F.A.Q.

[Q] Where can I see it?
See versions!

[Q] Any changed premises?
A few:
 

AUTOBOTS USE ENERGON
Whilst no energon is seen in the movie, Optimus mentions it at the start saying that the Autobots "don't have enough". In series 1 and 2, it seems that Autobots don't use energon, but they had to be using something to power their restoration chambers and in the very first episode of Transformers, Wheeljack and Bumblebee had found some energy sticks or something, and given the twenty year gap between season 2 and the movie they must have started using it.

GUNS KILL
When a robot got blasted in season 1 or 2, they'd get hurt but wouldn't die. In the movie though, the only way the writers could kill of a bunch of characters quick was to have guns that kill robots, as seen when the Decepticons attack the shuttle. But in the next season, things will be back to normal.

DINOBOTS CAN FLY
The Dinobots are shown to be able to fly twice in the movie, but there's the problem of Autobots not suppose to be able to fly around, that's a Decepticon only trick.
 

[Q] Is it true that every character who dies in the movie comes back in a later series of Transformers?
This is true, and here's everything you need to know:

BRAWN

In the season 3 episode "Carnage in C-Minor" - the most poorly animated episode of Transformers ever - Brawn appears in one shot. Standing alongside a discoloured Huffer. Co-operating with Bonecrusher. The Decepticon.

IRONHIDE

In the Japanese series Transformers: The Headmasters, Ironhide makes a cameo in "The Miracle Warriors - The Targetmasters Part 1", although you can only see his back. But it's something.

LITHONIANS

In the second part of "The Rebirth" - the short lived season 4 of Transformers - several characters can be seen with Zarak before they put themselves into new exo-suits, and they look like Lithone robots. That's because these designs have used model sheets for the Lithone characters, hence why they look the same.

OPTIMUS PRIME 

Optimus Prime's only appearance in season 3 was originally just going to be in the episode "Dark Awakening", but after the movie was released and the outcry of all the fans, he was properly bought back to life in the episodes "The Return of Optimus Prime", which had two parts. Optimus is reactivated by a Quintesson and has to save the universe from something called the hate plague, and by the end of it all he becomes the leader of the Autobots once again.

PROWL

In the Japanese series Transformers: The Headmasters, Prowl appears in the episodes "Four Warriors Come Out of the Sky" and "Birth of Double Prime", which are the first and third episodes in the series. Because the Japanese writers hadn't seen the movie when this series was made, they supposedly didn't know he had died in the movie. But in the Japanese dub of the season 3 episode "Dark Awakening" , Prowl's name is listed among the dead Autobots so it was just a total screw up. In the end though, this series takes place in 2011 so Prowl is still alive, which is good.

RATCHET

In the season 3 episode "Five Faces of Darkness Part 5", right after Metroplex throws Trypticon into the ocean some Autobots start celebrating and one is Ratchet's character model, but coloured like Blaster (who just happens to be standing right in front of him). There's also an Ironhide robot standing right behind "Ratchet" who is coloured like Jazz.

STARSCREAM 

Appearing in the season 3 episodes "Starscream's Ghost" and "Ghost in the machine", at first Starscream is nothing more than a spirit which wants revenge eon Galvatron but ultimately fails. His next plot is to get a proper body again, going as far to reactivate Unicron to do this, and causing havoc for Autobot and Decepticon alike. At the end of Ghost in the Machine, Starscream is given a new body, but is then blasted out into space by Galvatron and the Decepticons.

WHEELJACK

Wheeljack shows up in several episodes of Transformers Victory helping Perceptor to rebuild God Ginrai into Victory Leo. Victory was released in Japan before the movie was, so that Japanese writers didn't know about his supposed death, but since Victory takes place in the year 2025 he's quite clearly "gotten better" after having a rest in the movie. And those things on the side of his head still flash blue whenever he speaks.

WINDCHARGER

Season 3's "Call of the Primitives" has Windcharger in it for less than a second, but he's there. He just runs to the right and goes off camera, and then Jazz and Bumblebee run on.
 

[Q] Is it also true that Skywarp, Thundercracker and all three of the Insecticons appear in the movie again after being reformatted?
Again, this is true. In some shots of Starscream's coronation they can all be seen:

Some people say that the two jets are just generic "seekers" but that isn't correct as they were always different colours, such as green or yellow.


Also, Shrapnel comes back and attacks Daniel on the planet of junk at one point:

The script even specifically says that Shrapnel should be here at this point, despite being reformatted a while back. This had led to the fan theory that the Insecticons thrown off Astrotrain were the clones the real Insecticons could make, although personally I think that's a bunch of bullshit. Oddly though the Insecticons appear in season 3.

[Q] What characters are absent from the movie?
I'll field this one!

The season 1 Autobots are really the only ones seen in the film, though a few elude appearances; Mirage, Sideswipe and Trailbreaker were meant to show up according to the storyboards, with the last of them meeting his end. Skyfire is completely out of the picture, and Bluestreak's appearance isn't exactly real, being a discoloured out-of-place Prowl, but let's just say he's present just to prevent confusion. Sideswipe and Skyfire do make cameos in Headmasters, though.

Blaster, Perceptor and Beachcomber (possibly a discoloured filler character, though) are the only season 2 characters to make it, though the deaths of Red Alert and Smokescreen were included in the storyboards, with Tracks' fate being unseen. This means that Cosmos, Powerglide, Warpath, Seaspray, Inferno, Hoist, Omega Supreme, Aerialbots and Protectobots don't get in on the action, though they all reappear, minus Hoist and Inferno. Inferno does sneaks in a cameo in Headmasters, though.

The Decepticons have better luck in having their forces present, the only ones missing are Buzzsaw, the Stunticons and Combaticons, and they all return in the series afterwards.

And for humans, Carly reappears in season 3, though Sparkplug Witwicky and Chip Chase are nowhere to be seen and remain unexplained.

[Q] Who is Bumper and where does he appear in the movie?
Bumper is the name of an Autobot who looks a lot like Cliffjumper but is coloured like Bumblebee. He was never in the cartoon series, but in the movie, when Spike and the other three Autobots are about to be dropped into the acid pit, you can see a robot behind Cliffjumper:

This robot is, really, nothing more than an animation error as he's never seen again but some fans just like to call him Bumper.
 

[Q] Do Thurst, Dirge and Ramjet get killed in the movie?
When Unicron attacks Cybertron, he destroys several Decepticon jets which look like those three characters, but the Thrust and Ramjet likes jets have Dirge like wings, and all three of these characters show up in season 3 so no, they didn't die.