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Even more so than Energon, Animated is saturated with frequent and obvious references and homages to Generation 1 and other lines, possibly intended as a celebration of the Transformers' 25th anniversary year. Among them are:
- Alpha Trion is based on his G1 namesake.
- Arcee is based on her Generation 1 namesake. Her voice was done by her original voice actress.
- Blackarachnia is based on the Beast Era character of the same name.
- Blackout is based on his movie counterpart.
- Blitzwing is based on his Generation 1 namesake, but has some Quintesson-like qualities.
- Blurr is based on his Generation 1 namesake. He was also voiced by the John Moschitta, who voices Blurr in G1 cartoon.
- Bulkhead's green color resembles that of Hound. He is not to be confused with another green guy from Energon. His head design is awkwardly based on a Decepticon.
- Bumblebee is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name. Elite Guard Bumblebee has a similar color scheme to movie Bumblebee's "stealth" mode with some elements of Shattered Glass Goldbug.
- Cliffjumper is based on his Generation 1 namesake.
- Constructicons Scrapper and Mixmaster are loosely based on their G1 counterparts, as well as their movie counterparts.
- Cosmos is based on his G1 namesake.
- Dinobots Grimlock and Swoop are based on the Generation 1 Dinobots of the same name; and while Snarl shares a name with Generation 1 Snarl, but his alt-mode is based on the Generation 1 Slag. Grimlock talks exactly like the original.
- Dinobot Island, the home of the Dinobots, is based on its G1 namesake.
- Elita-1 "shares" her name with her Generation 1 namesake, but her body is based on her namesake's original form Ariel.
- Flareup is based on her G1 counterpart.
- Grandus is based on his G1 namesake from the Return Of Convoy franchise.
- Heavy Load is based on the Autobot from Robots In Disguise and gets his name from the Decepticon Mini-Con from Transformers Cybertron.
- Hot Shot is based on his namesake from the Unicron Trilogy.
- Huffer is based on his G1 counterpart.
- Ironhide is based on his namesake with the same southern accent but sounds more youthful. His Cybertronian vehicle mode slightly resembles that of G1 Rodimus Prime.
- Jazz is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name. Jazz has the same cool attitude like the original, but his voice is smoother.
- Jetfire resembles a pilot from the old days who transforms in to a cybertronian fighter jet that resembles an X-Wing starfighter from Star Wars. Also, his name is an homage to two certain robots from two series.
- Jetstorm has a color scheme that slightly resembles his evil Beast Machines counterpart.
- Lugnut shares similarites to Shockwave from the Generation 1 cartoon. Both of them are purple Transformers with only one eye and are unquestionably loyal to Megatron.
- Cybertron Mode Megatron is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some similarities to movie Megatron. Earth Mode Megatron is based on Battlestars Super Megatron, but still also based on the original.
- Omega Supreme is based on his G1 namesake, while his alt form is based on the Autobot spaceship, the Ark.
- The Decepticon spaceship is based on the original Nemesis from Generation One.
- Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime is loosely based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, specifically The War Within. He also bears a slight resemblance to Orion Pax. Earth Mode Optimus Prime is based on the Generation 1 Prime, as well as Robots In Disguise Optimus Prime and Battlestars Star Convoy. His faceplate is retractable like his movie counterpart.
- Powerglide is based on his namesake.
- The two mutant creations of Prometheus Black a.k.a. Meltdown are loosely based on the Decepticon Pretenders Bomb Burst and Submarauder.
- Prowl has a police-based alternate mode and a logical mind, like the Generation 1 character of the same name.
- Ratchet is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, with some design elements of movie Ratchet, and an attitude reminiscent of G1 Ironhide and Kup. Like the original, Rachet talks with a gravely voice and has a grumpy personality.
- Rattletrap is mainly based on Rattrap's pre-Earth body.
- Red Alert shares her name with her male counterpart from Generation 1, but is more like her other male counterpart from the Unicron Trilogy. However her look more closely resembles Minerva's Transtector from Masterforce.
- Reflector is based on his/their namesake from Generation 1.
- Rodimus Prime is based on his namesake who first appeared in Transformers: The Movie. His voice was also done by the original voice actor from the movie.
- Safeguard gets his name from the Mini-Con from Transformers Cybertron.
- Sentinel Prime is named after the Generation 1 character of the same name. However his color is similar to that of Dion, Orion Pax's friend in the G1 episode War Dawn. Sentinel never actually appeared in the aforementioned series.
- Seekers Skywarp, Thundercracker, Sunstorm and Starscream are based on the Generation 1 characters of the same name. The Liar Starscream shares his color scheme with Ramjet.
- Shockwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode. He even has the same voice actor as he did in G1. He also transforms into an Autobot, Longarm Prime, as a double agent, much like Punch / Counterpunch. However, unlike Punch and Counterpunch who shared the same alt-mode, both Shockwave and Longarm have their own respective alt-modes. Shockwave is a tank, while Longarm is a crane, though they are very similar in appearance.
- Soundwave is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name, though with a new alternate mode loosely based on an unproduced Classics toy of his G1 counterpart. He still has his partner, Laserbeak, who is based on his G1 namesake, but with an all-new alt-mode. Soundwave even talks like the original.
- Spittor is based on his namesake from the Beast Wars series, who never actually appeared in the series.
- Steeljaw is based on his G1 namesake.
- Strika is based on her namesake from the Beast Machines series.
- Swindle is based on his namesake's cartoon model.
- Tracks is based on his G1 namesake.
- Ultra Magnus is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name.
- Wreck-Gar is based on the Generation 1 character of the same name; in addition, this incarnation is voiced by "Weird Al" Yankovic. One of Weird Al's songs was the bgm for the scene that introduced G1 Wreck-Gar in Transformers: the Movie. His vehicle mode and origin are both completely different.
- Wasp / Waspinator is based on his Beast Wars' namesake.
- The Headmaster Unit was based on an idea from the namesake in Generation 1.
- Teletran-1 is based on both its G1 counterpart and Teletraan II.
- The AllSpark is based on its movie counterpart, but is now a sphere instead of a cube, which in appearence resembles the Matrix that appeared in 1986 Generation 1 movie and Season 3 and The Rebirth which followed it.
- At the end of "Predacons Rising", Blackarachnia and Wasp / Waspinator awaken in Africa surrounded by a gorilla, a rat, a rhino and a cheetah. Homages to the Axalon crew.
In addition, there are characters seen (and yet to be seen) in the cartoon that also have strong homages (The Witwicky family, Wasp, etc). These may yet become toys. And of course there's the familiar theme song.