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109-565: Featuring concepts and characters from Transformers and G.I. Joe , alongside original intellectual properties , the franchise is the successor of the Hasbro Comic Book Universe by IDW Publishing (2005–2018). Before IDW Publishing lost the licenses to produce Transformers and G.I. Joe comics at the end of 2022, in December 2021, it was reported that Skybound Entertainment , an imprint of Image Comics ,

218-425: A live-action film based on Transformers , with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer. It stars Shia LaBeouf , Josh Duhamel , Megan Fox , and Tyrese Gibson in the lead human cast while voice actors Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. Transformers received mixed to positive reviews and was a box office success. It is the forty-fifth highest-grossing film and

327-481: A television program , or a video game . Bob Iger , chief executive of the Walt Disney Company , defined the word franchise as "something that creates value across multiple businesses and across multiple territories over a long period of time.” A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium. For the owners, the goal of increasing profit through diversity can extend

436-554: A being known as the One. Transformers: Micromasters , set after the Ark' s disappearance, was also published. The real life universe was disrupted when Dreamwave went bankrupt in 2005. This left the Generation 1 story hanging and the third volume of The War Within half finished. Plans for a comic book set between Beast Wars and Beast Machines were also left unrealized. Throughout

545-589: A capital letter, sometimes not ) is the preferred fuel of the Transformer race. It takes many forms, including ore, crystal, gas, and raw energy, but it is most commonly used by Transformers in its liquid state, which is stored in many different mediums, most famously the energon cube. It is ubiquitous in Cybertronian culture; in addition to being the Transformers' primary "foodstuff", it also serves as

654-494: A collection of mini-series that re-imagine and reinterpret the G1 characters in various ways. To date, only one miniseries has been published, Hearts of Steel , placing the characters in an Industrial Revolution -era setting. The series was delayed as Hasbro did not want to confuse newcomers with too many fictional universes before the release of the live-action film . However, IDW and the original publisher Marvel Comics announced

763-685: A comic book series titled The Transformers with a companion series known as The Transformers: Spotlight . The main series was broken up into several story arcs. Eventually, with IDW Publishing losing sales, the series was given a soft reboot. Beginning with All Hail Megatron , the series was set in a new direction, discarding the miniseries and Spotlight format with ongoing comics . By 2012 the series had split into three ongoing series; The Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, The Transformers: Robots in Disguise (which later changed in 2015 to "The Transformers") and The Transformers: Till All Are One. In 2022, it

872-510: A crossover in Action Force , the UK counterpart to G.I. Joe. The comic book features a resurrected Megatron, whom Furman retconned to be a clone when he took over the U.S. comic book, which depicted Megatron as still dead. The U.S. comic would last for 80 issues until 1991, and the UK comic lasted 332 issues and several annuals , until it was replaced as Dreamwave Productions , later in

981-541: A crossover storyline with the Avengers to coincide with the film New Avengers/Transformers . The story is set on the borders of Symkaria and Latveria , and its fictional universe is set between the first two New Avengers storylines, as well in between the Infiltration and Escalation phase of IDW's The Transformers . IDW editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall hinted at elements of it being carried over into

1090-566: A follow-up to Armada/Energon . The writers attempted to change certain plot elements from the Japanese version to remedy this, although this largely added up to nothing more than references to Unicron, Primus, Primes and Minicons. Just as Marvel produced a companion comic to Generation 1 , Dreamwave Productions published the comic Transformers Armada set in a different continuity from the cartoon. At #19, it became Transformers Energon . Dreamwave went bankrupt and ceased all publications before

1199-485: A franchise can even be created, which ultimately leads to the creation of brand worlds. Since the creation of Disneyland in 1955, bringing fictional media franchises to life through the theme parks slowly became increasingly popular as the way to perfectly blend tourism and real-life involvement with media itself. Similar to transmedia, the concept of bringing fictional media into a non-fictional space where fans can immerse themselves in real-life versions of elements from

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1308-424: A modeling agency, several television shows ( Playboy's Penthouse , in 1959), and even its own television channel . Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show , direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in

1417-668: A new universe of annual comics adapted from Marvel, but also included elements of the animated. The Dreamwave stories followe the concept of the Autobots defeating the Decepticons on Earth, but their 1997 return journey to Cybertron on the Ark II is destroyed by Shockwave , now ruler of the planet. The story follows on from there and was told in two six-issue limited series, then a ten-issue ongoing series . The series also adds extra complexities such as not all Transformers believing in

1526-549: A prequel to the first film, receiving positive reviews from critics. The movie was a box-office success. A sequel to Bumblebee , directed by Steven Caple Jr. and titled Transformers: Rise of the Beasts , was released on June 9, 2023 to mixed reviews from critics. Transformers: Animated is a cartoon that was aired in early 2008 on Cartoon Network in the United States . Originally scheduled for late after 2007 under

1635-528: A public-relations arm of the revitalized organization. Additionally, Ohshima's other major contribution to Transformers at the time, the 1-page Information Administration Teletraan 15 Go! Go! comic published in Dengeki Hobby magazine, also featured several tie-ins to the Kiss Players story. These primarily served to introduce readers to the Kiss Players story and characters when the line

1744-644: A sub-faction of the Predacons on Earth, a potential reference to the return to the vehicle-based characters following the previous dominance of the animal-based characters of the Beast eras. It is a stand-alone universe with no ties to any other Transformers fiction, though some of the characters from Robots in Disguise did eventually make appearances in Transformers: Universe , including Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Side Burn and Prowl . The show

1853-533: A tremendous honor to be able to reintroduce this world to a new audience under the Skybound banner. I’ve loved these characters for most of my life and to have the opportunity to add to the already rich tapestry Hasbro has built with the all-new Void Rivals is an unbelievable opportunity. If you look at everything done with Transformers and G.I. Joe , you can see the inkling of a vast universe with tremendous potential for crossovers and interaction that will enhance

1962-618: A visit to the Savage Land . The Transformers TV series began around the same time. Produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions , later Hasbro Productions, from the start it contradicted Budiansky's backstories. The TV series shows the Autobots looking for new energy sources, and crash landing as the Decepticons attack. Marvel interpreted the Autobots as destroying a rogue asteroid approaching Cybertron. Shockwave

2071-456: Is a media franchise produced by Japanese toy company Takara Tomy and American toy company Hasbro . It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons , two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion ( $ 25 billion ) in revenue, making it one of

2180-413: Is finally here, we are all excited to finally be able to talk about all the amazing stories to come from our great new partners at Skybound.” Void Rivals is followed by a Transformers ongoing series and four G.I. Joe limited series featuring Duke , Cobra Commander , Scarlett , and Destro as main protagonists. Kirkman also brought up the possibility of adding other action brands from Hasbro in

2289-438: Is later revealed to be prehistoric Earth with an artificial second moon, taking place sometime during the 4 million year period in which the Autobots and Decepticons were in suspended animation from the first episode of the original Transformers cartoon), which forces them to take organic beast forms in order to function without going into stasis lock. After writing this first episode, Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio learned of

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2398-694: Is loyal to Megatron on the TV series, keeping Cybertron in a stalemate during his absence, but in the comic book, he attempts to take command of the Decepticons. The TV series would also differ wildly from the origins Budiansky had created for the Dinobots, the Decepticon turned Autobot Jetfire (known as Skyfire on TV ), the Constructicons (who combine to form Devastator ), and Omega Supreme . The Marvel comic establishes early on that Prime wields

2507-444: Is planet Cybertron and fight his nemesis Unicron . Female Autobot Arcee also appeared, despite the comic book stating the Transformers had no concept of gender, with her backstory of being built by the Autobots to quell human accusations of sexism. Soundwave , Megatron's second-in-command, also breaks the fourth wall in the letters page, criticising the cartoon continuity as an inaccurate representation of history. The UK also had

2616-482: Is set in the present ( modern era ); the franchise name makes reference to the substance that Transformers need to survive. In the Sacred Ring, there is a war between Agorrians and Zertonians. When two rivals named Darak and Solila crash on a mysterious planetoid, they must work together in order to survive. In the process, they learn a secret that will change everything they believed about their war. Meanwhile,

2725-607: Is set in the year 2005. It introduced the Matrix as the " Autobot Matrix of Leadership ", as a fatally wounded Prime gives it to Ultra Magnus ; however, as Prime dies he drops the matrix, which is then caught by Hot Rod who subsequently becomes Rodimus Prime later on in the film. Unicron , a Transformer who devours planets, fears its power and re-creates a heavily damaged Megatron as Galvatron , as well as Bombshell or Skywarp becoming Cyclonus , Thundercracker becoming Scourge and two other Insecticons becoming Scourge's huntsmen,

2834-623: Is that the heroic Optimus Prime , the villainous Megatron , and their finest soldiers crash-land on prehistoric Earth in the Ark and the Nemesis before awakening in 1985, Cybertron hurtling through the Neutral zone as an effect of the war. The Marvel comic was originally part of the main Marvel Universe , with appearances from Spider-Man and Nick Fury , plus some cameos, as well as

2943-428: Is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term media mix gained its circulation in late 1980s and is first used to describe adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu 's Japan Sinks , but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime , with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. Some of the earlier popular Japanese franchises such as Vampire Hunter D in

3052-491: The Generation 2 comic book and Beast Wars TV series, which became its own mini-universe . Generation 1 characters have been rebooted multiple times in the 21st century in comics from Dreamwave Productions (starting 2001), IDW Publishing (starting in 2005 and again in 2019), and Skybound Entertainment (beginning in 2023). There have been other incarnations of the story based on different toy lines during and after

3161-542: The Creation Matrix , which gives life to machines. In the second season, the two-part episode The Key to Vector Sigma introduced the ancient Vector Sigma computer, which served the same original purpose as the Creation Matrix (giving life to Transformers), and its guardian Alpha Trion . Introduced to the franchise during Generation 1 is the energy source known as Energon. Energon (sometimes spelled with

3270-529: The Micro Change and Diaclone toys, and partnered with Takara . Marvel Comics was hired by Hasbro to create the backstory ; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter wrote an overall story, and gave the task of creating the characters to writer Dennis O'Neil . Unhappy with O'Neil's work (although O'Neil created the name " Optimus Prime "), Shooter chose Bob Budiansky to create the characters. The Transformers mecha were largely designed by Shōji Kawamori ,

3379-622: The Rescue Bots TV series, its sequel Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy , the Go! anime adaptation, and the 2015 series Transformers: Robots in Disguise . The video games that are part of this shared universe are Transformers: War for Cybertron (including its Nintendo DS version and the companion Transformers: Cybertron Adventures ), Transformers: Fall of Cybertron , the Prime video game adaptation , and Transformers: Rise of

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3488-655: The Sweeps . Eventually, Rodimus Prime takes out the Matrix and destroys Unicron. In the United Kingdom, the weekly comic book interspliced original material to keep up with U.S. reprints, and The Movie provided much new material. Writer Simon Furman proceeded to expand the continuity with movie spin-offs involving the time travelling Galvatron. The Movie also featured guest voices from Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron , Scatman Crothers as Jazz , Casey Kasem as Cliffjumper, Orson Welles as Unicron and Eric Idle as

3597-636: The Transformers Generations: The Fall of Cybertron line in 2012. Several ideas introduced into the 2007 storyline focusing on the introduction of Primus into the Japanese cartoon's timeline have been revisited and expanded upon, which shares Kiss Players storytelling while attempting to fill in gaps of the timeline in the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity. The Transformers Legends manga, while featuring lewd content and new stories and characters, also has

3706-491: The fantasy and science fiction genres. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series , video games, or both. A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix 's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series , and can suffer from critical failures even if

3815-479: The fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 , grossing approximately $ 709 million worldwide. The film won four awards from the Visual Effects Society and was nominated for three Academy Awards , for Best Sound Editing , Best Sound Mixing , and Best Visual Effects . The performance of Shia LaBeouf was praised by Empire , and Peter Cullen's reprisal of Optimus Prime from the 1980s television series

3924-545: The highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise began in 1984 with the Transformers toy line , comprising transforming mecha toys from Takara 's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines rebranded for Western markets. The term " Generation 1 " (G1) covers both the animated television series The Transformers and the comic book series of the same name , which are further divided into Japanese, British and Canadian spin-offs. Sequels followed, such as

4033-416: The "Unicron Trilogy". For most of the 2010s, in an attempt to mitigate the wave of reboots, the " Aligned Continuity " was established. In 2018, Transformers: Cyberverse debuted, once again, distinct from the previous incarnations. Although a separate and competing franchise started in 1983, Tonka 's GoBots became the intellectual property of Hasbro after their buyout of Tonka in 1991. Subsequently,

4142-423: The 1980s and Pokémon in the late 1990s, acted as benchmarks in the country's transmedia dominance. The latter in particular began as a video game available on Nintendo 's Game Boy , and crossed through the media of television, film, news, and other non-media related realms, such trading cards, merchandise, and more. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among

4251-429: The 20th century. In 2009, Shout! Factory released the entire G1 series in a 16-DVD box set called the Matrix of Leadership Edition. They also released the same content as individual seasons. It was five issues of the G.I. Joe comic in 1993 that would springboard a return for Marvel's Transformers, with the new twelve-issue series Transformers: Generation 2 , to market a new toy line. This story reveals that

4360-525: The 20th century. The first was the Robots in Disguise series, followed by three shows ( Armada , Energon , and Cybertron ) that constitute a single universe called the "Unicron Trilogy". A live-action film series started in 2007, again distinct from previous incarnations, while the Transformers: Animated series merged concepts from the G1 continuity, the 2007 live-action film and

4469-457: The 354-page brand bible, "The Binder of Revelation". In August 2016, Machinima and Hasbro co-produced an animated series named Combiner Wars , simultaneously published on the website Go90 and YouTube . This was followed by two further installments, Titans Return and Power of the Primes . Eric Calderon was executive producer of the trilogy. The events of the series take place 40 years after

Energon Universe - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-596: The Autobots and Decepticons discovering the powerful Mini-Cons on Earth, which are revealed by the end to be weapons of Unicron . Energon , set ten years later, followed the Autobots and the Omnicons in their fight to stop the Decepticons and the Terrorcons from resurrecting Unicron with energon. In Japan, the series Transformers: Cybertron showed no ties to the previous two series, telling its own story. This caused continuity problems when Hasbro sold Cybertron as

4687-513: The Dark Spark , that serves as a conclusion of the Cybertron series and crossover with the live-action film video game series. Four novels set within the continuity have been published: Transformers: Exodus , Transformers: Exiles , Transformers: Retribution , and Transformers: The Covenant of Primus . The first three were published by Del Rey Books , while Covenant of Primus

4796-465: The Decepticons. (Note: This appears to contradict background presented in the first two seasons of the series.) It is the Autobots who develop transformation. Due to popular demand, Optimus Prime is resurrected at the conclusion of the third season, and the series ended with a three-episode story arc. However, the Japanese broadcast of the series was supplemented with a newly produced OVA , Scramble City , before creating entirely new series to continue

4905-623: The G1 Transformers and began to use elements of it as a historical backstory to their scripts, establishing Beast Wars as a part of the Generation 1 universe through numerous callbacks to both the cartoon and the Marvel comic. By the end of the first season, the second moon and the Energon are revealed to have been constructed by a mysterious alien race known as the Vok . The destruction of

5014-489: The Plasma Energy Chamber and Key to Vector Sigma. The naming of the Transformer ship, the Ark (and reference to 1984, the year the Transformers on board are revived), the character Ravage being shown as intelligent, and Cybertron having an organic core are elements taken from the comics. In 2011, Shout! Factory released the complete series of Beast Wars on DVD. In 2001, Dreamwave Productions began

5123-562: The Transformers originally breed asexually , though it is stopped by Primus because it produced the evil Swarm . A new empire, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, is bringing it back, however. Though the year-long arc wrapped itself up with an alliance between Optimus Prime and Megatron , the final panel introduces the Liege Maximo, ancestor of the Decepticons. This minor cliffhanger was not resolved until 2001 and 2002's Transforce convention when writer Simon Furman concluded his story in

5232-475: The Transformers. Dreamwave's version reimagines the familiar G1 and G.I. Joe characters in a World War II setting, and a second limited series was released set in the present day, though Dreamwave's bankruptcy meant it was cancelled after a single issue. Devil's Due had Cobra re-engineer the Transformers to turn into familiar Cobra vehicles, and released further mini-series that sent the characters travelling through time, battling Serpentor and being faced with

5341-480: The cells and gained Kiss Player fusion abilities to partner with them. The three central characters were a younger version of Marissa Faireborn as a resistance fighter against the EDC partnered with Optimus Prime who while having died in the movie, his body body was recovered and restored to life in a new body resembling that of a Dodge Ram pickup by the same organization. Rodimus devastated by his guilt in his role of

5450-505: The combined menace of Cobra-La and Unicron . During this time, Cobra teams up with the Decepticons . IDW Publishing has expressed interest in their own crossover. The following year, IDW Publishing rebooted the G1 series from scratch within various limited series and one shots . This allowed long-time writer of Marvel and Dreamwave comics, Simon Furman , to create his own universe without continuity hindrance, similar to Ultimate Marvel . This new continuity originally consisted of

5559-419: The commercial profitability of the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and ownership in its consumers. Those large groups of dedicated consumers create the franchise's fandom , which is the community of fans that indulge in many of its media and are committed to interacting with and keeping up with other consumers. Large franchise-based fandoms have grown to be even more popular in recent years with

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5668-398: The conclusion of its first storyline in late 2007, Kiss Players moved into its second (and apparently final) phase, Kiss Players Position , which shifted focus to a distinctly more PG-rated theme, though it was still heavy on the "cute girls" theme. The Kiss Players this time are a pop idol singing group made up of the three girls and three original mini-cassette Transformers Glit, Sundor

5777-721: The creator of the Japanese mecha anime franchise Macross (which was adapted into the Robotech franchise in North America). Kawamori came up with the idea of transforming mechs while working on the Diaclone and Macross franchises in the early 1980s (such as the VF-1 Valkyrie in Macross and Robotech ), with his Diaclone mechs later providing the basis for Transformers . The primary concept of Generation 1

5886-441: The default power source for their machines and weapons, and is even used as a currency, a catch-all fuel of life, technology, war and commerce on Cybertron and beyond. This widespread use also comes in defiance of its extreme volatility: energon is prone to detonating explosively if mishandled, and is even used as ammunition in order to exploit this attribute. In 1986, the cartoon became the film The Transformers: The Movie , which

5995-399: The destruction of Tokyo stepped down as the then leader of the Autobots reverting to the previous name of Hot Rod in order to return to Earth to atone for his mistake. He's refitted into a vehicle resembling a Ford GT by his headstrong partner Shaoshao Li, a girl of Chinese descent and an estranged friend of Marissa and used to be one of the EDC's top Kiss Players until realizing that the EDC

6104-473: The end of the Autobot/Decepticon civil war, with the Transformers having returned to Cybertron and now being threatened by ancient technology. Media franchise A media franchise , also known as a multimedia franchise , is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film , a work of literature ,

6213-661: The eponymous "Kiss Players" - who fuse with the robots and share their adventures. The plot starts with the Earth Defense Command being formed in 2003 as part of a cooperative human/Autobot effort. When a virus called the Cosmic Rust critically struck the Autobots later that year, the EDC kicked off the Binaltech Project to shore up its defenses. When Galvatron was hurled out of Unicron by Rodimus Prime in 2005, rather than immediately crashing onto

6322-482: The exclusive novella Alignment . The story focuses on a small group of Maximals (the new Autobots), led by Optimus Primal , and Predacons , led by Megatron , 300 years after the "Great War". After a dangerous pursuit through transwarp space , both the Maximal and Predacon factions end up crash landing on a primitive, uncivilized planet similar to Earth , but with two moons and a dangerous level of Energon (which

6431-491: The existence of Primus, corruption in the Cybertronian government that first led Megatron to begin his war, and Earth having an unknown relevance to Cybertron. Three Transformers: The War Within limited series were also published. These are set at the beginning of the Great War, and identify Prime as once being a clerk named Optronix. Beast Wars was also retroactively stated as the future of this continuity, with

6540-461: The fan experience while staying true to the individual identities of both concepts. I look forward to exploring that potential for years to come." Michael Kelly, who was Vice President of Global Publishing on Hasbro until December 2023, added, “When we first discussed plan for the surprise reveal in Void Rivals #1, I never expected it would be a secret we could keep for over a year. Now that it

6649-725: The fictional worlds they love, adds to the overall narrative the franchise creates through its other media. Marvel's Avenger's Campus park is one of the many franchise-based theme parks created in recent times, following the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure and Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney World . Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such as Nancy Drew , Miss Marple , and other popular detectives , as well as popular comic book superheroes . Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels , particularly those in

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6758-417: The film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix were produced at the same time, using the same actors on the same sets, and released on the same day. Transmedia franchises occasionally release content through certain media that is not canon to the main or greater story that the franchise is built around, meaning that the elements of said content do not truly exist in the main timeline of

6867-467: The financial logic of cost-recovery for expensive productions by identifying that a single medium launch is a lost opportunity, the timeliness of the production and release is more important than its integrity, the releases should raise brand awareness and the cross-ability of the work is critical for its success. American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings, with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA Records and having

6976-539: The first season of Beast Wars (comprising 26 episodes) aired in Japan, the Japanese were faced with a problem. The second Canadian season was only 13 episodes long, not enough to warrant airing on Japanese TV. While they waited for the third Canadian season to be completed (thereby making 26 episodes in total when added to season 2), they produced two exclusive cel-animated series of their own, Beast Wars II (also called Beast Wars Second ) and Beast Wars Neo , to fill in

7085-555: The focus on the content of the commodity to "overlapping the commodity image with the character image". The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, by Marc Steinberg, details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. Long-running franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors and directors under long-term contract. In such cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed. Spin-offs and adaptations of popular pieces of media within

7194-478: The former is a spy and the latter shows compassion to both allies and enemies , and Rosanna who's the only heroic one out of the three . The group's purpose is to promote a positive relationship and friendship between humans and Transformers in the wake of the Tokyo disaster of 2005 and the subsequent rise and fall of the E.D.C.. They wear E.D.C. logos on their costumes as a group, appearing to be either sponsored by or

7303-433: The franchise's characters and settings. As one author explains, "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products." The trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously; for instance,

7412-415: The franchise. Canon content often times breaks continuity, leading fans to speculate or seek to confirm which media are canon and which are not, which can get confusing if the franchise does not provide an answer themselves since entire media can be non-canon to the greater story, with a popular example occurring. On the other hand, specific episodes, volumes or parts of a series can be canon while others in

7521-501: The future, and confirmed that they will not have more than four series running at once. In May 2024, Skybound announced four connecting variant covers to celebrate the Energon Universe's first anniversary for June 2024. The covers are drawn by Jason Howard and colored by Annalisa Leoni. In June 2024, Skybound officially announced the new G.I. Joe ongoing series that follows its four previous prequels. The Energon Universe

7630-603: The gap. Dreamwave retroactively revealed Beast Wars to be the future of their G1 universe, and the 2006 IDW comic book Beast Wars: The Gathering eventually confirmed the Japanese series to be canon within a story set during Season 3. Beast Wars contained elements from both the G1 cartoon series and comics. Attributes taken from the cartoon include Transformers that were female, the appearance of Starscream (who mentions being killed off by Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie ), and appearances of

7739-436: The intended target of the planet Thrull, he instead hurtled toward Earth. Landing in Tokyo, Japan, the Decepticon leader's impact decimated the city and scattered his Unicron-mutated cells throughout Earth's atmosphere. Following this catastrophe, the EDC was reborn as an organization dedicated to driving all Transformers off Earth. The organization built an anti-electron field (previously referred to as an Energon field) to make

7848-570: The intent to unify every Transformers media into one continuity. The name of this continuity however, is not official; it was adopted by the fans after Hasbro referred to it as an "Aligned Continuity". The toy lines derived from this continuity are Transformers: Generations , Transformers: Rescue Bots , and Transformers Go! The television series belonging to the Aligned Universe include Transformers: Prime (including its concluding film Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising ),

7957-515: The leader of the Junkions (Wreck-Gar, though unnamed in the movie). The Transformers theme tune for the film was performed by Lion with "Weird Al" Yankovic adding a song to the soundtrack. The third season followed up The Movie , with the revelation of the Quintessons having used Cybertron as a factory. Their robots rebel, and in time the workers become the Autobots and the soldiers become

8066-473: The magazine), footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares (lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware), guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise. Non-fiction media franchises also exist in the television and film media, with reality TV being one of the most well-known examples; ranging from competition shows like The Amazing Race to

8175-513: The main continuities, and that a sequel is possible. In June 2018 it was announced there would be Star Trek and Transformers Crossover being released in September 2018. Transformers: Kiss Players  [ ja ] (トランスフォーマー キスぷれ, Toransufōmā Kisu Pure ), shortened to Kiss Players (キスぷれ, Kisu Pure ), is a Japanese Transformers franchise which began in 2006 to 2007 as was helmed by artist and writer Yuki Ohshima. By virtue of being

8284-400: The media fictional material is unrelated. Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to... reference books . An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises , which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy , within a few years after its first publication, into such enterprises as

8393-413: The name Ne-04, a Autorooper built in the form resembling a Mazda RX-8 would shared the same feeling as she did though with the time they spend together their way of thinking would change throughout their relationship. While this plotline seems like a shift in demographics to little girls, it is said that this line was aimed at a much older adult male audience. The toys bear an "ages 15 and up" warning, and

8502-545: The only Transformers toyline and fiction released in Japan by Takara between the conclusion of Transformers: Cybertron and the live-action movie , it was also effectively the main Transformers line in the country for that time. It takes place in the Generation 1 cartoon continuity, specifically in the five-year milieu between The Transformers: The Movie and Transformers 2010 . The series derives its name from its controversial gimmick, which involves Transformers getting "power-ups" when they are kissed by human girls -

8611-407: The original Transformers cartoon and 1986 animated movie, as well as characters only seen in comics and such, make special appearances and cameos throughout the show, with various voice actors (including Corey Burton , John Moschitta, Jr. , Susan Blu , and Judd Nelson ) reprising their roles. Hasbro, in an attempt to stop the wave of reboots that started in 2001, created the Aligned Universe, with

8720-467: The other war between Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron expands to Earth , leading to the foundation of G.I. Joe and Cobra in response. A chain of events will cause all those factions to fight against each other, changing the fate of humanity (and the universe) forever. Energon Universe 2024 Special The EU comics have been receiving general positive reviews for their narrative, tone and complex storylines, with critics praising Void Rivals for

8829-433: The overarching story and narrative of the franchise itself. A connection between the characters, settings, and other elements of the media franchise do still exist within the different media, regardless of the fact that they are being presented in sometimes completely different ways, such as the shared, interweaving storylines and elements of Spider-Man films, television shows, comics and video games. Espen Aarseth describes

8938-494: The planet uninhabitable to Cybertronians, and created a team of 48 transforming robots known as Autoroopers (オートルーパー Ōtorūpā), a Japanese portmanteau of "auto" (オート ōto) and "trooper" (トルーパー torūpā) or Autotroopers (aka Autobot Troopers) in English, are a group of human-created artificial Transformers that serve the Earth Defense Command to combat any other Transformers that remained, recruiting young women who had been infected with

9047-484: The popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films of The Twilight Saga . Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types including metaseries , which can be used to describe works such as Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . Multimedia franchises usually develop through a character or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and then expanding to others through licensing agreements , with respect to intellectual property in

9156-435: The present day. Dinobot leader Grimlock takes over as Autobot leader. There was a G.I. Joe crossover and the limited series The Transformers: Headmasters , which further expanded the scope to the planet Nebulon. It led on to the main title resurrecting Prime as a Powermaster. In the United Kingdom, the mythology continued to grow. Primus is introduced as the creator of the Transformers, to serve his material body that

9265-565: The profile series More than Meets the Eye showing the Predacon Megatron looking at historical files detailing Dreamwave's characters and taking his name from the original Megatron. In 2004, this real life universe also inspired three novels and a Dorling Kindersley guide, which focused on Dreamwave as the "true" continuity when discussing in-universe elements of the characters. In a new twist, Primus and Unicron are siblings, formerly

9374-401: The radio dramas, manga, comic, and other materials) were recovered. This material was remastered and translated into English and released via torrent for download. First broadcast in Japan in 2000, Robots in Disguise was a single animated series consisting of thirty-nine episodes. It was exported to other countries in subsequent years. In this continuity, Megatron re-creates the Decepticons as

9483-491: The radio storyline in its second week and never mentioned again. Reactions ran the gamut from outright disgust to comedic derision, with most fans agreeing that the content such be included a children's toyline was distasteful. The fact that several Japanese fans were themselves openly decrying Kiss Players , fearing that American fans would think that it was somehow accepted as normal in Japan regarding its sexually suggestive material. Oshima himself even admitted that he crafted

9592-415: The release of A Moment Like This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100. The success resulted in a nationwide concert tour, an American Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin to Kelly . A transmedia franchise however is often referred to by the simpler term "media franchise". The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work into films, like

9701-409: The rise of social media platforms, as many fans seek to interact with one another for discussion, debate and even to create their own fan-made pieces of media revolving around the franchise, on websites like tumblr , Reddit and Fandom . In the case of successful transmedia franchises, each different medium should expand the target demographic and fandom, build the interest of the consumers and add to

9810-525: The same medium are not, such as the fact that only some of the Battlestar Galactica comics are canon, with a large amount of them breaking the continuity of the main story. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix ( wasei-eigo : メディアミックス , mediamikkusu ) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media , gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks , and other methods. It

9919-467: The second moon releases mysterious energies that make some of the characters " transmetal " and the planet is revealed to be prehistoric Earth, leading to the discovery of the Ark . Megatron attempts to kill the original Optimus Prime , but at the beginning of the third season, Primal manages to preserve his spark. In the two-season follow-up series, Beast Machines , Cybertron is revealed to have organic origins, which Megatron attempts to stamp out. After

10028-553: The series in this manner because he wanted to "make people's jaws drop." Many of its characters and ideas have made appearances in other Transformers media. The Autroopers appeared in Transformers: Animated in 2009 with an official toyline released in Botcon in 2011. The colors of white and blue used for Glit would inspire the Shattered Glass incarnation of Ravage . A new toy figure of Sundor would be released under

10137-636: The storyline could be completed at #30. However, the Transformers Fan Club published a few stories set in the Cybertron era. The storyline of Transformers: Universe , mainly set following Beast Machines , sees characters from many assorted alternate continuities, including existing and new ones, encountering each other. The story was told in an unfinished comic book exclusive to the Official Transformers Collectors' Convention. In 2007, Michael Bay directed

10246-486: The storyline, ignoring the 1987 end of the American series. The extended Japanese run consisted of The Headmasters , Super-God Masterforce , Victory and Zone , then in illustrated magazine form as Battlestars: Return of Convoy and Operation: Combination . Just as the TV series was wrapping up, Marvel continued to expand its continuity. It follows The Movie' s example by killing Prime and Megatron, albeit in

10355-435: The subject matter of the accompanying manga is far from child-friendly. The franchise itself consists of a toyline, a weekly radio drama series (featuring voice acting by Lyrian as Marissa, Yui Kano as Shaoshao, Satomi Akesaka as Atari, and Keiji Hirai as Ne-04 among others), and a three part manga, which together tell the story of the line in which the toys and manga all of which were also created by Ohshima. Following

10464-650: The surprising guest appearance of several Transformers and G.I. Joe characters in each issue. Until March 2024, the franchise sold over one million copies of Void Rivals , Transformers , Duke and Cobra Commander in total. Following their highly positive critics, reprints have been made. In June 2024, Transformers #10, Scarlett #2, Destro #2 and Void Rivals #11 were part of Image's Top 10 Comics in Direct Market. Transformers Transformers (stylised as TRANSFORMERS , alternatively titled as TransFormers , or simply abbreviated TF ),

10573-562: The title of Transformers: Heroes , Transformers Animated is set in 2050 Detroit (after crash landing 50 years earlier), when robots and humans live side by side. The Autobots come to Earth and assume superhero roles, battling evil humans, with the Decepticons having a smaller role until Megatron resurfaces. Main characters include Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Prowl, and Ratchet; Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Blackarachnia; and humans Professor Sumdac and Sari Sumdac. Several characters that were in

10682-417: The two returning and older characters of Atari and Shaoshao. Possibly as a result of the majority of fans trying to distance themselves from the series combined with the then general inaccessibility of the radio show to an English audience, there was minimal awareness of the specific details of the Kiss Players storyline in the Japanese fandom. However, on July 19, 2022, most of the original media (including

10791-709: The universe depicted in the animated series Challenge of the GoBots and follow-up film GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords was retroactively established as an alternate universe within the Transformers multiverse. Generation 1 is a retroactive term for the Transformers characters that appeared between 1984 and 1993. The Transformers began with the 1980s Japanese toy lines Micro Change and Diaclone . They presented robots able to transform into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons. Hasbro bought

10900-421: The world's highest-grossing media franchises . For example, Pokémon 's penetration into the American market of the franchise along with others of Japanese origin, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! , gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling , crossmedia, transmediation , media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing from

11009-427: The years, the G1 characters have also starred in crossovers with fellow Hasbro property G.I. Joe , but whereas those crossovers published by Marvel were in continuity with their larger storyline, those released by Dreamwave and G.I. Joe publisher Devil's Due Publishing occupy their own separate real life universes. In Devil's Due, the terrorist organization COBRA Command is responsible for finding and reactivating

11118-698: Was announced that IDW lost the publishing rights to Transformers. In January 2006, the Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club comic wrote a story based on the Transformers Classics toy line, set in the Marvel Comics universe, but excluding the Generation 2 comic. Fifteen years after Megatron crash-lands in the Ark with Ratchet, the war continues with the characters in their Classics bodies. IDW Publishing introduced The Transformers: Evolutions in 2006,

11227-457: Was conducting experiments behind her back on other girls. She was then rescued by Hot Rod and joins the resistance to combat the EDC and make amends with her former friend. Lastly, Atari Hitotonari of Japanese descent, who "recruited" into the EDC after the death of her parents while suffering from survivor's guilt . She would shortly become depressed and self-destructive. As she spoke aloud about her nihilistic feelings she would meet her partner by

11336-585: Was heavily censored in the U.S. due to its content of buildings being destroyed and terrorism references after the September 11 attacks on the United States and three episodes were cut altogether. These three lines, launched in 2002 and dubbed the " Unicron Trilogy " by Transformers designer Aaron Archer , are co-productions between Takara and (lesser extent) Hasbro, simultaneously released in both countries, each lasting 52 episodes. Armada followed

11445-473: Was in talks with Hasbro to acquire those licenses. Skybound would officially announce it in June 2023. The Energon Universe debuted on June 14, 2023, with the original series Void Rivals , written by Robert Kirkman , drawn by Lorenzo De Felici and colored by Matheus Lopes and Patricio Delpeche. Kirkman and De Felici had previously worked together in another comic titled Oblivion Song . Kirkman said, "It’s

11554-516: Was launched, and then later, to summarize the final few radio dramas when both series were drawing to a close. Information Administration Teletraan 15 Go! Go! also featured the first part of a story in which Starscream 's ghost possessed Atari (which was continued in the radio drama), and in the second year, notably incorporated the further adventures of the Kiss Players Position cassette trio, who were rather confusingly dropped from

11663-434: Was published by 47North . In addition, IDW Publishing has published several comic books, including graphic novels, while Titan Magazines published Transformers Comic UK , a 20-issue series from 2007 to 2014. The video games, novels, and television series contradict each other due to creative differences, miscommunications, constant team changes, and Aaron Archer being replaced with a different person that did not know

11772-401: Was released on June 27, 2014, which also grossed over $ 1 billion, though it received generally negative reviews. A fifth film, Transformers: The Last Knight was released on June 23, 2017 to similarly negative reviews. Unlike its predecessors, the movie failed to recoup its costs for the studio. Bumblebee , directed by Laika 's Travis Knight , was released on December 21, 2018, serving as

11881-530: Was well received by fans. A sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , was released on June 24, 2009. It received mostly negative reviews, but was a commercial success and grossed more than its predecessor. A third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon , was released on June 29, 2011, in 3-D and went on to gross over $ 1 billion, despite receiving mixed reviews. A fourth film, Transformers: Age of Extinction ,

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