History Film / TransformersFilmSeries

->''"And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call...home. We live among its people now, [[HiddenInPlainSight hiding in plain sight]]...but watching over them in secret...waiting...protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's [[MythologyGag more to them than meets the eye."]]''
-->-- Optimus Prime's transmission [[SequelHook at the end of the first film]]

* BloodBrothers: The human warriors of the NEST team loved their Autobot comrades as such:
-->'''Epps:''' We have shed precious blood, sweat ''and'' metal together.

--> '''Sam:''' Why are you helping me?
--> '''Epps:''' 'Cos that asshole killed ''my'' friends too!!

-->'''Jazz:''' You want a piece of me Megatron?! You want a piece?!\\
'''Megatron:''' No, I want ''two''! (''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath tears Jazz in half]]'')
*** Revenge of The Fallen ([[spoiler:after Prime kills The Fallen]]):
-->'''[[spoiler:Optimus Prime]]:''' I rise, ''you'' fall.
*** Also in ROTF, Sideswipe's first line after killing Sideways: "Damn, I'm good."
*** In DOTM, [[spoiler:Ironhide:]] "Class dismissed."

** Jetfire...one has to wonder if the casting teams had considered BrianBlessed for the role.

-->"You see this? This is a "Do whatever I want and get away with it" badge!" and "NOT ON MY WATCH!"
-->''"One man, alone, betrayed by the country he loves, now its last hope in its hour of need..." ''
** Hugo Weaving as Megatron.

** John Malkovich as Bruce in DOTM.
** In ''Age of Extinction'', Stanley Tucci (who even gets [[PrecisionFStrike the film's sole F-bomb]] to enhance his ham) and John Goodman as the BoisterousBruiser robot Hound.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Both of the sequels.

* OhCrap: The climax of the first film starts with Ironhide yelling; "It's Starscream!" A few moments later, it becomes abundantly clear why the Decepticons copied military hardware.

*** Epps has a fairly deadpan one near the climax; "[[ThisIsGonnaSuck We're about to get our asses whupped]]."
*** Also this:
--> '''Epps:''' I hope those [=F-16s=] have good aim.\\

* orange smoke drifts into frame* \\

* PreMortemOneLiner: Optimus has three, one in ROTF ("GIVE ME YOUR FACE!") and three consecutive ones on ''DOTM'':
-->''Optimus'': You die! (punches Shockwave to death)

-->''[[spoiler:Megatron]]'': Who would you be without me, Prime?\\
''Optimus'': Time to find out.

-->''[[spoiler:Sentinel]]'': [[spoiler:Optimus... [[WellIntentionedExtremist All I ever wanted was the survival of our race.]] You must see why I had to betray you.]]
-->''Optimus'': You didn't betray me. You betrayed ''yourself''.

-->'''[[spoiler:Dylan]]''': (Laughs at him) You think you're some kind of hero?\\
'''Sam''': I'm just the messenger. [[spoiler:(smacks Dylan with a pole and knocks him against the pillar, electrocuting him.)]]

--> '''Optimus Prime''': MEGATRON!\\
'''Megatron''': PRIIIIIME!
** Optimus seemed rather angry to see Megatron alive and well (well, the fact he was holding the corpse of one of his friends didn't help), whereas Megatron seemed almost happy to see the former.

--> '''Ironhide''': IT'S STARSCREAM!
** The first thing Megatron says once freed from his ice prison [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya was his name]], since the humans had been getting it wrong for decades.

* Untitled prequel set on Cybertron

In March 2015, it was announced that the future of the franchise will see it [[FollowTheLeader follow the examples of]] [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel]], [[DCCinematicUniverse DC]], and ''Franchise/StarWars'' in that an entire '''''Transformers Cinematic Universe''''' will be forged, overseen by Bay, Spielberg, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and writer Akira Goldsman. Along with direct sequels to the previous films in the series, spin-off's are in the works, and Bay is not expected to return as a director for the films at this moment. Goldsman will write the fifth film, while the writers of ''Film/AntMan'' will pen an animated prequel set on Cybertron.

* ''Untitled Transformers 5'' (2016)

In March 2015, it was announced that the future of the franchise will see it [[FollowTheLeader follow the examples of]] [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel]], [[DCCinematicUniverse DC]], and ''Franchise/StarWars'' in that an entire '''''Transformers Cinematic Universe''''' will be forged, overseen by Bay, Spielberg, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and writer Akira Goldsman. Along with direct sequels to the previous films in the series, spin-off's are in the works, and Bay is not expected to return as a director for the films at this moment.

** This may also explain why Optimus Prime is so ruthless and executes defeated opponents even when they plead for their lives. He's seen TransformersTheMovie.
*** Given that one of the implications of the Sector Seven ARG was that the original Animated Series and Movie were an in-universe attempt at a sector seven coverup, combined with the consequences of the Leonard Nimoy actor allusion, this actually makes a startling amount of sense.
** Sam, as of ''DOTM'' - The moment he realises the Decepticons are active again, his immediate reaction is to go and tell Optimus & the Autobots; he sees through NEST's attempt at hiding in plain sight; when he's dismissed purely because he's a civillian, he contacts Simmons & starts investigating why Russia stopped trying to get to the moon; and he's the one to figure out that [[spoiler:the Decepticons were going after Sentinel Prime & the remaining pillars they didn't have]].
*** Likely the reason [[spoiler:Sentinel initially survived his fight with Optimus was that he, unlike the other villains, used a shield.]]
** The Autobots in general are this in DOTM when they [[spoiler:realize Sentinel and the Decepticons won't live up to their end of the bargin and that it's likely all a trap to take them out in one shot. They send the ship they were supposed to be leaving on into space ''empty'', not letting anyone, even Sam, know it. They were right and Starscream obliterates the ship and they're declared dead, allowing them to pull a BigDamnHeroes moment later without anyone seeing it coming.]]

** Blackout receives a ''barrage'' from a ''grenade launcher''. Also a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Lennox.

* GunshipRescue: Both with the TransformingMecha and regular human vehicles. It's a Transformer movie with heavy military support, it is a given.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Averted, mostly. There are still issues and goofs regarding interpersonal scale (which is nothing new in {{Transformers}}), but the robots were designed and their alternate modes were chosen together to be consistent. Weapons also don't just appear out of nowhere, but are generated from their bodies with the approximate mass.

* ShipperOnDeck: Bumblebee to Sam and Mikaela in the first two movies, trying to set them up and keep Sam from cheating. Then he outdoes himself with [[spoiler:the [[CrowningMomentOfFunny rings]]]] in the third.

* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Megatron, Optimus Prime, the telekinetic, teleporting Fallen, [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]].

* BrokenMasquerade: A lot of fans wondered if Transformers became common knowledge after the final battle in the first film, but it was brushed aside [[WeirdnessCensor with a government cover-up]], namely that a bunch of prototype robots on a test run [[AIIsACrapshoot went berserk]]. Considering that in ROTF, [[spoiler:The Fallen [[DoNotAdjustYourSet broadcasted himself and his demands]] all over the world,]] and [[spoiler:Devastator destroyed one of the Great Pyramids]], a cover-up is going to be a '''lot''' more difficult to concoct. The third film [[spoiler:finally makes the bots are now common knowledge, with regular news media broadcasts (albeit about massive destruction) casually using the faction names after Sentinel Prime broadcasts the 'Cons demands to the UN.]]

* MerchandiseDriven: Although this aspect is toned down compared to [[TransformersGeneration1 Transformers]] [[UnicronTrilogy franchises]] for the sake of mainstream appeal, it's still ''Transformers''. It still proudly proclaims "BASED ON HASBRO'S TRANSFORMERS™ ACTION FIGURES" in the end credits. [[http://www.shortpacked.com/2009/comic/book-9/06-revenge-of-the-fallen/soldout/ Mr. Willis? You're on.]]

* ILoveNuclearPower: In the DOTM game, [[spoiler:Megatron grabs plutonium from two Soviet nukes to restore his strength enough to be able to scan his new vehicle mode]].
** Apparently the Three Mile Island disaster was the result of Sector Seven experimenting with Energon.

VideoGame/TransformersTheGameDS

* IdiotBall: The plot of the entire second second half of ROTF would have been derailed if the humans had been smart enough to check Jetfire for a faction symbol ''before'' waking him up. On the other hand, a jet is rather large.
** The Decepticons could have just ''bought'' Archibald Witwicky's glasses from Sam anonymously on eBay and avoided the whole battle.

* YouLookFamiliar: Glenn Morshower played the Colonel in charge of the Qatar based in the first film, who was implied to have been killed (Lennox and team were the only survivors). Morshower was recast as [[TheDanza General Morshower]] who directly oversaw the NEST team in the sequels.

* ActionSurvivor: Sam Witwicky, the world's first action hero who spends the entire movie fleeing from his enemies (since he's kind of not trained to deal with things like 30-foot-tall robots trying to squoosh him).
** In the third film, he finally takes action into his hands. Unlike the previous movies, he isn't drawn into the story due to some outside force but actively seeks it out.
* AdaptationalBadass: Bumblebee. No longer is he simply the kid friendly tag-along character and the smallest Autobot who would get swatted away by any and all Decepticons. This version of him is a very capable combatant, perhaps second only to Optimus Prime in how much ass he kicks.
** Starscream. This guy is actually a deadly and capable warrior, and [[AllThereInTheManual when Megatron isn't around]], not all that bad of a leader. Ironhide's OhCrap reaction to him showing up in Mission City, seemed ''very genuine''. As the TF wiki put it: "Ironhide is the first person in some twenty years to consider Starscream a serious threat... with good reason for once." Oh and those tattoos he shows up with in ROTF? He etched those into his own hide, using his fingers, to honor Cybertron's history of warriors. BadassDecay occasionally kicks in, but in DOTM he's back on form, [[spoiler:destroying the Autobot ship]] and ripping a load of Ospreys to pieces, to the point that [[spoiler:Que has to give Sam some pretty strong grenades to finally kill him]].
** Sentinel Prime. His G1 counterpart's depiction (in almost all versions of it) amounts to "dies and passes the Matrix along". His ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' counterpart was a mostly ineffectual {{Jerkass}}. ''This'' version of Sentinel was [[FallenHero once Cybertron's greatest hero,]] and appears to be Optimus's superior in combat; [[spoiler: managing to fight not only him at the climax of DOTM, but also the rest of the Autobots, AND the military. It takes intervention from ''Megatron'' to take him down]].

** BumblingDad: Mr. Witwicky.

* AntiHero:
** Prime himself can come off as one at times. He's probably the most violent version of Optimus Prime yet, and uses some truly brutal tactics in battle. If that's not enough, he [[spoiler:brutally executes Megatron in the end by burying his axe in his face and tearing his spine out, and point-blank executes Sentinel for his betrayal.]]
--> (After witnessing the massacre of Chicago in the third film) ''We will kill them all.''
** Sideswipe as well, in keeping with his personality from the G1 toyline and comics. First thing he does after killing a Decepticon is comment on how BadAss he is, despite the fact he killed a fleeing opponent. Further expanded material portrays him as an even bigger one, not caring if human casualties get in the way if it means stopping Decepticons. He'd calmed down a bit by the start of the second film apparently.

* AscendedExtra: Not an extra per se, but Glenn Morshower, the actor who played the Marine in charge of the base destroyed by Blackout in the first film, returned in ''Fallen'' as General Morshower. Also, Brawl, the tank Decepticon from the first film, was given a [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/transformers/images/0/07/Movie-brawl-toy-leader-1.jpg Leader Class figure in the '07 toy line]], despite his lack of screen time.
** Hasbro has admitted the goof up with the toy line. They said they probably would have done better to make Blackout the third Leader-class toy (replacing the Voyager class he got) and also give [[OneSceneWonder Bonecrusher]] a Voyager class toy (replacing the deluxe he got).
* AssKickingPose

* BackForTheDead:
** In ROTF, [[spoiler:Scorponok. He appears, severely injures Jetfire, and is destroyed by him, all in 15-20 seconds.]]
** And in DOTM, [[spoiler:Barricade]] ''finally'' comes back, only to die in the Chicago battle.
* BackFromTheDead:
** [[spoiler:Both Megatron and Optimus]] in ''Revenge of the Fallen''...but the latter was a given. [[spoiler:Sam also borrows a page from Optimus.]]
** In the Simon Furman-penned fifth issue for ''Tales of the Fallen'', [[spoiler:Ravage]] gets this treatment as well. [[spoiler:Who brought him back, however, remains to be seen, and Soundwave was noticeably shocked by it.]]
* {{Badass}}: Any given robot has their moment...except Arcee and Jolt. Optimus and Bumblebee get the lion's shares, though.
** Arcee gets to display her badassitude in the comics. No joy for Jolt yet, however.
** Starscream. You know things are about to suck when a character that's potrayed as a semi-harmless coward in previous incarnations evokes an [[OhCrap Oh Shit]] expression from ''Ironhide''. And then [[FromBadToWorse Megatron arrives later]] and kills Jazz...
** Lennox.
-->'''Simmons''': Ok, I'm going to count to five.\\
'''Lennox''': *cocks gun* Well I'm going to count to three.
* BadassArmy: Lots of guys with shaved heads trying really hard to look tough and serious around giant multicolored CGI robots. "GO GO GO! KEEP FIRING! HOLD YOUR POSITION! [[SemperFi SEMPER FI]]!"
** And when that strategy doesn't work, they simply apply [[MoreDakka More Gun.]] [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier AFVs]], [[TankGoodness tanks]], and [[DeathFromAbove air strikes]], including ''carpet bombing strikes and AC-130 Spectre gunships''. The Decepticons may be 30 foot tall unmatched killing machines, but there are ''millions'' of human soldiers on Earth to pile on with.
* BadassBoast:
** This exchange between the two leaders in the first film;
-->'''Optimus:''' It's you and me now Megatron!\\
'''Megatron:''' Noooooo, it's just me, Prime!
** And from ROTF;
-->'''Megatron''': Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?\\
'''Optimus''': You'll never stop at one! (pulls out both swords) I'll take you all on!
** And from DOTM;
-->[[spoiler:'''Megatron''': Besides, who would you be without ME Prime?]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Optimus''': (''closes his face mask'') Time to find out.]]
*** [[spoiler:The Autobots' shuttle has blown up, Sam clearly thinks they are all dead and mankind is doomed to enslavement. The Decepticons have just taken Chicago, they have VAPORIZED hundreds of people, likely killed thousands. And Sam and the Epps Spec ops team is being WASTED. Then out of nowhere gunfire downs a Decepticon ship. Cue Optimus walking up and announcing (while holding a {{BFG}})]]
--> [[spoiler: We will kill them all.]]
* BadassGrandpa:
** Ironhide in all three movies.
--> ''(after defeating the Dreads)'' Class dismissed.
** Jetfire in ROTF.
** Sentinel Prime in DOTM. [[spoiler: Best shown when, at the end of the film, he fights not only Optimus, but the rest of the Autobots, as well as interference from the human soldiers, ''at the same time'', and is ''still'' on the ''winning'' end of the fight]]. It takes [[spoiler:Megatron [[TheDogBitesBack shooting him in the back]] to take him down enough for Optimus to beat him]].
* BadassNormal: The humans all get their moments of this in all the movies, but it really shows up in DOTM, as it's made fairly clear that NEST soldiers have been training extensively on the most effective methods of fighting 20 foot tall robots. Previous movies had the humans use anti-vehicle strategies against the Decepticons, which were lacking in genuine results without the Autobots around (the 'Cons behave much differently than tanks). By the climatic battle human soldiers put into play strategies that would allow a couple of men on foot to take down full sized 'Cons with surprising efficiency. [[spoiler: Through sheer resolve and bravery Sam managed to single-handedly kill Starscream]].
** In fact, by DOTM, they're not even using heavy weaponry against the Decepticons. Regular old assault rifles with armor-piercing ammo work just fine, if you know where to shoot. Sniper rifles work also well, if you GoForTheEye.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Not too badly applied to the women in the movies, but quite {{egregious}} with the cars. The paid ProductPlacement from GM ensures that all of the Autobots are conspicuously sparkling clean every time they transform into car mode, even if they're battered and dirty in robot form just before they change. Partly justified when you consider the explanation for their transforming is that transformers have a ultra-dense liquid metal core, borrowing a page from the whole "protoform" concept and that they're reabsorbing and shifting plates into different configurations in and out of the core to transform, so all the dirty robot parts are reabsorbed and reformatted into car parts, while the internal body remains relatively unchanged.
* TheBerserker:
** Bonecrusher.
** Megatron, but was more effective in the first film.
** Optimus in melee combat, especially when he fights Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor all at once in ROTF.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Optimus and Bumblebee, for all their heroism, are '''vicious''' in battle, especially Optimus.
*** Optimus is finally pushed to the boiling point in DOTM.
-->'''Optimus Prime:''' [[ShootEverythingThatMoves We will kill them all]].
** On the human side, Dutch in DOTM. He seems harmless and nice at first but he reveals to be much more. [[spoiler:"That was the old me!"]]
** Even Sam has his moments in DOTM, as [[spoiler: [[DropTheHammer Dylan]] and [[EyeScream Starscream]]]] learn.
* {{BFG}}:
** Ironhide's cannons.
** Prime gets a gatling gun and a new {{BFG}} once [[spoiler:Jetfire's [[PoweredArmor parts are attached]] to him.]] In DOTM his trailer becomes a weapons platform which features several of these.
** Megatron's combined-arm cannon in the first movie, and his tank form ArmCannon.
** Chromia's (one of the Arcee sisters) cannon arm is ''larger than her torso''.
* BigBad: Megatron in the first film, the Fallen in ROTF, and Megatron again in DOTM [[spoiler:with Sentinel Prime.]]

* BigDamnVillains: [[spoiler: Megatron, of all Transformers sorta has one when he indirectly saves Optimus by beating the shit out of Sentinel]]
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The only Autobot to die in the first movie was Jazz, who most would consider black. WordOfGod is apparently that they killed him because he was the only movie character who ''hadn't'' died at least once before. They also intended it to be a PlayerPunch of sorts, as they felt he was the most likeable character after Bumblebee and Optimus.
** Averted with Epps, who was one of the few remaining soldiers from his group to survive.
** Probably unintentionally played with in DOTM where [[spoiler: Ironhide is the first to die. He's not black in portrayal like Jazz, but his altmode is.]]

* CombatPragmatist: All of the Transformers' close combat styles can be summarized as "rip chunks off until it stops moving."
** The Humans have no moral objections to shooting 50 foot tall robot enemies in the eyes, swatting them with [[{{BFG}} Rail Guns]] or [[MacrossMissileMassacre cruise missiles]] from the next time zone over, or dropping all pretenses at subtlety and hammering them into the dirt with massed carpet bombing raids and howtizer-armed aerial gunships.

* CompositeCharacter:
** Bumblebee takes his name and "friend to the humans" role from the G1 Bumblebee, but in every other regard he incorporates the visual look of G1 Prowl/Bluestreak (the door "wings") and the reliable soldier nature of G1 Sideswipe. This ends up making him an AdaptationalBadass, and one of the most popular characters in the film.
** Jetfire takes influence from his original G1 counterpart (living on Earth for the past few millenia), and the Jetfire of ''TransformersArmada'' (his ability to combine with Optimus). His ramblings about what war was like in the past also sound similar to G1's Kup.
** Sentinel Prime shares the role of being Optimus' predecessor as leader of the Autobots with his G1 counterpart, but his role as being a mentor/father figure to Optimus (and Megatron), as well as his body and facial design, recall that of Alpha Trion. His main weapons, consisting of a sword and shield, are also vaguely similar to [[TransformersAnimated another Sentinel Prime]] [[spoiler:and his FaceHeelTurn is like that of G1 Nova Prime]].
* CoolCar: It's a given, most of the Autobots turn into these.
** Bumblebee and the twins changed their vehicle modes to "cooler" vehicles.
** Sideswipe's Chevy Corvette Stingray Concept. It won't actually be made into a production model, so the toy is all that car buffs will actually get.
** In an unprecedented move, Bay managed to acquire a Ferrari to be Mirage - and this Autobot is called Dino in the movie as an homage to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Ferrari Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari]].
* CoolPlane:
** Starscream, an F-22 Raptor. And in the second and third movies, an F-22 Raptor... with Cybertronian tattoos!
** It's a shame you only see Jetfire fly for a couple of seconds, because his altmode is an SR-71 Blackbird.
** How is Megatron not on here yet? His vehicle mode is a Cybertronian-style multi-winged jet that doubles as a rocket-propelled tank. It changes in the third movie, though.
** The unbelievably cool unmanned plane, the predator, appears briefly in both movies.
** The V-22 Ospreys seen in the first and third film, along with the bigger quad-rotor version in DOTM.

* CyberCyclops: Swindle, Dreadwing and Payload in the tie-ins to the first film; Ravage in ROTF; Shockwave in DOTM.

* DemotedToExtra:
** Ironhide, Ratchet, Lennox and Epps had significantly smaller roles in ROTF. The latter two, however, get more screen time in DOTM.
** ''Megatron'' goes from the BigBad in the first film to merely TheDragon in the second.
** [[spoiler: Played straight in the third film. Megatron is barely on the screen for 5 minutes, and when he is, he's barely doing much until the very end. Granted, it is justified as he barely survived Prime's attack at the end of the second film, but it's still a bit of a headscratcher to not have one of the most famous bad guys of the franchise doing much more in this film. Even the small Autobots that stuck with Sam in the third film get more screentime/action than Megatron...]]
*** The novelization of the film actually works this into the plot.
* DirtyCoward: Sideways, [[AllThereInTheManual according to]] his toy bio, and toy-only character Dirge, who has an [[StatisticallySpeaking almost unprecedented courage score]] of ''2 out of 10''.
** Maybe Dirge is so cowardly because he's a legacy character known for dying in a kill-happy universe?
** Dylan from the third film. [[spoiler:He ''betrays Earth to the Decepticons'' just so he will be safe.]]
* DotingParent: The bumbling but loving Witwickys.

* TheDragon:
** Starscream's role in all three movies, aside from [[TheStarscream the usual]] and the fact that he's more of a Dragon's Dragon in ROTF.
** ROTF reveals that [[spoiler:this is what Megatron is (or...was) to The Fallen]].
** In the third film, whether or not Megatron is this to [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]] is a plot point.
** Soundwave is also in his usual place by Megatron's side in the second and third films, along with Devastator in ROTF. Shockwave also seems to take this role to Megatron as well.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Mikaela in the first two films (justified, she's a car nut and uses it effectively, such as crushing a killer robot), and Wheelie and Brains, who aren't very good at flying jets.
* DualWielding: Prime has both dual swords and [[GunsAkimbo dual guns]] in ROTF, and puts them to use again in DOTM.

* {{Expy}}:
** Leo is Sam's buddy from the beginning of the first movie combined with Glenn Whitman and Maggie Madson, and given a libido.
** Lennox is Danny [=McCoy=] from ''Series/LasVegas'', except actually serving. Same hair, actor, personality. He even has a blonde wife and [[spoiler:a kid.]]

* FallenHero:
** Believe it or not, Megatron and by extension, the Decepticons could fit this. Their roles before the war started? They were the protectors of their planet.
** [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]] in the third movie.

* GuileHero - Sam frequently [[TalkingYourWayOut talks his way out]] of [[HurricaneOfExcuses (or into)]] trouble.

* HeroicSacrifice:
** [[spoiler:Jazz]] in the first movie when [[spoiler:he tries to fight Megatron on his own]].
** Several in ROTF:
*** [[spoiler:Jetfire sacrifices himself so his spark can be merged with Optimus, causing his body to merge with Optimus']]
*** [[spoiler:Optimus' fight with Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor can been seen as one so Sam can be kept out of Megatron's hands]]
*** [[spoiler:Simmons keeps trying this, but it doesn't take.]]
-->[[spoiler:"One man, alone, betrayed by the country he loves, now its last hope in its hour of need..."]]
** Happens a lot in DOTM:
*** [[spoiler:The pilots of the planes that fly Lennox's team into Chicago.]]
*** [[spoiler:Wheelie and Brains, who sabotage the big Decepticon ship and crash with it - you would have never expected it from the comic relief characters.]]

* KilledOffForReal: Jazz in the first movie, at least two of the Arcees in ROTF, and [[spoiler:Ironhide, Que, Sentinel Prime, and every important Decepticon by the end of DOTM.]]

* LastOfHisKind: Optimus is assumed to be the last in the lineage of the Dynasty of Primes by ROTF, and that seemed to have assuredly been the case after Optimus killed The Fallen. DOTM reveals this wasn't entirely true after the discovery of Sentinel Prime still alive is made; but in his case, he was ''thought'' to have been killed, but instead had his ship crash on the moon and send him into stasis. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, it turns out Sentinel had allied himself with the Decepticons, and Optimus is forced to kill him at the end of DOTM, presumably meaning he really is the last Prime this time]].
* LightningBruiser: Bumblebee is fairly well-armed, and also has one of the fastest altmodes among the Autobots. Sideswipe and Dino/Mirage could qualify for this if they had a little more armament. And Optimus, best fighter of the bunch, isn't exactly slow, either.
* TheLoad:
** Attempted aversion with Sam Witwicky in''Film/{{Transformers}}'' with the location of the Allspark is imprinted his glasses.
** Played straight in ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'', where he acts very much as The Load to the rest of the Transformers. His only purpose is to have a head (and later, a sock) full of the {{Macguffin}} and to get it where it needs to go, and since that job requires him to run across a battlefield full of giant robots....

** ToylessToylineCharacter: One Autobot, Mirage/Dino has not much merchandise (or info on Hasbro's website) because his alternate mode is a Ferrari - and Mattel owns the rights for toy cars based on that brand.

* SacrificialLion: Due to the difficulty in showing the robots on screen only the REAL major characters get significant screen time, but it's clear that [[spoiler:Jazz in the first film and Ironhide in the third]] are meant to be this. [[spoiler:Ironhide in particular is shot in the back by Sentinel Prime, in his first act admitting to his betrayal]].

* UnstoppableRage:
** [[BewareTheNiceOnes Optimus]] [[PapaWolf Prime]] takes exception to Megatron's attempt to kill Sam during the forest battle sequence. A NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from hero to villain(s) ensues.
** Prime spends almost the entire third movie on a low-simmering version of this. He gets ''really'' pissed off early on, and his mood never really improves for the rest of the film.
* VehicularAssault:
** When Sam is chased by Barricade, but these movies are defined by this trope.
** A human assisted one: Mikaela running over [[spoiler:Alice.]]

* ProductPlacement:

** The reason these movies were made: to promote the Transformers franchise and have Hasbro say "Buy our toys, make us richer" (See also the Merchandise Driven Entry above).

* SerkisFolk: This would be the ''only'' way to do decent live action Tranformers. Apparently, Bumblebee's movements were inspired by Michael J. Fox's performance in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' and Optimus Prime's movements were inspired by LiamNeeson in everything he does.

* {{Homage}}: Apparently the animators were given relatively free reign with the action sequences and as such snuck in some light Transformer references. Jazz jumping onto Brawl and redirecting his tank cannon was directly inspired by the 80's movie where Kup did something similar. Prime pulling out a blade from his arm is in reference to doing something similar in the G1 pilot episodes. Also, Wheelie bears a striking resemblance to the title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}''

* BackedByThePentagon: Somewhat odd, considering almost every Decepticon from the first film was a military machine, and the Pentagon typically doesn't support scripts that make the military look bad. The fact that the US Armed Forces kick a considerable amount of ass in all three movies, and the movie producers pointing out that the Decepticons picked US military machinery because it kicked the most ass, is what convinced them to sign on.

* CastTheExpert: Most of the military extras that shows up are ''actual'' military personnel. Most of the time, they don't even have a script beyond director Creator/MichaelBay telling them to say and do what they'd do in the situation.

* TheDanza: Glenn Morshower as General Morshower in ROTF and DOTM.

* DoingItForTheArt: The movies exist [[MerchandiseDriven to sell toys]], [[ProductPlacement GM vehicles, and many other products]], but Creator/MichaelBay didn't want to do it at first. Yes, Mr. Flash Cuts & Explosions had to be talked into doing this. Bay explained that the only thing that made him even bother to consider the job is that you don't just ignore an offer from Creator/StevenSpielberg. Once he went through "Transformers School" at Hasbro, he had a wave of inspiration that was about showing something no one has ever attempted to do before. Once convinced, he made sure the CGI was some of the most detailed ever made. Industrial Light & Magic actually said they hadn't done work this groundbreaking since ''Franchise/JurassicPark''.
** Devastator is likely ILM's greatest accomplishment to date. The scenes with him had such a massive level of detail that rendering him took the ILM equipment to its limits. "Took the ILM equipment to its limits" as in smoking and melting one of the motherboards. Also prior series just made a blur of motion between the transformations, sort of "cheating" the process. Here no two transformations are identical (same basic components go to the right place but how it does that changes) and each one is appropriate to the scene, sometimes done in slow motion for dramatic effect.
** Bay insists on doing as many shots for real as possible, instead of doing everything in CGI. He rarely uses a blue screen. That really was the Hoover Dam, that was a real bus splitting in half, those are the real pyramids, that was a real sand explosion, there is a real life-size Bumblebee prop, the entire city of Chicago represents itself, etc.
** All of this can be evident in the scene in the first film where Sam is searching for his glasses and the robots are in the backyard. The visual effects were not cheap and that entire sequence was comedic in tone (Creator/StevenSpielberg even mentioned, while laughing, that he had never seen something like that before). But it also provided some of the most characterization for the robot heroes and helped to make them more than the killer robots everyone were afraid of, so that when they come to Sam's rescue we are rooting for them.
** Bay had to be coaxed into making the third one in 3D, because he said it was "gimmicky". ''Seriously''.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Most of the stunts were performed live, with no CGI. While safety measures were put in place, Shia [=LaBeouf=] was really holding onto a statue 20 stories up and the actors were fully briefed on what kind of explosives were used to create the Scorponok sand explosion.

* MoneyDearBoy:
** Apparently, the only reason Megan Fox didn't quit after the ''first'' movie.
** Similarly, Hugo Weaving freely admits to phoning in his performance, a comment that Bay evidently took personally.
* MoneyMakingShot: The know how to make a BigDamnMovie, with appropriately big trailer scenes
** Bonecrusher splitting a bus in half, then tackling Optimus in the first scene.
** Devastator simply forming itself together in the second.
** The Driller splitting a high rise in half in the third.
** Multiple scenes between Optimus and Grimlock in the fourth.

* TheOtherDarrin: In ''Dark of The Moon'', Sideswipe is voiced by [[Series/{{Dexter}} James Remar]] instead of André Sogliuzzo. In a confusing audio mix-up[[note]] and if one pays attention, [[OffModel was clearly animated to say it]][[/note]] Barricade spoke with Soundwaves' voice, thus technically Jess Harnell was replaced by FrankWelker.
** The video games based upon the films often have different voice actors for several characters for cost reasons or due to the movie's casting of a character for the movie proper not being revealed until it's close to release or already released.

* TheRedStapler: There has been an increase in the popularity of twin black racing stripes for custom paint jobs, whether or not they are yellow, Camaro's or even sports cars.

* ThrowItIn: Creator/MichaelBay is a fan of playing around with the script. Shia was hired based on how well he could improv. Also, the reason Sam's friend Miles starts climbing a tree at the lake party is because the actor started doing it in between takes and Bay thought it was a goofy thing the character would do.
** DOTM is introducing a "third" form for the Transformers, a battle-ready vehicle mode reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}''. The reason seems to be because Creator/MichaelBay saw the sub-line of the previous movie toy-line called "Stealth Force" that presented a very similar mode and liked the look. The Wreckers' NASCAR altmodes appear to have this form as their only vehicle mode (specifically, armored versions of the #42 of Juan Pablo Montoya, the #48 of Jimmie Johnson, and the #88 of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The thirteen Primes, one of whom did a FaceHeelTurn, and who are heavily associated with a character who has heavy [[MessianicArchetype Messiah]] connections. [[Literature/TheBible Hmm...]]
** The very first transformer on transformer fight in the film series alludes to the history of their alternate modes, with bumblebee being a Chevrolet Camaro and Barricade a Ford Mustang. In the 60s The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced by GM in 1964 to compete with the Ford Mustang from two years earlier. Unlike the movie, the Camaro lost.

* HumanFocusedAdaptation: More time is spent on the humans and their reactions to the robots then there is on the actual robots. This is largely due to [[PragmaticAdaptation the expense of CGI.]]

** Why Soundwave wasn't present in Film/Transformers2007, even though he was on Earth since the 1970s.

[[caption-width-right:350:"I've got the touch!"]]

** DOTM is introducing a "third" form for the Transformers, a battle-ready vehicle mode reminiscent of ''{{MASK}}''. The reason seems to be because Creator/MichaelBay saw the sub-line of the previous movie toy-line called "Stealth Force" that presented a very similar mode and liked the look. The Wreckers' NASCAR altmodes appear to have this form as their only vehicle mode (specifically, armored versions of the #42 of Juan Pablo Montoya, the #48 of Jimmie Johnson, and the #88 of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.).

* AdaptationDistillation: The third film combines elements of "Megatron's Master Plan" and "The Ultimate Doom."