Cybertronic Bestiary: Ain't Nothin' But A..., *UPDATED:The Rusthound (3/13) Options

[ZacWilliam1]

I've always been intersted in the fauna of Cybertron beyond the Transformers themselves. We've had a good number of Cybertronian animals mentioned over the years but very, very few have ever actually been seen. Awhile back I decided to come up with designs for all the Cybertronic fauna listed on the wiki. I did a big poster of them all, which I promptly saved to a flash drive and then misplaced before I could share it. So, recently I've started drawing them all over again from memory and recreating "The Cybertronic Beastiary" which I imagine as a book of sketches and notes from one of the first human visitors to Cybertron (Spike, or Chip, or Carly maybe).

I figured the first page should definately go to the Turbofox, which has the honor both of being the first Cybertronian animal mentioned in fiction (Mirage's G1 bio) and likely the one to be used the most times in various continuities since.

(I've left the image slightly large so the smaller text is still readable.)



(IMG:http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1737/cbweb.jpg)



-ZacWilliam plans to do future pages of the Beastiary soon, and has stuck this first page on some cafe press junk mostly for his own ammusement, if anyone really likes it.

This post has been edited by ZacWilliam1: Mar 13 2013, 10:22 AM

[Dissever]

The script text works well for the headers, but it's a little distracting for the body text.

It makes me VERY happy that you came up with some truly alien, robotic designs. Definitely not your run of the mill 'Earth animals wearing metal skin' concept. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

[Redshift]

I'm not a big fan of the turbofox design, but overall I like the direction you're going in; these are not robot earth animals, these are something completely alien! I love the fluff of the fox being descended from rogue courier units, gives them a plausible origin story! The mice as rogue repair drones works too, makes sense why they sometimes 'infest' Transformers out of some misguided attempt to fix them.

[ZacWilliam1]

The turbofox design has been floating in my head forever. Admittedly it's pretty cribbed from Laserbeak with the head there. But given that everything we know about them is that they're the fastest things on Cybertron I liked the idea of their basically being jet engines with a head. All about the speed.

I like the idea of giving them just enough of a hint of the earth-animal they're named after to make it feasible for them to be called that, but at the same time keeping them very "Cybertronian" so they look like things that might have lived in the wilds on Cybertron.

But yeah, the text might be better served in a simpler font in the future. I liked the idea of it looking a bit like a "sketchbook" but if the script-text get's in the way of clarity it should probably be simplified.


-ZacWilliam, remembering the "titanium moosebot" mentioned in one ep being one of the hardest to design without it looking too goofy. May have to recreate that one next. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

[▲ndrusi]

One would think the glitch mice would be optical now instead of relying on roller balls. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif)

[Dvandom]

My optical mouse is certainly glitchier than any rollerball mouse I've used. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

---Dave

[Master Fwiffo]

Do more of these! This is fantastic!

[TheTurnipKing]

See, little details like this are what I thought was missing from War for Cybertron.

[Sheba]

The question that's been floating around my mind for like, ever, is, where are all the factories that mass-produced all these things?

[Bug-Saw]

This project is a great idea, but personally, I don't see why turbo foxes and glitch mice can't look like robotic versions of their Earthly counterparts since the G1 cassettes basically established that's what cybertronian wildlife is like.

[Kalidor]

I like these alot!

Are you taking submissions?

[ZacWilliam1]

Do more of these! This is fantastic!

Thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif) I've been working on the Titanium moosebot this afternoon. The challenge drew me in. Liking how it's turning out. Depending how bad the cold I'm comming down with ends up I might have it up tomarrow.

The question that's been floating around my mind for like, ever, is, where are all the factories that mass-produced all these things?

Well, it's possible some of the Fauna could build their own "pack-mates." Some animals might even date from the "origin" of the planet (be it Primus or the Quints).

But, assuming a functioning Factory-Nest... have you looked at Cybertron? The whole thing could be a factory. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif) It's a VERY big place (I mean not just surface area, but you've also got underground levels planet-wide down to rediculous depths). Add in the pretty darn low population of sentients and there are likely long lost factories all over the place that no TF has seen in millenia. The master Turbofox factory might be a nasty place too, guarded by hundreds of the things. Any TF who stumbled across it might be lunch before they could share their discovery.

I love imagining Cybertron as a vast mostly unexplored world full of mystery and surprises even to the TFs.

This project is a great idea, but personally, I don't see why turbo foxes and glitch mice can't look like robotic versions of their Earthly counterparts since the G1 cassettes basically established that's what cybertronian wildlife is like.

Only if you assume the cassettes are supposed to BE Cybertronian animals. That's a VERY big assumption IMO. Most media is very specific that the cassettes are their alternate forms and the "animal" forms are their basic robot selves. Just because their not standard humanoid doesn't mean they are analagous to Cybertronian animals. After all they are sentient intelligent beings. They just have "alternate" style robot-designs.

I find the Quintessa style exact roboticised-earth animals a little silly by themselves. I prefer to suggest the Earth animal enough that you can see why the name-analogy exists but make them "Cybetronian" enough that they arent just a metal fox or moose. But that's a personal design preference.

I like these alot!

Are you taking submissions?

Awesome to hear it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

Well, my plan was just to go through and recreate my original designs as best I could from memory, but it would be interesting to see how others imagine these creatures looking too. Since we don't have any official images of most of them there's a lot of room for the artist's imagination. So sure, why not. Anyone wants to take a crack at a Cyberonic Beastiary design of their own, I say go for it and if I ever get around to compiling them on a site or book or something the different visions will just add to the coolness.



-ZacWilliam, has some moosebot drawings to scan.

[Confuzor]

Tell Grimlock about Petrorabbits again!

[Admiral Lilwall]

awesome awesome awesome

i love that they don't really look earth like. they're not supposed to be earthlike afterall.

who says laserbeak was a cybertronic bird? looked more like a jet of some type in MTMTE to me

love the mice concept, but want bigger scans! and is that the only form the foxes come in or is there a more stationary form as well?

will be watching this thread closely

[Dissever]

Hmm, is there a comprehensive list that you could toss up on here? I can't recall if tfwiki has a 'Cybertronian fauna' category or not. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-arcee.gif)

[TheTurnipKing]

The question that's been floating around my mind for like, ever, is, where are all the factories that mass-produced all these things?

They evolved from naturally occurring gears and pulleys.

Well, my plan was just to go through and recreate my original designs as best I could from memory, but it would be interesting to see how others imagine these creatures looking too.

It stands to reason that there may be regional variations in Cybertronic wildlife.

This post has been edited by TheTurnipKing: Dec 16 2010, 12:09 PM

[Pony of Merak]

wow! amazing job man! keep them coming!

[Fishbug]

Hmm, is there a comprehensive list that you could toss up on here? I can't recall if tfwiki has a 'Cybertronian fauna' category or not. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-arcee.gif)

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Category:Cybertronic_wildlife

I'm really loving this whole idea. It needs an Autobot nature-show host to be covering it all though.

[Pony of Merak]

Hound Irwin?

[ZacWilliam1]

Outback here mates, and next up we come to a true titan of the Cybertronian wilderness, the Titanium Moosebot. Ain't she a beauty? While many larger anibots have gone extinct in modern times due to the ongoing devestation and environmental pressures of the war, the Titanium Moosebot survives, in large part due to its remote and forbidding natural habitat. Let's take a look...



(IMG:http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1323/cb2web.jpg)


Truely a remarkable creature.


-ZacWilliam, who actually came up with too much material on this one to fit it all in with the images. Ah well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)