History EnsembleDarkhorse / TRANSFORMERS

* Sideways, the mysterious PlayingBothSides servant of Unicron. That later media played up the idea of all the various characters in the franchise to have name Sideways may be the same guy hopping between universes also played up his cool factor.

* Signal Lancer, who is a minor joke character at best and doesn't even get named in the English dub, became famous and even a tad memetic when, in the show's final episode, he dramatically revealed his robot mode and left his spot to find his great destiny. His disguise was a mundane stoplight.

* In WesternAnimation/BeastMachines, this role was taken by Jetstorm due to his gleefully evil, sarcastic, arrogant personality. A keen sense of wit and the fact that his [[voice actor Creator/BrianDrummond]] played him as a LargeHam didn't hurt, either.

* In WesternAnimation/BeastMachines, this role was taken by Jetstorm due to his gleefully evil, sarcastic, arrogant personality. A keen sense of wit and the fact that his VoiceActor played him as a LargeHam didn't hurt, either.

* [[VerbalTic Heh heh]], [[ThoseTwoBadGuys the Battlechargers]], Runabout and Runamuck, have a decent fan following due to being some of the only Decepticons who are genuine friends. Not to mention the [[MemeticMutation fandom meme]] that has them associated with ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead''. Uh huh huh huh.

* A case could be made for Lugnut, quite possibly the most gloriously loyal Decepticon to date. Having ThoseTwoBadGuys status with Blitzwing certainly helps. Received a Generations-styled figure in 2010.

* ComicBook/DeathsHead, the eccentric ''[[InsistentTerminology Freelance Peacekeeping Agent]]'' from the Marvel UK comics was one of first Ensemble Darkhorses of the franchise. Made the jump (with a little [[Series/DoctorWho Gallifreyan assistance]]) from those comics into ''mainstream Franchise/MarvelUniverse'', up to and including getting multiple comic series. Admittedly, many of those series were of [[TheNineties 90's successor]], but can't have everything, [[VerbalTic right?]] The original proved popular enough to be brought BackFromTheDead at least twice and is now finally getting an official action figure of his own. Happy endings, yes?

** Roberts' original character Rung, the Autobot psychologist, is also gaining a fangirl posse, due mainly to his {{adorkabl|e}}y gangly and goggle-eyed design and his equally Adorkable and slightly naive personality. It helps that he's a bit of a TakeThat to the MarySue concept, what with his frequent ButtMonkey moments.

* Banzai-Tron is far and away the most popular Action Master, surprising given that Action Masters are [[DorkAge generally reviled]]. An interesting look and a neat bio were all well and good, including the incredibly badass motto of "To the victor go the profits," but what really sealed it was the fancomic ''Transformers: Chronicles'', where he was basically [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]] as a Decepticon. Since then, he's received at least four toys, more than any Action Master by far, including a release in the super-high-end ''Alternity.''

** Whirl, for both his hilarious [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkassery]] and the sheer scope of his [[CrazyAwesome Crazy Awesomeness]].

** [[CrazyAwesome Brainstorm]]. [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/My_First_Blaster Can't]] [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Metafictional_bomb imagine]] [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Malevolent_Counterintuitive_Pathogen why]]...

* Scourge. These days he's typically called Nemesis Prime. Immensely loved as one of the few evil clones of Optimus to have an actual personality.

* Scattershot and Vector Prime maintain strong popularity after the show: the first appearing in VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron and the second for being one of the Thirteen original primes and a powerful [[spoiler: sacrifice]].

* Despite being an intentional attempt at being a HateSink, [[{{Jerkass}} Sentinel Prime]] gained some fans due to being such an amusing {{Jerkass}}. Oh, and he's voiced by WesternAnimation/TheTick.

* '''2017 winners: Galvatron, Barricade, and Trypticon'''[[note]]Toy of the Year for his ''Titans Return'' toy[[/note]]

* '''2017 winners: Galvatron, Barricade, and Trypticon[[note]]Toy of the Year for his ''Titans Return'' toy[[/note]]'''
* '''2018 winners: [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Blackarachnia]] and Battletrap[[note]]Toy of the Year for his ''Generations'' toy[[/note]]'''
* '''2019 winners: Skywarp and Omega Supreme[[note]]Toy of the Year for his ''War for Cybertron: Siege'' toy[[/note]]'''
* '''2020 winners: [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Knock Out]] and Sky Lynx[[note]]Toy of the Year for his ''War for Cybertron: Earthrise'' toy[[/note]]'''

* '''2017 winners: Galvatron, Barricade, and Trypticon'''
* '''2018 winners: [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Blackarachnia]] and Battletrap'''
* '''2019 winners: Skywarp and Omega Supreme'''
* '''2020 winners: [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Knock Out]] and Sky Lynx'''

* '''Hound'''. Of the new Autobots in the fourth film, Hound is incredibly popular for his boisterous personality and some of the best lines. "I'm a fat ballerina!" reached meme status.

* That crazy bastard, [[OneSceneWonder Jerry Wang]].

Take a look at who the Hall of Fame winners are.

* [[CulturedBadass Abominus]], who defeats [[DumbMuscle Computron]] with interpretive dance while politely critiquing his [[HulkSpeak diction]], hit the ground running for the title of "Best Gestalt Ever." Then we learned that his components are what make him a CulturedBadass - a Renaissance man, a famous actor, a captain of industry, a psychologist, and a children's entertainer, complete with cute hand puppet. It helps that he looks ''[[http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/c/ce/SGAbominus_Bio.jpg fantastic]]''.

* [[BountyHunter Lockdown]] proved to be an exceedingly popular original creation even if he was only in three episodes. A combination of Creator/LanceHenriksen's voice, a cool design, and a creepy MO of stealing other Transformers' body parts to add to his own. Lockdown would go on to be added into the G1 continuity and was modified to become the villain of the fourth live action movie.

** Nautica isn't as important as the other two fembots introduced in Dark Cybertron, as they go onto be the leads in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersWindblade Windblade]] and get toys while she's put in MTMTE's ensemble cast, and remains toyless. Yet she remains the most popular for her {{Adorkable}}, endearing personality, and for easily blending in with the comedy dynamics of her series.

* [[BountyHunter Lockdown]].
** So much so that (along with Lugnut below) he's been adopted into IDW's Generation One continuity.

** Blackout, for destroying an army base at the start of the film and showing just how dangerous the Decepticons were.

** The popularity of the Seekers came out at it's clearest when Hasbro, having killed the popular Transformers Classic line to focus solely on the BrokenBase Transformers live action movie, dumped the remaining Seeker figures (Dirge, Thrust, and Thundercracker) into an ultra-rare 2007 Botcon "Games of Deception" set. Needless to say, Transformer fans shat bricks over the fact that they were denied a chance to all the Classic versions of the Seekers, since Botcon sets are made in ultra-low quantity and the massive desire for the figures ensuring that the few that made it to the secondary market would sell for $100 and up PER FIGURE.

* '''2014 winners: [[IHaveManyNames Hot Rod/Rodimus Minor/Rodimus Prime/Rodimus Convoy]] and Arcee'''

* Despite being killed by Starscream in the first episode, Cliffjumper becomes this due to being voiced by [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]].

* Dreadwing. His NobleDemon personality and sense of honor remind people of the aforementioned Dinobot. Not to mention that he can hold his own in a fight with [[WorthyOpponent Optimus Prime]].

** Barricade, the police car Decepticon. It doesn't hurt that in the video game adaptations, he's voiced by '''Creator/KeithDavid'''. His design turned out to be so popular, it has influenced most of his later appearances.