Characters / The Transformers Robots In Disguise Autobots

Beware: all Spoilers for Robots in Disguise, Dark Cybertron and The Transformers (vol.2) are unmarked.

Autobots

Autobots In General

• Adaptational Villainy: Like the Decepticons, the IDW continuity has shown the Autobots to be a lot more shades of grey than normal, with various characters (most notably Prowl) being shown to be far from the the stereotypical good guys they normally are. Notably, the finales of two stories ("Last Stand of the Wreckers" and "Punishment") deal with the fallout of Autobot war crimes and atrocities coming to light. This very much depends on the member though, as many retain at least some degree of their classic characterisations.
• Badass Army: Very notably. The Autobots are usually portrayed as a rigidly hierarchical military organisation rather than the squeaky-clean ideal heroes they are in other continuities, with groups like the Wreckers and Dynobots being portrayed as elite kill-squads and Jazz having been the head of Autobot Special Ops at one point.
• Good Is Not Nice: They're still the good guys but as mentioned they're far more militaristic than most portrayals with even Bumblebee, the poster boy for friendly Autobots, suggesting at one point in Infiltration that if the human kids got killed investigating the Decepticon bunker it'd be acceptable losses as long as they found the information they were looking for.
• Meaningful Rename: Technically not a rename, but a deliberate change in the meaning behind it. "Chaos Theory" showed the Autobot name to originally be a derogatory name used by Cybertron's neighbours to insult them as automatons, with Orion Pax (the future Optimus) proposing reclaiming the name in favour of autonomy, free-thinking and claiming their own destiny.

Orion Pax/Optimus Prime

The series' overall Big Good and sometime leader of the Autobots. Feeling that postwar Cybertron has no need of him or what he represents, he abdicates leadership of the Autobots and abandons the title of Prime for the duration of Season One. Though idealistic and compassionate, it's not a great idea to make him righteously angry with you.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: After the events of Combiner Wars, one of the series' main themes has been Optimus' slowly sliding into this. Having to deal with the many, many challenges of post-war Cybertron (Decepticon resurgences, evil Primes back from the dead, Junkion invasions) has led to an Optimus that's far more willing to exploit the perception of himself as a divine figure - The Arisen - in order to manipulate others to his own ends. That those ends are usually galactic peace and freedom show his overall goals haven't changed, but his unwillingness to listen to his inner circle regarding such matters while he takes things into his own hands show he's definitely not his usual Ideal Hero portrayal.
• All-Loving Hero: Even Megatron agrees:
  Megatron: When [Optimus] hurts others, he hurts himself.
• Ambadassador: Has basically appointed himself this to Earth as of the end of All Hail Optimus.
• Ambiguous Situation: Is he the Arisen, or some reincarnation thereof? The finale leaves the answer open to interpretation, with Arcee theorising that what he used the idea of being the Thirteenth Prime for was far more important than whether he was or not.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Will always lead from the front. Always. Flashbacks noted this as a major source of contention between him and Prowl.
• Arch-Enemy: While being tried, Megatron outright calls Optimus this. Whether the feeling still exists between them is unknown, but statements given by Megatron in the opening arc of Lost Light and Optimus to Scarlett in First Strike give the impression it's subsided.
• Badass Boast: Has a great one when putting Alpha Trion in his place. Bear in mind, Alpha has just been revealed as one of the original Thirteen Primes.
  Alpha Trion: Must we fight, Optimus? In my weakened state, I'm not sure I could keep up with you.
  Optimus Prime: Alpha—we've known each other for millions of years. At your best, you wouldn't stand a chance.
• Baritone of Strength: Mentioned over in MTMTE when Whirl tries to imitate him, and fails. Considering that Whirl was trying to quote the '86 movie, it's likely Roberts was referencing Peter Cullen's vocal portrayal of Prime there.
  Whirl: How can anyone's voice be that low?
• Benevolent Boss: He's 100% A Father to His Men, attempting to offer moral guidance where necessary and overlook their more glaring personality flaws.
  • Occasionally subverted. He is almost always a very fair and just leader. But sometimes... For instance, he ordered Rodimus to accept Megatron as co-captain of the Lost Light, despite the fact that the Lost Light is a privately owned vessel that Drift had bought with his own money as a personal gift to Rodimus. When Rodimus rather reasonably pointed out that it wasn't just unfair but insanely dangerous to boot, Optimus and Ratchet lied to him that Megatron was weakened by poisonous Energon so he would be easy to subdue. At the time the Autobots had no way to know if Megatron's Heel–Face Turn was genuine or just a bluff, so Optimus effectively gambled with his men's lives after tricking them into thinking they were totally safe and forcing them to offer their private property to the longtime enemy who killed their world.
• Benevolent Alien Invasion: Essentially what he does by annexing Earth into the Cybertronian Council of Worlds.
• Berserk Button: Prowl, after the events of Combiner Wars. Likewise, threatening Earth, and the humans who have already suffered so much in the Transformers' war, is a really bad idea.
• Big Damn Heroes/Dynamic Entry: His Signature Move as a cop, and still used frequently in the present day.
  • Lampshaded in MTMTE's Shadowplay arc:
  Tailgate: No. Frikkin'. Way. Orion Pax landed on the guy's back? Where'd he even come from?
  Chromedome: I always assumed he jumped off the roof, Tailgate. He did that sort of thing quite a lot.
• Big Good: Optimus Prime. Need more be said?
  • Of course, he wasn't this during the time he was Orion Pax, making great pains to try and just be himself, rather than the idealized leader he was.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: In a remarkably Prowl-esque move, pulls this on Soundwave to get him to ally with the Autobots once it becomes clear no other form of persuasion will work.
• Broken Pedestal: Has been hit almightily hard by this from Combiner Wars onwards as his methods of keeping the peace changed, to the point it's hitting Deconstructed Trope levels - while his intentions are still fundamentally good, Optimus has gained such a wide variety of followers that no matter what he does or how he does it, he's always disappointing someone. Prowl, Arcee, Windblade, Pyra Magna, Aileron, Jazz - all of them have had cause for complaint with his methods and actions at some point in John Barber's run (some justified, some not so much). It says a lot that his most steadfast ally on Earth is currently Soundwave - and even that has had its spotty moments recently.
  • Subverted with Prowl in Sins of the Wreckers. Prowl is imprisoned in a "positive reinforcement prison", a Matrix-like contraption that keeps prisoners docile by showing them a virtual reality where their deepest wishes come true. In Prowl's dream, he and Optimus are very good and affectionate friends, and a pleased Optimus admits that he should have listened to Prowl from the beginning because Prowl's terribly ruthless strategies allowed them to end the war for good and bring in a bright future of peace and prosperity. The implication is that, while outwardly Prowl is bitter and furious at Optimus, deep down he still greatly respects him and longs for his approval.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He has no idea who Tappet is when confronted by him in The Death of Optimus Prime. The two met just prior to the war when Orion was a police officer that angered Tappet due to his insistence of following police protocol.
• The Captain: Was a police captain before war broke out.
• Car Fu: How does he get a hostile Rom to talk? Simply drive over him in vehicle mode.
• Character Title: The main star of Optimus Prime, funnily enough. Notably, it's the only IDW Transformers comic to not use the Transformers logo on its front cover.
• The Chosen One: Mixed with The Un Chosen One (see below). Optimus is the first real Matrix Bearer since Nova Prime's day, and both Galvatron and Jhiaxus like to identify him as the True Prime. Notably, the Camiens believe he is the Prime known in their mythology as The Arisen. Jury's still out on whether it's true or not, but it means they'll instantly back any of his decisions 100%.
• Combining Mecha: He forms the torso of Optimus Maximus with Prowl, Sunstreaker, Ironhide, and Mirage as limbs after Prowl uses the Enigma of Combination on them.
• The Comically Serious: He's not quite as bad as Galvatron, but he's still capable of missing the point of human conversation entirely sometimes.
  The President: You know who my father was?
  Optimus: One half of a '''mating''' pair whose offspring-
  The President: I mean what he did.
• Commuting on a Bus:
  • While the first season largely focused on Bumblebee and Prowl on Cybertron, occasional issues featured Pax and his crew dealing with Jhiaxus and Bludgeon.
  • He returns to the series full-time in Dark Cybertron, but disappears again for the entirety of the Onyx Interface arc (so he can take part in the Cybertron-set miniseries Punishment)
  • Happens again in the Optimus Prime "Primeless" arc (unsurprisingly), which follows Aileron, Jazz and the Colonists on Earth while he's on Cybertron for First Strike.
• Cool Mask: His iconic faceplate. So cool that colonists have started wearing copies of it out of respect for him.
• Cowboy Cop: Called out the infamously corrupt Senate and continued on being a Super Cop (though the protection of Senator Shockwave may have helped).
• Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally. In the middle of a pitched battle with a Combiner-sized Baron Karza/Dire Wraith hybrid, he had this to say to Camien diplomat Windblade:
  Windblade: Optimus, that thing's speaking Ancient Cybertronian!
  Optimus: Then by all means, reason with it.
• Death Is Cheap: Played for Black Humor in "The Falling" arc. While he's never actually died and been resurrected in this continuity, he's come close often enough that the reaction of nearly everyone who sees him thrown into a black hole by Onyx Prime/Shockwave and having his body torn apart as a result is to comment that he'll probably be back soon. He is. Averted in the Unicron series.
  Starscream: (to the spectral Bumblebee) Don't worry your ethereal little head. Optimus will be back. He always comes back.
• Didn't Think This Through: Comes up with a manipulative plan to have Earth and the Junkions trade Cybertronian technology with each other, bypassing the Tyrest accords (which specifically prohibits any Cybertronians from sharing their technology with other races) and forcing the Council of Worlds to recognise Earth's status as part of their group. As he finds out to his cost, it doesn't occur to him the Junkions aren't on the level, as they just decide to invade Earth anyway with their massive Sharkticon army...
• Dying as Yourself: In the Unicron mini-series, he sheds the title of Prime, and declares himself Orion Pax just before he dies.
• Early Personality Signs: The final issue shows him visibly upset at a smaller bot (Scrounge) being mistreated moments after having been forged as Orion Pax.
• Enemy Mine: They may be arch-enemies, but Optimus and Megatron have made many team-ups to fight greater foes throughout IDW's run, including Zeta Prime, Trypticon, Thunderwing and Shockwave during "Dark Cybertron".
• Expy: Word of God confirms that Optimus' post-Dark Cybertron arc as an unwilling messiah figure becoming more comfortable with the notion takes a lot of inspiration from Benjamin Sisko of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Soundwave. While their alliance started on less-than-ideal terms (not to mention being enemies for millions of years before that), Soundwave tells him that he's come to genuinely believe in Optimus and his mission at the end of Issue #57. He even uses the term "old friend".
• A God I Am Not: In the Till All Are One: Revolution one-shot, he refuses to let other Cybertronians see him as divine or above them, but encourages them to see why he does what he does and to help him do it.
• Good Is Not Dumb: He sees right through the President's subtle gloating in Optimus Prime #8 and sends a warning to Jazz to run before a G.I. Joe squad arrives to capture him.
• Good Is Not Soft: Optimus doesn't hesitate to do what has to be done, be it punching through a begging Nova Prime's chest to put an end to his delusions of universal control, blasting a temporarily-good Shockwave to bits to save the universe (though he did regret it and there was no other way to stop Shockwave by that point) or executing a surrendering Galvatron to end his ambitions of taking over Earth once and for all. Even Soundwave and Arcee are visibly stunned by that last one.
  • Seen again, albeit in a distinctly less lethal way in Revolution #2. After his initial attempt to get Rom to surrender fails (Rom having killed multiple humans - actually Dire Wraiths - that the Transformers are sure to be blamed for), Prime just runs him over in vehicle mode, then makes it crystal clear to a battered Rom at gunpoint that he'll start talking. Or else.
• Hanging Judge: Averted. Optimus goes to great pains to avert this image during Megatron's trial, strictly adhering to due process and making a genuine effort to view the matter objectively. Unfortunately for him, Megatron opts to invoke this and points out the folly in having his arch-nemesis preside over his trial.
• He Who Fights Monsters: One of RID's major plot arcs from Combiner Wars onwards. While he still fundamentally believes he's acting in the best interests of Cybertron, and is certainly a far better person than Galvatron and Sentinel Prime (the latter of whom actively tries to recruit him), he's becoming increasingly and unwittingly similar to both the dictatorial Primes before him and the Knight Templar Decepticons, to the extent of arbitrarily annexing Earth into the Council of Worlds and presenting it afterwards as a fait accompli to both sides, something Starscream notes as being more like Megatron than anyone else. To date, Windblade has lost faith in him after he refused to help the Microverse (effectively condemning them all to death), Arcee's communing with Prowl, of all people, because she's so concerned about his behaviour after killing a surrendering Galvatron and Jetfire's sarcastically referring to him as "space messiah" and "The Prime", illustrating how far he's changed from the 'bot he used to be.
• Heroic BSoD: Undergoes a brief but serious one in Dark Cybertron. Rodimus snaps him out of it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies to reach the inner soul of Unicron, convincing it to let go of its hatred and destroy himself.
• Hero with Bad Publicity:
  • Zigzagged with other Cybertronians. At the start of RID, Optimus became something of an in universe Hate Sink for all the Neutrals of Cybertron to blame their problems on, so he left. Post-Dark Cybertron people tended to accept him more due to his actions in saving the universe, and Megatron's trial definitely made the Autobots come off much better than the Decepticons. The Camiens think the world of Optimus as they worship Primes, and his humility towards the whole situation makes them love him even more. Post-Combiner Wars, Optimus does have more of the populace on his side than not. While this takes a bit of a hit when he annexes Earth into the Council of Worlds without bothering to inform either party beforehand, he's redeemed in the eyes of the populace after they see him raise a Titan out the ground on live broadcast.
  • Played quite straight with the humans in season 2: they are horrified that he would accept Megatron of all 'formers as an Autobot, after his invasion of Earth resulted in the death of over a billion humans - something Soundwave uses to broker an alliance with the EDC despite their glaring mutual mistrust. Things get a LOT worse in All Hail Optimus after he basically tells Earth they're joining the galactic community whether they like it or not, leading to a massive attack by the EDC's Combining Mecha which is only ended after Optimus summons a two-mile tall Titan, leading to a full human retreat. In Revolution #1, his arrival and attempts to be reasonable are met with a full scale attack by G.I. Joe, who steadfastly refuse to believe anything he says. That Soundwave, who killed many people during the Decepticon invasion, is now one of Optimus' lieutenants doesn't help. Finally averted in Revolution #5, where he sees that Earth has defenders of its own (G.I. Joe, Action Man, M.A.S.K) and offers to work with them instead of taking sole responsibility for Earth's defense all the time.
• The Hero Dies: Transformers: Unicron ends with Optimus sacrificing himself to destroy the Chaos-Bringer, and the final issue of his eponymous series (also the final issue of the IDW continuity as whole) features him reflecting on his life for the last moments of his existence.
• Horrible Judge of Character: After The Death of Optimus Prime story, he retakes his old name of Orion Pax and departs Cybertron, leaving Bumblebee, Prowl, Rodimus and Ultra Magnus in charge of Iacon/The Lost Light. One need only look at their respective tropes entries here and on the MTMTE page to see why this was not a good idea...
  • He asks Prowl to join him when he returns to Earth, stating that while he doesn't trust him, he at least knows how far he can trust him. By the time Prowl is arrested in Combiner Wars, he's severely hindered the Autobots' chances of making peace with the humans, caused a massive amount of damage as Devastator, and tried to destroy Cybertron's Space Bridge, effectively dooming Caminus if he'd succeeded.
• Hypocrite:
  • In a benevolent but no less dangerous way in Till All Are One: Revolution. He dismisses Micronus Prime's plea to use Ore-13 to save the Microverse he created, arguing that he can't forgo Earth's own impending Ore-13 disaster on the word of a Prime. While he has the fact the Prime lineage has proven corrupt and racist at best, dictatorial and warlike at worst, on his side, Windblade points out that his followers (especially the Camiens, her race) believe that Primes work for the good of all; if Optimus can't believe that of Micronus, then how can they believe that of Optimus? Unfortunately, it doesn't convince him. Especially notable as the issue and other Revolution tales set in the Microverse show that Micronus' intentions are completely on the up-and-up.
  • Subverted in Revolution itself, which takes place after the above story - he realises how accurate Windblade's concerns were when Rom starts dumping raw Ore-13 into Microspace to stop the Dire Wraiths' plans, and talks him out of attempted genocide.
  • Averted in Optimus Prime #6. He realizes that by trying to protect Earth from the Junkions, he's dooming their race to extinction. He quickly manages to organize a ceasefire and builds them a new settlement on Bikini Atoll.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: His distrust and skepticism regarding Micronus Prime isn't far fetched considering the events of issue 57. He was shown that Micronus Prime is a Neglectful Precursor who abandoned Prion leaving its citizens to die at the hands of the Black Block Consortia (even if Sentinel lied about the details, the genocide still occurred). The fact that Micronus is suddenly asking for help yet still doing nothing for Microspace on his own end (at least that Optimus can see) is a something of an alarm bell.
• Iconic Sequel Character: OK, so he's obviously THE most iconic TF character - but he's Commuting on a Bus throughout Season 1 of RiD. He only becomes a full-time main character in Season 2, and doesn't take on his central status to the plot until after Prowl's defeat in "Combiner Wars", whereupon he's The focus of the series - which even bears his name after the series relaunched...
• Ideal Hero: Subverted. Though he really tried to be originally (and is still doing considerably better than the other Autobot leaders), the war has hardened him considerably and left him a lot more bitter and cynical than other versions of the character. He's still a good 'bot at heart though, best seen when he furiously denounces the Dinobots as no better than the Decepticons for their killings and atrocities in the Punishment miniseries, and isn't tempted for a second by the offer to join Sentinel Prime in Titans Return.
• Insistent Terminology: Optimus made a point of stressing his name change, even when he was in the heat of battle.
• Large and in Charge: He's drawn as a good bit bigger than the other Autobots whenever Livio Ramondelli is drawing him. Issue #52 has him noticeably taller than Soundwave, who most other artists portray as being Optimus's height.
• Last of His Kind: Zigzagged: was played straight after he killed Nova Prime and reclaimed the Prime title. Then subverted with The Reveal Alpha Trion was one of the Thirteen, as well as the returns of Sentinel Prime, Liege Maximo and Onyx Prime. Then played straight again with the deaths of the the first three mentioned and Onyx turning out to have never been a Prime, instead being a time-displaced Shockwave all along.
• Made of Iron: Not demonstrated quite as thoroughly as Megatron over in MTMTE, but definitely there. Examples include the famous page of surviving Megatron's many, many attempts to kill him from "Chaos Theory" (including having his face torn off by Megatron's mace, then getting incinerated by a blast reactor), and living through getting stomped on by Trypticon, a Titan around two miles tall, in "Monstrosity". Upon reminiscing over an early battle with Megatron where it took 6 weeks for Ratchet to find all the pieces of Optimus (and another 6 to put him back together) the Decepticon leader had this pertinent observation;
  Megatron: Didn't kill you, though, did it? Nothing ever does.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is he the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Prime, or just an ex-cop who happened to be in a position to take advantage of the stories surrounding the legacy of the Primes? It's never revealed.
• Memetic Badass: In-Universe.
• Messianic Archetype: While this is standard for any incarnation of Optimus Prime, no continuity has ever run with it to this extent. He's seen as this in-universe by the Camiens, whose religion revolves around the Original Thirteen Primes. Their faith in him is one of the things that ends up pushing him into the decision to annex Earth. Since the decision, he's explicity noted as becoming this by other Transformers, with Jetfire flatly referring to him becoming a "Space Messiah" in Optimus Prime #1.
  • The series also explored the belief that Optimus is somehow one of the original Thirteen Primes. While it was never confirmed if he was or not, Optimus would use being seen as this to his advantage, using the faith of the colony worlds in Primes to steer his followers into doing something constructive with their faith - or, more worryingly, gain their wholesale approval for his dodgier actions.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Reclaims his name as Optimus Prime as he kills Nova Prime.
• Mysterious Past: You wouldn't think so, but then Onyx Prime returns and tells him he's The Arisen, one of the original Thirteen Primes who ruled Cybertron before Nova Prime. Chances are he's lying, but if he's not there's a major grey area before his earliest chronological appearance in "Chaos Theory". We never learn the truth of the matter, as the finale leaves the issue of the Arisen ambiguous.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • He inadvertently allows Prowl to escape in issue #42 after engaging him in a fight, allowing the events of Sins of the Wreckers to happen - though that also allows Prowl to be free in time to stand against Sentinel Prime's plans in Titans Return, so jury's still out on that one.
  • He also insists Megatron makes a public broadcast renouncing the Decepticon cause in return for being put on the Lost Light - one that is seen by the Decepticon Justice Division, causing them to come after Megatron, Rodimus and the rest. Megatron even lampshades how utterly inevitable this was as he and the other Lost Lighters discover the horrendously slaughtered corpses of the crew of the quantum duplicate Lost Light after the DJD got through with them.
  • He refuses to help the inhabitants of Microspace, due to a deep distrust of Micronus Prime's lineage (as well as Earth's own impending Ore-13 crisis). In Micronauts: Wrath of Karza Baron Karza, feeling Microspace is out of options and desperate to save it, leads a full-scale invasion of Earth as a result.
  • His annexation of Earth is specifically noted by Joe Colton to be the main reason he and Cobra invade Cybertron in First Strike, which among other things led to Unicron being woken up.
  • Way back in "Spotlight: Optimus Prime" Omega Supreme warns him of the consequences if the Decepticons manage to capture the Monstructor Six, whom Prime has chosen to try and help instead of imprison, but Prime ignores him. The Decepticons eventually do acquire them, leading to the creation of Devastator, an escalating combiner arms race and Monstructor himself escaping and becoming a renewed threat.
• No-Sell: A bazooka round to the face from G.I. Joe's Beachhead in Revolution #1 just annoys him. He's later able to withstand the full brunt of Rom's Neutralizer without any damage in issue 3, though it does blow him back slightly.
• Oh, Crap!: When the Nemesis first appears, when Baron Karza returns wearing Micronus' body and when Onyx Prime reveals himself as Shockwave.
• Only Sane Man: Amongst the commanding Autobots, at least until Windblade shows up. While Dark Cybertron shows that he too has his issues, they pale in comparison to Rodimus' hotheadedness and narcissism, Bumblebee's fragile self-image, Ultra Magnus' obsessive compulsiveness, and Prowl's Knight Templar / Manipulative Bastard tendencies. Just take a look at his meeting with 3 out of these 4 (plus Smug Snake Starscream) in MTMTE #28 for proof.
  • Beginning to get averted as the series goes on, as his forcible annexation of Earth into the Council of Worlds without bothering to consult any human governments, blackmailing Soundwave into joining his cause and straight-up execution of a surrendering Galvatron are worrying quite a lot of Cybertronians, most notably Windblade, Starscream and Arcee.
• The Peter Principle: One of his biggest personal issues is his fear that he has become this. He was undeniably brilliant as The Captain, but he was forced to step up to become Prime by outside circumstance, and he's made a lot of problematic decisions since then that imply being the leader of half an entire race was beyond his ability.
• Police Brutality:
  • In Autocracy #1, Orion beat the everloving scrap out of Swindle, and would have shot his head off if Bumblebee hadn't stopped him, because the Decepticon insisted that Zeta Prime and the Autobots were corrupt oppressors.
  • In Chaos Theory, Optimus briefly tortured Megatron with electroshock because the Decepticon leader had taunted him and the Autobot ideals.
  • At the end of Combiner Wars, Prowl's arrogance and unwillingness to admit he'd done anything wrong (despite, as Devastator, nearly destroying Cybertron's Space Bridge and dooming Caminus) make him snap and attack Prowl despite his being in custody at the time.
• Pragmatic Hero: Is perfectly willing to use the Dinobots as unwitting bait to catch Sandstorm in Punishment. On a broader level, he's willing to work with his enemies (i.e Soundwave's Decepticons) in order to reach mutual goals, even making a true believer out of Soundwave along the way.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: To the point where he's willing to give Megatron the benefit of the doubt about his Heel–Face Turn. That said, he's not stupid about it and still insists on a long list of conditions before letting Megatron anywhere near the Lost Light. He demonstrates it again in Optimus Prime #7 when he again shows his willingness to work with the President, and refuses to order Jazz not to do his TV interview in fear of infringing his personal freedom.
• Red Is Heroic: He wouldn't be Optimus without his signature crimson paint job.
• Sanity Slippage: A minor one, but his actions in the All Hail Optimus arc are viewed as this In-Universe. Subverted during his Evil Cannot Comprehend Good speech on Galvatron, and his later flat-out rejection of Sentinel Prime's appeal to join him.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Gets in an epic one against Nova Prime before he kills him. Gets another great one when rejecting Sentinel Prime's offer to join him in Titans Return.
• Shoot the Dog: He and Megatron are forced to kill Shockwave, now the idealistic senator he once was, to prevent the universe's collapse.
• Start of Darkness: While it doesn't take him down the road to becoming a super-villain, Optimus Prime #5 shows that being lied to by the Decepticons as Orion Pax (whom he then idolized as freedom fighters) turned him from a kind hearted cop to someone dedicated to bringing them down, setting up his more cynical and violent personality in Autocracy.
• Summon Bigger Fish: To stop a mass attack by Spike Witwicky and the EDC's army of transforming mecha, he ends up summoning a Titan buried beneath the desert. As Titans are two mile-tall behemoths that make regular Transformers look like ants, the human forces immediately run for cover.
• Super Cop: As Orion Pax, he was pretty much the epitome of this trope.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Starscream whenever he's on Cybertron. He doesn't trust him an inch, but grudgingly works with him out of respect for the fact he was democratically elected by Cybertron's people.
• Tempting Fate: In issue #31, he leads an infiltration group to the EDC's Bikini Atoll base, noting they need to end Alpha Trion's captivity before anything else goes haywire. He hasn't even finished the sentence before the Decepticons' very heavily armed warship arrives. Kup even points out what a stupid thing it was to say.
• That Man Is Dead: He abandons his identity as Optimus Prime because he realizes that as long as there are Primes, there will be war. Rodimus convinces him otherwise in Dark Cybertron, and he takes up his old name again after defeating Nova Prime.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After Combiner Wars, he became a Pragmatic Hero who took increasingly dangerous and reckless actions, much like Prowl. He's still a Jerk with a Heart of Gold at this point though, but things escalate when he unilaterally takes over Earth in All Hail Optimus. While he's doing it to protect Earth from Galvatron, the fact he does it on his own authority without informing either Earth or Cybertron cause a lot of tensions with both. After later executing a surrendering Galvatron and refusing to help the Microverse despite the pleas of both Micronus Prime and Windblade, it's pretty clear even the Autobots that have been with him longest are beginning to doubt him.
  • Galvatron offers an explanation in issue #52, noting that having combined with Prowl as part of Optimus Maximus (in Combiner Wars), the exposure to Prowl's I Did What I Had to Do personality may be influencing Optimus in making many of his recent dodgier choices. Jetfire offers an alternate explanation in Optimus Prime #1: "Someone told him he was a space messiah one too many times, so he started to believe it." This is reinforced by Aileron in Optimus Prime #4:
  You're letting this Prime thing go to your head. You might be the true Prime... but you're still Optimus.
• The Unchosen One: It's heavily implied that he was never meant to wield the Matrix; he claims that using it was painful for him, while Hot Rod claimed it was one of the best experiences of his life. Given the later reveals of the true nature of the Primes, Primus and the Matrix, it's pretty clear there was no "destiny" involved in it.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: More peace than utopia - but in his pursuit of keeping the peace in the post-Dark Cybertron comics, he's extended protection to Earth without giving them any say in the matter (a protection that, according to the President, has seen Earth invaded four times in her time in office), executed surrendering enemies, flatly admitted to using his followers' faith in the Primes to manipulate their actions for his own ends, been willing to defy Cybertronian law in order to get the Junkions and Earth into the Cybertronian fold (and almost started a war as a result), and abandoned Jazz to being hunted as a fugitive in order to keep good relations with the humans. It's not nearly as extreme as other examples of this trope - but coming from Optimus Prime it's all the more jarring.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Optimus Prime #4 is basically a succession of these for him. First Aileron calls him out on being willing to risk a war (by starting Junkion and Earth trading Cybertronian technology, which is forbidden by Cybertronian law) to see Earth welcomed into the Council of Worlds. Then, when he explains that he's using the faith his followers place in him/The Matrix to direct their efforts towards something better, he's promptly decked by Pyra Magna, who's livid that he's openly admitting to manipulating her faith and that of so many others. Later on, a furious Soundwave gives him one too when he's willing to give Onyx the benefit of the doubt based on their both being Primes.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: As of All Hail Optimus, he still believes in justice, but he's also willing to break some of his moral codes for the greater good. When the Junkions arrive, he's willing to trade Ore-13 with them, knowing full well this will be a major breach of the Tyrest accord and could bring Earth and Cybertron close to war, in order to get the Council of Worlds to finally recognize Earth as part of their group.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Shockwave.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In Lost Light #5, Megatron and Roller wonder what's become of his counterpart in the Functionist Universe as he's not answering his phone and seems the kind of person who would lead a rebellion against the Functionist Council. Megatron thinks Alternate!Orion is either not on Cybertron or has been dead for a long time. Turns out Alternate!Orion just couldn't come to the phone at that time.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Against Jhiaxus throughout the Syndromica issues of Season 1.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Galvatron clearly thinks this after being on the losing end of fighting Optimus and his companions in issue #55, monologuing on about how they need him against the Primes and mocking their beliefs. Optimus is having none of it and promptly kills him for good.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: His general reaction to anyone lauding him as a Prime in season 1 and the early issues of Dark Cybertron, due to the less than stellar examples of his predecessors Nova Prime, Sentinel Prime and Zeta Prime (as well as seeing himself as a living reminder of a now-finished war), to the point he abandons the name Optimus Prime and reclaims his old identity as Orion Pax. He gets over this when he reclaims the Prime title after killing Nova, but season two has it surface again as he discovers the history of the original Thirteen Primes and realises they weren't exactly paragons of integrity either.
  • Throughout season 2 Aileron, Victorion, Galvatron and the revived Sentinel Prime all invoke this in him. Aileron and Victorion are Camiens and feel, misguidedly, that he should be doing more to live up to the ideals of the Primes of old. Galvatron and Sentinel, on the other hand, are delighted that he's acting more like his predecessors and unilaterally imposing his authority on Earth. They regret it.

Bumblebee

A former scout and leader of the Autobots in Season One. Mellow by nature, he's painfully aware of just how in over his head he is, and his frustration with the whole situation occasionally boils over into rash anger.

---

• All-Loving Hero: It's a noted tendency of Bee's that he has a habit of making friends all the time, to the extent that Nightbeat asks during Spotlight: Thundercracker if they're in another "Bumblebee makes a friend" story (they are). And then he manages to make friends with Megatron himself, and Starscream.
• Ambadassador: The finale sees him appointed Earth's representative to the Galactic Council, with the (possibly) spectral Starscream along for the ride.
• Break the Cutie: He's badly hurt when Megatron crushes his head in the Decepticon uprising, and gets forcibly exiled from Iacon by Starscream - but it's The Reveal Prowl really did have Ratbat killed that finally causes him to collapse.
• The Chains of Commanding: Has major self-esteem issues due to having to succeed Optimus Prime as leader. This has happened in the Bumblebee miniseries and Spotlight: Bumblebee in addition to season 1, so it's clearly a recurring issue for him,
• Deadpan Snarker: Whether the Bumblebee that is haunting Starscream is a ghost or a hallucination or something else entirely, his snark game is on point. Later issues indicate it's the real thing.
• Didn't Think This Through: When Megatron returns in season 1, claiming to come in peace, 'bee shows some decisiveness and orders everyone to blast him to bits. Unfortunately, he does this in front of a mob of Decepticons who view Megs as a hero for taking down the D-Void during Chaos. This plays right into Megatron's hands, making Megatron seem the victim of Autobot brutality and eventually leading to a full-scale uprising by the seriously downtrodden Decepticons.
• Extreme Doormat: To most characters in authority at the start of the series. Metalhawk just talks over him when meeting new arrivals, Starscream runs rings round him politically and Prowl just does whatever the hell he wants in the name of peace. It's averted as the series goes on, as he grows some serious ball bearings by the time of Dark Cybertron, flatly telling the Dinobots to get in line or get lost, and firmly overriding Prowl when allying with Soundwave's Decepticons to stop Shockwave.
• Dead Person Conversation: He's been appearing to Starscream to partake in these, possibly as a sign of the former Seeker's mind unraveling, possibly as something else. Turned out he was the real thing, trapped in the black-hole afflicted Crystal City yet somehow able to communicate with the former Decepticon..
• Foil: To Prowl. Where Prowl is cold, cynical and often favours a brutal approach to problems, Bumblebee is kind, compassionate and willing to see the best in everyone - even Megatron.
• The Heart: Of the Autobots left on Cybertron.
• The Hero: Along with Prowl, one of the main protagonists of Season 1 - and pretty quickly becomes the main one after Prowl's behaviour worsens due to being controlled by Bombshell.
• He's Back!: After several years of absence, he's revealed to have survived getting shot through the back by Shockwave, and is still alive in Crystal City, albeit trapped in the singularity there.
• In the Back: How Shockwave ultimately kills him. Or tries to anyway.
• Killed Off for Real: He gets shot clean through the chest by Shockwave, and then the place where his body is gets collapsed into a singularity. Revealed to have been averted later - he (and Crystal City)is trapped inside the singularity, but still functional. Thanks to Optimus and Shockwave he makes it back into our world towards the end of the series.
• Midseason Upgrade: Out of necessity, after a serious beating he received at the hands of Megatron.
• Never Found the Body: Megatron did want to recover Bumblebee's body, but the Crystal City collapsing into a singularity prevented it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While Prowl, Rodimus and Drift all bear responsibility to Overlord being on the Lost Light over in MTMTE, the police-bot mentions that it was Bumblebee who insisted that, as a POW, he be repaired to his natural state as a moral obligation - and while this leaves Overlord without weapons, subsequent issues show he's more than a match for the crew bare-handed once he gets loose. Subverted somewhat in that there's no possible way 'Bee could have known the repaired Phase-Sixer would end up anywhere near Rodimus and the others.
• Odd Friendship:
  • With Prowl. As the Foil entry details, they couldn't be more different, but Prowl considers him his only friend and takes it pretty hard when he dies.
  • With Megatron, unbelievably, in Dark Cybertron. He actually seems to get through to Megatron about the horrors of how he acts (something Optimus had failed to do many times previously), as well as talking him out of killing Galvatron (who ripped him in half previously). After Shockwave kills him Megatron even unsuccessfully tries to recover his body from the collapsing singularity.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Frequently seen this way in-universe - he's the successor to Optimus Prime.
• The Peter Principle: He's in way over his head. Doesn't last, though.
• Pinball Protagonist: Is this for most of the Decepticon Uprising arc. Averts it at the very end though, when he's the one who figures out how to correctly interpret Wheeljack's last words to stop Megatron.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Among the Autobots - he's the first (and until MTMTE only) Autobot to believe Megatron might be on the level when it comes to his Heel–Face Turn - and he's vindicated when he allows Megatron to spacebridge away for help: the Decepticon leader returns with Metroplex's thumb, which purges Shockwave's virus and allows Metroplex to kill the Necrotitan for good.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: Does this for Megatron, right before getting killed by Shockwave.
• Secret-Keeper: He knew Ultra Magnus was a Legacy Character, because one of them told him.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Acts this way a bit after Starscream exiles him and the other Autobots from Iacon.
• Smug Smiler: Not Bee himself, but the apparition (or not) of him only Starscream can see is clearly enjoying watching 'Screamer sweat out the same problems that cost him control of New Iacon. Considering who stands to lose, can you blame him?
• The Farmer and the Viper: Convinces Prowl that, as the good guys, it's their duty to ensure that the captured Overlord is restored to full functionality, even though Overlord's invulnerability makes it impossible to extract his spark and lock him up with the highest security. Or at least convinces Prowl to go along with it for Bumblebee's sake. Overlord wasn't exactly grateful.
• Took a Level in Badass: During Dark Cybertron.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He all but says in conversation with Rodimus in The Death of Optimus Prime that he would have exiled Optimus from Cybertron to keep the peace with the neutral Cybertronians - yes, THAT Optimus Prime.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Nobody's really that fussed about his return from the dead - mainly because they have a titanic planet-eating robot destroying all their colonies to worry about.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: He survived or got better from Shockwave blasting him open at the end of Dark Cybertron, but he still has a massive gash across his chest from where he was shot. Later, it turns out to be because Bee's body was destroyed. The wound's still there because that's how he remembers being.

Prowl

A devious strategist and the head of intelligence. Traditionally icy and removed, his complex personal issues are beginning to get the better of his judgment, allowing an angrier, more violent side to slip through.

---

• Adaptational Jerkass: Prowl is usually depicted as a Straw Vulcan and Rules Lawyer, but this iteration takes those qualities a step further and makes him a self-righteous Manipulative Bastard more than willing to cross ethical lines if he believes it will serve the greater good.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Denies whiteout vacuums exist, despite seeing them in the Institute. And despite seeing clear-cut proof the Institute exists and are up to horrific things, he tries to claim ignorance.
  • The latter mixes with Selective Obliviousness. Back then, Prowl was a naïve rookie cop who had never even been in a fight and had complete faith and trust in the government and its police force. When he suddenly found himself face to face with evidence that the government was secretly kidnapping, torturing and killing its own citizens, he refused to believe it and kept insisting there had to be another explanation.
• Arm Cannon: In his reappearance in Optimus Prime issue 13, he's now got a Vamparc Ribbon taking up his left arm, which stays on all through till the end of Unicron.
• Batman Gambit: Part and parcel with his Manipulative Bastard tendencies.
• Being Good Sucks: Despite the wedge it drives between him and the other Autobots, he firmly believes that his unethical and underhanded ways are the only way to accomplish anything.
  • A genuinely tragic example occurs in Issue #37, where we find that he joined the Senate's security force to work against it from the inside. Unfortunately, Chromedome didn't realize it was a ruse and ended their relationship as a result.
• Berserk Button: He really, really hates Spike. And Rewind. And Decepticons. And NAILs.
• Big Damn Heroes: While the "heroes" part is up in the air, his reappearance does have him saving Goldbug and the Throttlebots from Onyx Prime's beast warriors.
• Blackmail: Though he isn't above using this, don't expect him to call it as much.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: He gets compromised by Bombshell and used as an unwitting mole for the Decepticons.
• Break the Haughty: Seems genuinely stunned and bewildered that Bumblebee couldn't see Bombshell was controlling him when the latter briefly frees him. In issue #43, Livio Ramondelli's art makes him look shocked and uncertain when he finally makes Optimus angry enough to assault him while in custody.
• Broken Pedestal: The other Autobots, including Optimus Prime, side-eye him after the events of the first season and the Dark Cybertron arc. Fully becomes this after Combiner Wars, where he's arrested after trying to blow up Cybertron's Space Bridge links with its colony worlds.
• Bullying a Dragon: Trying to blackmail Chromedome, which caused him to snap and Mind Rape him, leaving him vulnerable to Bombshell's cerebro-shells.
• The Bus Came Back: After disappearing at the end of Combiner Wars, and a brief appearance in the final issues of MTMTE, Prowl returns in Optimus Prime issue 13.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When confronted by an irate Fortress Maximus, Prowl actually has to stop and think about what he could possibly be so angry about. He even mentions he's pissed off so many people it's actually gotten hard to keep track of them all.
  Fortress Maximus: Ask him what he did.
  Cerebros: Well? What did you do?
  Prowl: Bear with me a second.
  ...
  Prowl: I've hacked off so many people it's hard to keep track.
  ...
  Prowl: Whatever I did, I know for a fact it was necessary, proportionate, and staggeringly far-sighted, and I'm confident that history will prove me- OH! Garrus-9! There we go.
• Byronic Hero: Very much this pre-Bombshell. Starts becoming this again as the threat of Unicron grows.
• By-the-Book Cop: Certainly knows the book inside and out, and will tell you which rules you've broken. These days, though, he'll throw the book away if and when it suits him (and only him, never anyone else).
• The Cassandra: 'Just because the war is over doesn't mean we can afford to stop fighting!' Everybody treats him like he is crazy and paranoid. A couple issues later the current leader of the Decepticons attempts a coup that would have killed Bumblebee and framed the Neutrals for it, causing the war to break out again. Then in the sister series MTMTE it turns out that groups of Decepticons are still committing mass murder in distant planets. Then it turns out that the DJD is still hunting people down to torture them to death. Then it turns out that an Autobot traitor was planning to murder half their race with a remote Killswitch. Then it turns out that Megatron was secretly planning to take over the planet again and had everything ready for a devastating attack. Then it turns out that Shockwave was plotting to destroy the entire universe. Then it turns out that Galvatron has collected a bunch of followers and plans to restart the war. Then then then...
• Catchphrase: "We need a full autopsy" used to be his, back when he served in the Iaconian Mechaforensics Division.
• Character Tics: Flipping over tables when angry. According to The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye he's done that five times - and we actually see him do it in issue #35. Actually helps save the day in MTMTE #57, where he activates a Titan's transformation cog in exactly the same way.
• The Chessmaster: Back when he was at the top of his form, around the time of The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers. While a skilled manipulator in the present day, a combination of his personal issues and the side-effects of his combination with the Constructicons led to his machinations blowing up in his face in Combiner Wars. Seems to be becoming this again in his reappearance in Optimus Prime, as he seems to be way ahead of any other character in gathering intel on Onyx Prime's forces.
• Combining Mecha: As part of Megatron's Evil Plan, he's retrofitted into Devastator's head module. He later uses the Enigma of Combination on himself, Optimus Prime, Sunstreaker, Ironhide, and Mirage to merge them into Optimus Maximus.
• Conscience Makes You Go Back: He went back and saved Springer from the destroyed noisemaze.
• Crazy-Prepared: He kept Zeta Prime's supply of Vamparc Ribbons stashed away from millions of years, just in case he ever needed one.
• The Cynic: He's incredibly bitter and tends to see even his allies as ineffectual and incompetent.
• Deadpan Snarker: Increasingly slips into this as he becomes more bitter and cynical about things.
  Metalhawk: Why assume it was a Decepticon?
  Prowl: Gee, Metalhawk, every event on every day of the last six million years mostly.
• Desk Jockey: How Chromedome describes his time before active duty.
• Determinator: Beat him into scrap, kidnap him, torture him, threaten to kill him... None of that will make him waver. His steadfast conviction that he is fighting for the greater good is both his greatest weakness and his greatest strength, because it makes him 100% willing and ready to suffer any pain and sacrifice his own life to carry out his plans.
  Prowl: If you are asking me to join you, Tarantulas, then you are asking if I'm frightened to face the repercussions of my terrible judgement, and you are asking if the Autobots are too weak to recover from yet another attack on their way of life. And the simple answer to these questions is: no.
• Disappeared Dad: Turns out he is one, with an artificially created son "Ostaros" that was created by Mesothulas during their partnership. After terminating the partnership, Prowl gave Ostaros to Kup to hide the origins of and rear as Springer. Prowl himself meanwhile doesn't have more to do with Springer than what's viewed as necessary.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Now that he's not Optimus' right hand man, he has to make his plans around the fact that even Optimus will probably interfere with him.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After helping stop (or at least delay) Sentinel Prime's plan to annihilate Cybertron with an army of undead Titans, he stays on Luna-1 for a sabbatical with Fortress Maximus, Red Alert and Cerebros, claiming to enjoy the peace and quiet. Until the Maximals show up...
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. Optimus seems to not to trust him that much anymore after the events of the 1st season, having Jazz and Kup in his close circle instead. Even Arcee comments on it. Played straight in Titans Return: despite all he's done, he's allowed to remain on Luna-1 in peace after helping stop Sentinel Prime, at least temporarily.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even Prowl, the master of I Did What I Had to Do, realises that Sentinel Prime's plan to raise an army of undead Titans to "wipe the slate clean" on Cybertron needs to be stopped.
  • Sentinel reveals that Prowl constantly worked to keep him from enacting his most brutal plans.
  Sentinel: [Prowl] was an obstacle. I could have crushed the Decepticons long before Kaon, but he seemed to think it his job to rein me in. Caution, caution, caution. 'Consider this, consider that...' Every conversation, a lecture on collateral damage. He blunted me—and it's taken me four million years to recover my edge.
• Evil Counterpart: It is debatable whether Starscream is this to him or he is this to Starscream. Starscream is, well, The Starscream, but everyone expects that from him. The Autobots expect better from Prowl, and he constantly disappoints them.
• Evil Former Friend: After his escaping custody, the new Colonist Autobots believe him to be this for Optimus. Optimus himself disagrees, awkwardly noting that Prowl didn't turn evil, he merely disagreed with his tactics. For his part, Prowl is variously working with Arcee and Pyra Magna to keep tabs on Optimus from afar.
• Eye Scream: Loses his right eye when Defensor takes down Devastator. He finally gets a replacement eye at the end of the Titans Return crossover. When he returns in Optimus Prime, he seems to have lost it again.
• Fallen Hero: The fall is complete by the end of Combiner Wars, whereupon he becomes a renegade and fugitive from the law. He earns a measure of redemption in Titans Return, but he's still very much an outcast from the Autobots.
• Foil:
  • To Bumblebee. As the head of the Diplomatic Corps, he's also one to Springer.
  • To Starscream as well. Both were second-in-command to leaders that they felt were out of touch during the war. Both are widely despised by members of their own faction. They differ in both their goals and need for attention. Starscream loves the spotlight, while Prowl actively tries to avoid it.
  • Unicron establishes him as one to Shockwave. They're both coldly logical, with tendencies to manipulate and betray everyone around them. The difference being that Prowl's deeds, while generally awful, are for the greater good, whereas Shockwave's aren't for anyone but himself.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The only ones that like him are the Constructicons and Arcee, whose own moral compass isn't exactly due North - and even they've had it with him recently (the Constructicons as a result of his "leaving" them to form Optimus Maximus in Combiner Wars, Arcee after seeing firsthand the damage his manipulations do in Sins of the Wreckers).
• Good Is Not Nice: On the occasions that he makes an effort to play above board.
  • In the Transformers Annual 2017, set in the past when the War is yet to officially begin, Bumblebee is brainwashed by Soundwave into committing an act of terrorism that kills dozens of people. Bumblebee, wracked with guilt, immediately turns himself in. While he is in custody, Soundwave attempts to brainwash him again with an outside transmission, causing Bumblebee to scream in agony. Orion Pax rushes to comfort Bumblebee, while Prowl rushes to track the signal and even stops Jetfire from jamming it until they have found the source. Even though Bumblebee is clearly in pain, Prowl only makes it stop after they learn Soundwave’s location, then Prowl goes to reassure Bumblebee that he is an innocent victim. Thanks to that intel, the good guys are able to find Soundwave and stop him from manipulating more innocent pawns into killing more innocent people, and to find the evidence to clear Bumblebee of all charges. Orion’s compassion helped Bumblebee feel better, but would have cost them the chance to find the real culprit, leaving them unable to prove Bumblebee’s innocence and to prevent more murders. It was Prowl’s cold focus that saved the day.
• Good Is Not Soft: How he sees himself when he isn't trying to play above board. It's actually one of the main traits he shares with Optimus, but where Prowl is usually content to manipulate others into doing his dirty work, Optimus will inevitably confront and deal with a major threat personally.
• Hanging Judge: During Megatron's trial, it's pretty clear Prowl is determined for it to end with Megatron's execution, no matter how he gets there or what anyone else thinks. At the end of Lost Light, once it's clear Megatron's wiggle room is gone, Prowl gets right back to it, and may or may not have succeeded, even though Megatron is truly penitent.
• Hates Everyone Equally: Hates the Decepticons, Spike, the NAILs, and almost everyone around him.
• He Who Fights Monsters: A recurring theme for much of RID's second season. His bitterness towards Prime for not listening to his strategies for winning the war, forced mnemosurgery by Chromedome, enslavement and psychological torture by the sadistic Bombshell, forced combination with Devastator that permanently binds him to the Constructicons (though he later comes to accept it), loss of Bumblebee, conviction he's the only one with the foresight to do what needs to be done, the rebirth of the Decepticons under Galvatron and the rise of Starscream as leader of Cybertron with the means to create an army of Combiners and clear ambitions towards the Colonies, push him further and further into seriously questionable tactics. He frequently leaves Optimus and the other Autobots out of the loop on his tactics, almost starts a war with the EDC on several occasions, and finally in Combiner Wars he openly tries to destroy Cybertron's Space Bridge to stop Starscream's ambitions, fully aware that it would doom Caminus and its people to death (and he outright states at the end of issue #40 he's completely OK with Cybertron getting destroyed if it saves the rest of the universe). To really ram this trope home, at one point his eyes start turning red - like Megatron, Starscream, Galvatron and the other main Decepticons...
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Tarantulas revealed that Prowl routinely tries to Take A Level In Kindness, but every single time something bad happens that pushes him back to square one. Prowl tried to spare the life of a witness that knew too much, but Impactor showed up and murdered the guy in cold blood, then told Prowl that even if he becomes a better person, it won't make a difference because other people will always show up to do what he refuses to. It's possible that Prowl's decision to remain at least temporarily "out of the loop" after the events of Titans Return, which takes place immediately after his confrontation with Tarantulas, was influenced by a wish to avoid the usual backpedal.
• Heel Realization:
  • After using a Decepti-bomb on the neutral city Carpessa, which killed 1438 people and resulted in all the surviving neutrals of the attack to enlist as Autobots, Prowl had a Heel Realization and decided he didn’t want to go down this path further. He asked his partner-in-crime Mesothulas to stop doing terrible things, but Mesothulas declared that he felt no reason to stop, and even revealed that he had created the Noisemaze behind Prowl's back and encouraged Prowl to make use of it. Prowl banished him there. As the war went on, Prowl committed other crimes, but while he refuses to even consider the possibility that those were wrong, he refers to the Carpessa episode as "my terrible judgement."
  • There's also a moment in the finale where he espouses to Shockwave that ultimately, it's his actions that will be remembered, regardless of the intent he carried it out with. The art makes it clear it's as much this for Prowl as it is a condemnation of Shockwave.
• Heroic Willpower: Megatron had him brainwashed and turned into the head of Devastator. Prowl, urged by Ironhide, fought back against the brainwashing and the Constructicon gestalt, and succeeded in taking out Devastator from the inside.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Most of his behaviour between Robots in Disguise issue four and fifteen is because he's under Bombshell's control.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Sees himself as this to Optimus, despite it not really being true. He definitely was this for Sentinel Prime before the war, though.
• Hypocrite: He lashes out at Chromedome for the botched and forced memory extraction after he tried to blackmail him, that eventually led to Bombshell hijacking him, because to him it was personal — never mind that Prowl screws around with people all the time, and his actions have led to several deaths, including Rewind's — which he gloated about to boot.
  • He has even dabbled in Mind Control himself, and has the ability to take control of Kup when needed. Sins of the Wreckers also reveals that he considered the Noisemaze to be too terrible a fate even for enemy combatants, but he still exiled Mesothulas there for centuries, since his knowledge of Prowl's activities was too dangerous. To be fair though, Prowl had explicitly forbidden Mesothulas to create the Noisemaze, partly because he found it too unethical and partly because he was afraid he'd be too tempted to use it and end up becoming even more ruthless; Mesothulas completely ignored the order and created the Noisemaze anyway behind Prowl's back, then presented it to him and gleefully encouraged him to send people there.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His excuse for everything he does. Not many agree.
  • It's worth noting that, at least once, Prowl's ruthless and underhanded ways did end up saving the entire universe. If Prowl had not manipulated Kup's mind, Kup wouldn't have been able to seal the Dead Universe, and everybody would have died. Everybody. There are other instances where, depending on how you look at it, Prowl's methods arguably ended up at least contributing to saving the day. But at least as far as the Kup thing is concerned, if Prowl had not betrayed the trust of his allies to violate one of their greatest heroes, the world would definitely have ended.
• I Know Your True Name: Knows that Ultra Magnus is really Minimus Ambus, and tries to use this against him during The Transformers: Dark Cybertron. Magnus just ignores him.
• It's All About Me: And gets called out for it by Chromedome and Ultra Magnus, to absolutely no effect. Even in Sins of the Wreckers, he hallucinates a peaceful, quiet world without war... where Optimus Prime praises him for all his advice in ending the war, noting how he should've listened to him sooner.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Has absolutely no problem forcing others to do morally reprehensible things. Now that the war's over, he's gotten even worse: At Megatron's trial, he's utterly determined to reach a death sentence, rules be hanged - not that a lot of people would blame him, given what Megatron did. Still, for all of Prowl's flaws, all the awful things he does are done because he honestly believes they will ultimately result in the highest number of saved lives. Also, he went back and saved Springer from the destroyed noisemaze.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • For all the bad stuff he's done, specially since Season 2 started, he's completely right about Starscream's ambitions in attempting to use the colony worlds to form a Cybertronian Empire.
  • In Optimus Prime #22, he refuses to do anything while Unicron eats Devisiun. Stardrive chews him out, but Prowl's not remotely wrong when he shoots back that there's a grand total of seven of them (Prowl, Star, Wheelie, Garnak and what's left of the Throttlebots) against something that's eating a freaking planet. There's nothing they have to hand that could even slow it down.
• Karma Houdini: Despite all his actions in Combiner Wars, he never really faces any consequences for them, with Optimus welcoming him back into the fold (albeit reluctantly) once the scale of Unicron's threat becomes apparent.
• Kick the Dog: Smirking at the news of Rewind's death. Chromedome makes sure he pays for it.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: In On Off On, this is revealed to be Prowl's plan for Spike. His grudge against Spike has waned after he began to understand where Spike was coming from, and now sees Spike as a means to an end in infiltrating Blackrock's fortress. At best, he views Spike as a casualty in the ensuing attack, nothing to go out of the way and get too worked up about. With that said, deep down in Prowl's subconscious, it's still very much personal, so that combining into Devastator brings the resentment out and he abandons the mission to try and squash Spike. Afterwards he's angry that he never got to play this trope straight.
  • He's also responsible for Ratbat's assassination by Arcee's hands. Given that Ratbat had a hand in unwittingly starting the war by arming Megatron's forces, and was all too willing to restart it for glory and the chance to finally be in command, it's hard to shed any tears.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Possibly the most jaded character in all of IDW's Transformers comics, yet still tries to do what he sees as the right thing.
• Knight Templar: Sincerely wants to end the war, but is completely willing to do whatever it takes in the process.
• Lack of Empathy: A major affliction for him. Even on the occasions Prowl isn't deliberately being an ass, he has no real ability to emotionally connect with others. Zero Point mentions he wrote a foreword for the collected works of Ironfist, which Roadbuster noted was about as heartfelt as an autopsy. Also worth noting his name for the Wrecker's mission to Garrus-9 was "Operation: Retrieval". They weren't there to get the Autobot prisoners...
  • Logical Extreme: Prowl applies the exact same standards to himself. He attacked the Space Bridge knowing full well that he’d become an enemy of the state for it, and end up either executed or at best a permanent resident in Starscream’s worst prison. When that failed, he tried resorting to the theory that a dead member of a combiner can influence the others, meaning that he tried goading Optimus into killing him. After that, he rushed to Luna-1 to warn Red Alert and Fortress Maximus about Sentinel Prime’s plans, even though he fully expected Fort Max to either beat him to death, or beat him to within an inch of his life and then deliver him to Starscream’s not so tender mercies. He is initially furious when Cerebros violates his mind, but immediately calms down and accepts it when Cerebros explains that it was necessary to stop Sentinel's plans. In short, Prowl is completely dedicated to whatever course of actions is statistically more likely to protect the largest possible group of people, and therefore considers the predicament of a comparatively much smaller group to be negligible, but he doesn’t change his tune in the slightest when Prowl himself is part of that much smaller group.
• The Lancer: To Bumblebee, but not to Optimus Prime. Arguably, Bumblebee was his Morality Pet, as Prowl tried much harder to be ethical when working with him, and started getting more and more ruthless after his death; he was especially angry because Bumblebee died but Megatron survived.
• Leader Forms the Head: Becomes the de facto leader of the Constructicons after they switch sides.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: He and Springer are very different individuals.
• The Load: Sentinel Prime calls him this in Titans Return saying he constantly delayed Sentinel's attempts to destroy the Decepticons due to his focus on collateral damage. It's worth noting that Sentinel is completely insane.
• Manipulative Bastard: Part of the reason he's not liked by anyone. Not only does he use other Autobots as pawns in his plans, he's also more than willing to push others' buttons for petty reasons, like he does with Chromedome.
• The Mole:
  • He gets unwittingly Brainwashed and Crazy into being one by Bombshell.
  • As a member of the Senatorial security force.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Joining Sentinel sunk his relationship with Chromedome, even though it turned out to be for far more subversive reasons than the latter supposed.
• Mugging the Monster: An interesting case since he knew exactly what Chromedome could do, but tried to blackmail him anyway. Lampshaded by Chromedome himself.
  Chromedome: Go on, I want to see if you're stupid enough to say this out loud.
• My Death Is Only The Beginning: As a last resort, he tries to force Optimus to kill him after they combine into Optimus Maximus. He reasons that the act will allow his influence to live on forever in Optimus's psyche and force the Autobot leader to in turn kill Starscream and Megatron. Optimus refuses, but sadly notes that Prowl is probably too dangerous to live.
• The Needs of the Many: His raison d'etre.
• Never My Fault: Refuses to take any responsibility for anything he's done. In fact, he refuses to admit he might ever have done anything wrong.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • It's partly his fault that things went south with Overlord, Tyrest and the Lost Light over in MTMTE. He gets called out by Chromedome and Ultra Magnus for this, not that it has any effect.
  • Zig-Zagging Trope: Tyrest claimed that he was undecided whether to activate the Killswitch or not, and Prowl's actions convinced him that he should do it. However, Prowl's actions also ensured that the Lost Light crew was there to stop him and save the day. It's possible that, had Prowl done nothing, Tyrest would have simply decided never to activate the Killswitch, and lived the rest of his life in peace. But it's just as possible, and probably much more likely, that one day Tyrest would have woken up in a bad mood and decided to go ahead with his psycho plan, and there would have been nobody there to stop him. Half the Cybertronian race would have died all of a sudden, and nobody would have even known the cause. Prowl forced the heroes to deal with a terrible danger, but also ensured said terrible danger would actually be dealt with once and for all.
  • If he and the Constructicons had just stayed on Earth, Optimus and Windblade would have had a much easier time countering Starscream's machinations during the Combiner Wars. Heck, it wouldn't have even been a war, just a single fight between Menasor and Superion. His interference led to the creation of several more Combiners, two additional fights that caused significant damage to Camien, Cybertron, and the other colonies, and resulted in Starscream gaining control of Devastator.
• No Social Skills: One of the big reasons he's so disliked is that he doesn't even try to be nice. Sure, other people have done worse things for worse reasons than Prowl, but they're fun to hang out with and show regret, so they're forgivable. Prowl just continues to be a jerk. Over in MTMTE, Swerve at one point describes him as Ultra Magnus - their Rules Lawyer Grammar Nazi second-in command - without the warmth or people skills.
• Mirror Character: To Shockwave. Both are ruthlessly logical, take actions for what they see as the greater good regardless of moral qualms, share a tenuous relationship with their leaders because of this and end up going rogue from their respective factions with distinctly genocidal plans. Soundwave notes that when the two led their respective sides on Junkion, the two were so alike in making the final logical decision it ultimately didn't matter which one gave the order that ended up destroying the planet. Shockwave flatly describes Prowl as his opposite at the end of Unicron - they've even both got only one eye and an arm cannon by that point.
• One-Steve Limit: There is (or was) another 'bot called Prowl, who had to change his name to Dent (because all the good names were taken).
• Only Friend: Considers Bumblebee to be this (Arcee even uses this exact phrase to describe 'bee's relationship with Prowl in issue #5), though just before releasing his mind control Bombshell reveals Prowl still thinks he's an idiot. In candid conversation with Optimus in issue #29, he admits part of the reason he's so angry at the outcome of Megatron's trial is that he can't believe Megatron of all people survived Dark Cybertron while Bumblebee didn't.
• Out-Gambitted: He didn't realize that Bombshell had compromised him and made him an unwilling mole until it was too late.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Pointedly averted, only Arcee notices he's under Bombshell's control. Everyone else thinks his behavior while Brain Washed And Crazy is actually par for the course with him. He's actually upset by this when he's briefly released from it.
• Pet the Dog: His actions are normally driven by the belief that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, so it's okay to sacrifice individuals for the sake of saving the group. But when he actually has to watch somebody die, he often can't bring himself to do it, and intervenes to help even if it puts his own life in danger. He once dropped his cover to rescue a little girl, knowing full well that the humans would turn on him and murder him (fortunately, they were moved by his Heroic Sacrifice and chose to spare him). Another time he dropped his cover to rescue a Decepticon prisoner who was about to be murdered by human soldiers, and got shot and kidnapped for his efforts. In Sins of the Wreckers, he dove into an imploding dimension of pain and terror to rescue an injured Springer. In the Transformers Annual 2017, when Orion Pax is injured in a shooting, Prowl reaches out to shield him, putting himself between Orion and laser fire.
• Psychic Nosebleed: He starts getting these post-Dark Cybertron, as a side-effect of combining into Devastator.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As if his manipulative ways weren't enough, the end of issue 40 shows his eyes turning red, much like Megatron, Galvatron, Starscream and most of the worst Decepticons... They've returned to blue by his appearance in Sins of the Wreckers.
• The Resenter: Towards NAILs. At one point he tried to escape the war like them, only to fail. Their returning after what he sees as millions of years of hiding from the war while the Autobots fought and died for freedom really, really pisses him off.
• Sanity Slippage: By the time of his reappearance during the Titans Return crossover, Prowl seems to have a screw or two loose, acting much less together, having memory problems, and not understanding that when Fortress Maximus is demanding an apology, he means one from Prowl, not to Prowl.
• Sherlock Scan: Can track eight-hundred moving objects and figure out their direction of travel, and he can also use this in reverse, tracing them back to their source.
• Sour Supporter: Prowl was always convinced his logical and rational approach was the key to victory, but Optimus' penchant for more daring and colourful options meant that he was often overlooked in favour of gung-ho 'bots like Ironhide, leading to extreme measures like turning Kup into a Manchurian Agent or having Ratbat killed being perpetrated in secret. However, his desire for an Autobot victory keeps them both on the same side - even if that's more of a nominal idea after finally snapping during Combiner Wars.
• Spanner in the Works: To Optimus and the other Autobots after their return to Earth - despite his belief he's the only one with the clarity to do what has to be done, he's utterly oblivious to the fact his manipulations and use of Devastator invariably make things worse for them.
• The Spymaster: As the head of the Diplomatic Corps.
• Stalker with a Crush: Tarantulas is completely obsessed with Prowl, going so far as to kidnap Prowl and threaten to destroy him if Prowl refused to join his side. Prowl, tied up and in mortal danger, coldly refused.
  Prowl: What more do you want?!
  Tarantulas: I want you. I want us.
• Talking the Monster to Death: Once made a point of outlining all of the crimes ever committed by a Decepticon named Violator, and the exact laws each crime broke read out in full. Around day three...
• Tautological Templar: In Prowl's view, his actions, no matter how despicable, are the right thing because he's the one doing them. Who cares about whether someone gets hurt, or a few thugs with a death wish die horrible deaths, if what he does is obviously for the greater good?
• Theory Tunnelvision: He simply can't be convinced his view of the world is wrong. Even with other people in his head begging him to see it their way, complete with a rainbow power of friendship backdrop.
• Think Nothing of It: Doesn't like taking the credit for whatever good actions he's done, either.
• Tears of Blood: Whilst affected by the Killswitch.
• Token Evil Teammate: Especially post-Dark Cybertron. He and Arcee initially share the role, but as Arcee becomes less of a Blood Knight and Prowl becomes increasingly unstable, he takes over as the sole example of this on Optimus' team by issue #35.
• Took a Level in Idealism: As strange as it sounds... at the end of Unicron he gives Shockwave a speech on the nature of good, and doing good. Very un-Prowl-like of him.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Post-Bombshell, to the point he's more open to working behind Prime's back.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Attempted this back on Earth, but Spike Witwicky's betrayal put him back to square one. He seems to have taken one in his appearance in Titans Return. Given that his personality might have influenced Optimus, it's possible the reverse is true. Although it should be noted that preventing Sentinel’s destructive plans, even at great personal cost to himself, is nothing new for Prowl. Mesothulas notes in Sins of the Wreckers that Prowl attempts to do this every so often, and it never works out.
• Trauma Conga Line: From The Death of Optimus Prime on Prowl has been, not necessarily in this order: mind raped, brainwashed by the enemy, his frame forcibly modified, kidnapped, blackmailed, imprisoned, shot, beaten up by his enemies, his allies, and kicked out a window by Optimus Prime, all while losing every friend and ally he's ever had. It's no wonder the Sanity Slippage is hitting him hard these days.
• Trojan Horse: He uses himself as one to get access to Earth Defense Forces and gain control over their systems.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: His only reaction to the news that Unicron has attacked Cybertron is noting it's going a little slower than he thought.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In the Shadowplay story line it appears that while his personality wasn't winning him any congeniality awards, he started off as a straight-laced cop who only wanted to do his job and help people. He went out of his way to make sure Chromedome wouldn't suffer in the event Orian Pax's seemingly insane plan to steal the matrix went wrong. Later, he joined Sentinel Prime for the express purpose of working against the corrupt government and talked Sentinel out of many plans that would have involved massive collateral damage, even though he lost Chromedome's affections for it. When the war started, he tried to escape Cybertron and stay neutral, which of course, didn't happen.
  Prowl: I'm sending a preliminary report to Flatfoot.
  Orion Pax: It will get "lost" - trust me. It's in the Senate's interest to foment anti-Decepticon feeling.
  Prowl: Well, I hope I never get to be as jaded and cynical as you, Orion Pax.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Hoooo boy. He's so underhanded that being Brainwashed and Crazy by Bombshell was not detected at all because he's just as ruthless while not being controlled.
  • Probably the best example of this was in issue #18 when Bumblebee attempted to convince the Constructicons that Prowl was a good guy by explaining that everything bad he did as his being controlled by Bombshell - only for Arcee to immediately point out that no, Prowl really did have Ratbat brutally killed. Yep, even the 'bot once described as Prowl's only friend couldn't tell the difference between Prowl's acts and Bombshell's.
  • He also attempted to destroy the Space Bridge, knowing it will doom the lives of the Camiens, in order to stop Starscream from potentially conquering any colonies.
  • During the war, and while working with partner-in-crime Mesothulas, Prowl used a Decepti-bomb on a neutral city, which killed 1438 people and resulted in all the surviving neutrals of the attack to enlist as Autobots. Notably, out of all the extreme deeds he committed, this is the only one that he acknowledged was wrong, and it became the catalyst for getting rid of the remorseless Mesothulas. However, due to the nature of being a Well-Intentioned Extremist, he continued doing awful things afterward “for the greater good”, as seen by the aforementioned attempt to destroy the spacebridge among other deeds.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Chromedome. His joining the Senate's security forces was one of the reasons they broke up. It's implied in the MTMTE portion of Titans Return he still has some feelings for him, trying to call his personal frequency when the Lost Light crew's final messages as they waited for the DJD to attack are broadcast.
• With Us or Against Us: Instantly takes this attitude when Ultra Magnus tries to call him on his crap in MTMTE issue #30.
  Prowl: I think it's time you remembered just which side you're on.
• You Are What You Hate:
  • His hatred for NAILs stems from the fact that he was going to bail on the war efforts until his ship was shot down.
  • He doesn't care much about his allies, is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and ultimately winds up a fugitive from the government he worked for when his laundry list of crimes come to light. Are you sure we're not talking about Spike?
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Prowl doesn't take it very well that the Constructicons emotionally bonded with him and liked what they found, at least at first.

Ironhide

• A Father to His Men: He's enough of a one that he makes an attempt to reach out to Blast Off to reason with him when he's part of Bruticus, knowing that he's far from irredeemable. It doesn't work, but at least he tried.
• Back from the Dead: Died in the first issue of the first Ongoing, but was brought back by Alpha Trion.
• Badass Boast: This gem from the Ironhide miniseries, having just decked Alpha Trion:
  Alpha Trion: Are you crazy? My bodyguard is as big as a city!
  Ironhide: Yeah? Well, I just killed an entire city, so who's the one that should be scared now?
• Big Damn Heroes: In season 1, where he returns with the Dinobots and Superion in time to take on Devastator.
• The Big Guy: Frequently portrayed as this, though more recent comics have shown he's actually a solid leader in his own right when called upon.
• Combining Mecha: He becomes one of Optimus Maximus' limbs after Prowl uses the Enigma of Combination on them, along with Optimus Prime, Sunstreaker, and Mirage.
• Cool Old Guy: Along with Kup, Ironhide is the shining example of this in the IDW Transformers universe.
• Crisis of Faith: Put his faith into a vision he saw of the future, where Cyber utopia had finally been achieved. Unfortunately for him, the planet where this happened, Gorlam Prime, was destroyed during Dark Cybertron meaning the vision was false. Later averted - becoming part of Optimus Maximus and then taking charge of Starscream's Badgeless gives him purpose once more.
• The Eeyore: He's downright mopey since the end of Dark Cybertron. Later averted - becoming part of Optimus Maximus seems to give him focus and by Till All Are One he's running his own security firm.
• Fire-Forged Friends: All Hail Megatron established him and Optimus as this, noting he originally hated Optimus due to his seeming inexperience. Yet as he taught Optimus everything he knew, and Optimus far surpassed him, he grew to greatly respect Prime. By the present day he trusts Ironhide enough to leave him watching Starscream on Cybertron, knowing he won't let things get out of control.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: He's served in the militia, private security, and even with the Cybertronian Special Forces under Sentinel, and that's before he became an Autobot. Already a grizzled fighter, Ironhide, in a war fought primarily with ordnance, favors his fists. Dawn of the war taking on Thrust? Punch 'em. Out of Character Thundercracker wants to execute him? Punch 'em. Frustrations, misunderstandings, and knee-jerk suspicion? He spent The Transformers: All Hail Megatron punching people. Devastator throwing a rampage? Ironhide tore Devy's metal skin with a punch. Undead god-like Prime emerging from Megatron? Punch that sucker right back where he came from.
• The Heart: Shares this role with Wheeljack.
• Heroic BSoD: Undergoes a major one after the destruction of Gorlam Prime renders his vision of a peaceful future for the Transformers race moot. Wheeljack talks him round in issue #33.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies rallying the Autobots to buy Prime and Arcee more time to kill Unicron.
• Made of Iron: Ironhide.
• Plot Armor: He believes he has one, due to a prophetic dream he had. He's stopped believing this after Gorlam Prime's destruction in Dark Cybertron, and undergoes a Heroic BSoD because of it. Wheeljack is able to talk him round.
• Put on a Bus: Sorta. He's still part of the series, but leaves the main group to stay on Cybertron at the end of Season 1.
  • The Bus Came Back: He becomes a larger character in the second Windblade series and its followup Till All Are One, taking over Starscream's Badgeless police in the latter.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • He's got a rep for being trustworthy and honest, so the Council of Worlds put him in charge of the Badgeless, knowing that the people will believe it isn't corrupt if he proves it isn't. He's able to talk a mob round in Till All Are One #2 when several ex-Decepticons who know him choose to stand with him.
  • Subverted in Transformers vs. Visionaries #1, where Kup is the reasonable one and Ironhide can barely hide his fury at the Visionaries claiming part of Cybertron.
• Sergeant Rock: Served as this for Optimus in their early days, with a bit of Drill Sergeant Nasty thrown in. In the modern day he's explicitly become this in Till All Are One for the Transformers of the Badgeless.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: He used to be this, but he's become jaded following the events of Dark Cybertron.

Wheeljack

• Boom, Headshot!: Though non-fatal. Starscream later has him revived in a CR tank.
• Crazy-Prepared: Saves the day at the end of issue #16 despite being (almost) dead - he sticks a forcefield belt onto Megatron's spark casing when repairing him, just in case, which is later activated by Bumblebee, paralysing Megatron just as he's about to combine with the Constructicons into a new Devastator.
• Good Is Not Dumb: Starscream might have brought him back in genuine friendship, but Wheeljack's well aware that there was deeper reasoning. It just so happens that he's in agreement with Starscream's thinking that Cybertron needs its own combiner in Superion.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Wheeljack sacrifices his life to save the people of Elonia from Unicron.
• I Owe You My Life: Not as extreme as some examples, but Wheeljack is much more willing to give Starscream the benefit of the doubt than the other characters after Screamer arranges for him to be repaired in a CR tank, following getting his head blown off by Prowl. It helps that Starscream had came up with a plan for protecting the Neutrals from an explosion just a few months before Dark Cybertron, so that Wheeljack started thinking that Starscream's desire to change may actually be genuine and started treating him much more nicely and respectfully, which is why Starscream went out of his way to have him repaired.
• Mad Scientist: A benevolent version, and not nearly as mad as Brainstorm over in MTMTE.
• Nice Guy: Actually genuinely befriended Starscream.
• Not Quite Dead: Wheeljack was seemingly executed during Megatron's return to Iacon, but Starscream shuffled him off in secret to heal.
• Not Too Dead to Save the Day: The "three most important words in the Cybertronian language" turn out to be "Wheeljack Wheeljack Wheeljack," his system bypass code that activates a forcefield belt that Wheeljack had secretly integrated with Megatron's spark casing. The energy sphere immobilizes Megatron, finally ending the War for good.
• Only Friend: Starscream latches onto him after he takes power and Wheeljack reciprocates to a degree. When Wheeljack is revived, Windblade is flabbergasted to realise Starscream isn't faking concern for him.
  • He still doesn't totally trust Starscream though, as evidenced by colluding with Rattrap to spirit away Swindle's body and uncover his evidence on Starscream in Till All Are One.
• The Comically Serious: They throw a party to celebrate his return after Dark Cybertron, but he is still so preoccupied with current events that he keeps sitting quietly in a corner with a frown on his face. With a colourful party hat on his head and while a shark sings karaoke behind him.
• The Heart: Shares this role with Ironhide.
• The Mentor: Used to be this for Ironfist.
• The Smart Guy: In keeping with other G1 incarnations of the character.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Ferak, of Squadron X.
• Your Head Asplode: It doesn't kill him, but it does remove him from the action for several months.

Arcee

After exacting a long and extremely brutal revenge against Jhiaxus for a forcible gender reassignment, this disturbed 'bot fell in with Prowl as an assassin. However, as he slowly begins to lose his mind, she's forced into becoming a much more grounded troubleshooter. Though hard-nosed and terrifying in combat, she's gradually revealed as neither inherently evil nor cruel. Her original male persona is eventually revealed as Galvatron's twin brother.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: Gains one in First Strike in the form of Action Man, who isn't fazed in the slightest by the 12 million year age gap nor fact they're different species...
• Ambiguously Bi: Partially to the fact that Arcee is a bot who barely has friendship figured out, making past relationships with Hardhead, Prowl, and Sideswipe hard to read. In any case, she certainly likes Aileron...
• Action Girl: Even after the introduction of other female Autobot warriors like Chromia and the Torchbearers, she's in a class of her own when it comes to combat.
• Ambiguous Gender: Oh boy. During the Furman -Ation era, Arcee was created with the intent of introducing a concept of gender into Cybertronians i.e. originally agendered like the other Transformers, Jhiaxus modified Arcee on a cellular level and turned them into a she. While "sexually" female to the point where the agendered Cybertronians (who default to male pronouns) subconsciously refer to them by female pronouns. She was deeply traumatized by the experience and reacted with revulsion to said pronouns. Things get even more complicated in the "Phase 2" era, where numerous retcons not only introduce naturally occurring biologically female transformers but introduce various retcons as to the agendered nature of Cybertronians i.e. they have always been divided into biologically male and female but an unknown event during the Dark Ages led to numerous aspects of Cybertronian physiology changing (e.g. the absence of combiners). Females disappeared from Cybertron (although they survived in force on the colonies) and all remaining Cybertronians birthed since have been male. Therefore Arcee was a biological male who was turned into a biological female whose gender identity was still male...maybe. In recent years, it has largely gone unexamined bar Arcee's mild irritation at the idea of everyone thinking she must have a lot to talk to the Camiens about and a flashback revealing she started life as Galvatron's near identical twin brother. This is also a very big case of Depending on the Writer; Barber tends to write Arcee as happily accepting being female (which carries its own set of implications), while Mairghread Scott's Arcee remains traumatized by the whole affair (and is rather hellbent on preventing any sort of forcible alterations in anyone else.) It's messy, both in fiction and out (whooooole other story). The final issue of Optimus Prime and indeed the IDW universe, puts a pin the whole affair however. Arcee is fully retconned to have been born transgender and went to meet Jhiaxus hoping he could help with her gender dysphoria. Jhiaxus being...himself...instead of helping her, used it as an opportunity to experiment, modifying her body on a cellular level into being biologically female. While this technically went above and beyond what she had hoped for, it was ridiculously traumatic and when she fully realised what she had undergone, she went through a lengthy "murder everyone in sight" phase. She ends the series fully accepting herself and in a loving relationship with Aileron.
• An Arm and a Leg: Loses a leg toward the beginning of Dark Cybertron.
• Ax-Crazy: Toned down from her initial appearances in the IDW universe, but still quite present.
• Badass Teacher: Becomes this after the destruction of Unicron, presiding over mixed classes of humans, Elonians and Cybertronians.
• Berserk Button: She is very against things happening to people without their choice. She steals the Enigma of Combination so nobody else will be changed into part of a Combiner without their will, and is later horrified when Optimus annexes Earth into the Council of Worlds without giving any humans a choice in the matter.
• Best Served Cold: Averted. Spent several years killing Jhiaxus over and over again, and claims to be a better person for this.
• Big Damn Kiss: Plants one on a stunned Aileron after the Camien saves her from an attempted Heroic Sacrifice in killing Liege Maximo.
• Birds of a Feather: Arcee tended to find friendship in bots most like her: blood knights and blunt, since they're the ones who tend to understand and empathize with her the best. It's for this reason she became so close to Hardhead and Sideswipe, and why their deaths hit her the hardest, as they were able to make her feel like she wasn't so alone even amidst the Autobots. Their deaths in turn caused her to reevaluate herself on many things, Hardhead's making her desire to make sure no one ever has to turn out like she did by making Cybertron and the colonies a safer place, and Sideswipe's convincing her to open up more to others, Aileron in particular.
• Blood Knight: Ironically, it affords her excellent diplomatic relations with the similarly-minded Galvatron, at least until All Hail Optimus. This isn't too surprising as "Origin Myths" reveals they were twin brothers back before Jhiaxus' experiments.
• Broken Bird: Jhiaxus' experiments messed her up something bad. Combiner Hunters reveals that it's still an extremely sore spot.
• Broken Pedestal: A bit of a multifaceted one for her in Optimus Prime. While it's made clear Prime doesn't regret bringing her into the fold, his more extreme actions have began to earn skepticism from the essentially pragmatic Arcee, especially in the wake of the annexation of Earth and her brother Galvatron's execution. And, perhaps more damningly, it becomes clear as the series progresses that just because Optimus is willing to take advantage of her prowess doesn't mean he's going to make a concerted effort to welcome her or understand her situation.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her appearance, she's the most capable Autobot in the entire series besides Optimus at close-quarters fighting.
• Character Development: Undergoes a lot of this following the completion of the Decepticon Uprising arc, starting with officially becoming an Autobot in issue #18. In season 2 she slowly starts becoming a less violent and more responsible character, gradually coming to be Optimus' second-in-command as Prowl gets more and more untrustworthy - even coming to be in command on Earth while Optimus is on Cybertron and Prowl is in jail. By issue #52 she tells the similarly bloodthirsty Galvatron she's managed to let go of her hatred for what she was - because she now knows she's on the right side.
• Cold Sniper: Often when working for Prowl.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  I know one universal rule — whatever the game, the easiest way to win is to kill all the other players.
• Consummate Professional: A weird example to be sure, given her somewhat psychotic nature, but she's entirely dedicated to whatever job is currently at hand, and doing it damn well.
• Create Your Own Villain: Comes damn close to doing this by accident in Combiner Hunters, when her theft of the Enigma of Combination results in turning the Torchbearers into the new Combiner Victorion - who promptly goes on the rampage and tries to kill her. Luckily Windblade is able to talk her down.
• Deadpan Snarker: Cynical as hell, and routinely has no problem communicating this to any authority figure, be it Prowl, Optimus or Galvatron.
• Determinator: Did not let missing a leg stop her from assaulting a base in Dark Cybertron. Plus, the whole "hunted Jhiaxus for several million years" thing.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Tentatively starts heading this way in RID issue #18, and slowly but surely brings it to completion.
• Distaff Counterpart: Though Dark Cybertron jokingly raises the obvious parallels to More Than Meets The Eye's Whirl (both are violent pariahs with issues stemming from body-related trauma), over the course of the series she gradually becomes one for that series' Cyclonus instead. Both are ancient, sword-wielding warriors hailing from Cybertron's distant past, both are social outcasts as a result of their checkered pasts and outsider status, and both eventually forge a connection with the resident Naïve Newcomer.
• Enemy Mine: Teams up with Galvatron and the Decepticons to stop Prowl/Devastator in the Onyx Interface arc.
• Eye Scream: Briefly loses an eye to Snake-Eyes' blade in Revolution #4.
• Fake Defector: Arcee pretends to be on the Decepticon's side during their riot, at least until the first chance she gets to stab Bombshell comes up.
• First Law of Gender Bending: The victim of a forced sex change meant to introduce gender into the species. It doesn't appear to be reversible.
• Friendless Background: In Optimus Prime #7, she mentions that she's been alone since Nova Major united the tribes a good 10 million years ago. Gets worse in "Origin Myths" where it's implied she and her brother Galvatron grew apart quickly after this.
• Friend to All Children: Both with her fondly naming a new Earthling protoform and eventually patiently teaching a class full of children.
• Handicapped Badass: During Dark Cybertron.
• Kick the Dog: Poor Sunstorm. She also kidnaps and executes a crippled Badgeless to send a message to Starscream.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: Back in the days when she and Galvatron were brothers, the major difference between the two (aside from their retaining their modern-day sizes) were their color-schemes. Arcee had red gauntlets and grey shoulders, where Galvatron had red shoulders and grey gauntlets.
• The Lancer: Initially Prowl's Dragon. Later sorta becomes this for Optimus as Prowl goes further and further off the deep end in series 2.
• Midseason Upgrade: Obtains a new form partway through Dark Cybertron.
• Multiple-Choice Past: Is Arcee the traumatized victim of a forced sex change operation? A transgender female whose changes were consensual and whose violent rampage was triggered by some other matter? As a consequence of being written by different writers with vastly different visions, both have been canon at some point.
• My Greatest Failure: She hides it well, but she regrets being involved in Onyx Prime's "colonisation" of Antilla. Even more so when face to face with the Unicron-shaped consequences.
• Never Mess with Granny: Hails from Galvatron's time as they're twins, making her around twelve million years old. She started out as being a ferocious warrior, and several aeons means she's gotten a lot of experience of not dying in the meantime.
• No Place for Me There: States that if the war is truly over, there's no place for someone like her. She's wrong.
• Not Afraid to Die: While not a full-on Death Seeker, she doesn't really seem to be fazed by the possibility of her own death or injury. This starts to be more subverted at the end of the series, her stating she has things to live for now.
• No Social Skills: Used to be very poor. Genuinely had no idea why the other Autobots are so shocked when she casually tells them Prowl, not Bombshell, had Ratbat killed - or why Sideswipe, who she'd fought alongside against the Decepticons, bars her way when she tries to see how Bumblebee is. Through the series she starts growing out of it, but she still has a tendency to be overly blunt.
• Only Friend: Tends to pick up one at a time. The similarly blunt Hardhead became hers on Gorlam Prime; issue #30 shows she took his death (and the casual way other Autobots accepted it) hard. Prowl occupied the position for a good while, then Sideswipe, with Arcee talking to him while he was comatose in a CR tank. Aileron later insists that everyone aboard Metrotitan is her friend.
• One-Man Army: Best seen during "The Falling," where she singlehandedly takes on a horde of Shockwave's Maximals and comes out on top.
• Psychopathic Womanchild
• Really 700 Years Old: It's very rarely brought up, but as someone Jhiaxus experimented on before the first Ark left Cybertron, she's at least 6 million years old. "Origin Myths" later confirmed she was a servant of Megatronus at the time of the Cybertronian tribes uniting, a good 12 million years before the current comics.
• Reformed, but Rejected: At first, anyway. Slowly but surely, the Ark-7 crew seem to be accepting her into the fold.
• Shoot the Dog: She kills Emmisary by stabbing his brain, since he was preventing everyone from saving the inhabitants of Elonia from Unicron by trying to escape.
• The Smurfette Principle: At least until Windblade and Co. show up.
  • Orwellian Retcon: Dark Cybertron introduces other female bots. While it does not retcon Arcee's troubling backstory, it does retcon the Cybertronian race as a One-Gender Race from that point on.
    • The Smurfette Principle still applies though as she's the only fembot that travels with the group back to Earth for Season 2. This lasts until All Hail Optimus when Victorion/the Torchbearers become regular members of Optimus' team.
• Slasher Smile: Her default expression in the earlier issues of RID is a particularly alarming one.
• Spanner in the Works: Sort of. She did kill Bombshell and briefly free Prowl's mind, not that it mattered in the end.
• Spotting the Thread: She was the only one who noticed that Prowl was Not Himself, and immediately began working to free him.
• Talk to the Fist: Finally decks Starscream after his whinging only intensifies after they've all fled Cybertron.
• Token Evil Teammate: Well, sort of. Not so much evil as "deeply traumatized and out for revenge at any cost", and quick to turn to bloodshed as a solution to any given problem. As the series progresses, however, she manages to rein in the violent tendencies and work on those shaky ethics, leading Prowl to slowly supplant her as this.
• Tsundere: A likely unintended example but when venting to a comatose Sideswipe, she literally says "It's not like I like you or anything".
  • Averted with Aileron, whose company she genuinely enjoys.
• You Are in Command Now: While Optimus is on Cybertron and with Prowl in jail, Arcee becomes the de facto leader of the Autobots on Earth post-Combiner Wars.

Blurr

• A Day in the Limelight: Issue 5 of the second Windblade series, where he's entered in a race on Velocitron, in order to get them to open relations with Cybertron, and wins.
• The Bartender: Blurr re-opens Maccadam's Old Oil House after he defects.
• Defector from Decadence: Leaves the Autobots after used as bait by Prowl, becomes neutral.
• Fragile Speedster: Practically the Transformers equivalent of the Flash, he doesn't do well in combat without support, as shown when the Constructicons beat the tar out of him early on.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Saves thousands of Cybertronians from Unicron's assault, hurling them into the Visionaries' magical portal to transport them to Earth, but in saving them ensures he doesn't get away himself.
• Killed Off for Real: Dies when Unicron destroys Cybertron.
• My Greatest Failure: When young, Blurr once saved Zeta Prime. Seeing how that turned out...he regrets it.
• Meaningful Name: Blurr was one of the fastest racers on pre-war Cybertron.
• Put on a Bus: Sorta. He's still part of the series, but leaves the main group to stay in Iacon at the end of Season 1.
  • The Bus Came Back: Like Ironhide, he becomes part of the cast of the second Windblade miniseries and its follow-up Till All Are One, both of which are set on Cybertron.
• The Resenter: Towards Prowl, because he thinks that Prowl sent him on a dangerous mission with no back up. Prowl did send Arcee as back up, but since at the time he was keeping his association with her a secret, he ordered her to save Blurr without being seen.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Used to be a raging egotist.

Wheelie

• An Arm and a Leg: Shortly after his landing on LV-117, Wheelie met with a Chaosterous, which promptly bit his arm off. Wheelie did eventually "retrieve" it. During his time with Optimus, he accidentally gets it infected, but it's shot off by Hardhead before it can spread further.
• Body Horror: When his arm gets infected by the Dead Universe, hence the explosive arm amputation he was subjected to.
• The Chew Toy: He is constantly losing limbs or being lost and forgotten by his comrades.
• Curse Cut Short:
  Wheelie: With no means of escape/ I'm forced to conclude/ That you and your friends are completely *KZZZK*
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When the LV System comes up, Wheelie screams, drops to the floor, and stops rhyming.
• Put on a Bus: Following the events of Dark Cybertron. He doesn't return until Optimus Prime issue 13, a good three years after the event ended.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Used to be how he communicated with a friend of his, and it just seems to have stuck.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: The LV system screwed Wheelie up badly. So much so he goes into shock at the mere mention of it.
• Undying Loyalty: To Optimus, natch.

Hardhead

• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Hot Rod from a Sunstreaker-clone Headmaster in the nick of time in Devastation.
• The Big Guy: He's the muscle for Orion Pax's team in his Syndromica appearances.
• Boom, Headshot!: How he kills the Jhiaxus-controlled Nightbeat.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin/Meaningful Name: He's known for having a hard head. Saves his life in "Revelation" when a Brainwashed and Crazy Nightbeat tries to kill him.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: In Dark Cybertron Nova Prime destroys the forcefield generator protecting him from the Dead Universe. Hit by its full power of entropy, his body simply disintegrates.
• Killed Off for Real: In Dark Cybertron.
• Only Friend: In a quiet moment, long after his passing Arcee does come to grieve for him in her own way, feeling that she appreciated his friendship when they were stuck on Gorlam Prime together.
• Tank Goodness: His altmode resembles an Italian Centauro tank destroyer.

Kup

• Badass Boast: Gets an awesome one in Dark Cybertron.
  Nightbeat: Easy does it, Kup. Are you alright? Can you stand?
  Kup: Can I stand? Can I stand? Kid, I've been standin' since before it was fashionable.
  Nightbeat: But are you feeling okay?
  Kup: I've had worse than this. I've been spiked by Squadron X, dipped in the smeltin' pool, framed for treason, shot into the sun — and I was the only 'bot still trapped inside the Nightmare Engine when everyone else woke up. I've seen off every rinky-dink, two-bit, catchpenny Decepticon rust-poker, and I got the dents in my knuckles to prove it. End of the day? I'm ready for anything you can throw at me.
• Badass in Distress: When Orion's gang find him in the Dead Universe in Dark Cybertron. Again in Revolution #3, when he's captured by M.A.S.K and subjected to the same living vivisection process Blitzwing has been put through. However, he's rescued by Action Man in the latter's Revolution tie-in.
• Body Horror: He was used to power Nova Prime's space bridge.
• Boomerang Bigot: Briefly, and Played for Laughs, but he agrees with Centurion's assessment that all Cybertronians do is destroy everything around them.
• Cigar Chomper: A constant character tic in All Hail Megatron. Given a darker twist thanks to Prowl in the last few issues of that story.
• Good Is Not Soft: When Blitzwing tries to escape in issue #56, Kup mercilessly tases him unconscious without hesitation.
• Heroic BSoD: In Sins of the Wreckers, when Prowl reveals both his Manchurian Agent status and the fact he killed a lot of Autobots trying to rescue him all the way back in Spotlight: Kup. Punching Prowl's lights out makes him feel better though.
• Hypocritical Humor: After expressing disbelief at Wheelie's particular method of discourse, he says it must be hard to stand out because of your "cockamamie speech patterns." Even Rodimus is rendered speechless by that one.
• Killed Off for Real: Virulina impales him with her magical spear in Transformers vs. Visionaries. Notably, there's an issue from the editor and an memorial highlight page after the main story, so it seems to be on the up and up.
• Like a Son to Me: He feels this way about Springer.
• Manchurian Agent: Prowl had him turned into one when he was being repaired several years ago. He becomes aware of this in Sins of the Wreckers and decks Prowl the first chance he gets.
• The Mentor: In the past, he was one for pretty much all the big names of the Autobots, Optimus included. He was also the mentor to the Predacons, back before the war kicked off. Good going there, Kup.
• The Nicknamer: Tends to call lots of people "kid". In fairness, when you're literally older than the universe, everyone does look like a kid.
• Odd Friendship: With Action Man after he rescues Kup from EDC imprisonment, mixed with Intergenerational Friendship.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Although he gets better.
• Parental Substitute: He raised Springer after Prowl took him from Mesothulas.
• Put on a Bus: Absent from Optimus Prime, due to being in Revolutionaries.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Is much more open to treating the Visionaries fairly after their arrival on Cybertron, in stark contrast to Ironhide. Shame he pays for it in the end.
• Sanity Strengthening: After a stay on a planet covered in one of Shockwave's Ores, Kup went completely insane. His extended stay in the Dead Universe allowed him to come back to sanity.
• Seen It All: As is tradition, Kup has a story for every occasion and event.
• The Bus Came Back: After being Put on a Bus to Hell in Transformers: Infestation, he's back in business.
• Time Abyss: Was already really, really old before he ended up getting thrown back to the beginning of the Dead Universe. In issue #56 he confirms he was stuck there for fourteen BILLION years. No wonder he's always cranky.
• Transplant: Joins Revolutionaries alongside Garrison Blackrock, Action Man, Mayday of G.I. Joe and Rom.

Jetfire

• Aborted Arc: The flashback arc detailing his shift from Decepticon radical to Autobot stalwart seems to have fallen by the wayside.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Faced with the Ark being infested with the EDC's Microbots, Jetfire comes up with and makes a specially-synthesised aerosol to disable them without damaging the rest of the ships - only to find the Constructicons have already gone round the ship finding and physically crushing the Microbots one by one.
• Cool Mask: See Let's Get Dangerous! below.
• Cool Plane: Turns into a cross between an F-22 and an F-14, while still managing to homage the VF-1S from Macross.
• Deadpan Snarker: Complains about having to pilot the Autobot's starship just because he turns into a jet, and makes lots of aside snarks.
• Everyone Has Standards: Was once a proud Decepticon but abandoned it after he saw the violence with which Starscream conducted operations.
• Fantastic Racism: Was the victim of it. Even though he had an obviously brilliant mind, the government tried to force him to stop studying science because he was a flier.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Offscreen, he creates DOC, a droid that substitutes for a medic among Optimus' crew, and the stealth paint that allows Jazz to infiltrate a human base.
• Heel–Face Turn: Underwent one at some stage, as Optimus Prime #1 revealed he used to be a Decepticon and even tried to kill the then-Orion Pax when they first met.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Whenever he is involved in a tactical situation, he puts on his tactical facemask, which makes him look like a VF-1S.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: After being badly damaged by Apeface in Dark Cybertron, Jetfire gets an upgrade to a body that matches his new Leader-Class toy.
• The Smart Guy: At least from a scientific standpoint.
• Villain Has a Point: Back when he was a Decepticon, he was right that Zeta's Autobots were little more than thugs with a badge.

D.0.C.

• Beware the Silly Ones: He infiltrates the EDC base and (with Buster's help) frees all the Autobots and when the Dire Wraiths start invading, he manages to wrestle down a Seeker clone for Thundercracker to shoot and proves adept at fighting Wraiths.
• Everyone Has Standards: He has reservations about Bob eating still living Dire Wraiths.
• Expy: Marissa Fairborn compares him to V.I.N.C.E.N.T.. Given the design it's not hard to see why. He also has bit of R2-D2 in him.
• Only Sane Man: Between Buster and Bob.
• Robot Buddy: To Jetfire and Cosmos.
• Robo Speak: Though he communicates with beeps out loud, his Internal Monologue is written like this.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Aside from Cosmos, everybody treats him as just a drone until he saves the Autobots in issue #48.

Jazz

• Advertised Extra: In Season 2 and the Revolution crossover. Looking to be averted in Optimus Prime where's he getting a subplot dedicated to him.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost his right arm to be Blackrock's Seeker Combiners and then his left arm to G.I. Joe in Revolution. As the latter was mostly Rom's fault, he hates him for it.
• Break the Cutie: Poor Jazz learns the hard way that Humans Are Bastards.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • He lost a lot of respect from other Autobots when he killed John Powell in the IDW ongoing, while saving Bumblebee.
  • As of Optimus Prime #8, the human race seems to be one for him.
  • Later issues reveal Optimus himself has become this for him, as Jazz shows considerable bitterness that Optimus essentially abandoned him to fend for himself rather than jeopardize the alliance with Earth.
• Combat Pragmatist: It's one of the reasons why Optimus values him a lot.
• Foil: Seems to be Prowl's in Season 2.
• The Lancer: Jazz to Optimus Prime in season 2, much to Prowl's chagrin.
• Defector from Decadence: He leaves the Autobots halfway thru season 1, but rejoins the cause once Optimus Prime comes back in time for season 2.
• Disappointed in You: Sofia notes that while Jazz is angry that she lured him into a G.I. Joe trap, he's more disappointed in her actions and humanity as a whole.
• Hated by All: In Optimus Prime #7, the President mentions that Jazz is feared and hated by the humans for killing John Powell.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He's the consummate soldier and will do what needs to be done to complete the mission at hand, but unlike Prowl, he will have qualms about his actions once the dust settles.
• No-Respect Guy: When G.I. Joe opens fire on him in Revolution #1, Arcee is less concerned with his injuries and more concerned with beating them up.
• Oh, Crap!: Even before Optimus' warning, he manages to figure out that he's been lured into a confession/trap by G.I. Joe though it takes the warning for him to escape in time.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: Particularly where music is concerned. The Wrath of Karza series has him constantly comparing the events of the plot to various bands and types of music as things get weird.
• Retired Badass: He gives up fighting and becomes a keystar player and forms a two-man band with Sky-bite during Season 1.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: He rejoins the Autobots, and active duty, under Optimus.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: After he killed John Powell during the IDW ongoing series.
• The Watson: His biggest role in Season 2 was acting as this to Prowl in issue 32.

Sideswipe

• And I Must Scream: It's implied that the head trauma from Brawl's attack has caused him to lapse into a Zero Point coma.
• The Big Guy: Borders on Dumb Muscle.
• Blood Knight: One of the most warlike Autobots. It's telling that Arcee, one of the most notable Autobot examples of this trope, considered him her Only Friend for a time.
• Boom, Headshot!: After having part of his endoskeleton blown off by a volley of grenades, Brawl shoots him in the face at close range.
• A Death in the Limelight: After being grievously injured in All Hail Optimus, he was out of focus as the Autobots tried to repair him. They don't manage it, and he passes away in Optimus Prime issue 8.
• Dying Dream: The 9th issue of Optimus Prime appears to show him making a full recovery from the injuries that put him into a coma, reconcile with his brother Sunstreaker and learn about how much has changed between the Autobots and the Decepticons since he was put out of commission, but the end of the issue reveals that this is only a dream he's experiencing as his comatose body finally goes off-line.
• Hot-Blooded: Always eager for a fight, and with a Hair-Trigger Temper to boot.
• Jerkass: He's not one of the nicer Autobots - in the initial RiD stories he's almost as happy as the Decepticons to use Police Brutality on the NAILS, and has a habit of threatening to shoot Starscream regardless of whether he's actually trying to help or not.
• Let Them Die Happy: Arcee and Wreck-Gar make sure his final moments are of peace and contentment, thanks to a VR simulation.
• Legacy Character: Sort of. Arcee names one protoform, that tried to kill her in order to protect Trypticon's location, Sideswipe in his honour. The finale shows he's even grown to resemble the original.
• Made of Iron: He gets caught in a massive explosion and is then shot in the head at point-blank range by Brawl and STILL survives (although he's rendered comatose). Subverted, though, since the injuries eventually prove fatal.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Considering he was more noble and mellow in All Hail Megatron, his personality in Robots In Disguise is quite jarring. It may just be reverting to type, as his characterisation here resembles his portrayal in the early Simon Furman stories, where he was portrayed as much angrier and more violent.

Cosmos

• Acrofatic: From a Certain Point of View. He's apparently capable of FTL travel.
• A Day in the Limelight: Issue 43 is largely from his point of view, shedding more light on his insecurity among the other Autobots and his relationship with his pet drone D.0.C. He even gets to go one-on-one with Soundwave and live.
• Adaptational Badass: Zig-zagged. While he's bigger and more powerful than he was in G1, he's beaten up a lot more suggesting he's physically more powerful than in the cartoon but not quite as smart.
• Ascended Extra: He was just a crowd-filler in Season One of MTMTE.
• Attention Whore/I Just Want to Be Special: A benign one. He just wants some attention since he's constantly ignored.
• Butt-Monkey: Not to the extent of Waspinator but he gets more punishment than his fellows. His Sharkticon induced damage is noteworthy.
• Combining Mecha: Galvatron forcefully merges him with Sky Lynx, Sunstreaker, Thundercracker, and Slugslinger to form Sky Reign.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite being something of a dork, he's capable of suicidally brave maneuvers in combat. The ongoing had him defuse a nuclear warhead while riding it in midair, he helped fight Overlord on the Lost Light, and he flew directly into the 70-billion odd Ammonite swarm during The Transformers: Dark Cybertron. Issue 50 has him fly Soundwave's ship into an active warzone in Shanghai to rescue the Autobots and inactive Decepticons from getting massacred by the EDC. Issue #55 has him take out Astrotrain in a dogfight.
• Defector from Decadence: In Optimus Prime #12 he's living aboard the Decepticon space station, and is described in the captions as an Autobot ally, suggesting he's left the Autobots.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: A big part of his character arc.
• Friendly Enemy: With Soundwave of all 'formers - the Decepticon shows him a level of respect and trust not shown by any of his colleagues, and even makes him an offer to come live aboard the Decepticon commune away from war (and his Jerkass teammates) that's shown in subsequent issues to be 100% legit.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies battling Bludgeon's hordes to give the inhabitants of Sanctuary time to get away.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When Shockwave's Ammonite army show up, he flies directly into the swarm. Issue 55 has him engage and cripple Astrotrain in a dogfight in order to stop Galvatron from taking over the Jupiter Commune. And when the time comes to face Unicron's Maximal hordes to save the inhabitants of Sanctuary, does so without complaint.
• Motor Mouth: Babbles incessantly around the main characters out of a desire for acceptance. Rarely gets it though.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: He's been significantly downsized since his departure from the Lost Light crew.
• Only Friend: Jetfire's drone D.0.C serves as this for him, such is his isolation from the other Autobots.
• No-Respect Guy: He keeps getting the brush-off or ignored by various characters. Prowl treats him like a talking spy satellite that happens to be alive (and Arcee doesn't treat him much better after Prowl gets arrested on Cybertron), while Kup frequently makes fun of him. The only character to treat him with any respect and dignity all season? Soundwave. Still in full force in Optimus Prime as he gets beaten up by Sharkticons and thrown off a ship by Rum-Maj.
• Transplant: Leaves The Lost Light to join Optimus's squad on Earth.

Sky Lynx

• Adaptation Personality Change: Lacks the moon-sized ego most previous versions have been known for.
• Adaptational Villainy: Sky Reign was conceived as a new Autobot Combiner, but in the IDW fiction not only is he formed using two Decepticons (one of whom was still an antagonist), but he's been regulated to an additional minion of Galvatron; no different than the Ramjet/Thrust clone combiners.
• Ascended Extra: Had one major appearance in season 1, which ended with him offline for quite awhile. The rest of his appearances were background filler. Now he's a member of Optimus Prime's team on Earth.
• Combining Mecha: Galvatron forcefully merges him with Sunstreaker, Thundercracker, Cosmos, and Slugslinger to form Sky Reign.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: His G1 toy describes part of his robot mode as a "dino-bird", but his combined mode looks more like a dragon.
• Humongous Mecha: Not as big as Metroplex, but large enough to be carry Optimus and his away team to Earth.
• Our Dragons Are Different: His (combined) robot mode looks like a giant mechanical dragon: He has a blaster in his mouth, a long snaky neck and tail, wings, and four legs. His also speaks very pompously and pretentiously, although he's just "transportation" in this series.
• Seen It All: Like Kup, he relates everything that happens to him to some other event.

Alpha Trion

• Adaptational Badass: Most versions of Alpha Trion are just old sages, with a tendency to wind up captured by the villain du jour. This version of Alpha Trion is actually capable of throwing a punch.
• Adaptational Villainy: While not an outright bad guy, this version of Trion is not the clear-cut good mentor he's been in previous series, shown in the past to be arrogant, manipulative, and uncaring of others. He also endorsed Nova Major's ascension to Prime and the ensuing age of Cybertronian imperialism and functionism, and brushes Optimus off when Optimus get mad about that while downplaying his own culpability in the events that followed because of this. His treatment is more like RID's take on Rattrap, where while he may not be evil, he's still not a good person.
• Barefisted Monk: Already a trait demonstrated back in both the Ironhide miniseries and Spotlight: Orion Pax, but here we see that Alpha Trion gave Nova Major quite the beatdown during their first meeting.
• Bullying a Dragon: Thinks that continually being a condescending Jerkass to Ironhide, the 'bot he resurrected to single-handedly kill the Insecticon swarm infesting Cybertron, is a great idea. It isn't.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's a bit kooky to say the least, but we have no idea how much of that is just show.
• Composite Character: While largely his G1 self, he borrows being one of the Thirteen Primes from his Aligned counterpart (and even looked like him in the past) as well as being Optimus' mentor.
• Deadpan Snarker: Trion's especially prone to quips and barbs at the expense of those around him. When gathering together a trio of important bots (Starscream, Optimus, and Pyra Magna) he expresses mock surprise at Magna not having betrayed everyone yet.
• Delighting in Riddles: Seems to love annoying Nightbeat this way in Spotlight: Orion Pax.
• Eccentric Mentor: To Optimus and several other characters.
• "Eureka!" Moment: It's not quite clear what triggers it, but he appears to realise the truth about Onyx Prime - that he's Shockwave and been manipulating him all along - just before he's killed by a bomb.
• Fatal Flaw: Onyx Prime/Shockwave outright says that he was always willing to shelve all suspicions he had about him as long as he was hearing a well-told tale to explain them.
• Hero of Another Story:
  • Apparently spent his time with Metroplex after they left Cybertron checking Shockwave's Ore-development. Also apparently fixed Cybertron's irradiated state at some point offscreen, allowing the Autobots to survive there in All Hail Megatron.
  • Titans Return has him proclaiming he stood against Sentinel Prime when he was in charge, though Sentinel notes he did little more than talk.
• Horrible Judge of Character:
  • When the other Primes flee Cybertron/are killed, he's well aware he's no real leader (other flashbacks show his main role to be the chronicler of events during their reign) and instead looks for candidates to lead Cybertron into a new era. He chooses Nova Prime and Galvatron. Woops.
  • He also doesn't realise Onyx Prime's true nature until it's far too late.
• Insufferable Genius: In his first appearance he's brilliant enough to have single-handedly fixed Cybertron's radiation-poisoning problems and resurrected Ironhide. He's also such a condescending Smug Snake Ironhide winds up punching his lights out - despite the dangers of antagonizing someone with Metroplex as a bodyguard.
• In the Hood: Is fond of wearing a tattered and ragged cloak and cowl that helps hide his appearance.
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:
  • Not only convinced the other Primes to ally with Onyx Prime and the Liege Maximo, but showed Onyx the value of embellishing stories with lies that ultimately served the greater good, something implied to have influenced Onyx and the Liege Maximo in their later descent into corruption and later given birth to the belief the Primes were divine. In fairness, he's visibly realizing this wasn't a great idea when Onyx and Megatronus reach a truce. Turns out not be his fault after all, as Shockwave/Onyx Prime had orchestrated the whole thing.
  • Later endorsed Nova Major's ascension to Prime and encouraged him and Galvatron to begin a new "golden age".
• Jerkass: While certainly toned down from his appearances in the Ironhide mini-series, he still comes across as arrogant and not particularly fond of organics (though considering what the EDC was doing to him, he might not be entirely unjustified in that belief). He's certainly civil, and even pleasant to Optimus, but that probably has to do with Optimus' status as Prime which makes them equals.
• Killed Off for Real: Dies when a bomb goes off while he and the Council of Worlds are meeting the returned Onyx Prime.
• Last of His Kind: He's the only one of the original 13 Primes to still be active in Cybertronian civilization, the others having disappeared or died millennia ago. Recently things have changed, with the Liege Maximo and Onyx Prime returning, and Optimus possibly being the Arisen.
• Locked Out of the Loop: He didn't know why his brothers fled Cybertron (Galvatron's killing of Nexus Prime), until well into Nova Prime's rule.
• Mr. Exposition: As one of the oldest surviving Cybertronians, he's proven one of the main sources of information on the Mysterious Past of the Thirteen Primes, their disappearance and how that all transitioned into the era of Nova Prime and Galvatron.
• Never My Fault:
  • Subverted eventually. He was instrumental in inadvertently showing Onyx Prime how useful embellishing stories could be in influencing people, something that is implied to have led to The Thirteen believing their own propaganda about being demigods and eventually kickstarting the first Cybertronian civil war. Except later issues revealed Onyx knew exactly what he was doing all along given that he was actually a time-traveling Shockwave.
  • Played straight when, in an effort to unite Cybertron, he gave his blessing to the future Nova Prime as the first of a new dynasty, kicking off an era of imperialism and functionalism. When Optimus rightly explodes at him for the latter, he brushes it off with "it didn't sound ominous at the time".
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In an effort to give the disparate tribes leadership after the rest of the Thirteen had fled/died, he anointed the war hero Nova Major as Nova Prime, beginning a new dynasty of increasingly corrupt and despotic Primes that would eventually plunge Cybertron into a even greater civil war.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: As eccentric as he is, Trion is a shrewd bot who's lived through the millennia gaining more and more knowledge. He was crucial in breaking down Cybertron's deadly radiation and making the planet habitable after all.
• Off with His Head!: Gets decapitated in Titans Return by Sentinel Prime, and has his body hijacked by Sovereign for several issues. He's been repaired at the end of #57, though in subsequent issues of Optimus Prime he's still not fully recovered.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Absolutely batters the future Nova Prime into submission in between flashbacks in issue #34. Even Galvatron is impressed.
• Oh, Crap!: Realises Onyx Prime has only been talking politely on his return, and suddenly becomes very afraid as he figures out what that means - namely that Onyx is setting himself up as a victim. Cue the bomb.
• Older Than They Look: He's one of the original 13 Primes. Assuming he isn't older than that, too.
• Pals with Jesus: Issue #34 hints than unlike everyone else he can actually remember the Transformers' deity Primus, though given revelations over in MTMTE he's probably lying to big himself up. He's also good buddies with the Titans.
• The Peter Principle: Invoked; with the other Primes dead or disappeared, he knows he's not got the leadership ability, fighting prowess or scientific acumen to unite the tribes, and instead looks for someone who does, so he can act as advisor. Unfortunately, this role is also beyond him, as he ends up not just picking Nova Major to become the new Prime, but singly failing to restrain him or his just-as-bad successors for millions of years after.
• Pretender Diss: Inverted: Infinitus (who's been posing as Sentinel Prime and is thus a pretender to the Prime title) berates him for being an embarrassment to the Thirteen Primes, labeling him their secretary - shortly before cutting off his head and hijacking his body.
• Racist Grandpa: Technically. He's not too fond of organics.
• Unreliable Narrator: Called as much by Starscream after Optimus Prime issue 10, who doesn't believe his story about the Thirteen for an instant. Starscream's right, just not for the reasons he expects.
• Unwitting Pawn: Onyx Prime played him, using Alpha Trion to help set up the time loop he'd created.

Dinobots

A former team of special ops killers, the Dinobots had a reputation as the worst of the worst. Postwar, they've been hit hard by the recognition of this, and are currently shepherding the next generation of Cybertronian lives to atone.
For tropes on Grimlock, see The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye.

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• The Alcoholic: With the war over, there's nothing really left to do except drink and get into the odd skirmish here and there. Slug has hit the bottle pretty hard, spending considerably more time drunk or trying to get drunk, lashing out at others, or causing other disturbances. Adjustment to peace has really taken its toll on him.
• Ascended Extra: The Redemption of the Dinobots three-parter served to give them larger roles and the spotlight for a number of issues. Most significant, however, was Grimlock's absence meaning that instead of the Dinobots serving as supporting characters to a story that was often Grimlock-centric (ala Maximum Dinobots and most Dinobot stories), the other four got a chance for more individual development.
• The Atoner: Transformers: Redemption has Slug hired by Barricade and two Camiens to transport a mysterious cargo. He fully intends to lead them right to the cops, get Barricade killed, and keep the money. Slug changes his mind when it turns out the cargo is a dozen Camien sparks (unborn Transformers), and that Slug himself destroyed a similar shipment during the war, and feels guilty.
• Band of Brothers: Yes, they're violent, alcoholic killers - but they'll always look out for each other first.
• Body Horror: Strafe takes a dunk in mutated energon, which gives her a saurian alt-mode, puts her in a constant rage and makes transforming incredibly painful.
• The Big Guy: Collectively. Sludge is this for the group, being the strongest and biggest.
• Blood Knight: All of them, but Slug in particular. Snarl's probably right behind him.
• Character Death: Slug is shot by Sandstorm in the opening of Salvation, hitting him in exactly the right place to make him go up like a firework. However, it's revealed in Optimus Prime Starscream had Bludgeon bring him back from the dead.
• Commuting on a Bus: They've been out of the main story since Dark Cybertron but became the focus of the Punishment miniseries and both the Redemption and Salvation one-shots, before coming back into the series proper in Optimus Prime #13.
• A Day in the Limelight: Transformers: Redemption was solicited as one for the Dinobots, but it's definitely Slug's story.
• Dumb Muscle: Sludge, being the strongest and dumbest of the team. Even after several million years, the guy can barely even count.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: They fought for good during the war, but were so violent and terrifying that they were actually worse than many Decepticons. After the war they've become nothing more than a gang of criminal thugs, particularly with Slug as their new leader, and Optimus Prime straight up calls them the worst Cybertron has to offer in Transformers: Punishment. Transformers: Redemption offers them, well, a redemption in that they initially plan to betray their clients to the Badgeless, but instead destroy their reputations to spare those of their allies (even the Decepticon), become willing exiles from Iacon, and even give up the Briefcase Full of Money they were offered.
• Heroic Sacrifice: All bar Swoop and Strafe die stopping Bludgeon.
• It's Personal:
  • Strafe has it in for Bludgeon, since he dunked her in mutative energon.
  • Slug is livid to discover the other Dinobots are now allied with his killer Sandstorm in Optimus Prime #13 and tries to kill him on the spot.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Not very nice 'bots to say the least, but there's a reason they're not Decepticons.
• Kill It with Fire: All of them can breath fire in dinosaur mode, and Slug in particular loves finding hapless 'cons to do this to.
• Meaningful Rename: They used to be called Dynobots.
• Mirroring Factions: To the Constructicons. Both are teams of killers left leaderless and rudderless by the end of the fighting, and both find levels of purpose by throwing in with causes outside their initial faction (Prowl and Starscream for the Constructicons, Trypticon for the Dinobots) and neither team fully survives the series (Strafe and Swoop live through the Unicron event, though none of the others do). When given the opportunity in RiD #18, both groups even take the opportunity to throw back a few drams of Energon together.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Slug flies into a rage and kills Gimlet when the latter fatally injures Mainframe, but falls to his knees when he comes to his senses.
• No Place for Me There: They ultimately work towards preserving the new society even though they admit that it's at odds with their vicious, belligerent nature, ultimately at the cost of Slug, Snarl, and Sludge's lives.
• The Noseless: Unlike most versions of the character, Sludge is usually drawn without a nose.
• Odd Friendship: Slug strikes up a friendship with Trypticon.
• One-Steve Limit: There was another Strafe, one of the Technobots, but by the time Dinobot Strafe shows up, he'd been dead several years, so the limit remains in place.
• Only Sane Man: As is custom, Swoop acts as the voice of reason to the group being the slowest to resort to violence and the most intelligent.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They consist of three violent jerkasses (Slug, Snarl and Swoop), one dumb but loyal lug (Sludge), and a later addition of a stray from Caminus (Strafe).
• Redemption Equals Death: Slug is utterly sure a peaceful Cybertron holds no place for a group of violent killers like the Dinobots - and come Unicron they elect to go out making sure Bludgeon, their Arch-Enemy and the general of Unicron's troops, dies with them so future generations of Cybertronians can live on. Not entirely seen through though, as Swoop survives where the others die.
• Reformed, but Rejected: "Reformed" might be stretching it, but the Dinobots don't go around committing war crimes anymore. They're still largely unliked by their fellow Autobots. And Sandstorm tries to murder them.
• The Smurfette Principle: Strafe, who joins the team in Redemption, stands as being their only female member.
• Sudden Name Change: Slag decides to rename himself Slug, because he was informed (by Arcee) that 'Slag' was offensive.
• Taking You with Me: Snarl and Sludge perish fighting Bludgeon's crew during Unicron, while Slug dies taking down Bludgeon himself.
• Theme Naming: Each of their names begins with 's'. Except their boss, Grimlock.
• The Unfettered: Dinobot rule 1 (if they had rules) - do whatever they want, when they want, regardless of whether it's right or not.
• You All Meet in a Cell: Grimlock and Slug first met in a jail cell, Slug having been put there for shooting his C.O. in the back for not doing what Slug suggested. The two hit it off instantly, and the Dynobots were born.

Aerialbots/Superion

• The Bus Came Back:
  • After being lost in the wasteland for almost a dozen issues, the team make their comeback as Superion when Megatron threatens the peace.
  • After being worfed by that previous conflict, and spending quite a bit of time on life-support, Superion and the team make another come-back in Combiner Wars, though with a few lineup changes.
  • After a long period not being seen, they return at the end of Unicron, becoming Superion once again to activate the Earth Enigma, then take on Monstructor.
• Cool Mask: Superion Mk-II sports a snazzy faceplate to complement the toy.
• Combining Mecha: Initially as a result of Megatron's machinations, though they later gain the ability to do this on their own.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Superion dislikes being called Silverbolt.
• Equippable Ally: Powerglide transforms into Superion's gun.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Superion gets torn in half by Devastator.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Superion permanently separates to destroy Galvatron's "Earth Engima".
• I Owe You My Life: The Aerialbots pledge loyalty to Starscream after he rebuilds and perfects Superion with the Enigma of Combination, though they maintain their Autobot affiliation. Ironically, their hatred and mistrust of Starscream is what drove them to abandon Bumblebee's coalition government and fall prey to Megatron's machinations in the first place. Though if given the choice between Starscream and Optimus, they'll follow the latter without hesitation.
• Jerkass: Silverbolt and Alpha Bravo.
• Killed Off for Real: Barrel Roll.
• Mind Rape: Superion's first iteration suffers from one as a result of being forcibly combined by Megatron. When done of the members' own will, however, Superion is perfectly lucid.
• Put on a Bus: The team left the city in issue #4, return a few issues later as Superion, then they reappear when Megatron makes his move, only to get torn in half by Devastator and spend all of Dark Cybertron on life-support.
  • The Bus Came Back: Starscream tasks Wheeljack with reviving him in issue #33, and he makes his proper return (with a few new team members) in Combiner Wars to take on Menasor.
• Satellite Character: The Aerialbots have become this to Superion. Most of them had limited screen time before merging together.
• Sixth Ranger: Powerglide and Alpha Bravo join up after Dark Cybertron to serve as a weapon and a replacement limb for Slingshot, respectively.
• Spanner in the Works: If it wasn't for Superion's Heroic Sacrifice, Galvatron might very well have conquered the Earth.
• Spell My Name with a "The": Superion introduces himself as "The Superion." He drops this with his second iteration, who benefits from having a stable mind with which to form sentences (though he's still a Third-Person Person).
• Took a Level in Badass: Though powerful, the first Superion is both inexperienced and insane as as result of his forced combination and gets utterly shredded by Devastator after the latter gets his act (and mind) together. The second? Utterly Curb Stomped Menasor without breaking a sweat.
• Torso with a View: Weaponized in his fight against Menasor, where he reconfigures his body away from the other gestalt's blows.
• Third-Person Person: Even after his mind is repaired, he's still one.
• Undying Loyalty: They may take issue with his annexing Earth, but the Aerialbots are still loyal to Optimus Prime. Even after Starscream commissions their repairs and they swear under him and his government, Superion is loyal to Optimus above Cybertron's so called Chosen One. Prowl lampshades this.
  • Discussed in-universe. Starscream knows all this, and it's his major reason for having Devastator rebuilt with Scoop - so he'd have at least one totally loyal Combiner.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Barrel Roll. Apparently, same with Slingshot.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Since they permanently separated to ruin Galvatron's control over the Enigma of Combination, they've not been seen or even mentioned since in The Transformers or Optimus Prime.

Sunstreaker and Bob

• And I Must Scream: When the Machination got hold of him, they painfully cut him apart while still conscious and able to feel everything, reducing him to just his head. Even worse, he was used as the control hub for the Machination's Headmaster army, meaning every single one was inside his head simultaneously siphoning his knowledge and abilities. By the time Hunter finds him he's begging to die.
• Combining Mecha: He was a Headmaster with Hunter, courtesy of the Machination, back in Simon Furman's run, and more recently became one of Optimus Maximus' limbs after Prowl uses the Enigma of Combination on them, along with Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and Mirage. Galvatron later forcefully merges him with Sky Lynx, Thundercracker, Cosmos, and Slugslinger to form Sky Reign.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In the Revolution one-shot Bob is shown to tear Dire Wraiths apart with ease and is later seen eating one.
• Fantastic Racism: Hated humans for their horrific experiments on him to create the Headmasters during Simon Furman's run. A major plot point in All Hail Megatron, where he agrees to work with Starscream to depose Megatron on condition Starscream kill all the humans.
• Handicapped Badass: He's stuck in a hoverchair for a while after Alpha Trion repairs him. He uses it to his advantage when he faces Devastator on Cybertron, filling it with explosives and letting the giant stamp on it, crippling the combiner.
• Last of His Kind: Bob is the last survivor of the Insecticon swarm.
• Narcissist: Downplayed compared to other incarnations of the character, but still there. Was responsible for a shuttle crash in Spotlight: Hoist after getting distracted by his own reflection.
• Nightmare Face: Bob has one under his faceplate, showing us that despite his cuteness he's still an Insecticon.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Sunstreaker harbored an intense hatred of humans that almost led to downfall of both the Autobots and the Earth. In the present, he's become much nicer and let go of his prejudices.
• Transplant: They were minor crew members on the Lost Light over in MTMTE. They returned to Cybertron to become minor characters there in Combiner Wars before joining Optimus's crew on Earth.
• Welcome Back, Traitor: Gets a very cold reception from the other Autobots when he returns to Earth in the Ongoing.

Omega Supreme

• Arm Cannon: Omega Supreme
• Big Damn Heroes: Omega Supreme comes out of nowhere to save the Autobots from the Insecticon swarm during All Hail Megatron.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Omega Supreme was badly injured in a bomb in issue #9. Even by the time of Revolution, several years later (out of universe) he's still not been fixed.
• Determinator: Omega Supreme stood vigil for six million years, just for the chance to kill Nova Prime.
• Genius Bruiser: Omega Supreme is big and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with combiners like Monstructor, and was a noted scholar of metaphysics back in the day.
• Genius Loci: He's still a starship/launch base.
• Last of His Kind: Omega Supreme is the last of the Omega Guardians. And as of the Unicron series, he's passed away, making the Guardians extinct.
• Killed Off for Real: Omega dies in Unicron #2 after imparting information on Unicron's origins and how to kill him to Bumblebee.
• My Greatest Failure: Omega Supreme has two. He regrets serving Nova Prime and helping him establish the "Golden Age of Cybertron". He also regrets his role in the first case of Cybertronian expansion that ultimately led to the creation of Unicron. It takes quite a bit of convincing for him to join Optimus years later and he only helps out reluctantly then.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Despite his tremendous physical power and intelligence, Omega largely stayed out of both the first Cybertronian war and the second. He did occasionally assist Optimus, including taking part in the battle against Thunderwing and returning to save the Autobots from the Insecticon Swarm.
• Time Abyss: Assuming the flashbacks in the annual are the absolute truth, Omega Supreme was old when Nova Prime was just getting started. He's old enough to remember the Knights of Cybertron, which makes him probably one of the oldest characters still alive.

Other Autobots

These includes: Tracks, Fixit, and others.

• Demoted to Extra: Cliffjumper fell into the background after a bit of relevance during the Costa and McCarthy years.
• It's All About Me: Tracks. Though he appears to be getting away from this as he tries to re-establish his relationship with his brother, Needlenose.
• The Medic: Fixit

The Torchbearers/Victorion

• Ambition Is Evil: Victorion makes no bones about her designs on the Matrix.
• An Arm and a Leg: Victorion's fight with Monstructor ends when Stormclash is torn away by the far more vicious combiner.
• Ascended Fangirl: Dust Up was a fan of the Torchbearers before she joined up.
• At Least I Admit It: Pyra notes that the principal difference between her and Optimus is that at least she's honest about her ambitions.
• Combining Mecha: Victorion, obviously.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: According to Marissa, Pyra sounds like Elizabeth Taylor.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Jumpstream and Dust Up's village was repeatedly attacked by raiders after their energon. Dust Up captured one, then let it free, allowing the others to come right back, leading the entire village to be destroyed.
• Defector from Decadence: They left the larger Torchbearer group when the Mistress of Flame claimed to know the identity of "The Arisen".
• Depending on the Artist: Victorion's head, and especially her head-crest seem to vary from artist to artist. Also, whether she has a mouthplate or not.
• Distaff Counterpart: Pyra Magna has qualms with Optimus' leadership and feels she can do his job better with her methods. Her head even looks like Prowl's.
• Freudian Excuse: Pyra Magna's ambitious nature comes from an encounter with Onyx Prime in her youth (along with nightmares and a creepy poem) where she realized that Onyx wasn't infallible. Optimus says that while all of that might have happened, noting that he's seen weirder, it's kind of a stupid thing to base one's personality off of especially given that she doesn't know why Onyx fled Caminus or if he truly was scared of her. Later revelations show he wasn't. In fact, he barely remembers the incident at all.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Optimus Prime #1 makes it clear Jetfire and the other longtime Autobots in Optimus' crew blame the Torchbearers for his current delusions of grandeur.
  • Ironically Pyra turns on him in issue #4, openly blasting him for manipulating the colonists' faith in the Primes to achieve the results he wants.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Pyra Magna and Rust Dust didn't talk to each other much until the death of Praesidia Magna.
• The Fundamentalist: In an internal monologue, Pyra Magna says she wants the Matrix to spread the light of Primus across the galaxy.
• Genius Bruiser: Unlike pretty much every other Combiner, Victorion has no significant mental defects or issues, and is labelled as one of the strongest of all of them, even without her gravity powers. Subverted in "The Falling", where it's shown that without her gravity powers, she's not a particularly strong fighter and Devastator is perfectly capable of giving her a sound beating. Monstructor also gives her a beating (killing Stormclash and by proxy Victorion herself) but he's also been massively modified by this point.
• Gravity Master: Victorion has gravity-manipulating powers. Unicron suggests it's a side-effect of living near Ore-4.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Though they can be amiable, all six have a very short fuse.
• Jerkass: There really isn't anything sympathetic about Pyra.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Pyra's in no way wrong when she states Optimus uses their belief in the Primes as a means to an end, given he admits it to Aileron in the same issue. She also dismisses the Matrix glowing as the Junkions arrive as it just reacting to the nearby Ore-13 rather than anything holy, and
• Killed Off for Real: Stormclash is killed by Monstructor and Victorion functionally ceases to exist without her Subverted when the Earth Enigma changes Slide into one of her components, allowing her to live again.
• Meaningful Name: Dust Up's name comes from an old Camien poem about rust.
• Never My Fault: Pyra Magna insisted Optimus act the way she said a Prime should act, and when he does she lashes out at him.
• No-Sell: The whole group are immune to Soundwave's telepathy, thanks to being combiners.
• Palette Swap: Save Stormclash and Skyburst (who are palette swapped Alpha Bravos), the others are all palette swapped Protectobots.
• Pride: Victorion's defining trait.
• Satellite Character: The other Torchbearers are this to Pyra and Victorion. Dust Up and Jumpstream get a little backstory in the 2017 annual, and Storm Clash and Skyburst get starring roles in First Strike.
• The Starscream: Pyra Magna openly admits to wanting the Matrix and, as of issue 6 of Optimus Prime, is trying to turn the colonists against Optimus. And tries to secure Marissa as an ally in issue 7. And turns out to be chatting with Prowl in issue 13... She's so unsubtle about it at one point Alpha Trion cheerfully tells her she's his favourite of Optimus' would-be usurpers.
• Token Evil Teammate: Victorion, specifically Pyra Magna, is much more ambitious and power-hungry than most of the Earth crew. When Optimus isn't around, she's also a LOT quicker to resort to violence if attacked by the humans.
• Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: Unicron' issue 3 has Victorion, the most stable combiner, go up against Monstructor, hopped up on Unicron-given power. Victorion loses.
• Unexpected Successor: Takes up the mantle of Mistress of the Flame at the end of Unicron, but the series finale shows how her inexperience means she's not as adept as her predecessor, losing patience with Tracks and Needlenose's business ideas.

Aileron

A Camien proselytizer who quickly becomes caught up in the conflict due to her loyalty to Optimus Prime.

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• Armor-Piercing Question: Gets a great one when pointing out the dangers of Optimus' current approach in Optimus Prime #4
  Optimus: It won't come to that.
  Aileron: Was it going to come to war when you and Megatron deposed Zeta Prime? Because that disagreement went on for four million years.
• Broken Pedestal: Increasingly clear that Optimus is becoming this for her.
• Character Development: In All Hail Optimus, she backed down instantly from Arcee. In Optimus Prime, she's stubbornly by Arcee's side and offering comfort - which results in a Relationship Upgrade in "The Falling" (much to her own shock). Likewise, in the former she's an ardent hero-worshipper of Optimus, but by Optimus Prime she's increasingly disturbed by Optimus' methods.
• Hypocritical Humour: Is exasperated by the level of hero-worship the new colonist recruits show Optimus. Jetfire gently calls her out on it. Gets increasingly serious in successive issues, as her growing frustration with it is used to illustrate her growing disillusionment with Optimus' methods.
• Morality Pet: Inverted. She's not The Corrupter, but it's her moral backing that gives Optimus the wherewithal to make decisions he otherwise wouldn't dare to, such as throwing his considerable clout around to get what he wants or even annexing Earth.
• Nice Girl: So long as you don't try to denigrate or harm Optimus (or Sterling), she'll be unfailingly helpful.
• Not So Above It All: Somehow ends up playing Windblade in Thundercracker's biopic of Starscream.
• Odd Friendship: Starts developing one with Arcee. Later revelations show it wasn't exactly friendship Arcee was going for.
• Only Sane Man: Often gets exasperated by the sheer amount of pettiness or suicidal darin'-do everyone shows, such as yelling at Arcee for trying to sacrifice her life fighting the Maximals.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She suffers a brief Freak Out in Issue 51, brought on by Sterling's murder. Needless to say, her attempt to force the President to surrender goes very poorly. The next issue sees her rather chastened, and Arcee pointedly makes her sit out the attack on Galvatron's ship because of it.
• Shout-Out: Her colour scheme is a nod to Gobots character Crasher.
• Took a Level in Badass: During First Strike, when everything goes to hell, Aileron takes charge, telling everyone to stop yelling at one another. Subverted when she tries to lead the Colonists to find Jazz however; Slide undermines her at every opportunity, and the other Colonists only follow her because they think it's what Optimus would want.

Slide

One of the Colonist Soldiers, Slide's faith in her leader began to erode after the death of her brother Oiler, causing her to harbor a deep-seated resentment towards Optimus Prime and his inner retinue of Autobots.

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• Angsty Surviving Twin: Losing Oiler is enough to turn his sister Slide from an idealistic Prime-worshipper into a bitter Blood Knight who can't think of anything other than avenging her brother, and means that she's receptive to Pyra Magna's pragmatic flavor of theology.
• Broken Pedestal: With Optimus.
• Combining Mecha: Oiler and Slide are from Devisiun, and each one formed half of their tanker truck alternate mode. As a result of Oiler's death, Slide can't transform anymore.
• Evil Imperialist: The Transformer colonists of Devisiun built their planet by grinding the native civilization into the dust. Slide genuinely believes that, in doing so, they saved these "animals" from themselves, and resents Optimus for not treating humanity the same way.
• Fantastic Racism: After Oiler's death, Slide calls humans "things" and "creatures", believing they just want to hunt down and murder all Cybertronians.
• Foil: Both Aileron and Slide were idealistic colonists who Jumped at the Call. Both of them wound up losing their closest friends as a result of Optimus' efforts to keep the peace on Earth; while Aileron has stuck with Optimus, and even acknowledges his imperfections, Slide has turned her attention to actively undermining his authority for not living up to her expectations of him being a "perfect" Prime.
• Gender Flip: Slide's a girl in this continuity. Not that that's saying much, as it's pretty much the only fiction the character's ever received, barring a short profile in Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye books.
• Heel Realisation: Finally realizes what a colossal jerk she's been in Unicron #6, becoming part of Victorion to stop Monstructor and accepting in the aftermath the validity of Optimus' worldview.
• Hypocrite: She accuses Cybertronians of destroying the lives of others, yet her people (the Devisiuns) destroyed the biosphere and civilization of an entire planet and view them as lesser beings.
• It's All About Me: After Oiler's death, Slide becomes incredibly self-centered and constantly complains about how Oiler's death affected her, completely ignoring that pretty much everyone she's talking to has lost many close loved ones from violence and in general ignoring any other problem that's not related. The Tranformers Wiki even has a picture from the Unicron series of her complaining about how everyone should be doing something she thinks is important rather than trying to stop Unicron from destroying reality because Optimus told her to, while ignoring that Trypticon is being bisected by Unicron's eye beams in the background. The picture is captioned "Slide's character summed up in a single image."
• Jerkass: Fully this after Oiler's death. Notably her tirade against Optimus doesn't even acknowledge the fact her raid on Trypticon got Mainframe, one of the very few humans to be sympathetic towards Cybertronians, killed.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Aileron (who's basically trying to keep the Colonists occupied while First Strike is happening) claims Optimus would want them to find his friend Jazz, Slide immediately enquires as to why Optimus hasn't done it himself. Jazz rhetorically asks the same when they find him, and reveals the answer - Optimus abandoned him as a political move to keep the peace with the humans.
• Never My Fault: In the aftermath of the raid on Trypticon she lashes out at everything, blasting Optimus for his manipulating the aftermath and sliding into fascism as well as wanting Slug arrested for killing Gimlet - ignoring the fact it was Slide herself who initiated the raid and failed to predict the consequences.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Slide takes several after Oiler's death, lashing out at everyone and everything, bringing up Oiler and Sterling's death with every other breath, and just generally being an ass. She only backslides back to being tolerable after the Unicron Crisis' ending, having found new purpose as a member of the Torchbearers and having finally realized she'd misjudged Optimus.

Colonist Soldiers

Optimus Prime's recent adventures on Earth proved inspirational enough to prompt a whole new wave of next-generation Autobots, recruited from the various colony worlds. Though they mean well, their naivety, combined with their idolization of Optimus Prime to a fault, may do more harm than good in the long run.

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• Ascended Fanboy: Who wouldn't be thrilled at the thought of working alongside Optimus Prime?
• Audience Surrogate: Having missed the entirety of the war, they sometimes require various concepts - such as the history of the Junkions - to be explained to them, and by proxy us.
• Beware the Silly Ones: We're introduced to them as six goofy, young Cybertronians who are full on fangirls of Optimus Prime and are scared by a human wielding a Cybertronian-derived weapon. Only one of them dies in the Junkion invasion. The rest hold their own and rack up an impressive kill count. And keep in mind how tough Junkions are to kill.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Gimlet transforms into a giant crawfish.
• Character Death: Oiler is killed by a Junkion in issue 5.
• Cool Car: Roulette turns into a Dodge Viper.
• Cool Mask: They all wear mouthplates as a way to emulate Optimus.
• Cool Train: Midnight Express turns into a bullet train...one capable of operating on asphalt.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: A group of New Meat colonist soldiers with little practical experience vs. the Dinobots, one of the most feared Autobot hit squads of the war? They're lucky only Gimlet got killed.
• Killed Off for Real: After Gimlet inadvertedly fatally injures Mainframe, a livid Slug cuts him in half.
• Multinational Team: Of a sort; they hail from different colony planets.
• Hero-Worshipper: Big time. In their eyes, Optimus is a messianic, nigh-divine figure - as opposed to the slightly jaded postwar commander we know him to be - and they're prone to kneeling whenever he's around. By the time we see them in the first issue, they've started wearing fake mouthplates to better emulate their idol.
• Naïve Newcomer: The whole lot of them are this for Optimus' forces on Earth, as their hero-worship of the Primes means they think he can solve anything. But they don't really understand any of the intricacies of the Autobot-Decepticon war, the political realities of the Autobots' current situation on Earth, or why the humans fear and mistrust them (this after a Decepticon invasion that left over a billion humans dead), and aren't particularly interested in learning either. Shown most prominently in "Time Will Rust" where they believe Prime has abandoned Jazz to the humans and stage a rescue. While there's a bit of truth to that, they're ignorant of the fact that a. Jazz is fine being incarcerated if it means Rom can contact his homeworld. b. they'll assuredly destroy the already fragile alliance with the humans in doing so and c. it's the worst possible time to be fighting, given Unicron has just arrived over Earth.
• New Meat: Compared to the hyper-efficient Soundwave and the jaded long-time Autobots on Prime's crew (all of whom have survived millions of years of war) they're hopelessly naive and completely fail to understand any of the political realities Optimus has to navigate on a daily basis.
• Not Helping Your Case: As Aileron points out, Gimlet already looks scary, and he's covered in spikes.

Allies

The Constructicons/Devastator

• Adaptational Badass: Probably the most powerful iteration of Devastator. Even when all the other Combiners start showing up it's clear Devastator's brute strength puts him in a class of his own.
• Badass Boast: To Victorion
  We know you're strong Victorion - but we've been Devastator for years. We once crushed Optimus' precious planet Earth like a plaything.
• Berserk Button: The Constructicons absolutely loath Spike due to his murder of Scrapper, and in fact, it's one thing over which they bond with Prowl. Later, when they combined with Prowl, the mere sight of Spike is enough to send Devastator into a near-unstoppable rampage.
• The Brute:
  • Devastator often serves as the primary muscle to whoever's team he's on. Currently he functions as this for the Cybertronian administration.
  • A more subtler example would be Bonecrusher. Though the Constructicons are primarily The Dividual he's most often depicted as being the powerhouse as in both of their conflicts with Arcee, it's he who manages to strike back at her and when they're ridding the ship of Microbots he's gone the extra mile of ripping them apart with his teeth.
• Combining Mecha: Used to be, before Scrapper got killed. Later, they become this with Prowl until he is arrested by Starscream, who drafts Scoop to fill Scrapper's old spot as Devastator's right leg.
• Comedic Sociopathy: They're laid back working joes who have no qualms with general murder and mayhem. They can go from fighting Arcee to the death to throwing back some energon with the Dinobots in the space of a few pages.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Played straight with Long Haul, who was to spy on Starscream and report on Skywarp's assassination of Bumblebee. Starscream convinces him to lie and let events play out against Ratbat's plan. After deliberating briefly, Long Haul sides with Starscream. Later on this is averted with their look into Prowl's mind, and the Decepticons fractured, the Constructicons opt to throw their lot in with Prowl. Scavenger later looks to be playing this straight, functioning as Soundwave's spy among the Autobots - but in reality he's following Prowl's orders so they can get the jump on the Decepticons.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: They're pretty goofy and fun, but they also have been involved in some of the Decepticons' most brutal offensives, and used live bots as building materials.
• Cutting the Knot: When invaded with Microbots, Jetfire devises a complex way to synthesize an aerosol from the Arc's liquid memory core that would bond with the little drones which were eating the ship and short-circuit them. After doing so, loading up and explaining the effects of the ship's now lack of oxygen to DOC, the two leave to spray the microbots, only to find that the Constructicons have gone about the ship finding and crushing the pests (except Bonecrusher who seems to be eating them).
• Defector from Decadence: They align themselves with Prowl after combining with him for the first time, seeing inside of his head and deciding they like it.
• Depending on the Artist:
  • How much of Devastator is Prowl? Originally he was just the head, with Long Haul bulked up to serve as the whole torso, but sometimes Prowl's drawn as the head and upper-torso.
  • Where are Bonecrusher and Scavenger's treads? As far back as AHM, IDW Devastator had the treads to the upper arms, but come Combiner Wars, the treads are drawn connected to the torso ala G1 Devastator (and also the new Generations toy).
  • Scoop at first he kept his original color scheme, but elsewhere he's drawn as the same colors as the rest of the Constructicons. Though him being Orange was only in the digital version of the comic, and was changed with an update.
  • Whilst Devastator primarily has a visor, he's occasionally drawn with two distinct eyes instead.
• The Dividual: They've got more personality on display than most of their previous appearances, but they all act and are characterized together. In issue 37 Galvatron implies that this is a side-effect of the combining process as all the people involved start losing their individuality and start acting the same.
• Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Scavenger is seen feeding information to Soundwave, but really Prowl told him to so they could trick the Decepticons into being a distraction as Prowl infiltrates the EDC base.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Devastator does not take Prowl being part of Optimus Maximus well, viewing it as a betrayal.
• Evil Genius: Mixmaster, though with the team's characterization as The Dividual, it rarely shows in the present day. In the past however he was one of the Decepticons's scientists and was present with Soundwave when Thunderwing brought together Cybertron's top minds.
• Faking the Dead: In season 1 after being "executed" by Prowl/Bombshell.
• Five-Man Band: It used to be six, but Scrapper got killed back on Earth.
• Flat Character: Occasional affability aside there really isn't much to these guys. They're generally written as the same, interchangeable thug, lacking their signature idiosyncrasies from Generation One.

• The Friend Nobody Likes: For the Autobot crew in the early part of season 2 - they're only tolerated as Prowl's muscle, with Jetfire notably not even bothering to tell them they're under attack by the EDC's Microbots. They're amazingly affable about it all though.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Despite being on the Autobots' side, they make it crystal clear they're joining up with Prowl, not the Autobots, and are more than happy to go along with his more morally-questionable actions.
• The Heavy: The five of them essentially serve as Prowl's muscle even when they're not merged as Devastator, most notably in the Onyx Interface arc. After Prowl is arrested and Scoop joins their ranks, Devastator now functions as this for Starscream on Cybertron.
• Hero Worship: They think Prowl had some part in saving the world during The Transformers: Dark Cybertron.
• Killed Off for Real: Scrapper got murdered by Spike back in The Ongoing, and his body was blown up by Sunstreaker during the "Chaos" event. However, Scrapper may still live on in the minds of the other Constructicons. See Uncertain Doom for details. The whole team suffers this in "The Falling", when Victorion shreds Devastator with her gravity powers.
• No-Sell: The only character strong enough to withstand Victorion's gravity powers without any damage. Then it turns out he's unwittingly getting assistance from one of Shockwave's Ores messing with Victorion's powers. Once that's out... crunch time.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: After being merged with Scoop, he tries to stop the escaped Menasor from doing any more damage. Unfortunately Defensor completely misreads the situation, thinks he's gone berserk again and attacks him, leading to a mass-Combiner brawl.
• Out of Focus: From Combiner Wars on the individual Constructicons are barely featured, with the team appearing near-exclusively in their combined form of Devastator until the final story arcs with Onyx Prime.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Bright Green and Purple construction vehicles don't blend in well at all on Earth. The Constructicons usually aren't trying to hide themselves but when they do it can be tricky. When Spike takes on Scrapper he lampshades how obvious the color scheme is, and when Scavenger goes into hiding he gives himself a new more practical color scheme (Bumblebee did figure him out because the panels on his alt-mode were consistent with a robot that could shape shift rather than a regular earth vehicle but to the layman he was well hidden).
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: While Prowl thinks he has his hatred of Spike under control, the sight of him when he's combined with the Constructicons (who also despise him) as Devastator makes him go ballistic at the end of Onyx Interface. It takes an Enemy Mine between Arcee and the Decepticons to stop him killing everything.
• Uncertain Doom: Scrapper. Spike did definitively kill him, and when Blitzwing takes his body it's explicitly described as dead. However, the Combiner process binding the minds of the Constructicons may have kept him alive as a "Ghost in the Machine," or, as Prowl believes, just burned the idea of Scrapper irreversibly into the minds of the Constructicons, giving only the appearance that he'd somehow stayed alive. Whatever the case, the death of all the Constructicons renders him functionally dead as well.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Devastator can't perform the fancy tricks that Superion, Defensor, and Victorion all have. He doesn't have super powers, he can't detach his limbs to dodge blows or fight but what he can do is hit hard. In the face of all of Superion's artful maneuvers, Devastator just beats him into a wreck. In the climax of Combiner Wars it takes all three of the heroic combiners to finally take him down.
• The Worf Effect: Devastator's Adaptational Badass status makes him a prime candidate for being the big guy on the block that the new powerful threat takes out to look strong. He may have beaten Superion twice and matched Monstructor but for Combiner Wars he was largely used as an obstacle to defeat with Superion and Defensor beating him the first time and then again with Optimus Maximus. When Trypticon shows up, Devastator struggles harder than other foes but gets crushed anyway. Near the end of the series its Devastator (the franchise's first Combiner) up against Victorion (the franchise's newest combiner) with the battle going as well for him as it would in the G1 cartoon, and thus Devastator's reputation as a Jobber remains intact.
• Worthy Opponent: In "Salvation" he's Starscream's first line of defence against the rampaging Trypticon. While the ancient Titan thoroughly wrecks him, he's impressed enough by Devastator's dogged refusal to give up against impossible odds that he lets the combiner live, specifically comparing him to ancient Cybertronian heroes Trypticon once knew.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Prowl doesn't take it very well that they emotionally bonded with him and liked it. At least at first.

Garnak

• Eye Scream: At the hands of Bludgeon.
• Eyepatch of Power: He loses an eye to Bludgeon, and wears an eyepatch for a while. Word of God states it was to help him regenerate the lost eye.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: His species has a healing factor, so his lost eye and near fatal gashes eventually fix themselves.
• Lizard Folk: He describes himself as much.
• Put on a Bus: Post Dark Cybertron he's gone from the story.
  • The Bus Came Back: He's hanging out with Prowl, Wheelie and Stardrive in Optimus Prime #13.
• Token Humanoid

Barricade

A heroic Decepticon Police Officer.

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• Adaptational Heroism: He's about as far from the movieverse's Rabid Cop persona as you could get.
• The Lost Lenore: Becomes this for Swift.
• To Be Lawful or Good: He's not shy about flying in the face of orders or the law if he knows that the cause is just.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Killed by Bludgeon at the end of Redemption.

Metrotitan

One of the last Titans, city-sized bots who served the Knights of Cybertron. Originally kept captive by the Circle of Light, Metrotitan was freed thanks to Rodimus and his team, and made his way to Cybertron...where he promptly exploded. Some years later, he was found on Earth by Optimus, and revived.

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• The Ace: Compared to his fellows, he's very durable and takes an insane amount of punishment while also having no defects whatsoever despite the millions of years that have passed since their era.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Aside from his blue optics, his appearance seems to be based on Fall of Cybertron Metroplex as opposed to the gaudy red, white and blue paint and green optics from his original continuity.
• Adaptational Heroism: In the original Japanese continuity, Metrotitan was a willing member of the Decepticons. Here, he's a loyal servant of the Primes. Maybe not nice, but not outright evil either.
• And I Must Scream: After Cybertron's reboot, Metrotitan tried to return, but he was too drained of energy to actually leave Theophany under his own power, screaming out psychically, in a way only the unconscious and Rodimus could pick up on.
• Been There, Shaped History: Metrotitan is the one who described the First Face to Onyx Prime, creating what would become the Autobot's symbol.
• Big Entrance: When he returns, he makes himself known by bursting through the ground.
• Composite Character: He turns into "Autobot City", a role filled by Metroplex in The Transformers.
• Floating Continent: He's taken up this role in Optimus Prime.
• Foil: To Metroplex. Metroplex is plagued with health problems yet is very kind to everyone and plays a large role in the story. Metrotitan on the other hand is functioning at 100% percent, is kind of a jerk and just acts as a city/ship more often than not.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Junkions ram their ship into his hull in Optimus Prime #5. All it really does is piss him off. By the next issue, he's removed the ship.
• Genius Loci
• Good Is Not Nice: Compared to the gentle and compassionate Metroplex, he's a bit of a grump.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Worryingly, he seems very easy to set off.
• Jerkass: His interaction with Windblade has him dismissively calling her a speck. Though he does listen to her in Revolution. It's partly due to his treatment at the hands of the Circle of Light. Comes back again when he instantly turns on Optimus to side with Starscream during the crisis provoked by Onyx Prime's return.
• Killed Off for Real: Is blasted through the chest by Onyx Prime/Shockwave's ship on Cybertron. It doesn't actually kill him, but Shockwave is confirmed as finishing the job an issue later.
• Living Ship
• Made of Iron: Even by Titan standards, he takes a lot of damage. He survived being used as a battery for millions of years, being impaled at multiple points by buildings, being at the center of an antimatter explosion, having an all out battle in his city mode and reacts with annoyance to being impaled by a starship and quickly proceeds to remove it. The same class of ship which knocked out Metroplex back in Primacy. Two issues later, there's not even any sign he was ever damaged. Contrast that to the amount of damage his brothers have taken in Windblade/TAAO. When she examines him, Windblade even highlights that compared to the other Titans she's seen, Metrotitan's perfect health stands out as unusual. His luck finally runs out when Onyx Prime/Shockwave's ship blasts clean through his chest.
• Never My Fault: For all that he's angry at Windblade mind melding with him instead of Optimus, he didn't actually tell Optimus this or give him any indication of what he wanted.
• Odd Name Out: "Metrotitan" stands out among the Titans and their naming conventions as being... unimaginative. "Origin Stories" eventually gives the explanation that he's one of the first.
• The Quiet One: He doesn't say a lot. Not because, like Metroplex, he's sustained any damage. He just doesn't speak much.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: The Circle of Light, who are deeply religious, used him as a battery for millions of years causing him to become spiteful towards other Cybertronians. Since the Lost Light crew (mostly non-believers) chose to help him rather than plunder his memories for proof of Primus, he helped them. Swerve lampshades it.
• Retcon: Originally the subspecies was called "Metrotitans" before it was retconned as just being this guy's name and they became known as "Titans".
• Tele-Frag: Upon returning to Crystal City, his molecules mesh with those of the city. Like everything else, this barely fazes him.
• Teleporters and Transporters: Like Metroplex, he has a built-in Space Bridge. It's been destroyed twice now.
• Time Abyss: "Origin Stories" indicates he was one of the first three Titans.
• Undying Loyalty: Seemingly has this towards the Primes.
• Unexplained Recovery: His appearance in the RID annual had him explode, and yet several years later he shows up in All Hail Optimus doing just fine. Possibly justified due to having been around a large deposit of Ore-13. In "Starscream: The Movie" Alpha Trion even questions whether it was actually the same Titan in both instances - but when he returns to Cybertron to confront Onyx Prime he recognizes Starscream and greets him as the Chosen One, seemingly confirming it was the same Titan in both instances. The next issue has Shockwave indicate that he was using his Ores to shunt Metrotitan through time and space to set up Starscream as the Chosen One.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the prologue of Titans Return, he sends out a beacon across the galaxy about Optimus' heroics deeds as a sign of his loyalty and thanks to the Prime for awakening him. This winds up awakening Sentinel Prime and attracting him to Earth where he picks up Sovereign and starts his mad scheme. It also alerts Micronus Prime and Baron Karza to Earth's location, starting the crisis in Revolution as well as signaling to the Junkions where they can find more Ore-13. Optimus, Soundwave, Scarlett and Joe Colton all take time to lampshade this.
• Unwitting Pawn: As Onyx Prime, Shockwave brainwashed him into believing Starscream was the Chosen One.

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