Transmutate (BW)
| This article is about the Beast Wars character. For the Beast Wars episode, see Transmutate (episode). |
- Transmutate is a Maximal from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Twisted and warped, Transmutate (also Trans-Mutate) is a Transformer in name only. The damage done to them by their troubled birth has rendered them unable to transform, and reduced their mind to infancy, leaving them utterly innocent in personality and able to grasp only simple concepts. Their trusting and curious nature is both a boon and a handicap.
Transmutate's distorted frame conceals almost unbelievable destructive power in the form of a super-sonic scream which can leave all but the hardiest victim out cold. Their simple mind means that many of their capabilities remain unknown, even to themself, and they will express surprise when, for instance, they find they have the ability to flyyyyyyyyy.
Fiction
Beast Wars cartoon
- Voice actor: Susan Blu (English), Haruna Ikezawa (Japanese), Xu Lin (Chinese), Luca Bottale (Italian)
Transmutate's stasis pod was one of many aboard the Axalon and at some point crashed from Earth orbit in seismically-unstable Grid Deltron. The heavily-damaged pod later became uncovered by the region's earthquakes and Transmutate explosively freed itself. Presented with the choice of Maximal or Predacon, they hesitated and when Inferno accidentally shot them, they unleashed theirs sonic scream. With the Maximals out of commission as a result and feeling he'd found a kindred spirit, Rampage lost no time in befriending Transmutate. Though Megatron failed to see the value in the mutant and wanted them destroyed, Rampage intended to prove them a worthy ally. He and Inferno persuaded them to act as bait for a trap for Silverbolt. When Transmutate was reluctant to finish off the Maximal, Inferno pushed the creature aside and was promptly blasted into the distance for his troubles.
Optimus Primal arrived and, defeating Rampage, persuaded Transmutate to return with him to the Axalon for a scan. The results were discouraging—Optimus felt that they were a danger to themself as well as those around them, Rhinox suggested putting them into stasis lock, and Silverbolt was the only one to speak up angrily in their favor. Walking through the base alone, Transmutate heard Rampage calling to them, and opted to leave the Axalon to join him.
Silverbolt quickly found the pair and immediately came to blows with Rampage. Transmutate tried to get them to stop, landing between them right as they each fired missiles. Transmutate blazed with power as they tried to halt the missiles, but was shattered in the resulting explosion and, though their consciousness lingered for a few moments more, their spark was extinguished. Transmutate
Beast Wars: Uprising
In a parallel reality where the Maximals and Predacons were created by the Autobots and Decepticons to serve as proxy armies to continue fighting in their stead, the 'bot who would become known as "Trans-Mutate" was a fully-formed Maximal. Cheerful and curious about everything around her, she suffered from a disconnect in her processors that prevented her from properly interpreting emotions and social cues, which only made her all the more fascinated in her fellow Maximals and the way they interacted with the world, and with her. For this condition, the cruel had given her the mocking nickname of "Trans-Mutate", but would likely have thought twice about doing so if they had realized that she was a Point One Percenter, possessing a terrifyingly powerful spark that gave her a strength she herself feared and tried to forget about.
Observing multiple instances of incompatible, contradictory information in the official history logs of Cybertron and concluding that it had been perpetrated deliberately, the innocent-minded Trans-Mutate brought her concerns to the authorities, who reacted not with a desire to see it corrected, as she had expected, but with an anger she could not understand—they, of course, were the ones responsible for adjusting the history logs for their own purposes. Trans-Mutate ended up allying with the mobster Cryotek, though she did not comprehend that he was a criminal: she sided with him because his account of history matched the facts she had gathered. When her usefulness to Cryotek ended, he discarded her, but she was rescued from the authorities by Botanica and fell in with Rattrap's freedom fighters, struggling to overthrow the masters who forced them to fight a continuous war. Though she understood that she had been wrong in trusting Cryotek, she could not understand why. Perception Transmutate's profile in Club magazine #55
During the group's raid on the Ferromax Detention Center to free Dynobot, Trans-Mutate found herself distracted by a voice emanating from a cell on the maximum security level: Rampage, a fellow Point One Percenter who sensed a kindred spirit in her, and who told her that he could feel the pain in her spark. The Maximals freed Dynobot, and before they left, Rampage promised Trans-Mutate that they would meet again. Prologue Unfortunately, Trans-Mutate was captured during the escape, tried, and sentenced to incarceration on Garrus-16. En route, however, the prison ship Claustrum suffered a hull breach, jettisoning her stasis pod, which crashed on dwarf planet LGC-8803. Taking the navicomp from the pod to supply advice, she explored and discovered a huge structure. A short time later, she was found by Rampage, who had also been imprisoned aboard the Claustrum. Perception When he turned out to be so low on energy he could barely stand, she connected him to the navicomp to give him power, and he filled her in on the concept of Point One Percenters. The pair soon realized that they were not alone, and came under attack from Bruton and Medusa. Despite putting up a fair battle, they were rendered unconscious and presented to Lord Imperious Delirious. Kindred
The Destructon leader provided the pair with energon and revealed that he had shot the Claustrum down in order to liberate them. Explaining the origins of himself and his friends, who were all "second-born intellects"—being created by other beings—that had rebelled against their creators, Delirious invited Trans-Mutate and Rampage to join their ranks. Trans-Mutate, however, spotted the inconsistencies in Lord Imperious Delirious's story and, having uncomfortable memories of Cryotek, insisted that she and Rampage would be leaving. When pressed, she pointed out that Delirious had to be lying, because there was no way he could have known about them being on board the ship; the Destructon leader confirmed her suspicions, explaining he had shot the ship down purely to salvage its tech, but insisted that "broken" 'bots like them belonged in his care. Rampage wavered, but Trans-Mutate firmly refuted the notion that she was "broken"—and Lord Imperious Delirious responded with his hallucinogenic Delirious Fire. Delirious Trans-Mutate found herself floating in a fragmented space, unable to string together a thought, until Rampage was able to mentally contact her and persuade her to use her power to break them both free. They were immediately attacked by the Destructons, and Trans-Mutate sliced Medusa in two. The Destructons opted to leave Rampage and Trans-Mutate to be picked up by whomever answered the distress call Delirious had sent to Cybertron. Clarity
Legends comic
Perched on Rampage, Transmutate watched as Ai attempted to arrest Tarantulas in Tera-Kura Co. Epiloge
Games
Transformers: Battle Tactics
Transmutate participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of her! She was an Epic character who was available in the December Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character. Transformers: Battle Tactics
Toys
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary
- Cheetor (2006)
- Rhinox (2006)
- Waspinator (2006)
- Dinobot (2006)
- Rattrap (2006)
- Predacon Tarantulus [sic] (2006)
- Eight years after the character's fictional debut, Trans-Mutate was given a toy release as part of the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toyline, split into components included with the first six figures in the line as the Transformers franchise's first "build-a-figure". (And only "build-a-figure", until the release of Cyberverse Maccadam in 2020.) Trans-Mutate's head came with Waspinator, the torso with Cheetor, the waist and right leg with Rhinox, the left leg with "Tarantulus", the right arm with Rattrap, and the left arm with Dinobot.
- All six parts combine into a non-converting figure that stands about a head taller than the Beast Wars Deluxe Class molds with which its components were included. They have no action features and only limited articulation... but the simple fact that such a deliberately non-toyetic character featured in only one episode even got a toy is itself an extraordinary occurrence.
- According to Ben Yee on Madman Entertainment's Beast Wars Season 2 DVD commentaries, Hasbro attempted to replicate Trans-Mutate's sonic scream attacks, first as a spring-loaded projectile, then as a static decoration, before finally abandoning the idea.
- The plastic in Trans-Mutate's legs is very rubbery and prone to warping, leaving the toy unable to stand unsupported after a few years.
Timelines
"People have said similar things about me."
- Trans-Mutate (Deluxe, 2014)
- Accessories: Two arm blades/motorcycle panels, stand
- Trans-Mutate is a redeco of Prime: First Edition Arcee. She was an exclusive available for purchase by Transformers Collectors' Club members. Trans-Mutate transforms from a green and tan motorcycle to a robot and back. Arm blades stow in vehicle mode and can be plugged under Trans-Mutate's forearms in robot mode.
- Timelines Trans-Mutate came in a large box that is meant to serve as shared giftset-style packaging with Timelines Rampage, though that figure is sold separately. The package art for this box is an homage to the sci-fi film Enemy Mine.
Notes
- A point of argument is why the Maximals were so quick to stasis-lock Transmutate instead of transferring their spark to another body like Rhinox did with Optimus Primal following the latter's unintentional sacrifice. It was stated only that their core consciousness and body structure were mutilated beyond recovery; no mention was made about the condition of their spark. Of course, the euthanasia metaphor of the character's title episode would fall apart if they did that, but hey, semantics.
- The script for this episode explicitly states that Transmutate's spark was unstable: "Energy ERUPTS throughout Its body as Its own unstable spark begins to tear It apart." Although stage direction and narration from scripts are only pseudocanon, this may nonetheless satisfy some that the spark was indeed as damaged as the body. The script, like many Beast Wars scripts, can be found on BWTF.com.
- The episode script's cast listing section describes the character as thus: "TRANSMUTATE: a being with no beauty of form nor logic of shape, massive, made of unmatched parts: bits of Predacon, pieces of Maximal, chunks of Fuzor and Transmetal, heavy-duty weapons, and a face that vaguely indicates it is female." This wording lends some credence to the idea that Transmutate was originally a female Protoform. However, Transmutate is consistently referred to within the script using genderless pronouns, confusing the issue. In 2014, an alternate universe version of Transmutate would be depicted as female by a Timelines toy and corresponding Club magazine story.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Transmutate (トランスミューテイト Toransumyūteito)
- Italian: Convertor
- Mandarin: Biànyì Biàntǐ (China, 变异变体, "Transmutate")
- Portuguese: Transmutante
- Russian: Transmutatsiya (Трансмутация), Transmutant (Трансмутант)
- Spanish: Transmutante
