Guardian Prime/The Transformers cartoon

This article is about the Autobot leader. For the fandom term for toys derived from lines that existed before Transformers, see Pre-Transformer.

The Pre-Transformer is an Autobot leader from the Generation One continuity family.

Twelve million years before it was fashionable.

The "Pre-Transformer" was an Autobot leader during the time of peace that followed the departure of the Quintessons from Cybertron, who went on to lead the Autobots during their first war with the Decepticons.

Fiction

Generation One cartoon

Voice actor: Charlie Adler (English)

The Pre-Transformer inherited the Matrix of Leadership from the Brooding Robot and became leader of the consumer goods robots following the rebellion that forced the Quintessons off Cybertron. These robots renamed themselves "Autobots," but their desires for a peaceful existence would be denied them by the military hardware robots, who were redubbed the "Decepticons," and waged war against the Pre-Transformer and his followers. Ill-equipped for combat, the Pre-Transformer was cut down in battle, and passed the Matrix on to the New Narrator.

When Rodimus Prime journeyed into the Matrix in 2005, the Pre-Transformer was the fourth guide that he encountered. The Pre-Transformer related to him the early days of peace on Cybertron, and the outbreak of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 He bears a striking resemblance to Rodimus, making it seem it was always intended for Rodimus to inherit the Matrix of Leadership.

Trivia

• This robot was never named in fiction. The designation "Pre-Transformer" comes from the dialogue script for "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4".

• An animation error results in the spectral image of the Brooding Robot appearing when the Pre-Transformer begins his narration, depriving us of an absolutely positive visual identification of the character. As the Rodimus-derived character pictured above appears during the Pre-Transformer's narration and is then shown dying and passing on the Matrix, it is assumed that he is intended to be the Pre-Transformer.