Sword

Transformers may prefer guns and missiles in their many wars but they are far from above melee combat. Swords are popular melee weapons used by both Autobots and Decepticons.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

The Transformers cartoon

• Megatron gained an energy-bladed sword between the years 1985 and 2005, which he used and subsequently lost in his famous last battle with Optimus Prime. The Transformers: The Movie
• Menasor sometimes wields a sword with a glowing blade Masquerade and sometimes wields a normal sword without a flashy aura. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
• Hot Rod wields an energy-bladed sword while sparring with an auto-combatant. The Transformers: The Movie
• The Predacons all wield swords: Razorclaw uses a sonic sword, Headstrong a diffraction sword, Tantrum an electro-sword, Divebomb a laser-guided sword and Rampage a thermo-sword.
• Most of the Dinobots use energo-swords. Swoop is the exception, using a thermal sword instead.
• A thermal sword as well Weirdwolf wields.
• Springer's helicopter blades transform into a sword, which can he can be seen utilising in his battle on the planet Junkion against similarly sword-wielding Junkions

The Headmasters cartoon

• Fortress Maximus used the Master Sword, first using it to destroy a monstrous carnivorous plant attacking San Francisco. Head On!! Fortress Maximus Through torture, interrogation, and ransoming, Scorponok got the data on the Master Sword and created the Zarak Shield, which proved able to deflect the Master Sword when they first clashed in battle. Operation: Destroy the Decepticons Fortress Maximus used the Master Sword to destroy the Zarak Shield and Scorponok's Transtector, saving the planet. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)

Super-God Masterforce cartoon

• Grand Maximus wielded the Master Blade which was similar to the Master Sword used by his older brother.

Victory cartoon

• Star Saber's Saber Blade cannot forgive evil! Sneak Attack! Dinoking

Beast Era

Beast Wars

The Beast Wars had several combatants that used blades:

• Optimus Primal possessed two swords in his original gorilla body (and his unused Bat body) but not in his later Transmetal forms. His original gorilla body swords are occasionally known under the name of "Cyber Blades." Optimus Primal Chapter
• Onyx Primal, being a redeco of Optimus's bat body also wields two scimitars.
• Although both of Rhinox's toys depicted him with swords, he preferred his Chain guns of Doom in his fictional appearances. On the rare occasion that he did use this weapon, it was unoriginally dubbed the "Tail Blade." Rhinox Chapter
• The honour-bound, Predacon turned Maximal Dinobot was an excellent swordsman (swordsbot?). His stylized sword would store inside his Cyber-slash tail weapon to become his beast mode's tail. The sword itself has been referred to as the "Dino Sabel." Dinobot Chapter
• Grimlock, sharing his body-template with Dinobot, wields a similar sword.
• Amongst Depth Charge's impressive arsenal of weapons, his beast mode tail detaches to be wielded as a harpoon/lance/sword for robot mode.
• Jawbreaker sports an utterly horrifying sword. It becomes his beast mode's tail.
• Nightglider's sword, although not nearly as horrifying, also becomes part of his beast mode's tail upon transformation.
• Although never seen in battle during his short cameos throughout diverse media, Cicadacon is counted amongst the several dual-sword wielders of the Beast Era.
• Instrumental to Megatron's plan to steal the golden disk, Backslash wielded an energon blade back on Cybertron.
• Silverbolt, the wolf-eagle fuzor could hold his missiles and use them as swords.
• Silverbolt later wielded two impressively sized swords.
• Those swords became part of the even more impressive sword wielded by Silverbolt's, Ironhide's and Prowl's gestalt form, Magnaboss.
• Terrorsaur's Transmetal body gave him a pair of swords.
• Windrazor, a repaint of the fuzor Silverbolt is armed with the same types of swords.
• The Predacon Fractyl's Transmetal body is a repaint of Terrorsaur's, so he is armed with twin swords as well.

Beast Wars II

• DJ's weapons of choice are his Seven-Year Swords. They double up as musical instruments.
• Fellow dual-sword wielder, Skywarp uses his "Wingalibur" swords.
• Skywarp, Santon, and Lio Junior's weapons combine to become Magnaboss's imposing blade.

Beast Wars Neo

• Magmatron wielded the Magma Blade. He used it despite being only a decapitated head—by gripping it with his teeth—and gave it to Big Convoy, asking Convoy to kill him with it so he could die a warrior's death. Big Convoy obliged. Double Cross Later Big Convoy destroyed Unicron's physical body with the Magma Blade.
• Hardhead wields the "Pilesaber" sword.
• Although it lacks a fancy name, Killer Punch also possesses a sword.

Beast Machines

• Cheetor's technorganic body possesses a pair of versatile scimitars, which can be used for slicing, deflecting lasers, and can combine to create a glider.
• The Dinobot Terranotron is a retool of Transmetal Terrorsaur and is armed with the same sword weapons.

2005 IDW continuity

• After being rebuilt by the Circle of Light, Drift carries three swords, two short swords stored in his hip scabbards and the late Wing's Great Sword.
• All Circle of Light members use swords, of course.
• Cyclonus begins carrying a Great Sword after he encounters the Circle.
• Arcee's most commonly used weapons are a pair of energy swords.
• Bludgeon, master of Metallikato that he is, is rarely seen without his sword.
• Windblade's weapon of choice is her trusty Stormfall Sword.
• When Arcee, Chromia, and Windblade become Combiner Hunters, Arcee and Chromia get access to the Combiner Slayer and the Primeon Blade swords respectively.
• Alpha Trion had a built-in sword.

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

Scimitar mastery was one of Optimus Primal's weapons and powers. Kingdom webpage^[1]

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

• Scourge used his signature Sword of Fury to terrorize his enemies and underlings alike throughout the series.
• Omega Prime can wield the Matrix Blade which was created from the desire for an Autobot victory from children all around the world. Seriously. Omega Prime then defeated Galvatron with the blade. The Final Battle
• Dark Scream is a redeco of Night Glider and is armed with the same type of sword.
• Side Burn is armed with a silver gun/knife depending on which handle is used to hold it.

Unicron Trilogy

The Air Defense Mini-Con Team could combine into the Star Saber.

The Star Saber was the source of nigh-unlimited power for an ancient civilization. It was later responsible for the civilization's destruction via sinking into the ocean. Sonar's Mini-Con panel was left there and later recovered by the Decepticons. Ruin

Later, after invading the Autobot base, Megatron used Sonar to locate the other two Mini-Cons and eventually succeeded in forming the Star Saber for the first time in ages. His victory was short-lived, however, as Hot Shot stole it from him. Hot Shot was shaky in his command of the saber and at first did not put up a good offensive against Megatron. After words of advice from Rad White, Hot Shot harnessed the power of the Mini-Cons to defeat Megatron, cutting off Megatron's antenna in the process. Swoop

Hot Shot continued fighting and defeating Decepticons with the Star Saber, the Saber allowing him to easily slice off pieces of his opponents. While in a sword fight with Starscream, he was hit once, but Starscream's sword was cut in two by the Saber. But even with the Saber in his possession Hot Shot was no match for Scavenger, and was easily defeated. Afterwards Scavenger hinted to Megatron a legend of a shield that could counter the Star Saber. Overmatch

Hot Shot practiced with the saber but struggled once again against Scavenger. He eventually used the sword to cut away an unfinished bridge, causing Scavenger to fall. Gale In another battle they were transported, along with Sideways, to the Decepticon base. After a battle, Sideways was captured by Megatron, who offered a trade for the Star Saber. Hot Shot decided to agree to the trade, but as soon as Sideways was free he called back the Star Saber in the form of its three components. Sideways then turned on Hot Shot and knocked the Saber out of Hot Shot's grip and to Starscream, who then took control of it. Credulous

With the Star Saber in hand, the Decepticons won many battles and captured more Mini-Cons. Megatron later tricked Starscream into attacking him, and took the Star Saber as the Decepticon view shifted negatively against Starscream. Conspiracy Megatron used the Star Saber to attack Optimus Prime in super mode, but had his attacks parried. He was later thrown into a crevasse, but kept the Star Saber in hand. Trust

With the Star Saber, Megatron believed himself invincible. Reinforcement Megatron attacked Optimus Prime with both the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield. Optimus Prime's gun was cut in two and his arm was damaged. With the help of Sparkplug, Optimus was able to steal the Skyboom Shield away from Megatron. Then the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield collided, causing a beam of light to head off into space. Decisive Battle

The Autobots attempted to figure out the origins of the Star Saber while Megatron figured out new ways to attack using it. Optimus later commented that the power released when it hit the Skyboom Shield was due to the "screams of the Mini-Cons." Vow When Starscream contested Megatron for leadership of the Decepticons, Megatron bet the Star Saber on the winner. Megatron won the battle and kept the Star Saber for himself. Rebellion

Thrust at one point asked for the Star Saber as the only way to guarantee Decepticon victory. During the battle, he let Megatron use it and never actually took possession of it. Tactician Megatron found himself increasingly frustrated with his inability to harm the Autobots due to the Skyboom Shield. He wounded Smokescreen once with the Saber, but found further hits once again parried by the shield. Linkup

The Star Saber was drawn toward the Skyboom Shield. Together they caused a signal that awakened the Mini-Cons that combined to create the Requiem Blaster. Desperate Later, in the jungle, Starscream used the Saber to battle Optimus Prime. The three component Mini-Cons turned the Saber off to protest the fighting. Sacrifice

After changing sides, Starscream used the Star Saber to attack Megatron and Thrust and used it to block a shot from the Requiem Blaster. Optimus Prime then took it to attack Tidal Wave. Regeneration In the attack to save the Mini-Cons, Starscream again battled Megatron and was able to chop off Megatron's turret. Rescue On the adventure to Mars, Starscream threw a tantrum and sliced a few mountains with the Saber. Later when the Saber was in the presence of the Skyboom Shield and the Requiem Blaster, all three weapons shone light and then caused an explosion in space. Mars

When Starscream eventually turned sides again he took the Star Saber back to the Decepticon side. Crack He presented the saber to Megatron and was immediately threatened with it. All three weapons were then combined to power the ultimate weapon, the Hydra Cannon. Threaten

Armed with the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield, Galvatron led the attack on Cybertron and attacked Optimus Prime. Uprising Galvatron later almost handed the Star Saber to Thrust, but instead used it to attack Hot Shot, who had infiltrated the base. Wheeljack parried the attack. All of this prevented Thrust from stealing the Star Saber, so he instead ran off with the other two weapons. Dash When Demolishor was unable to catch the fleeing Thrust, Galvatron threatened him with the Star Saber. Drift Sideways then got angry at Thrust for not being able to secure the Star Saber with the Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster. Portent

Galvatron swiped at Starscream with the Star Saber then attacked Optimus Prime when Optimus attempted to negotiate a truce with the Decepticons. Optimus was able to catch the Star Saber in mid-swing. Starscream interrupted the battle, causing Galvatron to attack him. Starscream was able to dodge at first but then allowed himself to be run through. After pulling out the Star Saber from his chassis, Starscream attacked a hovering Unicron. Unicron retaliated, destroying Starscream utterly. Seeing this, Galvatron picked up the Star Saber and offered it to Optimus Prime, but Sideways appeared and stole it from his hand. Cramp

Returning to Unicron, Sideways shoved the saber into the ground, fully awakening him. Alliance It then became part of Unicron's body and the component Mini-Cons were said to be impossible to awake. Later, when Galvatron and Optimus Prime invaded Unicron's interior, Galvatron saw the Star Saber and reached for it. Tentacles surrounding it attacked Galvatron, causing him to recoil. Eventually the saber was awakened by a Mini-Con song, splitting into the component Mini-Cons. Origin

Nemesis Prime wielded the Vorpal Saber. After the Autobots and the Decepticons landed on a strange world, they were menaced by a rampaging, powerful clone of Optimus Prime. The creature, calling himself Nemesis Prime, was seemingly defeated by Megatron when he fired the Requiem Blaster and blew the clone to pieces. However, the pieces reconnected with each other and Nemesis Prime formed the powerful Vorpal Saber as an extension of his own flexible, warping body. The Vorpal Saber disintegrated when the Mini-Cons arrived to save the other Transformers. Puppet

• The Cryo Saber is made up of the three Mini-Cons Snowblind, Lens, and Quantum.
• The Chaos Saber is made up of the three members of the Sky Terror Mini-Con Team.
• The Pyro Saber is made up of the three members of the Zephyr Blade Mini-Con Team.
• The Energon Saber is made up of the three members of the Energon Saber Mini-Con Team and is mainly wielded by Kicker Jones.

• Megatron also wielded an Energon Sword at one point.

• Hot Shot, grievously injured, was regenerated into a new body by the power of Primus. His Cybertron Defense body so happened to have a sword with it. Sometimes he slotted it into his wrist, other times he held it.

• Vector Prime had his sword Rhisling, most famously used by Optimus Prime to kill Galvatron, Unfinished and Snarl's tail acted as a combination of sword and rifle in robot mode.

• Terrorsaur, a retool of (big surprise) Beast Wars Transmetal Terrorsaur is armed with twin swords.
• Ravenus's mutated form is based on Armada Terrorsaur's toy, making him a dual-sword wielder as well.
• Armada Rhinox is armed with the same type of sword as the original Transmetal Rhinox.

Live-action film series

Transformers film

• Optimus Prime first deployed a sword from his right arm to take Bonecrusher's face. Bonecrusher hated that. Transformers
• Starscream had claw-like blades that folded over his right hand. Starscream's Fast-Action Battlers

Revenge of the Fallen film

• Sideswipe had swords that he could throw from his arm(s), which he used to cut Sideways in half.
• Optimus Prime used two swords from both his arms to fight Grindor, Starscream, and Megatron in the forest. Unfortunately for Optimus, Megatron had his own sword, impaling the Autobot leader. After his resurrection, Optimus returned the favor by breaking Megatron's sword with his bare hands, then slicing off his arm with his remaining sword. Revenge of the Fallen
• The Decepticon Bludgeon was armed with two blades in his battle against Whirl. After his defeat, Bludgeon got a new body armed with Katana and a Shoto dagger.
• The Constructicon Long Haul is armed with twin blades.

Dark of the Moon film

• Optimus retains his swords from the previous films, however instead of deploying from his wrists, he instead grabs them from a weapons rack which his formed by his trailer.
• Dino has arm blades similar to that of Sideswipe's, though his are attached to his arms by metal tethers.

Age of Extinction film

• Optimus Prime still has his swords available to him when he scans a new alternate form, however at least one is destroyed by Galvatron's chest grinder. Optimus later gets a far more knightly longsword from the Knight's armory aboard Lockdown's stolen ship.
• Drift wields two katana-like swords.
• Scorn is armed with a scimitar.
• Slug has two large swords.
• Strafe has two rapier-like dueling swords.

Transformers Animated

• After taking his Earth form, Megatron's helicopter blades became dual swords. He used these swords to kill Starscream at least once Mission Accomplished and later battled Optimus Prime with them. Endgame, Part II
• Grimlock wields a sword and it's on fire Blast from the Past
• Though she did not wield them in any of her appearances outside of the Japanese title sequence and boxart, Arcee possesses dual swords.

Aligned

Prime cartoon

• Optimus Prime has dual swords that extend from his hands for melee combat, which he used to devastating effect against an army of undead Terrorcons, and later against Megatron. He later acquired the Star Saber. Legacy
• Megatron himself wields a blade that extends from his fusion cannon. He later forged the Dark Star Saber after obtaining Liege Maximo's arm. Alpha/Omega
• Wheeljack carries a pair of more conventional, handheld swords as his weapons of choice.
• Dreadwing used a handheld sword as his primary melee weapon.

War For Cybertron

• Bumblebee uses one.
• In multiplayer all Scouts have swords for melee attacks.

Fall of Cybertron

• Grimlock uses a sword and shield.
• Optimus and Megatron fight using swords on the exterior of the Ark
• The multiplayer classes Scientist and Infiltrator use a sword as their melee attacks.

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

• The Decepticon Hunter tools used by the 'bots of this series have the ability to turn into swords.
• Optimus Prime also received a Prime Decepticon Hunter, a long dual pronged sword with a black hilt, from his training under the thirteen.
• This iteration of Windblade has blades which look like the other one's Stormfall Sword, but they have never been explicitly named as such.
• Sideswipe had a plain sword before he switched to a Decepticon Hunter.
• Drift uses a wakizashi and a katana matching his colors. Fracture, Saberhorn and Shadow Raker also have swords, but unlike Drift, their blades extend from the wrist.

Cyberverse

• Windblade wields a somewhat scimitar-like energy sword.
• Shadow Striker wielded twin shortblades before being blown up by Bumblebee, and later used an energy machete.

References