Transformer romance

"I'll spend the rest of my existence trying to save his afterburner, then he finally returns the favor by plugging into me while I am unconscious. Ours is a healthy relationship."

Some will vehemently refuse to admit it exists. Others really don't care about the brand beyond it. Regardless of opinions, Transformers engaging in or pursuing interaction of a romantic nature is a well-established element in pretty much every continuity. For the most part, Transformers are observed searching for romantic partners amongst their own kind, but attraction to organic lifeforms and even non-living objects has been documented as well.

Some wonder why a species that likely does not reproduce sexually would participate in behavior that in other creatures exists as a means to promote sex and thereby new life. While a definitive answer to this has yet to be given, the question as to why Transformers become romantically involved with one another can be approached from a different angle. Transformers are a highly social species. This is shown through their very human-like society, interpersonal interactions, familial relationships, and even the fairly common practice of merging bodies and minds. If these are not frowned upon, then why should social connections of the romantic kind be regarded much differently, if at all? Perhaps there is no reason for them to engage in romance, but then there is equally no reason for them not to.

Though rather obscure, there is even an official term for two Transformers in a relationship: "sparkmates". Existing as a fan term mostly, it has been used in two official sources, the end-of-game bio for Airazor, in reference to her and Tigatron, in the Nintendo 64 version of the "Beast Wars Transmetals" video game and again in Venus. In addition, Downshift's Cyber Key Code info appears to refer to Transformer marriage in stating that he and his lifebond partner "joined together under the Covenant of Primus".

Most recently, IDW's ongoing series, More Than Meets The Eye, refers to a Transformer in a committed, intimate partnership as a "Conjunx Endura",

Orientation

It will forever be a shame he wasn't in Cybertron.

The most common observation of Cybertronian romance is between a male and a female Transformer. Considering the general scarcity of female Transformers, and perhaps the absence of sexual reproduction, this is a rather interesting if odd situation. Second to that are the number of noted relations between a Transformer and an organic, equally so almost solely between a (nominally) male and female. These become more frequent as the gender balance becomes less even, even if that is a direct result of Transformers allegedly being genderless. Third in line come "couples" that consist of a Transformer fawning over a not-living object, often regarding it as of the opposite gender.

Until recently, same-gender interests were comparatively rare. The Japanese version of Beast Wars had Airazor as a male, making his relation with Tigatron the first known instance of a homosexual Transformer couple. At a distance follow Energon Mirage, who had the (unrequited) hots for Galvatron, and Generation 1 Sunstreaker, who may have been gay in the Dreamwave continuity. (Dick Gautier jokingly "confirmed" that Rodimus Prime is gay at BotCon 2002, in response to panel-mate Michael McConnohie being asked if Tracks was. This is obviously not canon.) The current IDW Ongoing Comic More Than Meets The Eye introduced several current and past romantic relationships that centred around mnemosurgeon Chromedome, as well as floating the potential for other "canon couples" in the title.

Transformer/organic relations are not any richer in this regard. Paddles had a clear fondness of the humans Randall and Ed, and Magnificus and Ga'mede might have something going between them, but that's about it. A note could be made on the fair chance that Tigatron's beast mode represents a female tiger and was scanned from his partner Snowstalker, yet that is speculation at best.

Bender from Futurama finds a friend at the Ark 1 Memorial Statue...

The real-world explanation for the overall scarcity of anything specific between two of the same gender is that Transformers above all exists to sell toys to children and so has to play in on the wishes and expectations of the assumed general audience. Even if attitude is improving, heterosexuality is still the default assumption and favoured option. A few same gender-relations may have appeared in fiction over time, at least the most prominent one by accident, but for the moment, writers still prefer to haul up Arcee or insert a new female (Transformer) to fill the romance niche than play up that sort of interaction in same gender context.

Due to the comic lines having a traditionally older audience, the glass ceiling was shattered with IDW's More than Meets the Eye, which depicted Chromedome and Rewind in a millennia-long relationship, in which they were named as each other's "significant other"... and that this relationship is not the first either have had. The relationship is perhaps not out-and-out romance as humans would think or feel it, but author James Roberts has commented that this is because he imagines Transformers don't have relationships in exactly the same way humans do; he leaves no doubt that "Chromedome and Rewind each regard the other as the most important person in their life." That Rewind out-and-out says "I love you" in a message to Chromedome only hammers it home.

(And yes, there is the fact that IDW has previously established that Transformers are genderless in their continuity, and there are no female Transformers as "options". But let's not kid ourselves about what we're seeing here.)

Sex

"Oh, Convoy! Your shift lever is dirty," Marissa exclaims. "It must be from when I spilled soft serve ice cream on you before. I will wipe it clean for you now."
(NOTE: We didn't make that up. That actually, canonically happened.)

The hints are few and far between, but Transformers is not devoid of the possibility Transformers might engage in sexual activities (for recreational purposes). Kissing is a regularly observed sign of affection and in The Headmasters episode "Return of the Immortal Emperor", Chromedome was rather thrilled he got to see Arcee transform. Nevertheless, Beast Wars was the first to pick up the subject in a more direct manner: in the episode "The Agenda (Part 1)", Rattrap offers to take Silverbolt to what sounds like a Cybertronian version of a strip club, and later slyly makes a double entendre regarding Silverbolt's suspected kinky activities with Blackarachnia. Meanwhile, the Japanese dub has Rattrap, thinking himself about to be stabbed by Dinobot, ask his attacker to "be gentle, because I've heard the first time can hurt."

References and innuendoes have sporadically been appearing since. Beast Wars Neo featured the character Archadis, who makes a sport out of coming up with double entendres. Scarlett and Bumblebee had a suggestive conversation about "riding" him in "Wolves", and in "The Art of War issue 3", Arcee promised Bumblebee to "rotate his tires" if he could beat her, to which he responded with a most enthusiastic "Wooo-Hooo!". In the Dreamwave issue "Infestation", one remark from Sunstreaker might suggest the existence of Transformer S.T.D.'s. In the ever-questionable Kiss Players double-entendres ran rife, with one of the most disturbing involving Optimus Prime deriving pleasure from Marissa Faireborn polishing his stick shift and rubbing the rim of his gas tank, which are pretty clear metaphors for... well... y'know.

And that's about it as far as canon is concerned. If you really want to know more on the matter of Transformer sex, an exciting world of fan stories exploring that subject awaits you. Take note that doing so will be at your own risk, and TFWiki accepts no liability for any psychological trauma incurred.

Transformer - Transformer

“	But me Grimlock still taller than you. That why Spider-Lady like me Grimlock best.	”
—Grimlock, making sure no one else tries a move on his love interest, "Black Friday"

Most commonly, Transformers stick to their own kind when becoming romantically entangled. This is to be expected, as those of their own kind share the cultural and bio-technological mindset that makes their personalities more likely to be compatible. Despite the low number of female Transformers, most relations seen thus far are between a female and a male. What this means for Transformer culture - Are relations something rare? Is there programming or something that only connects a male to a female and vice versa? And if so, why does it exist? - goes unexplained.

In one universe, a Transformer can designate another Transformer his Conjunx Endura, or significant other.

Cases

Generation 1

"I didn't know giant robots had testosterone."

• Elita One (Ariel) - Optimus Prime (Orion Pax)
• Chromia - Ironhide The Search for Alpha Trion
• Arcee - Hot Rod
• Arcee - Springer
• Arcee - Chromedome The Headmasters
• Arcee - Bumblebee The Art of War
• Nancy - Wreck-Gar The Big Broadcast of 2006
• Octane once tried to tune in an image of a disturbingly sexualized unnamed female robot. Make of that what you will. Starscream's Ghost
• Technically or something, Overlord is married to him/herself. Super-God Masterforce
• Esmeral - Deszaras who, unique to other Transformers relationships, are explicitly stated to be husband and wife. Victory
• Clipper - Holi Victory
• Star Saber blushed and was a little lost on words when Clipper complimented him. Holi didn't like this. Planet Micro - The Mysterious Warrior
• The rest of Holi's team is sad they don't have girlfriends. Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress
• Devcon found himself some pleasant company on Spaceport CSSB-16. Disclosure
• San D-Go once had plans to marry Discharge, apparently directly inspired by that aspect of human culture. Whether there was an actual romantic relationship involved is unknown. San D-Go's Micromaster toy bio
• Raker is a shameless flirt to female robots. Raker's Micromaster toy bio
• Overkill is planning on getting himself a whole harem of girl-bots. The Art of War issue 5
• Magnum has a girlfriend. Wings of Honor
• Wheelie had parents when he crashed on Quintessa. The Story of Wheelie, the Wild Boy of Quintesson
• Swindle once dated Thunderblast, and is a bit of a skirt-chaser in general. Flames of Yesterday
• Side Burn has a thing for fembots (specifically ones in red) and isn't above impersonating an elite guardsman to get sympathy. Battle Lines, Part 1
  • And thinks a femicon with a sword is hot. Battle Lines, Part 3
• Chromedome - Pivot The Gloaming
• Chromedome - Mach The Gloaming
• Chromedome - Scattergun The Gloaming
• Chromedome - Rewind Before & After

Beast Era

File:ScyllaMolest1.jpg

Bad touch is good humor if done by a girl.

• Airazor - Tigatron
• Blackarachnia - Silverbolt
• Cheetor, Quickstrike and Waspinator all had crushes on Blackarachnia. Tarantulas had feelings towards her that we'll leave to the imagination.
• Botanica - Rattrap
• Strika - Obsidian
• Scylla and Artemis both fancy Scuba. In turn, Bighorn has a crush on Scylla, while Artemis also likes Starscream.
• While technically not a Transformer, DNAVI is in love with Guiledart.
• Rāge - Stampy To Jellyfish with Love! Cry Out, Stampy Blade

Unicron Trilogy

• Mirage displays romantic interest in Galvatron. Energon
• Downshift has a female lifebond partner whose name has yet to be revealed. Downshift's Cyber Key Code info
• Shortround fancies Thunderblast. Naturally, she does not reciprocate.
• Thunderblast - Just about anybody who's big and powerful.
• Ransack is quite the skirt chaser. He used to have a relation with a "cute scooter", but eventually dumped her. Landmine He also harbored a secret crush on Override, Ransack's Cyber Key Code info and tried to win over Thunderblast by winning the Speedia 500. Beginning
• Buzzsaw tried to cheer up the Upstart's crew by reminding them of the perks of seeking out the colony worlds. Starting his list came "naive small planetoid femme-bots." ...Yes. Let's hope that when he closed his speech with "all of it untouched for centuries or more... until we show up," he was only talking about the energon reserves at the end of the list. Force of Habit

Live-action movies

• Jetfire claims to have a mother and a father. Primus knows what that means, but we might as well try to be complete about this list. Revenge of the Fallen
• In her spare time, Arcee runs a lonely-hearts ad column called Arcee's soulmates. Many 'bots write letters in for it mostly expecting replies from other 'bots. Star Screams

Transformers Animated

In case you needed visual recognition that he has the hots for her.

• Sentinel Prime used to date Elita-1 until, well... The AllSpark Almanac
• Grimlock, Snarl, Swoop and Wasp/Waspinator each have (had) a one-sided crush on Blackarachnia.
• Blackarachnia and Optimus Prime seem to have feelings for each other. Along Came a Spider
• Starscream flirted with his female clone upon meeting her. A Bridge Too Close, Part I
• Sari Sumdac once considered Afterburn dreamy. It is unclear if this opinion is to be attributed to her dormant Transformer half though. Transformers Animated
• Strika - Lugnut. Strika's tech spec bio The AllSpark Almanac
• Ratchet has an unnamed girlfriend from Crystal City. The AllSpark Almanac
• Wreck-Gar once believed Sari Sumdac wanted to go steady with him. Human Error, Part II
• Botanica - Rattletrap. The AllSpark Almanac II
• Flareup - Warpath. The AllSpark Almanac II
• Glyph and Volks used to date long ago. And Volks is something of a Ladiesbot217-type. The AllSpark Almanac II

TransTech

• Jackpot is obsessed (but very unlucky) with fembots. Among his unsuccessful projects are Roulette and Airazor. Gone Too Far
• Crystal Widow had an unnamed lover before becoming stuck in Axiom Nexus. Withered Hope
• One of the ways Airazor can be bribed is by "providing her with a handsome companion", according to Crystal Widow. Withered Hope

Shattered Glass

• Elita-One - Rodimus Blitzwing Bop

Prime

• Breakdown once expressed feelings for Airachnid. Stronger, Faster Looks like even Cybertronian love hurts too. Crossfire
• Ratchet, in an Energon-induced daze of strength and adrenaline, flirtatiously winked at Arcee. Causing a much awkward response from the latter. Stronger, Faster
• Bumblebee and Arcee hinted at an infatuation between each other until Starscream killed the moment. Predacons Rising
• Arcee and Wheeljack showed romantic tension after a mission authorized by Ratchet got the two of them to know each other while fighting Vehicon Troopers and hunting a predacon backbone. Miko told Jack that he'd "been jacked by another 'Jack." whom she was referring to Wheeljack. There was a brief glimpse of Arcee and Wheeljack holding hands until they parted and Wheeljack rejoined Bulkhead. Miko made a sly comment about Bulkhead and Wheeljack's relationship versus his with Arcee's saying "Bromance trumps Romance." Plus One

Transformer - organic

“	We don't have to be the same outside to share the same feeling inside.	”
—Alana speaks words every Autobot Commander dreads, "Sea Change"

Perhaps because reproduction does not seem to be a motivation for them to become romantically involved or perhaps because finding a proper partner among their own kind is not always an easy task, more than one Transformer at one point in their life made nice with an organic lifeform. However, virtually nothing is known about how the long-term cases worked out, what with physical differences such as size, lifespan and aging, and cultural differences - up front the constant influence of the war.

As to why organic lifeforms sometimes get head-over-heels for beings that can't fulfill the very reason they seek out partners, is another matter. In the case of humans, several authoritative works have been written on relevant aspects of their biology. Readers are advised to seek them out for further reference.

Cases

Generation 1

PGA PDA

• Skids and Charlene Showdown!
• Sludge took a deep liking to Joy Meadows UK Marvel comics
• Wreck-Gar believed Ultra Magnus's care for Cindy Newell was of the "nudge. nudge. wink. wink." variety. Fire on High!
• While Cloudburst clumsily tried to explain the First One why he wasn't interested in her, Landmine got cozy in the next room with several other Femaxians. Recipe for Disaster!
• Stranglehold had a dream involving two ladies there for his affections. They are supposedly organic-based, because while Stranglehold's humanoid appearance is his Pretender shell, female Transformers officially don't exist in the Marvel continuity, so it's not likely they are Pretenders. End of the Road!
• Powerglide - Astoria Carlton-Ritz The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
• Seaspray - Alana Sea Change
• Michelle totally got it on with Rodimus. Though to be fair, he was human at the time. Only Human
• Wheelie had a thing for Papika. Head Formation of Friendship
• Lander once was in the middle of a date but unceremoniously ditched his partner after he got an emergency-call from Metalhawk. Rise Up!! Pretenders
• Starscream quite fell for Jenny's charms. Full Throttle Scramble Power!
• Jazz - Marissa Faireborn Generation One
• Bumblebee - Scarlett Transformers/G.I. Joe
• Glide is known to pick up cute human girls and give them rides on his motorcycle mode. Glide's Micromaster toy bio
• Autorooper - Atari Hitotonari Kiss Players
• Hot Rod - Shaoshao Li Kiss Players
• Optimus Prime - Marissa Faireborn Kiss Players
• Sunstreaker drives faster if he smells Junko Shiragami's marigold-scented hair. Make of that what you will. Binaltech Asterisk
• Paddles took a deep liking to Randall and Ed. Paddles

Beast Era

• Tigatron - Snowstalker
• Possibly, Optimus Primal once fell for a female gorilla. A Greater Ape
• When Diver was singing, he attracted a lot of female frogs out of his expectation. Demolish the Superdreadnought Tank!

Unicron Trilogy

• Starscream - Alexis. Armada

Live-action film series

See it like this: rather a leghugger than a facehugger.

• Wheelie thought that Mikaela Banes was hot. Revenge of the Fallen
• He later shifted his attentions to Carly Spencer. Dark of the Moon

Prime

• In the Japanese dub, Airachnid is head-over-heels in love with Jack, even going so far as to aggressively propose marriage to him (Jack, incidentally, does not reciprocate the affection). Mystery Insect Transformation! Forest of the Spider Woman!

Transformer - non-living object

“	And when we get back home, I want Bumblebee to meet my brother's convertible. We call her Juanita, and I think the two of them will get along just fine.	”
—Luisa, quite likely one of the very few humans who does not find this an awkward subject, "Fire on the Mountain"

While the ability to at least exchange thoughts can explain the interest some Transformers have for beings not belonging to their own kind, that pretty much doesn't go for the interest some of them have for non-living objects. Unless the fact they often treat them as if alive has something to do with it. This is possibly not as odd as it seems: Transformers are, after all, part object themselves, some even having been upgraded from a mere piece of machinery. In that sense, it is perhaps harder to understand why it doesn't happen more often. Fancy that sleek piece of car? Oh, so it's one of those not talking back? Nothing that can't be helped! Or alternatively, it comes very close to the real thing and one can be certain not to be rejected by it.

Cases

Generation 1

• Luisa wanted to introduce Bumblebee to her brother's convertible "Juanita". Bumblebee seemed to appreciate that plan. Fire on the Mountain
• Iguanus and his own Pretender shell Iguanus's toy bio
• Rook and the Running Cogs Award for Captivating Journalism Around Cybertron #17

Robots in Disguise

'Burn tricycle

• Side Burn has a thing for pretty red sportcars.

Unicron Trilogy

• QuickFire - Starheart Lonesome Diesel

Live-action movies

• Dialog from their trans-scan of new alternate modes may suggest Skids and Mudflap had sexual thoughts towards their new alternate modes.

Transformers Animated

• Scrapper and Mixmaster like sportcars almost as much as Side Burn does. Rise of the Constructicons