This is a Transformers-centric tickle blog. If that's not your cup of tea, you might want to keep scrolling. I'm the most familiar with G1, Animated, Bayverse, Prime, Earthspark, and TF One. However, I'm trying to get into the IDW comics as well. If you know where I could read them for free, I'd love to hear from you!
Team Prime || 'Transformers Prime' Tickle Headcanons
A/N: These headcanons are for the original five members of Team Prime. If you guys would like to see some for Wheeljack, Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus as well, just jet me know.
Optimus Prime
Optimus hasn't been tickled much since becoming a Prime. With a war raging on and millions of lives at stake, such childish luxuries simply fell by the wayside. Once he and his team get settled on Earth, though? And ESPECIALLY after the kids come into their lives? He quickly becomes reacquainted with it.
• For a long time, only Ratchet is aware of his sensitivity (he IS the team medic, after all). However, all it takes is one "carwash" for his secret to get out, and suddenly he finds himself constantly barraged by little pokes and "accidental" nudges from his teammates.
• He doesn't hate being tickled, but won't actively seek it out, either. If he's in a lee mood, he's prone to just suffer in silence until someone notices the subtle shift in his behavior and takes pity on him.
• Back when he and Megatron were friends, the gladiator made a habit of holding him close and tickling him to tears, particularly when he'd rambled on about something for a little too long. Optimus has a lot of good memories about these times, so tickling became a bit bittersweet for him as the war dragged on.
• He has this deep, rumbling laugh with little wheezes spliced in every now and then (Miko teases that its his "old man" laugh, despite Optimus still being fairly young by Cybertronian standards).
• While he won't start a tickle fight, if you drag him into one, he WILL finish it. He has no qualms about using his size to his advantage, keeping the smaller bots still as he gently tickles them to pieces.
• "Perhaps next time you will think twice before starting any mischief, won't you?" Que frantic, high-pitched beeps and squeals from Bumblebee.
• He definitely has a soft spot for Ratchet. The medic is his oldest friend, and he enjoys helping the old grump smile from time to time (only in private, of course; he would never wish to embarrass him in front of the others).
• One of only two souls who know about Megatron's sensitivity; Knockout is the other, and only knows because he is Nemesis' primary medic.
• His worst spots are his finials, the seams under his arms, and the seams along his hips.
Ratchet
• When Ratchet first arrived on Earth, he had the same world-weary, pessimistic perspective many Cybertronians did. Countless years of war had taken their toll, and he viewed playful activities like tickle fights as a waste of time. Sure, he would occasionally slip a few tickly touches into examinations, if he was close enough to the patient, but that was pretty much it.
• Once the humans come into the picture, tickling becomes far more prevalent around the base, and even Ratchet isn't able to avoid it for long. All it takes is a little suggestion from Miko, and the next thing he knows, Bulkhead and Bumblebee have him boxed in and are tickling him to the floor.
• After that day, a game lovingly coined "Make The Grump Giggle" becomes a weekly occurrence, and the smallest brush against his side is enough to make Ratchet yelp and gasp.
• He will protest and curse like his life depends on it, but the others have noticed he makes no REAL effort to get away.
• Optimus is the only one "allowed" to tickle him, as he only plays with the medic in private settings and never teases him too badly (at least, not on purpose).
• His laughter is wheezy and FILLED with snorts; the poor guy sounds like he is about to keel over.
• As a ler, Ratchet is downright EVIL! He knows everyone's weak spots after years of tending to them, and he will utilize them if they act recklessly in battle, if they try to avoid checkups, etc.
• MAJOR sweet spot for Bumblebee (that's his child, your honor) and goes out of his way to playfully wreck, usually after an especially hard mission or another failed attempt at repairing his voice box.
• Won't outright tease but WILL make snide little comments; it can't be that bad, listen to that racket you're making, maybe I should turn off my audio receptors, that kind of thing.
• His worst spots are his stomach (especially if you can worm a few fingers under the armor to reach his protoform), the hip-seams and the thigh-seams.
Arcee
• Arcee is not the most touchy-feely of the group, and at first, she would sooner blast you than let you touch her. The only one allowed to get near his is Cliffjumper, and after his death, she closes herself off from affection for a good while.
• Once she finally starts to heal, she slowly starts getting involved in her team's playful antics again, albeit in a strictly ler role. It takes MONTHS before she finally allows Bumblebee to turn the tables on her, and when she does, the scout looks happy enough to combust.
• Her laughter is husky and low, around the same register as her speaking voice, but particularly sensitive spots can pull some adorable giggles out of her.
• Teasing word surprisingly well on her, but bear in mind, she'll return whatever you give to her tenfold.
• Primarily goes after Bumblebee, since she knows how much he enjoys it, but will occasionally poke at Ratchet (and even Optimus) if the mood strikes her.
• Her tickles are light and quick, flitting from spot to spot before her target has the chance to get used to them. And once she finds a sweet spot? She's going to hone in on it until you're WAILING.
• She's not much for teasing, preferring to just chuckle and watch her lee squirm rather than add to their torment (Tailgate and Cliffjumper were exceptions to this rule).
• If Jack is having an especially hard day, she'll prod at his side until he agrees to stop being in such a sour mood (while he would never admit it, he secretly appreciates these little moments).
• She is the first one to figure out Knockout is ticklish after he joins the Autobots, and she makes a point of constantly bringing it up just to fluster him. After all, he deserves it for all the shit he put them through over the years.
• Her worst spots are the seams under her arms, the seams behind her knees, and her pedes.
Bumblebee
• The baby of the team and the one who gets ganged up on the most. However, Bumblebee is usually the one who STARTS the tickle fights in the first place, so you could argue he's asking for it.
• When he's being tickled, his doorwings rapidly move up and down, almost like he's trying to fly away. But the second the attack moves to them? They lock up, unable to do anything but twitch and take whatever his attackers dish out.
• He adores being tickled but is way too awkward to ask for them, so usually, he just resorts to antagonizing his teammates until they get fed up with him and attack.
• Miko figured out his interior, specifically a spot just behind the steering wheel, is SUPER sensitive and hasn't let him hear the end of it since.
• Since his voice box doesn't work, instead of laughs, you hear a series of beeps, chirps, clicks, squeals, and whirrs.
• Gets into tickle fights with Bulkhead at the drop of a hat, and when Wheeljack is in town, he manages to pull HIM into them, too.
• He will only go after Arcee when he KNOWS he'll win or when he wants his shit absolutely WRECKED afterwards.
• Loves holding Raf in the palm of his hand and playfully wiggling a finger into his stomach, chirping and trilling little teases all the while, since he knows the boy can understand him.
• After Smokescreen joins the team, Bumblebee "initiates" him by pulling him into a headlock and tickling until Bulkhead literally has to pry him off of the squealing 'bot.
• His worst spots are his neck and doorwings (specifically the bases, where they connect to the back).
Bulkhead
• Bulkhead used to get into tickle fights with his fellow wreckers all the time, and even after the war started, he made an effort to keep the playful tradition alive.
• He has an ongoing rivalry with Wheeljack, with the two constantly trying to one up each other and make the other cry mercy..
• Bulkhead is large but slow; if he can get ahold of his target before they figure out what he's planning, they're done for. But if they have the chance to run or fight back? He's going to have a much harder time.
• Now that they're on Earth, Bulkhead squares off with Bumblebee the most. And if the two aren't going after each other? They are coming up with plans to bring Arcee or Ratchet down a few pegs.
• He has tickled Miko on several occasions, usually for acting particularly reckless or sticking her nose where she shouldn't.
• Bulkhead actually isn't too ticklish; years as a wrecker and warrior have left his circuits less sensitive than usual. However, if you manage to find the right spot, he'll go down relatively quickly.
• He has a VERY high tolerance to teasing. It doesn't do much to fluster him, and is more likely to stoke his desire for revenge than anything else, so you may just want to keep your mouth shut.
• He will indulge the kids from time to time, if they want to gang up on them, but he ALWAYS makes sure to get them back afterwards.
• Extremely stubborn and unlikely to give up easily; if you don't want him turning the tables on you the second you let him go, make sure he's thoroughly tickled out first.
• His worst spots are under the chin and the seams behind the knees; anywhere else will only get you mild giggling at best.
Don't mind me, just thinking about how TFP Megatronus and Orion both wanted the same thing, to bring down Cybertron's brutal and corrupt caste system, but their differing social backgrounds, privileges and perspectives (destruction versus reformation) ultimately severed their comradery and led to the perpetration of further violence.
‘Cause I was born with a hole in my heart
Yeah, we were fucked from the start
Tell me it’s inevitable that I’d
End up with scars from falling
Down, down
We were always meant to fall apart
Can we all agree that, no matter the continuity, Ratchet would be a fucking menace? He's a medic, so he would be intimately familiar with which spots are most sensitive on a bot, and I can absolutely see him abusing his knowledge when a patient refuses to cooperate.
I mainly see his Animated version acting like this, as he is working with a small, close-knit team rather than constantly cycling through heavily-injured soldiers, and is in an environment that's MODERATELY less stressful than war-ravaged Cybertron, but what do you guys think?
