History WebAnimation / TransformersCombaticons

* InMemoriam: The pilot is dedicated to the late Derrick J. Wyatt, the man behind the character designs for ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated.''

--> '''Onslaught''': I merely want once cycle without CHAOS! Is that too much to ask?!

* AdaptationalBadass: Professor Princess was merely a run-of-the-mill human supervillain in ''Transformers Animated''. THAT Professor Princess is merely an extension of a multiversal singularity capable of destroying entire planets and universes at whim.

* GainaxEnding: As it turns out, the entire pilot episode was an episode of a TV program the Combaticons were watching.

** Swindle takes a lot of cues from his ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' counterpart, especially with his SnakeOilSalesman-like mannerisms.

** [[spoiler: The events of the pilot episode are revealed to have all been part of an episode of Chris [=McFeely's=] ''Transformers: The Basics'' that the Combaticons were watching.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: Swindle seems to have betrayed the Combaticons for Professor Princess, only to prove he's still on their side by using her hypocrisy against her. It turns out he was doing it as part of TheBet with Onslaught.

* Bookends: Onslaught begins coughing shortly after the pilot opens. In TheStinger, Astrotrain has a coughing fit.

** Swindle is in hot water with Bludgeon and Straxus as he tries to talk his way out trouble.

*** Bulkhead is named the art directoras well, an allusion to how Animated Bulkhead took up art as a hobby.

* AdaptationalBadass: Professor Princess was merely a run-of-the-mill human supervillain in ''Transformers Animated''. This version is a multiversal singularity capable of destroying entire planets and universes at whim.

** Bludgeon and Straxus are shown threatening Swindle while holding him hostage.

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Swindle destroys a '''cosmic entity [[KillTheGod who claims to have killed Primus]]''' by pointing out the biggest flaw in her motivations.

* EvilLaugh: Nightbird and Astrotrain laugh maniacally at how the Combaticons are helping them achieve their goals without even knowing it ... only for Astrotrain to end up coughing after laughing for a bit, which he passes off to Nightbird as the result of a sinus infection.

** Swindle briefly turns into an action figure version of himself when the Combaticons land in Professor Princess's dimension.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Brawl takes his leave after noticing how Professor Princess' essence is about to go boom.

** Thundercracker is named a writer for "Humans Animated", an allusion to his screenwriting career from [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW the IDW comics]].
** Bulkhead is named the art director for “Humans Animated” as well, an allusion to how Animated Bulkhead took up art as a hobby.

** During the multiverse sequence, Onslaught is attacked by his counterpart from the Film/TransformersFilmSeries, Vortex and Blast Off are shot at by their Generation 1 and ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' selves, Swindle has an encounter with his counterpart from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', and Brawl gets kicked by his IDW self, which causes Brawl to shoot his G1, movie, and ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'' versions out of himself. The team also gain the color schemes of the ''Shattered Glass'' and G2 Combaticons in a deleted scene.

* SkewedPriorities: After Blast Off destroys Professor Princess' fleet ''and'' the Combaticons' spaceship with the bombs Swindle left inside the ship, Swindle mourns how they cost him 60 thousand credits apiece and the fact he's now down to seven of them rather than worry about the Combaticons losing their spaceship.

** After Onslaught finds out that one of the Combaticons ruptured the pipes on their spaceship, Blast Off promises that everything else will be perfectly normal. Brawl then inquires if Blast Off and Onslaught ever looked out the window, which reveals that Vortex is piloting their ship like a madwoman.

* VillainousBreakdown: Professor Princess ends up crying like a baby after Swindle points out the hypocrisy in her actions, causing her to erase herself from the multiverse.

* OnlySaneMan: [[TheStoic Brawl's blase attitude]] makes him this compared to [[BeleagueredBoss Onslaught]], [[BloodKnight Vortex,]] [[SnakeOilSalesman Swindle]], and [[NervousWreck Blast Off]].

** During the multiverse sequence, Onslaught is attacked by his counterpart from the Film/TransformersFilmSeries, Vortex and Blast Off are shot at by their Generation 1 and ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' selves, Swindle has an encounter with his counterpart from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', and Brawl gets kicked by his IDW self, which causes Brawl to shoot his G1, movie, and ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'' versions out of himself. The team also gain the color schemes of the ''Shattered Glass'' and G2 Combaticons.

** During the multiverse sequence, Onslaught is attacked by his counterpart from the Film/TransformersFilmSeries, Vortex and Blast Off are shot at by their Generation 1 and ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' selves, Swindle has an encounter with his counterpart from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', and Brawl gets kicked by his Gen 1 self.

--> '''Professor Princess''': That is correct! Uninfecting seconds, Professor Princess shall!

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: In a post credits scene, Astrotrain and Nightbird are revealed to be manipulating the Combaticons for their own agenda. While their specific goal is unknown at the moment, it can't be any good considering how Nightbird gleefully states that the Combaticons are playing their part with her plans perfectly without even knowing that they're being played.]]

--> '''Vortex''': The galaxy bends to my whim! [[BringIt Come at me!]] (''cue the rest of Professor Princess' fleet exiting hyperspace'') Oh no, never mind.

* BaitAndSwitch: Swindle seems to have betrayed the Combaticons for Professor Princess, only to prove he's still on their side by eradicating her by pointing out her hypocrisy. It turns out he was doing it as part of TheBet with Onslaught.

* EvilLaugh: Nightbird and Astrotrain laugh maniacally at how the Combaticons are helping them achieve their goals without even knowing it ... only for Astrotrain to end up coughing after laughing for a bit, which he passes off to Nightbird as because of a sinus infection.

* TakeThat: As Professor Princess destroys the multiverse, ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'', ''ComicBook/TheBeastWithin'', the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'', and ''Transformers: Kiss Players''. The destruction is revered in the end as revealed in a message written in Cybertronian, [[KilledOffForReal except for Kiss Players.]]

* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Swindle destroys a '''cosmic entity who claims to have killed Primus''' by pointing out the biggest flaw in her motivations.

* TheStinger: The pilot has two. One is about Nightbird and Astrotrain plotting their next move, while the other is a FreezeFrameBonus implying that Professor Princess is NotQuiteDead.

--> '''Vortex''': The galaxy bends to my whim! Come at me! (''cue the rest of Professor Princess' fleet exiting hyperspace'') Oh no, never mind.

** Bludgeon and possibly Thunderwing are shown threatening Swindle while holding him hostage.

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: The Combaticons here are closer to a DysfunctionJunction that Onslaught barely manages to hold together thanks all the idiosyncrasies they possess, be it Vortex's insubordination, Blast Off's neuroticism, or Swindle's constant sales pitches, to the point that their combined form Bruticus has difficulty keeping itself united. Of course, all that is thrown out the window when the Combaticons do decide to band together

** Swindle takes a lot of cues from his ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' counterpart, especially with his salesman-like mannerisms.

** [[spoiler: The events of the pilot episode are revealed to have all been part of an episode of Chris McFeely's ''Transformers: The Basics'' that the Combaticons were watching.]]