Transformers Victory

Transformers Victory is the Japanese-produced sequel series to Transformers Super God Masterforce, taking the focus back to good old fashioned Autobots vs Deceptions. Star Saber, the new leader of the Autobots, is heading the charge against a new Decepticon warlord named Deathsaurus, who began stealing energy from the Earth to fuel and reactivate an old Decepticon space-fortress. This new Autobot commander is also the foster father of a human boy named Jan, who lost his parents to a Decepticon attack.

The series lasted for 44 episodes, though several of them were mere clip shows. All were released in 1989. A manga with a markedly more bizarre storyline exists.

This series provides examples of:
 * Back From the Dead - Wheeljack makes an appearance, despite being nicely toasted in The Movie. (And by this time The Movie had been released in Japan, so who knows how they explained this...)
 * Badass Decay: as usual for one of these things, the earlier characters become more or less bumbling idiots by the end. The Dinoforce (and Dinoking) are initially a reasonable threat in the early episodes, but are a joke by the end.
 * Big Bad - Deathsaurus
 * Calling Your Attacks
 * Cast Herd - The Brain Masters, Micromasters etc.
 * Combining Mecha - how the cast herds are divided, with the above-mentioned teams, as well as the Dino Force, the Breastforce (who carry chest-mounted miniature attack robots that could transform into weapons), and the Multi Force, made of 6 Autobots who could combine in three pairs or into a single massive combiner named Landcross.
 * Demoted to Extra - God Ginrai, the mechanical component of Masterforce's hero, spends most of his time fighting Decepticons in other sectors (i.e. off-camera) and only appears to be destroyed and turned into what Transfans sarcastically label "a backpack and a pair of boots"- Star Saber's Mid-Season Upgrade.
 * Everything's Better With Dinosaurs - The Dino Force
 * Expy
 * Star Saber - Optimus Prime
 * Holi - Wheelie
 * Jean - Daniel
 * Deathsaurus - Megatron
 * Leozack - Starscream
 * Greatshot - Sixshot
 * Kick the Dog: Deathsaurus abounding the Dinosaur force to get swept beneath the waves when Atlantis sinks, despite their loyalty to him. It comes back to bite him later.
 * Kid Appeal Character- Holi and his rescue team.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade - Star Saber becomes Victory Saber
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast - Deathsaurus, Killbison, etc.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad - The Dinosaur Force
 * Spell My Name With an "S" - Deathsaurus vs Deszaras (or Debt Source if you're feeling snarky). Deathsaurus was the name used when the character appeared in Transformers Timelines while Deszaras appears in this series' DVD boxsets released by Metrodome and Madman entertainment.
 * The Starscream - Leozack, who
 * - Hellbat, who sort of acts as The Starscream to Leozack, often trying to either sabotage or take credit for his plans.
 * Stock Footage - Used a lot, particularly Star Saber's transformation sequence and the Breastforce combining into Liokaiser.
 * Team Rocket Wins - the series is notable for giving the Decepticons some decent victories.
 * Technology Porn
 * Theme Song Power Up
 * Transformation Sequence
 * Transforming Mecha - Well, obviously.
 * Unfortunate Names - Seriously... Breastforce?
 * It's supposed to refer to the characters breastplates, which transform into animal attack partners and/or weapons.
 * Wave Motion Gun - Deszaras' space fortress has a huge cannon that takes a long time to power up.
 * Years Too Early