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Autobots

In General

Black-and-Gray Morality: The Decepticons are obviously evil, but the Autobots are still prone to committing rather questionable acts.
Faction Calculus: Of the Subversive variety, in contrast to the Decepticons' Powerhouse.
Fantastic Racism: Autobot society is portrayed as insular and nationalistic, and the average Autobot shows prejudice towards organic life like humans.

The Elite Guard

Sentinel Prime

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sentinel_9.png

Voiced by: Townsend Coleman (English), Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese)

"If I need a trash-can emptied or a floor mopped, I'll call on my buddy Optimus Prime. Or should I say "Maintenance Prime"?"

Sentinel Prime is, plain and simple, an aft-hole. He is an egotistical, boisterous bot who uses his high position to issue orders and command high respect, especially towards Optimus (despite sharing the same rank). Years back, the two and Elita-1 were best friends until an incident on a foreign organic planet, during which Elita was separated from them and assumed dead. Their relationship has been strained since.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Prior incarnations of Sentinel Prime (who was largely a character only from G1's continuity family at the time) were usually Optimus' respected mentor. Optimus and Sentinel in this incarnation, however, are roughly the same age, went through the academy together, and used to be friends.
Aesop Amnesia: Thanks to his ego, none of the lessons he learns about humility or compassion stick.
Asshole Victim: Of a similar type to Archer. If something bad happens to him, he's probably done something to make it hard to feel sympathy.
"Ass" in Ambassador: When the Elite Guard stays for a moment on Earth, Sentinel Prime is charged by Ultra Magnus to deal with the diplomatic relations with humans, even though anyone else would have been a better pick than him. During his meeting with Detroit's mayor and journalists, Sentinel shows himself to be arrogant, patronizing, very bad at hiding his prejudices against organics, even telling the humans that Ultra Magnus could not speak to them because he had to deal with matters for more important than then, and ignores Optimus' advice despite Optimus's knowledge and experience with humans and him being far more diplomatic than Sentinel, and berates Optimus after he spoke in Sentinel's place to avoid offending humans and maintain good diplomatic ties. When learning that he has to shake the mayor's hand at the end of the conference, Sentinel can't hide his horror and disgust, and after doing it (with his finger) immediately sprays his hand with a product to "decontaminate" it, right in front of the humans.
Anti-Hero: While he's an Autobot, he isn't very nice.
- Nominal Hero: If his general characterization doesn't establish him as this, then his actions in "Five Servos Of Doom" and "Predacons Rising" certainly do.
Berserk Button: He gets ticked off when Bumblebee makes a joke about his giant chin.
Boisterous Weakling: He's very confident in his combat skills, but his combat record is abysmal. It seems like he's not a bad fighter, but he's also a lot worse than anyone he fights.
Break the Cutie: The flashbacks to "Along Came a Spider" show he was a nice (if somewhat smug) guy who considered Optimus his friend. What happened to Elita-1 broke him, which was of course his own fault for dragging Elita-1 into the planet filled with giant spiders but he blamed Optimus for the rushed evacuation.
Break the Haughty: He goes through several Humiliation Congas, including having his head cut off and body taken, losing prisoners on his watch and having his ship taken over (then being beaten, flung, and frozen), getting a beating from his friends, accidentally, when a Starscream clone uses him as a shield. Ultimately, this does nothing to reduce his arrogance, it does however, slightly repair his relationship with Optimus, as he finally stops blaming Optimus for Elita-1's fate, and even helps him on Cybertron (even if he does give him some digs about Toxitron looking like him).
Butt-Monkey: If you get annoyed at him, just wait five minutes and something nasty will happen to him. Usually, it's related to Earth's weather/inhabitants/road structure, but he's also had his body stolen by a human, been humiliated in front of his comrades, screamed like a little girl when encountering organics, failed at driving in the rain, and been wrong in pretty much every arrogant assertion he's made.
Canon Immigrant: This iteration of the character was retroactively declared to be a previously unnamed bot in Transformers: Armada (whom, fittingly enough, was also a blue and orange Jerkass) named Sentinel Minor, while a similar approach was taken to include Sentinel in the Wings Universe comics.
Cassandra Truth: 99% of the time, he's the one who ends up invoking this trope whenever Optimus Prime tries to tell the truth (such as the Allspark being shattered, Decepticons being active on Earth, and Longarm being a Decepticon spy). Most of it comes from being a pompous ass, along with him seeing Optimus as little more than a maintenance bot. He always ends up being proven wrong, much to his chagrin.
Composite Character: Although his name is different, Sentinel's color scheme and his having been friends with Optimus and Elita are drawn from Dion, a friend of Optimus pre-war in The Transformers episode "War Dawn" who was killed by Megatron.
Corrupted Character Copy: Several of his design elements (he's energetic, mostly blue, with a very prominent chin) are based on The Tick, with whom he shares a voice actor. This was done on purpose after said actor was cast for the role. However, whereas the Tick was a goofball who wanted to be a great superhero despite not being very bright, Sentinel is just a racist jerk.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Back when he was a sergeant, he was pretty strict and demanding to all the recruits he supervised.
Drives Like Crazy: He assumes traffic laws only apply to organics. Thus, he'll run every light, cut through cross-traffic, run over parked cars, gets a stop sign jammed in his grill, and during his first drive on Earth, he drove himself off an unfinished overpass.
Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His head (which was the only part of him that they had designed at that point) has a different design in "Transform and Roll Out!", and his body has smokestacks not found on his later full-body shots.
Enemy Mine: Sentinel knows it, but he won't admit it: he really needs Optimus to rescue him every time he's in danger.
Entitled Bastard: He begs Optimus for help in "The Return of the Headmaster" when the Headmaster steals his body in spite of constantly belittling him. Optimus does indeed help him out.
Expy: He's partly inspired by Major Frank Burns.
False Friend: Not only did he allow Optimus to take the fall for Elita-1's demise (which was Sentinel's fault to begin with), but he never showed any kind of gratitude or personal growth after that incident, instead taking every opportunity to belittle Optimus and flaunt his own status as Elite Guard member in his face.
Fantastic Racism: Towards organics. He has a bigger problem with Blackarachnia's organic nature than even Blackarachnia herself does, making severely disgusted comments when he meets her.
- Also of note, he immediately ditched his Earth mode when he got back to Cybertron, whereas Jazz liked his enough to keep it.
Foil: He acts like this to Optimus Prime. Both of them are classmates from the Elite Guard Academy who hold the same rank—the difference is that Optimus washed out (in no small part thanks to Sentinel letting him take the fall for an incident that apparently killed Elita-1) and ended up as a space bridge repair technician, while Sentinel rose to become Ultra Magnus' right-hand bot. While Optimus is a genuine Nice Guy, a Humble Hero, and a Father to His Men that is willing to learn from his mistakes, ends up growing into the guy who took down ''Megatron'' himself, and will not hesitate to protect his friends, even if it means breaking the rules, Sentinel is a major Professional Butt-Kisser to rules and regulations, to the point of being Lawful Stupid. Not only that, he's perhaps the biggest Jerkass in fictional history, holds true to his Never My Fault tendencies, constantly forgets being a jerk is just going to land him in karma's crosshairs, and ends up as the ultimate Military Maverick to turn Cybertron into a totalitarian police state under his thumb. More to the point, Optimus is fascinated with (and devoted to protecting) organic life, while Sentinel hates it with a passion. Perhaps in the biggest contrast between the two, while Optimus at least holds out some hope that Sentinel is a good bot due to their past friendship, Sentinel never misses an opportunity to pass up putting his old buddy down for being a simple maintenance bot. It just goes to show that, when the series ends, Optimus is welcomed as a hero in spite of all the crap he's been put through, while Sentinel is widely despised on Cybertron, and can only sneer at Optimus for having bested Megatron himself.
The Friend Nobody Likes: He may be a tried-and-true Autobot, but it's clear that the Elite Guard barely tolerates him. Ultra Magnus gives him plenty of stern putting-downs, the High Council makes it clear they'd kick him out of the Acting Magnus position if they could, and Jazz just up and leaves to join Optimus' crew the moment he gets the chance.
Giver of Lame Names: Sentinel was responsible for naming both Jetfire and Jetstorm. When he initially names the latter "Jetfire" as well, Jetfire expresses his confusion. Sentinel ends up changing it to Jetstorm, and admits his naming skills are rusty due to not being a drill sergeant for some time.
Glory Hound: His greatest goal in life is to promote himself as being amazing and wonderful. In fact, he's so notorious about it that during his days as a drill sergeant Sentinel Minor, Longarm advises Bumblebee against reporting Wasp to Sentinel as being a possible Decepticon spy and instead work to expose the spy himself, as Sentinel would just take the credit otherwise (though it's also possible Shockwave was worried Sentinel would engage a more thorough investigation that would expose him and encouraged Bumblebee to conduct a search where he could more easily plant evidence framing Wasp).
Good Is Not Nice: He is aligned with the Autobots, so technically he's a good guy, but he's an absolute tool of a mech and a constant vainglorious narcissist with a Never My Fault mentality. He’s also racist against organic creatures.
Grand Theft Me: The Headmaster steals his body, leaving him as just a head. Optimus tries to restrain himself from enjoying the situation too much.
Hate Sink: It seems very likely that the writers were trying to make him dickish on purpose. Aside from being insufferable to the viewers, there isn’t one character who doesn’t find him obnoxious.
In Name Only: Has no real connection to any of the previous versions of Sentinel Prime, being neither a Matrix bearer nor Optimus' predecessor as Autobot leader. Ironically enough, later versions of Sentinel took more after this version, with both Dark of the Moon and IDW's first comic series' version of Sentinel being a Well-Intentioned Extremist, with the latter even taking a level in jerkass that would have given Animated Sentinel a run for his money.
It's All About Me: Sentinel's world begins and ends with Sentinel. Other people's needs? Negligible.
Jerkass: By no stretch of the imagination is Sentinel an okay guy, though at least some of this can be traced to what happened with Elita-1 and the spiders. He is basically what one would get if Zapp Branigan turned into a robot and then became a New Testament Pharisee.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: A crowning example of one. Just when we think he may have redeeming qualities, he tries to destroy Elita-1 when he learns she's become part organic. Though this could also fall into Jerkass Has a Point.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- In "Autoboot Camp", Sentinel is particularly quite hard on Bumblebee for constantly screwing up, and punishes the rest of the cadets by making them all do Transform-ups every time the young bot makes a mistake. He's being unpleasant about it per usual, but considering that Bumblebee makes all these mistakes and lacks both the skill and discipline to be an Elite Guard member, he isn't entirely wrong. It speaks volumes that Bumblebee was able to become a true hero under Optimus Prime and not under Sentinel, since the former helps temper the young bot's more impulsive tendencies.
- In "Five Servos Of Doom", Prowl takes the fact that the primary mods of his prisoners are not on the prisoners as evidence that Sentinel had help from Lockdown. Sentinel shows him the mods and then points out that he'd have to be pretty stupid to let his prisoners keep explosives on them (if only because he's already let it happen).
- His whole approach to Blackarachnia is based on Fantastic Racism, but considering some of her actions, he has a point when he says "Elita-1 went off-line a long time ago."
- He's not wrong in his desire to arrest Wasp - proven innocent of being a spy or not - he is still a dangerous fugitive that needs to be brought in, particularly since Wasp still wants to offline Bumblebee.
Karma Houdini Warranty: In "Endgame: Part 1", in a flashback, Optimus is shown taking the fall for the Elita-1 incident, even though it was Sentinel's idea to go to the organic planet in the first place. As a result, Optimus gets expelled from Autobot Academy, while Sentinel goes on to become a member of the Elite Guard. Karma catches up with him when the Elite Guard arrives on Earth and Sentinel is subjected to frequent humiliations due to his arrogance, contempt of the human race and general Jerkass behavior. Furthermore, in "This Is Why I Hate Machines", when Sentinel attempts to defeat the 'cons, putting the whole planet at risk, the Cybertron High Council actually call Sentinel out for his reckless actions, though are unable to demote him as 'acting Magnus'. By the end of the series, when Optimus and his crew return to Cybertron with Megatron, Shockwave, and Lugnut as prisoners, Sentinel stands glowering amidst a huge crowd of cheering Autobots. Had there been a fourth season, his downfall would have occurred entirely.
Lantern Jaw of Justice: His chin is more pronounced than any other on the show. Making fun of it is his Berserk Button.
Laser Blade: His lightsaber-esque lance.
Laser-Guided Karma: Every time he shows up on Earth, the planet decides to make an example of him.
Losing Your Head: Thanks to the Headmaster, Sentinel was reduced to this while Masterson ran off with his body. Optimus chuckles upon seeing this.
Sentinel Prime: You promised you wouldn't laugh!
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: It can sprout spikes and expand into a wall (or even a bubble).
Manipulative Bastard: Optimus is less a "friend" to Sentinel and more like a tool he'll make use of and then discard when necessary.
Meaningful Name: Received his name from Kup alongside Optimus and Elita-1, due to his vigilance.
Miles Gloriosus: Sentinel likes to flaunt his position to anyone and rub it in their faces, especially Optimus Prime. When Ultra Magnus gets taken down by Starscream, Jazz quickly asks Sentinel what to do since he's next in command after Ultra Magnus, but he was frozen in place, having no idea what to do. Despite all his bragging, Sentinel proved to be an incompetent leader, and when the chips were down, he couldn't back up his big talk. Fortunately, Optimus takes the reigns.
The Neidermeyer: A classical example, complete with delusions of competence. Handled a little differently in that he does suffer for his screw-ups, even if he retains Ultimate Job Security.
Never My Fault: How he reacted to the Elita-1 incident. Optimus did prevent him from going back for her, but the whole trip was his idea in the first place, and Elita-1 was just as eager to tag along. Optimus tried to talk them both out of it. He even let Optimus take the fall for the whole incident during a tribunal.
"This is all your fault!"
- Though when Optimus decides to apologize for not letting him save her, he at least admits he feels like the damage had already been done, albeit worded in a way where he doesn't address having the lion's share of fault for what happened. Best he can do.
"Yeah, I guess I'm sorry too. Sorry we ever went to that stupid planet in the first place. Besides, it's too late for apologies now, Optimus. Too late for all of us."
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The whole Elita-One incident leads to Blackarachnia creating the science of triple-changing, which Blitzwing (and had Season 4 happened, Megatron as well) would use; Blackarachnia helping Shockwave forge a new identity to infiltrate Autobot Intelligence; and Blackarachnia learning how to create techno-organics from transwarp technology and creating two new factions from it. Additionally, had he not taken that shortcut through the storm back to Cybertron, he never would have effectively handed Lugnut over to Megatron, thus giving him the perfect template for his Omega Supreme clones.
Nice Mean And In Between: The mean to Jazz's nice and Ultra Magnus's in-between.
Noble Bigot with a Badge: Emphasis on "Bigot". He detests organics, absolutely despising them, and holds great authority in Autobot society as a member of the military/legal group, the Elite Guard.
Nominal Hero: He's an Autobot, committed to doing his job. Unfortunately he's also a vainglorious, self-serving asshole who treats his colleagues like dirt.
Oh Slag: Says this as a tower falls on him, during a flashback in the episode "Autoboot Camp".
Pet the Dog: He does get one or two such moments during the series, usually brought on by Optimus.
- He begrudgingly thanks Optimus for helping him out and telling Ultra Magnus that he deliberately let the Headmaster take his body to lure him into a trap in "The Return of the Headmaster". He was even willing to let him back into the Elite Guard if Prime cooperated with him, specifically as thanks for covering for him in said incident.
- "Predacons Rising" has him admit to Optimus that he's sorry about his part in the Elita-1 incident, he just doesn't think any of them should really be forgiven by this point.
Politically Incorrect Hero: He's terrified of organics, which results in him being quite dismissive and racist towards them.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Optimus' blue.
The Rival: To Optimus Prime as they were constantly butting heads when Ultra Magnus and his crew arrived on Earth.
Screams Like a Little Girl: When scared, he lets out a surprisingly girlish squeal.
Smug Snake: He constantly overplays his skill and through his arrogance acts nothing more than a petty bully towards every one of his subordinates (except for Ultra Magnus) out of the belief that he is better than everyone.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Sentinel used to be a decent bot until the Elita-1 incident, at which point he threw Optimus under the bus to save his own neck. When they reencounter each other years later, Sentinel shows he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold by still putting Prime down, but Optimus' willingness to take the high ground and various other incidents help Sentinel put the past behind them. Then, when he gets back to Cybertron, he turns into a full-blown dictator that rules the planet with an iron fist.
Tsundere: In his report for "Decepticon Air", he says that he owes his fame and glory to Optimus and that he's a good bot to have around, but he'll never tell him that. He's partly talking about using him as a tool instead of a buddy, but it's a start, we guess.
Unskilled, but Strong: A slight subversion since unlike Optimus, he finished his training and is an official member of the Elite Guard. "The Return of the Headmaster" also shows how strong his body and weaponry are. However, he's too arrogant and lacks real fighting experience to put them to better use.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to stop the Decepticons as much as any Autobot, but he's such an unbearable egotistical jerk and control freak he ends up being just as much of a threat. When he becomes "Acting Magnus", he turns Cybertron into a police state complete with curfews and body searches and declares any opposition to his policies to be treason. He even tries to destroy Omega Supreme when it was controlled by Decepticons despite being told doing so would destroy all of Cyberton.
We Used to Be Friends: With Optimus and Elita-1/Blackarachnia. Though he does regret falling out with the former on some level, he's too arrogant to admit it until "Predacons Rising". The latter he feels is too far gone.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: At least partially because of the incident with Optimus Prime and Elita-1, he absolutely despises organics.
0% Approval Rating: It's clear that, when he's made Acting Magnus following the assassination attempt on Ultra Magnus, no one on Cybertron likes him. The High Council, especially Alpha Trion, make it clear that they would kick him out if they had the authority to do so, and the citizens of the planet are pretty darn miserable and afraid thanks to his rhetoric. If anything, when Optimus Prime shows up with the captured and defeated Megatron, they cheer louder than they ever did for old Sentinel. He doesn't take it well.

Jazz

Voiced by: Phil LaMarr (English), Hideo Ishikawa (Japanese)

"Besides, any species that can come up with a sweet ride like this can't be all bad!"

Jazz is calm and collected and just plain cool. He is a graduate of the Cyber-Ninja Corps and later on, befriends fellow ninja Prowl. Jazz, like Prowl, has an interest in organic life.

Adaptational Badass: Downplayed, as the original was definitely a pretty skilled fighter, but this Jazz is a fully-trained Cyber Ninja.
Alien Arts Are Appreciated: His assessment of human culture is fairly positive, immediately taking a liking to the local Cool Car selection and finding the idea of video games "wild".
Beatnik: He's given a personality and speech patterns to invoke this archetype.
Big Brother Mentor: Resolves to finish Prowl's training, given that the younger bot never finished his apprenticeship due to the fact that Yoketron was murdered.
Cool Car: His Earth alt-mode is one, and he freely admits that any species that could come up with a vehicle that slick couldn't be all bad.
Cool Shades: As with Prowl, it's hard to say if they're really shades or if it's just that his optics invoke the appearance.
Dual Wielding: With laser nunchucks.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: To Sentinel. He's not as egocentric or haughty and is focused more on doing the job.
Improbable Weapon User: Can turn his tailpipes into said nunchucks.
Light Is Good: His primary color is white and between Ultra Magnus and Sentinel, he's the most amiable to Optimus's team. He also lacks the former's rigidness and the latter's overall Jerkass personality.
Nice Guy: He's an overall calm and pleasant-to-be-around person.
Nice Mean And In Between: The nice to Sentinel's mean and Ultra Magnus's in-between.
Ninja: He's a trained Cyber ninja.
Not So Above It All: Judging by his utter lack of reaction to Bumblebee's assessment of Sentinel as a glitch-head, he completely agrees. And he agrees with Bumblebee's Loophole Abuse.
Older Than They Look: Had the same trainer as Prowl did - in fact, he was already a graduated Cyber-ninja before Prowl became apprenticed to Yoketron - making him older than Sentinel (among others).
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A bit more subtle when he deserts Sentinel's crew to be the...
Sixth Ranger: Towards the end of Season 3, he becomes fed up with Sentinel and joins Optimus' team on Earth; had the show continued for a fourth season, he would've continued as a member of the main cast.
Soul Brotha: Is at least following the archetype of the badass and cool black guy in spirit, considering he's an alien robot. His "chinstrap" even evokes the appearance of a soul patch.
Token Good Teammate: Downplayed, but he's the nicest member of the Elite Guard, compared to the aloof and stern Ultra Magnus and the supreme Jerkass Sentinel.

Ultra Magnus

Supreme Commander Ultra Magnus

Voiced by: Jeff Bennett (English), Banjo Ginga (Japanese)

"We're at war, soldier. We do what we must."

The current leader of the Autobots, Ultra Magnus is a straightforward leader. He usually makes decisions that would benefit the Autobots no matter how unethical they may seem, though he has his soft spots, mainly concerning Optimus Prime, in whom he sees potential. He is tragically damaged by traitor Longarm Prime aka Shockwave, and according to the AllSpark Almanac, would have died in season four, making his current position nebulous.

Adaptational Badass: A bit of an Informed Ability given he never fights, but Megatron is at least somewhat intimidated by the idea of fighting him, and Magnus certainly wasn't more powerful than Optimus at any point except when Optimus was on his death bed, nor did he outrank him
An Arm and a Leg: One of the more noticeable parts of the damage from Shockwave's assault is his left arm having been blasted/ripped off.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: It's at least implied that he can dish out quite a beating in an open battle.
Big Badass Rig: His Earth alt-mode (selected by Sentinel) is a huge, heavily armed military munitions truck. It's even less effective at "blending in" than Sentinel's alt-mode.
Big Good: He's the leader of the Autobots and, in stark contrast to Sentinel Prime, a very levelheaded, reasonable, responsible figure.
Celebrity Impersonator: Jeff Bennett does a pretty good impersonation of G1 Ultra Magnus from The Movie (Robert Stack, if you wanted to know).
Character Death: It's left ambiguous in the context of the show, but it's been confirmed that had Season 4 been produced, he would have gone offline from the injuries Shockwave inflicted on him.
Commanding Coolness: Supreme Commander. In this 'verse, "Magnus" is an actual rank and the leader of all Autobots, with "Prime" being a non-exclusive rank equivalent to The Captain.
Disappointed in You: When he's forced to expel Optimus from the Academy, he admits he's staunchly disappointed in his star pupil for having let him down. Even though he pulled some strings to get Optimus a command, he still tells Prime that being a hero is not in his programming when he gets an emergency call from the Prime about having found the Allspark itself, and tells him to stay put. However, he does see that Optimus has admirable qualities as a leader (especially in contrast to Sentinel), and starts to lose this attitude. Had Season 4 been made, he would have told Optimus he was meant to be a hero right before going offline.
- On a more subdued level, his frequent passive-aggressive remarks at Sentinel Prime's less-than-stellar behavior implies he knows Sentinel not only allowed Optimus to take the fall for the incident which seemingly cost Elita-1 her life, but never learned any lesson from it, instead rubbing his elite status in Optimus' face at every opportunity.
Expy: Whoever holds this hammer, if they can deal with that now, shall possess the power of the Magnus... One could say the Magnus Hammer is basically an Expy of Mjolnir, and Animated Ultra Magnus is basically Thor for wielding it. Also, the hammer is the symbol of office for the Magnus, since in this continuity the suffix "Magnus" is a military rank, and they must have the hammer in their possession at all times to be considered the Magnus similar to Mjolnir only granting the power of Thor to whom it deems worthy.
The Extremist Was Right: Using the supplementary materials and the Transwarped three-parter, Ultra Magnus was this for the war, instituting a draft and creating the Supreme-class Autobots, super robots with reduced intelligence so they wouldn't question the destruction they'd bring. Considering that blowing up a planet was considered a Decepticon victory, and the death toll, his actions aren't unreasonable. He also has the ability to rein it in and stop before his methods get too extreme, unlike Sentinel.
Family-Unfriendly Death: He would have been confirmed dead in Season 4. Shockwave had beaten him to death with his own hammer.
Good Is Not Dumb: In spite of his Horrible Judge of Character tendencies with Sentinel, he doesn't think that Sentinel was telling the entire truth during the hearing. It's partially why he makes Optimus a Prime.
Good Is Not Soft: He has made some very questionable decisions during his regime, but he's still unquestionably a hero.
Horrible Judge of Character: Optimus willingly took the blame for the Elita-1 incident, but that doesn't quite explain how Sentinel ended up as Magnus's right hand guy. Granted, he seems to be aware of Sentinel's faults, given his frequent passive-aggressive reprimands of him.
Large and in Charge: The tallest non-Omega Sentinel Autobot on the show.
Mythology Gag: His predecessor, P.C. (or Powered Convoy) Magnus, named and colored after the Diaclone toy, is based on the Robots In Disguise Ultra Magnus.
Nice Mean And In Between: The in-between to Jazz's nice and Sentinel's mean.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice is an impersonation of the late Robert Stack, who voiced the original G1 Ultra Magnus in the 1986 film.
Old Soldier: Was the Autobot Leader during the Great War, from start to finish and then onwards. This makes him older than Ratchet, Brawn, Jazz and Prowl.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He pulled a lot of strings to get Optimus his rank and command and often gives Sentinel a subtle reprimand for his rude and self-centered tendencies.
Supporting Leader: He doesn't show up a lot of the time, but he's still the guy that Optimus Prime is subordinate to.
So Proud of You: Even though he had to expel Optimus from the Elite Guard, he admits that the young bot is still a very capable and worthy leader, more so than Sentinel. Had there been a fourth season, he would have told Prime, shortly before going offline, that he was wrong; being a hero was in his programming.
Thunder Hammer: The Magnus Hammer can summon lightning. Thor-style.
The Worf Effect: Leader and one of the most powerful of the Autobots, capable of raining thunder down from the sky. In his only onscreen fight with a Decepticon Starscream cheap shotted him in the face and knocked him out. Then Shockwave critically injures him offscreen.

Blurr

Voiced by: John Moschitta (English) / Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese)

"I'll warn them even if I have to run halfway across the galaxy to Cybertron to do it!"

Blurr is a member of the Autobot Elite Guard—specifically, a spy tasked with watching over Optimus and crew. With his lightning-fast speed (and speech), no one can keep him down ...except Shockwave.

Adaptation Personality Change: In the original cartoon he was a flighty, silly character. Here he's a no-nonsense elite agent.
Adaptational Badass: Generation One Blurr: comic relief. Animated Blurr: a very powerful and agile member of the Elite Guard.
And I Must Scream:
- He gets crushed into a cube by Shockwave and stays that way until the events of the script reading "The Return of Blurr", where his spark is put into a new body.
- Earlier, in "Velocity", he's shown to have been under Master Disaster's control via an AllSpark fragment in a remote, presumably while conscious. Poor guy barely gets a break in this series.
Back from the Dead: While it's arguable whether he was actually dead per se, The Return of Blurr gives him back a body instead of being trapped in the cube.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Master Disaster controls him via an AllSpark fragment in a remote in "Velocity".
Canon Character All Along: In his first appearance, he remains in vehicle mode and never speaks. While Bumblebee assumed he was a Decepticon, his second appearance revealed he was not only an Autobot, but Blurr.
Chainsaw Good: The weapon his action figure comes with. It doesn't show up in the series, unfortunately.
Determinator: If he has a message important enough, he will traverse the galaxy on wheels to get it to Cybertron. "The Return of Blurr" reveals he escaped the incinerator. But his spark is still trapped in the cube until the events of The Return of Blurr, in which he gets a new body.
Fragile Speedster: In spite of his speed, he's still quite weak.
He Knows Too Much: Shockwave crushes him into a cube because he becomes dangerously close to realizing that Longarm Prime is actually his cover identity to infiltrate the Autobots.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: To Longarm.
Motor Mouth: He speaks very rapidly — not quite as rapidly as his Generation 1 incarnation, in that it's slightly easier to follow exactly what he's saying, and he's capable of slowing down on certain words or sentences for emphasis or clarity. But unlike his Generation 1 counterpart, he never resorts to repeating himself, so where Generation 1 Blurr used a ton of words to say very little, this Blurr crams as much information and exposition as possible into each second of speech.
Mysterious Stranger: A subplot in Season 2 is about who the heck the mysterious blue racecar is or who the driver is. It isn't until the Season 2 finale that he reveals his identity as Blurr, a member of the Autobot Elite Guard.
Sacrificial Lion: Shockwave's disposing of him was done to demonstrate that the Decepticons were still a threat even if the Autobots thwarted their plans in the first two seasons.
Speed Demon: Blurr does everything at a quick pace and expects everyone else to keep up.
Suddenly Voiced: Does not speak or transform during his first appearance while under Master of Disaster's control.
Super-Speed: He is able to move very fast.
Walking Spoiler: The blue racecar in Season 2 is actually an Autobot.

Jetfire & Jetstorm

Jetfire and Jetstorm

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jetstorm_jetfire.png

Jetfire voiced by: Tom Kenny / Kappei Yamaguchi

Jetstorm voiced by: Phil LaMarr (English), Wataru Takagi (Japanese)

"Is time to... double up!"

Twin brothers (if you're wondering how that works for robots, they come from a single spark that split in two) who became the first official flying Autobots after a risky experiment. They are lively and work together.

All There in the Manual: Their backstory is only shown in the sixth issue of the show's tie-in comic "The Arrival", which was only available with their toys, in the series' trade paperback collection, and in digital form from iBooks.
Combining Mecha: They combine into Safeguard.
- And a combined vehicle form, which may also be Safeguard.
Elemental Powers: One for each of them.
- Blow You Away: Jetstorm can control wind.
- Playing with Fire: Conversely, this is Jetfire's ability.
Expy: Of Enryuu and Hyoruu/Choryuujin from GaoGaiGar.
Goggles Do Nothing: Jetfire (like Blitzwing, they're part of his head).
Husky Russkie: They are formidable fighters and speak in Russian accents.
In Name Only: While most characters in the series are somewhat based on older ones, these two don't really have anything in common with older versions of Jetfire or Jetstorm aside from the fact that they fly (the original Jetfire being a giant robot who was once friends with Starscream and a former scientist, while Jetstorm was a Vehicon drone created from the spark of Silverbolt by Megatron). Their designs are actually from a much earlier phase of the series, and weren't intended to be associated with any preexisting character.
Literal-Minded: During their first boot camp session with Sentinel, he orders the two to "transform and roll out". They can transform, alright... but they say they can't roll out, due to their lack of wheels.
Sibling Fusion: Safeguard is the Combining Mecha equivalent
Sibling Team: They're twins who fight together.
Single-Minded Twins: They seldom show any signs of independence.
Sky Surfing: Galaxy Glider-style.
Theme Twin Naming: Their names both begin with "Jet".
- Odd Name Out: Their combined form, Safeguard, does not have "Jet" anywhere in their name.
Voice of the Legion: Safeguard speaks with both Jetfire and Jetstorm's voices simultaneously.
Wonder Twin Powers: They're twins who become a Combining Mecha.
Yes-Man: They seemingly exist solely to be Sentinel Prime's loyal lackeys for carrying out his orders, made most apparent in unhesitantly following Sentinel's order to arrest Ratchet and destroy Omega Supreme despite Ratchet's protests and the Council's indecision.
- The only time they don't follow Sentinel's order is when he ends up being held at gunpoint by Blitzwing, forcing them to surrender with the other Autobots at Optimus' request.

Warpath

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warpat.png

Voiced by: David Kaye (English), Atsushi Imaruoka (Japanese)

"Any Autobot who won't fight Decepticons is no better than a 'Con himself. We're at war."

An Elite Guard member who answered to Yoketron during the Great War. The loss of his master hit him hard, and he's had trouble finding an outlet for his anger since the end of the War. He's even been known to rough up prisoners when he's in a bad enough mood. He does manage to have a healthy relationship with Flareup, thanks to their mutual love of Stuff Blowing Up.

Chest Blaster: True to form, a radar modified into a sonic cannon.
Cold Ham; In a stark contrast to past iterations, this Warpath keeps his voice to a whisper, which does little to hide the contempt when he berates Prowl as a "draft-dodging beatnik".
General Ripper: Shows little sympathy towards Prowl for draft dodging and feels that it's necessary for every Autobot to risk their lives in battling the Decepticons.
Toyless Toyline Character: There was never a toy made for him.
Unexplained Recovery: During the third season: he had an appearance in a flashback. However, he actually had already appeared in a smaller role in another flashback a couple episode earlier than that, namely a dismembered body in the middle of a battlefield.◊ Despite this, he's still in a crowd shot set in modern-day Cybertron.
Verbal Tic: Bam, Pow!

Wheeljack

One of the Elite Guard's top scientists, he's responsible for creating Project: Omega, alongside his fellow scientist Perceptor. Notably more mechanically inclined than his cohort, he's modified his body several times over the years.

Adaptational Curves: He has a noticeably more muscular build compared to his more blocky G1 counterpart.
Canon Immigrant: His beard was added to the Masterpiece-20 Wheeljack toy (through a hidden feature), while the Transformers: Cyberverse iteration of the character received it as well.
The Engineer: There's nothing he doesn't know about mechanical work.
Mad Scientist: A more benign example, he's responsible for co-creating the Autobot's greatest weapon of mass destruction, Omega Supreme. He's also not afraid to use himself as a test subject for extensive body modifications.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He bears a striking resemblance to Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters, although Word of God assures this is pure coincidence.
Robot Hair: He has a pretty sick beard, even though he's a robot.
Toyless Toyline Character: He never received a toy.
The Voiceless: He doesn't speak in any of his appearances in the show.
Weird Beard: Again, he somehow has a beard despite being a robot.

Perceptor

Voiced by: PlainTalk

One of the Autobot's top scientists, he's responsible for co-creating Project: Omega alongside Wheeljack. Though having wiped his emotions to make room for more data, he's still unquestionably the most brilliant mind the Cybertronian Ministry of Science has to offer.

Adaptational Curves: He's a lot more slender and skinny in contrast to how he looked in G1.
Adaptational Intelligence: Downplayed, as the original Perceptor was never dumb by any means, but he was never smart enough to lead the Autobot Ministry of Science before this series.
Book Smart: He's the most brilliant scientist on Cybertron for a reason.
Cool Shades: His scientist's glasses look pretty snazzy.
Emotion Suppression: Invoked. He did this on himself so he could store more scientific data.
Impossible Genius: It was his and Wheeljack's efforts that yielded Jetfire and Jetstorm, despite the fact it was impossible to make Autobots fly.
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: There's virtually no field he doesn't know how to work in (though he usually leaves the mechanical details to Wheeljack).
Shout-Out: His speech pattern is meant to evoke the late Stephen Hawking, who similarly spoke using a voice synthesizer.
The Spock: In a way that would make the Trope Namer jealous, he's managed to delete all of his emotions to make room for more scientific data.
Super-Intelligence: With the smartest mind on Cybertron, he has this down to an art form.
Synthetic Voice Actor: He has one of these provide his voice.
Toyless Toyline Character: He was never given a toy.
World's Smartest Man: The most brilliant mind of all of Cybertron.

Dinobots

Grimlock

Voiced by: David Kaye (English), Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese),

"Dinobots rule!"

Grimlock is the leader of the Dinobots. He and the other Dinobots are simpleminded and aggressive creatures who started out as animatronic dinosaurs for a theme park, which Megatron upgraded with weapons in the hopes of using one of them as a new body. This plan went off the rails when they were brought to life in an accident involving the Key. They tend to get violent very fast the moment they sense hostility, and Prowl is the only one who can calm them down...usually.

Actor Allusion: David Kaye is once again voicing a character who turns into a T-Rex.
Adaptational Dumbass: He is far more savage than even G1 Grimlock, being easily manipulated by the Decepticons on multiple occasions. Likewise, he is a terrible leader for the Dinobots, thus kicking out Snarl for bonding with Scrapper.
Adaptational Villainy: While G1 Grimlock felt envy at Optimus Prime and looked down on his pacifism, he still respected the latter to some extent. Likewise, despite his Blood Knight tendencies, G1 Grimlock did not approve of the Decepticons' cruelty, thus fighting alongside the Autobots. In contrast, this version is an outright Jerkass that often stands against Prime and the others.
Adaptational Wimp: It's safe to say that he isn't quite as strong as his G1 version, being easily cowed by the Magnus Hammer and an upgraded Sari, as well as getting his skid plate kicked by Jetfire and Jetstorm.
Adaptational Origin Connection: He and the rest of the Dinobots were built by Megatron instead of Wheeljack and Ratchet.
BFS: He has a big sword as his main weapon.
Breath Weapon: He breathes fire.
Cool Shades: Like Prowl, it's unclear whether he's wearing shades or if his optic sensors are just shaped that way.
Dumb Muscle: He's very strong, but also not too bright.
Dumb Dinos: Even more than in G1, with villains always taking advantage of this to make him work for them.
Flaming Sword: His sword produces flames.
Hulk Speak/Third-Person Person: He has a limited vocabulary and always addresses himself as "Me Grimlock".
Hypocrite: He declares "Dinobots not pets!" though in one short, he wanted Bulkhead to throw a tree so he could fetch it, and Grimlock outright started behaving like a puppy.
Line-of-Sight Name: Just as the Dinobots were developing sapience, Megatron was talking to himself lamenting his current situation. He noted that his future was "grim, locked in this lab." The tyrannosaurus started repeating the words "grim" and "lock" until he proudly declared, "Me Grimlock!".
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His mannerisms are based on Frankenstein's Monster from the Saturday Night Live sketches. Fitting, because the story behind Grimlock's creation is a play on Frankenstein itself.
"Whoopsie. Fire bad."
Ungrateful Bastard: Despite how much Prowl has done for him, he showed no concern for the Autobot in "Black Friday", being eager to please Blackarachnia instead.

Snarl & Swoop

Snarl and Swoop

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swnarl.png

Grimlock's fellow Dinobots.

Adaptational Dumbass: While the Dinobots are all Dumb Muscle in the original cartoon, they're at least capable of talking. Here, Snarl and Swoop are The Speechless.
Adaptational Villainy: Like Grimlock, these two have no loyalty to the Autobots or their cause, even being eager to murder other lifeforms that "mildly" annoy them.
Adaptational Wimp: Though not as powerful as their leader, the rest of the G1 Dinobots were still more than capable of taking on several average Decepticons in a fight.
Adaptation Name Change: Snarl is actually a new version of the G1 triceratops Slag instead of the G1 stegosaurus, but since other English-speaking countries use "slag" as a derogatory name for females, he was given Snarl's name. Scrapper even lampshades the change.
Adaptation Origin Connection: The Dinobots were built by Megatron instead of Wheeljack and Ratchet.
Adapted Out: The original Snarl, as well as Sludge, were never part of this version of the team^note.
All Animals Are Dogs: Snarl in "Human Error Part 2", when he becomes the pet of a castaway Scrapper.
The Big Guy: Snarl is this in the "Substitute Autobots".
Breath Weapon: Like Grimlock, they can spew flames from their mouths.
Carry a Big Stick: Snarl carries an immense club.
Dumb Dinos: Even more than Grimlock, they can't even speak.
Epic Flail: Swoop wields a bladed flail.
Pokémon Speak: In the Japanese dub, they are able to speak, but only to the extent of saying their own names. Grimlock lampshades this tendency in one of the episode previews.
Silent Partners: Unlike Grimlock, they never speak.
The Speechless: They're never shown speaking at all, and rarely even make animal noises.
Those Two Guys: They're rarely seen apart.

Others

Arcee

Teaching Unit RC-687-040, "Arcee"

Voiced by: Susan Blu (English), Ayahi Takagaki (Japanese)

"Wipe my memory core. Ratchet, the access codes in my processor are crucial to the war effort. If Megatron gets them..."

Formerly a schoolteacher to young Autobots, Arcee became an intel courier during the Great War, tasked with carrying the important codes for Project: Omega, a valuable resource that the Decepticons wanted. This job came to an abrupt end when Ratchet accidentally wiped her memory during the Great War, causing her to suffer amnesia. She isn't seen until later on when Megatron and crew manage to get their hands on her and the code. Fortunately, Sari and Ratchet restore her memory afterwards.

The Ageless: Due to being put into stasis, she hasn't aged a day since the Great War.
Almighty Janitor: She started out as the Autobot equivalent of a kindergarten teacher, and then went on to be a skilled spy and covert operative during the Great War.
And I Must Scream: Subverted. Arcee says that while she may have been in a vegetative state since the Great War, she says in All There in the Manual that she isn't afraid of spending the rest of her life on spark-support and encourages her students to think the same.
Badass Teacher: Uses her swords like it's nothing and helped take down Kremzeek.
Chekhov's Gunman: Thanks to some Arc Welding, she later returns with an important role in the third season.
Dual Wielding: Her toy comes with two short swords. The script outline for Season 4 indicates Ratchet would have made those for her as laser pointers, but he got carried away.
Easy Amnesia: Taking a concentrated electromagnetic pulse directly to the processor specifically calibrated for that purpose will do that to a robot.
He Is Not My Boyfriend: Uses this word for word (talking about Ratchet) in The Return of Blurr. The proposed Season 4 outline implied differently.
Older Than They Look: While being in stasis has preserved her beauty, Arcee is implied to be slightly older than Ratchet (she was an officer while he was a rookie medic during their time spent together in the war).
Only Known by Their Nickname: According to a comment she makes in the third season, her full name is actually Teaching Unit RC-687-040. But she prefers to go by "Arcee".
Ship Tease: With Ratchet. Though the show is more vague as to whether or not she and Ratchet actually have feelings for each other or just feel obligated towards each other, it's hinted at more in the post-show comic, The Return of Blurr (see He Is Not My Boyfriend). The script outline for Season 4 more or less confirms this to be the case.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After she gives Shockwave the information in "Endgame", he rips out her life support and shuts her down. Subverted in that she survives, with Sari and Ratchet able to bring her fully back online.

Wreck-Gar

Voiced by: "Weird Al" Yankovic (English), Mitsuo Iwata (Japanese)

"Did someone say hero? I am Wreck-Gar! I am a hero!"

Wreck-Gar means well, he really does. When he first arrives, he has no idea who he is and what his purpose in life is. He spends the entire episode switching between hero and villain in an effort to find what his life goal is, though in a somewhat unintentional manner. Wreck-Gar literally does whatever he is told — good or bad — with hilarious results. He later becomes an Autobot and tries his darnedest to be the hero he would like to be. His head may not be in the right place, but his spark is.

Actor Allusion:
- In his introductory episode, Wreck-Gar says that he dares to be stupid. Also doubles as a Mythology Gag to the original movie.
- In "Human Error, Part II" he pulls out an accordion, an instrument favored by Al. Sadly, Laserbeak destroys it.
Adaptation Species Change: In the original continuity Wreck-Gar is a "Junkion", from a planet of Junk-robots neighboring Cybertron. Here he's a Transformer given life from Earth trash, although Junkions are still mentioned.
Affably Evil: When he briefly sides with Lugnut or Angry Archer, he still has a warm and friendly demeanor.
Always Introduces Themselves: As a part of his Catchphrase.
Appropriated Appellation: See Line-of-Sight Name.
Awesome Backpack: His backpack can pull a lot of strange things in from Hammerspace.
Casting Gag: "Dare to be Stupid" is a Weird Al song associated with the Junkions. In this show, Weird Al plays the TFA incarnation of the Junkion leader.
Chaotic Stupid: His insanity manifests as doing whatever someone says, regardless of how inconsistent it is from his previous actions.
Cloud Cuckoolander: He's completely nuts and eccentric.
The Fool: While not all there, he's still a very kindhearted person and generally tends to come out on top.
Funny Schizophrenia: His mental disorder is mainly done for the sake of comedy.
Hammerspace: He's somehow able to pull out anything from his trash bucket.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Because he does whatever someone tells him to, he'll always switch sides depending on the allegiance of the last person who told him what to do.
Ink-Suit Actor: His face was drawn to resemble Weird Al's.
Keet: He's energetic and fairly sweet despite his foolish behavior.
Kindhearted Simpleton: He's a fool, but he genuinely wants to be a hero and is nice to everyone regardless of what side they're on (or what he's on).
Line-of-Sight Name: Mixed together from stuff people were yelling at him. When the Angry Archer introduced himself, Wreck-Gar gave his name as "Worthless-wreck-walking-pile-of-garbage"." Angry Archer thought that a bit of a mouthful, so dubbed him "Wreck-Gar" for short.
Literal-Minded: Most of the time. When Sari asks him to cover her in "Human Error, Part II", he drops a blanket on her.
Mad Libs Catch Phrase: "I am Wreck-Gar! I/I'm (insert random action or noun, particularly one he's just been told)!"
Made of Iron: He somehow takes the brunt of Lugnut's Punch Of Kill Everything and survives with nary a scratch. Previously, all of the other Autobots ran like hell whenever Lugnut activated it.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes turn red for a brief time in "Garbage In, Garbage Out" when he declares that he's going to destroy the city, a nod to The Movie and the original Wreck-Gar's toy commercial.
Shout-Out: His head looking like a TV is likely a reference to FLCL, as Word of God has admitted to watching Studio Gainax anime.
Super Gullible: Believes practically anything he's told, even if it contradicts his previous actions.
TV Head Robot: His head resembles an old, boxy television set. He even has two little dial knobs on the side of his helmet.
Uncertain Doom: A deleted scene in "Endgame" would've had Wreck-Gar be affected by the restoration of the AllSpark, with the implication that he would've lost his fragment and died. The canoncity of this scene is debatable.
Verbal Tic:
- "I am Wreck-Gar!"
- He also has the tendency to go "right." when he's been told to do something. It's a bit more subtle than his tic above, though.
Vibrant Orange: Wreck-Gar is primarily orange and red, and has a simple-minded yet cheery and energetic personality.

Orion (Spoilers)

Omega Supreme

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson (season two) and Phil LaMarr (season three) (English), Tesshō Genda (Japanese)

"I AM... OMEGA SUPREME."

The current ship of Optimus Prime's crew, codename Orion, Omega Supreme was part of a huge project against the Decepticons during the Great War. He nearly lost his spark during the Final Battle and ended up comatose in ship form. Ratchet is his linked partner and constantly keeps him well-maintained.

Arm Cannon: Both of his arms end in weapons. He was built to blow things up, after all.
Composite Character: His alt mode pretty much the ''Ark'' in all but name, and did originally serve a similar purpose in this show before the reveal of what he was.
Cool Starship: At first glance, a beat-up repair ship. In reality, an Autobot war machine.
Dumb Muscle: He was deliberately designed with a simplistic processor to prevent him from questioning the commands of his mentor-bot...or thinking too hard about the number of deaths he'd be responsible for.
Giant Robot: He's definitely bigger than most of the other Autobots.
Heroic Sacrifice: Twice. He survives both of them, but the first one puts him in modified stasis for millions of years.
I Am Not a Gun: Omega and the other sentinels were built to be war-ending WMDs by desperate Autobots. While Omega couldn't avoid this, he was at least able to reflect on the contradiction of his actions.
Omega: You taught me to protect like an Autobot, but all I did was destroy like a Decepticon
Ratchet: We do what we must...even if sometimes it doesn't make sense.
It's What I Do: "I am programmed to protect... and sacrifice, if necessary."
Last of His Kind: Omega is the last surviving and active Omega Sentinel, with Steelhaven/Sigma Supreme being used as a regular spaceship.
Meaningful Echo: "We do what we must, even if it sometimes doesn't make sense."
Meta Mecha: He doubled as the Autobots' spaceship and Ratchet and Sari ride him during the events of the second season finale.
Not Afraid to Die: He is far more concerned about what his size and weapons might do to his allies and the people under his protection than his own life.
"I am programmed to protect and sacrifice if necessary."
Older Than They Look: Despite his naive mannerisms, Omega is yet another Autobot who participated in the Great War, millions of years before the events of the show take place.
Person of Mass Destruction: He's basically a giant sentient weapon.
Sapient Ship: Once some AllSpark fragments are used to revive him.
Toyless Toyline Character: There is no toy of him.
Walking Spoiler: It's not until the second season finale that it is revealed that the ship the Autobots are in at the start of the series is sentient.

Wasp(inator)

Wasp / Waspinator

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wasp_7.png

^Click to see Waspinator.

Voiced by: Tom Kenny and Bumper Robinson ("Where is Thy Sting?") (English), Kenji Nojima (as Wasp), Kenso Kata (as Waspinator) (Japanese)

"Wasp not thing, Wasp upgrade! Spider-bot Wasp friend... make Wasp powerful... make Wasp... Waspinator!"

A former Autobot who worked alongside Bumblebee and Bulkhead in Autoboot Camp, Wasp is a cocky little guy who often got on the latters' nerves. After overhearing a Decepticon spy communicating with Megatron, Bumblebee accused Wasp of being said spy, leading to his imprisonment—thanks to some evidence planted by the real deal. Wasp eventually escapes (again with the help of the real spy) but he's not the bot he used to be. One thing is clear: He will get his revenge on Bumblebee!

Adaptational Badass: This incarnation of Wasp/Waspinator is much, much scarier and more villainous than the Waspinator in Beast Wars, who was mostly the Chew Toy of the series, being blown apart frequently.
Adaptation Origin Connection: The original Waspinator was a Predacon—a descendant of the Decepticons—whose connection to the Autobots was merely part of Megatron's plan to wipe them out by killing Optimus Prime as he lay in stasis, and Blackarachnia was his fellow subordinate. Here, he used to be an Autobot until getting framed by Shockwave as a spy for the Decepticons, and ends up being mutated by Blackarachnia into his more familiar form.
Anti-Villain: When you don't focus too much on his obsession with getting even with Bumblebee, he's not such a bad guy.
Arch-Enemy: To Bumblebee.
Asshole Victim: Subverted, although he is something of a Jerk Jock at boot camp, even he didn't deserve most of what he got put through.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Considering he was a fugitive completely alienated by every Autobot he comes across, it's no wonder minimal amounts of kindness from Blackarachnia earned her his loyalty as Waspinator. That is, until finding out he was nothing more than a guinea pig for her experiments.
Big Creepy-Crawlies: Duh. He's a giant wasp.
Butt-Monkey: Much like his Beast Wars counterpart, although in this series, it's not played for laughs. He ended up getting framed for being a Decepticon spy, going to jail for 50+ years, and went insane. And then he is tricked into becoming a techno-organic monstrosity by Blackarachnia and explodes into pieces on what may or may not be a version of the prehistoric Earth from Beast Wars. Like his predecessor, he lives through the dismemberment, but the scene of him trying to pull himself back together is terrifying rather than comedic.
Canon Character All Along: When first introduced, he initially just appears to be a Canon Foreigner who's an Autobot Expy of Waspinator, but by the end of his introduction episode he takes on speech patterns and develops design elements that reveal that he's actually this series' incarnation of the unfortunate bug-bot.
Cassandra Truth: Despite pleading that he isn't the spy, apparently, nobody believed him for quite a while. Then again, considering Longarm/Shockwave managed to become chief of Autobot Intelligence, it can be assumed he tied some strings together to make it hard for Wasp to prove his innocence.
Cosmic Plaything: Nothing seems to go right for him and his situation keeps getting worse.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the original Waspinator, he takes some of the original's iconic characteristics, but with a horrifying twist. His quirky speech patern is the result of going insane at the hands of the stockade run by the Autobots and seeing him blown up to pieces is rather horrifying than funny.
Distracted by the Sexy: When Wasp first meets Blackarachnia he just stares at her and gibbers inanely.
Driven to Villainy: He became evil because of all he's been through after being framed for being a Decepticon spy.
Evil Counterpart: Right down to sharing the same body type, he's portrayed as this for Bumblebee.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Both in-universe and in a meta sense. He started out as just another Autobot recruit before becoming a very dangerous wasp monster. The meta sense is that the Waspinator of the Beast Era was just incompetent comic relief, while this version is actually a threat.
Hate Sink: While he's ultimately innocent of the crimes he was framed for and did seem to be friends with Ironhide, he was also a smarmy jerk who liked to flaunt his superiority over everybody else. Shockwave seemed to use this unpleasant personality to his advantage, given how he readily frames Wasp when Bumblebee accidentally presents him the opportunity.
Hidden Agenda Villain: He mentions having plans when we last see him, but the show got canceled before we could learn what they were.
Homage: Does combining with an insect through the use of teleportation technology sound familiar to you?
Irony: He does a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal in both continuities, but in Beast Wars he leaves the bad guys, and here he leaves the good guys (okay, the neutral guys).
Jerkass: Before going crazy, he was this. From the moment he met Bumblebee on the streets of Cybertron, the first thing he said to him was insulting his height, in spite of them sharing the same model.
Jerk Jock: As Wasp, he constantly bullied Bumblebee. This made it all the easier for Bumblebee to assume that he was the Decepticon spy.
Meaningful Name: Received his, alongside Ironhide from Sentinel in boot camp, for his incredibly accurate shooting with his stingers.
Mythology Gag: There are many similarities between this version of Wasp and the Beast Wars incarnation. It could even be said that his misfortune of being thrown out of the academy and into the stockades referenced the original incarnation's misfortune of being The Chew Toy.
Waspinator: Waspinator not go offline. Waspinator has planzzz...
The Nicknamer: After going nuts, he has a hard time using names, instead nicknaming them. Examples include "Bumblebot" for Bumblebee, and "Spider Lady" for Blackarachnia.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: When he turns into Waspinator he doesn't seem to be falling over Blackarachnia, and with the discovery of her using him he proceeds to brutally beat her until the transwarp build up stops him.
One-Winged Angel: Normally, scanning a new form doesn't count, but when the result is a towering, monstrous behemoth of a transformer, it definitely does.
Painful Transformation: The experiment that makes him Waspinator is not pretty.
Palette Swap: He was forged from the same protoform mold as Bumblebee. He takes this further by scanning the same Earth mode as Bumblebee as part of his revenge scheme.
Red Herring Mole: Bumblebee thought that he was the traitor reporting to the Decepticons. He's innocent and the real culprit is Longarm Prime/Shockwave.
Revenge Before Reason: Cares more about getting even with Bumblebee for ruining his life than redeeming himself and proving his innocence of being a Decepticon spy.
The Rival: To Bumblebee when they were cadets.
Sanity Slippage: When first seen in the present time, he's clearly become less mentally stable and has an unnerving obsession with making Bumblebee suffer for unintentionally ruining his life.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: States that even with skills, what really matters is who you know. It's never indicated if he does have any good connections, but impressing Sentinel at the boot camp may have been part of his plans to build said connections. On the other hand, it foreshadows Bumblebee trying to find out who the spy is to improve his reputation.
Shock and Awe: Stingers, same as Bumblebee. He retains them after becoming techno-organic, with all the associated power boosts.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Ends up on the receiving end of it when he tries to frame Bumblebee as being the sole guilty party in his downfall. Bulkhead was quick to point out that he was a Jerkass through and through.
Spot the Imposter: To tell between Wasp and Bumblebee after Wasp switches around their appearances, Bulkhead has them play a fighting video game, citing Bumblebee as the best player. Since Wasp knows he would lose, he makes a break for it instead, which ends up exposing himself as the imposter.
That Man Is Dead: "Wasp forgive Bumblebot... but Waspinator NEVER forgive!"
Third-Person Person: By the show's present, he's taken to talking like his BW incarnation. And unlike Beast Wars, it is NOT played for laughs, being a result of the toll untold stellar cycles locked in the Stockade had on his psyche.
Those Two Guys: With Ironhide. At least until he was arrested, and Ironhide quickly changed his demeanor.
Took a Level in Badass: He's still the universe's Chew Toy, but in a much darker and less amusing way, which makes his transformation to Waspinator all the more terrifying.
Troubled Fetal Position: How the now damaged Wasp is first seen after escaping the stockade. Rocking himself and muttering about vengeance.
Unpleasant Animal Counterpart: A robot named after (and later fused with) a wasp is the Evil Counterpart to a robot named after a bumblebee.
Wham Line: At the end of "Autoboot Camp", Wasp mutters to himself in a similar speech pattern to Beast Wars Waspinator, hinting that Wasp will somehow become just like his original incarnation...and boy does he.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Since he spent most of his life being wrongly accused of being a Decepticon spy, it's hard not to sympathize with him even after what he's become.

Yoketron

Voiced by: George Takei (English), Kinryū Arimoto (Japanese)

"You must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past."

Prowl's former master, Master Yoketron was the head of the Cyber-Ninja Corps. He trained a then-punkish Prowl in the ways of the ninja, humbling him in the process. He planned to make Prowl his successor after his pupil mastered the Processer-over-Matter technique, but he was brutally murdered by Lockdown while Prowl was on an optics quest.

Cool Helmet: Lockdown certainly thought so.
Death by Origin Story: His death is part of Prowl's backstory.
Mind over Matter: Or rather, "processor over matter". It took Prowl a few thousand years to get the hang of this without him.
Ninja: He was the head of the Cyber-Ninja Corps.
Old Master: He trained Jazz, Prowl, and others in the ways of the Cyber-Ninja.
Toyless Toyline Character: He does not have a toy.
Tuckerization: He's named after Hideaki Yoke, Takara's lead designer.
Unwanted Revival: Prowl attempted to save his spark by moving it to one of the few protoforms Lockdown hadn't stolen. Yoketron wasn't pleased, and lectured his disciple that he shouldn't sacrifice the future to bring back the past before dying again.

Alpha Trion

Voiced by: Phil LaMarr (English), Kenta Miyake (Japanese)

The Head of the Civilian Guilds on the Autobot High Council. Probably the oldest Transformer around. Not a fan of Sentinel Prime.

Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: He's usually Optimus Prime's mentor in other continuities, while here the two of them have no connection whatsoever.
Badass Cape: Sports one like his G1 counterpart.
Hero of Another Story: Is implied to have fought in many battles across the millions of years he's been online.
Jurisdiction Friction: He's aligned with the civilian guilds and clashes with military commander Sentinel.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Plays this to Sentinel's antics and entirely justified in this case.
Only Sane Man: One of the few authority figures on Cybertron to keep his head in the face of crisis
Reasonable Authority Figure: Refused to buy into Sentinel's propaganda and makes a point to listen to Ratchet's expertise, giving him and Fanzone the credit for ending the crisis.
Robot Hair: Sports his traditional beard.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers a scathing one to Sentinel after he nearly blows up Omega Supreme, saying that if it was up to him alone, Sentinel wouldn't be Magnus a second longer.

Cliffjumper

Voiced by: David Kaye (English), Itsushi Imaruoka (Japanese)

An officer in Autobot Intel, working directly under Longarm Prime and the Elite Guard.

Ambiguous Situation: An episode in Season 4 would've been about Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ironhide, Waspinator, Shockwave, and Sentinel — all members of the same cadet platoon (or in charge, in Sentinel's case) being targeted by an unknown assailant. The Collector's Club Magazine shows a troubling image of a shadowed Cliffjumper with Shockwave's eye on his forehead while there are silhouettes of an uncertain Bumblebee & Waspinator in the background...
Hypercompetent Sidekick: In comparison to the Elite Guard's head-in-the-sand management and Longarm actually being a spy, he seems to do his job fairly well if the Elite Guard and the Council likes him.
Mythology Gag:
- According to All There in the Manual, he doesn't trust Mirage, just like in the episode, "Traitor", from Generation 1.
- Per usual, he shares a body type with Bumblebee.
Palette Swap: He shares the same body mold as Bumblebee.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's fairly level-headed when talking to figures of higher or equal authority, such as requesting Sentinel to return to Cybertron as soon as possible after Ultra Magnus is assassinated and wanting to give proper credit to the right bot for catching the Decepticon fugitives on Earth.
Unwitting Pawn: Longarm requests him to throw away a mysterious blue box... which is actually a crushed and still-alive Blurr. Subverted later in "The Stunticon Job" in that he's seen holding Blurr, suggesting he realized something wasn't right.
Vocal Evolution: His voice varies in each of his appearances, from gruff to normal-sounding.
You Are in Command Now: He is placed as the acting head of Autobot Intel after Longarm is revealed to be Shockwave. He may be promoted to Prime later.

Team Athenia

Rodimus Prime

Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime

Voiced by: Judd Nelson (English), Hiroya Ishimaru (Japanese)

"You'll have to get past me first, Decepticreeps!"

Hot Rod, later Rodimus, earned the attention of the higher-ups before he even finished boot camp, and he was accepted into Autobot Academy long before any of his campmates. Everyone seems to agree he's destined for big things... if he survives his first encounter with the Decepticons, that is.

The Ace: If his magazine bio is to be believed, Rodimus is popular, well-versed in several forms of armed and unarmed combat, and was even nicknamed "The Chosen One" in the Academy (see below).
Big Brother Mentor: Implied to be this, especially to Hot Shot, in comparison to Optimus's status as Team Dad of his own team.
The Chosen One: Additional material indicates that Rodimus is most likely to become the next Magnus. Or that's at least what everyone believes.
Determinator: His entire team is defeated while defending a space bridge, and he winds up surrounded by much larger Decepticons. His response?
Rodimus: You'll have to get past me first, Decepti-creeps!
Energy Bow: He uses a bow of energy to fire arrows.
Foil: To Optimus. Both of them are young promising Primes from the Autobot Academy, but Optimus fell out of favor when it was believed that he had done wrong (but in actuality took the blame because of his good spark) while Rodimus was initially seen as a punk but later respected as an up and coming leader.
Former Teen Rebel: According to the Allspark Almanac, he was quite a rebellious bad boy back at the Academy, until he proved his drill instructor Kup wrong by jumping on a grenade that got loose and went live. It turned out to be a dud, but he started maturing from that point forward.
Hero of Another Story: Another young and promising Prime from the Autobot Academy that leads another group of Autobots.
Jumping on a Grenade: He did this in boot camp to protect his drill sergeant, Kup, from a stray grenade. It turned out to be a dud, but neither of them had any way of knowing that. Kup was touched by the gesture.
Large Ham: Judd Nelson makes the most of his minute of screentime.
Rodimus: You'll have to get through me first! DECEPTICREEPS!
Meaningful Name: Received his name from Kup in boot camp for his punk attitude and the flames on his chest.
Mythology Gag: His team being based on Athenia while the rival Decepticon team is based on Chaar is a reference to Headmasters, where Rodimus lead an Autobot team on Athenia against the rival Decepticon team on Chaar.
Not So Above It All: Though it has yet to be confirmed as canon, some art by staff suggests that Rodimus still hasn't totally matured despite being a Prime, such as this piece◊ by Matt Youngberg.
Shout-Out: He resembles Hawkeye in appearance and weapon choice.
Unexplained Recovery: Fell victim to Oil Slick’s cosmic rust attack, but showed up completely fine in "Decepticon Air" and "Endgame, Part 2". The comics reveal that there's a cure for cosmic rust, so it can be assumed it was administered to him.
You Shall Not Pass! / Go Through Me: After the rest of his team has been disabled, he tells Team Chaar they'll have to get past him to get to the space bridge. Oil Slick, unimpressed, takes him out with a vial of cosmic rust.

Hot Shot

Voiced by: Bill Fagerbakke (English), Kōsuke Okano (Japanese)

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

Team Athenia's own Bumblebee, Hot Shot's speed and recklessness lead to him spending more time in the medbay than any other member, much to Red Alert's exasperation. Why Rodimus thinks he has command potential, she can't imagine.

An Arm and a Leg: Strika's bomb damages his leg so severely that Red Alert says she needs to amputate it. She's yanked away before she can finish, and he remains out of the fight. He gets better.
Fire-Breathing Weapon: He has flamethrowers in his arms.
Fragile Speedster: While fast, he's still pretty vulnerable and is taken down in one hit during his debut.
Funny Background Event: In "The Stunticon Job", he can be seen cheering on the Stunticon show while Red Alert sits right next to him stoically.
Mythology Gag: He's based off of his appearance in Cybertron, and his flame throwers are a reference to his flame decos in the Robots In Disguise anime.
Primary-Color Champion: His color palette is yellow, blue, and red, and he's heroic enough that Rodimus thinks he could be a commander one day.
Southern-Fried Private: He has a Southern accent.
Street Urchin: Though it's only vaguely implied at best.
This Is Gonna Suck: His reaction to Red Alert needing to amputate his leg, followed by Rodimus falling victim to the cosmic rust attack emended upon him by Oil Slick just reads “Well, we’re screwed.”
Toyless Toyline Character: He was close to getting one, but the show was cancelled before it could be released.

Brawn

Might over microchips.

Voiced by: Corey Burton (English; grunts only), Takashi Nagasako (Japanese)

Smaller than Bumblebee, stronger than Bulkhead. Do not cross.

The Big Guy: The most aggressive member of Team Athenia.
Meaningful Name: He's very strong.
Old Soldier: Supplementary materials reveal that he was one of the Great War veterans. In one comic set during Ratchet's early days as a medic, Brawn was already one of the high-ranking Autobot officers reporting directly to Ultra Magnus.
Pintsized Powerhouse: He may be small, but he's still very formidable.
Toyless Toyline Character: He does not have a toy.
The Voiceless: He doesn't speak and only grunts.

Red Alert

Voiced by: Tara Strong (English), Rikako Aikawa (Japanese)

"I'm gonna have to amputate. Don't worry, Cybertron Service will issue a replacement leg within six to eight solar cycles."

R.A is less of a Combat Medic than Ratchet, but she lived through the height of the Great War and created a cure for Gold Plastic Syndrome along the way. Her teammates appreciate her dedication, although her bedside manner leaves something to be desired.

An Arm and a Leg: She lost her left arm in the Great War, but replaced it with a surgical tool.
Caped Mecha: Her kibble resembles a labcoat, although it's actually part of her vehicle mode.
Foil: To Ratchet. Both served in the Great War, though Ratchet was a Combat Medic while Red Alert was more on the doctor/scientist side. While both would serve important roles in scientific developments, Red Alert is more well-known for her contributions while Ratchet does not receive attention out of a combination of maintaining the secrecy of his role and being troubled by the war. In addition, Ratchet was an ordinary medic until he was assigned to help Arcee while Red Alert became known for actions she performed on her own.
Gender Flip: Previous incarnations of Red Alert have all been male, here the character is a female.
The Medic / The Smart Girl: She helped upload the twins with Starscream's flight tech.
Mythology Gag:
- She's based off of her appearance in The Transformers, but is a medic and lost her hand like her Armada incarnation.
- Her profile in "The Allspark Almanac" indicates she found a cure for "Gold Plastic Syndrome", which, in real life, is a common phenomenon where Transformers toys made with more metallic paint end up crumbling to pieces.
- Another Autobot named "Flashpoint" shares her body type, with Flashpoint being the Animated incarnation of Red Alert's old G1 partner Inferno (who had to be renamed due to plans to use the more villainous version of the character).
The Smurfette Principle: The only female member of Team Athenia.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's not very sensitive towards her patients, but is still a decent person deep down.
Swiss-Army Appendage: After losing her left arm to a Decepticon boobytrap, she replaced it with a Transfer Interlink that can form Hard Light surgical equipment.
Team Mom: Implied, despite her Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
Toyless Toyline Character: She doesn't have a toy.

Ironhide

Voiced by: Corey Burton (English), Atsushi Imaruoka (Japanese)

"Hit me with everything you got, sir!"

Ironhide was protoformed in a rural prefecture on one of Cybertron's moons, and he was in the same boot camp squad as Bumblebee, Bulkhead, "Longarm", and Wasp. His pranks can get a little crude, but he's generally a decent "country" bot.

Adaptational Dye-Job: He's orange in Animated while he was red in the G1 cartoon (though this could be to contrast him from Ratchet).
Age Lift: Not especially obvious with him being a giant robot and all, but unlike G1 Ironhide, who was one of the older bots, here he has a younger-sounding voice and was in the same boot camp as Bumblebee and Bulkhead (the two youngest bots on Optimus' team).
Ascended Extra: Had the series gotten a fourth season, he would've joined the main cast and scanned an Earth mode, taking Bulkhead's place ^note
Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed and zig-zagged, but as a recruit into the Elite Guard, he was shown to be particularly unkind to Bumblebee and Bulkhead for no good reason, whereas the original was more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. By the present day, he's become a lot nicer, especially since one of his fellow cadets was (framed into being) a Decepticon traitor.
Chrome Champion: He's capable of turning his body super-hard.
Dub Name Change: In Japan, Bulkhead is now called "Ironhide", so this Ironhide is now "Armorhide".
Jerk Jock: With Wasp as an Autobot cadet. Unlike Wasp (or Sentinel), he Took a Level in Kindness.
Meaningful Name: Ironhide is a pretty appropriate name for an Autobot who can harden his armor. Justified since Autobots are, in this continuity, named at boot camp after demonstrating their abilities and/or personality.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice is based on Huell Howser.
Reused Character Design: The same body type as Ratchet, only with a different head design. Had there been a fourth season, he would have adopted a form mixing his Bayverse and G1 counterparts.
Shout-Out: His transmutation ability is similar to that of X-Men character Colossus.
Southern-Fried Private: He speaks in a Southern accent and is part of an Autobot task force.
Took a Level in Kindness: After attending boot camp, he becomes a nicer 'bot, presumably because Wasp supposedly being a Decepticon spy made him realize that Wasp was the bad crowd.

Other Autobots

Rattletrap

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rattrap_1.jpg

Voiced by: Tom Kenny (English), Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese)

A street bot who is reputed as being able to get anything one can ask for.

Adaptational Name Change: Most continuities call him "Rattrap," but since he's not a (physical) rat, he's called "Rattletrap" here.
Adaptational Wimp: The original Rattrap was a Cowardly Lion who could get down and dirty when he needed to, even if he knew his own skin was on the line. Rattletrap is an easily intimidated coward who will gladly sell out to save his own skin.
Adaptation Personality Change: His inspiration was the most vocally anti-Predacon/Decepticon member of the Axalon. The unproduced episode Trial of Megatron depicts him almost as a Decepticon sympathizer, defending Megatron at trial successfully as his lawyer, and threatening to sue Sentinel Prime for his crummy treatment of Decepticon prisoners.
Adaptation Species Change: Sort of. He's an Autobot rather than the descendant of one.
Adapted Out: He's unable to turn into an organic mode (hence the name change).
Con Man: He has some shades of this, as the key accessing the medical facilities that he's forced to give to Ratchet and Fanzone is a dud.
Hidden Depths: In the unproduced season 4 premier, Trial of Megatron, he shows himself to be a very competent (if sleazy) lawyer, as he manages to get Megatron's charges down to "Assault on a space bridge repair ship", something Sentinel likens to a parking ticket. Rattletrap successfully argued that the terms of surrender dictated that the Decepticons agreed to be banished from Cybertron in lieu of being prosecuted for their war crimes, while Megatron's actions on Earth were outside Autobot jurisdiction.
The Informant: Pay him (or scare him) right, he'll give you whatever you want.
Jerkass Has a Point: In the unproduced episode Trial of Megatron, he threatens to sue Sentinel Prime for the terrible prison conditions of the Decepticon prisoners. Considering the animatics depict them as barely being able to fit in their cells and they're locked in Stasis Cuffs and muzzled, and Wasp's own imprisonment drove him insane in a "mere" 50 years (Cybertronians have lifespans in the millions), the conditions really are horrible.
Mythology Gag: Aside from being Rattrap in all but name, he's apparently in a relationship with Botanica.
Palette Swap: With Ransack.
Toyless Toyline Character: He has no toy in this line.

Lickety-Split

One of Macaddam's waitresses, who seeks to become an athlete.

Canon Foreigner: She was created for the show.
Celeb Crush: Buzz Lightyear.
Goal in Life: She wants to participate in the Tour de Orgenon, win a golden disk, then either beat the record of (or mate with) Buzz Lightyear.
Mythology Gag: Her goal is to win a Golden Disk from the Tour de Orgenon.
Shout-Out:
- Her name is one to a character from My Little Pony.
- Her idol is described as being the seven-time winner of the Galactic Olympics, Buzz Lightyear.
Toyless Toyline Character: She doesn't have a toy.

Grandus

Voiced by: Jeff Bennett

A giant Autobot who's renowned throughout Cybertron as a legendary sumo wrestler.

Adaptational Curves: His Japanese counterpart looked like a standard Transformer. This one is depicted as being much more heavy-set.
Canon Immigrant: He hails from the Japanese-exclusive Return Of Convoy toyline, marking his first appearance in American animation.
Fan Boy: Of Rosanna. She wrote a song about him in return.
I Am Big Boned: He doesn't say this directly, but he takes offense when, in The Stunticon Job, Sentinel mentions he's laid enough explosives out to create a whole bigger than Grandus' exhaust port.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: His voice is an impersonation of Paul Lynde.
Screams Like a Little Girl: Despite his massive size, he has a surprisingly high-pitched scream when frightened.
Signature Team Transport: Of the Elite Guard during public transport of Decepticon prisoners.
Sumo Wrestling: He was trained by Master Yoketron in this art, and is famous for it on the planet.
Toyless Toyline Character: He has no toy in this line.

Hoist

A noted Autobot actor.

Adaptational Job Change: Goes from a mechanic in Generation 1 to an actor in Animated.
All There in the Manual: Unidentified in the show itself, his name is confirmed in the Allspark Almanac.
Mythology Gag: Him being an actor in this continuity homages the G1 episode "Hoist Goes Hollywood".
Toyless Toyline Character: He doesn't have a toy.
You Don't Look Like You: He bears little resemblance to the original Hoist, instead appearing as a "Decepticon" in a public service announcement put together by the Elite Guard.

Beachcomber

Voiced by: Tom Kenny (deleted scene only)

A simple Autobot who's also a major recreational drug user.

Adaptational Wimp: The original Beachcomber, though a pacifist, was still a very devoted member of the Autobot cause and had some use. This Beachcomber is a completely stoned-out Autobot who wouldn't be useful even on a good day.
Butt-Monkey: Had the writers gotten their way, he would have died in Season 3 at Shockwave's hands. Season 4 was originally planned to open with him being killed off by Blackout. If that didn't pan out, he would have died in Season 5. The writers really didn't like him.
Mythology Gag: Amongst the multiple drugs he uses are Angolmois energy from Beast Wars Neo, and The Headmasters's Crysmagnetal.
Noodle Incident: He apparently crashed into Tracks' garage once. And Sideswipe has a profile on him, suggesting he's been arrested at least once.
Stoners Are Funny: The entire reason for his existence was to provide this trope. And to kill him off.
Surfer Dude: Apparently speaks in this manner.
Toyless Toyline Character: He never got a toy in this series.
Weird Beard: He's a robot who has a beard.

Tracks

Voiced by: Townsend Coleman

A highly noted Autobot fashionista, who's never one to keep company with those he considers below his impossibly high standards.

Camp Straight: He's as flamboyant as his G1 counterpart, but is stated in the AllSpark Almanac books to be attracted to Botanica.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite being an egotist, he's capable of going toe-to-toe with the biggest bots around—and all without getting a scratch!
Gossipy Hens: A rare male example, he loves to talk about the latest rumors.
It's All About Me: He will never be seen in the company of any other bot that fails to meet his standards of perfection
Noodle Incident: Apparently Beachcomber crashed into his garage one time.
Palette Swap: With Road Rage.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He runs for the hills when he sees Captain Fanzone hanging around.
Toyless Toyline Character: He lacks a toy in this line.
Watch the Paint Job: He's so obsessed with maintaining his immaculate state that he fights hard to keep it that way.

Comics & the Almanac

Afterburn

If your first thought was "Who?", this guy only appeared in the UK comics.

The Ace: He shows up the other Autobots and comes off as very competent and badass.
Alas, Poor Villain: Bumblebee feels sorry for him after Megatron kills him.
Canon Foreigner: Only appears in the short-lived Titan Comics adaptation.
Family-Unfriendly Death: Megatron rips him in two and then blasts his top half.
The Mole: He's actually a minion of Megatron.
Toyless Toyline Character: He does not have a toy.
You Have Failed Me: Megatron destroys him for failing to destroy the Autobots from within. Which leads to...
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Megatron no longer needed him after he proved to be ineffectual.

Cheetor

Voiced by: Gregg Berger (BotCon 2012), Briam Orms (BotCon 2015)

A glory-seeking street cop. After attempting to arrest two troublemakers despite them not having caused any trouble, he was reassigned from Transtech to Iacon Central to be partnered up with Sideswipe.

Adaptation Species Change: Sort of. His original iteration was a Maximal—an Autobot descendant. This version is simply an Autobot.
Adapted Out: As he's an Autobot this time around instead of a Maximal, he cannot change into an organic mode. And seeing as the only way that's happened is thanks to some very nasty circumstances, he's probably lucky in that regard.
Casting Gag: Initially voiced by Gregg Berger, who also voiced Hunter, an actual Cheetah, in the Spyro the Dragon games.
Meaningful Background Event: The spots weren't always there; he got them when he spilled paint while chasing down Crumplezone and Ransack.
Mythology Gag: Numerous towards Beast Wars.
- Depth Charge is his boss. In Beast Wars, Depth Charge was his senior, though not boss.
- Upon Rattletrap asking him to be gentle on him and perhaps even team up with him, Cheetor snarks "Maybe in another life."
- In an unusual example of this, his design, a redeco of Blurr, was based on concept art of the original Cheetor for a planned Beast Machines sequel, Transtech.
Palette Swap: Of Blurr. He was originally supposed to have the same head mold as Blurr as well, though his finalized appearance has him have a unique head mold.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Depth Charge reassigns him to quiet Iacon Central, where surely he won't get into any more trouble...

Sideswipe

Voiced by: Neil Ross (BotCon 2010), John Moscitta (BotCon 2015)

A senior investigator for the Cybertron Police Defense Command in Iacon Central.

Adaptational Dye-Job: Most Sideswipes' are painted red. He used to be red in his younger days, but wears his G2 colors in his old age.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Zig-zagged, but the original Sideswipe was brothers with Sunstreaker. In this version, they're still related, but thanks to some time-travel shenanigans, Sunstreaker is his sister this time around.
Grumpy Old Man: Similar to Ratchet in this way.
Knight in Sour Armor: Sideswipe is another jaded war veteran, but still chose to devote 30,000 years of his life to police service following the Great War.
Mythology Gag: His color scheme is based on his Generation 2 look. He used to have his more familiar red in his younger days.
Old Soldier: The Complete AllSpark Almanac reveals that he was an Autobot soldier who got captured during the Great War.
Palette Swap: Of Rodimus and Breakdown.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He's hard on Cheetor, the new rookie cop assigned to take his position once he retires.

Nightbeat

Voiced by: Laura Knapton

One of Arcee's students and a classmate of Sari. She wants to be a detective.

Amateur Sleuth: Sideswipe notes that while she has good detective skills, he wishes she'd tone down on the Genki Girl aspect.
Gender Flip: In every other continuity, Nightbeat is male.
Mythology Gag: She shares the same character mold as Minerva in this continuity, just like in Generation 1.
- She also shares the same name with another Autobot, who is also a detective. The difference being said-Autobot is male (see Gender Flip).
Shout-Out: Her color scheme and personality are supposed to evoke Batgirl; ironic considering the series features one of Batgirl's most prominent actresses in a key role.

Kup

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kup_tfa.jpg

The Autobot Elite Guard's retired trainer, who spent many a cycle hosting boot camps that future leaders attended.

Cigar Chomper: Well, cy-gar chomper. Hopefully he doesn't need them to keep horrid visions away like in IDW's version...
Composite Character: He's primarily based on Generation 1 Kup, but he borrows from IDW's version in his cy-gar chomping habit.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: He may be gruff, but the fact three of his students went on to become Primes shows that he's damn good at his job (and a lot nicer than Sentinel, though that's not saying much).
Everyone Has Standards: He may be a bit rough around the edges, but he was not happy with Sentinel being made acting Magnus.
It's All My Fault: When he hears that Rodimus got infected with cosmic rust, he blames himself for not being there to help his old pupil.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Beneath his gruff exterior lies a bot who's willing to see the potential in others, thanks to his many years of experience. In fact, while he initially dismissed Hot Rod as a punk, the fact his student saved him from a grenade (that was fortunately a dud) turned his attitude around him pretty quickly.
The Nicknamer: It was he who gave some of the central characters of the series their names, including Optimus (for his optimism), Sentinel (for his vigor), Elita-1 (for her snobbish attitude), Hot Rod (for being a turbo-revin' young punk), Blaster (for his love of music), Quickslinger (for being good with weapons), and Skram (for unknown reasons).
Mythology Gag: Like with Generation 1, he served as the mentor to Hot Rod before he became Rodimus Prime.

Mirage

A more unusual Autobot who can turn invisible, he's always been on the bad side of the government due to protesting their heavy anti-Decepticon rhetoric.

Adaptational Job Change: Goes from Generation 1's aristocrat to a civil rights advocate.
Adaptational Nice Guy: The original Mirage was a bit of a rich snob due to him once living it up in high society. Here, he's fighting for the rights of all Cybertronians, Decepticons included.
Cool Car: He turns into a Cybertronian-style F1 racer.
Invisibility: He apparently possesses this power, which doesn't help Cliffjumper's trust issues with him.
Mythology Gag: Like with Generation 1, Cliffjumper doesn't trust him whatsoever, though here it's due to him advocating against the Decepticon Registration Act millions of years ago.
To Be Lawful or Good: Mirage opposed the Decepticon Registration Act when Ultra Magnus passed it, and he detests Sentinel Prime's government. The former is viewed as a Necessary Evil on the Autobot's part, while the latter few have any support for. Mirage considers the Act a violation of civil rights, in spite of the fact he's essentially defending war criminals.

Characters / Transformers Animated Other Autobots

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