Tarn (G1)
| The name or term "Tarn" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Tarn (disambiguation). |
- Tarn is a Decepticon from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Tarn is an eloquent Decepticon. He enjoys nothing more than playing beautiful music as he waxes poetic quoting Towards Peace and other philosophical works by Megatron. He tends to indulge these pleasures at the same time he's using his specially modulated vocal processor to cause the Decepticon Justice Division's latest transgressor's spark to self-destruct. The current leader of the D.J.D., Tarn epitomises the mentality of the team. He is beyond zealous in his devotion to Megatron's cause, going so far as to emboss the Decepticon insignia onto his own faceplate. No traitor, no coward is capable of escaping his team.
Despite appearances, Tarn is a mess of contradictions. Viewing himself as the central pillar of the D.J.D., he can be as brutally violent as any other Decepticon, but views himself as a bureacrat and his team as his administration. He believes his actions are entirely justified, yet sometimes his thoughts are a constant stream of self-denigration. He works hard to run a tight but fair ship, and is not above taking in an open-minded, needy stray. On the other hand, for all his thoughts of sophistication and control, Tarn can go from affable to life-threatening at the least provocation. His addictive tendencies have lead to him burning out his original transformation cog years ago, and his reliance on the power-enhancing Nuke can lead to his losing himself to the lust for violence. And have no doubt that while he may try and convince himself otherwise, Tarn is a truly sociopathic murderer. Ultimately whether Tarn is a monster or not is irrelevant. His utter devotion to the Decepticon cause means he will ensure the fear of Megatron is put into any that would consider abandoning their noble goals.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
"Yup"
As with all members of the DJD, Tarn's true identity is unknown, his name changed upon joining the organization and his face hidden behind his mask. He is known to have been forged, born an exceptionally powerful Point One Percenter, and his "weaponized conversation" is a natural ability, suggesting he may be an Outlier. Rebuilt under the supervision of Lobe, The Permanent Revolution Tarn's power and endurance is considered by Prowl to put him on the same level as a Phase Sixer. Remembrance Day
After the DJD established a base on the world of Messatine in order to obtain the super-powerful Nucleon variant "Nuke" that developed there, The Permanent Revolution Tarn investigated Delphi, the Autobot medical facility on the planet. He coerced the head surgeon Pharma into helping feed his addiction by supplying him with an ever-increasing number of transformation cogs from deceased patients, in exchange for the hospital being unmolested by his team. Pharma would eventually cut off Tarn's supply by orchestrating the facility's shutdown. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back
After being contacted by the Decepticon deep cover agent Brainstorm with news that high-priority target Overlord was aboard the starship Lost Light, Tarn and the DJD continued to work through their list of offenders as they waited for Brainstorm to drop the ship's shielding so they could pick up Overlord's signal. The Permanent Revolution One such targeted unfortunate was Black Shadow, whom Tarn explosively finished off with his deadly voice, after which the team set course of the planet Clemency to hunt down Decepticon deserter Fulcrum. Rules of Disengagement Arriving on Clemency, the team discovered a mysterious stasis tube awaiting them—when Tarn investigated, he found it contained a deranged, circuit speeder-enhanced Grimlock, who was unleashed on him by Fulcrum and his new allies, the Scavengers. Tarn was soon able to subdue the brain-damaged Dinobot, but was then crushed beneath the foot of a Cybernought battle-mech that Crankcase had activated. Tarn recovered in time to hear Fulcrum deliver a speech to all assembled about Decepticon ideals before apparently committing suicide. At that point, Kain detected Overlord's long-awaited signal, and Tarn ordered the DJD to head out—but not before warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had now made it onto The List. Who's Afraid of the DJD?
Tracking Overlord's signal, the DJD found the Lost Light—which was, unbeknownst to Tarn and his team, actually one of two versions of the ship, created by a malfunction of the vessel's quantum generators—near the planet Ofsted XVII. Despite having initially promised Brainstorm they would not harm any of the crew, the discovery that the traitor Deadlock was aboard the ship them set the DJD off, and after dealing with him, they set about murdering the rest of the ship. Tarn personally destroyed Ultra Magnus, Swerve, and Cyclonus as well forcing a large section of the ship's crew to transform before executing them, leaving their transformation cogs warm for location and harvesting. Eventually, Tarn removed a still-restrained and suicidal Overlord's head with a chainsaw, and the D.J.D. left the ship. slaughterhouse The Road Not Taken
Sometime during the months that followed, Kaon spontaneously began writhing in agony right in front of Tarn, who tried to get his teammate to tell him what he could do to help, before the mysterious effect subsided. Arm the Lonely Also during this time, the D.J.D. came upon Cybertronian colony born of the Titan Prion, which had been extermined by the Black Block Consortia. The team took the sole survivor, Nickel, into the ranks, and at her insistence, Tarn had them return to Ofsted XVII to salvage the quantum engines from the derelict Lost Light. They wound up arriving in the middle of a battle between the Galactic Council and the Black Block Consortia, who teamed up against the Cybertronians. Under attack by both sides and faced with additional enemy reinforcements, Tarn was forced to retreat, leaving Vos and Kaon behind. The Permanent Revolution
Though reduced in membership, the D.J.D. returned to their duties, hunting down Decepticon offenders, though Tarn began to weary of the work. After apprehending the Sparkeater-worshipping Blip, Tarn was about to end his life using his voice, until Blip used his last words to demand that Tarn remove his mask. Affronted, Tarn allowed Helex and Tesarus to finish Blip instead, averting his gaze beneath his mask. After returning to the Peaceful Tyranny and undergoing check-ups from Nickel, Tarn ordered performance reviews for the team, but nearly came to blows with Tesarus when he implied that abandoning Vos and Kaon was not the Decepticon thing to do. Calming himself just as quickly, Tarn explained that they were returning to Ofsted XVII a third time in order to recover their bodies, but was interrupted by Helex's announcement that they had returned to the ship safe, sound, and with something unbelievable: a postwar edition of Towards Peace that revealed Megatron himself had defected from the Decepticons.
His world shattered by this discovery, Tarn had the D.J.D. return to Messatine, where he attempted to fatally overdose on Nuke. Finding even the sensation of dying disappointing, Tarn opened his eyes to see a distraught Nickel pressed against the glass of his fuelling capsule. The sight of her triggered a revelation for Tarn: she was a 'bot who had lived her life outside of the war, but one who had experienced first-hand the threat the predominantly-organic universe posed to Cybertronians, and who had fully embraced the Decepticon cause as a result. The cause, Tarn suddenly realized, was bigger than any one 'bot—bigger than Megatron. Galvanized, Tarn set up a meeting with the rogue Decepticon warlord Deathsaurus aboard his stolen Warworld. Knowing full well he was on the D.J.D.'s list and fearing for his life, Deathsaurus pre-emptively attacked Tarn upon his arrival, even deactivating his audio receptors to protect himself from Tarn's voice, but Tarn was able to communicate with him and his troops through inter-Decepticon radio and explained the reason for his presence: he wished them to ally with him, in return for being taken off The List. Deathsaurus agreed on the condition that Tarn kill the rest of the D.J.D., which Tarn refused to do—which was the response Deathsaurus had been hoping for. With their alliance cemented, Tarn declared their new objective: kill the traitorous Megatron and all of his allies! The Permanent Revolution
Games
Transformers Legends
Tarn and the rest of the DJD pursued Blackshadow for taking bribes from the Autobots. The DJD found their target hiding on planet Clemency, and dispatched them with extreme prejudice as Tarn set course for their next assignment. Rules of Disengagement
Notes
- Alex Milne said in a Facebook interview that his ideal voice for Tarn is Keith David. That is AWESOME.[1]
- Prowl lists Tarn as being on par with the Phase Sixers Sixshot and Overlord in "Remembrance Day". So far there's no official confirmation that Tarn is himself a Sixer, though he was shown being rebuilt by Lobe and his assistant in "The Permanent Revolution".
