Technorganic

This article is about the part organic, part mechanical Transformers. For the part organic, part mechanical creations of the Quintessons, see Trans-Organic.

They changed bodies...again?

Technorganic—or less often, techno-organic—describes certain types of Transformers whose physiology includes both technological and biological components.

What can I say, it's the next big thing!Blackarachnia, "Predacons Rising"

Fiction

Beast Wars cartoon continuity

Beast Machines cartoon

So what are we? Robots, or animals?"
"Both... and neither.Cheetor and Optimus Primal, "Master of the House"

The Oracle possessed the ability to reformat any compatible Transformer into a technorganic body, as part of its mission to perpetuate the Great Reformatting. To this end, it sought out the recently returned Optimus Primal and guided him to the Vector Sigma Chamber. There, the Oracle reformatted the four Maximals, creating the first technorganic Transformers. The Reformatting The Oracle used the organic matter brought back from prehistoric Earth by Primal's crew as the basis for this dramatic upgrade. Apocalypse These new technorganic forms melded organic tissue and technology at the cellular level, combining the strengths of both. Master of the House

Though they still retained the ability to change between two modes, the Maximals had to re-learn how to transform by conscious thought and effort, a practice long since abandoned in favour of automating the process via the onboard computers that their new bodies lacked. Their new bodies transformed through fluid shape-shifting, accompanied by a burst of brightly-coloured energy. Master of the House To do so, they practiced a mental discipline that saw them achieve a zen-like "still point". Some of them 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 usually revert to their beast mode. Master of the House Several later technorganics seemed to get the knack of transforming right away; Silverbolt, Botanica and Nightscream seem to master the process immediately. Forbidden Fruit In Darkest Knight Home Soil Transformers 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. Fires of the Past

Representing the next evolutionary leap in Transformer life, technorganic Transformers possessed a suite of abilities that bordered on the supernatural. They were immune to most anti-Transformer viruses, including Megatron's debilitating transformation virus. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide Conventional CR chambers had no effect on them; while in robot mode, they could utilize biologically-enhanced nanosurgical capabilities, allowing them to heal faster. Survivor Several of them displayed telepathic abilities. Mercenary Pursuits Descent Botanica possessed several unusual abilities even beyond the ken of her fellow technorganics. Most notably, she developed a symbiotic connection to Cybertron's organic core, growing sick and weak if cut off from its energy. The Downward Spiral She could also create technorganic plants at will. Seeds of the Future

In combat, technorganic Maximals mostly possessed powerful built-in weapons such as deflector shields, sonic attacks, and electrical blasters.

Though powerful and durable, the technorganics were not invulnerable. Sufficient conventional firepower could render them unconscious Mercenary Pursuits or even physically damage them, and they were vulnerable to the same sort of Spark extractors which 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 purely-organic nature was devolving their bodies. 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 in pain and hysteria; it could eventually have resulted in deactivation if its effects were not reverted. The Key

Optimus and his Maximals would eventually extend the Oracle's ethos to new plant life, Fallout and eventually the planet itself. Cybertron had long been a planet of metal upon metal, "technology" alone. 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 green cities. Seeds of the Future

3H comics

The "new" Cybertron possessed cities of varying construction; some largely technorganic in nature, Abduction others retaining more "traditional" inorganic metal or stonework construction, depending on the part of the planet. The technorganic reformatting created trees bearing Energon fruits, in addition to purifying several highly-polluted areas. Wreckers: Finale Part II

Evidence arose that the Quintessons had seemingly orchestrated the entire Great Reformatting, hoping to invade the planet and take advantage of its weakened, disoriented inhabitants. Disclosure When they followed through on this plan, they discovered that the technorganic inhabitants of the planet had developed beyond their specifications, and were more than capable of besting their Sharkticon invasion force; not only were they invisible to Quintesson scanners, but their rapid healing also meant that they could easily recover from grevious injuries.

Ultimately, however, it was revealed that Primus had indeed masterminded the entire plan, using the Quintessons as pawns in his own game. He thanked them for helping his children achieve this great leap forward. Wreckers: Finale Part II

Just what the Great Reformatting implied for Primus himself, whose body usually 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."

Wings Universe

Cybertron's transition to technorganic state meant that it no longer operated on pure energon. When the Star Seekers attempted to use Unicron's head to drain all of Cybertron's energon in 2984, their scheme failed due to this development. Hoist the Flag

Waspscream continuity

In Primax 208.06 Zeta, the Oracle instead reformatted Waspscream, Terrorsaur, Tarantulas, and Protoform X, granting them technorganic bodies and an immunity to Megatron's transformation virus. Ask Vector Prime, 16/8/2015

Dreamwave Armada comic

Predacon loves marching in Iacon's "Organic Pride Day" parade.

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. More Than Meets The Eye bio

Animated cartoon

Not a being currently found at your local rave club.

When Elita-1 was attacked by alien spiders on the planet Archa Seven, she attempted to use her ability to download and replicate the abilities of other mechanoids on the creatures, which wound up mutating her into a technorganic form. Along Came a Spider Taking the name "Blackarachnia", she was initially revulsed by her unnatural new form—as were many around her—but she eventually embraced her transformation and sought to replicate it on other Transformers, successfully cross-mutating the fugitive Autobot Wasp with an actual wasp and creating "Waspinator". Predacons Rising

Technology and organics were also blended in a different manner when a Cybertronian protoform materialized in Isaac Sumdac's lab and scanned the scientist's DNA, rather than a customary mechanical alternate mode. The result was Sari Sumdac, outwardly an ordinary organic human by all appearances whose true nature was unknown even to her, but whose Cybertronian abilities were unlocked when she was upgraded by the AllSpark Key. TransWarped The AllSpark Almanac II

Shattered Glass Animated

As with the "normal" Animated universe, Isaac Sumdac discovered a protoform in his lab and touched it, the protoform absorbing his DNA becoming his daughter Sari Sumdac. Unlike in the "normal" universe, however, this Sari had a violent nature, and Isaac raised her as a slave for scientific experiments. Her true powers were unlocked by forcible implantation of AllSpark fragments, which continue to protrude from her body. BotCon 2011 attendee lithograph

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Jhiaxus modified the organic population of Gorlam Prime into mechanical beings. They first went through a transitional techno-organic state. Spotlight: Hardhead Spotlight: Sideswipe

"Technorganic" in Beast Wars

He'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 occasionally 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 Ultimate Guide refers both to Optimus Primal's beast mode and all Transmetals as "techno-organic".
• 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.

By all rights, this is incorrect in the face of the Beast Machines cartoon, since it would render the distinction, and thus their reformatting, meaningless. That said, it does remain unclear exactly what the Beast Wars-era characters were: The original Beast Wars cartoon never clearly explained whether their animal parts were composed of genuinely living organic tissue (making the Beast Warriors akin to Terminator-style cyborgs), or were alternatively made of faux-biological synthetic matter (akin to Data-style beast "androids"). Beast Machines itself would later canonize the former option, explaining that they had brought real organic matter back from Earth for the Oracle to use in their reformatting. Regardless, in either case, most evidence points toward their beast modes essentially being a fleshy "shell" or "fur coat" surrounding the inner robot à la Pretender shells, rather than the cellular fusion described by Beast Machines.

Larry DiTillio once commented on this issue on alt.toys.transformers, saying, "When BW's transform into beast mode, they become FULLY organic. This means they are vulnerable to anything the animal they become is. They get hurt worse when hit in beast mode, they have to breathe and eat, they are for all and intents and purposes animals." In a later post, he clarified, "Now a quick reply to the "full organic" message. Take any G1 who was a car or truck. They had glove compartments, they had mirrors, they had tires, they had uh, car stuff. BW's have animal stuff... It's their "outer shell" you might say, it is what makes them "robots in disguise". When the shell is pierced (such as when Megatron bites into it), you get to circuitry underneath (yes there is metal beneath the fur and skin and the bones are metallic superstructure)... And no Cheetor doesn't have real blood, just mech fluid."

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 toys such as Armada Cheetor. In the absence of a full backstory, however, the exact meaning of those terms in those continuities is unclear.