Unicron Trilogy Main Character Index
Transformers: Armada | Transformers: Energon | Transformers: Cybertron

This is the page for characters in the Unicron Trilogy who appear in Transformers: Cybertron.

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Autobots

Optimus Prime

Voiced by: Taiten Kusunoki (JP) (Cybertron), Gary Chalk (EN), Luis Miguel Pérez (LA SP) (All series)

Prime leads the Autobots to gather the Cyber Planet Keys and save Cybertron and reality from the Unicron Singularity.

Big Badass Rig: He turns into a Cybertronian fire truck. It even lets him fly.
Big Good: The leader of the Autobots and the one who leads them to claim the Cyber Planet Keys to save the universe before the Decepticons can claim them and use them for evil.
Dub Name Change: As per the tradition, his form in Galaxy Force is Galaxy Convoy.
Hot-Blooded: Whenever he calls the power of his Cyberkey and the resulting attack: CYBER KEY POWER!!!! MAXIMUM BLAST!!!
Look What I Can Do Now!: He combines with Leobreaker to form Savage Claw Mode and Wing Saber to form Sonic Wing Mode.
Super Mode:
- Optimus Prime: SUPER MODE!!!, formed by Prime and his trailer in Armada.
- His Powerlinx forms count as well, which has him combining with Leobreaker and then Wing Saber again.
Took a Level in Badass: In Armada, he was still a tough guy but struggled a lot more in combat. In Cybertron, he is strong enough to kill Galvatron in a Single-Stroke Battle.

Vector Prime

Voiced by: Show Hayami (JP), Richard Newman (EN)

The Ageless: He was guarding the map to the Omega Lock for well over 1,000,000 years prior to the start of the series. And considering the fact that he's a Transformer, he's not going to be dying from age anytime soon.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Vector Prime has always existed outside the flow of time, so when he sacrificed himself in "Guardian", he merely sacrifices his physical body - Vector Prime will still exist as long as time itself still exists.
Badass Boast: He does one, for the last time:
Vector Prime: They were destroyed because I left them... No! This will not stand. I am a keeper of space and time. I can see through time. I will travel through time. I can change time. I will change time!
BFS: Vector Prime owns a very impressive looking sword.
The Comically Serious: Given that he's a millennia-old being charged with protecting the map to the Omega Lock, he's not exactly up to date with current-day humor.
Cool Old Guy: He's been around for millennia and is a stalwart, reliable ally to the heroes.
Dimensional Cutter: Is capable of opening portals with his sword.
Fish out of Temporal Water: Since he wasn't around when the Autobots and Decepticons began their war, he doesn't know who the heroes and villains are at first, leading to Megatron fooling him into handing over the map to the Omega Lock.
Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: Hosted Ask Vector Prime on Cybertron's website and as a series of Facebook posts.
Heroic Sacrifice: Vector Prime gives up his physical body in "Guardian" in order to reverse time so the Autobots can return to their home universe from the space bridge, which was previously closed to ward off an attack from Planet X residents.
Sealed Good in a Can: He held a map that could lead to the Cyber Planet Keys within him for a few centuries, until it got stolen...
The Stoic - Not So Stoic: Perhaps best exemplified in episode 15.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: As seen in the credits of the second-to-last episode of the series, his spirit continues to fight the spirit of Galvatron in the afterlife.

Hot Shot

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

Voiced by: Kirby Morrow (EN), Daisuke Hirakawa (JP), Ezequiel Serrano (LA SP)

Once again, the resident team rookie.

Cool Car: In the second half, he is revived and upgraded so that he becomes a blue Humvee-like vehicle instead.
Dub Name Change: His Galaxy Force name is Exillion with his Cybertron Defense form getting renamed to Exigeyser.
Honor Before Reason:
- At least once, he rushed in to save two Velocitron natives in danger shortly after Optimus gave him the order not to interact with said natives.
- Does this during races too, much to the shock of Override. First, when he witnesses Ransack and Crumplezone changing the directional signs, he informs Override about this. Override questions whether or not he is misleading her, but he explains that if he was going to defeat her, he was going to do it fairly. Later on, he saves Override from fallen rubble instead of winning the race, explaining the Autobot Honor Code to Override.
Kid-Appeal Character: He is blue with yellow highlights and interacts with the young humans the most.
Lightning Bruiser: Though not quite as fast as Blurr.
Super-Speed: To the point where he can keep up with the Velocitron residents.
Took a Level in Badass: After his "Cybertron Defence" upgrade, Hot Shot is a good deal tougher and stronger in combat.
Took a Level in Dumbass: He's back to being the immature rookie he was in Armada, even though he was a mature veteran in Energon, then again, with the Black Hole and all…
Young Gun: Probably not helped by how his first foray into human culture consisted of spaghetti westerns.

Jetfire

Voiced by: Brian Drummond (EN), Hideo Ishikawa (JP), Luis Enrique Poján (LA SP)

The second-in-command of the Autobots on Cybertron. Jetfire left Cybertron and arrived on Earth to help Optimus and the others.

Afraid of Needles: He hates receiving injections, which is why he ends up trying to avoid a jab. This nearly endangered his comrades due to Jetfire saying someone had to watch over Primus until Primus himself contacted everyone and told them not to worry about him, he'd be just fine.
Cool Plane: He becomes a cargo jet with a space shuttle-inspired front half.
Deadpan Snarker: Prone to playful snarking.
Dub Name Change: Galaxy Force calls him Dreadrock.
The Lancer: Optimus's Number Two and snarky foil.
Vocal Evolution: Sports an Australian accent unlike the previous two series, which, according to supplemental materials, was due to vacationing on Nebulos.

Landmine

Voiced by: Paul Dobson (EN), Tomoyuki Shimura (Cybertron) (JP), Walter Véliz (LA SP)

Bruiser with a Soft Center: Sure, he can be rather ornery at times and is a rough and tough fighter, but he's got a good spark.
Dub Name Change: Landmine is named "Guardshell" in Galaxy Force.
Nice Guy: He's quite laid back and amiable with others.

Overhaul

Overhaul/Leobreaker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/map_leobreaker01.jpg

Voiced by: Hisao Egawa (JP), Paul Dobson, Dave "Squatch" Ward (as Leobreaker) (EN)

Animal Motifs: If look closely you can see he sports little fangs, this becomes much more pronounced after he becomes Leobreaker.
The Artifact: His name change to Leobreaker is a holdover from when Overhaul was originally going to be named "Trailbreaker", the name change from "Trailbreaker" to "Leobreaker" meant to parallel the original "Galaxy Force" shift from "Jackshot" to "Ligerjack". With his original name now changed to "Overhaul", the significance behind the "breaker" portion of the name is lost.
Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, his original name was Jackshot whereas his new form was named Ligerjack.
Emergency Transformation: He became Leobreaker while trying to protect Snarl.
Meaningful Name: The word "overhaul" means to take apart a machine and make the necessary changes and repairs. Overhaul's entire arc is about recognizing the flaws within himself as a person, and this also works on a literal level as he is rebuilt as a different type of Transformer entirely.
No Social Skills: Overhaul's gruff and confrontational manner prevents him from making effective diplomatic exchanges, most notably when trying to appeal his case to Scourge, who ends up being offended by his demanding behavior, resulting in a fight.
Panthera Awesome: His alt mode as Leobreaker is a robotic lion.

Red Alert

Voiced by: Brian Dobson, (EN), Ikuya Sawaki Yasuyuki Kase (JP); Rubén Pérez (LA SP)

The Combat Medic of the Autobots.

Adaptational Badass: By the time of Cybertron, compared to his G1 and Armada counterparts, this version of Red Alert is a real beast in a fight.
An Arm and a Leg: He lost his left hand prior to the series, hence the Swiss-Army Appendage replacement.
Brains and Brawn: Red Alert's the brains, Hot Shot's the brawn.
Badass Bookworm: Packs a hefty punch to Decepticons and is a genius and a medic.
The Bus Came Back: After being absent in Energon, he returns in Cybertron.
Combat Medic: Though he spent most of his time on the battlefield fighting, more than anything else.
Dub Name Change: His Cybertron version is called First Aid in Japan, a G1 Autobot medic, and his Cybertron Defense body becomes First Gunner.
Expy: He's more similar to Ratchet than he is G1 Red Alert (which makes sense, considering he is Ratchet in the Japanese version, and he was only named Red Alert for the English Dub).
Genius Bruiser: He prefers not to fight, but make no mistake, his punch is just as big as his intellectual genius.
Headbutting Heroes: With Hot Shot while on Velocitron, though the pair eventually come to an understanding.
Minored in Ass-Kicking: He usually stays back at the base in Armada, but he makes a pretty good showing in Cybertron.
The Smart Guy: He better be if he wants to act as a medic during wartime.
The Spock: Not entirely, but he is pretty reserved.
Swiss-Army Appendage: Lost his hand in battle and got a cool new... thing.
Took a Level in Badass: In Cybertron, his Mid-Season Upgrade is this in spades.
Vocal Evolution: He's got a higher voice and a British accent in the dub of Cybertron.

Scattorshot

Voiced by: Tarusuke Shingaki (JP), Richard Ian Cox (EN)

Came Back Strong: After a run-in with Megatron that resulted in him, Hotshot, and Red Alert being nearly torn apart by the former's new Cyber Key-based machine gun, he gets an upgrade that greatly increases his strength and firepower.
Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, his original name was Backpack, while his "Cybertron Defense" form was named Backgild.
Highly-Visible Ninja: Chose to scan a highly visible missile tank for his first alt-mode in stark contrast to the rest of Optimus Prime's team. The Autobot leader was not amused.
Southern-Fried Private: Much like Thundercracker, he sports a noticeable Southern accent.
Took a Level in Badass: After his "Cybertron Defense" upgrade.
Tank Goodness: Both his original and "Cybertron Defense" forms use a tank as an alt-mode.

Brakedown

Voiced by: Kenichi Mochizuki (JP), Michael Dobson (EN)

Dub Name Change: "Autolander" in Galaxy Force.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Clocker.
My Nayme Is: His name is spelled as "Brakedown" as opposed to the usual "Breakdown".
Mythology Gag: The "Brakedown GTS" toy is painted with a color scheme that resembles Generation 1's resident old 'bot Kup. Ironically, the toy's bio describes this form as a younger version of Brakedown.
Old Master: While not shown in the show itself, his Cyber Key Code bio describes him as having trained Velocitronians for over a million years ago, even having Override as one of his students.

Clocker

Voiced by: Nanae Kato (JP), Brian Dobson (EN)

Robot Kid: Seen as the Cybertronian equivalent of a young teenager.
Dub Name Change: "Skids" in Galaxy Force. The Cybertron dub changes it likely to avoid confusion with the existing G1 Autobot of the same name.
Fanboy: Of Hot Shot, to the point he was excited to work as part of Hot Shot's pit crew in "Champion".

Snarl

Voiced by: Yuto Kazama (JP), Scott McNeil (EN)

Animal Motifs: Snarl has a wolf alt mode and is a determined, cunning fighter.
Dub Name Change: Named Fang Wolf in the Japanese toyline.
Noble Wolf: Played With; while his rough and tough personality leans closer to Savage Wolf, his dedication to freeing Animatron from Scourge's dictatorial rule and courage in battle demonstrate his valor.

Backstop

Voiced by: Masahiko Tanaka (JP), Scott McNeil (EN)

Animal Motifs: He has a Rhino alt mode.
Badass Pacifist: He does not like to fight, that's not to say he can't.
Dub Name Change: Named Saidos in the Japanese toyline.

Undermine

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

Voiced by: Masafumi Kimura (Japanese), Mark Oliver (English)

Animal Motif: His alt mode is what appears to be a Spinosaurus, but with a flail on the tail and a very aquatic-looking fin.
Dub Name Change: His name is Dinoshout in Japanese.
Put on a Bus: He and Brimstone vanish from the story for a time, after the end of the Jungle Planet arc.
Those Two Guys: Up until Scourge left to temporarily join up with Megatron, he worked directly under the ruler of Animatron alongside Brimstone.

Brimstone

Voiced by: Yasuyuki Kase (Japanese), Terry Klassen (English)

Animal Motif: his alt mode is a Pteranodon.
Dub Name Change: Known as Terashaver in Japanese.
Put on a Bus: He and Undermine vanish from the story for a time, after the end of the Jungle Planet arc.
Those Two Guys: Up until Scourge left to temporarily join up with Megatron, he worked directly under the ruler of Animatron alongside Undermine.
Yes-Man: He’s perfectly happy to be the one taking orders instead of giving them.

Crosswise

Voiced by: Kenichi Mochizuki (JP), Michael Donovan (EN)

Demon Slaying: Invoked. Crosswise fancies himself a "monster hunter" who works in the shadows, largely due to the fact the ancient Decepticons he focused on capturing made a habit of acting or disguising themselves as monsters in the past.
Demoted to Extra: Crosswise is only with the group up until the clash on Cybertron. Afterwards, while Evac sticks with Optimus while they go to Gigantion, Crosswise heads back to Earth to deal with the escaped ancient Decepticons.
Inconsistent Dub: Crosswise is irregularly referred to as "Smokescreen" early on. This is largely due to the fact that, during production, his name was Smokescreen, but got changed later on, with some early scripts failing to account for said change.
Protector: Of the primitive humans who the ancient Decepticons terrorized.

Lugnutz

Voiced by: Masafumi Kimura (JP), Michael Adamthwaite (EN)

Anti-Villain: While he does aid the Decepticons from time to time, he has no interest on their cause, and has no qualms with joining the Autobots.
Cool Bike: His alt-mode is an orange Harley-Davidson-styled touring motorcycle.
Dub Name Change: "Road Storm" in Galaxy Force.
I Call It "Vera": Has a rifle named "Dutch", which is formed from his alt-mode's left tailpipe.
Jive Turkey: His dialogue's peppered with so much Earth slang that it confuses his fellow Cybertronians.
Lugnutz: "Get hip to this, daddy-o. This universe doesn't belong to you. Stay cool, man. My friends and I may have done some things you consider bad, but we're here to help this time. See, we don't like anyone, Decepticons or Autobots, trying to take away our freedom. We cool? Can you dig it?"
Evac: "I know, I can barely understand him myself, but he's agreed to help."
Only Friend: Thunderblast, presumably. He even tried to talk her way out into changing factions in the episode "End", to no success.

Quickmix

Voiced by: Kenichi Mochizuki (JP), Michael Daingerfield (EN)

Dub Name Change: "Blendar" in Galaxy Force.
Genius Bruiser: Introduced by Metroplex as one who "knows a lot about a lot".
Number Two: To Metroplex

Menasor

Voiced by: Yuto Kazama (JP), Sam Vincent (EN)

Dub Name Change: "Moledive" in Galaxy Force.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: He's sick of Metroplex treating him like a kid and never taking him seriously, which convinces him to join up with the Decepticons just so he can be respected and treated as an equal. In the episode "Optimus", the two of them finally make amends, with Metroplex now treating him with the respect he deserved.
Heel–Face Turn: He first aligns himself with the Decepticons, but switches to the Autobots for good after having a heart-to-heart with Metroplex.
In Name Only: Has no relation to the Generation 1 Stunticon combiner of the same name.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He genuinely believes that Gigantion's traditions are "old and outdated", and wants to be the one to lead them into a new age.

Mudflap

Voiced by: Taketora (JP), Dale Wilson (EN)

Aliens Speaking English: He speaks with a French accent.
Dub Name Change: Known as Demolishor in Galaxy Force.
Non-Indicative Name: His toy doesn't have mudflaps.

The Convoys

In General

Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Downplayed. In the original Galaxy Force, the four of them shared the name/rank of "Convoy" with that of Optimus Prime (Galaxy Convoy), the rank meant to denote that they were the leaders of their planets, with the five of them attacking Galvatron as one towards the end of the series being the five Convoys working together. Cybertron however changes their names entirely, purportedly due to Hasbro not wanting the title of "Prime" to suffer Uniqueness Decay since their inclusion would mean six Primes running around when including Vector Prime, so the Theme Naming is lost.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: All four of them are the best at what they do, and, with the exception of Evac, is what makes them fit to be the leaders of their worlds. This in turn is how they pass on the responsibility of their planets to others at the end of the series.
- Override is the fastest on a planet of Speedsters, and passes the responsibility of Velocitron to Hot Shot after he wins the Speedia 500 race to determine the new fastest on the planet.
- Scourge is the most ferocious on a planet of Beasts, and while Leobreaker tries to beat him in a royal rumble, Scourge wins, with him retaining his position as leader of Jungle Planet while appointing Leobreaker his representative in the colonization mission.
- Metroplex is the strongest on a planet of Giants. Since the people of Gigantion mostly care about building however, he's able to trust in it's safety without his direct presence.
Gold-Colored Superiority: Their Cyber Power Keys all have gold outlining to denote how they're the leaders of their worlds.
Theme Naming: Their original Japanese names followed the similar theme of "(Descriptive Attribute) Convoy", to highlight how they were all the leaders of their Planets, and of similar rank and authority to Galaxy Convoy (Optimus Prime).

Override

Voiced by: Jin Domon (JP), Lisa Ann Beley, Nicole Oliver (EN)

Action Girl: Like her male comrades, she's very much capable of handling herself in a fight.
Bishōnen: Only applies to Override's original Japanese counterpart, Nitro Convoy. With his slimmer, somewhat feminine build compared to the other Convoys and his choice of alt-mode being a futuristic sports car, Nitro Convoy evokes the image of a dashing young man.
Cool Big Sis: In the dub, she eventually becomes this to Lori.
Cool Car: Her alt mode is a futuristic sports car.
Dub Name Change: Was named Nitro Convoy in Galaxy Force.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In her early appearances at least. She loses her jerk streak once Hotshot beats her in the final race for the Planet Cup and joins the Autobots full-time afterwards.
She's a Man in Japan: In the Japanese version of the show, Galaxy Force, she was the male leader of the Speed Planet Transformers named Nitro Convoy. This was changed for the English dub, however, to add a stronger female presence to the main cast which worked because Nitro Convoy had a pretty feminine appearance already.
Super-Speed: As the leader of the Speed Planet's Transformers, she is considered to be the fastest racer on the planet. At least, she is considered this until Hot Shot comes along and beats her in the competition for the Planet Cup.

Scourge

Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (JP), Trevor Devall, Colin Murdock (in Revelation) (EN)

Adaptational Heroism: Most characters with the Scourge name are straight up villains. Scourge in this series is starts of as an Anti-Villain who eventually joins the Autobots.
Animal Motifs: Of the three headed dragon variety.
Breath Weapon: The two dragon heads deployed by his Cyber Key breathe fire.
Cybernetic Mythical Beast: Unlike most inhabitants of Jungle Planet, he turns into a mechanical tri-headed dragon.
Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, his name was Flame Convoy.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: He starts as an ally of the Decepticons, then sides with the Autobots after being defeated by Savage Claw Mode Optimus. Then he becomes a full-fledged Decepticon to aid Megatron after Starscream turns against him. He finally settles with the Autobots on Gigantion when Snarl and Leobreaker make him question his motives.
Heel Realization: When Lori's "The Reason You Suck" Speech did a number on Scourge's ego in "Ambush", as well as Leobreaker's insistence that strength was more than physical in "Scourge", he started questioning his own motives afterwards.
He Who Fights Monsters: Originally fought to end the wars on his planet, but years of fighting hardened him and caused the order he brought to be that of the iron fist.
Hidden Heart of Gold: Underneath his external persona of a tyrannical warlord beats the spark of an honorable bot who once sought to bring peace to his home world. Having his motives called into question by Lori, Snarl, and Leobreaker helps him reacquaint himself with his original goals.
Hot-Blooded: Is always raring for a fight and has quite a temper.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: He's very proud of his martial prowess and enjoys a good fight.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: All Scourge ever really wanted was to end the violent wars on his planet and bring peace and stability to all, he just went about it the wrong way.

Evac

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP), Bill Mondy (EN)

Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, his name was Live Convoy.
Forgotten First Meeting: Years prior, Evac saved a young boy from drowning in a river, doing it just to help out an innocent human. While it was no big deal for Evac, said event was the most important one for that boys life. That boy was Colonel Mike Franklin, who would grow up to become a government agent so he could learn about the Transformers and properly thank Evac, becoming one of the Autobots most valuable allies on Earth. Evac, meanwhile, actually needed a minute to jog his memory when they finally met all those years later.
Evac: Sure, I remember now! You grew up!
Franklin: You're right, I guess I did. It sure has been a long time, but I guess I can finally say thank you.
Protector: While not as proactive as Crosswise, he's always tried to look out for us little guys.
Recurring Element: Evac acts as the guardian of Earth's Cyber Planet Key, represented by his Cyber Power Key having a gold outline instead of the usual silver. Unlike Override, Scourge, and Metroplex, Evac is only the guardian of Earth, not its ruler. His Galaxy Force name makes this more explicit, where like the others he shares the name "Convoy", in his case "Live Convoy".

Metroplex

Voiced by: Masafumi Kimura (JP), Ron Halder (EN)

Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. Metroplex is a giant and has the strength to match, but is a far cry from when he's typically the size of a building, even by Transformers standards.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Before the Autobots' arrival, Metroplex was only ever interested in building things. After the Decepticons start making a mess, he takes action.
The Big Guy: Towers over even the other inhabitants of Planet Gigantion.
Brave Scot: Speaks with a Scottish accent in the dub.
Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, his name was Megalo Convoy. For the Cybertron dub, his name was changed to Metroplex, referencing his previous incarnation as the massive city-sized Transformer in Generation 1.
Humongous Mecha: He is incredibly massive, towering over most of the non-planet sized transformers in the series.
I Call It "Vera": His axe is named "SparkDrinker".
What the Hell, Hero?: Him treating Menasor as an inferior resulted in the latter joining up with the Decepticons. It isn't until the episode "Optimus" does he truly understand the error of his ways and begins to treat him as an equal.
The Worf Effect: The most egregious example among the Transformer characters, in BOTH the giving and receiving end of this trope. His debut appearance had him singlehandedly fend off Scourge and the other Decepticons, easily defeat Megatron in his Dark Claw Mode and destroy Megatron's Nemesis Breaker upgrade, leaving the Decepticon leader with serious injuries. In the NEXT episode, Megatron upgrades into Galvatron and defeats Metroplex almost instantly.

Decepticons

Megatron

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (JP) (Cybertron), David Kaye (EN), Framk Maneiro (LA SP)

Leader of the Decepticons.

Adaptational Villainy: He likely is the single most evil incarnation of Megatron in the Unicron Trilogy, intending to destroy the universe, including his own followers, and remake it in his image.
Badass Armfold: His default pose is him with his arms crossed as he stands in smug superiority.
Bad Boss: He is a callous manipulator who sees everyone serving under him as expendable pawns, leading his entire army to turn their back on him.
Big Bad: The one leading the Decepticons in search of the Planet Keys so he can use them for his own cruel ambitions. And since Unicron has long since disappeared, he keeps the role until the end this time too.
Big Bad Ensemble: Once Starscream betrays and splits the ranks of the Decepticons, Megatron begins jostling with him in addition to the Autobots for the Cyber Planet Keys.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Can wield the Unicron Power Claw on his left arm.
The Comically Serious: His deadpan snark, despite his vicious disposition, leans him into this.
Control Freak: He chastises, threatens, or outright brutally beats down his men for not following his orders to a tee. Verges on A God Am I in his ambitions in Energon and Cybertron.
Cool Car: One of his two alt-modes in Cybertron is a sleek car.
Cool Plane: The other one of his two alt-modes is a space fighter.
Create Your Own Hero: Arguably the Megatron incarnation most apt at making enemies out of his Decepticon troops due to his abusive, power-hungry ways. All of his minions eventually defect to the Autobots after he renders their lives meaningless.
Dub Name Change: Not as much as the previous two shows. Galaxy Force does have him start as Megatron and rename himself Galvatron the same way the dub does but adds "Master" in front of his name to result in Master Megatron and Master Galvatron.
Energy Ring Attack: In the climactic battle, Galvatron fires a purple energy beam surrounded by rings at Optimus Prime. It doesn't kill the Autobot leader, but does significant damage.
Evil Laugh: Likes to break into this when he's winning.
Killed Off for Real: In the 2nd to last episode, he dies again, but unlike the previous shows, he never comes back.
Omnicidal Maniac: His end goal is to use the Unicron Singularity to destroy everything, then use the Omega Lock to recreate the universe in his image.
Pragmatic Villainy: Despite his nasty attitude still being present, he is smart enough to keep most of his Decepticons motivated and capable, only truly disposing of those who betray him. Many of his minions even get upgrades of their choosing. He best exemplifies this through a Hannibal Lecture to Optimus later in the series, keeping his minions loyal to him until he finally achieved his goals and didn't need them anymore.
Satanic Archetype: He's a manipulator who rebelled against his creator and seeks to use the Omega Lock to reshape the universe in his image.
A Sinister Clue: At times, in particular how Nemesis Breaker forms his left arm in Dark Claw Mode (in comparison, Leobreaker formed Optimus Prime's right arm in Savage Claw Mode).
Sorcerous Overlord: He drops the cannons and Energon weapons in favor of straight-up firing bolts of lightning from the palms of his hands, presumably powered by the Armor of Unicron.
Took a Level in Jerkass: While his Energon self already forsook his sense of honor and affability, he gets even worse in Cybertron and becomes an Omnicidal Maniac by the end.

Starscream

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (JP), Michael Dobson (EN), Luis Carreño (LA SP)

Megatron's second in command, up until he decides to strike it out on his own.

Adaptational Badass: No Starscream since he has come close to doing what he's done in Cybertron. Fights Primus twice and lives? Check, though he still loses both times. Only non-comic relief Decepticon left alive at the end of Cybertron? Check. Fought off eleven Autobots to steal the Omega Lock? Check. While his living up to the trope he named has been done by other Starscreams, he's done the best to date. Oh yeah, and he isn't a Dirty Coward like most Starscreams.
Adaptational Villainy: Much worse than he was in Armada or Energon. The jarring change in personality makes more sense with the knowledge that in Japan, Galaxy Force/Cybertron has no connection to Micron Legend/Armada and Superlink/Energon.
Back from the Dead: He died at the end of Energon, but returns here.
Big Bad Ensemble: He eventually breaks away from Megatron and starts fighting both him and the Autobots.
Came Back Wrong: Far less heroic than he was in Armada and more malicious than before.
Cool Crown: Gains this in Cybertron after absorbing Primus' Spark to reference his G1 incarnation.
Cool Plane: Becomes a G1-inspired tetra-jet.
De-power: He manages to become planet-sized in Cybertron, only to blow it when Primus hands him his tailpipe and smacks him down.
Determinator: He's always trying to get ahead through schemes and just never gives up. Even at his lowest point after his battle with Landmine, he pulls himself back up and displays such power equivalent to Galvatron's that his shock waves defeat the Autobots. His speech to Galvatron boils down to "I've risked everything for power, and I will not yield".
The Dragon: He's back as Megatron's right hand bot, although this ends when he breaks off and becomes a Big Bad Ensemble with Megatron.
Karma Houdini: He survives the series and is teleported to another dimension instead of killed. He even shows up in the penultimate episode to goad Galvatron into fighting Optimus one last time.
One-Man Army: He eventually powers himself up to the point where he can hold off the entire Autobot army.
Smug Snake: Though he starts far more shrewd and calculating than G1 Starscream, he's equally arrogant, and the fact he makes it partway into his plans, capturing the Omega Lock and absorbing Primus' spark, only leads him further into thinking he is invincible, setting himself up for many defeats.
The Starscream: Played straight this time around, and when he does, he jumps straight in. The kicker? This particular Starscream is, to date, the character's most successful incarnation.
Took a Level in Badass: In this series, Starscream becomes a skilled and cunning turncoat who manages to keep Megatron and later Galvatron at bay, gains control of a sealed up Decepticon army hidden away in prison, repeatedly upgrades himself with more power and the Omega Lock's energy, and is at one point the most powerful enemy in the series, going nose-to-nose with Primus.

Thundercracker

Voiced by: Kazunari Tanaka (JP), Mark Oliver, Michael Dobson (Rush, by mistake) (EN)

Adaptational Wimp: From a more honorable and reserved veteran to a trigger-happy and much more unlucky grunt.
Ax-Crazy: Downplayed compared to Megatron, who is completely nuts, but he's basically the new version of Cyclonus.
Butt-Monkey: Having the worst boss ever doesn't help. He gets lit on fire by Scourge twice ("Would somebody please put me out?"). At the end, after Ransack, Crumplezone, and Thunderblast go back on their Heel Face Turns and sneak off in homemade rocket, poor Thundercracker gets shanghaied aboard when goes to investigate. Out of universe, the Hasbro version of his toy's mold was a major-league example of quality control failure.
Calling Your Attacks: Apart from the usual transforming and Cyber Key power-up cries, Thundercracker has two rather goofy-sounding attacks that he uses when the situation goes dire; "Rain of Ultimate DEEE-struction" in "Darkness", and "Super Electric Lightning Thundercrackin' Punch" in "Ambush"
Chekhov's Gunman: Downplayed. Although Starscream namedrops him in Armada, he wasn't actually a character there; in Micron Legend, Armada's original Japanese dub, Starscream's new colors are simply labelled on his Takara toy as his "Super Mode", while the dub changed it to connect with the Hasbro release of the toy, which labels him as Thundercracker instead. In addition, Micron Legend and Galaxy Force were meant as separate continuities, while the Cybertron dub merges them both.
Heel–Face Turn: Well... he tried to go Autobot... but his Decepticon buddies wouldn't have it.
Hidden Depths: In a battle that occurs very late into the series, he actually unleashes an ace-in-the-hole attack for which he got his namesake, and unlike all the other times he's been played for a joke, this is him fighting serious.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: He generally cannot aim properly. His general "solution" for this is More Dakka, which still doesn't help.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: When he busts out the most powerful move in his arsenal and, for the briefest of moments, stops being a Joke Character.
Shout-Out: His speech pattern is inspired by comedian Larry the Cable Guy, down to saying his catchphrase in numerous instances.
Southern-Fried Private: Speaks with a Southern US accent and happens to be one of Megatron's underlings.
Trigger-Happy: He loves to shoot things... although his aim is piss poor and he misses a lot.

Ransack

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP), Louis Chirillo (EN), Samuel Vincent (EN, "Showdown")

Butt-Monkey: Perhaps more so than his partner Crumplzone.
Crumplezone: "Why us, Ransack?"
Ransack: "It's the wheel of fate, my friend."
Both: "It ran right over us!"
Casanova Wannabe: He attempts to woo Thunderblast by racing against Hot Shot. Not only did he lose to Hot Shot, Thunderblast isn't even interested with him.
Cool Bike: His alt-mode is a sleek, futuristic sports bike.
Dub Name Change: Known as Gasket in Galaxy Force.
Pintsized Powerhouse: Ransack's small but is a surprisingly strong soldier.
Those Two Guys: Never seen without Crumplezone.

Crumplezone

Voiced by: Toshihiko Nakajima (JP), Mark Acheson (EN)

Butt-Monkey: Quoth Crumplezone:
"When he [Optimus] sees our real strength and feels our vengeance, he'll regret beating us over and over and over and..."
The Brute: In theory, he's this. He has the raw power to fill the role just fine, but his awful luck and stupidity means he lags behind and gets his aft kicked just as often as his buddy Ransack.
Dub Name Change: He's known as Landbullet in Galaxy Force.
Mid-Season Upgrade: After suffering massive damage, the shade of Megatron appears and saves the dying bot's life. Megatron also reformats the guy, giving him a newer, darker look as well as an upgrade in firepower. However, it still doesn't save him from his role as a Butt-Monkey...
Reveling in the New Form: After nearly dying to a swarm of Scrapmetals, Crumplezone is revived by the ghost of Megatron, giving him an upgraded body and a buff in strength and firepower. Dude absolutely loves the upgrade:
Ransack: Uhh, Crumplezone? Isn't that kind of a... new look for you?
Crumplezone: New look? I guess you could call it that. Or you might call it a new me. This is unbelievable! I don't think I've ever felt this good before, or this powerful!!
Took a Level in Badass: Subverted. Despite his mid-season upgrade and a couple of good shots that could be considered Hope Spots, he goes back to being a Butt-Monkey for the rest of the series.

Thunderblast

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (JP), Marÿke Hendrikse (EN)

Card-Carrying Villain: She may never out right state that she enjoys being evil, but she never needed to.
Dark Action Girl: Par for the course given her occupation.
Dub Name Change: Known as "Chromia" in Japan. It was most likely changed in America to avoid confusion with the G1 Autobot of the same name.
Informed Attribute: Her toy bio says she's so beautiful, the Autobots would much rather fire on a ship of Antillia Bumble-puppies than her! Needless to say, this never happens in the cartoon.
Jerkass: Not that she's much more pleasant to anyone else, but she went as far as to make fun of Lori like a stereotypical high school girl when they meet in "Ambush".
Fem Bot: Has a noticeably feminine build, especially with her ...*ahem*... chest.
Ms. Fanservice: Parodied Trope through the combination of the above two.
The Smurfette Principle: Played straight in both Galaxy Force and Cybertron dubs, as she's the only female Decepticon character to appear. The Japanese dub, however, takes this further by having her as the only major female Cybertronian character, since Override was the male Nitro Convoy in that version of the show.
The Vamp: A defied example. She clings into the strongest Decepticon such as Galvatron in order to gain power from him... although he's too busy trying to conquer the universe to even recognize her advances.

Humans

Coby Hansen

Voiced by: Yukiko Tamaki (JP), Samuel Vincent (EN)

Big Brother Instinct: Towards Bud.
Last-Minute Hookup: He's become Lori's boyfriend by the last episode and proposes to her in the epilogue, with the last photograph shown being of their wedding.
Playful Hacker: Once used this tech skills to trick Sideways into thinking he was speaking to Megatron via hologram.
"Now hop on one foot and say, I'm a pretty lady!"
Techno Wizard: He adapts to Cybertronian tech remarkably well, to the point that he manages to reverse-engineer a Scrapmetal into a mecha for himself to pilot.
Took a Level in Badass: He repairs a Scrapmetal drone and makes it into his own personal fighting robot to help him fight alongside the Autobots. He makes good use of it.

Bud Hansen

Voiced by: Mayumi Kurokawa (JP), Ryan Hirakida, unknown voice actor (Hero-Ice) (EN)

Camera Fiend: The final episode has him become one as he and Jolt conduct interviews with various bots to showcase how things have changed. Doubles as Five-Second Foreshadowing, as the epilogue show him having grown into an accomplished film director, even receiving an Oscar for one of his movies.
Non-Action Guy: Unlike his brother Coby or Lori, he never really gets a moment to fight on his own, instead being more akin to The Heart of the kids.
Tagalong Kid: Being the youngest of the three.

Lori Jimenez

Lori Jiménez

Voiced by: Rika Morinaga (JP), Sarah Edmondson, Chiara Zianni (Retreat, Revelation, Inferno) (EN)

Action Girl: She proved her chops by blasting Thunderblast out of commission.
Everyone's Baby Sister: Played with. While she's more on equal footing with the humans, even being older than Bud, the Autobots tend to all see her as their "Little Sister", Override and Scourge even calling her such even before his Heel–Face Turn. Even if they don't outright say it like with Wing Saber, they clearly hold the same sentiment.
I Just Want to Be Badass: When it comes to not being allowed to go on missions with the Autobots, she's usually always the first to complain about it. She gets to prove herself later on.
Last-Minute Hookup: Has become Coby's girlfriend by the last episode and grows up to become his wife in the epilogue.
Little Miss Badass: While she doesn't get her own bot like Coby, she does get to prove she's a real Autobot later on. One moment of note is on Gigantion where she and Wing Saber take on Thunderblast on her home turf. While she doesn't directly fight Thunderblast, she manages to lure her into a trap while operating dozens of cranes, allowing Wing Saber to blast her sky high.
The Smurfette Principle: Only girl among the three kids.

Colonel Franklin

Colonel Mike Franklin

Voiced by: Rintaro Nishi (JP), Michael Dobson (EN)

Cannot Spit It Out: Lucy eventually realized Mike was never going to fess up on his feelings for her, so she called him out on it.
Last-Minute Hookup: After a series of UST with Lucy, Lucy badgers him into a spring wedding and they are later seen with a baby in the epilogue.
The Men in Black: Subverted as he's more interested in protecting the safety of Earth than maintaining the secrecy of the existence of aliens.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his initially intimidating persona, Franklin knows the Autobots are friendly and are willing to work with them as when he was a child, he was rescued from drowning by Evac.
Scary Black Man: Subverted, though he had us going for a while.

Dr. Suzuki

Dr. Lucy Suzuki

Voiced by: Machiko Toyoshima (JP), Tabitha St. Germain (EN)

Last-Minute Hookup: Right before the series ends, she manages to hook Mike after outing his feelings for her as well as the mutual affection she has for him, requesting a spring wedding. The two marry and have a baby girl in the epilogue.
Secret-Keeper: As of "Ice", she now knows of the Transformers' existence on earth and the kid's involvement with them.

Others

Sideways

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (Japanese), Ted Cole (English), Johnny Torres (Latin American Spanish; all series)

A drifter who originally served Unicron, he is back in action and traded the heads for a faction symbol that switches on the cuff.

Ambiguous Situation: Every Sideways throughout the multiverse claims they are the same Sideways as everyone else, but given the character is a born-manipulator, it's impossible to tell if they're lying.
Brilliant, but Lazy: One time on Jungle Planet, as the other Decepticons were being picked off, he was singing a mindless tune and deliberately not giving a frag.
Anti-Villain: He was out to avenge his planet, turning to Unicron, hoping that this would help him achieve his goals. The Dark Side Will Make You Forget soon kicked in afterward, although by Cybertron he remembers again.
A Wizard Did It: It's implied Unicron's dark energy preserved him.
Back from the Dead: Returns despite appearing to be dead at the end of Armada.
Canon Immigrant:
- This characterization of him was popular enough to get an appearance in Transformers: Animated and the film series (though just as a regular Decepticon).
- Technically, he first appeared in Robots in Disguise with a toy from that show's line, though he was just an Autobot warrior.
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Servitude to Unicron seems to have caused him to forget that he was hoping to avenge his planet, and turned him into the Jerkass we see him as in Armada. It's subverted in Cybertron where he remembers again.
Dub Name Change: In Galaxy Force, he is known as Noisemaze.
Earn Your Happy Ending:The credit sequence of the final episode of Cybertron shows he and Soundwave found an intact copy of Planet X within the void they'd been sent into in their last appearance.
Expy: Averted with his other appearances- possibly. It's thought to be the same guy throughout the multiverse.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: It is implied that Unicron was in possession of Sideways during Armada, thus temporarily draining any sense of compassion the latter may have had. In Cybertron, with Unicron destroyed, it is shown that Sideways does has the ability to care; in this case for the inhabitants of his destroyed world, including Soundwave and Laserbeak.
Laughably Evil: Much more comedic in Cybertron than he was in Armada.
Manipulative Bastard: He can quite quickly turn people into his puppets when he needs to (not literally). Even in Cybertron, he tends to do this, as he manipulates both sides again, taking advantage of their amnesia due to the Unicron Singularity.
Never My Fault: Planet X started the war against Gigantion and blew themselves up. Sideways and Soundwave blamed Gigantion and went to Unicron.
Unperson: His existence in Armada was erased from memory due to disturbances in time caused by the black hole. Nobody remembers him, and he doesn't refer to his role as Unicron's servant, simply saying he's a native of Planet X.
Villain Decay: He started as a shadowy manipulator, playing both sides through sheer cunning. He became a bit of a joke in the later episodes, being outwitted and fooled by the humans (though he gets better during his last few appearances). He even lampshades it at one point:
"I'm the one who's supposed to be pulling everyone's strings!"
Villainous Friendship: Genuine friends with Soundwave in Cybertron.

Soundwave

Voiced by: Taketora (JP), Robert O. Smith, Garry Chalk (Giant, Bee in the City 2: Electric Boogaloo) (EN)

Sideways' new partner in crime, out to avenge their dead world.

Beware the Silly Ones: Despite his odd way of speaking, Soundwave is actually the more serious-minded of the two, and it's implied several times that he's putting on an act.
Earn Your Happy Ending: He and Sideways found an intact copy of Planet X in the dimension they'd been blasted into in their last appearance.
Master of Disguise: He can mimic anybody's voice, which, combined with his illusion ability, means that he can torment people further.
Never My Fault: He and Sideways blamed Gigantion for Planet X's destruction even though Planet X invaded Gigantion first and blew themselves up.
Obfuscating Stupidity: It's often implied that he's putting the whole DJ thing on as an act to throw people off.
Pop-Cultured Badass: Speaks like an eighties-era DJ.
Remember the New Guy?: He was apparently a servant of Unicron according to the comics, but we never saw him do this in the show.
Tragic Villain: The reason that he pledged loyalty to Unicron was so he could avenge his dead world.
Undying Loyalty: Oddly enough, this is possibly the only version of Soundwave not to show this towards Megatron. His home planet is another story.
Villainous Friendship: He and Sideways. Surprisingly for such a duplicitous and treasonous character, Sideways seems to feel the same way.

Primus

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (JP), Michael Donovan (EN)

The God of Cybertronians.

Ascended Extra: Transformer series typically keep Primus a figure in the background. Cybertron gives him a role where he's actively taking part in the series, and is even seen transforming on screen. It's also the very first time he appears physically outside of the Marvel comics.
Genius Loci: He isn't just dormant within Cybertron; he is Cybertron.
God Is Good: He's a benevolent force in the universe, for both humans and Cybertronians.
Handicapped Badass: Believe it or not, his full power is actually restricted for most of the series as part of his soul is essentially disconnected from his body.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: As a god, you'd be worried if this trope wasn't in place.
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Mercifully, it's not as bad as with Unicron in Armada, as most combatants seeking to fight him have to size up a bit.
Worf Had the Flu: Galvatron stuns him at one point with a blast of dark energy, although to be fair Galvatron has a MacGuffin or four boosting his power to ridiculous levels, and Primus had used up much of his power trying to keep the black hole in check.

Characters / Transformers: Cybertron

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