Ostaros
- Ostaros is an Autobot from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
The magnum opus of the neutral scientist Mesothulas, the scientific experiment known as Ostaros was the first and thus far only example of an artificially created Cybertronian: a robot powered by an artificial spark and maintained by an synthesized copy of the Matrix's energy field, making him indistinguishable from the genuine article.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
During the Great War, Mesothulas created Ostaros as the first member of what he saw as a new breed of life. At some point, Mesothulas's partner Prowl had a crisis of conscience as their collaborative efforts grew increasingly depraved, so after throwing Mesothulas into his own Noisemaze, Prowl destroyed the lab, leaving Ostaros's fate uncertain.
After Mesothulas, now calling himself Tarantulas, reunited with his old partner, he demanded to know what had happened to his experiment. Prowl claimed to have used his connections in the Autobot military to falsify some records for Ostaros and had him Autobranded. He further stated Ostaros had died on the battlefield without anybody learning about his real origins. Tarantulas was a little dismayed to learn about Ostaros's apparent fate. Sins of the Wreckers #3 Later, during the demonstration of Impetus, Tarantulas attempted to forcibly subject Prowl to the guilt-revealing process; Prowl took the moment to explain what really happened to Ostaros. He asserted that he had actually placed a gun to Ostaros's head and pulled the trigger. Sins of the Wreckers #4
It turns out that wasn't the whole story, though; Prowl had fully intended to destroy Ostaros, but when Impactor refused to do the deed, Prowl was unwilling to get his hands dirty and do so. Instead, Ostaros became the Autobot known as Springer, explaining why Prowl knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Springer could be counted on to do jobs that he was otherwise incapable of doing. Sins of the Wreckers #5
