Talk:Transformation virus

Was this one of Cryotek's inventions as well? 85.195.119.22 03:46, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

In shitty 3H continuity, I think. Interrobang 04:30, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Reverting to weaker modes...

Thy just added a comment that the virus reverts people to their weakest altmode, but... I could swear we used to talk about two distinct things happening to the BM characters, both a "devolving gas" and the transformation lock virus. Was that just bullshit? I had kind of assumed it came from somewhere legitimate. --Steve-o 15:36, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

To the best of my knowledge, there's no canonical source that separates the gas from the virus. The gas IS the virus (or at least its delivery system). And the virus doesn't just lock transformation; it completely paralyzes. We saw it happen with Rhinox and Silverbolt, and it's implied in Megatron's insanely quick takeover of the planet. (For that matter, I don't recall it ever being named. In the absence of a canonical source, I think calling it the "transformation lock virus" is too specific. It's like defining Sixshot by his ability to turn into a jet.)

The "devolving" aspect is never explained; it just happens, and that's that. But the simplest and most obvious leap to make is that it was an unintentional side-effect on Transmetal bodies. Being Transmetal meant being immune to the paralysis, but the price was reverting to the body's base design. (And I seem to recall Rattrap twitching and sparking a little bit when we first saw him in the pilot, so it's possible that paralysis would've eventually overcome them anyway.)

I'm tempted to rewrite this article along the lines of what I wrote at the end of Transmetal, but I'd like to see some discussion here first. Maybe there's some canon I'm forgetting.

- Jackpot 16:37, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

IIRC, that was Devolving Gas which turned them back to their earliest forms. The virus was/is in Cybertron's atmosphere, that's why Botanica contracted it upon landing, she was never gassed. -Derik 22:15, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Again, where is the "Devolving Gas" ever called out as separate from the virus? We only see it twice: Once in Nightscream's flashback (where, IIRC, he only talks about the virus), and once in Rhinox's flashback (which is ALSO the story of the Maxies getting infected). Occam's Razor suggests that they are essentially one and the same. At most, we can say that the gas is a delivery system, but ascribing specific effects to the gas alone is, I think, going too far.

As for Botanica, if we can assume that the virus had permeated all of Cybertron's atmosphere by the time of her arrival, then it's no bigger stretch to assume that the gas itself had done the same. Or perhaps, once initially delivered, the virus can continue to thrive without the gas. However you want to cut it, there's still no need for the gas to take on special powers.

- Jackpot 18:46, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Vestiges of lock virus

The Ultimate Guide says that the four main Maximal characters were affected by some kind of vestige of the virus, which was why they had so much difficulty transforming. Meanwhile, Nightscream, Botanica, and Silverbolt all seem to be reformatted and transform instantaneously. Why is this? This discrepancy merits some mention in the article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Darktruth (talk • contribs).

Can you quote the relevant passage here on the talk page so we can discuss it? On the surface, that sounds really hard to swallow for me, although I admit it would be nice to have an in-fiction explanation for why some reformatted characters transformed right away. No matter what the explanation is, though, it's probably going to undermine the idea that learning to transform again was important. --Steve-o 05:08, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Nightscream and Botanica were both affected by the virus until their reformatting.--Rosicrucian^Talk 05:36, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

What Darktruth is taking about is right here:

The transition from early beast modes to quasi-organic configurations (courtesy of the Oracle) was by no means straightforward. The Maximals were still affected by the last vestiges of Megatron's virus, and the new forms were highly sophisticated. Each Maximal had to attain new inner levels of purity and control to switch from beast to robot mode. Intensive training programs followed, mastery coming in slow, painful stages.Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, Page 100

It could bear some mentioning in the article. -- SFH 05:49, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

That doesn't seem to say anything at all about Nightscream, Botanica and Silverbolt, unless one reads very heavily into the phrase "early beast modes". I think it is just there to contrast with "quasi-organic configurations". --Steve-o 05:21, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

I suppose that it could be an aftereffect of Oracle-reformatting. The four original characters were exposed to the power of the Oracle, but Nightscream and Botanica were affected by Primal's powers, and Silverbolt was reformatted by Blackarachnia's DNA scanner. So this may be an alternative explanation to the problem. (only Maximals exposed to the full power of the Oracle must relearn transformation). Darktruth 22:03, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

TLV Continuity Error?

If the gas turned the Maximals back into their earliest, weakest mode, shouldn't Primal, Rattrap, and Cheetor be back in their Dawn of Future's Past vehicle modes? (I know that DOFP came after BM, but it would be nice to have a canon explanation for this) Darktruth 16:56, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

This is one more reason why I don't think the virus/gas was MEANT to revert at all. It appeared to be meant to simply paralyze so the victims would be ready for spark-extraction and reconstruction into Vehicons. The only exceptions were the Transmetals, who were de-Transmetallized and left still mobile (though perhaps temporarily, if they hadn't made it to the Oracle in time). I think this was an unintended side-effect, one that actually saved them because it delayed/negated the paralysis.

And before anyone accuses me of trying to push fanon, I challenge anyone to support any OTHER interpretation (including the one in the article as currently written) with the facts of the show. The show was exceedingly vague in describing the virus, and this theory is the only one I've ever seen that fully fits the facts. - Jackpot 18:31, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

However, I agree with only some of this theory. Silverbolt was protected from the Metal Hunter because of his Transmetal properties, but his Spark was still extracted on Cybertron. I think that any Transformer who has had a previous version to "fall back" on was protected from the virus. Rhinox, Silverbolt, and Waspinator had no Transmetal protection nor an earlier mode, which could explain this.Darktruth 19:04, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

However, he wasn't fully Transmetal, and that grey area could've been enough to doom him. What I think actually happened was that the BM writers went by the toy-labels and didn't know about that bit of "Other Visits" trivia. But it theory still holds up in-fiction. - Jackpot 19:12, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

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