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* [[Adaptational Badass]]: The most combat ready Arcee who ''[[Transformers Robots in Disguise (comics)|isn't]]'' an [[Ax Crazy]] sociopath.
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* [[Adaptational Badass]]: The most combat ready Arcee who's ''[[Transformers Robots in Disguise (comics)|not]]'' an [[Ax Crazy]] sociopath.
* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II]].
* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type II]].
* [[Berserk Button]]: Bringing up either of her dead partners, or threatening the life of her current one.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Bringing up either of her dead partners, or threatening the life of her current one.
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* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Doom Magnet]]: Two out of two of her Cybertronian partners are dead. She's worried the same will happen to Jack.
* [[Doom Magnet]]: Two out of two of her Cybertronian partners are dead. She's worried the same will happen to Jack.
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* [[Femme Bot]]
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* [[FemBot]]
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* [[Fragile Speedster]]/[[Women Are Delicate]]
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* [[Fragile Speedster]]
* [[Glass Cannon]]
* [[Glass Cannon]]
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: She has a small blaster, but prefers unarmed combat, even unscrewing a mook's head with her feet.
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: She has a small blaster, but prefers unarmed combat, even unscrewing a mook's head with her feet.
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{{quote| Voiced by: Gina Torres}}
{{quote| Voiced by: Gina Torres}}
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During the war on Cybertron, Airachnid basically operated as a third party, holding no allegiences. As the Decepticons are all for wanton destruction, she allies with them just so she can continue her sick games. After capturing and torturing Arcee, they have a rivalry that has only grown with each encounter. She is killed by Soundwave in Robots In Disguise.
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During the war on Cybertron, Airachnid basically operated as a third party, holding no allegiences. As the Decepticons are all for wanton destruction, she allies with them just so she can continue her sick games. After capturing and torturing Arcee, they have a rivalry that has only grown with each encounter.
The Remnant: Team Prime is basically the only organized component of the Autobot faction, continuing to fight the war that the Decepticons pretty much have already won. They also have the only remaining Prime left in existence. It is likely there are still other Autobots fighting the Decepticons as well, but what from things looks like, Optimus and co. are the only ones whose struggle is leaving any impact so far.
The leader of the Autobots and the last of the Primes. Originally a data clerk named Orion Pax, he formed a friendship with a charismatic gladiator and civil rights leader named Megatronus, and being such a close ally put him on the map to being recognized by the Cybertronian council. Upon becoming Optimus Prime, he and the newly christened Megatron cut ties, becoming fierce rivals with wildly different ideologies. Optimus is a highly accomplished warrior honed by years of conflict, though his natural disposition is a gentle pacifist.
Authority Equals Asskicking: As always, he's the single toughest and most dangerous Autobot combatant, capable of standing toe-to-toe with a dark-energon-enhanced Megatron. Megatron, Dreadwing, and maybe Soundwave are the only recurring characters capable of challenging him one-on-one.
Berserk Button: Do not harm humans in his presence, and certainly don't gloat about it. He set out to straight-up kill Megatron when this happened. It was probably the last straw in a series of injustices, but still.
Came Back Strong: Once he offlines, Smokescreen uses the Forge of Solus Prime to bring him back in a much stronger body. Which is saying something since he was already pretty strong.
Flanderization: When compared to his G1 and Movie selves, this Optimus Prime doesn't have much else to his character aside from being the heroic Autobot leader. It's hinted that this may be intentional on his part since he's far more emotive in War for/Fall of Cybertronas well as in Robots in Disguise once the war is over.
Heroic Sacrifice: He first merges the AllSpark with the Matrix of Leadership to protect it from Unicron before then merging with the Core of Cybetron to restore the AllSpark to the planet.
He's Back: At the end of "Orion Pax, Part 3", Orion Pax's memories are restored and his identity as Optimus Prime resurfaces once more, followed by him giving Megatron a well deserved smackdown.
Hope Bringer: Back in the original Unicron War, his words along brought hope to the Thirteen Primes.
Hurting Hero: Much like in Generation 1, there is an ever-present, dignified sadness in Peter Cullen's performance of Optimus, as if the Great War has affected him so deeply that he is always crying deep inside. Cullen stated in interviews that he drew inspiration from his brother, a Shell-Shocked Veteran of the Vietnam War, who told him before the audition for Optimus "Don't be a tough hero; you are strong enough to be gentle."
Hypocrite: In "Crossfire", he says he doesn't condone the killing of any lifeform that's unable to defend themselves. Unless that lifeform is named Megatron however.
It's All My Fault: Whilst he doesn't put it as bluntly, by the series one finale, it is shown that he blames himself for most of what has happened since the Great War ended on Cybertron. Specifically, that he refused to believe that Decepticons would never be able to coexist peacefully with the Autobots, and that there was still hope for Megatron to change his ways, even after his former friend was responsible for the destruction of their home, the spread of the conflict to various other worlds (including Earth) as well as the countless individuals who have died and suffered as a result. Meaning he never took the opportunity to end the conflict for good (by killing Megatron) when he had the chance (according to Ratchet, many chances). He seems to realize how foolish he was (in his own eyes) when Megatron almost kills Raf.
Large and In Charge: By far the tallest Autobot in the series (though Bulkhead's bigger in overall dimensions, and not that much shorter than Optimus).
Martial Pacifist: Optimus's seen everything from comrades dying to atrocities being committed on myriad sentient species who had nothing to do with the war. As such, he always tries to strive for peace, since he's not only seen the alternative, but also wants to protect both humans and Cybertronians, regardless of allegiance. He is, however, not at all reluctant to lay down an ass-beating when it is to protect those weaker than him.
Meaningful Rename: Was originally a Cybertronian clerk named Orion Pax before he was granted the title of Prime and was renamed Optimus after receiving the Matrix of Leadership. And when said Matrix is used up to defeat Unicron, he went back to Orion Pax again for a while.
The Messiah: Operates at about ten points up the idealism scale from everyone else in the show.
EU material reveals he's pretty much the Cybertronian equivalent being the Thirteenth of the Thirteen Primes.
Messianic Archetype: Willingly goes to what he expects to be his death in order to save humanity from an ancient evil at the heart of our origins. Unlike most other Optimus Primes, he hasn't actually died yet, but he did lose his memories and identity for a while before regaining them.
Nice Guy: You wouldn't be Optimus Prime if you didn't have this trope.
Older Than They Look: Played with. He's the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Prime and as such, is chronologically older than most things in the universe. Physically however he only reemerged from the Well of AllSparks billions of years later and his new body is younger than Ratchet's.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: As Orion Pax, he managed to not only escape the Nemesis but Ground Bridge out from under Soundwave's watch.
One-Man Army: He and Ratchet handily mow down an unending tide of zombie robots in the pilot.
Puny Earthlings: Hinted at. Owing to being insistent on keeping the Cybertronians a secret, this Optimus doesn't go around extolling the value of humans or indulging their culture. While he doesn't hate us, aside from a few individuals he doesn't seem to view humanity as anything truly special and opts to keep them out of the line fire simply because of the massive firepower Megatron can unleash on them.
Robo-Family: According to the Transformers Vault this universe's Optimus is a possible descendant of Prima, from the Original Thirteen (described as having a "Primian" polarity). A trait he shares with his Movie incarnation.
Played with. He's not descended from Prima but rather his brother.
Standardized Leader: Deliberately invoked, and somewhat deconstructed; it's explicitly stated that all Primes have a similar sort of calm, dignified, slightly sad personality. Carrying the accumulated wisdom of all past Primes in your mind will do that.
The Stoic: Bulkhead says he's never seen Optimus laugh, cry, or lose his cool in all the time he's known him.
Not So Stoic: When Starscream steals the Omega Keys from the Autobots, however, Optimus gives a scream that wouldn't out of his place in Megatron's voicebox.
Victory-Guided Amnesia: In the finale of Season One, Optimus uses the Matrix of Leadership to put Unicron down at the cost of losing his memory of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Thankfully, he gets better.
When He Smiles: Optimus's smiles are rare and small but when he does smile, it lights up his entire face. One noteworthy moment was when he smiled at Raf when both of them were recovering from Megatron's attacks in "One Shall Rise, Part 1".
Wide-Eyed Idealist: As Orion Pax, Megatron's protege in the Cybertronian civil rights movement. This ended up endearing him to the general public more than his more ruthless mentor's attitude.
Appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list.
Voiced by: Sumalee Montano
A small and nimble fighter with experience as a scout and spy, Arcee is haunted by several events on the Cybertronian Civil War, including losing several partners and being tortured by Airachnid as a POW. She is nonetheless well-respected by her teammates and although she can be impulsive and leave on her own agenda, her first priority is the safety of the team. She is officially the guardian of Jack Darby, and after an initial annoyance with each other, have come to form a powerful bond.
Composite Character: Has the name Arcee, but has the color scheme and general demeanor of G1 Chromia with the alternate mode and loner mentality of Animated Prowl (including the massive size changing). Her backstory involving dead partners is also similar to Animated Ratchet.
Leeroy Jenkins: Not as bad as Miko, but twice it has almost gotten her killed.
Mama Bear: She develops this instinct towards Jack even scolding him for recklesness.
Mysterious Past: Before the Great War, Optimus was an archivist, Ratchet was a doctor, Wheeljack was an inventor, Bulkhead was a construction worker, both Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus were in the Elite Guard as a cadet and a commander respectively and Bumblebee wasn't even born yet. What Arcee did before war broke out though is unknown as no EU material has even touched her in any noteworthy detail.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In "Partners", Starscream is willing to change sides, but then Arcee nearly kills him for killing Cliffjumper. This causes Starscream to flee and declare himself neutral.
Non-Mammal Mammaries: Her chest-plate is curved to the point where it resembles a pair of breasts.
Out of Focus: Arcee appeared in every episode of Season 1 but after the "Orion Pax" arc and Airachnid was put into stasis, her role was greatly diminished.
Revenge Before Reason: Her obsession with Airachnid is built of this trope. This later also applies to Starscream when she learns that he killed Cliffjumper. By the end of "Partners", she seemed to have put her desire for revenge aside... until "Crossfire" gave her another shot at him.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In "Orion Pax, Part 1", she storms the Nemesis in an effort to find an amnesiac Optimus, killing about ten Vehicons before Soundwave tricks her into taking a GroundBridge out.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: "Predatory" reveals that she has a slight form of PTSD as a result of being tortured under the captivity of Airachnid and witnessing her partner, Tailgate, executed by Airachnid when Arcee could not provide information the Decepticons demanded.
Sizeshifter: She's a perfectly normal-sized motorcycle, but far larger than she has any right to be as a robot.
Vocal Evolution: A very minor version and more so related to how the show dove into her backstory than anything really dramatic or intentional (discussed in this interview). In the beginning of the series, Sumalee Montano played Arcee mostly as a "tough girl" kind of character, intense but vulnerable. Later on, she has a lot more of a dry wit and her vocal style changed accordingly.
Waif Fu: It may seem odd for a gigantic, heavily armed robot to be using this... but then you see exactly what she can do to the much bigger, nastier Vehicons without breaking a (metaphorical) sweat.
Weak but Skilled: The smallest and lightest of all Cybertronians on the show, and often has trouble damaging tougher enemies. She makes up for it by being fast enough to get the drop on Megatron, and skilled enough to take on enemies far outside her weight class for substantial periods of time. She noticeably fights much better in tandem with the other Autobots.
The Autobot scout, Bumblebee is one of the last generation of Cybertronians created before the Civil War took hold. He is young but exceptionally skilled, a quick thinker and as brave as anyone can get. His voicebox was damaged in combat years ago, a reminder of the harsh realities of war, and "talks" in a series of beeps and whirls that allows him at least a certain degree of communication with the other Autobots and his human partner Raf Esquivel.
Adaptational Badass: The Autobots reinforce that Bumblebee is their Scout (like his G1 character), but that means he is on the front lines quite often and isn't always able to escape without getting into a fight. He has gone up against Breakdown and held his own, and was also responsible for defeating Skyquake.
Berserk Button: Harming Raf is a good way to trigger it. On the occasion that Megatron nearly killed Raf, he would have attacked Megatron if not for Bulkhead and Arcee stopping him.
Child Soldier: We don't know if he'd really count as a "child" exactly, but he is the youngest member on the team, revealed in the prequel novels as being among the last generation of Cybertronians to be born. In "Masters and Students", it's implied that Bee isn't officially recognized as warrior-class due to his young age.
Cool Car: A fictional model of muscle car named the Urbana 500.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Immature, impulsive, one of the least-armed Autobots... and capable of ripping apart a elite Decepticon soldier with his bare servos while riding him. In midair.
He also tricks Airachnid into thinking he's immobilized, then punches her out.
Intelligible Unintelligible: He speaks in some sort of machine language due to a damaged voice box. Raf and the Autobots can understand him just fine, but everyone else (viewers included) is out of luck. Raf acts as his Translator Buddy to the rest of the kids.
Kid Appeal Character: Bumblebee has traditionally always been one of these, but this incarnation ramps up the connection by pairing him with the youngest member of the cast for a human partner.
The Autobot Medic, Ratchet is one of Optimus' close friends from before the war even began and has seen the change in his friend. Ratchet is the oldest of the group and generally less excitable and enthusiastic as his teammates or the human kids. Usually grouchy, he is still a good 'Bot at heart and doesn't like to see anyone hurt. He is also generally responsible for the mechanical equipment and he built the ground bridge that allows instantaneous travel around the world, though he admits that he has his limitations in that field.
Actor Allusion: He becomes a manic Mad Scientist over the kids' science fair projects. As funny as it sounds.
Later on, he tests synthetic energon on himself that leaves him with unexpected results.
Oh, and the synthetic energon looks suspiciously like another glowing, green liquid Jeffrey Combs has worked with in the past.
Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: In "Stronger, Faster", he was under the influence of experimental synthetic energon and started challenging every Cybertronian he saw to a fight, even calling Bumblebee a wimp for backing down on his offer. It came back to bite him when he tries to take on Megatron and nearly gets killed.
Demonization: Megatron did it to him in "Orion Pax, Part 1", trying to convince Orion Pax that "Warlord Ratchet, the Doctor of Doom" was the true Big Bad. He also claimed that Ratchet did this to the 'Cons, though Orion questioned this news.
Dirty Old Man: In "Stronger, Faster". The Psycho Serum didn't just affect his confidence on the battlefield, as he actually hit on Arcee after Bumblebee refused his challenge.
Green Eyes: His eye color changes from blue to green whenever he injects himself with synthetic Energon.
Grumpy Bear: After Cliffjumper's death, Ratchet makes his opinion clear to Optimus that helping humanity will only result in further Autobot casualties. Optimus merely responds that his opinion is noted. He doesn't seem especially pleased when the human kids are brought back to Autobot base, either, and is insulted by Raf's question of "Who built you?" From then on, he proves to be generally irritable. He does occasionally display moments of kindness, however, as shown when he tries to not upset Miko about Bulkhead's amnesia, and once again when Raf is nearly killed. Here he admits he has found a friend in humanity at last.
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Pulls this on a helpless Decepticon with a welding torch while under the influence of synthetic energon.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he may be grumpy from time to time, he has really warmed up to the humans by "One Shall Fall" and really does care about them, as well as his fellow bots.
In "Stronger, Faster", he absolutely lays into Optimus for being on the defensive for the entirety of the War and seemingly putting more emphasis on protecting Earth and the humans than trying to kill Megatron and help Cybertron.
In "One Shall Fall", he's against calling June to help Raf because she has no idea the effects Energon will have on the human body. Though Jack is right in retorting that Ratchet knows nothing about the human body, June ultimately did nothing to help Raf's condition and it was Ratchet who managed to save him by deducing Raf was infected with Dark Energon.
Minored in Asskicking: He usually stays back at base, but he makes a pretty good showing against the Terrorcons.
And, in "Stronger, Faster", when he injected himself with synthetic energon and went on what can only be called a "'roid rage", he kicked the asses of damn near every Decepticon soldier thrown at him. It took Megatron to bring him down.
Even when Megatron seriously wounded him, he was able to fight Knock Out to a standstill.
My Country, Right or Wrong: Played with. Though Ratchet has no intent of following Megatron, he does agree to help him restore Cybertron because it means having a planet that's worth fighting over. Before that, he's in favour of letting Megatron rebuild the Omega Lock because he knows Megatron will use it to restore Cybertron.
My Greatest Failure: "Operation Bumblebee, Part 1" reveals he's never forgiven himself for failing to restore Bumblebee's voicebox after Megatron ripped it out, even though he did manage to save Bumblebee's life.
Noble Bigot: Ratchet is one of the few Autobots who won't hesitate to voice his displeasure over nearly everything humans are and create. He especially hates human technology, though he is much nicer to the humans towards the end of Season 1, to the point he is no longer this trope. In Season 2 it's clear that his angry moments are due to the stress.
Not That Kind of Doctor: He never bothered to learn about human biology or medicine, and it would have gotten Raf killed if Jack hadn't called in his mom, who is a nurse.
Number Two: If Optimus requires an expert opinion on something or someone to coordinate a mission, it's usually Ratchet. While he may appoint one of the other, younger bots to be field leader on missions, they will still defer to Ratchet when he gives them instructions from within the base.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: On the firing end of one to Optimus in "Stronger, Faster". Ratchet called Optimus soft for losing Cliffjumper and for passing up numerous opportunities to take out Megatron. Though Ratchet's judgment was indeed impaired at the time, it was implied he was saying what he would've normally held back.
Retired Badass: It's commented by Arcee that Ratchet hasn't really been in active combat since the war, instead mostly staying at the base, providing medical and technical assistance to the Autobots working in the field. He does have his moments, however, and wishes that he still could do more in spite of his age.
Running Gag: "(person's name here), I needed that!"
Superior Species: Makes no bones about the fact that he views Cybertronians as this.
Worthless Foreign Degree: Ratchet is so proud of his skills as a Cybertronian doctor that he does not even bother to study any human anatomy or medicine in all the time he spends on Earth. This comes back to haunt him big time when Raf, who he has unwittingly come to care for, is critically wounded by Megatron; the Autobot Doctor panics in desperation, mournfully admitting that he does not even know the first thing to do to save the boy's life thanks to his arrogance.
Ultimately subverted though as it was Ratchet's knowledge of Energon and Dark Energon that saved Raf's life.
A former Wrecker, the Autobot special forces/black ops group, Bulkhead is a tough bruiser and built for combat. Admittedly not the smartest bot, he is so good at breaking things that he doesn't have much room for grace and finesse. Despite that, he is very friendly and partnered with Miko, who helps him develop both his gentle side and learn to unleash his power when necessary.
Badass in Distress: In "Armada", when he's trapped upon the Nemesis. Though he actually rescues himself by bringing down the Nemesis then driving off.
Berserk Button: Don't ever even imply harming Miko in his presence.
Also, Starscream or rather, one of his clones, found out the hard way that Arcee is not the only one who will become dangerously angered over being reminded of who killed Cliffjumper. It results in Bulkhead beating him to death.
Beware the Nice Ones: Despite his kind nature, he's extremely dangerous in combat. Case in point in "Armada" where he beats a Starscream clone to death, and then proceeds to damage the Nemesis to the point of crash-landing.
Dark and Troubled Past: Bulkhead is a lovable sweetheart, but he occasionally alludes to his past as a Wrecker with some sadness and regret, as they are charged with the "dirty work" (IE. Assassination) that 'Bots like Optimus can't stain their hands performing.
Determinator: Even as his life is being sucked out of him, he manages to punch Starscream in the face. Also when partially chewed up by Scraplets, he was the one to lead them through the ground bridge and let them freeze in the Artic.
"Toxicity" is basically one whole episode of him being a Determinator. Wounded, leaking Energon, being poisoned by toxic Energon, pursued by Hardshell, and he just. Won't. Quit. He only gives up when Hardshell shoots him in the back after all of this.
Dumb Muscle: He sees himself this way, seemingly. While trying to impress on Miko the importance of education in "Deus ex Machina", he mentions that he was a laborer back on Cybertron (specifically, working in construction), claims that all he's good for is building stuff and breaking it, and wonders why she'd want to be "just like him" when she could be a medic like Ratchet. Regardless, when it comes to fighting smarts, he is second only to Optimus.
Lightning Bruiser: While he doesn't have the speed or acceleration of Arcee and Bumblebee, in robot mode he can move surprisingly fast.
Moral Dissonance: Though he's usually an all-around Nice Guy, he has moments of this several times -- specifically, in "Speed Metal", deciding to leave Jack's rival Vince to the Decepticons because "the guy's a jerk." Jack calls him out on it.
One-Man Army: The core Autobot team's second-most-dangerous combatant. Stands to reason, him being a former Wrecker. Also the only bot (apart from Optimus Prime) to stand up to Megatron while he's on Dark Energon and hold his own.
Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2" has a great one after Bulkhead manages to heft the giant even by Cybertronian standards Forge of Solus Prime.
Why Did It Have To Be Scraplets: Played slightly more seriously than most examples of this trope. Bulkhead's had some bad experiences with the little monsters and while most Cybertronians fear them, Bulkhead has the... girliest response.
A born fighter, Cliffjumper doesn't hesitate to get involved with a scuffle and is sometimes antsy when there aren't any 'Cons to scrap. He spent a good deal of time with Arcee, with some implications of a bond that extended beyond simple friends.
Came Back Wrong: He is resurrected by Megatron in the second episode as a test for Dark Energon, but comes back as a mindless zombie/berserker. Of course, Megatron is perfectly happy with this.
Cool Car: A 70's Dodge Charger with bull horns on the hood, to be exact.
Horny Vikings: Has two such horns on his helmet—that apparently become horns on the grill of his alt mode, a '70s Dodge Charger. Of course, Cliffjumper has always had horns, but they're much more apparent here.
If you're trying to ruin my day, you're going to have to try harder.
Voiced by: James Horan
Another former Wrecker and close friends with Bulkhead, Wheeljack is very smart and a quick thinker, but prefers to dive into combat head on. After the war, he wandered the universe in search of both old and new friends and got accustomed to that lifestyle, so much that he has hesitations about sticking around on Earth for too long. He intially starts with a disregard of Optimus as a "clean hands" military commander, but comes to gain respect for Optimus' skill and sense of honor.
Adaptational Badass: And how. The original G1 character was a Mad Scientist type and not one to really get down and dirty. It's telling that his counterpart in the movies (where any character not originally badass was made one) stuck rather close to the scientist role as well. It's like seeing a chess nerd from high school come to the reunion as a Delta Force member.
Anti-Hero: He is of the "has no sense of subtlety" and "rebels against authority" type of anti-hero.
Badass Creed: "Wreckers don't call for backup. They call for cleanup!"
He also has a bit of Depth Charge in his obsession for revenge on Dreadwing, and his disregard for Optimus ("Loose Cannons" is not too far off story wise from Depth Charge's introductory episode "Deep Metal"). He also prefers to work on his own much like Tigatron.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Cementing this Wheeljack as the badass that he is, he's sporting a couple of scars around his mouth.
Heterosexual Life Partners: Formerly, with Bulkhead. Still great buddies in the present day, but they've taken somewhat different courses in their lives.
It's Personal: The reason he's chasing Dreadwing is because he killed Seaspray.
Walking The Cosmos: A habitual wanderer who spent the years after Cybertron's fall exploring the galaxy. Never stays in one place for very long, preferring to keep moving and see new sights. When he actually sticks around on Earth, he still wanders around seperate from the main Autobot team.
Tailgate
Voiced by: Josh Keaton
A partner of Arcee during the war on Cybertron, he was captured and killed in front of her by Airachnid.
Palette Swap: Whilst his appearance in "Predatory" does a good job of hiding it, he shares the same character model as Cliffjumper, but recoloured. Given what happens to both him and Cliffjumper, it has resulted in something of a joke amongst the fanbase that Arcee should stay away from Autobots with that body-type (and that its a good thing Bumblebee doesn't share this trait in this series).
Big Bad: Megatron; Starscream when Megatron isn't around.
The Dragon: Starscream to Megatron, Knock-Out to Starscream, Airachnid, Soundwave and later Dreadwing to Megatron.
Wild Card: Dreadwing is an inversion of The Starscream archetype. He is a liability to Megatron's grand plans because he's a fundamentally decent guy whose sense of honor will not allow him to cross certain lines, rather than being a treacherous megalomaniac like his predecessors.
Evil Genius: Soundwave for surveillance, Knock-Out as the medic.
The Brute: Breakdown, Skyquake, Dreadwing, Hardshell.
Dark Chick/Sixth Ranger: Airachnid (Enjoys her own agenda too much, she doesn't seem particularly excited to rejoin the other 'Cons). Also, Makeshift, for lack of a better option.
The Psycho Rangers: Each of the primary Decepticons (with the exception of Starscream) are counterparts to the primary Autobots, with Megatron (obviously) being Optimus's, Soundwave for Bumblebee, Airachnid for Arcee, Breakdown for Bulkhead, and Knock Out for Ratchet, even sharing similar positions.
It could be argued before Airachnid joined the fold, position, body type, and combat style suggest Starscream was Arcee's counterpart. ( Starscream left the ranks shortly after Airachnid joined.) Soundwave could also be Ratchet's counterpart as the mission control guy, and Knock Out to Bumblebee as the sports car usually partnered with the team muscle.
The leader of the Decepticons, he was originally a miner named D-16 who competed in the Gladiator Arena in Kaon. Proving popular with the crowd, he took the name "Megatronus" and later "Megatron", then started gathering followers as he talked about eliminating the caste system that prevented lower level individuals such as himself from becoming anything more than a miner. This got the attention of Iacon data clerk Orion Pax, who supported his cause and gave him the opportunity to address the Cybertronian council. But his demands of becoming a Prime showed his true colors and when Orion became Optimus Prime, Megatron vowed to take control of Cybertron itself, killing their world in the process.
Absolute Xenophobe: More accurately, he hates all alien life, organics in particular.
Authority Equals Asskicking: He's one of most powerful members of the cast, tied only with Optimus, if their fights with each other are any indication.
Asskicking Equals Authority: His backstory is that he was a former gladiator on Cybertron who fought his way up to leading the Decepticons.
Badass: One of the very few things that was inherited from War For Cybertron... with considerable interest, at that. By the second season, it's pretty clear that he's one of the most dangerous Cybertronians alive.
Bad Boss: Another tradition. He was fully willing to leave Breakdown to rot because he got captured by humans, and had Knock Out test a shield generator by shooting at him.
Brutal Honesty: Seems inordinately fond of this considering he leads the Decepticons. When Ratchet asks for a guarantee that Megatron will leave Earth and the humans alone, Megatron scoffs at the notion saying even if he made the promise he'd likely break it the instant he didn't need Ratchet anymore.
Came Back Strong: When Unicron resurrects him, he upgrades Megatron's body into a more powerful form with his jet mode being capable of FTL travel. It's unclear if Megatron still has these powers after Unicron was sealed away.
Combat Pragmatist: Gladiators fight dirty if they want to survive to the next match, after all.
Telling in his fight with the Insecticon Scout, Airachnid has to interfere to disable his cannon knowing he'd simply use it to blast his way out and he becomes utterly brutal when forced to melee combat.
Composite Character: This version of Megatron takes visual cues from both Generation 1(the ever-famous buckethead and lower legs resembling and has a pistol's handgrip) and the movies(the sharp angles and bits on his shoulders, along with two-toed feet and a demonic-looking face with sharp shark-like teeth), even including the latter's alt mode in the first film.
Curb Stomp Battle: Takes on Arcee, Bulkhead, Ratchet and Bumblebee at the same time and comes out as the easy victor without so much as scratch.
Dark and Troubled Past: Considering that the only way he could find freedom from the back-breaking slavery of the mines was by ripping other robots limb-from-limb in the gladiatorial pits, Megatron never had a positive view on life to begin with.
Deadpan Snarker: His only funny trait is that he views everything as an opportunity for sarcasm.
Death Glare: Delivers an unblinking (and nightmare-inducing) one to Starscream at the end of Rock Bottom.
Is very briefly at the receiving end of one by Unicron in "One Shall Rise, Part 3.
In "Predacons Rising", he's possessed by Unicron completely for the majority of the film.
Demoted to Dragon: Played with. When Unicron shows up, Megatron wants this to happen, to better further his own agenda, but Unicron views Megs as beneath him.
Evil Mentor: As Megatronus, to Orion Pax, before the beginning of the Great War. It seems Megatron is quite eager to resume his mentoring when Optimus reverts back into Orion Pax and loses his memories of being a Prime, and more importantly, his enmity with Megatron.
A lack of exact words. Dreadwing gave his word to spare the Autobots. Megatron didn't.
In "The Human Factor", Megatron claims CyLAS has taught him how the human factor can tip the scale of a Cybertronian battle on Earth while displaying an image of Jack, Miko and Raf. As it turns out, Megatron seems to view the human factor that only those three have and uses them as hostages for the Omega Keys since the human factor is the greatest liability of the Autobots.
Fallen Hero: The founder and former leader of the Cybertronian civil rights movement, desiring to be named the next Prime until a certain 'bot named Orion Pax inadvertently hijacked it from under him. It's possible that he had evil intentions from the start, but his ego descended the movement from civil rights to anarchy.
Fantastic Racism: He seems to detest humans (even moreso than normal for a Decepticon) and refuses to believe that they could ever pose a threat to a worthy warrior. This disdain is part of the reason why he keeps his Cybertronian jet mode instead of adapting an Earth-vehicle disguise.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Megatron was once a (literally) nameless, rebellious gladiator in Cybertron's underground that the High Council of Cybertron considered to be completely expendable.
Genre Savvy: He tolerates disobedience to a certain extent, but he doesn't tolerate betrayal. But on the flip side, if he thinks you are still of use, he will keep you around until he feels that he no longer needs you.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: The scars on his face show that his combat history is very evident.
He Who Fights Monsters: When the war started, he was a rebellious gladiator who wanted to get rid of the unfair system that ruled Cybertron. However, he became convinced that he was the rightful ruler of Cybertron (desiring to be named the next Prime) and became the megalomaniac warmonger we know today. In expanded material, he even reflects on this noting that somewhere it stopped being about the people of Cybertron and started being about his own ego.
Hearing Voices: After injecting himself with Dark Energon, Unicron speaks to him.
Red Optics, Take Warning: Under normal conditions. Since he's shown changing from blue to red after being disgraced by the Council, he very likely invoked this.
Large and In Charge: Much like previousincarnations, he's one of the most noticeably huge individual Transformers and still just a bit larger than Optimus Prime.
Large Ham: Though downplayed from that of a certain other Megatron, he still has his moments. He can pull it off and still come across as terrifying, though.
Light Is Not Good: Watch how bright his armor glows when he fights Optimus.
Meaningful Name: He was originally a Cybertronian miner going by the designation D-16, and in the Gladiator Arena he took on the name of one of the original Thirteen Primes, Megatronus (later to be known as The Fallen) to show that what fell (Cybertronian society) could rise up again. He shortened his name to Megatron when he started gathering political allies and tried to be named a Prime.
Near Villain Victory: He came this close to cyberforming Earth into a new Cybertron and capital for the Decepticons before Bumblebee magically came back to life and killed him.
Non Standard Character Design: His design is less kibble-heavy than other characters. Since Shockwave and Predaking share this, it's likely the result of retaining a Cybertronian alternate mode.
Noodle Incident: Whatever caused him to have such xenophobia towards organics.
Not Quite Dead: Is believed to have been killed when the Space Bridge explodes, but found to have survived due to the Dark Energon inside him in the next episode. However, he is so damaged that the Decepticons have to place him in stasis lock while they repair him.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: To Optimus, though he's liberal in his interpretation. Apparently, so long as he ordered it, it counts.
In "Sick Mind", this is how Bumblebee convinces him to give the Autobots the cure to the plague Optimus has contracted: There's no point in Optimus dying if Megatron can't watch it. To his credit, Megatron doesn't completely fall for the ruse, insisting that Bumblebee help him in return.
In "One Shall Fall", when Optimus is raiding the Nemesis alone, Megatron forbids any Decepticon to attack him and even orders Soundwave to open a bridge for Optimus to allow him to battle his eternal rival.
He also feels that he's the only one worthy of conquering the Earth, as shown in "One Shall Rise", where after Unicron rejects his offer of an alliance, he allies with the Autobots to defeat him.
Power Glows: After injecting himself with Dark Energon, his joints and optics glow with purple energy whenever he's actively using it.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Life will always be a gladiator pit for Megatron, one way or another.
Purple Is Powerful: Most prominently with his Dark Energon-influenced eyes, but his armor is also partially purple as well.
Red Optics, Take Warning: Back when he was a gladiator fighting for civil rights, his eyes were blue. But when his ambitions were exposed in front of the ruling council, they turned red.
The Sociopath: He most definitely is one, even saying he keeps Starscream around solely as a challenge to remind himself to always stay on alert for usurpers and to watch his back. Whether he was always one however is unknown though his evil smile when he meets Orion Pax suggests he was.
Superior Species: Fully believes Cybertronians to be this. Considering the biological and technological advantage they're portrayed as having in the show, he's not really off base in thinking this.
The Stoic: He came off as this in "Armada", as nothing seemed to faze him.
Vocal Evolution: Frank Welker's return to the role prompted a newer version of the voice which is much less screechy, and more quiet and menacing. He even admitted that the classic Megatron voice did not allow much range, while this voice allows him to be both reserved and bombastic at different times.
Would Hurt a Child: In "One Shall Fall", he shoots Bumblebee,who was transporting Raf at the time, almost killing the boy. When Megatron finds out, he's downright pleased that he managed to "swat a bee and squash a bug".
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Completely averted for once. This Megatron has no tolerance for treachery, as Starscream and Airachnid find out.
When Starscream comes back though, this trope is justified. After repeated humiliations, Starscream has made peace with the fact that he'll never overthrow Megatron and is content to be his minion if he means watching Earth burn as Cybertron is revived. While he's as tolerant of treachery as his Beast Wars and Animated selves, this Megatron is very conscious of the fact that he can't simply kill them all and has to humour some of their quirks because he doesn't have that many troops under his direct command.
Wreathed in Flames: When using Dark Energon, he approaches this look, but he really goes into it when Unicron takes control of him (probably a reference to The Fallen).
Originally neutral in the civil war, Starscream found himself enticed by the power Megatron commanded and wished to acquire it for himself, rising in the ranks to eventually become Megatron's second-in-command. Trusted with a lot of the fine details of commanding and organizing the troops, Starscream is not quite satisfied with the delegated power he has and wants complete control. But he knows that he could never challenge Megatron on a physical level, so bides his time.
Actor Allusion: A sadistic warlord who takes pleasure in shoving his fingers into the rib-cages of helpless prisoners that's voiced by Steve Blum? Sounds a lot like Shin.
Adaptational Badass: He's the most competent Starscream in the entire Transformers multiverse by a significant margin, second only to his Cybertron and Bayverse incarnations. Slightly zig-zagged though as despite his increased brains he's nowhere near the physical threat level of his famously incompetent G1 and Animated selves.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Type 2 during "Rock Bottom", courtesy of Megatron, who is tired of Starscream's crap, placing his cannon to his head and preparing to get rid of him. Luckily for Starscream, the Autobots show up and give Megatron other things to think about.
Armor of Invincibility: As of "Triangulation", Starscream is in possession of a nigh-invulnerable suit of Apex Armor, one of the Iacon relics.
Bad Boss: Better than Megatron, but that's a given in any case.
Berserk Button: Don't insinuate that he's not in charge. Cliffjumper found this out the hard way, and Wheeljack would have met the same fate if Soundwave hadn't restrained Starscream. Likewise, Starscream almost killed Agent Fowler and Wheeljack over this if not for Soundwave.
Break the Haughty: The second half of Season 1, and Operation Bumblebee.
The Chew Toy: His life slowly falls apart over the entire course of the first season, and nearly all of it is completely his fault.
Clipped-Wing Angel: In "Shadowzone", Starscream boasts about his power after imbuing himself with Megatron's original shard of Dark Energon and facing down a squad of Autobots by himself. He immediately gets his arm blown off and is sent scrambling for a rescue GroundBridge.
Combat Pragmatist: When Arcee tries to get him to agree to a fair fight, he refuses and begs for mercy... so she'll get close enough for him to cause her serious wounds before actually fighting.
Also, he kills two Vehicon guards when sneaking aboard the Nemesis by trying to slow them with dialogue, then shooting one and impaling another through the head.
Combat Stilettos: A design choice that has not gone unnoticed in the fandom. Its presence is downplayed through specific camera angles, though.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his cowardliness, he is the Decepticon SIC and managed to steal all three Omega Keys right under the Autobots' noses with nothing but a clone corpse and super speed. To boot he didn't even have his T-Cog at the time. Even Megatron was impressed by it.
Dirty Coward: Particularly and especially when he hasn't got a shipful of heavily armed Decepticons backing him up.
Evil Counterpart: To Ultra Magnus. Magnus is loyal, as competent (if not more so) than Optimus in terms of tactics and has no desire for leadership but will accept the role if he has no choice. Starscream is traitorous, not up to Megatron's level and would really like to be in charge.
Evil Gloating: It actually gets him in trouble when fighting the Autobots, as he enjoys it too much without actually finishing the job of escape or destruction. Both Arcee and Bumblebee got back at him for that.
Genre Savvy: Works out that while he could leave Megatron to die in the rock pile, the Decepticon leader has survived much worse, meaning it was better for him to try saving him instead.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: Knowing that his clones share his treacherous qualities, he terminates the one that returns before it can betray him.
While it was more than a little too late, in "Triangulation", he realized that Optimus and Dreadwing had a plan just before they defeated him.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's been left with a slash on his face, just below his left eye, after his encounter with Arcee in "Partners" when she tried to kill him. He even comments on it when he introduces himself to Silas, who has some facial scars of his own.
The Heavy: For most of season 1 until Megatron's return.
Heel Face Door Slam: He tries to join the Autobots during "Partners", but Arcee tries to kill him after discovering that he killed Cliffjumper. He winds up striking out on his own instead.
He's Back: Looks like that time he took off at the end of Season 1 has done him some good; "Orion Pax, Pt. 1" shows him managing to sneak back onboard the Nemesis to make off with some pilfered Energon Cubes, and along the way, brutally murder the two Vehicons guarding said Cubes.
Hypocritical Humor: When Bulkhead, who can't fight back due to holding a collapsing cave ceiling up, tells him he's not going to beg for mercy, Starscream nervously agrees that begging would be rather pathetic. Mere minutes earlier, Starscream was begging for his life with Megatron's cannon to his head.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: As Agent Fowler himself says, it's not clear if Starscream is after Megatron's empire or Megatron's approval.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Ever since losing his ability to transform thanks to MECH taking his T-Cog, Starscream is now little more than a bum that scavenges for energon scraps and sells information to Autobots in exchange for medical treatment.
As of "Triangulation", not anymore. He now has a set of indestructible armor that he used to pound Dreadwing and Optimus half to death, and both are easily among the strongest Cybertronians alive.
The Informant: His role in season 2, selling information to the Autobots in exchange for medical treatment. He manages to exploit this to steal the three Omega Keys the Autobots have and barter them off to Megatron in exchange for returning to the Decepticons.
Irony: In "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2", Starscream mocked Bumblebee with his lost T-Cog and how being unable to transform must have been a terrible experience. Upon destroying it and being subjected to dissection by MECH following, he finds his own T-Cog missing.
Know When to Fold'Em: After repeated humiliations, he decides to risk what few resources he has to steal the Omega Keys held by the Autobots and give them to Megatron as a peace offering to be accepted back into the Decepticon ranks. It works.
Last of His Kind: EU materials reveal he's the last of the elite corp of Seekers (Thundercracker, Skywarp, Ramjet, Dirge, Thrust and Slipstream all having perished or disappeared) and by the time the sequel series roles around, he's hinted to be the last of the Decepticons.
Large Ham: While it's mostly downplayed, he does get his moments.
Laser-Guided Karma: After almost ruining Bumblebee's T-Cog, he has his own removed by MECH.
Manipulative Bastard: Though there's quite a bit of Xanatos Speed Chess involved, he manages to set up a meeting between Airachnid, her Insecticon, Megatron and the Autobots. As Optimus realizes, it was all set up so Starscream's many enemies would destroy themselves.
Mister Big: Sort of. He's still a giant robot, and no shorter than the average Vehicon. Still, when compared to everyone else, especially Megatron and Optimus, he really isn't all that imposing.
No One Could Survive That: Optimus and Dreadwing both write him off as scrap after Dreadwing detonated a series of bombs that sent Starscream plummeting through the Antarctic ice. Of course, he was wearing the Apex Armor at the time.
No Sell: Once he gains the Apex Armor, he casually shrugs off everything Optimus and Dreadwing could throw at him.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Starscream is a legitimately threatening foe but not up to the level of most of the Nemesis crew. Among the crew, he's only more dangerous than Knock Out and Breakdown. When leading the Decepticons in Season 1 however before Megatron is revived, he's plenty threatening on his own.
Pet the Dog: Starscream may have no sense of honor, but it appears he is not without a sense of gratitude, as shown when he repays Arcee's mercy towards him in Season 1 by sparing her life when he could have killed her instead.
Pragmatic Villainy: In Season 1. His plan is to find the Autobot base, kill them and then move on to conquest.
Send in the Clones: He does this, in an effort to assassinate Megatron. It almost works, but Bulkhead kills a clone that gets too arrogant; three more find Megatron, but are killed after Airachnid's Insection attack distracts them. The last tries turning on the original and gets brutally dispatched.
Self-Stitching: In the beginning of "Triangulation" when he tries to put the T-Cog he recovered from his clone into himself.
Shapeshifter Mode Lock: MECH stole his T-Cog and left him stuck in robot mode for a time. He gets it back when he rejoins the Decepticons.
Smug Snake: A legitimately threatening antagonist, but still not nearly as smart, charismatic, or deadly as he thinks he is. Part of this is the rest of the Decepticons know it, and thus undermines the actual talents he has as a leader.
Spanner in the Works: Unknowingly, to Megatron's attempts to deceive Orion Pax. Megatron told Orion that Starscream is dead. When Starscream snuck aboard the Nemesis and came across Orion, he refered to him as Optimus Prime. Needless to say, a dead bot calling you by another name was the first dent in Megatron's deception and if not for his sudden appearance and subsequently passing information to the Autobots about the Space Bridge, Optimus would likely have remained Orion Pax.
By the end of the first season, he's seems genuinely humbled and willing to give up his treachery and declare his Undying Loyalty to Megatron, until he is betrayed by Airachnid and captured by the Autobots, then nearly killed by Arcee which convinces him to ditch both sides.
Take a Third Option: After becoming a pariah to the Decepticons and not being welcomed into the Autobots as a form of revenge, Starscream basically says "screw the both of them" and decides to be part of neither faction.
Tempting Fate: Starscream probably shouldn't have gloated too much about his ability to transform to Bumblebee before he flew back to Silas.
Took a Level In Badass: Things finally seem to go his way in "Triangulation", as he obtains the Apex Armor, which basically makes him nigh-invulnerable.
In "Inside Job", he manages to claim the three Omega Keys the Autobots have using little more than his wit.
Twin Telepathy: Of a sort. Starscream feels all of the pain his clones experience. This does not dissuade him from killing the last one before he could betray him.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Agent Fowler isn't sure but suspects that Starscream craves Megatron's approval more than his job.
Wild Card: It's stated that while Megatron is crazy and genocidal, he is still predictable in that way. Starscream, on the other hand, flip-flops between competent and incompetent so much that he is generally the one to be more careful around. Megatron eventually decides that as a result of this, it's best to keep Starscream nearby and under close watch, allowing him back into the Decepticons.
One of Megatron's early followers and a fellow gladiator of Kaon, Soundwave is absolutely loyal to Megatron, providing communication and technical skills that gives Megatron's strategies a precise edge. While capable of talking, he prefers to stay quiet and observant, talking only by repeating certain phrases back to explain his point. His extreme compentence and significant skill give any troops with delusions of grandeur (such as Starscream) second thoughts.
Adaptational Badass: While Soundwave was always powerful in the original cartoon, he usually lost if he went up against someone like Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus. Here he takes on all comers and wins without really focusing all his attention on them.
Badass: Completely curbstomped Airachnid when she tried to take command.
He also managed to force Arcee off the Nemesis after her Roaring Rampage of Revenge begin. How? He simply ground bridged her out, for the reason that Megatron needed her removed non-violently in order to keep Orion Pax on his side. He didn't even have to lift a finger to do so.
To say nothing of when he fought Wheeljack and won. To clarify, Wheeljack has never lost a fair fight to anyone else up until now.
To further put this in perspective, it means Soundwave fared better against Wheeljack than Dreadwing did.
It says something when somebody as ambitious and backstabbing as Starscream is scared of you. If you believe the prequel novels, this is for good reason- Soundwave only lost his fight with the then-gladiator Megatron because the fight was "first to wound" and he would likely have taken Megatron down with him.
Curb Stomp Battle: Only one of his fights doesn't end in him dishing one out.
Crazy Prepared: Both he and Laserbeak carry copies of the memories and directives of the other. In the event one is captured, they can erase their memories and the other will reupload them when they reconnect.
Detachment Combat: His chest-mounted Deployer, Laserbeak (which finally got named in Triage).
The Dragon: While he's mainly the Evil Genius of the group, he is also the most loyal to Megatron, having personally thwarted several attempts to depose of or abandon his leader. Although several other Decepticons take the official title of First Lieutenant, Soundwave is comfortable enough in his own position to not care.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The one individual he properly cares for is Laserbeak. He passes up a perfectly good chance to kill Wheeljack to go and check up on Laserbeak.
Evil Genius: Shares this role with Knock Out, though he specializes in espionage and surveillance.
Feels No Pain: His fight with Wheeljack strongly implies this. He barely reacts when his visor (for all we know, it may as well be the closest thing he has to a face) is cracked, or when Wheeljack's swords and blaster hit him. Even being tackled off the side of a cliff doesn't do much more than briefly shake him.
Could be justified by his gladiator background.
Guttural Growler: Soundwave speaks all of four words throughout the series and he says so in the most horrifying way possible. His voice in this series is some ungodly mixture of his G1 cartoon and Movie selves, almost like both are speaking at the same time. It's beyond horrifying to listen to.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Soundwave doesn't fight or talk much, but is feared by almost everyone. Megatron would not be nearly as effective without Soundwave's eye for detail and Starscream knew he couldn't replace Megatron without gaining Soundwave's approval. Airachnid learned first hand not to cross him.
Nerves of Steel: He treats his interrogation as nothing more than a joke then casually takes the Cybertronian equivalent of a cyanide pill.
Not Even Cybertronian: Ratchet says Soundwave is "no ordinary Cybertronian". What this means exactly is unknown but he doesn't really look like any other Cybertronian seen in the show and displays many abilities the others don't have.
Only Sane Man: He's so far the only Decepticon who isn't a backstabber, megalomaniac, egocentral narcissist, a sadistic sociopath or a "speciesist" toward humans.
Pet the Dog: He passes up an opportunity to kill Wheeljack in order to try and save Laserbeak from Ratchet putting a virus in him. Earlier in the series, he also permits Starscream to confess and vow to start afresh, despite the two of them not agreeing for obvious reasons.
Retired Badass: This silent and unassuming bot was once a gladiator who almost killed Megatron in the arenas of Kaon. Yes, the same Megatron who can go toe-to-toe with Optimus Prime. Let that sink in for a moment.
As the scuffle with Airachnid at the end of season one showed, he hasn't lost his touch.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: As close as Soundwave gets. When he thinks Laserbeak is dead, he taunts Wheeljack (his presumed killer) by just being than him in every way and mopping the floor with him.
Silent Antagonist: He "speaks" by replaying clips of other characters' voices.
The Voiceless: So far; the character profiles released indicate he has stopped talking with his own voice almost completely since coming to Earth. Instead, he just plays clips of other people talking to get his point across.
Sinister Surveillance/The Spymaster: Essentially his primary purpose. He rarely gets involved in combat, but serves as the Decepticons' "eyes and ears".
The Stoic: His defining trait. Even more than previous incarnations.
Not So Stoic: A rare non-sadness related example. When Megatron, Knock Out and Starscream are cackling madly about the cyberforming of Earth and the death of all humans, Soundwave can be seen making the movements for laughter implying underneath it all, he's just as much of a racist, sadist as his fellow Decepticons. Either that or it's a freak animation error.
This Is a Drill: He can use his tentacles as this, whether for digging or for offense.
Undying Loyalty: To Megatron. When captured by the Autobots, Soundwave takes the Cybertronian equivalent of a cyanide pill to render himself brain dead so as to prevent the Autobots from getting any data on Megatron's plans.
A skilled Decepticon fighter and doctor, Knock Out is very particular about his specifications and appearance, chosing a muscle car alt mode because he prefered the look. Regardless, he is perfectly capable of mixing it up in a fight and provides a precision strike while his close friend and partner Breakdown provides the muscle.
Actor Allusion: Timmy's dad had an unhealthy obsession with a red sports car, and hey, he's always been Ambiguously Gay at best. Guess what Knock Out transforms into and what sort of character he's like.
Alien Arts Are Appreciated: Unusual amongst the xenophobic Decepticons, he's a big fan of human automobiles. In fact, he seems to be oddly tolerant towards humans in general. Wrecking a jerkish street-racer's car because the guy keyed his vehicle mode was a massive overreaction, yes, but compared to what any other Decepticon would have done in the circumstances, it was practically a slap on the wrist. Season 3 reveals he watches human movies at drive-in theatres and opines that humans make really nice cars. That said he doesn't give a damn about humans and won't lift a finger in protest over Megatron's decision to wipe them all out via cyberforming Earth.
Ambiguously Gay: As if his fixation on his appearance and effete mannerisms weren't enough, there's how he wolf whistles and then compliments Optimus's body work. The writers eventually said they considered him to be gay.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted on a few occasions. Starscream's punishment for him is essentially to scratch his skin in "Speed Metal", and everything in Tunnel Vision... see Humiliation Conga below.
Berserk Button: Damage to his paint job. Knock Out gets quite irate when a street racer keys his finish (see above), and then later in "T.M.I.", when Bulkhead paints part of the formula for synthetic Energon on him, it only serves to make Knock Out angrier.
Bunny Ears Lawyer: Starscream is noticeably offset by Knock Out's vanity, but the good doctor is a very capable medic and fighter, forming a dangerous duo with Breakdown. In his introductory episode, he nearly takes down Optimus Prime himself.
In "Tunnel Vision", he fought Arcee one-on-one for a few minutes until Vogel hit him with his sweeper train.
Butt Monkey: No matter what happens, his paint job will almost always get damaged. He also gets little to no respect from most of his own subordinates, and gets a bomb in the face in "Triage". Second to Starscream, Megatron seems to give him no respect.
Buzzsaw Good: Makes use of a circular buzzsaw deployed from his hand as one of his "surgical" tools.
To say nothing of wanting to decapitate Bulkhead just for getting an additional coat of paint on it (of course, he and Breakdown were basically ordered to do so by Megatron beforehand, but Knock Out was really insistent about it after that happened).
The Dragon: When Starscream was in charge, he made an offer to help Starscream with his ambitions. Though since Megatron's return, he seems perfectly happy there too.
Evil Counterpart: As the series expanded, he grew into Ratchet's. Ratchet is contemptuous of human culture and technology but grew fond of the human race as a whole and by the end was willing to sacrifice Cybertron to save them. Knock Out loves human culture and frequently indulged in it but when it looked like Megatron might kill all humans, Knock Out provided his scientific skill to aid the process along.
Evil Genius: Shares this role with Soundwave, though he specializes in Cybertronian biology and science.
Humiliation Conga: In "Tunnel Vision", he gets hit by Vogel's train twice and has his paint job utterly wrecked. To say nothing of the pain he had from the injuries and the annoyance of being partnered with an Insecticon.
The Starscream: To a lesser extent than the Trope Namer. In "Sick Mind", he agreed to take the critically injured Megatron off life support in return for being made Starscream's second-in-command. Soundwave wouldn't let them go through with it.
Visually, he takes several cues from Terrorsaur of Beast Wars, who in turn was based on the original Starscream of G1.
Swiss Army Weapon: He can change his hands into many surgical-themed weapons.
A long time rival to Bulkhead, Breakdown is a tough bot whose loyalty to the Decepticons stems mostly from allowing him more opportunities to fight. When it comes to the actual Decepticon cause, he stands out as an enigma who doesn't care too much about it. A close friend of Knock Out's, they form a dangerous team and like to go off on their own agendas.
Anti-Villain: There are hints that Breakdown is a Decepticon because of opportunity only and has his own sense of loyalty and honor, even having a certain degree of respect for Bulkhead as his rival.
Benevolent Boss: To his subordinates. In "Orion Pax, Part 2", when Fowler posing as a Vehicon gives his fake report, Breakdown says to keep up the good work and comments about how the job can be thankless.
Drop the Hammer: Transforms from his hand; for use in those CQB-type situations that don't require high explosives.
Even Evil Has Standards: In "Operation: Breakdown"; after Bulkhead saves him from MECH, he is clearly grateful to the Autobot warrior, and was visibly reluctant to turn on him when given a direct order to do so by Starsceam.
Eyepatch of Power: After getting one of his optics ripped out by MECH.
Grand Theft Me: Looks like Silas seems primed to appropriate Breakdown's corpse as a new body, given the irreversible damage to his own.
Hand Cannon: Carries around a giant, quad-barreled pistol that shoots missiles. Tragically, it's only appeared in the comic so far.
Killed Off for Real: When MECH discovers him, he's been completely sliced to pieces by Airachnid.
Leeroy Jenkins: He enjoys rushing into a fight, even against Starscream's orders, he helped stage an ambush against the Autobots with Knock Out in "Speed Metal." It's ultimately what got him killed by ignoring Dreadwing's advice.
Love At First Punch/Minion Shipping: His first encounter with Airachnid involves them trying to beat the crap out of each other. This does not stop him from mentioning a couple of episodes later how "intriguing" he finds her.
Ship Sinking: Though it didn't stop Breakdown from being eager to pound Airachnid to scrap for taunting him. And if that wasn't enough, she kills him.
Nightmare Fetishist: Airachnid's extra arms and psychopathic sadism do nothing to dissuade his interest.
Noble Demon: Even though he's a Decepticon, Breakdown possesses the decidedly un-villain-like qualities of honor and respect for his enemies, not to mention gratitude and kindness towards those who serve under him. His rivalry with Bulkhead also seems quite respectful.
Sacrificial Lion: A rare villainous version, as killing him was the sign that Airachnid was cutting ties with the Decepticons.
Soul Jar: What his corpse might become for Silas' consciousness when the MECH leader is brutally injured by having Nemesis Prime dropped on top of him.
Token Good Teammate: He actually seems to care about his subordinates, has some sense of honor, and generally avoids kicking the dog. It says something that he is this despite his boisterous attitude and disregard for humans.
But don't get me wrong--I fully intend to snuff out your Spark. And believe me, I will make it hurt. But that won't compare to the pain you'll feel knowing I'm adding your human to my collection.
Voiced by: Gina Torres
During the war on Cybertron, Airachnid basically operated as a third party, holding no allegiences. As the Decepticons are all for wanton destruction, she allies with them just so she can continue her sick games. After capturing and torturing Arcee, they have a rivalry that has only grown with each encounter.
Composite Character: She's a female Transformer initially allied with the Decepticons and has a spider-like form, making her somewhat similar to Blackarachnia... however, those are where the similarities end. Her personality is far closer to characters like Lockdown and Tarantulas, with a little bit of the Predator thrown in.
The Dragon: She was gunning for second-in-command and bringing her in direct confrontation with Starscream and even inspiring him to cut ties with the Decepticons. Which is nothing short of amazing, since she partly caused Starscream's loss, which royally pissed off Megatron at the time. However, when she tells everyone to run off and leave the Earth (and by extension Megatron) to die, Soundwave effortlessly defeats her and prevents her attempt to usurp authority, which is later the reason Megatron decides she wasn't worth the hassle.
Fatal Flaw: The main reason she's a Smug Snake is her sadism being matched only by her arrogance. As such, without fail, Airachnid will celebrate early when things are going her way, no matter how many times her addiction to Evil Gloating has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Ineffectual Loner: Inverted. She works much better as a solo operative than in the Decepticons.
Knight of Cerebus: She's pretty much the only Decepticon who doesn't have any redeeming moments (Megatron was revealed to be a case of He Who Fights Monsters, Starscream got a Pet the Dog moment with Arcee in Crossfire, Dreadwing is honorable, Soundwave is pragmatic and cares about Laserbeak, etc) or comedic traits.
Laser-Guided Karma: In "Metal Attraction", her stated goal for getting the polarity gauntlet is to have an edge if the Decepticons try to force her to rejoin. By the end of the episode, she's been magnetized to Breakdown, who takes her back to Megatron as a consolation prize, forcing her to rejoin.
In Armada, she uses a legion of Insecticons to try and take down Megatron, which releases them from stasis pods. During her fight with Arcee, she gets trapped inside one and frozen.
Loners Are Freaks: Even the other Decepticons are weirded out by her.
Meaningful Name: Her name is Airachnid and she has a helicopter alt mode, as well as spider-like features in her other forms.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Megatron thinks that Airachnid has done this by leaving Starscream with the Autobots, thereby giving them access to all the information held by the Decepticon second-in-command. Megatron is not happy.
The Peter Principle: She was an excellent, terrifying solo operative, and her superiors rewarded her appropriately. Unfortunately, those skills didn't translate very well to commanding a Decepticon warship, especially since she's spent several thousand years out of the loop.
Robo-Family: It's implied that she and the Insecticons have a familiar connection. All There in the Manual states that most Cybertronians descends from one of the Thirteen Original Primes and each has acquired a unique characteristic. Arachnid and the Insecticons are likely from the unnamed Beast Prime lineage.
Sealed Evil in a Can: As of "Armada", Airachnid is locked up in a stasis pod and a prisoner of the Autobots. In "Thirst", Soundwave strands her on one of Cybertron's moons.
Smug Snake: Like Starscream, she's a legitimately threatening and dangerous antagonist. But unlike Starscream, she seems to be forgetful of her limitations; specifically, that she is far from being amongst the top tier of the Decepticon hierarchy in terms of power. Soundwave quickly reminds her of this fact.
Spell My Name with an "S": Her toy is reportedly being released as "Airracchnid" for trademark reasons.
The Starscream: Since the Trope Namer defected, she has been trying to seep more power from Megatron. During "One Shall Rise, Part 3" she attempts to take command of the Decepticons and tells the troops they may as well forget about Megatron and abandon the Earth. Her attempt to usurp authority is swiftly prevented and dealt with by Soundwave.
In an earlier example, she pulls this off with Starscream, ironically. Megatron wasn't too happy about it though.
Stupid Evil: Normally she's clever enough to stay out of this territory besides her inability to stop gloating before she wins, but towards the end of the first season, she slips into it. Mainly, trying to take command of the Decepticons and ditch Megatron while he was away. This ends with Soundwave giving her a smackdown.
This Is a Drill: She can arrange her legs into one of these, letting her tunnel through the ground with astonishing speed.
I am here on a mission assigned to me by my one master: Megatron.
Voiced by: Richard Green
Part of the Seekers, an elite Decepticon force, Skyquake is completely loyal and obedient to Megatron. Once sent to assassinate Optimus, he was later placed on Earth as a sleeper agent for when the time came to revive him.
Adaptational Badass: Previous incarnations of Skyquake have appeared throughout the franchise, but they've never quite had the same level of standing as the Prime version, being formerly one of Megatron's most feared warriors and capable of fighting on equal footing against both Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
Berserk Button: Being told to bow by people who aren't Megatron.
The Dreaded: One of the most notorious warriors of the Autobot-Decepticon war, and still capable of smacking around a Prime in single combat.
Expy: He's Prime's version of the "big, powerful Decepticon who is loyal to Megatron and hates Starscream's guts" character archetype common across Transformers. (Other examples include Lugnut and Blackout.)
A Seeker as well and sharing a split spark with Skyquake, Dreadwing is similarly loyal to Megatron and came to Earth to seek revenge for his brothers' death. A powerful Decepticon warrior, he quickly rose through the ranks as First Lieutenant. Unique among Decepticons is that Dreadwing possesses a strong sense of honor, and his word is his absolute bond, even to his enemies. Though Dreadwing may hate Optimus Prime for the death of his brother, they deeply respect each other and have formed alliances for common causes of honor.
Affably Evil: He is a very polite and honorable individual with an unshakable sense of integrity. The only catch is that he's loyal to a genocidal maniac.
Avenging the Villain: One of the principal reasons he came to Earth was to avenge the death of his brother Skyquake. The other is to serve Megatron.
Backup Twin: Skyquake's twin brother, identical in appearance, but with a different voice actor.
Badass: He is the only Decepticon besides Megatron to go against Optimus Prime and not only hold his own, but ato lso survive the encounter.
BFG: Carries an enormous laser cannon with a chainsaw-style grip.
The Brute: He took this role in his initial appearance, and while he wasn't bad at it per se he got promoted from this post pretty damn quickly.
Bunny Ears Lawyer: He is a bit of a Wild Card in that he will pursue his own agenda and will disobey orders, but he's an excellent warrior and unlike Starscream, his loyalty is always towards Megatron.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: Fully expects that Wheeljack would not ambush him alone, having placed a charge where Bulkhead was hiding. This leads to Bulkhead's near-death.
The Dragon: Officially promoted to First Lieutenant in his second episode.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He clearly loved his brother Skyquake, and avenging his death is his primary motivation for coming to Earth.
Even Evil Has Standards: He is a warrior first, and Decepticon second; Megatron doesn't kill him for keeping his word to Optimus because of his extreme competence as the former even though to Dreadwing, warfare is an affair of honor and not mindless murder.
Graceful Loser: Another very un-Decepticon trait that Dreadwing posesses is an ironclad sense of gratitude. Twice already he has accepted truce with Optimus Prime being after having his life saved by him and fighting a common foe by his side. After all, reasons Dreadwing, betraying someone to whom you owe your life when he is at his weakest is the absolute lowest form of dishonor, one that no warrior should ever allow himself to sink to.
Mad Bomber: Possesses a notable propensity for explosives, whether they be timed, proximity-based, attached directly to an Autobot's body... anything he doesn't shoot, he'll blow up with gusto.
Noble Demon: Optimus assumes that any brother of Skyquake will share his sense of honor. He's right, even if Dreadwing isn't as much a fan of fighting fair as his twin.
Pragmatic Villainy: While this can also be attributed to his honorable nature, he won't Kick the Dog if it won't benefit his faction either. Case in point; in Triangulation he eventually agrees not to fight Optimus, after the Apex Armor has been lost to Starscream, after Optimus points out to do so would result in nothing good for either side.
Revenge: He seeks to avenge the death of his brother Skyquake at the hands of the Autobots. When he finds Starscream in "Triangulation", he is seconds away from killing him, due to Starscream being the one who led to Skyquake's death.
Robo-Family: The twin brother of Skyquake, born from a split Spark.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: While loyal, Dreadwing will only obey Megatron in as far as his code of morality allows him to, such as battling the Autobots to avenge Skyquake, disobeying Megatron's explicit orders not to rescue him, and keeping his word of honor to Autobots; the sort of behavior that Megatron would normally tear out your spark for.
The Starscream: Averted and lampshaded; Dreadwing is completely loyal to Megatron, who points out that Dreadwing will make a fine second-in-command after he disobeys orders.
Token Good Teammate: Like Breakdown and his brother Skyquake, it's Dreadwing's sense of honor that keeps him loyal to a genocidal maniac, not because he's a bad person.
Twin Telepathy: Was aware of his brother's awakening and death the moment it occurred, thanks to sharing a split spark with him.
The basic Decepticon footsoldiers, they are basically a faceless mass who can be tough, but don't possess a lot of skill to properly challenge the Autobots despite their greater numbers. They come in three varieties, Miners who have two visors and are clearly smaller and lighter armed, Sports Cars who are more heavily armed and form the bulk of their forces, and the Aerial Fighters who transform into jets.
Conservation of Ninjitsu: The Vehicons first appearances from Darkness Rising showed one of them being strong enough to fight Bulkhead hand-to-hand, and prior, two of them being on the winning side of a battle against Arcee and Bumblebee until Bulkhead showed up to assist. As the series has gone on, they have still managed to get a few odd lucky hits in here and there, but with the Autobots continuously facing larger numbers of them, their overall combat effectiveness seems to have decreased somewhat.
Good Old Fisticuffs: They're rather good with their fists, actually. They can even fight Bulkhead one-on-one, which really is saying something, since he's a good head taller than them and much bigger.
What Measure Is a Mook?: There is no short supply of them to be beaten around by Megatron or Starscream or killed en masse by the Autobots, while there is some question as to how sentient they are; they are refered to as drones a few times but they seem to have personalities. In a later episode Optimus points out that they are interrogating a Vehicon Miner, who is not a soldier class and thus largely helpless and should be treated as such.
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.
Basically Cybertronian animals, Insecticons are largely allied with the Decepticons and are often placed in stasis pods until they are awakened. They appear to be savage beasts incapable of higher thought process, but they reveal themselves able to speak later.
The Berserker: They are more like animals than the regular characters and when pointed to attack something, just one Insecticon is able to give Megatron a hard time.
Conservation of Ninjitsu: In their early appearances they proved to be exceptionally powerful, the sentry on Cybertron easily shrugged off Arcee's attacks and later Airachnid's Insecticon from Crossfire proves powerful enough to go one-on-one against Megatron, and wounds the Decepticon leader to the point of exhaustion before he is able to kill it. Come "Armada", where a swarm of them are present, and they go down with surprising ease.
In fairness, there is some details that justify it to a degree. Arcee is a light-fighter who trades strength and firepower for speed and mobility, and during "Crossfire", Megatron's fusion cannon was disabled as the fight commenced though he did shoot it once at point blank range, but that only served to knock it back. Come "Armada," Megatron's cannon was unrestrained and the Insecticons go down much easier in their flying beetle form than in their bipedal form.
Disney Villain Death: The Insecticon left behind as a sentry in Kaon, which dies when it gets its limbs chewed off by Scraplets and falls into the bowels of Vector Sigma's chamber.
Elite Mook: First seen in "Orion Pax, part 3". Whenever they show up, it becomes a much more difficult fight for the Autobots.
The Juggernaut: It says something that the one in "Crossfire" has to have its head cut off by Megatron to finally die.
Meteor Move: Airachnid's Insecticon pulls a uniquely vicious variation of this move on Megatron: It launches Megs into the air, flies after him and bloodily rips a chunk of his shoulder off with its mandibles in mid air, then strikes him once more and opens fire as he hits the floor.
Suddenly Voiced: At the end of "Armada" the remaining Insecticons swear loyalty to Megatron in actual speech instead of their usual shrieks.
Why Did It Have To Be Scraplets?: The Cybertron sentry from Orion Pax, Part 3 tries to flee in fear when it notices a swarm of Scraplets before it. Key word: tries.
This is not the first time that David Kaye has voiced a Decepticon that climbed out of a volcano to deal with the attacker that threw him in it. Granted, the first time was a Predacon, but there's pretty much no difference.
Asskicking Equals Authority: Stands above the others Insecticons by being the biggest, meanest, and toughest of the swarm.
Badass: He's able to fight Bulkhead one-on-one and not be killed when the big guy is going at full power. And he seems to have survived being exposed to Tox-En and being dumped into a volcano.
The Brute: Whether or not he will keep this post is unclear, given that we're not sure if he survived.
Determinator: Has shades of this throughout "Toxicity"; Bulkhead beats him up, maims him, shoves Tox-En in his face, and even throws him into a volcano, and yet he manages to come back swinging in spite of each setback.
Disney Villain Death: Bulkhead manages to deal with him by knocking him into a volcanic crater. Unfortunately for Bulkhead, Hardshell manages to climbout just in time to shoot him in the back as he's GroundBridging out.
Distinctive Appearances: To make him stand out from the regular rank and file Insecticons he has many large gashes in his armor and across his face.
Genre Savvy: When he realizes that Bulkhead had left a fake trail for them to follow, he correctly anticipates that Bulkhead would try to destroy the Tox-En in the volcano.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: The biggest visual difference between Hardshell and any other Insecticon is the series of scars running along his face and torso.
All There in the Manual: It isn't really mentioned in the episode "Flying Mind", but this isn't exactly the first time the Nemesis has been alive in this universe. It used to be Trypticon.
Anti-Mutiny: It was very single-minded about completing Project: Iacon and put the Decepticons in stasis when they tried to retake control of it.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Trypticon is so powerful that he has to constantly be put into stasis lock in all pieces of Aligned media because he'd end every fight in the Decepticons' favour in moments.
The Starscream: He ruled that Megatron and the Decepticons were a threat, and put them in stasis.
I get it, the first rule of Robot Fight Club is no one talks about Robot Fight Club.
Voiced by: Josh Keaton
The main human protagonist, he was living a quiet life in a remote Nevada town until he accidently stumbled into a fight between Arcee and a couple of Vehicons. Young but level-headed, he often tends to be the voice of reason among humans and Autobots alike. He has no real exceptional skills to offer, but is ready and willing to step up to any challenge that has been presented.
Badass Normal: Despite being a small, squishy human, he is able to use bravery and his wits to remain relevant in an engagement. As for specific examples:
He uses a fire-starting kit to ignite energon to destroy Airachnid's ship, steals Silas's radio to contact Fowler even while surrounded by armed men and Silas himself, manages to direct a swarm of Scraplets to take down an Insecticon and later tricked the sentient Nemesis into rebooting itself with some Deadly Dodging.
His tenacity and reliable nature is the reason Optimus chose him to hold the Key to Vector Sigma, knowing that Jack could handle the responsibility implied. It basically makes him an honorary Prime..
Breakout Character: Zig-zagged given how human characters are generally viewed in Transformers. Some seem to view him as the greatest character to ever come out of Transformers due to Optimus giving him the Key to Vector Sigma and thus regard him as the protagonist of the show with thousands of fanfictions have been written about him taking on an even larger role in the mythos. Most say however that while he's a better written human than most of his predecessors, it is still a Transformers show so they shouldn't be focusing on humans.
Cool Big Bro: Sometimes takes the role for Raf and Miko.
Expy: His voice actor and his social status at his school remind one of Peter Parker. His introduction to the Autobots and discovery of Arcee also have some parallels to Sam Witwicky.
It's All About Me: In episode 17, he's okay with depriving the Autobots of a seasoned warrior on the battlefield by having Arcee stay in the garage for two weeks if it means he won't be grounded. He even has Arcee abandon a mission (though to be fair, Bumblebee could handle it) so she could be in the garage before June got home.
Karma Houdini: Justified. Despite Arcee claiming she'll come by and chew him out over his idiotic decision to join Smokescreen on a mission, she never does due to the Omega Keys taking precedence. Add to that the fact that Smokescreen is a bit more to blame than Jack is.
Nice Guy: Other than being a bit of a smart-mouth, he's overall pretty decent and mature for someone his age.
Not So Different: A rare positive example; Ratchet claims that Jack is pretty similar to Optimus in his youth.
Only Sane Man: He's the only one of the trio who seems to understand why being involved in giant robot battles is not necessarily as awesome as one might think.
He's even had to talk some sense into the Autobots at times.
Out of Focus: He had a large role in Season 1 but it was reduced quite a bit after the "Orion Pax" arc.
Refusal of the Call: He refuses it the first time, but Miko's appearance forces the issue. He refuses it again after a rousing time dodging death and dismemberment aboard the Decepticon ship, but Arcee gets him to come back. His mom also pushed him into refusing the call, but by this point he stood his ground.
Team Pet: He's a human companion in a Transformers series. It comes with the territory. He's mainly Arcee's pet, but also Optimus's to a certain extent. Arcee is not pleased when Optimus lends him to Smokescreen.
An exchange student from Japan seeking to escape the boredom of a regimented schedule, she was initially wondering if Jasper, Nevada was really the place to escape from boredom. She loves being a part of this intergalactic war and desperately wants to join in on anything and everything related to it. She idolizes Bulkhead and sees him as the coolest bot on the team, often encouraging him to take more initiative.
Aesop Amnesia: No matter how many times she's told not to go flying out through the groundbridge and into danger, she ends up doing it. Her motives for doing so have improved from selfish to a misguided desire to help, however.
An Axe to Grind: Goes for the nearest fire axe whenever she's in a combat situation, whether the enemies be Decepticons or MECH mercenaries.
Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Played with. With the Apex Armor she grows to roughly Arcee's size so while not very tall to Cybertronians, she qualifies with regards to humans.
Audience Surrogate:...Well be honest, this is how you'd react to seeing giant robots from another planet ducking it out.
Break the Cutie: She is pretty well traumatized by the end of "Rock Bottom," though it doesn't seem to affect later episodes.
Expressive Hair: Noticeable in "Operation Bumblebee Part 1" when her pigtails visibly droop when they try to cheer Bumblebee up by turning on the TV just in time to see a commercial for the car Bumblebee takes his altmode from (he was stuck in a Shapeshifter Mode Lock at the time).
Expy: Personality-wise, it seems she's taken a few cues from Pepper Potts.
Genki Girl: She rationalizes this in the fourth episode as a result of strict upbringing. First chance she got, she took the exchange student gig for greener pastures. Nevada wasn't the best choice for that, but it worked out pretty well.
Hidden Depths: As said below, while part of her fight against the Seekers is based off Street Fighter, the rest is improvised sumo moves. Where she picked those up is a big question mark.
She scoffs at the Autobots being afraid of the much smaller Scraplets (who can be carried by humans) but she herself is afraid of the much smaller spiders. Never mind that the Scraplets are actually deadly to Cybertronians.
Both times she dons the Apex Armor, she mocks the Decepticons for being afraid to fight her. Never mind that without the armor, she's terrified to face them.
Ink Suit Actor: She's basically a CGI model of her voice actress.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's more than often rather pushy, selfish, and pays very little heed to others' advice, but would never abandon her friends (especially Bulkhead) willingly.
Plucky Girl: Even if she's trapped in a cave and suffocating from the lack of fresh air, she does not quit.
Pretty Freeloader: Emphasis on "pretty", extra emphasis on "freeloader".
Reckless Sidekick: Very reckless. At least half a dozen incidents where characters were put in legitimate danger are due to her. By the second season, she has got better in her recklessness, but still seems to have a hard time understanding that a combat situation against Decepticons is not where she belongs (i.e. when she insisted on going with the 'Bots to capture and secure the Decepticon Space Bridge... in space).
Too Dumb to Live: She persists in involving herself in combat situations when she really shouldn't, including trying to bash a Vehicon with a rock while Bulkhead has it pinned (which considering said Vehicon has a head made of metal alloy far tougher than any on Earth, works about as well as could be expected). Jack calls her on this attitude the first chance he gets.
She is getting better as of "Flying Mind". Then thanks to Wheeljack it goes back to normal.
Twofer Token Minority: She's an exchange student from Japan and one of the few female characters.
Undying Loyalty: She really cares about her friendship with Bulkhead, even to the point of nearly suffocating herself in "Rock Bottom" to try to free him.
Miko: You know how to hack? But you're, like, two years old.
Raf: Twelve... and a quarter.
Voiced by: Andy Pessoa
The youngest of the human kids, he was present when Bumblebee came to aid Arcee against a group of Vehicons. Abnormally smart for his young age, he is still very young and easily overwhelmed. He grew up in a large family who rarely have time to listen to him, which is why he bonds so closely with the normally quiet Bumblebee.
Adorably Precocious Child: At times, Raf really shows his young age. In "Darkness Rising" his first scene was him playing with a toy car and making engine noises. In "Scrapheap", he talked about wanting to see snow and later was wandering around the base pretending he was in a blizzard.
All There in the Manual: "Raf's Notes" explains that even he doesn't know why Bumblebee makes sense to him, he just does. He also goes on to mention that it's probably the same reason he could understand computer code at age three. You can just hear the fan theories coming out... especially coming after Transformers Animated. Ultimately however, it's never explained.
Badass Adorable: Despite being the youngest, smallest and weakest human physically, Raf has actually proven to be the most competent and reliable of the Autobots' human friends. His common sense usually keeps him out of trouble (for the most part; no human is ever completely out of trouble in a Transformers series), he's the most rational of the three humans, and his formidable computer skills and knowledge of human technology have proven invaluable to the Autobots so far. When Ratchet actually shows a little fondness for you and even admits that you're pretty much his only human friend, you must have done something right.
"Out Of His Head" deserves a mention for sheer badass. Raf attempts to take on Bumblebee, possessed by freaking Megatron while Megs is attempting to resurrect himself. Raf leaps onto the cable connecting Bumblebee to Megatron's body to try and rip it off. It doesn't actually work, but let's just repeat that Raf was willing to take on Megatron to save his friend. Dude's got bearings.
In "Triage", he creates a computer virus that beams the entirety of the Iacon Database from the Nemesis' computer to the Autobot base's computer, giving the Autobots an edge against the Decepticons.
Beware the Nice Ones: Do not, under any circumstances, threaten Bumblebee in his presence. A scraplet learned that the hard way. This gets a later deconstruction when Megatron possess Bumblebee. Sure it's brave and noble that Raf would defend his friend so but there's still nothing he can actually do against Megatron.
Out of Focus: While all the humans got a diminished role following Season 1, overall Raf had the least screen time of the three kids. He also notably has the least amount of Adaptational Badass fanfiction about him and is rarely written about due to people knowing so little about him.
Team Pet: Bumblebee's, and lately Ratchet's shown some fondness for him too, to the point that he actually picks him up from school when Bumblebee's T-Cog is taken and can't transform.
Vocal Evolution: His voice has noticeably deepened over the course of the series, most evidently in the season 2 opener. This is obviously due to Andy Pessoa's own voice deepening.
Never an Autobot around when you actually need one!
Voiced by: Ernie Hudson
A human liason to the Autobots, Fowler's job is to monitor their activity and report back on issues of interest. Their agreement is to let the Autobots handle Decepticon activity, but at various points he has called on their help dealing with the dangerous MECH organization. Often grouchy, regardless he has a good deal of respect for Optimus, his team and the human kids, and has grown to trust them to make the right calls.
Ace Pilot: He may be retired, but he's still really good with a plane.
Badass Normal: He may just be a human, but he's able to withstand Decepticon torture for an unknown amount of time without cracking, not to mention dogfight Laserbeak in a Huey helicopter. He can also fly a jet without a flight suit, thanks to a cabin-pressure stabilizer that Rachet has built into the cockpit to keep his organs from exploding.
In "Nemesis Prime", he chooses to go into a battleground between Optimus and Nemesis Prime, sneaks into the MECH base (including knocking out at least three sentries), and fistfights Silas (while admitting he's out-of-shape) to buy Optimus time against his doppelganger.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Most of the time, he's yelling at Optimus about whatever new incident is going down (often misblaming them for it), and when conversing with Bumblebee, he started talking slower as though Bumblebee couldn't understand him. However, he's a valued ally and friend to the Autobots and he grows fond of the kids, even showing a great deal of respect to Jack's mom.
To be fair, working with Team Prime is an incredibly stressful job at the best of times and said "new incidents" have a chance of extreme collateral damage.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He once tries to provide backup to Optimus and Bumblebee when Skyquake is fighting them. They have the fight under control when he arrives, however, and as a result, Skyquake gains a vehicle mode. And his Big Damn Heroes moment gives Airachnid a vehicle mode too, but it's that or allow Airachnid to kill Arcee, Jack and June. By the time it happens again when he tries to attack Dreadwing, it seems as though it's become a full-on Running Gag.
Non Sequitur Thud: Tends to do this after electrical shocks. Usually mentions his grandmother. Even ends up referencing LOLcats at one point.
Ranger: Mentions he was one during his fistfight with Silas in "Nemesis Prime".
Reasonable Authority Figure: Whilst he may become frustrated at some of the consequences that having warring alien robots on Earth can bring (specifically, about keeping the whole ordeal secret and whether further government intervention would be required should things escalate), he still takes on board what the Autobots have to say, gives them free rein to deal with the Decepticons their own way (without human casualties), and will readily assist them if they need it.
Retired Badass: Used to be a US Army Ranger, and had some pilot training too given his comments while flying his jet.
Running Gag: The vehicles he's piloting/riding in tend to get scanned by Decepticons who desperately need an Earth alternate-mode a lot.
Jack's mom, she works as a nurse at the local hospital and has raised Jack ever since his father left. Because of that, she raised Jack to be very responsible in his schoolwork, job and friendships, but is still very concerned for his safety. She was initially kept out of the loop, not fully realizing where Jack's motorcycle came from, but eventually came to see the full scope of events her son is involved with.
In Season 2, she's very important to the "Orion Pax" arc but afterwards, isn't even mentioned until the finale.
After making intermittent appearances in Season 3, she pops up out of nowhere for one line in the finale and to see the Autobots off to Cybertron.
Broken Masquerade: Jack tried to tell her the truth once, only for Arcee not to cooperate and she figured he was joking around. Being taken captive by MECH and witnessing Arcee and Airachnid duking it out, she caught on pretty quick.
Chekhov's Gunman: She's a nurse, which just seems like a fill-in job title. She keeps Raf alive long enough for Ratchet to figure out how to rig a permanent solution.
Hair-Trigger Temper: While most times she gets angry it's for a reasonable reason, she has far more anger than is warranted.
Hot Mom: She looks like she's only in her mid-to-late 20's instead of the mother of a teenager. She could easily pass as Jack's older sister. Just look at the two side by side.
My Beloved Smother: She has her moments of this, especially after she learns about how her son has spent several months involved in a war between giant alien robots.
This also crops up after Megatron nearly kills Raf. She initially tries to cut herself and the children off from the Autobots entirely, but is later convinced of the Autobots' willingness to help humanity. Like mother, like son, it seems.
Older Than They Look: Mathematically she should be around her late 40s to early 50s. She looks around 20. The wiki even lampshades it.
Out of Focus: After the "Orion Pax" arc, she has virtually no role in the series.
Secret Keeper: As of "Crisscross", she now knows of the Transformers' existence and Jack's involvement with them.
Skewed Priorities: Her Mama Bear tendencies are admirable but protecting the kids isn't going to do much if Megatron conquers Earth.
What the Hell, Hero?: Calls all the Bots out after Megatron nearly kills Raf for the reason that they were careless enough to drag three children into the war.
And again in part 1 of "Orion Pax", when Ratchet reveals they will have to send Jack to Cybertron to access Vector Sigma, where she and Fowler ask why Jack specifically has to go.
Sierra
Voiced by: Alexandra Krosney
A classmate of Jack (and by extension, Miko and Raf), she didn't really pay him much mind until he talked with her while on his motorcycle. Unaware of Jack's involvement with alien robots, they've had a few hiccups as they grow closer together.
Aborted Arc: Will she and Jack get together? Who knows? Her last real appearance was in the first episode of Season 2 and then the show stopped focusing on Jack. It was even teased she'd one day find out about the Autobots but ultimately nothing came from her character.
Secret-Chaser: Might have become one as she expresses interest in where Jack is when not in school as he's absent from any parties or the mall.
Shallow Love Interest: About all we know about her is that she likes Jack and he likes her. To be fair though, she hasn't really stuck around long enough in any episode for us to get to know her.
What Happened to the Mouse?: After Jasper is destroyed, Jack doesn't spare even a moment to think about what might have become of her.
Silas
There'a a war brewing between the new world order and the newest. The victor will be the side armed with the most innovative technology.
The leader of the advanced technological rogues calling themselves MECH, he is a steely individual with the scars to prove his life experiences. He was resolving to make guerilla attacks to acquire advanced military hardware, at least until his first encounter with the Cybertronians. Now his ultimate goal is to unlock their technological secrets and use it for his own nefarious purposes.
Actor Allusion: He's a clear-cut human supervillain, seems to have long-term goals of world domination, and he opposes an alien being clad in red and blue. We've heard this before.
Affably Evil: Quite polite and friendly in a brisk, military sort of way.
Badass Normal: Briefly gets to show it when fighting Agent Fowler. Not for very long though, because he gets crushed by Nemesis Prime and a large amount of concrete.
Emergency Transformation: Let's see... we have one nearly-dead Silas, one Decepticon corpse, and a lot of wires connecting one to the other.
Evil Counterpart: To Agent Fowler. Both served in the military but Fowler retired with honours while Silas was dishonourably discharged.
Evil Gloating: Brags to Optimus about the strength of his Evil Knockoff, Nemesis Prime. Unfortunately for Silas, the correlation between villainous gloating and... ehrm... crushing defeat quickly becomes obvious.
Foil: To Megatron. Silas is a cool headed ex-military leader while Megatron loses his temper once an episode and was a nobody among nobodies on Cybertron. Despite this, Megatron is the more successful of the two. Optimus even compares Silas' ideology to Megatron's recruitment drive for the Decepticons.
Genius Bruiser: As the commander of (or, at least, a high-ranking officer in) a high-tech terrorist group, it would be more of a surprise if he wasn't this. Finally gets to demonstrate his CQC chops in "Nemesis Prime".
Hoist by His Own Petard: His own creation, Nemesis Prime, falls through the roof of his base and crushes him.
I Just Want to Be You: Referring to Nemesis Prime as "my robot chassis" and being grafted into Breakdown's corpse seems to confirm that Silas wants to be Cybertronian.
Know When to Fold'Em: Quite willing to back off and process the intel he's collected once the original mission is no longer viable. No meaningless sacrifices here.
Laser-Guided Karma: After strapping Cybertronians to lab tables, he gets strapped to Knock Out's and endures months of agonizing pain as Knock Out's lab rat. When he begs Starscream for help, the Seeker laughs in his face.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Was he driven insane by brain damage or did some lingering remnants of Breakdown's personality drive him to kill his men and return to Megatron?
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: If he's operating with his fellow humans and on Earth, he's a threat. If he sets foot on the Nemesis, he's totally out of his depth.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Zig-zagged. While more competent than the Autobots or Starscream initially believed, he doesn't impress Megatron at all.
Original Position Fallacy: When Megatron gives him a chance to join the Decepticons, Silas assumes he'll be Megatron's partner. Not even close. If possible, Megatron treats him worse than Starscream.
Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: He's certainly borrowed at least some of the aesthetic and ideology, though it's still too soon to say just how far it goes.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: During his alliance with Starscream. Silas clearly doesn't see Starscream as an equal, or even as an actual ally, and doesn't really try to hide this.
Terrorist Without a Cause: Possibly. Silas speaks of a "new world order" but what exactly this entails is never made clear.
Ungrateful Bastard: MECH saves his life by plugging him into Breakdown's body and his first act is to kill them all.
Villainous Breakdown: In "Nemesis Prime", we finally see him lose his cool as Fowler reveals that he was just distracting him so that Optimus could defeat his evil duplicate.
And again in "Operation Bumblebee" with Starscream, though Silas eventually calls it off when they lose access to Bumblebee's T-Cog... by taking Starscream's and leaving him unconscious in the woods.
Vince
Not bad for a pedal car.
Voiced By: Brad Raider
Jasper, Nevada's resident Jerkass, Vince is a bully who takes part in illegal street races. Has his eye on Sierra, much to the annoyance of Jack.
Aborted Arc: Like Sierra, he stopped being important once Jack stopped being the focus of the show.
Laser-Guided Karma: As Bulkhead says, being abducted by Decepticons is kind of fitting for him.
Mistaken Identity: Knock Out mistakes him for Bumblebee's partner, knocks him out, and kidnaps him. Hilarity Ensues as the Autobots try to rescue him. Vince never finds out what really happened.
Ungrateful Bastard: The closest Jack gets to a thank you is a derogatory remark about Bumblebee (who Jack was riding in at the time). Bumblebee reciprocates by kicking a load of dust up in his face.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Like all the other humans who lived in Jasper, no mention is made of his fate once Megatron uses Darkmount to destroy the town. To be fair, would you care to look into his fate?
General Bryce
Please explain why we haven't been served Megatron's steel head on a silver platter?
Voiced By: Robert Forster
Agent Fowler's superior and good friend.
Expy: Fans noticed that his visual appearance and midwest US accent is similar to Captain Fanzone, the local human authority in Transformers Animated.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Is the next up in the chain of command, and although he may be skeptical of the Autobots' good intentions he is friendly with Agent Fowler, calling him "Bill."
Vogel
Voiced By: John Dimaggio
A construction worker who appears in "Tunnel Vision" and plays a fairly major part towards the end of the episode.
An ancient evil, a mechanical god of sorts who possesses a rivalry with his counterpart Primus. Defeated eons ago, his influence continues to the present day and is a force that couldn't care less about the Autobot/Decepticon conflict.
Abusive Precursors: As Optimus puts it he is, metaphorically speaking, the parent of humanity and all life on Earth. He agrees with Optimus on this, and then declares us all parasites unworthy of living.
Achilles Heel: The energies of the Matrix of Leadership.
Adaptational Badass: This Unicron doesn't need a planet sized robot mode to destroy everything he sees. Existing as a being of pure energy is enough.
Amplifier Artifact: Like in G1, he can function as this to Cybertronians.
As Long as There Is Evil: All the evil deeds that Unicron does in the show are for his own sadistic amusement. He doesn't need to cause destruction and chaos to live, as long as someone anywhere in the universe is evil, Unicron will still exist.
Death World: Shows he can make Earth this. He would have gone even further.
Demonic Possession: Does it to Megatron, albeit after a LOT of effort. And by the time he does, he's too late to stop Optimus from unleashing the Matrix against him.
Determinator: If you admire even one thing about Unicron, it's that he never gives up on his goals.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: After losing a battle with Primus, he was left to be trapped in the center of the Earth where he plans to destroy humanity and their civilization. Sound familiar?
Eldritch Abomination: He's as old as time itself. His blood's properties can resurrect the dead as berserker zombies, power up a Transformer, possibly kill a human with exposure, weaken some Transformers if they are exposed to too much, and allow one to hear the thoughts of Unicron himself and see the future. If that's just his blood, can the rest of him do?
Earth formed around him. That's what.
Evil Counterpart/Twin: To his brother, Primus. And the parallels are even stronger in this universe than they usually are. Both of them are responsible for the survival and possible creations of a planet, Earth for Unicron, and Cybertron for Primus, respectively. The difference being, that Primus willingly allowed his spark to become one with Cybertron's core and created the Well of [AllSparks] to spawn new generations of Cybertronians, whereas Earth formed around Unicron's body whilst he was in stasis, and the creation of the planet and its inhabitants was completely unintentional and unwanted on Unicron's part.
Fighting a Shadow: Since Unicron is the Earth, he can form countless copies of himself from surface materials; the Autobots can destroy as many of those as they can, but Unicron will survive.
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: The few times he isn't looking at someone, he's staring straight at the camera, as if he's very aware the people outside the TV are watching him.
Genius Loci: As is tradition, but Prime adds a special twist: Unicron is Earth, the planet having formed around his remains. He exists as a spirit which can control the minerals in the ground to form copies of his original body.
Giant Mook: Even the regular stone copies of Unicron are larger than the average Transformer, but in addition to these, Unicron is also capable of forming skyscraper-sized versions of himself that are much, much harder to take down.
God Is Evil: Since he is the parent of humanity and all life on earth he counts as this.
Hive Mind/I Am Legion: Unicron can make multiple versions of his old body that are all share a single, unified mind, and thus at least seem to talk in complete unison.
It's All About Me: He took a good long look at reality and decided it had to go. All of it until only he remained.
Knight of Cerebus: He is the God of Evil for Cybertronians, this really shouldn't be surprising. Notably, however, his introduction saw the show go for longer story arcs rather than the stand-alone episodes it had done before.
Large Ham: He's not a Motor Mouth, but when he speaks, he can go on and his voice has a magnificent sense of gravitas.
Madden Into Misanthropy: Even before he was properly born, he felt the universe needed to die.
Made of Evil: He's the literal incarnation of everything dark and evil in the universe.
Mook Maker: Since Unicron is the Earth itself, he's capable of spawning apparently infinite stone copies of his original body from the ground. That's right, the whole damn PLANET is his Mook Maker, and all the mooks ARE Unicron.
Noodle Incident: At some point he made a deal with Megatronus Prime, the Fallen. What exactly the deal comprised is unknown but he gave Megatronus Dark Energon weapons and enhanced powers before it turned sour. Afterwards, the Fallen holds both Primus and Unicron as responsible for his fall from grace.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Completely unintentionally. After his defeat at the dawn of time, the entire planet Earth naturally formed around him over billions of years. Done intentionally the second time where Optimus extracts his energy form from Megatron and seals Unicron is an indestructible container.
Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: For once in this franchise, averted. Unicron is Earth itself, making him truly planet-sized for the first time.
Taught By Experience: After the Thirteen Primes defeated him, he wastes zero time in tracking down Optimus so he can kill him.
When the Planets Align: Justified for once. The magnetic and gravitational forces of all the planets affected Unicron and caused him to reboot.
Primus
An ancient god of Creation, he is a deity and ancestor of all Cybertronians. Locked in a perpetual stalemate with his counterpart Unicron, defeated him by creating the Thirteen Primes. Once peace was established he merged with the core of Cybertron, giving life to the planet by providing an abundance of energon. The war corrupted his core, forcing him to shut down for millions of years to repair the damage and he bestowed the Matrix of Leadership to Optimus for safekeeping.
All-Loving Hero: Played with. Even before he was born, he saw beauty in life, no matter what form it took. That said he seemed to regard himself and his Cybertronian creations as superior as it took a while for him to get off his arse and take up arms against Unicron.
God Is Flawed: Despite his penchant for creation, Primus seems a rather lazy individual. When he and Unicron were created, Primus did who knows what for who knows how long while Unicron went on a cosmic rampage before he finally took a stand. But after creating the Thirteen however, he seems content to leave any fighting to his creations. One wonders what he does to pass the time.
Physical God: Was once this. Somewhat unique amongst Transformers lore in that Primus and Cybertron originally existed individually of one another, before Primus merged his spark with the planet's core as opposed to his entire body being the planet, as is the most common depiction. This allows him to be a planet without trying to depict a planet-size robot form, which has been a visual difficulty in Transformers: The Movie and Transformers Armada.
Small Role, Big Impact: Primus only appears twice in the series (in flashbacks and without his actual physical form being seen) and has no actual impact on the plot much less a voice. Despite this, his taking a stand against Unicron at the dawn of time is why the universe exists.
Powerful creations of Primus who tipped the balance in the battle against Unicron. They are responsible for the creation of Cybertronian society and their unique qualities can be seen among their descendants.
I Choose to Stay: After the construction of the Ark, Alpha Trion decided not to go with Optimus, but to stay behind on Cybertron and watch over the Hall of Records.
Internal Homage: Megatron named himself after Megatronus Prime. Also known as The Fallen.
Retcon: One of the more surprising ones amongst the franchise. Alpha Trion was revealed to be a member of the Thirteen for this universe, meaning he's also supposedly a Multiversal Singularity (meaning there's only truly one of him across every Transformers continuity). This provides somewhat of a problem for him more than other members of the Thirteen, since he has actually had an evil Mirror Universecounterpart, who actually fought against Nexus Prime, another member of the Thirteen. This apparent contradiction has resulted in classifying only the Prime Alpha Trion as one of the Thirteen, and stating that the Prime universe is not part of the previous Transformers Multiverse. Whether this makes thing more or less confusing is up for debate. Though recent materials have done away completely with multiversal singularities meaning all Alpha Trions are now separate characters.
Robo-Family: Certain members of The Thirteen ended up having a few descendants. Prima's lineage includes those with a "Primian polarity", among whom Optimus is included and Amalgamous Prime's descendants became known as "shifters", which includes Makeshift.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Vector Prime's disgust with Liege Maximo plotting against the other Primes was too much for him, so he left reality for a pocket dimension.
Shape Shifter: Amalgamous Prime, ancestor of the "shifter" breed which includes Makeshift.
The Smurfette Principle: Solus Prime is the only female Prime. Although adding to that, she's also the very first female Cybertronian to exist.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: Until they see another Cybertronian. Then they start eating like there's no tomorrow.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: They cause this reaction all the time from Cybertronians, for good reason. Bulkhead even states the trope word-for-word (with "Scraplets" in place of snakes).
Feel No Pain: Silas mentions this as an advantage over Optimus.
In-Series Nickname: Miko just picks the name "Nemesis Prime" out of nowhere.
Remote Body: Is controlled via remote control by Silas.
Something They Would Never Say: Silas attempts to use Nemesis to trick Bumblebee into believing it is the real Optimus. The ruse fails after about 10 seconds, when Silas proves unable to understand Bumblebee's method of communication ("I'm sorry, what?").
The Undead: While not a character that's brought back from the dead, its appearance certainly seems to try and invoke this, mainly due to the rusting appearance and darker colours.
↑ Drift is a G1 character from the IDW comics who has trouble with authority and wields a curved sword. While not really a badly written character, he was considered overhyped before his debut and calculated to be as cool of a character as popular, hence the Japanese inspired sword and some Kanji on his vehicle mode.
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