[[Spoilers for Rise of the Beasts under the cut.]]
I had to take a whole 24 hours to process ROTB. Damn, it was so good. I have not latched onto anything Transformers related for such a long time: so much about it highlights what we love about Transformers, and what it means to be a Transformers fan. But I’ve been hyperfixating on the star of the show–Mirage–since before I walked into the theater. He’s cocksure, carefree, and so damn loyal. And he ain’t bad to look at either. But I had to look past my infatuation to see that there is inherently something very, very strange about him that I haven’t seen anyone else talk about.
Absolutely no hate going forward, just observations.
Mirage is absolutely not your typical Cybertronian. As we all know, your average bot will have one alt-mode that they can scan new facets to as they desire, shedding them as they go. Some are even triple changers, able to go from alt to alt. In fact, I think Bumblebee qualifies as a triple changer in this movie. Perhaps something happened between his own film and this one, who knows. But as far as we know, that’s the extent of alt-mode limits.
Mirage is not a fan of limits. In the scene when he was trying to convince Noah to join the Autobots, Mirage was able to flip from alt to alt to alt (then onto another alt) absolutely effortlessly. He’s able to use his t-cog like a freaking Rolodex, spinning up a new one whenever he has a mind to. This is very unusual in of itself, since we don’t see any other bots other than he and Bumblebee taking new alts for the whole movie.
And then there’s his illusion work. I was only a little disappointed that none of his iconic invisibility was used, but the mimicry (which seems to be a page he took out of Hound’s book) is well done and seems to be something he is very comfortable and skilled using. Again, I can’t recall another instance of another Cybertronian having a skill quite like this one, in this or any other movie.
Ah, and let’s not forget the little bit of himself that he peeled off and flipped to Noah, which morphed into a great little handheld weapon. So damn strange.
And then there’s the power armor.
I don’t know if Noah’s handheld helped to integrate Mirage onto his body, but that is without a doubt NOT something we’ve seen before in a Transformers series/movie. There are the exosuits that Spike and Daniel wear in TF the Movie ('87), and Verity's armor in Last Stand of The Wreckers, but those are just fitted suits. The closest thing I can think of is the Apex Armor in TFP, and that isn’t a sentient piece of technology, just something that snaps into place as it’s engaged.
So what’s the point of all this rambling?
I think Mirage is an Outlier.
And not just any Outlier. As we know from the comics, Outliers come in so many shades, and no two individuals are ever the same. But there seems to be no limit to Mirage’s abilities. He is perhaps the most impressive Outlier in any Transformers continuity, or at least one of the very few of his kind left alive since the fall of Cybertron. And perhaps this is the reason for his attitude; after a Cybertronian lifetime of chafing under scrutiny and trying to be made sense of, my man said 'screw it' and invested in himself. Maybe these abilities of his are the reason he’s so willing to throw himself into everything he does, without hesitation or sense of self-preservation. Because he can adapt to whatever situation he finds himself in.
