What does “canon” mean anyway? It’s not what Megatron’s alternate form will be, that’s for sure. Canon is a method writers use to tell stories that are part of a greater whole. Usage of the term often occurs when writers try to “reset” a story retroactively (a retcon); or when a series has gone awry.
The Transformers franchise is a great example of both of these events. The obvious examples are Michael Bay’s Transformers films. The movies present a story arc all their own and are not official Generation 1 canon. Do not completely disregard stories that fall outside of the main canon altogether though, as it allows artists to create some very unique concepts that wouldn’t be feasible within the canon’s restraints. One of the great strengths of Transformers War for Cybertron and the upcoming sequel Fall of Cybertron is that they fall in line with official Transformers Canon.
http://youtu.be/_fR7FV6Aqw0
“We were in the middle of a – I don’t want to call it a retcon – but the process of creating a new continuity. The core messages of the brand had been lost along the way, so it was time to restate the obvious to fans and new viewers. What is the early origin story? Who are the core members of the Autobots? What are the Primes? We were in the middle of all that when the pitch from High Moon came and all that kind of dovetailed together nicely. The new cartoon series, the novels, and both Cybertron games are all official canon.”—Aaron Archer, Hasbro Vice President of intellectual property development
Below I created two timelines distinguishing the old canon from the new. Take a gander below to see your cherished heroes in their 1980’s heyday. The timeline features their humble beginnings as toys through 1986’s now-famous Transformers: The Movie.
The following timeline features the new Hasbro properties. They are all part of the new canon which takes inspiration from many different Transformers sources, non-canonical and arguably-canonical, including the Michael Bay films and the 1995 animated series, Beast Wars.
Game Informer also has a great map of where these games fall into line with what we know of the Transformers on earth (both from the G1 series and the new CW Cartoon). The previews for Fall of Cybertron may leave you asking yourself: How can Bumblebee die? How are there Dinobots on Cybertron, well before the Transformers come to Earth? This is all just part of the fun! For now we’ll have to wait and see what High Moon has in store for us.
