After the stunning success that was Transformers: Armada, Hasbro decided to continue the same Transformers universe as it entered its new line in late 2003, entitled Transformers: Energon. Energon takes place 10 years later than Armada, so it has a more futuristic tone to it. The Minicons are still there, but they aren't nearly as big players in the battle, so there's relatively few Minicon sets in Energon, and although most of the Energon toys do have some Minicon ports on them, they're few in number and don't activate any gimmicks.
That certainly doesn't mean that Energon is without its gimmicks. It has plenty. The Autobots that are deluxe-size and up (Yes, the size categories have gone back to their traditional names, although Mega has moved up to $20 and Ultra to $25) can combine with either parts of themselves (in the cases of Ultras and up) or with each other (in the cases of Deluxes and Megas). In the latter case, they can form either the top OR bottom of the combined robot, and can combine with any other Transformer in either size class. Very impressive, although at least one of their modes tends to suffer from this. The Decepticons have third "hyper modes", in which basically some hidden weapons pop out. Also, the basic size Transformers are unique in that they have clear plastic pieces (which are supposed to symbolize Energon) which can combine to form weapons either for themselves or the larger 'bots. Most of the Energon weapons and hand-held guns that the Autobots carry have Powerlinx ports on them, so you can either attach a Minicon to them or attach the weapon itself to a Powerlinx port. It certainly makes this line and Armada cross-compatible, that's for sure. The Energon is also color-coded- it's a shade of red if it belongs to an Autobot, or a shade of green if it belongs to a Decepticon. Also introduced are the Terrorcons- a sub-faction of Decepticons, mostly basic-sized, which transform into robotic animals. Very cool and innovative, and it shows- Energon was a smashing success.
In fall of 2004 until the line ended in mid 2005, the Energon line got a new "Powerlinx Battles" suffix added, as well as different packaging. The main gimmick for this last half of the line was new, full-fledged, 5-member gestalts for each team- 3 of them, in fact. Needless to say, this was a move that was highly approved of by Transfans.

(Note: Included in the review of the larger toys are how many Powerlinx ports it has. Unless otherwise noted, assume that the Powerlinx ports don't activate any gimmicks. Also included in the review of deluxe and mega-sized Autobots is the difficulty of their Powerlinx transformations.)
 

Autobots
Arcee
Beachcomber
Bulkhead
Checkpoint & Prowl (SWAT Redecos; K-Mart Exclusive)
Cliffjumper
Downshift
Energon Kicker & High Wire
Grimlock & Swoop
Hot Shot
Hot Shot ("Energon" Redeco)
Inferno
Ironhide
Ironhide ("Energon" Redeco)
Jetfire
Landmine
Landquake
Offshoot
Omega Sentinel
Omega Supreme
Optimus' Blaster (Roleplay)
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime ("Powerlinx" deluxe version; Toys "R" Us Exclusive)
Optimus Prime w/ Corona Sparkplug & Overload w/ Rollout Gift Set (CostCo Exclusive)
Overcast
Prowl
Prowl w/ Longarm (Armada Redeco; Sam's Club Exclusive)
Quickstrike
Roadblock
Rodimus
Signal Flare
Skyblast
Sky Shadow
Storm Jet (w/ review of Superion Maximus)
Strongarm
Strongarm ("Energon" Redeco)
Terradive
Tow-Line
Treadbolt w/ Rollbar
Treadshot
Ultra Magnus w/ Knockout and Space Minicon Team
Windrazor
Wing Saber
 

Decepticons
Alpha Quintesson
Barricade (w/ review of Bruticus Maximus)
Battle Ravage
Blackout
Blight
Bonecrusher
Command Ravage
Cruellock
Cyclonus w/ Crumplezone (KB Toys Exclusive)
Demolishor
Demolishor w/ Blackout (Armada Redeco; KB Toys Exclusive)
Divebomb
Doom-Lock
Dreadwing
Duststorm
Galvatron
Insecticon
Kickback
Megatron
Megatron (Downsized version; Toys "R" Us Exclusive)
Megatron's Sword (Roleplay)
Mirage
Rapid Run w/ Nightcruz and Nightscream
Scorponok
Sharkticon
Shockblast
Six Shot
Sledge
Slugslinger
Snow Cat*
Starscream
Starscream ("Energon" Redeco)
Starscream w/ Zapmaster (Armada Redeco; Sam's Club Exclusive)
Steamhammer (w/ review of Constructicon Maximus)
Stormcloud
Tidal Wave w/ Ramjet
Wideload
 

Minicon Teams
Energon Saber Team (Scattor, Skyboom, and Wreckage)
Perceptor Team (Grindor, High Wire, and Sureshock)
 

Unaligned
Unicron w/ Dead End
 

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