Fanon / Transformers

General

• The Cybertronian race is a strictly bisexual one with zero prejudice against homosexual relationships to the point they are baffled when a human mentions it. Which makes sense since in most continuities they officially have a 12:1 male:female ratio and there just aren't enough femmes to go around. Became Ascended Fanon in the IDW continuity, starting with Transformers: More than Meets the Eye.
• Generally, fans have come up with three different ways for transformers to get intimate with each other:
  • Clean/Spark-Merging: Mostly just touching erogenous zones till a mutual climax or doing that then finishing by putting their sparks together. Seen as the tamest and most G-Rated of TF sex.
  • Plug ‘n Play: Mating by using electronic components such as wires and connectors. Sort of an in-between in terms of naughtiness, often used by fan creators who find spark-merging too boring but sticky too extreme.
  • Sticky: Full on, human style mating with metal versions of everything an organic humanoid has. Considered the most hard-core for obvious reasons.
    • Note: Despite the name, all three forms of fanon sex can involve merging sparks which is often seen as a really intense form of intimacy. e.g. Spark-merging is akin to making love while the others are more just sex by itself.
• Then there’s bonding, the transformer version of marriage. In Transformers: More than Meets the Eye we are told that bond-mates or spark-mates are called "conjunx endurae". For this to happen, a couple must merge their sparks while each has the desire to be together for the rest of their lives. Their sparks then literally merge into one and bond, which usually results in an incredibly intense overload. Afterwards when the pair wake up and separate, their sparks are still linked by some deep, psychic connection that only ends when one dies. When that happens, the other will often die too from the shock or be so traumatized they take their own life in order to be with their mate again. Good thing bots live such a long time and are so durable!
  • Fans are divided on whether unhappy mates can break a bond they no longer wish to be in, but the majority seem fall into the "once it's done, there's no going back" camp. Others say it's possible, but is so difficult, dangerous and traumatic that's it's hardly ever attempted anyway.
  • Chromedome in Transformers: More than Meets the Eye has had at least four Conjunx Endurae in his lifetime but all of them, save Rewind (one of them), died leaving him free to move on with no apparent health problems related to this. Likewise Rewind became Conjunx Endurae with Chromedome after his previous one was thought to have died. There's also a similar ritual, Platonic Separation, for platonic partners (Amica Endura) which Nautica and Firestar have never undergone because at least on Caminus, it is accompanied by severe social disapproval. This is probably not true elsewhere, as Skids casually mentions he's gotten out of an Amica relationship at least once.
• As for reproduction, there’s the canon method of simply building new protoforms which are then brought to life by Primus (unless you’re a Dinobot). In Transformers: More than Meets the Eye sparks rise up out of the ground, but can be stored in crystals, and are placed in bodies that are either constructed cold in a factory or individually forged. Fanon gives us another method which involves two bots merging their sparks together to create another much smaller newspark. Fanon is divided on what happens then, but eventually the baby spark matures enough to survive on its own, somehow gets a body and then you have a new transformer. It depends on the writer whether mechs can carry newsparks or just femmes, and then whether two femmes can reproduce with each other. Most writers allow this. The new body is, depending on the writer, made inside of one of the two bots, or comes out of an egg, or is forged/constructed by the parents. Or some combination of these; the protoform may be carried inside one bot, but the frame constructed.
  • Fanon reproduction through spark-merging is actually contradictory to the canon in several continuities, and the most romantic bit that we ever see onscreen is maybe hands touching when constructing the new chassis. This MacGuffin-based-reproduction-only is actually a major series-defining plot point in at least two continuities, and has been the driving force of storylines or episodes in several others. There was even a storyline in the comics where attempts at reproduction on their own led to descendants being increasingly separated from Primus, and increasingly machine-like. There was a Beast Wars episode where Blackarachnia had a dream where she "spark-shared" with Silverbolt, though, so there is a semi-canonical basis for the sex, even if not for the reproduction. And in Transformers: Prime Knock Out expresses disgust at "human methods of interfacing" which canonizes the fanon use of "interfacing" to mean sex and also confirms that sex can occur between Transformers in that continuity.
    • Might be slightly less fanon now that the live-action movies have been released - after all, the baby Cybertronians in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen have to come from somewhere, even if they do hatch from pods. Also, whenever sparklings do appear, the seekers are extremely protective of them.
• Seekers are usually portrayed as a sort of sub-species of Cybertronians, sometimes having their own separate language, customs, culture, etc. different from other transformers. Praxians (i.e. bots with the same shape as Prowl and Bluestreak) are often another sub-species though not to such an extreme extent as the seekers. Generally other transformers find them much more easy to understand and deal with and a lot less scary and exasperating.
• Speaking of seekers, their wings are extremely...sensitive. This also applies to doorwings and any wires hidden under all that armor.
  • And their sparks, which are usually the most sensitive part of any bot.
• All the seekers share a kinship because they look exactly alike except for their paintjobs. All seekers exist in trines and share a deep spiritual bond (sometimes sexual, sometimes familial) with their wingmates. The same is often applied to gestalt teams like the Aerialbots or the Constructicons.
  • Specifically, trines or gestalts are often psychically linked with each other in a similar way to mated bots. This varies in strength from being able to read each other's thoughts all the way up to feeling what another does almost like an out of body experience.
  • The latter might be becoming canon for Combiners as the Constructicons in IDW are seemingly heading towards a single Devastator mind as frequent combining is rotting away their individuality. Optimus and Prowl might also have influenced each other's personalities due to briefly combining.
• Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker are called "the Command Trine" and are often portrayed as brothers, either as triplets, or with either Starscream or Thundercracker as the eldest and Skywarp or Starscream as the youngest. They are also sometimes portrayed as lovers, depending upon the writer's preferred definition of "trine".
• The Autobots love to party and will have them constantly.
  • The Decepticons love to party too when they have reason for it. These typically work out much the same as the Autobot celebrations with plenty of high-grade and Ho Yay, usually between Megatron and Starscream.
• Different characters in different parts of the Transformers multiverse tend to be given the same names and similar designs; for example, G1 Red Alert and Transformers: Armada Red Alert or G1 Wheeljack and Transformers: Energon Downshift, yet these secondary characters are generally not regarded as the same person. However, some fans believe that each Optimus Prime and Megatron (with the exception of Beast Wars Megatron who was a Legacy Character in canon) are Alternate Universe versions of the same two basic people, while others think each Optimus and Megs are different, cosmically unrelated individuals, who just happens to coincidentally share the same name and role as all the others.
  • A more general case is transplanting traits from one incarnation of a character to another (for example, Animated Shockwave being a Mad Scientist like his G1 incarnation.)
• The fandom seems to have universally decided that Wildbreak is Breakdown and Knock Out's son. Even the wiki joked about how well it fits.
• G1 Prowl and Red Alert are both "glitched", the Cybertronian version of a disability. Red with a paranoia glitch (obviously from his behaviour in "Auto Berserk") and Prowl with a logic glitch. Glitches cause processor crashes which make them black out. Ratchet usually gets them back on their feet.
• Prowl's battle computer (mentioned in the G1 episode "Roll for It") is a piece of hardware unique to him which helps him function as the Autobots' lead strategist. It's sometimes used as the reason for his logic glitch. Note that in the actual episode there was nothing to suggest that a battle computer wasn't just a normal part of a Cybertronian's systems that all bots have.
• All Seekers are claustrophobic, and suffer meltdowns if they're trapped in small enclosed places.

Characterization

G1

• The majority of fan characterization really catching on even more than canon happens in the G1 continuity. Possibly justified since in the original cartoon, their personalities were rather flat so fanon gave them new ones to compensate. These are the ones you're most likely to find in any fic and it's gotten to the point where the characters actually seem odd and OOC without them. Yes, the canonical personalities are seen as being OOC instead of the fanon ones.

Autobots

• Ratchet being an easily annoyed mech who can work miracles, throws wrenches at everybody that annoys him and, this can vary, a party animal. He also makes really good high-grade and is pretty much the only creature in existence that the Lambo twins fear. The part about being an easily annoyed miracle worker however has made its way into both the Transformers: Prime and Transformers: More than Meets the Eye portrayals of Ratchet. His being a party animal was also canon to his original G1 toy bio, but only got a mention in the Marvel Comic.
• Wheeljack's inventions blow up his lab every other day and it's rare whenever he makes something that doesn't blow up, unless the plot demands it. He also blows himself up constantly, causing Ratchet to have to curse and fix him constantly.
• Red Alert's paranoia was increased by a hundred fold as fans took how he was in "Auto Berserk" and made that his default personality with him being paranoid about everything and occasionally glitching at them. That leads Inferno taking care of him.
• Prowl's battle computer will glitch out at illogical situations and he'll pass out. Also, he's a logical, emotionless, workaholic who really needs to chill out.
• It can vary, but Bluestreak/Bumblebee tend to be found and raised by the 'bots an awful lot, and occasionally the twins, Prowl, and Jazz as well. This also leads to Blue being Prowl's adoptive son.
• Many fanfics depict Swoop of the Dinobots training to be a medic, even though he never showed such an interest in the cartoon.
  • This comes from a very popular fanfic written early on when the fandom was just starting to post stories online. A lot of aspiring authors read it and liked this detail so much they decided to include it in their own stories.
• Sideswipe is an indomitable prankster and loves to pull practical jokes on anyone and everyone he can find. Sunstreaker is not nearly so enthusiastic, but helps his twin anyway out of a sense of brotherly duty. He's also a highly skilled artist, able to paint and sculpt things almost as beautiful as he is. Almost. Also, he's usually portrayed as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.

Decepticons

• Starscream is often a member of the Royal Family of Vos - either a prince, or the prince.
  • Also he's either a helpless victim of Megatron's domestic abuse, or a cunning, invincible badass. Sometimes both. Though both sides can agree that Megatron regularly beats the snot out of him, even moreso than in the show.
• Skywarp, Rumble and Frenzy are the resident pranksters similar to the Lambo twins. Thundercracker and Soundwave tend to get similar processor-aches to Ratchet when they go on a spree.
• Continuing from above, TFWiki.net's belief that Skywarp enjoys pushing other bots down stairs. This has zero basis in canon, but as the wiki puts it, he seems like the kind of bot who'd enjoy doing so.
• On top of his other work, Hook is the Chief Medic and opposite to Ratchet with the other Constructicons acting like his team of nurses. After the Decepticons inevitably lose the battle du jour, it's him who's left to patch them up.
• Vortex is a sadist.
• There are so many fanfics where emotionless, monotone Soundwave is portrayed as a loving and caring father to his cassettes. May now be slightly less fanon - in Transformers: War for Cybertron, he puts himself in danger to retrieve Rumble, Frenzy and Laserbeak when they sustain heavy damage. He also displays this trait in the Transformers: Prime episode, Triage, where he goes to save Laserbeak instead of finishing off Wheeljack.
  • As Soundwave's cassettes were converted to that format (and in the case of Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw, against not only their will, but also Soundwave's will), the relationship between Soundwave and his cassettes in that continuity are sometimes viewed differently. As Ravage and the birds met Soundwave (who was in desperate straits) and took him in prior to those events, some people view Ravage as 'Soundwave's' parent, even though they were all adults at the time. A deep connection between them is seen in Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, where Soundwave breaks down when he feels Ravage's death, which lends itself to an alternative interpretation that Ravage may have been Soundwave's bonded mate, and earlier, when Riptide demands Ravage explain whether he would choose Megatron over Soundwave or vice versa, Ravage threatens his life. (Megatron himself says that he knows Ravage would leave him if Soundwave called for him, without question.)

Shipping

G1

• In the G1 fandom, popular pairings include:
  • Jazz/Prowl, both as a main and side pairing.
  • Hound/Mirage.
  • Ratchet/Wheeljack and Ratchet/Drift.
  • Bluestreak tends to end up with Wheeljack or the twins.
  • The twins, even if a third partner is introduced.
  • Red Alert/Inferno due to large amounts of Ho Yay.
  • Ironhide tends to be with either Ratchet or Optimus. Chromia is another choice.
  • Megatron/Starscream due to fair amounts of Ho Yay.
  • Shockwave/Soundwave, often with the two keeping their relationship going by using Soundwave's psychic abilities to amplify their bond while their on different planets. Shockwave is also either the cassette's adoptive father or their real one.
  • Thunderclash/Rodimus Prime, although whether it's unrequited on Thunderclash's part or whether Rodimus feels the same way but is in denial depends on the author's preferences.

Transformers Animated

• Lockdown lusting after Prowl is usually a given whether Prowl feels the same way or not.

Transformers Prime

• Knock Out is typically paired with his friend Breakdown. The creators eventually revealed he is gay, an already typical occurrence in fanfiction.

Terminology

• The group-name "seekers" for Starscream and other Decepticon jets of the same general build was fanon and then later used in official sources.
  • The same happened with "gestalt": the fan coined name for combining teams.
• Female transformers being called “femmes” and males being called "mechs" is so well known and ubiquitous it’s easy to mistake it for canon.
  • Both terms eventually became canon in 2016 in Beast Wars: Uprising.
• Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are known as the "Lambo twins" and as front line soldiers, they and their ilk are often called "tough-liners".
• The minibots were never officially referred to as such. The toys were sold as "mini vehicles".
• The stronger, intoxicating form of energon that’s the transformer race’s version of alcohol is called “high-grade”. Normal energon is usually “low” or “mid-grade” in comparison. May be edging towards canon now as high-grade was mentioned in Transformers: Rescue Bots.
  • Confusingly, transformer "blood" is also called "energon". Must be a different mix.
  • Animated however has different brews of oil substituting as either wine or beer.
• Transformer feet are "pedes". Fingers are sometimes "digits".
  • Animated has feet being "stabilizing servos".
• A tongue is a "glossa".
• Beds are either “berths” or “recharge-plates”.
  • Transformers: More than Meets the Eye has the "recharge slabs" and the B.E.D. (Biometric Envelopment Device).
• A backside is an "aft", which is also used as an insult.
• The three-to-a-team seeker groups are called "trines" and they refer to each other as "wingmates". The one in charge is called a "wingleader".
• “Married” Transformers are said to be “bonded” and pairs are called “mates”, "bondmates" and “sparkmates”.
  • When Transformers: More than Meets the Eye was published, a canon term for this finally debuted; Conjunx Endura. It tends to be used when fans write for that continuity, while the old fanon terms are still around for other universes. Issue #57 has Sentinel Prime say that "sparkmate" is an older term for Conjunx Endura. He finds both terms and the concept of them repulsive.
• Child and baby age bots are called “sparklings”. Teenagers and young adults, like Bluestreak and Bumblebee, are “younglings”.
  • Sparks that haven't been born yet are called "newsparks" and pregnancy is "carrying".
  • As of July 2015, "sparkling" became canon when the Titan Navitas refers to Windblade as "Caminus' sparkling" though only in the sense that Windblade was born from a hot spot that Caminus carried inside him.
• Seekers with models like Dirge and Thrust are called "coneheads".
• The kibble that sticks out of the backs of Praxians/Datsuns (e.g. Prowl) is called “doorwings”.
• "Groundpounder" is a slur used by Decepticons against their flightless Autobots counterparts.
  • Became canon in Transformers: Cyberverse when one of the 'Cons used it to insult Bumblebee.
• Transformer sex is generally known as "interfacing" and the bot version of an orgasm is called an "overload". If they have one, a transformer's penis is most often called a "spike" though "cord" and "cable" are sometimes used. The opposite intimate parts are usually called either a "valve" or a "port" though in Ho Yay stories, mechs usually have ports too. If it's mentioned, an anterior/exterior node is the bot version of a clitoris.
• Parents are called "creators", while fathers (regardless whether they're male or female) are "sires" and mothers (again, regardless whether they're male or female) are "carriers".