The Energon Pub

The other day, I was watching the classic James bond film, Dr. No. In the film, Dr. No had a pair of metal hands. Near the end of the film, him and James were duking it out on a small platform over the the pools that kept the nuclear materials cool. The platform was lowering into the water, and James got away, but Dr. No could not, because his metal hands prevented him from getting a good grip on the side rails of the platform and he fell into the waters.

My question is if the Transformers' hands are made of metal, how are they able to grasp and hold onto things, without their hands sliding off?

I would imagine that, for starters, TF's can grip a lot tighter with their 'natural' hands than a human could with metal hands. Therefore, sheer force would allow whatever the TFs are holding to 'lock' into place between their fingers, palms, etc.

Their hands may also be somewhat textured to generate friction.

This reminds me of a letter that was printed in the Marvel Transformers series a long time ago. Besically the writer was asking how a Transformer could catch a falling human and not break every bone in their body, because in essense they'll be landing on a hard metal surface.

Best answer...they just do.

Loki120 wrote:This reminds me of a letter that was printed in the Marvel Transformers series a long time ago. Besically the writer was asking how a Transformer could catch a falling human and not break every bone in their body, because in essense they'll be landing on a hard metal surface.

Best answer...they just do.

I can explain it. The palm of their hands are made of softer material. This allows them to catch things without damaging them. The tops of their fists are armored for fist to fist combat.

Simpler solution, eh?

Fender Bender wrote:

Loki120 wrote:This reminds me of a letter that was printed in the Marvel Transformers series a long time ago. Besically the writer was asking how a Transformer could catch a falling human and not break every bone in their body, because in essense they'll be landing on a hard metal surface.

Best answer...they just do.

I can explain it. The palm of their hands are made of softer material. This allows them to catch things without damaging them. The tops of their fists are armored for fist to fist combat.

Simpler solution, eh?

makes sense to me, but now I'm wondering what sort of material? Some kind of rubber maybe?

Unchrasimatic wrote:

Fender Bender wrote:

Loki120 wrote:This reminds me of a letter that was printed in the Marvel Transformers series a long time ago. Besically the writer was asking how a Transformer could catch a falling human and not break every bone in their body, because in essense they'll be landing on a hard metal surface.

Best answer...they just do.

I can explain it. The palm of their hands are made of softer material. This allows them to catch things without damaging them. The tops of their fists are armored for fist to fist combat.

Simpler solution, eh?

makes sense to me, but now I'm wondering what sort of material? Some kind of rubber maybe?

Wasn't there a G1 episode where Wheeljack developed some kind of spray or coating that made the Autobots' hands soft enough for catching a human, but strong enough for punching a Decepticon in the face?

Of course this could be looked at in another way. Most writers don't know/care about physics. Look at Superman flying at hundreds of mph and catches someone who fell over 20 stories, that person should be paste. They don't in the story, hence comic book physics.

C-3PO was able to grasp a communicator and various other tools and objects with no real problem.

I dunno what the C-3PO costume gloves are made of, but our favorite protocol droid had no problems.

zorian wrote:Of course this could be looked at in another way. Most writers don't know/care about physics. Look at Superman flying at hundreds of mph and catches someone who fell over 20 stories, that person should be paste. They don't in the story, hence comic book physics.

This was actually brought to light in a Wizard years ago. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Well, if a human fell, and they were to cathc them without hurting them, they would have to move with the human as they fell. Kinda like, get a ball, throw up, then leave your hands and arms firm, and catch it. It will hit hard, and maybe even bounce off. Now, do the same, throw it up, but as it falls, move your arms down as it reaches your hands, you will notice you have nutrilized alot of the impact, and it has a real soft landing. This notion could be applied with bots, as their arms could give to soften, and cup it,the object.

They vibrate rapidly, increasing friction and implementing a king of inercial dampener which can be used to give the robot a more soft touch-transformers do this naturally and without any concious thought, much like how a peron can pick up a butterfly without pulverising it (unless they want to)

-well thats how i would explain it if i was pushed

Emperor Primacron the 1st wrote:C-3PO was able to grasp a communicator and various other tools and objects with no real problem.

I dunno what the C-3PO costume gloves are made of, but our favorite protocol droid had no problems.

Anthony Daniels would beg to differ. One of the greatest challenges he faced - peeling a decal off a door in a deleted ESB scene.

Anyway, I can believe a TF safely catching a human, because, unlike the ground, a TF's arms have give to them. Instead of holding their arms rigid, they simply move them downwards as they catch the person, decelerating them slowly. You can do the same thing with an egg actually. And that works with Superman too, all he has to do is shed some altitude as he is catching the person, rather than bring them to a halting stop.