List of Transformers: Prime characters

Transformers: Prime is a computer animated children's television series produced by Hasbro Studios and animated by Polygon Pictures. It is based on the Transformers toy and entertainment franchise originally created in the 1980s by Hasbro out of Takara's robot toys. Most fictions in the franchise are about a race of giant, sentient robots that come from the fictional planet Cybertron and are able to change their appearance into cars, planes and other machinery. Like most pieces of Transformers fiction, Transformers: Prime focuses on the conflict between two warring factions of Transformer robots, the heroic Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the villainous Decepticons led by Megatron, who have brought their conflict to Earth and are fighting over deposits of Energon (the substance Transformers consume as fuel), as well as ancient relics and weaponry from Cybertron's past. The following is a list of characters that appear in the series.

Autobots

The Autobots are a group of good Cybertronians that had fought against the Decepticons in the Cybertronian War. The Autobot cast from the beginning remains the same, with the exception of occasional guest stars, for two thirds of the series until the Autobot's numbers begin to increase. Among the known Autobots are:

Main Autobots

• Orion Pax / Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) - Optimus Prime is the noble and chivalrous leader of the Autobots. Before the Great Autobot-Decepticon war that made Cybertron uninhabitable, Optimus was a data clerk named Orion Pax, and worked in Cybertron's Hall of Records. When the war began, Primus made Orion Autobot leader by bestowing him with the Matrix of Leadership, which contained the collective wisdom of all previous Primes. In the series' first two seasons, Optimus Prime transforms into a red and blue long-nose truck cab resembling a Peterbilt 379 that is based on his vehicle mode in the live-action Transformers films. In the third season, he is upgraded into a new body with thicker armor, new weaponry and a jet-pack enabling flight, and he transforms into a heavily armored military assault truck, but retains his original color scheme of red and blue. At the end of Predacons Rising, Prime returned the Matrix and the AllSpark to Cybertron's core, releasing thousands of new sparks, including his own (implying that he merely sacrificed his body, and still exists in spirit).

• Bumblebee (voiced by Will Friedle) - Once part of the last age of Transformers to be born from the Well of All-Sparks, Bumblebee is a young Autobot scout-turned-warrior who transforms into a yellow and black sports car called an "Urbana 500" (a fictional make and model) that is based on his Chevrolet Camaro vehicle mode in the live-action films. Bumblebee is the Autobot guardian for Raf Esquivel, who is the only human character in the series able to understand his alternative speech patterns. For most of the series, Bumblebee is unable to speak properly, because Megatron crushed Bumblebee's voice box in an interrogation attempt during the war when he was captured at Tiger Pax. So he is forced to communicate through a series of electronic sound effects. His voice is restored by the Decepticon-built Omega Lock in the series' final episode, Deadlock, where he helps Optimus Prime defeat Megatron.

• Ratchet (voiced by Jeffrey Combs) - Ratchet is a veteran Autobot medic who transforms into a white and red ambulance resembling a Ford E-350. His robot mode design and grouchy personality are similar to the Transformers: Animated character of the same name. At first, he dislikes humans and is hostile towards Jack, Miko and Raf, but this changes throughout the course of the series as he develops a friendship with Raf. Optimus Prime frequently refers to Ratchet as "Old Friend", because they knew each other long before the war started, when Optimus was still Orion Pax.

• Arcee (voiced by Sumalee Montano) - Arcee is a courageous female Autobot who transforms into a blue motorcycle resembling a Kawasaki Ninja 250R. She is assigned to be Jack Darby's Autobot guardian at the start of the series, developing a close bond with him. Her main character arc in the series is coming to terms with the deaths of her previous battle partners, Tailgate and Cliffjumper, who were both killed by Decepticons. In the third season, Arcee becomes the commander of the Stealth Team, another sub-group of Team Prime, which also includes Bumblebee and Smokescreen.

• Bulkhead (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - Once a laborer back on Cybertron, Bulkhead is an Autobot warrior and a devoted follower of Optimus Prime who transforms into a green SUV resembling a Ford Escape Hybrid and is based on the Transformers: Animated character of the same name. When the war began he joined the original Wreckers, but later left them to join Team Prime. On Earth, he serves as Miko Nakadai's Autobot guardian, and while he is often aggravated by Miko's reckless actions, they develop a strong friendship.

• Wheeljack (voiced by James Horan) - Wheeljack is Bulkhead's best friend back on Cybertron, a former Wrecker and pilot of a star ship called the Jack-Hammer (Renamed "Star-Hammer" in the series' toy line), whose robot mode design is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name and transforms into a white, green and red sports car resembling a Lancia Fenomenon Stratos. For the series' first two seasons, Wheeljack does not join Team Prime (preferring instead to travel around on his own) and is a recurring character. He later re-joins the Wrecker sub-group of Team Prime in the third season after Starscream shoots down the Jack-Hammer and Ultra Magnus, his former Wrecker commanding officer, arrives on Earth.

• Smokescreen (voiced by Nolan North) - Once a soldier-in-training in the Cybertronian Elite Guard given the duty to guard archivist Alpha Trion in the Iacon Hall of Records during the war, Smokescreen is a young, impulsive and inexperienced Autobot who joins Team Prime in the series' second season, having found his way to Earth after escaping from a Decepticon prison ship. He always longed to fight on the battlefield as a proper soldier, which he never had the opportunity to do until joining Team Prime. He transforms into a sports car resembling a Lotus Exige, and his robot mode design is based on the Generation 1 version of Smokescreen. When he is first introduced, his color scheme is white, red and blue, but he changes his colors to blue and yellow in the third season. Smokesreen is often compared to a G1 Hot Rod by fans. He is also the first Autobot to join the main cast since the series beginning.

• Ultra Magnus (voiced by Michael Ironside) - Once a sergeant in the Cybertronian Elite Guard back on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus is a high-ranking lieutenant, Optimus Prime's second-in-command and leader of an Autobot commando unit called the Wreckers. He is a strict and methodical commander who sticks closely to military protocol and becomes aggravated when others fail to respect his chain of command, therefore he disliked leading the Wreckers because many of their members were anarchic and reckless. When he arrives on Earth in the series' third season, he reforms the Wreckers with Wheeljack and Bulkhead as a sub-group of Team Prime. He transforms into the same type of long-nose truck as Optimus Prime did prior to his upgrade, except with a different color scheme of light blue (In the toy line, his vehicle mode resembles a Mercedes-Benz Actros commercial truck).

• Knock Out (voiced by Daran Norris) - Knock Out was a Decepticon medic, who transforms into a red sports car loosely resembling an Aston Martin One-77. Extremely vain, narcissistic and quite sarcastic, he takes great pride in his appearance, and becomes enraged whenever his vehicle form's paint job is damaged in any way. Although he often compliments himself for his skills as a medic, he rarely shows consideration for his patients. Knock Out also has a good relationship with Breakdown, his partner and assistant. However, when Breakdown is killed by Airachnid, he becomes vulnerable upon hearing about his partner's death. Later, in the episode The Human Factor, where Silas uses Breakdown's body as an exosuit to keep him alive, Knock Out gets revenge on Silas for torturing his partner in the past by returning the favor in his laboratory. In the final episode of the third season Deadlock, Knock Out tries to retreat from the Nemesis during the Decepticons' final battle with the Autobots, but to no avail. After Megatron is killed by Bumblebee, he watches the resurrection of Cybertron and tries to join Team Prime, but he's then rendered unconscious by Miko (wearing the Apex Armor) and thrown into a cell with the remaining Decepticons. During the events in the series finale Predacons Rising, Knock Out defects to Team Prime.

Minor Autobots

• Cliffjumper (voiced by Dwayne Johnson in the first appearance, Wayne Grayson as a Terrorcon, and Billy Brown in later flashbacks) - Cliffjumper was a brash and talkative Autobot warrior and Arcee's partner on Earth who transformed into a red muscle car resembling a Dodge Challenger, decorated with bull horns on the hood. In the series' first episode, Darkness Rising, Part 1, he is captured by a group of Vehicons and killed by Starscream. Megatron then uses Cliffjumper's dead body to demonstrate the effects of Dark Energon, which turns the body into a mindless and aggressive zombie, which is later destroyed. Cliffjumper continues to appear in the series in Arcee's flashbacks to the war in Predatory and Out of the Past.

• Tailgate (voiced by Josh Keaton) - Tailgate was Arcee's original battle partner on Cybertron. He is killed by the Decepticon Airachnid during the war, Arcee witnesses his death as it happens and is severely traumatized by it, vowing revenge on Airachnid. While Tailgate's face is never fully shown, his body (recycled from Cliffjumper's CGI model) appears briefly in Arcee's flashbacks.

Decepticons

The Decepticons are a group of evil Cybertronians that fought against the Autobots in the Cybertronian War. Led by Megatron and sub-commanded by Starscream the Decepticons are treacherous, warmongering, and power-hungry. Whereas Autobots are the same 5 Autobots for two-thirds of the series, the Decepticons are ever changing with troops being killed at the hands of either Autobots or their own kind or betraying their own kind. Among the Decepticons are several sub-groups such as Vehicons, Insecticons, Terrorcons and Predacons. Among the known Decepticons are:

Main Decepticons

• Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker) - Megatron is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons and captain of the warship Nemesis. He transforms into a silver and purple Cybertronian jet, which is based on his vehicle form in the first live-action Transformers film. Before the war, Megatron (then calling himself "Megatronus" after one of the original thirteen Transformers) fought as a gladiator in the city of Kaon, and he was close friends with Orion Pax. However, while introducing his aggressive, radical ideals to the Cybertronian council, they rejected them but made Orion a Prime after hearing his more benign words. Megatronus' grudge against Optimus began here, and he soon became a brutal warlord, shortening his name to Megatron. He rarely engages in battle, but when he does he is a fearsome warrior even seen taking on all Autobots at once, minus Optimus, with ease. In Season 1, Megatron attempts to raise a Terrorcon army with Dark Energon, but fails and is left in stasis for half the season. When he does awaken, he is forced to deal with the mistakes of Starscream's bad leadership during his absence. In the season's climax, he teams up with the Autobots to defeat Unicron. In Season 2, Megatron focuses on obtaining powerful Iacon relics to turn the war tide. This also includes the means to restore Cybertron with both the Omega Keys and the Omega Lock. However, in the second season's final episode Darkest Hour, Megatron attempts to use the Omega Lock to not only restore Cybertron, but to cyberform Earth as well. He's then defeated by Optimus, who not only saves Earth, but also dooms Cybertron. After this, Megatron succeeds in destroying the Autobot base. In Season 3, Megatron plans to create a Predacon army before ordering it to be terminated, when Predaking evolves and transforms. His second plan is to recreate the Omega Lock and cyberform Earth. He is killed by Bumblebee in the series' final episode Deadlock. He returns in the TV movie, Predacons Rising, his corpse being possessed by Unicron, who is now determined to get revenge on the Autobots and destroy Cybertron. When Unicron tries to destroy Cybertron, his energy was sucked out of him by the Autobots which restores Megatron to life. He then disbands the Decepticons, realizing the error of his ways, and retreats to parts unknown.

• Starscream (voiced by Steven Blum) - Once air commander of an Energon Seeker squadron back on Cybertron, Starscream is Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a silver fighter jet resembling an F-16 Fighting Falcon. Like most incarnations of the character, he is cowardly, self-serving, treacherous, and longs to overthrow Megatron as the Decepticon leader. Starscream is the Decepticon leader after Megatron's "demise" but begrudgingly returns to his original position after his resurrection. After being exposed as a traitor and briefly captured by the Autobots, Starscream leaves the Decepticon ranks and tries to live independently, but continuously finds himself in awkward and life-threatening situations, also losing the ability to transform. He eventually convinces Megatron to allow him back into the Decepticon ranks by offering him the Omega Keys (four ancient relics that, when inserted into the Omega Lock, are able to make Cybertron habitable again) which he stole from the Autobots and never again tries to seize leadership. Despite this he became somewhat comic relief with his main arc to torture Predaking and cripple the Decepticon forces by his foolish actions to avoid making a Predacon army. In the third season's final episode, Deadlock, when Megatron is killed by Bumblebee, Starscream escapes to Cybertron with Shockwave. In the TV Movie, Predacons Rising, he and Shockwave become the new leaders of the Decepticons and try to make a new Predacon army, with the newest batches being Skylynx and Darksteel. But later, Unicron returns to Cybertron in possession of Megatron's body. After Unicron raises an army of undead Predacons, Starscream flies away in horror, leaving Shockwave to fend for himself once again. Though Starscream tries to escape from Cybertron with the Nemesis, he's betrayed by Knock Out. At the film's climax, after a resurrected Megatron disbands the Decepticons and exiles himself, Starscream seeks to take leadership once more, but is confronted by Predaking, Skylynx and Darksteel, who seek revenge for the abuse at his hand. What happens to Starscream next is left unrevealed.

• Soundwave (voiced by Frank Welker) - Once a fellow gladiator of Megatron's back on Cybertron, Soundwave is an expert spy and hacker who transforms into a blue UAV drone aircraft resembling an MQ-9 Reaper. For most of the series he never speaks, preferring instead to record and play back things said and done around him. His only spoken line of dialogue is in the third season episode Minus One, in which he says "Soundwave Superior, Autobots Inferior" (a quote from The Transformers: The Movie). He is armed with a pair of probing tentacles, has the ability to open ground and space bridges anywhere, and commands a bird-like surveillance drone named Laserbeak, which detaches from his chest. He also briefly possessed the sound weapon called the Resonance Blaster. Megatron's most loyal follower, he's the only one of Megatron's inner circle that didn't even attempt to disobey him, going so far as to battle Airachnid in One Shall Rise, Part 3, when she ordered to leave Megaton behind. Soundwave ends up trapped in the Shadowzone in the series' final episode Deadlock by the human children.

• Shockwave (voiced by David Sobolov) - A scientist with hundreds of top-secret labs hidden across Cybertron, Shockwave is an emotionless one-eyed Decepticon, Megatron's first lieutenant on scientific endeavors, and the creator of the Predacons, whose vehicle mode is a purple Cybertronian tank resembling his third live-action Transformers film counterpart. Despite being introduced in the series' second season, Shockwave only appeared in Arcee's flashbacks to the war, and did not become part of the series' main story until the third season. During Season 3, Shockwave creates Predaking, the ultimate Autobot hunter to deal with said Autobots. Shockwave then creates an entire Predacon army for Megatron, but destroys them on Megatron's orders upon Predaking's demonstration to transform. After this, Shockwave creates a second Omega Lock to revive Cybertron and cyberform Earth. However, after Megatron is killed by Bumblebee, Shockwave is forced to flee to Cybertron with Starscream. In the TV movie Predacons Rising, Shockwave and Starscream become the new leaders of the Decepticons, and they attempt to create a new Predacon army, in order to conquer Cybertron and destroy the Autobots for good. However, Unicron later returns to the planet in possession of Megatron's body. He then raises an undead army of Predacons with Dark Energon. After this, Starscream flees in horror and Shockwave is forced to fight the Predacons alone and is apparently mauled and overwhelmed by them. He survives this, and is last seen speaking to Predaking, Skylynx and Darksteel (the first two new Predacons he created earlier before the film), convincing them to battle their Terrorcon counterparts. Shockwave's ultimate fate is unknown, though it is implied that he may have defected from the Decepticons, just like Knock Out.

• Breakdown (voiced by Adam Baldwin) - Breakdown is a powerful and brutish Decepticon warrior, who transforms into a blue, heavily armored military truck resembling an Oshkosh Sandcat equipped with a missile turret on the roof. He shares a long rivalry with Bulkhead, and is also Knock Out's partner and assistant. In the episode Crossfire, Megatron orders Breakdown and Dreadwing to kill Airachnid for plotting to overthrow him, but Airachnid immobilises Dreadwing, and then overpowers and kills Breakdown by slicing his body into pieces with her claws. His remains are later found by M.E.C.H., who later use his body parts to create a life-support system and battle suit for Silas, who is dying after the events of Nemesis Prime. When Silas is captured and brought to the Decepticon warship, infected with a mixture of Synthetic and Dark Energon, he frees Airachnid from her stasis. After that, Silas is killed by her and Breakdown is left a corpse once more.

• Airachnid (voiced by Gina Torres) - Airachnid is a devious female Decepticon, who traumatized Arcee during the war for Cybertron by killing her partner Tailgate right in front of her. She transforms into a black helicopter resembling an RAH-66 Comanche, but while she is in robot mode, the helicopter's rotors unfold and extend into long legs akin to those of a spider. She can also shoot spider webs from her wrists, produce a highly corrosive acid and telepathically control Insecticons. When the war ended, Airachnid left Cybertron and explored the galaxy on her own, collecting the severed heads of various alien species, but she becomes stranded on Earth, when her ship crashes. She briefly rejoins the Decepticons, replacing Starscream as second-in-command. But later, Megatron orders Dreadwing and Breakdown to kill her for plotting to overthrow him. Airachnid eventually finds out about this and escapes, defeating Dreadwing and killing Breakdown in the process. As retribution, she was later raises her Insecticon army and orders them to kill Megatron. However, she ends up captured in a stasis pod by the Autobots and the Insecticons follow Megatron instead. After the Autobot base is destroyed, Airachnid is taken to the cargo hold of the Nemesis, where (in Season 3) she's freed by Silas in Breakdown's body. After killing Silas, Airachnid regains control of the Insecticons and attempts to destroy the Decepticons once and for all. But before she can do so, Soundwave opens a space bridge portal, which sends her and her forces to one of Cybertron's moons. When last seen, Airachnid is revealed to have been infected with Synthetic and Dark Energon by Silas and becomes a Terrorcon. She then feeds on her Insecticon army. Her ultimate fate is unknown. It is possible she eventually ran out of Energon and died of the lack of any kind of Energon in her body. It has been implied that Airachnid is actually an Insecticon as she can control them claiming that she is of one mind with them in Crossfire which is further supported by Wheeljack confirming in Hurt that the Insecticons are bound by a single mind.

• Dreadwing (voiced by Tony Todd) - Once captain of a Seeker armada back on Cybertron and one of the main Decepticons during Season 2, Dreadwing is a devoted follower of Megatron, who has a penchant for planting explosives around the battlefield to surprise his enemies. He transforms into a blue and yellow fighter jet resembling an F-35 Lightning II, and shares the same body template as his twin brother, Skyquake. Dreadwing comes to Earth after sensing Skyquake's death from across the galaxy, and he joins Megatron's crew on the Nemesis, replacing both Starscream and Airachnid as Megatron's second-in-command (He becomes the most trusted and loyal second-in-command out of the three of them). In the episode Triangulation, he briefly joins forces with Optimus Prime in battling Starscream, who acquires the Apex Armor. Though they were successful in defeating Starscream, Dreadwing vows to terminate Optimus, when they would next meet. When Starscream rejoins the Decepticons, Dreadwing learns of his attempt to start a Terrorcon army by reviving Skyquake's corpse with Dark Energon. Because of this, Dreadwing no longer believes in the Decepticon cause and betrays them by giving the Forge of Solus Prime to the Autobots. After doing so, he returns to the Nemesis and attempts to kill Starscream for what he did to Skyquake. However, Megatron steps in and orders Dreadwing to stand down, but when he refuses to do so, Megatron is forced to kill Dreadwing with his own cannon, blasting a hole through his chest. Afterwards, Megatron warns Starscream not to make him regret on who he chose to spare. Dreadwing is later avenged by Bumblebee in Deadlock, when Bumblebee himself kills Megatron with the Star Saber.

Minor Decepticons

• Skyquake (voiced by Richard Green) - Skyquake was the identical twin brother of Dreadwing and a devoted follower of Megatron. He was entombed in stasis on Earth for centuries before Starscream re-awakens him in the episode Masters and Students. He transforms into a green, silver and red fighter jet resembling an F-35 Lightning II, and shares the same body template as Dreadwing. He is shot down by Bumblebee and Agent Fowler in a fight with Optimus Prime, and the Autobots bury his remains. In the episode Shadowzone, Starscream tries to revive Skyquake as a Terrorcon zombie using Dark Energon, but a ground bridge malfunction leaves the zombie trapped and wandering aimlessly in a parallel dimension. His death, and resurrection, would serve as the catalyst for Dreadwing's betrayal.

• Makeshift (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - Makeshift was a Decepticon spy with the rare ability to take any form, provided that he has information on whoever or whatever he was impersonating. His true form is never seen in its entirety, all that is shown is a silhouette cast in shadows. In Con Job, Starscream sends Makeshift (disguised as Wheeljack) to discover the location of the Autobot base, but the real Wheeljack arrives and foils Starscream's plan. Makeshift discovers the base's location, but is killed in an explosion caused by one of Wheeljack's grenades before he can report back to Starscream.

Vehicons

The Vehicons are a legion of identical Decepticon foot soldiers that make up the bulk of Megatron's army. Some transform into sports cars resembling the EcoJet Concept, and others (sometimes referred to as "Seekers") transform into Cybertronain fighter jets, and they generally share a uniform color scheme of black and purple, while a squadron of Seekers led by Starscream have a different color scheme of black and grey. Vehicons are adaptable to several different situations. Unlike the Vehicons from Transformers: Beast Machines, they are not mindless and are shown to have individual personalities. When the war is over, most vehicons apparently join the Autobots, or are held prisoner on the Nemesis.^[1]

Each of the Vehicons is split into different classes:

• Ground Force Vehicons - The type of Vehicons that transform into cars and do ground attacks.

• Air Force Vehicons - The type of Vehicons that transform into jets and do aerial attacks. Unlike the Ground Force Vehicons, these Vehicons use their vehicle modes much more often, arguably more than their robot modes.

• Seekers - A silver and black repaint of the jet Vehicons under Starscream's command. Like Jet Vehicon these ones also specialize in air attacks unlike the other aerial specialists, only seem to respond to Starscream's commands.

• Decepticon Miners - The mining class of the Vehicons that mine for Energon. They are not often seen and are not very capable fighters like the other Vehicons.

Insecticons

The Insecticons are a race of Decepticons that transform into giant, mechanical insects bound by a single mind. The generic Insecticon soldiers serve as the alternative foot soldiers for the Decepticons. Every Insecticon that appears in the series shares a uniform alternate mode: a giant insect resembling a male Hercules beetle with a black, silver and teal color scheme. The Insecticons in this series are much more feral and primitive than their Generation 1 namesakes, and while some are capable of speech and rational thought, the majority behave like predatory animals and react violently to the sight of anything they recognize as an Autobot. Though all Inscticons are loyal to Megatron, they are more loyal to Airachnid as she can directly control them.

• Hardshell (voiced by David Kaye) - Hardshell is a member of Megatron's Insecticon hive who is capable of speech. He has a habit of bragging about his achievements, and prides himself on being the fiercest and most powerful Insecticon in the hive. He has a slightly different color scheme than other Insecticons, being mostly black with yellow stripe patterns resembling claw marks across his body. He almost kills Bulkhead in a fight over an Iacon relic, prompting Wheeljack and Miko to track him down and get revenge. After defeating Wheeljack in a one-on-one fight, Hardshell is killed when Miko launches a pair of missiles from the Jackhammer at him. Hardshell's body was brought back to the Nemesis, where an Insecticon told Megatron that a "human girl" did this to Hardshell, leaving him astonished.

• Bombshock (voiced by Steven Blum) - An Insecticon that took part in the hunt for Predacon fossils. He is a redeco of Hardshell. He is presumably one of the Insecticons banished to Cybertron's moon by Soundwave once Airachnid escapes and regains control of them.

Predacons

The Predacons are a race of ancient Cybertronian dragons (parallel to Earth's dinosaurs) long extinct. With Shockwave using their fossil remains, he created an army of Predacon clones. One such batch of Predacon clones were sent to Earth to fight the Autobots positioned there and remained on the planet to await further instructions. However, the Predacons ended up fossilized over time while indirectly being the source of creatures in Earth's various mythologies. In present day, the Decepticons have been searching the world for Predacon fossils, so that Shockwave could recreate a Predacon army. However their single Predacon Predaking becomes intelligent and transforms, prompting Megatron to destroy the clones and cause Predaking's betrayal. In the TV Movie Predacons Rising Two more Predacons named Skylynx and Darksteel are created while Unicron raises an army of un-dead Terrorcon transformed Predacons. At the climax of the series Predacons proved easily stronger than Decepticons, but were capable of peacefully co-existing alongside the Autobots unlike Decepticons.

• Predaking (voiced by Peter Mensah^[2]) - Predaking is the leader of the Predacons, who transforms into a black and orange mechanical dragon that resembles depictions of that in European folklore. In Chain of Command, Predaking finds a Predacon fossil that enables him to regain some of his memories when he has a vision of another Predacon. At the end of Plus One, it is shown that his intelligence is evolving demonstrating it by accessing the Decepticon communication network to learn more about his Predacon brethren on Earth. In Evolution, Predaking demonstrates his ability to transform and gains the power of speech. Megatron fears that Predaking might turn against him, and so he decides to trick the Autobots to destroy the Predacon cloning laboratory in his favor. In Synthesis, Predaking finds out the truth and tries to kill Megatron, but is thrown out from the ship. In Deadlock, Predaking remains attached to the Nemesis, but retreats to live on Cybertron when the planet is restored. In the TV movie Predacons Rising Predaking is living in a yard of deceased Predacon remains, when he is approached by the Autobots to join them in finding the new Predacons, Skylynx and Darksteel, but he declines and heads out by himself. After an encounter with Unicron, possessing Megatron's corpse, Predaking finds Skylynx and Darksteel and they team up with the Autobots to stop Unicron's Terrorcon-Predacon army. Afterward Predaking with his brothers find Starscream and enact their revenge on him.

• Darksteel (voiced by Steven Blum) - One of the two new Predacons that appeared in Predacons Rising, Darksteel transforms into a blue, gray, and orange Ursagryph (a hybrid of a falcon and a bear, as described by Lenny Panzica at the 2013 American International Toy Fair). He was cloned by Starscream and Shockwave and was planned to be a part of new Predacon army to be used against the Autobots. But after Predaking defeats him and Skylynx in a fight, they swear allegiance to him. He and the other Predacons took part in the fight against Unicron's vessel (Megatron's dead body). They all survived the fight, and is last seen when the three Predacons hunt down Starscream. Darksteel does not appear to be very intelligent, yet also seems to have something of a dark sense of humor.

• Skylynx (voiced by Nolan North) - One of the two new Predacons that appeared in Predacons Rising, Skylynx transforms into a red, white, and black mechanical dragon. He was cloned by Starscream and Shockwave and was planned to be a part of new Predacon army to be used against the Autobots. But after Predaking defeats him and Darksteel in a fight, they swear allegiance to him. He and the other Predacons take part in the fight against Unicron's vessel (Megatron's dead body). They all survive and is last seen when the three Predacons hunt down Starscream. Skylynx seems to be very prideful and arrogant of his abilities, but is also strong as he is able to incapacitate Ultra Magnus very quickly.

• Terrorcon Predacons - An army of un-dead Predacons risen to life by Unicron's Dark Energon powers who are loyal to him rather than Predaking. The Terrorcon Predacons are tasked with destroying Primus, the core of Cybertron. Thanks to the living Predacons intervention and Optimus Prime exorcising Unicron from Megatron, the Terrorcon Predacon bodies were rendered inert.

Humans

Main Humans

• Jack Darby (voiced by Josh Keaton) - Jackson "Jack" Darby is a 16-year-old high school student. He is brought into the Autobot-Decepticon conflict after accidentally getting caught in a fight between Arcee and two Vehicons. He is initially reluctant to get involved with the Transformers, but comes to accept them as friends and allies as he forms a close bond with his Autobot guardian Arcee. Of the three kids, he is the most responsible. Jack has also been entrusted with various tasks such as the Key to Vector Sigma which restored Optimus's wiped mind and often going into the danger of the field to save his friends.

• Miko Nakadai (voiced by Tania Gunadi) - Miko Nakadai is a 15-year-old foreign exchange student from Tokyo, Japan. She is loud and reckless, often following the Autobots into dangerous situations without thinking and showing little regard for her own safety. She has a strong friendship with her Autobot guardian Bulkhead. In season 3, she gains control of Starscream's Apex Armor and becomes a human member of the Wreckers.

• Raf Esquivel (voiced by Andy Pessoa) - Rafael Jorge Gonzales "Raf" Esquivel is a highly intelligent yet shy 12-year-old boy (which Miko mistook his age only to learn he has a growth problem) who has an extensive knowledge of computers and machinery. He comes from a large family who mostly ignores him, so he spends a lot of time with his Autobot guardian Bumblebee, being the only human character in the series to understand Bumblebee's speech impediment.

• Special Agt. William Fowler (voiced by Ernie Hudson) - William Henry "Bill" Fowler is a government agent in Unit: E and former US Army Ranger who serves as a liaison between the Autobots and the United States government. He usually only calls or appears at the Autobot base when the Transformers do something that threatens national security, but over the course of the series he steadily comes to value them as trusted comrades. He is also a skilled pilot, able to fly both helicopters and fighter jets, and he occasionally provides air support for the ground-based Autobots. Fowler also seems to have feelings for June Darby, Jack's mother, who even calls him "Bill", much to Jack's concern.

• June Darby (voiced by Markie Post^[3]) - June is Jack's mother who works as an emergency room nurse. For a large portion of the first season, June is completely unaware of the existence of the Transformers, believing that Arcee is an ordinary motorcycle. She finds out the truth in the episode Crisscross when she is kidnapped by M.E.C.H. and Airachnid in a plot to capture Arcee. Afterwards, though sympathetic to the Autobots, June argues against actions that may put Jack and the others in danger.

M.E.C.H.

M.E.C.H. (the meaning of the acronym is unknown) was a terrorist organization that focused on utilizing advanced machinery to start a Newer World Order. In their first appearance in "Convoy", M.E.C.H. attempted to steal a powerful nuclear device, but are stopped by the Autobots. They then primarily focus on the capture and dissection of any Transformer they can find so they can research their inner workings and create an army of their own Transformers as part of "Project: Chimera".

• Col. Leland Bishop / Silas / C.Y.L.A.S. (voiced by Clancy Brown) - Leland Isaac Bishop was a member of the Special Operations branch of the US Military, but went rogue after being discharged for building Project: Damocles, a satellite-based laser weapon system, and went on to found and lead M.E.C.H into carry out his other ideas of weaponry under the stage-name Silas. In Nemesis Prime, Silas and M.E.C.H. have created Nemesis Prime (M.E.C.H.'s man-made Optimus Prime clone). He was later crushed by Nemesis Prime when the roof of M.E.C.H.'s hideout collapses. To keep him alive, M.E.C.H. scientists built a life support system from Breakdown's parts which Silas dubbed C.Y.L.A.S. (short for CYbernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis). He terminated the M.E.C.H. members present upon them serving their purpose and approaches Megatron, wishing to join the Decepticons by providing them with Project: Damocles. But after the satellite is destroyed, C.Y.L.A.S. finds himself becoming a test subject in Knock Out's experiments that included Synthetic Energon. When Starscream and Knock Out attempt to see the results of mixing Synthetic Energon with Dark Energon, it turns C.Y.L.A.S. into a vampiric Terrorcon who infects others when feeding off their Energon. Though he attempted to feed on Airachnid while freeing her, infecting her during the fight, C.Y.L.A.S. ends up being killed by her and thanks her for putting him out of his misery.

• M.E.C.H. Surgeon (voiced by Josh Keaton) - The Surgeon was a high-ranking scientist who oversaw and managed M.E.C.H.'s experiments. He had a unique uniform resembling a lab coat. Upon awakening in Breakdown's body, Silas killed the Surgeon and the M.E.C.H. members present after they have served their purpose.

• M.E.C.H. Agents - M.E.C.H. employed dozens of personnel that serve as both foot soldiers and scientists. Regardless of occupation, they all wore a matching green uniform with masks covering their faces. Silas was the only member of M.E.C.H. who doesn't wear a mask. Agent Fowler voiced a suspicion to General Bryce that some M.E.C.H. agents may be treacherous members of the U.S. military (the reason why they wear masks) and suggested an investigation be conducted for this.

Minor Humans

• Sierra (voiced by Alexandra Krosney) - Sierra is a girl who goes to Jack's high school, where she is the head cheerleader. While Jack has romantic feelings for Sierra, she rarely notices him.

• Vince (voiced by Brad Raider) - Vince is an obnoxious bully who attends the same school as Jack and Sierra. He often harasses Jack, usually for owning a motorcycle instead of a car.

• General Bryce (voiced by Robert Forster) - General Bryce is Agent Fowler's superior and a representative of the United States government. Despite Fowler's efforts to persuade him otherwise, Bryce distrusts the Autobots believing that there's nothing stopping them from turning on humanity.

Other Cybertronians

These Cybertronians do not fit in the category of the Autobots, the Decepticons, and their subgroups:

• Primus - Sometimes referred to as "The Creator" and "The Order-Bringer", Primus is an ancient and powerful being who is the source of energon, the blood and fuel that flows through the bodies of all living Transformers. After deafeating Unicron with the help of the original thirteen Transformers, Primus's spark chamber became the planet Cybertron's core, creating the lives of all Transformers through the Well of All-Sparks. When the war for Cybertron began, he made Orion Pax Autobot leader by inserting the Matrix of Leadership into him before drifting into a state of hibernation. He is mentioned several times throughout the first season finale and last two seasons until he awakens in Deadlock.

• Unicron (voiced by John Noble) - Sometimes referred to as "The Destroyer" and "The Chaos-Bringer", Unicron is an ancient and powerful being who is the source of dark energon, a form of energon with the ability to revive the bodies of dead Transformers as mindless zombies. After Primus and the original thirteen Transformers defeated him, Unicron drifted through space in a state of hibernation for millions of years, with his body attracting rocks and debris that eventually formed the planet Earth, with Unicron's spark chamber at its core. He is mentioned several times throughout the first season, but only makes his first appearance in the season finale, forming an army of avatars based on his original body from rocks and soil. When he awakens, Unicron threatens to devastate Earth with natural disasters, but the Autobots successfully defeat him with the Matrix of Leadership which deactivates him. Unicron returns in the movie Predacons Rising, possessing Megatron's body to destroy Primus with an army of undead Predacons. When Unicron trying to kill Optimus Prime, he then opens the Allspark container, but upon finding it empty, he realizes too late that it is a trick, and his energy form is sucked into the container, freeing Megatron from his control and defeating Unicron once and for all, also destroying his legions of undead Predacons.

• Terrorcons (voiced by Frank Welker) - The Terrorcons are the bodies of dead Transformers revived as mindless zombies by Dark Energon. The corpses of Cliffjumper and Skyquake have been turned into Terrorcons throughout the series, and Megatron also uses Dark Energon to revive a mass burial ground full of dead Transformers in the episode Darkness Rising Pt. 3, and later many of Cybertron's fallen inhabitants in Darkness Rising Pt. 5. In season 1, the term "Terrorcon" is never used, the terms "undead" and "zombies" are used instead, but the name was used in the series' toy line for an action figure of the zombified Cliffjumper. The name is first used in the series itself in Loose Cannons when Arcee mentions Starscream's attempt to revive Skyquake as a "Terrorcon". In Thirst, the Terrorcons have gained Energon-draining parts in their mouths that turns anyone that they drain the Energon from into Terrorcons. This was due to Starscream and Knock Out attempting to mix Synthetic Energon with Dark Energon. Due to placing a shard of Dark Energon in his own Spark chamber, Megatron gained the ability to control the otherwise untameable Terrorcons; however, he could not control these new creatures, possibly due to the presence of Synthetic Energon in the mixture that created them.

• Scraplets - A race of small robots that work in swarms and can consume any Cybertronians in mere seconds. They are feared pests on Cybertron, to the point where they were trapped in pods that were launched offworld in an effort to get rid of them. One such pod landed on Earth and became frozen in a block of ice, and was eventually discovered by the Autobots. Ignorant of its cargo, they brought it back to their base, where the Scraplets thawed out and nearly destroyed the Autobots and their technology. Fortunately, with the aid of their human allies, the Autobots were able to lure the Scraplets through a ground-bridge portal back to the Arctic, where the freezing cold temperatures froze them solid. Other Scraplets appeared on Cybertron during Jack and Arcee's search for Vector Sigma, and attempted to devour the mystical supercomputer. Fortunately, Jack was able to distract them by drawing their attention to an Insecticon guard, whom they quickly consumed.

• Alpha Trion (voiced by George Takei) - One of the first Thirteen Transformers created by Primus, Alpha Trion was the Master archivist who ran Cybertron's Hall of Records in the city of Iacon before the war, he served as a mentor to a young Orion Pax and led him on his journey to becoming the next Prime. Smokescreen was assigned as Alpha Trion's personal bodyguard during the final days of the war for Cybertron, where they developed a strong friendship, but they lost contact after Smokescreen was captured by Decepticons during a raid on the Hall of Records. Alpha Trion then took several ancient relics from the Vaults of Iacon (including the Star Saber, the Omega Keys, and several others) and sent them on Earth in order for Optimus to find them. His fate afterwards was not revealed, however when Optimus was dying he spoke with Alpha Trion in the Allspark revealing that he had perished at some point and invited him to join with the Allspark, but Optimus was then revived by Smokescreen.

References