Transformers: The Basics

The first episode of a new series designed to help new Transformers fans get to grips with complicated concepts and lore! This episode gives you a basic overview of the history of the Transformers franchise and how it breaks down into different continuities.

Episode #2 of a new series designed to help new Transformers fans get to grips with complicated concepts and lore! Lots of Transformers share the same name - so why are some similar, and some totally unrelated?

Episode #3 of a new series designed to help new Transformers fans get to grips with complicated concepts and lore! Where do new Transformers come from? What are they made of? How do they transform? What's a spark? What happens when they die? All these questions and more answered!

Episode #4 of a new series designed to help new Transformers fans get to grips with complicated concepts and lore! Where do Transformers come from? What's the origin behind their race? THE LAST KNIGHT has some answers... but so does the rest of Transformers history!

Get THE BASICS on IDW Publishing's line of Transformers comic books! What is each series about? Where should you start reading?

Get The Basics on BUMBLEBEE with this complete history of everyone's favorite little yellow guy, from G1 right the way up to today!

Get The Basics on SHOCKWAVE with this complete history of the Decepticons' one-eyed, one-handed, flying purple people-pleaser!

Get The Basics on ULTRA MAGNUS with this complete history of one of the Autobots' mightiest warriors!

With POWER OF THE PRIMES on the way, it's time to get The Basics on the THIRTEEN, the original PRIMES of Cybertron... plus, just what IS a Prime, anyway?

This weekend marks the anniversary of the premiere of "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1," the first episode of the GENERATION 1 CARTOON - so what better subject for this mini-documentary episode of The Basics?

With the classic DINOBOTS soon to make a return in the upcoming "Power of the Primes" toyline, this episode gives you the Basics on the history of the team, and all the others who have shared their name!

One of the most important objects in all of Transformers, and one was on the list of planned episodes from the very start of this series - it's time to get The Basics on THE MATRIX!

Halloween is a time for terror... TERRORCONS, that is! Three very different types of 'bot from throughout Transformers history have used this name, and this Halloween special episodes gives you The Basics on all of them!

On the anniversary of "The Rebirth," and just in time for the TITANS RETURN cartoon, it's time to get The Basics on HEADMASTERS, one of Transformers' most diverse and varied concepts!

Hot on the heels of his role in the Robots in Disguise cartoon, it's time to get THE BASICS on one of the most popular characters in Transformers comics today - CYCLONUS!

Going for a deeper cut on this week's episode as we take a look at one of the most famous convention-exclusive concepts in Transformers, which has slowly begun to influence mainstream parts of the franchise. Time to get THE BASICS on SHATTERED GLASS!

It's Christmas, so I figured what better present than to give in to popular demand? Everyone's been asking for it, so this week, we're diving into The Basics on one of the all-time greats - SOUNDWAVE!

To coincide with the release of this week's LOST LIGHT #12, we're going to ring in the New Year with The Basics on GETAWAY! Watch out for spoilers!

Celebrating 100,000 subscribers with a return to the very beginning - from G.I. Joe to Henshin Cyborg, Microman to Micronauts, Diaclone to Micro Change, we look at the real-life history behind the invention of the Transformers!

Patreon supporter FaceMan sponsors an episode that takes us back in time, to the dawn of creation and the beginning of the Transformer race, with The Basics on the god of the Transformers, PRIMUS!

Patreon supporter Arixmethes sponsors this look at the Decepticons' feline master of stealth - RAVAGE!

Don't believe everything you hear - especially if the one you hear it from is this two-faced trickster! These are The Basics on the one Transformer you should never trust, SIDEWAYS!

Time for another visit to the kingdom of the beasts this week, as The Basics takes a look at the toughest, smartest member of the Maximals - RHINOX!

If Cybertron be your home, far away, never roam! Watch this video, listen and fear, danger comes, the end is near! A disease that turns Transformers to dust... these are The Basics on COSMIC RUST!

As the Autobots and Decepticons once again go to war over it in Netflix's new WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY, learn the history of the relic that granted life to Cybetron and the Transformer race, with The Basics on THE ALLSPARK!

From paranoid security director to serious-minded medic, these are The Basics on the emergency-services Autobot for whom caution is the watchword - RED ALERT!

From street-racing punk to bad cop - these are The Basics on the many 'bots who have gone by the name BARRICADE!

Unfortunately for the Decepticons, the gigantic Autobot Omega Supreme isn't the only one of his kind! This week, it's The Basics on Cybertron's gigantic, ancient protectors, the Guardian Robots - aka, the OMEGA SENTINELS!

The 'bot who everyone always seems to think is just "Red Bumblebee" - the little Autobot go-getter, CLIFFJUMPER!

For the first decade of the Tranformers franchise, Marvel Comics were king... but after "Generation 2" ended in 1994, "Transformers" comics went away. Then, in the early 2002, a new company took the reigns, producing wildly successful new series... that, in just a few short years, inexperienced, egotistical business owners drove straight into the friggin' ground. Patreon supporter Luke Wood sponsors this look at the history of DREAMWAVE!

This week, we're taking it back to 1984 once more for a look at another of the Transformers franchise's founding characters - Soundwave's favourite cassette, LASERBEAK!

Obscure Characters Month begins with a look at the reptilian Decepticon given new life by this year's Transformers: Legacy toyline - IGUANUS!

This year brought us a new toy of Orion Pax, the young robot who was fated to become Autobot leader Optimus Prime... but before he was Prime, Pax had a best friend, and that's the bot we're looking at today! It's The Basics on DION!

Obscure Characters Month continues with another 'bot who got a new toy in this year's "Transformers: Legacy" toyline - the monstrous mechanoid that Marvel made a movie star, SKULLGRIN!

Crashing through the snow, this Go-Bot's out to slay, stomping as she goes, laughing all the way! This year's Obscure Characters Month comes to a close with the basics on that riotous renegade who's gone from GoBotron to Cybertron and back again - It's The Basics on CRASHER!

And we're back! For first first video of 2023, it's time to look at one of the most iconic aspects of the entire Transformers franchise - the lookalike Decepticon jets known as the SEEKERS!

He's met the Transformers, Doctor Who, and the heroes of the Marvel Universe... but if YOU ever meet this mercenary mechanoid, just be sure you DON'T call him a bounty hunter! These are The Basics on DEATH'S HEAD!

Kids today have Bumblebee... but twenty years ago, the audience of the early 2000s had this 'bot! Episode #200 finally looks at The Basics on the poster boy of the Unicron Trilogy, HOT SHOT!

Celebrating 200,000 subscribers with a long-demanded episode looking at The Basics on those Decepticon road-hogs, the STUNTICONS!

This episode takes another dive into Cybertron's ancient history, with The Basics on another of the robots who carried the Matrix of Leadership before Optimus Prime: NOVA PRIME!

The Basics reaches for the stars this week, with a look at the history of the Autobots' outer space lookout, COSMOS!

This week, The Basics sets its sights on a popular request from the comments section - Targetmasters, sharpshooter, paratrooper, movie star, it's CROSSHAIRS!

UNICRON IS COMING! Ahead of the chaos-bringer's return to the big screen in this summer's "Rise of the Beasts," get primed with this history of his evil energy and its many unearthly abilities in The Basics on DARK ENERGON!

From "Beast Machines" to "Transformers: Prime" and beyond, these are the Basics on the endless, faceless, mass-produced armies of evil - the VEHICONS!

As we await the release of "Rise of the Beasts," and its introduction of a new team of Transformers who have been living in secret on Earth for centuries, The Basics looks at the Autobot who did it before it was cool! It's Earth's original secret protector, METALHAWK!

"Rise of the Beasts" is in cinemas now - and that means that, at long, long last, it's finally time for me to deliver the episode you've been asking for! It's the Basics on the movie's new leading 'bot, the Autobot illusion-caster, MIRAGE!

Creeping, crawling, and flying out of the world of "Beast Wars," get ready to go Beast Mode with this look at the history of the animal-form Transformers who have just set screens alight with their live-action debut in "Rise of the Beasts"!

Wrapping up our "Rise of the Beasts" theme month with a look at the history of the high-flying Maximal who just made her big-screen debut! It's The Basics on AIRAZOR!

Patreon supporter Devin Brimhall sponsors this episode about the biggest Autobot of them all!

Patreon Supporter Dad Brad sponsors this episode of the relaunched cartoon and toyline.

Patreon supporter @KeyanCarlileTF sponsors this episode! Keyan requested a look at the Transformers franchise's long history of retooling and recolouring Bumblebee to create new characters - and to tell that story in full, we need to go right back to the start, and look at The Basics on the short-statured members of the Autobot army - the MINI-BOTS!

Tickets please! Hop aboard for another journey to the Japanese side of the world of the Transformers, with a look at the history of some of the country's first original TF characters - the TRAINBOTS!

Transformers wasn't the only toyline created through the partnership of Hasbro and Takara - these are The Basics on one of their other big collaborations, the BEASTFORMERS, aka BATTLE BEASTS! Patreon supporter Greg Sepelak sponsors this look at the surprising and long-lived connection between the robots in disguise and these armoured animal warriors!

Hot on the heels of its long-awaited released in toy form in the "Legacy" line this summer, we're finally taking a look at the Decepticon space cruiser that serves as the evil counterpart to the Autobot's iconic Ark: THE NEMESIS!

Sometimes Transformers history takes an unexpected left turn, and a 'bot who started out as one thing becomes something entirely different - as you'll find out in the story of the 'bot who went from energon-sculpting Omnicon to rule-obsessed police cadet! These are The Basics on STRONGARM!

Spooky season is just around the corner, so let's warm up with The Basics on at one of the creepiest 'cons around, the Insecticon master of mind control, BOMBSHELL!

This year's Halloween special takes a look at the history of the Decepticons' batty black magician, Mindwipe!

Transformers toys are generally intended for kids aged 5+, but over the years, Hasbro has made several attempts to target the preschool market with big, simple figures for little hands. This is the story of their most successful endevaour - it's time to Roll to the Rescue with The Basics on RESCUE BOTS!

Updated and expanded, revised and re-written, it's time for a fresh look at The Basics on Megatron's loyal spymaster SOUNDWAVE, now including all the new toys, cartoons, and comics and movies that have come out since the original episode six years ago!

Kicking off Obscure Characters Month 2023 with a look at the story of that lean, green, pollution-spewing machine, TOXITRON!

Obscure Characters Month continues with the history of a Maximal science-hero who this year made a very unexpected appearance in live-action! It's The Basics on APELINQ!

Obscure Characters Month continues with more BotCon Beast Wars content, as we look at The Basics on ANTAGONY! Pain is her friend - allow her to introduce YOU to it!

Obscure Characters Month plumbs new depths with the paragon of public transport, the duke of the deleted scene, the maestro of memes - It's The Basics on how a very under-represented alternate mode has slowly grown in prominence to inspire TRANSIT!

2023's "Rise of the Beasts" saw the return of Unicron to cinema screens, so to wrap up Obscure Characters Month for this year, we're looking at The Baiscs on KRANIX - a 'bot from the world that was the planet-eater's first victim, when he made his debut in 1986's "The Transformers: The Movie"!

Cybertron wasn't always a world at war - once, long ago, the Transformers' home planet was a world without conflict, when energy flowed freely, and peace reigned. These are The Basics on the history of Cybertron and it's harmonious GOLDEN AGE!

If you're looking for some history and lore from the world of the Transformers, there's no 'bot better suited to spin you a tale than the one we're looking at in this episode - curmugeonly old Autobot KUP!

This week, The Basics turns the spotlight on another of those prehistoric powerhouses, the Dinobots - the surly stegosaurus whose name got away from him, SNARL!

This episode takes a long-overdue dive into the mysteries of Transformer life itself, with a look at the concept of the Cybertronian soul - the SPARK, the mystical lifeforce that makes Autobots and Decepticons more than mere machines!

Don't let this episode's subject know I've made a video about him - he wouldn't like the idea of being watched by so many people! It's The Basics on the paranoid Stunticon, BREAKDOWN!

This week's episode is about the prehistoric powerhouse of a Predacon thrust back into the spotlight by the Legacy toyline this year! Blazing in from the Japanese side of the world of "Beast Wars," these are The Basics on MAGMATRON!

Today we explore the secret origins of the Armorizers with a look back at what's often thought of as one of the oddest toylines of the 80s, a spin-off of the Transformers' direct rivals, the GoBots! Shaking, quaking, crashing, breaking: it's The Basics on ROCK LORDS - powerful living rocks!!

From one of the more overlooked "Transformers" cartoons to HasLab success story - these are The Basics on the combined form of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, OMEGA PRIME! Plus - the story of the time Optimus Prime was a girl! Who is... YELLOW SPLENDID CONVOY?

This week, it's time for The Basics on one of the very first female Transformers - Elita One's second-in-command, Ironhide's lady, and Windblade's best galpal, CHROMIA!

Finally! This week, we're taking a look at the history of the last of the classic G1 Autobot combiner teams - fearless, futuristic warriors unappreciated in their own time - the bots whose combined form was once voiced by *MatPat* of all people! - those often-overlooked high-tech heroes, the TECHNOBOTS!

Sponsored by Patreon supporter El Coronna, this week we're looking at the first female Transformer toy ever produced! From the Japanese-original series "Super-God Masterforce," these are The Basics on MINERVA!

Patreon supporter Brigadier Darman sponsors this look at a prennial member of the Wreckers - the down and dirty ROADBUSTER!

They're the rulers of the evil Predacons and masters of the long game, preferring to bide their time, scheming in the shadows until the moment is right for them to strike! It's The Basics on the TRIPREDACUS COUNCIL!

As the 2000s were reaching their end, "Transformers" underwent a huge surge in popularity and success thanks the first live-action movie, which Hasbro were quick to capitalise on with the launch of their own TV network, which served as home to a prestigious new high-budget TF cartoon! Patreon supporter Dom Verzi sponsors this look at the making and legacy of their favourite TF show, "TRANSFORMERS: PRIME"!

Delving into the obscure this week with an episode sponsored by official Transformers artist Matt Frank, who wanted The Basics to look at the fanged foursome of ferocious females he created for the Transformers Collectors Club - the RAPTORICONS!

Arr, matey! Back in the spotlight thanks to a new range of toys in this year's LEGACY line, it's The Basics on vengeful pirate captain THUNDERTRON and his crew of scurvy space-dogs, the Star Raiders - better known as the STAR SEEKERS!

Autobots beware! This week, The Basics dishes out doom 'n' destruction with a look at the worst of the worst, the Decepticons' MAYHEM ATTACK SQUAD!

This week it's a popular request from the comments, as we break down the history of the original Autobot city-former, greatest of all the Titans, Scramble City himself - METROPLEX!

Discover the origins of OPTIMUS PRIME with this special TRANSFORMERS ONE tie-in episode, unpacking the full story of the Autobot leader's early life, and the 'bot he used to be - ORION PAX!

Discover the origins of MEGATRON with this special TRANSFORMERS ONE tie-in episode, exploring the full story of the Decepticon leader's rise to power from his humble beginnings as an ordinary 'bot named D-16!

Time for another peek into the creepy corners of the Transformers universe in a Halloween Basics about the monstrous Decepticon formed by the combination of the Pretender Monsters Birdbrain, Bristleback, Icepick, Scowl, Slog, and Wildfly - MONSTRUCTOR! Plus get the lowdown on his Japanese counterpart from "Victory,", DINOKING and the DINOFORCE, back in the headlines this year thanks to the Legacy toyline!

Revised and re-written for 2024! Things have changed a lot for the leader of the female Autobots in the five years since The Basics originally look at her history, not least of all her recent big-screen starring role in TRANSFORMERS ONE!

Celebrating 250 episodes with an overhauled and updated version of one of my very first character spotlight videos from over seven years ago! It's The Basics on the Autobots' greatest warrior, ULTRA MAGNUS!

Obscure Characters Month 2024 kicks off with the story of the Autobot bounty hunter created for the original cartoon and kept alive by conventions!

Obscure Characters Month continues! He's far from one of the best-known Decepticons there is, but this little-heard-of Decepticon sniper has a tendency to pop up in roles of surprisingly significance just when you're least expecting him!

The penultimate entry in this year's Obscure Character Month returns us to the world of the original Marvel "Transformers" comic book! He's an Autobot councillor turned resistance leader turned avatar of Primus, who just this year, after nearly four decades, recieved his first ever toy. These are The Basics on EMIRATE XAARON!

Bringing Obscure Characters Month 2024 to an end with the Decepticon Targetmaster whose biggest claim to fame is the fact he tends to die at the end of nearly every story he appears in! Back in the spotlight currently with his little buddies Tiptop and Heater thanks to the Legacy toyline, it's The Basics on QUAKE!

Let's get back to Basics for 2025 with a video you've been asking me to do for ages! We're going right back to where it all began with the first Transformer, the coolest Countach, the self-lovin' lambo, the Autobot egotist who thinks he's the most beautiful machine to ever roll off the line -- SUNSTREAKER!

This week we're looking at another of the deadly diseases of the Transformers universe, from it's introduction in "The Return of Optimus Prime" to its recent return to TV in "EarthSpark" - the roiling red rage that is THE HATE PLAGUE!

Arachnophobes beware! This popular request from the comments returns us to the world of "Beast Wars" for a look at the history of the evil Predacon scientist, TARANTULAS!

From construction to destruction, from Constructicon to Beast Warrior, tiny Mini-Con to giant Combiner, bulldozer to buffalo - this 'bot does it all! Arriving just in time for his new Studio Series release, it's The Basics on the many different Transformers who have shared the name BONECRUSHER!

The Age of the Primes is upon us! Come with me now back to the very dawn of Cybertron itself, for a look at the story of the first Transformer ever created by Primus! Wielder of the Star Saber, bearer of the Matrix, leader of the Thirteen Primes - these are The Basics on PRIMA!

After yet another successful HasLab campaign, I thought it was time we took a closer look at the series Star Saber, Deathsaurus, and Liokaiser came from! These are The Basics on "Brave No. 0," the most popular of the Japanese-original Generation 1 anime, TRANSFORMERS: VICTORY!

Keepin' it classic this week, with a look at another of the iconic Decepticon jets!

The Age of the Primes continues! Join me for another look into the mists of Transformers history, as we tackle The Basics on the tragic tale of the first female Cybertronian, SOLUS PRIME!

From the Aerialbots to the Beast Wars, this episode look at two iconic Transformers characters with one thing in common! It's another Age of the Primes tie-in, as we look at the The Basics on the high-flying heroes who share the name SILVERBOLT!

It's one of the Autobot leader's signature weapons, going right back to the original G1 cartoon - but it hasn't always been widely represented onscreen! Learn its history in The Basics on Optimus Prime's Energon Axe!

He LOOKS like Optimus Prime... but he's not! Journey with me now once more to the Japanese side of the world of the Transformers, and discover the story of the human being who wore the face of the ionic Autobot leader, GINRAI, as The Summer of Optimus Prime continues!

The Summer of Optimus Prime heats up with an episode looking at the Autobot leader's ultimate transformation! Just in time for his new toy in this year's AGE OF THE PRIMES, it's the positively stellar STAR OPTIMUS PRIME - aka STAR CONVOY!

The Summer of Optimus Prime rolls on with the history of the companion who's been with the Autobot leader through forty years of adventures! He's the little drone that could - ROLLER!

This episode, we conclude the Summer of Optimus Prime with a look into the furthest reaches of Optimus's past! From the pages of the Binder of Revelation and the Covenant of Primus, this is the legend of the forgotten member of Cybertron's ancient pantheon... these are The Basics on the THIRTEENTH PRIME!

From Marvel to Dreamwave to IDW and beyond, Generation 1 to Beast Wars to the live-action films and more, this is the Transformers journey of the most prolific writer to ever work on the franchise, responsible for moulding and shaping it like almost no other, SIMON FURMAN!

BATTLECHARGERS, the hard-charging, fast-changing Decepticon hoodlums whose idea of a good time is blowing something up! It's The Basics on Transformers' own Beavis and Butthead, RUNABOUT and RUNAMUCK!

This long-overdue look at the Autobots' original human ally! From oil rig worker to interplanetary diplomat to Headmaster partner of Fortress Maximus, these are The Basics on SPIKE WITWICKY! Plus: Witwickies across the continuities, from Marvel's BUSTER, to the Shia LaBeouf's SAM!

The twin Decepticon cassettes whose ever-changing colours are the source of one of fandom's oldest arguments: FIRRIB vs FIBRIR! It's The Basics on RUMBLE and FRENZY!

Obscure Characters Month 2025 begins with the Autobot weapons expert who's as much of a big ol' dork about Transformers as you or me! From little-known beginnings as a European-exclusive "Lightformer" figure to becoming a cult-favourite thanks to his turn as the tragic hero of IDW Publishing's "Last Stand of the Wreckers," these are The Basics on "Fisitron".... aka IRONFIST!

Created for the pages of IDW's comics, now immortalized in plastic in this year's Age of the Primes toyline, Obscure Characters Month 2025 continues with The Basics on the Decepticons' malevolent medic, FLATLINE!

the honourable Decepticon Pretender who learned what it means to be an Autobot! From Marvel to IDW, get ready for out-and-out Mayhem with The Basics on CARNIVAC!

From his "Diaclone" origins as "Powered Convoy" to his reinvention through the combined efforts of IDW Publishing and the "Masterpiece" toyline to his impending return in next year's "Missing Link," these are The Basics on DELTA MAGNUS!

A look at the 'bot behind one of the most famous "Transformers" urban legends! It's the motormouthed Autobot known as BLUESTREAK - so why isn't he BLUE?

Rev up those engines for a look at The Basics on the Transformer colony world where more haste means more speed!

We return to the Japanese side of the world of "Beast Wars" to look at the Maximal mammoth who's so powerful, he's known as the One-Man Army! These are The Basics on BIG CONVOY!

Looking at another one of those prehistoric powerhouses, the Dinobots! He's been known by a few names in his time, including Strafe and Ptero... but we know him best as SWOOP - the terrifying pterosaur who's second only to team leader Grimlock as the most distinctive and memorable member of the team!

Suit up for The Basics on one of the mightiest weapons on Cybertron! From its conceptual origins in "Super-God Masterforce" with Godbomber and God Ginrai to it's television debut in "Transformers: Prime," learn the history of the power-enhancing battlesuit known as the APEX ARMOR!

And AWAAAY we go, with The Basics on the Autobots' stunt-flying showman, POWERGLIDE, from his iconic cartoon spotlight with the girl who loved him, to his struggle for relevance in the 21st century! From Universe to the Bayverse, from Mini-Bot to Aerialbot, and more - plus, the surprising double-life of Astoria Carlton-Ritz!

It's time to spotlight one of the team's members who's been lucky enough to enjoy some solo adventures of his own! These are The Basics on the bellicose 'bot called BRAWL!