Cyber Key
| This article is about personal power-up energy storage devices. For the four mystical objects, see Cyber Planet Key. |
- Cyber Keys are personal devices in the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy.
Cyber Keys are devices that give Transformers power-up abilities. Each one contains a fragment of the power of a Cyber Planet Key. A Transformer can use one to boost their abilities for a duration of time before the Cyber Key has to recharge itself.
- Japanese name: Force Chip
Fiction
Cybertron animated series
| “ | Is that going to happen every time we need extra power? | ” |
The Cyber Keys are a small piece of the divine power of Primus Haven and are even capable of turning up if you invoke Primus' name. Invasion
The Cyber Keys first turned up when Vector Prime used CYBER KEY POWER!! to drive back Megatron; he then gave the Autobot team the power to summon Keys of their own (both Earth Keys and Autobrand Cybertron Keys, depending on the bot). The Autobots had not seen or heard of the Cyber Keys before. Haven Soon after, the Keys showed the ability (much to Vector Prime's surprise) to turn up before the Transformers called them forth. The Autobots considered that this might happen any time they needed extra power. Hidden
Soon, the Decepticons gained some from somewhere. Thundercracker had an Earth Key, Megatron and Starscream had Decepticon-branded Cybertron ones. Landmine
The descendents of the ancient Transformer colonists have easy access to Cyber Keys: Crosswise wielded Earth Cyber Keys Trap, while almost everyone on Velocitron Space and Jungle Planet Search seemed to have access to them. Why the ancients had Cyber Keys but the modern-day Cybertronians didn't (and had no record of them) is unknown.
As first noted by Red Alert Space, different Cyber Keys on different worlds have different colours. Due to the effect of the Prime's Matrix and sword, the original Autobot team had different coloured Keys. Velocitron and Jungle Planet, by comparison, all had red and green (respectively) Keys. Red Alert also theorised that different Keys would produce different results, and that they could reformat Autobots. Savage
Hot Shot was somehow able to summon a Velocitron Cyber Key through his desire to go even faster, though he initially couldn't handle the power. Speed
On Jungle Planet, Scourge could upgrade his beast mode into a three-headed form with his Key power, and used it to (successfully) intimidate Megatron. Contact with the Keys would also reformat vehicular Transformers into beast-mode ones; feats of extreme bravery and courage, such as Overhaul's, could cause a foreign robot to contact the Cyber Planet Key and be granted access to this world's Keys. Detour
When Starscream was wielding the Omega Lock's power, Megatron's sheer rage was able to tap into it and Earth's Cyber Planet Key, giving him a new Cyber Key that unlocked a hideously powerful firearm. Revelation
Agents of Planet X, such as Sideways, wield orange Cyber Keys with prominent Decepticon insignias on them. As they're not actually Decepticons (though they started hanging with them), it's not clear why the insignia is there. Ship
Timelines
Types and Powers
Cybertron's Cyber Keys are clear with silver detailing, with either an Autobot or Decepticon symbol in the middle. It is Primus himself who powers these keys, and in fact has one himself.
The Cyber Keys of Velocitron are red with silver accents and decorated with the symbol of a speedometer needle. In addition to the inhabitants of Velocitron, Hot Shot also uses a Velocitron key. Many powers activated by Velocitron keys are related to enhancing the recipient's speed. The power of these keys comes from the Velocitron Cyber Planet Key.
Jungle Planet's Cyber Keys are green with a silver border, marked with a clawed paw print. After transforming into Leobreaker, Overhaul gained a new Jungle Planet Cyber Key. Many powers activated by Jungle Planet keys are related to enhancing the recipient's strength and attack power. These keys derive their power from the Jungle Planer Cyber Planet Key.
Earth's Cyber Keys are blue with silver edging and bear the image of a sunrise. Several of the Autobots and Decepticons from Cybertron used Earth Cyber Keys, including Landmine, Red Alert, Scattorshot, Thundercracker and Mudflap, as did the ancient Autobots and Decepticons who came to the planet ages ago. Many powers activated by Earth keys are related to enhancing the recipient's firepower. Earth's Cyber Planet Key powers these individual keys.
Gigantion's Keys are purple with silver detailing, bearing a gear symbol. Many powers activated by Gigantion keys are related to increasing the recipient's physical stature. (For Gigantion natives, who are already huge, this can mean going from "work mode" to "battle mode," which stands taller.) The Gigantion Cyber Keys are powered by the Gigantion Cyber Planet Key.
The keys employed by the inhabitants of Planet X are orange in color with silver accents and bearing a Decepticon symbol (despite the unaligned nature of these Transformers). These keys presumably derive from the power of Unicron, the secret benefactor of the Planet X survivors, given that the planet was not a colony world.
The planet Combatron has red keys with silver metal frames that resemble a grenade (complete with pull ring) and a symbol resembling a mushroom cloud.
Red Alert was the first to notice the different color-coding of the Cyber Keys and further speculated that the unique keys employed by Optimus Prime and Vector Prime were created due to a normal Cyber Key being affected by the objects of power the two wielded, namely Optimus Prime's Matrix of Leadership and Rhisling, Vector Prime's sword. Although Red Alert did not comment on the unique key wielded by Megatron, presumably his is created through the power of the Armor of Unicron that he wears.
Toys
Cybertron
Just about every single toy came with at least one key, the only real exceptions being the Mini-Cons. In the US, the keys had codes printed on the back for an interactive feature on Hasbro’s Transformers toy website. Takara’s website did not incorporate this feature however, leaving the Japanese Galaxy Force keys (referred to in Galaxy Force as "Force Chips" along with the greater "Planet Force") without the code tampo. The toy packaging refers to all keys as Cyber Planet Keys. This differs from the cartoon which only refers to the four colony keys as Cyber Planet Keys, and the other, everyday keys as simply Cyber Keys.
Other toylines
Cyber Planet Keys (most often simply called "Keys") were included in later toylines with toys that were redecos from the Cybertron line. There is presumably no cosmic technology underlying them. Examples include the BotCon 2006 exclusive Timelines promo toys, which came with Golden Disk keys, and several Movie toys that featured Sector Seven keys.
Trivia
- In "The Dark Heart of Sandokan" and "Force of Habit", the Cyber Keys are treated somewhat differently than they were in the Cybertron cartoon. Here, they are depicted as tangible objects that must be manufactured from crystals, while they are portrayed as energy-ish manifestations of a Transformer's burning heart of justice in the cartoon.
- Brushguard is of the opinion that Cyber Keys are more powerful than Energon chips. Force of Habit
External link
- Force Chip catalog (Japanese)
