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Within the narrative of the fictional Transformers universe, a spark is usually the "soul" of a Transformer. Likewise, the AllSpark is an ancient artifact or object capable of creating new Transformer life by bestowing machinery with sparks. The term "AllSpark" was created by writer Robert N. Skir, who responded to a fan question about the TV series ''Beast Machines'' July 21, 1999 web page.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Transformers: Beast Machines Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (1999-07-21) )〕 Skir explained that the Beast Machines entity called The Oracle was actually the AllSpark, consisting of "the spark of every transformer who has ever lived, or ever will live". In a November 6, 1999 web page, Skir clarified that the Matrix was something called the AllSpark and was "made up of every Spark that ever was, and every Spark that ever will be".〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Transformers: Beast Machines Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (1999-11-06) )〕 In the ''Beast Machines'' television series, the term "AllSpark" was used for the Transformers' afterlife. Although the concept of the Transformers afterlife was briefly touched upon in the original series and ''Beast Wars'' series, it was not until ''Beast Machines'' that the concept was explored further. The Autobot Matrix of Leadership, as seen in the original series, was not merely a receptacle for the consciousness of deceased Autobot leaders; it was a gateway that led to the AllSpark, from which all current and future Transformers' sparks came. Possessing a sentience, the AllSpark had sent Sparks out into the world to live. When any Transformers, good or evil, were destroyed, their Spark would return to the AllSpark and share with it all that it had experienced, thereby adding to the timeless fountain of knowledge and wisdom. The facility on Cybertron, which produces Maximal protoforms, was named after the aforementioned Matrix, and was analogous to human's Heaven. A similar Predacon facility also exists, named the Pit, and was analogous to Hell. The Pit was also known as the Inferno until the late-season addition of the character Inferno. In the ''Transformers'' 2007 live action film, the "AllSpark" is a cube-shaped artifact adorned with glyphs and designs which is capable of granting independent life to normal electronic and mechanical objects and is the source of life for all Transformers. The AllSpark was prominently featured in the concurrently released 2007 ''Transformers Animated'' series, where it shares a similar history and capabilities with its 2007 film counterpart, but resembles the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.〔Transformers: more than meets the ear. Japan Times; September 19, 2007〕 IGN described the AllSpark saving the day as one of the worst moments of the Transformers movie.〔http://movies.ign.com/articles/117/1177006p1.html〕 The "AllSpark" name is also mentioned of Hasbro Studios's new film self-finance/co-finance production label Allspark Pictures on October 20, 2014. ==Conceptual history== The concept of The Allspark as it now exists has evolved and coalesced over the course of almost all Transformer fiction since the line began, and this article will cover its history to minimize confusion. Most often, a spark is best described as the "soul" of a Transformer – while they have programmable computer minds that house their personality, the Spark is that indefinable, indescribable energy that makes them truly ''alive'', more than mere machines. The very beginnings of the concept of the Allspark arose with the Generation 1 cartoon, which introduced the Autobot Matrix of Leadership in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. The Matrix was a powerful, ancient talisman, revealed in the episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" to be a vessel containing the life essences of its previous bearers, who stood sentinel over the accumulated "Wisdom of the Ages" within the Matrix, and guided Rodimus Prime through its depths when he sent his own life-force into the Matrix in search of answers about the Transformers' past. In a curious error, the ancient Autobot Alpha Trion was shown to exist within the Matrix in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2", but also within the mega-computer Vector Sigma, with which he had previously merged, in "The Rebirth, Part 2". Vector Sigma had been shown to be responsible for giving Transformers life in previous episodes. While the ''Generation 1'' Marvel Comics' had debuted its version of the Matrix, the "Creation Matrix", before the cartoon under writer Bob Budiansky, it was not until after the cartoon introduced these concepts that writer Simon Furman expanded on the nature of the comic's Matrix. Furman revealed it to be a vessel containing the essence and power of the Transformers' creator and God Primus, in addition to explaining that all Transformer life-forces are fragments of Primus' own. It was the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon that took understanding of Transformer life to the next level when it established the concept of sparks, the pulsating balls of energy that were all at once a Transformer's heart, mind and soul. Sparks, it was explained, came from "the Matrix", and would return to this realm when they died. Piggybacking on a trail left when Optimus Primal died in a transwarp explosion, Rhinox was even able to enter this "Matrix" and recover Primal's spark. Additionally, the Transformers could often be heard swearing "by the Matrix", indicating its reverential place in their belief system. Beast Wars writers Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio did not have the precise concept of the Matrix as they had employed it fleshed out, envisioning it variously as a mysterious facility on Cybertron, from which Maximal protoforms emerged, or as the nebula that was home to the cartoon's enigmatic aliens, the Vok, thus making those creatures responsible for Transformer life in the Beast Era. The latter idea was never used (and has since been pushed well out of the realm of possibility by subsequent fiction) while the former would later be officialized over a decade later in the Transformers Collectors' Club story "The Razor's Edge". Regardless, it was Beast Wars own sequel series Beast Machines that was first to expand on what this "Matrix" truly was, forging it into the central concept of its own storyline. What Beast Wars had called the "Matrix", Beast Machines called the "Allspark", establishing it to be the realm from which all Transformer sparks "that ever lived, or ever will live" come from, cementing the vast majority of the details covered in the top section of this article. A vague reference to the Allspark was later made in ''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'', when Vector Sigma was dubbed "the Allspark of Cybertron" in "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!", the first linking of the Beast Era's handling of Transformer life to the Generation 1 cartoon. Later still, in Dreamwave Productions' More Than Meets The Eye guidebook, the concepts of the Beast Era were brought together with the Generation 1 Marvel comic's concept of Primus, to first form the idea of the Allspark as it has been known since. And the end of this tale, then, we are able to return to that original error from the Generation 1 cartoon regarding Alpha Trion, and retroactively gloss it away by understanding that he was not within either the Matrix or Vector Sigma, but within the Allspark, which was merely being accessed by these two items. With the concept firmly in place, the Allspark was not particularly touched upon in fiction for the immediate future, with the entire Unicron Trilogy going by with only an occasional name-drop, such as characters swearing by "the Allspark of Cybertron", or, in the episode "Trap", Starscream referring to death as being sent to "meet the Allspark". In 2006, the bio of the e-Hobby exclusive "Laser" Ultra Magnus figure touched upon the Allspark again, taking a moment to explain why the Autobot leaders from the Generation 1 cartoon had appeared as individuals within the Allspark when Beast Machines had established this should not be the case: those who had held the Matrix of Leadership were exempt from this rule, and retained their individuality within the Allspark. It was not until the advent of the ''Transformers'' 2007 live action film that the idea of the Allspark was thrust back into the fore, as its name was given to the legendary object that drove the film's plot, the huge cube that was the source of Transformer life in this continuity. Takara's World of the Transformers website then created the idea of the "God item", grouping Vector Sigma, the Matrix and the movie's AllSpark together as items capable of bestowing Transformer life, and by logical extension, connections to the Allspark realm. ''Transformers Animated'' followed the live-action movie's lead, featuring a physical AllSpark object responsible for bestowing Transformer life, which was identified as another sacred implement by the guidebook ''Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II''. To spare confusion, when the afterlife is discussed in the ''Animated'' cartoon, it is referred to not as the "Allspark", but as "the Well of All Sparks", after a location introduced in Dreamwave's comic which was itself another connection to the Allspark realm. By this count, then, the Allspark is known by three different names, each of which is in turn also the name of one of the objects used to access it. In the ''Transformers: Prime'' universe, the Allspark, along with Vector Sigma, the Matrix of Leadership, and the Well of All Sparks, are portrayed as separate entities. The Allspark is referred to as an "afterlife", where a fallen Cybertronian spark departs to after its body has died, often referred to as "becoming one with the Allspark". Primus used the Well of All Sparks to create the original thirteen Primes. Not much information is presented in this continuity about the Well of All Sparks, except that it is wholly separate from the Allspark. It would stand to reason that if a Spark departs to the Allspark in death, the source of any and all Sparks, their birthplace, would be the Well of All Sparks, though this has not yet been confirmed in the series. The Matrix of Leadership is a device that is bestowed upon a Cybertronian, by the Counsel of the Primes (who are not Primes themselves), whom they deem worthy to carry the title of Prime. In fact, the Counsel's denial of Megatron's demand for the Matrix is what started the Great War, and the schism between Autobot and Decepticon. The Matrix itself, is stored within the Prime's body. In dire situations, the Prime may call upon the power of the Matrix, as Optimus did to contain Unicron. However, in doing this, the Matrix reverts the Prime to their pre-Prime state, as the Matrix acts as the vessel of the "Wisdom of the Primes". If the Matrix is the vessel of the Wisdom of the Primes, to be carried by the Prime, then Vector Sigma would be the backup drive of the Matrix. Should the Matrix be emptied of its power, it can be reloaded by Vector Sigma, through the use of the Key to Vector Sigma. However, the Key is only granted to the current Prime, or one chosen by a Prime. The key scans the current owner's bio-signature, and will only function if in the possession of that life form. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spark (Transformers)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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