Quintesson Judge (G1)

This article is about . For other uses of "Judge", see Judge (disambiguation)|The name or term "Judge" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Judge (disambiguation).}}
The Quintesson Judge is a type of Quintesson from the Generation 1 continuity family.
We find you totally innocent
Which is the worst crime of all...

Leaders of the Quintesson race, the Quintesson Judges determine the sentences of their unfortunate victims in Quintessa's courtrooms and serve as the face of their many business and war excursions.

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Faces

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A Quintesson Judge's most distinctive physical characteristic is its set of five rotating faces. Each face represents a different aspect of the Quintesson, and not only does their physical sequence vary, so do their meanings. The only face identified during the run of the original Transformers cartoon was the "Face of Death", memorably called out directly by the narrator of the Secret Files of Teletraan II.

The script for The Transformers: The Movie—the first appearance of the Quintessons—called for the other four faces to be "angry", "smiling", "grimacing", and "suspicious", and artist Floro Dery designed the faces to represent these emotions. A spread in the January 1987 issue of Japan's Comic BomBom would also reflect this intent, using mostly direct translations of the English descriptors—Shi (死, "Death"), Ikari (怒り, "Anger"), Warai (笑い, "Laughter"), Jūmen (渋面, "Grimace"), and Utagai (疑い, "Suspicion"). This would remain unknown to Western audiences until circa 2002, when fan Andrew Hall provided a translation, identifying the faces as "Rage", "Laughter", "Bitterness", and "Doubt". The "Death" persona is the dominant personality for most judges (with the exception of Deseeus).

These newly translated designations were not prevalent in the fandom at the time, so when author Simon Furman penned the 2004 book, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, he invented his own names for the other four faces. While he struck lucky dubbing the "angry" face "Wrath", the others—"War", "Wisdom", and "Judgement"—have no connection to the actual intent behind the Quintessons' design.

In 2020, the Quintessons made their big comeback as part of the War for Cybertron Trilogy franchise. The instruction manual for the Quintesson Pit of Judgement multi-pack (see below) gave the "smiling" face the new name of "Wit", while using a mix of established names for the others; these names were reinforced by their use in the Earthrise cartoon, which was released a few months later.

A few years later in 2026, Skybound Entertainment’s Void Rivals, part of the Energon Universe, rattled off a list of the faces in-universe, mixing and matching from previously established names.

The Movie script Death Angry Smiling Grimacing Suspicious
Fan translations Rage Laughter Bitterness Doubt
The Ultimate Guide Wrath War Wisdom Judgement
War for Cybertron Wit Doubt
Energon Universe Rage War

Fiction

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Generation 1 cartoon continuity

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The Transformers cartoon

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Macrocosmic Seekers

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The Seeker was a Quintesson Judge before he abandoned his race to become a being of pure information. A Treasure's True Worth

Legends comic

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A Judge and a Prosecutor were in contact with the Matrix, which was filled with the Quintessons' evil wisdom. LG-EX Grand Maximus

A sole Judge from a time long before 2021 led a troop of Overcharges to attack the Legends World through a portal. He was attacked by the diminutive Blitzwing of 2021, but was thrown away by the Judge's attendant Overcharge. Blitzwing soon made his own transtector from a fallen Overcharge, and he was able to convince his past self, who was the Judge's Overcharge, to find his own identity. Fleeing Blitzwing back to his native time and place, the Judge declared the creators of the Legends World to be dangerous. LG59 Blitzwing

The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers manga

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A Judge loudly announced the emergence of Gilthor from Earth's oceans. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #4

Controverse

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The Galactic Court assigned Adveraros, a Quintesson Judge, to Primacron's trial on Millaath. Controverse

Kiss Players

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Generations Selects Special Comic

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The Quintessons would eventually break free of their dimensional prison thanks to the Angolmois Energy on Earth and the unique properties of Dinobot Island. With one Judge leading several other Judges, a Bailiff, and some Allicons, the Quintessons sought to subdue the Dinobots so they could sell the Autobots to the highest bidder. The Dinobots resisted, so the lead Judge released a Recreator that recreated Predaking to fight the Dinobots. However, the Dinobots were able to combine into Volcanicus, and the Quintessons fled while the Dinobot combiner defeated Predaking. Volcanicus comic 1



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Marvel The Transformers comics

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Lord Kledji and Sevax were Quintesson Judges. Space Pirates!

3H comics

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Derodomontatus, Betrayal Heirodyus, and Brinn were Judges. Wreckers: Finale Part II

2005 IDW continuity

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Pentius was a Judge-type Quintesson who described himself as a fellow "king without a throne" to Megatron, who proceeded to enslave him. Faces of Darkness He would push Megatron towards evil, which led to the Quintesson Judge's death. Megatron would take Pentius's Spark, Prey placing it within Trypticon Belly of the Beast. The consciousness of Pentius would survive within the spark, manipulating Megatron. Primacy #3 The light of the Matrix of Leadership would burn away Pentius's spark, destroying the last remnants of the evil Quintesson from the universe. Primacy #4

War for Cybertron Trilogy continuity

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War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

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The Quintessons were one of the few unforeseen dangers ahead of the Autobots and Decepticons in their race for the AllSpark. The Judge's function served as a Galactic Marauder. Their primary objective was to decide who is worthy and who shall suffer, and their primary weapons were the Allicon guards and drone army. Earthrise webpage<ref name="earthrise" />

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

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Deseeus was a Quintesson Judge who claimed to be unlike the rest of his oppressive and cruel race. Claiming himself "Deseeus the Renegade, Breaker of Shackles", Deseeus would come into contact with the Autobots, with the faces of Wisdom and Wrath vying for "consensus". The Face of Wrath would take matters into its own hands, cutting off its other faces so it could show the Autobots how "they dealt with the innocent". Yikes. Earthrise episode 2

Deseeus was presumably killed when the Fool's Fortune warpdrive exploded during a fight. Earthrise episode 6

Energon Universe

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The Quintesson Judge assigned a Prosecutor to take a Quintesson Scorpia to the fighting pits of the planet Dominus.

When the Prosecutor returned, it was in the possession of the Skuxxoid, a financial partner of the species, who hoped to sell the Prosecutor back to the Judge. Furious about the Scorpia's destruction and the initial attempt to sell the Prosecutor to Cybertron, the Judge ordered the Prosectuor be taken away and the Skuxxoid prepared for a trail. Before the alien was taken away, he managed to save his skin by mentioning that he had a ship made from Zertonian metals. Void Rivals #5

Delivered the craft, the Judge ordered it taken to a laboratory to be scanned for any hints that could lead them to Zertonia. Void Rivals #6

When summoned to the laboratory by the Quintesson Scientist, the Judge was informed that one of the ship's alloys dated back to ancient Cybertron, the Scientist theorizing that "Zertonia" might be connected to Zerta Trion. As speaking that name was long since forbidden, the Judge promptly executed the Scientist on the spot. Void Rivals #9

Piggybacking on Hot Rod's own mission, a group of Judges followed him in their cruiser to the Sacred Ring, Void Rivals #11 Void Rivals #14 but promptly left before they were detected, the captain being eager to inform the ruling council of their discovery himself, Void Rivals #15 their quick exit catching the attention of Pythona who ordered the Leviathan to follow. Void Rivals #17

Coveneing a meeting, the ruling council of Judges discussed the discovery of the Sacred Ring and the chance to retrieve Goliant in preparation for a threat whose name they dared not utter. Energon Universe 2025 Special

Toys

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War for Cybertron: Earthrise

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"It is a day so long in coming that I am uncertain how to celebrate it."
  • Quintesson Judge (Voyager Class, 2020)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-E22
  • TakaraTomy ID number: ER EX-08
  • TakaraTomy release date: August 29, 2020
  • Accessories: Blaster, cage, throne, levitation beam
  • Known designers: Ken Christiansen (concept artist)
Released in the third and final wave of Earthrise Voyagers, the first-ever official Quintesson Judge toy features a trigger on his "back" that activates a spring-loaded face-spinning gimmick, with the Death, Wisdom, and Wrath faces featuring opening jaws. (The Wrath and Doubt face come detached in the package, requiring owners to clip them into their respective sides, with Wrath reported by many owners to be quite a challenge to attach correctly.) The order of the faces matches the arrangement from The Transformers: The Movie, with Wisdom and Wit surrounding Death, which is slightly different from that used in the cartoon, which flanked Death with Wrath and Doubt.
To replicate the ability of the Judge to levitate, the figure also includes a transparent "levitation beam", which pegs onto the included throne via a 5 mm post-hole, then attaches to the Judge's underside via a clip; sadly it does not function as an effects part. Promotional renders color the beam in translucent yellow, but on the finalized figure, it is instead sculpted in clear plastic and is therefore uncolored.
The lower body's five soft-plastic tentacles are on swivel joints to raise and lower, and each has three 3mm effects pegs designed to accommodate War for Cybertron blast effects parts. Using these pegs, the Quintesson can "hold" its blaster accessory, and the tentacles can also be pegged into specifically-positioned holes on the Judge's body to better "aim" the weapon forward. If one so wishes, the blaster can also be plugged into one of two ports underneath the throne for... sneakier judgement passing.
Because it has to transform into something, the Judge converts via partforming into a tower with a prison cage in 16 steps. The top of the tower and the cage do not actually attach to the base; they only balance on it. The cage and the tower are large enough to fit a Battle Master (or other similarly-sized figures). Additionally, the cage also has two ports into which the blaster can be fitted: one on the top, as well as another in its interior. The latter might be preferable as a form of storage if one is wary of misplacing the blaster, as it is a small accessory that does not peg well onto the figure's tentacles. The throne/platform and the panel under the Death face have A.I.R. Lock System ramp connections, allowing it to connect to ramps from other compatible toys, notably the Quintesson-allied Slitherfang.
Like all Earthrise toys, the inside of the back of the Judge's package includes an exclusive clip-and-save piece of a larger star map. Also in the box is a thin red piece of transparent plastic with which to read the star map. The Judge's piece of the map contains the labeled location of the planet "QUINTESSA". Like most Earthrise figures from wave 2 onward, however, it is misprinted, and overlays the "decodable" red graphics from the map piece included with Earthrise Starscream on top of the details unique to the Judge's piece.
The Judge was originally supposed to be released in the second wave, but was pushed back to the third for unknown reasons, with Starscream taking his place in wave 2 cases. In Japan, the Quintesson Judge was released as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive.
The cage accessory was repurposed as the Recreator in the Generations Selects Special Comic.


War for Cybertron Trilogy

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They've got this case all wrapped up.
  • Quintesson Pit of Judgement (Multi-pack, 2020)
A redeco of the Earthrise Quintesson Judge is the centerpiece of this box set of toys, presenting the "trial" of Kranix during The Transformers: The Movie. The overall coloration is generally brighter, with some faces getting fairly extensive color changes. The tentacles are now bright green, the levitation beam clear-blue, and the throne base gray (as opposed to the stock photography's bright blue). Thankfully, all five faces come pre-attached, saving a lot of hassle and hurt digits.
This set also includes the Quintesson Bailiff, a new-deco Sharkticon, and mini-figures of the Quintesson Prosecutor and Kranix. The packaging interior forms a diorama of the "courtroom", with poor Kranix on a gangplank over the Sharkticon pit with the Judge hovering above.
This set was announced to the public before the "standard" version of the Judge was released, and was first made available for people who attended the Hasbro Fans Expo in Hong Kong and preordered the set. It was later made a Hasbro PulseCon 2020 exclusive in the United States and Canada (except for Quebec), available to Premium members on September 23 2020, then opened up to all members on the 24th, where it sold out, went to pre-orders for more, then sold out of pre-orders within a few short hours despite a (stated) 1-per-customer limit.


Merchandise

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ReAction

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  • Quintesson (2023)
  • Accessories: Repair tool
Released in the sixth wave of Super7's line of multi-property 3.75-inch "retro" action figures, ReAction Quintesson is a non-converting figure of a Quintesson Judge. It does feature face-turning articulation, though that joint is notably tighter than the connection between the body and the clear-red "energy beam" stand. (The beam is not removable, it just rotates much easier.) Stock renders show this articulation as a midway-up rotating "ring" the faces are mounted on, presumably leaving the upper and lower portions connected, but the final toy has the entire upper half of its body rotate.
Unusual for ReAction figures, its four tentacles are actually on balljoints, though their range of motion is pretty limited and the tightness of the connection makes them even more difficult to move. Two of these tentacles end in loops, enabling him to hold the "repair tool" the Judge carries in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2".
As with all releases in the ReAction toyline, Quintesson comes packaged on a small cardback that emulates the nostalgic packaging style of Kenner's Star Wars action figures from the late 1970s to early '80s.


Notes

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  • In their first appearance in The Transformers: The Movie, the two speaking Quintessons are voiced by Regis Cordic (who plays the judge) and Roger C. Carmel (the prosecutor). These two actors then became the primary recurring voices of the Quintessons in the third season of the cartoon, usually playing judges, with Jack Angel normally serving as a third in episodes where more than two speaking roles were required. In AKOM-animated episodes, Cordic's Quintesson (usually designated "Quintesson #1" in scripts) would commonly speak from the Face of Doubt, while Carmel's ("Quintesson #2") used the Face of Laughter; Angel's intermittently-appearing third Quintesson would most often use the Face of Death, but animation errors, and Quintesson face-rotating meant that these were not absolute rules. In Toei episodes, judges usually spoke from the Face of Death regardless of actor, and prosecutors got more screen time, with Cordic, as the "lead" Quintesson actor, voicing most of them. Numerous guest actors also played assorted "guest" Quintesson roles in various episodes.
  • Bizarrely, the Quintesson Judges depicted in The Transformers: The Movie are actually inaccurate to their character models. The Quintessons in the film have the faces of Wisdom and Wit on either side of Death, while the actual model has Wrath and Doubt in those respective places. Season 3 of the cartoon gets this right. The Earthrise/War for Cybertron Trilogy toys' mold replicates the film's orientation.

Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Itsutsu-gao (5つ顔, "five-faced"), hanji (判事, "judge"), saibankan (裁判官, "judge"), Quintesson Judge (クインテッサンジャッジ Kuintessan Jajji)

References

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