Another popular question: how old are the heroes? The answer is staggering — in most versions Transformers live for millions of years.
Classic arithmetic
In the 1984 cartoon the Autobots and Decepticons lay unconscious on Earth for about four million years. Before that the war on Cybertron itself spanned vast stretches of time. So even 'young' heroes like Bumblebee are incredibly old by human standards.
How they count time
Transformers have their own units of time — for example the 'vorn', which in many versions equals about 83 Earth years. So phrases like 'thousands of vorns ago' mean hundreds of thousands of years.
Why they don't age like us
A Transformer's body can be repaired and replaced, and the spark has no clear lifespan. Ageing for them is more about weariness, lost parts and memories than a biological process.
Young and old
Even so, the franchise constantly divides heroes into 'elders' and 'youngsters': veterans like Ironhide and Kup versus rookies like Hot Rod or Bumblebee. Age here means experience rather than years.
