History ContinuitySnarl / Transformers

** In the three Japanese-exclusive ''[[Franchise/TheTransformers Transformers]]'' anime series (''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'', ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'', and ''Anime/TransformersVictory''), characters who died in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' show up alive and well, as if nothing happened. This is because the movie wouldn't hit Japan until 1989, leaving many of its events unknown to the Japanese audience/creators. These characters are Prowl, who appears in ''Headmasters'', and Wheeljack, who appears in ''Victory''. Prowl is especially bad, since he was explicitly name-checked as being deceased in the Japanese dub of "Dark Awakening". Later fiction would handwave these appearances by explaining them as being versions of themselves from the ''Binaltech'' universe, taking the place of the originals who really did die during the movie.

** Season 1 of ''Prime'' ends with Optimus [[spoiler:losing his memroies of being Optimus Prime, resulting in him going back to the Nemesis with Megatron, having fogotten his villany... however one of the few things that the aligned continuity can keep straight is that Optimus got the matrix and became a Prime when he journeyed to the core of cybertron to reverse corruption caused by Megatron, deep into the war, well after Megatron turned on Orion, meaning that, while he would be rightfully confused, Orion should still know that he and Megatron were enemies.]]
*** The source of the corruption is anothe continuity snarl, in both ''War'' and ''Exodus'' is Dark Energon, which Megatron used heavily in the plot, however ''Prime'' treats it as an entirely new discovery.

** For ''Film/Bumblebee'', John Barber wrote ''Transformers: Bumblebee Movie Prequel'', based off a early script where the film was still a prequel as it takes "Bumblebee was on Earth since World War II" and ties it into the universe Barber had written earlier. The film relegated the prequel to an AlternateTimeline as it depicts Bumblebee as freshly arrived on Earth during the 80's.

* The ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' film franchise had many comics based off it, and they were generally not known for being friendly with each other. Due to having to pull hairpin weaves between the storylines of films that were clearly written as they went, with said films ignoring any worldbuilding and characterization the comics set up, while also doing the nigh-obligatory toy plugs, you had a ''very'' tangled continuity. Massive casts appearing between the events of the film and then vanishing, dates and the overall timeline not matching up, and writers losing track of what everyone else but them had done. A lot of John Barber's early fame came from the fact that he managed to patch most of the holes left by the first three movies, pushing the various comic efforts into a relatively cohesive timeline. Thankfully for those writing the comics, they more or less ended after ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', meaning they didn't have to deal with ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' and ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'''s retcons to the franchise's backstory.

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegatronOrigins'', the funeral for Fastback and Bumper has Orion Pax, Ironhide, Ariel and Chromia appearing as EasterEgg{{s}} to The Search for Alpha Trion. However, as the original IDW continuity wrapped up, Orion Pax and Ironhide shown to have been fighting against Sentinel Prime's forces, Elita-One had spent most of her life on Carcer and Nautica being born on Caminus. This means that we now have four Autobots who look like Orion, Ironhide, Ariel and Chromia, which definitely wasn't the artist's intent.

* In ComicBook/TheTransformersMegatronOrigins, the funeral for Fastback and Bumper has Orion Pax, Ironhide, Ariel and Chromia appearing as EasterEgg{{s}} to The Search for Alpha Trion. However, as the original IDW continuity wrapped up, Orion Pax and Ironhide shown to have been fighting against Sentinel Prime's forces, Elita-One had spent most of her life on Carcer and Nautica being born on Caminus. This means that we now have four Autobots who look like Orion, Ironhide, Ariel and Chromia, which definitely wasn't the artist's intent.

* The comic ''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_%2784_issue_0 Transformers '84 issue 0]]'' and ''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_%2784:_Secrets_%26_Lies Transformers: Secrets and Lies]]'' are evidentally set in an alternate universe that combines elements from the US and UK Marvel comic because it manages to contradict them in various ways. [[spoiler:One example is claiming that Fastlane and Cloudraker were the Man of Iron and the Navigator from the titular issue and as such died at the end and in the story, Pounce and Wingspan are killed at the end. However, in Transformers: Regeneration One, Pounce and Wingspan appear (where Wingspan is killed, go figure) and Cloudraker is one of the vehicle-mode flying Autobots attacking the Warworld]].

* The Japanese continuity for [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Generation 1 cartoon]] is notorious for its messiness, with Wiki/TFWikiDotNet themselves calling it "a great and terrifying beast". While Western ''Transformers'' media has [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers several]] [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel different]] [[ComicBook/TransformersGenerationOne major]] [[ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse continuities]] under the Generation 1 umbrella, the large majority of Japanese G1 media is in the same continuity of their version of the cartoon. At first, this approach worked fine with the anime sequel series to the original cartoon and ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', as they all followed one another in a linear fashion [[note]]most of the manga versions of these series didn't count, as they usually told completely different stories from their accompanying anime[[/note]]. Starting at the turn of the century, however, Takara began creating more and more stories within the continuity, squeezing them into the gaps between series and causing the timeline to grow out of control. Complicating things further is that many of these stories retcon the events of previous series in an attempt to make everything fit together. The Ask Vector Prime Facebook column would eventually handwave the continuity's problems, citing quantum instability caused by [[spoiler: the partial destruction of Cybertron and, by extension, Primus,]] in ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'' as a possible cause.

* The UK version of ''ComicBook/{{The Transformers|Marvel}}'' featured backup strips titled "Earthforce" throughout 1990, focusing on a unit of Autobots led by Grimlock. While it was largely its own thing, it often tied into events happening in the main book (such as Grimlock trying to revive his comrades and the approaching threat of Unicron), but such events were referred to before they happened in the main book, [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Earthforce#Continuity among many other problems]] that makes it impossible to reconcile the two. What makes this one particularly annoying is that Earthforce is also where Grimlock got most of his CharacterDevelopment: he starts as a violent, tyrannical loon in the main book, then slowly mellows out into a more reasonable and goodnatured sort, until he becomes a mature (if crude) leader during the comic's last issues. Without Earthforce (which is where the middle bit happened), Grimlock kinda just completely revamps his style between appearances. ''Ask Vector Prime'' stated it took place in an alternate timeline, but Wiki/TFWikiDotNet says events similar to Earthforce had to have happened due to the aforementioned development and in ''On the Edge of Extinction!'', half of Grimlock's crew (e.g. Ironhide and Sunstreaker) were part of Earthforce.

* The Aligned Continuity, despite its intent to tie everything together, formed a Continuity Snarl after only a few months of existence. According to the powers that be, the video game ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'', the novel ''[[Literature/TransformersExodus Exodus]]'', and the TV series ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' are all part of the same continuity. The problem is, the plots for ''Exodus'' and ''War for Cybertron'' are so disparate and contradictory as to be completely incompatible. The ''Prime'' cartoon largely chose to [[ShrugOfGod quietly sweep these discrepancies under the rug and ignore them]], and [[MST3kMantra encourage the fans to do the same]]. ''War''[='=]s sequel ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'' makes some attempts, though ''Prime''[='=]s sequel, ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise Robots in Disguise]]'' makes things worse as Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Grimlock don't seem to recognize each other. [[WordOfGod Producer Adam Beechen]] [[https://twitter.com/sonnova/status/606586570980749312%7C later said]] that Grimlock is a common name among Dinobots and that ''[=RiD=]''!Grimlock isn't ''[=FoC=]''!Grimlock, but a different character. Wiki/TFWikiDotNet takes this a step further and presents the Sideswipes, as well as both versions of Kickback as separate characters as well.

** The Aligned continuity gained a new one when both ''The Art of Prime'' and ''The Covenant of Primus'' decided to address the dead Prime whose arm Megatron stole for his BadassTransplant in [[Recap/TransformersPrimeS2E21AlphaOmega "Alpha; Omega"]]. According to notes for Megatron's design in ''Art of Prime'', he stole it from Sentinel Zeta Prime, but according to ''The Covenant of Primus'', it came from the Liege Maximo, one of the original Thirteen. For what it's worth, Wiki/TFWikiDotNet has decided to go with the ''The Covenant of Primus'' explanation.

* The comic ''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_%2784_issue_0 Transformers '84 issue 0]]'' and ''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_%2784:_Secrets_%26_Lies Transformers: Secrets and Lies]]'' are evidentally set in an alternate universe that combines elements from the US and UK Marvel comic because it manages to contradict them in various ways. [[spoiler:One example is claiming that Fastlane and Cloudraker were the Man of Iron and the Navigator from the titular issue and as such died at the end and in the story, Pounce and Wingspan are killed at the end. However, in Transformers: Regeneration One, Pounce and Wingspan appear (where Wingspan is killed, go figure) and Cloudraker is one of the vehicle-mode flying Autobots attacking the Warworld]].