Shell program
From Transformers Wiki
Ashell programis a personality altering program that can be installed within a Transformer to change the way they act. A shell program can even compel a Transformer to behave in ways diametrically opposed to what they would do if it were not installed.
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Fiction
Beast Warscartoon
Upon the landing of eachstasis pod,theMaximalsandPredaconswould both rush to the scene in hopes of recruiting theprotoforminside to their team. The protoforms were Maximals by default, but the Predacons were able to turn some by implanting shell programs before waking the protoform up.BlackarachniaandInfernojoined the Predacons through this scheme. (RampageandQuickstrikejoined without being reprogrammed.) Rhinox's brief stint as a Predacon was not explicitly explained, but may have also been the result of a shell program.Dark Designs
Eventually, despite her shell program, Blackarachnia decided to side with the Maximals. When hidden code in her shell program began to threaten her life, the Maximals attempted to remove it entirely, a procedure which was very dangerous for her.Rhinoxthen conducted a strange kind of virtual, videogame-style "search and destroy" mission within Blackarachnia to accomplish this. Sadly, a safeguard thatTarantulasincluded in the program terminated her before Rhinox could finish the removal. (She was then revived "magically" by theTransmetal driver.)Crossing the Rubicon
Beast Machinescartoon
Megatronutilized the sparks ofSilverbolt,Waspinator,andRhinoxto power shell programs giving life totheoriginalthreeVehicon Generals.
Each of these programs seemed to have personalities the exact opposite of the spark (i.e. Thrust a dark, brooding type as opposed to Waspinator's wimpy personality, Tankor is a dumb brute as opposed to Rhinox's superior intelligence, and Jetstorm is a wise-cracking, cold-blooded,Joker-esque psychopath as opposed to Silverbolt's sincere chivalry).ObsidianandStrika,however, did not appear to be altered in this manner.
Ask Vector Prime
Megazarakwas fond of using hisRobo-Smasherto implantPredaconshell programs in Autobotcombiners.Dominus TrannisandDevastatorwere among his victims.Ask Vector Prime
2021Beast Warscomic
After breaking into theAxalon,Tarantulashacked the ship's computers and attempted to upload a personality-altering shell program into the orbitingstasis podsin the hopes that he could initiate their landing protocols and raise an army of loyal slaves.Savage Landing Part 6However,Rattrapinterrupted the process with only a single stasis pod received a garbled version of the transmission. Upon making planetfall, Blackarachnia emerged from the pod. With the program taking time to fully activate, her still Maximal codedsparkallowed her entry into theAxalonwhereupon the shell program took full effect.Pod Part 1Resuming Tarantulas' work, Blackarachnia uploaded her copy of the shell program into the orbiting stasis pods but only managed to reprogram 51% of them beforeRhinoxfound her.Pod Part 2
