Editing Technorganic

[[Image:Thereformattingmaximalsmaximize.jpg|right|350px|thumb|They changed bodies...''[[To sell toys|again]]''?]]

'''Technorganic''' describes certain types of beings whose physiology includes both technological and biological components, often melded at a cellular level.

==Fiction==
===''Beast Machines'' cartoon===
The first technorganic Transformers were [[Optimus Primal]]'s team of [[Maximal]]s, who were [[reformatting|reformatted]] by the power of the [[Vector Sigma|Oracle]].  {{storylink|The Reformatting}}

These technorganic Transformer were no longer purely technological robots, nor were they organic life forms.  In Primal's words, they were "both, and neither"—a balance of organic and mechanical, combining the strengths of both.  Though they still retained the ability to change between two forms, transformation now required conscious thought and effort, as well as a certain sort of mental discipline. They had to achieve an internal, zen-like mental balance, or "still point" as Optimus referred to it, and will themselves into their other mode.  Primal, [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] used the mantra "I am transformed" to help until they got the hang of doing it on their own. If this state of mental balance was lost, a technorganic Transformer in robot mode would revert to their beast mode. {{storylink|Master of the House}} Several later technorganics seemed to get the knack of transforming right away; [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]], [[Botanica]] and [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]] seem to master the process immediately. {{storylink|Forbidden Fruit}} {{storylink|In Darkest Knight}} {{storylink|Home Soil}}

The on-board computers which previously handled such things were no more.  Their transformation was not a mechanical shifting of moving parts, as with their robotic predecessors. For most, it appeared more like fluid shape-shifting, generally accompanied by a burst of bright energy. {{storylink|Master of the House}}

Primal's techorganic Maximals were invisible to traditional scanners while in beast mode, no longer giving off an "energy signature" like ordinary machines. However, when in their robot mode, they were as readily detectable as any other Transformer. {{storylink|Fires of the Past}}

Technorganic Transformers appear to be highly resistant to injury with highly-advanced internal "nanosurgical" healing abilities.  {{storylink|Survivor}}

Optimus Primal's band of technorganic Maximals possessed powerful (almost supernatural) combat abilities. Seemingly all technorganics would have similar capabilities.  {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}  Though powerful and durable, the technorganics were not invulnerable. Sufficient conventional firepower could render them unconscious  {{storylink|Mercenary Pursuits}} or even physically damage them, and they were vulnerable to the same sort of [[Spark extractor]]s which [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] used on conventional Transformers.

On one occasion, ingesting a seemingly organic fruit caused Primal and his team to mentally devolve into primitives. When the tree that generated this fruit was slashed by Cheetor, it shattered into fragments, as if it were a digital illusion, and the fruit's effect was immediately undone. Primal concluded that the fruit's organic nature was devolving their bodies.  {{storylink|Forbidden Fruit}}

Another vulnerability came from the [[Key to Vector Sigma]], a device which converted organics into "[[technomatter]]". When applied to the technorganic Maximals, it caused them to convert to a metalized state, resulting pain and hysteria; it could eventually have resulted in deactivation if its effects were not reverted.  {{storylink|The Key}}

The technorganic ethos extended beyond the Maximals themselves, to new plantlife {{storylink|Fallout}}, and eventually the planet itself.   Cybertron had long been a planet of metal upon metal, "technology" alone. According to Primal's interpretation of the Oracle, the returning Beast Warriors brought with them organic components of the planets they had visited, allowing the Oracle to begin the process of reformatting the planet to be technorganic. The Maximals eventually discovered Cybertron's organic core, with deep sublevels comprised of soil and containing organic fossils, such as the one scanned by Nightscream.

At the end of the conflict, Cybertron was reformatted planet-wide, creating a new [[Earth]]-like world, a mix of technorganic flora and fauna, oceans (presumably full of [[water]]), and vast cities of varying construction; some largely technorganic in nature {{storylink|Abduction}}, others retaining more "traditional" inorganic metal or stonework construction, depending on the part of the planet.  {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

{{note|Just what the reformatting of Cybertron implies for [[Primus]], whose body ''is'' Cybertron, is unknown. [[Marv Wolfman]], who did the series outline for ''Beast Machines'', did not have the Primus origin in mind: "No thoughts were ever made re: the Marvel version while I worked on the concept. Fact is, I never even read that. I did what I thought would make a good series concept." [http://tfarchive.com/fandom/interviews/marvwolfman/] }}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic===
[[Image:MTMTEArmada-Predacon.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Predacon loves marching in Iacon's "Organic Pride Day" parade.]]

[[Predacon (Armada)|Predacon]] experimented on himself with "biomechanical" technology to integrate organic tissue into his Cybertronian robotics, something that most other Transformers were said to find repulsive. {{storylink|More Than Meets The Eye (Armada)|''More Than Meets The Eye'' bio}}
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===''Animated'' cartoon===
[[Image:TFAni Predacons Rising Blackarachina sans Helmet.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Not a being currently found at your local rave club.]]

[[Elita-1]] became the first techno-organic. Blackarachnia after an accident in which she tried to use her ability-absorbing power on an organic species of alien spider. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}  She found this state of being repulsive and was obsessed with finding a "cure" to restore her to an entirely robotic state. This, along with devices like the "organic detector" on the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard's]] [[Elite Guard ship|ship]], implied that it was considered unnatural and probably disgusting for Transformers to have any organic components whatsoever.

[[Isaac Sumdac]] discovered a [[protoform]] in his laboratory. While examining it, his DNA somehow mixed with the protoform while it was activating, creating the techno-organic [[Sari Sumdac]], who he adopted and raised as his daughter. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

[[Wasp]] became techno-organic when he was experimented on by Blackarachina using modifed [[Transwarp]] pods. {{storylink|Predacons Rising}}
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=="Technorganic" in ''Beast Wars''==
[[Image:Optimusprimalbw.jpg|right|160px|thumb|He&#39;s furry, but was he organic?]]

Though ''Beast Machines'' introduced the term "technorganic" and used it to refer very specifically to living entities blending machine and organic at the cellular level, subsequent media under the ''Beast Wars'' banner has used the term to describe to pre-''Beast Machines'' characters:

* IDW's ''[[Beast Wars Sourcebook]]'' makes frequent references to characters possessing features like "technorganic musculature".
* The [[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide|Ultimate Guide]] refers both to [[Optimus Primal]]'s beast mode and all [[Transmetal|Transmetals]] as "techno-organic" (with hyphen).
* The term '''bio-mechanical''' crops up occasionally in bios and reference books, used synonymously with this use of "technorganic" in reference to pre-''[[Beast Machines]]'' beast warriors.

It remains unclear what the ''[[Beast Wars]]''-era characters were.  One would think that they were ''not'' technorganic according to the ''Beast Machines'' definition, since that would have rendered the distinction (and their reformatting) meaningless.  [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|The original ''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] never clearly explained whether their animal parts were comprised of genuinely living organic tissue, or were made of faux-biological synthetic matter, but most evidence points toward their beast modes essentially being a fleshy "shell" or "fur coat" surrounding the inner robot &agrave; la [[Pretender]] shells, rather than the cellular fusion described by ''Beast Machines''.

The terms "technorganic" and "biomechanical" have been used to describe characters from other, non-[[Beast Era]] ''Transformers'' franchises—generally characters based on redecoed [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toys]] such as [[Cheetor (Armada)|''Armada'' Cheetor]]. In the absence of a full backstory, however, the exact meaning of those terms in those continuities is unclear.
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==References==
<references />

[[Category:Armada]]
[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Beast Machines]]
[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Transformer culture]]