Zonders

Zonders (ゾンダー, Zondā^?) are the fusion of a sentient being and Zonder Metal. A Zonder has four general phases, culminating in a Zonderian. The first form is a base form resembling a shaggy monster of some sort, which is usually taken immediately upon infection. On occasion a Zonder in this form retains most of their human characteristics, as was the case with EI-12, when it would be more useful for them to do so.

The second form is the usual combat form, the result of the first form absorbing machinery. This results in a Zonder Robo, which is of varying size and design (usually taking a design modeled off of either the source of stress or the machinery with which the Zonder combined). This form usually seeks out and tries to destroy the source of stress, unless it has been commanded to do otherwise.

The third stage is the last one at which Purification is normally possible without killing the host. In this form, the Zonder, having eliminated the source of its stress, begins to produce Zonder Spores. At the end of this phase, it fires the Spores and blankets a large section of the planet it is on, thus allowing the Zonder forces to succeed in their goal of mechanizing the planet.

The last stage, also known as a Zonderian, is almost a more intellectual version of the first stage. The Zonderian somewhat resembles its human self, and regains intelligence and speech. The personality also returns to match that of the human, though twisted to believe in and serve the Z-Master's goals. Though the Zonderian can recombine with machinery, it can also separate from it, and generally remains in human-sized form. A Zonderian can be subjected to Purification - however, under most circumstances this leads to the original being's body dissolving after just a few moments. If one of the 31 Machine Primevals integrates with a sentient being (Arm Primeval is particularly fond of doing so), the host is temporarily transformed into a Zonderian with an exaggerated body part representing the Primeval it hosts. Purification from this "possession" does not harm the host.