Autobot High Council

The Autobot High Council is the ruling body of the Autobots on Cybertron.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation 1 comics

Historically, Cybertron had been ruled by a Council of Ancients, sometimes referred to as the Autobot High Council, Decepticons' More Than Meets The Eye entry but that body eventually became corrupted and was destroyed. The War Within #6 Twice. The Age of Wrath

• Members
  • Grapple
  • Hoist
  • Inferno
  • Perceptor
  • Red Alert
  • Skids — chairman

Some 6 million years later, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide Shockwave was the first Cybertronian to awake from the Great Shutdown. Taking note of the opportunity before him, he occupied Cybertron alone until it proved inevitable for him to awaken the others, both Autobot and Decepticon, if he wanted to resuscitate the planet. While both factions agreed to set their differences aside to save their home planet, Shockwave's de facto reign wasn't met with much glee from Autobot side. And so, to prevent them from rallying against him, Shockwave created and swore loyalty to the Cybertronian High Council, a political body made up of former Autobots, knowing full well it had no leadership qualities of its own and would look for guidance to him anyway. Revelation Perceptor turned out to be the only miscalculation on Shockwave's part, being more inquisitive than he could tolerate. Thus Shockwave arranged for him to be ousted from the council, which solved that problem. Iacon's More Than Meets The Eye entry The High Council met at Central Hall.

Wings of Honor

• Members
  • Magnum

Dreamwave Unicron Trilogy comics

We went to sit all the way in the back on purpose.

• Members
  • Levitacus — chairman
  • Avalon — the suspiciously reasonable and nice one

The High Council is the main ruling body of Cybertron Cyber City's More Than Meets The Eye entry and is composed of Transformer elders, who regard themselves as the all-knowing ancients and founders. However, they either overestimate themselves or they willfully lie and keep quiet about a lot since there's quite a few secrets on Cybertron they appear oblivious to. What Lies Beneath Before and during the war with the Decepticons, the High Council was probably housed in the Loop in Cyber City. After the Unicron Battles, the remains of the Loop were demolished to make room for a new complex, the High Halls, where the High Council gathered from then. This Evil Reborn Whenever they can't appear in person, they communicate with each other through the Amalgamation. No Exit

Despite the ten years of peace that followed the defeat of Unicron, Optimus Prime remained concerned that the Chaos Bringer was not definitely dealt with and so requested the High Council to provide him with the means to launch an investigation. The High Council refused on grounds that resources were still scarce and that the panic the investigation would generate among the population was counterproductive to the goal of prolonged peace, whereas Optimus Prime had no proof that Unicron still posed a threat. Unsatisfied with this decision, Optimus went to see Over-Run to ask him for advice. The Mini-Con told him of an uplink platform on the southern polar peninsula where he'd be able to make contact with the mass intellect of Cybertron itself to learn about Unicron's fate. When Optimus asked the Council about this, they told him they knew of no such construct. He went to try anyway. This Evil Reborn

“	Yeah, well, I don't trust them to tell me the right time, so...	”
—Hot Shot's opinion of the High Council, "This Evil Reborn"

Finding out that Unicron was in fact still alive ánd sending troops to Earth to obtain the planet's abundant amount of energon to revitalize himself, Optimus Prime returned to the Council to argue for an investigation once more. However, the Council was skeptical about his story of Sig-Omega and the Hub, neither subjects they possessed knowledge of, let alone his claim Megatron was still alive when four of Optimus's own team had testified to have witnessed the Decepticon leader's death. Still, they did admit they had made some bad judgement calls in the past, and so did grant Optimus his request... on the condition he did it himself. What Lies Beneath A sudden attack by Unicron's Four Horsemen changed the Council's opinion, who saw in it the proof they needed of Unicron's continued existence. What Lies Beneath, Part Two Too bad the Four Horsemen were actually deliberately sent by Alpha Quintesson, in league with the dissident-councilor Avalon, to get the Cybertronians to spread their troops thin and become vulnerable, the very problem the Council had originally seen in Optimus's plan. Multiplicity, Pt. 3

“	Jetfire: "This couldn't have come at a worse time... Not that there's exactly a good time, you understand... What with the unrest on Earth, the imminent arrival of the Base Units and..." Prowl: "The Council in siege mentality?" Jetfire: "Yeah, I tell you, Prowl... I'd rather go toe-to-toe with Unicron's Four Horsemen than step up and petition the Council for reinforcements."	”
—Jetfire and Prowl, "Multiplicity"

After having spent some time preparing Earth for an attack by Unicron's armies, Optimus wanted to return to Cybertron to ask the Council for reinforcements and more resources. However, he disappeared during his travel by space bridge. Omni-Potent As such, Jetfire stood up to place the request for resources. Appearing before the Council alongside Prowl, his case was initially rejected on grounds that sending extra troops to Earth would leave Cybertron completely defenseless. Avalon then chimed in that it occurred to him that if they didn't put effort in keeping Earth's energon out of Unicron's reach, then it didn't matter how many troops they kept on Cybertron because they wouldn't stand a chance against him. This got the rest of the Council thinking Multiplicity and they eventually decided to give the Autobots access to all that they would need to complete their mission. Jetfire expressed his gratitude, in particular to Avalon, but the friendly talk was cut short when Prowl brought in news of a massive Terrorcon attack on Earth. Multiplicity, Pt. 2

Once the battle was over, Jetfire returned to Cybertron to speak with the Council about two bits of knowledge he had acquired, namely that Megatron was alive and back and that he knew what had happened to Optimus Prime. Avalon declared that they now had to face the possibility Optimus would not come back, then respectfully disengaged to handle other matters, i.e. figuring out with Alpha Quintesson in which part of Unicron's body Optimus was dwelling. No Exit

Dreamwave went bankrupt during their Energon storyline. Aside from the knowledge Levitacus and Avalon would have gotten More Than Meets The Eye profiles which would've likely shed some more light on the workings of the High Council, there is no information what further role the High Council would've played.

Animated

"First motion: the honorable Councillor for Tyger Pax requests we TURN THE FRAGGING LIGHTS ON."

• Members
  • Ultra Magnus — Magnus/chairman
  • Sentinel Magnus — Magnus/chairman
  • Alpha Trion — head of the civilian guilds
  • Highbrow — head of Cybertron Intelligence (deceased)
  • Longarm Prime — head of Cybertron Intelligence (traitor)
  • Cliffjumper — head of Cybertron Intelligence
  • Perceptor — presumably representing the Ministry of Science
  • Botanica — ???

The base of operations of the Autobot High Council is the Metroplex.

The ruling Magnus holds the chairbotship, and correspondingly sits in the highest seat. To his left sits the head of all of the civilian guilds, representing the non-military portion of the council; and to his right sits the head of Cybertron Intelligence. While the Magnus is head of state, he has to answer to the civilian authorities.

Other seats are visible in the council chamber, and while it is unknown whether they have any permanent occupants, Perceptor has a seat on the council, presumably representing the Ministry of Science. Decepticon Air The heads of the civilian guilds and Cybertron Intelligence also hold seats.

Sentinel Prime and Jazz of the Cybertron Elite Guard were once seen to attend in one of the lowest areas, but they had specific business and may not hold positions on the council. TransWarped

While Sentinel Prime was technically the pro tempore Magnus following Ultra Magnus's injuries, the High Council made it clear they did not recognise his authority. They were later forced to due to the public support for Sentinel after he displayed Decepticons other people had captured for him his Decepticon captives.

Sentinel Prime views the Council as being incompetent bureaucrats, but he's a jerk and they'd snubbed him when he said that, so it's probably not true. Decepticon Air He happily ignored them and established government protocol when a Decepticon-controlled Omega Supreme appeared over Cybertron, taking action when they were still discussing options. Since this action could have blown up the planet, they were not happy, and Alpha Trion openly said he'd remove Sentinel from office if he was able. This Is Why I Hate Machines

Derrick J. Wyatt originally intended to have Botanica as a member of the Council in Transformers: Animated, but due to unknown circumstances, this plan fell through for the cartoon. The AllSpark Almanac II picked up on this and established her as a member of the council after all.

Aligned continuity

Exodus

In our spare time, we play Beyblade.

The High Council consisted of thirteen members and convened in the High Council Tower in Iacon. The High Councilers saw Cybertron through a Quintesson invasion, the Golden Age of Cybertron and the beginnings of the caste system. Aware of the Cybertronian populace's disgruntlement with castes, the High Council turned a blind eye to the rising gladiatorial combats taking place in industrial areas in and around Kaon. As Orion Pax and Megatron's movement to abolish the castes turned violent and Sentinel Prime disappeared, Alpha Trion arranged a hearing for them at the High Council Chamber. There Orion claimed the caste system enslaved Cybertronians and demanded a new Prime to lead them in an age of self-determination. He was unaware that Halogen had been told by Alpha Trion that Orion might be the Prime who would save Cybertron from civil war, as foretold in the Covenant of Primus, and he appointed him Optimus Prime and sent him on a quest for the Matrix of Leadership. But this act destroyed Optimus and Megatron's movement, as the jealous gladiator murdered Halogen and claimed Optimus had betrayed him for the High Council's favor. In the subsequent war, only Contrail, Ratbat and Drivetrain survived by going over to the Decepticons.

When Optimus Prime came to power, Sentinel was the only original member of the Council still alive, having overseen Trypticon's construction, though Halogen and Sigil were believed to be as almost as old as him. Exodus

Transformers: War for Cybertron

The Council exists only to choose the Primes. It is the Primes' directive to lead and protect.So... essentially, they don't do anything?, Transformers: War for Cybertron

The Autobot High Council's role was to choose the Primes, the leaders of the Autobots, but observed that many Primes they choose eventually fell to greed and pride. However, they kept a close eye on Optimus, a courageous and wise soldier who inspired those under his command, and who was marked by fate to one day assume the mantle of Prime, although Optimus rejected that he was worthy of being Prime.

When war raged across Cybertron between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Autobot leader Zeta Prime was defeated and captured by Megatron, who sought the Autobots' Omega Key, a device that would gain him access to Cybertron's core as part of the Decepticon plan to infuse it with Dark Energon. Despite a daring rescue attempt from the Kaon detention facility by Optimus, Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Air Raid, Zeta succumbed to his injuries and went offline.

Optimus brought Zeta's body to the Autobot High Council and begged their guidance in these desperate times. The leader of the Council stated that they existed only to choose Primes, and that it was the Primes who led the Autobots. When Optimus responded that there were no Primes remaining, the Council leader asked if Optimus would still reject his true calling. The Council said that for too long they have watched the Primes fail in their lofty positions, but Optimus was one leader whose wisdom and courage transformed the lives of those around him. Charging him with the mission to remove the infection of Dark Energon from Cybertron's core, the council bestowed leadership of the Autobots onto Optimus, a burden and responsibility he accepted. The council declared that Optimus was now Optimus Prime, the last Prime. Transformers: War for Cybertron

Prime cartoon

Plot details for One Shall Rise, Part 3 follow. Spoilers have expired, you may remove this tag

When Megatron came before them, allegedly to call for justice, he arrogantly threatened to remove the old guard by force and demanded to be the next Prime. In contrast, the young Orion Pax was able to move the Council with his words and reason; they chose Orion as someone who may one day be Prime, causing Megatron to cut off ties and turn to violence. One Shall Rise, Part 3