As presented in the Generation 1 animated series, Cybertron appeared considerably smaller
than the planet Earth. Entirely metallic on the surface, some of the lowest levels of
Cybertron consisted of rock and dirt, suggesting an organic beginning to the planet. It's
gravity is light enough that humans are able to traverse the surface without any trouble,
and it possesses a breathable atmosphere. Water, or at least a substance resembling it,
is in evidence on the planet - lake and rivers have been shown to exist, albeit sparingly.
Many levels below the surface is the energy-furnace, the Plasma Energy Chamber, and at
the heart of the planet is the spherical mega-computer, Vector Sigma.
Cybertron is orbited by at least two unnamed moons, but its own place in the cosmos appears
unfixed - in 1984, it was clearly shown to exist outside of the Milky Way galaxy; however,
nine million years prior, Starscream and Skyfire had been able to fly from the planet to
Earth under their own power, suggesting that it may drift freely through space, and had
been passing through the Sol System at that point, going on to drift out of the galaxy over
the ensuing millennia. If the assorted colourful exclamations made by numerous Transformers
are anything to go by, Cybertron also plays host to a vast array of fauna, including but
not limited to: ant-droids, bolt-bats, cyber-ducks, dynametal ducks, electro-toads, glitch
-mice, guineapigatrons, helio-hamsters, hydro-weasels, photovoltaic pussycats, retro-rats,
robo-rats, sheepacrons, titanium moose-bots, turbo-foxes, zap-mice and robotopossums.
In its earliest recorded days, twelve million years ago, Cybertron was a factory used by the
multi-faced aliens the Quintessons to manufacture their robot creations. Notably, the origins
of the planet are never explicitly stated - the Quintessons may have built it, xenoformed an
organic world, or colonised an existing metal planet. Whatever the case, after a million years,
the Quintessons were forced to abandon Cybertron when their robots evolved true sentience and
feelings, and knew they were being used as slaves, rebelling in the First Cybertonian War. The
second war was soon to come, however, when the robots splintered into two factions - the peace
-loving Autobots and the war-mongering Decepticons - and began fighting amongst themselves.
With the Autobots' innovation of transformation, they were able to win - or at least stalemate
- the war, and a period of peace descended on Cybertron, which shone with a healthy golden
glow, distinguishing the period as the "Golden Age."
Eventually, however, Decepticons adopted transformation as well, along with robot-mode flight
powers, and around nine million years ago, the creation of the Decepticon Megatron re-ignited
the war on Cybertron. Megatron rallied like-minded individuals to his cause, and brainwashed
others into his service, quickly killing the current Autobot leader in a strke on one of Iacon's
outer cities. With this act kept out of the public knowledge, rumours circulated as Autobot
machinesmith Alpha Trion worked dilligently on a new process to reconstruct Autobots into
battle-hardy configurations for the war he knew was coming. That war finally erupted in full
when Megatron fatally injured a naive young dock worker, Orion Pax, and Alpha Trion made him
the first subject of his new process, reconstructing him into Optimus Prime, who would lead the
Autobots in the Third Cybertronian War.
After a further five million years of war, during which many Autobots fled the planet, the
Decepticons had acquired a large hold on the planet, with the majority of it under their
control. The main Autobot force continued to operate from the capital city-state of Iacon,
but Cybertron's energy levels were depleted to a dangerous low, necessitating a space mission
to locate a new planet with new sources of energy that the Transformers could harness. Optimus
Prime led his best and brightest on The Ark, but they were pursued by Megatron's elite troops,
and all were stranded in stasis on Earth for four million years. In the ensuing four million
years, Shockwave, who Megatron had left in charge as guardian of the planet, maintained the
Decepticon hold on the planet, though he was unaware of the continued guerilla efforts of
Elita One's Female Autobots to undermine him as they raided his energy supplies. Eventually,
Cybertron's energy level dipped so low as to put the planet in immediate, mortal danger.
Re-establishing contact with Megatron, who had awoken with the other Transformers on Earth in
the year 1984, Shockwave co-designed the Space Bridge, an intergalactic transport system that
could transport Energon Cubes from Earth to Cybertron, abating the planet's impending doom.
Cybertron's place in the universe was forcibly altered in 1984 when the Decepticons constructed
a colossal Space Bridge that actually transported the entire planet into the Sol system, into
Earth's orbit, where its gravity wreaked havoc with the planet's natural balance, unleashing an
unending torrent of energy created by natural disasters. The energy acquired re-energised
Cybertron enough to put it out of the danger zone, but the planet was soon knocked out of
orbit by a massive Energon explosion, and set drifting off through the solar system. At this
closer ranger, Cybertron remained easily accessed throughout 1985 at least, with the Autobots
now able to reach it by conventional transportation (Omega Supreme), rather than having to
constantly hijack use of the spacebridge.
By the Earth year 2005, Cybertron had exited the Sol system, but, remaining within the Milky
Way, was still relatively easily accessible by shuttlecraft from Earth. By this time, the
Decepticon forces had succeeded in conquering the entire planet, forcing all the Autobots off
it, leading them to relocate to Autobot City on Earth, and to two staging ground bases on two of
Cybertron's moons. It was at this time that Cybertron came under attack from the world-eater,
Unicron, who consumed the two moonbases and assaulted Cybertron itself, only to be destroyed
by the power of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. His deactivated, decapitated head fell into
orbit around Cybertron, a grisly new satellite to replace those he had destroyed. With the
Decepticon forces in disarray after Unicron's attack, Rodimus Prime and his troops succeeded
in driving their foes off Cybertron, reclaiming the planet for the Autobots, restoring and
re-energising much of the planet by 2006, when the world came under frequent attacks from
the returning Quintessons, whose previously-secret history with the Transformers came to light.
In the year 2007, Cybertron was once again wrenched from its place in space when Galvatron and
the Decepticons invaded the planet and constructed a massive planetary engine that propelled
Cybertron back into Earth orbit once more. Once there, Galvatron opened the Plasma Energy
chamber, intending for the energy release to drive the Sun supernova, consuming Earth,
Cybertron and everything else in one final destructive blow. Spike Witwicky and the Autobots'
Nebulan allies were able to stop this plan by reversing the rocket engine, which drained off
the excess solar energy and channeled it straight into Vector Sigma, which used it to full
re-energise Cybertron. Its rich golden hue restored, Cybertron entered a new Golden Age.