Herald of Unicron
"Herald of Unicron" originated as a fan term for Transformers who serve, or have been reformatted by, Unicron. It was used in much the same way as shellformer, or as seeker used to be; and like "seeker" has since graduated to (admittedly rare) usage in official sources. Despite its official rarity, fanfictions are rife with it, making it part of the greater fanon. It mostly likely originates from the term "Herald of Galactus" from various Marvel comics, given the similarities between Unicron and Galactus.
The term's first canonical use was in the Fun Publications fanclub comic where Ramjet refers to himself specifically as the "Herald of Unicron".[citation needed] Later, IDW used the term in Beast Wars II Galvatron's Beast Wars sourcebook biography.
What is a "Herald?"
While many characters are Unicron-related, not all of those characters are generally thought of as "Heralds". While the term is distinctly fan-based, it does carry certain stipulations. For example, Galvatron was rebuilt to serve Unicron and lead his "armada" of rebuilt Transformers, which include Cyclonus, Scourge, and an indeterminate number of Sweeps. All of these characters are often thought of as "Heralds", even though Galvatron's loyalty was wavering. Conversely, Starscream is generally not concidered a "Herald", for the simple reason of his complete lack of loyalty. Starscream never intended to serve Unicron and so abandoned the Planet Eater after getting his reward.
Another, more appropriate example would be Sideways and the Fallen. Both are almost universally considered Heralds of Unicron among fans for the same reason that the Silver Surfer was considered a Herald of Galactus; their appearance actually signified the appearance of the Chaos Bringer, as they were trying to bring him back into existance. Sideways wanted to lead Unicron to the Transformers and destroy Cybertron, while the Fallen was attempting to free the Planet Eater from his extradimentional prison. Hook, Line, and Sinker served a similar purpose, as their arrival at a particular world meant the Chaos Bringer would soon arrive to devour everything.
Insignia
The insignia of the Beast Wars Neo faction, the Blendtrons, has been associated by some fans with the "Heralds". The symbol looks vaguely Unicron-ish, and the Blendtrons were created by him, so the assignment is not totally arbitrary. Some custom sticker suppliers, like Reprolabels, have developed faction sigils and rub symbols with the Blendtron logo as a "Herald of Unicron" faction symbol for characters who serve Unicron.
Alternatively, the Minicon logo has been used in-show (particularly in Energon) as Unicron's insignia. This is complimented by the M shaped frame around his fame/helmet, which is nearly identical. This connection was meant to hint at a connection between the Mini-Cons and Unicron before their origin was revealed (like, two episodes later), and was further built on in Energon during his one-and-only transformation sequence.
Known "Heralds of Unicron"
Following is a short list of characters from various continuities that served Unicron, whether by free choice or by having their will stripped off of them like a banana peel, and may thus be considered "Heralds":
- The Blendtrons
- Cyclonus (G1)
- The Fallen
- Galvatron (G1)
- Hook, Line, and Sinker
- Ramjet (Universe)
- Scourge (G1)
- Shokaract
- Sideways
- Sparkbots
- Sweeps
- Thrust (Armada)
