Transformerology
Transformerology (from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Latin_language">Latin</a>: <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transformer#French" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:transformer">trānsfōrmāre</a>, "trans+forma, across the form"; and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Greek_language">Greek</a>: λόγος, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/logos" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:logos">logos</a>, "speech" lit. to talk about Transformers) is a faux-serious <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_degree" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Academic_degree">Academic degree</a> proposed by Dreamwave Comics Creative Director James McDonough and Adam Patyk in 2004 to describe the learning process needed in compiling the "More than Meets the Eye" Generation One, profile book, covering 20 years of the franchise history and more than 400 characters. Transformerology specifically relates to a study of the fiction of the Transformers franchise rather than its toys.
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</td><td valign="top" style="padding:4px 10px 5px 10px;"> ...we were going to make sure that each profile presented information in a diverse way that kept things interesting, while also ensuring that you didn't need a degree in Transformerology to get in on the action.
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<td colspan="3" style="padding-top: 0"> <p style="font-size:smaller;line-height:1em;text-align: right"><cite style="font-style:normal;">—James McDonough and Adam Patyk, forward to "Transformers Generation One: More than Meets the Eye" volume 1</cite>
</td></tr></table> To estimate the program level a "degree" in Transformerology represents... The time required to watch/read every episode, comic book sourcebook and novel published in the Transformers lexicon since 1984 is between 800 and 1000 person-hours<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup> allowing for no breaks, repeats or time for reflection. If one were to include the kind of repeat-viewings, comparative analysis, speculation, peer discussion and dissection essential to understanding what is essentially one very large convoluted story, the time-investment to acquire a "degree" in Transformerology is roughly equivalent to that of earning a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Bachelor's_degree">Bachelor's degree</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a></sup>
The task McDonough and Patyk faced in 2004, familiarizing themselves with slightly less than half of the Generation 1 franchise (much of it in pre-digested form), would have represented about 1/4 of that, perhaps the equivalent of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate#As_an_academic_award" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Certificate">Undergraduate Certificate</a>.
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</td><td valign="top" style="padding:4px 10px 5px 10px;font-family: 'lucida console', arial, sans-serif;"> <big>Transformers is serious business.</big>
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<td colspan="3" style="padding-top: 0"> <p style="font-size:smaller;line-height:1em;text-align: right"><cite style="font-style:normal;">—TFWiki.net motto</cite>
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Footnotes
<small><ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0"><a href="#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> Ballpark figure based on ~600 episodes, ~700 comics, three movies, 6 full-length novels, 19 sourcebooks, annuals, specials et cetera. <li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> This is a conservative estimate. As a rule of thumb, if an English-speaking fan has seen the Japanese series more than once, they've probably spent enough time studying Transformers to equate to a Masters Degree. And yes, McFeely has a Doctorate.</ol></small>
