Other than Vector Sigma and the Allspark, we really don't know much about Transformer reproduction, do we?

What differences are there between male and female Transformers? No official explanations.

So I made this thread so we can all consolidate our ideas of how Transformers reproduce, if they do, other than Vector Sigma/Allspark.

I'm thinking of Transformers spending their life time literally building themselves a child. There are Transformer "races" as well. For example, Lugnut and Shockwave could be of the same "race". (Idea from TF Animated)

The Allspark created the first few Transformers with designs as random as human traits. Simultaneously, Transformers build a child of their own, of course wanting their child to bear some resemblance, eventually splitting their spark to bring their child to life. (Idea from Beast Wars)

Thus after billions of years, we have all the characters we have today. Similarities result from sharing the same ancestor. The many different designs are because of the Allspark constantly churning out new bots with a completely new look. Transformers are mechanical organisms, so they can interchange parts at will, hence no bot is exactly the same. None that we know of, anyway.

Transformers are essentially asexual. "Females" are just another "race". Transformers can come together for child-building if they wish. Just like humans, they develop feelings for other Transformers they deem attractive (Air Razor and the white tiger dude, forgot his name, Tigertron?) There aren't many Decepticon "females" because they do not see the need to mix with inferior races.

After the war erupted, reproduction was almost impossible. Hence the decline in population.


That's my idea. Thoughts?

 

I never really think about it much, but I like your theory.

 

Transformers Reproduction 101:

An old mold is recovered, repaired, or completely recast by reverse engineering
Boxes and packaging are made to mimick the original from over 20 years ago.
Online retailers and hongkong corner stores are stocked and supplied
Gullible schmoes like us buy them thinking that they're the original vintage figure MISB and not the reproduction, all the while paying vintage prices.

I think that about covers it. although I gotta say, KO or not, I love reproductions, very nice pieces.

 

  I bought a rainbow Constructicon set when I was young, just for fun.

 

Why doesn't everyone just ditch the "Transformer Reproduction" Bit? Its getting old and not mention, the very idea suggests "Sexual Intercourse" whenever you think about it. That's not something I see as possible for Sentient Beings (Autonomous Robotic Organisms) like Transformers. They aren't human despite the way their drawn in The G1/IDW series. I mean, why can't they just been created by the AllSpark or whatever master of creation that exsists in the TF-Universe and be related anyways (like Prime and Megatron in the movieverse)?

Asexual? They aren't American!Godzilla, mammals, reptiles, or bugs (if memory serves me correctly), and the ideal of building themselves a child is far too close to the idea used in that terrible DreamWorks movie, Robots. Blah.

 

Well because I like making up stuff. One of the reasons why I like LOTR is because the mythology is so big. There's Aragorn, and his dad, and his granddad, and his great granddad's dad.

So I like to imagine stuff for TF. No harm right? Anyway my concept is driven by the fact that I don't like the idea of TF worshipping this one object like some primitive human tribe. The more sophisticated, the better  

It is? Sorry never watched that movie.

 

No there's no harm in imagining what you want.

Niether have I, but try using the computer and ignore the TV (without headphones) while the movie is on and your sis is watching it.  

 

I don't know how TFs reproduce, but I'm pretty sure it involves underage girls in fetish outfits.  

 

That is just how they KISS  

 

http://www.tfrid.com/fanfics/mini/reproduc.htm

 

My contribution:

if ratios dephicted on the show/comics etc are accurate Arcee is (perhaps), quite worn out....

 

I like the budding idea from G2.

Beast Wars confirms there's sexual reproduction in that era though, which is terrifying (black arachnia has robo-ovaries)

 

kiss players bad, giant dino that crushes all good

...sorry to say this but can this kind of topic be BANNED from this site, it makes me queasy

...and don't you dare say that i could just not post here and ignore it....

 

I am the Devil's Advocate...
there is merit to this topic and i will be first to admit that it is as valuable as a peso at a Barret Jackson Auction.
In the beginning of TF:TM (1986), you see the doomed planet filled to the rafters with robots or robotic organisms and among them, you see children playing.

i suppose that is where the whole reproduction thing comes from.
and hell, it is a caveat to being autonomous mechanical organisms (or alive) that you have to procreate.

life is described as birth, maturtity, reproduction and then..."till all are one." (if ya know what i mean.)

The only problem i have with those kid robots running around is: how the heck do they grow up?

And just to confuse people, i will ask this:

or could the whole lack of reproduction thing in the TF universe be as simple as explaining why A.I. do not reproduce? an A.I. can be sentient as all get out, but might lack the clue or the ability to have little Brainiacs running around...unless you own a copy of Vista.

food for thought. and btw, that will be 4 Weight Watcher Points for all the filler in that.

 

Why!? cuse thats the answer!..... dont worry im sure the mods will ban this type of talk cuse u find it distasteful.


as for the topic at hand... give me a few mins i need to collect my thoughts in to a smart answer.(THIS will take much time).....edit... Ok somthing like budding or spark spliting sounds ok to me. two transformers taking bits of there spark to make 1 sounds cool to.
theres prob more then one way to reproduce for them.

 

Why does this topic always have to come up for discussion? Why do we have to get so involved into this hobby that we need to figure out how transformers have sex and reproduce? Honestly, enjoy this for what it is.

 

I'm not ranting, if you can't tell. I'm AM enjoying it for what it is. So shouldn't fanfiction writers enjoy it for what it is as well?

No mention of 'sex'.

This is a topic that may have been brought up a lot, but so are 'the most [insert word] Transformer ever' threads.

If it makes you happy, then I'm sorry for bringing this up again, no sarcasm intended.

 

I suppose you are talking about the cartoon since Marvel Comics went into some detail about reproduction in that continuum (but Marvel Comics also brought us numerous GiJoe and one Spiderman crossover too ... so I feel justified to ignore them if only for that cause).

The cartoon is silent about what's going on off screen: if minimalism or voyeurism or something inbetween we have nothing to go by. That childbots appeared in numbers in the '86 movie and given that Wheelie appears to be a child are simply unexplained facts of the fictional ground.

I understand why people would want to read sex into the Transformers since people think about sex a lot; but, in at least the G1 cartoon we see the TFs making more of themselves in only two way, neither of which is sexual. The first is, of course, Vector Sigma. The second is by means of a mad scientist routine.

With respects to both the question that remains is the same: is the life being brought forth (the spark or laser core) created in the process or merely summoned from the Allspark?

Personally, I do favor a sort of minimalism when it comes to TF reproduction. Since the normal means of making a Cybertronian result in you having someone useful for work or combat right off the bat there is a certain utilitarianism at worth in the process. For the most part it would make no sense to build a child who only consumes resources unproductively when you yourself were never a child (kinda like what may happen in real life when someone 'grows up too fast'). So however they came to be, Lithone's childbots had to have existed in a cultural context very different from Cybertron's (and not just because of the war).

I would also point out that, in addition to the notion of instant usefulness, the nature of transformation modes possessed as well as other traits (such as size and strength) may itself reflect the needs of the 'parent' taking a chassis to Vector Sigma rather than anything about the TF so created. Again: utilitarianism.

This is all part of why I think an explanation about TF reproduction should be nominally minimalistic: their culture, experience and habits all seem to point them in the direction of wanting useful subordinates rather than 'useless' children.

But to that I would add that even a 'useful subordinate' could fulfill the child's role in a emotionally genuine parent-child relationship. So conventional familial notions like "brother" or "sister" or even "great aunt" would still hold up even if everyone was the result of someone taking a lifeless chassis to Vector Sigma. To this, and apart from evidence from the cartoon I might add, I'll even suggest that some form of imprinting would be reasonable.

As for the rest, whatever possibilities lay beyond that, I would suggest that Cybertronians are ignorant of sexuality even if they are aware and appreciative of gender (as Pepe le Pew would say: "Vive le difference!"). That would suggest that they have no mechanical apparatus like our sex organs to explain their having gender (as well as ... um, "help explain" what gender is about). In my own efforts I've hinted that such may actually be a property of the spark; however, sparks do not appear to be bodies with conventional senses or sensations so there's no help there.

 

I would go by the method that the allspark or vector sigma (whichever you like the most) just randomly create new individuals, the TF may probably manipulate the allspark, vector sigma or the matrix to create new individuals as well, but this process isn't as effective.