The Energon Pub

when they're in their alternate forms? Most of them don't have eyes!
As a wee boy, I used to discuss it with my brother and I think we tended to see the Autobots' headlights as their eyes for some reason.
So, how do they do it? Some GPS doohickey? Really subtle optic receptors? Magic?

Also, how do they see on Cybertron? Does Cybertron's planetary system have a sun, or some other light source? I can't say I've ever noticed it. Or maybe they've all got some built-in equivalent to night-vision goggles?

As Animated Optimus said: "Well, it's rather complex. See, our optical units are made up of a network of visual sensors conected by--"

He couldn't finish his answer as he got cut off.

Basically their vehicle mode windshields kinda act as their eyes.

And as for those who don't have vehicle or animal altmodes, they see through some oher way. Like Perceptor with his lenses, Soundwave with cassette door "window", Megatron with his scope, etc.

Then again, I'm just speculating about these non-vehicle/non-animal guys.

I guess the real answer to how they all see in their altmodes without eyes is: "They just do."

As for Cybertron, there's probably a light source somewhere.

I would always imagine that they saw through some sort of computer created three D environment that they have sensors for in their alt mode. Using combinations of radar, sonar, etc., they would be able to know their relative locations, as well as, the relative size, etc. of objects in their vicinity. If they wanted to 'see' I always pictured a camera lense being moved into position somewhere in their alt form.

Of course, the G1 episode where they are traveling in the storm pretty much refutes this, but yeah... Starscream's master plan or something. G1 episode names just get lost in my head...

Some of them probably cant in a conventional sense. Who knows how movie-Brawl could see in tank mode. As for others I always assumed they used whatever glass or "plastic" on their alt modes as lenses.

i have an idea that the transformers spark power moves around freely in theyre body and they see through that so... yeah!

christo wrote:i have an idea that the transformers spark power moves around freely in theyre body and they see through that so... yeah!

Sparks are housed and contained in a spark chamber tha keeps them in a static location inside their bodies.

I don't think it would be very good for a bot's spark to be moving around inside its body, instead of staying still.

Sabrblade wrote:

christo wrote:i have an idea that the transformers spark power moves around freely in theyre body and they see through that so... yeah!

Sparks are housed and contains in a spark chamber tha keeps them in a static location inside their bodies.

I don't think it would be very good for a bot's spark to be moving around inside its body, instead of staying still.

yeah? were do they say that?

christo wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

christo wrote:i have an idea that the transformers spark power moves around freely in theyre body and they see through that so... yeah!

Sparks are housed and contains in a spark chamber tha keeps them in a static location inside their bodies.

I don't think it would be very good for a bot's spark to be moving around inside its body, instead of staying still.

yeah? were do they say that?

In the Beast Wars cartoon, in TF guides and you can see them sometimes in comics.

An example of windshields being used for eyes would be in the G1 episode "Auto Beserk".

When Smokescreen creates a smoke cloud at the Seekers, it covers their cockpit windshields and they go blind, which results in them crashing into a cliff.

Another example would be, throughout the Transfoemrs Animated cartoon, the windshields of the Autobots would show some kind of moving light reflection that resembled eyebrow movement.

Sabrblade wrote:An example of windshields being used for eyes would be in the G1 episode "Auto Beserk".

When Smokescreen creates a smoke cloud at the Seekers, it covers their cockpit windshields and they go blind, which results in them crashing into a cliff.

Another example would be, throughout the Transfoemrs Animated cartoon, the windshields of the Autobots would show some kind of moving light reflection that resembled eyebrow movement.

The headlights.

Observe:

Diem wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:An example of windshields being used for eyes would be in the G1 episode "Auto Beserk".

When Smokescreen creates a smoke cloud at the Seekers, it covers their cockpit windshields and they go blind, which results in them crashing into a cliff.

Another example would be, throughout the Transfoemrs Animated cartoon, the windshields of the Autobots would show some kind of moving light reflection that resembled eyebrow movement.

The headlights.

Observe:

The pic isn't showing for some reason.

But I looked at it from its URL source, and I'm not sure how many people use the children's books over the cartoons and comics.

Sabrblade wrote:

Diem wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:An example of windshields being used for eyes would be in the G1 episode "Auto Beserk".

When Smokescreen creates a smoke cloud at the Seekers, it covers their cockpit windshields and they go blind, which results in them crashing into a cliff.

Another example would be, throughout the Transfoemrs Animated cartoon, the windshields of the Autobots would show some kind of moving light reflection that resembled eyebrow movement.

The headlights.

Observe:

The pic isn't showing for some reason.

But I looked at it from its URL source, and I'm not sure how many people use he children's books over the cartoons and comics.

agreed

They are robots. They don't need "eyes" in the traditional sense. They could gather information about their environment through their roof, hood, headlights, wheels, doors, whatever. They're robots; not animals.

GuyIncognito wrote:They are robots. They don't need "eyes" in the traditional sense. They could gather information about their environment through their roof, hood, headlights, wheels, doors, whatever. They're robots; not animals.

And yet they still say "I can't see!" at times.