Holomatter

Please state the nature of the medical emergency.

Holomatter is a solid-light projection technology, used by Autobots operating on alien worlds. Holomatter projectors can create projected facsimiles of native species which are too small or fleshy for the Autobots to mimic with their mechanical altmodes. The avatar isn't just a friendly image to fool human beings; it's also the Autobot equivalent of a remotely operated vehicle, allowing Autobots to go places and perform actions that would otherwise be prevented by their size and the need to camouflage their true identities. Having an avatar in a location is like the Autobot being there himself. An avatar can function up to at least 400 miles away from the controlling Autobot, even when separated by solid walls.

The avatar is created and maintained by "holomatter generators". They can cause the avatar to blink into sudden existence with no warning. Holomatter avatars can be intangible, or as solid as a real object. Much like Pretender shells before them, holomatter avatars carry a strong connection to the consciousness of its generating Autobot. Damage to the avatar can cause severe impairment to the controlling Autobot if their consciousness is not withdrawn in time. Holomatter disguises are also limited by their operator's understanding of the lifeform they mimic.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

All the Autobots operating covertly on Earth used holomatter avatars to act as their vehicle mode drivers. Infiltration #1 Through a lack of understanding of humans, the holomatter avatars of the Autobots wore a fixed smile which their human friends found creepy, and the male Autobots Bumblebee and Sunstreaker had female avatars. Infiltration #3

Ratchet was able to deliver a massive electrical surge at very close range through his holomatter avatar. This was powerful enough to stun Runabout, though at the cost of burning out Ratchet's holomatter generators. Infiltration #2

After Optimus Prime arrived on Earth, Hunter gave the Autobots a "crash course in Earth culture"; Jazz noted that the Autobots never realized that humans found the smiles of their avatars disturbing. After this, the Autobots' holomatter avatars became much more expressive. Escalation #1

In a Psycho-Prism fueled battle between Autobots and Avengers, Bumblebee used his avatar to distract Luke Cage. Wolverine was not fooled since the holomatter projection gave off no scent. Man and Machine, Part Two After that misunderstanding was resolved, vehicle mode Autobots used their holomatter avatars to carry on conversations with the Avengers and Doctor Doom. Man and Machine, Parts Two, Three, and Four

Holomatter could be detected by devices called "holomatter readers", which the Machination possessed. Escalation #4 Ironhide's avatar was capable of lifting Verity Carlo and Jimmy Pink at the same time, and he could increase the size of his avatar to over 9' (3m) tall so as to manhandle the pair through a hole in the ceiling. Escalation #6

Streetwise and Groove used their holomatter avatars to trick Sandra into coming with them, to help in their investigation of Spike. Only Forward

Over time, the long-range projection of holomatter avatars fell out of common use because of the energy cost and total concentration required (as well as the fact that hair never looked right). Ratchet used this technology to distract the traitorous Pharma during their fight, and used it to retrieve the cure to the Red Rust virus when Pharma dropped it off Delphi's roof. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

Rung and Brainstorm modified the holomatter avatars of the Lost Light crew to better reflect their personalities. The avatars were used during a trip to Hedonia to avoid annoying some of the more mech-unfriendly locals. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Several crew members later used their holomatter avatars to search for Swerve on the bartender's projection of Earth. The One Where They Go to Earth

The Scavengers used holomatter avatars to blend in with the natives on Magisteria VI. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots Misfire and Spinister disguised themselves as M.A.S.K. agents on a visit to Earth, but their poor grasp of human design led to some issues. Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!

Known avatars

• Bluestreak—Young Hispanic or South Asian woman with headphones.
• Bumblebee—Brunette white/Hispanic female based on [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Lindsay Lohan|{{#if:||Lindsay Lohan}}]].<ref name=idea>Idea: Holomatter Projection</ref>
• Chromedome—Young man of Mediterranean descent in a red sweater, khaki pants, and a white overshirt.
• Cyclonus—Stern, handsome female Victorian school teacher of Middle Eastern or Indian descent.
• Frenzy and Rumble—[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Pulp Fiction|{{#if:Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield|Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield|Pulp Fiction}}]].
• Groove—White police rider.
• Hot Rod/Rodimus—[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Steven Seagal|{{#if:||Steven Seagal}}]]; later the physical embodiment of the 80s a young, white male with a flame tattoo and Marty McFly's outfit (with the addition of an Autobot t-shirt and minus most of the sleeves).
• Ironhide—Older "military brass-type" white male with silver hair and mustache in a gray suit.
• Jazz—Young black male in a black suit.
• Megatron—Scarred, elderly white man resembling a retired super-villain, with a lined face resembling the Decepticon insignia. Wears a long coat and a skull belt buckle (and initially featuring a cane with a Decepticon insignia).
• Misfire—a male M.A.S.K. agent known as "Alex 'Anti-Spill' Higgins"; lacking the necessary knowledge and imagination to replicate a human visage, "Alex"'s face is a poorly-composited cyclopean affair.
• Nautica—White woman with short, auburn hair and wearing a tool belt and goggles around her neck.
• Nightbeat—[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Idris Elba|{{#if:||Idris Elba}}]] as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Luther (TV series)|{{#if:Luther|Luther|Luther (TV series)}}]].
• Optimus Prime—Well-built-and-bearded trucker modelled after [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Ulysses S. Grant|{{#if:||Ulysses S. Grant}}]].<ref name=idea/>
• Prowl—"Federal agent"-type: Red hair, receding hairline, middle-aged white male with dark sunglasses and a gray suit. In short: Horatio Caine. Later, in Police Action, Prowl used a younger looking police officer with brown hair and sunglasses.
• Ratchet—Blond middle-aged, sightly hefty white male. Wears EMT uniform (without jacket).
• Rewind—Blonde haired young white male with a camera and a T-shirt for [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}The Divine Comedy (band)|{{#if:The Divine Comedy|The Divine Comedy|The Divine Comedy (band)}}]].
• Rung—A tall, thin bespectacled white male with graying hair, wearing an orange formal suit and cap, later a short, thin, ginger-haired bespectacled man in orange Victorian dress.
• Scavengers—at least three of the team had avatars resembling inhabitants of Magisteria VI.
• Skids—[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Matt Smith|{{#if:||Matt Smith}}]] as the Eleventh Doctor; later [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Christopher Eccleston|{{#if:||Christopher Eccleston}}]] as the Ninth Doctor.
• Spinister—a towering female M.A.S.K. agent known as "Dennis 'Suds' Taylor".
• Streetwise—A white police man.
• Sunstreaker—White, blonde female; after becoming a Headmaster, his avatar is Hunter O'Nion.
• Swerve—A short, rotund white male "surfer" wearing a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, sandals, and wraparound sunglasses.
• Tailgate—An infant; later a female toddler with white hair.
• Ultra Magnus—Various, including a Nebulan scientist & security guard (he switches avatars during the story), and a copy of Verity Carlo.
• Wheeljack—Balding "mad scientist"-type older white male with blond/white hair, glasses, goatee.
• Whirl—A young white girl with an eyepatch, a missing front tooth and two Mac-10 machine pistols; later a slightly older, more punk-influenced version of the former, with twin-pronged eyebrows, a few band-aids, and various "edgy" accessories.

• 
  Bluestreak
• 
  Bumblebee
• 
  Chromedome
• 
  Cyclonus
• Groove
  Groove
• 
  Hot Rod
• 
  Ironhide
• 
  Jazz
• 
  Megatron
• 
  Misfire
• 
  Nautica
• 
  Nightbeat
• 
  Optimus Prime
• 
  Prowl
• 
  Ratchet
• 
  Rewind
• 
  Rodimus
• 
  Scavengers
• 
  Skids and Rung
• 
  Spinister
• Streetwise
  Streetwise
• 
  Sunstreaker
• 
  Sunstreaker/Hunter
• 
  Swerve
• 
  Tailgate
• 
  Ultra Magnus (Nebulan)
• 
  Ultra Magnus (Verity Carlo)
• 
  Wheeljack
• 
  Whirl

Live-action film series

The Decepticons Blackout, Barricade, and Starscream maintained their ruse of being human-driven vehicles by using a holographic pilot or driver known as Moustache Man. Transformers Optimus Prime created a holo-driver for himself in the likeness of Peter Cullen. Alliance #1 Mohawk sported a holographic rider. The Last Knight

• 
  Blackout, Barricade, Starscream
• 
  Optimus Prime

Unicron Trilogy bios

Strongarm was equipped with a holomatter projector.<ref>Official Transformers Collectors' Club site members' section, Micro-Sized Online! Mini-Con Profiles, 2007/03/02</ref>

Ask Vector Prime

The Thirteen and the Guiding Hand visited Earth in the days of ancient Greece, utilizing holomatter to interact with the humans while the Thirteen themselves sat at the top of a mountain since Earth technology at the time was not developed enough for them to be able to assume inconspicuous disguises. Their presence on Earth inspired the legends of the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Twelve Olympians|{{#if:||Twelve Olympians}}]]. Vector Prime presented himself as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Hermes|{{#if:||Hermes}}]]; Prima as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Zeus|{{#if:||Zeus}}]]; Onyx as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Artemis|{{#if:||Artemis}}]]; Autonomous Maximus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Apollo|{{#if:||Apollo}}]]; Megatronus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Ares|{{#if:||Ares}}]]; Nexus Maximus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Hera|{{#if:||Hera}}]]; Liege as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Aphrodite|{{#if:||Aphrodite}}]]; Solus Prime as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Hephaestus|{{#if:||Hephaestus}}]]; Alpha Trion as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Athena|{{#if:||Athena}}]]; and Alchemist Prime as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Dionysus|{{#if:||Dionysus}}]]; Epistemus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Demeter|{{#if:||Demeter}}]]; Adaptus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Poseidon|{{#if:||Poseidon}}]]; and Mortilus as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Hades|{{#if:||Hades}}]].

Vector Prime sometimes had difficulty finding depictions of himself and his fellow Olympians that did not trip the Axiom Nexus Auto-Censors, due to frequent depictions of his external socket configuration. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/14

After the Shroud, the Vector Prime of Nexus 208.0 Epsilon was dispatched to Nebulos, where he planned to disguise himself as a factory and use his holomatter avatar to interact with the locals. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/11/01 Taking the appearance of an elderly Caucasian human male, dressed in a dark suit with accompanying opera cape, Vector's hope was his apparent status as a non-native would cover any gaps in his knowledge of the planet to the native Nebulans. Ask Vector Prime, 2016/02/15

• 
  Vector Prime
• 
  Prima
• 
  Autonomous Maximus
• 
  Onyx Prime
• 
  Liege Maximo
• 
  Solus Prime
• 
  Alchemist Prime
• 
  Epistemus
• 
  Megatronus
• 
  Nexus Prime (right) with Prima
• 
  Adaptus
• 
  Mortilus
• 
  Alpha Trion

Beast Wars: Uprising

Human-built second-born intellects such as Screwball and Pox interacted with their organic CTCF colleagues through holomatter avatars, which could be easily and quickly customized to encompass a wide variety of contradictory and sometimes fantastical appearances. Intersectionality The Inexorable March

Toys

Masterpiece

• Loudpedal (2016)
  • Japanese ID number: MP-25B

A recolor of the Raoul figurine release with Masterpiece Tracks, this time Raoul is done up in his deco from "Auto-Bop" but is otherwise the same. Technically, this figure represents C Shadow, the human musician alter-ego of Loudpedal's holomatter avatar.

Notes

• Holomatter bears a resemblance to the solid light simulations from the Marvel comics, also created by Simon Furman, based on TV show Red Dwarf.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Holobussitsu avatar (ホロ物質アバター horobussitsu abatā), holomatter avatar (ホロマター・アバター horomatā abatā), solid light avatar (ソリッドライト・アバター soliddo raito abatā)

References

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