Transformers (トランスフォーマー Toransufōmā?) is an entertainment franchise. It began with the Hasbro Transformers toy line, centered on two factions of warring alien robots which are called the Autobots and the Decepticons. In its 26-year history, the franchise has expanded to encompass comic books, animation, video games and films.[2] Transformers: Generation 1 includes both the animated television series The Transformers and the Marvel Comics comic book series of the same name, which are further divided into Japanese and British spin-offs, respectively. Sequels followed, such as the Generation 2 comic book and Beast Wars TV series, which became its own mini-universe. Generation 1 characters underwent two reboots with Dreamwave in 2001 and IDW Publishing in 2005, also as a remastered series. There have been other incarnations of the story based on different toy lines during after 20th-Century. The first was the Robots in Disguise series, followed by three shows (Armada, Energon, and Cybertron) that constitute a single universe called the "Unicron Trilogy". A live-action film was also released in 2007, with a sequel in 2009, and a second sequel in 2011, again distinct from previous incarnations, while the Transformers Animated series merged concepts from the G1 story-arc, the 2007 live-action film and the "Unicron Trilogy".
