History WhatCouldHaveBeen / TransformersAnimated

*** The other one, ''Arachnus Prime'', had the Time Trucker giving Optimus the chance to go back in time and save Elita-1 from ever becoming Blackarchnia, but this causes Optimus to end up in a present where ''he'' was the one who became a techno-organic spider transformer instead, and Elita-1 took his place as leader of the Autobot crew.

** Optimus and crew (with Ironhide and Jazz in tow) would chase after him, with Optimus stealing Project Powermaster in the process, while Sari would remain on Cybertron to be educated about her heritage, and Bulkhead remaining to defend the energon farms. The script reading however would abandon the idea of Sari remaining on Cybertron, having her return to Earth with the others, Bulkhead's sole reason for remaining behind now being his family's farms.
** Megatron's goal for the season would've been to collect as much energon as possible, allowing him to terraform the planet into a new homeworld for the Decepticons, as he decides Cybertron is a lost cause.

** One episode would've featured Rattletrap, Megatron's lawyer from Trial of Megatron, being stranded on Earth and trying to avoid capture from Autobot and Decepticon alike.

*** This episode replaced an earlier version where Bumblebee would've been sent to an unknown planet in a transwarp accident, leaving him stranded on a planet of Mini-Cons that would've come to worship him as a god, with ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' and the Lilliputians cited as a specific influence.
** Two Blackarachnia-centric episodes were planned. One would've been about her origins, showing how she fell in with the Decepticons, while the other would've explained how she turned Blitzwing into what he is while also upgrading Megatron into "Marauder Megatron", an even more powerful triple-changer, but the process would've driven Megatron insane and rendered him a threat to both sides.

** The season finale of Season 4 would've been a massive final battle in which Megatron threatened to destroy the entire Earth, and Optimus would've recruited as many allies and even villains as possible in an EnemyMine to finally stop him.

* According to Marty Isenberg, Megatron's increasing mental instability (as well as a scene in Trial of Megatron where he threw Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Shockwave into the reactor to painfully drain their energy to power the ship) would lead to the other Decepticons doubting his ability to lead, eventually defecting to join a splinter group. Marty's notes specifically name Starscream as the leader of this group of renegade Decepticons, but Derrick J. Wyatt stated that Slipstream was the leader. It's unknown if one or the other was mistaken, or if they simply disagreed on who the real leader was.
* A fifth season was also planned, but almost nothing is known about it. All we know for sure is that it was going to be the final season, and Sari's origins would've been fully revealed by then.

* Prototypes of Hot Shot and Marauder Megatron were created, but both were ultimately cancelled.

** Electromagnetic Soundwave, a repaint of the Activator Soundwave to represent Soundwave's giant white avatar in "Human Error".

* A very early version of Season 4 would've taken the focus away from Earth and Megatron, taking place primarily on Cybertron, with Blackarachnia as the main antagonist. She would've finally come to terms with her mutation - by deciding that technorganic was better than pure machine, and trying to transform the entire ''planet'' to be like her. Megatron himself would've acted as a more Hannibal Lector-esque figure, manipulating Sentinel Prime from prison. Ultimately, Hasbro nixed the idea, mandating that the new season had to stay on Earth and feature Megatron as the antagonist again.
* To bring the cast more in-line with the 2007 movie, Bulkhead and Prowl were to be replaced with Ironhide and Jazz. Bulkhead was planned to stay on Cybertron to keep Sari company and help defend his family's Energon farm from Decepticon attack, while Prowl was replaced due to [[spoiler:his death in the Season 3 finale]]. Jazz was to have defected from the Elite Guard in disgust of Sentinel's actions, while Ironhide was sent along as TheMole to keep tabs on Optimus.
** In addition, Optimus would've had flame decals added to his legs and Ratchet would be turned green and black so that they'd more closely resemble their film counterparts.
* Sentinel Prime would've acted as more of an antagonistic figure throughout the season, desperately trying to cling to power and rise to be the next Magnus.

** "Turf War": The Constructicons decide to take over Detroit, with them kidnapping Bulkhead and forcing him to become the torso of their new combined mode, Devastator. Two new Constructicons would've also been introduced in this episode to make up the missing limbs.

** The Autobots would've also battled a new team of human villains called S.T.E.A.M. ([[FunWithAcronyms Saving the Earth and Mankind]]) who used steampunk technology and are against modern technology. Soundwave would've returned in this episode.

** In one episode, Cosmos would've had to go to Earth to deliver a message to Optimus, but he loses his memory after crash-landing and scanning a prop flying saucer from a B-movie set.

* Back when the plan was for Season Four to have Blackarachnia as the main antagonist two time travel episodes were conceptualized centering around a mysterious figure known as "The Time Trucker"
** One was a FlashForward episode named "Bumble Prime", where the Autobots led by a FutureBadass Bumblebee would've joined forces with the Decepticons led by Galvatron against the Predacons, was also tossed around for Season 3 before being moved to Season 4. In particular, Derrick imagined the decapitated head of Unicron orbiting Cybertron akin to the monster planet's final fate in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''.
** The other one would focus on The Time Trucker giving Optimus the chance to go back in time and save Elita from becoming Blackarchnia but this causes Optimus to end up in a present where ''he'' was the one who became a techno-organic spider transformer and Elita leads his team.
* Slipstream was going to have a team of Decepticons in Season 4 and 5, although who was in that team is unknown (as stated in the magazine; Marty Isenberg also confirmed at [=TFNation=] 2019 that this is true, although he doesn't remember which characters the team would've consisted of).

* A FlashForward episode named "Bumble Prime", where the Autobots led by a FutureBadass Bumblebee would've joined forces with the Decepticons led by Galvatron against the Predacons, was also tossed around for Season 3 before being moved to Season 4. In particular, Derrick imagined the decapitated head of Unicron orbiting Cybertron akin to the monster planet's final fate in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''.

** Optimus and crew (with Ironhide and Jazz in tow) would chase after him, with Optimus stealing Project Powermaster in the process, while Sari would remain on Cybertron to be educated about her heritage, and Bulkhead remaining to defend the energon farms.

A fourth season of Transformers Animated was in the pre-production phase when the show was cancelled in 2008. The second [=AllSpark Almanac=] goes in-depth about what had been planned:

** They originally wanted Creator/ScottMcNeil to reprise his role as Waspinator from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', but he was unable to work in the US without a permit.

* Many things changed over the course of the show's development:
** Hot Shot and Red Alert were meant to be part of the main cast, but were replaced by Bumblebee and Ratchet, the former to line up with the 2007 movie's main cast and the latter due to the name sounding more like the old warhorse that the character was going to be portrayed as. Rodimus was first choice for the Sentinel Prime character mold, but this was nixed by Hasbro who didn’t want Rodimus to be portrayed as a jerk.
** Hot Shot was going to receive a toy later in the toyline, along with a triple changing Megatron, but both only made it to the prototype stage before the series was nixed for a number of reasons, including the release of ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
** The Decepticons as a whole were originally going to have a more grotesque, "stitched-together" aesthetic, described as reminiscent of Sid's toys from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'', to show the results of them living in exile far from Cybertron for so long. For whatever reason [[note]] perhaps to simplify the designs for the toys' sake [[/note]], this element was discarded.
** Dropped subplots include Ratchet being suspicious of Earth's recent technological jump under Sumdac's robotics, and Lugnut's fervent praise for Megatron convincing elements of humanity to side with the Decepticons over the Autobots.
** The original name for the Allspark was "The Cube". With this name change evidently came a design change as well, since the Allspark in the final series has a spherical shape.
** Blitzwing was originally conceived as a character that could change into anything and had an unstable personality. Since they couldn't make [[MerchandiseDriven a toy]] from that they tried the ''Animated'' version of Sixshot, but Hasbro told them a six-changer was too expensive. Then they decided to make a triple-change with a changing face and split personality and they used Blitzwing. [[EnsembleDarkhorse It worked out fine]]. Blitzwing also originally had an American accent, but Bumper Robinson improvised a German accent late into production after deciding the name sounded German.
** Prometheus Black was originally a separate character from Meltdown, who would form a TerribleTrio alongside Colossus Rhodes and Stiletto[[labelnote:note]]Who'd become a comic-exclusive villain[[/labelnote]]. Black himself would create kaiju as enemies for the Autobots to fight.
** Several villains were scrapped. They included Lazarus Undershaft, a crime boss whose criminal empire included ninjas. Another was the Wrecking Crew, a bunch of rednecks in hi-tech wrecking vehicles who wanted vengeance against robots for stealing their jobs. The Wraith, the GloryHound superhero who appeared in "The Arrival" tie-in comic, was originally meant to be on the show itself as a reoccurring antagonist who kept trying to upstage the Autobots.
** In the episode "Autoboot Camp", originally conspiracy crazed Cliffjumper was to be the Autobot framed for being a Decepticon spy, but Hasbro did not approve of that and the role went to Wasp.
** "Human Error, Part II" would've had a scene involving Angry Archer mugging some citizens, only to be interrupted by Soundwave toys in a parody of the Advertising/EnergizerBunny ads; sadly, it was cut for time.
** The second Allspark Almanac goes in depth about what Season 4 would have been like. While we'd love for you to try to find the books, compiled or otherwise, we'll give you some details.
*** Ironhide and Jazz would've joined the main cast of Autobots, the former to replace Bulkhead who would be CommutingOnABus when his family Energon farms were attacked by Decepticons, the latter replacing [[spoiler:the deceased Prowl]].
*** Season 4 was also going to make Sentinel Prime a more antagonistic figure. [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Funny one should mention that]].
*** Soundwave would've [[AscendedExtra joined with Megatron full-time.]]
*** Dirt Boss would've been part of a BigBadEnsemble with Megatron, coming into conflict with him at least once.
*** Ultra Magnus [[spoiler:would have succumbed to his injuries from Shockwave and gone off-line]].
*** The Allspark fragments left behind energon deposits when they were collected at the end of Season 3, which ends up becoming the theme of Season 4.
*** Sentinel Prime would've arrived on Earth and attempted to use the Allspark to destroy Megatron. However, [[spoiler:Prowl's ghost]] would've appeared in this episode, where he bodyhopped through every Transformer brought to life by Allspark fragments in an attempt to warn Optimus about the consequences of Sentinel's plan.
*** The Autobots would've also battled a new team of human villains called S.T.E.A.M. ([[FunWithAcronyms Saving the Earth and Mankind]]) who used steampunk technology and are against modern technology. Soundwave would've returned in this episode.
*** There was going to be an episode similar to ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' where the Minicons of Kaon messed with all the machinery of Detroit; Ratchet and Fanzone would've teamed up to stop them.
*** The focus of another episode would be a turf war between the Constructicons and the Decepticons for the energon deposits in Detroit.
*** Bludgeon would've appeared as a pirate, instead of the usual skeleton samurai.
*** In one episode, Cosmos would've had to go to Earth to deliver a message to Optimus, but he loses his memory after scanning a prop flying saucer from a B-movie set.
*** There would've been an episode where Bulkhead and Sari enter a ''[[MirrorUniverse Shattered Glass]]'' version of the ''Animated'' universe. This episode was originally planned for Season 3, but was moved to Season 4 when the Season 3 premiere became a three-parter.
*** The season finale of Season 4 would’ve been a massive final battle in which Megatron threatened to destroy the entire Earth, and Optimus would’ve recruited as many allies and even villains as possible in an EnemyMine to finally stop him.
*** Another plan was a Season 4 episode would introduce a new character, [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Primal_Major Primal Major]], who would be a failed cloning experiment by Blackarachnia. The title of this episode? "'''''Trukk vs. Munky!'''''"
*** A Creator/DavidLynch-esque episode featuring Metalhawk was also considered, with Creator/KyleMacLachlan voicing him. This episode would've also featured an appearance by [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries Seymour Simmons and Sector Seven.]]
*** After serving as Megatron's attorney in "Trial of Megatron", Rattletrap would've ended up on Earth and go on the run from both the Autobots and the Decepticons.
*** A FlashForward episode named "Bumble Prime", where the Autobots led by a FutureBadass Bumblebee would've joined forces with the Decepticons led by Galvatron against the Predacons, was also tossed around for Season 3 before being moved to Season 4. In particular, Derrick imagined the decapitated head of Unicron orbiting Cybertron akin to the monster planet's final fate in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie''.
*** "What A Tangled Web We Weave" was almost a VillainEpisode showing how Blackarachnia joined Megatron and her involvement in turning Blitzwing into a Triple-Changer.
** According to the behind-the-scenes of "Trial and Error"[[note]]A fan continuation penned by one of the ''Allspark Almanac'' authors[[/note]]:
*** Antagony and Inferno were supposed to appear in Season 4 as techno-organic fire ants, having been created by Blackarachnia, who is growing an army of Predacons.
*** Blackarachnia would've gotten a new appearance similar to her original ''Beast Wars'' appearance (yellow skin).
** Derrick Wyatt [[http://www.formspring.me/DerrickJWyatt/q/341689570351407149 mentions]] that they were planning on setting up a fight between the Dinobots and Constructicons in Season 4.
** The ''Animated'' producers were hoping to get Eric Idle to reprise his role as Wreck-Gar from the movie, but he was too busy with ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}'', so they ended up getting Music/WeirdAlYankovic instead. Though the final Wreck-Gar owes a lot more in appearance and mannerisms to Weird Al than Idle, his debut episode still contains a few ideas that were formed back when they were trying for Eric Idle -- most notably his team-up with Angry Archer, whose voice is very clearly an imitation of Creator/JohnCleese.
** There also would have been a Season 5, which was supposed to be the final season.
** Beachcomber was meant to be a ButtMonkey, according to [[WordOfDante supplementary material]]. DJW states that he would have walked in on Shockwave and been killed horrifically in Season 3, and the [=TFNation=] 2019 panel reveals that it was also considered having him killed in Season 4 or 5.
** Sari's origin would've been revealed by the series finale.
** Slipstream was going to have a team of Decepticons in Season 4 and 5, although who was in that team is unknown (as stated in the magazine; Marty Isenberg also confirmed at [=TFNation=] 2019 that this is true, although he doesn't remember which characters the team would've consisted of).
** Megatron's weapon was originally going to be a katana, as seen [[https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/b/b3/AniMegsKatana.jpg here]], but it was changed to the traditional fusion cannon and a pair of twin swords.
** The second to last scene of Season 3 would have been Slipstream [[spoiler: resurrecting Starscream]].

** Some scenes had to be cut for time or for other reasons, as revealed in [[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/marty-isenberg-talks-dinobots-and-other-animated-tidbits/13665/ this interview.]] The most major one? Megatron beating the tar out of the Dinobots shortly after his resurrection. The scene was going to show [[TheWorfEffect how powerful he was]], but that was nixed due to a desire to not upset Dinobot fans and because the animation for the fight was deemed subpar.
** Starscream was apparently supposed to [[IronicNickname have a fairly quiet voice]], as Marty Isenberg ''really'' disliked the screechy voice G1 Starscream had. However, after advice from Derrick J. Wyatt and hearing Creator/TomKenny's performance he decided to compromise with a voice that was high and a bit whiny, but not outright shrill.
** Afterburn, the CanonForeigner from the Titan Comics, was originally going to be named Sideswipe, and preview images even called him that. He was given a different name due to fans hating the design, along with the possibility that Hasbro [[ExecutiveMeddling intervened]] due to [[spoiler:his nature as TheMole]], similar to the Cliffjumper example.
** The series was originally titled ''Transformers: Heroes'' and would have had a less stylized art style.

** During the planning stage Wildrider and Breakdown's remolds were switched around. [[https://static.seibertron.com/images/toys/uploads/1498355933-35.jpg Originally Wildrider was supposed to be from Rodimus while Breakdown was supposed to be from Lockdown]]. This is in keeping with a previous G1 Wildrider release which was also a repaint of Rodimus (though the classics toy).
** Apparently (as the source of this has been lost to the ravages of time and the Internet), according to Derrick J. Wyatt, the Starscream clones would've experienced DivergentCharacterEvolution, becoming their own individuals. Either this was dropped or wouldn't have shown up onscreen, though an artifact of this is that [[spoiler:Cyclonus is implied to be Skywarp from a BadFuture]] according to AllThereInTheManual.
** Pre-mutation Wasp could have gotten his own toy, a [[PaletteSwap redeco]] of Bumblebee, named "Fugitive Waspinator", but this was scrapped in favor of Ironhide, who was a redeco and retool of Ratchet. He would not have gotten a unique head, as Hasbro told the creators either Wasp or Ironhide would get a new head, and they decided to let Ironhide get it. It ended up being the right call as Ironhide's toy ended up getting released as a ToysRUs exclusive while Wasp's never saw the light of day.
** Other toys that never saw the light of day in either America or Japan were:
*** Mercenary Swindle, a black repaint.
*** Thundercracker.
*** Vortex Blurr, a gray and black repaint.
*** Toxic Oil Slick, who bore a paint job more accurate to his deco in the cartoon.
*** Mudbuster Bulkhead, who had more black to him.
*** Goldfire Grimlock, a golden repaint.
*** Electromagnetic Soundwave, a repaint of the Activator Soundwave to represent Soundwave’s giant white avatar in “Human Error”.
** Creator/DavidKaye auditioned to reprise the role of Megatron from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' and the ''Anime/UnicronTrilogy''. The part went to Creator/CoreyBurton instead, while Kaye was cast as Optimus.
** According to Wyatt, they kicked around the idea of having Creator/PeterCullen appear as a guest, playing a John Wayne-esque human that gives Optimus inspiration about good leadership qualities.

*** In one episode, Cosmos would've had to go to Earth to deliver a message to Optimus, but he loses his memory after scanning a prop flying saucer from a B-movie set. HilarityEnsues.

*** A Creator/DavidLynch-esque episode featuring Metalhawk was also considered, with Creator/KyleMacLachlan voicing him.

* Many things changed over the course of the show's development :

** The Decepticons as a whole were originally going to have a more grotesque, "stitched-together" aesthetic, described as reminiscent of Sid's toys from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', to show the results of them living in exile far from Cybertron for so long. For whatever reason [[note]] perhaps to simplify the designs for the toys' sake [[/note]], this element was discarded.