MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Wheeljack (Movie)

2011-06-10T08:11:13Z

203.189.4.98:

{{factions|autobotfilm}}
{{disambig3|Wheeljack}}
:''Wheeljack (dubbed Que in [[Dark of the Moon]]) is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]] continuity family.''
[[Image:DOTM trailer wheeljack.jpg|right|thumb|300px|With this look and those guns, he could give [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] a run for his money.]]
'''Wheeljack''' will hook you up with all the latest stuff. He resembles a certain famous [[Albert Einstein|scientist]] too! {{TOCclear}}
==Fiction==
===IDW ''Dark of the Moon'' prequel comics===
[[Image: Foundation1_wheeljack.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Yeah, but what you have done for us ''lately''?]]
Thousands of years ago on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Wheeljack was one of [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]]'s followers. He was a crucial figure in the culmination of Sentinel Prime's plan to save the dying planet: While Sentinel's other pupils held off an attack by the heretic [[Thetacon (tribe)|Thetacons]], Wheeljack's technical skills went to work creating a device that, once linked to the AllSpark, warped time and space, teleporting a sun into Cybertronian space. The sun's energy revitalized the [[AllSpark]], bringing life and energy back to Cybertron, and Wheeljack calmly remarked that, wouldn't you know it, it seemed they'd only gone and saved the world. {{storylink|Foundation issue 1|Foundation #1}} Soon after, Wheeljack stood by Sentinel Prime's side when he addressed the collective populace of the planet on [[Unification Day]], announcing the new direction for the revitalized Cybertron. The world was to be governed by a [[Science Division]] led by [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus]], and a [[Defense Force]] under [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]'s command; naturally, Wheeljack elected to join the former.{{storylink|Foundation issue 2|Foundation #2}}

Years later, Wheeljack was with Sentinel Prime and [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]] at one of the division's archaeological digs when they came under attack from Megatron's forces, which he had rechristened "[[Decepticon]]s" with the intent of seizing control of the planet. Optimus—now Optimus ''Prime''—rallied those who opposed Megatron under him as the [[Autobot]]s, Wheeljack included. {{storylink|Foundation issue 3|Foundation #3}}

As the war worsened, Sentinel Prime presented the Autobots with a mysterious "torch" he had invented that would somehow end the war. An Autobot strike team under Optimus assault [[Simfur]] in order to activate the torch by bringing it into contact with the AllSpark, while Wheeljack stayed by Sentinel's side, awaiting its return and preparing to depart aboard the two great [[Ark (disambiguation)|Arks]] the Autobots had built. Elita-One soon arrived with the active torch, at which point Sentinel ordered a reluctant Wheeljack to take the first [[Ark (Movie)|Ark]] and collected the other Autobots from their base in [[Tyger Pax]], while Sentinel himself took the torch and went to pick up Optimus's team aboard his own [[Ark (DOTM)|Ark]]. Consequently, Sentinel's Ark and all aboard were apparently destroyed by the Decepticons upon arrival. Furious at the death of his mentor, Optimus Prime enacted a new plan: while he kept Megatron busy, Wheeljack took the rest of the Autobots and attacked Simfur again, overwhelming the weakened Decepticons there and capturing the AllSpark. The cube was removed from the machine Wheeljack had invented, which caused Cybertron's sun to disappear. {{storylink|Foundation issue 4|Foundation #4}}

Thousands of years later, Wheeljack joined Optimus Prime on Earth at some point after 2009, alongside [[Mirage (Movie)|Mirage]]. The pair joined [[NEST]], and were assigned to a unit stationed in [[Washington, D.C.]]. {{storylink|Rising Storm issue 3}} This put them closest to the action when a huge Decepticon battalion attacked [[Sam Witwicky]]'s school in [[Philadelphia]], and they arrived just in time to help [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] fight off the villains. {{storylink|Rising Storm issue 2}} Wheeljack generated a powerful [[force field]] to shield Sam and other human bystanders as they ran from the battle, {{storylink|Rising Storm issue 3}} and the pair helped hold the line until Optimus Prime arrived with reinforcements. Observing that the Decepticons were attempting to flee, Prime ordered Wheeljack to extend his force field in order to keep them from escaping, but before the scientist could comply, the merciless [[Shockwave (Movie)|Shockwave]] descended onto the battlefield and grievously damaged Wheeljack with a powerful blast. Luckily, Wheeljack remained just functional enough to complete his recalibration, trapping Shockwave inside his force field with a very unhappy Optimus Prime. After Prime defeated Shockwave, [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] examined Wheeljack's broken body and reported that he could be repaired, though he probably wouldn't be "quite the same". {{storylink|Rising Storm issue 4}}
{{-}}

===''Dark of the Moon'' film===
{{comingsoon}}

==Games==
===''Transformers: Autobots'' video game===
Wheeljack upgraded [[Create-A-Bot (Autobot)|Create-A-Bot]] so that he could store the data of and, thus, adopt multiple vehicle forms. {{storylink|Transformers Autobots/Decepticons|Transformers: Autobots}}

===''Transformers: The Game'' (PSP)===
[[Image:Wheeljack movie psp.jpg|180px|thumb|right]]

:''Voice actor:'' [[Eric Passoja]]

Wheeljack arrived on [[Earth]] some time after [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and his team, apparently at the same time as [[Hoist (Movie)|Hoist]] and [[Sideswipe (Movie)|Sideswipe]]. At that time, the Autobots were coming under attack from an army of Decepticon drones, and Wheeljack was able to concoct a virus that would send the drones back into sleep mode. [[Hound (Movie)|Hound]] and [[Trailbreaker (Movie)|Trailbreaker]] were charged with transmitting the virus to an orbiting satellite, broadcasting it to all the drones simultaneously. Although they succeeded, Wheeljack was left with the unfortunate task of relaying to Optimus Prime that Hound had died in the process.

A little later, Wheeljack accompanied the Autobots on their mission to the [[Hoover Dam]], and was seen escaping the complex when the Decepticons attacked. {{storylink|Transformers The Game (PSP)|Transformers The Game (PSP)}}

===''Dark of the Moon'' video game (Xbox 360/PS3)===
{{comingsoon}}

[[Category:Movie Autobots]]
[[Category:Dark of the Moon Autobots]]
[[Category:Fiction-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Scientists]]

Kibble

2011-05-31T08:54:05Z

203.189.4.98: /* "Faux-parts" */

[[Image:Kibblerhinox.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Rhinox photographed from behind, showcasing the several large pieces of rhinoceros hanging loosely from his body.]]
'''Kibble''' is a feature of many Transformers, both in [[Toy|their toys]] and in their animation/comic designs. In its modern usage (see below for earlier meanings) it refers to pieces which have no clear purpose in one mode but are there only because they are part of another mode. In most cases, "kibble" is used to refer to pieces of the character's [[alternate mode]] which "hang" or stick out in their robot mode. Sometimes these pieces are there as a matter of aesthetics, and sometimes it's simply because there wasn't any place better to put the stuff.

Much less frequently, the word is used to refer to "robot parts" which are badly hidden in an altmode; This is most common in figures with aircraft altmodes, where whole limbs or compressed torsos were left exposed on the underside. In this case, the term ''undercarriage junk'' is more often used. During the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] era, the term was also applied to any figure with robot mode limbs hanging from underneath the animal-mode shell.

Parts of one mode which are merely ''visible'' in other modes are not necessarily kibble. For example, an altmode part which is well-integrated into the robot's form—like the front of a car or truck that becomes a character's chest—is not kibble because it is an integral part of the robot's body, rather than being "tacked on".

When "kibble" entered the Transfan lexicon, it had a different meaning, and referred to a Transformer's accessories and detachable parts which had nowhere to go when not attached/worn/held. This meaning has almost, if not completely, disappeared from use.

==Examples of kibble==
[[Image:BWN-toy Break.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Penguins, after reaching a certain size, undergo a process that scientists have taken to calling "second-stage hatching".]]
Although it was most prominent during the [[Beast Era]] and ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', kibble has been a part of Transformers from the very beginning. [[Prowl (G1)|G1 Prowl]], for example, has car doors that stick out behind his shoulders. The doors have no purpose in robot mode. They are not part of his actual body; they are just there, serving as decoration, but otherwise pointless. Those doors are kibble. In the robot modes of the G1 [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] toys, the jet's nosecone and tailfins are also kibble. The jet wings, despite being one of the Seekers' most prominent features, are kibble as well because they are not needed for the robot mode. In the old sense of the word, their fists can also be considered kibble since they are removed for jet mode yet do not store anywhere in said mode.

[[Image:Bigconvoy shell.jpg|right|250px|thumb|It really is two toys in one.]]
One of the most infamous examples of beast kibble on a robot mode is [[Big Convoy]] from ''[[Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. Many of the Neo toys are kibble heavy, with "panels" of beast skin attached to the robot body by swiveling rods. This is also common in the ''Car Robots''/''Robots in Disguise'' line, most notably with the [[Autobot Brothers]] ([[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], and [[X-Brawn]]).{{See|Shellformer}}

==Connotation==
[[Image:Kibbleprowl.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Prowl's car door "wings" are kibble, and so are his removable missiles and launchers.]]
Kibble is usually only brought up when it is being used derisively. Indeed, kibble often has a negative impact on a toy. It can restrict movement by getting in the way, it can make a toy unbalanced if it is too concentrated in one part of the body such as a "backpack", and it can simply make the robot look like a purely humanoid robot that has car or animal parts stuck to it, rather than being a robot ''composed of'' car or animal parts.

However, kibble serves an important purpose in Transformer design, often giving characters distinctive or interesting silhouettes. As mentioned above, the airplane wings on the Seekers' backs, as well as the doors on Prowl, are among their most memorable features. They look "cool" even if they are not integrated into the robot body. Thus, kibble is not an intrinsically bad thing. Most Transformers have it, and it may even be seen as an integral part of some characters' designs. Actually, if all kibble was removed from most Transformers (with the exception of shellformers), they would pretty much look like stick figures.

Some kibble can also serve a purpose in the fiction even if it has no purpose on the toy. For example [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)| Animated Wreck-Gar's]] backpack. On the toy it's just most of his garbage truck mode folded up on his back. However, on the show it holds a phenomenal amount of junk that Wreck-Gar can pull out and use, often for comedic effect.

==Other meanings / development of term==
[[Image:Kibblecombiner.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Combiner kibble." These pieces have nowhere to go while Superion is broken up into his smaller components.]]
The word "kibble" was first applied to Transformers in February of 1996, when Lizard coined the term "combiner kibble" in a post to the newsgroup [[alt.toys.transformers]]. At that time, and for the next two years, the word kibble was used mainly to refer to detachable parts or accessories. It seems to have acquired its modern meaning sometime in 1998. A more detailed discussion follows:

In Google's archive of ATT, there are no recorded uses of the word "kibble" until the year 1996. In that year it was used only in reference to detachable parts and/or accessories, usually (but not always) in reference to pieces needed for [[combiner]]s to combine properly, such as [[Combiner#Terms_for_combiners|Scramble City]] style feet, heads and fists. The very first instance of the word comes from a post by Lizard which is missing from the archive, but appears quoted in other posts:

<blockquote>Now, if only there was a convenient place to store "Combiner Kibble" - all the hands, feet, chestplates, etc, that go into making a combiner... ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/ea0978924f203ee7?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain Quoted text in <3122E99A.19BB@texas.net>], Feb 1996)</blockquote>

Said Lizard when reflecting on this ten years later, "The word comes from, of course, pet food — I guess I felt the plethora of small pieces of Transformers detritus strongly resembled the little bits of cat food batted all over the kitchen." Lizard also used the word to refer to [[Megatron (G1)|G1 Megatron]]'s accessories in his [[BotCon 1996]] report. Three other fans referred to "combiner kibble" in the first half of 1996 after Lizard's use of the term, all of them either placing it in quotes or adding an emoticon, which emphasizes the newness of the term. Later in the year the word shows up about a dozen more times, always in reference to combiner pieces or other detachable parts.

The first archived use of the word kibble to refer to something ''other than'' detachable parts is a January 1997 review of [[Claw Jaw]], by Dave Richter. "In beast mode, he looks great from head on, but the abdomen (made out of robot legs and jointed squid kibble) doesn't look too solid if viewed from the side." ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/e087c89d29ba5c97?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <32F023AC.397A@virginia.edu>], 29 Jan 1997) In March, Dave made a more explicitly modern use of the word in response to another fan. This post serves reasonably well as a definition:

<blockquote>''IMO, toys should look cool from any angle. You should be able to turn a BW or any figure around have it look as cool as it does in the front. The rear should not be a place for a toy designer to throw any excess pieces on the figure that are not needed in robot mode. There are much more better designs than that.'' 
I don't know, you've got to put the animal kibble somewhere. This is standard TF fare; look at all the T-rex bitz Grimlock has hanging off his back. BW has alot of junk hanging off the back of many of it's entries, but it doesn't overbalance them, so what does it matter? ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/376dcb3652135228?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <33237FCB.656E@virginia.edu>], 9 Mar 1997)
</blockquote>
Still, through 1997 the "detachable parts" sense was more heavily used, with six uses to the modern meaning's three. In the previous year, 1996, the word was used to refer to detachable parts 16 times. In 1998 Dave Van Domelen began to use the word regularly in his posted toy reviews. He used it in both senses, but more often in the modern one. Overall, the word appeared in ATT 21 distinct times in 1998, with 13 of those being the new/current meaning. In 1999, usage exploded, with virtually all instances of the word being in its modern usage.

The original "detachable parts" meaning has essentially become archaic and all but unknown, most likely due to the toyline itself largely abandoning that form of construction. Indeed, it is very unusual for a modern Transformers toy ''not'' to integrate or at least store all of its parts in all modes. With regards to combiner kibble, combiner teams themselves have become rare, and the recent examples either have no kibble ([[Superion Maximus]]), or the kibble can ''itself'' combine into a separate vehicle ([[Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]] [[Superion (Universe)|Superion]]) — it's still kibble, but it's kibble with play value!

By November 1999, the meaning was well enough entrenched in ATT that Straight-Edge gave this definition, from which the meaning has not drifted at all in the years since:

<blockquote>It means pieces of the alternate mode (Beast mode, vehicle mode) being not only visible, but actually hanging off the robot body. IE the Doors hanging off of Prowl's shoulders, and the Crab Legs/Claws on Rampage's robot mode. They are not part of an anthropomorphic robot, hence they are kibble. ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/0caa8c898d45586d?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <19991109002603.08548.00002231@ng-fg1.aol.com>], 9 Nov 1999)</blockquote>
It can't be determined from the limited breadth of the Usenet archive how the word kibble shifted its meaning, but it seems reasonable to ''guess'' that the earliest uses in the modern sense were simply an extension of the idea of "parts that stick on". Kibble, as we discuss it today, is just that—parts that are "stuck on".

=="Faux-parts"==
[[Image:Movie Legends Jazz toy.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Please ignore the roof. Please.]]
There is a related phenomenon with no generally accepted name, in which a toy's robot mode has obvious elements of its alternate mode showing (usually in the chest area), which are ''not'' in fact part of its alt-mode. This usually happens when the toy is based on a pre-existing design with prominent elements of its alternate mode present in robot mode (usually an older toy), but due to budget, size or other reasons, the <strike>[[Trademark|transformation]]</strike> [[transformation|conversion]] could not be designed to reflect the existing design accordingly.

The original example of this is [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime]], who had the front windshield and grill of a semi-cab on his chest...which had no relation at all to his actual semi-cab mode, as those parts ended up on his ''back''. The false truck windows on the chest also showed up on ''[[Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' Laser Optimus Prime and his redeco, ''[[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]], whose chests are on the underside of the truck in vehicle mode. Another example is the T-rex face on the chest of [[Megatron (BW)/toys|Transmetal Megatron]] from ''Beast Wars'', which is not the same part as his actual T-rex face. A particularly inelegant example would be the [[Legends Class]] toy for [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] from the 2007 ''[[Movie (toyline)|Movie]]'' line, who has a fake Pontiac Solstice front bumper for a chest that ends up on his ''roof'' in vehicle mode, while the actual car front ends up on the robot's ''legs''. Legends Class, Voyager Class and [[Fast Action Battlers]] [[Optimus Prime (Movie)/toys|Optimus Prime]] from the same line also featured fake "windows" on their robot mode chests, while the actual truck mode's windows ended up elsewhere in robot mode; and ''Movie'' Deluxe Class Jazz has fake "wheels" on the sides of his legs, while the ''actual'' wheels end up on the back of the legs. Particularly amusing is ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' Legends Class [[Starscream (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Starscream]], who has separate cockpits for the jet and robot modes, to give his robot mode chest the characteristic G1 Starscream look. Amusing because the jet mode cockpit ends up ''right behind'' the "faux part" cockpit in robot mode.

[[Image:ROTFtoy-ScattorshotScout.jpg|thumb|200px|left|An original sculpt, only the colors and the name are an [[homage]] to an existing character... And yet his vehicle front is considered "iconic" enough to be reproduced on his robot chest.]]
Its use is even seen in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'': [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] has a false roof on his chest. A more notable case is [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]: He has false ambulance sides on his shoulder kibble (kibble AND "faux-parts"). [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] create even more confusing examples. Their robot mode chests are designed to be evocative of their much wider alt-mode hoods, which become kibble themselves.

There are, of course, other examples of "Faux-parts". [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] has spinning arm blades that transform from his front wheels in the movie, but because of the way the Deluxe toy transforms, the spinning wheels on his arms are not actually his front wheels. In that regard, Sideways has ''six'' turning wheels shared by his alternate and robot modes. [[Dirge (ROTF)]] has a similar feature where his actual alt-mode cockpit ends up on his arm, while a second "cosmetic" cockpit appears on his robot-mode chest, thus giving him two cockpits simultaneously. A more recent faux-part example comes from [[Dark of the Moon (toyline)|Dark of the Moon]] leader class [[Ironhide (Movie)/toys|Ironhide]]. On the chest guard is a pair of faux grills for the front of the vehicle mode to clip onto, with the real ones rotating onto the back.

Masterpiece [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]] takes this in a different direction; the toy has two alternate modes that represents the upgrade from Hot Rod's vehicle mode to Rodimus's. One would assume that within the cartoon continuity, Rodimus' hood, front wheels, & windshield are homologous to Hot Rod's, like his robot mode is shown to be when he opens the Matrix in [[The Transformers: The Movie|The Transformers: The Movie]]. The toy uses a different hood & windshield for each mode, while the front set of wheels become the rear set for the other mode. The kibble of the unused mode is neatly hidden when in the other mode.

==Notes==
When asked about terms like "kibble" and "faux-parts" and the concepts they refer to in the [[Hasbro Q&A|Q&A]] [[Hasbro Q&A/March 2010|session for March 2010]], [[Hasbro]] confirmed using "many of the same terms that the fans do"—effectively, the names fans came up with provide Hasbro with easy ways to refer to these concepts when they come up as "desired or undesired results" during the design process.<ref name="hasbro0310">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67971 Allspark.com's answers to the Hasbro Q&A session for March 2010]</ref>

==Footnotes==
<references/>

[[Category:Fan terminology]]
[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

Kibble

2011-05-31T08:52:26Z

203.189.4.98: /* "Faux-parts" */

[[Image:Kibblerhinox.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Rhinox photographed from behind, showcasing the several large pieces of rhinoceros hanging loosely from his body.]]
'''Kibble''' is a feature of many Transformers, both in [[Toy|their toys]] and in their animation/comic designs. In its modern usage (see below for earlier meanings) it refers to pieces which have no clear purpose in one mode but are there only because they are part of another mode. In most cases, "kibble" is used to refer to pieces of the character's [[alternate mode]] which "hang" or stick out in their robot mode. Sometimes these pieces are there as a matter of aesthetics, and sometimes it's simply because there wasn't any place better to put the stuff.

Much less frequently, the word is used to refer to "robot parts" which are badly hidden in an altmode; This is most common in figures with aircraft altmodes, where whole limbs or compressed torsos were left exposed on the underside. In this case, the term ''undercarriage junk'' is more often used. During the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] era, the term was also applied to any figure with robot mode limbs hanging from underneath the animal-mode shell.

Parts of one mode which are merely ''visible'' in other modes are not necessarily kibble. For example, an altmode part which is well-integrated into the robot's form—like the front of a car or truck that becomes a character's chest—is not kibble because it is an integral part of the robot's body, rather than being "tacked on".

When "kibble" entered the Transfan lexicon, it had a different meaning, and referred to a Transformer's accessories and detachable parts which had nowhere to go when not attached/worn/held. This meaning has almost, if not completely, disappeared from use.

==Examples of kibble==
[[Image:BWN-toy Break.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Penguins, after reaching a certain size, undergo a process that scientists have taken to calling "second-stage hatching".]]
Although it was most prominent during the [[Beast Era]] and ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', kibble has been a part of Transformers from the very beginning. [[Prowl (G1)|G1 Prowl]], for example, has car doors that stick out behind his shoulders. The doors have no purpose in robot mode. They are not part of his actual body; they are just there, serving as decoration, but otherwise pointless. Those doors are kibble. In the robot modes of the G1 [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] toys, the jet's nosecone and tailfins are also kibble. The jet wings, despite being one of the Seekers' most prominent features, are kibble as well because they are not needed for the robot mode. In the old sense of the word, their fists can also be considered kibble since they are removed for jet mode yet do not store anywhere in said mode.

[[Image:Bigconvoy shell.jpg|right|250px|thumb|It really is two toys in one.]]
One of the most infamous examples of beast kibble on a robot mode is [[Big Convoy]] from ''[[Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. Many of the Neo toys are kibble heavy, with "panels" of beast skin attached to the robot body by swiveling rods. This is also common in the ''Car Robots''/''Robots in Disguise'' line, most notably with the [[Autobot Brothers]] ([[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], and [[X-Brawn]]).{{See|Shellformer}}

==Connotation==
[[Image:Kibbleprowl.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Prowl's car door "wings" are kibble, and so are his removable missiles and launchers.]]
Kibble is usually only brought up when it is being used derisively. Indeed, kibble often has a negative impact on a toy. It can restrict movement by getting in the way, it can make a toy unbalanced if it is too concentrated in one part of the body such as a "backpack", and it can simply make the robot look like a purely humanoid robot that has car or animal parts stuck to it, rather than being a robot ''composed of'' car or animal parts.

However, kibble serves an important purpose in Transformer design, often giving characters distinctive or interesting silhouettes. As mentioned above, the airplane wings on the Seekers' backs, as well as the doors on Prowl, are among their most memorable features. They look "cool" even if they are not integrated into the robot body. Thus, kibble is not an intrinsically bad thing. Most Transformers have it, and it may even be seen as an integral part of some characters' designs. Actually, if all kibble was removed from most Transformers (with the exception of shellformers), they would pretty much look like stick figures.

Some kibble can also serve a purpose in the fiction even if it has no purpose on the toy. For example [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)| Animated Wreck-Gar's]] backpack. On the toy it's just most of his garbage truck mode folded up on his back. However, on the show it holds a phenomenal amount of junk that Wreck-Gar can pull out and use, often for comedic effect.

==Other meanings / development of term==
[[Image:Kibblecombiner.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Combiner kibble." These pieces have nowhere to go while Superion is broken up into his smaller components.]]
The word "kibble" was first applied to Transformers in February of 1996, when Lizard coined the term "combiner kibble" in a post to the newsgroup [[alt.toys.transformers]]. At that time, and for the next two years, the word kibble was used mainly to refer to detachable parts or accessories. It seems to have acquired its modern meaning sometime in 1998. A more detailed discussion follows:

In Google's archive of ATT, there are no recorded uses of the word "kibble" until the year 1996. In that year it was used only in reference to detachable parts and/or accessories, usually (but not always) in reference to pieces needed for [[combiner]]s to combine properly, such as [[Combiner#Terms_for_combiners|Scramble City]] style feet, heads and fists. The very first instance of the word comes from a post by Lizard which is missing from the archive, but appears quoted in other posts:

<blockquote>Now, if only there was a convenient place to store "Combiner Kibble" - all the hands, feet, chestplates, etc, that go into making a combiner... ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/ea0978924f203ee7?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain Quoted text in <3122E99A.19BB@texas.net>], Feb 1996)</blockquote>

Said Lizard when reflecting on this ten years later, "The word comes from, of course, pet food — I guess I felt the plethora of small pieces of Transformers detritus strongly resembled the little bits of cat food batted all over the kitchen." Lizard also used the word to refer to [[Megatron (G1)|G1 Megatron]]'s accessories in his [[BotCon 1996]] report. Three other fans referred to "combiner kibble" in the first half of 1996 after Lizard's use of the term, all of them either placing it in quotes or adding an emoticon, which emphasizes the newness of the term. Later in the year the word shows up about a dozen more times, always in reference to combiner pieces or other detachable parts.

The first archived use of the word kibble to refer to something ''other than'' detachable parts is a January 1997 review of [[Claw Jaw]], by Dave Richter. "In beast mode, he looks great from head on, but the abdomen (made out of robot legs and jointed squid kibble) doesn't look too solid if viewed from the side." ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/e087c89d29ba5c97?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <32F023AC.397A@virginia.edu>], 29 Jan 1997) In March, Dave made a more explicitly modern use of the word in response to another fan. This post serves reasonably well as a definition:

<blockquote>''IMO, toys should look cool from any angle. You should be able to turn a BW or any figure around have it look as cool as it does in the front. The rear should not be a place for a toy designer to throw any excess pieces on the figure that are not needed in robot mode. There are much more better designs than that.'' 
I don't know, you've got to put the animal kibble somewhere. This is standard TF fare; look at all the T-rex bitz Grimlock has hanging off his back. BW has alot of junk hanging off the back of many of it's entries, but it doesn't overbalance them, so what does it matter? ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/376dcb3652135228?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <33237FCB.656E@virginia.edu>], 9 Mar 1997)
</blockquote>
Still, through 1997 the "detachable parts" sense was more heavily used, with six uses to the modern meaning's three. In the previous year, 1996, the word was used to refer to detachable parts 16 times. In 1998 Dave Van Domelen began to use the word regularly in his posted toy reviews. He used it in both senses, but more often in the modern one. Overall, the word appeared in ATT 21 distinct times in 1998, with 13 of those being the new/current meaning. In 1999, usage exploded, with virtually all instances of the word being in its modern usage.

The original "detachable parts" meaning has essentially become archaic and all but unknown, most likely due to the toyline itself largely abandoning that form of construction. Indeed, it is very unusual for a modern Transformers toy ''not'' to integrate or at least store all of its parts in all modes. With regards to combiner kibble, combiner teams themselves have become rare, and the recent examples either have no kibble ([[Superion Maximus]]), or the kibble can ''itself'' combine into a separate vehicle ([[Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]] [[Superion (Universe)|Superion]]) — it's still kibble, but it's kibble with play value!

By November 1999, the meaning was well enough entrenched in ATT that Straight-Edge gave this definition, from which the meaning has not drifted at all in the years since:

<blockquote>It means pieces of the alternate mode (Beast mode, vehicle mode) being not only visible, but actually hanging off the robot body. IE the Doors hanging off of Prowl's shoulders, and the Crab Legs/Claws on Rampage's robot mode. They are not part of an anthropomorphic robot, hence they are kibble. ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/0caa8c898d45586d?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <19991109002603.08548.00002231@ng-fg1.aol.com>], 9 Nov 1999)</blockquote>
It can't be determined from the limited breadth of the Usenet archive how the word kibble shifted its meaning, but it seems reasonable to ''guess'' that the earliest uses in the modern sense were simply an extension of the idea of "parts that stick on". Kibble, as we discuss it today, is just that—parts that are "stuck on".

=="Faux-parts"==
[[Image:Movie Legends Jazz toy.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Please ignore the roof. Please.]]
There is a related phenomenon with no generally accepted name, in which a toy's robot mode has obvious elements of its alternate mode showing (usually in the chest area), which are ''not'' in fact part of its alt-mode. This usually happens when the toy is based on a pre-existing design with prominent elements of its alternate mode present in robot mode (usually an older toy), but due to budget, size or other reasons, the <strike>[[Trademark|transformation]]</strike> [[transformation|conversion]] could not be designed to reflect the existing design accordingly.

The original example of this is [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime]], who had the front windshield and grill of a semi-cab on his chest...which had no relation at all to his actual semi-cab mode, as those parts ended up on his ''back''. The false truck windows on the chest also showed up on ''[[Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' Laser Optimus Prime and his redeco, ''[[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]], whose chests are on the underside of the truck in vehicle mode. Another example is the T-rex face on the chest of [[Megatron (BW)/toys|Transmetal Megatron]] from ''Beast Wars'', which is not the same part as his actual T-rex face. A particularly inelegant example would be the [[Legends Class]] toy for [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] from the 2007 ''[[Movie (toyline)|Movie]]'' line, who has a fake Pontiac Solstice front bumper for a chest that ends up on his ''roof'' in vehicle mode, while the actual car front ends up on the robot's ''legs''. Legends Class, Voyager Class and [[Fast Action Battlers]] [[Optimus Prime (Movie)/toys|Optimus Prime]] from the same line also featured fake "windows" on their robot mode chests, while the actual truck mode's windows ended up elsewhere in robot mode; and ''Movie'' Deluxe Class Jazz has fake "wheels" on the sides of his legs, while the ''actual'' wheels end up on the back of the legs. Particularly amusing is ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' Legends Class [[Starscream (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Starscream]], who has separate cockpits for the jet and robot modes, to give his robot mode chest the characteristic G1 Starscream look. Amusing because the jet mode cockpit ends up ''right behind'' the "faux part" cockpit in robot mode.

[[Image:ROTFtoy-ScattorshotScout.jpg|thumb|200px|left|An original sculpt, only the colors and the name are an [[homage]] to an existing character... And yet his vehicle front is considered "iconic" enough to be reproduced on his robot chest.]]
Its use is even seen in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'': [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] has a false roof on his chest. A more notable case is [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]: He has false ambulance sides on his shoulder kibble (kibble AND "faux-parts"). [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] create even more confusing examples. Their robot mode chests are designed to be evocative of their much wider alt-mode hoods, which become kibble themselves.

There are, of course, other examples of "Faux-parts". [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] has spinning arm blades that transform from his front wheels in the movie, but because of the way the Deluxe toy transforms, the spinning wheels on his arms are not actually his front wheels. In that regard, Sideways has ''six'' turning wheels shared by his alternate and robot modes. [[Dirge (ROTF)]] has a similar feature where his actual alt-mode cockpit ends up on his arm, while a second "cosmetic" cockpit appears on his robot-mode chest, thus giving him two cockpits simultaneously. A more recent faux-part example comes from [[Dark of the Moon (Toyline)|Dark of the Moon]] leader class [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. On the chest guard is a pair of faux grills for the front of the vehicle mode to clip onto, with the real ones rotating onto the back.

Masterpiece [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]] takes this in a different direction; the toy has two alternate modes that represents the upgrade from Hot Rod's vehicle mode to Rodimus's. One would assume that within the cartoon continuity, Rodimus' hood, front wheels, & windshield are homologous to Hot Rod's, like his robot mode is shown to be when he opens the Matrix in [[The Transformers: The Movie|The Transformers: The Movie]]. The toy uses a different hood & windshield for each mode, while the front set of wheels become the rear set for the other mode. The kibble of the unused mode is neatly hidden when in the other mode.

==Notes==
When asked about terms like "kibble" and "faux-parts" and the concepts they refer to in the [[Hasbro Q&A|Q&A]] [[Hasbro Q&A/March 2010|session for March 2010]], [[Hasbro]] confirmed using "many of the same terms that the fans do"—effectively, the names fans came up with provide Hasbro with easy ways to refer to these concepts when they come up as "desired or undesired results" during the design process.<ref name="hasbro0310">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67971 Allspark.com's answers to the Hasbro Q&A session for March 2010]</ref>

==Footnotes==
<references/>

[[Category:Fan terminology]]
[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

Kibble

2011-05-31T08:51:28Z

203.189.4.98: /* "Faux-parts" */

[[Image:Kibblerhinox.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Rhinox photographed from behind, showcasing the several large pieces of rhinoceros hanging loosely from his body.]]
'''Kibble''' is a feature of many Transformers, both in [[Toy|their toys]] and in their animation/comic designs. In its modern usage (see below for earlier meanings) it refers to pieces which have no clear purpose in one mode but are there only because they are part of another mode. In most cases, "kibble" is used to refer to pieces of the character's [[alternate mode]] which "hang" or stick out in their robot mode. Sometimes these pieces are there as a matter of aesthetics, and sometimes it's simply because there wasn't any place better to put the stuff.

Much less frequently, the word is used to refer to "robot parts" which are badly hidden in an altmode; This is most common in figures with aircraft altmodes, where whole limbs or compressed torsos were left exposed on the underside. In this case, the term ''undercarriage junk'' is more often used. During the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] era, the term was also applied to any figure with robot mode limbs hanging from underneath the animal-mode shell.

Parts of one mode which are merely ''visible'' in other modes are not necessarily kibble. For example, an altmode part which is well-integrated into the robot's form—like the front of a car or truck that becomes a character's chest—is not kibble because it is an integral part of the robot's body, rather than being "tacked on".

When "kibble" entered the Transfan lexicon, it had a different meaning, and referred to a Transformer's accessories and detachable parts which had nowhere to go when not attached/worn/held. This meaning has almost, if not completely, disappeared from use.

==Examples of kibble==
[[Image:BWN-toy Break.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Penguins, after reaching a certain size, undergo a process that scientists have taken to calling "second-stage hatching".]]
Although it was most prominent during the [[Beast Era]] and ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', kibble has been a part of Transformers from the very beginning. [[Prowl (G1)|G1 Prowl]], for example, has car doors that stick out behind his shoulders. The doors have no purpose in robot mode. They are not part of his actual body; they are just there, serving as decoration, but otherwise pointless. Those doors are kibble. In the robot modes of the G1 [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] toys, the jet's nosecone and tailfins are also kibble. The jet wings, despite being one of the Seekers' most prominent features, are kibble as well because they are not needed for the robot mode. In the old sense of the word, their fists can also be considered kibble since they are removed for jet mode yet do not store anywhere in said mode.

[[Image:Bigconvoy shell.jpg|right|250px|thumb|It really is two toys in one.]]
One of the most infamous examples of beast kibble on a robot mode is [[Big Convoy]] from ''[[Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. Many of the Neo toys are kibble heavy, with "panels" of beast skin attached to the robot body by swiveling rods. This is also common in the ''Car Robots''/''Robots in Disguise'' line, most notably with the [[Autobot Brothers]] ([[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], and [[X-Brawn]]).{{See|Shellformer}}

==Connotation==
[[Image:Kibbleprowl.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Prowl's car door "wings" are kibble, and so are his removable missiles and launchers.]]
Kibble is usually only brought up when it is being used derisively. Indeed, kibble often has a negative impact on a toy. It can restrict movement by getting in the way, it can make a toy unbalanced if it is too concentrated in one part of the body such as a "backpack", and it can simply make the robot look like a purely humanoid robot that has car or animal parts stuck to it, rather than being a robot ''composed of'' car or animal parts.

However, kibble serves an important purpose in Transformer design, often giving characters distinctive or interesting silhouettes. As mentioned above, the airplane wings on the Seekers' backs, as well as the doors on Prowl, are among their most memorable features. They look "cool" even if they are not integrated into the robot body. Thus, kibble is not an intrinsically bad thing. Most Transformers have it, and it may even be seen as an integral part of some characters' designs. Actually, if all kibble was removed from most Transformers (with the exception of shellformers), they would pretty much look like stick figures.

Some kibble can also serve a purpose in the fiction even if it has no purpose on the toy. For example [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)| Animated Wreck-Gar's]] backpack. On the toy it's just most of his garbage truck mode folded up on his back. However, on the show it holds a phenomenal amount of junk that Wreck-Gar can pull out and use, often for comedic effect.

==Other meanings / development of term==
[[Image:Kibblecombiner.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Combiner kibble." These pieces have nowhere to go while Superion is broken up into his smaller components.]]
The word "kibble" was first applied to Transformers in February of 1996, when Lizard coined the term "combiner kibble" in a post to the newsgroup [[alt.toys.transformers]]. At that time, and for the next two years, the word kibble was used mainly to refer to detachable parts or accessories. It seems to have acquired its modern meaning sometime in 1998. A more detailed discussion follows:

In Google's archive of ATT, there are no recorded uses of the word "kibble" until the year 1996. In that year it was used only in reference to detachable parts and/or accessories, usually (but not always) in reference to pieces needed for [[combiner]]s to combine properly, such as [[Combiner#Terms_for_combiners|Scramble City]] style feet, heads and fists. The very first instance of the word comes from a post by Lizard which is missing from the archive, but appears quoted in other posts:

<blockquote>Now, if only there was a convenient place to store "Combiner Kibble" - all the hands, feet, chestplates, etc, that go into making a combiner... ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/ea0978924f203ee7?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain Quoted text in <3122E99A.19BB@texas.net>], Feb 1996)</blockquote>

Said Lizard when reflecting on this ten years later, "The word comes from, of course, pet food — I guess I felt the plethora of small pieces of Transformers detritus strongly resembled the little bits of cat food batted all over the kitchen." Lizard also used the word to refer to [[Megatron (G1)|G1 Megatron]]'s accessories in his [[BotCon 1996]] report. Three other fans referred to "combiner kibble" in the first half of 1996 after Lizard's use of the term, all of them either placing it in quotes or adding an emoticon, which emphasizes the newness of the term. Later in the year the word shows up about a dozen more times, always in reference to combiner pieces or other detachable parts.

The first archived use of the word kibble to refer to something ''other than'' detachable parts is a January 1997 review of [[Claw Jaw]], by Dave Richter. "In beast mode, he looks great from head on, but the abdomen (made out of robot legs and jointed squid kibble) doesn't look too solid if viewed from the side." ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/e087c89d29ba5c97?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <32F023AC.397A@virginia.edu>], 29 Jan 1997) In March, Dave made a more explicitly modern use of the word in response to another fan. This post serves reasonably well as a definition:

<blockquote>''IMO, toys should look cool from any angle. You should be able to turn a BW or any figure around have it look as cool as it does in the front. The rear should not be a place for a toy designer to throw any excess pieces on the figure that are not needed in robot mode. There are much more better designs than that.'' 
I don't know, you've got to put the animal kibble somewhere. This is standard TF fare; look at all the T-rex bitz Grimlock has hanging off his back. BW has alot of junk hanging off the back of many of it's entries, but it doesn't overbalance them, so what does it matter? ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/376dcb3652135228?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <33237FCB.656E@virginia.edu>], 9 Mar 1997)
</blockquote>
Still, through 1997 the "detachable parts" sense was more heavily used, with six uses to the modern meaning's three. In the previous year, 1996, the word was used to refer to detachable parts 16 times. In 1998 Dave Van Domelen began to use the word regularly in his posted toy reviews. He used it in both senses, but more often in the modern one. Overall, the word appeared in ATT 21 distinct times in 1998, with 13 of those being the new/current meaning. In 1999, usage exploded, with virtually all instances of the word being in its modern usage.

The original "detachable parts" meaning has essentially become archaic and all but unknown, most likely due to the toyline itself largely abandoning that form of construction. Indeed, it is very unusual for a modern Transformers toy ''not'' to integrate or at least store all of its parts in all modes. With regards to combiner kibble, combiner teams themselves have become rare, and the recent examples either have no kibble ([[Superion Maximus]]), or the kibble can ''itself'' combine into a separate vehicle ([[Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]] [[Superion (Universe)|Superion]]) — it's still kibble, but it's kibble with play value!

By November 1999, the meaning was well enough entrenched in ATT that Straight-Edge gave this definition, from which the meaning has not drifted at all in the years since:

<blockquote>It means pieces of the alternate mode (Beast mode, vehicle mode) being not only visible, but actually hanging off the robot body. IE the Doors hanging off of Prowl's shoulders, and the Crab Legs/Claws on Rampage's robot mode. They are not part of an anthropomorphic robot, hence they are kibble. ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/0caa8c898d45586d?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <19991109002603.08548.00002231@ng-fg1.aol.com>], 9 Nov 1999)</blockquote>
It can't be determined from the limited breadth of the Usenet archive how the word kibble shifted its meaning, but it seems reasonable to ''guess'' that the earliest uses in the modern sense were simply an extension of the idea of "parts that stick on". Kibble, as we discuss it today, is just that—parts that are "stuck on".

=="Faux-parts"==
[[Image:Movie Legends Jazz toy.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Please ignore the roof. Please.]]
There is a related phenomenon with no generally accepted name, in which a toy's robot mode has obvious elements of its alternate mode showing (usually in the chest area), which are ''not'' in fact part of its alt-mode. This usually happens when the toy is based on a pre-existing design with prominent elements of its alternate mode present in robot mode (usually an older toy), but due to budget, size or other reasons, the <strike>[[Trademark|transformation]]</strike> [[transformation|conversion]] could not be designed to reflect the existing design accordingly.

The original example of this is [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime]], who had the front windshield and grill of a semi-cab on his chest...which had no relation at all to his actual semi-cab mode, as those parts ended up on his ''back''. The false truck windows on the chest also showed up on ''[[Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' Laser Optimus Prime and his redeco, ''[[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]], whose chests are on the underside of the truck in vehicle mode. Another example is the T-rex face on the chest of [[Megatron (BW)/toys|Transmetal Megatron]] from ''Beast Wars'', which is not the same part as his actual T-rex face. A particularly inelegant example would be the [[Legends Class]] toy for [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] from the 2007 ''[[Movie (toyline)|Movie]]'' line, who has a fake Pontiac Solstice front bumper for a chest that ends up on his ''roof'' in vehicle mode, while the actual car front ends up on the robot's ''legs''. Legends Class, Voyager Class and [[Fast Action Battlers]] [[Optimus Prime (Movie)/toys|Optimus Prime]] from the same line also featured fake "windows" on their robot mode chests, while the actual truck mode's windows ended up elsewhere in robot mode; and ''Movie'' Deluxe Class Jazz has fake "wheels" on the sides of his legs, while the ''actual'' wheels end up on the back of the legs. Particularly amusing is ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' Legends Class [[Starscream (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Starscream]], who has separate cockpits for the jet and robot modes, to give his robot mode chest the characteristic G1 Starscream look. Amusing because the jet mode cockpit ends up ''right behind'' the "faux part" cockpit in robot mode.

[[Image:ROTFtoy-ScattorshotScout.jpg|thumb|200px|left|An original sculpt, only the colors and the name are an [[homage]] to an existing character... And yet his vehicle front is considered "iconic" enough to be reproduced on his robot chest.]]
Its use is even seen in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'': [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] has a false roof on his chest. A more notable case is [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]: He has false ambulance sides on his shoulder kibble (kibble AND "faux-parts"). [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] create even more confusing examples. Their robot mode chests are designed to be evocative of their much wider alt-mode hoods, which become kibble themselves.

There are, of course, other examples of "Faux-parts". [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] has spinning arm blades that transform from his front wheels in the movie, but because of the way the Deluxe toy transforms, the spinning wheels on his arms are not actually his front wheels. In that regard, Sideways has ''six'' turning wheels shared by his alternate and robot modes. [[Dirge (ROTF)]] has a similar feature where his actual alt-mode cockpit ends up on his arm, while a second "cosmetic" cockpit appears on his robot-mode chest, thus giving him two cockpits simultaneously. A more recent faux-part example comes from [[Dark of the Moon]] leader class [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. On the chest guard is a pair of faux grills for the front of the vehicle mode to clip onto, with the real ones rotating onto the back.

Masterpiece [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]] takes this in a different direction; the toy has two alternate modes that represents the upgrade from Hot Rod's vehicle mode to Rodimus's. One would assume that within the cartoon continuity, Rodimus' hood, front wheels, & windshield are homologous to Hot Rod's, like his robot mode is shown to be when he opens the Matrix in [[The Transformers: The Movie|The Transformers: The Movie]]. The toy uses a different hood & windshield for each mode, while the front set of wheels become the rear set for the other mode. The kibble of the unused mode is neatly hidden when in the other mode.

==Notes==
When asked about terms like "kibble" and "faux-parts" and the concepts they refer to in the [[Hasbro Q&A|Q&A]] [[Hasbro Q&A/March 2010|session for March 2010]], [[Hasbro]] confirmed using "many of the same terms that the fans do"—effectively, the names fans came up with provide Hasbro with easy ways to refer to these concepts when they come up as "desired or undesired results" during the design process.<ref name="hasbro0310">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67971 Allspark.com's answers to the Hasbro Q&A session for March 2010]</ref>

==Footnotes==
<references/>

[[Category:Fan terminology]]
[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

Kibble

2011-05-31T08:50:40Z

203.189.4.98: /* "Faux-parts" */

[[Image:Kibblerhinox.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Rhinox photographed from behind, showcasing the several large pieces of rhinoceros hanging loosely from his body.]]
'''Kibble''' is a feature of many Transformers, both in [[Toy|their toys]] and in their animation/comic designs. In its modern usage (see below for earlier meanings) it refers to pieces which have no clear purpose in one mode but are there only because they are part of another mode. In most cases, "kibble" is used to refer to pieces of the character's [[alternate mode]] which "hang" or stick out in their robot mode. Sometimes these pieces are there as a matter of aesthetics, and sometimes it's simply because there wasn't any place better to put the stuff.

Much less frequently, the word is used to refer to "robot parts" which are badly hidden in an altmode; This is most common in figures with aircraft altmodes, where whole limbs or compressed torsos were left exposed on the underside. In this case, the term ''undercarriage junk'' is more often used. During the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] era, the term was also applied to any figure with robot mode limbs hanging from underneath the animal-mode shell.

Parts of one mode which are merely ''visible'' in other modes are not necessarily kibble. For example, an altmode part which is well-integrated into the robot's form—like the front of a car or truck that becomes a character's chest—is not kibble because it is an integral part of the robot's body, rather than being "tacked on".

When "kibble" entered the Transfan lexicon, it had a different meaning, and referred to a Transformer's accessories and detachable parts which had nowhere to go when not attached/worn/held. This meaning has almost, if not completely, disappeared from use.

==Examples of kibble==
[[Image:BWN-toy Break.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Penguins, after reaching a certain size, undergo a process that scientists have taken to calling "second-stage hatching".]]
Although it was most prominent during the [[Beast Era]] and ''[[Robots in Disguise (franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', kibble has been a part of Transformers from the very beginning. [[Prowl (G1)|G1 Prowl]], for example, has car doors that stick out behind his shoulders. The doors have no purpose in robot mode. They are not part of his actual body; they are just there, serving as decoration, but otherwise pointless. Those doors are kibble. In the robot modes of the G1 [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] toys, the jet's nosecone and tailfins are also kibble. The jet wings, despite being one of the Seekers' most prominent features, are kibble as well because they are not needed for the robot mode. In the old sense of the word, their fists can also be considered kibble since they are removed for jet mode yet do not store anywhere in said mode.

[[Image:Bigconvoy shell.jpg|right|250px|thumb|It really is two toys in one.]]
One of the most infamous examples of beast kibble on a robot mode is [[Big Convoy]] from ''[[Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. Many of the Neo toys are kibble heavy, with "panels" of beast skin attached to the robot body by swiveling rods. This is also common in the ''Car Robots''/''Robots in Disguise'' line, most notably with the [[Autobot Brothers]] ([[Prowl (RID)|Prowl]], [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn]], and [[X-Brawn]]).{{See|Shellformer}}

==Connotation==
[[Image:Kibbleprowl.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Prowl's car door "wings" are kibble, and so are his removable missiles and launchers.]]
Kibble is usually only brought up when it is being used derisively. Indeed, kibble often has a negative impact on a toy. It can restrict movement by getting in the way, it can make a toy unbalanced if it is too concentrated in one part of the body such as a "backpack", and it can simply make the robot look like a purely humanoid robot that has car or animal parts stuck to it, rather than being a robot ''composed of'' car or animal parts.

However, kibble serves an important purpose in Transformer design, often giving characters distinctive or interesting silhouettes. As mentioned above, the airplane wings on the Seekers' backs, as well as the doors on Prowl, are among their most memorable features. They look "cool" even if they are not integrated into the robot body. Thus, kibble is not an intrinsically bad thing. Most Transformers have it, and it may even be seen as an integral part of some characters' designs. Actually, if all kibble was removed from most Transformers (with the exception of shellformers), they would pretty much look like stick figures.

Some kibble can also serve a purpose in the fiction even if it has no purpose on the toy. For example [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)| Animated Wreck-Gar's]] backpack. On the toy it's just most of his garbage truck mode folded up on his back. However, on the show it holds a phenomenal amount of junk that Wreck-Gar can pull out and use, often for comedic effect.

==Other meanings / development of term==
[[Image:Kibblecombiner.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Combiner kibble." These pieces have nowhere to go while Superion is broken up into his smaller components.]]
The word "kibble" was first applied to Transformers in February of 1996, when Lizard coined the term "combiner kibble" in a post to the newsgroup [[alt.toys.transformers]]. At that time, and for the next two years, the word kibble was used mainly to refer to detachable parts or accessories. It seems to have acquired its modern meaning sometime in 1998. A more detailed discussion follows:

In Google's archive of ATT, there are no recorded uses of the word "kibble" until the year 1996. In that year it was used only in reference to detachable parts and/or accessories, usually (but not always) in reference to pieces needed for [[combiner]]s to combine properly, such as [[Combiner#Terms_for_combiners|Scramble City]] style feet, heads and fists. The very first instance of the word comes from a post by Lizard which is missing from the archive, but appears quoted in other posts:

<blockquote>Now, if only there was a convenient place to store "Combiner Kibble" - all the hands, feet, chestplates, etc, that go into making a combiner... ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/ea0978924f203ee7?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain Quoted text in <3122E99A.19BB@texas.net>], Feb 1996)</blockquote>

Said Lizard when reflecting on this ten years later, "The word comes from, of course, pet food — I guess I felt the plethora of small pieces of Transformers detritus strongly resembled the little bits of cat food batted all over the kitchen." Lizard also used the word to refer to [[Megatron (G1)|G1 Megatron]]'s accessories in his [[BotCon 1996]] report. Three other fans referred to "combiner kibble" in the first half of 1996 after Lizard's use of the term, all of them either placing it in quotes or adding an emoticon, which emphasizes the newness of the term. Later in the year the word shows up about a dozen more times, always in reference to combiner pieces or other detachable parts.

The first archived use of the word kibble to refer to something ''other than'' detachable parts is a January 1997 review of [[Claw Jaw]], by Dave Richter. "In beast mode, he looks great from head on, but the abdomen (made out of robot legs and jointed squid kibble) doesn't look too solid if viewed from the side." ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/e087c89d29ba5c97?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <32F023AC.397A@virginia.edu>], 29 Jan 1997) In March, Dave made a more explicitly modern use of the word in response to another fan. This post serves reasonably well as a definition:

<blockquote>''IMO, toys should look cool from any angle. You should be able to turn a BW or any figure around have it look as cool as it does in the front. The rear should not be a place for a toy designer to throw any excess pieces on the figure that are not needed in robot mode. There are much more better designs than that.'' 
I don't know, you've got to put the animal kibble somewhere. This is standard TF fare; look at all the T-rex bitz Grimlock has hanging off his back. BW has alot of junk hanging off the back of many of it's entries, but it doesn't overbalance them, so what does it matter? ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/376dcb3652135228?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <33237FCB.656E@virginia.edu>], 9 Mar 1997)
</blockquote>
Still, through 1997 the "detachable parts" sense was more heavily used, with six uses to the modern meaning's three. In the previous year, 1996, the word was used to refer to detachable parts 16 times. In 1998 Dave Van Domelen began to use the word regularly in his posted toy reviews. He used it in both senses, but more often in the modern one. Overall, the word appeared in ATT 21 distinct times in 1998, with 13 of those being the new/current meaning. In 1999, usage exploded, with virtually all instances of the word being in its modern usage.

The original "detachable parts" meaning has essentially become archaic and all but unknown, most likely due to the toyline itself largely abandoning that form of construction. Indeed, it is very unusual for a modern Transformers toy ''not'' to integrate or at least store all of its parts in all modes. With regards to combiner kibble, combiner teams themselves have become rare, and the recent examples either have no kibble ([[Superion Maximus]]), or the kibble can ''itself'' combine into a separate vehicle ([[Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe]] [[Superion (Universe)|Superion]]) — it's still kibble, but it's kibble with play value!

By November 1999, the meaning was well enough entrenched in ATT that Straight-Edge gave this definition, from which the meaning has not drifted at all in the years since:

<blockquote>It means pieces of the alternate mode (Beast mode, vehicle mode) being not only visible, but actually hanging off the robot body. IE the Doors hanging off of Prowl's shoulders, and the Crab Legs/Claws on Rampage's robot mode. They are not part of an anthropomorphic robot, hence they are kibble. ([http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/0caa8c898d45586d?dmode=source&hl=en&output=gplain <19991109002603.08548.00002231@ng-fg1.aol.com>], 9 Nov 1999)</blockquote>
It can't be determined from the limited breadth of the Usenet archive how the word kibble shifted its meaning, but it seems reasonable to ''guess'' that the earliest uses in the modern sense were simply an extension of the idea of "parts that stick on". Kibble, as we discuss it today, is just that—parts that are "stuck on".

=="Faux-parts"==
[[Image:Movie Legends Jazz toy.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Please ignore the roof. Please.]]
There is a related phenomenon with no generally accepted name, in which a toy's robot mode has obvious elements of its alternate mode showing (usually in the chest area), which are ''not'' in fact part of its alt-mode. This usually happens when the toy is based on a pre-existing design with prominent elements of its alternate mode present in robot mode (usually an older toy), but due to budget, size or other reasons, the <strike>[[Trademark|transformation]]</strike> [[transformation|conversion]] could not be designed to reflect the existing design accordingly.

The original example of this is [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime]], who had the front windshield and grill of a semi-cab on his chest...which had no relation at all to his actual semi-cab mode, as those parts ended up on his ''back''. The false truck windows on the chest also showed up on ''[[Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' Laser Optimus Prime and his redeco, ''[[Robots in Disguise (toyline)|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]], whose chests are on the underside of the truck in vehicle mode. Another example is the T-rex face on the chest of [[Megatron (BW)/toys|Transmetal Megatron]] from ''Beast Wars'', which is not the same part as his actual T-rex face. A particularly inelegant example would be the [[Legends Class]] toy for [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] from the 2007 ''[[Movie (toyline)|Movie]]'' line, who has a fake Pontiac Solstice front bumper for a chest that ends up on his ''roof'' in vehicle mode, while the actual car front ends up on the robot's ''legs''. Legends Class, Voyager Class and [[Fast Action Battlers]] [[Optimus Prime (Movie)/toys|Optimus Prime]] from the same line also featured fake "windows" on their robot mode chests, while the actual truck mode's windows ended up elsewhere in robot mode; and ''Movie'' Deluxe Class Jazz has fake "wheels" on the sides of his legs, while the ''actual'' wheels end up on the back of the legs. Particularly amusing is ''[[Reveal the Shield]]'' Legends Class [[Starscream (G1)/toys#Transformers (2010)|Starscream]], who has separate cockpits for the jet and robot modes, to give his robot mode chest the characteristic G1 Starscream look. Amusing because the jet mode cockpit ends up ''right behind'' the "faux part" cockpit in robot mode. A more recent faux-part example comes from [[Dark of the Moon]] leader class [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. On the chest guard is a pair of faux grills for the front of the vehicle mode to clip onto, with the real ones rotating onto the back.

[[Image:ROTFtoy-ScattorshotScout.jpg|thumb|200px|left|An original sculpt, only the colors and the name are an [[homage]] to an existing character... And yet his vehicle front is considered "iconic" enough to be reproduced on his robot chest.]]
Its use is even seen in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'': [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] has a false roof on his chest. A more notable case is [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]: He has false ambulance sides on his shoulder kibble (kibble AND "faux-parts"). [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]], and [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] create even more confusing examples. Their robot mode chests are designed to be evocative of their much wider alt-mode hoods, which become kibble themselves.

There are, of course, other examples of "Faux-parts". [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] has spinning arm blades that transform from his front wheels in the movie, but because of the way the Deluxe toy transforms, the spinning wheels on his arms are not actually his front wheels. In that regard, Sideways has ''six'' turning wheels shared by his alternate and robot modes. [[Dirge (ROTF)]] has a similar feature where his actual alt-mode cockpit ends up on his arm, while a second "cosmetic" cockpit appears on his robot-mode chest, thus giving him two cockpits simultaneously.

Masterpiece [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]] takes this in a different direction; the toy has two alternate modes that represents the upgrade from Hot Rod's vehicle mode to Rodimus's. One would assume that within the cartoon continuity, Rodimus' hood, front wheels, & windshield are homologous to Hot Rod's, like his robot mode is shown to be when he opens the Matrix in [[The Transformers: The Movie|The Transformers: The Movie]]. The toy uses a different hood & windshield for each mode, while the front set of wheels become the rear set for the other mode. The kibble of the unused mode is neatly hidden when in the other mode.

==Notes==
When asked about terms like "kibble" and "faux-parts" and the concepts they refer to in the [[Hasbro Q&A|Q&A]] [[Hasbro Q&A/March 2010|session for March 2010]], [[Hasbro]] confirmed using "many of the same terms that the fans do"—effectively, the names fans came up with provide Hasbro with easy ways to refer to these concepts when they come up as "desired or undesired results" during the design process.<ref name="hasbro0310">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67971 Allspark.com's answers to the Hasbro Q&A session for March 2010]</ref>

==Footnotes==
<references/>

[[Category:Fan terminology]]
[[Category:Fandom]]
[[Category:Toys]]

Australia

2010-09-15T06:57:21Z

203.189.4.98: /* Notes */

[[Image:Whatliesbeneath Australia.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Crikey. Fair dinkum. Too right. G'Don ya, mate. Bonzer. A Dingo ate my baby. Didgeridoo.]]
'''Australia''' is a nation-state on the planet [[Earth]]'s Southern Hemisphere. The world's largest island, the majority of it seems to consist of semi-arid or desert regions known as the [[Outback]]. The majority of the fauna and flora is unique to the country, and all of it deadly to [[Human|humans]], most notably the infamous and murderous dropbears.

In [[Unicron Trilogy|some continuities]] at least, the [[Accents|Australian accent]] is supposedly very similar to that of the inhabitants of the planet [[Nebulos|Nebulon]], or vice-versa.

==Generation 1==
===American cartoon continuity===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
After the initial [[Decepticon]] threat was repulsed, [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] wrote in his journal that "all of the world's governments" were assisting the [[Autobot|Autobots]]' attempts to return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. This would presumably include Australia. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 3}}

===Japanese cartoon continuity===
====''The Headmasters'' cartoon====
The Decepticons built one of their 'Death Towers' under the capital city, [[Canberra]]. [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] was left there to watch over it and thereby treated the locals to a show of him kicking [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]]'s skidplate. {{storylink|The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)}}

====''Super-God Masterforce'' cartoon====
The Decepticons built an underwater base off the coast of Australia, their construction efforts causing increased volcanic activity and earthquakes that damaged the city of Sydney, which then drew the attention of the Autobot [[Godmaster]] [[Lightfoot]]. While the [[Headmaster Junior|Headmaster Juniors]] performed rescue operations in Sydney, [[Ginrai]] and Lightfoot fought against the threat of [[King Poseidon]]. {{storylink|Escape!! The Underwater Volcano Erupts}}

====''Story of Binaltech''====
In an unnamed Australian city, [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]] plans an experiment in which he will extract the minds of the city's inhabitants to help him build his own synthetic [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. However, before he can set this plan into motion, the Autobots surround him and he faces off against [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]. Nemesis Prime initially gains the upper hand against his Autobot counterpart, however the [[Optimus Primal|Protector]] unites with Optimus Prime, who is then easily able to reflect Nemesis Prime's attacks, resulting in his destruction. {{storylink|Unfinished Business, Part 4}}

==Unicron Trilogy==
===Dreamwave Energon comics continuity===
The West Australian outback was the site of [[Alterenergy]]'s [[01 Source]] Exploratory Excavation/Drilling Operation, where both [[Brian Jones (Energon)|Dr. Brian Jones]] and his son [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]] worked. The mining drew both a group of protesters including [[Alexis]], as well as a squad of [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcons]] searching for [[Energon (Energon)|Energon]]. {{storylink|What Lies Beneath|What Lies Beneath}}

{{stub}}

==Live-action ''Transformers'' movie continuity==
===''Transformers'' (2007) movie===
Based on her accent, NSA analyst [[Maggie Madsen]] originates from Australia. Why she's working for a foreign government is unknown; maybe she just wants to buy cheaper toys. {{Storylink|Transformers (2007)}}

===IDW ''Transformers'' movie comics===
When [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave's]] forces arrived to Earth, Australia was one of the nations targeted by the second wave of Decepticons. {{storylink|Alliance issue 3}}

===''The Veiled Threat'' prequel novel===
[[Kickback (ROTF)|Kickback]], [[Tread]] and [[Trample]] landed in Oobagooma, deep in the Western Australia outback, to mine the huge deposits of uranium there, which they hoped could be used as a power source to revive [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]. However, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and [[William Lennox|Captain Lennox]] led a [[Ironhide (Movie)|team of]] [[Salvage (Movie)|Autobots]] and [[NEST]] [[Kaminari Ishihara|operatives]] Down Under and destroyed the Decepticons before they could carry out this plan. {{storylink|The Veiled Threat}}

===Titan Magazines ''Revenge of the Fallen'' comics===

When the Decepticon [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] made a landing in the Northern Territory, Optimus Prime and [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] were sent to capture him. This took a while, Sideways turning out to be quite the road warrior! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.5|Reversal of Fortune}}

==Toys==
===Revenge of the Fallen===
====Power Bots====
[[Image:ROTF-toy_PowerBots_Sideswipe.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Crikey!]]
*'''Sideswipe''' (Power Bots, 2009)

: [[Power Bots]] Sideswipe has a North Americanised stereotypical Australian accent!

{{-}}

==Notes==
* Everything costs considerably more in Australia than it does in America, including ''Transformers'' toys, which are usually twice or even thrice as expensive.

* [[Scott McNeil]], [[Rachael Taylor]], [[Isabel Lucas]] and [[Shane McCarthy]] are all Australian natives who've been involved with the ''Transformers'' franchise. Only Shane still resides there. We'll trade him if we can get Scott McNeil back.

* Australia is also home to [[Madman Entertainment]], who release ''Transformers'' [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1]] and ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' DVD's to the Aussie and New Zealand markets. They give the Aussies more DVD features than we get, the ''bastards''.

*The first live action movie also premiered Down Under almost a month before it did in the United States.

*For some reason, the first and second waves of the [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|''Transformers'' (2010)]], ''[[Power Core Combiners]]'' and ''[[Generations (toyline)|Generations]]'' toylines were available at mass retail in Australia several months before their scheduled release date elsewhere in the world.

[[Category:Continents]]
[[Category:Countries of Earth]]
[[Category:Energon locations]]
[[Category:Generation 1 locations]]
[[Category:Masterforce locations]]