Transformation virus

Optimus Primal attempting to transform.

The Transformation Virus is a virus that was created and then released on Cybertron by Megatron in order to conquer the planet. It was his most potent weapon that subdued the population almost overnight. It had many effects, though the primary intended ones seemed to be mode lock and deactivation. It has also been associated with paralysis, short-term amnesia, and "devolution".

Fiction

Mutant Beast Wars toy bios

At some point before unleashing the virus on Cybertron, Megatron tested it on a group of Fuzors. But rather than freeze their transformations and shut them down, it somehow gave them two separate beast modes at the expense of their robot modes. They also gained special powers like telepathy and teleportation. Unsurprisingly they were able to escape and became the renegades known as the Mutants.

Megatron presumably improved the virus after that incident, since the Fuzor Silverbolt would later be one of the few Beast Warriors who succumbed immediately and completely. He also showed no signs of spontaneous superpowers.

Beast Machines

You'll never see it com— well, okay, you will.

As recounted by Nightscream, Megatron's viral assault came massively and without warning. The initial infection came as a large pillar of green erupting from a city and subsequently sweeping through the streets. Many Cybertronians were immobilized immediately by the viral attack with those that weren't were hunted down by the ever-growing hordes of Vehicons. Even as his kinsmen continued to fall, Nightscream managed to stay mobile, eventually falling down a deep pit when avoiding the drones. His internal DNA scanner discovered a fossilized bat and used it to give him a beast mode. When he reactivated, he had no memory of the bat or the chamber it was in, and he was stuck in his new beast mode. However, he also found an organic tree with edible fruit, which he used to survive for some time. Forbidden Fruit He would later credit his beast mode with his resistance to the virus. Survivor However, the fruit diet may also have been a factor, as he told Optimus Primal and his reformatted Maximals, "This'll make you better." Forbidden Fruit

Remember how happy you were when you saw your beast mode the first time? Want that feeling again?

When the Axalon crew returned to Cybertron, they were attacked by the Vehicons armed with a gaseous version of the virus. The Maximals who had been upgraded into Transmetals were able to resist the full effects of the virus, though this came at the cost of losing their upgrades, subsequently being devolved back to the bodies they'd had at the onset of the Beast Wars, suffering from transformation paralysis and amnesia. Not full Transmetals, Rhinox and Silverbolt were paralyzed when the virus struck them, being captured by the Vehicons. Revelations Part II: Descent

While the de-Transmetallized Maximals did evade capture, they lost their memories of the entire event, forgetting even Megatron's escape from their shuttle in transwarp. When the four regrouped, Primal and Blackarachnia concluded that if they could only transform, their systems would purge the virus. Unable to find a restoration chamber, the Maximals followed Optimus' visions to Oracle supercomputer. The ancient computer reformatted the four into technorganic bodies, ones that were immune to the virus. The Reformatting

The Maximals eventually found the laboratory where Megatron had manufactured the virus. Rattrap, frustrated that he couldn't get his new body to transform out of beast mode, correctly anticipated that there would be a "counter-virus" with the opposite effect. Taking it, he found himself transforming uncontrollably. Mercenary Pursuits

When Botanica returned to Cybertron, she seemed to suffer from the virus as well, being locked in her alternate mode and experiencing the same sparking as when Primal's crew was trapped in their original beast modes. Though Primal restored her to full functionality by reformatting her into a technorganic, it is unclear if Botanica was suffering from transformation virus. Home Soil

3H comics

Megatron may have developed the virus from Cryotek's research.^[1]

Watching in astonishment at Megatron's takeover, Apelinq was able to protect at least himself by creating a shield suit against the "residual effects" of the plague. Another advance came when he reunited with Rodimus, whose "unique physiology" had made him immune to the virus. Apelinq created an inoculant "by mapping and replicating his Spark's low-band energy signatures." When Primal Prime and his Maximals arrived later, Apelinq intended to inoculate them. But, according to Primal, Apelinq was attacked and hurled through a transwarp gateway "before he could inoculate the rest of my crew." What that phrase implies for the Wreckers' immunity or lack thereof is open for speculation. Apelinq's War Journals

Ultimate Guide

The Beast Machines summary in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide claims that the technorganic Maximals' transformation difficulties are the result of the "last vestiges" of the virus. This is somewhat at odds with Optimus Primal's dialogue, which places the blame on their new bodies' lack of onboard computers. Master of the House However, if the virus is at least part of the cause, this could help account for the fact that all of the Maximals reformatted later are able to transform instantly. Nightscream, while most likely infected, showed markedly light symptoms all along (and he had already watched Primal and co. practice transforming for some time). Botanica showed even fewer symptoms before her reformatting, if she was infected at all. And Silverbolt was reformatted from his almost-certainly-immune Vehicon body. In Darkest Knight

Of Masters and Mayhem

When Bluestreak commissioned the Teklaans to recreate Cybertron's biosphere, the transformation virus was among the viruses Cergo developed for reintroduction into the metallic environment. Lively Pursuit

Notes

• Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II states that this virus is a weaponized form of Nucleon, a substance that indeed inhibits transformation.

Devolving gas?

Gas with oily discharge.

Involved in the ambiguous nature of the virus is its connection to the mysterious green gas. Its first appearance is during Nightscream's flashback, where it appears synonymous with the virus itself. However, if this "virus" is like any other known virus, it shouldn't be visible. This leads to the notion that the gas is perhaps a delivery system. But if Botanica was infected on her arrival despite the gas being absent, then the gas isn't necessary for the virus to spread.

Additionally, the "devolution" of the Transmetals occurred when they were exposed to the gas. This has led some fans to think that the gas devolved them, not the virus at all. However, while the non-Transmetals seemed to be instantly paralyzed, the de-Transmetallized were able to keep moving. So other fans have suggested that Transmetallization was an unforeseen buffer against the virus's full effects, the de-Transmetallization process buying them time before shutdown.

Ultimately, though, the "true" nature of the virus and gas are unknowable, as the fiction contains no clear explanation.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Henshin seigyo virus (変身制御ウイルス, "transformation-suppressing virus")

See also

• Transformation cog
• Transfixatron
• Transformation Lock Lens
• Transformation paralysis
• Mode lock
• Suppressor (device)

References

1. ↑ Cryotek's 3H bio