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Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2017-09-13T01:49:20Z

Phazeblade: /* Joining the Decepticons */ removing redundant text, said info is in the paragraph above

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[[File:Transformersrid 17 cover clean.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|IDW is mostly his fault.]]
Once a hot-blooded rebel within the corrupt [[Senate]], '''Shockwave''' is now an emotionless logician who works with [[Decepticon]] army, all the while furthering his own Machiavellian goals. His ''magnum opus'', eons in the making, is the [[Regenesis|Regenesis Program]], a miracle of science with far-reaching consequences for the [[Transformer]]s, [[Human|humanity]], and even the entire universe.

{{bigquote|All life '''is''' equal. I merely assign it a '''quantifiable value—'''zero.|Shockwave|"[[...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done]]"}}

==IDW Generation 1 continuity==
===Student, Senator, Shadowplay===
[[File:RID17 senator shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.55|There's something different about Shockers here...]]
Six million years ago, long before the war, Shockwave was the greatest student of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}} With the Cybertronian population growing exponentially under [[Nova Prime]]'s program of expansion, the forward-looking Shockwave grew fearful of an [[energon]] shortage that he saw as inevitable, and, inspired by Jhiaxus's talk of a prophecy known as "Dark Cybertron", began experiments to develop a self-regenerating energy source. Distilling an ore from energon, Shockwave sought to test his creation by seeding it beneath [[Crystal City]], but unfortunately, the city was ravaged in a battle between [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] and Jhiaxus's newest terrible creation, the combiner [[Monstructor (G1)|Monstructor]]. The city's ruins were subsequently sealed beneath the planet's surface, leaving Shockwave to believe his test was unlikely to complete itself. Morever, Monstructor's defeat was the first time he saw his teacher and his works as fallible, and as Jhiaxus left Cybertron on the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark-1]]'', Shockwave took up his role, striving to study and better his master's works. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Around this time he began to uncover and study the secrets of Ancient Cybertron {{storylink|The Crucible}}

Becoming a [[senate|senator]] in the new regime that formed on Cybertron, Shockwave marked his first day in the senate by announcing the founding of the [[Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology]], in memory of his departed teacher's good works. He immediately clashed with senator [[Proteus]], whose short-sightedness and [[functionism]] sat ill with Shockwave, but found a friend in Senator [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]], who was initially wary of his continued study of Jhiaxus's sciences, but with whom he shared a dislike of Proteus. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Shockwave quickly developed a reputation as an extremely expressive individual (known for changing his colour scheme regularly) that even saw him suspended from duty on occasion for "emotional outbursts unbecoming a senator". His master's teachings drove Shockwave in his work, as he focused on myriad ways of advancing the Transformer race: in addition to repeatedly voting to bring back Nova Prime's spark-splicing programs, he secretly used the Academy as a safe haven for [[outlier]]s, Transformers with abnormal abilities and functions who were hated and feared by functionists because their abilities had nothing to do with their alt modes. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} He taught his closest charges of the Dark Cybertron prophecy, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} sank billions into various offworld projects, and came into contact with the enigmatic [[Omega Guardian]]s. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

[[File:ChaosTheoryPart2 Orion and the Senator.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|...something I just can't quite...]]
Recognizing that Proteus and current planet leader [[Nominus Prime]] were resistant to change, Shockwave began befriending certain promising young Cybertronians and modifying them so that they could carry the [[Matrix of Leadership]], with the hope that one of them could take leadership of their race and steer Cybertron off the dark path the Senate had placed it upon. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}} When police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] stormed into a Senate meeting with accusations of corruption amongst its ranks, Shockwave saw this potential in him. The damaged Pax was apprehended after his tirade, but Shockwave arranged for his release and repair, adding a Matrix chamber to his chest. After his release, Pax met his secret benefactor in front of the ''Ark-1'' memorial, where Shockwave warned him that factions within the senate had arranged for a recent attack on Nominus Prime in an attempt to gain control of the Matrix's power. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2|Chaos Theory #2}}

[[File:Unnamed senator in Patternism.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|...seem to put my finger on...]]
In time, word of Nominus's death was released to the public; although the Prime's passing was attributed to a rust infection, when Shockwave met with Orion and his friend [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], he was able to confirm that the Senate had their head of security [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel]] kill Nominus when the Matrix within him proved to be a fake. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} Soon after, Pax received a tip-off from revenge-seeking former Senate agent [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] of a plot that was soon to claim Shockwave's life, so Pax had Ratchet and [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] visit the Academy of Advanced Technology and take him into protective custody. Along with Pax's other allies, Shockwave was able to provide enough evidence to help Orion figure out that the Senate had turned the fake Matrix in Nominus's body into a bomb that they would detonate as his body lay in state, which they could blame on the trouble-making [[Decepticon]] movement, an underground organization advocating the dissolution of the functionist regime. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}} Shockwave gathered three of his outlier students, [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Tarn (DJD)|Glitch]], and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]], to help with the theft of the Matrix-bomb, but he himself was kept under guard in case things went wrong. Shockwave laughed that off, thinking he was too high profile for Sentinel to assassinate, but in the midst of the heist, he found out how wrong he was when Senate thugs burned down the Academy and broke into the safehouse intending to capture him: Sentinel had found out about the army of outliers and was ''very'' unhappy. While Orion Pax was willing to fight to save Shockwave, the senator willingly went with his captors rather than allow Roller to be killed in his name.

[[File:Shadowplay3-SenatorWho.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|IDW sure loves their splash panels of Shockwave being assembled. And we sure love uploading them!]]
The captive Shockwave was taken to the [[Institute]] and subjected to "[[Shadowplay]]", the emotion centers of his brain cut out by [[mnemosurgery]] to change his entire personality, turning him from a fiery crusader into an emotionless husk. To add insult to injury, Proteus and Sentinel had [[empurata]] performed on him, taking away his face and hands, replacing them with a featureless mask and claws solely out of spite. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

===Joining the Decepticons===
[[File:RID17 useful effect.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|{{w|Edward Scissorhands|I'm not finished}}]]
Proteus could not have predicted the monster his actions would unleash. Where he had considered the mutilation of Shockwave a punishment, Shockwave, freed of the bonds of morality by the removal of his emotions, felt ''liberated'' by the experience, now able to take the most logical path to saving Cybertron. Shortly after lying about his previous energon-shortage concerns during a hearing so he could continue to work toward a solution alone, Shockwave was approached by [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], who brought him before [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], leader and founder of the Decepticons, who had recently turned to increasingly excessive terrorist tactics. Realizing that Shockwave had a goal of his own, but with no interest in what it actually ''was'', Megatron offered him a laboratory and the resources to continue his work that the senate could not provide, in return for Shockwave using Jhiaxus's technology to create a combiner for the Decepticons. Shockwave accepted, though he cautioned that the creation of the combiner could take a very long time. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} He did not know it at the time, but his mere presence had made him an object of distrust to Megatron's loyal lieuteant, [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]], because he could not read his Shadowplayed mind. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Severing his ties with Orion Pax, Shockwave used the resources Megatron had provided to secretly continue his alternate energy experiments, more sure than ever that the political strife raging across Cybertron would ultimately give way to a war not over ideals, but resources. He distilled a variety of different synthetic energons and tested them on an assortment of innocent Cybertronians, few of whom—if ''any''—survived the myriad unusual effects the new fuels had. Seeking to speed Shockwave's science, Megatron offered him a pair of hands to replace his empurata-granted claws, but upon hearing of Megatron's plan to kill the Senate the following day and truly began a war on Cybertron, Shockwave chose to take only one hand, replacing the other with a gun he saw as being more useful for the coming conflict. In one last lingering moment of sentimentality, however, he visited Dai Atlas's quarters the night before the planned assassination and shot him, wounding him enough that he was unable to attend the Senate meeting, thus sparing him the other Senators' fates. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} Shockwave joined the Decepticons in their attack on [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]] the next day, and met with Soundwave to arrange the construction of a new body for captured senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

[[File:Autocracy8 shockwave destroys destructor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|"Shockwave, that wasn't the enemy...that was the bunny sanctuary" "I'm still counting that as a win"]]
The deaths of the Senate and Sentinel Prime allowed [[Zeta Prime|Zeta]], another of Shockwave's candidates, to ascend to the rank of Prime. By the time of Zeta's reign, Shockwave's sinister experiments had earned the scientist a reputation as "obsessed with combiners". {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} Together with [[Ferak]], Shockwave invented a "nightmare transmitter" that used Soundwave's abilities to manipulate an average Transformer, [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], into supporting the Decepticons with terrorist acts. The experiment was ended after Orion Pax and [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] tracked the signal and raided Shockwave's base. {{storylink|Ghost Stories}} Over time, Zeta's extremism forged strange bedfellows; when Orion turned on Zeta, he was badly injured by the Prime and had to be rescued by Megatron and the Decepticons. Shockwave repaired his old friend's wounds, and witnessed Orion's unit form an alliance with the Decepticons. {{storylink|Choices}} When the two sides launched an attack on Zeta, Shockwave gained the satisfaction of destroying the last [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]], then witnessed Megatron's betrayal of Orion's unit. {{storylink|Overthrown}} Megatron's short-lived rule of Cybertron came to an end when the Autobots attacked the [[Citadel]] and defeated him, forcing Shockwave to call for a retreat. {{storylink|Endgame}}

[[File:Monstrosity9 shockwave vs grimlock.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Shockwave is foiled by the illogic of space dinosaurs.]]
Not long thereafter, Shockwave was present at [[Kolkular]] when [[Scorponok (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Scorponok]] announced that he had banished Megatron for his failure to hold Cybertron. {{storylink|Wreckage (issue)|Wreckage}} When the [[Exodus (G1)|exodus]] began, Scorponok had the Decepticons assault [[Starsreach Spaceport]], an attack that Shockwave saw as an inefficient use of resources. {{storylink|Massacre}} His forces met with resistance from a raging [[Grimlock (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Grimlock]] who tore them to pieces and shrugged off Shockwave's firepower, forcing him to call for another retreat while picking shrapnel out of his arm. They rejoined Scorponok at the [[Toraxxis Plains]], where to their shock and horror they found him in the process of reawakening [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|Unleashed}} With Scorponok having accomplished nothing but bringing Cybertron further into ruin, the Decepticons rejected him as soon as Megatron returned from his exile. Once their true leader had dealt with the usurper, Shockwave repaired the injuries he had sustained during his absence. {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} He was subsequently present as Megatron turned a defeated Trypticon into a Decepticon, {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}} and was among those who boarded the beast's starship mode and left Cybertron in search of the Decepticons who'd defected during Scorponok's reign. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}} Once the Decepticon army was reconsolidated, they returned home for an all-out assault on Iacon, {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} during which Shockwave oversaw a failed tactical strike on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}

Shockwave later led a squad back to Junkion to claim the world's gravimetric core for use as a weapon. His squad was met by Prowl and eventually one of them decided to detonate the core and destroy Junkion. {{storylink|New Cybertron Part 2: A Lonely Pillar on the Plain|A Lonely Pillar on the Plain}}

As the war progressed, Shockwave helped create the super-Decepticons known as the "[[Warriors Elite]]", programming them with killswitches and viruses that would prevent them from turning on Megatron. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} He was also known to have commanded a [[Worldsweeper]] at some point during the conflict. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}} Shockwave also made the mistake of earning the enmity of the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]] after they stole a cache of energon from him; reaching the logical conclusion that if he could not have the energon, neither could they, Shockwave tracked them back to Autobot territory and destroyed the energon supply. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} At some point he stood over Megatron's shoulder while the Deception leader and [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]] tried to broker a peace accord. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}
{{-}}

===Regenesis===
Six hundred thousand [[Units of time|meta-cycles]] ago, Shockwave's experiments with alternative energy sources reached a turning point with the program he called "[[Regenesis]]". He covertly launched thirteen rockets from Cybertron to thirteen other worlds with specific geological properties, each carrying with them a different kind of ore distilled from energon that would be seeded across the target planets. It was Shockwave's hope that the chain reactions which would ensure would potentially yield thirteen different kinds of energy sources that could abate the energy crisis that was now looming ever larger. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} Unknown to any but him at the time, Shockwave had not chosen the locations of the ores at random. They were in fact the resting places of the [[Thirteen]] and the [[Enigma of Combination]] {{storylink|The Crucible}}

[[File:Shockwave Regenesis.jpg‎|upright=1.4|thumb|"A little paint, some new carpeting. A good fixer upper.]]
Around 100,000 years after launching the rockets, Shockwave left Cybertron aboard [[Darksyde (BW)|his own ship]] to examine the fruits of his labor, his whereabouts left unknown to those he had left behind on his homeworld. The results were far from what had been expected: the mutated ores had taken on a variety of esoteric qualities that went so far as to affect the fabric of space and time around them. For next the next half-million years, Shockwave travelled from world to world, observing the various powers of the ores; on the gas giant [[Arduria]], he found that the [[Ore-6]] sent there had developed the power to halt molecular motion, blanketing the planet it eternal cold. After putting some of the slowly dying [[Ardurian roc|native rocs]] out of their misery, he remarked that while not his intended result, it served as a learning experience nonetheless. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}} {{storylink|Strange Visitors}} Other explorations discerned that about half of the ores had successfully taken root on their target worlds: [[Ore-1]], on [[LV-117]], had the ability to transcend time, offering Shockwave tantalizing glimpses of the future; {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} [[Ore-2]], on [[Gorlam Prime]], drained the life from all around it; {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}} [[Ore-7]] had attained transmutative properties; {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} and [[Ore-8]], on [[Tsiehshi]], had taken the form of highly explosive, unstable crystals. {{storylink|Spotlight: Kup}} Though millennia away from being realized, Shockwave's mind began to piece together a scheme that would unite these different ores and their powers to achieve his dream.

[[File:Shockwaveg1idw.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Shockwave began to have second thoughts over his choice of manicurists.]]

10,000 years ago, Shockwave arrived on the thirteenth world: prehistoric [[Earth]], at the end of its [[Wikipedia:Pleistocene|most recent ice age]]. The extremely powerful [[Ore-13]] seeded on this world was catalysing so strongly that the reaction needed to be regulated with global dampers. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}

As he entered the orbit of the icy world, he discovered ''another'' Transformer vessel, this one from a far-away colony: the [[Eukaris|Eukarian]] vessel ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', under the command of [[Domitius Major]]. Shockwave shot down the vessel and its occupants and landed to investigate the mysterious craft and its bestial occupants. He discovered that a [[Talisman (G1)|strange artifact]] aboard the Eukarian vessel had wiped the minds of its crew, leaving them confused as to their real identities. This - combined with a far-off transmission of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee - convinced the Decepticon scientist to use them in a cruel experiment of his own. Rewriting and altering their memories, Shockwave convinced the lost explorers that they were the Autobots and Decepticons, even rebuilding one of their number into [[Eukarian Shockwave|a doppelganger of his own]]. After conditioning them, he pitted them against one another in a series of [[Ice Age Wars|simulated wargames]] for his tactical benefit, all while studying the mysterious Talisman and the [[Iron Trooper|robotic drones]] it created from the wreckage of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

As Shockwave went about his business, he was unaware of a threat that had shadowed him: the Dynobots had tracked him down, and were seeking to settle their old score. As Shockwave finished planting the dampers and was preparing to visit other Regenesis worlds, the Dynobots teleported upon him. The attack threw Shockwave off-kilter with both its ferocity and its unexpectedness, as he had anticipated a stab in the back from Megatron but had failed to consider the simple vengeance of the Dynobots. Mentally and physically confounded by the assault, Shockwave deactivated his higher reasoning and allowed a subroutine simulating rage to take over. This brutal, violent Shockwave decimated the Dynobots, burning off the organic coating shielding them from the planet's high energon fields and forcing them into [[stasis lock]]. As the battle concluded, Shockwave restored his full neural operations and logged the emotional experience for further study. But, as his logic center churned away once more, it again failed to anticipate his enemies' chaotic nature. Specifically, Grimlock had set a dead-man's switch on [[Skyfire (ship)|the Dynobots' ship]], and before Shockwave could act upon his own victory, the ship shot an energy beam into a nearby volcano, causing it to erupt and consume all of the combatants, entombing them for millennia to come. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}} With Shockwave gone, his Eukarian creations simply fought on amongst one another until they ran out of energon and entered stasis. {{storylink|Strange Visitors}}

Shockwave's long absence would eventually rouse Megatron's suspicions, and he assigned [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to search through Shockwave's files, {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} in turn tasking Soundwave with shadowing Bludgeon, {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} knowing that Shockwave had been working on something in secret and intending to use it for the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

===Machinations===
[[File:Shockwave Agent Red.jpg‎|upright=1.5|thumb|[[Transformers (film)|Call him NBE-1]].]]
Shockwave's body was uncovered by a human [[Goring|human archaeological team]] in 2005. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} The discovery drew the attention of the government organization [[Skywatch]], who soon swept in and took the operation over. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} Skywatch proceeded to exhume both Shockwave and the Dynobots, and began experimenting with neural inhibitors to control their new discoveries. Results were consistently disastrous; both the Dynobots and their other captives [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and [[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] were soon running out of their control. Skywatch commander [[Joshua Red]] had Shockwave rebuilt and brought online in their [[Salt Lake City]] base {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 2|Maximum Dinobots #2}} and charged him with rounding up the rogue Transformers. Rather than a neural inhibitor, Shockwave was motivated with a decidedly less sophisticated method: a bomb placed in his head would detonate in 24 hours if Skywatch didn't transmit a reset code. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 3|Maximum Dinobots #3}}

[[File:Shockwave V Scorponok MD.jpg‎‎|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Hypothesis: [[...All This and Civil War 2|Turnabout is fair play]].]]
Given the presence of Ravage and Laserbeak on Earth, Shockwave correctly deduced that their master, Soundwave, must also be on the planet; he had followed Bludgeon there in pursuit of Shockwave's Ore-13 and wound up trapped in his [[alternate mode]], in the possession of a child in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]. Shockwave tracked him down shortly after Laserbeak and Ravage had retrieved him from his human captivity, and proposed a deal: Shockwave would undo the mode-lock, originally caused by a weapon of his design, in return for Soundwave intercepting the reset codes for the implanted bomb. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 4|Maximum Dinobots #4}} Soundwave attempted to further bargain for information on the Regenesis program, but was rebuffed when Shockwave observed that said information would die with him if the bomb went off. {{Storylink|Shockpoint}} Relenting, Soundwave allowed his cassettes to be "captured" and handed over to Skywatch, to sell Shockwave's deception, whilst the scientist went in search of the Dynobots. Discovering them already engaged with Scorponok and the [[Machination]], Shockwave decided to engage Scorponok's forces first, so he could destroy the Dynobots himself. By the time Shockwave beat Scorponok, only 12 minutes of his 24-hour countdown remained, and Grimlock proved to have more than 12 minutes' worth of fight left in him. On the 30-second mark, the two were still grappling in a Machination arms bunker, so Joshua Red ordered the reset code sent, wanting to ensure all other combatants were down before killing his pawn. The code was successfully intercepted and decrypted by Soundwave, who transmitted the information to Shockwave, who in return sent him instructions to mentally disable the mode-lock. Soundwave transformed, his cassettes attacked their would-be captors, and Shockwave abruptly walked away from his fight, declaring an end to the "charade." But Grimlock would not be denied his revenge, so before Shockwave could leave, he detonated a grenade that blew the arms bunker sky-high. The two were soon recovered, still functioning, by [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]], who took Shockwave, Scorponok and Grimlock into custody. {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 5|Maximum Dinobots #5}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers3 - Shockwave.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|So do we blame Shockwave for letting Overlord off his leash, or Overlord for unleashing the one-eyed purple people eater again?]]
Shockwave was sent to the [[Garrus-9]] penitentiary, where his spark was extracted for imprisonment. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}} At some point prior to his imprisonment, however, Shockwave had been able to make contact with Bludgeon and the [[Pretender Monster|Monstructor Six]] and recruit them as his personal agents, though they wound up simply fighting with the main Decepticon forces some time later, when the galaxy-wide Decepticon uprising known as the [[Surge (event)|Surge]] took place. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} During the Surge, [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] took control of Garrus-9, and after one year of holding the facility, he had Shockwave's spark reintegrated with his body to make him an offer: in exchange for his freedom and a hand-picked crew, Shockwave would remove the [[Achilles virus]] that had been implanted in Overlord during his conversion to a Warrior Elite. Shockwave agreed to the terms as they served his own purposes, but he was quick to comment that Overlord's actions on Garrus-9 were less about the former general's gratification and more about attracting Megatron's attention. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

During Shockwave's time in Skywatch captivity, the researchers had gathered enough information about him to design a weapon based on his technology. According to [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], the first working prototypes were the size of a house, but with some unspecified "outside help," they were able to condense it to a size small enough for hand-held use by a human. Around the time of Shockwave's liberation from Garrus-9, roughly a year after Megatron's forces overran the Earth following the Surge, Spike was sent in with a military squad to retrieve the weapon from its [[New York City]] storehouse and use it to kill Megatron. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}} Though his team perished, Spike survived, got the weapon, and successfully shot Megatron in the head, ending the Decepticon occupation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[File:RID21 a better spacebridge.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Over the next two years, Shockwave returned his focus to Regenesis, and began slowly putting the players and pieces in motion for his ultimate endgame. He re-established communication with Bludgeon and Monstructor, {{storylink|Shockpoint}} and also recruited the Decepticon warmonger [[Turmoil]], providing him with a ship in return for his visiting LV-117 with instructions to collect data from the Regenesis missile there. In actuality, with this particular action, Shockwave was deliberately perpetuating a [[time travel|predestination paradox]] of sorts, ensuring the visions of the future that he had seen while on LV-117 years beforehand would come to pass. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} His plans for the future momentarily complete, Shockwave rejoined what remained of the main Decepticon command structure, now under the leadership of Starscream and encamped on a desolate asteroid following their retreat from Earth. Conferring with Soundwave, he agreed to help build a new body for the devastated Megatron in exchange for being able to utilize some of the Decepticons' limited resources to finally perfect [[space bridge]] travel. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} The scientist made the two projects one and the same by implanting nodes obtained from [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] in Megatron's new body, giving the Decepticon leader the power to open space bridge at will. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

[[File:IDWongoing7 shockwave at work.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]]
Having been unaware of the plan to repair Megatron and believing Shockwave had been working on space bridge technology alone, {{storylink|All His Engines}} Starscream was furious when he discovered what he believed the pair had been dedicating their resources to: using the remnants of Megatron's old body to make tiny replicas of his gun form, with plans to distribute them amongst the population of Earth in order to create chaos amongst both the humans and Autobots. Megatron revealed his revival to Starscream, {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} and a short time after that, retook Decepticon leadership; Shockwave eager to run further tests on thew new technology within his body, but Megatron, unwilling to be a cog in whatever machinations Shockwave was surely planning, assured him everything was in order and had him continue working on the gun replicas. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}} After finishing, Shockwave carefully calculated that [[Quetzaltenango]], [[Mexico]] was the most appropriate location to deposit the Megatron guns, and stood by Megatron as he sent the weapons through the space bridge to Earth. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Four months later, the Decepticons themselves traveled to Earth to see through their plan, where Soundwave was heavily injured in a confrontation with Optimus Prime. When ordered to repair him, Shockwave protested that he no longer had the resources he had used to rebuild Megatron, but when pressed, affirmed that he could in fact save Soundwave's life. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}

===Shockpoint===
[[File:RID21 shockwave watches deceptigod.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|Don't see that every day.]]
Megatron would later use the space bridge technology built into in his new body to summon Shockwave and the rest of the Decepticons to him on Cybertron. {{storylink|The Question}} They arrived in the midst of [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]]'s attempt to prevent the emergence of the [[Dead Universe]] entity known as the [[D-Void]], {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} and the evil entity proceeded to ensnare the minds of the Decepticons, using their collective belief in the Decepticon cause to mentally and physically fuse them all together into a huge [[Deceptigod|monster]]. All, that is, save for Shockwave, who had never believed in the cause, and silently watched as Megatron battled the giant beast. Once Galvatron and the monstrosity were defeated, Cybertron began to reformat into a primordial state; having seen potential in the merged Decepticon monster to perfect combiner technology, Megatron withdrew into the wilderness, informing Shockwave of his plans. Shockwave then shared this information with Soundwave and [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], and the trio began conspiring to facilitate Megatron's new scheme. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

[[File:Needlenose Autonomy Lesson.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb]]
Rather than try to escape or fight a battle they knew they could not win, Shockwave and his compatriots allowed themselves to taken into custody with the other Decepticons when Ratbat negotiated their surrender to the Autobots. They were kept in confinement for a few weeks in the rebuilt Iacon, now under the unstable governance of [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], before being released to deal with rioting "[[NAIL]]s" who had returned to repopulate Cybertron. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} After a while, being an enforcer for the Autobots did not sit well with [[Needlenose (G1)|Needlenose]], and he accused Shockwave, Soundwave and Bombshell of just sitting around instead of doing something about the Decepticons' situation. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}} He was wrong, of course: along with Soundwave, Shockwave was working with Ratbat to take control of the [[inhibitor/deterrence chip]]s implanted in them by the Autobots, though he was plainly uninterested in the plan, merely remarking that "Events will play out as they will." when asked for his opinion. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}} But Megatron's ongoing plot was not the only reason for Shockwave's disinterest in Ratbat's power games: in furtheration of his own personal, secret schemes revolving around Regenesis, he had once again contacted Bludgeon and Monstructor, and had them free his old teacher Jhiaxus from Autobot captivity, before setting them on course for LV-117. {{storylink|Syndromica (1)}}

[[File:RID9 you bore me.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Swindle...who let you back in the house?]]
Following the failure of Ratbat's plan, Shockwave was petitioned by [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] to help [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], who was on the run from the Autobots after claiming to have witnessed [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] murder the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. Swindle gambled that Shockwave was not as disinterested in the political strife of the planet he appeared, but Shockwave merely questioned what Swindle expected him to do with this information. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt (IDW)|Dinobot Hunt}} Far greater matters occupied Shockwave's attention: Turmoil had recently returned to Cybertron, the ship Shockwave had given him now outfitted with a time machine created by inhabitants of LV-117 he had enslaved during his visit there. To ensure the future he had seen would come to pass, Shockwave had [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] steal the ship and return it to LV-117, {{storylink|Night and the City}} where it was then retrieved by Jhiaxus's group. {{storylink|Syndromica (2)}} Around this time, Shockwave also made contact with the [[Ammonite]]s, a faction of a robotic alien race whose cold war had recently grown hot again, and offered to end their conflict if they would work for him. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Shockwave had the Ammonites attempt to obtain the one Regenesis ore that had been lost to him: Ore-7, which had been found by Metroplex. The Titan put the ore out of his attackers' reach by jettisoning it, so as a back-up plan, Shockwave had the Ammonites infect Metroplex with Ore-2, knowing that in time, he would have to call the Ore-7 back to heal himself. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:Endofthebeginningoftheworld-astrotrainsoundwaveshockwaveblitzwing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|I said a dab of purple, Needlenose. A dab! DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A DAB TO YOU!?]]
After an explosive assassination attempt on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Starscream confronted Shockwave, assuming the attack was his doing. Though Starscream warned Shockwave to not interfere with his political ascension, Shockwave refused to humor him; Starscream had made his choice to live with the Autobots, while the remaining Decepticons under Shockwave's care rejected the growing new government architecture. Shockwave seemingly underestimated Starscream's cunning, however, and later he and his Decepticons were assaulted by [[Arcee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Arcee]]. The Autobot assassin, under orders from both Prowl and Starscream, made it appear as if the Decepticons' own base had exploded and buried them, stealing Shockwave, Soundwave and those under their command away to the [[Black Room]] with Prowl's other secret prisoners. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} In truth, this was all an act for Starscream's benefit: Prowl was under the control of Bombshell, and had only "captured" Shockwave and the others so they could be reunited with Megatron in time for his master plan: using a new and improved Devastator to conquer Cybertron once and for all. {{storylink|The Verge}} {{storylink|Before the Dawn}}

[[File:RID17 shockwave vehiclemode.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|BFF's forever!]]
His role in Megatron's plan now complete, Shockwave no longer needed to keep up appearances and promptly left Iacon. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}} Believing both Megatron's rebellion and Bumblebee's government were doomed to fail, Shockwave took [[Dreadwing (G2)|Dreadwing]] with him out into the wilderness, to the subterranean remains of Crystal City, which had somehow survived Cybertron's reversion to its primitive state ''and'' the supposed recent obliteration by an exploding [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]]. It was the original seed Shockwave had sown beneath the city that had recreated it each time, [[Ore-14]], the key to resurrection—which Shockwave tested by shooting Dreadwing dead, only for the ore to immediately revive him. A plan begun millions of years ago was at last reaching its endgame. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}
{{-}}

===Dark Cybertron===
[[File:RID22 shockwave and necrotitan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Schrödinger's Robotic Demi-God didn't have quite the same punch...]]
From the new base he quickly established in Crystal City, Shockwave communicated with Jhiaxus again, who, in accordance with his plans, had lured Optimus Prime to Gorlam Prime. {{storylink|Homecoming (IDW)|Homecoming}} Shockwave was briefly distracted from his work by the arrival of a furious Soundwave, seeking revenge for Shockwave's abandonment of the Decepticons, {{storylink|Shockpoint}} but after a brief, vicious battle, it became apparent that the presence of Ore-14 in the cavern meant that none of the combatants could die, so Soundwave retreated, and Shockwave allowed him to leave rather than face further delay. While this was going on, Jhiaxus duped Optimus Prime into awakening a [[Necrotitan|Metrotitan]] that had been slumbering on Gorlam Prime, which, under the direction of new recruit [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], then teleported directly to Crystal City. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}} Shockwave gleefully welcomed the Titan, and watched as the Ore-2 from Gorlam Prime in its systems began reacting with the Ore-14 around them, transforming it into a zombie "Necrotitan". Through the link to that Dead Universe this behemoth provided, Shockwave was able to contact his old contemporaries Nova Prime and Galvatron, and, feigning obeisance, vowed to serve Nova in the conquest of the living universe. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} In forging the communications link between the living and Dead Universes, however, the Necrotitan's space bridge had unexpectedly disappeared, leaving Nova and Galvatron with no means of crossing over, but Shockwave, of course, had a contingency plan: the space bridge he had equipped Megatron's body with months beforehand. {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}}

[[File:RID24 shockwave waspinators staff.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67]]
Megatron was currently in Autobot custody after the failure of his most recent scheme, so Shockwave had the deceased NAIL leader [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] revived with Ore-14 and mentally controlled by Jhiaxus into retrieving Megatron's immobilized form for his use. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}} Unsurprisingly, Megatron refused to co-operate, so Shockwave sliced him open and activated the bridge manually, {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} but as Nova Prime and Galvatron began to emerge, the united forces of Bumblebee's Autobot and Soundwave's Decepticons stormed Crystal City. During the ensuing battle, Shockwave took possession of Waspinator's stinger weapon, through which the hapless Decepticon had forged his link with the Titan; using this link, Shockwave was able to take direct control of the Necrotitan, and brought it crashing into the cavern to end the conflict. In the chaos that resulted, Nova Prime was forced back through the portal, but Galvatron managed to make the crossing, and was then surreptitiously directed by Shockwave to disable Megatron, shutting the portal down. Finally, Shockwave sent the Titan to ravage Iacon. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}}

In short order, Jhiaxus, Bludgeon and Monstructor returned to Cybertron, bringing with them what ores they had obtained during their travels, the last of the pieces now in place for Shockwave's endgame to be enacted. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} The Necrotitan's rampage was no mere act of random destruction: it was intended to force Metroplex's hand, necessitating that he return to Cybertron to defend his allies, bringing the Ore-7 with him, thereby gathering all the products of Regenesis on Cybertron at last. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}} Uniting the Ore-7 with Ore-2 and Ore-14 put the power of life and death in Shockwave's hands; merging Ore-6 with Ore-8 granted him control of the potential energy of all matter; and fusing Ore-1 and Ore-13 bent the fabric of time to his will. The universe itself was now Shockwave's to mould, but to do so required the sacrifice of ''another'' universe: the Dead Universe. Nova Prime's failure to cross over had not been unintentional; cast back to the Dead Universe, he was subsequently slain by Optimus Prime, who had traveled there through the Gorlam Prime portal, just as Shockwave had planned. [[File:RID27 unstuck in time.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]] With Nova dead, his control of the energies of the Dead Universe was lost, allowing Shockwave to drain them via an unwitting Galvatron's link. With these powers combined within him, Shockwave could now enact the perfect solution to the problem of finite resources that he had striven to solve all his life: he would bring the Dark Cybertron prophecy to fulfillment by collapsing all of reality into a pinpoint singularity, to feed Cybertron in an endless forever. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}}

[[File:DarkCybertron12-Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|"Interrogative: Is this... emotion?"]]
The time machine from Turmoil's ship was used to drain the life energy of the Dead Universe from its very beginning to its end, then linked with Shockwave's systems. Upon the machine's activation, Shockwave was assailed with images of his life from all throughout his past; only his emotionless focus prevented his mind from being set adrift on the sea of time. The unlikely pair of Bumblebee and Megatron ventured into Crystal City to stop him, but the empowered Shockwave slew Bumblebee, sending Megatron into a rage. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} The battle between the two Decepticons was soon joined by Optimus Prime, returned from the Dead Universe, who attempted to reason with Shockwave and remind him of the kindly senator he had once been. Prime's words had little effect, so Megatron opted for a more outrageous display: his recent experiences had opened up a new way of thinking to him, and before the stunned Shockwave's eye, he declared himself an Autobot and donned the faction's symbol. Confused and distraught, Shockwave's focus began to waver, and the memories of his pre-Shadowplay self began to creep back, until Optimus gave them a final push by reminding him of small, intimate details of their friendship like a broken bench at their favored meeting spot. Senator Shockwave was horrified to see what he had become, but with the time machine integrated with his systems, he was unable to simply turn if off. At Shockwave's request, Prime and Megatron opened fire, destroying the drive, which collapsed into a singularity that consumed Shockwave's body. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

===Legacy===
Six months later, Shockwave's old base of Crystal City (along with Ore-14 and the Time Drive) had been completely consumed leaving a city-sized dent in the planet's surface. The singularity itself hovered a few feet above the centre of the crater. Ironhide was a frequent visitor as Shockwave's machinations had destroyed his vision for the future. No one on Cybertron either cared or knew that Shockwave had died as his original self rather than the emotionless one he was famous for. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}}

On one of their madcap adventures, the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavenger]]s had to deal with a holographic simulacrum of Shockwave's gun-arm. {{storylink|Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots}}

After spending centuries trapped in the [[Noisemaze]], the unaligned scientist [[Tarantulas (BW)|Mesothulas]] decided to investigate where Shockwave had trodden, refining Shockwave's old samples of Ore-13 to create the superfuel [[obtenteum]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

His experiments on the planet [[Earth]] were remembered by the [[Mistress of Flame]]. Along with other events relating Earth to Cybertron, she used this to convince Optimus Prime that Earth was Cybertron's thirteenth colony. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 3: The Medium and the Message|The Medium and the Message}}

When the Ore-13 on Earth began to destabilize, Optimus explained to [[Rom]] that the Ore was a synthetic version of Energon created and planted by Shockwave. {{storylink|O Ship of State}}

==Notes==
*The unnamed senator was not intended to be Shockwave back in "Chaos Theory" but James Roberts immediately thought it would be cool to make him a character we already knew. Shockwave was picked because he was one of the few important characters that did not have an IDW pre-war backstory yet, and because it allowed Roberts to tie together empurata and shadowplay.<ref>[http://theunderbase.libsyn.com/the-underbase-deconstructs-shadowplay "The Underbase Podcast Deconstructs Shadowplay"], 42:30 - 44:00</ref>
*In his subsequent "Shadowplay" appearance, the still-unnamed Senator Shockwave was deliberately designed and coloured to look like Ultra Magnus,<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-comics-discussion/716601-transformers-more-than-meets-eye-11-discussion-spoilers-29.html#post8649838 Forum post by Alex Milne]</ref> making it a real surprise that we'd been reading the origin of Shockwave all along. It helped that Shockwave was a ''Robots in Disguise'' character and this origin was then in the 'wrong' comic, tying the two together.<ref>[http://www.fullmetalhero.com/t14540/ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 01:39:20 to 59:30]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Senators]]

The Transformers: Salvation

2017-08-12T10:45:09Z

Phazeblade: G1 Strafe was last seen on the Lost Light after Megatron joined the crew, and sided with Getaway, IDW Strafe is a Camien that joined the Dinobots, this is what happens when all the good names are taken

{{comicstory
|seriesissue=''The Transformers: Salvation''
|prev=The Transformers: Redemption
|next=
|image=TFSalvation_cvr.jpg
|caption=
|title=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[June 14]], 2017
|coverdate=June 2017
|writer=[[John Barber]]
|art=[[Livio Ramondelli]]
|letters=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[Carlos Guzman]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era]]
}}

'''When Bludgeon reactivates the monster Trypticon and threatens the unborn lives of the next generation of Cybertronians, the Dinobots join forces with Sandstorm for one last ride.'''

==Synopsis==
{{note|This story is told in non-linear form. This synopsis presents it in chronological order for ease of reading.}}

In the months that have followed the re-ignition of the [[hot spot]] in [[Alyon]], [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] has been forced to keep the miracle a secret from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s populace. [[Swift (G1)|Swift]], who brought him the news in the first place, is frustrated by his decision, but Starscream deems the sociopolitical climate too volatile to introduce new life into, and further, is concerned over what side the newborn Cybertronians will ultimately take. However, evidence suggests ''someone'' has recently paid a visit to the hot spot, and an examination by medic [[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]] throws suspicion on the fugitive [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. Starscream leaves a platoon of [[Badgeless]] with Flatline to guard the hot spot, while he returns to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] and pays a visit to his secret prison. Unable to publicly take action against the Dinobots due to their [[Autobot]] allegiance (tenuous as it may currently be) and the potential that has to put him in conflict with [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]], he offers inmate [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] a choice: kill the Dinobots for him in exchange for his freedom. As the Dinobots and Optimus Prime are already on his "enemies" list, Sandstorm gladly accepts.

Sandstorm manages to track down the Dinobots the next morning, while they are searching the wastes of [[Tyger Pax]] for any trace of [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]—against whom new Dinobot team member [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] is particularly hungry for revenge. The Dinobots discover an abandoned makeshift laboratory containing vats of the corrupted [[energon]] that gave the Dinobots their alternate modes, and the bodies of several of Bludgeon's reanimated [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]. No sooner have the Dinobots realized that Bludgeon has been mutating the Sweeps' [[spark]]s with the energon and then harvesting them than a long-distance sniper shot from Sandstorm rips through [[Slag (G1)|Slug]]. The other Dinobots rush outside to try and find their attacker, but a second shot hits Slug and leaves him fatally wounded. Refusing to allow Bludgeon to keep the corrupted energon, Slug uses the last of his strength to release a stream of flame breath that causes the lab to explode. He perishes in the blast, but the explosion gives the other Dinobots the chance to escape.

Sandstorm sets about trying to track the Dinobots down, and finds his way to the hot spot... which is in the process of being raided by Bludgeon and his Sweeps! They have already killed the Badgeless guards, and when Sandstorm tries to intercede, Bludgeon takes him down with remarkable speed. With all opposition removed, Bludgeon harvests every spark and takes them back to his new base of operations: the inert body of the monster [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], which has lain beneath [[Praetorus Wharf]] since Cybertron was reverted to its primordial state. There, Bludgeon brings the giant back online by linking the Sweeps' sparks—mutated by the corrupted energon that is Trypticon's blood—to Trypticon's [[brain module]]. Bludgeon places Trypticon under his control by using a replica he has built of the fabled [[Void Scepter]]—that which legends claim [[Mortilus]], the god of death, used to originally create Trypticon, a beast-[[Titan (IDW)|Titan]] to counter the Titans of [[Primus]], in ancient times. Whether those legends are true or not, no one can say—but Trypticon lives again, and he ''is'' a Titan, complete with a now-functional [[space bridge]]...

Commanded by Bludgeon, the reactivated Trypticon marches on Iacon. Starscream sends [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] into action, but though the combiner is more than up for the challenge, his strength is as naught compared to that of Trypticon. Devastator does, however, manage to hold the beast's jaws open just long enough for [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]], [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]], and [[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] to come charging onto the scene, tearing their way through a pack of [[cyber-morphic predator]]s generated by Trypticon's internal foundries and diving down the beast-Titan's cavernous gullet. Strafe orders Sludge and Snarl to look for a power source they can destroy in hopes of stopping Trypticon, while she breaks off to search for Bludgeon and claim her long-sought revenge.

Swoop, meanwhile, has returned to the hot spot, only to find it empty and littered with the bodies of the Badgeless. He spots the unconscious, but still-living Flatline, and is just flying down to interrogate him when a shot hits his wing and knocks him out the sky. Sandstorm, it transpires, is ''also'' still alive, and proposes that he and Swoop temporarily put their differences aside to stop Bludgeon's plan for the sparks. Swoop isn't happy about the arrangement, but agrees; the Dinobots will never wipe their personal slates clean, but any sacrifice is worthwhile if they can save a generation of new Cybertronians from living through the horrors they were part of. Sandstorm transforms to airborne mode and carries the wounded Swoop back towards Iacon and Trypticon...

Inside Trypticon, Strafe makes her way to the Titan's brain chamber, where she is confronted by Bludgeon. The mad scientist is only too happy to elaborate on his plan for her; he does ''not'' actually intend to destroy Iacon or Cybertron. Rather, he is going to use Trypticon's space bridge to take the Titan, and all the stolen sparks he contains, off into space, where the sparks will be mutated by Trypticon's blood and become a monstrous army loyal to him that he will use to conquer the galaxy ''in the name'' of Cybertron. Having learned a little about cityspeaking from [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]], Strafe is able to tell from studying Trypticon's brain module that Bludgeon has enslaved him; she tries to rush Bludgeon, but he knocks her aside with ease.

Outside, Devastator tries to continue the fight against Trypticon, but eventually winds up being crushed between his jaws. He survives the experience, though—an uncommon act of mercy from Trypticon, out of respect for Devastator's strength and fortitude. As Trypticon stops and stares at the [[Spire]] ahead of him, Sandstorm and Swoop come soaring in, zipping into his mouth and down his throat, following the energy signature of the sparks and quickly hooking up with Sludge and Snarl in the belly of the beast, where the harvested sparks are all collected. Before Swoop can explain his temporary alliance with Slug's killer, however, Snarl immediately lunges to attack Sandstorm, stabbing him with his [[energo weapon|energo sword]]. As Swoop tries to break them up, Bludgeon observes their battle with amusement and satisfaction; he deliberately left Sandstorm alive to ensure he would keep the Dinobots busy and out of his way as he put his plan into motion. And into motion it now goes, at Bludgeon's order, Trypticon transforms into a draconic spaceship form and prepares to bridge across the stars.

The reconfiguration of Trypticon's body moves Bludgeon and Strafe into the same chamber as the sparks, where Sandstorm and the Dinobots are fighting, but unfortunately for Bludgeon, he is too caught up in deciding where his first stop will be that he does not realize he has been tricked. Swoop actually managed to get his teammates calmed down; their continued fighting has been a distraction, which Sandstorm now exploits to pull Snarl's sword out of his shoulder and hurl it at Bludgeon, shattering the Void Scepter and freeing Trypticon from his control. Trypticon is ''not'' best pleased at having been enslaved, and uses his space bridge to teleport Bludgeon... but only a short distance, right outside his body, directly in front of his mouth, whereupon Trypticon unleashes a stream of atomic fire breath that reduces Bludgeon to a molten ruin.

Snarl and Sandstorm are ready to resume their fight, and no amount of attempts by Swoop to convince them otherwise seem able to stop them, so Strafe gets in between them instead, urging them to work together so they can continue to protect the sparks. This is a sentiment with which Trypticon himself agrees, and he tells the Transformers inside him as much, uninterested in whether ''they'' agree or not. Trypticon long ago tired of being treated like a monster by all those around him, of being a force for destruction; now, he returns to the depths of Cybertron from which he was supposedly raised to change his path, and become a force for ''creation''. Together, the Dinobots and Sandstorm watch as the sparks within Trypticon draw upon the metal of the Titan's body and [[protoform]]s begin to take shape—a new generation, uncorrupted, born at last.

Back in Iacon, Starscream takes stock. The sparks, the Dinobots, Trypticon, and Sandstorm may all be lost to him... but things aren't ''all'' bad. Starscream now has the still-living Bludgeon in his custody... and a single mutated Sweep spark, recovered from the laboratory by Flatline... along with Slug's corpse. Now, what would happen if those two things were added together...?

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (3)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (4)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (7)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slug]] (8)
*[[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] (14)
*''[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]'' (17)

|c2=
*[[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] (5)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (6)
*[[Swift (G1)|Swift]] (11)
*[[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]] (12)
*[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] (15)

|c4=
*[[Cyber-morphic predator]]s (1)
*[[Strafe (IDW)|Strafe]] (2)
*Numerous [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] (9)
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (10)
*Several [[Badgeless]] (13)
*''[[Mortilus]]'' (16)
*Newborn [[protoform]]s (18)
}}

==Quotes==
"Twenny's as high as I can count, and I passed it a while back."
:—'''Sludge''' keeps count of the cyber-morphic predators he takes out

"We aren't '''born''' to war." 
"Says the girl with the '''Decepticon symbol''' to the boy who gave up his. We may not be born to war—but we're pretty easily '''tainted''' by it."
:—'''Swift''' and '''Starscream'''

"Who '''cares''' what's the '''right''' way or the '''wrong''' way—'''Dinobots''' just blast a hole and make our '''own''' way."
:—'''Sludge'''

"We can kill each other, or we can '''save''' Cybertron's '''future!'''" 
"Don't offer Snarl a '''choice!''' He'll pick the '''wrong one!'''"
:—'''Sandstorm''' and '''Swoop'''

<big>"THE FUTURE IS '''HERE''' AND IT DOESN'T CARE '''WHAT''' YOU WANT."</big>
:—'''Trypticon'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*''Salvation'' is the third chapter in [[John Barber]] and [[Livio Ramondelli]]'s "Dinobot Trilogy," following on from the events of ''[[The Transformers: Punishment|Punishment]]'' and ''[[The Transformers: Redemption|Redemption]]''. It was in the former that Sandstorm embarked on his killing spree, while the latter featured the Dinobots exiling themselves to the wilderness and gaining Strafe as a new team-member, and the ignition of the new hot spot.
*''Salvation'' also draws heavily on Trypticon's backstory from ''[[The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity]]'', re-introducing the cyber-morphic predator creatures from that story which were generated from within Trypticon's body.
*Flatline has been serving as (chief?) medic for Starscream since he took over Iacon beginning in [[Second Exodus|''Robots in Disguise'' #18]], but hasn't been seen since [[The World of Tomorrow|''Robots in Disguise'' #30]].
*Swift recalls Barricade's death from ''Redemption'', after which Starscream observes her Decepticon symbol. It was very soon after the events of ''Redemption'' that Swift properly took up the badge, after her short-lived romance with Barricade; she joined the Decepticons for their big push to invade Earth in [[Conquerors Part 2: Lagrange|''The Transformers'' #47]].
*Starscream talks about how "old Primes are coming out of graves to murder us," referring to the return of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] during the ''[[Titans Return (comic)|Titans Return]]'' crossover event. He might ''also'' be referring to [[Liege Maximo]], given that he also mentions the Titan invasion that culminated in Maximo's return that took place over in [[The Transformers: Till All Are One|''Till All Are One'' #5-8]], but if he was, Swift wouldn't ''know'' it, since that's a top secret right now.
*Sandstorm was established to be locked away in Starscream's secret prison in [[You, Me, and the Universe|''The Transformers'' #41]].
*Trypticon's ancient battle with Metroplex was established to have taken place in [[The Illusion of Control|''Monstrosity'' #10]]. It was that same story which referred to him as a "spawn of Mortilus"; other IDW comics have subsequently used that phrase euphemistically, in an apparent attempt to retroactively mitigate its use in ''Monstrosity'', since Mortilus and the rest of the [[Guiding Hand]] are only figures of myth who may or may not have actually existed, thus stating that Trypticon was definitively his creation would break that conceit. Accordingly, though this issue purports to show Mortilus creating Trypticon in flashback, the narration states that this origin story is only what legends claim. The narration is coming from Trypticon himself—he's a sly one!
*Before his reappearance in ''Redemption'', Trypticon had chronologically last been seen in ''[[Spotlight: Blaster]]'', participating in one of the last big Decepticon offensives before Cybertron was rendered uninhabitable. This issue reveals that he ''did'' get off the planet, and returned shortly before the events of "[[Chaos (IDW)|Chaos]]", only to be re-absorbed into the planet when it reverted to its primordial state.
*When contemplating which planet to destroy first, Bludgeon thinks of the homeworlds of the [[Galactic Council]] (who the ''[[Lost Light]]'' have run into a few times over in [[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|''More than Meets the Eye'']]) and the [[Solstar Order]] (the order to which [[Rom]], the Space Knight, belongs).
*Bludgeon notes that "million of years ago," he "found" Trypticon and "made him a Decepticon." This plugs the last gap in Trypticon's story, explaining how and why he continued to serve the Decepticons after the events of [[The Transformers: Primacy|''Primacy'']], in which he was possessed by the spark of the [[Quintesson]] [[Pentius]], but was rendered non-functional at its end.

===Transformers references===
*Slug's flame breath is powered by [[phlogiston]]. Though a real-life concept (hypothesized by 18th century chemists to be the substance that caused combustion), its "actual" existence in the world of the Transformers was first established by ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II]]''.
*The Void Scepter takes its name from the weapon wielded by [[The Fallen]] in the [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|''Revenge of the Fallen'']] movie, which was christened by a bio on Hasbro's website. That it was originally wielded by Mortilus is another point of commonality between the two characters, both already being members of a Cybertronian "pantheon" who turned on their siblings and instigated war between them.
*The idea of Trypticon being reactivated by hooking multiple sparks up to him seems to owe something to the [[Trypticon (WFC)|Aligned version of the character]], who was animated via this same procedure in the [[Transformers: Exodus|''Exodus'' novel]].
*Trypticon's boredom with war and hatred for those around him comes straight from his original [[bio]]. This is the first time it's ever really been used in a story!

===Real-life references===
*Swoop paraphrases {{w|Bugs Bunny}}'s famous catchphrase as he tries to rouse the unconscious Flatline with a cry of "Yo, doc! What's up?"
*Sandstorm's narration is presented as an entry in his "Battle Diary". Considering his portrayal in IDW thus far as a [[Punisher]]-style vigilante, this seems likely to be a sly homage to the [[Marvel Comics]] character's traditional entries in his "War Journal".
*In addition to the Council and Solstar Order's worlds, Bludgeon also ponders destroying [[Airlandia]], the world which was the setting for Hasbro's 1987 toyline, ''Air Raiders''. The [[Hasbro Universe]] grows!

===Errors===
*It's an old, established goof, so its reoccurrence here might be a deliberate reference to that, but Sandstorm says the Dinobots and Firecons fought on [[Veras Centralus|V'''''e'''''ras Centralus]], when ''Punishment'' established it was [[Varas Centralus|V'''''a'''''ras Centralus]].
*Though the reference is fun, "Airlandia" is misspelled "Arlandia."

===Covers (2)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Bludgeon stands over the devastated Dinobots, silhouetted by the the blazing outline of Trypticon, by [[Livio Ramondelli]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Trypticon in a {{w|Coast Salish art}} style, by [[Jeffrey Veregge]]
<gallery>
File:TFSalvation cvr.jpg|
File:TFSalvation subcvr.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*"The Hasbro Tribune" editorial page promoting June's [[Hasbro Universe]] titles, including this issue, [[G.I. Joe vol. 5 issue 7|''G.I. Joe'' #7]], [[Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook issue 2|''Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook'' #2]], [[What It's Really Like|''Optimus Prime'' #8]], [[When Eagles Scream|''Revolutionaries'' #7]], [[After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)|''Lost Light'' #7]], and [[If I Know You|''Till All Are One'' #11]].
*''Saucer State''
*[[G.I. Joe vol. 5|''G.I. Joe'' vol. 1 TPB]]
*[[Rom|''ROM'' vol. 2 TPB]]
*[[Optimus Prime (comic)|''Optimus Prime'' vol. 1 TPB]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvation, The Transformers}}
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 issues]]

Dark Star Saber

2016-08-17T04:56:21Z

Phazeblade:

:''The Dark Star Saber is a weapon from the ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'' portion of the [[Aligned continuity family|Aligned]] [[continuity family]].

[[File:Megatron TFPS313 standing.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Wait, how does it stay on his back? Glue?]]
The '''Dark Star Saber''' is a sword made from pure [[Dark Energon]]. Intended to be a dark counterpart of the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]] itself, this blade possesses all the powers of the original blade, and is even stronger than its counterpart. Unlike the original blade the Dark Star Saber doesn't require a Prime to activate its powers.

== Fiction ==
=== ''Prime'' cartoon ===
[[File:AlphaOmegaDarkStarSaber.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|''Mine's'' bigger now!]]
[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]], after securing the arm of a [[Dead Prime|dead Prime]], used the [[Forge of Solus Prime]] to craft a counterpart to the [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]] out of a huge chunk of [[Dark Energon]]. Megatron first brought the blade into action after the decoding of the next Iacon relic in Egypt, and used it to make fools out of [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] and [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]]. The waves of energy it created threw Smokescreen against a pyramid. When [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus]] arrived with his own Star Saber, the two engaged in battle, but the Dark Star Saber would prove to be stronger, breaking Optimus's sword. {{storylink|Alpha/Omega}}

Megatron took the sword with him to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to find the [[Omega Lock]]. He got the opportunity to use it when the Autobots showed up, and Optimus attacked him with the reforged Star Saber. Megatron was confident that he could destroy the blade a second time but the Autobots escaped with the Omega Keys before he could do so. It also proved capable of destroying the [[Spark extractor|Spark Extractor]] when [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] used the device against Megatron's men. {{storylink|Regeneration (Prime)|Regeneration}} After Megatron began using the Omega Lock to [[Eco-structuring|cyberform]] [[Earth]], Optimus charged at him with the Star Saber. Megatron managed to counter his first blow using the Dark Star Saber, only for Optimus to slice his sword arm off at the elbow. Both sword and arm were subsequently caught in the explosion when Optimus destroyed the Omega Lock. {{storylink|Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour}}

Knock Out and a squad of Vehicons headed back to Cybertron to retrieve any relics they could, {{storylink|Darkmount, NV}} the Dark Star Saber being one of those which were found and stored it in the ''Nemesis'' vault. When [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] turned on the Decepticons for Megatron terminating his Predacons, Megatron decided to test the sword against him. Predaking found him before he could reach the vault, however, and Megatron was forced to outwit him without its might. [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] brought the sword moments too late for it to be of use against Predaking, but just in time to be used against an imminent Autobot attack on the ship. {{storylink|Synthesis}}

He got the chance to employ it against Optimus when the Autobot leader attacked the warship. As the Autobot leader flew towards the ship, Megatron used the blade to take out the Autobot's jetpack. Optimus did eventually get to the Omega Lock, only for Megatron to attack him yet again with the blade, but this time Optimus managed to knock it out of his hand. After Megatron terminated Bumblebee, the Decepticon leader used the dark blade to knock Optimus off the ship and cling for his life. Before Megatron could finish the job, he was killed when Bumblebee, who had been resurrected by the Omega Lock's energies, ran him through with the original Star Saber. As Megatron died he tried to run him down with the Dark Star Saber, only for it to fall from his grip and plummeted towards Earth. {{storylink|Deadlock}}

==Games==
===''Transformers: Devastation''===
{{Charstubgames}}{{Storylink|Transformers: Devastation}}

==Toys==
===Prime===
[[File:Primetoy-TakaraTomy-DarkEnergonSaber.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67|Nothing but knife.]]
*'''Final Battle Megatron''' (Voyager, [[February 25|2-25]]-2013)
**''ID number'' (Gabu): '''M-18'''
**''ID number'' (Baru): '''M-19'''
**''ID number'' (Dai): '''M-20'''

:Part of the eleventh and final assortment of TakaraTomy ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)|Prime]]'' toys, the "Dark Energon Saber" is a smoky-translucent-black [[redeco]] of the [[Arms Micron]] [[Dark Matter Calibur]] sword, and the three Arms Microns (now named [[Gabu#Shadow|Shadow Gabu]], [[Baru#Shadow|Shadow Baru]], and [[Dai#Shadow|Shadow Dai]]) that form the weapon. The Dark Energon Saber is only available with [[Megatron (WFC)/toys#Darkest|Final Battle Megatron]].

{{--}}
==Notes==
* The Dark Star Saber was likely introduced to restore the show's status quo immediately after Optimus obtained the game-changing Star Saber. However, much like its counterpart, the Dark Star Saber was kept out of action for the majority of the show after its debut episode.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Dark Energon Saber''' (ダークエネルゴンセイバー ''Dāku Enerugon Seibā'')

[[Category:Blades]]
[[Category:Mini-Con weapons]]
[[Category:Prime weapons]]

The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle

2016-07-29T03:23:19Z

Phazeblade: /* Continuity notes */ minor addition, way it was phrased before implied ravage was the one that abandoned the case, not megatron

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=55
|prev=The Dying of the Light Part 5: Rage, Rage
|next=The Last Autobot
|image=MTMTE55_regcvr.jpg
|title="The Dying of the Light Part 6: Do Not Go Gentle"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 27]], [[2016]]
|coverdate=July 2016
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|pencils by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2016)]]
}}

'''Megatron versus the DJD, for all the marbles.'''

==Synopsis==
Aboard the [[Galactic Council]] vessel ''[[Retaliator]]'', in orbit above [[Necroworld]], ship's commander [[Neech|General Neech]] assesses the situation on the planet below. Following [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s recent actions in defense of organic life on [[Miliarium]], the Council was forced to take action to save face. Conspiring with [[Getaway]], they were provided with Megatron's location so they could dispatch their assassin, [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] to slay him, only to find upon arrival that the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] had beaten them to the punch. Now, the infuriated Neech is prepared to renege on his promise to Getaway that the other Autobots will not be harmed, as he readies a [[geobomb]] for use...

Seconds before [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] and Overlord open fire, Megatron activates [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]]'s forcefield generator, which [[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] explains to the watching Autobots that he removed from Trailcutter's corpse months ago. The furious Tarn calls the rest of the DJD to his side, while instructing [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] to storm the fortress and wipe out the Autobots. Deathsaurus is then quite literally struck with an attack of conscience when [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] and [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] blast him with the same psychic weapon that originally drew them to the planet. As Deathsaurus is consumed by self-loathing and guilt for all the Decepticon lives lost on the mission, [[Nickel]] proposes they withdraw to prevent further deaths. Realizing now that Tarn's obsession with Megatron has always superseded his belief in the Decepticon cause, she calls for a full retreat, and the Decepticons all pull out—even Overlord, who believes the cowering and broken Megatron is no longer worthy of his attention. Left on their own, the remaining four DJD members pound on the field until it gives way and they are able to pass through it... and which point Megatron stands, his apparent defeat nothing but an act, and menacingly announces that trapping them inside the field with him has always been his plan.

Inside the fortress, Ravage tells a skeptical [[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] that Megatron has always been a master planner who covers all contingencies. Brainstorm scoffs and tries to prove that ''he's'' smarter by bringing up his [[time case]]—which Ravage reveals ''he'' stole the last piece of on Megatron's order. Unfortunately, the case cannot help solve the current crisis, as Megatron disposed of it months beforehand, having abandoned the idea of escaping his fate via time travel. A confused [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] then interrupts the explanation with a strange discovery of his own: he has found his own severed arm in a nearby cupboard. Ravage excitedly realizes the significance of this bizarre find and explains another of Megatron's contingency plans. Using one of the interdimensional portals inside his body, he has successfully completed an old, failed plan from during the war and established a link to a [[black hole]], in order to draw on [[antimatter]] for power. It was through this portal that Whirl's arm vanished when it was severed during his fight with Megatron a year ago, and over the last twelve months, Megatron has slowly reached out with his thoughts draw the arm back, thereby completing the two-way link to the black hole. The presence of Whirl's recovered arm, Ravage realizes, means that Megatron has succeeded and can now draw upon antimatter... and that the forcefield is a means to protect the ''rest of the planet'' when it is unleashed.

Within the field, antimatter spills from Megatron's glaring eyes as he visits his rage upon the DJD. One by one, he slaughters them all, tearing their bodies apart with antimatter, stripping them of their aliases as he does so: first [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]—aka "Forestock"—then [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]—aka "Crucible"—then [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]]—aka "Scissorsaw"—before finally turning on Tarn. At first begging for mercy only to realize he will be afforded none, Tarn snaps at Megatron to finish him, and Megatron is only too happy to oblige, snatching Tarn's Decepticon-sigil mask from his face and slapping it onto his own chest over his Autobot badge, so that they might both "die as Decepticons."

In the midst of the slaughter, the Autobots' eyes are torn away from the monitors by the sudden, surprising arrival of even more new players: a group of confused Cybertronians wander into the fortress's control room, chief among them [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]], who is holding the time case!

Megatron lifts the maskless Tarn, and names him at last: [[Damus|Glitch]]. With the final stinging barb that everything he did was for nothing, Megatron ends Tarn's life in an antimatter crescendo that now threatens to destroy the ex-Decepticon himself. At the last second, however, using the time case, Rodimus teleports inside the forcefield and offers his hand to Megatron—and after a moment's hesitation, Megatron accepts and he and Rodimus are transported back to the fortress just as the antimatter within the forcefield explodes. Megatron rushes to Ravage's side; seeing that his leader is safe, Ravage stops holding on, and with a final entreaty to Megatron that he not "change back," he quietly dies, his passing felt even across the galaxy by a heartbroken [[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]]. In silent fury, Megatron flips the med-bay table; when [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] offers to patch up his injuries, he whirls on the Autobots, even pointing his broken cannon at them. After a moment of silence, realizing what he has done, Megatron decides to leave... only for another figure to appear in the doorway: his old friend [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]]. Confused but elated, Megatron drops his cannon and embraces his friend, mourning how he has "lost his way," as Tarn's mask slips from his chest and is crushed underfoot.

The next day, Rodimus, [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus]] gather in front of the Necrobot's memorial to the "Disappeared" so that [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] can share with them the information he has gathered from the Necrobot's journal. Following [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]'s forceful suggestion that he become more hands-on, the Necrobot saw an opportunity when he found the time case buried near Megatron's statue, hidden there by Megatron when he abandoned it during his previous visit to the planet. Using the case, the Necrobot traveled through time, saving the lives of those who history recorded as "Disappeared," like Roller and Terminus, bringing them to the present and placing them in induced comas so they could recover from the rigors of the less-stable form of time travel a single case allowed. These were the stasis tubes of "organics" the Autobots found, their true natures disguised by the same holographic camouflage used in the Necrobot's flowers. Rewind lays a flower by [[Dominus Ambus]]'s name, while Rodimus and Drift wonder what has become of Nightbeat and [[Rung (G1)|Rung]]...

Down in the depths of Necroworld, Nightbeat and Rung come to the end of their journey as they emerge through the final hatch in the planet's "crust" that leads to the hollow void within. Examining the landscape, Rung spots a familiar-looking pattern: an inverted version of the [[Vinvissius Canals]] on Cybertron. With awe, Rung realizes that the hollow Necroworld is the ''mold'' that that the metal world of Cybertron was made in. The pair have no time to take in this revelation, however, as a sudden flash of light heralds the arrival of the Council's geobomb. Nightbeat recognizes the device moments before it detonates... and the world vanishes in an explosion of white.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (5)
*[[Drift (G1)|Drift]] (8)
*[[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (10)
*[[Brainstorm (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Brainstorm]] (11)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (14)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (15)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (19)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] (20)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]]'s corpse (21)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (22)
*[[Wavelength (G1)|Wavelength]] (24)
*[[Syphon]] (25)
*[[Chromedome (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Chromedome]] (32)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus]] (34)
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (36)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (37)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] (2)
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (3)
*[[Ravage (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ravage]] (6)
*[[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] (12)
*[[Nickel]] (13)
*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] (16)
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] (17)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] (18)
*"Disappeared" Decepticon (27)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Soundwave]] (28)

|c4=
*[[Neech|General Neech]] (1)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (7)
*Purple "Disappeared" bot (23)
*[[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] (26)
*[[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]] (29)
*[[Ten]] (30)
*Indistinct "Disappeared" bot (31)
*Indistinct "Disappeared" bot (33)
*[[Censere]] (flashback, 35)
}}

==Quotes==
"[Megatron's] not dangerous because he's '''stronger''' than everyone else. He's dangerous because he's '''smarter''' than everyone else." 
"Present company excepted." 
"'''You? Ha!''' You're not even the smartest person in this '''conversation.'''"
:—Even dying, '''Ravage''' delivers a sick burn to '''Brainstorm'''

"You'd have thought—given the '''compassion''' shown to me on the ''Lost Light''—that I'd have learnt to be a little more '''forgiving'''. But I'm afraid '''Getaway''' had the right idea: '''no mercy.'''" 
"Do it, then. '''Do it!''' At least I'll die a Decepticon!" 
''(Megatron snatches Tarn's mask and places it on his chest)'' 
"You and I both."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Tarn'''

"Goodbye, '''Glitch.''' I want you to die with one thought in your head: everything you did was for nothing."
:—'''Megatron'''

"Don't...change...back"
:-'''Ravage''' leaves '''Megatron''' with an ambiguous goodbye

"What's happened?" 
"Nothing. Everything. I lost my way."
:—'''Terminus''' and '''Megatron''' reunite

"Nightbeat! I rarely let my '''temper''' get the better of me, but I am '''this close''' to raising my voice."
:—'''Rung'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*[[The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|Issue #50]] made it appear that Getaway had always intended to deliver Megatron and the crew to the D.J.D., but we learn this issue that his co-conspirators were, in fact, the Galactic Council, the interplanetary governing body that the crew first encountered back in [[Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|the 2012 annual]]. Getaway has had dealings with the council for years, having met them during his time working with [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] as part of the "Diplomatic Corps," as shown in [[Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|issue #20]]. This doesn't make Getaway much less of a tool, but it certainly goes some way to validating his previously-expressed belief that the other Autobots wouldn't be harmed, which seemed questionable at best when it was the D.J.D. we thought he was dealing with.
*Additionally, it would suggest that the initial signal from the Necrobot that brought Rodimus and Megatron's group to the planet—which the Necrobot only sent because he was under attack by the D.J.D.—was not planned for by Getaway: he and the crew must have simply exploited the opening it granted them to carry out their plan, informing the council of Megatron's location. Thus, his remark in issue #50 for Rodimus to "say hello to the Necrobot for him" was not the cruel joke it seemed, as he honestly wouldn't have had any reason to think he was dead.
*It was also in issue #50 that the Autobots saved [[Miliarium]].
*The council's planet-destroying geobomb was originally mentioned back in [[Animals|issue #46]], in which it was noted it was based on a design created by [[Killmaster]]. See "Errors," though.
*Trailcutter used his panic bubble in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]]. He sealed his own fate with it in [[Births, Deaths, and Interventions|issue #34]] when he inadvertently trapped himself inside it with [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]; fitting, then, that Megatron should take revenge on the whole DJD by trapping them in the same way.
*Megatron was seen holding Trailcutter's severed hand, containing his forcefield generator, as he examined his body in [[The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|issue #35]]. He was ''not'' shown to put it back down!
*Ravage stole the last remaining time case for Megatron in [[Our Steps Will Always Rhyme|issue #40]]. He is revealed to have abandoned it following the events of [[The Not Knowing|issue #44]], burying it by his statue on Necroworld when the reality of the weight of his past caught up to him upon seeing the huge field of spark-flowers that represented those he had killed.
*Megatron's purported antimatter powers (see "Transformers references," below) were originally mentioned in "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]," and Ratchet made passing reference to them again in issue #29, when he started to ask Megatron about them. In this issue, we learn that they ''were'' actually just rumors; Megatron never succeeded in linking to a black hole before now. Ratchet shows knowledge of this fact, suggesting Megatron gave him an honest off-panel answer to his question in #29.
*Megatron's "interdimensional injuries" were sustained during the "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]" crossover event. Whirl's arm was swallowed up by one of the portals these injuries left inside his body in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|issue #28]].
*In [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]], when revealing that he had been watching Megatron for months, Ravage observed that all the ex-Decepticon seemed to do was "sit in his room with his eyes closed, and think, and think, and think." Following [[Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|issue #39]], Megatron retreated to his quarters, with characters observing over the next two issues that he had "barely left them"; he claimed he was "working" and "thinking." Now we know the truth: the "thinking" Ravage observed was Megatron focusing his thoughts seeking out and linking one of his portals to a black hole, while the thinking he did after #39 was him doing the same to locate Whirl's arm and draw it back.
*All the gratuitous hinting from [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|issue #36]] turns out to be the red herring we ''warned'' you it might be: he disappeared at the end of that issue, but Roller is ''not'' Tarn! This deception was alluded to in the solicitation for this issue, which reminded readers of the "four terrible words, millions of years old, that gave the Decepticons their name." Those words, as any reader of ''More than Meets the Eye'' will likely remember, are: "You are being deceived." We certainly were!
*In truth, the leader of the DJD is at last revealed to be [[Damus|Glitch]], the ''other'' member of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]]'s rebel unit whose fate in the present day was unknown. Glitch originally appeared in [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|issue #11]], in which he was described as having the power to deactivate non-sentient machinery with a touch. It was noted by [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]] that his power had the potential to grow, and when he reappeared in issue #36, his skills had evolved to the point that he could use them at a distance. Coupled with Tarn's remark in [[The Permanent Revolution|issue #39]] that his "weaponized conversation" ability was "slow to manifest," it's obvious that Glitch's powers eventually evolved to the point where he could deactivate ''sentient'' machines as well.
*There's no dramatic "unmasked" panel, because Glitch has never had a face for us to recognize. In his previous appearances, he's been shown to be a victim of [[empurata]], but he had his hands restored between issues #11 and #36, setting up the idea that his face could later be restored as well, as it obviously was at some point before he donned his Decepticon mask. Certainly, the implication of the story is that everyone already knew he was Glitch; back in [[Speak, Memory: Part 1|issue #48]], Skids recognized Tarn's voice when he first met him, having previously known Glitch during their academy days together.
*Also in issue #36, Glitch is prominently positioned between Orion Pax and Roller in the panel of the former encouraging the latter to read Megatron's work. Looks like ''someone'' took the idea to heart...
*Terminus previously appeared in issue #34, his fate left a mystery and his erasure from history occasionally commented upon by others during "season 2."
*The Autobots realize that the time case was the "portable apothecary" that legends of the Necrobot professed he carried, which we heard about in passing back in [[Twenty Plus One|issue #30]].

===Transformers references===
[[File:MegatronAntimatterUK.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5]]
*Megatron's antimatter powers are derived from information in his original [[bio]], which explained that he could interdimensionally link up to a [[black hole]] and use its antimatter to power his [[fusion cannon]]. When Megatron's bio was condensed down into the truncated version printed alongside his [[Tech Spec|tech specs]], however, the simplified language made it sound like it was ''Megatron himself'' who could use antimatter, rather than his cannon. This shortened version influenced the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|UK Marvel comic]], which depicted Megatron wielding antimatter, in the form of a starry black cloud, as a destructive weapon; in particular, [[Resurrection!|issue #104]] showed it streaming from his eyes (pictured at right), as it does in this story.

===Real life references===
*One last time, we remind you that the title of this issue, and the larger multi-parter, are quotes from "{{w|Do not go gentle into that good night}}," by {{w|Dylan Thomas}}.
*Just as Captain [[K'gard]] of the Galactic Council was a reference to the philosopher {{w|Søren Kierkegaard}}, General Neech is a reference to {{w|Friedrich Nietzsche}}.

===Errors===
*On page 1, panel 2, the ''Retaliator'' is referred to as a "Galactic Councilclass B warship." There ought to be a space in there.
*The geobomb was described as being red in issue #46, but it's blue here.
*Megatron says that the DJD will die by their "birth names," but "Glitch" isn't Tarn's birth name. Issue #11 made it clear it was an alias, and issue #36 revealed his real name was "Damus." (Roberts confirmed via Twitter that he acknowledged this in earlier drafts of the script, but that it "killed the moment.")
*Helex and Tesarus's real names have been swapped. The former, with his internal smelting chamber, is "Crucible," while the latter, who had a multi-bladed rotor-grinder his chest, is "Scissorsaw," but they're interchanged between the panels of the characters' deaths.

===Other trivia===
*The title of the story is missing from this issue; Roberts notes there was no good place to include it.
*In addition to Roller and Terminus, Rodimus identifies two of the "Disappeared" as Autobots named [[Wavelength (G1)|Wavelength]] and [[Syphon]]. Presumably these are the tall orange robot and short blue robot who appear in several panels (other "Disappeared" only appear in one apiece). Which is which is not specified, but as Rodimus states that he fought with Syphon during the [[Forced Flood]], Syphon is probably the orange bot with a scuba diver-looking face.
*Ravage notes that, in-universe, it's been twelve months since issue #28 (the start of "season 2" of the series).
*This issue also contains the first part of the [[Revolution Prelude]] back-up strip, a four page prequel laying the groundwork for September's "[[Revolution]]" crossover which appears in several of IDW's July titles.

===Soundtrack===
For all of "The Dying of the Light":
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCdBc5uByFQ Hurt]" by {{w|Johnny Cash}}

A song "to accompany the imaginary trailer" for the story:
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhB6Lb7_kN8 Daydream in Blue]" by {{w|I Monster}}

For this issue alone:
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq9x-ff0fXs Here's Where the Story Ends]" by {{w|The Sundays}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hD0wd2HUVs Everything I Am Is Yours]" by {{w|Villagers(band)|Villagers}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Sdr9_1PFY Missing the War]" by {{w|Ben Folds Five}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcIYa7t-YhU To the Rescue]" by {{w|The Divine Comedy (band)|The Divine Comedy}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Megatron cradles a spark-flower, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Rodimus and [[Rom|Rom, the Space Knight]] fist-bump, by [[Brendan Cahill]] and [[John-Paul Bove]]; part of a series of Rom-themed covers featured on numerous IDW titles in July, in celebration of the launch of the character's new ongoing series.
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Megatron stands on a dais and holds his hands aloft as spark-flowers blow around him in the wind, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]; a counterpart to Roche and Burcham's cover for [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]].
<gallery>
File:MTMTE55 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE55 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE55 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*[[The Last Autobot|''Titans Return'' one-shot]]
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #57
*''[[Revolution]]''

==External links==
*[http://www.nerdspan.com/july-27th-idw-previews-rom-1-x-files-annual-2016-micronauts-4/ Preview]

Rossum

2016-06-23T05:25:27Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ wrong killswitch, the removed link went to a decepticon page, it should have gone to a page about a series of words designed to temporarily shut down Phase Sixer's, a page that doesn't exist

{{faction|decepticon}}
:''Rossum is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Megatron rossum remembrance day.jpg|thumb|350px|How...sweet?]]
'''Rossum''' is an accomplished scientist and the anatomical principle of [[Rossum's Trinity]] is named after him. When [[Great War (G1)|war]] broke out on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] he ended up siding with the Decepticons.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
In the early stages of the war Rossum perfected a process of rendering a [[Transformer]] — ideally one with a certain type of [[spark]] known as a "Point One Percenter" that was born on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] — virtually indestructible by the infusion of [[ununtrium]] into their endoskeleton. After upgrading [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]], [[Sixshot]] and [[Heretech]] into "[[Phase Sixer]]" [[Warriors Elite]] this way, Rossum was hesitant to use the last of their ununtrium on [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] as he feared a Transformer from [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]] might not survive the process or might rebel and use his newfound power to destroy [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], but the [[Decepticon leader]] soon talked him round by revealing that [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] had implanted both an [[Achilles virus]] and a killswitch into Overlord.

At the [[Foundry]], Overlord reacted well to the injection of ununtrium and superheated [[propex]] and encouraged by Rossum, he was reborn as a superwarrior. Unfortunately for Rossum, his first action was to burst out of his infusion chamber and crush the scientist's head as Megatron and Shockwave looked on proudly. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

==Notes==
*Rossum is named after the 1920 Czech science fiction play ''{{w|R.U.R.|Rossum's Universal Robots}}'', which introduced the word "[[Wiktionary:robot|robot]]" into the English language.

[[Category:Comic-only Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Scientists]]

Sunder (G1)

2016-05-26T19:13:37Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ Froid's fate is still unknown, he wasn't explicitly stated as deceased

{{disambig3|Sunder}}
{{Factions|autobot}}
:''Sunder is an [[Autobot]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Sunder.jpg|thumb|Not a robotic bird this time around.|300px]]
Mnemosurgery is no easy job; some 'bots are not cut out for the task of browsing through memories of patients and analyzing them. Such is the case with '''Sunder'''. A former practitioner of the field, nowadays he's more well-known for having embarked in numerous murders.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
Sunder used to be a world-class mnemosurgeon. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} Like many with his skills, Sunder suffered for his profession, which he considered akin to "walking with death," unable to stop despite knowing that the "fatal injection" was getting closer and closer. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}} Eventually, he went insane and embarked on a killing spree, and became known as the '''Tetrahex Ripper.''' {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} He was arrested thanks to information provided by his little brother [[Sceptre]], who the police found thanks to a profile composed by noted psychopathologist [[Froid]]. Froid became fascinated with Sunder's case and tagged along on the prison transport taking the brothers to [[Garrus 6]]. But nobody had foreseen what happened next: while imprisoned, Sunder had evolved his skills to the next level, developing the ability to perform "remote mnemosurgery," able to probe a 'bot's mind without physical contact. It was with this ability that he effected his and Sceptre's escape, as he made the guards forget to lock the doors. Sunder took Froid hostage and fled aboard Sceptre in his spaceship alternate mode, but a barrage of fire crippling Sceptre, resulting in a crash that ended the younger brother's life. Sunder and Froid survived and forged an unusual partnership: in return for Sunder allowing Froid to study him and his skills, Froid would help Sunder cope with with Sceptre's death and provide him with fresh victims. Sunder developed a "taste" for the memories of his victims, "feasting" on their darkest secrets. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}}

Sceptre's body was repaired and used by Froid and Sunder as a ship, with a cell in which Froid kept his "patient". By now ''thoroughly'' off his rocker, Sunder smeared the words "[[Mortilus]]" and "the death bringer" over and over in various dialects across his cell walls. To better control his appetite, Froid convinced Sunder that he needed to ''see'' his patients before he could feed on them, then removed his eyes to prevent him from doing so, wearing them around his neck disguised as a pair of [[Primal Beads]]. {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} For a time, the pair settled on [[Scarvix]], where Sunder's remote viewing powers allowed Froid to learn his patients' memories without them knowing, earning him a reputation as ''the'' most effective (and rich and famous!) therapist on the planet. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}

Seeking new victims for Sunder, Froid came to the ''[[Lost Light]]'' in order to obtain patient notes from his old rival [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], but when Rung refused, Froid sought to feed him to Sunder instead. Sunder was denied from feasting upon the psychiatrist thanks to the intervention of [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], but Froid was able to return his eyes, {{storylink|Speak, Memory: Part 1}} then released him, believing it the "least worst option" now the Ripper knew there was all sorts of food out there. Sunder displayed a new power, mentally forcing Transformers to transform after making them forget ''how'' and thus making them turn themselves inside out. He started with the guards [[Fervor]] and [[Kindle]] and then moved into the rest of the ship, which went under lockdown. Numerous others fell, including [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]]. Karma caught up with Froid as Sunder feasted on his sin and turned him inside-out, after which [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] and [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] engaged the monster. Rattled to the point that he ceased affecting the creepy voice and overwrought speech pattern he normally employed, Sunder retreated to the ship's hanger and transformed his brother's huge body into robot mode, which he piloted as battle armor. He took down Thunderclash but Rung, using remote-controlled gun-wielding drone ships, distracted him long enough for [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] to land the final blow by dropping the [[Rodpod]] on him. {{storylink|Speak, Memory! (Part 2)}}

==Notes==
*His ''nomme de murder'', "the Tetrahex Ripper", is a nod to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sutcliffe Peter Sutcliffe's] press name of "the Yorkshire Ripper".
*Most of his word balloons are creepily black with white text. This is revealed at the end to be a Mortilus impression done to scare people and he has to concentrate on doing it.

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]

Dominus Ambus

2016-05-25T22:23:09Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ updating info for MTMTE 53, Dominus, The Pet, and Agent 113 are all the same being, loadbearers!(and yes, i know that all 3 pages are likely to be merged, until then though...)

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Dominus Ambus is an [[Autobot]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Before&After Dominus Ambus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|''Men of action all that matters is the bottom line Grow a nice one and get ready for your time to shine'']]
Scientist, explorer, philosopher, and more, '''Dominus Ambus''' is one of pre-war Cybertron's movers and shakers. He rocks the [[Facial hair|'stache]].

His spark-brother is [[Minimus Ambus]].

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
Dominus Ambus of [[Ambustus Minor]] {{storylink|The Not Knowing}} authored a work called ''[[The Ascetic Cybertronian]]'', in which he wrote, "Pleasure is a distraction from pursuit of truth." {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}

Before the [[Great War (G1)|war]], Dominus spearheaded the movement to recognize the rights of the so-called "[[disposable class]]". He was inspired by his strong friendship with [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], whom he employed as a data receptacle. He would secretly give Rewind some of his own premium [[energon]], instead of leaving him to feed off the cruder stuff society said he was supposed to use.

The two shared the closest of bonds and became [[Conjunx Endura]]e.{{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Together they went off searching for [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], which they believed held a cure for [[cybercrosis]]. They returned empty-handed to find war had broken out, and they quickly chose to become [[Autobot]]s.

Some time later, Dominus [[Agent 113|mysteriously vanished]]. Rewind began a lifelong quest to find [[The Pet|his whereabouts]]. {{storylink|Before & After}}

The [[Censere|Necrobot]]'s base of operations recorded Dominus as dead, but his name was also engraved on a monolith labelled "In Honor of the Disappeared". {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

{{spoiler|The Dying of the Light Part 4: At Close of Day|June 25}}
In the waning hours before the DJD planned on attacking the Necrobot's fortress, Rewind was having a look through the fortress' databanks. As Brainstorm was measuring Minimus Ambus for a new suit of armor (to replace the damaged Magnus armor), he explained that he was going to test the limits of Minimus' loadbearer capabilities. Minimus casually mentioned that he always could carry a heavier load than his brother Dominus. Rewind was surprised at the news, and insisted that Dominus was never a loadbearer. Minimus gently explained that Dominus was even more sensitive about his size than he, and always wore armor to hide his actual form. Shocked at the news that Dominus had kept his true appearance a secret, Rewind began going through the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy in the database, pleased that it was an original copy, not one redone by the Functionists. Just before he got to altmode number 113, which was the altmode number for Dominus, Drift buzzed Rewind on their commlink and told Rewind to get down to the medibay at once-that something was going wrong with Chromedome's injecting of [[The Pet]].

At the same time Dominus Ambus' altmode, a turbofox, came up on screen, Chromedome discovered that the turbofox everyone had ''thought'' was The Pet was ''actually'' a lobotomized and mutilated ''Dominus Ambus''. As Rewind arrived in the medibay, Chromedome explained that Dominus had been the '''original''' Agent 113. He'd been found out by the DJD, and had his transformation cog removed and been lobotomized by the DJD as his punishment, forever trapped in his altmode. Chromedome set about repairing the damage done to Dominus' brain, at the cost of his own life. Rewind insisted that he stop, that Chromedome didn't need to continue if it meant his death. Determined to give Rewind his former love back, he continued, stating that if he pulled out now, it would shut down Dominus' mind. Chromedome was only stopped by Rewind slicing off his arm with Drift's sword, severing the connection to Dominus' mind, and presumably, killing him.

====The Functionist Universe====
[[File:CustomMadeNow-Dominus.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|Dominus has no mouth, so he must screen.]]
In [[Functionist Universe|an alternate timeline]] where the Functionist Council had slowly but surely conquered Cybertron, Dominus failed to end the disposable class and could only pull strings to get Rewind upgraded from disposable to research assistant. He also removed Rewind's obsolence chip, ensuring he couldn't be "recalled" if the Council turned on memory sticks. The two acted against the monstrous dictatorship both secretly and verbally, which got Dominus turned into a "[[empurata|flathead]]": his head replaced with a computer screen that was Council property, given no voice and 'talking' with text so he couldn't express himself, and his face showing propaganda pop-ups at random moments. He continued to resist and reached out to his spark-brother Minimus Ambus, but the Council found him out.

In an act of supreme cruelty, the Council deleted Dominus's vocabulary so he only knew the simplest of words and "love" was not among them. His screen was then used to taunt Rewind and Minimus about their impending doom. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*"Dominus" means "lord" or "master" in Latin, while "Ambus" appears to be derived from "ambulare", meaning "to walk".
*Members of the [[House|House Of Ambus]] all have those distinct 'taches.
*In "[[Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss]]" Ultra Magnus refers to the [[Ambus Test]], a universally recognised question-set designed to detect sentience in mechanical lifeforms that was presumably named after Dominus.

[[Category:Comic-only Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]

Shock (G1)

2016-04-29T13:12:32Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ Unitrex-1 and Lost Light are the same vessel, its like referring to the necrobot and censere as 2 different beings

{{Factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Shock}}
:''Shock is an [[Autobot]] [[Duobot]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].

[[File:IDW Shock.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Game over, man, game over!]]
Once upon a time, it was hard to tell '''Shock''' apart from his fellow Duobot, [[Ore]]. The big hole in his [[spark]]less chest will probably help some, now.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:Magnus shock ore powerdashers the gloaming.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5]]
Over five million years ago, the Duobots Shock and [[Ore]] were meant to be crewmates aboard the [[Lost Light|Unitrex-1]] before the starship mysteriously vanished on the launch pad. {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

The Duobots survived the war together, making it through the [[Battle for Hell's Point|Battle for ''Hell's Point'']], {{storylink|The Gloaming}} surviving "the day it rained" on [[Babu Yar]], and escaping the [[Simanzi Massacre]], where they braved the [[Crucible]]. They also had a prankster streak, having welded [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]'s hands together for a gag once. Exactly how the uptight policebot reacted is unknown. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

At some point during the war, they became agents of Prowl's secret "Diplomatic Corps", operating as handlers for [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}}

Shock and Ore were employed as [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]'s agents aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]''. They were surprised to discover the new quantum ship was apparently their old ship, the U-1. {{storylink|No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases}}

Ore attempted to plant a tracking device on the ship, but was killed when the nearby [[quantum generator]] activated. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} When the ship landed on a planet after its catastrophic launch, Shock was sent with [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] to investigate strange noises in the lower levels of the ship. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On‎|Hangers On}} Shock took the opportunity to cover up Ore's connection to Prowl, but was soon attacked and killed by a [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] hiding in the ship. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} His body was found sans spark by Red Alert, who realized a Sparkeater was responsible. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On‎|Hangers On}}

With his skills as a [[Mnemosurgery|mnemosurgeon]], [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] peered into Shock's memories to confirm Red Alert's theory. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

[[Category:Comic-only Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]

Decepticon Justice Division

2016-04-29T12:52:51Z

Phazeblade:

{{factions|decepticon}}
:''The Decepticon Justice Division is a group from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Mtmte7 djd.jpg|thumb|upright=2.8|So it's just "Or Death" then?]]
The '''Decepticon Justice Division''' is a division of the Decepticon army that handles justice. And by justice, we mean "unmarked graves". Assuming there's enough left of their victims to bury.

Traitors, deserters and any manner of transgressors to the [[Decepticon]] cause end up on "[[The List]]", and are targeted by these enforcers of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron's]] will. If the rumors are to be believed, they ''always'' find their quarry, and execute them in the messiest fashion possible to make an example of them. Several of them are living torture devices, either having horrific instruments of pain built into their bodies, or having [[alternate mode]]s that become such devices. As a group, they're even able to take down the mighty [[Phase Sixer]]s. So fearsome is their reputation that many Decepticons prefer suicide to waiting for the D.J.D. to find them... unfortunately, many Decepticons only find out they were ''on'' The List right as the D.J.D. arrive. Obviously, this makes them incredibly unpopular among the rank-and-file, many wondering just what level of minor infraction will get you on The List in the first damn place.

Their usual killing fields are in the proximity of the planet [[Messatine]], and they pursue targets in their spaceship the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]''.

The group's lineup has changed over the years, but its core five members always use the same five code-names: those of [[Fall of the First Five Cities|the first five cities]] to fall to the Decepticons. Should one member die, another Decepticon is eventually selected to take their place and name. Only the group's leader, [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]], is known to have been in the group from the start.

Known members include:

*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (leader)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]]
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]
*[[The Pet]]
*[[Nickel]]

{{bigquote|Find. Kill. Cleanse.|The D.J.D. motto}}

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
Tarn runs a tight ship. Each of his team have to do health and safety reports and are subjected to constant performance reviews. It's not all fun and games! {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

The late and unlamented [[Crosscut (Decepticon)|Crosscut]] was often mistaken for a Justice Division man, which he used to his advantage. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Crosscut's Squadron X profile}}

The D.J.D. has killed quite a few of the renegade Decepticon warlord [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s troops for their desertion. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

One time, the Division had learned the mysterious [[Censere|Necrobot]] was real and the existence of his planet. They didn't bother to investigate it. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

The current Vos's predecessor had hooks for hands and feet. Footage of him doing his usual business with the rest of the D.J.D. was recorded and presented as evidence during Megatron's trial. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Unknown to the Decepticons, that Vos was an [[Autobot]] [[Agent 113|mole]], passing information to them from within the Division. Usually this information would be the turncoats and traitors that the Division was hunting down, whom the Autobots could protect from [[death|justice]] in return for information. It was this agent that informed [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and the [[Wrecker]]s that any attempt to get near [[Garrus-9]] was blown out of the sky with extreme prejudice. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} {{storylink|Bullets}}

[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] once saw the Justice Division doing its dirty work. The shock rendered him speechless for six months, which was quite a feat for him. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} What wasn't known for a while was that the mole formerly known as Vos had shot a message bullet into his shoulder {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}} and by the time it had been found, Agent 113 had been found, killed, and replaced with the current Vos. The only useable data on the bullet was the location of the Necrobot [[Censere]]. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

At some point, the D.J.D. discovered the ravaged Cybertronian colony founded by the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]] [[Prion]] and recruited its sole survivor Nickel into their ranks. She took up a job as their nurse. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

In order to ensure the safety of the Autobot medical facility of [[Delphi]] on the planet [[Messatine]], deep within D.J.D. territory, the facility's chief medical officer [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] entered into a deal with the Division's leader. In return for their leaving Delphi be, Pharma would provide the leader with a constant supply of fresh [[transformation cog]]s from Delphi's dead, in order to feed his addiction to changing shape that caused him to constantly burn through cogs. With the monthly quota of cogs constantly rising, Pharma was forced into drastic action, seeking to escape the deal by shutting down the facility without implicating himself. To this end, he hired Decepticon nobodies [[Sonic (G1)|Sonic]] and [[Boom]] to pose as [[Monoformer]]s and seek asylum at Delphi, professing to be on the run from the D.J.D. Once inside, they detonated a viral soundbomb that infected Delphi with a corrosive plague that would be blamed on D.J.D. chemical warfare. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

The D.J.D. caught up with [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] and brutally tortured him to death after he sold his services to the Autobots. Despite popular conceptions, Tarn declared the war wasn't over until Megatron personally ''said'' it was over. Kaon then alerted Tarn to a signal on the planet Clemency from the undetonated [[K-Class]] named [[Fulcrum]]. When they arrived Tarn gave Fulcrum's companions fifteen minutes to give him up and watch him die, or be killed themselves. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Slaughterhouse mtmte -32 djd attack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|And the fandom collectively wept. Whether it was because they had [[spark|souls]] or because they loved watching the DJD kill people has yet to be determined.]]‎The so-called [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] chose to fight, turning an incidental captive [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] against Tarn and the others. The initial surprise wore off, though, and the Scavengers got brutalized. Tesarus ground up [[Flywheels]] in his chest compartment, while Vos made [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] "wear his face". Even a [[Cybernought]] barely helped improve their odds. The remaining hapless Decepticons only survived because Kaon detected [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s spark signature, plus Fulcrum had seemingly died moments prior in a failed suicide-bomb attempt (he hadn't, but everyone was a little too busy to double-check). Tarn ordered the D.J.D. off to hunt for bigger fish, but not before warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had all been added to the List. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

[[File:BrainstormDJDComeGetHim.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|left|Only Brainstorm invites genocidal murderers not to genocidally murder everyone on his ship.]]
The D.J.D. would later catch up with the ''[[Lost Light]]'' (unbeknownst to anyone, one of two created by a quantum engine accident) over [[Ofsted XVII]] in their search for Overlord (following a tip-off from the Decepticon mole [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]) and made short work of the crew (after learning that known defector [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] was also onboard) before reaching the rogue Phase Sixer in his slow cell beneath the ship and sawing off his head. The group, however, failed to kill one member of the crew — [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}

Their work finished, the D.J.D. departed from the ''Lost Light'', but later returned at Nickel's urging in order to steal the ship's [[Quantum generator|quantum engines]]. This turned out to be a mistake: the D.J.D. arrived in the middle of a battle between the [[Galactic Council]] and [[Black Block Consortia]], both of which were also after the engines. Rather than leave Cybertronian technology in the hands of ''organics'', the D.J.D. attacked both sides, which simply led to the two organizations teaming up against them. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Pursuing Council forces to the surface of Ofsted XVII, Vos and Kaon were trapped on the planet when an overwhelming number of organic reinforcements forced the ''Peaceful Tyranny'' to retreat. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} The two Decepticons were left badly damaged and close to death by the battle. The pair's salvation arrived when a trio of Autobots (from the main ''Lost Light'') foolishly helped them, and after killing [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]], Vos and Kaon were able to call for a teleport back to their ship, bringing with them the postwar edition of ''[[Towards Peace]]''. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}

The D.J.D. caught up with and murdered [[Blip]] in the interim. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Watching Megatron renounce and denounce the Decepticon cause in ''Towards Peace'' shook Tarn's faith in the movement, and he nearly killed himself by [[Nuke]] overdose before realizing a better option. The D.J.D. leader organized a meeting with the rogue Deathsaurus, not to murder him, but to ''ally'' with him. In exchange, he and all of his troops would be stricken from The List. Despite some initial friction, Deathsaurus agreed to the alliance. With the D.J.D. now bolstered by the addition of Deathsaurus's considerable forces, Tarn declared their new objective: kill the traitorous Megatron and all of his allies aboard the "primary" ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

When [[Getaway]] launched his mutiny on the ''Lost Light'', he informed the DJD that Megatron would be getting marooned on Censere's planet. The Division butchered the Necrobot and ambushed Megatron, and his only loyal crew members, when they arrived. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}}

==Notes==
*In an early plan for "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]", the D.J.D. were going to attack.<ref>[http://www.fullmetalhero.com/t14540/ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 01:33:27 to 01:35:00]</ref>
*[[James Roberts]] elaborated that when a D.J.D. member dies, his replacement takes his name.<ref>[http://boards.idwpublishing.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12651&start=15 IDW Forums James Roberts Q&A]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Decepticon subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformer culture]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]

Decepticon Justice Division

2016-04-29T12:49:58Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ was worth noting WHY they butchered the ship, as tarn reflects he had every intention of sparing the Lost Light up until he saw Drift, while on a Nuke high

{{factions|decepticon}}
:''The Decepticon Justice Division is a group from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Mtmte7 djd.jpg|thumb|upright=2.8|So it's just "Or Death" then?]]
The '''Decepticon Justice Division''' is a division of the Decepticon army that handles justice. And by justice, we mean "unmarked graves". Assuming there's enough left of their victims to bury.

Traitors, deserters and any manner of transgressors to the [[Decepticon]] cause end up on "[[The List]]", and are targeted by these enforcers of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron's]] will. If the rumors are to be believed, they ''always'' find their quarry, and execute them in the messiest fashion possible to make an example of them. Several of them are living torture devices, either having horrific instruments of pain built into their bodies, or having [[alternate mode]]s that become such devices. As a group, they're even able to take down the mighty [[Phase Sixer]]s. So fearsome is their reputation that many Decepticons prefer suicide to waiting for the D.J.D. to find them... unfortunately, many Decepticons only find out they were ''on'' The List right as the D.J.D. arrive. Obviously, this makes them incredibly unpopular among the rank-and-file, many wondering just what level of minor infraction will get you on The List in the first damn place.

Their usual killing fields are in the proximity of the planet [[Messatine]], and they pursue targets in their spaceship the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]''.

The group's lineup has changed over the years, but its core five members always use the same five code-names: those of [[Fall of the First Five Cities|the first five cities]] to fall to the Decepticons. Should one member die, another Decepticon is eventually selected to take their place and name. Only the group's leader, [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]], is known to have been in the group from the start.

Known members include:

*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (leader)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]]
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]
*[[The Pet]]
*[[Nickel]]

{{bigquote|Find. Kill. Cleanse.|The D.J.D. motto}}

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
Tarn runs a tight ship. Each of his team have to do health and safety reports and are subjected to constant performance reviews. It's not all fun and games! {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

The late and unlamented [[Crosscut (Decepticon)|Crosscut]] was often mistaken for a Justice Division man, which he used to his advantage. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Crosscut's Squadron X profile}}

The D.J.D. has killed quite a few of the renegade Decepticon warlord [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]'s troops for their desertion. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

One time, the Division had learned the mysterious [[Censere|Necrobot]] was real and the existence of his planet. They didn't bother to investigate it. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

The current Vos's predecessor had hooks for hands and feet. Footage of him doing his usual business with the rest of the D.J.D. was recorded and presented as evidence during Megatron's trial. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Unknown to the Decepticons, that Vos was an [[Autobot]] [[Agent 113|mole]], passing information to them from within the Division. Usually this information would be the turncoats and traitors that the Division was hunting down, whom the Autobots could protect from [[death|justice]] in return for information. It was this agent that informed [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and the [[Wrecker]]s that any attempt to get near [[Garrus-9]] was blown out of the sky with extreme prejudice. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} {{storylink|Bullets}}

[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] once saw the Justice Division doing its dirty work. The shock rendered him speechless for six months, which was quite a feat for him. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} What wasn't known for a while was that the mole formerly known as Vos had shot a message bullet into his shoulder {{storylink|The One Where They Go to Earth}} and by the time it had been found, Agent 113 had been found, killed, and replaced with the current Vos. The only useable data on the bullet was the location of the Necrobot [[Censere]]. {{storylink|The Not Knowing}}

At some point, the D.J.D. discovered the ravaged Cybertronian colony founded by the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]] [[Prion]] and recruited its sole survivor Nickel into their ranks. She took up a job as their nurse. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

In order to ensure the safety of the Autobot medical facility of [[Delphi]] on the planet [[Messatine]], deep within D.J.D. territory, the facility's chief medical officer [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]] entered into a deal with the Division's leader. In return for their leaving Delphi be, Pharma would provide the leader with a constant supply of fresh [[transformation cog]]s from Delphi's dead, in order to feed his addiction to changing shape that caused him to constantly burn through cogs. With the monthly quota of cogs constantly rising, Pharma was forced into drastic action, seeking to escape the deal by shutting down the facility without implicating himself. To this end, he hired Decepticon nobodies [[Sonic (G1)|Sonic]] and [[Boom]] to pose as [[Monoformer]]s and seek asylum at Delphi, professing to be on the run from the D.J.D. Once inside, they detonated a viral soundbomb that infected Delphi with a corrosive plague that would be blamed on D.J.D. chemical warfare. {{storylink|Life After the Big Bang}} {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

The D.J.D. caught up with [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] and brutally tortured him to death after he sold his services to the Autobots. Despite popular conceptions, Tarn declared the war wasn't over until Megatron personally ''said'' it was over. Kaon then alerted Tarn to a signal on the planet Clemency from the undetonated [[K-Class]] named [[Fulcrum]]. When they arrived Tarn gave Fulcrum's companions fifteen minutes to give him up and watch him die, or be killed themselves. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement (issue)|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[File:Slaughterhouse mtmte -32 djd attack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|And the fandom collectively wept. Whether it was because they had [[spark|souls]] or because they loved watching the DJD kill people has yet to be determined.]]‎The so-called [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] chose to fight, turning an incidental captive [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] against Tarn and the others. The initial surprise wore off, though, and the Scavengers got brutalized. Tesarus ground up [[Flywheels]] in his chest compartment, while Vos made [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] "wear his face". Even a [[Cybernought]] barely helped improve their odds. The remaining hapless Decepticons only survived because Kaon detected [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s spark signature, plus Fulcrum had seemingly died moments prior in a failed suicide-bomb attempt (he hadn't, but everyone was a little too busy to double-check). Tarn ordered the D.J.D. off to hunt for bigger fish, but not before warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had all been added to the List. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

[[File:BrainstormDJDComeGetHim.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|left|Only Brainstorm invites genocidal murderers not to genocidally murder everyone on his ship.]]
The D.J.D. would later catch up with the ''[[Lost Light]]'' (unbeknownst to anyone, one of two created by a quantum engine accident) over [[Ofsted XVII]] in their search for Overlord (following a tip-off from the Decepticon mole [[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]]) and made short work of the crew(after learning that known defector [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] was also onboard) before reaching the rogue Phase Sixer in his slow cell beneath the ship and sawing off his head. The group, however, failed to kill one member of the crew — [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}

Their work finished, the D.J.D. departed from the ''Lost Light'', but later returned at Nickel's urging in order to steal the ship's [[Quantum generator|quantum engines]]. This turned out to be a mistake: the D.J.D. arrived in the middle of a battle between the [[Galactic Council]] and [[Black Block Consortia]], both of which were also after the engines. Rather than leave Cybertronian technology in the hands of ''organics'', the D.J.D. attacked both sides, which simply led to the two organizations teaming up against them. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Pursuing Council forces to the surface of Ofsted XVII, Vos and Kaon were trapped on the planet when an overwhelming number of organic reinforcements forced the ''Peaceful Tyranny'' to retreat. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} The two Decepticons were left badly damaged and close to death by the battle. The pair's salvation arrived when a trio of Autobots (from the main ''Lost Light'') foolishly helped them, and after killing [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]], Vos and Kaon were able to call for a teleport back to their ship, bringing with them the postwar edition of ''[[Towards Peace]]''. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}

The D.J.D. caught up with and murdered [[Blip]] in the interim. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

Watching Megatron renounce and denounce the Decepticon cause in ''Towards Peace'' shook Tarn's faith in the movement, and he nearly killed himself by [[Nuke]] overdose before realizing a better option. The D.J.D. leader organized a meeting with the rogue Deathsaurus, not to murder him, but to ''ally'' with him. In exchange, he and all of his troops would be stricken from The List. Despite some initial friction, Deathsaurus agreed to the alliance. With the D.J.D. now bolstered by the addition of Deathsaurus's considerable forces, Tarn declared their new objective: kill the traitorous Megatron and all of his allies aboard the "primary" ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}}

When [[Getaway]] launched his mutiny on the ''Lost Light'', he informed the DJD that Megatron would be getting marooned on Censere's planet. The Division butchered the Necrobot and ambushed Megatron, and his only loyal crew members, when they arrived. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}}

==Notes==
*In an early plan for "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]", the D.J.D. were going to attack.<ref>[http://www.fullmetalhero.com/t14540/ Moonbase2's second interview with James Roberts - 01:33:27 to 01:35:00]</ref>
*[[James Roberts]] elaborated that when a D.J.D. member dies, his replacement takes his name.<ref>[http://boards.idwpublishing.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12651&start=15 IDW Forums James Roberts Q&A]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Decepticon subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 subgroups]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformer culture]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]

Hubcap (G1)

2016-02-04T16:53:23Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ cleanup, spoiler tag had expired

{{factions|autobot|autobotg2}}
{{disambig3|Hubcap}}
:''Hubcap is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:Hubcapg1.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Orange face and experimental dog energies not included.]]
Everybody likes '''Hubcap'''. He's friendly, always has a clever joke or compliment ready, and is generally a nice, fun, affable bot to be around. On the other hand nobody actually ''trusts'' Hubcap. It's not his devotion to the [[Autobot]] cause that's the concern (mostly), but his ulterior motives for his friendship and jokes and the like. He is at his core a con artist, and everyone's a bit on their guard around him. Some think he's this way to cover for deficiencies or to stay in a position well above his actual aptitude level... or maybe he just likes tricking people. He doesn't seem to have made many enemies with his tricks and scams, though; quite the opposite. So perhaps it is all mostly harmless.

No-one doubts that he's got ''very'' good audio receptors, though, capable of picking up incredibly weak signals, which is why he's part of the Autobot communications hub. One can only guess as to what he might ''do'' with all he hears in that position, though.

==Fiction==
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' manga====
[[File:FSRLTFmanga8 Minibots.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|So which one of them is Tinky Winky?]]
Hubcap was part of a group who arrived to back up [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], who was defending a [[Murdered puppy|dog]] that had been cruelly experimented on by the [[Decepticon]]s from being hunted and captured by the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]]. He and the other [[Mini Vehicle|Minibots]] [[Minibot combiner|combined]] with Powerglide in their [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]s thanks to the [[Decepticon super science|experimental energies]] within the dog, and, spinning furiously, smashed through [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]]'s chest and out the other side in a flying drill attack.

No, seriously. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 8|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8}}
{{-}}

====Controverse====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Controverse}}}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity===
[[File:BlackSunshine Autobot training failures.jpg|thumb|Hubcap and his buddies weren't 1984 enough to beat the training drones.]]
Hubcap was among the group of new recruits seen failing to take on the [[auto-combatant]] training drones on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] after [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s rule was toppled. {{storylink|Black Sunshine}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:MegsOrigin4 Hubcap.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Actually doing his job!]]
Hubcap was among the mourners at [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]]'s funeral at [[Security Services Headquarters]] in [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]], appropriately standing next to [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} He later served at an Autobot communications post, trying to radio through to [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] for reinforcements during [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s "everything burns" offensive. In the end, the area was so devastated that Hubcap and the Autobots only requested evacuation from the area instead of new troops, leaving Kaon under Decepticon control. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}} After the fall of [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]], Hubcap was on the list of soldiers being trained by the newly risen [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13#Old Ways|Old Ways}}

Later on, he was listed as a potential candidate for a mission that was ultimately given to [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Wheelie}}

Hubcap was a good friend of [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]], and the two would often write to each other during the war. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

[[File:Hubcap sins of the wreckers 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8]]
After the war ended, Hubcab somehow wound up becoming the administrator of [[Debris]], the space station used by the [[Wrecker]]s as a base of operations. As he nervously approached [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] to warn them that [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]] was about to break free of his makeshift prison, the former initially mistook him for a [[Fandom|fanboy]] before speculating that he must have done something bad to have been assigned to Debris. Roadbuster demurred, pointing out Hubcap's reputation as a communications specialist and indicating that he may have actually ''wanted'' the job. The conversation then (uncomfortably) switched to the subject of [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] being kept on life support, when they were interrupted by an alarm from... Springer's life support.

Rushing to the medbay expecting to find the worst, they instead discovered Springer had been contacted by [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] with a direct order—to wake up and find [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]. Sufficiently motivated, Springer recruited Hubcap into a new iteration of the Wreckers and they travelled to [[Earth]] to rendez-vous with Kup, where they found that [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] had got there ahead of them and kidnapped [[Verity Carlo]], a human who had been blackmailing Prowl with her copy of the [[Aequitas]] [[data slug]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}}

While Arcee and Springer took to arguing over who they thought was responsible for Prowl's disappearance, Hubcap scanned the local area but was unable to find any trace of other Cybertronians nearby. With the news from Prowl (via Kup) that he had been taken to an offshore undersea facility and [[Stakeout (G1)|Stakeout]]'s report that the data slug had been stolen by a [[Stampy (BWN)|bunny]] that swam inside a [[Tidal Wave (G1)|whale]], Springer requested that Hubcap track the whale but its [[Beast mode|bio-disguise]] nullified its [[spark]]-signature, rendering it invisible to his systems. Instead, the whole crew headed out to Stakeout's last known location where they soon found themselves in combat with these newly revealed enemies. When, during the battle, the whale got stuck in mid-transformation to [[robot mode]], the Wreckers saw their chance and ran inside, with Roadbuster urging Hubcap to get a move on. There, they found an inter-dimensional portal to the [[Noisemaze]] and once Hubcap had checked that their captive [[Claw Jaw]] hadn't messaged ahead using ether-tech traffic or analogue frequencies, they forced him to open it. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}}
{{-}}

===''TransTech''===
[[File:Axiomnexusgonetoofar.jpg|thumb|200]]
After a routine [[space bridge]] accident, Hubcap and his best mech [[Jackpot (G1)|Jackpot]] ended up in the trans-dimensional processing hub of [[Nexus 208.0 Epsilon]] Cybertron. They were released into [[Axiom Nexus]] proper after being properly [[identification bolt|cataloged and tagged]] to wait until their exit visas came through. Their tour guide [[Scattorshot (Cybertron)|Scattorshot]], an Autobot from the [[Aurex]] [[universal stream|universal cluster]], explained the deal with the [[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]]s, but Hubcap didn't get much further than "I hate quantum." The whole TransTech v. Offworlder system put Hubcap on edge, but Jackpot convinced him to live a little and mix it up with the locals.

While looking for someone to float them a line of credit, the two Autobots visited a local bank, only to be quickly escorted to the curb after Hubcap began loudly explaining all the ways the basic contract was designed to screw over the lendee long-term. Mixing their needs for adventure and profit, Hubcap and Jackpot journeyed to the relatively unpoliced Zone 6, and hit the scene at [[The Blue Deployer]]. Hubcap was initially annoyed at the low-level jamming field in the tavern that threw a blanket over his special senses, but soon perked right up when he saw the gambling tables. Hubcap got on a winning streak in his game, squaring off against a local Decepticon named [[Gutcruncher (G1)|Gutcruncher]], and bet it all on what he thought was an unbeatable hand in [[Cybertronian sport#Fullstasis|Fullstasis]]. Unfortunately for their coin-purse, Jackpot wandered over at that moment and his luck-warping field (combined with the natural observer's bias when dealing with quantum mechanics) sent Gutcruncher's hand into superposition, costing Hubcap everything or, as he put it, "''fifty-slagging-three-slagging-thousand slagging credits!''"

Gutcruncher liked the cut of Hubcap's metal, and offered him a business opportunity to meet for later than night. Hubcap and Jackpot were in agreement to ''Never Trust a Decepticon'' when The Blue Deployer's patron, [[Cryotek (TransTech)|Cryotek]], interjected his opinion. He convinced the duo to take Gutcruncher up on his offer and see what their options were. A few hours later, Hubcap and Jackpot found themselves with mezzanine-level seats to the start of a war—Gutcruncher was rallying all the [[offworlder]] gangs and unions to strike back at the TransTechs and seize their transcendent technology for themselves. And, as the universe attempted to prove any situation could always get worse, a photon charge suddenly went off directly behind the duo, atomizing Gutcruncher's skull and leaving every crooked crankshaft and gear-spitting gang member in Axiom Nexus gunning for their heads.

Hubcap and Jackpot led their pursuers on a merry chase, but could find no help at The Blue Deployer or from their own doppelgangers in the Nexus. Finally, they were caught by agents of the [[Axiom Nexus Security Administration|Security Administration]] and hauled in to the cops. Hubcap tried to explain to [[Cheetor (TransTech)|Commander Cheetor]] that his [[Tech Spec|tech-spec]]s just didn't allow this level of violence, but Cheetor was already way ahead of them: ''obviously'' they didn't do it, but ''obviously'' the gangs weren't going to stop and listen to a reasoned explanation. He was planning to hold them indefinitely, so Hubcap set off his engines to create a smokescreen long enough for them to escape. Still lacking anything that resembled a cunning plan, Hubcap and Jackpot continued running around the back alleys of Axiom Nexus, occasionally out-maneuvering the [[Malignus (G1)|Malignus]] gang with sonic decoys and lucky electrocutions.
[[File:BlackShadowHubcap GoneTooFar.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Can't we talk about this? I'm good at *erkk* talking...]]
This might have gone on for ages if the REAL killer hadn't tracked them down. [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]], one of Cryotek's employees, had been responsible for the execution of Gutcruncher, and was planning to add two more kills to his record. After all, icing the two Autobots not only prevented them from clearing their names and implicating him, it also gave him a shot at a second payday once he collected the bounty placed on their heads by Gutcruncher's second, [[Dirge (Timelines)|Dirge]]. The Autobots let him keep monologuing until they were ready to make a break for it. Unfortunately, Black Shadow was a [[Pretender]] ([[Crossformer]], really), and splitting up did little to improve their odds. Hubcap tried to outrun the flying Decepticon by hitching a ride on a passing jet mode Transformer. He used a high-pitched whine from his audio systems to pretend he was equipped with an [[Exponential Generator|exponential generator]], forcing his unwilling carrier to participate in the getaway. The next part of his plan was a bit dangerous, deliberately amplifying his voice and identifying himself to draw out the Malignus and Gutcruncher's lackeys. It worked, and just as Black Shadow was going to choke the life out of him and / or hand him over to Dirge and the Malignus for something even worse, Hubcap activated his internal playback and broadcasted Blackie's gloating confession for all to hear. After then tricking Black Shadow into identifying his guns as the murder weapons, the jury was in—the assembled gangs tore the assassin limb from limb.

Although they had successfully cleared their names, Commander Cheetor had deemed the two Autobots "undesirables" and fast tracked their exit visas as soon as possible, sending them on their way to [[Primax 207.0 Epsilon|a universe similar to their own]]. Hubcap and Jackpot ended up crash-materializing atop a Decepticon named [[Killzone]], who was rampaging through a primitive civilization. A short talk with the locals revealed the planet was polluted with a certain kind of [[energon cube|squarish rock that glows and explodes when you hit it]]. As they arranged to contact the Autobot army for pick-up, Hubcap began negotiating with [[Yurgeth]] to remove all those nasty rocks...free of charge, of course. {{storylink|Gone Too Far}}

===''Wings Universe''===
{{Wingsnote}}
Hubcap was among the reinforcements sent to Switzerland from [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] via the Geneva [[space bridge]] nexus in 2010. He assisted [[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]]'s Autobots against the Decepticon Syndicate, and was exposed to [[forestonite]] gas that gave him unspecified new super-powers. {{storylink|Generation 2: Redux}} He later accompanied Pyro and several others to follow up on a distress call from [[Nebulos]]. Upon arriving, they discovered that scientist [[Hi-Q]] had disappeared. Hubcap used his forestonite-enhanced powers of persuasion to convince Hi-Q's lab assistant, [[Hi-Test]] to reveal the existence of Hi-Q's extensive security system. {{storylink|A Flash Forward, Part 3}} Following clues from the surveillance recordings, Pyro and his team tracked the kidnapped Nebulon to [[Qre]], where they were quickly incapacitated and captured by [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]. {{storylink|A Flash Forward, Part 4}} After [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] freed everyone, they rescued Hi-Q, destroyed the base, and returned to Earth. {{storylink|A Flash Forward, Part 6}}

During the final stages of the [[Machine Wars: Transformers|Machine Wars]], Hubcap alerted Pyro to [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]]'s signal from Cybertron. {{storylink|A Common Foe}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
[[File:TFLegends Hubcap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Yes, he is doing a backflip in [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] over a train which is ramming a [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]].]]
Hubcap was assigned to [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]]'s team, guarding some researchers at a coastal town when they were attacked by [[Overbite (G1)|Overbite]] and [[Nautilator (G1)|Nautilator]]. {{storylink|The B-Team Part Deux}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
Hubcap participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! {{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[File:G1-toy Hubcap.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Not yellow Cliffjumper, dammit.]]
*'''Hubcap''' (Mini-Vehicle, [[1986]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''C-57'''

:Released in the third year of the [[The Transformers (toyline)|original toy line]] in the US (second year in Japan), Hubcap is a [[retool]]ing of the [[Cliffjumper (G1)/toys|Cliffjumper]] "penny-racer"-proportioned Porsche 924 Turbo sports car mold, giving him a new [[robot mode]] head and "no spoiler". (His seeming lack of a spoiler is actually scale-accurate to the spoiler found on the real Porsche 924 and 944.) He is sometimes mistaken for the variant yellow Cliffjumper, and even occasionally for [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]], who has a similar transformation, but an entirely different mold for his car parts and robot head.

:In 1986, he was made available as a mail-away item (incorrectly labeled as Cliffjumper) in the "[[Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction (G1)|Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction]]" and "[[The Autobots Are Under Attack!]]" fliers packed with most boxed ''Transformers'' toys. He cost $3.50 and one [[Robot Point]]. The instruction booklet to mail-away Hubcap (sometimes bundled with [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] and [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]]) also incorrectly refers to him as "Cliffjumper".

::*''[http://www.transformerland.com/wiki/toy-info/transformers-g1-mini-vehicles-hubcap/1162/ Patent info, price guide, and further reading on Hubcap at Transformerland.com]''
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1986/Autobot/Hubcap/hubcap.htm More information on Hubcap at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Generation 2''===
[[File:G2-toy Hubcap.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Really not Cliffjumper.]]
*'''Hubcap''' (Mini-Vehicle, [[1993]])

:Hubcap was re-released as part of the first batch of ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'' toys in the US, this time in shiny chrome red. There's speculation that this was because [[Hasbro]] had intended to release Cliffjumper instead but didn't have the mold, but it seems more likely it was simply to keep him from looking too much like his assortment partner [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys|Bumblebee]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1993/Autobot/HubCap/hubcap.htm More information on Generation 2 Hubcap at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Transformers'' (2010)===
[[File:TF 2010 Hubcap toy.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|If we don't get a [[GoBots (franchise)|Super Couper]]-themed [[redeco]], we riot.]]
*'''Hubcap''' (Scout Class, [[2010]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''AA-09'''

:{{note|[[Hubcap (TF 2010)|Hubcap]] was repurposed as Hubcap in "[[The B-Team Part Deux]]".}}

:Hubcap transforms into a hot rod based on a 1930s-style car of indeterminate make, but most closely related to the Willys 77 (with some elements of its successor, the Americar). His feet appear to be based upon the iconic foot design of the Japanese mecha franchise ''[[Wikipedia:Gundam|Gundam]]''. Compared to other toys from the [[live-action film series]], his transformation consists of a mere three or four very easy steps.

:Like most toys in the [[Transformers (2010 toyline)|2010 ''Transformers'' toyline]], Hubcap features a standard Autobot [[insignia]] rather than the live-action movie style Autobot insignia.

:This mold would also have been used to make 2010 ''Transformers'' [[Downshift (TF 2010)|Downshift]].

::*''[http://tfu.info/2010/Autobot/Hubcap/hubcap.htm More information on Hubcap at TFU.info]''

==Notes==
[[File:ToyFair1986-TFpage01a-TailgateHubCap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Hubcap before discovering spray on tan.]]
*In the pre-[[Toy Fair 1986]] catalog, Hubcap (actually just a redecoed [[Cliffjumper (G1)/toys#toys|Cliffjumper]]) is featured with a white car body, a black chest/torso, and a red face. Fellow 1986 [[Mini Vehicle]] [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] appears in Hubcap's final colors, though. The white "Hub Cap" would eventually become the basis for the non-toy character [[Rest-Q (G1)|Rest-Q]].
*Also in the pre-Toy Fair 1986 catalog, Hubcap's photo shows him mistransformed: his arms are not extended, making him look like his only limbs are his legs.
*Despite his availability with the rest of the '86 Mini-Vehicle assortment, Hubcap was completely absent from contemporary Western Generation 1 fiction. No [[character model]] was drawn up for him, and he was not included in either the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] or the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel comic]]. He was even missing from Marvel's ''[[The Transformers Universe]]'' bio series, despite having a full-length bio written by [[Bob Budiansky]]. The reason for this omission is unknown.
*Speaking of that full-length bio, it notes that Hubcap's phosphorescent windscreen acts as a television monitor.<ref>http://boltax.blogspot.com/2010/12/extended-bios.html Hubcap's full bio at "Disciples of Boltax"</ref> This is ''awesome''.
*The fan-commentary track for [[Sony]]'s 2006 release of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' erroneously claims that a generic robot resembling Bumblebee seen on Unicron's conveyor belt late in the film is Hubcap.
*In [[Fun Publications]]' stories, his personality and mannerisms are based on comedian-magician [[Wikipedia:Penn Jillette|Penn Jillette]].

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Hubcap''' (ハブキャップ ''Habukyappu'')
*''French:'' '''Virevolto''' (Canada)
*''Mandarin:'' '''Díshì''' (的士, "Taxi")

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Communications specialists]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Generation 2 Autobots]]
[[Category:Mail order items]]
[[Category:Mini Vehicles]]
[[Category:Repurposed toys]]
[[Category:TransTech Autobots]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]
[[Category:Wreckers]]

Legislator

2015-10-18T00:17:53Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ 19(80)4 is section(sub-section)paragraph, updated to fix error

:''The Legislators are Transformers from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Legislators MTMTE HangersOn.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Sent by radical [[GEEWUN]] fundamentalists, no doubt.]]
The '''Legislators''' are the private shock troops of Chief Justice [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]. Sparkless drones, they are constructed with a single imperative: countermand any infractions of the [[Tyrest Accord]]. They do this without hesitation, without thinking and without remorse, taking whatever measures their programming deems sufficient for the enforcement of Tyrest's wishes... all the while reciting the section and sub-section of the law that has been violated.

They come in two varieties: some wield swords and can combine to form a shuttle, others tote dual gatling guns and transform into treaded vehicles of some kind.

{{quote|Nineteen eighty-four.|The Legislators|"[[Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On]]"}}

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
At some point around the time of his religious "awakening", Tyrest constructed the Legislators as a remorseless, unthinking army programmed to enforce the Tyrest Accord. They captured [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] and [[Getaway]] following their failed attempt to neutralize the Chief Justice. Skids managed to escape them, fleeing aboard a shuttlecraft made from three [[Mode lock|mode-locked]] Legislators. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}}

The Legislators later attacked [[Theophany]], destroying the city and capturing the surviving members of the [[Circle of Light]]. Tyrest would go on to murder 90% of these captives and use their remains as raw material for the creation of more Legislators. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

Skids awoke, amnesiac, still piloting the shuttlecraft. As the shuttle began to transform, Skids—trusting his instincts—reset the mode locks, pointed the shuttle at the planet's surface, and bailed out.

The explosive crash of the shuttle destroyed one of its three component bots. The two remainders transformed into their massive robot forms and, toting swords and repeating the phrase "Nineteen eighty-four", advanced relentlessly to attack Skids. The wayward theoretician magnetized the corpse of [[Polaris]] and attached it to one of the Legislators, then blew up the body's fuel supply, taking out the giant. When the other kept coming, Skids took it out with an array of built-in weaponry and pit-fighter-worthy moves. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|Hangers On}}

[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], who witnessed the battle, would be reminded of the Legislators while learning about an obsolete sub-section of the [[Autobot Code]]: specifically, section 19 (sub-section 80) paragraph 4, which dealt with thought warfare, a threat that never materialized... at least as far as [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] knew. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}}

Upon reaching the fabled [[Crystal City]] of the [[Circle of Light]], the crew of the Lost Light found it had been utterly razed. While tapping into the [[brain module]] of the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]] beneath the ruins, [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] saw from its memories that the Legislators had abducted the entire populace. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}}

An army of Legislators would later attack the Lost Light upon its discovery of [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]], under the direction of [[Tyrest (G1)|Chief Justice Tyrest]]. The crew was overwhelmed by the sudden assault, despite their best efforts. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

The Legislators acted as guards throughout Tyrest's base. Two brought [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] down from the Lost Light at Pharma's request. After Cyclonus and Whirl freed the Circle, they found themselves confronted by a vast army of the drones. At the same time, as part of Tyrest's new Pre-Emptive Execution clause, a Legislator crushed the head of Minimus Ambus. {{storylink|Remain in Light 3 of 5: The Divided Self|The Divided Self}}

The Circle of Light engaged the Legislators in a fierce battle,{{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} but victory only came when the drones suddenly retreated, ''en masse'', to defend Tyrest. They were only stopped when Tailgate used Tyrest's own Repository to rewrite Section 500 of the Tyrest Accord, repealing the law. Without anything left to enforce, the drones all ceased action. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} When [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] chose to remain on Luna 1 alongside the Circle of Light, he suggested they reprogram the remaining Legislators to act as the moon's protectors. {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}

Roughly six months later, [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] and a fully recovered Tailgate encountered a Legislator who was standing guard at Swerve's bar. Swerve explained that he had repaired the damaged drone following the Lost Light's departure from Luna 1, reprogramming it to act as a doorman. Nicknamed "[[Ten]]" (after the only word it was able to say), the Legislator was shown to have an amicable yet strict nature, welcoming patrons into the bar with friendly gestures while denying Cyclonus entry until he had relinquished his Great Sword (as per Swerve's "no guns, no swords, no briefcases" policy). {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon|The Fecund Moon}}}}

==Notes==
*The name "Legislators" was originally revealed in the concept art for the robots, published in the first trade paperback volume for the series.
*The Legislator's chanting of Nineteen-Eighty-Four is a reference to the year [[1984]], a year of great significance to the Transformers legacy.

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 drones]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]

The War to End All Wars, Part 5

2015-10-02T05:47:39Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */ yay for listing 25 twice, and being the only one to notice and care to fix it

{{Comicstory|
|series=rg1|issueno=100
|prev=The War to End All Wars, Part 4
|next=King of Shadows
|title="The War to End All Wars" Part 5
|image=RG1 100 cvrA.jpg
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[March 19]], [[2014]]
|coverdate=March 2014
|writer=[[Simon Furman]]
|pencils=[[Andrew Wildman]] (1-10) [[Geoff Senior]] (11-20) [[Guido Guidi]] (21-32)
|finishes=[[Stephen Baskerville]] (1-10, 21-32) Geoff Senior (11-20)
|colorist=[[John-Paul Bove]]
|letterer=[[Chris Mowry]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}

'''The Autobots fight the foes across Cybertron, Nebulos and Earth as Rodimus Prime returns to Zero Space and finds himself in the fight of his life against the corrupted power of the Matrix.'''

==Synopsis==
Returning to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] following their defeat of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] and his forces, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] and the [[Autobot]]s are aghast to discover that their homeworld has been reduced to a barren wasteland during their time away. As they explore the deserted streets, events suddenly crystallize for Rodimus: their absence, he realizes, was orchestrated by someone—specifically, the dark entity that has recently been posing as [[Primus]]. Punctuating this realization, the Autobots come under attack from streamers of living shadow that suck the life from anyone unfortunate enough to feel their touch. [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] corrals one of these "[[shadow-leech]]es" in a sonic bubble long enough for [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] to examine it, leading to the horrifying revelation that it ''used'' to be [[Iguanus (G1)|Iguanus]], and that ''all'' the leeches are former Transformers, transfigured into this new form along with their world. With conventional weaponry having no effect on the creatures, Rodimus sends [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] to fetch the [[Sword of Primus]], but just after he departs, help arrives in the form of the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]; [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]]'s prior possession by the dark entity has granted him a form of immunity against the leeches, and the power to slay them, with the other Dinobots having been saved from transfiguration by their proximity to their leader. Appalled at Grimlock's willful slaughter of creatures that used to be fellow Transformers, Rodimus vows to find another way; when Jetfire returns with the sword, Rodimus is able to use its energies to hold the leeches at bay. The Dinobots explain that [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] has taken the [[space bridge]] network offline, save for the portal linking Cybertron to [[Earth]] and [[Nebulos]], which reminds Rodimus of a passage from the [[Covenant of Primus]] that spoke of a trinity of planets that served as a gateway to the [[multiverse]] he previously glimpsed through [[Zero Space]]. He orders [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] to lead a team in retaking the space bridge network in the [[Star Chamber]], while he prepares to confront the architect of their situation.

Within the void of Zero Space, the voiceless presence continues to torment [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], this time appearing before him in the form of his father [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] and subject him to guilt over his abandonment of his family. As Spike howls in despair, the crack in Zero Space widens, though which glimpses of many other universes become visible, the barriers between worlds slowly being broken down by the chaos the dark entity has instigated. That chaos spreads now, as the entity directs Galvatron to Nebulos, there to raze the last of the three planets that it requires be reduced to rubble to facilitate its crossing!

Now aware that the dark entity has been manipulating him all along, stoking his rages with visions of slaughter, Rodimus uses the Covenant of Primus to open a portal to Zero Space to confront the creature, which now stands revealed as the fragment of corrupted energy from the [[Matrix of Leadership|Creation Matrix]] that possessed the [[Deathbringer (Marvel)|Deathbringer]]. The entity explains to Rodimus that, left on Earth after the Deathbringer's destruction, it returned to Cybertron along with all the other Transformers when [[Primus]] recalled them there prior to the battle with [[Unicron]]. Possessing an [[Acolytes of Unicron|Acolyte of Unicron]], the entity discovered a subterranean graveyard of Transformers who had made pilgrimages to Primus's chamber, and learned that it could drain the lingering traces of their [[spark]] energy. It controlled the [[Demon|Primordials]] into abducting more victims for it to feed upon, and thrived in the chaos of Cybertron's recreation, integrating itself inextricably into the planet, becoming as one with it as Primus once was. But peace did not suit its plans, and so it whispered in [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'s ear, leading him to re-ignite the war, and even manipulated [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] into his [[Gene Key]] experiments. Now, the creature has grown as much as it can within this universe, and so seeks to ascend into the multiverse—but to do that, it requires a Matrix, and so Rodimus Prime must die! From throughout this timeline, the entity summons three versions of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] and orders them into battle.

Magnus leads a team of Autobots to the Star Chamber, with Kup and the Dinobots electing to merely blast their way in rather than wait for [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] to hack the system. The complex proves to be alive with shadow-leeches, but the Dinobots hold them off while the other Autobots split into two squads; Magnus's takes a unit to Nebulos, while [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] takes his squad to Earth, where they immediately come under fire from [[Linda Chang]]'s forces. Fortunately, Roadbuster recognizes the [[human]]s and is able to quickly explain the situation to them, leading Chang to propose they join forces to head back through the space bridge and rescue Spike, who they believe to be on Nebulos.

Faring poorly in his battle with the three iterations of Optimus Prime and unable to reach Spike to snap him out of his trance of despair, Rodimus recalls the previous glimpse of the multiverse the entity offered him, and uses the Covenant to send out ripples through space and time. The Optimuses descend upon him, the entity mocking his actions as a last, desperate gasp... until suddenly, in response to his call, a small army of other incarnations of Rodimus from through the multiverse arrive to join the fight!

On Nebulos, Ultra Magnus's team tracks down Galvatron, whose rampage has halted briefly as Rodimus's actions in Zero Space draw all of the entity's attention for a moment. Magnus engages Galvatron hand-to-hand, and with brutal finality, snaps his neck, and crushes his head, killing the future Decepticon at last. The corrupted [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] suddenly appears and almost shoots Magnus in the back, but the other Autobots, together with Chang's forces, arrive to join the fight.

As the army of Rodimuses turn their weapons on the entity, its control over Optimus falters, and the former Autobot leader is able to shake it off long enough to give Rodimus advice. The entity cannot be destroyed, Optimus warns, merely contained—Primus's grand plan will ultimately result in the creation of an optimum universe from the best elements of all realities, so to prevent the plan from being contaminated by the dark entity, ''this'' reality must be severed from the multiverse. Though hesitant, Rodimus realizes this truly is the only course of action, and succeeds in reaching Spike and making him understand that the death of his family was not his fault. As the furious entity descends upon them, Spike breaks free of his bonds, and the crack in Zero Space begins to close. The entity makes a last dash for the fissure, but Rodimus brings down the Sword of Primus upon the crack, and in one flash of energy, the crack, the entity, and the alternate Rodimus and Optimus Primes vanish, and "our" Rodimus, Optimus, and Spike reappear on Cybertron in Primus's chamber. With his final words, Optimus thanks Rodimus for saving Primus's dream, then passes away in his protege's arms.

Eons pass...

Far in the future, an aged, withered Rodimus Prime walks the molten surface of a dead Cybertron. He reflects upon the millenina past, on how the Transformers, cut off from the multiverse and Primus himself, have slowly died out. But it has not been a wasted life... the inhabitants of Earth and Nebulos have been brought together and have thrived, rebuilding their broken worlds, while the Transformers, with Cybertron lost to them, spread out across the galaxy, bringing peace to other races. Even enemies like [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] were changed, the lust for war having left them. But now, Rodimus is the last Cybertronian left, and has returned to their homeworld to die. As he collapses, the last traces of energy leave his body, and surge across the planet's surface... into the only structures yet remaining: the cocoons into which the primordials sealed themselves so long ago. Like a blooming flower, an energized cocoon opens... and the [[Botanica (BM)|first]] of a new breed of Cybertronian emerges.

For after all... it never ends.

==Featured characters==
Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks. 
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Autobot]]s/[[Maximal]]s|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (4)
*[[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] (5)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] (6)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] (7)
*[[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]] (8)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (9)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (10)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]] (11)
*[[Hosehead (G1)|Hosehead]] (12)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (13)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (14)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (15)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (16)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (17)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (18)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (19)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (20)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (21)
*''[[Scattershot (G1)|Scattershot]]'' (23)
*''Animated'' [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (27)
*''Cybertron'' [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Leobreaker]] (28)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (32)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (33)
*[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (34)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (35)
*[[Topspin (G1)|Topspin]] (36)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (37)
*''[[Last Autobot]]'' (43)
*[[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] (44)
*[[Backstreet (G1)|Backstreet]] (45)
*''Animated'' [[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Rodimus Prime]] (47)
*''Galaxy Force'' [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Exillion Red Version]] (48)
*IDW [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (49)
*''Classics'' [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus]] (50)
*[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] (51)
*[[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] (58)
{{!}}}
|h2=[[Decepticon]]s/[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Iguanus (G1)|Iguanus]] (17)
*[[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] (22)
*''Robots in Disguise'' [[Gas Skunk]] (24)
*''Beast Wars'' [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (26)
*''Prime'' [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (29)
*''[[Runabout (G1)|Runabout]]'' (39)
*''[[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]]'' (40)
*''[[Darkwing (G1)|Darkwing]]'' (41)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'' (42)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] (55)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (56)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (57)
|h3=[[Human]]s/[[Nebulan]]s|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Circuit Smasher]] (24)
*''[[Sparkplug Witwicky]]'' (25)
*[[Linda Chang]] (46)
*[[Gordon Kent]] (52)
*[[G.B. Blackrock]] (53)
*[[Borx]] (54)
|h4=Others|c4=
*''[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]'s corpse'' (1)
*''[[Demon]]s'' (30)
*Dark [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] creature (31)
*[[Acolytes of Unicron]] (38)
}}

==Quotes==
"Grimlock! The Dinobots! Boy am I glad to see your ugly mugs!" 
"Stand back. When it come to shadow-leeches, me have the touch."

:—'''Blaster''' and '''Grimlock'''

"Everyone-- Max up your molecular cohesion. There's no telling what...UNH!" 
"HEFF! What? '''Humans'''?" 
"Not just any humans, robot. Mean and ticked-off humans... with big guns!"

:—'''Prowl''' and '''Kup''', surprised that '''Linda Chang''' isn't happy to see them

"What? Have... you...done.. I am- the- the-" 
'''WHOOM''' 
"Oh, sorry. Thought you'd finished. Our bad."

:—'''Galvatron''' is rudely interrupted by a direct shot to the chest from '''Swoop'''.

"When first we met, you threw down a gauntlet. Insisting that somehow, you and I are destined to fight again and again and ''again''. Win or lose. Live or die. Well, '''no more'''. It's '''over'''...'''finished'''!"

:—'''Ultra Magnus''' slips in one last [[Furmanism]] before finally killing '''Galvatron'''.

"Do not grieve, Rodimus Prime. You...have...'''saved''' us. Thanks to you, the dream-- will not--die-"

:—'''Optimus Prime''''s last words

==Full Circle==
This oversized issue contains "Full Circle", a bonus section with several extra features:
*Lineart and a script extract describing a panel of Prime and Megatron's battle from [[Loose Ends, Part 5|issue #85]]
*"[[King of Shadows]]", a short prose story by Simon Furman describing [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]'s activities during the Dark Matrix creature's takeover of Cybertron, featuring an illustration by John-Paul Bove
*Pin-up by Stephen Baserkville
*"It Never Ends", a farewell letter from Andrew Wildman
*"The Feeling", reflections on the series from John-Paul Bove
*Pin-up by Jason Cardy
*Complete cover gallery of the entire Marvel series and ''Regeneration One''
*"End Words", a closing letter from Simon Furman

==Notes==
===Artwork and technical errors===

===Continuity errors===
*The number of Autobots present in this story varies wildly. When they are first surrounded by shadow-leeches, only ten robots are visible. Later, in the Star Chamber, closer to FIFTY heads can be counted.
*Scattershot's presence at the Star Chamber appears to be erroneous, given that he was also present during the attack on the Hub with the ''Lancer One'' crew in [[The War to End All Wars, Part 3|#98]].

===Continuity notes===
*The dark entity possessed Grimlock back in issues [[Destiny, Part Three|#93]] and [[Destiny, Part Four|#94]].
*The entity is also revealed to have been responsible for awakening Galvatron from his icy tomb in [[Loose Ends, Part 5|issue #85]].
*The Transformers were recalled to Cybertron by Primus at the climax of [[Out of Time!|issue #73]].
*Rodimus found the graveyard in the Primus chamber in issue #93.
*The dark Matrix entity is revealed to have been behind the attacks carried out by the Primordials in issues [[On the Edge of Extinction!|#75]] and [[Still Life!|#76]]. The scene of Runabout's capture from the end of #75 is recreated here, complete with Ben-Day dot color effects.
*Also recreated is Dreadwind and Darkwing's rush for cover amid the planet's chaotic recreation from the start of [[Exodus!|issue #77]].
*The flashback to Soundwave's subtle corruption shows him in his original Marvel purple coloration; the same was true of flashbacks to earlier Marvel stories in [[Counterpoint|#80.5]], firmly indicating that his change to his more recognizable blue scheme was an actual in-universe change the character underwent at some point after this, and not just a coloring whim.
*The versions of Optimus Prime that the entity summons up represent three of his forms from throughout the Marvel continuity: his original body, his [[Powermaster]] form, and his battered present-day form (distinguished form his original body by, among other things, his white biceps).
*Rodimus glimpsed other incarnations of himself back in #93.
*Ravage is shown with Starscream and Shockwave; the details of how he hooked up with the pair following their last appearance in the previous issue are covered in "[[King of Shadows]]", the short story included in this issue's bonus section.

===Real-life references===

===Other trivia===
*The cover gallery is selectively edited when it comes to the first 80 issues, due to the fact that they were published by [[Marvel Comics]] and not IDW Publishing. Obviously, the Marvel logo from the top left of each issue is missing. A generic border is shown for [[Heavy Traffic!|#22]] instead of the original Marvel Comics 25th Anniversary border used for every Marvel comic released that month in 1986, showcasing their universe of characters. Other elements that are intrinsically part of the original covers remain, such as [[Man of Iron (issue)|#33–#34]] referencing "The House of Ideas" and "Marvel Majesty!" [[Prisoner of War!|And yeah...]] [[Spider-Man]].
*Continuing the humor from [[End of the Road! (US)|issue #80]] of the original Marvel series, this issue was billed as '''#100''' in a [[The Transformers Four-Issue Limited Series|'''four-issue''' limited series]].

===Transformers references===
*As he slices into the shadow-leeches, Grimlock professes to have [[The Touch|the touch]].
*Grimlock instructs Slag to "Melt metal!", paraphrasing the famous Dinobot quote "Munch metal!" from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''.
*All the various Rodimuses who appear in this issue also showed up in issue #93, with one change: Exillion Red Version swapped in for Powerlinx Hot Shot.
*As he brings down the Sword of Primus on the crack, Rodimus declares: "I am Alpha. I am Omega. I am the beginning... and the end!" While a biblical quote in and of itself, it is also a paraphrasing from the Covenant of Primus previously heard in the Furman-penned ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' episode "[[Nemesis Part 2]]".
*"Do not grieve," Optimus tells Rodimus as he lies dying, a direct lift from his dying speech in the movie.
*The idea of a wizened Rodimus reflecting on the Transformers' past is evocative of the UK storyline, "[[Aspects of Evil!]]".
*When Grimlock tells Kup, "This my specialty! GO!", his energo-sword crackles with a "[[Mo Zarak|Zarak]]" sound effect.

===Furminated===
*Hosehead, Slingshot, and Tailgate are taken out by the shadow-leeches; Streetwise goes down later as well.
*Iguanus is revealed to be one of the undead shadow-leeches.
*Sparkplug Witwicky is revealed to be dead, to nobody's surprise.
*Scattershot, last seen outside the Star Chamber, is heavily implied to be one of the shadow-leech victims.
*Magnus kills Galvatron.
*Prowl and Kup take out the possessed Fortress Maximus.
*Optimus Prime dies from his wounds, inflicted by Fortress Maximus in the real world and possibly by the Hot Rod Squad in Zero Space.
*ARE ALL DEAD, as the many Transformers converted to shadow-leeches are killed off by the Primus sword (see ''[[Shadow-leech]]'' for a list of known victims), and the remaining survivors eventually die off over the eons, culminating in the aged Rodimus doing a faceplant onto Cybertron's surface. His essence causes one of the Demons to evolve into [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] though, so IT NEVER ENDS.

===Covers (6)===
<gallery>
File:RG1 100 cvrA.jpg|'''Cover A'''
File:RG1 100 cvrB.jpg|'''Cover B'''
File:RG1 100 cvrRIA.jpg|'''Cover RI-A'''
File:RG1 100 cvrRIB.jpg|'''Cover RI-B'''
File:RG1 100 subcvr.jpg|'''Subscription cover'''
File:RG1 100 concvr.jpg|'''Convention cover'''
</gallery>
*'''Cover A:''' Rodimus Prime versus three versions of Optimus Prime in Zero Space, by [[Andrew Wildman]] and [[Jason Cardy]]
*'''Cover B:''' An homage to [[The Transformers (issue)|issue #1]] by [[Guido Guidi]]
*'''Cover RI-A:''' Fortress Maximus and Galvatron consumed by the Dark Matrix energy, by [[Geoff Senior]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover RI-B:''' Blank covers for unique [[Herb Trimpe]] sketches
*'''Subscription cover:''' The Autobots and [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] versus the Decepticons and [[Cobra]], by [[Robert Atkins]], [[Juan Castro]] and [[Romulo Fajardo Jr.]]
*'''Convention cover:''' An homage to [[The Transformers (issue)|Transformers (UK) issue #1]] by Andrew Wildman, [[Stephen Baskerville]], and [[John-Paul Bove]]

==External links==
*[https://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/transformers-regeneration-one-100-script-wrap/ Simon Furman's Script (W)rap]
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50570 Simon Furman interview on issue #100]

{{DEFAULTSORT:War to End All Wars, Part 5}}

The Not Knowing

2015-09-02T19:17:28Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */ 1 last edit, i didnt recall seeing cyclonus in this issue

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=44
|prev=The One Where They Go to Earth
|next=
|image=MTMTE44_regcvr.jpg
|title="The Not Knowing"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[September 2]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=August 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|pencils by=[[Hayato Sakamoto]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}
'''Following the trail of Agent 113's bullet, the ''Lost Light''ers make their way to the Necrobot's base of operations, where both Rewind and Chromedome's relationship, and Nightbeat's hope in the existence of a greater power, are tested.'''

==Synopsis==

The message bullet extracted from [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]]'s shoulder proves largely corrupted by rust, but of the data sent by [[Agent 113]]—now revealed to have been the previous holder of the "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]" codename—one intact piece of information gives the crew of the ''[[Lost Light]]'' a startling new objective to explore: the location of the supposedly-mythical [[Necrobot]]'s base of operations. [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] has a revelation of his own, however—it turns out that the doodles he has been carving into his desk since the ship's launch are, in fact, a map to [[Cyberutopia]] just like the one [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] drew, and he is much more interested in following it than looking for the Necrobot. When [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] and [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] explain that they want to visit the Necrobot's world in hopes of learning the fate of Rewind's old partner [[Dominus Ambus]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] agrees to their request, and the ''Lost Light'' sets off. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] takes Rewind aside to talk about his departed spark brother in order to caution him to not get his hopes up for Dominus's survival, but it turns out that Rewind has already had this discussion with ''his'' Magnus, on the quantum duplicate ''Lost Light'', and refuses to believe his claim that he can sense his brother's absence.

Presently, the ''Lost Light'' arrives at the Necrobot's rather unassuming planet, and a small group heads down to the surface in the [[Rodpod]]. They are greeted by the sight of a beautiful garden, full of holographic statues surrounded by sparkling blue flowers, and soon deduce that the statues represent those Transformers who are still living, while the empty plinths are for the dead. Homing in on the solitary life sign on the planet, the Rod Pod sets down outside a huge complex, where a noticeably jumpy [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] immediately spots some movement in the building's doorway, only for the door to be slammed shut before he can reach it. While the others split up to wander about the garden and investigate, Nightbeat stands outside the door and calls to whoever or whatever may be inside... at which point, the door opens a crack, and the imposing form of the Necrobot appears to invite Nightbeat inside!

[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] dismisses the exercise as a waste of time, but Megatron confides that that was precisely his rationale for allowing the trip: although he will accept his fate when the time comes, he is in no hurry to rush toward that final judgement. Regadless of Megatron's intent, Chromedome and Rewind are here for a purpose: soon, they have hacked into the central database that powers the holographic statues, so that they can search for Dominus's name to learn what has become of him. But before Chromedome presses "search", Rewind hesitates, unsure if, after all this time, he ''really'' wants to know the truth. Chromedome assures him that whatever choice he makes, he will stand by him, and help him continue his search in other ways—a show of dedication that convinces Rewind that the past must be put behind him. The search begins, and the result appears... Dominus Ambus of Ambustus Minor is, indeed, deceased.

Within the Necrobot's complex, the mysterious robot explains to Nightbeat that he is, actually, a totally ordinary—if very long-lived—Cybertronian named Censere. A forensic pathologist, Censere was moved to begin chronicling deaths when the death of his friend [[Tusk]] went unreported, and simply uses the machines in his complex to keep track of spark signatures and to teleport him around the universe to carry out his tasks. Nightbeat is dismayed and furious; in spite of his rationalist nature, he had truly hoped to learn that the Necrobot was proof of a higher power, a reaffirmation of the notion of life after death that Nightbeat had come to doubt since his own death years beforehand. Censere reassures him that just because ''he'' is not "magic" does not mean that the [[Afterspark]] does not exist, and explains that his understanding of life and death is not absolute: he was, for instance, alarmed to see Nightbeat and many of the other ''Lost Light''ers, as he believed they were already dead. Censere takes him to a monolith labelled "In Honor of the Disappeared", upon which he has carved the names of those whose deaths he cannot verify; Nightbeat sees his own name on the slab (his body having been stolen away into the [[Dead Universe]] before Censere reached him), but then spots another one of great interest. He calls the crew together, and while everyone is marvelling over the once-legendary Necrobot, Nightbeat takes Chromedome and Rewind to the monolith, where it is revealed that Dominus Ambus's name is also engraved on its surface!

A little later, as everyone prepares to depart, Nightbeat says farewell to Censere, but not without grimly informing him that he should use his skills to save the living, rather than record the dead. Rodimus realizes that Megatron has disappeared, and is informed by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] that he slipped away with Ravage a little while ago, after the Necrobot explained the significance of his garden's flowers: they contain the residual [[spark]] energy of the deceased, and he plants them around the statue of the Transformer who was responsible for ending that life. Thus it is that Megatron receives a grim reminder that he cannot put off his day of reckoning forever, as he visits his own statue and sees a beautiful blue field of sparkling flowers, stretching in every direction, far and away into the horizon...

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (2)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (3)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (4)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]/[[Minimus Ambus]] (5)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (6)
*[[Agent 113]] (video message, 7)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (8)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (9)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (10)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (11)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Nautica]] (12)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (13)
*[[Getaway]] (14)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (16)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (statue, 17)
*[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] (statue, 18)
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (20)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (21)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (22)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (15)
|c4=
*[[Necrobot|Necrobot/Censere]] (1)
*[[Sky-Byte (G2)|Sky-Byte]] (statue, 19)
}}

==Quotes==

"You know, I can just about accept that the '''D.J.D.''' was infiltrated by an Autobot, but what I find '''bizarre''' is that this '''"Agent 113"''' thinks it practical to deliver his field reports by firing bullet-shaped data-slugs into '''three-fingered metallurgists'''." 
"It's not '''exclusively''' metallurgists. When I said that, I didn't... I was attempting to make a joke." 
"Yes—I know—I was '''running with it'''. There's a lot of banter on this ship; I thought I was ready to take the plunge." 
"I think we've both learned something from this."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Ultra Magnus'''

"If you caught '''me''' spilling that many beans, you'd give me a '''dressing down''' so epic, so protracted—so narratively dense—it would have subplots, callbacks, and a finale that would provide closure whilst leaving the door open for future '''tellings off'''."
:—'''Rodimus''', to Magnus, when Magnus tells Megatron about Agent 113

"Is it too soon to have '''"Chosen One"''' engraved on my forehead?" 
"I can think of more appropriate words."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Megatron'''

"Don't take offense, but it's quite difficult—sitting here, looking at you... you look so '''similar'''." 
"I know. Why do you think I've spent most of my life trying to look like someone else?"
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Minimus Ambus'''

"I don't know what you were expecting. I don't know what a '''non-boring''' planet looks like to you."
"What." 
"Describe it. I'm genuinely interested. Describe your perfect planet." 
"Let's see... stripped of organic life, relieved of energy, coated in metal... oh—wait—that's '''your''' perfect planet."
:—'''Megatron''' might want some cold water for that burn, courtesy of '''Rodimus'''

"Don't '''touch''' anything, don't '''steal''' anything, and definitely don't '''desecrate''' anything."
:—'''Rodimus''' warns the crew to behave

"Once you press "search", that's it—I'll know. And I don't know if I'm '''ready''' to know. ...I'm sorry. This is stupid. I'm being stupid." 
"It's not. And you're not." 
"Tell me what to do." 
"Rewind—my love—it's not for me to say." 
"But this affects '''both''' of us. If I don't do this... if we leave here not knowing, we could spend the next four million years searching for someone who's..." 
"I know. But at least we'd be doing it together."
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Chrome—''' *sniff* ...and '''Chromedome'''... look, I just have something in my eye, okay?!

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Necrobot was introduced in the "Scavengers" two-parter in [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|issue #7]] and [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]. It was in the second of those issue that he actually physically appeared, and in which we saw his datapad containing a list of deceased ''Lost Light'' crewmembers; this issue confirms the earlier implication that these were the quantum duplicate crewmembers from the second ''Lost Light'', seen in the "Slaughterhouse" two-parter in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]] and [[slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|#33]].
*Agent 113, first mentioned in the "[[Bullets]]" prose story in 2010, is finally revealed to not be a current member of the DJD, but rather, the previous holder of the "Vos" codename—the one with hooks for hands and feet, whose existence was established in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]].
*We first learned Rodimus has been carving doodles into his desk in [[Signal to Noise|issue #13]], and were reminded of that fact recently in [[The Sensuous Frame|issue #41]]. Turns out he's been drawing a map to Cyberuptopia like the one we saw [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] had drawn in that same issue, complete with the gear-like hieroglyphs from [[Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|issue #21]].
*When Skids remarks that he is a "recovering believer", he strokes his cheek, where we know from issues [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|#11]] and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|#36]] that he used to have a tattoo of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] as a symbol of his faith.
*Nightbeat refers to his death from all the way back in ''[[Spotlight: Hardhead]]'' (see "Errors", below).
*Swerve takes a selfie with the Necrobot; we've seen Swerve using his "cell phone", before, back in "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]", when he went on about his ringtone.
*Magnus mentions that the crew learned how to juggle during a three-week stay at the Cosmic Carnival, and Skids was seen demonstrating his juggling skills back in issue [[The Sensuous Frame|#41]]

===Transformers references===
*Ultra Magnus mentions that the ''Lost Light''ers once spent three weeks at the [[Cosmic Carnival]], the greatest show in the galaxy that appeared in [[The Cosmic Carnival|issue #44]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel Transformers comic]].
*Rodimus jokes about having "Chosen One" engraved on his forehead, the title that Rodimus was referred to with in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]].

===Real-life references===
*Rodimus describes Rewind's way of telling him about the Necrobot as they walk through the ship's corridors as "''West Wing''-ing", a reference to the TV show ''{{w|The West Wing}}'' and its famous tracking shots of characters talking with one another as they walk down long hallways.
*The Necrobot's real name, "Censere" (see "Errors", below), is a Latin word meaning to appraise or assess.

===Errors===
*The Necrobot introduces himself as "Censere", but when Nightbeat speaks his name during their farewell, he calls him "Censerre", with an extra "r". It's not clear which is the error.
*When Nightbeat talks about his death, the footnote states he died in ''[[Spotlight: Nightbeat]]'', rather than ''Spotlight: Hardhead''.
*Dominus Ambus's name is described as being "three from the bottom" on the monolith, but the art shows it being on the bottom line.

===Other trivia===
*This issue arrives a teensy bit late, landing in the first week of September rather than the last week of August.
*Several statues in the Necrobot's garden are not immediately recognizable; Rodimus mentions two Transformers named [[Raptor]] and [[Scissorkick]] who could rightly be any of them.
*While [[Xaaron]] has always been best known by the rank he carried in the Marvel comics, "Emirate", he's never had that rank in the IDW universe. As Rodimus spots a statue of him in the Necrobot's garden, he notes that his full title in this universe is "Advocate Xaaron".
*Full names learned for Transformers in this issue include: [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee of Iacon]], [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]] of [[Pescus Hex]], Dominus Ambus of [[Ambustus Minor]], Chromedome of Iacon, Hound of [[Lower Monoplex]], and Nightbeat of [[Yuss]]. Additionally, [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] is revealed to have been an [[M.T.O.]]; a speech-bubble obscures his full name, but we see that it partially reads "Ambulon of Operation Split Infin--" something (a crack about "{{w|split infinitive}}s" and Ambulon's status as part of a [[combiner]], no doubt).
*The name written above Dominus Ambus's on the memorial doesn't appear in full, but ends in "-let". No, it's not [[Gimlet]], the shape of the preceding partially-seen letter doesn't fit!

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoCEdZnyFk Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want]" by {{w|The Smiths}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjeCgsNrvCw Song for the Leftovers]" by {{w|A Camp}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Chromedome and Rewind stare up at an imposing monolith, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Megatron amid a field of gravestones, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]].
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Megatron wails after Nautica steals his Rodimus action figure, while Swerve looks on; one of a series of super-deformed covers by [[Agnes Garbowska]] that make up the Retailer Incentive covers on IDW's August Transformers titles.

<gallery>
File:MTMTE44 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #45
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' [[The Transgressors|#44]]
*''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade]]'' [[Race Against the Light|#5]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' #9
*''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Amazing Adventures''
*"You Must Shop at These Fine Stores!" - classic-style advert promoting multiple comic shops
*IDW ''Transformers'' comic app
*''Uncle Scrooge'' Vol. 1 TPB (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/25708-preview-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-44.html Preview]

The Not Knowing

2015-09-02T17:36:45Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */ barring the unnamed 'con body on the first page, the statues i cant ID, and not listing Magnus and Minimus in 2 spots, this should be accurate now

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=44
|prev=The One Where They Go to Earth
|next=
|image=MTMTE44_regcvr.jpg
|title="The Not Knowing"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[September 2]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=August 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|pencils by=[[Hayato Sakamoto]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}
'''Following the trail of Agent 113's bullet, the ''Lost Light''ers make their way to the Necrobot's base of operations, where both Rewind and Chromedome's relationship, and Nightbeat's hope in the existence of a greater power, are tested.'''

==Synopsis==

The message bullet extracted from [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]]'s shoulder proves largely corrupted by rust, but of the data sent by [[Agent 113]]—now revealed to have been the previous holder of the "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]" codename—one intact piece of information gives the crew of the ''[[Lost Light]]'' a startling new objective to explore: the location of the supposedly-mythical [[Necrobot]]'s base of operations. [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] has a revelation of his own, however—it turns out that the doodles he has been carving into his desk since the ship's launch are, in fact, a map to [[Cyberutopia]] just like the one [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] drew, and he is much more interested in following it than looking for the Necrobot. When [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] and [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] explain that they want to visit the Necrobot's world in hopes of learning the fate of Rewind's old partner [[Dominus Ambus]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] agrees to their request, and the ''Lost Light'' sets off. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] takes Rewind aside to talk about his departed spark brother in order to caution him to not get his hopes up for Dominus's survival, but it turns out that Rewind has already had this discussion with ''his'' Magnus, on the quantum duplicate ''Lost Light'', and refuses to believe his claim that he can sense his brother's absence.

Presently, the ''Lost Light'' arrives at the Necrobot's rather unassuming planet, and a small group heads down to the surface in the [[Rodpod]]. They are greeted by the sight of a beautiful garden, full of holographic statues surrounded by sparkling blue flowers, and soon deduce that the statues represent those Transformers who are still living, while the empty plinths are for the dead. Homing in on the solitary life sign on the planet, the Rod Pod sets down outside a huge complex, where a noticeably jumpy [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] immediately spots some movement in the building's doorway, only for the door to be slammed shut before he can reach it. While the others split up to wander about the garden and investigate, Nightbeat stands outside the door and calls to whoever or whatever may be inside... at which point, the door opens a crack, and the imposing form of the Necrobot appears to invite Nightbeat inside!

[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] dismisses the exercise as a waste of time, but Megatron confides that that was precisely his rationale for allowing the trip: although he will accept his fate when the time comes, he is in no hurry to rush toward that final judgement. Regadless of Megatron's intent, Chromedome and Rewind are here for a purpose: soon, they have hacked into the central database that powers the holographic statues, so that they can search for Dominus's name to learn what has become of him. But before Chromedome presses "search", Rewind hesitates, unsure if, after all this time, he ''really'' wants to know the truth. Chromedome assures him that whatever choice he makes, he will stand by him, and help him continue his search in other ways—a show of dedication that convinces Rewind that the past must be put behind him. The search begins, and the result appears... Dominus Ambus of Ambustus Minor is, indeed, deceased.

Within the Necrobot's complex, the mysterious robot explains to Nightbeat that he is, actually, a totally ordinary—if very long-lived—Cybertronian named Censere. A forensic pathologist, Censere was moved to begin chronicling deaths when the death of his friend [[Tusk]] went unreported, and simply uses the machines in his complex to keep track of spark signatures and to teleport him around the universe to carry out his tasks. Nightbeat is dismayed and furious; in spite of his rationalist nature, he had truly hoped to learn that the Necrobot was proof of a higher power, a reaffirmation of the notion of life after death that Nightbeat had come to doubt since his own death years beforehand. Censere reassures him that just because ''he'' is not "magic" does not mean that the [[Afterspark]] does not exist, and explains that his understanding of life and death is not absolute: he was, for instance, alarmed to see Nightbeat and many of the other ''Lost Light''ers, as he believed they were already dead. Censere takes him to a monolith labelled "In Honor of the Disappeared", upon which he has carved the names of those whose deaths he cannot verify; Nightbeat sees his own name on the slab (his body having been stolen away into the [[Dead Universe]] before Censere reached him), but then spots another one of great interest. He calls the crew together, and while everyone is marvelling over the once-legendary Necrobot, Nightbeat takes Chromedome and Rewind to the monolith, where it is revealed that Dominus Ambus's name is also engraved on its surface!

A little later, as everyone prepares to depart, Nightbeat says farewell to Censere, but not without grimly informing him that he should use his skills to save the living, rather than record the dead. Rodimus realizes that Megatron has disappeared, and is informed by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] that he slipped away with Ravage a little while ago, after the Necrobot explained the significance of his garden's flowers: they contain the residual [[spark]] energy of the deceased, and he plants them around the statue of the Transformer who was responsible for ending that life. Thus it is that Megatron receives a grim reminder that he cannot put off his day of reckoning forever, as he visits his own statue and sees a beautiful blue field of sparkling flowers, stretching in every direction, far and away into the horizon...

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (2)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (3)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (4)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]/[[Minimus Ambus]] (5)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (6)
*[[Agent 113]] (video message, 7)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (8)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (9)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (10)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (11)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Nautica]] (12)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (13)
*[[Getaway]] (14)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (16)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (statue, 17)
*[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] (statue, 18)
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (20)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (21)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (22)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (15)
|c4=
*[[Necrobot|Necrobot/Censere]] (1)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (2)
*[[Sky-Byte (G2)|Sky-Byte]] (statue, 19)
}}

==Quotes==

"You know, I can just about accept that the '''D.J.D.''' was infiltrated by an Autobot, but what I find '''bizarre''' is that this '''"Agent 113"''' thinks it practical to deliver his field reports by firing bullet-shaped data-slugs into '''three-fingered metallurgists'''. 
"It's not '''exclusively''' metallurgists. When I said that, I didn't... I was attempting to make a joke." 
"Yes—I know—I was '''running with it'''. There's a lot of banter on this ship; I thought I was ready to take the plunge." 
"I think we've both learned something from this."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Ultra Magnus'''

"If you caught '''me''' spilling that many beans, you'd give me a '''dressing down''' so epic, so protracted—so narratively dense—it would have subplots, callbacks, and a finale that would provide closure whilst leaving the door open for future '''tellings off'''.
:—'''Rodimus''', to Magnus, when Magnus tells Megatron about Agent 113

"Is it too soon to have '''"Chosen One"''' engraved on my forehead?" 
"I can think of more appropriate words."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Megatron'''

"Don't take offense, but it's quite difficult—sitting here, looking at you... you look so '''similar'''." 
"I know. Why do you think I've spent most of my life trying to look like someone else?"
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Minimus Ambus'''

"I don't know what you were expecting. I don't know what a '''non-boring''' planet looks like to you."
"What." 
"Describe it. I'm genuinely interested. Describe your perfect planet." 
"Let's see... stripped of organic life, relieved of energy, coated in metal... oh—wait—that's '''your''' perfect planet."
:—'''Megatron''' might want some cold water for that burn, courtesy of '''Rodimus'''

"Don't '''touch''' anything, don't '''steal''' anything, and definitely don't '''desecrate''' anything."
:—'''Rodimus''' warns the crew to behave

"Once you press "search", that's it—I'll know. And I don't know if I'm '''ready''' to know. ...I'm sorry. This is stupid. I'm being stupid." 
"It's not. And you're not." 
"Tell me what to do." 
"Rewind—my love—it's not for me to say." 
"But this affects '''both''' of us. If I don't do this... if we leave here not knowing, we could spend the next four million years searching for someone who's..." 
"I know. But at least we'd be doing it together."
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Chrome—''' *sniff* ...and '''Chromedome'''... look, I just have something in my eye, okay?!

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Necrobot was introduced in the "Scavengers" two-parter in [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|issue #7]] and [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]. It was in the second of those issue that he actually physically appeared, and in which we saw his datapad containing a list of deceased ''Lost Light'' crewmembers; this issue confirms the earlier implication that these were the quantum duplicate crewmembers from the second ''Lost Light'', seen in the "Slaughterhouse" two-parter in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]] and [[slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|#33]].
*Agent 113, first mentioned in the "[[Bullets]]" prose story in 2010, is finally revealed to not be a current member of the DJD, but rather, the previous holder of the "Vos" codename—the one with hooks for hands and feet, whose existence was established in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]].
*We first learned Rodimus has been carving doodles into his desk in [[Signal to Noise|issue #13]], and were reminded of that fact recently in [[The Sensuous Frame|issue #41]]. Turns out he's been drawing a map to Cyberuptopia like the one we saw [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] had drawn in that same issue, complete with the gear-like hieroglyphs from [[Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|issue #21]].
*When Skids remarks that he is a "recovering believer", he strokes his cheek, where we know from issues [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|#11]] and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|#36]] that he used to have a tattoo of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] as a symbol of his faith.
*Nightbeat refers to his death from all the way back in ''[[Spotlight: Hardhead]]'' (see "Errors", below).
*Swerve takes a selfie with the Necrobot; we've seen Swerve using his "cell phone", before, back in "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]", when he went on about his ringtone.

===Transformers references===
*Ultra Magnus mentions that the ''Lost Light''ers once spent three weeks at the [[Cosmic Carnival]], the greatest show in the galaxy that appeared in [[The Cosmic Carnival|issue #44]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel Transformers comic]].
*Rodimus jokes about having "Chosen One" engraved on his forehead, the title that Rodimus was referred to with in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]].

===Real-life references===
*Rodimus describes Rewind's way of telling him about the Necrobot as they walk through the ship's corridors as "''West Wing''-ing", a reference to the TV show ''{{w|The West Wing}}'' and its famous tracking shots of characters talking with one another as they walk down long hallways.
*The Necrobot's real name, "Censere" (see "Errors", below), is a Latin word meaning to appraise or assess.

===Errors===
*The Necrobot introduces himself as "Censere", but when Nightbeat speaks his name during their farewell, he calls him "Censerre", with an extra "r". It's not clear which is the error.
*When Nightbeat talks about his death, the footnote states he died in ''[[Spotlight: Nightbeat]]'', rather than ''Spotlight: Hardhead''.
*Dominus Ambus's name is described as being "three from the bottom" on the monolith, but the art shows it being on the bottom line.

===Other trivia===
*This issue arrives a teensy bit late, landing in the first week of September rather than the last week of August.
*Several statues in the Necrobot's garden are not immediately recognizable; Rodimus mentions two Transformers named [[Raptor]] and [[Scissorkick]] who could rightly be any of them.
*While [[Xaaron]] has always been best known by the rank he carried in the Marvel comics, "Emirate", he's never had that rank in the IDW universe. As Rodimus spots a statue of him in the Necrobot's garden, he notes that his full title in this universe is "Advocate Xaaron".
*Full names learned for Transformers in this issue include: [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee of Iacon]], [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]] of [[Pescus Hex]], Dominus Ambus of [[Ambustus Minor]], Chromedome of Iacon, Hound of [[Lower Monoplex]], and Nightbeat of [[Yuss]]. Additionally, [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] is revealed to have been an [[M.T.O.]]; a speech-bubble obscures his full name, but we see that it partially reads "Ambulon of Operation Split Infin--" something (a crack about "{{w|split infinitive}}s" and Ambulon's status as part of a [[combiner]], no doubt).
*The name written above Dominus Ambus's on the memorial doesn't appear in full, but ends in "-let". No, it's not [[Gimlet]], the shape of the preceding partially-seen letter doesn't fit!

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoCEdZnyFk Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want]" by {{w|The Smiths}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjeCgsNrvCw Song for the Leftovers]" by {{w|A Camp}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Chromedome and Rewind stare up at an imposing monolith, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Megatron amid a field of gravestones, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]].
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Megatron wails after Nautica steals his Rodimus action figure, while Swerve looks on; one of a series of super-deformed covers by [[Agnes Garbowska]] that make up the Retailer Incentive covers on IDW's August Transformers titles.

<gallery>
File:MTMTE44 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #45
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' [[The Transgressors|#44]]
*''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade]]'' [[Race Against the Light|#5]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' #9
*''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Amazing Adventures''
*"You Must Shop at These Fine Stores!" - classic-style advert promoting multiple comic shops
*IDW ''Transformers'' comic app
*''Uncle Scrooge'' Vol. 1 TPB (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/25708-preview-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-44.html Preview]

The Not Knowing

2015-09-02T17:25:02Z

Phazeblade: a page for the necrobot exists already, and more then likely it will be overhauled/renamed/redirected to censere, setting the links to the page that currently exists

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=44
|prev=The One Where They Go to Earth
|next=
|image=MTMTE44_regcvr.jpg
|title="The Not Knowing"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[September 2]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=August 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|pencils by=[[Hayato Sakamoto]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}
'''Following the trail of Agent 113's bullet, the ''Lost Light''ers make their way to the Necrobot's base of operations, where both Rewind and Chromedome's relationship, and Nightbeat's hope in the existence of a greater power, are tested.'''

==Synopsis==

The message bullet extracted from [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]]'s shoulder proves largely corrupted by rust, but of the data sent by [[Agent 113]]—now revealed to have been the previous holder of the "[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]" codename—one intact piece of information gives the crew of the ''[[Lost Light]]'' a startling new objective to explore: the location of the supposedly-mythical [[Necrobot]]'s base of operations. [[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] has a revelation of his own, however—it turns out that the doodles he has been carving into his desk since the ship's launch are, in fact, a map to [[Cyberutopia]] just like the one [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] drew, and he is much more interested in following it than looking for the Necrobot. When [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] and [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] explain that they want to visit the Necrobot's world in hopes of learning the fate of Rewind's old partner [[Dominus Ambus]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] agrees to their request, and the ''Lost Light'' sets off. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] takes Rewind aside to talk about his departed spark brother in order to caution him to not get his hopes up for Dominus's survival, but it turns out that Rewind has already had this discussion with ''his'' Magnus, on the quantum duplicate ''Lost Light'', and refuses to believe his claim that he can sense his brother's absence.

Presently, the ''Lost Light'' arrives at the Necrobot's rather unassuming planet, and a small group heads down to the surface in the [[Rodpod]]. They are greeted by the sight of a beautiful garden, full of holographic statues surrounded by sparkling blue flowers, and soon deduce that the statues represent those Transformers who are still living, while the empty plinths are for the dead. Homing in on the solitary life sign on the planet, the Rod Pod sets down outside a huge complex, where a noticeably jumpy [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] immediately spots some movement in the building's doorway, only for the door to be slammed shut before he can reach it. While the others split up to wander about the garden and investigate, Nightbeat stands outside the door and calls to whoever or whatever may be inside... at which point, the door opens a crack, and the imposing form of the Necrobot appears to invite Nightbeat inside!

[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] dismisses the exercise as a waste of time, but Megatron confides that that was precisely his rationale for allowing the trip: although he will accept his fate when the time comes, he is in no hurry to rush toward that final judgement. Regadless of Megatron's intent, Chromedome and Rewind are here for a purpose: soon, they have hacked into the central database that powers the holographic statues, so that they can search for Dominus's name to learn what has become of him. But before Chromedome presses "search", Rewind hesitates, unsure if, after all this time, he ''really'' wants to know the truth. Chromedome assures him that whatever choice he makes, he will stand by him, and help him continue his search in other ways—a show of dedication that convinces Rewind that the past must be put behind him. The search begins, and the result appears... Dominus Ambus of Ambustus Minor is, indeed, deceased.

Within the Necrobot's complex, the mysterious robot explains to Nightbeat that he is, actually, a totally ordinary—if very long-lived—Cybertronian named Censere. A forensic pathologist, Censere was moved to begin chronicling deaths when the death of his friend [[Tusk]] went unreported, and simply uses the machines in his complex to keep track of spark signatures and to teleport him around the universe to carry out his tasks. Nightbeat is dismayed and furious; in spite of his rationalist nature, he had truly hoped to learn that the Necrobot was proof of a higher power, a reaffirmation of the notion of life after death that Nightbeat had come to doubt since his own death years beforehand. Censere reassures him that just because ''he'' is not "magic" does not mean that the [[Afterspark]] does not exist, and explains that his understanding of life and death is not absolute: he was, for instance, alarmed to see Nightbeat and many of the other ''Lost Light''ers, as he believed they were already dead. Censere takes him to a monolith labelled "In Honor of the Disappeared", upon which he has carved the names of those whose deaths he cannot verify; Nightbeat sees his own name on the slab (his body having been stolen away into the [[Dead Universe]] before Censere reached him), but then spots another one of great interest. He calls the crew together, and while everyone is marvelling over the once-legendary Necrobot, Nightbeat takes Chromedome and Rewind to the monolith, where it is revealed that Dominus Ambus's name is also engraved on its surface!

A little later, as everyone prepares to depart, Nightbeat says farewell to Censere, but not without grimly informing him that he should use his skills to save the living, rather than record the dead. Rodimus realizes that Megatron has disappeared, and is informed by [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] that he slipped away with Ravage a little while ago, after the Necrobot explained the significance of his garden's flowers: they contain the residual [[spark]] energy of the deceased, and he plants them around the statue of the Transformer who was responsible for ending that life. Thus it is that Megatron receives a grim reminder that he cannot put off his day of reckoning forever, as he visits his own statue and sees a beautiful blue field of sparkling flowers, stretching in every direction, far and away into the horizon...

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Hot Rod/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (2)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (3)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (4)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]/[[Minimus Ambus]] (5)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (8)
*[[Agent 113]] (video message, 9)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (10)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (11)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (12)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (13)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Nautica]] (14)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (15)
*[[Getaway]] (16)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (18)
*[[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] (statue, 19)
*[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] (statue, 21)
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (22)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (23)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (24)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (17)
|c4=
*[[Necrobot|Necrobot/Censere]] (1)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (2)
*[[Sky-Byte (G2)|Sky-Byte]] (statue, 20)
}}

==Quotes==

"You know, I can just about accept that the '''D.J.D.''' was infiltrated by an Autobot, but what I find '''bizarre''' is that this '''"Agent 113"''' thinks it practical to deliver his field reports by firing bullet-shaped data-slugs into '''three-fingered metallurgists'''. 
"It's not '''exclusively''' metallurgists. When I said that, I didn't... I was attempting to make a joke." 
"Yes—I know—I was '''running with it'''. There's a lot of banter on this ship; I thought I was ready to take the plunge." 
"I think we've both learned something from this."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Ultra Magnus'''

"If you caught '''me''' spilling that many beans, you'd give me a '''dressing down''' so epic, so protracted—so narratively dense—it would have subplots, callbacks, and a finale that would provide closure whilst leaving the door open for future '''tellings off'''.
:—'''Rodimus''', to Magnus, when Magnus tells Megatron about Agent 113

"Is it too soon to have '''"Chosen One"''' engraved on my forehead?" 
"I can think of more appropriate words."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Megatron'''

"Don't take offense, but it's quite difficult—sitting here, looking at you... you look so '''similar'''." 
"I know. Why do you think I've spent most of my life trying to look like someone else?"
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Minimus Ambus'''

"I don't know what you were expecting. I don't know what a '''non-boring''' planet looks like to you."
"What." 
"Describe it. I'm genuinely interested. Describe your perfect planet." 
"Let's see... stripped of organic life, relieved of energy, coated in metal... oh—wait—that's '''your''' perfect planet."
:—'''Megatron''' might want some cold water for that burn, courtesy of '''Rodimus'''

"Don't '''touch''' anything, don't '''steal''' anything, and definitely don't '''desecrate''' anything."
:—'''Rodimus''' warns the crew to behave

"Once you press "search", that's it—I'll know. And I don't know if I'm '''ready''' to know. ...I'm sorry. This is stupid. I'm being stupid." 
"It's not. And you're not." 
"Tell me what to do." 
"Rewind—my love—it's not for me to say." 
"But this affects '''both''' of us. If I don't do this... if we leave here not knowing, we could spend the next four million years searching for someone who's..." 
"I know. But at least we'd be doing it together."
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Chrome—''' *sniff* ...and '''Chromedome'''... look, I just have something in my eye, okay?!

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Necrobot was introduced in the "Scavengers" two-parter in [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|issue #7]] and [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]. It was in the second of those issue that he actually physically appeared, and in which we saw his datapad containing a list of deceased ''Lost Light'' crewmembers; this issue confirms the earlier implication that these were the quantum duplicate crewmembers from the second ''Lost Light'', seen in the "Slaughterhouse" two-parter in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]] and [[slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|#33]].
*Agent 113, first mentioned in the "[[Bullets]]" prose story in 2010, is finally revealed to not be a current member of the DJD, but rather, the previous holder of the "Vos" codename—the one with hooks for hands and feet, whose existence was established in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]].
*We first learned Rodimus has been carving doodles into his desk in [[Signal to Noise|issue #13]], and were reminded of that fact recently in [[The Sensuous Frame|issue #41]]. Turns out he's been drawing a map to Cyberuptopia like the one we saw [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] had drawn in that same issue, complete with the gear-like hieroglyphs from [[Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|issue #21]].
*When Skids remarks that he is a "recovering believer", he strokes his cheek, where we know from issues [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|#11]] and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|#36]] that he used to have a tattoo of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] as a symbol of his faith.
*Nightbeat refers to his death from all the way back in ''[[Spotlight: Hardhead]]'' (see "Errors", below).
*Swerve takes a selfie with the Necrobot; we've seen Swerve using his "cell phone", before, back in "[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]", when he went on about his ringtone.

===Transformers references===
*Ultra Magnus mentions that the ''Lost Light''ers once spent three weeks at the [[Cosmic Carnival]], the greatest show in the galaxy that appeared in [[The Cosmic Carnival|issue #44]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel Transformers comic]].
*Rodimus jokes about having "Chosen One" engraved on his forehead, the title that Rodimus was referred to with in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]].

===Real-life references===
*Rodimus describes Rewind's way of telling him about the Necrobot as they walk through the ship's corridors as "''West Wing''-ing", a reference to the TV show ''{{w|The West Wing}}'' and its famous tracking shots of characters talking with one another as they walk down long hallways.
*The Necrobot's real name, "Censere" (see "Errors", below), is a Latin word meaning to appraise or assess.

===Errors===
*The Necrobot introduces himself as "Censere", but when Nightbeat speaks his name during their farewell, he calls him "Censerre", with an extra "r". It's not clear which is the error.
*When Nightbeat talks about his death, the footnote states he died in ''[[Spotlight: Nightbeat]]'', rather than ''Spotlight: Hardhead''.
*Dominus Ambus's name is described as being "three from the bottom" on the monolith, but the art shows it being on the bottom line.

===Other trivia===
*This issue arrives a teensy bit late, landing in the first week of September rather than the last week of August.
*Several statues in the Necrobot's garden are not immediately recognizable; Rodimus mentions two Transformers named [[Raptor]] and [[Scissorkick]] who could rightly be any of them.
*While [[Xaaron]] has always been best known by the rank he carried in the Marvel comics, "Emirate", he's never had that rank in the IDW universe. As Rodimus spots a statue of him in the Necrobot's garden, he notes that his full title in this universe is "Advocate Xaaron".
*Full names learned for Transformers in this issue include: [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee of Iacon]], [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]] of [[Pescus Hex]], Dominus Ambus of [[Ambustus Minor]], Chromedome of Iacon, Hound of [[Lower Monoplex]], and Nightbeat of [[Yuss]]. Additionally, [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] is revealed to have been an [[M.T.O.]]; a speech-bubble obscures his full name, but we see that it partially reads "Ambulon of Operation Split Infin--" something (a crack about "{{w|split infinitive}}s" and Ambulon's status as part of a [[combiner]], no doubt).
*The name written above Dominus Ambus's on the memorial doesn't appear in full, but ends in "-let". No, it's not [[Gimlet]], the shape of the preceding partially-seen letter doesn't fit!

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoCEdZnyFk Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want]" by {{w|The Smiths}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjeCgsNrvCw Song for the Leftovers]" by {{w|A Camp}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Chromedome and Rewind stare up at an imposing monolith, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Megatron amid a field of gravestones, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]].
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Megatron wails after Nautica steals his Rodimus action figure, while Swerve looks on; one of a series of super-deformed covers by [[Agnes Garbowska]] that make up the Retailer Incentive covers on IDW's August Transformers titles.

<gallery>
File:MTMTE44 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE44 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #45
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' [[The Transgressors|#44]]
*''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade]]'' [[Race Against the Light|#5]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' #9
*''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Amazing Adventures''
*"You Must Shop at These Fine Stores!" - classic-style advert promoting multiple comic shops
*IDW ''Transformers'' comic app
*''Uncle Scrooge'' Vol. 1 TPB (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/25708-preview-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-44.html Preview]

Megatronus (WFC)

2015-08-28T03:58:39Z

Phazeblade: correcting link, should be to WFC Liege Maximo, not G2 Liege Maximo

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambig2|the Fallen from the Aligned continuity family|the Fallen in most continuities|The Fallen}}

:''Megatronus is a member of the [[Thirteen]] from the [[Aligned continuity family]]. He is also known as'' '''''the Fallen'''''.
[[File:RID-Megatronus.jpg|thumb|350px|caption|Kitty ears of DOOM.]]

'''Megatronus''' was a member of the [[Thirteen]] and "the first [[Decepticon]]". Rightfully proud of his power and unwaveringly loyal to his creator [[Primus]], Megatronus thought of himself as a warrior first and foremost. At the same time, his dark powers and conflicted nature meant that he was rarely at peace with himself. His artifact of power—the deadly [[Requiem Blaster (Prime)|Requiem Blaster]]—used stellar fusion as an energy conduit, exponentially increasing his already destructive powers. Viewing himself as an outsider, he frequently butted heads with the warrior of light [[Prima (WFC)|Prima]], to the point where even his closest allies among the Thirteen viewed him as an unpredictable and unstable presence. In spite of this, he struck up a close friendship with [[Solus Prime]], which eventually blossomed into a mutual romance. Not even Solus Prime's comforting presence could rein in Megatronus' chaotic tendencies; his private insecurities and hidden fears continued to fester, and soon gave way to something darker.

Megatronus's unchecked temper would soon have dire repercussions for the rest of the Thirteen. In a fit of rage, Megatronus finally turned on his former allies, killing Solus Prime and forever shattering the unity of the remaining Primes. Soon afterwards, he re-christened himself '''the Fallen''', and exiled himself from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], only to be imprisoned in another dimension. Now he holds both both Earth and Cybertron responsible for his defeat and he was able to influence events so that the prison ship ''[[Alchemor]]'' crash-landed on Earth, planning to turn the Decepticon convicts into his servants to free him from his prison and finally get his revenge.

==Fiction==
===''The Covenant of Primus''===
[[File:MegatronusPrime.jpg|thumb|250px|To have a helmet as good as this will cost you your soul...and also ten cents.]]

Megatronus was the twelfth Prime created by Primus to defeat [[Unicron]]. The thirteen newly-created Primes soon began experimenting with their powers and strategizing for the upcoming conflict. Megatronus considered himself a warrior and trained alongside [[Vector Prime (WFC)|Vector Prime]], Prima, [[Onyx Prime]], and [[Amalgamous Prime|Amalgamous]]. Megatronus, having the closest connection to Unicron, offered advice to Solus Prime on how to create the best weapons to defeat the chaos-bringer. Among their collaborative efforts were [[Dark Energon skin]]s, which would protect the Primes from the toxic [[Dark Energon]]. Megatronus eventually requested that a blaster be made for him by Solus Prime. She reluctantly agreed, and the Requiem Blaster was forged. Solus had doubts about the weapon, but her deep faith in Megatronus was what allowed her to trust him with the Blaster.

When the fight against Unicron came, Megatronus fought alongside his siblings, and was ultimately triumphant. However, some of Unicron's darkness had rubbed off on all of them; a fact that Megatronus strangely appeared to revel in. In the era of peace and rebuilding that followed, Megatrous worked alongside [[Liege Maximo (WFC)|Liege Maximo]], [[Micronus Prime]], and Amalgmous Prime, refining [[Energon]] for future use. He slowly befriended more of the Thirteen, although his love for Solus Prime never faded.

[[File:COP-Megatronusshootssolus.jpg|thumb|250px|left|"How could this happen? We started out like Romeo and Juliet but it ended up in tragedy!"]]

Unfortunately, this period of peace was not to last. Megatronus and Solus Prime were both being manipulated by Liege Maximo, who managed to drive a schism between the two lovers. Megatronus confronted Solus Prime over a newly created suit of armor intended for Maximo's "farm". Their disagreement eventually grew into a full-fledged fight after Megatronus killed her pet, which had secretly been recording Solus Prime's actions. In the chaos, Megatronus fired the Requiem Blaster without thinking, fatally wounding Solus Prime. Before Solus passed away, however, she professed her love for him.

Megatronus hid himself away in the untamed regions of Cybertron, until the surviving Primes discovered him. Megatronus confessed his crime, but also accused Maximo of setting up the whole plot, and aimed to kill him once and for all. The accusations flew quickly, and before long the argument descended into a free-for-all. In the aftermath, Liege Maximo was apparently blown apart by a shot from the Requiem Blaster, although [[Alpha Trion (WFC)|Alpha Trion]] could not identify just who had fired the weapon. Along with the surviving Primes, a repentant Megatronus attended Solus's funeral. Renaming himself "the Fallen", he donned Solus Prime's suit of armor and went into exile in space, never to be seen again.

Eons later, a young gladiator and social rhetorician named [[Megatron (WFC)|D-16]] took inspiration from ancient folk tales, renaming himself "Megatronus". {{storylink|Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus}}

===Aligned novels===
Megatronus conceived the idea of the [[Requiem Blaster (Prime)|Requiem Blaster]], a weapon so powerful that it dwarfed all other weapons in existence. With great reluctance, [[Solus Prime (Prime)|Solus Prime]] agreed to forge the weapon for Megatronus, and even then only after Megatronus convinced other members of the Thirteen to petition her on his behalf as well. Even after the weapon was completed, Solus Prime showed great reluctance in allowing it to remain in existence. After demonstrating its awesome power to the Thirteen, she asked for a vote as to whether the Requiem Blaster should be destroyed. Megatronus led the group who voted in favor of retaining the Blaster, and they won by the slimmest of margins, 7-to-6.

At some later date, Megatronus killed Solus Prime in a fit of rage, and became the Fallen, forever more. The reason for the murder is not fully known at this point, although Solus did favor [[Nexus Prime (Prime)|Nexus Prime]] over others in the Thirteen, a fact that had stirred jealousy in Megatronus in the past. Though a terrible thing, [[Vector Prime (WFC)|Vector Prime]] considered the Fallen lashing out in a moment of anger forgivable over [[Liege Maximo (WFC)|Liege Maximo]]'s active plotting. {{storylink|Transformers: Exiles|Exiles}}

Megatron, who took his name to inspire fear, took a favorable view of the Fallen, considering him the one member of the Thirteen who refused to bow down to the others, and the only Prime who sought his own destiny. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus|Exodus}}

===''Prime'' cartoon===
[[File:OneShallRise1-WellofAllSparks.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.67]]
According to legend, at the beginning of time, Unicron and Primus battled each other for eons, with neither side remaining victorious for long. Until, that is, Primus created the [[Thirteen]]. These Thirteen defeated Unicron and cast him into space. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}} At some point statues of Megatronus and his brothers were made. They were placed in the chamber of the High Council. A [[Megatron (WFC)|gladiator]] would also name himself after Megatronus before shortening his name to simply "Megatron". {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

When [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] proclaimed to Optimus Prime that he wished to change sides, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] sarcastically claimed that he had been [[lobbing]] with the Fallen. {{storylink|Partners}}
{{--}}

===2015 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Gil Gerard]] (English)}}
[[file:RID-phantommegatronus.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"You will bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it!"]]
In the distant past, Megatronus killed [[Solus Prime (Prime)|Solus Prime]]. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 2}} He was eventually imprisoned in another dimension, and held both [[Earth]] and Cybertron responsible for his defeat. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}} He maintained a degree of agency over the events in this world, and he was able to influence events so that the prison ship ''[[Alchemor]]'' crash-landed on Earth, releasing its cargo of [[Decepticon]] convicts in the process. From there, Megatronus bided his time. Eventually, he contacted the Decepticon revolutionary [[Steeljaw (RID)|Steeljaw]], who had just suffered a humiliating rout at the hands of [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]'s [[Autobot]]s. Introducing himself as "the first Decepticon", Megatronus struck a bargain with Steeljaw: if Steeljaw helped free him from his prison, Megatronus would let Steeljaw and his gang have the Earth. Steeljaw reluctantly agreed. {{storylink|Lockout}}

[[File:RID-megatronussparkmerger.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"Now, I claim your- oh, wait, wrong script."]]
Megatronus interrupted Steeljaw while the latter was scheming, demanding to know if they had made progress on the device that would allow him to escape. Steeljaw retorted that he needed more Decepticons to help him with the task, but Megatronus was less than moved, using his telekinetic powers to make [[Clampdown (RID)|Clampdown]] pull on his arm hard until Steeljaw capitulated. Megatronus informed his new servant that the device would require a mass of sufficient metal to anchor the energies generated by his arrival- namely, the [[Crown City Colossus]]. Although the Autobots, accompanied with a reborn [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]], attempted to intervene, their efforts weren't enough to stop Steeljaw from activating the portal. A triumphant Megatronus to materialized, ready to carry out his plan. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 1}}

[[File:RID-megatronustank.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Megatronus deploys his dreaded drill-nipples.]]
Megatronus moved to attack the weakened Autobots, but was intercepted by Optimus, and the two began dueling. Megatronus gained the upper hand and managed to slash at Optimus, knocking him into the water and temporarily taking him out of the fight. Megatronus retieved his fallen [[Spark fuser]] and activated it, intending to draw the remnants of [[Unicron]]'s anti-[[spark]] from the Earth's core and merge it with the AllSpark, destroying both Earth and Cybertron. When Steeljaw realized this, Megatronus retorted that the had never technically lied to him about his right to own Earth... or whatever would be left of it. Megatronus restrained the furious Steeljaw with his telekinesis and opened a rift in the sky.

Fighting Steeljaw distracted Megatronus long enough for Bumblebee to resuscitate Optimus, and the two Autobot leaders moved in to finish him off after Megatronus hurled Steeljaw away. While Optimus once again dueled with Megatronus, Bumblebee, [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]], and [[Sideswipe (RID)|Sideswipe]] used their [[Decepticon hunter]]s to power themselves up. Optimus managed to shatter Megatronus's Spark fuser, closing the rift and ruining his plan. Furious, Megatronus redoubled his attack. [[Drift (RID)|Drift]] helped to drop part of the Colossus on Megatronus. The weight of the statue was enough that Bumblebee's team could blast him with a sustained burst of energy, disintegrating his body. {{storylink|Battlegrounds, Part 2}}

==Games==
===''Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' (mobile game)===
*''unlock Starter'' — 500 Energon Cubes or 10 Ultra Sparks
*''unlock Legion'' — 1500 Energon Cubes or 30 Ultra Sparks
*''unlock Warrior'' — 4000 Energon Cubes or 80 Ultra Sparks
*''unlock Ultra'' — 8000 Energon Cubes or 140 Ultra Sparks

{{charstubgame}}

==Toys==
===Robots in Disguise (2015)===
{{anchor|Legion}}[[File:RID2015-Legion-Class-Megatronus.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Bound to be repainted into Bowser at any minute.]]
*'''Optimus Prime VS Megatronus''' (Clash of the Transformers 2-pack, 2015)
:Packaged with Optimus Prime, this Megatronus is a smaller Legion-sized mold which can transform from a tank to robot and back.

:His scannable Decepticon insignia is on his robot mode right shoulder. Scanning this in the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (mobile game)|''Robots in Disguise'' mobile game]] temporarily unlocks the Legion-Class Clash of the Transformers Megatronus figure as a playable character if the player has not permanently unlocked it already. The badge is easily scannable while in package.

:The 2-pack have thus far only been available as Toys"R"Us exclusives.

{{-}}{{anchor|Mega}}
[[File:RID2015-Ultra-5-Step-Changer-Megatronus.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|But does he lobbing with Queen Beryl first? ''(Hasbro Version Pictured)'']]
*'''Megatronus''' (Mega 5-Step Changer, 2015)
**''Accessories'': Spark Merger
:5-Step Changer Megatronus transforms from Robot to Tank and back in just 5 Easy steps! The toy's arms features a transformation similar to the [[Automorph Technology|Automorph technology]], triggered by turning the tank turret, and folding the torso up (You need to transform the legs right after you pull up and turn the tank cannon first.). Due to the gimmick, he has articulation limited to his arms. Mega 5-Step Megatronus is released in an open package, which allows children to touch the toy.

:His scannable Decepticon insignia is on his robot mode chest/vehicle mode front. Scanning this in the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (mobile game)|''Robots in Disguise'' mobile game]] temporarily unlocks the Ultra Class Megatronus figure as a playable character if the player has not permanently unlocked it already. The badge is easily scannable while in package.

:Take extreme care of the transformation: The Automorph-style gears is somewhat prone to breakage if not properly transformed.

:Mega 5-Step Megatronus have thus far only been available as Toys"R"Us exclusives.

:The upcoming TakaraTomy release (as part of the Easy Dynamic Series) of the toy features several extra paint applications, and a different scannable badge, which is compatible with the ''Transformers Chronicle'' app.

{{comingsoontoy}}

{{-}}

==Notes==
* Megatronus is introduced as the "first Decepticon", a role for the character that originated with his [[The Fallen|live-action counterpart]]; up to now, the Aligned version of Megatronus has had no direct connection to the Decepticons, except for having a helmet shaped like their insignia, something else he takes from the live-action film character. He also exhibits the movie character's telekinetic powers.
* Additionally, Megatronus enigmatically refers to having been "granted additional power from a source far greater than the Primes", referencing the original character's pact with [[Unicron]], as originally described in ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]''.
*While Bulkhead briefly refers to him as "the Fallen" in ''Prime'', he's never actually referred to by this title in his later appearance in ''Robots in Disguise''.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Megatronus''' (メガトロナス ''Megatoronasu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Zhèn Tiān Zūn''' (震天尊, "Majesty Shaking the Heaven")

{{Thirteen}}
[[Category:Prime Transformers]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2015) Decepticons]]
[[Category:Thirteen]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron characters]]

Knock Out (G1)

2015-07-30T07:01:01Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ G1 Override is an autobot, BW Override is a velocitronion based on the Override from the Energon series

{{disambig3|Knockout}}
:''Knock Out is a [[Velocitron]]ian [[Transformer]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]]''

[[File:G1Knockout.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Sir, reporting high levels of sass."]]

'''Knock Out''' is a product of his environment. As a native of [[Velocitron]], he's not only preoccupied with speed and racing, but is also fastidious about looking ''good'' while doing so. In his line of work as a weight-loss surgeon and aerodynamic specialist, he's constantly looking for physical flaws and imperfections to work his magic on... mostly on other 'bots.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===

[[File:CombinerWars5-Velocitron.jpg|left|thumb|350px|]]

Knock Out was born from a [[hot spot]] inside one of the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]]s who left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to colonize other worlds. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}} His [[Conjunx Endura]] was an atypically slow Velocitronian. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 4}} [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] caught a glimpse of him racing another 'bot while she was merged with [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]'s mind. {{storylink|Windblade issue 4|Windblade #4}}

Knock Out and [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]] were investigating the possible sources of strange seismic activity, ultimately coming across the footprints left behind from the rampaging [[combiner]]s from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Combiner Wars Part 5}} The pair were sent as ambassadors to [[Cybertron]], and met with [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] to discuss becoming a part of the [[Council of Worlds]]. Negotations fell through, with Knock Out maintaining that Velocitron didn't need anything from neighboring planets, and the duo left the meeting chamber. Windblade tried to reason with the pair, and invited them to [[Maccadam's]] so that they could experience both Camien and Cybertronian cultures. Knock Out totally dissed [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] before returning home through Metroplex's [[space bridge]]. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 4}} {{spoiler|Race Against the Light|August 27, 2015}}
During the Benefit 500, Knock Out watched with Moonracer and [[Override (BW)|Override]]. He failed to recognize Blurr at first, and was shocked when Windblade's tampering with [[Navitas]]'s controls let her manipulate the racetrack to help Blurr win the race. {{storylink|Race Against the Light}}

{{--}}

==Notes==
*Knock Out is based on [[Knock Out (Prime)|''Prime'' Knock Out'']].<ref>[//mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/92633901891/red-car-with-yellow-rims-could-we-maybe-get-the-word Writer Mairghread Scott on her Tumblr blog.]</ref>
*Mairghread Scott later clarified that Knock Out's conjunx is the IDW Generation 1 iteration of [[Breakdown (WFC)|''Prime'' Breakdown]]<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/122341451981/loved-the-new-windblade-issue-a-great-read-is Mairghread Scott's Tumblr]</ref>, likely a wink at fans who believed that ''Prime'' Knock Out's relationship with Breakdown was more than platonic.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Transformers]]
[[Category:Velocitron]]

Tarn (G1)

2015-07-17T00:39:15Z

Phazeblade: kain, also, nicke

{{Disambig3|Tarn}}
{{factions|decepticon}}
:''Tarn is a Decepticon from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:MTMTE Tarn Alex Milne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|He kills you with culture... and also ''violence''.]]
'''Tarn''' 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)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]. He tends to indulge these pleasures at the same time he's using his specially modulated vocal processor to cause the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]'s latest transgressor's spark to self-destruct. The current leader of the D.J.D., Tarn epitomises 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 bureacrat 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 lead to him burning out his original [[transformation cog]] years ago, and his reliance on the power-enhancing [[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.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
[[File:Tarn BlackShadow RulesofDisengagement.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"What are you gonna do, talk me to death?" "Yup"|left]]
As with all members of the D.J.D., Tarn's true identity is unknown, hidden by his mask and assumed name. He was [[reproduction|forged]], born an exceptionally powerful [[Point One Percenter]], and his "weaponized conversation" is a natural ability, suggesting he may be an [[Outlier]]. Rebuilt under the supervision of [[Lobe]], {{storylink|The Permanent Revolution}} Tarn's power and endurance is considered by [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] to put him on the same level as a [[Phase Sixer]]. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

After the D.J.D. 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}}
[[File:Tarn transforms MTMTE08.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Informed by Decepticon spy [[Brainstorm]] that high-priority target [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] was aboard the starship ''[[Lost Light]]'', Tarn and the D.J.D. continued to work through their [[The List|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 (Victory)|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 (G1)|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)|Grimlock]], unleashed by Fulcrum and his new allies, the [[Scavenger (group)|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 (DJD)|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 them 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)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]], and [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], and forced a large portion of the crew to transform before executing them, leaving their transformation cogs warm for location 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}}

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]], 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}}

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 (DJD)|Helex]] and [[Tesarus (DJD)|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 fuelling 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 (Victory)|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}}

===''TransTech''===
At [[Axiom Nexus]], Tarn was a judge of ''[[Cybertron's Got Talent]]'' in the wake of [[Ego]]'s death. Tarn enjoyed calling out sub-par transformations as part of his judging. {{Storylink|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter}}

==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}}

==Notes==
*[[Alex Milne]] said in a Facebook interview that his ideal voice for Tarn is [[Keith David]]. That is ''AWESOME''.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/notes/transformers/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-vol-2-alex-milne-interview/395646703838863 Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye vol. 2 Alex Milne interview]</ref>
*Prowl lists Tarn as being on par with the [[Phase Sixer]]s [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] and [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] in "[[Remembrance Day]]". So far there's no official confirmation that Tarn is himself a Sixer, though he was shown being rebuilt by [[Lobe]] and his assistant in "[[The Permanent Revolution]]".

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:TransTech Decepticons]]

The Permanent Revolution

2015-05-26T16:39:36Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */ vos and kaon are on the same panel as brainstorm, then drift/ratchet, THEN k'gard, how the order was vos 16, kaon 12, drift 9, ratchet 10, and k'gard 11 is beyond me

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=39
|prev=Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide
|next=Our Steps Will Always Rhyme
|image=MTMTE39 subcvr.jpg
|title="The Permanent Revolution"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[April 8]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=March 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Hayato Sakamoto]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}
'''A wearying Tarn finds himself granted new life when the Decepticon Justice Division discovers that Megatron has abandoned the cause.'''

==Synopsis==
===(1) Troika===
Times have been tough for the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]. Eighteen months ago, when deep cover Decepticon agent [[Brainstorm]] alerted them to [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s imprisonment on the ''[[Lost Light]]'', they had initially agreed not to kill anyone else on the ship, only to lose control and go back on their deal when they discovered [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] was on board. After slaughtering the entire crew, they went on their way, until a month ago, when their newest member—diminutive female medic [[Nickel]]—insisted that they return to salvage the vessel's [[quantum generator]]s. Upon returning to the wreckage, floating above [[Ofsted XVII]], the DJD found themselves in the middle of a battle between the [[Galactic Council]] and the [[Black Block Consortia]], who proceeded to join forces against them. [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] and [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] took the fight to the planet's surface, but [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] was forced to abandon them when enemy reinforcements arrived.

Now, Tarn, [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] and [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] are continuing in their duties, working their way through their list of Decepticons who have betrayed "the cause". Their present victim: [[Blip]], condemned for practising religion by deifying [[sparkeater (creature)|sparkeaters]]. Blip catches Tarn off-guard when he uses his last words to ask him to remove his mask, accusing him of cowardice, so the DJD leader decides to refrain from killing him with his "weaponized conversation" ability, and lets Helex and Tesarus get their hands dirty. But secretly, Tarn looks away, tiring of violence and unwilling to watch.

Their job done, the team return to their ship the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]'', where Nickel gives them all a check-up and relentlessly criticizes their poor hygiene and maintenance habits. The DJD turns out to be exceptionally bureaucratic; Tarn orders performance reviews for the team, but he and Tesarus nearly come to blows during the latter's appraisal when Tesarus accuses him of being "un-Decepticon" for leaving Vos and Kaon behind. Calming himself, Tarn reveals that he has already ordered a return to Ofsted to collect their bodies... at which point Helex comes running in to tell them that their comrades are still alive, and have returned with a datapad containing some shocking news: Megatron has renounced Decepticonism and joined the [[Autobot]]s!

===(2) Troska===
Returning to the DJD headquarters on [[Messatine]] to ponder the world-shattering implications of this news, Tarn recharges himself with "[[Nuke]]"—the DJD's secret stash of super-fuel, found only in the planet's mines, created when the native [[nucleon]] was exposed to chronal energy millions of years go. Pushing himself towards lethal overdose, his life flashes before his eyes, and he finds himself disappointed by the experience. Opening his eyes to see a tearful Nickel banging on the fuelling capsule window, Tarn finds something stirring within him, and he smashes his way out of the capsule to announce a "change of plans" to his team-mates.

===(3) Perestroika===
The rest of the DJD are confused when Tarn arranges a meeting with noted Decepticon [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]], who is on their list for removing himself from Megatron's command and stealing a [[Warworld]]. Deathsaurus welcomes them to his disorganized planet-ship, handing Tarn a crate of equipment to carry for him and apologizing for the mess with the explanation that their hyperdrive is being repaired. Tarn requests a conversation in private, but Deathsaurus isn't interested—having assumed that the DJD were coming to take him down, he immediately fires upon the crate in Tarn's arms, which turns out to be full of explosives that detonate right in Tarn's face. Though rocked by the blast, Tarn is still able to defend himself, insisting as he grapples with Deathsaurus that he is just here to talk. Deathsaurus deactivates his audio receptors to protect himself from Tarn's deadly voice, but Tarn simply speaks directly to him—and all his troops—through [[inter-Decepticon radio]], their private frequency having been hijacked by Vos. Tarn waxes lyrical on the history of the Decepticons and what he sees as their true cause: the ongoing mission to eliminate every threat to Cybertron, chiefly the "anti-mechanical bias" of a predominantly organic universe. He then introduces Nickel to Deathsaurus, explaining that she is the last of her kind, from a Cybertronian colony world settled by the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Titan]] [[Prion]], her entire planet scoured of life by the Black Block Consortia. It was she who was truly Tarn's salvation: as one who heard the Decepticon word and became a believer, she is proof of the power and rightness of their cause—a cause so great that no ''one'' 'bot can embody it, least of all Megatron, the betrayer. Tarn invites Deathsaurus and his men to join him in return for being taken off the DJD's list, but Deathsaurus has one condition—that Tarn kill the rest of the DJD. Tarn refuses, only for the request to turn out to be a test from Deathsaurus, who cites his distaste for a commander who uses his men as fodder as the reason he split from Megatron. Deathsaurus agrees to the alliance and suggests they launch an immediate attack on a nearby Galactic Council facility together, but Tarn informs him that first, the Decepticon house must be put in order: priority number one is to find and kill Megatron, and the shipful of Autobots he now calls his allies.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*''[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'' (5)
*''[[Drift (G1)|Drift]]'' (11)
*''[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]'' (12)
*''[[Skids (G1)|Skids]]'' (14)
*''[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (30)
|c2=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Blip]] (1)
*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] (2)
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (3)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] (4)
*[[Nickel]] (7)
*''[[Brainstorm]]'' (8)
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] (9)
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] (10)
*''[[Lobe]]'' (15)
*''Lobe's assistant'' (16)
*[[Gairyu]] (17)
*[[Yokuryu]] (18)
*[[Deathcobra (Victory)|Deathcobra]] (19)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Guyhawk]] (20)
*[[Jallguar]] (21)
*[[Killbison]] (22)
*[[Leozack]] (23)
*[[Goryu (Victory)|Goryu]] (24)
*[[Rairyu]] (25)
*[[Blue Bacchus]] (26)
*[[Drillhorn]] (27)
*[[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]] (28)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]'' (29)
*[[Browning]] (31)
*[[Kakuryu]] (32)
*[[Doryu]] (33)
{{!}}}
|c4=
*[[The Pet]] (6)
*''[[K'gard]]'' (13)
}}

==Quotes==

"Now then your '''Sparkeater cult.'''. It's—''(sigh)''—it's '''spectacularly''' at odds with Decepticon doctrine. Surely you '''know''' this. Surely this doesn't come as a '''surprise''' to you. Even someone with the most '''rudimentary''' grasp of Megatron's teaching must realize that a '''Decepticon utopia''' cannot accommodate '''any''' form of religion." 
"W-why?" 
"Why? Because religion is a form of '''control'''. It offers succor in return for docility and bestows power unto an authority '''other''' than Megatron. So when a Decepticon starts a '''new''' religion, it's... well... you say it's an attempt at finding peace of mind. I say it's an '''attempted coup.'''"
:—'''Tarn''' and '''Blip'''

"Not '''precisely''' sure what she means by that gesture, but I imagine it tilts towards the '''obscene.'''" 
"Disgusting! You fix Decepticons with those hands?!" 
"And... we seem to have an '''extended version''' of the first gesture. I— Goodness, now that really '''does''' leave no room for doubt."
:—'''Tarn''' and '''Helex''' bust '''Nickel's''' chops

"Tsk! Health and safety gone mad..." 
"Black mark!" 
"Aw, for— All I '''said''' was—" 
"'''Two''' black marks! One more and it's a written warning!"
:—'''Tesarus''' is reprimanded by '''Tarn''' for questioning bureaucracy

"I thought you'd be wearing an Autobot mask. I thought—''heh''—I thought you'd be running around the galaxy wearing an Autobot mask and '''apologizing to everyone''' on Megatron's behalf."
:—'''Deathsaurus''' to Tarn

"Let battle be joined, eh?" 
"Oh, this is more than a battle, Deathsaurus... we're going to '''war.'''"
:—'''Deathsaurus''' and '''Tarn'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*This issue's first chapter, "Troika", takes place roughly concurrently with [[Births, Deaths, and Interventions|issue #34]], and details the exact timeline of the DJD's attack on the quantum duplicate ''[[Lost Light]]'', seen in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]] and [[slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|#33]], and the subsequent battle with the [[Galactic Council]] and the [[Black Block Consortia]] that issue #34 alluded to.
*"[[The Empyrean Suite]]" has been mentioned several times at this point throughout ''More than Meets the Eye'', noted to have a sinister connotation that was common knowledge among Cybertronians. At last, as many fans had previously deduced, it is revealed to be the DJD's "theme". The song's composer is said to be [[Eucryphia]], who wrote it as an ode to [[Prima (G1)|Prima]]'s Citadel of Light; Eucryphia appeared, and was revealed to be a member of Primus's tribe and an inhabitant of the citadel, in [[The Crucible|''Robots in Disguise'' #34]].
*Blip was first mentioned in [[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]]. He appeared in [[Before & After|issue #12]] and had a tiny cameo in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|issue #30]], where he sported a body based on the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcon]] [[Blot (G1)|Blot]]; he looks completely different here.
*Helex has put Blip's [[brain module]] in his mouth, which we learned was a trait of his in issue #32.
*The two statues of Megatron in the DJD's ship depict him in his original miner body, and in the Earth body he took on in ''[[The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation]]''; Sakamoto has drawn them in recreations of [[Atilio Rojo]] and [[Guido Guidi]]'s art style, respectively. Though quite an old body from our perspective as readers, the Earth form would be the last form the DJD knew Megatron in; comments later in the issue confirm that they never made contact with him after he returned from apparent death in his stealth bomber body in [[The Transformers (IDW)|the 2009-2011 ongoing series]].
*[[Borebit]] is listed among Tesarus's kills—he was a former member of the [[Primal Vanguard]] mentioned in [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|issue #11]].
*Former [[Warriors Elite|Warrior Elite]] [[Heretech]], who previously appeared in [[The Gloaming|issue #16]], was captured by the DJD at one point.
*The "burst of temporal energy" that turned nucleon into "Nuke" occurred in issue #34, when Brainstorm travelled back in time to Messatine.
*Though previously implied in [[Remembrance Day|issue #14]], we get explicit confirmation that Tarn is a [[Point One Percenter]], as he refers to his [[spark]] being green.
*As Tarn reflects on his life, we see an image of a young [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (we know he's young because he still got the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] tattoo he had in the past, seen before in [[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|issues #11]] and [[Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|#36]]). Back in [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|issue #8]], we learned that Skids had "The Empyrean Suite" running through his head for unknown reasons, and with this issue's confirmation that the song is associated with the DJD, the idea that Tarn would have some connection to Skids does not come as a great surprise.
*The two 'bots rebuilding Tarn's body in his flashback are [[Lobe]] and his as-yet unnamed assistant, who previously appeared on the last page of issue #11 where they were performing [[empurata]] and [[shadowplay]] on [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|a certain senator]].
*The colony [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Titans]] were introduced in the [[The Transformers: Windblade|''Windblade'' mini-series]]. With the introduction of Nickel, it's established that [[female Transformer]]s have evolved on other worlds in addition to [[Caminus]]. Nickel is, of course, the first female Decepticon in IDW continuity.

===Transformers references===
[[File:Early liokasier.jpg|right|thumb]]
*Deathsaurus's [[Warworld]] is based directly on the design of [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s Warworld from the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Marvel ''Generation 2'' comic]].
*Deathsaurus's ranks include almost all his troops from the ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory (cartoon)|Victory]]'' cartoon, and several crowdfillers who are all pre-existing characters, also mostly connected to ''Victory''.
**The [[Dinoforce]] are all present and correct, sprinkled throughout various scenes and grouped together on the final page
**The only absent member of the [[Breastforce]] is [[Hellbat (Victory)|Hellbat]], because he's been busy with his own stuff over in the [[The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|''Drift - Empire of Stone'' mini-series]]. In his place is [[Deathcobra (Victory)|Deathcobra]], an additional member of the Breastforce featured in the ''Victory'' episode "[[Unite! Liokaiser]]", who was brought in to replace Hellbat even then!
**''Victory'' character [[Blue Bacchus]]
**In the top left of the final page, a generic from the ''Victory'' episode "[[Rescue! Guyhawk]]" who perished when he fell into a molten stream.
**To the right of that guy, a Transformer version of the "[[Solon Kitakaze (Victory)|King Solon]]" mecha from the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Victory (manga)|''Victory'' manga]] (piloted by Deathsaurus's human son Solon in that story).
**On "Solon's" right is an unnamed character from some [[:File:Victory_concept_art.jpg|early ''Victory'' concept artwork]], a proposed Decepticon retool of Autobot [[Mega Pretender]] [[Vroom (G1)|Vroom]] that was never made.
**On Not-Vroom's right, a 'bot based on an early design for [[Liokaiser (Victory)|Liokasier]]. This design had never been seen by the public before; Sakamoto tweeted the original artwork shortly after the issue's publication (pictured, right).
**On Proto-Liokasier's shoulder is ''[[Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Masterforce]]'' mini-Decepticon [[Browning]]
**Lastly, in the bottom right, another 'bot from the early ''Victory'' artwork who was evidently a prototypical version of the character who would become [[Greatshot (Victory)|Greatshot]]. His color scheme here is based on Shadowmaru, a redeco of Greatshot from the [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] series ''{{w|Brave Police J-Decker}}''.
*While describing the Decepticons' early successes, Tarn says: "Victory after victory, Deathsaurus", which seems a lot like a sly nod to the franchise that Deathsaurus originated in.
*Deathsaurus's motivations for splitting from Megatron might not match his depiction in the ''Victory'' cartoon, where he was happy to leave the Dinoforce to die at his moment of triumph, but it jibes very well with the ''Victory'' '''manga''', in which he turned out all the fighting he had done had been to protect his and the other Decepticons' families.
*[[Deathcobra (Victory)|Deathcobra]]'s design is based on [[Ratbat (G1)|''Generations'' Deluxe Class Ratbat]].
*[[Kakuryu]] is holding the weedy little six-shooter he wielded in "[[The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star Saber]]".
*[[Doryu]]'s design incorporates some large protruding plates on his shoulders that aren't a typical feature of the character; they're based on the foot pieces of the team's combined mode, [[Dinoking (Victory)|Dinoking]], and it's possible to attach them to the shoulders of Doryu's original toy like this.

===Real-life references===
*This issue takes its title from the Marxist term "{{w|permanent revolution}}", which refers to the strategy used by a revolutionary class to continue pursuing their goals despite the political strength of their opposition—essentially, what Tarn enacts for the DJD.
*"Troika" is a Russian word meaning a "group of three", referring to Tarn, Tesarus and Helex following their separation from Vos and Kaon.
*"Troska" is a Czech word meaning "wreckage" or "ruin", referring to the state of Tarn's beliefs after he learns of Megatron's defection.
*"Perestroika" was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party, another of the multiple analogies Roberts has drawn between Communism and the Decepticon movement, here referring to Tarn forging his own path and reshaping the movement separate from its founder. In Russian, the word means "restructuring".

===Errors===
*There's an unnecessary comma when Tarn talks about his "sea green, spark".
*Vos's dialogue has been consistently written using [[Cyberglyphics]] thus far. However, on the first page of Perestroika, it appears to be written in a completely different cipher with far less ornate characters. His only other line of dialogue still uses Cyberglyphics.

===Other trivia===
*Starting this month, ''More than Meets the Eye'' is reduced from 22 pages of story to 20.
*Tarn's justification for the continued slaughter of non-Cybertronian life is the slaughter of Nickel's colony world... which was done in retaliation for the slaughter of non-Cybertronian life Megatron preached and practiced. Ooookaaaaaaay.

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNFi-nOZlAI The Village Green Preservation Society]" by {{w|Kate Rusby}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbEJW99_kZA The S.A.S. and the Glam that Goes with It]" by {{w|Earl Brutus}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2K7D-uMH2g I Giorni]" by {{w|Ludovico Einaudi}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Deathsaurus amid a field of corpses, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Tarn reflected in a datapad by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' The DJD in Communist propaganda poster style, by [[Sara Pitre-Durocher]]

<gallery>
File:MTMTE39 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE39 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE39 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #40
*"[[Combiner Wars]]"
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' [[Expelled from the Garden|#6]]
*''The Powerpuff Girls Super Smash-Up''
*IDW ''[[Jem|Jem and the Holograms]]'' comic
*IDW ''Skylanders'' comic
*''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection'' Vol. 1 (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-39-2015 Preview]

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (console)

2015-04-11T22:53:53Z

Phazeblade: /* Chapter IV: Possession */

{{Nav-aoe}}
{{Disambig2|the home console/PC version|the Nintendo 3DS version|Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)}}
{{videogame
|title=''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''
|prev=Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)
|next=Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
|title2=
|prev2=
|next2=
|image=Rise Of The Dark Spark Cover.jpg
|caption=USA cover
|publisher=[[ActiVision]]
|developer=[[Edge of Reality]]
|platforms=[[PlayStation 3]] & [[PlayStation 4|4]] [[Xbox 360]] & [[Xbox One|One]] [[Nintendo Wii U]] [[PC]]
|date=
|continuity=[[Aligned continuity family]] [[Movie continuity]]
|chronology=Between ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|War for Cybertron]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' Alternate version of ''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction]]''
|price=
|rating=ESRB: Teen PEGI: 12
|music=
}}

'''''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''''' is a video game jointly-created by both [[Hasbro]] and [[Activision Blizzard|Activision]], released on June 24, [[2014]] in Europe and North America, and June 25 in Australia.<ref>http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/05/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-release-date-revealed</ref> Developed by [[Edge of Reality]] for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC,<ref>[http://www.examiner.com/article/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-announced-3ds-version-to-be-strategy-rpg "Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark" announced; 3DS version to be Strategy RPG]</ref> it incorporates elements of both the ''Transformers'' [[Live-action film series|film franchise]] and the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|War for Cybertron]]'' / ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' games. The story will take place before the Ark is launched in the Aligned continuity, while it also deals with a storyline revolving around one of [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]'s schemes in the ''Age of Extinction'' portion. It features over forty playable characters, slightly fewer than [[Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)|the Nintendo 3DS version]].<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/new-rise-of-the-dark-spark-preview-from-game-informer-179722/</ref>

==Synopsis==
===Chapter I: The Dark Spark===
:'' Character: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Above [[Earth]], a strange object flies through space, destroying a satellite in orbit. The mysterious item flies past a ship, piloted by none other than the legendary mercenary [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]. One of his henchmen arrives in the cockpit and asks Lockdown what it was. He replies that it is "the past come calling." [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]], the Decepticon-turned-Autobot, arrives in a burning city to investigate. He notices that something crash-landed nearby. He contacts [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], leader of the Autobots, and tells him about the strange object.
Prime instructs Drift to investigate the crash site, but while Drift is en route, Lockdown's goons attack the city. Recognizing that they are not [[Decepticon]]s, Drift reports to Optimus, who correctly guesses that they are mercenaries (much to Drift's disdain). Drift takes out all three mercenaries and, at Optimus's instruction, equips himself with blasters to better fight with, he continues to the site of the crash, taking out mercenaries as he goes. Drift meets up with Optimus and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]], and the three arrive at the crash site. The Autobots discover an object that Drift does not recognize, but its appearance horrifies Optimus. To make things worse, Lockdown's henchman have arrived first. After another fight, the Autobots walk to the edge of the crater, and Optimus reveals to Drift that it is the Dark Spark. Before it can be retrieved, Lockdown arrives and steals the artifact for himself. The Dark Spark's power prevents him from intervening, and all he can do is furiously watch as Lockdown departs in his ship for parts unknown.

===Chapter II: The Lost Vault===
:'' Characters: [[Soundwave (WFC)]]/ [[Shockwave (WFC)]]''
As Shockwave and [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] fly through an ancient, abandoned Cybertronian city, Starscream complains of Megatron sending him on a fool's errand to find a mystical relic that may or may not exist. As this sparks a discussion between Shockwave and Starscream, Soundwave chimes in over the com link, demanding "less talk". As the three 'cons make their way through the city and into an ancient vault, they are met with heavy resistance from feral cybernetic life forms Shockwave has dubbed "[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]]".
Upon destroying the Insecticons attacking them, Shockwave splits off from the group, hoping to find out more about the vault thy are in and what is hidden in it. He never gets the chance, however, as he is attacked by, to his surprise, [[Sharpshot|three]] [[Kickback (FOC)|sentient]] [[Hardshell (Prime)|insecticons]]. Inadvertently insulting them, (kind of) and incurring their wrath they all attack him, and are all soundly defeated.
As Soundwave and Starscream come upon more Insecticons, they go about opening up the vault further so that they can keep moving. Upon defeating the attacking Insecticons, Starscream is alarmed at the appearance of Hardshell, and begins shooting at him, only to be stopped by Shockwave, who reveals Hardshell, along with Kickback and Sharpshot, to be "new recruits" to the Decepticon cause. Sharpshot points the Decepticons in the direction of the Dark Spark before departing with the other Insecticons.
The Decepticons continue their trek further into the vault, they are met with resistance in the form of auto turrets and Crystal Guardians as they deactivate the chamber to the Dark Spark. While doing so, Soundwave begins to notice Autobot energy signatures on his scanners, but Shockwave passes them off as glitches. Soon, the Decepticons arrive, triumphant, at the entrance to the chamber holding the Dark Spark.

===Chapter III: Getaway===
:'' Character: [[Sideswipe (WFC)]]''
Sideswipe and [[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] have been tailing the aforementioned Decepticon trio through their whole trip to find the Dark Spark, and have arrived at the Dark Spark before the Decepticons. Ironhide, wishing to be long gone before they are found, takes the Dark Spark. As the Autobots are leaving, marveling at their luck, the Decepticons enter the chamber, and, enraged that the Autobots beat them to the Dark Spark, open fire. Ironhide and Sideswipe barely escape from the chamber as security measures cause it to close itself up, trapping the Decepticons inside. Starscream is enraged, but Shockwave bids him to calm down, as Soundwave had released [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] before they entered the chamber, and the small bird-bot would ensure they are not trapped for long.
Meanwhile, Sideswipe and Ironhide are running into resistance from the Insecticons, and Sideswipe must juggle keeping the Insecticons away from Ironhide and the Dark Spark, along with using his grappling hook to ''pull Ironhide'' up through the tunnel to the exit. As Sideswipe and Ironhide keep moving, they get separated when Sideswipe accidentally closes a blast door between himself and Ironhide. As Sideswipe fights off swarming Insecticons, Ironhide opens up another path for him to travel through, allowing them to meet up again.
As they reach the scheduled rendezvous point (some abandoned subway tunnels), Ironhide reports to [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Prime]] that they have the Dark Spark. They are greeted at the rendezvous point by Optimus himself and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]. As Optimus and the others fight off the swarming Insecticons, Sideswipe is ordered to get to the control control panel for the subway and call a train. Sideswipe is successful, but the train, being revealed to be on a timer, leaves as quickly as it came, with only Bumblebee on board. Optimus declares that they will have to hold the line against the Insecticons until the next train arrives.
As the Autobots fend off the Decepticons, Starscream, having been freed by Laserbeak, arrives, triumphantly demanding that the Autobots surrender or face his wrath. The Insecticons proceed to swarm him. As Starscream is distracted by the Insecticons, the next train arrives, and the Autobots board, departing for Iacon. As the train leaves, Shockwave and Soundwave arrive, just in time for Starscream to finish off the Insecticons and berate them for not coming sooner and letting the Autobots get away. Shockwave simply looks at Starscream, then presses a switch on his arm, causing the train, which had been wired, to explode.

===Chapter IV: Possession===
:'' Character: [[Sharpshot]]''
Shockwave, believing Optimus Prime has the Dark Spark, hides in the rubble of the smoldering train. Sharpshot appears and informs Shockwave of the Dark Spark's real location, with Ironhide, and the two set off to get it. After a short firefight, Shockwave seizes the Dark Spark from a heavily damaged Ironhide and begins to head for [[Kaon]]. The bridge is destroyed while he is on it, but he manages to escape before he falls. Sharpshot transforms into insect mode and covers him as he advances along the walkway, eventually barred by an energy barrier. Sharpshot destroys the energy barrier, allowing Shockwave to progress, only to be met by another one. After destroying the second barrier, Shockwave is met by a duo of [[Titan (Unit)|Titans]], which cause him to jump off the walkway. He lands in an ancient research laboratory, and, after inserting some [[moleculon fuse]]s, some history of the Dark Spark is revealed. When Sharpshot journeys down into the catacombs to activate the final switch, he is attacked by [[Crystal Guardians]]. Sharpshot returns to Shockwave, and the two exit the facility. Outside, they are found by [[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]], who alerts the other [[Combaticon (WFC)|Combaticons]]. [[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] and [[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] arrive soon after. Onslaught orders a reluctant Swindle to escort Shockwave and Sharpshot to Kaon.

===Chapter V: Hustle===
:'' Character: [[Swindle (FOC)]]''
While making their way towards Kaon, Swindle, Shockwave, and Sharpshot find themselves in a spacecraft boneyard. As Swindle activates some beacons in order to find a way through, the Decepticons are ambushed by a fleet of Autobot Flyers. Swindle manages to open up a hallway while an Autobot [[Dropship (WFC)|Dropship]] sends in reinforcements. The Decepticons destroy the Dropship in order to make some makeshift stairs and enter the hallway. While making their way through, Sharpshot senses something and abandons the group (much to Swindle's relief). Shortly afterwards, Swindle & Shockwave are ambushed by a squadron of Autobots led by [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]]. After defeating Cliffjumper and his forces, Swindle & Shockwave surround the Autobot before he activates his invisibility cloak and escapes. Swindle alerts Shockwave that they are nearly at the gates of Kaon and that the other Combaticons should meet up with them at the rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper reports to Optimus that he failed to stop the Decepticons, but Optimus reassures him that he bought them enough time to set their plan into motion.

===Chapter VI: Gates of Kaon===
:'' Characters: [[Swindle (FOC)]]/ [[Bruticus (WFC)]]''
As the Combaticons meet up at the gates of Kaon, they find themselves under attack by the Autobots. [[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] offers to deliver the Dark Spark via air, but Shockwave warns that should the Dark Spark fall from a great height, it would cause massive damage to the city. Onslaught orders Shockwave to stay behind while the Combaticons take care of the Autobots. Swindle is tasked with taking down the Enforcers so Blast Off can provide air support. After the Enforcers are destroyed, Shockwave requests some back-up from Swindle. After arguing with Swindle, Blast Off finally provides some air support after Shockwave angrily orders him to. Swindle & Shockwave soon find themselves blocked off by a barrier, and Swindle is forced to protect Shockwave while he hacks the force-field. Swindle meets up with Onslaught and helps him take down a Titan. Soon the rest of the Combaticons arrive and they combine into [[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]]. Bruticus begins defeating wave after wave of Autobot soldiers. While Bruticus has his back turned, Cliffjumper tries to plant a bomb on his back. However, Bruticus finds out and smashes Cliffjumper against a wall. Holding Cliffjumper hostage, Shockwave orders the Autobots to ceasefire. [[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] and his troops comply, but the Decepticons take Cliffjumper with them into Kaon anyway. Jazz alerts Optimus to their situation, with Optimus assuring that they'll rescue Cliffjumper and secure the Dark Spark.

===Chapter VII: Infiltration===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
Optimus & Jazz begin their rescue mission by driving down a road towards [[Kolkular]], Megatron's fortress. Jazz asks Prime why they just can't leave the Dark Spark with Megatron, considering the Autobots are leaving Cybertron anyway. Optimus is worried however that Megatron may use the Dark Spark's power to destroy the [[Ark (WFC)|Ark]], which is still under construction. Optimus and Jazz manage to make their way into Kolkular by blowing out the vents. Jazz heads off to find a way through, leaving Optimus to fight off some Decepticon soldiers. Jazz finds himself trapped by some turrets, which Optimus manages to shut off. The two Autobots meet up and continue to fight their way through the Recycling Pits. After making their way through some defense grids, Jazz hacks into a terminal and finds out where Shockwave is keeping Cliffjumper. Jazz notices how easy their journey has been, and both he and Optimus agree that they're walking into a trap. On cue, Megatron treats the two with a warm Decepticon welcome, which naturally includes gunfire. Optimus and Jazz fight off Megatron's troops and find the prison cell that Cliffjumper is being held captive. Optimus provides cover for Jazz using a turret while he breaks Cliffjumper out. As Optimus and Jazz check up on Cliffjumper, walls begin to surround the cell, trapping all three Autobots. Optimus contacts [[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] and orders him to commence Operation Longshot.

===Chapter VIII: A Desperate Plan===
:'' Character: [[Jetfire (WFC)]]''
Perceptor relays the details of Operation Longshot to Jetfire, namely how Jetfire's mission is to infiltrate the smoldering remains of [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]]. Perceptor has reprogrammed a Decepticon maintenance probe to map out Trypticon's interior, which would have changed since Jetfire's last visit. Once inside, Jetfire finds that some of Typticon's systems are still online, but these are automatic functions and not a sign of Trypticon's consciousness. However, Jetfire notices some new gear inside Trypticon and he is attacked by some Decepticon soldiers. Jetfire discovers that Starscream is salvaging some Energon from Trypticon without Megatron's permission. Jetfire continues on his way towards the cargo bay, but he catches the attention of some turrets, alerting Starsceam to his presence. Jetfire soon arrives at the weapon chamber, and he is tasked with reactivating Trypticon's weapon system. Perceptor activates Trypticon's orbital strike, giving Jetfire barely enough time to escape. Starscream is enraged that all his Energon has gone to waste and vows revenge against Jetfire. The energy beam fired from Trypticon soon reaches its target: Kolkular. Things go according to plan, as Optimus, Jazz, and Cliffjumper are freed due to the damage to the fortress and the three begin their escape.

===Chapter IX: Ascension===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
During the Autobot's prison break, Cliffjumper recalls Shockwave bringing up his experiments with the Dark Spark and how Cliffjumper "wouldn't have to be an Autobot much longer". Optimus orders Jazz to get Cliffjumper to safety, while he'll go after Megatron and the Dark Spark alone. Jazz & Cliffjumper are reluctant, but comply. Optimus is soon suppressed by turret fire, but he manages to destroy the turrets power source. Optimus accesses a computer terminal to discover where Megatron's location is, and also locks the doors behind him to prevent any counter-strike against him. After fighting through more Decepticon troops, Optimus enters a room that contains some fallen Autobot soldiers. Megatron and Shockwave observe from a distance and decide to use Optimus for an experiment. Using [[Dark Energon]], Shockwave [[Terrorcon (Prime)|resurrects]] the Autobots, now pledging their allegiance to Megatron. Megatron, now using the Dark Spark to increase his power, joins his new troops in their fight against Optimus. Whenever Megatron begins to recharge the Dark Spark, Optimus starts destroying the charging towers. In a last ditch effort, Optimus and Megatron begin to unleash the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and the Dark Spark, respectively. Eventually, the power of the Matrix overpowers the Dark Spark, causing it to eject itself out of Megatron and launch itself into space. Shockwave begins to drag Megatron away, having sustained serious injuries. Jazz contacts Optimus to ask him about his condition. Optimus informs him that the Dark Spark has been neutralized and the Autobots should now focus their attention on finishing the Ark. Optimus does express his concerns however, that the Dark Spark may eventually cause havoc [[Live-action film series|elsewhere]]...

===Chapter X: Hunted ===
:'' Character: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]] ''
Across time and space, Lockdown is contemplating how fortunate it was for him to find the Dark Spark. Bumblebee and Drift have been busy tracking [[Knight Ship|Lockdown's ship]] and report to Optimus that he may be heading towards an abandoned military base. Bumblebee asks (well, more like beeps) Optimus if their back-up is ready, but Optimus tells him to be patient. After ending their transmission, the two Autobots are attacked by snipers. The duo manage to flank the snipers, and Bumblebee provides cover for Drift as he makes his way down the cliffs. The two eventually make it to base, which is swarming with mercenaries. Drift attempts a stealth attack against Lockdown, but he is quickly spotted and taken down. Lockdown then orders his men to find Bumblebee, knowing that Autobots rarely travel alone.

===Chapter XI: Investigation ===
:'' Characters: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]]/ [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Bumblebee continues to fight his way through Lockdown's men while looking for Drift. The mercenaries have jammed the Autobot's radio signals, leaving them unable to communicate with Optimus. Bumblebee eventually finds Drift being interrogated by Lockdown. Lockdown mocks Drift for his shift in allegiance and leaves him to get roughed up by the mercenaries. Bumblebee takes this opportunity to snipe one of the henchmen, allowing Drift to escape. While fighting wave after wave of Lockdown's henchmen, Drift overhears Lockdown assuring he'll keep the Autobots distracted. Lockdown unveils his new Titan mercenary, which is impervious to the Autobot's weapons. This forces Drift and Bumblebee to flee.

===Chapter XII: Ambushed===
:''Characters: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]]/ [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Drift and Bumblebee make their way outside while more mercenaries try to take them out. Just when it seems like there's no hope left for the two, Grimlock, one of the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], comes to their rescue. After Grimlock easily dispatches the mercenaries, the Titan mercenary finally arrives. Grimlock smacktalks the Titan before rendering it "extinct". Lockdown takes this opportunity to escape, much to Grimlock's anger.

===Chapter XIII: Extinction===
:'' Character: [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Lockdown and his men enter their base located in the middle of a city. Upon hearing that the Autobots have entered the city, Lockdown orders the mercenaries to keep them occupied. Grimlock and Optimus make their way through a blockade on a bridge. Afterwards, Optimus heads off to meet up with Drift and Bumblebee, and Grimlock has to continue alone. As Grimlock rampages his way through, Optimus detects Energon surges coming from within the city. The Autobots reach the entrance to Lockdown's hide out and Grimlock is tasked with destroying the transmitters that allow Lockdown to communicate with his troops. Grimlock then meets up with the rest of the Autobots and provides cover for Optimus as he tries to get the entrance to open. Optimus succeeds, and he and Bumblebee enter Lockdown's lair.

===Chapter XIII: Locked Down===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (Movie)]]''
Optimus and Bumblebee make their way underground, while Drift and Grimlock guard the entrance. Optimus and Bumblebee fight Lockdown's mercenaries as they make their way through the base. Drift meets up with the two and assures them that Grimlock has everything under control. The three Autobots soon confront Lockdown and discover that he has built himself a time bridge. Since the Autobots failed to prevent him from recovering an amplifier that was located in the jungle, Lockdown is free to go back in time and save the Decepticons that were in the [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Battle for Chicago]]. After destroying the energy stablizers for the time bridge, Lockdown begins to monologue about how well-paid he was during the war and that after [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron's]] death, things haven't been the same. Lockdown intends to bring the Decepticons into the present and continue the war anew. Lockdown intends his first job to deliver Optimus to Megatron. Optimus is disgusted by Lockdown's plan and tries to fight the bounty hunter. Lockdown is impervious to Optimus' weapons thanks to the Dark Spark and Optimus has to resort to melee attacks in order to damage him. Eventually, the two begin to grapple with each other and Optimus tosses Lockdown towards Drift, who cuts the Dark Spark out of Lockdown's chest. Optimus then uses the Matrix to toss the Dark Spark into the time bridge. The time bridge becomes too unstable, and the Autobots make their escape. His plans ruined, Lockdown flees from the Autobots in his ship.

Meanwhile, the Dark Spark finally lands in the middle of a desert. Watching over this, [[Optimus Prime (G1)| a familiar face]] expresses horror that the day has finally come...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=Movie Autobots
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ([[Chris Jai Alex]])
*[[Grimlock (AOE)|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])

|h2=Mercenaries
|c2=
*[[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] (Gregg Berger)
*[[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]] (via [[Walmart]] pre-order/DLC)

|h3=Aligned Autobots
|c3=
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]]
*[[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] ([[Troy Baker]])
*[[Jetfire (WFC)|Jetfire]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sideswipe (WFC)|Sideswipe]] ([[Travis Willingham]])
*[[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] ([[Nolan North]])
*[[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] ([[Keith Szarabajka]])
*[[Hound (Prime)|Hound]]
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]
*[[Air Raid (WFC)|Air Raid]]
*[[Silverbolt (WFC)|Silverbolt]]
*[[Scattershot (WFC)|Scattershot]]
*[[Snarl (FOC)|Snarl]]
*[[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] ([[Jim Ward]])
*[[Warpath (WFC)|Warpath]]
*[[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]]
*[[Slug (FOC)|Slug]]
*[[Swoop (WFC)|Swoop]]
*[[Ultra Magnus (Prime)|Ultra Magnus]]
|h4=Decepticons
|c4=
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] ([[Fred Tatasciore]])
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] ([[Sam Riegel]])
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] ([[Steve Blum]])
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] ([[Isaac C. Singleton, Jr.]])
*[[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Brawl (WFC)|Brawl]]
*[[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] (Travis Willingham)
*[[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] (Keith Silverstein)
*[[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]] ([[Dave Boat]])
*[[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]] (Nolan North)
*[[Kickback (FOC)|Kickback]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sharpshot]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Hardshell (Prime)|Hardshell]] ([[Scott Whyte]])
*[[Quake (FOC)|Quake]]
*[[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]]
*[[Dead End (WFC)|Dead End]]
*[[Dragstrip (WFC)|Dragstrip]]
*[[Demolishor (WFC)|Demolishor]]
*[[Thundercracker (WFC)|Thundercracker]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
*[[Skywarp (WFC)|Skywarp]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
|h5=Other
|c5=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
'''Non-Player'''
'''Mercenaries'''
*[[Mercenary|Mercenaries]]
'''Autobots'''
*[[Heavy Soldier]]
'''Decepticons'''
*[[Rumble (WFC)|Rumble]]
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]
*[[Leaper]]
*Insecticon Swarmers
*Insecticon Bruisers
*Insecticon Spitters
'''Other'''
*[[Titan (Unit)|Titan]]
*Shotgunner
*Rocket Soldier
*Soldier
|nonumbering=true
}}

==Quotes==
'''Starscream:''' "Soundwave, did Shockwave make a ''joke'' back there? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE." 
'''Starscream:''' "Was it intentional? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE" 
'''Starscream:''' "You know Soundwave, you've become quite the conversationalist." 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE"
:-'''Starscream''' and '''Soundwave''' discuss Shockwave's brief moment of humor.

'''Starscream:''' "A pity, then, that ''we'' are only ''three''." 
'''Soundwave:''' "LASERBEAK: EJECT." 
'''Starscream:''' "My mistake. ''Three and a half''."
:-'''Starscream''' does not think much of '''Soundwave's''' minions.

''[A failed headshot prompts the Decepticon [[Titan (Unit)|Titan]] to turn towards Bee and Drift]'' 
'''Bumblebee:''' ''[Surprised beeps]'' 
'''Drift''': Bee, I have formed a plan: '''Run!'''
:-'''Drift''', coming up with brilliant impromptu plans.

'''Swindle:''' "No sign of the bug ''[Sharpshot]''. Oh well, can't say I'm sad to see him go." 
'''Shockwave:''' "Are you implying that you two were not forming a ''long and lasting bond of friendship''?" 
''' Swindle:''' "You can't be serious?"
:-'''Shockwave''' discusses with Swindle about his <s> slash fic </s> observations of the two.

''' Jetfire:''' "I used to be ''stationed'' on [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]], remember? I can find my way." 
''' Perceptor:''' "Your knowledge is based on the ''erroneous'' notion that Trypticon's layout was not altered during his conversion from space station to ''smoldering wreck''." 
'''Jetfire:''' "Point taken... Well, Lead the way little buddy."
:-'''Jetfire''' and '''Perceptor'''

"The only future to master is one's own. The [[fandom|humans]] understand this. Yet they also understand that [[The Transformers (franchise)|the past]] is the genesis of all things, and must be [[GEEWUN|afforded proper deference]]."
:-'''Movie Optimus Prime''' is willing to segue into a Generation One epilogue...but he's going to be meta about it.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Cybertron portion of the game occurs between ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'' – the ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'' is under construction, [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]] still lies where he crashed, and we see Shockwave discover the [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]] for the first time. However, there is one notable inconsistency – see 'Errors' below.
*The ''Age of Extinction'' story, meanwhile, is utterly irreconcilable with the events of the film – the Autobots have an existing alliance with the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], and Optimus Prime and Bumblebee sport the new bodies they acquire during the film, yet Lockdown is perfectly alive and Prime is active on Earth. Stinger's brief cameo as a mercenary is similarly impossible to reconcile.
*Audio logs speak of the [[Patterner]]s and [[Galvatron (COP)|Galvatron]] indicating that studies of the [[Dark Spark]] took place during the Age of Origins in ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]''
*Starscream sarcastically makes note of how Soundwave is becoming a "conversationalist", likely alluding to the vow of silence he takes and employs during the [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|''Prime'']] cartoon.
*Like his [[Drift (G1)|namesake]], [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] was once a Decepticon before switching allegiance to join the Autobots, as noted by [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] when the former was held captive. Whether this background also applies to the film is unknown, given the above differences in the continuity.

===Transformers references===
*Shockwave quotes his motto from his toy's [[bio]] "Clarity of thought before rashness of action".
*Ironhide and Sideswipe both paraphrase Ironhide's motto from his original bio "High-tech circuitry is no replacement for guts".
*Blast Off quotes his motto from his original bio "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command".
*Swindle mentions Starscream freeing the Combaticons from the Decepticon brig, a reference to the origin of the Combaticons in the G1 cartoon episode [[Starscream's Brigade]].

===Errors===
*Despite the game's script clearly positioning it before the events of ''Fall of Cybertron'', Megatron is depicted in the new body he acquired only part-way through that game.
*Ironhide and Sideswipe encounter an Insecticon Bruiser despite Shockwave creating them in FOC.
*The live-action film universe Matrix of Leadership uses the model from the Aligned games, rather than the very different Matrix design first seen in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
*Lockdown's model has a Decepticon insignia and is undersized.
*Although he can fly, Shockwave remains on the ground when delivering the Dark Spark to Megatron. It is revealed two chapters later, that "if the Dark Spark where to be dropped from height it would cause massive damage to Kaon." This is an error because in chapter 4 he ''jumps off a ledge and into a gorge'', appearing to be hurt when he lands, with no consequences at all.

===Trivia===
* ''Rise of the Dark Spark'' marks a [[PlayStation]] 4 milestone by being the very first game to support the PlayStation Store pre-loading feature introduced in the console's 1.70 update.<ref>[http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/06/18/pre-order-pre-load-upcoming-ps4-games/ PlayStation Blog: Pre-Order, Pre-Load Upcoming PS4 Games]</ref>
* As a shout-out, some of the playable characters quote their [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] bios, notably Shockwave chiding Starscream with, "Clarity of thought before rashness of action." and Blast Off telling Swindle, "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command."
* The game notably features the return of the use of "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]" as a common expletive, having been replaced with "[[scrap]]" for the majority of the Aligned continuity thus far.
*In the first level of the game there's a billboard that reads, "Vote Berger for Mayor", an obvious reference to the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original ''The Transformers'' cartoon]] character [[Shawn Berger]], who expressed such mayoral desires in the two-part episode "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|Megatron's Master Plan]]".
*The Crystal Guardians the Decepticons face in chapter 2 are all [[generic]]s with the [[body-type]] of [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]].
*During Escalation, Earth characters are noticeably bigger than Cybertron characters with Earth Optimus hilariously towering over Warpath.
*While not quite an error, it is worth noting that the relationship between Bumblebee and Drift is much more friendly than in the movie. Lockdown also is very different. In the game, greed and personal power seems to be his primary motivation, while in the movie Lockdown simply wanted fair payment for his services as he talks about how inferior humans are and how he thinks extremely highly of his creators.

===Foreign names===
*''Europe:'' '''''Transformers: The Dark Spark'''''
*''Russia:'' '''Трансформеры: Битва за Тёмную Искру''' (''Transformers: Battle for the Dark Spark'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{gamestub}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 Announcement trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfLEbUqGyQ G1 Optimus Prime trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0azQrLC07OI Bumblebee trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKT6KeuEGi0 Gameplay trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bae87EGy-1E Bruticus trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZn4uBsOAY Grimlock trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=288YItFXPfI Gampelay trailer - Escalation]

[[Category:Video games]]

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (console)

2015-04-11T22:52:10Z

Phazeblade: /* Chapter III: Getaway */

{{Nav-aoe}}
{{Disambig2|the home console/PC version|the Nintendo 3DS version|Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)}}
{{videogame
|title=''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''
|prev=Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)
|next=Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
|title2=
|prev2=
|next2=
|image=Rise Of The Dark Spark Cover.jpg
|caption=USA cover
|publisher=[[ActiVision]]
|developer=[[Edge of Reality]]
|platforms=[[PlayStation 3]] & [[PlayStation 4|4]] [[Xbox 360]] & [[Xbox One|One]] [[Nintendo Wii U]] [[PC]]
|date=
|continuity=[[Aligned continuity family]] [[Movie continuity]]
|chronology=Between ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|War for Cybertron]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' Alternate version of ''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction]]''
|price=
|rating=ESRB: Teen PEGI: 12
|music=
}}

'''''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''''' is a video game jointly-created by both [[Hasbro]] and [[Activision Blizzard|Activision]], released on June 24, [[2014]] in Europe and North America, and June 25 in Australia.<ref>http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/05/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-release-date-revealed</ref> Developed by [[Edge of Reality]] for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC,<ref>[http://www.examiner.com/article/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-announced-3ds-version-to-be-strategy-rpg "Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark" announced; 3DS version to be Strategy RPG]</ref> it incorporates elements of both the ''Transformers'' [[Live-action film series|film franchise]] and the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|War for Cybertron]]'' / ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' games. The story will take place before the Ark is launched in the Aligned continuity, while it also deals with a storyline revolving around one of [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]'s schemes in the ''Age of Extinction'' portion. It features over forty playable characters, slightly fewer than [[Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)|the Nintendo 3DS version]].<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/new-rise-of-the-dark-spark-preview-from-game-informer-179722/</ref>

==Synopsis==
===Chapter I: The Dark Spark===
:'' Character: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Above [[Earth]], a strange object flies through space, destroying a satellite in orbit. The mysterious item flies past a ship, piloted by none other than the legendary mercenary [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]. One of his henchmen arrives in the cockpit and asks Lockdown what it was. He replies that it is "the past come calling." [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]], the Decepticon-turned-Autobot, arrives in a burning city to investigate. He notices that something crash-landed nearby. He contacts [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], leader of the Autobots, and tells him about the strange object.
Prime instructs Drift to investigate the crash site, but while Drift is en route, Lockdown's goons attack the city. Recognizing that they are not [[Decepticon]]s, Drift reports to Optimus, who correctly guesses that they are mercenaries (much to Drift's disdain). Drift takes out all three mercenaries and, at Optimus's instruction, equips himself with blasters to better fight with, he continues to the site of the crash, taking out mercenaries as he goes. Drift meets up with Optimus and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]], and the three arrive at the crash site. The Autobots discover an object that Drift does not recognize, but its appearance horrifies Optimus. To make things worse, Lockdown's henchman have arrived first. After another fight, the Autobots walk to the edge of the crater, and Optimus reveals to Drift that it is the Dark Spark. Before it can be retrieved, Lockdown arrives and steals the artifact for himself. The Dark Spark's power prevents him from intervening, and all he can do is furiously watch as Lockdown departs in his ship for parts unknown.

===Chapter II: The Lost Vault===
:'' Characters: [[Soundwave (WFC)]]/ [[Shockwave (WFC)]]''
As Shockwave and [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] fly through an ancient, abandoned Cybertronian city, Starscream complains of Megatron sending him on a fool's errand to find a mystical relic that may or may not exist. As this sparks a discussion between Shockwave and Starscream, Soundwave chimes in over the com link, demanding "less talk". As the three 'cons make their way through the city and into an ancient vault, they are met with heavy resistance from feral cybernetic life forms Shockwave has dubbed "[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]]".
Upon destroying the Insecticons attacking them, Shockwave splits off from the group, hoping to find out more about the vault thy are in and what is hidden in it. He never gets the chance, however, as he is attacked by, to his surprise, [[Sharpshot|three]] [[Kickback (FOC)|sentient]] [[Hardshell (Prime)|insecticons]]. Inadvertently insulting them, (kind of) and incurring their wrath they all attack him, and are all soundly defeated.
As Soundwave and Starscream come upon more Insecticons, they go about opening up the vault further so that they can keep moving. Upon defeating the attacking Insecticons, Starscream is alarmed at the appearance of Hardshell, and begins shooting at him, only to be stopped by Shockwave, who reveals Hardshell, along with Kickback and Sharpshot, to be "new recruits" to the Decepticon cause. Sharpshot points the Decepticons in the direction of the Dark Spark before departing with the other Insecticons.
The Decepticons continue their trek further into the vault, they are met with resistance in the form of auto turrets and Crystal Guardians as they deactivate the chamber to the Dark Spark. While doing so, Soundwave begins to notice Autobot energy signatures on his scanners, but Shockwave passes them off as glitches. Soon, the Decepticons arrive, triumphant, at the entrance to the chamber holding the Dark Spark.

===Chapter III: Getaway===
:'' Character: [[Sideswipe (WFC)]]''
Sideswipe and [[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] have been tailing the aforementioned Decepticon trio through their whole trip to find the Dark Spark, and have arrived at the Dark Spark before the Decepticons. Ironhide, wishing to be long gone before they are found, takes the Dark Spark. As the Autobots are leaving, marveling at their luck, the Decepticons enter the chamber, and, enraged that the Autobots beat them to the Dark Spark, open fire. Ironhide and Sideswipe barely escape from the chamber as security measures cause it to close itself up, trapping the Decepticons inside. Starscream is enraged, but Shockwave bids him to calm down, as Soundwave had released [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] before they entered the chamber, and the small bird-bot would ensure they are not trapped for long.
Meanwhile, Sideswipe and Ironhide are running into resistance from the Insecticons, and Sideswipe must juggle keeping the Insecticons away from Ironhide and the Dark Spark, along with using his grappling hook to ''pull Ironhide'' up through the tunnel to the exit. As Sideswipe and Ironhide keep moving, they get separated when Sideswipe accidentally closes a blast door between himself and Ironhide. As Sideswipe fights off swarming Insecticons, Ironhide opens up another path for him to travel through, allowing them to meet up again.
As they reach the scheduled rendezvous point (some abandoned subway tunnels), Ironhide reports to [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Prime]] that they have the Dark Spark. They are greeted at the rendezvous point by Optimus himself and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]. As Optimus and the others fight off the swarming Insecticons, Sideswipe is ordered to get to the control control panel for the subway and call a train. Sideswipe is successful, but the train, being revealed to be on a timer, leaves as quickly as it came, with only Bumblebee on board. Optimus declares that they will have to hold the line against the Insecticons until the next train arrives.
As the Autobots fend off the Decepticons, Starscream, having been freed by Laserbeak, arrives, triumphantly demanding that the Autobots surrender or face his wrath. The Insecticons proceed to swarm him. As Starscream is distracted by the Insecticons, the next train arrives, and the Autobots board, departing for Iacon. As the train leaves, Shockwave and Soundwave arrive, just in time for Starscream to finish off the Insecticons and berate them for not coming sooner and letting the Autobots get away. Shockwave simply looks at Starscream, then presses a switch on his arm, causing the train, which had been wired, to explode.

===Chapter IV: Possession===
:'' Character: [[Sharpshot]]''
Shockwave, believing Optimus Prime has the Dark Spark, hides in the ruble of the smoldering train. Sharpshot appears and informs Shockwave of the Dark Spark's real location, with Ironhide, and the two set off to get it. After a short firefight, Shockwave seizes the Dark Spark from a heavily damaged Ironhide and begins to head for [[Kaon]]. The bridge is destroyed while he is on it, but he manages to escape before he falls. Sharpshot transforms into insect mode and covers him as he advances along the walkway, eventually barred by an energy barrier. Sharpshot destroys the energy barrier, allowing Shockwave to progress, only to be met by another one. After destroying the second barrier, Shockwave is met by a duo of [[Titan (Unit)|Titans]], which cause him to jump off the walkway. He lands in an ancient research laboratory, and, after inserting some [[moleculon fuse]]s, some history of the Dark Spark is revealed. When Sharpshot journeys down into the catacombs to activate the final switch, he is attacked by [[Crystal Guardians]]. Sharpshot returns to Shockwave, and the two exit the facility. Outside, they are found by [[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]], who alerts the other [[Combaticon (WFC)|Combaticons]]. [[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] and [[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] arrive soon after. Onslaught orders a reluctant Swindle to escort Shockwave and Sharpshot to Kaon.

===Chapter V: Hustle===
:'' Character: [[Swindle (FOC)]]''
While making their way towards Kaon, Swindle, Shockwave, and Sharpshot find themselves in a spacecraft boneyard. As Swindle activates some beacons in order to find a way through, the Decepticons are ambushed by a fleet of Autobot Flyers. Swindle manages to open up a hallway while an Autobot [[Dropship (WFC)|Dropship]] sends in reinforcements. The Decepticons destroy the Dropship in order to make some makeshift stairs and enter the hallway. While making their way through, Sharpshot senses something and abandons the group (much to Swindle's relief). Shortly afterwards, Swindle & Shockwave are ambushed by a squadron of Autobots led by [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]]. After defeating Cliffjumper and his forces, Swindle & Shockwave surround the Autobot before he activates his invisibility cloak and escapes. Swindle alerts Shockwave that they are nearly at the gates of Kaon and that the other Combaticons should meet up with them at the rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper reports to Optimus that he failed to stop the Decepticons, but Optimus reassures him that he bought them enough time to set their plan into motion.

===Chapter VI: Gates of Kaon===
:'' Characters: [[Swindle (FOC)]]/ [[Bruticus (WFC)]]''
As the Combaticons meet up at the gates of Kaon, they find themselves under attack by the Autobots. [[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] offers to deliver the Dark Spark via air, but Shockwave warns that should the Dark Spark fall from a great height, it would cause massive damage to the city. Onslaught orders Shockwave to stay behind while the Combaticons take care of the Autobots. Swindle is tasked with taking down the Enforcers so Blast Off can provide air support. After the Enforcers are destroyed, Shockwave requests some back-up from Swindle. After arguing with Swindle, Blast Off finally provides some air support after Shockwave angrily orders him to. Swindle & Shockwave soon find themselves blocked off by a barrier, and Swindle is forced to protect Shockwave while he hacks the force-field. Swindle meets up with Onslaught and helps him take down a Titan. Soon the rest of the Combaticons arrive and they combine into [[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]]. Bruticus begins defeating wave after wave of Autobot soldiers. While Bruticus has his back turned, Cliffjumper tries to plant a bomb on his back. However, Bruticus finds out and smashes Cliffjumper against a wall. Holding Cliffjumper hostage, Shockwave orders the Autobots to ceasefire. [[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] and his troops comply, but the Decepticons take Cliffjumper with them into Kaon anyway. Jazz alerts Optimus to their situation, with Optimus assuring that they'll rescue Cliffjumper and secure the Dark Spark.

===Chapter VII: Infiltration===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
Optimus & Jazz begin their rescue mission by driving down a road towards [[Kolkular]], Megatron's fortress. Jazz asks Prime why they just can't leave the Dark Spark with Megatron, considering the Autobots are leaving Cybertron anyway. Optimus is worried however that Megatron may use the Dark Spark's power to destroy the [[Ark (WFC)|Ark]], which is still under construction. Optimus and Jazz manage to make their way into Kolkular by blowing out the vents. Jazz heads off to find a way through, leaving Optimus to fight off some Decepticon soldiers. Jazz finds himself trapped by some turrets, which Optimus manages to shut off. The two Autobots meet up and continue to fight their way through the Recycling Pits. After making their way through some defense grids, Jazz hacks into a terminal and finds out where Shockwave is keeping Cliffjumper. Jazz notices how easy their journey has been, and both he and Optimus agree that they're walking into a trap. On cue, Megatron treats the two with a warm Decepticon welcome, which naturally includes gunfire. Optimus and Jazz fight off Megatron's troops and find the prison cell that Cliffjumper is being held captive. Optimus provides cover for Jazz using a turret while he breaks Cliffjumper out. As Optimus and Jazz check up on Cliffjumper, walls begin to surround the cell, trapping all three Autobots. Optimus contacts [[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] and orders him to commence Operation Longshot.

===Chapter VIII: A Desperate Plan===
:'' Character: [[Jetfire (WFC)]]''
Perceptor relays the details of Operation Longshot to Jetfire, namely how Jetfire's mission is to infiltrate the smoldering remains of [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]]. Perceptor has reprogrammed a Decepticon maintenance probe to map out Trypticon's interior, which would have changed since Jetfire's last visit. Once inside, Jetfire finds that some of Typticon's systems are still online, but these are automatic functions and not a sign of Trypticon's consciousness. However, Jetfire notices some new gear inside Trypticon and he is attacked by some Decepticon soldiers. Jetfire discovers that Starscream is salvaging some Energon from Trypticon without Megatron's permission. Jetfire continues on his way towards the cargo bay, but he catches the attention of some turrets, alerting Starsceam to his presence. Jetfire soon arrives at the weapon chamber, and he is tasked with reactivating Trypticon's weapon system. Perceptor activates Trypticon's orbital strike, giving Jetfire barely enough time to escape. Starscream is enraged that all his Energon has gone to waste and vows revenge against Jetfire. The energy beam fired from Trypticon soon reaches its target: Kolkular. Things go according to plan, as Optimus, Jazz, and Cliffjumper are freed due to the damage to the fortress and the three begin their escape.

===Chapter IX: Ascension===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
During the Autobot's prison break, Cliffjumper recalls Shockwave bringing up his experiments with the Dark Spark and how Cliffjumper "wouldn't have to be an Autobot much longer". Optimus orders Jazz to get Cliffjumper to safety, while he'll go after Megatron and the Dark Spark alone. Jazz & Cliffjumper are reluctant, but comply. Optimus is soon suppressed by turret fire, but he manages to destroy the turrets power source. Optimus accesses a computer terminal to discover where Megatron's location is, and also locks the doors behind him to prevent any counter-strike against him. After fighting through more Decepticon troops, Optimus enters a room that contains some fallen Autobot soldiers. Megatron and Shockwave observe from a distance and decide to use Optimus for an experiment. Using [[Dark Energon]], Shockwave [[Terrorcon (Prime)|resurrects]] the Autobots, now pledging their allegiance to Megatron. Megatron, now using the Dark Spark to increase his power, joins his new troops in their fight against Optimus. Whenever Megatron begins to recharge the Dark Spark, Optimus starts destroying the charging towers. In a last ditch effort, Optimus and Megatron begin to unleash the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and the Dark Spark, respectively. Eventually, the power of the Matrix overpowers the Dark Spark, causing it to eject itself out of Megatron and launch itself into space. Shockwave begins to drag Megatron away, having sustained serious injuries. Jazz contacts Optimus to ask him about his condition. Optimus informs him that the Dark Spark has been neutralized and the Autobots should now focus their attention on finishing the Ark. Optimus does express his concerns however, that the Dark Spark may eventually cause havoc [[Live-action film series|elsewhere]]...

===Chapter X: Hunted ===
:'' Character: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]] ''
Across time and space, Lockdown is contemplating how fortunate it was for him to find the Dark Spark. Bumblebee and Drift have been busy tracking [[Knight Ship|Lockdown's ship]] and report to Optimus that he may be heading towards an abandoned military base. Bumblebee asks (well, more like beeps) Optimus if their back-up is ready, but Optimus tells him to be patient. After ending their transmission, the two Autobots are attacked by snipers. The duo manage to flank the snipers, and Bumblebee provides cover for Drift as he makes his way down the cliffs. The two eventually make it to base, which is swarming with mercenaries. Drift attempts a stealth attack against Lockdown, but he is quickly spotted and taken down. Lockdown then orders his men to find Bumblebee, knowing that Autobots rarely travel alone.

===Chapter XI: Investigation ===
:'' Characters: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]]/ [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Bumblebee continues to fight his way through Lockdown's men while looking for Drift. The mercenaries have jammed the Autobot's radio signals, leaving them unable to communicate with Optimus. Bumblebee eventually finds Drift being interrogated by Lockdown. Lockdown mocks Drift for his shift in allegiance and leaves him to get roughed up by the mercenaries. Bumblebee takes this opportunity to snipe one of the henchmen, allowing Drift to escape. While fighting wave after wave of Lockdown's henchmen, Drift overhears Lockdown assuring he'll keep the Autobots distracted. Lockdown unveils his new Titan mercenary, which is impervious to the Autobot's weapons. This forces Drift and Bumblebee to flee.

===Chapter XII: Ambushed===
:''Characters: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]]/ [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Drift and Bumblebee make their way outside while more mercenaries try to take them out. Just when it seems like there's no hope left for the two, Grimlock, one of the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], comes to their rescue. After Grimlock easily dispatches the mercenaries, the Titan mercenary finally arrives. Grimlock smacktalks the Titan before rendering it "extinct". Lockdown takes this opportunity to escape, much to Grimlock's anger.

===Chapter XIII: Extinction===
:'' Character: [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Lockdown and his men enter their base located in the middle of a city. Upon hearing that the Autobots have entered the city, Lockdown orders the mercenaries to keep them occupied. Grimlock and Optimus make their way through a blockade on a bridge. Afterwards, Optimus heads off to meet up with Drift and Bumblebee, and Grimlock has to continue alone. As Grimlock rampages his way through, Optimus detects Energon surges coming from within the city. The Autobots reach the entrance to Lockdown's hide out and Grimlock is tasked with destroying the transmitters that allow Lockdown to communicate with his troops. Grimlock then meets up with the rest of the Autobots and provides cover for Optimus as he tries to get the entrance to open. Optimus succeeds, and he and Bumblebee enter Lockdown's lair.

===Chapter XIII: Locked Down===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (Movie)]]''
Optimus and Bumblebee make their way underground, while Drift and Grimlock guard the entrance. Optimus and Bumblebee fight Lockdown's mercenaries as they make their way through the base. Drift meets up with the two and assures them that Grimlock has everything under control. The three Autobots soon confront Lockdown and discover that he has built himself a time bridge. Since the Autobots failed to prevent him from recovering an amplifier that was located in the jungle, Lockdown is free to go back in time and save the Decepticons that were in the [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Battle for Chicago]]. After destroying the energy stablizers for the time bridge, Lockdown begins to monologue about how well-paid he was during the war and that after [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron's]] death, things haven't been the same. Lockdown intends to bring the Decepticons into the present and continue the war anew. Lockdown intends his first job to deliver Optimus to Megatron. Optimus is disgusted by Lockdown's plan and tries to fight the bounty hunter. Lockdown is impervious to Optimus' weapons thanks to the Dark Spark and Optimus has to resort to melee attacks in order to damage him. Eventually, the two begin to grapple with each other and Optimus tosses Lockdown towards Drift, who cuts the Dark Spark out of Lockdown's chest. Optimus then uses the Matrix to toss the Dark Spark into the time bridge. The time bridge becomes too unstable, and the Autobots make their escape. His plans ruined, Lockdown flees from the Autobots in his ship.

Meanwhile, the Dark Spark finally lands in the middle of a desert. Watching over this, [[Optimus Prime (G1)| a familiar face]] expresses horror that the day has finally come...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=Movie Autobots
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ([[Chris Jai Alex]])
*[[Grimlock (AOE)|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])

|h2=Mercenaries
|c2=
*[[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] (Gregg Berger)
*[[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]] (via [[Walmart]] pre-order/DLC)

|h3=Aligned Autobots
|c3=
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]]
*[[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] ([[Troy Baker]])
*[[Jetfire (WFC)|Jetfire]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sideswipe (WFC)|Sideswipe]] ([[Travis Willingham]])
*[[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] ([[Nolan North]])
*[[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] ([[Keith Szarabajka]])
*[[Hound (Prime)|Hound]]
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]
*[[Air Raid (WFC)|Air Raid]]
*[[Silverbolt (WFC)|Silverbolt]]
*[[Scattershot (WFC)|Scattershot]]
*[[Snarl (FOC)|Snarl]]
*[[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] ([[Jim Ward]])
*[[Warpath (WFC)|Warpath]]
*[[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]]
*[[Slug (FOC)|Slug]]
*[[Swoop (WFC)|Swoop]]
*[[Ultra Magnus (Prime)|Ultra Magnus]]
|h4=Decepticons
|c4=
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] ([[Fred Tatasciore]])
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] ([[Sam Riegel]])
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] ([[Steve Blum]])
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] ([[Isaac C. Singleton, Jr.]])
*[[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Brawl (WFC)|Brawl]]
*[[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] (Travis Willingham)
*[[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] (Keith Silverstein)
*[[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]] ([[Dave Boat]])
*[[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]] (Nolan North)
*[[Kickback (FOC)|Kickback]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sharpshot]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Hardshell (Prime)|Hardshell]] ([[Scott Whyte]])
*[[Quake (FOC)|Quake]]
*[[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]]
*[[Dead End (WFC)|Dead End]]
*[[Dragstrip (WFC)|Dragstrip]]
*[[Demolishor (WFC)|Demolishor]]
*[[Thundercracker (WFC)|Thundercracker]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
*[[Skywarp (WFC)|Skywarp]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
|h5=Other
|c5=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
'''Non-Player'''
'''Mercenaries'''
*[[Mercenary|Mercenaries]]
'''Autobots'''
*[[Heavy Soldier]]
'''Decepticons'''
*[[Rumble (WFC)|Rumble]]
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]
*[[Leaper]]
*Insecticon Swarmers
*Insecticon Bruisers
*Insecticon Spitters
'''Other'''
*[[Titan (Unit)|Titan]]
*Shotgunner
*Rocket Soldier
*Soldier
|nonumbering=true
}}

==Quotes==
'''Starscream:''' "Soundwave, did Shockwave make a ''joke'' back there? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE." 
'''Starscream:''' "Was it intentional? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE" 
'''Starscream:''' "You know Soundwave, you've become quite the conversationalist." 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE"
:-'''Starscream''' and '''Soundwave''' discuss Shockwave's brief moment of humor.

'''Starscream:''' "A pity, then, that ''we'' are only ''three''." 
'''Soundwave:''' "LASERBEAK: EJECT." 
'''Starscream:''' "My mistake. ''Three and a half''."
:-'''Starscream''' does not think much of '''Soundwave's''' minions.

''[A failed headshot prompts the Decepticon [[Titan (Unit)|Titan]] to turn towards Bee and Drift]'' 
'''Bumblebee:''' ''[Surprised beeps]'' 
'''Drift''': Bee, I have formed a plan: '''Run!'''
:-'''Drift''', coming up with brilliant impromptu plans.

'''Swindle:''' "No sign of the bug ''[Sharpshot]''. Oh well, can't say I'm sad to see him go." 
'''Shockwave:''' "Are you implying that you two were not forming a ''long and lasting bond of friendship''?" 
''' Swindle:''' "You can't be serious?"
:-'''Shockwave''' discusses with Swindle about his <s> slash fic </s> observations of the two.

''' Jetfire:''' "I used to be ''stationed'' on [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]], remember? I can find my way." 
''' Perceptor:''' "Your knowledge is based on the ''erroneous'' notion that Trypticon's layout was not altered during his conversion from space station to ''smoldering wreck''." 
'''Jetfire:''' "Point taken... Well, Lead the way little buddy."
:-'''Jetfire''' and '''Perceptor'''

"The only future to master is one's own. The [[fandom|humans]] understand this. Yet they also understand that [[The Transformers (franchise)|the past]] is the genesis of all things, and must be [[GEEWUN|afforded proper deference]]."
:-'''Movie Optimus Prime''' is willing to segue into a Generation One epilogue...but he's going to be meta about it.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Cybertron portion of the game occurs between ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'' – the ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'' is under construction, [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]] still lies where he crashed, and we see Shockwave discover the [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]] for the first time. However, there is one notable inconsistency – see 'Errors' below.
*The ''Age of Extinction'' story, meanwhile, is utterly irreconcilable with the events of the film – the Autobots have an existing alliance with the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], and Optimus Prime and Bumblebee sport the new bodies they acquire during the film, yet Lockdown is perfectly alive and Prime is active on Earth. Stinger's brief cameo as a mercenary is similarly impossible to reconcile.
*Audio logs speak of the [[Patterner]]s and [[Galvatron (COP)|Galvatron]] indicating that studies of the [[Dark Spark]] took place during the Age of Origins in ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]''
*Starscream sarcastically makes note of how Soundwave is becoming a "conversationalist", likely alluding to the vow of silence he takes and employs during the [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|''Prime'']] cartoon.
*Like his [[Drift (G1)|namesake]], [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] was once a Decepticon before switching allegiance to join the Autobots, as noted by [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] when the former was held captive. Whether this background also applies to the film is unknown, given the above differences in the continuity.

===Transformers references===
*Shockwave quotes his motto from his toy's [[bio]] "Clarity of thought before rashness of action".
*Ironhide and Sideswipe both paraphrase Ironhide's motto from his original bio "High-tech circuitry is no replacement for guts".
*Blast Off quotes his motto from his original bio "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command".
*Swindle mentions Starscream freeing the Combaticons from the Decepticon brig, a reference to the origin of the Combaticons in the G1 cartoon episode [[Starscream's Brigade]].

===Errors===
*Despite the game's script clearly positioning it before the events of ''Fall of Cybertron'', Megatron is depicted in the new body he acquired only part-way through that game.
*Ironhide and Sideswipe encounter an Insecticon Bruiser despite Shockwave creating them in FOC.
*The live-action film universe Matrix of Leadership uses the model from the Aligned games, rather than the very different Matrix design first seen in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
*Lockdown's model has a Decepticon insignia and is undersized.
*Although he can fly, Shockwave remains on the ground when delivering the Dark Spark to Megatron. It is revealed two chapters later, that "if the Dark Spark where to be dropped from height it would cause massive damage to Kaon." This is an error because in chapter 4 he ''jumps off a ledge and into a gorge'', appearing to be hurt when he lands, with no consequences at all.

===Trivia===
* ''Rise of the Dark Spark'' marks a [[PlayStation]] 4 milestone by being the very first game to support the PlayStation Store pre-loading feature introduced in the console's 1.70 update.<ref>[http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/06/18/pre-order-pre-load-upcoming-ps4-games/ PlayStation Blog: Pre-Order, Pre-Load Upcoming PS4 Games]</ref>
* As a shout-out, some of the playable characters quote their [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] bios, notably Shockwave chiding Starscream with, "Clarity of thought before rashness of action." and Blast Off telling Swindle, "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command."
* The game notably features the return of the use of "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]" as a common expletive, having been replaced with "[[scrap]]" for the majority of the Aligned continuity thus far.
*In the first level of the game there's a billboard that reads, "Vote Berger for Mayor", an obvious reference to the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original ''The Transformers'' cartoon]] character [[Shawn Berger]], who expressed such mayoral desires in the two-part episode "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|Megatron's Master Plan]]".
*The Crystal Guardians the Decepticons face in chapter 2 are all [[generic]]s with the [[body-type]] of [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]].
*During Escalation, Earth characters are noticeably bigger than Cybertron characters with Earth Optimus hilariously towering over Warpath.
*While not quite an error, it is worth noting that the relationship between Bumblebee and Drift is much more friendly than in the movie. Lockdown also is very different. In the game, greed and personal power seems to be his primary motivation, while in the movie Lockdown simply wanted fair payment for his services as he talks about how inferior humans are and how he thinks extremely highly of his creators.

===Foreign names===
*''Europe:'' '''''Transformers: The Dark Spark'''''
*''Russia:'' '''Трансформеры: Битва за Тёмную Искру''' (''Transformers: Battle for the Dark Spark'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{gamestub}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 Announcement trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfLEbUqGyQ G1 Optimus Prime trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0azQrLC07OI Bumblebee trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKT6KeuEGi0 Gameplay trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bae87EGy-1E Bruticus trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZn4uBsOAY Grimlock trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=288YItFXPfI Gampelay trailer - Escalation]

[[Category:Video games]]

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (console)

2015-04-11T22:50:33Z

Phazeblade: /* Chapter III: Getaway */ redundancy, Ironhide was used twice in 1 sentence

{{Nav-aoe}}
{{Disambig2|the home console/PC version|the Nintendo 3DS version|Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)}}
{{videogame
|title=''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''
|prev=Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)
|next=Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
|title2=
|prev2=
|next2=
|image=Rise Of The Dark Spark Cover.jpg
|caption=USA cover
|publisher=[[ActiVision]]
|developer=[[Edge of Reality]]
|platforms=[[PlayStation 3]] & [[PlayStation 4|4]] [[Xbox 360]] & [[Xbox One|One]] [[Nintendo Wii U]] [[PC]]
|date=
|continuity=[[Aligned continuity family]] [[Movie continuity]]
|chronology=Between ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|War for Cybertron]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' Alternate version of ''[[Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction]]''
|price=
|rating=ESRB: Teen PEGI: 12
|music=
}}

'''''Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark''''' is a video game jointly-created by both [[Hasbro]] and [[Activision Blizzard|Activision]], released on June 24, [[2014]] in Europe and North America, and June 25 in Australia.<ref>http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/05/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-release-date-revealed</ref> Developed by [[Edge of Reality]] for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC,<ref>[http://www.examiner.com/article/transformers-rise-of-the-dark-spark-announced-3ds-version-to-be-strategy-rpg "Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark" announced; 3DS version to be Strategy RPG]</ref> it incorporates elements of both the ''Transformers'' [[Live-action film series|film franchise]] and the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|War for Cybertron]]'' / ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' games. The story will take place before the Ark is launched in the Aligned continuity, while it also deals with a storyline revolving around one of [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]'s schemes in the ''Age of Extinction'' portion. It features over forty playable characters, slightly fewer than [[Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)|the Nintendo 3DS version]].<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/video-games-17/new-rise-of-the-dark-spark-preview-from-game-informer-179722/</ref>

==Synopsis==
===Chapter I: The Dark Spark===
:'' Character: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Above [[Earth]], a strange object flies through space, destroying a satellite in orbit. The mysterious item flies past a ship, piloted by none other than the legendary mercenary [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]]. One of his henchmen arrives in the cockpit and asks Lockdown what it was. He replies that it is "the past come calling." [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]], the Decepticon-turned-Autobot, arrives in a burning city to investigate. He notices that something crash-landed nearby. He contacts [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], leader of the Autobots, and tells him about the strange object.
Prime instructs Drift to investigate the crash site, but while Drift is en route, Lockdown's goons attack the city. Recognizing that they are not [[Decepticon]]s, Drift reports to Optimus, who correctly guesses that they are mercenaries (much to Drift's disdain). Drift takes out all three mercenaries and, at Optimus's instruction, equips himself with blasters to better fight with, he continues to the site of the crash, taking out mercenaries as he goes. Drift meets up with Optimus and [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]], and the three arrive at the crash site. The Autobots discover an object that Drift does not recognize, but its appearance horrifies Optimus. To make things worse, Lockdown's henchman have arrived first. After another fight, the Autobots walk to the edge of the crater, and Optimus reveals to Drift that it is the Dark Spark. Before it can be retrieved, Lockdown arrives and steals the artifact for himself. The Dark Spark's power prevents him from intervening, and all he can do is furiously watch as Lockdown departs in his ship for parts unknown.

===Chapter II: The Lost Vault===
:'' Characters: [[Soundwave (WFC)]]/ [[Shockwave (WFC)]]''
As Shockwave and [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] fly through an ancient, abandoned Cybertronian city, Starscream complains of Megatron sending him on a fool's errand to find a mystical relic that may or may not exist. As this sparks a discussion between Shockwave and Starscream, Soundwave chimes in over the com link, demanding "less talk". As the three 'cons make their way through the city and into an ancient vault, they are met with heavy resistance from feral cybernetic life forms Shockwave has dubbed "[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]]".
Upon destroying the Insecticons attacking them, Shockwave splits off from the group, hoping to find out more about the vault thy are in and what is hidden in it. He never gets the chance, however, as he is attacked by, to his surprise, [[Sharpshot|three]] [[Kickback (FOC)|sentient]] [[Hardshell (Prime)|insecticons]]. Inadvertently insulting them, (kind of) and incurring their wrath they all attack him, and are all soundly defeated.
As Soundwave and Starscream come upon more Insecticons, they go about opening up the vault further so that they can keep moving. Upon defeating the attacking Insecticons, Starscream is alarmed at the appearance of Hardshell, and begins shooting at him, only to be stopped by Shockwave, who reveals Hardshell, along with Kickback and Sharpshot, to be "new recruits" to the Decepticon cause. Sharpshot points the Decepticons in the direction of the Dark Spark before departing with the other Insecticons.
The Decepticons continue their trek further into the vault, they are met with resistance in the form of auto turrets and Crystal Guardians as they deactivate the chamber to the Dark Spark. While doing so, Soundwave begins to notice Autobot energy signatures on his scanners, but Shockwave passes them off as glitches. Soon, the Decepticons arrive, triumphant, at the entrance to the chamber holding the Dark Spark.

===Chapter III: Getaway===
:'' Character: [[Sideswipe (WFC)]]''
Sideswipe and [[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] have been tailing the aforementioned Decepticon trio through their whole trip to find the Dark Spark, and have arrived at the Dark Spark before the Decepticons. Ironhide, wishing to be long gone before they are found, takes the Dark Spark. As the Autobots are leaving, marveling at their luck, the Decepticons enter the chamber, and, enraged that the Autobots beat them to the Dark Spark, open fire. Ironhide and Sideswipe barely escape from the chamber as security measures cause it to close itself up, trapping the Decepticons inside. Starscream is enraged, but Shockwave bids him to calm down, as Soundwave had released [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] before they entered the chamber, and the small bird-bot would ensure they are not trapped for long.
Meanwhile, Sideswipe and Ironhide are running into resistance from the Insecticons, and Sideswipe must juggle keeping the Insecticons away from Ironhide and the Dark Spark, along with using his grappling hook to ''pull Ironhide'' up through the tunnel to the exit. As Sideswipe and Ironhide keep moving, they get separated when Sideswipe accidentally closes a blast door between himself and Ironhide. As Sideswipe fights off swarming Insecticons, Ironhide opens up another path for him to travel through, allowing them to meet up again.
As they reach the scheduled rendezvous point (some abandoned subway tunnels), Ironhide reports to [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Prime]] that they have the Dark Spark. They are greeted at the rendezvous point by Optimus himself and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]. As Optimus and the others fight off the swarming Insecticons, Sideswipe is ordered to get to the control control panel for the subway and call a train Sideswipe is successful, but the train, being revealed to be on a timer, leaves as quickly as it came, with only Bumblebee on board. Optimus declares that they will have to hold the line against the Insecticons until the next train arrives.
As the Autobots fend off the Decepticons, Starscream, having been freed by Laserbeak, arrives, triumphantly demanding that the Autobots surrender or face his wrath. The Insecticons proceed to swarm him. As Starscream is distracted by the Insecticons, the next train arrives, and the Autobots board, departing for Iacon. As the train leaves, Shockwave and Soundwave arrive, just in time for Starscream to finish off the Insecticons and berate them for not coming sooner and letting the Autobots get away. Shockwave simply looks at Starscream, then presses a switch on his arm, causing the train, which had been wired, to explode.

===Chapter IV: Possession===
:'' Character: [[Sharpshot]]''
Shockwave, believing Optimus Prime has the Dark Spark, hides in the ruble of the smoldering train. Sharpshot appears and informs Shockwave of the Dark Spark's real location, with Ironhide, and the two set off to get it. After a short firefight, Shockwave seizes the Dark Spark from a heavily damaged Ironhide and begins to head for [[Kaon]]. The bridge is destroyed while he is on it, but he manages to escape before he falls. Sharpshot transforms into insect mode and covers him as he advances along the walkway, eventually barred by an energy barrier. Sharpshot destroys the energy barrier, allowing Shockwave to progress, only to be met by another one. After destroying the second barrier, Shockwave is met by a duo of [[Titan (Unit)|Titans]], which cause him to jump off the walkway. He lands in an ancient research laboratory, and, after inserting some [[moleculon fuse]]s, some history of the Dark Spark is revealed. When Sharpshot journeys down into the catacombs to activate the final switch, he is attacked by [[Crystal Guardians]]. Sharpshot returns to Shockwave, and the two exit the facility. Outside, they are found by [[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]], who alerts the other [[Combaticon (WFC)|Combaticons]]. [[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] and [[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] arrive soon after. Onslaught orders a reluctant Swindle to escort Shockwave and Sharpshot to Kaon.

===Chapter V: Hustle===
:'' Character: [[Swindle (FOC)]]''
While making their way towards Kaon, Swindle, Shockwave, and Sharpshot find themselves in a spacecraft boneyard. As Swindle activates some beacons in order to find a way through, the Decepticons are ambushed by a fleet of Autobot Flyers. Swindle manages to open up a hallway while an Autobot [[Dropship (WFC)|Dropship]] sends in reinforcements. The Decepticons destroy the Dropship in order to make some makeshift stairs and enter the hallway. While making their way through, Sharpshot senses something and abandons the group (much to Swindle's relief). Shortly afterwards, Swindle & Shockwave are ambushed by a squadron of Autobots led by [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]]. After defeating Cliffjumper and his forces, Swindle & Shockwave surround the Autobot before he activates his invisibility cloak and escapes. Swindle alerts Shockwave that they are nearly at the gates of Kaon and that the other Combaticons should meet up with them at the rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper reports to Optimus that he failed to stop the Decepticons, but Optimus reassures him that he bought them enough time to set their plan into motion.

===Chapter VI: Gates of Kaon===
:'' Characters: [[Swindle (FOC)]]/ [[Bruticus (WFC)]]''
As the Combaticons meet up at the gates of Kaon, they find themselves under attack by the Autobots. [[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] offers to deliver the Dark Spark via air, but Shockwave warns that should the Dark Spark fall from a great height, it would cause massive damage to the city. Onslaught orders Shockwave to stay behind while the Combaticons take care of the Autobots. Swindle is tasked with taking down the Enforcers so Blast Off can provide air support. After the Enforcers are destroyed, Shockwave requests some back-up from Swindle. After arguing with Swindle, Blast Off finally provides some air support after Shockwave angrily orders him to. Swindle & Shockwave soon find themselves blocked off by a barrier, and Swindle is forced to protect Shockwave while he hacks the force-field. Swindle meets up with Onslaught and helps him take down a Titan. Soon the rest of the Combaticons arrive and they combine into [[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]]. Bruticus begins defeating wave after wave of Autobot soldiers. While Bruticus has his back turned, Cliffjumper tries to plant a bomb on his back. However, Bruticus finds out and smashes Cliffjumper against a wall. Holding Cliffjumper hostage, Shockwave orders the Autobots to ceasefire. [[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] and his troops comply, but the Decepticons take Cliffjumper with them into Kaon anyway. Jazz alerts Optimus to their situation, with Optimus assuring that they'll rescue Cliffjumper and secure the Dark Spark.

===Chapter VII: Infiltration===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
Optimus & Jazz begin their rescue mission by driving down a road towards [[Kolkular]], Megatron's fortress. Jazz asks Prime why they just can't leave the Dark Spark with Megatron, considering the Autobots are leaving Cybertron anyway. Optimus is worried however that Megatron may use the Dark Spark's power to destroy the [[Ark (WFC)|Ark]], which is still under construction. Optimus and Jazz manage to make their way into Kolkular by blowing out the vents. Jazz heads off to find a way through, leaving Optimus to fight off some Decepticon soldiers. Jazz finds himself trapped by some turrets, which Optimus manages to shut off. The two Autobots meet up and continue to fight their way through the Recycling Pits. After making their way through some defense grids, Jazz hacks into a terminal and finds out where Shockwave is keeping Cliffjumper. Jazz notices how easy their journey has been, and both he and Optimus agree that they're walking into a trap. On cue, Megatron treats the two with a warm Decepticon welcome, which naturally includes gunfire. Optimus and Jazz fight off Megatron's troops and find the prison cell that Cliffjumper is being held captive. Optimus provides cover for Jazz using a turret while he breaks Cliffjumper out. As Optimus and Jazz check up on Cliffjumper, walls begin to surround the cell, trapping all three Autobots. Optimus contacts [[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] and orders him to commence Operation Longshot.

===Chapter VIII: A Desperate Plan===
:'' Character: [[Jetfire (WFC)]]''
Perceptor relays the details of Operation Longshot to Jetfire, namely how Jetfire's mission is to infiltrate the smoldering remains of [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]]. Perceptor has reprogrammed a Decepticon maintenance probe to map out Trypticon's interior, which would have changed since Jetfire's last visit. Once inside, Jetfire finds that some of Typticon's systems are still online, but these are automatic functions and not a sign of Trypticon's consciousness. However, Jetfire notices some new gear inside Trypticon and he is attacked by some Decepticon soldiers. Jetfire discovers that Starscream is salvaging some Energon from Trypticon without Megatron's permission. Jetfire continues on his way towards the cargo bay, but he catches the attention of some turrets, alerting Starsceam to his presence. Jetfire soon arrives at the weapon chamber, and he is tasked with reactivating Trypticon's weapon system. Perceptor activates Trypticon's orbital strike, giving Jetfire barely enough time to escape. Starscream is enraged that all his Energon has gone to waste and vows revenge against Jetfire. The energy beam fired from Trypticon soon reaches its target: Kolkular. Things go according to plan, as Optimus, Jazz, and Cliffjumper are freed due to the damage to the fortress and the three begin their escape.

===Chapter IX: Ascension===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (WFC)]]''
During the Autobot's prison break, Cliffjumper recalls Shockwave bringing up his experiments with the Dark Spark and how Cliffjumper "wouldn't have to be an Autobot much longer". Optimus orders Jazz to get Cliffjumper to safety, while he'll go after Megatron and the Dark Spark alone. Jazz & Cliffjumper are reluctant, but comply. Optimus is soon suppressed by turret fire, but he manages to destroy the turrets power source. Optimus accesses a computer terminal to discover where Megatron's location is, and also locks the doors behind him to prevent any counter-strike against him. After fighting through more Decepticon troops, Optimus enters a room that contains some fallen Autobot soldiers. Megatron and Shockwave observe from a distance and decide to use Optimus for an experiment. Using [[Dark Energon]], Shockwave [[Terrorcon (Prime)|resurrects]] the Autobots, now pledging their allegiance to Megatron. Megatron, now using the Dark Spark to increase his power, joins his new troops in their fight against Optimus. Whenever Megatron begins to recharge the Dark Spark, Optimus starts destroying the charging towers. In a last ditch effort, Optimus and Megatron begin to unleash the power of the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and the Dark Spark, respectively. Eventually, the power of the Matrix overpowers the Dark Spark, causing it to eject itself out of Megatron and launch itself into space. Shockwave begins to drag Megatron away, having sustained serious injuries. Jazz contacts Optimus to ask him about his condition. Optimus informs him that the Dark Spark has been neutralized and the Autobots should now focus their attention on finishing the Ark. Optimus does express his concerns however, that the Dark Spark may eventually cause havoc [[Live-action film series|elsewhere]]...

===Chapter X: Hunted ===
:'' Character: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]] ''
Across time and space, Lockdown is contemplating how fortunate it was for him to find the Dark Spark. Bumblebee and Drift have been busy tracking [[Knight Ship|Lockdown's ship]] and report to Optimus that he may be heading towards an abandoned military base. Bumblebee asks (well, more like beeps) Optimus if their back-up is ready, but Optimus tells him to be patient. After ending their transmission, the two Autobots are attacked by snipers. The duo manage to flank the snipers, and Bumblebee provides cover for Drift as he makes his way down the cliffs. The two eventually make it to base, which is swarming with mercenaries. Drift attempts a stealth attack against Lockdown, but he is quickly spotted and taken down. Lockdown then orders his men to find Bumblebee, knowing that Autobots rarely travel alone.

===Chapter XI: Investigation ===
:'' Characters: [[Bumblebee (Movie)]]/ [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ''
Bumblebee continues to fight his way through Lockdown's men while looking for Drift. The mercenaries have jammed the Autobot's radio signals, leaving them unable to communicate with Optimus. Bumblebee eventually finds Drift being interrogated by Lockdown. Lockdown mocks Drift for his shift in allegiance and leaves him to get roughed up by the mercenaries. Bumblebee takes this opportunity to snipe one of the henchmen, allowing Drift to escape. While fighting wave after wave of Lockdown's henchmen, Drift overhears Lockdown assuring he'll keep the Autobots distracted. Lockdown unveils his new Titan mercenary, which is impervious to the Autobot's weapons. This forces Drift and Bumblebee to flee.

===Chapter XII: Ambushed===
:''Characters: [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]]/ [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Drift and Bumblebee make their way outside while more mercenaries try to take them out. Just when it seems like there's no hope left for the two, Grimlock, one of the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], comes to their rescue. After Grimlock easily dispatches the mercenaries, the Titan mercenary finally arrives. Grimlock smacktalks the Titan before rendering it "extinct". Lockdown takes this opportunity to escape, much to Grimlock's anger.

===Chapter XIII: Extinction===
:'' Character: [[Grimlock (AOE)]]''
Lockdown and his men enter their base located in the middle of a city. Upon hearing that the Autobots have entered the city, Lockdown orders the mercenaries to keep them occupied. Grimlock and Optimus make their way through a blockade on a bridge. Afterwards, Optimus heads off to meet up with Drift and Bumblebee, and Grimlock has to continue alone. As Grimlock rampages his way through, Optimus detects Energon surges coming from within the city. The Autobots reach the entrance to Lockdown's hide out and Grimlock is tasked with destroying the transmitters that allow Lockdown to communicate with his troops. Grimlock then meets up with the rest of the Autobots and provides cover for Optimus as he tries to get the entrance to open. Optimus succeeds, and he and Bumblebee enter Lockdown's lair.

===Chapter XIII: Locked Down===
:'' Character: [[Optimus Prime (Movie)]]''
Optimus and Bumblebee make their way underground, while Drift and Grimlock guard the entrance. Optimus and Bumblebee fight Lockdown's mercenaries as they make their way through the base. Drift meets up with the two and assures them that Grimlock has everything under control. The three Autobots soon confront Lockdown and discover that he has built himself a time bridge. Since the Autobots failed to prevent him from recovering an amplifier that was located in the jungle, Lockdown is free to go back in time and save the Decepticons that were in the [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Battle for Chicago]]. After destroying the energy stablizers for the time bridge, Lockdown begins to monologue about how well-paid he was during the war and that after [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron's]] death, things haven't been the same. Lockdown intends to bring the Decepticons into the present and continue the war anew. Lockdown intends his first job to deliver Optimus to Megatron. Optimus is disgusted by Lockdown's plan and tries to fight the bounty hunter. Lockdown is impervious to Optimus' weapons thanks to the Dark Spark and Optimus has to resort to melee attacks in order to damage him. Eventually, the two begin to grapple with each other and Optimus tosses Lockdown towards Drift, who cuts the Dark Spark out of Lockdown's chest. Optimus then uses the Matrix to toss the Dark Spark into the time bridge. The time bridge becomes too unstable, and the Autobots make their escape. His plans ruined, Lockdown flees from the Autobots in his ship.

Meanwhile, the Dark Spark finally lands in the middle of a desert. Watching over this, [[Optimus Prime (G1)| a familiar face]] expresses horror that the day has finally come...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=Movie Autobots
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] ([[Chris Jai Alex]])
*[[Grimlock (AOE)|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])

|h2=Mercenaries
|c2=
*[[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] (Gregg Berger)
*[[Stinger (AOE)|Stinger]] (via [[Walmart]] pre-order/DLC)

|h3=Aligned Autobots
|c3=
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]
*[[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]]
*[[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] ([[Troy Baker]])
*[[Jetfire (WFC)|Jetfire]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sideswipe (WFC)|Sideswipe]] ([[Travis Willingham]])
*[[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] ([[Nolan North]])
*[[Ironhide (WFC)|Ironhide]] ([[Keith Szarabajka]])
*[[Hound (Prime)|Hound]]
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]
*[[Air Raid (WFC)|Air Raid]]
*[[Silverbolt (WFC)|Silverbolt]]
*[[Scattershot (WFC)|Scattershot]]
*[[Snarl (FOC)|Snarl]]
*[[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]] ([[Jim Ward]])
*[[Warpath (WFC)|Warpath]]
*[[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]]
*[[Slug (FOC)|Slug]]
*[[Swoop (WFC)|Swoop]]
*[[Ultra Magnus (Prime)|Ultra Magnus]]
|h4=Decepticons
|c4=
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] ([[Fred Tatasciore]])
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] ([[Sam Riegel]])
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] ([[Steve Blum]])
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] ([[Isaac C. Singleton, Jr.]])
*[[Swindle (FOC)|Swindle]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Brawl (WFC)|Brawl]]
*[[Onslaught (WFC)|Onslaught]] (Travis Willingham)
*[[Blast Off (FOC)|Blast Off]] (Keith Silverstein)
*[[Vortex (FOC)|Vortex]] ([[Dave Boat]])
*[[Bruticus (WFC)|Bruticus]] (Nolan North)
*[[Kickback (FOC)|Kickback]] (Troy Baker)
*[[Sharpshot]] (Steve Blum)
*[[Hardshell (Prime)|Hardshell]] ([[Scott Whyte]])
*[[Quake (FOC)|Quake]]
*[[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]]
*[[Dead End (WFC)|Dead End]]
*[[Dragstrip (WFC)|Dragstrip]]
*[[Demolishor (WFC)|Demolishor]]
*[[Thundercracker (WFC)|Thundercracker]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
*[[Skywarp (WFC)|Skywarp]] (via Gamestop pre-order/DLC)
|h5=Other
|c5=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] (Peter Cullen)
'''Non-Player'''
'''Mercenaries'''
*[[Mercenary|Mercenaries]]
'''Autobots'''
*[[Heavy Soldier]]
'''Decepticons'''
*[[Rumble (WFC)|Rumble]]
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]
*[[Leaper]]
*Insecticon Swarmers
*Insecticon Bruisers
*Insecticon Spitters
'''Other'''
*[[Titan (Unit)|Titan]]
*Shotgunner
*Rocket Soldier
*Soldier
|nonumbering=true
}}

==Quotes==
'''Starscream:''' "Soundwave, did Shockwave make a ''joke'' back there? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE." 
'''Starscream:''' "Was it intentional? 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE" 
'''Starscream:''' "You know Soundwave, you've become quite the conversationalist." 
'''Soundwave:''' "AFFIRMATIVE"
:-'''Starscream''' and '''Soundwave''' discuss Shockwave's brief moment of humor.

'''Starscream:''' "A pity, then, that ''we'' are only ''three''." 
'''Soundwave:''' "LASERBEAK: EJECT." 
'''Starscream:''' "My mistake. ''Three and a half''."
:-'''Starscream''' does not think much of '''Soundwave's''' minions.

''[A failed headshot prompts the Decepticon [[Titan (Unit)|Titan]] to turn towards Bee and Drift]'' 
'''Bumblebee:''' ''[Surprised beeps]'' 
'''Drift''': Bee, I have formed a plan: '''Run!'''
:-'''Drift''', coming up with brilliant impromptu plans.

'''Swindle:''' "No sign of the bug ''[Sharpshot]''. Oh well, can't say I'm sad to see him go." 
'''Shockwave:''' "Are you implying that you two were not forming a ''long and lasting bond of friendship''?" 
''' Swindle:''' "You can't be serious?"
:-'''Shockwave''' discusses with Swindle about his <s> slash fic </s> observations of the two.

''' Jetfire:''' "I used to be ''stationed'' on [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]], remember? I can find my way." 
''' Perceptor:''' "Your knowledge is based on the ''erroneous'' notion that Trypticon's layout was not altered during his conversion from space station to ''smoldering wreck''." 
'''Jetfire:''' "Point taken... Well, Lead the way little buddy."
:-'''Jetfire''' and '''Perceptor'''

"The only future to master is one's own. The [[fandom|humans]] understand this. Yet they also understand that [[The Transformers (franchise)|the past]] is the genesis of all things, and must be [[GEEWUN|afforded proper deference]]."
:-'''Movie Optimus Prime''' is willing to segue into a Generation One epilogue...but he's going to be meta about it.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*The Cybertron portion of the game occurs between ''War for Cybertron'' and ''Fall of Cybertron'' – the ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'' is under construction, [[Trypticon (WFC)|Trypticon]] still lies where he crashed, and we see Shockwave discover the [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticons]] for the first time. However, there is one notable inconsistency – see 'Errors' below.
*The ''Age of Extinction'' story, meanwhile, is utterly irreconcilable with the events of the film – the Autobots have an existing alliance with the [[Dinobot (AOE)|Dinobots]], and Optimus Prime and Bumblebee sport the new bodies they acquire during the film, yet Lockdown is perfectly alive and Prime is active on Earth. Stinger's brief cameo as a mercenary is similarly impossible to reconcile.
*Audio logs speak of the [[Patterner]]s and [[Galvatron (COP)|Galvatron]] indicating that studies of the [[Dark Spark]] took place during the Age of Origins in ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]''
*Starscream sarcastically makes note of how Soundwave is becoming a "conversationalist", likely alluding to the vow of silence he takes and employs during the [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|''Prime'']] cartoon.
*Like his [[Drift (G1)|namesake]], [[Drift (ROTF)|Drift]] was once a Decepticon before switching allegiance to join the Autobots, as noted by [[Lockdown (ROTF)|Lockdown]] when the former was held captive. Whether this background also applies to the film is unknown, given the above differences in the continuity.

===Transformers references===
*Shockwave quotes his motto from his toy's [[bio]] "Clarity of thought before rashness of action".
*Ironhide and Sideswipe both paraphrase Ironhide's motto from his original bio "High-tech circuitry is no replacement for guts".
*Blast Off quotes his motto from his original bio "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command".
*Swindle mentions Starscream freeing the Combaticons from the Decepticon brig, a reference to the origin of the Combaticons in the G1 cartoon episode [[Starscream's Brigade]].

===Errors===
*Despite the game's script clearly positioning it before the events of ''Fall of Cybertron'', Megatron is depicted in the new body he acquired only part-way through that game.
*Ironhide and Sideswipe encounter an Insecticon Bruiser despite Shockwave creating them in FOC.
*The live-action film universe Matrix of Leadership uses the model from the Aligned games, rather than the very different Matrix design first seen in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.
*Lockdown's model has a Decepticon insignia and is undersized.
*Although he can fly, Shockwave remains on the ground when delivering the Dark Spark to Megatron. It is revealed two chapters later, that "if the Dark Spark where to be dropped from height it would cause massive damage to Kaon." This is an error because in chapter 4 he ''jumps off a ledge and into a gorge'', appearing to be hurt when he lands, with no consequences at all.

===Trivia===
* ''Rise of the Dark Spark'' marks a [[PlayStation]] 4 milestone by being the very first game to support the PlayStation Store pre-loading feature introduced in the console's 1.70 update.<ref>[http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/06/18/pre-order-pre-load-upcoming-ps4-games/ PlayStation Blog: Pre-Order, Pre-Load Upcoming PS4 Games]</ref>
* As a shout-out, some of the playable characters quote their [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] bios, notably Shockwave chiding Starscream with, "Clarity of thought before rashness of action." and Blast Off telling Swindle, "I destroy Autobots by choice, not command."
* The game notably features the return of the use of "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]" as a common expletive, having been replaced with "[[scrap]]" for the majority of the Aligned continuity thus far.
*In the first level of the game there's a billboard that reads, "Vote Berger for Mayor", an obvious reference to the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|original ''The Transformers'' cartoon]] character [[Shawn Berger]], who expressed such mayoral desires in the two-part episode "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1|Megatron's Master Plan]]".
*The Crystal Guardians the Decepticons face in chapter 2 are all [[generic]]s with the [[body-type]] of [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Zeta Prime]].
*During Escalation, Earth characters are noticeably bigger than Cybertron characters with Earth Optimus hilariously towering over Warpath.
*While not quite an error, it is worth noting that the relationship between Bumblebee and Drift is much more friendly than in the movie. Lockdown also is very different. In the game, greed and personal power seems to be his primary motivation, while in the movie Lockdown simply wanted fair payment for his services as he talks about how inferior humans are and how he thinks extremely highly of his creators.

===Foreign names===
*''Europe:'' '''''Transformers: The Dark Spark'''''
*''Russia:'' '''Трансформеры: Битва за Тёмную Искру''' (''Transformers: Battle for the Dark Spark'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{gamestub}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj-lD5gthQ8 Announcement trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfLEbUqGyQ G1 Optimus Prime trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0azQrLC07OI Bumblebee trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKT6KeuEGi0 Gameplay trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bae87EGy-1E Bruticus trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZn4uBsOAY Grimlock trailer]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=288YItFXPfI Gampelay trailer - Escalation]

[[Category:Video games]]

Moonbase One

2015-04-06T13:58:52Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ largest would apply to 3 or more moons, not 2(larger and smaller)

'''Moonbase One''', or '''Luna 1''', is one of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s moons, with the others naturally being [[Moonbase Two]], [[Moonbase 3]], and [[Moon Base Four]].

==Fiction==
===''The Transformers'' cartoon===
[[File:TFTM Unicron Moonbase1.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
In 2005, it was primarily an [[Autobot]] command base during fight against [[Decepticon]]-controlled Cybertron. Many Autobots were stationed on Moonbase One, including [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], but only [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] were left behind when Optimus Prime went to provide reinforcements to [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]].

Not too long afterwards, Moonbase One was targeted and devoured by [[Unicron]]. It spent a while being slowly digested within Unicron's bowels, up until he was obliterated by a [[Matrix of Leadership|mystical glowing thingy]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

===''Animated''===
Moon Base One is Cybertron's inner moon, and serves as a major industrial center with plenty of [[energon]] farms and processing facilities. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

===''Exodus''===
Moon Base One was built during the [[Golden Age]] of Cybertron. It was occupied by [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]]'s [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]]s during the civil war, and [[Sentinel Zeta Prime|Sentinel Prime]] was imprisoned there after a disagreement with [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] after he was kidnapped and taken to [[Kaon]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
Luna 1, the larger of Cybertron's two moons, vanished at some point in the ancient past. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} Legend has it that it was destroyed during the battle between the death god [[Mortilus]] and his fellow gods, the [[Guiding Hand]]. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} This religious version of events didn't roll with everyone, and instead a common belief among Cybertronians was that the "Seething Moon", as it was nicknamed, had simply been lost in space somehow. Many believed that if found, the legendary satellite would hold answers to many mysteries. {{storylink|Before & After}} Others like [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] didn't believe it existed at all. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

Over the years, many attempts were made to find Luna 1, but none were successful. [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] claimed to have coordinated the first search in the time of [[Nova Prime]] over six million years ago. {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}} [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]] desired to find both Luna 1 and Nova's [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], using his influence in the [[Senate]] to look for them. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} [[Dominus Ambus]] and [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] also went on a hunt for it, returning empty-handed some time after the [[Great War (G1)|war]] had broken out. {{storylink|Before & After}} At least one more "[[Moonquest]]" took place during the war when [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] vowed to find Luna 1, this time with [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] partaking in it. {{storylink|Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|You, Me, and Other Revelations}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}

When [[Vector Sigma]] was reignited, Cybertron automatically began reviving its moons as well by transmitting energy to them, but the absence of Luna 1 caused its share of the energy to gather in the atmosphere instead. The atmosphere was superheated into a plasma state, causing "ball lightning" effects to strike Cybertron's surface until [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] put up a temporary satellite to draw the energy away. {{storylink|Stick Together}}

[[File:Mtmte17-p11-lost-light-luna-one.jpg|thumb|right|200px|It's a giant brain module! ....yuck.]]

Where countless others had tried and failed, the crew of the [[Lost Light]] rediscovered Luna 1 after venturing through a mysterious portal in search of Ultra Magnus. To their surprise, Luna 1 was already inhabited--by no fewer then a billion people. After assembling a team of explorers and descending to the surface, Rodimus discovered that the "people" on Luna 1 were in fact dormant sparks, all of which became active once more as soon as he set foot on the ground. Luna 1 was a hot spot, a place where sparks were born, called the Seething Moon because it was seething with life.

It also turned out they weren't the first to find it when Rodimus's team was ambushed by the [[Titan Hunters]] and [[Pharma (G1)|Pharma]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 1 of 5: The Fecund Moon}}

While pursued by the Titan Hunters, the team discovered an enormous field of dead Metrotitans. When flying into the Titans' corpses to escape their attackers failed, most of the team was captured and brought to face Chief Justice [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]], who was using Luna 1 as his own personal moonbase. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus}}

Rodimus returned to the hot spot after Tyrest's defeat but was unable to get it to re-ignite. He speculated that the field had only ignited because he held a piece of the [[Matrix of Leadership]], and with it destroyed in the foiling of Tyrest's plans the hot spot returned to dormancy. Rodimus scattered the Matrix fragments over the spark field before departing Luna 1; [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] stayed behind to deal with [[Decepticon]] activity in the region. The ''Lost Light'' departed, never discovering the five [[planetary engine]]s on the dark side of the moon or the strange gear-like hieroglyph set in it... {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}} {{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}}

==Notes==
*Cybertron's two (or three, or four) moons were first shown in the movie. At no point were any Cybertronian satellites seen in the first two seasons of the cartoon, making their presence in the movie a bit of a mystery. However, a "drunken" [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] does refer to Cybertron as 'the land of the metal moon' in "[[Microbots]]".
*It may or may not be the same thing as [[Moon Alpha]], which originated in the [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moonbase 1}}
[[Category:Animated moons]]
[[Category:Autobot bases on Cybertron]]
[[Category:Cybertron]]
[[Category:Decepticon bases on Cybertron]]
[[Category:Generation 1 locations]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 legends]]
[[Category:Moons]]
[[Category:Prime locations]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron locations]]

Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays

2015-04-03T18:22:59Z

Phazeblade: /* Continuity notes */ at this point timeline-wise he's still orion pax, not optimus prime

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=36
|prev=The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue
|next=Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet
|image=MTMTE36 regcvr.jpg
|title="Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[December 17]], [[2014]]
|coverdate=December 2014
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2014)]]
}}

'''A squad of ''Lost Light''ers led back through time by Rodimus aids Orion Pax's team of outlaws in defending a hot spot against the machinations of the Senate.'''

==Synopsis==

Four million years ago, in the [[Alyon]] region of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], [[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] and their gang of [[Outlier]]s defend a recently ignited [[hot spot]] against repeated incursions from [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'s [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]. As the Guardsmen flee from their latest failed attempt, Roller decides to help them on their way by transforming to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] and ramming them—but after doing so, his trailer section unexpectedly erupts with light, and opens to reveal [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]], [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], [[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]], [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]], [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] and [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]!

''A short time earlier—relatively speaking—aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]'' in the present day, Rodimus gathers his team together and explains, with help from [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], that [[Brainstorm]] has travelled into the past to kill Orion Pax. After travelling to [[Messatine]] as an apparent calibration exercise for his time machine, Brainstorm has now relocated himself to Cybertron; using autobiographical data on Optimus Prime from [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]'s database, the team concludes that he will be in Alyon, and they prepare to depart, with [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] gleefully raiding Brainstorm's armory for the mission.''

After a few moments of tense confusion, Rodimus's team establishes a cover story for themselves, pretending to be reinforcements teleported in to help Pax by [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta]]. Recognizing Chromedome from their previous meeting, Pax accepts the team and brings them back to his squad's dugout, where he explains their belief that Sentinel and the Senate are attempting to destroy the hot spot—the first to ignite in a million years, and curiously shaped like a hand—in order to prevent the [[Functionist Council]] from exploiting it as proof of [[Primus]] and strengthening their waning hold over the public. Cyclonus observes a mysterious platform floating over the hot spot, which Pax explains is apparently a monitoring station that arrived the previous evening; their conversation is chimed in on by [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]], who has just risen from the camp's [[recharge slab]]. As everyone talks amongst themselves, Rodimus, taken aback by Trailbreaker's appearance, secretly takes him aside and, without telling him anything ''outright'', warns him of the circumstances of his future death on [[Ofsted XVII]] in order to prevent it from happening. Rung talks with Roller, tasting the "juicebox" the heavyweight 'bot always carries with him, only to realize Roller has added the [[circuit speeder]] [[C32]] to the drink. Roller solemnly claims he requires the boost to keep up with the Outliers, and that Pax only keeps him around because they're friends. [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] calls via the "[[time phone]]" communicator Rodimus has brought with him, but as Rodimus is busy with Trailbreaker, Orion is the one who answers. Pretending to be his younger self, Megatron has a conversation with the young police officer, whose optimism for the future is a mixed source of both affirmation and tragic amusement to Megatron. Rodimus returns from his talk with Trailbreaker and takes up the call, receiving a status update from Megatron that indicates a notable amount of background radiation is leaking through the [[quantum generator]]s from the past to the present. This causes Rodimus to believe that the senate's "monitoring station" is actually bombarding the hot spot with radiation in an attempt to sterilize it, but when he reveals this to the group, Rewind is able to use his database—altered to contain data from [[Functionist Universe|the alternate timeline]] that Brainstorm has created—to uncover the full story. The Senate are not trying to ''sterilize'' the hot spot with radiation: they're trying to ''mutate'' it, to find a way to artificially create [[Point One Percenter]]s.

Now aware of the true threat, everyone heads outside, where Orion has Trailbreaker shield the hot spot with a forcefield. In response, the floating platform unveils a weapons array and opens fire on them. While Whirl and Cyclonus take to the air to combat the platform, Roller storms into the middle of the hot spot, risking his life to use a small mobile teleporter to send each [[spark]], one by one, to a safehouse in [[Nyon]]. Amid the chaos, Perceptor calls Rodimus with the news that Brainstorm has time-jumped again, further into the past; Rodimus refuses to let his team be sent after the renegade scientist yet, intent on seeing the sparks saved. In preparation, though, he checks with Chromedome on the modifications he has been making to his [[mnemosurgery]] needles—which will allow him to wipe the last few sub-cycles of a 'bot's memories via a simple handshake—and orders him not to touch Trailbreaker. Just then, Roller is caught by a blast from the weapons platform, and Orion determines to end things immediately: he has Trailbreaker wrap a forcefield tight around him, then has [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] magnetically hurl him into the air, right through the weapons platform, crippling it and causing it to explode.

A short time later, the remaining sparks have all been teleported to safety, but Roller is still missing despite Pax's insistence that they continue searching for him. Their greater mission unable to be put off any longer, Rodimus's team says farewell, with a handshake from Chromedome wiping each 'bot's memory of the encounter. Trailbreaker refuses to let them leave without a handshake of his own, though, so despite the alarmed Rodimus's attempt to stop him, he too loses his memories, including the life-saving warning Rodimus gave him. Rodimus's team are forgotten as soon as they have time-jumped away... but they are not the only ones forgotten, as Trailbreaker picks up Roller's discarded juicebox, and, unable to remember the fate of its owner, suggests they all go for a drink.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (6)
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (7)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (9)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (10)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (11)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (12)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (13)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (14)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (15)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (16)

|c4=
*[[Roller (IDW)|Roller]] (1)
*[[Damus|Damus/Glitch]] (2)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] (4)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (5)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (8)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (17)
}}

==Quotes==

"Hold on. Let's be '''absolutely clear''' about this. You're just given me permission to take '''whatever I like''' from Brainstorm's forbidden toy box? Even the '''experimental stuff'''—the stuff that '''unsettles''' people?" 
"No, I--" 
"''Shhh.'' On second thought, let's keep it '''ambiguous.'''"
:—'''Whirl''' and '''Rodimus'''

"How '''was''' Messatine?" 
"I worry it '''changed me.'''" 
"I'm sure it did. We're all of us the sum of our experiences." 
"Yes, but "the sum" implies an accumulation—an '''aggregation.''' What if something gets '''taken away?''' And how would you know if it has?" 
"I'm not sure I follow." 
"I know who I am, Orion, but I don't necessarily know how I '''was.''' I find it hard to compare the two."
:—'''Orion Pax''' and '''Megatron'''

"If I may... before you go..." 
"What?" 
"You sound '''lost.'''" 
"Lost? Oh, it's far worse than that. Ha! No, no. No, I know '''exactly''' where I'm going. I don't know if I could turn back now even, if I wanted to." 
"You could always join us. Join me. Why is that funny?" 
"It's not funny at all. It's '''tragic.'''" 
"Well then? Will you join us?" 
"I think so. Eventually."
:—'''Orion Pax''' and '''Megatron'''

"If you're going to kill '''newborns''' you'd want to do it '''discreetly.'''" 
"Cyclonus! That's an '''awful''' thing to say!" 
"I'm not '''endorsing''' it!" 
"It's still awful."
:—'''Cyclonus''' and '''Tailgate'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*''The Custom-Made Now'' is the third part of a trilogy of flashback stories, following ''Chaos Theory'' and ''Shadowplay''.<ref>[http://www.transmissionspodcast.com/2015/03/transmissions-episode-94-james-roberts-mtmte-elegant-chaos-interview/ TransMissions Episode 94 – James Roberts MTMTE Elegant Chaos Interview] 36:00 to 36:07</ref>
*The past era seen in this issue falls between "Shadowplay" (issues [[Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|#9]]-[[Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|11]]) and ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron: Origin]]''. As noted at various points during the issue, Pax is now working with Zeta and on the run from [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] following the events of "Shadowplay", while Megatron has been relocated from [[Messatine]] (seen in [[Births, Deaths, and Interventions|issue #34]]) to [[Mining Outpost C-12|Croteus 12]], ahead of the events of ''Megatron: Origin''.
*[[Empurata]] victim Glitch (here revealed to have the real name of "Damus") has had his claw-hands replaced with proper ones since we last saw him in issue #11.
*Roller is sucking on a [[Kremzeek]] juice box, which we saw him doing back in [[Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|issue #10]]; originally an idea for that issue by artist Alex Milne, James Roberts liked it so much he decided to work it into the development of Roller's character.
*The Elite Guardsmen that Pax and Windcharger wrestle with have the same design as the unpleasant fellow that Megatron kills in [[Megatron Origin issue 1|''Megatron: Origin'' #1]] as well as [[Gasket]]'s killers from [[The Transformers: Drift|''Drift'' #2]].
*As restated this issue, we learned last month that Brainstorm's time machine is coded to work only with his spark type. We've never been told Brainstorm's type, but most of the characters assembled are "Vitreous-Positive"; we learned that Rewind, Chromedome and Whirl shared this type in [[Before & After|issue #12]], and that Riptide shared it in [[Twenty Plus One|issue #31]]. Rodimus and Rung's types are unknown, ''but'', as we also learned in issue #31, Tailgate and Cylonus are "Ferrum-Negative". This means that characters of at least ''two'' spark types have somehow used the machine - keep that in mind in [[Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Part 3]]...
*Chromedome and Brainstorm's shared history at the [[Institute|New Institute]] has been touched upon before in [[Remembrance Day|issue #14]] and [[The Reluctant Specialist|''Spotlight: Trailcutter'']].
*Riptide expresses his dislike of exams, as introduced in issue #31.
*Rodimus makes a crack about "brain bullets"; this was a recurring phrase in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'', in reference to [[cerebro-sensitive bullet]]s.
*Upon seeing the Autobot symbol, Pax assumes Rodimus and the others work for the Senate; the Senate's enforcers were using the symbol as their own in ''Megatron: Origin'', though ''[[Omega's Conundrum|Spotlight: Orion Pax]]'' would later retcon it into being a symbol from ancient Cybertronian history.
*Pax met Chromedome in issue #10, though issue #14 would later reveal Chromedome was then known as Tumbler. This issue reveals the cause of Chromedome and [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]]'s "break-up", as Prowl decided to join Sentinel's security forces; Prowl was shown to be among the security forces in ''Megatron: Origin'' #1.
*The Skids of the past is quick to identify the hand-shaped hot spot as "the hand of Primus, pressing the planet into shape"—further evidence of the young theoretician's religiosity, previously evidenced back in issue #11 by the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] tattoo on his cheek, still visible in this issue.
*Pax remembers Megatron as "Megatron with an R"; when they first met in [[Chaos Theory Part 1|issue #21]] of the [[The Transformers (IDW)|2009-2011 ongoing series]], Pax mistakenly believed his name was "Megaton" and was quickly corrected.
*Tailgate's strong reaction to the subject of killing "newborns" is apt, since he could be considered one himself. He might be one of the oldest members of the crew chronologically, but before joining the Lost Light he'd only spent about two weeks online.
*The rescued sparks are sent to a clinic in Nyon to be nurtured. Given that ''[[The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy]]'' told us that Rodimus hails from Nyon, and further, that [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|issue #30]] told us he was around 4 million years old (4.2, "give or take"), and described him "waking up" in Nyon—an odd way of describing the birth of a spark which now makes more sense—the implication, then, seems to be that Rodimus himself is one of the saved sparks. This would imply the use of the old paradoxical time travel storytelling trick where, in going back to undo a change to their timeline, our heroes perform actions that are and somehow ''always were'' part of the established timeline. See our notes about Roller under "trivia", below for more; this is also in-line with both what we saw in issue #34, when Brainstorm's appearance in the past caused the evacuation of Messatine, freeing Megatron from Senate clutches, and [[Syndromica (2)|''Robots in Disguise'' #10]], which saw Orion Pax realise he was powerless to change events that had already transpired.
*The whereabouts in the past of several members of the "Time Team" were addressed above, but in full:
**Chromedome: Recently split from Prowl over his decision to join Sentinel Prime's security forces.
**Cyclonus: Trapped in the [[Dead Universe]] with the crew of the first ''Ark'' {{storylink|Spotlight: Cyclonus}}
**Rewind: Unconfirmed, but he and [[Dominus Ambus]] may have already left Cybertron to search for [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]] {{storylink|Before & After}}
**Riptide: A warborn [[M.T.O.]], Riptide hasn't been constructed cold yet. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}}
**Rodimus: Unconfirmed (see previous note)
**Rung: Apparently shortly after Messatine, when he interrupted [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]]'s [[shadowplay]] on Megatron {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}
**Tailgate: Lying unconscious under the [[Mitteous Plateau]] {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}}
**Whirl: Imprisoned in [[Garrus-1]] on Luna 2 {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism|Patternism}}

===Transformers references===
*As noted above, we've seen Kremzeek drinks in IDW continuity before, but they originated with [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Generation One comics]], specifically [[Skyfire (issue)|issue #4 of the 2004 ongoing]].
*The Senate's security forces are named the "[[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]" this issue, after the group from ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'', headed by that universe's [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]].

===Real-life references===
*This arc is named after the Julian Cope song, "An Elegant Chaos" (also part of this issue's soundtrack, see below). The song was part of Cope's album, ''{{w|World Shut Your Mouth (album)|World Shut Your Mouth}}'', which also lent its title to the opening three-parter of ''More than Meets the Eye'' season 2.
*When they originally appeared, the Outliers drew a clear parallel with [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]]'s [[X-Men]], being super-powered "mutants" secretly taught to use their abilities at a school. In what is surely another nod this issue, Windcharger "throws" Orion Pax in a manner similar to the classic X-Men manoeuvre, the {{w|Fastball Special}}.

===Other trivia===
*A dropped scene would have had Zeta negotiating with Sentinel Prime, with Zeta saying he could get Pax's resistance fighters to stand down in exchange for him getting some influence in the Senate.<ref>[http://www.transmissionspodcast.com/2015/03/transmissions-episode-94-james-roberts-mtmte-elegant-chaos-interview/ TransMissions Episode 94 – James Roberts MTMTE Elegant Chaos Interview] 1:14:03 to 1:15:04</ref>
*The theory that underneath his mask, [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] might be Roller—whose present day status being unknown stood out as notable, given that he was a prominent new character close to Optimus Prime—has been a popular [[fandom|fan]] theory for much of the run of ''More than Meets the Eye''. Whether legitimate foreshadowing or deliberate leg-pulling, this issue is ''lousy'' with hints that imply it to be so:
**Roller is a Point One Percenter, Tarn was implied to be one in issue #14
**Roller is seen crushing an Elite Guardman's head with a look of virtual disinterest, Tarn did the same to the alternate [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]]
**Roller has an addictive personality, Tarn is addicted to [[Transformation|transforming]]
**Roller feels outclassed by the Outliers, a good reason for him to undergo the upgrades that put him on the level of [[Phase Sixer]]s, as noted in issue #14
**Orion encourages Roller to read Megatron's works this issue, Tarn is intimately familiar with Megatron's writings
**Roller is familiar with Megatron's slogan "You are being deceived" which Tarn later quotes when confronted with the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]]' "coffin"
**The left side of Roller's face is noticeably damaged this issue, Tarn has scarring around his left eye visible through his mask in closeups in [[Rules of Disengagement|issue #7]] and [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]
**Roller is left "abandoned" by his friend as a result of the mind-wipe, a reason he may fall in with the opposite side

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDwgduDrtpY Fontanelle]" by {{w|Clem Snide}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2soLr-1tXY An Elegant Chaos]" by {{w|Julian Cope}}

===Covers (4)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Roller by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Orion Pax broods, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''30th Anniversary cover:''' The second half of 30th anniversary celebration image by [[Alex Milne]] and Josh Perez, which connects to the 30th Anniversary cover to [[Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|''Robots in Disguise'' #36]] to complete the picture. The full image is a cross-continuity mash-up featuring thirty characters; this cover includes [[Unicron]], [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], [[Sky-Byte (RID)|''Robots in Disguise'' Sky-Byte]], [[Hot Shot (Animated)|''Animated'' Hot Shot]], [[Dinobot (BW)|''Beast Wars'' Dinobot]], [[Bulkhead (Animated)|''Animated'' Bulkhead]], [[Devastator (G1)|G1 Devastator]], [[Impactor (G1)|IDW Impactor]], [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW Galvatron]], [[Megatron (G1)|''Generation 2'' Megatron]], [[Shockwave (WFC)|''War for Cybertron'' Shockwave]], [[Knock Out (Prime)|''Prime'' Knock Out]], [[Blackout (Movie)|live-action Blackout]], [[Drift (G1)|IDW Drift]], [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW Rodimus]], [[Lio Convoy (BWII)|''Beast Wars II'' Lio Convoy]], and [[Ratchet (WFC)|''Prime'' Ratchet]].
*'''SacAnime Exclusive cover:''' [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] arm-wrestles with [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|''Beast Hunters'' Optimus Prime]], by [[Tony Fleecs]]

<gallery>
File:MTMTE36 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE36 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE36 cvrRI.jpg|
File:MTMTE36 cvrRE.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #37
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' [[Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.|#36]]
*''[[The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone|Drift - Empire of Stone]]'' [[Drift - Empire of Stone issue 2|#2]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' [[Form Follows Function|#4]]
*IDW ''Transformers'' graphic novel library
*''[[Angry Birds Transformers (comic)|Angry Birds Transformers]]''
*Two new Micro-Comic Fun Packs!
*IDW ''Garbage Pail Kids'' comic (back cover)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://tformers.com/idw-comics-preview-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-36-elegant-chaos-part-1/25409/news.html Preview]

Wheeljack (Prime)

2015-03-30T06:09:52Z

Phazeblade: /* Prime cartoon */

{{disambig3|Wheeljack}}
{{factions|autobot|wreckers|hofsilver}}
:''Wheeljack is an [[Autobot]] and [[Wrecker]] from the [[Aligned continuity family]].
[[File:PrimeWheeljack-HowToDraw.jpg|thumb|325px|"I'm here to build gizmos and be a badass loner, and I'm all out of knowing how to build gizmos!"]]

'''Wheeljack''' is one of the roughest Autobots around. As one of the last surviving [[Wrecker]]s, he's seen plenty of action, and he's got the snarky one-liners to prove it. If there's anything he likes more than slicing up [[Decepticon]]s with his swords or inventing new gadgets to blow up Decepticons in different ways, it's hanging with his old buddy, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (who calls him '''Jackie''').

Wheeljack doubts [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]]'s leadership capabilities, believing he's more of a stuffy old figurehead than a warrior. Wheeljack also chafes under too much supervision, which ''immediately'' puts him and the authoritarian [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] at odds. That's why he usually takes off shortly after he's arrived. He'd rather be on his own.

{{bigquote|If you're trying to ruin my day, you're gonna have to try harder.|Wheeljack|"[[Con Job]]"}}

==Fiction==
===Aligned novels===
Wheeljack was a member of the Wreckers black ops. After the [[Great Exodus]], the Autobots remaining on Cybertron encountered the inventor and engineer wandering outside [[Crystal City]]. They took him in, with [[Alpha Trion (WFC)|Alpha Trion]] theorizing that he had escaped from [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]]'s facilities there. Wheeljack proceeded to equip the resistance with new gadgets and weaponry, but his true loyalty remained to science, rather than the Autobots.

Eventually, Wheeljack, along with [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] and [[Springer (WFC)|Springer]] approached Alpha Trion to propose re-creating [[space bridge]] technology on a personal scale, and using the energies from the space bridge explosion to trace the locations of the vanished ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'' and ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]''. The project proceeded, and the inventor was able to find a way of opening a brief passageway through space-time, utilising the remaining energies of the [[Well of All Sparks]] and the damaged consciousness of [[Vector Sigma]]. Wheeljack suggested they send a message of some sort through the gateway to [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]], but Alpha Trion advocated sending an actual bot. Eventually, the Autobot called [[Chaindrive]] was sent, equipped with a device to track the [[Matrix of Leadership]], a piece of the [[Blades of Time]], and a warning for Optimus regarding the [[Requiem Blaster (Prime)|Requiem Blaster]]. {{Storylink|Transformers: Exiles|Exiles}}
{{Charstubfiction}}
{{Storylink|Transformers: Retribution|Retribution}}

===Eaglemoss ''Prime'' comics===
{{Charstubfiction}}

===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[James Horan]] (English), [[Yūki Tai]] (Japanese)|[[Dennis Schmidt-Foß]] (German), [[Lorenzo Scattorin]] (Italian), [[Ja-hyeong Gu]] (Korean), [[Raúl Anaya]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Ricardo Sawaya]] (Brazilian Portuguese)}}

[[File:ConJob-Wheeljackgun.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|"[[Vehicon (Prime)|Steve]]! I built a machine that builds guns that shoot Vehicons. Come see!"]]
Wheeljack was a member of the [[Wrecker]]s alongside [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]], {{storylink|Con Job}} [[Impactor (Prime)|Impactor]], [[Roadbuster (Prime)|Roadbuster]], [[Rotorstorm (Prime)|Rotorstorm]], [[Seaspray (Prime)|Seaspray]] and [[Pyro (Prime)|Pyro]]. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}} He took part in an unnamed battle where he and Bulkhead became surrounded by Decepticons and low on Energon. However, Wheeljack threw a grenade into a smelter, causing it to explode and take out the attackers.{{storylink|Con Job}} Him and Bulkhead also had an altercation on [[Sandokan]].{{storylink|Loose Cannons}}. However, early on in the war, Bulkhead left the Wreckers to join [[Team Prime]] while Wheeljack continued to serve in the Wreckers. Wheeljack took part in the [[Battle of Darkmount Pass]], where he took out a group of Decepticons to get the Wreckers across a smelting pit. {{storylink|Con Job}} Wheeljack left the Wreckers when [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] was assigned as its leader. {{storylink|Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command}}

Wheeljack was later approached by the Wrecker [[Kup (WFC)|Kup]] at [[Alfes Station]], who was hoping to bring him back to the Wreckers. Wheeljack revealed to Kup that he had been scavenging the wreckage of Decepticon heavy-troops and had discovered that they were clad in nano-crystal lattice armor that had been created in his old lab at [[Ankmor]], and convinced Kup to help him infiltrate the lab to retake it from the Decepticons.

After sneaking into Ankmor, the two Autobots discovered the Decepticons [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] and [[Thundercracker (WFC)|Thundercracker]] in the middle of experimenting on their fellow Decepticons [[Rumble (WFC)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (WFC)|Frenzy]]. The two Autobots discovered that Shockwave was planning to extract the two [[Minicon]]s' sparks and place them in [[Laser core]]s, allowing them to permanently switch between bodies. Wheeljack and Kup attacked, but Thundercracker released Rumble and Frenzy to back them up. However, Wheeljack revealed to the Decepticons that he had previously laid explosives throughout his lab for just such an occasion, forcing the Decepticons to engage in melee, rather than utilizing weapons. After Shockwave managed to disarm the Wreckers, he ordered Rumble and Frenzy to execute the Autobots, but Wheeljack and Kup to the Minicons' abandoned data disc bodies, gambling that the two wouldn't be willing to harm their old bodies. They were correct, and began beating the two smaller 'cons with their own bodies, before throwing the bodies out of a window into Ankmor's waste canals. As Rumble and Frenzy pursued their discarded bodies, Shockwave called for a retreat, deciding that he couldn't risk Wheeljack detonating the explosives, and fled with Thundercracker, never realizing that Wheeljack had been bluffing. {{storylink|Unreliable Narratives}}

When [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] went dark, he began traveling the stars alone in the ''[[Jackhammer (Prime)|Jackhammer]]''. {{storylink|Con Job}} Eventually he reached [[Earth]]'s [[Solar System]] and was hailed by the Autobots stationed there, including Bulkhead. As he was coming in to land at the coordinates provided by [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]], his ship was attacked and shot down by [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]]. Wheeljack emerged from the ''Jackhammer'' and proceeded to trash the Decepticons, but was eventually overwhelmed and taken back to the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'' where he was imprisoned. He was amused to find that [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] was in command of the Decepticons, and almost goaded Starscream into killing him.

[[File:ConJob-Wheeljackswords.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Wheeljack: determined to make [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] redundant.]]
An opportunity allowed him to kill his guard and break free from his bonds. He scaled to the top of the ship, where Starscream was waiting for [[Makeshift (Prime)|Makeshift]], who'd taken on Wheeljack's appearance, to open the Autobot [[GroundBridge]]. Wheeljack smashed a bunch of Vehicons and assaulted Starscream before escaping through the GroundBridge to the [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|Autobot base]]. There he confronted Makeshift and the pair dueled with swords until Wheeljack was victorious. Bulkhead tossed Makeshift back through the GroundBridge along with a "present" for the 'cons.

Though the Autobots welcomed Wheeljack, he revealed that he intended to return to space. He invited Bulkhead along, but Bulkhead was too attached to his friends on Earth to leave. {{storylink|Con Job}}

When [[Miko Nakadai (Prime)|Miko]] was trying to stir Bulkhead's memory after he absorbed the data from the [[Cybertronian data cylinder]] she mentioned Wheeljack, and showed Bulkhead the picture she took of them together before he left. Sadly, this did not jog Bulkhead's memory. {{storylink|T.M.I.}}

[[File:LooseCannons Wheeljack fires back.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Who shoots first?]]
During his travels, Wheeljack made contact with fellow Wrecker [[Seaspray (Prime)|Seaspray]] only for [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] to destroy Seaspray's ship. Wheeljack chased Dreadwing to Earth where they battled near a gas station, which was destroyed in the conflict as [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]]'s team arrived. Filling the other Autobots in, Wheeljack found himself chafing over the need for secrecy. When Dreadwing called him to arrange a meeting, Wheeljack took Bulkhead to try and trap the Decepticon. The encounter instead left Wheeljack buried.

[[File:LooseCannons Wheeljack undergoes repairs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|After Arkham City, Wheeljack Ryder gets fixed by a Doctor.]]
Once Optimus dug him out, he accompanied the Autobot leader to the port where Bulkhead had been taken by Dreadwing and attempted to remove the bomb the Decepticon had placed on his comrade. Eventually he was forced to concede only Dreadwing could remove the bomb, and he and Optimus played a gambit that forced Dreadwing's hand. Convinced to stay on Earth by the other Autobots, Wheeljack adopted a new alternate mode and drove off to explore the planet. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}} He also used the time to become quite familiar with the location of key Decepticon Energon mines. {{storylink|Hurt}}

As the Autobots split up to retrieve the four new Iacon relics, Optimus told Ratchet that he'd need Wheeljack's help for the mission ahead. Remembering his past experiences with the Wrecker, Ratchet was naturally reluctant to go through with the idea, but Optimus reminded the medic that he would need a capable warrior like Wheeljack to watch his back. {{storylink|Triangulation}}

[[File:Prime-TriageRatchet&Wheeljack.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|After this, you wanna go build a [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]]?]]
Ratchet rendezvoused with Wheeljack by the ''Jackhammer'', and they headed out in the ship to find the relic. Wheeljack quickly got on Ratchet's nerve by calling him "doc" and "sunshine" but soon encountered [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]]. The Wrecker engaged Soundwave in a dog fight using some fancy aerial flight moves, but against the advice of Ratchet, Wheeljack let Soundwave go and attacked [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]. After a lengthy dog fight, Wheeljack shot the [[Mini-Con]] down, but the ''Jackhammer'' was also disabled. On the ground Wheeljack found Laserbeak and suggested planting a grenade inside of the Mini-Con to kill Soundwave, but Ratchet had a better idea: A virus which would download the entire Iacon data base into their systems.

While Ratchet set about implanting the virus into Laserbeak, Wheeljack went after Soundwave, soon locating and attacking the Decepticon. Though he almost got the upper hand, Soundwave hit him with the [[Resonance Blaster]], and Wheeljack barely had time to warn Ratchet before falling unconscious. Despite the damage, Wheeljack refused to return to base for treatment and instead set about fixing his ship. But before Ratchet left, Wheeljack finally acknowledged the doctor by name. {{storylink|Triage (episode)|Triage}}

[[File:Hurt-WheeljackHardshell.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Wheeljack learns the ''hard'' way that giving Hardshell some [[James Horan|5-Hour Energy]] wasn't a very good idea.]]
Wheeljack was called in to the base when Bulkhead turned up critically injured. While he had full confidence in Ratchet's abilities, he decided to go find the responsible parties. Joined by Miko, he attacked an energon mine to draw out [[Hardshell (Prime)|Hardshell]]. This succeeded, and Wheeljack left Miko in the ship while he faced the Insecticons. Unfortunately Hardshell was too much for him to handle, but as he was about to be killed, Miko interceded in the fight, blasting Hardshell with the ''Jackhammer''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> missiles. After losing the rest of the Insecticon swarm by throwing a box of grenades at them, Wheeljack welcomed Miko to the ranks of the Wreckers. The pair returned to base, though Wheeljack didn't want to see his friend lying comatose and left. {{storylink|Hurt}} Ratchet held a grudge over Wheeljack's revenge stunt, and when Arcee suggested calling the Wrecker in to cover for Bulkhead, Ratchet objected. When new arrival [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] was integrated into the team, Bulkhead was hurt and said that they should have asked Wheeljack to replace him. {{storylink|New Recruit}}

[[File:Prey-PredakingWheeljack.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|Goddamn Dracula]]
After picking up the [[Omega Lock]]'s immense energy surge, Wheeljack returned to the Autobot base to find it under attack by Decepticon forces. He joined Fowler in attempting to hold the Decepticons off, until his ship was eventually shot down by Starscream. {{storylink|Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour}} Pulled from the wreckage of the ''Jackhammer'', Wheeljack was taken into the Decepticon citadel and interrogated by Starscream. {{storylink|Darkmount, NV}} When even a [[cortical psychic patch]] failed to yield any information, Starscream planted a tracking device on Wheeljack and ordered his execution. Wheeljack, of course, promptly escaped during the execution and salvaged as much as he could from the wreck of his ship. After joining Bulkhead and Miko, he used the tracking device he'd found to trap a number of Decepticons. {{storylink|Scattered}} He, Miko and Bulkhead were preparing to destroy an energon mine when they were attacked by a [[Predaking (Prime)|giant metal dragon]]. Even Wheeljack luring it into the mine before detonating didn't slow it down. Fortunately, the three Wreckers were rescued by [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] and soon reunited with most of the rest of the team. {{storylink|Prey (episode)|Prey}}

Bulkhead and Wheeljack provided a diversion at the base of [[Darkmount (Earth)|Darkmount]], lobbing grenades and destroying Decepticons while the other Autobots attacked by other means. The pair were eventually captured by [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]], but when Optimus Prime returned and joined the assault, they renewed their attack on the Decepticons. Following the destruction of Darkmount, the Autobots assembled at a human military base. {{storylink|Rebellion (Prime)|Rebellion}}

[[File:ChainOfCommand unhappy Wheeljack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67| Maybe if I pretend he's not there, he'll go away... is he still there?]]
Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus returned to the Autobots' old base to scavenge what they could from the wreckage. He was excited to find the Wreckers' old lobbing ball, but when he lobbed it at Bulkhead without warning, it nearly crushed Miko. After a stern talking to from Ultra Magnus and an intense stare down between the two of them, Wheeljack stormed off. He was later teamed with Bulkhead and Magnus to respond to a Decepticon sighting in [[Scotland]]. {{storylink|Project Predacon}} Wheeljack took Miko along, concealed in his chest. That fact, and his continued refusal to follow protocol, continued to rub Ultra Magnus up the wrong way as they infiltrated the Decepticon mine. Finding themselves up against the Predacon once again, Wheeljack attempted to throw a grenade into its mouth, but this backfired and instead brought the cavern down on them. The failure of the mission brought even more tension but Magnus, upon seeing Miko using the Apex Armor to beat the scrap out of the Decepticons, admitted that Wheeljack may have been right to bring her along. At this, Wheeljack opted to leave the team, saying that he wanted to remember the Wreckers as they were at that moment, before "the rust set in." {{storylink|Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command}}

[[File:PlusOne-surrounded.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|Does anyone actually still think [[Vehicon (Prime)|these guys]] are threats?]]
However, Wheeljack returned to [[Hangar E]], where he was immediately requested to retrieve another Predacon bone with Arcee. Wheeljack grudgingly agreed. When they reached the location of the bone, they were ambushed by Vehicon troopers, but easily dispatched them. While they were searching the area, Arcee took the opportunity to grill Wheeljack on why he liked to act like a loner, citing the fact that if he truly liked being alone, he would not have groundbridged back to base, but would have simply hit the road. Wheeljack admitted that he didn't leave the Wreckers just because of Ultra Magnus, but also because he could not bare to see Bulkhead go soft on him. Arcee convinced him not to push Bulkhead away, because if something were to happen to him, Wheeljack would never forgive himself. After retrieving the Predacon remains, Arcee received a call from Jack, who was afraid that his mother had gotten into trouble while retrieving a Predacon bone. Sure enough, Arcee and Wheeljack found June and Agent Fowler in the clutches of the Decepticon Knock Out. After dealing with some Insecticons sent to aid Knock Out, Wheeljack managed to save June and Fowler. Upon returning to base, Wheeljack went to talk to Bulkhead. {{storylink|Plus One}}

[[File:EvolutionMagnusWheeljacktogether.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Charge of the [[Wrecker|Light Brigade]]]]
Perhaps hoping to win over Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack recalibrated the engines on Magnus's ship. When the team went on a mission to secure some energon, Wheeljack and Magnus discovered Shockwave's cloning operation in an abandoned mine. They blew it up, only to discover that the sole existing Predacon had become intelligent and was now after them. The pair fought [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] at length, but lost despite their efforts. They were only saved by the intervention of Optimus, who took them back to base for repairs. {{storylink|Evolution}}

When the Decepticons started stealing technology, Wheeljack was part of a team which was called out to a location but arrived too late to prevent the Vehicons escaping with the tech. They were able to capture Soundwave though. Wheeljack persuaded Ratchet to let Ultra Magnus come along on their next mission to the [[Solaris particle collider]]. The team entered the [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] base to encounter heavy resistance from a group of Vehicons. {{storylink|Minus One}} With the aid of one of Wheeljack's grenades, they caught up with Shockwave, only for the Decepticon to be whisked away by Predaking. Returning to base, the Autobots found that Ratchet had been abducted by Soundwave, however Wheeljack and Raf used a piece of Laserbeak to construct a [[Chip|small aerial drone]] which they hoped would lead them to the Decepticon warship. {{storylink|Persuasion}}

[[File:Deadlock-WheeljackMagnusSmokesalute.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.67|See you 'round, [[William Fowler|tiny]].]]
They launched the probe and monitored it and Optimus's progress from the base. Though the probe was destroyed, Ratchet was able to send them the coordinates to the Decepticon warship, and Wheeljack and the others geared up in preparation to assault the ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Synthesis}} The three Wreckers were ordered to take the bridge, however no sooner did they reach their target than Soundwave bridged them to another part of the ship. By the time they reached the bridge again, it had already been captured by Jack and Miko. With the warship until their control, the Autobots flew it to Cybertron and used the Omega Lock to restore their home world. After Optimus's obligatory speech, Wheeljack and the others shared a mutual salute with Fowler before returning home. {{storylink|Deadlock (episode)|Deadlock}}

Following a ceremony to promote Bumblebee to warrior, Wheeljack accompanied Optimus Prime as a pilot in a search for the [[AllSpark]]. They tracked it down to [[Theta Scorpii]] where Optimus was able to retrieve it, and Wheeljack set course back to Cybertron. They arrived to find [[Unicron]] had returned and was attempting to use an army of undead Predacons to destroy Cybertron's core. The ship was shot down, though Wheeljack survived and was helped from the wreck by Bulkhead. Following Unicron's defeat, he was present as Optimus sacrificed himself to restore the AllSpark to Cybertron. {{storylink|Predacons Rising (Prime)|Predacons Rising}}

===''Little, Brown, and Company'' books===
{{Charstubfiction}}
{{Storylink|Decepticon in Disguise}}

===Titan Comics ''Prime'' comics===
{{Charstubfiction|{{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.18|Power Outage}} {{Storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.17|Collider Scope}}}}

{{--}}

===''Tales of the Beast Hunters''===
Wheeljack was contacted by [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], who had located a potential cache of weapons in the [[asteroid belt]]. {{storylink|Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 1}} The pair soon blasted off in the ''Jackhammer'' {{storylink|Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 2}} and despite Wheeeljack's skepticism, found the derelict starship in question. As they were about to start loading up with weapon crates, they were soon faced with [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] and [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]]. {{storylink|Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 4}} Wheeljack was able to get a distress call off, resulting in [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] coming to their aid via GroundBridge. {{storylink|Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 5}} Prime was able to hold the enemy off long enough for Wheeljack and Bumblebee to make off with a number of crates. {{storylink|Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 6}}

===''Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe''===
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe|The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe}}}}

==Games==
===Transformers: Fall of Cybertron===
[[File:WheeljackFOC-artcloseup.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Never bump foreheads with this guy.]]
{{Note|Wheeljack does not appear in the campaign of ''Fall of Cybertron''. However, he does make an appearance in one of the Escalation maps and he is in multiplayer if the Havoc DLC pack is downloaded. Wheeljack makes an appearance as a playable character in the Escalation map, 'Ancients'. He fights alongside [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]], [[Perceptor (Prime)|Perceptor]], and [[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]]. He is able to build sentries that hover in the air and fire at enemies.}}

{{storylink|Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers Universe''===
[[File:Tu-character-art wheeljack.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|Yea, I've been working out. You got a problem with that?]]
{{storylink|Transformers Universe}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Cyberverse===
{{anchor|Cyberverse}}
[[File:TF-Cyberverse-Vehicle-Wheeljack-Spaceship.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|He gets all the ladies with this thing.]]
*'''''Star Hammer'' with Wheeljack''' (Cyberverse Vehicle, 2012)
**''Series/number'': '''2 / 001'''
**''Japanese release date'': '''[[May 28|5-28]]-2012'''
**''Japanese ID number'': '''EZ-10'''
**''Accessories:'' 2 swords

: Part of the first wave of [[Cyberverse#Series 2|Series 2 ''Cyberverse'']] Vehicles, this smaller, simplified version of Wheeljack comes with two translucent blue swords, which he can hold using 3mm ports in his hands. These swords are also capable of storing on his vehicle mode's roof, although the downward-curving orientation shown in the stock photo at right is not actually possible due to a [[design change|change]] as to where the pegs are located.

: This version of Wheeljack was only available with the ''[[Jackhammer (Prime)#Toys|Star Hammer]]'', in which he can be seated in the opening cockpit. In the ''Star Hammer's'' battle platform mode, Wheeljack can man one of three battle stations using flip-down handlebars (which also allow other Cyberverse figures to man them).

: In Japan, the set was released under the name "'''Spaceship Star Hammer'''", but there are no notable physical differences from the Hasbro release.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Autobot/LegWheeljack/wheeljack.htm More information on Cyberverse Legion Wheeljack at TFU.info]''

::*''[http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1543.html Wheeljack & Star Hammer at Alfes's Toy Blog]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Hyperspeed}}
[[File:Primetoy-HyperspeedWheeljack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|That's what ya get!]]
*'''Hyperspeed Wheeljack''' (Cyberverse Legion, 2012)
**''Series/number:'' '''2 / 010'''
**''Accessories:'' "Gravimetric blaster"

: Part of the third wave of ''Cyberverse'' Legion Class toys, this version of Wheeljack is a single-carded release of the figure previously available with the Star Hammer vehicle, [[redeco]]ed as an [[homage]] to [[Exhaust]] whom is retroactively the ''[[Diaclone]]'' [[pre-Transformer]]s [[retool]] of the ''[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]'' [[Wheeljack (G1)/toys#Generation 1|Wheeljack]] sculpt. He comes with a "gravimetric blaster" which, in varying colors, was also used by ''Cyberverse'' [[Bumblebee (WFC)#Cyberverse|Bumblebee]], [[Arcee (WFC)#Cyberverse|Arcee]], [[Evac (Ride)#Cyberverse|Evac]], [[Tailgate (Prime)#Cyberverse|Autobot Tailgate]], the [[Bumblebee (WFC)#CyberverseBattlesuit|redeco]] of Bumblebee that comes with the [[Bumblebee Battle Suit]] and [[Transformers (2014 toyline)|2014 ''Transformers'']] [[Groove (G1)#Transformers (2014)|Protectobot Groove]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Autobot/LegHWheeljack/wheeljack.htm More information on Hyperspeed Wheeljack at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|EZ6pack}}
[[File:PrimeEZCollectionAutobotSet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Autobot Set''' (EZ Collection 6-pack, [[November 24|11-24]]-2012)
**''ID number'': '''EZ-SP1'''
**''Accessories'': 2 swords

: This version of Wheeljack was only available in a TakaraTomy ''[[EZ Collection]]'' six-pack with [[Bumblebee (WFC)#EZ6pack|Bumblebee]], [[Bulkhead (Prime)#EZ6pack|Bulkhead]], [[Optimus Prime (WFC)#EZ6pack|Optimus Prime]], [[Arcee (WFC)#EZ6pack|Arcee]], and [[Ratchet (WFC)#EZ6pack|Ratchet]].

{{-}}

===Prime===
{{anchor|Deluxe}}
[[File:PrimeRIDtoy-WheeljackDeluxe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Let's see how many different Deluxe Wheeljacks we can find on pegs in 2012.]]
[[File:Primetoy-TakaraTomy-WheeljackArmsMicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Just when you thought you were going to escape this page without a reference to ''[[Phil LaMarr|Samurai Jack]]''...]]
*'''Wheeljack''' (Deluxe, 2012)
**''Series/number:'' '''1 / 003'''
**''Japanese release date'': '''[[October 27|10-27]]-2012'''
**''Japanese ID number'': '''AM-23'''
**''Accessories:'' 2 swords, Arms Micron "Wuji" (TakaraTomy only)

: Part of the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)#Robots in Disguise (2012)|Prime: Robots in Disguise]]'' Deluxe Class toys, Wheeljack transforms into a modified [http://www.new-stratos.com/en/#/downloads 2011 Lancia New Stratos Concept]. He comes with two swords which can stow underneath the vehicle or attach under the front bumper to create an attack mode. In robot mode, Wheeljack can either hold the swords, stow them on his shoulders (both via [[5mm post]]), or they can be inserted into slots near his wings. Surprisingly, there are no Autobot insignias on Wheeljack whatsoever.

: In wave six of the ''Prime'' toyline, Wheeljack was put into new packaging, which came with a DVD featuring the ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'' episode, "[[Loose Cannons]]".

: The TakaraTomy version of Wheeljack, part of the seventh wave of the Japanese ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)|Prime]]'' toyline, has some significant differences from the Hasbro release. He features a warmer shade of white plastic, his warm light-gray plastics are darker and cooler, his cool-gray plastics are lighter and warmer, his wings, knee spikes, and swords are cast in a much softer plastic, and many of his [[paint operation]]s have been dropped in favor of customer-applied foil [[sticker]]s from a separate sheet. (This also gives him some Autobot insignias in the process.) As part of the [[Arms Micron]] gimmick, he has also been [[retool]]ed with extra 5mm posts and holes on his spoiler and hood/legs, respectively. Unlike other Arms Micron releases, Wheeljack retains his original twin sword accessories, albeit unpainted and cast in a cooler shade of gray, and he additionally comes with his Arms Micron partner, [[Wuji#Prime|Wuji]], who transforms from a humanoid robot into... a rather bulky weapon that vaguely sort-of resembles his normal sword, if you squint.

: This mold was [[redeco]]ed and retooled into [[Dead End (WFC)|Dead End]], [[Wildrider (Prime)|Wildrider]], and [[Chromedome (G1)#Timelines|Chromedome]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Autobot/Wheeljack/wheeljack.htm More information on ''Robots in Disguise'' Wheeljack at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|DarkEnergon}}
[[File:PrimeDEtoy-Wheeljack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|He's here to [[Slicer (Decepticon)|slice]] and dice.]]
*'''Wheeljack''' (Dark Energon Series Deluxe, 2012)
**''Number'': '''002'''
**''Accessories'': Two battle swords

: ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)#Dark Energon Series|Prime: Dark Energon]]'' Wheeljack is a [[BigBadToyStore]]-exclusive redeco of Deluxe Class Wheeljack, and is cast in translucent-blue, gray, and black plastics with copper and red accents, as an [[homage]] to [[Slicer (Decepticon)|Slicer]].

: Though he was packaged on an individual card, he was initially sold as part of a set with the Dark Energon versions of [[Bumblebee (WFC)#DarkEnergon|Bumblebee]], [[Starscream (WFC)#DarkEnergon|Starscream]], and [[Knock Out (Prime)#DarkEnergon|Knock Out]]. He was eventually made available on his own, and the Dark Energon Series toys were eventually made available in Singapore as mass-retail releases.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Autobot/DEWheeljack/wheeljack.htm More information on Dark Energon Wheeljack at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===Beast Hunters===
{{anchor|BHDeluxe}}
[[File:PrimeBeastHunterstoy-Wheeljack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Mmm, prestige classes...]]
*'''Wheeljack''' (Deluxe, 2013)
**''Series / Number'': '''2 / 004'''
**''Accessories'': Falcon Spear, disc

: Part of the first wave of ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)|Prime:]] [[Beast Hunters]]'' Deluxe Class toys, Wheeljack is a redeco and an extensive retool of "Robots in Disguise" Wheeljack, transforming from a spiky, heavily modified 2011 Lancia New Stratos. He features a scaly, spiky dragon "spine" on his vehicle rear/robot back, and his wings are now larger and more elaborate. The two peg-holes on his rear sides have been removed, and he gains a peg-hole on his roof. The special tabs at the front of the vehicle, used to mount the swords he no longer has, are still present and functional.

:He now comes with the "[[Falcon Spear]]", a large pole-arm he can wield with both hands. The spearhead is sculpted to resemble a dragon's head, and can launch a disc via pressure launch when in spear mode. The spear can fold up and store on his back/roof, and the disc can be pulled open for some reason.

:His instructions include the [[Tales of the Beast Hunters Chapter 4|fourth chapter]] of the ''[[Tales of the Beast Hunters]]'' series.

:This body would be used in fiction by [[Geckobot]] with Prime Dead End's head in the Beast Wars: Uprising universe. {{storylink|Alone Together: Prologue}}

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Autobot/Wheeljack/wheeljack.htm More information on ''Beast Hunters'' Wheeljack at TFU.info]''
{{--}}

===Go!===
*'''Hunter Wheeljack''' (Deluxe, [[April 27|04–27]]–13)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''G16'''
**''Accessories'': "Capture Ring" spear, disc

: Part of the first (huge) wave of [[TakaraTomy]]'s ''[[Triple Combination: Transformers Go! (toyline)|Transformers Go!]]'' toyline, "Hunter Wheeljack" is a redeco of the "Beast Hunters" Deluxe Class Wheeljack toy, hewing closely to the non-armored Wheeljack color scheme. The red on his spear and wings is now gold, the spear-shaft is now black, and his plastic lacks the swirly, mixed-color "marbled" effect of the Hasbro release.

==Merchandise==

===Eaglemoss cards===
{{charstubtoys}}

{{-}}

==Notes==
* At [[BotCon 2011]], it was stated Wheeljack is meant to be a mechanic as with other incarnations, but it has yet to be explicitly mentioned in-series.<ref>[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=79724 Botcon 2011 Transformers Prime Panel!] on the AllSpark</ref> On the other hand, he seems to do his own repair work on both the ''Jackhammer'' and himself, and he's gotta get those explosives ''somewhere''....
** If one does the math, after Ratchet returned to base in "[[Triage (episode)|Triage]]", Bulkhead came through a few seconds later. When Arcee, Bumblebee, and the kids return from New York, Ratchet is just reviving him. A short while after Optimus returns, Arcee has contacted Wheeljack and Agent Fowler has yet to leave. Wheeljack arrives shortly after Fowler and Miko leave. So it's a possibility that Wheeljack repaired the ''Jackhammer'' in a timeframe anywhere between ''3 hours'' and '''''20 minutes'''''. How's that for a mechanic?
* Wheeljack's "one grenade, one shot" strategy is hinted at by the fact that he does carry a single grenade on his hip.
* The Japanese dub of ''Prime'' gives Wheeljack a traditional samurai speech pattern to go with his swords.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Cyberverse]]
[[Category:Fall of Cybertron Autobots]]
[[Category:Go! Autobots]]
[[Category:Hall of Fame characters]]
[[Category:Prime Autobots]]
[[Category:Wreckers]]
[[Category:Transformers Universe game Autobots]]

Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2015-03-22T19:22:45Z

Phazeblade: /* A new approach */

{{suite}}
{{factions|decepticon|autobot}}
{{featured}}
[[File:IDWMegatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron A, Megatron B, Megatron Retailer's Incentive, and Megatron Dynamic Forces Exclusive variant.]]
'''Megatron''' waged a battle to destroy the evil forces of the [[Senate]]! Then he ''continued'' to wage a war against the evil forces of freedom, organic life, and the very idea of an Autobot living.

{{quote|Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me '''pleasure'''.|Megatron to Optimus Prime|"[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1]]"}}

{{quote|And the thing is, when those words were in my head I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realized that I '''did'''. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is '''wrong'''. But when you start to think of '''yourself''' as a monster...|Megatron on the previous quote|"[[slaughterhouse]]"}}

__TOC__
==IDW Generation 1 comics==
{{ongoing}}
{{spoilers|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|April 4th}}
===Birth of a tyrant===
[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3]]
Megatron of [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]] was one of the many Transformers built during the [[Silver Harvest]] from a spark originally generated from the [[Matrix of Leadership]] by [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]. Megatron's body was [[reproduction|constructed cold]] in the 1st Cycle 012... the year in which he almost never was, a nameless miner killed while still in the process of being built, by time-travelling [[Autobot]]s from the future attempting to prevent the destruction they knew he would come to wreak upon the universe. But the non-existence of Megatron meant that the [[Functionist Council]] would eventually plunge [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] into [[Functionist Universe|a dystopian hell]], and the Autobot [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], who loathed the Functionists, refused to permit this to happen. Whirl replaced the deceased body's [[spark]] with a forged [[Point One Percenter]] spark that had been harvested by [[Brainstorm]] from [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]] millions of years in the future—and so Megatron was ''truly'' born: the first "hybrid" Transformer, a powerful forged superspark in a constructed cold body. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

Megatron desired to be a medic, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} but alas, he lived in a time of functionism, where one's [[alternate mode]] denoted one's role in society, and one's role determined one's rights. As such, the true nature of his exceptionally rare spark apparently unknown, Megatron was assigned the task for which he had been built: that of [[energon]] miner, a member of the lower class, toiling in a mine under [[Nova Point]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron symbol creation.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.66|... And thus the "Silica Fracturism" art movement was born.]]

An idealist, intellectual and poet, Megatron was sickened by the caste-ridden social apartheid of [[Nominus Prime]]'s Cybertron, and so he wrote [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|a treatise]] on how pacifist dissent and the exchange of ideas could change things. It was while he was sharing this work with his miner friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] over a drink in [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]] that the event occurred which would change the course of his life, as Impactor wound up being drawn into a bar brawl with some of the city's upper classes and Megatron was among those arrested after the fracas. Megatron's writings had been growing in popularity and inspiring some dissent against the current regime, so in order to silence him, the [[Senate]] arranged for a police officer on their payroll, [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], to kill him. Before Whirl could finish the job, however, police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], having discovered Megatron's innocence, arranged for his release. Despite Pax expressing support for the message of his writings, Megatron now found himself filled with rage and hate, disillusioned with his former ideology and realizing the power of applied violence. Angrily hurling the datapad on which he had written his treatise through a public info-screen, Megatron observed the jagged shape of the shattered glass, and later turned it into a [[insignia|symbol]] for his cause. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}}
[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|When considering the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, one question remains unanswered. Why am I always pictured with phallic-shaped items in awkward positions?]]
Megatron's samizdat writings began to circulate in Cybertron's underground, spawning the "[[Decepticon]]" movement, its name derived from its own slogan, "You are being deceived", warning the common 'bot of the Senate's true nature. Knowing that, at this stage, assassinating Megatron would merely make him a martyr, the Senate instead elected to relocate him off-planet, reassigning him to a mining facility on the world of [[Messatine]] while they tried their own schemes to defuse the growing Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} It was there that Megatron met [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly fellow miner who encouraged him to keep writing, and who, in addition to proofreading his works for him, smuggled each new tract back to Cybertron, helping to continue the spread of the Decepticon movement. When Terminus was maimed in a mining accident and had his fuel rations cut off, Megatron kept him alive by sharing his own [[energon]] with the old 'bot. Eventually, Senate agents [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] were dispatched to Messatine to perform mind-altering [[Shadowplay]] upon Megatron, in order to cut his writings off at the source. Tased into submission and strapped to Trepan's operating table, Megatron was helpless to stop the [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgeon]] from beginning his vile work. Though the arrival of Froid's rival psychopathologist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] fortunately forced Trepan to stop before Megatron's personality was altered, the experience left the miner with a lifelong fear of mnemosurgery. Subsequently, a mysterious surge of energy deep within the mine forced an evacuation of the facility; Megatron raced back to his quarters to carry Terminus to safety, but found his friend was not there. With time running out and no sign of Terminus anywhere, Megatron instead chose to save the stack of datapads containing his unpublished works—a decision that would haunt him. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}
[[File:MegatronOrigin1 first kill.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3]]
Megatron was relocated to [[Mining Outpost C-12]], and continued to seethe with hate and frustration in his new workplace. His discontent reached a peak when, some time later, [[Decimus|Senator Decimus]] arrived to announce that the mine was being automated and the workers would be relocated. When one of the Senator's guards killed a worker for insubordination and claims of Senate corruption, Megatron's fury boiled over and he hurled his pickaxe at Decimus. In turn, he was attacked by the Senator's guard, whom he killed by smashing his head to fragments—the first time he had ever taken a life. A riot erupted around him, but Megatron himself could only sit amongst the chaos, staring at his fuel-stained hands in abject horror, which allowed him to be easily pacified and rounded up with the other miners as the mayhem was quickly suppressed. En route to [[Penal Facility H-3|imprisonment]] back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], however, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] broke free and started a riot aboard [[Longshot (G1)|their ship]]. Megatron joined in their effort, and together, they overpowered their guards, took control of the ship, and disappeared into the [[Kaon]] underground. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}}
[[File:MegsOrigin2 Cykill.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Battle of the Awesome Voices!]]
After evading law enforcement, Megatron joined a team of underworld gladiators under the tutelage of [[Clench (G1)|Clench]]. Initially repulsed by killing his opponents, the games eventually turned him more brutal and excessive, and he took control of the entire operation from Clench. The opportunistic Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], after seeing how much money there was in the underworld matches, covertly sent his agent [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to offer Megatron weaponry and technology to upgrade himself and his comrades. Their meeting was spied upon by [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]], agents from the Senate's forces, who Megatron slew. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} Subsequently, impressed by how he treated his animal-form [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|cassette partners]] as equals (in contradiction to the teachings of his Senate masters), Megatron invited Soundwave back to the gladiator pits and gave him permission to use his mind-reading abilities on him. Within Megatron's mind, Soundwave saw his honest desire for all Cybertronians to be true equals, and was so moved by it that he joined Megatron's cause. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

Gradually, Megatron used the gladiatorial games to drum up an army of violent malcontents, sending Soundwave to recruit more and more warriors to his cause. Such recruits included [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who he was presented with while having an arm he lost in a brawl replaced with a new limb that incorporated an [[energon mace]], {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} and the disenfranchised warrior [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], who was personally asked by Megatron to fight at his side when he attended a Decepticon rally, and whom Megatron rechristened "Deadlock," {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} and transformed into a capable Decepticon warrior. {{Storylink|Drift issue 3|Drift #3}} Seeking to enhance his army even further, Megatron reached out to [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]], offering to supply him the resources he required to carry out his own mysterious experiments in exchange for his using the teachings of his lost mentor [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] to create a [[combiner]] that would serve the Decepticons. Shockwave cautioned that it could take some time, but Megatron was content to wait. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|You should have gone to IKEA.]]
Despite all his efforts, Megatron believed that the Senate was still not taking the Decepticons seriously, so Soundwave formulated a plan for a declaration of intent that could be not denied: lure the Senate to Kaon and murder them. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}} In preparation for this scheme, Megatron offered to restore Shockwave's lost hands—a victim of [[empurata]]—believing that doing so might speed his work. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} The following day, in accordance with Soundwave's plan, Megatron and the Decepticons allowed themselves to be arrested by Sentinel Prime's men, after which Soundwave was freed on Ratbat's orders, while Starscream would ensure his own release by pretending to defect. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} Together, Soundwave and Starscream exterminated the entire Senate, then liberated Megatron and the rest of their comrades, in the process granting their leader the gift of a [[fusion cannon]] liberated from the Senate forces' armory. Megatron led his army against Sentinel Prime's men, killed Sentinel himself, and took control of Kaon, now ready to turn his insurgency into a full-blown war. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

===Early days of war===

Megatron formally declared war on "[[Declaration Day]]" when he delivered a stirring speech from [[Nova Point|Nova Peak]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The growing Decepticon forces swiftly spread across six [[Polities of Cybertron|Torus-States]], {{storylink|Parasites}} and to combat them, Cybertron's new leader [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta Prime]] assembled a new military force, the "[[Autobot]]s", led by Megatron's old acquaintance [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]]. Researching his new opposite number, Megatron was intrigued to discover that his now-abandoned treatise had been a source of inspiration for Pax, who had even quoted from it when he confronted the Senate and openly accused them of corruption. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}} Early into the war, [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] would admit to Pax that Megatron talked about him sometimes, when he was tired. When Pax asked what was said, Bludgeon told him that it would make "both of us feel ''uncomfortable''". {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}
[[File:Autocracy4 backroom meeting.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb]]
When Orion Pax came close to Kaon during a mission, Megatron saw it as a chance to speak to him and had his Decepticons bring him in. {{storylink|The Hunt for Soundwave}} Megatron attempted to convince him that Zeta Prime was even worse than he appeared—that he had planned to let Orion die in [[Nyon]] so that he could use his death as pretext to invade the rebel-infested city and drain the citizens of their energon—and proposed they work together against him, but Orion refused to hear him and then escaped. Knowing the doubts he'd placed in his head would only serve to damage the Autobot cause, Megatron let him go. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}}
[[File:Autocracy8 megs and pax together.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"Megatron, let's roll." "What you thinking?" "...Pub?"]]
Megatron continued to keep an eye on Orion Pax's activities, spying on his encounter with the Nyon insurgent [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]]. {{storylink|Ruins}} When Zeta Prime's [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]]s suddenly attacked Nyon, Megatron was surprised by how zealously the new Prime fought against the city's rebels, but his real interest still lay on how Orion would handle the crisis. {{storylink|Purge}} Orion turned on Zeta, who in turn attempted to kill him, prompting Megatron to intervene and force the Prime to retreat. Taking Orion back to Kaon, he again offered that they work together against Zeta's corruption, and this time the Autobot officer accepted. {{storylink|Choices}} As their combined forces invaded the [[Citadel]] in Iacon, Megatron and Orion Pax made their way inside and fought Zeta Prime in person. The battle ended with Megatron killing the Prime with a head shot, and with his objective complete, he then betrayed the injured Orion by shooting him in the back. {{storylink|Overthrown}} This moment lived in infamy as the point at which Megatron revealed his true colors, no longer couched in ideology; {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt}} though curiously, an alternate report incorrectly implied he had assassinated Zeta from afar, sniping him with the rifle alternate mode of [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]. {{storylink|Bullets}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

[[File:Autocracy12 no you dont megatron.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|I can't be the only one with deja vu here.]]
With Zeta dead, Megatron conquered Iacon and declared himself ruler of Cybertron. His soldiers patrolled the planet's streets to "keep the peace", mostly by hunting down and capturing any remaining Autobots who opposed him. {{storylink|Transformation (issue)|Transformation}} During his rule, Megatron attempted to sway the neutral Hot Rod into joining the Decepticons, but he decided otherwise upon witnessing Megatron ordering the execution of several Autobot prisoners. {{storylink|Rise}} Megatron was shocked to learn that Orion Pax had survived the betrayal and was organizing a rebellion against him under the name "Optimus Prime", and even more shocked that people actually had the courage to listen to him. He wasted no time in striking back against the rebels approaching the Citadel with the full force of his army. {{storylink|Broadcast}} During the battle, Megatron unleashed Zeta Prime's energy-draining [[vamparc ribbon|vamparc annihilator]], but when the gigantic [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] took out the cannon, Megatron fell to the streets and was confronted by Optimus Prime himself. He lost the ensuing [[The Transformers: The Movie|familiar-looking duel]] and was badly wounded after a failed attempt to defeat Prime by holding Hot Rod hostage, forcing him to escape aboard Astrotrain. As he fled, he warned Optimus that he hadn't won, he had only started a war unlike any Cybertron had ever seen. {{storylink|Endgame}}

[[File:Monstrosity3 Megatron and Pentius.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron insists on wearing his Darksiders cosplay when he's walking his pet Quintesson.]]
Before Megatron could recover from his injuries, he was betrayed by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who was gunning for the position of Decepticon leader (with aid from Starscream, against Megatron's knowledge). As punishment for his failure to hold Iacon, Scorponok banished the wounded Megatron to the hell-world of [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]]. {{storylink|Derelicts}} Further injured in battle with some [[Junkion (species)|cannibalistic natives]], he stubbornly refused to give up and used the trash littering the world to patch himself up, leaving him with a mismatched, monstrous appearance. {{storylink|Wreckage (issue)|Wreckage}} While searching for a way off Junkion, Megatron entered the wreckage of a starship and found a trapped [[Quintesson]] named [[Pentius]], who had mapped the planet and knew of an area known as the [[Pillar of Rust]] where starships may land and take off. Megatron freed the alien to guide him there, while also putting him in chains to serve as his slave. {{storylink|Faces of Darkness}}
[[File:Monstrosity7 megatron takes pentius spark.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|"Thanks for turning me into the psychopath I've been the whole time!"]]
While crossing the [[Acid Sea]] on the way to the Pillar, Megatron was attacked by [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] who pulled him into the depths. {{storylink|Rage (IDW)|Rage}} For reasons unknown he was then released, the creatures having allowed him to live. As he emerged, Pentius was waiting with a history lesson, telling him that Junkion was once a prosperous world until its inhabitants drained it of resources, leaving it the broken husk it is today: a fate that may also await Cybertron. Megatron rejected this possibility, declaring that under his rule, Cybertron—and his legacy—would last forever. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} On arrival at the Pillar of Rust, Megatron was met by the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]], who had come to Junkion to finish what Scorponok had started by killing him. He was able to fight off several of his attackers, but [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gar]] was too much for him to handle in his injured state. Egged on and taunted by Pentius, Megatron realized he had one last resource left to use: the Quintesson himself. Telling Pentius that his legacy would live on within him, he tore out the alien's [[spark]] and used it to fuel himself, granting him enough power to defeat Hun-Gar. He spared the Terrorcons in exchange for their loyalty, then returned to Cybertron on their ship to take revenge on Scorponok and take back control of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Prey (issue)|Prey}}
[[File:Monstrosity12 strange turns.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb]]
Megatron returned to a Cybertron in chaos, as the ancient reptilian [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] had been unleashed by Scorponok and was in the midst of razing Iacon. After reasserting his leadership of the Decepticons by beating Scorponok nearly to death, he had Shockwave restore his body to it original shape and condition, {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} and set out to investigate the Trypticon situation alone, unwilling to risk his soldiers in the face of the beast's uncontrolled fury. Finding an injured Optimus Prime on the battlefield, Megatron lectured him, but opted to leave him alive so that he could watch as the Decepticon leader defeated the enemy that Prime could not. Megatron was attacked by [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], but as they grappled, they were swallowed by Trypticon. {{storylink|Annihilation}} Within the giant, the pair set their differences aside to fend off the [[cyber-morphic predator]]s that populated his interior, and together, they destroyed Trypticon's internal power cell, taking him offline. A tense standoff between the Autobots and Decepticons followed as the two warriors emerged from within Trypticon, but both sides agreed to go their separate ways for the time being. Not long after the battle, however, Megatron removed Pentius's spark from within himself and installed it within Trypticon. {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}}
[[File:Primacy4 megatron imprisoned.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

After being fully repaired following his ordeals, Megatron roused Trypticon by exploiting the connection they now shared thanks to both having borne Pentius's spark. Discovering that Trypticon now possessed the consciousness of Pentius, Megatron was immediately suspicious of the Quintesson's potential treachery and was staggered by the visions of undiluted evil he saw in the aliens' past via their spark-link, but Trypticon assured him that he was dedicated to their shared goal of breaking a world. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}} Using Trypticon's city-ship alternate mode, Megatron took to the stars, rounding up the scattered Decepticon army and even recruiting Junkions and Sharkticons. {{storylink|Primacy issue 2|Primacy #2}} Returning to Cybertron in force, Megatron was content to wait and watch from the sidelines while his troops viciously tore into Iacon. Trypticon was defeated in battle by Metroplex, at which point Megatron's folly was revealed: through their link, Pentius mockingly revealed his intention to use Trypticon consume Cybertron once the Autobots and Decepticons had weakened each other. {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} Leaving his men with orders to burn Iacon to the ground if he failed in order to spare it such a fate, Megatron set off for Trypticon's fallen body in hopes that he would be able to remove Pentius's spark before the giant revived. Confronted atop Trypticon by Optimus Prime, Megatron tried to goad the Autobot leader into destroying him, believing that Pentius would be destroyed with him thanks to their link. Refusing to accept death as the answer, Optimus instead used the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to purify Megatron, burning Pentius's spark away; Megatron, however, vowed that he would never stop hating Optimus in spite of what he had done for him. Sadly resigned to the fact that the once-noble revolutionary he had admired was now lost, Optimus knocked out the weakened Megatron and took him into custody. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}
{{-}}

===The spreading conflict===
[[File:MTMTE14 megatron vs overlord.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]

Escaping Autobot custody under as-yet-unrevealed circumstances, Megatron continued to wage the war. Early in the continuing conflict, he wrote ''[[Towards Peace]]'', a new treatise to replace ''After the Ark'', in which he described continuing to fight the war until the very notion of conflict was literally inconceivable. Then and only then would he finally give up his fusion cannon. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The earliest edition of the work featured a dedication to Terminus, which Megatron would later remove to reflect the lesson his friendship with Terminus had taught him: not to get attached. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} He oversaw the creation of a class of super-warriors known as the [[Warriors Elite]], selecting only his most powerful troops to undergo the torturous upgrade, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]], a brilliant sadist and frequent opponent of his from his pit-fighting days who had developed an obsession with Megatron after the Decepticon leader dealt him his first ever defeat. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} At some point, he also created the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to deal with traitors, {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} though he elected not to send them after Deadlock when he defected, valuing the warrior enough to instead dispatch [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] to bring him in. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}}
[[File:ChaosTheory prime vs megatron montage.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Good times, bad times.]]
Megatron would personally clash with Optimus Prime many times; Optimus grew to respect and fear Megatron as a calm, calculating and measured opponent, while Megatron himself respected Prime's sheer power and his skill as a tactician and as a leader. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} Megatron would later incorrectly recall their battle on [[Sherma Bridge]] during the [[Rorsha Campaign]] as the first time they met. Said battle was certainly momentous—every Autobot and Decepticon stopped fighting to witness their duel, during which Megatron's cannon arm was sliced off by Prime's [[energon-axe]], and he claimed revenge by throwing the Autobot leader off the bridge. As the war spread to other planets, they would meet again and again: during the [[Siege of Massunstrad]], Megatron sealed Prime in an anti-matter chamber; on [[Rada Mor]], Prime reduced Megatron to ashes with sentient explosives; and in the midst of the [[Vorsk Offensive]], Megatron was nearly sliced in half by Prime. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Though he resisted [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]'s attempts to find a "Two City-State Solution" to the war, he did agree to abide by the [[Tyrest Accord]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

Megatron took on a new pistol alternate mode for the [[Battle for Hell's Point]], during which he was used by [[Heretech]] to blast [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} During the same skirmish, Megatron took off half of Prime's face with his energon mace, but had a city block dropped on him by Prime in retribution, which shattered his [[transformation cog]] and trapped him in gun mode for two years. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Prime was not the only old face that Megatron would see again during the war: during a battle on an aerial drilling platform over the [[Manganese Mountains]], Megatron came face-to-face with his old friend Impactor, and stood poised to execute him until Impactor gave him a moment's pause by recalling his old fondness for poetry. In this moment, Megatron was knocked from the platform by [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and sent plummeting to the mountains below. {{storylink|Zero Point}}
[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2-teleconference.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|"We attack the Rice Krispies guys at dawn! Assuming Judd Hirsch delivers the goods."]]
At the war's zenith, Megatron sealed himself in an [[Omniglobe]] to absorb the relentless flood of data coming in from countless fronts. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} With total war going nowhere, he would go on to develop a six-stage [[infiltration protocol]] to be used for conquering targeted planets. The sixth phase called for outright planetary razing, and Megatron selected three of his Warriors Elite for this task: [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}}, Overlord and [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]]. He informed this trio of his decision via teleconference, but Overlord, tired of being used as someone else's weapon, refused. Megatron threatened to hunt Overlord down for his disobedience, {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} but while the powerful warrior spent the rest of his life preparing for this conflict, Megatron never followed up and left him to stew in his own obsession. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}
[[File:Stormbringer1 get up and fight.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|You don't gotta go home Prime but you can't stay here.]]
Deducing that the Autobot/Decepticon war would culminate in an energy crisis that would threatened the stability of Cybertron itself, Shockwave left Cybertron to secretly pursue alternate energy sources. Around 10,000 years ago, when Shockwave did not return, Megatron ordered Bludgeon to investigate his files, {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} secretly assigning Soundwave to investigate Bludgeon {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} and probe deeper into whatever it was Shockwave had created. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Shockwave's prediction soon proved accurate, and Cybertron found itself in the throes of an energy shortage. Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] came to Megatron with a revolutionary, controversial plan to stave off this energy death by [[Pretender|polydermal grafting]], a process where they encased themselves in "symbiotic carapaces", or shells created from living tissue. When Megatron dismissed him angrily and cut him down, Thunderwing did not abandon his research; instead, he experimented on himself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The process gave him immense power, but drove him insane. He became so dangerous that Megatron had to join forces with Optimus Prime to stop him. This battle at [[Thunderhead Pass]] accelerated the apocalypse destined to befall Cybertron, leaving it an uninhabitable, radioactive husk and forcing both armies to continue their war on other worlds. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Megatron advocated that they simply destroy Cybertron to ensure that Thunderwing was destroyed, but Prime refused, and threatened to stop Megatron if he tried. Megatron agreed not to destroy the planet, but warned Prime that whatever happened was on his head. Shortly after the last big push by the Decepticons, Cybertron was abandoned by both factions. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #2}}

===Breaking protocol===
[[File:Infiltration4 enter megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|left|thumb]]
In the present day, when word reached Megatron that the infiltration unit led by [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], stationed on the planet [[Earth]], had broken protocol, he headed for the planet to investigate. Examining the unit's abandoned bunker in [[Nebraska]] for information, he discovered that Starscream had stumbled across [[Ore-13]]—an incredible energy source that (unbeknownst to Megatron) was the end result of Shockwave's experiments—and was planning to use it to usurp Megatron's command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} While studying the bunker's files, he was contacted by [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] with some distressing news: Bludgeon's investigations of Shockwave's files had led him to revive Thunderwing. Megatron ordered the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] to Cybertron, authorizing them to do whatever was necessary to destroy Thunderwing, including the destruction of their homeworld itself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Just as he was handing down this order, Megatron was happened upon by [[Verity Carlo]], a human ally of the Autobot unit active on the planet, {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} but he utterly ignored her. The bunker was then leveled by an airstrike courtesy of [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who were merely covering their unit's tracks and unaware of Megatron's presence; when their leader furiously emerged from the wreckage, Skywarp attempted to explain their ignorance, but Megatron simply responded by blasting him out of the sky. Blitzwing favored opening fire rather than attempting explanations, so Megatron beat the stuffing out of him too, then set off for Starscream's new bunker in [[Oregon]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 5|Infiltration #5}}

[[File:Infiltration6 takeyourpunishment.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Those librarians are getting really strict on late returns.]]

{{quote|You will stand down. If you fight, you ''die''. There is no room anymore for mercy. In the end, you are ''all'' expendable. Choose.|Megatron's ultimatum to Starscream's renegade troops|[[Infiltration issue 6|''Infiltration'' #6]]}}

[[Orbital jump]]ing to Oregon, Megatron called Starscream out and ordered the team to stand down, disgusted to see such power games being played amongst his troops. His brief, chilling speech was enough to take the fight out of all but Starscream, who, powered-up on Ore-13, took Megatron on himself. Though the new power source made Starscream a formidable adversary, Megatron was still more deadly than he, and Starscream was taken out by a point-blank fusion cannon blast through his torso. Megatron ordered the Decepticons to ensure that Starscream survived, and then, observing the Autobots who had been watching the battle, announced that it was time to begin phase two. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

In light of the discovery of Ore-13, Megatron took stock of Starscream's progress on Earth and elected to get the infiltration protocol back on track himself, calling a meeting to make Starscream's former troops and making them aware, in no uncertain terms, that any further insurrections would be met with deadly force. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} He continued to order his troops on Earth directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} and was even able to revisit his past gun alternate mode, once again able to achieve the [[size changing|mass displacement]] the mode required thanks to the extra energy Ore-13 provided. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb]]
With his forces joined by [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]], a new arrival who Megatron suspected of having ulterior motives, {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} the Decepticon leader initiated phase two of infiltration protocol by destabilizing relations between the European nations of [[Latveria]] and [[Symkaria]] through use of an aggression-inducing [[Psycho-Prism]], stolen from Latverian dictator [[Doctor Doom]]. When the superhero team known as the [[Avengers]] investigated the array the Decepticons' were using to broadcast the prism's signal, Megatron abducted the arachnid-powered [[Spider-Man]] to use as a subject for their [[mirror response mode]], {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One|Man and Machine #1}} draining the hero's powers and infusing himself and the other Decepticons with them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} He proceeded to forge a brief alliance with Doctor Doom, who helped him defeat and capture the allied Autobot/Avenger team who snuck inside the Decepticons' array, but when Doom's suggestion to threaten the captives in order to force the other heroes to lay down their arms failed, Megatron violently dissolved the partnership. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Three|Man and Machine #3}} Emerging from the confines of the array to take on the Autobots and Avengers himself, Megatron refrained from engaging Prime, foreseeing a more intimate confrontation between the two of them in the near future, and instead turned his attention to destroying [[Iron Man]]'s Transformer-sized armor. The tables soon turned, however, when Doctor Doom freed the captive Autobots and used the Decepticon's mirror response technology to empower them. Defeated by these enhanced Autobots and with the Psycho-Prism destroyed by [[Wolverine (superhero)|Wolverine]], Megatron used the last of his extra power to teleport the Decepticons out with an [[emergency warp-out]]. He refrained from departing alongside his warriors, intending to slaughter the Avengers for their interference, but when he was immobilized by Spider-Man's webbing, knocked to the ground by [[Luke Cage]], and rattled by a hail of Autobot fire, he finally warped-out with a final taunt to Optimus Prime of the battle yet to come between them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Four|Man and Machine #4}}
[[File:Massdisplacement.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb]]
With phase two of [[infiltration protocol]] properly underway, Megatron recognized that he ''should'' rightly withdraw and install a new unit commander on Earth, but could not resist the chance to try out his new Ore-13 empowered body, selecting the nation of [[Brasnya]], where Decepticon subterfuge was already underway, as his testing ground. {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} Allowing the Decepticon's [[facsimile construct]] [[Georgi Koska]] to wield him in pistol mode, Megatron had Koska use him to first sever a [[Russia]]n oil pipeline, and then to fire upon the soldiers who came to investigate, furthering the political and military tensions already brewing in the region. When word came through from Blitzwing that Optimus Prime and the Autobots had arrived, {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} Megatron at last engaged Optimus directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}} and although Prime was able to destroy his fusion cannon, the extra strength afforded Megatron by Ore-13 allowed him to physically beat Prime into submission, punching directly into his chest and crushing his [[spark]]. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} [[File:Escalation5 prime vs megs.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]] The horrified Autobots moved into a full but ineffective counterattack, their only edge being that Megatron had no long-range guns left. It turned out that Prime's apparent death was a desperate ruse when the Autobot leader countered with a surprise attack on Megatron, able to exploit Ore-13's weakness—the more it's used, the faster it burns itself out. Megatron almost collapsed from power loss and was forced to have Skywarp take him to safety before the Autobots could kill him. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Furious over the embarrassing defeat, Megatron threw protocol out the window and ordered that Sixshot be summoned to the planet. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}} He took out some of his anger on Ramjet, who he discovered had been busy cooking up a plot to overthrow him; without saying a word, he beat the attempted traitor to death before tearing him apart and keeping his head as a trophy. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}
[[File:Devastation5 decepticons attack.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Upon Sixshot's arrival, Megatron ordered him to utterly destroy the Autobots, and although the [[Phase Sixer]] questioned his early deployment, he was happy to go along with the abandonment of the phase structure. The other Decepticons, on the other hand, were worried that Megatron was losing his grip—and since they were too scared to tell him that, they decided to revive Starscream to do it for them. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}} {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}} Megatron monitored Sixshot's attack on the Autobots' [[Ark-19]], ordering him to pursue the escape pod that broke away from the crashing craft, {{storylink|Devastation issue 2|Devastation #2}} but before he could obliterate the Autobots, Megatron was forced to recall him to deal with a new threat assaulting the Decepticon base—the alien [[Reaper]]s. {{storylink|Devastation issue 4|Devastation #4}} Unfortunately, the Reapers convinced Sixshot to side with them, and when an Ore-13 powered Starscream entered the fray to take Sixshot down, Megatron realized his troops had been conspiring against him. He decided not to punish them '''yet''', due to greater threat posed by the Reapers, {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} and entered battle alongside them all, even allowing Starscream to wield him in pistol mode against the aliens. After the invaders were dead, however, he turned on his men, starting with Blitzwing—but was forced to realize that they needed to remain united when it became apparent that their battle with the Reapers had made humanity inescapably aware of their existence {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}
{{-}}

===All Hail Megatron===
[[File:AHM7 megs rips out matrix.jpg|upright=1.1|left|thumb|"I don't think I'd have made a good medic. No patience."]]
While the Decepticons were occupied fighting the Reapers, the Autobots had left Earth to deal with the greater threat of an incursion by the [[Dead Universe]]. Exploiting their enemies' absence, Megatron and his men went to ground; when Autobots returned, they could find no trace of the Decepticons, who kept one step ahead of them for months. Secretly abducting [[Hunter O'Nion]], former [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] partner to the Autobot [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], Megatron and his men returned to Cybertron, where Megatron had [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] conduct experiments that bred a [[Insecticon swarm|swarm]] of monstrous [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]]. The experiments culminated in the creation of [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], who Megatron employed in a series of key tasks in his plan: the Insecticon obtained from Hunter's mind various Autobot secrets and codes, completed Shockwave's long-gestating combiner process, granting the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] the ability to combine into [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], and created a working [[space bridge]] {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} based on designs sold to them by Sixshot in exchange for his freedom. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}}

Returning to Earth, the Decepticons staged a phony schism within their ranks, allowing the Autobots to believe that they had "disappeared" as a result of a power struggle that had split their ranks into two camps, one led by Megatron and one by Starscream. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} Starscream then approached Sunstreaker, whose experience has a Headmaster had left him bitter and jaded, with the proposition that the Autobots join with his forces against Megatron, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}} but when the Autobots arrived at the designated time and place, they were instead confronted by the united Decepticon army and quickly defeated by Devastator. After personally tearing [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Optimus Prime's chest, Megatron marched the captive Autobots through the space bridge back to Cybertron, where the Insecticon swarm waited for them. Prime, however, was able to damage the bridge, causing it to deposit the Autobots a safe distance from the swarm, but in the process, fried his own circuits and left himself comatose. Though the Autobots had escaped the fate he had intended for them, Megatron had successfully exiled his enemies to their dead homeworld; moreover, using information and codes gained from Sunstreaker and Hunter, he concurrently orchestrated the event that would later be known as [[Surge (event)|The Surge]], as Decepticons stormed Autobot installations all across the galaxy, achieving total victory. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

[[File:Bringingthehousedown.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Megatron's urban renewal program was off to a flying start.]]
With galaxy-wide domination accomplished, one year after the Decepticons' battle with the Reapers, Megatron chose Earth to become the new Decepticon homeworld. Together with his men, Megatron stormed [[New York City]], humiliating Starscream with a display of his greater capacity for destruction. When the US Air Force retaliated, Megatron shrugged off their fire and ordered the other Decepticons to engage them; when one damaged jet threw itself toward him in a suicide run, Megatron, outraged at the [[DJ (G1)|pilot]]'s temerity, destroyed it and its occupant with a furious swipe of his hand. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} When US Army forces arrived, Megatron ordered [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] dispatched to deal with them, then sent Devastator to destroy the subway tunnels leading out of the city. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} With New York secured, Megatron directed the Constructicons to begin building a new space bridge in the city's heart, and had a candid talk with Starscream, revealing his belief that the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]]'s attitude and actions marked him as the embodiment of the Decepticon cause, even if he was blind to seeing it himself. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} After a series of further attacks on major American cities saw the country firmly crushed under the Decepticons' collective heel, Megatron made a propaganda speech to his men in the ruins of New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} As night fell upon the city, Megatron withdrew to privately gloat over the Matrix. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

[[File:AHM6MegatronVsIsrael.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb]]
As the Decepticons began attacking other countries around the globe, Megatron was questioned by Starscream on what the next step in his plan was. A recalcitrant Megatron merely informed him that it was merely time to savor their victory, but Starscream accused him of not ''having'' any plans post-victory, and was merely allowing his men to run wild to distract them from any notion of taking power for themselves. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} What Starscream did not realize was that Megatron did indeed have a plan: to defeat the Autobots, he had created an army of killers and monsters, but in order to create his perfect rule, that army would have to be destroyed, the dissenting, distasteful elements obliterated before Megatron's peace could dawn. Megatron was not distracting his warriors... he was ''waiting'' to see which of them would question and turn on him. Silently sorrowful to already know that such dissent would begin with Starscream, an otherwise-model Decepticon, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} Megatron withdrew to [[Israel]] for some silent reflection amid wholesale devastation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}}

[[File:AHM10 megs vs devastator.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Some time later, Megatron surveyed the space bridge Bombshell and the Constructicons had built in New York. He congratulated Bombshell on his work, but revealed that he had always foreseen Bombshell's intellect as a danger—had always known he and his fellow Insecticons would side with Starscream when the time came. His gambit exposed, Starscream made his move and attacked, but the Insecticons proved no match for Megatron's might. The Decepticon leader had failed to anticipate one thing, however: he did not foresee the Constructicons siding with Starscream, and found himself having to fight the mighty Devastator. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} The in-fighting was halted by a last-ditch attack by the mustered might of what remained of the human resistance, forcing Megatron and Starscream to put their differences aside momentarily and organize a defense. This attack came as no surprise to Megatron, but the same could not be said for the next entrants onto the battlefield: the Autobots had returned.

After assuring Starscream that he would be leader in the future, when his time was done, Megatron confronted Optimus Prime, surprised not so much that his old foe had survived, but that he had bothered to return to Earth. Both leaders had always maintained a policy of acceptable losses through their millennia-long war, so Megatron assumed Prime had come back for selfish reasons, to reclaim the Matrix, but Prime insisted that he had changed, and would no longer allow their cold war to endanger innocent lives on this scale. [[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66]] Megatron scoffed at the notion, reavling that Prime's supposedly "innocent" humans were planning to nuke New York, killing millions of their own just to get rid of the Decepticons, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} but Prime retorted that it wasn't ''just'' about the humans, but also about the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. The two came to blows, but Megatron triumphed in short order and commanded the Decepticons to depart, leaving the Autobots to be killed by the humans' nuke... but just before they withdrew, he was shot in the face by human soldier [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], wielding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Cybertronian technology. Injured and disoriented by the blast, Megatron was finished off when Prime smashed his face in with his own fusion cannon. As he wanted to ''take'' leadership rather than just have it fall in his hands, Starscream picked up his damaged leader and ordered the Decepticons to retreat. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[File:AllHisEngines-Megatron.jpg|thumb|Pretty sure when you float in a bacta tank you're supposed to be wearing a diaper.]]
The Decepticons departed Earth aboard Astrotrain, where the gravely wounded Megatron was put on life support and tended to by Soundwave and his cassettes. With Megatron's life signs only at ten percent capacity, Starscream attempted to appeal to Soundwave's sense of logic and have him shut down so that leadership could be his, but Soundwave refused. Starscream was soon able to take command, however, when he recovered the Matrix of Leadership and professed to have been chosen by it. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

===New body, new powers===
The Decepticons eventually settled on a desolate asteroid, where Megatron was installed in a [[CR chamber|CR tank]]. Retaining some level of awareness of the events occurring around him during his convalescence, he was forced to watch as his army languished in inactivity, their energy slowly ebbing away until they were reduced to cannibalism. {{storylink|All His Engines}} After a year of trying to free his leader from this living death, Soundwave was finally forced to conclude that Megatron's body was beyond repair, and recruited the recently returned Shockwave, whom Starscream had provided with the majority of the Decepticons' resources to create a space bridge, to help build a new body for Megatron's consciousness to inhabit. The operation succeeded and Megatron was reborn in a deadly new body, powered by Ore-13, armed with a devastatingly powerful rail gun, and even equipped with space bridge nodes stolen from Metroplex, which gave him the ability to open space bridge portals on his own. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing15 megatrons new body.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"Uh, it's like...did anyone ever see the movie ''Tron''?"]]
Back in action, Megatron devised a plan to destabilize the relationship between the humans and Autobots on Earth. Together with Soundwave and Shockwave, he chopped up his old body and used it to create human-scaled replicas of his former gun mode, containing small pieces of his own consciousness. When Starscream caught them in the act, Megatron elected to table his plan for the moment, as he considered it folly to go against Starscream's wishes for the moment since the Seeker was still in possession of the Matrix of Leadership. Megatron had never truly understood what the talisman ''did'', but it served as a threat merely by being an unknown variable. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Fortunately, for Megatron this variable was soon removed from the equation when Hot Rod, estranged from the Earthbound Autobots, infiltrated the Decepticons' asteroid base and recovered the Matrix from Starscream. Megatron seized his chance, intercepting the Autobot and blasting him and the Matrix out into the void of space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

[[File:SLMegatron stealth bomber mode.jpg|thumb|275px|Behold... the ''Bomberang!'']]
With Starscream's trump card now gone, Megatron had the Decepticons gathered so he could address them. Distrustful of Shockwave's motives for preparing his new body, wary of Soundwave's constant surveillance, and repulsed by the state of his once fearsome Decepticon war machine, Megatron decided that he needed to unequivocally reestablish dominance over the now Matrix-less Starscream. He intended to beat Starscream near to death as a means of letting them both work out their frustrations with Starscream's inability to lead effectively during Megatron's absence, but Starscream did not want to fight—spiritually broken by his failures, he simply wanted Megatron to kill him. Rather than accept this, Megatron instead goaded Starscream into opening fire upon him. This began a running battle between the two, with Megatron pursuing the fleeing Seeker in his new stealth bomber alternate mode, continuing to bait Starscream every time he appeared willing to give up the fight. Incensed by Starscream's accusation that he did not know what it felt like to see everything he had worked for fall apart, when that was exactly what Starscream's pitiful leadership had done to the empire he had created, Megatron pummeled him to within an inch of his life, then paused to explain why he kept a schemer like Starscream around: as a constant reminder to watch his back. The brutal display galvanized the languid Decepticons, and Megatron was ready to begin his scheme. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing14 megatron guns.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|Megatron doesn't support the NRA. He IS the NRA.]]
Roughly two years after the Decepticons' defeat on Earth, Megatron used his space bridge powers to dispatch a container full of the guns made from his old body to Earth, where they were found by South American gun-runners and illegally disseminated amongst an increasingly paranoid public seeking ways to protect themselves against Transformers. This allowed Megatron's consciousness to spread across North America, until it was focused enough to contact one particular owner of a Megatron gun: [[Joe Gladki]]. He deceived and manipulated the paranoid human, and eventually convinced him to perform an assassination attempt on [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} In their ignorance, the Autobots then mistook Gladki's gun for Megatron himself and held it captive. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}}

[[File:IDWongoing16 megatron vs autobots.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Not the [[Realignments|first time]] he's traded his [[fusion cannon]] for a [[rail gun]].]]
With the Autobots in chaos, Megatron started the next phase of his plan and returned to Earth personally, where he used his new stealth bomber mode to shoot down a plane carrying Optimus Prime and several other Autobots. He then hunted down the remaining Autobots, effortlessly defeating them and their new temporary leader Ultra Magnus with his powerful new body, and killing some of their [[Skywatch]] allies. Magnus tried to draw Megatron's attention from the humans, claiming the Autobots were the ones he really wanted, but Megatron assured him that humanity was his real target. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}} Taking the defeated Autobots captive, Megatron dumped them in a city and directed three of his mind-controlled human puppets to kill them. Contacting Prime directly, Megatron summoned him to the city's outskirts and revealed his plan: crush Prime's spirit and destroy the Autobots' alliance with humanity by forcing them to choose between fighting the humans or allowing them to kill them. Prime found the hole in Megatron's plan, however, when he realized that Soundwave was maintaining the connection between Megatron and his guns, and shot him in the head. His connection to his pawns severed, Megatron scooped up Soundwave and withdrew. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} Thanks to a tracker Ultra Magnus had slipped on Soundwave, though, Prime was able to follow the Decepticons to their bolthole and called Megatron out for a full and proper confrontation. In actuality, Prime had lured Megatron outside so Skywatch could drop a [[kinetic harpoon]] on him, but even a weapon dropped from orbit barely proved able to put a scratch in Megatron's mighty new exostructure. Megatron proceeded to beat Prime senseless, but then returned him to the Autobots, and to their great shock, surrendered to their custody. After recovering, Optimus demanded to know why he had surrendered, but Megatron merely taunted him by revealing that Spike Witwicky had murdered a Decepticon in cold blood. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}} Prime immediately had Prowl begin investigating Spike and Skywatch, and Prowl interrogated the Decepticon leader for information, which he provided after a little verbal sparring. {{storylink|Police Action: Prologue}}

[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron imprisoned.jpg|upright=1.5|left|thumb|Megatron and Optimus Prime can't agree on a safe word.]]
When Rodimus returned to Earth and warned the Autobots that [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] had taken control of Cybertron, Optimus decided to lead the Autobots in reclaiming their homeworld. In the name of Earth's safety, he elected to bring Megatron and the confiscated guns made from his old body with them. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}} On the way to Cybertron aboard [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Prime again attempted to discern why Megatron had surrendered, even releasing his old foe from his bonds and having a civil conversation with him about their past together and their dueling ideologies. Optimus tried to reach out to Megatron, offering him the chance to end the war once and for all with a handshake; Megatron appeared to consider it for a moment but ultimately remained silent. With Megatron returned to the confines of the [[variable voltage harness]], the other Autobots pressured Optimus for a decision on his fate: execution or imprisonment. Trying to come to a conclusion, Prime asked Megatron if he regretted any of his actions, but the Decepticon leader remarked that he only regretted not killing ''more'' Autobots. He taunted Prime with the notion that even he was thankful for the war, as it had raised him from a nobody to the greatest Autobot in history, and a furious Prime activated the harness, electrocuting Megatron. The jolt would have killed Megatron if Omega Supreme had not cut the power in time and Megatron, struggling to stay conscious, offered Prime his thanks for saving his life all those years ago in Rodion. Shocked by his actions, Prime realized that Megatron wanted to die and wanted Prime to be the one to kill him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Eventually, Prime decided to let Megatron choose his own fate, and Megatron calmly replied that he chose death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2|Chaos Theory #2}}

[[File:Chaos2 armored megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|...Again...?]]
As Omega drew close to Cybertron, Megatron demanded to know who or what was threatening their homeworld, but Optimus Prime refused to provde him with any information. {{storylink| Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} The Autobots subsequently engaged Galvatron's forces in battle, and while they were occupied, Megatron put into motion the ace he had up his sleeve: taking remote control of the numerous "Megatron guns" aboard Omega, Megatron summoned them to him and combined with them into a new armored mode. Breaking free from his restraints, he headed out to confront Galvatron, intent that nobody would take his world from him. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}} As he tore through the Sweeps, Megatron also revealed the reason for his surrender: now that he was back on Cybertron, he could open a space bridge that would allow the massed forces of the Decepticons on Earth to return to their home planet as well. Unfortunately, not long after the Decepticons arrived on the battlefield, Galvatron's secret puppet master, the Dead Universe entity known as [[D-Void]], seized control of their minds and those of the Sweeps, merging them into a gigantic, monstrous avatar. With Prime occupied pursuing Galvatron into Cybertron's depths, Megatron was left to face this "[[Deceptigod]]" alone. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} Fighting against D-Void's attempts to ensnare his own mind and make him part of the collective, Megatron was gravely wounded and even lost an arm to the beast, but succeeded into destroying it, blasting it apart with one massive beam from his weapons. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

===The long game===
Even as the Deceptigod disintegrated back into its component Decepticons, Megatron could see the potential the creature embodied—D-Void had, in essence, created the perfect combiner by means of utterly obliterating free will. With Cybertron reverting into a primordial wasteland around him—a result of Optimus Prime purifying [[Vector Sigma]] with the Matrix to stop Galvatron and D-Void—Megatron chose to withdraw to experiment with the possibilities this presented. He informed Shockwave, the sole Decepticon who had not been made part of the Deceptigod, of his plans, and Shockwave in turn revealed them to Soundwave and Bombshell. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} While Megatron hid in the wilderness, his Decepticons were left to live as second-class citizens in the new [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] that the Autobots built; Optimus Prime left Cybertron two weeks after D-Void's defeat to calm tensions with "NAILs"—other unaffiliated Cybertronians—who had returned to their homeworld, but even as he did so, he mused that Megatron must still be out there somewhere. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

[[File:RID11 megatron in wilderness.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Megatron can't find anyone who wants to join his nudist colony to save his skin.]]
In the months of study and experimentation that followed, Megatron discerned that the combination of Ore-13 and space bridge technology in his body somehow gave him the ability to manipulate the natural energy of Cybertron that D-Void had used to merge the Decepticons into the Deceptigod. After experiments on [[turbofox]]es created larger, more ferocious beasts, Megatron stepped up trials when the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] seceded from the shaky government Bumblebee, [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] and Starscream were building in Iacon and ventured into the wilderness. The signal Megatron had created from the combination energy first drove the Aerialbots mad, before uniting them in body and mind, spontaneously merging them into the gestalt [[Superion (G1)|Superion]], but this newborn Autobot combiner was considered hopelessly insane by Megatron and left to die in the wilderness. The madness aspect of the signal afforded him the chance to revive some of the principles of the infiltration protocol, however, as he blanketed the wastelands in it, forcing the Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs to stay in Iacon, causing natural conflict among them to snowball, providing a useful cover for his actions. To gain a pawn within Autobot high command, Megatron even provided Bombshell with the energy to use in conjunction with his own mind-controlling [[cerebro-shell]]s, ensnaring the mind of Prowl. With the resources and cover control of Prowl provided, Shockwave, Soundwave and Bombshell were able to use Megatron's findings to perfect the combination process, rebuilding the Constructicons with new modular designs that would allow them to merge into a perfect Devastator. The endgame was for Megatron himself to form the head of the combiner, but before risking his own mind and body, Megatron decided that Prowl would be used first as a test subject. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}}

[[File:RID12 kill him.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb]]
The appearance of a [[Crystal City Metrotitan|Metrotitan]] on Cybertron which declared that Starscream was the "Chosen One" threatened Megatron's ability to easily re-take leadership of his Decepticons, forcing him to step up his schedule. Through Prowl, he had his inner circle gathered together in the secret "[[Black Room]]", then boldly strode into Iacon for all to see. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} His body shattered and skeletal, he professed to come in peace, but Bumblebee did not accept his surrender and ordered his Autobots to kill him. Indeed, Megatron could possibly have died there and then had Iacon's Decepticons not stepped in, insisting that Megatron's defense of Cybertron during D-Void's attack marked him a hero and that he be taken into custody instead. {{storylink|City on Fire}} After [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] got through examining him to prove his body concealed no weapons, Starscream approached the imprisoned Megatron and attempted to explain that he was not far away from taking complete power in the government, ensuring a Decepticon victory of a different kind. Megatron merely smiled silently at the notion, terrifying his ex-lieutenant with his grin. Presently, the Decepticons rose up in an angry mob and marched on Autobot high command to insist on Megatron's release; the situation quickly devolved into a riot, during which a squad led by [[Needlenose]] stormed the prison and freed Megatron. {{storylink|The Verge}}

[[File:RID14 new body redux.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.55|New body or not, Megatron may want to think twice about standing [[:File:Devastator-ROTFenemyscrotum.jpg|underneath Devastator's legs.]]]]
Megatron brought Starscream and the captured Bumblebee and Metalhawk to the Black Room, where he explained his plans and had himself transferred into a pre-prepared new body that could combine with the Constructicons' new forms. At his command, the Constructicons and Prowl combined into the new Devastator, who immediately set about razing Iacon. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} Even the return of Superion seemed unable to stop the powerful new combiner, until help came from an unexpected quarter—Prowl's secret assassin [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] killed Bombshell, taking out Prowl's controller and causing Devastator to shut down. This was no real impediment to Megatron, however, as the successful function of the new combiner process has been proven, and he set out to take ''his'' place as Devastator's head. Before Megatron could reach the fallen gestalt, though, Devastator awoke, possessed of his own unique, unite consciousness for the first time, and resumed tearing into Iacon. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}}

[[File:RID20 megatron in forcefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|You know you can't catch a break when you find yourself trapped inside a novelty plasma lamp from Spencer's.]]
Still Megatron remained unfazed, calmly fending off Autobot attacks and waiting for the inevitable moment when the heroes would take Devastator down. When [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] succeeded in doing so by managing to reach Prowl, Devastator separated, and Megatron immediately stepped in, re-initiation the combination with himself in control. Seconds before uniting with the Constructicons, though, his plan was foiled by Bumblebee, Ironhide and Prowl's activation of a secret failsafe: Wheeljack had integrated a forcefield generator into Megatron's spark casing during his examination of him, and when it was triggered, he was completely paralyzed in mid-transformation. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head}}

In the fallout of the battle, Starscream killed Metalhawk, took control of Iacon and banished the Autobots and Decepticons from the city. He took custody of the immobilized Megatron, and silently gloated over the victory he had accomplished by using guile and politics, rather than Megatron's ways of brute force and firepower. {{storylink|Three Monologues}}

===A new approach===
Megatron would not remain incapacitated for long. That night, as the end result of millennia-long secret machinations by Shockwave, an [[Necrotitan|undead Metrotitan]] appeared on Cybertron and opened a portal to the Dead Universe in the planet's skies. Through the portal, Shockwave made contact with Galvatron and his master, the exiled Cybertron despot [[Nova Prime]], but was unable to bring them through to Cybertron thanks to the unexpected disappearance of the Titan's space bridge system. Intending to use the space bridge within Megatron as a replacement, {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} Shockwave reanimated the deceased Metalhawk with a wave of necrotic energy from the Titan and had him liberate Megatron and bring him to his secret lab in [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:RID24 i remember you.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Somewhere in the multiverse, [[Override (G1)|Override]] and [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] are smiling.]]
Shockwave hoped that Megatron would comply with his plans willingly, but the Decepticon leader refused and Shockwave forcibly activated the space bridge technology in Megatron's body. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The opening of the bridge in his chest caused Megatron agony, but his screams were heard by Soundwave, who led the united forces of the exiled Autobots and Decepticons to Shockwave's lab to free his leader. Nova Prime and Galvatron attempted to squeeze their way through the space bridge despite this interference, but Ironhide was able to punch Nova back through into the Dead Universe. Just then, Shockwave's "Necrotitan" came crashing into the subterranean city, and in the chaos, Megatron was freed from the restraints holding him. No sooner had Megatron carried Ironhide to the safe hands of the other Autobots, however, than he was ripped in half from behind by Galvatron, who had successfully emerged through the portal {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}} — a briefer battle, no doubt, than the one Shockwave had forseen between the pair in a vision at the outset of his scheme. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

[[File:MTMTE26 megs and bee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|I smell a sitcom!]]
After the battle was over, Galvatron and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] lugged Megatron's bisected remains back into Crystal City, only to find their way barred by the unlikely form of Bumblebee, who demanded they hand Megatron over. Galvatron attacked the Autobot, at which point Megatron revealed that he was fine, as he took down Waspinator and knocked Galvatron out with a barrage of fusion cannon fire. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Bumblebee lugged Megatron back to Iacon, currently being razed by the Necrotitan, where the Decepticon leader announced to the assembled Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs his plan to withdraw to [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]], summon the Decepticon Justice Division and other scattered troops, and strike back. Bumblebee rejected Megatron's notion of retreating, and struck a nerve within him by questioning his entire philosophy: Megatron had ''long'' ago abandoned any notion of fighting for freedom and equality, Bumblebee attested, and merely used the claim to ideology as an excuse for his actions. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} Fortunately, fighting back suddenly got a lot easier when Metroplex and the ''[[Lost Light]]'' space-bridged to Cybertron. During the battle between the Titans, Megatron observed Metroplex reaching for the ''Lost Light''; when the ship's crew explained that they had Metroplex's severed thumb aboard, Megatron had Bumblebee carry him to it, whereupon he realized that the thumb contained one of Shockwave's [[Regenesis]] ores. Megatron used his internal space bridge to teleport the thumb back to Metroplex, and the ore provided the giant with the power boost to defeat the Necrotitan. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|ಠ_ಠ]]
At Bumblebee's order and under protest, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] repaired Megatron's injuries and reattached his legs, reminding Megatron of his desire in youth to be a medic. His recent string of failures, the success of ''Starscream'', of all 'bots, and Bumblebee's stinging words had turned the Decepticon leader introspective, and he realized he had forgotten something very important that had driven his writings in his early years: winning meant turning people to your way of thinking, not dominating them. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} Subsequently, when Shockwave initiated his millennia-long plan to collapse all reality into a universal black hole, Megatron placed himself and the Decepticons under Bumblebee's command to co-ordinate a counter-strike, and journeyed with his uneasy new "friend" into Shockwave's [[Crystal City]] base to confront their shared enemy. There, they found the weakened Galvatron, who Megatron prepared to destroy for past indignities, until Bumblebee talked him down, convincing him that blood did not have to be repaid with blood. At that moment, Shockwave struck, slaying Bumblebee with a blast, and driving Megatron into a rage. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} Empowered by his various ores and the energy of the Dead Universe, Shockwave was a formidable opponent and it was all Megatron could do to hold his own against him until Optimus Prime arrived to join the fight. Prime attempted to reason with Shockwave and remind him of the kindly senator he had once been, but his words had little effect, so Megatron opted for a more object lesson: removing the fallen Bumblebee's insignia, he placed it upon his chest and declared himself an Autobot. The stunned Shockwave lost control of the time machine powering his plot, causing his old pre-[[Shadowplay]] memories to emerge. Horrified at what he had become, he allowed Megatron and Prime to kill him, which caused the time machine to collapse into a singularity. Megatron and Prime made what seemed to be a futile dash for freedom, but were saved from the singularity's pull at the last moment by the timely arrival of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

===Crimes against the Species===

{{quote|I don't want to be acquitted. I want to '''make amends'''|Megatron on his new goal in life|"[[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide]]"}}
[[File:DCFinale this is not a trick.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95|Optimus apparently decided a sincere Megatron was a cue for mood lighting.]]
In a private meeting between Optimus Prime and Megatron a short time after Shockwave's defeat, Megatron affirmed that his change of heart was genuine, and Optimus assured him that he could see past his wartime deeds and remember the well-intentioned 'bot he had started out as. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} The rest of Cybertron, however, demanded a trial; Autobot High Command agreed, realizing that the Decepticon leader's fate had to be decided in public. Before the trial, Megatron was approached by Optimus, [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] and Rodimus in an attempt to extract some of the Decepticon's memories as evidence in hopes of expediting the proceedings, but a horrified Megatron refused, considering the sanctity of his mind all he had left. After Optimus departed, Rodimus remained to taunt Megatron with the certainty of his execution; in return, the impassive Decepticon simply asked Rodimus to deliver a [[communicube]] to Optimus, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} containing a request to have the trial moved to the [[Raskol Arena]] on Luna 2, in order, he alleged, to accommodate the huge number of spectators that would inevitably attend. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|I agreed to this trial on the condition of meeting Matlock.]]
Megatron's trial lasted five months. At the outset of the proceedings, Megatron plead guilty to "Crimes against the Species", {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} but things changed when Starscream took the stand and gave a testimony that presented Megatron as an incapable leader who was unable to control the Decepticon forces under his command, a powerful brute lacking in the qualities of true leadership who led his followers down an ultimately self-destructive path. His treacherous lieutenant's words struck home, and Megatron stunned the assembled crowd by changing his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Just as his defender, Ultra Magnus, was reading a statement declaring this, the trial was dramatically interrupted by the a small army of Decepticons led by [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snap Trap]] and [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Grr]], who had escaped from the brig on the ''Lost Light''. The invading force attempted to teleport Megatron away to safety, but he refused to escape and the uprising was quickly quelled. During the recess that followed, Optimus confronted Megatron over his true motives: he had requested that the trial be held on Luna 2 in order to exploit the moon's different legal system in the event that he felt the trial was unjust. Caused by Starscream's speech to realize that, were he to submit to execution now, his legacy would be one only of pain and death, Megatron invoked one of the moon's forgotten laws: an individual who had committed sufficiently heinous crimes could request he be judged by the long-lost [[Knights of Cybertron]]. Megatron requested that he be allowed to join the ''Lost Light'' in their search for the Knights and their homeworld of [[Cyberutopia]], thus ensuring that ''that'' would be his legacy, after which he would submit to whatever punishment was deemed necessary. Optimus agreed on the condition that Megatron read a prepared speech denouncing the Decepticon cause and asking all active Decepticons to stand down. Megatron did so, at great personal pain. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} Hurt and angry over this perceived abandonment, Soundwave used Megatron's change of faction as evidence to forge a new allegiance of his own, decamping to Earth and working with the [[Earth Defense Command]] to create a new home for Autobots there. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}
[[File:MTMTE30 cocaptains.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|O captain, my co-captain.]]
Megatron was assigned co-captaincy of the ''Lost Light'' alongside Rodimus, who immediately hated the idea and everything about it, leading to a particularly antagonistic relationship between the two. Megatron was permitted only to fuel himself with "[[Fool's Energon]]", which left him substantially weakened. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} Shockwave's machinations had left his internal organs a tortured Gordian knot of space bridge wormholes from which it was impossible to extract his spark; his outward appearance changed between the end of his trial and his co-captaincy, suggesting that his armor was rebuilt around him, or his entire internal structure was transplanted into a new body. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron would later lament that his body did not graft to his spark like past chassis, which he considered a sign of his waning age. {{storylink|Slaughterhouse|Slaughterhouse}} Optimus would see Megatron off on his voyage before he himself headed off to Earth, a meeting Prowl found deeply disturbing. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}
===Towards Peace===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron head examined.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"So Megatron, tell me about your mother." "She was hot."]]
The ''Lost Light'' warped back out to the Galactic Rim and set off on the trail of [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]], who they considered their best lead on the location of the Knights. A month into the journey, Megatron agreed to a therapy session with ship's psychoanalyst Rung. Megatron was less than forthcoming, but when Rung inquired about the removed dedication to Terminus from ''Towards Peace'', Megatron explained to him his current thinking on personal history, and one's ability to selectively edit or abandon entirely previously-held truths. Departing for his quarters, Megatron found that his door had been heavily grafittied by Whirl, who then suddenly attacked him, declaring that their shared history made the battle inevitable. Megatron responded by undermining Whirl's entire life with the revelation that the ex-Wrecker's penchant for surviving tough scraps was a falsehood: the second order Megatron had issued upon forming the Decepticons was that under no circumstances was any Decepticon to kill Whirl. As they struggled, Megatron taunted Whirl with the knowledge that his memory of Whirl's actions all those years ago had helped keep him on the path of violence; the outraged ex-Wrecker punched Megatron in the stomach, only to find his hand teleported away by the space bridge tangle inside the former Decepticon. This took the fight out of Whirl, and Megatron offered to forget the incident if the graffiti was removed from his wall. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

Leaving Whirl behind and heading for the bridge, Megatron received a report that the ''Lost Light'' had crossed paths with a coffin floating in space. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron oversaw the bringing onboard of the coffin and its transport to the med-bay. A short time later, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]] snuck into the med-bay on a drunken dare in search of Megatron's "Fool's Energon", unaware of its true nature; caught in the act and believing he had been poisoned by the fuel, he triggered his forcefield, which inadvertently cracked the coffin open. Megatron reprimanded him by permanently engaging his fuel intake moderation chip, and assigned him the role of Security Director in order to focus his mind. The pair then turned their attention to the opened coffin, which was revealed to contain the body of another Rodimus! {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}}
[[File:MTMTE32 i came to hate the person id become.jpg|thumb|275px|Lolcat is watching you deprecate.]]
Brief analysis suggested that the body was of Rodimus from the future, but before the matter could be settled, the crew of the ''Lost Light'' were forced to abandon the ship as it suddenly began disappearing around them. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} The disappearances did not stop there, however: Megatron found himself on the [[Rodpod]] with a score of other 'bots, and when ''they'' then began to vanish, [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] accused Megatron of being responsible. A tense Mexican standoff ensued, which was brought to a surprising end when [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] was discovered to have been hiding on the pod, having secreted himself on the ''Lost Light'' in order to spy on Megatron for Soundwave. The disappearances continued, and Megatron clashed with [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] as he tried to find a pattern. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The weirdness only continued as the remaining crew of the Rodpod—Megatron, Ravage, Nightbeat, [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Nautica]], [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]], and [[Getaway]]—discovered the wreckage of a second ''Lost Light'', point of origin for the mystery second Rodimus, orbiting the planet [[Ofsted XVII]]. Still believing that the duplicate ship hailed from the future, Skids accused Megatron of being responsible for the devastation, and, realizing that the recent huge changes he had made in his life left him devoid of any surety in his future actions, Megatron allowed himself and Ravage to be imprisoned until the truth could be determined. Locked in a supply closet with Ravage, Megatron had a heart-to-heart with his angry ex-subordinate, justifying his decisions and unable to offer Ravage any consolation. When power returned to the ship, the pair discovered the dead bodies of Ratchet, [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] in the closet with them, their [[brain module]]s stuffed in their mouths—calling card of [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] of the Decepticon Justice Division. Realizing the DJD was responsible for destroying the ship the team re-grouped and prepared to retreat when an even stranger discovery was made: Autobot archivist [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] was found, still alive, the only survivor of the DJD's attack, despite the fact that he had died months beforehand. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}
[[File:MTMTE33 megatron skids right there.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"...But you're not the [[Skyfall (G1)|worst]] [[Zeta Prime (G1)|guy]] to wear the badge. So keep trying."]]
Nautica and Nightbeat were able to deduce the whole story: the duplicate ''Lost Light'' was not from the future, but rather, it and its crew were quantum duplicates created in the explosion of the [[quantum generator|quantum engines]] during the ship's original launch two years prior. To make matters worse, the [[quantum foam]] leaking from the engines was threatening to destroy Ofsted XVII, but Megatron had no compunctions about getting to safety and leaving the planet to its fate until Skids called him out, forcing him to face up to the fact that being an Autobot meant more than wearing a badge, and had to be reflected in one's actions. When all other options were exhausted, Megatron admitted that he could use his old mass-displacement ability to shrink his robot form down, enabling him to safely make it through the foam and deactivate the engines, saving Ofsted XVII, "cancelling out" the duplicate ''Lost Light'', and reinstating their own. The diminutive Rewind joined him in the task; Megatron showed him kindness by holding back knowledge of his counterpart's passing so that he might die happy, but Rewind was mysteriously ''not'' erased when their task was successfully completed. As they made their way back to the returned ''Lost Light'', Megatron invited Ravage to remain at his side, hoping an up-close view of the DJD's horrors had instilled in him some doubt in the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}
[[File:MTMTE38 send me back.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.75|"AND I WANT YOUR LUNCH MONEY TOO NERD!"]]
Returning to "their" ''Lost Light'', Megatron's team discovered that their Brainstorm had incapacitated the crew and used his mysterious [[briefcase]] to travel back in time. The ridiculousness of the entire situation caused Megatron to have a mini-breakdown, but he soon got ahold of himself, and theorized that Brainstorm was attempting to change history by killing Orion Pax. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}} Rodimus led a squad back in time in pursuit, which led to Megatron having a cross-time conversation with the young Orion Pax via Rodimus's "[[time phone]]" communicator. Pretending to be his own younger self during the call, Megatron found the young 'bots optimism for the future a mixed source of both affirmation and tragic amusement. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} After Rodimus's team made several further jumps, Megatron deduced that the dates they were travelling to were not important moments in Pax's life, but Megatron's own. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} Realizing that Brainstorm intended to kill him at the moment of his creation, he flew into a panicked rage, attacking [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] and demanding the scientist send him back in time to save himself, until Ultra Magnus restrained him and the pair talked him down. As events in the past played out, Megatron was visibly shaken to hear that Rewind had been the one to pull the trigger that killed his original past self, and that the universe would truly be a better place had he never existed. Although Whirl subsequently set the timeline to rights, Megatron did not join in the celebrations when everyone returned from the past, retiring to his quarters to brood. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

===Pax Cybertronia===
In a vision of the future seen by Ironhide and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] during the reformatting of Cybertron, fifteen million years hence, Ironhide still believed Megatron to be alive and promised a young Autobot they would defeat him again if he ever returned. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}} {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}
{{-}}

===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage all in good time.jpg|thumb|275px]]
{{NoteSLMirage}}
Somewhere, in an unknown time or place, the self-serving mercenary [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] dreamed of Megatron and his Decepticons launching a massive attack on the Autobots. But Mirage knew that to only be a dream; in reality, the Autobots were almost eradicated, and Megatron had hired him to hunt down the last of their number. Megatron was outraged by the mercenary's demand for a majority share in all energon mining operations as payment, but it proved to be fuel well spent, as he soon succeeded in locating Optimus Prime and forcing him to surrender. Megatron demanded the prisoners be executed despite Mirage's promise to spare Autobot lives. Seeing Mirage's hesitation, Megatron appealed to his greed. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
[[File:MegatronOrigin2 Megs hair.jpg|thumb|100px]]
*In [[Megatron Origin issue 2|''Megatron Origin'' #2]], we see that Megatron's helmet is, in fact, a helmet and not part of his head (at least in his original body). Upon removing his helmet, Megatron then briefly unfurls a crest. The significance of this moment is not explained, but it is briefly revisited in [[Remembrance Day|''More than Meets the Eye'' #14]] when a helmetless Megatron spars with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]].

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2015-03-22T19:21:35Z

Phazeblade: /* A new approach */

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[[File:IDWMegatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron A, Megatron B, Megatron Retailer's Incentive, and Megatron Dynamic Forces Exclusive variant.]]
'''Megatron''' waged a battle to destroy the evil forces of the [[Senate]]! Then he ''continued'' to wage a war against the evil forces of freedom, organic life, and the very idea of an Autobot living.

{{quote|Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me '''pleasure'''.|Megatron to Optimus Prime|"[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1]]"}}

{{quote|And the thing is, when those words were in my head I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realized that I '''did'''. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is '''wrong'''. But when you start to think of '''yourself''' as a monster...|Megatron on the previous quote|"[[slaughterhouse]]"}}

__TOC__
==IDW Generation 1 comics==
{{ongoing}}
{{spoilers|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|April 4th}}
===Birth of a tyrant===
[[File:MTMTE37 megatron under construction.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3]]
Megatron of [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]] was one of the many Transformers built during the [[Silver Harvest]] from a spark originally generated from the [[Matrix of Leadership]] by [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]. Megatron's body was [[reproduction|constructed cold]] in the 1st Cycle 012... the year in which he almost never was, a nameless miner killed while still in the process of being built, by time-travelling [[Autobot]]s from the future attempting to prevent the destruction they knew he would come to wreak upon the universe. But the non-existence of Megatron meant that the [[Functionist Council]] would eventually plunge [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] into [[Functionist Universe|a dystopian hell]], and the Autobot [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], who loathed the Functionists, refused to permit this to happen. Whirl replaced the deceased body's [[spark]] with a forged [[Point One Percenter]] spark that had been harvested by [[Brainstorm]] from [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]] millions of years in the future—and so Megatron was ''truly'' born: the first "hybrid" Transformer, a powerful forged superspark in a constructed cold body. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

Megatron desired to be a medic, {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} but alas, he lived in a time of functionism, where one's [[alternate mode]] denoted one's role in society, and one's role determined one's rights. As such, the true nature of his exceptionally rare spark apparently unknown, Megatron was assigned the task for which he had been built: that of [[energon]] miner, a member of the lower class, toiling in a mine under [[Nova Point]]. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron symbol creation.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.66|... And thus the "Silica Fracturism" art movement was born.]]

An idealist, intellectual and poet, Megatron was sickened by the caste-ridden social apartheid of [[Nominus Prime]]'s Cybertron, and so he wrote [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|a treatise]] on how pacifist dissent and the exchange of ideas could change things. It was while he was sharing this work with his miner friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] over a drink in [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]] that the event occurred which would change the course of his life, as Impactor wound up being drawn into a bar brawl with some of the city's upper classes and Megatron was among those arrested after the fracas. Megatron's writings had been growing in popularity and inspiring some dissent against the current regime, so in order to silence him, the [[Senate]] arranged for a police officer on their payroll, [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], to kill him. Before Whirl could finish the job, however, police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], having discovered Megatron's innocence, arranged for his release. Despite Pax expressing support for the message of his writings, Megatron now found himself filled with rage and hate, disillusioned with his former ideology and realizing the power of applied violence. Angrily hurling the datapad on which he had written his treatise through a public info-screen, Megatron observed the jagged shape of the shattered glass, and later turned it into a [[insignia|symbol]] for his cause. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}}
[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.67|When considering the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, one question remains unanswered. Why am I always pictured with phallic-shaped items in awkward positions?]]
Megatron's samizdat writings began to circulate in Cybertron's underground, spawning the "[[Decepticon]]" movement, its name derived from its own slogan, "You are being deceived", warning the common 'bot of the Senate's true nature. Knowing that, at this stage, assassinating Megatron would merely make him a martyr, the Senate instead elected to relocate him off-planet, reassigning him to a mining facility on the world of [[Messatine]] while they tried their own schemes to defuse the growing Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} It was there that Megatron met [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly fellow miner who encouraged him to keep writing, and who, in addition to proofreading his works for him, smuggled each new tract back to Cybertron, helping to continue the spread of the Decepticon movement. When Terminus was maimed in a mining accident and had his fuel rations cut off, Megatron kept him alive by sharing his own [[energon]] with the old 'bot. Eventually, Senate agents [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] were dispatched to Messatine to perform mind-altering [[Shadowplay]] upon Megatron, in order to cut his writings off at the source. Tased into submission and strapped to Trepan's operating table, Megatron was helpless to stop the [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgeon]] from beginning his vile work. Though the arrival of Froid's rival psychopathologist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] fortunately forced Trepan to stop before Megatron's personality was altered, the experience left the miner with a lifelong fear of mnemosurgery. Subsequently, a mysterious surge of energy deep within the mine forced an evacuation of the facility; Megatron raced back to his quarters to carry Terminus to safety, but found his friend was not there. With time running out and no sign of Terminus anywhere, Megatron instead chose to save the stack of datapads containing his unpublished works—a decision that would haunt him. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}
[[File:MegatronOrigin1 first kill.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3]]
Megatron was relocated to [[Mining Outpost C-12]], and continued to seethe with hate and frustration in his new workplace. His discontent reached a peak when, some time later, [[Decimus|Senator Decimus]] arrived to announce that the mine was being automated and the workers would be relocated. When one of the Senator's guards killed a worker for insubordination and claims of Senate corruption, Megatron's fury boiled over and he hurled his pickaxe at Decimus. In turn, he was attacked by the Senator's guard, whom he killed by smashing his head to fragments—the first time he had ever taken a life. A riot erupted around him, but Megatron himself could only sit amongst the chaos, staring at his fuel-stained hands in abject horror, which allowed him to be easily pacified and rounded up with the other miners as the mayhem was quickly suppressed. En route to [[Penal Facility H-3|imprisonment]] back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], however, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] broke free and started a riot aboard [[Longshot (G1)|their ship]]. Megatron joined in their effort, and together, they overpowered their guards, took control of the ship, and disappeared into the [[Kaon]] underground. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}}
[[File:MegsOrigin2 Cykill.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Battle of the Awesome Voices!]]
After evading law enforcement, Megatron joined a team of underworld gladiators under the tutelage of [[Clench (G1)|Clench]]. Initially repulsed by killing his opponents, the games eventually turned him more brutal and excessive, and he took control of the entire operation from Clench. The opportunistic Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], after seeing how much money there was in the underworld matches, covertly sent his agent [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to offer Megatron weaponry and technology to upgrade himself and his comrades. Their meeting was spied upon by [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]], agents from the Senate's forces, who Megatron slew. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} Subsequently, impressed by how he treated his animal-form [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|cassette partners]] as equals (in contradiction to the teachings of his Senate masters), Megatron invited Soundwave back to the gladiator pits and gave him permission to use his mind-reading abilities on him. Within Megatron's mind, Soundwave saw his honest desire for all Cybertronians to be true equals, and was so moved by it that he joined Megatron's cause. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

Gradually, Megatron used the gladiatorial games to drum up an army of violent malcontents, sending Soundwave to recruit more and more warriors to his cause. Such recruits included [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who he was presented with while having an arm he lost in a brawl replaced with a new limb that incorporated an [[energon mace]], {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} and the disenfranchised warrior [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], who was personally asked by Megatron to fight at his side when he attended a Decepticon rally, and whom Megatron rechristened "Deadlock," {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} and transformed into a capable Decepticon warrior. {{Storylink|Drift issue 3|Drift #3}} Seeking to enhance his army even further, Megatron reached out to [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]], offering to supply him the resources he required to carry out his own mysterious experiments in exchange for his using the teachings of his lost mentor [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] to create a [[combiner]] that would serve the Decepticons. Shockwave cautioned that it could take some time, but Megatron was content to wait. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|You should have gone to IKEA.]]
Despite all his efforts, Megatron believed that the Senate was still not taking the Decepticons seriously, so Soundwave formulated a plan for a declaration of intent that could be not denied: lure the Senate to Kaon and murder them. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}} In preparation for this scheme, Megatron offered to restore Shockwave's lost hands—a victim of [[empurata]]—believing that doing so might speed his work. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} The following day, in accordance with Soundwave's plan, Megatron and the Decepticons allowed themselves to be arrested by Sentinel Prime's men, after which Soundwave was freed on Ratbat's orders, while Starscream would ensure his own release by pretending to defect. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} Together, Soundwave and Starscream exterminated the entire Senate, then liberated Megatron and the rest of their comrades, in the process granting their leader the gift of a [[fusion cannon]] liberated from the Senate forces' armory. Megatron led his army against Sentinel Prime's men, killed Sentinel himself, and took control of Kaon, now ready to turn his insurgency into a full-blown war. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

===Early days of war===

Megatron formally declared war on "[[Declaration Day]]" when he delivered a stirring speech from [[Nova Point|Nova Peak]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The growing Decepticon forces swiftly spread across six [[Polities of Cybertron|Torus-States]], {{storylink|Parasites}} and to combat them, Cybertron's new leader [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta Prime]] assembled a new military force, the "[[Autobot]]s", led by Megatron's old acquaintance [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]]. Researching his new opposite number, Megatron was intrigued to discover that his now-abandoned treatise had been a source of inspiration for Pax, who had even quoted from it when he confronted the Senate and openly accused them of corruption. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}} Early into the war, [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] would admit to Pax that Megatron talked about him sometimes, when he was tired. When Pax asked what was said, Bludgeon told him that it would make "both of us feel ''uncomfortable''". {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}
[[File:Autocracy4 backroom meeting.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb]]
When Orion Pax came close to Kaon during a mission, Megatron saw it as a chance to speak to him and had his Decepticons bring him in. {{storylink|The Hunt for Soundwave}} Megatron attempted to convince him that Zeta Prime was even worse than he appeared—that he had planned to let Orion die in [[Nyon]] so that he could use his death as pretext to invade the rebel-infested city and drain the citizens of their energon—and proposed they work together against him, but Orion refused to hear him and then escaped. Knowing the doubts he'd placed in his head would only serve to damage the Autobot cause, Megatron let him go. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}}
[[File:Autocracy8 megs and pax together.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"Megatron, let's roll." "What you thinking?" "...Pub?"]]
Megatron continued to keep an eye on Orion Pax's activities, spying on his encounter with the Nyon insurgent [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]]. {{storylink|Ruins}} When Zeta Prime's [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]]s suddenly attacked Nyon, Megatron was surprised by how zealously the new Prime fought against the city's rebels, but his real interest still lay on how Orion would handle the crisis. {{storylink|Purge}} Orion turned on Zeta, who in turn attempted to kill him, prompting Megatron to intervene and force the Prime to retreat. Taking Orion back to Kaon, he again offered that they work together against Zeta's corruption, and this time the Autobot officer accepted. {{storylink|Choices}} As their combined forces invaded the [[Citadel]] in Iacon, Megatron and Orion Pax made their way inside and fought Zeta Prime in person. The battle ended with Megatron killing the Prime with a head shot, and with his objective complete, he then betrayed the injured Orion by shooting him in the back. {{storylink|Overthrown}} This moment lived in infamy as the point at which Megatron revealed his true colors, no longer couched in ideology; {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt}} though curiously, an alternate report incorrectly implied he had assassinated Zeta from afar, sniping him with the rifle alternate mode of [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]. {{storylink|Bullets}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}

[[File:Autocracy12 no you dont megatron.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|I can't be the only one with deja vu here.]]
With Zeta dead, Megatron conquered Iacon and declared himself ruler of Cybertron. His soldiers patrolled the planet's streets to "keep the peace", mostly by hunting down and capturing any remaining Autobots who opposed him. {{storylink|Transformation (issue)|Transformation}} During his rule, Megatron attempted to sway the neutral Hot Rod into joining the Decepticons, but he decided otherwise upon witnessing Megatron ordering the execution of several Autobot prisoners. {{storylink|Rise}} Megatron was shocked to learn that Orion Pax had survived the betrayal and was organizing a rebellion against him under the name "Optimus Prime", and even more shocked that people actually had the courage to listen to him. He wasted no time in striking back against the rebels approaching the Citadel with the full force of his army. {{storylink|Broadcast}} During the battle, Megatron unleashed Zeta Prime's energy-draining [[vamparc ribbon|vamparc annihilator]], but when the gigantic [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] took out the cannon, Megatron fell to the streets and was confronted by Optimus Prime himself. He lost the ensuing [[The Transformers: The Movie|familiar-looking duel]] and was badly wounded after a failed attempt to defeat Prime by holding Hot Rod hostage, forcing him to escape aboard Astrotrain. As he fled, he warned Optimus that he hadn't won, he had only started a war unlike any Cybertron had ever seen. {{storylink|Endgame}}

[[File:Monstrosity3 Megatron and Pentius.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron insists on wearing his Darksiders cosplay when he's walking his pet Quintesson.]]
Before Megatron could recover from his injuries, he was betrayed by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who was gunning for the position of Decepticon leader (with aid from Starscream, against Megatron's knowledge). As punishment for his failure to hold Iacon, Scorponok banished the wounded Megatron to the hell-world of [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]]. {{storylink|Derelicts}} Further injured in battle with some [[Junkion (species)|cannibalistic natives]], he stubbornly refused to give up and used the trash littering the world to patch himself up, leaving him with a mismatched, monstrous appearance. {{storylink|Wreckage (issue)|Wreckage}} While searching for a way off Junkion, Megatron entered the wreckage of a starship and found a trapped [[Quintesson]] named [[Pentius]], who had mapped the planet and knew of an area known as the [[Pillar of Rust]] where starships may land and take off. Megatron freed the alien to guide him there, while also putting him in chains to serve as his slave. {{storylink|Faces of Darkness}}
[[File:Monstrosity7 megatron takes pentius spark.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|"Thanks for turning me into the psychopath I've been the whole time!"]]
While crossing the [[Acid Sea]] on the way to the Pillar, Megatron was attacked by [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] who pulled him into the depths. {{storylink|Rage (IDW)|Rage}} For reasons unknown he was then released, the creatures having allowed him to live. As he emerged, Pentius was waiting with a history lesson, telling him that Junkion was once a prosperous world until its inhabitants drained it of resources, leaving it the broken husk it is today: a fate that may also await Cybertron. Megatron rejected this possibility, declaring that under his rule, Cybertron—and his legacy—would last forever. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} On arrival at the Pillar of Rust, Megatron was met by the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]], who had come to Junkion to finish what Scorponok had started by killing him. He was able to fight off several of his attackers, but [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gar]] was too much for him to handle in his injured state. Egged on and taunted by Pentius, Megatron realized he had one last resource left to use: the Quintesson himself. Telling Pentius that his legacy would live on within him, he tore out the alien's [[spark]] and used it to fuel himself, granting him enough power to defeat Hun-Gar. He spared the Terrorcons in exchange for their loyalty, then returned to Cybertron on their ship to take revenge on Scorponok and take back control of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Prey (issue)|Prey}}
[[File:Monstrosity12 strange turns.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb]]
Megatron returned to a Cybertron in chaos, as the ancient reptilian [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] had been unleashed by Scorponok and was in the midst of razing Iacon. After reasserting his leadership of the Decepticons by beating Scorponok nearly to death, he had Shockwave restore his body to it original shape and condition, {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} and set out to investigate the Trypticon situation alone, unwilling to risk his soldiers in the face of the beast's uncontrolled fury. Finding an injured Optimus Prime on the battlefield, Megatron lectured him, but opted to leave him alive so that he could watch as the Decepticon leader defeated the enemy that Prime could not. Megatron was attacked by [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], but as they grappled, they were swallowed by Trypticon. {{storylink|Annihilation}} Within the giant, the pair set their differences aside to fend off the [[cyber-morphic predator]]s that populated his interior, and together, they destroyed Trypticon's internal power cell, taking him offline. A tense standoff between the Autobots and Decepticons followed as the two warriors emerged from within Trypticon, but both sides agreed to go their separate ways for the time being. Not long after the battle, however, Megatron removed Pentius's spark from within himself and installed it within Trypticon. {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}}
[[File:Primacy4 megatron imprisoned.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]

After being fully repaired following his ordeals, Megatron roused Trypticon by exploiting the connection they now shared thanks to both having borne Pentius's spark. Discovering that Trypticon now possessed the consciousness of Pentius, Megatron was immediately suspicious of the Quintesson's potential treachery and was staggered by the visions of undiluted evil he saw in the aliens' past via their spark-link, but Trypticon assured him that he was dedicated to their shared goal of breaking a world. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}} Using Trypticon's city-ship alternate mode, Megatron took to the stars, rounding up the scattered Decepticon army and even recruiting Junkions and Sharkticons. {{storylink|Primacy issue 2|Primacy #2}} Returning to Cybertron in force, Megatron was content to wait and watch from the sidelines while his troops viciously tore into Iacon. Trypticon was defeated in battle by Metroplex, at which point Megatron's folly was revealed: through their link, Pentius mockingly revealed his intention to use Trypticon consume Cybertron once the Autobots and Decepticons had weakened each other. {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} Leaving his men with orders to burn Iacon to the ground if he failed in order to spare it such a fate, Megatron set off for Trypticon's fallen body in hopes that he would be able to remove Pentius's spark before the giant revived. Confronted atop Trypticon by Optimus Prime, Megatron tried to goad the Autobot leader into destroying him, believing that Pentius would be destroyed with him thanks to their link. Refusing to accept death as the answer, Optimus instead used the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to purify Megatron, burning Pentius's spark away; Megatron, however, vowed that he would never stop hating Optimus in spite of what he had done for him. Sadly resigned to the fact that the once-noble revolutionary he had admired was now lost, Optimus knocked out the weakened Megatron and took him into custody. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}
{{-}}

===The spreading conflict===
[[File:MTMTE14 megatron vs overlord.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]

Escaping Autobot custody under as-yet-unrevealed circumstances, Megatron continued to wage the war. Early in the continuing conflict, he wrote ''[[Towards Peace]]'', a new treatise to replace ''After the Ark'', in which he described continuing to fight the war until the very notion of conflict was literally inconceivable. Then and only then would he finally give up his fusion cannon. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The earliest edition of the work featured a dedication to Terminus, which Megatron would later remove to reflect the lesson his friendship with Terminus had taught him: not to get attached. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} He oversaw the creation of a class of super-warriors known as the [[Warriors Elite]], selecting only his most powerful troops to undergo the torturous upgrade, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]], a brilliant sadist and frequent opponent of his from his pit-fighting days who had developed an obsession with Megatron after the Decepticon leader dealt him his first ever defeat. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} At some point, he also created the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to deal with traitors, {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} though he elected not to send them after Deadlock when he defected, valuing the warrior enough to instead dispatch [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] to bring him in. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}}
[[File:ChaosTheory prime vs megatron montage.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Good times, bad times.]]
Megatron would personally clash with Optimus Prime many times; Optimus grew to respect and fear Megatron as a calm, calculating and measured opponent, while Megatron himself respected Prime's sheer power and his skill as a tactician and as a leader. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} Megatron would later incorrectly recall their battle on [[Sherma Bridge]] during the [[Rorsha Campaign]] as the first time they met. Said battle was certainly momentous—every Autobot and Decepticon stopped fighting to witness their duel, during which Megatron's cannon arm was sliced off by Prime's [[energon-axe]], and he claimed revenge by throwing the Autobot leader off the bridge. As the war spread to other planets, they would meet again and again: during the [[Siege of Massunstrad]], Megatron sealed Prime in an anti-matter chamber; on [[Rada Mor]], Prime reduced Megatron to ashes with sentient explosives; and in the midst of the [[Vorsk Offensive]], Megatron was nearly sliced in half by Prime. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Though he resisted [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]'s attempts to find a "Two City-State Solution" to the war, he did agree to abide by the [[Tyrest Accord]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}}

Megatron took on a new pistol alternate mode for the [[Battle for Hell's Point]], during which he was used by [[Heretech]] to blast [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} During the same skirmish, Megatron took off half of Prime's face with his energon mace, but had a city block dropped on him by Prime in retribution, which shattered his [[transformation cog]] and trapped him in gun mode for two years. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Prime was not the only old face that Megatron would see again during the war: during a battle on an aerial drilling platform over the [[Manganese Mountains]], Megatron came face-to-face with his old friend Impactor, and stood poised to execute him until Impactor gave him a moment's pause by recalling his old fondness for poetry. In this moment, Megatron was knocked from the platform by [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and sent plummeting to the mountains below. {{storylink|Zero Point}}
[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2-teleconference.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|"We attack the Rice Krispies guys at dawn! Assuming Judd Hirsch delivers the goods."]]
At the war's zenith, Megatron sealed himself in an [[Omniglobe]] to absorb the relentless flood of data coming in from countless fronts. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} With total war going nowhere, he would go on to develop a six-stage [[infiltration protocol]] to be used for conquering targeted planets. The sixth phase called for outright planetary razing, and Megatron selected three of his Warriors Elite for this task: [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}}, Overlord and [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]]. He informed this trio of his decision via teleconference, but Overlord, tired of being used as someone else's weapon, refused. Megatron threatened to hunt Overlord down for his disobedience, {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} but while the powerful warrior spent the rest of his life preparing for this conflict, Megatron never followed up and left him to stew in his own obsession. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}
[[File:Stormbringer1 get up and fight.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|You don't gotta go home Prime but you can't stay here.]]
Deducing that the Autobot/Decepticon war would culminate in an energy crisis that would threatened the stability of Cybertron itself, Shockwave left Cybertron to secretly pursue alternate energy sources. Around 10,000 years ago, when Shockwave did not return, Megatron ordered Bludgeon to investigate his files, {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} secretly assigning Soundwave to investigate Bludgeon {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} and probe deeper into whatever it was Shockwave had created. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Shockwave's prediction soon proved accurate, and Cybertron found itself in the throes of an energy shortage. Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] came to Megatron with a revolutionary, controversial plan to stave off this energy death by [[Pretender|polydermal grafting]], a process where they encased themselves in "symbiotic carapaces", or shells created from living tissue. When Megatron dismissed him angrily and cut him down, Thunderwing did not abandon his research; instead, he experimented on himself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The process gave him immense power, but drove him insane. He became so dangerous that Megatron had to join forces with Optimus Prime to stop him. This battle at [[Thunderhead Pass]] accelerated the apocalypse destined to befall Cybertron, leaving it an uninhabitable, radioactive husk and forcing both armies to continue their war on other worlds. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Megatron advocated that they simply destroy Cybertron to ensure that Thunderwing was destroyed, but Prime refused, and threatened to stop Megatron if he tried. Megatron agreed not to destroy the planet, but warned Prime that whatever happened was on his head. Shortly after the last big push by the Decepticons, Cybertron was abandoned by both factions. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #2}}

===Breaking protocol===
[[File:Infiltration4 enter megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|left|thumb]]
In the present day, when word reached Megatron that the infiltration unit led by [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], stationed on the planet [[Earth]], had broken protocol, he headed for the planet to investigate. Examining the unit's abandoned bunker in [[Nebraska]] for information, he discovered that Starscream had stumbled across [[Ore-13]]—an incredible energy source that (unbeknownst to Megatron) was the end result of Shockwave's experiments—and was planning to use it to usurp Megatron's command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} While studying the bunker's files, he was contacted by [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] with some distressing news: Bludgeon's investigations of Shockwave's files had led him to revive Thunderwing. Megatron ordered the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] to Cybertron, authorizing them to do whatever was necessary to destroy Thunderwing, including the destruction of their homeworld itself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Just as he was handing down this order, Megatron was happened upon by [[Verity Carlo]], a human ally of the Autobot unit active on the planet, {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} but he utterly ignored her. The bunker was then leveled by an airstrike courtesy of [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who were merely covering their unit's tracks and unaware of Megatron's presence; when their leader furiously emerged from the wreckage, Skywarp attempted to explain their ignorance, but Megatron simply responded by blasting him out of the sky. Blitzwing favored opening fire rather than attempting explanations, so Megatron beat the stuffing out of him too, then set off for Starscream's new bunker in [[Oregon]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 5|Infiltration #5}}

[[File:Infiltration6 takeyourpunishment.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Those librarians are getting really strict on late returns.]]

{{quote|You will stand down. If you fight, you ''die''. There is no room anymore for mercy. In the end, you are ''all'' expendable. Choose.|Megatron's ultimatum to Starscream's renegade troops|[[Infiltration issue 6|''Infiltration'' #6]]}}

[[Orbital jump]]ing to Oregon, Megatron called Starscream out and ordered the team to stand down, disgusted to see such power games being played amongst his troops. His brief, chilling speech was enough to take the fight out of all but Starscream, who, powered-up on Ore-13, took Megatron on himself. Though the new power source made Starscream a formidable adversary, Megatron was still more deadly than he, and Starscream was taken out by a point-blank fusion cannon blast through his torso. Megatron ordered the Decepticons to ensure that Starscream survived, and then, observing the Autobots who had been watching the battle, announced that it was time to begin phase two. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

In light of the discovery of Ore-13, Megatron took stock of Starscream's progress on Earth and elected to get the infiltration protocol back on track himself, calling a meeting to make Starscream's former troops and making them aware, in no uncertain terms, that any further insurrections would be met with deadly force. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} He continued to order his troops on Earth directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} and was even able to revisit his past gun alternate mode, once again able to achieve the [[size changing|mass displacement]] the mode required thanks to the extra energy Ore-13 provided. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb]]
With his forces joined by [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]], a new arrival who Megatron suspected of having ulterior motives, {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} the Decepticon leader initiated phase two of infiltration protocol by destabilizing relations between the European nations of [[Latveria]] and [[Symkaria]] through use of an aggression-inducing [[Psycho-Prism]], stolen from Latverian dictator [[Doctor Doom]]. When the superhero team known as the [[Avengers]] investigated the array the Decepticons' were using to broadcast the prism's signal, Megatron abducted the arachnid-powered [[Spider-Man]] to use as a subject for their [[mirror response mode]], {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One|Man and Machine #1}} draining the hero's powers and infusing himself and the other Decepticons with them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} He proceeded to forge a brief alliance with Doctor Doom, who helped him defeat and capture the allied Autobot/Avenger team who snuck inside the Decepticons' array, but when Doom's suggestion to threaten the captives in order to force the other heroes to lay down their arms failed, Megatron violently dissolved the partnership. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Three|Man and Machine #3}} Emerging from the confines of the array to take on the Autobots and Avengers himself, Megatron refrained from engaging Prime, foreseeing a more intimate confrontation between the two of them in the near future, and instead turned his attention to destroying [[Iron Man]]'s Transformer-sized armor. The tables soon turned, however, when Doctor Doom freed the captive Autobots and used the Decepticon's mirror response technology to empower them. Defeated by these enhanced Autobots and with the Psycho-Prism destroyed by [[Wolverine (superhero)|Wolverine]], Megatron used the last of his extra power to teleport the Decepticons out with an [[emergency warp-out]]. He refrained from departing alongside his warriors, intending to slaughter the Avengers for their interference, but when he was immobilized by Spider-Man's webbing, knocked to the ground by [[Luke Cage]], and rattled by a hail of Autobot fire, he finally warped-out with a final taunt to Optimus Prime of the battle yet to come between them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Four|Man and Machine #4}}
[[File:Massdisplacement.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb]]
With phase two of [[infiltration protocol]] properly underway, Megatron recognized that he ''should'' rightly withdraw and install a new unit commander on Earth, but could not resist the chance to try out his new Ore-13 empowered body, selecting the nation of [[Brasnya]], where Decepticon subterfuge was already underway, as his testing ground. {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} Allowing the Decepticon's [[facsimile construct]] [[Georgi Koska]] to wield him in pistol mode, Megatron had Koska use him to first sever a [[Russia]]n oil pipeline, and then to fire upon the soldiers who came to investigate, furthering the political and military tensions already brewing in the region. When word came through from Blitzwing that Optimus Prime and the Autobots had arrived, {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} Megatron at last engaged Optimus directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}} and although Prime was able to destroy his fusion cannon, the extra strength afforded Megatron by Ore-13 allowed him to physically beat Prime into submission, punching directly into his chest and crushing his [[spark]]. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} [[File:Escalation5 prime vs megs.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]] The horrified Autobots moved into a full but ineffective counterattack, their only edge being that Megatron had no long-range guns left. It turned out that Prime's apparent death was a desperate ruse when the Autobot leader countered with a surprise attack on Megatron, able to exploit Ore-13's weakness—the more it's used, the faster it burns itself out. Megatron almost collapsed from power loss and was forced to have Skywarp take him to safety before the Autobots could kill him. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Furious over the embarrassing defeat, Megatron threw protocol out the window and ordered that Sixshot be summoned to the planet. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}} He took out some of his anger on Ramjet, who he discovered had been busy cooking up a plot to overthrow him; without saying a word, he beat the attempted traitor to death before tearing him apart and keeping his head as a trophy. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}
[[File:Devastation5 decepticons attack.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Upon Sixshot's arrival, Megatron ordered him to utterly destroy the Autobots, and although the [[Phase Sixer]] questioned his early deployment, he was happy to go along with the abandonment of the phase structure. The other Decepticons, on the other hand, were worried that Megatron was losing his grip—and since they were too scared to tell him that, they decided to revive Starscream to do it for them. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}} {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}} Megatron monitored Sixshot's attack on the Autobots' [[Ark-19]], ordering him to pursue the escape pod that broke away from the crashing craft, {{storylink|Devastation issue 2|Devastation #2}} but before he could obliterate the Autobots, Megatron was forced to recall him to deal with a new threat assaulting the Decepticon base—the alien [[Reaper]]s. {{storylink|Devastation issue 4|Devastation #4}} Unfortunately, the Reapers convinced Sixshot to side with them, and when an Ore-13 powered Starscream entered the fray to take Sixshot down, Megatron realized his troops had been conspiring against him. He decided not to punish them '''yet''', due to greater threat posed by the Reapers, {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} and entered battle alongside them all, even allowing Starscream to wield him in pistol mode against the aliens. After the invaders were dead, however, he turned on his men, starting with Blitzwing—but was forced to realize that they needed to remain united when it became apparent that their battle with the Reapers had made humanity inescapably aware of their existence {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}
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===All Hail Megatron===
[[File:AHM7 megs rips out matrix.jpg|upright=1.1|left|thumb|"I don't think I'd have made a good medic. No patience."]]
While the Decepticons were occupied fighting the Reapers, the Autobots had left Earth to deal with the greater threat of an incursion by the [[Dead Universe]]. Exploiting their enemies' absence, Megatron and his men went to ground; when Autobots returned, they could find no trace of the Decepticons, who kept one step ahead of them for months. Secretly abducting [[Hunter O'Nion]], former [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] partner to the Autobot [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], Megatron and his men returned to Cybertron, where Megatron had [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] conduct experiments that bred a [[Insecticon swarm|swarm]] of monstrous [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]]. The experiments culminated in the creation of [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], who Megatron employed in a series of key tasks in his plan: the Insecticon obtained from Hunter's mind various Autobot secrets and codes, completed Shockwave's long-gestating combiner process, granting the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] the ability to combine into [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], and created a working [[space bridge]] {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} based on designs sold to them by Sixshot in exchange for his freedom. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}}

Returning to Earth, the Decepticons staged a phony schism within their ranks, allowing the Autobots to believe that they had "disappeared" as a result of a power struggle that had split their ranks into two camps, one led by Megatron and one by Starscream. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} Starscream then approached Sunstreaker, whose experience has a Headmaster had left him bitter and jaded, with the proposition that the Autobots join with his forces against Megatron, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}} but when the Autobots arrived at the designated time and place, they were instead confronted by the united Decepticon army and quickly defeated by Devastator. After personally tearing [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Optimus Prime's chest, Megatron marched the captive Autobots through the space bridge back to Cybertron, where the Insecticon swarm waited for them. Prime, however, was able to damage the bridge, causing it to deposit the Autobots a safe distance from the swarm, but in the process, fried his own circuits and left himself comatose. Though the Autobots had escaped the fate he had intended for them, Megatron had successfully exiled his enemies to their dead homeworld; moreover, using information and codes gained from Sunstreaker and Hunter, he concurrently orchestrated the event that would later be known as [[Surge (event)|The Surge]], as Decepticons stormed Autobot installations all across the galaxy, achieving total victory. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

[[File:Bringingthehousedown.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Megatron's urban renewal program was off to a flying start.]]
With galaxy-wide domination accomplished, one year after the Decepticons' battle with the Reapers, Megatron chose Earth to become the new Decepticon homeworld. Together with his men, Megatron stormed [[New York City]], humiliating Starscream with a display of his greater capacity for destruction. When the US Air Force retaliated, Megatron shrugged off their fire and ordered the other Decepticons to engage them; when one damaged jet threw itself toward him in a suicide run, Megatron, outraged at the [[DJ (G1)|pilot]]'s temerity, destroyed it and its occupant with a furious swipe of his hand. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} When US Army forces arrived, Megatron ordered [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] dispatched to deal with them, then sent Devastator to destroy the subway tunnels leading out of the city. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} With New York secured, Megatron directed the Constructicons to begin building a new space bridge in the city's heart, and had a candid talk with Starscream, revealing his belief that the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]]'s attitude and actions marked him as the embodiment of the Decepticon cause, even if he was blind to seeing it himself. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} After a series of further attacks on major American cities saw the country firmly crushed under the Decepticons' collective heel, Megatron made a propaganda speech to his men in the ruins of New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} As night fell upon the city, Megatron withdrew to privately gloat over the Matrix. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

[[File:AHM6MegatronVsIsrael.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb]]
As the Decepticons began attacking other countries around the globe, Megatron was questioned by Starscream on what the next step in his plan was. A recalcitrant Megatron merely informed him that it was merely time to savor their victory, but Starscream accused him of not ''having'' any plans post-victory, and was merely allowing his men to run wild to distract them from any notion of taking power for themselves. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} What Starscream did not realize was that Megatron did indeed have a plan: to defeat the Autobots, he had created an army of killers and monsters, but in order to create his perfect rule, that army would have to be destroyed, the dissenting, distasteful elements obliterated before Megatron's peace could dawn. Megatron was not distracting his warriors... he was ''waiting'' to see which of them would question and turn on him. Silently sorrowful to already know that such dissent would begin with Starscream, an otherwise-model Decepticon, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} Megatron withdrew to [[Israel]] for some silent reflection amid wholesale devastation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}}

[[File:AHM10 megs vs devastator.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Some time later, Megatron surveyed the space bridge Bombshell and the Constructicons had built in New York. He congratulated Bombshell on his work, but revealed that he had always foreseen Bombshell's intellect as a danger—had always known he and his fellow Insecticons would side with Starscream when the time came. His gambit exposed, Starscream made his move and attacked, but the Insecticons proved no match for Megatron's might. The Decepticon leader had failed to anticipate one thing, however: he did not foresee the Constructicons siding with Starscream, and found himself having to fight the mighty Devastator. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} The in-fighting was halted by a last-ditch attack by the mustered might of what remained of the human resistance, forcing Megatron and Starscream to put their differences aside momentarily and organize a defense. This attack came as no surprise to Megatron, but the same could not be said for the next entrants onto the battlefield: the Autobots had returned.

After assuring Starscream that he would be leader in the future, when his time was done, Megatron confronted Optimus Prime, surprised not so much that his old foe had survived, but that he had bothered to return to Earth. Both leaders had always maintained a policy of acceptable losses through their millennia-long war, so Megatron assumed Prime had come back for selfish reasons, to reclaim the Matrix, but Prime insisted that he had changed, and would no longer allow their cold war to endanger innocent lives on this scale. [[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66]] Megatron scoffed at the notion, reavling that Prime's supposedly "innocent" humans were planning to nuke New York, killing millions of their own just to get rid of the Decepticons, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} but Prime retorted that it wasn't ''just'' about the humans, but also about the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. The two came to blows, but Megatron triumphed in short order and commanded the Decepticons to depart, leaving the Autobots to be killed by the humans' nuke... but just before they withdrew, he was shot in the face by human soldier [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], wielding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Cybertronian technology. Injured and disoriented by the blast, Megatron was finished off when Prime smashed his face in with his own fusion cannon. As he wanted to ''take'' leadership rather than just have it fall in his hands, Starscream picked up his damaged leader and ordered the Decepticons to retreat. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[File:AllHisEngines-Megatron.jpg|thumb|Pretty sure when you float in a bacta tank you're supposed to be wearing a diaper.]]
The Decepticons departed Earth aboard Astrotrain, where the gravely wounded Megatron was put on life support and tended to by Soundwave and his cassettes. With Megatron's life signs only at ten percent capacity, Starscream attempted to appeal to Soundwave's sense of logic and have him shut down so that leadership could be his, but Soundwave refused. Starscream was soon able to take command, however, when he recovered the Matrix of Leadership and professed to have been chosen by it. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

===New body, new powers===
The Decepticons eventually settled on a desolate asteroid, where Megatron was installed in a [[CR chamber|CR tank]]. Retaining some level of awareness of the events occurring around him during his convalescence, he was forced to watch as his army languished in inactivity, their energy slowly ebbing away until they were reduced to cannibalism. {{storylink|All His Engines}} After a year of trying to free his leader from this living death, Soundwave was finally forced to conclude that Megatron's body was beyond repair, and recruited the recently returned Shockwave, whom Starscream had provided with the majority of the Decepticons' resources to create a space bridge, to help build a new body for Megatron's consciousness to inhabit. The operation succeeded and Megatron was reborn in a deadly new body, powered by Ore-13, armed with a devastatingly powerful rail gun, and even equipped with space bridge nodes stolen from Metroplex, which gave him the ability to open space bridge portals on his own. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing15 megatrons new body.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"Uh, it's like...did anyone ever see the movie ''Tron''?"]]
Back in action, Megatron devised a plan to destabilize the relationship between the humans and Autobots on Earth. Together with Soundwave and Shockwave, he chopped up his old body and used it to create human-scaled replicas of his former gun mode, containing small pieces of his own consciousness. When Starscream caught them in the act, Megatron elected to table his plan for the moment, as he considered it folly to go against Starscream's wishes for the moment since the Seeker was still in possession of the Matrix of Leadership. Megatron had never truly understood what the talisman ''did'', but it served as a threat merely by being an unknown variable. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Fortunately, for Megatron this variable was soon removed from the equation when Hot Rod, estranged from the Earthbound Autobots, infiltrated the Decepticons' asteroid base and recovered the Matrix from Starscream. Megatron seized his chance, intercepting the Autobot and blasting him and the Matrix out into the void of space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

[[File:SLMegatron stealth bomber mode.jpg|thumb|275px|Behold... the ''Bomberang!'']]
With Starscream's trump card now gone, Megatron had the Decepticons gathered so he could address them. Distrustful of Shockwave's motives for preparing his new body, wary of Soundwave's constant surveillance, and repulsed by the state of his once fearsome Decepticon war machine, Megatron decided that he needed to unequivocally reestablish dominance over the now Matrix-less Starscream. He intended to beat Starscream near to death as a means of letting them both work out their frustrations with Starscream's inability to lead effectively during Megatron's absence, but Starscream did not want to fight—spiritually broken by his failures, he simply wanted Megatron to kill him. Rather than accept this, Megatron instead goaded Starscream into opening fire upon him. This began a running battle between the two, with Megatron pursuing the fleeing Seeker in his new stealth bomber alternate mode, continuing to bait Starscream every time he appeared willing to give up the fight. Incensed by Starscream's accusation that he did not know what it felt like to see everything he had worked for fall apart, when that was exactly what Starscream's pitiful leadership had done to the empire he had created, Megatron pummeled him to within an inch of his life, then paused to explain why he kept a schemer like Starscream around: as a constant reminder to watch his back. The brutal display galvanized the languid Decepticons, and Megatron was ready to begin his scheme. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing14 megatron guns.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|Megatron doesn't support the NRA. He IS the NRA.]]
Roughly two years after the Decepticons' defeat on Earth, Megatron used his space bridge powers to dispatch a container full of the guns made from his old body to Earth, where they were found by South American gun-runners and illegally disseminated amongst an increasingly paranoid public seeking ways to protect themselves against Transformers. This allowed Megatron's consciousness to spread across North America, until it was focused enough to contact one particular owner of a Megatron gun: [[Joe Gladki]]. He deceived and manipulated the paranoid human, and eventually convinced him to perform an assassination attempt on [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} In their ignorance, the Autobots then mistook Gladki's gun for Megatron himself and held it captive. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}}

[[File:IDWongoing16 megatron vs autobots.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Not the [[Realignments|first time]] he's traded his [[fusion cannon]] for a [[rail gun]].]]
With the Autobots in chaos, Megatron started the next phase of his plan and returned to Earth personally, where he used his new stealth bomber mode to shoot down a plane carrying Optimus Prime and several other Autobots. He then hunted down the remaining Autobots, effortlessly defeating them and their new temporary leader Ultra Magnus with his powerful new body, and killing some of their [[Skywatch]] allies. Magnus tried to draw Megatron's attention from the humans, claiming the Autobots were the ones he really wanted, but Megatron assured him that humanity was his real target. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}} Taking the defeated Autobots captive, Megatron dumped them in a city and directed three of his mind-controlled human puppets to kill them. Contacting Prime directly, Megatron summoned him to the city's outskirts and revealed his plan: crush Prime's spirit and destroy the Autobots' alliance with humanity by forcing them to choose between fighting the humans or allowing them to kill them. Prime found the hole in Megatron's plan, however, when he realized that Soundwave was maintaining the connection between Megatron and his guns, and shot him in the head. His connection to his pawns severed, Megatron scooped up Soundwave and withdrew. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} Thanks to a tracker Ultra Magnus had slipped on Soundwave, though, Prime was able to follow the Decepticons to their bolthole and called Megatron out for a full and proper confrontation. In actuality, Prime had lured Megatron outside so Skywatch could drop a [[kinetic harpoon]] on him, but even a weapon dropped from orbit barely proved able to put a scratch in Megatron's mighty new exostructure. Megatron proceeded to beat Prime senseless, but then returned him to the Autobots, and to their great shock, surrendered to their custody. After recovering, Optimus demanded to know why he had surrendered, but Megatron merely taunted him by revealing that Spike Witwicky had murdered a Decepticon in cold blood. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}} Prime immediately had Prowl begin investigating Spike and Skywatch, and Prowl interrogated the Decepticon leader for information, which he provided after a little verbal sparring. {{storylink|Police Action: Prologue}}

[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron imprisoned.jpg|upright=1.5|left|thumb|Megatron and Optimus Prime can't agree on a safe word.]]
When Rodimus returned to Earth and warned the Autobots that [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] had taken control of Cybertron, Optimus decided to lead the Autobots in reclaiming their homeworld. In the name of Earth's safety, he elected to bring Megatron and the confiscated guns made from his old body with them. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}} On the way to Cybertron aboard [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Prime again attempted to discern why Megatron had surrendered, even releasing his old foe from his bonds and having a civil conversation with him about their past together and their dueling ideologies. Optimus tried to reach out to Megatron, offering him the chance to end the war once and for all with a handshake; Megatron appeared to consider it for a moment but ultimately remained silent. With Megatron returned to the confines of the [[variable voltage harness]], the other Autobots pressured Optimus for a decision on his fate: execution or imprisonment. Trying to come to a conclusion, Prime asked Megatron if he regretted any of his actions, but the Decepticon leader remarked that he only regretted not killing ''more'' Autobots. He taunted Prime with the notion that even he was thankful for the war, as it had raised him from a nobody to the greatest Autobot in history, and a furious Prime activated the harness, electrocuting Megatron. The jolt would have killed Megatron if Omega Supreme had not cut the power in time and Megatron, struggling to stay conscious, offered Prime his thanks for saving his life all those years ago in Rodion. Shocked by his actions, Prime realized that Megatron wanted to die and wanted Prime to be the one to kill him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Eventually, Prime decided to let Megatron choose his own fate, and Megatron calmly replied that he chose death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2|Chaos Theory #2}}

[[File:Chaos2 armored megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|...Again...?]]
As Omega drew close to Cybertron, Megatron demanded to know who or what was threatening their homeworld, but Optimus Prime refused to provde him with any information. {{storylink| Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} The Autobots subsequently engaged Galvatron's forces in battle, and while they were occupied, Megatron put into motion the ace he had up his sleeve: taking remote control of the numerous "Megatron guns" aboard Omega, Megatron summoned them to him and combined with them into a new armored mode. Breaking free from his restraints, he headed out to confront Galvatron, intent that nobody would take his world from him. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}} As he tore through the Sweeps, Megatron also revealed the reason for his surrender: now that he was back on Cybertron, he could open a space bridge that would allow the massed forces of the Decepticons on Earth to return to their home planet as well. Unfortunately, not long after the Decepticons arrived on the battlefield, Galvatron's secret puppet master, the Dead Universe entity known as [[D-Void]], seized control of their minds and those of the Sweeps, merging them into a gigantic, monstrous avatar. With Prime occupied pursuing Galvatron into Cybertron's depths, Megatron was left to face this "[[Deceptigod]]" alone. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} Fighting against D-Void's attempts to ensnare his own mind and make him part of the collective, Megatron was gravely wounded and even lost an arm to the beast, but succeeded into destroying it, blasting it apart with one massive beam from his weapons. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

===The long game===
Even as the Deceptigod disintegrated back into its component Decepticons, Megatron could see the potential the creature embodied—D-Void had, in essence, created the perfect combiner by means of utterly obliterating free will. With Cybertron reverting into a primordial wasteland around him—a result of Optimus Prime purifying [[Vector Sigma]] with the Matrix to stop Galvatron and D-Void—Megatron chose to withdraw to experiment with the possibilities this presented. He informed Shockwave, the sole Decepticon who had not been made part of the Deceptigod, of his plans, and Shockwave in turn revealed them to Soundwave and Bombshell. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} While Megatron hid in the wilderness, his Decepticons were left to live as second-class citizens in the new [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] that the Autobots built; Optimus Prime left Cybertron two weeks after D-Void's defeat to calm tensions with "NAILs"—other unaffiliated Cybertronians—who had returned to their homeworld, but even as he did so, he mused that Megatron must still be out there somewhere. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

[[File:RID11 megatron in wilderness.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Megatron can't find anyone who wants to join his nudist colony to save his skin.]]
In the months of study and experimentation that followed, Megatron discerned that the combination of Ore-13 and space bridge technology in his body somehow gave him the ability to manipulate the natural energy of Cybertron that D-Void had used to merge the Decepticons into the Deceptigod. After experiments on [[turbofox]]es created larger, more ferocious beasts, Megatron stepped up trials when the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] seceded from the shaky government Bumblebee, [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] and Starscream were building in Iacon and ventured into the wilderness. The signal Megatron had created from the combination energy first drove the Aerialbots mad, before uniting them in body and mind, spontaneously merging them into the gestalt [[Superion (G1)|Superion]], but this newborn Autobot combiner was considered hopelessly insane by Megatron and left to die in the wilderness. The madness aspect of the signal afforded him the chance to revive some of the principles of the infiltration protocol, however, as he blanketed the wastelands in it, forcing the Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs to stay in Iacon, causing natural conflict among them to snowball, providing a useful cover for his actions. To gain a pawn within Autobot high command, Megatron even provided Bombshell with the energy to use in conjunction with his own mind-controlling [[cerebro-shell]]s, ensnaring the mind of Prowl. With the resources and cover control of Prowl provided, Shockwave, Soundwave and Bombshell were able to use Megatron's findings to perfect the combination process, rebuilding the Constructicons with new modular designs that would allow them to merge into a perfect Devastator. The endgame was for Megatron himself to form the head of the combiner, but before risking his own mind and body, Megatron decided that Prowl would be used first as a test subject. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}}

[[File:RID12 kill him.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb]]
The appearance of a [[Crystal City Metrotitan|Metrotitan]] on Cybertron which declared that Starscream was the "Chosen One" threatened Megatron's ability to easily re-take leadership of his Decepticons, forcing him to step up his schedule. Through Prowl, he had his inner circle gathered together in the secret "[[Black Room]]", then boldly strode into Iacon for all to see. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} His body shattered and skeletal, he professed to come in peace, but Bumblebee did not accept his surrender and ordered his Autobots to kill him. Indeed, Megatron could possibly have died there and then had Iacon's Decepticons not stepped in, insisting that Megatron's defense of Cybertron during D-Void's attack marked him a hero and that he be taken into custody instead. {{storylink|City on Fire}} After [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] got through examining him to prove his body concealed no weapons, Starscream approached the imprisoned Megatron and attempted to explain that he was not far away from taking complete power in the government, ensuring a Decepticon victory of a different kind. Megatron merely smiled silently at the notion, terrifying his ex-lieutenant with his grin. Presently, the Decepticons rose up in an angry mob and marched on Autobot high command to insist on Megatron's release; the situation quickly devolved into a riot, during which a squad led by [[Needlenose]] stormed the prison and freed Megatron. {{storylink|The Verge}}

[[File:RID14 new body redux.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.55|New body or not, Megatron may want to think twice about standing [[:File:Devastator-ROTFenemyscrotum.jpg|underneath Devastator's legs.]]]]
Megatron brought Starscream and the captured Bumblebee and Metalhawk to the Black Room, where he explained his plans and had himself transferred into a pre-prepared new body that could combine with the Constructicons' new forms. At his command, the Constructicons and Prowl combined into the new Devastator, who immediately set about razing Iacon. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} Even the return of Superion seemed unable to stop the powerful new combiner, until help came from an unexpected quarter—Prowl's secret assassin [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] killed Bombshell, taking out Prowl's controller and causing Devastator to shut down. This was no real impediment to Megatron, however, as the successful function of the new combiner process has been proven, and he set out to take ''his'' place as Devastator's head. Before Megatron could reach the fallen gestalt, though, Devastator awoke, possessed of his own unique, unite consciousness for the first time, and resumed tearing into Iacon. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}}

[[File:RID20 megatron in forcefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|You know you can't catch a break when you find yourself trapped inside a novelty plasma lamp from Spencer's.]]
Still Megatron remained unfazed, calmly fending off Autobot attacks and waiting for the inevitable moment when the heroes would take Devastator down. When [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] succeeded in doing so by managing to reach Prowl, Devastator separated, and Megatron immediately stepped in, re-initiation the combination with himself in control. Seconds before uniting with the Constructicons, though, his plan was foiled by Bumblebee, Ironhide and Prowl's activation of a secret failsafe: Wheeljack had integrated a forcefield generator into Megatron's spark casing during his examination of him, and when it was triggered, he was completely paralyzed in mid-transformation. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head}}

In the fallout of the battle, Starscream killed Metalhawk, took control of Iacon and banished the Autobots and Decepticons from the city. He took custody of the immobilized Megatron, and silently gloated over the victory he had accomplished by using guile and politics, rather than Megatron's ways of brute force and firepower. {{storylink|Three Monologues}}

===A new approach===
Megatron would not remain incapacitated for long. That night, as the end result of millennia-long secret machinations by Shockwave, an [[Necrotitan|undead Metrotitan]] appeared on Cybertron and opened a portal to the Dead Universe in the planet's skies. Through the portal, Shockwave made contact with Galvatron and his master, the exiled Cybertron despot [[Nova Prime]], but was unable to bring them through to Cybertron thanks to the unexpected disappearance of the Titan's space bridge system. Intending to use the space bridge within Megatron as a replacement, {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} Shockwave reanimated the deceased Metalhawk with a wave of necrotic energy from the Titan and him liberate Megatron and bring him to his secret lab in [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:RID24 i remember you.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Somewhere in the multiverse, [[Override (G1)|Override]] and [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] are smiling.]]
Shockwave hoped that Megatron would comply with his plans willingly, but the Decepticon leader refused and Shockwave forcibly activated the space bridge technology in Megatron's body. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The opening of the bridge in his chest caused Megatron agony, but his screams were heard by Soundwave, who led the united forces of the exiled Autobots and Decepticons to Shockwave's lab to free his leader. Nova Prime and Galvatron attempted to squeeze their way through the space bridge despite this interference, but Ironhide was able to punch Nova back through into the Dead Universe. Just then, Shockwave's "Necrotitan" came crashing into the subterranean city, and in the chaos, Megatron was freed from the restraints holding him. No sooner had Megatron carried Ironhide to the safe hands of the other Autobots, however, than he was ripped in half from behind by Galvatron, who had successfully emerged through the portal {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}} — a briefer battle, no doubt, than the one Shockwave had forseen between the pair in a vision at the outset of his scheme. {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}}

[[File:MTMTE26 megs and bee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|I smell a sitcom!]]
After the battle was over, Galvatron and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] lugged Megatron's bisected remains back into Crystal City, only to find their way barred by the unlikely form of Bumblebee, who demanded they hand Megatron over. Galvatron attacked the Autobot, at which point Megatron revealed that he was fine, as he took down Waspinator and knocked Galvatron out with a barrage of fusion cannon fire. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Bumblebee lugged Megatron back to Iacon, currently being razed by the Necrotitan, where the Decepticon leader announced to the assembled Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs his plan to withdraw to [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]], summon the Decepticon Justice Division and other scattered troops, and strike back. Bumblebee rejected Megatron's notion of retreating, and struck a nerve within him by questioning his entire philosophy: Megatron had ''long'' ago abandoned any notion of fighting for freedom and equality, Bumblebee attested, and merely used the claim to ideology as an excuse for his actions. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} Fortunately, fighting back suddenly got a lot easier when Metroplex and the ''[[Lost Light]]'' space-bridged to Cybertron. During the battle between the Titans, Megatron observed Metroplex reaching for the ''Lost Light''; when the ship's crew explained that they had Metroplex's severed thumb aboard, Megatron had Bumblebee carry him to it, whereupon he realized that the thumb contained one of Shockwave's [[Regenesis]] ores. Megatron used his internal space bridge to teleport the thumb back to Metroplex, and the ore provided the giant with the power boost to defeat the Necrotitan. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|ಠ_ಠ]]
At Bumblebee's order and under protest, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] repaired Megatron's injuries and reattached his legs, reminding Megatron of his desire in youth to be a medic. His recent string of failures, the success of ''Starscream'', of all 'bots, and Bumblebee's stinging words had turned the Decepticon leader introspective, and he realized he had forgotten something very important that had driven his writings in his early years: winning meant turning people to your way of thinking, not dominating them. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} Subsequently, when Shockwave initiated his millennia-long plan to collapse all reality into a universal black hole, Megatron placed himself and the Decepticons under Bumblebee's command to co-ordinate a counter-strike, and journeyed with his uneasy new "friend" into Shockwave's [[Crystal City]] base to confront their shared enemy. There, they found the weakened Galvatron, who Megatron prepared to destroy for past indignities, until Bumblebee talked him down, convincing him that blood did not have to be repaid with blood. At that moment, Shockwave struck, slaying Bumblebee with a blast, and driving Megatron into a rage. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} Empowered by his various ores and the energy of the Dead Universe, Shockwave was a formidable opponent and it was all Megatron could do to hold his own against him until Optimus Prime arrived to join the fight. Prime attempted to reason with Shockwave and remind him of the kindly senator he had once been, but his words had little effect, so Megatron opted for a more object lesson: removing the fallen Bumblebee's insignia, he placed it upon his chest and declared himself an Autobot. The stunned Shockwave lost control of the time machine powering his plot, causing his old pre-[[Shadowplay]] memories to emerge. Horrified at what he had become, he allowed Megatron and Prime to kill him, which caused the time machine to collapse into a singularity. Megatron and Prime made what seemed to be a futile dash for freedom, but were saved from the singularity's pull at the last moment by the timely arrival of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

===Crimes against the Species===

{{quote|I don't want to be acquitted. I want to '''make amends'''|Megatron on his new goal in life|"[[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide]]"}}
[[File:DCFinale this is not a trick.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95|Optimus apparently decided a sincere Megatron was a cue for mood lighting.]]
In a private meeting between Optimus Prime and Megatron a short time after Shockwave's defeat, Megatron affirmed that his change of heart was genuine, and Optimus assured him that he could see past his wartime deeds and remember the well-intentioned 'bot he had started out as. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} The rest of Cybertron, however, demanded a trial; Autobot High Command agreed, realizing that the Decepticon leader's fate had to be decided in public. Before the trial, Megatron was approached by Optimus, [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] and Rodimus in an attempt to extract some of the Decepticon's memories as evidence in hopes of expediting the proceedings, but a horrified Megatron refused, considering the sanctity of his mind all he had left. After Optimus departed, Rodimus remained to taunt Megatron with the certainty of his execution; in return, the impassive Decepticon simply asked Rodimus to deliver a [[communicube]] to Optimus, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} containing a request to have the trial moved to the [[Raskol Arena]] on Luna 2, in order, he alleged, to accommodate the huge number of spectators that would inevitably attend. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|I agreed to this trial on the condition of meeting Matlock.]]
Megatron's trial lasted five months. At the outset of the proceedings, Megatron plead guilty to "Crimes against the Species", {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} but things changed when Starscream took the stand and gave a testimony that presented Megatron as an incapable leader who was unable to control the Decepticon forces under his command, a powerful brute lacking in the qualities of true leadership who led his followers down an ultimately self-destructive path. His treacherous lieutenant's words struck home, and Megatron stunned the assembled crowd by changing his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Just as his defender, Ultra Magnus, was reading a statement declaring this, the trial was dramatically interrupted by the a small army of Decepticons led by [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snap Trap]] and [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Grr]], who had escaped from the brig on the ''Lost Light''. The invading force attempted to teleport Megatron away to safety, but he refused to escape and the uprising was quickly quelled. During the recess that followed, Optimus confronted Megatron over his true motives: he had requested that the trial be held on Luna 2 in order to exploit the moon's different legal system in the event that he felt the trial was unjust. Caused by Starscream's speech to realize that, were he to submit to execution now, his legacy would be one only of pain and death, Megatron invoked one of the moon's forgotten laws: an individual who had committed sufficiently heinous crimes could request he be judged by the long-lost [[Knights of Cybertron]]. Megatron requested that he be allowed to join the ''Lost Light'' in their search for the Knights and their homeworld of [[Cyberutopia]], thus ensuring that ''that'' would be his legacy, after which he would submit to whatever punishment was deemed necessary. Optimus agreed on the condition that Megatron read a prepared speech denouncing the Decepticon cause and asking all active Decepticons to stand down. Megatron did so, at great personal pain. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} Hurt and angry over this perceived abandonment, Soundwave used Megatron's change of faction as evidence to forge a new allegiance of his own, decamping to Earth and working with the [[Earth Defense Command]] to create a new home for Autobots there. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}
[[File:MTMTE30 cocaptains.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|O captain, my co-captain.]]
Megatron was assigned co-captaincy of the ''Lost Light'' alongside Rodimus, who immediately hated the idea and everything about it, leading to a particularly antagonistic relationship between the two. Megatron was permitted only to fuel himself with "[[Fool's Energon]]", which left him substantially weakened. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} Shockwave's machinations had left his internal organs a tortured Gordian knot of space bridge wormholes from which it was impossible to extract his spark; his outward appearance changed between the end of his trial and his co-captaincy, suggesting that his armor was rebuilt around him, or his entire internal structure was transplanted into a new body. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron would later lament that his body did not graft to his spark like past chassis, which he considered a sign of his waning age. {{storylink|Slaughterhouse|Slaughterhouse}} Optimus would see Megatron off on his voyage before he himself headed off to Earth, a meeting Prowl found deeply disturbing. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}
===Towards Peace===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron head examined.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"So Megatron, tell me about your mother." "She was hot."]]
The ''Lost Light'' warped back out to the Galactic Rim and set off on the trail of [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]], who they considered their best lead on the location of the Knights. A month into the journey, Megatron agreed to a therapy session with ship's psychoanalyst Rung. Megatron was less than forthcoming, but when Rung inquired about the removed dedication to Terminus from ''Towards Peace'', Megatron explained to him his current thinking on personal history, and one's ability to selectively edit or abandon entirely previously-held truths. Departing for his quarters, Megatron found that his door had been heavily grafittied by Whirl, who then suddenly attacked him, declaring that their shared history made the battle inevitable. Megatron responded by undermining Whirl's entire life with the revelation that the ex-Wrecker's penchant for surviving tough scraps was a falsehood: the second order Megatron had issued upon forming the Decepticons was that under no circumstances was any Decepticon to kill Whirl. As they struggled, Megatron taunted Whirl with the knowledge that his memory of Whirl's actions all those years ago had helped keep him on the path of violence; the outraged ex-Wrecker punched Megatron in the stomach, only to find his hand teleported away by the space bridge tangle inside the former Decepticon. This took the fight out of Whirl, and Megatron offered to forget the incident if the graffiti was removed from his wall. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

Leaving Whirl behind and heading for the bridge, Megatron received a report that the ''Lost Light'' had crossed paths with a coffin floating in space. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron oversaw the bringing onboard of the coffin and its transport to the med-bay. A short time later, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]] snuck into the med-bay on a drunken dare in search of Megatron's "Fool's Energon", unaware of its true nature; caught in the act and believing he had been poisoned by the fuel, he triggered his forcefield, which inadvertently cracked the coffin open. Megatron reprimanded him by permanently engaging his fuel intake moderation chip, and assigned him the role of Security Director in order to focus his mind. The pair then turned their attention to the opened coffin, which was revealed to contain the body of another Rodimus! {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}}
[[File:MTMTE32 i came to hate the person id become.jpg|thumb|275px|Lolcat is watching you deprecate.]]
Brief analysis suggested that the body was of Rodimus from the future, but before the matter could be settled, the crew of the ''Lost Light'' were forced to abandon the ship as it suddenly began disappearing around them. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} The disappearances did not stop there, however: Megatron found himself on the [[Rodpod]] with a score of other 'bots, and when ''they'' then began to vanish, [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] accused Megatron of being responsible. A tense Mexican standoff ensued, which was brought to a surprising end when [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] was discovered to have been hiding on the pod, having secreted himself on the ''Lost Light'' in order to spy on Megatron for Soundwave. The disappearances continued, and Megatron clashed with [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] as he tried to find a pattern. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The weirdness only continued as the remaining crew of the Rodpod—Megatron, Ravage, Nightbeat, [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Nautica]], [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]], and [[Getaway]]—discovered the wreckage of a second ''Lost Light'', point of origin for the mystery second Rodimus, orbiting the planet [[Ofsted XVII]]. Still believing that the duplicate ship hailed from the future, Skids accused Megatron of being responsible for the devastation, and, realizing that the recent huge changes he had made in his life left him devoid of any surety in his future actions, Megatron allowed himself and Ravage to be imprisoned until the truth could be determined. Locked in a supply closet with Ravage, Megatron had a heart-to-heart with his angry ex-subordinate, justifying his decisions and unable to offer Ravage any consolation. When power returned to the ship, the pair discovered the dead bodies of Ratchet, [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] in the closet with them, their [[brain module]]s stuffed in their mouths—calling card of [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] of the Decepticon Justice Division. Realizing the DJD was responsible for destroying the ship the team re-grouped and prepared to retreat when an even stranger discovery was made: Autobot archivist [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] was found, still alive, the only survivor of the DJD's attack, despite the fact that he had died months beforehand. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}
[[File:MTMTE33 megatron skids right there.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"...But you're not the [[Skyfall (G1)|worst]] [[Zeta Prime (G1)|guy]] to wear the badge. So keep trying."]]
Nautica and Nightbeat were able to deduce the whole story: the duplicate ''Lost Light'' was not from the future, but rather, it and its crew were quantum duplicates created in the explosion of the [[quantum generator|quantum engines]] during the ship's original launch two years prior. To make matters worse, the [[quantum foam]] leaking from the engines was threatening to destroy Ofsted XVII, but Megatron had no compunctions about getting to safety and leaving the planet to its fate until Skids called him out, forcing him to face up to the fact that being an Autobot meant more than wearing a badge, and had to be reflected in one's actions. When all other options were exhausted, Megatron admitted that he could use his old mass-displacement ability to shrink his robot form down, enabling him to safely make it through the foam and deactivate the engines, saving Ofsted XVII, "cancelling out" the duplicate ''Lost Light'', and reinstating their own. The diminutive Rewind joined him in the task; Megatron showed him kindness by holding back knowledge of his counterpart's passing so that he might die happy, but Rewind was mysteriously ''not'' erased when their task was successfully completed. As they made their way back to the returned ''Lost Light'', Megatron invited Ravage to remain at his side, hoping an up-close view of the DJD's horrors had instilled in him some doubt in the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}
[[File:MTMTE38 send me back.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.75|"AND I WANT YOUR LUNCH MONEY TOO NERD!"]]
Returning to "their" ''Lost Light'', Megatron's team discovered that their Brainstorm had incapacitated the crew and used his mysterious [[briefcase]] to travel back in time. The ridiculousness of the entire situation caused Megatron to have a mini-breakdown, but he soon got ahold of himself, and theorized that Brainstorm was attempting to change history by killing Orion Pax. {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}} Rodimus led a squad back in time in pursuit, which led to Megatron having a cross-time conversation with the young Orion Pax via Rodimus's "[[time phone]]" communicator. Pretending to be his own younger self during the call, Megatron found the young 'bots optimism for the future a mixed source of both affirmation and tragic amusement. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}} After Rodimus's team made several further jumps, Megatron deduced that the dates they were travelling to were not important moments in Pax's life, but Megatron's own. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet|Stet}} Realizing that Brainstorm intended to kill him at the moment of his creation, he flew into a panicked rage, attacking [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] and demanding the scientist send him back in time to save himself, until Ultra Magnus restrained him and the pair talked him down. As events in the past played out, Megatron was visibly shaken to hear that Rewind had been the one to pull the trigger that killed his original past self, and that the universe would truly be a better place had he never existed. Although Whirl subsequently set the timeline to rights, Megatron did not join in the celebrations when everyone returned from the past, retiring to his quarters to brood. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|Predestination: An Expert's Guide}}

===Pax Cybertronia===
In a vision of the future seen by Ironhide and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] during the reformatting of Cybertron, fifteen million years hence, Ironhide still believed Megatron to be alive and promised a young Autobot they would defeat him again if he ever returned. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}} {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}
{{-}}

===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage all in good time.jpg|thumb|275px]]
{{NoteSLMirage}}
Somewhere, in an unknown time or place, the self-serving mercenary [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] dreamed of Megatron and his Decepticons launching a massive attack on the Autobots. But Mirage knew that to only be a dream; in reality, the Autobots were almost eradicated, and Megatron had hired him to hunt down the last of their number. Megatron was outraged by the mercenary's demand for a majority share in all energon mining operations as payment, but it proved to be fuel well spent, as he soon succeeded in locating Optimus Prime and forcing him to surrender. Megatron demanded the prisoners be executed despite Mirage's promise to spare Autobot lives. Seeing Mirage's hesitation, Megatron appealed to his greed. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
[[File:MegatronOrigin2 Megs hair.jpg|thumb|100px]]
*In [[Megatron Origin issue 2|''Megatron Origin'' #2]], we see that Megatron's helmet is, in fact, a helmet and not part of his head (at least in his original body). Upon removing his helmet, Megatron then briefly unfurls a crest. The significance of this moment is not explained, but it is briefly revisited in [[Remembrance Day|''More than Meets the Eye'' #14]] when a helmetless Megatron spars with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]].

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Ben Simpson

2015-03-21T08:11:01Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{disambig3|Simpson}}
:''Ben Simpson is a [[facsimile construct]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:IDWongoing14 BenSimpson.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|"Hey, he who smelled it, dealt it."]]
'''Ben Simpson''' is a [[facsimile construct]] created by the [[Decepticon]] [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] to fuel the fire that is anti-[[Transformer]] sentiment on [[Earth]]. Acting as the spokesman for [[Earth's Children]], a movement opposed to the presence of [[Transformer]]s on [[Earth]], he puts [[human]]s in the paranoid mindset that makes it so much easier to sell them weapons. Frequently appearing on television interviews, Simpson is the kind of word-wrangler who knows how to turn any argument back at you while wearing a smug smile on his face the whole time.

Because of how facsimiles work, there was presumably once an actual human being named Ben Simpson who was used as his template.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
Ben Simpson was created by Swindle sometime after he collected [[energon]] from [[North Korea]]. Through him, the Decepticon distributed mind-corrupting guns created from [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s body amongst humanity. {{Storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}} {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

In an interview, Ben Simpson was quick to disavow any link to [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]]'s assassin, and even questioned the use of the term "assassin", as it was not clear to him whether the [[Transformer|Cybertronians]] were even alive. The [[Nina|reporter]] followed up by pointing out that [[Joe Gladki]]'s wife had already told the media that Gladki (the shooter) had been spending a great deal of time on [[Earth's Children]]'s message boards in recent weeks. Simpson played it off, saying no one could hold his group responsible for who visited an open forum. When asked whether the somewhat reactionary rhetoric of the group could have been an influence, Simpson was unsure how non-violent protests of the US government colluding with extraterrestrial robots could be seen as reactionary. He was then questioned about allegations that Earth's Children was supplying powerful weaponry to its members, but stated that they were doing nothing illegal (though pending legislation that may change that). Finally, Ben asked what use the government was if it wouldn't let its people protect themselves from invaders from space. {{Storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}}

Nina brought up the fact that people were trading weapons on the Earth's Children website, but Ben maintained that it was perfectly legal and useful in case of Cybertronian attacks. He then criticized the [[President of the United States|President]], who had stated that having aliens as allies was considered the same as having weapons of mass destruction, only for it to be revealed that US organization [[Skywatch]] had been working with Cybertronians for some time. When Nina mentioned reports that Joe Gladki had heard machines speak to him after obtaining a gun via Earth's Children, Ben dismissed the connection as ridiculous. Hundreds of people had those guns, and they were perfectly safe! {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Following the Autobot killing of a human in [[Albuquerque]], Ben Simpson was gaining support in the eastern United States. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}

Once most Autobots left Earth to return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Ben Simpson was asked to comment on this in another interview with Nina. He responded that a lot of the aliens remained [[All Hail Megatron issue 12|last time]] they supposedly "left" and besides, they could just be preparing to attack from orbit. [[NASA]] might have said their ship left the solar system, but Ben knew not to trust a government agency on the matter. By this time, [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] had begun to suspect Simpson of having connections to the Decepticons. {{storylink|Police Action: Part 1|Police Action #1}}

Later, Skywatch invaded Simpson's home due to "actionable intelligence" of a hostile alien presence on the premises. Simpson reacted by pulling one of the Megatron guns on them. He was shot multiple times when he refused to stand down, hence revealing that he wasn't actually human but a Decepticon-engineered facsimile. {{Storylink|Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden|A Second Chance at Eden}}

==Notes==
*Ben Simpson is based on the real-life friend of [[IDW Publishing]] writer [[Mike Costa]], who works for [[Paramount Pictures]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Ben}}
[[Category:Comic-only humans]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 humans]]

Escalation issue 5

2015-02-20T20:05:21Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */

{{Comicstory
|series=escalation|issueno=5
|prev=Escalation issue 4
|next=Escalation issue 6
|image=Escalation 5a.jpg
|caption=Now that's gotta hurt!
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[March 28]], [[2007]]
|coverdate=March 2007
|story by=[[Simon Furman]]
|art by=[[E. J. Su]]
|colors by=[[Zac Atkinson (colorist)|Zac Atkinson]]
|letters by=[[Robbie Robbins]]
|edits by=[[Chris Ryall]] & [[Dan Taylor (IDW)|Dan Taylor]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Escalation]]
}}

'''The Machination's plans proceed as another group enters the field. Oh, and Prime fights Megatron.'''

== Synopsis ==
[[Scorponok (G1)|An unidentified Transformer]], appearing to be severely damaged, speaks with [[Abraham Dante]] of the [[Machination]] on the successful outcome of their latest [[Hunter O'Nion|test subject]]. The [[Transformer]] expresses his appreciation for Dante's selfishness and how that quality will help them work well together.

In [[Brasnya]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] square off. Megatron brags about the enhancements that have come with his [[Ore-13]] power, but Prime isn't intimidated. As the [[Russia]]n and Brasnyan forces watch in gaping amazement, the two Transformer leaders engage in a colossal battle as the other [[Autobot]]s skirmish with the [[Decepticon]]s. Meanwhile, [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] and [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] chase after the [[facsimile construct|facsimile]] of [[Georgi Koska]], hoping to grab him alive before Russian soldiers shoot him dead. The Autobots need his cellular template in order to identify other facsimiles on [[Earth]].

In [[Fort Wayne]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] are waiting outside [[Idea & Design Works Custom Wheels|the auto parts store]]; they're worried because [[Verity Carlo]] and [[Jimmy Pink]] haven't reported in for over ten minutes. Ironhide smashes through the front window and sends his [[holomatter]] avatar into the secret compartment in the back where he discovers the two humans unconscious and a timer counting down to something decidedly nasty.

In Brasnya, Megatron and Optimus Prime have tossed aside their weapons and are fighting hand to hand. The close proximity allows Megatron to shoot Prime in the face with an Ore-13-enhanced blast from his mouth, blinding and stunning the [[Autobot]] leader. Megatron then smashes Prime twice in the chest, grabs his [[spark]] chamber and gives it a crushing squeeze.

Prowl and Hot Rod manage to stop Koska from getting shot by Russian troops. Prowl advises the Russians to disengage and they do so hastily. Next, he tries to contact Optimus Prime to give a report but he doesn't get a response. That's because Megatron is squeezing the life out of Prime's spark, but, before Megatron can finish what he started, [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] blasts him. Distracted, Megatron smashes his fist into the mountainside, which sends an avalanche of rocks and snow over Roller. He then turns his attention back to Prime, but finds a lifeless corpse. Ahhh, the perfect time to gloat.

In [[Eureka]], the archaeological dig has been taken over by [[Skywatch]] agents, who have uncovered parts of [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]].

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (4)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (8)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (9)
* [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (10)
* [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] (12)
* [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] (13)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (15)
* [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (16)
* [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (19)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (22)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (24)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (25)
|c2=
* [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (2)
* [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (3)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (7)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (11)
* [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] (23)
|c3=
* [[Abraham Dante]] (1)
* [[Todorof]] (5)
* [[Breski]] (6)
* [[Jimmy Pink]] (17)
* [[Verity Carlo]] (18)
*[[Goring]] (20)
*[[Clive]] (21)
|h4=[[Facsimile construct|Facsimilies]]|c4=
* [[Georgi Koska]] (14)
}}

==Notes==
[[File:ZarakMachination.jpg|thumb|150px|Maybe he picks his allies by their preferences in architecture?]]
*[[Brasnya]], identified as a "(breakaway) soviet state" in the [[Escalation issue 3|previous]] [[Escalation issue 4|two issues]], is now called a "Russian state", thereby apparently fixing a major world politics flub. Simon Furman later stated at the German C.O.N.S. convention in July 2012 that any references to "soviet" are to be considered an error and should read "Russian" instead.
* The [[Machination]] compound in [[Tampa]], Florida seen on the first page uses a very similar layout to the [[Zarak Consortium]]'s headquarters seen in "[[Spotlight: Ultra Magnus]]". With the perspective and panel layout ''also'' being very similar, this is a very clever instance of foreshadowing, considering the [[Scorponok (G1)|same villain]] was behind both organizations.
* When Ironhide smashes into the shop, a poster featuring a girl next to a car advertises ''[[Transformers: Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]''. Optimus wasn't kidding when he said they were exposed...
* When a Skywatch agents comments on taking over the archaeological dig, she states that they've done so "in the national interest, of course." This is a verbatim repeat of a phrase uttered by a [[Intelligence and Information Institute|Triple-I]] agent that bookended the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|Marvel UK comic]] story, "[[In the National Interest]]".
* Megatron's taunt regarding killing with his "bare hands" and Optimus Prime's two-handed punch that follows both call back to their fight in [[The Transformers: The Movie|the animated film]].
* The "Decepticomments" section has readers' mail answered by [[Dan Taylor (IDW)|Dan Taylor]].

===Errors===
* Skywarp is coloured as Thundercracker when Megatron calls to him for evacuation.
* Prowl's statement to Hot Rod—"One of us will have to run interference"—is mistakenly attributed ''to'' Hot Rod.
* When Megatron crushes Roller, the Decepticon insignia on his chest is red.

===Covers (4)===
* '''Cover A:''' Megatron over a fallen Prime; art by [[E. J. Su]].
* '''Cover B:''' Optimus Prime in Megatron's sights; art by [[Klaus Scherwinski]].
* '''Cover RI-A:''' cover A, uncolored
* '''Cover RI-B:''' cover B, uncolored
<gallery>
Image:Escalation 5a.jpg|Cover A
Image:Escalation 5b.jpg|Dragon-breath
Image:Escalation 5ria.jpg|Cover RI-A
Image:Escalation 5rib.jpg|Cover RI-B
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* Manga versions of ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'' and ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]''
* [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]] comic (issues 2, 3, 4)
* Optimus Prime [[Transformers: Alternators|Alternators]] toy
* ''Star Trek: Klingons: Blood Will Tell''
* ''Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between''
* IDW trade paperbacks (''[[The Transformers: Infiltration|Infiltration]]'', ''Stormbringer'', ''The Gathering'', ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'', ''[[War and Peace]]'', ''[[The Transformers: Generations|Generations]]''
* Transformers posters
* Transformers [[Transformers: Classics|Classics]] toys
* ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' movie (back cover)

===Reprints===
* '''''The Transformers: Escalation''''' TPB ([[May 23]], [[2007]]) ISBN 1600100848 / ISBN 978-1600100840
* '''''[[The Transformers: Greatest Battles of Optimus Prime and Megatron]]''''' TPB ([[June 6]], 2007) ISBN 1600100708 / ISBN 978-1600100703
* '''''[[The Transformers: The Premiere Collection]]''''' Volume 1 HC ([[December 5]], 2007) ISBN 1600101186 / ISBN 978-1600101182
* '''''[[The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Two]]''''' HC ([[October 6]], [[2010]]) ISBN 1600107516 / ISBN 978-1600107511
* '''''[[The Transformers: Phase One Omnibus]]''''' ([[September 17]], [[2014]]) ISBN 1631401130 / ISBN 978-1631401138

Escalation issue 4

2015-02-20T20:04:55Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */

{{Comicstory
|series=escalation|issueno=4
|prev=Escalation issue 3
|next=Escalation issue 5
|image=Escalation 4a.jpg
|caption=Brains!
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[February 28]], [[2007]]
|coverdate=February 2007
|story by=[[Simon Furman]]
|art by=[[E. J. Su]]
|colors by=[[Zac Atkinson (colorist)|Zac Atkinson]]
|letters by=[[Neil Uyetake]]
|edits by=[[Chris Ryall]] & [[Dan Taylor (IDW)|Dan Taylor]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Escalation]]
}}

'''As the Decepticons raise global tensions, the Autobots deploy to stop them. Meanwhile, the search for Sunstreaker and Hunter continues.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Hunter O'Nion]] is alive, and in a strange medical facility surrounded by masked medical personnel. Something is injected into his IV bag, and the last words he hears are "Prep him for surgery", before he loses consciousness.

Outside [[Idea & Design Works Custom Wheels]] in [[Fort Wayne]], [[Indiana]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]], [[Jimmy Pink]], [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], and [[Verity Carlo]] conclude that the store's sophisticated security system indicates it is more than it appears to be. To avoid detection, Verity and Jimmy insist that they go inside, since the security system might detect the [[Autobot]]s' [[holomatter]] drivers. Ironhide agrees reluctantly.

In [[Brasnya]], [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] is camouflaged and in the perfect position to take a shot at [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Just before he fires, [[Roller (G1)|Roller]], controlled by Prime, takes Blitzwing out with a cannon blast; he'd been tracking the [[Decepticon]] from his [[Combat Deck (G1)|Combat Deck]].

The [[facsimile construct|facsimile]] [[Georgi Koska]] drives onto the scene with [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] still in his [[alternate mode]] as a hand gun; the two of them are attacked by [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]], [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]], and [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]]. Megatron gives the order for Koska to self-terminate as the other Autobots scramble to preserve him for study. [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] appear and attack the Autobots just as [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] and [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] arrive on scene via [[orbital jump]] to help. Seeking termination, the Koska facsimile limps toward the enemy line.

Verity and Jimmy are inside the auto parts store and nose around. Verity discovers a secret door behind a shelf which the two of them manage to open. What's inside?

As Brasnyan troops watch in surprise and confusion, the Autobots have their hands full with Skywarp and Astrotrain, then get some help in the form of Hardhead. With that added firepower, Prowl is only seconds away from capturing Koska, but an impatient Hot Rod gets in his way, and the two tumble out of control. Meanwhile, [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] reports to Optimus Prime that all transmissions in the area have gone dead. Prime has bigger fish to fry; Megatron has just transformed and landed right in front of him.

In Indiana, the secret entrance leads Jimmy and Verity to a large workshop filled with advanced tools that Jimmy doesn't recognize. Jimmy sifts through the trash for clues, while Verity starts searching a computer and desk, where a business card catches her eye. Without warning, the door locks and the vents start pumping a gas into the room. The two humans are overcome and fall to the floor. On the computer screen, a timer starts ticking down.

10:00...9:59...9:58...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (2)
* [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (5)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (6)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (8)
* [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] (9)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (10)
* [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (11)
* [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (16)
* [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] (17)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (20)
|c2=
* [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (7)
* [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (13)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (14)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (15)
|c3=
* [[Hunter O'Nion]] (1)
* [[Verity Carlo]] (3)
* [[Jimmy Pink]] (4)
* [[Todorof]] (18)
* [[Breski]] (19)
|h4=[[Facsimile construct|Facsimilies]]|c4=
* [[Georgi Koska]] (12)
}}

==Notes==
* [[Brasnya]] is [[Escalation issue 3|still]] identified as a "[[Soviet Union|soviet]] state". This will change starting with the [[Escalation issue 5|next issue]].
* The "Decepticomments" section did '''not''' answer readers' mail but did have an ad for the [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|movie prequel]] comic.
* When Verity and Jimmy are searching the auto shop, a [[Binaltech]]-brand air filter and "[[Cybertron (planet)|Seibertron]] Car Show" pamphlets can be seen on the shelves.
* The word "[[TakaraTomy|Takara]]" can be seen on the book by Verity's hand as she sets off the trap.
* The above references strangely make much more sense once you realize the auto shop's name is the "[[IDW Publishing|Idea and Design Works]] Custom Wheels". Could IDW be a front for the [[Machination]]? Maybe they just share the same secret hideaway.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A:''' Astrotrain vs Hardhead; art by [[E. J. Su]]. The cover was also reused for the TPB.
* '''Cover B:''' Optimus Prime; art by [[Klaus Scherwinski]].
* '''Cover RI:''' cover A, uncolored
<gallery>
Image:Escalation 4a.jpg|Cover A
Image:Escalation 4b.jpg|Check out my guns...I mean, GUN.
Image:Escalation 4ria.jpg|Cover RI-A
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* Manga versions of ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'' and ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]''
* 6-page preview of the [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]] comic
* Transformers posters
* ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD
* IDW trade paperbacks (''[[The Transformers: Infiltration|Infiltration]]'', ''Stormbringer'', ''The Gathering'', ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'', ''[[War and Peace]]'', ''[[The Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' (back cover)

===Reprints===
* '''''The Transformers: Escalation''''' TPB ([[May 23]], [[2007]]) ISBN 1600100848 / ISBN 978-1600100840
* '''''[[The Transformers: The Premiere Collection]]''''' Volume 1 HC ([[December 5]], 2007) ISBN 1600101186 / ISBN 978-1600101182
* '''''[[The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Two]]''''' HC ([[October 6]], [[2010]]) ISBN 1600107516 / ISBN 978-1600107511
* '''''[[The Transformers: Phase One Omnibus]]''''' ([[September 17]], [[2014]]) ISBN 1631401130 / ISBN 978-1631401138

Escalation issue 3

2015-02-20T20:04:01Z

Phazeblade: /* Featured characters */

{{Comicstory
|series=escalation|issueno=3
|prev=Escalation issue 2
|next=Escalation issue 4
|image=Escalation 3a.jpg
|caption=Must... have... MP-05!
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[January 24]], [[2007]]
|coverdate=January 2007
|story by=[[Simon Furman]]
|art by=[[E. J. Su]]
|colors by=[[Zac Atkinson (colorist)|Zac Atkinson]]
|letters by=[[Neil Uyetake]]
|edits by=[[Chris Ryall]] & [[Dan Taylor (IDW)|Dan Taylor]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Escalation]]
}}

'''As Optimus Prime calls in reinforcements, the Decepticons heat things up in Eastern Europe.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Massdisplacement.jpg|left|upright=1.67|thumb|I'll do whatever I have to that makes it more like 1984!]]
In the former [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] breakaway state of [[Brasnya]], rebel leader [[Georgi Koska]] assures his subordinate [[Alexi]] that they will be taking action against the [[Russia]]ns soon. Koska drives off alone to rendezvous with his real master, [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]. The [[Decepticon]] leader transforms and, with the help of [[Ore-13]], reveals his new [[alternate mode]] of a [[Size changing|human-sized handgun]]. In Koska's hands, Megatron orders his [[facsimile construct]] to fire at the Russians' primary [[oil]] pipeline, therefore agitating Brasnya's political enemies. Megatron then orders [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] to take off and [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] to engage his [[chameleon mesh]], which renders him invisible. The trap is baited and set.

On the ''[[Ark-19]]'', [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] lets his troops know that he's calling in reinforcements. The situation on Earth has escalated to a point that requires more force. [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] disagrees, but Prime overrules him. At this point, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] breaks the chain of command and asks Prime if he can search for [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], who is still missing. The [[Autobot]] leader says no without giving an explanation and walks off. Prowl orders everyone else to their duties, and then gets into Ironhide's face for going over his head again.

In Brasnya, Koska's rebel forces attack a Russian convoy, further escalating the tensions between nations, which is exactly what Megatron wants.

At Autobot HQ, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] walks in on [[Verity Carlo]] and [[Jimmy Pink]] looking over the faked remains of Sunstreaker. Jimmy uses his mechanic's expertise to find a possible clue to the people behind the kidnapping. He suggests that they investigate further for clues in cyberspace, but Ratchet isn't sure. He mulls over bringing this evidence to Prowl, but decides to do the work himself with the [[human]]s since Prowl will likely ignore him. However, someone is eavesdropping on this conversation.

Russians roll into Brasnya where Koska's forces and the Decepticons are waiting. The previous battle between the humans catches the attention of the Autobots, mainly due to the power of Megatron's blasts. Prowl pinpoints Megatron's location in the hands of Koska, and Prime comments on the rarity and energy requirement needed for this method of mass displacement, hinting that he's using Ore-13. He and Prowl agree on their next course of action: head to Brasnya to confront the Decepticons.

A convoy of Brasnyan tanks arrive in the area and the soldiers hold positions. They do not expect a battle and hope that the politicians will settle the conflict. However, Megatron has other plans. Blitzwing attacks this convoy and the Brasnyan commander interprets it as a Russian attack. The fight between the humans has begun.

Optimus Prime, Prowl, [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]], and Prime's [[Combat Deck (G1)|trailer]] arrive in Brasnya via [[orbital jump|orbital bounce]]. Their plan is for Prime to draw Megatron out while the others capture Koska, the Decepticon facsimile. Blitzwing sights Prime driving through the countryside and alerts Megatron, who calls in Skywarp and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] to assist.

In Earth orbit aboard ''[[Ark-32]]'', [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]], [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] and [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] await orders.

Ratchet, Jimmy and Verity are searching auto supply records and find the lead they need to search for Sunstreaker and [[Hunter O'Nion]]. But Ironhide steps out from the shadows and says they can't go anywhere... without him.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] (6)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (7)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (8)
* [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (9)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (10)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (11)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] (12)
* [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (17)
* [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] (18)
* [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] (19)
|c2=
* [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (3)
* [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (4)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (5)
|c3=
* [[Alexi]] (2)
* [[Verity Carlo]] (13)
* [[Jimmy Pink]] (14)
* [[Todorof]] (15)
* [[Breski]] (16)
|h4=[[Facsimile construct|Facsimilies]]|c4=
* [[Georgi Koska]] (1)
}}

==Notes==
* This issue and the [[Escalation issue 4|following one]] identify [[Brasnya]] as a "(breakaway) soviet state", with the opposing army repeatedly being called "soviets". This appears to imply that the [[Soviet Union]] still exists in the present-day setting of ''Escalation'', despite the Cold War being over for well over a decade by this point in the real world. [[Escalation issue 5|Issues 5]] [[Escalation issue 6|and 6]] then suddenly call Brasnya a "(former) Russian state", thereby seemingly fixing the error. This was later confirmed by Simon Furman at the German C.O.N.S. convention in July 2012.
* This issue marks the first official use of the term [[Size changing|mass displacement]].
* The "Decepticomments" section has readers' mail answered by [[Dan Taylor (IDW)|Dan Taylor]] and an ad for [[Escalation issue 4|''Escalation'' #4]].

===Errors===
* Skywarp is colored like [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] throughout the entire issue.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A:''' Blitzwing grabbing for Koska, who's firing Megatron; art by [[E. J. Su]].
* '''Cover B:''' Megatron holding hologram globe; art by [[Klaus Scherwinski]].
* '''Cover RI-A:''' cover A, uncolored
<gallery>
File:Escalation 3a.jpg|Cover A
File:Escalation 3b.jpg|No, not iconic at all.
File:Escalation 3ria.jpg|Cover RI-A
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* 2-page "IDWords" section about the [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|Movie Prequel]] comic
* Optimus Prime [[Transformers: Alternators|Alternators]] toy
* 4-page preview of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between''
* [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] with Kung Fu Grip
* ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD (back cover)

===Reprints===
* '''''The Transformers: Escalation''''' TPB ([[May 23]], [[2007]]) ISBN 1600100848 / ISBN 978-1600100840
* '''''[[The Transformers: The Premiere Collection]]''''' Volume 1 HC ([[December 5]], 2007) ISBN 1600101186 / ISBN 978-1600101182
* '''''[[The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Two]]''''' HC ([[October 6]], [[2010]]) ISBN 1600107516 / ISBN 978-1600107511
* '''''[[The Transformers: Phase One Omnibus]]''''' ([[September 17]], [[2014]]) ISBN 1631401130 / ISBN 978-1631401138

Deacon

2015-02-20T19:53:21Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ states pretty clearly that clone-deacon and holt met 9 months prior to phase 2 kicking off

:''Deacon is a [[human]] from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:IDW Deacon.jpg|250px|thumb]]
'''Deacon''' was a General in the [[United States Army]] until he was replaced by a Decepticon [[facsimile construct]].

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
While snooping around the Decepticons' abandoned base in [[Oregon]], [[Verity Carlo]] discovered Deacon's body in a facsimile "seed pod". {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}}

9 months prior, Deacon's facsimile met with Senator [[Alexander Holt|Holt]], reassuring the Senator that instability in the Gulf region is a good thing... for the Senator. [[Runabout (G1)|Runabout]] was nearby and secretly tagged the Senator as a "primary target". {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}}

Deacon's facsimile later attended an emergency session of the National Security Council regarding sightings of a UFO crashing into the Gulf of Mexico. He was pulled out of the meeting by a phone call from Senator Holt. Deacon's facsimile agreed with Senator Holt that [[Alpha-Scenario]] should proceed as planned. {{storylink|Devastation issue 3|Devastation #3}}

==Notes==
*Since the events of ''[[The Transformers: Devastation|Devastation]]'', the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|continuity]] has been taken in [[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|new]] [[The Transformers (IDW)|directions]], so we are not likely to learn more about the mysterious Alpha-Scenario.
*In the initial appearance of Deacon's corpse, it was wearing a Navy Uniform. In a later flashback, it was wearing an Army uniform, presumably so it matched the General who was conspiring with Senator Holt.

[[Category:Comic-only humans]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 humans]]
[[Category:United States military officers]]

Main Page/schedule

2015-02-17T01:30:52Z

Phazeblade:

* '''[[February 14|Feb 14]]''' — [[TakaraTomy]] releases ''[[Transformers Legends (franchise)|Legends]]'' [[Arcee (G1)#Legends|LG10 Arcee]], [[Chromia (G1)#Legends|LG11 Chromia]] and [[Windblade (G1)#Legends|LG12 Windblade]].
* '''[[February 21|Feb 21]]''' — The ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' episodes "[[Pilot (Part 1)]]" and "[[Pilot (Part 2)]]" premiere on Cartoon Network in Australia. [[TakaraTomy]] releases ''[[Q-Transformers]]'' [[Jazz (G1)/toys#Q-Transformers|QT-11 Autobot Meister]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-12 Sunstreaker]], [[Red Alert (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-13 Alert]] and [[Smokescreen (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-14 Smokescreen]].
* '''[[February 22|Feb 22]]''' — The ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' episode "[[Trust Exercises]]" premieres on Cartoon Network in Australia.
* '''[[February 25|Feb 25]]''' — ''[[Angry Birds Transformers (comic)|Angry Birds Transformers]]'' [[Angry Birds Transformers issue 4|#4 (of 4)]] and ''[[The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone]]'' [[Drift - Empire of Stone issue 4|#4 (of 4)]] are released by [[IDW Publishing]].
* '''[[February 28|Feb 28]]''' — The ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' episode "[[More than Meets the Eye (episode)|More than Meets the Eye]]" premieres on Cartoon Network in Australia. The ''[[Transformers: Rescue Bots (cartoon)|Rescue Bots]]'' episode "[[Did You See What I Thaw?]]" premieres on [[Discovery Family]].
* '''[[Template:February|Feb ??]]''' — ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' vol. 2 [[The Transformers issue 38|#38]], ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[More than Meets the Eye issue 38|#38]], ''[[The Complete AllSpark Almanac]]'' TPB and the ''[[The Transformers: Primacy|Primacy]]'' TPB are released by [[IDW Publishing]].

* '''[[March 1|Mar 01]]''' — The ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' episode "[[W.W.O.D.?]]" premieres on Cartoon Network in Australia.
* '''[[March 14|Mar 14]]''' — The ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Robots in Disguise]]'' episodes "[[Pilot (Part 1)]]" and "[[Pilot (Part 2)]]" premiere on Cartoon Network in the USA.
* '''[[March 21|Mar 21]]''' — [[TakaraTomy]] releases ''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' [[Exhaust#Masterpiece|MP-23 Exhaust]] and [[Star Saber (Victory)#Masterpiece|MP-24 Star Saber]], ''[[Transformers Cloud|Cloud]]'' [[Roadbuster (Cloud)#Cloud 2|TFC-A04 Roadbuster]] and [[Skywarp (Cloud)#Cloud 2|TFC-D04 Hellwarp]], and ''[[Q-Transformers]]'' [[Hound (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-15 Hound]], [[Bluestreak (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-16 Bluestreak]], [[Tracks (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-17 Tracks]] and [[Nemesis Prime (AOE)#Q-Transformers|QT-18 Nemesis Prime]].
* '''[[Template:March|Mar ??]]''' — [[The Transformers Classics, Vol. 8|''The Transformers Classics'', Vol. 8]] TPB, ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[More than Meets the Eye issue 39|#39: Return of the Decepticon Justice Division]], ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' vol. 2 [[The Transformers issue 39|#39: Combiner Wars Opening Salvo]], [[The Transformers: Windblade|''Transformers Windblade: Combiner Wars'' #1]] and ''[[The Transformers: Spotlight|Transformers Spotlight Omnibus Volume 1]]'' TPB are released by [[IDW Publishing]].

* '''[[April 25|Apr 25]]''' — [[TakaraTomy]] releases ''[[Q-Transformers]]'' [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Q-Transformers|QT-19 Convoy]] and [[Megatron (G1)/toys#Q-Transformers|QT-20 Megatron]].
* '''[[Template:April|Apr ??]]''' — ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[More than Meets the Eye issue 40|#40]], ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers]]'' vol. 2 [[The Transformers issue 40|#40: Combiner Wars #2]], [[The Transformers: Windblade|''Transformers Windblade issue 2: Combiner Wars'' #3]], ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' [[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe issue 8|#8]] and ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|The Transformers Vol 7 — Combiner Wars: First Strike]]'' are released by [[IDW Publishing]].

* '''[[June 18|Jun 18]]''' — The first day of [[BotCon 2015]] in Chicago, Illinois.
* '''[[June 27|Jun 27]]''' — [[TakaraTomy]] releases ''[[Q-Transformers]]'' [[Skids (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-21 Skids]] and [[Drift (G1)#Q-Transformers|QT-22 Drift]].

<noinclude>[[Category:Main Page templates]]</noinclude>

Energon cube

2015-02-15T09:42:41Z

Phazeblade: /* Prime cartoon */

{{disambig2|garden-variety cubes of energon|the really big cube of energon|Energon Cube}}

The '''energon cube''' is the safest form of [[energon]], used for transportation and storage.

==Fiction==
===''The Transformers'' cartoon===
[[Image:EnergonCubesCartoon1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[N.R.G.|NRG]].]]
Energon cubes could be created by [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}, who generated the empty cube framework from his similarly-shaped chest; several other Decepticons were able to produce them as well. Energon Cubes seem to be Decepticon technology going as far back as Cybertron's [[Golden Age]]. {{storylink|War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn}}, as Autobots such as [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] were apparently unaware of them until their reawakening on [[Earth]] in 1984. By 2005, however, the Autobots had begun to use energon cubes for power as well.

Exactly how an energon cube operates is unclear, especially as their framework appears to be some sort of self-sustaining force field with no internal mechanisms. Most frequently, the empty cube is simply attached to or placed near the energy source from which it is to drain power, and the energy in question is automatically converted into liquid energon that fills the cube. Energon cubes have proven able to transform a vast array of resources into energon, including electricity, magma, oil and steam. Energon seems to have a much higher energy potential than carbon-based fuel sources: 1000 barrels of oil are needed to fill a single energon cube, {{storylink|Thief in the Night}} and the electrical energy within the synapses of the human brain are insufficient to generate even a few drops. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}}

The liquid energon within energon cubes is a glowing pink color, although the cubes could also be compressed for easy storage and transport, causing them to take on an iridescent rainbow effect.

===Marvel Comics===
[[Image:Energoncubesrockandrollout.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Energon cubes come in Grande...]]
[[Image:Marvel52 concentratedenergoncubes.jpg|right|200px|thumb|...and Tall!]]
[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] builds an energy converter that's capable of converting both [[oil]] and the sonic energy from a [[Brick Springhorn]] concert into large purple energon cubes. Unfortunately when these cubes are exposed to x-ray energy from Shockwave's weaponry, they detonate in a blinding flash of light. {{storylink|Rock and Roll-Out!}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] invented the [[Geothermal Generator]] which converted the [[Earth]]'s underground heat into energon cubes. {{storylink|Used Autobots}}

'''Concentrated energon cubes''' are a highly valuable form of universally accepted currency among alien cultures. These tiny green non-glowing cubes measure approximately 6 inches (15.2cm) on a side and are easily transportable, as well as being less combustible than normal energon cubes. {{storylink|Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?}}

===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
The naturally-occurring energon on prehistoric [[Earth]] appeared only in an unstable, highly-explosive raw [[Energon crystal|crystalline form]]. However, after the [[Planet Buster]] baked Earth's surface, the crystals were all either incinerated or somehow "converted" into more stable cubes. These cubes no longer emitted the dangerous radiation which prompted the Beast Warriors to adopt their beast modes in the first place. They were significantly smaller than the cubes used by Transformers from before the [[Great Upgrade]] and colored blue.

[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] threatened to detonate an energon cube near her head if [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] would not remove the mind-link he had with her. The explosion would have killed them both via the link, so Tarantulas did remove it. {{storylink|Tangled Web}}

===''Animated'' cartoon===
[[Image:Ani07 sllsparkinfusedenergon.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
Energon cubes are purple. During the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], the Decepticons hoarded them in mass quantities on their battleships. However many centuries of neglect they suffered left them unstable.

They are also apparently delicious ''and'' nutritious to newborn giant spiders. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

Energon becomes unstable if cut in its cube form, which combined with an elevator makes for a handy bomb in tight quarters. It is suggested that one not stare down the shaft while attempting this. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

There also exists 'demolition-grade' energon, which appears as palm-sized cubes and utilizes the potentially explosive properties of full-size energon. When used properly, they are very useful in clearing away rubble from space bridges. But using them ''in''correctly could lead to a messy accident—say, like the destruction of a small spaceship. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

===''Prime'' cartoon===
[[Image:Masters&Students-EnergonCube.jpg|thumb|200px|left|]]
[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] and [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] inserted Energon, kept inside a metal cube, into [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]]'s [[stasis pod]] to revive him. {{storylink|Masters & Students}}

Later, when [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] and his troops harvested Dark Energon from a volcano, they cut some of it into cubes. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}}

Starscream sneaked on board the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'' in an attempt to steal a number of energon cubes. But he dropped them when he saw Optimus Prime working for Megatron, {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}} and was forced to leave without them after some Vehicons came {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}}

Bulkhead later discovered a stash of cubes ready for transport in a ditch but fell into the ditch by accident and was transported with the cubes onto the ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}}

After the ship crashed, Megatron infused a Dark Energon cube into its power core to bring it back online. The Dark Energon brought the ship's personality online and it was a threat until [[Jack Darby (Prime)|Jack Darby]] succeeded in extracting the Dark Energon cube from the core. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{-}}

==Games==
===''War for Cybertron''===
[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] was capable of producing energon cubes. Both the Autobots and Decepticons used the cubes to regain energy they had lost in the heat of battle. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|Transformers: War for Cybertron}}
===''Battle for the Matrix''===
{{Note|Battle for the Matrix is a simplified retelling of the events of [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]. It can be played from the perspective of either Bumblebee or Optimus Prime.}}
[[Image:Energon battleforthematrix.jpg|thumb|200px|right]]
[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] and/or [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus]] can collect Energon cubes in order to repair themselves. {{storylink|Transformers: Battle for the Matrix}}
{{-}}

==Things that look like energon cubes but aren't==
*[[Personality component]]s for some reason look like small energon cubes. {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}}
*Refined [[Cybertonium]] looks like a green colored energon cube. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}}
*The refined heat resistant alloy developed by [[Jessica Morgan]]'s father resembles yellow colored energon cubes. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

The reason why all share the shape of energon cubes is a mystery that plagues us to this day....

==Toys==
===The Transformers Collection===
[[Image:EnergonCubeToy1.jpg|right|100px|thumb|Rubik, the Amazing Cube!]]
*'''Insectrons''' (Multi-pack, 2004)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''16''' (full set)

*'''Insectron Clone Army''' (Multi-pack, 2004)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''75''' (individual), '''76''' (clones set)

:Energon Cubes were available with Takara's "TF Collection" reissue of the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]], and the set's [[redeco]], the Collector's Edition [[Insecticon (G1)|Insectron Clone Army]] ([[Shothole]], [[Salvo]] and [[Zaptrap]]) box set released in Japan in 2004.

===European ''Energon'' McDonald's promotion===
[[Image:Energontoy-McUnicron.jpg|right|300px|thumb]]
*'''Ironhide''' (Happy Meal, 2004)
*'''Megatron''' (Happy Meal, 2004)
*'''Optimus Prime''' (Happy Meal, 2004)
*'''Unicron''' (Happy Meal, 2004)
:In 2004, McDonald's locations in various parts of Europe released four ''[[Transformers: Energon (toyline)|Energon]]''-based Happy Meal toys of [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]], [[Megatron (Armada)/toys|Megatron]], [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/toys|Optimus Prime]], and [[Unicron]]. These toys were united by a common feature of interchangeable light-up "energon cube" accessories.

:These cubes were little more than a cheap, battery powered [[gimmick]] (the battery couldn't be replaced; the triangle-headed screws used by McDonald's are notoriously impossible to remove) that would make sound or light the toy up. The cubes were interchangeable, but not all of them were "compatible", so to speak—Unicron's light-up feature didn't work on the more opaque plastic of the other toys.

===Masterpiece===
*'''Soundwave''' (2013)
**''ID number'': '''MP-13'''

* '''Soundwave''' (2013)
**''ID number:'' '''MP-02'''

:Both the Takara and Hasbro releases of [[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]] [[Soundwave (G1)/toys|Soundwave]] included an Energon Cube accessory. A clear plastic box, one side could be removed so that the cube could be plugged into Soundwave's cassette door chest to simulate the cube production he performed on the [[Sunbow]] animated series. At least on the Hasbro release, the cube didn't attach so well, though it did connect firmly to the grid attachment for Soundwave's chest.

:The edition purchased via [[Amazon (website)|Amazon.com]] in Japan came with two additional energon cubes.

*'''Soundblaster''' ([[March]]-[[2014|14]])
**''Japanese ID number'': '''MP-13B'''

:The Soundblaster retool includes the Energon Cube accessory, now cast in red plastic.

==Merchandise==
===Live-Action Movies===
: Released along side the Movie Preview protoform figures, Energon now takes on the delicious form of candy! Held inside clear, plastic containers, the "energon" inside is more or less flavorless balls of condensed sugar with articial colors. The cubes are held together by stickers, depicting scenes from Generation 1. The larger cube, made of 8 smaller ones, can be open and folded, in one direction, until it returns to its original position.

:Out of the eight cubes, only two have candy in them. Most of the art on the cube is taken from Dreamwave art by [[Pat Lee|Superstar Funana]], with the exception of two parts that feature art by [[Don Figueroa]].

===G.I. Joe and the Transformers===
*'''Shockwave H.I.S.S. Tank with two figures & Energon''' (2012)

: An [[exclusive]] release for [[San Diego Comic-Con]] 2012. Included in the set were three energon cubes inspired by the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. They are clear pink plastic with inserts to make them appear to be partially filled with liquid. Also included was a trolly for the included [[Battle Android Trooper]] to transport the cubes.

==Notes==
*Thanks to [[Abdul Fakkadi (G1)|the exalted leader]] of [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]] in "[[Thief in the Night]]", we know 1000 barrels of oil makes a single energon cube. This means each cube contains the equivalent power of 42,000 US Gallons of crude oil. If refined into gasoline (with a conservative 30% yield ratio) that much oil would keep [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee's]] Volkswagen alt-mode (with a rough value of 40MPG) going for approximately half a million miles without needing to refuel! That's enough to circumnavigate the [[Earth]] over seventeen times without stopping! No wonder a few cubes of the stuff got [[Megatron (G1)|ol' Megsy]] [[Microbots|drunk off his rocker!]]

===Foreign names===
*''English:'' '''Power pack''' ([[Omni Productions]] dub)

[[Category:Animated technology]]
[[Category:Beast Wars technology]]
[[Category:Energon|Cube]]
[[Category:Generation 1 technology]]
[[Category:Power sources]]
[[Category:Prime technology]]
[[Category:Substances]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron technology]]

Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

2015-02-10T00:57:18Z

Phazeblade: /* Towards Peace */

{{suite}}
{{factions|decepticon|autobot}}
{{featured}}
[[File:IDWMegatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron A, Megatron B, Megatron Retailer's Incentive, and Megatron Dynamic Forces Exclusive variant.]]
'''Megatron''' waged a battle to destroy the evil forces of the [[Senate]]! Then he ''continued'' to wage a war against the evil forces of freedom, organic life, and the very idea of an Autobot living.

{{quote|Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me '''pleasure'''.|Megatron to Optimus Prime|"[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1]]"}}

{{quote|And the thing is, when those words were in my head I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realized that I '''did'''. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is '''wrong'''. But when you start to think of '''yourself''' as a monster...|Megatron on the previous quote|"[[slaughterhouse]]"}}

__TOC__
==IDW Generation 1 comics==
{{ongoing}}
===Birth of a tyrant===
[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron symbol creation.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|... And thus the "Silica Fracturism" art movement was born.]]
Long ago, before the war and under the reign of [[Nominus Prime]], Megatron of [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]] was an idealistic 'bot who desired to be a medic. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} Alas, he lived in a time of functionism, where one's alternate mode denoted one's role in society, and one's role determined ones rights, so he was assigned the occupation of [[energon]] miner, a member of the lower class, in a mine under [[Nova Point]].{{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} An intellectual and a poet, Megatron was sickened by the caste-ridden social apartheid of Cybertronian society, and so he wrote [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|a treatise]] on how pacifist dissent and the exchange of ideas could change things. It was while he was sharing this work with his miner friend [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] over a drink in [[Maccadam's Old Oil House|Maccadam's New Oil House]] that the event occurred which would change the course of his life, as Impactor wound up being drawn into a bar brawl with some of the city's upper classes and Megatron was among those arrested after the fracas. Megatron's writings had been growing in popularity and inspiring some dissent against the current regime, so in order to silence him, the [[Senate]] arranged for a police officer on their payroll, [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]], to kill him. Before Whirl could finish the job, however, police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], having discovered Megatron's innocence, arranged for his release. Despite Pax expressing support for the message of his writings, Megatron now found himself filled with rage and hate, disillusioned with his former ideology and realizing the power of applied violence. Angrily hurling the datapad on which he had written his treatise through a public info-screen, Megatron observed the jagged shape of the shattered glass, and later turned it into a [[insignia|symbol]] for his cause. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}}
[[File:MTMTE34 what you might call a thinker.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
Megatron's samizdat writings began to circulate in Cybertron's underground, spawning the "[[Decepticon]]" movement, its name derived from its own slogan, "You are being deceived", warning the common 'bot of the Senate's true nature. Knowing that, at this stage, assassinating Megatron would merely make him a martyr, the Senate instead elected to relocate him off-planet, reassigning him to a mining facility on the world of [[Messatine]] while they tried their own schemes to defuse the growing Decepticon movement. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} It was there that Megatron met [[Terminus (G1)|Terminus]], an elderly fellow miner who encouraged him to keep writing, and who, in addition to proofreading his works for him, smuggled each new tract back to Cybertron, helping to continue the spread of the Decepticon movement. When Terminus was maimed in a mining accident and had his fuel rations cut off, Megatron kept him alive by sharing his own [[energon]] with the old 'bot. Eventually, Senate agents [[Froid]] and [[Trepan]] were dispatched to Messatine to perform mind-altering [[Shadowplay]] upon Megatron, in order to cut his writings off at the source. Tased into submission and strapped to Trepan's operating table, Megatron was helpless to stop the [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgeon]] from beginning his vile work. Though the arrival of Froid's rival psychopathologist [[Rung (G1)|Rung]] fortunately forced Trepan to stop before Megatron's personality was altered, the experience left the miner with a lifelong fear of mnemosurgery. Subsequently, a mysterious surge of energy deep within the mine forced an evacuation of the facility; Megatron raced back to his quarters to carry Terminus to safety, but found his friend was not there. With time running out and no sign of Terminus anywhere, Megatron instead chose to save the stack of datapads containing his unpublished works—a decision that would haunt him. {{storylink|Births, Deaths, and Interventions}}

Megatron was relocated to [[Mining Outpost C-12]], and continued to seethe with hate and frustration in his new workplace. His discontent reached a peak when, some time later, [[Decimus|Senator Decimus]] arrived to announce that the mine was being automated and the workers would be relocated. When one of the Senator's guards killed a worker for insubordination and claims of Senate corruption, Megatron's fury boiled over and he hurled his pickaxe at Decimus. In turn, he was attacked by the Senator's guard, whom he killed by smashing his head to fragments. A riot erupted around him, but Megatron himself could only sit amongst the chaos, staring at his fuel-stained hands in abject horror, which allowed him to be easily pacified and rounded up with the other miners as the mayhem was quickly suppressed. En route to [[Penal Facility H-3|imprisonment]] back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], however, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] broke free and started a riot aboard [[Longshot (G1)|their ship]]. Megatron joined in their effort, and together, they overpowered their guards, took control of the ship, and disappeared into the [[Kaon]] underground. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}}
[[File:MegsOrigin2 Cykill.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4]]
After evading law enforcement, Megatron joined a team of underworld gladiators under the tutelage of [[Clench (G1)|Clench]]. Initially repulsed by killing his opponents, the games eventually turned him more brutal and excessive, and he took control of the entire operation from Clench. The opportunistic Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], after seeing how much money there was in the underworld matches, covertly sent his agent [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to offer Megatron weaponry and technology to upgrade himself and his comrades. Their meeting was spied upon by [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]], agents from the Senate's forces, who Megatron slew. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} Subsequently, impressed by how he treated his animal-form [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|cassette partners]] as equals (in contradiction to the teachings of his Senate masters), Megatron invited Soundwave back to the gladiator pits and gave him permission to use his mind-reading abilities on him. Within Megatron's mind, Soundwave saw his honest desire for all Cybertronians to be true equals, and was so moved by it that he joined Megatron's cause. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}}

Gradually, Megatron used the gladiatorial games to drum up an army of violent malcontents, sending Soundwave to recruit more and more warriors to his cause. Such recruits included [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who he was presented with while having an arm he lost in a brawl replaced with a new limb that incorporated an [[energon mace]], {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} and the disenfranchised warrior [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], who was personally asked by Megatron to fight at his side when he attended a Decepticon rally, and whom Megatron rechristened "Deadlock," {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} and transformed into a capable Decepticon warrior. {{Storylink|Drift issue 3|Drift #3}} Seeking to enhance his army even further, Megatron reached out to [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Senator Shockwave]], offering to supply him the resources he required to carry out his own mysterious experiments in exchange for his using the teachings of his lost mentor [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] to create a [[combiner]] that would serve the Decepticons. Shockwave cautioned that it could take some time, but Megatron was content to wait. {{storylink|Shockwaves}}

[[File:Apexthrone.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|You should have gone to IKEA.]]
Despite all his efforts, Megatron believed that the Senate was still not taking the Decepticons seriously, so Soundwave formulated a plan for a declaration of intent that could be not denied: lure the Senate to Kaon and murder them. {{storylink|Soundwaves (issue)|Soundwaves}} In preparation for this scheme, Megatron offered to restore Shockwave's lost hands—a victim of [[empurata]]—believing that doing so might speed his work. {{storylink|Shockwaves}} The following day, in accordance with Soundwave's plan, Megatron and the Decepticons allowed themselves to be arrested by Sentinel Prime's men, after which Soundwave was freed on Ratbat's orders, while Starscream would ensure his own release by pretending to defect. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} Together, Soundwave and Starscream exterminated the entire Senate, then liberated Megatron and the rest of their comrades, in the process granting their leader the gift of a [[fusion cannon]] liberated from the Senate forces' armory. Megatron led his army against Sentinel Prime's men, killed Sentinel himself, and took control of Kaon, now ready to turn his insurgency into a full-blown war. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

===Early days of war===

Megatron formally declared war on "[[Declaration Day]]" when he delivered a stirring speech from [[Nova Point|Nova Peak]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The growing Decepticon forces swiftly spread across six [[Polities of Cybertron|Torus-States]], {{storylink|Parasites}} and to combat them, Cybertron's new leader [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta Prime]] assembled a new military force, the "[[Autobot]]s", led by Megatron's old acquaintance [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]]. Researching his new opposite number, Megatron was intrigued to discover that his now-abandoned treatise had been a source of inspiration for Pax, who had even quoted from it when he confronted the Senate and openly accused them of corruption. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}} Early into the war, [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] would admit to Pax that Megatron talked about him sometimes, when he was tired. When Pax asked what was said, Bludgeon told him that it would make "both of us feel ''uncomfortable''". {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}}
[[File:Autocracy4 backroom meeting.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb]]
When Orion Pax came close to Kaon during a mission, Megatron saw it as a chance to speak to him and had his Decepticons bring him in. {{storylink|The Hunt for Soundwave}} Megatron attempted to convince him that Zeta Prime was even worse than he appeared—that he had planned to let Orion die in [[Nyon]] so that he could use his death as pretext to invade the rebel-infested city and drain the citizens of their energon—and proposed they work together against him, but Orion refused to hear him and then escaped. Knowing the doubts he'd placed in his head would only serve to damage the Autobot cause, Megatron let him go. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}}
[[File:Autocracy8 megs and pax together.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|"Megatron, let's roll." "What you thinking?" "...Pub?"]]
Megatron continued to keep an eye on Orion Pax's activities, spying on his encounter with the Nyon insurgent [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]]. {{storylink|Ruins}} When Zeta Prime's [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]]s suddenly attacked Nyon, Megatron was surprised by how zealously the new Prime fought against the city's rebels, but his real interest still lay on how Orion would handle the crisis. {{storylink|Purge}} Orion turned on Zeta, who in turn attempted to kill him, prompting Megatron to intervene and force the Prime to retreat. Taking Orion back to Kaon, he again offered that they work together against Zeta's corruption, and this time the Autobot officer accepted. {{storylink|Choices}} As their combined forces invaded the [[Citadel]] in Iacon, Megatron and Orion Pax made their way inside and fought Zeta Prime in person. The battle ended with Megatron killing the Prime with a head shot, and with his objective complete, he then betrayed the injured Orion by shooting him in the back. {{storylink|Overthrown}} Curiously, an alternate report incorrectly implied that Megatron had assassinated Zeta from afar, sniping him with the rifle alternate mode of [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]. {{storylink|Bullets}} {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}}
[[File:Autocracy12 no you dont megatron.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]
With Zeta dead, Megatron conquered Iacon and declared himself ruler of Cybertron. His soldiers patrolled the planet's streets to "keep the peace", mostly by hunting down and capturing any remaining Autobots who opposed him. {{storylink|Transformation (issue)|Transformation}} During his rule, Megatron attempted to sway the neutral Hot Rod into joining the Decepticons, but he decided otherwise upon witnessing Megatron ordering the execution of several Autobot prisoners. {{storylink|Rise}} Megatron was shocked to learn that Orion Pax had survived the betrayal and was organizing a rebellion against him under the name "Optimus Prime", and even more shocked that people actually had the courage to listen to him. He wasted no time in striking back against the rebels approaching the Citadel with the full force of his army. {{storylink|Broadcast}} During the battle, Megatron unleashed Zeta Prime's energy-draining [[vamparc ribbon|vamparc annihilator]], but when the gigantic [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] took out the cannon, Megatron fell to the streets and was confronted by Optimus Prime himself. He lost the ensuing [[The Transformers: The Movie|familiar-looking duel]] and was badly wounded after a failed attempt to defeat Prime by holding Hot Rod hostage, forcing him to escape aboard Astrotrain. As he fled, he warned Optimus that he hadn't won, he had only started a war unlike any Cybertron had ever seen. {{storylink|Endgame}}

[[File:Monstrosity3 Megatron and Pentius.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Megatron insists on wearing his Darksiders cosplay when he's walking his pet Quintesson.]]
Before Megatron could recover from his injuries, he was betrayed by [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]], who was gunning for the position of Decepticon leader (with aid from Starscream, against Megatron's knowledge). As punishment for his failure to hold Iacon, Scorponok banished the wounded Megatron to the hell-world of [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]]. {{storylink|Derelicts}} Further injured in battle with some [[Junkion (species)|cannibalistic natives]], he stubbornly refused to give up and used the trash littering the world to patch himself up, leaving him with a mismatched, monstrous appearance. {{storylink|Wreckage (issue)|Wreckage}} While searching for a way off Junkion, Megatron entered the wreckage of a starship and found a trapped [[Quintesson]] named [[Pentius]], who had mapped the planet and knew of an area known as the [[Pillar of Rust]] where starships may land and take off. Megatron freed the alien to guide him there, while also putting him in chains to serve as his slave. {{storylink|Faces of Darkness}}
[[File:Monstrosity7 megatron takes pentius spark.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|"Thanks for turning me into the psychopath I've been the whole time!"]]
While crossing the [[Acid Sea]] on the way to the Pillar, Megatron was attacked by [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticons]] who pulled him into the depths. {{storylink|Rage (IDW)|Rage}} For reasons unknown he was then released, the creatures having allowed him to live. As he emerged, Pentius was waiting with a history lesson, telling him that Junkion was once a prosperous world until its inhabitants drained it of resources, leaving it the broken husk it is today: a fate that may also await Cybertron. Megatron rejected this possibility, declaring that under his rule, Cybertron—and his legacy—would last forever. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} On arrival at the Pillar of Rust, Megatron was met by the [[Terrorcon (G1)|Terrorcons]], who had come to Junkion to finish what Scorponok had started by killing him. He was able to fight off several of his attackers, but [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gar]] was too much for him to handle in his injured state. Egged on and taunted by Pentius, Megatron realized he had one last resource left to use: the Quintesson himself. Telling Pentius that his legacy would live on within him, he tore out the alien's [[spark]] and used it to fuel himself, granting him enough power to defeat Hun-Gar. He spared the Terrorcons in exchange for their loyalty, then returned to Cybertron on their ship to take revenge on Scorponok and take back control of the Decepticons. {{storylink|Prey (issue)|Prey}}
[[File:Monstrosity12 strange turns.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb]]
Megatron returned to a Cybertron in chaos, as the ancient reptilian [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] had been unleashed by Scorponok and was in the midst of razing Iacon. After reasserting his leadership of the Decepticons by beating Scorponok nearly to death, he had Shockwave restore his body to it original shape and condition, {{storylink|The Illusion of Control}} and set out to investigate the Trypticon situation alone, unwilling to risk his soldiers in the face of the beast's uncontrolled fury. Finding an injured Optimus Prime on the battlefield, Megatron lectured him, but opted to leave him alive so that he could watch as the Decepticon leader defeated the enemy that Prime could not. Megatron was attacked by [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]], but as they grappled, they were swallowed by Trypticon. {{storylink|Annihilation}} Within the giant, the pair set their differences aside to fend off the [[cyber-morphic predator]]s that populated his interior, and together, they destroyed Trypticon's internal power cell, taking him offline. A tense standoff between the Autobots and Decepticons followed as the two warriors emerged from within Trypticon, but both sides agreed to go their separate ways for the time being. Not long after the battle, however, Megatron removed Pentius's spark from within himself and installed it within Trypticon. {{storylink|Belly of the Beast (issue)|Belly of the Beast}}

After being fully repaired following his ordeals, Megatron roused Trypticon by exploiting the connection they now shared thanks to both having borne Pentius's spark. Discovering that Trypticon now possessed the conciousness of Pentius, Megatron was immediately suspicious of the Quintesson's potential treachery and was staggered by the visions of undiluted evil he saw in the aliens' past via their spark-link, but Trypticon assured him that he was dedicated to their shared goal of breaking a world. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}} Using Trypticon's city-ship alternate mode, Megatron took to the stars, rounding up the scattered Decepticon army and even recruiting Junkions and Sharkticons. {{storylink|Primacy issue 2|Primacy #2}} Returning to Cybertron in force, Megatron was content to wait and watch from the sidelines while his troops viciously tore into Iacon. Trypticon was defeated in battle by Metroplex, at which point Megatron's folly was revealed: through their link, Pentius mockingly revealed his intention to use Trypticon consume Cybertron once the Autobots and Decepticons had weakened each other. {{storylink|Primacy issue 3|Primacy #3}} Leaving his men with orders to burn Iacon to the ground if he failed in order to spare it such a fate, Megatron set off for Trypticon's fallen body in hopes that he would be able to remove Pentius's spark before the giant revived. Confronted atop Trypticon by Optimus Prime, Megatron tried to goad the Autobot leader into destroying him, believing that Pentius would be destroyed with him thanks to their link. Refusing to accept death as the answer, Optimus instead used the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to purify Megatron, burning Pentius's spark away; Megatron, however, vowed that he would never stop hating Optimus in spite of what he had done for him. Sadly resigned to the fact that the once-noble revolutionary he had admired was now lost, Optimus knocked out the weakened Megatron and took him into custody. {{storylink|Primacy issue 4|Primacy #4}}

===The spreading conflict===
[[File:MTMTE14 megatron vs overlord.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]

Escaping Autobot custody under as-yet-unrevealed circumstances, Megatron continued to wage the war. Early in the continuing conflict, he wrote ''[[Towards Peace]]'', a new treatise to replace ''After the Ark'', in which he described continuing to fight the war until the very notion of conflict was literally inconceivable. Then and only then would he finally give up his fusion cannon. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The earliest edition of the work featured a dedication to Terminus, which Megatron would later remove to reflect the lesson his friendship with Terminus had taught him: not to get attached. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} He oversaw the creation of a class of super-warriors known as the [[Warriors Elite]], selecting only his most powerful troops to undergo the torturous upgrade, including [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]], a brilliant sadist and frequent opponent of his from his pit-fighting days who had developed an obsession with Megatron after the Decepticon leader dealt him his first ever defeat. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} At some point, he also created the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to deal with traitors, {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} though he elected not to send them after Deadlock when he defected, valuing the warrior enough to instead dispatch [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] to bring him in. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}}
[[File:ChaosTheory prime vs megatron montage.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Megatron would personally clash with Optimus Prime many times; Optimus grew to respect and fear Megatron as a calm, calculating and measured opponent, while Megatron himself respected Prime's sheer power and his skill as a tactician and as a leader. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} Megatron would later incorrectly recall their battle on [[Sherma Bridge]] during the [[Rorsha Campaign]] as the first time they met. Said battle was certainly momentous—every Autobot and Decepticon stopped fighting to witness their duel, during which Megatron's cannon arm was sliced off by Prime's [[energon-axe]], and he claimed revenge by throwing the Autobot leader off the bridge. As the war spread to other planets, they would meet again and again: during the [[Siege of Massunstrad]], Megatron sealed Prime in an anti-matter chamber; on [[Rada Mor]], Prime reduced Megatron to ashes with sentient explosives; and in the midst of the [[Vorsk Offensive]], Megatron was nearly sliced in half by Prime. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Megatron took on a new pistol alternate mode for the [[Battle for Hell's Point]], during which he was used by [[Heretech]] to blast [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]. {{storylink|The Gloaming}} During the same skirmish, Megatron took off half of Prime's face with his energon mace, but had a city block dropped on him by Prime in retribution, which shattered his [[transformation cog]] and trapped him in gun mode for two years. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} At the war's zenith, Megatron sealed himself in an [[Omniglobe]] to absorb the relentless flood of data coming in from countless fronts. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}}

Prime was not the only old face that Megatron would see again during the war: during a battle on an aerial drilling platform over the [[Manganese Mountains]], Megatron came face-to-face with his old friend Impactor, and stood poised to execute him until Impactor gave him a moment's pause by recalling his old fondness for poetry. In this moment, Megatron was knocked from the platform by [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] and sent plummeting to the mountains below. {{storylink|Zero Point}}
[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2-teleconference.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|"We attack the Rice Krispies guys at dawn! Assuming Judd Hirsch delivers the goods."]]
With total war going nowhere, Megatron would go on to develop a six-stage [[infiltration protocol]] to be used for conquering targeted planets. The sixth phase called for outright planetary razing, and Megatron selected three of his Warriors Elite for this task: [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}}, Overlord and [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]]. He informed this trio of his decision via teleconference, but Overlord, tired of being used as someone else's weapon, refused. Megatron threatened to hunt Overlord down for his disobedience, {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} but while the powerful warrior spent the rest of his life preparing for this conflict, Megatron never followed up and left him to stew in his own obsession. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}
[[File:Stormbringer1 get up and fight.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Deducing that the Autobot/Decepticon war would culminate in an energy crisis that would threatened the stability of Cybertron itself, Shockwave left Cybertron to secretly pursue alternate energy sources. Around 10,000 years ago, when Shockwave did not return, Megatron ordered Bludgeon to investigate his files, {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}} secretly assigning Soundwave to investigate Bludgeon {{storylink|Spotlight: Soundwave}} and probe deeper into whatever it was Shockwave had created. {{storylink|Shockpoint}}

Shockwave's prediction soon proved accurate, and Cybertron found itself in the throes of an energy shortage. Decepticon scientist [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] came to Megatron with a revolutionary, controversial plan to stave off this energy death by [[Pretender|polydermal grafting]], a process where they encased themselves in "symbiotic carapaces", or shells created from living tissue. When Megatron dismissed him angrily and cut him down, Thunderwing did not abandon his research; instead, he experimented on himself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}} The process gave him immense power, but drove him insane. He became so dangerous that Megatron had to join forces with Optimus Prime to stop him. This battle at [[Thunderhead Pass]] accelerated the apocalypse destined to befall Cybertron, leaving it an uninhabitable, radioactive husk and forcing both armies to continue their war on other worlds. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #1}} Megatron advocated that they simply destroy Cybertron to ensure that Thunderwing was destroyed, but Prime refused, and threatened to stop Megatron if he tried. Megatron agreed not to destroy the planet, but warned Prime that whatever happened was on his head. Shortly after the last big push by the Decepticons, Cybertron was abandoned by both factions. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 1|Stormbringer #2}}

===Breaking protocol===
[[File:Infiltration4 enter megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|left|thumb]]
In the present day, when word reached Megatron that the infiltration unit led by [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]], stationed on the planet [[Earth]], had broken protocol, he headed for the planet to investigate. Examining the unit's abandoned bunker in [[Nebraska]] for information, he discovered that Starscream had stumbled across [[Ore-13]]—an incredible energy source that (unbeknownst to Megatron) was the end result of Shockwave's experiments—and was planning to use it to usurp Megatron's command. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} While studying the bunker's files, he was contacted by [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] with some distressing news: Bludgeon's investigations of Shockwave's files had led him to revive Thunderwing. Megatron ordered the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] to Cybertron, authorizing them to do whatever was necessary to destroy Thunderwing, including the destruction of their homeworld itself. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} Just as he was handing down this order, Megatron was happened upon by [[Verity Carlo]], a human ally of the Autobot unit active on the planet, {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} but he utterly ignored her. The bunker was then leveled by an airstrike courtesy of [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], who were merely covering their unit's tracks and unaware of Megatron's presence; when their leader furiously emerged from the wreckage, Skywarp attempted to explain their ignorance, but Megatron simply responded by blasting him out of the sky. Blitzwing favored opening fire rather than attempting explanations, so Megatron beat the stuffing out of him too, then set off for Starscream's new bunker in [[Oregon]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 5|Infiltration #5}}

[[File:Infiltration6 takeyourpunishment.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Those librarians are getting really strict on late returns.]]

{{quote|You will stand down. If you fight, you ''die''. There is no room anymore for mercy. In the end, you are ''all'' expendable. Choose.|Megatron's ultimatum to Starscream's renegade troops|[[Infiltration issue 6|''Infiltration'' #6]]}}

[[Orbital jump]]ing to Oregon, Megatron called Starscream out and ordered the team to stand down, disgusted to see such power games being played amongst his troops. His brief, chilling speech was enough to take the fight out of all but Starscream, who, powered-up on Ore-13, took Megatron on himself. Though the new power source made Starscream a formidable adversary, Megatron was still more deadly than he, and Starscream was taken out by a point-blank fusion cannon blast through his torso. Megatron ordered the Decepticons to ensure that Starscream survived, and then, observing the Autobots who had been watching the battle, announced that it was time to begin phase two. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

In light of the discovery of Ore-13, Megatron took stock of Starscream's progress on Earth and elected to get the infiltration protocol back on track himself, calling a meeting to make Starscream's former troops and making them aware, in no uncertain terms, that any further insurrections would be met with deadly force. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} He continued to order his troops on Earth directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} and was even able to revisit his past gun alternate mode, once again able to achieve the [[size changing|mass displacement]] the mode required thanks to the extra energy Ore-13 provided. {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}}

[[File:Megsandspidy.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb]]
With his forces joined by [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]], a new arrival who Megatron suspected of having ulterior motives, {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} the Decepticon leader initiated phase two of infiltration protocol by destabilizing relations between the European nations of [[Latveria]] and [[Symkaria]] through use of an aggression-inducing [[Psycho-Prism]], stolen from Latverian dictator [[Doctor Doom]]. When the superhero team known as the [[Avengers]] investigated the array the Decepticons' were using to broadcast the prism's signal, Megatron abducted the arachnid-powered [[Spider-Man]] to use as a subject for their [[mirror response mode]], {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One|Man and Machine #1}} draining the hero's powers and infusing himself and the other Decepticons with them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two|Man and Machine #2}} He proceeded to forge a brief alliance with Doctor Doom, who helped him defeat and capture the allied Autobot/Avenger team who snuck inside the Decepticons' array, but when Doom's suggestion to threaten the captives in order to force the other heroes to lay down their arms failed, Megatron violently dissolved the partnership. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Three|Man and Machine #3}} Emerging from the confines of the array to take on the Autobots and Avengers himself, Megatron refrained from engaging Prime, foreseeing a more intimate confrontation between the two of them in the near future, and instead turned his attention to destroying [[Iron Man]]'s Transformer-sized armor. The tables soon turned, however, when Doctor Doom freed the captive Autobots and used the Decepticon's mirror response technology to empower them. Defeated by these enhanced Autobots and with the Psycho-Prism destroyed by [[Wolverine (superhero)|Wolverine]], Megatron used the last of his extra power to teleport the Decepticons out with an [[emergency warp-out]]. He refrained from departing alongside his warriors, intending to slaughter the Avengers for their interference, but when he was immobilized by Spider-Man's webbing, knocked to the ground by [[Luke Cage]], and rattled by a hail of Autobot fire, he finally warped-out with a final taunt to Optimus Prime of the battle yet to come between them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Four|Man and Machine #4}}
[[File:Massdisplacement.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb]]
With phase two of [[infiltration protocol]] properly underway, Megatron recognized that he ''should'' rightly withdraw and install a new unit commander on Earth, but could not resist the chance to try out his new Ore-13 empowered body, selecting the nation of [[Brasnya]], where Decepticon subterfuge was already underway, as his testing ground. {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} Allowing the Decepticon's [[facsimile construct]] [[Georgi Koska]] to wield him in pistol mode, Megatron had Koska use him to first sever a [[Russia]]n oil pipeline, and then to fire upon the soldiers who came to investigate, furthering the political and military tensions already brewing in the region. When word came through from Blitzwing that Optimus Prime and the Autobots had arrived, {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} Megatron at last engaged Optimus directly, {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}} and although Prime was able to destroy his fusion cannon, the extra strength afforded Megatron by Ore-13 allowed him to physically beat Prime into submission, punching directly into his chest and crushing his [[spark]]. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Optimus Prime}} [[File:Escalation5 prime vs megs.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]] The horrified Autobots moved into a full but ineffective counterattack, their only edge being that Megatron had no long-range guns left. It turned out that Prime's apparent death was a desperate ruse when the Autobot leader countered with a surprise attack on Megatron, able to exploit Ore-13's weakness—the more it's used, the faster it burns itself out. Megatron almost collapsed from power loss and was forced to have Skywarp take him to safety before the Autobots could kill him. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

Furious over the embarrassing defeat, Megatron threw protocol out the window and ordered that Sixshot be summoned to the planet. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}} He took out some of his anger on Ramjet, who he discovered had been busy cooking up a plot to overthrow him; without saying a word, he beat the attempted traitor to death before tearing him apart and keeping his head as a trophy. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}
[[File:Devastation5 decepticons attack.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Upon Sixshot's arrival, Megatron ordered him to utterly destroy the Autobots, and although the [[Phase Sixer]] questioned his early deployment, he was happy to go along with the abandonment of the phase structure. The other Decepticons, on the other hand, were worried that Megatron was losing his grip—and since they were too scared to tell him that, they decided to revive Starscream to do it for them. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}} {{storylink|Maximum Dinobots issue 1|Maximum Dinobots #1}} Megatron monitored Sixshot's attack on the Autobots' [[Ark-19]], ordering him to pursue the escape pod that broke away from the crashing craft, {{storylink|Devastation issue 2|Devastation #2}} but before he could obliterate the Autobots, Megatron was forced to recall him to deal with a new threat assaulting the Decepticon base—the alien [[Reaper]]s. {{storylink|Devastation issue 4|Devastation #4}} Unfortunately, the Reapers convinced Sixshot to side with them, and when an Ore-13 powered Starscream entered the fray to take Sixshot down, Megatron realized his troops had been conspiring against him. He decided not to punish them '''yet''', due to greater threat posed by the Reapers, {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} and entered battle alongside them all, even allowing Starscream to wield him in pistol mode against the aliens. After the invaders were dead, however, he turned on his men, starting with Blitzwing—but was forced to realize that they needed to remain united when it became apparent that their battle with the Reapers had made humanity inescapably aware of their existence {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Grimlock}}
{{-}}

===All Hail Megatron===
[[File:AHM7 megs rips out matrix.jpg|upright=1.1|left|thumb|"I don't think I'd have made a good medic. No patience."]]
While the Decepticons were occupied fighting the Reapers, the Autobots had left Earth to deal with the greater threat of an incursion by the [[Dead Universe]]. Exploiting their enemies' absence, Megatron and his men went to ground; when Autobots returned, they could find no trace of the Decepticons, who kept one step ahead of them for months. Secretly abducting [[Hunter O'Nion]], former [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] partner to the Autobot [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], Megatron and his men returned to Cybertron, where Megatron had [[Deluge (G2)|Deluge]] conduct experiments that bred a [[Insecticon swarm|swarm]] of monstrous [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]]. The experiments culminated in the creation of [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], who Megatron employed in a series of key tasks in his plan: the Insecticon obtained from Hunter's mind various Autobot secrets and codes, completed Shockwave's long-gestating combiner process, granting the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] the ability to combine into [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]], and created a working [[space bridge]] {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} based on designs sold to them by Sixshot in exchange for his freedom. {{storylink|Spotlight: Metroplex}}

Returning to Earth, the Decepticons staged a phony schism within their ranks, allowing the Autobots to believe that they had "disappeared" as a result of a power struggle that had split their ranks into two camps, one led by Megatron and one by Starscream. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} Starscream then approached Sunstreaker, whose experience has a Headmaster had left him bitter and jaded, with the proposition that the Autobots join with his forces against Megatron, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 8|All Hail Megatron #8}} but when the Autobots arrived at the designated time and place, they were instead confronted by the united Decepticon army and quickly defeated by Devastator. After personally tearing [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Optimus Prime's chest, Megatron marched the captive Autobots through the space bridge back to Cybertron, where the Insecticon swarm waited for them. Prime, however, was able to damage the bridge, causing it to deposit the Autobots a safe distance from the swarm, but in the process, fried his own circuits and left himself comatose. Though the Autobots had escaped the fate he had intended for them, Megatron had successfully exiled his enemies to their dead homeworld; moreover, using information and codes gained from Sunstreaker and Hunter, he concurrently orchestrated the event that would later be known as [[Surge (event)|The Surge]], as Decepticons stormed Autobot installations all across the galaxy, achieving total victory. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

[[File:Bringingthehousedown.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Megatron's urban renewal program was off to a flying start.]]
With galaxy-wide domination accomplished, one year after the Decepticons' battle with the Reapers, Megatron chose Earth to become the new Decepticon homeworld. Together with his men, Megatron stormed [[New York City]], humiliating Starscream with a display of his greater capacity for destruction. When the US Air Force retaliated, Megatron shrugged off their fire and ordered the other Decepticons to engage them; when one damaged jet threw itself toward him in a suicide run, Megatron, outraged at the [[DJ (G1)|pilot]]'s temerity, destroyed it and its occupant with a furious swipe of his hand. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} When US Army forces arrived, Megatron ordered [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] dispatched to deal with them, then sent Devastator to destroy the subway tunnels leading out of the city. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}} With New York secured, Megatron directed the Constructicons to begin building a new space bridge in the city's heart, and had a candid talk with Starscream, revealing his belief that the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]]'s attitude and actions marked him as the embodiment of the Decepticon cause, even if he was blind to seeing it himself. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}} After a series of further attacks on major American cities saw the country firmly crushed under the Decepticons' collective heel, Megatron made a propaganda speech to his men in the ruins of New York. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} As night fell upon the city, Megatron withdrew to privately gloat over the Matrix. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

[[File:AHM6MegatronVsIsrael.jpg|left|upright=1.66|thumb]]
As the Decepticons began attacking other countries around the globe, Megatron was questioned by Starscream on what the next step in his plan was. A recalcitrant Megatron merely informed him that it was merely time to savor their victory, but Starscream accused him of not ''having'' any plans post-victory, and was merely allowing his men to run wild to distract them from any notion of taking power for themselves. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} What Starscream did not realize was that Megatron did indeed have a plan: to defeat the Autobots, he had created an army of killers and monsters, but in order to create his perfect rule, that army would have to be destroyed, the dissenting, distasteful elements obliterated before Megatron's peace could dawn. Megatron was not distracting his warriors... he was ''waiting'' to see which of them would question and turn on him. Silently sorrowful to already know that such dissent would begin with Starscream, an otherwise-model Decepticon, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} Megatron withdrew to [[Israel]] for some silent reflection amid wholesale devastation. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}}

[[File:AHM10 megs vs devastator.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
Some time later, Megatron surveyed the space bridge Bombshell and the Constructicons had built in New York. He congratulated Bombshell on his work, but revealed that he had always foreseen Bombshell's intellect as a danger—had always known he and his fellow Insecticons would side with Starscream when the time came. His gambit exposed, Starscream made his move and attacked, but the Insecticons proved no match for Megatron's might. The Decepticon leader had failed to anticipate one thing, however: he did not foresee the Constructicons siding with Starscream, and found himself having to fight the mighty Devastator. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} The in-fighting was halted by a last-ditch attack by the mustered might of what remained of the human resistance, forcing Megatron and Starscream to put their differences aside momentarily and organize a defense. This attack came as no surprise to Megatron, but the same could not be said for the next entrants onto the battlefield: the Autobots had returned.

After assuring Starscream that he would be leader in the future, when his time was done, Megatron confronted Optimus Prime, surprised not so much that his old foe had survived, but that he had bothered to return to Earth. Both leaders had always maintained a policy of acceptable losses through their millennia-long war, so Megatron assumed Prime had come back for selfish reasons, to reclaim the Matrix, but Prime insisted that he had changed, and would no longer allow their cold war to endanger innocent lives on this scale. [[File:AHM12 prime vs megs.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66]] Megatron scoffed at the notion, reavling that Prime's supposedly "innocent" humans were planning to nuke New York, killing millions of their own just to get rid of the Decepticons, {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}} but Prime retorted that it wasn't ''just'' about the humans, but also about the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. The two came to blows, but Megatron triumphed in short order and commanded the Decepticons to depart, leaving the Autobots to be killed by the humans' nuke... but just before they withdrew, he was shot in the face by human soldier [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], wielding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Cybertronian technology. Injured and disoriented by the blast, Megatron was finished off when Prime smashed his face in with his own fusion cannon. As he wanted to ''take'' leadership rather than just have it fall in his hands, Starscream picked up his damaged leader and ordered the Decepticons to retreat. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[File:AllHisEngines-Megatron.jpg|thumb|Pretty sure when you float in a bacta tank you're supposed to be wearing a diaper.]]
The Decepticons departed Earth aboard Astrotrain, where the gravely wounded Megatron was put on life support and tended to by Soundwave and his cassettes. With Megatron's life signs only at ten percent capacity, Starscream attempted to appeal to Soundwave's sense of logic and have him shut down so that leadership could be his, but Soundwave refused. Starscream was soon able to take command, however, when he recovered the Matrix of Leadership and professed to have been chosen by it. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

===New body, new powers===
The Decepticons eventually settled on a desolate asteroid, where Megatron was installed in a [[CR chamber|CR tank]]. Retaining some level of awareness of the events occurring around him during his convalescence, he was forced to watch as his army languished in inactivity, their energy slowly ebbing away until they were reduced to cannibalism. {{storylink|All His Engines}} After a year of trying to free his leader from this living death, Soundwave was finally forced to conclude that Megatron's body was beyond repair, and recruited the recently returned Shockwave, whom Starscream had provided with the majority of the Decepticons' resources to create a space bridge, to help build a new body for Megatron's consciousness to inhabit. The operation succeeded and Megatron was reborn in a deadly new body, powered by Ore-13, armed with a devastatingly powerful rail gun, and even equipped with space bridge nodes stolen from Metroplex, which gave him the ability to open space bridge portals on his own. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing15 megatrons new body.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"Uh, it's like...did anyone ever see the movie ''Tron''?"]]
Back in action, Megatron devised a plan to destabilize the relationship between the humans and Autobots on Earth. Together with Soundwave and Shockwave, he chopped up his old body and used it to create human-scaled replicas of his former gun mode, containing small pieces of his own consciousness. When Starscream caught them in the act, Megatron elected to table his plan for the moment, as he considered it folly to go against Starscream's wishes for the moment since the Seeker was still in possession of the Matrix of Leadership. Megatron had never truly understood what the talisman ''did'', but it served as a threat merely by being an unknown variable. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} Fortunately, for Megatron this variable was soon removed from the equation when Hot Rod, estranged from the Earthbound Autobots, infiltrated the Decepticons' asteroid base and recovered the Matrix from Starscream. Megatron seized his chance, intercepting the Autobot and blasting him and the Matrix out into the void of space. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

[[File:SLMegatron stealth bomber mode.jpg|thumb|275px|Behold... the ''Bomberang!'']]
With Starscream's trump card now gone, Megatron had the Decepticons gathered so he could address them. Distrustful of Shockwave's motives for preparing his new body, wary of Soundwave's constant surveillance, and repulsed by the state of his once fearsome Decepticon war machine, Megatron decided that he needed to unequivocally reestablish dominance over the now Matrix-less Starscream. He intended to beat Starscream near to death as a means of letting them both work out their frustrations with Starscream's inability to lead effectively during Megatron's absence, but Starscream did not want to fight—spiritually broken by his failures, he simply wanted Megatron to kill him. Rather than accept this, Megatron instead goaded Starscream into opening fire upon him. This began a running battle between the two, with Megatron pursuing the fleeing Seeker in his new stealth bomber alternate mode, continuing to bait Starscream every time he appeared willing to give up the fight. Incensed by Starscream's accusation that he did not know what it felt like to see everything he had worked for fall apart, when that was exactly what Starscream's pitiful leadership had done to the empire he had created, Megatron pummeled him to within an inch of his life, then paused to explain why he kept a schemer like Starscream around: as a constant reminder to watch his back. The brutal display galvanized the languid Decepticons, and Megatron was ready to begin his scheme. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

[[File:IDWongoing14 megatron guns.jpg|upright=1.66|left|thumb|Megatron doesn't support the NRA. He IS the NRA.]]
Roughly two years after the Decepticons' defeat on Earth, Megatron used his space bridge powers to dispatch a container full of the guns made from his old body to Earth, where they were found by South American gun-runners and illegally disseminated amongst an increasingly paranoid public seeking ways to protect themselves against Transformers. This allowed Megatron's consciousness to spread across North America, until it was focused enough to contact one particular owner of a Megatron gun: [[Joe Gladki]]. He deceived and manipulated the paranoid human, and eventually convinced him to perform an assassination attempt on [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} In their ignorance, the Autobots then mistook Gladki's gun for Megatron himself and held it captive. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}}

[[File:IDWongoing16 megatron vs autobots.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
With the Autobots in chaos, Megatron started the next phase of his plan and returned to Earth personally, where he used his new stealth bomber mode to shoot down a plane carrying Optimus Prime and several other Autobots. He then hunted down the remaining Autobots, effortlessly defeating them and their new temporary leader Ultra Magnus with his powerful new body, and killing some of their [[Skywatch]] allies. Magnus tried to draw Megatron's attention from the humans, claiming the Autobots were the ones he really wanted, but Megatron assured him that humanity was his real target. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}} Taking the defeated Autobots captive, Megatron dumped them in a city and directed three of his mind-controlled human puppets to kill them. Contacting Prime directly, Megatron summoned him to the city's outskirts and revealed his plan: crush Prime's spirit and destroy the Autobots' alliance with humanity by forcing them to choose between fighting the humans or allowing them to kill them. Prime found the hole in Megatron's plan, however, when he realized that Soundwave was maintaining the connection between Megatron and his guns, and shot him in the head. His connection to his pawns severed, Megatron scooped up Soundwave and withdrew. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}} Thanks to a tracker Ultra Magnus had slipped on Soundwave, though, Prime was able to follow the Decepticons to their bolthole and called Megatron out for a full and proper confrontation. In actuality, Prime had lured Megatron outside so Skywatch could drop a [[kinetic harpoon]] on him, but even a weapon dropped from orbit barely proved able to put a scratch in Megatron's mighty new exostructure. Megatron proceeded to beat Prime senseless, but then returned him to the Autobots, and to their great shock, surrendered to their custody. After recovering, Optimus demanded to know why he had surrendered, but Megatron merely taunted him by revealing that Spike Witwicky had murdered a Decepticon in cold blood. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}} Prime immediately had Prowl begin investigating Spike and Skywatch, and Prowl interrogated the Decepticon leader for information, which he provided after a little verbal sparring. {{storylink|Police Action: Prologue}}

[[File:ChaosTheory1 megatron imprisoned.jpg|upright=1.3|left|thumb|Megatron and Optimus Prime can't agree on a safe word.]]
When Rodimus returned to Earth and warned the Autobots that [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] had taken control of Cybertron, Optimus decided to lead the Autobots in reclaiming their homeworld. In the name of Earth's safety, he elected to bring Megatron and the confiscated guns made from his old body with them. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}} On the way to Cybertron aboard [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Prime again attempted to discern why Megatron had surrendered, even releasing his old foe from his bonds and having a civil conversation with him about their past together and their dueling ideologies. Optimus tried to reach out to Megatron, offering him the chance to end the war once and for all with a handshake; Megatron appeared to consider it for a moment but ultimately remained silent. With Megatron returned to the confines of the [[variable voltage harness]], the other Autobots pressured Optimus for a decision on his fate: execution or imprisonment. Trying to come to a conclusion, Prime asked Megatron if he regretted any of his actions, but the Decepticon leader remarked that he only regretted not killing ''more'' Autobots. He taunted Prime with the notion that even he was thankful for the war, as it had raised him from a nobody to the greatest Autobot in history, and a furious Prime activated the harness, electrocuting Megatron. The jolt would have killed Megatron if Omega Supreme had not cut the power in time and Megatron, struggling to stay conscious, offered Prime his thanks for saving his life all those years ago in Rodion. Shocked by his actions, Prime realized that Megatron wanted to die and wanted Prime to be the one to kill him. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} Eventually, Prime decided to let Megatron choose his own fate, and Megatron calmly replied that he chose death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2|Chaos Theory #2}}

[[File:Chaos2 armored megatron.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|...Again...?]]
As Omega drew close to Cybertron, Megatron demanded to know who or what was threatening their homeworld, but Optimus Prime refused to provde him with any information. {{storylink| Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}} The Autobots subsequently engaged Galvatron's forces in battle, and while they were occupied, Megatron put into motion the ace he had up his sleeve: taking remote control of the numerous "Megatron guns" aboard Omega, Megatron summoned them to him and combined with them into a new armored mode. Breaking free from his restraints, he headed out to confront Galvatron, intent that nobody would take his world from him. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}} As he tore through the Sweeps, Megatron also revealed the reason for his surrender: now that he was back on Cybertron, he could open a space bridge that would allow the massed forces of the Decepticons on Earth to return to their home planet as well. Unfortunately, not long after the Decepticons arrived on the battlefield, Galvatron's secret puppet master, the Dead Universe entity known as [[D-Void]], seized control of their minds and those of the Sweeps, merging them into a gigantic, monstrous avatar. With Prime occupied pursuing Galvatron into Cybertron's depths, Megatron was left to face this "[[Deceptigod]]" alone. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}} Fighting against D-Void's attempts to ensnare his own mind and make him part of the collective, Megatron was gravely wounded and even lost an arm to the beast, but succeeded into destroying it, blasting it apart with one massive beam from his weapons. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}}

===The long game===
Even as the Deceptigod disintegrated back into its component Decepticons, Megatron could see the potential the creature embodied—D-Void had, in essence, created the perfect combiner by means of utterly obliterating free will. With Cybertron reverting into a primordial wasteland around him—a result of Optimus Prime purifying [[Vector Sigma]] with the Matrix to stop Galvatron and D-Void—Megatron chose to withdraw to experiment with the possibilities this presented. He informed Shockwave, the sole Decepticon who had not been made part of the Deceptigod, of his plans, and Shockwave in turn revealed them to Soundwave and Bombshell. {{storylink|Shockpoint}} While Megatron hid in the wilderness, his Decepticons were left to live as second-class citizens in the new [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] that the Autobots built; Optimus Prime left Cybertron two weeks after D-Void's defeat to calm tensions with "NAILs"—other unaffiliated Cybertronians—who had returned to their homeworld, but even as he did so, he mused that Megatron must still be out there somewhere. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

[[File:RID11 megatron in wilderness.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Megatron can't find anyone who wants to join his nudist colony to save his skin.]]
In the months of study and experimentation that followed, Megatron discerned that the combination of Ore-13 and space bridge technology in his body somehow gave him the ability to manipulate the natural energy of Cybertron that D-Void had used to merge the Decepticons into the Deceptigod. After experiments on [[turbofox]]es created larger, more ferocious beasts, Megatron stepped up trials when the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] seceded from the shaky government Bumblebee, [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] and Starscream were building in Iacon and ventured into the wilderness. The signal Megatron had created from the combination energy first drove the Aerialbots mad, before uniting them in body and mind, spontaneously merging them into the gestalt [[Superion (G1)|Superion]], but this newborn Autobot combiner was considered hopelessly insane by Megatron and left to die in the wilderness. The madness aspect of the signal afforded him the chance to revive some of the principles of the infiltration protocol, however, as he blanketed the wastelands in it, forcing the Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs to stay in Iacon, causing natural conflict among them to snowball, providing a useful cover for his actions. To gain a pawn within Autobot high command, Megatron even provided Bombshell with the energy to use in conjunction with his own mind-controlling [[cerebro-shell]]s, ensnaring the mind of Prowl. With the resources and cover control of Prowl provided, Shockwave, Soundwave and Bombshell were able to use Megatron's findings to perfect the combination process, rebuilding the Constructicons with new modular designs that would allow them to merge into a perfect Devastator. The endgame was for Megatron himself to form the head of the combiner, but before risking his own mind and body, Megatron decided that Prowl would be used first as a test subject. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}}

[[File:RID12 kill him.jpg|upright=1.95|thumb]]
The appearance of a [[Crystal City Metrotitan|Metrotitan]] on Cybertron which declared that Starscream was the "Chosen One" threatened Megatron's ability to easily re-take leadership of his Decepticons, forcing him to step up his schedule. Through Prowl, he had his inner circle gathered together in the secret "[[Black Room]]", then boldly strode into Iacon for all to see. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} His body shattered and skeletal, he professed to come in peace, but Bumblebee did not accept his surrender and ordered his Autobots to kill him. Indeed, Megatron could possibly have died there and then had Iacon's Decepticons not stepped in, insisting that Megatron's defense of Cybertron during D-Void's attack marked him a hero and that he be taken into custody instead. {{storylink|City on Fire}} After [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] got through examining him to prove his body concealed no weapons, Starscream approached the imprisoned Megatron and attempted to explain that he was not far away from taking complete power in the government, ensuring a Decepticon victory of a different kind. Megatron merely smiled silently at the notion, terrifying his ex-lieutenant with his grin. Presently, the Decepticons rose up in an angry mob and marched on Autobot high command to insist on Megatron's release; the situation quickly devolved into a riot, during which a squad led by [[Needlenose]] stormed the prison and freed Megatron. {{storylink|The Verge}}

[[File:RID14 new body redux.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.55|New body or not, Megatron may want to think twice about standing [[:File:Devastator-ROTFenemyscrotum.jpg|underneath Devastator's legs.]]]]
Megatron brought Starscream and the captured Bumblebee and Metalhawk to the Black Room, where he explained his plans and had himself transferred into a pre-prepared new body that could combine with the Constructicons' new forms. At his command, the Constructicons and Prowl combined into the new Devastator, who immediately set about razing Iacon. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} Even the return of Superion seemed unable to stop the powerful new combiner, until help came from an unexpected quarter—Prowl's secret assassin [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] killed Bombshell, taking out Prowl's controller and causing Devastator to shut down. This was no real impediment to Megatron, however, as the successful function of the new combiner process has been proven, and he set out to take ''his'' place as Devastator's head. Before Megatron could reach the fallen gestalt, though, Devastator awoke, possessed of his own unique, unite consciousness for the first time, and resumed tearing into Iacon. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}}

[[File:RID20 megatron in forcefield.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|You know you can't catch a break when you find yourself trapped inside a novelty plasma lamp from Spencer's.]]
Still Megatron remained unfazed, calmly fending off Autobot attacks and waiting for the inevitable moment when the heroes would take Devastator down. When [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] succeeded in doing so by managing to reach Prowl, Devastator separated, and Megatron immediately stepped in, re-initiation the combination with himself in control. Seconds before uniting with the Constructicons, though, his plan was foiled by Bumblebee, Ironhide and Prowl's activation of a secret failsafe: Wheeljack had integrated a forcefield generator into Megatron's spark casing during his examination of him, and when it was triggered, he was completely paralyzed in mid-transformation. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head}}

In the fallout of the battle, Starscream killed Metalhawk, took control of Iacon and banished the Autobots and Decepticons from the city. He took custody of the immobilized Megatron, and silently gloated over the victory he had accomplished by using guile and politics, rather than Megatron's ways of brute force and firepower. {{storylink|Three Monologues}}

===A new approach===
Megatron would not remain incapacitated for long. That night, as the end result of millennia-long secret machinations by Shockwave, an [[Necrotitan|undead Metrotitan]] appeared on Cybertron and opened a portal to the Dead Universe in the planet's skies. Through the portal, Shockwave made contact with Galvatron and his master, the exiled Cybertron despot [[Nova Prime]], but was unable to bring them through to Cybertron thanks to the unexpected disappearance of the Titan's space bridge system. Reanimating the deceased Metalhawk with a wave of necrotic energy from the Titan, Shockwave had him liberate Megatron and bring him to his secret lab in [[Crystal City]]. {{storylink|Winners & Losers: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3|Winners & Losers}}

[[File:RID24 i remember you.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|Somewhere in the multiverse, [[Override (G1)|Override]] and [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] are smiling.]]
Shockwave hoped that Megatron would comply with his plans willingly, but the Decepticon leader refused and Shockwave forcibly activated the space bridge technology in Megatron's body. {{storylink|Into the Abyss: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4|Into the Abyss}} The opening of the bridge in his chest caused Megatron agony, but his screams were heard by Soundwave, who led the united forces of the exiled Autobots and Decepticons to Shockwave's lab to free his leader. Nova Prime and Galvatron attempted to squeeze their way through the space bridge despite this interference, but Ironhide was able to punch Nova back through into the Dead Universe. Just then, Shockwave's "Necrotitan" came crashing into the subterranean city, and in the chaos, Megatron was freed from the restraints holding him. No sooner had Megatron carried Ironhide to the safe hands of the other Autobots, however, than he was ripped in half from behind by Galvatron, who had successfully emerged through the portal. {{storylink|Finest Hour: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5|Finest Hour}}

[[File:MTMTE26 megs and bee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|I smell a sitcom!]]
After the battle was over, Galvatron and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] lugged Megatron's bisected remains back into Crystal City, only to find their way barred by the unlikely form of Bumblebee, who demanded they hand Megatron over. Galvatron attacked the Autobot, at which point Megatron revealed that he was fine, as he took down Waspinator and knocked Galvatron out with a barrage of fusion cannon fire. {{storylink|The Dead Are Not Enough: Dark Cybertron Chapter 7|The Dead Are Not Enough}} Bumblebee lugged Megatron back to the Iacon, currently being razed by the Necrotitan, where the Decepticon leader announced to the assembled Autobots, Decepticons and NAILs his plan to withdraw to [[Moonbase Two|Luna 2]], summon the Decepticon Justice Division and other scattered troops, and strike back. Bumblebee rejected Megatron's notion of retreating, and struck a nerve within him by questioning his entire philosophy: Megatron had ''long'' ago abandoned any notion of fighting for freedom and equality, Bumblebee attested, and merely used the claim to ideology as an excuse for his actions. {{storylink|Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Burning Bright}} Fortunately, fighting back suddenly got a lot easier when Metroplex and the ''[[Lost Light]]'' space-bridged to Cybertron. During the battle between the Titans, Megatron observed Metroplex reaching for the ''Lost Light''; when the ship's crew explained that they had Metroplex's severed thumb aboard, Megatron had Bumblebee carry him to it, whereupon he realized that the thumb contained one of Shockwave's [[Regenesis]] ores. Megatron used his internal space bridge to teleport the thumb back to Metroplex, and the ore provided the giant with the power boost to defeat the Necrotitan. {{storylink|Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9|Finis Temporis}}

[[File:DCFinale megatron the autobot.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95|ಠ_ಠ]]
At Bumblebee's order and under protest, [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] repaired Megatron's injuries and reattached his legs, reminding Megatron of his desire in youth to be a medic. His recent string of failures, the success of ''Starscream'', of all 'bots, and Bumblebee's stinging words had turned the Decepticon leader introspective, and he realized he had forgotten something very important that had driven his writings in his early years: winning meant turning people to your way of thinking, not dominating them. {{storylink|The Becoming: Dark Cybertron Chapter 10|The Becoming}} Subsequently, when Shockwave initiated his millennia-long plan to collapse all reality into a universal black hole, Megatron placed himself and the Decepticons under Bumblebee's command to co-ordinate a counter-strike, and journeyed with his uneasy new "friend" into Shockwave's [[Crystal City]] base to confront their shared enemy. There, they found the weakened Galvatron, who Megatron prepared to destroy for past indignities, until Bumblebee talked him down, convincing him that blood did not have to be repaid with blood. At that moment, Shockwave struck, slaying Bumblebee with a blast, and driving Megatron into a rage. {{storylink|Black Planet: Dark Cybertron Chapter 11|Black Planet}} Empowered by his various ores and the energy of the Dead Universe, Shockwave was a formidable opponent and it was all Megatron could do to hold his own against him until Optimus Prime arrived to join the fight. Prime attempted to reason with Shockwave and remind him of the kindly senator he had once been, but his words had little effect, so Megatron opted for a more object lesson: removing the fallen Bumblebee's insignia, he placed it upon his chest and declared himself an Autobot. The stunned Shockwave lost control of the time machine powering his plot, causing his old pre-[[Shadowplay]] memories to emerge. Horrified at what he had become, he allowed Megatron and Prime to kill him, which caused the time machine to collapse into a singularity. Megatron and Prime made what seemed to be a futile dash for freedom, but were saved from the singularity's pull at the last moment by the timely arrival of the ''Lost Light''. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}}

===Towards Peace===
{{ongoing}}
{{quote|I don't want to be acquitted. I want to '''make amends'''|Megatron on his new goal in life|"[[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide]]"}}
[[File:DCFinale this is not a trick.jpg|thumb|upright=1.95]]
In a private meeting between Optimus Prime and Megatron a short time after Shockwave's defeat, Megatron affirmed that his change of heart was genuine, and Optimus assured him that he could see past his wartime deeds and remember the well-intentioned 'bot he had started out as. {{storylink|...And the Damage Done: Dark Cybertron Finale|...And the Damage Done}} The rest of Cybertron was not so convinced, however, with the NAIL population demanding a trial; realizing that the Decepticon leader's fate had to be decided in public, Autobot High Command agreed and set up a military trial with Optimus Prime sitting in as [[Chief Justice]]. Before the trial, Megatron was approached by Optimus, [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] and Rodimus in an attempt to extract some of the Decepticon's memories for evidence in hopes of expediting the proceedings, but a horrified Megatron refused, considering the sanctity of his mind all he had left. After Optimus departed, Rodimus remained to taunt Megatron with the certainty of his execution; in return, the impassive Decepticon simply asked Rodimus to deliver a [[communicube]] to Optimus, {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} containing a request to have the trial moved to the [[Raskol Arena]] on Luna 2 due, in order, he alleged, to accommodate the huge number of spectators attending the proceedings. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron pleads guilty.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.95]]
At the trial's outset, Megatron plead guilty to "Crimes against the Species". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} However, as the trial progressed and multiple witnesses were called to give testimony, things changed when Starscream took the stand. Starscream's testimony presented Megatron as an incapable leader who was unable to control the Decepticon forces under his command, a powerful brute lacking in the qualities of true leadership who led his followers down an ultimately self-destructive path. His treacherous lieutenant's words struck home, and Megatron stunned the assembled crowd by changing his plea to "not guilty". {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Just as his defender, Ultra Magnus, was reading a statement declaring this, the trial was dramatically interrupted by the a small army of Decepticons led by [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snap Trap]] and [[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Grr]], who had escaped from the brig on the ''Lost Light''. The invading force attempted to teleport Megatron away to safety, but he refused to escape and the uprising was quickly quelled. During the recess that followed, Optimus confronted Megatron over his true motives: although willing to accept execution, he had, in fact, requested that the trial be held on Luna 2 in order to exploit the moon's different legal system in the event that he felt the trial was unjust. Caused by Starscream's speech to realize that, were he to be executed now, his own legacy would be one only of pain and death, Megatron exploited the loophole by invoking a forgotten law: an individual who had committed sufficiently heinous crimes could request he be judged by the long-lost [[Knights of Cybertron]]. Megatron requested that he be allowed to join the ''Lost Light'' in their search for the Knights and their homeworld of [[Cyberutopia]], thus ensuring that ''that'' would be his legacy, after which he would submit to whatever punishment was deemed necessary. Optimus agreed on the condition that Megatron read a prepared speech denouncing the Decepticon cause and asking all active Decepticons to stand down. Megatron did so, at great personal pain. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}}
[[File:MTMTE30 cocaptains.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|O captain, my co-captain.]]
Megatron was assigned co-captaincy of the ''Lost Light'' alongside Rodimus, who immediately hated the idea and everything about it, leading to a particularly antagonistic relationship between the two. Megatron was permitted only to fuel himself with "[[Fool's Energon]]", which left him substantially weakened. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} Shockwave's machinations had left his internal organs a tortured Gordian knot of space bridge wormholes from which it was impossible to extract his spark; his outward appearance changed between the end of his trial and his co-captaincy, suggesting that his armor was rebuilt around him, or his entire internal structure was transplanted into a new body. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron would later lament that his body did not graft to his spark like past chassis, which he considered a sign of his waning age. {{storylink|Slaughterhouse|Slaughterhouse}} Optimus would see Megatron off on his voyage before he himself headed off to Earth, a meeting Prowl found deeply disturbing. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}.
[[File:MTMTE28 megatron head examined.jpg|left|thumb|275px|"So Megatron, tell me about your mother." "She was hot."]]
The ''Lost Light'' warped back out to the Galactic Rim and set off on the trail of [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]], who they considered their best lead on the location of the Knights. Some time into the journey—by which time six months had passed since Shockwave's defeat—Megatron agreed to a therapy session with ship's psychoanalyst Rung. Megatron was less than forthcoming, but when Rung inquired about the removed dedication to Terminus from ''Towards Peace'', Megatron explained to him his current thinking on personal history, and one's ability to selectively edit or abandon entirely previously-held truths. Departing for his quarters, Megatron found that his door had been heavily grafittied by Whirl, who then suddenly attacked him, declaring that their shared history made the battle inevitable. Megatron responded by undermining Whirl's entire life with the revelation that the ex-Wrecker's penchant for surviving tough scraps was a falsehood: the second order Megatron had issued upon forming the Decepticons was that under no circumstances was any Decepticon to kill Whirl. As they struggled, Megatron taunted Whirl with the knowledge that his memory of Whirl's actions all those years ago had helped keep him on the path of violence; the outraged ex-Wrecker punched Megatron in the stomach, only to find his hand teleported away by the space bridge tangle inside the former Decepticon. This took the fight out of Whirl, and Megatron offered to forget the incident if the graffiti was removed from his wall. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}}

Leaving Whirl behind and heading for the bridge, Megatron received a report that the ''Lost Light'' had crossed paths with a coffin floating in space. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|Towards Peace}} Megatron oversaw the bringing onboard of the coffin and its transport to the med-bay. A short time later, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]] snuck into the med-bay on a drunken dare in search of Megatron's "Fool's Energon", unaware of its true nature; caught in the act and believing he had been poisoned by the fuel, he triggered his forcefield, which inadvertently cracked the coffin open. Megatron reprimanded him by permanently engaging his fuel intake moderation chip, ensuring he could never get drunk again, then assigned him the role of Security Director in order to focus his mind. The pair then turned their attention to the opened coffin, which was revealed to contain the body of another Rodimus! {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}}
[[File:MTMTE32 i came to hate the person id become.jpg|thumb|275px]]
Brief analysis suggested that the body was of Rodimus from the future, but before the matter could be settled, the crew of the ''Lost Light'' were forced to abandon the ship as it suddenly began disappearing around them. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 3: Predestination: A Beginner's Guide|Predestination: A Beginner's Guide}} The disappearances did not stop there, however: Megatron found himself on the [[Rodpod]] with a score of other 'bots, and when ''they'' then began to vanish, [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] accused Megatron of being responsible. A tense Mexican standoff ensued, which was brought to a surprising end when [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] was discovered to have been hiding on the pod, having secreted himself on the ''Lost Light'' in order to spy on Megatron for Soundwave. The disappearances continued, and Megatron clashed with [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] as he tried to find a pattern. {{storylink|Twenty Plus One}} The weirdness only continued as the remaining crew of the Rodpod—Megatron, Ravage, Nightbeat, [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], [[Nautica]], [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]], and [[Getaway]]—discovered the wreckage of a second ''Lost Light'', point of origin for the mystery second Rodimus, orbiting the planet [[Ofsted XVII]]. Still believing that the duplicate ship hailed from the future, Skids accused Megatron of being responsible for the devastation, and, realizing that the recent huge changes he had made in his life left him devoid of any surety in his future actions, Megatron allowed himself and Ravage to be imprisoned until the truth could be determined. Locked in a supply closet with Ravage, Megatron had a heart-to-heart with his angry ex-subordinate, justifying his decisions and unable to offer Ravage any consolation. When power returned to the ship, the pair discovered the dead bodies of Ratchet, [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] in the closet with them, their [[brain module]]s stuffed in their mouths—calling card of [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] of the Decepticon Justice Division. Realizing the DJD was responsible for destroying the ship the team re-grouped and prepared to retreat when an even stranger discovery was made: Autobot archivist [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] was found, still alive, the only survivor of the DJD's attack, despite the fact that he had died months beforehand. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}
[[File:MTMTE33 megatron skids right there.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|"...But you're not the [[Skyfall (G1)|worst]] [[Zeta Prime (G1)|guy]] to wear the badge. So keep trying."]]
Nautica and Nightbeat were able to deduce the whole story: the duplicate ''Lost Light'' was not from the future, but rather, it and its crew were quantum duplicates created in the explosion of the [[quantum generator|quantum engines]] during the ship's original launch two years prior. To make matters worse, the [[quantum foam]] leaking from the engines was threatening to destroy Ofsted XVII, but Megatron had no compunctions about getting to safety and leaving the planet to its fate until Skids called him out, forcing him to face up to the fact that being an Autobot meant more than wearing a badge, and had to be reflected in one's actions. When all other options were exhausted, Megatron admitted that he could use his old mass-displacement ability to shrink his robot form down, enabling him to safely make it through the foam and deactivate the engines, saving Ofsted XVII, "cancelling out" the duplicate ''Lost Light'', and reinstating their own. The diminutive Rewind joined him in the task; Megatron showed him kindness by holding back knowledge of his counterpart's passing so that he might die happy, but Rewind was mysteriously was ''not'' erased when their task was successfully completed. As they made their way back to the returned ''Lost Light'', Megatron invited Ravage to remain at his side, hoping an up-close view of the DJD's horrors had instilled in him some doubt in the Decepticon cause. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken|The Road Not Taken}}

Returning to "their" ''Lost Light'', Megatron's team discovered that their Brainstorm had incapacitated the crew and used his mysterious [[briefcase]] to travel back in time. The ridiculousness of the entire situation caused Megatron to have a mini-breakdown, but he soon got ahold of himself, and theorized that Brainstorm was attempting to change history by killing Orion Pax. Rodimus led a squad back in time in pursuit, which led to Megatron having a cross-time conversation with the young Orion Pax via Rodimus's "[[time phone]]" communicator. Pretending to be his own younger self during the call, Megatron found the young 'bots optimism for the future a mixed source of both affirmation and tragic amusement. {{storylink|Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays|All Our Parlous Yesterdays}}

{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|House of Ambus}} {{storylink|Dark Dawn: Dark Cybertron Chapter 1|Dark Dawn}} {{storylink|Black Metal: Dark Cybertron Chapter 2|Black Metal}} {{storylink|The Custom-Made Now - An Elegant Chaos Prologue|The Custom-Made Now}} {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt}} {{storylink|Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard|Detonation Boulevard}}}}

===Pax Cybertonia===
In a vision of the future seen by Ironhide and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] during the reformatting of Cybertron, fifteen million years hence, Ironhide still believed Megatron to be alive and promised a young Autobot they would defeat him again if he ever returned. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}} {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}
{{-}}

===''Spotlight: Mirage''===
[[File:SLMirage all in good time.jpg|thumb|275px]]
{{NoteSLMirage}}
Somewhere, in an unknown time or place, the self-serving mercenary [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] dreamed of Megatron and his Decepticons launching a massive attack on the Autobots. But Mirage knew that to only be a dream; in reality, the Autobots were almost eradicated, and Megatron had hired him to hunt down the last of their number. Megatron was outraged by the mercenary's demand for a majority share in all energon mining operations as payment, but it proved to be fuel well spent, as he soon succeeded in locating Optimus Prime and forcing him to surrender. Megatron demanded the prisoners be executed despite Mirage's promise to spare Autobot lives. Seeing Mirage's hesitation, Megatron appealed to his greed. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
[[File:MegatronOrigin2 Megs hair.jpg|thumb|100px]]
*In [[Megatron Origin issue 2|''Megatron Origin'' #2]], we see that Megatron's helmet is, in fact, a helmet and not part of his head (at least in his original body). Upon removing his helmet, Megatron then briefly unfurls a crest. The significance of this moment is not explained, but it is briefly revisited in [[Remembrance Day|''More than Meets the Eye'' #14]] when a helmetless Megatron spars with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]].

[[Category:Combiners]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Lost Light crew]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Rulers of Cybertron]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Spinister (G1)

2015-02-08T22:18:31Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{factions||decepticon|}}
{{disambig3|Spinister}}
:''Spinister is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:Spinister-boxart.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|I'm terribly mysterious and I have 300 pounds of canned meat strapped to my right arm.]]
'''Spinister''' is mysterious... [[wikipedia:Mystery Men|''terribly'' mysterious. He cannot cut guns in half with his mind]], though he has been known to wield a gun that separates into two [[Nebulan]]s. These dumb stubbies are [[Singe (G1)|Singe]] and [[Hairsplitter]], if this really matters to anyone.

This grim air warrior seems far more independent of mind than the common Decepticon, though he doesn't go in for the outright mutiny for which [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] is noted. When he spots unrecognized potential in the Decepticon ranks, however, he may well bring the would-be warrior under his tutelage without the knowledge or permission of his superior officers.

A closed book to the Decepticons, Spinister is a dark menace to his Autobot enemies. Often, the first warning of his approach is the gentle note of a detonating fusion bomb or the delightful hiss of metal boiling away under an assault of charged particles from his beam cannon. How he is so terribly sneaky is unclear, but rumor has it that he has beaten the Romulans by centuries and developed a cloaking device. However, if he has, he hasn't spoken to anybody about it.

Quiet and mysterious, that's how he likes to be and how he intends to stay. Speaking his mind would prevent the whole mysterious, shadow-warrior thing from working. One must wonder how much even his binary-bonded companions know about him.

Then again, the guy might just be a paranoid dumbass who'd shoot a torch just because it "looked at him funny." He's actually a bit of a savant when it comes to re-wiring things, though.

Also, his name is cooler than [[Slayride]] and [[Sinnertwin (G1)|Sinnertwin]] combined.

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Marvel ''The Transformers'' comics====
{{noteukonly}}
[[File:HuntingParty-Mayhem Attack Squad small.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|Dammit, why does someone always have to ruin a perfectly good group shot with a wussy thought bubble??]]
''Spinister was recruited into the new [[Mayhem Attack Squad]] by [[Snarler]], and placed in charge of training and grading other new recruits to the squad. During a training exercise, a fresh-new warrior named [[Needlenose]] went AWOL in the middle of a battle. Spinister went after him, knowing the desertion was punishable by death in the Decepticon Army. He saw promise in the young soldier, though, and so instead faked having difficulty against an Autobot drone he was fighting. Spinister hoped that seeing him in danger would force Needlenose to act, and he was right. Needlenose came back and fought off the drone to "save" Spinister. Because of this, Spinister ignored his temporary loss of courage in the official report, and nominated Needlenose for full membership in the Mayhems, and their mission to hunt down the traitors [[Carnivac (G1)|Carnivac]] and [[Catilla (G1)|Catilla]].'' {{storylink|The Hunting Party (Marvel)|The Hunting Party}}

''Arriving on Earth, the Mayhems confronted Carnivac separately from his new Autobot comrades in the [[Survivors]], and ran him to ground.'' {{storylink|Way of the Warrior}} ''Seeing Carnivac's newfound care for fleshlings, Spinister opened fire into a crowd, committing Carnivac to taking the fire himself in order to protect the humans. Stunned by the gunfire, Carnivac lay wounded as Spinister transformed and was about to pass sentence on him. His fellow traitor Catilla leapt out from nowhere, however, spoiling Spinister's aim. Bludgeon managed to impale the new arrival with his [[sword]], but the Mayhems were then driven off by the Survivors before they could finish Carnivac off as well.'' {{storylink|A Savage Place!}}

[[File:ThunderwingComic.jpg|left|upright=1.15|thumb|Now this is a group shot to instil fear.]]
As a member of the Mayhem Attack Squad, Spinister joined Needlenose, [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]] and [[Windsweeper]] in serving their commander, [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]]. They investigated why Autobots were patrolling a sector of space, taking a group of Autobots as prisoner on the planet [[Pz-Zazz]]. {{storylink|Bird of Prey!}} The hostages revealed the search for the [[Matrix of Leadership|Creation Matrix]], inflaming Thunderwing's obsession to obtain the artifact. The Mayhem Attack Squad were soon taken to [[Cheyne]], where Spinister and Ruckus took down [[Dogfight]] for Thunderwing. As the Autobot proved to be of little use, the Decepticons left. {{Storylink|Kings of the Wild Frontier.}} They next went to [[Pequod]], and Thunderwing sent Spinister, who was beginning to have doubts about the sanity of his leader, and Needlenose to deal with the Autobot [[Pretender]]s at the planet while their leader mentally connected with the [[Klud]] to discern the Matrix's location. Once he did, he recalled his troops and left. {{Storylink|Deadly Obsession}} On the moon [[VsQs]], where the Matrix was, Thunderwing led his forces in battle with the Autobots there. He abandoned Windsweeper to his fate when the [[Matrixspawn]] creature attacked, being more focused on his prize than a fellow Decepticon. When their leader ran off chasing the creature, Spinister held back his fellow Mayhems, telling them it was their duty to look after the injured Windsweeper, and let Thunderwing deal with his own business. {{Storylink|Dark Creation}}

[[File:Matrix quest spinister-shot.JPG|upright=1.4|thumb|Few people get along with their bosses.]]
After Thunderwing captured the Matrix and arranged for his team to infiltrate the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] aboard a stolen shuttle, he quickly found the Matrix's own corrupted persona waxing control over his own mind. Spinister tried to warn him of the madness taking over, only to have Thunderwing fire on his own troop. The shock of having shot one of his loyal soldiers drove home the point for Thunderwing, but it was too late, and the Matrix completely overtook his thoughts. After the Autobots managed to drive Thunderwing out of the ship and into the vacuum of space, Spinister and the Mayhems gave up without a fight, wanting no more violence that day. {{storylink|All Fall Down}}
{{-}}

=====Earthforce=====
{{earthforcefiction}}
[[File:Where wolf death small.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Entered the No-Spinister Zone.]]
While Carnivac was still seeking revenge for Catilla's murder, Spinister and the others set up an island base on Earth while preparing for their next strike. The cowardly Needlenose got on everyone's nerves, though, when the waiting weighed on his circuits enough to compel him to stage a mock emergency drill and test the Mayhems' response time, just in case Carnivac came looking for him. Spinister gave Needlenose a stern rebuke after that, warning him that the next incident would cost him his life. As it turned out, Carnivac HAD infiltrated the base during the commotion, and Needlenose's next round of genuine emergency calls were left unheeded. {{storylink|Cry Wolf!}} The wolf's next strike on Bludgeon did not go as quietly, and he drew the attention of the rest of the base. Instead of risking himself in close-quarters combat, Carnivac's forte, Spinister wisely chose to blast the traitor from a distance, apparently destroying him. {{storylink|Wolf in the Fold!}} The Mayhems were then forced to defend themselves against the combined might of the Survivors and [[Earthforce]], who had come to rescue Carnivac from his insane mission of vengeance. While Bludgeon and the others charged head first into battle, Spinister saw no gain in a warrior's suicide, and attempted to slip away. Unfortunately for him, only Carnivac's shell had been destroyed earlier, and the robot within had survived to take his vengeance on the Mayhems, shooting Spinister, crushing Snarler and then assisting the Earthforce in capturing the remaining Decepticons. {{storylink|Where Wolf?}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers Comic-Magazin''====
{{TransformersComicMagazin}}
Spinister was present when Megatron made peaceful gestures to Humanity in [[New York City]] and the Decepticons gave a "statue" of [[Snaptrap (G1)|Snaptrap]] as a gift to the city. Unsurprisingly, once humanity was off-guard the Decepticons struck, and the Autobots barely stopped them. {{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 4#Transformers in Action: The Troy Principle|The Troy Principle}}
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 8|Save Nevada Alpha}} {{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 15|The Cosmic Adventure: Memories of Bumblebee}} {{storylink|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 21|Transformers in Action: In Memory of Earth}}}}
{{-}}

====''Classics''====
{{noteclassics}}
[[File:Invasion-Spinister.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.95|I'm very important in this story!]]
Spinister fell in with [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Gigatron]]'s Decepticon forces on Earth. This was a very fortunate decision, as evil Autobots from [[Shattered Glass|another dimension]] invaded, and as a result everything not on Earth in Spinister's universe ceased to exist.
{{storylink|Invasion (issue)|Invasion}}
{{-}}

====''Regeneration One''====
{{noterg1}}
[[File:Neo-decepticons counterpoint.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|I AM SPINISTER! BEWARE, I LIVE!]]
Spinister was present when [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] was recruiting for the "Neo-Decepticon" insurgency at [[Fort Scyk]]. He later participated in the attack on the [[Kalis]] [[Baird Beaming Transmitter]] that led to the destruction of the [[Last Autobot]]. {{storylink|Counterpoint}}

Soundwave was off-planet when the resurrected [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] returned to Cybertron with a [[Gene Key]] capable of turning Autobots into Decepticons. The former Headmaster arrived at Fort Scyk and commanded the assembled troops to follow him, executing [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] as an example of the price of questioning his orders. Spinister filed out with the rest, but not before he had got a message out to Soundwave. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part Three}} He was next seen with Needlenose alongside Scorponok at the [[Sonic Canyons]], preparing to make his Gene Key's effects permanent, when [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] and the Dinobots attacked. When Grimlock's mole [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] neutralised the Gene Key's effects on the Autobots, turning the odds against Scorponok, Spinister and Needlenose chose the better part of valour, transformed to their aerial modes and fled. {{storylink|Natural Selection, Part Five}}

Later, Spinister and Needlenose convinced a few agitated Cybertronians to lob a grenade at [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] as he was giving a speech at the [[Eugenesis Plaza]]. {{storylink|Destiny, Part One}} Spinister then monitored as [[Fang]] instigated a riot between more agitated Cybertronians and the [[Wrecker]]s on [[Auto-artery RG1|Auto-artery RG1 (North)]] as part of Soundwave's plan to sow disquiet and blind Cybertron to [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s impending attack. {{storylink|Destiny, Part Two}}

{{note|Spinister didn't appear after this, but if he survived the battle with the Autobots he was either captured and turned into a [[shadow-leech]] in his cell, or escaped and was turned into a shadow-leech anyway.}}
{{-}}

===Ladybird Books continuity===
After the Decepticons kidnapped [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]], they demanded [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] turn himself over in exchange. Spinister acted as aerial spotter for the Decepticons, tracking Prime's route to the exchange point. Unfortunately for the Decepticons, a covered pass allowed Optimus to sneak [[Fizzle]] and [[Hosehead (G1)|Hosehead]] into the area inside his trailer as back-up. {{storylink|Autobot Hostage}}

===Dreamwave ''Armada'' comic===
[[File:WorldsCollide3 Spinister1.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|WE'RE GONNA GET SENT TO THE BAD PLACE!]]
In one of many alternate realities, Spinister was one of the few survivors of [[Unicron]]'s attack on that universe's [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], and had become little more than a gibbering half-insane emotional wreck as a result. When [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] was accidentally transported into this reality, Spinister told him about Unicron and what he did. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4}} When Unicron returned soon after Prime's arrival, Spinister welcomed his oblivion with open arms, and was drawn into the Chaos Bringer's open maw and destroyed. {{storylink|Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4}}
{{-}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
[[File:SpotlightBlaster Spinister.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|How exactly am I flying?]]
Spinister was [[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|constructed cold]]. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} Back before the war, Spinister appeared in the crowd cheering [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron's]] first pit fight. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} It is unknown whether he joined the Decepticons at their inception or became part of the movement later on after the conquest of [[Kaon]]. Much later, Spinister was working under [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] on Cybertron, shortly after the Battle of [[Thunderhead Pass]]. He was part of the last major push for territory on the planet before it became uninhabitable. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blaster}} Millennia later, Spinister still served with the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacon]] leader as part of the crew aboard the starship ''[[Thanatos]]''. He followed [[Divebomb (G1)|Divebomb]] and the other flying Decepticons into battle with Thunderwing on Cybertron. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}}

Spinister was among the Decepticons imprisoned on Cybertron after the war with [[D-Void]]. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}}

[[File:MTMTE8 MisfireSpinister.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|One... two... hang on, guys, I've got this one... ''thuh-ree...'']]
Spinister somehow managed to get off Cybertron and land on [[Clemency]] where he would camp out with [[Scavenger (group)|a squad of loose Decepticons]] led by [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] and annoyed them with his paranoid, triggerhappy nature. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} During the time, they ran into a supposedly dead K-Class Decepticon called [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]] and Spinister removed his explosive charge in fear of the Decepticon blowing himself up while they were scavenging him. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}} Misfire described him to Fulcrum, after the bot revealed himself to be actually alive, as the dumbest being in the universe. Later, he wanted to shoot a fire for giving him weird looks (in fairness they were using a still-living Autobot as a fireplace) and then shot a torch because it was glowing at him, much to Fulcrum's dismay. They were later contacted by the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], who were looking to torture and kill one of them for crimes against the Decepticons. Confused since there were only six of them and the Division mentioned seven bots present, they looked around and discovered a stasis-locked [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} The Scavengers decided to stay and fight the D.J.D. by unleashing Grimlock from his pod when the D.J.D. got close. As the D.J.D. were arriving, they revealed their real target had been Fulcrum but it was already too late. Krok released Grimlock and the fight began. During the battle, Spinister assisted Crankcase in fighting [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]. After a while, Fulcrum attempted to blow all of the D.J.D. members up with his bomb mode by jumping off the Worldsweeper. As Spinister (probably) expected, the Decepticon harmlessly crashed into the ground and made a soft explosion. The D.J.D. left in any case for [[Overlord (Masterforce)|another target]] and the leader, [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]], announced the Scavengers and Grimlock were all now on [[The List]]. Spinister and the others recovered Fulcrum and a damaged Krok. Fulcrum then revealed to them that the D.J.D. had been after him for a crime he had committed during the war for fleeing from a fight. They set off afterwards for Cybertron with a plan to use Grimlock, who was revealed to be almost brain-dead, as a bargaining chip if they ever arrived on the planet. Before they left, they scavenged parts from [[Flywheels]], who had been killed during the fight. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

When Misfire managed to get himself incarcerated in the [[Galactic Council]]'s death row on the planet [[Constancy]], the rest of the Scavengers hatched a plan to rescue him, but Spinister, Krok and Crankcase were incapacitated by [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest]]'s [[universal killswitch]] at a crucial moment. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} After [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] and [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] used half the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] to neutralise the killswitch, Spinister was seen to recover. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
Following the restoration of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Spinister and [[Acid Storm (G1)|Acid Storm]] attempted to ambush a group of Autobots who were exploring the changes to their world. The pair were promptly captured and sent to a detention facility. {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (Legends)|The Autonomy Lesson}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[File:G1Spinister toy.jpg|thumb|Inyuk-chuk!]]
*'''Spinister''' (Targetmaster, 1988)
**''Accessories'': Hairsplitter and Singe Targetmaster partners/guns

:Spinister transforms into a rather busily-coloured [[Popular Earth vehicle alternate modes|AH-64 Apache attack helicopter]]. His Targetmaster partners [[Singe (G1)|Singe]] and [[Hairsplitter]] can be attached onto peg holes on the underside of his wings. The rotors spin, but the main rotor tends to fold back into its storage mode when turned.

:Spinister, like all the [[Targetmaster|Double Targetmasters]], was never released in Japan.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1988/Decepticon/Spinister/spinister.htm More information on Spinister at TFU.info]''#
::*''[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers-toys/gallery/g1-1988/spinister/983/1/ Image gallery of Spinister at Seibertron.com]''
::*''[http://www.botchthecrab.com/archive/instructions/decepticon/1988/instr_spinister.jpg Instructions for Spinister at Botchthecrab.com]''
{{-}}

===Timelines===
[[File:Timelinestoy-BC2012Spinister.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|My name's not "Spinster," people.]]
*'''Spinister and Octopunch''' (BotCon Souvenir Set, 2012)
**''Accessories'': Left & right missile launchers, two missiles

:A [[redeco]] of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Tomahawk (TF 2010)|Tomahawk]], with the head (but not the weapon or 5mm port on his camera array) of ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (toyline)|Dark of the Moon]]'' [[Vortex (ROTF)#Dark of the Moon|Vortex]], Spinister transforms into a slightly futuristic strike helicopter with a rotating camera array under its cockpit, sporting an amalgamation of features from both the [[wikipedia:Eurocopter Tiger|Eurocopter Tiger]] and the ADH-02 Hellhound attack helicopter from ''[[wikipedia:Patlabor|Patlabor]]''. He comes with spring-loaded missile launchers that mount under his wings via [[5mm post]]s. In robot mode, he is armed with "snapping pincers" on his right forearm, while his missile launchers end up over his shoulders. They can also be detached and held in his hands via 5mm post, or clipped onto the mini-guns on his wings or onto his forearms using the [[C joint]] system.

:Spinister was sold with [[Octopunch (SG)|''Shattered Glass'' Octopunch]] and limited to 1500 total sets. The original version of this mold was [[retool]]ed to make ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Springer (G1)#Generations|Springer]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Decepticon/BCSpinister/spinister.htm More information on ''BotCon 2012'' Spinister at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers-toys/gallery/exclusives/spinister/2737/1/ Image gallery of ''Botcon 2012'' Spinister at Seibertron.com]''
{{-}}

===Generations===
[[File:Generationstoy-NemesisPrime Spinister.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|From Targetmaster to Targetmaster'd]]
*'''Nemesis Prime & Spinister''' (Legends Class, 2014)
**''Series / Number'':
**''Accessories'': Rotor

: ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Legends Class]] Spinister is a redeco of ''[[Thrilling 30]]'' [[Blaze Master#Generations|Blazemaster]], transforming into a helicopter, a robot with [[C joint|3mm-compatible]] hands, and a weapon with a [[5mm post|5mm handle]]. He comes packaged with [[Nemesis Prime (G1)#Generations|Nemesis Prime]], who can wield him in weapon mode.

:This mold was also used to make ''[[Movie Advanced Series]]'' [[Jolt (AOE)|Micron Jolt]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2014/Decepticon/GenSpinister/spinister.htm More information on ''Generations'' Spinister at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.seibertron.com/transformers-toys/gallery/generations/spinister/3424/1/ Image gallery of ''Generations'' Spinister at Seibertron.com]''
{{-}}

==Notes==
*Spinister's ''Timelines'' bio card art depicts him wielding Vortex's [[MechTech]] weapon. The toy doesn't come with it, and there's no real evidence it was ever intended to.

==External links==
*[http://www.ntfa.net/universe/english/index.php?act=view&char=Spinister Spinister's Marvel Universe profile at NTFA.net]

[[Category:Armada Decepticons]]
[[Category:BotCon exclusives]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Generations]]
[[Category:Ladybird Books Decepticons]]
[[Category:Mayhem Attack Squad]]
[[Category:Regeneration One Decepticons]]
[[Category:Targetmasters]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]

Rules of Disengagement (issue)

2015-02-08T09:52:47Z

Phazeblade: minor fix, i was unsure how to set a featured character section

{{Comicstory|
|series=mtmte|issueno=7
|prev=Interiors
|next=Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
|seriesissue2="Scavengers"
|next2=Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?
|caption=
|image=MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg
|title="Rules of Disengagement"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 25]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=July 2012
|story by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2012)]]
}}

'''A mismatched group of Decepticons find themselves in the crosshairs of the deadliest team of killers there is... the Decepticon Justice Division!'''

==Synopsis==

As a [[Phase Sixer]], [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] is one of the most feared Decepticons, having tackled the [[Wrecker]]s single-handedly, defeated the entire [[113th Battalion]], and massacred the population of [[Rigel IV]]. But when he accepted a bribe to blow up a fleet of [[Warworld|War Worlds]], he landed himself in the sights of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], a team of vicious killers fanatically dedicated to [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and charged with destroying all who cross him. It's not a pretty sight when the DJD catch up to Black Shadow: melted by [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]], crushed by [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] and electrocuted by [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]], he is explosively finished off when DJD leader [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] uses his ability of "weaponized conversation" to stop the pulse of his [[spark]]. Their task done, the DJD set off to find their next target on the planet of [[Clemency]]—a target guilty of simply living.

On the ''[[Lost Light]]'', [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] combine their medical expertise to save the life of the wounded [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], though the psychiatrist remains comatose. A few hours later, [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] visits Rung in secrecy, believing—in his increasing paranoia—that the attempt on Rung's life was a deliberate one after Red told him about the voice he heard from beneath the ship. Certain that he is next, Red hides a [[data slug]] containing video he has taken of the voice's owner—[[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—on Rung's body and bids him goodbye. But a medical [[Diagnostic Drone]] has observed the entire thing, and soon, a shadowed figure arrives in the medibay and recovers the slug...

On Clemency, a band of [[Decepticon]] [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] consisting of [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]], [[Krok (G1)|Krok]], [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] and [[Flywheels]] are in the process of draining [[Transformer fuel|fuel]] from the vast array of Transformer corpses that litter the war-torn world when one of them, a chipper fellow named [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]], proves to be still alive. After a slight panic over the possibility that he might be a [[zombie]], the six 'cons settle down around a fire to talk about the great battle in Clemency's past, and the grim reality of war and how it reduces lives to statistics. Fulcrum is shocked to discover that the war is ''over'', barely able to comprehend such a thing, and the other Decepticons mumble about how meaningless it all turned out to be and how unclear their goals had been anyway. In spite of this, though, when one of the Autobot bodies stoking the Decepticons' fire proves to still be alive, Krok casually kills the poor 'bot.

Back on the ''Lost Light'', [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] visits [[Brainstorm]] in his lab to get the scientist's analysis of [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]'s mysterious gun, which Chromedome palmed from the theoretician when he was distracted. The weapon immediately blew up when Brainstorm tried to examine it, but he was able to recognise at least some of the engineering, and has concluded that as impossible as it may seem, the gun may have come from somewhere known as "the [[Institute]]"...

As dawn breaks on Clemency, the Decepticons resume their scavenging, only for Misfire to suddenly break away from the group, thinking that he has spotted the [[Necrobot]], a mythical Grim Reaper-like figure in Cybertronian culture. Instead, what he has discovered is a P-6 [[Worldsweeper]], a famous model of gigantic Decepticon spaceship cast in the image of the faction's [[insignia]]. Investigating the vessel, the Decepticons make some horrifyingly strange discoveries: a ceiling covered entirely in [[brain module]]s, tanks of warped, malformed [[protoform]]s, a non-functional robot made entirely of wood, and a corridor composed of organic flesh that proves to have been responsible for causing the ship to crash, having ''bled'' into the fuel supply and polluted it. Misfire in particular is aghast and advocates immediate departure, but Fulcrum, coming around to the idea of new horizons, is eager to investigate. All emotions on the ship quickly turn to terror, however, when Krok receives a communication from the DJD, announcing that one of their number is on the Division's list. Tarn signs off with the promise that if the guilty party is handed over, the other six will be allowed to watch his execution. The numbers don't add up, and Fulcrum assumes the DJD simply miscounted their life-signs... but Krok soon discovers that there is indeed a seventh party on the ship, unconscious and sealed in a stasis tube... [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]!

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.) 
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Piston (Wrecker)|Piston]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum">[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=301648#301648 James Roberts, IDW forum]: A while back I was PM'd by Ironhide/Paul, who asked me for some information on the Wreckers who showed up in the flashback on Page 1 of issue 7. I promised to post something on this forum. Here's the relevant extract from the script:

2 / Flashback. BLACK SHADOW fights the Wreckers (an old version of the team) at close quarters: tight, dirty and violent. He rips CREST’s head off and blasts PISTON through the chest, killing him. Also in shot are VALVE, HYPERION, IMPACTOR and RACK, all trying to get a piece of him. But it’s clear that Black Shadow owns this fight. Crest has been mentioned but not seen before, but should be readily identifiable by a big old crest on his chest. Valve is a spark brother to Springarm and Wheelarch, so should look like them. Piston is all-new. Hyperion was glimpsed in MTMTE issue 2.</ref> (2)
*''[[Rack'n'Ruin|Rack]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (3)
*''[[Valve]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (4)
*''[[Hyperion (G1)|Hyperion]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (6)
*''[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]]'' (7)
*''[[Crest]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (8)
*''[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]'' (9)
*''[[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]]'' (10)
*''[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]'' (11)
*''[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'' (12)
*''[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]]'' (13)
*''[[Kup (G1)|Kup]]'' (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (21)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (22)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (23)
*[[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] (24)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (25)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (27)
*[[Brainstorm]] (34)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (35)
*''[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]'' (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (37)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (1)
*[[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] (5)
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] (15)
*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] (16)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] (17)
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] (18)
*''[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'' (19)
*[[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] (28)
*[[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] (28)
*[[Flywheels]] (30)
*[[Krok (G1)|Krok]] (31)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (32)
*[[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]] (33)
|c4=
*[[The Pet]] (20)
}}

==Quotes==

"Nice to meet you, loser! They call me '''Misfire'''. Long story. Actually, you know what? It isn't. It's a very short story involving a machine gun, a '''misunderstanding''', and a dozen dead Decepticons."
:—In the IDW-universe, '''Misfire''' actually managed to hit something!

'''Fulcrum:''' "Ah! Now! Just—just wait a second! Just— The thing about me—my big thing is this: I'm really not keen on '''dying'''. Now '''survival'''—oh wow, '''huge''' fan. Put me down for some of '''that'''. Besides, we don't even know each other! You might '''like''' me! You might find me—disarming! Yes! I'd '''disarm''' you!" 
'''Spinister:''' "You'd '''what''' me?" 
'''Flywheels:''' "Careful—he's using words to confuse and frighten us."

"'''Go away.''' I'm busier than you've ever been and I'm doing more important things than you've ever done." 
"It's Chromedome." 
"So?" 
"So you have to be '''nice''' to me, I'm your only friend. Why are you—?" 
"Building weapons whilst hanging from the ceiling? Because no one else can. I was hoping '''Perceptor''' would walk in."
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome'''

"Chromedome, you're looking at is a bona fide '''Binary Gun.'''" 
"What's a Binary Gun?" 
"I'm not sure—I've only just made up the name. But I called it that because inside there's only room for two cartridges, '''here''' and '''here.'''" 
"So what does it '''do?''' Where'd Skids get it? Why'd he carry it around with him all the time?" 
"I don't know! I've done my bit...!" 
"You made the gun '''blow up''' and then you '''gave it a name!''' I could have done that '''and''' I'd have come up with a better name!"
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome''' again

"But there's '''always''' been a war! That's like saying there's no more '''blue''' or—or the '''weather's''' stopped!"
:—'''Fulcrum''' catches up on recent history

"I always dreamed of captaining my own P-6—Followin' the likes of [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] and the other big guns. I'd have called it something '''noble''' and '''majestic''', like '''''Mega Starpuncher''''' or '''''Mighty Spaceship'''''."
:—'''Crankcase'''

"You know, there are some Decepticons who, upon finding themselves in a skin-covered room surrounded by '''aborted protoforms''' and '''mechanoids made of bark,''' would rub their hands together, marvel at the universe's infinite capacity for surprise and '''dive right in.''' I am not one of those Decepticons. I say we run away screaming." 
"I '''am''' one of those Decepticons, Misfire, and I say we stick around—because frankly, this is amazing." 
"What's amazing?" 
"This! Us! Now! Who owns this ship? Where are they now? Where will '''we''' be an '''hour''' from now, or '''tomorrow''', or '''next month?''' The answer to '''all''' those questions is '''"Who knows?"''' And that's a '''great answer!''' That's the '''best answer ever!''' All our lives we've followed orders—all our lives someone else has always told us what to do next! Well, not anymore! For the first time in '''forever,''' we can do whatever we like! We're '''free!'''"
:—'''Misfire''' and '''Fulcrum'''

==Notes==

===Continuity notes===
* Black Shadow was established to be a phase sixer in his sole previous IDW appearance in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|#2]].
* In addition to obvious members Impactor and Rack (pre-Ruin), the version of the Wreckers Black Shadow fights is made up mostly of characters mentioned and briefly glimpsed in past James Roberts works which he specified in the script.<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> None are named on-panel but Hyperion is recognizable from his corpse's role in [[Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|issue #2]], while Valve has never been seen before, but shares a body-type with his brothers [[Wheelarch]] and [[Springarm]] from "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]". Crest was mentioned in "[[Bullets]]" (and can be recognized by his large chest-crest), while the unfortunate Piston is a new character, separate from the earlier IDW character [[Piston (mechanic)|of the same name]].
* The Decepticon Justice Division were first mentioned in one of Roberts's earliest IDW works, [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #1]], and have come up on occasion since then. They are named after cities on Cybertron; specifically, the "[[Fall of the First Five Cities|First Five Cities]]" to fall to the Decepticons in the war, which were listed in [[Life After the Big Bang|issue #4]].
* Chromedome palmed Skids's gun between pages 4 and 5 of [[Life After the Big Bang|issue 4]].
* Reference was previously made to the mysterious "Institute" by the [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|nameless senator]] in [[Chaos Theory Part 2|"Chaos Theory", Part 2]], and as part of Red Alert's paranoid delusions in [[How Ratchet Got His Hands Back|issue #5]].
* The [[Necrobot]] was previously mentioned by [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] in ''[[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]]'' among other [[:Category: Things that don't exist|things that don't exist]] like the [[Shimmer]] or the [[Moonbase One|Seething Moon]]. All of these turn out to exist in some form...
* Grimlock was last seen at the close of the ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]]'' mini-series, over three years before the publication of this issue. Since then, all we've heard is that he had left [[Garrus-9]] after it was sacked by the Decepticons under unrevealed circumstances, as detailed in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #4]].
*It was most likely Drift who got the data slug.

===Transformers references===
*Black Shadow's design is based on his ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' toy.
* Whilst [[Rigel III|other]] [[Rigel 6|planets]] that orbit [[Rigel|the same star]] have shown up in Transformers fiction before, this issue is the first mention of Rigel IV. It's also known as being [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_and_Kodos the home of a pair of pesky space aliens] from ''The Simpsons''.
* Black Shadow's bribe is in [[Shanix]], a little-referenced Cybertronian currency that first appeared in issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It's seen some previous mentions in IDW continuity in [[Chaos Theory Part 1|"Chaos Theory", Part 1]] and "[[Stick Together]]".
* The Warworld was the Decepticon mothership in the Marvel ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' comic. The idea of a fleet of multiple Warworlds originated with the non-canon ''[[Alignment]]''.
* Vos's dialogue, referred to as the "[[Cybertronian language#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Primal Vernacular]]", is written using the [[Cyberglyphics]] symbol language from the [[movie continuity|live-action movie continuity]]. Employing the substitution cypher regularly used by [[Titan Books|Titan]] in their [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|UK Transformers comic]] shows that most of his speech bubbles are nonsense, however, save for the first, which reads: "So tired me go night xth".
* [[Kol]] was first seen in [[Swarm (issue)|''Generation 2'' #9]], where it was a planet. It became the name of a [[Kol System|system]] in [[Stormbringer issue 2|''Stormbringer'' #2]] with the introduction of [[Varas Centralus]], which is located there.
* Roberts had previously created a Decepticon named Fulcrum in his fan-published ''Transformers: Eugenesis'' novel. Whether these are meant to be iterations of the same character (as was the case with Rung) or just a name reuse is unclear.
* That Flywheels should freak out so seriously at the prospect of a [[zombie]] is fitting, given his prominent role in the greatest Transformers zombie story, Marvel UK's "[[City of Fear!]]" (indeed, his only prominent role in anything before now).
* Amusingly, to go by the original tech spec numbers, Krok is actually the lowest ranking Decepticon of his group. But since when was fiction accurate to the tech specs?
* [[Hydrus Four|Hydrus 4]] is the planet of origin for [[Nucleon]], seen in the original Marvel series. Its sister world [[Hydrus 5]] was created by James Roberts and first mentioned in "[[Bullets]]".
* The planet [[Elpasos]] is mentioned in passing, a world that debuted in—you guessed it, issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It got a previous IDW mention in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #5]].
*Reference is made to "Nova Peak", which is prrrrrobably the same thing as [[Nova Point]].

===Trivia===
* Although "Rules of Disengagement" is the only on-page title for this issue's story, the following issue was labelled "Scavengers (Part 2)", identified this as an unmarked Part 1.
* The 113th Battalion is another use of the number 113 by James Roberts, referring to the [[Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!|issue of the UK comic]] that got him hooked on the series. On the same page, Black Shadow is seen battling the '''11'''th iteration of the Wreckers, with '''3''' kills.
* This is not the first time Roberts has written a character has having been "talked to death", though this version is a lot more literal than the reference made in "Bullets" to [[Violator|a Decepticon]] who killed himself rather than listen to [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] drone on!
* Krok's ship is named the ''Weak Anthropic Principle'', which is a philosophical postulate which basically states that only a universe capable of supporting intelligent life is able to be noted by said life, whereas a universe incapable of supporting such life will go unbeheld.

===Errors===
*"Halt" is misspelled "hault" on page 3, this was corrected for the TPB.
*Spinister was previously shown to be among the Decepticons who had already returned to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|#1]]. Quick, someone [[Bluster|make up]] [[Firster Aid|a name]]!
*Spinister's name is misspelled as "Spinisther" during the search of the Symbol Ship, this remained uncorrected in the TPB.
*Krok spends most of the issue in a new set of colors, only appearing in his toy's colors in one panel on page 20.

===Crew Manifest===
*The "Story so far" segment on the inside front cover notes that "a number of [[Delphi]]'s patients" were brought to the ''Lost Light'', which is the first mention that anyone other than [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] came back with Ratchet and the medics.
*5 deaths, 5+ new arrivals since the launch.

===Soundtrack===
*''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk0vQhxyR5Y My Year in Lists]'' by [[Wikipedia:Los Campesinos!|Los Campesinos!]]

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Tarn, by Alex Milne and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Cover B:''' Misfire, Crankcase, Spinister, Flywheels and Krok, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover RI:''' [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] by [[Marcelo Matere]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]], the second quarter of a combined image formed with the RI cover to ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Interference Patterns|#7]], [[Dinobot Hunt|#8]], and ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]].

<gallery>
Image:MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg|The last image in Black Shadow's mind.
Image:MTMTE7_cvrB.jpg|Hi, can I have your heart?
Image:MTMTE7_cvrRI.jpg|Cover RI
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Dinobot Hunt|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'' [[Loose Ends, Part 2|#82]]
*Sergio Aragones' ''Groo: Artist's Edition''
*''[[The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy]]''
*''Regeneration One'' [[Loose Ends, Part 1|#81]]
*IDW's ''Mars Attacks'' comic (back cover)

==References==
<references/>

Rules of Disengagement (issue)

2015-02-08T09:49:38Z

Phazeblade: yes helex has an animal on a leash, no its not his, its kaon's pet(the pet) helex was simply holding its leash for kaon during his turn playing with black shadow(this is stated on the pet's page too)

{{Comicstory|
|series=mtmte|issueno=7
|prev=Interiors
|next=Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
|seriesissue2="Scavengers"
|next2=Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?
|caption=
|image=MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg
|title="Rules of Disengagement"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[July 25]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=July 2012
|story by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2012)]]
}}

'''A mismatched group of Decepticons find themselves in the crosshairs of the deadliest team of killers there is... the Decepticon Justice Division!'''

==Synopsis==

As a [[Phase Sixer]], [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] is one of the most feared Decepticons, having tackled the [[Wrecker]]s single-handedly, defeated the entire [[113th Battalion]], and massacred the population of [[Rigel IV]]. But when he accepted a bribe to blow up a fleet of [[Warworld|War Worlds]], he landed himself in the sights of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], a team of vicious killers fanatically dedicated to [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and charged with destroying all who cross him. It's not a pretty sight when the DJD catch up to Black Shadow: melted by [[Helex (DJD)|Helex]], crushed by [[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] and electrocuted by [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]], he is explosively finished off when DJD leader [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] uses his ability of "weaponized conversation" to stop the pulse of his [[spark]]. Their task done, the DJD set off to find their next target on the planet of [[Clemency]]—a target guilty of simply living.

On the ''[[Lost Light]]'', [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]], [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] and [[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] combine their medical expertise to save the life of the wounded [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], though the psychiatrist remains comatose. A few hours later, [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] visits Rung in secrecy, believing—in his increasing paranoia—that the attempt on Rung's life was a deliberate one after Red told him about the voice he heard from beneath the ship. Certain that he is next, Red hides a [[data slug]] containing video he has taken of the voice's owner—[[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]—on Rung's body and bids him goodbye. But a medical [[Diagnostic Drone]] has observed the entire thing, and soon, a shadowed figure arrives in the medibay and recovers the slug...

On Clemency, a band of [[Decepticon]] [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] consisting of [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]], [[Krok (G1)|Krok]], [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] and [[Flywheels]] are in the process of draining [[Transformer fuel|fuel]] from the vast array of Transformer corpses that litter the war-torn world when one of them, a chipper fellow named [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]], proves to be still alive. After a slight panic over the possibility that he might be a [[zombie]], the six 'cons settle down around a fire to talk about the great battle in Clemency's past, and the grim reality of war and how it reduces lives to statistics. Fulcrum is shocked to discover that the war is ''over'', barely able to comprehend such a thing, and the other Decepticons mumble about how meaningless it all turned out to be and how unclear their goals had been anyway. In spite of this, though, when one of the Autobot bodies stoking the Decepticons' fire proves to still be alive, Krok casually kills the poor 'bot.

Back on the ''Lost Light'', [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] visits [[Brainstorm]] in his lab to get the scientist's analysis of [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]'s mysterious gun, which Chromedome palmed from the theoretician when he was distracted. The weapon immediately blew up when Brainstorm tried to examine it, but he was able to recognise at least some of the engineering, and has concluded that as impossible as it may seem, the gun may have come from somewhere known as "the [[Institute]]"...

As dawn breaks on Clemency, the Decepticons resume their scavenging, only for Misfire to suddenly break away from the group, thinking that he has spotted the [[Necrobot]], a mythical Grim Reaper-like figure in Cybertronian culture. Instead, what he has discovered is a P-6 [[Worldsweeper]], a famous model of gigantic Decepticon spaceship cast in the image of the faction's [[insignia]]. Investigating the vessel, the Decepticons make some horrifyingly strange discoveries: a ceiling covered entirely in [[brain module]]s, tanks of warped, malformed [[protoform]]s, a non-functional robot made entirely of wood, and a corridor composed of organic flesh that proves to have been responsible for causing the ship to crash, having ''bled'' into the fuel supply and polluted it. Misfire in particular is aghast and advocates immediate departure, but Fulcrum, coming around to the idea of new horizons, is eager to investigate. All emotions on the ship quickly turn to terror, however, when Krok receives a communication from the DJD, announcing that one of their number is on the Division's list. Tarn signs off with the promise that if the guilty party is handed over, the other six will be allowed to watch his execution. The numbers don't add up, and Fulcrum assumes the DJD simply miscounted their life-signs... but Krok soon discovers that there is indeed a seventh party on the ship, unconscious and sealed in a stasis tube... [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]]!

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.) 
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Piston (Wrecker)|Piston]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum">[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=301648#301648 James Roberts, IDW forum]: A while back I was PM'd by Ironhide/Paul, who asked me for some information on the Wreckers who showed up in the flashback on Page 1 of issue 7. I promised to post something on this forum. Here's the relevant extract from the script:

2 / Flashback. BLACK SHADOW fights the Wreckers (an old version of the team) at close quarters: tight, dirty and violent. He rips CREST’s head off and blasts PISTON through the chest, killing him. Also in shot are VALVE, HYPERION, IMPACTOR and RACK, all trying to get a piece of him. But it’s clear that Black Shadow owns this fight. Crest has been mentioned but not seen before, but should be readily identifiable by a big old crest on his chest. Valve is a spark brother to Springarm and Wheelarch, so should look like them. Piston is all-new. Hyperion was glimpsed in MTMTE issue 2.</ref> (2)
*''[[Rack'n'Ruin|Rack]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (3)
*''[[Valve]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (4)
*''[[Hyperion (G1)|Hyperion]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (6)
*''[[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]]'' (7)
*''[[Crest]]''<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> (8)
*''[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]]'' (9)
*''[[Pyro (G1)|Pyro]]'' (10)
*''[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]]'' (11)
*''[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]]'' (12)
*''[[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]]'' (13)
*''[[Kup (G1)|Kup]]'' (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] (21)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (22)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (23)
*[[Ambulon (G1)|Ambulon]] (24)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (25)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (27)
*[[Brainstorm]] (34)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (35)
*''[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]'' (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (37)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] (1)
*[[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] (5)
*[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] (15)
*[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]] (16)
*[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]] (17)
*[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] (18)
*''[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'' (19)
*[[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] (28)
*[[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] (28)
*[[Flywheels]] (30)
*[[Krok (G1)|Krok]] (31)
*[[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] (32)
*[[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]] (33)
{{!}}}
|c3=
*[[The Pet]] (20)

==Quotes==

"Nice to meet you, loser! They call me '''Misfire'''. Long story. Actually, you know what? It isn't. It's a very short story involving a machine gun, a '''misunderstanding''', and a dozen dead Decepticons."
:—In the IDW-universe, '''Misfire''' actually managed to hit something!

'''Fulcrum:''' "Ah! Now! Just—just wait a second! Just— The thing about me—my big thing is this: I'm really not keen on '''dying'''. Now '''survival'''—oh wow, '''huge''' fan. Put me down for some of '''that'''. Besides, we don't even know each other! You might '''like''' me! You might find me—disarming! Yes! I'd '''disarm''' you!" 
'''Spinister:''' "You'd '''what''' me?" 
'''Flywheels:''' "Careful—he's using words to confuse and frighten us."

"'''Go away.''' I'm busier than you've ever been and I'm doing more important things than you've ever done." 
"It's Chromedome." 
"So?" 
"So you have to be '''nice''' to me, I'm your only friend. Why are you—?" 
"Building weapons whilst hanging from the ceiling? Because no one else can. I was hoping '''Perceptor''' would walk in."
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome'''

"Chromedome, you're looking at is a bona fide '''Binary Gun.'''" 
"What's a Binary Gun?" 
"I'm not sure—I've only just made up the name. But I called it that because inside there's only room for two cartridges, '''here''' and '''here.'''" 
"So what does it '''do?''' Where'd Skids get it? Why'd he carry it around with him all the time?" 
"I don't know! I've done my bit...!" 
"You made the gun '''blow up''' and then you '''gave it a name!''' I could have done that '''and''' I'd have come up with a better name!"
:—'''Brainstorm''' and '''Chromedome''' again

"But there's '''always''' been a war! That's like saying there's no more '''blue''' or—or the '''weather's''' stopped!"
:—'''Fulcrum''' catches up on recent history

"I always dreamed of captaining my own P-6—Followin' the likes of [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] and the other big guns. I'd have called it something '''noble''' and '''majestic''', like '''''Mega Starpuncher''''' or '''''Mighty Spaceship'''''."
:—'''Crankcase'''

"You know, there are some Decepticons who, upon finding themselves in a skin-covered room surrounded by '''aborted protoforms''' and '''mechanoids made of bark,''' would rub their hands together, marvel at the universe's infinite capacity for surprise and '''dive right in.''' I am not one of those Decepticons. I say we run away screaming." 
"I '''am''' one of those Decepticons, Misfire, and I say we stick around—because frankly, this is amazing." 
"What's amazing?" 
"This! Us! Now! Who owns this ship? Where are they now? Where will '''we''' be an '''hour''' from now, or '''tomorrow''', or '''next month?''' The answer to '''all''' those questions is '''"Who knows?"''' And that's a '''great answer!''' That's the '''best answer ever!''' All our lives we've followed orders—all our lives someone else has always told us what to do next! Well, not anymore! For the first time in '''forever,''' we can do whatever we like! We're '''free!'''"
:—'''Misfire''' and '''Fulcrum'''

==Notes==

===Continuity notes===
* Black Shadow was established to be a phase sixer in his sole previous IDW appearance in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|#2]].
* In addition to obvious members Impactor and Rack (pre-Ruin), the version of the Wreckers Black Shadow fights is made up mostly of characters mentioned and briefly glimpsed in past James Roberts works which he specified in the script.<ref name="RobertsIDWforum" /> None are named on-panel but Hyperion is recognizable from his corpse's role in [[Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On|issue #2]], while Valve has never been seen before, but shares a body-type with his brothers [[Wheelarch]] and [[Springarm]] from "[[Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory]]". Crest was mentioned in "[[Bullets]]" (and can be recognized by his large chest-crest), while the unfortunate Piston is a new character, separate from the earlier IDW character [[Piston (mechanic)|of the same name]].
* The Decepticon Justice Division were first mentioned in one of Roberts's earliest IDW works, [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #1]], and have come up on occasion since then. They are named after cities on Cybertron; specifically, the "[[Fall of the First Five Cities|First Five Cities]]" to fall to the Decepticons in the war, which were listed in [[Life After the Big Bang|issue #4]].
* Chromedome palmed Skids's gun between pages 4 and 5 of [[Life After the Big Bang|issue 4]].
* Reference was previously made to the mysterious "Institute" by the [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|nameless senator]] in [[Chaos Theory Part 2|"Chaos Theory", Part 2]], and as part of Red Alert's paranoid delusions in [[How Ratchet Got His Hands Back|issue #5]].
* The [[Necrobot]] was previously mentioned by [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] in ''[[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]]'' among other [[:Category: Things that don't exist|things that don't exist]] like the [[Shimmer]] or the [[Moonbase One|Seething Moon]]. All of these turn out to exist in some form...
* Grimlock was last seen at the close of the ''[[The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots|Maximum Dinobots]]'' mini-series, over three years before the publication of this issue. Since then, all we've heard is that he had left [[Garrus-9]] after it was sacked by the Decepticons under unrevealed circumstances, as detailed in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #4]].
*It was most likely Drift who got the data slug.

===Transformers references===
*Black Shadow's design is based on his ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' toy.
* Whilst [[Rigel III|other]] [[Rigel 6|planets]] that orbit [[Rigel|the same star]] have shown up in Transformers fiction before, this issue is the first mention of Rigel IV. It's also known as being [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_and_Kodos the home of a pair of pesky space aliens] from ''The Simpsons''.
* Black Shadow's bribe is in [[Shanix]], a little-referenced Cybertronian currency that first appeared in issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It's seen some previous mentions in IDW continuity in [[Chaos Theory Part 1|"Chaos Theory", Part 1]] and "[[Stick Together]]".
* The Warworld was the Decepticon mothership in the Marvel ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' comic. The idea of a fleet of multiple Warworlds originated with the non-canon ''[[Alignment]]''.
* Vos's dialogue, referred to as the "[[Cybertronian language#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Primal Vernacular]]", is written using the [[Cyberglyphics]] symbol language from the [[movie continuity|live-action movie continuity]]. Employing the substitution cypher regularly used by [[Titan Books|Titan]] in their [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|UK Transformers comic]] shows that most of his speech bubbles are nonsense, however, save for the first, which reads: "So tired me go night xth".
* [[Kol]] was first seen in [[Swarm (issue)|''Generation 2'' #9]], where it was a planet. It became the name of a [[Kol System|system]] in [[Stormbringer issue 2|''Stormbringer'' #2]] with the introduction of [[Varas Centralus]], which is located there.
* Roberts had previously created a Decepticon named Fulcrum in his fan-published ''Transformers: Eugenesis'' novel. Whether these are meant to be iterations of the same character (as was the case with Rung) or just a name reuse is unclear.
* That Flywheels should freak out so seriously at the prospect of a [[zombie]] is fitting, given his prominent role in the greatest Transformers zombie story, Marvel UK's "[[City of Fear!]]" (indeed, his only prominent role in anything before now).
* Amusingly, to go by the original tech spec numbers, Krok is actually the lowest ranking Decepticon of his group. But since when was fiction accurate to the tech specs?
* [[Hydrus Four|Hydrus 4]] is the planet of origin for [[Nucleon]], seen in the original Marvel series. Its sister world [[Hydrus 5]] was created by James Roberts and first mentioned in "[[Bullets]]".
* The planet [[Elpasos]] is mentioned in passing, a world that debuted in—you guessed it, issue #113 of the Marvel UK series. It got a previous IDW mention in [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #5]].
*Reference is made to "Nova Peak", which is prrrrrobably the same thing as [[Nova Point]].

===Trivia===
* Although "Rules of Disengagement" is the only on-page title for this issue's story, the following issue was labelled "Scavengers (Part 2)", identified this as an unmarked Part 1.
* The 113th Battalion is another use of the number 113 by James Roberts, referring to the [[Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!|issue of the UK comic]] that got him hooked on the series. On the same page, Black Shadow is seen battling the '''11'''th iteration of the Wreckers, with '''3''' kills.
* This is not the first time Roberts has written a character has having been "talked to death", though this version is a lot more literal than the reference made in "Bullets" to [[Violator|a Decepticon]] who killed himself rather than listen to [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] drone on!
* Krok's ship is named the ''Weak Anthropic Principle'', which is a philosophical postulate which basically states that only a universe capable of supporting intelligent life is able to be noted by said life, whereas a universe incapable of supporting such life will go unbeheld.

===Errors===
*"Halt" is misspelled "hault" on page 3, this was corrected for the TPB.
*Spinister was previously shown to be among the Decepticons who had already returned to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|#1]]. Quick, someone [[Bluster|make up]] [[Firster Aid|a name]]!
*Spinister's name is misspelled as "Spinisther" during the search of the Symbol Ship, this remained uncorrected in the TPB.
*Krok spends most of the issue in a new set of colors, only appearing in his toy's colors in one panel on page 20.

===Crew Manifest===
*The "Story so far" segment on the inside front cover notes that "a number of [[Delphi]]'s patients" were brought to the ''Lost Light'', which is the first mention that anyone other than [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] came back with Ratchet and the medics.
*5 deaths, 5+ new arrivals since the launch.

===Soundtrack===
*''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk0vQhxyR5Y My Year in Lists]'' by [[Wikipedia:Los Campesinos!|Los Campesinos!]]

===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Tarn, by Alex Milne and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Cover B:''' Misfire, Crankcase, Spinister, Flywheels and Krok, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Cover RI:''' [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] by [[Marcelo Matere]] and [[Priscilla Tramontano]], the second quarter of a combined image formed with the RI cover to ''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Interference Patterns|#7]], [[Dinobot Hunt|#8]], and ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]].

<gallery>
Image:MTMTE7_cvrA.jpg|The last image in Black Shadow's mind.
Image:MTMTE7_cvrB.jpg|Hi, can I have your heart?
Image:MTMTE7_cvrRI.jpg|Cover RI
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[Dinobot Hunt|#8]]
*''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'' [[Loose Ends, Part 2|#82]]
*Sergio Aragones' ''Groo: Artist's Edition''
*''[[The Transformers: Autocracy|Autocracy]]''
*''Regeneration One'' [[Loose Ends, Part 1|#81]]
*IDW's ''Mars Attacks'' comic (back cover)

==References==
<references/>

Talk:Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things

2015-02-08T07:57:06Z

Phazeblade: /* Not sure if I'm being too nitpicky here... */

==Transformation Cog Death==
What about the NAIL from issue 1? He transformed himself to death. [[Special:Contributions/141.218.8.33|141.218.8.33]] 00:22, 13 March 2012 (EDT)

==Poem==
Was that "nickel, cobalt" stuff in the issue? Because I didn't notice it.
:yes.--[[Special:Contributions/76.28.76.206|76.28.76.206]] 13:39, 14 March 2012 (EDT)
::Easily missed, but it's in the orange box beside the title. Pale off-white text on light orange does not make it immediately readable. - [[User:Chris McFeely|Chris McFeely]] 13:50, 14 March 2012 (EDT)

== Not sure if I'm being too nitpicky here... ==

Zero Point establishes that optic color should match spark color. Animus' optics/visor are blue, but his spark is green. Do we count this as an error considering both are Roberts fiction?--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 21:28, 17 March 2012 (EDT)

on the note of nit-picking, the continuity notes clearly state megatron holding vos in alt mode, yet only megatron is listed in the featured characters roster, shouldnt vos be there too?[[User:Phazeblade|Phazeblade]] ([[User talk:Phazeblade|talk]]) 02:57, 8 February 2015 (EST)

==brain module==
Is it worth noting that Shock's brain module resembles a miniature model of Cybertron? - [[User:Silver|Silvery]] 15:00, 18 March 2012 (EDT)
:Not really. The only similarities are that they're both spheres that are mechanical.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 15:47, 18 March 2012 (EDT)
::Well, on that page when Shock's module gets ripped out, it really looks like a floating little Cybertron. But oh well. - [[User:Silver|Silvery]] 21:15, 18 March 2012 (EDT)

== Summary ==

Is it just me, or does that summary at the top of the article not make sense? --[[User:Flicky1991|flicky]][[User talk:Flicky1991|1991]] 12:03, 20 February 2013 (EST)
:What, this?
::'''''Something'' is loose aboard the ''Lost Light'', and the Autobots must hunt it down before it kills again!'''
:In what way does it not make sense? [[User:Jalaguy|Jalaguy]] 13:06, 20 February 2013 (EST)
:Oh, it had already been changed. *facepalm* [[User:Jalaguy|Jalaguy]] 13:07, 20 February 2013 (EST)
::How does "Something is loose aboard the Lost Light, and the Autobots must hunt it down before it does the same to them!" not make sense? It just means "hunt it down before it hunts them down". [[User:Mimi|Mimi]] 13:13, 20 February 2013 (EST)
:::Oh, right... I understand it now. I guess it did make sense, but was still worded unnaturally. --[[User:Flicky1991|flicky]][[User talk:Flicky1991|1991]] 13:20, 20 February 2013 (EST)

Talk:Interiors

2015-02-08T07:26:54Z

Phazeblade: /* fort max hitting whirl */

Two things about Whirl's confession in Rung's office:
: Firstly, he mentions that he used to be a flight instructor and that he changed his name at one point. Could it be he was the intructor called Jetstream who would routinely beat the bolts out of Rotorstorm? See 'Bullets' to see what I am talkin about.

: Secondly, Whirl had been kicked off the Wreckers before the mission to Garrus-9. So while he may have tried to euthenaise a comatose Springer after Garrus-9, we still don't have an honest reason why he was booted from the Wreckers in the first place. Which then makes his 'Watchmaker' story lose some credibility.
::First - yes, as the article notes.
::Second - he hadn't been kicked off the Wreckers before Last Stand. He was just ruled out of ''that mission'' by Springer for having recently proved himself a liability. He was then ''kicked out'' by Roadbuster for what he tried to do to Springer. What specifically he did to be considered as such, that's what we're not sure about. - [[User:Chris McFeely|Chris McFeely]] 11:50, 12 July 2012 (EDT)

== fort max hitting whirl ==

is it really pistol-whipping(based on the quote section) or butt-stroking(google it, its the actual name), thats clearly the back end of max's gun, and pistol-whiping is (atleast on wikipedia) listed as "hitting the target with an overhand strike from either the long, heavy barrel of the gun or the side of the gun in the area of the cylinder." now that manner of strike(gun-butt to the face) raises the question of "is that a fort max sized pistol, or a rifle he can hold with one hand easily?"(as it was previously shown that pistols for them are small enough to be stored robo-cop style in the upper leg)

Talk:Interiors

2015-02-08T07:25:30Z

Phazeblade: /* fort max hitting whirl */ new section

Vos (G1)

2014-10-29T11:11:33Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */ cleanup

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambig2|the member of the Decepticon Justice Division|the Decepticon city|Vos}}
:''Vos is a Decepticon from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW portion]] of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:Mtmte vos wear my face.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime's]] worst nightmare.]]
There's been at least one previous '''Vos''' in the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], the five-strong group of torturers and fanatics employed by [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] to hunt down and deal with traitors. The current one is a scientist and a so-called "linguistic purist": he speaks only the [[Cybertronian language#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Primal Vernacular]] and has failed to learn more than a few words of the modern [[Transformer]] tongue, [[Cybertronian language#IDW Generation 1 continuity|Neocybex]]. As such, his contributions to the conversation are usually interpreted by his squad leader [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]].

Vos transforms into a sniper rifle to be wielded by another member of the D.J.D. or even Megatron himself on occasion. His favored method of torture is removing his face, the inside of which is lined with numerous spikes, drills, and hooks, and forcing his target to wear it. This provides perhaps a rather ''visceral'' counterpoint to the old corrupt [[Senate]]'s favored punishment of [[empurata]], ritual disfigurement.

{{quote|Wear my faaace.|Vos to Krok|[[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?]]}}

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
The previous Vos had hooks for hands ''and'' feet. Some of [[Gripper (G1)|Gripper's]] friends were murdered by him. {{storylink|World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|Words Hang in the Air}} Sometime later, this Vos was killed and he was replaced by the "linguistic purist" one.

Vos was used as a weapon by Megatron at least once during the war, seemingly during some pivotal moment worthy of future recollection. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things}}

When the Decepticon [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] was caught for getting bribed to destroy a fleet of [[Warworld]]s, Vos enjoyed watching the other members slowly torture and kill him. Afterwards, Vos and the other members were then ordered by Tarn to move on to their next target, [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} On arrival at [[Clemency]], they were attacked by Fulcrum's new friends, the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]], and responded in kind. During the course of battle, Vos got a chance to ram his face on [[Krok (G1)|Krok]], who unfortunately survived the treatment. Once Fulcrum ended up seemingly killing himself, the D.J.D. left the planet, ignoring the surviving Scavengers in favor of hunting down a more high-profile target: [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Arriving at Overlord's location, the ''[[Lost Light]]'', near the planet [[Ofsted XVII]], the D.J.D. set about murdering the ship's crew of Autobots before killing the still-restrained Overlord's head with a chainsaw. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}}

After slaughtering Overlord, the DJD turned their attention to the Autobot crew. In his weapon mode, Vos was used by Tarn to kill Cyclonus with a single head shot. He later held Rewind captive, forcing him to film the grisly proceedings, and then killed Chromedome with his own mnemosurgery needles. {{storylink|slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken}}

Unbeknownst to the DJD, however, ''another'' version of the ''Lost Light'' was still out in space, and whose Overlord escaped confinement before being ejected and blasted with missiles. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

==Notes==
*The D.J.D. renamed themselved after the first cities the Decepticons conquered (in this case [[Vos]]). [[James Roberts]] has elaborated that when a D.J.D. member dies, his replacement takes his codename.<ref>[http://boards.idwpublishing.com/3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12651&start=15 IDW Forums James Roberts Q&A]</ref>

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Scientists]]

Overlord (G1)

2014-10-11T00:45:20Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{faction|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Overlord}}
{{featured}}
:''Overlord is a [[Decepticon]] [[Godmaster]] from the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:Overlord.jpg|300px|thumb|Check out these killer abs!]]
[[Autobot]]s quake in fear when '''Overlord''' (オーバーロード ''Ōbārōdo'') thunders on to the battlefield. This towering warrior is an amalgamation of the deadliest [[Decepticon]] weaponry known, armed with laser blasters and grenade launchers in his stomach, and the terrifying ability to prevent the wounds he inflicts upon his opponents from healing. He is even equipped with an internal arms factory. Overlord is formed from two individual vehicles, a tank and a jet, which combine together to form his colossal robot mode, a heavily-armed advance base, or a larger jet capable of space flight.

He is sometimes known as '''Gigatron'''.

{{note|Exactly who—and even ''what''—Overlord is varies greatly from continuity to continuity, to the point that it could conceivably be argued whether or not the different incarnations represent different characters. See individual sections below for details.}}

==Fiction==
===Japanese Generation 1 continuity===
The story of the Overlord begins with the mysterious alien energy-being and self-styled Decepticon god, [[Devil Z]], who schemed to create the ultimate lifeform by merging Transformers and humans into one. Devil Z stole a collection of Transformer [[Transtector]]s from the [[G Nebula 89|G Nebula]] and brought them to Earth, where he recruited two human beings, husband and wife [[Giga]] and [[Mega]], and charged them with creating an army for him. Mega and Giga were both bonded to the largest Transtector, and together, they became the terrifying Overlord, serving as Devil Z's "Ambassador of Destruction" on Earth.

In this continuity, each of Overlord's two components are piloted by Giga and Mega, and are hence known as the '''Gigatank''' and the '''Megajet'''. As deadly as his "Chōkon Daemon Blast" lasers and "Chōkon Bolt Masher" grenade launcher are, Overlord has little need for projectile weapons: as a [[Godmaster]], he is capable of manipulating [[Chōkon Power]], and can even employ it to inhibit the regenerative abilities of other Godmasters.

====Cartoon continuity====
=====''Super God Masterforce'' cartoon=====
{{voiceactor|[[Keiichi Noda]] (Japanese)}}
[[File:Overlord r.jpg|left|225px|thumb|Believe it or not, this is a crane shot.]]
Giga and Mega took their Transtectors into battle for the first time after a string of failures that resulted in several of the Godmaster Transtectors falling into the hands of the [[Autobot]]s. The couple had [[Hydra (Masterforce)|Hydra]] and [[Buster (Masterforce)|Buster]] lure Autobot commander [[Ginrai]] into the desert, and then confronted him as Overlord, immediately proving their superiority by beating him to near-death. {{storylink|Super Ginrai Gets Blown Away in the Desert!?}} Believing Ginrai dealt with, Overlord subsequently departed into space, taking control of a [[Weather Observatory Moon Base|weather-monitoring base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|moon]] in order to rendezvous with the approaching [[Scorponok (G1)|BlackZarak]] there. Ginrai, however, proved entirely too stubborn to die, and, powered-up through his combination with the freshly-constructed [[Godbomber]] drone, soon pursued Overlord and engaged him in battle above the moon's surface. {{storylink|God Ginrai - Into the Sky!!}} During the fight, Ginrai was blindsided by BlackZarak and sent crashing down to the moon, where he found himself hunted by the two powerful Decepticons. Luckily, the Autobot battleship [[Grand Maximus]] arrived to help, and the two Decepticon tried to break off the fight an return to Earth. Ginrai and Grand vowed to stop them, and a shot from Ginrai's God Cannon sent Overlord plummeting back to the moon, forcing Giga and Mega to split into their individual Transtectors to soften their impact and save their lives. The Autobot pair managed to drive BlackZarak back to the moon as well, and the dark Decepticon insisted that Overlord return to Earth alone and inform Devil Z of the situation. Overlord refused, furious that anyone other than Devil Z would presume to give him orders, but when Ginrai and Grand returned to press their attack, he realised the damage he had sustained prevented him from carrying on the fight, and he relented. After Overlord departed for Earth, however, the outnumbered BlackZarak was then beaten by Ginrai and sent fleeing back into the depths of space. {{storylink|God Ginrai - Showdown on the Surface of the Moon}}

[[File:Overlord v.jpg|205px|thumb|I'm easy come. Easy go. Little High. Little Low.]]
Incensed by this failure, Giga decided to reduce Ginrai's power level by destroying Godbomber. A desert again served as Ginrai and Overlord's battleground, as Overlord used his Chōkon Power to create a massive whirling tornado out of the shifting sands, but when he was thrown off balance by a sneaky God Punch attack, Overlord's "Chōkon Tornado" quickly backfired on him and sent him spinning off wildly through the sky. {{storylink|Overlord - Terror of the Chōkon Tornado}} Despite this setback, Overlord made another attempt to eliminate Godbomber, this time by separating him from Ginrai with an ambush in the American heartland. In their separate Transtectors, Giga and Mega wore down Ginrai until he no longer had enough Chōkon Power to animate Godbomber, but the plan was foiled when the Autobot [[Headmaster Junior]]s discovered they could combine their own energy to control Godbomber themselves. With Ginrai and Godbomber reunited, Overlord was sent packing by a blast of Chōkon Power. {{storylink|Destroy Godbomber!!}}

[[File:Overlord b.jpg|left|205px|thumb|Umm, Giga? Where are we supposed to sleep?]]
Overlord later adopted his base mode for the first time to act as a staging ground for the search for the final Godmaster. The search came to an abruptly end, however, when the Godmaster himself, [[Clouder]], sought out the Decepticons, and the villains decided to use his ability to adopt two robot forms to install him as a double agent within the Autobot ranks. {{storylink|Appearance!! The Final Godmaster}} Using information fed to them by Clouder, the Decepticons initiated a full-scale attack on the Autobots' headquarters, again using Overlord's base mode as a mobile headquarters from which the assault was masterminded. {{storylink|Secret Orders! Destroy the Autobot Base!!}} When Ginrai (who had been lured away from the base so the attack to begin) returned to aid his fellow Autobots, Overlord transformed to robot mode and again engaged him in battle, intending to keep him occupied until a [[Seacon (Masterforce)|Seacon]] force could destroy the Autobot base from within. Although defeated in combat, Overlord was still able to gloat, as Ginrai failed to realise that he was being stalled until it was too late. Furious at his own short-sightedness, Ginrai hurled Overlord and embedded him, head-first, in the side of the mountain housing the Autobot base. At that moment, the base's magma converter power core finally exploded, and Overlord was sent flying over the horizon by a jet of lava. {{storylink|Disaster! The Autobot Base Explodes}}

[[File:Overlord spacejet.jpg|200px|thumb|Set controls to outer space, now, flying higher than ever before!]]
Soon thereafter, BlackZarak returned to Earth, and the Decepticons began "Operation M-1" to cut a swathe of devastation across the Earth. While BlackZarak tore through [[New York City|New York]], Overlord landed in the heart of [[Paris]], decimating military resistance and destroying the [[Arc de Triomphe]]. With these cities in ruins, the two Decepticons began to converge on Tokyo; while passing over China, Overlord landed on the Great Wall and broadcasted a message to the leaders of the world, warning them to surrender or witness Tokyo's destruction. Overlord then carried on his way, easily defeating [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]], [[Phoenix (Masterforce)|Phoenix]] and [[Diver (Masterforce)|Diver]] when they attempted to block his path. Overlord and BlackZarak soon arrived in Tokyo, and with no surrender forthcoming, began razing the city. In the midst of the chaos, however, Ginrai and Grand Maximus—who had been trapped in a black hole by BlackZarak, and only just managed to escape—arrived to stop their evil deeds. During the ensuing battle, Ginrai manoeuvred himself between the two Decepticons, and dodged at the last second, causing them to blast each other. With his two most powerful warriors damaged, Devil Z called off Operation M-1, and initiated Operation M-2 {{storylink|BlackZarak - Destroyer from Space}} which involved destroying the Earth's atmosphere from orbit with the unholy [[Death Para-Machine]]. Overlord transformed to his "space jet" mode to carry the Decepticon Headmaster Juniors into space for the operation, but naturally, the Autobots pursued their enemies, and Ginrai was able to destroy the Death Para-Machine before it caused irreparable damage to Earth. {{storylink|Crisis! The Day of Human Extinction}}

[[File:Overlord vs ginrai.jpg|left|225px|thumb|"I outrank you, Ginrai!" "You do NOT! 'God' outranks 'Overlord'!"]]
After a battle with [[Lightfoot]] in southern Europe, {{storylink|God Ginrai - Save Cancer!?}} Overlord tried a more underhanded tactic, capturing Autobot Headmaster Junior [[Shūta Gō]], and using him as a bargaining chip to bring Ginrai to the Decepticon base. The battle that followed was distinctly one-sided, as Ginrai was unable to fight back due to Shūta being in danger, but this suddenly took an unexpected turn when Decepticon Junior [[Cancer (Masterforce)|Cancer]] turned on his teammates and freed Shūta. Even as the shocked Overlord commanded him to stop, Ginrai got back in the fight, and flattened Overlord before escaping with Shūta and Cancer. {{storylink|God Ginrai: Showdown at the Decepticon Base}} With the information Cancer provided them, the Autobots were able to stage an all-out attack on the Decepticon base, during which Overlord again battled Ginrai. The fight came to a sudden end when Devil Z merged together with BlackZarak and collapsed the Decepticon base in a failed attempt to destroy the Autobots. {{storylink|The Ultimate Combination!! BlackZarak, the New Lifeform}}

For a time, Devil Z's hatred of humankind had been steadily growing, and rankled with Giga and Mega, reaching a head when the alien abandoned [[Wilder]] and [[Bullhorn (Masterforce)|Bullhorn]] in the ruins of the Decepticon base, and transformed Hydra and Buster into true robots. {{storylink|Battle to the Death!! God Ginrai VS Darkwings Reborn}} Confronting God Ginrai for one final time in the heart of the [[Grand Canyon]], Overlord vowed to fight him without weapons, battling him only through the use of his physical strength and the power of his human flesh. He didn't explain his motives to Ginrai, but Ginrai observed Overlord's refusal to draw his weapons, and fought honourably. When Grand Maximus arrived on the scene, however, he was not so concerned, and simply shot Overlord out of the sky. {{storylink|Autobots! Desperate Attack!!}}

[[File:Overlord ginrairescue.jpg|200px|thumb|I get by with a little help from my ... uh, foes.]]
After the battle in the Grand Canyon, the Decepticons relocated to the Alps, and the Autobots again gave chase. Overlord was willing to engage the Autobot Godmasters, but the merged Devil Z/BlackZarak entity held him back and instead buried them under an avalanche. Meanwhile, Ginrai again defeated Hydra and Buster, and the two brothers limped back to the peak of the Matterhorn, where Devil Z turned on them for their failure. As their punishment continued, Overlord at last stood up to his emperor and attempted to stop him, only to be on the receiving end of the emperor's wrath. {{storylink|Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z}} Unexpectedly, Overlord was rescued by Ginrai, and as the Autobot leader began his final battle with BlackZarak, Giga and Mega realized that they owed him a debt of honor for saving them and finally made the decision to turn against their former master. When Overlord attempted to aid God Ginrai in his battle with BlackZarak, however, they were struck down and enveloped in a sphere of Devil Z's [[Devil Power]]. Devil Z separated Mega and Giga from their Transtectors, bringing Overlord to live as a true super-robot lifeform. As their [[Master-Brace]]s vanished from their wrists, Giga and Mega died, regretting that they could not settle their rivalry with Ginrai honourably. Alas, there was not even time to mourn, as the new, robotic Overlord lunged for Ginrai, but was tackled by Grand Maximus. Ginrai subsequently united his powers with the Headmasters Juniors to finally destroy Devil Z and BlackZarak, and at the sight of his leader being vaporized, Overlord immediately called for the Decepticons to retreat. As they fled into space, the Autobots' Transtectors were also brought to life, as Overlord's had been, by the death of Devil Z, and they took headed into space in pursuit of Overlord's Decepticons. {{storylink|A Battle... and Then...}}
{{-}}

=====''Victory'' cartoon=====
[[File:Decepticons in the g nebula.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Those car washes get more dangerous every year.]]
The now-living Overlord Transtector and his followers rejoined the Decepticon forces in space, and Overlord briefly led the Decepticon army before the rise to power of [[Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus]]. {{storylink|Deathsaurus (Victory)|Deathsaurus's toy bio}} Following this, Overlord commanded the Sector Two Decepticon force, based in the G Nebula, where they battled the Autobots under the command of his old foe, God Ginrai. {{storylink|Planet Micro - The Mysterious Warrior}}
{{-}}

=====''Zone'' cartoon=====
{{voiceactor|[[Keiichi Noda]] (Japanese)}}
[[File:OverlordZone1.jpg|250px|thumb|Robots should not wear [[Transformer clothing#Capes|capes]].]]
Years later, when the supernatural creature known as [[Violen Jiger]] seized command of the Decepticons, his first act was to recruit nine "[[Nine Great Demon Generals|Demon Generals]]" from Decepticon history. Overlord was selected to be one of those Generals and was given new power and weaponry to make him an even greater threat than before. At Violen Jiger's instruction, Overlord was sent to the planet [[Feminia]] to wreak havoc along with [[Abominus (G1)|Abominus]] and [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]]. Together, the three Decepticon Demon Generals destroyed the entire planet and nearly killed Autobot [[Supreme Commander]] [[Star Saber (Victory)|Victory Saber]] in the process.

Two-and-a-half months later, Overlord led Menasor, Abominus and [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] in an attack on the planet of [[Micro|Zone]], gleefully blasting [[Micromaster]]s and using his trident to slice into [[Zone Base]] to retrieve a sample of [[Energon Z]] for Decepticon use. With the Micromasters completely unable to harm the Decepticon generals, Overlord left the planet in triumph, handing the Energon Z off to the second group of Generals, who went on to attack Earth, but were stopped by Autobot [[Powered Master]] [[Dai Atlas (Zone)|Dai Atlas]]. {{storylink|Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!}}
{{-}}

====Comic continuity====
=====''Super-God Masterforce'' comic=====
[[File:Overlord manga.jpg|left|250px|thumb|The sound effect reads "fart."]]
Giga and Mega debuted their Transtectors in an attack on a city, during which they combined into Overlord and devastated the Autobot Godmasters with their Daemon Blast and Bolt Masher weapons. Blindsided and badly damaged by the newly-created God Ginrai, Overlord was goaded into pursuing the Autobot out into space, where BlackZarak was battling the Autobot [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]]. As BlackZarak turned to face the approaching Ginrai, the cunning Autobot swiftly ducked out of the way, causing Overlord and BlackZarak to attack each other. Gravely wounded, Overlord returned to Earth, while BlackZarak fled back into space. {{storylink|God Ginrai's Amazing Super-God Combination!}}

Overlord's base mode was employed by the Decepticon to hold Shūta Gō and [[Cab]] prisoner, when they attempted to torture the two boys into becoming members of the Decepticons. Their fellow Autobot Junior, [[Minerva (Masterforce)|Minerva]], came to their rescue when she crashed Godbomber through Overlord's walls and freed them, after which Overlord transformed to robot mode to face the approaching Ginrai and Grand Maximus. It wasn't his best showing: after Ginrai combined with Godbomber, Grand crashed his battleship directly into Overlord's face, and God Ginrai used the Headmaster's "[[Master Blade (Masterforce)|Master Blade]]" to slice off Overlord's legs. Their Transtectors forcibly separated, the battered Giga and Mega escaped. {{storylink|The Earth Family of Good and Evil}}

[[File:Overlord aolaser.jpg|250px|thumb]]
From the top of [[Qomolangma]], Overlord rained destruction down on the world using the Decepticons' newest weapon, the [[A.O. Laser]]. When Ginrai and Godbomber arrived to stop him, Overlord turned the laser on them; they dodged, but they had failed to observe the presence of the Decepticons' newest member, the Godmaster Clouder, who reflected the laser beam back at them and knocked them out of the sky. Unfortunately for Overlord, a chance comment from Cancer insulting Clouder's falcon mode plunged the Godmaster into such a rage that he turned on his Decepticon allies and blew up the A.O. Laser in Overlord's hands. Although Ginrai had been temporarily blinded by the A.O. Laser, the Headmaster Juniors were able to serve as his eyes and point him in the right direction to unleash his "God Punch" attack, which clobbered Overlord so hard that Giga and Mega actually popped out of his chest. {{storylink|Decepticons' Great Counterattack!}}

Soon thereafter, when the Autobots were off-Earth visiting their space-based allies, BlackZarak was able to return to Earth, and he and Overlord took the opportunity to attack a city. The Autobots soon returned with, and Ginrai and Godbomber grappled with Overlord, forcing him to separate back into the Megajet and Gigatank. The two Autobots clung onto the separate Transtectors, however, refusing to let them escape, as they waited for the new weapon they had brought back from space, the [[VX Bomb]] to detonate. The explosion came seconds later, knocking Mega and Giga's Transtectors offline, but Ginrai and Godbomber survived by combining into God Ginrai. {{storylink|Live? Die?! The Desperate Super-God Combination}}

[[File:Overlord vs blackzarak.jpg|left|250px|thumb]]
When BlackZarak attacked a city, Cancer happened to be here, and BlackZarak showed his disdain for humans by using the boy as a bargaining chip to prevent the Autobots from interfering with his deviltry. Horrified at this treatment of Cancer, Overlord viciously attacked BlackZarak, rescuing Cancer from his grip, but while they were fighting, it allowed the Autobots to take down both of them. {{storylink|Great Turn-Around! Autobots}}

In light of this act of treachery by Overlord, it was perhaps not surprising that in the midst of his next battle with Ginrai, Overlord himself was the subject of a betrayal. In an attempt to transform himself into the ultimate lifeform, Devil Z fused with BlackZarak, and then turned on Overlord and the Decepticon Headmaster Juniors, attempting to drain theirs and Ginrai's [[Chōkon Power|Jinchōkon]] and take it for his own. They were saved by the Autobot Pretenders, who blocked the Jinchōkon-absorbing beam, and Overlord decided to join with the Autobots in defeating Devil Z. Overlord joined with all the other Transformers in combining their energies into the "Perfect Transform Attack", which finally destroyed BlackZarak and Devil Z once and for all. With the alien's death, the Transformers' Transtectors were brought to life as true super-robot lifeforms, Overlord's included. Alas, Devil Z's energies had also been sustaining the lives of Giga and Mega, and his death also resulted in theirs. The now-living Overlord and Ginrai Transtectors decided to take their troops back into space, where Overlord vowed to defeat Ginrai in memory of Mega and Giga, and for the honor of the Decepticons. {{storylink|The Birth of the Super Lifeforms}}
{{-}}

=====''Zone'' comic and story pages=====
[[File:Overlord zone manga.jpg|160px|thumb]]
Years after the end of the [[Masterforce War]], Overlord was among the Decepticons recruited by the new Decepticon emperor Violen Jiger to become the strongest of his Nine Great Demon Generals. In addition to his new title of "Super-God General", Overlord was outfitted with new armor and weapons that made him even more dangerous than before. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)|Zone Part 1}}

One month after the Demon Generals destroyed the planet Feminia, apparently taking the life of the Autobot Supreme Commander Victory Saber in the process, Overlord led Menasor, Bruticus and Abominus in an attack on the planet Zone, where they successfully stole a sample of the super-energy, Energon Z. When the Zone Base transformed into battle mode and opened fire on the Decepticons, Overlord called retreat, seeing no need to stay and fight when the prize was already theirs. Overlord then handed the Energon Z off to the second platoon of generals, who subsequently headed for Earth, but were defeated in battle there by the Autobot Powered Master Dai Atlas. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (manga)|Transformers: Zone}}

It wasn't long before Overlord got his own chance to go up against Dai Atlas, but the Powered Master didn't think much of this so-called "Strongest of the Generals," aiming to finish their battle in under eight seconds. Whether or not he achieved this lofty goal is unknown, but he ''did'' lay out Overlord with his powerful "Galactic Dash" attack. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)|Zone Part 6}}

The Generals later schooled [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]] and the [[Metrosquad]] in the ways of evil, making them formidable foes for the [[Powered Master]]s. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (story page)|Zone Part 7}}
{{-}}

====''Transformers PD Type''====
[[File:Pdtype_overlord.jpg|left|thumb]]
During a battle between Overlord and Super Ginrai, the Autobot Godmaster prepared to attack with Chokon Power. When he raised his hands to summon Tenchokon, however, he was struck by a bolt of lightning, causing Overlord to smirk that the weather wasn't looking too good. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##7 "Fight! Super Ginrai!"|Fight! Super Ginrai!!}}

Sitting in a field, watching the clouds float by, Overlord started to wonder what he was doing with his life and decided he needed a day off to reflect on his lot. Unfortunately, he had chosen to sit down and have this epiphany in the middle of a huge battle, and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] began shouting at him to get back up and join the fight. {{storylink|Transformers PD Type##9 "Oh Overlord."|Oh, Overlord}}
{{-}}

===European toy bio continuity===
[[File:Overlord vs motorvators.jpg|thumb|Collect all time-displaced toys.]]
A legend by virtue of his very existence, Overlord is the ultimate Decepticon anti-hero. Emerging to join the Transformers' war at some undetermined point in space and time, Overlord fights alone on the battlefield despite his Decepticon allegiance, a monolithic horror born of "advanced robotic engineering" whose special abilities—including the power to travel across dimensions—come from the "[[Energon figure]]s" that operate his multiple functions.

To counter the monstrous threat posed by this powerful new breed of Decepticon, the Autobots developed their own new team of warriors, the [[Motorvator]]s, emulating Overlord's Energon figure technology to make the trio a match for his awesome power.<ref>Overlord's European toy bio</ref><ref>Story blurb on Overlord and the Motorvators' packaging.</ref>
{{-}}

===Dreamwave ''Generation One'' comics===
Gigatron was an ancient Cybertronian, who developed an idea to allow Decepticons to survive on alien planets by biologically integrating local inhabitants into their systems. In modern times, Gigatron's records were uncovered and used to develop the [[Powermaster]] process. {{storylink|Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye #8}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{bigquote|A good strategist is half psychologist and half '''sadist'''. And I was the '''best'''.|Overlord|[[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' #3]]}}
[[File:Overlords_spark_remembrance_day.jpg|thumb|left|200px|They're so cute when they're small.]]
Overlord was "born" on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s [[Moonbase Two|second moon]] 4.2 million years ago, a rare breed known as a "[[Point One Percenter]]". After its "first flash" killed the [[Frak|hapless miners]] who discovered it, his [[spark]] was taken by the [[Functionism|Functionist Council]]'s authenticator [[Three-of-Twelve]]. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}

[[File:MegatronOrigin2 fightcrowd1.jpg|300px|thumb|Hey, he appeared as a rabid fan of gladiatorial combat in a crowd shot once. Wouldn't it be ''awesome'' if [[Nick Roche|someone]] built a whole character round that?]]
In the days before the [[Great War (G1)|Cybertronian civil war]], Overlord was both an avid spectator of [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]'s gladiatorial matches {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} and a participant in the bouts, even fighting Megatron himself. Megatron would be the only opponent to ever defeat Overlord, and he did so regularly, giving Overlord a pathological fear of defeat. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}} All the same, Overlord still joined Megatron's Decepticon faction upon its founding, though it was not the loftiness of the Decepticon cause that Megatron espoused which enticed him. Rather, it was the chance to have the glorious excess of the gladiator battles move beyond the arena, to encompass entire worlds. To Overlord, the ends didn't matter overly much when the ''means'' themselves were this pleasurable. As a result his tactics developed a reputation as unsound, and his schemes as nothing more than flights of brutal whimsy. Unlike [[Scorponok (G1)|many]] [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|other]] powerful Decepticons, he had no interest in command, only in taking his slaughter to the next stage. Megatron was not convinced, however, believing the image of Overlord as simply interested in killing to be a façade, and began searching for a way to exert greater control over him.

[[File:Overlord UnuntriumInfusion RemembranceDay.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Weapon O.]]
Recognizing Overlord's power, Megatron regularly sparred with him, and eventually, three million years ago, selected him to be the fourth candidate for an upgrade process that would transform him into a world-shatteringly powerful superwarrior. Rendered virtually indestructible by an infusion of [[ununtrium]] to his endoskeleton, Overlord's first action as a member of the "[[Warriors Elite]]" was to smash out of his capsule and kill the scientist who oversaw the process, [[Rossum]]. He could not, however, do the same to Megatron: the Decepticon leader had not been foolish, and had, during the upgrade process, had [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] equip Overlord with both a killswitch that could deactivate him, and infect him with an [[Achilles virus]] that caused a "tactical blindspot" preventing him from figuring out how to harm Megatron. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}} When [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] was captured by the Autobots and brought to the [[Institute|New Institute]] for brainwashing, Overlord saw his chance to free himself from these shackles. While ostensibly attacking the facility to rescue Soundwave, he also captured the cerebroscientist [[Trepan]], and studied the basics of [[mnemosurgery]] from him, intending to hack Shockwave's memories and learn how to deactivate his killswitch and the virus. Megatron caught wind of Overlord's scheming before he learned how to interface with others, and had Trepan killed. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} Overlord later participated in the [[Battle for Hell's Point]] alongside the other members of the Warriors Elite. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers2-teleconference.jpg|thumb|300px|I am not a number!]]
While embroiled in battle on [[Caldoon 4]], Overlord was called to a teleconference with [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], who announced the finalization of his [[infiltration protocol]], and that Overlord would join fellow Warriors Elite [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]] and [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] in being reclassified as "[[Phase Sixer]]s", called in to alien worlds to enact the doomsday scenario of the protocol's final phase. Dissatisfied with being declared a weapon that operated at someone else's whim, Overlord contested his appointment, and Megatron gave him two options: do as he was told, or refuse and have Megatron hunt him down. Overlord made his choice quickly, returning to the battle outside and dispatching every Autobot save one—[[Kup (G1)|Kup]]—who he allowed to survive so a message could be sent to Megatron: Overlord had chosen option two. He proceeded to leave Caldoon 4 to plan for Megatron's inevitable coming. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}}

Some time later, Overlord initiated a conflict with the emperor of a star system who was in possession of interstellar travel capabilities and weapons technology that rivaled his own. Finding himself overmatched, Overlord sought and secured the aid of [[Gorelock]]'s Decepticon battalion, which, at the time, was assigned to [[Spensifax B]]. The ensuing battle, according to the estimates of science officer [[Vivisector]], set the technological development of the empire back an estimated 250,000 years. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Gorelock's prisoner clemency request}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-Overlord.jpg|thumb|250px|left|We peed a little.]]
At the height of the [[Surge (event)|cross-galactic Decepticon uprising]], Overlord arrived at [[Garrus-9]] in the midst of the Decepticon siege of the prison, and casually murdered garrison leader [[Skyquake (G1)|Skyquake]] when he refused to turn command over to him. Intending to turn Garrus-9 into his home away from home, Overlord personally defeated warden [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] and threw him to the crowd of Decepticon prisoners he had freed as a show of good faith. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} Overlord was not done with Maximus, though, later imprisoning him and personally torturing him for information on the [[Aequitas]] computer hidden in the bowls of Garrus-9, and the mysterious secret of the prison that the computer had been created to hide. Maximus refused to give up the passcodes to the device's chamber even after Overlord threatened to kill an Autobot for every second that he withheld them. {{storylink|Interiors}}

[[File:Overlord-Fort-Max-Interiors.jpg|thumb|250px|"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, I expect you to die and be a cheap funeral".]]
During his time in command of Garrus-9, Overlord turned the prison into a huge gladiatorial arena, and had the prisoners fight for their lives with the promise that victory meant freedom. This was, of course, a lie; those who won in twelve bouts were offered the choice of facing Overlord himself or committing suicide. Overlord forced the imprisoned [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] to watch footage both of these matches and of the sacking of the prison, possibly driving him insane. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}} After a year of this, some of the Decepticons began to have doubts about their sadistic leader; [[Fearswoop (G1)|Fearswoop]] was lucky to survive when he questioned Overlord's lack of sportsmanship, but [[Wingblazer]] and his partner were not so fortunate when they let an Autobot prisoner get the better of them during a hunt, and Overlord killed them for their carelessness. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} Around this time, Overlord also released Shockwave from confinement and let him leave in return for the Achilles Virus being removed. Shockwave could tell that all Overlord was doing with Garrus-9 was trying to get Megatron's attention, though Overlord denied it. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers1-BoreholeKickoff.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Better than television!]]
Two years later, Overlord and his Decepticons watched the captive Autobot [[Kick-Off (G1)|Kick-Off]] battle the Decepticon [[Borehole]] for his amusement. Kick-Off triumphed and was taken to Overlord's quarters {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}} where he was offered the customary choice; {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last stand of the Wreckers #4}} he evidently opted to fight Overlord, given the brutalized state of his body when it was later found. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

Not long thereafter, the Autobot strike team known as the [[Wrecker]]s arrived to liberate Garrus-9, one of their drop pods crashing into the arena chamber right in front of Overlord's feet. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} Although disappointed to discover that the new arrivals were not troops sent by Megatron, Overlord was amused by the joke made by [[Rotorstorm (G1)|Rotorstorm]] about Wreckers combining... right before he shot him through the head. The Wreckers turned down Overlord's proposal of surrender but were unable to injure him, and escaped into the prison by detonating a fuel tank to cover their withdrawal. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 3|Last Stand of the Wreckers #3}}

[[File:LastStandofWreckers4- OverlordSpringerReady.jpg|thumb|200px|FINAL ROUND, FIGHT!]]
Regrouping with help from the Decepticon [[Snare]], who had come to believe that the Decepticons on Garrus-9 were as trapped by Overlord as the Autobots were, the Wreckers established a new mission objective: kill Overlord. They did not have to hunt him down, however, as he soon arrived to take them on. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4}} The fight quickly made its way to the rooftop of Garrus-9, where [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]] was torn in half and used to dispatch Kup. A harpoon through the eye courtesy of [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] barely fazed Overlord, who delivered a defeat more crushing than any beating: the Autobot prisoners the Wreckers had come to liberate had all been executed on his orders already. Overlord proved able even to shrug off the massive payload of a huge chaingun-like weapon provided to Springer by [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], but after all the other Autobots around him had been dispatched, Ironfist revealed the weapon's secret: it had injected Overlord with thousands of deterrence chips, which Ironfist then remotely detonated, reducing Overlord to a flaming, yet still-functional skeleton.

[[File:LastStandoftheWreckers5-brittlebones.jpg|thumb|250px|left|"Megatron better not show up when I'm naked!"]]
Ironfist fell unconscious, leaving only Verity to hear Overlord's wrathful ranting, as he demanded to know how he could meet a challenge from Megatron in this sorry state. Realizing this what what Overlord had longed for all along, Verity dropped the bomb: Megatron was ''dead''. Overlord was stunned by the realization that while he had dedicated every waking hour of his existence to his supposedly inevitable fight with Megatron, the Decepticon leader had never cared, and would never come. He put up no resistance when Impactor recovered, but Impactor refused to kill Overlord, for Springer's sake, and promised to take him in to face justice. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}

[[File:Overlord-Lost-Light-Interiors.jpg|thumb|First class may seem like a rip off but it has advantages over the alternatives.]]
Intent on learning from Overlord the secrets of the process that created the phase sixers, [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] had the Decepticon's body rebuilt in hopes it would encourage him to talk, and released a cover story that claimed the villain's spark had been extracted and sealed in a [[whiteout vacuum]]. In the wake of Cybertron's rebirth following the [[Chaos (IDW)|Chaos event]], Prowl petitioned [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] to use his mnemosurgery skills to read Overlord's memories and discover the secrets for him, but Chromedome refused. Learning that Chromedome was leaving Cybertron aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]'', Prowl convinced [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] to allow him to put Overlord on the Lost Light. {{storylink|Remembrance Day}}{{storylink|The Sound of Breaking Glass}} At launch, he had the [[Duobot]]s secretly load Overlord aboard the ship and instructed [[Drift (G1)|Drift]] to talk Chromedome around to his way of thinking when the time was right. As a security measure, Overlord was held within a [[slow cell]] in which time passed much more slowly, {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} but when a crack was cut in the cell by a stowaway [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]], paranoid security director [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] began hearing noises from within it. After recording the noises and discovering, with aid from [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], that it was a massively-slowed down voice repeating "Kill me", {{storylink|How Ratchet Got His Hands Back}} Red Alert widened the crack and discovered the cell's occupant, {{storylink|Interiors}} but was mysteriously deactivated in an alleged suicide before he could tell anyone. {{storylink|Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading|An Intimate Beheading}}

[[File:Overlord bigfight UnderColdBlueStars.jpg|thumb|250px|left|So Overlord walks into a [[Swerve's|bar]]. Everybody dies. Painfully.]]
After Chromedome's partner [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] was grievously injured in battle, Drift was able to successfully petition Chromedome for his aid. Entering the slow cell, Chromedome tapped into Overlord's memories, but in the process, wound up revealing to Overlord that Megatron was still alive. Spurred back to action, Overlord used the mnemosurgery tricks he had learned from Trepan to take over their mental link and plucked the code for the slow cell from Chromedome's memories. Bursting free from his restraints, he opened the cell and sealed Chromedome in, {{storylink|Remembrance Day}} then proceeded to go on a rampage through the ship, first stomping [[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]] to death, then attacking [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] in the medibay. The assembled crew of the ship confronted him in battle, during which Overlord stabbed [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] through the [[spark]], then turned on [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] asking him for last words. When Rodimus replied "[['Til all are one]]", however, Overlord suddenly found himself panicking, thanks to a menmonic trigger that Chromedome had installed in his brain that would trigger his fear of defeat when he heard the phrase. The shaken Overlord was then herded back into the slow cell by a revenge-hungry Fortress Maximus so that Chromedome could jettison it from the ship, only for a sword Overlord had stolen during the fight to become lodged in the cell doors. As the only 'bot small enough to remove it, Rewind squeezed through the gap and pulled the sword free, allowing the cell to jettison, but trapping himself in it with Overlord. As an act of mercy, Chromedome used the ship's guns to blow the cell up with Overlord and Rewind in it. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}} Overlord was last seen drifting in space, mostly intact but seemingly deactivated. {{storylink|The Gloaming}}

Much, much later, after several other adventures that culminated in the disappearance of the Lost Light itself, members of the vanished vessel (which now included Megatron himself as captain) encountered what appeared to be a future version of the Lost Light. New crewmembers [[Nautica]] and [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] discovered Overlord's headless corpse in the slow cell. This, combined with numerous other historical inconsistencies and the atrocities found by the others, led the Lost Lighters to conclude that they were aboard an alternate version of the ''Lost Light'' that had been visited by the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} who'd been hunting Overlord for some time. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}
{{-}}

===''Classics''===
[[File:InvasionPrologue-Gigatron.jpg|thumb|300px|Everything's shrunk except those glorious lips.]]
Long ago, Gigatron, the Overlord, grew restless in his duties at [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|Darkmount]], and forfeited his throne to [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]]. His psychotic craving for power led him to scour the universe, ultimately leading him to Earth.

Gigatron crashlanded in [[Japan]], where he adopted a robot form resembling a shogun and a Type 90 tank altmode. With most of Earth's Decepticons offplanet with [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], he was able to gather a small army of ten warriors, and he would infrequently clash with [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] and his fellow Earthbound Autobots. Once, Gigatron searched in [[Kitakyushu]] for [[Musashi Miyamoto|Musashi]]'s sword, but legends of the sword's strength were exaggerated.

Soon, Gigatron had set his sights on another potential source of power, [[Rarified Energon]]. The Autobots had been guarding it for a period of time, and had been moving it frequently to keep it out of the hands of the Decepticons. But Gigatron discovered that the Rarified Energon had been moved to [[Ironworks]], and effortlessly battled through an army of [[Armored Robot Hunters|RUNTs]] to reach the Autobot station. There, he fought Metalhawk, and he and his Decepticons were forced to retreat. {{storylink|Invasion Prologue}}

Gigatron continued to keep vigil over Ironworks, however, and when [[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] brought him news of a skirmish involving heroic Decepticons and evil Autobots, Gigatron knew it was time to strike! With this distraction, they could easily take the Rarified Energon hidden in the vaults for themselves.

[[File:Invasion-destroythem.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Gigatron's about to be really happy he got stuck on Earth.]]
Once it was discovered that the evil Autobots were also after the Rarified Energon, Gigatron refused to be out-conquered. He and the majority of his troops came to the rescue of [[Sir Soundwave]], who was about to get assimilated by [[Junkion (species)#Shattered Glass|Junkions]]. Aiming to show these heroic Decepticons how it's done, he set Soundwave loose and continued battling the Junkions.

What Gigatron did not know was that the evil Autobots, led by [[Ultra Magnus (SG)|Ultra Magnus]], intended to warp this iteration of Earth to their own universe's Cybertron, destroying it in the process. Though Sir Soundwave was able to expand the force field surrounding the evil Autobots' machinery large enough to protect the entire planet, saving Gigatron and his troops, no one foresaw the true scale of Magnus's intentions. And so as Earth neared the alternate universe Cybertron, its entire dimension was destroyed behind them, leaving Gigatron and the rest of his Earth's citizens the last remnants of their universe.

Gigatron and the others were unsurprisingly distraught, so [[Straxus (SG)|the Bard of Darkmount]] recited for them a hopeful poem. {{storylink|Invasion (issue)|Invasion}}

[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] took to perching on Overlord's arm. {{storylink|Recordicons#Recordicons #23|Recordicons #23}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Transformers Legends''===
Overlord was part of a battle at some point, fighting alongside [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]], [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] and [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]]. {{storylink|Fan Favorite}}

==Toys==
===''Super-God Masterforce''===
[[File:G1 overlord toy.jpg|325px|thumb|Not to be confused with Blackstar's nemesis.]]
*'''Overlord''' (Godmaster, [[1988]])
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-307'''
**''Accessories:'' Giga and Mega Godmaster engines, "Transtector Destroyer Cannon", three missiles, tank barrel, two ramps/shin guards, central ramp, two radar arrays, double-barreled laser, rocket launcher, car

:Overlord consists of two vehicles, the Gigatank and the Megajet, which are able to combine together to form a robot mode or a base mode. Like any Godmaster (or [[Powermaster]]), Overlord is only able to transform when the Giga and Mega Godmaster figures are transformed into engine mode and snapped into place in the sockets on top of the vehicles. Inserting Giga into the tank splits it in half to form legs for robot mode, or alternately, the left and right emplacements of the base (the left containing a fold-out twin cannon, the right a poseable claw arm). Fitting Mega into the jet, meanwhile, unlocks the toy's shoulder articulation for robot mode and its fold-out launchpad for base mode. Once the toy is in robot mode, the figures can be removed from their sockets and fitted into two further ports hidden beneath doors on his chest, which unlock the multi-barreled "Chōkon Daemon Blast" and spring-loaded "Chōkon Bolt Masher" weapons that pop out of his stomach. One figure can also fit into the [[Roller (G1)|Roller]]-style car that comes with the set.

:There is, unfortunately, not one mode that uses all of Overlord's many accessories. Standing approximately 15" in robot mode, Overlord is taller than ''most'' Transformer toys, though [[Unicron/toys|certainly]] [[Cheetor (BW)/toys|not]] [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|all]].

:Overlord's instructions do not feature the additional large jet mode seen in the animated series and manga, as it (like [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]]'s "Wingwolf" mode or BlackZarak's "Dakatsu" mode) was created by the production staff after fiddling around with the toy itself. As such, it's entirely possible to put the toy in this form, although it doesn't rest evenly on a flat surface.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1988/Destron/Overlord/overlord.htm More information on Overlord at TFU.info]''
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===Generation 1===
*'''Overlord''' ([[1991]])

:Initially exclusive to Japan, Overlord's toy was later released in Europe and Australasia with a different shade of purple plastic.

===''Timelines''===
[[File:Timelinestoy-BC2012Gigatron.jpg|thumb|300px|Oh my, Bludgeon, you've never looked so... ''kissable''... before...]]
*'''Invasion''' ([[BotCon 2012]] box set)
**''Accessories:'' {{w|Katana}}, {{w|Wakizashi|tanto}}
:''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' Gigatron is a [[redeco]]/[[retool]] of ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' Voyager Class [[Bludgeon (ROTF)#Voyager|Bludgeon]], sporting a new head. Gigatron transforms from a Japanese {{w|Type 90 Kyū-maru|Type 90}} tank into a samurai-esque robot mode. He features a flexible plastic sword which is made out of a portion of the barrel of the tank's main gun as well as a smaller dagger. The dagger can be stored in a sheath which is revealed from inside the tank turret, and both blades can be slotted in holes provided on the robot mode's left hip guard. Additionally, the dagger's handle can fit in the base of the sword's handle, forming a double-bladed weapon. He has [[Mech Alive]] [[gimmick]]s in his thighs and turret: Sculpted cylinders in his thighs rotate whenever his lower legs are rotated, and pulling his turret open makes a sculpted "disc" at the center rotate while a scabbard for the tantō hinges over to the side and props itself up for use.

:The vehicle mode is one of the very few Transformer tank toys with rubber components to its treads. Portions of the tread links can unlock, allowing them to hang from the robot mode, while the wheels of the treads are integrated separately into the robot mode form itself. The treads still do not function realistically; small plastic wheels on the underside of the treads help the tank mode roll, as is standard with nearly all Transformer tank toys.

:The original version of this mold was [[redeco]]ed into ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)|Transformers]]'' [[Banzaitron]], and it was differently retooled to make ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Megatron (G1)/toys#Generations|Megatron]] and ''[[Transformers Cloud|Cloud]]'' [[Megatron (Cloud)|Megatron]].

:Gigatron was released in a box set with [[Ultra Magnus (SG)#Timelines|Ultra Magnus]], [[Tracks (SG)#Timelines|Tracks]], [[Treadshot (SG)#Timelines|Treadshot]], [[Sir Soundwave#Timelines|Soundwave]], and [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)#Timelines|Metalhawk]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Decepticon/BCGigatron/gigatron.htm More information on BotCon Gigatron at TFU.info]''

==Merchandise==
===''Parody Deformed''===
[[File:Overlord pd model.jpg|thumb|Overlooked.]]
*'''Overlord''' ([[1990]])

:A small blue and white, non-transforming [[super deformed]] model kit of Overlord was available as part of [[Kabaya]]'s "[[Parody Deformed]]" line of [[Candy toy|candy toys]]. The eighth figure in the series, he came with a "[[Transformers PD Type]]" comic about himself, "Oh, Overlord", and something that could charitably be described as "chocolate".
{{-}}

===''Super Collection Figure''===
[[File:HOC Gigatron.jpg|thumb|I can't transform? Where's the fun in that?]]
*'''Overlord''' ([[2001]])

:A PVC figure of Overlord was part of the ''Super-God Masterforce''-centric fifth act of [[TakaraTomy|Takara]]'s ''[[Heroes of Cybertron|Super Collection Figure]]'' series, available in both full colour and metallic silver "pewter" in an equal ratio of one each per case of twelve figures. In eight out of every ten cases, the pewter version of Overlord came packaged with the right leg of the wave's "build-a-figure", BlackZarak, itself also available in full color and pewter versions.

:The colour version of his figure was later released in the fourth wave of [[Hasbro]]'s ''[[Heroes of Cybertron]]'', under the new name of Gigatron.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Decepticon/HoCGigatron/gigatron.htm More information on ''Super Collection Figure'' Overlord at TFU.info]''
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Destron/PewterOverlord/overlord.htm More information on pewter Overlord at TFU.info]''

===''Heroes of Cybertron''===
*'''Powermaster Gigatron''' ([[2003]])
:Gigatron is a slightly-altered version of the ''Super Collection Figure'' Overlord PVC, featuring rounded-off shoulder-cones [[for safety reasons]], plus he used the standard "all clear-red-plastic painted over" coloring process to give him [[Light-piping|light-piped]] eyes. He came with the left arm of [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] build-a-figurine.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2002/Decepticon/HoCGigatron/gigatron.htm More information on ''Heroes of Cybertron'' Gigatron at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Transformers Gum''===
[[File:KabayaDX2Overlord.jpg|250px|thumb|Breaking out of these plastic sprues was never a challenge - I just lacked motivation.]]
*'''Overlord''' ([[2013]])
:Overlord was released in series 2 of Kabaya's larger-sized DX gum kits. Since the original ''Masterforce'' Overlord toy could only transform by being disassembled, this particular Kabaya kit stands out from most others in terms of near-perfectly matching the transformation mechanism of its template, and can be configured into both the paired Megajet-and-Gigatank vehicle modes, city mode, and a 5" tall robot mode; it also includes tiny transforming removable Mega and Giga Godmaster engines, though all of their associated spring-loaded features are no longer present.

:This kit also adds some new features to the Overlord design. There is now a gear-driven rotating platform in the city mode on which the small car can be spun around before deploying, and every accessory can now be stored in all of Overlord's modes.
{{-}}

==Notes==
*Overlord was a new [[character]] created for the 1988 Japanese ''Super God Masterforce'' series. While all his fellow Godmasters had American Powermaster counterpart characters (Ginrai had Optimus Prime, Lightfoot had [[Getaway]], and so forth), Overlord's counterpart came later in the form of a 1991 European and Australasian exclusive. The bio of this figure stated that he was a dimension-hopper, which leaves the door open for him being the Masterforce character who jumped dimensions into the European toy bio continuity. Overlord did not have an American counterpart until 2003, when the ''Heroes of Cybertron'' line introduced "Gigatron". However, the little-known nature of this character (existing as he did only as an obscure PVC figurine), coupled with the fact that Overlord had been around for fifteen years already, meant that the idea of a Powermaster named Gigatron who existed as a separate character from the Godmaster Overlord didn't really catch on. Surprisingly, Dreamwave stuck with the formula in their ''More Than Meets The Eye'' series, briefly mentioning the character as the originator of the Powermaster process, but when the non-Godmaster version of the character appeared again a few years later in [[IDW Publishing]]'s ''Last Stand of the Wreckers'' series, he was "Overlord" once more. With this, there seems little point in distinguishing between the two characters (different as they are), and as such they are included in this article together.
*Early during pre-production for ''Masterforce'', Overlord was named '''Leviathan'''. This was almost certainly a name based in series creator [[Masumi Kaneda]]'s desire to sprinkle the series with assorted Biblical allegories; the name-change is fairly symptomatic of how these references wound up being downplayed to the point of near-total obfuscation in the finished show.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-images/tech-specs/Heroes-Of-Cybertron-Tech-Specs/2003-Transformers-Tech-Specs/Powermaster_Gigatron.jpg.html Powermaster Gigatron's tech-specs] at TFW2005.com

[[Category:BotCon exclusives]]
[[Category:Classics Decepticons]]
[[Category:Decepticon bases]]
[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Dimension hoppers]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Godmasters]]
[[Category:Multi-component Transformers]]
[[Category:Point One Percenters]]
[[Category:Powermasters]]
[[Category:Super-God Masterforce Decepticons]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Zone Decepticons]]

Three Monologues

2014-09-29T06:29:30Z

Phazeblade: there was no 23, yet 24 was listed

{{Comicstory|
|series=rid|issueno=20
|prev=Homecoming (IDW)
|next=Shockpoint
|caption=
|image=RID20 cvrB.jpg
|title="Three Monologues"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[August 7]], [[2013]]
|coverdate=August 2013
|written by=[[John Barber]]
|art by=[[Andrew Griffith]]
|colors by=[[Priscilla Tramontano]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[Carlos Guzman]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2013)]]
}}

'''A blackout, a do-gooder and an opportunist which are all more than they appear make Starscream's first night leading Iacon a difficult one, as the former Decepticon finds that the only way he can speak without being reproached at every turn is to speak to those who cannot talk back.'''

==Synopsis==
===1: Long Night===
As [[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]]'s remains lie in state, [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] visits his once and former friend to thank him for all the advice he gave him during their tumultuous attempts to forge a government alongside [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]], and apologizes for killing him. He laments the lack of friends he has had in his life, but remarks that he knew Metalhawk would not have been any better at leading than Bumblebee was; now, [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s destiny lies in the hands of someone who can and will ''do'' something.

Starscream ventures to the wrecked [[Maccadam's Old Oil House]] and petitions owner [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] to use the bar as a meeting place to connect with the common Cybertronian. Blurr laughs in his face: as far as he is concerned, he did not pick Starscream as his leader, but merely chose not to be part of the war anymore, and wants nothing to do with the former Decepticons. Just as he is kicking Starscream out, the entire city is blanketed in darkness as a blackout knocks out power across the polity.

[[Circuit (G1)|Circuit]] broadcasts a special report from the med-center on [[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] and his Construction Patrol, who are working diligently to help repair the damage caused by the previous night's battle and are now endeavoring to solve the blackout problem. Starscream drops in, more than a little miffed to see his spotlight being stolen away; medic [[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]] assumes he's come to check on the status of the new body he's working on, but he's actually come to see [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], hoping the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] will stand at his side. Instead, Dirge slugs him good and hard. Starscream turns on his former subordinate, whispering threats of death, until he realizes that privacy is a thing of the past for him: Circuit is filming him, and he spins a quick lie. Power suddenly returns thanks to Scoop's efforts, and Circuit hands his broadcast off to [[Cloudraker (G1)|Cloudraker]], who is interviewing the hero of the hour. A sulking Starscream is then approached by [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]], a stinky little former Autobot who has previous experience with Scoop and has always distrusted him, calling him jealous and greedy. Rattrap shows Starscream the damaged power coupling responsible for the blackout, and points out the [[phosphex]] burn that makes it clear the power loss was no accident: it was sabotage.

===2: Young Evening===
Starscream gives himself a pick-me-up by visiting [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]], still held immobile in the forcefield that was responsible for his defeat. He gloats over his victory and the new horizons he will lead the people towards, and then, feeling suitably reinvigorated, heads out to the city's comm array, which Scoop's team are about to start fixing, finally restoring Cybertron's communication with the galaxy. Rattrap points out Scoop's suspicious, ever-present toolbox, which he and Starscream figure would be a good place to stash anything incriminating, so Starscream calls Scoop over before he climbs the array... only to be suitably taken aback when Scoop dramatically genuflects before him. The engineer expresses his disillusionment in his former Autobot brothers, and his new faith in Starscream born of the words of the [[Metrotitan (body-type)|Metrotitan]], leading Starscream to realize that the Construction Patrol are actually following him because they're religious fanatics. Decidedly disarmed, Starscream can stall Scoop no longer and he leaves to head up the array, but his words prompt a line of inquiry from Circuit, who chats with Starscream about the divided opinion on his first few hours of leadership. In short order, Scoop has repaired the array, but as he descends, Rattrap deliberately gets under his feet and causes him to drop his toolbox, which spills its contents for all to see... including a canister of phosphex. As Circuit broadcasts live, Starscream reveals Scoop's deception and has him carted away for incarceration, assuring the viewers that ''he'', at least, will not let them down.

===3: Early Dawn===
Some time later, as Rattrap returns to the dingy little den he calls home, he finds Starscream waiting for him. Being a professional liar, Starscream calmly explains, means he can also ''spot'' a liar quite easily. Scoop was no liar—he genuinely wanted to do good. Rattrap is the prevaricator here, the one who was always jealous of other 'bots, and the one responsible for the sabotage and for planting the phosphex on Scoop. Rattrap wants to know what this means for him: a self-serving, out-for-number-one response that Starscream applauds. With a grin, he offers Rattrap a job in his government.

Later still, Starscream retires to a tower elsewhere in the city and watches as the sun begins to rise, even if it does feel a little early. He speaks to an unseen listener, ruminating on the lessons he has learned about the nature of power, and the fact that, really, the people are just looking for someone to blame. What, he wonders, will the listener do when he is better, free of the [[CR chamber]] in which he now heals? Starscream hopes he'll stand with him, since he trusted him when they began the city. But for now... Starscream bids [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] good night.

==Featured characters==
For this list and all others going forward, we are assuming that anyone who has stayed in Iacon of their own free will has discarded their faction in the process, as per Starscream's decree.
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Superion (G1)|Superion]] (12)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (23)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (21)
|c4=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]] (1)
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (2)
*[[Sky-Byte (G2)|Sky-Byte]] (3)
*[[Tappet]] (4)
*[[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (5)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (6)
*[[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] (7)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Landfill (G1)|Landfill]] (8)
*[[Boomer]] (9)
*[[Quickmix (G1)|Quickmix]] (10)
*[[Ricochet (G1)|Ricochet]] (11)
*[[Longtooth]] (13)
*[[Circuit (G1)|Circuit]] (14)
*[[Holepunch (G1)|Holepunch]] (15)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Tracer (Nebulan)|Tracer]] (16)
*[[Flatline (G1)|Flatline]] (17)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (18)
*[[Cloudraker (G1)|Cloudraker]] (19)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (20)
*[[Fastlane]] (22)
{{!}}}
}}

==Quotes==

"I'm not... I '''wasn't''' used to having '''friends.''' '''Accomplices,''' and people in my way, sure. But there have not been many '''friends''' of '''Starscream.'''"
:—'''Starscream''' sets the ovaries of fangirls far and wide tingling

"I need somebody I can trust. I mean, even if you '''hate''' me, you're still a '''Seeker''', right?" 
"You know '''what?'''" 
''(Dirge decks Starscream with a mighty POW!)'' 
"'''Huh.''' I thought you'd at least give me a snazzy '''one-liner'''. <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''''Seek this''''',<nowiki>'</nowiki> or something."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Dirge'''

"'''Altruism''' is '''unpredictable.'''"
:—'''Starscream'''

==Notes==

*This is the first issue of ''Robots in Disguise'' to ''not'' feature narration in the form of an internal character monologue delivered through caption boxes. Instead, Starscream—the one character who is so rarely legitimately truthful when interacting with others—gets to actually speak his true thoughts aloud, without being suspected, rebuked or second-guessed, but only by talking to the dead, the paralyzed, and the comatose. He mighta killed that dude, but it's actually sort of tragic.

===Continuity notes===
*Scoop has made a brief entry into IDW continuity before now, battling alongside the Wreckers in ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]''. Whether he was a member of the group wasn't clear at the time; his personality as portrayed does ''not'' seem like Wrecker material.
*Mentioned in passing in [[Second Exodus|issue #18]], Flatline makes an on-panel appearance this issue. Artist Andrew Griffith designed him as a retool of the ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailcutter]] toy, but did so on his own initiative without instruction from [[Hasbro]], so don't get too excited.
*Phosphex is the primary chemical component of the assorted variations of [[glass gas]]; "cold phosphex" was mentioned in ''[[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Last Stand of the Wreckers #4]]'', while ''[[Bullets]]'' gave us "black phosphex".
*Starscream references his disastrous previous attempt at leading the Decepticons, as seen during the [[The Transformers (IDW)|2009–2011 ongoing series]].
*Judging by Rattrap's presence, the [[Reproduction#IDW Generation 1 continuity|cold-constructed]] Starscream feels the effects of [[Tyrest (G1)|Tyrest's]] [[universal killswitch]] between pages 20 and 21 of this issue, as seen briefly in [[Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|''More than Meets the Eye'' #20]].
*Wheeljack appeared to die back in [[Before the Dawn|issue #14]]. He lives! Yaay!
*The reason why the sunrise feels early is probably because it's not a sunrise, as shown in [[Second Exodus|issue #18]].

===Transformers references===
*Scoop's got a new ''Generations'' toy coming up soon, hence his slightly surprising prominent role here, alongside his fellow "Double" Targetmasters Quickmix and Landfill. His Targetmaster partners [[Holepunch (G1)|Holepunch]] and [[Tracer (Nebulan)|Tracer]] appear too, redesigned with construction vehicle alternate modes rather than weapon forms; logically, they're Cybertronians here, rather than Nebulans.

===Errors===
*Blurr is still wearing his Autobot symbol when he should have abandoned it if he was staying Iacon. However, given that every single other character is devoid of a symbol, and Blurr appears ''consistently'' with his symbol in every panel he appears in, coupled with his comments about staying and allegiance, this might not actually be a mistake.
*Holepunch and Tracer are miscolored as [[Takedown]] and [[Groundpounder]] respectively, two members of the ''original'' [[Construction Patrol|Micromaster Construction Patrol]].
===Covers (3)===
*'''Cover A:''' Starscream stands over Metalhawk's remains, by [[Andrew Griffith]] and [[Josh Perez]].
*'''Cover B:''' Starscream (with crown) poses dramatically, while Scoop and Rattrap hang back in the shadows, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[Joana Lafuente]]. This image would later be used for the fifth TPB volume.
*'''Cover RI:''' Starscream by [[Livio Ramondelli]], in the first part of a three-part image formed with the RI covers of issues #21 and #22.
<gallery>
Image:RID20 cvrA.jpg|Need a hand, Metalhawk?
Image:RID20 cvrB.jpg|This is bad comedy.
Image:RID20 cvrRI.jpg|Retailers' Incentive cover
</gallery>

===Advertisements===

*''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' [[Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|#20]]
*''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One]]'' [[Destiny, Part Four|#94]]
*''[[The Transformers: Monstrosity|Monstrosity]]'' [[Monstrosity issue 3|#3]]
* (back cover)
[[Category:Dark Cybertron issues]]

Kaon (G1)

2014-09-28T18:38:14Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Kaon}}
:''Kaon is a Decepticon from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''
[[File:MTMTE8 Kaon transforms.jpg|200px|thumb|Not... THE COMFY CHAIR!!!]]
'''Kaon''' is the communications officer of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] and the one responsible for maintaining its [[The List|hit list]]. A veritable dynamo, his frame arcs with electricity from the twin [[Nikola Tesla|Tesla]] coils mounted on his shoulders. In another life he might have bent this gift to the service of his fellow bots, but when he assumes [[alternate mode]] its true purpose is made known. Thousands of watts of electricity are discharged directly into the [[cranial chamber]]s of those who would defy [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]]. Unlike in [[human]]s, this procedure is not ''always'' fatal.

Kaon owns a partially domesticated [[turbofox]] [[Sparkeater (creature)|sparkeater]] known only as "[[the Pet]]."

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
When the Decepticon [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] was caught for getting bribed to destroy a fleet of [[Warworld|War Worlds]], Kaon electrocuted him and left him to get talked to death by [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]. Kaon and the other members were then ordered by Tarn to move on to their next target, [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]]. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} On arrival at [[Clemency]], they met with resistance from Fulcrum's new friends, the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]], which automatically got them all put on The List. After pinning [[Krok (G1)|Krok]] down so that [[Vos (DJD)|Vos]] could impale his face, Kaon went on to introduce [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]] to the Pet and use his electric powers to cripple [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]]'s [[Cybernought]] long enough for Tarn to destroy it. Following the apparent death of Fulcrum, he detected the [[energy signature]] of [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] and informed Tarn, who immediately ordered the D.J.D. to leave in search of this new target. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

Arriving at Overlord's location, the ''[[Lost Light]]'', near the planet [[Ofsted XVII]], the D.J.D. set about murdering the ship's crew of Autobots before reaching the still-restrained Overlord; Tarn chopped his head off with a chainsaw while Kaon smirked, and the D.J.D. left the ship. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} Unbeknownst to them, however, ''another'' version of the ''Lost Light'' was still out in space, and whose Overlord escaped confinement before being ejected and blasted with missiles. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

Much later, aboard the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]'', Tarn showed concern as Kaon spontaneously began [[universal killswitch|writhing in agony]] right in front of him. {{storylink|Remain in Light 4 of 5: Arm the Lonely|Arm the Lonely}} Kaon was comforted by the Pet when the pain ceased. {{storylink|Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|This Calamitous Life}}

==Notes==
*According to [[Alex Milne]], Kaon was the most difficult member of the Decepticon Justice Division to design.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/notes/transformers/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-vol-2-alex-milne-interview/395646703838863 Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye vol. 2 Alex Milne interview]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Communications specialists]]
[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Decepticons]]

Turbofox

2014-09-28T18:36:51Z

Phazeblade: /* IDW Generation 1 continuity */

[[Image:Deadturbofox.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Finally! Thank you, Roberts, for showing us what they look like!]]

'''Turbofoxes''' are a form of Cybertronic fauna. They're fast. Very fast. To the point that only the speediest of robots can hope to approach them. They are not intelligent, lacking a nervous system more complex than that of a plant's.

==Fiction==
=== Generation 1 ===
[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] and his [[Mirage's friends|high-priced uppercrust social circle]] used to [[Cybertronian sport|hunt]] turbofoxes back before the war. He would rather still be engaging in such a sophisticated civilized pursuit, instead of rubbing shoulders with rag-tag dirty rebels.<ref>[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage's toy bio]] and [[The Transformers Universe|''Universe'' profile]]</ref>

===''Classics''===
The Great Wars and the resulting devastation seem to have had a negative effect on the Turbofox populations, which now are on the verge of extinction. Mirage and his yuppie friends worked towards saving them and [[Langton|their habitat]]. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 13|Mirage's ''Classics'' profile}}

===''Transformers'' (2007)===
[[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] honed her speed hunting turbofoxes with other speedsters on Cybertron. She would use her great speed to pull near the beast, an impressive feat, before tagging it with her crossbow weapon.

[[Breakaway (Movie)|Breakaway]] is said to be as clever as a turbofox.

===''Animated''===
[[Kup (Animated)|Kup]] compared [[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Hot Rod]]'s speed when he tried to save his teacher from a grenade to that of a turbofox. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II}}

===IDW Generation 1 continuity===

The [[Neutral]]s that [[Lost Light's former owners|once owned]] the ''[[Lost Light]]'' kept the [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] within docile by feeding it turbofoxes. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|The Chaos of Warm Things}} The [[Decepticon Justice Division]] member [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] partially domesticated [[The Pet|a turbofox]] that had become a [[sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] known for just ''chewing'' on sparks. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}} {{storylink|Scavengers_(Part_2):_Who's_Afraid_of_the_DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

A ferocious, mutated turbofox attacked [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] as they were exploring the wilderness on a reborn Cybertron, though they made short work of it. {{storylink|Dinobot Hunt}}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Classics]]
[[Category:Cybertronic wildlife]]
[[Category:Generation 1 species]]
[[Category:Movie]]

Slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken

2014-09-17T13:15:29Z

Phazeblade: /* Synopsis */ manga-clamps sound like the jaws of life version of removing manga from someones hands

{{lowercase}}
{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=33
|prev=slaughterhouse
|next=
|image=MTMTE33 regcvr.jpg
|title="slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken" 
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[September 17]], [[2014]]
|coverdate=September 2014
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|inks by=[[Brian Shearer]] and [[John Wycough]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2014)]]
}}

'''The mystery of the ''Lost Light's'' disappearance is solved, beginning a race against time to shut down the quantum engines and put things right.'''

==Synopsis==

As [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] lifts the unconscious [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] out of the [[Magnus Armor]] and lays him down, the little 'bot slowly awakens. [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] tries to make sure he's okay and talks him through the surprising sights that greet him—an [[Autobot]] Megatron, a living [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]], and [[Nautica]] being ''female''—but Nightbeat butts in, desperate to find out what happened on the ship. The detective is fascinated by their recent discoveries, and a closer examination of the poster for "Information Creep" has revealed its release date to have been only a weeks after the ship's original launch, all standing in contradiction to the history they know—but Rewind dissolves into whimpering, able to give no verbal answer, instead offering up a [[data slug]] to the detective.

Meanwhile, across the room, Nautica observes the [[quantum engines]]' [[quantum drum]]s floating in the web of [[quantum foam]], prompting [[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] to make fun of her by suggesting her profession just involves putting "quantum" in front of other words. She responds with a (failed) joke about the way all quantum objects exist in two superpositioned states—which gives her a sudden realization that explains everything. She presents her theory to the crew: that upon launch, the malfunction of the ''Lost Light's'' quantum engines caused the ship to undergo a quantum duplication, yielding an exact copy, just as valid as the original, which materialized in the region of the space the ship was ''supposed'' to appear in, rather than jumping to the random planet that "their" ''Lost Light'' did. Nightbeat confirms her theory is correct with the data provided by Rewind, which reveals that the [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] they found in the coffin perished during the [[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]] fiasco when his head was phased inside the engines instead of just his arms. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] subsequently took command, while Rodimus was interred by [[Drift (G1)|Drift]]; the coffin proceeded to fall from the ship when it broke up following the [[Decepticon Justice Division]]'s attack—brought on, Rewind claims, by the fact that someone onboard ''deliberately deactivated'' [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]]'s cell, allowing the DJD to detect his signal. Rewind explains that he was forced to film the villains' murder spree because they promised to let [[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] live if he did so, but for added psychological torture, they then tried to force the [[mnemosurgery|mnemosurgeon]] to wipe his own memories of Rewind, killing him with his own finger-needles when he refused.

Riptide brings Rewind's grim tale to an end by pointing out that the quantum foam floating outside is beginning to spread; Nautica realizes that it could potentially destroy [[Ofsted XVII]] down below by causing a chain reaction in the thinned-out space-time of the region and proposes shutting down the quantum engines entirely, which should also theoretically erase the "duplicate" ''Lost Light'' and reinstate their own. Megatron has no interest in risking his own life for a planet of non-Cybertronians, but Skids makes it clear it's not a choice: he is an Autobot now, and for that to ''mean something'', Megatron must put his life on the line for others. Unfortunately, the quantum foam is meshed around the drums so tight that a 'bot of Megatron's size cannot make it through; Rewind volunteers, but as both drums must be deactivated simultaneously, a second small 'bot is needed. Skids recalls [[Brainstorm]]'s [[mass-displacement gun]], capable of shrinking someone for the job, so the group heads for his lab to see if the "duplicate" Brainstorm invented the weapon. While searching the wrecked lab, Nightbeat and Nautica discuss the minutiae of the quantum duplication process, realizing that the Rewind "data ghost" and his altered message to Chromedome were the result of quantum "cross-contamination", and concluding that the erasure of their ''Lost Light'' was triggered when it came into proximity with Rodimus's coffin, making the paradox too blatant for the universe to continue "ignoring". Their conversation is brought to a shuddering halt when they lift a piece of rubble and reveal Brainstorm's body underneath... a discovery made all the more horrifying when Nightbeat picks up Brainstorm's disconnected faceplate, lying on the floor beside him, and uncovers a Decepticon insignia painted inside it. The ghastly realization that Brainstorm—and by extension, ''their'' Brainstorm—was the Decepticon mole who deactivated Overlord's cell has to be tabled by the crew in the face of greater concerns, and when it becomes apparent that the mass-displacement gun is not there, Megatron finally offers up a solution: he can use his own [[size changing|mass displacement]] powers, added to his [[spark]] to enable his old handgun mode, to shrink himself down and join Rewind in shutting the engines down.

A short time later, Rewind and the shrunken Megatron carefully make their way through the foam web, successfully reaching the quantum drums. As Nautica begins to walk them through the shutdown procedure, Rewind pauses, seeking belated confirmation of the fact that deactivating the drums will mean he and "his" ''Lost Light'' will cease to be. Nautica verifies this, and Rewind calmly resigns himself to this fact, given that his Chromedome is dead, leaving him with nothing to live for. He asks Megatron if the "other" Rewind and Chromedome are still strong, and after a moment of silence, Megatron tells him they are inseparable. Satisfied, Rewind throws the shutdown switch, and a wave of white light consumes everything.

Time passes. The deactivation of the quantum engines proves successful: the alternate ''Lost Light'' vanishes, and crew members slowly start appearing aboard the [[Rodpod]] in reverse order. When Chromedome is returned, however, Skids thrusts a pair of [[Magno-clamp|magna-clamps]] into his hands and tells him to go onto the pod roof... because somehow, the alternate Rewind has survived, and is waiting for him. The two 'bots look at each other in silent shock; Chromedome sits down beside his "resurrected" lover, and after a wordless moment of staring out at the stars together, the two embrace. Back inside, meanwhile, [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] reports that the ''Lost Light'' has also reappeared, and as a course is locked in, Megatron requests that he open a secure channel so that he can inform Rodimus about Brainstorm. [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] points out that he is not likely to be welcomed by the crew, and offers to depart for Earth, but Megatron invites him to stay, asking if the horrors he has seen the DJD perpetrate are enough to make him question his dedication to the Decepticon cause. Nightbeat and Nautica wonder how Rewind could have survived; Nightbeat jokingly blames "the power of love"... though that doesn't explain how he has managed to keep ahold of the dead Brainstorm's [[briefcase]]...

Back on the returned ''Lost Light'', Brainstorm squeezes his way through the crowd of revellers at [[Swerve's]], sitting down to next to [[Atomizer]]. Over Atomizer's protests, Brainstorm breaks the rules of the bar by undoing the clasps on his briefcase and opening it... and everyone in the bar except him collapses...

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.) 
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Getaway]] (1)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (3)
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]] (4)
*[[Riptide (G1)|Riptide]] (5)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (6)
*[[Nautica]] (7)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (8)
*[[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crosscut]] (poster, 9)
*''[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]]'' (11)
*''[[Drift (G1)|Drift]]'' (12)
*''[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]]'' (13)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (14)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (15)
*''[[Pipes (G1)|Pipes]]'' (17)
*''[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]]'' (22)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (24)
*[[Brainstorm]] (25)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (26)
*[[Ammo]] (27)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (28)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (29)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (30)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Doublecross]] (31)
*[[Aquafend]] (32)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (33)
*[[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] (34)
*[[Repugnus (G1)|Repugnus]] (35)
*[[Atomizer]] (36)
*Guy on bar (37)
*[[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (38)
*Yellow guy (39)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (2)
*''[[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]]'' (16)
*''[[Vos (DJD)|Vos]]'' (18)
*''[[Helex (DJD)|Helex]]'' (20)
*''[[Tesarus (DJD)|Tesarus]]'' (21)
*''[[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]]'' (23)
|c4=
*''[[Sparkeater (creature)|Sparkeater]]'' (10)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (19)

}}

==Quotes==

"Such a '''fuss'''. Is he important?" 
"Come now, Ravage. '''Everyone's''' important these days."
:—'''Ravage''' and '''Megatron'''

"I've never seen the quantum drums outside of the quantum engines... even hidden behind all the '''quantum foam''', they're impressive..." 
"Nautica, to be a '''quantum mechanic''', all you have to do is put the word 'quantum' in front of other words. True or false?" 
"Both." 
"Eh?" 
"It's '''both''', simultaneously. True and false. It depends on the quantized energy state of each proposition." 
"Eh?" 
"It's a joke." 
"Oh. Are jokes not funny where you come from?"
:—'''Nautica''' and '''Riptide'''

"If that planet were teeming with '''Cybertronians''', then yes, there'd be an argument for going back into the breach. But I doubt that's the case." 
"Ah, your '''true colors'''. I'd forgotten how '''purple''' they were." 
"You've forgotten something else: I am your prisoner. I've been granted '''conditional bail''' while we look for the Knights of Cybertron. Where in my bail terms does it say—where '''precisely''' does it say—that I have to risk my life to save a handful of strangers? Where does it say '''that'''?" 
''(Skids taps Megatron's Autobot badge.)'' 
"Right. There. What does that badge even '''mean''' to you? How has wearing it forced you to '''modify''' your behaviour? I'm serious! How has being an Autobot '''in any way''' prevented you from doing '''exactly''' what you want? Because if the answer is "'''it hasn't'''"—then nothing you've said or done in the last six months counts for '''anything.'''"
:—'''Megatron''' is read the riot act by '''Skids'''

"Before you volunteer, Ravage, I'm sorry, but you lack the manual dexterity to perform the task." 
"Touch me again and I'll kill you."
:—'''Nautica''' and '''Ravage'''

"I don't know '''all''' our undercover agents. To be honest, he's not our usual type." 
"There's a type?" 
"Hm. Have you never been approached?"
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Nightbeat'''

"Here's a '''survival tip:''' When everyone's lining up to make sacrifices... always get to the back of the queue."
:—'''Megatron'''

"You should go first. You're still slightly larger than me, so there's a greater chance of you touching the foam and exploding... and if that happens there's no point in me putting my own life at risk." 
"And everyone says you were the kindhearted one." 
"Were?"
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Megatron'''

"What's left for me here? Chromedome's dead—which is just another way of saying '''I''' am. In fact I wanted to ask you earlier, but... on your '''Lost Light''', me and Domey... are we still going strong?" 
''(beat)'' 
"Megatron?" 
"You're inseparable."
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Megatron'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
*Getaway seems overly interested in the well-being of Rewind given that he's never met him before. He seems to have a bit of a thing for "little guys", given up how he's been cozying up to Tailgate in recent issues.
*The Sparkeater affair took place in [[Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things|issue #3]]; [[Animus]] died in that issue, but on this alternate ''Lost Light'', he survived long enough to lure the Sparkeater to the engine room, taking the place of [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], who is noted to have been "lost" in the initial explosion on the "alternate" ship. This seems to be further implicit confirmation that Animus was a [[Point One Percenter]], if his spark (shown to be green in that issue) was strong enough to serve as a lure for the creature over all others on the ship.
*The DJD suddenly detected Overlord's signature in [[Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|issue #8]]; at last, we learn that they were able to do this because the slow cell on the alternate ''Lost Light'' was shut down.
*With this issue, all the Autobots on the Necrobots list are shown to have died on the second ''Lost Light''.
*Brainstorm's [[mass-displacement gun]] previously appeared in the [[Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations|2012 Annual]].
*Megatron recalls his old handgun transformation, which is an alternate form he hasn't had in IDW since ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]''.
*"No Briefcases" was established as one of the rules of ''Swerve's'' in [[Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus|issue #18]].

===Transformers references===
*The alternate Ultra Magnus was rid of his Nanocon infection using domesticated [[scraplet]]s, a form of mechanical parasite that originated in [[Crater Critters|issue #29]] of the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel US series]]. There have been a few sparse references to them in Roberts-written IDW stories before now, including a one-panel appearance by one taken from Rewind's database in [[The Gloaming|issue #16]].
*Double agents are not unusual in Transformers fiction. [[Warmonger]] and [[Triton]], for example, were double agents for the Autobots and Decepticons respectively in the Marvel comics continuity, while in IDW continuity we have [[Agent 113]] and [[Doubledealer|Dealer]].

===Real-life references===
*This story's subtitle comes from the Robert Frost poem, ''{{w|The Road Not Taken}}''.

===Crew manifest===
* All the vanished members of the ship return
* The Rewind of the "alternate" ''Lost Light'' survives the quantum reset and joins the crew

===Soundtrack===
*''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg8MvFNPC64 Teenage Spaceship]'' by {{w|Bill Callahan (musician)|Smog}}
*''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPyAuuQwJM Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space]'' by {{w|Spiritualized}}

===Other trivia===
*It's never actually explained what happened to all the ''other'' 'bots who weren't part of the original crew when their shuttles disappeared, but they all appear to be fine now that everything's over.

===Covers (4)===
*'''Regular cover:''' A shadowed Rewind, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' In the manner of {{w|Lady Justice}}, Tarn holds aloft a set of scales on which the rest of the DJD members stand, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''30th Anniversary cover:''' Tarn looms over [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]], dripping [[energon]], by [[Sarah Stone]]; the second in September's series of 30th Anniversary covers commemorating moments from IDW history, this one representing the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]]' meeting with the DJD in issue #8.
*'''Heroes and Fantasies Alamo City Comic Con exclusive cover:''' [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (in his ''[[Grimlock (WFC)|War for Cybertron]]'' design) roars in front of the Alamo, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[John-Paul Bove]]; a banner reading "When Dinobots Ruled the Earth" falls in front of him, paying homage to the climactic scene of ''Jurassic Park''.
<gallery>
File:MTMTE33 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE33 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE33 cvrRI.jpg|
File:MTMTE33 cvrRE.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #34
*''[[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|Robots in Disguise]]'' [[The World of Tomorrow|#33]]
*''[[The Transformers: Primacy|Primacy]]'' [[Primacy issue 2|#2]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' [[Targetmasters (issue)|#2]]
*IDW ''Transformers'' graphic novel library
*''[[My Little Pony]]'' Annual 2014 (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/22128-megatron-s-autobots-uncover-secrets-in-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-33-preview.html Preview]

Tesarus (G1)

2014-09-01T13:02:28Z

Phazeblade: /* Fiction */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambig2|the member of the Decepticon Justice Division|the Decepticon city|Tesarus}}
:''Tesarus is a Decepticon from the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[File:Flywheels tesarus whos afraid of the djd.jpg|thumb|300px|Will it Blend?]]
'''Tesarus''' is a member of the [[Decepticon Justice Division]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron's]] pet enforcers. When he assumes his [[alternate mode]], the cruel grinding blades housed in his chest cavity engage. Victims are lowered into this gnashing pit, but rarely fully dropped into it. Often, they wish they were.

==Fiction==
===IDW Generation 1 continuity===
{{ongoing}}
When the Decepticon [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] was caught for getting bribed to destroy a fleet of [[Warworld|War Worlds]], Tesarus crushed his legs off and left him to get talked to death by [[Tarn (DJD)|Tarn]] after the other members got a turn at torturing Black Shadow. Afterwards, Tesarus and the other members were then ordered by Tarn to move on to their next target. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}}

That target was the cowardly [[K-Class|K-Squad]] Decepticon [[Fulcrum (G1)|Fulcrum]] who had failed to detonate himself as part of a bombing raid on the planet [[Clemency]]. Apparently being sheltered by the [[Scavenger (group)|Scavengers]] aboard a P-6 [[Worldsweeper]] symbol ship, the D.J.D. gave them fifteen minutes to surrender him, but the ragtag Decepticon crew doublecrossed them and instead handed over a [[stasis pod]] containing [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] hopped up on [[circuit speeder]]s. During the ensuing battle Tesarus killed [[Flywheels]] before he and Helex were blasted to the ground by [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] in a [[Cybernought]]. Following Fulcrum's apparent suicide [[Kaon (DJD)|Kaon]] reported that he had discovered their next target's location, so the D.J.D. left the surviving Scavengers with a warning that they were all now on [[The List]] and took off in the ''[[Peaceful Tyranny]]'' to bring [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] to justice. {{storylink|Scavengers (Part 2): Who's Afraid of the DJD?|Who's Afraid of the DJD?}}

{{spoiler|slaughterhouse|September 26th}}
Arriving at Overlord's location, the ''[[Lost Light]]'', near the planet [[Ofsted XVII]], the D.J.D. set about murdering the ship's crew of Autobots. Tesarus personally killed [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (among others) before they reached the still-restrained Overlord; Tarn chopped his head off with a chainsaw while Tesarus smirked, and the D.J.D. left the ship. {{storylink|slaughterhouse}} Unbeknownst to them, however, ''another'' version of the ''Lost Light'' was still out in space, and whose Overlord escaped confinement before being ejected and blasted with missiles. {{storylink|Under Cold Blue Stars}}

==Notes==
*James Roberts has stated that Tesarus is able to cut through the [[ununtrium]]-treated skeletons of Phase Sixers thanks to ununtrium-coated blades; a similar case to diamonds possessing the property of being able to cut through other diamonds.<ref>
http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=335312#335312</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comic-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]

All Hail Megatron issue 10

2014-07-14T08:05:46Z

Phazeblade: /* Synopsis */

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron]]'' #10
|prev=All Hail Megatron issue 9
|next=All Hail Megatron issue 11
|image=All Hail Megatron 10 b.jpg
|caption=[[wikipedia:Campbell's Soup Cans|Decepticon Soup]]
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[April 15]], [[2009]]
|coverdate=April 2009
|written by=[[Shane McCarthy]]
|art by=[[Guido Guidi]] & [[Emiliano Santalucia]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]] & [[James Brown]]
|letters by=[[Neil Uyetake]]
|edits by=[[Andy Schmidt]] & [[Denton J. Tipton]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|All Hail Megatron]]
}}

'''The Decepticons turn against each other.'''

==Synopsis==
In [[New York City]], [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] look at the new [[space bridge]] that Bombshell built. Megatron says that there will soon be many more stretching across the galaxy, granting the [[Decepticon]]s access to all they desire. He compliments Bombshell for having proven himself useful beyond his hopes, not only taking the technology from [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], but expanding it to a new level. As they begin to walk, Megatron speaks of the beginning of a new order, and Bombshell humbly says that he lives to serve. Megatron suspects that Bombshell takes more joy in his work than he lets on, and Bombshell admits that experimenting on [[Hunter O'Nion]] was "delicious". Megatron replies that that was the reason Bombshell was built. When they captured Hunter, Megatron saw potential in an "organic-[[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]ian hybrid" that [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] had never seen. Bombshell agrees, remarking on how they were able to use the [[human]]/[[Autobot]] combination to create a hub for both tracking the Autobots down and deactivating their defenses, "if only once". Megatron tells Bombshell that his genius was required and needed, but he knows it poses a threat. He tells Bombshell to never forget that he is his creator and that he is all-seeing. At that moment, they stop in an open area while [[Decepticon]]s emerge from the rubble around them.

On Cybertron, the Autobots wait for the [[Insecticon swarm]] to attack. As [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] set up a cannon scrounged from the ''[[Trion]]'', [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] and [[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] discuss the possibilities of surviving the swarm's onslaught. Prowl says that out of 6000 possible outcomes he calculated, only seven were successful. They agree it's best to keep those figures under wraps. Inside the hideout, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] asks [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] why no one had told him about the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. Prime only tells him not to blame them, and Ironhide admits that he has never known a greater Autobot than Prime. Optimus is glad to have made him proud, considering that Ironhide hated him at first. Ironhide tries to deny that it was hate, but then he quickly concedes. When they go outside, [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] tells Prime that the troops are ready to face the approaching swarm. [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] asks Prime if he's scared, and Prime answers that he'd rather go through this than one of Kup's drills. As the swarm begins to make its way across a bridge to the Autobot base, Roadbuster fires the cannon.

On Earth, [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] electrifies Megatron as Starscream accuses the Decepticon leader of stalling after the Autobots' defeat, wasting time building the space bridge from "stolen technology". When Starscream calls him lost and directionless, Megatron responds that he has merely been waiting for Starscream to make his choice. Taking down Shrapnel and [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]], Megatron explains that his loyal spies have been watching Starscream all along, seeing who would take his side. Starscream retorts that it's not about "his" side, but rather the side of the Decepticon cause. Starscream had once idolized Megatron for teaching the Decepticons that they were destined for more than their given lot in life, that they could fight the old order and take what they wanted. But Megatron had led them into a seemingly endless war.

Megatron counters that he did what was necessary for victory, understanding what kind of army he would need. He says that Starscream doesn't understand the warrior's mind like he does; after all, how many soldiers rallied to Starscream's call besides the three [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]]? Megatron says that Starscream is trying to win warriors with appeals to logic and intellect, and this will never turn the troops against their leader. But Starscream remains smugly confident, and Megatron turns to see the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] gathered menacingly behind him. Scrapper mocks, "All hail Megatron."

[[File:Omega Arrives in AHM.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Scale]]: Disregarded. Ass-kicking: Imminent.]]

Back on Cybertron, the Autobots are fighting valiantly but desperately against the swarm. Ironhide is overwhelmed but is saved by [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]], who tells him to run. Ironhide refuses, charging back into the insectoid mass. But despite such heroism, all of the Autobots are finding themselves overrun and panicked. Then a blast from the sky heralds salvation in the massive form of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. With the help of his blaster-arm, the Autobots are able to clear a perimeter around themselves. Omega tells them he got their message, which [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] proudly realizes must have been his own. Prowl says he had heard that none of the remaining Autobots survived the outpost massacres, but Omega says that not all have died. Prowl, incredulous, asks how he survived, given that the Decepticons would have targeted him, but Omega tells him that he ''is'' Omega Supreme. Optimus Prime orders Omega to transform and take them to Earth.

On that planet, [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] pounds Megatron with his gigantic fist, but Megatron lets loose with his cannon and shrugs off the blows. He demands that Devastator fight with all of his power, that he take what he wants if he really wants it. As Devastator gets Megatron in his grip and Megatron continues to fire, their fight is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of [[European Union]] fighter jets.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (10)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (11)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (12)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] (15)
*[[Prowl (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Prowl]] (16)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (17)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] (18)
*[[Drift (G1)|Drift]] (19)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (20)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (21)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Optimus Prime]] (22)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (23)
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (24)
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (35)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (36)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (37)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (38)
|c2=
*[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]] (1)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (2)
*[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] (3)
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (4)
*[[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]] (5)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (6)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (7)
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (8)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (9)
*[[Insecticon swarm]] (25)
*[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (26)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (27)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (28)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (29)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (30)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (31)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (32)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (33)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (34)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (39)
}}

==Quotes==
"Using the combination of human and Autobot to create an effective hub that could be used to not only find them but deactivate their defenses, if only once..." 
"It required an unparalleled, creative genius."
:— '''Bombshell''' and '''Megatron''', confusing "creative genius" with "nonsensical reappropriation of an inherited story element."

"It's set and ready to go." 
"I love it." 
"It was never designed to be removed from the ''Trion'' so the power relay is bound to fry in seconds. You'll only have a few shots, so make them count." 
"Do you think we should give it a name? I think we should give it a name..."
:—'''Wheeljack''' and '''Roadbuster''' have different approaches to dealing with jury-rigged weaponry.

"You're the greatest bot I've ever known." 
"I'm glad I was able to make you proud. Considering that you hated me at first sight, I think that's quite an accomplishment." 
"I wouldn't call it hate." 
"No?" 
"Actually...yeah, it was hate."
:—'''Ironhide''' and '''Optimus Prime''', best of friends.

"You have got to be kidding me."
:—'''Bumblebee'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s reaction on the arrival of the Autobots deus ex machina.

"But surely the 'Cons would have focused on you. They must have sent an army to take you down, how did you survive?" 
''"I am Omega Supreme."''
:—'''Prowl''' and '''Omega Supreme''', perhaps revealing the Transformer equivalent of "I'm [[Batman]]."

==Notes==
* This issue makes some references to pre-''All Hail Megatron'' continuity, including [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]'s [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]]s, [[Sixshot (G1)|Sixshot]], and of course the appearance of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], even though he's a LOT [[scale|bigger than before]].
* The technology that Megatron mentions was "gained from Sixshot" is presumably the space-bridge tech that the [[Dead Universe]] faction was utilizing, particularly since Starscream mentions that it is "stolen". The idea of Sixshot flogging Jhiaxus' tech comes up in ''[[Spotlight: Metroplex]]''.
* Mirage saving Ironhide during the Swarm battle is perhaps a sign of some reconciliation between the two after Ironhide beat him up in issue #8.
* Roadbuster bringing a huge, new, unstable, experimental super-weapon into battle against an unstoppable foe, as well as his wanting to give the weapon a name, sure seems to parallel his experience with the [[Pathblaster]] in the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|Marvel UK comic]] story "[[Time Wars]]", only without the whole exploding-and-dying bit.
* Rumble returns in this issue, apparently having only been damaged the previous issue. Which, of course, raises the question that if he wasn't dead, why was Soundwave so shaken he actually broke his communications blackout?
* The end of the issue parallels [[Devastation issue 6|the end]] of ''[[The Transformers: Devastation|Devastation]]'', with the Decepticons interrupted while arguing by a human-led air attack.
* [[Europe]] appears to be planning an airborne nuclear strike, which would mean [[France]] is doing the dirty deed. Despite that, there are no [[Wikipedia:Dassault Mirage 2000N/2000D|Dassault Mirage 2000N]]s on display. In the [[All Hail Megatron issue 11|next issue]], it is revealed that the nuclear bomber is lagging behind the fighter-jet squadron; in fact, it's not even a jet at all, but rather a propeller-driven aircraft. This low-tech approach was presumably to keep Soundwave from mucking up their coup-de-grace as he did with other guidance and targeting systems.
* Emiliano Santalucia drew the parts of the story with the Autobots on Cybertron. Guido Guidi drew the parts about the Decepticons on Earth.
* James Brown did the colors for pages 14–18, giving Josh Burcham a well-earned break after doing the coloring for ''All Hail Megatron'' pretty much [[Kris Carter|unaided]].
* This is the first ''All Hail Megatron'' issue with only two regular covers and no RI cover. Tut tut.
* This issue was released on the same day as [[Maximum Dinobots issue 5|''Maximum Dinobots'' #5]]. Coincidentally, both issues feature someone (Omega Supreme here) arriving after having received a distress call sent by Hot Rod in a [[All Hail Megatron issue 4|previous]] [[Maximum Dinobots issue 4|issue]].
* Optimus reveals a great secret of the Matrix to his team, which somehow relates to what happens if Prime dies. It is such a big thing Ironhide feels the need to put his feelings for Optimus into words. We never hear a peep about this again. Yay, continuity!

===Errors===
* On the inner cover, "grisly" is misspelled "grizzly".
* On page 10, Scavenger's chinplate is purple like the rest of his face when it should be silver.
* On page 17, "apologize" is misspelled "apologise". Or maybe Omega Supreme has an English accent.
* On page 17, "focused" is misspelled "focussed", which is the standard spelling in Australia and new Zealand only.
* In [[All Hail Megatron issue 8|''All Hail Megatron'' #8]], the point of [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]]'s bridge-detonating sacrifice was that it destroyed "the only way to and from" the Autobots' bunker. Yet now Kup says that the Insecticons have "found their way around as expected." Worse, [[Emiliano Santalucia]] accidentally drew<ref>[http://tformers.com/article.php?sid=11723 Podcast interview with Shane McCarthy]</ref> the Swarm crossing... a bridge. Sorry, Sunstreaker.
* Who exactly told Prowl and company that "all of the outposts had been annihilated. That no one survived"? There was no hint of such a calamity in the flashbacks before they were exiled, and then they seemed to be cut off from all communication with the outside universe. Likewise, the crew of the ''Trion'' crashed pretty early in the Decepticon offensive, and given that Hot Rod was actually expecting a rescue from that signal he sent out, they were no more aware of any mass wipe outs than Prowl's crew. So seriously, what gives?

===Covers===
*'''Cover A:''' The major Decepticon players; art by [[Casey Coller]] with colors by [[Joana Lafuente]].
*'''Cover B:''' Art deco images of Megatron, Starscream, the Matrix and Spike Witwicky; art and colors by [[Trevor Hutchison]].
<gallery>
Image:All Hail Megatron 10 a.jpg|What's with the ''[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]''?
Image:All Hail Megatron 10 b.jpg|You don't have to turn on the red light!
</gallery>

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===Reprints===
*[[2009]] — ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|The Transformers: All Hail Megatron Volume 2]]''
*[[2010]] — ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron]]''
*[[2011]] — ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|The Transformers: The Complete All Hail Megatron]]''
*[[2011]] — ''[[The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Five]]''

==References==
<references />

[[Category:All Hail Megatron issues]]