Quintesson

This article is about the Generation 1 alien race. For their home planet which is called "Quintesson" in the Marvel Comic UK continuity, see Quintessa.

The Quintessons are a race from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Hahahaha—
—hahahahaha—
—–hahahahaha—
——hahahahahaha—
——–hahahahahaha!"

The Quintessons are a bizarre and ancient race of mechanoids, whose history and shadowy machinations are bound up with the history of the Transformers, and connections with Primus and Unicron. They prefer subtle manipulation, scheming, and advanced technology over brute force, but if those don't work, they can fall back on the legion of deadly Sharkticons and Allicons at their command and a fleet of battle-ready spaceships as well. However, the Quintessons themselves have zero fighting abilities and are absolute cowards if they have nothing to hide behind. For example, they are seen to be powerless against a Sharkticon revolt.

Quintessons are also known by the adorable racial slur 'squids'.

[We] are Quintessons! Arrogance is our life’s blood, ambition is our food and drink, but most of all, hubris is the air we breathe!!Al-Badur dissin' his peeps, "Wreckers: Finale Part II"

Deceivers! Betrayers! Five-faced slime of the nebula!Galvatron on the Quintessons, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5"

Types of Quintessons

What? Death is for the guilty ones? You mean I've been doing this wrong the whole time?

The Quintessons appear to be mostly (if not entirely) mechanical beings. They come in several distinct forms, some of which are identified by their place in the Quintessons' bizarre court system.

The names given are, when possible, taken directly from the character model sheets.

Judges

The most prominent and famous type of Quintesson, as well as the apparent "leaders" of the race, are the Judges, also referred to as the Imperial Magistrates. Judges have inverted, egg-shaped bodies which float on a beam of energy and possess wiry tentacles for physical manipulation, but their most distinctive physical characteristics are their five rotating faces. Each face represents a different aspect of the Quintesson, though for four of the five faces, there are conflicting accounts as to what each represents.

• Death
  Death
• Rage/Wrath
  Rage/Wrath
• Laughter/War
  Laughter/War
• Bitterness/Wisdom
  Bitterness/Wisdom
• Doubt/Judgment
  Doubt/Judgment

The first names given above for the latter four faces come from Japanese Comic Bom Bom supplements. They are derived from the descriptions given of the faces in the original script for the movie—an "angry face," a "smiling face," a "grimacing face" and a "suspicious face"—and the faces were specifically designed by Floro Dery to represent these emotions. All the same, this information remained very little-known for a long time, leading to the second set of names being created for use in the 2004 publication, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. The original names were also used for The Ark, published by IDW in 2007.

In the original animated series, the Judges were all of the same size and were rarely named. (Then again, it was rare for any Quintesson to get an individual name.) Conversely, in the Marvel Comics continuity, Judges vary in size, including the massive Lord Kledji and the smaller Sevax. The order of the faces in the ring varies from Judge to Judge (if not from shot to shot, ahem).

Named Judges include:

• Brinn
• Deliberata
• Derodomontatus
• Heirodyus
• Kledji
• Sevax

Bailiffs

None Shall Pass!

These snout-nosed creatures were seen serving as guards in the Quintessons' court.

Executioners

File:QuintGate.gif

Pokey, pokey!

This breed of Quintesson was first seen throwing the switch that dropped the unfortunate Arblus into the Sharkticon pit. They have also been called "Gatekeepers".

Named executioners include:

• Ghyrik
• In-Saba Nur
• Jolup
• Rexian

Prosecutor

Prosecutor and the seldom-seen "wizened" variant.

This variety of Quintesson is the second-most common type, often seen in positions of authority. They have also been called "Inquisitors". In court, they are the ones who ask for the Judges' verdicts and occasionally let the defendants say something in their defense, for all it matters.

Named prosecutors include:

• Krahulik
• Vashik

Scientist

Yes, I have a question.

I had to walk 15 miles in the snow to school!

Scientists are somewhat similar to the Prosecutors in construction, though they feature more bulbous heads and bearded, somewhat-more-human faces.

Named scientists include:

• Al-Badur
• Extempaxia
• Inquirata
• Mara-Al-Utha

Other types

My tentacles are on fire!

The Judges are not the only Quintessons to have multiple faces, though the only known exception is the three-faced scientist who was the primary creator of the Trans-Organics. One of his faces was grievously damaged, a scar left by the Dweller, which he covered with a mask.

This scientist instigated a plan to get the Decepticons to unwittingly release the trans-organics from their prisons deep within Cybertron so they would wipe out all Transformer life. The plan ultimately backfired; the Dweller killed the other trans-organics, and was launched into space by the Autobots... where it smashed into the scientist's ship, which was en-route to Cybertron. Presumably, the scientist finally met his end as the Dweller drained the energy from the ship and everyone within it. The Dweller in the Depths

"Game over, man! Game over!"

Security officers appear to have been an ancient model of Quintesson, and possibly the only kind with built-in offensive capabilities, some having one set of arm-tentacles replaced with over-sized blasters. These blasters availed them naught, however, against the Trans-Organic beasts. It is unknown if any of this model of Quintesson exist in "modern" times. The Dweller in the Depths

No one remembers we exist.

Non-bailiff, non-executioner Humanoid Quintessons are exceedingly rare. One accompanied Inquirata on his mission to use a Time Window to change Cybertron's history, stopping the slave revolt that drove the Quintessons off-planet. Forever Is a Long Time Coming

And then there's Mirdane. A rarity among Quintessons, in that he has a name, and that's it. He has only ever been mentioned by others, never seen, so what body type he has/had is unknown. Madman's Paradise Wreckers: Finale Part II

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

Generation 1 cartoon

We Transformers have looked into the face of our creators... and seen the face of an enemy.Rodimus Prime, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5"

Believe it or not, you really do have better chances in Texas.

In ages long past, a cold and emotionless race of aliens called the Quintessons created two lines of sentient robots on a planet-sized factory known as Cybertron. One was a line of robots designed for domestic duties and labor (known as Autobots), and the other was a line designed for military use, (known as Decepticons). The Quintessons were exceptionally cruel to their creations, eventually leading to wide-spread rebellion, a rebellion started by the Autobot A3. Forced to flee the planet, the Quintessons eventually settled on the small, twisted planet of Quintessa, but fostered an undying hatred of all Transformers for millions of years. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4

In 2005, they were shown to capture prisoners for trial and feeding to their army of Sharkticons. The mock trials held by the Quintesson Court seemed to have no purpose at all (except maybe for the Quintessons' amusement), as defendants were still immediately fed to the ravenous Sharkticons even when the Judge determined them to be innocent. However, the Dinobots managed to rescue the pair of Autobots the Quintessons had captured. Worse, Grimlock inspired the Sharkticons to rebel... by stomping his foot on the ground and telling them to do so. The Transformers: The Movie

One year (or possibly five years, depending on whom you ask) after the defeat of Unicron, the Quintessons reappeared. They first sent a commando team of Sharkticons to abduct various Autobots (as well as Spike Witwicky, though that may have been unintentional). Upon capturing the 'bots, the Quintessons seemed more interested in interrogating their prisoners than feeding them to the Sharkticons. However, they eventually did find the captured Transformers to be guilty of the crime of... being Transformers. (Spike was guilty by association.) Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2

After Rodimus and the Aerialbots mounted a rescue for their captive friends, the Quintessons attempted to kill the would-be rescuers by destroying the entire planet of Quintessa. After this plan failed, the surviving Quintessons made an alliance with the newly revived Galvatron to attack Cybertron (in return for the fictional Decepticon Matrix of Leadership, which they made up because they needed to give him a reason not to kill them). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3

The Quintessons betrayed Galvatron almost immediately after the battle had been won, toggling a switch which caused all Transformers the galaxy over literally to freeze where they stood. Luckily, Spike stopped the Quintessons before they had much of a chance to do anything. Despite their betrayal (and the fact that they almost killed him), Galvatron remained an ally (despite that he tried to kill them as well). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

Later plots by the Quintessons were no less nefarious. A rogue Quintesson scientist abducted three Transformers and a human for behavioral study, a scheme that nearly killed the entire group after they drifted into a black hole. The Killing Jar Later, the Quintessons revived the deceased Optimus Prime in an attempt to lure all the Autobots into a trap and destroy them with a supernova. However, the Quintessons did not count upon Hot Rod forcing Optimus Prime to overcome his programming, nor Optimus Prime's ability to sacrifice himself to save the Autobots. Dark Awakening Later still, the Quintessons attempted to rewrite history by preventing their loss of Cybertron (which nearly resulted in the very fabric of Time being destroyed). Forever Is a Long Time Coming

During the Hate Plague crisis, a single Quintesson was rescued from his infected Sharkticons by Sky Lynx, to restore life to the body of Optimus Prime. The Quintesson mentioned that his race had gone into hiding in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. The lone Quintesson's help in restoring Optimus Prime and several other Autobots was vital in curing the galaxy of the Hate Plague, but his race was never heard from again. The Return of Optimus Prime

Kiss Players

Do cameos count as canon?

The Kiss Players Marissa Faireborn, Atari Hitotonari and Shaoshao Li, together with the Sparkbots Angela, Star Dust and Zangetsu, were traveling through time aboard Brave Maximus when the space fortress suddenly went out of control.

This is all kinds of crazy.

The six found themselves on a strange, alien world in the year 2011. With their ship ensnared, they were herded by Sharkticons to the Space Tribunal, where the Quintessons put them on trial for time-traveling without their permission.

When Shaoshao asked if being cute was a crime, the Quintessons threatened to charge her with contempt of court. Atari suggested using their Kiss Play abilities to transform into cute costumes and ask the "octopusses" nicely to let them go. But turning into a swimsuit-clad elementary school girl and asking the judge's permission to go to the potty only resulted in Atari and her friends being found "not guilty" and dropped into the Sharkticon pit below.

Rescued by Optimus Prime and Goldbug, they fled back to Brave Maximus and re-entered the time portal. Sucked into the maelstrom along with them, the Quintessons demanded that the process stop, saying that they were the last of their kind. But it was too late, and the aliens were trapped inside the hole in space-time.

Marvel Comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Like those creepy little pilotfish that swarm behind sharks, snapping at stray scraps, the Quintessons were vile enforcers for Unicron, savagely hunting down and picking off those who attempted to escape his maw.Transformers Universe

In 2008, Quintesson scientists realized that their planet, Quintesson (not Quintessa), was threatened with destruction by a time rift that was caused by Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge's time-traveling. The Big Broadcast of 2006

Desperate for their race to survive, they launched a surprise attack on Autobot City, capturing it for themselves. Most of the Autobots were deactivated, except for Rodimus Prime, who was outside the city at the time of the attack, and Rewind, Ramhorn and Steeljaw, who were hidden inside Blaster's cassette compartment.

Using Arcee as bait, the Quintessons captured the Creation Matrix from Rodimus, and he reverted to Hot Rod. Out of options, Hot Rod activated the core of Autobot City, a giant Autobot called Metroplex, who transformed and drove the Quintessons off but caused massive damage to the city in the process.

The Quintessons fled, but were ordered by Lord Kledji not to return to Quintesson, but to roam the stars instead to rebuild their forces and seek revenge on the Transformers, since their home planet was doomed beyond hope. How that went for them is unknown, but as they'd managed to cheese off most of the known metallic species by that point, it probably didn't go too well. Space Pirates!

Transformers in 3-D

A Quintesson sent two aliens to spy on the Autobots and Decepticons, and download the contents of their databases. The two aliens were puzzled, but the Quintesson remained cagy about what the data was for. The Test

Universe Featuring the Wreckers

The Quintessons conspired with Cryotek to retake the newly-reformatted Cybertron. He screwed them.

Dreamwave comics continuity

The Quintessons were an alien race which appeared to conquer Cybertron at some point, but were driven off. However, they continued to maintain watch over Cybertron, eventually coming to manipulate the Council of Ancients. Megatron claimed this was the reason that he started the Great War. The Route of All Evil This did not, however, stop him from making a deal with the Quintessons, who provided him with the Aerospace Extermination Squadron and a bunch of Piranacons. Knowing Megatron and the Quintessons, both were planning to betray each other when the time was right. War Within: The Age of Wrath

Later, they prepped the Female Autobots for invading Cybertron. Generation One issue 11

Due to the bankruptcy of Dreamwave Productions, the story ended before the Quintesson plot could be revealed.

Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers comics

When Serpent O.R. downloaded information on Cybertron's history from Soundwave's databanks, he saw the Quintessons create the transorganics and the Transformers. The Art of War issue 1

IDW comics continuity

A strange inscription of a Quintesson judge was present inside the ruins on planet LV-117. Through the cracks of the stone it was carved into, its eerie eyes glowed... Spotlight: Wheelie

Animated cartoon

300 million years ago, give or take, the Autobots, engaged in a major colonisation push, had border skirmishes with the Quintesson Pan-Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere. This conflict ended the Age of Expansion. Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2

Swindle received his Sonic Jammer 3000 from the Quintessons. According to him, they are nice folks that give you a good deal and all the oil you can drink. Decepticon Air

Shattered Glass

Dude.

We are all one or we are all gone.Aquarius, Shattered Glass

This universe's Quintessons are an enigmatic and benevolent species holding sway over a large section of space known as the Quintesson Collective. They share technology and cooperate with many other species, whether organic, technorganic or mechanical, using culture as a unifying notion instead of evolutionary origins. They long ago perfected zero-point energy engines, food and parts replication technologies and advanced biomedics, allowing any individual to change features, organs and overall designs, eliminating such things as scarcity, and thus material value, "mortality" and even the concept of "species". These technological advances are shared and freely available to all those who join their "ultra-species".

The Quintessons usually rely on cautious observation before making first contact with other unenlightened peoples, demanding years of study and careful cultural guidance before even considering allowing membership into the Collective. They rarely use direct means to steer a culture onto the enlightened path, but have been known to occasionally take more direct action to protect their interests, doing the "dirty work" themselves. Shattered Glass (franchise)

Prime continuity

The Quintessons attempted to enslave Cybertron once, but were defeated in a rebellion led by the Elite Guard who became Sentinel Prime, the one who oversaw Cybertron's Golden Age. Generations later Orion Pax said Sentinel and the High Council had enslaved Cybertron with the caste system instead of having it forced on them by the Quintessons.

The cockpits in a Seeker's body are holdovers from the time of Quintesson dominance. Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron

Notes

• When asked about the Quintesson design in an interview, Floro Dery stated they were based on a cylindrical toy he designed at some point.

• Although the reasoning behind finding people innocent and then sentencing them to death is presumably that it doesn't matter what the verdict is as you're screwed anyway, in no continuity has anyone ever been found "guilty" by the Quintessons, even in situations where they quite plainly are (such as when the interrogator was accussed of being an idiot in the UK-only framing sequence of The Big Broadcast of 2006). Makes you wonder what would happen, doesn't it?

• In a Q&A, Simon Furman said he considered making the Magnificence a Quintesson artifact but changed his mind.

• The Animated Quintessons are just off-screen mentions, but as their empire's name is near-identical to Imperial Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, we can assume they're very nasty.

External links

• The Quintessons' Universe profile at NFTA.net