Signs of Affinity

Not everyone can handle the awesome power contained within the Matrix of Leadership, the select few Transformers who can however are set apart from their fellows by displaying the Signs of Affinity.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

The Signs of Affinity included; having optics the same shade of "liberty blue" as the Matrix Flame, finding sentio metallico wet to the touch, becoming giddy when standing on a hot spot and making a photonic crystal "snap" when placing it upon their chest. Those who displayed the Signs were called "Sign-Sensitive". Journey's End

After Nominus Prime was assassinated by the Senate tragically died from a rust infection in his fuel pump that had been aggravated by a suicide bomber, the Matrix Flame went out but quite conveniently, someone close to the Senate was displaying the Signs of Affinity. Post Hoc

Springer was also noted to have "arresting, thousand-watt Matrix Blue" optics which made him "compatible". Zero Point

The M.T.O. Getaway was noted to display the Signs, Twenty Plus One which snowballed into a belief that he was destined to become a Prime. This made him most upset when Thunderclash, who had not displayed the Signs, was chosen to briefly carry the Matrix, causing him to view the legendary commander as nothing more than "a glorified trophy cabinet". Filling in the Blanks

After being freed from Tyrest, Getaway and Rodimus made a trip to Luna 1's now dormant hot spot where Getaway gave the ground an experimental tap to test his Affinity. The Sound of Breaking Glass

Upon seizing control of the Lost Light, Getaway ranted to Froid about his dream of the Knights of Cybertron bestowing Primehood onto him and how he displayed all the Signs of Affinity. Froid casually noted that he'd treated dozens of patients who'd thought they were Sign-Sensitive and that these delusions usually served as an indicator of early onset Primus apotheosis. But he didn't think Getaway was crazy. Journey's End

Things that don't exist?

The origin of "signs of affinity" in IDW's fiction is unclear. A 'bot with the signs was considered to be a potential Matrix-bearer, and even noted skeptic Ratchet documented signs of affinity in his patient notes. Twenty Plus One

However, the secret history and demystification of Cybertron's past revealed that many relevant cases of "purported signs" were falsehoods. The Matrix was a fake when Nominus Prime, Sentinel Prime, and Zeta Prime apparently used their "signs" to claim the title and office of Prime. The Divided Self

The very idea of signs of affinity may have been invented by Nova Prime when he established his dynasty after the War of the Thirteen Tribes, or by Nominus Prime to end the Interregnum. Even the true Matrix itself was not the mystical sacred artifact it was immortalized to be. The Unremembering

In truth, the "signs of affinity" may have been nothing more than a myth co-opted by the power hungry to support their claims of divinity.

Except that one time it maybe wasn't. Transformation

Trivia

• The basic idea, if not the name, of the Signs of Affinity was first put forth in the original comic where a handful of Transformers, most notably Thunderwing, were stated to possess a natural affinity for the Creation Matrix.