Transformers Armada/Characters
Note this page may contain details and tropes on characters who appear throughout the rest of the Unicron trilogy as well. Spoilers are uncovered at your own risk.
Autobots
Optimus Prime
Voiced by: Gary Chalk
The Autobot commander of the forces on Earth, Prime leads the team through the Minicon Battles, against Unicron (twice) and finally in an effort to save Cybertron and reality from the Unicron Singularity.
- A Father to His Men: Goes absolutely berserk after Smokescreen's near death.
- Actor Allusion: This Cybertron toy has him become a gorilla.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: And how.
- Badass: Not as much as his other adaptations (initially), but when push comes to shove he's very prepared to hand you your ass on a platter.
- Took a Level in Badass: In Armada, he was still a tough guy, but struggled a lot more in combat. By Cybertron, he is strong enough to kill Galvatron in a Single-Stroke Battle.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Big Badass Rig: A futuristic semitruck in Armada, a car transporter in Energon, and a flying fire truck in Cybertron.
- Death Is Cheap: In Armada. He's back three episodes later.
- Gary Chalk
- The Good Captain: As is tradition.
- The Hero: As is tradition.
- Look What I Can Do Now!: In Armada, he powerlinks with Jetfire, and later the pair link with Overload. Normally this equates into instant win. In Energon, he powerlinks with more or less the entire Autobot army, forming Optimus Supreme to fight a revived and very, very pissed off Unicron.
- Papa Wolf: Act like this towards the Mini-Con's.
Hot Shot:
Resident team rookie, Hot Shot has learned a lot of hard leasons throughout his career, much to the chagrin of some of the older bots.
- Big Brother Mentor: To Sideswipe, who actually starts refering to him as his brother. Possibly to the kids too.
- Brent Miller: In Armada and Energon. After that...
- The Other Darrin: Voice actor changes to Kirby Morrow in Cybertron.
- Cool Car: He normally becomes a blue-and-yellow sports car, but in the second half of Cybertron, he is revived and upgraded so that he becomes a blue Humvee-like vehicle instead.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his status as rookie, he is still very capable of kicking butt. He even gets to wield the Star Saber for a while in Armada.
- Kid Appeal Character: He almost always sports yellow in his colour scheme, and interacts with young humans the most.
- But in Cybertron, he's blue with yellow highlights. And in Energon the role is partially shifted to Ironhide, who disappears not too long after.
- The Lancer
- Lightning Bruiser: Though not quite as fast as Blurr.
- Pride Before a Fall: ...and totally let the power that the Star Saber granted him go to his head. It ends painfully.
- Shoulders of Doom: That "wHy mY sHoUlDeRs huRt" meme? Guess where it came from.
- Young Gun: Probably not helped by the fact that his first foray into human culture consisted of spaghetti westerns.
Red Alert:
Combat Medic of the Autobots, he may seem the Non-Action Guy, but harm his bots and you will regret it.
- Badass Bookworm
- Took a Level in Badass: In Cybertron, his Mid-Season Upgrade is this in spades.
- Brian Dobson
- Combat Medic: Though he spent most of his time on the battlefield fighting, more than anything else.
- Minored in Asskicking: He usually stays back at base in Armada, but he makes a pretty good showing in Cybertron.
- Mission Control
- The Smart Guy
- The Spock: Not entirely, but he is pretty reserved.
- Swiss Army Appendage: Lost his hand in battle, got a cool new...thing.
Smokescreen:
Smokescreen originally intended to be one of the team members who accompanied Optimus Prime to Earth, but he entered the spacebridge portal late, and as a result, he materialized some time later then they did.
- Badass: If being lethally wounded by the Requiem Blaster and still having the strength to try and take Megatron down doesn't count, what does?
- Big Fun
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Demonization: The kids all assumed that he was a Decepticon when he first appeared. Of course the fact that he chased them all over the place and didn't intorduce himself properly probably didn't help much.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Out of all the team, he and Hot Shot seem to be particularly good friends.
- Nice Guy
- Stout Strength
Scavenger:
Scavenger is an old war veteran. Who just so happens to be the Autobot who taught Optimus Prime everything he knows.
- The Big Guy
- Caped Mecha
- Badass Cape: Transformers as a whole don't need capes. His is purely for Rule of Cool.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears after Armada.
- Genius Bruiser
- Old Master
- Old Soldier
- Reverse Mole: Though given the folder he's been placed under you probably guessed this already.
- Senior Sleep Cycle: in the middle of a training session. Hot Shot is not impressed.
- Stealth Mentor
Blurr:
Cool and aloof, Blurr is one of the later additions to the Autobot ranks. He initially thought of the mini-cons as mere tools, a thought which Hot Shot slowly shot down.
- Brian Drummond
- Cold Sniper
- Defrosting Ice King: Towards Hot Shot.
- Fantastic Racism: Thinks of the Mini-Cons as just weapons for a long while.
- Grumpy Bear
- Ineffectual Loner: In his introduction.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappears after Armada and never reappears again (unless you think the toyline character from Cybertron is him).
Jetfire
The second-in-command of the Autobots on Cybertron, Jetfire departed Cybertron and arrived on Earth in order to help Optimus and the others.
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Like this for a long while in Armada.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Very very boisterous.
- Cool Starship: He becomes a space shuttle in both Armada and Energon
- Cool Plane: In Cybertron, he becomes a cargo jet with a space shuttle front half.
- The Lancer: While the Bots don't form a Five-Man Band per se, he has shades of this trope.
- Large Ham: In Armada, not so much in Engeron or Cybertron.
- Number Two: It does seem a little odd that Optimus would pick a hot-head like him to be second in command. That is, until you see them together in battle.
- One-Man Army
- Scott McNeil: Until Cybertron, in which his VA changed to...
Sideswipe
Hot Shot's newest partner, it didn't take long for Sideswipe to be captured by Hot Shot's friend-turned-foe, Wheeljack. Sideswipe was saved but the experince taught him a harsh lesson about war, and he quickly sobered up.
- Adorkable
- Cute Bruiser: Though not much of a bruiser, he has his moments.
- Child Soldier
- Genius Ditz: He's good at cracking codes, but not much else.
- Sam Vincent
- New Meat: And it's very obvious to everyone.
- Tagalong Kid
Decepticons
Megatron:
Leader of the Decepticons. Megatron is a malicious, powerful leader. A refined, focused general who treats his men with little care, yet still infuses them with genuine respect for him and the Decepticon cause.
- Actor Allusion: This Cybertron toy has him become a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- Affably Evil: Armada. When it comes to the next two series, however...
- Antagonist in Mourning: Optimus being dead wasn't nearly as fun as he thought it would be.
- Badass: Hell yeah.
- Bad Boss
- Big Bad: Until Unicron shows up. Played straight in Cybertron, as Unicron has long since disappeared.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Only seen near the end of the Armada series, but it becomes very crucial to that series.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: It was his death that stopped Unicron, in Armada and Energon.
- David Kaye
- Evil Laugh
- Noble Demon: During Armada only. Afterwards, it got worse, much worse, and with more or less no explanation why.
- Tank Goodness: His alt-mode in Armada.
- Cool Car: One of his two alt-modes (he is a triple changer) in Cybertron.
- Cool Plane: His main alt-mode in Energon, and one of his two alt-modes (again, he is a triple changer) in Cybertron.
- Team Dad: A horrible abusive dad, but a dad nonetheless
Starscream
Megatron's poorly-treated second in command. He loathed Megatron, because of the sheer mistreatment and contempt Megatron often pilled onto him, Megatron always seemed to expect to much from him.
- Anti-Villain: After he returns to the Decepticons
- Badass: From the middle of Armada, and all the way through Cybertron.
- Adaptational Badass: No Starscream since then has come close to doing what he's done in Cybertron. Fights Primus twice and lives? Check, though he still loses both times. Only non-comic relief Decepticon left alive at the end of Cybertron? Check. Fought off eleven Autobots to steal the Omega Lock? Check. While his living up to the trope he named has been done by other Starscreams, he's done the best to date.
- Break the Haughty: Though he wasn't as much of a jerk as most other examples.
- Cool Plane: Becomes a futuristic fighter jet in Armada, an F-22 Raptor in Energon, and a G1-inspired tetra-jet in Cybertron.
- Defector From Decadence, though only temporarily.
- Mr. Fanservice
- Heel Face Revolving Door
- Heroic Sacrifice: Twice. The first happens when he keeps shooting at Unicron in an effort to convince Galvatron that both sides must ally. The second occurs at the end of Energon, when he follows his master into the giant sun.
- Michael Dobson
- Noble Demon: In Armada and in Energon. Not so much in Cybertron.
- One-Man Army: In Cybertron, mixed with Villainous Valor.
- The Starscream: Not till Cybertron, and when he does, he jumps straight in.
- Token Good Teammate: He's the only Decepticon with a sense of honor. He even pulls a Heel Face Turn at one point and later gets a Redemption Equals Death.
Demolishor:
Demolisher is extremely strong and acts very serious at all times. He is wholly devoted Megatron and the Decepticon cause, unquestionably following orders at every turn.
- Battle Butler: To Megatron.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Saves Megatron numerous times, but the first time he does in Energon, much tragedy ensues.
- Hand Blast: His fingers are gun barrels.
- AntivillanousSacrifice: In Energon.
- Dumb Is Good: He's the closest thing to a "nice" Decepticon that you're going to find.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to the rest of the Decepticons, he definitely feels this way.
- Tank Goodness: In Armada. In Energon, he becomes a dump truck instead, but reverts back into a tank in Cybertron.
- Undying Loyalty: Played mostly straight to Megatron, but the writers do subvert it at the end of Energon. When Galvatron hurls himself into the sun to stop Unicron and Starscream and Mirage follow, he and Snowcat don't bother to do the same.
- Yes-Man
Cyclonus:
Cyclonus has a very "trigger happy" personality, laughing and cackling as he fires his weapons almost completely at random on the battle field.
- Axe Crazy: Though it comes across as more annoying than genuinely frightening.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer
- Butt Monkey
- Dark Chick
- Evil Laugh: Has a mad cackle until Megatron changes him into Snowcat in Energon.
- For the Evulz: Seems to have almost zero sence of comradery, and an even smaller grasp of wright-and-wrong.
- Genre Savvy: "Morale? We've never had morale around here!"
- The Hyena
- Leeroy Jenkins
- Minor Injury Overreaction: He screams like a little girl everytime he gets hit while in vehicle mode, which as you can imagine... happens a lot.
- Stupid Evil
- Trigger Happy: He loves to waste all of his ammo all at once.
Thrust:
Thrust is Megatrons' top Intelligence officer and master Tactician.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: With Megatron, not that it did him any good.
- Dangerous Deserter
- Dirty Coward: He talks a big game when he thinks Unicron will help him, but the moment he gets in trouble, he's begging Galvatron to save him.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Squesh!
- Karmic Death: He definitely got what was coming to him.
- Jerkass: The other Cons often get sick of him for this reason.
- Kneel Before Zod
- Professional Butt-Kisser
- Smug Snake
- Spared by the Adaptation: The Energon comic shows him as in charge of Cybertron's security systems and one of only two Cons to not immediately defect at the start. It probably helps that in that continuity, he didn't defect to Unicron and is much more loyal.
- Stupid Evil: He overestimates himself far too much when he defects.
- The Strategist: He's actually pretty good at strategy, just not very good at improvising.
- Unwitting Pawn
- Villainous Breakdown: As Unicron starts crushing him.
- Villain Team-Up
- Would Hurt a Child: Don't forget that earlier on, to escape the Cons and Autobots he threatened the kids.
Tidal Wave:
The lumbering giant Tidal Wave is the largest of the Decepticons, and proved himself a very powerful foe for the Autobots.
- The Brute
- Dumb Muscle
- Elite Mook: He's not just big, he's really tough to beat.
- Evil Sounds Deep: He's a giant Decepticon, what did you expect?
- Giant Mook
- Hulk Speak
- Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: In Energon, his recoloured form is also much smaller, making him a little taller than Cyclonus. Yeah...
- Undying Loyalty: To Megatron. Which may come across as oddly amusing, considering his VA voiced the treacherous (and much higher pitched) Terrorsaur
Wheeljack:
Wheeljack, formerly an Autobot serving under Hot Shot. When Wheeljack was pinned beneath some debris during a fire, Hot Shot was forced to leave him to get help, but was prevented from returning to help. Wheeljack believed that Hot Shot had abandoned him, and when Megatron found and rescued him, he swore loyalty to the Decepticon commander.
- Best Served Cold: He's not here for revenge. Except he is.
- Evil Former Friend: Hot Shot's, though when they fight side by side against Unicron he does seem to be warming up to him again.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal
- Noble Demon: He does grant Hot Shot an audience with Megatron.
- Poor Communication Kills: He wasn't abandoned quite as completely as he thinks he was.
- Revenge by Proxy: He takes Sideswipe hostage to get revenge on Hot Shot.
- Scars Are Forever
- That Man Is Dead
Other
Bradley "Rad" White
Rad is the one who reactivated the Mini-Con ship while exploring some caves, and is inadverdently responsible for the restarting of the Autobot/Decepticon war.
- Audience Surrogate
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: He once helped the Mini-Cons brake Unicrons' mental hold on them.
- Beware the Nice Ones: May only be a human, but he's got guts.
- Ordinary High School Student
Carlos Lopez
Carlos is Rad's friend and was with him when he reactivated the Mini-Con's.
- Audience Surrogate
- Ordinary High School Student
- Plucky Comic Relief: He's full of jokes... most of them bad.
- Twofer Token Minority: He's the only character who obviously isn't white.
Alexis Rhodes/Thi Dang
Alexis, along with Rad and Carlos befriended the Street Action Team Mini-Cons and Autobots on Earth. She frequently helped them by teaching them the ways of Earth.
- Audience Surrogate
- Deadpan Snarker
- Interspecies Romance: It certainly looked like she enjoyed being Starscream's friend more than the other kids ...except maybe Fred.
- Only Sane Man: She thinks she is anyway.
- Ordinary High School Student
Unicron
A primal force of evil, his origins lost to the mists of time. He is the embodiment of all darkness and hate that lurks in the hearts of all beings.
Voiced by: Mark Acheson, David Kaye (when Megatron is possessed in Energon)
- Back from the Dead/ Death Is Cheap: This happens an incredibly frequent amount of times. You honestly wonder why the bots try to put him down again when he just gets back up.
- The first is implied at the end of Armada, when his planet form is seen floating behind an unknown body. It's later confirmed at the start of Energon that he's just mentally inactive.
- The second and third attempts happen during Energon. He manages to reactivate his body form and possess Megatron, then dies a few episodes later at the hands of Optimus Supreme. Then after that he possesses Megatron yet again, turning him into the incredibly large Galvatron in an attempt to recreate his body. This is thwarted when Galvatron hurls himself headfirst into a sun.
- A fourth and seemingly definitive example from the Cybertron comic: Unicron frees himself from the Black Hole by hijacking a smaller Transformer's body, then recreates his body some time later. This time, he flees before Primus and the Autobots can defeat his weakened body.
- Bigger Bad
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: See Death Is Cheap's fourth example.
- Eldritch Abomination: As is tradition, though this helped to codify this part of his character.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Voiced by Mark Acheson in Armada (and a ridiculously small amount of Energon). Downplayed when he's voiced by David Kaye.
- Omnicidal Maniac: This is the trilogy that established this trope best for him.
- Planet Eater: Though unlike his debut appearance, he doesn't physically eat them, rather breaking the planet into smaller pieces and then devouring them. Energon shows this best.
- Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Not as bad as his first appearance due to the fact that he rarely engages any Cybertronians physically, but when Thrust is perched/standing on his shoulder you do run into some fairly notable issues, notably the fact that he should theoretically be a speck from the distance we see him.
Sideways
An intergalactic drifter, Sideways transforms into a motorcycle. His consciousness is apparently housed within the smaller robot head that rides his alternate mode, which can split into two components.
- Anti-Villain: In Cybertron.
- Back from the Dead: In Cybertron, though nobody can remember him from Armada and despite the Unicron Singularity, we're not really given an explanation why.
- A Wizard Did It: It's implied Unicron's dark energy preserved him.
- Badass Biker: Well, he is a badass bike.
- Canon Foreigner: Was popular enough to get an appearance in Transformers Animated and the film series (though just as a regular Decepticon).
- Technically, he first appeared in Robots In Disguise with a toy from that show's line, though he was just an Autobot warrior
- Digitized Hacker
- The Dragon: To Unicron.
- Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: In both Armada and Cybertron, though both times he does have different agendas.
- Expy: Averted with his other appearances- possibly. It's thought to be the same guy throughout the multiverse.
- Faux Affably Evil
- Kick the Dog: He enjoys doing this. Particularly when it simultaneously helps his goals and hurts others.
- Laughably Evil: In Cybertron, he becomes outright hilarious.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Mind Screw: Unicron, Sideways, Sideways' minicons. It's kind of hard to tell where they each end and the others begin, which isn't helped by the shaky dub. Of course, he enjoys running on this.
- The Mole: To Unicron, betraying the Autobots and then the Decepticons in the process.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A Badass Biker whose altmode is a Cool Bike, who also exists as a Digitized Hacker. This also goes with the fact that he's a Transforming Mecha. Also implied that he is the same character throughout the whole multiverse.
- Paul Dobson: In Armada.
- Pet the Dog: His relationship with Soundwave could be seen as this.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: Cybertron shows him giving a Shout-Out to "I Will Survive" which Starscream rudely interrupts. Not to mention his cassette player is a Shout-Out to G1 Soundwave.
- Playing Both Sides
- Troll
- Undying Loyalty: Refuses to leave Soundwave's side when they both risk a dash for the Omega Lock.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In Cybertron, avenging his dead planet alongside Soundwave.