Cyberdroid

Guess which one has a name.

A Cyberdroid (セイバードロイド Seibādoroido) is a Cybertronian who has not mastered the art of transformation, and is as yet unable to reconfigure their body into an alternate mode. All known Cyberdroids are of diminutive stature compared to normal Cybertronians, standing at a height comparable to that of a tall human being, but it is not clear if this is a required characteristic to be classified as a Cyberdroid.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Headmasters cartoon

Four million years ago, seeking to escape the unending war on Cybertron, Fortress led a group of Cyberdroids into space, seeking a new world they could call home. Unfortunately for them, they landed on the inhospitable planet Master, where the hostile atmospheric conditions forced them to learn to transform in order to survive.

They all underwent the rigorous training of body and mind needed to master the art of transformation, and the most adept warriors learned to transform into heads which could attach to larger, lifeless bodies called Transtectors. The Mystery of Planet Master After these new-born "Headmasters" departed Master to rejoin the war on Cybertron in 2011, more of the Cyberdroids began training to become Headmasters, and became known as the "Autobot Master Warriors".

Later, when the Decepticons invaded planet Master, a group of refugee Cyberdroids fled the planet to acquire the help of the Autobots on Earth. They were caught in a plasma energy explosion along with half-a-dozen Autobot and Decepticon warriors, and were fused to the wrists of the larger robots as weapons, becoming the Targetmasters. Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 1)

Micromaster

Not long after Fortress's Cyberdroids left Cybertron, the Autobot and Decepticon leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, also departed the planet with their elite forces in a search for new sources of energy. They proceeded to crash-land on prehistoric Earth, and eventually, in the early 1980s, a group of Autobot Cyberdroids set out to search for their lost leader and the Matrix of Leadership. Struck by a dimensional shockwave, the Cyberdroids were teleported across the galaxy and found themselves on Earth, suddenly gifted with the power of transformation by the strange energy that had enveloped them. Additionally, several of their number had their minds warped by the shockwave, and became Decepticons, and these two factions of "Micromasters" began battling on Earth. A New Transformer Legend Begins!! Tailgate/G1 Mini-Con Chapter

Beast Wars: Uprising

The Transformers that would become Cyberdroids fled an earlier civil war seven million years ago, landing on a planet they colonized and named Rebirth. Over time, however, their brave new world devolved into an oligarchic dictatorship where the Optimus triumvirate restricted resources and rights "for your own good". When the Decepticons showed up, the Malignus insurgency joined up with them for their assistance in overthrowing the Optimus.

The Cyberdroids became the new Headmaster, Targetmaster, and Powermaster partners to larger Transformers, igniting a conflict that devastated the planet—which Galvatron renamed Master—but eventually drove the Autobots and Optimus out. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue Soon after that, Galvatron forced the Human Confederacy's hands with his Great Push and the humans halved the territory they allowed Cybertronians to possess. The Cyberdroids were forced to evacuate as Master was sterilized by the CTCF. Micro-Aggressions Furthermore, (nearly) all the Targetmasters were killed in the Targetmaster Extirpation, due to the concern that their unique ability to draw power from Sparks could be weaponized. Trigger Warnings The development of Micromaster technology owed something to Thunderwing's studies of Cyberdroid physiology.^[1] Several Cyberdroids later upgraded to bulkier Micromaster bodies. Derailment Trigger Warnings

On late 24th century Cybertron, Cyberdroid refugees played against Maximals and Predacons in various sporting events until the Builder Assembly banned them from the League and restricted them to the Micro Division to compete against Micromasters. Broken Windshields Cyberdroids Hotwire and Monxo owned shady establishments in Iacon. Trigger Warnings Deep inside the dormant Fortress Maximus, the Cyberdroids Gran, Plasma, and Kord served as controlling units. Head Games

Six years into the Grand Uprising, the majority of Maximals and Predacons had defected to the Resistance and the increasingly-desperate Builders started drafting Cyberdroids into the military to recoup their losses. Micromaster commander Erector wasn't happy about that, not least because the new recruits couldn't transform into anything useful. Derailment

10,000 years later, the Cyberdroids were remembered as the "Titanmasters". Lio Convoy: Unity Through Tyranny

Ask Vector Prime

Vector Prime noted that when he thought about it, he could not think of any good reason for the distinction between Cyberdroid, Micromaster, and Mini-Con. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/20

Notes

• The term "Cyberdroid" was apparently created for the small, non-transforming Cybertronians in the Micromaster storyline. This article is adopting the position that it is retroactively applicable to the small, non-transforming Cybertronians from the Headmasters animated series.
• Beast Wars: Uprising author Jim Sorenson has stated that in the Uprising universe, Cyberdroids play a similar role to historical Jews.^[2]
  In Builder society, Cyberdroids occupy a strange and uncomfortable niche. They're technically and LEGALLY Builders, which is really important in terms of the ability to own businesses, which Maximals and Predacons can't easily do. But socially they're viewed as outsiders. Maximals and Predacons, who make up the bulk of active society, don't count them as members. But Builders, who hold most of the wealth and political power, don't feel like they belong either. Micromasters are already looked down on for deigning to remain mobile, and they're basically the Builder military class. Cyberdroids, who have mostly turned to commerce, are distrusted on all sides. The closest example I can think of from history are the Jewish. There's also this added angle that Cyberdroids basically can't Transform into anything useful. Not much call for a free-floating head or engine, and the guns are all gone at this point, so their reputations suffer for that reason too.
  The parallels become even more clear when you realize that they're refugees driven from their homeland who have experienced systemic annihilation.

References