Trepan

Trepan is a Transformer from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Would you buy a used body from this man?

Trepan is as shadowy as they come. Ostensibly a worker at a Relinquishment Clinic, Trepan is actually a part of the shadowy facility known as the Institute, conducting mnemosurgery, Shadowplay, and Primus knows what else in the field of warping minds. As a member of a clandestine organization, he should probably be more discreet about what he gets engraved on himself.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Prior to war breaking out on Cybertron, Trepan was part of an Institute facility under a Relinquishment Clinic somewhere near Translucentica Heights. When Prowl and Tumbler came visiting while investigating a murder at the Heights. Though Trepan turned on the charm and denied he'd seen either of the two suspects before, Tumbler noticed an engraving on his wrist which Trepan tried to gloss over, but was forced to admit under further questioning said "cleanse and control", though he tried to claim he used to work in sanitation. The two cops promptly cuffed him and discovered the facility under the clinic. Once they returned from their investigation, Trepan had escaped. Patternism

Not that much later, Trepan was flown out to Messatine to make Megatron more obedient. At the last second, he had to stop as Rung had arrived and that made things politically tricky. He didn't get a chance to do it again due to an accident at the facility. Births, Deaths, and Interventions

During the Great War, Tumbler actually became Trepan's apprentice! (He was so good Tumbler was given the name "Chromedome") The two worked at the New Institute, which was basically the old Institute with a rebranding by Zeta Prime, and secretly altered the minds of potential rogue Autobots to keep them "on message". Trepan also altered Decepticons and it was when he planned to reprogram Soundwave that this came back to bite him: Overlord turned up to save Soundwave and kidnapped Trepan in the process. He was forced to teach Overlord the secrets of mnemosurgery as part of the Decepticon's plan to destroy Megatron, but only got so far before Megatron found out and had him killed. Remembrance Day

Notes

• Trepanning is a surgical procedure involving making a hole in the patient's skull, sometimes done for its own sake to allegedly release pressure or evil spirits. Seems Chief Justice Tyrest is a fan.
• "Trepan" is also an archaic term meaning a person who ensnares or entraps others; a stratagem.
• Megatron is still at Messatine during "Shadowplay" but Shockwave is still a dissident senator during "Births, Deaths, and Interventions". Trepan must've sped off to Messatine during "Shadowplay".