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Tarn (G1)

2023-08-22T20:42:51Z

DaftDragon: My own take on Roberts' reply, which I find to be equally as likely as those presented, and valid to note due to the entire section's theoretical nature.

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambigm|Tarn (disambiguation)|Glitch (disambiguation)}}
:''Tarn is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[2005 IDW continuity|2005 IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''

[[File:MTMTE Tarn Alex Milne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|He kills you with culture... and also ''violence''.]]
'''Tarn''' (aka '''Damus''' and '''Glitch''') is an eloquent [[Decepticon]]. He enjoys nothing more than playing beautiful [[The Empyrean Suite|music]] as he waxes poetic quoting ''[[Towards Peace]]'' and other philosophical works by [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]]. He tends to indulge these pleasures at the same time he's using his [[outlier (group)|outlier]] ability to cause the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]'s latest transgressor's spark to self-destruct. The leader of the D.J.D., Tarn epitomizes the mentality of the team. He is beyond zealous in his devotion to Megatron's cause, going so far as to emboss the Decepticon [[insignia]] onto his own faceplate. No traitor, no coward is capable of escaping his team.

Despite appearances, Tarn is a mess of contradictions. Viewing himself as the central pillar of the D.J.D., he can be as brutally violent as any other Decepticon, but views himself as a bureaucrat and his team as his administration. He believes his actions are entirely justified, yet sometimes his thoughts are a constant stream of self-denigration. He works hard to run a tight but fair ship, and is not above taking in an open-minded, needy stray. On the other hand, for all his thoughts of sophistication and control, Tarn can go from affable to life-threatening at the least provocation. His addictive tendencies have led to him burning out his original [[transformation cog]] years ago, and his reliance on the power-enhancing [[Nucleon (substance)|Nuke]] can lead to his losing himself to the lust for violence. And have no doubt that while he may try and convince himself otherwise, Tarn is a truly sociopathic murderer. Ultimately whether Tarn is a monster or not is irrelevant. His utter devotion to the Decepticon cause means he will ensure the fear of Megatron is put into any that would consider abandoning their noble goals.

{{quote|If you want to break someone—mentally, physically, emotionally—wait until they're happy. Let them live and love and thrive. Once they recognize the value of a life well lived... THAT'S when you move in for the kill. Because you can't take anything from someone who has nothing to lose.|Tarn|"[[The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight]]"}}

==Fiction==
===2005 IDW continuity===
{{First|[[How Ratchet Got His Hands Back|''More than Meets the Eye'' #5]] (shadowy image); [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|#7]] (full appearance, as Tarn); [[Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|#10]] (as Glitch)}}

[[File:Ratchet glitch shadowplay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Glitch is [[Wolverine (Marvel)|the one with the claws]].]]
'''Damus''' was [[reproduction|forged]], born an exceptionally powerful [[Point One Percenter]] {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} and an [[Outlier (group)|outlier]] who possessed the ability to render non-sentient machinery inoperative by touching it, but with one drawback: the power hurt him every time he used it. Before the [[Great War (G1)|war]], Damus attended the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]] where they possibly attempted to analyze his brain-wave patterns and kept his outlier status hidden from the [[Senate]] and [[Functionist Council]].

At some point, he crossed the [[Senate]] and was subjected to [[empurata]]: his hands and head replaced to mark him out as someone to shun. After that, to tie in with his power, he started to call himself '''Glitch'''. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}}

When [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] devised a plan to steal a bomb disguised as the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] from [[Nominus Prime]]'s corpse, his [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Senator friend]] recruited Damus, [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]], and [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] from the Academy to participate in the heist. Damus' part in the plan was to deactivate the deflector beams above the [[Primal Basilica]] and despite a slight hitch when Damus accidentally jammed Skids' grappling hook by touching his arm, the plan succeeded. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

Following Shockwave's capture and brainwashing by the [[Senate]], the Outliers stuck with Orion Pax and aided him in defending a [[hot spot (phenomenon)|hot spot]] in [[Alyon]] from [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'s forces. By this time Damus had gotten replacement hands and learned to use his power from a distance, utilizing it to break down [[Elite Guard]] vehicles from afar. With help from a group of time travelers from the ''[[Lost Light]]'' of the future, the group took down a weapons platform sent to irradiate the hot spot's [[spark]]s, then had their memories of the travelers wiped by [[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]]. Possibly due to interference from his powers, the memory wipe seemed to work less effectively on Damus.

[[File:PermanentRevolution-Backwards.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Keith David|"And what would you have your Justice Division do?"]]]]

During the whole affair, Orion Pax had recommended reading Megatron's treatises around Glitch: "powerful stuff," he said. Thanks to Chromedome's memory wipe only partially working on him, Damus hung on to Pax's overheard recommendation and took his first step down a dark path. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

Exactly how and when Damus joined the Decepticons is unknown, but Megatron would later claim he had deliberately "corrupted" Tarn to hurt ''someone'' and prove a point. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}} Damus joined early enough to be at the beginning of Megatron's march across Cybertron. Rebuilt under the supervision of [[Lobe]], {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} Damus' power and endurance was considered by [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] to put him on the same level as a [[Phase Sixer]]. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} His mask was taken as a sign of Decepticon supremacy but, at least so he told himself, it was really so nobody would notice when he closed his eyes around Decepticon brutality. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} In one particular battle during the war, Damus tussled with [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]]. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 3|Shining Armor #3}}

[[File:SpeakMemory2-results.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|"How's it hanging? ... Oh... oh. That dude is ''really'' hanging there. My bad." "Stop it, you uncultured mech. You came here to report, not make puns."]]

Damus became commandant of [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]], where he became associated with "[[The Empyrean Suite]]", playing it at maximum volume to drown out the screams of the prisoners he executed via smelting. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} In this, he was trying to deliberately bastardize a song composed by [[Eucryphia]] to celebrate [[Prima]] and the [[Citadel of Light]]. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} One of his prisoners, soon after the prison's smelting chamber had malfunctioned, was his old comrade Skids. Damus bargained with Skids to fix it, telling him it was a "teleport chamber" and fifty prisoners would be released from Grindcore for this, and was able to con Skids into thinking that he could be trusted. Skids was relaxed enough around Damus to take praise genuinely and push for more freed prisoners later.

In the end, Damus sent all fifty prisoners to the "teleportation chamber" and cruelly forced Skids to watch as it was used to execute a group of prisoners, including Skids' cellmate [[Quark]], melting them down into raw materials for use in the creation of [[M.T.O.]]s. Damus deliberately used the event to cripple Skids' religious faith. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}

After Damus became leader of the D.J.D. as "Tarn" (and would never again use his old name), his powers developed to the point where he could shut down sentient machines using his voice alone. Under him, the group became ''very'' focused on paperwork: the [[Decepticon Empire]] required good administration, in his view. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} When [[Grimlock (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Grimlock]], who had briefly defected to the Decepticons, {{storylink|Animals}} {{storylink|Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|Grimlock profile}} returned to the Autobot ranks, Megatron was so incensed by the betrayal that he ordered the DJD to bump the Dynobot leader up to the top of the list. In a subsequent battle against Grimlock, Tarn had his face badly mangled by his opponent. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind (issue)|The Ties That Bind}}

Some two hundred years ago, Tarn was present at Megatron's current command center when [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] returned from a botched mission on [[Xetaxxis]]. {{storylink|Shining Armor issue 5|Shining Armor #5}}

[[File:LL14-tarn-unmasked.jpg|thumb|There's an ironic joke about [[empurata]] in here if someone cares to find it.]]

Some time later, the DJD established a base on the world of [[Messatine]] in order to obtain the "Nuke" superfuel there. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} Tarn coerced [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]], head surgeon of the planet's Autobot medical facility [[Delphi]], into helping feed his addiction by supplying him with an ever-increasing number of transformation cogs from deceased patients, in exchange for the hospital being unmolested by his team. Pharma would eventually cut off Tarn's supply by orchestrating the facility's shutdown. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

In 2009, following the [[Surge (event)|Surge]], Tarn led the D.J.D. to [[Garrus-9]] to find and eliminate his old teacher Shockwave, who was now the most wanted Decepticon on [[The List|the D.J.D's master hit list]]. After intercepting his vessel, however, they discovered that Shockwave had prepared for this eventuality by staffing his ship with crewmembers who were also on the list, in the hopes of bartering their lives for his. Tarn opted to ignore the offer, using his voice to slowly talk the old Senator to death, but Shockwave was able to blast the radio in time. When Shockwave's backup arrived in the form of [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] and the [[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]], the DJD retreated. {{storylink|The Ties That Bind (issue)|The Ties That Bind}}

[[File:Tarn transforms MTMTE08.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|He's got friends on the other side.]]

Though the war formally ended in 2012, Tarn and his group refused to give up the cause—indeed, they would only deign to stand down when Megatron personally commanded it—and continued to hunt down those Decepticons that had betrayed the cause and hadn't yet returned to Cybertron. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}} Informed by Decepticon spy [[Brainstorm (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Brainstorm]] that high-priority target [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] was aboard the starship ''[[Lost Light]]'', Tarn and the D.J.D. continued to work through their list of offenders as they waited for Brainstorm to drop the ship's shielding so they could pick up Overlord's signal. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} One such unfortunate was [[Black Shadow (G1)|Black Shadow]], whom Tarn explosively finished off with his deadly voice, after which the team set course of the planet [[Clemency]] to hunt down Decepticon deserter [[Fulcrum]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Arriving on Clemency, the team discovered a mysterious [[stasis pod|stasis tube]] awaiting them; when Tarn investigated, he found it contained a deranged, [[circuit speeder]]-enhanced [[Grimlock (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Grimlock]], unleashed by Fulcrum and his new allies, the [[Scavengers (G1)|Scavengers]]. Tarn was soon able to subdue the brain-damaged [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]], but was then crushed beneath the foot of a [[Cybernought]] battle-mech that [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] had activated. Tarn recovered in time to hear Fulcrum deliver a speech to all assembled about Decepticon ideals before apparently committing suicide. At that point, [[Kaon (G1)|Kaon]] detected Overlord's long-awaited signal, and Tarn ordered the D.J.D. to head out—but not before warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had now made it onto [[The List]]. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Tracking Overlord's signal, the D.J.D. found the ''Lost Light''—which was, unbeknownst to Tarn and his team, actually one of ''two'' versions of the ship created by a malfunction of its [[quantum generator]]s—near the planet [[Ofsted XVII]]. Despite having promised Brainstorm they would not harm any of the crew, the discovery that the traitor [[Drift (G1)|Deadlock]] was aboard the ship set the D.J.D. off and, after dealing with him, they set about murdering the rest of the ship. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} Tarn personally destroyed [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]], and [[Cyclonus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Cyclonus]], and forced a large portion of the crew to transform before executing them, leaving their transformation cogs warm for locating and harvesting. Eventually, Tarn removed a still-restrained and suicidal Overlord's head with a chainsaw, and the D.J.D. left the ship. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

[[File:ThePermanentRevolution-goingtowar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|'''Cause when push'' <br/> ''Comes to shove'' <br/> ''I will send a fully armed battalion'' <br/> ''To remind you of my love'' <s>for the cause</s>]]

Sometime during the months that followed, Kaon spontaneously began [[universal killswitch|writhing in agony]] right in front of Tarn, who tried to get his teammate to tell him what he could do to help, before the mysterious effect subsided. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} Also during this time, the D.J.D. welcomed a new member—[[Nickel]], the last survivor of a Cybertronian colony wiped out by the [[Black Block Consortia]]. At Nickel's insistence, they returned to Ofsted XVII to salvage the quantum engines from the derelict ''Lost Light''. They wound up arriving in the middle of a battle between the Consortia and the [[Galactic Council]], who teamed up against the Cybertronians. Under attack by both sides and faced with additional enemy reinforcements, Tarn was forced to retreat, leaving Vos and Kaon behind. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} Tarn eventually gifted Nickel a phone onto which he recorded a message she could use to paralyze people who were threatening her. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

The diminished D.J.D. returned to their duties, though Tarn began to weary of the work. After apprehending the [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]]-worshipping [[Blip]], Tarn was about to end his life using his voice, until Blip used his last words to demand that Tarn remove his mask. Affronted, Tarn allowed [[Helex (G1)|Helex]] and [[Tesarus (G1)|Tesarus]] to finish Blip instead, averting his gaze beneath his mask. Tarn subsequently ordered performance reviews for the team, and nearly came to blows with Tesarus when he implied that abandoning Vos and Kaon was not the Decepticon thing to do. Calming himself, Tarn explained that they were returning to Ofsted XVII again in order to recover their bodies, but was interrupted by Helex's announcement that Vos and Kaon had returned to the ship safe, sound, and with something unbelievable: a postwar edition of ''[[Towards Peace]]'' that revealed Megatron himself had defected from the Decepticons.

His world shattered by this discovery, Tarn had the D.J.D. return to Messatine, where he attempted to fatally overdose on Nuke. Finding even the sensation of dying disappointing, Tarn opened his eyes to see a distraught Nickel pressed against the glass of his fueling capsule. The sight of her triggered a revelation for Tarn: she was a 'bot who had experienced first-hand the threat the predominantly-organic universe posed to Cybertronians, and who had fully embraced the Decepticon cause despite living her life outside of the war. The cause, Tarn now realized, was bigger than any one 'bot—bigger than Megatron. Galvanized, Tarn set up a meeting with the rogue Decepticon warlord [[Deathsaurus (G1)|Deathsaurus]] aboard his stolen [[Warworld]]. Knowing full well he was on the D.J.D.'s list, Deathsaurus pre-emptively attacked Tarn upon his arrival, even deactivating his audio receptors to protect himself from Tarn's voice, but Tarn was able to communicate with him and his troops through [[inter-Decepticon radio]] and explained the reason for his presence: he wished them to ally with him, in return for their being taken off The List. Deathsaurus agreed on the condition that Tarn kill the rest of the D.J.D., which Tarn refused to do—which was the response Deathsaurus had been hoping for. With their alliance cemented, Tarn declared their new objective: kill the traitorous Megatron and all of his allies! {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

[[File:TarnAltMode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|I'm about to drop the hammer and dispense some indiscriminate justice!]]

The allied forces of Tarn and Deathsaurus proceeded to attack the [[Necroworld|Necrobot's world]], killing [[Mortilus|its sole inhabitant]] and using his machinery to broadcast a message that lured Megatron and all those aboard the ''Lost Light'' sympathetic to him down to the planet. When they arrived, the villains shot them down and cornered them in the Necrobot's fortress. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} As an act of indirect torture, Tarn had their forces pull back, warning Megatron and his comrades that they would return at sunset, leaving them to stew in their own fear. Returning to the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]'', Tarn spent the time showing off his collection of Megatron's writings to Deathsaurus, and discussing tactics with his men; he did not take Tesarus' concerns about the Necrobot's fortress' storm shield seriously, but the discussion was interrupted by a call on Tarn's personal communicator from Megatron himself. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight}}

[[File:YourFierceTears-byebyekaon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Give me your...you know the drill.]]

Tarn agreed to a meeting with Megatron alone, whereupon his former leader agreed to surrender in exchange for the rest of the Autobots being allowed to go free. Saddened and disgusted to truly see with his own eyes how far his idol had fallen, Tarn beat him to within an inch of his life, and was just about to deliver the killing shot when [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] suddenly appeared, insisting that it was his right to end Megatron's life. Both refused to stand down, resulting in a bickering battle between the two that gave Megatron the chance to escape. Realizing their folly, Tarn and Overlord agreed to a truce, though Overlord continued to needle Tarn all the way back to the ''Peaceful Tyranny''. The final straw came when a distraught Kaon arrived with the news that the Autobots had kidnapped the D.J.D.'s [[Dominus Ambus|pet sparkeater]]; determined to cut out of both the hearts of himself and his men the compassion that he saw as Megatron's downfall, Tarn slew Kaon on the spot, tearing his head from his shoulders. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 3: Your Fierce Tears|Your Fierce Tears}}

At sundown, Tarn led the Decepticons in their attack, {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}} playing "The Empyrean Suite" across the battlefield as battle commenced. He initially hung back with Deathsaurus, but joined the fight in earnest after a temporary power-up acquired by the Autobots wore off, ripping [[Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ravage]] clean in half. Unfortunately, that turned out to be just the thing to bring Megatron out onto the battlefield, cutting swathes through the Decepticon troops. Tarn surreptitiously ordered the D.J.D. to retreat, whilst demanding Deathsaurus' troops enact a suicidal assault on Megatron. When the ex-Decepticon's new fusion cannon was destroyed, he unexpectedly sunk to his knees in panicked defeat, and Tarn and Overlord moved to strike the final blow together. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}}

[[File:mtmte55 goodbye tarn.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|You will die alone. Unmourned. And unloved.]]
Their shots, however, were reflected by the sudden activation of a forcefield by Megatron. Whilst Overlord and Deathsaurus abandoned the planet, unwilling to waste their time and troops respectively on Megatron, Tarn and the other remaining members of the D.J.D. assaulted the forcefield until they could finally force their way in. Things went very badly wrong after that, as soon as the D.J.D. were all inside Megatron rose to his feet and chided Tarn, ripping the D.J.D. leader's fusion cannon off in disgust. With dawning horror the D.J.D. realized everything was all according to Megatron's plan–after years of study, he had finally managed to interlink his systems with a black hole to harvest [[antimatter]], and he had no intention of letting any of them leave alive. With his former enforcers now trapped, Megatron tore through them with tendrils of antimatter, speaking their true names at the moments of their deaths. Tarn was saved for last, his mask ripped off as Megatron called him by his previous name: "Glitch". Tarn first begged for Megatron to be "reasonable", then tried fake bravado, just as many of his own victims had done... and with as little success.

Completing his denouncement of his former enforcer, Megatron informed Damus that "Everything you did was for nothing" and obliterated him with antimatter. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

Much later, when Nickel was on the verge of being killed by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], she used Tarn's voicemail message to paralyze the ex-Decepticon, allowing her and the Scavengers to escape. {{storylink|Kill All 'Cons}}

====The Functionist Universe====
[[File:This Machine Kills Fascists-Functionist Glitch.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|"There must always be a Megatron."]]
Damus was amongst a group of [[Anti-Vocationist League]] members who attended a secret meeting beneath [[Nova Point]]. There, he listened to the universally-displaced Megatron speak about how to fight the [[Functionist Council]] for the goal of "peace through empathy". {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}
{{--}}

===''Kre-O'' online manga===
[[File:KreO-webcomic-9-Tarn.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6]]
Tarn was part of [[Bludgeon (G1)#Kre-O online manga|Bludgeon]]'s forces when they uncovered the [[Red Bucket]]. {{storylink|Treasure Competition! Defeat with Block Power!}}

===''TransTech''===
An [[Lowtech|Offworlder]] in [[Axiom Nexus]], Tarn was a judge of ''[[Cybertron's Got Talent]]'' in the wake of [[Ego (TransTech)|Ego]]'s death. Tarn enjoyed calling out sub-par transformations as part of his judging. {{storylink|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/05/14}}

===An Arcee Sort of Day===
After the Great War ended, Damus joined a [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] cult, warning a passing [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] that the world was ending. {{storylink|An Arcee Sort of Day}}

===2019 IDW continuity===
Damus was enjoying a drug den when [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] kicked down the door and requested both calm and [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]]'s squad from the [[War of the Threefold Spark]]. {{storylink|The Change In Your Nature Part One}}

===''Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic''===
Tarn was a spectator of the second week of the [[Speedia 500]] on [[Velocitron]] and scared the nearby [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]]. {{storylink|Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 3}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
Tarn and the rest of the DJD pursued Black Shadow for taking bribes from the Autobots. The DJD found their target hiding on planet Clemency, and dispatched them with extreme prejudice as Tarn set course for their next assignment. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (Legends)|Rules of Disengagement}}

===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
{{Charstubgames|{{Storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars}}}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===''Legacy''===
[[File:TF Legacy Voyager Class Tarn.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|psssh... nothin personnel... kid...]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-d1|'''Comic Universe Tarn''' (Voyager Class, [[2023]])}}</ul>
:*''TakaraTomy ID number'': '''TL-26'''
:*''TakaraTomy release date'': [[March 25]], 2023
:*''Accessories'': Tank turret base, 2x tank barrels
:*''Known designers'': [[Mark Maher]] (Hasbro), [[Yūya Ōnishi]] (TakaraTomy)<ref>[https://youtu.be/vuZHDR3ZBd8 Transformers Panel] at [[Hasbro Pulse Con 2022]] Day 1 on the [[Hasbro Pulse]] YouTube channel.</ref>

:Part of the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Legacy|Legacy: Evolution]]'' Voyager figures, "Comic Universe Tarn" is based heavily on his appearance in [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]'s comics and transforms into a Cybertronian tank. Tarn's tank turret can detach as part of the [[Evo-Fusion]] gimmick, and the barrels can split off and peg into the turret itself to make an extra-long [[fusion cannon]]. His hands feature hinged knuckles, allowing them to open and close, but are unfortunately exposed on the tank mode's rear end. While transforming into tank, the head can turn 180 degrees to provide better clearance for the robot back/front tank turret panel.

:Unfortunately, the mask is not removable, and thus there is no "Damus" face underneath. Additionally, though the head contains violet-colored [[light-piping]], it is constructed in such a way that makes the eyes appear completely black when not illuminated.

: This mold was later [[retool]]ed to make [[Bludgeon (G1)#Legacy|Bludgeon]].

:This figure was revealed during [[Hasbro Pulse Con 2022]]. Though scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2023, its wave arrived at Hong Kong retail in early December 2022.

::*[https://www.instagram.com/p/CjLMoPkO47X/ ''Mark Maher's designer commentary on Legacy Evolution Comic Universe Tarn'']
::*''[[Source:Transformers Legacy bios#TL26|Machine translation of Tarn's TakaraTomy bio]]''
{{--}}

==Merchandise==
===Flame Toys===
[[File:FlameToysTarn.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"You'll suffer till the end of time, enduring tortures, most of which rhyme, trapped forever here in Robot Hell!"]]
*'''Tarn''' (August [[2018]])
**''Accessories'': mask, 2 fusion cannons, 2 back cannons, clean mask (exclusive), 2 vocal effector cannons (exclusive)

:Produced by [[Flame Toys]] as part of their ''Kuro Kara Kuri'' line, Tarn is a detailed non-transforming action figure featuring [[die-cast]] parts and LEDs in his head, chest, and legs. He comes with two fusion cannons that can be mounted on his arm or combined into one giant handheld weapon, two guns that attach to his back and a removable mask. If purchased via D4toys.com, SEN-TI-DEN Hong Kong, or events attended by Flame Toys, he also includes an alternate mask without scars and two speakers that can replace the back guns.

*'''Tarn (Power Burst ver.)''' ([[July 26]], [[2019]])
:Debuted by Flame Toys at ACGHK 2019, "Tarn (Power Burst ver.)" is a chrome-plated redeco of the above figure, limited to 300 pieces: 200 at ACGHK 2019 and 100 at D4toys.com.
{{-}}

===ULTIMATES!===
[[File:Ultimates Tarn and Nickel.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb]]
*'''Tarn''' (ULTIMATES!, 2022)
**''Accessories'': Alternate unmasked head, mask, fists (L & R), open hands (L & R), grasping hands (L & R), clawed hands (L & R), double fusion cannon, Nickel, Nickel's jet pack

: Part of the third wave of ''[[Transformers ULTIMATES!]]'' from [[Super7]], Tarn is a 7-inch-tall non-transforming action figure. Despite his retro look, he has an extensive amount of articulation, including multi-directional joints at the neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles; plus swivel biceps, elbows, knees, and a bit of ab crunch. His hands pop out at the wrists so they can be replaced with his additional spare hands, and he includes both masked and scarred head options as well as a separate mask accessory.

: He also comes with a smaller, non-transforming figure of [[Nickel#Merchandise|Nickel]].

: Preorders for Tarn (and the rest of Wave 3) opened on [[December 1]] 2021, with the toys originally slated to ship in fall 2022, a vague release window Super7 missed by a significant amount.

{{comingsoontoy}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*Tarn's true identity was a mystery all the way up until his final appearance in [[The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|issue #55]]. A popular theory was that he was [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]]—a character who'd conspicuously gone missing sometime before the events of ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]'' and ''[[The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy]]''—and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays#Other trivia|''More than Meets the Eye'' issue #36]] even dropped a few clues that furthered this interpretation, with [[The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|issue #55]] directly playing on readers' expectations by having Velocity ask who Tarn ''really'' was... right before revealing that Roller was in fact alive and well! Still, James Roberts' notes for the series suggest that Tarn and Glitch were not initially conceived as being the same character,<ref>{{citesocial|quote=I’m prepping the next two MTMTE Notebooks. This probably won’t convince the doubters, but going through my Season 2 notes (written during Dark Cybertron) I found this: "Bring back GLITCH! He renders machinery inoperative by touching it - a formidable power for one of Deathsaurus' crew, or one of the new DJD. By the present day he can affect sentient machinery; and now, in the course of the story, he's extended his talent to REMOTE 'glitching. "Killing from a distance." He's honed his skills. Bitter because of the empurata. Joined the Cons. But, unlike Whirl, he's got his face back. Is he TARN?? Is Tarn's "whisper you to death" shtick in fact the present day manifestation, after years of honing skills, of Glitch's original party trick?"|link=https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1655860146784854018?s=46&t=FNRS4DQDhuGaBTtUsRaqpw|name=James Roberts|site=Twitter|year=2023|month=05|day=09}}</ref> leading to speculation that plans for Tarn's identity may have changed or developed as the series progressed and Roberts was able to gauge readers' theories.
*Damus' name is derived from the historical figure {{w|Nostradamus}}.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=It’s ‘Dah-mus’, because his name is taken from Nostradamus|link=https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1058379500898140161|site=Twitter|name=James Roberts|day=2|month=11|year=2018}}</ref>
*Damus's original body is based on ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)|War for Cybertron]]'' [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], meaning it probably turned into a similar Cybertronian car.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=well if you go back to see Glitch's body in Shadowplay you might notice it's based on WFC bee's body|link=https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/822606066752036864|name=Alex Milne|site=Twitter|year=2017|month=01|day=21}}</ref>
*According to James Roberts, Damus was forged in the city of, uh, [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]].<ref>James Roberts Q&A at TFNation 2017</ref>
*James Roberts described Tarn as a [[Phase Sixer]].<ref>{{citesocial|quote=@jroberts332 I was wondering if Tarn was a phase sixer? (Sorry if this has already been answered)|link=https://twitter.com/MaidTailgate/status/1229947237603708928|name=Maid Tailgate|site=Twitter|day=18|month=02|year=2020}}<br>{{citesocial|quote=He was indeed|link=https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/1230022928688910338?lang=en/|name=James Roberts|site=Twitter|day=19|month=02|year=2020}}</ref> This is not the first time this has come up: [[Remembrance Day|''More than Meets the Eye'' #14]] had [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] compare Tarn to known Phase Sixers [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] and [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], but given the fact that Tarn does his own thing and doesn't follow [[infiltration protocol]], it's likely an offhanded comment referring to his specific "power level" and not a direct commentary on his role in the Decepticon army. It is also likely that he may simply have been rebuilt with an ununtrium reinforced frame, as with the Phase Sixers, as he is a Point-One-Percenter himself.
*Cocreator [[Alex Milne]]'s ideal voice for Tarn is [[Keith David]].<ref>{{citesocial|quote=My second pick would be Tarn, and have him voiced by Keith David. He’s the voice of Goliath from Gargoyles, and I feel he would suit Tarn perfectly.|link=https://www.facebook.com/notes/transformers/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-vol-2-alex-milne-interview/395646703838863|name=Alex Milne|site=Facebook|day=05|month=05|year=2021}}</ref>
*Like all non-toy robot [[Kreon]]s in the ''Kre-O'' manga, Kreon Tarn is made from existing ''Kre-O'' parts, but extensively "painted". He uses the [[Ratchet (Kre-O)|Ratchet]] helmet, the [[Megatron (Kre-O)|Megatron]] arm-cannon, and some kind of setup to wear the Bludgeon treads on his back.
*The [[Decepticon supersoldier]]s from ''[[Transformers: Cyberverse (cartoon)|Transformers: Cyberverse]]'' are designed to resemble Tarn, including one that [[Tarn (Cyberverse)|shares his name]].

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarn''' (ターン ''Tān'')

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-Vocationist League]]
[[Category:Decepticon Justice Division]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:IDW (2019) Transformers]]
[[Category:Kre-O Decepticons]]
[[Category:Kreons]]
[[Category:Legacy Decepticons]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:TransTech Decepticons]]

Brainstorm (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2023-08-22T11:29:49Z

DaftDragon: Brainstorm is a double agent, or in his words "the worst double agent ever", in order to use the Decepticons resources for the time case. While he is ineffectual in this role, he does provide information to the Decepticons, albeit "repackaged".

{{factions|autobot|decepticon}}
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[[File:Brainstorm swerves the road not taken.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|"I'm Brainstorm. I own the place."]]
'''Brainstorm''' is smarter than you. Yeah, ''you''. He doesn't utterly require you to know this and acknowledge him! It's just important for ''your'' sake that you acknowledge his vast intellect and big words! Also, look at this stuff he just built, phwoar, aren't [[Unmentionable|those weapons he made]] so ''shocking'' and ''edgy''?

Also, he's better than [[Perceptor (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Perceptor]], honest.

Underneath this braggado, Brainstorm is... still boastful and a truly dodgy geezer, and a bit of a coward. His weapons have indeed killed an untold number in horrifying ways and he used to work at [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta Prime]]'s brainwashing [[Institute]] with few qualms. Despite that, he does hold his (very few) friends dear to him and tries his hardest to hold onto them, and despite his job, somehow he's gone four million years without ever actually taking a life himself.

And deep down, he really just wishes someone who barely knew him had loved him.

{{quote|Why are you—?|quote2=Building weapons whilst hanging from the ceiling? Because no one else can. I was hoping Perceptor would walk in.|[[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]] and Brainstorm|''[[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement]]''}}

{{first|[[All Hail Megatron issue 1|''All Hail Megatron'' #1]]}}

==Fiction==
There is conflicting information about the origins of the 'bot who would become Brainstorm, who was a [[Reproduction#2005 IDW continuity|Constructed cold]] Cybertronian originally known as '''Genitus'''. One report placed him among the earliest troops assembled by [[Kup (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Kup]] to serve under [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Orion Pax]] when the Autobots were first formed, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13#"Old Ways"|Old Ways}} but by his own account he was an [[M.T.O.]] created for [[Operation: Solar Storm]]. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} Whatever his precise origins, he kept the fact he was a cold-constructed "knockoff" a secret from most, and instead pretended to be forged, even going so far as to claim that he participated in the anti-apartheid marches that called for "equal rights for knockoffs!" which took place before he was even created. {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}}

[[File:RemembranceDay-Brainstorm.jpg|right|thumb|upright=2.1|"We fire the ''whole'' laser beam. That's 65% more laser per laser!"]]
Genitus was among the young scientists recruited for the [[Institute|New Institute]], and was soon nicknamed "Brainstorm" by his peers. Two of his co-workers received similar nicknames as "[[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Chromedome]]" and "[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]]". {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}} Overly eager and far more likely to ask "Can it be done?" rather than "''Should'' it be done?", Brainstorm fit in well with the vaguely (and sometimes, not so vaguely) amoral experiments and research performed by Zeta's staff. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Despite the destructive scope of his work, Brainstorm had reservations about directly killing others, and never slew anyone by his own hand. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

On one occasion, Brainstorm and Chromedome survived a raid on the New Institute by [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] and [[Starscream (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Starscream]] to rescue [[Soundwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Soundwave]]. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Although Chromedome left the New Institute after that near-death experience, he and Brainstorm remained close friends. In fact, Chromedome once remarked that he was Brainstorm's only friend, and Brainstorm didn't correct him. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} For all his flaws, Brainstorm stood by the quick-to-love Chromedome as the war went on and he lost three [[Conjunx Endura]]e, even though he felt disappointed in Chromedome for using his mnemosurgery skills to wipe his own painful memories after each loss rather than remember his fallen partners. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

Brainstorm briefly appeared among the Autobot troops fighting [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]] and the Decepticons on Cybertron in the distant past. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}}

[[File:PredestinationAnExpertsGuide BrainstormSeesQuark.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|"Ha! I like your style. You make up your own rules, just like me."]]
Brainstorm himself was no stranger to loss. He was deeply infatuated with his fellow scientist and co-worker [[Quark]], to the point that he would later describe him as a "one-way" Conjunx Endura; to what extent Quark may have reciprocated Brainstorm's feelings is unknown, and indeed, would go tragically ''forever'' unknown, as he was captured during the fall of [[K'th Kinsere]] and imprisoned at [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore]], where he later died. Brainstorm was devastated but not broken, and eventually decided to put his vast intellect to work secretly beginning construction of a paradox trap-exempt time machine with which he planned to save his love. This project took centuries {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} and would mean that, if he succeeded, Operation: Solar Storm would never happen and he would erase himself from the timeline. {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

Once he'd sorted the theory out, he realised the Decepticons would have more of the materials he'd need to build the thing and he became a double-agent in order to get access to them. He kept the Decepticons sweet by spinning old, already known information in different ways to make it seem as if it was new advances (though many didn't quite fall for it and he was a self-proclaimed "worst double agent ''ever''"). {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} Over time, however, his time machine took shape. The components of the machine were hidden in his network of [[Time case|briefcases]], the control case of which almost never left his arm. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

During his time as a double agent, Brainstorm would occasionally exchange spare parts with the [[Scavengers (G1)|Scavengers]]. {{storylink|Animals}}
===Working at Kimia===
[[File:AHM15 Brainstorm.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"At Kimia, we do all our science from scratch. No hand holding."]]
He was later stationed at the [[Kimia Facility]], working on lots of experimental technology and weaponry for the Autobot cause, where his designs were often considered the insane standard that all other weapon designers in Kimia held themselves to. More than any other Autobot, he had beaten a path to [[Room 113]] where his creations were time and time again rejected by the [[Ethics Committee]] as violations of the [[Non-Conventional Weapons Act]]. Undaunted by the rejections, Brainstorm continued to dream up more outlandish and dangerous weapons in his time at Kimia. His most daring inventions were referred to as the "[[Unmentionable]]s". {{storylink|Bullets}}

On [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]]'s orders, he (alongside [[Perceptor (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Perceptor]]) used [[Pretender]] technology to rebuild Kup into a sane, rejuvenated 'bot. {{storylink|Everything in Its Right Place}}

At [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]]'s request, Brainstorm agreed to go over the gun that misfired the [[cerebro-sensitive bullet]] into Ironfist's skull, looking for what went wrong with the firing mechanism. Brainstorm let the review fall into his backlog for several months, probably because Ironfist neglected to mention the accident had left a bullet in his skull, slowly killing him. Brainstorm finally reported back just as Ironfist was leaving for the [[Wreckers]], revealing his findings that showed the gun had been rigged to go off at a certain angle. The saboteur, [[Skyfall (G1)|Skyfall]], wasn't apprehended until nine months later, so Brainstorm apparently did nothing to follow up on his findings after alerting Ironfist. {{storylink|Bullets}}

At some point, Brainstorm worked with [[Kaput]]. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}}

[[File:Brainstorm Chromedome infodump.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|"We reject your literary device and substitute our own!"]]
Brainstorm and the other scientists were caught by surprise when [[Cyclonus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Cyclonus]] and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] invaded Kimia. {{storylink|Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} He survived and managed to escape before the facility's destruction, leaving in an escape pod together with Chromedome and a number of other Autobots. They were soon rescued by [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|"a psychopath in pink armor"]]. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} From her, they learned that they had to save the universe by stopping [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] from letting the [[Dead Universe]] into it. Brainstorm had a hard time grasping all this, and together with Chromedome wondered if any species other than Cybertronians ever had to deal with this kind of problem. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

As part of his interest in the Dead Universe, Brainstorm examined [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]], and during the procedure was struck by an energy discharge from [[Nova Prime]]'s corpse, which he'd been keeping in his lab. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}}

===Joining the ''Lost Light''===
Brainstorm was one of the Autobots who chose to accompany [[Hot Rod (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Rodimus]] on his quest to find the [[Knights of Cybertron]]. After some convincing, [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] allowed Brainstorm to board the ''[[Lost Light]]'' without checking his briefcase. But as soon as the ship lifted off, an explosion had sent it into [[Quantum generator|quantum jump]] and had to land on a far, desolate planet. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}{{storylink|Last Light (issue)|Last Light}} Brainstorm and Perceptor investigated what had caused the accident. Although they didn't find the exact cause, they did find something interesting. After Rodimus had insulted his intelligence, Brainstorm informed him that they found a [[Duobot]] had stood right next to the [[quantum generator]] when it failed, and was "totally mashed into the generator itself". He then made a joke about their deceased comrade, leaving Rodimus a bit taken aback at Brainstorm's callousness. In turn, this left Brainstorm panicking over the idea [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]] might have heard the joke, but Rodimus just ordered him into the air to join the search for survivors. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On‎|Hangers On}}

[[File:MTMTE7 inverted Brainstorm.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|left|"Science isn't about WHY! It's about WHY NOT! Why is so much of my science dangerous? Why not invent a special safety door that won't hit [[Chromedome (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|you]] on the butt on the way out, because you are FIRED!"]]
When a [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] was loose aboard the ''Lost Light'', Brainstorm found himself trapped in an elevator with the creature, which had been hunting [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]. Brainstorm cried out that he was too ''smart'' to die and held up his briefcase in an attempt to ward the Sparkeater off. Fortunately for him, the Sparkeater decided to continue chasing Rung, leaving Brainstorm flustered, but unharmed. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

[[File:BrainstormDJDComeGetHim.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|right]]

What nobody knew was that the damaged quantum engines had created a ''second'' ship: an exact duplicate (or was ''ours'' the duplicate???), unaware of the other. That ship carried on for quite some time before [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] came clean that [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] was locked up in the basement. When Brainstorm's Decepticon handler got in contact with 'Brainstorm 2', demanding he prove he was still properly loyal to the cause, he panicked and contacted the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to come kill Overlord as long as they promised not to kill anyone else, half-lying that he was ''soooo close'' to "[[time travel|the jackpot]]". To his horror, the Division decided on a whim to start killing anyway and this Brainstorm was left dead in his lab, a look of misery on his face. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}{{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}}

Soon after receiving a [[Rodimus Star]] (along with his ex-colleagues Highbrow and Chromedome) for helping to save the ''Lost Light'' after it was hit by a piece of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] debris, an experiment of Brainstorm's went wrong and froze everyone on the ship, except for the forcefield-enclosed [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]]. Despite the near-disaster this caused when the ship was invaded during this time by a group of [[Titan (group)|Titan]]-hunting Decepticons led by [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] (not to mention the near-death of an away team who had crashed on a planet protected by a [[phobia shield]] and were unable to raise help from the disabled crew {{storylink|The Waiting Game}}), he still received a huge plaque engraved with a stylised Rodimus figure "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity" along with the rest of the frozen crew, which P.O.ed Trailguy - who had driven the Decepticons off singlehandedly and only received a "normal" Rodimus Star for his effort - no end. {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}}

Later, new arrival [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] went loopy and shot down [[Dogfight (G1)|Dogfight]] near Brainstorm, who... protected his briefcase. Of course, he later claimed he had tried to stop Maximus. {{storylink|Interiors}} Following this incident, Rodimus tasked Brainstorm with developing an evasive bullet that would avoid hitting innocent bystanders. Chromedome had Brainstorm to look into the handgun that [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] had been constantly (and unknowingly) carrying with him, but when Brainstorm tried to examine it, the gun exploded in his face. He determined that it only held two cartridges and thus dubbed it a "binary gun", much to Chromedome's annoyance. Brainstorm also offered the opinion that the gun was possibly from the Institute. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Brainstorm bets Primus You Me and Other Revelations.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| "I look this darn good because of science."]]
When a bunch of [[Nanocon]]s mysteriously reactivated inside Ultra Magnus, Brainstorm used his [[Size changing|mass-displacement gun]] to shrink Rodimus and some of the crew members to eliminate them. After the situation was handled, Brainstorm attended [[Tailgate (G1)#2005 IDW continuity|Tailgate]]'s Autobot Initiation Ceremony where [[Jackpot (G1)|Jackpot]] placed bets on how long it was going to take for Rodimus to say his famous line, [['Til all are one]]. Brainstorm bet on eight seconds to the gambling bot's surprise. Despite being three seconds ahead, he still won the bet. Upon reaching [[Theophany]], an encounter with the [[Galactic Council]] led to Rodimus and others being teleported to the planet's surface, Brainstorm among them. When they arrived, they found the [[Circle of Light]] missing and [[Crystal City]] in ruins. As they explored the ruins underground, they came across a [[Titan (group)|Titan]]. The group discovered the Titan had found Cybertron's "come home" signal but was too low on energy to free himself and return, causing it to scream and try to kill itself by willing its spark to leave its body, which caused the revival of the Nanocons and various deactivated crew members of the ''Lost Light''. With the Galactic Council's troops coming downwards to get them and the ''Lost Light'' under attack, Rodimus decided to set the Titan free to help them out of their situation. Brainstorm used his mass displacement cannon to shrink the Titan and gave the large robot more energy. Now able to move, the Titan was able to teleport the Autobots back to their ship, quantum-jump the ''Lost Light'' to safety and teleport itself to Cybertron. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

After previously wondering why the <s>forcef-</s> [[Trailbreaker (G1)|magnawheels guy]] would feel the need for a handheld gun {{storylink|The Reluctant Specialist}}, Brainstorm would ultimately build guns into Trailbreaker's legs, presumably relating to the latter's envy at Fortress Maximus's leg-guns. Soon afterward, he gave a new gun to [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] to field test, which the mad helicopter dubbed the "[[Shoomer]]" after the noise it made. As soon as [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] got his hands on it, he proceeded to accidentally shoot himself in the face. {{storylink|Before & After}} Surprisingly, he survived. As did the luckless [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]] when shot by Brainstorm's [[existential gun]], despite a near-fatal dose of ennui. {{storylink|Cybertronian Homesick Blues}}

[[File:MTMTE22 tailgate altmode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67]]
Throughout the early months of the voyage of the ''Lost Light'', Brainstorm and several others were interviewed by [[Rewind (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Rewind]] for his documentary. Also caught on film was Brainstorm participating in Tailgate's "[[alternate mode|alt-mode]] party," which was just a ruse to figure out what Rung transforms into. {{storylink|Little Victories}} He later collaborated with the psychiatrist to update the Autobots' [[holomatter]] avatars to be more energy-efficient and psychologically intuitive. {{storylink|Signal to Noise}}

When Rewind suffered a near-death experience in battle, Brainstorm and Drift brought Chromedome in on Project: Total Insanity, Brainstorm's helpful nickname for the fact that [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] was secretly on board the ''Lost Light''. He provided Chromedome with the security codes necessary to access the [[slow cell]] attached to the underside of the ship (nicknamed Project: End In Tears). {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Perhaps because of the prophetic project name, Overlord soon escaped from the slow cell during one of Chromedome's visits to pilfer his memories. Brainstorm was in the middle of chiding Swerve for fooling around with his [[metafictional bomb]] when the alarms sounded, indicating a scene change. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

[[File:Brainstorm brings briefcase to funeral.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Science is about doing things others would never be able to ''think'' of! Like bringing your briefcase full of pirated video games to a funeral!"]]
After Overlord's rampage cost the lives of Rewind and many other crew members, Brainstorm was sincerely worried about Chromedome. When the funeral was over, Brainstorm confronted him in his habitation suite about the [[shadowplay]] Chromedome performed on himself after the deaths of his last three [[Conjunx Endura]]e. Brainstorm begged him not to extract his memories of Rewind too, because that would mean Rewind was truly gone. Drawing on his experience with Quark, Brainstorm promised his friend that the pain would one day evolve into something bearable. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

At some point, Brainstorm fitted [[Swerve's|Swerve's bar]] with an elaborate defense system and built [[My First Blaster]]™ for the bartender himself, as he was a notoriously poor shot. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

When the ''Lost Light'' travelled through a portal and rediscovered the lost [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], Rodimus selected Brainstorm to be part of the landing party. On the surface they discovered a reignited "hot spot" of [[spark]]s, including a [[Point One Percenter]] which Brainstorm immediately set about harvesting before they were attacked by [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]]'s [[Titan Hunter]]s. {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}} Though they fled into a field of deactivated Titans, Brainstorm and the ''Lost Light''ers were captured and imprisoned by the insane [[Solomus|Tyrest]] where they found themselves sharing a cell with the mysterious [[Minimus Ambus]], later revealed to be none other than Ultra Magnus. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}} After Ambus departed to get answers from Tyrest, they were joined in the cell by Skids, Swerve, and [[Getaway]] {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}} who used the spring-loaded clasps from Brainstorm's briefcase to help them escape. Confronting Tyrest, Brainstorm was shot by the traitorous medic [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] which separated him from his briefcase. To compound matters, Tyrest activated a "weapon of mass suggestion" based on Getaway's [[thought bullet]] that incapacitated the rest of the ''Lost Light'' crew, leaving them unable to prevent him from activating a [[universal killswitch]] that would kill every Transformer that was [[Reproduction#2005 IDW continuity|constructed cold]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} That included Brainstorm, who fell victim to its effects but recovered after Rodimus and Perceptor used half the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] to reverse the killswitch. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} Upon returning to the ''Lost Light'' he visited Swerve's to try and find out if anyone had opened his briefcase while he was incapacitated {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} before secreting himself away in his workshop with the Point One Percenter he had recovered from the Seething Moon. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} He took to carrying the Superspark around in his chest compartment. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

[[File:MTMTE23 Brainstorm this and this.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|"So, anyway, we're between banks right now, just make those checks out to cash."]]
Brainstorm was on hand to greet Orion Pax and his crew after the ''Lost Light'' snatched their ship from certain doom. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} Intending to venture into the Dead Universe, Pax consulted Brainstorm, who was able to use a [[cyberwraith]] to manufacture personal force fields to protect Pax and his party from the hostile nature of that reality. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} When the ''Lost Light'' was later pulled off course, Brainstorm found the source of the problem—Metroplex's thumb pushing against the roof of shuttle bay 3. He talked Ultra Magnus into investigating where it was pointing them to. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} That took them to a water world, where they soon discovered they were surrounded by [[Ammonite]]s. Brainstorm joined Magnus and the others in commandeering the [[Rodpod]] to take the fight to the enemy, and they stumbled on the dormant Metroplex. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}}

Acting on a hunch, Brainstorm took a sample of the water and found it was full of [[admium]]. They left the Rodpod in a drydock, but swiftly got lost in the city-bot's interior and ended back at the dry dock, where they were ambushed by an Ammonite who destroyed the Rodpod. {{storylink|No Exit: Dark Cybertron Chapter 6|No Exit}} They survived the explosion when Metroplex's interior rearranged itself on them, and a short time later encountered [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] and [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]]. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} As the Ammonites subsequently flooded in, Brainstorm was among those who opted to retreat to Metroplex's brain, where they met [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]]. Brainstorm helped hook Metroplex up to the ''Lost Light'' remotely, allowing the titan to quantum jump both himself and the ship to Cybertron. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} When Metroplex appeared to be losing the fight with the [[Quintessa (IDW)|Necrotitan]], Ultra Magnus suggested Brainstorm open the briefcase. It turned to be unnecessary as an eleventh hour save by Megatron resulted in a victory, and Brainstorm high-fived Nautica as he cracked a situationally relevant joke. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

Brainstorm later relaxed in Swerve's bar, though he was exceedingly cranky, which he put down to sparkache. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} As billions of Ammonites descended on Cybertron as the finale to [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Shockwave]]'s plan, Brainstorm was recruited by [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]] as part of a team to attack the scientist's lab. After they were teleported there by [[Skywarp (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Skywarp]], Brainstorm suddenly found he didn't feel well and had to watch as the other tackled [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]. Just as they were losing the fight, the team who had ventured into the Dead Universe popped out of a portal in Brainstorm's chest and lent a hand. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} With several members of said team unable to survive outside the Dead Universe, Brainstorm invited them back to his lab for treatment and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] suggested he might need to treat himself, as the portal was likely due to his exposure to the Dead Universe. With some encouragement from Rodimus, Brainstorm succeeded in making up a treatment for the injured parties. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

[[File:WorldShutYourMouth1-BrainstormNautica.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"Yeah, I'm a black belt. Pretty much in everything. Karate, Larate, Jujistu, kickpunching, beltmaking, Tae Kwon Do... bedroom..."]]
Brainstorm opted to rejoin the quest for the Knights after Shockwave's defeat and on the first day, listened in as Perceptor talked to Highbrow about this Quark guy he kinda sorta remembered. {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

On the voyage he spent a large amount of time with Nautica, even loading her [[Nautica's wrench|wrench]] with extra features. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} Less enjoyable for the scientist was watching Chromedome's complete emotional collapse and eventual isolation as the impact of Rewind's death set in. From his friend's misery came an epiphany: Why save ''only'' Quark when steering Megatron away from his supposed destiny as a mass-murdering tyrant could prevent the war altogether and save ''billions''? {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

When Nautica returned from investigating the disappearance of several fuel rods, Brainstorm saw fit to punctuate her belated return by leaning gently on the fourth wall. The topic of conversation soon shifted to [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]'s therapy session with the new <s>co-</s>captain, Megatron. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Unbeknownst to anyone else, Brainstorm had a vested interest in the meeting, having slipped a sparkprint capture into one the psychiatrist's model ships with which he hoped to track the Decepticon leader through time and space. As luck would have it, the capture latched onto ''Rung's'' energy instead. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

When Rodimus found what appeared to be his own corpse in a mysterious coffin, Brainstorm was called in, along with Chromedome, [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]], Nautica, Nightbeat, and Skids, to help find out what was going on. Brainstorm's biggest contribution involved using his preemptively preemptive [[Early Early Warning System]] to determine that they were all in trouble, though not quite at the "Run for your life!" threshold yet. Then the ''Lost Light'', destabilized by proximity to an accidental quantum duplicate created during its [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|failed first launch]], started winking out of existence and they were. Though Brainstorm managed to evacuate, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} he disappeared along with the rest of the original crew as the second ''Lost Light'' forced them into a sort of cosmic abeyance. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}

[[File:Slaughterhouse2-BeneathBrainstormsFaceplate.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|"Alright, this next test may involve trace amounts of time travel. So, word of advice: If you meet yourself on the testing track, don't make eye contact. Lab boys tell me that'll wipe out time."]]
The remaining crew eventually discovered the remains of this ''Lost Light'', which had been savagely attacked by the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. Its Brainstorm's briefcase was found in a lift by Nautica and Nightbeat, {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} and Brainstorm's body was later found in his workshop during a search for his mass-displacement gun. As Nautica mourned, she revealed Brainstorm's face. In a surprise to everyone, Brainstorm had a mouth...and a Decepticon emblem painted on the interior of his detached faceplate. As Nautica attempted to deny it and Megatron stated Brainstorm was unlike the usual double agents the Decepticons recruited, Riptide assumed that this alternate evil Brainstorm drew the D.J.D. to the ship by deactivating Overlord's slow cell, making him detectable. It took [[Ravage (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ravage]] to point out that if this Brainstorm was a traitor, so was the one on their ''Lost Light''. After Megatron and the quantum duplicated Rewind deactivated the second ship's engines and returned the vanished Autobots to normal, Brainstorm chose that time to begin his centuries-long plan in earnest, and began by calmly walking into the crowded Swerve's. Joining Atomizer, he placed his briefcase on the table, only to be reminded of Swerve's "No Briefcases" rule. Brainstorm calmly stated that he could do anything he liked as he opened the briefcase, activating an electro-sensitive poison he had spiked the bar's Engex supply with, causing almost everyone on board to collapse. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}} {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

===On the Run===
After disabling teetotaler Ultra Magnus with a disaggregator gun, Brainstorm enacted his master plan, using his briefcase network and a link to the ship's [[quantum generator]] to travel back through time and space and prevent Megatron from ever forming the Decepticons... {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} with Megatron believing that Brainstorm was going back to kill Optimus so the Decepticons wouldn't lose the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. The ''Lost Light''ers took action under this false assumption. Though both his and the crew's actions were in fact essential to the timeline, a future misstep by Perceptor as he attempted to shut down the time machine inadvertently caused the birth of a [[Functionist Universe|new timeline]] in which the [[Functionist Council]] had never been overthrown slowly began erasing the old one. The result was a blood-soaked nightmarish present-day version of Cybertron dominated by the totalitarian Council. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}

[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|"Ever wondered what a parallel universe you might be like? Well, stop wondering, because you're just Megatron."]]
As the briefcase was most accurate when aiming for socio-temporal hotspots, his first stop was prewar [[Messatine]], home to Megatron in his dissident miner days. Though he hoped to prevent Megatron's reassignment to [[Mining Outpost C-12]] and thus the taking of his first life, his high-energy arrival instead prompted the evacuation of the outpost. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}} With that a bust, he tried to intervene [[Megatron Origin issue 1|before Megatron took his first life]], but, due to being fixed on Rung's spark signature, ended up thousands of miles off course at a psychopathology conference. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}} Following that, he detoured to the day of Senator [[Sherma]]'s murder, hoping to catch a glimpse of Quark outside [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]]. This wistful episode was interrupted when Brainstorm saw Rung fiddling with a model of the ''Lost Light'' and realized he had been followed. Though Cyclonus and Tailgate gave chase, Brainstorm traveled back a year, hoping to stop the fateful bar brawl that resulted in a certain miner's arrest. Knowing that Rung played some role, he ambushed and incapacitaed past Rung, but was unaware that time-traveling Rung, part of the team after him, had ''always been'' the Rung that accidentally got Megatron arrested.

Finally, desperate and exhausted of all other options, he went back to Megatron's creation with intent to kill. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} However, Brainstorm still could not bring himself to directly end a life, and the newly arrived Rodimus and co. took advantage of his indecision and lobbed a [[Grenado]] at him. Though damaged, he was able to regain a bead on his target, but he paused yet again in response to Rodimus' pleas. As Brainstorm attempted to explain his motivations, Rung took note of his apparent dilemma and the millennia of work which must have gone into his plan. Appealing to his better nature, Rung ultimately convinced the scientist to stand down. Brainstorm filled them in on his progress up to that point as Whirl cuffed him, but Rewind deciding to murder Megatron's nascent spark himself brought an end to the session. Knowing Megatron's death meant eventual victory for the Functionist Council, Whirl nicked Brainstorm's Point One Percenter and placed it in Megatron's spark chamber, restoring the original timeline. While Rodimus and Cyclonus headed out to recharge the Briefcase, Brainstorm explained his motivations to Rewind and admitted that his goals were perhaps a ''little'' lofty. Though he admitted wrongdoing, he professed his desire to stay in the past, a plea which was ignored by the rest of the crew. Brainstorm was then incarcerated upon their return to the present-day ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

===Retribution===
[[File:Brainstorm's final word Will Always Rhyme.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|‎"We'll see who wins this deadly game of cat and other cat."]]
Brainstorm was put on trial by the closed-room [[Lost Light Internal Legal Affairs Committee]], with Chromedome as an advocate and moral support. Though he started the proceedings by joking and deflecting, he adamantly pointed out that ''he'' was not the Brainstorm who had betrayed the ship to the DJD, and that in fact, he had never supplied his handler with ''any'' useful information, to the point that his dedication was in doubt. The Committee ruled in his favour in this regard, concluding that his Decepticon days were no longer relevant as the war was over, but that for the poisoning and the attempt to alter time, his time machine would be destroyed and he would placed under strict supervision. Brainstorm was surprised to hear that he would not be kicked off the ship; when asked if he ''wanted'' to be, he replied in the negative, dubbing the ship his home.

[[File:BRAINSTORM IS AN ASS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7]]

At the end of his trial, he realized Nautica had left and abandoned the wrench he'd made her. Behind his back, [[Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ratchet]] talked to her and had her realise that Brainstorm's actions, while they could not be condoned, were selfless and would have erased him from the timeline. As an attempted apology, Brainstorm programmed the wrench to say "BRAINSTORM IS AN ASS!". {{storylink|Our Steps Will Always Rhyme}} Their relationship repaired, Brainstorm went on to hang out in her quarters with Getaway and Skids, where he upgraded her wrench with a light that could penetrate [[attention deflector]]s. He subsequently visited the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]'' to strut his funky stuff on the dancefloor at Thunderclash's "pre-wake," {{storylink|The Sensuous Frame}} then did the same at a disco in Swerve's bar. {{storylink|The Frail Gaze}}

Brainstorm was the head of logistics in the ''Lost Light''ers' mission to find Swerve's [[holomatter]] avatar on [[Swearth|Swerve's life-sized holomatter Earth]]. He assured everyone that projecting their own avatars that distance would hurt and that there was a slight chance of everyone dying. Fun! {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}} He participated in the ''Lost Light''ers' brief trip to various points in the past {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}} and a movie night about the fall of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], which Brainstorm converted the ship exhibition hall to host. {{storylink|The Last Autobot}}

[[File:MTMTE 54 Brainstorm Punch.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.8]]
Brainstorm attended Megatron's classes on the Knights of Cybertron, during which Megatron and several others were attacked by a psychic weapon. Brainstorm joined "Team Rodimus" as they followed the weapon's signal back to the [[Mortilus|Necrobot]]'s "[[Necroworld]]," where they immediately came under attack by the Decepticon Justice Division and took shelter inside the Necrobot's fortress. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} The discovery of a quantum teleport chamber within the fortress offered an easy means of escape, but a room full of stasis pods containing living lifeforms that would be left defenseless against the DJD if they fled gave everyone pause. Brainstorm advocated leaving the pods' occupants to be destroyed, believing their heroic actions in the past and possible future to be justification enough, but Megatron passionate speech in favour of staying changed his mind. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 2: The Sun in Flight|The Sun in Flight}}

Thinking they were doomed, Nautica held a ceremony that form an [[Amica Endura]] bond with Brainstorm, Nightbeat, Skids, Rung, and [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]], singling Brainstorm out for his intellect. Afterward, Brainstorm set to work constructing weapons that would enable them to make the best last stand possible, building gargantuan "Maximus Ambus" armor for Ultra Magnus, and re-building the teleport chamber into a new [[fusion cannon]] for Megatron. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|At Close of Day}} Skids gave up his life to super-charge the sparks of his comrades with the energies release by his death, and Brainstorm gleefully put his new super-strength to use in the battle that followed. Unfortunately, their powers all gave out mid-fight, but Megatron used his new cannon to come to their rescue. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage|Rage, Rage}} He provided scientific observations for the duration of Megatron's final bout with the DJD, analyzing his use of Trailbreaker's forcefield generator and his own [[antimatter]] powers. During this, he got a sick burn from a dying Ravage, who claimed he wasn't even the smartest person in their ''conversation''. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle|Do Not Go Gentle}}

===Necroworld===
[[File:AWorldMisplaced BrainstormNightbeatSquees.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0]]
After the battle with the DJD, Brainstorm converted Megatron's cannon back into a teleporter, though now it was more of a "den" than a chamber. After testing it by bringing Nightbeat and Rung back to the planet's surface from their mission into its depths, Brainstorm programmed in the co-ordinates for Cybertron, triple-checked them, and sent Rodimus and his team on their way home. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 1: Some Other Cybertron|Some Other Cybertron}} He grew concerned when he was unable to make contact with Rodimus, but when his captain finally radioed in, the revelation he shared sent Brainstorm into fits of squealing excitement: the team had wound up on the Cybertron of an ''[[Functionist Universe|alternate timeline]]''. Though giddy at the prospect, Brainstorm was quick to deduce that this was not the work of his teleporter, but rather that a [[geobomb]] the [[Galactic Council]] had used on the Necroworld had sent the planet itself into the parallel universe. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced|A World Misplaced}}

Later on, he was fiddling around with [[Killmaster]]'s death wand and managed to rescue [[Ten]] and Swerve from their pocket prison. After announcing his success in the most annoying way possible, Brainstorm revealed that he'd been keeping tabs on Killmaster for years. He found the Decepticon's innovations in the field of bi-locational weaponry fascinating. When informational readings from the wand finally came in, Brainstorm became clearly excited with what he saw. He contacted Rodimus in the Functionist Universe to let him know that he could take them home—because Killmaster's pocket dimension was located in the mainstream universe, he could supercharge the wand with temporal energy and teleport all of Necroworld back. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 5: Modes of Production|Modes of Production}} He told Minimus that they only had twenty minutes to teleport back to Necroworld if they wanted to go home. Unfortunately, doing so seemed impossible, until [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] suggested teleporting all of [[Moonbase Two#2005 IDW continuity|Luna 2]] into the hollow interior of Necroworld—an idea that Brainstorm commended. Once the others teleported back, Brainstorm asked Rodimus where Megatron went, but got no response. {{storylink|Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists|This Machine Kills Fascists}}

Back in the main universe, Nightbeat questioned Brainstorm about how exactly he managed to teleport an entire planet into another universe. Brainstorm shrugged him off, saying that it wasn't even the third most farfetched thing he'd done that day. Nightbeat asked if maybe he had somehow broken science itself, but he wasn't interested. {{storylink|After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)}}

Brainstorm, along with the rest of "Team Rodimus", boarded Skip's corpse on the chase after Getaway. During the ride, he redesigned the Early Early Warning System to include famous personages, such as Optimus Prime and Megatron. As the journey progress, things got increasingly heated. Then Ten spoke up, telling everyone to listen to him. {{storylink|Sardines}} According to Ten Ratchet was dying, and they needed to do what he said. At Ten's suggestion, the ship was flown through compressed space, until Skip's corpse started shrinking further. Brainstorm bailed out along with everyone else, exposing him to the ravages of compressed space, where he died.

===Arrival in Cyberutopia===
[[File:TheGodWar BrainstormQuark.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.85]]
Then he woke up in what was apparently the Afterspark, Early Early Warning System still in hand and refusing to shut up, forcing Brainstorm to reset it to factory settings. As everyone else tried to figure out what had happened and what was going on, Brainstorm talked with Drift, in particular about why Drift could recall everything while he couldn't. When Drift wondered what Ratchet's reaction to being in the afterlife would be, Brainstorm posited he'd probably be skeptical (which proved hard to express with a faceplate). Then he witnessed Roller show up with the incredibly dead [[Springarm]], before disappearing again. As Nautica called after Roller, Brainstorm's EEWS overheated, which Brainstorm cautiously decided was a good sign. Yeah... {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (1): Metastasis|Metastasis}} Led into a temple by the Early Warning System, Nautica and Brainstorm encountered Quark, who claimed to always have loved him. Brainstorm, overcome with emotion, instantly forgot about what he was supposed to be doing. He told Nautica to be careful and headed off to the Matrix with Quark. {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (2): The God War|The God War}}

When Nautica continued down the corridor, she came face-to-face with the [[Scavengers (G1)|Scavengers]], and bluffed her way out of the situation by saying that Brainstorm had built a gun into her arm. Unsurprisingly, it worked. Brainstorm was next seen saying farewell to the visage of Quark as it faded away after the secret of [[Cyberutopia]] was revealed. He was with the rest of Team Rodimus when the skies above [[Mederi]] clouded and an army of Sparkeaters descended from the sky: the mutinous crew of the ''Lost Light'', led by Perceptor! {{storylink|The Everlasting Voices (3): You Are Here|You Are Here}} Despite the danger, Brainstorm attempted to reason with his friend, only to be scalded by acid. He was taken to safety by Nautica, and was later among the team barricaded inside the primary medical facility. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 1): A Dance Before Dying|A Dance Before Dying}} He was fascinated when First Aid proposed using a kinetic generator to cure the afflicted ''Lost Light''ers. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 2): Lūstrāre|Lūstrāre}}

===The Final Battle===
[[File:LL 24 Brainstorm and Nautica Vauvaire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|"Sorry fellas, she's married. To science!"]]

Brainstorm escaped Mederi with the rest of the survivors, and accompanied them to the [[Adaptus|Grand Architect]]'s ship, {{storylink|Crucible (Part 3): Farsickness|Farsickness}} but was launched into open space when a Functionist ship destroyed the airlock hatch. He was safely retrieved by the Megatron-piloted alternate "Last Light". {{storylink|Crucible (Part 4): The Return of the King|The Return of the King}} Now back in the original ''Lost Light'', Brainstorm—together with the rest of the crew—was briefed by Megatron and Rodimus on the current situation. He commented on Megatron's ability to make even the word "innocents" sound sinister, and helped come up with a plan on how to defeat the planet-sized effigy of [[Primus]]. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 5): The Unremembering|The Unremembering}}

Brainstorm was dispatched to Vauvaire with Nautica, holding hands with her in the face of the Functionist onslaught. He did his best to protect her as she attempted to open up her Matrix copy, but was hit in the back by a barrage of rockets from the attackers. Injured but still alive, Brainstorm watched as his partner finally succeeded—the Matrix opened, and the false Primus was finally shut down. {{storylink|Crucible (Part 6): A Spark Among Embers|A Spark Among Embers}}

[[File:LostLight25 PerceptorBrainstormSimpatico.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.55]]
On the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s final "victory lap", Brainstorm got to read Ultra Magnus's [[fan fiction]] about a guy named Sprinklor. Before the ''Lost Light''ers returned to Cybertron, Brainstorm helped Nautica and Perceptor put into motion a gambit that would duplicate the ''Lost Light''—together with its crew—into an alternate universe, where they would be able to continue their quest indefinitely. The experiment worked, and Brainstorm was elated when Perceptor credited him with some duly-deserved praise. The ''Lost Light'' began its new, uncharted quest into the unknown.

Years later, the version of Brainstorm that returned to Cybertron miscalculated a blast radius, resulting in a laboratory accident that critically damaged his spark. To keep himself alive, he built a recharge chamber in his lab and converted his control case into a life-support system that would house his spark exernally. He kept in contact with Chromedome and Rewind, as well as with Whirl during the latter's time in the [[Garrus-10]] penitentiary. Whirl even made him a clock to augment the briefcase with.

Far in the future, this Brainstorm attended Ratchet's funeral in [[Rivets Field]]. He talked with Cyclonus and Tailgate about Chromedome and Rewind's relationship before showing them his life-support unit. He left the funeral together with Nautica and Velocity. {{storylink|How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2}}
{{--}}

==INSIRT continuity==
===''Recordicons''===
After [[Rewind (G1)/2005 IDW continuity#INSIRT continuity|Rewind]] died, Brainstorm set Chromedome up on a blind date with [[Eject (G1)#Recordicons|Eject]]. {{storylink|Recordicons issue 27|Recordicons #27}}

==Notes==
*Brainstorm's role in ''More than Meets the Eye'' was originally intended for [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]].<ref>James Roberts at TFcon 2023</ref>
*Bear in mind that most of the stories on this page come from the pen of [[James Roberts]], who wrote Brainstorm with an English [[accent]]. This can notably be seen in [[Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|''More than Meets the Eye'' #17]] wherein Brainstorm {{w|Rhoticity in English|considers}} "[[Mobile Anti-Assault Battlesuit|M.A.A.B.]]s" and "[[Mobile Autobot Repair Bay|M.A.R.B.]]s" to be homophones.
*Ahead of "[[Days of Deception|Elegant Chaos]]", Roberts tweeted a theme song for Brainstorm—"Left to My Own Devices" by English synth-pop duo {{w|Pet Shop Boys}}.<ref>[https://twitter.com/jroberts332/status/536665913660309506 Tweet by James Roberts (@jroberts332), 23 November 2014]</ref>
*Brainstorm's birth name, [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/genitus "Genitus"], is a Latin word for "engendered" or "produced".

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Engineers]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) Decepticons]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Double agents]]