Neo Titans AU lore dump: Titan Life Cycles and Classes
When not blocked by an inhibitor chip, Shuttles recieve the signal necessary to metamorphose into a Titan about 4-6 million years into their life. They begin the process of seeking out a suitable planet upon which to pupate. Once they've accomplished this, they begin digging straight down into the planet's crust using their retractable claws.
Once they have created a suitable space (usually a cavern connected to the planet's mantle) the shuttle will shed all of their plating, leaving only their protoform behind. The shed armor plating will (on a geological scale) rapidly form into gargantuan crystalline growths that surround the protoform like an egg or cocoon as they begin to undergo drastic changes in anatomy. The structure then fills with magma from inside the planet in order to facilitate the changes that will take place. In this state, the shuttle is now known as a Prototitan.
Over the course of the next two to six million years after pupation, the Prototitan will begin to reformat, feeding off of the planet’s geothermal energy and leaching away metals from the magma around them to grow into their final Titan form.
As Titans, they are incredibly long-lived even by Cybertronian standards, to the point where it is currently unknown if it’s possible for them to die of old age.
Most Titans (with some exceptions, like triple-changer "hybrids") fall into one of three categories:
Metrotitans
These are what most people think of when talking about Titans. These Transformers can change into massive, sprawling cities that stretch for many miles.
Because of their symbiosis with other beings and the immobile nature of their alt-mode, Metrotitans often trend towards sedentary lifestyles, even by Cybertron’s standards. Once they find a suitable place to settle down, they change into city-mode and may not decide to move at all for centuries or even millenia. Their symbiosis with smaller Cybertronians also means that they rarely need to perform self-maintenance, especially if staffed with multiple Speakers. However, despite the stereotypes associated with this relatively static way of life, Metrotitans are almost never truly idle–the energy freed up by not needing to travel is usually redirected towards energon production, massive calculations and simulations regarding the economy, or monitoring the safety of their population.
Metrotitan cities are often meticulously designed such that, if it is necessary for them to change forms quickly, it would cause minimal damage to the buildings and people housed within.
In one recorded case, a Metrotitan remained in place for over a million years, only moving because their felt threatened by the presence of another one of its kind. With the Titan having played host to several civilizations by this point, their inhabitants had largely forgotten they they were inside a living city, causing a great deal of panic when the Titan's space-bridge suddenly activated and moved the entire city to another planet.
Some Notable Examples - Metroplex, Caminus
Wanderer Titans
The smallest and most mobile class, they stand around half the size of most other Titans. This has led to them being called the Titan equivalent of minibots, though they're still colossal compared to any non-Titan frametype. They bear the most resemblance to their shuttle counterparts, usually taking the form of large spacefaring cruisers or mobile space stations.
Wanderer Titans, like all Titans, have a strong symbiotic relationship with those who take up residence within their walls. However, a Wandering Titan usually has a relatively small population, numbering in the dozens, and generally possess only one Speaker. As such, their relationship with their crew tends to be much more personal in nature. Wanderers are the Titans most likely to acquire a Conjunx or Amice Endura, and young Wanderers may even develop separation anxiety regarding a favorite crew member or Cityspeaker in the same way other bots might for a caretaker.
Wanderer Titans get their name from their tendency to be extremely inquisitive and their drive to explore constantly, only briefly stopping to rest for a few years after they've spent centuries running themselves to exhaustion. These qualities mean that much of the earliest mapping of the galaxy was performed by Wanderer crews.
Some Notable Examples - Skyfire, Lost Light
Beast Titans
Beast Titans are a subgroup of Titans who have a beast root-mode, and are usually (though not always) created when a shuttle with a beast form undergoes metamorphosis.
Their behavior tends to be erratic: they exhibit centuries-long periods of high activity, during which they migrate to find a place they find comfortable, before eventually settling down to rest until their next burst of activity.
While other titans rely on a resident crew or population for maintenance, Beast Titans are more self-sufficient, being capable of generating fleets of drones that defend them from invasion and maintain their frame. They are also exceptionally territorial and can be aggressive towards other beings that encroach on their territory if they deem them to be a threat. Because of this, Beast Titans are sometimes worshipped as guardian deities on the planets where they stay.
Some Notable Examples - Trypticon, Chela
It is theorized that a fourth category of Titan, known as a Celestial Titan, may also exist. Ancient scriptures speak of Primus and Unicron as planet-sized beings, and some stories claim that Cybertron itself is actually an unfathomably large Titan. However, no concrete evidence exists to prove these claims, making their existence or nonexistence a matter of faith for many.