Transformers is a mecha franchise that is a member of the "super robot" subgenre, and was produced by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Being both an American franchise and a Japanese franchise, there are entries from both sides. This guide will include entries from both releases, especially in the early seasons.
It will also include some good entry points for reading the comics, since that is where you'll find a good amount of content outside of the main animated series! Comic entries will be denoted in red.
There are a ton of different series in the Transformers franchise. Many of them are one-offs or are unrelated to other series. In this guide, my goal will be to help you navigate these franchises to best understand what's related to what, and where you might want to start!
For this post, I used a bunch of different resources, including this wikia, the TFWiki, this article, Wikipedia, and various friends and people from Twitter!
Where to Start
There are many good places to start watching Transformers, including:
The Transformers (1984), to start from the beginning!
The G1 franchise is available on Tubi! There is also the Transformers: Generation 1 comic series.
Although a Japanese-only entry, Transformers: Victory is a good starting point in G1 if you're already a fan of mecha! It's somewhat difficult to find.
Transformers: Beast Wars (1996), for a fan-favorite classic with a twist on the typical transformations!
Transformers Animated (2007), for a fan-favorite entry, and pretty beginner friendly!
Transformers (IDW, 2009), for the beginning of the long-running IDW Transformers comic series!
More Than Meets The Eye (IDW, 2012), for a good entry point into the comics besides the beginning!
Transformers (IDW, 2019), a brand-new reboot by IDW, and a great place to start, since it begins before even the start of the original series!
Watching G1
As there are many series, the "watch order" for some of them can be pretty confusing, especially since there are technically two versions of some of the entries.
Generation 1
The original series, beginning in 1984. The American release is watched as:
Seasons 1-2 -> The Transformers: The Movie -> Seasons 3-4
Season 4 was cut short by Hasbro, and nobody really knows where it would have gone if it continued. There is a fifth season of the original "G1" American franchise, but it is more of a series of re-releases of the older seasons and the movie. There was also a comic series by Marvel called Generation 1, followed by another series by Marvel UK, and Generation 2.
The Japanese side of G1 is a little different. The "core" of Japanese G1 goes as follows:
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers -> Transformers 2010 -> Headmasters -> Victory
In addition to these, there are also:
Super-God Masterforce, a hard-to-find series in which the Transformers can take on human forms
Zone, an OVA series
Return of the Convoy, a short manga series
Operation Combination, a series of inserts in TV Magazine
Now that you're done with G1, a lot of the other franchises are largely standalone. I will be listing these in release order.
Using G1 (the comics) as a basis, there was an eventual Classics comic series by Fun Publications. It does not use the Marvel UK or G2 comics.
Generation 2, which was basically a re-release of the original G1 series with hefty CGI enhancements.
Beast Wars, an eventually well-regarded series in which the Transformers' alt modes are animals and monsters, rather than vehicles. In the American release, Beast Wars has the sequel, Beast Machines, which was followed by Transformers Universe. In Japan, Beast Wars is followed by Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. All of these are members of the Beast Era. As such, there are a few extra entries in the Beast Era that are mainly found in comic and magazine insert entries, including an IDW series, which is an adaptation of Beast Wars II and Neo, and the 3H series, Universe. It's a lot, so you can read up on it here.
So, just as a refresher:
United States: Beast Wars -> Beast Machines -> Universe
Japan: Beast Wars -> Beast Wars II -> Beast Wars Neo
Robots in Disguise is an anime series that takes characters from G1 and Beast Wars.
Armada is a major entry into the Transformers series that was followed by Energon and Cybertron. In addition to these animated entries, there are also comics by Dreamwave and Panini Comics. It also had a well-known video game by the same name.
As we are all familiar at this point, there is also the (in)famous Michael Bay movie series, Transformers, consisting of five entries, plus Bumblebee. Bumblebee was not directed by the Bay-man, and is a reboot of the movie franchise.
Transformers Animated is a well-regarded animated series that aired on Cartoon Network, starting in 2007. A highly recommended watch, and a great nostalgia trip for anybody who was a fan of Teen Titans, Ben 10, and the like.
Transformers: Prime was a CGI animated series that aired from late 2010 to late 2011, which was continued in the animated series Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
Cyberverse was a 2019 series that aired on Cartoon Network, and used characters from a multitude of other entries.
Most recently, there is Transfomers: War For Cybertron, which can be found on Netflix!
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