Headcannon and analysis about Cybertronian’s birth and some Starscream psychological speculation (short ver.)
First Part:
According to @tee-chew on Tumblr, I really appreciate their hard work in compilling every information we have got about sparklings in various Transformers medias and giving their fantastic headcanons (please check them out).
First, forged Cybertronians (not cold constructed ones) begin as sparks surrounded by sentio metallico (living metal/transformium/etc.) with no defined shape and form. They existed within the ‘hot spot’ prepare to emerge and become protoforms. Moreover, the main composition of sentio metallico is rarified energons, a rare and limited type of energon essential to all cybertronian beings. (this will be featured in my future cybertronian alimentary post)
The second form is the protoform—often depicted as tiny white cylinder with digital electronic circuit patterns. However, they do not have to be small or cylinder-shaped; protoform can exist in various shapes and sizes. I think a protoform’s distinctive features include color, patterns, and perhaps some kind of spark signature, electronic field, or beeping sound to signal other cybertronians that it is, indeed, a protoform—like how organic newborns cry to alert adults, a telling of their vulnerable stage.
Protoform stage duration only lasts in minutes before developing a face and alt-mode within hours (plating and kibbles, etc.). They are considered ‘warm’ metal until they find their true shape or ‘solidify’.
A protoform’s development finishes within 24 hours but they are not yet considered an adult here, this is where the term ‘sparkling’ applies. I agree with @tee-chew headcanons that “a sparkling is fully form cybertronian but very young and inexperienced.” To note: a protoform must still need to ‘learn’ communication, surviving skills, and mental development (or training).
Importantly, Cybertronians have a ‘natural’ alt-modes (their true shape) they are born with. Their sentio metallico is adaptable and be able to reconfigure into new shape or design as their own desire(by choice.) While a spark may contain some coding with purpose to influence frame formation, but the meaning of true frame refers to ‘the originally forged frame’--not a ‘true’ or ‘great’ as defined by Functionism.
(TL;DR: true shape/frame = originally forged frame)
Second part:
Now comes the question regarding cold constructed cybertronians.
In my headcanon I think they initially develop in a similar way to the forged one, but without a spark and without the ‘warm.’ The ‘cold’ in cold construction mayt stem from the fact that they are born without ‘warm’ metal; instead, they are built directly to an assigned shape and alt-mode. Thus, cold-constructed bots are ‘wake up’ with fully developed bodies. Canonicallly, this seems to affect the mental state of some of them because of the lack of a developmental stage.
In Till All Are One, issue #12, Windblade says while holding his spark.
“It is the flame of primus itself. The forge in which each transformer is shaped according to his design. A spark is shaped by all who touch it, but the first hand meant to is Primus; sparks are meant to be forged in the design of his divine choosing.”
To me, this implies that every untouched spark has a shape or ‘natural’ alt-mode it was born with—as Primus design—meaning the originally forged frame.
Another quote states “Bots not born, but built. Never allowed to find their true shape. Instead forged to the specification of another’s greed”
This suggests that cold constructed cybertronian never have the chance to discover their originally forged frame. Instead, they are built and confined to a shape chosen by their ‘creators’, often for war or exploitation. It is a horrific violation—an invasive interferance with what should have been an untouched spark, stripping them of freedom from birth and placing them at the bottom of society. From this perspective, the ‘cold’ may refer to the absence of ‘warm’ metal and lacck of a stage in which to find their true shape. Although sentio metallico may still allow them to modify their frames, kibbles, or T-cogs that compatible to them, but would never actually discover their original frame.
“Is that what you were truly seeking, Starscream? Escape from a foreign skin? The belonging you thought was lost forever”
Starscream feel disconnected from his frame—a sense that something is wrong within his body. A discomfort similar to feeling out of place in one’s own skin. Something in his spark, codings, or psyche, tell him otherwise.
However, this does not mean every cold-constructed bot experiences this dysporia. Nor do I think Starscream is the only one. Throughout IDW continuity, we see cold-constructed cybertronians change their frame frequently without showing overt discomfort. Being born into a body does not necessarily mean one must remain fixed to that one frame. One can feel at ease externally while still sensing something internally misaligned, perhaps something they cannot put into a word or think that anyone would understand them.
I headcanon that this discomfort may also influenced by external factors. I do speculate that being a cold constructed bot, an inferior being, most likely affects self-perception and behaviors. Society’s treatment of them — being born into frames with specific assigned purposes — may contribute to psychological strain. For example, Starscream’s obsession with superiority (‘I am better than you’) may stem from this background. I think in Till All Are One, Windblade even implied that cold constructed cybertronians may be born with personality or psychological defects—which could be a theory worth exploring for another day.
On the next page, Starscream’s ‘true frame’ is shown. I do not believe this represents his literal true form, but rather a ‘what if’ imagination scenario or hypothesis. Starscream’s true form could have been anything—a ground vehicle, a beastformer, or something entirely different—and we will never know. Furthermore, all of this occurs inside Windblade’s understanding which is limited and possibly biased. I believe this scene represents the idealized self rather than his originally forged form.
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