Generation 1 cartoon timeline

A timeline for the events of the universe depicted in the original The Transformers cartoon. For the much more encompassing timeline of the Japanese version of the cartoon and all the other series that are in continuity with it, please see this article.

Millions of years ago
"Near the beginning of the universe," an entity known as Primacron comes into existence and begins to create. Among the beings to which he gives life are the first mechanoids known as "Primitives," one of which he takes as his assistant in his continuing experiments. His creations steadily grow bigger and more complex until eventually, he creates the planet-sized transforming robot called Unicron.

Primacron intends for Unicron to consume all life in the universe, leaving it a blank slate for him to do with as he wishes, but Unicron rebels. Seriously injuring Primacron, Unicron sets out into the universe on his own, and Primacron's assistant escapes to a world near the centre of the galaxy.

>12 million years ago
Before Cybertron was, Vector Sigma was.

(See Beast Era timeline: Pre-Cybertron hosts organic life.)

12 million years ago
The alien Quintessons establish themselves on the metallic planet of Cybertron. The planet's precise origins are never divulged, but it is known to have rocky sub-levels,  indicating an organic beginning. However, whether or not the Quintessons colonised an existing metal world or terraformed an organic one is never revealed.



Seeking to create a race of slaves to serve them, the Quintessons use their technology to create bio-mechanical beasts known as Trans-Organics. The designs are a failure, and it is decided to mass-produce robots for slaves instead. Forging their bodies in the fires of the Plasma Energy Chamber and imbuing them with intelligence using the mega-computer Vector Sigma,  the Quintessons create two classes of robot: consumer goods and military hardware. With these robot creations performing all their labour for them, Quintesson culture grows progressively more decadent. Violent gladiatorial matches are even staged amongst the robots, with the losers smelted and their raw materials used to create new robots.

At some point during this period, the consumer goods robots come into possession of the mysterious Matrix of Leadership. The origins of this talisman are unknown (there is some suggestion it may be connected to Primacron's assistant), but it was passed from robot to robot through the years. Known holders during this time include Primon, Prima and Prime Nova.

Eventually, the consumer goods robots develop true sentience and rise up in rebellion against their Quintesson creators. This is the beginning of the First Cybertronian War.

11 million years ago
A rebel cell of consumer goods robots led by A-3, including Beta, turn the Quintesson slave brand into a symbol of freedom when they assault the Quintessons' Hive City. Although they meet resistance in the form of the Quintessons' gigantic Dark Guardian robots, A-3 activates the Coder Remote device he has placed within his slave brand, deactivating the Dark Guardians and allowing the robots to take the city. From this victory, the Quintesson line of dominoes begin to fall, until the aliens are eventually defeated, and forced to flee the planet.

Peace settles on Cybertron for a time, with the robots building their own society, during which time, the Matrix is held by Guardian Prime.

9 million years ago
The violent military hardware robots, now known as the Decepticons, seek conquest and begin the Second Cybertronian War when they turn their aggression against the consumer goods, now called the Autobots, at the time led by Zeta Prime. A series of conflicts ensue, with both sides claiming victory at different points in time. Ultimately, never having been designed for combat, the Autobots realise the futility of attempting to match the Decepticons' strength and firepower, and, under the leadership of Sentinel Prime, they instead turn to stealth, reconstructing their bodies so that they can transform into vehicles and machinery. With this new skill, the Autobots are ultimately able to win the war, and they rule the planet for many centuries. With the peace policed by the Guardian Robots, reprogrammed version of the Quintesson's Dark Guardians, energy becomes plentiful and the planet shines with a healthy golden glow, denoting this period as the Golden Age of Cybertron.

9 million years ago
Eventually, however, the Decepticons also develop transformation, and they couple the technology with robot mode flight powers to renew their aims for conquest. Thus it is that Megatron is born.

Assembling a small group of like-minded individuals, including Shockwave and Soundwave, and increasing his ranks by using his Robo-Smasher to reprogram Autobots,  Megatron stages an attack on the outer cities  and kills Sentinel Prime, who entrusts the Matrix to the aged A-3, now known as Alpha Trion.

For whatever reason, Megatron's actions are not made full public knowledge, and the Decepticons' impressive flight powers make them objects of hero worship for the young Autobot dock worker, Orion Pax. However, Orion learns the folly of his ways when he is attacked by Megatron as part of an evil plan by the Decepticon to steal the energy in Orion's warehouses. Both Orion and his girlfriend Ariel are fatally wounded by Megatron, but are rescued by the time-displaced Aerialbots and brought to Alpha Trion. The pair are the first subjects for Alpha Trion's new method of reconstructing Autobots into truly battle-hardy configuration, becoming Optimus Prime and Elita One. Given the Matrix by Alpha Trion, Optimus became Autobot leader for the newly-begun Third Cybertronian War.

Around this time, "shortly before" the war truly reignites, the scientists Starscream and Skyfire depart Cybertron to explore the prehistoric planet Earth. Skyfire is swept up in a polar windstorm and separated from Starscream. After failing to locate his friend, Starscream returns to Cybertron, eventually abandoning his scientific pursuits, enrolling in the Cybertron War Academy and joining Megatron's Decepticons.

4 million years ago
After five million years of war, Cybertron's energy is drastically drained, necessitating an Autobot expedition to alien planets in search of new source of power. Optimus Prime and his best and brightest board a mighty spacecraft, but their plan is discovered by Megatron. A Decepticon assault on the Ark's launch bay leaves Prime and his crew believing Elita One and her team have been destroyed. The Autobots proceed to blast off, but they are followed and ambushed by the Decepticons aboard their own space cruiser. The ships are caught in the gravity of the nearby planet Earth and crash so violently that all the Transformers are knocked offline.

A trio of Decepticons bail out of the Decepticon space cruiser in an escape pod before it crashes, and they spend the next four million years quietly active in the Demon Swamp, adopting insectoid alternate forms that will eventually lead to their being dubbed "Insecticons".

(See Beast Era timeline: The Axalon and Darksyde crash to Earth.)

543 A.D.
Four Decepticons, two Autobots, and one human travel back in time from 1985 via the mystical Dragon Mound. They become involved in a dispute between two knights and then return to their own time.

1984
A volcanic eruption reactivates Teletraan I, the internal computer of the Ark. The Autobots and the Decepticons awaken, and, now outfitted with new alternate modes that enable them to hide amongst the vehicles and machinery of Earth, restart the Great War. The Autobots befriend Spike Witwicky and his father, Sparkplug, but despite the humans' aid, they are unable to stop the Decepticons from building a new space cruiser and stealing the energy needed to power it. A final act of sabotage by Autobot Mirage brings the Decepticons' cruiser crashing back to Earth, where it lands in the ocean.

Although the Autobots intended to return to Cybertron, the revelation that the Decepticons have survived the crash forces them to stay and defend the planet. The Decepticons develop an intergalactic space bridge transportation system to send energy back to Cybertron, while the Autobots expand their ranks with the addition of the powerful Dinobots. The Decepticons unearth the frozen form of Skyfire, but he turns against his old friend Starscream and sides with the Autobots, helping to foil the Decepticons' plans to harness the power of the Earth's core.

The Decepticons ally themselves with the human scientist Doctor Arkeville, using his mind-controlling hypno-chips to amass an army of human slaves. Simultaneously, the villains construct a huge space bridge to transport Cybertron itself into Earth's orbit, causing massive worldwide chaos, and put the human slaves to work gathering energy. At the eleventh hour, the Autobots are able to break the Decepticons' mind control and blast Cybertron out of Earth's orbit.

The Insecticons resurface and form an uneasy alliance with Megatron's Decepticons.

1985
In 1985 the Autobots and Decepticons discover an island "lost world" that was populated by long-thought extinct animals from the Mesozoic era of Earth's history. Megatron's attempt to take the energy from the island causes a series of time portals to appear around the Earth. The planet is in danger of being torn apart until the Autobots return the island's energy.

When the Decepticons create fake evidence so as to trick the humans into thinking that the Autobots are evil and the Decepticons are good, the Autobots are exiled from Earth. Of course, as soon as the Autobots are gone, the Decepticons reveal their true colors and take over, at least until the Autobots return to Earth and defeated them.

After a space bridge accident, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Inferno, Perceptor, and several Decepticons, are transported to an alien planet where they are no bigger than toys. The Decepticons manage to escape back to Earth, but the Autobots have to return via a different means: a child's toy rocket that somehow can actually work.

The five Autobots are captured by an alien gambler named Bosch, who paralyzes them, bar Smokescreen, and sells them to Lord Gyconi. Forced to find a way to rescue his friends, Smokescreen teams up with Bosch and a bounty hunter named Devcon to rescue the Autobots, who are forced to fight against giant, mutant animals. The Autobots later successfully manage to return to Earth.

Megatron travels to the center of Cybertron and uses Vector Sigma to create the Stunticons. Optimus Prime and Alpha Trion, who have followed Megatron, also use Vector Sigma to create the Aerialbots, albeit at the cost of Alpha Trion merging with the computer.

Sometime afterwards Starscream goes rogue on the Decepticons, travels to Cybertron, breaks into the Decepticon Detention Center, and releases the Combaticons as his own personal army. Things do not go as planned, and both Starscream and the Combaticons are banished from the Decepticon army. The Combaticons and Starscream promptly ditch each other and go their separate ways. The Combaticons decide to take over Cybertron, and actually win, successfully booting Shockwave out into space. Shockwave bumps into Starscream, and this is the beginning of a brief and unusual alliance that eventually escalates from Starscream and Shockwave to the Decepticons and Autobots as a whole, both sides recognizing the threat of the Combaticons. After the Combaticons are defeated, the alliance ends, and Megatron secretly has Bruticus reprogrammed to be loyal to him. Starscream is also allowed to rejoin the Decepticons.

1993
Approximate birth date of Daniel Witwicky.

2001
The Decepticons successfully conquer Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to evacuate the planet for Earth.

2005
The Battle of Autobot City. Optimus Prime is killed, and Ultra Magnus becomes the new Autobot Commander. Megatron is reformatted into Galvatron by Unicron, kills Starscream, and attempts to enslave Unicron with the Matrix of Leadership. Unicron attacks Cybertron. Hot Rod opens the Matrix and destroys Unicron, allowing the Autobots to reclaim Cybertron. Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime, the new Autobot leader. The disappearance of Galvatron and the absence of other strong leaders such as Starscream and Shockwave causes the Decepticon Empire to disintegrate.

The Quintessons enter the Great War as a wild card opposed to both factions. Cyclonus recovers Galvatron, who becomes Decepticon leader again. Trypticon and the Predacons appear.

2006
Starscream's ghost returns from the afterlife and tricks Unicron into giving him a body. Immediately afterwards an explosion set by the Autobots sends Unicron back into Cybertron's orbit. The newly resurrected Starscream was last seen tumbling out of control into the far reaches of space.

2007
Optimus Prime is restored to life in an attempt to end the Hate Plague. The Matrix of Leadership is emptied.

Vector Sigma initiates a series of events which result in the establishment of a second Golden Age of Cybertron. The Headmasters and Targetmasters come into existence.