Transformers Cybertron

"Optimus Prime: Our worlds are in danger! To save them and the galaxy, we must find the four Cyber Planet Keys before the Decepticons can use them for evil! It is our mission! Hot Shot! Jetfire! Vector Prime! Landmine! Scattershot! Optimus Prime! Transform and roll out!"

The entire universe is in danger! The ancient, planet-sized Transformer known as Unicron, whose spark was contained by the Autobots in a sun in Transformers Energon, has now turned into a black hole called the Unicron Singularity. It is sucking the universe up, and only the four Cyber Planet Keys, each stored on a different planet, can stop its destructive power.

Oh, and due to the Unicron Singularity, all the Transformers are back on Cybertron, there are new characters and some of the old ones NO LONGER EXIST.

Though it's vauge enough that one could argue that the Unicron Singularity connected the Armada and Energon universe to the Cybertron reality, and Transformers Cybertron's reality is suffering from the actions of the Autobots and Decepticons from that universe.

Generally considered by fans to be the best of the Unicron Trilogy, which started with Armada and continued with Energon, Transformers Cybertron is a fairly unassuming yet fun series that stands out against Armada and Energon because even though it's not astoundingly good, it's at least light-years ahead of Energon.

Like Energon before it, Cybertron -co-produced between GONZO and Sunwoo - was animated with a mixture of hand-drawn animation and CGI. However, Cybertron used more traditional CGI for the Transformers, in line with what had been used for Beast Wars and Beast Machines. This made the CGI all the more conspicuous, but also allowed for slightly better facial animation (and movement in general). The fact that the scripts were better also allowed for better voice acting.

Also, Optimus Prime turns into a flying fire truck.

This series provides examples of the following:
"Leobreaker: (preparing to attack his Evil Knockoff) That Decepticon is gonna get neutered!"
 * Amplifier Artifact: Cyber Keys. Also, Megatron's Unicron Armour and the Matrix of Leadership can act like this.
 * An Axe to Grind: The giant Transformer Metroplex's weapon is a BFA called Sparkdrinker. It's as tall as he is. And Metroplex is twenty stories tall. Also, Scourge's beast-mode tail is an axe when he is in robot mode.
 * Ancient Astronauts: Ancient Cybertronians (that's before Earth existed) populated several planets in different places forming the locations where the show takes place.
 * And There Was Much Rejoicing: After the closing of the black hole, and Galvatron's final defeat.
 * Apocalypse How: The Unicron Singularity, being a freak black hole, threatens to consume the galaxy if not the entire universe. If the Expanded Universe is to be believed, the Singularity threatens to consume  the Transformers Multiverse itself. 
 * Arc Words: 'Til All Are One. As in, one in purpose. When the transformers of Cybertron and the four colonized worlds come together to help thwart Galvatron's plans, Primus declares that all ARE one.
 * Asskicking Pose: In SPADES.
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: Starscream, after growing to supreme size. The crown is virtually identical to the crown worn by G1 Starscream in Transformers the Movie. This Starscream tops him by not being slain right after coronation.
 * Badass Grandpa: Landmine. He's the one who taught Optimus how to fight, and can still kick serious Decepticon aft. Vector Prime, to a lesser extent. Also Backstop.
 * Battle Cry: Yes. One of the most worthy of mention is the following:

"Early in the battle:
 * Big Bad Ensemble: Megatron is the Big Bad at first, but eventually Starscream manages to become a secondary Big Bad in his own right.
 * Big Bad Wannabe: Ransack and Crumplezone.
 * Blade Below the Shoulder: Starscream's Cyber Key extends a pair of these, which when not in use are retracted into the wingpods on his arms.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: Not nearly as bad as the previous dubs, but errors still occur here and there, such as the wrong characters being voiced.
 * The Berserker: Overhaul, bordering on Leeroy Jenkins.
 * BFG: Optimus Prime's Super Mode cannons.
 * Primus, being a planet-sized Physical God, would have a huge gun. However, in the end, we wields one that's a space battleship as a gigantic cannon that counts as a BFG for him!
 * BFS: Vector Prime's sword, Rhisling, by dint of being a Transformer-scale claymore.
 * Big Badass Wolf: Snarl's altmode.
 * Broken Faceplate: Optimus Prime's mouthplate is shattered during the final battle, although he is the victor.
 * Butt Monkey: Thundercracker. So many times.
 * Ransack and Crumplezone later join him.
 * By the Power of Greyskull: ", Transform!", "Cyber Key Power!", "Optimus Prime, Super Mode!"
 * Calling Your Attacks: More Egregious in Galaxy Force than Cybertron.
 * Thundercracker comes up with bigger and more grandiose names for simple attacks as the series goes on. However, they actually work as advertised.
 * The Cameo: G1 Soundwave in tape-player form. First being used by Sideways in one episode, then in the epilogue being carried by this series' Soundwave. G1 Soundwave's cameo model is detailed to the point of having G1 Laserbeak in tape mode visible within him.
 * Combining Mecha: In Super Mode, Optimus Prime can combine with Leobreaker to form Savage Claw Mode, or with Wing Saber to form Sonic Wing Mode. Megatron can combine in a similar fashion with Leobreaker's Evil Knockoff Nemesis Breaker to form Dark Claw Mode.
 * Conspicuous CG: Very conspicuous. The Transformers are in (Non Cel-Shaded) CG and the human characters are traditionally animated.
 * Cool Big Sis: Override. At least in the dub.
 * Cool Mask: When Optimus activates Super Mode, the traditional Prime faceplate covers his mouth.
 * Cool Old Guy: Vector Prime, Landmine, Brakedown, Backstop.
 * Cool Starship: The four ancient Cybertronian colonization starships. Atlantis, Ogygia, Lemuria, and Hyperborea. And then their combined form, the massive warship Ark, which is used as a Black Hole destroying Wave Motion Gun by Primus after his spark is restored.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Metroplex vs. Megatron. Metroplex literally stomps on Megatron, and then after Megatron uses a dark energy attack to get Metroplex's giant foot off of him, Metroplex brings his colossal axe Sparkdrinker down on Megatron's head. Smashing him through the floor. And to make it worse on Megatron, he was in Dark Claw mode. Ouch.
 * Megatron then returns the gesture the very episode after after he evolves into Galvatron, he not only blocks the axe with one hand, he snatches it and defeats Metroplex with his own weapon to add insult to injury.
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Vector Prime's Time Reverse power. Using it shortens the users life. One or two minutes are okay, but three days to a week? Too dangerous.
 * Defeat Means Explosion: When Optimus and Leobreaker stab Megsy, an inexplicable explosion follows, and sends him flying! Or when Metroplex powers up his axe and brings it down and somehow causes a battle-ending explosion.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Override to Hot Shot, though this is helped by him aiding her a few times and genuinely impressing her with his drive to win.
 * Determinator: A few examples. Overhaul against Scourge, Hot Shot in the last race against Override, and then Starscream on his Foe Tossing Charge. Hot Shot, Red Alert, and Scattorshot refusing to give up after their Near Death Experience is one of the triggers for their Mid-Season Upgrade. Galvatron gets a second wind in his last clash with Starscream. Optimus Prime manages to do it numerous times, especially in his last battle with Galvatron. It is finally subverted with Galvatron in the final battle.
 * Deus Ex Machina: Plenty of it, and in a good way. In fact, Cybertron gets to have a lot of fun with this trope due to some of the show's basic premises.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu: Darkly inverted. In episode 49, Galvatron (while hopped up on power from the Omega Lock and the Cyber Planet Keys]] stuns a weakened Primus with a blast of dark energy. Played somewhat straight with Primus' second beatdown of Starscream.
 * Distant Finale: The last episode's end credits show.
 * Dub Induced Plot Hole: Restoring its intended status as a sequel to Armada and Energon when Galaxy Force wasn't written to be leaves some Unicron-sized holes. Dead characters are alive again, returning characters sometimes act very differently or have new origins, some prominent characters don't seem to exist anymore, nobody remembers Sideways, and so forth. The black hole being a Crisis On Infinite Earths event that changed things is All There in the Manual - your average viewer on the street wouldn't go in knowing to take it on its own.
 * But if you do take it on its own, though, as the dub team evidently felt was the choice, it's not so bad. The All There in the Manual retcons are pretty weak, and exist mainly to please Aaron Archer, who insisted on it.
 * Dub Name Change: Naturally. In some cases, these are better. It's a bit of a list but:
 * Autolander became Brakedown
 * Dreadrock/Dreadlock became Jetfire
 * Exillion/Exigeyser (post-upgrade name) became Hot Shot
 * First Aid/First Gunner (post-upgrade name) became Red Alert. Anyone who complains about this is being silly, as his character design is blatantly meant to be an evolution of Armada Red Alert
 * Backpack/Backgild (post-upgrade name) became Scattorshot.
 * Jackshot/Ligerjack became Overhaul/Leobreaker. Ligerjack isn't so bad, but try saying Jackshot out loud.
 * Dark Ligerjack accordingly became Nemesis Breaker
 * Nitro Convoy became Override. And a girl. See She's A Man In Japan below.
 * Flame Convoy became Scourge
 * Live Convoy became Evac. Appropriate for the guy who turns into a rescue helicopter.
 * Megalo Convoy became Metroplex. He's a major-league homage to G1 Metroplex, so the name fits like a glove.
 * Sonic Bomber became Wing Saber. Either name works quite well, and Wing Saber shows some semblance of continuity with Energon, which also featured an Autobot named Wing Saber that Optimus Prime could combine with.
 * Master Megatron/Galvatron dropped the "Master" part of the name.
 * Dinoshout became Undermine
 * Terrashaver became Brimstone
 * Fang Wolf became Snarl. Fitting enough for the guy who turns into a wolf.
 * Saidos became Backstop
 * Skids became Clocker
 * Land Bullet/Arm Bullet (post-upgrade name) became Crumplezone/Dark Crumplezone
 * Gasket became Ransack
 * Inch-Up (So named because his toys wheels raise him an inch up off the ground) became Dirt Boss (Fitting for a 4x4)
 * Hop became Jolt
 * Blit became Six-Speed
 * Bumper became Reverb
 * Roots became Safeguard
 * Blender became Quickmix. The change was fitting, considering this Quickmix is also an homage to a G1 character of the same name.
 * Moledive became Menasor. This was probably just to keep Hasbro from losing the trademark.
 * Chromia became Thunderblast
 * Road Storm became Lugnutz
 * Autovolt became Crosswise
 * Demolishor became Mudflap
 * Guardshell became Landmine
 * Galaxy Convoy became Optimus Prime.
 * Force Chips became Cyber Keys
 * Planet Force became Cyber Planet Keys
 * The Chip Square became the Omega Lock.
 * The starship Mu became the Ogygia
 * The starship Pangaea became the Lemuria
 * The starship Lemuria became the Hyperborea
 * Dull Surprise: Although it still suffered from this, Cybertron was in general better about this (characters are now capable of smiling, sneering, glaring etc, although all talking is still "mouth open, mouth closed".)
 * That's just a common cheat in anime, to avoid a dub having to redo the lip sync.
 * Epic Flail: Primus uses energy ropes to convert the moons of Cybertron into a slagging PAIR of these.
 * Evil Knockoff: Nemesis Breaker to Leobreaker.
 * Executive Meddling: Hasbro originally intended the character Overhaul to be called Trailbreaker. This would have given the character the nice transition from Trailbreaker to Leobreaker. Unfortunately, Hasbro's trademark on the name had expired forcing them to rename Trailbreaker, leaving no continuity between the names.
 * Famous Last Words: "I still function... you haven't won... not while my... spark... still burns..."
 * Femme Fatale: Thunderblast. Also something of a Gold Digger.
 * Fighter Launching Sequence: One of the stock sequences. Quite drawn out.
 * Final Battle: Optimus Prime versus Galvatron.
 * Foe Tossing Charge: Starscream goes on one of these in episode 25. Against almost every known Autobot. And WINS, successfully stealing the Omega Lock and the three Cyber Planet Keys found at that point.
 * Gainaxing: Thunderblast not only has a pair of big round breasts under her chest-plate, with nipples, but in some scenes in the series, they can even be seen bouncing.
 * Gatling Good: Megatron's second Cyber Key weapon is a laser gatling gun. In Japan it's called a Death Machine Gun.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself Man: Vector Prime does this to Optimus after Optimus has been nailed with a Hannibal Lecture by Galvatron. "I've heard enough!" *PUNCH*
 * Go Out With a Smile: Vector Prime. *sniff*
 * Gratuitous English: Galaxy Force has as much of this as Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has Les Yay.
 * The Hero: Optimus Prime
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Vector Prime makes one. He uses Time Reverse to take the heroes back to when the interuniversal warp hole they used to reach Gigantion was open in order for them to return.
 * Homage: A fair bit, such as Galvatron's colour scheme (It's G1 Megatron's). But there's one particular example in the Final Battle that stands out.

Galvatron:: Why throw away you life so recklessly Prime? It's a pity it has to end like this.

Optimus Prime: That's a question you should ask yourself, Galvatron! I will finish you!

The battle rages on, until they get ready to clash with each other for the last time.

Optimus Prime: Only one shall stand, Galvatron. It ends here!

Galvatron: NEVER!"

- Cue their final clash. Damn. Optimus Prime's got The Touch, no mistake.

"Galvatron: Uh-oh!"
 * Houko Kuwashima: Hop (Jolt in the dub).
 * Hot Scientist: Dr. Lucy Suzuki. She even has a schoolgirl skirt.
 * Humans Are Special: The Omega Lock emits a certain frequency when active. This frequency is only audible to humans, justifying the kids' place on the team. This was entirely the work of the dubbers.
 * Humongous Mecha: A given in Transformers, but the Transformers inhabiting Gigantion are giant compared to other Transformers. And Primus is the size of a freakin' planet. Heck, he turns into a planet.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Optimus Prime wielding Metroplex's axe.
 * Japanese Pronouns: In episode 45 of Galaxy Force (46 in the dub), Vector Prime addresses Optimus as "omae" at first, but Optimus insists on "kimi" after the younger Prime gets over his Heroic BSOD.
 * Jumped At the Call: The three main human characters.
 * Large Ham: Megatron/Galvatron. But with David Kaye voicing, what did you expect? Also, Starscream, Thundercracker, Scourge...
 * Last Villain Stand: Megatron. After he loses the cyber key, his minions have deserted him, and his plan to reshape the universe to his own desire is foiled, he decides to go all out and destroy Jungle World and Earth while at the same time challenging Optimus Prime to a final battle.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Hot Shot. Overhaul also has traces of this, as does Wing Saber.
 * Lip Lock: Averted for the most part.
 * Lull Destruction: The dub does this to compensate for the heavy use of Stock Footage.
 * Make My Monster Grow: Various characters do this to themselves, the first being Starscream. He does it again and becomes as big as Primus, only to have Primus smack him down in a Curb Stomp Battle. Hard. Later, Landmine does this to himself briefly to serve Starscream his afterburners on a platter and throw him through a wall into a lake. During his showdown with Galvatron, Starscream reveals that with the power he's already absorbed he can do this to his body at will. He enlarges his forearm to Rocket Punch Galvatron. In episode 49, Galvatron first does this to his remaining troops and then to himself. It doesn't last.
 * Manipulative Bastard: See above, at Magnificent Bastard. Also Sideways.
 * Martyr Without a Cause: NOT THIS OPTIMUS PRIME!
 * Meaningful Name: A few. Let's start with Hot Shot, whose name is a fair description of his attitude. And Wing Saber, whose wing flaps become the blades of his sabers in robot mode.
 * Merchandise Driven: Duh. Lampshaded at one point. ("More and more Autobots seemingly arrive out of nowhere")
 * Mid Season Upgrade: Overhaul, via the power of Jungle Planet's Cyber Planet Key, gets an overhaul and becomes Leobreaker. And he now turns into a lion.
 * Also Red Alert, Hot Shot, and Scattorshot, after their Near Death Experience.
 * Followed by Starscream, growing to giant size. And later Megatron into Galvatron.
 * Mighty Glacier: Primus and Metroplex are subversions of this. So is post-upgrade Starscream.
 * More Dakka: The point of Optimus' Super Mode. Red Alert, Hot Shot, and Scattorshot after their upgrades. And then there's Primus. Absolutely LOADED with guns. That are the right size for him. And he's as big as a planet.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Thunderblast. Boobs, jiggle in one episode, nipples in an earlier one...
 * Mythology Gag: On our mythology. The names of the ships match the names of legendary lost continents. The Atlantis was the first ship to crash in the Bermuda Triangle. In a more straight example, the "four wise elders" who began the space bridge project are drawn to look like G1 Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, Jazz, and Ultra Magnus.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Transformers was already slagging made of this trope, and is an example of it working. Cybertron is no exception, and with Primus took this to a new level.
 * Non Mammal Mammaries: Thunderblast. She even has nipples. Seriously: Look. She is said to have been the inspiration for the Sirens of myth in the English dub, while she was called Lorelei in the Japanese version.
 * Norio Wakamoto: Flame Convoy (Scourge in the dub).
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Not So Harmless: Thundercracker, in episode 7 when he successfully springs a trap and in episode 41 when he unveils his supercharged punch.
 * Off Model: Sometimes the kids' faces.
 * of course, seeing as Gonzo and Sunwoo are involved, this isn't a surprise.
 * Some shots in the pilot have the Autobots (chiefly Optimus) using a slightly different color scheme.
 * Oh Crap: Plenty of it, and with the moderately improved facial animation, you can tell. However, the best instance is in episode 49, when Galvatron has 5 supercharged attacks headed his way:
 * Some shots in the pilot have the Autobots (chiefly Optimus) using a slightly different color scheme.
 * Oh Crap: Plenty of it, and with the moderately improved facial animation, you can tell. However, the best instance is in episode 49, when Galvatron has 5 supercharged attacks headed his way:

"Sideways: Mother!"
 * Sideways gets a funny one in episode 41:

"Bud: (Upon waking up aboard the Atlantis and seeing the Ogygia out the window) Do Mini-Cons dream of electric ships?
 * Only Mostly Dead: Megatron after getting blown up with the collapse of his private dimension. The Armor of Unicron sustained his spirit, and absorbed energy from attacks on him to regenerate his body.
 * On the Next Episode of Catchphrase: In Galaxy Force.
 * Opening Narration: The opening and ending quotes for this work's page.
 * Physical God: Primus,
 * Vector Prime, may also count
 * Planet of Hats: Velocitron is a planet of racers, Jungle is a planet of Proud Warrior Race Guys and Gigantion is a planet of builders.
 * Plot Armor: Megatron's Armor of Unicron acts as literal plot armor at one point, as the justification for his turning out to be Only Mostly Dead.
 * Plot Coupon: The Matrix of Leadership, Megatron/Galvatron's Armor of Unicron, the Cyber Planet Keys and their focusing device the Omega Lock. These MacGuffins are also Applied Phlebotinum.
 * Plot Hole: Canonically, the Unicron Singularity itself is one so massive it causes inconsistencies and memory loss in Transformers across all of the multiverse.
 * Power Glows: Present, most notably in the Final Battle.
 * Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Also in spades.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Scourge.
 * Punch Parry: Optimus Prime vs. Megatron, It's as awesome as it sounds
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Colonel Franklin.
 * Recursive Ammo: Evac's missiles explode into more missiles.
 * Redubbing: Much, much better than Armada and Energon 's dubs.
 * Retcon: Okay, this takes a bit of explaining. The original Japanese show, Galaxy Force, was written to be a completely separate series from the previous two, which is why the characters are new/different/missing and the backstory doesn't connect to the other two shows. Hasbro, on the other hand, originally intended to make the show connected to the rest of the trilogy, and adapted the series accordingly. Supplementary material used the "Unicron Singularity" as an excuse for changing the entire universe around. However there is enough lack of reference in the show itself for it still to be taken separately.
 * Road Sign Reversal: Ransack switches a sign around in episode 15, "Detour."
 * Rocket Punch: Thundercracker's "Super-'Lectric Lightnin' Thundercrackin' Punch!" Also, Starscream pulls a variant in his showdown with Galvatron, enlarging his right forearm to knock Galvatron through a loop.
 * Scott McNeil: Snarl, Backstop, and the race announcer. He's no longer Jetfire, though, who has a completely new voice and accent (despite other changes made to present the series as in continuity with Armada and Energon - and there were some.)
 * Second Verse Curse: Cybertron Broke The Curse.
 * To elaborate: After Generation 1, most iterations of the Theme Song left out the "Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons" bit. Cybertron's version brought it back.
 * She's a Man In Japan: The female Override is the male Nitro Convoy in Galaxy Force. This was done before with Beast Wars, however.
 * Hasbro paid homage to this by claiming Override posed as a male early in her racing career.
 * It worked very well, too. It makes more sense (She looks like she has high heels, and chest armor is similar to the armor uniboob many female 'bots sport.)
 * Shout Out: Optimus and Galvatron's final battle ends with visual similarity to a showdown in Brave Exkaiser. Other shout-outs include:

Coby: (in a later episode) And that's how Optimus Prime got his groove back!"

"Optimus: You will always lose, Galvatron. You think of nothing but destruction. None of your victories last. You care about nothing but yourself. No-one cares about you. The time has come to end your struggle."
 * Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The retcon that the energon sun collapsed to make the black hole turns the entire Energon series into one of these, annihilating the planets they fought for the whole series offscreen. Again, however, the actual show largely ignores such things (mainly, Cybertron and Jungle Planet still exist.) The screen-given (and therefore more official) explanation is that the destruction of Unicron upset the balance between good and evil, and the black hole is the result. Its first victim is an uninhabited world, aptly named Moriturus - "I am about to die" in Latin.
 * Show Hayami: Vector Prime's V.A. in Japan
 * Slap Slap Kiss: Lori and Coby, although they never actually get to the 'kiss' part.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Due to trademarkability, Scattershot and Breakdown are called "Scattorshot" and "Brakedown" in the toyline.
 * Steampunk: Vector Prime, who is mostly CLOCKWORK.
 * Stock Footage: Cybertron was a serial offender. Eventually the cast virtually started MSTing it.
 * More like lampshading it.
 * Stupid Sacrifice: Averted. Optimus survives the whole way.  Scourge nearly makes one but Snarl talks him out of it.
 * Super Mode: Optimus Prime, via the parts from his vehicle mode that go into subspace when he's in normal robot mode. The fire-trucks combination ladders/water cannons/laser cannons swing under his arms to act as guns that are BFGs even for a Transformer. And they open up to make the charging area even bigger when he uses his Cyber Key.
 * Heck, he even calls it "Super Mode".
 * Super Robot: What Optimus is in Super Mode.
 * Team Rocket Wins: Episode 25.
 * Tempting Fate: Landmine in ep. 45 when he finds Gigantion's Cyber Planet Key. "And for once, findin' one of these was a piece of cake." *Cue Starscream's entrance* "Me and my big mouth." But Landmine makes up for it by using the Key to grow to Starscream's size and pay him back for injuring him in the first episode.
 * That's No Planetary Breakup:
 * Theme Naming: The ancient starships are all named after mythical lost continents. Of course, within the show, the continents are named after the ships.
 * The Obi Wan: Vector Prime.
 * The Other Darrin: Megatron's voice actor is different in the pilot.
 * The Reason You Suck Speech: Optimus gives a pretty good one to Galvatron, shortly before they make their final rush at each other.

"Optimus: I hope you don't think this is a tad excessive.
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Optimus using Metroplex's axe on Ransack and Crumplezone (To be fair, they had held Jolt and Bud captive briefly, and even tried the "save the hostage or catch us" routine. Prime managed both, and repaid the baddies' Jerkassery in full.) He lampshades it hilariously.

Ransack and Crumplezone: N-n-no!

Optimus: That's good. After all, I'm just trying to be fair! *WHAM!*"

"Galvatron: How can this be... am I... to be defeated... by Starscream?!
 * The Starscream: Starscream. That would seem obvious, but in the rest of the Unicron Trilogy he was more of a Noble Demon.
 * Also,
 * The Straight Man: Jetfire and Red Alert
 * This Cannot Be: Galvatron gets this a few times. Most notable is in his Final Battle with Starscream.

Later, in episode 49, after the black hole is destroyed:

Galvatron: I don't believe it."

"Vector Prime: Optimus Prime.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Optimus Prime vs Galvatron.
 * Transformation Is a Free Action: The English dub often has the character transforming talking about something as they go through a step by step sequence that takes about a minute at worst to complete. Gets particularly silly in the case of Metroplex, who transforms to save the comparatively small heroes from a falling object. Especially considering his transformation sequence is literally comparable to standing up.
 * Not really Transformation Is a Free Action, though. The talking seems to be more of an internal monologue used to fill the stock footage. The stock footage that's used like packing peanuts. Heck, sometimes the talking is used to lampshade the stock footage. And seen from the outside the transformations are instantaneous.
 * Prime does explain his plan while transforming once, though.
 * During the longest chunk of uninterrupted stock footage in the show.
 * Transformation Sequence: Naturally. The Transformers are, after all
 * Transforming Mecha
 * Tsundere: Lori.
 * Even SCOURGE, who's huge, powerful, and turns into a DRAGON, fears her wrath. And that picture is scary.
 * Underboobs: Thunderblast.
 * Villainous Valour: Starscream when he goes after the Omega Lock.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The massive warship Ark, when wielded by Primus. And it's not just a Wave Motion Gun, it's a BLACK HOLE-DESTROYING Wave Motion Gun.
 * Wham Episode: Episode 25: . Episode 26:  . Episode 47:.
 * Wild Hair: Overhaul gets this, or the Transformer equivalent, after being reformatted into Leobreaker.
 * Wrench Wench: Lori.
 * You Are Not Alone:

Optimus Prime: Vector Prime?!

Vector Prime: I shall always be watching over you from beyond time. When your need is greatest, I shall be there. And now, I have a gift."

"Vector Prime: Hold, Megatron! You shall go no further! CYBER KEY POWER! Tachyon Shield!"
 * You Shall Not Pass: Vector Prime pulls one of these in the second episode. This is one of those examples where the person doing it doesn't die. It is awesome to behold.

"The Autobots wage their battle...to DESTROY the evil forces of the Decepticons."