It has been theorized that all of the original Beast Warriors would have been turned into Transmetals, had it not been for other factors. To begin with, Tigatron, Airazor, Blackarachnia, and Inferno were all exposed to the quantum surge in the same way others were, yet they suffered no ill effects. Also, Rhinox, Dinobot, and Waspinator were all recooperating within CR chambers during the surge, and were somehow buffered from the surge. Apparently, Scorponok and Terrorsaur would have changed as well, but they panicked, crashed into each other, and slagged themselves.
Each Transmetal has certain qualities that make them unique among Beast Warriors. First, their entire superstructures are altered, and their Beast Modes are now metallic in nature. They now have a natural affinity to the mysterious alien race, immune to the radiation emitted from their energon storages and are seen as part of the alien's machinery. Transmetals each possess a Transmetal Adaptation, accessed in Beast Mode. These adaptions tend to be additional mechanical upgrades not part of their Beast Mode's animal template. For example, Primal's gorilla assembles a hoverboard beneath his feet, Megatron's tyrannosaur has retractable VTOL turbines, Cheetor's cheetah has jet thrust wings, Rattrap's rat can assume a dragster mode, and Tarantulus's tarantula form can extend cycle wheels beneath itself.
Theories have popped up as to what is actually affected by the quantum surge: spark or body. Optimus's body was scrapped, but he returned as a Transmetal, suggesting a change occurs in the spark, causing the body to change. However, Tarantulus's body was altered when his spark and data-tracks weren't even present in it, suggesting the conversion is only physical in nature. No concrete proof has been provided either way, and the exact process as to how the Transmetals came about remains a mystery.
Besides the original Transmetals created, the Maximal experiment gone bad known as Protoform X was accidentally reconfigured as a Transmetal as well. Apparently, X's stasis pod absorbed the energies from the quantum surge and later was at the epicenter of an energon explosion, causing his conversion into a Transmetal. X, later renamed Rampage, seemed to possess all the basic qualities of the other Transmetals, including an additional tank mode, but since he never encountered the aliens or their technology, it is unknown how his Transmetal form would react to their presence.
Article submitted by Matt Parrish.
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