The Energon Pub

[Praxus Prime]

At first, I HATED Animated. Season 1 characters were lousy (I think so anyway), but after watching later episodes, and parts of the movie, It kinda grew on me.

[Sabrblade]

Woah! Old topic. Was not expecting this one to be revived. But I guess it's only logical since animated is starting up again with it's new Japanese run and the upcoming AllSpark Almanac 2.

At first, I HATED Animated. Season 1 characters were lousy (I think so anyway), but after watching later episodes, and parts of the movie, It kinda grew on me.

Movie? Are you referring to either "Transform and Roll Out" or "Transwarped"? Both of which are actually three-part episodes each aired as a TV special.

Though, when "Transwarped" aired in Canada, it did not air all three episodes at once as a TV special, but instead aired each of them one weekend at a time.

[vegetacron]

I've tried, but i still can't get into this series. I have to say, i really enjoyed Armada over this version. /prays for better TF cartoons

[Sabrblade]

I've tried, but i still can't get into this series. I have to say, i really enjoyed Armada over this version. /prays for better TF cartoons

Well, how far have you gotten into the series? Admittedly, the human villian episodes aren't that good (with the exceptions of Meltdown and some of the Headmaster episodes), but the episodes involving the Decepticons are brutal. Particularly the one that introduces Blitzwing and Lugnut. And each season finale is just epic!

[Logan.]

In Memory Of...

[Sabrblade]

The official Transformers Animated Story Bible has been uncovered and posted online for all to see, courtesy of Allspark.com!

Thanks to The Allspark’s Powered Convoy, we have a special treat for Transformers fans – an early story bible for the ‘Transformers Animated’ cartoon, dating to March 2006!

You can download the PDF here, and get a look at the early development of this fan-favorite cartoon, as written by story editor Marty Isenberg!

The bible lays out the intended premise of the show, what will set it apart from previous Transformers cartoon, and the powers and personalities of its cast. Ratchet was once Red Alert, Bumblebee was once Hotshot, and more!

Also included is swathes of development art, given us a peek at early concepts for the visual style, before it gained its famous Derrick J. Wyatt look!

[sto_vo_kor_2000]

The official Transformers Animated Story Bible has been uncovered and posted online for all to see, courtesy of Allpark.com!

Thanks to The Allspark’s Powered Convoy, we have a special treat for Transformers fans – an early story bible for the ‘Transformers Animated’ cartoon, dating to March 2006!

You can download the PDF here, and get a look at the early development of this fan-favorite cartoon, as written by story editor Marty Isenberg!

The bible lays out the intended premise of the show, what will set it apart from previous Transformers cartoon, and the powers and personalities of its cast. Ratchet was once Red Alert, Bumblebee was once Hotshot, and more!

Also included is swathes of development art, given us a peek at early concepts for the visual style, before it gained its famous Derrick J. Wyatt look!

[Sabrblade]

[Deadput]

The whole not being sure about Sari's backstory thing actually sounds pretty worrisome to me.

It's probably for the better that we never go answers about her story then.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Animated was so good and still has so much potential. I wish we could get more. It's the one series people are still trying to get more from. No other series has this kind of following

[Sabrblade]

Animated was so good and still has so much potential. I wish we could get more. It's the one series people are still trying to get more from. No other series has this kind of following

Beast Wars did until almost everything new we got out of that series after it ended was all so ill-received: Beast Machines, Reaching the Omega Point, The Wreckers, The Gathering, The Razor's Edge, The Ascending, Beast Wars Sourcebook, Dawn of the Predacus, etc.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Animated was so good and still has so much potential. I wish we could get more. It's the one series people are still trying to get more from. No other series has this kind of following

Beast Wars did until almost everything new we got out of that series after it ended was all so ill-received: Beast Machines, Reaching the Omega Point, The Wreckers, The Gathering, The Razor's Edge, The Ascending, Beast Wars Sourcebook, Dawn of the Predacus, etc.

True, which is sad because of how good the original Beast Wars was. I wish they could keep the proper spirit of the original while still being cool

[Sabrblade]

Animated was so good and still has so much potential. I wish we could get more. It's the one series people are still trying to get more from. No other series has this kind of following

Beast Wars did until almost everything new we got out of that series after it ended was all so ill-received: Beast Machines, Reaching the Omega Point, The Wreckers, The Gathering, The Razor's Edge, The Ascending, Beast Wars Sourcebook, Dawn of the Predacus, etc.

True, which is sad because of how good the original Beast Wars was. I wish they could keep the proper spirit of the original while still being cool

FWIW, I very much enjoyed Beast Wars: Uprising being its own thing completely separate from the cartoon altogether, and feel its among the best Beast Wars fiction ever produced outside of the original series.

To get back on topic...

The whole not being sure about Sari's backstory thing actually sounds pretty worrisome to me.

It's probably for the better that we never go answers about her story then.

I interpreted that to mean that, at the time of their having crafted this outline, they simply hadn't yet thought of an answer for Sari's origin, but once the season had been greenlit and they had started working on it that would have definitely tried to come up with something.

I do, though, think the speculation that she could have been revealed to have been a Maximal protoform from the future is a neat idea.

I also like the unofficial explanation given in the Trial & Error graphic novel, in which she was revealed to be a unique protoform created by the AllSpark to be an avatar for its power, one that would, in conjunction with the AllSpark Key, bridge the gap between the organic world of humanity (Earth) and the technological world of the Transformers (Cybertron).

[Deadput]

I interpreted that to mean that, at the time of their having crafted this outline, they simply hadn't yet thought of an answer for Sari's origin, but once the season had been greenlit and they had started working on it that would have definitely tried to come up with something.

I do, though, think the speculation that she could have been revealed to have been a Maximal protoform from the future is a neat idea.

I also like the unofficial explanation given in the Trial & Error graphic novel, in which she was revealed to be a unique protoform created by the AllSpark to be an avatar for its power, one that would, in conjunction with the AllSpark Key, bridge the gap between the organic world of humanity (Earth) and the technological world of the Transformers (Cybertron).

For sure I guess but I don't think making a story have some sort of mystery without thinking what the answer to that mystery is does not count as good writing, which is a shame considering how good Animated was.

The Allspark avatar idea kinda sounds very mary sueish to me as well but it's an answer I suppose, I prefer the maximal protoform idea myself


Of course this is all going off rough draft ideas for the show, it's probable things would of gotten more polished for the show.

[Sabrblade]

The Allspark avatar idea kinda sounds very mary sueish to me as well but it's an answer I suppose, I prefer the maximal protoform idea myself

Granted, but, seeing as it was a fanmade thing, it's definitely not canon.

Though, Trial & Error did have a different purpose from what Season 4 would have been, as said purpose was to give Animated a more proper conclusion that merely took inspiration from known elements of Season 4, rather than telling the whole length of Season 4's story, since Trial & Error was a 3-part graphic novel instead of a full-length series.

While the answer it gave for Sari is, admittedly, a borderline "Chosen One" cliche, one could argue that she always walked along that border throughout the whole series with her key and all. And both that answer and her final acts in the story did cap off on her personal journey in a nice way that brought about her ultimate potential while still allowing Optimus to have the final decisive moment against Megatron that was needed to cap off his own personal journey.

[Deadput]

Granted, but, seeing as it was a fanmade thing, it's definitely not canon.

Though, Trial & Error did have a different purpose from what Season 4 would have been, as said purpose was to give Animated a more proper conclusion that merely took inspiration from known elements of Season 4, rather than telling the whole length of Season 4's story, since Trial & Error was a 3-part graphic novel instead of a full-length series.

While the answer it gave for Sari is, admittedly, a borderline "Chosen One" cliche, one could argue that she always walked along that border throughout the whole series wit her key and all. And both that answer and her final acts in that story did cap off on her personal journey in a nice way that brought about her ultimate potential while still allowing Optimus to have the final decisive moment against Megatron that was needed to cap off his own personal journey.

Ah yeah wasn't saying it was canon just simply that it was an answer

Also yeah Sari was kinda borderline "perfect" and such but I liked the character so even if it wasn't the best writing it didn't make for a bad character, just simply a bit of a power fantasy character which is fine.

[Sabrblade]

I am, admittedly, two months late on this since the following special announcement was posted by UK Transformers convention TFNation last December as a Christmas present.

We here at TFNation would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Now as this is the time of year for giving, we were wondering what we could give to each of you. No, not a guest reveal or announcement but an actual present. Now delivering a present to everyone would prove tricky and despite lengthy and protracted negotiations with the striped one, Santa won't share his methods with us. So what we're going to do is put a little something online and you can grab it for yourselves.

So what is this little something you ask? Well if you cast your minds back to 2017 we were able to present to you a little tale called TRIAL AND ERROR, carrying on some of the plot threads from the much-loved TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED series. We released it as a limited print run and raised some money for Mary's Meals, a worthwhile cause supported by the TFNation family for several years. Since then we've regularly been asked if there would be another print run. While it's not something we're in a position to do, what we can do is ensure everyone can get to enjoy it.

Below you will find links to download a DRM free PDF of the book in both screen friendly and a print ready sizes.

LOW-RES WEB FRIENDLY - https://tfnation.com/media/tfnation-2017/TrialandErrorweb.pdf

HIGH-RES PRINT FRIENDLY - https://tfnation.com/media/tfnation-2017/TrialandError300dpi.pdf

We'd like to extend a massive thank you to Chris McFeely, Jim Sorenson, Josh Perez, Ed Pirrie, Herzspalter, Gavin Spence and Andrew Turnbull for their hard work on Trial and Error and we hope you all enjoy it as much as we have.

All the best from the TFNation team to you and yours.

Till All Are One

Having owned a physical copy of this story and read it, myself, I can assure you that, while unofficial, Trial & Error is an absolute gem of a story that definitely serves as a worthy successor to the end of Transformers Animated and gives the series a proper and well-executed conclusion.

While it does not tell the full breadth of what Season 4 would have told over the course of 13 episodes, it does take inspiration from some of what was known of that unmade season's material and uses it well to create an excellent 3-part story that closes out Animated in a most respectable and exciting manner.

Chris McFeely and Jim Sorenson wrote it, while Josh Perez, Ed Pirrie, Herzspalter, Gavin Spence and Andrew Turnbull illustrated it.

I implore that any fan of Animated go check out this story.

[Sabrblade]

On April 2, 2020, Transformers Animated art director and character designer Derrick J. Wyatt joined artist Josh Perez on Twitch to show off some recolored designs for Shattered Glass versions of nine Transformers Animated characters, which Wyatt later posted to Twitter for all to see afterward.

While not actually official, these are still fun pieces of "what could have been" since Season 4 of Animated was going to have a Shattered Glass episode.

Perez did the colors for each one.

1. Strika


2. Drift


3. Jazz


4. Soundwave


5. Red Alert


6. Blackarachnia


7. Swindle


8. First Aid


9. Sideswipe
For whatever reason, Wyatt has not posted Sideswipe's art to Twitter.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

The fact that we were going to get a SG episode on TV and didn't is such a huge loss. Plus it would have been cool if they had made like 1 or 2 SG repaint toys

[Tigerhawk7109]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal, Trial and Error truly is a gem.

[Sabrblade]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal,

Strika colored like Optimus is unoriginal?

[Tigerhawk7109]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal,

Strika colored like Optimus is unoriginal?

I was just talking about guys like Drift and Jazz using their OG SG colors, compared to Starscream: https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/th ... am-CAA.jpg
Anyway, Blackarachnia looks sexy as heck, and I don't mind Swindle using the SG Constructicon colors.

[Sabrblade]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal,

Strika colored like Optimus is unoriginal?

I was just talking about guys like Drift and Jazz using their OG SG colors, compared to Starscream:

OG SG Jazz wasn't black.

[Tigerhawk7109]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal,

Strika colored like Optimus is unoriginal?

I was just talking about guys like Drift and Jazz using their OG SG colors, compared to Starscream:

OG SG Jazz wasn't black.

I thought he was. You might be thinking of Ricochet. If he's not, I was just trying to make a comparison.

[Sabrblade]

While the SG colors are a bit unoriginal,

Strika colored like Optimus is unoriginal?

I was just talking about guys like Drift and Jazz using their OG SG colors, compared to Starscream:

OG SG Jazz wasn't black.

I thought he was.