Unicron Trilogy continuity family

The eponymous "Unicron Trilogy", consisting of theArmada,Energon,andCybertronfranchises, forms the basis for the entireUnicron Trilogy continuity family.The fourth-largestcontinuity familyencompasses three cartoons, two comics, and multiple storybooks and video games; it is named for the central roleUnicronplays in the overall story, since all three series revolve around him in some way—evenCybertron,where his destruction results in the creation of the series' primary threat, theuniverse-threatening black hole.

As the first true Japanese-American coproduction to come out of theTransformersfranchise, the three television shows that constitute the bulk of this continuity were originally produced inJapanand later exported and dubbed to other countries for international release. Along withRobots in Disguise,the cartoons are remembered for their Japanese influences—each installment features plenty of mecha-inspiredsuper modesand supernatural power boosts. Although WesternArmadafiction likeDreamwave's comics played the premise straighter and hewed closer toMarvel's1980sThe Transformerscomicin tone, many of the surface-level anime stylings remained. From a meta perspective, the Unicron Trilogy is also notable for introducing a third faction of diminutive, power-boostingMini-Conswhile reintroducingPrimus—divine creator of the Transformer race—to the overarcingTransformersmythos.

Within the fictionalTransformersmultiverse,theTransTechclassify every Unicron Trilogy continuity as a part of the "Aurex"universal cluster.

Contents 1Major continuities 1.1DreamwaveArmadacontinuity 1.2Cartoons 1.3PaniniArmadacomic 2Minor continuities 2.1Toy bios 2.2Toy pack-in comics 2.3BendonArmadabooks 2.4Reader's DigestArmadanovels 2.5Transformers Legendsanthology 2.6Transformers (PS2) 2.7Galaxy Forcemanga 2.8Spacewarp's Log 3Notes 3.1Foreign names 4References

Major continuities

As of 2025, we identify three major continuities in this family, many of which possess a number of notable sub-branches andmicro-continuities.The lists below are not meant to be complete guides to every work in that continuity, but provide a quick overview of that continuity's most notable media.

DreamwaveArmadacontinuity

Main articles:Dreamwave Armada continuityandDreamwave Armada timeline

• Transformers: Armada(2002-2003)
• More than Meets the Eye: Transformers: Armada(2004)
• Transformers: Energon(2004)

Dreamwave Productionsacquired theTransformerslicense in 2002, and launched anArmadatie-in comic alongside their "Generation One"storyline. Like many otherTransformerstales,Armadabegins on a war-torn Cybertron asOptimus Prime'sAutobotsbattleMegatron'sDecepticons—inthissubset of realities, however, the war is fought not forenergonor territory, but for control of the planet'sMini-Cons,a third faction of tiny, power-boosting Cybertronians. But when the Mini-Cons flee their planet aboard the starshipExodus,a freak accident strands half of the Mini-Cons onEarthand eventually brings them into contact with humanity. When the Autobots and Decepticons travel to Earth to continue their war, however, they make contact with threehumanchildren and discover that not all of the Mini-Conswantto ally themselves with the Autobots. Although theArmadacomic is most notable for its frequent depiction of events from the Mini-Cons' point of view—unlike the anime, the comic depicted the Mini-Cons as normal Cybertronians with the ability to speak English—Armada's final arc abruptly pushes the ideological conflict between these three races to the side in favor of a climactic battle againstUnicronand his five "Heralds",a quintet of dimension-hopping"Generation 1"Transformers led byGalvatron.Additionally, theMore than Meets the Eyeguidebook assigned personalities and profiles to basically every Armada character up to that point, even those who didn't appear in the comic.

In2004,the comic rebranded itself asTransformers: Energonand followed the cartoon's example by skipping ten years into the future. Although Unicron's defeat led to a Decepticon surrender and a complete armistice, the Autobots now find themselves contending with Unicron's "Four Horsemen"who seek to revive their leader, while the mysteriousAlpha Quintessonand his army ofTerrorconshave their own designs for the remnants of the Decepticon army.

Ultimately, however, a combination of poor management, numerous financial troubles, and someextremelydubious business practices resulted in the company declaring bankruptcy in early 2005, though Hasbro had already decided to not renew their partnership with Dreamwave the year before.^[1]As a result, theEnergoncomic abruptly ended midway through its run, although authorSimon Furmanhas released several synopses of unpublished issues on his blog.^[2]

Cartoons

Main articles:Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuityandUnicron Trilogy cartoon timeline

• Transformers: Armada(2002-2003)
• Linkage(2003-2004)
• Transformers: Energon(2004-2005)
• Transformers: Cybertron(2005-2006)

TheTransformers: Armadacartoon hit the airwaves in late 2002. Like Dreamwave's comic, the cartoon features the Autobots and Decepticons searching for Mini-Cons hidden across the planetEarthwith the assistance of their human friendsRad,Carlos,andAlexis—though the Mini-Cons of this continuity lacked the ability to speak and communicated solely through electronic bleeps and bloops. Unlike Dreamwave's comic, however, the cartoon offered a distinctly sinister origin for these tiny Transformers: toward the end of the show's run, the heroes learned that the Mini-Cons were children ofUnicronhimself, artificial life-forms synthesized to deliberately stoke conflict between the two factions and sustain the planet-eater with their hatred.

Due to a hurried production cycle—most notably, the English dub was rushed to markets a whole six months before the Japanese version premiered—theArmadacartoon hit more than a few technical snafus along the way, including a number of blatant animation or dubbing errors. Unfortunately, the sequel cartoon,Transformers: Energon,only doubled down on many of the same production flaws; its sluggish pace, repetitive plotlines, and overuse of primitive CGI animation means that the result is widely derided as one of the worstTransformersshows of all time.

Fortunately, things picked up in 2005 withTransformers: Cybertron.Following Unicron's second defeat inEnergon,his body collapses into apowerful black holewhich threatens to consume Cybertron entirely. To save their world, the Autobots and Decepticons race to find the fourCyber Planet Keyshidden on different planets, includingEarthGigantion,Velocitron,and theJungle Planet.AlthoughGalaxy Force—the show's Japanese counterpart—was initially presented as a continuity reboot in contrast to Hasbro's intent, later Japanese materials eventuallyretconnedGalaxy Forceback into being the continuation it was conceived as.

Fun Publicationsproduced a few stories set in this continuity—Balancing Actand "Force of Habit"run alongsideCybertronand fill in some of the gaps in the cartoon's chronology, while "The Dark Heart of Sandokan"takes place after the end of theCybertroncartoon. The Japanese-exclusiveLinkagemanga likewise takes place during the events of theArmadacartoon, but follows a different cast of side characters, while another Japanese-exclusive pack-in manga called "Optimus Prime VS Scourge",loosely ties in with the events of theEnergoncartoon.

PaniniArmadacomic

• Transformers: Armada(2003)

Panini's short-livedTransformers: Armadacomic hewed closer to the Dreamwave comic than the cartoon, featuring articulate, fully-sentient Mini-Cons who are initially reluctant to take a side in the Autobot-Decepticon conflict. AlthoughSimon Furmanwrote both the Panini and Dreamwave comics, the two are not set in the same continuity.

Minor continuities

Continuities that comprise multiple books, issues, or instalments, and so are notmicro-continuities,but are far less significant.

Toy bios

Like basically all continuity families, the various Unicron Trilogy toys featuredredecoesof pre-existing characters and many toyline-original characters that did not appear in either the cartoons or comics. TheArmadatoyline featured a very high number ofMini-Consredecoed from pre-existing molds, and a number of full-sized toys were recolored for the "Unicron Battles"subline imprint.In many cases, these represent either new characters or new forms for old characters, existing as they do in their own littlemicro-continuities.

One notable micro-continuity concernsOptimus Prime's2006 Deluxe-class toy;working off his original toybio,theTransTechstoryline andAsk Vector PrimeFacebook feature established this character as "Beast Prime",an alternate-reality version of Optimus Prime who killed his universe'sMegatronafter adopting a simianbeast mode.

Toy pack-in comics

• Transformers: Armada(2003-2016)
• Transformers: Energon(2004)

Written and illustrated by variousDreamwavecreatives, these mini-comics were printed alongside acatalogadvertising the current wave ofArmadatoys, but have no overt link to any otherArmadafiction and take place within their own self-contained continuity that loosely follows the Dreamwave universe, but takes creative inspiration from both cartoons and comics—the Mini-Cons of this reality posess the power of speech, but are also creations of Unicron.

In2016,Fun Publicationsreturned to this strange little universe by publishing "Armada Volume 5",a deliberate style parody that emulated these comics while bridging the gap betweenArmadaandEnergon.

BendonArmadabooks

• "Cave Catastrophe"(2003)
• "Race to Disaster"(2003)

A simplified pair of storybooks in whichOptimus PrimeandHot ShotbattleDemolishorandMegatron.

Reader's DigestArmadanovels

Main article:Reader's Digest

• Transformers Armada: The Battle Begins(2003)
• Transformers Armada: Race for the Mini-Con Robots(2003)
• Transformers Armada: Secret of the Star Saber(2003)
• Transformers Armada: The Autobots Strike Back(2003)

A series of novels which adapt the basicArmadapremise. Like the cartoon, the Mini-Cons do not speak English; unlike the cartoon, however, they are not creations of Unicron, and all three Cybertronian races are the children of a mysterious being called "The Creator".

Transformers Legendsanthology

Main article:Transformers Legends (book)

• "Something Robotic This Way Comes"(2004)
• "Lonesome Diesel"(2004)
• "Prime Spark"(2004)
• "Fire in the Dark"(2004)

The 2004Transformers Legendsbook contains a number of stories set in some version of theTransformers: Armadaera, although it is debatable if they are all meant to be in thesameuniverse—either way, "Something Robotic This Way Comes"depicts a timeline in which the war for the Mini-Cons is still ongoing many thousands of years in the future,"Fire in the Dark"incorporates a version of theBeast Warsinto the universe, and "Lonesome Diesel"folds a number of"Generation 1"characters and concepts into the lore. The Mini-Cons of these stories all display the ability to speak English.

Transformers (PS2)

• "The Balance of Power"(2004)
• Transformers(2004)

In this continuity, the Decepticons have conquered Cybertron entirely using a massiveclonearmy, leaving onlyOptimus Prime,Red Alert,andHot Shotto travel to Earth to search for hidden Mini-Cons.

Galaxy Forcemanga

• Transformers: Galaxy Force(2005)

TheTransformers: Galaxy Forcemangais an abridged adaptation of theGalaxy Forcecartoon, hitting most of the cartoon's major story beats but in such a way that it cannot "fit" as a straight retelling of the television show. As a result of its parent show underperforming in Japan, the comic was cancelled after only nine instalments, but with enough leeway to foreshadow most of the developments from the second half of the TV series.

Spacewarp's Log

• Transformers: Spacewarp's Log(2015-2016)

In 2015, theAsk Vector PrimeFacebook feature introduced the swashbucklingDecepticonSpacewarpas a guest columnist, who proved popular enough to get her own spinoff column,Spacewarp's Log.Early on, she established that she hailed from a reality more-or-less analogous to theUnicron Trilogy cartoon continuity,but with some notable differences—in her native universe, for instance, the 'bot we know as "Starscream"is instead named"Ulchtar".

Notes

• The term "Unicron Trilogy" was first mentioned byAaron ArcheratBotCon 2005.^[3]Later, the term was officially canonized by the back ofUniverseVector Prime'spackaging,superseding fan-coined names such as "Armadaverse", "Armadagon", and the "AEC (Armada-Energon-Cybertron) universe".

Foreign names

• Japanese:Micron Sanbusaku(マイクロン3 bộ tácMaikuron Sanbusaku,"Micron Trilogy" )^[4]

References