Great War (Transformers)

For other uses, see Great War (disambiguation).

The Great War is an event featured in several incarnations of the storyline associated with Transformers. It is typically depicted as a conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons for control of their home planet of Cybertron.

Animated series

Generation 1

In the Transformers cartoon, the Great Wars-also known as the Cybertronian Wars-were waged on Cybertron for millions of years following the expulsion of the Quintessons. The conflicts raged between the Autobots and Decepticons, who were originally commercial and military hardware automatons created by the Quintessons. As the wars waged on, each side developed different innovations, with the primitive Autobots being the first to master the art of transformation while the Decepticons harnessed the power of flight. Eventually, the Decepticons created their most feared leader, Megatron, who launched a vicious campaign of conquest against Cybertron. However, a young robot injured in Megatron's reign of terror was later rebuilt by the elder Alpha Trion as Megatron's destined nemesis, Optimus Prime. After an unknown period of conflict, the Great War was temporarily halted when the Autobots departed Cybertron aboard the Ark and were pursued by the Decepticons aboard the Nemesis.

The two vessels crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, with the two crews falling into stasis aboard the Ark for several million years. Eventually they were reawakened by volcanic activity, and renewed their conflict on Earth, involving the human race in their battles as well. After a number of years the Decepticons launched a major offensive against Autobot City on Earth, resulting in the death of Optimus Prime and several other Autobots. This was immediately followed by the conflict with Unicron, which saw Megatron upgraded into Galvatron along with several of his fellow Decepticons taking new forms, the resurgence of the Quintessons, Rodimus Prime receiving the Matrix of Leadership and defeating Unicron, and the Decepticons fleeing Cybertron. Rodimus would declare the end of the battle the conclusion of the wars, though fighting would continue for some time afterwards as the expelled Decepticons continued to menace Cybertron, Earth, and other worlds such as Nebulos.

Beast Wars/Beast Machines

In the Generation 1 sequels, the Great War is treated as a matter of history, with some inconsistencies emerging in dialogue as a presumed result of history being distorted over time. A major goal of the Predacons in this series is to interfere with the history of Earth in order to change the outcome of the Great War so that it ends in favor of their Decepticon ancestors.