IDW - The Animated Movie

Plot

Unicron approaches, attacks and devours the peaceful metallic world of Lithone, leaving few survivors.

Cybertron has been conquered by the Decepticons, but the Autobots have outposts on the 2 moons. Optimus orders Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet and Brawn on a shuttle to Earth for an energy run to help them power a full scale assault, however Laserbeak has been watching this and reports it back to Megatron on Cybertron.

Megatron leads an attack on the shuttle and slaughters the Autobots on board, taking the ship to slip past the early warning systems.

On Earth, Hot Rod and Daniel are fishing when the shuttle approaches the city, the two youngsters go to Lookout Mountain to watch it land, but Daniel notices a hole in the shuttle, leading Hot Rod to look himself, and starts attacking once he realizes there are Decepticons on board. The Decepticons leave the ship and proceed to attack the city and the surrounding area.

Autobot City converts to it's battle mode so the Autobots can fight back, as Hot Rod and Kup manage to get back into the city before it closed itself off.

Perceptor has Blaster transmit an SOS to Optimus, and SOundwave sends his pets to attack the radio tower, to which Blaster releases his team as well to fight them off. Blaster mentions how Omega Supreme and several others are busy fighting off the Decepticon Gestalts at the Ark, which is why they can't get to Autobot City to help with the battle.

The Decepticons seem to be winning the fight, especially with Devastator on their side, when Optimus' shuttle appears with the Dinobots in tow. Optimus rolls through the Decepticons until he reaches Megatron, and the two fight, eventually leading to Optimus winning, but Megatron takes a foolish Hot Rod hostage, and blasts Optimus with a nearby weapon. Megatron approaches him to finish him off, but Optimus smacks him off a cliff, sending him down to the floor.

Starscream calls for the Decepticons to retreat in Astrotrain. Later Perceptor announces that Optimus' wounds are fatal...

Optimus passes the Matrix of Leadership to his selected successor, Ultra Magnus and dies. Unicron witnesses this by hacking the security cameras in the city and roars in anger whilst the Autobots mourn their leader's death.

Inside Astrotrain, the Decepticons decide to jettison their dead weight and injured troops, including Megatron into space, after which a battle ensues about who should become the next leader. Megatron and his fellow discarded Decepticons float towards Unicron, who makes a deal with Megatron that if he helps him to destroy the Matrix, as it's the one thing that he fears, then he will rebuild him, Megatron reluctantly agrees, and is rebuilt as Galvatron, and his troops become Scourge, Cyclonus, the Sweeps and the Armada, also providing them with a new ship as well.

On Cybertron, Starscream has just been crowned the new leader, when Galvatron arrives on the planet and immediately kills his successor, taking his place as leader once more.Unicron approaches Cybertron and begins devouring the Moons, Jazz and Cliffjumper call Earth for help but are swallowed by Unicron, shortly after followed by the other moon, with Spike and Bumblebee on it. Galvatron is angry with Unicron for destroying his property, but Unicron punishes him, causing Galvatron pain and forcing him to continue his mission to Earth.

The Autobots on Earth decide to head to Cybertron to deal with the monster planet, when Galvatron and his troops attack the city again, forcing the Autobots to head to the shuttles and escape into space, however the ships are attacked shortly afterwards, causing Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobot's ship to crash on Quintessa, and leaving Ultra Magnus' ship to fake destruction by detonating the rear section and escaping on the front. Galvatron fools for it and thinks the Matrix is destroyed, which angers Unicron again, causing him pain. Galvatron heads back to Unicron to see what is wrong. Ultra Magnus and his teamhead towards the Planet of Junk for repairs, whilst Hot Rod and the others are split up on Quintessa, with Hot Rod sinking underwater.

Hot Rod fights off the Quintessa Flora and Fauna and rescues Kup from a mechanical squid, who has suffered major damage. The other shuttle crashes on the Planet of Junk, and the group start work on fixing the ship, with Daniel helping in his exo-suit. The local Junkions don't seem to happy about this.

Hot Rod fixes Kup up on Quintessa, and the two of them go to find the Dinobots when they are attacked and captured by a group of Allicons, whilst being watched by Wheelie. Soon the two Autobots are taken to a Quintesson court house, where they meet Kranix, who tells them what Unicron is, and then witness the Quintessons execute Kranix by feeding him to the Sharkticons.

Elsewhere, the Dinobots are wandering around Quintessa when Wheelie appears and tells them he'll show them where their friends are.

Unicron tells Galvatron that the Matrix is on the Planet of Junk with Ultra Magnus, and sends him there to destroy both of them. On the Planet of Junk, the Autobots are fixing their ship when the Decepticons appear and destroy the shuttle remains. Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to stop Galvatron, but it wont open for him. Galvatron has the Sweeps kill Ultra Magnus, but he takes the Matrix for himself to turn Unicron into his slave, which of course angers the god once again.

On Quintessa the Autobots are dropped into the Sharkticon pool, but manage to break free and fight off the Sharkticons. The Dinobots and Wheelie arrive and help them to fight off the Quintessons and Sharticons, after the battle, Wheelie points out the Quintesson ship for them to take.

On the Planet of Junk the remaining Autobots mourn Ultra Magnus' death when the Junkions attack, however the battle abruptly ends when a Quintesson ship lands on the planet, reuniting the Autobots and Hot Rod makes peace with the Junkions, who in return rebuild Ultra Magnus. Magnus reveals that Galvatron has the Matrix.

The Autobots decide that they need to get to Galvatron, retrieve the Matrix and use it to defeat Unicron, which Hot Rod is sure will work. The Junkions reveal their own ship, and the two shuttles head off to Cybertron.

Galvatron tries to open the Matrix, but fails, Unicron converts to his robot mode and proceeds to attack Cybertron in revenge of Galvatron's betrayal, killing several Decepticons, including Shockwave, Reflector and the Coneheads. Galvatron attacks Unicron, but is swallowed by the monster. 

The Autobots appraoch Unicron and the Quintesson ship smashes through one of his eyes, and the Autobots evacuate the ship, entering the monster's body. Hot Rod is split up from Springer, Arcee, Blurr and Daniel, whom are all attacked by Unicron's anti-body weapons. Hot Rod finds Galvatron and the Matrix, they try to team up, but Unicron forces Galvatron to kill Hot Rod to redeem himself. The two start battling.

Outside, the Dinobots attack Unicron's exterior to no avail, and inside Arcee ruptures a water pipe causing a flood, that separates Daniel from the group, and he find shimself at a smelting pool where the survivors from the Moons are about to be dropped, including his father, he uses his exo-suit to blast the pool shut, and saves them.

During the battle between Hot Rod and Galvatron, Hot Rod grabs the Matrix from Galvatron's neck and it's revealed that he's the true chosen leader, and he ascends to Rodimus Prime, now much stronger he is able to literally throw Galvatron out of Unicron's body and through space. Rodimus opens the Matrix and causes Unicron to start exploding, he reunites with the other Autobots and leads them out of Unicron's other eye, just as the monster detonates.

Rodimus and the others arrive on the now abandoned Cybertron and reclaim it for the Autobots, and cheer for their victory, while Unicron's head is all that remains, and orbits the planet, replacing the moons he devoured before.

Characters

Autobot

Hot Rod - Sports Car Reformatted as Rodimus Prime

Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Optimus Prime - Truck Killed by Megatron

Ultra Magnus - Car Carrier

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Arcee - Sports Car

Springer - Helicopter/Rocket Car

Blurr - Race Car

Perceptor - Microscope

Wheelie - Car

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Slag - Triceratops

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Blaster - Boom Box

Eject - Cassette

Rewind - Cassette

Ramhorn - Cassette

Steeljaw - Cassette

Jazz - Porsche

Cliffjumper - Porsche

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Ironhide - Van Killed by Decepticons

Prowl - Police Car Killed by Decepticons

Brawn - SUV Killed by Decepticons

Ratchet - Ambulance Killed by Decepticons

Huffer - Truck Cab

Hound - Jeep

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Omega Supreme - Rocket and Base

Defensor - Protectobot Gestalt

Superion - Aerialbot Gestalt

Wheeljack - Race Car Killed in Autobot City Battle

Windcharger - Sports Car Killed in Autobot City Battle

Decepticon

Megatron - Gun Reformed as Galvatron

Galvatron - Laser Cannon Launched into Space by Rodimus Prime

Cyclonus - Space Jet

Scourge - Space Shuttle

Sweeps - Space Shuttles

Armada - Space Jet Killed by Grimlock

Starscream - Fighter Jet Killed by Galvatron

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet Reformed as Scourge

Skywarp - Fighter Jet Reformed as Armada

Bombshell - Boll Weevil Reformed as Cyclonus

Kickback - Locust Reformed as Sweeps

Shrapnel - Stag Beetle Reformed as Sweeps

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Laserbeak - Cassette

Ravage - Cassette

Ratbat - Cassette

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Astrotrain - Train/Space Shuttle

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Shockwave - Ray Gun Killed by Unicron

Reflector - Camera Killed by Unicron

Ramjet - Fighter Jet Killed by Unicron

Dirge - Fighter Jet Killed by Unicron

Thrust - Fighter Jet Killed by Unicron

Menasor - Stunticon Gestalt

Bruticus - Combaticon Gestalt

Hook - Crane

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Scrapper - Front End Loader

Scavenger - Excavator

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt

Junkion

Wreck-Gar - Motorcycle

Other Junkions - Motorcycles

Quintesson

Judges

Allicons - Alligators

Sharkticons - Sharks

Flora and Fauna

Baliff

Prosecutor

Human

Spike Witwicky

Daniel Witwicky

Other

Unicron- Ringed Planet Destroyed by the Matrix

Lithonians Devoured by Unicron

Kranix Killed by Quintessons

Arblus

Notes

• This is an adaptation of the G1 Movie for the 20th Anniversary
• Some scenes were removed, edited or added to make the story make more smooth, or to explain some plot holes (such as where some of the season 2 characters were during the battle, or what happened to Shockwave, replacing already dead characters with living ones in certain scenes and so on)
• This version clearly shows Bombshell as becoming Cyclonus...sorry Skywarp fans!
• This comic is very loyal to the character models from the G1 cartoon rather than replacing any with modern toys, which is a common situation in Transformers comics
• It's totally possible to place the Rodimus vs Cyclonus comic in this comic's continuity as well, but just with different character models
• There's no mention of what the year is, most likely due to the original setting being 2005, which was the past when this was published