Transformer

The **Transformers** (*Cybertronus cybertronii*) is a species of sentient, living robotic beings (mostly) originating from the distant machine world of Cybertron. The stories of their lives, their histories, and most especially their wars have been chronicled across many different continuities in the vast multiverse.

The designation "Transformer" stems from the species' generally shared ability to *transform*, to change their bodies at will, rearranging their component parts from a robotic primary mode (usually, but not always, humanoid) into an alternate form; generally vehicles, weapons, machinery, or animals. In some continuities this ability to transform is innate to all members of the species, in others it was a wartime innovation that was adopted by most, but not all, of the populace.

While this species is commonly known throughout the galaxy as "Transformers", the technical term for these beings is **Cybertronians**, which they generally use to refer to themselves. Other, less-frequently used terms to refer to beings from Cybertron include **Cybertronic** or simply **Cybertron**.

## Origins

The first Transformer that Primus created was dubbed Prima, bearer of the Matrix of Leadership, and later stories set in other universes would take this concept and run with it. Future works would establish that the very first group of Transformers to be created, of which Prima was traditionally a part, would become known as the "Thirteen," demigod-like figures of enormous power, and who themselves would go on to play a major role in the overarching *Transformers* mythos in their own right.

## Biology

The vast majority of Transformers are built along a humanoid frame, generally referred to as their "robot mode:" two arms, two legs, a torso, and one head. This isn't to say that all Transformers are human*like*, however: some have unconventional limbs, their hands (or whole arm) replaced with tools, claws, weapons, or some other form of manipulator (like a beast mode's head). Though most Transformers possess a pair of humanlike legs, some Transformers have opted for more exotic forms of locomotion; a Transformer might possess digitigrade legs, wheels, or tractor treads instead of feet, or no discernible legs at all, floating on antigravity. Some Transformers have more or less than the normal number of limbs altogether, such as the six-armed Octus. Transformers' faces run the gamut of design, from looking like a metal human in a helmet to characters like Shockwave or Whirl, whose faces consist of little more than a single glowing eye, or more animalistic designs such as Waspinator.

While humanoid forms are the norm, they are certainly not the *rule*, and it is not at all uncommon for a Transformer to possess a primary mode based on an animal or vehicle—for instance, Ravage, Grand Slam, and Raindance, who transform from cassette tapes into a panther, a tank, and a jet, respectively. We consider these to be their "robot modes;" while they are definitely inhuman, they are at least capable of independent movement.

On the other end of the scale, some Transformers are large enough to dwarf other Cybertronians. The colossal city-bots known as Titans are one such faction, transforming into entire cities for smaller Transformers to inhabit. Particularly large Transformers, like Unicron and Primus, might transform into entire planets.

### Spark

Though their bodies and minds are robotic in nature, Transformers are not mere automatons: most Cybertronian lifeforms are living, sentient, emotional, and fully intelligent beings. This animating, semi-mystical "life force" that sets them apart from simple machines is traditionally referred to as the spark, a specially charged mass of positrons that resides in, and energizes, their mechanical frames. Though the concept was first introduced in the *Beast Wars* animated series, it has gone on to inform every incarnation of the Transformers franchise and has even been retroactively applied to the earliest Generation 1 continuity. A spark can be thought of as the "soul" of the Transformer; a Cybertronian life effectively begins with the ignition of a new spark and ends when that spark is extinguished.

### Gender

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### Politics

On the planetary level, Cybertron is generally organized into a series of autonomous city-states with their own independent governments; some continuities have established that this present-day state of events is the result of the fracturing of larger empires during the earliest days of the Cybertronian race. Depending on the universe, these city-states may be represented by Senators, who meet to discuss international issues as part of the planetary governing body known as the Senate.

Particularly noble or otherwise pious Transformers, such as the Autobots, may gravitate to leadership under a single powerful individual known as a Prime, who serves as a head of state, spiritual leader, and commander-in-chief all in one. In most franchises, this Prime is the leader of the Autobots, and their leadership is demonstrated by their ability to wield the Autobot Matrix of Leadership which is generally passed from one successor to the next.

### Religion

Across the multiverse, different *Transformers* stories have introduced a wide range of potential belief systems for the Cybertronian race—beliefs that have an alarming tendency of eventually being revealed as more-or-less true. Very rarely are Transformers or their society *writ large* depicted as atheistic; most Cybertronians seem to hold at least some religious beliefs, though the nature of their faiths is not always clearly outlined. Most Autobots (and even some Decepticons), for instance, view the Matrix of Leadership to be a divine artifact, a combination of sacred talisman and symbol of office. Sacred texts such as the Covenant of Primus and various religious rituals are common enough to be considered largely unremarkable in Cybertronian society.

A handful of Transformers have displayed the ability to manifest paranormal powers outside the scope of natural Cybertronian science; they may have gained these powers as part of a dark pact with arcane forces, or they may be the result of studying mystical disciplines, like magic. These rare Transformers may be able to weave illusions, cast spells, fire bolts of mystical energy, commune with or resurrect deceased Transformers or even divine the future.

### Sciences

As robotic beings who predate the earliest humans by millions of years, it should come as no surprise that Cybertronian technology far outstrips the sum total of humanity's scientific development. Exotic technologies that defy our conventional understanding of physics are treated as commonplace; Cybertronian starships, and even those Transformers who *become* starships, for instance, are capable of faster-than-light travel and able to traverse vast distances in a short period of time. Space bridge technology goes even further than that, allowing travelers to instantaneously warp billions of lightyears, completely bypassing the need for an interstellar voyage. Artificial intelligence of varying levels of sophistication coexist alongside their sentient creators, and exotic chemical compounds are commonplace in both military and civilian uses.

When it is portrayed at all, academia on Cybertron is very much akin to its Earthen counterparts; Transformers may choose to specialize in one or more scientific disciplines—physics, engineering, and biology is the most common. Perhaps as a result of their biological immortality, scientific progress seems to occur far more slowly for Cybertronians than it does for humanity; outside of minor innovations and development of weapons, Cybertron has been known to have technology largely stagnate for millions of years, whether within or outside of wartime. Indeed, Vector Prime has noted that in certain universes, technology developed more in the few decades following the Transformers' first contact with Earth than it did for millions of years beforehand, implying that humanity's own rapid development could act as a "catalyst" for the Transformers' advancements.

### Art

The Transformers have been shown to have a very active musical tradition. The Matrix itself has an archive of 11 million traditional Cybertronian songs. Many Transformers such as Jazz and Blaster have shown great interest in music, and Squawkbox is one prominent example of a Cybertronian musician.

Filmmaking is also practiced on Cybertron, though most examples seen are either documentaries or straight-up propaganda. Attempts by Cybertronians have also been made to produce films more inspired by the human art of cinema, but the results tend to be lacking.

### Medicine

Cybertronians are an adaptable and robust race, able to survive even grievous injuries, but seriously injured or ailing Transformers may turn to members of Cybertron's medical community for assistance. The robotic nature of their bodies means that a Cybertronian "doctor" is a combination mechanic, roboticist, and physician, who must be able to accurately assess and repair damage to their patient's mechanical form. Individual specializations exist, such as "blacksmiths"—essentially, a Cybertronian obstetrician—but most in-fiction Transformer medicine comes in the form of on-the-ground battlefield repairs, designed to get wounded soldiers back on their feet and into the fight as quickly as possible.

### Romance

In rarer cases, Cybertronians may fall in love with humans or aliens (though their feelings may not always be reciprocated), while particularly clueless Cybertronians may develop an attraction to inanimate objects—see Side Burn and his inexplicable romantic attraction to red sports cars. Other Transformers may consider this behavior *strange*, but there do not seem to be any explicit taboos against it either.

Although the vast majority of *Transformers* universes feature both male and female Transformers with an understanding of love, the vast majority of Transformers do not reproduce sexually and indeed regard this kind of procreation as something entirely alien to their mechanical worldview. (Though admittedly, there isn't a lot of direct evidence for humans reproducing sexually in most *Transformers* media, which is, after all, aimed towards kids.) A handful of stories have nevertheless revealed that some Transformers organize themselves into humanlike family units that could imply organic methods of reproduction... although, again, as *Transformers* is mostly for kids, little has been revealed beyond infrequent mentions of parents and the occasional crude innuendo, the latter almost certainly added for comedy's sake rather than any kind of definitive canon.

#### Familial relationships

Although the Transformers are generally understood to reproduce asexually, canonical sources have sometimes used genealogical terminology to describe certain relationships. Most commonly, some Transformers possess siblings, and more often then not these siblings are referred to as twins— Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, or Dreadwing and Skyquake. When *Transformers* fiction has deigned to give an explanation for this phenomenon, the most common explanation is that twins are the result of a "split protoform" or a "split spark"; akin to the random splitting of a human zygote.

## Related species

Some — but not all — recent continuities, most notably the Aligned continuity family, have established—apparently to preserve the "uniqueness" of the Cybertronian race—that these groups are actually the *descendants* of ancestral Cybertronians, who adapted both physically and culturally to survive on different worlds. The *EarthSpark* cartoon splits the difference with its introduction of the Terrans, a new race of Transformers created on Earth thanks to a Cybertronian artifact, who are nonetheless a distinct species (*Cybertronus terran* rather than *Cybertronus cybertronii*) with unique physical needs.