Arcee is the best-known female Autobot, but not the first. The history of female characters in the franchise is more interesting than it seems.
Elita-1 came before Arcee
The first female Autobots appeared in the cartoon back in 1985, in the episode 'The Search for Alpha Trion'. There Elita-1 leads a squad of female Autobots defending Cybertron, and she is linked to Optimus. At the time, though, no toys were made for them, so the characters rarely appeared.
Arcee in 1986
Arcee debuted in the 1986 film as a warrior of the new Autobot team and continued in the third season. She became the first heroine to appear on screen regularly, even though her toy only came out many years later.
The modern Arcee
In Transformers: Prime Arcee is one of the leads: an experienced scout who lost her partners and is learning to trust again. In the films she appears in Revenge of the Fallen and Rise of the Beasts.
Why it matters
For a long time the franchise was almost entirely 'male' because it targeted boys. Modern series — Prime, EarthSpark, Cyberverse — greatly increased the number of heroines, and Arcee became a symbol of that change.
