New York City - Transformers Wiki

New York City, New York, is a major city in the United States of America. A densely populated metropolis, it hosts a number of culturally significant monuments and tall skykscrapers, including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the World Trade Center. The city is framed by two major waterways, the East River and Hudson River, which contain smaller landmasses such as Ellis and Governor's Island.

Loved by some, repulsively filthy to others, it has often served as a hub of Transformer activity.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Marvel The Transformers comics

New York City was home to Marvel Comics. Their recently fired employee, writer Donny Finkleberg, also lived there, in a run-down, six-story walk-up apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan.

New York was the final destination on the Acton family's vacation. As such, the Statue of Liberty became a target for the graffiti-spreading Battlechargers. R.A.A.T. prepared for the Decepticons' arrival by closing down the statue, Liberty Island, and the surrounding harbor, and loading down the statue with its troops. Runabout and Runamuck, meanwhile, snuck aboard the Staten Island Ferry, eventually commandeering the vessel and forcing it close to the statue. They then took to the air, Runamuck distracting the R.A.A.T. troops while Runabout spray-painted the statue with an inspirational message to their appreciative audience ("HUMANZ ARE WIMPZ"). Circuit Breaker finally defeated the pair using a jury-rigged collection of Autobot parts, sending them crashing into the waters of New York's harbor.

Donny Finkleberg contributed $50,000 to help pay for cleaning the graffiti off of the statue (and, presumably, repairing battle damage). Decepticon Graffiti!

When Starscream absorbed a portion of the Underbase, New York was one of the three cities he chose to destroy. Naturally, he announced this out loud, so when he arrived, an army of Autobots and Decepticons led by Blaster and Ratbat were waiting for him. Most of the battle took place on and above the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as in the "foul depths" of the East River below.

The following Transformers were taken out by Starscream:

• The Aerialbots (Air Raid, Fireflight, Skydive, Silverbolt, Slingshot)
• Hound, Bluestreak, Mirage, Hoist, Brawn, Gears, Goldbug, Jazz
• The Seacons (Snaptrap, Overbite, Nautilator, Seawing, Skalor, Tentakil)
• Jetfire
• Blaster

Prowl survived Starscream's initial attack, but was deactivated following Starscream's attack on the Seacons. Flashback!

Ratbat escaped, leaving Blaster to his doom. Starscream left for his second targeted city, Tokyo. Dark Star

Some months later, Decepticon commander Scorponok moved his headquarters to a base in the nearby swamps of northern New Jersey as part of a plan to harvest energy. The Decepticons erected the Stormmaker Station, creating a massive thunderstorm over the New York City area. An electrostator was to be placed atop the Empire State Building by Iguanus, collecting the storm's energy in one massive lightning bolt which would then be harvested by Scorponok's crew. However, the interference of the Autobot Micromasters under Roadhandler's command resulted in the lightning blasting the bolts out of Iguanus instead. King Con!

Roadhandler's crew made themselves at home in the city, going so far as to apprehend human thieves and make an appearance on a talk show based in New York. Roadhandler became a celebrity as a wrestler and gave self-defense lessons to local kids until a Decepticon run-in convinced him that anyone associated with him was in danger. The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!

The Decepticons kept their base in New Jersey. This would have nearly disastrous consequences for New York when the so-called Decepticon Civil War erupted and a battle between Scorponok and Shockwave spilled over into the area of Battery Park. ...All This and Civil War 2

Optimus Prime and Nightbeat managed to contain the battle briefly, as did the Neo-Knights. After the hostilities ended, the assembled Transformers were suddenly teleported away, leaving only a very puzzled NYPD officer wondering how to write up the incident. Out of Time!

Rhythms of Darkness!

In an offshoot version of the year 2009, Galvatron and his forces had conquered the Americas. New York had been the site of the last stand by the dwindling Autobots and United States Army, and as a result was reduced to a deserted wasteland where the remains of Autobot leader Rodimus Prime were strung up between the remaining stumps of the destroyed World Trade Center towers.

In 2009, the remaining rebels tried to lure Galvatron to New York's ruins as a diversion. He and the fed up Pretender Monsters trooped around, risking booby traps, before going home. Rhythms of Darkness!

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Humans visiting the Statue of Liberty were among those terrified world-wide as the sun started to go berserk as a result of Megatron's Solar Needle. Changing Gears

Megatron began efforts to convert New York City into his new base of "New Cybertron" by tunneling under the city and sinking the Empire State Building into the ground. The refashioned building was soon raised back into place, but with an all-new appearance. When the Autobots arrived to stop him, the Constructicons managed to capture Optimus Prime, and Megatron took his severed—but still functioning—head. The Autobots were forced to retreat temporarily or risk Prime's life. For a while, things went well for the Decepticons. (Even Starscream thought that Megatron was doing a good job, which is a sign of the apocalypse.) However, the Autobots went through the sewers (noting that they were more akin to "some messy swamp" than a substructure for North America's largest city) and managed to collect and reassemble Prime's body, save his right arm and ion blaster. Megatron had mounted it on his new citadel, the rebuilt Empire State Building, to serve as a defense mechanism. (Why Prime didn't just have Ratchet build him a new arm is unspecified.) Eventually, Prime was able to recover his arm, and the Decepticons were driven away. Bumblebee gained an "I ♥ NY" bumper sticker from the ordeal. City of Steel

The Autobots later used a New York garage owned by Sparkplug as a temporary base in the city. While on patrol, Seaspray discovered that the humans tended to dump a lot of garbage in the East River, and Cosmos observed that a "little fender-bender" on the lower West Side could tie up traffic for blocks around. Meanwhile, the Decepticons had allied themselves with the Geddis brothers, a pair of New York-based human gangsters, to collect stolen cars and convert them into drones at a secret base in the New Jersey pine barrens. The drones were then sent back into New York to attack the city, but the Autobots thwarted this plan with the help of Tracks's new friend, Raoul. The landmark Chrysler Building was damaged in the battle, requiring Inferno to climb its side and put out fires in the building and invoking Tracks' ire. Make Tracks

The Decepticons used a hip New York nightclub called Dancitron to brainwash humans into constructing a building for them, but the dynamic duo of Raoul and Tracks once again saved the day. Dancitron attracted an extremely trendy crowd of New Yorkers—so trendy they were out of style about five minutes later. The club's owners were also quite stringent about preventing the locals from breakdancing on the sidewalks in front of their establishment. Auto-Bop

Under Perceptor's guidance, the Autobots spray-coated the Statue of Liberty with corrostop to help preserve it. While this activity was underway, the Stunticons commandeered a harbor ferry boat and used it to capture Perceptor. Later, the Autobots returned to the statue when they needed to recover a sample of the chemical. They defended it from a Decepticon attack, preventing Menasor from destroying the statue with a giant lightning bug. The statue proved its ability to withstand a direct hit from Megatron's fusion cannon, which means it's a lot stronger than Ironhide's head. Cosmic Rust

By 2006, New York had grown quite a bit, with lots of futuristic and utterly gigantic skyscrapers dominating its skyline. The city served as one of Victor Drath's crime syndicate territories, and was subject to a series of terrorist bombings that served as cover for Drath's attempted theft of a newtronium shipment. The Autobots worked with the local chief of police to track down Drath. Only Human

The Headmasters cartoon

In 2011, New York was one of the cities targeted by Sixshot for an energy-blackmailing, which involved him posing as six different villains using each of his six modes. The Autobot Headmasters staked out New York from a vantage point atop the Statue of Liberty (whose looks they compared to Arcee's while they were at it), but when they were drawn away to investigate an attack on London, Sixshot attacked the city in his gun mode. Terror! The Six Shadows

Super-God Masterforce cartoon

In his human guise, the Autobot Pretender Lander lived in New York, where he helped local police fend off an attack by Destroids early on in the Decepticons' campaign against Earth. Terror! The Decepticons' Manhunt Much later, the city was the victim of a savage, sudden attack by BlackZarak, and suffered massive damage before any of the Autobots could mobilize to stop him. BlackZarak - Destroyer from Space

Zone cartoon

When the Decepticons were searching Earth for the Zodiac, Devastator unhelpfully flew straight through the World Trade Center, destroying it. Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!

Marvel Books Generation 1 storybooks

The people in the Condo City building in New York City are among the 5 million people trapped in Global Building Corporation buildings after Megatron presses the Destructor Button causing them to sink into the Earth. They are rescued after Mirage teleports to the controls and raises them again. Battle for Earth

2005 IDW continuity

It was a bright and sunny day in New York, when these six green guys turned up to announce a desire for peace... then started shooting everyone. This was followed by an all-out Decepticon attack, levelling much of the city and drawing the attention of the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force did... badly. All Hail Megatron #1 Soon the city was full of looting, carnage and panicked evacuations while the United States Armed Forces deployed in force to defeat the Decepticons. Before the military could do anything, the Decepticons took out the city's bridges and then began targeting the tunnels, all while broadcasting their effortless devastation to the world. All Hail Megatron #2

Within a few days, the city had been turned into a secure base for the Decepticons; the civilians were kept as hostages to prevent the military from carpet-bombing. Megatron stated he chose the city as it was an icon for humanity; Hook thinks it sucks. All Hail Megatron #3 The military attempted to sneak a strike force into the city to assassinate Megatron, but only one soldier made it across Hudson River alive. All Hail Megatron #5 Meanwhile, world leaders in Europe opted for another solution: wiping New York City off the map with nukes, despite the hostages. All Hail Megatron #6

While Spike Witwicky located the experimental weapon required to kill Megatron, the human resistance managed to stir up Soundwave's emotions, which ended the radio blackout the Decepticon had caused the city. All Hail Megatron #9 During their stay in New York, the Decepticons had constructed their first space bridge there, but never got to use it as European jets attacked them in an attempt to gather all the Decepticons in one place for the impending nuclear strike. All Hail Megatron #10

The poor city was further damaged in the battle between Devastator and the human jets, and it didn't get any better when the Autobots joined the fray and Omega Supreme slammed Devastator through a skyscraper. At least Optimus Prime was nice enough to ask Omega to take the giants' duel elsewhere. All Hail Megatron #11 So he took it to the Statue of Liberty, which was promptly wrecked. Eventually, the Decepticons retreated from New York and the nuke was averted, but the city was still left in ruins. All Hail Megatron #12

New York was subsequently evacuated and its population was placed in refugee camps, except for the occasional straggler who didn't want to leave. The U.S. military also patrolled the city to find and exterminate any Transformers left behind. Hidden A G.I. Joe presence led by Joe Colton helped with the relief efforts, though Colton was haunted by his inability to predict the catastrophic invasion. Ghost in the Machine

After just a few years, humanity had restored large parts of New York City to a habitable condition, though many buildings remained damaged. Ride-Along

A series of increasingly improbable events culminated in Swerve generating a life-size holomatter version of Earth. The minibot's love of Earthly sitcoms led New York being the only "inhabited" city on "Swearth" prompting the Lost Light crew to send their avatars to the city to find their friend. While there, Tailgate described New York as being about half the size of the Lost Light. The One Where They Go to Earth

When Baron Karza and his army invaded Earth, their Mobile Operations Base was in New York as Karza and Shazraella planned to have the Micronauts captured. Wrath of Karza #2

Hearts of Steel

New York City was the location of a "great eklectrical power generator,"[sic] Hearts of Steel #2 which became the target of Decepticon attention. They built the Astrotrain to get to it, Hearts of Steel #3 but were stopped by Bumblebee and John Henry. Hearts of Steel #4

Ask Vector Prime

In Primax 185.0 Beta, New York City was the powerbase of Galvatron and from where he successfully conquered Earth. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/04

Of Masters and Mayhem

Spike Witwicky noted that in his new reality, all cities on Earth were the same as in his old one, including New York. Assembly

Transformers/Ghostbusters

New York City was home to the Ghostbusters, who helped contain the ghosts which frequently plagued the city. Prior to the quartet's meeting with the Transformers, they had faced off against the malevolent Gozer, exploding "his marshmallow butt over Central Park West", and used gallons of mood slime to animate the Statue of Liberty. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4 Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5

During one job in Brooklyn, the Ghostbusters battled a tentacled ghost in Prospect Park, defeating it at the cost of their car, the Ecto-1. While they were distracted, Ectronymous Diamatron took on the form of the Ecto-1 and nearly had a run-in with two NYPD officers before scaring them off. Following a brief encounter with the ghost of Starscream, Ectronymous introduced himself to the team. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 1 Unaware of the supernatural, Ectronymous deactivated the ghost trap holding Starscream, thinking him but a hologram, before he understood the truth. After Starscream told his story, a Kremzeek sprite landed in the park, the Seeker instructing the group on how to dissipate it before they retreated to the Ghostbusters firehouse. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 2

Peter Venkman, suspecting that the Seeker had ulterior motives, locked him in another ghost trap while Ectronymous - now rebranded "Ectotron" - called in Optimus Prime. As they waited for the Prime, the group returned to Brooklyn to contain a ghost that fed on electricity. When the returned to the firehouse, they found Prime waiting for them and Starscream's ghost freed from the trap. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 3

To accommodate their alien guests, the Ghostbusters relocated to their warehouse in Red Hook before heading to the Grosbeak Generating Station in Queens when they picked up Starscream's PKE signature. When the six arrived, they found Starscream and Kremzeek the Scavenger waiting for them, the latter proceeding to absorb Starscream before engaging Optimus in physical combat for the AllSpark's location. Using the electrical ghost, the Ghostbusters managed to dissipate Kremzeek only to find that this act had freed the imprisoned ghosts of Decepticon High Command. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4 While Starscream managed to flee the planet, Shockwave, Soundwave, and Megatron were all contained. In the aftermath, the Autobots left Earth, Optimus taking the ghostly Decepticons with the hopes of one day rehabilitating and resurrecting them, while Ectotron opted to travel the galaxy to find more Cybertronian ghosts, becoming the first interstellar Ghostbuster. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

The first International Scientific Symposium was being held in New York when Megatron turned up in order to kidnap leading scientist Doctor Onishi. Optimus Prime and the Autobot Brothers rushed to the doctor's aid, turning downtown New York into a war zone. The Autobots fought the Predacons at length but were unable to prevent Megatron from escaping with his prisoner. Battle Protocol!

Live-action film series

Revenge of the Fallen film

After being attacked by the Autobots for murdering Optimus Prime, Megatron and Starscream flew to New York, where Megatron lectured Starscream for not being capable of tracking down one human. When Starscream countered that there were seven billion humans on Earth, Megatron decided to reveal the Transformers presence on Earth as a show of force to compel the humans to turn Sam Witwicky over to them. Starscream and Mixmaster made open shows of defiance around New York City, while Megatron hijacked the Empire State Building's antenna to broadcast The Fallen's message across the world.

A day later, Sam, Mikaela Banes, and Leo Spitz traveled with Bumblebee and the Twins to New York to meet Leo's rival Robo-Warrior. Revenge of the Fallen

Dark of the Moon Annual

NEST Satellite Orion detected Decepticons deploying Pillars in New York. NEST wasn't quite sure why, as the city was rated of low resource importance. Diss! Transformers Dark of the Moon Annual 2012

Rise of the Beasts film

Rise of the Beasts

Prime cartoon

One of the artifacts from the Iacon archives ended up under Manhattan. Flying Mind Both the Autobots and Decepticons sent teams to recover the relic. While Knock Out, an Insecticon and some Decepticon Miners found it first, Arcee and Bumblebee managed to recover it with the help of Jack, Miko and a subway worker named Vogel. Tunnel Vision

Games

The Military Patrol was unleashed on New York as part of a general move by the Decepticons towards abandoning subtlety. Bombshock and his men caused chaos on a city-wide scale until a team of Autobots led by Jetfire drove them out. Full Assault

Transformers: Devastation

Millions of years past, the Proudstar crashed under what would become New York City. In the modern day, the Decepticons discovered the craft and managed to reactivate its systems, forcing the entire population to be evacuated. The city was nearly cyberformed as a result until the Autobots managed to shut the ship down. Transformers: Devastation

Transformers Roleplaying Game

During the war on Earth, the Decepticons invaded New York City and replaced the Empire State Building with a citadel they dubbed "New Cybertron". Although the Autobots defeated the villains and helped restore the city's skyline to normal, the Decepticon presence lived on in a number of abandoned subway stations and caves deep beneath the city streets. Decepticon Directive

Notes

• The voice recordings for Transformers: Cyberverse and Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy were done in New York City.

External links

• New York City at Wikipedia