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The living metal from which Transformers are constructed is known by many names, including protomatter, technomatter, sentio metallico, birth metal, cyber-matter, Sparked metal, elemental metal, and Transformium. Usually depicted as the living stuff of Cybertron itself, it is no ordinary metal, possessing a self-replicating cellular structure and a genetic code. Transformers are sometimes presented as having a "natural" alternate mode they take on at birth, defined by the hard-coded design schematics in their spark, but their living metal is malleable and adaptable, and is capable of being programmed to reconfigure into new shapes, designs, and colors, allowing 'bots to change alternate mode as needed. Indeed, newborn living metal seems to desire a shape; if complications at birth prevent it from taking one, it is likely to die, and the spark of the Transformer to be extinguished with it. As with human flesh, when living metal dies, it is often shown to become drained of color; conversely, if infused with an excess of exotic energy, it has been known to unexpectedly take on new hues or even mutate into new shapes.
