Most G1 transformers have these special abilities we all know them for, right? Example: Jazz has his light shows. Thundercracker can generate sonic booms. Skywarp teleports. Hound creates holograms. Frenzy screams loudly. These sorts of powers makes the characters memorable and can really help seel toys. But I can't help but wonder, where do these powers come from? Some of them are explained: Rumble's arms turn INTO piledrivers; not too farfetched for a transforming robot. Starscream basically carries a special gun (Null Ray) that could have been made by anyone. But guys who have these INCREDIBLE powers, how on earth did they get these Powers? How the hell does a bug control lightning? Skywarp can teleport? How? He's certainly not smart enough to invent a teleporting device himself. How the hell can Mirage turn invisible, or Trailbreaker generate force-fields? Are any of those crazy unique powers ever explained?
Some of these powers were previously developed on Cybertron, while the Autobots and deceptions were battling each other.
They are advanced beings that transform into things that were scanned from the environment. That is the most unique and impressive power don't you think? Turning invisible, creating holograms is nothing...humans are and have developed such technologies right as we speak. The art of teleportation is only thing that's not possible for us humans YET, but in their universe with their knowledge of things I can totally understand how they could create and use teleportation devices. If your wondering that teleportation is completely bogus here's a small article showing that teleportation might be possible sooner than we think Chinese Physicists Teleport Photons 60 Miles, Break Record | NewsFeed | TIME.com
I always thought that Skywarp's power was a production glitch and Mirage spent a fortune on his cloaking device. A character like Mirage would want an edge or some sort of protection during the war.
I thought they were "upgrades" that they could pick and choose what they want. Kind of their own form of individuality. I thought Animated Lockdown's explanation of upgrades cleared it up, at least for me.
I always assumed they were specific upgrades built into them. Given the war has been draining supplies, the upgrades became much less common as it went on, leaving fewer 'Bots with 'powers'
