Photon

Photon
General Information
Other names	Refraktor
Homeworld	Cybertron
Body type	Robotic
Height	Varies
Diet	Fueled by Energon
Lifespan	Potentially immortal
Sapience level	Sapient
Species origin	Similar to other Multi-Component Transformers
Racial abilities	Transformation Combination
Behind the Scenes
Universe	Transformers

Photons (also known as Refraktors) are a subspecies of multi-component Cybertronians from the planet Cybertron.

Biology

While also being a subgroup of Decepticons, Photons consider themselves a species unto themselves.

Anatomy

Photons share a similar biology to other Cybertronians, except they transform from three individual robots into a single camera.

Powers and abilities

Photons share many of the same abilities as other Cybertronians, namely Multi-Component Transformers.

Photons have the have the ability to generate expendable clones of themselves to fill out the Decepticon ranks.

Gallery

Reflector "Refraktor"

Flash Sentry

Scrapface

Shamble

Notes

• The first season of the Generation 1 cartoon occasionally used Reflector's design for generic Decepticons whose identities were not singled out by scripts. The robot in "Divide and Conquer" was identified only as "Unnamed Decepticon" in the script, while the two in "Countdown to Extinction" were originally scripted as being the primitive Medicroids seen elsewhere in the episode.
  • The Collectors' Club coined the name "Photons" to refer to these Reflector duplicates in 2010's "A Team Effort".
• Flash Sentry, Scrapface, and Shamble are identified as Photons due to being redecos of Reflector's Legends Class toy from the Combiner Wars toyline and Deluxe Class toy from the War for Cybertron: Siege toyline.
  • Flash Sentry is explicably confirmed to be a Photon on the profile card included with his Combiner Wars toy.
  • Scrapface is identified as a clone of Reflector on the product description of his Walmart-exclusive War for Cybertron Trilogy Deluxe Class toy. This arguably makes him a Photon, as they are capable of cloning themselves.
  • Shamble is arguably a Photon due to sharing the same body-type as Reflector and Scrapface, being distinguished by his dark green color scheme and his left leg being replaced with a pegleg from the knee down.
• Unlike Scrapface, Shamble is never identified by name in the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon. He is only identified as such in the subtitles and episode credits for Earthrise episode 1, as well as the book The Art and Making of Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy.
• Although Animated and Shattered Glass incarnations of Reflector exist, those versions have not been identified as Photons.