#transformium

[askvectorprime]

Dear, Vector Prime.

What were Daniel Witwicky, Shawn Berger, and Dr. Fujiyama/Hamada like at Tyran cluster?

Dear Human Ally,

“Daniel” is actually an old Witwicky family name. Archibald Witwicky had an older brother named Daniel who tragically died fighting for the Union in the American Civil War. Herbert Witwicky would consequently name one of his sons Daniel in his honor, though he didn’t quite live up to his namesake’s legacy, ending up as a failed stand-up comedian-turned-Burger House manager. Still, he was always a highlight at Witwicky family reunions for the younger members of the family, particularly for the mischief he would get up to with his nephews Sam and Butch, the latter whom he affectionately called “Buster.” After the Battle of Chicago, Buster married his high-school sweetheart Jessie and they had their own son Daniel, named in honor of his great-uncle. The rise of Cemetery Wind soon put a target on most of the Witwicky family due to their affiliations with the Autobots, and Buster was forced to go into hiding alongside his partner Backfire to protect his family. Still a baby when his father left, Daniel heard stories about him from his mother and is now determined to find out what became of him following Cemetery Wind’s dissolution.

Shawn Berger was a human collaborator of the Decepticons in the 1980s. Through his cutthroat business practices in real estate markets and on Wall Street, he helped move money around to finance the Decepticons’ numerous machinations over the decades. Berger also had political aspirations, which were thankfully never realized once he had outlived his usefulness and was killed by Laserbeak.

Dr. Hamada Fujiyama was a scientist studying Transformium for Kinetic Solutions Incorporated. He was instrumental in the development of their Transformer program and personally assisted in the creation of Galvatron. After their creations rebelled, Fujiyama was thrown under the bus and fired by the company. Before leaving, however, he stole a sample of Transformium for himself, planning to continue his research alone.

[askvectorprime]

Have you ever encountered metals such as adamantium, hihiirokane, orichalcum, or mithril? And have you ever encountered a Cybertronian with any of these metals making up part of their body?

Dear Metallurgy Maestro,

Certainly these metals are known to me, although some I know purely by reputation, such as the Adamantium that laces the bones of the hero known as Wolverine. Of course adamantium, like the alloy used to create Captain America's trusty battle suit, was designed to recreate the metal used by the Olympians of myth in certain universes. While you may suspect those would be the same entities as my kin, due to our own influence in some universes, I can state it's just a coincidence.

Hihi'irokane is simply a name given by humanity to the living metal that would one day be referred to as "Transformium"; the swordsmiths who helped to repair Deep Down and his followers were fascinated by the metal that made up the Swordbots' bodies, comparing its shifting structure to leaping flames. I believe that recollections of this metal were passed down over time to one Takenouchi Kiyomaro, who took it as inspiration for his writings.

Mithril is not as common as it once was on Cybertron, where now the only large amount can be found in the Mithric Sea. Its corrosion resistant properties make it a popular choice for statuary or other things designed to survive the aeons, and it may not surprise you that my own chassis is built from a mithril-alternium alloy, to better survive the rigors of time travel.

As for the Orichalcums, while metal is found in their bodies, they themselves were not merely metal, as they were fully fledged living Cybertronians in their own right! Admittedly, you and I may know them better as Mini-Cons.

[askvectorprime]

Dear, Vector Prime. How did Bumblebee learn how to get his body back together after it fell apart at TLK?

Dear Reformation Referencer,

This ability of Bumblebee’s is a side-effect of experimentation with living metal—“Transformium,” as Joshua Joyce called it. 

After Lockdown’s defeat in Hong Kong, Bumblebee made it the Autobots’ mission to recover the remaining elemental metals. During an encounter with Galvatron, Bumblebee was doused in liquid Transformium. Its properties gave Bumblebee the ability to control his body on a molecular level. While the full extent of capabilities this afforded is unknown, Bumblebee primarily used it to heal himself, or for clever tricks.

[twowheelerarcee]

For the sake of nerdgasming

[cleansingtheuniverse]

[x]

[mewtwowarrior]

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to think about Transformers. In the process I came up with the idea of AWESOME TRANSFORMIUM BATTLE ARMOR FOR HUMANS :D

I've got a few ideas about it below the Read More, but first, two things:

1. There'll probably be minor spoilers for things in Transformers Age of Extinction, I don't think they'll be too big, but gonna mark it as spoilers anyway, just in case. (Doesn't look like I went too deep into spoilery territory, but I'll keep the warning up just to make sure.)

2. I made this up while sleep-deprived, I can't guarantee that it makes ANY sense at all or if it's really as cool as I think it is.

-

Okay, so TRANSFORMIUM BATTLE ARMOR FOR HUMANS:

-The armor's deactivated mode is a large bracelet worn on one arm (can be placed elsewhere, I guess, arm made more sense to me).

-The bracelet is "keyed" to a single person, it probably CAN be transferred, but that's not a good idea, I wouldn't think.

-Has to be in contact with the person's skin at all times or stops working.

-It's connected to the nerves in order to be controlled with the mind.

-The longer the bracelet is attached to the human, the more their veins and nerve pathways start looking like a circuit board.

-Autobots or Decepticons can volunteer to use their code/programming/whatever on a bracelet, multiple ones can be used on one.

-The functions of the armor mimic the coloring of the original Transformer(s) used to create it, may have some of their design elements incorporated.

-The human's eye color may change after a long period of time with the bracelet (blue for Autobot, red for Decepticon, others if there's a different eye color of the Transformer).

-Autobot armor generally works well with their human, unless the human starts doing things that the Autobots don't approve of. Decepticon armor probably is more hostile, attempting to take over completely, probably doesn't cooperate as well even if it's not trying to take over.

-After a while, the human may start having more in common with the original Transformer(s) that made the bracelets, but usually isn't completely taken over, unless the Decepticons decide that it's more useful to do that.

-The armor itself covers the human from head to toe. The armor can also transform somewhat while on the human, can make spikes come out, activate weapons, strengthen areas being attacked, and more.

-There's also other functions, such as a shield that extends out, a sword, different guns, including a massive arm cannon, and more, there's some limits and it's all battle-focused, but it's mostly based on the human's imagination, training, and time spent with the armor. Also a jetpack and other flight-related things if there's a fall from a high place.

-No throwing weapons, once it loses contact with the human, it can't be controlled. It could possibly make a bow if they've got arrows or something else to use with it. It might could make a throwing weapon, but only if it was on a chain or something and still tethered to the human.

-The more time spent using the various parts of the armor (and just wearing the bracelet) increases how well the human works with the armor. The more time they use it, the quicker it changes functions and reacts to what they want/need. They also get more control over what it looks like, they can alter the design of the armor and style of the weapons better.

-Haven't completely decided on this, but if a human that's used the armor for a long time is killed/dies, they might turn into a Transformer and retain the ability to switch to look like their old human form. If this happens, then the colors and design will be similar to the Transformer(s) used to make the armor.

I think that's about it, there could be more, but I can't remember it at the moment. I'm totally open to comments or thoughts on this, it's just something I thought was neat and was throwing out there.

[dr-archeville]

Why did they call it Transformium, when Cybertronium was already a thing in the franchise?!

EDIT: agelfeygelach helpfully reminded me that this is just as likely Orci and/or Kurtzman's fault as it is Bay's.

[gokuma]

KSI: *collects corpses of the dead Autobots, crushes and minces them*

KSI: HEY, WE'VE DISCOVERED A NEW METAL!