Life cycle

The life cycle of a Transformer is in many ways very different from those of organic species.

Birth/Creation
Various means of Transformer reproduction have been showcased in a variety of continuities, in general these are either non-sexual (mechanical) or asexual in nature.

In most cases the road to transformer life begins with the purposeful construction of a body by an existing individual or group. In the Generation 1 Cartoon and Marvel Comic these are always shown as being fully built and functional, though lifeless, Transformer bodies.

Beast Wars, along with introducing sparks, introduced the concept of a "protoform:" an unfinished "embryonic" Transformer body. (In Beast Wars they appeared as mostly smooth manikin-like shapes with an outer layer that resembled liquid metal). These simple "skeletal forms" to quote the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye Guide, are kept, covered in nutrient gell, within stasis pods that nurture and protect their apparently fragile forms. (Protoforms, like sparks, have spread to post-Beast Wars continuities and been applied "backwards" to new Generation 1 fiction created following their introduction.) It might be speculated that the needs and realities of the wartime situation in the early Generation 1 material necessitated the skipping of the usual protoform stage.

Protoforms, though functional, seem to be fairly simple, non-sentient, weak, and fragile. References have been made to someone being 'weak as a protoform cybertron' and something being 'so easy a freshly-fissioned protoform could use it.' The Marvel Comic makes reference to a Mecha-minder in a fasion that suggest a pram or other baby related device. It is possible that this is something that monitors a protoform (as it is the only baby-like stage Transformers appear to pass through).

Regardless, at a certain point these newly constructed forms are either "switched on" or infused with life from an outside source (see Reproduction) and life begins.

Early days
From what we have seen, the species seems to have very little concept of childhood as humans know it (perhaps explaining why the Autobots are so prone to taking human children into harms way). Almost invariably a new Transformer comes into being a fully formed "adult" (actual maturity varies according to the individual from early teenage to full maturity) with a complete personality and most of the basic knowledge necessary to survive and socialize in the world preprogramed in.

Most continuities have shown new Transformers being pretty much immediately thrust into their new lives and combat duties (though this haste may be a result of wartime necessity and not indicative of pre-war society). Transformers: Cybertron introduced the concept of Primary Programming as sort of an elementary school which newly created Transformers go through to fascillitate their introduction into society. (This may be the norm of Transformer adolescence outside of a wartime situation, though that is only speculation.)

Parenthood (past the point of creation) or distinct family units in the social sense seem to be very rare for Transformers. (Though there is the cannonical mention of Wheelie's parents, suggesting that perhaps some rare TFs do form parental/offspring family units.) The closest and most common generally recognized genetic/familial link is that of brother or sisterhood caused (according to the Dreamwave More than Meets the Eye Guide) when a single spark splits before entering a protoform. Such siblings generally remain close their entire lives.

Life span
The average life span of a Transformer is unknown. In some continuities they have been shown to spend millions of years without any noticable alteration or aging. Skydive stated in the Generation 2 comic that outside of warfare the race was practically immortal.

It should be noted that despite extremely long lives Transformers have been consistantly shown (especially in the G1 Cartoon) to have reletively short memories. Frequently they forget much about their pasts, even seemingly important things, as if they never were. (This might help explain their relative lack of personality change over unfathomably long periods of millions of years.)

"Practically immortal" is, in the end, not the same as "actually immortal" however: Transformers DO age. Kup and Ironhide are prominent examples of aged Transformers. Alpha Trion is as well. Both he and Kup are shown to look different and "younger" at earlier times in their lives. These changes seem to be signs of advancing age (though they could also be a simple factor of their gaining new or upgraded bodies the clear intention is that there later forms are more worn and less spry, suggesting ageing).

The Overlord, ruler of pre-war Cybertron in the UK Marvel comics, was apparently dieing of old age just as Megatron began his rise to power.



Death
Though more difficult to kill than most organic lifeforms a transformer can die, either through age or catastrophic damage. Sometimes Death is shown to be accompioned by a visible darkening of the Transformer's body, as featured when Optimus Prime died in Transformers: The Movie, but other times not.

When a Transformer dies (at least in fiction from the Beast Era and after) his spark returns to the Allspark/Matrix.

In the Generation 1 Cartoon when the Matrix bearer died he joined the spirits of previous leaders inside the Matrix of Leadership. There has been some indication that once a spark has joined the Allspark, it is sometimes reincarnated as a new transformer, who may or may not have faint memories of its prior life.