the spark was explored in the Binaltech storyline. Decepticharge and Blackarachnia would go on to try and destroy the Matrix after Unicron's destruction in "Outlier", a Binaltech comic published in 2018.

Blackarachnia's story and abilities are again, from her unreleased toy's bio and pack-in book let. She was taken from the transwarp journey from prehistoric Earth and modern-era Cybertron between the end of Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Blackarachnia displayed her Transmetal 2 telekinetic abilities in Beast Wars episode "Master Blaster". Being from the future, she could feel the temporal tampering, like she and the other Maximals and Predacons did in "Optimal Situation" when Beast Wars Megatron attempted to assassinate Optimus Prime.

Question 2: Most of this is dedicated to retelling the un-edited version of the original Olympian Thirteen post. The image is an excerpt of The Birth of Venus, a painting by Sandro Botticelli, which did indeed depict Aphrodite/Venus emerging from a clam shell. Aphrodite and Hephaestus were indeed wife and husband. Solus/Hephaestus is depicted with the statue Vulcan, by Guillaume Coustou the Younger, photographed by Marie-Lan Nguyen. Hephaestus was depicted as having a crippled leg, either from birth or from being thrown from Olympus depending on the story. The aegis of Athena was some kind of a shield used by her; the trident of Poseidon is his three-pronged spear. The image used to represent Athena/Alpha Trion is the statue of her at the modern Academy of Athens, sculpted by Leonidas Drosis. In some versions of Athena's birth, Zeus got a headache and had one of the gods (who it is again depends on the version) split his head open, from which she was born. Adaptus is the god of transformation from IDW Publishing's pantheon of gods, the Guiding Hand. The earlier version of the first post mentioned Amalgamous, the first Cybertronian who could transform from the "Aligned" version of the Thirteen instead. Poseidon was associated with Atlantis in Plato's dialogue Critias; Sub-Atlantica was an underwater city inhabited by amphibious humanoids, seen in Sunbow season 2 episode "Atlantis, Arise!" The image used here is a statue located at the Port of Copenhagen in Denmark, photographed by Hans Andersen.

Mortilus, the god of death on the Guiding Hand, was indicated to be Hades in a previous post, and the Thirteen's spaceship the Underworld. Vector mentions he was from the generation before him; perhaps somewhat like the Covenant and Primon. Bruticus was a Predacon from the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline, who turned into a Cerberus, or three-headed dog; the Cerberus of mythology was Hades' guard dog in the Underworld. The picture used here is a statue of Hades and Cerberus in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete; the photo was taken by Aviad Bublil and edited by Stella maris.

Hera was Zeus's wife....whom he often cheated on. The image used to depict Hera/Nexus is cropped from the painting The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV, a painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Persephone, the goddess of vegetation, was the daughter of Demeter, who was forced to marry Hades after he kidnapped her. Epistemus is, again, the god of knowledge from the Guiding Hand, while Demeter is the goddess of agriculture. The image used to depict Demeter/Epistemus is the painting Ceres, by Jean-Antoine Watteau. Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure, is connected to Alchemist, who was claimed to be a heavy drinker by Galvatron in IDW Publishing's continuity, and who Vector implied was Maccadam, the owner of Maccadam's Old Oil House. The image used to depict Alchemist/Dionysus is a statue of Dionysus in Florence; the photographer is unknown. Logos, I've already gone over. The Fallen and Solus were romantically linked in the "Aligned" continuity. Algaea was a minor Greek goddess of beauty. The image used to depict Ares/Megatronus is unknown; I haven't been able to find anything about it, at least.

Question 3: Probably cause fans don't know when to quit.

Anyway, Uniend 312.0 Kappa is the world of the Transformers Online Chinese MMO. Aurora Speeder's original name translated to "Laser Speeder” and liked to make art out of killing Autobots in various horrible ways. Smash-Gyre's original name translated to "Destructive Vortex", who only joined the war to indulge in his love of violence. War Rotor's original name translated to "War Blade Rotor", and he liked to collect the severed limbs of Autobots. Stormsong's original name translated to "Storm Battle Song"; he was characterized as a pessimist who believed the war would never end. Galaxy Flare's original name translated to "Galaxy Flame"; she was depicted as having been hardened by the war. Argent Raider's original name, Yínsè Qíbīng, translated to "Silver Raider"; he was characterized as a guerilla warrior. Iron Fang's original name translated to "Steel-Toothed Iron Beast". Crimson Phantom's original name translated to "Red Flame Phantom"; she was characterized as a criminal before joining up with the Decepticons during the war. Hoverbolt's original name translated to "Drifting Lightning"; her bio characterized her as being compassionate for the weak and having been rumored to only join up with the Decepticons because she was betrayed by an Autobot and felt they were all hypocritical. Tempest Spin's original name translated to "Gale Joyride Wheel"; the "piercing knowledge" bit is directly copy-pasted from her wiki page. General Browbeat's original name translated to "Terrifying Brave General"; he was characterized as constantly howling. The image this guy used is that of a guy who will later be given the name "Hypergear"; the wiki didn't realize this at the time, however, and the uploader thought he might be a new version of Beast Machines Tankor.

Question 4: Galaxy Convoy was mentioned in the post about Reverse Convoy. Galaxy Convoy is the Japanese name of Cybertron Optimus Prime; the series was released there first as Galaxy Force. The Klud was a kind of technorganic whale from the planet Pequod, seen in issue #64 of the original Marvel comic. Cybertron had recently been put on DVD by Shout! Factory; it was first released in America by Paramount.

August 9:

Question 1: Hunter-seeker skyships were seen in issue #17 of the Marvel US comic, while an airborne hunter squad was seen in issue #114 of the Marvel UK comic. Ferak was the only named hunter-seeker skyship, who was taken out by Blaster after he menaced some Empties; we didn't see his robot mode in that issue. When he appeared in IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers, Nick Roche designed a robot mode for him based on the leader of the Airborne hunter squad, who was executed by Rodimus Prime. The series hardcover release had bios for Ferak and the rest of Squadron X, which hinted that maybe Ferak was the same as that squad leader, who had survived his encounter with Blaster. Vector canonizes that here.

Question 2: Another question I wrote up. Tainted worlds were mentioned in passing on Unicron's page in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. Lithone and Kranix were seen in The Transformers: The Movie; the 2010 Transformers redeco of the Armada Unicron toy had a toy of Kranix redecoed from Unicron's Mini-Con, Dead End. Yst and the fate of its inhabitants were seen in "Revelations Part 3", where Unicron was reborn when Soundwave freed his lifeforce from the singularity. Quantum foam is a real-life idea in physics. The Dark Nebula was seen in the Victory anime; Swindle's planet map in The AllSpark Almanac II indicated that Vhoorl, the birthplace of Cthullu in Lovecraft's mythos, was located in the Dark Nebula. Vestum Major was also mentioned on this map, the capital of the Vestial Imperium, first seen in the Classics story "Cheap Shots".

Question 3: The TransTech seen in the Club stories is based on Transtech, an abandoned sequel to Beast Machines. Dreamwave had a lot of unreleased stories when they went bankrupt, including their Generation One ongoing, the last 3 issues of The Age of Wrath; the final issues of Energon; their unreleased Beast Wars series; and issues #2-6 of Transformers/G.I. Joe: Divided Front. Vector confirms that the Dreamwave issues are in the multiverse. Transtech may or may not be.

Question 4: A few years later, Hasbro would reveal that they intended for the Age of Extinction toyline-exclusive Dinobot Slash to be female, but her profile used male pronouns. A few months later after this post, Strafe would be made a Dinobot in The Transformers: Redemption, and a few years after that, a Generation 1 version of Slash that was explicitly female was introduced in the Power of the Primes toyline.

August 10:

Question 1: In the European release of Generation 2, the Hero Optimus Prime and Hero Megatron toys had the stickers with their names removed and were renamed "Sureshot" and "Archforce". Primus apotheosis was a personality disorder introduced in IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers, which caused various Transformers to both mentally and even physically alter themselves to emulate Optimus Prime. Evidently, Sureshot has completely rebuilt himself to look like Prime. Now, as for Archforce, that's a long one. I mentioned the "clone" of Megatron who killed Cyclonus in the Marvel UK comics earlier. Now, in the Marvel US comics, Megatron was killed off in issue #25 of the US Marvel in a space bridge accident he caused. This was diverged from in the Marvel UK comics, but this story goes a bit before that.

In issue #98 of the Marvel UK comic, Megatron was transported to Cybertron, where he met the still-living head of Lord Straxus, who had seemingly been destroyed by Blaster on the space bridge in issue #18 of the US comic. In issue #103, Straxus attempted to switch his and Megatron's minds, but only ended up placing his mind alongside Megatron's. Straxus' mind was supposedly submerged in issue #104, and a few issues later in issue #108, Megatron would have his space bridge accident. Marvel UK weren't done with him, however; in issue #125 and Action Force issues #24-27, Megatron was revealed to have survived his space bridge accident and would go on to appear intermittently for the next 100 or so issues, even teaming up with Galvatron in the "Time Wars" storyline. However, when writer Simon Furman transferred on over to the Marvel US comic, he decided to bring Megatron back in those stories as well, ignoring the UK stories. This presented a bit of a problem, and so in issues #243 and #244, it was revealed that the Megatron seen in the UK run was actually a clone built from a Decepticon trooper, with Straxus having not been submerged in Megatron's mind, but having transferred into this clone, dormant under Megatron's cloned engrams. This "clone" ended up killing himself, preventing Straxus from taking over the Decepticons once more. Primax 895.0 Gamma is the world of the Comic Bom Bom G-2 manga. Convoy is Optimus Prime's Japanese name.

Question 2: And ultimately, it didn't.

Question 3: The City Stealth Team (Axle, Screw, and Throttle) and their combined form of Windcharger were redecoed from the Energon Street Action Mini-Con Team (High Wire, Grindor, and Sureshock) and their combined form of Perceptor. They were Toys"R"Us exclusive in the Japanese Super Link toyline, included with the purchase of 2000 yen worth of toys from the toyline.

Question 4: In issue #13 of the Marvel UK comics magazine, Strip Magazine, there was an interview between "Irwin Micklethwaite Poster", Simon Furman, and Death's Head, which ended with Death's Head murdering Furman. "Afterdeath" was a cheat code for Multi-World in issue #24 of the Marvel comic that allowed one to resurrect their character after they died in the game. The Quill is Alpha Trion's relic in the "Aligned" continuity; it was previously mentioned as a sort of metaphysical object that affects the universe from the outside by Rhinox in a post on Rook's page. Simon Furman is one of the biggest writers in the franchise, perhaps only second to Bob Budiansky, having laid much of the groundwork for its cosmic setting that's still around to this day.

August 11:

Question 1: The Omnibots-Camshaft, Downshift, and Overdrive-were mail-order toys from the second year of the original toyline. The 1986 S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyer "You Have Been Chosen." had Ultra Magnus mention that if the reader did not "requisition" (read: buy them) the Omnibots by March 31, 1987, they would be fighting a war in another universe (read: they wouldn't be on sale anymore). The Binaltech storyline had Overdrive demonstrate dimension hopping abilities in reference to this. The Omnibots were called "Doublechangers" in Japan, due to their ability to turn into a secondary car mode that mostly consisted of their arms sticking out and having some gun bits flipped out.

Question 2: I've talked about Brainmasters before.

Question 3: We've gone over Aurex 304.0 Epsilon before, but as a reminder, it's the world of the "MegaWing Galvatron" instructions from the sole issue of the 3H Productions Club magazine, which combined Armada Galvatron with Robots in Disguise Dreadwind and Smokejumper. This universe was mentioned to explain some discontinuity between OTFCC 2004 exclusive Megazarak's depictions; in the "Shell Game" comic, he was depicted as looking for the Matrix after it was hidden away, while Universe Nemesis Prime's profile in issue #6 of the Club Magazine indicated he left the Matrix in Prime's rotting corpse. Aurex 802.23 Alpha is the world of the Armada, Energon, and Cybertron cartoons; Aurex 402.24 Gamma is the world of the Dreamwave Armada and Energon comics. It was given as Aurex 402.0 Gamma earlier in The Complete AllSpark Almanac due to the wiki's information on the preview issue's publication date. The Optimus Prime here is the one that Universe Nemesis Prime was cloned from; ironically, Nemesis would eventually end up being more heroic than Optimus. Primacron was the creator of Unicron in the Sunbow cartoon, as revealed in season 3 episode "Call of the Primitives"; the Armada cartoon depicted the Mini-Cons as creations of Unicron, serving as bait for the Transformers to fight over so he could absorb their negative psionic energy. In the Energon cartoon, Rodimus was an Autobot who, disillusioned with the war, left with a group of Autobots to defend the innocents outside of the war. Among this group were the ancestors of the Energon-manipulating Transformers known as Omnicons.

Now, here we go, a long explanation. In Megazarak's profile in the OTFCC 2004 Program Guide, Dreadwind, Smokejumper, and Generation 1 Sunstorm (who had an exclusive Heroes of Cybertron PVC figurine sold at OTFCC 2004) were indicated to be his minions. This Megazarak, and the one mentioned in Nemesis Prime's profile, are the same one, hailing from Viron 403.0 Beta, taken from the month and year Dreadwind and Smokejumper were sold. Viron 403.0 Beta was first mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II as the home of Dreadwind and Smokejumper, who were causing chaos across the multiverse. In particular, they caught the universe Primax 1087.09 Alpha in a time loop during the Lunar Battle of 2011. This is....a very complicated reference. This Lunar Battle is seen in the opening of the Headmasters cartoon, and it loops every episode. This universe, however, takes its numerals from the first episode to incorporate the Video Challenger toy: "Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger", allowing children to shoot the Decepticons in the opening and get points for doing so. The Sunstorm mentioned in Megazarak's profile/represented by the Heroes of Cybertron figure is revealed to hail from that universe. Viron 403.0 Beta would later be mentioned in an earlier Ask Vector Prime as the home of the Destructicons Bludgeon and Scourge (from the Robots in Disguise toylines, KB Toys exclusives redeceod from Generation 2 Hero Megatron and Optimus Prime) and the 2003 Wal-Mart exclusive Dinobots toyline, featuring the titular characters. That question established that Smokejumper and Dreadwind were also Destructicons, and Megazarak is their "God Emperor Supreme" (in the vein of the Japanese "Emperor of Destruction" title for Decepticon leaders). Jhiaxus was another Robots in Disguise KB Toys exclusive, redecoed from the Deluxe-class Beast Machines Jetstorm toy. The sole 3H Productions Club magazine issue characterized him as the same character as the Jhiaxus from the Marvel Generation 2 comic. This version of Jhiaxus, meanwhile, is a different character, native to the Robots in Disguise universe.

Caliburn was sold with Megazarak, redecoed from Armada Megatron's Mini-Con Leader-1. In the media with Caliburn, he was depicted as a Micromaster, but a Mini-Con version of him was mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac. The Spark of Combination comes from Energon and was used mostly by the Autobots; Galvatron uses it here to combine with Dreadwind and Smokejumper into MegaWing Galvatron. Unicron does the same plot he did in the Armada cartoon with the Mini-Cons; in fact, the final story arc was called the "Unicron Battles". Additionally, much of the final Robots in Disguise toyline served as a precursor to the Universe toyline. Presumably Bludgeon and Scourge died. The remaining Destructicons being captured by Unicron explains why they were listed as "Minions of Unicron"/"Children of Primus" in their profiles, despite not showing up in any Universe media aside from that. Primacron's next creation is presumably Tornedron, an energy vampire seen in "Call of the Primitives".

Jhiaxus is revealed to have entered the Unicron war to find Megazarak, accounting for an error between issues #2 and #3 of the Universe comic; the former showed Jhiaxus in his original Marvel Generation 2 body (and is presumably the one who would be reformatted into his Robots in Disguise body), while the latter showed Robots in Disguise Jhiaxus. Sunstorm was labelled a Child of Primus in his profile in the 3H Club magazine issue; his appearance in the Dreamwave Generation One ongoing depicted him as a religious zealot. Dreadwind and Smokejumper's profiles in the same issue mistakenly labelled them as Children of Primus as well, despite their evil allegiance; this is accounted for here. The Megazarak of Aurex 404.11 Kappa (the world of the PS2 Armada video game) was mentioned in the earlier post about Vector and his time as a Time Warrior. Optimus is decidedly a very different bot from Cybertron Optimus, as Vector mentions here.

Question 4: Hercules is one of the many sons of Zeus, a demi-god from Greek and Roman mythology. Sgt. Slaughter was a professional wrestler, whose likeness was licensed by Hasbro for G.I. Joe. In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero second season episode, "G.I. Joe and the Golden Fleece", Sgt. Slaughter was one of several Joes sent back in time to the era of ancient Greece and inspired the myth of Hercules.

August 12:

Question 1: Ursa Major's original name translated to "Giant Bear Valiant General". He would later show with the name Ursa Major in IDW Publishing's Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor a few years later. The female Decepticon in the image this guy asks about is in fact Crimson Phantom, named a few days earlier; the Wiki didn't realize this at the time, however.

Question 2: Primax 984.0 Gamma is the Marvel US comic, while Primax 984.20 Gamma is the world of the Marvel UK comic. The description here matches much of how the comics worked in real-life, with most of the stuff published by Marvel US happening in the Marvel UK comics as well, with stories being added during times when US wasn't available. Occasionally, stories would be edited to better match UK continuity that had characters killed off still appearing, and in some cases, like the G.I. Joe and the Transformers comic, didn't happen in-continuity at all. There, of course, was little relation between these comics and the Sunbow cartoon. However, when The Transformers: The Movie took the cartoon to the future of 2005, the film's events were incorporated into the Marvel UK comic as a future timeline-Primax 986.13 Gamma, first appearing in issue #78 when Galvatron, Scourge, and Cyclonus arrived from the future. Having worked off an earlier script, the events of the film in this timeline took place a year later in 2006. Primax 488.0 Gamma refers to issue #43 of the Marvel US comic, a fill-in issue which adapted the events of the Sunbow season 3 episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006". When the comic was released by Marvel UK, a new book-end sequence was created, explaining it to be a work of fiction told by Wreck-Gar to a Quintesson-hired interrogator, setting up the then upcoming "Space Pirates!" storyline that ran from issues #182-187. Wreck-Gar encountered Unicron when the Chaos Bringer enslaved the Junkions in "The Legacy of Unicron!", which ran from issues #146-151.

Question 3: Grimlock became an Action Master in Marvel issue #76 after exposing himself to Nucleon in issue #70. Had the Marvel comic continued, Furman would explore its other effects on Transformers, such as turning Slag into a raging monster.

Question 4: The Paradron communicator was seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Fight or Flight", a neutral who ended up working with the Decepticon when they took over Paradron. Playback, meanwhile, was seen in Marvel UK issues #230-231, where he was killed by Thunderwing. In the letters page for issue #244, Dreadwind claimed he was an Autobot cassette. The Classics version of Playback, Vector claims, was a Recordabot, although he notes that's probably not the right term; the word "Recordabot" comes from the first installment of The Transformers Menagerie, articles in the Club magazine set in the Wings Universe about animal-based Transformers.

Question 5: I've talked about the Beast before.

August 13:

Question 1: I've already gone into Synthoids.

Question 2: "Fire in the Dark" was one of the stories published in the Transformers Legends anthology in 2004. It featured the Mini-Cons Ransack and Dune Runner and the Autobot Laserbeak accompanying an archaeological team, discovering evidence for the Maximals and Predacons of Beast Wars in a dig in Labná ruins in Mexico. Presumably, author John Helfers (from whose initials the "JH" in Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta are derived from) didn't understand Armada and Beast Wars were separate continuities. Because the Transformers didn't arrive on Earth until the modern day after the Mini-Cons woke up, there was no Ark to destroy.

In the 2003 Universe toyline, a redeco of Robots in Disguise 2001 Prowl in the colors of Generation 1 Red Alert was released as Inferno. A bio was written for him that explained that he was a version of the Beast Wars Predacon Inferno, who had forcibly been turned into a vehicle designed to fight fires. That vision is followed on here; canonizing a version of Robots in Disguise Red Alert based on that toy, who comes from Viron 903.0 Beta, the world of the yellow Universe version of Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime, who showed up in the "Revelations" storyline and is currently a member of the Convoy in Axiom Nexus.

In the Cybertron toyline, Jetfire was redecoed to become Sky Shadow, whose bio indicated that he was a Decepticon identity created by Jetfire to go undercover with. His Cyber Key Code bio indicated he got it from a former Decepticon turned Predacon mentioned in the historical records of the Axalon who died in the Beast Wars-referring to the Beast Wars toyline exclusive Sky Shadow, a Predacon lizard/dragonfly Fuzor released in 1998. He replaces Ravage here, with him being essentially copy-and-pasted into Ravage's roll from "The Agenda" here, after the former Decepticon was sent to investigate the transwarp pulse from "Other Voices, Part 2" by the Tripredacus Council.

There are a lot of Mini-Cons here, so I'll go through them by franchise of origin and chronologically; most of them come from Generation 1-based toylines and are UT versions of the characters. Snarl the tiger, Overbite the wolf, and Dreadwing the eagle were Mini-Con members of the Predator Attack Team in the 2006 Classics toyline. Also from Classics was the Autobot Mini-Con Triceratops Knockdown, member of the Dinobots, and Autobot Mini-Con dragon Nightscream, from the Clear Skies Team. For the fifth wave of Micron Boosters, these and other animal-mode Mini-Con toys were sold in a vaguely defined period, presumed by the logo used on the packaging to be in the Generation 1 timeline (and indeed they would later show up in JG1 in the Legends manga); these are obviously UT versions of them. Ironlunge was a Predacon redecoed from Knockdown. Repticus (or Reptix, as his name was translated to in the Beast Wars: Uprising story "Broken Windshields") was a Predacon redecoed from Classics Mini-Con Pteranodon Swoop. Gnashteeth was a Predacon redecoed from Classics Mini-Con Tyrannosaurus rex Terrorsaur and based on Beast Wars Megatron. Later, a chromed version of him, based on Transmetal Megatron, was sold; originally solicited as "Gnashteeth chromed version", he was later given the name Chromebite instead. Vector reconnects the two, explaining that Gnashteeth took the name Chromebite after being mutated into a Transmetal. Apexus was a Maximal redecoed from Classics Snarl. Gredator was a Maximal redecoed from Classics Overbite.

Wedge Shape was redecoed from Classics Dreadwing; while she had a Maximal symbol, her instructions called her a Predacon, which is incorporated into her backstory here. The promotion she was a part of is unknown, aside from the fact she was sold at BIC Camera stores in Japan in 2007. Dragoyell was an Autobot/Maximal redecoed from Classics Nightscream; he was a "Lucky Draw" prize with the September 2007 issue of TV Magazine in Japan. Brimstone was a Decepticon Mini-Con redecoed from Classics Nightscream sold in the Mini-Con Class 12 Pack in the 2008 Universe toyline, a member of the Ransack Team. Catilla, Rav, Triceradon, and Dualor were part of the Dark of the Moon toyline and sold by various venders. Catilla was a redeco of Classics Snarl, while Rav, Tricerdaon, and Dualor were redecoed from the Classics Dinobots (Swoop, Knockdown, and Terrorsaur). They were colored in homage to the Generation 1 Dinobots (Swoop, Slag, and Grimlock), and like some versions of the characters, are nominally-Autobot aligned, but tend to strike out on their own; they're most similar to the Animated version of the characters, who were really only Autobots by sole virtue of wearing their faction insignia. Finally, Sling was a Mini-Con redecoed from Classics Nightscream and sold in the Movie Advanced Series toyline (the Japanese version of the Age of Extinction toyline), exclusive to a few Japanese stories. With no Vok to create Tigerhawk in this timeline, the Darksyde was instead destroyed when Wedge Shape switched sides. In the main timeline, Megatron also made a last-ditch effort with one of Tarantulas' secret projects; the restored Decepticon flagship, the Nemesis; presumably, it was something else here. Tarantulas' arachnoids were seen throughout the series. Super Energon was seen in Energon. It takes the place of the Vok Planet Buster, sacrificing himself to destroy and mutating several participants into Transmetals and Fuzors.

Question 3: The Universe 2003 Autobot Longhorn was redecoed from Beast Wars Maximal Ramulus and showed up in flashback during the Universe War in "Revelations Part 2". Artist Dan Khanna mentioned that he was supposed to be the 3H Productions Wrecker version of Ramulus with a new name and colors, and Vector follows through on that here.

Question 4: Energon Rodimus was not seen during Cybertron, though he did show up in the prose story "Force of Habit" as commander of the Autobot ship, the Longbow. His Generation 1 counterpart, Rodimus Prime, was known as Hot Rod before gaining the Matrix of Leadership.

August 14:

Question 1: Klementia, christened here for the first time, appeared in the Sunbow season 3 finale two-parter, "The Return of Optimus Prime", who had attempted to hide from the Hate Plague, only for it to catch up with him. Sky Lynx rescued him to help resurrect Optimus Prime, and he helped repair other Autobots and defend Prime. This post is specifically about the Wings Universe version of Klementia. His name is a corruption of "clemency", meaning mercy or lenience.

Question 2: Another Transformers Online bit. The Thoroughbred Corps were a squad of horse-mode Maximals seen in Beast Wars Neo. Galaxy 'Questrian's original name translated literally to "Galaxy Horseman". Her new name is a bit of a pun on both equestrianism (horse riding) and the film Galaxy Quest.

Fallen Angel's original name translated to "Heaven Fiend Phantom"; she was characterized as a rational and loyal Decepticon trusted by Megatron. Wind War's original name was Nù Fēng Zhàn Rèn, which translated to "Anger Wind War Edge". Variable Star's original name was Àn Néng Biànxīng, which translated to "Dark Energy Variable Star". Space Scar's original name was Shēnkōng Xīng Hén, which translated to "Deep Space Star Scar". Doomwings' original name was Èzhào Zhī Yì, which translated to "Ominous Wings"; he would later show up alongside Ursa Major in Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor a few years later. War Blade's original name was Zhàn Yì Dāofēng, which translated to "War Wing Blade". The Aerial Warfare Subjugation Taskforce is all new here. Ironfletch was characterized as a wanderer; his original name translated to "Iron Wing Flying Arrow" (a fletch is the feathered vanes on an arrow, you see.) After this Vector gets a bit less indulgent; Zhóngyā Měngzhě wouldn't receive an English name until later. Thundertron was the leader of the Star Seekers, introduced in the Exiles novel and who was intended to appear in Transformers Online.

Question 3: Karn was a primitive planet seen in issue #9 of the Generation 2 Marvel comic; it was assaulted by the Cybertronian Empire, only for them in turn to be wiped out by the Swarm, an amorphous entity left over from the budding process the Cybertronian faction had been created from. Thistal Eight was mentioned in the Wings Universe prose story "A Team Effort". The Doomstone was a crystal inside Armada Nemesis Prime's chest that collected the negative psychic energy of his victims, as seen in the Linkage manga. More about the Time Warriors.

Question 4: The Celestial Spires were sworn by various characters throughout the Marvel comics, mostly in Furman's stories. The temple mentioned here is the Celestial Temple, first seen in issue #1 of the series, and later named in the Marvel UK annual comic story, "And There Shall Come...a Leader!"

August 15:

Question 1: Another "deliberate misinterpreting the question for comedy" moment. Warmonger was an Autobot double agent in the Decepticon ranks, seen in issue #226 of the Marvel UK comics. Punch is another Autobot double agent from 1987, able to use his Doublespy abilities to transform into the Decepticon, Counterpunch.

Question 2: Another Transformers Online one. Avatar Brave's original name translated to "Fearless Heavenly Lord". He was characterized as a silent gentle giant. Void Pulse's original name translated to "Black Hole Pulse". Her bio mentioned her having a relationship with Starscream. Hóng Zhīzhū is Starscream's Chinese name; it translates to "Red Spider".

Question 2: I've already talked about the Convoy. A post on Rook's page about TransTech Megatron told how, after he learned of the Convoy, Megatron proposed a "Megatronus Squad"; Megatronus is the Fallen's original name, and, in the "Aligned" continuity, Megatron renamed himself during his gladiatorial days, before shortening it to Megatron.

Question 3: Primax 512.5 Gamma is the world of Regeneration One; in issue #100, Rodimus Prime summoned versions of himself throughout the multiverse to help combat the Dark Matrix entity. Primax 903.0 Beta is the Binaltech and Alternity universe; in the latter storyline, Megatron gathered versions of himself throughout the multiverse and used the Chaotizer on Hytherion to make himself equal to the Alternity, creating the Megatron Aggregate.

The Rodimus this question talks about is New Rodimus, a cancelled toy intended for the Return of Convoy toyline revealed in the Transformers Generations book; he would have turned into a fire truck. He was also supposed to split in half for transformation, leading some to speculate he was meant to combine with Star Convoy. It was often thought by the fandom that his design was reused for Brave Police J-Decker character Duke Fire (reused here for the body that Rodimus is transplanted into), who could combine with titular character J-Decker, but as it turns out, the designer had never seen the New Rodimus design, as revealed when he was asked in 2017. Primax 092.0 Beta is the reality from which my post about Hyperdrive was from, seen only beyond that in Skyquake's Megavisor slides. In the finalized version of Return of Convoy, Rodimus was released as Micromaster with Star Convoy. The planet from which the Micromasters hail, Micro (introduced in Victory), was renamed Zone in Zone. The Great Galamen were a type of Dark Nova's soldier drones. Dark Nova, the main villain of Return of Convoy, merged with Ultra Megatron (one of the reformatted forms of Megatron/Galvatron that Dark Nova gave to him in return for his service) to become Star Giant in the story's finale.

Question 4: The Six Clan were first mentioned in Victory Greatshot's tech specs as the secretive group of ninjas that Six Changer Transformers belonged to. It was also mentioned that they secretly ruled the universe in that tech spec, which makes about as much sense as it sounds.

August 16:

Question 1: This one's a long one. Alternate version of Obsidian and Tankor were among Unicron's head heralds in the Universe storyline. Primax 208.06 Zeta is the world mentioned in Waspinator's Transmetal entry in the Beast Wars Sourcebook; it told how, after the events of Beast Wars episode "Possession", Starscream used his time-space abilities to go to another universe, possessing that universe's Waspinator, and getting the Transmetal upgrade. With his knowledge, the Maximals are wiped out, and the Beast Wars are shortened. With no Primal to stop the Vok's Planet Buster, Blackarachnia takes his role as the sacrificial lamb in "Other Voices, Part 2".

The quantum surge, as it did in the main timeline, mutated all of the original crew of the Darksyde that it hit. In this timeline, Waspinator and Terrorsaur received their Transmetal forms, released in the Beast Wars toyline, but which did not show up in the main cartoon, the latter having died with Scorponok when they fell into lava. Scorponok is prevented because, like Waspinator, Rhinox, and Dinobot in the main timeline, he was in the CR Chamber; the Vok bio-dome was seen in "Other Voices, Part 1". Silverbolt and Quickstrike joined up with the Predacons in "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)"; Silverbolt still leaves in this timeline, even with no Maximals. In this timeline, Inferno survives as well, his main universe counterpart dying by friendly fire in "Nemesis Part 2"; Quickstrike is not so lucky. Protoform X landed in "Bad Spark" in the main timeline. Like his main timeline counterpart, Megatron was strapped to the back of an Autobot shuttle, only to escape like he did in the time between Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Like the main timeline Transmetal Maximals, the Transmetal Predacons stayed online even after exposure to Megatron's transformation virus and were reformatted into technorganic forms by the super-computer, the Oracle. Like main-timeline Silverbolt, Rhinox, and Waspinator, however, Silverbolt, Scorponok, and Inferno were subdued by it, and like those three in "Fires of the Past", were turned into Vehicon Generals. Silverbolt became Jetstorm in the main timeline too. With Rhinox dead, Scorponok becomes Tankor instead. This Inferno, meanwhile, comes from another source: at BotCon 2006, the first customization class was held, with participants using Cybertron Scrapmetal to create either Rumble, or Inferno. Inferno's bio characterized him as being one of the many abducted by Unicron in Universe; in his timeline, he survived the Beast Wars and became a Vehicon, but when he was captured, he joined up under Optimus Primal's command. His drones are called Scrapmetal drones, after the toy he was made from.

In the main timeline, after losing Tankor and Jetstorm, Megatron brought former Autobot generals Obsidian and Strika online as Vehicons in "Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike". With no Strika to accompany him in this timeline, Obsidian grew ambitious, and slew Megatron; both Obsidian's profile in issue #1 of the 3H Productions Universe comics, and his own monologue in the same issue, indicated he killed his Megatron. The main timeline Nightscream joined up with the Maximals in "Forbidden Fruit" after they found him, while Botanica joined up with them in "Home Soil" after returning to Cybertron. The main timeline Depth Charge, meanwhile, arrived on Earth looking for Protoform X in "Deep Metal"; he died fighting Protoform X in "Nemesis Part 1", but he survived here, presumably returning to Cybertron after finding Earth abandoned. The Wreckers (originally introduced in Marvel UK's comics), the Beast Machines Dinobots, and the Beast Wars Mutants were also shown to be resistance groups on Beast Machines era Cybertron in the 3H Productions The Wreckers first issue. Obsidian's previously mentioned monologue had him tell the Silverbolt captured by Unicron (from the 3H comic Beast Wars/Beast Machines timeline) that he died screaming in his home universe, and indeed he did, accompanied by Terrorsaur here. The other Inferno I've already gone over, but really quick to remind you: the Universe version of Inferno was a redeco of Robots in Disguise Prowl in the colors of Generation 1 Red Alert, whose unreleased bio told of how he was the Predacon from Beast Wars reformatted into a fire-fighting alternate mode, and who joined up with Optimus Primal.

In the 3H timeline, Icebird was depicted as leader of the Mutants, and Magmatron (the Predacon leader originally from Beast Wars Neo, whose Beast Machines bio told how he defected to the Maximals to fight Megatron) the leader of the Dinobots. Primal Prime was the leader of the Wreckers, but he's replaced here by Rodimus Primal, a proposed redeco/remold of Beast Wars Optimal Optimus as a new version of Rodimus Prime, who was scrapped and replaced with Rodimus and Primal Prime in the final comic story. "It never ends" is a common phrase in Transformers writer Simon Furman's work.

As seen in Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime's flashback in "Revelations Part 2", Tankor and Obsidian didn't survive the war. Tankor was killed by the 3H timeline Rhinox, who was his universe's version of Tankor. Angolmois is the lifeblood of Unicron seen in Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. Unicron's Pit is a hellscape dimension within his body seen in the first issue of the Universe comic, part of the larger Cauldron sub-dimension. Nemesis Strika was seen in the comic falling; she was released later in the Universe toyline, presumably having been abducted later in fiction; her toy was called "Nemesis Strika", for some reason. Primax 704.08 Gamma is the world of the Dreamwave Productions Beast Wars comic, which only saw one story released: "Ain't No Rat" in the 20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special. Blastcharge was a Vehicon in the Beast Machines toyline; he was redecoed for the Universe toyline. I dunno if Vector is saying that that Blastcharge didn't participate in the Universe War, or that a "Blast Charge" didn't participate; remember kids, it's Spider-Man, not Spiderman.

Question 2: The Protectons and Terrakors are the factions in Robotix. Terrakors from the Nexus cluster were mentioned in previous post on Ask Vector Prime. The Protectons of Animated were Guardian leader Zeemon Magnus' personal guard, who launched a coup and took over, becoming the Protectobots, as told in The AllSpark Almanac II.

Question 3: Cybertron Downshift's online Cyber Key Code bio mentioned his female lifebond partner, whom he was separate from while he was on Cybertron. She's retroactively made to be the female motorcycle Autobot seen in several Cybertron episodes, most notably "Search" and "Revelation". She saw and recognized the Atlantis Pattern in the former. She's given the name Joyride here; pretty self-explanatory.

Question 4: This expands a bit more on drones and their rights in Axiom Nexus, as seen in TransTech prose story "Withered Hope". Turtler is the Japanese version of Seacon leader Snaptrap, seen in Super-God Masterforce; he and the other Seacons were treated as drones, with him being the only sapient one. The strict Ambus Test was mentioned in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye issue #24 and #40. The Mini-Cons of the "Unicron Trilogy" cartoons were, for the most part, unable to speak, communicating in bleeps and bloops. In the comics, meanwhile, they could. Sprite is named for the screenname of Transformers fans Alies Meerman, "Spriteling113", who campaigned for inclusiveness in IDW's comics. Cybertronix was a text-based language seen in Beast Wars and Beast Machines; it was also seen as a verbal language in "Withered Hope".

August 17:

Question 1: Some more clarification of the Iocus cluster; it's not populated by its own versions of Cybertronians, but rather copies from across the multiverse. Iocus, in Latin, means "joke". Iocus 514.31 Gamma is the world of the Legends gag-strip manga, a dream-world created by the Zamojins as an experiment, as the inhabitants found out after increased dimensional crossover with the main JG1 timeline.

Question 2: More Transformers Online guys. Again, all of these mention traits from the bios these guys had, I'm tired of typing that so I'll just say it now. Astral Knight's original name was Xīng Mén Shǒuwèi, which translates to "Star Gate Guard". Assault Star's original name was Nù Xīng Zhàn Lún, which translates to "War Wheel of the Furious Star". This bit about economic philosophies is new thing for her. Psychic Shortstop's original name was Chāonéng Yóujīshǒu. Velvet Elvis are tacky paintings of Elvis Presly on velvet. The Jiangsu Pegasus are a real-life baseball team, in the province of Jiangsu in China. Thunderclap's original name was Jísù Pīlì, which translates to "Exceeding Fast Thunderclap". Sonic Ronin's original name was Yīnsù Yóuxiá, which translates to "Sonic Knight-Errant"; a ronin is a samurai without a master, while a knight errant is from European stories of chivalry, a wanderer out to prove his honor. They're not really the same thing, but lots of fiction generally depict ronins in that way. Sledgehammer's original name was Zhòng Chuí Tiě Wèi, which translates to "Heavy Hammer Iron Guard".

Doomsday Marshall's original name was Mòrì Tǒngshuài. Spiral Zealot's original name was Shì Xīng Luóxuán, which translates to "Star-Addicted Spiral". Balewing's original name was Zāihuò Zhī Yì, which translates to "Wings of Disaster". Hypergear's original name was Kuángbào Chǐlūn, which translates to "Frantic Gear". The Raskol Arena was seen in issue #30 of More than Meets the Eye, named after the split in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century. Siegegun's original name was Zhóngjiǎ Pòhuàizhě, which translates to "Heavy Armored Destroyer". Coldstar's original name was Xīngchén Hán Yàn, which translates to "Cold Flame of the Stars". Lensflare's original name was Jí Guāng Xīng Rèn, which translates to "Light Converging Star-Edge".

Nebula Ripper's original name was "Xīngyún Sīlièzhě". Las Vegas, you know. Pressure Front's original name was Zhóngyā Měngzhě, which translates to "High Pressure Tough Warrior". The Gobi Desert is a massive region covering both northern China and southern Mongolia. Ether Walker's original name was Yǐtài Xíngzhě. You should know England. Blazing Meteor's original name was Lièhuǒ Liúxīng, which translates to "Fire Meteor". Phantom Nova's original name was Hùanyǐng Xīnxīng. Qíng Tīan Zhù is Optimus Prime's Chinese name, which translates to "Pillar that Supports the Sky". Starquest was a Star Seeker seen only in promotional materials for Transformers Online as representative of the Star Seekers (known as Interstellar Rangers in China). His original name was Xún Xīng Zhě, which translates to "Star Seeker". Pò Tiān Léi is the Chinese name of Thundertron, leader of the Star Seekers, first seen in the Exiles novel. It translates to "Heaven Breaking Thunder".

Question 3: "Bumblebee at Tyger Pax" was a short story Alex Irvine, author of the Exodus novel and "author" of the Exiles novel, wrote to promote the former, published on MTV Movie Blogs, without any authorization from Hasbro or Del Ray. Here, it's confirmed to take place in the world of the "Aligned" novels, including those two.

Question 4: Aside from Unicron cultists and some stuff in IDW, there isn't many examples of Transformers worshipping other gods; Brainstorm made a sign of the cross in The Headmasters cartoon, but that was mostly a visual gag. I dunno if any humans in fiction have worshipped Primus, or any other non-Cybertronians for that matter. Some parallels with real world religions, here.

August 18:

Question 1: In the Universe toyline, the Robots in Disguise Spychangers Optimus Prime, Prowl II, Ultra Magnus, and Ironhide were recolored and re-released as Wal-Mart exclusives. They showed up in the OTFCC 2004 script reading as some of many who Unicron attempted to abduct, only for Rhinox to redirect them, forcing his minion Reptillion and a squad of others to go after them before the Maximals/Autobots reached them first. Now, two fans won the chance to become part of the script reading, and Optimus was voiced by female fan Michelle Carolus. Since the script was written with the intention that the Optimus who appeared was just a normal one, they were given male pronouns in the script, but she's female now! They come from Viron 1103.12 Gamma; this corresponds to a Robots in Disguise universe glimpsed by Armada Jetfire in issue #17 of the Dreamwave Productions Armada comic. Now, aside from the aforementioned four, two other Spy Changers are explicitly named here: X-Brawn, who also received a Spychanger toy, and Daytonus, a toy-line only Spychanger redecoed from an unused Generation 2 Go-Bot mold (like Prowl). That leaves us seven other Autobot Spychangers: the ones who showed up in the cartoon (W.A.R.S., Crosswise, Hot Shot, R.E.V., and Mirage), and two other ones redecoed from unreleased Generation 2 Go-Bots: Side Burn and Side Swipe. All the Predacons mentioned here are from the main cartoon. Scourge also received an all-new Spychanger toy; this version is female, as in the main timeline, Scourge was created when a reprogrammed protoform scanned a truck and Optimus at the same time. So here, she's female due to scanning the female Optimus.

Question 2: In the BotCon 2015 "Cybertron's Most Wanted" comic, two Windblades show up in a crowd of offworlders. One is the Generations "Thrilling 30" version, while the other is the Legends version. Some hints of the winding down of Ask Vector Prime.

Question 3: Torkulon was a semi-sentient planet, home to one of the biggest psychiatric hospitals in the galaxy, seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Webworld". Galvatron was taken there. It didn't end well for the Torkuli, who were at best morally dubious anyway, having people pay in "consciousness units" for permanent care.

Question 4: The Matrix Templars come from 3H Production's The Wreckers and Universe comics, Cybertronians who had some sort of special connection to Primus. Rodimus was revealed to be one in Apelinq's War Journals and issue #1 of The Wreckers. Snarl, the Beast Machines lion Maximal, was revealed to be one in issue #3 of the Universe comic. Cheetor was revealed to be one in "Wreckers: Finale Part II". The other two are revealed to be members here for the first time: Grizzly-1 was a BotCon Japan 1998 exclusive, a redeco of Beast Wars Polar Claw, based on early solicits for the toy that used that name and a brown bear color scheme, presumably an early version of Polar Claw. Magnaboss was part of the second year of the Beast Wars toyline in 1997, a Maximal combiner composed of the lion Prowl, the elephant Ironhide, and the eagle Silverbolt. He showed up as part of the Maximal High Council in Universe issue #3. Rodimus died from injuries sustained in a fight with Cyclonus in "Wreckers: Finale Part II"; Magnaboss and the rest of the Maximal High Council were killed in the Culling, an attack by Unicron's forces on Optimus Primal's Cybertron, as revealed in Primal's profile in issue #9 of the Collector's Club magazine. Sentinel Maximus is the fusion of Primal Prime and Apelinq, who I've already gone into a bit of detail; presumably, he returned from the universe of the Fun Publications Cybertron stories after the end of the "Revelations" storyline. King Atlas was Universe toy, redecoed from Machine Wars Starscream (himself retooled from European-exclusive The Transformers toy Skyquake) and based on Zone Dai Atlas. He was among the many kidnapped in Universe by Unicron, and was among those who, instead of returning to his home universe, teamed with Primal on his Cybertron to fight the Dark God. The Well of All Sparks is where Primus first birthed the Cybertronian race, as seen in various Dreamwave Productions comics. It has gone on to mean a few things since then.

August 19:

Question 1: For the release of the Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers theatrical special, sausage was released to tie in, with special trading cards showcasing the Beast Wars II cast. Another guy tries to ask which of the power-ups from the Unicron Trilogy (Mini-Cons from Armada; Energon stars from Energon; Cyber Keys from Cybertron).

Question 2: Only a few more Transformers Online bits to go. Deep Blue's original name translated to "Deep Blue Glimpse"; her name is shortened down, presumably referencing the chess-playing computer built by IBM. Stellar Maelstrom's original name translated to "Dark Star Whirlpool".

Question 3: What a weird bit. I've gone over all the concepts in the question. Cy-gars were introduced in IDW Publishing's All Hail Megatron. This is a paraphrase of a quote attributed to Sigmund Freud.

Question 4: Initially just a mysterious evil figure, Grand Scourge was part of the Pla-Kit Collection line of model kit figures; he was a redeco of the Energon (or rather, Superlink) Optimus Prime figures. He would later receive a Unite Warriors figure, which characterized him as an interdimensional Convoy-hunter; his toy would be released right around the time this post went up, which comes with a comic telling more of his story.

August 20:

Question 1: In the "Cybertron's Most Wanted" story, most of Axiom Nexus went down due to the Waruders, before Megatron and his group, with some help, stopped the invasion. I imagine it's probably this guy asking about why there hadn't been any updates in a while, though. Bit of a plug, here.

Question 2: Cybertron Thundercracker was depicted as something of a hick, vaguely inspired by the likes of Larry the Cable Guy. His earlier Armada incarnation, meanwhile, was characterized in the Armada More than Meets the Eye guidebooks as being a cold-hearted mercenary. The More than Meets the Eye books were nominally in the same timeline as the Dreamwave Armada comics, but they referenced various events that never happened in the comic, and had several characters based more on the Armada cartoon. That doesn't mean that its depiction of Thundercracker doesn't apply to the comics, however. The Dreamwave Productions "Unicron Trilogy" comics were initially given the universal stream designation "Aurex 402.0 Gamma" due to some incomplete information on TFWiki about the preview issue's publication date.

Question 3: We've gone over Violen Jiger/Bio Ranger Iga plenty by this point. Meister is Jazz's Japanese name.

Question 4: The "Optimus Prime Dino Hauler" was a Kre-O set tying into the Age of Extinction movie. One of the Kreons it came with was a mini-Kreon human, named only as "Autobot Driver" in the instructions. He was based on the main human protagonist of the film, Cade Yeager, and he's confirmed to be him here, with a "K" instead of a "C". Because Kre-O, see.

August 21:

Question 1: Cyberjets were a subgroup of Transformers in Generation 2, highly posable figures who all turned into jets. Hooligan was one of the most prominent ones, a Decepticon prankster.

Question 2: Blue Maximus, Undertow, and Bodyblock were all cancelled toys from the 2010 Transformers toyline. Blue Maximus and Undertow would have been part of "Vs" two-packs with the Autobots Crosshairs and Drydock, respectively. Blue Maximus was a redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Ransack (named for the 1966 war film The Blue Max), while Undertow was a redeco of Cybertron Shortround. Bodyblock, meanwhile, was part of the Reveal the Shield subline, and would have been a redeco of Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticons Breacher. Drydock was previously mentioned as coming from the world of the "Shell Game" comic with Megazarak-I imagine the question asker mixed up Bodyblock with Crosshairs.

Tyran 208.28 Gamma is the world of the alternate "Twilight's Last Gleaming" timeline from the Titan UK comics. In the final story of this alternate universe, published in issue #25, the Autobots used "tags" to teleport the Decepticons to Cybertron, and teleport Cybertron across the galaxy. From there on, we have an alternate telling of Revenge of the Fallen. Chopsaw was part of the Reveal the Shield subline, redecoed from Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticons Brimstone. Duststorm was part of the Hunt for the Decepticons subline, redecoed from Revenge of the Fallen Springer.

Mimicking the end of the 2007 Transformers movie, the Autobots send out a message like that of Optimus Prime's at the end of the film. Downshift would have accompanied Bodyblock in the cancelled Reveal the Shield wave; he would have been redecoed from Hunt for the Decepticons Hubcap. Fallback, based on Generation 1 Outback, was part of the Reveal the Shield subline, and was redecoed from Revenge of the Fallen Brawn. Mindset, based on the Cybertronian Empire Mindset from the Marvel Generation 2 comic, was part of Reveal the Shield, and was retooled from Hunt for the Decepticons Hailstorm. Deep Dive was part of Reveal the Shield and was redecoed from Hunt for the Decepticons Sea Spray.

Strafe, based on the Generation 1 Technobot, was part of Reveal the Shield, and redecoed from Revenge of the Fallen Mindwipe. He arrived in the timeline's equivalent events to Dark of the Moon, exposing Sentinel Prime as a traitor.

Question 3: Budding is the method by which some of the first Cybertronians were created, a sort of cellular division, as revealed in the Marvel Generation 2 comic. "Proto-batch initiator" was a term first mentioned in IDW Publishing's Infiltration, as a substitute for "mother".

Question 4: Caliburn is OTFCC 2004 Megazarak's partner, redecoed from Armada Leader-1. We've seen him a fair few times at this point; a Viron Micromaster from the "Shell Games" universe, and an Aurex Mini-Con from the "MegaWing Galvatron" universe. The Primax version Vector refers to comes from Beast Wars: Uprising, first mentioned in the Cybertronix text section of "Broken Windshields". The Cyberdroid version of Dante, Headmaster partner to IDW Publishing's version of Scorponok, was also mentioned in that text section, and the two will later be seen interacting in "Derailment". This partnership is presumably because the Japanese name for Scorponok's city-sized body is...MegaZarak.

Question 5: Sparks have differed in their depiction from continuity to continuity. Cyber-Ninjas were seen in Animated. These are all technically accurate descriptions of human activities.

August 22:

Question 1: Meantime was one of the Real Gear Robots from the 2007 Transformers movie toyline, a Decepticon watch. His tech specs described him as a prankster, who used his time-manipulating powers to make humans have embarrassing accidents.

Question 2: The question is either a reference to the film WarsGames, or the film franchise Saw. Fullstasis is the Cybertronian version of chess, first seen in issue #69 of the Marvel comics.

Question 3: In issue #2 of the 3H The Wreckers comics, the Beast Machines Dinobots were tricked into a fight with the Dweller, the monster from Sunbow season 3 episode "The Dweller in the Depths". The script for "The Wreckers: Finale Part 1" showed that Magmatron sacrificed his life to allow the others to escape, with only his sword remaining.

Question 4: "Hail and Farewell" was a Transformers: Mosaic strip written by Simon Furman and drawn by Steve Buccallato, which featured Sunstreaker and Hunter O'Nion, set after the events of Escalation, and was supposed to foreshadow future events from Furman's IDW run. However, with the events of All Hail Megatron, it was rendered impossible to connect with canon. Initially, the IDW Publishing comics universe could not have timelines splinter off of it; however, when Perceptor messed with Brainstorm's time case in issue #38 of More than Meets the Eye, he changed the universal constants of the timeline, allowing universes to branch off of it.

August 23:

Question 1: Skyquake was the leader of the Predators, a subgroup of Decepticons from the 1992 range of European-exclusive The Transformers toys. Scrash was the "High Regent" of the Earthbound Decepticons in Operation Combination. Fans theorized that he was meant to be the Japanese version of Skyquake, and in the initial chapters of the United: EX stories, this seemed to be the case. However, later chapters and the e-HOBBY comic "Badlands" would reveal that Scrash was a non-corporeal entity who had possessed Skyquake. Vector's answer refers to the double-slit experiment in physics; basically, he's saying yes.

Question 2: I've already gone King Atlas a bit. The Fun Publications Cybertron prose story "Force of Habit" indicated that when Unicron abducted King Atlas a few thousand years ago, his colony of Combatron fell into chaos; another Autobot from Universe, Whirl, was one of its last survivors. Whirl was based on the Generation 1 Deluxe Vehicle, and was redecoed from Machine Wars Sandstorm, himself retooled from European-exclusive The Transformers toy Rotorstorm. He was sold with redecoes of Armada Mini-Cons Makeshift and Thunderbarrel, who were repurposed as Skysickle and Thunderstick in "Force of Habit". Now, Whirl was seen in the Cauldron in issue #2 of Universe, and in Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime's flashback as a Child of Primus in "Revelations Part 2". But "Force of Habit" indicated that Whirl had never left Combatron; thusly, this Whirl is a different one. He comes from Aurex 1104.30-JM Zeta, the world of the prose story "Something Robotic This Way Comes" from the Transformers Legends anthology book. The "JM" in the stream designation comes from the initials of the story's author, John J. Miller. The Omega Lock was one of the main MacGuffins from Cybertron, used to awaken Primus.

Question 3: Universe Ratchet had already been indicated to be from a Viron universe (specifically, the "Shell Games" universe) in an earlier post. He traveled back to Primal's Cybertron in issue #2 of the Universe comic. Glen Hallit, one of organizers of BotCon and founders of 3H Productions, previously indicated that Ratchet would have come from a Robots in Disguise universe.

Question 4: Wind Sheer was sold in a two-pack with Air Raid in the Universe toyline, redecoed from Generation 2 Hooligan. Photint stands for "photo intelligence". "Metrowars" and its sequels "Metrowars 2", "Train Wars", and "Train Wars 2", were a series of manga by Yuki Ohshima published in the Japanese Transformers Generations guidebooks, set in-between Operation Combination/United EX and Generation 2. In "Metrowars", several Cyberjets from Robotsmasters had shown, and it's indicated that it's from this era they came from when they entered the time-and-space warping region known as the Blasty Zone. Universe Rook, whom TransTech Rook is a version of, was a redeco of the keychain release of Generation 1 Windcharger sold at BotCon Europe 2002. He was characterized as a news reporter.

August 24:

Question 1: There was a previous bit about this in The Complete AllSpark Almanac. Basically, the more prevalent a character, the more likelihood of them showing up in fiction.

Question 2: In IDW Publishing's comics, the Decepticon Triple Changer Octane (known as "Tankor" in this continuity), and the Tankor from Beast Machines (not a Vehicon in this continuity, but a neutral-turned-Decepticon), were seen being friends in Robots in Disguise/The Transformers and the various Windblade mini-series. Cybeforceps were seen in the Sunbow Season 2 episode "Microbots". Swindle, Swindle, and Swindle, I've talked about before, but to go over again real quick: it's a store seen in TransTech stories "Withered Hope" and "I, Lowtech", run by three different Swindles.

In Animated, the Decepticon Slipstream was a female clone of Starscream. In the 2015 Robots in Disguise series, the Autobot Slipstream was a male Mini-Con and partner of Drift. Generation 1 Grimlocks (and most others), turn into Tyrannosauruses; 2001 Robots in Disguise Grimlock was a member of the Autobot Build Team, who turned into an excavator. The Optimus mentioned here comes from Aurex 304.0 Epsilon, mentioned in Universe Nemesis Prime's bio as being killed by Megazarak, and whom Unicron used to clone and create him. Vector fought alongside Prime during the events of Cybertron. The Marvel Comics version of Optimus Prime sacrificed himself to stop the Swarm in Marvel's Generation 2 issue #12. And obviously. the Generation 1 and Beast Wars Megatrons are very different characters.

Question 3: Magna Stampede and Stockade were sold as a two pack in the Universe toyline, with redecoes of the Armada Mini-Cons Prowl and Terradive. Magna Stampede was a redeco of Beast Machines Battle Unicorn, while Stockade was a redeco of the Beast Machines Tank Drone. Magna Stampede had a bio written up by 3H Productions that never saw release, characterizing him and Stockade as guardians of the High Council. The two showed up in the Wings Universe Facebook page, Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur. There was a mandate in place that saw Wings Universe fiction, for the most part, barred from using dimensional travel, as reflected here.

Question 4: Aside from the aforementioned female Spychanger Prime, there was a normally colored Spychanger Optimus in the original Robots in Disguise toyline, a Spychanger version of Generation 1 Optimus Prime redecoed from Robots in Disguise Spychanger Scourge and sold in the Universe toyline, and another redeco of Scourge as the movieverse Optimus Prime, sold with a pre-order of the Japanese DVD release of the 2007 Transformers film. And those are just the ones that have translated to our universe!

August 25:

Question 1: Galaxy Force, is, of course, the Japanese version of Cybertron, where Vector Prime first appeared.

Question 2: In the Cybertron episode "Guardian", Vector Prime sacrificed his life and joined the timestream to return the Autobots to their home dimension. Vector Prime would appear in the 2015 Robots in Disguise episode "Battlegrounds, Part 1" (which had already shown up on the Australian version of iTunes), residing in the Realm of the Primes, where he and the others were petitioned by Optimus to bring him back to life, to help Bumblebee and the others stop Megatronus.

Question 3: The events of "Guardian" are brought up again. Optimus Prime died in The Transformers: The Movie. The "Red Wedding" was a massacre from George R.R. Martin's novel A Storm of Swords, which was adapted into HBO's Game of Thrones series in season three, episode nine: "The Rains of Castamere". Now, in our reality, there were only seven episodes in season seven; guess this person comes from another one!

Question 4: What a waste of a question. Of course, this refers to the fact that in the original Sunbow cartoon, Rumble and Frenzy's colors were switched, making Rumble blue and Frenzy red. Whether or not that's true of the cartoon isn't the argument; it's whether the cartoon or the comic is "more correct".

August 26:

Question 1: In the 2010 Power Core Combiners toyline, the Decepticon Icepick was released with Mini-Con partner Chainclaw. A year later, another toy named Icepick was released as part of the "Human Alliance" basics-sized toys in Dark of the Moon, with human partner Sergeant Chaos. Icepick's toy bio mentioned he had his previous combiner team destroyed, hinting at a connection (even if Icepick didn't actually have any combiner drones, being part of the smaller size class in Power Core Combiners.

We're treated with a first here: filecards in the style of G.I. Joe, specifically modelled after the toys for the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. These were designed by Bill Forster. FOIA stands for "Freedom of Information Act"; 2036-25 is 2011, the year his toy was sold, The barcodes at the top are the serial numbers given later down in the card, using the Barcode True Type Font. For Sergeant Chaos' specific filecard, he uses the logo of the black ops Transformer killers Cemetery Wind from Age of Extinction, though most of the others use the N.E.S.T. logo from Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon. There tends to be a lot of geographical references, and although most of them are obvious, I'll still go through them, especially for non-Americans. Sitka is a city in Alaska, while Phoenix is a city in Arizona. Sergeant Chaos' card, or rather, Brandon J. Khendsovan's, is mostly just filling in more of his backstory from what was given in his and Icepick's tech specs. Al of the serial numbers for these cards are the social security numbers of famous deceased people. Chaos' serial number, 409-52-2002, is that of rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. All the military grades are based on the real-life enlisted rank model of the United States armed forces; in the army, E-6 is staff sergeant. MOS stands for military occupational specialties. LRRP is a real world one, and so is Cold Weather Specialist.

Question 2: The Japanese version of the 2001 Robots in Disguise series, 2000's Car Robots, initially seemed like that of its counterpart, not set in any previous continuity, at least going off the cartoon alone. However, in 2007, the official Japanese Generation 1 retconned it into being part of that timeline, utilizing the original catalogs claims that the Predacons and Autobots came from the far future. Uniend 812.21 Kappa is the world of the War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron video games, using the latter's release date for its designation. High Moon Studios, the makers of the games, regarded War for Cybertron as a prequel to Generation 1, hence it is duplication. Uniend 911.05 Alpha is the world of the "Aligned" cartoons, including Prime, Rescue Bots, and the 2015 Robots in Disguise series. I've already talked about the Dark Spark and its effects on the multiverse. And I've already talked about the "Unicron Trilogy" Beast Wars from "Fire in the Dark"; I believe this is the first time it's stated to be the result of the damage of the Unicron Singularity, seen in the Cybertron cartoon. Primax 610.17 Kappa, the "G1" version of the High Moon Games, takes its designation from the release date for War for Cybertron.

Question 3: Hahahahahaha this one is great. Obviously, the guy wants to know what happend with the Autobots and Decepticons between those years, but instead Vector gives his misinterpretations of human events. The Los Angeles Dodgers went up against the Oakland Athletics in the 1988 World Series, not the Super Bowl. In 1990, the Japanese National Diet gave South Americans of Japanese descent preferential working visa immigration status. The sci-fi television show Babylon 5 aired with a TV movie, Babylon 5: The Gathering, in 1993. British Labour politician Tony Blair became Prime Minster of the United Kingdom (NOT the Prime Minster of Europe) in 1997. Actress Winona Ryder went on trial for shoplifting charges in 2002; Vector Prime misinterprets the metaphorical term "slap on the wrists"-as in, "getting off lightly"- for being a real thing. Renée Zellweger portrayed Ruby Thewes in the film Cold Mountain, which got her an Oscar. I feel like there's supposed to be a joke with the "soft-spoken ambassador" bit, but I've never seen Babylon 5. Ambassador Kosh Naranek was a Vorlon, a decidely...non-humanoid species.

Question 4: Star Saber was the Autobot leader from Victory. Dai Atlas was the Autobot leader from Zone. Saber Convoy and Atlas Convoy are all new. Rodimus Prime took the Matrix of Leadership when he went to look for a new home for the Transformers after the destruction of Cybertron in The Headmasters episode "Cybertron is in Grave Danger, Part 2".

August 27:

Question 1: Only a few more Transformers Online posts to go. Rampart Punch's original name translates to "Iron Fort Angry Fist". Baleful Spirit's original name was Kuángbào Shāshén, which translates to "Frantic Baleful Spirit". Stardust Wanderer's original name was Xīngchén Mànyóuzhě. Vermilion Thunderbolt's original name was Chìhóng Léitíng, which translates to "Crimson Thunderbolt". Cyclone Dancer's original name was Xuánfēng Wǔzhě. Rocket Plume's original name translated to "Blazing Flying Fire".

Question 2: Our first, and ultimately only, indication that the TransTech version of Earth is no more. In "Withered Hope", Optimus mentioned a previous attempt to help out another race that ended poorly; perhaps this has something to do with that.

Question 3: This piece of art (depicting Machine Wars Starscream with Galvatron's particle cannon and Starscream's cape from The Transformers: The Movie) was published in the artbook Genesis: The Art of Transformers. The "M" in its designation comes from either the illustrator of the piece, Matt Kuphaldt, or Machine Wars. The backstory given here (Starscream possessing Skyquake's corpse) comes from another, unofficial piece drawn by Kuphaldt, depicting that: https://www.ggaub.com/tf/fanart/mk_starscream.jpg The New Golden Age happened in the Sunbow cartoon in the conclusion of the fourth season mini-series, "The Rebirth".

Question 4: Ultra Mammoth was a Maximal woolly mammoth version of Ultra Magnus, redecoed from Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy and sold as part of the 2013 Transformers Figure Subscription Service from the Collector's Club. He was depicted in Classics and Shattered Glass stories as the same character as the original. A Maximal version of the character unconnected to Ultra Magnus was mentioned in "Broken Windshields", the first Beast Wars: Uprising prose story. IDW Galvatron is unconnected to Megatron, an ancient Cybertronian far older than the Decepticon leader. A non-Bumblebee version of Goldbug showed up in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Metroplex, as leader of the Throttlebots.

August 28:

Question 1: Thunderhead and Major Tungsten were another pair of Human Alliance figures in the Dark of the Moon toyline. Sicily is an island, and a region of Italy. The University of Dallas is in Irving, Texas. ROTC stands for Reserve Officers' Training Corps; the US military uses it to recruit unwitting students into the military indus-..a-heh, I mean, "offer young men and women the opportunity to serve their country in exchange for help with paying for their college educations and job opportunities." Mission City was the fictionalized version of Las Vegas seen in the 2007 Transformers movie as the location of the final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. Fort Irvine, in turn, is a fictionalized version of Fort Irwin, a training center in the Mojave Desert. It also refers to Alex Irvine, author of the Transformers novels Exodus and Exiles. Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath are heavy metal bands; the former, in particular, is favorite of Jim Sorenson's friend and co-author Bill Forster. Major Tungsten/Nicholas W. Tosetti's serial number is 562-10-0296, the social security number of animator and entrepreneur Walt Disney. Canton is a city in Mississippi. His middle initial, "W", is the chemical symbol for tungsten on the Periodic Table.

Question 2: I've already gone over Overload. Dunno what this guy thought he was going to get, although I imagine he was trying to ask where he came from in-fiction, as he just rather randomly showed up in the Armada cartoon with little-to-no fanfare, only seen in robot-mode once.

Question 3: Venus was a magazine for female Decepticons, seen in The AllSpark Almanac and a meta-fictional way of summarizing Blackarachina and Lockdown's confrontation in "A Few Loose Strands", published in The Arrival issue #4. ALTernity Today, meanwhile, was seen in The AllSpark Almanac II, published under the highly evolved Autobots from the Alternity toyline and pack-in stories, which summarized the events of Animated season three episode "This Is Why I Hate Machines". After Megatron devolved the Alternity back into normal Autobots, the Planicrons, versions of Transformers from a two-dimensional universe, evolved and took their place as guardians of the multiverse...and publishers of ALTernity Today. Obviously, female Vector comes from universes where everyone's gender is swapped. Kate Mulgrew is the actress who played Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager.

Question 4: Spy Streak was a Vehicon exclusive to the Beast Machines toyline. Early solicits from websites like BigBadToyStore gave him the name Attack Bird, and that's used here as his previous identity as a Predacon.

August 29:

Question 1: Megatron flew off after Unicron was exorcised from him in the Prime movie finale, Predacons Rising. Obviously Vector can't answer this, so he just sasses the asker.

Question 2: Sergeant Recon was sold with the Human Alliance Roadbuster toy in the Dark of the Moon toyline. He's given the real name Travis Rearick. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a racing circuit in Indiana, home of the Indianapolis 5000. 20/05 vision is freakish acute indeed: it's supposedly impossible for human beings. In the Dark of the Moon novelization, Roadbuster and the other Wreckers spent their free time watching old NASCAR races. His serial number, 567-68-0515, is the social security number of former United States President Richard Nixon.

Question 3: And I think this is our last Transformers Online question. Wrath Thunder's original name meant the same thing. Orion Star's original name meant "Milky Way Hunter" (the Milky Way Galaxy constellation, Orion, represents a giant hunter from Greek mythology. Thundercloud Knight's original name was Léiyún Qíshì. Schism's original name was Fēnliè Zàibō, which means "Split Carrier". Helter-Skelter's original name was Hùndùn Shāxīng, which translates to "Chaotic Fiend". She takes her English name after American mass murder Charles Manson's insane "Helter Skelter" belief, taken from a song by "The Beetles" which was in turn named after a type of amusement ride, involving a cylindrical tower with a slide spiraling down across it from the top.

Question 4: The Earth designation in the Marvel multi/megaverse (originally created by Alan Moore for his work on the Captain Britain comics) for the Marvel US series, Earth-91274, has not been given in any official book yet, but is on the website created by the fans behind the new editions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. It takes its designation from Marvel Comics staff artist and Transformers fan Nelson Ribeiro. Vector's answer takes some slight inspiration from the Steve Miller song "The Joker", and the follow-up question and answer leans into that, directly quoting lyrics from the song, including the odd word pompatus, a corrupted version of a word coined by Vernon Green for the song "The Letter" performed by his band, The Medallions.

Question 5: Heh-heh-heh.

August 30:

Question 1: When Primus was first visually depicted in issue #150 of the Marvel UK comic, his original god form bore a surprising resemblance to Rodimus Prime, including the general shape of his "helmet", and his cowl emulating Rodimus' back-mounted spoiler.

Question 2: In two Marvel-published stories, the President of the United States appeared, based on the real-life current one at the time, but never named in the stories. Ronald Reagan appeared in the Transformers Annual 1985 comic story "Plague of the Insecticons!". George H.W. Bush, meanwhile, appeared in issue #72 of the Marvel US comic. As stated here, those stories are available in the IDW Publishing collections, The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1 and The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6.

Question 3: I had talked previously about the BotCon 2006 Customization Class Inferno made from Cybertron Scrapmetal. In that class, there was also an option to make Rumble using the alternate, more humanoid "Cobybot" head. His bio described him as being from a version of the Marvel Generation 2 comics. Primax 094.0 Gamma is the world of the Grandreams The Official Transformers: Generation 2 annual. The Autobots attempted to exile the Decepticons in the prose story "Moving Day Planet Earth"; from there, it follows the storyline of the Generation 2 comic, including Jhiaxus and the Cybertronian Empire. In issue #12 of the Marvel Generation 2 comic, Frenzy sacrificed his life trying to amplify his sonic abilities to repulse the Swarm. It's revealed that the Jhiaxus based on the Robots in Disguise toy redecoed from Beast Machines Jetstorm and given a bio in the only issue of the 3H Productions' Collectors' Club magazine is also from this universe.

Question 4: In issue #54 of the Marvel US comic, the Decepticon Pretender Iguanus scaled the Empire State Building in a Decepticon plot, resulting in the issue being titled "KIng Con!", parodying the giant movie gorilla King Kong. The German Transformers Comic-Magazin "adapted" this story in issue #7 in the prose story "New York -- A City Sinking in Terror", which featured a rampage by "King Con", apparently not understanding that Iguanus was "King Con". Attached to the post is the cover to issue #54, penciled by José Delbo and inked by Danny Bulandi-not sure who colored it.

August 31:

Question 1: I've talked plenty about Rock Lords at this point.

Question 2: The film The Matrix featured several scenes in which the main characters downloaded information into their heads to learn new skills, such as how to pilot a helicopter. The "Interwebs" is a slang term for the internet. Bit cringy. Telephone sanitizers were an occupation held by members of the Golgafrinchans seen in various parts of the Douglas Adams-written The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise, including the novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and the radio episode "Fit the Sixth".

Question 3: Half-Track and Major Altitude were another pair of Human Alliance Basics in Dark of the Moon. Major Altitude was never described with pronouns on the toy's tech specs, so she's a girl now! Her real name is Elizabeth M. Altheimer. The footage she witnessed was Neil Armstrong stepping down on the moon. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Buzz Aldrin was one of the three on the Apollo 11 mission, stepping on the moon the first time (and also secretly investigating the crashed Ark, as seen in Dark of the Moon). I don't really think I need to explain what the United States Air Force Academy is, nor what a Valedictorian is. It's revealed here that she and Half-Track were on the Xantium with Optimus and Ratchet when they investigated the Ark. Seattle is a city in Washington. Major Altitude's serial number, 119-07-5434, is the social security number of actor Orson Welles who, aside from his more famous roles, played Unicron in The Transformers: The Movie.

Question 4: I'm sure oil baths have appeared somewhere in Transformers media. If not, C-3P0 enjoyed them, as seen in A New Hope.

September 1:

Question 1: In Robot in Diguise Optimus Prime's flashback in "Revelations Part 2" to the final battle of the Universe War, Universe Razorclaw was seen destroying two Mini-Cons, one of whom was obviously the Armada Air Military Mini-Con Team member Gunbarrel. The other Mini-Con, whose silhouette wasn't very clear on who it might be, is revealed to be Sky Blast, member of the Armada Space Mini-Con Team. They come from the "MegaWing Galvatron" universe I previously talked about, invaded by a version of OTFCC 2004 Megazarak.

Question 2: Sandstorm and Private Dedcliff were another pair of Human Alliance Basics from the Dark of the Moon toyline. Confusingly, despite being a private, Sandstorm's tech specs claimed he was part of Special Forces with years of experience, which is gone into here. Dedcliff's given the real name Clifford E. Deadman here; bit on the nose, but perfectly G.I. Joe-esque. More military terms and stuff. Colonel, later General, Marcus was a high-ranking member of the United States Army seen in the Classified series of young adult novels. Private Dedcliff's serial number, 563-16-3098, is the Social Security number of actor Cary Grant. Leesville is a city in Louisiana.

Question 3: We've already been told that Axiom Nexus is the one place in the multiverse known to have Transcendent Technomorphs residing there.

Question 4: The Autobots listed here tried to defend Autobot Headquarters (called the Ark here; the Autobot spaceship was only named that in the Marvel comic until Beast Wars retroactively used it for their version of it, which looked more like the cartoon version) from Trypticon in Sunbow season 3 episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5", before the massive Decepticon was hurled into the ocean by Metroplex.

September 2:

Question 1: I've already talked about Wind Sheer, he's given an origin point here as being from Primax 713.31 Gamma, the world of the "Metrowars" manga and its sequels. Originally, Jim had gave his home universe as Primax 209.20 Gamma, the world of the Transformers Generations 2009 Henkei! Henkei! manga, presumably due to a bit of confusion (as "Metrowars" was published in Transformers Generations 2013). The "OG World" is the name given to the universe of the Japanese dub of the Sunbow The Transformers cartoon, Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers, in the Cloud series of prose stories and comics. We know it in universal stream designation as Primax 785.06 Alpha. The OG World is a bit like a source river, sprawling out into the greater reality stream of the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity.

Question 2: Primax 487.0 Lambda is a "What If?"-style world where the "Scramble City" combiners join together and become allies. It was seen in the fifth part of the Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 story pages published in TV Magazine. "Scramble City" was the subline in which the four combiners seen here, along with Metroplex, Trypticon, and a few others, were sold, with "Scramble City" being the name of Metroplex's city mode. Guardian is the Japanese name for Defensor, while Cybertrons and Destrons are the Japanese names for Autobots and Decepticons.

Question 3: Sergeant Detour, another Dark of the Moon toyline Human Alliance figure, had the unique distinction of being the only human character not from the films to get two Human Alliance toys. One was sold with the larger Human Alliance toys Leadfoot and Steeljaw (exclusive to Target in America), and another was sold with the Basic-class Reverb. Sergeant Detour's real name is revealed here to be Zachary Deetz. N.B.E. was the term used by Sector Seven to designate Transformers, as first seen in the 2007 live-action movie. Obviously, Leadfoot turns into a NASCAR racing car. We'll get into Master Disaster more later down the line. Sergeant Detour's serial number, 552-38-5014, is the Social Security number of author and illustrator Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. Van Buren is a town in Michigan. LSVs are a real type of vehicle used by the military.

We have a little post here promoting the TFSS 4.0 and Thunder Mayhem, the combined form of Needlenose, Grabuge, Spinister, Windsweeper, and Bludgeon, the Mayhem Attack Squad.

Question 4: In the first episode of Animated, "Transform and Roll Out", Optimus Prime watched old history videos on the Great War, which used footage from the Sunbow cartoon episodes "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1" and "War Dawn". More "quantum harmonic resonance" jargon.

September 3:

Question 1: Klementia was talked about a few weeks beforehand; he's the Quintesson that rebuilt Optimus Prime in the Sunbow season 3 two part finale, "The Return of Optimus Prime" to combat the threat of the Hate Plague. Nice to see a nice Quintesson that isn't Shattered Glass Aquarius for a change.

Question 2: Sergeant Noble, Tailpipe, and Pinpointer were all another set of Human Alliance Basics from Dark of the Moon. His real name is revealed here as Christophe Jasper Nolazco. It might be nothing, but Nolazco seems to be a corruption of "Nolasco", a surname which dates back to a Norman noble named Guillaume de Nolasque. The University of North Dakota is in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Seoul is the capital city of South Korea. His wanderlust comes from his short description in Tailpipe's tech specs, mentioning how he was sent to the wildest places on Earth in his military career. Noble's serial number, 567-48-8307, is the Social Security number of comedian Lenny Bruce. Billings is a city in Montana.

Question 3: Animorphs was a young adult series of books created and written K.A. Applegate (along with a bunch of ghostwriters for the latter half) that featured a group of young teens going up against a secretive alien invasion, with the ability to morph into animals, given to them by a dying alien, as their main weapon. It's an absolutely fantastic series, even if that sounds like a fairly silly summary-it's a very serious story that examines the affects war has on people and the morality of the "good guys". There are pdfs of the series floating around online; if there is one I absolutely think you should read, it's The Ellimist Chronicles. Mostly unconnected to the main series, it's a super-influential work for me.

Anyway, in 1999, Hasbro released an Animorphs toyline under the Transformers brand. The Animorphs book series was published by Scholastic. I've already talked about the Megaverse plenty at this point,

A little post urging people to get in what questions they still want to ask. "Ask me your questions, and I'll tell you no lies" is a paraphrased quote from the 18th century comedy She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith.

Question 4: A Brawn was seen in issues #1 and #2 of the 3H Productions Universe comic, one of the many Transformers abducted across the multiverse by Unicron. Issue #1 showed him going up against Generation 2 Megatron, indicating that he was the Marvel version of Brawn, who seemingly died fighting Megatron in issue #142 of Marvel's G.I. Joe, a prequel to the then-upcoming Generation 2 comic.

September 4:

Question 1: Minvera was a human Headmaster Jr. from Super-God Masterforce, redecoed from the American The Transformers Headmaster Nightbeat. Glyph was an exclusive toy at BotCon 2002, redecoed from the Fun4All keychain version of The Transformers Bumblebee. Since this question, we have gotten a small Headmaster-only toy of Minerva in the Legends toyline.

Question 2: This is a great one. Sky-Byte was the sole Predacon left on Earth at the end of the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon as seen in the finale, "The Final Battle". The question is answered here by Sky-Byte himself; at Auto Assembly 2015, Jim got Peter Spellos, his voice actor, to reprise his role for a few short lines. The video uses a screencap of Sky-Byte swimming off into the sunset from "The Final Battle". His Transformers Hall of Fame 2012 online bio indicated after the cartoon, he went on to hunt down illegal fishing vessels. He even does a haiku!

Question 3: I presume this guy wanted to know what happened to Maggie Madsen after the 2007 Transformers film. Instead, Vector takes his question literally, summarizing what she did in the movie, including stopping Frenzy's hack onboard Air Force One.

Question 4: Pz-Zazz was seen in issue #62 of the Marvel comics series, a planet inhabited by 1930's gangster types. The country behind the censor is "Belgium"; in the American version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel Life, the Universe and Everything, a passage was changed to remove the f-bomb, with Belgium replacing it as one of the "most profane" words in the galaxy. Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is the administrative center of the European Union.

September 5:

Question 1: One of the 2003 Universe toyline's cancelled toys, the "Battle in a Box" Smokescreen Vs Drench two-pack was meant to be an exclusive at Target (with Mini-Con partners Jolt and Wind Sheer). Smokescreen was a redeco of Armada Hot Shot, based on the Generation 1 Autobot Car Smokescreen. Drench, meanwhile, was a redeco of Armada Wheeljack, based on the Generation 2 Autobot Color Changer Drench (this version, however, is a Decepticon). Evidently, since he wasn't released, he didn't get to fight in the Universe War. A Cybertron version of Smokescreen, redecoed from Cybertron Crosswise, was released a few years later, and was mentioned in "Force of Habit". The two are indicated to be the same person here.

Question 2: Primax 1291.0 Zeta is the universe of the Marvel UK The Transformers Annual 1992 prose story "Another Time & Place". In the TransTech prose story, "Withered Hope", it was mentioned as having been overwritten by Primax 207.0 Epsilon, the world of the Club's Classics stories. After the "Classicsverse" destruction in BotCon 2012's "Invasion" comic, Priamx 1291.0 Zeta came back, as indicated in "Invasion Prologue". The use of the word "phoenix" derives from the mythological creature, which could resurrect itself after death.

Question 3: I've talked about T-AI, the Autobot's computer from the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon, before.

Question 4: Whirl and Major Sparkplug are yet another duo of Human Alliance Basics from the Dark of the Moon toyline. Confusingly, Major Sparkplug (and Spike Witwicky, who we'll go into more later) seemed to be based on the Generation 1 Witwickies, when Sam Witwicky and his family were already well established in the movie universe. AVP takes advantage of this by using information from the ancillary tie-in media to give backstory. IDW Publishings Movie Prequel series, promoting the 2007 Transformers film, partnered up with Target to create two additional issues. One of them, "Interlude", had Bumblebee track down the Witwickies and learn the family lineage. It was revealed there that Clarence Witwicky, son of Archibald Witwicky and great-grandfather of Sam, lived at Springfield, Missouri in the 1930s. After he died, he passed the house onto his son Herbert Witwicky. Herbert was indicated to have six children; aside from Sam's father, Ron, the only other one named was the oldest child Ben Witwicky, who split up the profits with Ron after Herbert died. Other children mentioned included three other boys and one girl; "Sparkplug", or "Stan Witwicky", is one of the sons. He incorporates different versions of the original Sparkplug into his backstory and personality. Like the Marvel version (whose real name was William Witwicky), Sparkplug is a skilled mechanic, and joined the Marines. In issue #4 of the Marvel comic, Sparkplug's backstory was explored a bit more, explaining that during the Korean War, he was a Marine captured by the enemy, who used him to repair their vehicles, only for him to sabotage them, cutting their brakes and sending them off a cliff. This is translated here into the modern day setting of the Afghan War. CO stands for "commanding officer", OCS stands for "officer cadet school". From here, he goes on to be like his IDW Publishing comics counterpart (real name: Daniel Witwicky), introduced in All Hail Megatron, a Colonel in the military who protected that version of Spike Witwicky from trouble, as detailed in the 2009-2011 The Transformers ongoing. I'll go into more detail with "Spike" once we get into his card; like the Marvel version of Buster and Spike, he rejected learning about cars. The idea that he's estranged from Sparkplug, meanwhile, is all new. Sparkplug's full name, "Stanislas P. Witwicky", is derived from Marvel Comics original treatment for The Transformers, which gave his name as "Stanislas Piotr Witwicky". Sparkplug's serial number, 563-32-0764, is the Social Security number of actress Marilyn Monroe.

September 6:

Question 1: All of these interdimensional monsters were mentioned in a post on Andromeda's page. Most of them that their names from various sources, but two are specifically things created in other pieces of media: House comes from Doctor Who, while the Langoliers come from the Stephen King novella of the same name.

Question 2: The tail end of the Generation 2 toyline in 1996 had a number of unreleased toys/toy released in very small quantities. Among these were redecoes of Auto Rollers Dirtbag and Roadblock as General Optimus Prime and Sgt. Hound. At BotCon 2015, in homage to these toys, the Generations "Thrilling 30" toys Roadbuster and Autobot Hound were redecoed as General Optimus Prime and Sgt. Hound. Their tech specs placed them as coming from a world with many of the unreleased Generation 2 toys, and that's carried on here; the universe they come from is Primax 096.0 Beta, containing all the cancelled Generation 2 toys. The events here are a version of the battle at Sherman Dam, from Sunbow cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2". Optimus and Megatron face off much like they did with energon weaponry (Prime, an axe; Megatron, a mace). ATB Megatron and Starscream were redecoes of Generation 2 Dreadwing and Smokescreen, released only at test markets in Ohio. The Laser Cycles Road Rocket and Road Pig were intended to be redecoed into Laser Cycle versions of Jazz and Soundwave. Defensor and Menasor (along with their component parts) from the original The Transformers toyline were intened to have redecoes to go along with Generation 2 Superion and Bruticus; ultimately, only Breakdown was released, as an exclusive at BotCon 1994. Mock ups had surfaced over the years for a variety of redecoed The Transformers toys had surfaced; a green and pink Mirage, a yellow and greenish-blue Sideswipe, and a tan Ramjet. The Transformers Vault book revealed that Mirage was going to have "alligator print" stickers, while the tan Ramjet was a new character named Sandstorm. Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging, revealed that Sideswipe would have had sunrise/sunset decals. The Go-Bot Greasepit was an unreleased redeco of fellow Go-Bots Gearhead, intended to be released as part of the Go-Bots Racing Rig playset. Go-Bots Rumble, meanwhile, was an unreleased mold; it would eventually be released in the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline as the Autobot Spychanger Side Swipe. Greasepit and Rumble's fight mirror the fight between Hound and Rumble underwater. Recolors of the packaging art for The Transformers toys for Grimlock (in yellow and blue with blue stripes vaguely reminiscent of Greymon from Digimon, or perhaps the Kenner Jurassic Park toys), Sludge (in brownish-orange and blue), and Swoop (in lime green, blue, and grey) have surfaced over the years on e-Bay, concept art for potential Generation 2 releases of them.

Question 3: Sergeant Cahnay and Crosshairs were another Human Alliance Basic from Dark of the Moon. Strangely, he was the only one not given a codename among the Human Alliance humans and is given one here: Sergeant Rich Kid. He was named after Auggie Cahnay, an arrogant race car driver from Sunbow season 2 episode "Trans-Europe Express", a version of whom is revealed to be his father. His mother, meanwhile, is described as a "hotel heiress". Along with some other things we'll get into, this implies she's Astoria Carlton-Ritz, a rich human woman who was attracted to Powerglide, seen in Sunbow season 2 episode "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide". She was named after two famous hotels: the Waldorf-Astoria and the Ritz-Carlton, hence, "hotel heiress". Sergeant Cahnay's full name, Carlton A. Cahnay, is derived from one half of his mother's maiden name, and his middle initial from the first initial of his father's name. Auggie Cahnay's car in "Trans-Europe Express" was built by Symultech Industries. In "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide", Astoria inherited her father's company, Hybrid Technologies, shortened to HyTech here. Bargam Airbase was seen in the second of the Target-exclusive Movie Prequel comics, "Planetfall". In that issue, the Decepticons touched down on Earth, assaulting the airbase. Wreckage, a toyline-exclusive character, was seen as part of the landing party, before being taken down by an EMP by an unnamed soldier, retconned into Cahnay here. After that, everyone else at the base was slaughtered. Crosshairs, his partner, was implied to be the same character as the Crosshairs from the first movie's toyline, a Target-exclusive redeco of Energon Strongarm, mentioning how he always conserved ammunition; this connection is made explicit here, using the first Crosshairs' characterization (which was essentially that of the original Crosshairs). I'm sure everyone knows Manhattan. Sergeant Cahnay's serial number, 026-24-0879, is the social security number of politician Robert F. Kennedy.

Question 4: Yeah, what a pointless question. Targetmasters, Megatron, Sixshot, more...

September 7:

Question 1: The Maximal-era Wreckers, as I've mentioned, showed up in the 3H Productions The Wreckers comics.

Question 2: Spike Witwicky and Backfire were another of the Human Alliance Basics from the Dark of the Moon toyline. It was something of a confusing release, as it gave no indication as to what Spike's connection to Sam Witwicky, the already-established live-action Witwicky "human pal" character, was. Vector's thinking of "cousins". Spike's full codename is "Lieutenant Spike". His full name is "Butch V. Witwicky", with the nickname "Buster". His codename of Spike is obviously derived from the Autobot ally in the Sunbow cartoon (who would be introduced later on into the Marvel run, over a quarter of the way through). His nickname, Buster, was the young Witwicky ally to the Autobots in the Marvel comics in the early issues of the run. His real name, Butch, is possibly an early name for the character of "young Witwicky ally" that appeared in The Transformers Coloring Book, Forest Rescue Mission, somewhat oddly. Both Buster and Spike rejected being involved in auto mechanics in the Marvel comic. This estrangement from Sparkplug is a new concept here. The idea of Spike being a rule-bending, abrasive soldier who got away with being a prick thanks to his father came from Mike Costa's interpretation of Spike Witwicky in the 2009-2011 in the IDW Publishing comic, derived from his portrayal as a Micheal Bay-style "action hero" in All Hail Megatron. Annapolis, Maryland, is the location of the United States Naval Academy.

Sonar was a Decepticon boat in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline, redecoed from an earlier toy in the line, Depthcharge. He showed up in the Dark of the Moon prequel comic from IDW Publishing, Rising Storm, as part of a distraction put on by the Decepticons in Philadelphia. It looked like he was killed by Mirage in issue #2, but he was seen escaping in issue #4, and that's followed on here. The Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean between Connecticut and Long Island. Like IDW Spike, this Spike doesn't trust the Autobots. Sam Witwicky got a medal from then-President Barack Obama, as seen in a flashback in Dark of the Moon, for his efforts in Revenge of the Fallen. Spike's serial number, 078-05-1120, is the most fraudulently used Social Security number of all time; originally, it belonged to E.H. Ferree Company secretary Hilda Schrader Whitcher, whose boss, Vice President Douglas Patterson, decided to advertise a wallet by using her social security number on a fake Social Security card inserted into the wallets. Spike's home of Portland, Oregon, was the setting of the first year of the Marvel US comic, and home of Buster Witwicky. We do indeed have one more to go.

Question 3: This question uses info from Glen Hallit. A planned OTFCC 2005 toy, Defensor would have been a retooled version of Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime. The smaller robot would be Hot Spot, while the larger would be Defensor. He was set up as the enemy of OTFCC 2004 Megazarak in what little fiction was released, but ultimately was cancelled when 3H Productions lost their license. Here, Hot Spot is made to have previously been a combiner along the line of Landfill and the Build Team, the leader of the Protection Team. His teammates are versions of fellow original Protectobots Blades and First Aid, and of Rook, the APC Protectobot introduced in Combiner Wars. Ultra Trion was seen in the short story "Shell Game"; I've talked about him before. Defensor's moniker as "Last Autobot" is likely inspired by the individual Transformer from the last few issues of the Marvel US comic. A variant black redeco, Midnight Shield Defensor, was planned to offset costs for producing such a large toy, but it too was cancelled. The "Chaos Armor" derives its name from the black paint used on the mock--up, "Chaos Black". The unlikely allies mentioned are Sky-Byte and the Predacon trio. The other Megazarak is from Viron 403.0 Beta, leader of the Destructicons.

Question 4: Sun Tzu was a Chinese general from the 6th century BC, author of The Art of War. Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese feudal lord from the 16th century. And Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of Australia-I mean, America. The time period would be right for Sun Tzu and the Olympians.

September 8:

Question 1: Fortess Maximus was first implied to have a connection to the Maximals in Jim's The Transformers Menagerie feature in the Club Magazine, specifically the fifth installment on the Predacons. Later, his and Dave Bishop's Beast Wars: Uprising prose story "Head Games" explicitly connected the massive Autobot to them. See, Fortess Maximus--->Maximus--->Maximal. I've talked about how the Generation 1 Predacons have been connected to the Beast Wars faction in the past.

Question 2: Obviously, this guy is trying to see if they would be called something like a mutate or a metahuman. Prometheus Black, AKA Meltdown, was a supervillain from Animated who constantly oozed a highly corrosive substance from his skin. Hector Dianlonzo, AKA Dynamo, was a member of the Neo-Knights, a mutant who could tap into the power of the Earth and manipulate its natural phenomena, recruited by G.B. Blackrock in issue #68 of the Marvel comic.

Question 3: Among the scenes in the "end credits" sequence of the finale episode of Cybertron, "Beginning", was a scene of Leobreaker and Menasor encountered a group of robots in shadow on an unknown planet. Unnamed, the leader of these robots was given the designation "Intial T" in the booklets of the 13th DVD for Galaxy Force (the Japanese name for Cybertron), named after racing manga and anime Initial D. That connection is furthered here, with mention of him fixing races on Velocitron, the Speed Planet.

Question 4: The final Human Alliance Basic partners from Dark of the Moon, Drag Strip and Master Disaster, get their filecard here. Master Disaster took his name from the Animated character seen in the episode "Velocity", an Australian illegal street race coordinator and pirate broadcaster who used an AllSpark fragment to control a mysterious blue car (secretly the Autobot spy Blurr). That Australian nationality is reused here. Master Disaster's motto is a paraphrase quote from Steve Castle in the Futurama episode "Future Shock". His real name is Mason Divelbiss, with the same initials as "Master Disaster". The RMC stands for the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Australia. His comrade, Sebastian Bludd, is the Cobra-aligned mercenary Major Bludd from G.I. Joe; he shares much of Bludd's history as stated on Bludd's original file card, including serving in the Special Air Service and the French Foreign Legion, and being wanted for war crimes in Rhodesia and Libya. More influence from his Animated counterpart, as he organizes illegal street races for Drag Strip. Sgt. Deetz is Sergeant Detour, we already talked about him. Blackwater Prison is where Cobra Commander was held in the second mini-series of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon, "The Revenge of Cobra". Sergeant Chaos is confirmed here to be part of Cemetery Wind, the black ops CIA group that hunted down Transformers in Age of Extinction; Agent Savoy was the field leader of the group. K.S.I., Kinetic Solutions Incorporated, is the company that Cemetery Wind provided the corpse of Transformers to so they could reverse engineer them. For some weird reason, Master Disaster's toy was semi-translucent and sculpted Cyberglyphics on his suit, explained here as part of experimental stealth gear reversed engineered by K.S.I. His serial number, 547-10-8329, is the social security number of Stan Laurel, actor and part of the "Laurel and Hardy" duo.

September 9:

Question 1: There is no Vector Primal.

Question 2: Windblade's abilities as a cityspeaker, and the planet of Caminus, were first seen, I believe, in her first self-title mini-series, if not in the "Dark Cybertron" crossover. Obviously IDW Publishing would tell more about the cityspeakers and Caminus later on, and AVP can't really cover it; insert sarcastic comment about James Roberts not getting Caminus culture here

Question 3: I've talked a bit about the Attacktix toyline here before; in series 1, Energon Skyblast was released in the toyline, with pieces of both his robot mode and vehicle mode. (Note-Energon Skyblast's actual toy was redecoed for the first live-action movie's toyline, as an exclusive at Target). Now, for the cancelled second series of Attacktix, Skyblast was intended to be redecoed as "Thrust", seemingly an all-new version of the character with no connection to any other Thrust's; the robot-mode toy's stock photo is attached here. Thrust's history and personality here take a bit from various different Thrusts. His origin as being reused from the spark of a Waspinator is taken from Beast Machines Thrust; specifically, a version of Animated Waspinator from the I Can Read! book, Robot Roll Call. His spark was lost in transwarp (called "unspace" here, after the name Nightbeat used in issue #69 of the Marvel comic) after the explosion on Dinobot Island, seen in the main timeline in Animated season three episode "Predacons Rising". Viron 903.0 Beta is the home of the Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus seen in the Fun Publications Cybertron comic. I've talked about the Robots in Disguise version of Jhiaxus and the Destructicons before; another version of them are introduced here. Thrust's sharpshooting abilities are taken from the Beast Wars II Thrust, while his cowardly nature is taken from Revenge of the Fallen Thrust. Robots in Disguise Obsidian, redecoed from Beast Machines Obsidian, was one of the Hasbro-toyline exclusives; like Beast Machines Obsidian, he is a brilliant strategist and former Autobot. The Elite Guard were introduced in Animated.

Question 4: At the end of the IDW Publishing/Marvel Comics New Avengers/Transformers crossover, it was hinted that Ramjet had scanned the Quinjet and replaced it. It didn't really come up again, even in the "sequel", Spotlight: Ramjet.

September 10:

Question 1: Again, I don't know why, this late in the game, this guy was expecting a non-silly answer.

Question 2: Again, Vector died in the Cybertron episode "Guardian". In "Beginning", he was seen fighting Megatron in the Allspark.

Question 3: There are plenty of Transformers that turn into watches; there were shoe Transformers in Sports Label, and hat Transformers in Cap Bots. I've talked plenty about mass-shifting and holomatter projection.

Question 4: Prowl II, or as he was originally known, simply Prowl, was a Maximal Transmetal 2 owl from the fourth year of the Beast Wars toyline; his bio hinted that he was the original Prowl reborn. Prowl 2 was a Spychanger toy from the Robots in Disguise toyline, redecoed from an unreleased Generation 2 Go-Bot; confusingly, the 2 was part of the original toy's name. In the Binaltech storyline chapter "Prowl & Chase", Prowl's spark was lost in subspace while trying to escape a Decepticon attack by transferring his spark there, as part of the GT System. Because his mental programming was still there, Autobot ally Chip Chase offered to have his lifeforce used to animate Prowl's mind, becoming "Prowl II". Now, Binaltech was divergent from the main Japanese cartoon timeline, and couldn't really fit Beast Wars into it. However, fandom member Ben Yee didn't get that memo apparently. In the Beast Wars Sourcebook, the owl Prowl was renamed Prowl II, after the first Beast Wars Prowl, the lion who formed Magnaboss with Ironhide and Silverbolt was revealed to be the original Prowl; Yee tried to make the owl Prowl the Prowl II from Binaltech. This ultimately made no sense, but Hirofumi Ichikawa uses that here to tie into his manga from Transformers Generations 2014, "Controverse".

Now, we're gonna have to go back a bit more for this: the reason why Prowl II and the GT System concepts were created was to explain things like Prowl appearing in The Headmasters and Wheeljack in Victory, despite them dying in The Transformers: The Movie. However, as the story went on, the Binaltech timeline was diverged from the original, thanks to the "Protector" (secretly Optimus Primal) preserving the timeline in "Binal Time" as its own universe, as his masters, the Alternity, would evolve as a result of the events at the timeline. This rendered the explanation for those seemingly contradictory appearances of Prowl and Wheeljack moot, until years later in "Controverse". In this story, Wheeljack and Prowl came to the main timeline for medical supplies, only for their universe to be suddenly inaccessible (due to the Quintessons placing a quadrant lock around Earth, as related in the Alternity story, "Alternation"). Unable to go home, they joined up with the main timeline's Autobots, helping with the Trial of Primacron (the alien who created Unicron, as seen in "Call of the Primitives"), and transferring to their original bodies. Hoo.

Now, onto stuff specifically from the question: "Temporal Nexus" is a fairly generic term. I've talked about the "OG World" before. Prowl's Beta BT unit is his Binaltech "Vivid Blue Pearl Edition" toy, which was characterized as a "Generic Host Shell" that any GT-System enabled Autobot could use. In Robotix, the Protectons and Terrakors were original organic reptilians who lived on Skalorr, until their sun went supernova. Placed in stasis, a radiation leak killed their physical bodies, but the advanced Compu-Core saved their mental essences and uploaded them into robotic bodies. Professor Chase is the main timeline Chip Chase; this is following the events of United EX, where he was probably well into his 60's. The concept of élan vital comes from French philosopher Henri Bergson in his book, Creative Evolution, that is essentially equivalent to a soul; animus, meanwhile, is the Roman equivalent to the idea of the soul. His loss of memories explains why Prowl II only believes he might be a reincarnated version of the original Prowl.

Prowl 2, meanwhile, is revealed to have been created from the Prowl Beta BT unit. Fire Convoy is the Japanese name for Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime, while Destronger is the Japanese name for that version of the Predacons; early catalogs for the Car Robots anime told how Prime came after Megatron and his Predacons from the far future. The Convoy Council were seen in Beast Wars Neo. Prime's group was referred to as a "Dimensional Patrol" in those catalogs. Heinrad was a time-travelling Maximal Takuni from Beast Wars Neo.

The Bomber Project was seen in Super-God Masterforce, where it resulted in the creation of Godbomber, a semi-sentient drone who could combine with Super Ginrai to form God Ginrai. In Victory, Wheeljack, along with Perceptor and Minerva, rebuilt the mortally wounded God Ginrai into Victory Leo. Spike Witwicky's mind was transferred into Autobot X's body while his own body was undergoing treatment after being injured in the Sunbow season 2 episode "Autobot Spike"; the device used there to transfer Spike's mind is revealed to be the same as the one that was used to transfer Chip Chase's mind into the Prowl BT body, and is given the name of the "Cortexitron".

September 11:

Question 1: Awww, how sweet.

Yeah, Earth's axis and rotation, more science stuff. Vector was said to be 9 billion years old in the original Ask Vector Prime feature, while "Revelations Part 4" said he was believed to be 25 million years old. September 19th was the premier of "Fallen", the first episode of Cybertron, and Vector Prime's first appearance on television. This long technical description at the end here is basically talking about having birthday cake and blowing out candles.

Question 2: In the Generation 2 toyline, the Micro Change MC-06 Watch Robo was released as the somewhat obtusely named "Autobot", alongside fellow Micro Change-originated toy Scorpia, and the wristwatch versions of Superion, Galvatron, and Ultra Magnus. This connection to Scorpia and time was used by Jim to tie him into my earlier Time Warriors post; he is, in fact, Vector Prime! Vector's title as "The First Autobot" mirrors that of the Last Autobot, his brother introduced in the Marvel comics, who seems to have served at least somewhat as an inspiration for Vector's design.

Now, the original Watch Robo toys was released in four colors: silver (the version that got released in Generation 2), black, blue, and gold. This gets involved here. In issue #2 of Dreamwave's The War Within mini-series, the "Autobot" watch toy was among the cameos seen in the beginning of that issue cheering on Megatron as he decapitated Emirate Xeon. This is retconned to be Meantime, who is repurposed from the black Watch Robo, and named after the watch Real Gear Robot from the first live-action movie's toyline. Azimuth was a character mentioned in The Covenant of Primus, founder of the Patterner movement during the Age of Origins, who clashed with the "Aligned" version of Galvatron. She's made to be the gold Watch Robo. Her student, Ephemeris, is an all-new character; he's the blue Watch Robo. Both of their names come from terms in astronomy; an "azimuth" is "an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system", while an ephemeris is a table/list of astrological bodies. The decision to make Azimuth have a watch mode is likely a reference to Azmuth, the creator of the watch-like Omnitrix from Ben 10.

Question 3: Beast Wars Megatron had a rubber duck. Mallards are the species of duck that are the ancestors of most domesticated ducks.

Question 4: Prime Ultra Magnus' ship was given the name Iron Will in Jim's book, Transformers: The Art of Prime.

October 12:

Question 1: I don't think there was any specific example of this at the time this post was published, but a few years later in 2018, IDW Publishing's version of Ratchet would die of old age.

Question 2: Another nice introspective one. I figure you all know at this point who Lockdown, Tarantulas, Hot Shot, and the like are.

Question 3: To accompany the first live action movie, Wizards of the Coasts (the game publishing company owned by Hasbro) released The Transformers: 3D Battle-Card Game, cards that could be cut out in to separate pieces to create a Transformer, who could "transform" into vehicle mode by rearranging the pieces. A second wave, Energon Wars, featured cards of characters from several different parts of the franchise, including the Beast Era and the Unicron Trilogy, seemingly making up a cross-dimensional battle-a universe that's given the designation Iocus 607.02 Kappa. I believe the term "mirror/torus state" indicates that it's in a time loop, and isn't bound to go anywhere soon, since card games are replayable. Sky Lynx was one of the Decepticons from that wave, a red version of Movie Megatron with seemingly no connection to any others who had the name. Tyran 614.19 Kappa is the world of the Age of Extinction mobile game; Epic ranged weapons are one of the classes of weaponry in the game.

Question 4: There are several different spoken Cybertronian languages, named ones including Cybertronix and Neocybex. Transformers have been depicted to have built-in translation software in several stories, such as with Beachcomber in Sunbow season 2 episode "The Golden Lagoon", or with Cloudburst and Landmine in issue #53 of the Marvel comic.

September 13:

Question 1: Megatron/Galvatron and Bumblebee/Goldbug are pretty obvious ones. Armada Cyclonus was reformatted into Snow Cat in Energon. Optimus Prime became Star Convoy after being resurrected in Return of Convoy. Dunno what this guy expected in the comments.

Question 2: This refers back to that old question about Beta Maxx. Fireflight, Side Burn, Prowl, and Ratchet were all seen as Children of Primus in the Universe comics; Swerve never appeared, and presumably died as a mad gladiator in the pit of Unicron. Rhinox constructed a device to thwart Unicron's abductions in the OTFCC 2004 script reading; Drydock has ended up in the Titan Comics alternate Movieverse storyline, "Twilight's Last Gleaming", where both Blue Maximus and Undertow (from the same Hunt for the Decepticons exclusive range that he was meant to be part of) reside, as seen in a previous question. Ironhide (the blue Spychanger one) ended up in Axiom Nexus. The previously aforementioned script reading featured another version of Side Burn and Prowl (though they were also depicted using the Universe redeco of their toys), along with the yellow redeco of Landfill from late in the Robots in Disguise toyline. They come from the home universe of the Universe/"Balancing Act" Robots in Disguise Omega Prime. The early Car Robots catalogs indicated that RID Optimus (known as Fire Convoy over there) and his Autobots were part of a Dimension Patrol; Universe Optimus' bio in issue #1 of the 3H Productions fan club magazine indicated he formed one after Galvatron and the Predacons were defeated.

Question 3: I've already gone over Dominus Trannis, the cancelled redeco of Robots in Disguise Rail Racer, several times before, along with his components Astrotrain, Steamhammer, and Loco. The image here is a recolored version of Rail Racer's cartoon model, done by Bill Forster. The "ground bridge system" mentioned as being incorporated into Astrotrain is presumably a combination of the Global Space Bridge network in Robots in Disguise that allowed the Autobots to travel the world, and the similar Ground Bridge used by the Autobots in Prime and its related series.

Question 4: I've already gone over Primacron several times at this point; he was the creator of Unicron seen in Sunbow season 3 episode "Call of the Primitives". A strange animation quirk seen in the original cartoon was that several humans were seen wearing hard hats, including dam workers, soldiers, and security guards; presumably because they reused the same model. Primacron, too, had a yellow helmet, but it was more elaborate. The Oracle is his assistant, seen in the same episode.

September 14:

Question 1: Kami are spirits from the Japanese Shinto religion. Pretty self-explanatory. Monsters being inspired by Transformers on pre-modern Earth is an idea that's been seen several times, including in Cybertron.

Question 2: In issue #2 IDW's Dark of the Moon prequel comic, Sector 7, an old 1910's car was one of several pieces of technology brought to life by the AllSpark when Jetfire interacted with it and was the only one to survive. In issue #3, a few decades later this same car would come across real-life criminals Bonnie and Clyde and became their infamous car. Ultimately, it died when Margaret Simmons of Sector 7 ambushed the pair and killed it with technology developed by Robert Oppenheimer. "Flathead" comes from the flathead engine, an early type of engine used by automobiles.

Question 3: A yellow redeco of Armada Firebot was sold with Universe Fireflight alongside fellow Mini-Con Thunderwing and showed up in issue #2 of the Universe comic, alongside Armada Red Alert. Their home universe, Aurex 606.0 Kappa, is a bit of a confusing one. It's meant to be the Transformes Cybertron: Quest for Cybertron game for the unsuccessful game console developed by Hasbro, the ION, which was announced in June of 2006 by Brooklyn Games. Due to the low sales, it was quietly cancelled, and that's reflected here; their home universe seemingly never having existed. Prowl and Makeshift, the other Emergency Mini-Con Team members, were released in Universe, the former with Magna Stampede and Stockade, the latter with Whirl. Longarm is Red Alert's Mini-Con. I talked about Universe Smokescreen before; he was intended for a Battle in the Box set and redecoed from Armada Hot Shot based on the Generation 1 character, with a yellow version of Hot Shot's Mini-Con, Jolt. He was to be sold with Drench, based on the Generation 2 Color Changer, but as a Decepticon, as he was redecoed from Armada Wheeljack. He would have come with Wheeljack's Mini-Con, Wind Sheer. The Quest for Cybertron the Autobots participated in obviously comes from the name of the game their universe was meant to be. The other Decepticon they fought against, Landslide, was a planned redeco of Cybertron Mudflap, another Autobot-turned-Decepticon as seen in the cartoon but was scrapped due to Mudflap's low toy sales. Technoism is the belief that robots are superior to organics, first given that name in Spotlight: Optimus Prime, but having been seen in the franchise long before then. The universe they returned to, Aurex 204.0 Kappa, is the world of the online Energon game, Battle for Megatron. Armada Smokescreen (who was redecoed along with Liftor in the universe toyline) was seen in issue #1 of the Universe comic, as one of the many who had fallen under Unicron's influence. He killed Generation 1 Smokescreen in a gladiatorial fight; that Smokescreen is revealed to have come from Primax 903.04 Gamma, the world of the Dreamwave Transformers/G.I. Joe mini-series.

Question 4: Well, duh. Although the Age of Extinction Dinobot's origins are mentioned only briefly, it's in the film. Really don't know what this guy was expecting this late in the game.

September 15:

Question 1: In The AllSpark Almanac II, a male Animated Sunstreaker headshot was seen, drawn by Bill Forster. In The Complete AllSpark Almanac, it was replaced with a female Sunstreaker, recolored from Animated Arcee.

Question 2: Saber was a fan character of Dan Khanna's, who slipped him in several issues he drew, and he helped write his backstory here. His first cameo was in issue #2 of the 3H The Wreckers comics, as one of several body-types in Apelinq's files during his creation of CatSCAN. His second appearance was in Universe issue #2, as one of the many interdimensional prisoners escaping from the Cauldron. That version hails from Primax 905.22 Epsilon, the world of BotCon 2005's "Descent into Evil" comic and related stories. Energo-swords were wielded by the original Dinobots. The Encore bio for Stripes (who was based on a character mentioned in an early script for The Transformers: The Movie) described him as being a tamed nitrotiger. Obsidian was seen in Beast Machines, a former Autobot general; this version is during the four-million-year gap between the crash of the Ark and its occupants coming back online.

Question 3: Something of an interesting notion, and one that's been explored a few times in various bits of fiction.

Question 4: The Decepticon Hall of Heroes was seen in the coronation scene from The Transformers: The Movie, where it was lined with statues of previous Decepticon leaders. They were named in artwork by Floro Dery; one was named Cannibaron, or the Cannibal Baron, as he's called here. I've gone over laser cores before. Corumkan was mentioned in the "Reaching the Omega Point" prose story, "Herald", the capital of Shokaract's empire on Cybertron. Nuon, in full Nuon City, was mentioned in "Pilot (Part 1)", the first episode of the 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon, having apparently been eaten by the Decepticon Chompazoid, Underbite. Harmonex was introduced in issue #10 of IDW Publishing's Monstrosity comic. Sentinel EnN was mentioned in "A Team Effort", one of the ancestors of Sentinel Major. Doradus was a legendary lost city that Springload desired to find, first mentioned in Robots in Disguise episode "Rumble in the Jungle". Vorns and breems were first mentioned in issue #17 of the Marvel comic; a vorn is equivalent to 83 Earth years, while a breem is about 8.35 Earth minutes. Torus states are what Cybertronian polities were called in Dreamwave Production's comics, starting with The War Within. The idea that Doradus appears every 10,000 vorns is likely inspired by the musical Brigadoon, where the titular city appears on one day for every 100 years.

September 16:

Question 1: Tommy Kennedy was the human child seen in the live-action segments added to the "fifth season" of the original Sunbow cartoon (given the universal stream designation Primax 988.0 Delta here), which was made up of rebroadcasts of previous season's episodes. He mentioned wanting to repair space bridges in the first episode that was part of the broadcast of The Transformers: The Movie; a reporter in "Dark Awakening"; and a Headmaster in "The Rebirth, Part 1". Vector notes he ended up a politician; in The AllSpark Almanac II, the Burger Bot kids activity menu mentioned that an Animated version of him had become President of the United States.

Question 2: This is about Dreamwave's first Transformers/G.I. Joe mini-series, which took place in an alternate WWII. A sequel set in the 1980s, Transformers/G.I. Joe: Divided Front, was planned, but ultimately only one issue saw release before Dreamwave went bankrupt. The Joes were called a "special mission force" in the introductory narration of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Cartoon. The description given here follows along the vague storyline given by the solicits, without really telling us what actually happened. Funny, this one.

Question 3: Backtrack was a cancelled Target exclusive for the first live-action movie toyline, redecoed from Cybertron Lugnutz and based on Gobots Night Ranger. Bulkhead, pretty much identical to the Prime character, was meant to have a figure of his robot mode released in the "Stealth Force" Mini Changers range, with converting vehicle figure of Oil Pan, in the Dark of the Moon toyline. Tyran 511.0 Kappa is the universe of the online Victory is Sweet game, a tie-in to the Dark of the Moon film and promoting Topps candy. Their story takes place in an alternative version of Age of Extinction, with Bulkhead replacing Hound and Backtrack replacing Crosshairs. Drift in turn was replaced by Wild Rider and Axel. Wild Rider and Axel were both meant for the Speed Stars toyline, die-cast cars with robot modes sculpted underneath. Wild Rider was meant for the Double Siders Series, with wheels big enough to allow the car to roll both upright and upside-down, and his robot sculpt was seemingly molded after Henkei! Henkei! Wildrider; his fondness for driving references his Generation 1 counterpart. Axel was presumably meant to be the Hunt for the Decepticons character Axor redecoed from Revenge of the Fallen Lockdown, as he was redecoed from Lockdown's Speed Stars toyline; he's based on Generation 1 Action Master Axer. Axor's tech specs noted he was a protege of Lockdown, and he in reference to that, he betrayed the others to the Age of Extinction Lockdown.

Tyran 611.14 Kappa is the world of the PS3 and X-Box 360 Dark of the Moon video game. Tyran 611.28 Kappa, meanwhile, is the world of the Dark of the Moon mobile game. Banzaitron was a redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon from the Hunt for the Decepticons toyline, based on Generation 1 Action Master Banzai-Tron. Speed Stars Bluestreak was a redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Robot Powered Machines Sideswipe. High Wire was an Autobot motorcycle, part of the "Stealth Force" line of vehicles with pop-out weaponry from Speed Stars. Depthcharge, as it's supposed to be parsed, was an Autobot boat from the Revenge of the Fallen toyline. Skyhammer and Guzzle were Autobot from the Dark of the Moon toyline; presumably, the conflict they took part in was an alternative version of The Last Knight, which was very early in production at the time of this post. Vector's thinking of "I had best bite my tongue."

Question 4: In BotCon 2014's "Hoist the Flag" comic, one of the Autobot cameos seen in that issue was based on "Bonaparte Tulcas", a mech from the Special Armored Battalion Dorvack toyline, the source of the Deluxe Vehicles Roadbuster and Whirl. He too was planned to have a release in The Transformers toyline, but ultimately never did. He's given the name Headcannon here, inspired by the idea of "head canon", or in other words, fan fiction. Crosscut, an e-HOBBY "redeco" of Skids based on the original Diaclone version of the toy, was characterized as a playwright in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye comic.

In issue #2 of Dreamwave's The War Within, one of the many audience members cheering Megatron on as he decapitated Emirate Xeon was based on the Micro Change MC-19 Binocular Robo Scope Man toy. He's retconned here to be Pulse, a member of Starscream's Predacons who was mentioned as having been killed by Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition in issue #1 of The Dark Ages. His fellow victims, Stormbringer and Hardcase, are also made to be pre-Transformer toys. Stormbringer is based on the Diaclone Dia Battles toy, which also cameoed alongside the Binocular Robo in issue #2 of The War Within. Hardcase, meanwhile, is based on the unreleased Micro Change MC-22 Beam Robo.

Longtooth's friend was seen in issue #249 of the Marvel UK comic. He's retconned here to be Clockwise, seen in the prose story published in issue #19 of the German Transformers Comic-Magazin, and revealed to turn into a RADAR emplacement.

September 17:

Question 1: Scrash, High Regent of the Earthbound Decepticons in the Operation Combination story pages, was given a mysterious backstory in Andrew Hall's United EX stories that took place in 2035, and he wrote this answer to tease more. As part of his plans, he tried to capture the Autobot's Prime Mode and Energon Matrix technologies, although his fate was ultimately unseen. His origins are hinted at here, a bodiless terror from a military science experiment gone wrong.

Question 2: In the Earthforce story published in issue #264 of the Marvel comics, it was revealed that that the Constructicons could no longer combine. It's connected to Devastator's Action Master toy, with their inability being caused by Nucleon.

Question 3: Spacewarp was a planned redeco of Armada Jetfire in colors based on Generation 1 Astrotrain as a Toys R Us exclusive in the Universe toyline, with redecoed versions of Comettor and the Space Mini-Con Team (Sky Blast, Payload, and Astroscope). The toy ended up cancelled, but the idea saw release a few years later with the Timelines release of Astrotrain, with a new head sculpt, and the Space Mini-Con team replaced with redecoes of the Cybertron Giant Planet Mini-Con Team. Spacewarp's made to be female here; Vector encountered her in the universe Aurex 006.0 Kappa, the world of the online Transformers Cybertron: Primus Unleashed game. In that game, you played as Primus, blocking dark matter emerging from the Unicron Singularity. Jim notes it wasn't intentional, but there's some similarities between her and Starbuck from the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica.

The Mini-Cons are made into separate characters. Each of them are named after various types of teleportation from science fiction, following the theme set by "Spacewarp", and are loosely based on Futurama characters. Comettor is turned into Foldspace; foldspace is a fairly generic sci-fi term, seen in previous Transformers fiction, and also saw used in Dune and Robotech. His personality is based on Professor Farnsworth. Maxa Q, or in full, Maxa Quintesson, was a Quintesson who was supposed to show up in the cancelled issues of the Dreamwave Energon comic.

The redecoes of the Space Mini-Con Team are retitled Interstellar Marauders Mini-Con Team, with their combined mode becoming the Transwarp Blaster. Triad is a card game from Battlestar Galactica, specifically, the 2005 reboot. Monacus was an asteroid that housed a gambling den, seen in Sunbow season 2 episode "The Gambler". Cy-gars are the Transformer equivalent to cigars, introduced in IDW Publishing's All Hail Megatron. Imperator Imperious Delirious is a version of Lord Imperious Delirious, leader of the Destructons from issue #3 of Blackthorne Publishing's Transformers in 3-D comics, who would go on to show up in Beast Wars: Uprising, both in "Alone Together" and Jim and Dave's prose stories. Senator Drelnar Feh'd was mentioned in CatSCAN's profile in the "Director's Cut" of issue #2 of 3H's The Wreckers comic. He was noted as hailing from the Mirtonian Confederation; Mirtonia was the homeworld of the alien Carcass from the G.I. Joe toyline's range of "Star Brigade" figures, while the Mirtonian constellation was mentioned in the tech specs for Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime. This Drelnar Feh'd's home is known as the Dominion of Mirtonia. Mobedyar Daggerthrust the Lesser is a new character; a mobedyar is a female assistant mobed, the name for a priest in the Zoroastrian religion. The Vestial Imperium was a system of mechanoid planets mentioned in the Classics comic, "Cheap Shots"; Vestum Minor was one of the planets that was part of the system and counterpart to the capital Vestum Major, first mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II. Initial T, I've already gone over, a mysterious figure seen in the final episode of Cybertron, "Beginning". Blood Tyrant Gastrathrameferous III of Shi-La is another new character; the Shi-Lai and their Blood Tyrant was also mentioned in "Cheap Shots", while their home planet Shi-La was first mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II. And if you don't know who Sideways is by now, I can't help you. The Maelstrom Exchequer was mentioned on the Facebook page, Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur, while Sargasso was a planet made of spider webs seen in Beast Wars Neo episode "Sub-Commander Longrack".

Proton energy was seen in The Headmasters episode "Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship". The Astroscope redeco is given the name Boom Tube, after the transport method of the New Gods from DC Comics. Her personality is based on Amy Wong. "Payload" is renamed Starburst, after the method of travel from Farscape. He's based on Dr. Zoidberg. "Sky Blast" is renamed after Jump Drive, another fairly generic term, perhaps most well-known from Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of novels. He's based on Hermes Conrad.

Question 4: Thunderwing bore the corrupted Creation Matrix in the Marvel comics, starting with issue #65.

September 18:

Question 1: In both the Zone toyline and the Return of Convoy toyline, the majority of the Decepticon Micromasters were sold as Autobots, with the Air Strike Patrol in the former, and the Military Team, Battle Squad, and Constructor Squad in the latter. TFWiki classifies them as separate characters, but for the most part, that seems more and more disingenuous these days. In Japanese continuity, Micromasters hail from the planet Zone (formerly Micro).

Question 2: In a flashback in issue #71 of the Marvel Comics, a battle was glimpsed at, with a generic green Autobot urging Prime to surrender. In the "Reaching the Omega Point" prose story "Covenant", the battle was revealed to take place at Jan-Ja. The green generic is given two possible names. Mattock, the first, is after named after the mattock, a tool used for digging and chipping. The other, Mattox, is named for the Battle of Appomattox Court House, one of the final battles of the American Civil War, where Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant.

Question 3: In 2008, Japanese coffee brand Boss Coffee had a Transformers-themed promotion in partnership with TakaraTomy. Among other toys, two of the Cybertron Giant Planet Mini-Con Team members, Longarm and Deepdive, were recolored and re-released as the Autobot-aligned Cradon and the Decepticon aligned Seawave, respectively. Now, these toys were gang-molded with the third member, Overcast, but that mold was never used. If it had, going off the plastic colors the toy would have been a bright blue. A version of them from the Galaxy Force anime (the Japanese version of Cybertron) are mentioned here, members of the Land / Sea / Air Mini-Con Team. The hypothetical redeco of Overcast, the deceased Blue Max, is named for another cancelled Transformer; Blue Maximus, the redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Ransack, was intended to be sold in a two-pack with Crosshairs for the Hunt for the Decepticons toyline. In turn, he was named for 1966 British war film, The Blue Max. Galaxy Convoy and Master Megatron are the Japanese names of Cybertron Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Question 4: In the Armada cartoon, Overload appeared out of nowhere with little to no indication that he was an actual Transformer, only appearing in robot mode once as a cameo in a crowd scene in "Union". Hirofumi Ichikawa intended to explain his origin in his Linkage manga, packed-in with the Micron Legend DVDs, but was ultimately forced to scrap it due to the short length of the comic. Out of nowhere in 2009, Hasbro released a new toy of him in the Universe toyline, redecoed from Cybertron Cybertron Defense Scattorshot; his tech specs noted he left Cybertron to find his origins. Hirofumi Ichikawa was given the opportunity to finally explore his origins, and he does so in this question, even set in the Linkage universe.

Like Ravenus in Linkage, Overload became addicting to Powerlinxing. He settled on Nebulon after exiling himself; Nebulon is the Dreamwave continuity's name for Nebulos, home of the Nebulans/Nebulons. Hi-Q and Arcana are version of the Powermaster partner of Optimus Prime and Headmaster partner of Brainstorm from Generation 1. Overload's Mini-Con partner, Rollout, is revealed to have formerly turned into a front-end loader and addicted to nucleon, referencing the Generation 1 Rollout, an Action Master whose robot mode details hinted he turned into a bulldozer or something similar. The ancient Cybertronian Headmaster process presumably had something to do with Energon Omega Supreme, whose head was formed by the Mini-Con Omega, and like the Nebulans of both the cartoon and comic, the Nebulans develop a new version of the process.

Armada Rhinox was redecoed from Beast Wars Transmetal Rhinox, and even showed up in the final Armada episode, "Mortal Combat", albeit in the Beast Wars toy colors. Armada Jetfire could combine with Optimus Prime to form Jet Optimus, an ability credited to Rhinox here, and thus he used that to rebuild Overload, who could combine with Optimus to form Optimus Prime Megaweapon. Prime first used him in "Puppet" against Nemesis Prime, and his lack of personality is credited to Rhinox not being finished with his programming. Rhinox is noted to have either been killed by Unicron, or have something worse happen to him, referencing the Dreamwave Armada and Energon comics, where he and a few others were kidnapped by Unicron and reformatted into his Four Hosemen, with Rhinox becoming War, leader of the Horsemen.

September 19:

Question 1: "Big Rescue Force" is the unadvertised combined form of the Rescue Force, European exclusive toys redecoed from Breastforce members Leozack, Jallguar, Killbison, and Drillhorn, which was given a name in a European sticker book. Without Gaihawk and Hellbat to form the arms, the "combined" form is...well, at best, awkward.

Question 2: In the Dreamwave Armada comic's "Worlds Collide" storyline, Unicron had sent his minions to scout the world ahead of him, composed of versions of Generation 1 Galvatron, Scourge, Bludgeon, Dirge, and Thunderwing. Additionally, in issue #14, Unicron sent a dying version of Generation 1 Optimus Prime as a "calling card" to the Autobots on that Earth. Only Dirge's universe still exists; he's from one of the offshoot realities of Primax 1003.30 Kappa, the world of the PlayStation 2 Japanese The Transformers video game; the Gem of Mystery was the main McGuffin of the game. Cyclonus is revealed to have also been part of the group once, until he had his head ripped off by a Megatron; a clone of Megatron ripped Cyclonus's head off in Marvel UK issue #189. Bludgeon's belief in the Ultimate Warrior, a corrupted mythological version of the Last Autobot Autonomous Maximus, was mentioned in issue #80 of the Marvel Comic. Dirge joined up with them in Lukas, or Star Wars-based, reality. In this one, an alternative version of A New Hope took place, with the Rebels failing to destroy the Death Star, and Emperor Palpatine growing the Galactic Empire. Thunderwing takes inspiration from his Prime counterpart, a Herald of Unicron who showed up in Transformers: Prime - The Game, mainly in his form of addiction to Dark Energon, the lifeblood of Unicron in "Aligned" continuity, which is once more connected to Angolmois Energy, Unicron's lifeblood seen in Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo.

Question 3: A version of Armada Megatron worked with The War Within Grimlock and Optimus Primal in the OTFCC 2003 script reading and issue #2 of the Universe comic. He comes from Aurex 1006.0 Beta, the world of the Megatron and Optimus Prime toys redecoed from Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Megatron and Optimus Primal; that Optimus Prime joined up with the Convoy in "Invasion Prologue", and his home world was mentioned in a post on Andromeda's page. After his return, an alternate version of Armada, Energon, and Cybertron play out. Megatron was aware of the threat of Unicron, and so Starscream didn't have to die as he did in "Cramp". The Energon Autobot/Decepticon alliance survived both the Terrorcon attacks and, at least somewhat, Megatron's return. After dying and coming back again, instead of becoming Galvatron on Gigantion as in "Fury", Megatron became Beast Megatron (as Beast Wars Megatron was known in Robotmasters to distinguish him from the original). Optimus became Beast Prime, and as in "Unfinished", killed Megatron with Vector Prime's sword.

Question 4: This Armada version of Dirge is repurposed from Armada Powerlinx Thrust, whose color scheme seemed to be a reversed version of Generation 1 Dirge. Like that Dirge, he has fear-inducing engines. The Powerlinx version of Thrust's Mini-Con, Inferno, is repurposed as Grapple; the Generation 1 versions of Inferno and Grapple shared the same molds. The image attached is the stock photos of Powerlinx Thrust used by TFWiki.

September 20:

Question 1: An interesting notion. Wonder what other properties Rhisling would take on...

Question 2: In the United EX storyline, Power Core Combiners Icepick was redecoed as Rollermaster, who was hinted to be Straxus. Author Andrew Hall would reveal he in fact intended for him to be the Marvel version of Straxus, who was actually propelled across reality when Blaster through him into the unstable space bridge, ending up in the JG1 universe. That's confirmed here. In the Marvel UK version, meanwhile, Straxus survived as a decapitated head.

Question 3: Attached to this post is the escape scene from Universe #2, with pencils by Dan Khanna, inks by either Chuck Gibson, Terry Pallot, or Vince Russell, and colors by Blond. The rest of the characters seen in that scene are given origins here:

Grimlock is specifically The War Within version. Big Daddy, the Autobot Micromaster, is also from the Dreamwave universe; he starred in their Micromasters mini-series, set on Cybertron during the time period between Prime and Megatron's forces leaving Cybertron and their awakening on Earth. Ransack, the Deluxe Insecticon locust, hails from Primax 1108.12 Kappa, the world of the Transformers G1: Awakening mobile game. The small Decepticon Headmaster Squeezeplay hails from Primax 113.23 Gamma, the world of IDW Publishing's Mars Attacks: The Transformers one-shot. The "constant battles" of Ransack's world refers to the fact that Awakening was a turned-based RPG, while the "subtle ironies" of Sqeezeplay's world refer to how the Mars Attacks crossover lightly poked fun at some of the tropes of the original cartoon.

Wheelie hails from Primax 1108.10 Alpha, the world of the second Universe toyline (unrelated to the first) tie-in oneline shorts, "Action Blast 1" and "Fight for Energon". Beast Wars Terrorsaur and Beast Machines Thrust (along with Rattrap, who showed up on a different page alongside Thrust) hail from Primax 1103.12-R Gamma, which is a bit of a long one. In Dreamwave's Armada issue #17, a fair few realities were seen in the Autobots search for their Optimus Prime, who had been sent to another universe; in one panel, on the furthest right, a portal showed Beast Machines Tankor. This is that universe. Thrust and Rattrap obviously hail from the time of the Spark War; Terrorsaur was plucked from before he could be killed by the lava after the quantum surge knocked him into it, as seen in Beast Wars episode "Aftermath".

Question 4: In issue #46 of the Marvel UK comic, Optimus Prime mentioned how he used to command the Elite Flying Corps, of which the Dinobot Swoop (who had been originally known as Divebomb, as that issue mentioned-the Predacon would steal his name in the 1987 annual story "What's in a Name?"). In the letter's page for issue #54, Soundwave claimed there were four other members, who are named here: the Action Master Skyfall, the Pretender Doubleheader, the Technobot Strafe, and the Triggerbot Dogfight.

September 21:

Question 1: The Powerdashers were mail-away order-only toys from the original toyline, made from Diaclone toys. They had a variety of origins. The "Kinetic Champion" comes from a confusing line in the small bio on the Powerdashers' instruction sheet that claimed they could "operate at various levels of kinetic energy". The Dreamwave comic depicted them as little more than drones; the mail-order flyer "Reinforcements from Cybertron!" claimed they were "constantly evolving" in their description. The "evolution/revolution chip" takes its name from the song "Evolution Revolution", a song that Fox Kids promoted Beast Machines with. Their Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye profile indicated that they were a new generation of Autobots, based on primitive, early Cybertronians. The instruction-sheet bio for the Powerdashers could be read as indicating that there was only one Powerdasher, who switched between forms, a reading that is canonized here. The Powerdashers were given names in the Takara United States Diakron toyline, the GIG Italian Trasformer toyline, and the Joustra French Diaclone toyline. The jet was named Cromar, the car Aragon, and the drill Zetar. The Jet Powerdasher was explicitly given the name Cromar in issue #16 of IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye, with Aragon and Zetar following suit here.

Question 2: In the European Generation 2 toyline, Ironhide was released as a Power Master, with a pull-back motor and autotransformation feature. Various packaging mock-ups exister for a blue and yellow version of Ironhide, with the names "Belzone". "Light Speed". and "Pothole" attached to them (with the mock-up for Light Speed from the Real Action Pop-Ups 3-D Transformer Trading Card attached to this post). Belzone was mentioned in The AllSpark Almanac II, seemingly contradicting Vector Prime's point here...but he existed in the Void, the nothingness left behind by Unicron after he consumes a reality. Presumably, Jim used what he learned while working on Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging. The packaging art for fellow Power Master, the olive green and sky blue Staxx, also depicted him as blue and yellow.

Question 3: Presumably, this is about the Wings Universe Protectobots; the Sunbow cartoon didn't have the time to give them a dedicated introductory episode, and so they showed up without fanfare in "The Revenge of Bruticus". Here, they're revealed to be colonists from Archon, a planet from The Covenant of Primus, who were found by Omega Supreme. The energon infusion from the Aerialbots gave them the ability to combine. Central City appeared in the two-part "Megatron's Master Plan"; the Protectobots headquarters were seen in an unnamed city in "The Revenge of Bruticus" and "B.O.T.", retconned here to be Central City.

Question 4: In the Tonka GoBots toyline, two Gobots with wristwatch alternate modes were released: a red Guardian named Tic Toc, and a blue Renegade named Gong. We meet up with the Time Warriors once again. Time Limit was a Decepticon meant to see released in the cancelled Chrono Label toyline, made by Takara in conjunction with Japanese watch company Seahope. Limbo was seen several times in the Marvel UK comic, an interdimensional realm to where Transformers were displaced as a result of the time-jump technology used by the Decepticons and Autobots of the future. The parasites inhabiting the realm were introduced in issue #100.

September 22:

Question 1: Hi-Q and Arcana were mentioned in the post about Overload, while Imperious Delirious was mentioned in the post about Spacewarp. "People Power!" was issue #42 of the Marvel comic. The Transformers: Regeneration One 100-Page Spectacular collected issue #76-80. "The Rebirth" trilogy was the fourth and final season of the cartoon. "Alone Together" was the Collectors' Club magazine's 2014 storyline; "Intersectionality", one of the Beast Wars: Uprising prose stories, would indeed be coming soon...albeit about a year after this post. IDW Publishing's version of Knock Out in their comics is virtually identical to Prime Knock Out, while Wings Sky-Byte is virtually identical to Robots in Disguise Sky-Byte. Most Lugnuts and Lockdowns are also virtually identical. As time goes on, TFWiki's continuity classification model gets a bit more complicated, as Hasbro consolidates their usage of names and creates virtually identical versions of characters across series. In the Marvel comics, the Nebulans had human skin tones, while in the cartoon, Nebulons were green-skinned and slightly less human-like.

Question 2: Honestly not sure if this guy didn't actually finish their question or not. An imam is a person who leads prayers in a mosque.

Question 3: The universe these guys come from would be revealed later. Scavenger, Nightcruz, and Mirage GT were a three-pack of Autobots in the Robots in Disguise toyline, redecoed from Beast Machines Vehicons Scavenger, Spy Streak, and Mirage. The Elite Guard were introduced in Animated. Storm Jet was an Autobot from the Robots in Disguise toyline, redecoed from the Beast Machines Deluxe-Class Jetstorm. The Longbow was mentioned in the Cybertron prose story "Force of Habit", commanded by Energon Rodimus. The Recyclons were seen in the story "Collect and Save", from the Transformers Legends prose anthology. The Falcon Nexus was mentioned in the "Reaching the Omega Point" prose story "Herald". Planet X is the home of Sideways and Soundwave from Cybertron; the Skeleton Nebula was shown to house the portal to the universe containing Gigantion, in Cybertron episode "Warp". Zeotopia was the world of Hasbro's Xevoz toyline; the Meta-Beasts were one of the factions in the toyline, made up of humanoid mammals. Bruticus was a Predacon Cerberus from the Robots in Disguise toyline, originally designed for Beast Machines as Cerberus/Rover the Hellhound; the Intruder Empire was mentioned in "Alone Together" as the creators of Medusa, who were in turn the Intruders, alien strongmen from the Adventure Team toyline. The Elder Gods from the works of H.P. Lovecraft have appeared in several pieces of Transformers fiction; the Dark Nebula appeared in the Victory cartoon. I've gone over Jhiaxus and the Destructicons before; an alternate version of him and his faction can be seen in Viron 903.0 Beta. And I've gone over the Mirtonian Expanse and all its variations before.

Scavenger's history as a drill sergeant comes from the Armada version of Scavenger. The Autobot Military Academy was mentioned in issue #245 of the Marvel UK comic. Nightcruz is made female here. Mirage GT is connected to the Spychanger Mirage normally seen; Mirage GT was an inspiration for Hirofumi Ichikawa, who figure the two Mirages could be the same bot in a different body; he went on to create the Genetronic Translink System in Binaltech, named after Mirage GT. He hails from a Beast Machines era, his body specifically designed as a Vehicon by a version of Megatron. The Protector is the Alternity-aligned Optimus Primal; Cryotek was a redeco of Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Megatron, whose other appearances made him a Beast Wars character. This Cryotek and more of the Protector's backstory will be seen later. Sideways was first seen in the Robots in Disguise toyline, packed with Axer as an Autobot, and redecoed from Generation 2 Road Rocket.

Question 4: This is very sweet. A very personal post. This post caused several to believe it was over, and so a follow up post clarified we still had a bit to go.

September 23:

Question 1: In 2004, the Armada Super-Con Optimus Prime (the smaller one, who came with the Mini-Con Over-Run) and Armada Side Swipe (with Mini-Con Nightbeat) were redecoed for the Universe toyline, with Optimus becoming Ultra Magnus (based on the original's inner "white Optimus Prime" body) and Side Swipe becoming Treadshot (the Mini-Cons kept their identities). They would later be homaged in Shattered Glass, and Treadshot would show up in IDW Publishing's G1 continuity in Punishment, but they're confirmed to be UT characters as well here. Meanwhile, that same year, Armada Overload and Rollout were redecoed for the Energon toyline as Ultra Magnus and Knock Out. A few years later, they would show up in the Club's Cybertron prose story, "Force of Habit". Ultra Magnus and Treadshot's bio depicted them as former friends who turned bitter rivals after they joined up with different factions. Rhinox was noted to have designed Overload's body a few days prior. Attached to this post is David Willis' photos for Universe Ultra Magnus for his wiki article.

Question 2: Aurex 615.03 Epsilon was the world of the Alpha Q's realm-based Beast Wars mentioned early on in AVP's run. It appears that in this world, the Autobots and Decepticons are still semi-active. The Hyperion and the Doomsday were the flagships of the Autobots and the Decepticons, respectively, seen in a flashback in the first episode of Armada, "First Encounter". And here we go, more Mini-Cons:

The Night Rescue Team (Divebom the helicopter, Firebot the firetruck, and Strongarm the police car) were one of the Mini-Cons sold in the Classics toyline, having originally been designed for the Cybertron toyline. These versions are from the Unicron Trilogy; the Classics ones were firmly in Generation 1 continuity. The Clear Skies Team were another release from that line, but Nightscream is replaced by two different guys, thanks to his rather unusual alt-mode compared to the others. Steel Wind was an A-10 Thunderbolt, while Thunderwing was a F-14 Tomcat. Noise Effect, meanwhile, was a redeco of Classics Thunderwing, sold at Yokaido stores with the purchase of Transformers product. The Rapid Intervention Team is a new creation here. Windrazor and Rad Rogue were part of the fifth "Micron Booster" wave of blind-packed Mini-Cons; Windrazor was a redeco of Classics Dirt Rocket (a dirt bike), while Rad Rogue was a minor repaint of Classics Strongarm. Torque Gain, meanwhile, was a redeco of Classics Divebomb, sold at JUSCO stores with the purchase of either the Voyager Class Starscream or the Leader Class Megatron from the first movie's toyline on July 19, 2007. He was sold as a Decepticon, hence his betrayal here. His replacement, Skyglide, was a redeco of Classics Steel Wind, sold as part of the Henkei! Henkei! toyline at Toys R Us stores on March 13, 2008, with the purchase of any Henkei! Henkei! toys. The Prehistoric Team is composed of Nightscream the dragon (the other member of the Classics Clear Skies Team), with Knockdown the Triceratops and Terrorsaur the Tyrannosaurus (two of the Mini-Con Dinobots from the Classics line, with Nightscream replacing Swoop the Pteranodon).