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For the character sheet of the previous Transformers films, see Transformers Film Series.

Despite initially developed as a prequel to the previous movies, with Bumblebee, Hasbro began what they referred to as a 'new storytelling universe', confirming the film's status as a reboot. As such, characters from the movie, and its (standalone) sequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, are now here. As Bumblebee featured several returning characters but in vastly different, more G1-inspired appearances, the Bumblebee version of these characters are now considered separate entities.

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The Autobot Resistance

The heroes of the saga, the Autobots are a band of freedom fighters on the losing side who are forced to abandon their home planet to seek refuge in the stars.

    In General 

  • Alien Among Us: The benevolent kind as always, though it's not until the end of Bumblebee that many of them even make it to Earth.
  • Arm Cannon: Notably a lacking feature this time, as besides Bumblebee (and Optimus in Rise of the Beasts) they're all otherwise depicted with hand-held weaponry. Given their status as a resistance movement, it's likely that they simply weren't built for war, but were forced to take up arms anyway. Rise of The Beast seems to correct this as Mirage, Wheeljack, and Arcee are all shown to be able to do this.
  • Good Is Not Soft: The Autobots are generally well meaning and in Mirage and Bumblebee's case, very friendly towards other species such as humans but make no mistake they are well-trained soldiers and have no problem brutally putting down their enemies if deemed necessary.
  • Klingons Love Shakespeare: Mirage and Bumblebee are shown to be fans of American cinema acquiring it from drive-in theaters.
  • Mechanical Lifeforms: As are the Decepticons.
  • Mythology Gag: Design-wise, they're all pretty much taken directly from the G1 character designs, albeit with a live-action aesthetic. Bumblebee is the only one who doesn't, due to blending his G1 design with his prior movie design.
  • La Résistance: To a greater extent than typical depictions, where the Autobots were typically the dominant party until the Decepticons took over, the Autobots here are explicitly the Autobot Resistance, and from what we see, they're losing the war.
  • Transforming Mecha: They are Transformers of course.
  • Undying Loyalty: None of them will give up Optimus Prime. Likewise, Prime immediately calls for a retreat when the Decepticon forces become too much for them to bear, despite the fact he himself could probably take them on by himself; he'd rather fight them alone to buy time for his soldiers than risk any of them being caught in the crossfire.
  • Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The Autobots are presented here as more fighters out of desperation and just want peace, but as far as the Decepticons are concerned, the Autobots are criminals and traitors to Cybertron.

Optimus Prime's personal crew

    In General 
  • Family of Choice: Cybertronians do not really have “blood relations” but it's shown that all of the Autobots are rather close and even have a somewhat sibling bickering relationship with each other, with Optimus acting as the father of the bunch. They all do not take Bumblebee's death well as Optimus becomes vengeful and determined to end Scourge for what he did to Bee.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: The first four Autobots to appear in Rise of the Beasts towards Noah: Mirage is the Nice trying to form a brotherly bond with Noah and being convinced that the Autobots can use a human member to sneak in and out of society, Bumblebee and Arcee are the In-Between being mostly indifferent to Noah learning of their presence (and even there it's split-up with Bumblebee having more faith in Noah as their first human ally than Arcee does) and Optimus is the Mean being disgruntled with getting made by a human plus showing disdain for humans in general then blaming Noah for failing to retrieve the Transwarp Key in time from the museum.
  • Undying Loyalty: Like the rest of the resistance, the members of Prime's inner circle are loyal to the Autobot Leader.

    Bumblebee 

Bumblebee

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebee_movie_poster_transformers_spinoff_8.jpg
"Thank you... so much... for giving me... my voice."

Voiced by: Dylan O'Brien

The Hero of the first installment, Bumblebee, or B-127 as he was initially called, is an Autobot soldier sent to seek out a new home for the Autobots so they can regroup and retake their planet. In 1987, he arrives on Earth, but is followed there by the Decepticon Blitzwing who then proceeds to viciously attack and nearly kill him, forcing him to hide as a Volkswagen Beetle. Discovered by Charlie Watson, he's accidentally revived, but without any memory of who he is, and is terrified and confused by everything around him. Fortunately, Charlie befriends the lost Autobot, naming him "Bumblebee" after his yellow paint job, timid nature, and buzzing noises.


  • Adaptational Name Change: Subverted; on Cybertron, he is referred to as "B-127", but upon losing his memory and being rendered mute, he's dubbed "Bumblebee" by Charlie because of the buzzing noises he makes and keeps this name after regaining his memory. Bee's name being changed (at least for the Cybertron scenes) makes sense because there shouldn't be any reason he's called "Bumblebee" when he lives on a planet where they don't exist.
  • Aliens Steal Cable: Between Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, he's apparently gotten hooked on drive-in movies, much to Prime's annoyance.
  • AM/FM Characterization: Like the Bay films and Cyberverse Bumblebee, this is used by Bee to circumvent his inability to speak, conveying his thoughts and feelings through the music he plays. The film goes into the origin of this trait, and where he picked up his love of earth music. For the most part, he seems to prefer upbeat songs and power-rock music; most of the music he plays is along this theme, and he actually shows a dislike for Charlie's favoured The Smiths, but even he doesn't care for being Rickrolled.
  • Amnesia Danger: When Sector 7 and the Decepticons arrive, Bumblebee doesn't remember how to fight and is confused by his Cool Mask activating, and doesn't appear to even know he has in-built weapons. As such, he's a sitting duck against Dropkick and Charlie has to beg them to leave him alone.
  • Amnesiac Hero: Most of 'Bee's self-titled movie sees him without his memory.
  • The Baby of the Bunch: Implied; when we see the Autobots at the beginning, they talk in a manner that makes them sound older, while Bumblebee's voice is youthful and almost like a teenager. The Decepticons evidently identify him as one of the younger ones, referring to him as Cliffjumper's 'young friend' when they're interrogating him.
  • Berserk Button: As revealed in Bumblebee, he does not appreciate being Rickrolled and ejects a cassette of Whenever You Need Somebody rather violently when Charlie tries to make him play that song.
    • Bee is one of the nicest little Autobots around and he doesn't want to fight any humans. But when you hurt Charlie? Red Eyes, Take Warning and run.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He's one of the sweetest Autobots to befriend. That doesn't mean he won't go easy on you if it's warranted. Agent Burns, Tina, Shatter, Dropkick, and Nightbird have learned this the hard way.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Has a retractable arm blade in Bumblebee that looks like a giant box-cutter. It eventually gets torn off by Shatter, though.
  • Bully Hunter: He happily destroys Tina's car as payback for bullying Charlie.
  • Character Development: He appears pretty flippant and prone to joking when we see him prior to his memory loss, but once he loses it he becomes harmless and easily terrified. Over the course of the movie he starts to regain his confidence and start to joke around more, and once his memories come back he regains his combat prowess and dedication to his mission, while also retaining the quirks he picked up while without his memory.
  • Combat Parkour: Bumblebee's fighting style against others makes use of his smaller frame, with a lot of rolls, flips, and parkour moves thrown in.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Likewise, given that he's significantly smaller than most 'Cons, he has to use speed, surprise, and his environment to take them out. Fighting Blitzwing has him use the Seeker's weaponry against him, while against Shatter he had to use the environment to avoid being killed by her.
  • Composite Character: He maintains his G1 alt-form, while having a Cybertronian alt-form reminiscent of his Aligned Continuity's version, and maintaining the 'lost voice' trait his Bayverse self is known for. His relationship with Charlie is more akin to his relationship with Spike from G1, and his overall design seems to be closer to his initial IDW design or an 'Earth version' of the aforementioned Aligned Continuity's Cybertronian form. His excitability around earth also seems closer to his Animated self. In general, this Bumblebee takes from a lot of past versions.
  • Constantly Curious: At the time, he doesn't know who he is, and is on a different planet populated by beings he's completely alien to, Bumblebee is really curious about the world. Since he can't ask questions very well due to his disability, it often results in him peering around in ways he shouldn't.
  • Cool Mask: Doubles as a Game Face, Bee is able to slide a wasp head-looking mask over his face during combat, which seems to have some specific combat uses.
  • Demoted to Extra: Rise of the Beasts features Bumblebee's smallest role yet in the entire franchise, due to the fact he gets killed by Scourge at the start of the movie and isn't revived till the final battle.
  • Disney Death: He's killed by Scourge in the first act of Rise of the Beasts but is revived by a dormant Energon deposit, allowing him to pull of a Big Damn Heroes moment in the final battle.
  • Easily Forgiven: Charlie forgive him for trashing her house. Justified, she admits it was her fault for leaving him alone.
  • Forgot About His Powers: Played for Laughs. Due to his memory loss, he tends to forget he's a transforming alien robot. When Charlie is teaching him to hide from sight, he forgets he could do so by turning into a car and instead tries to hide behind a pile of sand; a foot-tall pile of sand. Later when they realize their prank on Tina is backfiring Charlie tells them to hide again... which he does by mimicking how she was hiding by lifting Tina's car up and hiding behind it like a waist-high wall.
  • Gentle Giant: By comparison to humans, he's a giant roughly the same size as The Incredible Hulk. He's also a sweetheart who loves watching movies and listening to music, and when he sees men pointing guns at Charlie, his reaction is to grab her and run. When he gets his memory back, this becomes Good Is Not Soft.
  • Goggles Do Something Unusual: His Cool Mask appears to serve as a means for him to scan vehicles in order to take their form, as well as provide an aim-assist in combat. He appears to 'see' with a Heads-Up Display naturally as a robot, but the mask seems to enhance this and add additional aspects. Freeze-Frame Bonus also shows that the mask seems to be a means to translate languages, as it shows briefly a 'language setting' on the HUD.
  • Heroic Mime: And a Handicapped Badass; Bumblebee lost his voice in battle with Blitzwing. The attack was incredibly traumatic and caused critical damage to the rest of him, resulting in complete memory loss as well.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In Rise of the Beasts, Bumblebee is killed by Scourge as the scout tries to save Optimus from being killed by the Terrorcon leader.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Non-romantic case, with him and Charlie, due to him being a large robot.
  • Kid Hero: He's evidently one of the younger Autobots; Shatter even refers to him as such. His memory loss makes him even more child-like, to the point Charlie becomes something of a Cool Big Sis to him.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton: As a result of his memory loss, Bumblebee is almost child-like, and combined with his lack of knowledge of earth customs, he appears quite unintelligent. However, he's also extremely good-natured and immediately does everything he can to be nice to his new and only friend, and has a fearful, but optimistic temperament.
  • Mythology Gag: Due to the movie initially being a prequel before becoming its own separate continuity, he shares several traits with his previous movie counterpart. He's mute and forced to use the radio to communicate, his head design and his body keeping the front cab of his vehicle form on his chest resemble the previous movie Bumblebee, and he befriends a human teenager.
    • Besides this, he also takes a lot of cues from his G1 counterpart, primarily using the VW Beetle as his alt form. His Cybertronian vehicle form also seems to greatly resemble what he turned into in Transformers: War for Cybertron, which could best be described as an alien smart-car.
  • Nice Guy: He's a charming bot through-and-through, and while a tough soldier, he's willing to crack jokes to lighten the tension during combat. After he loses his voice and his memory, he has an innocent, child-like wonderment about everything, and repeatedly goes out of his way to brighten up other people's mood.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: He's small by Transformers standards. But relative to humans he's virtually unstoppable.
    • Averted in regards his combat abilities, as despite his size he can a veritable One-Man Army even among other Transformers as seen in Bumblebee's opening sequence and his Big Damn Heroes moment in Rise of the Beasts.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: He did get a bit carried away there, but he was more than glad to have demolished Tina's car after witnessing her cruelty towards Charlie.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: His (relative) small-stature doesn't make him any less effective in battle. If anything, its an asset as he's able to roll and dodge better than the others, and his 'bouncy' movement makes him quite fast.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Charlie. They watch movies and dance to music together, and are clearly closer to one-another than any two characters in the movie, but in a completely platonic way.
  • Replacement Goldfish: To a minor extent, Bumblebee ends up becoming something of a replacement for Charlie's father. Its pretty clear that her dad was Charlie's best friend and she is utterly lost without his companionship, but Bumblebee's presence gives her someone she can watch movies together with and listen to music while working on the corvette, something she explicitly did with her father.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: After his battle with Blitzwing, Bumblebee was left traumatized by it, and even with his memory wiped he instinctively clutched his throat when he thought he was in danger. His fear when Charlie reactivates him seems to be, besides the confusion born from not knowing who he is or where he came from, a lasting effect of what he went through.
  • Shipper on Deck: Its not explicit, but he does push Charlie and Memo extremely close to one-another during their car chase, one of the films' many Ship Tease between the two. Also when they're driving together, he plays the upbeat Everybody Wants To Rule The World and happily supports Charlie's attempts at showing off for Memo.
  • The Speechless: Well, he talked throughout the prologue of the movie, but due to Blitzwing tearing out his vocal synthesizer during their battle, he becomes this for the rest of the film. However, he eventually learns to "speak" using radio/sound clips.
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Between getting attacked by human military and getting torn up by Blitzwing.
  • True Companions: With Charlie. She helps him try to adapt to Earth after losing his memories, and he in turn does his best to help her get over the death of her father, later becoming very close Platonic Life-Partners. While he is forced to leave her behind to continue his mission by the end, they're both clearly broken up about it. In Rise of the Beasts, he uses their relationship as an example of humanity's good side after Optimus Prime expresses his negative views towards them.
  • Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: He's on the giving and receiving end of this trope.
    • Bumblebee kills Blitzwing by embedding one of the Seeker's own arm missiles into his chest and then shooting him in the exact same spot.
    • Shatter breaks off Bumblebee's own arm blade and stabs him with it.
  • Villain Killer: Bumblebee kills the Decepticons Blitzwing, Shatter, and Dropkick in Bumblebee and the Terrorcon Nightbird in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
  • Weak, but Skilled:
    • He's physically one of the smallest and weakest Cybertronians seen in the movie, but he manages to defeat several more powerful Decepticons through ingenuity.
    • During his fight with Dropkick, the Decepticon is relying on sheer brute strength, and manages to land a few powerful blows, but Bumblebee's clever fighting (taking advantage of his small stature to more easily dodge attacks, concentrating his hits on Dropkick's joints, and throwing a chain into his helicopter rotor then ripping Dropkick apart once he transforms) enables him to take the upper hand.
  • Wrecked Weapon: Shatter breaks his arm blade off, and stabs him with it for good measure.
  • You Are Number 6: His official designation is "B-127". Charlie gives him the nickname "Bumblebee" as initially, the only sound he could make was a buzzing noise that reminded her of one, and it stuck.

    Optimus Prime 

Optimus Prime

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebee_optimus_prime_g1_design.jpg
"Stay safe, soldier. I am coming."

Voiced by: Peter Cullen

The Big Good and The Hero of the film series. The leader of the Autobot Resistance, Optimus Prime is the one to send Bumblebee to earth, while holding off the Decepticon forces as long as he can so that the Autobots can escape. He survives the fall of Cybertron but his location was unknown, forcing the Decepticons to hunt down every Autobot they could find to force them to give him up. None of them give in.


  • Action Hero: A leader from the front lines, he's easily the single most powerful Bot seen, fighting off hordes of Decepticons on his own.
  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Played with; while the source of Prime's angst (losing the war for Cybertron) is the same as in most continuities, here, the effect it has on him is much more visible, affecting his priorities and attitude towards humans.
  • Adaptational Curves: Most G1-themed versions of Optimus have rather wide, bulky legs, presumably to match his G1 model/toy, where they are combined to form the truck bed. As can be seen from the picture to the right, not only are they much slimmmer here, but they're also shaped like boots instead of the block-like legs he usually has. They get slightly bulkier and angular after the truck kibble is added, but still remain rather thin.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Unlike most iterations of his character, he's initially very cynical and mistrustful of humans, viewing them as inherently self-serving. This changes over the course of Rise of the Beasts thanks to his interactions with Noah and Elena and seeing how humans have helped the Maximals. By the end, he has his more recognizable compassion back.
  • Adaptational Personality Change: This Optimus is far less stoic and rigid than his Bayverse counterpart, displaying a somewhat softer attitude truer to his '84 incarnation. However, this initially only applies to his fellow Autobots and the Maximals, and he has to warm up to humans over the course of Rise of the Beasts, which is another deviation in his character compared to prior iterations, who were protective of humans from the get-go.
  • A Father to His Men: He talks to Bumblebee like a father would a son.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Again, he leads the Autobots and also happens to be the biggest badass on Cybertron.
  • Badass Boast:
    • As he prepares to face off with Scourge in Rise of the Beasts, Prime declares his intentions. He eventually lives up to the latter half of the boast.
      Optimus Prime: I'm going to take back Scourge's key, and then... take off his head.
    • While fighting Scourge in the climax, Prime finally overpowers the Terrorcon, who had once mocked Optimus as an unworthy Prime.
      Optimus Prime: Time to show you the real power of a Prime!
  • Baritone of Strength: As always, the mighty leader of the Autobots speaks in a powerful, gravelly voice that conveys both his strength and his authority.
  • Benevolent Boss: He orders the retreat from Cybertron for the sake of his forces; though he could fight the Decepticons easily, the Autobots are otherwise outgunned and outnumbered, and he'd rather hold off the Decepticons as long as he can alone than risk any of their lives longer than needed.
  • Berserk Button: Going hand-in-hand with him being A Father to His Men, trying to kill his fellow Autobots is a huge no-no if you want to live. He is positively vicious in his final battle with Scourge due to Scourge previously downing Bumblebee, literally disarming him before violently ripping his head off.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Even with Adaptational Jerkass in play, he's still a stalwart leader who avoids unnecessary bloodshed among the Autobots if he can help it. It is also highly unadvisable to make him take any issue personally, especially relating to his followers- it will be the greatest and last mistake one would make. Scourge learnt this the hard way.
  • Big Badass Rig: When he gets to earth, he takes a Freightliner as his alt mode.
  • Big Good: He's not the focus of Bumblebee, but it is him leading the Autobots, and he's the one to send 'Bee to earth. The fact he's the Big Good makes him a target; the Decepticons believe that the Autobots will fall apart without their leader.
  • Character Development: At the beginning of Rise of the Beasts, Prime is despondent over being stranded on Earth and downright bitter towards humans. Once he discovers the existence of the Transwarp Key, Optimus is all too excited to use the Key, abandon Earth, and return to Cybertron, despite the risks of Unicron destroying the planet. Over the course of the film, he is able to bond with Noah and discovers humanity's selfless side, ultimately choosing to sacrifice the Autobots' chance of getting home to save Earth.
  • Combat Pragmatist: In the final battle between Optimus and Scourge, all bets were off on any kind of gentlemanly duel, as Optimus threw lava into Scourge's face to give himself an advantage against his opponent.
  • Deadpan Snarker: In contrast to past incarnations of Prime, Optimus shows he can give some snark if the situation calls for it.
    Optimus Prime: Way to be incognito.
  • Demoted to Extra: In Bumblebee. It is, of course, focused on Bumblebee, so Optimus plays a smaller role than he does in most incarnations did before.
  • The Dreaded: To Decepticons. When Dropkick, a fearless Blood Knight, learns that Optimus is coming to Earth (the planet he's on), he's actually visibly scared of the prospect.
  • Fantastic Racism: In Rise of the Beasts, he's at first very distrustful of humans and believes they would rather look out for their own self interests than help the Autobots. He grows out of this over the course of the movie.
  • Fantasy-Forbidding Father: In Rise of the Beasts, he eschews Mirage's liking for the film Big and orders Bumblebee to stay away from the drive-in theater being irritated by Bee constantly throwing movie audio clips at him (even though audio recordings are his only way of communication).
  • Gentle Giant: He towers over Bumblebee (who himself towers over humans), but when he's not fighting, he's a gentle father figure to the younger Autobots like Bumblebee who are under his command. He also sends Bumblebee to Earth with the strict order of protecting it from harm by the Decepticons.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Optimus doesn't hold back in a fight, and utterly demolishes any Decepticon who tries to fight him. His killing of Scourge in Rise of the Beasts is also quite brutal, especially as Prime makes the Terrorcon hurt before finishing him off.
  • Heel Realization: When Scourge steals the completed Transwarp Key to summon Unicron, Optimus confides in Noah that his desire to bring the Autobots back to Cybertron was ultimately selfish and resolves to protect Earth alongside humanity.
  • Hero of Another Story: Functionally in Bumblebee. It is unknown how he escaped Cybertron, but it was probably awesome. The Decepticons at the very least were very eager to find him.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: According to Rise of the Beasts director Steven Caple Jr, Prime's unmasked face is based on his voice actor Peter Cullen's.
  • It's All My Fault: In Rise of the Beasts, Optimus thinks it's his fault he and the other Autobots are stuck on Earth and thus believes he alone must fix this problem. He also feels it's his fault that Bumblebee died.
  • It's Personal: Optimus makes it this with Scourge after he kills Bumblebee, vowing to not only take his half of the Transwarp Key, but personally take his head. He makes good on the second part in the final battle.
  • The Leader: The Autobot Resistance wouldn't exist without him, apparently.
  • Living MacGuffin: Because of his status as The Leader and Big Good, the Decepticons are desperately searching for him throughout the known universe. None of the Autobots are giving him up.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: When it becomes clear that the war on Cybertron is lost, Prime gives the order for the Autobots to abandon their homeworld and scatter across the cosmos until they can rally for a counterattack.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
    • Essentially, he brings the war of Cybertron to humanity's doorstep by sending Bumblebee to the planet. It's clearly not intentional, as he seems initially unaware of humanity's existence when he made this decision, but that doesn't change the fact he nearly inspired an army of Decepticons to come invade the planet.
    • In Rise of the Beasts, his desire to return to Cybertron leads to him refusing to destroy the parts of the Transwarp Key, despite Scourge's plan to use it to bring Unicron to Earth. Sure enough, Scourge steals the key once it's completed and nearly succeeds in bringing the planet eater to Earth.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: As he was leaving Cybertron, Bumblebee's last sight of Prime was the Autobot leader surrounded and seemingly hopelessly outnumbered. As Shatter and Dropkick's pursuit, and later, Prime's arrival on Earth prove, Prime somehow managed to beat the odds and escape with his life.
  • One-Man Army: He takes down an entire armada of Decepticons charging right at him led by Soundwave.
  • Properly Paranoid: Prime is initially unwilling to trust Noah in Rise of the Beasts, believing that the human would look out for the interests of his own people first. Indeed, Noah initially plans to destroy the Transwarp Key to prevent any possibility of Unicron coming to Earth, though some Character Development on both Prime and Noah's parts prevents this.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's out for Scourge's head for much of Rise of the Beasts due to Scourge killing Bumblebee.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: Delivers one to fucking Unicron seconds before he destroys the Transwarp Key:
    Unicron: Don't, Prime. I can give you everything you want.
    Optimus Prime: Then DIE!
  • So Proud of You: By the end of the film, after reuniting, Prime warmly congratulates Bumblebee's success in protecting Earth and her people, and that his heroism ensured the Autobots' future.
  • Strong and Skilled: He’s easily the tallest Autobot in the film, and he knows how to use his mass to his advantage. Mainly by pinning his enemies and shooting them at point-blank range, or tossing them around like rag dolls.
  • Survivor Guilt: After Bumblebee sacrifices himself and takes the killing blow that Scourge meant for Prime, Optimus states that he should've died instead of Bumblebee.
  • Truer to the Text: This Optimus is more in line with the original 1984 incarnation who is less stoic and more personable. Even though he understandably Took a Level in Jerkass between Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, he once again starts to skew closer to his optimistic and selfless side by the end.
  • Undying Loyalty: Again, it's clear that he inspires this in any who follow him.
  • The Worf Effect: He's the leader of the Autobots and likely the strongest and most skilled fighter due to his years on the frontlines of war. In Rise of the Beasts, he gets his ass kicked by Scourge in their very first fight to establish how threatening Scourge is as a villain.
  • The Hero: It's Optimus Prime, remember?

    Arcee 

Arcee

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebeemoviearcee.jpeg
Arcee in Bumblebee
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1165.jpeg
Arcee in Rise of the Beasts

Voiced by: Grey DeLisle (Bumblebee), Liza Koshy (Rise of the Beasts)

An Autobot soldier who escapes Cybertron. The only female Autobot in both movies.


  • Action Girl: Fights on the front lines with the male bots, and holds her own as well as they do.
  • Adaptational Curves: Her appearance in Bumblebee shows her with a more curvaceous and slightly thicker body, even though she is still smaller than the rest of the male Autobots. Rise of the Beasts changes this by giving her a thinner body more reminiscent of her G1 design.
  • Adaptational Early Appearance: In G1, Arcee didn't get introduced until The Movie, which was set in 2005. Here, she's shown alongside Optimus and the others on Cybertron, and likely arrives on Earth with them in 1987 instead. This is also in effect when comparing the film to the Bay-directed films, as Arcee didn't arrive on Earth until some point between 2007 and 2009 after Optimus's original crew.
  • Ascended Extra: Goes from being a quick cameo in Bumblebee to a supporting character Rise of the Beasts.
  • The Cameo: As with other Autobots in Bumblebee, she just appears to briefly showcase the war on Cybertron.
  • Cool Bike: She doesn’t transform on screen, but one of her action figures turns into a bike reminiscent of the Batpod. In Rise of the Beasts, she turns into a Ducati motorcycle.
  • Composite Character: In Rise of the Beasts her design is an update on the classic G1 Arcee design, but with the red coloration and alternate mode of her Revenge of the Fallen counterpart (which itself was based on Arcee's Energon counterpart being a pink motorcycle). In terms of fighting style she's similar to her lean Prime counterpart, but is a bit friendlier like her Animated and G1 counterparts.
  • Fem Bot: Moreso than Shatter, as she has a pink and white paintjob and a somewhat human feminine appearance.
  • The Lancer: To Optimus in Rise of the Beasts. She's the Autobot who respects him and his orders the most and frequently helps coordinate their missions and intel.
  • Oh, Crap!: When she can't make communication with the Autobot capital (this implies the Decepticons destroyed it).
    Arcee: I've lost contact with the capital!
    • She also has this reaction when a missile shot by Battletrap almost hits her and Wheeljack.
  • Pink Is Feminine: Surprise, surprise, the only pink Autobot is the female one. By Rise of the Beasts, she looks more reddish-pink though.
  • She-Fu: Regularly pulls off a few acrobatic stunts (mostly flips) throughout Rise of the Beasts, reflecting her role as The Squadette and her small size.
  • Supermodel Strut: In Rise of the Beasts she sways her hips when she walks, most prominently seen in her debut seen from behind.
  • Those Two Guys: In Rise of the Beasts she is frequently paired off with Wheeljack. This is something of a remnant of an earlier draft of the script where they were in a romantic relationship.
  • Truer to the Text: Compared to her Revenge of the Fallen self, both of her designs seen so far are much more faithful to G1 Arcee's design.

    Wheeljack 

Wheeljack

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebeemoviewheeljack.jpeg
Wheeljack in Bumblebee
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1325.jpeg
Wheeljack in Rise of the Beasts

Voiced by: Steve Blum (Bumblebee), Cristo Fernández (Rise of the Beasts)

An Autobot soldier who escapes Cybertron.


  • Adaptational Badass: Typically Wheeljack is just a scientist, but he's shown fighting on the front lines alongside the others and doing well, if concerned by the overwhelming numbers. Not the first time, as his Prime counterpart was also made more of a warrior than a scientist.
  • Ascended Extra: Downplayed example. He goes from a small cameo in Bumblebee to a minor supporting character in Rise of the Beasts.
  • The Cameo: Just one of several Autobots in the opening battle of Bumblebee.
  • Composite Character: His Rise of the Beasts depiction has the scientist aspects of a traditional Wheeljack but the nature-lover aspects typically found with Beachcomber. He also happens to have a more humanoid appearance akin to Dark of the Moon Que, despite having been conceived as a separate character from him.
  • Oh, Crap!: When he sees that there aren't enough Autobots to hold off the Decepticon invasion.
    Wheeljack: There's too many of them!
  • Nerd Glasses: For Rise of the Beasts he wears a pair of large glasses which also double as Goggles Do Something Unusual, since they help him locate objectives too far for even regular optics.
  • Those Two Guys: In Rise of the Beasts he is frequently paired off with Arcee. This is something of a remnant of an earlier draft of the script where they were in a romantic relationship.
  • Truer to the Text: Compared to Que from Dark of the Moon, he's much more recognizable as Wheeljack. Even despite his voice and design changes in Rise of the Beasts, he still gets more characterization wherein his scientific expertise is established, unlike Dark of the Moon Wheeljack.
  • Unexplained Accent: Played for Laughs in Rise of the Beasts. Noah openly questions how Wheeljack, an alien robot, can speak with a Mexican accent (bearing in mind the Transformers didn't learn to speak through the internet as per the Bay films and he didn't have this accent in Bumblebee). Wheeljack handwaves it and just accuses Noah of racism, much to his bewilderment.
  • You Don't Look Like You: Compared to his Bumblebee design, Wheeljack looks very different when he reappears in Rise of the Beasts.

    Stratosphere 

Stratosphere

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stratosphere_render.jpg
"Haha! My lads, I am Stratosphere! Lord of the skies!" (coughing)
Voiced by: John DiMaggio

An Autobot soldier who transforms into a C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane.


  • The Alleged Car: Being a Cybertronian Cool Old Guy, he's seen a lot of action and has become a notoriously rickety ride over the years. Being in close proximity with the Energon flow that revives Bumblebee manages to avert this by giving his plane-mode's fuselage some much-needed repairs that make it much tighter and stronger.
  • The Big Guy: Towers over the rest of the Autobots by a good margin, though unlike most examples, he doesn't participate in combat thanks to his job as the Autobots' aerial transport.
  • Captain Crash: Downplayed; Stratosphere’s introductory scene shows him clumsily stumbling and rolling over when he lands, but he is able to land normally when arriving in Peru and safely transports the Autobots despite his poor condition.
  • Composite Character: He's based on a character of the same name from the Revenge of the Fallen toyline, which itself was based on the plane that Optimus made his famous drop from in that movie's opening, and later appeared as a minor character in the Dark of the Moon video game. That said, he only has the colossal size and plane alternate mode in common with his Bay counterpart, as his personality is unique and made for the film.
    • He also has some qualities carried over from Skyfire/Jetfire in the G1 tv series due to being a really big Autobot who turns into a plane and occasionally serves as transportation for his team.
  • Gentle Giant: He's a nice guy overall and is quite careful in how he uses his strength, which is best shown when he handles Bumblebee's corpse.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Never uses his visor.
  • Non-Action Guy: Only takes part in the fighting to deliver Bumblebee and doesn't seem to have any combat capabilities despite his great stature.
  • Robot Hair: For some reason, he sports a prominent mustache.
  • Token Flyer: He's the only Autobot seen so far who has a flying alt mode.

    Mirage 

Mirage

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_mirage_render.jpg
"Don't worry, your boy's got this."
Voiced by: Pete Davidson

An Autobot soldier with the ability to create extremely realistic holographic doppelgangers of himself.


  • Adaptation Personality Change: Classic Mirage is usually depicted as an upper-crust social elite who joined the cause due to a passing interest. This Mirage is basically Pete Davidson Adam Westing as a typical snarky action hero.
  • Bring Me My Brown Pants: After being pounced by Cheetor, Mirage nervously denies being scared, stating that it's just "engine oil". Since oil is considered an equivalent of urine in Bay movies, Mirage's "accident" most likely counts.
  • Cool Big Bro: His friendship with Noah can be summed up as this, given how encouraging he is while looking out for him. He also strikes a friendship with Noah's actual brother, Chris, admiring the kid's bravery and promising Chris to keep Noah safe, keeping in contact with him via radio.
  • Cool Car: His altmode is a 964-generation Porsche 911 with a silver-blue color scheme. For added measure, he demonstrates the ability to adopt multiple forms, including a Lamborghini and a formula race car.
  • Composite Character: Despite sporting roughly the same colors as his more classic counterparts, his vehicle mode brings to mind Jazz (who is known for turning into a Porsche) while his ability to generate holograms originally belonged to Hound (although more recent iterations of Mirage have been given the ability); furthermore, his personality as the local hotshot and kid appeal character is reminiscent of characters like G1 Hot Rod, Armada Hot Shot, or Smokescreen from Transformers: Prime.
  • Curb Stomp Cushion: Mirage is obviously no match against Scourge, but he does land some solid hits on him with good usage of his illusions ability. He even manages to knock Scourge's mask off, revealing his monstrous face.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: Downplayed, as he immediately takes a liking to Noah even when the latter becomes hostile after seeing Mirage's robot form, with his friendliness gradually winning the human over.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Shields Noah with his own body to protect him from Scourge's attack, knowing that it will likely cost him his life. Thankfully, Noah manages to bring him Back from the Dead.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • Despite being weary of the other, more serious Autobots like Optimus and Arcee, Mirage admits he understands why Optimus is so harsh and defensive, and explains it to Noah; and also shows he doesn't blame Optimus for their situation, is forever loyal to the Prime.
    • He's shown to be good with kids, as he quickly bonds with Kris and takes his orders to look after Noah seriously.
  • Large Ham: Known for a lack of subtlety, and hoo boy, does it show; the first thing he does upon transforming is whoop with joy, proclaiming how good it feels before going on a brief impassioned rant over the boredom of following orders and maintaining cover. Later, while regrouping with the Autobots to embark for Peru, he follows up transforming with a loud "Wutang is in the building, baby!", prompting Prime to snark "Way to be incognito".
  • Master of Illusion: Has the ability to create holographic copies of himself to confuse his enemies.
  • Meaningful Name: Noah sees firsthand how Mirage lives up to his name by creating holographic decoys of himself (and Noah) to mislead a cop pursuing them.
  • Military Maverick: Compared to the other ‘bots in Prime’s crew, Mirage is very flippant and casual, coming up short when it comes to subtlety and discipline (much to Prime’s irritation). One reason Mirage insists on Noah staying is because he finds the others too tight-wound and believes he has found a kindred spirit in the human.
  • No Social Skills: Zigzagged; for the most part, he's friendly, outgoing, and capable of empathy, though he has his moments like when he first transforms in front of Noah. Mirage gets that his robot appearance would be a lot for the human to take in, but expresses confusion when Noah picks up a pipe to hit him with. Threatening Noah with his Arm Cannon (albeit playfully) would hardly improve things, if not for Noah’s refusal to back down impressing Mirage and his friendliness gradually winning Noah over.
  • Powered Armor: He becomes one for Noah during the climax of the film.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Lets out a particularly high-pitched, feminine shriek when Cheetor pins him down after sneaking up on him.
  • Taking the Bullet: Several bullets in fact, each one powerful enough to blow him apart, piece by piece, while defending Noah from Scourge during the final battle.

Others

    Cliffjumper 

Cliffjumper

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

Voiced by: Andrew Morgado

A lieutenant in the Autobot ranks who's quickly hunted down by Shatter and Dropkick after escaping Cybertron.


  • Adaptational Wimp: In most continuities, Cliffjumper is a fairly formidible Autobot for all his small size. Here, Shatter and Dropkick seem to have been able to capture him without serious effort given that neither of them appear to be wounded.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Has his right arm torn off by Dropkick.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Brutally bisected right down the middle, and this is after he's been mercilessly tortured extensively to the point that his right arm's been torn off, in addition to being stabbed in the chest, twice!
  • Defiant to the End: Not once does he give in to the torture.
    Cliffjumper: My name is Cliffjumper, lieutenant of the Autobot resistance.
  • Half the Man He Used to Be: How he meets his end, courtesy Dropkick. Vertically.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He allows the Decepticons to slaughter him senselessly just so the same fate doesn't befall on Optimus or any other Autobot.
  • Mythology Gag: The circumstances behind his murder of getting stabbed and bisected in half are hauntingly similar to that of his fate in Transformers: Prime.
  • Red Shirt: Quite literally. His only notable scene was the one where he is killed at the hands of Dropkick.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Only gets one scene, and it's the one where he's being killed. He was first seen back on Cybertron fighting alongside Ratchet, Arcee and Wheeljack though he was forced to evacuate and then we see him being tortured by Shatter and Dropkick on one of Saturn's moons.note  An interview with Travis Knight elaborates on this— given how similar he is to Bumblebee in size, shape and role within the Autobots, Shatter and Dropkick's killing of him is meant to convey what they would do to Bumblebee given the chance.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He is only shown for a few minutes before he is cut in half by Dropkick.

    Brawn 

Brawn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tf_bb_brawn_stand_fast_3.jpg

Voiced by: Kirk Baily

An Autobot soldier who escapes Cybertron.


  • Adaptational Badass: Gets shot in the shoulder, much like his original counterpart from the G1 film. The difference is that in the G1 film, Brawn dies shortly after being shot, while here, he can be seen entering one of the escape pods, having survived his shoulder wound.
  • Ambiguous Situation: May or may not be hiding out on Earth. At the end of Bumblebee, seven Autobot escape pods were seen coming to Earth in addition to Optimus Prime, and assuming Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Stratosphere account for four of them, three still remain unknown.
  • The Cameo: Much like his Animated and his G1 film counterparts, he's just there for a few seconds to help the Autobot cause look better in terms of numbers.

    Ratchet 

Ratchet

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

Voiced by: Dennis Singletary

An Autobot soldier who escapes Cybertron. He is traditionally a medic, but doesn't have much of a chance to demonstrate his skills.


  • Ambiguous Situation: May or may not be hiding out on Earth. At the end of Bumblebee, seven Autobot escape pods were seen coming to Earth in addition to Optimus Prime, and assuming Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Stratosphere account for four of them, three still remain unknown.
  • The Cameo: The very first Autobot seen.
  • Mythology Gag: Sports a white helmet with a red crest like his Transformers: Prime counterpart.
  • Oh, Crap!: When he sees that the Decepticons are easily dispatching the Autobot soldiers.
    Ratchet: THEY BROKE IN THROUGH THE FRONT LINES!
  • Truer to the Text: His design and color scheme are a closer match to G1 Ratchet than his previous live-action self.

    Ironhide 

Ironhide

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

An Autobot soldier who escapes Cybertron.


  • Ambiguous Situation: May or may not be hiding out on Earth. At the end of Bumblebee, seven Autobot escape pods were seen coming to Earth in addition to Optimus Prime, and assuming Mirage, Arcee, Wheeljack, and Stratosphere account for four of them, three still remain unknown.
  • The Cameo: You can see him as he fires with Ratchet against Decepticon intruders and then again as he's entering his escape pod. The Autobot shooting next to Ironhide is unidentified, but it could be Prowl given the white chest and white head.
  • Truer to the Text: Sports a G1 accurate design and red color scheme compared to Bayverse Ironhide's distinct design.
  • The Voiceless: Doesn't talk, only shoots.

The Decepticons

The Decepticons are a ruthless and rogue military force that forced the resistance to flee from Cybertron, and won't stop until they've hunted each one down and permanently destroyed what's left of the rebellion.

    In General 
  • Aliens Are Bastards: They're ruthless and, when they interact with other races, hold little to no regard for them outside of how they can be useful to their cause. They also won't simply settle for driving the Autobots off-planet, but actively hunt them down simply to ensure they don't ever return.
  • Arm Cannon: Unlike the Autobots, it's a case for each one seen.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: By the time of Bumblebee, they've succeeded in conquering Cybertron, and have forced the Autobots off-planet. Eight years later, they still seem to be in control of Cybertron with the Autobots stranded on Earth. A deleted scene from Rise of the Beasts has Transit display complete loyalty to the Decepticon principle of keeping the Autobots on Earth by having destroyed his own ship after arriving.
  • Bright Is Not Good: Physically, the Autobots and the Decepticons look about the same; they're both colorful and brightly painted machines, and to a neutral party, it'd be hard to distinguish which ones are the good guys and bad guys.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: The name Decepticons is, without a doubt, not a good guys name.
  • Demoted to Extra: Played with. They are entirely absent from the events of Rise of the Beasts, the Terrorcons acting at the main antagonists in their stead. While this would normally be an example of Sequel Non-Entity, it's made clear the Autobots are on Earth at all due to being in hiding from them, and there were originally plans to have a minor Decepticon presence in the film that ended up removed. Specifically, Transit was originally intended to be a Decepticon assassin tasked with killing Optimus Prime, only to be killed in a fight with him early in the movie, his corpse being thrown at the bottom of the river to display the dozens of other would-be assassins the Decepticons sent.
  • Drama Queen: The Decepticons love to talk, to the point that it almost seems to be a part of their egomaniacal culture. They're always ready to launch into some operatic grandstanding or cruel twist-the-knife taunts to demoralize their enemies. The problem with this is that it leaves them wide open for an attack from the more pragmatic Autobots. Best demonstrated during Bumblebee's fight with Blitzwing; Bee says just about three words during the entire fight ("I'll never talk"), while Blitzwing's Evil Gloating gets him killed. In the finale, Dropkick and Shatter both waste time trash-talking Bee rather than just outright killing him, which gives him plenty of time to outmaneuver them.
  • The Empire: This take on the Decepticons presents them as such; they control Cybertron with an iron grip and the Autobots are merely a resistance movement against them. Two Decepticons present themselves as alien law enforcement officers to Sector 7, which isn't exactly a lie since that's what they are from the Decepticons' POV.
  • Obviously Evil: Compared to the Autobots, the Decepticons have more menacing voices, red optics, and of course, they literally call themselves Decepticons.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: To distinguish them from the Autobots, they have malevolent red eyes.
  • Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Thus far the reboot has been Lighter and Softer than the original Transformers movie series. Except for the Decepticons, who murder humans on screen. Even the comedic moments with Shatter and Dropkick still mostly serve to show how evil the duo are.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: When they first make contact with Earth, the Decepticons present themselves as 'peacekeepers' who are hunting dangerous fugitives. Played With though as only Dr. Powell believes them, and Burns makes it clear he doesn't trust them.
  • You Talk Too Much!: Could be their Fatal Flaw.
  • Zerg Rush: Largely why the Autobots had to leave, the Decepticons just outnumbered them too much. Even though Optimus Prime could take on dozens of them on his own, they would otherwise overwhelm the rest of his forces.

    Shatter 

Shatter

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcwsdp3_160a94e0_91a7_4168_b161_bd151ccc135f.png
"There's a war raging on our planet. If B-127 isn't found, that war may find its way here."

Voiced by: Angela Bassett

A Decepticon triple-changer who's searching for Bumblebee on Earth with her cohort, Dropkick.


  • And Your Little Dog, Too!: As she prepares to kill Bee, she threatens to kill Charlie, too, in retribution for disabling the communication hub.
  • Benevolent Boss: A villainous example. She acts as Dropkick's superior, but doesn’t treat him in an ill manner and addresses him with a sense of comradery, and while she's more than capable of terminating their targets, she happily leaves the dirty work to her brutish partner.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: She and Dropkick are the main villains of the film, but Shatter is the more senior and commanding of the pair.
  • Big "NO!": She was not happy when Charlie disabled the communication tower, sparking her Villainous Breakdown.
  • Brains and Brawn: The brains to Dropkick's brawn, employing deception and subterfuge to achieve her goals.
  • Canon Foreigner: She was created exclusively for Bumblebee.
  • Cool Car: Her Plymouth Satellite mode.
  • Cool Plane: Her Harrier Jump Jet mode.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: She fares a lot better against Bumblebee than her partner, easily countering his moves in their fight, breaking off his blade and stabbing him with it. Bee only survives by blasting open a dam wall, letting a cargo ship fly out and crush Shatter.
  • Dirty Coward: Slightly downplayed, but when Bumblebee blasts open the dam and holds Shatter in place so that both of them will likely get crushed to death at the end of their battle, Shatter immediately shows terror for her life for the very first time, pleading that it doesn't make sense for Bumblebee to kill both of them. Which is in stark contrast to her smug and confident air when she and her partner are torturing and then executing Autobots with sadistic pleasure.
  • Evil Duo: She's partners in crime with Dropkick.
  • Dark Action Girl: She's one of the primary antagonists, and very capable of throwing down with Autobots.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Her and Dropkick's interrogation of Cliffjumper shows her not doing much, if any physical torture, merely asking the questions and turning him over to Dropkick should he answer wrong, then cruelly twisting the knife when they pick up Bumblebee's signal. This shows that she's the brains of the duo who prefers mind games and leaves much of the dirty work to her partner, and focuses on the mission. Her manipulation of Sector Seven also backs up her deceptive nature.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She seemed as bewildered as she was terrified at Bumblebee breaking down a dam to let a cargo ship come out and crush her, saying it would kill them both. She didn't count on him willingly risking his life to take her down.
  • Exact Words: She seems to love wordplay, using it in her taunts before having people killed, but it's especially apparent in her manipulation of Powell and Sector Seven. Technically speaking, she never actually lies to them; as the Decepticons are the governing power of Cybertron and the Autobots are a resistance force, B-127 is a fugitive, and they're 'peacekeepers' in the sense that the war will end when the Autobots are all dead. If he's not found, the war will come to Earth, but only because Shatter and Dropkick will bring it to Earth in the name of hunting down the Autobots' seeking refuge. All she did was leave out which side of the conflict were the bad guys.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Unlike her partner, Shatter puts on a friendly facade to trick Sector 7 into aiding them in their mission to capture Bumblebee. Underneath, it's clear she is just as bloodthirsty as her partner, she is just content to let him have his fun doing the killing.
  • Good Cop/Bad Cop: Her dynamic with Dropkick is much like a duo of cops. She's the "good cop" by virtue of recognizing the value in seeking aid with humans and playing nice when it suits her. But when it comes down to it, she's just as nasty as her partner.
  • The Heavy: She and Dropkick serve as the main villains of the movie, but they aren't particularly high in the Decepticon command structure, answering to Shockwave, Soundwave, and Starscream, all of whom also answer to the unseeen Megatron.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: She pretty much looks like Bassett if she was a Transformer.
  • Iron Lady: Downplayed, but she seems to be the one calling the shots between her and Dropkick.
  • Kick the Dog: She does the kicking, while Dropkick does the killing.
    • When interrogating Cliffjumper, she teases that he deserves a better death for being a brave warrior... then lets Dropkick vertically bisect him.
    • She also makes sure Dr. Powell knows he's a dead man after witnessing Optimus Prime's message and discovering the Decepticons true intentions, but not before mockingly thanking him for his hospitality and being an Unwitting Pawn, then allowing Dropkick to execute the poor man.
    • Followed up by Bumblebee himself. Making false pleasantries with her victims seems to be a hobby for her, whilst Dropkick is just happy to get to kill things.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Fitting the Decepticon name, Shatter plays to Sector 7's ignorance of the war to trick them into believing Bee is a dangerous criminal, and aid them in his capture.
  • More Deadly Than the Male: Shatter is a far more vicious and skilled opponent than her partner, and could have killed Bee in their final fight were it not for her hubris.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shatter. Does that sound like a trustworthy name?
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: As she descends into her Villainous Breakdown, Shatter's attacks on Bee become more violent, to the point she just nearly pummels his head into scrap.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: After learning that Optimus Prime and the Autobots are going to hide on Earth, she attempted to send a message to call an army to kill the Autobots and destroy all life on the planet.
  • One Head Taller: Non-romantic example, but she is about a head taller than her partner Dropkick.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Being the more level-headed of the two, Shatter realizes she can use Sector 7 to her advantage in finding Bumblebee by simply pretending to be an ally.
  • Sadist: She is a seriously nasty piece of work. Dropkick prefers killing and she prefers savoring the kill.
    "You're a brave warrior. You deserve a better death. [chuckles evilly] Then again..."
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The more composed and level-headed blue to Dropkick's red. Ironic, given their respective color schemes.
  • Scarily Competent Tracker: With a little coaxing, she and Dropkick are given access to the United States' entire satellite network, in order to find Bumblebee, and they've been tracking him from as far as Saturn.
  • Slasher Smile: Shatter displays one when she is given access to Earth's computers.
  • Strong and Skilled: Being a bigger bot, Shatter's obviously stronger than Bee but also very skilled in her own right, which allows her to match him blow for blow. This makes her the one opponent Bee's Weak, but Skilled style doesn't work on.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Charlie disabling the communication tower sends her into a rage, and she proceeds to violently attack Bumblebee, threatening to kill Charlie out of spite.
    • Has a minor one when attempting to interrogate Bumblebee. Clearly agitated with him not talking, she lets her facade of manners slip and calls Powell "human Powell" instead of "friend Powell".
  • Villain Respect: Very downplayed when she and Dropkick are interrogating Cliffjumper the medieval way right before the latter 'Con executes him. See the quote under Sadist.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Both of them employ this, but Shatter is the one who often makes it known, while Dropkick carries out the "dispose of them" part. Sector 7 planned to destroy them after they found Bumblebee, but the Decepticons employed the trope faster.

    Dropkick 

Dropkick

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dropkickconceptart.jpg
"We'll burn the whole planet to cinders."

Voiced by: Justin Theroux

A Decepticon triple-changer who's hunting Bumblebee on Earth alongside his cohort, Shatter.


  • Ax-Crazy: Unlike Shatter who wants to focus on the mission and actually attempt temporary alliances, he has nothing but contempt for Autobots and humans, and has no issue with murder... whether provoked or not.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He and his partner Shatter are the villains of the film, though Dropkick's mind is more on fighting and killing things, so he leaves all the thinking to his partner.
  • Blood Knight: Being the brawn of his and Shatter's duo, he is always out for combat. He quickly gets pissed when amnesiac Bumblebee refuses to fight back during their first encounter.
    Dropkick: Why isn't he fighting back? Why don't you fight?!
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Zig-zagged. Dropkick's execution of Bumblebee was, indeed, fatal but was undone by Charlie resuscitating him. Considering how thorough he was in offlining Cliffjumper, this does earn Shatter's ire when Bee turns up again to stop them.
  • Brains and Brawn: The brawn to Shatter's brains. He's not very fond of Shatter's underhanded approach and prefers to solve his problems with brute force.
  • Breaking the Bonds: Subverted. Though the scene sets him up, Bee simply tears him apart before he can do so.
  • Canon Foreigner: While the name "Dropkick" has been used in Transformers fiction before, this version has no basis in those previous incarnations, and is basically a new character.
  • Cool Car: His AMC Javelin mode.
  • Death by Irony: He is amused when he "pops" humans, only to be popped himself by Bumblebee with an anchor and chain.
  • Establishing Character Moment: During his and Shatter's interrogation of Cliffjumper, Dropkick tortures the Autobot by stabbing him and later bisecting him, highlighting him as a hot-headed thug who prefers using physical force, and is quick to murder.
  • Evil Duo: He's partners in crime with Shatter.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: In conjunction with his guttural voice, his voice is fairly low-pitched.
  • For the Evulz: He liquidates a random human upon arriving on Earth, commenting that he "loves how they pop".
  • Good Cop/Bad Cop: The bad cop to Shatter's good cop (though they're both nasty pieces of work). He's more violent and prone to physical torture, not to mention his lack of temperament.
  • The Heavy: Along with Shatter; they're far from being leaders of the Decepticons, but they serve as the main villains of Bumblebee.
  • Karmic Death: Given his fondness for inflicting Cruel and Unusual Deaths onto others, his first onscreen-victim being Cliffjumper, whom Dropkick viciously bisected after having already extensively tortured him, it's rather fitting that Dropkick meets an equally cruel and unusual fate at the hands of Bumblebee, who shares Cliffjumper's likeness.
  • Laughably Evil: Downplayed, given both his brutality and sadism, but Dropkick has several amusing moments, often coming in the form of Black Comedy, such as his casual (and graphic) murder of the first human he sees and his incredulous griping about having to pretend to be Sector 7's allies.
  • Ludicrous Gibs: Is killed this way. Bumblebee quickly wraps an enormous chain from a nearby ship around Dropkick mid-transformation, ensuring the chains are completely tangled in his joints and other lesser-armored moving sections. Yanking hard on the other end to pull him to pieces in one swift movement.
  • Killed Mid-Sentence: "You think these little chains can hold—?"
  • Omnicidal Maniac: He is excited about an army of Decepticons coming to Earth to kill the Autobots, relishing in the destruction they will bring to Earth.
    Dropkick: "We'll burn the whole planet TO CINDERS."
  • Oh, Crap!: He sounds (justifiably) more than a little worried when he learns that Optimus Prime is coming to Earth.
  • "Pop!" Goes the Human: He possesses a special weapon that liquefies humans, popping them like balloons.
    Dropkick: I like the way they pop.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Right before he executes Bumblebee after they've gotten everything they need out of him.
    Shatter: Ah, B-127, I almost forgot about you.
    Dropkick: I didn't.
  • Rabid Cop: To further play on the dark buddy cop dynamic he has with Shatter, Dropkick is an openly violent, murder-happy Sadist to contrast his more reserved partner.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The hot-headed, aggressive red to Shatter's blue — the inverse of their actual color schemes.
  • Scarily Competent Tracker: He and Shatter are given access to the United States' entire satellite network, in order to find Bumblebee, and they've been tracking him from as far as Saturn.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: In his fight with Bumblebee, Dropkick's easily the stronger of the two, manhandling the smaller Autobot and knocking him around when he lands a blow, but Bee has his number when it comes to skill and ingenuity.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: Double Subverted. Regular, human-made chains mess him up pretty badly as they go between the moving parts during transformations, but as he points out, the chains won't stop him for long. Then Bumblebee yanks the other end of the chain...
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: He's utterly baffled when Shatter kneels to humble herself to the Sector 7 agents, and reluctantly does so himself when she shoots him a glance.
    Dropkick: Wha-? What are you doing? (groans) This is humiliating...
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Shatter makes it known that they've gotten all they need out of their targets and "allies", then gives Dropkick the go-ahead to dispose of them. Sector 7 planned to turn on them, too, but were beaten to the punch.

    Blitzwing 

Blitzwing

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bumblebee_blitzwing_concept.jpg
"Did you think you could hide?!"

Voiced by: David Sobolov

A Decepticon Seeker Bumblebee encounters on Earth.


  • Adaptational Job Change: Traditionally, most versions of Blitzwing are triple changers. This version is a Seeker.
  • Advertised Extra: Despite being shown prominently in the trailers, Blitzwing plays a very small role in the beginning of the film where he is killed by Bumblebee. But he definitely leaves a mark by tearing out Bee's vocal synthesizer.
  • Arch-Enemy: He holds a special animosity for Bumblebee, originating in the prequel comics leading to the events of the film. Although the comics turn out to be non-canon, as Bumblebee arrives on Earth at the beginning of the film proper.
  • Big "NO!": He mutters out a surprised one, to a horrified one right before Bumblebee blows him up.
  • Composite Character: His only relation to prior incarnations of Blitzwing is his name; his overall design, colors, and being a Seeker make him resemble Starscream, compounded by the fact this version isn't a triple changer.
  • Cool Mask: He appears to be wearing some kind of mouthpiece akin to a fighter jet pilot's mask.
  • Cool Plane: An F-4 Phantom II.
  • Evil Is Bigger: Blitzwing towers over Bumblebee to the point where their fight has David and Goliath vibes.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Par for the course when you're voiced by David Sobolov.
  • Flight: Unlike Shatter and Dropkick who can only fly in their respective flying vehicle modes, Blitzwing can also fly in robot mode, which he uses to easily pursue Bumblebee.
  • In Name Only: The name Blitzwing has been used by characters in other past versions of the Transformers franchise. However, this version of him isn't a triple-changer — which is very ironic, considering that Shatter and Dropkick are — nor is he completely insane with three coinciding faces and personalities. Instead, this incarnation of Blitzwing is a rather standard seeker. The only thing this Blitzwing has in common with the others is that he's a Decepticon who turns into a jet fighter.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • He rips out Bumblebee's voice box when the latter refuses to give away Optimus Prime's whereabouts, but not before taunting him about how he's going to officialize his unwillingness to talk.
    • When he spots Bumblebee, he kills all the men Burns had surrounding him. There is no stated reason why he did this, give the implication he only did so for fun.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He is much larger and stronger than Bumblebee, and on top of that he can freely fly in robot mode, so he's also faster.
  • Ludicrous Gibs: Bumblebee takes one of his missiles, jabs it into his chest, and then detonates it with his Arm Cannon. There's not much left of Blitzwing other than burning scrap metal afterwards.
  • Near-Villain Victory: Is inches away from killing Bumblebee, who only survives because of his quick thinking and Blitzwing being a bit too slow to finish him off.
  • Oh, Crap!: When Bee sticks him with one of his own missiles, he panics and unsuccessfully tries to remove it before being blown to bits with one more shot to it.
  • Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: When he tears out Bumblebee's voice synthesizer, before throwing him off a cliff:
    Bumblebee: I'll never talk!
    Blitzwing: Is that right? Then let's make it official.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Blitzwing is killed by Bumblebee at the start of the movie, but not before tearing out his vocal processors, inflicting his signature handicap and damaging him enough to lose his memory, which kicks off the film's plot.
  • Starter Villain: He's the first Decepticon Bumblebee encounters after arriving on Earth in the film.
  • Villain Ball: Blitzwing successfully incapacitates Bumblebee by ripping out his voice synthesizer and dropping him off a cliff, and moves in to execute the Autobot. Instead of doing so from a safe distance with his ranged weaponry, the Decepticon elects to walk up to the scout and finish him off close and personally, allowing the latter to snatch one of Blitzwing's missiles, penetrate it into his hull and shoot it, blowing him to bits.
  • You Don't Look Like You: Considering everyone mistook him for Starscream when he made his appearance in the official trailer, as his design greatly resembles that of a G1 Seeker. The real Starscream however also shows up in the movie. Subverted as he has been given Seeker-looking toys in the past, it's just that he's usually got a more tank-like build too due to traditionally being a Triple Changer who transforms into both.

    Soundwave 

Soundwave

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knightverse_soundwave.jpeg
"Attack!"
Voiced by: Jon Bailey

A high-ranking Decepticon.


  • The Beastmaster: He is the one who deploys Ravage (who is basically a Cybertronian equivalent of an attack dog) to attack Optimus Prime during the opening battle on Cybertron.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He appears to be leading the Decepticon forces in the opening battle on Cybertron alongside Shockwave and Starscream.
  • The Cameo: He appears briefly, leading the Decepticons in the opening sequence.
  • The Dreaded: When he, Starscream and Shockwave arrive, the Autobots react with utter fear. His presence alone is what makes a background Autobot cry "GET DOWN! INCOMING!!" Previous incarnations of Soundwave can emit excruciating sounds and possess deadly minions, so yes the Autobots have every reason to fear him.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Optimus Prime. He slightly resembles Optimus, and Optimus is leading the Autobot forces on Cybertron while Soundwave in Megatron's unexplained absence is leading the Decepticon armada on Cybertron.
  • Mythology Gag: He looks identical to his classic form. He even ejects Ravage, one of his minions from his chest window, just like in Generation 1. He even also speaks in a computerized voice like the original Soundwave!
    Ravage, eject.
  • The Stoic: He's emotionless and does not exhibit any anger or sadism in attacking Autobots.

    Shockwave 

Shockwave

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knightverse_shockwave.jpg
"Let none escape."
Voiced by: Jon Bailey

A high-ranking Decepticon.


  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He appears to be leading the Decepticon forces in the opening battle on Cybertron alongside Soundwave and Starscream.
  • The Cameo: Alongside Soundwave, he only appears for a few seconds.
  • Cyber Cyclops: As per usual with all Shockwave incarnations.
  • The Dreaded: When he, Starscream and Soundwave arrive, the Autobots react with utter fear.
  • Mythology Gag: Like Soundwave and Starscream, he looks identical to his original depiction. He even keeps his lack of a left hand. On a far smaller note, his arm cannon has the same firing sound as Megatron's fusion cannon from the original movies.
  • Truer to the Text: He retains the yellow eye from his G1 design. Most versions of the character, including the Bay series Shockwave, have had red eyes.

    Ravage 

Ravage

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knightverse_ravage.jpg
Soundwave's panther-like cassette minion. His best quality that most Decepticons lack is speed.
  • Adaptational Dye-Job: His main body is still black/grey, but he has much more red and white (Laserbeak's color scheme) where his usual colorscheme would be grey and purple.
  • The Cameo: He gets the most glorious one out of all Decepticons: he pins Optimus down to the ground for a few seconds before getting punched away. All the other Decepticons that tried attacking Optimus were quickly killed by him.
  • Curb Stomp Cushion: Ravage manages to attack and pin the leader of the Autobots. Optimus sends him flying with a big punch to the face, but Ravage still gets back on his feet and attacks him with all the other Decepticons.
  • Right-Hand Attack Dog: To Soundwave.

    Starscream 

Starscream

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knightverse_starscream.jpg
A high-ranking Decepticon.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He appears to be leading the Decepticon forces in the opening battle on Cybertron alongside Shockwave and Soundwave.
  • The Cameo: Moreso than Soundwave and Shockwave, as he doesn't even get a voice in Bumblebee.
  • The Dreaded: When he, Soundwave and Shockwave arrive, the Autobots react with utter fear.
  • Mook Lieutenant: He's the leader of the Seekers, Decepticon Mooks who make up the bulk of the faction's army, and has a more humanoid face and distinctive color scheme than any of his troops.
  • Palette Swap: As is traditional, the Seekers are all the same model with different colors. So much so that Blitzwing was initially mistaken for Starscream when he appeared in trailers.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't appear much, but it's him and his Seekers who destroy the Autobot's tower, separating them from Optimus Prime. Travis Knight did initially intend to make him the Seeker that attacks Bumblebee on Earth, before changing the Seeker's name to Blitzwing.
  • The Voiceless: Even though he is one of the most prominent characters in the Transformers franchise, and is quite popular and beloved by most fans of the franchise, he has no speaking lines in the film. Ironic, as he's usually one of the most talkative Decepticons in most versions.

    Megatron 

Megatron

The Emperor of the Decepticon Empire and tyrannical dictator of Cybertron.


  • The Artifact: The reason for his absence. Allegedly, all of Megatron's planned appearances were cut to stay consistent with the 2007-2017 film timelinenote , with the decision to abandon the Bay timeline only coming after the film had already been released.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: As shown at the beginning of Bumblebee, the Autobots were losing the war and have to evacuate to Earth to regroup before fighting back. It would stand to reason that at the end of the film, Megatron has gained total control of Cybertron relishing the Autobots having fled to Earth.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: The leader of the Decepticons who drove the Autobots from Cybertron. However, he's remained unseen thus far. Even Unicron, the franchise Greater-Scope Villain, has made an appearance before Megatron.

    Transit 

Transit

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_transit_render.jpg
Voiced by: John DiMaggio

A Decepticon that transforms into a bus. He was cut from the theatrical release of the movie, but appears in a deleted scene.


  • The Artifact: Transit is a remnant from the original plan to have a Decepticon assassin go after Optimus Prime in the beginning of Rise of the Beasts, then be killed and tossed into the river to show the mass grave of would be assassins to highlight how even if not fully present in the film, their battle with the Autobots was still going on. Said battle ended up being cut following poor reactions to the test screening, with Transit being labelled a Terrorcon on the official website instead, and not appearing in the theatrical cut at all.
  • Beast Man: A Transformers equivalent. Transit stands out from other Decepticons seen in the rebooted live-action series so far by having a very bug-like head on a more humanoid body, which makes him look like a Decepticon from the Michael Bay series.
  • Defiant to the End: In the original scene he was in before it was cut, Optimus continually tried forcing Transit to tell him the location of the ship he used to come to Earth, promising to spare him if he did so. Transit instead chose to laugh in Optimus' face, revealing he already destroyed his own ship just in the event he lost to Optimus, spending his last moments mocking Optimus, telling him he'll never see Cybertron again and will die on Earth before Optimus blasts his head off.
  • Extra Eyes: Has four red eyes.
  • Humongous-Headed Hammer: Can transform his left hand into a huge spiked hammer.
  • Monstrous Mandibles: He has rather big mandibles to make his face look more alien and threatening.
  • Spikes of Villainy: He’s a menacing Cybertronian with spikes on his head.
  • Starter Villain: He would've served as the first foe Optimus fought in Rise of the Beasts.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He only lasted two minutes without any characterization and is immediately shot dead by Optimus.

Maximals

A faction of earthbound Transformers who've taken the alternate modes of giant animals as opposed to vehicles.

    In General 
  • Adaptational Badass: The Maximals (and Predacons) from Beast Wars were far smaller than typical Autobots and closer to human size, taking on the appearance of actual gorillas, cheetahs, and rhinos, the classic Autobots come across as titans next to them. Here all of the Maximals are scaled up to a comparable size to the Autobots, resulting in a gorilla standing 20 feet tall.
  • Adaptation Deviation:
    • In the original Beast Wars, Optimus Primal and the crew of the Axalon were effectively almighty janitors, being an exploration team that got stuck battling the Darksyde and Megatron's band of Predacons before getting embroiled in the Beast Wars, with other Maximals holding similar rankings like Lio Convoy or Big Convoy, all of whom serving under the Maximal High Council. Here, Optimus Primal is the leader of the Maximals, being appointed such by their prior leader Apelinq, and the team he leads consists of the few survivors of their home planet’s destruction at the hands of Unicron.
    • The main Maximal team is much smaller in their debut movie compared to the Beast Wars. In addition to Rhinox and Cheetor, Optimus' initial group there had Rattrap as the fourth member, later being joined by the protoforms they recovered, Predacons that defected to their side, or others that made their way to Earth, specifically Dinobot, Tigatron, Airazor, Silverbolt, Depth Charge, Blackarachnia, and Tigerhawk. Here, Airazor takes Rattrap's place as the fourth team member, and the others don't appear. Airazor and Primal hint that there were others among their ranks before many of them were lost.
  • Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the original Beast Wars, the Maximals never came into contact with humanity outside of a limited interaction with their neanderthalic ancestors, with their most prominent interactions being a friendship Cheetor and Rattrap struck up with a couple of children in one episode. Here, the Maximals have a close and intimate relationship with humans even relying on them to protect half of the Transwarp key.
  • Ambiguous Situation: It's implied, but never outright stated, that the Maximals are from the future, as Airazor states the Maximals are from the Autobot's "past and future", and Primal claims he was named after the "legendary" Optimus Prime, both hinting that they are from the Autobot's future. By that same token, it's unclear as to what their home planet was, if it was a reformated Cybertron like in Beast Machines, or if it was an entirely separate planet like Eukaris/Jungle Planet in the IDW comics.
  • Balance, Speed, Strength Trio: Optimus Primal is the Balance, Cheetor the Speed and Rhinox is the Strength.
  • Breaking Old Trends: The Maximals are the first faction with a preference for remaining in their alt-modes rather than taking on their robot modes. Throughout the majority of their debut movie, they largely remain in Beast Mode even when fighting the Terrorcons or Autobots. It's only during the climax that they take on their robot modes.
  • Composite Character: The Maximals as a whole draw inspiration from both Beast Wars and its sequel Beast Machines. Like the former, the main group has amidst their number Rhinox and Airazor, and are forced to contend with an alien threat that takes Airazor from them, albeit Unicron rather than the Vok. Like the latter, the overall designs mixing both technological and organic elements bring to mind the Techno-Organic nature of the Maximals that followed the Oracle, and Primal and Cheetor's personalities fall more in line with the personalities they had there.
  • Dire Beast: By virtue of being much larger than any of the animals they take the form of.
  • Doomed Hometown: Their home was devoured by Unicron.
  • Shapeshifter Default Form: The Maximals favour their beast modes, only using their robot modes for direct combat.
  • Sole Survivor: Implied. After Apelinq entrusts Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox, and Airazor with guarding the Transwarp Key and keeping it away from Unicron, they can only watch in horror as their planet is consumed, and Apelinq being killed by Scourge. Primal and Airazor allude to other Maximals who survived the destruction of their home, only for Airazor to confirm she's all that is left of her group. Airazor would ultimately be given a Mercy Kill after being corrupted by Scourge, leaving Primal, Cheetor, and Rhinox the only known surviving Maximals.

    Optimus Primal 

Optimus Primal

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/optimusprimal_rotbgorilla.jpg
Beast Mode
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_optimus_primal_render.jpg
"It's a fight you want? You got one."
Voiced by: Ron Perlman

The leader of the Maximals.


  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The original Optimus Primal was the captain of a small crew landing on prehistoric Earth but wasn't given any particular backstory. In this series, Optimus has lost his leader/mentor figure Apelinq and his entire homeworld to Unicron and Scourge, giving him a sadder backstory than before.
  • Adaptational Personality Change: In the original Beast Wars, Optimus Primal was a more down-to-earth leader, befitting his status as a younger commander. This Optimus Primal is older, wiser, and is more of a mentor and advisor to his namesake, Optimus Prime.
  • Baritone of Strength: Ron Perlman's signature deep voice suits the mighty Maximal leader perfectly.
  • Broken Pedestal: If his name didn't give it away, Optimus Primal reveres Optimus Prime as "the legendary warrior of Cybertron". However, their initial interactions briefly damaged this pedestal for Primal, as he lamented the latter was not who he imagined he would be. He later comes to see him for the hero that he is.
  • Composite Character: He blends his original counterpart's characterizations from different points in the timeline. At the beginning of the film, he's like how Primal was at the beginning of Beast Wars, with the burden of command unexpectedly thrust upon him. By the present day, he's a level-headed, capable leader in his own right just like how Primal was for the rest of the series and Beast Machines. His design is largely based on his Season 1 design but with a techno-organic aesthetic and beast mode more like his Beast Machines design. Finally, his personality is also generally more stoic like his Power of the Primes incarnation (who he also shares a voice actor with).
  • Dual Wielding: Like in the original Beast Wars, Optimus Primal wields a pair of blades in robot mode, even if he only uses them briefly in the movie.
  • Gentle Gorilla: He's a huge alien robot whose alt mode is a gorilla and he's very protective of both fellow Maximals and the humans he has befriended.
  • King Kong Copy: In this case, he's almost a Mechani-Kong copy due to his size and being fully robot.
  • The Lancer: He was originally this to Apelinq, being more willing to fight back against the Terrorcons, and receiving his job as leader of the Maximals.
  • Named After Someone Famous: In-Universe, Optimus Primal states he was named after the "legendary" Optimus Prime.
  • Not So Stoic: He's generally serious and well-composed, but when Optimus Prime chides him for kill stealing Battletrap, Primal responds with a sheepish chuckle.
  • Primal Chest-Pound: He's first introduced in the present pounding on his chest as he confronts the human protagonists. He also does it after destroying a Scorponok drone.
  • You Are in Command Now: He becomes the leader of the Maximals early on in the film when the former leader Apelinq sacrifices himself. When Optimus Prime looks set to sacrifice his life to stop Unicron's arrival, Primal takes charge of the Autobots and Maximals alike to lead a retreat, though he ends up helping Prime survive the ordeal.

    Airazor 

Airazor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_airazorzoo.jpg
"I am a Maximal. A warrior from both your past and future."

Voiced by: Michelle Yeoh

One of the soldiers of the Maximals, and the only named female Maximal.


  • Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original show, Airazor shows up a little after the middle of the first season and wasn't a part of the original four active Maximals in the Axalon upon landing on Earth. In Rise, she's there alongside the Maximals at the very beginning.
  • All There in the Manual: Although Airazor had a robot form planned as evidenced by concept art and the toyline, she never uses it in the film. This is because she had to be killed by Primal due being infected by Scourge before the final battle when the Maximals properly transformed
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Scourge’s ‘mark’ does more than rust her techno-organic wings, it corrupts her mind forcing her to attack allies in order for her to bring Scourge the Transwarp key.
  • Breath Weapon: In her falcon alt-mode, in addition to her talons and beak to tear and peck, Airazor can unleash a concentrated fiery blast from her beak to attack.
  • Dies Differently in Adaptation: Instead of being abducted by the Vok, fused with Tigatron to form Tigerhawk, and then Tigerhawk dying from Megatron firing the Nemesis on them, Airazor dies via Mercy Kill by Optimus Primal after becoming Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Giant Flyer: She transforms into a giant robotic falcon with an impressive wingspan.
  • Mercy Kill: After becoming corrupted by Scourge, Airazor hangs on to her true self just long enough to ask Primal to kill her before she can hurt her friends.
  • Noble Bird of Prey: By virtue of being a bot on the side of good with a falcon alt-mode.
  • Sole Survivor: Dialogue suggests she split off from Primal some time ago with her own band of Maximals, but by the 90s she's the last one left.
  • The Smurfette Principle: The only named female Maximal.
  • Token Flyer: She's also the only Maximal who turns into a flying animal.
  • Zombie Infectee: She initially tries to dismiss Scourge's corruption as nothing, but eventually succumbs to it.

    Rhinox 

Rhinox

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_rhinox_render_beastmode.jpg
"We'll clear the way."
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhinox_robot_mode_rotb_2.jpeg
Robot Mode
Voiced by: David Sobolov

One of the soldiers of the Maximals.


  • The Big Guy: He's the biggest among the Maximals and he packs quite the powerful charge.
  • Dynamic Entry: When the Maximals first confront the Autobot team, Rhinox makes himself known by charging into Wheeljack and throwing him aside.
  • Humongous-Headed Hammer: Uses a hammer with a huge head in robot mode. And he's strong enough to send enemies flying.
  • Mighty Roar: Lets out a big roar after pushing Wheeljack into the air.
  • Out of Focus: He has significantly less focus than the other Maximals.
  • The Quiet One: He gets exactly one line in the whole movie during the big final fight, but otherwise remains silent.
  • Rhino Rampage: Transforms into a rhinoceros and is very much capable of crushing enemies under his feet.
  • Sapient Steed: During the final battle he briefly lets Arcee ride on his back as he rams through the enemy forces while she shoots at them.

    Cheetor 

Cheetor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_cheetor_render_beastmode.jpg
"More enemies are landing! We won't be safe for long!"
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cheetor_robot_mode_rotb.jpg
Robot Mode
Voiced by: Tongayi Chirisa

One of the scouts of the Maximals.


  • Adaptational Personality Change: He is less hot-headed than his original cartoon version. He always follows orders and does not make impulsive decisions.
  • Apologetic Attacker: He apologizes for pouncing on Mirage and scaring him.
  • Bifurcated Weapon: Cheetor’s weapon of choice is a double-ended polearm that can be split to dual wield or combined in to a spear.
  • Composite Character: While he has the design of a normal cheetah like in the first season of Beast Wars, he's a level-headed, mature warrior like how Cheetor had become by Beast Machines.
  • Javelin Thrower: He saves Noah from being taken by Nightbird by throwing his polearm at the Terrorcon, making him drop the human and causing Nightbird to crash on the floor.
  • Panthera Awesome: Like his other incarnations, Cheetor can turn into a giant cheetah.
  • Visual Pun: Cheetor transforms into a spotted predatory cat and wields a Mayincatec-style spear. In other words, he's an Aztec Jaguar.

    Apelinq 

Apelinq

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotb_apelinq.jpg
"We'd rather die than let him reach other planets!"
Voiced by: David Sobolov

The Maximal leader before Optimus Primal.


  • Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Apelinq's only real connection to Optimus Primal in the original 3H comics was the two briefly working together to face Shokaract before that timeline was retgoned, then meeting Primal during the events of Beast Machines before said meeting was erased from the latter's memories by the Oracle. Here, Apelinq was Primal's predecessor as leader of the Maximals, and the one to apoint Primal leader when Unicron came to their planet.
  • Adapted Out: From all outward indications, this Apelinq wasn't a scientist and he lacked the original's ability to turn data into physical objects.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: Fights using blades that deploy from his gorilla arms.
  • Defiant to the End: Even after being fatally wounded by Scourge, Apelinq lives long enough to inform him that his fellow Maximals have escaped with the Tranwarp Key and mocks him for failing Unicron.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Stays behind to delay Scourge long enough for the other Maximals to escape with the Transwarp Key.
  • King Kong Copy: Like Primal, his alternate form is a giant mechanical gorilla.
  • The Needs of the Many: Knowing the grave threat Unicron would present to the entire universe, Apelinq takes whatever steps needed to delay him from getting the key even at the cost of his planet, let alone his own life.
  • Palette Swap: Aesthetically speaking, he's basically Optimus Primal with a different colour scheme, much like his original Beast Wars Toy.
  • Passing the Torch: As he prepares to make his last stand, he passes command of the Maximals to Optimus Primal, lightly implying he had always planned to pass command to him.
  • Portmanteau: His name is a combination of "Ape" and "Uplink", with a "q" added in place of the "k" for flavor.
  • Pursued Protagonist: The film begins with some quick shots of the villains arriving on the Maximals' homeworld, then shows Apelinq running through the jungle with the MacGuffin and fighting some pursuers before giving the object to his friends and staying behind to Hold the Line.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Killed fighting Scourge early in the movie to show how dangerous Scourge is.

Terrorcons

Servants of Unicron, the Terrorcons are a sinister group of hunters led by Scourge who travel the galaxy finding planets for their dark god to consume.

    In General 
  • Adaptational Badass: Named Terrorcons are far more of a threat than in the typical depictions, as they are granted power by Unicron. The first fight with the Autobots has the Terrorcons dishing out a Curb-Stomp Battle where the Autobots struggle to even damage them.
  • Adaptation Deviation: While not the first time Terrorcons have been associated with Unicron, the members of the faction here all typically belong to other factions in other iterations.
    • Scourge is typically a Decepticon, being a Composite Character of the original G1, who was a reformatted Thundercracker serving Galvatron, and the version from Robots in Disguise, an Evil Counterpart to Optimus Prime.
    • Battletrap's only other appearance was as a Decepticon Duocon.
    • Nightbird was an unaligned human built robot in G1, but became associated with both the Decepticons and the Mercenaries in later installments.
    • The Scorponoks are derived from the character from Beast Wars, who was a Predacon, with their nature as non-sapient drones coming from the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy.
  • Aliens Are Bastards: Even moreso than the Decepticons. Their job revolves around finding planets for Unicron to eat, whether they are inhabited or not, and they absolutely relish the act of dooming the inhabitants of the planets they find to planetary apocalypse.
  • The Apunkalypse: The overall aesthetic brings to mind savage, violent thugs and raiders in a post-apocalyptic setting. It's especially pronounced with their vehicle modes, which would look right at home in a Mad Max story.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: The first fight with the Terrorcons sees the Autobots getting flattened.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Not explored in detail, but Scourge has Decepticon and Predacon insignias on his arms, suggesting they're quite happy to kill them too.
  • Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The arrival of these terrifying warriors precedes the apocalypse Unicron will inflict on the unluckily chosen planet.
  • Terrible Trio: Scourge, Battletrap, and Nightbird are the three main servants of Unicron who are relentless and brutal in their pursuit of the Transwarp Key.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Very, very obviously the bad guys considering that their faction name has terror in it.
  • No-Sell: Shooting the named Terrorcons generally has no effect due to their enhanced durability.
  • Obviously Evil: Even more so than the Decepticons thanks to their menacing and outright demonic appearances they have as servants of Unicron.
  • Psycho for Hire: They were already pretty bad as Unicron's servants, but they're also a bunch of sadistic psychopaths who relish in the damage and suffering they do in his name.
  • Spikes of Villainy: They all sport various spiky and sharp bits on their bodies, which in turn make their vehicle modes look much more menacing and monstrous.
  • Villain Respect: Seem to have some respect towards the Maximals. Of course, this is only because they find them to be a challenge.

    Scourge 

Scourge

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scourge_render.jpg
In the end, everything you care for will be consumed.
Voiced by: Peter Dinklage (English), Jérémie Covillault (European French)

"I enjoy that look of confusion when an inferior being meets a higher power."

Leader of the Terrorcons.


  • Always Someone Better: Scourge is too much for Optimus Prime to fight one on one. In the climax, Optimus Prime needs backup from Noah using Powered Armor to hold his own against Scourge. When it's just Prime and Scourge, Optimus only wins by taking advantage of the environment.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Optimus Prime cuts off both of his arms before decapitating him.
  • Arm Cannon: He can turn his left arm into a cannon or shoot an energy ball from it, which is how he finishes off Apelinq.
  • Bad Boss: His insignia trophies include other Terrorcon sigils, suggesting that he's willing to kill his own minions. At one point, Bumblebee uses Nightbird as a robot shield to defend himself from Scourge's blasts. Despite this, Scourge doesn't seem to care much for his subordinate's life as he keeps firing at both of them.
  • Battle Trophy: He has a hobby of stealing the faction insignias of every Transformer he kills and welding them to his own body. The insignias he's collected so far include Autobots, Maximals, Autobot Wreckers and the Elite Guard, Mercenaries, Decepticons, Predacons, and even other Terrorcons. He takes Apelinq's Maximal insignia after fatally wounding him and takes Bumblebee's Autobot insignia after killing him. Optimus would reclaim the revived Bumblebee's insignia and returns it to him after killing Scourge.
  • The Beastmaster: Deploys Freezer drones and gives them orders when the situation calls for it, namely dealing with humans.
  • Big Bad: While Unicron's the bigger threat, he's only peripherally involved in the plot. Thus, Scourge is the one directing the Terrorcons and stopping him is the heroes' goal.
  • Big Badass Rig: Takes the form of a black Peterbilt 359 semi truck with a Mad Max-inspired aesthetic.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: He has a massive retractable blade on his right arm, which is what he uses to impale Apelinq.
  • Blood Knight: Downplayed compared to Battletrap, but Scourge clearly enjoys violence and brutality, and after easily defeating the Autobots in their first encounter, he bemoans the lack of a genuine challenge from any of his opponents.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Rather than kill Elena and Optimus Primal himself, he relies on the brainwashed and resisting Airazor to do it; not only does she not kill either hero, she holds back enough for Primal to Mercy Kill her.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Makes no effort to hide how monstrous he is and enjoys every second of his duties to Unicron.
  • Chained by Fashion: He sports chains on his body as a symbol of his servitude to Unicron.
  • Composite Character: This Scourge combines the characterization of his G1 counterpart as a ruthless hunter serving Unicron with the black Big Badass Rig alt-mode of his Robots in Disguise namesake. Also like the original Scourge, he commands mass-produced identical minions called Sweeps that help with his dirty work. His head takes cues from both (having the forehead crest closer to the latter with his helmet somewhat resembling the handle bar mustache of the G1 version). He also takes some cues from G1 Galvatron's depiction in the original movie, as Unicron's main minion, though he's far more willing than Galvatron was. His mask being based on his faction symbol, along with his cool and collected way of commanding his forces also harkens to Tarn of the Decepticon Justice Division; same with him stealing pieces of his victims.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: He's this to Shatter, being a male Terrorcon who commands more forces at his disposal than Shatter, a female Decepticon who only has one soldier under her. Shatter was more of a Benevolent Boss to Dropkick while Scourge doesn't hesitate to shoot his own troops to get to the enemy. And while Shatter answered to the powerful but still very mortal-by-Cybertronian-standards Megatron and wasn't seen suffering any punishment, Scourge answers to the dark god Unicron and could suffer harsh punishment when he doesn't do something right. Additionally, while Shatter didn't really like humans, she could at least put on the charm to talk and interact with humans in the military to to gain their trust. Scourge, on the other hand, threatens and attack humans without hesitation and didn't bother putting on any kind of charm offensive. And most importantly, whereas Shatter at least showed a few positive qualities despite being the villain, Scourge showed no redeeming qualities whatsoever and remained a despicable Hate Sink character from beginning to end.
  • Corrupted Character Copy: Scourge bears some similarities to the Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics. They are residents of a planet that their master targeted for consumption. But whereas Norrin Radd became the herald of Galactus in exchange for his planet's salvation, Scourge sold out his planet to Unicron in exchange for becoming his herald for the sake of power. Silver Surfer underwent a Heel–Face Turn after being defeated and treated with kindness, leading him to stop Galactus from consuming Earth, whereas Scourge here remains irredeemably evil and loyal to Unicron to the bitter end, even going so far as to stop the heroes from averting Unicron's arrival even when it's guaranteed he's going to die.
  • The Corrupter: Scourge can shoot probes at his enemies that will corrupt them into fellow servants of Unicron; he uses one such weapon against Airazor, forcing Primal to kill her before she can kill Elena.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Dies via being shoved into lava before Optimus severs both his arms and rips out his head (with spine attached). Bastard had it coming though.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle:
    • Swiftly kills Apelinq in the prologue, the Maximal barely touching Scourge before the Terrorcon blasts a hole in him.
    • His first fight against Optimus Prime has Scourge effortlessly thrash him, Optimus only survives because of Bumblebee's aid, and Bumblebee is the receiving end of another short beatdown for his efforts.
  • Dark Is Evil: Exceedingly so, especially with his demonic-looking face, pitch-black coloration, and utterly savage appearance in both modes.
  • Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with Unicron, becoming his herald in exchange for power and possibly surviving his home planet's destruction. It's flat out said that Unicron owns his soul. Scourge seems pretty happy with the deal, considering the violence he carries out in Unicron's name to be a benefit of his service.
  • Determinator: Even while Prime is shoving him face-first into a lava flow, Scourge absolutely refuses to allow Unicron's arrival to be prevented, blasting the control console despite being in obvious agony to prevent Elena from stopping the portal.
  • The Dragon: Unicron's most powerful minion, who acts as the vanguard of the Terrorcon invasions to prepare planets for consumption. However, since Unicron is distant from the immediate plot, Scourge functions as the film's Big Bad.
  • Egomaniac Hunter: He has insignia "trophies" hanging from his truck mode's grille. After killing Apelinq and Bumblebee, he welds their respective faction badges to his shoulder. Optimus claims Bumblebee's Autobot insignia back after killing him.
  • Establishing Character Moment: When Scourge appears before Apelinq, he greets him and compliments his planet while casually stating it would be savory to Unicron. When Apelinq refuses to surrender the Transwarp Key in exchange for his planet’s salvation, Scourge easily overpowers and fatally wounds him, then tears off his Maximal insignia and welds it onto his body, with a Freeze-Frame Bonus showing that he’s already collected enough insignias from different factions to rack up quite a body count. He then promises Unicron he will find the key and use it to summon him to his location. This all establishes Scourge to be a powerful, ruthless, and sadistic loyalist to Unicron.
  • Evil Makes You Monstrous: Whatever enhancements Unicron provided to him after Scourge pledged himself to him clearly left their mark, as he looks downright demonic compared to even the Decepticons or his fellow Terrorcons.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Scourge has a pretty deep and intimidating voice with a slight rasp, fitting for his role as Unicron's Dragon.
  • Evil vs. Evil: While it's not seen in the film, among Scourge's trophies are insignia from Decepticons, Predacons, and even his own Terrorcons, showing that he doesn't discriminate when it comes to potential victims.
  • Facial Horror: During the climax, the Terrorcon insignia on Scourge's face is revealed to be a mask covering up a ghoulish and visibly damaged skull-like visage.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He tends to speak casually to his enemies even when he’s mocking or trying to kill them.
  • The Heavy: He is ultimately just a servant to Unicron. But since the latter is a Greater-Scope Villain, Scourge is the more immediate threat.
  • Hero Killer: Scourge is Unicron's much-feared top enforcer, and during the film, he kills Apelinq and (temporarily) Bumblebee, corrupts Airazor (which leads to her death), and nearly kills Mirage, Noah, and Optimus Prime.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Choosing to fight Optimus at the base of Unicron's summoning tower in the final battle proves to be his undoing, as Optimus uses the motors and flowing lava of the tower to severely cripple Scourge and leave him open to being executed by the vengeful Prime.
  • Hypocrite: Having seen he can overpower Optimus during the museum battle, Scourge spitefully mocks him over how "Primus would be ashamed". Though Scourge is shown to be a failing servant to Unicron who tortures and chews him out for bringing nothing but empty promises.
  • It's Personal: Killing Bumblebee makes things very personal with Prime.
  • Karmic Death: Optimus kills him by using the motors and lava of the tower he himself created to summon Unicron to weaken and injure him. Optimus then rips off Bumblebee's Autobot insignia as he kills him, the same thing Scourge himself loves to do.
  • The Juggernaut: Scourge was empowered by Unicron to be nearly unstoppable, and true enough he barely takes any damage most of the movie and it ultimately takes Prime heavily damaging him using the transwarp tower's machinery and lava to wear him down enough to kill him. Even then, he doesn't die until Prime tears his head off.
  • Large and in Charge: By far the largest and tallest out of all the Terrorcons and is the guy who commands them.
  • Last of His Kind: Unicron implies he's the sole survivor of his home planet after making a Deal with the Devil with the Planet Eater.
  • Lean and Mean: He's tall, lanky, and completely evil.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: While he's definitely bloodthirsty, Scourge seems to prefer the quick and easy way to get the job done, quickly killing Apelinq and Bumblebee and trying to do the same to Optimus Prime.
  • Offstage Villainy: Scourge's trophies include insignia from not just Maximals and Autobots, but Wreckers, Mercenaries, Decepticons, Predacons, and even other Terrorcons, among others; he's clearly done a lot more harm than he's seen doing in the film.
  • Off with His Head!: How Optimus ultimately kills him, after severing his arms.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: While Unicron eats planets because he's hungry, Scourge takes a twisted pleasure in enabling his dark master's feasts, bragging to Apelinq that the abundance of life on the Maximal's homeworld makes it "savory" for Unicron.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of the Terrorcons, and manhandles Optimus Prime in their first fight at New York.
  • Rasputinian Death: Scourge is shot and slashed multiple times, has his head ground in the gears of the transwarp tower he summoned, stabbed through the chest, is partially melted by molten lava, has both his arms sliced off, is stabbed through the head, and is finally decapitated, taking his spine along with his cranium. Worth noting is he's clearly still alive up until Prime rips his head off.
  • Red Right Hand: Left hand in this case, which stands out for being a four-pronged claw in comparison to his more traditionally dexterous right. It also doubles as a devastating energy canon that he frequently uses to execute downed opponents, as seen with Apelinq and Bumblebee.
  • Sadist: Scourge clearly enjoys inflicting pain and suffering in service to Unicron, even keeping morbid trophies from his victims and telling Optimus Prime that he enjoys seeing the look on their faces when they encounter "a higher power". He also enjoys the idea of Unicron destroying worlds, mocking his dark master's would-be victims about their impending doom.
  • Skull for a Head: Mirage kicks him in the face during the final battle, revealing that what was supposed to be his face plate was actually just a mask. As it turns out, the mask was hiding an absolutely ghoulish face that resembles a skull.
  • Smug Super: Thanks to working for Unicron, he's stronger than the average Cybertronian, even capable of fighting Optimus hand to hand, and he knows it.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Lockdown from Age of Extinction. While the two have their differences (one's a pragmatic loner with only a bunch of soldiers, while the other is a sadist with endless resources at his disposal), both are darkly-colored antagonists unconnected to the Autobot-Decepticon conflict, working for a higher power, able to match Optimus Prime in a fight, and collect trophies from their victims.
  • Undying Loyalty: Scourge’s loyalty to Unicron is so strong, that even when Optimus Prime shoved his face into a lava flow and it’s guaranteed he’s going to die, he resists him long enough to destroy the console to prevent Elena from averting Unicron’s arrival.
  • Viler New Villain: The Decepticons seemed to have at least some sense of camaraderie, vicious as they were. Scourge is a psychopath serving an evil god who relishes wiping out entire civilizations, hunting down the survivors and making them suffer before killing them.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Subtle, but after spending the entire film a smug Blood Knight, he's clearly become frustrated by the finale. He becomes visibly furious after Mirage knocks his mask off.

    Battletrap 

Battletrap

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/battletraprotb_conceptart.jpg
"Someone give me a real fight!"
Voiced by: David Sobolov

Enforcer and scout of the Terrorcons.


  • An Arm and a Leg: Optimus Prime slices through Battletrap’s left arm just before Optimus Primal tears it off, and Prime cuts off his left leg just before Primal bludgeons him to death.
  • Arm Cannon: Can form a gatling gun on his right arm.
  • Ax-Crazy: Is stated to be a bloodthirsty maniac who absolutely loves his job among the Terrorcons.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: He yells out for someone to give him a “real fight”. Cue Optimus Primal grabbing his mace and lampshading this trope as he and Optimus Prime kill Battletrap effortlessly.
  • Blood Knight: By far the biggest example out of the three, most notably challenging the heroes to give him a "real fight" during the final battle.
  • Bludgeoned to Death: He gets his head bashed in several times by Optimus Primal, who does this with Battletrap’s own mace.
  • The Brute: His role in the Terrorcons. He has some nasty tricks, but is primarily a physical fighter.
  • Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Fitting his role as the Terrorcon heavy hitter, his main weapon is a ball and chain mace that he can latch onto other objects for greater destructive force and his ranged weapon is a gatling gun mounted in his right arm.
  • Co-Dragons: With Nightbird for Scourge, as the trio's muscle.
  • Epic Flail: Wields a ball and chain mace as part of his arsenal. The mace is capable of latching onto objects that Battletrap can throw at enemies.
  • Gatling Good: Has a gatling gun as part of his arsenal.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: He is killed by Optimus Primal bashing his head in using Battletrap's own spiked mace.
  • Tempting Fate: Demands a real fight during the climactic battle. Cue Battletrap immediately getting ripped apart in a 2-on-1 Curbstomp Battle from both Optimuses.
  • Weaponized Car: His air intake doubles as a missile rack.

    Nightbird 

Nightbird

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightbird_render.jpg
"You again! You should have stayed dead!"

One of the Terrorcons' soldiers and their sole female member.


  • Adaptational Personality Change: G1!Nightbird was The Voiceless and acted pragmatically, getting things done quick - Rise of the Beasts Nightbird not only talks, but also enjoys toying with her opponents.
  • Adaptation Species Change: Man-made robot in G1, full-blown Cybertronian in Rise of the Beasts.
  • Adaptational Superpower Change: Contrary to the original, whose expertise lay in stealth and infiltration, this Nightbird is more the Token Flyer.
  • Animal Motifs: Birds obviously. She is the only flyer on her team and her mouthplate sort of resembles a beak. She also has some kibble near her legs that look a little like tail feathers. She even has two-toed feet like some species of bird.
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: A trained swordfighter, and most of her dialogue involves some kind of taunt or gloat at the expense of her opponents.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: She has a pair of retractable blades on her wrists, although she doesn't get to use them.
  • Blood Knight: Much like Scourge, she enjoys the thrill of fighting and is disappointed by the lack of resistance from the Autobots during their first encounter; she's subsequently thrilled by Airazor's arrival, voicing her desire for a real fight.
  • Co-Dragons: With Battletrap for Scourge, being their aerial fighter and reconnaissance.
  • Cool Car: Her altmode is a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 with a grey-faded brown two-tone paint scheme, pink custom wheels, a rear wing, and louvres.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Used as a Human Shield (or rather robot shield) by a free-falling Bumblebee, and then cut apart by her own bot mode kibble.
  • Dark Action Girl: She's the only female among the Terrorcons and is just as lethal as the rest of them.
  • Death from Above: Her primary tactic, using her Jet Pack to swoop in and take enemies by surprise.
  • Dual Wielding: Carries a pair of katanas that she uses to deadly effect in combat.
  • Jet Pack: Is the only Terrorcon capable of Flight thanks to having one, despite possessing no known aerial altmode.
  • Meaningful Name: To a further extent than her past versions, Nightbird lives up to her name in being the Token Flyer as well as her bird-like features.
  • Stock Ninja Weaponry: She wields a pair of katanas.
  • Token Flyer: The only Terrorcon to possess the ability of flight, albeit only in robot mode.

    Sweeps 

The Sweeps

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

Insectoid trackers under Scourge's direct command.


  • All There in the Manual: Never named directly in the movie, instead by their toys and merchandise.
  • Chameleon Camouflage: Their spindly bodies and dark, earthy colors make them adept at blending into cavern walls, and even fossil displays.
  • Equippable Ally: Appears to be capable of transforming into guns for their fellow Terrorcons to use.
  • Expy: Seemingly of Frenzy, even possessing a very similar design and manic, feral behavior.
  • Fragile Speedster: They're much smaller, faster, and more maneuverable than their Terrorcon masters, but they're fragile enough that they can be destroyed in battle with humans.
  • Horde of Alien Locusts: Evocative of one when they're deployed in force; the arrival of the planet-devouring Unicron is heralded by a swarm of insectoid monsters who overwhelm any defenders by sheer numbers.
  • Insectoid Aliens: They have six limbs and insect-like mouths, which makes them very creepy looking.
  • Running on All Fours: More like running on all sixes. The Freezers running on all their legs reflects them as animalistic and savage.
  • Theme Naming: The two Sweeps personally deployed by Scourge are named Freezer and Novakane, both things that create numbness through exposure.

The Brothers of Light and Chaos

    Unicron 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rotbcap_unicronringedplanet_7.jpg
"You fought bravely, but this world is already mine."
Voiced by: Colman Domingo
"Once I have the key, I alone shall reign Supreme!"
The ruthless and malevolent god of chaos who wishes to kill his twin brother, Primus and destroy everything that exists to obtain peace in his own way.
  • Adaptational Wimp: Slightly. Most versions of Unicron are a Perpetual-Motion Monster who eats planets simply because he finds the existence of the rest of the universe to be insulting. This Unicron actually needs to eat planets as fuel, with him wanting the Transwarp Key because he can't leave the Maximal home galaxy under his own power.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: At the last minute, he actually pleads with Optimus not to destroy the key, but there's nothing he can offer that Optimus wants.
  • Big Bad: He is the ultimate main antagonist of the film series as he seeks to destroy everything that exists to obtain "peace" in his own twisted way and to become the most omnipotent force in the Multiverse by using the energy from the ecosystems he's ingested throughout the millennia.
  • Bad Boss: He spared Scourge when he ate his world in exchange for Scourge serving him, but if he fails, Unicron is quite willing to torture or just kill him.
  • Deal with the Devil: Scourge made a devil's bargain with Unicron, allowing his own life to be spared while Unicron devoured his world in exchange for being his herald. It's even flat-out stated Unicron owns his soul. At the climax, Unicron offers Optimus Prime whatever he wants, so long as the Autobot leader doesn't destroy the Transwarp Key. Unfortunately for Unicron, the only thing he has that Prime wants is his life.
    Unicron: I can give you everything you want.
    Optimus Prime: Then die!
  • The Dreaded: All those who know of Unicron, even his own servants, are utterly terrified of him, and for good reason, given his terrifying power, monstrous size, and dietary habits. He's mentioned by Optimus Primal to be known by multiple civilizations to be a vile, wicked god.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is even deeper and more intimidating than that of Scourge, fitting for a planet-devouring mechanical god.
  • Genius Loci: He's a sentient, mobile planetoid. Part of his face, seen within the inside of the planet, is so big Scourge looks like an insect when compared to him.
  • God of Evil: Maximal legends speak of Unicron as a dark god.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: He's the Man Behind the Man to Scourge and the Terrorcons, but, being trapped in the Maximals' home galaxy, he can't take any direct action in the plot. Funnily enough, he's more of a direct threat to Scourge than he is to any of the heroes, as Unicron can telekinetically torture his servant should the Terrorcon disappoint him. The director has said that Unicron is intended as the overarching villain for the series going forward.
  • Horror Hunger: He eats planets because he's just that hungry. Of course, this does not make him sympathetic in any way given that Unicron's still an evil bastard who relishes in destruction.
  • Mechanical Abomination: Unicron is a dark, vile god of a Transformer, requiring entire worlds to satiate his hunger and capable of imbuing his minions with power beyond what is normal for their kind and of torturing Scourge from another galaxy.
  • No Mere Windmill: Optimus Primal didn't believe Unicron existed until he showed up to eat their planet.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: While he eats planets for nourishment, Unicron is far from concerned about the inhabitants, having no qualms about exterminating billions of lives to feed himself.
  • Physical God: He's a physical, tangible being but so large in power and scale that he's considered a dark god in Transformer legends.
  • Planet Eater: Unlike most versions of Unicron, who eat planets because he's just that much of a petty jerk, this Unicron does it because he is relentlessly hungry.
  • Satanic Archetype: Unicron is a God of Evil, served by the demonic Terrorcons, and with whom Scourge made a devil's bargain for service in exchange for survival, with said bargain giving Unicron ownership over Scourge's very soul.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Dialogue suggests he is trapped in the galaxy the Maximals had settled, for whatever reason. He wants the transwarp key so he can find new planets to eat.
  • The Stoic: Unicron's voice never rises above a tone of detachment, whether he's torturing Scourge or begging for his freedom.
  • Super-Empowering: Unicron can grant his followers dark energy that makes them far stronger and more powerful than normal. Being it's Unicron, this comes with a great cost.
  • The Unfought: The heroes never directly do battle with Unicron, and he's left unharmed, albeit still trapped, at the end of Rise of the Beasts.
  • You Have Failed Me: When he realises Scourge has only found half of the Transwarp Key, he punishes his herald by psychically twisting his body.

Humans

The people of Earth, unaffiliated with the Cybertronians until Bumblebee arrives in 1987, looking for refuge.

    In General 
  • Explosive Breeder: Have better numbers and so bigger militaries in comparison to the Cybertronians. Dropkick worries how many of them there are, telling Shatter "They're multiplying! Please let me kill them!"
  • Humans Are Flawed: As Charlie sums up, some people can be horrible to anyone who's different, and they can make terrible decisions. Sector 7 seem to have the right intentions of protecting the Earth, but they'll work with clearly evil aliens to take out a perceived mutual threat, while planning to betray the former all the while once it's convenient. Even civilians are shown to often be apathetic to one-another, even ones they love, if not outright cruel for the sake of it. However, as Charlie proves, humans aren't all bad, and as Burns proves, humans can learn to change.
  • Humans Are Insects: How the Decepticons, particularly Dropkick, see them when they meet them. To be fair, Cybertronians are a highly intelligent and physically stronger race whose lifespans greatly outnumber that of the humans. To them, humans are kinda insects in comparison.
  • Mythology Gag: Due to initially being a prequel, Sector 7 become a nod to prior canon now that the movie is a separate continuity. They even share the same base. However, instead of being the secret agency that knew about alien robots this whole time, they're just the agency that makes first contact. Otherwise, they seem to just be a Special Forces division who's agents dress in military fatigues instead of being The Men in Black.

Watson family

    Charlie 

Charlie Watson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/charliewatson.png
"You sound like a little Bumblebee."

Played by: Hailee Steinfeld

The main human lead, Charlie Watson is an ordinary, though withdrawn, 18-year-old girl from Brighton Falls, CA, who after fixing up a run-down Volkswagen Beetle, discovers the car is actually an amnesic alien robot. Immediately she bonds with the scared Autobot, gifting him the name Bumblebee, and together they help one-another heal from their respective traumas. Charlie has recently lost her father, and with her mother having already moved on she feels alone in her grief until Bumblebee arrives, problems accentuated by her difficulty in finishing the corvette her father was restoring, her money troubles thanks to a low-paying dead-end job, and the antagonism she receives from local bullies.


  • Action Girl: Is only 18 years old, but is more than willing to help Bumblebee against the Decepticons. She even plays a pivotal part in the final battle by ripping out the Energon cell that Shatter was using to call for reinforcements. Though, her skills seem to be primarily in a supporting role as unlike prior human companions, she never fights a Decepticon head-on and is pretty easily subdued by human combatants. However, she also shows no fear when facing the Decepticons on to protect Bee, so even if she's not a fighter, she's definitely got the bravery of one.
  • AM/FM Characterization: She's introduced with "Bigmouth Strikes Again" playing and is repeatedly shown to be big into The Smiths, listens to Bon Jovi's "Runaways" while driving after work, and her posters, t-shirts, and comments indicate she's also a fan of The Pretenders, Stevie Nicks, and Motörhead. Pretty quickly establishes that she's an outsider among her peers, is a bit on the angsty side, and in general, is really into music. She pretty much gives Bumblebee his love of earth music.
  • Birds of a Feather: Though Opposites Attract is very much in play, Charlie and Memo are both geeks who work in Burger Fool jobs at the local boardwalk amusement park. Though their actual interests are very different (Charlie's into rock, punk, and cars, while Memo's into superheroes, comic books, and sci-fi movies), one look at their bedrooms show that they both decorate the walls with posters and have shelves littered with figurines. They both go around their respective fandoms in pretty much the same way.
  • Butt-Monkey: Charlie is the textbook definition of unlucky. Even besides the stuff that happened before the film, during it she gets tossed around during the robot fights, nearly blown up and shot several times, tased when she tries to help Bee, and otherwise suffers a lot of punishment. Outside of the action she's not safer, since she also often ends up getting embarrassed by Bumblebee's antics, and there's some light humour at her extent. The deleted scenes on the home release show that initially she was going to be an even bigger case, as there would be far more humiliations (her friends alienating her and Bumblebee breaking down in the middle of the road just as Tina drives by), and she would have suffered some Amusing Injuries and as a result.
  • Calling Parents by Their Name: She does this with Ron, as a means of reminding him that she doesn't see him as her father. As time goes on it becomes less disrespectful as she warms up to him.
  • Calling the Old Woman Out: After her mom continues to reprimand her for continuing to be "mopey" over her father's death, Charlie snaps and calls her out for the sheer insensitivity, saying that just because Sally moved on from his death doesn't mean she has.
    Sally: I have had it! Your attitude! You're always sulking around. You brought home that piece of crap without even asking me! Everyone in this family is trying to be happy, and all you want to do is make things harder!
    Charlie: You know, Mom, just because you've moved on and you're happy with your new life doesn't mean I have! You found a replacement for my dad and I haven't, okay, and I never will! So I'm sorry if that makes things harder, but in ten months from now, you won't even have to deal with me!
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: She greatly contrasts Sam Witwicky, whom she's something of a replacement for. Unlike Sam, she's a girl for starters, and has more focus on layering her character; she's more than just an Action Survivor, able to use her mechanic skills to be something of The Medic for Bumblebee and dismantling the Decepticon's beacon, whereas Sam's main role was his family legacy meant he was the target of Decepticons. She ultimately just stumbles upon the Autobots instead of being sought out by them like Sam, and whereas Sam was immediately terrified of the Transformers and took some time to get used to them (and was easily exasperated by the way they impacted his life), Charlie almost immediately approaches Bumblebee with awe and concern, and never shows fear towards Shatter and Dropkick, even being willing to stand in the way of them and Bumblebee. Ultimately, Sam treated Bumblebee more like a pet dog, while Charlie treats him more like a sibling.
  • Cool Big Sis:
    • She acts like this to Bumblebee throughout the film; he's got a child-like mental state thanks to his amnesia, so the late-teens Charlie seems older by comparison during their early interactions. She dotes on him very much like a big sister would, cheering him on when he's doing something, teaching him pranks or things to do, and in general guiding him through life on earth.
    • She's also this to her actual little brother Otis... to some extent. He's an Annoying Younger Sibling and the two argue a lot, but despite her protests she does take him to karate practice, and is able to recruit him into helping Bee by convincing him its a top secret mission and going along with his Small Name, Big Ego rambling. When she's in a good mood, she even makes him breakfast.
  • Daddy's Girl: She and her father were very close. Conversely, it seems from her interactions with her mother and the way her mother reacts to her that the two weren't so close, even when her dad was alive. His death (and her mother's subsequent remarriage, which is implied to have happened somewhat quickly) seems to have strained that relationship even further by the time of the movie.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She is a teenage girl in the 80s. Half her interactions with her family is Snark-to-Snark Combat (save for Ron, who seems to be too nice to be sarcastic back to her).
  • Deuteragonist: Behind Bumblebee, she's the lead character; the film starts with his journey to Earth and follows his recovery from his injuries and eventually finding out who he is, but Charlie is given equal focus as she discovers Bee and helps him recover, while also going through her own arc on coming to terms with her father's death and finding herself again. In the climax, they're both equally important in stopping the Decepticons, as Bumblebee fights them head on while Charlie disables their beacon.
  • The Dog Bites Back: She gets her payback to Tina with the help of Bumblebee, who smashes her car flat for her bullying.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The end credits theme, "Back to Life", is sung by her.
  • Emo Teen: Gives off this vibe and is thought of this way in-universe — sullen, grouchy, seems to have an affinity for alternative rock music and punk-inspired fashion. But she's actually not nearly as much of this as she comes off — she's just had a rough last year or two. She's also aware this is how she comes off, and actually hates it, but is too depressed to really change.
  • Expy:
    • Like Sam, she's one to Spike Witwicky from the G1 cartoon, albeit gender-flipped. More-so than Sam, as Charlie was a gifted mechanic, skills she learnt from her father, much like how Spike learnt from his.
    • To a certain extent, she's basically Syd Forrester with traits inspired by Sam Collins, both from Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad.
  • Extreme Doormat: Around Tina. While Charlie will snark back at anyone else who treats her like crap, Tina causes Charlie to become timid enough to just sit there and take it, giving the viewer the impression that Tina has been tormenting Charlie long enough that she's lost the will to stand up for herself (which is Truth in Television for those who've been picked on like that). Noticeably, when Tina stops her when she's about to leave in Bumblebee and tells her to wind the window down so she can hear her, Charlie actually complies, winding the window down so that Tina can insult her, when she could have just driven off. She doesn't even want to get payback when Memo suggests it, as she'd rather just get away and cry to herself, until he and Bumblebee encourage her to go along with getting her back.
  • Fangirl: Is a big fan of rock music, especially bands like The Smiths. She's pretty much never seen without a shirt baring a band's name on it, and its through her that Bumblebee gets his love of human music. She's also a big car fan, and has a lot of model cars decorating her room, particularly corvettes.
  • Genki Girl: Downplayed as she starts the film still reeling from her father's death, which has left her seriously depressed. However once Bumblebee comes into her life, she quickly develops back into one, and is regularly beaming with positive energy any time she's about to go hang out with him.
  • Gentle Giant: Not to the degree of Bumblebee, but she's a Huge Schoolgirl who towers over most of her peers and her own mother. Nevertheless, she is a genuine sweetheart.
  • Goofy Print Underwear: She wears boxer shorts, which usually have some kind of striped or colored pattern, and because she wears short-shorts the legs of the boxers peek out under. One pair she's seen sleeping in are even goofier than the rest, since they're patterned with Tigers and Chinese letter prints.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Not that Charlie is really that tiny (Hailee Steinfeld is 5'8), but Bumblebee is about 12 feet tall.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: As stated above, Charlie is quite tall for a teenage girl, being 5'8. She even towers over her mother by 8 inches.
  • The Lad-ette: Minus the more 'adult' aspects of this trope. Charlie collects model cars and is big into car repair, and dresses in a very tomboyish manner; jeans, band-shirts, boxer shorts.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Of the 'same outfit scheme' variety. For most of the movie, she wears a band shirt with no sleeves, denim cut-offs, and some patterned boxer shorts underneath, and boots, with only some variant (such as wearing denim overalls, which still have the legs cut short, or pairing the band shirt with an open overshirt). She has an alternate look of wearing a band shirt, slim-fit ripped jeans, and sneakers, which she also sports a few times as well. Generally, anything she wears follows that aesthetic.
  • Made of Iron: She really gets put through the wringer in the movie, being flung around by explosions several times, but manages to make it through no worse for wear, save for some nasty bruises and cuts on her face. Even Memo ends up with his arm in a sling by the end.
    • A stray missile hits her while inside a garbage can. She simply shrugs it off and gets back up.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Definitely the case with Memo and Charlie. Charlie's a Wrench Wench tomboy who wears boys clothes and is heavily into masculine tastes. By contrast, Memo is Memo.
  • The Medic: Of robots, apparently. Her skills as a Wrench Wench actually make her quite useful as a medic of sorts for Bumblebee; she helps him fix some internal damaged components, provides him with a replacement radio, and later manages to resuscitate him when he's nearly killed.
  • Nice Girl: Despite her affinity for punk attire, she really is a sweetheart.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When she tries to start Bumblebee she accidentally sets off the signal that attracts Shatter and Dropkick.
  • Oblivious to Love: Memo is really hung up on her, but she literally doesn't know his name at the start of the movie. She realizes quickly though that he's attracted to her when they become friends, but she's not quite ready for anything.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Charlie, as a firm tomboy, is almost always called this rather than her full name Charlene.
  • Opposites Attract: Besides both being unpopular and nice, Charlie and Memo have seemingly little in common. They're a Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy duo with very different fashion tastes, and while Charlie is a Genki Girl underneath her introverted exterior, Memo is a nerd who puts on a confident shield to hide his nervous social awkwardness. Charlie also handles being bullied by shutting up and taking it, then crying to herself, while Memo stands up for himself/others and responds with revenge pranks. Despite the differences Memo is infatuated with Charlie from the beginning, while Charlie, upon meeting him, quickly demonstrates the attraction is mutual (though slower moving on her side).
  • The Pig-Pen: The opening shows her not changing outside of the clothing she wore the previous day and not showering, as shown when she sniffs herself for odors but simply shrugs it off. This is justified due to her depression after losing her father. She properly cleans herself up after meeting Bumblebee, though.
  • Protectorate: She's this to Bumblebee. Though she's never a Damsel in Distress in need of rescuing, Bumblebee is prone to putting her safety before his own, as well as taking revenge on those who harm her. By contrast, Bee himself is this for Charlie, albeit she doesn't have his combat prowess to protect him; as soon as they bond, her main goal in life is to keep him safe from being found because she's scared he'll be experimented on (given what nearly happens, a justified fear), and the only time she came close to standing up for herself towards Tina, is after Tina mocks Bumblebee.
  • The Quincy Punk: Downplayed and somewhat deconstructed. Charlie is an 1980s punk (fan of The Smiths, wears band-tees and ripped jeans regularly, head-bangs to her music in the morning), but she's clearly a Nice Girl who's just a bit of a dorky introvert. However, her punk leanings lead her stand out among her peers, with her own mother outright accusing her "sulking" of ruining everyone's happiness, and she's a target for bullying around town as a result. It's not outright stated, but it's inferred that the negative stereotypes of punks makes Charlie a social outcast.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Charlie is on both the receiving and giving end of one with her mother after Bumblebee accidentally trashes the house. Her mother tears into her for spending all her time locked away in the garage and her bad attitude always bring everyone else down. Charlie immediately fires back at her that what her mother calls being "mopey" is actually grieving for her dead father, who she has not moved on from as quickly as her mother and cannot simply pretend like everything is okay. Charlie storms out of the house telling her mother that if she has a problem with her attitude, she can deal with it because in 10 months they won't need to see each other anymore.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: To emphasize her tomboyish nature, all her t-shirts either have short sleeves or the sleeves have been cut off. She does often wear overshirts with in-tact sleeves though.
  • Ship Tease: With Memo. Though he's explicitly got a crush on her, Charlie does show attraction to him; she flirts with him when showing off Bee's reflexes and is seen Eatingthe Eye Candy when she gets him to take his shirt off. However, Charlie likes to take things slow so she's reluctant to move past a kiss on the cheek, at least for now.
  • Short Tank: A tomboy through-and-through, and even wears the typical short-shorts and tank tops (though she doesn't bare her midsection much). Her personality follows the no-nonsense sarcasm required.
  • Spanner in the Works: Stops Shatter's message to the other Decepticons, thwarting her plan.
  • Successful Sibling Syndrome: Downplayed as Otis isn't really all that successful (in fact, Charlie's diving trophies should make her the successful one), but some of his antagonism with Charlie seems to stem from the fact that by comparison, Sally treats Otis very much like the successful one. We see in deleted scenes that at least socially, this is somewhat the case as Charlie was part of the unpopular crowd (who actually ditch her for being too uncool for them) while Otis has a large circle of friends.
  • Tank-Top Tomboy: As said, she doesn't like to wear sleeves, befitting a girl who seems to have very boyish interests.
  • The Tease: When her and Memo go on a 'date', taking Bumblebee for a ride, she seems eager to impress him and is clearly flirting with him, leading her to get him to take his shirt off for her. She takes romance slow though, so by the end she's not even ready to hold hands yet, but she does make it clear she's interested.
  • Tomboyish Name: Charlie is a firm tomboy, always calling herself this (a predominantly male name) and only being called her full name Charlene a couple times.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Many of them; the garage is essentially her shrine to her father. She is seen early in the movie getting rid of diving trophies because she associates them with her relationship with her dad. She keeps all of his old vinyls as well as videotapes — including one her father took of the last swim meet he attended before his sudden death. Bumblebee popping the tape in at a moment Charlie wasn't expecting to see it triggers an emotional breakdown. The car they were working on counts as this, too. She finally fixes it at the end. Word of God also confirms that a lot of the men's clothes Charlie wears, like her flannel shirts and mechanic clothes, were his former clothes.
  • Troubled, but Cute: Charlie didn't handle the death of her father very well, to the point of throwing out her diving trophies because he was there to encourage her. It doesn't help that her mother got over it much more quickly and doesn't sympathize with her, while she has relatively less attachment to her brother and stepfather. Bumblebee helps bring her out of it over time.
  • The Unfavorite: Seems to be the case, due to Otis and Sally being quite close while Charlie is still grieving, and so she feels left out of the family. In general, Sally seems to give Otis nothing but support and praise, but with Charlie she treats her with a lot of criticism and disagreement, something that has clearly had an affect on her.
  • When She Smiles: Due to how she's first introduced as a depressed, angsty teenager, who ended up getting a book on how to smile as a birthday present, Charlie's smiling when she first gets Bumblebee really does a lot to demonstrate how positive an influence he is on her. After that, she does smile a lot more, but mostly whenever she's around Bumblebee and Memo, or is about to go see the former.
  • Wrench Wench: She's trying to build her own car, and when Bumblebee shows up, she helps fix him up as best as she can and installs the radio that he eventually uses to speak.

    Sally 

Sally Watson

Played by: Pamela Adlon

Charlie's mother, who is trying to do good for her family after her husband died. Remarried to Ron.


  • Deadpan Snarker: Though she's well-meaning, she's got a very snarky response to her daughter expecting breakfast to be made for her and seems to be where Charlie gets her sarcasm from.
  • Hypocrite: She chastises Charlie for having Bumblebee, yet she takes the car herself without informing Charlie.
  • Innocently Insensitive: She seems pretty oblivious about how terrible a bike helmet decorated with flowers would be as a birthday present for her car-obsessed, tomboy daughter. Also she's just in general seemingly oblivious about the fact Charlie clearly isn't grieving well and doesn't appear to have been there for her through it.
  • Parental Neglect: She's not a terrible mother, but she's really not taken into account how her daughter is clearly not moving on from her father's death and is very insensitive about it.
  • Parents as People: She butts heads with Charlie because they're at different levels of grief for her husband/Charlie's father, with Sally being at peace and having found love in Ron, while Charlie is still reeling from it. However, despite her troubled relationship with her, she clearly loves Charlie.
  • Sickeningly Sweethearts: With her new husband, Ron. They can't keep their hands off of one-another when alone and are almost always together.

    Otis 

Otis Watson

Played by: Jason Drucker

Charlie's younger brother, obsessed with karate.


  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Definitely the case. Charlie's door literally has a crude sign made banning him from entering. He's also pretty quick to try and rat her out when he sees she's sneaking away.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Spends the majority of the movie insulting and being terrible to Charlie, but when it comes down to it he willingly helps cover for her and feels guilty when he fails to do so.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He delights in tormenting Charlie, but when she needs help, he does actually come through for her. Or he tries to, anyway.
  • Sibling Team: Otis pitches this towards the end, wanting to 'take point' on the rescue of Bumblebee. Charlie, wisely, instead gives him the task of distracting their mom and stepdad, which is enough to stroke Otis' ego.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: While Charlie is rather introverted, Otis is loud and boisterous. Charlie's a Nice Girl, while Otis is a little Jerkass (albeit with some heart). She's got low confidence in her abilities, believing she can't finish the car without her father's help, while Otis has delusions of being a great and highly skilled martial artist. Charlie actually is a talented swimmer with several trophies, while Otis is merely a yellow belt in karate. In a deleted scene we also see he's got a large friend circle and seems to be popular in his class, while Charlie is a friendless loser among her peers.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: He's 12, but he's convinced he can kill someone with his bare hands, because he takes Karate lessons. He's not even very high ranked, going by the colour of his belt, making his confidence even more hard to believe. Played for Laughs, though.

    Ron 

Ron

Played by: Stephen Schneider

Charlie's step-father, who married Sally after Charlie's father died.


  • Badass Driver: Played for Laughs, but he's pretty impressive in a car chase, having learnt from Miami Vice.
  • Bumbling Dad: Ron tries. He gets terrible gifts for birthdays (got Charlie a book on how to merely smile for her birthday), is not employed, never says the right thing, and has clearly no idea what he's doing at being a dad, but he tries.
  • Former Teen Rebel: Also Played for Laughs. When Charlie is in trouble for 'stealing government property' (Bumblebee), Ron sympathizes because, when going through puberty, he also stole some things. Agent Burns knows all about it.
  • Good Stepmother: Or father, either way. Charlie is apprehensive, but he clearly loves his stepchildren and is apparently close with Otis. He's a bit of a tool, but he's well-meaning and by the end of it Charlie's came around to him.
  • Innocently Insensitive: His biggest flaw. In general he seems to treat Charlie like his own kid, and one much younger than she is (at one point, seems to think she's still going through puberty), despite the fact she's 18 and resents the fact he's trying to replace her father. Also, for her birthday he got her a book called 'Smile for a Change' because he thought she would feel better if she smiled more, oblivious to how insulting the present is and how irrelevant that advice is for someone in her state.
  • Nice Guy: Never has a negative word for anyone and seems to always be smiling.
  • Opposites Attract: To some extent; while Sally is a Deadpan Snarker who's quick to scold Charlie, Ron is a Nice Guy who never says anything (intentionally) cold. He's a happy-go-lucky optimist and a bit of an idiot while Sally is much smarter but also considerably more prone to anger. She's also a hard working single mother while he's an unemployed manchild.
  • Parents as People: He's good guy who wants to help his family be happy which sadly backfires with Charlie. He does manage to eventually her acceptence.
  • Parental Substitute: He's trying to be this, though only Otis seems to take to it. Charlie does eventually warm up to him when he saves her and Bee from Burns during a car chase.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Charlie accuses Ron of being this for Sally, a replacement for her late husband. As we don't know how long its been since his death, and subsequently how long after it was before she got together with Ron, we don't know how accurate this accusation might be.
  • Skewed Priorities: He's shown to be relieved when a tape machine is still working after Bumblebee trashed the house. Enough that he seemingly forgets that the house is still otherwise trashed.

Brighton Falls Residents

    Memo 

Guillermo "Memo" Gutierrez

Played by: Jorge Lendeborg, Jr.

A nerdy churro vendor who has a crush on his next-door employee Charlie.


  • Burger Fool: Just like Charlie, but with churros instead of corn dogs. Unlike her, he at least seems to like his job well enough, or at least is far more upbeat at it. Even so, handling churros isn't as laborious as squeezing lemons or constructing corn dogs and unlike Charlie, Memo does not have to walk over and deliver food on trays to customers.
  • Butt-Monkey: Some early humour is derived from his awkward attempts to ask Charlie out and failing to get her attention, and despite not being involved in the action half as much as Charlie, he manages to get far worse injuries. Downplayed though as he's not actually treated any worse than Charlie herself, and the most humiliating moments for him were reserved for Deleted Scenes.
  • Camp Straight: Memo is definitely into girls (see his crush on Charlie that defines his role in the film, and the poster in his room of a bikini model), however his fashion sense is pretty camp. Fortunately this is the 80s, where men wearing flamboyant clothing was kind of accepted, especially near San Francisco.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Alongside movie posters, he has pin-up posters of bikini clad women in his bedroom during the brief scene we see. That doesn't change the fact he's nothing but a gentleman to Charlie and though infatuated, is very mindful of how he makes his move.
  • Comic Relief: He lives to put a smile on faces, particularly Charlie's. Most of his scenes are him being goofy and awkward, trying to make a joke, being a joke, or otherwise lightening the scene.
  • Endearingly Dorky: His goofy hair and awkward mannerisms combined with his general earnestness really gives this vibe, and it seems to be something Charlie likes about him.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Played for Laughs. He tries to do one to hold off Sector 7, something that Charlie is impressed with enough to give him an affectionate kiss on the cheek, but when they arrive, Sector 7 just drive past him and don't pay him any mind. When he finally catches up to the action, the world's already been saved.
    • Slightly more serious was the scene beforehand, where Burns and S-7 soldiers are about to blow up the door to get inside. Charlie's focused on getting Bumblebee to his feet and so doesn't have time to move out of the way, so Memo shields her from the blast. He gets his arm pretty banged up as a result and its likely why he chose to stay behind in the first place.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Charlie's reluctant to start a relationship with him, but he's not upset by this, instead respecting her boundaries and settling on being friends. It helps that she's not not-attracted to him, but is just not ready for a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, and is willing to explore that in time.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Definitely the case with him and Charlie. He's a pretty feminine young man who wears nice clothes and cares about his appearance, while Charlie is Charlie.
  • Nice Guy: He's completely harmless and ultimately just seems to want to make Charlie happy. It helps mitigate how his stumbling upon Bumblebee amounted to him walking into her private space without invitation (while still a stranger, no less), since he clearly only had innocent intentions.
  • Non-Action Guy: He's not a fighter. At all. He's pretty easily restrained by Sector 7 (when they're not just straight-up ignoring him), and his main contribution is providing emotional support.
  • No Social Skills: He tries asking Charlie out three times, each time in progressively worse moments. At first when she's busy at work (indirectly leading to her being distracted and humiliating herself), later when she's frantically looking for the missing Bumblebee, then eventually entering her garage without warning and seeing Bumblebee.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Memo's pretty effeminate. He has a lot of hair products, he wears light colours and short-shorts, is quite squeamish and seems perfectly comfortable wearing Charlie's sweatshirt after she loses his own. Almost crosses into Camp Straight territory.
  • Satellite Love Interest: He's not really got much of an arc to him outside of his crush on Charlie. Ultimately he just seems to be there to dissuade the film being seen as a romantic story between Charlie and Bumblebee.
  • Ship Tease: With Charlie. A lot. And it gets lampshaded too.
  • Shirtless Scene: Loses his shirt when Charlie uses it as a blindfold.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: When the action begins to seriously unfold, Memo opts to stay behind and hold off Sector 7. It doesn't work. However, it does keep him busy while Charlie and Bumblebee deal with the serious task of stopping Shatter and Dropkick.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Basically gets caught up in the whole plot because of his attempt to ask Charlie out on a date. Note that he's apparently new in town and has never formally introduced himself to her before.

    Tina 

Tina Lark

Played by: Gracie Dzienny

Tripp's girlfriend, and queen bee of the local scene. She takes joy in bullying Charlie.


  • Alpha Bitch: Her main point of characterisation. Her and her Girl Posse only appear to make life hell for Charlie.
  • AM/FM Characterization: The cliffside party (which Deleted Scenes confirms is her party) is shown playing "It Takes Two" when Charlie and Memo arrive, showing that in-contrast to Charlie's punk/rock tastes, Tina is more into hip-hop and mainstream pop. Helps further demonstrate how she is so opposite to Charlie, and that Tina fits in better with her peers and what's deemed 'popular' among them.
  • Asshole Victim: Charlie and Memo only intend to give her house some TPing and egg her car, but Bumblebee completely destroys the car instead. Given that she's only seen bullying Charlie (and given Charlie's reaction, has been doing it for some time now) as well as stooping so low as to insult her for her father being dead, she more than has it coming.
  • Break the Haughty: She cries like a baby after seeing her car obliterated.
  • The Bully: She takes delight in making fun of Charlie any chance she gets, and given Charlie's timid reaction to her, has been doing it for a long time. Making this worse, Tripp's comment about his younger sister being on the dive team with Charlie implies Tina might actually be an older student, making the bullying come off as far worse.
  • Demoted to Extra: She has a rather minor role in the movie since a lot of her scenes were cut, all of which involved her hurting Charlie some more. Though that said she was never meant to play a big role in the movie.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: When Tripp takes his shirt off, she has the widest cat-like grin on her face as she looks him up and down, and is seen later keeping his shirt away from him so he needs to keep it off.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Though she's got nothing on Shatter, Tina's brief interactions with Charlie drip with this. During the cliff-diving scene, she stops her from leaving to ask what happened, barely pretending to be concerned for her, and calls her 'Sweetie' with fake affection, but it's clear she's just trying to get a rise out of her.
  • Fat and Skinny: She has a chubby Asian female friend who joins her in bullying Charlie.
  • For the Evulz: She really has no reason to harass Charlie other than for cruelty’s sake.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: When Tripp approaches Charlie to encourage her to dive off the cliff with him, and tries to help her earn her classmates' approval, Tina is noticeably glaring at her constantly during the scene. When Charlie backs down, Tina takes even greater joy twisting the knife further. Earlier she seems to notice that Charlie staring longingly at Tripp and Tina's car, and has the brightest smirk on her face knowing she has what Charlie wants.
  • Hate Sink: There's no doubt what the Intended Audience Reaction was for Tina. In a movie with two of the most sadistic Decepticons ever seen, she is somehow even easier to hate than those two combined.
  • I Want My Mommy!: Cries for her mom after she sees what Bumblebee did to her car.
  • Jerkass: She's cruel to Charlie and seems to enjoy making her miserable.
  • Kick the Dog: Tina cruelly mocks Charlie's dead father to her face simply to get a rise out of her. She totally deserved to have her car smashed by Bumblebee.
  • Lack of Empathy: She's not only totally uncaring towards Charlie's grief, but she has the nerve to mock her for it. As stated, this later bites her in the ass.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: After she insults Bumblebee while he's in his vehicle mode, her car gets destroyed by Bumblebee.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed as she's never focused on, but she dresses the way one would expect the lead girl in Michael Bay's past Transformers movies.
  • Rich Bitch: She lives in an abnormally large mansion and has her own car, including a vanity plate, which Charlie clearly envies. There's no doubt that Tina appears pretty spoiled.
  • Sadist: She clearly takes such cruel pleasure in torturing Charlie.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Tina only appears twice in Bumblebee, however her bullying of Charlie leads to Bumblebee destroying her car and subsequently getting into a car chase. This leads to Charlie leaving Bumblebee alone while she goes to work to avoid him being spotted by police, which leads to him wrecking Charlie's house and unintentionally causing an Energon surge that attracts Shatter, Dropkick, and Sector 7. Essentially, she triggers the second half of the film's events by just being mean to Charlie. Also, despite her small screen time, she evidently demonstrated a lot of tropes, considering her entry is bigger than most of the other human characters from the film, sans Charlie herself.
  • Speak Ill of the Dead: She does this to Charlie's father in her Kick the Dog moment.
    Tina: This car is an embarrassment. You should have your dad get you a better one.
  • Smug Snake: Is very condescending towards others, especially Charlie. She also has the biggest grin on her face when she sees Charlie looking at her boyfriend or her car, knowing that Charlie is jealous, or any time Charlie is embarrassed and humiliated, taking absolute delight in this each time.
  • Stealth Insult: During the cliff-diving scene, she approaches Charlie just to make condescending remarks barely disguised as concern, crossing into Faux Affably Evil territory. While she has her, she then insults Bumblebee, but then playfully suggests she should get a new one, or rather, she should get her dad to buy her a new one, knowing that Charlie's father is dead. It actually breaks Charlie a little as she's barely holding back tears after while Tina smugly walks off laughing.
  • The Vamp: Of the more high school Alpha Bitch type, she's very attractive and knows it, and seems to use it to reinforce her place as the 'dominant' woman; she dates the Big Man on Campus, throws herself at him any chance she gets, and constantly gives sideglances to the less popular Charlie.
  • Vanity License Plate: Her car's says "U WISH". Tina uses it to hurt Charlie and possibly other unseen girls that she may be bullying.
  • What Does He See in Her?: Tripp and Tina are completely at odds personality wise. While he's a Nice Guy, she's The Bully, and while he seems to like Charlie well-enough, Tina bullies the girl. According to Tripp's actor, this would have ultimately lead to them breaking up, but the plot point was cut.

    Tripp 

Tripp Summers

Played by: Ricardo Hoyos

Tina's boyfriend, and Charlie's crush.


  • Big Man on Campus: Everyone seems impressed with him. When Charlie recognizes him at a party, Memo seems impressed at the implication Charlie knows the guy because of how popular he is.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Takes his shirt off any time he's on-screen.
  • Nice Guy: In a contrast to his girlfriend; though he's not interested in Charlie, doesn't treat her like shit, either. In fact when he recognizes her at a party, he tries to encourage her into doing something he knows she's good at because it'll make her look cool in front of others.
  • Out of Focus: He's Charlie's crush, but the actual storyline there was largely cut from the movie. According to Hoyos, Tripp had an arc of his own realising Tina and her friends were terrible people and opting to cut ties with them. As a result, its mostly just background set dressing that he's the boy she kinda likes but ultimately nothing comes from.

    Hank 

Hank

Played by: Len Cariou

Charlie's uncle, who owns a scrap shop.


  • Benevolent Boss: Downplayed, but he seems to get along great with the one mechanic who works for him.
  • Cool Uncle: He's Charlie's uncle, and though the two engage in Snark-to-Snark Combat and he's a bit of a grump, he gives her massive discounts despite his statement that he could get twice the cash for only some of what she buys, and gives her a car from his lot for free once she starts it.
  • Grumpy Old Man: He's pretty short with people and seems to think that they're all about to die in the Cold War. He's also easily annoyed, especially because a local radio tower is interfering with his TV signal.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's only in two scenes within the first twenty minutes, but he's the one who's scrapyard Bumblebee's inert form had been taken to, and as such its his link to Charlie that leads her to finding him. Bumblebee would have remained inert and been unable to draw the Cybertronians to Earth, if not for his business.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: He's probably the person Charlie has the most positive relationship with within her family, despite the fact they trade snark and jibe one-another. Though he acts like she's an annoying kid, he's clearly very prideful of her abilities, to the point he initially rejects her deal for the Beetle because he knows she can get it started, despite its condition.

    Brenda and Liz 

Brenda and Liz

Played by: Abby Quinn and Rachel Crow

Charlie's former friends. Their subplot was cut from the movie, but they appear in deleted scenes on the home release.


  • Burger Fool: Seemingly how they became friends with Charlie, they all worked at Hot Dog on a Stick together.
  • No Sympathy: They acknowledge Charlie has a pretty good reason for becoming depressed, but they don't care. They find her angst annoying and cut ties with her.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: After ditching Charlie, they buy their way into the popular crowd by giving them free food. When they see Charlie at a party, they delude themselves into thinking that not only are they cool now, but they always were and Charlie was the one dragging them down. This illusion is shattered when they're accosted as the 'Wiener Girls' at the party.
  • Those Two Guys: Spend both their (cut) scenes together and conversing.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Both functioned as the Girly Girl to Charlie's tomboy. Its somewhat deconstructed as the differing styles cause them to decide Charlie isn't a match for them anymore, so they ditch her.
  • We Used to Be Friends: They were Charlie's friends in school, but after her dad died they found her change in music taste, dress sense, and disposition to be 'no longer a match' and cut off ties with her. They did this the day before her birthday, after Charlie had made it clear that, despite her claims, it was something she was excited about.

Sector 7

    Agent Burns 

Agent Jack Burns

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cenas70.png
"With all due respect, have you lost your damn mind!?"

Played by: John Cena

A high-ranked agent of Sector Seven, Jack Burns discovered the Autobots and Decepticons when Bumblebee crash-lands into his unit and is subsequently followed and attacked by the Decepticon Blitzwing. Blitzwing's attack left most of his unit killed, and as a result, Burns becomes determined to protect the earth from these alien robot threats.


  • Anti-Villain: He's a grim soldier determined to hunt down and tear apart Cybertronians, but only because his only experience has involved one (accidentally) landing on his squad, another bombing them and leaving him a grisly facial scar, and the only two he speaks to are called Decepticons.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: He doesn't trust any Cybertronians, seeing them as nothing but machines, but he chooses to let Bumblebee go and give him the respect he deserves after Bee saves his life.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: He claims they 'know' about Ron's shoplifting past. It's not delved on how. Played for Laughs, though.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He's not just a tough guy, but a loud tough guy. One who is clearly in his element blowing things up and yelling.
  • Deadpan Snarker: When he's not being Brutally Honest to Powell, he's being snarky. This was more pronounced early on when he responds to his friend's declaration that he 'hates him' by saying that he (Burns) loves him, but that the soldier is too closed off to accept it and should see a therapist about his issues. His 'issues' being that Burns had him tied upside-down and pelted him repeatedly and excessively with paintball pellets.
  • The Gadfly: During training, he ambushes his friend's squad, strings him upside-down, then proceeds to pelt him with paintballs, while claiming his gun is malfunctioning. When said friend angrily complains about it, he chimes that it's because he has intimacy issues.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a large scar over the side of his face following him surviving Bumblebee and Blitzwing's battle. For much of the film it's an evil scar, as it serves as a physical reminder of the loss he suffered from being caught in the middle of their battle.
  • Heel–Face Turn: He wasn't really a Heel so much (see below), but seeing Bumblebee risk his life to save his own, and his bond with Charlie, makes him change his mind about the yellow Autobot.
  • Hero Antagonist: He's hunting Bumblebee. He's also trying to save his country (and his planet) from a potential alien invasion, which he's been lead to believe Bee is going to cause.
  • It Is Dehumanising: He refuses to call Bumblebee a "he", insisting that "'it' is an 'it'." He stops this when Bumblebee saves his life.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Due to Blitzwing's attack, he's cold and ready to kill anything he thinks is a threat, and has no qualms tearing Charlie away from the machine she clearly cares about, or lying to her family to make them think she's a delinquent. However, he's able to recognize that Bumblebee is more than just a killer robot.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • He doesn't need to be nearly as rough with Charlie as he is. He also tells her parents she stole Bumblebee when claiming he was just a secret war machine, and that's without getting into his It Is Dehumanising treatment towards Bumblebee.
    • Played for Laughs when introduced, when he takes the opportunity to repeatedly hit his friend with paintballs after tying him upside down. Said friend is pretty understandably pissed about it.
  • Large Ham: He's loud, to put it mildly. There's very few scenes where he isn't shouting or being the centre of attention.
  • Only Sane Man: Comes across this way when Sector 7 invites Shatter and Dropkick right into their HQ to help hunt down Bumblebee.
  • Properly Paranoid: He doesn’t trust the the Decepticons for a second because correct-fully they are up to no good and might start a full scale invasion of the planet.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Once he realizes which side Bumblebee is on, he lets him and Charlie go. He even stops using It Is Dehumanising towards him, and calls him 'soldier', rather than a machine.
    • He also sees through Shatter's deceptions immediately and argues strongly against his superiors' decision to ally with the Decepticons.
  • Scars are Forever: He gains scars on his face during Bumblebee's fight with Blitzwing when they first arrive on Earth. Those scars are still on his face throughout the film.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He has no issue roughing up Charlie when she tries to stop them detaining Bumblebee, even shoving her to the ground (in his defence, it's not like she wasn't fighting back).

    Dr. Powell 

Dr. Powell

Played by: John Ortiz

A scientist at Sector 7 who is excited about the scientific potential of allying with the Cybertronians. Pity he found the Decepticons first.


  • Alas, Poor Scrappy: In-Universe. Though Burns makes known his distaste toward Powell's antics early on in the film, he sounds notably shaken when listening to Powell being killed.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: By Burns' words, "Powell's a weird guy, you ever notice that about him?"
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Reduced to a puddle of slime, courtesy of Dropkick's cannon.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He thinks the Decepticons are friendly visitors. That said, he begins to realize something's up when witnessing the pair brutally interrogate Bumblebee, moments before their true colors are shown.
  • The Quisling: Unintentionally, he gives the Decepticons access to human communications networks under the belief that they're the good guys. When he realizes his mistake, he immediately tries to warn Burns.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Upon realizing Shatter and Dropkick's true intent, and well aware he unknowingly played a role in giving them the means to do so, the first thing Powell does is to alert Burns, before Dropkick then murders him.
  • The Xenophile: By his own words, he's waited his entire life to meet aliens, and instantly befriends the two who come to them, and constantly praises the technological marvels they're performing. Unfortunately, the two they've made contact with are Decepticons.

    General Whalen 

General Whalen

Played by: Glynn Turman

Burns' superior, and seemingly the head of Sector 7.


  • Fantastic Racism: Shares Burns' distaste for the Decepticons, though he's not shown coming around to Bumblebee the way Burns does.
  • Minor Major Character: He appears to be in charge of Sector 7, yet only appears in a handful of scenes.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He recognizes that the Decepticons are potentially very useful for their efforts in the Cold War, but clearly doesn't trust them and encourages Burns to betray them as soon as they can.

Diaz Family

    Noah 

Noah Diaz

Played by: Anthony Ramos

An ex-military electronics expert who is struggling to support his family.


  • Armor-Piercing Response: Once Noah learns about the stakes behind retrieving the Transwarp Key, he opts to join the Autobots' mission. When Optimus Prime refuses, Noah tells him he isn't trusting someone that failed to protect his own planet with the fate of his.
  • Character Overlap: Teams up with the Autobots and scouted by GI Joe in the finale.
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Charlie Watson, Bumblebee's human protagonist.
    • Charlie was a Caucasian teenage girl, Noah is a Hispanic young man.
    • Charlie was an Action Survivor, Noah is a trained combatant with military experience under his belt .
    • Charlie's strained relationship with her family was a major part of her arc, Noah is clearly on much better terms with his own family.
    • Charlie mostly considered her little brother Otis to be an Annoying Younger Sibling, Noah's own little brother Kris is a key factor in his decision to join the Autobots in their battle against Unicron's forces.
  • Cool Big Bro: Cares a lot for his younger brother and is willing to do anything to raise enough money for Kris' treatment.
  • Disappeared Dad: Noah and Kris' father is never seen or mentioned.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: With Mirage (mostly on Noah's end) and later with Optimus Prime.
  • From Camouflage to Criminal: He was a former US military serviceman, but now has turned to crimes such as carjacking to support his family (to his credit, he tried getting a job but was rejected, officialy due to a minor issue with his service history but with a strong implication that it was actually due to his race). On this occasion, though, the car he attempted to jack happened to be Mirage in disguise; additionally, Noah suffers a crisis in conscience while performing the deed, making this a downplayed trope. At the end of the movie, he's back to Camouflage as a member of G.I. Joe.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He's a former electronics expert in the military, and is seen fixing an electronic device in his first scene.
  • Healthcare Motivation: To pay for sickle cell disease treatment for Kris, Noah partakes in a carjacking after his attempt at a job falls through.
  • Jumped at the Call: Zigzagged. Noah is reluctant to get involved in the Transformers' antics at first, only helping the Autobots out when Mirage makes a deal that he can "sell him" if he helps them get the Transwarp Key. But once Noah learns what's really at stake (all life on planet Earth potentially getting wiped out by Unicron) he immediately agrees to come along to help save the world and his family.
  • Karma Houdini: Noah gets into no legal trouble for breaking and entering into a building while attempting to steal Mirage in his vehicle form or the police chase Mirage took him on. It's possible that G.I. Joe managed to pull some strings to clear his charges.
  • Karmic Jackpot: Noah helping the Autobots save Earth and stop Unicron not only gets him recruited into GI Joe, they also promised to help pay for his brother’s medical treatments.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Elena compares him to Optimus Prime, pointing out how dedicated they both are to protecting their families.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: When the Porsche he attempts to carjack- actually Mirage in disguise- suddenly starts driving on its own, Noah screams as it zips through a busy four-way intersection, and again when it flies off the lowered ramp of a flatbed truck.
  • What You Are in the Dark: While evading the Freezers at the museum, Noah spots a nearby exit as well as a Freezer closing in on Elena without her knowing. Rather than leaving Elena to the Freezers to save himself, Noah stays behind and incapacitates the Freezer stalking Elena, before both make a run to the exit. This pays off, as Elena helps him barricade the doors and buying them more time to escape.

    Kris 

Kris Diaz

Played by: Dean Scott Vasquez

Noah's younger brother.


  • The Cloud Cuckoolander Was Right: Insists to Noah throughout the film that the government is listening in through the radio waves, prompting the need for code names. Burke confirms this.
  • Littlest Cancer Patient: Kris is diagnosed with sickle cell disease, and Noah is willing to do anything to pay for his treatment.

Brooklyn Residents

    Elena Wallace 
Played by: Dominique Fishback

  • Establishing Character Moment: Elena's boss asks her to help her figure out which artifacts that were broght in by the NYPD are fake and which are authentic. On a glance, Elena is able to quickly determine which ones are authentic and which are merely forgeries, displaying her in depth knowledge regarding ancient history.
  • Hyper-Competent Sidekick: To her boss, Jillian. Elena is far more knowledgeable and skilled in researching and determining artifacts, despite the fact that her boss mainly uses her to pick up coffee and dry cleaning.
  • Oh, Crap!: Her reaction to accidentally destroying the statue of Airazor, freaking out over the likelihood of being fired before noticing the half of the transwarp key housed inside the statue.

    Reek 
Played by: Tobe Nwigwe

Noah's friend who's happy to take part in somewhat-shady activities.


  • Hypocrite: While in the midst of preparing for the car heist, Reek loudly yells "You're welcome!" at the building their target is in. Yet he complains about Noah loudly slamming his car's door.
  • Insistent Terminology: It's not a robbing mixtape, it's a liberating mixtape.
  • Oral Fixation: Always seen chewing on a long Twizzler whenever he's onscreen.
  • Pet the Dog: Shady business dealings aside, Reek is friendly to Chris and mentions in the mid-credits stinger that he went to great lengths to get Noah the car parts needed to repair Mirage.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: He was the one who convinced Noah to carjack in order to support his family.
  • With Friends Like These...: The only time he's supportive of Noah is when he's pushing him to do something clearly illegal, and he immediately bails on Noah when he gets busted. He throws several more snide comments Noah's way in the mid-credits stinger about how Noah's efforts to repair Mirage are pointless.

    Bishop 
Played by: Aidan Devine


  • Ambiguous Situation: Did he really cancel his scheduled appointment with Noah because of what Noah's CO had told him about Noah being unreliable? Or was it due to Noah's race, as implied when he says he "can't have someone like [Noah] mess up what I built"?
  • Jerkass Has a Point: While canceling his appointment with Noah at the last second was a dick move, it's not without reason— Noah's CO had called and told Bishop about Noah's service history, namely his lack of reliability. Though there's a very strong implication that the real motivation behind canceling the appointment was Noah not being white.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Him canceling his appointment with Noah (thereby denying Noah a legal means to support his family) is what drives the latter to take up Reek's offer out of desperation.

    Jillian 
Played by: Sarah Stiles

Elena's boss, who keeps taking credit for Elena's work.


  • Establishing Character Moment: Asks Elena to look over some artifacts for a police investigation into some fake artifacts, then, as Elena is distracted by the Airazor statue, you can hear her rattling off exactly what Elena just told her to the police.
  • Hate Sink: She treats Elena as nothing but a sounding board she can steal ideas from.
  • Mean Boss: As far as she's concerned, Elena is just "the intern" except when she's useful.
  • Pointy-Haired Boss: A ditzy, airheaded employer who relies entirely on Elena to inform her on the validity of a series of artifacts that just came in.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: She vanishes from the story shortly before the Terrorcon attack on the museum. How she would have reacted to the damage caused in said attack is unknown.

Peru

    Amaru 
Played by: Lucas Huarancca


  • Secret-Keeper: He and his village have kept the Maximals safe for an untold duration

G.I. Joe

An off-the-books government organization specializing in global threats.

    In General 
  • Ambiguous Situation: Which version of G.I Joe this is. They have basically the same description to how they are described in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins but they use the same symbol as the version seen in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. But outside of those, there's nothing to indicate if this is that same G.I. Joe or one that is unique to this continuity. Burke also mentions they are in the middle of an ongoing war and while it's most likely a reference to Cobra and their classic war with them. We also don't get any specifics other than that they like Noah and the Autobots' help in fighting it.
  • Big Good: From how Burke describes them they seem to be this for the humanity having watched Noah and Elena's adventures with the Autobots and not only have kept it secret but also make sure to pay for Noah's brother Chris health care for life as a way of thanking him for his part in saving the world. And they do this before it's even a guarantee that he will join them.

    Burke 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2220_4.jpeg
Played by: Michael Kelly


  • Bait-and-Switch: Burke's intereaction with Noah take an ominous tone once he reveals that he is knows about his connection to the Autobots and his adventures down in Peru, hinting that he is an officer of the ominous Sector 7. Then he asserts that the medical bills for Noah's brother Chris are going to be paid for. Indefinitely. Even if Noah doesn't accept his offer to join up, just as thanks for saving the world. His demeanor takes on a far friendlier tone right before the big reveal that Burke isn't a member of Sector 7, but G.I. Joe!
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Seems to recognize the Autobots are the good guys promising Noah they'll keep them safe and offers to pay for Chris's medical bills even if Noah declines the job offer as a way of thanking him for helping save the world.

Alternative Title(s): Transformers Rise Of The Beasts

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