Crystal City
From Transformers Wiki
The Crystal City was famous for its elegance in construction, and the scientific minds that hail from it. It also has a habit of getting slagged by those who fail to recruit certain inhabitants.
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Fiction
Generation 1 continuity family
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
Millions of years ago, the Crystal City was one of the most beautiful structures on all of Cybertron. It was built by the Constructicons and their then-teammate Hauler, RoadHauler's toy bio and protected by a Guardian robot named Omega Supreme.
Tragically, the very Constructicons who created this masterpiece were responsible for its destruction, being ambushed by Megatron and his Robosmasher, the device reprogramming them to be loyal to the young tyrant. At his command, the Constructicons lured Omega Supreme away from Crystal City with a false story of a Decepticon attack on the capital, promising to stand guard in his absence. Finding no threat, Omega returned to Crystal City in time to see it collapse. The city's destruction haunted Omega for millions of years, swearing revenge on the Constructicons for destroying it. In 1985, Omega came close to avenging his old home before Optimus Prime convinced him to abandon his vendetta, lest history repeat and San Francisco share Crystal City's fate. The Secret of Omega Supreme
Unite Warriors
In 2021, the Constructicons tricked Grapple into helping them rebuild Crystal City on Earth. The project also included Hauler, Omega Supreme, and Chip Chase. Crystal City Reconstruction Project!
2005 IDW continuity
According to legend, the future site of Crystal City had been where Primus had delivered his Prime Pastoral. Origin Myths
Twelve million years ago, the land that would give rise to Crystal City was a barren wilderness. It was here that Shockwave, hurled back in time by the destruction of his chronal drive materialized. The damaged Decepticon wandered the wilderness for years, stumbling upon a tribe of nomads led by a shepherd who called himself Onyx. Recognizing the figure from who he was fated to become, Shockwave slew the shepherd and took the identity of "Onyx Prime" while moulding one the shepherd's flock, Megatronus, into the warworld history knew him as. The First Who Was Named
Some two million years later, Crystal City arose as a small settlement built by an alliance between Alpha Trion, Solus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Nexus Prime and Vector Prime. As part of Shockwave's plan to ensure history unfolded as he remembered, he manipulated Megatronus to target the city in his conquests while he and Liege Maximo went ahead to offer an alliance with the other five Primes to stand against Megatronus's hordes. The Crystal City was "saved" after peace was brokered between "Onyx" and Megatronus, and became the home of the eight Primes who were soon joined by five others, creating the Thirteen. Origin Myths The group presided over Cybertronian society from Crystal City's citadel. The First Who Was Named
Following the disappearance of the Primes in the First Cybertronian Civil War, the Crystal City had been hidden away underground where it was guarded by Omega Supreme, the only one who knew that Metrotitan slumbered beneath it. The lost city fell into legend and was believed to have been the home of Primus and his pantheon, the Guiding Hand. It was eventually rediscovered by Nova Prime, who raised it to the surface and made it a symbol of Cybertron's new Golden Age. By the end of Nova's rule, the Crystal City sustained heavy damage in a battle between Omega Supreme and Monstructor, causing it to be swallowed back into the depths of Cybertron. All Good Things Shortly before it was lost, Shockwave planted a seed of "Ore-14", a type of self-replicating energon, within the city. Shockwaves The wasteland left where the city had collapsed became known as the Rust Spot. An Uneventful Night Lagrange
Early in the Great War, a group of Cybertronians called the Circle of Light decided Cybertron's fate was sealed so they left the planet with a group of scientists, scholars and general pacifists. They settled on the planet Theophany and, to hide their existence from the expanding war, built a settlement underground and named it Crystal City after the old lost city. Drift #2 The city was founded on top of Metrotitan, brought by Dai Atlas to serve as the new Crystal City's power source. You, Me, and Other Revelations
The Circle lived in isolation in their city until the arrival of Drift led to Braid and his slavers learning of their existence. Though Dai Atlas, leader of the Circle of Light, was hesitant about joining the fight, he ultimately raised Crystal City from beneath the earth and allowed the Circle to drive away the attackers. Drift #4 A short time later, Crystal City was attacked by Legislators sent by Chief Justice Tyrest to abduct the Circle of Light, who were able to bypass its defenses thanks to the treacherous Star Saber. Arm the Lonely The Circle fell, and by the time Drift returned the hidden city lay in ruins and its inhabitants had all been taken or recycled. As the crew of the Lost Light investigated what had happened, they discovered Metrotitan and helped him teleport home to Cybertron. You, Me, and Other Revelations
The resurrective properties of Ore-14 would restore any damage to the original Crystal City, allowing it to survive the reformatting of Cybertron that wiped all other cities off the map. Shockwaves Metrotitan wound up warping into its remains, causing his molecules to be physically enmeshed with those of the city. He was discovered by the local Cybertronians, who didn't recognize the city but were surprised that it had survived the reformatting. Unfortunately, the interaction between city's protons and the Titan's anti-protons was causing local reality to destabilize, leading to a massive explosion that completely wiped out both the Crystal City and the Titan. All Good Things Unbeknownst to all but Shockwave, however, the Ore-14 kicked in again and was able to restore the city to perfect shape, and he soon returned there with Dreadwing to prepare for future plans. Shockwaves Metrotitan had also survived the explosion, having been rescued by Shockwave's future self and teleported to Earth via Ore-1 and Ore-9. As Above...So Below The Hallowing
Shockwave established the Crystal City as his headquarters, but was located by Soundwave who attacked him for abandoning the Decepticons. The effects of Ore-14 made it impossible for either side to die while in the city, however, and Soundwave retreated. Soundwaves Shockwave continued with his project by having a Titan infected with Ore-2 teleport into the Crystal City, where the two Ores mixed and turned it into a zombified "Necrotitan" that burst out of the city. Dark Dawn The next step of the plan was to bring Nova Prime and Galvatron over from the Dead Universe, so Shockwave reanimated Metalhawk and had him bring Megatron, whose body contained a space bridge, to the Crystal City. Into the Abyss At this point, the Autobots and Decepticons joined forces and invaded the Crystal City to put a stop to Shockwave. During the battle, Shockwave took control of the Necrotitan and collapsed the cavern, destroying the Ore-14 and sending the attackers fleeing. Finest Hour
As Shockwave continued to gather his various Ores for his master plan—collapsing all of space and time into Cybertron—a team of Autobots and Decepticons teleported into the Crystal City and fought their way through his allies. Black Planet Before he could enact his plan, Shockwave was made to realize what he had become and allowed himself to be killed, and the time machine integrated into his body collapsed into a singularity that swallowed the Crystal City. ...And the Damage Done Though the Cybertronians assumed that the singularity had killed Shockwave, the scientist had in fact been shunted back to Cybertron's prehistoric era. The First Who Was Named
The tiny singularity remained in the area, The World of Tomorrow wreaking havoc on the local atmosphere and turning the area corrosive, causing it to be dubbed the "Sea of Rust". Redemption It was naturally assumed the collapse of reality had finally destroyed the Crystal City, but it actually remained deep intact within the singularity, inhabited by Bumblebee, thought killed by Shockwave. Ghost Stories Upon his return to Cybertron, Shockwave threw Optimus Prime into the black hole. The First Who Was Named The Prime awoke in a darkened Crystal City which he quickly realized was a manifestation of infraspace whereupon he was greeted by Bumblebee. The Hallowing Using the metaphysical weight of the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus was able to expand the singularity, allowing him and Bumblebee to jump into antespace. Unforgivable
Whatever remained of Crystal City was presumably destroyed when Unicron destroyed Cybertron. Road's End
Beast Wars: Uprising
Crystal City was located in Cybertron's southern hemisphere, southwest of Rodion. Safe Spaces Following the destruction of Master and the Targetmaster Extirpation, many Cyberdroid refugees moved to the city to try and start their lives anew. Trigger Warnings Silver Bolt used to be a professor at Drouhard University before joining the Maximal High Council. Derailment
On this fuel-starved Cybertron, Crystal City was one of the many cities afflicted by the planetary energy crisis. By the time that Stiletto visited the city with the Maximal Flying Corps, two-thirds of the crystals had already gone dark. Shortly after the onset of the Grand Uprising, a Resistance suicide bomber destroyed the entire city. Overshoot was upset to learn this, as he had hoped to move to Crystal City when his time in the Maximal Command Security Force was up. Burning Bridges The Targetmaster-in-hiding Twirl had also been hoping to move there to be with other Cyberdroids, but travelled to Iacon instead. Trigger Warnings
War for Cybertron Trilogy continuity
War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material
Crystal City was once a remarkable location on Cybertron. Beneath its natural beauty, the city held a historically strong scientific presence. During the war for Cybertron, Omega Supreme was dispatched to the location it once stood. The city lay in ruins as the war raged on. Siege Teletraan-1 Data Files
War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon
Following the departure of the Ark from Cybertron, Crystal City was destroyed. Following its fall, Omega Supreme disappeared. Earthrise episode 2
2019 IDW continuity
According to legend, Crystal City had been conceived by Solomus at the dawn of the Age of the Firstforged, its foundations transmuted into pure crystal by Alchemist Prime. A Dust of Crystals
Shortly before Sentinel Prime's return to Cybertron, a silent march was held in Crystal City to mark the passings of Rubble and Brainstorm. The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four
After the Prime had returned to Cybertron, he drafted all security personnel into Security Operations, including Crystal City's own security force. Springer, a member of Crystal City security, patrolled the regions beyond his city with Sideswipe where they found a group of Risers stealing energon from an energon transmission station. The chase took them beyond the limits of Crystal City, all the way to the Cybertronian Mountains. The Change In Your Nature Part One
When the Xeno-Quarter came under attack from the newly empowered Decepticons, Highbrow's team at the Academy of Research in Crystal City contacted Straxxus at Darkmount to request usage of the Ark-class vessels the Senator had in storage. Escape Part Two After meeting with Straxxus and hearing his worries about the increasingly unstable seismic activity plaguing Cybertron, Highbrow returned to Crystal City to confer with his colleagues about the data. Escape Part Four
Following the Decepticon takeover of Iacon, the Autobots retreated to Crystal City. Test Flight I
After the loss of the Enigma of Combination, Strika led a force to attack Crystal City as the Autobots fought a delaying action to allow refugees to escape to Darkmount. When the Decepticons broke through the Autobot lines, the Titan Lodestar arrived as reinforcements for the Autobots. A Dust of Crystals Lodestar's arrival allowed the Autobots to broker a temporary ceasefire, The Landscape of Fear following which they abandoned the now ruined Crystal City for Darkmount. Radical Time
Cybertron
Downshift and his lifebond partner had planned to spend some time at the Crystal Cities for their honeymoon, but then Cybertron was evacuated. Downshift's Cyber Key Code text
Shattered Glass
Starscream was once one of the most brilliant scientific minds to hail from Crystal City, until Optimus Prime tried to recruit him into his evil Autobots. Starscream refused, and Prime had Crystal City destroyed while Starscream watched in horror. BotCon 2008 Starscream profile card
Animated cartoon
Ratchet once courted a girl from Crystal City who reminded him of Arcee. The AllSpark Almanac
Aligned continuity family
Aligned novels
Crystal City was the home of Cybertron's scientific elite. Shockwave worked there, as his innovations in stressed-crystal material allowed the large-scale usage of it in the city's construction. He was made to leave when his combination experiment, Bruticus Maximus, failed. Before the war, Soundwave sent Frenzy and Rumble to look for the Matrix of Leadership within the city. They overheard plans to reactivate Omega Supreme, Guardian of Cybertron's artifacts, as well as information on the Code Keys and the Plasma Energy Chamber that became useful during the final days of the Great War.
Crystal City was destroyed in the fourth offensive of the war, when Shockwave returned with a vengeance by unleashing his perfected combiner, Devastator. Devastator loomed over the Refracting Gardens and smashed open the wall, allowing the Decepticons to flood in, destroying every trace of the city's once dazzling beauty. Watching on the Communication Grid, Alpha Trion remarked the dazzling display of light and colour as Crystal City collapsed was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A handful of scientists managed to get out of the underground laboratories, taking some of their research with them.
In the aftermath of the battle, Shockwave set up camp in the remains of Crystal City and reactivated Bruticus. The Geosynchronous Energon Bridge below the ruins also became of strategic importance in the war's final days. Exodus
After the Great Exodus, the wandering Wheeljack attempted to scavenge parts and machinery from the ruins of Crystal City where he was taken in by the Autobot resistance. Exiles
2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon
Vertebreak was once a member of Crystal City's science council, and studied surgical techniques from other civilizations. Unfortunately, he used this knowledge to advance his horrific cyber-grafting experiments, which got him kicked off the council and imprisoned. Some Body, Any Body
Cloud
Cyberverse cartoon
Hidden within a forest that "must not be entered, lest [the traveler] be devoured," Crystal City was a deathtrap for anyone who ventured within. Ruled by an entity known as the Crystalline King, the city generated crystalline duplicates out of any intruder's reflection, with the crystals being able to assimilate the original and suspend them within themselves.
During the Age of Expansion, Onyx Prime sent Thunderhowl to destroy the city, only for the Knight to wind up trapped. Another expedition discovered the city, but the explorers were chased away by the Thunderhowl duplicate, marking a warning outside the forest.
Millions of years later, the Autobots Bumblebee and Chromia rediscovered the city when tracking a psychic shard of the cityspeaker Windblade. As they duelled the city's duplicates of themselves, they freed Thunderhowl. After allying with him, the trio continued onwards until they reached the throne room of the Crystalline King. To defend itself, the entity utilized Windblade's shard to generate an army in her likeness before Bumblebee, channeling his multiverse energy, managed to shatter the King. Deprived of its ruler however, the city collapsed. Thunderhowl
Games
Bot Shots Battle Game!
Crystal City was a floating city and one of the locations on Cybertron used as battle arena by jet-type Bot Shots. Bot Shots Battle Game!
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Crystal City was protected by the Crystal Guardians who took custody of the mysterious Dark Spark and sealed it within a vault deep in their city. There it remained even as Cybertron was consumed by the Great War. As the war wound down, Megatron sent his forces to find the Dark Spark, with Shockwave eventually bringing it to his master. Rise of the Dark Spark
Notes
Foreign names
- Japanese: Crystal City (クリスタルシティ Kurisutaru Shiti)
