Human Newborn: Helpless blob of flesh and nerves, mostly cries and eats, cannot do much.
Cybertronian “Newbown”: Immediately capable of hunting and scavenging for food, typically born with additional “teeth” and claws that are shed with growth to be used for defense and procurement of food. Will eat until incapable of taking any more food into system. Also cries and eats. Sometimes born with fully functional guns attached to body.
Kindling is difficult and always comes with the risk that the growing newspark will overexert the host, killing them either through siphoning too much energy off their spark, overtaking them in their need for energon and raw materials, or simply endangering them by placing them in a more vulnerable state.
When multiple bots really wanna go through the arduous process of creating another Cybertronian in a taboo and dangerous fashion, they have to first figure out if one or two or any of them (a “typical” cybertronian relationship has 3-5 members rather than 2) are capable of kindling, and from there it’s a long process of repeatedly attempting to sparkmerge into creating a new spark- a rare and energy-heavy process. Frome there, the newspark has to be fed, sheltered, and will slowly grow a body bit by bit as the host’s own nanites and energon feeds it.
Eventually, it forms it’s own pre-shell, an “egg” or perhaps more appropriately a “seed” which is removed and implanted in a fertile environment- the surface of Cybertron is ideal for this, but failing that somewhere with sufficient metals and available energy can be created artificially. The seed grows for several weeks to several months, depending upon size and available resources, generally resulting in smaller and less developed individual in resource-poor conditions. This continues to grow until a young Cybertronian eventually emerges from their now-depleted pod!
The remains of the pod are generally consumed immediately after. “Newborn” Cybertronians are not like human infants nor human children, rather they’re closer to fully developed animals in most respects. While their processors are still developing and they’ll eagerly learn everything presented to them, they are ultimately creatures of instinct- they’ll eat just about anything and they are absolutely voracious. Typically they’ll be able to find sources of necessary metals and energon nearby, being provided by their creators/caretakers, but otherwise pods naturally develop in resource-rich areas or if there are other pods/younglings in the area it’s not uncommon for them to resort to cannibalism if left to their own devices.
Kindling is seen as taboo at best, always dangerous, and for most it’s seen as sacrilegious and as an offense both to the perceived “natural” order of things as well as being a legal offense across most of Cybertron. Kindling is perceived by the common public as an out-of-control potential for population growth, as an act of defiance in the light of Primus (After all, real Cybertronians come from Cybertron, not from other bots) and generally as just kinda icky.
It doesn’t help that most Cybertronians would have no ability to kindle newsparks without extensive modifications, save for a few select subtypes of Cybertronian- most notably the Insecticons (who not only kindle but tend to produce clones of themselves or drone units prodigiously), Predacons (who are seen as violent animals for the most part), and “Walkers” – a lower class of Cybertronians with native animal lifeforms as their altmodes.
Kindled Cybertronians commonly won’t admit to their heritage for means of survival, and are commonly using forged or stolen identities to pass as Forged or even Cold-Constructed mechanisms.
There are rumors that kindled and kindling-capable mechanisms disappear off the streets in some cities and are never seen again. That they wind up in Institutes, or are disassembled for experiments.
In a human? Pretty much nothing. Organics barely register as “people” to most cybertronians, and since there’s no instinctive recognition of “normal human” vs “aberrant human” you could be sprouting horns and breathing fire and they’d be like nah, nah, that seems legit, that seems normal. Humans do that, right?
Humans who are, say, under control of certain malevolent or otherwise unusual forces that cybertronians can pick up on would have some features that other humans might actually not pick up on, conversely- or there are even energy-based beings that can effectively “hide” as humans- generating their own holomatter avatar in order to interact with them. Humans who give off a notable cybertronian EM field would unsettle a cybertronian, and ones with EM fields that fall into a sort of “uncanny valley” effect for them would do so even more, or ones who give off a dangerous-coded EM field.
Buster, for example, can startle or unsettle bots- even though he basically outputs an overwhelmingly positive/pleasant/caring EM field and when he uses his powers with visual effects, the register as more or less the equivalent of “angelic” or otherwise benign, wondrous things to Cybertronians. But it’s still a human doing that, and that can weird them out.
(Think of a bot’s EM field/sparkfield as a sort of additional layer of awareness or sensation- it’s part of how they express emotional state, as an extension of body language.)
Of course, as for cybertronians- they find aberrant or otherwise unusual EM fields to be one of the first signs, and this can also indicate that a bot is sick or otherwise suffering some sort of spark-based malfunction. Other signs that would make them unnerved or frightened;
Unlit optics and unlit biolighting – A cybertronians optics almost always give off at least a dim light, unless they’re using shielded lenses, but a cybertronian with unlit or camera-like optics is considered very unsettling. Similar to entirely-black eyes would seem to humans. Sometimes referred to as ‘dead optics’ seeing as unlit optics often indicate when a bot has died completely.
A lack of a healthy paint layer –cybertronian ‘paint’ is continually refreshed by nanites- think of it as the outermost layer of their skin that helps to protect them. An unhealthy paint layer may be patchy, peeling, absent, or have a dusty, ashy gray color that leaves residue when touched- cybertronians who have died fade in coloration to varying degrees as a result of mass nanite death. Unicronians themselves have a ‘tarnished’ and ‘oily’ effect because their paint layer is maintained by unicron, as they have no more living nanite colonies.
Visibly exposed internals and damage would also be a strong sign that something was wrong- for the same reason it would be so in humans. While Cybertronians care capable of surviving with incredible amounts of damage, it’s still painful and uncomfortable and they’ll go out of their way to repair or at least cover exposed areas as soon as they can. Someone wandering around with a huge hole in their torso seemingly okay with it is…unsettling. Not necessarily bad, considering that they may be ignoring the pain in order to continue tasks or even unable to feel it at the moment, but still. That’s guts!
Actively ‘decaying’ metal goes with the one right above- not only does this mean rust or tarnish, but cybertronians contain nanites that help to upkeep them, but these nanites also are responsible for cleaning and removing waste material from the body- these nanites can turn on the body and begin consuming nonessential resources (such as armor) in order to repair or fuel systems, or as a result of tampering or illness. A cybertronian covered in small, oddly organic-looking holes and ragged edges is like seeing someone with chicken pox.
Unusual energon coloration or consistency might require someone to be injured, but a healthy cybertronian’s internal energon will generally be in a pink-to-violet range, or occasionally blue. A cybertronian with green, yellow, orange, etc etc energon is almost a sure sign that something is wrong, and that goes double if it seems to be leaking from them. Similarly, leaking coolant or oil (especially if they are also miscolored) is unsanitary and unsettling. Unicronians lack actual energon in their systems, and instead they tend to “bleed” a thick, black, oily-sheen sludge. And when they’re in particularly bad straits, this may also leak out the optics, intakes, basically everywhere. It’s vvvvvvv. gross.
This one’s trickier because Unicronians are largely a myth, to Cybertronians. Unicron is a spooky boogeyman who couldn’t have possible existed, right? R-right?
But Primus! Primus is the ground upon which they walk, the wellspring from which all life comes! Primus is the sparks of those who have been, and those who are yet to come. Primus is the intelligence deep at the core of Cybertron. Sometimes it still ‘talks’ to it’s children. Primus is viscerally real to Cybertronians, as opposed to Unicron, and thus…all cybertronians are considered to be, in some respect, the avatars of Primus.
An ideal Cybertronian would do as a proper avatar. They are brightly-colored with shiny metallic portions, their paint fresh and flawless, their optics and biolights bright and reactive. Their EM fields open and unshielded, welcoming.
And then we have Primes.
Primes are the living angels of Primus- Matrices are powerful and their wielders often more powerful than they ever know, or have the capability to unlock. The original 13 were equal parts physical and energy being in truth, and had abilities that would be considered downright magical or inexplicable by most- in fact, many of their abilities are assumed to be exaggeration, or the result of histories being written with a strong bias.
Primes may appear completely typical outwardly, but their EM fields may be unusually ‘loud’ to others around them- and when excess energy is being used the nanites that suffuse Cybertron’s atmosphere may alight around them, framing them in structures of light- halos, texts, a sort of living, surrounding shield of displays. This usually cues in a cybertronian as to the unworldly nature of something like a Prime, or something equally powerful.
Apparently my motif for The Thirteen are “spooky energy beings with angelic imagery” and i still got like eleven of these demigods I haven’t drawn yet
I’m all about this spooky aesthetic so have a Solus Prime, the Inventor! I figure I’ll actually put this over on the tfm blog when I write up a thing about each of them.
She has lots of little tool-arms that come out of her chest to work on stuff.
There is a thing known by many titles and names. The Deep Void, the Hunger in us all, the Pit-Mouth, the Devourer, some whisper a name long forgotten- Unicron, they breath. The end given form.
It’s a silly myth, nothing but a representative force, a nameless adversary used to fill in for the threats faced by beings of legend. Nothing more, just a silly superstition, an explanation for the starless patch of sky or the ravings of madmechs.
Unicron does not appear in history, after all.
Nothing so vast and terrible could exist.
Ancient depictions of a winged planet devouring solar systems are nothing but metaphors, a visual, visceral impression of perhaps conquest or exploration or simply a commentary on how many species live on the cusp of death, such brief lifespans. Still, one has to wonder…why this image?
And why do these impressions unsettle all Cybertronians, so?
(Unicron seldom appears in art, or as pictographic runes, but as all good corrupting eldritch forces do, whatever you illustrate or describe it as…It may not stay like that should you look away. In illustrations it appears something like this, a weakened tangle of chaotic limbs/wings that is defeated and dispersed into nothingness.
Modern Cybertronians generally don’t believe in Unicron, or think it was killed ages past, but they like a good spooky story and there’s little spookier than something so ravenous it must consume planets and people, souls and all.)
How does Cybertronian cooking work? Do I just stick “Energon” in front of any random food like Energon nachos, Energon corndogs, Energon fries and stuff???
Idk, TFWiki has a list of canonical Transformer foods, and the fandom has come up with a few staples (e.g. Mercury rolls, though no one can really agree if these are like cinnamon rolls or something else), but I think most things would work if you added ‘energon’ in front of them? I personally have looked into chemistry experiments and wondered if transformers could eat the results, like aerogel.
I know that energon is similar, physically, to honey in Matrix, so there’s a variety of flavors and textures it comes in depending upon trace elements and how it’s crystals form, or how it’s treated, but actual cuisine in Matrix revolves more around anything else they need- certain minerals or chemicals they need to ingest, metals they might supplement their diet with, etc
Though on Earth that winds up less “cuisine” and more, uh.
There was an art to climbing a Cybertronian. It wasn’t like a tree, or a climbing wall at the gym, or even like climbing fences, walls, piles of abandoned cars- suffice to say, Spike Witwicky had great experience climbing things. Keeping his feet safely on the ground was considered to be the hard part, by those who knew him, and it was only a matter of time from his first fateful encounter with the Autobots to him learning to pull himself up onto their backs and shoulders without hesitation.
Said matter of time was really a few hours.
Now, months later, he was a veritable expert.
Fortunately, they didn’t mind, for the most part. Smaller bots climbing upon larger ones was natural, easy- a sort of symbiosis that they all adhered to- Spike had observed and asked questions and understood well, now. Smaller bots climbed on larger ones for transport, to reach new heights- and to groom them in return, and larger bots happily assisted- Optimus Prime in particular had a habit of scooping up those smaller than him, only made easier when said smaller beings were humans who fit neatly into his cupped servos.
The first step was to learn where it was safe to grab. Nobody wanted pinched fingers, and nobody wanted fingers shoved into seams that housed sensory organs, so observing your climbing target first was key.
Then came ensuring that they knew you were there- jumping onto an unaware cybertronian turned out to be a good way to startle them into jolting you off- a shout or a small, benign touch usually did the trick. Unless they were Optimus, in which case you simply hopped on, since he had no qualms about being used as a jungle gym.
Third, you paced yourself. Minibots had no problem scrambling thirty feet vertically. Prowl could literally jump most of the height, but humans? Spike generally found that going steady got him further up Optimus than trying to push it. A good resting spot along the transformation panels of his lower back was ideal, when you needed to give your hands a break.
And you wore gloves. Cybertronians weren’t…textured, quite like anything he’d touched, but metal blisters still happened, or you were rubbed raw by a patch of irritable nanites where they were healing fresh paint. Bumblebee bought him the nice climbing gloves, and he made good use of them.
There was a final rule, to this art he’d mastered. Able to scramble up any of the Autobots easily (and admittedly, he’d managed it on a few Decepticons at this point, too) and to find the right spots on shoulders or back struts to put himself. The final rule, of course…was to relax. To enjoy it. To pick at peeling paint and rub grit off their armor where you saw it- to let them enjoy it too.
After all, it was only fair when you were using them as a climbing wall.
Energy-absorbing energy vampires that ruled the planet long before Primus?
Transdimensional entities that conquer planets and integrate them to their own hellish world?
or my personal favorite…
Energy-based monstrosities that exist in a realm that can be best described as a “collective seizure?”
Honestly? After a long day of thinking about this and sketching ideas (which will be posted later) I’m thinking a lot about the all of those and a few more to boot, particularly what sort of visual representation they have. Whatever a Cybertronian “demon” looks like, in the setting of Matrix, they likely don’t look like what humans might consider demons to be- provided humans can see them at all. Cybertronians may have a much wider or different form of vision- where a human may feel a slight static tingle across their skin, a cybertronian may find horror.
Many minor malevolent energy beings might simply show up as a visual glitch to cybertronians- a living, moving glitch or error unable to be processed. A being of static and stray pixels and lines of code that won’t be parsed. Or perhaps a physical representation of such a thing- particularly while possessing a Cybertronian body;
The corruption in Horizon: Zero Dawn is a great example of this visually- writhing black-and-red tendrils of toxic nanotechnology and energy, lashing out and clinging to robotic life- slithering through them like worms. Of course, I do imagine a lot of the weirder stuff in Matrix starts off as straight-up just energy beings; similar to a holographic display that moves of it’s own accord, possibly unable to physically interact with things around it. Maybe through technology- after all, this is robot hell we’re talking about here.
Given enough energy, though, you might wind up with something like this (Hyper Light Drifter)
or this (Transistor)
But then, considering that “demon” tends to apply specifically to malevolent otherworldly beings who are here to do business, maybe something a little more dignified for dealing with Cybertronians would be necessary. (The following are from Destiny)
Something…almost Cybertronian yet still somehow organic in base might appeal to the innate fear many Cybertronians have of organics.
Or more mechanical, almost vehicle-like in itself.
or something a little more…abstract, but still distinctly technological?
I dunno, there’s a lot of really cool directions Cybertronian “demons” or any sort of otherworldly beings could go! And a lot of them are way stranger and (imo) more interesting than the classic western version of devils- after all, what might a species of robots be afraid of? What sort of monsters haunt their dreams? Disembodied circuitry, nothing more than a glimmer in the air, coiling wires ready to strike and thread their way into joints?
(Mukesh Singh- Grant Morrison’s 18 Days)
Or something a little more recognizable?
(That being said, the “Demons” in Matrix are less…demons in any sort of human term, so much as they are entities related to and unique from Cybertron. Humans would start referring to the translation of them as demons, though, since they serve a similar purpose.)
Cybertronian Database 