How come all the other transformers looked like comets when they entered deep space and such.. except Megatron. Is that alien jet thing supposed to be a proto-form? And if it is, how come the rest of them didn't keep their cybertronian forms?

I'm not expecting anyone to really know the answer to this, just a weird concept.

I guess if you could turn into pretty much whatever you want, it really doesn't matter.. but then why dummy yourself down when you travel?

I don't think that Megatron's alt mode was a protoform thingy.

As for the Autobots, it looks cool onscreen but practically speaking, wouldn't you at least have some kind of propulsion system? Is there a "protoform launcher" like a giant Nerf gun that shoots them out?

And where did the Autobots come from, anyway? I got the impression that Cybertron was a dead world.

It was always my assumption that Megatron turned into a vehicle capable of interstellar flight, but the Autobots had to come over in a ship (that was out of frame in the movie)...and they'd take on the comet mode just to exit the ship and get to Earth.

Seems to me megs has always been a space jet as well.. because what would there be for him to scan when he gets to earth in that time period anyway. I'm just wondering why when the bots arrive, why they're all balled up when they could just fly in with their cybertron modes or something.. since apparently they don't really need to leave their disguise when they leave a planet..

I guess it would be too much of a distraction if they did? Of course, we can't really say that being the decepticons arrived ahead of time and no one knew they were there.. meh..

And for the record to anyone who wants to complain about them using Protoforms in space and then being frozen by Liquid N.
SPACE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.

No convection + No transference = STUFF GETS HOT.
Well, heat will be lost by radiation, but not enough, especially when you are a giant robot running on unobtainium.

Ahem.


I think the EU said that they hitched a ride on a ship, and then took the comet forms into the system to hide themselves from detection for as long as possible.
Earth satellite's could easily miss a couple comets (Or atleast until it was way too late), a honking great starship is a little harder.

a) It was explained (somewhat) in that movie info book by Simon Furman...
b) These guys probably have a stealth field/sensor jammer thing on their ships

If you look at some sources and written material that takes place before the movie (along with the movie guide by Furman), you get an idea of why.

Megatron's vehicle mode is capable of interstellar flight, which explains him.

As for the Autobots, and presumably Decepticons, completely ignoring the fact that all their Cybertron modes turn into comets in the comics, it breaks down like this from what I've gathered.

In the book "Ghosts of Yesterday", the Earth astronauts get flung to some corner of the universe that happens to be in the same vicinity as the Ark and Nemesis (and the ships are actually named as such and not just wishful fan thinking). Aboard the Ark are our fearsome five and aboard the Nemesis are the Decepticons sans Brawl (why he wasn't there I don't know). They've left Cybertron and are searching for the All Spark (the Decepticons are also searching for Megatron) and have each visited various worlds. At the end of the book they realize they have to go to Earth.

Now.

Throw in the guide book and the stuff it says about the protoforms. The protoform look is the most basic inner form of the robot (their infrastructure) that's heavily shielded and capable of interstellar flight. Upon landfall these protoforms instantly seek out a match for an alternate mode of comparable size and mass.

My theory is, to save on personal fuel reserves, they travel in spaceships for the long travel, and probably hide them or something behind a moon or beyond the sensor range of whatever planet they're visiting and go the rest of the way in comet mode.

My guess is that Transformers are like triple changers. They have an original alt mode but shed their outer exterior and transform into a "Entry Mode" for planet embarkment.

If Megatron is capable of interstellar flight, it makes sense that he keeps his Cybertronian mode. If he changes his alternate mode then his chassis wouldn't be able to withstand the stress of space flight.

He is not a protoform. His alternate mode is a Cybertronian mode. Watch the dvd and they will tell you.

In the TF movie universe Protoform and Cybertronian mode mean the same thing. Protoforms are extremely durable and can withstand extreme temperature and pressure so I would assume no matter what a Protoform's alternate mode looks like they all can crash land and get up with merely a scratch.