Transformer

Bumblebee, a Transformer, transforming. Savvy?

The Transformers are a species of sentient, living robotic beings (mostly) originating from the distant machine world of Cybertron. The stories of their lives, their histories, and most especially their wars have been chronicled across many different Continuities in the vast Multiverse.

The designation "Transformer" stems from the species' generally-shared ability to "transform,", to change their bodies at will, rearanging their component parts from a robotic primary mode (usually, but not always, humanoid) into an alternate form; generally vehicles, weapons, machinery, or animals. In some continuities this ability to transform is innate to all members of the species, in others it was a wartime innovation that was adopted by most, but not all, of the populance.

Although "Transformer" is the most common term for these beings there are others, mainly "Cybertron" as a reference to any being whose origin traces back to the planet in question (the adjective form being the more frequently used "Cybertronian").

Origin

The origin of the Transformers species differs according to continuity, and not all continuities have given the race a specific stated origin at all, but of those that exist the most prominent are:

• Atechnogenesis - Spontanious evolution from "naturally occuring gears and pullies" on Cybertron's surface. This rather questionable origin was given in the first Marvel Comic and then promptly (and thankfully) ignored.

• Quintesson made - Created as slaves and merchandise by the alien Quintessons. This was the origin given the Transformers in the original Generation 1 cartoon. Though well known because of the Cartoon's prominence it has been given relatively little attention in subsequent media.

• Primus created - Created by the god-like "Lord of the Light" Primus to carry on his age old battle with the "dark god" Unicron. This origin sprang from Simon Furman's UK comics and then carried back to the later US Marvel books. It is also the origin that has been embraced and adopted by pretty much every Transformers work/continuity since then. A retcon created by the Transformers Universe and Fun Publications Cybertron comics and related fiction has unillaterally applied the Primus and Unicron backstory to ALL Transformers continuities in the Multiverse, past and future. How this works in lite of the original Cartoon's Quintesson backstory has not been explicated.

Biology

Physical construction

Sparks retail for $29.95 at Sharper Image

Traditionally, Transformers are living, sentient, emotional, and fully-mechanical beings. Many continuities portray Transformer "life" as being granted by a soul-like spark residing within their mechanical frames.

The Generation 2 comic books established that Transformers possess both "genetic material" (useful when "budding") and a distinct cellular structure, assumably both of a somehow mechanical nature.

File:G1Bw.gif

Original, or extra-fleshy.

By the Beast Era of the Generation 1 continuity family synthetic flesh had become increasingly incorporated into their construction, often to aid in disguise or survival on worlds inhabited by organic lifeforms. (A version of this technology had been introduced earlier with Pretender Transformers, though in that instance the synthetic flesh was a removable outer "shell").

In the era of Beast Machines, events lead to true organics being infused into Transformers biology down to the cellular level, making them "technorganic" with an increased range of powers resulting. (The "ParasiTech" techonolgy introduced in the Generation-1-based Kiss-Player series seems to have an organic component to it as well.)

File:BigSmall.gif

Unicron is quite big, Browning is quite small. The contrast scares this poor little boy something mighty.

Size

Transformers are generally large in comparison to Earth lifeforms, (two or three times the height of a human seems to be about average, though depictions vary wildly even for the same character), but a Transformer can be much, much smaller or much, much larger. There are some small enough to fit in a human's palm (see Browning and the Real Gear Robots). While the Micromasters and Mini-Cons are two groups whose size range is within normal human standards at a time when most Transformers are larger. Human-sized appears to be the norm for Transformers altogether in the Beast Era.

The upper range of size can be a good deal larger, if you include planet-formers like Unicron and Primus or even the colossal city-bots Metroplex or Fortress Maximus (the latter's gigantism depending on the continuity). In the Cybertron series, the planet Gigantion is populated by both extremes: robots who tower over "normal"-sized Transformers, aided by their tiny Mini-Con partners.

Variance in form

A classic example of a non-humanoid Transformer

While many Transformers possess a "humanoid" form with two arms, two legs and a head atop their torso, it is not uncommon at all for there to be extensive variations. Some Transformers do not have a "humanoid" mode at all, rather their "primary" form is that of an animal or vehicle. Generation 1's Ravage, Grand Slam and Raindance, for example, or the Beast Wars Mutants.

Unconventional limbs make Skorponok a slow typist.

Some have unconventional limbs, their hands (or whole arm) replaced with tools, claws, weapons, or some other form of manipulator (like a beast-mode's head!). Some Transformers' lower bodies feature digitigrade legs, or wheels/treads instead of feet, or no discernible separate legs at all. Some even have more (or less!) than the normal number of limbs altogether. This design style became much more common in the Beast Era (Beast Wars Quickstrike and Beast Machines Thrust, for example), and is also common among the Mini-Cons, but Generation 1 is not without its examples (like Shockwave, Scorponok, and Octus).

Elita 1 - Boys 0

Transformers' faces also run the gamut of design, from looking like a metal human in a helmet, to faces that can only be described as robotic (again, like Generation 1 Shockwave, whose face consists of little more than a single glowing eye) or animalistic (again, the Beast Era). The Mini-Cons are also notable for more commonly having non-humanoid faces.

The existence and appearance of Female Transformers in most continuities seem to suggest a level of "sexual" dimorphism to the species as well (the term sexual is used in a gender-based, rather than physical sense, see Reproduction for that whole kettle of robo-fish). In almost all cases female Transformers are portrayed as more graceful of form and more rounded and curved in general, often with a more than passing resemblance to an attractive metal human female wearing armor and kibble. There are rare exceptions to this rule (notably Strika and Discharge, though the latter is said to be wearing armor that obscures her true appearance.)

Energon - the food, drink, and primary currency of Cybertron. (It's like if chocolate coins had a valid exchange rate...)

Energy

Unlike humans who need air and water as well as food, generally the Transformer's only major biological need to assure their continued functioning is fuel (though again, even this can vary depending on the fiction).

Energon is the most common and preferred form of Transformer fuel, but other alternatives may be substituted if it is unavailable.

In the Marvel Comics Earth fuel needed to be treated with a special additive (invented by Sparkplug Witwicky) to be made useable by Transformer life. In the Cartoon, on the other hand, human energy sources were converted into energon simply by being condensed inside Energon Cubes.

In the original cartoon the Insecticons alone among Transformers seemed to be able to fuel themselves by ingesting organic matter, but by the Beast Era, the abillity to ingest organic substances to supplement their fuel needs seems more comonplace.

The Action Master line introduced a new type of Transformer fuel called Nucleon wich was extremely powerful but prone to unpredictable and destructive side-effects.

New bodies

It is not uncommon at all for a single Transformer to change body form many times across their life-span. The ease of which they can do so depends on the continuity's technology level. In some, changing bodies requires an extensive full-body rebuild and tends to be resource draining and even dangerous. Sometimes, however, all it takes it to transplant their brain or personality program into a compatible new body. Other times, the existing body itself will be "reformatted" on the spot using a scan of a local compatible alt-mode (this is most prevalent during the Unicron Trilogy).

While not entirely 'new bodies' themselves, the Transmetal bodies - caused by exposure to a Transwarp quantum surge - somehow 'mutated' the bodies of Transformers in the Beast Era. How this was done on-the-fly with no harm to the Transformer is unknown.

See also

For more information on Transformer biology see:

• Life cycle
• Reproduction

Culture

The most distinctive facet of Transformers society has been its near-continuous state of Civil War.

See also

For more information on Transformer culture see:

• Cybertron Civil Wars
• Religion

Toys

The Transformers were introduced by Hasbro in 1984 with the toyline now known as Generation 1 and have gone through numerous incarnations since, with the latest being the tie-in movie line .

From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.