Mouthplate

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I am smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside... not that you could tell anyway.

Instead of regular human facial features, some Transformers have what looks like a plate affixed to their lower jaw, usually covering up to their nose. While no official name exists for these, they are usually called 'mouthplates ' or 'faceplates' (despite a 'regular' face once being described as a faceplate in the TV series). Two of the most famous examples are those of Generation 1's Optimus Prime and Soundwave.

In earlier series, a Transformer's mouthplate moved when they spoke, as if there were a working jaw underneath. In later series such as Victory, 2001 Robots in Disguise and the Unicron Trilogy, however, it remains static.

Certain Transformers who sport mouthplates do have regular mouths underneath. Sometimes these mouthplates are even retractable, either in full or partially, to reveal their mouths.

Examples

Generation 1

1984 The Transformers franchise

Optimus Prime featured a prominent mouthplate in both cartoon and toy form (as do all other G1-based toyline versions). The 20th Anniversary figure featured a mouthplate that was movable via a button on the back of his head that slightly lowered the spring-supported mouthplate to recreate the talking action seen in the cartoons.

Soundwave had a similar mouthplate, but no apparent nose (whether any of his assumed face was visible or not is debatable, considering how visor-esque his eyes were). Like Optimus, both his cartoon and toy form had the mask. No toys have yet been made with a moving mask feature.

Wheeljack's mouthplate was unique in that it was fixed, even in the cartoon. Instead of a movable mouthplate, you knew Wheeljack was speaking because his "ears" flashed. This may have been a misinterpretation of his toy's head, where the "mouthplate" could be interpreted as a visor.

Many early toys had mouthplates that were simply disregarded in favor of mouths in fictional appearances (barring the occasional toy-accurate rendering). Bumblebee in particular had a mask in toy form, but not in cartoon or comic form. A rare reissue of the toy featured a cartoon-accurate face, however, as did most toys of him since. Conversely, as Goldbug, he featured a mask in both cartoon and toy form.

On the other hand, Superion had a faceplate on the cartoon even though his toy had a mouth. Crosshairs and Triggerhappy also gained mouthplates in "The Rebirth" despite their toys not having them, and Triggerhappy even kept his mouthplate in The Headmasters (while Crosshairs did not).

Ultra Magnus in his newly reborn body from the Japanese continuity also featured a mouthplate. Hybrid Style Convoy Black Version

Hot Spot sometimes had a mouthplate and sometimes he didn't.

Dreamwave Generation One franchise

25 years before someone realized his toy has no face.

Bumblebee is depicted as having a removable face mask with mouthplate that resembled the original sculpt of his toy.The War Within Jetfire was given a similar treatment with a flip-up faceguard. The Dark Ages The Titanium Series release of this character design featured the faceguard, but it was not removable. Brawn was depicted with a removable face mask like Bumblebee's in the ongoing Generation 1 series.

IDW Generation 1 comics

2005 continuity

Okay, maybe the geewunners were right about the mouthplate this time.

Orion Pax covered his mouth with a plate which was once partially broken in battle with some thugs. Chaos Theory Part 2 He considered it his "lucky faceplate" and was disheartened when he lost it during a temporary body replacement, being more comfortable when his facial expressions were hidden from sight. Omega's Conundrum After Orion rose to fame as Optimus Prime, sufferers of primus apotheosis such as Pyro would often mimic him by getting their own faceplates. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 At one point, Prime showed that he could retract the plate in order to eat.^[1] Old Ways

Ironfist had a regular face in his youth, but covered it up with a mouthplate later on. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4

Sentinel Prime deployed a faceplate during combat. Megatron Origin #1

Jetfire had a removable mask with mouthplate as part of his battle gear.^[2] Stormbringer #1

Like Optimus Prime, Onslaught and Vortex wore mouthplates but could retract part of them to reveal their mouths. Ranks of Bronze

Soundwave was revealed to have at one point been without a faceplate. At the time he was suffering from being unable to control his extrasensory powers, at which point he was discovered by Laserbeak, Buzzsaw and Ravage. This was before he visibly had a compartment in which to store the cassettes, implying the mouth was included in his later refit. Soundwaves

When a team of young Autobot recruits from all across the Council of Worlds joined Optimus Prime on Earth, they began wearing detachable mouthplates in order to better emulate their leader. To Walk Among the Chosen

When preparing to face Unicron, Optimus Prime removed his mouthplate, symbolically removing all the masks he'd worn in his life so as to face the Chaos Bringer as his true self. The mouthplate, all that remained of the Prime, was placed on his coffin at his funeral. Post

Beast Wars

Optimus Primal in his first design was infrequently shown to have a mouthplate which would slide into place when he entered battle. This was used to reconcile the presence of an actual mouth on his animation model with the lack thereof on his toy. Later retoolings of the toy reflected the animation model.

2001 Robots in Disguise franchise

Optimus Prime, X-Brawn, Prowl, Rapid Run, Scourge and all of the Commandos bar Rollbar sported non-moving mouthplates.

Unicron Trilogy continuity family

Energon

When Wing Dagger was killed by a falling Energon Tower, his mouthplate shattered, revealing a mouth beneath it. It's unclear whether all mouthplated Transformers in this continuity had similar setups. Each One Fights...

Cybertron

The Optimus Prime animation model displayed a similar setup to Optimus Primal, with a mouthplate that slid into place when entering Super Mode. In this case, however, the toy reflected this, featuring a gimmick that allowed the face to display either configuration.

Live-action film series

Optimus Prime was depicted as having a combat mouthplate which closed over his normal mouth to protect his face. To date, only a few toys (one of Prime's Robot Heroes figurines, Buster Optimus Prime, his two retooled Battle Hooks toys, and the First Edition and Evasion Mode sculpts from the Age of Extinction line) have displayed his face and mouth, while all other merchandise featured the plate. Blackout also had a mouthplate, seen very briefly. Bumblebee had two pieces that rest on the top of his head normally but slide down and clamp together over his whole face in battle.

2007 Transformers franchise

Bumblebee's faceplate had a very insectoid appearance, crediting his name. Jazz had a visor that protected his upper-face in combat. Transformers Ironhide also had a mouthplate similar in appearance to Optimus Prime's as shown in some of his concept art and toys, but he has never officially used it on film.

Revenge of the Fallen

Megatron did that just to piss off the purists. He's that evil.

In the far-flung future of 2024, mouthplates will be made mandatory for all sentient beings.

Optimus Prime's faceplate was smashed to pieces when he was kicked in the face by Megatron, but it was replaced when he combined with Jetfire. Revenge of the Fallen While not noticeable in the film, Sideswipe's Human Alliance toy confirmed he had an extra layer of armor plating (which was thought to be his actual face) protecting his main face. Skids and Mudflap were shown as having mouthplates in Titan Magazines' Revenge of the Fallen comics but were never shown wearing them in the movie nor were their masks included in any toys.

Age of Extinction

Among the many modifications that the bounty hunter Lockdown had incorporated into his frame was a protective mask that could cover his entire face which doubled as a scanner. Age Of Extinction

The Last Knight

Megatron's new body featured a retractible mouthplate. Marketing and promotional material leading up to the release of the film portrayed Barricade with a mask/helmet, but this feature was not seen in the film itself, the Decepticon having a fully exposed face throughout. The Last Knight

Transformers Animated

Most of the Autobots in Optimus Prime's crew had retractable faceplates. Optimus, Bumblebee, Sari and Prowl each had one. Sentinel Prime had one, too, though his was unique in that it covered his whole face. Among the Decepticons, Soundwave had a non-retractable mouthplate, much like his G1 predecessor's. Optimus's mouthplate flapped up and down when he talked, just like that of G1 Optimus, but none of the others' did.

Aligned continuity family

Transformers Prime

Optimus Prime and Wheeljack each had a mouthplate that they slid into place over their faces whenever they entered battle. Nemesis Prime, being a copy of Optimus, had a mouthplate too, though it was permanently deployed. Nemesis Prime After falling into a pool of cyber-matter and recovering his voice, Bumblebee finally retracted his mouthplate, which had been deployed for the entire series. Deadlock

2015 Robots in Disguise franchise

Bumblebee and Optimus both retained their retractable faceplates; newcomers Strongarm and Sideswipe possessed similar faceguards. Some concept art for Grimlock depicted him with a retractable faceplate but this was not used in the show proper.

Cyberverse

As always, Optimus Prime possessed a retractable mouthplate. Grimlock also possessed a combat mouthplate and visor, used only in more dangerous battle scenarios. Eruption Dead End and Thunderhowl would keep the tradition going.

EarthSpark

Aside from the usual Optimus Prime, Wheeljack has a retractable mouthplate too like his aligned predecessor. The Terran Nightshade is also seen displaying a scarf-styled mouthplate when rescuing the human Sam from a burglar.

Notes

• Both the Armada Optimus Prime and the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime toys have mouthplates that can move up and down when a button located on their heads is depressed, even though Armada Prime's mouthplate never moved in the series itself. Additionally, the 20th Anniversary toy has teeth (or possibly a speaker grille) hidden behind the mouthplate, in reference to Optimus Prime's battle-damaged appearance in the Generation 2 comics, though this detail cannot be seen without disassembling the entire head (or just looking down with it pulled down really far).
• The lack of a full-time mouthplate on certain characters has, in the past, been known to result in certain reactions from the fandom. Oh well.
• Mouthplates as featured on Transformers and earlier Japanese super robots likely derive from the historical hanbō.
• In the Omni Productions dubs, characters who have a mouthplate are given "muffled" voices, evidently produced by the actors covering their mouths with their hands.

References