Technorganic
Technorganic is a descriptor that was introduced in the Beast Machines cartoon series. It refers to a melding of technological and biological components into a single entity by the power of the Oracle.
These fusions are far more involved and complete than any seen before, and merge the technological and organic components of the affected being throughout their entire body, down even to the cellular level. A technorganic being can no longer truly be said to be a technological robot at all, nor are they like organic life as it is found in the rest of the universe. Technorganic Cybertronians are truly their own new and unique type of life, theoretically combining all the strengths of both robotic and organic life.
Technorganic biology
Technorganic transformers do not have on-board computers to handle secondary functions as previous Beast-era Transformers did. Rather, those functions have either become conscious actions (such as transforming, addressed below) or are now autonomic, as breathing is in an organic life-form. They have advanced internal healing abilities and do not appear to have "spark chambers" the way previous Beast-era transformers did. Rather the spark appears simply to be diffused throughout the body and coalesces in the center of the chest or floats just outside of it when made to appear.
Technorganic transforming
Technorganic Transformers still retain the ability to transform between two forms, but their transforming is not a mechanical shifting of moving parts, as with their robotic predecessors. It appears more like fluid shape-shifting, accompanied by a burst of bright energy. (Botanica is the exception to this rule, as her transformation is accompanied by a rapidly generated circle of technorganic plants, which shrink back down to reveal her robot mode.) Because the process is so different, Transformers need to relearn how to transform once they find themselves in a technorganic body. Rather than triggering a preprogrammed sequence of motions, they have to achieve an internal, zen-like mental balance and will themselves into their other mode. Some use a mantra such as "I am transformed" to help until they get the hang of doing it on their own.
Technorganic powers
Techorganic Transformers are invisible to traditional scanners and sensors while in beast mode. They can still be seen, but seemingly no longer give off an "energy signature" like ordinary machines. However, when in their robot mode, they are as readily detectable as any other Transformer (much like Beast Wars characters in the first season).
Additionally, the technorganic characters in the Beast Machines cartoon seemed to possess powerful (almost super-powerful) combat abilities granted them by the Oracle. It is unknown whether such abilities would be common to all technorganic Transformers (such as the entire populace of post-BM Cybertron), or if they were specially granted to help that band of Maximals achieve the Oracle's goal of a planet-wide reformatting.
Technorganic weaknesses
As powerful as technorganics are, their greatest weakness lies in the perfect but fragile balance between the two opposing sides of their nature. Close contact and ingestion of anything purely organic will tilt their minds toward their primitive, "organic" side. Such effects are seen in the season one episode Forbidden Fruit. Likewise, devices like the Key to Vector Sigma will tip the scales toward the "technological" side of their bodies. This imbalance is the more lethal of the two, causing paralysis, pain, and possibly deactivation. When Cybertron was reformatted and the two elements brought together, this danger was presumably negated.
Technorganic Cybertron
By the Beast Era, Cybertron had long been a planet of metal upon metal, "technology" alone. The returning Beast Warriors brought with them organic components of the planets they had visited, allowing the Oracle to begin the process of reformatting the planet to be technorganic.
At the end of the Beast Machines conflict, Cybertron was reformatted planet-wide, creating a new world, a mix of technorganic flora and fauna with vast, green cities. The exact details and secrets of this new Cybertron have yet to be revealed.
Trivia
Beast Machines seems to negate the fact that Primus is Cybertron, unless for some reason this is some sort of plan by the Oracle to upgrade or improve Primus's current body for some unknown purpose. However, the implications of this means that Primus was at one time wholly organic and gradually modified his form to become technological. One could speculate that this was an upgrade in the fight against Unicron, a result of the Quintesson invasion, or possibly all part of Primus's grand design to begin with, him being the God of the Transformers and all. The truth is out there somewhere, but alas, since Hasbro may never revive the Beast Wars timeline, we'll probably never know. Of course, over in Japan, they're much less worried about this.
