Protoform
Encyclopedia
In the fictional world of the Transformers, protoforms are "basic frames" of a Cybertron
ian placed in stasis until a suitable form can be found.
saga, as the Axalon
was carrying several dozen protoforms in stasis, which were ejected before crashing to Earth.
Protoforms are usually already imbued with a spark
(self-awareness, life essence) before being placed into a stasis pod; those without a spark are referred to as "blanks". During the Axalons journey, the Quantum Wave possibly destroyed these sparks while leaving the bodies intact. It is also possible that these blanks were intended to be used as spare bodies for the crew in case their own were damaged or destroyed.
Stasis pods are also rather delicate, and the slightest damage can erase the protoform's memories. As a result, of the protoforms activated during the Beast Wars, only Rampage
(and Packrat in the comic series) has any memory of life before going into stasis. It is likely that the others also had lives on Cybertron
, as all Transformers who emerge from the pods seem more mature than Cheetor
.
It is unknown in what era of Cybertron
ian history that protoform technology became available. In the Dreamwave
comics, protoforms exist in the Micromasters
series, which is set on Cybertron after the Ark
and Nemesis were launched and lost in space.
It was implied in the television series and Wreckers comic book that some of the protoforms were criminals shipped off planet. This was the case with Packrat (a master thief) and Protoform X (aka Rampage, a serial killer).
In the IDW Publications mini-series, Beast Wars: The Gathering
, the Predacon Magmatron
and his troops arrived on Earth on a mission to follow up on the failure of Ravage
. Magmatron had his own agenda to convert many of the unused protoforms in stasis pods into Predacon soldiers under his command, but the Maximal under cover agent Razorbeast sabotaged the plan, resulting in many of the protoforms emerging as Maximals. Magmatron also recovered the remains of Ravage and used a blank protoform to bring him back as a Transmetal
.
Though a series of events yet to be revealed, one child-like protoform mysteriously ended up in the lab of Professor Isaac Sumdac. Touching the protoform while examining it, Prof Sumdac unintentionally encoded his genetic makeup into it before being knocked unconscious by the residual energy. As a result, the protoform became Sari Sumdac
with no knowledge of her origins or nature as a techno-organic being.
change their alternate modes into structures called space travel pods by the movie creators in the additional material contained in disc 2 of the DVD
release, (a possible homage to the stasis pods plot device from Beast Wars) and enter the planet's atmosphere in the same way as a meteor
. Thereafter, the Cybertronians change to a humanoid shaped endoskeleton structure known as Protoform by fans.
Once they arrive, Cybertronians in protoform state will transform into an equally detailed yet generic & undefined robot mode to allow them more stable ground mobility in order to search for an adaptable disguised form (aka vehicle mode); upon which scanning and replication are initiated and completed within seconds, giving them their now-unique physical characteristics. These near-identical transformable skeleton-like forms are referred to by fans as protoforms due to their generally similar appearance and function to the Beast Wars versions, though they are not specifically named such in the film. Also, a protoform retains the same mass as the final appearance of a Cybertronian with a chosen vehicle mode after scanning & replication are complete, so one protoform can be larger and/or smaller than another. Whether-or-not a protoform has [usable] weapons is not shown or mentioned in the film. In the Transformers: Movie Prequel
book, protoforms are the base forms for all transformers on Cybertron, hence their skeletal look; all armor, weapons, sensors, transformation, etc. are integrated into this later when landfall is made. (Bumblebee
is portrayed on Cybertron as a protoform and later in the book Starscream
, Barricade
, and Blackout
are seen as protoforms on Mars
). It should also be noted that a Transformer can apparently turn into a protoform as much as it needs to. Bumblebee first landed on Mars and then went to Earth after finding a Mars rover, evidencing the theory.
Also in the additional material of the DVD, director Michael Bay
states that he wanted the Transformers to arrive to Earth in their protoform, calling them endoskeleton/underskin, to avoid logic contradictions found in the original Generation 1 animated series, such as some Autobot characters carrying pieces of human-created technology, like truck and car pieces, while they were on their homeplanet Cybertron, clearly an alien environment. Bay states that while that was done in the cartoon for the sake of easy animation, it wouldn't fit well in a movie he envisioned to be serious, and wouldn't help to make the film credible to audiences not familiar with the Transformers universe.
Production designer Jeff Mann goes as far to explain in the extra features of the DVD, that the technology of the Transformers machine replication is beyond human understanding, based on a nano-molecular
process, being each one of their molecules and each one of their cells a machine unto itself, which explains how Cybertronians in protoform state are able to adopt the form of any machine or vehicle of the same mass, replicating materials such as rubber (wheels), glass (windshields), fiberglass, and the like.
Much unlike those in Beast Wars, protoforms in the live-action film are shown to be extremely tough and durable, obviously withstanding the atmospheric reentry
and hard landing
as they arrive on Earth, as said by the Transformers Movie Guide; whereas in Beast Wars, protoforms (see above) are portrayed as fragile and delicate.
The toys of protoforms of Optimus Prime
and Starscream
were available for sale before their normal Earth forms were; this is the first time a protoform of any kind was available as a toy.
The Nintendo DS
versions of the video games based on the two live-action Transformers movies have the player controlling a new character, first shown as a protoform. In the game based on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
, Optimus Prime uses this terminology.
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
ian placed in stasis until a suitable form can be found.
"Beast Wars: Transformers" (1996-1999)
Protoforms played a major part in the Beast WarsBeast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
saga, as the Axalon
Axalon
The Axalon is the name of the fictional Maximal ship in the Beast Wars cartoon and comic books. In addition, in the Transformers: Armada cartoon, the Autobots constructed a space ship that was also named the Axalon, possibly in reference to the original Maximal ship.-History:The Axalon, commanded...
was carrying several dozen protoforms in stasis, which were ejected before crashing to Earth.
Protoforms are usually already imbued with a spark
Spark (Transformers)
Spark can refer to several objects in the fictional Transformers universe. A spark is usually the "soul" of a Transformer. It is also the name of several Transformers characters. An AllSpark is a term for two different objects within the Transformers media franchise. In the Beast Machines...
(self-awareness, life essence) before being placed into a stasis pod; those without a spark are referred to as "blanks". During the Axalons journey, the Quantum Wave possibly destroyed these sparks while leaving the bodies intact. It is also possible that these blanks were intended to be used as spare bodies for the crew in case their own were damaged or destroyed.
Stasis pods are also rather delicate, and the slightest damage can erase the protoform's memories. As a result, of the protoforms activated during the Beast Wars, only Rampage
Rampage (Transformers)
Rampage is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Rampage is a fictional character of the Transformers Predacons, with his alternative form being a mechanical tiger....
(and Packrat in the comic series) has any memory of life before going into stasis. It is likely that the others also had lives on Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
, as all Transformers who emerge from the pods seem more mature than Cheetor
Cheetor
Cheetor is several fictional characters from various Transformers universes.- Beast Wars :Cheetor's original tech spec indicated he was a seasoned and confident warrior always in search of battle with the Predacons, seemingly in contrast to his youthful and impulsive portrayal in the original show...
.
It is unknown in what era of Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
ian history that protoform technology became available. In the Dreamwave
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...
comics, protoforms exist in the Micromasters
Micromasters
Micromasters is a Transformers subline composed of small figures that came packaged in groups and with bases that interacted with the figures. They were sold at the peak of Galoob's Micro Machines craze and were packaged in groups of four just like Micro Machines...
series, which is set on Cybertron after the Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
and Nemesis were launched and lost in space.
It was implied in the television series and Wreckers comic book that some of the protoforms were criminals shipped off planet. This was the case with Packrat (a master thief) and Protoform X (aka Rampage, a serial killer).
In the IDW Publications mini-series, Beast Wars: The Gathering
Beast Wars: The Gathering
Beast Wars: The Gathering is a four-issue comic book mini-series, published by IDW Publishing. The series was launched with #1 in February 2006 and ended with #4 in May. It has since been republished as a trade paperback....
, the Predacon Magmatron
Magmatron
Magmatron is a Transformers character who first appeared in the Japanese Beast Wars Neo series, was later released in the American Beast Machines Dinobots toy line, and most recently in official Beast Wars comic continuity.-Beast Wars Neo:...
and his troops arrived on Earth on a mission to follow up on the failure of Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
. Magmatron had his own agenda to convert many of the unused protoforms in stasis pods into Predacon soldiers under his command, but the Maximal under cover agent Razorbeast sabotaged the plan, resulting in many of the protoforms emerging as Maximals. Magmatron also recovered the remains of Ravage and used a blank protoform to bring him back as a Transmetal
Transmetals
Transmetals are a subgroup of the Beast Wars and Beast Machines characters in the fictional Transformers universe. Ordinary Transformers in the Beast Wars universe have a mechanical robot form and a techno-organic animal form, also known as a "beast mode"...
.
"Transformers: Animated" (2009)
In this series Optimus Prime states that, "Protoforms are the building blocks for all life on Cybertron", much like the liquid metal protoforms of Beast Wars though can assume a physical blank form when not in use. They were placed in the care of Yoketron, who trained Prowl to eventually take his place should the time come. However, a fallen student of his named Lockdown led a raid of Decepticons, stealing almost all the protoforms and damaging Yoketron. Prowl, returning from a quest to find himself, used the remaining protoform and transferred his master's spark into it. Despite this, Yoketron forced himself offline. The stolen protoforms ended up in Megatron's warship, utilized by Starscream to create his clones before Megatron uses three to build his own three clones of Omega Supreme. The remaining protoforms were later taken back to Cybertron after Megatron's permanent capture.Though a series of events yet to be revealed, one child-like protoform mysteriously ended up in the lab of Professor Isaac Sumdac. Touching the protoform while examining it, Prof Sumdac unintentionally encoded his genetic makeup into it before being knocked unconscious by the residual energy. As a result, the protoform became Sari Sumdac
Sari Sumdac
Sari Sumdac is a fictional character in the Transformers Animated cartoon series.-Transformers Animated:The eight-year old adopted daughter of Dr. Isaac Sumdac, Sari lived a sheltered life until she befriends the Autobots after they saved her upon their reawakening.She is the primary source of...
with no knowledge of her origins or nature as a techno-organic being.
"Transformers" (2007)
In the 2007 live-action film Transformers, Autobots en route to EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
change their alternate modes into structures called space travel pods by the movie creators in the additional material contained in disc 2 of the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release, (a possible homage to the stasis pods plot device from Beast Wars) and enter the planet's atmosphere in the same way as a meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
. Thereafter, the Cybertronians change to a humanoid shaped endoskeleton structure known as Protoform by fans.
Once they arrive, Cybertronians in protoform state will transform into an equally detailed yet generic & undefined robot mode to allow them more stable ground mobility in order to search for an adaptable disguised form (aka vehicle mode); upon which scanning and replication are initiated and completed within seconds, giving them their now-unique physical characteristics. These near-identical transformable skeleton-like forms are referred to by fans as protoforms due to their generally similar appearance and function to the Beast Wars versions, though they are not specifically named such in the film. Also, a protoform retains the same mass as the final appearance of a Cybertronian with a chosen vehicle mode after scanning & replication are complete, so one protoform can be larger and/or smaller than another. Whether-or-not a protoform has [usable] weapons is not shown or mentioned in the film. In the Transformers: Movie Prequel
Transformers: Movie Prequel
Transformers: Movie Prequel, published by IDW Publishing, is a 2007 comic book limited series that serves as a prequel to the 2007 film Transformers. It is written by Simon Furman and IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, who was allowed to read the film's script, and penciled by artist Don Figueroa...
book, protoforms are the base forms for all transformers on Cybertron, hence their skeletal look; all armor, weapons, sensors, transformation, etc. are integrated into this later when landfall is made. (Bumblebee
Bumblebee (Transformers)
Bumblebee is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. In most incarnations, Bumblebee is a small, yellow Autobot with the altmode of a compact car.- Transformers: Generation 1 :...
is portrayed on Cybertron as a protoform and later in the book Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
, Barricade
Barricade (Transformers)
Barricade is the name of four fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Barricade first featured in 1990 as part of a Decepticon race track patrol team, his vehicle mode being a Formula One racing car....
, and Blackout
Blackout (Transformers)
Blackout is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Blackout was one of a team of two Micromaster Combiners. They came with a Gepard air defense vehicle that could transform to a base...
are seen as protoforms on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
). It should also be noted that a Transformer can apparently turn into a protoform as much as it needs to. Bumblebee first landed on Mars and then went to Earth after finding a Mars rover, evidencing the theory.
Also in the additional material of the DVD, director Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
states that he wanted the Transformers to arrive to Earth in their protoform, calling them endoskeleton/underskin, to avoid logic contradictions found in the original Generation 1 animated series, such as some Autobot characters carrying pieces of human-created technology, like truck and car pieces, while they were on their homeplanet Cybertron, clearly an alien environment. Bay states that while that was done in the cartoon for the sake of easy animation, it wouldn't fit well in a movie he envisioned to be serious, and wouldn't help to make the film credible to audiences not familiar with the Transformers universe.
Production designer Jeff Mann goes as far to explain in the extra features of the DVD, that the technology of the Transformers machine replication is beyond human understanding, based on a nano-molecular
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
process, being each one of their molecules and each one of their cells a machine unto itself, which explains how Cybertronians in protoform state are able to adopt the form of any machine or vehicle of the same mass, replicating materials such as rubber (wheels), glass (windshields), fiberglass, and the like.
Much unlike those in Beast Wars, protoforms in the live-action film are shown to be extremely tough and durable, obviously withstanding the atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
and hard landing
Hard landing
In aviation a hard landing is an especially rapid or steep descent.Landing is the final phase in flight where the vehicle returns to the ground. A hard landing occurs when the vehicle impacts the ground with a greater vertical speed and force than in a normal landing. The average vertical speed in...
as they arrive on Earth, as said by the Transformers Movie Guide; whereas in Beast Wars, protoforms (see above) are portrayed as fragile and delicate.
The toys of protoforms of Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...
and Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
were available for sale before their normal Earth forms were; this is the first time a protoform of any kind was available as a toy.
The Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
versions of the video games based on the two live-action Transformers movies have the player controlling a new character, first shown as a protoform. In the game based on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
, Optimus Prime uses this terminology.