Combiner

A combiner (sometimes capitalized, sometimes not) is a group of Transformers that assemble and combine their bodies into a single machine, or that composite machine itself. Most combiners form a larger Super Robot with its own unique personality (a character in its own right), but other varieties of combiner exist, forming vehicles, weapons, or other items. Combiners tend to be considerably larger and more powerful than the average Transformer, equivalent to strategic-grade weapons.

While you might think that the merging of at least five minds would make an highly intelligent being, more often than not combiners tend to be big dumb brutes, due to the minds agreeing on only basic principles. Autobot combiners tend to be more mentally stable, however.

There are a number of combiner-related terms that can be easy to mix up, partially because some of them are used interchangeably. Additionally, most of them have no formal definition and thus may be used differently by different fans. Consequently, most of the discussion which follows should not be taken as the word of Primus, but as a rough description of common usage.