So, Hasbro has relatively recently decided to try and unify the Transformers brand with this new 'Evergreen' concept. Now, every new piece of Transformers fiction shares more or less the same backstory, which is something of an amalgamation of numerous origin stories from across the years. For all intents and purposes, these origins now seem to be the 'default' origins going forward. The problem is that none of these origins are particularly good, and they are all unable to provide a truly satisfying backstory for the lore of the Transformers, which hurts the fiction.

My first problem with this backstory, fittingly enough, is with the origin of Cybertron and the Transformer race. We all know the story - Primus, after defeating his evil brother Unicron, transformed his body into Cybertron and gave life to the Transformer race using his godly energy. As the origin for the Transformer race, though, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Ideally, the origin of the Transformers should explain how and why a race of sentient, shape-shifting robots came to be. The Primus origin has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Transformers are robots who turn into vehicles and what not. It's not built on the fact that the Transformers are transforming robots; that part of the story is an aside, and it's a weak origin because of it. Yet, this origin has stuck around for decades, likely because it explains away a number of franchise constants like Unicron and the Matrix, but that doesn't really make it any less unsatisfying of an origin story. Though the Quintesson origin is flawed, it at least is built around the idea that the Transformers are sentient robots who are able to transform their bodies into vehicles and other machinery. The Primus origin, however, doesn't seem too concerned with actually explaining how the Transformers came to be; it's focus is elsewhere, and that's the very problem with it. It isn't a logical place for the Transformer race to begin; it barely has anything to do with who they are.

It's not just the origin of the Transformer race that doesn't work with this seemingly default backstory. The outbreak of the Great War, and most especially the rise of the Decepticons is also really weak, which is troubling considering that it's more important to the main story. Throughout every iteration of the brand, the Decepticons are driven by goals of galactic conquest and technological supremacy across the cosmos. Logically, then, their origin should serve to explain how and why they came into existence and rose to prominence. The problem is that this current origin doesn't do that at all. It's flawed in a similar way to how Primus and the origin of the Transformers is flawed; the origin of the Decepticons and the faction that they eventually become are entirely disconnected from each other. It explains how they came to be, sure, but their rise has nothing to do with the ideas that are at the center of the Decepticons' core ideology. This take on the origin of the Decepticons have them start out as a workers' revolution demanding job emancipation. They're fighting for freedom, but after overthrowing the old guard, they just keep going and suddenly start blowing up planets. Why? The Decepticons who fought for freedom have nothing to do with the Decepticons who fight to conquer and enslave the galaxy. This origin isn't satisfying because the main, underlying idea of the Decepticons - the fact that they're fascist regime that seeks to pillage and conquer - isn't at the heart of it. It isn't a logical place for where the Decepticons would begin; really, it has absolutely nothing to do with who the Decepticons are, and as such it suffers for it.

This origin of the Decepticons also causes the origin of the Autobots to suffer as well. Naturally, this would only serve to weaken the rivalry between the two factions. The modern Autobots are made up of the remnants of the enforcers of the old, corrupt regime who are now united in the name of freedom. If the Autobots and the Decepticons are both motivated by freedom, which is what this origin leads us to believe, then there isn't really an ideological difference between the two factions; the only difference is that the Decepticons are blowing up planets or whatever because freedom, I guess? They're a workers' revolution that kept going after they won, and their enemies are their former oppressors who now agree with them ideologically. That's just a really silly origin that makes things needlessly convoluted and messy. The whole point of providing an origin to the outbreak of the Great War is to explain the two factions and why they oppose each other, but all this one does is muddle the waters a bit without actually explaining anything. If anything, the story makes even less sense because of this origin.

Now, that being said, there are a few good elements to this origin. Though I do think it's only stuck around for such a long time because of a lack of alternatives, the caste system does actually play up the idea of the transformation, which is really great. I also like that, as an origin, it actually kinda works for Megatron. As a character, Megatron is motivated by only one thing: dominance. His ideology is simple to understand: you can have anything you want, so long as you are strong enough to take it. Having him start out in the service of people who he sees as weaker actually makes a lot of sense. The problem is, however, that this origin doesn't really work within the larger context of the Great War because of what I talked about before. Intergalactic genocide is entirely far removed from class warfare.

On the topic on Megatron, another staple of this new backstory is the idea that he was once friends with Optimus Prime. Though I don't think it's inherently a bad idea, it makes the whole Great War feel a lot smaller than it should. Instead of the two factions being headed by the two individuals with diametrically opposed world views, it feels more like a personal falling out between two people. The Xavier/Magneto dynamic doesn't really suit them because the Autobot/Decepticon conflict is a galaxy spanning war that has lasted for millennia. Really, despite ragging on IDW a fair bit, I think they handled this the best; Optimus and Megatron weren't friends or brothers before the war, but they did have one interaction with each other that fundamentally changed the two of them. That's an approach that I think could work going forward.

At the end of the day, what we're left with are origins and explanations that aren't really built around the core concepts of what they're trying to explain. As a result, the backstory feels incredibly incoherent and weak, and the fact that this seems to be the default going forward doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Really, all of these origins just seem mandated and forced; these are stories being told without actual consideration as to whether or not they work, and unfortunately I don't see them changing these origins for more logical and satisfying ones any time soon.

Those are all just my thoughts, but I am curious to read what the rest of you think.

 

Wait, there's a backstory? I thought Evergreen was just a name for the "generic"/non-continuity specific designs for stuff like the Authentics line.

 

It's almost like there's no thought or unifying vision being put into all this insufferably lazy brand synergy Hasbro is obsessed with.

 

Basically, yes. They're just grabbing bits and pieces without putting any effort to stitch them together or to see even if the pieces they're grabbing are worth putting in the new continuity.

 

It's pretty much just their efforts continuing from Aligned, but Hasbro has more direct control over it this time.
Aligned didn't work because no one communicated with each other nor wanted their stories to be beholden to the others, which surprisingly did actually give us some interesting variety through the Cybertron games, Prime, and Rescue Bots. They shared a number of recurring concepts (High Moon Games and Prime shared Dark Energon and a general backstory, Rescue Bots featured guest appearances from Prime and RiD), but they weren't really beholden to each other and could deviate. Sure it made for a terrible "continuity" that relied on broad strokes, but there was some effort made to make each part distinct.

 

Evergreen is also a word. The context it's used in here is "these origins appear to be the default origins for now," therefore, they're evergreen, in a sense.

 

I wasn't even aware of any fiction for the Evergreen stuff, apart from Cyberverse kinda sorta using the designs. I literally thought Evergreen was just a non-franchise-specific set of designs for the core characters.

I'm genuinely curious about where all the detail in the first post is coming from, because I didn't think there was any fiction associated with Evergreen.

 

Your thoughts on this echo a lot of my own gripes with the direction Hasbro's taken the brand into. Sad part is that most of the ideas such as the Decepticons originally meaning well at first but went horribly wrong by a guy who ultimately didn't have everyone's best interest at heart or if he did lost sight of it long ago aren't bad but Hasbro's attempt to take bits from each TF series but not really understanding why they worked in the first place feels like a cheap way to mass market it to people. What doesn't help is that they're trying to force this on every TF media that's coming out nowadays leaving little to no room for any of them to do something different to stand out in their own respective way. So for those who want to see a more Armada based Optimus or a more Animated based Prowl you might as well forget about it. They won't do it. Not even one slight fan servicey detail will be put on because it's not G1 enough. Grand for those who want a more G1 direction but for others not so much.

For all the flak the Aligned universe got at least they all had something that made each one stood out in some manner or another but the fact that we don't even have that going anymore is frustrating.

 

It almost validates Aligned's mis-steps in a way, in that both Aligned and Cyberverse/Everygreen/IDW show exactly why the concept of an over-arching story just doesn't work for Transformers media in this day an age despite one failing that task and one succeeding. Transformers isn't like Star Wars where you can have different tales of equal validity run concurrently, every Transformers media needs to have Optimus, Bumblebee, Megatron, etc.

It's like Hasbro completely forgot that to grow a brand you need to branch out. Just making three different things all the same isn't unification, it's boring. They made separate stories feel like they'll the same thing, rather than make three stories in the same universe that feel different.

 

There isn't any fiction for the Evergreen designs. The word "Evergreen" in this thread is being used figuratively, to describe how various origins in Transformers are defaulting to ones from the Aligned Continuity. The Evergreen character designs are irrelevant here.

 

What unification is happening these days? Hasbro may be making the G1 influence more obvious these days, but Evergreen, Cyberverse and Beeverse are still their own things. Only WFC is a flavor of G1 - the others may have a stronger influence from G1 than earlier franchises did, but they're not actually trying to be G1. ER Prime is G1 Optimus Prime. Cyberverse Prime and Beeverse Prime just look like him (same as pretty much every other Optimus/Convoy did to varying degrees.)

IMO apart from all the flavors trying to LOOK more G1, there's no unification at all. That idea died when Hasbro moved on from Aligned, for better or worse.

Evergreen doesn't mean Evergreen. Ohhhkay …  

I wasn't aware Aligned was still serving as the inspiration for the current fiction. I haven't really seen that in Beeverse or Cyberverse (though I haven't watched seasons 2 or 3). Maybe in IDW, but I wouldn't touch the comics if you paid me.

 

And yet they are still being forced to conform to a similar visual style and narrative.

It's not that the G1 influence is "more obvious," it's a decided effort on Hasbro's part to unify the brand.

"Evergreen" is a term used to describe anything that's non-seasonal. It's usually used to refer to toylines that don't represent any particular fiction, but in this instance it refers to the unchanging backstory and narrative across all versions. Every story more or less follows the same origin and story beats, compared to how, say, the movies, Prime, and IDW 1 were all clearly completely different from the outset.

Thing is we don't actually have a word like "Aligned" for the current synergized version of Transformers, so "Evergreen" is pretty much our best option considering the actual Evergreen line was created to promote the stylistic unification.

 

What he's basically saying that basically every TF media from here on out will have the exact same design with exact same personalities with exact same backstories. Or at least similar to the point of almost no different for the Evergreen direction. That will only spell disaster because trying to give out nothing but the same thing will eventually make even die hard G1 fans sick of it because of how there's no variety to keep things fresh. Especially when you're trying to cram everything into one common theme despite the differences they do have contradict each other. It didn't work out for the Aligned universe so there's no reason why it'll be any different with the Evergreen direction despite being more solid at least for now.

 

I mean, we're not gonna get Cyber Planet keys, or Fortress Maximus as an ancient superpowered prison, or a series where all Autobots can combine, or Optimus as a young upstart, etc.

It's all gonna be the same basic "G1 but slightly different."

 

And that's new in what way? That's been the case as far back as 1984, with the cartoon and comic incarnations of G1. The characters and backstory have always been variations on the same themes. RiD, UT, Animated, Aligned, even Beast Wars has the same basic concepts and the same archetypes (with different names in the case of BW, of course). The degree of variation may change, but the characters stick to the same archetypes they've always had (with some exceptions, especially in early G1). What makes each incarnation interesting is its unique take on the standard story and characters. RiD `01 Prime being more naïve than most, or ANimated Bumblebee having no concept of responsibility for the results of his actions, or UT Starscream having a sense of honor, and his rebelliousness steming from that. That variation is still present.

BUt Transformers has always been formulaic in nature. Do you complain that Batman is always a rich guy whose headquarters is in a cave, and who has a teenage kid as a partner?

 

Yes they've been formulaic but they've all also had things that made each one stand out from some aspect or another some even changing the brand forever as a result. What's wrong with how Hasbro's going about this now is that they're making everything be very similar to the point of might as well being the same exact thing. Again not a great thing if you want to keep things fresh. That will only lead to things being stale and boring which is what almost destroyed the brand in the mid 90's before BW came around.

 

When has it not been? G2 was G1 with dayglow colors. Beast Wars was G1 with critter altmodes. And so on.

 

I'd argue that BW and the switch back from beasts in RiD were the only times changes really stood out. Maybe the 2007 movie/toyline as well but that was basically just G1 with sharp edges and no characterization. Otherwise it's all been pretty incremental/formulaic. G1 with modular bots. G1 with everyone combining. G1 with divine powerups. Extra-cartoony G1. G1 with a streamlined movie style. And so on. Sure there's the occasional stand out concept or character, but that's just adding to the core. The core premise and character archetypes are the same now as they were in 1984.

Hasbro is still making those incremental differences. They may not be the radical changes that BW represented, but they are present. Cyberverse is not the same as Beeverse, and neither is IDW (thankfully).

 

So you picked the re-airing of G1 and it's direct sequel as examples of Transformers always adhering to G1's formula in the past?

In RID, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron (kinda) Cybertron never fell, and the conflicts were over various macguffins certainly not drawn from G1. (unless Fort Max was ever a macguffin in G1 and I forgot) The movies feature a dead Cybertorn, but that was over the Allspark, and I don't need to explain how different those were. TFA had a healthy Cybertron under Autobot rule from the outset, with the entire Autobot/Decepticon war in the distant past and Optimus a post-war, youthful Autobot of relatively low rank. IDW featured a radically different take on the G1 lore despite being directly envisioned as a new version of G1. (which quickly deviated from even that)

You're conflating "following the same basic tenants of G1" as "all TF series are more or less the same because they feature warring factions led by Optimus and Megatron in some form or another." You realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?

Again, I've made this comparison before, but here's a few of the most recent Optimus Prime's






And now here are a few old Optimus's from three separate series:





Are you seriously going to try and tell me those first three are as different as the latter three? That because Energon Optimus features a blue head and flat nose truck mode, he is exactly as similar to G1 Prime as the BB Movie version?

And then you've got the characters who don't even appear consecutively anymore. Cyberverse features a majority of the G1 cast reversioned, as does IDW and the brief Cybertron scenes in BB. Yet during BW, RID and UT the cast was in near-total fluctuation. (even when they were supposed to be direct sequels) Hell, none of those continuities even featured a Bumblebee. You call BW "G1 but animal bodies" yet where's all the G1 characters? (and again, BW was supposed to be a straight follow-up to G1, with the same exact characters, and it managed to be more distinct)

Then there's the narratives. Every continuity now is more or less a slight variation of the same established origin. (I remember when origin stories weren't even integral to a TF series, now you can't start one without it) Megatron as a gladiator-turned-political rebel, Optimus as some humble whatever who's chosen to be a Prime instead of it just being his name, Cybertron war-torn and the Autobots forced into exodus, etc. Again, until recently, most continuities didn't even feature a dead Cybertron, because the stories were that different. Every continuity tried to be as visually and thematically distinct as possible, now any deviations are minor or inconsequential.

 

That's a good point - there's a disconnect there, and while I might prefer the Primus origin to the Quintesson origin, I can't ignore it.

This is a drum that I and others have been beating on for a while now. There's a massive logical disconnect between where the Decepticons started and where they ended up. It's highlighted by their decision to make Megatron, Mr. "Peace Through Tyranny," "Everything Is Fodder," their Spartacus, while trying to drag the Autobots down into the mud, all for the sake of subversion and irony. @Rewind Eject has the idea a while back to invert the origin, to have the Decepticons be the creators of the caste systel and have the Autobots rebel against it in the name of freedom.

Not only that, it makes Optimus look like a squish (or in total denial as to what his friend became). If Megatron, supposedly Optimus's best friend, betrayed everything Optimus stood for, murdered everyone Optimus loved, and started a war that burned not only their world but countless other worlds to ash and ruin, then the logical response isn't "oh, I wish my old friend could see the light, I'm sorry I have to fight him," it's more along the lines of "I'm going to kill that back-stabbing bastard!"

If I were to do it, I'd probably play on G1's War Dawn, where Optimus and his loved ones were just one of Megatron's many victims, either because Optimus was guarding a McGuffin that Megatron wanted, or because he was speaking out against Megatron's actions under the pseudonym Orion Pax and got found out.

They're basically using what people did in the past without thinking about whether it's the best thing to use. It's all nostalgia, without a core of its own.