8 Weirdest Transformers Episodes

In its 30 years of existence, the Transformers franchise has been through many shapes and forms but it is the 1984 animated series that is the most iconic. The boxy basic designs of the characters, the bad puns and one-liners, and cheese factor all contributed to the epicness that was the series, but at times the series took a turn into the strange. There are a number of episodes in the series that are dopey, weird, or just plain insane. So, this list takes a look at perhaps the most bizarre episodes to come out from the robots in disguise. Please note that this list only covers episodes from the ‘80s series. Believe me, if we covered half the garbage from the “Unicron Trilogy”, my face would melt off in frustration.

8. The Golden Lagoon

The first episode on our list is a rather minor episode when it comes to strangeness, but rather, it takes a look at its own themes and messages. The pacifistic Beachcomber discovers an untouched forest paradise where a strange golden pool can make a Transformer invincible to gunfire. In due course, both the Autobots and Decepticons vie for the power-up, leading to a stalemate in the episode’s closing minutes. While the Autobots win, Beachcomber realises the battle has all but destroyed the sanctuary – all the pointless destruction for a hollow victory. Too bad the episode ruins its own moment of poignancy with a stock heroic sounding end theme.

7. A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur’s Court

Let’s not go to Camelot; it’s a silly place. And Decepticons are there. Warpath, Hoist, Starscream, Rumble, Ravage, Ramjet, and Spike Witwicky go back in time and end up in 543 AD, in the time of King Arthur, who isn’t in this episode. In fact, nothing really related to Arthurian legend is featured in this episode. I don’t think they are even in Camelot. There is a jousting match using a fighter jet, Rumble gets covered in bird poop, and then a random dragon shows up but runs away like a little wuss when not-Merlin shows up and scares him away with a bag of something called Dragon’s Bane. I recently visited Arthur’s birthplace, Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, but there were no traces of Decepticons there. Phew.

6. B.O.T.

Generally considered the worst Transformers episode ever, B.O.T. was the last episode of the original series before The Transformers: The Movie. Not exactly the most respectable way for the original cast to bow out. Swindle sells components of his fellow Combaticons, and two bratty and possibly sociopathic kids obtain Brawl’s brain to create a robot, forcing the resident spineless nerd to help build it. The robot goes on a rampage, outwitting the Autobots by throwing corn at them. The whole episode is stupid and culminates in the two psychotic boys duct-taping the girl and dragging her off somewhere while the Autobots laugh!

 

5. Autobot Spike

Autobot Spike is an unusual but interesting episode that questions the safety of the humans around the Transformers (though this idea was handled a lot better in Transformers Prime). Spike is knocked into a coma after Megatron zaps Bumblebee while he is in his car mode. A doctor suggests transferring Spike’s brain or consciousness into a makeshift Autobot soldier built by Spike’s dad Sparkplug. However, much like Frankenstein’s Monster, Spike doesn’t take the transformation very well, running off into the wild where his mind is torn between peace and mindless destruction. The episode’s story is surreal and a little dark, though the idea of transferring Spike’s mind back and forth is a little weird.

 

4. The Girl Who Loved Powerglide

Now we go into dog-muck territory. One of two episode where an Autobot falls in love with an organic or vice versa, Powerglide reluctantly becomes the bodyguard for an airheaded teenager who happens to be the daughter of a dead genius whose research is targeted by the Decepticons. The rather dreadful storyline and the awkward “romance” between Powerglide and the girl is just cringeworthy, and the message of the story is that being brainless and stupid is a good thing. Give me a break!

3. Sea Change

Oh wait, it gets worse. At least Powerglide and his would-be girlfriend didn’t get together. The same can’t be said for Seaspray. The Autobots follow a distress signal to another planet where the local merfolk are under the control of the evil Deceptitran. The merpeople have an ability to transform into whatever they like, and Seaspray falls head-over-heels in love with a mermaid named Alana. Oh, and he can magically transform into a merman in order to be with her and protect her from the invading Decepticons. What in the world? Am I only the only one who finds robot and human romance a little bit weird?

2. Child’s Play

What is this? What is this madness? This entire episode is one Big Lipped Alligator Moment! The Decepticons invade a baseball stadium to build a space bridge, throwing the players around, and then the Autobots join the mayhem to make every baseball pun in the book. However, half of the two factions get sucked up into the space bridge ending up on a weird planet where they are the size of toys and are stuck in the room of an alien child. How ironic. The alien characters are bizarre and freaky, and there are more animation errors in this episode than any other in the entire franchise. Though it is amusing to see Starscream get chased around by alligators.

1. Thief in the Night

The previously mentioned episodes have been weird or absurd, but none of them have been this embarrassing and insulting. I feel guilty for even putting this image up! In this episode, the characters spend some time in Middle Eastern country where Trypticon is devouring its oil. The name of the country – Carbombya. Yes, you read that right. Carbombya. This country is an obvious “take that!” to Libya and its then-dictator Gaddafi. In Carbombya, there is a population of four-thousand humans and ten-thousand camels, and it is ruled by a military dictator named Abdul Fakkadi. Wow. This dumb stereotypical and offensive episode caused Casey Kasem to quit the series in protest since he is of Middle Eastern descent. How embarrassing.