Transformers: EarthSpark

Transformers: EarthSpark is a 2022 Transformers show, notable for being the first Transformers show to premiere on a streaming platform, Paramount+, though it still airs on Nickelodeon.

Like many other times across the Multiverse, the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons spilled over from Cybertron to Earth. In this timeline though, Megatron realized how bad things had gotten and sided with the Autobots to end his faction's hunger for power. When the war reached a tipping point, Optimus Prime destroyed the space bridge, stranding all combatants on Earth.

In the present day, Retired Badass Dot Malto takes up residence in Witwicky, Pennsylvania along with her family. This comes as a pain to her children, Robby and Mo who preferred the big city life of Philadelphia. When trying to bike back on night, the siblings come across a mysterious stone in a cave, one that births two new Transformers, designated "Terrans", that form a sibling connection to the human kids. Much to the interest of anti-Cybertronian scientist "Mandroid".

Tropes used in Transformers: EarthSpark include:

• Adaptational Attractiveness: Quintus Prime has a much smoother and human-like design than his original Cthulhumanoid design.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Skullcruncher is usually a D-list Decepticon mook. Here's one of the largest and toughest of the lot.
  • Skywarp is usually written as a minion for Starscream and so unintelligent that he can barely function without Starscream, using his teleporting powers mainly to get out of danger. This Skywarp is a dangerously intelligent fighter, fully cognizant of how useful teleporting is, even being capable of teleporting objects that she's holding. Though, she can't teleport through solid objects.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Megatron being the Atoner is not new in Transformers but this Megatron very notably had no plans to ever become a Galactic Conqueror, sincerely only wanting to stop at freeing Cybertron.
  • Tarantulas, Transformers‍'‍ most overt take on Mad Scientist, is depicted as a friendly, if grumpy, mentor to Nightshade.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Bumblebee is a bit more snarky and arrogant than he usually is, having more in common with IDW's Rodimus than his classic G1 self. Though he's not nearly as much of a dick as his Transformers Animated self.
• Affably Evil: Despite the Decepticons becoming radicalized into Omnicidal Maniacs, they're still quite polite.
• All for Nothing: Skywarp and Nova Storm's plan in "Age of Evolution".
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Who did the Emberstone come to be on Earth and where is its owner?
  • As revealed in "Warzone", it's unclear if the AllSpark, and thus Cybertron, survived the space bridge explosion.
• Ambiguously Evil: G.H.O.S.T. While they market themselves as Big Goods who want to help human/Autobot relations, they're also Control Freaks towards the Autobots and detain Decepticons indefinitely and without trial. "Bot Brawl" reveals that Agent Croft is running a Decepticon fight club and harvesting the loser's parts for her own ends: A full scale invasion of Cybertron.
• Ambiguously Gay: Hashtag really likes seeing Action Girls be badasses.
• Amplifier Artifact: The Emberstone can create new sparks, like the missing AllSpark.
• An Aesop: You'll get a lot more done by talking than fighting.
• Appropriated Appellation: Mandroid dubs Twitch and Thrash as "Cybertronus terran", causing them to call themselves "Terrans".
• Ascended Extra:
  • Hardtop goes from a toy-only character from Transformers Cybertron to a Mauve Shirt.
  • Quintus Prime is far more than just being a background name.
  • While she may not be a main character, Elita-1 has far more screentime than she normally does.
• Big Little Brother: The Malto siblings to the Terrans.
  • Twitch to Hashtag. Twitch calls herself Hashtag's big sister, and Twitch is barely taller than a human while Hashtag is the largest Terran, being taller even than Bumblebee.
• Create Your Own Villain: The Great War coming to Earth is what set Mandroid and Agent Croft on their anti-Cybertronian crusades.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: The more Cybertronian bodyparts that Mandroid grafts onto himself, the more energon he craves.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Nightshade has an appearance you'd expect from a Decepticon or Predacon but is a Friend to All Living Things who helps out whomever they can.
• Demoted to Extra: Most of the big name legacy characters exist but the focus is on Canon Immigrants, the Terrans and the Maltos. Bumblebee is the most prominent legacy character.
  • After being a key player in the first third of Season 1, Optimus Prime is reduced to just a namedrop in "Missed Connections" and a flashback in "Warzone" in the second part. He's back to being a leading man in the last part.
• Discard and Draw: The Terrans have all of the Cybertronians' abilities but consume water instead of energon. The trade-off seems to be that they're not as strong or durable as a native of Cybertron.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The anti-Transformer prejudice in "Home" is a clear analogue to anti-immigrant attitudes.
• Eviler Than Thou:
  • Shockwave to Megatron.
  • Mandroid to Agent Croft.
• Gender Flip: Frenzy, Skywarp and Nova Storm are females.
• Human-Focused Adaptation: This series places a particularly heavy emphasis on the Autobots' relationship with their human allies.
• Hypocrite: As both Dot and Megatron have called him out on, for all of Optimus' "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" motto, he's fine with restricting Decepticon freedom. Though it's revealed that Optimus views this as Necessarily Evil.
• Interspecies Adoption: The Cybertronian sub-species Terran have been adopted by a family of humans.
• It's Personal: Many Decepticons, Soundwave and Shockwave in particular, are personally offended that Megatron defected.
• Mineral MacGuffin: The Emberstone.
• Monumental Damage: The Great War damaged the White House, Times Square and Elizabeth Tower.
• Moral Myopia: The Decepticons saw nothing wrong with enslaving humanity but are disgusted that humanity would experiment on and imprison Cybertronians.
• Non Standard Character Design:
  • Mo has more cartoon-y eyes than the rest of the humans.
  • Starscream is the only Decepticon to have blue optics rather than red or yellow.
• Out of Focus: Out of all the Terrans, Jawbreaker gets the least development, even though he does get A Day in the Limelight.
• Pay Evil Unto Evil: Essentially Agent Croft's ultimate goal. Destroy Cybertron for the damage that the Decepticons did to Earth.
• Planetville: As far as EarthSpark is concerned, Earth begins and ends at Pennsylvania.
• Revisiting the Roots:
  • Whereas Transformers: Cyberverse and the WFC trilogy did away with humans entirely, this series places a heavy emphasis on human-Autobot relationships that defined the 1980s cartoon. It's even a step-up from the Transformers Aligned Universe, showing humanity as aware of the Cybertronian race and being open allies to the Autobots.
  • Unlike most non-G1 shows; such as Beast Wars, Transformers Prime and Transformers: Cyberverse; energon is G1 pink rather than bright blue.
  • After Prime started the trend of depicting the AllSpark as pure energy, EarthSpark returns its appearance to the glyphed cube of the Bayverse.
  • After Transformers Cybertron set the trend to depict beast modes as something "other" and primally different to vehicle modes, this show takes after G1 to show them as just another choice for an alternate mode, no different from a Volkswagen.
• Spiritual Antithesis: Largely one to its predecessor, the War for Cybertron trilogy. While that one was a Darker and Edgier take on Transformers that explored the horrors of war, EarthSpark is a Lighter and Softer take that shows people moving on from the war.
• Southern-Fried Genius: Wheeljack.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: EarthSpark is definitely on the Lighter and Softer side of Transformers but Mandroid wouldn't be out of place in the Darker and Edgier Prime.
• Villain with Good Publicity: How Starscream views Megatron.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: Mandroid's trip through the space bridge lasted a year for him but was only a few hours for everyone else.
• You Can't Go Home Again: With the space bridge destroyed, the Autobots and Decepticons can't return to Cybertron. Hell, there might not even be a Cybertron to go back to.