WATCH: Everything you didn't know about GoBots

“That’s so GoBot.”

If you’ve ever frequented a Transformers forum, you may have noticed that the word GoBot has taken on a negative connotation over the last two decades. The GoBots actually made it to America in 1983, a year before the Transformers made their North American debut. Even with the advantage of going first, the GoBots just couldn’t capture the imagination of kids in the same way that Transformers did. But that doesn’t mean they should fall into obscurity forever.

In our latest Everything You Didn't Know video, we’re taking a look at the origins of the GoBots as we follow their story from start to finish. It all started in Japan, when they were originally called Machine Robo. Did you know that these transforming robots were intended to be mechs piloted by humans? They were reconceived as sentient robots when the toys were brought to the United States, complete with a mythology that gave them better names and a backstory.

The problem with the GoBots’ origin and background is that it just wasn’t very imaginative. There were the good robot Guardians and the evil Renegades from the planet Gobotron. It’s unnervingly similar to the Transformers’ Autobots and Decepticons from Cybertron, even though the two series were developed independently.

Additionally, the GoBots received their own animated series, which shared a few voice actors with the Transformers’ cartoon. They even got a theatrical animated film called GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, which co-starred the titular transforming rocks. However, the GoBots franchise didn’t last long in the face of the more popular Transformers.

For more details about GoBots, including the surprising way they live on, check out the entire video. Then leave a comment for us below!