Besides Cybertronians, the only other races who take part in the war are humans and Nebulans, but that's it. Do the Transformers have allies and enemies besides theirselves? Isn't there a neighboring planet who would fight for either the Autobots or Decepticons? We have seen there are other races besides the 3 I mentioned, but are there more? Why wouldn't they take a stand in a battle that been around for millions of years?
The Nebulans and humans also were not involved in that war until the conflict ended up encompassing their planets (and the Nebulans basically tried to force their way into stopping the war and the end result were the Head/Target/Powermaster "upgrades" that didn't stop anything in the end). I mean, it's a Civil War that ultimately only really concerns Cybertron. None of the other races could care less about it since Cybertron doesn't have any natural resources besides metal.
Also, pre-War Cybertron seems to be, in general, rather isolationist. This isn't to say that they had no interest whatsoever in other planets and their affairs, just that they seem pretty focused on their own internal affairs. There usually is very little evidence of them being part of intergalactic alliance systems or anything of that nature prior to the war breaking out, and, except in IDW, even after the war starts they don't appear to interact with other species until they crashland on Earth, at which point they start making alliances and enemies like crazy.
They probably do on their own planets and maybe if they've got close neighbors. The problem is a lot of the races they encounter are organic and that may limit space travel depending on how many occupied planets are in easy reach when it comes to restocking supplies. Some aliens may not be able to do space travel at all depending on how developed their technology is.
There's probably a bunch of reasons, depending on the continuity. 1. The galaxy is just so darn big, they don't encounter many planets that support life. The ones they do encounter either have no sentient life, sentient life that is too primitive to merit interacting with, or sentient life that is either ignored (Autobot) or enslaved/exterminated (Decepticon). 2. Assuming there are species capable of space travel, they might be too small to contribute in any meaningful way. They might have diplomatic contact with either side, but they are strictly neutral. They might give economic concessions to either sides, but no military activity. Those allied to either faction might operate only on their home planet or within their home system. 3. They might be powerful enough to impact the war, but they see no reason to intervene unless there's something in it for them. One of the reasons I like IDW 2.0 is that they flesh out other races, and Cybertron is the economic/cultural hub of the galaxy. When war breaks out eventually, we're going to see how these species react.
The cartoon had lots of different aliens in their stories. Only a few really got involved beyond skirmishes but I do think there was a recurring bounty hunter. And of course, the UK comics had Death's Head. Alien - Transformers Wiki
In the Gambler episoded there was Lord Gyconi, that warlord that was allied with Decepticons but I don't know if can be considered a filler uncanon, seeing rest of the series.
The Quintessons attempted to take advantage of the ongoing war in various continuities. In IDW, a lot of the organic races are justifiably afraid of the giant, almost immortal Cybertronians, many of which possess powers like teleportation and invisibility.
The Quintessons technically got involved, since they were essentially the war profiteers, plus they got mixed in directly now and then. The other aliens we see either had no connection to Cybertron or had been conquered by the Decepticons. The implication in a lot of G1 episodes is that the Decepticons had conquered many planets and Earth was just next on the list of planets that the Decepticons were trying to conquer and deplete of resources.
Probably because other races knew it was best to keep out of it. humans and nebulans only got involved becase the war came right to their doorsteps. Other races would only get involved if they were defending a decepticon or possibly even an autobot invasion or they were strongly interested an energy source one side had discovered. Plus if most races are of similar size to an average human you'd be fighting a war were the average soldier is at least two or three times your size armed to the teeth with ranged weaponry and can turn into who knows what ranging from ground and flight vehicles to some kind of mechanical razor fanged monster.
Because they like their planet. And living. Remember Paradron. Paradron - Transformers Wiki - A Lost Autobot Colony that didn't have the war. The moment they were hospitable ended up dooming their planet. Because Ultra Magnus blew it up. If you think that may be atypical of any war when resources are scarce, think again. IDW had the Galactic Council and other organizations to keep tabs on violent lifeforms as well.
Because, odds are, most species don’t have the firepower to match Cybertronians, of any faction. Transformers are bigger, immune to organic disease, stronger, more durable, more dangerous, and effectively immortal to anything not from their own planet. And they change shape into even more deadly things. Think about it... how many organics killed Transformers? Now answer the question in reverse. It’s orders of magnitude difference. It is really law of the jungle and Transformers are near the top of the food chain.
I mean technically sometimes they do? Nebulans come to mind specifically. I think in theory a species could get involved if they had a proper stake in it.
I loved that episode! I love the idea that the Decepticons have their fingers in a lot of pies, so to speak. They're a terrorist imperialistic faction, and on Earth these organziations often fund themselves through organized crime, arms dealing, coercion and extortion, so I always thought the idea that Megatron and the Decepticons have "supply chains" outside of Earth and Cybertron makes them seem more like a legitimate threat. It also makes Megatron seem less like a moron for his madhatted endeavors on Earth. Earth is DRIPPING with resources and he's overseeing the plunder personally, but he's not got all his eggs in one basket, he's got other fronts and operations all over the galaxy. Badass.
