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ON TITANS AS A DIFFERENT SPECIES
Ridiculous. Is the one who turns into a plane so different from one that turns into a car? Chassis is not a term we should try and organize ourselves by either by function, form, or even duty. It is a helpful label for those in repair fields, a term to guide their ability to give care. Alternator, Wrecker, Dinobot, Protectobot, Aquaspeeder, Spychanger, many more and indeed Titan are just loose labels that seeks to define our adaptive dimorphism.
There are several different societal and environmental factors at play when anyone is forged. An Alternator on Velocitron is built with the ideals of speed and power while Cybertron focuses on fuel efficiency and distance travel, but they are still Transformers. They are still cars, even if the cars are styled differently. Next you will tell me a Transformer with flame decals is somehow an alien to one with stripes!
I have seen so many beasts, some who look nearly identical but are genetically so different they may as well be fire and water! And must we define ourselves as if we share genetics? We do not have DNA, we do not have lineages passed down to us by a combination of chemicals. We are formed and shaped by environmental factors similar to beasts but we are different as we adapt and transform to fit our environments. How else could we find new forms within worlds we never visited before, with conditions that some of our greatest minds could not even predict?
I propose we toss aside this restrictive, incorrect, and I would say violent idea that those of different forms are somehow so separate from us they are not even a part of us. To define a singular 'true' Transformer is against our very nature.
Now, take for example, the Apis zarak, a type of bee on Nebulos. They have a eusocial structure that divides their hive into reproductive and non-reproductive groups and if their reproductive head, the queen as it is called, is killed then they choose one of their sisters to become their new queen. By feeding royal jelly to this chosen one, they ascend into a new form that is so different from their sisters, that indeed one unknowing eye may consider it a different beast altogether!
The Titans, then, are similar, even their roles are somewhat similar to the A. Zarak.
They produce energon and even Well energon in their bodies, they host multiple different sources of metallo-nutrition such as the ferrous fungi that grows around and near their water systems, things that must be harvested in order to maintain the Titan's health. Things that we need to continue functioning.
There are two factors that I believe create a Titan. I believe there is a connection between the Titan's ability to process Ore 13 within their bodies and use it to create great constructs within themselves - no different than those deep space Transformers who need to process Ore 13 for their deep space fuel. Then why does that Transformer, I am sure you ask,not grow to become a Titan? The key factor here, I believe, is the Titan's ability to store and regulate water. Water is found on many planets that we find energon and indeed, Wells. Cybertron's own lakes and Velocitron's seas shows this connection, and I'm sure any sailor or miner can tell you the wondrous planets they have seen that are abundant in water and life.
Water is a key part of all life in the universe, so of course, when it can be consumed and utilized by a Transformer then it would only make sense it would provide life just as our Wells do.
Why is this dying off then? The universe is getting smaller, in some ways, more crowded. More planets that can support us are forming... there may not be a need for their adaptability anymore as sorrowful as that is. Perhaps I am wrong, perhaps I have not studied enough to understand a part of my people who have lived much longer than I ever hope to. We may see a dwindling of their forms but that does not make them lesser beings than us. Simply one that rose when the challenge was presented and we, also, rose to the challenge. To adapt and support our Titan sisters. One harmonious and diverse community. Till all are one, indeed.