Fandom Specific Plot/Transformers

As one of the Long Runners, Transformers has spawned a lot of repeated storylines over the decades.

General

• Somehow; maybe through the AllSpark, Vector Sigma, being wired into a Cybertronian body, touching a Spark, being infused with Energon, etc; a human ally will be turned into a Cybertronian. This is a rather divisive one.
• In canon, Transformers are The Ageless. They can be killed, but they cannot die. Not the case in fanfiction. In fanfiction, they have a natural end to their lifespan just like humans. Though weirdly, Alpha Trion (who is older than Cybertronian society) is never affected by this.
• Likewise, Cybertronians are an asexual race in canon, lacking any form of reproductive organs and needing some form of MacGuffin (the AllSpark, Vector Sigma, etc.) to propagate. Not in fanfiction. Here they're able to reproduce just like organics can, maybe even crossbreed with organics. Which begs the question of why they need the AllSpark in the first place...
• Newborn Transformers; usually called "protoforms" in canon but known as "sparklings" in fanon (though the latter term has creeped into canon once or twice); spend anywhere from a few hours to a week as a "baby" but will nonetheless be fully aware and lucid, needing only some basic instructions to go out and make their way in the world. Assuming that they're not simply Born as an Adult. Fanfics feature sparklings as just metal versions of human newborns, having been carried in the same way and needing the same degree of care and nurturing.
• Rewriting one's own Ultimate Universe styled Transformers story.
• There's a female Cybertronian who's been incredibly abused (physically and emotionally) but is also one of the Autobots' best fighters and is both morbidly grim and hilariously fun at the same time. She's also harbouring some Dark Secret with Megatron having a Villainous Crush on her.
• An incredibly abused human girl with a mental disease runs away from home is found by an Autobot, usually one of the grumpy ones, and is raised by them.
• Writing up a Transformers Shattered Glass version of the show.

Crossovers

• The usual set-up for Crossovers is to have the Space Bridge malfunction, dumping the Autobots and Decepticons elsewhere (which is said to be the case for My Little Pony/Transformers). In the case of Beast Wars, the Maximals and Predacons interfere with a Vok site that sends them to another Vok station somewhere in time and space.
• Whatever Cool Car (or Cool Starship) exists in the other property is a Cybertronian or is turned into one via the AllSpark.
• Magic and Transformers don't mix. How else are the Squishy Wizards not supposed to just be stepped on?
• The Transformers are deeply intertwined in whatever mythology of the other property's lore. Usually the result of a previous Cybertronian landing in whatever setting or the result of the Thirteen Primes travelling the universe (don't try and figure out how a group that died billions of years ago interacted with a group that was around only a few thousand years ago).
• If the other property takes place on another planet, just shift everything there (i.e.: the Ark/Axalon and the Nemesis/Darksyde crash in Equestria or the AllSpark winds up Tatooine).

The Transformers

• Bridging the gap between the second season and Transformers: The Movie. Often this includes trying to answer what happened to all the characters who were hit by Chuck Cunningham Syndrome (though the obvious answer as to why someone disappeared in a war never seems to occur to anyone). The most popular choices seem to be Skyfire or Huffer.
• As the Decepticons seemed to like going into space more than the Autobots, it's common to see Slice of Life fics about the Autobots interacting with their human friends and human society.
• Doing away with the "the Quintessons built the Transformers" and "a monkey created Unicron" plots and making Unicron his usual God of Evil self while bringing in Primus.
• Jazz/Prowl.
• As the first two seasons of the cartoon were generally considered better than the third, a lot of stories see the war ending some time around 1985.

Beast Wars

• A Cybertronian from the era of the Great War; usually an Autobot female, or a neutral female with Autobot sympathies; somehow ends up on prehistoric Earth; time travel may or may not be involved; and meets up with the Maximals. Or a just an ordinary human girl somehow ends up outside the Axalon.
• Undoing the Happy Ending Override of Beast Machines.
• Plugging in the gaps of how the Maximals and Predacons arrived on Earth.
• The Maximals and Predacons crashing, or winding up, in the modern day instead of the prehistoric era.

Bayverse

• The most popular idea for Bayverse writers seems to be rewriting the saga outright, usually with much greater continuity between the films (with Mythology Gags galore) and focus on both the Cybertronians and the humans (usually Lennox and his family) beyond Sam.
• You don't get a union card as a Bayverse writer until you feature Unicron.
• Sometime around 2015, the character of Nova Prime appeared in the Bayverse fanfiction community. This Nova Prime is not the Galactic Conqueror of IDW (though from descriptions he looks like him). Rather he's a 15 years old Half-Human Hybrid (if you expect the fic to explain how human/Cybertronian works, you'll be sorely disappointed), has a genius level IQ, is beloved by everyone, and is the most powerful Prime to ever exist. Oh and he also has a Dark and Troubled Past but still manages to be the nicest of Nice Guys you could ever meet. He's usually named Adam or Nick.
• With the original run of films seemingly ended, it's common to finds fics continuing on from Transformers: The Last Knight.

Bumblebee

• Fics that try to split the difference between the directors and make Bumblebee work with the other films. Mainly built around the premise of Sam meeting Charlie.
• Continuing on from the film's story, either focusing on the other Autobots setting up their base on Earth or that Shatter managed to send a garbled transmission and more Decepticons (usually the Stunticons) have arrived to investigate. Usually features some Canon Welding with the Transformers Aligned Universe, normally in the form of Dark Energon having caused Cybertron to shut down. Blitzwing may or may not have survived.
  • Despite being Adapted Out of the film, Megatron is usually still around in these fics. The general fanon belief seems to be that everyone thought that Optimus had killed Megatron some time prior to the film, leading Soundwave and Shockwave to take charge, only for the great slagmaker to make a Big Entrance when Optimus was surrounded.
• A very common vehicle for a Crossover is to replace Charlie with someone from another franchise.

Transformers Animated

• Like any great show that fell victim to a Cancellation, continuing the storyline based on the released concepts of What Could Have Been. Or just making a fully original continuation.
• As the Great War was a Great Offscreen War in this timeline, stories about Ratchet's experience in it are very common.
• Exploring Sari's origins.
• Optimus got left behind on Archa Seven instead of Elita. He now calls himself Tarantulas.

Transformers Prime

• The early days of the Thirteen Primes seems a very enticing idea to a good number of authors.
• Transformers Prime spawned a lot of fanfics about Jack Darby undergoing Adaptational Badass and becoming The Chosen One while being powerful enough to defeat all the Decepticons on his own. MECH somehow becomes an incredibly competent threat and Jack/Arcee is very likely to happen here. Jack may or may not be Cybertronian / become a Cybertronian.
  • This premise is a popular segway for Crossovers as Jack may get some MacGuffin from another property, such as the Omnitrix (probably the most popular flavour) or a Green Lantern Ring, to give him fighting capabilities. One brief surge of fics was to make him a Kryptonian. In these, expect the characters from the other franchise to smack around the Autobots and Decepticons who have millions of years of combat experience; though one could argue that they undergo Adaptational Badass to fight on a Cybertronian level. And while the baddies from the other franchise can handle the Autobots and Decepticons, they'll be helpless against a Hormone-Addled Teenager whose battle plan is Attack! Attack! Attack!
• As said above, reimagining MECH into a competent threat to both Autobots and Decepticons.
• As much as everyone loved Prime's high quality CGI, the tight budget also meant that there was a very limited cast of characters to work with. It's very common to have other Autobots and Decepticons, usually Decepticons, hiding out on Earth and join the conflict. Exploring the whereabouts of Elita One (who is sometimes a Composite Character with June Darby) is also very popular.
• After Robots in Disguise, it was common to continue the story of Prime, disregarding the Sequel Series entirely. Or just write up their own version of RiD.
• During the Season 2 hiatus, it was common to see fanfics where Bulkhead really did die from his wounds and how that affected Miko.
• A short lived craze featured Megatron's Hostile Terraforming of Earth succeeding.
• When expanding on Cybertron's past, Canon Welding with IDW is very popular. Unlike in the Bayverse, Nova Prime is usually presented as an awful person.
• A group of neutral Cybertronians, led by a female with a remarkable similarity to the author who feels more human than Cybertronian, is hiding out on Earth. They chance across the Autobots and offer their aid. In fact, they offer so much aid (tactical, medical, and combative) to the Autobots that one wonders why these neutrals didn't just become Autobots in the first place.
• Starscream, Knock Out, or Dreadwing pulling a Heel Face Turn and joining the Autobots. Breakdown is often spared in these.