It's hard to believe, but one of the best Transformers characters is actually a fan-created Autobot. The Transformers franchise has a long history of introducing new characters to move the narrative forward. However, there’s never been anything like Windblade.

Introduced in The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #26 by James Roberts, John Barber, Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, and Livio Ramondelli and expanded upon in Mairghread Scott and Saren Stone’s 2014 miniseries The Transformers: Windblade, Windblade was not only one of the few female Transformers, but also one of the rare Autobots whose alternate form was a plane rather than a traditional wheeled vehicle.

Additionally, she possessed the unique ability to communicate with Titans – the massive, incredibly powerful Transformers whose eons of existence grant them immense knowledge and insight into the universe.

Windblade Is the Transformers' First Ever Crowd-Sourced Robot

First Appearance: The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #26 by James Roberts, John Barber, Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, Livio Ramondelli, Josh Perez, and Tom B. Long

Franchises like Transformers are highly coveted pieces of intellectual property for comics publishers. The creator, Hasbro, and the previous publisher responsible for Windblade's introduction, IDW Publishing, go to great lengths to protect it from unauthorized use, to maintain editorial control and consistency, and to ensure that the storytelling quality remains top-tier.

Windblade's most groundbreaking aspect is her genesis: she's a fan-created character.

It is, therefore, a significant surprise that Hasbro chose to invite fans of the Transformers franchise into its creative process, incorporating the fandom's vision of what makes a great Transformer into IDW Publishing's treatment of the "robots in disguise." This approach stands as one of the most astute moves a creator and publisher can make to engage both new and longtime fans — a strategy that Hasbro and IDW Publishing's competitors would be wise to emulate after Windblade's success.

Windblade's most groundbreaking aspect is her genesis: she's a fan-created character. In 2013, Hasbro initiated the "Transformers Fan Built Robot" poll on the Transformers website, subsequently preserved on the Transformers Wiki website. This initiative empowered fans to shape a new Transformer for an series, allowing them to vote and comment on crucial elements like faction affiliation, name, gender, personality, backstory, and specialized abilities.

Windblade Has Also Impacted the Comic Book Industry

Fan Response to the Character Has Been More than Positive

After two rounds of voting in April and May 2013, Hasbro unveiled the new Transformer at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013. Less than a year later, Windblade debuted in IDW's Transformers universe. Her design, determined by fan voting, encomed everything from her name and personality to her appearance. While fans chose her overall concept, her actual visual design was selected from submissions by The Transformers enthusiasts. With fan input integral to her creation, Windblade became an instant success. She has since become one of the most popular and influential Autobots in the Transformers universe.

For fans of a certain age, engaging with comics primarily meant reading the issues and discussing them in person with friends. The only real way to influence a publisher was by sending letters — usually printed in the back of an issue on the "Letters to the Editor" pages — or perhaps speaking to them at a comic convention, where publishers occasionally made appearances. In other words, the dialogue between creators and publishers was limited, largely one-sided, and heavily skewed in favor of industry professionals.

Looking for more Transformers? Don't forget to check out the newly rebooted lore in the ongoing Transformers series by Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona, available now from Skybound Entertainment.

By 2025, the way comic book fans engage with both comics and their creators has undergone a dramatic transformation. While reading and casual discussion remain fundamental to the experience, several emerging segments have significantly expanded its landscape, especially in online spaces and especially through fanfiction and fanart communities. Indeed, through the creation of unofficial stories and designs, fans have been able to expand upon and explore the official comic book universe in ways that might not be possible for creators or publishers.

Windblade's Debut Is a Glimpse of What Creator-Fan Collaboration Might Mean Going Forward

What's Next for Fan Participation in Comics?

That said, fanfiction and fan designs rarely become part of canon. The most common reason for this is that incorporating fan-created content can place creators and publishers in challenging and legally precarious positions. As a result, creators are often legally required to avoid incorporating fan suggestions into their IP work. This industry standard is what makes Hasbro's decision to crowdsource and add Windblade to the Transformers universe so remarkable and unprecedented. In other words, Hasbro has found a creative way to bridge the gap between creator-generated ideas and the diverse range of Transformers fan works.

By encouraging fan engagement, Hasbro allowed fans to help create official characters, themes, and ideas for the comic. It’s a smart way to harness fan creativity while maintaining control over the “final product.” By allowing fans to vote on key aspects of Windblade, Hasbro ensured that she felt like a natural part of the Transformers universe, while also giving fans a sense of ownership. This approach not only engaged the community but also ensured that the new character had built-in popularity from the start. It was a rare case of a major company successfully blending fan-driven creativity with official Transformers storytelling.

The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #26 is available now from IDW Publishing.

Source: Transformers Wiki