#transformium

What were Daniel Witwicky, Shawn Berger, and Dr. Fujiyama/Hamada like at Tyran cluster?

Dear Human Ally,

“Daniel” is actually an old Witwicky family name. Archibald Witwicky had an older brother named Daniel who tragically died fighting for the Union in the American Civil War. Herbert Witwicky would consequently name one of his sons Daniel in his honor, though he didn’t quite live up to his namesake’s legacy, ending up as a failed stand-up comedian-turned-Burger House manager. Still, he was always a highlight at Witwicky family reunions for the younger members of the family, particularly for the mischief he would get up to with his nephews Sam and Butch, the latter whom he affectionately called “Buster.” After the Battle of Chicago, Buster married his high-school sweetheart Jessie and they had their own son Daniel, named in honor of his great-uncle. The rise of Cemetery Wind soon put a target on most of the Witwicky family due to their affiliations with the Autobots, and Buster was forced to go into hiding alongside his partner Backfire to protect his family. Still a baby when his father left, Daniel heard stories about him from his mother and is now determined to find out what became of him following Cemetery Wind’s dissolution.

Shawn Berger was a human collaborator of the Decepticons in the 1980s. Through his cutthroat business practices in real estate markets and on Wall Street, he helped move money around to finance the Decepticons’ numerous machinations over the decades. Berger also had political aspirations, which were thankfully never realized once he had outlived his usefulness and was killed by Laserbeak.

Dear Metallurgy Maestro,

Certainly these metals are known to me, although some I know purely by reputation, such as the Adamantium that laces the bones of the hero known as Wolverine. Of course adamantium, like the alloy used to create Captain America's trusty battle suit, was designed to recreate the metal used by the Olympians of myth in certain universes. While you may suspect those would be the same entities as my kin, due to our own influence in some universes, I can state it's just a coincidence.

Hihi'irokane is simply a name given by humanity to the living metal that would one day be referred to as "Transformium"; the swordsmiths who helped to repair Deep Down and his followers were fascinated by the metal that made up the Swordbots' bodies, comparing its shifting structure to leaping flames. I believe that recollections of this metal were passed down over time to one Takenouchi Kiyomaro, who took it as inspiration for his writings.

Mithril is not as common as it once was on Cybertron, where now the only large amount can be found in the Mithric Sea. Its corrosion resistant properties make it a popular choice for statuary or other things designed to survive the aeons, and it may not surprise you that my own chassis is built from a mithril-alternium alloy, to better survive the rigors of time travel.

Dear Reformation Referencer,

This ability of Bumblebee’s is a side-effect of experimentation with living metal—“Transformium,” as Joshua Joyce called it. 

I've got a few ideas about it below the Read More, but first, two things:

1. There'll probably be minor spoilers for things in Transformers Age of Extinction, I don't think they'll be too big, but gonna mark it as spoilers anyway, just in case. (Doesn't look like I went too deep into spoilery territory, but I'll keep the warning up just to make sure.)

2. I made this up while sleep-deprived, I can't guarantee that it makes ANY sense at all or if it's really as cool as I think it is.