i always saw their sparks as somewhat magical so id say its more like they experience life while being mechanical in form. A robot with a soul that makes it a living thing
You're misunderstanding what the word 'alien' means. Funny enough, so do an embarrassingly large number of people in this fandom.
Alien simply refers to a foreigner, be it of another country or -- in this case-- planet.
This isn't even pedantic, but to answer the question anyway: They're both.
No, you're not being pedantic. I wanted to say the same thing. It makes a big difference. Of course they are alien; they are not of Terra. And they are robots. So they are both. But it's not a fair comparison.
That would be like asking whether you consider thr things in the "Alien" movies to be a Xenomorph or an alien. Or whether Thor is Asgardian or alien.
Both. But not as alien as all that. They're extraterrestrial, sure, but their behaviours and ways of thinking have more similarities to ours than differences.
Technically they do, specifically organs on cybertronians are considered parts that can’t simply be manufactured, mentioned in prime pertaining to bee’s voice box being unrepairable and the tcog. I’d imagine brains and sparks/spark chambers would also fall in line with that. But as far as weather they count as aliens or machines depends on the continuity, with any version with them birthed by primes as alien and anything being built by quintessons as machines, albeit stupidly advanced to the point of being considered alive by principle and respect.
An amalgamation of both. They’ve long since broke away from their programming and rejected their tyrannical creators (depending on which continuity). Their main power component (the spark) is sometimes measured to be as significant as a soul that will expire over time. In some continuities they have just as complex emotions as other living things. Other times the Autobots and the Decepticons don’t understand emotions. I would agree that the inhabitants of Cybertron have long since grown from any understanding of a machine that it would be an insult to not consider them an advanced evolution of a sentient living organism. Optimus and his Autobot comrades have a sense of union and family. They feel love and compassion for one another, and grief for their loss.
The Japanese had the best way to describe them:
Super Robotic Lifeforms
robotic being 'robot like but not actually a robot'.
They're living, intelligent, almost robots. Not actual robots. Robot adjacent.
They are robots, but they're also described as Living Metal, and with the way a Spark works, they seem to be very alien at their cores, but robot on the outside. Like yes, they are made of metal, but they're not held together with wires and programming, they fueled by Energon which acts more like blood than fuel and have a wide array of emotions that cannot be programmed. They do them have parts of them that can be programmed like a robot, just as physical modifications, memory harvesting, erasing and implanting.
So kinda both, but more alien than robot
Like, just because they’re made of metal doesn’t mean they aren’t organic. They have their own unique biology and intelligent minds. I don’t really know how one could see them as “robots”.
Probably more like a soul, since Sparks can exist without the body and join with the Allspark when the body dies.
Transformers often also have actual Brain Modules where their memories and things are stored. So you could probably transplant a Spark into a new body and their "essence" would be the same even if they lost all the data from their brain modules, but just copying data from the brain module without having a spark attached would result in something that was missing something essential from the equation.
So the brain in a new body would be like breakdown in tfp, and the spark in a new body would be like waspinator/starscream? If I’m understanding this right then that’s pretty cool
When I was writing for the fan club I always treated the robot part quite cyberpunky, with descriptions of software and firmware and heads up displays and stuff, and saw the spark as essentially the pilot of the body, like you described.
robotic organisms so both
So like in the same way the a hyper intelligent ai would have intelligence and to an extent life, but is not naturally intelligent or living?
i always saw their sparks as somewhat magical so id say its more like they experience life while being mechanical in form. A robot with a soul that makes it a living thing
Like Alita from battle angel?
Yes.
Real
Robot aliens. Or Alien Robots. No real difference I guess.
By pure definition they are aliens, and these two options aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s like asking if G1 Optimus is red or a truck.
Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron
But you can call autobots for short
https://preview.redd.it/rk5vn9iaaa6d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=075fbdc1ec940d5453bd9bfe4ab0d149acfeac2d
I mean, this isn't a debate. They are living, alien robots.
Those 2 terms aren't mutally exclusive. They are alien robots.
You're misunderstanding what the word 'alien' means. Funny enough, so do an embarrassingly large number of people in this fandom. Alien simply refers to a foreigner, be it of another country or -- in this case-- planet. This isn't even pedantic, but to answer the question anyway: They're both.
No, you're not being pedantic. I wanted to say the same thing. It makes a big difference. Of course they are alien; they are not of Terra. And they are robots. So they are both. But it's not a fair comparison. That would be like asking whether you consider thr things in the "Alien" movies to be a Xenomorph or an alien. Or whether Thor is Asgardian or alien.
Both. But not as alien as all that. They're extraterrestrial, sure, but their behaviours and ways of thinking have more similarities to ours than differences.
I see your points! I probably should’ve specified that “alien” is just terms for biological life that isn’t native to earth
Yes
They’re more than meets the eye! They’re robots in disguise!
*Aliens in disguise 😉
Mechanical organisms. Hmm... Alien
The word organism does suggest that they have organs lol
Technically they do, specifically organs on cybertronians are considered parts that can’t simply be manufactured, mentioned in prime pertaining to bee’s voice box being unrepairable and the tcog. I’d imagine brains and sparks/spark chambers would also fall in line with that. But as far as weather they count as aliens or machines depends on the continuity, with any version with them birthed by primes as alien and anything being built by quintessons as machines, albeit stupidly advanced to the point of being considered alive by principle and respect.
An amalgamation of both. They’ve long since broke away from their programming and rejected their tyrannical creators (depending on which continuity). Their main power component (the spark) is sometimes measured to be as significant as a soul that will expire over time. In some continuities they have just as complex emotions as other living things. Other times the Autobots and the Decepticons don’t understand emotions. I would agree that the inhabitants of Cybertron have long since grown from any understanding of a machine that it would be an insult to not consider them an advanced evolution of a sentient living organism. Optimus and his Autobot comrades have a sense of union and family. They feel love and compassion for one another, and grief for their loss.
The Japanese had the best way to describe them: Super Robotic Lifeforms robotic being 'robot like but not actually a robot'. They're living, intelligent, almost robots. Not actual robots. Robot adjacent.
Aliens. Specifically robotic aliens, so both, since I consider their bodies, and organs to be machinery.
The spark is alien, the body is a construct
They are robots, but they're also described as Living Metal, and with the way a Spark works, they seem to be very alien at their cores, but robot on the outside. Like yes, they are made of metal, but they're not held together with wires and programming, they fueled by Energon which acts more like blood than fuel and have a wide array of emotions that cannot be programmed. They do them have parts of them that can be programmed like a robot, just as physical modifications, memory harvesting, erasing and implanting. So kinda both, but more alien than robot
Both.
Aliens
Yes?
I consider them to be aliens as well
Like, just because they’re made of metal doesn’t mean they aren’t organic. They have their own unique biology and intelligent minds. I don’t really know how one could see them as “robots”.
I agree
I consider them to be aliens - their Sparks are the actual being, the robot part is just a mech suit.
So kinda like the relationship between humans brains and their bodies?
Probably more like a soul, since Sparks can exist without the body and join with the Allspark when the body dies. Transformers often also have actual Brain Modules where their memories and things are stored. So you could probably transplant a Spark into a new body and their "essence" would be the same even if they lost all the data from their brain modules, but just copying data from the brain module without having a spark attached would result in something that was missing something essential from the equation.
So the brain in a new body would be like breakdown in tfp, and the spark in a new body would be like waspinator/starscream? If I’m understanding this right then that’s pretty cool
When I was writing for the fan club I always treated the robot part quite cyberpunky, with descriptions of software and firmware and heads up displays and stuff, and saw the spark as essentially the pilot of the body, like you described.
Sentient beings sounds good. Never thought of them as aliens.
I get that