Editing Functionism

{{faction|functionist}}
'''Functionism''' is a belief system and social structure where a Cybertronian's role in society is defined by their [[alternate mode]]. Construction vehicles are required to engage in manual labor employment, for instance, while a proton microscope would be allowed to seek out intellectual pursuits. A generic but sturdy truck alt-mode, like [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]], would be seen to have multiple potential uses and therefore open multiple doors in society for him. Originally envisioned by [[Nova Prime]] as an orderly alternative to the wars preceding his rulership, functionism apparently reached an apex during the reign of [[Nominus Prime]].

Functionists often have a religious underlining to their beliefs, accepting that a forged alt-mode is the will of [[Adaptus]], the [[Guiding Hand]]'s god of forms and contemporary of [[Primus|Primus Lifegiver]] himself.

Functionism divides and classifies Cybertronians according to the [[Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy]], which ranks individuals based on the ubiquity or rarity of their alternate modes. Under a practice known as '''ratioism''', higher social standings are provided for those with less common forms, and vice versa. The most common alternate modes, such as memory sticks and laser pointers, were lumped together under the [[disposable class]], who were harshly discriminated against. [[Beast mode|Beast]] transformers were treated only moderately better.

The specifics of functionism were determined by a [[Functionist Council]], though by the present day both the Council and the social structure it upheld are long gone.

==Fiction==
===2005 IDW continuity===
The seeds of functionism were planted upon the conclusion of the [[First Cybertronian Civil War]] ten million years ago, when [[Prima]]'s surviving lieutenant [[Nova Prime|Nova Major]] ended the war and, with the blessing of the last of the [[Thirteen]], [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], took on the mantle of Prime to become sole leader of Cybertron. When [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Onyx Prime]]'s surviving servant [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] pondered what would become of him and his beast-form brethren, Nova explained that he envisioned a unified Cybertronian society where everyone would be "in their place". Alpha Trion would later claim that this did not sound sinister at the time. {{storylink|The Crucible}} Functionism became prominent on Cybertron in the last six million years, after the disappearance of the first ''Ark''. A Cybertronian's status was determined not only by the utility of their alt-mode, but also its scarcity. The more unique an alt-mode was, the higher a Cybertronian could climb in society, and vice versa. At one point, Cybertronians who transformed into memory sticks were so common, they were considered a "[[disposable class]]" and treated as little more than slaves. {{storylink|Before & After}} The only way out was to qualify for the [[intellectual class]] {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} or perform a task of note such as finding a [[Point One Percenter]] spark {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} and be declared alt-mode exempt. Other classes included the [[scientific class]] who transformed into laboratory equipment, the [[manual class]]es consisting of miners, haulers, and the like, {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} as well as management and administrative classes, who rated between them. Exactly what they turned into is unknown. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}} [[Outlier (group)|Outliers]] were persecuted under functionism due to not fitting in their neat categories, {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} as was [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] when no-one could work out what his alt-mode was actually ''for''. {{storylink|Little Victories}} Cybertronians with non-humanoid [[robot mode]]s were also looked down upon and treated as little more than beasts. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

Under unknown circumstances, functionism became a less totalitarian philosophy during the reign of Nominus Prime. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}} Functionist hardliners still existed, such as in the town of [[Petrex]] where complaining about one's alt-mode was punishable by prison. Elsewhere on Cybertron, though, it was acceptable to defy Adaptus and undergo full-body retrofitting to change alt-modes permanently... provided you had enough credits. For a more modest fee, [[Relinquishment Clinic]]s offered "body tourism", using sparkswap technology to let Cybertronians temporarily try out a different alt-modes from a "donor". {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}}

Functionism labelled and categorized citizens by something beyond their control, and so it inevitably prompted a negative response. The [[Militant Monoform Movement]], who rejected Adaptus and their [[transformation cog]]s, may have arisen as a direct response to the dictates of functionism. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}} More famously, or perhaps infamously, [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]] and the [[Decepticon]]s got started as members of the manual classes rejecting the functionist doctrine of the Senate that restricted their place in society. {{storylink|The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin}}

While the [[Senate]] made use of the functionist system, by the Decepticon's time they were not subordinate to the functionists and the Council. It's probably not a coincidence that when the Senate killed two Decepticons so they could 'solve' the murder, the killers were framed as pro-Functionists. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Later, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] came to the mistaken but not unreasonable conclusion that the Senate was trying to exterminate an entire [[hot spot]] so it couldn't be used as evidence of divine functionism. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

In the present day, some Neo-Functionists were active on [[The Big Conversation]], a Decepticon social networking site, where they trolled anyone who revealed details of their alt-mode. {{storylink|Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!}}

====The Functionist Universe====
In [[Functionist Universe|an alternate timeline]], the Functionist Council had gone to war against the [[Senate]] {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}} and conquered Cybertron: the intellectual class outlawed, disposable class unable to talk to their betters, [[Functionary]] enforcers on every corner, and [[obsolescence chip]]s planted in everyone's head so that when their [[theoconomist]]s agreed an alt-mode had no further use, the Council could issue a "[[mass recall]]". The laser pointers, the [[Lunabot]]s, and the [[data slug]]s (the [[theoconomist]]s ruled they had a purpose but they were a ''threat'' to the Council's rule) were among those exterminated. In this timeline it was still possible, at least in the past, to be declared alt-mode exempt {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}} but bots such as [[Sweep (IDW)|Sweep]] were more likely to be declared "alt-mode exalted", and venerated for their actions - and told to get back to work. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

When Functionist Council member [[Six-of-Twelve]] began receiving mysterious "visions", he believed them to be the word of [[Primus]]. In preparation for a war he believed was coming, Six-of-Twelve began violating the core ideals of functionism, preparing for the conflict by transplanting the [[Spark]]s of Cybertronians into combat-ready bodies. This blasphemy compelled [[Nine-of-Twelve]] to defect and join the [[Anti-Vocationist League]]. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[Ser-Ket (BWU)|Ser-Ket]] and [[Break]] regarded post-war Cybertronian society as quasi-functionist. {{storylink|Head Games}} {{storylink|Derailment}}

===Spacewarp's Log===
After encountering [[Galaxy Shuttle]] in [[Nexus 208.0 Epsilon]], [[Spacewarp]] remarked to [[You|her viewers]], "someone was named by a Functionist, know what I'm sayin'?" {{storylink|Transformers: Spacewarp's Log|Spacewarp's Log (2), 2015/11/21}}

==Notes==
*As originally introduced in IDW's 2008 comic ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]'', the social inequality on Cybertron was not specifically tied to alternate mode. This idea would only be introduced in the 2010 novel ''[[Transformers: Exodus]]'' (part of the [[Aligned continuity family]]), which adapted Megatron's origin from the IDW series outward, establishing that Cybertron operated under a prejudiced caste system that locked Transformers into certain jobs and social roles based on their alt mode. This concept then crossed back over into IDW's comics the following year, with 2011's [[Chaos Theory Part 1|''Transformers'' #22]], eventually being given the name "Functionism" in 2012's ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]''.
*No "Aligned" stories have used the term "Functionism" to refer to the system in that continuity, as the [[Functionist Council]] who conceived the system in IDW's comics did not exisit in the "Aligned" universe. Similarly, the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (cartoon)|War for Cybertron Trilogy]]'' also draws on ideas of Functionism for its version of the Decepticons' origin (with Megatron and [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] both noting they were "predetermined" to toil away in the mines), but likewise does not use the name. {{storylink|Siege episode 1}} {{storylink|Siege episode 3}}

==See also==
*[[Caste system]]

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