Trailer - Transformers Wiki

This article is about the thing that trucks pull. For cinema advertisements for theatrical films, see commercial.

A trailer is a cargo carrier used to transport heavy or large amounts of cargo from one point to another. Although such a purpose is useful in and of itself to a Transformer, many other Transformers find ways to alter or modify them if their alternate mode is capable of pulling a trailer.

If you're the leader of the Autobots, it's pretty much a rule that you have to have a trailer. However, there are a few exceptions.

Generation 1

• Optimus Prime has a trailer in many, but not all of his configurations.
  • His original form had a trailer that stored Roller and transforms into the Combat Deck.
  • His Powermaster trailer became a battle station or Optimus was able to combine with it to form a Super Mode for himself.
    • Powermaster Prime later had a second trailer, Apex Bomber. This was a drone with a robot mode of its own and also gave Prime's super mode additional Apex Armor.
  • Action Master Optimus Prime didn't have a trailer, but his vehicle, Armored Convoy, did.
  • Laser Optimus Prime's trailer turned into a battle station.
  • His Machine Wars trailer transforms into an assault tower.
  • Both Pepsi Optimus Prime and Pepsi Convoy had trailers that hauled Pepsi around.
• Rodimus Prime's trailer becomes his Mobile Defense Bay.
• Ultra Magnus combines with his car-carrier trailer to form a Super Mode.
• Generation 2 Ultra Magnus has a trailer that transforms into a battle station.
• Motormaster transforms into robot mode with his cab and trailer as a complete unit.
• Thunder Clash has a trailer that transforms into a battle station.

Classics

• Bumblebee and Cliffjumper tow the Wave Crusher that transforms into their jetpacks.
• Bug Bite has a similar trailer, Tidal Wave, with slightly different abilities.

Fiction

Generation 1

Ultra Magnus's super mode was generally treated as his default robot mode to distinguish him from Optimus Prime.

The Transformers cartoon

Optimus Prime stored Roller and his Combat Deck in his trailer, using them whenever the need arose. This included the battle to prevent the Decepticons from leaving Earth and returning to Cybertron. However, during the battle, Megatron destroyed the trailer. Not to be outdone, Optimus Prime merely "pointed" at the Decepticon leader, causing him to somehow receive heavy fire. More than Meets the Eye, Part 3

Over the course of the war, Optimus Prime would use the trailer to contain extinct herbivores Dinobot Island, Part 2, transport Elita One to Alpha Trion's lab The Search for Alpha Trion and carry the Dinobots to Sub-Atlantica, even though Grimlock has at least a few feet on Prime. Atlantis, Arise!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

As the exception to the rule, Ultra Magnus shed his super mode armor to survive a blast from Shockwave. War and Peace

2005 IDW continuity

When fighting in Brasnya, an Ore-13 super-charged Megatron beat down Optimus Prime. Escalation #5 To survive, Optimus downloaded his consciousness into the secondary memory buffers in his trailer. Escalation #6

Super-God Masterforce cartoon

Ginrai was kidnapped by his own Transtector, which drove him to the base of Yatsugatake in Nagano. There, a group of workers drilling a tunnel through the mountain had encountered a strange black form, which eventually turned out to be a trailer for Ginrai's Transtector. Friend or Foe!? The True Form of the Monster!! He later found that he could combine with the trailer to form Super Ginrai. Heroism!! The Birth of Super Ginrai

Energon Universe

When the Ark and its passengers were reactivated, Optimus Prime saw that the ship was lost, ordering Ratchet to stockpile what Autobots and resources he could into his trailer. Transformers #1

The Autobots took refuge in an abandoned quarry, Ratchet used the trailer to try and repair the Autobots, managing to soon bring Cliffjumper back online. Transformers #2

After Optimus had lost his right arm, Ratchet retrieved Megatron's severed arm from the trailer, affixing it to Optimus. Transformers #4

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Optimus Prime's trailer could transform into an independent battle station. Battle Protocol! He could also combine with it to form his Battle Mode, giving him a larger array of weapons. An Explosive Situation Scourge also possessed a trailer that could become a battle station. Sky-Byte Saves the Day Ultra Magnus combined with his trailer to form his, uh... legs. He could fire beams of energy from his trailer's tail lights to paralyze other Autobots and force them onto his trailer. Ultra Magnus

Unicron Trilogy

Armada

Optimus Prime is capable of combining with his trailer to form a super mode, making him taller than Megatron at least.

His Mini-Con Sparkplug is able to drive the trailer, called the "container" by sitting atop of it in vehicle mode. Jungle

After being attacked by Decepticons, Optimus Prime fired his weapons from the trailer in defense. After retaliation by Starscream left Optimus dazed, a bunch of Mini-Cons manned the weaponry. They continued to fire against the Decepticons and were eventually successful in causing Cyclonus to lose control and drop a Mini-Con panel. Prehistory Sparkplug appeared out of nowhere at Optimus Prime's beckoning to help combine him into Super Mode to fight the Decepticons. Conspiracy Again in his super mode, Optimus un-combined with correct timing, causing his trailer to fall onto Megatron. Trust

Energon

Optimus Prime's trailer contains the Prime Force drone units, which combine with the Autobot leader to form his super mode. The trailer itself just tilts onto its end, forming a garage/launch bay for the drones.

Cybertron

Optimus Prime used his trailer to combine with his body to form a super mode. Oddly enough, in vehicle mode, Prime's trailer held rather large cannons, despite the fact that it was a fire truck. Scattorshot brought this up, but Prime merely replied that a fire truck was larger than a tank. Inferno On the other hand, the cannons could spray water...

Animated

This Optimus Prime is sometimes just a semi cab (an emergency semi cab, with a light bar), and sometimes an entire fire truck, with the rest of the truck just popping up with no explanation. His case is particularly unusual, since A) firetrucks aren't usually based on semi cabs, B) in full-firetruck mode, he appears to be all one piece, not articulated like a traditional tractor-trailer, and C) sometimes he pulls genuine semitrailers instead of his "firetruck trailer". Transform and Roll Out Headmaster Garbage In, Garbage Out

A young boy once asked where Prime's trailer went when he transformed into robot mode. Optimus hemmed and hawed; history does not relate if he ever gave a coherent answer. Career Day

Live-action film series

Following the battle of Mission City, the human soldiers found a trailer for Optimus Prime to transport Jazz's body. Alliance issue 1 It became Jazz's coffin when the military dumped it into the ocean during his funeral. Alliance issue 3

Later, both Optimus Prime and Megatron equipped themselves with trailers. It is possible that Optimus used the materials donated by Jetfire as mass to create this new trailer; this is suggested by the fact that Optimus was able to transform his trailer into a jetpack as well as a weapons platform. They converted to the Armored Weapons Platform and Blastwave Weapons Base, respectively. Cyberverse

Aligned continuity

Prime cartoon

Optimus Prime had a trailer on hand to transport the DNGS. It was able to transform into a flatbed to allow the other Autobots to move the DNGS into a train. The pursuit by MECH agents and Vehicon fliers caused the trailer to detach and explode. Convoy

Optimus got himself an identical replacement, which he used to haul Starscream after the Decepticon had been taken prisoner. Partners

Rescue Bots cartoon

Alternately, Optimus had a car-carrier trailer, with which he was able to carry the Rescue Bots. It also had rocket boasters to make long jumps. What Lies Below

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Several years later, between his sacrifice restoring Cybertron and eventual resurrection, Optimus's new body had his trailer integrated as part of his main body, forming his legs in robot mode. Out of Focus Battlegrounds, Part 1

Ask Vector Prime

Sideways claimed that he stole Optimus Prime's trailer every time it went into subspace, and sold it on Skarvros' black market. He was annoyed by the fact that Optimus always seemed to get it back. Ask Vector Prime

Notes

• When Optimus Prime transforms into robot mode, his trailer usually disappears, only to reattach itself to Prime whenever he goes into vehicle mode. Many fan theories about this disappearance have arisen over the years, with the most popular being that Prime stores the trailer in subspace.
  • According to an early catalog, after Optimus Prime transforms into robot mode, the trailer is teleported to the base via a special signal.^[1] IDW's The Transformers: Escalation used a similar idea, by having the trailer arrive at Prime's location using orbital jump.
  • Flint Dille's explanation for Prime's disappearing trailer is the substance Disappearium.
  • Marvel's G1 comics generally kept better track of Prime's trailer. If he didn't bring it with him, he would transform without it. It seemed to pop in and out in the G2 comic, though.
• In Blaster Blues, Optimus' trailer is shown to have the ability to move independently, as it was seen rolling after Optimus to attach itself to him in his truck mode. It is unclear if this is simply an animation error.

References