December 10, 2022

TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE (2000)

 

TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE (2000)
(TV Tokyo, April 5-December 27, 2000 JAP
FOX, September 8, 2001-March 23, 2002 US)
 
We’ve, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo, Saban Entertainment (US)

 

MAIN CAST:
Satoshi Hashimoto (Japanese) – Fire Convoy/Optimus Prime, God Fire Convoy/Omega Prime
Daniel Riordan (English) – Megatron/Galvatron, Omega Prime
Yōichi Kobiyama (Japanese) – Gigatron/Devil Gigatron/Megatron/Galvatron
Masao Harada (Japanese) – Hepter/Ro-Tor, Kenta’s father/Carl’s father, Yoshimoto’s assistant
Sandy Fox (English) – T-AI, Dorie Dutton (1 episode)
Chieko Higuchi (Japanese) – Ai/T-AI, Junko/Kelly
Wayne C. Lewis (English) – Prowl, various
Takayuki Kondō (Japanese) – Mach Alert/Prowl, Danger/Armorhide
Shunta Kobayashi (as Punch UFO) (Japanese) – Speedbreaker/Side Burn
Ryō Naitō (Japanese) – Counter Arrow/Mirage, Goosher/Slapper
Masayuki Kiyama (Japanese) – Brave Maximus/Fortress Maximus, Plasma/Cerebros
Steve Kramer (English) – R.E.V., Cerebros
Kizatomi Nimura (Japanese) – Eagle Killer/R.E.V.
Naomi Matamura (Japanese) – J-Four/Midnight Express
Mike Reynolds (English) – Railspike
Hisashi Izumi (as Shōji Izumi) (Japanese) – JRX/Rail Racer, J-Five/Railspike, Daichi Ōnishi/Dr. Kenneth Onishi
Keith Diamond (English) – Rapid Run
Eiji Takemoto (Japanese) – J-Seven/Rapid Run, Artfire/Hot Shot, Dr. Akashi/Dr. Akase
Michael McConnohie (English) – Hot Shot, Ironhide, Dr. Yoshimoto
Ōsuke Yoda (Japanese) – Ox/Ironhide
Dan Woren (English) – Crosswise, Yoshimoto’s assistant
Junichi Miura (Japanese) – X-Car/Crosswise
Joe Ochman (English) – Hightower
Masami Iwasaki (Japanese) – Build Cyclone/Hightower, Wrekcer Hook/Tow-Line
Tom Wyner (English) – Grimlock
Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese) – Build Hurricane/Grimlock, Guildo/Dark Scream
Atsushi Kondo (as Konta) (Japanese) & Peter Spellos (English) – Gelshark/Sky-Byte
Peter Lurie (English) – Slapper
Norio Imamura (Japanese) & Jerry DeCapua (English) – Gaskunk/Gas Skunk
Richard Epcar (English) – Armorhide
Riki Kitazawa (Japanese) – Greejeeber/Rollbar, Wars/W.A.R.S.
Hidenori Konda (Japanese) & Robert Axelrod (English) – Shuttler/Movor
Philece Sampler (English) – Kelly

At the end of the 20th Century, Beast Wars was the dominant entry in the Transformers franchise. Mainframe Entertainment’s CGI cartoon was a hit in North America and eventually made its way over to Japan as Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers the following year with a decidedly more kid-friendly dub. While waiting for the second and third seasons to be localized, two exclusive Japanese anime entries were made to fill the gap: Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. The American-produced episodes then resumed as Beast Wars Metals. The sequel series, Beast Machines, wouldn’t hit Japan until 2004 under the name Beast Wars Returns.


In the interim, there was another anime produced called Transformers: Car Robots. It was the final entry of the Japanese-exclusive Generation 1 cartoon continuity. Set on Earth at the turn of the century, the evil Gigatron (otherwise known as Megatron, voiced by Yōichi Kobiyama) led his Destronger faction—an elite unit of Predacons—through a dimensional fissure to conquer both our planet and Cybertron. Gigatron was able to further bolster his ranks by taking protoforms (Autobot blank slates, basically the first stage in their lifecycle), time-displaced from several decades in the future, and converting them into Combatrons. Following them to foil their schemes was Fire Convoy (otherwise known as Optimus Prime, voiced by Satoshi Hashimoto) and his Autobot Dimensional Patrol. The anime debuted on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2000 and ran until that December. It was the first Transformers anime to be animated by Animation Studio Gallop and Dong Woo Animation; replacing long-time franchise animators Ashi Productions.


Transtech concept design for Silverbolt.


Over in North America, a follow-up to Beast Machines was in the works called Transtech. It would have featured returning Beast Machines characters Blackarachnia, Cheetor, Nightscream, Silverbolt and Rattrap with the addition of Beast Wars character Depth Charge and Generation 1 characters Optimus Prime, Shockwave and Starscream, as well as all-new character Immorticon. While not much is known about the story, the proposed toy designs by Canadian studio Draxhall Jump saw characters transform into Cybertronic vehicles with animalistic features; such as Cheetor becoming a race car with a paint job reminiscent of a cheetah and Optimus Prime becoming a truck with an ape face on the front end (invoking his Beast Wars counterpart, Optimus Primal). These designs were shown at The Official Transformers Collectors Convention in 2002 before being pulled by Hasbro, and online retailer BigBadToyStore posted preliminary listings for 2001 Transformers offerings that included the proposed characters of the Transtech line.


Megatron, aka Gigatron.


Transtech was eventually scrapped (although the name was recycled several times in the franchise) due to the Beast Machinestoyline’s poor performance, the financial instability being experienced by the company at the time, and the introduction of Brian Goldner as CEO, who wanted a “back to basics” approach to the franchise. It was at this point that Hasbro decided to work directly with Takara (now Takara Tomy), the originators of the Transformers toys, to develop the next entry together for the first time: Transformers: Armada. However, they needed something to keep the franchise fresh in consumers’ minds while they worked. It was decided to import one of the exclusive anime programs and its toyline for the first time; settling on the recently-concluded Car Robots. This would not only mark a return to the roots of the franchise with the Autobots fighting the Decepticons while using realistic modern Earth vehicle forms, but would be the first cel-animated production after five years of strictly computer animation. It would also be the first in this period to not feature a Canadian voice cast.
 

Optimus Prime.

The localization, renamed Robots in Disguise, took a slightly different approach to the story. In order to stop Megatron (Daniel Riordan) and his Predacons from attacking Earth, Optimus Prime (Neil Kaplan) and the Autobots hid themselves in secret among the human population as common vehicles. Megatron’s opening salvo was to kidnap famous scientist Dr. Kenneth Onishi (first name revealed in episode summaries, Daichi Ohnishi in the anime, voiced by Shōji Izumi & Kirk Thornton), an archaeologist and leading expert on energy (as well as train enthusiast), who held the secret to the locations of ancient Cybertronian O-Parts on Earth. The Autobots would eventually rescue Onishi with the aid of his son, Koji (Yūki in the anime, voiced by Akikio Kimura & Jason Spisak), and the race was on to find the remaining O-Parts and resurrect Fortress Maximus (Brave Maximus in the anime, voiced by Masayuki Kiyama & Steve Blum)—an immense Autobot guardian hidden on Earth to protect it from evil—before the Predacons. 

The Autobot Brothers: Side Burn, Prowl and X-Brawn.


Unlike other iterations of Transformers, the Optimus of Robots in Disguise changed into firetruck rather than a semi. His team of Autobots included several subgroups: the Autobot Brothers, Team Bullet Train, the Spychangers and the Build Team. The Autobot Brothers were Optimus’ three most-trusted allies: X-Brawn (Wild Ride in the anime, voiced by Masahiro Shibahara & Bob Joles), a rough-and-tumble cowboy that turned into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV; Prowl (Mach Alert in the anime, voiced by Takayuki Kondō & Wayne C. Lewis), a strict by-the-book police bot that took it upon himself to keep everyone in line and turned into a Lamborghini Diabolo police highway pursuit vehicle (painted in Japanese police ministry colors); and Side Burn (Speedbreaker in the anime, voiced by Punch UFO & Wally Wingert), who loved being lazy almost as much as sexy red sports cars, and turned into a Dodge Viper

Team Bullet Train: Railspike, Midnight Express and Rapid Run.

Team Bullet Train was a trio of deep-cover operatives that took on the form of Shinkansen bullet trains: leader Railspike (J-Five in the anime, voiced by Izumi & Mike Reynolds), who always tried to lead by example and was often frustrated by his younger teammates, turned into a 500 Series Nozomi; Rapid Run (J-Seven in the anime, voiced by Eiji Takemoto & Keith Diamond), who was the strongest of the three, cool-headed and sarcastic, and always ready for action, turned into a 700 Series Hikari Rail Star; and Midnight Express (J-Four in the anime, voiced by Naomi Matamura & David Lodge), who was easily flustered and had a habit of getting lost and separated from his teammates, transformed into an E4 Series “Max”. All three could merge together to become the powerful Rail Racer (JRX in the anime, also Izumi & Lodge). 


The Spychangers (clockwise from top): Ironhide, R.E.V., Crosswise, W.A.R.S., Mirage and Hot Shot.

The Spychangers were a special team of stealthy ninjas: Hot Shot (Artfire in the anime, voiced by Takemoto & Michael McConnohie), the leader with pyrokinetic abilities and a  gruff, no-nonsense, duty-driven personality that changed into a Porsche 959; R.E.V. (Race Exertion Vehicle, Eagle Killer in the anime, voiced by Kizatomi Nimura & Steve Kramer), the tactical officer with superior leaping skills that could change into a Lamborghini Diablo; Crosswise (X-Car in the anime, voiced by Junichi Miura & Dan Woren), the gravity-manipulating brains of the group that liked to keep busy maintaining and upgrading his teammates when not researching the potential of Spark Engines (a device that would be used to give many of the Autobots a super form that enhanced their particular abilities), and transformed into a rear-engine concept sports car; W.A.R.S. (Wicked Attack Recon Sportscar, simply Wars in the anime, voiced by Riki Kitazawa & Blum), a belligerent and violent bot that could turn into Ford Thunderbird stock car; Ironhide (Ox in the anime, voiced by Ōsuke Yoda & McConnohie), the super strong and short-tempered transport expert that kept his team well-supplied and could turn into a Ford F-150 pickup truck; and Mirage (Counter Arrow in the anime, voiced by Ryō Naitō & Wingert), Ironhide’s best friend—despite being a loner that preferred to work solo—that could drive on almost any surface and make himself invisible, and turned into a Lola T94 Indy Car.

The Build Team: Grimlock, Wedge, Hightower and Heavy Load.


 The Build Team were engineers and architects keeping Autobot technology and their base functional. Wedge (Build Boy in the anime, voiced by Yūki Tamaki & Michael Reisz) was the chief architect and designer of the Global Space Bridge the Autobots used to teleport around the planet quickly. However, he was a hot-head with a strong desire to prove himself in battle, often putting himself in unnecessary harm. He transformed into a bulldozer. Heavy Load (Build Typhoon in the anime, voiced by Yoshikazu Nagano & Darran Norris) was the most powerful member of the team with incredibly thick armor and a proficiency in martial arts. He turned into a dump truck. Hightower (Build Cyclone in the anime, voiced by Masami Iwasaki & Joe Ochman) was the team’s marksman whose weapon of choice, oddly, was an imprecise flamethrower, and who had an incredible admiration for Wedge; acting as both his bodyguard and advisor. He turned into a crane truck. Grimlock (Build Hurricane in the anime, voiced by Hiroki Takahashi & Tom Wyner) was the team’s tactician, most seasoned warrior, and whose rough-looking exterior belied his calm and upbeat demeanor. He turned into a backhoe. The Build Team could all combine into the powerful Landfill (Build King in the anime, also Tamaki & Reisz).

Skid-Z getting a celebratory shower.


Not affiliated with any subgroup were Skid-Z (Indy Heat in the anime, voiced by Jin Nishimura & Michael Lindsay), a Penske PC-18 Indy Car who was extremely fast and extremely competitive with an intense drive for victory, and Tow-Line (Wrecker Hook in the anime, voiced by Iwasaki & Lex Lang), a tow truck with an almost compulsive desire to tow any vehicle away he deemed as not adhering to human traffic laws (including emergency vehicles on a call and children’s bikes). T-AI, or Tractical Artifical Intelligence (Ai in the anime, voiced by Chieko Higuchi & Sandy Fox), was the Autobots’ main computer system in their base that kept tabs on events around the planet and coordinated the Autobot response to them. She projected herself in hologram form as a human woman in a maroon Japanese police uniform. 


Ultra Magnus vs. Optimus Prime.


They would eventually be joined by Ultra Magnus (God Magnus in the anime, voiced by Takashi Matsuyama & Kim Strauss), Optimus’ jealous brother who resented his being given the Matrix of Leadership over him. He initially came to Earth to try and take it by force, but ended up reluctantly joining the Autobots in the battle against the Predacons. He and Optimus could combine into the doubly-powerful Omega Prime (God Fire Convoy in the anime, voiced by Hashimoto & Riordan). Magnus’ alternate form was a car carrier that could transport the Autobot Brothers.

Sky-Byte, Slapper and Dark Scream.


Like Optimus, Megatron forewent his usual transformation into a gun to take on several forms: a giant bat, a two-headed dragon, a jet, a unique-looking racecar, and a giant hand. Eventually, an accident at an ancient location would see Megatron evolve into the more powerful Galvatron (Devil Gigatron in the anime). Megatron’s forces initially consisted of the Predacons, including Slapper (Goosher in the anime, voiced by Ryō Naitō & Peter Lurie), a stealthy dim-witted thug with a cruel sense of humor that turned into a techno-organic toad;  Gas Skunk (similarly Gaskunk in the anime, voiced by Norio Imamura & Jerry DeCapua), a skilled inventor with extensive knowledge of Cybertronian law and computer programming that often managed to mangle large words when he spoke, was a bully and a coward, and turned into a techno-organic skunk; Dark Scream (Guildo in the anime, voiced by Takahashi & Blum), a skilled—but weak—swordsman useful for aerial transport and recon (despite his poor flight skills) that turned into a techno-organic flying squirrel;  and Sky-Byte (Gelshark in the anime, voiced by Konta & Peter Spellos), whose constant need for validation from Megatron often undercut his intelligence and military prowess, and changed into a techno-organic shark..

The Decepticons in vehicle mode being led by Scourge.


Eventually, they were joined by the Decepticons: Autobot protoforms corrupted by the darkness in Megatron’s spark. Along with Scourge (Black Convoy in the anime, voiced by Taitem Kusunoki & Barry Stigler), an evil doppelganger of Optimus (except he turned into a Western Star 4964 EX truck) with ambitions of overthrowing Megatron, there were the Commandos: Mega-Octane (Dolrailer in the anime, voiced by Holly Kaneko & Bob Papenbrook), the cool-headed militaristic leader of the Decepticons that often had to keep hot-headed Scourge at bay, and turned into a flatbed truck with a cannon; Ro-Tor (Hepter in the anime, voiced by Masao Harada & Kaplan), arrogant and smarmy with near-silent flight capabilities and amazing maneuverability in his alternate form as a Kaman Aerospace SH-2 Seasprite helicopter; Armorhide (Danger in the anime, voiced by Kondō & Richard Epcar), an aggressive warrior that liked taking cover under scorching hot sand and could become a Leopard 1A3 MBT tank; Rollbar (Greejeeber in the anime, voiced by Riki Kitazawa & Lindsay), a martial artist with more restraint in combat than his teammates that became a FMC XR311 combat support vehicle; and Movor (Shuttler in the anime, voiced by Hidenori Konda & Robert Axelrod), who was able to rain fire down from orbit with devastating results (however very poor aim), thanks to his ability to become a space shuttle. The Commandos could combine to form the deadly-efficient fighter Ruination (Baldigus in the anime, also Kaneto & Papenbrook).

Koji talking to Optimus.


Other characters included Dorie Dutton (unnamed in the anime, voiced by Mariko Nagahama & Tiffanie Christun, with Fox redubbing 1 episode), who was a reporter that typically found herself in the midst of some robot activity; Carl (Kenta in the anime, voiced by Mariko Nagahama & Joshua Seth) was one of Koji’s friends whose father designed and built industrial machinery; Jenny (Miki in the anime, voiced by Mami Fukai & Colleen O’Shaughnessey), another of Carl’s friends; and Kelly (Junko Shiragami in the anime, voiced by Chieko Higuchi & Philece Sampler), who was a bystander with the running gag of always having the bad luck of having her day derailed by the Transformers’ battles. Kelly was never audibly named on screen in the English dub; instead, her name was revealed on a casting sheet released when the show premiered. However, in the Italian dub of “Secret Weapon: D-5”, she mentioned her name in a moment of self-congratulation. There was also Cerebros (Plasma in the anime, voiced by Masayuki Kiyama & Steve Kramer), a mindless drone that was the key to controlling Fortress Maximus, and Emissary (Brave in the anime), a robot whose only function was to transform into Maximus’ head.

T-AI monitoring the situation.


Transformers: Robots in Disguise debuted on FOX on September 8, 2001 as part of the final line-up of the Fox Kids programming block. Localization was handled by Saban Entertainment, who owned and programmed Fox Kids at the time. The English dialogue was written by Kramer, Epcar, Wyner, McConnohie, Marc Handler and Matthew V. Lewis and largely stuck to the intent of the original. Car Robots was aimed at a much younger audience than Hasbro usually shot for and featured many typical anime light-comedy tropes (exaggerated faces, giant drops of sweat, etc.). Robots in Disguise kept some semblance that humor in place; however more cultural humor was side-stepped and dialogue could differ wildly from the Japanese scripts. Despite being technically a whole-new continuity for the franchise (the very first reboot in its history), Hasbro employee Andrew Frankel often added references to past Transformers series when scripts were submitted for approval; creating some confusion for fans as to where exactly Robots in Disguise fit into established canon (further confused by Takara clarifying where Car Robots fit in to the overall Japanese Generation 1 continuity). New music was composed by Deddy Tzur, Paul Gordon, Glenn Lacey, David Hilker and John Costello, with the international music and theme composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (as Kussa Mahchi).

All-new CGI targeting overlay.


Personalities for some of the characters were entirely reworked. Dark Scream lost his samurai overtones to become more of a thug. Megatron gained a theatrical flair and a tendency to throw tantrums. Rapid Run was changed from a gruff, seasoned warrior into a young, cool dude. Midnight Express went from being kid-like to an older fusspot with an aristocratic air, to name a few. CGI enhancements were made to episodes, including scene transitions based on the original Transformers cartoon and display overlays from the point of view of a character targeting their opponent.

Gaskunk carries away Kelly in her bomb-laden sports car.


Other edits came about as the result of unfortunate timing. Shortly after the series premiered, the United States was hit by the September 11 terrorist attacks. The episode “An Explosive Situation”, which dealt with a terrorist’s bomb, never aired again. “Battle Protocol!”, which featured the destruction of New York City buildings, had those sequences edited out. References to a plutonium energy generator exploding if attacked in “Spychangers to the Rescue” were altered to have the reactor instead threatening to crack open and release a gas harmful to the robots (they also took advantage of the redub to fix a line, add a line and remove a scene where a deflected missile destroys a truck). Additionally, episodes were quickly redubbed to remove any mention of terrorism or similar phrases. The episodes “Attack from Outer Space”, “Landfill” and “Sky-Byte Saves the Day” were deemed unsalvageable and never aired in the United States as a result; first premiering in Canada and the United Kingdom instead. Three clip shows were cobbled together to fill in the holes left by the missing episodes (Car Robots also had three clip show episodes, but Robots in Disguise never used them). As the series was initially airing six days a week, these new edits meant that the episodes aired out-of-order. The afflicted episodes were largely the ones that dealt with the ongoing O-Parts plotline.

Fortress Maximus.


A cute version of Optimus and Megatron were planned for inclusion in the kid-friendly Robot Heroes toyline in 2009, but were ultimately scrapped. Optimus, Prowl, Side Burn, Landfill, Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, Omega Prime and Ruination were included in the Transformers: Universe comic between 2003-04; one of three produced by 3H Productions as part of the Official Transformers Collector’s Club. Based on the toyline of the same name that was rereleases of prior figures from various lines, and was released annually during The Official Transformers Collectors Convention. Two script readings based on those stories were also conducted, with actors from various Transformers franchises reprising their respective roles. Optimus and Prowl made cameo appearances in Dreamwave ProductionsTransformers Armada #17 in 2003, and Optimus alone had a cameo in Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers Annual from IDW Publishing in 2018. Dreamwave’s 20th Anniversary Transformers Summer Special released in 2004 was an anthology featuring stories from various incarnations, including Robots in Disguise. Through it, readers were given a chance to vote for a Robots in Disguise or Beast Wars mini-series to be published the following year (Beast Wars won the vote, but Dreamwave’s closing kept it from ever being published). The Build Team would appear in a crowd shot of IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light #2 in 2017. Many of the characters would also appear in various entries of the Transformers: Timelines series by Fun Publications and throughout the 2005 IDW continuity.

Megatron vs. Landfill.


Maximum Entertainment, in association with Jetix, released the complete series in the United Kingdom across various volumes. Initially planning to release the series 2-discs at a time, they abandoned the plan after Volume One and released the entire show across two 3-disc sets from 2004-05. In 2007, tying into the release of the live-action film, they released three single-disc sets containing two episodes each, later combining them into one mega pack. The first 2007 release, Battle Protocol, was included in a 3-disc set that included episodes from RoboCop: The Animated Series and M.A.S.K. The second release, Evil Intent, was included in another set with episodes from Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation and Action Man (2000). The original 2004-05 releases were rereleased in 2007 with new artwork; the 2-disc set called Special Edition and the 3-disc sets called Season One and Season Two, respectively. The latter two were combined the following year into the Ultimate Collection.

Galvatron vs. Omega Prime.


Stormovie handled the home media releases in Italy, which included all-new opening and ending themes (the western and Japanese ones were included as special features). The first 16 episodes were released across four volumes in 2005. Episodes 1, 2, 14, 16 and 19 were combined and released as Transformers: Robots in Disguise II Film in 2007. Later, episodes 29-30, 32-33 and 37-39 were combined into Robots in Disguise II Film: Battaglia Finale. As for the United States, Robots in Disguise remains the only American-broadcast Transformers series to not even be partially released to home video. This was likely due to Disney’s acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide from Saban in 2001, which would include their dub of the series. While Saban would later reclaim some of their library from Disney in 2010 and 2012, Robots in Disguise likely wasn’t one of them. It remains the only English-language series not completely owned by Hasbro.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:
“Battle Protocol! (First Deployment! Fire Convoy)” (4/5/00 JAP, 9/8/01 US) – Koji joins the Autobots in rescuing his father from the Predacons, who kidnap him for his work with energy.
 
“An Explosive Situation (High-Speed Battle! Gelshark)” (4/12/00 JAP, 9/10/01 US) – Sky-Byte approaches the Predacons with a solution to their power troubles: steal an energy bomb planted in a sports car in the city.
 
“Bullet Train to the Rescue (Combine! Bullet Train Robo)” (4/14/00 JAP, 9/11 & 9/12/01 US*) – The Predacons target various trainlines with bombs, and Optimus brings in the Autobot Brothers and Team Bullet Train to help stop them.
*Aired earlier in select markets and widely the following day.
 
“Spychangers to the Rescue (Ninja Robo! The Spychangers Enter)” (4/26/00 JAP, 9/13/01 US) – T-AI calls in the Spychangers to help the Autobots keep the Predacons from making off with a plutonium energy generator.
 
“The Hunt for Black Pyramid (Resolute Jump! Mach Alert)” (5/3/00 JAP, 9/14/01 US) – The Predacons decide to tap into the underwater Black Pyramid for power just as Koji and Dr. Akase prepare to explore it.
 
“The Secret of the Ruins (Gigatron’s Raid!)” (5/10/00 JAP, 10/11/01 US) – Megatron launches an attack on the city in order to draw out the Autobots and keep them from interfering in Sky-Byte’s mission at some ancient ruins.
 
“Sideburn’s Obsession (Speedbreaker’s Crisis!)” (5/17/00 JAP, 9/15/01 US) – The Predacons use Side Burn’s taste in cars to lure him into a trap to serve as bait for a trap for Optimus.
 
“Secret Weapon: D-5 (Mysterious Weapon! D5)” (5/24/00 JAP, 9/17/01 US) – Stealing a disk from Dr. Onishi leads the Predacons to believe an old steam locomotive has some kind of significance they can take advantage of.
 
“Mirage’s Betrayal (Counterarrow’s Betrayal!?)” (5/31/00 JAP, 9/18/01 US) – Mirage turns the tables on the Predacons by taking advantage of a listening device the plant on him during a heist.
 
“Skid Z’s Choice (Out of Control! Indy Heat!)” (6/7/00 JAP, 9/19/01 US) – Assuming his alternate form causes newcomer Skid-Z to become obsessed with racing, necessitating the Autobots to find and fix him.
 
“Tow-Line Goes Haywire (Parking Violation! Wrecker Hook)” (6/14/00 JAP, 9/20/01 US) – New Autobot recruit Tow-Line is captured by the Predacons and reprogrammed to believe his friends are the enemy.
 
“The Ultimate Robot Warrior (The Ultimate Extreme! The Large Buddha Statue Transformer)” (6/21/00 JAP, 9/21/01 US) – Believing a movie Transformer is real, the Predacons set out to capture it and add it to their ranks.
 
“Hope for the Future (Gigatron’s Ambitions Revealed!)” (6/28/00 JAP, 10/26/01 US) – The Autobots review their encounters with the Predacons thus far to try and predict their next target.
 
“The Decepticons (Friend? Foe!? Black Convoy)” (7/5/00 JAP, 9/22/01 US) – A downed UFO ends up containing 6 protoforms, which the Predacons take and program into their new allies: the Decepticons.
 
“Commandos (5-Body Combination! Baldigus)” (7/12/00 JAP, 9/24/01 US) – The Decepticons plan to destroy Sherman Dam, and to make Scourge look bad Sky-Byte plans to disguise his team as Autobots to stop him.
 
“Volcano (En Garde! Two Convoys!)” (7/19/00 JAP, 9/25/01 US) – Megatron sends his minions to investigate a volcano that could be used to make Energon cubes, but a fight between Sky-Byte and Scourge ends up causing an eruption.
 
“Attack from Outer Space (Aiming from Space! Shuttler!!)” (7/26/00 JAP, 1/12/02 CAN) – Intent on finding the Autobots’ base, Megatron sends Movor into space in place of the actual space shuttle.
 
“The Test (Awaken to Righteousness! Black Convoy)” (8/2/00 JAP, 9/26/01 US) – The Autobots put the Decepticons to the test when they come around claiming to want to join them.
 
“The Fish Test (Secret Strategy! Gelshark)” (8/9/00 JAP, 9/27/01 US) – Jealous Scourge scored better in a test than him, Sky-Byte leaks his plans to the Autobots but ends up humiliated when Scourge strikes elsewhere.
 
“Wedge’s Short Fuse (Hot-Blooded Warriors! Buildmasters)” (8/16/00 JAP, 9/28/01 US) – Wedge makes a deal with Optimus to let the Build Team fight the Predacons, but they all end up falling right into a Predacon trap.
 
“Landfill (Four-Body Combination! Build King)” (8/23/00 JAP, 6/22/02 UK) – The Decepticons sabotage the Transformer’s Space Bridge so that it will send the Autobots to the wrong locations.
 
“Sky-Byte Saves the Day (Friend of Righteousness? Gelshark)” (8/30/00 JAP, 6/23/02 UK) – Sky-Byte wants to topple a building for notoriety, but ends up needing to save it when his unintended hostages could land him all of the O-Parts.
 
“A Test of Metal (Targeted Buildmasters)” (9/6/00 JAP, 9/29/01 US) – The Build Team sabotages the Space Bridge so that they will be the only ones able to fight the Decepticons after being challenged.
 
“Ultra Magnus (Enter! God Magnus)” (9/13/00 JAP, 10/6/01 US) – Ultra Magnus comes to Earth for Optimus’ Matrix, but ends up saving the Autobot Brothers from a Decepticon ambush instead.
 
“Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion! (Forced Combination! God Fire Convoy)” (9/20/00 JAP, 10/13/01 US) – Magnus pretends to come to Optimus’ rescue from the Decepticons but instead attempts to absorb Optimus into himself to get the Matrix.
 
“Lessons of the Past (Assemble! New Warriors)” (9/27/00 JAP, 12/14/01 US) – Optimus, T-AI and Koji review their past encounters with the Decepticons in order to anticipate their next move.
 
“The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus (Stalemate! 3 Car Robo Brothers)” (10/4/00 JAP, 10/20/01 US) – Megatron orders Sky-Byte to recruit Magnus to their side, and Magnus accepts…as an Autobot spy.
 
“Power to Burn! (Invoke! Double Matrix)” (10/11/00 JAP, 10/19/01 US) – Optimus has the Autobot Brothers keep tabs on Magnus while Scourge attempts to recruit him for help in overthrowing Megatron.
 
“Fortress Maximus (Arise! Cybertron City)” (10/18/00 JAP, 10/27/01 US) – Dr. Onishi discovers a new power source in newly discovered ancient ruins, and the Cybertronians race to claim it first.
 
“Koji Gets His Wish (JRX Versus Baldigus)” (10/25/00 JAP, 11/3/01 US) – While Optimus and Magnus are busy with Scourge at the ruins, Sky-Byte kidnaps Dr. Onishi to reveal the nature of the power within.
 
“A Friendly Contest (Gelshark’s Trap)” (11/1/00 JAP, 11/10/01 US) – While competing with Side to see who can find the most O-Part fragments, Wedge is captured and held hostage by Megatron.
 
“Peril from the Past (The Final Key? Farewell, Ai)” (11/8/00 JAP, 11/17/01 US) – The assembled O-Ring leads the Autobots to the Orb of Sigma, which Dr. Onishi discovers is used to unlock Fortress Maximus.
 
“Maximus Emerges (Stolen Plasma)” (11/15/00 JAP, 2/16/02 US) – Scourge attempts to pose as Optimus to control Fortress Maxmimus, but it ignores his orders and goes on a rampage through the city.
 
“The Human Element (The Mystery of Brave Maximus)” (11/22/00 JAP, 2/23/02 US) – Scourge discovers a human component is needed to control Fortress Maximus and uses Kelly’s DNA to finally take control of it.
 
“Mystery of the Ultra Magnus (Gelshark’s Blues)” (11/29/00 JAP, 3/30/02 US) – The Decepticons review archival footage to find a way to defeat Ultra Magnus.
 
“Mistaken Identity (Black Convoy’s Ambition)” (12/6/00 JAP, 3/2/02 US) – Carl ends up abducted by the Decepticons when they mistake him for Koji.
 
“Surprise Attack! (Brave Maximus’s Rise!)” (12/13/00 JAP, 3/9/02 US) – Galvatron leads an attack on the Autobots’ base and possesses a new weapon that may even be too powerful for Maximus.
 
“Galvatron’s Revenge (Counterattack! Devil Gigatron!)” (12/20/00 JAP, 3/16/02 US) – Galvatron absorbs energy from Maximus and sends duplicates of himself around the world to take children hostage to control future generations.
 
“The Final Battle (Final Battle! Fire Convoy)” (12/27/00 JAP, 3/23/02 US) – Omega Prime challenges Galvatron to a battle at the Earth’s core while Koji attempts to enlist the aid of the planet’s children to beat him.

No comments: