This timeline covers the history of the Transformers Animated cartoon continuity. Note that since the timeframes for some events are given in only vague terms, the exact ordering of portions of the timeline is a "best guess". Also, the Animated units of time "solar cycle" and "stellar cycle" both appear to be rough equivalents of an Earth year.
10 billion years ago
- The Transformer race is "born". Blast from the Past [1]
"4 million solar cycles" ago
- Megatron begins his search for the missing AllSpark. Transform and Roll Out! Megatron Rising - Part II
- Starscream begins his many tries to destroy Megatron and become leader of the Decepticons. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
- Lockdown captures Ratchet and Arcee to bring to Megatron so they can steal the access code. Lockdown also steals Ratchet's E.M.P. Generator. Ratchet uses it to reluctantly erase her memory core, but not before Lockdown overloads it. Her current status is unknown. The Thrill of the Hunt
"2 million stellar cycles" ago
- Omega Supreme sacrifices his spark to win the Great Wars. He's been in modified stasis ever since. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
"A thousand stellar cycles" ago
- Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime, and Elita-1 explored an alien planet in search of a crashed Decepticon ship and its store of energon. After a battle with giant spiders, the Primes escaped, but Elita One was left behind. She then became Blackarachnia; the Decepticons later found her and she joined their ranks. Along Came a Spider
- Optimus and Sentinel join the Elite Guard, though Optimus was kicked out. Sentinel was promoted under the name of Minor. Mission Accomplished Autoboot Camp
- Shockwave infiltrates Autobot Boot Camp in the guise of Longarm, in hopes of becoming an Autobot Intel Bot. Autoboot Camp [citation needed]
- Bumblebee goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Autobot soldier. Autoboot Camp [citation needed]
- Ironhide goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Autobot soldier. Autoboot Camp
- Wasp goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an Autobot commander. Autoboot Camp [citation needed]
- Bulkhead leaves the energon farm and goes to Boot Camp in hopes of becoming an expert in Space Bridge technology. Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part I [citation needed]
- Sentinel becomes the drill sergeant of Boot Camp. He gives the crew their names and, no thanks to Bumblebee, punishes them with lots of Transform-ups. JERKS! Autoboot Camp [citation needed]
- Shockwave, in order to keep the suspicious Bumblebee off the trail of the real spy, puts his gear in Wasp's locker and Wasp takes the fall and goes to jail. Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part II [citation needed]
- Despite exposing the assumed spy, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are sent to become Space Bridge technicians with Ratchet, Prowl (unknown how he got here, as of now), and Optimus, while Longarm graduates from Autobot Academy, becoming head of Cybertron Intelligence, and is promoted to Prime. Bulkhead becomes Cybertron's top Space Bridge expert and got a higher score on his aptitude test than any other scientist Autoboot Camp A Bridge Too Close, Part I [citation needed]
"Centuries" ago
- Seemingly quite some time after the AllSpark was lost, the Great War ended with the Decepticons defeated. Transform and Roll Out! [2]
Some year
- A crew of Autobot repairbots led by Optimus Prime working on a damaged space bridge gateway stumbled upon the lost AllSpark. After a battle with Megatron and the Nemesis, their ship crashed to Earth, settling underwater in Lake Erie. Transform and Roll Out!
50 years later (22nd century)
- The Autobot repair crew awakened sometime in the 22nd century and became celebrities in the city of Detroit. Transform and Roll Out! Blast from the Past Megatron Rising - Part II[3]
- The Nemesis crash-lands on the moon. Transform and Roll Out! Lost and Found
- Starscream and Blackarachnia arrive on earth Transform and Roll Out! Along Came a Spider
- Starscream scans a Harrier Jet. Transform and Roll Out!
- Sari Sumdac, "daughter" of Isaac Sumdac finds the AllSpark, turning her security key into an ultra-powerful MacGuffin and she meets the Autobots, starting with Bumblebee the obnoxious. Transform and Roll Out!
- Sari shows the Autobots a new home. Transform and Roll Out!
- Megatron awakens and learns of his imprisonment and Starscream's betrayal. Home Is Where the Spark Is Blast from the Past
- Prowl develops a fascination with organic life Home Is Where the Spark Is Nature Calls
- Porter C. Powell cuts Prometheus Black's funding and, as a result, Black turns into Meltdown Total Meltdown
- Megatron helps Sumdac rebuild animatronic dinosaurs. Blast from the Past
- Sari's key accidentally turns the dinosaurs into Dinobots. After a rampage, Prowl & Bulkhead save them and take them to Dinobot Island. After which, the Dinobots learn how to transform. Blast from the Past Survival of the Fittest
- Lockdown is hired by Blitzwing to capture Optimus Prime for destroying Megatron, both unaware of Megatron's weakened state. The Thrill of the Hunt
- Ratchet encounters Lockdown again and takes back his E.M.P. Generator. The Thrill of the Hunt
- Nanosec is hired by Megatron to steal some Destronium for him. However, Bumblebee uses his new turbo boosters to detonate it in the atmosphere and Nanosec got aged quickly and was arrested. Nanosec (episode)
- Optimus learns of Blackarachnia's true identity. Along Came a Spider
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Ratchet stated that "We've been around for 10 billion years." It is not made explicit, but from the context it seems as if he was referring to the Transformer race as a whole.
- ↑ There are three references to the war ending "centuries ago" in "Transform and Roll Out, Part 1": two spoken by Ratchet and one by Optimus Prime. It is unclear whether this is an "Earth century" or a Cybertronian one... but Optimus' crew hadn't yet had contact with Earth when these statements were made.
- ↑ The packaging blurb on the "Transform and Roll Out!" DVD refers to the 22nd century. Additionally, Professor Sumdac mentions that his updates to Dino Drive's animatronic dinosaurs "bring[s] Dino Drive into the 22nd century."