Spark
| The name or term "Spark" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Spark (disambiguation). |
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
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.
Establishment in fiction
The concept of the spark as currently understood was introduced to Transformers mythos in the Beast Wars episode "The Spark" (though they are offhandedly mentioned in the earlier episode "Gorilla Warfare" without elaboration). In this episode little is explained except that each spark is unique and that every "Cybertron" (here essentially meaning "Cybertronian") has one. Gorilla Warfare The Spark
The later episode "Possession" dealt with the idea of sparks but the spark in question—that of the original Starscream—is established as being aberrant and thus properties it displays are not necessarily characteristic of sparks in general. However, "Possession" was the first time it was claimed that characters from the G1 cartoon series also had sparks rather than them existing in Beast Wars only. Sparks remained prominent throughout Beast Wars and events in seasons two and three further established the retcon that Generation 1-Transformers possessed sparks. Possession Optimal Situation Master Blaster
In Beast Machines sparks became central to the story as Megatron abducted the sparks from every Transformer on Cybertron. Revelations Part I: Discovery Megatron's own spark displayed unusual behaviors in this series and it is probable these behaviors do not apply to all sparks. Prometheus Unbound Spark of Darkness Still, Beast Machines contributed more information about sparks to canon than any other series.
Since the introduction of the spark concept in Beast Wars, sparks have become an integral part of Transformers fiction. They have been featured in new Generation 1-based series and subsequently-created continuity families from the Unicron Trilogy to the live-action movies to Animated.
Prototypical concepts
There do exist some concepts similar to the spark that precede its firm establishment in the Beast Era.
The original The Transformers cartoon occasionally referenced a part of Transformer physiology called a laser core which seemingly has a similar function compared to a spark. The tech spec bio for the Beast Rider Mechatron says that he is "outfitted with an upgraded spark-capture claw that can tear out the entire laser core of any Transformer defender." This implies that as some fans had speculated prior to Mechatron's release, the laser core may be some sort of housing for the spark. However, the inverse was suggested by the Story of Binaltech which noted the laser core was the literal core of the spark.
A more detailed idea was that of the "Life Spark", a life-force concept which appeared in early drafts of The Transformers: The Movie. "Life Sparks" resembled small glowing versions of the Transformers to whom they belonged. Per a draft dated to April 1985, Life Sparks depart the body of a Transformer upon death to ultimately dissipate into nothingness unless they are contained within another vessel. While Optimus Prime transfers his Life Spark into Ultra Magnus (essentially taking the place of the Matrix of Leadership in this version of events) Megatron requests to have his enshrined in an urn at the Decepticon Hall of Heroes only for his pleas to be ignored and for his Life Spark to drift into space to be recreated as Galvatron by Unicron. Although this idea was discarded from the finished film entirely, a vestigial reference to it persisted in the UK comic story "Target: 2006" where author Simon Furman read the draft and misinterpreted "Life Spark" as the name of a character who was rebuilt into Cyclonus.
Although the word "spark" does appear offhandedly in some Generation 1 comic stories (a "spark of life", a "life spark" and the phrases "Let no spark remain flickering in a single Autobot microchip!" and "For as long as a spark exists within a single Mechabot..."), these were clearly metaphorical statements. They may be retroactively seen as referring to the contemporary concept of a Transformer's spark but did not establish anything of the sort on their own.
Properties of sparks
As seen in the image at the top of this article, sparks normally appear as semitransparent blue balls of energy with a pulsating center composed of smaller blue spheres. The center spheres are engulfed in a reddish glow while an ever-changing pattern of electricity-like lines travels around the surface and through the interior. However, in Beast Machines the sparks of the Maximal heroes who had been reformatted took on different colors (for example, Blackarachnia's was green). This was first visible in "Revelations Part I: Discovery". At the end of that series after being infused with extra power from the Matrix (cf. the Allspark and Oracle) their sparks became visible as if parts of their torsos were translucent.
Beast Era Transformers seem to have permanent "spark chambers" within their chassis where the spark can be seen simply by opening the chamber. Older Transformers within the same G1/Beast continuity family such as those who lived before the Great Upgrade do not seem to have this exact feature in most continuities. The G1 More Than Meets The Eye guidebook from Dreamwave specifically states that a spark is normally "suffused" throughout a Transformer's body rather than residing in any particular place. It may be that this is also true after the Great Upgrade and the spark chamber is merely a protected location for the spark to coalesce when needed or be safely contained during stasis lock. Meanwhile, making things more confusing is the cutaway diagrams of G1 Optimus Prime and Megatron in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide including spark chambers.
In the Beast Wars cartoon there were two cases of Beast Era Transformers temporarily housing sparks of Generation One Transformers in their own bodies while still housing their own sparks. In both cases, this resulted in the Beastie undergoing a mutation of sorts into a more powerful physical form: Optimus Primal upon taking the spark of Optimus Prime grew into his Transmetal "Optimal Optimus" body; Megatron upon taking the spark of the original Megatron obtained his Transmetal 2 dragon form. However, based on information from the series there is no basis for determining whether this phenomenon is a result of a single body housing two sparks, a Beast Era body housing a Generation One spark, a body being implanted with an especially "powerful" spark conceivably like those of Optimus Prime and Megatron or some combination of these. When the aberrant disembodied spark of Starscream had earlier possessed Waspinator the only physical change was the body's allegiance emblems shifting from Predacon to Decepticon. The Beast Wars comic miniseries The Gathering implies that Generation One sparks may be intrinsically more powerful than Beast Era sparks.
Although Transformer memories and personalities are generally treated as if they are stored within the Transformers' computer brains, repeated canonical instances have established that a spark will or can hold all of an individual's memories along with their "essence" or personality. Further, there is some evidence that sparks may even retain records of the Transformer's previous bodies (such as when Optimal Optimus, whose body originated with a blank protoform regressed into a copy of the original gorilla body Primal wore at the beginning of the Beast Wars). Revelations Part II: Descent A Transformer's behavior can be modified through programming of their mechanical body referred to as a shell program, but this is always a struggle between the programming and the "true" nature of the spark within. It may be that over long periods of time a spark may begin to internalize some aspects of a preprogrammed personality. Double Jeopardy Spider's Game Proving Grounds Crossing the Rubicon Revelations Part III: Apocalypse
Transformers such as G1 Sky Lynx, G1 Omega Supreme and the Duocons simultaneously inhabit multiple mechanical bodies and/or components. The character bio for Magmatron mentions this ability of his and categorizes his spark as a "mitotic spark" which is capable of splitting and sharing itself among his three beast modes. It is unknown if other multiple-bodied Transformers also possess mitotic sparks or are examples of something more mundane such as simple remote-control.
Some Transformers are able to sense and communicate with the sparks of other Transformers through a process that appears analogous to telepathy. According to dialogue from "Revelations Part III: Apocalypse" this ability is related to the sparks' mutual connection to the Allspark. Disembodied sparks are sometimes able to communicate through this same method. (See below.)
The radiation emitted by energon crystals is harmful to sparks even when protected and securely encased within a shell. Certain body types are better able to shield the spark from energon radiation. For example, the flesh-like beast modes adopted by the crews of the Axalon and Darksyde provided essentially 100% protection allowing activity in environments that were practically forests of energon crystals so long as those involved remained in beast mode. Direct contact between crystalline energon and a spark is highly dangerous.
In the Beast Machines episode "Spark of Darkness" Rattrap describes Megatron's disembodied spark as a ball of electrons. He goes on to say that normal sparks contain a large number of positrons. Based on this dialogue it is possible but uncertain that sparks are composed entirely of positrons; in other sources the existence and names of sparktypes suggests a more complex composition. Rattrap also indicates in "Revelations Part I" that when a spark is extinguished carbon scoring is typically left on or within the Transformer's empty chassis.
Regardless of their composition, sparks are not insubstantial energy but have some sort of physical aspect. This is clearly demonstrated in again, "Revelations Part III" when Nightscream is seen attempting to push Blackarachnia's spark back into her body. His hands press against some sort of surface or perhaps merely a force field in which case the spark could be entirely energy which is above the visible surface of her spark. Later in the series in "Spark of Darkness" Megatron's spark is also shown to have physicality. Further back, in Beast Wars, the spark of Rampage/Protoform X would respond to being "crushed" by Megatron by flattening slightly inside its energon-lined carrying case. And even the spark of G1 Megatron was "grabbed" physically by a tentacle-like appendage of BW Megatron's. While some of these examples may be special cases, as they deal with sparks that have unusual properties, those properties are unique to each spark. The weight of evidence, then is in favor of sparks being at least partially substantial.
In the Energon cartoon sparks were shown to have the ability to be somehow augmented by Primus to become a Combination Spark. This allowed two Autobots to powerlinx together into a new form, allowing one Autobot to take command of the fused body while the "pants" remained dormant. Without the Combination Spark, a powerlinx between two normal Transformers could not be completed. It is not stated whether the combiner teams Constructicon Maximus and Bruticus Maximus also possessed Combination Sparks or if their ability to combine has some other origin.
Disembodied sparks
Sparks are able to exist outside of a Transformer body but the parameters of this phenomenon are largely unclear. It is unknown for how long a spark can survive under such conditions although they are vulnerable to damage in this state. It is also unknown whether a disembodied spark is "conscious" and aware of its surroundings or whether it is capable of moving under its own power. (There are unusual cases as described under aberrant sparks.)
It is hard to imagine how a spark could be aware of its surroundings when stripped of all sensory mechanisms. Indeed, in "Revelations Part III: Apocalypse", while Blackarachnia's spark was outside of her body her consciousness did not remain in the "real world". Instead, she experienced a conversation with the meditating Optimus Primal—not a hallucination—which took place on an abstract "higher plane of existence" perhaps within the Allspark itself.
Most of the disembodied sparks in Beast Machines drift slowly and largely directionlessly. In many other cases, sparks seem to move with some sort of intent. However, aside from attempts of sparks to re-enter their "home" bodies, these are conceivably all "special cases" and may not be generalizable. In one example, the sparks of Tigatron and Airazor are seen following Tigerhawk to Earth in "Other Victories". While their sparks appear normal when this occurs, they later merge into a single white spark and then inhabit the then-empty Tigerhawk body. This is not normal spark behavior and may be related to the time they spent seemingly in stasis with the Vok. Also, in "Revelations Part III" when Blackarachnia becomes panicked during her telepathic conversation with Primal, her spark begins moving erratically and has to be chased down by Nightscream. However, it is unclear whether the spark was moving with intent—especially since Blackarachnia's consciousness was portrayed as still being on a higher plane—or simply zigzagging randomly. And again, a reformatted spark may be different from a normal spark anyway.
Absence of a spark
Strangely, it is possible for Transformer-related mechanical entities to remain online and sentient despite the lack of a spark.
The first example would be the original Diagnostic Drone in Beast Machines. While simply being a robotic aid and having no spark it showed a full range of emotions, the ability to reason and could be consulted by Megatron. In Animated Starscream, his clones, Soundwave, Wreck-Gar and the Constructicons each substituted AllSpark fragments or energy for natural sparks. Mission Accomplished Garbage In, Garbage Out Sound and Fury Meanwhile, Titan's tie-in comics would reveal that comic-original character Afterburn was really a sparkless drone despite having shown emotion, initiative and thought beforehand.
These instances raise questions about how necessary a spark really is and what properties it bestows that are genuinely unique.
Of interest is that when Afterburn was revealed to have had no spark, Optimus Prime immediately wrote him off as not having been a "real" bot and viewed it as pointless to mark Afterburn's death. Similarly, Prowl rescued the Dinobots upon sensing spark traces inside them and nobody seemed bothered by the Starscream clones dying or found it notable Starscream had created beings whose sole purpose was to be suicide bombers. In some continuities, it appears as if Cybertronian orthodoxy views the presence of a spark as the true indicator of life with emotion and sentience being seen as mostly irrelevant.
Aberrant sparks
Some sparks have exhibited properties or behaviors that do not seem to be generalizable to other sparks.
Starscream
As established in the Beast Wars episodes "Possession" and "Bad Spark," Starscream possesses a "mutant" immortal spark. Even when his body is destroyed, his spark is not extinguished. This explanation retcons the appearance of Starscream's ghost in some season three episodes from the G1 cartoon; the "ghost" was in fact Starscream's disembodied spark.
Starscream's spark was able to move under its own power and seemingly traveled not just across space from Cybertron to Earth, but backwards through time from 2006 to human prehistory. It may be that the time travel was accomplished by "falling" through the transwarp hole left by the Axalon and Darksyde when they arrived on prehistoric Earth—Depth Charge's ship arrived there by that method later in the series—but this is uncertain.
Additionally, Starscream's spark was able to take possession of other Transformers simply by entering their bodies. While in another body, Starscream's will completely dominates that of his host. When Starscream possessed Waspinator, Waspinator's voice even changed to sound like Starscream's and the Predacon insignias on his body changed to Decepticon insignias. Starscream either did not have or seem to know that he had this possession ability until he died during the events of The Transformers: The Movie.
Rampage/Protoform X
The creation of Protoform X was an experiment conducted by the Maximal Elders to attempt to replicate Starscream's indestructible spark. Although they succeeded in creating such a spark the Transformer, dubbed Protoform X and later taking on the name "Rampage" was unfortunately psychotic.
Like Starscream's spark, Rampage's could not be extinguished through simple destruction of his body. In fact, Rampage's body—at least the body he wore during the Beast Wars—had uncannily rapid self-repair functions. In one instance Depth Charge pierced Rampage's body from front to back with a spear and the damage disappeared in a matter of seconds once the spear was removed.
Megatron devised a way to split Rampage's spark by carving it with a blade of energon crystal. Amazingly, this did not destroy the spark, nor did it seem to weaken Rampage appreciably. Megatron kept part of the spark in a case lined with energon crystals. By squeezing the case, the crystals would pinch the spark fragment, and Megatron used this to torture Rampage into obedience.
Megatron later placed this piece of Rampage's spark inside his Transmetal 2 clone of Dinobot who is usually referred to as Dinobot II. Dinobot II appeared to have a personality wholly independent of Rampage's although he was similarly brutal. Dinobot II's personality however, may have been imposed upon him through programming. Dinobot II could torture Rampage by compressing the spark fragment he held as Megatron had previously done. This did not seem to affect Dinobot himself.
Rampage's spark turned out to not be completely indestructible. Seemingly as an extension of Megatron's splitting of the spark with an energon blade, Depth Charge eventually destroyed Rampage by piercing his spark with "pure" crystalline energon. Normally sparks "extinguish" somewhat peacefully, but when Rampage's was pierced, a powerful explosion destroyed the bodies of both Rampage and Depth Charge. It may be that Starscream's spark would be similarly vulnerable to being cut/destroyed by energon, but this is mere extrapolation.
When Rampage's spark was destroyed, the fragment within Dinobot II did not explode. It may have simply disappeared, or it may have remained there. However, through a process which is not clearly established, Dinobot II at that instant "reverted" to the personality of the original Dinobot, and even had a vision of Dinobot's last moments. It may be that this reversion was related to events scripted for an episode which was never produced, titled "Dark Glass".
Rampage's spark never displayed the ability to move under its own power.
Megatron
In season two of Beast Machines, Megatron's spark does a number of unusual things.
As part of the battle between him and Optimus Primal at the end of season one during which the Key to Vector Sigma and Plasma Energy Chamber were pitted against each other, Megatron somehow was able to "split" his Beast body into two separate bodies, one entirely robotic and the other entirely organic. (Whether the Beast bodies of the Beast Wars characters had any true biological components or whether they were faux-flesh composed of nanites is not consistently established in either series.) Contrary to his intentions, Megatron's spark ended up trapped within the biological body which came to be known as Noble and Savage while his desired technological body appeared to have been destroyed.
It is unclear how a biological body was able to sustain a Transformers' spark. Indeed, even the Maximals were surprised when they realized what had happened. It could be argued, based on statements made by the Oracle in the first episode that all lifeforms in the universe have sparks, not just Transformers. However, this is never alluded to by any other canonical source so most fans have seemingly dismissed it.
As shown in "Prometheus Unbound", using the biological Noble/Savage body Megatron was unable to exercise mental control over devices in his citadel or interface with his control harness. Upon using a spark extractor on himself, however, his spark was freed and immediately flew to the harness, which it activated before "flowing" up to the ceiling through the harness's cables. His spark then took over the Grand Mal, an enormous, floating replica of his own head, as its new body and stayed there for part of season two. The Noble/Savage body appeared to be dead but recovered. After Megatron's spark had left it seemed to be a perfectly "normal" animal which had the ability to change between a wolf-like form and a dragon form, possessing little if any sentience.
As soon as his spark had been removed from Noble, it took on an unusual appearance, having turned entirely red or orange in color (perhaps a change similar to that of the reformatted Maximals). Megatron's disembodied spark also seemed to be able to speak even though it had no physical body. It may be that this speech was telepathic, but the spark itself pulsated in perfect rhythm with the words.
While inhabiting the Grand Mal, Megatron's spark was sometimes seen floating freely and under its own power through the construct's interior, particularly in a large space that appeared to serve as his control room. (It was here that he addressed his Vehicon generals, usually manifesting as a holographic projection of one kind or another.)
Eventually, in the three-part "Sparkwar" story, Megatron's spark began consuming/fusing with the captured sparks of Cybertron's inhabitants. He claimed to have learned how to accomplish this after communicating with the Oracle.
To consume other sparks, Megatron's spark extended tendrils which ensnared victim sparks. These tendrils also had the ability to extract sparks from occupied shells much like a spark extractor. As each spark was absorbed, Megatron's spark grew larger in size.
Megatron was temporarily beaten when Nightscream attacked him with a sonic scream. The scream, according to Primal "depolarized" Megatron's spark. This caused him to lose control temporarily and allowed the Maximals to escape. In the following episode "Spark of Darkness", Megatron's spark exhibited additional strange behaviors which may or may not have been dependent on its depolarized state:
- It travelled very quickly and with great agility.
- It was able to "crash" physically into things to push them around. In particular, it repeatedly knocked the Maximals out of its way.
- It seemed to be able to cause large explosions simply by flying through other objects.
- It could inhabit and leave any sparkless body at will. This ability evidently differs from Starscream's in that Starscream never truly animated a vacant body and Megatron never dominated an occupied one. These re-animated bodies were able to remain functional even after suffering extreme physical damage.
- His spark was not detectable by his Vehicon generals' sensors and Primal was unable to "sense" his spark through the Oracle.
- The spark did not speak at all while depolarized, neither when in a body nor floating freely.
Rattrap was able to capture Megatron using a hand-held spark extractor and with a control panel on it "repolarized" and thus stabilized his spark. Afterwards, Megatron's spark remained red and just as fast and agile as before but became detectable by his generals' scanners again and was "trapped" in the next body it inhabited (that of a Diagnostic Drone). Upon entering this body, Megatron first declared, "I live!" before realizing the depth of his situation. This was the first time he had spoken since being hit by the sonic scream. This implies that something about his prior "destabilized" state may have prevented him from fully utilizing the bodies he had visited. The only other clue we have is that when Optimus tried to contact Megatron's spark inside the Grand Mal, he discovered that it "wasn't a sentient mind." Whether this is a result of trying to find a spark that was not in the expected location or because of its depolarized state is ambiguous.
Prime Spark
The Prime Spark is a spark that is shared cross-dimensionally by at least three different Transformers. It was entrusted to chosen individuals by Primus himself. Prime Spark
Embers
The Shattered Glass universe seems to be more of a departure from the "regular" realities in the multiverse. In it, the semi-mystical ball of energy that gives the resident Transformers their lifeforce is an electron-charged "Ember". Aside from polarities, there's no other difference noted from the positron-charged spark Cliffjumper brings into that universe.
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 As 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
At the end of the Beast Wars, Megatron had been strapped to the outside of Autobot Shuttle Omega Delta. Breaking free from his constraints on the Autobot shuttle while it traveled through transwarp space, Megatron arrived back home on Cybertron well before the Maximals did. Descent Managing to develop a transformation virus, Megatron incapacitated Cybertron's population, Forbidden Fruit extracting their sparks and storing them in the Council Citadel, planning to one day absorb them into his own spark. The Siege When Megatron's former follower Waspinator somehow managed to make it back to Cybertron, Megatron extracted his spark and added it to his collection. The Catalyst
Having developed a profound hatred of organic life, Megatron laboured to purge himself of his beast mode but refused the simple option of simply transferring his spark to a purely mechanical frame, noting that doing so would leave his spark vulnerable. Survivor
When Primal's Maximals finally returned to Cybertron, they were attacked by Megatron's Vehicon army who infected them with a gaseous form of the virus. While those who had been Transmetalized were stripped of their upgrades, they managed to remain mobile. Rhinox and Silverbolt by contrast, having received no upgrades while on Earth, were instead paralyzed and quickly overtaken. Their sparks soon joined Megatron's collection. Descent Fleeing deep underground, Primal and his team found the Oracle who recognized Primal's "receptive spark" and reformatted the four into technorganic bodies. The Reformatting Whenever Primal used his powers to reformat another Cybertronian into a technorganic form, his spark would shine out his body. Forbidden Fruit End of the Line
To match the Maximals, Megatron placed three of his captured sparks into Vehicon bodies creating the Vehicon generals. Fires of the Past After Primal had felt something familiar about the general Tankor's spark, Mercenary Pursuits the Maximals eventually discovered the truth about the generals as well as the spark extractor technology that had allowed Megatron to so effectively conquer Cybertron. Discovery
At Cheetor's orders, Rattrap tried to reawaken Tankor's spark, discovering that he was their old friend Rhinox. Conucrrently, Blackarachnia confronted Thrust, thinking him to be her old lover Silverbolt, only for the two to be found by Jetstorm who extracted Blackarachnia's spark. Descent While Nightscream was able to return Blackarachnia's spark to her body, the Maximals discovered that Rhinox's spark had been corrupted by the shell program. Though they intended to reprogram him back to his normal self, Optimus prevented them from doing so, noting that they had to respect Rhinox's choice. Apocalypse
When a clash between the Maximals and Megatron resulted in the anti-organic energies of the Key to Vector Sigma meeting the anti-technological energies of the Plasma Energy Chamber, End of the Line Optimus sacrificed himself to ensure the powers did not destroy Cybertron. His spark went on a vision quest in the afterlife for a time before he returned to his body. Fallout Megatron meanwhile had taken the chance to try and purge the organic elements of his body only for his spark to follow. Posing as Noble, Megatron managed to gain access to the Council Citadel and extract his spark, uploading to his Grand Mal spaceship. Prometheus Unbound
As the status quo returned to Cybertron, Megatron placed the sparks of the legendary generals Strika and Obsidian in Vehicon bodies to act as his new enforcers. The Strike When Megatron later moved the sparks, Optimus Primal baited him with access to the Oracle so that the Maximal leader could learn where Cybertron's sparks now resided, in the Grand Mal itself. The Search Opening the spark containment unit, Megatron began absorbing the sparks of his fellows into his own before Nightscream deplorized the Predacon's own spark. The Siege
Depolarized, Megatron's spark possessed a collection of bodies across Cybertron before Rattrap returned it to normal and uploaded it to a Diagnostic Drone. Spark of Darkness With the Grand Mal still in their possession, the Maximals made defending Cybertron's sparks their priority as Megatron ordered his generals to recapture them. The Downward Spiral Communing with the sparks, the Maximals tapped into their own sparks for a power boost when the battle turned against them. Though the Maximals managed to defeat the Vehicon generals, Megatron had managed to transfer his spark into a new combat-ready body, Optimus Primal's "Optimal Optimus" form, and extracted the sparks of every Maximal save Primal himself. When Legends Fall
In the following battle, Megatron emerged victorious and proceeded to absorb every spark into himself. At the cusp of his ascension however, Primal managed to manipulate the technorganic matter to shove Megatron and himself into Cybertron's organic core. As Primal reformatted the core itself, Megatron's stolen sparks were all released, now inhabiting technorganic bodies. Seeds of the Future
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
In their final battle, Optimus Prime stabbed Rhisling directly into Galvatron's spark, finally ending the Decepticon's threat. Unfinished
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
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
The most fundamental component to a Cybertronian, yet also the most mysterious, sparks were what gave Cybertronians life and individuality. Sparks were drawn from the Matrix of Leadership and placed into mature protoforms to mould a new Cybertronian, whereupon their energy would course throughout the body. Upon a Cybertronian's demise, their corpse released a measurable energy burst, which was speculated to be the spark leaving the body. Though ancient legends held that sparks came from Primus, scientists of the modern era gave this tale little credence and continued to try and determine a more rational origin for sparks.
Certain sparks were known to have aberrant properties that counted special powers among them. A spark was known to sometimes split, resulting in the creation of siblings. The Decepticon Shockwave managed to artificially replicate this to create clones, but this process was noted to be overall inferior to natural spark separation. More than Meets the Eye
2005 IDW continuity
Across the galaxy, multiple mechanical races possessed sparks, including the Quintessons, Prey Junkions, The Next Day, and the Next and the Transformers themselves. The durability of a spark and its role in mechanoid physiology varies from species to species; Pentius's spark contained a semblance of his memories and personality, which reasserted themselves when his disembodied spark found its way into Trypticon's body, Belly of the Beast while the Junkion Wreck-Gar could readily survive as a disembodied head after the apparent destruction of his spark. The Next Day, and the Next Machine races that did not possess sparks, like the Catharsians, possessed "warm-wired" physiologies that granted them life and sentience. Chasing the Infinite
On Cybertron, the spark, brain module, and transformation cog are all part of Rossum's Trinity, three interconnected organs essential to Transformer life. The Chaos of Warm Things The light from a spark illuminates a Transformer's optics, Zero Point and the energon within their systems. Most energon inside a normal Cybertronian turns purple, but the Transformers from the colony world Caminus evolved lower-frequency sparks to conserve energy and "bleed" blue energon instead. The Last Autobot 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
In ancient times, Vector Sigma created sparks by sending energy pulses across the planet, igniting sparks in one of the twelve hot spots located across Cybertron or its two moons. Once they had surfaced, Cybertronians harvest and nurture the disembodied sparks until they are placed into a mass of living metal, a "protoform" that shapes itself into a new body for the young Cybertronian. Sparks would also have to be harvested quickly otherwise they would evaporate, The Sound of Breaking Glass although some sparks could remain buried deep underground. Remembrance Day A spark could be stored indefinitely inside a photonic crystal, effectively "freezing" it—once "unthawed", a spark could be readily implanted into a potential body. The Lopsided Triangle
Some Cybertronians possess unique or otherwise aberrant sparks. Cybertronian mythology holds that the Titans possessed unique "super-sparks" that straddled multiple planes of existence. Primus: All Good Things Approximately one in every million Sparks emerge simultaneously—the resulting Transformers are considered twins and share a branched spark that allows them to feel each other's pain. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 Unusually, the Transformer colonists on the planet Devisiun were all born with branched sparks that connected them to their twin sibling. Windblade vol. 2 #6 Finally, a very small number of sparks glow green instead of blue; Transformers who possess these special sparks are known as "Point One Percenters" and boast enhanced physical strength and durability compared to other Cybertronians—they include Optimus Prime, Megatron, Overlord, and Ultra Magnus. The Chaos of Warm Things
For reasons unknown, the rate of new sparks had grown increasingly less frequenby Nova Prime's era, and the looming population crisis threatened his plans for a grand galactic empire based on colonization and conquest. In time, his scientists turned to the Matrix of Leadership itself, and discovered a way to generate a limitless supply of new sparks from the mass of photonic crystals embedded within its frame. The Divided Self Realizing that not all Cybertronains would approve of this act, his government established a cover story, that they were creating new life through "spark-splicing", using energy from existing sparks to ignite new ones. The Fecund Moon
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
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.
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 Without the talisman, Unicron was instead defeated by the Point One Percenters 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
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 that the introduction 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 remarked that understanding the Wreckers' sparks was necessary to resurrect the Cybertronian race. 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. Power of the 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
After Megatron had taken over the Senate, Starscream tried to barter information to the Decepticon leader on Titan sparks. Awakenings He later had his agents try and pass this same information onto the Autobots. Hunt
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
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
Dreadwing and Skyquake shared a split spark. This allowed the former to feel the latter's emerging from stasis and subsequent death. Loose Cannons
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
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
Notes
- It is possible there is some quantitative difference between the sparks of Generation 1 Transformers and protoform Beast Wars-era Transformers. G1 Transformer sparks are generally glossed as small fragments of Primus's lifeforce. Beast Wars-era Transformer sparks are generally considered to be the same, but writer Larry DiTillio has stated that he envisioned Beast Wars Transformer sparks as small fragments split from Nexus Zero. When a spark is split from the Vok nebula, a "good" one travels to the Matrix and an "evil" one to the Pit.[1]
- Despite the fact sparks are supposed to be pieces of Primus, numerous fictions depict Unicron, Primus's opposite as having a spark of his own.
- The fact that in some continuities, such as the Aligned continuity family, Primus and Unicron were a single being before conflict literally tore them apart and that Primus based the Thirteen on himself and his rival may provide an explanation for this occurrence.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Spark (スパーク Supāku)
- German: Mastermodul (used in the German dub of Armada)
- Mandarin: Huǒzhǒng (火种, "Spark")
- Brazilian Portuguese: Centelha, Faísca, Fagulha (Spark), Chama (Flame)
See also
- Death
- Transformer afterlife
- Spirit portal
- Branched spark
- Core consciousness
- Datatrax
- Laser core
- Spark crystal
- Mitotic spark
- Database
- Brain module
- Vector Sigma
- Omega Terminus
- Oracle (BM)
- Slaughter
- Digital Entity Frame
- Ghost
- Personality component
- Crystalline containment vessel
- Photonic crystal
- Electropulse
- AllSpark
- Prime Spark (Spark)
- Shell program
- Memory core
- Spark of Combination
- Matrix of Leadership
- Dark Spark
- Matrix of Conquest
- Linkage (dimension)
