Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

So one contentious issue in the fandom is exactly how new TFs are actually made. There's been countless attempts at explaining it, and countless more handwaves of the issue. Obviously, being mechanical/robotic/inorganic lifeforms (except when they're not) it's more than a little complicated. On the one hand, "traditional" reproductive methods would imply a level of complexity/organic...ness to them beyond their traditional depiction (and also might upset the censors). On the other hand, the purely mechanical, programmed and built in factories depiction reduces them somewhat- and whilst there could be the potential for existential storytelling with this (Am I heroic or am I just a product of my programming?) it also hamstrings things a bit if you don't want to go that route. There's also the metaphysical/"divine implement" origin, which whilst effective, is a bit overused/cliche'd at this point.

The question I suppose is this: If you were to write a Transformers story, how would YOU explain the creation of new Transformers?

Here's my two cents for how it should be done:

Cybertron, in this continuity, would be more than a mere machine- it'd be a colossal metallic organism, structured very much like an actual planet rather than just a big spherical techno-thing. And being an organism, it'd also be monstrously complex, effectively being a combination of womb and factory. Being made from self-replenishing living metal, it would effectively grow/spawn parts for new Transformers in great foundaries deep within itself, whilst more conventional factory assemblies would build those parts into new Transformers. Sparks would finally be implanted (drawn from whatever resides at its core) and the new Transformer would be complete.

Transformers would be made in "batches" or "generations" out of a set amount of living metal at a time. New Transformers would be built according to the primal will at the core of Cybertron (Primus, Vector Sigma or whatever) and this would determine the forms of the new Transformers.

Of course, being as this is a semi-organic process, things could still go awry. Sometimes for example, all the living metal/Spark energy for a batch would accidentally coagulate as one immensely powerful Transformer (example: Overlord), leading to a "Generation of One".

Very, very occasionally, the birth-factories would pour a huge amount of work in to create a Titan for the purpose of colonizing another world. The Titans themselves would contain a small supply of "raw" living metal and spark energy, and could function as mini-factories themselves in order to create new Transformers on the far flung colony worlds. However, this supply would be finite and thus production limited to a few batches.

TLDR: Cybertron is effectively a gigantic, monstrously complex techno-organic factory that creates new Transformers from its own matter.

I did have a few other ideas for how they could reproduce as well, in addition rather than instead of the "planet factory" idea.

The first was some kind of analogy to literal organic reproduction. Effectively, a male and a female Transformer would briefly unite their sparks (along with whatever other canoodling they might get up to depending on the requirements of the plot/desires of the writer and readers), after which a new spark would gestate within the female Transformer. After a period, this new spark would split off from them and could then be placed into a new body, constructed from the living metal of Cybertron (which due to being technorganic and thus self-replenishing/renewable is mined from Cybertron's crust). This would be both a (slightly less horrific) homage to Budding, and also a good justification for the inclusion of both a gender divide and also romance in the story.

The second would be good for a "don't play God" story- intending to speed things up a bit, an artificial factory is built, turning mined "Transformium" (for the sake of argument) into new bodies en masse. As for the sparks themselves, either *insert corrupt scientist here* tries "mining" spark energy from Cybertron or else attempts to create "artificial" sparks via some technomagic process (a bit like cold construction from IDW) or else even creates "sparkless" AI Transformers- fully sentient and with all the hallmarks of Cybertronian heritage, but without a spark and thus without a soul.

Both, either or neither could work in conjunction with the "main" method of creation, depending on where you wanted the story to go.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. What about you guys?

We should consider the purpose of TFs. What are they supposed to do? If they're supposed to do organic-type things, they should be organic. Scientists say that carbon is the best base element for life as we know it. Carbon can bond with other elements in billions of ways. Look at DNA! Other elements are inferior in this respect. TFs are based on metals, many of which are stronger and otherwise superior to ones we know. This implies that the purpose of TFs is different to that of organic creatures. They're suited to things like large-scale war, construction, advanced scientific research, exploring extreme environments, etc. They need strong spirits to cope with difficult challenges. They should be totally dedicated and not change their minds about doing things. A human would avoid 'impossible' tasks but TFs wouldn't back out: they'd keep working relentlessly. For this, they'd have to be built/grown from the best, toughest materials.

Black Hat wrote:So one contentious issue in the fandom is exactly how new TFs are actually made. There's been countless attempts at explaining it, and countless more handwaves of the issue. Obviously, being mechanical/robotic/inorganic lifeforms (except when they're not) it's more than a little complicated. On the one hand, "traditional" reproductive methods would imply a level of complexity/organic...ness to them beyond their traditional depiction (and also might upset the censors). On the other hand, the purely mechanical, programmed and built in factories depiction reduces them somewhat- and whilst there could be the potential for existential storytelling with this (Am I heroic or am I just a product of my programming?) it also hamstrings things a bit if you don't want to go that route. There's also the metaphysical/"divine implement" origin, which whilst effective, is a bit overused/cliche'd at this point.

The question I suppose is this: If you were to write a Transformers story, how would YOU explain the creation of new Transformers?

Here's my two cents for how it should be done:

Cybertron, in this continuity, would be more than a mere machine- it'd be a colossal metallic organism, structured very much like an actual planet rather than just a big spherical techno-thing. And being an organism, it'd also be monstrously complex, effectively being a combination of womb and factory. Being made from self-replenishing living metal, it would effectively grow/spawn parts for new Transformers in great foundaries deep within itself, whilst more conventional factory assemblies would build those parts into new Transformers. Sparks would finally be implanted (drawn from whatever resides at its core) and the new Transformer would be complete.

Transformers would be made in "batches" or "generations" out of a set amount of living metal at a time. New Transformers would be built according to the primal will at the core of Cybertron (Primus, Vector Sigma or whatever) and this would determine the forms of the new Transformers.

Of course, being as this is a semi-organic process, things could still go awry. Sometimes for example, all the living metal/Spark energy for a batch would accidentally coagulate as one immensely powerful Transformer (example: Overlord), leading to a "Generation of One".

Very, very occasionally, the birth-factories would pour a huge amount of work in to create a Titan for the purpose of colonizing another world. The Titans themselves would contain a small supply of "raw" living metal and spark energy, and could function as mini-factories themselves in order to create new Transformers on the far flung colony worlds. However, this supply would be finite and thus production limited to a few batches.

TLDR: Cybertron is effectively a gigantic, monstrously complex techno-organic factory that creates new Transformers from its own matter.

I did have a few other ideas for how they could reproduce as well, in addition rather than instead of the "planet factory" idea.

The first was some kind of analogy to literal organic reproduction. Effectively, a male and a female Transformer would briefly unite their sparks (along with whatever other canoodling they might get up to depending on the requirements of the plot/desires of the writer and readers), after which a new spark would gestate within the female Transformer. After a period, this new spark would split off from them and could then be placed into a new body, constructed from the living metal of Cybertron (which due to being technorganic and thus self-replenishing/renewable is mined from Cybertron's crust). This would be both a (slightly less horrific) homage to Budding, and also a good justification for the inclusion of both a gender divide and also romance in the story.

The second would be good for a "don't play God" story- intending to speed things up a bit, an artificial factory is built, turning mined "Transformium" (for the sake of argument) into new bodies en masse. As for the sparks themselves, either *insert corrupt scientist here* tries "mining" spark energy from Cybertron or else attempts to create "artificial" sparks via some technomagic process (a bit like cold construction from IDW) or else even creates "sparkless" AI Transformers- fully sentient and with all the hallmarks of Cybertronian heritage, but without a spark and thus without a soul.

Both, either or neither could work in conjunction with the "main" method of creation, depending on where you wanted the story to go.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. What about you guys?

I like your spark joining idea, as that sounds the best way forward. As for the new body of the spark, either a spark could create its own protoform from Cybertrons own material, or its parents could have a pre built body (or steal a body, steal a tf where the spark has already died...) there's a lot you could work with there.

Just like Tramp, I believe that they can have babies. But unlike him, they don't need to do it the way organics or at least the way mammals do it. Maybe they grow their babies? Idk.

Black Hat wrote:So one contentious issue in the fandom is exactly how new TFs are actually made. There's been countless attempts at explaining it, and countless more handwaves of the issue. Obviously, being mechanical/robotic/inorganic lifeforms (except when they're not) it's more than a little complicated. On the one hand, "traditional" reproductive methods would imply a level of complexity/organic...ness to them beyond their traditional depiction (and also might upset the censors). On the other hand, the purely mechanical, programmed and built in factories depiction reduces them somewhat- and whilst there could be the potential for existential storytelling with this (Am I heroic or am I just a product of my programming?) it also hamstrings things a bit if you don't want to go that route. There's also the metaphysical/"divine implement" origin, which whilst effective, is a bit overused/cliche'd at this point.

The question I suppose is this: If you were to write a Transformers story, how would YOU explain the creation of new Transformers?

Here's my two cents for how it should be done:

Cybertron, in this continuity, would be more than a mere machine- it'd be a colossal metallic organism, structured very much like an actual planet rather than just a big spherical techno-thing. And being an organism, it'd also be monstrously complex, effectively being a combination of womb and factory. Being made from self-replenishing living metal, it would effectively grow/spawn parts for new Transformers in great foundaries deep within itself, whilst more conventional factory assemblies would build those parts into new Transformers. Sparks would finally be implanted (drawn from whatever resides at its core) and the new Transformer would be complete.

Transformers would be made in "batches" or "generations" out of a set amount of living metal at a time. New Transformers would be built according to the primal will at the core of Cybertron (Primus, Vector Sigma or whatever) and this would determine the forms of the new Transformers.

Of course, being as this is a semi-organic process, things could still go awry. Sometimes for example, all the living metal/Spark energy for a batch would accidentally coagulate as one immensely powerful Transformer (example: Overlord), leading to a "Generation of One".

Very, very occasionally, the birth-factories would pour a huge amount of work in to create a Titan for the purpose of colonizing another world. The Titans themselves would contain a small supply of "raw" living metal and spark energy, and could function as mini-factories themselves in order to create new Transformers on the far flung colony worlds. However, this supply would be finite and thus production limited to a few batches.

TLDR: Cybertron is effectively a gigantic, monstrously complex techno-organic factory that creates new Transformers from its own matter.

I did have a few other ideas for how they could reproduce as well, in addition rather than instead of the "planet factory" idea.

The first was some kind of analogy to literal organic reproduction. Effectively, a male and a female Transformer would briefly unite their sparks (along with whatever other canoodling they might get up to depending on the requirements of the plot/desires of the writer and readers), after which a new spark would gestate within the female Transformer. After a period, this new spark would split off from them and could then be placed into a new body, constructed from the living metal of Cybertron (which due to being technorganic and thus self-replenishing/renewable is mined from Cybertron's crust). This would be both a (slightly less horrific) homage to Budding, and also a good justification for the inclusion of both a gender divide and also romance in the story.

The second would be good for a "don't play God" story- intending to speed things up a bit, an artificial factory is built, turning mined "Transformium" (for the sake of argument) into new bodies en masse. As for the sparks themselves, either *insert corrupt scientist here* tries "mining" spark energy from Cybertron or else attempts to create "artificial" sparks via some technomagic process (a bit like cold construction from IDW) or else even creates "sparkless" AI Transformers- fully sentient and with all the hallmarks of Cybertronian heritage, but without a spark and thus without a soul.

Both, either or neither could work in conjunction with the "main" method of creation, depending on where you wanted the story to go.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. What about you guys?

I'm not a fan of them building a baby just like Tramp ( why build a helpess baby?), however, unlike him, I could care less about on how people think that baby transformers are made. If you like the idea of them being built, then go for it. If Tramp was like that, he could've stay.

On second though. Maybe they don't build helpless babies. Maybe their babies are more like five year olds.

I imagined with the "baby" TFs that they'd generally speaking come into being as "children" rather than literal babies. The newly spawned spark would still be weak to begin with, so it would need to inhabit a smaller body- as it grows and matures, this body would be built on and upgraded.

Black Hat wrote:I imagined with the "baby" TFs that they'd generally speaking come into being as "children" rather than literal babies. The newly spawned spark would still be weak to begin with, so it would need to inhabit a smaller body- as it grows and matures, this body would be built on and upgraded.

If the weak young TF is out in the open, it is vulnerable. I think that it should be gestated in some vessel until it is fully grown and ready to fight.

Black Hat wrote:I imagined with the "baby" TFs that they'd generally speaking come into being as "children" rather than literal babies. The newly spawned spark would still be weak to begin with, so it would need to inhabit a smaller body- as it grows and matures, this body would be built on and upgraded.

I also agreed that baby transformers are probably more similar to human around 3-5. I always imagine them being a little independent from birth.