Transformers Dictionary/List of Terms

Academy- proper noun: Autobot training facility on Cybertron that helps prepare promising young ‘bots for service in the Cybertronian Elite Guard; curriculum includes military tactics, combat, and (presumably) leadership skills; known attendees include (of Transformers Animated continuity): Optimus Prime, Elita-1, Sentinel Prime; known graduates include (of Transformers Animated continuity): see Cybertronian Elite Guard

AllSpark- noun: Cybertronian artifact said to be the source of life for all Transformers; evidently has enough energy to become a weapon of mass destruction; also (alternately) the spark, or life essence, of Primus, to which all sparks return upon the deactivation of their bodies, hence the name; alternate spellings: Allspark, All Spark; see also: Well of All Sparks

AllSpark Key- security card key owned by Sari Sumdac in the Transformers Animated continuity, reformatted by the AllSpark itself to have many of its capabilities (e.g., repairing Transformers, identifying Cybertronian technologies, giving a non-Transformer a spark, etc.)

alternate mode- noun: the form of a vehicle which a Transformer can access after having scanned it holographically into his/her processor; variously abbreviated: “alt mode”, “altmode”, etc.

Ark- proper noun: the Autobots’ space ship/base of operations; crashed into a volcano on prehistoric Earth and came back online 4 million years later (in 1984) in G1 continuity; crashed into Lake Erie and came back online 50 years later (in the 2050’s) in Transformers Animated continuity

astrosecond- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, roughly equivalent to .498 Earth seconds (but who counts that small, anyway?)

Autobot- proper noun: one of two factions of Cybertronian robots, this one representing the “good” side; Autobots often feel compelled to aid or protect other smaller, less-powerful races from harm (Decepticon-caused or otherwise); were succeeded in Beast Wars continuity by their descendents, the Maximals

‘bot- noun: short for “robot”; used in Transformers fiction to refer to members of the Cybertronian race; sometimes an abbreviation for Autobot; pronoun: often used in dialogue as having similar meaning to “person” or “body” (e.g. “everybot”)

breem- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, roughly equivalent to 8.3 Earth minutes

chassis- noun: the frame, wheels, and machinery of a motor vehicle/Transformer, on which the body is supported; idiomatically used to refer to a ‘bot’s body in general (e.g., “My aching chassis. . .”); see also: structure

Circuit-Su- proper noun: a Cybertronian martial art that emphasizes mastery of the energies of one's spark; see also: Metallikato

‘Con- proper noun: abbreviation for Decepticon

Cybertron- proper noun: home planet of all Transformers, a metallic world of super-advanced technology, residents and technologies of which are called “Cybertronian”

Cybertronian Elite Guard- proper noun: most experienced and qualified Autobot warriors on Cybertron; trained at the Autobot Academy before joining the Guard; known members include (of Transformers Animated continuity): Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, Jazz, Ironhide

Decepticon- proper noun: one of two factions of Cybertronian robots, this one representing the “evil” side; Decepticons will often show blatant disregard for anyone’s well-being but their own and usually live by the credo of violence, greed, and deceit; were succeeded in Beast Wars continuity by their descendants, the Predacons

energon- noun: the preferred energy source for most Transformers, has been alternately portrayed as food, intoxicating--I MEAN over-charging--drink, ammunition, and currency; is most often found in liquid form stored in cubes, as this is the most stable form of the usually explosively volatile substance; quality and potency of energon apparently varies greatly, and is thus often described in degrees of quality called “grades” (e.g., “high-grade” to refer to energon with great potency); possible Transformer equivalent of blood, along with mech fluid

faceplate- noun: a protective piece of metal which covers all or some portion of a Transformer’s visible face, presumably for protective purposes; see also: mouthplate; alternately, the actual surface upon which the Transformer’s facial features are located

femme- noun: term used to describe Cybertronians with feminine characteristics; many femmes bear a striking resemblance to Earthen human females with kibble added on (see: kibble), but not all adhere to this model; although robots are, technically, androgynous, many of the Cybertronian breed have psychological differences that emulate masculine or feminine characteristics

frag- noun: idiomatically, a problem or glitch in programming; also general curse term, unknown meaning; also fragger, another general curse term of unknown meaning, but presumably one who frags; verb: to have a problem or glitch in programming (e.g., when referring to a cranky ‘bot, “Looks like somebody forgot to de-frag his hard drive.”)

Generation 1- proper noun: term used to refer to the original Transformers animated series, which ran from 1984 until about 1992; usually abbreviated to “Gen1” or “G1”, humorously called “GEEWUN” by some members of the fandom

glitch- noun: problem or malfunction in programming or protocol; also general curse term, referring to a ‘bot, generally equivalent in meaning to “idiot” or “moron”; similar in meaning: “glitchhead”

kibble- noun: seemingly unnecessary parts of a Transformer's alternate mode that appear on his/her person in robot mode (i.e., "door wings," "wheels on heels," etc.)

mech fluid- noun: an essential liquid in the Transformer’s body of unknown use and purpose; possible Transformer equivalent of blood, along with energon

megacycle- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, roughly equivalent to one Earth hour

mouthplate- noun: protective metal mask which covers a Transformer’s face from the jaw up to (and occasionally including) the “nose”; see also: faceplate; alternately, the Cybertronian idiomatic equivalent of “lips” (e.g., “Quit flapping your mouthplates and get serious!”)

nano-klik- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, used idiomatically to be roughly equivalent to either one Earth second or minute (e.g., “Gotta nano-klik?”)

Nemesis- proper noun: the Decepticons’ space ship/base of operations; was crashed into the ocean, from which the Decepticons’ base was built, in the G1 continuity; was discovered crashed into the Earth’s moon by Lugnut and Blitzwing in the Transformers Animated continuity

Noise- proper noun: a sound which accompanies a Cybertronian’s transformation from one mode to another (see: transform); the Noise is usually five “8hz pulses”, each lasting an equivalent amount of time, in increasing (for robot to alt-mode) or declining (for alt to robot mode) pitch; the Noise’s pitch is proportionally higher or deeper for smaller or larger Transformers (respectively); in official continuity, it has yet to be given an official name, onomatopoeic representation, or source; its relevance, cause, and importance, in regards to the transformation sequence, are unknown; it has been speculated that it may be a side-effect to transforming, as is the sound produced when scraping fingernails on a blackboard

offline- noun: Cybertronian dialect for “death”; as Transformers are not technically “alive”, they are said, when all their systems permanently shut down, to go offline; additional idiomatic equivalents include when one’s “spark goes out”,  one is “deactivated”, one “crashes”, etc.; adjective: Cybertronian dialect for “dead”

organic- noun: term used by Cybertronians to refer to creatures of non-technological origins; this applies to all the different natural species of Earth, as well as other planets; the bipedal Earth organics known as humans have also been referred to as fleshlings, meatbags, insects, squishies, noisy creatures, "puny flesh creatures", "dumb stubbies", Terrans or Homo sapiens; adjective: having the characteristics of one or more of these non-technological races

orn- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, defined as being equivalent to “one Cybertronian lunar day”; roughly equivalent to 13 Earth days

Pit- proper noun: supposedly the place where evil sparks go once their Transformer bodies have gone offline; also known as the Inferno; physical chamber within Unicron where devoured ‘bots are incinerated and painfully rebuilt as pawns to serve his purposes; Cybertronian parallel of Hell; in Beast Wars continuity, the production facility of Predacon protoforms, named for supposedly mythical location listed above

Primus- proper noun: Cybertronian deity/personification of Cybertron itself; legend states he is the one who personally created the thirteen original Cybertronian Transformers (which, by some, are called the “First-Forged”), as well as many others; eternal opponent of Unicron; also general curse term (e.g., “swear to Primus”, “in/by/for the name/code/love of Primus”, etc.)

protoform- noun: form a Transformer possesses before he/she gains an alt-mode; also presumably a stage of the Transformer life cycle similar to human childhood

quartex- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time; equivalent in Earth measurement unknown, but is presumably very small (e.g., “These supplies won’t even last us a quartex.”)

servo- noun: limb on robot body, generally equated to the human hand

stabilizing servo- noun: Transformer equivalent of the human foot

slag- one of the most versatile slang terms in the Cybertronian vernacular; noun: a vitreous mass left from the refining of metallic ores; can also refer to this mass while in its molten state, which floats atop the ore; a waste product; also a general curse term (e.g., “You sickening piece of slag!”); verb: to convert to molten metal via melting by heat, acid, etc.; also a general curse term (e.g., “You gotta be slagging me!”); adjective: having the properties of or propensity to slag; also a general curse term (e.g., “Slagging computer!”); interjection: general curse term, most frequent form of use for this term (e.g., “Aw, slag!”); Teletraan-I, the Transformers Wiki site, makes the observation that, “It is therefore possible to build an entire sentence of this word:

‘Slaggit! The slaggin' slag-faced motha-slaggin' slagger slagged the slaggers!’”

solar cycle- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, used idiomatically to be roughly equivalent to either one Earth day or year; similar in meaning: “stellar cycle”; see also: stellar cycle

spark- noun: a Transformer’s life force or “soul”, said to be a part of the essence of Primus; non-Transformer robots/electronic devices are apparently capable of being given a spark through various means, most having something to do with either the AllSpark or Primus himself

stellar cycle- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, roughly equivalent to either 400 Earth days or 7.5 Earth months; was used idiomatically once (by Blackarachnia of Transformers Animated continuity) to have similar meaning to one Earth year

structure- noun: in general, a Transformer’s body; subdivided into the superstructure (outer components, generally including weapons and parts of the alternate mode) and substructure (inner components, including special equipment and weapons systems)

Teletraan I- proper noun: shipboard computer and database for the Autobot ship, the Ark; often misspelled as “Teletran One”, “Teletran-1”, etc.

transform- verb: the act of a Transformer changing from one mode to another (noun: transformation); this usually involves much shifting of body parts, which themselves generally look like hybrids between limbs and pieces of machinery; this act is almost always accompanied by some form of the Noise; see also: Noise

Transformer- proper noun: sentient, living species of robots (mostly) originating from the far-off mechanical planet of Cybertron (see: Cybertron); the title derives from the apparently inherent ability of most, if not all, of these robots to change their shapes and forms from a robotic primary mode (generally, but not always, humanoid in form) to an alternate mode (mostly mechanical, vehicle, weapon, or animal in appearance and function); historically, this species has usually been divided between two warring factions, the “good” Autobots (and their descendents, the Maximals) and the “evil” Decepticons (and their descendents, the Predacons), with a few (often ignored, seldom happy) neutrals hanging around on the sidelines and in the crossfire; see also: Autobot and Decepticon

Unicron- proper noun: Cybertronian deity (sort of), called the Unmaker, Chaos Bringer, Dark God, Planet Eater, etc.; destructive, megalithic, Bahamut-like destroyer who devours planets for energy; eternal opponent of Primus

vorn- noun: Cybertronian measurement of time, roughly equivalent to 83 Earth years

Well of All Sparks- proper noun: the supposedly-mythical fount where Primus forged the Transformers race; direct conduit for Primus’ lifeforce and, therefore, the true origin of all Transformers’ sparks; said to be the place where a Transformer’s spark goes after he/she goes offline; Cybertronian parallel of Heaven

List of Anatomic Terms and Euphemisms

For those times when you want a character to say something funny and species-appropriate, these terms ought to serve any author well. Most of them refer to a Transformer’s nether regions. Go ahead and have a good, long laugh.

•aft
•actuator
•afterburner
•boron compressor
•command module
•crankcase
•diode
•exhaust port
•fan belt
•magna fuses
•manifold
•mudflaps
•reactor linkage
•skidplate
•tailpipe
•transistor
•turbocharger