Humanization - Transformers Wiki

Throughout the various Transformers canon, there have been several instances of Transformers with humanistic traits and having very human actions that possibly conflict with their status as mechanical robots. Many of these instances can be dismissed as stylistic choices by the artists or as gags not to be taken seriously.

You order a pizza?

Glandular, digestive, and respiratory

Sweating

• In issue twelve of the original Marvel US comic, Rumble is seen leaking lubricant from his head during a stressful confrontation with Shockwave (as Shockwave points out), in a manner resembling sweating.
• Numerous times in the Marvel UK comic, Kup can be seen "sweating".
• Robots in Disguise (2001) and Armada featured Transformers displaying the traditional anime "sweat drop", a giant bead of liquid appearing at the side of the head to convey embarrassment or exasperation.
• Wing Saber sweatdrops upon seeing a particularly scary expression on Lori's face. Ambush
• Leozack sweatdrops oil when Landshark attacks him. Wings of Honor
• Arcee sweats slightly with surprise and fury after Gauge tells her and Greenlight that someone in the young mentee's architecture class said Gauge was only brought online in the Forge Pyramid due to Brainstorm's death. Despite Greenlight's warning, Arcee gives the bot who insulted the two's mentee an animated and ferocious verbal lambasting. Arcee/Greenlight: Run

Coughing

• In the G1 episode "Roll for It", when the Autobots emerge from the ruins of a demolished antimatter laboratory, they are coughing.
• Scrapper coughs when Smokescreen surrounds him with smoke.Triple Takeover
• Megatron coughs while infected with Cosmic Rust. Cosmic Rust
• In "Call of the Primitives", a fiery blast from Grimlock causes both the Terrorcons and Predacons to cough.
• In Beast Wars, Megatron begins to cough for no reason while making a triumphant speech. Much like Powerglide's "heart", this could be a one-shot joke. He also coughs while sleeping, and when amidst the smoky remains of an electrical fire.
• Cheetor fake-coughed in the episode "Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege" of the Beast Machines cartoon to draw Optimus Primal's attention to the matter of Noble.
• In the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon episode "Secret Weapon: D-5", Sky-Byte, Slapper, and Dark Scream all cough after inhaling smoke.
• In the Armada episode "Mortal Combat", right after Optimus Prime says "I wish I could accommodate you," he coughs silently.
• Optimus Prime visibly coughs after Sam Witwicky uses the Matrix of Leadership to restore him to life in Revenge of the Fallen, even expelling what appears to be dust.
• In "Rock Bottom", Starscream coughs after escaping the collapsed mine. Ironically, Bulkhead later claims in the same episode that Autobots don't need to breathe.
• Galvatron coughs once he activates himself in Age of Extinction

Breathing

On Star Trek: The Next Generation, it was explained that the android Data's breathing served to cool his inner components, but mostly so that he doesn't appear unnatural to the humans he was designed to resemble. He also blinks for this reason. It could be argued that breathing serves the same "cooling" purpose in Transformers, as it is possible for their internal systems to overheat with use, but this explanation is always going to smack of desperation.

• In an Energon episode, Jetfire instructs Ironhide that they have to synchronize their breathing before they can Powerlinx.
• At the climax of The Transformers: The Movie, Galvatron tries to strangle Hot Rod, complete with sounds of Hot Rod gagging and struggling to breathe. It's possible that Galvatron was trying to compress Hot Rod's neck until the Autobot's head popped off, but that isn't likely.
• Cheetor, calling for help as a python constricts him, says he can't breathe. Dark Voyage
• Dinobot gags a bit when Rhinox lifts him into the air by his throat. When told by Rhinox, "I'm in a bad mood. Understand?" Dinobot responds with a weak, breathless "Uh huh." Aftermath
• Bumblebee is shown to be breathing heavily after trying to chase down Blurr, even though he quips in a previous episode that not needing to breathe is useful for an Autobot. Velocity
  • Blurr did the same thing when he had completed running all the way back to Cybertron. TransWarped
• On the Nemesis, Megatron and Starscream's breath can be seen due to condensation in the cold ship. Revenge of the Fallen
• Kup breathes heavily as he runs in fear from Chaos and the slave mines on Dread. Chaos
• Megatron is visibly breathing while in stasis. Deus ex Machina
• "A Team Effort" confirms that Transformers require ventilation airways in their neck to prevent system overheating, as when Charger strangles Roadgrabber in a fit of rage.
• When Vigil filled the atmosphere with a sleeping agent, Blades melodramatically held his breath until Chase assured him that the air was safe for Autobots to breathe. No Place Like Dome Air does not seem to be a requirement, however, as Rescue Bots operate perfectly well in space. Space Bots Unfinished Business
• Megatron breathes heavily after exerting himself firing off the multiple blasts from Requiem Blaster in anger. All on the Moon by the way. Mars (episode)

Spitting

• Throughout his term on the Marvel UK comic letters page, Soundwave would regularly say "(Puttup)" after mentioning the Autobots or an Autobot's name to represent him spitting in disgust. This habit made an in-story appearance, with him spitting at Robot-Master despite his mouthplate. Second Generation!
• After Nightbeat escapes from the Decepticons's New Jersey base via a sewer, he spits as he complains about their poor choice of back door....All This and Civil War 2
• In the Beast Wars episode "Tangled Web", Quickstrike "spits" after reissuing his challenge to tangle with Silverbolt, despite the fact that, like Soundwave, he has no apparent mouth.
• In Revenge of the Fallen, Jetfire repeatedly spits while talking to Sam Witwicky and his companions. Optimus Prime also has to spit his mouth clean after being blasted across a forest by Megatron. Starscream spits thrice: once at Sam while in the Broadwater Metal Works foundry, again when he mentions Prime's name and lastly when facing down Sam in Chicago. Leadfoot also spits, albeit for no real reason, when addressing Sam and the humans outside of Chicago in Dark of the Moon.
• Galvatron II is seen spitting and drooling while explaining the situation. Out of Time! Both Megatron and Galvatron II are seen both spitting on each other. Gross! Exodus!
• An ancient Rodimus rejects Steeljaw's offer to convert his body to run on biofuel by spitting in his face and remarked "Poetry ain't the only thing you can pick up from Earth." Last Bot Standing #3

Crying

• A twinkle of light that may not literally be a tear, but is clearly intended to imply one, can be seen in Omega Supreme's eye at the end of "The Secret of Omega Supreme".
• When Optimus Prime dies in The Transformers: The Movie, Arcee is seen to dab at her eyes.
• Whirl told his colleagues he was about to "leak optical lubricant" when they wouldn't stop about giving up on Operation: Volcano. Target: 2006
• In "The Burden Hardest to Bear", Scourge has tears falling from his eyes, presumably in pain, during his monstrous disfigurement after he gains the power of the Matrix.
• There is a teardrop on young Star Saber's face after being beaten by Deathsaurus. Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!

• At the end of "The Grand Victory War", some Decepticons are crying over their defeat.
• As he mourns his dead friend Snowstalker and decides he can never fight again, Tigatron cries a single tear in beast mode.
• Megatron wiped a fake tear when Dinobot put on the heroic act. Code of Hero
• When pondering Silverbolt's fate in Beast Machines, Blackarachnia is shown to shed a single tear from one of her spider eyes. This may be due to her technoganic nature though. Revelations Part I: Discovery

• Throughout Beast Wars II and the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon, and occasionally in the Armada cartoon, several characters are seen crying in hyperbolic anime fashion.
• Tears can be seen welling up in Ironhide's eyes and falling to the ground in Energon as he mourns a fallen comrade.
• Ratchet told Brawn to "cry him a river". Night of the Combaticons
• Ratchet actually cries tears of defeat when outwitted by Megatron. Warrior School!
• Arcee cries over Bumblebee's death in The Art of War #5.
• In Transformers: Animated, Blackarachnia cries, though this "ability" could be part of her partially organic nature. Along Came a Spider
• Bumblebee cries after Sam Witwicky tells him cars are not allowed on campus, although he was exaggerating his sorrow and was likely deliberately leaking fluids to enhance the visual. Revenge of the Fallen
• Barricade was crying in the corner for not being in the War for Cybertron game. Ironhide had to talk to him. Again. Law and Disorder
• Tailgate sometimes manifests streams of light from his optics resembling tears. Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon
• Windblade cries after the death of Chela. Windblade vol. 2 #6

In the 2005 IDW continuity, authorial intent is that this is an overheating of the optical gauze covering their eyes.^[1]

• Sideswipe was crying while watching a cowboys movie with Russell and a childlike Bumblebee. Adventures in Bumblebee-Sitting!
• Windblade cried after Maxima's death. The Fall
• Twitch cries after she finds out that Bumblebee had to go on the run to in order keep the rest of the Terrans safe from G.H.O.S.T. after his cover was blown. Security Protocols
• Twitch cries again as she mourns over Thrash after Mandroid kills him and every other Cybertronian on Earth. The Last Hope, Part 2
• Megatron has tear tracks under his eyes as Optimus Prime banishes him from Iacon.One

Eating

• There are references to Cybertronian food.
• Skullcruncher has been known to eat Autobots as well as humans and other organics, despite not needing to do so to survive. Other Decepticons are disgusted by this practice.
• There are Pepsi and pizza in the refrigerator in Pepsi Convoy's home.
• In Beast Wars, the Maximals and Predacons are shown to eat:
  • Tarantulas even displays something of a voracious appetite, eating rats and leaving webs to catch prey. At one point, he captures Cheetor and prepares to drain the Maximal's fluids, claiming that it is the act he prefers over the nourishment (which adds just another level of creepy to the already creepy Tarantulas). The Web
  • Rattrap eats apples. The Web
  • And garbage. The Web
  • Terrorsaur eats a bird. Power Surge
  • Dinobot eats his clone. Optimus Primal remarks that he is "disgusting". Double Dinobot
  • While suffering from an Energon discharge virus, Rhinox eats wild beans to build up his power. This later ends disastrously for Megatron. The Low Road
• In Beast Machines, Optimus Primal wants to eat the underground tree's fruit; Cheetor protests that "we don't eat food, we process energon—PERIOD!", but is overruled. Forbidden Fruit
• According to Bumblebee, Megatron eats Autobot Protoforms for breakfast. But of course that could just be a rumour. Transform and Roll Out
• Brains is seen chewing on a screw, while Igor and the hatchlings are clearly shown to be ingesting minerals. Dark of the Moon
• Hound complains that he shouldn't have eaten a lot of "Tijuana street machinery" when he returns to the junkyard. Grimlock has also developed a bad habit of eating cars. The Last Knight
• In Super-God Masterforce, Decepticons are seen eating food with human allies. Dauros chokes on a chicken bone. The Autobot Warrior, Sixknight?!
• Multiple characters in Transformers Go! Go! eat human food for comedic effect. Don't Oversleep and Forget Things!! Muscle Revolution! Ya! Grimlock in particular is especially gluttonous. Mission: Snacks, All to Myself!
• In BotBots Bonz-Eye is shown eating popcorn. I, Cheeseburger (episode)

Flatulence

• In the Beast Wars episode "The Low Road", Rhinox lets out an extreme amount of flatulence after consuming wild bean vines. This could be due to Maximals having organic parts in their makeup.
• In the Beast Wars episode "Bad Spark", Cheetor also lets out flatulence, blaming it on a large buildup of energy from his Transmetal body.
• Just go watch Revenge of the Fallen. Happens every five minutes. You can set a clock by it.
• One of the Mini-Constructicons "cuts one", causing the others to laugh and request someone to open a window in "Spotlight: Ramjet".
• Fottle Barts farts. And farts. And farts and farts and farts...

Eructation

• In an Earth Wars event, Hun-Gurrr gets a bit gassy after having eaten his fill of Sharkticons.Death's Trap
• Twerple Burple.
• Dinobot belches after devouring his own clone, much to the disgust of Optimus Primal. Double Dinobot
• In the Transformers Animated episode "Rise of the Constructicons", Mixmaster, Scrapper AND Bulkhead belch a few times after downing some oil.
• Darkwing and Dreadwind drunkenly belch and hiccup quite a few times after getting well and wasted.Out to Lunch!
• Grimlock got a bad case of indigestion after chowing down on the Autobots' Energon Stash, and let out a big fiery belch on Optimus Prime by accident. Mission: Snacks, All to Myself!

Urination

• Tasmania Kid urinates (in beast mode) to put out a fire.
• Bumblebee performs a similar action on Agent Simmons by popping off his automobile oil filter in robot mode. Optimus Prime claims that 'Bee is just leaking lubricants on him. Presumably, this action was inspired from witnessing a similar incident.
• Scoop apparently urinates himself in Do Over.
• In Beast Wars II, DJ is known for wetting himself whenever he drinks too much oil.
• Skywarp claims that he "sprung a leak" after freaking out about Starscream's goal to take on Megatron. A Bridge Too Close, Part I
• After Megatron shoots at Knock Out to test an energy shield, the latter claims that the trauma caused him to "leak some transmission fluid." Operation Bumblebee, Part 2
• A brain-damaged Grimlock "drains his tank" on the floor, much to the dismay and disgust of his fellow Scavengers. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots
• Swerve admits that while in Ultra Magnus' shoulder turrets, he "may've leaked a little" when Leozack went to attack them earlier. The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage

Defecation

• Swoop defecates on Megatron in Robo-Capers from Marvel UK issue #87.

Use of bathrooms in general

• Grimlock is at one point seen running into an outhouse. It isn't clear which of the previously covered wastes he needs to excrete. Fixit Jam
• Kreon Optimus Prime had to go to the bathroom so bad, he drove right through the Decepticon's forces to get to the Autobot base. Emergency! Hurry to the Base, Optimus!
• The Cyberverse version of Maccadam's has signs in Cybertronian showing the location of the bathroom. Maccadam's

Blushing

• In the G1 episode "Sea Change", Seaspray has his whole face turn bright red, even before he jumps into the Well of Transformation and gets turned into a humanoid.
• Transformers Animated Bumblebee has also been shown to be able to blush in a few episodes. Home Is Where the Spark Is Autoboot Camp
• Transformers Cybertron Override blushes when speaking to Lori, which is an indication of the character's original male gender in Galaxy Force. Honor

Intoxication

• In the G1 cartoon episode "Microbots", the Decepticons behaving in a noticeably intoxicated fashion after consuming high-grade energon. Powerglide refers to this as "over-energizing".
• In the UK comic, the Wreckers frequent a "bar" on Cybertron called Maccadam's Old Oil House, where they consume high-grade energon, presumably for the purposes of getting intoxicated. Dreadwind and Darkwing pay a visit to this establishment in a later story, and get so hammered that they don't even notice Quickswitch fighting with some Mecannibals.
• In Beast Wars II, Galvatron gets "drunk" on numerous occasions.
• In the Beast Wars II comic, Lio Convoy gets drunk once and messes up Apache's room.Recover the Bonds Lost!
• The Constructicons in Animated, whose personalities are shout-outs to construction worker stereotypes, seem to drink oil the way humans drink beer. However, they never actually get drunk.
  • However, the Autobots did feel dizzy after a mini Soundwave spiked the oil nog. Human Error, Part I
• Alchemist Prime is known for his love of alcoholic beverages. Some say that he came up with the legend of Cybertron's Chosen One after downing twelve drams of rancid Engex.

Miscellaneous

• Deathsaurus once gets a cold, causing him to cough and have a fever, in an issue of the Victory manga. Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!
• Star Saber got a bump on his head after being hit by Deathsaurus with a staff when they were young boys. Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!
• Transformers Armada Thrust is seen in bandages after being attacked by Wheeljack. Past II
• In All Hail Megatron, Kup chomps on a cy-gar. All Hail Megatron
• As does Hound in Age of Extinction and its sequel Age of Extinction
• Transformers Animated Bumblebee has bandages wrapped around his middle after Sari is knocked out and the Autobots return to their base. TransWarped
• Transformers Animated Sentinel Prime wore a cast over his arm after being hit by a falling building. Autoboot Camp
• In Rescue Bots, Blades sneezes when he gets coated in flour. Pizza Pi Party
• Maximal physicist Bump wears glasses while in his armadillo beast mode.
• Transformers: EarthSpark Optimus Prime is allergic to pine scent, resulting in him sneezing in the middle of getting his picture taken. Dude, Where's My Trailer?

Body parts

Mouths/teeth/tongues

• The Generation 1 cartoon series is the only major piece of fiction to not present Transformers as possessing teeth and/or tongues. The features appear in both the Marvel and Dreamwave Productions comics, The Battlestars manga, the Beast Wars and Beast Machines animated series (where teeth would even be knocked out on occasion), the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon, and the Unicron Trilogy cartoons and comics.
• In an episode of Super-God Masterforce, Browning sticks his tongue out at Wilder and Bullhorn after they insult Cancer.
• In the live-action film series, the more human-like the robot, the more they are likely to have teeth. In the case of, say, Optimus Prime, his teeth are mechanical cubes overlaid on each other, while Megatron has bona fide fangs. Optimus spits out a piece of his shattered faceplate in the second film, which is intended to resemble a boxer spitting out a tooth after a brutal match. Revenge of the Fallen
• One of the most prevalent examples of this tradition is the Kiss Players manga, in which a Legion character is equipped with a distinctive prehensile (and phallic) tongue.
• In Prime, a majority of the Transformers possess teeth and throats, but completely lack tongues.

Eyeballs/eyelashes

• Most Transformers have eyes. They see with them.
• In the episode "Auto Berserk", Optimus Prime's eyes are closed (apparently to shield them against the smoke) much like a human's when the Autobots stagger out of the fire and smoke of the Negavator's destruction.
• While dying from life force depletion, Elita One occasionally closes her eyes. The Search for Alpha Trion
• Sludge's Brontosaurus-mode eyes briefly pop out in a cartoonish manner when he is punched by Devastator. The Transformers: The Movie
• Arcee and Springer clench their eyes shut when their ship is grabbed by a claw. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
• Cyclonus also closes his eyes when Galvatron is about to go through the Alya treatment and he cannot bear to watch. Webworld
• Lyzack sports some pretty heavy-duty eyelashes for her brief appearance in the Victory manga. So does Esmeral. The Grand Victory War
• Ravage clenches his eyes shut when Bumblebee shines blinding headlights in his face. Autobots Fight Back
• In Spotlight: Hot Rod, Hot Rod is shown to have what appears to be blast shields for his optics when he passes out after landing. Dealer's optics are mostly covered by his eyelids, so he looks half-passed out.

Per an email query to IDW, their response is that Transformers do not have eyelids; it's just artistic license.

• The robots in the live-action film series have eyes designed to resemble cameras, enabling them to dilate and blink.
• Animated Swindle has eyelids. He also blinks frequently.
• The cyborg GoBots, as portrayed in the animated cartoon, do in fact possess eyelids (when the eyes aren't covered by a visor) and frequently blink. Some also have visible pupils.
• Most robots in Prime possess camera-like eyes similar to those seen in the live-action films, which dilate, contract, and blink in a highly human-like fashion. Notably, they also replicate the involuntary saccades of the human eye when idle.
• Likewise the robots in Rescue Bots and Rescue Bots Academy blink. Wedge once ruined a photo Hot Shot was taking of the recruits by blinking. Screen Time

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  She puts it on with a paint roller.

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  About 15 gallons of mascara for those things.

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  Hey, wake up!

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  Got munchies?

Hair

• Most of the Maximals featured in Beast Wars Neo feature hair on their heads in some fashion. In some cases it's isolated patches such as Heinreid's and Longrack's sideburns, whilst Break has an entire head of hair.
• The original live-action iteration of Wheeljack sports hair-like wires protruding out the sides of his head.
• In some cases, a Transformers' head will feature solidly-molded parts merely resembling that of hair. Such examples include Silverbolt's Beast Machines design which sports a metal top-knot, whilst most iterations of Windblade feature a head design shaped similar to that of a geisha's hairstyle.

Obesity

Although Transformers come in all shapes and sizes anyway, some characters have particularly round appearances that suggest something equivalent to human obesity.

• In Grim Grams, Grimlock mentioned that Ultra Magnus weighs a little over 90 tons and "could stand to lose a little around the fuel storage system".^[2]
• Shockwave complained that the Decepticons had grown "fat and complacent" under Scorponok's rule. Surrender!
• Bulkhead is virtually as wide as he is tall and is depicted as extremely round, with very short, stubby legs. It gives him more than a passing resemblance to a heavily obese person, or at best one of those huge, flabby, off-season wrestlers.
  • This description also applies to the aptly named Grandus in Animated.
• Much the same could be said of Omega Supreme. Being big-chassised is no excuse to let yourself go.
• Animated Ratchet has a prominent gut that resembles a human paunch. Although ordinarily this might be considered merely a feature of his transformation scheme (ala Trailbreaker), he is specifically designed to be a crotchety "old man" character, and in flashback sequences to his younger days in the Great War, he notably lacks said paunch.
• Animated Mixmaster is designed to look like a portly construction worker, with an engine below his chest that resembles a gut.
• Gnaw. Well, all the Sharkticons, really, but seriously. It's kind of comically appropriate that the robots which do absolutely nothing but hang out and eat stuff all day are so roly-poly.
• Leadfoot has a set of metal plates that form the front of his Alt mode forming a sort of "beer gut" on his abdomen. His buddy Hound, a fat ballerina, is also pretty darn bulbous, and though it got him stuck in a building once, his weight doesn't really slow him down too much.
  • Daytrader is very portly, but he insists that he is less likely to die in battle than his "corpulent comrade" Hound is of dying from carbon monoxide poisoning and his oil drinking problem. Later, when asked if he's actually overweight by Izabella, Hound insists it's just all his gear and "it's like if somebody packed ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack". Crosshairs disagrees and jokes he's just a chunky Autobot. The Last Knight
• Likely to give Devastator a proportionate torso, Long Haul's Combiner Wars toy portrays the Constructicon on the portly side.
• Skullcruncher is a wide Croctobot with a big gut. 'Nuff said. Robots in Disguise issue 4

Masculine characteristics

Facial hair

• Alpha Trion, Scourge, Unicron, and Wreck-Gar all sport "facial hair" in the G1 cartoon. In addition to that, Energon's Bulkhead, the films' Optimus (who has a goatee), Ratchet and Jetfire and Animated's Scrapper, Mixmaster, and the other Wreck-Gar all have varying amounts of facial hair. (The last of these was modeled after his voice actor's own, prior to his appearance's overhaul.) The Shattered Glass versions of Alpha Trion and Rodimus Prime also have "facial hair", probably as a homage to Evil Spock's appearance in Star Trek.
• Many characters in the live-action series have facial hair, like Jetfire, Sentinel, and The Fallen.
• In BotBots Sergeant Scrubforce has a bristle brush style mustache. Disgusto Desserto has a full beard made from canolli filling.

Nuts, bolts, and screws

• Gilmer got rammed in his crotch by Lightfoot, causing it to become red and Gilmer to clutch it, groaning he got "kicked in the balls". Lightfoot: A Dramatic Encounter
• Rattrap kicks Waspinator in the groin, causing apparent pain and giving him a high-pitched voice. Other Voices, Part 1
• Stampy once suggested a kick to the "unmentionables" as a workable battle tactic. The Ascending #3
• Heinrad has a set in tanuki mode. Since tanuki are known for their massive testicles, his equipment's existence actually makes sense.
• Flareup interpreted the word "key" in "keymaster" a little differently than Megatron intended. Bee in the City
• Devastator has a pair of dangling wrecking balls in a... very unfortunate place. Revenge of the Fallen
• Blenderbot has a... well... just look for yourself (NSFW?). Revenge of the Fallen
• In Fall of Cybertron one of Starscream's takedown animations has him kicking a Decepticon Sharpshooter in the crotch.
• The same animation is used for Ironhide in his fight with Sharpshot in Rise of the Dark Spark if the player chooses to perform a stealth takedown.

Feminine characteristics

Breasts

Protruding chest areas are a common sight on Transformers, with characters like Prowl and Bluestreak wearing their vehicle mode hoods as huge "monoboobs." Female Transformers, however, will more often than not be designed with protruding chest pieces not as a consequence of alt mode, but deliberately to resemble a human female silhouette. Some even have two separate and even more distinctly rounded breast-like protuberances, particularly in their fictional depictions. Blackarachnia, Antagony and Beta all fall into this category. One, Thunderblast, even has visible nipples. (You're going to look, aren't you...?) Meanwhile, Legends Arcee had partially visible cleavage as her armor is consumed by Kickback.

Lips

Another common feature to denote gender in female Transformers is distinctly fuller, plumper lips than is standard, such as Blackarachnia's in Beast Wars. Sometimes, however, they will additionally have red or otherwise different/darker coloration to their lips, with an evident similarity to human lipstick. Such paint-mouthed female Cybertronians include Blackarachnia in Beast Machines, her Animated counterpart, and the G1 Female Autobots.

As far as males go, none of them have differently colored lips, but some do have noticeably thicker lips. Generation 1 Orion Pax, Silverbolt, Streetwise, Overlord and Shouki, for instance, have lips that can easily compete with the females', as does Animated Optimus Prime. Megatron in the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon takes things to a whole other level.

Hips

Much like humans, many female Transformers have a wider, more highly curved hip structure.

See also the Sexuality section below.

Questionable body parts

• Nearly all Transformers seem to possess noses for no discernible functional reason, Beast Wars characters and movieverse Ratchet being exceptions. Noses are sometimes even implied to be there when not clearly visible, such as with Jetfire in the Armada episode "Mars". Movie Megatron also notes that he can smell Sam when the latter is trying to escape from him, and Ironhide remarks that he can "smell" Demolishor. This would seem to imply that movieverse Transformers have a form of olfactory systems. The idea of noses is somewhat 'fixed' in Transformers Animated and Transformers Prime by having the noses be a visible part of the robot's helmet as opposed to being part of their face.
• At the end of the G1 episode "The Girl Who Loved Powerglide", Powerglide is seen to have the LED outline of a cartoon heart within his chassis. This is somewhat nonsensical even within in the context of the show (the contents of Transformers chest cavities had been shown several times before), and is doubtless merely meant as a one-off sight gag.
• Although listed separately above, breasts and "nuts, bolts and screws" would also fit under this category quite well, seeing as there doesn't appear to be any use for them on Transformers, other than to show them off.
• Rung has eyebrows. They're so prominent that "eyebrows" is literally his nickname.
• Then there's the eyebrows in Transformers: Prime... my God, the eyebrows...
• Transformers: Prime also has Megatron (and sometimes other Decepticons) referring to consumed Dark Energon "flowing through my veins!" Whether they were being poetic, or if it was part of Prime's attempt to redefine the technobiological nature of the Transformers, is unknown.
• In Transformers: Animated, a clone of Starscream once asked Prowl if he didn't "have some Decepticon oil in his tubes." This isn't the only time when oil has been referred to as blood in the show, though it has some morbid implications, as it has also been used as an analogy for beer...

Brains

• Predaking has an organic brain when he is sliced in half in the Zone cartoon.
• Unicron also has an organic brain in the G.I. Joe crossover, Black Horizon Part 2. Later handwaved by explaining that the particular Unicron in the crossover came from the universal stream Gargent 984.08 Alpha and had taken on an organic brain in a similar fashion as the native GoBots.
• Dark of the Moon's Sentinel Prime seemed to have something in his head resembling a brain after Optimus executed him.

Buttocks

• Arcee is depicted with a rather human-like gluteal region in both issue #182 of the Marvel UK comic and issue #1 of IDW's Transformers: The Animated Movie.
• Bulkhead recalls a time when Wheeljack pulled a stunt to get them out of a dangerous situation, and states that he's "still picking shrapnel out of his backside" while scratching his.. bottom. Arcee states that she isn't surprised due to its size, which amuses Bumblebee. Con Job
• Lugnut has a robo-butt, which is a more explicit example of the former example. The Race
• Animated Scrapper and Mixmaster have buttcracks.
• Grandus has a wide "exhaust port" according to Wildrider. The Stunti-Con Job
• When Hound gets himself stuck in a building, he complains "My fat ass is stuck!". Age of Extinction
• For some reason, Robots In Disguise (2015) has many butt jokes involving Grimlock, most of which are him sitting on someone. This even extends to the comic book tie-in.
• Rhinox and Dinobot have also been used for this type of humor, in the same episode... The Low Road
• The Con Crew's promotional packaging shows a social media post of Captain Cartridge flexing his...exterior.

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  Dan Reed, you perv.

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  "911, what's the nature of your emergency?"
  "I'm looking at twenty tons of fat robot ass stuck in my window!"

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  Our editors went through great grievances to chronicle all this.

Other biological functions

Sleep

• In the Marvel G1 comic, Trailbreaker plays a prank on Huffer while he is in "rest mode." Trailbreaker's Universe profile Ratchet falls asleep and dreams (or rather, has a nightmare), an experience Prime refers to as an "involuntary systems shutdown". Back from the Dead Kup later attempts to rouse a vision-struck Optimus Prime by urging him to "wake up"—then reminds himself that "we don't sleep!" The Power and the Glory When Donny Finkleberg remarks that unlike machines, humans need to rest, Skids informs him Transformers need to as well to conserve fuel. Skids also has an on/off button in his dashboard. Heavy Traffic!
• In the The Headmasters cartoon, Mindwipe is able to use a form of hypnotism on the Autobots, which can include lulling them to sleep. In the Omni Productions dub, Grimlock notes the strangeness of a robot feeling sleepy.
• This ability is also shown by Hellbat in the Victory cartoon.
• In Beast Wars, it has been firmly established that (perhaps partially due to their organic components), all Transformers within the cartoon sleep. Some prime examples of this are:
  • Megatron has been shown to sleep in the command chair of the Darksyde, while his dino head mounted on the end of his arm stays awake, looks around, and smiles slyly. Wonder what it thinks about...
  • Cheetor has been shown asleep at many points, complete with (occasionally prophetic) dreams. In "Feral Scream Part 2", he also purrs when he's asleep. How cute!
  • In "Call of the Wild", the Maximals are kept awake for two days by the Predacons' non-stop attacks on their base, which exacerbate their beast instincts overriding their logic circuits.
• In Beast Wars II, Galvatron often nods off in a narcoleptic-like fashion.
• In the Beast Wars II comic, Lio Convoy sleeps and has a nightmare at one point.
• Armada Cyclonus is quite fond of catching forty winks when possible. Scavenger does the same on one occasion. Armada Megatron is also seen asleep twice in the episode "Rebellion".
• Animated Ratchet enters a form of sleep he calls a "stasis nap", during which he gets several parking tickets. Transform and Roll Out
• Also in Animated, when the Autobots feel tired after drinking an oil-nog (which Soundwave had spiked), they decide to go to sleep, pardon, to take a stasis nap. Optimus even yawns. Human Error, Part I
• Nightstrike's screams put his victims in a sleep-like state, while also stimulating the "fear centers" of their processor and forcing them to have nightmares based on their worst fears. Even Robots Have Nightmares
• Rewind falls asleep and has a bad dream about the Dark Dawn. The Custom-Made Now
• The Lost Bots apparently sleep during the day in their alternate modes. Given BotBots in general are nocturnal, it makes sense the others in the mall may as well. (Never) Be Yourself
• Bumblebee can be heard snoring after a lack of Energon caused him to pass out.Home, Part 2
• D-16 is seen sleeping at one point before Orion Pax wakes him up. One

Aging

Main article: Life cycle

Some Transformers have been depicted as aging.

• 

  

  Alpha Trion has been depicted in three different eras: 11 million years in the past, 9 million years in the past, and the present day. Though his character model undergoes many changes, his facial hair changes seem to mimic human aging. In his (chronologically) earliest depiction, he has a small black mustache. In his second depiction, his mustache has turned white. By the modern era, he sports a long mustache and beard.
• The Overlord was so old that his body needed a regular energy supply to keep him functioning. State Games
• Xaaron couldn't transform anymore because he was old.

  

  

  Young and Innocent

• In an issue of the Marvel UK G1 comics, Kup's systems are going to shut down because he is too old.
• Deathsaurus and Star Saber are depicted in flashbacks as "child" Transformers, complete with childlike temperaments. Star of Friendship, Jan and Star Saber!
• Break and Longrack are aged and de-aged respectively in Planet of Time due to the planet Chronos' unique properties. Break's hair grows longer and he suffers from physical ailments commonly associated with old age, whilst the newly-young Longrack is reduced to a child-sized and drastically immature version of his usual self.
• Colada is depicted as "child" in his flashback in the issue "A Battle Fought Alone".
• Jetfire has a cane and is rusting. Some parts even fall off him when he transforms! However, he states that the reason for his decrepit condition is not just that he is very, very old, but mainly due to the fact that his Energon supplies are very low.
• Side Burn claimed to have been a classic car when he was younger, and a tricycle when he was even younger in Sideburn's Obsession. While he was lying, his story was plausible enough for Slapper. On the other hand, Slapper is an idiot.
• Slipstream says he grew up on Luna 1 in the short "The Tragedy of Slipstream" and is even depicted as a child in flashback.
• Stardrive mentions growing up faster than her friends on Elonia. Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor
• Eons on Donnokt without sufficient energon caused Rodimus to visibly age. Transformers: Last Bot Standing

Sexuality

One of the most controversial aspects of Transformers is the idea of sexuality. While it is established in most continuities that Transformers do not reproduce sexually, most continuities nonetheless have distinctive male and female characters and sometimes drops a hint Transformers may engage in (recreational) sex.

The original The Transformers cartoon brought the first official female Transformers into the canon, including Elita One and Arcee. The characters are noticeably more feminine in design and some have clearly defined romantic relationships with male Transformers. In contrast, such relations between two individuals of the same gender are virtually unheard of, outside of the 2005 IDW continuity, where it's commonly accepted.

Accents

Notes

• Mobage wound up on the wrong end of the "feminine characteristics" conversation over Elita One's character art in the Transformers Legends game. The initial art featured what can only be described as a "boobs and butt" pose, complete with shiny pink "underboob" and a very defined gluteal region. Following outcry from users, the game art was modified to a less obviously sultry version.

See also

• Transformer anatomy
• Anatomic euphemism
• Relatives
• Clothing

References