List of Transformers spacecraft

This is a list of spacecraft appearing in the fictional Transformers storyline:

Spaceships

A number of spaceships have appeared in the Transformers fiction. These include:

Ark

Main article: Ark (Transformers)

First seen in Generation 1, this is the flagship of the Autobots commanded by Optimus Prime. The Ark was later seen in the Transformers: Cybertron series as the combined form of 4 Autobot ships, and in Transformers: Timelines/Shattered Glass as the warship of the evil mirror-universe Optimus Prime, which was stolen by Rodimus to invade Earth.

Axalon

Main article: Axalon

An exploration ship commanded by Optimus Primal in the Beast Wars series. This ship was used as the command base for the Maximals in the Beast Wars series for the first two seasons.^[1] In 2006, Hasbro released a new toy of Optimus Primal, It included a Cyber Planet Key to activate a missile firing gimick on the surf board included with the figure, Also as an extra piece a small replica of the Axalon was included.^[2]

Dark Side

The Dark Side

First appearance	Beast Wars episode 1
Affiliation	Predacons

In the Beast Wars television series, the Dark Side is the name of the Predacon transwarp ship stolen by renegade Predacon Megatron and his Predacon rebels.^[3]

The only time the Predacon ship is named in the television series is in in the episode Equal Measures where Terrorsaur said to Cheetor "Welcome to the Darkside!" upon being discovered in the ship. Since then fans had adopted the name Darkside for the ship. The name was confirmed as official when the Beast Wars video game and DVD box set also referred to it as the Darkside.

However, in the Botcon 2006 exclusive toy box set, Dinobot was referred to as "Darksyde Dinobot" (in the same fashion that the included Maximals were called "Axalon Rhinox", "Axalon Cheetor", etc.). Pete Sinclair posted at the Allspark website that it was spelled that way to make certain they didn't run into any legal problems with George Lucas. This spelling was immediately rejected by fans and Hasbro and so very shortly afterwards IDW Publishing's Beast Wars Sourcebook in 2008 then changed the spelling to "The Dark Side".

The ship's computer was voiced by Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff.^[4]

Crew

The original crew of the Dark Side included:

• Megatron - Commander
• Dinobot - Second-in-Command.
• Scorponok - Engineer, later second-in-command after Dinobot joined the Maximals.
• Tarantulas - Weapons/Special Ops. (Secretly a mole for the Tripredacus Council)
• Terrorsaur - Warrior
• Waspinator - Pilot

After the ship crashed the crew was joined by several former Maximal protoforms:

• Blackarachnia - Maximal protoform turned into a Predacon with a shell program by Tarantulas.
• Inferno - Maximal protoform turned into a Predacon with a shell program by Tarantulas.
• Quickstrike - Maximal protoform whose violent nature and damaged datatracks resulted in him joining the Predacons of his own accord.
• Rampage - Maximal serial killer forced to obey Megatron.
• Transmetal II Dinobot - Clone of the original Dinobot created by Megatron from a blank protoform, Dinobot's raptor DNA and half of Rampage's spark essence.

History

When the rogue Predacon crew stole the Golden Disk, the Dark Side went into transwarp and ended up in prehistoric Earth, fighting the Maximal ship, Axalon. Both spacecraft shot each other down.

In the Season Three episode, Changing of the Guard, the Sentinel defense system was installed in the Dark Side after the Predacons stole it from a Maximal salvage mission. However, later in Season Three episode, Other Victories, the Dark Side was destroyed by the alien Vok when they sent Tigerhawk to stop Megatron.

A toy of the Dark Side was packaged in with the 2006 release of Megatron by Hasbro, though not named as such. It is simply called a Predacon ship.

Timelines

The origin of the Dark Side was expanded on in the Botcon Timelines story "Dawn of Futures Past". In this story, the Dark Side was a ship stolen from Cybertron by Waspinator and Terrorsaur. The two had a contest to decide the name of the ship. Terrorsaur won, and named the ship the Dark Side. Waspinator expressed disappointment that the name Buzzerbot was not chosen, as he thought it sounded better; a sentiment surprisingly shared even by Megatron.^[5]

Longbow

Ship commanded by Rodimus in the Transformers: Timelines fiction.

Miranda II

The Miranda II is a spaceship in the Transformers: Energon cartoon series. It was designed by Dr. Brian Jones, the scientist in charge of the joint Earth/Cybertron energon project on the human side, and named after his wife, Miranda. The Miranda II bears both the Autobot symbol and the logo of the Earth Federation. The ship is equipped with its own energon grid, which acts as a defensive shield.

Nemesis

The Nemesis

First appearance	Transformers #1 by Marvel Comics, September 1984
Affiliation	Decepticons
General characteristics
Length	2.5 miles
Width	1.75 miles
Height	1.25 miles

The Nemesis was built by Megatron as the flagship of his Decepticon space fleet, and was described by Optimus Primal as the most powerful Decepticon battleship ever. The ship was never named in the original series, only being given a name in the Beast Wars series finale. Over three miles (5 km) long, the ship was equipped with an energon reactor, cutting and tractor beams, along with a staggering array of offensive and defensive weapons. It was powered by the energy maximizer named the Heart of Cybertron. Other amenities included a battle preparation room large enough for a combiner to completely form inside.^[6]

The Nemesis would play a much more important role in the Beast Wars series, where it was finally named. When two small groups of Maximals and Predacons—descendants of Autobots and Decepticons from three centuries in the future—traveled back in time and wound up stranded on prehistoric Earth, the treacherous Predacon Tarantulas located the Nemesis and, unbeknownst to anyone else, began refurbishing it, outfitting it with a transwarp cell and a Predacon-sized command console, as well as the only other existing copy of the Covenant of Primus, which he had stolen before leaving Cybertron himself (the other copy was aboard the Ark). Following Tarantulas's death, however, Megatron acquired the ship and used it to attack the Ark. All seemed lost until Rhinox crashed an Autobot shuttle through the Nemesis, heavily damaging it. The ship was last seen disappearing over the horizon trailing fire and smoke, presumably gliding long enough for the Nemesis to reach and crash into a mountain in South America, where it was subsequently buried until the year 1985.^[7]

In Beast Wars Second, Nemesis was the name of Galvatron's planetoid fortress. An enormous ship that could drain entire worlds of their energy, Galvatron determined to attack Cybertron with it, but was stopped by Lio Convoy. Enraged, Galvatron set the Nemesis to self-destruct to kill his foes, but he only succeeded in trapping his foes in a wormhole, and confining his own troops to a black hole.^[8]

The Nemesis makes a return for the 2008 Cartoon Network TV Series, where it is much bigger and stronger than the Ark. It chases the Ark, for it carries the Allspark. When the space bridge it goes through explodes, all the Decepticons, except Starscream, abandoned ship. Surviving the blast, Starscream tracks the Allspark to Earth but the Nemesis crashes on the moon. After Starscream abandons it on the moon to search for the AllSpark on Earth, Lugnut and Blitzwing later arrive in the episode "Lost and Found" and discover its ruins. They deduce that Megatron is still residing on Earth and, like Starscream, descend to find him. During the third season, Megatron and a disembodied Starscream utilize the Allspark fragment in Starscream's head to reawaken Omega Supreme from his stasis lock, and near the series finale use his transwarp ability to go back to the Nemesis. There, they rendezvous with Shockwave and make plans to build Omega Supreme clones. Starscream takes this opportunity to get another body (using his entire horde of protoforms and body parts). Megatron destroys the spare body parts and some of the protoforms once he discovers Starscream recovering. He utilizes three of the remaining protoforms (along with parts of the Nemesis) to create the planned Omega Supreme clones. The clones are similar in appearance to Lugnut (albeit with Omega Supreme's body) in head and coloration. The Nemesis is not mentioned or seen for the remainder of the series.

The Nemesis is the largest ship made on Cybertron as well as being flagship of the Decepticon fleet.^[9]

In the Fun Publications Shatterd Glass story, where the Decepticons are heroic and the Autobot the villains, the Ark and Nemesis appear as well. The Nemesis is gold in color, but otherwise is shaped like the Generation 1 ship. Launched from Cybertron in 2009, the Nemesis was commanded by Starscream.

In the novel Transformers: Exodus, Trypticon is ordered by Megatron to transform into a Nemesis-class battleship to pursue the Ark.

In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the Nemesis is seen crashed on one of Saturn's moons sometime in the past. The wreck is the headquarters of the Fallen and also the place where Decepticon hatchlings are kept in cocoons, lacking the Energon to be awakened. When Megatron is resurrected, he heads here where he meets with Starscream and the Fallen who orders Megatron to kill Optimus as he is the last Prime and the only one who can stop him. Later, after Optimus is killed, the Fallen detaches himself from the ship and leaves. After the Solar Harvester is destroyed it is presumed that the hatchlings perished due to lack of Energon, except for the few Megatron apparently retrieved and kept alive in Africa. The Nemesis is not seen again after Optimus' death.

The Nemesis is seen as the Decepticon's warship in Transformers: Prime.

Spaceships in Transformers: Cybertron

Main article: Spaceships in Transformers: Cybertron

Four ships that combine into the Ark in the Cybertron series.

Spanner

The ship commanded by Longrack in the story Force of Habit.

Steelhaven

Main article: Steelhaven

The ship commanded by Fortress Maximus in the Marvel Transformers comics. Later used as the ship commanded by Sentinel Prime in Transformers Animated.

Twilight

A Decepticon spaceship appearing in the Generation 2 comics as Jhiaxus's flagship. The ship's shape resembles a scorpion.

Warworld

A Decepticon spaceship appearing in the Generation 2 comics as Bludgeon's and later Megatron's flagship. The ship is spherical in shape and bursting with weaponry.

Xantium

An Autobot spaceship appearing in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It is described as having brought the second wave of Autobots to Earth. The Xantium is kept at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it is linked to a decommisioned space shuttle so the human military can have some control over it. It is tended to by the Wreckers under the command of Robert Epps. Optimus Prime and Ratchet use it to travel to the Moon to retrieve Sentinel Prime and five Space Bridge pillars from the remains of the Ark. When the Autobots are exiled from Earth, it is used to leave, but it is destroyed by Starscream before it can leave the atmosphere, apparently killing the Autobots. It is later revealed that the Autobots were in the first booster rocket to separate from the ship and faked their own deaths to catch the Decepticons off-guard.

Transformers who become spacecraft

As most Transformers can assume alternate forms, some have taken on the form of spaceships. These include:

Astrotrain

Main article: Astrotrain

A Decepticon who can take for form of a space shuttle. Versions of Astrotrain have appeared in the Generation 1, Cybertron and Timelines/Shattered Glass stories.

Cosmos

Main article: Cosmos (Transformers)

An Autobot who can take the form of a flying saucer.

Fortress Maximus

Main article: Fortress Maximus

A gigantic Autobot spaceship in the Generation 1, Headmaster, Masterforce and Robots in Disguise series.

Galaxy Shuttle

Main article: Galaxy Shuttle

An Autobot who can take the form of a space shuttle in the Victory series.

Jetfire

Main article: Jetfire

An Autobot "Air Guardian" who takes the form of a large jet aircraft in Generation 1.

Last Autobot

One of the Original thirteen Transformers, takes the form of an enormous spaceship.

Omega Supreme

Main article: Omega Supreme

An Autobot defense base with a space-worthy rocket in Generation 1 or spacecraft in Energon, Transformers Animated and War for Cybertron.

Scorponok

Main article: Scorponok

Fortress Maximus's Decepticon rival in the Generation 1, Headmaster and Masterforce series.

Sky Garry

Main article: Sky Garry

A large Autobot who transports Micromasters in the Zone series.

Sky Lynx

Main article: Sky Lynx

An Autobot commander who turns from space shuttle to enormous mechanical bird and cat in Generation 1 and later seen in the Timelines/Shattered Glass series.

Trypticon

Main article: Trypticon

An entire city who turn into a spaceworthy flying dinosaur in the Generation 1 series.

References

1. ^ http://www.gameshark.com/entertainment/reviews/2309/Beast-Machines-Transformers-DVD-Review.htm This 700 minute boxed set serves up the Beast Wars storyline in style.
2. ^ http://www.oafe.net/yo/tfbw_op.php
3. ^ The Transformers Beast Wars Sourcebook by Don Figueroa, Simon Furman, Ben Yee, Dan M. Khanna, Guido Guidi, Jake Isenberg, Marcelo Matere, Nick Roche, Rob Ruffolo and Simon Williams
4. ^ Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2007 by Vincent Terrace
5. ^ http://www.seibertron.com/comics/view.php?comic_id=848
6. ^ Nemesis (Decepticon Miscellaneous, Transformers G1)
7. ^ TV guide: TV on DVD 2006: The Ultimate Resource to Television
8. ^ The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy
9. ^ The AllSpark Almanac by Jim Sorenson & Bill Forester

• Furman, Simon (2004). Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. DK Publishing Inc.. p. 81. ISBN 1405304618.