Female Transformers
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Female Transformers are fictional extraterrestrial robots in the Transformers universe that possess the outward appearance of humanoid females. They were seen in the 1980s animated television series, in which they were indicated to be rare, and believed extinct by most other Transformers. They did not appear in the American Marvel comic book series, where it was specifically stated (although later retracted) that Transformers do not have genders.
It is very clear that the difference between male and female Transformers is much more than the shape of their bodies, it is a sociocultural difference, with each "gender" possessing—in a general sense—the traits usually associated, at least partially stereotypically, with the human genders. Furthermore, the two genders feel attraction to one another, to the extent that romantic relationships exist between certain members. The nature of such relationships is not elaborated.
There is no precise, officially-given, in-story explanation for why females, or even males, should exist. It should be noted, in the animated series, the Transformers were manufactured by the Quintessons for commercial sale.
In the Marvel UK comics, there are no female Transformers until a human feminist accused the Autobots, who are treated as males, of being sexist. The Autobots initially argue that sexism is impossible for their genderless race, but they build Arcee to prove they are not sexist. Though Prime later decides that it was a mistake to build her just to prove they aren't sexist, he recognizes Arcee as a valuable Autobot.
In the Japanese Superlink stories, Ariel, the female Omnicon is said to have taken female form to show her caring role for the other Omnicons. Likewise, in Generation One, Arcee showed a protective and nurturing role to human child Daniel Witwicky.
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[edit] Dreamwave Comics
Elita-1, Chromia, Firestar and Moonracer appeared briefly in the final issue of Dreamwave Comics Generation One series among the female Transformers sent by the Quintessons to Cybertron. Although they were supposed to participate in the next plot arc, involving the return of Optimus Prime, the company's closure left this story unfinished.
[edit] Notable female Transformers
Female Cybertronians are particularly rare, and in the four million years that Optimus Prime and his crew were absent from Cybertron, they were thought to have become extinct. However, a small band of the warriors, led by Elita One, waged a guerilla war against Shockwave, secretly stealing Energon without his knowledge. They were discovered in the Earth year 1985. The following list documents the main female Autobots from the assorted Transformers universes.
[edit] Elita One
Originally, Elita One was Ariel, girlfriend of dockworker robot Orion Pax, but when the two were fatally wounded during one of Megatron's first attacks, the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, rebuilt them as Optimus Prime and Elita One, using the same set of schematics. Elita desired to accompany Prime on the Ark's mission, but he refused, saying it was too dangerous. When a Decepticon ambush struck the Ark launch site shortly before the craft took off, Elita disappeared in an explosion, and Prime believed she had died. This was not the case, however, and in the following four million years, lead her troops in a guerilla war against the remaining Decepticon forces on Cybertron, advised and aided by Alpha Trion himself, unaware of her connection to him.
In 1985, Shockwave uncovered the location of the Female Autobots' base and the Decepticons were able to capture Elita One, using her as bait to lure Optimus Prime to Cybertron. Prime almost met his end in an acid bath, but Elita used her hidden secret weapon - a stasis field which effectively froze time, allowing her to pull Prime from the path of the acid. However, the ability was a sacrificial one, as it drained almost all of Elita's energy. With Elita now hovering on the brink of death, Prime took her to Alpha Trion, where Trion revealed that only Prime's power supply could properly interface with hers (as a result of their shared schematics). Still unaware of Trion's hand in his creation, Prime re-energised Elita, and the two helped rescue their comrades from a Decepticon attack. Elita and her forces elected to remain on Cybertron and fight the battle there, while Prime returned to Earth.
[edit] Chromia, Firestar and Moonracer
These three feisty females were Elita One's top agents (and additionally, along with two other unnamed females, comprised the entirety of her forces), and the romantic interests of Ironhide, Inferno and Powerglide, respectively. When Moonracer was caught in a booby-trap during one of the trio's raids on Shockwave's energy stockpile, the continued existence of the Female Autobots was finally revealed to the Decepticons, and Shockwave was able to trail them back to their base and capture Elita One. When Optimus Prime was then lured to Cybertron, Ironhide, Inferno and Powerglide followed and were reunited with their ladies.
At BotCon 2005, these three females finally made it into toy form, in a roundabout sense. The Transformers: Energon Arcee figure was remoulded and repainted to resemble Moonracer, but the name could not be legally acquired for the toy, and so she was dubbed Chromia. One repaint of this figure also available at the convention was rendered in Firestar's colours, but was designated as a new, different character, Flareup, connected to Firestar through her history. A repainted version of Arcee was produced as a Target exclusive for the live-action Transformers movie line in 2007. On of the "Moonracer"/Chromia figure's designers states that the new Arcee is in the colors worn by Chromia, leading fans to refer to 2005's Chromia as "Moonracer", and 2007's Arcee as "Chromia".
[edit] Arcee
The best known of all female Autobots, Arcee was introduced in The Transformers: The Movie and remained a main character in the subsequent television series. A second character named Arcee was part of the later Transformers: Energon series. This character was named Ariel in the Japanese version of the series, Transformers: Superlink.
[edit] Beta
Although she would be the last of the primary Female Autobots the cartoon series introduced, Beta was actually one the very first - as one of the original Quintesson-created robots, she help lead the rebellion against their five-faced creators eleven million years ago led by A-3 (the young form of Alpha Trion). When a Quintesson scientist attempted to alter history by bringing A-3 into the present, a group of Autobots were displaced into the past, where they encountered Beta and helped to orchestrate the attack on the Quintessons' Hive City, the first major step in overthrowing the aliens.
In the Beast Machines toyline, the bio card of Rav - who transforms into a crossbow - mentions that he was given his power by an ancient female Autobot resistance leader. It seems particularly likely that this is a reference to Beta, especially since her weapon of choice was also a crossbow.
[edit] Minerva
In the Japanese-exclusive Masterforce animated series, Minerva was a teenage schoolgirl who became a Headmaster and controlled a Transtector (a lifeless Transformer body). At the conclusion of the series, the Transtector was bestowed with life, and briefly reappeared in the sequel series, Victory. (For unexplained reasons, the Transtector also used the name Minerva.) The toy of Minerva shared its design with the North American Headmaster named Nightbeat, who was male. (Because both were produced and sold the same year -- 1988, it is unclear which is a recolor of which.)
[edit] Blackarachnia
Perhaps the second-most famous female Transformer, a Predacon from the Beast Wars era. Officially, this makes Blackarachnia the first villainous female Transformer to appear in any of the animated series, but given that the protoform from which she was created was originally that of a Maximal, the search for an official female Decepticon would continue. At the end of the Beast Wars series and all through the Beast Machines series Blackarachnia became a Maximal. For the comic book Universe series she was reformatted as a Decepticon.
[edit] Airazor
A female Maximal from the Beast Wars era. She transforms into a peregrine falcon and became involved in a romantic relationship with Tigatron when the two embarked on a survey mission of prehistoric Earth. Captured by one of the devices left on the planet by the alien Vok, they were transported to the aliens' home planet of Nexus Zero. Later, their bodies were fused together to create Tigerhawk, used as an avatar by the Vok, but they subsequently merged their sparks together (A possible explanation of how Transformers reproduce)and pursued their joint body back to Earth, where they reclaimed possession of it. She also shares a sister-like relationship with Cheetor.
In the Japanese dub of Beast Wars, however, Airazor was made into a male. The accompanying manga, however, retained the female orientation.
[edit] Strika
A character introduced in the Beast Machines series. In Cybertron's past, Strika fought and won a thousand wars alongside her consort, Obsidian, but were among those who had their Sparks extracted by Megatron when he conquered Cybertron. Resurrected in Vehicon bodies, Strika and Obsidian swore loyalty to Megatron - having previously been charged with the protection of Cybertron, they now protected Megatron, since by extension, he was Cybertron. Strika transforms into a six-wheeled assault vehicle, and commands a legion of drones in her image. However, like Blackarachnia before her, Strika and Obsidian's original faction was Maximal. In the bio for Universe Obsidian, it is mentioned he used to be an Autobot (Maximal), so Strika would have certainly been the same.
[edit] Botanica
A character exclusive to the Beast Machines cartoon series, without having a toy released, Botanica was a Maximal on the crew of an exploration vessel that was studying a planet inhabited by sentient plant life, the source of her alternate mode. She returned to Cybertron to investigate a distress signal. After her vessel was shot down by Megatron's defenses, she was rescued by the Maximals and reformatted into a technorganic by Optimus Primal. She became a valuable member of his team, and developed a romantic relationship with Rattrap.
[edit] Override
The leader of the Transformers on Speed Planet from Transformers: Cybertron. Similar to the Air Razor situation, Override is a male character in Japan, named Nitro Convoy. According to Hasbro officials at the Botcon 2005 convention they originally planned for the character to be male, and the Japanese series portrayed it as male, but then the Cartoon Network wanted more female presence in the show, so it was decided they would dub Nitro Convoy with a female voice and call her Override. Override shouldn't be confused with the Generation One character Override, who was a male Autobot who turned into a motorcycle.
[edit] Thunderblast
A character in the Transformers: Cybertron series and toyline. Named "Chromia" (an homage to the G1 character) in Japan. One of the a group of ancient Decepticons who terrorized humans in guise of fearsome creatures, inspiring many myths and legends, before being imprisoned within stasis pods. (Given Thunderblast's personality, she may have inspired the legend of the Sirens.) After these "monsters" were released by Starscream, Thunderblast scanned a military pursuit boat for her new alternate form. She refers to herself as a "beauty," acting cheerful and cute despite her penchant for destruction. She is the first important female transformer to remain a Decepticon throughout her series.
[edit] Blackarachnia (Animated)
A character in the Animated series, Blackarachnia is a reformatted Elita-1 who has left the Autobot ranks and joined the Decepticons.
[edit] Miscellaneous females
Other female robots from across the Transformers series include:
- A troupe of dancing girls, seen in a flashback to the early days of peace on the planet. Their design is identical to Elita One.
- A female robot identical to Arcee, save for an enhanced chest, viewed on a TV by Octane in the episode "Starscream's Ghost".
- The medics on the Cybertron-like planet of Paradron, identical in design to Arcee, aside from their teal colouration. Several pieces of Arcee merchandise have been repainted in their colour scheme: a Heroes of Cybertron PVC figure, a statue from Palisades - both named Paradron Medic - and a Japanese-exclusive repaint of the Energon Arcee figure, named Ariel - Paradron Type.
- The episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006" featured a female Junkion (named "Nancy" in a Japanese guide).
- The mates of many of the Destrons from the Japanese exclusive Transformers: Victory, including Esmeryl (mate of Deathsaurus) and Lyzak ("sister" of Leozak), appeared in the manga adaptation of the series, making them the first official female Decepticon characters, albeit ones who only existed outside of America.
- Victory also featured a female Micromaster, Clipper, a Cybertron (Autobot), and girlfriend of fellow Micromaster, Holi.
- The Japanese exclusive "Operation Combination" toyline of 1992 featured another female Micromaster, Windy, a member of a team that all transformed into trains and combined to form a larger robot, Sixtrain. This toy, along with the rest of her teammates, was re-issued in 2003. Windy is regarded for her ability to and great love of singing.
- Discharge is a third female Micromaster. She was also available in Takara's 1992 "Operation Combination" toyline. Discharge came with her teammates in the Sixturbo team. She was re-issued in 2003.
- Nightracer, an exclusive toy available at BotCon '95. A repaint of the Generation 2 Go-Bot, High Beam, Nightracer was conceived by feminist Jovanka "Raksha" Kink, and was made to be a highly-skilled female Decepticon, making the character the first official female of her kind in North America, as well as in toy-form.
- Antagony, a Botcon exclusive available in 1998. She is a repainted version of Beast Wars Inferno. With Blackarachina switching allegiances to the Maximals, Antagony is one of only three known female Predacons to stay Predacon, the others being Scylla and Manta Ray.
- Scylla is a female Seacon Pirate from Beast Wars the Second who transforms into a squid. Pronounced "S-Kyu-Leh," she was available in Japan in 1998. While a Predacon, she is in love with the Maximal Scuba. She is armed with a blowing kiss of death. Her toy form was a repainting of 1988 Seacon Tentakil.
- Sonar is a Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Maximal, whose bio card didn't indicate any gender, and was presented as female by the writers of the BotCon-exclusive comics.
- Manta Ray is the best sea scout that the Predacons have.
- Road Rage, bodyguard and advisor to a secret Autobot ambsassador to Earth, was a red redeco of the Autobot Tracks available exclusively through online retailer E-Hobby in Japan in 2002. (Although a redeco, Road Rage's colors were originally to be worn by Tracks.)
- Glyph, a female blue repainted version of the Autobot, Bumblebee (or more accurately, of his 21st century keychain reissue) available exclusively at BotCon '02.
- Roulette and Shadow Striker, a two-pack of females remolded from the Transformers: Robots in Disguise figure, Side Burn, exclusively available at the Official Transformers Collector's Convention 2003. Roulette, an Autobot, had her color scheme based on the Digimon character, Sakuyamon. The Decepticon of the pair, Shadow Striker, was originally to be named "Silhouette," to compliment "Roulette." Their tech specs indicate that the pair are sisters.
- Combusta, Falcia, and Twirl are a female Mini-Con team know as the Sonic Assault Team who side with the Autobots. Sunburn of the Aqua Raider Team is a female Mini-Con who sides with Unicron. These toys came with DVDs of the Japanese version of Transformers: Armada, and were featured in its accompanying mini-comic book, "Transformers: Legend of the Microns -- Linkage" by Hirofumi Ichikawa.
- According to Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye comic book series of character profiles, the Mini-Cons Spiral, Ironhide, Cliffjumper and Sureshock (whose name in Japan is Arcee) are also female.
- Pathfinder and Smallfoot are female Transformers from another dimension. Calling themselves Go-Bots, they are part of a secret research team that is looking for a way to save their universe from Unicron. They were available with Takara's e-hobby Go-Bots mini-bot set.
- Crasher was featured in IDW's Megatron: Origin comic book as a part of Megatron's original inner circle. This is significant because she is a character from the Go-Bots continuity. It can be assumed that she traveled to Cybertron from an alternate dimension in the same way as Takara's e-hobby mini-bot team.
- Nemesis Strika is one of many Decepticons under the thrall of Unicron. It is currently unknown if she is an alternate version of Beast Machines Strika or the same version.
- Crystal Widow was a female Autobot introduced in the Universe line in 2004. She was a K-Mart exclusive sold with Oil Slick. A former Decepticon, she joined the Autobots out of her fear of Unicron.
- Howlback of the Cobalt Sentries, a blue recolor of Ravage exclusively available from Takara's e-hobby online store, is female.
- The Transformers: Cybertron cartoon has featured a female Autobot civilian refugee on Earth who transforms into a motorcycle. This character is male in the Japanese version of the series.
- Flamewar is a female Decepticon. In addition to the other Energon Arcee repainted versions available at BotCon 2005 mentioned above was Flamewar, a red, black and blue coloured agent of the Tripredacus Council.
- Quickslinger is a fan created character which was made official by the club comic. She is a lavender repaint of Cybertron Ransack.
- Flip Sides is a Decepticon sleeper agent and a recoloured version of the Autobot cassette mold used for Eject and Rewind that is available with the 2006 e-hobby re-issue of Twincast, is female.
- Offshoot, one of four Mini-Cons available with Primus as a Wal-mart exclusive. Although Offshoot did not come with a personal biography, she was given characterization on the Transformers Collectors Club web site.
- Rosanna, a hot pink and blue recoloured version of Flip Sides, was an e-hobby exclusive who formed part of the Kiss Pre-position cassette team in 2007. She is described as a Cybertron Idol who sings and lends moral support for her Autobot comrades.
- Angela is a female Sparkbot who was available with her teammates at Japan's Toy Festival in March 2007. She is an agent of Unicron.
- Windrazor (minicon) (ウインドレイザー) is from the fourth Micron booster set and is the only female on her team. She says that "The crimson wind runs through!"
