User:TimeLord11/Sandbox/Scanning
A spark is the lifeforce or soul of a Transformer. Each spark is part of the essence of Primus himself.
The spark is a physical entity which is safeguarded inside a Transformer's body. If something harms the spark beyond repair it is "extinguished" returning to the Transformer afterlife and the Transformer is considered dead. A Transformer is able to survive an enormous amount of physical damage. As long as the spark is somehow intact it is possible to repair or rebuild the body and restore the spark to it.
Fiction
Beast Wars cartoon continuity
Composed of positrons, Spark of Darkness sparks were the core of the Cybertronians, giving them their animating force. The Spark They came from the Allspark and returned to it when they passed. The Reformatting
Beast Wars cartoon
The Decepticon Air Commander Starscream possessed a mutant spark, one that could not be extinguished, persisting after he'd been destroyed by Galvatron. Possession Maximal High Command sought to recreate such a power, resulting in the creation of Protoform X. Bad Spark
When struck by Scorponok's Cyberbee, the increased adrenaline threatened to drain Optimus Primal's spark. When the projectile was removed, Primal's spark began to fade before Cheetor administered the anti-virus. Gorilla Warfare
When Starscream found his way to the Beast Wars, he possessed Waspinator's body. The errant spark was later exorcised when Blackarachnia detonated an energon cache beneath Waspinator, banishing Starscream. Possession
After Optimus Primal's, unwillingly, sacrificial destruction of the Planet Buster, Other Voices, Part 2 it tore open a hole to the Allspark. After finding a blank protoform, Rhinox remotely beamed his core consciousness to the realm Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1) and guided Primal's spark back to the blank protoform, reviving his friend. Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)
When Protoform X, his stasis pod having been aboard the Axalon, awoke during the Beast Wars, Megatron used an energon knife to carve out a piece of the experiment's spark. Placing the fragment in a cage of energon crystals, Megatron used it to force Protoform X, renamed "Rampage", to serve him. Bad Spark Rampage made attempts to retrieve his missing spark fragment to little success. Transmutate
When Megatron was forced into a corner, he enacted the instructions left to him by the original Megatron and broke into the Ark, opening fire on Optimus Prime. The Agenda (Part III) Though the blast failed to kill Prime outright, his spark began to fade. With the spark unable to survive the necessary repairs, Optimus Primal removed it and placed it within his own body. Holding two sparks within his body caused Primal to mutate into a larger body. When Prime's body was healed, Primal returned the borrowed spark. The reintroduction of the spark briefly roused Prime from stasis lock but he soon fell asleep again. Optimal Situation
On a dark and stormy night, Megatron found a use for Rampage's spark fragment when he used it to animate a clone of Dinobot. When Rampage furiously protested this, he found the clone could use the fragment to torture him. When Cheetor interacted with the transmetal driver used to create the clone, Feral Scream Part 1 it mutated his spark, turning the cat into a Transmetal 2. Feral Scream Part 2 When the Predacons attacked the Maximals during their attempt to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, the vibrational trauma killed her. The nearby transmetal driver interacted with her body and reignited her spark. Crossing the Rubicon
Inspired by the "Optimal Optimus" upgrade, Megatron constructed a device that hijacked Primal's spark which allowed the Predacon leader to open the Ark. Once inside, he claimed the spark of the original Megatron and merged it with his own, upgrading his body. Bolstered by the second spark, Megatron managed to overpower Optimus Primal in battle but was nonetheless forced to retreat, taking the original Megatron's spark with him. Shell program
When the Vok sought to put an end to Megatron's disruption of the space-time continuum, two of them removed the sparks from their Cybertronian abductees, Tigatron and Airazor, and fused their bodies into Tigerhawk which they inhabited. Still active, Tigatron and Airazor's sparks followed their fused body. When Tigerhawk arrived on Earth and defeated Megatron, Optimus Primal attempted to warn the Vok emissary about his foe carrying the original Megatron's spark but he would not be heard. Shortly afterwards, Tarantulas attempted to reprogram Tigerhawk but only succeeded in exorcising the Vok which resulted in his and their destruction. Tigatron and Airazor took the chance to merge into one spark and inhabit Tigerhawk. Other Victories
When the Nemesis risked being raised, Depth Charge managed to finally extinguish Rampage's spark by jabbing a shard of raw energon into it. Nemesis Part 1 Upon raising the Nemesis, Megatron later offhandedly remarked that this had resulted in Dinobot II's spark feeling "complete". This caused the original Dinobot's personality to reemerge, bringing about Megatron's defeat. Nemesis Part 2 Before the Maximals prepared to return to Cybertron, Optimus forced Megatron to return the Decepticon's spark to its source. Ask Vector Prime, 23/07/2015
Beast Machines cartoon
Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity
The Cyber Planet Keys each contained a tiny fragment of Primus's spark. Fallen
After being shot by the Requiem Blaster, Sacrifice ninety percent of Smokescreen's body was damaged beyond repair but his spark was intact allowing Red Alert to extract it and build Smokescreen a new body. Regeneration After his death, the Mini-Cons were able to summon Optimus Prime's spark back to the physical plane via the Matrix of Leadership. Miracle
After seizing the Omega Lock and three of the Cyber Planet Keys, Retreat Starscream began absorbing the spark of Primus into himself which eventually caused him to grow to titanic proportions and enhanced his physical abilities. Starscream
Once all four Cyber Planet Keys were placed in the Omega Lock, Primus's spark was fully restored. End
Movie continuity
Movies
Megatron devoured the sparks of fallen foes. Optimus Prime Versus Megatron Transformers (novel)
Sam Witwicky destroyed both the AllSpark and Megatron himself when he inserted the AllSpark into Megatron's exposed spark chamber. Transformers
Megatron was revived when the Doctor pierced a shard of the AllSpark into the hole where his spark had been. Optimus Prime was stabbed and then shot through the spark chamber by Megatron using his fusion cannon and death-lock pincer but was later revived by Sam, who pierced the Matrix of Leadership into the empty chamber. Jetfire ripped out his spark to give Optimus his parts. Moments later, Optimus tore through The Fallen's chest and crushed his spark. Revenge of the Fallen
When cornered and brought down by Cemetery Wind, Ratchet was offered his life in exchange for Optimus' location by Lockdown. Ratchet spat in the bounty hunter's face and braced himself for the end. In response, Lockdown tore his spark out leaving the deceased Ratchet a mangled smoldering wreck. Optimus narrowly escaped a similar ambush in New Mexico and was later offered repairs by Cade Yeager. When Cade noticed a wound perilously close to his spark, Optimus explained that sparks contained a Transformer's memories and feelings prompting Cade to compare it to a human soul.
KSI produced their own Transformers albeit without sparks. Megatron's consciousness manipulated KSI into producing a new body for him and its lack of a spark proved an invaluable asset when he later fought Optimus as "Galvatron", suffering no ill effects when impaled through his chest by Optimus; this was also due to some improvements Megatron made to KSI's designs.
When the day was won, Optimus decided to depart Earth to confront the Transformers' Creators. Though he could not say if they'd ever meet again, Optimus asked his family on Earth to think of a star in the night sky as his soul. Age of Extinction
IDW movie comics
After the failed Ejoornian invasion of Cybertron, Ratchet's post-mortem on one of them led to him discovering that they possessed internals eerily similar to the Cybertronians, including what may have been a spark core. Defiance #2
Following the destruction of the AllSpark in Mission City, Starscream conspired to use Sector Seven's data on the artifact to create it. The Reign of Starscream #2 After using slave labor to construct the Replica AllSpark, Starscream sacrificed five Autobot sparks to ignite it but the device remained inert. The Reign of Starscream #5
Generation 1 continuity family
Marvel Comics continuity
Regeneration One
Following the second crash of the Ark, a damaged Shockwave willingly wired himself into the craft's systems to preserve his spark. Natural Selection, Part Two
When the Wreckers crashed on Earth, Megatron ordered his horde of zombie Decepticons to bring them to him in a state where he could see dread in their optics before he snuffed out their sparks. Loose Ends, Part 2 When Optimus Prime later engaged Megatron in battle the Decepticon leader swore to open Prime's spark chamber with his teeth. His own spark was ripped out of his chest and crushed seconds later by an apologetic Prime. Loose Ends, Part 5
After the Cybertronians had been separated from Primus and the larger multiverse, they lost their biological immortality. Millenia in the future, Rodimus Prime had become the last Cybertronian and when he finally died, the vestiges of his spark energy served to ignite the birth of a new generation. The War to End All Wars, Part 5
Transformers '84
Following the Dynobots had been grievously wounded by Shockwave, Secrets & Lies #1 their sparks were extracted from their ruined shells and held in a magnetic containment field aboard the Ark until their bodies could be mended. When the ship later crashed on Earth AUNTIE rebuilt the warriors with alien alternate modes, returning their sparks to them. Secrets & Lies #2
2005 IDW continuity
The spark is part of Rossum's Trinity with the brain module and transformation cog. The Chaos of Warm Things The light from a spark illuminates a Transformer's optics. Zero Point There appears to be at least eight known spark types in Cybertronians Twenty Plus One some more common than others, and a healthy Cybertronian can 'jumpstart' the faltering spark of another with the same type in a similar manner to blood transfusion. Before & After Some proposed spark types like estriol-positive have since been discredited and abandoned. After Megatron
A very small number of naturally-occurring sparks are Point One Percenters glowing green instead of the normal blue. Those who possess these sparks are usually a tier above regular Cybertronians, and include such prominent figures as Optimus Prime and Shockwave. The Chaos of Warm Things Sparks run on different frequencies; the frequency of a spark affects the color of the energon within a Transformer's body. While most Cybertronians bleed purple energon, Transformers from the colony world of Caminus evolved low-frequency Sparks to save energy and consequently bleed blue energon. The Last Autobot
Sparks once arose naturally from hot spots dotting Cybertron and its moons ignited by energy pulses from Vector Sigma. Once bright enough, these sparks would be harvested, nurtured and matured before being placed into a body. The Fecund Moon All Our Parlous Yesterdays The sparks would also have to be harvested quickly otherwise they would evaporate. The Sound of Breaking Glass Rarely, sparks could also be discovered buried deep underground. The only known case of this happening was a Point One Percenter that would become Overlord. Remembrance Day
Though most sparks emerge alone, occasionally two sparks emerge together. The resulting Transformers are considered twins and share a branched spark that allows them to feel each other's pain. On Cybertron, this was a very rare event that affected roughly one in every million sparks. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 On the colony world of Devisiun however, unusual gravitational conditions (or other factors) affected the development of its Titan's hot spot and every newborn Devisien emerged with a twin sibling. Windblade vol. 2 #6
Vector Sigma's pulses had grown increasingly less frequent by Nova Prime's era, so to bolster the Cybertronian population he instituted a process called "spark-splicing" which used the energy of existing sparks to ignite new ones. The Fecund Moon That, however was a cover story for what Nova was really doing: harvesting the Matrix of Leadership to create thousands of new sparks daily. The Divided Self
Kup's sparkhousing was unstable due to age and radiation poisoning. He finally experienced sparkcore stabilizer failure which threatened to blow him up. Trailbreaker saved him by extending a force field around the crashing spark. Later, Kup recovered in a CR chamber fitted with a placeholder powercore to maintain his spark. Spotlight: Kup
While attempting to convince Stardrive to join the Decepticons, Starscream briefly explained sparks to the orphaned Camien. Shining Armor #4 After being possessed by Vekktral, Ultra Magnus managed to resist enough to open his spark chamber so Rom could kill them both. Shining Armor #5
The Autobots kept some prisoners at Garrus-9 in spark stasis which entailed actually removing the sparks from their casings separating the spark from the body.
This process was not possible for Monstructor since the Autobots couldn't break through the destructive programming far enough to rehabilitate/reform the sparks as per Optimus Prime's orders and as such hadn't pulled the sparks from their frames.
Arcee found this limbo peaceful but was later reunited with her body. To control her behavior a "g-force crush" device was installed on or in her spark casing and could be operated via remote control. Spotlight: Arcee
After the war ended Scorponok utilized the Magnificence to create the Firstborn, a spark-powered organic capable of sexual reproduction that would reproduce with others of its kind and create new generations of Decepticon sparks. Kill All 'Cons
After Team Rodimus had opened twelve Matrices of Leadership at the hot spots of Functionist Cybertron, Vector Sigma shunted the excess energy to the orbiting Luna 1, reigniting the hot spot. A Spark Among Embers Over the following years, the billion new sparks, the Lunarians as they were called, were steadily brought online, with their generation noted for having an unusually high number of Point One Percenters, a term that would likely have to be changed in the future. How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2
Sparks were not unique to Cybertronians with other mechanical species deriving their animating force from them. Upon meeting a group of Ammonites, Ultra Magnus asked if they were "warm-wired" or spark-based. Into the Abyss
The Quintessons had green sparks with Megatron managing to use Pentius's as fuel Prey and to revive Trypticon. Belly of the Beast Through this, Trypticon inherited some of the Quintesson's memories Primacy #1 before it was revealed that Pentius had become the dominant consciousness within the Titan's body. Primacy #3 Though Megatron attempted to manually remove the spark, the remnants of Pentius were burned away by the fires of the Matrix of Leadership. Primacy #4
The Junkions also possessed sparks but were capable of surviving for prolonged periods of time without them as demonstrated by the ever chipper and chatty Wreck-Gar being reduced to just a head for days on end. The Next Day, and the Next
Characters by spark type
| Ferrum-Positive | Ferrum-Negative | Isomeric-Positive | Isomeric-Negative | Vitreous-Positive | Vitreous-Negative | Unknown shared type | Either Ferrum-Negative or Vitreous-Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- ↑ In "Elegant Chaos", Brainstorm's time-machine is coded for two spark-types: ferrum-negative and vitreous-positive, since Tailgate and Rewind can both use it. By extrapolation, Rodimus, Brainstorm, Megatron and Rung are either of those two.
Of Masters and Mayhem
Thunderwing performed several arcane experiments on his spark, enhancing its power and tinting it green. Learning of this, Shockwave had the spark extracted and placed it into what would become the Matrix of Malice. When the combiner Thunder Mayhem incorporated this Matrix into itself, Fractyl suspected that the additional spark was what gave the combiner such power and stability. In the process of making Wreckage to defeat Thunder Mayhem, Fractyl hoped the interaction of greenergon, which radiated the same signature as Thunderwing's spark, would react with Toxitron's spark and produce a similar power boost. Deadly Aim
When the Teklaans began rebuilding Cybertron's ruined biosphere, Cergo highlighted understanding the Wreckers' sparks as necessary to recreate the Cybertronian race itself. When Bluestreak was convinced to turn against the aliens and joined Wreckage, the combiner highlighted his spark as proof that he was not a thing, but a true being, unlike the static Teklaans. Lively Pursuit
Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons
In a bid to resurrect Solus Prime, Megatronus began draining the sparks of every Cybertronian to reconstitute her. Collision Course When his scheme was halted, thanks in part to Solus herself, the majority of the drained sparks were returned to the living universe, among them, Optimus Prime's. Saga's End
Power of the Primes marketing material
The Prime Masters were diminutive Cybertronians who each held the sparks of the original Thirteen Primes.
War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon
The sparkless sought to reanimate themselves by feeding on the sparks of the living. Siege episode 5
2019 IDW continuity
New sparks were extracted from the Well of All Sparks and brought to the Pyramid where they would form their new bodies. The World In Your Eyes Part Three
Soundblaster linked his spark signature to his ship's energon batteries, warning Ultra Magnus that they would detonate if his spark was extinguished. Storm Horizon Part 3
Animated cartoon
The AllSpark was the wellspring of sparks, its power granting them to protoforms. The AllSpark Almanac II
When Yoketron was attacked by Lockdown and his spark began to fade, Prowl attempted to save him by transferring his spark to a blank protoform. Though successful in his gambit, Yoketron admonished his student for this and allowed his spark to fade. Five Servos of Doom Lockdown delivered Yoketron's stolen protoforms to the Decepticons but they found no method of igniting a spark in them without the AllSpark. Endgame, Part I
In the Battle for Iacon, Omega Supreme had been critically damaged, able to feel his spark fading. After examining the spark, Ratchet placed Omega in stasis lock, preserving his friend's life force. TransWarped Perceptor did the same for the other surviving Omega Sentinel, Sigma Supreme. The AllSpark Almanac II
With the AllSpark having been deliberately lost in space during the course of the Great War, Transform and Roll Out the victorious Autobots turned to Vector Sigma as a means of generating new sparks. The AllSpark Almanac II
After falling a great height, Optimus Prime's spark expired before Sari Sumdac used the AllSpark Key in concert with the AllSpark itself to revive him. Transform and Roll Out
When the AllSpark Key was used to enhance Bumblebee's stingers when used against the Dinobots, Megatron and Prowl suspected that the AllSpark energy coursing through the blast had given the former animatronics sparks. Blast from the Past
Upon his reconstruction via the AllSpark Key, Megatron used it to drain Starscream's spark as punishment for his earlier betrayal. When Megatron later claimed the AllSpark, he inserted it into his spark chamber before his equilibrium sensors were short-circuited by Isaac Sumdac. Though impressed by the human's ingenuity, Megatron quickly recovered, proclaiming that the spark was the core of all Cybertronians and that compared to it, such things as armor-plating and servo mechanics were superficial. Megatron Rising - Part 2
Starscream's clones did not have sparks, forcing their progenitor to bring them online with slivers of his AllSpark fragment, which also substituted for his drained spark. A Bridge Too Close, Part I In the battle for Megatron's space bridge, Ratchet used a handful of AllSpark fragments and the AllSpark Key to jump start Omega Supreme's spark. A Bridge Too Close, Part II
Made from the same technology as Starscream's clones, the Lugnut Supremes lacked sparks, Megatron bringing them online with the same AllSpark fragments that had revived Omega Supreme. Endgame, Part I
When Prowl and Jazz used processor-over-matter to summon together all the AllSpark fragments, Prowl recognized that they could not summon the totality of the pieces in time to save Detroit forcing him to surrender his spark back to the AllSpark, granting it the power it needed to protect the city. Endgame, Part II
Aligned continuity family
As part of the Thirteen's plan to defeat Unicron, Optimus Prime exposed his spark, its frequency almost identical to Primus's own, to Unicron's Anti-Spark, the resulting interaction between the two knocking both beings into stasis lock. After being poisoned by Dark Energon, Primus inserted an untainted portion of his spark into the Matrix of Leadership which he bestowed upon Optimus Prime. The Covenant of Primus
Over the protests of Starscream, Megatron inserted a shard of Dark Energon directly into his spark. Darkness Rising, Part 2 The shard managed to keep him alive after being at ground zero of a Space Bridge explosion, Masters & Students before another shard, plunged directly into his spark, restored his body to full functionality. Out of His Head
A variant of Terrorcons, born from a mixture of Dark and Synthetic Energon, could only be destroyed if their spark was extinguished. Thirst
After Megatron perished, Deadlock the lasting consequence of his abuse of Dark Energon was revealed with Megatron's polluted spark now severed from the AllSpark and bound to Unicron's Anti-Spark, allowing the Dark God to possess Megatron's corpse.
In order to prevent Unicron from devouring the physical AllSpark, Optimus Prime merged the AllSpark with the Matrix of Leadership and thus his own spark. Unable to separate the three, Optimus willingly surrendered his life to allow new generations to exist on Cybertron. The AllSpark rejoining the Core caused it to ignite and birth a multitude of new sparks. Predacons Rising
Before Optimus could pass into the afterlife, the Thirteen intercepted his spark and brought it to their realm. Decepticon Island (Part 1) To provide Optimus with the power needed to defeat Megatronus, the Primes bestowed upon him a portion of their power, directly from their sparks. Battlegrounds, Part 1 They later took it back but doing so left Optimus substantially weakened. Overloaded, Part 1
Ask Vector Prime
Once upon a time, a Metrotitan engaged in a scanning duel with a Malignus. When the Metrotitan thought he'd won by scanning the Rainbow City, the prideful Malignus tried to scan entropy itself, scattering his spark. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/17
According to Vector Prime, a spark was capable of being ignited by any part of the Source. As an example, he pointed to the Technobots of Primax 509.28 Epsilon having sparks ignited by Dark Energon but reassured a concerned human that a spark's origin did not dictate whether it was a good or evil. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/23
Cy-Kill was fascinated by the concept of sparks, noting that the Transformers were hybrids of machinery and energy in the same way that GoBots were hybrids of machinery and organic tissue. Renegade Rhetoric (1), 2015/10/15
Beast Wars: Uprising
Before the Great War, new Cybertronian sparks were generated by Vector Sigma. During the conflict however, the supercomputer would be counted among its casualties, threatening the Cybertronian race with extinction. Broken Windshields
At some point during or after the 21st century, Optimus Prime sacrificed his life and the Matrix of Leadership to defeat the Swarm, Book of Logos Unicron was instead defeated by the [Point One Percenter]]s when he attacked Cybertron. Believing a threat would inevitably rise that would require such exceptional talent once again, Deluge began studying sparks, dedicated himself to creating new generations of Point One Percenters. The Inexorable March
After the Decepticon leader Thunderwing had claimed the Underbase, he fused his spark with those of the Mayhem Attack Squad, enhancing his power. Not All Megatrons
When the Autobot scientist Cerebros heard about the Human Confederacy's Eutychus Project, an initiative to resurrect the majority of deceased humans, he gleamed enough knowledge about it to create a new source of sparks, the Energon Matrix to ensure a future for his race. Head Games Rather than create a new generation free of conflict, as Cerebros intended, his fellow Builders used it to perpetuate the Great War via the proxy armies of the Maximals and Predacons. After returning to Cybertron, Blackarachnia revealed the Energon Matrix, held within Lio Convoy to her people, starting the Grand Uprising. Broken Windshields
To save face after his ward had gone rogue, Eject created a clone with his own Matrix. The clone, Galva Convoy was influenced by a dark source and eventually utilized the G-Virus to corrupt the Matrix within him and birthed the Vehicons who had "anti-sparks". Micro-Aggressions Not All Megatrons
Second-born intellects were mechanical entities created by organic beings and not animated by sparks. One of these intellects, Lord Imperious Delirious travelled the galaxy meeting more of his ilk and liberating them from their organic creators. When he first learned of the Cybertronian race, Delirious was eager to meet what he thought was a whole race of second-born intellects before he learned of sparks. Considering the Cybertronians to be energy beings that animated mechanical sock puppets, Delirious set upon a genocidal campgain against the Cybertronian race., motivated by his disgust at sparks Derailment
After the Grand Uprising, Rampage tracked down Deluge who explained his motivations for his Spark experiments before he was killed by his creation. The Inexorable March
Cyberverse cartoon
By Cheetor's account, his spark had been brought out of the AllSpark to serve as its guardian. Dark Birth
When Starscream had acquired the AllSpark and used it to birth a race of scraplets, Trials he believed that they held the sparks of the Ancients, Dark Birth though Cheetor would later denounce his creations as sparkless abominations. Starscream's Children
After witnessing Cheetor's affinity for the AllSpark, Starscream attempted to extract the guardian's spark and merge it with his own. When he tested the procedure on Bumblebee however, Cheetor managed to stop the transfer and escape with his friend. Spotted
Upon gaining full control of the AllSpark, Starscream merged it with his spark. His first act was to extract the sparks of his Seekers, merging them with his own. He would have done the same to the other Autobots and Decepticons before Optimus Prime managed to use the Matrix of Leadership to punch the AllSpark out of Starscream, saving everyone. I Am The Allspark
After Bumblebee and Cheetor had returned the AllSpark to Cybertron's core, Shockwave willingly extracted his own spark and used it to corrupt the AllSpark. Without hesitation, Cheetor did the same, his spark purifying Shockwave's malignant energies from the AllSpark. Battle For Cybertron IV
When the Quintessons invaded Cybertron, they trapped the populace in a virtual reality while their sparks were drained to fuel Starscream's metamorphosis into a Quintesson Judge. The End Of The Universe I Before Hot Rod's resistance managed to free the Cybertronians, some of their sparks had been completely drained. The Scientist
2021 IDW Beast Wars comic
After the Darksyde had crashed, its AI reconstructed the crews with fabricated techno-organic material that matched the native organics on a molecular level to protect the Cybertronians from harmful levels of energon radiation that would otherwise damage their sparks. Savage Landing Part 1
