Shifter
From Transformers Wiki
While almost every Cybertronian is capable of changing shape to some degree, Shifters take this to a whole new level. Supposed descendants of the trickster of the Thirteen Amalgamous Prime, Shifters are chameleonoid even by their race's standards. They have the ability to take any form comparable to their normal size and mass—extending even to other Cybertronians. Thus, their rare talent makes them highly prized spies and scouts by others.
Known Shifters include:
Contents |
Fiction
The Covenant of Primus
The Shifters were the descendants of Amalgamous Prime and possessed the talent to transform into others of their kind who were of similar build to them. Following the Rust Plague and the end of the Golden Age, a group of refugees fleeing the destruction of Neutronia discovered Amalgamous's transformation cog in orbit of a black hole. The legendary artifact was brought aboard their ship with its energies mutating the colonists into the Mutacons, granting them virtually unlimited shifting and combination potential. This had the side-effect of causing them to slowly merge into a single amorphous blob being. To avoid this fate, they began seeking out Amalgamous Prime.
The Ark crew eventually crossed path with the Mutacons with Optimus promising to one day help them either find Amalgamous or cure their condition without the ancient Prime's aid. The Covenant of Primus
Aligned novels
When the Great War broke out on Cybertron, Shifters became highly valued as spies. One of these, Makeshift posed as Hound to sabotage the Autobots aboard the Ark. When he was eventually found out, he fled into the wilderness of Junkion. Exiles
Prime cartoon
By 2011, Makeshift had joined the Nemesis crew on Earth. When Wheeljack arrived on Earth, Starscream saw an opportunity to locate the Autobot base and had Makeshift assume the Wrecker's form. Though Makeshift did indeed learn the base's location, he violently exploded before he could impart this knowledge to Starscream. Con Job
2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon
Following the war's end, the Shifter Pseudo used his talents to steal important Cybertronian secrets which he then sold to aliens resulting in his imprisonment aboard the Alchemor. After the ship had crash landed on Earth, Pseudo took refuge in a ghost town using his talents to confuse the Autobots that had randomly stumbled upon his hiding spot before he was captured and placed back into stasis. Ghosts and Impostors
Notes
- Nexus Prime is described as being like a Shifter at the end of Exiles, but since they were earlier described as the descendants of Amalgamous Prime, this may be more comparative than literal.
