"Transformers: Elite Guard Adventures" is an American animated TV series based on the Transformers toy franchise by Hasbro. The show premiered on Disney XD on March 20th, 2012, as part of the Hasbro Universe programming block. In a break from other Transformers series, Mirage breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience. It also includes fantasy sequences from Ligier's mind.
The series concluded its run on August 21st, 2015 with the Four-part episode "Judgment Day," with three seasons each consisting of 26 episodes. Reruns continued to air on Disney XD until December 31st, 2018.
Synopsis:[]
Setting:[]
The series is set on the planet Cybertron, the home of the Transformers, recovering after the Autobot-Decepticon war on Cybertron. It focuses on Ligier, a young student at Iacon Central Middle School, who struggles to balance his life fighting crime as the Autobot Cyber-Ninja Mirage and his personal pre-teen life.
Premise:[]
It's been three years, and Mirage, a young, humble, wisecracking, and quick-witted Autobot Cyber-Ninja, is still finding the hero life full of dangerous pitfalls and avoidable collateral damage. Fortunately, Ultra Magnus, director of the Elite Guard, offers to fix that with a special training program that offers to make Ligier the Ultimate Cyber-Ninja. Now the youthful Autobot loner must learn to get along with and lead a new team of fellow young Autobots, including the idealistic and pacifist medic-in-training Minerva, the enthusiastic and tech-savvy weapons and explosives expert Scattershot, the hyperactive Velocitronian speedster Override, the laid-back, charming, and womanizing covert operations specialist Smokescreen, and the short-tempered and extremely arrogant tsundere-like warrior Arcee, as fellow students, both in his heroic and civilian life. Between those demands and the ever-present threat of different Decepticon villains and criminals such as the extremist splinter faction, The Ascenticons, Mirage's old friend turned vengeful foe Sideways, and the mysterious Decepticon known as "The Mastermind," life is as hectic as ever for the young Cyber-Ninja hero.
Season 1: (2012)[]
The Decepticon splinter faction, The Ascenticons, (an extremist group adapting the name originally used by a civil rights movement led by Megatron that would eventually become the Decepticons before the Great War, consisting of the stoic female sniper Shadow Striker, the dedicated and brutish Megatron-loyalist Lugnut, the immature and fanatic Flamewar, the serious-minded and somewhat compassionate medic and scientist Flatline, and their leader, the enigmatic Mastermind), targets Mirage to join their ranks. They send numerous Decepticons, (such as the monstrous Decepticon combiner team, the Terrorcons, (who can combine into the feral Abominus, and consists of their leader, brilliant yet gluttonous Hun-Gurrr, the superiority obsessed Rippersnapper, the appallingly disgusting Blight, the predatory Twinstrike, and the overly-violent Windrazor), the ruthless bounty hunter Lockdown, the violent undersea mercenary Octopunch, and the vengeful Cyber-Ninja Sideways), after Mirage and create the Nemesis Virus using DNA samples from different Outliers, (Transformers who possess abilities outside their alternate modes), including Mirage, which bonds with Optimus Primal, the father of Optimus Minor, (who is one of Ligier's best friends, along with the young Camien Autobot Nautica, who is Ligier's secret crush), and turns him into Nemesis Primal, during the season, Mirage teams up with various Autobot heroes for different side adventures, (including the misunderstood Dinobot hero Grimlock, the divine Autobot Star Saber, the quirky inventor Wheeljack, the fierce Wrecker Impactor, and the legendary Optimus Prime.), in the two-part season finale, Mirage discovers that "The Mastermind" was none other than Jhiaxus, a disgraced mad scientist who was behind The Ascenticons' schemes and the Nemesis Virus's creation, (as he had developed theories on evolution and the idea of the "perfect Cybertronian" during several expeditions with the expansionist Nova Prime in the distant past and wanted to prove said theories through his various experiments and schemes), just in time to see the mad scientist punish Six-Shot, field commander of the Ascenticons, for his past failures to recruit Mirage to their cause by injecting him with a mixture of Nucleon, the Nemesis Virus, and DNA from both Mirage and Nemesis Primal, turning the field commander into the monstrous Deathswitch.
Season 2: (2013)[]
After the fight with Deathswitch destroys the Elite Guard's airborne headquarters, the Steelhaven, the team stays at Ligier's house. Jhiaxus creates various experimental serums with Outlier DNA after learning that Mirage is an Outlier, (a Transformer who possesses special abilities outside their alt mode), at the end of the last season, meanwhile, Elite Guard scientist Brainstorm, still dealing with the aftermath of the Steelhaven's destruction after injuring his right hand and having it amputated, injects himself with one of these serums to regain his lost limb, transforming into the feral insectoid monster Genitus in the process, later, Jhiaxus controls Genitus so that he can join him, Octopunch, Needlenose, Bludgeon, Nightbird, Thunderblast, and High Voltage as a member of the Mayhem Attack Squad, while Mirage and the team defeat seven of the eight villains, Genitus gets away, and Mirage swears to find and cure him. The Mayhem Attack Squad reappears, with Nightbird replaced by the Velocitronian duo of Ransack and Crumplezone. During the season, Mirage learns more about his teammates' origins, Arcee harbors a deep hatred towards Jhiaxus after the mad scientist subjected her to painful and torturous experiments in his attempts to create the perfect Cybertronian soldier, becoming more aggressive and combative as a result, Minerva being a pacifist as a result of helplessly witnessing her previous team, the Headmaster Juniors getting seemingly killed by the Decepticons during the Great War on Cybertron, Smokescreen is a former Nucleon addict, and a gambler on the run from the Malware Gang for a huge debt he owes them before eventually joining the Elite Guard, Override having taken refuge on Cybertron during the Great War before being recruited by Ultra Magnus into the Elite Guard and having to face her destiny of leaving behind Cybertron to become the future ruler of Velocitron, and Scattershot originally being a member of the experimental Autobot combiner team known as the Technobots (who can combine into the highly intelligent Computron, and consists of The screw-loose Strafe, The wonder-filled Lightspeed, The patient Nosecone, and the insecure Scrounge), before joining the Elite Guard. During this season, Mirage teams up with more Autobot heroes in different side adventures, (including the aforementioned Technobots, the crazed and unpredictable Autobot Wrecker Whirl, the female Autobots led by Elita-1, (consisting of the tough-as-nails Amazon-like bruiser Camien Autobot Chromia, the hot-blooded pyrokinetic Outlier Firestar, (who is a former friend of Nautica's) wisecracking and overly-talkative young sniper Moonracer, and the brash and impulsive scientist Lancer), the tough and aloof Autobot Powerglide, and the brave and elegant Camien Autobot city speaker Windblade), Six-Shot, having been healed and reformed, becomes Great-Shot to mend his mistakes in the past by helping the Elite Guard Trainees, but in the escape of the Mayhem Attack Squad, Mirage cures Genitus with an antidote which turns him back into Brainstorm while Jhiaxus turns Great-Shot into Deathswitch again with the help of the Nemesis Virus, Deathswitch turns the Elite Guard Trainees into evil Nemesis monsters like him and plans to use the wreckage of the old Steelhaven to gas Iacon City, but Mirage cures them with the antidote and the team stops Deathswitch from spreading the Nemesis Virus on Iacon City, because of his bravery and quick-thinking, Mirage is offered a chance to join the Wreckers by their leader, Impactor.
Season 3: (2014 - 2015)[]
As the third and final season begins, Mirage officially joins the Wreckers, but after a fight with Liege Maximo, Jhiaxus, and an army of monsters from the Realm of the Primes, (such as Kickback and his fellow Insecticons, the Predacons, the Scraplet Swarm, and some Drillers), infected with the revived Nemesis Virus, he chooses to resign and remain with the Elite Guard, In the aftermath, a small loose strand of the Nemesis Virus permanently bonds with Nautica to become Road Rocket again, (as she was Road Rocket for a short period in Season One), and Mirage is tasked by Ultra Magnus to recruit other young Autobots to form the Next-Gen Autobots. At the same time, Jhiaxus enlists the help of Tripredacus High Council, (and their agent, the mad scientist Tarantulas), to create their team of young Decepticons to combat the Elite Guard Trainees, Mirage manages to recruit the justice-obsessed and relentless Maximal law enforcer Depth Charge, (who holds a grudge against the malicious serial killer Protoform X for slaughtering the entire population of the colony of Omicron), from the Jungle Planet of Eukaris, the Autobot Outlier Windcharger, (an Autobot previously worked with Orion Pax before the war and who can manipulate magnetic fields and is desperate to keep his powerful abilities from hurting anyone due to his lack of control), Optimus Minor as Optimal Optimus, (who seeks to clear his father's name and help him recover from being previously infected with the Nemesis Virus), and Velocity, (an exchange student from Caminus and a friend of Nautica), in the Apex Armor, while Tarantulas recruits the ruthless female street racer Nightracer, the remorseless loan shark Payload, the quiet and reserved weather-controlling Outlier and inventor Overcast, the amnesiac Combatron refugee Jetstorm, and breaks the violent sociopathic serial killer Protoform X out of the rehabilitation center Garrus-9 and turns him into Rampage with a batch of experimental Nucleon. When the Tripredacus Trainees attempt to free Deathswitch, Axor, Sideways, and Nightbird, Mirage leads the Next-Gen Autobots against the group and is able to convince Jetstorm to switch sides. The Next-Gen Autobots ultimately defeat the villainous recruits and Tarantulas, but Deathswitch escapes with the Chronos Blade, leading to a Transformers version of the Spider-Verse storyline in which he travels across the Multiverse to collect DNA samples of Mirage's alternate counterparts to turn himself into the Ultimate warrior. During this time, Deathswitch learns of Mirage's identity. Chasing after him, Mirage meets up with Aligned Continuity Mirage, Bayverse Mirage, (or Dino), G1 Mirage, Armada Mirage, Animated Continuity Mirage, Bot Shots Mirage, and RID 2001 Mirage, helping them each one by one with their problems while in their respective universes, before teaming up with all of them to take down Deathswitch and a giant Steelhaven robot controlled by High Voltage, (who was used as a living battery to power the Chronos Blade, which itself was used to power Deathswitch's teleportation device). After both are defeated and the alternate Mirages return to their homes, Deathswitch reverts back into Six-Shot and ends up suffering amnesia, making him forget his time as Deathswitch as well as Mirage's identity. During this season, Mirage teams up with new Autobot heroes (such as the Aerialbots, (who can combine into the powerful airborne Autobot Superion and consists of the unassuming but gifted strategist and bookworm Skydive, the impulsive and fearless Air Raid, the childlike and absent-minded flyer Fireflight, the blunt and highly critical Slingshot, and their leader, the acrophobic Silverbolt), the eccentric and simple-minded Junkion Wreck-Gar, the morally grey and logic-driven Autobot law enforcer and strategist Prowl, and the honor-bound former Decepticon bounty hunter-turned-Autobot samurai Drift). Afterward, Mirage and his team begin their education at the Elite Guard Academy located at Simfur City during summer vacation while dealing with the threat of the Decepticon Justice Division (who have returned to Cybertron to hunt down Jhiaxus for attempting to take over Cybertron in his own name and not Megatron's and consists of the stoic Helex, the gleefully sadistic Kaon, the easily bored Tesarus, the enigmatic Vos, and their highly critical Mini-Con medic Nickel), led by the music-loving sadist Tarn. Not long afterward, Mirage and the rest of the Autobots reluctantly team up with some of the Decepticon criminals from the previous two seasons to battle against a malevolent race of techno-organic aliens known as the Quintessons (who falsely claim to be the creators of the Cybertronian race) for the fate of Cybertron. During this time, Botanica, Nautica, Optimus Minor, and Velocity all learn of Mirage's secret identity; in the aftermath of the battle, Ligier eventually takes on his old solo hero life, satisfied to have finally become what he trained in the Elite Guard to be: The Ultimate Cyber-Ninja.
Cast:[]
Sam Riegel - Ligier/Mirage, Top-Gear, Shoulder Angel, Shoulder Devil
Dee Bradley Baker - Brainstorm/Genitus, Kremzeek, Protoform X/Rampage, Helex, Vos, Sharkticons, Quintesson Bailiff
Tara Strong - Minerva, Nightracer, Velocity
Scott Menville - Scattershot, Caminus Red Leader, Nightflight
Nolan North - Smokescreen, Storm Cloud, Octopunch
Kari Walhgren - Arcee, Lightbright
Cree Summer - Override
Michael Ironside - Ultra Magnus
Khary Payton - Over-Run
Garry Chalk - Optimus Primal/Nemesis Primal
Daran Norris - Rook, Mindwipe
Felicity Jones - Nautica/Road Rocket
James Arnold Taylor - Optimus Minor/Optimal Optimus, Windcharger, Quintesson Judge
Travis Willingham - Cliffjumper
David Kaye - Nemesis Virus (main hosts), Lugnut, Hardshell, Quintesson Scientist
Mark Hamill - Jhiaxus/The Mastermind, Sunder, Quintesson Executioner
Laura Bailey - Shadow Striker, Chromia
Grey DeLisle - Flamewar, Lancer, Nightbird
Robin Atkins Downes - Flatline, Whisper, Spittor
John DiMaggio - Sideways, Impactor, Tailwind, Blight
Steve Blum - Six-Shot/Great-Shot/Deathswitch, Skystalker, Slingshot, Tarantulas, Rippersnapper, Heatwave, Leadfoot
Josh Keaton - Stinger, Lightspeed
Peter Cullen - Optimus Prime
Neil Kaplan - Grimlock, Squeezeplay
Dave Boat - Wheeljack, Treadshot, Roadbuster
Rick D. Wasserman - Star Saber, Quake
Keith Ferguson - Needlenose, Twincast
Maryke Hendrikse - Molniya/Thunderblast
Kevin Szarabajka - High Voltage, Twinstrike
Maurice LaMarche - Straxus
Sam Vincent - Ransack, Payload
Mark Acheson - Crumplezone
Eric Loomis - Goshooter
Chris Cox - Cab, Lightspeed
Seth Green - Strafe, Topspin
Billy West - Nosecone
Eric Bauza - Scrounge, Bludgeon, Skyfall/Nanotek
Alex Hirsch - Whirl
Steve Downes - Powerglide
Sumalee Montano - Windblade
Colleen O'Shaughnessey - Moonracer
Jennifer Hale - Elita-1, Megaempress, Crash-Test, Solus Prime
Jessica Straus - Slipstream, Nickel
Kathleen Barr - Strika, Fracture
Keith Silverstein - Windrazor, Crankcase
Patrick Seitz - Silverbolt, Horri-Bull
Misty Lee - Botanica, Scylla
Kevin Michael Richardson - Skydive, Tesarus
Liam O'Brien - Air Raid, Sunstorm
Robbie Daymond - Fireflight
Joey Camen - Axor
Lance Henriksen - Lockdown
David Sobolov - Depth Charge, Computron
D.C. Douglas - Chase
Parvesh Cheena - Blades
Imari Williams - Boulder
Graham McTavish - Liege Maximo
Scott Porter - Overcast, Superion
Brian Drummond - Jetstorm, Quintesson Prosecutor
Weird Al Yankovic - Wreck-Gar
Matthew Mercer - Prowl
Dante Basco - Drift
Keith David - Tarn
Jeff Bennett - Kaon
Frank Welker - The Pet, G1 Mirage
E.G. Daily - Firestar
Fred Tatasciore - Abominus, Ruckus
Roger Craig Smith - Springer
Chris Edgerly - Pyro
Michael Gough - Fistitron
Benjamin Diskin - Aligned Continuity Mirage
David Wittenberg - Bayverse Mirage/Dino
Wally Wingert - RID 2001 Mirage
Troy Baker - Armada Mirage, Windsweeper
Quinton Flynn - Animated Continuity Mirage
Tom Kenny - Bot Shots Mirage