Transmutate

Transmutate is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. She is a damaged, but powerful, Maximal protoform who befriends both the Maximal Silverbolt and his enemy the Predacon Rampage.

Transmutate was pitched to the show creators by the writer, who was under strict orders not to add any new characters. She pitched the character as not being a new character, but an amalgamation of existing characters.

Beast Wars
Transmutate could fly, had enhanced senses and could emit a powerful sonic cry. In the last few seconds of its appearance on the show it was able to create an energy field.

Transmutate was voiced by Susan Blu, the voice director of Beast Wars and the voice actor of Arcee in the original Transformers series.

Animated series
Transmutate appeared only in the second season episode of the same name, although it was among the stasis pods ejected in the Beast Wars series' pilot.

A Maximal created from a stasis pod that was so extensively damaged that it created it with permanent neurological and physical impairments, and without a beast mode or any alternate form. Its name is derived from comments made by Rampage, who referred to it as "a" transmutate (as though that were a type of transformer technology). Transmutate was inarticulate in speech or thought, and unable to transform, but deeply emotional and powerful; it was capable of flight and carried inside it a directed/beam energy weapon and a general, wide dispersal "blast" energy weapon which could be used to push objects away from it. Transmutate befriended both the Maximal Silverbolt, who sought to protect it, and the Predacon Rampage, who knew the pain of being labeled a "freak," and sought to form a sympathetic friendship with it. Megatron saw Transmutate as having no value as a combatant and initially wanted to destroy it. Rampage convinced Megatron to give it a chance to prove itself, which Megatron did, saying he would spare it if it brought the heads of the Maximals attacking his jamming station. It helped in a successful ambush, but at the last second sided with the Maximals and flew Silverbolt to safety. With Transmutate's immense physical powers but limited mental capacity, Optimus Primal viewed it as a threat and thought it best if it were temporarily shut down. This caused a moral divide between Optimus Primal and Silverbolt. Silverbolt and Rampage battled over custody of Transmutate. Unable to tolerate watching its friends fight, it sacrificed itself to protect Silverbolt and Rampage from each other, leaving Maximal and Predacon to mourn for its passing. Its episode served as an extremely powerful metaphor for euthanasia and is arguably one of the most morally provocative stories ever written for Transformers.

It is unknown why the Maximals could not remove its spark and put it in a blank protoform like they had done with Optimus Primal. The Maximal Rhinox only says that its datatracks and higher reasoning circuits are damaged but not its spark. Likely though, it was the fact that there were no blank protoforms to use. Every protoform on the Axalon was in orbit, and each had an accompanying spark. It was only through sheer luck, good or ill—depending on perspective, that there was one, whose spark had died, that they could give to Optimus. Moreover, the original script for the episode describes her spark as unstable and rippling of raw, uncontrolled energies, thus widening the risk of damaging a new host body unnecessarily.

IDW Publishing
Transmutate had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.

Toys

 * Beast Wars Transmutate (2005–06)
 * In 2005–06 Hasbro released six 10th anniversary painted Beast Wars figures, each of which contained a piece of Transmutate. They referred to it as "Trans-Mutate". The figures which included pieces of Transmutate were Cheetor, Dinobot, Rattrap, Rhinox, Tarantulas and Waspinator.

IDW Publishing
An alternate timeline would later reveal what might have transpired had Transmutate been given a chance to live instead of perishing in her titular episode.

Toys

 * TFCC Transmutate (2014)
 * A recolored version of the first edition Arcee figure from Transformers Prime, with Transmutate's color scheme and a Maximal insignia.