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Thereformattingmaximalsmaximize

They changed bodies...again?

Technorganic describes the melding of technological and organic components into a single entity, fused at the cellular level, and generally involving the power of the Oracle, all to the extent that both have been blended together into a single material.

A technorganic Transformer is no longer a purely technological robot, nor an entirely organic life form. In the words of technorganic guru Optimus Primal, they are "both, and neither"—a balance of organic and mechanical, combining the strengths of both in a somewhat mystical fusion of the two, creating a hybrid appearance for the subject of technorganic reformatting.


Biology[]

A Technorganic generally appears to have some degree of high resistance to injuries with highly advanced internal healing abilities that appear more natural in a sense Survivor, rather than being a healing and repair cycle that their predecessor technological bodies demonstrated.

Technorganics do not have on-board computers to handle secondary operations as previous Transformers did: functions such as transforming now required conscious thought and effort as well as extensive discipline and absolute focus. They still retain the ability to transform between two forms, but their transformation is not a mechanical shifting of moving parts, as with their robotic predecessors: for most, it appears more like fluid shape-shifting, generally accompanied by a burst of bright energy which warps parts either from one shape or appearance to another or into existence. Botanica is an exception to this rule: her transformation is accompanied by a rapidly generated circle of technorganic plants, which shrink back down to reveal her robot mode.

Because the process is so different, many Transformers need to re-learn how to transform once they find themselves in a technorganic body: they must achieve an internal, zen-like mental balance, or "still point" as Optimus refers to it, and will themselves into their other mode; some use a mantra such as "I Am Transformed" to help until they get the hang of succeeding in the Technorganic style of transformation on their own, however others such as Silverbolt, Botanica and Nightscream seem to master the process right away. If this state of mental balance is lost, a Technorganic Transformer in robot mode reverts to their beast mode. Technorganic transformation between modes also requires absolute focus, even under heavy attacks, and that means that if they are trying to adjust themselves to this manner of transformation for a while until they have an understanding they are instantly putting themselves at risk of being distracted and therefore vulnerable to being struck by an attack if they cannot maintain awareness against such dangers.


Powers, Abilities & Weaknesses[]

Technorganic Transformers are invisible to traditional scanners while in beast mode: they no longer give off an "energy signature" like ordinary machines - this benefit comes from the fact their bodies' Technorganic engineering turns their properties organic while in beast mode even though their bodies are Technorganic in a visual sense; however, when in their robot modes, they are as readily detectable as any other Transformer - this is because Technorganic transformation into robot mode instantly replaces the organic properties with those of technology for purposes such as attacks or interaction with technology.

Optimus Primal's band of technorganic Maximals possessed powerful (almost supernatural) combat abilities - all technorganics would have similar capabilities. Wreckers: Finale Part II

Though powerful and durable, a Technorganic is not invulnerable: sufficient conventional firepower can render them unconscious Mercenary Pursuits (to the extent that if this unconsciousness takes effect while in robot mode the victimized Technorganic's body transforms out of robot mode back into beast mode against their will) or even physically damage them, and they are vulnerable to the same sort of Spark extractors which Megatron used on conventional Transformers.

As demonstrated by Primal, Rattrap and Blackarachnia with Nightscream's tree in Forbidden Fruit, ingesting a seemingly organic fruit causes Technorganics to mentally devolve into primitives, but when the tree that generated this fruit was slashed by Cheetor and hit by shots from the Vehicons, it shattered into fragments, as if it were a digital illusion, and the fruit's effect was immediately undone - Primal concludes that the fruit's organic nature was devolving their bodies, but the implications of the incident remain somewhat unclear.

Another vulnerability comes from the Key to Vector Sigma, a device which converts organics into "techno-matter": as demonstrated by Rhinox/Tankor with the Maximals' Technorganic states The Key, when the key's power is applied to Technorganics, it causes the subject to convert to a metalized state as their organic half is replaced by another technological half, completing a full technological body, and this kind of transformation results in pain and hysteria - it could eventually have resulted in Technorganic deactivation if its effects were not reverted soon.

Technorganics also have immunity to even plasma energy: rather than be taken offline, the technorganic is instead unaffected - this does have one downside however: technorganics must transform from robot mode prior to its activation or approach as how Optimus had ordered his team to transform from robot mode before he activated the Plasma Energy Chamber End of the Line; Primal's order, despite their organic side, could imply that it is more of a precaution for if the energy was to affect a Technorganic's robot mode regardless. What should be noted is that there is simply no way the Chamber could affect Technorganics, as they would have to be fully mechanical in order for its effects to be applied to their bodies. Debate and speculation about the Chamber's effects for Technorganics is still open.

The Reformatting Of Cybertron[]

Cybertron had long been a planet of metal upon metal, "technology" alone. According to Primal's interpretation of the Oracle, the returning Beast Warriors brought with them organic components of the planets they had visited, allowing the Oracle to begin the process of reformatting Cybertron into a full technorganic appearance. The Maximals eventually discovered Cybertron's organic core, with deep sublevels comprised of soil and containing organic fossils, such as the one scanned by Nightscream. Survivor

At the end of the conflict, Cybertron was reformatted planet-wide, creating a new Earth-like world, a mix of technorganic flora and fauna, oceans (presumably full of water) and vast cities of varying construction, some largely technorganic in nature Abduction and others retaining more "traditional" inorganic metal or stonework construction, depending on the part of the planet. Wreckers: Finale Part II Through Cybertron's reformatting, a Technorganic paradise was born.

Just what the reformatting of Cybertron implies for Primus, whose body is Cybertron, is unknown - nothing related to the possibilities of how far the effects would go in either influencing the well-being of or affecting Primus overall is revealed.

Note: Marv Wolfman, who did the series outline for Beast Machines, did not have the Primus origin in mind: "No thoughts were ever made re: the Marvel version while I worked on the concept. Fact is, I never even read that. I did what I thought would make a good series concept." [1]


Usage & Definition Problems[]

Optimusprimalbw

He's furry, but was he organic?

Beast Machines provides a fairly clear definition of what a Technorganic Transformer is, distinct from the fully-mechanical Generation One-era Cybertronians. By comparison, it remains unclear what the Beast Wars-era characters were, other than that they were evidently not Technorganic, since that would have rendered the distinction (and their reformatting) meaningless. The original Beast Wars cartoon never clearly explained the technology used to produce their "fleshy" beast modes. It is therefore unknown whether these animal parts were comprised of genuinely living organic tissue, or were made of faux-biological synthetic matter. However, there is a possibility that the flesh-like composition of the Beast Modes was due to Pretender technology being modified to allow a Transformer to assume a synthetic alternate mode and act as an Energon shield to block Energon radiation; this may be to do with the reduction of creation of Pretender Shells for better conservation of resources.

Among the contradictory facts of the Beast Wars physiology are:

  • A major premise of Beast Wars was that, in order to create their beast altmodes, the Cybertronians needed to scan and replicate the DNA of living or fossilized creatures, using Pretender technology to produce the synthetics of the animal flesh.
  • Instances of damage to beast mode tissue were inconsistent, sometimes merely exposing sparking circuitry, other times being shown to seemingly bleed ("Spider's Game"). However, Cheetor states that "I don't have real blood—just mech fluid." ("The Web")
  • The Beast Warriors apparently did need to breathe to sustain themselves. ("Dark Voyage") But this begs the question whether Cybertron had an oxygen atmosphere and how it was produced it (photosynthesis in the absence of plants)
  • Despite this, in Beast Machines, Cheetor explicitly states that they no longer eat food, instead powering up on Energon alone. Confusing the matter further, Primal then says in reply that "we used to" only consume Energon, which clearly is not the case. ("Forbidden Fruit")
Noble

Cybertronian, but not mechanical.

  • Megatron was able to create a sapient clone of Dinobot with simply "a spec of [his] DNA", seemingly indicating that both the organic and robotic "genetics" are present in a DNA sample. However, the clone did not have a robot mode it was capable of transforming into, a fact which has unclear implications. Oh, and the real Dinobot was able to eat him, for whatever that's worth... (It can be presumed that upon devouring the clone into his body, Dinobot had regained extra fragments of his DNA, and that those fragments were put aside as his DNA was already whole at the time.)
  • When forced to spend a prolonged period in their beast modes, the Maximals suffered from persistent dreams of living as "real" animals, which eventually consumed them and, upon awaking, their personalities became entirely bestial. Tigatron explained the schism between the Cybertronian and animal personalities as a side effect of a "programming block". ("Call of the Wild")
  • Looking outside the show, the Beast Wars writers have stated that, in beast mode, the characters are "fully organic",[1] citing both "Dark Voyage" and "Call of the Wild" as examples.

Transmetal forms likewise appear to remain at least partially organic in some context:

  • In Beast Machines, Megatron loathed his BW Season 3 (thus implicitly non-Technorganic by the BM definition) dragon form as "disgustingly organic". ("Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search")
  • Megatron's attempts to purge these "orgainic" portions ultimately created the purely organic Savage/Noble creature ("Prometheus Unbound"), which his spark had used as a host

Confusing matters further, in the years since the Beast Era shows, the term "Technorganic" has occasionally been used by secondary sources to describe these pre-Beast Machines characters. IDW's Beast Wars Sourcebook makes frequent references to characters possessing features like "technorganic musculature"; the Ultimate Guide refers both to Optimus Primal's beast mode and all Transmetals as "techno-organic" (with hyphen). Also, the term bio-mechanical crops up occasionally in biographies and reference books, used synonymously with this use of "technorganic" to refer to pre-Beast Machines beast warriors.

These reference-material uses of the phrase "Technorganic" clearly differ from the specific meaning given by Beast Machines and thus may or may not be an accurate descriptor of Beast Wars-era Cybertronians, given the conflicting descriptions of Beast Wars Transformers' physiology.

Animated[]

Tfa transwarped sari 02

Sari, a techno-organic

Although the terms "technorganic" and "biomechanical" are not used to describe Animated Blackarachnia & Waspinator, their combination of organic and mechanical components is similar. The word "techno-organic" has been used to describe Blackarachnia in the comics on one occasion, and in the episode "Predacons Rising" Sari has also been referred to as techno-organic after the events of "A Bridge Too Close, Part II".

Continuity quibbles[]

  • The Axalon was implied to be an ordinary exploration ship, with an ordinary mission: deploy new Transformers on a planet, have them pick up beast forms, explore, then return to Cybertron. If this is going on all the time, with lots of different exploration crews, why did the Oracle decide that Primal's crew was so specially needed to bring back organic elements?

Non-Beast Era usage[]

Predacon-ArmCard

Predacon loves marching in Iacon's "Organic Pride Day" parade.

The terms "technorganic" and "biomechanical" have also been used to describe characters from other, non-Beast Era franchises, general characters based on redecoed Beast Wars toys such as Armada Cheetor. In the absence of a full backstory, however, the status of such purely mechanical or partly organic appearances is debatable.

Of particular note is Armada's Predacon. His Dreamwave bio states that he has experimented on himself with "biomechanical" technology to integrate organic tissue into his Cybertronian robotics, something that most other Transformers are said to find repulsive.

References[]

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