Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

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"Aww, betcha say that to all the treaty-breaking weapons dealers."

Even in war, there are laws. Ultra Magnus, Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, is the thin blue line that enforces those laws. Whether Autobot or Decepticon, break them and you can do things his way... or the hard way.

But is it enough to make me "bend"? In my book, one compromise leads to another... and another... and pretty soon... you've crossed the line you're supposed to be holding.Ultra Magnus, Spotlight: Ultra Magnus

IDW Generation 1 comics

Foreshadowing!

During the early years of the war, Ultra Magnus fought alongside Orion Pax to contain the Decepticons. Parasites He and his security forces later joined Orion and Megatron's unit to overthrow Zeta Prime and witnessed Zeta Prime's destruction and Megatron's betrayal. Overthrown When Megatron took over Cybertron, Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, and Bumblebee began discussing what to do next and had some discouragement from Hot Rod. They were later raided by the Decepticons and Starscream took special interest in Hot Rod and offered the neutral transformer to join the Decepticons. Transformation

Ultra Magnus and his unit, along with Orion's unit, were captured and put in Decepticon custody. Hot Rod realized his mistake of trusting the Decepticons after learning of their evil ways and decided to be an Autobot. He then broke out all the Autobots in custody and they regrouped to Orion Pax's ID signal where Orion informed them of his transformation into Optimus Prime and that he had awoken the dormant Metroplex who had been the city Acropolex the entire time. Rise

Ultra Magnus aided the Autobots against the Decepticons at the Citadel where they would fight for control of Cybertron. Broadcast Alongside many other Autobots, Ultra Magnus rallied behind the new Prime, returned to Iacon and chased off the Decepticons. Endgame

During the War, Ultra Magnus served with distinction in many battles, including being part of the 113th Battalion where they fought against the Phase Sixer Black Shadow. Rules of Disengagement

However, sometimes he took heavy hits in service - on Simanzi, 1st Cycle 3718, heading toward the Crucible with Rotorstorm, he was caught offguard by a Cybernaught and shot. Later, during the 2nd Cycle, while giving orders during a battle on Clemency over the Nightmare Engine, he took a direct hit from the K-Class Decepticon Torque, and in the 3rd Cycle, during the Battle for Hell's Point, he blocked the exhaust vent of the ship in question with his body, trusting that the Warriors Elite wouldn't risk destroying it by blasting him off without Megatron's permission. Heretech simply raised Megatron in gun mode and blasted him off. The Gloaming He would regret the smirk he gave them thereverafter Hangers On and, worryingly, ceased smiling at all, to the extent the very gears that did controlled his mouth started to rust over. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations

In each case, he seemingly recovered from the damage - although at some point, he apparently suffered the Spark affliction known as a zero point, yet made a "freak recovery". Zero Point Magnus would be cited by First Aid as an example of a larger sized bot whose Spark could recover from the kind of damaged suffered by Rewind. Before & After

Countless years later, Magnus became a Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, upholding the Code of Interplanetary Conflict, a treaty between Autobots, Decepticons and other alien races. Tyrest, in Ultra Magnus's own words, had promised him unspecified "things", which Magnus willingly took - to his own apparent regret, many years later. Cybertronian Homesick Blues

As an enforcer of the Accord, Magnus hunted down any Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons alike, who illegally sell or distribute Cybertronian technology, handing them over to their superiors for prosecution.

One such violation saw Ultra Magnus pursue the Autobot Arcee, who was pursuing a paranoid vendetta against Jhiaxus, the scientist who allegedly transformed her into her current state against her will. When he caught up with Arcee, it took a combination of holographic trickery and shock grenades to put her down. Magnus shipped her off to Fortress Maximus's care at the Garrus-9 penitentiary. Spotlight: Arcee At some point he arrested a Decepticon pedaling miniaturization technology and was infected with Nanocons. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations

On another mission, Ultra Magnus tracked the Decepticon Swindle to the planet Zull. After arresting the criminal, Magnus reluctantly released Swindle in exchange for the current whereabouts of an even greater offender: Scorponok. Magnus had a personal grudge against Scorponok, who was the Autobot's polar opposite; while Magnus set great stock in rules, Scorponok flouted them. Ultra Magnus followed Swindle's lead to the planet Nebulos, and although he disrupted Scorponok's operations, the Decepticon was able to escape. Spotlight: Ultra Magnus

Years later, Magnus arrested Swindle for yet another violation, and once again, Swindle offered a deal, leaving Magnus to wonder whether it's necessary to break the rules to catch those who've been caught breaking them. Escalation #1 Exactly what Magnus did with Swindle is unclear, but he soon made another report to Optimus Prime, claiming to have picked up a new "lead" on Scorponok, suggesting that yet another deal had been made with Swindle. Spotlight: Optimus Prime

After the break-in on Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus told Optimus Prime that he was heading there to follow up on the escaped prisoners, but received a distress call from Hound and changes course to assist their crew. Magnus arrived in time to help drive off Cyclonus and together, they tracked him to Corata-Vaz. After Cyclonus activated the Nega-Core, he hesitated activating the guardian, Thunderwing, due to the destruction he caused Cybertron. Cyclonus walked out of the cave and was ambushed by Hound's crew and Magnus. After a skirmish, Cyclonus was brought down by Warpath and Magnus held a gun to his head. As a last resort, Cyclonus detached his hand, which rocketed to the cave and activated Thunderwing. Using the distraction, Cyclonus escaped but Magnus sent another tracker after him. Spotlight: Cyclonus

Ultra Magnus would later receive intel on the Dead Universe's plot. Spotlight: Doubledealer With Optimus otherwise engaged, Ultra Magnus informed the various Autobot teams of the situation, helped direct their strategy, and came up with the idea sending Arcee to deal with Jhiaxus. Man can deal with a lot. Spotlight: Sideswipe

It's now my job to jail all the interesting guys.

Sometime after the Expansion, Ultra Magnus received a signal from a battered Hot Rod, requesting some backup for Sunstreaker, who had gone into Scorponok's Machination headquarters building to reclaim his head. Ultra Magnus decided to put an end to Scorponok, once and for all. Maximum Dinobots #4 By the time Ultra Magnus arrived at Machination HQ, the long missing Dynobots had already defeated Scorponok, but Ultra Magnus stopped them from killing him, saying that he would be punished under Intergalactic law, and ordered the Machination stripped of all Cybertronian technology. After rendezvousing with Optimus Prime's crew, Ultra Magnus relayed the events to Optimus, who felt they were well and truly compromised on Earth. Once business was concluded, Ultra Magnus left with Grimlock, Scorponok, and Shockwave as his prisoners, telling Grimlock that his assistance would help reduce his sentence and that the warrants on the other Dynobots had been rescinded. Maximum Dinobots #5

Ultra Magnus uses sarcasm quotes to remind you he doesn't find anything hilarious.

Several years later, after the fall of many Autobot strongholds and the subsequent defeat of Megatron on Earth, Ultra Magnus and his human stowaway Verity Carlo transported the Wreckers to Garrus-9, the Autobot penal colony which had been overrun by the Decepticons. En route, they encountered a battered Decepticon dropshop emitting a distress signal that failed to acknowledge any hailing frequencies, which then subsequently exploded. Magnus was shocked to discover that a survivor had successfully escaped the ship's destruction, and even more shocked that it was the notorious former commander of the Wreckers, Impactor. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 Magnus watched as Perceptor tinkered with Impactor's head, noting that the former Wrecker probably had an explosive deterrence chip embedded into his cranium from his imprisonment at Garrus-9. When Impactor told the story of his escape and what had occurred at the prison, even the usually taciturn Ultra Magnus was disturbed by the revelation that the powerful phase-six Decepticon Overlord was now in charge of G-9, and suggested that perhaps they should delay the mission. After Springer and Impactor got into an argument over who was in charge and what the latter did that got him sent to G-9 in the first place, Ultra Magnus managed to convince Springer that Impactor had been through an awful lot, and that he was a valuable aspect that was needed for this mission. However, Magnus declined to personally involve himself with the mission, so he could to turn a blind eye to the Wreckers' often-brutal methods, and because Prowl had requested his presence back on Earth. Also, Prowl gave him a name, something that would be of importance to both Springer and Magnus: Aequitas. During the mission briefing, Magnus revealed to the other Wreckers it wasn't Skyquake that was up against them, but the infamous Overlord, prompting Kup to tell Verity of the time he faced Overlord on Caldoon 4 and barely survived. With the younger Wreckers clearly rattled by the tale, Ultra Magnus reminded Kup that they had talked about the elder Autobot's perchant for "talking up the enemy". Twenty minutes before launch, Magnus discussed Ironfist's strange blackouts with Springer, though the Wrecker was inclined to give his subordinate the benefit of doubt. As the Wreckers (and unbeknownst to them, Verity) launched their drop pods to Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus wished them luck and intoned an old Cybertonian proverb: "May your wires never cross and your luster never dull". Last Stand of the Wreckers #2 He would later wonder what would have happened if he'd fought alongside the Wreckers Under Cold Blue Stars and would greatly miss Verity. Cybertronian Homesick Blues

Arriving on Earth, Ultra Magnus reiterated his position as an enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, and demanded to know which of the local Autobots was in charge. New Arrivals, Old Encounters With the remaining Autobots left at the caves before him, Ultra Magnus tried to allay their concerns by attempting to use the local Earth slang and idioms related to criminal investigations, with only served to cause confusion. However, with a case as serious as Ironhide's death and Optimus Prime's surrender to Skywatch, he asked for help from the Autobots and failing that, demanded full cooperation. Unfortunately, Magnus was unusually obstinate and obtuse in his investigation, questioning Bumblebee's authority as leader (after being told that Hot Rod had left the Bumblebee's group), and refusing to help the Earth-based Autobots deal with their problems. After witnessing Hoist lead away yet another group of Autobots, Magnus left the caves to search for Hot Rod. A Rude Awakening

After tracking the Autobot splinter group down, Ultra Magnus laid out a series of legal quibbles that would make it impossible for the self-styled "Rodimus Prime" to leave Earth and demanded the dismantling of the rocket they were building. The situation turned ugly when Magnus spotted Swindle among the Decepticons in Rodimus' group, and attempted to arrest him. Citing Rodimus' violations of the law and collusion with the Decepticons, Magnus threatened to arrest him under charges of treason if he failed to cooperate. However, Magnus was disappointed when Prowl defended Rodimus' decisions and wondered why Prowl had summoned him to Earth in the first place if he was going to break the law himself. Sticking to the rigid letter of the law got Magnus nowhere, as Rodimus correctly pointed out that he couldn't arrest them all. Furious, Ultra Magnus returned to Bumblebee's cave. Seasons in Flight

Sometime after Bumblebee had been rebuilt into a new, more powerful body, Ultra Magnus ordered several of the Autobots to form a team to arrest Rodimus' group. He seriously got the Autobots offside by demanding Blurr's participation despite his recent trauma at the hands of Skywatch and overrode Bumblebee's command authority. Returning to the launch site, Magnus officially declared his intent to arrest Rodimus under order 00101001 of the Tyrest Accord, which majorly honked off Rodimus as he felt there were no factions any longer, the war was over and that "his" group only wanted to get off Earth. However, Magnus' distrust of the Decepticons was proven correct when Swindle interrupted the argument to unveil his new creation: the Stunticon combiner Menasor, who was ordered to kill Magnus first. Enemies of the System During the battle, Ultra Magnus exhausted his arsenal of firepower and was about to be killed by the titanic Decepticon when Optimus Prime arrived on the scene courtesy of Skywatch. The Autobots rallied and defeated the Decepticons, forcing Swindle and the Constructicons to retreat. Shortly after being repaired, Magnus was furious to learn that Swindle had escaped his grasp once again, and took out his frustrations on Rodimus, charging him with treason for all of his actions. When Bumblebee stepped in to diffuse the situation, Magnus attempted to cite his greater authority of his legal jurisdiction, but was put in his place when the younger Autobot pointed out that on Earth, he was in charge, and that no Autobot would be arrested, regardless of their mistakes. However, as this was going on, Rodimus took off in Ultra Magnus' shuttle. Earthworks

Evidently after regaining his sense of perspective, Ultra Magnus used a ship provided (somehow) by Skywatch The Land Ironclads to rescue the surviving Wreckers from Garrus-9. In his debriefing to Prowl, Magnus discussed the reasons for even sanctioning the mission given what it cost the Wreckers, and despite his disgust at the horrific crimes perpetrated by some of the Autobots who faced the infallible Aequitas, he argued the need for revealing the contents of the supercomputer's data to the Autobot rank-and-file. After handing over a data slug containing the Aequitas data, Magnus stated that he hoped Prowl was true to his word and would hand it over to Bumblebee, because he knew Prowl would have hoped the data in the slug was corrupted so he could maintain the cover up. As he left, he said that perhaps he should have checked the data for corruption after all, but considered it would be a disservice to the both of them for not trusting Prowl and going behind his back. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5

With his ship stolen, Ultra Magnus was stranded on Earth alongside the other Autobots, and was none too happy about it. He had little patience for Brawn raging about an attempted assassination of Bumblebee, and threatened to have the angry little guy restrained if he didn't shut up. He was interrupted by the news that the plane carrying Optimus Prime's team back from North Korea had been blown out of the sky, but before he and Pennington could get any real information about the attack, an explosion rocked the Autobot-Skywatch base. The Decepticons had returned to Earth to rescue their captured comrades, and Ultra Magnus found himself incapacitated by Frenzy's mind-scramblingly loud battle cry. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man

The attacking Decepticons quickly left with the freed captives, leaving Ultra Magnus to wonder why they neglected to finish him and the other Autobots off. There were more important things to worry about, though: the base was in ruins, Bumblebee and Pennington were both in critical condition, and Optimus Prime and his team were still missing in action. Ultra Magnus took command and had the base evacuated, moving the personnel to Omega Supreme's location, but not before leaving Brawn with a mission to find a special somebody. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon As the Autobot convoy moved towards Omega, they found themselves under attack from humans who didn't want them on their planet. Ultra Magnus was initially prepared to defend himself, but Pennington convinced him that killing humans would only make things worse for them, and the convoy continued. Unfortunately, things got worse for them anyway when Megatron himself showed up and easily dispatched Ultra Magnus and his troops. Assuming that he was out to destroy the Autobots as usual, Magnus tried to distract Megatron from killing the Skywatch soldiers, but the Decepticon made it clear that the humans were just as important targets for his revenge. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies

Injured, Ultra Magnus was held hostage by Megatron and Soundwave, who used him as leverage to get Optimus Prime to meet with them. This meeting ended with Megatron retreating with a stasis locked Soundwave, and Ultra Magnus was brought to safety. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome As he awaited repairs, Magnus told Prime that he had managed to place a tracking chip on Soundwave, allowing the Autobots to find Megatron's hideout. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine

Six weeks later, Ultra Magnus watched as Rodimus returned to Earth with the Matrix of Leadership and several lost Autobots in tow. He brought news that Galvatron had built an army and taken control of Cybertron, prompting Optimus Prime to lead his Autobots back to their home planet. On Bumblebee's orders, Ultra Magnus remained on Earth with him, Prowl and a few others. Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix He still participated in talks of what would be done with Megatron, whom had surrendered himself and been taken into space with Prime's Autobots. When Xaaron explained that they needed a neutral third party to judge the Decepticon leader for his crimes, Magnus suggested Chief Justice Tyrest, and opined that they should aim for a death sentence. Chaos Theory Part 1

Ultra Magnus was involved with the investigation on Spike Witwicky's supposed murder of Scrapper. He chewed out Prowl and Streetwise after the latter had broken protocol and transformed into robot mode during a mission to spy on Witwicky. Prowl brought up his suspicions of anti-Transformer pundit Ben Simpson and of a deeper Decepticon conspiracy, but Magnus ordered him to stick to the case at hand. Police Action: Part 1 The Autobots then brought in Sandra, a former Skywatch agent who abandoned Spike's unit once it started breaking too many rules. Ultra Magnus commended her for sticking to military protocol before questioning her on Spike's past. Police Action Part 2: Only Forward

Learning the whereabouts of Ben Simpson from Sandra, Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus agreed that they couldn't rely on the slow human legal system when he was causing so much damage to human-Autobot relations. After ordering Jazz to remain at base, Magnus rolled out with Skywatch, who confronted Simpson and revealed him to be facsimile construct controlled by none other than Swindle. The Decepticon tried to escape again, but Ultra Magnus dismembered him and dragged him back to base, where he admitted under interrogation that he had been supplying Spike Witwicky and Skywatch with Cybertronian technology from the start. This revelation caused the Autobots to sever their ties with Skywatch. Police Action Part 3: A Second Chance at Eden At one point during their time on Earth, Ultra Magnus witnessed Bumblebee bring all five Stunticons into custody to everyone's surprise. The Question

Risk of criminal activity: None. Practically perfect in every way.

The Autobots on Earth returned to Cybertron once Optimus Prime's team had defeated Galvatron, D-Void and the Decepticons. Much to Prowl's surprise and chagrin, Ultra Magnus then decided to accompany Rodimus and Drift on their quest to find the Knights of Cybertron, feeling that the Autobots were no longer wanted on post-war Cybertron. The Death of Optimus Prime He joined the crew of the Lost Light as Rodimus's second-in-command, but was starting to become increasingly petty about minor infractions. His troubles on the Light started when a accident at launch caused the ship to quantum jump to a random point in space. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It A ruptured hull led to a portion of the crew being sucked out into space, so Rodimus and Ultra Magnus set the Lost Light down on a nearby planet and went out searching for them. Hangers On

Once they launched again, another problem reared its ugly head in the form of a Sparkeater being loose on board, causing Ultra Magnus to remember the time he arrested the Decepticon Blip. The Autobots hunted the monster for some time until Rodimus killed it by using crew member Rung as bait, which Magnus heavily disapproved of. He told Rodimus that he had to call him out on that because nobody else would, "certainly not Drift", but Rodimus brushed off the "lecture": stating that he was the one in charge now, not Ultra Magnus. The Chaos of Warm Things

As time went on, Magnus became increasingly anal about everything, especially minor, pointless things like dirt How Ratchet Got His Hands Back, Autobrands at angles, lighting problems, and so on. Rodimus started ignoring his many, many memos. (Being dirty and having his badge at an angle just happened to be things Magnus had been doing before he suffered horrific injuries at Simanzi and Clemency) The Gloaming He started to question why he'd joined the quest and tried to leave several times, but Rodimus would keep talking him into staying. Cybertronian Homesick Blues

DIRT?!

Ultra Magnus informed Rodimus that Tailgate wanted to be a Decepticon and was tired of getting the crew in order and when questioned why he was on the ship then, he answered he no longer had a reason. Rodimus then instructed Rewind to give Tailgate a history lesson. This led to Tailgate getting a more clear understanding of the Great War. Life After the Big Bang As a result, Magnus got to teach him about the Autobot Code—a long tortuous process as Magnus used the unabridged version and went over it in excruciating detail. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

After attending a ceremony honoring Highbrow, Chromedome and Brainstorm, Ultra Magnus was among the crew members temporarily frozen in place by one of Brainstorm's backfiring weapons. The Reluctant Specialist He later busted Rewind for bringing illegal "snuff" movies on board and put him on rivet duty. He also found out about Swerve's bar and promptly arrested the proprietor, sending him to join Rewind. When Fortress Maximus took Rung and Whirl hostage, Magnus listened in on his threats. Interiors

If looks could kill.

The infestation of Nanocons, long thought eradicated, became active within Ultra Magnus, so a team of hardy Autobots were miniaturized and implanted inside him to try to fight the creatures. The Nanocons eventually ended up at Magnus's mouth pistons, and he was forced to destroy them by smiling. Though he was greatly embarrassed by it and the crew consequently mocked him for it, Rodimus assured him that it meant they were beginning to accept him. When the Lost Light encountered the Galactic Council ship The Benign Intervention, Magnus was able to use his bureaucratic skills to talk Captain K'gard into allowing a delegation of Autobots to visit Crystal City. He himself was beamed aboard the Council ship, where K'gard told him that he was trusted by the Council and tried unsuccessfully to talk him into joining them—he even smiled at the idea the other Autobots might influence him to be less strict in his outlook. When the Council ship came under apparent attack from the surface, Magnus was beamed back aboard the Lost Light before K'gard began the process of destroying the Autobot ship with an incineration shell. Fortunately the ship had a last-minute save, courtesy of a freed Metrotitan. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations

Ultra Magnus went on a reconnaissance mission to Temptoria. Before & After He returned to the Lost Light to find Cyclonus had been blamed for an attack on Red Alert, and was being interrogated by Drift. He was forced to restrain Cyclonus after the interrogation came to blows. Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism When it turned out Red Alert's decapitation was self-inflicted, Magnus suggested putting him into cold storage, something Rodimus reluctantly agreed with. Shadowplay (Conclusion): An Intimate Beheading

With the information Magnus had gathered on Temptoria pointing to the missing Circle of Light possibly being held there by Decepticons, a task force of Autobots, including Magnus, traveled there in the Leading Light to investigate further. His fighting prowess particularly impressed Tailgate. Though they liberated Temptoria's capital, they failed to find the Circle of Light. Before & After

He was ordered by Rodimus to go on shore leave to Hedonia. Joining Swerve's social group, he debuted his holomatter avatar: a copy of Verity. Whirl tricked him into drinking nucleon and he fell unconscious: before that, however, he'd broken down in front of Swerve and admitted to hating the quest, feeling upset that nobody liked him, and believing everything had gone wrong when he'd accepted Tyrest's offer. Cybertronian Homesick Blues Afterwards, he tried to socialise with Rung and even tried jokes: Magnus murdered those jokes like Furman murders Battlechargers. Despite that, they got on quite well. Signal to Noise

When Overlord was set free aboard the Lost Light, Magnus was the first one to charge against the loose Decepticon, still carrying the guilt after the incident of Garrus-9 and managed to briefly beat him into submission... Until his fist was seized by the powerful Phase Sixer, who noted that Magnus had not been holding back, but he himself had. Overlord stabbed Magnus through the spark with Drift's Great Sword before being set upon by the rest of the crew. First Aid rushed to his aid, but regrettably stated that, while he may have been able to slow down the shrinking of his spark, he wouldn't be able to save him. Under Cold Blue Stars Rodimus was left distraught at the idea that he'd be without Magnus.

Literally without Magnus as his comatose body got up and left. The Gloaming

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Remain in Light 2 of 5: House of Ambus follow. Spoilers expire in 49 days

It was tracked through a portal to the lost Luna One, where the Autobots were captured and thrown in a cell with a 'bot called Minimus Ambus. Rung, however, noticed that Ambus had all the neuroses and speech patterns as Magnus: the robot admitted that he was indeed Magnus, but Minimus Ambus had been his true name. The Fecund Moon House of Ambus

Notes

• Simon Furman spent some time teasing an Ultra Magnus/Galvatron fight in homage to the Marvel UK Transformers comic, but had abandoned it by the time he wrote Revelation.