Can Transformers have kids? I WANT TO KNOW! I have taken this up with a friend of mine and he keeps saying they can't, but i say they can!

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In the Transformers Victory manga, the Decepticons had wives and children. Yeah... (-_-)

 

On the whole - the answer is no. The image that joshlowe posted shows how the ancient early generations of Transformers could asexually reproduce in some kind of mecha-mitosis. However this ability has been loooooooong lost.

 

In order for a new Transformer to be created, a body must first be physically constructed, and then imbued with life.

Oh damn! I was hoping i was right, now i got to tell Aaron D. the he was right after all, darn.

 

Well to me they can! Little baby Starscream running around wanting to become King. That would make Daddy Starscream so very happy! :clap

 

And there be the Autobots......

 

Primus save us!:redface 

 

Megatron would probbaly turn AWOL if there was another Starscream in the universe. I can see it now  :roll 

Transformers certainly can fall in love. The Transformers are fully intelligent and sentient robots, capable of the full spectrum of emotions: anger, hate, greed, jealousy, sadness, joy and of course, love. There's nothing in continuity that suggests that Transformers experience lust, since lust is largely a hormonal response - lacking sex hormones, Transformers don't really fall in lust.. not sexual lust anyway. They do seem to have other forms of emotional lust, e.g.: "bloodlust" (craving for destruction) etc. - but that's more of a lust in terms of heightened passion.

 

 

Remember that the Transformers have always produced asexually - even back when they could naturally reproduce on their own without having to create constructs (e.g.: Protoforms) - but it was still a mitotic asexual form of reproduction. Therefore they have no true sense of love associated with sexuality. But that's not to say that they cannot love - although love and sexuality can intermingle, they are not the same thing. Humans (and apparently dolphins too) can use sex as a form of expressing one kind of love - but sex can easily be utterly devoid of love, and there are many kinds of love that are completely unrelated to sex, e.g.: parental love, sibling love, best friendship love, mentor-student love (and I don't mean that in any inappropriate kind of way), and as some people believe, religious love (e.g.: love for God) etc.

 

 

We can often see Transformers demonstrating various kinds of love.

e.g.:

* Parental Love: Alpha Trion's love for Elita One and Optimus Prime. As they both admitted, he is like a father to them; nurturing and protective.

* Mentor-Student Love: Alpha Trion is yet another example. So is Emirate Xaaron. The Decepticon cassettes arguably demonstrate a similar love for Soundwave - after all, it was the cassettes who rebuilt Soundwave as Soundblaster after he was killed by Blaster.

* Best Friendship Love: Ironhide once took a shot for Prime. You can't ask more than that from a friend. Rattrap and Dinobot also have a similar love between each other, though they masked it with their constant bickering (much like the romance between Han Solo and Leia in EpV).

* Sibling Love: Rumble and Frenzy. In Frenzy's first cartoon appearance, we see him coming to Rumble's rescue. The Car Robo brothers in Car Robot (obviously).

* Love for a Leader/Sovereign: The Dinobots really love Grimlock as their leader. They would follow him to whatever end. Optimus Prime also enjoyed a similar level of affection from a lot of his Autobots, who again, happily followed him without question

* Love for a God (religious devotion): Most Transformers never cared about their Gods until they discovered the existence and approach of Unicron - and even then, they only cared because they were facing their impending doom. There are only two Transformers I can think of one who has demonstrated true religious faith: Bludgeon. Although his religious interpretation was ultimately proven wrong, he had devoted his entire life to a discipline based on said religious beliefs.

...obviously there are many other kinds of love, and many more canonical examples (Transformers SPAM does not, since that technically does not occur in canon) but these are just a few.

 

 

But in the end, I think the main kind of love that we're looking at here, is close intimate interpersonal love. This is the kind of love that exists when you find another being whom you utterly love - someone who you care for more than yourself and whose company improves the quality of your life and through loving them, gives you a higher purpose and meaning in life.

 

There's no reason why a Transformer - a living and sentient robot - cannot feel this form of love.

 

Remember that Transformers don't have any true genders. The concept of "gender" for Transformers, unlike humans, is purely cosmetic. It's largely based on the asthetic design of their humanoid robot mode, voice and persona. Although the cartoon has often thrown the words "female" (and thus by default "male") Transformers around, it is actually technically inaccurate. What we really have are feminine and masculine Transformers. This means that a Transformer's gender is not determined by the set of genitals which they possess, but by the cosmetic and socio-psychological personality traits in which they exhibit.

 

 

So, as mentioned before, whenever two Transformers form a close intimate interpersonal bond, then they achieve the romantic equivalent of our romantic definition of "love."

 

And since Transformers are genderless, yes, it does redefine the nature of a "straight" or "gay" Transformer... since the difference would only be separated by a Transformer's preference in a partner's cosmetic robot mode shape, voice modulation and persona (masc vs femn). There's nothing in canon to suggest that any hard-wired preference exists in Transformers, as we have had examples of both "straight" (e.g.: Silverbolt and Blackarachnia) and "gay" (e.g.: Tigatron and Airazar - no, not Airazor, Airazar) Transformer relationships. And regardless of which version of BW you follow, Tigatron and Airazor/Airazar achieved the ultimate spiritual union in the form of Tigerhawk.

 

Intimate love for Transformers seem to be something based largely on a mental/psychological attraction between personalities, rather than any physical attraction. Coupled with the fact that a Transformer's intimate romantic love is irrelevant to any desire of sexual lust, it is far more easier and plausible for a Transformer to experience intimate romantic love with a member of another species (e.g.: aliens, humans). Examples of Transformers who have formed close bonds with non-Cybertronians include Powerglide, Seaspray and Skids.

 

As for why... remember that science fiction is supposed to be a reflection on humanity... although these Transformers are alien robots, they fundamentally serve as metaphors for ourselves.

 

Oh, and last but not least... just like humans, Transformers also seem capable of incestual love - like the extremely complicated relationship between Optimus Prime and Elita One... they were once boyfriend/girlfriend, reborn by the same creator whom they both consider to be a "father" figure... which makes them kinda like siblings... and yet they still hold strong affections for each other... eeww... this is almost as uncomfortable as watching Leia kiss Luke ever since Return of the Jedi came out... hoo-boy. :P :P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

This was a great read Goki.  Thank you for such an insightful answer.

 

Two things:

 

Yes I do believe that a Cybertronian can fall in love with another and form lifelong bonds that last a lifetime for them.  This goes into the social makeup of their society as well.  I definately believe that if you have a "soul/spark", you have the amaizing capacity to love and be loved.  There are indeed many types of love but call me a hopeless romantic, I do believe in their ability to love and want someone in their lives as much as any being.

 

Secondly, weren't Rattrap and Botanica an item as well?

Oh damn! I was hoping i was right, now i got to tell Aaron D. the he was right after all, darn.

 

Well to me they can! Little baby Starscream running around wanting to become King. That would make Daddy Starscream so very happy! :clap

 

And there be the Autobots......

 

Primus save us!:redface 

 

Megatron would probbaly turn AWOL if there was another Starscream in the universe. I can see it now  :roll 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I still think they can.  Arcee wasn't Rattrap's great great auntie for nothing.  There has to be some kind of liniage there somehow.

Yes I do believe that a Cybertronian can fall in love with another and form lifelong bonds that last a lifetime for them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's just friendship.

 

Being IN love is not all spiritual bonding, even to the most romantic of people.

Sexual attraction and desire is essential for it.

That's why we have monogamy, Marriage, which is the ultimate extension of being in love.

It's why people can split up whilst they still love but are no longer in love with one another.

 

And to be sexually attracted you need sexual organs, which are there for procreation, a fact agreed on by science and religion.

 

And as Transformers have no sexual organs and do not reproduce sexually, falling in love is an impossibility.

Unless of course they were programmed to feel simulated emotions associated with being in love, but with so few females and no, erm, release or purpose for the emotions, it would likely be harmful to the species as a whole.

 

Love, caring, bonding, kinship are different, they're all psychological or spiritual in nature, these are possible.

Falling in love is not.

 

At least not in any way that makes any sense.

 

The image that joshlowe posted shows how the ancient early generations of Transformers could asexually reproduce in some kind of mecha-mitosis. However this ability has been loooooooong lost.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Which is why I posted the picture, it actually states all of that in there.

This is just a Theory that I came up with like 2 seconds ago, but what if female transformers carry an electronic "hormone" that turns on the simulated "love' emotions in male transformers who come in contact with them?

This is just a Theory that I came up with like 2 seconds ago, but what if female transformers carry an electronic "hormone" that turns on the simulated "love' emotions in male transformers who come in contact with them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then the 5 or so female Transformers attract a planet full of "men".

A little imagination will show you the chasos that would ensue.

This is just a Theory that I came up with like 2 seconds ago, but what if female transformers carry an electronic "hormone" that turns on the simulated "love' emotions in male transformers who come in contact with them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then the 5 or so female Transformers attract a planet full of "men".

A little imagination will show you the chasos that would ensue.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's more than 5 female transformers

http://transformers.wikicities.com/wiki/Li...le_Transformers

This is just a Theory that I came up with like 2 seconds ago, but what if female transformers carry an electronic "hormone" that turns on the simulated "love' emotions in male transformers who come in contact with them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then the 5 or so female Transformers attract a planet full of "men".

A little imagination will show you the chasos that would ensue.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's more than 5 female transformers

http://transformers.wikicities.com/wiki/Li...le_Transformers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:roll :P

 

The 5 or so is an exaggeration made with the purpose of illustrating how few females there are by comparison.

 

Either way the point still stands.

 

If this small minority produce some kind of pheromone which provokes a reaction from the rest of the population, you have a recipe for disaster.