Humanization

2007-10-12T15:18:54Z

72.130.39.51: /* Sleep */

Throughout the various Transformers canon, there have been several instances of Transformers with humanistic traits and having very human actions that possibly conflict with their status as mechanical robots. Many of these instances can be dismissed as stylistic choices by the artists or as gags not to be taken seriously.

==Glandular, digestive, and respiratory==
===Sweating===

* In [[DIS-Integrated Circuits|issue nine]] of the original [[Generation 1 (Marvel comic)|''Generation 1'' comic]], [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] is seen leaking lubricant from his head during a stressful confrontation with [[Shockwave]] (as Shockwave points out), in a manner resembling sweating.

* Numerous times in the Marvel UK comic, [[Kup]] can be seen "sweating."

* ''[[Robots in Disguise (cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' and ''[[Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' featured Transformers displaying the traditional anime "sweatdrop," a giant bead of liquid appearing at the side of the head to convey embarrassment or exasperation.

===Coughing===
* In the G1 episode [[Roll For It]], when the Autobots emerge from the ruins of a demolished [[antimatter]] laboratory, they are coughing.

* In Beast Wars, Megatron begins to cough for no reason while making a triumphant speech. Much like Powerglide's "heart", this could be a one-shot joke.

*In the episode Mortal Combat in Transformers Armada, right after Optimus Prime says "I wish I could accommodate you", he coughs silently.

===Breathing===
* When being constricted by a python, Cheetor says he can't breathe. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}}
* In an Energon episode, [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] instructs [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] that they have to synchronize their breathing before they can [[Powerlinx|powerlink]].

===Spitting===

* Throughout his term on the Marvel UK comic letters page, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] would regularly say "(Puttup)" after mentioning the Autobots or an Autobot's name to represent him spitting in disgust. This habit made an in-story appearance, with him spitting at [[Robot-Master]] despite his [[Mouthplate|mouthplate]].
* In issue 72 of the Marvel US comics, after [[Nightbeat]] escapes from the Decepticons's New Jersey base via a sewer, he spits as he complains about their poor choice of backdoor.
* In the ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[Tangled Web]]", [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] "spat" after reissuing his challenge to tangle with [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]], despite the fact that, like Soundwave, he has no apparent mouth.

===Crying===
*[[Image:Omega Supreme tears up.jpg|thumb|right|Tissue: desired.]]A twinkle of light that may not literally be a tear, but is clearly intended to imply one, can be seen in [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s eye at the end of "[[The Secret of Omega Supreme]]".

*When [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] dies in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] is seen to dab at her eyes.

*As he mourns his dead friend [[Snowstalker]] and decides he can never fight again, [[Tigatron]] cries a single tear in beast mode.

* When pondering [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]]'s fate in ''[[Beast Machines]]'', [[Blackarachnia]] is shown to shed a single tear from one of her spider eyes.

* Throughout ''[[Beast Wars II (television series)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Robots in Disguise]]'', and occasionally in the ''[[Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' cartoon, several characters are seen crying in conventional anime fashion.

*Tears can be seen welling up in [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]]'s eyes and falling to the ground in ''[[Energon (cartoon)|Energon]]'' as he mourns a fallen comrade.

===Eating===
*There are references to [[Cybertronian food]].
*In [[Beast Wars]], the Maximals and Predacons are shown to eat:
**[[Tarantulas]] even displays something of a voracious appetite, eating rats and leaving webs to catch prey. At one point he captures Cheetor and prepares to drain his fluids, claiming that it is the act he prefers over the nourishment (which adds just another level of creepy to the already creepy Tarantulas) {{storylink|The Web}}
**[[Rattrap]] eats apples. {{storylink|The Web}}
**[[Terrorsaur]] eats a bird. {{storylink|Power Surge}}
**[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] ate a clone of his. [[Optimus Primal]] remarked that he was "disgusting". {{storylink|Double Dinobot}}
**While suffering from an [[Energon]] discharge virus, [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] eats wild beans to build up his power. This later ends disasterously for [[Megatron (BW)|Megs]]. {{storylink|The Low Road}}
*In [[Beast Machines]], [[Nightscream]] is shown eating what appears to be metallic apples. Boy's got some strong teeth. {{storylink|In Darkest Knight}}
*Also in Beast Machines, [[Optimus Primal]] wants to eat the underground tree's fruit; [[Cheetor]] protests that "we don't eat food, we process [[energon]]--PERIOD!", but is overruled. {{storylink|Forbidden Fruit}}

===Flatulence===

* In the ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[The Low Road]]", Rhinox lets out an extreme amount of flatulence after consuming wild bean vines. This could be due to Maximals having organic parts in their makeup.
* Also in Beast Wars, In the episode "[[Bad Spark]]", [[Cheetor]] also lets out flatulence, blaming it on a large buildup of energy from his [[Transmetal]] body.

===Urination===
* [[Tasmania Kid]] urinated (in robot mode) to put out a fire.
* [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] performed a similar behavior on some [[Sector Seven]] agents, though Optimus Prime said he was just "lubricating" them.

===Intoxication===

* In the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episode "[[Microbots]]", the [[Decepticons]] are noticeably behaving in an intoxicated fashion after consuming a high-grade [[energon]]. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] referred to this as over-energizing.

* In ''Beast Wars II'', [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] gets "drunk" on numerous occasions.

* In the UK comic, the [[Wreckers]] frequent a "bar" on Cybertron called [[Maccadam's Old Oil House]], where they consume high-grade energon, presumably for the purposes of getting intoxicated. [[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]] and [[Darkwing]] paid a visit to this establishment in a later story, and got so hammered that they didn't even notice [[Quickswitch]] fighting with some [[Mecannibals]].

==Body parts==
===Teeth/tongues/eyeballs===

[[Image:MegatronTongue1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A little too friendly, there, Megatron...]]

* The [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|Generation 1]] cartoon series is the only major piece of fiction to ''not'' present Transformers as possessing teeth and/or tongues. The features appear in both the [[Marvel]] and [[Dreamwave]] comics, the ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' and ''[[Beast Machines (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' animated series (where teeth would even be knocked out on occasion), the ''[[Robots in Disguise (cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' cartoon, and the [[Unicron Trilogy]] cartoons and comics.

* One of the most recent examples to carry on this tradition is the ''[[Kiss Players]]'' manga, in which a [[Legion]] character is equipped with a distinctive prehensile tongue.

===Questionable body parts===

[[Image:PredaBrain1.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Predaking: All brawn AND brains! ]]

* Nearly all Transformers seem to possess noses for no discernable functional reason.

* In the G1 episode "[[The Girl Who Loved Powerglide]]", [[Powerglide]] is seen at the end of the episode having the LED outline of a cartoon heart within his chasis. This is somewhat nonsensical within in the context of the show (the contents of Transformers chest cavitites had been shown several times before), and is probably merely meant as a one-off sight gag.

* [[Alpha Trion]], [[Scourge]], and [[Wreck-Gar]] all sport "facial hair" in the G1 cartoon.

* [[Predaking]] (possibly brought back from the dead) has an organic brain when he is sliced in half in ''[[Zone]]''.

==Other biological functions==
===Sleep===
* In the G1 comic, [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] falls asleep and dreams (or rather, has a nightmare). This goes against established canon for that continuity that Transformers deactivate fully rather than "sleep," a point Ratchet himself makes.

* In the ''[[Generation 2]]'' [[Generation 2 (Marvel comic)|comic]], Kup attempts to rouse a vision-struck Optimus Prime by urging him to "wake up" -- then reminds himself that "we don't sleep!"

* In ''[[Beast Wars]]'', it has been firmly established that (perhaps partially due to their organic components), all Transformers within the cartoon sleep. Some prime examples of this are:
** Megatron has been shown to sleep in the command chair of the ''Darksyde'', while his dino head mounted on the end of his arm stays awake, looks around, and smiles slyly. Wonder what it thinks about...
** Cheetor has been shown asleep at many points, complete with (occasionally prophetic) dreams. In [[Feral Scream, Part 2]], he also purrs when he's asleep. How cute!
** In "[[Call of the Wild]]", the Maximals are kept awake for two days by the Predacons' non-stop attacks on their base, which exacerbate their beast instincts overriding their logic circuits.

* ''[[Beast Wars II]]'' [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] often nods off in a narcoleptic-like fashion.

* ''Armada'' [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] is quite fond of catching forty winks when possible. [[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] did the same on one occasion. Armada Megatron was also seen asleep twice in the episode "Rebellion".

===Sexuality===
One of the most controversial aspects of Transformers is the idea of sexuality. While it is established in most continuities that Transformers do not reproduce sexually, most continuities nonetheless have distinctive male and [[female Transformers|female characters]] (with the notable exception of the G1 comic, which explicitly states there is no sexual distinction).

The G1 cartoon brought the first official female Autobots into the canon, including [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] and [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]. The characters are noticeably more feminine in design and have clearly defined romantic relationships with male Autobots.

The issue becomes more complicated in ''Beast Wars'', where the sexuality line is clearly defined ([[Blackarachnia]] has a particularly well defined female figure, including what appears to be an ample bosom). It is hinted on occasion that the robots may engage in activities resembling human sex acts. Rattrap slyly makes a double entendre to [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] regarding his suspected kinky activities with Predacon Blackarachnia, and later makes a comment about going to what sounds like a Cybertonian version of a strip club. In the Metals dub, Rattrap, thinking himself about to be stabbed by Dinobot, asked him to "be gentle, because I've heard the first time can hurt."

In the original Japanese version of ''Energon'', [[Tidal Wave|Mirage]] displays romantic interest in [[Megatron (Armada)|Galvatron]], causing his comrades to regard him with minor confusion. The ''Energon'' dub seemed to do its best to skirt around this issue, with Mirage's exclamations either being about different things entirely or simple cheering on of his leader - but they couldn't do anything about the hands-clapsed-beside-his-head-while-doe-eyed expressions, or the one time that he pirouetted, struck a pose while surrounded by a giant glowing pink heart. ''Why'', Japan?

==See also==
*[[:Category:Transformer anatomy|Transformer anatomy]]
*[[Robot-fleshling romance]]
*[[Reproduction]]

[[Category:Transformer anatomy]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

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Humanization