Transformers One was one of the good movie despite people's low expectations of it, and Bumblebee may have revitalized the franchise, the live-action Transformers movies aren't known for their coherence.

That's especially true with the Michael Bay era, with its five movies that become progressively less logical with each entry, which is famous for its continuity errors. Not only are there convenient plot points that don't add up, but the movies retcon things all the time, and apart from there being too many explosions and mindless fight scenes, the Transformers live-action franchise is simply too confusing at times due to its plot holes.

10 Megatron Vs. Optimus Prime Never Makes Sense

Their Combat Abilities Are Never Consistent

When we first see Megatron in Transformers, he has been frozen for years, but he doesn't struggle much to hold his own against Optimus Prime, who is prepared to fight him. They're quite evenly matched, giving the fight an edge that makes it one of the best fights between the two characters across all shows and movies. However, the balance between their abilities to fight each other is one of the most inconsistent parts of the live-action movies.

In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Megatron literally needs an fight against Optimus, despite preparing for the fight. It doesn't line up that they're so unevenly matched all of a sudden. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, it's no longer a competition – Optimus is clearly more powerful than Megatron now. One can reason that Optimus has consistently leveled up, but it's not like Megatron was just sitting around for him to get better. He matched Optimus' power despite the disadvantage in the first movie, but can't compete any longer.

9 The Transformers' Knowledge Of Earth

No One Is Certain How Long They've Known About The Planet

The first Transformers movie makes it seem as though planet Earth is unknown to the Transformers, who just happened to crash-land there. Optimus Prime ends the film with his iconic monologue about it seemingly being a safe place where his fellow Autobots should him. However, this notion is quickly rejected, and each movie changes the time since which they are supposed to have knowledge about Earth.

The fact that they retcon the time from millions of years B.C. to 484 A.D. is just confusing.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon suggests that some Transformers visited Earth 17000 years in the past, while Transformers: The Last Knight says they have known about it since 484 A.D. However, Transformers: Age of Extinction, which introduces Dinobots, including their leader, Grimlock, one of the coolest Autobots of all time, implies that Earth has been home to the Transformers since the Jurassic age. If it was specific to a certain character's knowledge, this would have worked, but the fact that they retcon the time from millions of years B.C. to 484 A.D. is just confusing.

8 Unicron Is In Earth's Core

Earth Was A Transformer

For four films, various groups of Autobots and Decepticons fight each other on Planet Earth to gain control of some mythical object or source of power. They've had to leave their home planet of Cybertron due to it being uninhabitable after the civil war, and now, Earth serves as their battleground. So, whatever the timeline is for the Transformers' discovery of the planet, it clearly doesn't have any living energy of its own, unlike Cybertron, and the Transformers' fights are over artifacts that have made their way to Earth.

Earth's core houses a Transformer by the name of Unicron, as revealed in Transformers: The Last Knight.

You'd be excused for thinking as much, but apparently, this is not the case, as Earth's core houses a Transformer by the name of Unicron, as revealed in Transformers: The Last Knight. Not only does this imply that Transformers must have known about the Earth since its conception, but it also turns out that Unicron is an old enemy of Cybertron. However, that's not where the story ends, as Unicron, in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, set in the '90s, attempts to devour Earth through a portal.

7 Cybertron's Fate Is Inconsistent

Not Every Film Agrees On What Happened To The Planet

The first Transformers movie suggests that Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers, is a planet ruined by war. Optimus Prime reveals a hologram image of his home to depict Megatron's ruthlessness. The flourishing planet had to be abandoned after a Civil War broke out over the AllSpark. However, it never suggests that the planet has ceased to exist altogether, just that it's not safe for the Autobots anymore.

This is why Cybertron is still intact in 2011, when, in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sentinel Prime attempts to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit. However, his plan is foiled, and we learn that Cybertron has collapsed while falling back through the portal. Transformers: The Last Knight retcons this, suggesting Cybertron didn't implode, but only got dismantled. Apparently, despite the previously suggested destruction, Cybertron is still intact, with its continents hanging out from it, attached to it by large cables.

6 How The Transformers Breach The Earth's Atmosphere Is Often Different

They Sometimes Need Spaceships And Sometimes Don't

The arrival of the Transformers on Earth, in the first movie, is given the appearance of a meteor shower as many Transformers breach through the Earth's atmosphere and land on the planet, before taking the shapes of automobiles. However, Transformers: Dark of the Moon shows the Transformers taking a spaceship to leave the planet as it is dangerous for them to breach the atmosphere by themselves.

While the inconsistency is inexplicable, it's a retcon one can possibly reconcile with, given time. What complicates matters is that Optimus leaves the planet in search of his creators in Transformers: Age of Extinction by himself, without a spaceship. Moreover, it's explained that the Transformers will freeze over if they don't use a spaceship to leave the planet in Transformers: The Last Knight yet later movies don't use spaceships again. It is bewildering to see the lack of agreement over something so simple, with each movie going back on the previously proposed science.

5 The Soul Spark Changes Places

It's Never Clear If It's In The Chest Or Head

The Transformers were given life on Cybertron by the power of the AllSpark, which also left a spark in the Transformers, which contains their souls and their memories. This is not the same as their energy core, which is the piece in the Transformers' hearts that functions very similarly to human hearts. That piece can be energized by the AllSpark in the case of grievous injury or even death.

However, the Transformers' core of what makes them them resides in this different spark that contains their souls and their memories. Now, Transformers: Age of Extinction twice shows this spark to be located in the chest of a Transformer, not far from their energy core. However, after Megatron is beheaded and his head is all that remains, to explain his ability to transfer his consciousness, this information is retconned within the movie. It is shown that the spark resides in Megatron's head, which allows him to successfully transfer his consciousness.

4 The US Military's Knowledge Of The Transformers Is Unclear

They May Have Known About Them For Year

When the Decepticons first attack a base in Transformers, the US Military is seemingly unaware of the existence of Transformers. They find themselves shortchanged and struggling to respond properly. They clearly don't know the difference between Autobots and Decepticons until Sam Witwicky explains to them that the Autobots don't mean any harm. However, it is revealed in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that the Transformers had had human earlier.

Bumblebee was part of a kill squad during World War II.

It is understandable that something like the Transformers' existence, who are essentially giant aliens capable of mass destruction, would be a well-kept government secret, to not spread panic. However, this is later shown not to be the oldest instance of between the robots and humans, as the U.S. military is shown to have older records in Transformers: The Last Knight. Bumblebee was part of a kill squad during World War II, so they should have known the difference between Autobots and Decepticons, or at least known better than to attack Bumblebee in the first movie.

3 The Transformers Are Somehow Still A Public Secret

They've Had Very Public Battles

More than anything else, Michael Bay ensured to highlight the size of the Transformers and the scale of damage they do during their fights. Exorbitant explosions and tons of debris characterize the action set pieces in all the Transformers live-action movies. From news coverage to recordings by curious ers-by, there are too many instances of Transformers action recorded to explain why people seem to be unaware of the Transformers' existence.

Yes, the U.S. Military does a very thorough job of scrapping data and covering up mass destruction with mundane explanations. However, in today's age of communication and connection, where everyone has a video camera on their phones, and we see characters in the movies recording the Transformers' movements, it's simply impossible that no one knows about them. This is a major plot hole, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts abandons Michael Bay canon, in other ways, by moving the action to a time when information was easier to hide.

2 The Origin Of The Transformers

Who Created Them Is Unclear

Early on in Transformers, it is revealed that the Transformers were given life on Cybertron by the AllSpark, which turned them from machines into living, breathing Transformers. In fact, it is revealed that the AllSpark has the power to revive the Transformers in case of death. So, there is no grand creator of the Transformers, much like life on Earth, which also evolved from an amalgamation of the ideal conditions necessary for life.

However, this isn't consistent with the lore revealed in Transformers: Age of Extinction that there were indeed creators of the Transformers, with a brief glimpse of a hand that looks organic, albeit with technological components. In fact, Optimus goes on a hunt to look for these creators during the movie. Yet, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts suggests that there was only one creator, and he was a mechanical being. This being, Primus, is lore-accurate, but at this point, there are too many stories about the Transformers' creation to not confuse anyone.

1 Bumblebee's Timeline Makes No Sense

His Arrival On Earth Keeps Changing

If there's one thing the Transformers live-action movies cannot agree on, it's the timeline of between humans and Transformers. There are lazy attempts to explain some of the inconsistencies, like suggesting that at least each Transformer's own experience is internally consistent. However, not only is that false for quite a few of the Transformers, it's particularly not true for Bumblebee, often considered the first Autobot to befriend humans.

Yet, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts suggests Bumblebee arrived on Earth after Mirage, who had already befriended a human. Transformers had insinuated that it wasn't until 2007 that any of the main Autobots came to Earth. However, Bumblebee gives us an entirely different timeline for his arrival. He is alone in that film, suggesting his arrival, motivated by Prime's order that Autobots reconvene elsewhere due to the Civil War, made him the first Autobot to arrive on Earth. Moreover, within Michael Bay's continuity, Bumblebee is revealed to have been on Earth during World War II in Transformers: The Last Knight.