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Here are the character tropes for A Girl and Her Bike. For character tropes pertaining to canon RWBY, see here.

Main Characters

Bumblebee

Bumblebee/B-127

An Autobot scout separated from the crew of the Ark. Stranded on an unknown planet, he attempts to use his homing beacon to locate the ship, but through a series of events, is sold to the Rose/Xiao Long family and becomes Yang's vehicle and partner. His main vehicular mode is a G1-Dustfire motorcycle.

Adaptational Species Change: In as much as a different alt-mode can be consider a different species, but Bumblebee normally transforms into so manner of car for his alt-mode. Here, he turns into a motorcycle, similar to the Animated version of Prowl and the Aligned version of Arcee.
Adaptational Superpower Change: Canonically, his stingers' ability is to disable technology via an electrical attack. In this story, his stingers solidify a person's Aura and render them stationary. Furthermore, said stingers aren't a weapon, but are instead his Distinction/Semblance.
Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. This version of Bumblebee stayed on Megatron's side until after he killed Orion. The Cyberverse version left to join with Optimus long before the war was close to starting.
Badass in Distress: He, alongside Yang and Ruby, get captured by Winter and the Decepticons in Chapter 10 of the first volume.
Cool Bike: He is one, being a badass alien robot with several high-tech weapons and the ability to turn into a motorcycle.
Gentle Giant: Downplayed. By Cybertronian standards, he's downright tiny, only being bigger than Minicons due to being made for a colony project that never got off the ground, but compared to humans and Faunus, he's much bigger than either and is a total Nice Guy.
Logical Weakness: His stingers work by solidifying the Aura/Projected Spark Field of the target to paralyze them temporarily, but if the target has no Aura, like a Grimm or someone who's Aura has been depleted, it does jack squat.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: When pitted against other Decepticons, he's very much a Weak, but Skilled Guile Hero, needing to rely on maneuverability, speed, and finesse to fight against them. Against most opponents on Remnant, he's practically an Implacable Man due to his greater size, weaponry, and strength compared to the human-sized inhabitants. As seen in his fight against the White Fang (including Adam), the most they could do was trip him up and Adam could only manage to nick his chest.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: More so than the standard incarnation. While most versions of Bumblebee are either Volkswagen Beetles or Muscle cars, this version is a motorbike, making him smaller than the standard version, but no less capable of kicking ass.
Time Abyss: According to him, he's been fighting against the Decepticons for over 2 million years by the time the story begins.

Yang Xiao Long

A young Huntress-in-training from Patch and the eldest daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long. On her birthday, she gets a new G1 Dustfire bike that she affectionately names Bumblebee. Much to her shock, said bike is an alien robot that unwittingly drags her into a new world of adventure and danger.

An Arm and a Leg: Much like canon, this happens to her, albeit instead of Adam slicing it off during the Fall of Beacon, her battle with Dropkick ends in an explosion that destroyed her right arm.
Artificial Limbs: Just like in canon, she gets a cybernetic limb, though here it's after her old right arm is destroyed in her last bout against Dropkick rather than losing it to Adam. Winter's Spotlight chapter reveals that it was a gift made after Ironwood learned her last name and realized that she has close ties to Ozpin's inner circle through her father and uncle.
Badass in Distress: She, alongside Bumblebee and Ruby, get taken captive by Winter and the Decepticons in Chapter 10.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Nope. In Chapter 14, the aftermath of her battle with Dropkick and the ensuing explosion she gets caught in leaved her heavily scarred, burned, and down her right arm.
Boxing Battler: Her fighting style revolved heavily around boxing using her Ember Celica gauntlets.
Composite Character: In-Universe example. Her Dream Actor within Blake's nightmare combines her with Raven Branwen, making her a bandit who sports a combination of hers and her mother's outfits.
Nobody Touches the Hair: Her major Berserk Button is when any of her hair gets cut off. During her fight with Blake, her opponent managed to cut off some of her hair. Cue Unstoppable Rage.
Scars Are Forever: By the end of Volume 1, besides her lost arm, she gets permanent burn scars over the upper-right portions of her face.
Trauma Button: Thanks to almost getting her arm ripped off by Dropkick, the sadistic brute has become this for her. Just the sight of him causes her to freeze up.
Unskilled, but Strong: Briefly in her fight with Adam and Blake. She gets a hold of Adam's sword, but she's a boxer, not a swordswoman. It's really shown how ill-equipped she is to wield the weapon when she's easily disarmed and knocked back.

Allies

Yang's family

Ruby Rose

Yang's younger half-sister.

Badass in Distress: She, alongside her sister and Bumblebee, get captured by Winter and the Decepticons in Chapter 10.
Beware the Nice Ones: She's without a doubt one of the nicest people you'll meet, but she's also undoubtedly someone you never want to piss off. In Chapter 15 of Volume 1, she decapitates Dropkick with Crescent Rose to protect a wounded and unconscious Yang. In fact, when Blake is possessed by a Nightmare in her Spotlight chapter, her Dream version represents this by being a little girl capable of Hulking Out.
Failed a Spot Check: Despite having met Blake when she was working with the White Fang, an organization that exclusively employs Faunus, she doesn't learn that Blake's a Faunus until the latter's spotlight chapter. When Blake questions how she wasn't aware, she says that she didn't want to make any assumptions.
Little Sister Instinct: There's nothing she won't do to protect and help her older sister.
- When she saw Dropkick, who tried to rip off Yang's arm, her attitude towards him became outright murderous.
- She's actually the one who kills him, taking off his head with Crescent Rose when he tries to kill a wounded and unconscious Yang.
Oblivious to Love: At one point, a boy has a crush on her. Unfortunately for him, she has no idea his feelings are more than platonic.
Scars Are Forever: Even after two months, her facial scar is faded, but still present.
Sinister Scythe: Her main weapon, like canon, is Crescent Rose.
Slasher Smile: During Bumblebee's Nightmare Sequence in his Spotlight chapter, she's shown sporting one.

Taiyang Xiao Long

Taiyang "Tai" Xiao Long

Yang's father.

Papa Wolf: As his rage at Yang's torture and his fight with Winter when she tries to apprehend his daughters shows, NEVER mess with his kids.
Worf Had the Flu: He gets his ass handed to him by an Ursa Major in Chapter 2 of Volume 1, but in his defense, he was caught off-guard and couldn't even get his weapon out until after he was too injured to continue fighting.

Autobots

Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax

Leader of the Autobot resistance and Bumblebee's commanding officer.

Armor-Piercing Question: He gives more than one of these to Winter in her Spotlight chapter regarding societal treatment of Faunus that leaves her silent and questioning her views.
Back from the Dead:
- It wouldn't be Optimus if this hadn't happened to him, as Megatron found out not long after he murdered Orion Pax...
- It's revealed in Chapter 5 of Like Judas Thereupon Kissed that this has happened to him before even that, as Alpha Trion gave Orion part of his Projected Spark Field to originally give him life the first time, and later again to resurrect him, much like how Pietro created and revived Penny in RWBY.
Badass Normal: As Orion Pax, he was the Cybertronian equivalent of this. He had no Projected Spark Field or Distinction to speak of, but he could still fight against enemies who possessed such means. This is especially shown during the Quintesson invasion, where he fights on the front lines alongside the rest of the Autobots and Ascenticons.
Barrier Warrior: His Distinction is creating shields to protect others, as he demonstrates with Blake after being awakened and Winter in her Spotlight chapter.
Big Good: He's this for the Autobots, being the defacto leader against the Decepticon Empire.
Came Back Strong: After his death, he was reborn as Optimus Prime. He then gained a Projected Spark Field and Distinction, as well as became the greatest thorn in the Decepticons' side.
The Dreaded: Being the leader of the Autobots, the Decepticons are naturally terrified of him. As revealed in Chapter 15 of Volume 1 when he first awakens, Shatter goes into a panic at the sight of him.
Greater-Scope Paragon: If Megatron is the Greater-Scope Villain for the Decepticons invading Remnant during Volume 1, then Optimus is most certainly this for Bumblebee and his friends, being responsible for the Ark coming to Remnant in the first place.
Heroes Love Dogs: As seen in Chapter 2 of Like Judas Thereupon Kissed, he had the Cybertronian equivalent of one in Roller, whom he was highly affectionate towards.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of the Autobots and is the most powerful of them, being The Dreaded to the Decepticons and inciting an Oh, Crap! response when he shows up. This is especially notable since prior to becoming a Prime, he was a good fighter, but nothing all that remarkable. After the fact, he can go toe-to-toe with Megatron in combat.
Related in the Adaptation: While Alpha Trion was a father-figure to Orion/Optimus in other continuities, here, he's his creator.
The So-Called Coward: Back when he was Orion Pax, his more peaceful ideals led to many, especially the Ascenticons, deriding him as a coward who refused to fight for the vision they were striving for. Time and again though, he proves them wrong. This especially comes up during the Quintesson invasion where he and Megatron save an Ascenticon, who's shocked to see the "infamously pacifistic" Orion laying down his life in battle without fear or hesitation.

Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magnus (Minimus Ambus and Magnum)

A high-ranking member of the Autobots, expert strategist, and a two-bot combiner.

Adaptational Job Change: In most Transformers media, Ultra Magnus is a standard Cybertronian, but he's a combiner here. Likewise, Minimus was a "load-bearer", while here he's a Headmaster and Mini-Con.
Composite Character: Quite literally as well. Normally, either Minimus or Magnum are Ultra Magnus depending on the continuity. Here, both combine to form him.
Dark and Troubled Past: Minimus and Magnum were captured by Nominus Prime and experimented on, with the former forcibly converted into a Headmaster while the latter was trapped in the Magnus Armor.
Just Following Orders: An unfortunate aspect of the Shell Program Nominus used on him is that he's forced to obey his every order without question. This gets turned against the Prime in Chapter 6 of Like Judas Thereupon Kissed, whereby daring Ultra Magnus to try and find "incriminating evidence", the programming was able to interpret the order in such a way that it allowed him the freedom needed to investigate Nominus' personal terminal. This ensured the Functionist Prime's downfall, as it revealed his role in the death of Sentinel Prime, as well as his collusion with the Quintessons.

Arcee

An Autobot warrior and veteran of many battles long predating the Great War. She is the Conjunx Endura of Greenlight and the creator/mother of Gauge.

Action Mom: She's a very effective fighter, able and willing to take on the likes of Lockdown and is a loving mother/creator to her protoform, Gauge.
Dad the Veteran: She was a soldier who fought in previous Cybertronian wars before she settled down with Greenlight and started a family of her own.
Like Parent, Unlike Child: It's stated that she was created by Jhiaxus, making him her father. Suffice to say, when one compares the sweet, loving Arcee to the bigoted, repugnant bastard that is Jhiaxus, it's quite clear that they're as opposite as you can get.
Mama Bear: Boy howdy, is she ever. She went outright ballistic on Lockdown when he attacked her home and hospitalized Gauge.
Related in the Adaptation: Her and Jhaixus have no relation to each other in any Transformers canon. Here, he's her father/creator.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Her response to Jhiaxus' attempt to kill her wife and their daughter? Drown him in a technorganic slurry.

Greenlight

The former political candidate of the Autobot party before the war began, now a soldier amongst their ranks fighting to stop the Decepticons.

Action Mom: She routinely fights against Decepticons and is Gauge's mother/creator.
Action Politician: Prior to the war, she was the Autobot candidate running for the Council.
Heel–Face Turn: She's stated to have once been a Functionist, but she came to understand the system's flaws and would turn against them to fight for something better.

Beacon Academy

Ozpin

Professor Ozpin

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy.

Big Good: He serves as this for Remnant as a whole, being the leader against Salem's forces.
Really 700 Years Old: He make look the part of an average adult Headmaster, but he's been reincarnating for thousands of years in the shadow war against Salem.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He's the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and takes the words and advice of others into great consideration, meets with Bumblebee to get his side of the story, and tries to mitigate/stop Ironwood's reckless decision making.

Vytal

Marissa Faireborn

A Huntress and member of the Vytal Militia, who becomes one of the Autobots' foremost allies.

Adaptational Heroism: While she was one of the good guys, she did initially start out as an antagonist (albeit a sympathetic Anti-Villain) in IDW opposing the Autobots. Here, she's helping them from the get-go.
Adaptational Badass: She was a Badass Normal in her home series, but being native to Remnant here grants her the benefits of Aura and Semblance.
Last Episode, New Character: She's introduced in the last chapter of A Girl and Her Bike's first volume.

Enemies

White Fang

Sienna Khan

The main leader of the White Fang.

Anti-Villain: Her end goals are to achieve equality for Faunuskind, but her methods involve stoking fear of them into humanity.
Ascended Extra: She's given a lot more prominence here compared to canon, where she died in her introduction scene and only gained more screen-time via Adam's character short after her death.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- She calls out Adam on his needless antagonism of humanity, citing that all he would do is unite them all against the Faunus.
- As Blake and Midori point out, she seeks equality, not conquest. When Akai accuses her of willingly aligning herself with the Decepticons, they defend her and point out that she'd never join them if she was aware of what their true goals were.
Fantastic Racism: She dislikes humans, and one of her first actions as leader of the White Fang was to outlaw human/Faunus marriages within the group, telling members that they could either get divorced or be branded as traitors. However, this is downplayed, as it's revealed the decision was actually done as a safety precaution due to security leaks she thought were caused by their human allies working against them (which was in actuality false information given to her by Adam).
Ungrateful Bastard: Akai openly loathes her as this during her rant in Chapter 7 of Volume 1. Despite Akai's mother having saved Ghira's life, left everything behind to live with a Faunus husband and raise her daughter, and having been openly supportive of the Faunus even through the worst of it, Sienna still attacked her and treated her like an enemy. However, it's later revealed that this wasn't the case and that things were far more complicated than Akai thought they were. Namely, Adam was feeding her false information.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She's the leader of an extremist organization, but she makes it clear that every action she takes is to ensure that her kind will be respected and treated as equals by mankind.

Adam Taurus

One of the primary leaders of the White Fang and Blake's immediate superior.

Big Bad Wannabe: In the end, he's ultimately unable to pose as much of a threat as the Decepticons can.
Domestic Abuse: He's shown to be highly abusive towards Blake; shoving her into nearby objects, yelling at her when she fails him, and conditioning her to rely only on him. Blake's Spotlight chapter reveals that he's the reason she wore her bow during her time in the Fang despite not needing to hide her Faunus trait there, claiming that her ears were "distracting". The fact that there's a significant age gap between the two of them makes it even worse.
Entitled Bastard: He's an extremely entitled asshole. When Ruby calls him out on his abusive attitude towards Blake, his response amounted to "She belongs to me, I can treat her however I want."
Evil Is Petty: After getting beaten by Bumblebee and told that his homing beacon isn't a bomb, he openly admits that he's just continuing the fight because he despises losing to anyone.
Hate Sink: He has absolutely no positive qualities as a person, subjecting Blake to Domestic Abuse and being extremely anti-human just for starters. It's pretty telling that several of his subordinates defect after realizing just how nasty he is in Chapter 13 of Volume 1. The fact that he's in a relationship with Blake despite a significant age gap also generates multiple reactions of hate and disgust towards him once people realize it.
The Heavy: The most recurring antagonist in Volume 1 of A Girl and Her Bike, with his theft of Bumblebee's Homing Becon prolonging and escalating the conflict.
Hypocrite: In Chapter 13 of Volume 1, he calls humans heartless. Let that be repeated; Adam Taurus calls humans heartless.
Manipulative Bastard: If there's one thing Adam is good at, it's coercing people into doing what he wants. He's managed to manipulate a sizable amount of the White Fang into following his bloodthirsty ideology and tricked Sienna into kicking any human allies and their loved ones (Faunus included) out of the organization. He's also adept in hiding his less savory qualities from people to string them along, as Sienna has no idea he's a sociopathic supremist hellbent on usurping and only sees him as an overzealous, but loyal, subordinate.
Karmic Butt-Monkey: As monstrous as he is, he regularly suffers humilating defeats. The Decepticons near-instantly knock him out as soon as they get involved, Bumblebee is able to shrug off most of what he hits him with, he gets run over by Bumblebee while trying to chase down Ruby in his own camp, Several of his own followers, Blake included, turn on him in the middle of an operation, and he ultimtely gets dragged into the woods by a random Grimm after suffering one final defeat at a critically injured Bumblebee's hands. By the time Cinder recruits him, he's so injured he can barely stand.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He talks a big game about fighting against the evils of humanity for the liberation of Faunus kind, but his bloodlust, lack of sanity, abusive attitude, and self-centeredness all go to show that he's really just a delusional psychopath trying to prop himself up as the hero when in reality he's anything but. By Chapter 13 of Volume 1, many of his own subordinates have come to realize this and promptly ditch him to help Yang, Ruby and Bumblebee stop the Decepticons. Blake's Spotlight chapter reveals that he even personally sabotaged a joint Human and Faunus settlement, showing that he doesn't really care about equality at all.
The Worf Barrage: His Moonslice attack is usually a One-Hit Kill. When he tries it on Bumblebee, while he did cut through his Aura and leave a gash on his chest, the Autobot was otherwise perfectly fine.

Blake Belladonna

Adam's subordinate.

Adaptational Modesty: Her Nightmare form has this in comparison to RWBY: Ice Queendom. There, her Nightmare form wore shorts that could hardly qualify as such, while here, she's given long pants.
Anti-Villain: At her worst, she's this. She's a decent person at heart, it's just that she's Trapped in Villainy due to Adam keeping her under his thumb.
Dark Is Not Evil: She's predominantly dressed in black, but while she is working for a terrorist organization, she has no genuine malice or desire to hurt others, and she ultimately abandons her old group to team up with the heroes.
Demonic Possession: In her Spotlight chapter, she's possessed by a Nightmare and spends a good chunk of the chapter controlled.
Domestic Abuse: A victim of this trope from Adam, as she's subjected to both physical abuse and psychological conditioning through means such as gaslighting. The fact that he's several years older than her makes it even more disturbing.
Extreme Doormat: Because of Adam's constant abuse of her, she's very reluctant to go against him in any way even if she knows that what he's doing is wrong.
Harmful to Minors: She was manipulated into a relationship by Adam, who groomed her for the past 4-5 years and subjected her to physical and emotional abuse. Keep in mind that by the time the story starts, she's only sixteen.
Heel–Face Turn: By Chapter 13 of V1, she abandons Adam and teams up with Ruby, Yang, and Bumblebee.
Locked Out of the Loop: Adam has been very selective on what he wants Blake to know, such as making her believe that her parents aren't contacting her. In actuality, they've been trying to get in touch with her for years at this point and Adam's been trying to keep them out of touch with each other.

Schwarz Kohle

Adam's lieutenant.

Chainsaw Good: His primary weapon is a large chainsaw.
Named by the Adaptation: In canon, he didn't have a name. Here, his name is Schwarz Kohle.
Undying Loyalty: Out of all those who work under Adam, he's the most fanatically loyal to him and his dogmatic ideology, even going so far as to say any Faunus who refuses to fight with them deserves death.

Decepticons

Megatron

Megatron/Megatronous II/D-16

The ruler of the Decepticon Empire and one who started the Great War.

Arm Cannon: Similar to other incarnations of his character, he has his Fusion Cannon. An extremely devastating weapon made from the remains of the Fallen, who was a Prime.
Broken Pedestal: B-127/Bumblebee used to be Megatron's biggest supporter when he first joined the Ascenticons. However, that pedestal was vaporized with a Fusion Cannon when he killed Orion in cold blood.
Epic Flail: His main weapon is his Energon Mace, which is actually a flail. Ruby derides him for not knowing the difference between a mace and a flail.
Freudian Excuse: Left to die on a Death World with no hope of escape, found by the exiled sociopath of the Primes, and raised to have a Might Makes Right mentality that would drive him off the tipping point.
From Nobody to Nightmare: He went from a nameless soldier abandoned on a Death World to die to a champion gladiator in the Kaon Colosseum and would later go on to become the leader of the Decepticons who devastated his own home planet and conquered many more.
Greater-Scope Villain: He has no direct involvement in the main plot on Remnant, but he's the leader of the Decepticons and the reason the war happened.
Green-Eyed Monster: One of the big contributing factors leading to Cybertron's devastation was his envy that Orion was chosen to wield the Matrix of Leadership and not him.
Legacy Character: The Fallen/Megatronous passed his name on to him, and his remains were turned into Megatron's Fusion Cannon.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claims that he wants to put an end to the Cybertronian caste systems and bring equality, but his envy towards Orion reveals that he's really after the Matrix and his true motive is the acquisition of power. This is even shown before he went full megalomaniac, as when B-127 explained why he wanted to attend a charity tailgate for repairing Outer Iacon, Megatron only cared for the tactical value the city could hold if repaired, not the bots that lived there.

Starscream

The Air Commander of the Decepticons and Megatron's First Lieutenant, as well as Shatter and Dropkick's superior while on Remnant.

The Beastmaster: He's shown to be able to direct and command Grimm, with Dropkick even noting that they don't harm him for some reason.
Dirty Coward: Par for the course with Starscream. While he's certainly a threat, he'll turn tail and run when the odds are stacked against him. In flashbacks, it's shown that even as an Ascenticon, he would quickly fly away when outgunned.
The Dragon: He's Megatron's First Lieutenant, so he's this for the Decepticons as a whole.
Jerkass Has a Point: He has a valid point when calling out Shatter and Dropkick's attack on Bumblebee, as it alerted the Academy Headmasters to their existence and by extension their infiltration.
Meaningful Name: His name seems to be derived from his Super-Scream Distinction.
Super-Scream: His Distinction lets him amplify his voice into a deathly sonic attack. Reportedly, he once used to on Salem, and it completely vaporized her to the point where it took a few hours to put herself back together.

Shatter

A Decepticon triple-changer and interrogation officer assigned to locate the Ark on Remnant.

Brains and Brawn: She's the brains to Dropkick's brawn.
Faux Affably Evil: She can certainly act civil with others, but as her ordering Dropkick to rip off Yang's arm slowly and painfully shows, she's just as sadistic and cruel as her partner.
Hypocrite: Calls Ruby a psychopath for killing Dropkick. She really isn't one to talk.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Does Shatter even sound like a name that implies friendliness?
Starter Villain: The Big Bad of Volume 1.
Took a Level in Jerkass: We see in Like Judas Thereupon Kissed that she wasn't always the vile, sadistic bot she is today, as there was once a time where she was genuinely meek and kind.

Dropkick

Shatter's partner, expert torturer, triple-changer, and the muscle of the duo.

Ax-Crazy: The sadistic glee he expresses when slaughtering the White Fang and his Cold-Blooded Torture of Yang show what a psychopath this guy is.
Brains and Brawn: He's the brawn to Shatter's brains.
The Dreaded: He's this towards Yang. His disturbing torture of her has made him a walking, talking Trauma Button for her.
Fallen Hero: Well, not exactly 'hero', but before the war, he was a vigilante alongside the first members of the Wreckers. These days, he's a massive psychopath and torturer for the Decepticons.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Was once just a young bot that wanted nothing more than to be a doctor, only to have to turn to crime to try and fund that dream. After he was inevitably caught, he ended up on the path that led him into the Decepticons.
Off with His Head!: In Chapter 15 of Volume 1, Ruby kills him by using Crescent Rose to take his head off.
Smarter Than You Look: He may be the brawn in his dynamic with Shatter, but he actually has a strong grasp on medical knowledge, to the point where he helped invent the Triple Changer upgrade alongside Blitzwing and Springer. Then again, his job revolves around torturing others, and being medically inclined would allow him to make the pain last longer. Winter's Spotlight chapter reveals that he once had genuine ambitions towards becoming a doctor back on Cybertron, and only failed to do so because he got arrested trying to fund his training rather than due to lack of skill.
Underestimating Badassery: His dismissal of humans as weak allows Ruby to kill him.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: His job. Bumblebee states that his primary job is to execute prisoners when they are no longer of use.

Sideways

A Decepticon spy that has managed to infiltrate the Autobots.

Evil Counterpart: Like Bumblebee, his vehicle form is a motorcycle with black and yellow coloration, even having a female human companion, but he is a willing Decepticon agent.
The Mole: A Decepticon agent in the Autobot ranks, he's the one who sabotaged Optimus' stasis pod and stole one of the Omega Keys, only to end up crashing in stasis himself due to the God of Darkness blowing up Remnant's moon.

Atlas Military

Winter Schnee

Specialist Winter Schnee

A specialist in the Atlas military, who was sent to the island of Patch to investigate the resurgence of an object supposedly from the Great War.

Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Has no real personal ties to Yang in canon, but the two don't really have any particularly negative feelings either. After Winter scars Ruby, however, Yang very much considers her an enemy.
Anti-Villain: She's opposed to the heroes and makes no attempts in trying to compromise with them, but she is trying to maintain the peace, however misguided her actions are, and as seen when she reprimands her soldiers for harassing a civilian and her mortified reaction towards her accidental impaling of Yang, she has moral lines she won't cross.
An Arm and a Leg: During her Spotlight chapter, she loses her right hand while on a mission to a Decepticon city in Solitas.
The Atoner: After the events of Volume 1, she tries to make things right with the people she's wronged. This includes attempting to convince Ironwood to get Yang a prosthetic to replace the limb she lost.
Composite Character: Her role in Volume 1 is a combination of Agent Burns and Powell's characters from Bumblebee.
Condescending Compassion: Ends up unwittingly grating on Fixit's nerves when she expresses concern over his stutter. To her credit, she immediately apologizes when he points out what she's doing.
Everyone Has Standards: Tells off Rose and Gil for harassing Yang very early on, and is later HORRIFIED when she accidentally impales Yang on her saber.
The Heavy: While Adam antagonizes the heroes more directly more often, it's Winter's actions that kickstart the conflict of Volume 1, and she ultimately serves as the face of the Atlesian Military as an antagonistic force for the duration of Volume 1.
Heel Realization: In Chapter 11 of Volume 1, she learns the truth about the Decepticons and Autobots and tries to warn General Ironwood.
Heroic BSoD: Spends the opening of her Spotlight Oneshot silent and despairing over her guilt about her role in the disastrous events of Volume 1, and fear of what Ironwood will do to punish her.
Horrible Judge of Character: Played with. She's uneasy with the Decepticons and doesn't truly trust them, but she believes them more than Bumblebee, who's the good guy. A lot of this stems from her Undying Loyalty to Ironwood and Atlas, who have her under orders to work with them. It doesn't help that Shatter is a really skilled Consummate Liar. It takes until Chapter 11 of Volume 1 for her to realize that she's helping the wrong side.
Inspector Javert: She's firmly convinced that Bumblebee is a threat to the peace of the Kingdoms and is unrelenting in her pursuit of him.
Just Following Orders: Averted, she never uses this excuse to shift blame for her actions out of loyalty towards Ironwood.
Light Is Not Good: Her primary attire is white in coloration, but while she is an Anti-Villain, she is persistent in her pursuit of Bumblebee and is aligned with the Decepticons in said hunt.
My God, What Have I Done?: She was horrified when she accidentally impaled Yang with her sword, causing her to have a break down.
Never My Fault: Downplayed, as it's only relevant to a single event. After slashing her sword across Ruby's face, she tries to convince herself that Ruby herself is responsible. She immediately drops this after accidentally stabbing Yang.
Odd Friendship: Very quickly strikes up a rapport with Optimus Prime in spite of their very differing political views. In their first meeting, simply hearing his voice is enough to put her at ease, and she is extremely receptive to his words of wisdom when the two work together to rescue the Shield of Solus.
The Scapegoat: After everything goes down in Volume 1, Winter spends some time imprisoned because Ironwood pushed the blame for everything on her, especially giving him bad intel, though no one who knows them really buys that he wasn't ultimately responsible.
Starter Villain: The first antagonist Bumblebee has to deal with upon waking up on Remnant.
- Starter Villain Stays: Becomes a recurring antagonist throughout Volume 1 and sticks around as an ally to the Autobots after the Decepticons show their true colors.
Would Hurt a Child: Has no issue unleashing her Grimm Summons on Ruby or Yang during their fight, even referring to it as "disciplinary measures". she is considerably less comfortable with maiming them, unnerved after slashing her sword across Ruby's face, and deeply HORRIFIED when she accidentally impales Yang on her own sword.

James Ironwood

General James Ironwood

The Headmaster of Atlas Academy and the leader of the Atlesian military.

Bad Boss: Attempts to shift blame for all of his actions on Winter. In Winter's Spotlight Oneshot, he even keeps her locked up in a cramped cell she can't even stand-in and has her paraded through Atlas Academy in handcuffs before he bothers releasing her.
Enemy Mine: He doesn't trust nor like the Decepticons, but he works alongside them in capturing Bumblebee because he believes that doing so will prevent an all-out war.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: His militaristic mindset leads him to believe that Bumblebee is a criminal based on the fact that he's a member of a rebellion. He doesn't even stop to think that maybe he and whoever he works with had a very good reason to rebel in the first place.
Greater-Scope Villain: He functions as this for Volume 1. He doesn't have much presence in the story and isn't directly involved in the ongoing plot, but Winter is there on his orders to investigate the "Mantlite bomb" and he does have his soldiers form an alliance with the Decepticons to pursue whom they believe is a wanted criminal, meaning that his actions are ultimately what help drive the conflict for the first Volume.
Hypocrite: In Chapter 6 of Volume 1, he lambasts Ozpin for being too stubborn to listen to reason, something that Ironwood is far more guilty of throughout the story.
Instantly Proven Wrong: When arguing with Ozpin, he says that Bumblebee hasn't given him any reason to find him trustworthy. Cue Winter calling right at that moment to warn him that the Decepticons are the real enemies.
Lack of Empathy: This is something he enforces. As he tells Winter, he believes that emotions and empathy towards others will override one's ability to be effective.
Ironwood: Emotions topple strategy, Winter. Do not forget that.
Light Is Not Good: Like the rest of the Atlas military, he's heavily associated with the color white, but he serves as one of the antagonists for Volume 1.
Never My Fault: In Chapter 14, he blames his mistake in trusting the Decepticons on Winter providing bad intel. This is further shown in Winter's Spotlight chapter, where it's revealed he had her become The Scapegoat for his decisions in Volume 1.
Oh, Crap!: In Winter's Spotlight Chapter, when he learns that Yang is Taiyang's daughter (Tai having close ties to Ozpin's inner circle), his face pales and he immediately tells Pietro to cooperate with the Autobots to make a prosthetic for Yang, and to make sure that Yang knows it came from them (and that she can add any features that she wants).
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Chapter 14, Councilwoman Camila realizes that he's completely serious about the Decepticon threat because he would never verify a story that reflects poorly on him unless the threat was very, very real.

Functionists

Sentinel Prime

Nominus Prime's predecessor, who established Cybertron's caste system that would go on to become Functionism.

Asshole Victim: Given that he established the caste system that became the source of our heroes' problems in the first place, very few people mourn him.
Greater-Scope Villain: He's this to the entire Functionist plotline, given that he created the caste system that would give rise to the Functionist party.
Posthumous Character: Long dead by the time of the prequel, Like Judas Thereupon Kissed, via a suspicious explosion. It's eventually revealed Nominus Prime was behind it.
Small Role, Big Impact: He's only mentioned off hand a couple of times and dies off-page without any main characters confronting him, but his actions eventually lead to the rise of the Decepticons.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: When Zeta Prime died, Sentinel reworked Zeta's emergency rationing system and reconstruction of Cybertron, creating a caste system that would form the backbone of the Functionist's philosophy.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His attempts to colonize Tsieshi, ultimately lead to Megatron meeting the Fallen, and the eventual rise of the Decepticons. Not that he lived to see it.

Nominus Prime (Unmarked Spoilers)

Nominus Prime

Optimus Prime's predecessor as the leader of Cybertron.

Big Bad Wannabe: While genuinely dangerous, he is, at the end of the day, just a pawn of the Quintessons.
Greater-Scope Villain: His regime fostered the environment and conditions that spawned the Decepticons.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In the end, he was arrested for violating his own laws. He outlawed contact with alien civilizations, including Cybertron's former colonies, but secretly schemed with the Quintessons in order to rise to and secure his power, both before and after outlawing contact with other worlds. To top it off, he gets arrested because of the Shell Program he gave Ultra Magnus, as the loose way he gave him orders granted enough freedom to interpret them in a way that'd lead to his downfall.
Non-Action Big Bad: All of his power is political, meaning he's otherwise dependent on his political allies, like Jhiaxus, Soundblaster, or his Quintesson allies to get anything done.
Small Name, Big Ego: In spite of being the Prime, he's this from the perspective of the Quintessons. Quintus Prime outright orders his death when Nominus decides to order them around.
Small Role, Big Impact: While he has very few scenes in Like Judas Thereupon Kissed, and only has a brief cameo in A Girl and Her Bike, his actions ultimately paved the way for the Cybertronian Civil War.
The Starscream: Cut a deal with the Quintessons in order to kill Sentinel Prime and take control of Cybertron.
Unwitting Pawn: To the Quintessons.
Walking Spoiler: It's hard to discuss him without spoiling several major reveals in Like Judas Thereupon Kissed, namely his alliance with the Quintessons, their role in his rise to power, and how his actions led to both the Quintesson invasion and would pave the way for the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.

Jhiaxus

The Functionist's candidate in the election the plot of Like Judas Thereupon Kissed revolves around.

Abusive Parents: He's Arcee's creator/father, and he's not only immensely vindictive of her, but he also plans to lobotomize her and even attempts to have her killed alongside her daughter. Suffice to say, the bot is a horrible father.
Adaptational Ugliness: In most continuities, Jhiaxus looks pretty average by Cybertronian standards. Here, he's based off Starscream's live-action film incarnation, and is much more unpleasant to look at as a result.
Archnemesis Dad: In spite of creating Arcee, he and his creation hold deep mutual hatred for one another. To the point that Jhiaxus tried to have her and her own creation, Gauge, killed to spite his political rival.
Doomed by Canon: Bumblebee's Spotlight Oneshot confirms that, no matter what Jhiaxus does, he will eventually end up drowned in a technorganic ooze at the hands of the one he tried to kill.
Dragon-in-Chief: In spite of Nominus Prime nominally being in charge, Jhiaxus is the one who pulls the strings behind the conflict of Like Judas Thereupon Kissed.
Fantastic Racism: Looks down on Mini-Cons, Beastformers, and non-Cybertronian life as lesser species.
Gruesome Grandparent: All his hatred and abuse of his daughter just as much applies to his granddaughter, Gauge, whom he also attempts to have killed.
Hate Sink: He's a creepy, sleazy, sexist, bigoted Corrupt Politician who openly desires to lobotomize Arcee and goes on to hire Lockdown murder Gauge out of pure spite. Word of God even states that he's deliberately written to be as unlikable as possible, and later stating that he's more or less the answer to whether it's possible for someone to be more repugnant than Adam Taurus.
Mad Scientist: Deconstructed. While he's noted to have created some weaponry for the Functionists such as the Plasma Energy Cannon, his scientist traits are mostly an Informed Attribute at the current point. The Autobots even explicitly refer to him as a pseudoscientist. The closest we currently have to him practicing science is fantasizing about "reprogramming" Gauge, implying his scientific side is more about indulging his own sadism than making any meaningful progress in his field.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Aside from his alt-mode based bigotry, he's also deeply misogynistic.
Would Hurt a Child: Fantasizes about "reprogramming" Gauge, a protoform, in his first appearance and orders Lockdown to kill her.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: On the giving end. He has Lockdown kill the recently dethroned and disgraced Nominus Prime after breaking out of prison.

Afluous

One of the Functionist Councilors.

Adaptational Species Change: Afluous was a Pesticon in Transformers: Cyberverse. Here, he's implicitly a regular Cybertronian.
Bad Boss: Implanted mode-lock chips in his employees, can't be bothered to remember Shatter's name in spite of her working directly under him, and tortures her while trying to market his mode-lock chips to Heretech.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Subjects Shatter to this to demonstrate what his mode-lock chips do to Transformers who try to Transform.
Nay-Theist: Does not believe in any gods other than himself, which leads to him butting heads with Heretech.

Heretech

A very religious Functionist Councilor.

Apocalypse Cult: Downplayed. While he does not seek the destruction of Cybertron, he is attempting to summon Adaptus to bring about judgement day.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Of the Functionists shown working with him, none of them are shown to be particularly friendly towards him.
The Fundamentalist: Very strictly adheres to his interpretation of what Adaptus' teachings are, placing a great deal of value on one's alt-mode.
Summon Bigger Fish: His plan to put an end to the Autobots is to open the gateway to Adaptus' realm and bring about judgement day.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In sending G'nur and several Functionists into the Underbase to retrive the Key needed to open the Gate of Adaptus, he unwittingly unleashes a Sealed Evil in a Can that was locked away inside.

Torque (Unmarked Spoilers)

Torque

A Functionist suicide bomber disguised as an Ascenticon.

Adaptational Personality Change: From his short page time in the comics, Torque did not seem particularly afraid to die. Here, he approaches his suicide attack with trepidation.
All for Nothing: In the end, Megatron's name is cleared, thanks to Torque's own communicator revealing Jhiaxus' hands in the event.
False Flag Operation: Pretends to be an Ascenticon extremist to heighten political tensions between Autobots and Ascenticons.
Hesitant Sacrifice: Has to steel his nerves before he throws himself at Greenlight.
Ironic Last Words: Screams "All hail Megatron!" before throwing himself to his death, as part of a plot to frame him.
Knight of Cerebus: Downplayed, as the bleaker tone doesn't set in until after he's dead, but his actions ultimately lead into the Darkest Hour.
Nervous Wreck: Justified, as he's been ordered to blow himself up to frame Megatron.
Small Role, Big Impact: Dies in his second appearance, hardly has any lines, and yet greatly changes the course of the story he's in.
Team Member in the Adaptation: A Decepticon in the first IDW continuity, a Functionist here.

Others

Remnant

Akai

Akai Kagayaki

A reindeer Faunus and one of Ruby's friends.

Half-Human Hybrid: She's the daughter of a human woman and a male Faunus.
Half-Breed Discrimination: Aside from getting harassed by humans for her Faunus heritage, she also gets targeted by the White Fang in Ruby's Spotlight chapter due to her mother being a human. Schwarz even goes so far as to say that she isn't a real Faunus, but a human with antlers.
Horned Humanoid: She's a reindeer Faunus with two horns on her head.
Unreliable Narrator: A justified example. She doesn't know the full story regarding what went down between her parents and Sienna Khan, nor does she know that Sienna isn't responsible for the more violent actions of the White Fang, so her perspective on them is very biased. During Blake's Spotlight chapter, her mother and Blake clear things up with her.

Cybertron

The Fallen

The Fallen/Megatronous I

One of the thirteen original Primes. He was exiled to the planet Tsiehshi, where he would go on to become Megatron's mentor.

Evil Mentor: He trained and raised Megatron, fostering his Darwinist mentality.
The Exile: His brothers exiled him from Cybertron eons ago.
Posthumous Character: He's long since dead by the time the plot rolls around. Considering that he helped mold Megatron into the Big Bad he is now, he casts a very dark shadow over the entire story.
Small Role, Big Impact: He has no real bearing on the plot and is dead at this point, but he's the reason Megatron turned out as he did and consequentially, why the Great War happened.

Glyph

A member of the Cybertronian Historical Preservation Society, who was tasked by Optimus Prime to archive as much of Cybertron's history and mythology as possible. She serves as the main character of the Myths of Cybertron sidestory.

Childhood Friends: She was this with Optimus back when he was Orion Pax, as they studied history together when they were both protoforms.
The Pollyanna: She manages to maintain an upbeat and cheerful demeanor throughout her archiving despite the combination of grim subject matters to cover as well as the constant threat of death looming over her head. Though as the chapters of Myths of Cybertron continue, cracks in her demeanor start to show.
The Storyteller: She's this for the Myths of Cybertron side story, as her task is to archive Cybertron's history and mythology as well as convey these stories to the audience.

The thing in the Underbase (Unmarked Spoilers)

The thing in the Underbase/Unicron

Something that was sealed away inside the Underbase, and is later revealed to be Unicron himself.

Ambiguously Related: He can spawn creatures remarkably similar to the creatures of Grimm in Cybertronian Myth. Additionally, Thunderwing's optics turn silver after their deal.
Assimilation Plot: He orders Thunderwing to make all become one. By that, he means for all to become one in him.
Deal with the Devil: He's the hypothetical Devil, making some kind of unseen deal with Thunderwing. The fact that he's actually Unicron makes the Devil part all the more overt.
The Dreaded: Once G'nur sees what he turns Thunderwing into, she drops her blasé attitude regarding the Underbase before making a desperate attempt to get the hell out of there.
Early-Bird Cameo: He appears very briefly during a flashback in Volume 1 of A Girl and Her Bike, as Cybertron transforms into his iconic planet mode after Megatron uses the Matrix of Chaos.
God of Evil: It's Unicron! This goes without saying no matter the continuity.
Greater-Scope Villain: As Unicron, it's on a level above even Nominus Prime and the Quintessons.
Knight of Cerebus: As soon as this...THING appears, all of the comedy from the Underbase portion of Turnabout Uprising vanishes. Makes sense, considering he's the Cybertronian equivalent of the Devil.
Sealed Evil in a Can: He starts out as a voice locked away inside a gemstone until Thunderwing places his hand on it. Now it's loose and ready to bring chaos to the entire universe.
Super-Empowering: He gives Thunderwing seemingly supernatural abilities.
Walking Spoiler: Due to the fact that he's Unicron himself, he's naturally very difficult to discuss without revealing one of the biggest twists in Like Judas Thereupon Kissed.

Characters / A Girl and Her Bike

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