When watching Michael Bay’s Transformers films from start to finish, one might start to wonder – was there really any reason, other than merchandising, for the films to have supporting Autobot characters in them at all? As previously discussed in How to Fix Michael Bay’s Transformers Films – Part One: More Than Meets the CGI, the films don’t exactly care about any of their Autobot characters, except for Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, and despite the wealth of characters that exist through multiple different incarnations of the franchise, the Michael Bay films never managed to present anything more than a cardboard-cutout Autobot cast. The filmmakers cared so little for the ragtag gang of ‘lesser’ Autobots that, throughout the five films in the Michael Bay Transformers chronology, there are many Autobots that simply disappear between films, never to be seen or heard from again. So, in honour of those Autobots that are MIA, let’s roll out the Top 5 Movie Autobots that Disappeared.
#5 – Jolt
Jolt is arguably the least-known Autobot of the movie franchise, as he was a last-minute addition to Revenge of the Fallen and so gets very little screen-time. His most notable scene is when he uses his electric powers to fuse Jetfire’s warm corpse to Optimus Prime’s back so he can use the rusty afterburners to defeat the Fallen, but after this, he is never seen again. At the time Chevrolet were really pushing his alt-mode, the Chevloret Volt, so it is possible that his sudden last-minute inclusion into the script is something to do with them – after all, in what little screen time Jolt gets, he is often in vehicle mode. Unlike other one-shot Revenge of the Fallen Autobots like the Arcee sisters, Jolt is never seen being injured or killed in the film. The Transformers movie comics would do Jolt the justice of giving him a heroic death at the hands of Shockwave at some point before Dark of the Moon, but since this was not included as part of the movie itself, Jolt is still considered MIA as far as most of those that care are aware.
#4 – Skids and Mudflap
It would be hard not to mention the infamous twins having just referred to their debut film, particularly as they are a notable case when it comes to missing Autobots. Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that Skids and Mudflap do actually appear in the third Transformers film, albeit in a brief scene in which all the Autobots drive into their home base in their vehicle modes, but aside from that they are totally absent from Dark of the Moon with no explanation. Apparently the twins were set to appear in the film until as late in the film’s production as early shooting, they had received concept art and even toy models for an updated appearance for Dark of the Moon, but were clearly cut at the last minute. Once again, the vigilant folk that write and draw the Transformers movie comics included a death scene for them at the hands of Sentinel Prime in the third film adaptation, and quite a heroic one too. As for why they were cut from the movie in the first place, it might have something to do with their overwhelmingly negative reception as racist stereotypes in Revenge of the Fallen, but that lesson clearly didn’t sink in completely with Bay as racist cartoonish stereotypes would go on to become a staple of the franchise from the second film onwards.
#3 – Roadbuster
One of the Wreckers introduced in Dark of the Moon, Roadbuster was the loudmouth Scottish Autobot who, along with his teammates Leadfoot and Topspin, crewed the Autobot’s only spacecraft, the Xantium. Following the strange time-jump between the third and fourth films that saw a radical shift in tone (and cast), many Autobots went missing and are presumed to be killed at the hands of the vicious Cemetary Wind – with emphasis on the word ‘presumed’. We see evidence that Humans were responsible for the death of Leadfoot via camera footage in Age of Extinction, and Topspin is seen to be alive in The Last Knight – but poor Roadbuster is never seen again. Some fans have pointed out that several of the KSI drones seen in the fourth film bear a resemblance to Roadbuster, implying that he may have been among the first victims of the Transformer Purge and his ‘Cybertronium’ was harvested to make Oreo robots, though this is unconfirmed. Although most movie fans assume that this Autobot’s road has long since been busted, his official status remains as Missing In Action.
#2 – Mirage
Another prominent Autobot who disappeared after Dark of the Moon is Mirage, the blade-wielding red Ferrari who actually received a fair amount of screen time in the film, killing Hatchet during the highway chase and taking part in (and surviving) the final battle. However, following this, he is neither seen not heard from again. Like Roadbuster, several fans assume that he may have been an early casualty of Cemetary Wind’s purge of the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth following Dark of the Moon, as several of the KSI drones seem to feature his trademark blade weapons and sleek design – particularly Stinger. Interestingly, it was originally planned for Mirage to meet his maker near the climax of the third film, instead of poor Que, as it was originally scripted for Starscream to have somehow gained possession of his decapitated head. As Que took the literal bullet instead, and there are no other means to explain what happened to our Ferrari friend, Mirage’s fate remains unknown.
Honourable Mention – Trench
‘Trench’ is the name given to a Constructicon-turned-Autobot who appears in The Last Knight for about forty-five seconds before disappearing completely, never to be seen again. He is included here as an honourable mention as he doesn’t disappear between films, and the fact that he vanishes is not due to lazy writing – Trench was one of many Transformer characters introduced in the fifth film to make the world seem more populated by factionless or desperate Transformer refugees – a welcome change, even if it was too little too late. Trench, therefore, is likely a Decepticon who managed to survive the events of all the movies and eventually gave up on combat and joined the Autobot hideout crew in their junkyard. He is seen transforming to help Hound create a diversion to stop Megatron from discovering Cade, and so he more than likely met a final end in the fifth film. Nonetheless, as his fate was never shown, his status is still MIA.
#1 – Sideswipe
Arguably the most prominent Autobot to simply ‘disappear’ without a trace between films, Sideswipe was a rare example of a well-liked fan favourite Autobot character that did not debut in the first film – of all the ‘disposable’ Autobots introduced later in the series, he gets by far the most screen-time. He is perhaps best known for his role in the opening sequence of Revenge of the Fallen, in which he chases and kills Sideways in a dramatic fashion only to do nothing for the rest of the film. In Dark of the Moon, he helps Ironhide kill the Dreads and survives the final battle, but is never seen again after that. Allegedly he was originally to be confirmed dead in Age of Extinction, either through Cemetary Wind’s strange Autobot hit-list playing cards or during the scene in which the Autobots mourn Leadfoot. Either way, he is still MIA, and of all the Autobots to slip off the radar during the production of the live-action film series, Sideswipe is perhaps the most unusual. After all, there is no clear reason why he was never killed on-screen or featured alive in a later film, as he was a popular character and was about as close as the series ever got to a suitable replacement for Jazz, so for him to simply vanish between films is particularly strange. On the other hand, if this list has proven anything, it’s that the movies use a revolving door technique for their Autobot casting, likely to maximise toy sales, because that is what Transformers is all about, apparently.
Read More
- Transformers – How Did Michael Bay Screw Up Starscream?
- How to Fix Michael Bay’s Transformers Films – Part One: More Than Meets the CGI
- How to Fix Michael Bay’s Transformers Films – Part Two: Decepticontinuity
- How to Fix Michael Bay’s Transformers Films – Part Three: Good Plots in Disguise
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