Team Prime
In General
- True Companions: They may bicker and get annoyed with each other, but their unwavering loyalty and devotion to one another ensure that they will never hesitate to come to each other's aid in any situation, no matter how challenging.
- Undying Loyalty: The members of Team Prime are loyal to the Autobot Leader.
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime/Orion Pax
An Elite Guard washout who went on to be the leader of a maintenance crew of misfits. When Zeta Prime went down, he willingly accepts the mantle of leadership, becoming a Prime in the process. He's a young bot who does the best he can despite some insecurity and reluctance.
- Big Badass Rig: His vehicle mode.
- Big Good: Due to inheriting the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus has become the high leader of the entire Autobot population and basically for the entire Earth-based effort against Megatron. Prime is a stalwart leader who avoids unnecessary fights among his personal crew if he can help it.
- But Now I Must Go: Averted. He decides to stay behind on Earth with his team instead of going back to Cybertron, feeling that Ultra Magnus would be great as his representative to lead the people until he is ready to be the high leader Cybertron needs.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Sentinel persuaded him and Elita to go on a mission to a world that was deemed off-limits in search of bountiful energon, but it ended with Elita presumably being killed.
- The Captain: Optimus is co-commanders with Arsenal and is technically the junior member before becoming a Prime.
- I Choose to Stay: Opts to remain on Earth and lets Ultra Magnus to lead Cybertron until he is ready to take the mantle of leadership.
- A Father to His Men: Optimus cares deeply for them all deeply to the point that he sees them as his family, and is always ready to boost morale or stand by them in times of hardship. The young members of the team looks up to him as a fatherly figure, while Arsenal and Ratchet see him as a son and nephew respectively.
- Papa Wolf: As their leader, Optimus is fiercely protective of all his soldiers.
- Primary-Color Champion: Optimus' red, blue, and shining silver color scheme leaves little doubt on the morals and ideals he upholds
- Team Dad: He develops into a caring father figure to the other Autobots.
- Took a Level in Badass: The young bot became a lot stronger and more powerful after receiving the Matrix of Leadership, being able to go toe-to-toe with Megatron once he becomes Prime.
Arsenal
Arsenal/Massacre
A Decepticon formerly known as Massacre and Megatron's former Conjunx Endura. She left the Cons when they started to stray from their original goals, especially when Megatron planned to use the Allspark to subjugate the Autobots into mindless slaves, the very thing they were fighting against.- The Captain: she is co-commanders with Orion and is technically the senior member.
- Defector from Decadence: She left the Decepticons when they started to stray from their original goals of equality, especially when Megatron came up with the idea of using the Allspark to subjugate the Autobots.
- Heel–Face Turn: Joined the Autobots after the Decepticons started wrecking havoc on Cybertronian society.
- The Lancer: After Orion received the Matrix of Leadership, she became de-facto second-in-command and someone Optimus relies on for guidance, like a son to his mother.
- Meaningful Name: As Arsenal, she is armed with a plethora of weapons.
- Meaningful Rename: She was once known as Massacre back when she was with the Decepticons. She had since changed it to Arsenal upon defecting to the Autobots.
- Original Character: Arsenal doesn't appear in any official Transformers media. She also did not appear in the Animated television show.
- The Smurfette Principle: Arsenal is the only female member of Optimus's personal crew.
- Team Mom: As co-captain of the crew, she cares a lot about the bots under her command, especially to Optimus.
- Token Flyer: She is the only one on the team who can fly as her vehicle form is an aircraft.
Ratchet
Ratchet
An old medic suffered through the Great War millions of years back, experiences which have caused him to be grumpy 24/7. Ratchet refuses to talk about his time there and suffers Vietnam-style flashbacks due primarily to two traumatic incidents of failing during the war.- Combat Medic: Ratchet served during the Great War and is still a skilled medic.
- Cool Old Guy: He's an old mech, but he's definitely not some rusted-up has been, acting like a uncle figure to Prime.
- Grumpy Old Man: The old medic's bad attitude and his age obviously slot him into this trope among Prime's crew.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ratchet may be a cranky old bot, but he's genuinely concerned about protecting the Earth from Megatron and the Decepticons, which he admits in a rather tearful confession to Sari.
- Selective Magnetism: He is armed with electrical magnets that can combine with Bumblebee's own electric stingers to create an EMP attack
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: He doesn't like to talk about the first war against Megatron as talking about it would bring some horrible memories for him.
Prowl
Prowl
A lone Ninja-Bot who doesn't play well with others, preferring to rely on only himself. Stuck with Orion, Arsenal and the rest of the crew, he is forced to learn how to work as part of a team. Prowl is sneaky and clever due to his occupation and spends countless hours meditating. He enjoys observing nature and the organic life that most of his kind fear.- Cool Bike: Prowl transforms into a motorcycle
- Dark Is Not Evil: His main colors are black with secondary gray and is one of the heroes.
- Deadpan Snarker: His stoic demeanor lends itself to a very dry wit, which Prowl often displays, especially when working with Bumblebee.
- Distress Ball: In the fight with the nanite monster, he tells Orion that there's only one person he trusts. Himself. He promptly gets sucked into the monster and almost killed were it not for his teammates. In fact, despite him being the best fighter of the team, Prowl catches the Distress Ball quite a few times in the series, usually after trying to do something alone. Maybe it's trying to send him a message?
- Ineffectual Loner: The Cyber-Ninja mostly gets over this after almost getting killed during their first time on Earth, but relapses now and then.
- Nature-Loving Robot: Prowl Is a downplayed example, but he shows a fascination with animals (Birds in particular).
- Ninja: He's literally trained in the Cybertronian equivalent of Ninjitsu, having studied at the Cyber-Ninja Academi.
- Older Than They Look: Was around during the Great War but didn't fought in it.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's tall, most of his armor is colored black, and he sometimes makes sarcastic remarks about the other members of the team.
Bulkhead
Bulkhead
A tough bruiser who is built for combat. Admittedly not the smartest bot, Bulkhead is so good at breaking things that he doesn't have much room for grace and finesse. Despite that, he is very friendly and gentle, but he won't hesitate to go all out wrecking things with his own power when necessary.- Adaptational Intelligence: Bulkhead is more like his Prime version in terms of intellect
- Gentle Giant: Big and bulky, but still very heroic and gentle to everyone as long as they aren't Decepticons.
Bumblebee
Bumblebee
A speedy and impulsive young Cybertronian who is eager to prove himself. Bee thinks on his wheels and less on his head and tends to goof up and have fun. Yet when push comes to shove, he's always willing to step up. He never slacks on his duties, and more often then not, obeys orders instantly.- Baby Of The Bunch: He's the youngest of Optimus' team.
- Motor Mouth: Bee would not stop talking.
- Shock and Awe: Uses electrical stingers befitting his namesake that can be used in tandem with Ratchet's magnets to create an EMP attack
Humans
In General
Issac Sumdac
A professor and scientist who is the head of a very big tech company, having risen to fame and fortune with his own inventions which he built by reverse-engineering a dormant robot he encountered in the past.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He's devastated and remorseful over falling for Megatron's plot to piece himself back together again after said Decepticon gets back online with the final touches completed by his troops. He also doesn't argue with the Autobots when they call him out for it, knowing it was entirely his fault.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The robot he he based his tech on? That robot was Megatron. As per what happened in Animated, he ends up falling for Megatron's manipulations and kept Orion and his team in the dark about it, allowing King Con to rise again to cause trouble for everyone.
Sari Sumdac
Issac Sumdac's daughter and the Autobots' main human companion.
- Break the Cutie: When Powell reveals to her that she technically does not exist and kicks her out of her home, Sari breaks down.
Officer Carmine Fanzone
The captain of the Chicago Police who tends to have a disdain for machines
- Born in the Wrong Century: In a city full of high-tech machinery, Fanzone often gets frustrated with all of it.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While he initially has his misgivings about the Autobots, like whether or not they are suited to look after Sari, after working with them to rescue her, he understands that they're the good guys and are trying to help.
The Elite Guard
In General
- Black-and-Gray Morality: The Decepticons, especially Megatron are obviously evil due to their actions and behavior, but unlike Team Prime, the Elite Guard had committed rather questionable acts under Zeta's rule.
Zeta Prime
Zeta Prime
The levelheaded and extremist leader of Cybertron before Optimus, who stood against Megatron in the first war and was the same one who launched the All Spark away from Cybertron.- Big Good: He's the leader of the Autobots before Optimus took his place and is an influencal figure in Orion's life yet he subverts it as he continued the caste system and held prejudges towards Arsenal.
- Decomposite Character: While he and Sentinel have been separate characters, in his appearances in other works, like War For Cybertron, where Zeta has taken the role of Optimus Prime's predecessor. Here, they are two different characters with different personalities.
- Foil: He is this to Optimus Prime. The only thing that they share is that they were both young when they inherited the Matrix.
- Killed Off for Real: The Old Prime is killed by Megatron upon after the moment King Con regained his new body.
- Passing the Torch: Zeta makes Orion the new leader of the Autobots as he was dying and after seeing that the young bot was a much better person than he could ever be.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He was willing to give Orion a second chance after the Elita incident and realized how he was very wrong about the younger bot as he was dying.
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
A elder bot who sworn loyalty to the Primes. A traditionalist at heart, but a good and loyal soldier of the Autobots, nonetheless. Optimus relies heavily on him to help him transition into his new seat of power.- The Lancer: Magnus serves as second in command for Zeta and Optimus, being a trusted confidant for the two, especially for the younger Optimus
- Number Two: During and after the Great War, Magnus was Zeta's right hand bot throughout the many years of ruling Cybertron.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He is an levelheaded and reasonable soldier that Prime respects to the point where he chooses him to be his representative back on Cybertron.
- Shock and Awe: Magnus wields a powerful technological warhammer that grants the old soldier the ability to summon lightning, making it a deadly weapon in combat.
- Thunder Hammer: His go-to weapon is a huge hammer that can summon lightning.
Lieutenant Sentinel
Sentinel
An egotistical and boisterous fool who uses his position to issue orders and command high respect. Years back, Sentinel was best friends with Optimus and Elita-One until an incident on a foreign organic planet, during which Elita was separated from them and assumed dead. The Prime and the Lieutenant's relationship had been strained since.- Bullying a Dragon: Upon first meeting the Dinobots, he threatens them, telling them that they now served the Elite Guard, and when they refuse he essentially calls them dumb. To say Grimlock did not take kindly to this would be an Understatement
- Boisterous Weakling: He's very confident in his combat skills, but his combat record is abysmal. Like when he tried to fight Megatron for example.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The lieutenant is soundly swatted like a fly by Megatron when he tried to fight the Decepticon leader.
- Enemy Mine: He secretly works with Starscream in order to usurp Optimus so he can be the most respected Autobot that he delusionally believe he is.
- Fantastic Racism: Sentinel has a very xenophobic attitude towards the humans, constantly making disparaging remarks about them and thinking lowly of them, saying helping them is beneath the Cybertronians.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Many of the Autobots barely tolerate Sentinel's attitude, with his superiors constantly having to reprimand him for his behavior and the others wishing they didn't have to put up with him. But only do it for Optimus' sake and only for the young Prime.
- Glory Hound: His greatest goal in life is to be seen as amazing and wonderful. This delusional goal made him past the point where he secretly works with Starscream in order to usurp Optimus in order to have the Matrix of Leadership so "he" can be Prime.
- Jerkass: Not polite to anybody, including Optimus, the Dinobots, or humans.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Once Sentinel gets to Earth, he suffers constant humiliation. To wit, he gets attacked by the Dinobots after he insults them, he gets taken out by Megatron after the latter returns when he tries to fight him, and he nearly get hit by a semi-truck when he ignores the traffic laws.
- Never My Fault: How he reacted to the Elita-One incident. Optimus did prevent him from going back for her, but the whole trip was his idea in the first place, and Elita was just as eager to tag along. Optimus tried to talk them both out of it. He even let his old friend take the fall for the whole incident during a tribunal.
- We Used to Be Friends: He once went along swimmingly with Optimus and Elita until an incident separated the poor female Autobot from Optimus and Sentinel. Now, both of them are at each others' necks.
Ironhide
Ironhide
A colonel of the Elite Guard's Wreckers unit. Said to be the strongest and most well respected soldiers during the Great War.- Colonel Bad Ass: Is currently a colonel in the Elite Guard and is more than capable of kicking skidplate, as seen when he went up Lugnut.
- Cool Old Guy: Good old Ironhide can be a trusted and great friend to anyone.
- Team Member in the Adaptation: No official version of Ironhide has been a Wrecker. Here, he is.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He recommended Bumblebee to Arsenal's crew after figuring out that 'Bee took the blame for his friend's mistake at the cost of his own career.
Jazz
An calmhearted and just plain cool bot. Jazz is a graduate of the Cyber-Ninja Corps and like Prowl, has an interest in organic life.
Cliffjumper
Cliffjumper
An corporal in the Elite Guard ranks and Bee's older brother who he looks up to him, trying to follow him in his footsteps.- Adaptational Personality Change: He is less of a hot blooded blood knight here.
- Big Brother Instinct: Has this for both his little brother Bumblebee and Sari, a girl he just met on the day he arrived to Earth.
- Cool Big Bro: Bumblebee definitely looks up to him and wanted to be a scout, following in Cliff's footsteps.
- Related in the Adaptation: Cliff is Bee's older brother.
Other Autobots
Elita One
Elita One
Decepticons
In General
- Badass Crew: All of the members are extremely powerful, capable of fighting and taking down various Autobots without breaking a sweat.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In contrast to Team Prime, Megatron's inner circle can barely stand each other, arguing and distrusting one another. The only reason why they haven't blown each other to scrap is because of King Con and his leadership.
Megatron
Megatron/Megatronus
Leader of the Decepticons, aimed at conquering Cybertron and doing what he views is returning the planet to its golden age. He's clearly out of his mind, stating that no cost is too high and he feels that anything that doesn't at least stay out of his way must die.
- Arch-Enemy: Megatron develops this view of Prime since the day they first came to Earth and is extremely jealous of the young bot being twice the greater leader than he ever was, especially since Optimus came from much humbler beginnings than he did.
- Big Bad: Is the leader of the Decepticons and Prime's arch nemesis.
- The Chessmaster: He always has a plan for any situation, whether it's finding ways to get his body back or building a space bridge, he always knows how to improvise when the plans don't work.
- The Dreaded: He is highly feared by the Autobots, as Orion and the crew know they are outmatched by him. Later on in the series, upon looking at his holographic image created by the All Spark, Sari freaked out by just seeing it and called out for Ratchet when she was banging the door.
- Genius Bruiser: He isn't the leader of the Decepticons for nothing. Megatron may be older than Optimus but he is an extremely powerful warrior, taking down Elite Guard members and Zeta, the previous Prime with ease and is an extremely competent chessmaster.
- Hypocrite: Megatron formed the Decepticons to fight the oppression lower caste bots suffered from. Upon learning about the All Spark, he has no problems using it to turn the Autobots into mindless slaves, the very thing he was fighting against.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Optimus as he threatened both Starscream and Blackarachnia that if they finished off the young Prime without his consent, they would answer to him.
Starscream
Starscream
The treacherous second in command. A Sky Commander who is capable of flooring even Ultra Magnus with a close enough shot, but he has no chance of winning a fair fight with Prime and Megatron- Back from the Dead: After getting killed by Megatron for his betrayal in season one, Starscream is brought back thanks to an Allspark fragment getting embedded in his head.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Screamer tried to lead the Decepticons after Megatron is "destroyed", but it's clear that he doesn't command the same respect among the troops that his dreaded master does, and when Megatron returns, Starscream quickly falls by the wayside and never manages to upstage him
- Cool Plane: Like always, Starscream's vehicle mode is a jet.
- Smug Snake: He is incredibly arrogant, believing himself to be a more suited leader than Megatron and constantly talking down to friend and foe alike.
- The Starscream: As usual, but here he is a lot more cunning, as he is able to rejoin the Decepticons after Megatron killed him by saying that he can help in retrieving Allspark fragments thanks to the one in his head.
Soundwave
Soundwave
One of Megatron's earliest followers and True Right-Hand Bot. Soundwave is absolutely loyal to Megatron, providing communication and technical skills that gives Megatron's strategies a precise edge.- Beware the Quiet Ones: Soundwave doesn't talk much compared to his teammates, but make no mistake, he is just as dangerous as the rest of them.
- Combat Tentacles: Like his Transformers: Prime incarnation, he can use tentacles for close-quarters combat.
- Drone Deployer: Per tradition, Soundwave is accompanied by an army of Mini-Cassettes that can help him in combat or reconnaissance. His cassettes include Laserbeak, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, and Ratbat.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He cares for his cassettes and was very upset when Bulkhead destroyed Rumble.
- Foil: To Lugnut. Both have Undying Loyalty towards Megatron, but whereas Lugnut is loud and tends to destroy first rather than think, Soundwave is stoic and calculating, making him much more favored by Megatron in comparison.
- Machine Monotone: Speaks in a robotic and monotone voice.
- Make Some Noise: Is armed with sonic weaponry like a shoulder-mounted cannon.
- Only Sane Man: Is the only Decepticon besides his leader who stays serious and focused on the mission.
- The Stoic: As usual, Soundwave speaks with a Machine Monotone and has a visor and faceplate that cover his face.
- Surrounded by Idiots: While The Stoic, Soundwave's body language when working with Lugnut and Blitzwing, both of whom can't stay focused on the task at hand, clearly expresses his annoyance.
- Undying Loyalty: To Megatron.
Lugnut
Lugnut
A powerful Decepticon that is devoted to Megatron, often proclaiming his Lord's greatness at the top of his voicebox.- The Brute: One of the most powerful Decepticons of the Nemesis crew, serving as their muscle.
- Cool Plane: Transforms into something resembling a bomber plane.
- Dumb Muscle: Is probably the second most powerful Decepticon of the Nemesis crew, right behind Megatron, but does not have much in terms of brains.
- Foil: He is this for several characters.
- Soundwave. The two are completely loyal to Megatron, but Soundwave is stoic and calculating, while Lugnut is loud and a bit dense in the head.
- Starscream. Both he and Screamer turn into planes, but Starscream is a cunning, smug schemer who keeps plotting to usurp leadership of the Decepticons for himself, while the not-so-bright Lugnut is very loyal to Megatron, what with his constant praises to King Con.
- Bulkhead: Both are the big muscle of their respective teams, but Bulkhead is gentler and smarter than Lugnut. And Bulk isn't a zealot when comes to his loyalty to Optimus.
- Large Ham: Always shouts, especially when talking about GLORIOUS Megatron.
- Undying Loyalty: To Megatron, to the point of zealotry. The Decepticon leader himself can occasionally get annoyed with Lugnut's constant praises.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Blitzwing. While the two can get annoyed at each other with their quirks, they work well as a team and are often seen together.
Blitzwing
Blitzwing
At first glance, Blitzwing seems to be a stoic, no-nonsense Decepticon. However, he is a master Mood-Swinger, able to change from stoic to anger to insanity depending on his mood.- The Brute: His angry side is always ready for a fight and is Hot-Blooded.
- Cool Plane: Transforms into a fighter jet
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: His random side.
- Elemental Powers: His icy persona can use ice, his angry persona can use fire, and his crazy persona can use both.
- Hot-Blooded: His angry side.
- Mood-Swinger: Constantly swings between his angry, icy, and crazy persona.
- Playing with Fire: His angry and crazy faces can use fire blasts.
- Tank Goodness: His other alternate mode is a tank.
Blackarachnia
Blackarachnia
A Insecticon-like-Cybertronian who held no allegiances to either side and displayed a fondness for the hunting of prey. As the Decepticons are all for wanton destruction, she allied with them just so she could continue her sick games.- Decomposite Character: Blackarachnia and Elita One are two separate individuals in this series, unlike in Animated.
- Spiders Are Scary: Based on a spider in robot and alt mode and is one of the Decepticons.
Makeshift
Makeshift
A rare "shifter" Cybertronian, Makeshift is able to easily and quickly impersonate other Cybertronians in both appearance and voice. This makes him an excellent spy and infiltrator for the Cons.- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Capable of transforming himself into anyone, aside from turning into alt modes.
