Transformers: Energon

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Transformers: Energon
Adventure, mecha
Created byEugene Ishikawa
Steve Drucker
Anime television series
Directed byYutaka Satō (1-5)
Jun Kawagoe (1-13)
Takashi Sano (6-51)
Produced byFukashi Azuma
Matsuo Sugiyama
Written byAkira Okeya
Music byKazunori Maruyama
Studio
Licensed by
SABC2
Original run January 9, 2004 – December 24, 2004
Episodes51 (List of episodes)

Transformers: Energon, known in

cel-shaded technique similar to the Zoids anime, which was a trend that would continue into the next series, Transformers: Cybertron
.

In the United States, KidsClick started airing reruns of the show from August 27, 2018, until November 3, 2018.[1] Along with Transformers: Armada and Transformers: Cybertron, Transformers: Energon is a part of a saga in the Transformers series known as the "Unicron Trilogy".

In this series, the Transformers' primary gimmicks are the

Mini-Cons, from the previous line, are still present, but all Mini-Con pegs are "dummy" pegs as they do not activate a function on the toy.[2]

Plot

See also: List of Transformers: Energon episodes

Ten years after the war for the Mini-Cons and the apparent destruction of

Rodimus
makes his reappearance.

With the activation of Earth's new Energon Grid, shielding it from attack by the Decepticons, the Autobots turn their attention to Unicron. Leaving Earth in the ship, the Miranda II, they locate Unicron's body. Megatron mobilizes the chaos-bringer, and pursues the Autobots through their space bridge, emerging in the vicinity of Cybertron. The Transformers' homeworld riddled with Energon towers, fired, leaving Unicron badly damaged. The Autobots form an alliance with Alpha Q, who is already working with Rodimus and his crew, and learn his origin and his motives for stealing Energon: he seeks to use it to recreate that which Unicron has destroyed. Meanwhile, Megatron's forces attack Cybertron, and the Decepticon criminal Shockblast is inducted into their ranks. In the course of Shockblast's escape from prison, guard

Wing Dagger
swears revenge for the death of his partner, Padlock, and when an Energon tower collapses on him and Tidal Wave, Megatron reconstructs his minion as Mirage, while Primus recreates Wing Dagger as the mighty Wing Saber, who joins the battle alongside Optimus Prime within Unicron. As the battle rages, Kicker arranges to channel all of Earth's Energon into Unicron's head, which Alpha Q then rams into Unicron's body. The resultant reaction with the negatively charged Energon within the body causes a fissure in reality, through which all the combatants are sucked.

In the new region of space on the other side of the fissure, Alpha Q has successfully recreated all the worlds destroyed by Unicron, sustaining them from within Unicron's head, which has now become an Energon sun. The Autobots set about establishing Energon Towers on the new planets to protect them, while Megatron sees the new worlds as a source of more Energon to reactivate Unicron. Having brainwashed Scorponok to become fully loyal to him, Megatron attempts to do the same to Inferno, but he fights the process. A rescue team consisting of Cliffjumper, Downshift, and Bulkhead is dispatched from Cybertron and Earth and teams up with the Autobots to protect the new worlds, but Inferno is then destroyed when he falls into the Energon sun, defeating the Decepticon influence of Megatron. Thankfully, his Spark is saved and he is reborn as Roadblock, just as the ancient Autobot, Omega Supreme, is awakened on Cybertron and joins the Autobots. Megatron succeeds in animating Unicron, who reclaims his head, killing Alpha Q in the process, but then Shockblast attempts to seize control of Unicron, only to have his own mind taken over by the "demi-god", ultimately destroying him. Megatron then resumes control, but falls prey to Unicron's influence as well, as the two minds battle for control as they struggle with Optimus Supreme, the combined form of Optimus Prime and

Omega Supreme
. Optimus Supreme is enlarged to giant size with a power boost from Primus which also energises several of the other Autobots. In a veritable battle of the titans, Optimus Supreme destroys Unicron, but his mind lives on within Megatron.

Although many of the Decepticons are captured and imprisoned on Cybertron, Megatron and his remaining forces soon attack the planet and free them. Another fugitive is Shockblast's younger brother, Sixshot, who joins Megatron's team to get revenge on Optimus Prime for his brother's death. Guided by Unicron's consciousness, Megatron is led to a subterranean reservoir of Super Energon, which transforms him into Galvatron. Two of the Super Energon's guardians, Bruticus Maximus and Constructicon Maximus, awake from

stasis
and side with him, but the third, Superion Maximus, sides with the Autobots. In the ensuing battle, the rupture of several Energon Towers sees a blanket of damaging Energon gas coat Cybertron's surface, keeping the Autobots trapped off the planet, forcing them to send in Kicker and the Omnicons to stop the gas flow while Galvatron seizes control of the planet and directs its movement back to Alpha Q's region of space. In a multi-pronged attack, the Autobots turn the tables, but Galvatron then immerses himself in the Super Energon again, growing to a colossal size, as Unicron's mind once again takes over his own and directs him into space to merge with his Spark, still intact in the void. Optimus Prime grows to gigantic size also and forces Galvatron into a battle, bringing his consciousness back to the surface, at which point Prime drains Unicron's essence from his body. Galvatron then seeks to destroy Unicron's spark, but is possessed by it, while all of the Autobots combine their Sparks of Combination with Optimus Prime, reviving him and leading into the final battle with Unicron, which is promptly aborted when Galvatron takes control of his body again and plunges himself into the foundling sun created by Primus from the Super Energon, preferring to die than to be manipulated. With this action, the sun ignites, breathing new life into Alpha Q's worlds, lighting the way to a brighter tomorrow.

Cast

English cast (Energon)

Arranged alphabetically by last name.

Japanese cast (Superlink)

The cast of Superlink was:[citation needed]

Comics

Such as with the previous line of Transformers: Armada, the Energon toyline came with its own mini-comic/toy catalogue with a brief five-page story told in multiple languages one after the other; most of them formed parts of an arc, whilst others featured back and forth victories between the Autobots and Decepticons, whilst showcasing the new additions to the line such as the Terrorcons and

Omnicons
.

Energon's mainstream comic distribution came courtesy of the former comics giant

Alpha Q
, who, like his animated counterpart, had a separate agenda, but it may never be known if he had the same goals as the anime version.

The initial story arc also continued plotlines from the final Armada issue, as it retained Optimus Prime's Armada form (in its upgraded grey and blue Powerlinx form) for the earliest portions as Cybertron came under attack from the still thriving, but damaged, Unicron. Several Autobots and a Decepticon Unicron had captured in the final Armada issue became his "Four Horsemen", a nod to one of the past Botcon Hasbro panels in which Aaron Archer called these four Unicron's Four Horsemen. The Four Horsemen are

Cheetor
(Pestilence). As the Horsemen ravaged Cybertron, Prime interacted with Vector Sigma and was upgraded to his traditional Energon form.

Rad, Carlos, and Alexis were given more character development the Energon comic as opposed to the supporting bit parts/semi-cameos they had in the television series, Alexis was now an anti-war demonstrator, in no government position, and was largely responsible for the Autobots being able to retrieve Kicker from a Decepticon ambush. Rad and Alexis would get more time, sans Carlos, as the storylines progressed, with both showing a deeper affection for the other, however the relationship was never fully explored due to the closure of Dreamwave.

The Transformers presence on Earth was also handled with more resentment and hostility from a handful of citizens; this culminated in a large-scale Terrorcon assault on Earth during the second story arc, as Megatron transported Optimus into the hub of Unicron, where his spark had been trapped since the conclusion of the Armada comic, and manipulated Prime into freeing him so he could enter a body he had been secretly preparing. Upon release, Megatron swiftly took control of the Decepticons again, killing their leader Scorponok. Optimus remained inside Unicron, fighting off the horrors within heading for a final showdown with the heart of the enemy.

Unfortunately, like many of the plotlines above, the comic folded, with all of the ongoing storylines abandoned, although it was confirmed in the final issue that the intended last arc for the Energon comic would have led directly into DW's own version of events in Transformers: Cybertron.

IDW, the current holders of the franchise, have not continued publication of the Energon comic or even published a Cybertron comic, they did however release a collection of the Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club exclusive storyline, Transformers: Cybertron - Balancing Act, which followed Vector Prime, on a side quest to the central Cybertron animated series storyline.

Toys

A small number of Transformers: Energon Built to Rule sets had a limited, test market release, and the structure of the Trans-Skeleton was changed for the Energon characters, to a much more solid skeleton with larger, blockier limbs. This led to much more solid, stable and sturdy-looking robot modes, but the entire line performed poorly, so it was dropped in its entirety in 2004.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "KidsClick to launch Miraculous season 2, new shows August 20th". ToonBarn. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  2. ^ "The History of Transformers on TV". IGN. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
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