Memes / Transformers

Transformers, due to its long history and multiple continuities, has spawned a host of memes. Please separate them not just by type of media, but series it was based on. Fandom and wiki memes can be separate.

When adding examples, use the following format:

• Meme name: description of meme and how it's used.
  • Source of meme and fandom it relates to.
  • Famous instances (such as the Rickroll during the Thanksgiving parade).
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

If you don't bother explaining your example, it will be deleted.

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Generation 1

• GEEWUN^ExplanationUsed to mock the section of the fandom who thinks that anything after Generation 1 sucks. Eventually cross-pollinated into the Pokémon fandom as GENWUN (after their own first generation - of games specifically) as a similar reaction to nostalgia pandering.
  • REEDUN^ExplanationThe mirror counterpart to GEEWUN, referring to the section of the fandom who bitch and moan endlessly anytime a series homages or references a previous one in any way. Yes, they can be just as obnoxious.
• TRUKK NOT MUNKY!!: ^ExplanationThis phrase arose on Usenet during the '90s to mock people who complained about how Beast Wars had Optimus Prime/al transform into an ape instead of a truck. It has since come to be used in reference to anybody who makes a knee-jerk complaint about a new incarnation not being a slavish copy of Generation 1.
  • Reject Trukk, return to Monke ^Explanation A variation of the return to monke meme that quickly took off in the fandom, especially amongst Beast Wars nostalgics that call for similar radical departures from the formula, given the retroactive recognition of that series as one of the best shows nowadays.
  • Due to both War For Cybertron: Kingdom and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts including both Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal, we now have TRUKK AND MUNKY!
• The original G1 animated movie spawned quite the amount of memes, to the point that TFWiki.net has an entire page dedicated to how many times it has been referenced.
  • Fans tend to reference Stan Bush's "The Touch" whenever a character does something cool. "Dare" is a popular second choice.
  • In the same movie, when Springer tells him that Kup and Hot Rod's shuttle was shot down, Ultra Magnus says that he "can't deal with that now." Hence, he's constantly quoted as saying he can't deal with anything at the present time.
    • Particularly badass incarnations of Ultra Magnus reverse it (He can deal with that now).
    • Another one from Magnus: "Open! Damnit, Open!" Uttered when he tried to unleash the power of the Matrix of Leadership to defeat Galvatron.
  • "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?" ^Explanation Spike's response to discovering Unicron was completely uninjured by the explosive he and Bumblebee sent into him. The line has become memetic for introducing a generation of fans to profanity.
  • Speaking of Springer, we have better things to do tonight than make memes!
  • The words Optimus Prime made immortal: "One shall stand! One shall fall!"
    • Optimus and Megatron's fight contains lines of dialogue quoted both by fans and in other Transformers works. "Why do you throw away your life so recklessly?" and "You who are without mercy would now plead for it?" are some of the popular ones.
    • "X must be stopped. No matter the cost."^ExplanationOne of Optimus Prime's most popular lines, taken from the 1986 movie. Snowcloned for a variety of situations where someone wants to prevent something.
  • It's all Hot Rod's fault that Optimus died!^ExplanationOptimus's death came about because Hot Rod attempted to stop Megatron from pulling an I Surrender, Suckers gambit, only for Megatron to grab him as a Human Shield and fatally wound Prime. For a very, very long time Hot Rod was hated by the fandom for his role in Prime's death, and while he has undergone Character Perception Evolution as the years went on that has made him more popular among the fandom, there are still some fans who want him to Never Live It Down.
  • "Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy!" ^ExplanationThe entire scene of Starscream's coronation is memorable for simultaneously being Galvatron's Establishing Character Moment and also where things go south for Starscream, ending with him being killed by Galvatron. The line is often quoted in response to something the user doesn't find funny or as a sarcastic remark in the format of X? This is bad comedy" to events such as Prince Charles's coronation on Twitter with Queen Elizabeth being portrayed as Galvatron.
  • The universal greeting, Ba Weep Granah Weep Ninny Bong, turns up everywhere, and is a common subject line when new members introduce themselves on Transformers-related message boards.
  • In another scene, when arguing over who should succeed Megatron, Soundwave remarks. "Soundwave superior. Constructicons inferior." This was almost immediately twisted into "Soundwave superior. X inferior", where X is whatever the poster is writing about at the moment.
    • When Dinobot of Beast Wars beat Soundwave, Grimlock, and others in the Transformers Fan Hall of Fame poll, this spawned the meme "SOUNDWAVE INFERIOR. DINOBOT SUPERIOR." and similar terms.
    • "Generation 1 Superior, Bayformers/Michael Bay inferior".^ExplanationA snowcloned version of the line, which was used by the section of the fandom that openly loves the original Generation 1 cartoon while sticking their middle fingers to the live-action film franchise.
    • Became an Ascended Meme in Transformers: Prime, with the normally-mute Soundwave proclaiming "Soundwave superior. Autobots inferior." to taunt the Autobots before shutting down.
  • Haslab's massive Unicron toy (the first toy of the character that accurately replicates his movie design) requiring a crowdfunding of 8,000 people willingly to pay $575 (plus tax) apiece has led to jokes about Unicron devouring wallets and bank accounts to satisfy its hunger, often leaving the fans bankrupted (or at least unable to pay for the auto insurance) in the process. Often quotes from the 1986 movie are juxtaposed over the situation:
    • "For a time... I considered sparing your wretched bank account. But now, you shall witness... ITS WITHDRAWAL!"
    • "I WILL LEAVE YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE IN YOUR WALLET, AS WELL AS YOUR VARIOUS GIFT CARDS..."
      "And?"
      "AND NOTHING!!! YOUR MONEY BELONGS TO ME NOW."
  • Studio Series Rails when?^ExplanationRails was a character introduced in the original draft for the G1 movie who in spite of not being an official character became an overnight Ensemble Dark Horse due to the novelty of his design being a giant robotic snake who turned into a train. With the introduction of "Concept" characters into the Transformers Studio Series line in 2024, fans have clamored for Hasbro to add him to the Studio Series 86 subline as either a Commander or Titan class figure.
• Simon Furman's repeated phrases are so popular it's a rare piece of fan work that doesn't include a couple.
  • Ascended once Furman himself caught wind of their popularity among fans and started deliberately using them. That, and as Ironfist's "Fisitronisms" from The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers.
• Memes are the right of all sentient beings.^ExplanationG1 Optimus Prime's motto of "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." is probably the most well-known and most played about with.
• Marvel US issue 5 had a cover◊ which read 'The Transformers Are All Dead', apparently written by Shockwave. Other versions of Shockwave frequently have quotes based on this given to them, such as the Animated version getting 'The Transformers Are All Cubes.'
  • The phrase made its way into the fourth issue of The Transformers: Robots in Disguise as Ironhide's prediction of the future.
  • Logic.^ExplanationShockwave summed up in one word. Used whenever he shows up in anything.
• Shattered Glass Ravage was originally created by David Willis as a jokey reversal of the normal stealthy saboteur into a loud, energetic attention seeker who's addicted to social networking, and ended up catching on like crazy with his fans and spreading from there. (To the point where sometimes a person who knows almost nothing else about the continuity will still know about him.) Pictures of him waving and variations on his Character Catchphrase of announcing "Can U C me totally waving at you!!!!!!" crop up regularly, and he's been given Ascended Meme status by becoming an official character and even having his own back-up strip series in the official Club Magazine.
  • A similar case with Shattered Glass Grimlock. The Shattered Expectations comic portrayed Grimlock as superintelligent. At the time, SG!Grimlock was just a slavering monster. They eventually upgraded him into his current Genius Bruiser status as a result of the fans liking that persona.
• Nick Roche will shatter trousers with his awesomeness.^ExplanationA long-Running Gag that dates back to his own fanboy days in Transmasters UK and his worship of Furman.
• OUR MISSILES!! ^ExplanationA minor one that originated from one of the Transformers "See and Read" series of book-and-record sets released by Kid Stuff Records. The line is spoken by Prowl in When Continents Collide when Optimus Prime hints at what Megatron and Soundwave will have to face once the latter two's aquatic drilling machine is forced to surface.
  • "You (blundering) tape-filled idiot!" ^ExplanationAnother minor one that also originated from Kid Stuff's book-and-record sets. Megatron often insulted Soundwave for his (perceived) incompetence, usually calling him this, sometimes without the "blundering" part. There were also variant versions such as "cassette-stuffed twerp".
  • "And, the battle continues..." ^ExplanationMost if not all of the Kid Stuff book-and-record sets end each story with this phrase, although "Satellite of Doom" ends with "But, the battle continues".
  • It is LORD ______! ^ExplanationStarscream on a power high.
    • Oh, and Steve Blum used it here.
• For a time, the infamous Hong Kong Omni Production dubs of the three Toei Transformers anime's became a Fountain of Memes in the fandom due to their many bizarre dubbing choices and poor acting.
  • "Darn that Soundwave. EYUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAGH." ^ExplanationAn infamous line from the So Bad, It's Good Omni Productions dub of Transformers Headmasters, specifically the episode "The Mystery of Planet Master". The line is spoken by Galvatron after he sees Soundwave destroyed at the hands of Blast- sorry, "Billy", with the last part sounding more like he's yawning or stretching than letting out a Skyward Scream. Commonly snowcloned as "Darn that x, EYUUUUAAAGGH", and used whenever any notable character dies.
  • "Billy, are you okay?" "Not really... find the Power Pack!" (For context, "Billy" is Blaster and the "Power Pack" is the Matrix. These are Blaster's last words before he dies and is rebuilt as Twincast.)
  • "Galvatron has reused some of Soundwave's parts, along with some other new parts, and has reconstructed another Soundwave, and renamed him NEW Soundwave!"^ExplanationHow the Headmasters dub introduces us to New Soundwave, AKA Soundblaster.
  • "What's happened to the Headmasters? Can't they fight without Chromedome? Fortress Maximus has come himself. Okay, then I shall get Fortress Maximus to fight me!"^ExplanationFrom the episode "I Risk My Life For Earth": Scorponok sees the Headmasters having trouble against his Decepticon army on a TV screen, then sees Fortress Maximus enter the fray. Scorponok announces his intent to draw Maximus to him...in a very poorly worded way.
  • "This is Unicorn! The Earth shall soon be a part of me." ^Explanation Galvatron's plan to become Grand Galvatron by reconstructing the Earth into a body for him is misidentified as a mispronounced Unicron. The design also looks like Galvatron's limbs comically attached to a perfect sphere.
  • "Something strange has happened! Now there are two Optimus Primes!" ^Explanation "Birth Of The Fantastic Double Prime" includes Hot Rod becoming Rodimus Prime once again and working alongside Optimus, with the narrator using the phrase "Double Convoy" for the duo, based on both holding the Convoy rank in Japanese fiction. The Omni Productions dub misinterpreted "Convoy" as referring to Optimus's Japanese name Convoy, leading to Rodimus being referred to as a second Optimus.
  • "I'm Optimus Prime, I'm Japanese." ^ExplanationIn the Omni Productions dub of Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, the dubbing team ended up referring to all the Powermasters/Godmasters and Junior Headmasters by their American toy names, leading to odd dialogue like the aforementioned scene where Ginrai introduces himself.
  • "I come from a planet called Autobot." ^ExplanationAnother meme originating from the Super-God Masterforce dub, as Omni Productions mistranslated the planet Cybertron (Seibetron in Japan) as "Autobot" (who are called the Cybertron in Japan). Since Omni Productions dubbed the three Toei anime series out of order and started with Masterforce, they were informed of the error by Hasbro's Southeast Asian branch and began calling Cybertron by its correct name during their dub of Transformers Victory (though mispronouncing it as "Cyberton").
• ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!? ^ExplanationA Running Gag amongst the fandom, portraying the sports-loving Autobot Eject as a stereotypical sports announcer.
• Trailguy^ExplanationA Running Gag nickname for Trailbreaker, an Autobot who's had to have his name changed in recent times to "Trailcutter" due to copyright issues. Compounded by going back to "Trailbreaker" as of Combiner Wars. Having occasionally been referred to as "Trailblazer" hasn't helped matters either.
• HAHAHA no◊^ExplanationA highly exploitable reaction GIF from the "Scramble City" OVA where Devastator laughs, then shoots out Eye Beams. Often used when someone makes a stupid suggestion.
• Shockwave has terrible aim.^ExplanationShockwave is in charge of operating the Space Bridge. Before the Autobots got access to Cosmos and Omega Supreme, they had to hijack the Bridge to get to Cybertron. Shockwave would try to stop them, but rarely ever managed to actually land a hit.
• Carbombya was so stereotypical that it broke Teletraan I.^ExplanationTeletraan I's Lebanese-American voice actor Casey Kasem quit the show in protest, which led to the Autobot computer being upgraded to Teletraan II with a new voice.
• Skywarp: Decepticon Stair-Pusher-Downer. ^Explanation Skywarp is established as a prankster with teleportation powers, but since he's the Dumb Muscle of the Seekers, all his pranks are malicious, but in a puerile way—ergo, the fandom latched onto him pushing people down stairs as his 'joke' of choice. Because come on, a surprise push down a flight of stairs is hilarious.
• Megatron is old because he is hard!^Explanation An Accidental Innuendo from the British children's book Laserbeak's Fury had Megatron say to a mocking Starscream that he's old because he's hard (using the British term hard as a synonym for tough), but was joked by American fans who claimed Megatron was sexually aroused and became a popular internet tag in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
• Shockwave hates women^ExplanationIn "The Search for Alpha Trion", Shockwave reacts with surprise that female Autobots still exist and prepares to kill them. Fans like to warp this from being Shockwave protecting his energon reserves to instead him being a misogynist who wants to kill all females. The hammy "female" from his surprised reaction to seeing female Autobots still around tends to be taken out of context as if he is reacting with anger that females are in the vicinity.
• The Gag Dubs of the original Generation One cartoon by DRSMOOV have inspired some:
  • “Female Autobots! STEALING Megatron’s Energon!”^ExplanationThe video “Shockwave’s Burden” depicts Shockwave as a fumbling Butt-Monkey who gets harassed and bullied by the Female Autobots. He proclaims this at the start, right before said Female Autobots make an utter fool of him. Saw a resurgence in 2018 when Hasbro made toys for all but one of the Female Autobots.
    • “YOU BITCHES!!!”^ExplanationShockwave’s default retort to the taunting of the Female Autobots, said impotently after they beat the crap out of him.
  • Referring to Kup as “Shitpiece”.^ExplanationIn "The Rude Awakening Of Optimus Prime", Optimus starts randomly renaming the Autobots after his revival; in addition to his canonical renaming of Bumblebee to Goldbug, he starts referring to Kup as “Shitpiece” (Kup said he felt like a piece of shit).
  • SHUT THE FUCK UP, CHIP!^Explanation"Heavy Metal Fight" portrays Chip Chase, the Autobots’ Inspirationally Disadvantaged human friend from the original cartoon, as The Chew Toy who’s hated and abused by the Autobots for constantly giving blindingly obvious warnings.
• X is Shockwave/Everything is Shockwave's Fault.^{Explanation (HUGE SPOILER)}The Optimus Prime comic book revealed that Onyx Prime, the Ambiguously Evil Greater-Scope Villain who had shaped most of Cybertronian history, was actually a time-traveling Shockwave in disguise. Shockwave had already been used to arc weld a lot of stuff in the IDW comics, but this took it to the next level and made it so Shockwave was pretty much behind every notable event in that continuity. It thus became popular to wonder if other characters are Shockwave in disguise or controlled by him. Alternatively, it became popular to portray Shockwave as being responsible for almost everything in any given continuity (to the point that on the wiki it has become popular to give every iteration of the character a caption saying how "it was all their fault".
• “You destroy everything you touch, X!”^ExplanationOptimus hurls this accusation at Megatron just before their iconic duel on Sherman Dam in the first episode of the original cartoon. Snowcloned as a Take That! towards various targets, most commonly Michael Bay, as a riff on his famous propensity for Stuff Blowing Up.
• On at least one fan forum (for the curious, Transformer World 2005), the then-recent release of a Straxus figure in the Generations line (officially called "Darkmount" for trademark reasons) has led to mutations of one of his earliest lines in the 80's Marvel comic, "Mercy is not dispensed here, fools—only death!", such as the figure riding a bike (itself a Transformers figure) and holding a guitar with "Mercy is not dispensed here, fools—only awesome!", or the figure surrounded by booze bottles with "Death is not dispensed here, fools—only mercy!"
  • This became more or less ascended with the second Allspark Almanac, which features Animated Straxus as part of a board game and the line “Victory points are not dispensed to Autobots... only death!”
  • And now, thanks to a misspelling on Animated Straxus' Formspring, Straxmus was coined as a holiday by Derrick J. Wyatt in which people insult and annoy Straxus, who's played by a fan as an Expy of Morbo the Annhilator.
• Fire-retardant foam is the most powerful weapon against Decepticons. ^ExplanationIn "The Ultimate Doom, Part One", the Decepticons invade the Ark. Nothing can take them down... except for the ship's fire-retardant foam security device, which shorts them out and scares Megatron into retreating. Since then, fire-retardant foam has reached Memetic Badass status in the fandom.
  • Becomes an Ascended Meme in Transformers: Prime, where a fire extinguisher rapidly becomes Jack's weapon after the episode "Scrapheap".
• WE MUST HAVE A RACE.^ExplanationIn the outright stupidly hilarious episode "A Prime Problem", the Autobots are trying to Spot the Imposter Optimus Prime, but somehow grab the Idiot Ball in that rather than using any logical methods to identify the imposter, they settle for a race. This meme has been used whenever two things are confused with another.
• Megatron has fallen! I, Starscream, am now your leader!^ExplanationStarscream’s most iconic line and pretty much a microcosm of his entire character. This and permutations of it are quoted in numerous situations, usually replacing Megatron with something that’s ended or been temporarily disabled (i.e., “The government has shut down! I, Starscream, am now your leader!”).
  • My equilibrium...destabilized! ^ExplanationThe above line is a response to this line, which both originate from the end of the episode "S.O.S. Dinobots" in which Megatron gets shot by a gyro-inhibitor shell from Wheeljack that causes him to lose his sense of balance and fall to the ground, meaning Starscream was being quite literal in the above line. Megatron's hammy intonation and his ensuing groan of pain have become just as memetic as Starscream's response to his plight.
  • Too bad! He's blown his vocal components! I guess that makes me the new leader!^ExplanationAnother one of Starscream's most notorious bids for leadership originates from the episode "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1". In said episode, both sides are suffering from Cybertonium depletion which causes various characters to malfunction. In Megatron's case, his vocal components malfunction causing his speech to become incomprehensible which Starscream uses as an excuse to declare himself leader. The ridiculousness of Starscream's claim for leadership has elicited quite the mockery among the fandom, especially since shortly after doing so he crashed to the ground as a result of his own malfunction.
• Mister Johnson.^Explanation Legal issues meant that the Hatchette reprints of the Marvel UK stories had to replace a cameo from real-world Virgin CEO Richard Branson with a strange, made-up character named Mister Johnson. His odd facial expression quickly became memetic, as did a meme of him "replacing" various other characters in the Transformers mythos.
• Offlined by the cosmically-powered Starscream. ^ExplanationWhen Starscream gained the power of the Underbase in the Marvel comics, he massacred a ton of Transformers during his rampage before being stopped as part of Bob Budiansky's attempt to clean house for the newer toys. Since a lot of Starscream's victims were old fan favorites such as Goldbug (Bumblebee), Jazz, Blitzwing, the Dinobots, etc., this detail frequently pops up during Chris McFeely's Transformers: The Basics videos, which became a Running Gag among the viewers.
  • "So, what happened to cosmically-powered Starscream?" "He was taken offline by the cosmically-powered Starscream." "Cosmically-powered Starscream could only be taken offline by cosmically-powered Starscream."^Explanation These and variants. Starscream had only absorbed some of the power of the Underbase when he killed so many Transformers, when he absorbed the rest of the Underbase, it was too much and destroyed Starscream himself.
  • The Monster Planet Unicron. ^ExplanationMcFeely's Transformers: The Basics almost always introduces Unicron with the title "monster planet" whenever the character is introduced as relevant to the video's topic.
• Energon enema. ^ExplanationRung's introduction in Transformers: Earth Wars infamously had him suggest this to repair the injured Springer and Sandstorm. Became an Ascended Meme in Takara's Generations Selects online comic, where Rung is used to defeat a Quintesson Judge via Ass Shove.
• Megatron's gun mode. ^ExplanationThe sheer ridiculousness that the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons turns into a pistol that's usually used by Starscream.
  • Safety Megatron. ^Explanation A failed attempt to reissue the original Megatron toy in the United States by replacing his grey and chrome deco with a garish blue and orange,◊ due to American gun laws. It didn't happen.
  • Upside-down submarines/spaceships. ^Explanation The "Titans Return" Sixshot and "Siege" Shockwave toys have alternate modes that suspiciously resemble their Generation One toys' laser gun alternate modes flipped upside-down that are referred to respectively as a submarine and spaceship. This led fans to jokingly refer to other gun alt-modes, such as Megatron and Shockwave's, as upside-down submarines.
  • "Guns don't kill people. Megatron kills people." ^Explanation In Rodimus Primal's video discussing Megatron and his gun alt mode, and if it should preserved in the modern day, he concludes by saying "Guns don't kill people. . . Megatron kills people." Viewers immediately embraced the line, to the point T-shirts bearing the slogan (and Megatron's G1 gun form) are available as merch from Rodimus Primal's store.
  • Studio Series 86 Megatron ^ExplanationA recurring debate over the feasibility of including a Megatron toy in the aforementioned toyline. While Megatrons that turn into firearms can't be sold at retail due to US gun laws, him having a different altmode would give the robot excess spare parts that weren't in the cartoon and go against the Studio Series line's goal of making the toy's robot modes as screen-accurate as possible. Thus, people argue over which option the hypothetical toy would go with, presuming that Hasbro wouldn't avoid the issue by not making it at all.
• DREADWING IS PUNISHING / HIS GATLING GUN IS ILLIN'! / THIS DECEPTICON BOMBER'S A TRANSFORMER-RAMA / A THREE-IN-ONE VILLAIN THAT’S CHILLIN!^ExplanationFans love to quote the So Bad, It's Good rap music from the Generation 2 toy commercials. Dreadwing’s commercial is the most popular for just how awful the lyrics are.
  • Said commercials also led to Bruticus being constantly referred to as a “Big Bad Battlin’ Dudicus”.
  • "MEGATRON ATTACK"^ExplanationThe Transformers: Generation 2 Megatron toy makes this this noise when you press a button on its back.
• "I'm Wildrider and I wanna bust a nut!" ^ExplanationThe Stunticons' introductory scene includes Wildrider saying "I wanna bust sumpin' up!" Due to his inflection and the distortion on his voice, many fans misheard the statement as Wildrider wishing to "bust a nut"; this supposed declaration of wanting to ejaculate was accepted as a much funnier Establishing Character Moment than Wildrider wanting to destroy stuff.
• "IT'S TIME TO JACK OFF◊" ^ExplanationAn out of context, edited panel of Wheeljack transforming in the Marvel Transformers comics has made its rounds in the fanbase, associating the phrase with the character due to the pun surrounding his name.
• How to hide from Shockwave^ExplanationA diagram which uses animation models from The Transformers to depict Bumblebee hiding from Shockwave by standing underneath the latter's protruding chest (or, as the diagram puts it, Shockwave's "big boob blindspot"). The silliness of the image has led to it being recreated numerous times in fanart or with toys of the two characters.
• Why don't you build a bridge AND JUMP OF IT!^ExplanationA line from Blitzwing in the episode "Triple Takeover" of the original cartoon, usually edited to look like the "You should kill yourself NOW!" meme.
• Condescending Prime^ExplanationThis screencap◊ from Transformers Victory gets a fair amount of use as a reaction image in sarcastic contexts in the same vein as "Condescending Wonka". It's mistaken frequently for Optimus Prime, hence the name, but is actually Ginrai.
• Decepticons! Steal this meme!^ExplanationA reaction image used to praise the meme it's reacting to.
• This planet is yours now, Megatron. I'm done defending it.^ExplanationA reaction image used to show disgust at Squicky or otherwise unsettling material.
• How do you feel about going on the offensive?/Now this... is PEAK.^ExplanationAn edit of a panel in the 4th issue of Skybound's Transformers comic, where Optimus replacing his missing arm with Megatron's fusion cannon one. Used to praise something as "peak fiction". It has also become popular to reenact this scene with other continuities' versions of Optimus wearing their respective Megatrons' arms.
• On the Japanese side of the fandom, Tessho Genda’s performance as Optimus Prime/Convoy has become infamous due to two scenes in the dubs of “More Than Meets The Eye part 2” and “Divide and Conquer”, where Genda provides an absolutely hilarious delivery of Optimus’ screaming in pain when he’s caught in an explosion and Laserbeak shoots him in the respective episodes.

Beast Era

• David Kaye adlibbed Beast Megatron adding a rather gloaty "yeeess" to the end of many sentences. This was very memorable, and fans constantly add it to the end of sentences referencing either Megatron or Kaye.
• Universe Razorclaw had the infamous "Know that I am Razorclaw..." speech. Thanks to this, fans tend to discuss him with phrases like "KNOW that Razorclaw did this!"
  • Mind you, there are at least three other versions of Razorclaw, and all of them get references to this in their wiki entries. Even the disambiguation page.
  • Hell, even the toys for Predaking aren't immune to the meme;
  "Know that the torso of this Titanium Series 3" die-cast figurine is technically Razorclaw."
  "Know that the torso of this Robot Heroes figurine is also technically Razorclaw."
  • The toy for Rockbuster, a very slight recolor of Beast Wars toy Razorclaw, has "Know that I am not Razorclaw!" as his caption. "Shattered Glass" Razorclaw (SG being about Cliffjumper landing in a Mirror Universe) has as his caption, "It's totally cool with me if you don't know who I am."
• "Wazzzpinator haz planzz....." was only ever said by the original Waspinator twice, but it has become one of his most beloved lines. With him in the running for the Hall of Fame, many have joked that this was his plan all along. It even appears in Transformers: Animated, in a more serious context. (A more tragic, but more twisted, version of Waspinator is Pulling Himself Together, saying "Waspinator cannot go offline! Waspinator has plans!")
  • Similarly, “Why universe hate Waszzpinator?” is treated as Waspinator’s Character Catchphrase and is often quoted in discussions about the character, even though he’s only said it once in canon.
• Depth Charge is sometimes called "Batmanta", due to his similarity to Batman and having a manta ray alt mode.
• “Razorbeast! I’ve been looking for him since, like, October!”^ExplanationRazorbeast, a fairly minor Maximal from the toyline, made a rather unexpected cameo in Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air of all things, as a toy Will Smith has been searching for. As a result, this and other Fresh Prince references tend to get thrown around whenever Razorbeast appears in fiction.
  • Speaking of Razorbeast: “Whose tusks GLEAM in the night? The wild boar, one of the most feared of jungle predators!”^ExplanationA Narmful bit of narration from the “Optimus Primal VS Megatron!” pack-in comic, said in reference to Razorbeast. For many years, this was his only appearance in fiction (prior to becoming the Breakout Character in IDW's Beast Wars comics), so the line tends to be heavily associated with him.
• "Duly noted...and ignored!" ^ExplanationMegatron's reply to Dinobot II when the latter says Megatron shouldn’t use the Nemesis to kill off human kind. Used to show acknowledgment of a reply, but also immediate disregard.
• “Rubber ducky, you’re the one...”^ExplanationA minor Running Gag in Beast Wars was Megatron inexplicably having a rubber duck amongst his possessions. Fans like to jokingly portray the duck as Megatron’s top lieutenant, while David Kaye is known to sing the “Rubber Duckie” song from Sesame Street in Megatron’s voice during convention appearances.
• “He lived a warrior... and died a hero. Let his spark join the Matrix, the greatest of Cybertron.”^ExplanationOptimus Primal’s iconic eulogy for Dinobot, which is often considered one of the greatest moments in the franchise’s history. Used in times of mourning, joking or not.
• Everything about Dinobot's Old Technology by MG-Dinobot, which is effectively the franchise’s equivalent of My Immortal:
  • Referring to Dinobot’s signature tail weapon as a “Rotate-Blade”. Also, describing parts of his body (usually his crotch) as being a rigid grill structure.
  • “You lived like a warrior ans died to a hero.”^ExplanationThe fic’s butchering of Optimus Primal’s above-mentioned eulogy.
• King Kong Adventure Fuck^ExplanationA since-removed comment under a Chris McFeely video about the Beast Era, which complains about the premise of Beast Wars and ends with the bizarre claim that the cartoon's true title is "King Kong aventure fuck" [sic]. While fans had been making jokes and edits claiming that as the show's actual title since the comment was posted, the practice saw a surge in popularity after the first teaser trailer for Rise of the Beasts came out, with people calling the movie "King Kong Adventure Fuck: The Movie" or "The 4K remake of King Kong Adventure Fuck"
• "Rhinox, maximize!"^ExplanationThe clip of Rhinox maximizing in the first episode has been frequently edited to replace his battlecry with a loud screaming noise.
• "Eh, we're all gonna die."^ExplanationRattrap's Character Catchphrase.

Unicron Trilogy

Transformers: Armada

• Pokeformers ^ExplanationA nickname for Transformers: Armada, given by people who disliked the show's focus on trying to collect all the Mini-Cons and sought to take the series down a few pegs by comparing it to Pokémon.
  • Tidal Wave...Tidal Wave...^ExplanationTidal Wave tends to say his name quite a lot as if he were a Pokémon.
• JaAm ^Explanation The first pack-in mini-comic for Armada was written in three languages despite having small speech bubbles, resulting in stilted dialogue and the text being printed in an absurdly tiny font. A fan poked fun at said comic by editing it to be about Hot Shot having an obsession with jam, complete with bizarre capitalization and Comic Sans. This edit exploded in popularity, and imitators have popped up occasionally since then.
  • Other bits of dialogue from said fan edit include "My LifE iS pAiN", "WhY mY SHoUldErS HuRt?", and, to a lesser degree, "i eAt yOuR bAbIEs!!"
  • There's also "HUMP THAT TANK".
  • Jam copters ^Explanation Hot Shot refers to his Mini-Con partner Jolt as a "jam coptor" (sic) in the comic. For a while this term was applied to helicopter Transformers in general; the practice briefly stopped when Armada ended, returned when Jolt appeared in Cybertron, and died out again soon after.
  • JaAm has become an Ascended Meme and was featured both in the bio of the Universe/Classics Hot Shot toy and on the toy's license plate.
    • Then Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy became the first Transformers cartoon to reference the meme. In "Rescue Promo", this universe's Hot Shot ends up in a vat of jam following a disaster at a Griffin Rock cake factory. Guess what the first thing he says immediately afterwards is.
• Takara Armada Optimus when? ^ExplanationWith the Takara-initiated Armada Optimus Prime figure revealed in 2019 never receiving any updates beyond gray prototype pictures and remains stuck in Development Hell as of now, some fans make fun of the lack of any concrete updates on the anticipated figure in various memes. It doesn't help that with the lack of attention by Hasbro and Takara when it comes to Armada slowly approaching its 20th anniversary, some fans do believe that the series has been "ignored" or treated as non-existent. While the original prototype is all but cancelled at this point, a different version of Armada Prime would be released for the second year of the Legacy Milestone Celebration line in time for its 20th anniversary
• "RED ALERT!! WOO WOO WOO WOO"^ExplanationThe Transformers: Armada Red Alert toy makes this noise when you place a Mini-Con onto the Mini-Con port and push it forward.

Transformers: Energon

• UH.^ExplanationThe English dub of Transformers: Energon is infamous for its Filling the Silence, most notoriously filling dead air with the characters making obnoxious grunts or going “uh”. As a result, the word “uh” tends to be heavily associated with Energon.
  • GET TO THE SHIP!!!^ExplanationAn infamous bit from the Energon dub, in which Demolisher’s death scene is almost completely drowned out by having all the Autobots shriek incessantly about getting onto their ship.
  • KICKER, OUR PLANETS, KICKER!^ExplanationAnother notorious line from the dub, this one said constantly to Kicker by Alpha Quintesson.
  • Holy Frijoles!^ExplanationYet another notorious line from the dub, one said by Carlos in response to seeing Tidal Wave being larger than he already is. The line has been mocked for making Carlos even more stereotypically Latino than he already was back in Armada.

Transformers: Cybertron

• “Our worlds are in danger!”^ExplanationThe first line in the opening theme of Cybertron, said by Optimus Prime. It’s often joked that shouting this will cause others to instantly remember and complete the rest of the narration/song.
• The Unicron Singularity is the cause of every Plot Hole in the franchise.^ExplanationThe plot of Cybertron is caused by the black hole created by Unicron's destruction at the end of Energon. As Galaxy Force, the original Japanese version of Cybertron, was originally meant to be in a wholly different continuity, the Singularity was stated to be warping space and time in order to link it back to Energon while Hand-Waving the multiple Series Continuity Errors that would arise from such an act of Canon Welding. As this occurred during the time in the franchise's history that Unicron was treated as a multiversal singularity, fans have taken this to its logical conclusion by using the black hole to explain every retcon and continuity error in the entire franchise.

Live-action Film Series

General/Unsorted

• Damn you, Michael Bay!^ExplanationFrom one of the behind-the-scenes features of the first movie's DVD, Michael Bay himself indulges in some Self-Deprecation by mentioning this was one of the things his acquired hatedom said about him. Online forums were flaming him about heavily deviating from the standard formula and designs of Transformers, with a not-so-subtle shot of his computer on the website Transformer World 2005 (implying the users there were the ones who originated this complaint), which all but tore into him for his initial design of Megatron's head (which led him to heavily modify it) and many of the radical changes he made to the franchise in general. It has come to encompass any complaint waged at Michael Bay for making a change to the franchise its fans disapprove of.
  • Michael Bay, take notes! ^ExplanationFans who believe that Bay's films should have followed the Generation 1 setting instead of reimagining the Transformers universe (again) tend to say this.
  • "Go Away Bay!"
• "Wait, the Bayverse had fans?"^ExplanationA snarky comment made at the expense of the live-action film series due to the franchise's seemingly declined reputation in the US... if you don't count its popularity overseas.
• "#StopLorenzo2019/2023" ^ExplanationLorenzo di Bonaventura, one of the producers for the Bay films, is notorious for making bizarre and misleading statements about the future of the franchise, as well as constantly flip-flopping on those same statements, such as being head-achingly vague about whether Bumblebee is a reboot or not (even after Hasbro confirmed themselves that it was). The fandom at this point wishes Lorenzo would just shut up, since it’s increasingly obvious that he has no idea what he’s talking about and that he has little real influence over the franchise’s direction. The meme would see a brief revival in the leadup to the release of Rise of the Beasts when Lorenzo once again began making statements about how the film would tie into the Bay films, in particular the first movie. His statements this time around became the subject of fan mockery and ridicule, especially once the second trailer showed Unicron being separate from the Earth unlike in The Last Knight, which truly cemented how the new films were in a separate continuity from the Bay films.
• #NotMyTransformers^Explanation A Twitter hashtag used by many fans to voice their opposition to the Michael Bay-directed films.
• Optimum Pride/UR UR AE AE AE^ExplanationA memetic TikTok video of a Filipino man yelling at a truck resembling Optimus's alternate mode from Age of Extinction and The Last Knight before attempting to imitate the transformation noise, all the while swearing in Tagalog. The video gained wild popularity among Indonesian and Filipino audiences before eventually exploding worldwide. The meme also gained unexpected popularity among the Virtual Youtuber community as it became popular for VTubers to either directly reference the meme or for clips of them being construed as them referencing it.
• Murder Prime/Optimus the war criminal^ExplanationOne of the most controversial elements of the Bay films is the overt hyperviolence and how Optimus Prime ends up being one of the serial offenders when it comes to this tendency. Not only does he execute most of the main antagonists of said films in a rather graphic fashion, but he yells lines like "You die!" or "I'll kill you!" to his enemies which to many longtime fans of the franchise is antithetical to Optimus's character.

Transformers (2007)

• "Bonecrusher Hates X" ^ExplanationThe packaging for Bonecrusher's toy states he "hates everything" Fans were quick to riff off the statement, substituting just about anything you can think of for "X". It started with buses, as he was seen smashing through one in the first movie's trailer. The meme got so ubiquitous on TFWiki.net that the mods had to impose limits on its usage.
• ARE YOU USERNAME LADIESMAN217?! ^ExplanationThis gem comes from the Decepticon Barricade, who tracks down Sam through his eBay page.
• Glenn Whitman has become a Fountain of Memes despite only appearing in the first movie.
  • The FBI Raid scene (where his house gets raided because he was given a classified transmission) gets used everywhere for videos considered lewd and inappropriate.
  • SHUT UP, GRAMMA!!/GRAMMA, DRINK YOUR PRUNE JUICE!! ^ExplanationLines that Glenn yells at his doddering grandma for annoying him.
  • I ate da whole plate. The whole plate.^ExplanationA brief line from the first film by Glenn after he finishes eating an entire plate of donuts while waiting in an interrogation room. It was popularized by Lindsay Ellis and encouraged by Andre the Black Nerd, the former claiming it was her favorite one-liner she quotes all the time (and nobody gets), and "The Whole Plate" would become the title of her later multi-part video series analyzing the Transformers films.
• Thanks to a bunch of events and a few toy reviewers, the scene of Lennox and Epps arguing; in particular Epps' emphasis of "LEFT CHEEK!" has begun to gain some popularity.
• Sam's happy time.^ExplanationThe most infamous scene in the first movie, where Sam's absolutely tactless mother blatantly asks if he's pleasuring himself in the bathroom. It comes off as a line totally unwarranted for a franchise about giant transforming robots and shoehorned in so freakishly that some claim it was just a cheap and crude tactic to make the movie look edgier from the source work. Really, it was just an ad-lib they kept in for laughs.
• If (X) Came Out In 2007 ^Explanation A trend starting with an edit of the ending of Jurassic World in which the ending of a film has the music replaced with "What I've Done" leading to the director's credit ala the 2007 film
• "I'm going to turn into a truck now"^Explanation Based on a tweet claiming that a poll was held where fans voted on what they wanted Optimus to say in the movie, with the winner allegedly being "I'm going to turn into a truck now." An edit of the ending scene with the final line being replaced with "I'm going to turn into a truck now" became popular, as well as videos of people transforming their Optimus figures paired with audio of Optimus saying the line and imitating the transformation sound.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen

• "GIVE ME YOUR FACE!" ^Explanation Optimus Prime shouts this line at The Fallen right before he rips the latter's face off and kills him. The line frequently comes up as evidence for Bayverse Optimus being unusually violent compared to most depictions of the character, leading to this version of him being remembered as a bloodthirsty face-stealer.
  • Live Fallen/Megatronus Reaction ^ExplanationThe Fallen's 2022 Studio Series toy has a screen-accurate removable face with a movable jaw. Fans noticed that the unmasked face looks like The Fallen is performing a hysterical Wild Take, often using it as a reaction image captioned in the style of the "Live Slug Reaction" meme.
• Enemy scrotum.^ExplanationA rather infamous scene from Revenge of the Fallen, where Devastator is shown to have two wrecking balls hanging from his crotch, and Simmons describes himself as "below the enemy's scrotum". This scene was ridiculed by fans because of how out of place it is for a movie based off of a toyline to have a testicles joke, and the gag's notoriety led to several third-party toy companies making add-ons to give Devastator's movie toys wrecking balls.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

• It's the one where Spock goes nuts.^{Explanation (Spoilers)}Spoken by Wheelie at the beginning of the movie, which cleverly provides foreshadowing for the rest of the film and basically sums it up.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

• A screenshot of Optimus Prime riding Grimlock◊ from Age of Extinction has become rather popular due to fans finding it awesome.
• I'm a fat ballerina!^ExplanationHound's most memorable line from Age of Extinction, mostly for how stupidly awesome it is.
• Optimus' ass.^ExplanationThe Voyager Class Age of Extinction Evasion Mode Optimus Prime toy has wheel kibble on his thighs that, when posed in a way that coincidentally resembles twerking, can form a pair of buttocks as demonstrated on the image itself. This image is often paired with a clip of Optimus and Megatron fighting in Transformers: Prime with the former in his vehicle mode running over the latter with his wheels, recontextualizing it as an example of Ass Kicks You.

Transformers: The Last Knight

• French Hot Rod.^ExplanationOn top of being outright unrecognizable compared to his iconic appearance (missing his signature red, orange, and yellow flame paint job), Hot Rod inexplicably has an extremely thick French accent. This has led to many jokes among the fandom with some refusing to even recognize the character as Hot Rod. Several of the character's lines, such as "Leetle Lady Non!" and "Stop za time!" have also become quite popular in spite of the controversy.

Bumblebee

• The Shape of Metal/Gasoline/Energon ^ExplanationThe first trailer gained this jokingly affectionate moniker, thanks to sharing the theme of a (platonic, in this case) love story between a human female and a male non-human, not to mention a shot of Charlie embracing Bee underwater that looks very similar to a scene to Del Toro's film. Comparisons to The Iron Giant are also popular, even having scenes in their climaxes that are almost identical. It also helps that all three films take place in the same Cold War setting.
• How to Train Your Autobot ^ExplanationCharlie bonding with Bumblebee by gently placing her hand on his face has drawn comparisons to Hiccup and Toothless's iconic bonding moment in the first How to Train Your Dragon movie..
• Shatter and Dropkick, the two main Decepticons, are often jokingly compared to Team Rocket's Jessie and James from Pokémon: The Series thanks to their red-blue color schemes, status as an Evil Duo, and the fact that they spend much of the movie fooling the military into thinking they’re the good guys, mirroring Team Rocket’s infamous paper-thin disguises.
• It didn't take long for everyone, including TFWiki.net, to get in on making joking comparisons to Bee Movie. Some fans even humorously hoped it would open with Optimus Prime narrating "According to all known laws of aviation..."
  • It really doesn't help that the lead actress' name is Hailee Seinfeld— er, Steinfeld.
• "The Queen of Wakanda is a Decepticon!"^ExplanationShatter is voiced by Angela Bassett, who had recently gotten a fair amount of acclaim for her performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther (2018).
• "Bumblebee, sweet boy" ^ExplanationThis memorable quote about the character from the Netflix documentary show The Toys That Made Us was quickly associated with the trailer's Lighter and Softer take on the movies' Bee.
• What do you mean, that's Blitzwing? ^ExplanationThe seeker who tears out Bumblebee’s voicebox at the start of the movie was widely assumed to be Starscream in the months leading up to the film’s release, only for Word of God to say he’s actually supposed to be Blitzwing (Starscream does appear, but only for a brief cameo in the prologue). Cue jokes about Travis Knight not being able to tell the difference between Starscream and Blitzwing, or Starscream toys being referred to as Blitzwing toys.
  • STARSCREAM NOT BLITZWING!
  • "I Can't Believe It's Not Starscream!"
  • "You thought it was Starscream, but it was I, Blitzwing!"
  • Some extend the joke to other characters, such as claiming Soundwave is actually Reflector or that Optimus Prime is Ultra Magnus.
• Naturally, John Cena's reputation as “the invisible man” has fans questioning why he doesn't appear in the movie as advertised.
• "It's basically the plot of The Little Mermaid but with robots."^ExplanationSome have pointed out similarities between the two, with a main protagonist (Bumblebee/Ariel) losing their voice, befriending a human of the opposite gender (Charlie/Prince Eric) and fighting against a female antagonist who ends up being crushed by a boat (Shatter/Ursula).
• Carried over from the original series, discourse over whether Ravage is a cat or a dog. ^ExplanationHe's supposed to be a robotic panther, but he has a rather canine head and for many years fans would bicker about what kind of animal he was. Bumblebee proceeded to reopen the argument by having its version of Ravage look a lot more like a dog.
• Comparing this new entry positively, directed by Travis Knight, to the previous ones directed by Michael Bay has the phrase 'it's like Knight and Bay.'
• Cliffjumper's Cruel and Unusual Death at the hands of Shatter and Dropkick had led many to joke that Hasbro really has it out for him, as this is the second time he's been killed off early.
• "Did you think you could hide?!"^ExplanationBlitzwing shouts this at Bumblebee as he attacks him at the start of the movie. Often used in a similar manner to the "why are you running?!" meme.
• "Because of you, our franchise has a future." and other similar snowclones. ^ExplanationThese lines are derived from Optimus Prime's commendation to Bumblebee for keeping Earth safe as the film concludes. The one prominently displayed on this line is usually a commendation to Travis Knight for saving the film franchise.
• "Thank you for giving me my _____ back."^Explanation Fans jokingly use this with touching screencaps from different source media.
• "With all due respect, are you out of your damn mind?!"^Explanation Fans quickly started using this quote as a way of dismissing low blows (e.g. name-calling, your mom jokes, etc.) in internet flame wars, or dismissing insults to the Bumblebee movie itself.
• What exactly does Soundwave turn into again?^Explanation Soundwave's design in Bumblebee was eventually given a transforming figure in the Studio Series line in 2021, which turned into... whatever this is◊. Naturally, fans began to poke fun at how unfocused his alternate mode looked, with the closest rational explanation as to what it was being his "ship" mode from Transformers vs. G.I. Joe. Many memes have put his alternate mode in different contexts, such as him sunbathing or being Green Goblin's glider.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

• "Let them come."^ExplanationThe teaser trailer for Rise of the Beasts has Optimus say this line response to his yet-to-be-revealed adversaries. However, with how the internet often jokingly misinterprets the word "come" as something else, many "Keanu Reeves Is Extremely Horny"-esque jokes have been made from that delivery. It doesn't help that Optimus has said "come" in a similar manner in the previous movies too, such as "I'm coming!" from Dark of the Moon.
• Pablo.^ExplanationWheeljack's appearance in Rise of the Beasts, revealed via a leaked toy, has gained a polarizing reputation with the fanbase, with some dismissing the drastic design change as a waste of his Generation 1-faithful design in the Bumblebee movie, while others are in favor on the account of trying something new with Wheeljack's character. The moniker of "Pablo" comes from the leaked toy, which has a "TV Pablo" decal on the sides of his vehicle mode - the detractors of Wheeljack's Rise of the Beasts design use this moniker to separate him from his appearance in Bumblebee, while those who like the design uses it as an Affectionate Nickname.
• Battletrap the actor.^ExplanationFor some reason, web browser-generated cast lists for Rise of the Beasts list Battletrap as if he were an actor in the film, despite his voice actor David Sobolov already being listed as the voice of Rhinox. This has led to jokes about Battletrap being cast in the film As Himself.
• Justice for Transit.^ExplanationTransit was a Decepticon who was cut from the final film. Despite this, he became an Ensemble Dark Horse among the fandom who campaigned to have his role in the film restored. Following the release of the deleted opening featuring him, the fandom has shifted their attention to him getting a figure in the Studio Series line.

Animated

• In the glorious show that is Transformers Animated, Lugnut's glorious habit of gloriously referring to the great and glorious Megatron, (glorious leader of the glorious Decepticons) as well, glorious, has gloriously attained this glorious status, for the glory of MEGATRON!!
  • Lugnut's Megaton Punch was named in the fanon as the Punch Of Kill Everything.
    • The Punch of Kill Everything bit has ascended in a couple ways. Besides making it the official name of the attack in an Animated tie-in comic, the P.O.K.E has turned up as an upgrade in WFC and FoC. It's apparently still in alpha testing due to problems with the "kill everything" feature.
    • The P.O.K.E. also shows up as the ability of G1 Lugnut in Transformers: Earth Wars.
• EXPRESS MY FEELINGS IN SONG!^ExplanationAnimated Blitzwing's response to being insulted by Blackarachnia in the pilot episode.
• The Blurr Cube.^{Explanation (Spoilers)}The three-part opening for Season 3 has Blurr get compacted by Shockwave after he tries to blow his cover. Fans have poked fun at his Cruel and Unusual Death (though he got better outside of the season).
• Any mention or appearance of Sentinel Prime leads to numerous Tick references.^ExplanationSentinel Prime is voiced by Townsend Coleman, who’s most famous for voicing the Tick in the cartoon series of the same name, and was designed to kind of look like the Tick as an Actor Allusion.
• “This is why I hate machines!”^ExplanationOne of Animated’s biggest Running Gags, regularly said by Captain Fanzone, a grumpy, machine-hating police officer who’s Born in the Wrong Century to the extreme.
• "Hit me with everything you've got, sir!"^{Explanation (Spoilers)}A memetic edit involving Ironhide saying this line to Sentinel Prime, which is viewed as Black Comedy version of Hilarious in Hindsight, where the scene cutting to the scene from Transformers: Dark of the Moon, where live-action incarnation of Sentinel Prime proceeds to shoot live-action Ironhide with his cosmic rust cannon; in other words, "hitting Ironhide with everything he's got".

Aligned Universe

Transformers: War for Cybertron/Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

• "When your hit percentage exceeds mine, you may choose the soundtrack!"^Explanation Spoken by Shockwave in an ad for Transformers: War for Cybertron in response to a question asked by Starscream about choosing the song to fight to. It should be noted that the song was The Touch. The line is somewhat ironic considering the "Shockwave's Aim" meme above.
• "Don't you mean our energon, Starscream?"^ExplanationIn the fifth mission of Fall of Cybertron, Starscream jealously eyes the Autobot energon transport and states that it is carrying away his energon, only for him to be countermanded by Onslaught who corrects his line. The switch from "my" to "our" has led fans to make jokes about the Combaticons being communists, which is rather fitting considering the more modern portrayal of the Decepticons as communist analogues in the IDW continuity.

Transformers: Prime

• Prime was described at BotCon as being 'rightfully huge'. The fandom adopted this term to describe absolutely every single thing in the series.
• Transformers: Prime Japanese dub Airachnid:
  • JACK-U CHAN!^Explanation Airachnid in the Japanese dub isn't a sadistic killer, but a boy-crazy Girly Girl of a Yandere who wants to kidnap Jack. The Engrish pronunciation of his name only adds to the funny.
  • New Rule: We cannot complain about English dubs as long as this exists.^ExplanationA popular YouTube comment regarding Airachind's radical change in personality. This time, it caused comparisons to stereotypically poor English dubs.
  • ALL RIGHT WHO GAVE HER CRACK? *glares at Starscream shrinking away*^ExplanationAnother popular YouTube comment in regards to the Japanese dub.
• Jack's fire extinguisher.
• "I needed that!"^ExplanationRatchet's Character Catchphrase.
• ARE YOU READY FOR THE HOT NUTS?^ExplanationA Memetic Mutation related to this rather hilarious promo for summer where Megatron says "hot nights".
• DINKLEBERG! ^ExplanationKnock Out is voiced by Daran Norris, who also voiced Timmy's Dad on The Fairly OddParents!. Used whenever something bad happens to Knock Out.
• Steve the Vehicon^Explanation Originally, just one Vehicon who was slapped by Starscream was nicknamed Steve after fans likened him to Steve from the Cheerios "Shut up, Steve" commercials. This soon spread to the point that every Vehicon is named Steve, or has some other human name, like Bill or Frank. Used in conjunction with, well, the Vehicons. Also, for some reason, he's supposedly head over heels in love with Starscream. The Robots in Disguise (2015) comics published to tie that series and Prime together later canonized Steve as a Vehicon who hit his head landing on Earth and borrowed the name from a billboard after he forgot his designation.

Other

• The Many Deaths of Optimus Prime ^ExplanationOptimus Prime has a tendency to be killed off in order to increase dramatic tension/sell toys of whoever replaces him. However, the fact that Optimus has died several dozen times across the span of the franchise, along with him often not staying dead for very long, has caused the event to lose much of its dramatic impact over the years. Fans frequently make wisecracks about the sheer number of deaths and actively expect Optimus Prime to die in every new adaptation.
• Ruined FOREVER^ExplanationAn exaggerated knee-jerk comment used by Transformers fans to describe changes to the franchise that they don't like. It warped into a whole new meme of its own which applies to other franchises at large and now has a Darth Wiki article for its insidious nature of use.
• "Dull Surprise!" ^ExplanationThis term, originating from Mystery Science Theater 3000, caught on to describe the frequent usage of the same slack-jawed stare to represent different emotions in the Dreamwave G1 comic. It also became prevalent in Energon due to the CGI robots having very little facial animation beyond opening and closing their mouths.
  • Screw Pat Lee.^Explanation Pat Lee, the former president of Dreamwave (which published Transformers comics in the early 2000s before going bankrupt), is reviled among the fandom for his egotism, his art style making the robots look unemotive (see above) and outright Liefeldian while messing up perspective, and his shady if not outright illegal business practices which mainly involved not paying and crediting his employees.
  • Pat Lee is Swindle.^Explanation Due to his actions as listed above in conning his employees of their money, Pat Lee is often compared to the Decepticon Swindle.
• Gerwalk Mode^ExplanationThe G1 Jetfire toy was a VF-1 Valkyrie(with FAST packs) from the anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross, with the mecha's GERWALK (a Partial Transformation that deploys the mecha's arms and legs while still maintaining the overall jet shape) form even being displayed as an "Alternate Transformation". Fans have since taken to finding similar half-transformed forms for other characters as well, whether they transform into planes or not. Jetfire toys in particular are all but demanded to have this ability.
  • Gerwalk Optimus/ooh he walkin ^Explanation Images of Optimus Prime toys deliberately mistransformed to be the complete vehicle mode truck cab on the robot mode legs, sometimes with his head visible too. The phrase "ooh he walkin" comes from a Tumblr post of an Optimus toy in such a mode, leading to the association.
• To sell toys. ^Explanation Whenever the fiction either suddenly introduces new characters or has characters transform for no reason, the first and easiest explanation is showing off the cool toy.
• Black redecos being relatively common. One of the first naturally being Skywarp.
  • Nemesis Prime ^Explanation The other most common black redeco is an Evil Twin of Optimus in black and teal or red.
  • Nemesis Prime hates Santa. ^Explanation A bio for one version of Nemesis Prime inexplicably involves him attacking Santa's workshop and trying to kill him.
• Sky-Byte's poetry. ^Explanation The Robots in Disguise anime featured Predacon second-in-command Sky-Byte, who loved poetry and haikus and tried to understand human poetry, becoming a defining trait of most versions of the character afterward.
  • "Your imagery is derivative, it lacks semiotic cohesion, and the hapless foe is you." ^Explanation Optimus Prime's critique of a particularly boastful haiku Sky-Byte recites mid-battle.
• Pity the fans who look up what Tarn did.^ExplanationThe Finale Movie for Transformers: Cyberverse features Tarn as the Big Bad, who has been significantly toned down from his original incarnation. For context, the show portrayal is merely a Manipulative Bastard, while the comic portrayal was a Wicked Cultured Torture Technician (the leader of a whole squad of them) and prolific Hero Killer who also oversaw a death camp, being arguably one of the darkest villains in Transformers media. Fans have joked how those who look up Tarn after watching him would be horrified at what he did in the comics, especially since Cyberverse is one of the lighter-hearted Transformers shows and so most of its audience would be young children.
• Plastic quality test^Explanation On December 2022, controversial Transformers toy reviewer chefatron uploaded a video where he went on a tangent about the supposed decline in plastic quality for recent figures, and demonstrated this by... hitting them with a pencil. This drew much mockery from Transformers fans on Twitter due to the sheer bizarreness of the "test". Many began to poke fun at this, whether it be making jokes about hitting a Transformers toy with increasingly excessive weaponry to test the plastic quality, or posting photos and videos of themselves about to do so, usually accompanied by a caption along the lines of "gotta test the plastic quality."
• Combiner Wars Silverbolt retools.^ExplanationThe Silverbolt toy released as part of the Combiner Wars toyline is notable for being retooled into three other toys (Cyclonus, Scattershot, Sea Clamp) and having a lot in common with a fourth (Hun-Gurrr). Consequently, a common joke is that various other toys are also retools of this specific Silverbolt, despite having nothing to do with him.
• Evo-Fusion^Explanation As the second installment in the Legacy toyline, Evolution introduced a new gimmick called “Evo-Fusion”. However fans began to notice that what counted as an “Evo-Fusion feature” was incredibly broad; from simply sticking two accessories together, to a recreated feature from a character’s original toyline. Thanks to this seemingly arbitrary system, fans began to joke that EVERYTHING was Evo-Fusion, often claiming mundane features such as holding weapons or even transforming itself counted as part of the gimmick.
• Tarn's Mom.^ExplanationWith the reveal of the design for the Titan Class Nemesis and how her head was designed to resemble the Decepticon logo, fans have inevitably drawn connections between her and Tarn (whose iconic feature is the Decepticon logo-shaped mask he wears), especially since both received toys in the second year of the Legacy line. The most popular comparison is to jokingly refer to the Nemesis as Tarn's mother.
• Gigachad Optimus Prime.^ExplanationThe design of Optimus's head in Transformers: EarthSpark has led many fans to compare him to the Gigachad as his face looks very similar.
• Pooth.^ExplanationCanadian Transformers reviewer That Toy Guy uploaded a short in 2021 featuring what he had dubbed "Warpooth", which was the Kingdom Warpath toy in vehicle mode but with the robot head still out and deployed. This has become so popular that fans tried different versions of the same result with other toys, and it lasted around 2 years before slowing to a crawl in 2023.

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