The main storytelling vehicle for The Transformers is animation. Since the franchise's 1996 resurgence with Beast Wars, there have only been a few select years without a Transformers cartoon on the air. Although the cartoons have shaped the image of Transformers in the public consciousness, comics are just as much a home to the robots in disguise.
Comics are more of a niche medium than animation and tend to appeal to audiences with their own disposable income, i.e., adult fans. This usually results in more daring storytelling and a greater focus on obscure or complex characters.
10 Nightbeat Is One Of Simon Furman's Pet Characters
Nightbeat was a 1988 edition to The Transformers toyline. One of the Headmasters' bios described him as a "self-declared detective." Comics writer Simon Furman, with a fondness for pulp novels and noir detective films, ran with this and made Nightbeat a major character during the final stretch of his run. Similarly, fellow Headmaster, Siren was made into the Watson of Nightbeat's, Sherlock Holmes. When Furman launched the IDW Transformers comics, he introduced Nightbeat straight away.
Despite Nightbeat's detective persona offering plenty of storytelling or homage potential, he's never joined the main cast of any Transformers cartoons. The closest he came was when his toy was used as the basis for a female character, Minerva in the Japanese-exclusive series Transformers: Super-God Masterforce. However, Minerva boasted a different color scheme and personality.
9 Bludgeon Has Been Primarily Confined To Comics
As evident from his treatment of Nightbeat, Simon Furman has a handful of favorite Transformers characters who he consistently reuses in his work. One of them is the Decepticon Pretender, Bludgeon. Bludgeon has a memorable (if not especially robotic) design of a skull-faced Samurai. Struck by this, Furman made Bludgeon a major villain and elevated him to Decepticon leader in the comic's last five issues.
In both of Furman's continuations of the comic – Generation 2 and Regeneration One – Bludgeon returned the same way he did in the IDW continuity. He only recently made his animation debut in Transformers: Cyberverse, but was a silent character who made sporadic appearances until Windblade disposed of him in the Season 3 premiere.
8 Thunderwing Hasn't Appeared In Any Cartoons
Another Decepticon saved from obscurity by Furman was Thunderwing. When writing the UK iteration of the Marvel comic, Furman chronicled Thunderwing's rise to becoming the leader of the Cybertron-based Decepticons. When he took over writing duties for the US comic, Furman penned "Matrix Quest," which was a five-part story about the struggle both factions underwent to obtain the Creation Matrix. Thunderwing's descent into madness during the pursuit made him a compelling villain, and the story concluded with him possessed by the corrupted artifact.
Furman's Stormbringer introduced the IDW version of Thunderwing. Reimagined as the inventor of Pretender technology, Thunderwing decimated Cybertron after testing the technology on himself. Unlike Bludgeon, Thunderwing has yet to appear in any cartoon. The closest he came was when his toy was used as the basis for Black Shadow in Transformers: Victory.
7 Skids Never Got A Spotlight Episode In The Cartoon But Starred In A Whole Arc In The Comics
Season 2 of The Transformers mainly consisted of episodes that spotlighted a particular Autobot on the 1985 wave of the toy line. The only one who wasn't featured was Skids, the Autobot theoretician. Perhaps in compensation, Skids was the main character of The Transformers Issue #20 – a comic that was stingier with complex stories than the cartoon. Separated from the other Autobots, Skids befriended a human named Charlene and ultimately faced off with Megatron. After a belated intro in the IDWverse, Skids was one of the main characters of James Roberts' More Than Meets The Eye until his (dramatic) death at the end of Season 2, issue #54.
6 Impactor Debuted In The Comics
Most Transformers begin their existence as toys, but not all. One of those few exceptions is Impactor, leader of Autobot black-ops team, the Wreckers. Impactor wasn't just elevated to fame by Furman, he was created by him. Debuting in the now legendary story arc Target: 2006, Impactor didn't last long. However, his death served to motivate Springer to lead the Wreckers.
Despite his untimely death, Impactor remains a popular character. He's reappeared in many comics, including the IDW continuity, and even received toys of his own. However, his only cartoon appearance was in Netflix's War For Cybertron trilogy, where he was reimagined as a Decepticon.
5 Whirl Was Left Out Of The Original Cartoon
Not all of the original Transformers toys were adapted for the cartoon. One of the absences was Whirl, which might have been because his helicopter alt-mode and non-humanoid appearance made him look more like a Decepticon. However, Simon Furman made Whirl one of the Wreckers in his UK-exclusive stories, while James Roberts made him a star with More Than Meets The Eye. Depicted as violent and hilariously socially inept, Whirl has a tragic backstory. His cyclopean head and claw hands were the result of "Empurata" – a mutilation technique on pre-War Cybertron. Whirl's only cartoon appearances have been Cyberverse and Rescue Bots Academy, both of which sanitized the character beyond recognition.
4 Sunstreaker Only Came Out Of His Brother's Shadow In The IDW Comics
Sunstreaker and his brother Sideswipe may have been part of the original Autobot cast, but neither of them ever got the focus or development to merit it. Sunstreaker never got a focus episode in the cartoon and was deactivated early in the Marvel comics run by Shockwave. After G1, whenever one of the twins made an appearance, it tended to be Sideswipe with or without Sunstreaker.
It was only in the IDW comics that Sunstreaker finally got a meaty role. During Simon Furman's initial run, Sunstreaker is captured by a human group called the Machination and converted into a Headmaster, bonding with the human, Hunter O'Nion. While Sideswipe tragically dies at the hands of John Barber later in the comics, Sunstreaker lasts until the end and carries on his brother's memory.
3 Thundercracker Finally Stepped Out Of The Background In The IDW Comics
Thundercracker's original toy bio described him as "uncertain of the Decepticon cause." However, The Transformers had little interest in moral shades of grey, meaning this aspect of Thundercracker was untouched throughout the series. Later iterations – from Cybertron and Cyberverse – follow the original cartoon's lead by portraying Thundercracker as a simple thug and background character.
Shane McCarthy in All Hail Megatron finally did something with Thundercracker's sympathetic traits. As the Decepticons conquer Earth, Thundercracker is the least interested in slaughter and eventually turns on the Cons to save NYC. Ousted for his betrayal, Thundercracker claims Earth as his home, becoming a Neutral and major character in the IDW continuity from there on out.
2 Dirge Usually Exists Only To Die
Dirge was another character who didn't receive any spotlight in the original cartoon or comic. In the former, he was grievously injured in several episodes, only to return unharmed, while in the latter, he was killed by Serpentor during a G.I. Joe crossover. This started a franchise-wide trend of Dirge dying. It happens so frequently that some fans view him as the Decepticons' Waspinator.
This finally changed in John Barber and Andrew Griffith's Robots In Disguise. Dirge survived the end of the war and was a major supporting character during the first "season" of the comic. The IDW Dirge did eventually die in the concluding event, Transformers: Unicron. However, this time, he was mourned.
1 Razorbeast Starred In Beast Wars Comic, The Gathering
Due to its groundbreaking CGI animation, Beast Wars had a much smaller cast than The Transformers. Overall, this was a blessing in disguise because it let the writers better develop the characters they did have. However, it meant plenty of characters from the toy line never made it into the show. One of these was Razorbeast: a Maximal who transformed into a warthog. Simon Furman and Don Figueroa made him the protagonist of their mini-series The Gathering and its sequel The Ascending, which boosted Razorbeast's popularity. And he even appeared in the current Beast Wars comic, which is a reimagining of the cartoon's story.
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