Editing Protoform

:''Protoforms are part of a Transformer's [[life cycle]] in many Transformers continuities.''

[[File:Protoforms2.jpg|300px|thumb|TeH Nekkid [[Airazor (BW)|AiRrazzer]]!1! L@@K]]

'''Protoforms''' consist of an unspecified, free-flowing, metallic matter layered over basic robotic systems. In many universes, a protoform is the first stage in a [[Transformer]]'s [[life cycle]]. These protoforms only await a life-giving [[spark]] and the alt-form information necessary to transform them into fully functional, living Transformer beings. Often, protoform modes are used to transport Transformers on intergalactic journeys. 

Protoforms are transported or stored in [[stasis lock]], in which state they look like smooth, robotic humanoids. When not in stasis lock, protoforms are a roiling mass of liquid metal around their internal frame.<ref>Protoform states seen in "[[The Spark]]".</ref>

In some universes, existing Transformers can place their sparks in a newly created protoform in order to assume a new form, or to recreate their old one.  This is one way of rapidly repairing even the most extreme damage, by virtue of totally replacing the body.

==Fiction==
===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
[[File:Stasispod.jpg|200px|thumb|...Six canisters washed ashore on a golden beach, and new and powerful legends were - wait, wrong franchise!]]
Protoforms are often contained within [[stasis pod]]s and dropped into unexplored worlds. The ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'' carried many such stasis pods for exploration reasons, and also [[Rampage (BW)|Protoform X]], a failed attempt to create an immortal spark, which was intended for dumping somewhere barren. When the ship was shot down over prehistoric [[Earth]], [[Optimus Primal]] ordered the protoforms on board ejected into space. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} A while later, when the first stasis pod crashed to the ground, [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] was able to use a laser link to activate the pod's [[DNA scanner]], allowing it to scan for compatible life-forms and reformat the protoform inside into [[Tigatron]]. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

While [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] was in her protoform state, [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] was able to install a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[shell program]], turning her against the [[Maximal]]s. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} On a later occasion, [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] worked frantically to save another protoform and the [[spark]] it contained, ultimately succeeding and bringing forth [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]]. {{storylink|The Spark}} Another attempt on Tarantulas's part to create a third spider Predacon failed when it turned out that the stasis pod had already scanned a life form, and metamorphosed the protoform into [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]]. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

The destruction of the [[Vok]] [[Planet Buster]] knocked the remaining stasis pods out of orbit.  Two were damaged on impact, reformatting the protoforms within into [[Fuzor]]s. A third pod found by the Maximals contained a "[[blank]]" — a protoform with no spark. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}} Rhinox was able to bring back Optimus Primal from the dead using the blank protoform. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}} Protoform X also turned up, crashed in a swamp, and was able to be converted into a Predacon by [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} One protoform was twisted by a badly malfunctioning pod into the being which became known as [[Transmutate (character)|Transmutate]]. {{storylink|Transmutate (episode)|Transmutate}}

A blank protoform was used by Megatron in a grand experiment, the ultimate fruit of which was a [[Transmetal 2]] recreation of [[Dinobot II|Dinobot]]. {{storylink|Feral Scream Part 1}}

===''Beast Wars II'' cartoon===
[[File:Protoforms1.jpg|left|thumb|Pretty spry for globs of pudding]]

[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] warriors, who look like protoforms, were shown moving about the Predacon warship using their own power, though they were not shown to speak or have any kind of personality.  After the Predacons had gathered enough information about the machines of [[Gaea]]'s past, they then fed the information into the protoforms via energy waves. The protoforms were then altered into the [[Autoroller]]s. {{storylink|White Lion, Run!}}

The atmosphere of the Planet Gaea could have caused the protoforms to rust. {{storylink|The New Forces Arrive!}} Despite this, a protoform was seen on the bridge of the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'' well into their visit to the planet. {{storylink|The Insect Corps Arrive}}

{{Note|Given that the Autorollers were apparently extant veterans, this would be a case similar to that of [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] and [[Tigatron]] in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", in which an already living Cybertronian had been downloaded into a new protoform body.}}

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===''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
Autobots (and possibly Predacons) can change into a protoform state during long journeys, presumably to conserve energy. Attributes of an Autobot's original form remain in whatever new form the being takes. For instance, [[Scourge (RID)|Scourge]] retained the ability to detect [[O-Part]]s. 

A downside to the protoform process is that it leaves the Autobots vulnerable to tampering. [[Megatron (RID)|Megatron]] was able to use his [[spark]]'s energy to turn Autobot protoforms into [[Decepticon|malevolent entities]]. {{storylink|The Decepticons}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' comics===
Protoforms are the first step in most (if not all) Transformer life. Convicted criminals are sometimes reduced to Protoform state, such as the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]]s. {{Storylink|Revelation (War and Peace)|Revelation}}

===''G.I. Joe vs the Transformers''===
A traditional Cybertronian song features the lines "Protoform/ Protoform/ What will you be?" {{storylink|Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
A crashed P-6 [[Worldsweeper]] on the planet [[Clemency]] contained malformed and warped protoforms inside tanks. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}}

===''Cybertron'' cartoon===
Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life, which is usually followed by [[primary programming]].

===Live-action films===
[[File:Movie OptimusPrime protoform.jpg|thumb|[[Wikipedia:The Terminator|I gotta find some clothes!]]]]

Protoforms grow and survive by feeding inside [[energon]] wombs. ''{{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}'' Protoforms are more than just the first stage of a Transformer's life, they are the "base" form that exists inside each robot. Protoforms are formed of an [[Transformium|ultra-dense liquid metal]] and are extremely hard to damage.

In the rare case they are not actively practicing their natural proclivity for chameleon-like disguise (usually only when engaged in interstellar travel), Transformers shed their exo-structure and return to their protoform state. This protoform is capable of transforming into its [[transition form]]: an armored, cometary shape capable of interstellar travel. Upon landing on a new world and transforming back into a protoform, the Transformer immediately begins [[trans-scan]]ning for new alternate forms to adopt. When one is chosen, the protoform draws on its own ultra-dense substance and any extraneous matter nearby to generate a new exostructure disguise. ''{{Storylink|Transformers: The Movie Guide}}''

[[File:ROTF Protoform with weapon.jpg|thumb|left|In Decepticon culture, it is customary for new recruits to fight completely naked.]]
[[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]'s attempts to breed a new army were met with failure because of low energon supplies, and the "[[hatchling]]s", as they were affectionately termed, were dying. When many Decepticons arrived on Earth with [[The Fallen]] to claim the [[Sun]], they did not bother assuming alternate modes, and remained in their protoforms. They assisted in attacking NEST forces in Egypt where many were killed in a fire fight with the Autobots and Human troops. The remaining ones were killed by a U.S. military air strike. ''{{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}''

Many Decepticon protoforms were hidden on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], and came to [[Earth]] via the [[space bridge]] activated by [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime]]. 

When Sentinel gave the command for the Decepticons to isolate [[Chicago]], many protoforms (some [[Orbital Assault Carrier|airborne]]) assisted in the occupation. One particular protoform pilot came and fired upon [[Sam Witwicky (Movie)|Sam Witwicky]], [[Robert Epps]] and the other [[NEST]] soldiers, but they were saved when the protoform's ship was shot down by [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]. The [[Wrecker]]s came along and ripped the pilot apart, telling him that it would hurt a lot. ''Ouch. (Owie!)''

[[File:Dotm Protoform.jpg|thumb|250px|He shoots at point blank range yet still doesn't kill Que!]]
Later, under the command of [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]], another protoform aided in rounding up several Autobots that had infiltrated the city. At the behest of the human traitor [[Dylan Gould]], Soundwave ordered the Autobot prisoners executed, starting with [[Wheeljack (Movie)|Que]]. [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] pushed the Autobot scientist forward despite his pleas for mercy, and the protoform delivered the first shot, while Barricade killed Que by shooting him in the back, laughing derisively as his victim fell. He then looked on as Soundwave prepared to execute Bumblebee, but before Soundwave could kill him, [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] and [[Brains]] caused Decepticon fighters, as well as some of the Decepticon crew, to crash down from a Decepticon battle-cruiser. This caused a distraction that allowed Bumblebee and the other captive Autobots to break free, resulting in Soundwave's and the protoform's death. The remaining Protoforms were pushed back by the joint Autobot/NEST attack, and Optimus Prime downed many when he charged down the main battle field, including two very large protoforms. Nearly all of the troops present in the city were defeated, while many remained active around the Earth. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}

Footage of several Decepticon Protoforms at the Battle of Chicago was shown by the Government as anti-Transformer propaganda. {{storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

{{Note|"Protoform" is used as a term for the movie continuity Transformers' Cybertronian forms, although this is also a chosen appearance for the [[self-regenerating molecular armor]] formed by the protoform.}}


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===''Animated'' cartoon===
[[File:Ani42 protoformblank.jpg|thumb|200px|[[John DiMaggio|"When I grow up, I wanna be a steam shovel!"]]]]
Protoforms are created from "proto-matter", mined from Cybertron's [[Sonic Canyons]]. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}} In their pre-life state, they resemble featureless grey mannequins, and are stored in pods that line the walls of the secret [[Matrix Chamber]] hidden in the dojo of their assigned protectors, the venerable Autobot [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]]. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} Customarily, prior to being brought on line, protoforms are placed into "moulds", pre-built robot shells, which their proto-matter expands to fill. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} Following this, either the [[AllSpark#Animated|AllSpark]] or the mega-computer [[Vector Sigma]] is used to bestow them with a [[spark]]. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}} It is possible, however, to forego the use of a mould and place a spark in a protoform directly. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} The same basic mould can be used for multiple protoforms, leading to [[Retool|similarities]] in [[body-type]] and transformation schemes; the [[65356-9292-346]] type is particularly popular and widely-used. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}} Where humans would describe themselves as being "born", Transformers are "protoformed". Additionally, "protoform" is sometimes used pejoratively in Cybertronian society as a mocking name for the young or inexperienced.

In the closing stages of the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], Cyber-Ninja sensei [[Yoketron (Animated)|Yoketron]] revealed the Matrix Chamber and its legion of protoforms to his student [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], lamenting that while they should be Cybertron's next great generation, they would wind up being used as an army of last resort if [[Project Omega]] failed to bring the war to an end. Subsequently, while Prowl was absent on a quest to commune with the AllSpark, [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], another former student of Yoketron's, attacked the dojo and stole nearly all of the protoforms for [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}} As luck would have it, Project Omega ''did'' succeed in ending the war, and when the Decepticons were exiled from the planet, they secretly took the stolen protoforms with them. However, without the AllSpark (which had been launched into space by the Autobots to keep it out of his clutches), Megatron had no means of bringing the protoforms to life, and so they remained in storage aboard the space cruiser ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]'' for millions of years. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

[[File:TransWarpedProtoform.jpg|thumb|left|225px|My Meebas live inside this tube, we grow and change with help from you!]]

Some time in the 22nd century, a protoform which had been granted a spark through means unknown, in a highly atypical foetus-like form, somehow materialized on [[Earth]], in the laboratory of human scientist [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]]. When Sumdac touched the protoform, it scanned his DNA, and reconfigured itself into a techno-organic form resembling a human baby. Sumdac "adopted" the strange little creature, naming it [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]], and raising her as his daughter, never telling her of her true origins. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

Eight years after Sumdac found Sari, the quest for the AllSpark brought the Transformers' war to Earth, and Sari and her father became allies of [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]]'s Autobots. To forge a power base for himself, treacherous Decepticon lieutenant [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] set up base in the ''Nemesis'' (which he had crashed on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]]), using the protoforms that still remained in its hold to create an army of clones of himself. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}} Starscream himself had previously died, but was being sustained through a sliver of the AllSpark wedged in his forehead, and so by breaking off tiny chips of it, he was able to give his clones—[[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]], [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]], [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]], [[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]], and [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]]—the spark of life. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

Later, Megatron followed Starscream's example, using three protoforms and three AllSpark fragments to create giant cross-breed clones of [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] and [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], the [[Lugnut Supreme]]s. While Megatron readied his new war machines, Starscream—who had by this point spent a protracted period of time as a decapitated head—used a protoform to create a new body for himself, but it didn't last long: to prevent Starscream from betraying him again, Megatron destroyed his new body, and all the remaining protoforms, save three. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} These three protoforms were then recovered by Optimus Prime's Autobots during their battle with the Lugnut Supremes. Sari believed that she was originally one of the protoforms who had been aboard the Nemesis, but her unusual shape and form while in protoform state, and the unanswered question of how she wound up in her father's lab, left the matter lacking in a definitive resolution. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

===''Prime''===
[[File:Armada-protoforms.jpg|left|thumb|300px|]]
Protoforms were created by the [[AllSpark]] in the [[Well of All Sparks]]. In the past, protoforms would escape from the [[Underworld]] to the Cybertronian surface, but in the era of the [[caste system]], they would be taught to transform, assume their most natural alternate mode, and be put to work. Protoforms remained the standard name for one's [[robot mode]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus}}

Five protoforms were stored in a laboratory aboard the ''[[Harbinger]]''. When [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] found them, he turned them into [[Starscream clone (Prime)|clones of himself]]. These clones, linked to Starscream's very spark and will, were sent on a mission to assassinate Megatron. Of the five, only one escaped, and was later killed by Starscream himself when it attempted to terminate him. {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}}
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==Toys==
Toys representing transitional protoform modes have been made for several characters from the [[Movie (franchise)|live-action Movie]] universe:
===Transformers (2007)===
[[File:Movie ProtoformOptimusPrime toy.jpg|300px|thumb|Munkytrukk feet!]]
*'''Protoform [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]''' (Deluxe Class, 2007), later [[redeco]]rated as Protoform Optimus Prime Fusion Cluster Edition. This form is usually Optimus Prime's pre-Earth body in [[IDW Publishing]]'s ''Transformers'' movie prequel comics.

*'''Protoform [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]''' (Deluxe, 2007), later redecorated as Protoform Starscream Fusion Cluster Edition. This form is usually Starscream's pre-Earth body in IDW's ''Transformers'' movie prequel comics.

* '''Trans Scanning [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]''' (2008)
* '''Trans Scanning Optimus Prime''' (2008)

:Both Trans-Scanning Bumblebee and Optimus Prime feature a highly articulated protoform robot mode that can transform into its comet-like transition mode. Snap-on armour based on their Earth robot and vehicle modes represent the characters after they have trans-scanned vehicles.

===Robot Heroes===
*[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]] [[Jazz (Movie)|Protoform Autobot Jazz]] vs. [[Brawl (Movie)|Decepticon Brawl]]

==Notes==
* [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s Cybertronian form depicted in ''Transformers'' [[Movie (franchise)|Movie]] comics and toys greatly resembles a protoform, presumably because it was Hasbro's only reference for an alien Autobot appearance.

* In ''Beast Wars'', [[Nanite]]s are the fundamental component of a protoform.<ref name=BWU>Page 99, ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' Glossary, ''[[Beast Wars Universe]]'' ISBN 978-4766938005</ref>

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Prototype''' (プロトタイプ, ''Purototaipu'', ''Beast Wars''), '''Cyberdrone''' (サイバドローン, ''Saibadorōn'', ''Car Robots''), '''Protoform''' (プロトフォーム, ''Purotofōmu'', Live-action film series, ''Animated'', ''Prime'')

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Beast Wars II]]
[[Category:Biology]]
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[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Movie]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise]]
[[Category:Wings Universe]]