Centurion (IDW)
| This subject of this article goes by multiple names that apply to other articles as well. See Centurion, Bumblebee. |
- Centurion is a Eukarian Autobot from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Centurion is lost in more than one sense of the word. His memories gone in the crash that stranded him on an alien planet, Centurion and his Eukarian shipmates found themselves pressganged into a battle that was not theirs—a battle that would stretch into the 19th century and beyond. His original identity lost to history, Centurion became "Bumblebee" for a time, convinced that he was the yellow Autobot until a moment of self-realization broke the mask and revealed the 'bot beneath the conditioning.
Nowadays, whatever remains of Centurion's chipper "Bumblebee" persona have been lost beneath Centurion's grim, world-weary attitude. Having seen—and shaped—so much of human history, Centurion's sense of purposelessness grew into a distaste for his own kind, considering Transformers to be nothing more than destructive abominations to be hunted down and dispatched by his own hand. It's this pragmatism that caught the attention of Garrison Kreiger, and in spite of his implanted Autobot sensibilities Centurion found a kindred spirit in the ruthless villain.
Fiction
 Plot details for Strange Visitors follow. |
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Twenty thousand years ago, Centurion was one of a number of Eukarians under the command of Domitius Major aboard the starship Axalon. Sent on a deep-space mission by Onyx Prime to locate the Enigma of Combination, Strange Visitors Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1 Domitius's crew were drawn off-course by the need to replenish their energon supply. They discovered prehistoric Earth, still locked in the Ice Age. As they approached the planet, they were confused by a broadcast of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, alerting the Eukarians to the presence of Shockwave, who had come to Earth to investigate his Regenesis project. The Decepticon scientist shot down their vessel, and, in the crash, the Talisman aboard the Axalon scrambled the memories of the crew.
Centurion was the first of them to awaken, and, disoriented, briefly glimpsed the transmission of Optimus he had seen earlier. His brief confusion over his identity—if he was Bumblebee—inspired Shockwave to use the amnesiac explorers for a twisted experiment. By replacing the lost memories of the Axalon crew with data on the Cybertronian Autobots and Decepticons, Shockwave convinced the stranded beast-bots that they were warriors in the Great War, and then pitted them against one another in a series of simulated wargames in order to study their tactics for his own use. After Shockwave was entombed in lava by the Dynobots, the Eukarians fought on amongst each other, until they finally ran low on Energon and went into stasis. Strange Visitors
"Bumblebee" awoke in the 19th century to the sound of human workers building a railroad line over their cave. Shedding his original beast mode, he disguised himself as a small steam locomotive with no control cab and a built in steam-hammer for driving spikes. Hearts of Steel #1 Initially, Bumblebee directly competed with steel-driving legend John Henry. After Bumblebee revealed himself in robot form to Henry, Henry set aside his mistrust of automation after realizing that Bumblebee was a living being (not just a machine) who wanted to put in a fair day's work. Hearts of Steel #2
Bumblebee reactivated several other "Autobots", and after learning that the "Decepticons" had already awoken, adopted steam-powered alternate modes to stop their enemies from reaching New York City Hearts of Steel #3 With the help of John Henry, Tobias Muldoon, Mark Twain, and Kitty Merriweather, the "Autobots" succeeded in preventing them from doing so. With the Decepticons defeated, Bumblebee and the other "Autobots" returned to stasis. Hearts of Steel #4
Several years later, Bumblebee was one of a handful of Eukarians who awoke to warn his ally Tobias Muldoon about the threat of an Elder God. This threat required more firepower; as a result, the "Autobots", with the help of Nikola Tesla, awoke Domitius Major—his old commander, now conditioned into believing he was Optimus Prime. Infestation 2: The Transformers #1 Domitius succeeded in driving off the eldritch horror, but pledged that his forces would remain alert should its like resurface. Infestation 2: The Transformers #2
By the time of World War I, the surviving Axalon crew members were beginning to die off, and several were beginning to shake off Shockwave's conditioning. Centurion was present when Domitius Major, still believing himself to be Prime, died. Coming to the conclusion that his kind were destructive abominations, Centurion dedicated the rest of his life to tracking down the surviving Eukarians on Earth, battling IRON Soldiers created from the Talisman as he went. When World War II swept the world, only Centurion, now sporting an automobile form, and "Shockwave" remained. The last two survivors battled one another in France, where their combat was observed by Sgt. Savage and the Screaming Eagles. Centurion killed the false Shockwave and took his cannon arm as a trophy. As the last surviving member of the Axalon crew, Centurion requested the help of Savage and his men in finding the wreckage of his ship so that he could return to his ship to die in peace.
The strange alliance located the Axalon's remains in Brasnya, where they battled more IRON soldiers, but discovered that the Talisman had been removed from its old housing. Before Centurion could tell his comrades about the device, they were attacked by more of the drones—now animating Domitius's corpse to attack. Garrison Krieger watched, fascinated by the battle, until the Talisman's energy made the entire Axalon disappear—with Savage inside it. Centurion managed to defeat Domitius's animated corpse, but was upset at losing what he hoped to be his final resting place. Confused, angry, and psychologically vulnerable, Kreiger offered to help him, not telling the erstwhile Autobot that he was planning to take the Talisman for his own. Strange Visitors
Over the next few decades, Kreiger successfully groomed the confused and angry Eukarian into fully trusting him, and eventually Centurion became one of Kreiger's most trusted confidants and bodyguards. The Iron Klaw Centurion carried out several missions with Kreiger's colleagues Baron Ironblood and Doctor X when they caught wind of the Talisman. These included visiting Tomax Paoli, urging him to take up the mantle of Cobra Commander once more. The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb
Tomax and Centurion later undertook a mission to San Francisco to retrieve the "Project: Ice Man Protocols." The Iron Klaw Centurion chauffeured Tomax to the I.R.O.N. building in San Francisco to meet with Krieger when Mayday, Kup, Garrison Blackrock, and Action Man stormed the building. Centurion initially chose to remain undercover until Kup revealed himself. Mistaking the elderly Autobot for a Eukarian straggler, Centurion fought Kup. Shortly afterwards, however, Blackrock accessed Kreiger's files and learned the truth about Centurion's history. Admitting that he was also a lost servant of Onyx Prime, Blackrock and Kup explained that Centurion was not the last of his kind as he had thought, and that there were many other Cybertronians out in the cosmos. This revelation was enough to move Centurion to stand down, and he requested that he meet the real Optimus Prime. Strange Visitors
Notes
- Centurion's profile in the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook identifies him as an alternate reality version of the human-built robot of the same name from the Marvel Generation 1 comic. This wiki opts to give the IDW incarnation of Centurion his own article given the stark difference in characterization.
- Though we never see Centurion's original beast mode on-panel, the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook notes that he used to transform into a "dinosaur-like space monster."
- In his Revolutionaries appearances, Centurion is seen sporting a cowcatcher-like mouthplate that does not appears in the original Hearts of Steel comics. Perhaps he added it physically differentiate himself from Bumblebee?
