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** Arcee declaring that her old male form was a lie and that she's now what she was always "meant to be." Is she being truthful with herself or is it her way of coping and adjusting to her forced and torturous gender change?
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** The final issue of ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersTillAllAreOne Till All Are One]]'' ended with Windblade declaring that being constructed cold was unnatural and that Starscream might have been a much better person if he had been born in his "natural" forged body. This became an issue with fans because it had been repeatedly established that there was no inherit difference from being forged or constructed cold and anyone who said otherwise was either a villain or a bigot. Issue 16 of ''Optimus Prime'' reaffirms that the method of a Tranformer's creation is unimportant and all of Starscream's poor choices were his own, not because he was denied a "god-given form."
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** The later issues of the Optimus Prime comic, but the cusses really start flying once Onyx Prime shows up and turns out to be [[spoiler: Shockwave, displaced from time after the events of Dark Cybertron]]!
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* FridgeLogic: So if the regenesis ores were sent to the world the Thirteen wound up on, how ''did'' Shockwave figure this out?
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* FridgeLogic: So if the regenesis ores were sent to the world worlds the Thirteen wound up on, how ''did'' Shockwave figure this out?out?
** Turns out, it's because [[spoiler:after Dark Cybertron, Shockwave got hurled 12 million years into the past and became none other than Onyx Prime! He knew where his past self sent the ores in the future, so his future self ensured that the Thirteen would go to those planets in the past (time travel is confusing..)]].
** Turns out, it's because [[spoiler:after Dark Cybertron, Shockwave got hurled 12 million years into the past and became none other than Onyx Prime! He knew where his past self sent the ores in the future, so his future self ensured that the Thirteen would go to those planets in the past (time travel is confusing..)]].
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* HilariousInHindsight: Regarding its sister series: Both feature mysterious, [[TheDreaded Dreaded]], spiky-headed villains (Tarn there, Onyx Prime here [[spoiler:whose actual identities are both Empurata sufferers.]] Becomes doubly hilarious when the first reveal had a lukewarm reception, whereas the second [[spoiler:is key to literally ''everything''.]]
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** Following the revelation of [[spoiler:Onyx Prime's true identity]] from ''Optimus Prime'' issues 17 and 18, just about everything to do with the character - and more besides - takes on a new dimension.
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** Even after other colonies showed up and introduced more Female Characters, Arcee's gender reassignment still remained a sore point which several fans felt Scott and Barber should have retconned rather than used as a plot point. In issue 52, Arcee delivers a very definite statement of "I'm what I was always meant to be." Showing that she is comfortable with who she is now.
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** Even after other colonies showed up and introduced more Female Characters, Arcee's gender reassignment still remained a sore point which several fans felt Scott and Barber should have retconned rather than used as a plot point. In issue 52, Arcee delivers a very definite statement of "I'm what I was always meant to be." Showing be," showing that she is comfortable with who she is now.now. Depending on your perspective, this either solves the problem or adds a whole host of new ones (as up until this point, Arcee had very, very definitively been the PTSD stricken victim of a forced sex change.)
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Not a trope. The move here was a mistake.
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* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Transformers'' meets ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' with a little ''Farscape'' mixed in.
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* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Transformers'' meets ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' with a little ''Farscape'' mixed in.
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** A lot of people admitted to tearing up when [[spoiler:Sideswipe died]]
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Turns out he survived that. Hope more is done with him.
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* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Astrotrain gets some development, with his insecurities over his eyesight and a slightly increased role in the story, and nothing is really done with him. When he's killed by Arcee it almost feels like they were trying for a SacrificialLion in the vein of Trailbreaker from MTMTE, but Astrotrain never really had anything to do on panel for most of his appearances. His death comes off more as wasted potential rather than anything of substance.
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** The direction Optimus Prime takes near the end of season 2 being reimagined as more ruthless, pragmatic, and setting up a NotSoDifferent plot with him and the previous Primes. For some this was a great direction, much like Megatron's redemption, Optimus has been faced with new challenges and he deals with them in a darker way. It's a great way to show how Optimus is multifaceted and not TheParagon he always is. Others hate the new direction because they feel Optimus being a colonialist PragmaticHero is out of character and invalidates his arc in Season 1 where he ultimately rejects the corrupt legacy of the Primes and aspires to more. To these fans it's less of a compelling direction and more of a RonTheDeathEater scenario made canon.
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Jerkass Has A Point is not a YMMV trope; that the other side might also have a point does not invalidate it. At most, it changes it to Both Sides Have A Point.
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* JerkassHasAPoint: In issue #3, Starscream incredulously points out to Wheeljack that the Autobots are more interested in ensuring all the Decepticons on Cybertron have been outfitted with [[SlaveCollar ID chips]] than in taking care of basic public safety issues like, for example, building decent housing for the thousands of refugees slowly migrating back to Cybertron. On the one hand, he is not wrong that the ID Chips are a cruel and unusual method of containment and that refugees do need help. On the other hand, the Decepticons are extremely quick to resort to violence and happily beat the scrap out of helpless civilians for entertainment, immediately start plotting to murder Bumblebee and restart the war the moment they are let out of prison, and form a violent mob out for blood as soon as Megatron comes back. Did the Autobots have MoralMyopia or were they ProperlyParanoid?
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* JerkassHasAPoint: In issue #3, Starscream incredulously points out to Wheeljack that the Autobots are more interested in ensuring all the Decepticons on Cybertron have been outfitted with [[SlaveCollar ID chips]] than in taking care of basic public safety issues like, for example, building decent housing for the thousands of refugees slowly migrating back to Cybertron. On the one hand, he is not wrong that the ID Chips are a cruel and unusual method of containment and that refugees do need help. On the other hand, the Decepticons are extremely quick to resort to violence and happily beat the scrap out of helpless civilians for entertainment, immediately start plotting to murder Bumblebee and restart the war the moment they are let out of prison, and form a violent mob out for blood as soon as Megatron comes back. MoralMyopia or ProperlyParanoid?
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* JerkassHasAPoint: In issue #3, Starscream incredulously points out to Wheeljack that the Autobots are more interested in ensuring all the Decepticons on Cybertron have been outfitted with [[SlaveCollar ID chips]] than in taking care of basic public safety issues like, for example, building decent housing for the thousands of refugees slowly migrating back to Cybertron. On the one hand, he is not wrong that the ID Chips are a cruel and unusual method of containment and that refugees do need help. On the other hand, the Decepticons are extremely quick to resort to violence and happily beat the scrap out of helpless civilians for entertainment, immediately start plotting to murder Bumblebee and restart the war the moment they are let out of prison, and form a violent mob out for blood as soon as Megatron comes back. Did the Autobots have MoralMyopia or were they ProperlyParanoid?
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* JerkassHasAPoint: In issue #3, Starscream incredulously points out to Wheeljack that the Autobots are more interested in ensuring all the Decepticons on Cybertron have been outfitted with [[SlaveCollar ID chips]] than in taking care of basic public safety issues like, for example, building decent housing for the thousands of refugees slowly migrating back to Cybertron. On the one hand, he is not wrong that the ID Chips are a cruel and unusual method of containment and that refugees do need help. On the other hand, the Decepticons are extremely quick to resort to violence and happily beat the scrap out of helpless civilians for entertainment, immediately start plotting to murder Bumblebee and restart the war the moment they are let out of prison, and form a violent mob out for blood as soon as Megatron comes back. MoralMyopia or ProperlyParanoid?
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* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Astrotrain gets some development, with his insecurities over his eyesight and a slightly increased role in the story, and nothing is really done with him. When he's killed by Arcee it almost feels like they were trying for a SacrificialLion in the vein of Trailbreaker from MTMTE, but Astrotrain never really had anything to do on panel for most of his appearances. His death comes off more as wasted potential rather than anything of substance.
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** Issue 41 makes a case for Prowl being this, pointing out the horrible life he's had, with Optimus listing people who have betrayed him - [[CorruptPolitician the Senate, Zeta,]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Megatron,]] [[ApatheticCitizens the Neutrals,]] [[CowboyCop the Wreckers,]] [[WildCard Arcee,]] [[TheOneThatGotAway Chromedome,]] and [[NotSoDifferent Spike.]] Prowl adds another one to that list - [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Optimus Prime.]]
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The art in that issue is dubious at best and I doubt it was done deliberately.
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* {{Narm}}: Deliberately done when [[spoiler:Gorlam Prime is undergoing its devastation, and everything's coming apart and disintegrating at a molecular level]], Jhiaxus proclaims his victory and makes an epic escape after the Titan. Monstructor… climbs on and straddles the ship like a kiddie ride. What was once a [[TheBadGuyWins triumphant]] VillainExitStageLeft has now been made positively adorable.
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* {{Narm}}: Deliberately done when [[spoiler:Gorlam When Gorlam Prime is undergoing its devastation, and everything's coming apart and disintegrating at a molecular level]], level, Jhiaxus proclaims his victory and makes an epic escape after the Titan. Monstructor… climbs on and straddles the ship like a kiddie ride. What was once a [[TheBadGuyWins triumphant]] VillainExitStageLeft has now been made positively adorable.
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* FanNickname: [[spoiler:"Prowlestator" for the new form of Devastator with Prowl in Scrapper's place.]]
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* FanNickname: [[spoiler:"Prowlestator" "Prowlestator" for the new form of Devastator with Prowl in Scrapper's place.]]
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** Thankfully, the series seems to be moving out of this, not least because of a strong run while MTMTE was suffering SeasonalRot.
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* FridgeLogic: So if the regenesis ores were sent to the world the Thirteen wound up on, how ''did'' Shockwave figure this out?
** If Blackrock hadn't crossed it when he [[spoiler:sets the jetbot combiners on Jazz, Kup and Jetfire, then dunking them in acid to melt them for no real reason did the trick.]]
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*** Issue #33 has a double doozy with the massive, offline hulks of Omega Supreme and the Superion suspended in Starscream's hangar. Superion is by far the worse of the two, having been so badly damaged one of his components is fatally injured and his ''spine'' is visible.
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* AuthorsSavingThrow: Barber has been known to do these with his ArcWeilding and cleaning up messy continuity.
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* AuthorsSavingThrow: Barber has been known to do these with his ArcWeilding ArcWelding and cleaning up messy continuity.continuity.
** Reflector caused a continuity headache when he appeared alive and well, when in an earlier issue he'd very definitively died. Barber wrote in a Time Travel device that both solved the continuity error, and tied into his overall story of Shockwave's ores.
** Reflector caused a continuity headache when he appeared alive and well, when in an earlier issue he'd very definitively died. Barber wrote in a Time Travel device that both solved the continuity error, and tied into his overall story of Shockwave's ores.
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* AuthorsSavingThrow: Barber has been known to do these with his ArcWeilding and cleaning up messy continuity.
** He does write in a justification for why the Constructicons became TheDividual, rationalizing it as the after effects of the Combiner process stripping away individuality. This easily sidesteps a franchise wide issue wherein Combiner teams end up with light characterization (with some exceptions), because they're just around to promote their combined mode.
** Even after other colonies showed up and introduced more Female Characters, Arcee's gender reassignment still remained a sore point which several fans felt Scott and Barber should have retconned rather than used as a plot point. In issue 52, Arcee delivers a very definite statement of "I'm what I was always meant to be." Showing that she is comfortable with who she is now.
** He does write in a justification for why the Constructicons became TheDividual, rationalizing it as the after effects of the Combiner process stripping away individuality. This easily sidesteps a franchise wide issue wherein Combiner teams end up with light characterization (with some exceptions), because they're just around to promote their combined mode.
** Even after other colonies showed up and introduced more Female Characters, Arcee's gender reassignment still remained a sore point which several fans felt Scott and Barber should have retconned rather than used as a plot point. In issue 52, Arcee delivers a very definite statement of "I'm what I was always meant to be." Showing that she is comfortable with who she is now.
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** Turmoil, surprisingly enough. Some fans think he's a cool original character, citing his design and badass nature. Other fans think he's just a generic "high command" con who exists to look threatening and give brownie points to whoever kills him. Some think he was underused, others just didn't regard him as important. Issue 7 billed him as a fan-favorite character, people either disagreed as he was from [[CreatorsPet Drift's]] run, were glad to see his return or treated his reintroduction with a "meh."
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** Turmoil, surprisingly enough. Some fans think he's a cool original character, citing his design and badass nature.intimidating nature. His creator, Shane [=McCarthy=] was actually surprised that people had latched on to him as Turmoil was just created as a one off villain in Drift's origin. Other fans think he's just a generic "high command" con who exists to look threatening and give brownie points to whoever kills him. Some think he was underused, others just didn't regard him as important. Issue 7 billed him as a fan-favorite character, people either disagreed as he was from [[CreatorsPet Drift's]] run, were glad to see his return or treated his reintroduction with a "meh."
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** Andrew Griffith himself deserves the title. Season 2 in particular sees some terrific character design and layout work, and the bulk of Issue #50 could very well be considered his own MomentOfAwesome.
** Sarah Pitre-Durocher's issues are widely beloved, for good reason.
** Sarah Pitre-Durocher's issues are widely beloved, for good reason.
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** Original character Aileron is quickly headed this way, and not just for being a''GoBots'' shoutout. In particular, her quick thinking saves the day at the climax of Issue #50, she's the one who gets Optimus to finally take a stand, and she's generally just a decent sort.
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** Happens again after ''Combiner Wars'' wraps up, allowing the plot to resume as intended and leading to a largely unbroken run of very well-received issues. Additionally, sister series ''More Than Meets the Eye'' was widely seen as suffering SeasonalRot during this period, further drawing positive comparison between the two.
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* UncannyValley: When Nova Prime snaps at Dai Atlas in the annual he's drawn with humanlike pupils and his normally soft yellow eyes suddenly become blood red. The result is... unsettling and serves as a small crack in Nova's apparent "knight in shining armor" persona.
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* UncannyValley: UncannyValley:
** When Nova Prime snaps at Dai Atlas in the annual he's drawn with humanlike pupils and his normally soft yellow eyes suddenly become blood red. The result is... unsettling and serves as a small crack in Nova's apparent "knight in shining armor"persona.persona.
** The back-up story of issue 50 has Blackrock talking with Mindwipe. No biggie, except his face has been removed, and he's still talking through it. It's incredibly unsettling.
** When Nova Prime snaps at Dai Atlas in the annual he's drawn with humanlike pupils and his normally soft yellow eyes suddenly become blood red. The result is... unsettling and serves as a small crack in Nova's apparent "knight in shining armor"
** The back-up story of issue 50 has Blackrock talking with Mindwipe. No biggie, except his face has been removed, and he's still talking through it. It's incredibly unsettling.
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Okay, while the fight with Optimus is contrived as hell (let\'s have heroes fight each other for no reason, that\'s original), Victorion\'s and the Torchbearer\'s actions aren\'t framed as correct as per the trope, we are meant to see this as another trial for Optimus to overcome to prove himself worthy (again, damnit it feels like the IDW writers are retreading ground). Also, the example uses Victorion and the Torchbearer\'s interchangeably, which isn\'t doing the entry any favors.
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* MarySue: Victorion. Her first few appearances in Combiner Hunters and Punishment were tolerable, but come Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange, she is coming dangerously close to being a MarySue. They pick a fight with [[TheHero Optimus Prime]], talk down to him and easily defeat him, then they give a bullshit-filled HolierThanThou speech about how The Matrix rightfully belongs to her and not [[TheChosenOne Optimus]]. If this was in a regular fan fiction and not canon material, Victorion would be laughed off as a bad fan character.
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* MarySue: Victorion. Her first few appearances in Combiner Hunters and Punishment were tolerable, but come Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange, she is coming dangerously close to being a MarySue. They pick a fight with [[TheHero Optimus Prime]], talk down to him and easily defeat him, then they give a bullshit-filled HolierThanThou speech about how The Matrix rightfully belongs to her and not [[TheChosenOne Optimus]]. If this was in a regular fan fiction and not canon material, Victorion would be laughed off as a bad fan character.
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* WhatAnIdiot: Likely due to her relationship with Barricade, Swift was willing to go along with the Decepticons, but then she's shocked at their willingness to kill the occupants of the Ark. While she can be forgiven for not knowing their murderous history, at present they're an angry mob of well armed former soldiers who just shot the Port Authority, and are lead by the bots who threatened to kick her face in a few issues ago for her religious beliefs, this shouldn't be that suprising.
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* ContinuityLockout: Not as bad as its sister series ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', but it's still present.
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* ContinuityLockout: Not as bad as its sister series ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', but it's still present.
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* OvershadowedByAwesome: While an excellent read in it's own right, it's overshadowed considerably by its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]].
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* OvershadowedByAwesome: While an excellent read in it's own right, it's overshadowed considerably by its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]].
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** Bumblebee and Metalhawk mature into ''far'' more likable characters during ''[[ComicBook/TransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]'''s run, where the former becomes a bona fide BadassInCharge and [[spoiler:Megatron's MoralityPet]], and the latter a psychotic undead servant of Shockwave's [[spoiler:who eventually manages to break free and join up with the good guys. [[AlasPoorScrappy Sadly, neither of them survived the crossover]].]]
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** Bumblebee and Metalhawk mature into ''far'' more likable characters during ''[[ComicBook/TransformersDarkCybertron ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]'''s run, where the former becomes a bona fide BadassInCharge and [[spoiler:Megatron's MoralityPet]], and the latter a psychotic undead servant of Shockwave's [[spoiler:who eventually manages to break free and join up with the good guys. [[AlasPoorScrappy Sadly, neither of them survived the crossover]].]]
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* WinBackTheCrowd: Maybe not to the extent of its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]], but even so, it's generally agreed to be better than the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW predecessor]] to both. Its ''far'' stronger continuity is probably invaluable in this regard.
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* WinBackTheCrowd: Maybe not to the extent of its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]], but even so, it's generally agreed to be better than the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW predecessor]] to both. Its ''far'' stronger continuity is probably invaluable in this regard.
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Moving to proper title.
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* AccidentalAesop: You should let go of old grudges. Holding onto them will cause nothing but difficulty, heartache, and pain for everyone involved.
* AbandonShipping: Issue 44's cover featuring Tracks and Needlenose posing together in a selfie, and the solicit being: "LOVE AND HATE! Two emotions only inches from each other—and Tracks and Needlenose have felt them both. On opposite sides of an eons-long war, what happens when they meet again?" Lead to some fans seeing them in a relationship. Then the issue came out it establishes them as Spark Brothers (and also Canonizes Needlenose's relationship to Horribull), ending what little romantic speculation there was.
* AlasPoorScrappy: Metalhawk was considered by many to be annoying with his smug HolierThanThou attitude, mud-slinging, and hypocrisy (trying to make a better world all the while belittling the aligned forces and straining the alliances). He's betrayed and killed by Starscream, whom he considered a friend, and his death was then used to accomplish his stated goal. [[SubvertedTrope Then he came back as a very angry zombie...]]
** [[spoiler:Ironically, the characters you'd least miss in this series' first arc (Bumblebee and Metalhawk again) are some of the ones you'll miss most after finishing ''Dark Cybertron''.]]
** [[spoiler:Galvatron vaporizing General Witwicky]] elicited this reaction.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Monstructor Six. Was Jhiaxus lying when he said they volunteered for the procedure (considering his track record and Arcee, he may have been)? Were they willing accomplices to all of his plans, or are they just SlaveMooks with their free-will stripped in pursuit of the idea that "all are one?" Or is it a combination of that, with their minds destroyed or broken down, and them willingly following Jhiaxus as they can comprehend no other alternative? Bludgeon implies that it's the latter, but he's hardly the most trustworthy person. Galvatron inadvertently chimed in on this later on when discussing combiners he believes that those who combine have their personalities dilute themselves until their individuality rots away. This combined with the long period of time the Six have combined in addition with him being a flawed prototype, can also account for their mindset.
** Then of course there's Prowl, KnightTemplar or WellIntentionedExtremist? Even with the revelation of [[spoiler:his mind-control]] there's still debate. After TheReveal he can be seen as a ByronicHero.
* AwesomeArt: Livo Ramondelli's drawings aren't universally liked, but when they work, they ''[[NightmareFuel work]]''.
** The three-artist team working on "Earthfall" (Guido Guidi, Brendan Cahill and regular Andrew Griffith) all pick up each others' slack really well. That their art is very Alex Milne-esque helps.
* AwesomeEgo: Deconstructed. Nova Prime starts out as fully deserving his ego, but eventually this degrades into him thinking he's a gift to the damned universe and causing him to become a self-loving extremist.
* BaseBreaker:
** Turmoil, surprisingly enough. Some fans think he's a cool original character, citing his design and badass nature. Other fans think he's just a generic "high command" con who exists to look threatening and give brownie points to whoever kills him. Some think he was underused, others just didn't regard him as important. Issue 7 billed him as a fan-favorite character, people either disagreed as he was from [[CreatorsPet Drift's]] run, were glad to see his return or treated his reintroduction with a "meh."
*** Given that [[spoiler:his time machine]] is essential to Shockwave's plan in Dark Cybertron, it seems he was heavily promoted to avoid a ContinuityLockout.
** Rattrap's AdaptationalVillainy started the fractured fan opinion about him. Ruining of an iconic character or interesting new direction?
** Alpha Bravo caused a divide even before he appeared in comic. The biggest reason is him being a CanonForeigner, and replacing Slingshot. His detractors feel he throws off the all-plane Aerialbots by having a helicopter mode, and his whole appearance is a blatant cost saving measure (his mold can easily be redone to create Blades and Vortex). His defenders feel he adds some diversity to the team by breaking the mold, and feel the cost-saving measure is a necessary set back to finally give the fans the well-articulated combiners they've always wanted. Then of course there's the Slingshot fans who feel the character's gotten the short-end of the stick, though this has lessened with the announcement of a Slingshot figure (retooled from Fireflight).
* BrokenBase: Unlike it's near universally loved sister series ''More Than Meets The Eye'', this series is was the divider amongst fans for quite a bit. It's starting to be much better recieved, though.
** Season 1 had it's fans, the continuity was much tighter, the cast had more of the big names in meaty roles, and Post-war Cybertron was ripe with new story ideas. It also had it's detractors, some felt the pacing was very slow, the Autobots and NAILS came off as too unlikable, and [[spoiler:Megatron's return]] while a fun arc made him seem too generic.
** Season 2 faced a dilemma when the main cast moved back to earth, as it would be touching on the maligned [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Costa run]], and the continuity would end up even more confusing as it would rely more heavily on what's come before. There are some who like it, enjoying Galvatron's characterization, more screen time for Soundwave and Cosmos, the backstory for the Enigma was praised along with Thundercracker's return. Others disliked the return of the humans, and especially their team-up with the Decepticons as just odd characterization on both sides. With the humans siding with the cons, who leveled dozens of cities under Megatron, and Soundwave's complete trust in them, despite casually watching Frenzy tear them apart back in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron All Hail Megatron]]''. Others feel the allegiance makes sense with Galvatron and Blackrock leading the respective schemes against each other, and the justification that past actions of the Decepticons could be chalked up to Megatron (who's defection to the Autobots makes the Humans distrust them more).
* ContinuityLockout: Not as bad as its sister series ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', but it's still present.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Quickly heading that way. The Autobots, Decepticons, and Nails are ''all'' assholes excluding a small few exceptions (Wheeljack, Sky Byte, Dirge, Scoop, and few others). Everytime the heroes seem to be getting anywhere, something comes along and bitch-slaps their victory away. Save New Iacon from [[spoiler: Megatron]]? [[spoiler: Starscream kills Metalhawk, screws over everyone, and takes control of the city]]. Orion and his team reach some of the ores before Jhiaxus and Bludgeon? [[spoiler: Jhiaxus and Bludgeon outwit them and get it anyways]]. Some fans have stopped reading simply because they think all the likable and sympathetic characters are getting killed off and ignored in favor of detestable and annoying DesignatedHero characters.
** Thankfully season 2 seems to have largely fixed this, with the jerkassery of the less likable Autobots being reeled back (making [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Bumblebee and Metalhawk much more popular]]), the focus getting shifted from [[NominalHero Bumble]][[{{Wangst}} bee]] to [[TheHero Optimus]], and a more humorous tone being added, giving the comic [[{{Dramedy}} a tone]] more consistent with MTMTE and ''Windblade''.
* DesignatedHero: Sideswipe is an Autobot, but he acts like a complete lunatic who constantly provokes fights and talks about how much he loves to engage in violence. On multiple occasions he's talked about shooting/beating up Decepticons and NAILs for fun and during the annual. No wonder the Nails hate the Autobots when they've got psychos like Sideswipe around. Likely intentional, though to what extent isn't clear.
** [[TookALevelInJerkass It's worth nothing he was more mellow and noble]] in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'', so his current personality is quite jarring.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dirge is one with both the fans ''and the creators''. Waspinator and Sky Byte were included solely because they were popular.
** Pretty much everyone will agree that this iteration of Shockwave is ''completely, terrifyingly awesome''.
** Thundercracker was already an EnsembleDarkhorse in the previous ongoing, so his return here was met with much praise, especially given his development into [[{{Adorkable}} a complete dork]] who has an adorable puppy and spends time writing awful screenplays for fun.
** Amongst the new cast members joining in season 2, Cosmos seems to be getting the most fan love due to his earnest yet snarky personality and [[TheWoobie woobie-factor]]. It helps that he's a carry over from MTMTE.
** Wheeljack is beloved by fans, many feeling that he should be the main protagonist. Not surprising given his popularity in previous G1 stories.
** Flatline, the Decepticon-turned-NAIL medic, is extremely popular, despite his limited role.
** Soundwave, for being a complex yet noble ByronicHero. Like Wheeljack, many wish he was the main protagonist of the series rather than the Autobots. It seems John Barber partially agreed; season 2 gives Soundwave much more screentime and significance in the plot.
* EvilIsCool: Bludgeon and, to a lesser degree, Shockwave.
* FanNickname: [[spoiler:"Prowlestator" for the new form of Devastator with Prowl in Scrapper's place.]]
** Crackerjack for Thundercracker, in light of his horrible fanfics.
** "Captain Continuity" for John Barber, who goes to incredible pains to try to patch up every single plothole from all the way the "-ations" series.
* GrowingTheBeard: Some feel that the comic is starting to grow it's beard with issue 16, where Starscream takes over New Iacon (creating an interesting new setting) and starts to feature a more character driven story. Bumblebee also begins to become significantly more likable during this time before [[spoiler: being done away with in ''Dark Cybertron'']], ''finally'' giving the other more interesting cast members (besides Starscream) a chance to take stage.
* HarsherInHindsight: ''Generation 1'' Superion was toy of notoriously poor quality, whose legs tended to snap off at the waist. In addition, the ''Generation 2'' re-release had one of the components, Slingshot, suffer from the toy-destroying [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Gold_Plastic_Syndrome Gold Plastic Syndrome]]. [[spoiler:Devastator rips Superion to bits in exactly this fashion in Issue #15, and irreparably and fatally injures Slingshot in the process.]]
* HolyShitQuotient:The entirety of the "City on Fire" arc, but a special mention goes to [[spoiler:Prowlestator.]]
* IronWoobie: Wheeljack is underappreciated, often berated except when his science skills are useful, gets treated like dirt by several of his supposed friends, gets [[TheChewToy damaged quite a bit]], and is one of the few wholly good characters in a setting of GreyAndGreyMorality. Despite all of these hardships, he remains almost completely upbeat, never loses his sense of humor, and does his best to help anyone he can.
* JerkassWoobie: Prowl and Arcee.
** Starscream is starting to veer in this direction. The only way he's able to openly speak his mind and be understood is when he's talking to people that can't converse back with him.
** Needlenose becomes this after his HeelRealization in issue 21.
* MagnificentBastard: Megatron is back in form as this; he was pulling the strings behind pretty much everything that happened in season 1. Shockwave managed to outpace him in this department though.
** Galvatron shows signs of this in issue 32, [[spoiler:murdering General Witwicky, ridding himself of an "ally" who proved too willing to use force to keep Galvatron in line. Then blaming Prowl to manipulate the EDC into upholding their alliance.]]
* MemeticBadass: John Barber himself gets this treatment on Wiki/TFWiki.
-->'''TF Wiki Caption:''' I am God's gift to continuity.
* MemeticMutation: Josh Boyfriend. [[note]]The name of one of Thundercracker's characters in a screenplay he's working on.[[/note]]
** Acree. [[note]]One of the official preview teaser posters IDW distributed for RID #28 had Arcee's name spelled wrong. The internet quickly ran with it calling "Acree" the best transformer yet. [[/note]]
** [[spoiler:[[Film/PansLabyrinth Tell Spike the way his father died.]]]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Starscream murdering Metalhawk when no one was looking, then using his death to propel his own popularity and then win the population over to his side.
** Bludgeon crosses it when he kills [[spoiler:Varta.]]
** Senator Proteus definitely crossed it after what he had done to poor Shockwave.
** Galvatron murdering [[spoiler:General Witwicky]], then using his death to manipulate Marissa.
* {{Narm}}: Deliberately done when [[spoiler:Gorlam Prime is undergoing its devastation, and everything's coming apart and disintegrating at a molecular level]], Jhiaxus proclaims his victory and makes an epic escape after the Titan. Monstructor… climbs on and straddles the ship like a kiddie ride. What was once a [[TheBadGuyWins triumphant]] VillainExitStageLeft has now been made positively adorable.
* NarmCharm: The old school comic styled flashbacks in the annual would usually be Narmy, but they manage to work fantastically when combined with the modern sequences.
* NightmareFuel: Lots.
** The fact that everyone Galvatron recruited into his army turned into Sweeps over time.
** Bludgeon. Oh ''god almighty Bludgeon''.
** Hardhead being forced to blow Wheelie's arm off in issue 19.
** Nova Prime's StartOfDarkness in the annual is portrayed... [[KnightTemplar rather unsettlingly]].
--->"'''I AM THE LEGACY OF PRIMUS!!'''"
** Present-day Shockwave is a ''cavalcade'' of NightmareFuel.
*** Exemplified in a flashback in issue 17 when he's testing Energon variants on a hapless Cybertronian, who freaking ''explodes''. The comic cuts to a panel of Shockwave taking stock of this as '''hundreds of test subjects' corpses hang from the ceiling above'''. '''''HOLY PRIMUS'''''.
*** Issue #33 has a double doozy with the massive, offline hulks of Omega Supreme and the Superion suspended in Starscream's hangar. Superion is by far the worse of the two, having been so badly damaged one of his components is fatally injured and his ''spine'' is visible.
* OneSceneWonder: Barrel Roll only appears for one scene and dies in said scene, but comes off as one of the most sensible and likable Autobots.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: While an excellent read in it's own right, it's overshadowed considerably by its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]].
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Fandom reaction to the usually unpopular character Wheelie is less "annoying and wish he would die" and more "[[TheWoobie needs a freaking hug."]]
** Bumblebee and Metalhawk mature into ''far'' more likable characters during ''[[ComicBook/TransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]'''s run, where the former becomes a bona fide BadassInCharge and [[spoiler:Megatron's MoralityPet]], and the latter a psychotic undead servant of Shockwave's [[spoiler:who eventually manages to break free and join up with the good guys. [[AlasPoorScrappy Sadly, neither of them survived the crossover]].]]
** To an extent, the IDW verion of Arcee. The original depiction of the character in Furman's run was widly disliked for being radically different from previous versions of the character. RID makes her a considerbly more likable and developed character, who isn't just defined as being constantly violent. Then she gets a cool upgrade, decides that GoodFeelsGood, and joins Optimus' team.
** While still not popular, Spike Witwicky's general obnoxiousness is both toned down and widely mocked InUniverse, making him far more entertaining than he was previously.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Some fans were hoping that Megatron and his loyalists would destroy New Iacon at the end of season 1 (or at least kill off [[TheScrappy Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and the obnoxious Nails like Tappet]]). Notably the reaction to [[spoiler: Megatron smashing Bumblebee's face in]] was less horror and more "Finally!". [[SubvertedTrope This changed]] when [[EnsembleDarkhorse the characters the readers actually liked]] such as Wheeljack and Dirge got targeted, too.
* RewatchBonus: With all the stuff that's revealed in issue 14 you'll slap yourself in the face for not noticing all the hints and foreshadowing. This applies to everything regarding Prowl, Bombshell and the Constructicons, the Dinobots' actions in issue 9, and the wilderness surrounding New Iacon.
* TheScrappy: Metalhawk and the Nails (excluding [[EnsembleDarkhorse Sky Byte]], of course) since early-on their only purpose seemed to be making things more difficult for the Autobots and Decepticons. Their HolierThanThou attitude and tendency towards NeverMyFault didn't help, not to mention most of their screen-time is spent insulting the protagonists.
** Bumblebee before ''Dark Cybertron'' due to him being an awful leader who spent more time whining, provoking his own allies, and letting [[ManipulativeBastard Prowl]] stomp all over him than actually leading. Thankfully he was [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued]] at the end of season 1.
** In season 2, Chromia seems to be taking over the status of Scrappy from Bee and Metalhawk [[spoiler:due to being a massive KarmaHoudini and being one of the least popular recipients of AdaptationalVillainy. She killed three people to try and get Windblade to return to Caminus. Other characters have avoided punishment for crimes, like Megatron or Prowl, but they at least suffer for their actions. Chromia is just let off the hook with a pinky promise that she won't kill people anymore.]] This got worse after issue 33, where she has the gall to insult [[EnsembleDarkhorse Wheeljack]] before she even meets him.
** The human characters in general, mainly for taking screentime away from the robot characters.
* SoBadItsGood: Thundercracker's screenplay which has character names like "Josh Boyfriend", opens with a cheesy expository monologue about how [[{{Wangst}} hard life is]], and has the characters constantly referring to themselves as "earth humans". Thundercracker thinks it's cinematic gold.
* TakeThatScrappy: Prowl pretty much blames Spike Witwicky, the much-hated NominalHero from Mike Costa's run, for making him into a cynical bastard. The mere thought of Spike pisses him off to no end. The Constructicons also despise him and make their dislike quite outspoken. The solicitations for Issue #36 run with this and is essentially a parade of [[TakeThat Take Thats]] against Spike.
** Blackrock's angry speech to Marissa about Spike makes it clear that he only thinks of Spike as a punk, and a thorn in his side rather than the heroic anarchist Spike presents himself as.
** Bumblebee getting his head smashed in and Galvatron vaporizing the unpopular [[spoiler:General Witwicky]] probably fall under this.
* TearJerker: Shockwave and Soundwave's respective backstories.
** The deaths of [[spoiler:Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and ultimately even Shockwave.]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A minor example, but some fans felt that Starscream killing Metalhawk ruined a really interesting RedemptionQuest character arc that the comic seemed to be building up to. Somewhat subverted due to a) the comic still portraying Starscream as [[JerkassWoobie somewhat pitiable]] even after this and hinting that he may be remorseful for the act, and b) Metalhawk coming back to give Starscream grief.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Some fans feel that Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and a majority of the Autobots and Nails are this. This results in the Decepticons becoming UnintentionallySympathetic.
* VanillaProtagonist: Bumblebee is surrounded by a well-liked CoolOldGuy, a lovable MadScientist, a bot striving to find the best in people and make everyone equal, TheStarscream who is trying to change, a former criminal trying to make a new life, the BigGood and his ragtag crew on a quest to stop a madman, a NobleDemon on a quest to make the world a better place, and many other colorful characters. A generally agreed upon complaint in the comic is that Bumblebee is without a doubt the least interesting or likable character. While the entire story doesn't revolve around him like other examples, the audience is stuck with his POV as Autobot leader. The writer seems to agree given that, [[spoiler: Bee gets killed off abruptly in ''Dark Cybertron'' and gets replaced as protagonist from season 2 onwards.]]
* {{Wangst}}: Bumblebee spends way more time feeling sorry for himself than he really should.
* WinBackTheCrowd: Maybe not to the extent of its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]], but even so, it's generally agreed to be better than the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW predecessor]] to both. Its ''far'' stronger continuity is probably invaluable in this regard.
** Season 2 seems to be attempting to do this for fans who felt that RID couldn't keep up with MTMTE in terms of quality. It's largely successful so far.
* TheWoobie: Shockwave, after we learn his gruesome origin. The bitterly ironic part is that the emotionally devoid scientist wouldn't say the same of himself.
** Also, Dirge, who just wants to live his life in peace but keeps getting dragged back into conflicts he wants no part of.
** Waspinator.
** Wheelie.
** Issue 28 does a very good job at making you feel bad for Cosmos. One of his first lines is commenting how miserable he feels because he abandoned the Lost Light crew based on the promise of a new life... which promptly lead to him getting shot at. Throughout the issue he makes multiple references to how lonely he is all the time.
** Good lord, where to begin with Arcee? In an attempt to introduce gender into the species, he was given what amounted to a forced sex change, and WordOfGod is he feels trapped. He eventually gets revenge on his tormentor and makes an attempt at getting on with life, at which point we learn he's quite bad in social situations. His attempts at reaching out to other people have been met with mixed results.
** Soundwave, especially after we learn his backstory.
* UncannyValley: When Nova Prime snaps at Dai Atlas in the annual he's drawn with humanlike pupils and his normally soft yellow eyes suddenly become blood red. The result is... unsettling and serves as a small crack in Nova's apparent "knight in shining armor" persona.
----
* AbandonShipping: Issue 44's cover featuring Tracks and Needlenose posing together in a selfie, and the solicit being: "LOVE AND HATE! Two emotions only inches from each other—and Tracks and Needlenose have felt them both. On opposite sides of an eons-long war, what happens when they meet again?" Lead to some fans seeing them in a relationship. Then the issue came out it establishes them as Spark Brothers (and also Canonizes Needlenose's relationship to Horribull), ending what little romantic speculation there was.
* AlasPoorScrappy: Metalhawk was considered by many to be annoying with his smug HolierThanThou attitude, mud-slinging, and hypocrisy (trying to make a better world all the while belittling the aligned forces and straining the alliances). He's betrayed and killed by Starscream, whom he considered a friend, and his death was then used to accomplish his stated goal. [[SubvertedTrope Then he came back as a very angry zombie...]]
** [[spoiler:Ironically, the characters you'd least miss in this series' first arc (Bumblebee and Metalhawk again) are some of the ones you'll miss most after finishing ''Dark Cybertron''.]]
** [[spoiler:Galvatron vaporizing General Witwicky]] elicited this reaction.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The Monstructor Six. Was Jhiaxus lying when he said they volunteered for the procedure (considering his track record and Arcee, he may have been)? Were they willing accomplices to all of his plans, or are they just SlaveMooks with their free-will stripped in pursuit of the idea that "all are one?" Or is it a combination of that, with their minds destroyed or broken down, and them willingly following Jhiaxus as they can comprehend no other alternative? Bludgeon implies that it's the latter, but he's hardly the most trustworthy person. Galvatron inadvertently chimed in on this later on when discussing combiners he believes that those who combine have their personalities dilute themselves until their individuality rots away. This combined with the long period of time the Six have combined in addition with him being a flawed prototype, can also account for their mindset.
** Then of course there's Prowl, KnightTemplar or WellIntentionedExtremist? Even with the revelation of [[spoiler:his mind-control]] there's still debate. After TheReveal he can be seen as a ByronicHero.
* AwesomeArt: Livo Ramondelli's drawings aren't universally liked, but when they work, they ''[[NightmareFuel work]]''.
** The three-artist team working on "Earthfall" (Guido Guidi, Brendan Cahill and regular Andrew Griffith) all pick up each others' slack really well. That their art is very Alex Milne-esque helps.
* AwesomeEgo: Deconstructed. Nova Prime starts out as fully deserving his ego, but eventually this degrades into him thinking he's a gift to the damned universe and causing him to become a self-loving extremist.
* BaseBreaker:
** Turmoil, surprisingly enough. Some fans think he's a cool original character, citing his design and badass nature. Other fans think he's just a generic "high command" con who exists to look threatening and give brownie points to whoever kills him. Some think he was underused, others just didn't regard him as important. Issue 7 billed him as a fan-favorite character, people either disagreed as he was from [[CreatorsPet Drift's]] run, were glad to see his return or treated his reintroduction with a "meh."
*** Given that [[spoiler:his time machine]] is essential to Shockwave's plan in Dark Cybertron, it seems he was heavily promoted to avoid a ContinuityLockout.
** Rattrap's AdaptationalVillainy started the fractured fan opinion about him. Ruining of an iconic character or interesting new direction?
** Alpha Bravo caused a divide even before he appeared in comic. The biggest reason is him being a CanonForeigner, and replacing Slingshot. His detractors feel he throws off the all-plane Aerialbots by having a helicopter mode, and his whole appearance is a blatant cost saving measure (his mold can easily be redone to create Blades and Vortex). His defenders feel he adds some diversity to the team by breaking the mold, and feel the cost-saving measure is a necessary set back to finally give the fans the well-articulated combiners they've always wanted. Then of course there's the Slingshot fans who feel the character's gotten the short-end of the stick, though this has lessened with the announcement of a Slingshot figure (retooled from Fireflight).
* BrokenBase: Unlike it's near universally loved sister series ''More Than Meets The Eye'', this series is was the divider amongst fans for quite a bit. It's starting to be much better recieved, though.
** Season 1 had it's fans, the continuity was much tighter, the cast had more of the big names in meaty roles, and Post-war Cybertron was ripe with new story ideas. It also had it's detractors, some felt the pacing was very slow, the Autobots and NAILS came off as too unlikable, and [[spoiler:Megatron's return]] while a fun arc made him seem too generic.
** Season 2 faced a dilemma when the main cast moved back to earth, as it would be touching on the maligned [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Costa run]], and the continuity would end up even more confusing as it would rely more heavily on what's come before. There are some who like it, enjoying Galvatron's characterization, more screen time for Soundwave and Cosmos, the backstory for the Enigma was praised along with Thundercracker's return. Others disliked the return of the humans, and especially their team-up with the Decepticons as just odd characterization on both sides. With the humans siding with the cons, who leveled dozens of cities under Megatron, and Soundwave's complete trust in them, despite casually watching Frenzy tear them apart back in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron All Hail Megatron]]''. Others feel the allegiance makes sense with Galvatron and Blackrock leading the respective schemes against each other, and the justification that past actions of the Decepticons could be chalked up to Megatron (who's defection to the Autobots makes the Humans distrust them more).
* ContinuityLockout: Not as bad as its sister series ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', but it's still present.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Quickly heading that way. The Autobots, Decepticons, and Nails are ''all'' assholes excluding a small few exceptions (Wheeljack, Sky Byte, Dirge, Scoop, and few others). Everytime the heroes seem to be getting anywhere, something comes along and bitch-slaps their victory away. Save New Iacon from [[spoiler: Megatron]]? [[spoiler: Starscream kills Metalhawk, screws over everyone, and takes control of the city]]. Orion and his team reach some of the ores before Jhiaxus and Bludgeon? [[spoiler: Jhiaxus and Bludgeon outwit them and get it anyways]]. Some fans have stopped reading simply because they think all the likable and sympathetic characters are getting killed off and ignored in favor of detestable and annoying DesignatedHero characters.
** Thankfully season 2 seems to have largely fixed this, with the jerkassery of the less likable Autobots being reeled back (making [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Bumblebee and Metalhawk much more popular]]), the focus getting shifted from [[NominalHero Bumble]][[{{Wangst}} bee]] to [[TheHero Optimus]], and a more humorous tone being added, giving the comic [[{{Dramedy}} a tone]] more consistent with MTMTE and ''Windblade''.
* DesignatedHero: Sideswipe is an Autobot, but he acts like a complete lunatic who constantly provokes fights and talks about how much he loves to engage in violence. On multiple occasions he's talked about shooting/beating up Decepticons and NAILs for fun and during the annual. No wonder the Nails hate the Autobots when they've got psychos like Sideswipe around. Likely intentional, though to what extent isn't clear.
** [[TookALevelInJerkass It's worth nothing he was more mellow and noble]] in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'', so his current personality is quite jarring.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dirge is one with both the fans ''and the creators''. Waspinator and Sky Byte were included solely because they were popular.
** Pretty much everyone will agree that this iteration of Shockwave is ''completely, terrifyingly awesome''.
** Thundercracker was already an EnsembleDarkhorse in the previous ongoing, so his return here was met with much praise, especially given his development into [[{{Adorkable}} a complete dork]] who has an adorable puppy and spends time writing awful screenplays for fun.
** Amongst the new cast members joining in season 2, Cosmos seems to be getting the most fan love due to his earnest yet snarky personality and [[TheWoobie woobie-factor]]. It helps that he's a carry over from MTMTE.
** Wheeljack is beloved by fans, many feeling that he should be the main protagonist. Not surprising given his popularity in previous G1 stories.
** Flatline, the Decepticon-turned-NAIL medic, is extremely popular, despite his limited role.
** Soundwave, for being a complex yet noble ByronicHero. Like Wheeljack, many wish he was the main protagonist of the series rather than the Autobots. It seems John Barber partially agreed; season 2 gives Soundwave much more screentime and significance in the plot.
* EvilIsCool: Bludgeon and, to a lesser degree, Shockwave.
* FanNickname: [[spoiler:"Prowlestator" for the new form of Devastator with Prowl in Scrapper's place.]]
** Crackerjack for Thundercracker, in light of his horrible fanfics.
** "Captain Continuity" for John Barber, who goes to incredible pains to try to patch up every single plothole from all the way the "-ations" series.
* GrowingTheBeard: Some feel that the comic is starting to grow it's beard with issue 16, where Starscream takes over New Iacon (creating an interesting new setting) and starts to feature a more character driven story. Bumblebee also begins to become significantly more likable during this time before [[spoiler: being done away with in ''Dark Cybertron'']], ''finally'' giving the other more interesting cast members (besides Starscream) a chance to take stage.
* HarsherInHindsight: ''Generation 1'' Superion was toy of notoriously poor quality, whose legs tended to snap off at the waist. In addition, the ''Generation 2'' re-release had one of the components, Slingshot, suffer from the toy-destroying [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Gold_Plastic_Syndrome Gold Plastic Syndrome]]. [[spoiler:Devastator rips Superion to bits in exactly this fashion in Issue #15, and irreparably and fatally injures Slingshot in the process.]]
* HolyShitQuotient:The entirety of the "City on Fire" arc, but a special mention goes to [[spoiler:Prowlestator.]]
* IronWoobie: Wheeljack is underappreciated, often berated except when his science skills are useful, gets treated like dirt by several of his supposed friends, gets [[TheChewToy damaged quite a bit]], and is one of the few wholly good characters in a setting of GreyAndGreyMorality. Despite all of these hardships, he remains almost completely upbeat, never loses his sense of humor, and does his best to help anyone he can.
* JerkassWoobie: Prowl and Arcee.
** Starscream is starting to veer in this direction. The only way he's able to openly speak his mind and be understood is when he's talking to people that can't converse back with him.
** Needlenose becomes this after his HeelRealization in issue 21.
* MagnificentBastard: Megatron is back in form as this; he was pulling the strings behind pretty much everything that happened in season 1. Shockwave managed to outpace him in this department though.
** Galvatron shows signs of this in issue 32, [[spoiler:murdering General Witwicky, ridding himself of an "ally" who proved too willing to use force to keep Galvatron in line. Then blaming Prowl to manipulate the EDC into upholding their alliance.]]
* MemeticBadass: John Barber himself gets this treatment on Wiki/TFWiki.
-->'''TF Wiki Caption:''' I am God's gift to continuity.
* MemeticMutation: Josh Boyfriend. [[note]]The name of one of Thundercracker's characters in a screenplay he's working on.[[/note]]
** Acree. [[note]]One of the official preview teaser posters IDW distributed for RID #28 had Arcee's name spelled wrong. The internet quickly ran with it calling "Acree" the best transformer yet. [[/note]]
** [[spoiler:[[Film/PansLabyrinth Tell Spike the way his father died.]]]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Starscream murdering Metalhawk when no one was looking, then using his death to propel his own popularity and then win the population over to his side.
** Bludgeon crosses it when he kills [[spoiler:Varta.]]
** Senator Proteus definitely crossed it after what he had done to poor Shockwave.
** Galvatron murdering [[spoiler:General Witwicky]], then using his death to manipulate Marissa.
* {{Narm}}: Deliberately done when [[spoiler:Gorlam Prime is undergoing its devastation, and everything's coming apart and disintegrating at a molecular level]], Jhiaxus proclaims his victory and makes an epic escape after the Titan. Monstructor… climbs on and straddles the ship like a kiddie ride. What was once a [[TheBadGuyWins triumphant]] VillainExitStageLeft has now been made positively adorable.
* NarmCharm: The old school comic styled flashbacks in the annual would usually be Narmy, but they manage to work fantastically when combined with the modern sequences.
* NightmareFuel: Lots.
** The fact that everyone Galvatron recruited into his army turned into Sweeps over time.
** Bludgeon. Oh ''god almighty Bludgeon''.
** Hardhead being forced to blow Wheelie's arm off in issue 19.
** Nova Prime's StartOfDarkness in the annual is portrayed... [[KnightTemplar rather unsettlingly]].
--->"'''I AM THE LEGACY OF PRIMUS!!'''"
** Present-day Shockwave is a ''cavalcade'' of NightmareFuel.
*** Exemplified in a flashback in issue 17 when he's testing Energon variants on a hapless Cybertronian, who freaking ''explodes''. The comic cuts to a panel of Shockwave taking stock of this as '''hundreds of test subjects' corpses hang from the ceiling above'''. '''''HOLY PRIMUS'''''.
*** Issue #33 has a double doozy with the massive, offline hulks of Omega Supreme and the Superion suspended in Starscream's hangar. Superion is by far the worse of the two, having been so badly damaged one of his components is fatally injured and his ''spine'' is visible.
* OneSceneWonder: Barrel Roll only appears for one scene and dies in said scene, but comes off as one of the most sensible and likable Autobots.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: While an excellent read in it's own right, it's overshadowed considerably by its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]].
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Fandom reaction to the usually unpopular character Wheelie is less "annoying and wish he would die" and more "[[TheWoobie needs a freaking hug."]]
** Bumblebee and Metalhawk mature into ''far'' more likable characters during ''[[ComicBook/TransformersDarkCybertron Dark Cybertron]]'''s run, where the former becomes a bona fide BadassInCharge and [[spoiler:Megatron's MoralityPet]], and the latter a psychotic undead servant of Shockwave's [[spoiler:who eventually manages to break free and join up with the good guys. [[AlasPoorScrappy Sadly, neither of them survived the crossover]].]]
** To an extent, the IDW verion of Arcee. The original depiction of the character in Furman's run was widly disliked for being radically different from previous versions of the character. RID makes her a considerbly more likable and developed character, who isn't just defined as being constantly violent. Then she gets a cool upgrade, decides that GoodFeelsGood, and joins Optimus' team.
** While still not popular, Spike Witwicky's general obnoxiousness is both toned down and widely mocked InUniverse, making him far more entertaining than he was previously.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Some fans were hoping that Megatron and his loyalists would destroy New Iacon at the end of season 1 (or at least kill off [[TheScrappy Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and the obnoxious Nails like Tappet]]). Notably the reaction to [[spoiler: Megatron smashing Bumblebee's face in]] was less horror and more "Finally!". [[SubvertedTrope This changed]] when [[EnsembleDarkhorse the characters the readers actually liked]] such as Wheeljack and Dirge got targeted, too.
* RewatchBonus: With all the stuff that's revealed in issue 14 you'll slap yourself in the face for not noticing all the hints and foreshadowing. This applies to everything regarding Prowl, Bombshell and the Constructicons, the Dinobots' actions in issue 9, and the wilderness surrounding New Iacon.
* TheScrappy: Metalhawk and the Nails (excluding [[EnsembleDarkhorse Sky Byte]], of course) since early-on their only purpose seemed to be making things more difficult for the Autobots and Decepticons. Their HolierThanThou attitude and tendency towards NeverMyFault didn't help, not to mention most of their screen-time is spent insulting the protagonists.
** Bumblebee before ''Dark Cybertron'' due to him being an awful leader who spent more time whining, provoking his own allies, and letting [[ManipulativeBastard Prowl]] stomp all over him than actually leading. Thankfully he was [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued]] at the end of season 1.
** In season 2, Chromia seems to be taking over the status of Scrappy from Bee and Metalhawk [[spoiler:due to being a massive KarmaHoudini and being one of the least popular recipients of AdaptationalVillainy. She killed three people to try and get Windblade to return to Caminus. Other characters have avoided punishment for crimes, like Megatron or Prowl, but they at least suffer for their actions. Chromia is just let off the hook with a pinky promise that she won't kill people anymore.]] This got worse after issue 33, where she has the gall to insult [[EnsembleDarkhorse Wheeljack]] before she even meets him.
** The human characters in general, mainly for taking screentime away from the robot characters.
* SoBadItsGood: Thundercracker's screenplay which has character names like "Josh Boyfriend", opens with a cheesy expository monologue about how [[{{Wangst}} hard life is]], and has the characters constantly referring to themselves as "earth humans". Thundercracker thinks it's cinematic gold.
* TakeThatScrappy: Prowl pretty much blames Spike Witwicky, the much-hated NominalHero from Mike Costa's run, for making him into a cynical bastard. The mere thought of Spike pisses him off to no end. The Constructicons also despise him and make their dislike quite outspoken. The solicitations for Issue #36 run with this and is essentially a parade of [[TakeThat Take Thats]] against Spike.
** Blackrock's angry speech to Marissa about Spike makes it clear that he only thinks of Spike as a punk, and a thorn in his side rather than the heroic anarchist Spike presents himself as.
** Bumblebee getting his head smashed in and Galvatron vaporizing the unpopular [[spoiler:General Witwicky]] probably fall under this.
* TearJerker: Shockwave and Soundwave's respective backstories.
** The deaths of [[spoiler:Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and ultimately even Shockwave.]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A minor example, but some fans felt that Starscream killing Metalhawk ruined a really interesting RedemptionQuest character arc that the comic seemed to be building up to. Somewhat subverted due to a) the comic still portraying Starscream as [[JerkassWoobie somewhat pitiable]] even after this and hinting that he may be remorseful for the act, and b) Metalhawk coming back to give Starscream grief.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Some fans feel that Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and a majority of the Autobots and Nails are this. This results in the Decepticons becoming UnintentionallySympathetic.
* VanillaProtagonist: Bumblebee is surrounded by a well-liked CoolOldGuy, a lovable MadScientist, a bot striving to find the best in people and make everyone equal, TheStarscream who is trying to change, a former criminal trying to make a new life, the BigGood and his ragtag crew on a quest to stop a madman, a NobleDemon on a quest to make the world a better place, and many other colorful characters. A generally agreed upon complaint in the comic is that Bumblebee is without a doubt the least interesting or likable character. While the entire story doesn't revolve around him like other examples, the audience is stuck with his POV as Autobot leader. The writer seems to agree given that, [[spoiler: Bee gets killed off abruptly in ''Dark Cybertron'' and gets replaced as protagonist from season 2 onwards.]]
* {{Wangst}}: Bumblebee spends way more time feeling sorry for himself than he really should.
* WinBackTheCrowd: Maybe not to the extent of its [[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye sister series]], but even so, it's generally agreed to be better than the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW predecessor]] to both. Its ''far'' stronger continuity is probably invaluable in this regard.
** Season 2 seems to be attempting to do this for fans who felt that RID couldn't keep up with MTMTE in terms of quality. It's largely successful so far.
* TheWoobie: Shockwave, after we learn his gruesome origin. The bitterly ironic part is that the emotionally devoid scientist wouldn't say the same of himself.
** Also, Dirge, who just wants to live his life in peace but keeps getting dragged back into conflicts he wants no part of.
** Waspinator.
** Wheelie.
** Issue 28 does a very good job at making you feel bad for Cosmos. One of his first lines is commenting how miserable he feels because he abandoned the Lost Light crew based on the promise of a new life... which promptly lead to him getting shot at. Throughout the issue he makes multiple references to how lonely he is all the time.
** Good lord, where to begin with Arcee? In an attempt to introduce gender into the species, he was given what amounted to a forced sex change, and WordOfGod is he feels trapped. He eventually gets revenge on his tormentor and makes an attempt at getting on with life, at which point we learn he's quite bad in social situations. His attempts at reaching out to other people have been met with mixed results.
** Soundwave, especially after we learn his backstory.
* UncannyValley: When Nova Prime snaps at Dai Atlas in the annual he's drawn with humanlike pupils and his normally soft yellow eyes suddenly become blood red. The result is... unsettling and serves as a small crack in Nova's apparent "knight in shining armor" persona.
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