Activation code

Activation codes are the phrases Transformers say to transform from one mode to another.

Fiction

Beast Wars

Each faction used its own code to transform from beast mode to robot mode. Maximals used "{Robotname}, maximize!" (e.g., "Cheetor, maximize!"), while Predacons used "{Robotname}, terrorize!" (Obviously, they put a great deal of thought into these words.) Beast Wars (Part 1)

On occasion, when groups were transforming all at once, the variations "Maximals, maximize!" and "Predacons, terrorize!" were used (in one case, "All units, maximize!" was used). For the transformation from robot to beast, Beast Era transformers sometimes used the phrase "Beast mode." However, none of these phrases was used universally, and the "maximize"/"terrorize" code was used on rare occasions for transforming out of robot mode, so exactly how strictly necessary they are is unclear. This is further muddled by instances of Maximals and Predacons transforming without so much as a single word. Changing an activation code from "maximize" to "terrorize" was relatively easy and could even be done to one Transformer by another under the right circumstances. Beast Wars (Part 2) Maximal, No More Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)

Beast Machines

After the Oracle reformatted Optimus Primal's team into technorganic bodies, their old activation codes stopped working. The Maximals now had to find an "emotional still point" to switch to robot mode. To help focus, they used the phrase "I am transformed," but this was not strictly an activation code. The Reformatting The "I am transformed" phrase was used for the first season of Beast Machines, but dropped for the second season.

Vehicon drones did not have activation codes. The initial Vehicon generals each had a unique code:

• Tankor - "Tankor, pulverize!"
• Jetstorm - "Jetstorm, afterburn!"
• Thrust - "Thrust, overdrive!" and (on one occasion) "Thrust, accelerate!"

These codes were sometimes used to transform to vehicle mode, sometimes to transform to robot mode, and sometimes (particularly for Tankor) as just verbal tics, unaccompanied by transformation.

The later Vehicon generals, Obsidian and Strika, used "obliterate" and "terminate" as the entirety of their vocabulary when they were initially pretending to be 7 bits short of a byte, but did not particularly use those words during transformation, and essentially dropped them when the ruse was over.

Japanese activation codes

Most of the Japanese Generation 1 Transformer franchises have had Transformers shouting "{Robotname} transform!" or just "Transform!" when they transform. There are also special phrases for members of specific subgroups:

• The Headmasters and Headmaster Juniors use "Transform! Head On!" to change into robot mode.
• The Headmasters (or at least the Autobot ones) also use "Transform! Dash!" to change into their Altmodes.
• Targetmasters use the phrase "Target On!" to have their smaller partners change into their gun forms and attach to the larger robot's hand.
• Fortress Maximus had a special phrase for turning into his larger robot mode. He would sometimes first shout "Master Sword!" when pulling out his sword from its holding place (but he did not always shout this when releasing the sword). Then he would jump out of his ship and shout, "Big Mode!" as his ship began to transform. He would then shout "Transform! Head On!" as he himself transformed and combined with his larger body as its head. Finally, he would (once again) shout "Master Sword!" as his sword materialized into his hand and finished the sequence with his stock footage pose.
• Both Scorponok and BlackZarak would sometimes say "Big Transform!" to change from scorpion to robot and back.
• Pretenders would utter "Pretender!" to change out of their Pretender shells into their robot forms.
• The Autobot Pretenders would yell "Suit On!" to change from their regular human forms into their armored human forms.
• The Headmaster Juniors and Godmasters would cross their arms, connecting their Masterbraces, and would yell "Masterforce!" to change into their robotic human forms.
• Godmasters would yell "Transform! God On!" to change into robot mode.
• Ginrai has several special phrases for his transformations. Aside from the standard "Transform! God On!", he yells "Double On! Super Ginrai!" to turn into Super Ginrai, "Chojin Gattai! God Ginrai!" to combine with Godbomber and turn into God Ginrai, and "Bomber On!" to attach Godbomber's wings to himself so he could carry the rest of Godbomber. He also uses "Bomber Off!" to detach Godbomber from himself as God Ginrai, or to reverse the previous "Bomber On!" process, and/or to change Godbomber into his own robot mode.
• Hydra and Buster would shout "Wing Cross!" to combine both jets into Darkwings.
• Sixknight has a phrase for each of his modes. "Six Change Shot!" is used for his entire transformation into all six of his modes. "Shot One!" is used to turn into his jet mode, "Shot Two!" is used to turn into his drill tank mode, "Shot Three!" is used to turn into his hovercraft mode, "Shot Four!" is used to turn into his pistol mode, "Shot Five!" is used to turn into his beast mode, and both "Shot Six!" and the standard "Transform!" are used to turn into his robot mode.
• Brainmasters use "Brain Set!" to convert their smaller robot forms into the faces of their regular forms.
• Saber uses "Ride On!" to sit on his V-Star booster and use it to attack with. He also uses "Battle Up!" to combine with his V-Star ship to turn into his 'Star Saber' form or, if he's already combined with it but doesn't have his 'Star Saber' head on, he uses it to attach his 'Star Saber' head onto himself to fully become Star Saber. He would then combine with Victory Leo and both would shout "Unite! Victory Saber!" to form either the vehicle mode or robot mode of Victory Saber.
• The Breastforce uses "Breast Attack!" to launch their smaller Breast Animal partners to attack their foes, "Breast Change!" to change their partners into their weapon forms, and "Breast On!" to reattach them to their chests.
• As a member of the Breastforce, Deathsaurus uses similar activation codes to transform his Breast Animals. However, he also tends to shout "Breastar!" to deploy his Eaglebreast after launching his Tigerbreast with the more standard "Breast Attack!"
• The Dinoforce uses "Trans-Out!" to get out of their Pretender Shells.
• The Multiforce uses "Multi-Out!" to split in half into their two smaller robot forms, and "Multi-On!" to reconnect.

In the Japanese Beast Wars fiction, as well as Car Robots, Transformers have different activation codes depending on whether they turn into vehicles or animals. Those that transform into animals shout "Henshin!" (Japanese for "transform") while those who turn into vehicles scream "Transform!" in English.

English dubs of Japan-original series retain the "Transform!" and "[Name], Transform!" calls, and isolated incidences of it exist in American originals. For the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon Predacons, "Henshin" became the familiar "Terrorize." Also, although he regularly declared "Optimus Prime, super mode!" before the appropriate transformation, it may or may not have been a necessary activation code. Optimus Prime once said that such calls were merely a way to get psyched up. City

Notes

• The meta-reason for the idea of Activation codes is possibly that Optimus Primal can't well say "Transform and roll out", as most of the Maximals have no wheels upon which to roll.
• Combiners occasionally had something resembling an activation code. The team leader would generally call out "(team name), merge!" or "(team name), unite!" (e.g. Scrapper yelling "Constructicons, unite!" to form Devastator). Japanese combiners (such as King Poseidon, Landcross, Dinoking and Liokaiser) would normally be formed in this manner. Just as often, combiners could simply fuse without any sort of verbal command. During their revenge-seeking assault on Cybertron, the Combaticons merge while Swindle is talking. Bruticus even finishes Swindle's sentence. Of course, it could be simply a military command.