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Surprisingly enough, no matter how seemingly-repetitive things got, there were quite a lot of landmark Transformers series that stood out among the rest. In fact, some fans might argue that certain Transformers series really set the standards with regard to the creation of Transformers stories. Just which Transformers series was a cut different from the rest?
Updated on October 31, 2022, by Rhenn Taguia: With Transformers: Rise of the Beasts coming for a 2023 release and may actually adapt the Beast Wars spinoff, fans of the media’s most popular robots in disguise may want to know what other Transformers series may strike their fancy. To the delight of a Transformers newcomer, other interesting series may include a spinoff of the original Generation 1 era, a kids-oriented take on the Transformers, as well as better insights into the history of Optimus Prime and his variants. However, just which of these series are must-watches for newcomers looking for a new Transformers media to consume outside the more popular Armada and film series?
15 Transformers: Victory (1989)
One of the more interesting aspects of the classic Transformers era is its connection to its American and Japanese counterparts. While the Japanese had largely adapted the original Generation 1 animated series, they also created their spin-offs, such as Transformers: The Headmasters. It was Transformers: Victory, released in 1989, that serves as perhaps the most radical in terms of its differences compared to the original series.
In this series, Autobot Supreme Commander Star Saber is an adamant defender of Earth against Deathsaurus, the new Emperor of Destruction of the villainous Decepticons. It’s up to Star Saber and his allies to stop Deathsaurus from using Earth’s energy to reawaken his planet-destroying fortress. This series is known to take an anime-like episode approach, where stories don’t always change the status quo, and the transformations are seldom but emphasized whenever important. Fans looking for a cult classic that shows the immense creativity surrounding the Japanese’s take on Transformers may appreciate Victory.
14 Transformers: Titans Return (2017)
Serving as the second installment of the Prime Wars alternate Generation 1 timeline, Titans Return gives a rather wild take on fan-favorite characters after the devastating events of Combiner Wars. With Cybertron on the path of being rebuilt, a dead Starscream manages to revive into the deadly Trypticon.
Such was its power that Windblade was forced to make uneasy allies of ages-old enemies, including Optimus Prime and Megatron, as they made their way to resurrect the only powers capable of matching Trypticon - the Titans. Unfortunately for Windblade and her team, reviving them may have put Cybertron in more peril. Fans who want to see Optimus and Megatron team up with unlikely allies may appreciate Titans Return.
13 Transformers: Rescue Bots (2012)
Given the popular acclaim of Transformers and the appeal of transforming toy cars to children, it makes sense for the franchise to try and create a kids show. While Robot Heroes already existed back then, Transformers: Rescue Bots was created as a direct successor, again featuring a new team of Autobots dedicated to teaching children about safety and hazards.
However, Rescue Bots isn’t just a run-of-the-mill children’s show with funny Transformers elements, as its premise is rather heavy. In it, the Rescue Bots respond to Optimus Prime’s original message for active Autobots in space to come to Earth. While the Rescue Bots had arrived on Earth after stasis, they were fortunate to have been away when Cybertron was destroyed by war long ago. With Heatwave, Boulder, Blades, and Chase being the only Rescue Bots remaining, Optimus Prime assigned them to the Burns Family of first responders to help the community of Griffin Rock near Maine.
12 Transformers: Combiner Wars (2016)
Due to the expanded nature of the Transformers universe, it makes sense for some stories to explore the lives of specific characters and alternate takes on their series. For instance, the Shattered Glass series gives an inverted take on the franchise’s factions, with Decepticons being good and Autobots being evil. This time around, the 2016-2018 Prime Wars trilogy gives an alternate take on the Generation 1 story, albeit more subtly.
Starting with Combiner Wars, this story involves an uneasy peace in Cybertron created after the mysterious disappearances of Optimus Prime and Megatron. With the Enigma of Combination creating Combiners such as the powerful Victorion that led into the Combiner Wars, it’s up to Windblade, discontent with the inaction of the new Cybertronian Council, to take matters into her own hands - all with intense Transformers action scenes. Fans looking for a Transformers series that Optimus Prime and the Autobots don’t necessarily headline may appreciate Combiner Wars.
11 Transformers: Power Of The Primes (2018)
It’s not all the time that a third season neatly wraps around a short miniseries, and Transformers: Power of the Primes gets the job done for retelling the Generation 1 story as the last entry in the Prime Wars trilogy. In it, the rest of the Transformers team, led by Windblade and Transformers villain Megatron, need to cope with the fact that Optimus Prime has died. In contrast, the immensely-powerful Fallen (Megatronus) has a nefarious plan to bring Cybertron under his control.
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This part of the Prime Wars series explores the Dinobots and a slight retelling of the Beast Wars story, with Optimus Primal eventually proving himself to be one worthy of being Optimus Prime’s successor. Fans looking for a straight-to-the-action take on the Transformers franchise won’t feel lost, with Power of the Primes, with its extremely entertaining take on the sci-fi action adventure.
10 Triple Combination: Transformers Go!
Anime fans might be surprised to know that there’s actually a Transformers anime out there, one of them taking the form of Triple Combination: Transformers Go!, which was launched alongside the Swordbot toylines. The anime takes place in Japan, where Predacon minions try to acquire the Legendiscs to awaken Dragotron, their evil Demon Emperor. However, two separate Autobot combiner teams, the Swordbot Samurai Team and the Swordbot Shinobi Team, team up with two kids to fight this new threat.
Despite its short run of only ten episodes, the show does exemplify the lengths a Transformer series could go to in order to promote a new team. The Swordbot Shinobi and Samurai Teams are Combiners, with its three-bot teams capable of transforming into awesome forms. Aside from a heavy emphasis on action, the time travel premise of acquiring the Legendiscs adds a unique spin to this miniseries.
9 Beast Machines: Transformers (2000)
Serving as a direct sequel to Beast Wars, the Beast Machines: Transformers cartoon continued the adventures of Optimus Primal and the Maximals after arriving back in Cybertron. However, instead of seeing a flourishing paradise, they encounter a barren wasteland populated by Vehicon drones controlled by Megatron. Through the intervention of the Oracle supercomputer, the Maximals are “reprogrammed” to have techno-organic bodies, helping them survive a lethal virus and giving them a fighting chance as they’re vastly outnumbered by Megatron and the Vehicons.
Contrary to the Beast Wars series, Beast Machines definitely had a darker tone for a Transformers cartoon. Viewers will almost immediately see the disadvantage in terms of numbers and how the Maximals will have to rely on their wit and guerilla warfare to use Cybertron’s environment itself against their enemy. And while Beast Machines wasn’t very well received due to this change of tone, it did show the potential of the Transformers franchise having a more mature story.
8 Beast Wars: Transformers (1996)
Fans of the Transformers series would be surprised to see none of the Autobots and the Decepticons in Beast Wars: Transformers. Rather, they get a rag-tag team of Transformers who can shift into animals in a relatively unknown time and era. Led by Optimus Primal, the Maximals will have to defend their home against the Predacons, who want to dominate all life.
Although not necessarily liked by a lot of fans when it first aired, Beast Wars: Transformers earned itself a cult following as its three seasons worked well in introducing a new cast of interesting Transformers as well as successfully managing to tie it to the rest of the community.
7 Transformers: Prime (2010)
People who want a unique take on the Transformers concept might want to look into Transformers: Prime, especially since it begins on Earth on the get-go and not a prologue happening in Cybertron. This time around, Optimus Prime and his Team Prime are staying in Nevada, hiding their true natures while eventually meeting and befriending various humans. Meanwhile, Megatron has been steadily gaining new members to his forces and has the Decepticons search for the unstable Dark Energon, capable of giving him more power.
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While the series does succeed in giving a new dimension to the Transformers series, it does lack a bit in terms of the character development scene. The desire to feature multiple Autobots and Decepticons proved well in exposing them to a new audience. Unfortunately, the focus on an overarching plot and renewed mythos did compromise some opportunities for character development.
6 Transformers: Cybertron (2005)
Franchise fans who remember the adventures of Optimus Prime and the Mini-Cons in Armada will experience an even bigger adventure this time with the entire universe hanging in the balance. In Transformers: Cybertron, a massive black hole threatens to devour Cybertron and other nearby worlds. And while Primus’s essence in the Omega Lock has enough power to stop it, the Lock needs four Keys, scattered across the galaxy, to open it. In a race against time, Optimus and his team of Autobots will have to get to the Keys before Megatron, utterly consumed by a thirst for power, gets his hands on them.
Despite the initial negative reception, Cybertron tries to remedy the problems of its predecessors, Energon and Armada. This time around, the basic plot of Cybertron helped facilitate a more cohesive plot, giving more than enough room to establish the series’ core mythos and attachment to characters. Moreover, with Cybertron being the most recent Transformers series at the time, the show didn’t hesitate to fill its episodes with multiple references and Easter Eggs, adding to its major appeal.
5 Transformers: War For Cybertron (2020)
Given the interrelated stories between the original The Transformers cartoons and the likes of Beast Wars, it can get difficult for viewers to get a full grasp of the franchise’s core narrative if they had to watch a couple hundred episodes’ worth of stories. Thankfully, the Transformers: War For Cybertron series resolves this by packing quite an intense Transformers story into a neat 18-episode format, each split into three chapters.
Primarily made to support the launch of the three-part War For Cybertron Trilogy toy line, the War For Cybertron also happens across the span of three chapters. Fans love War For Cybertron,in particular, for its decent narrative revolving around the Cybertronian Civil War that had the Autobots and Decepticons flee Cybertron for Earth, as well as the introduction of the Maximals and Predacons. Uniquely enough, its final chapter culminates in an epic finish, ending itself by introducing fresh new faces, new connections, and a villain looming over the horizon.
4 Transformers: Animated (2007)
The series experiences a return to form of sorts thanks to Transformers: Animated, which at its release steered clear of the grand opera-esque stories of its predecessors and instead focused on standalone episodes. In Animated, Optimus Prime and the Autobots end up making a base in Detroit after possessing the AllSpark artifact and would now have to adjust to life as Robots in Disguise. In here, they meet new friends, new superhuman villains, and witness the repercussions of a world that managed to begin reverse-engineering technology from a dormant Megatron.
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Despite its episodic approach, a lot of the background details in Animated eventually blossom into full story arcs, bringing quite a flavorful finish to the rather simple nature of the show. Thanks to its straightforward narrative and focus on G1 characters, Animated easily becomes a good gateway into the Transformers series without dropping lore on the viewers.
3 Transformers: Cyberverse (2018)
Newcomers to the franchise who want a completely fresh take on the Transformers franchise may appreciate Transformers: Cyberverse. Set in its own continuity and featuring new evergreen designs, Cyberverse is a retelling of the Great War in Cybertron and its aftermath, this time around focusing on a brand new mythology. In the story, when the Autobots venture to Earth, the newcomer Windblade must help an amnesiac Bumblee regain his memories while locating both Optimus Prime and the AllSpark.
However, fans would love Cyberverse for its interesting take on the narrative, especially as tensions rise. Aside from the hunt for the AllSpark, Cyberverse will introduce unique civilizations that would threaten the Transformers, as well as multiple instances of both Autobots and Decepticons questioning their role in the war.
2 Transformers: Armada (2002)
Of all the Transformers series to grace television, it’s perhaps Transformers: Armada that may be part of the most memorable for fans and newcomers alike. While it generally has the same premise of Autobots and Decepticons warring in Cybertron, this time, the conflict revolves around the mysterious Mini-Cons, smaller Transformers capable of providing their users with great power. Newcomers might appreciate the appeal of Powerlinxing Mini-Cons and, eventually, Transformers Super Weapons and Fusions. Meanwhile, hardcore fans may also remember Armada, particularly for the lack of Bumbelee, who was this time replaced by the over-eager Hot Shot.
Despite its mixed reception, Armada evidently helped bring the Transformers to a more modern audience, incorporating multiple concepts in the franchise into its rather expansive narrative. And given its take as a cross between a conventional anime and a Western cartoon, Armada provides a unique flavor to the entire Transformers franchise, especially considering the visual appeal of 2D transformations compared to the grand 3D effects of more recent media.
1 The Transformers (1984)
Perhaps the best way to enjoy the Transformers franchise is through its original series, The Transformers, which laid the groundwork for most of the setting, characters, and storylines. At its core, the series formally introduces the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons, which continues to the modern-day after they’re awakened from stasis from their crash-landing billions of years ago.
While a lot of the major storylines from The Transformers already exist in the other series, the 1984 cartoons did have their fair share of unique story arcs. Combined with the fresh mythology of the Transformers, fans can watch and discover which concepts would carry over to other parts of the expanded Transformers franchise and which would be left to obscurity.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will be released in 2023.
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