Transformers: Cybertron

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Transformers: Cybertron
トランスフォーマー ギャラクシーフォース
(Transformers: Galaxy Force)
Genre Adventure, Mecha, Science Fiction
TV anime
Directed by Hiroyuki Kakudou, Manabu Ono
Studio GONZO
Network Japan TV Aichi
United States Cartoon Network, Kids WB

United Kingdom CITV, Toonami Canada YTV
Original run July 2, 2005 – (US)
No. of episodes 52

Transformers: Cybertron, known in Japan as Transformers: Galaxy Force (トランスフォーマー ギャラクシーフォース Toransufōmā: Garakushī Fōsu?), is the 2005-2006 Transformers toyline and animated series, another co-production between Hasbro and Takara. While the show is a stand-alone series in Japan, unrelated to previous Transformers cartoons, its English-language counterpart is a follow-up to Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon. In the anime, all of the Transformers are CG (computer-generated)

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Storyline

Main article: List of Transformers: Cybertron episodes

When the destruction of Unicron results in the formation of a massive black hole, the planet Cybertron, homeworld of the Transformers, is threatened, and its population is evacuated to Earth, taking the forms of local vehicles and machinery to hide from humanity. As this occurs, Optimus Prime's elite team of Autobot warriors are approached by the ancient Transformer Vector Prime, who has emerged from his resting place in the void outside of time to inform them of the legendary Cyber Planet Keys, ancient artefacts of power which can stop the black hole and save the universe. Lost due to an accident during an attempt to create a cross-universal space bridge network, the Cyber Planet Keys now reside on four worlds somewhere in the universe - unfortunately, Vector Prime's map showing their location is stolen by Decepticon leader Megatron, and both forces relocate to Earth as the race to find them begins.

On Earth, the Autobots befriend three human children named Coby, Bud and Lori, who aid them in locating the Omega Lock, the focusing device for the Cyber Planet Key's power. With new "Cyber Key Powers" awakened in them, the Transformers battle on many fronts, searching for the Lock on Earth while Hot Shot and Red Alert head for Velocitron, the Speed Planet, resting place of the first key. As Hot Shot competes in the planet's grand racing championship to win the key from planet leader Override, the Lock is located on Earth in the bulk of the crashed Transformer spaceship the Atlantis, and Autobot Overhaul heads for the next world, Jungle Planet, where the power of its Cyber Planet Key reformats him into Leobreaker. Megatron ingratiates himself with Jungle Planet ruler Scourge, while at the same time, his scheming lieutenant Starscream teams up with the mysterious Sideways, working towards his own goals.

Ultimately, the Autobots succeed in acquiring the Keys of both Velocitron and Jungle Planet, at which point the existence of Earth's own Cyber Planet Key is revealed. Starscream makes his power play and overthrows Megatron, stealing the Omega Lock and all three keys from the Autobots and using them to grow in size and power. Their forces bolstered by the ancient Autobots from Earth and the arrival of Wing Saber, the Autobots fight their way through a vengeful Megatron and defeat Starscream, reclaiming the Keys - but the battle is not without casualities, as Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot are gravely wounded and rebuilt into the even more powerful "Cybertron Defense Team."

Returning to Cybertron, the Autobots use the Omega Lock and Cyber Planet Keys, which awakens the spirit of Primus, the deity who is creator of the Transformers, and Cybertron itself actually transforms into the god's body. After a battle in which Starscream taps the power of Primus and grows to planetary size - only to be defeated by Primus himself - the location of the fourth and final key is determined as Gigantion, the Giant Planet. Gigantion, however, exists in another dimension, having fallen through a rift in space/time, and while the Autobots are able to reach the planet, the Decepticons are led there by the enigmatic Soundwave. Bested by the planet's leader Metroplex, Megatron taps the key's power to become Galvatron, and Sideways and Soundwave reveal themselves to be inhabitants of Planet X, a world destroyed by the Gigantions, upon whom they seek revenge. Galvatron blasts them and Starscream into another dimension and acquires the Lock and Keys for himself, intending to use their power to accelerate the universal degeneration caused by the black hole and remake the cosmos in his own image. Vector Prime sacrifices his life to allow the Autobots to return to their home universe, and the five planet leaders confront Galvatron within the black hole and defeat him. With all the Cyber Planet Keys now in his possesion, Primus uses their power to finally seal the black hole, ending its threat.

As the planet's various civilisations attempt to return to life as normal, Galvatron attacks the Autobots for one final time. Without any troops to call his own, Galvatron engages Optimus Prime in a one-on-one duel, and is finally destroyed for good. With this final victory, Optimus Prime begins a new space bridge initiative, and the Transformers set sail for the four corners of the universe, and new adventures.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in Transformers: Cybertron

Transformers: Cybertron features a large cast of diverse characters, with each planet the Autobots and Decepticons visit offering civilisations with differing ideaologies, mentalities and transformations. The vehicular inhabitants of Velocitron are obsessed with racing, which shapes the entire culture and commerce of the world. In contrast, those who dwell on the Jungle Planet settle their differences the old-fashioned way, through shows of unrelenting might in their feral animal modes. The industrious robots of Giganation, on the other hand, would much rather work together than compete, and prefer to build instead of destroy. And travelling from world to world are Optimus Prime's Autobots, a team of loyal, trustworthy soldiers who work so well because they're all so different, and Megatron's Decepticons, a rag-tag band of troops plucked from different planets, forced into servitude by Megatron's fearsome power.

[edit] Continuity

Cybertron was conceived by Hasbro's Transformers Design Director Aaron Archer to be the third and final installment of the trilogy begun by the two previous series, Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Energon. Visually supporting this idea are certain character designs, such as those of Hot Shot, Red Alert and Jetfire, which are blatantly designed to resemble updated versions of the characters from Armada and Energon, and the new appearance for Megatron, which is based upon the fact that he has absorbed the power of Unicron after his encounters with him.

In producing the anime, however, GONZO chose not to follow this idea. Although a special preview DVD for the series described scenes from Armada and Energon as past battles, and the biography included with the Japanese release of the Megatron toy[1] notes that he has indeed absorbed Unicron's power, the series created by GONZO began afresh, rebooting the continuity and telling a story unrelated to Armada, Energon or any previous Transformers shows.

With Hasbro's toy biographies consistenly promoting the series as a continuation of Armada and Energon, there was some concern among fans over how the English dub of the series would handle the disconnect, if at all. Ultimately, the dubbed Cybertron series featured several alterations to confirm it as a continuation - for example, establishing that it was Unicron's destruction that created the black hole, repeatedly referring to Megatron's "Armor of Unicron", and most notably, inserting two new sequences of animation into the final episode, depicting the human characters from Armada and Energon to firmly tie the series together.

This procedure, however, was not perfect. Although the link was established in broad strokes, several specifics failed to line up between the series. Characters had new voice actors. Megatron and Starscream had sudenly returned to life after their seeming death in a sun at the end of Energon with no explanation. Characters made claims that were contradictory to earlier series - such as when Hot Shot professed not to know Wing Saber and when Optimus Prime claimed that he had never heard of two Autobots combining together; both things which had happened in Energon.

Seeking to iron out the inconsistencies, Hasbro biography writer Forest Lee began to explain these glitches through the Official Transformers Collectors Club's exclusive magazine. Through longer, more detailed biographies and the newsletter's comic strip, Lee established greater and greater ties between the series (noting, for example, that the black hole was specifically created by the collapse of the new sun created at the end of Energon, which allowed Megatron and Starscream to escape it), and explained that the black hole was a multiversal threat that warped reality itself, creating the memory glitches, personality shifts and differing voices that disconnected Cybertron from its predecessors. Lee carried on this process through other media as well, explaining the connection between Unicron, Planet X and the two differing depictions of Sideways in the Armada and Cybertron cartoons through a summary on the packaging for Soundwave's toy.

With these actions, Cybertron is established as part of the Armada and Energon universe, collectively referred to as the Unicron Trilogy.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Japanese cast (Galaxy Force)

[edit] English cast (Cybertron)

Actor Role
Brian Drummond Jetfire | Jolt
David Kaye Megatron | Galvatron
Gary Chalk Optimus Prime/Soundwave
Michael Dobson Starscream | Brakedown
Paul Dobson Overhaul | Landmine
Brian Dobson Red Alert | Clocker
Kirby Morrow Hot Shot
Richard Newman Vector Prime
Richard Ian Cox Scattorshot
Lisa Ann Beley Override
Mark Acheson Crumplezone
Dale Wilson Mudflap
Louis Chirillo Ransack
Mark Oliver Thundercracker | Undermine
Sarah Edmondson Lori
Sam Vincent Coby | Menasor | Wing Saber
Ryan Hirakida Bud
Scott McNeil Backstop | Snarl
Tabitha St. Germain Dr. Lucy Suzuki
Trevor Devall Scourge | Megatron (fallen)
Terry Klassen Brimstone | Stanton | Tim
Maryke Hendrikse Thunderblast
Ron Halder Metroplex
Alvin Sanders Evac
Blu Mankuma Leobreaker
Michael Daingerfield Quickmix | Crosswise
Micahel Donovan Primus | Dirt Boss
Ted Cole Sideways
Robert O. Smith Soundwave
  • Writers - Joshua Izzo, Dave McDermott, James W. Bates, Marc Handler, Seth Walther, Charlotte Fullerton
  • For several episodes, a different actor/actress replaced Ryan Hirakida as Bud. It is unknown who this was, but Hirakida returned in the episode "Ice."
  • Lori is thought to have had had different actors temporarily as well - this is most noticeable in the 52nd episode, "Inferno." A good ear can identify that Tabitha St. Germain did the stand-in voice for Lori.

[edit] Theme songs

[edit] Japan (Galaxy Force)

  • Openings
  1. "Call You - Kimi to Boku no Mirai [The Future of You and I]" by Shinji Kakijima
  2. "Ignition!" by CHINO
  • Endings
  1. "Itsumo" by Tomoka Issei
  2. "Growing Up" by Shinji Kakijima

[edit] U.S. (Cybertron)

[edit] Notes/Trivia

  • The first two episodes of Galaxy Force are edited together to create the first Cybertron episode, entitled "Fallen." This reduced the overall episode count to only 51, so to restore it to 52, the second Galaxy Force episode was redubbed in full as "Inferno," a "lost episode" for the series, and the final episode broadcast.
  • For some unknown reason, the first two episodes of Transformers Cybertron - "Fallen" and "Haven" - were not shown when the series premiered on Toonami. In other countries such as Canada and the UK, only "Fallen" was skipped, but both eventually aired in America when the series debuted on Kids WB. YTV aired Fallen in 3 Hairy Thumps Up and subsequent reruns.
Galaxy Force (left), Cybertron (right)
Enlarge
Galaxy Force (left), Cybertron (right)
  • In "Fallen", Vector Prime's recounting of the scattering of the Cyber Planet keys features completely different animation from the Galaxy Force version of the episode. In addition, several brief shots also featured a differently colored model for Optimus Prime.
  • This is the first series to feature Primus as a physical being. Transformers: Energon featured Primus as an energy being hidden deep within Cybertron, but never depicted him as having an actual body. His design is based on a hypothetical robot mode for Primus/Cybertron, which was in conjunction with the Dreamwave Productions Transformers: The War Within comic book mini-series.
  • Cybertron is the first TV series since the 1980s to feature Soundwave, a new incarnation of the popular G1 character. The original Soundwave even recieved a sneaky cameo in the series, when a stereo cassette deck based on his alternate mode was used as a prop in two episodes.
  • Ironically, Galvatron was the only Decepticon in this series who ended up dead, despite being generally considered by many to be the most powerful villain/antagonist in Transformers: Cybertron. This is the only instance in a Transformers series where only the most formidable villain dies first, leaving his fellow Decepticons alive.
  • The Cybertron incarnations of Starscream and Brakedown are based on the redesigned versions of the original Starscream and Kup created for Dreamwave's War Within series.
  • In the episode "Balance," when Primus is recounting his tale, a brief scene shows four Transformers around a layout of the space bridges. Identified only as "wise elders," the four robots are, in fact, the original Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime and Jazz.
  • A large number of famous quotes from past Transformers series (most notably The Transformers: The Movie) appear throughout Transformers: Cybertron, from "Till All Are One," to "Such heroic nonsense!"
  • Transformers Cybertron has a slightly similar plot to the game Kingdom Hearts, such as the omega lock and the cyber planet keys and the numerous worlds visited by the Transformers.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ This bio can be seen (in Japanese) at TV Aichi's website.

[edit] External links

Transformers
v • d • e
Toy Line Transformers (Generation 1) (1984-1992) | Generation 2 | Beast Wars | Machine Wars | Beast Machines | Robots in Disguise | Armada | Universe | Energon | Alternators | Cybertron | Titanium | Classics | BotCon
Comics Marvel Series: The Transformers| Transformers/G.I. Joe | Headmasters | Universe | Generation 2
Dreamwave Series: Generation 1 | Armada/Energon | Transformers/G.I. Joe | The War Within | More Than Meets the Eye (G1/Armada) | Summer Special | Micromasters
IDW Series: Infiltration | Stormbringer | Spotlight | Escalation | Beast Wars | Generations | Evolutions
BotCon Exclusives: The Wreckers | Universe
Animated Series Generation 1: The Transformers | The Headmasters | Super-God Masterforce | Victory | Zone
Beast Era: Beast Wars | Beast Wars II | Beast Wars Neo | Beast Machines
Robots in Disguise
Unicron Trilogy: Armada | Energon | Cybertron
Characters Optimus Prime | List of Autobots | Megatron | List of Decepticons | Primus | Unicron | Optimus Primal | List of Maximals | Megatron | List of Predacons
Movies The Transformers: The Movie (1986) | Transformers (2007)
Factions Autobots | Decepticons | Maximals | Predacons | Vehicons | Mini-Cons
Video Games Battle to Save the Earth | Convoy no Nazo | Beast Wars | Beast Wars Transmetals | Transformers (2003) | Transformers (2004)
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