Nickel
- Nickel is a Decepticon Mini-Con from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Nickel is a medic and maintenance 'bot, serving the Decepticon Justice Division, aboard the Peaceful Tyranny. The D.J.D. may be a ruthless, merciless death squad, and Nickel may be a tiny thing, but she won't hesitate to tear into them with a string of invective if they skip out on their upkeep and maintenance.
Besides being an effective medic, she is also very skilled in the art of... ahem, hand gestures and nonverbal communication. They tilt toward the obscene.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Nickel was a Mini-Con born from a hotspot in Prion, the Titan colony of Micronus Prime. Unfortunately, the robo-phobic Black Block Consortia chanced on Prion and wiped out the entire population of mechanical beings... or so they thought. Nickel was the lone survivor of the genocide, and when the Decepticon Justice Division came across the scene and Nickel, she found the Decepticons' promise of organic genocide appealing. Subsequently, she came to work for the D.J.D. as a medic and something of a surrogate "mother", telling them off for neglecting their hygiene and maintenance, and endearing herself to the crew.
Following the D.J.D.'s punishment of Blip, they learned of Megatron's abandonment of the Decepticon cause and that he had joined the Autobots. At first, Tarn attempted to take his own life by overdosing on Nuke, but seeing Nickel's worried face as he neared death made him reconsider. She then accompanied the D.J.D. when Tarn courted Deathsaurus and his troops for a single purpose—war against Megatron, the traitor. The Permanent Revolution
After their alliance stranded Megatron and his "sympathizers" on Necroworld, Nickel sat in on a strategy meeting with Tarn, Deathsaurus, Tesarus, and Vos. They were interrupted when Tarn left to take a call. The Sun in Flight He returned with Overlord in tow, who immediately set about mocking Tarn, suggesting that he made alliances because he was a coward. To Overlord's face, Nickel told Tarn to ignore the Phase Sixer. Kaon then rushed in, full of concern for The Pet. Tarn ripped his head off for his compassion, horrifying the tiny femme. Your Fierce Tears Still, she marched out with him and the rest of the DJD-Deathsaurus alliance as sunset approached, preparing to assault the Necrobot's fortress. At Close of Day
During the battle, she used Vos in rifle mode to shoot Chromedome in the shoulder. As he'd temporarily become a superpowered outlier, they didn't really hurt him. When Megatron himself emerged, she ordered Helex and Tesarus to pull back under Tarn's authority and used Vos to disable the Autobot's fusion cannon, effectively neutering him.
To her utter dismay though, Tarn had ordered all their men to run at Megatron to wear him down. Rage, Rage When Deathsaurus had an attack of conscience, Nickel decided they should all just pack up and go home. Tarn's obsessions, she realised, had always meant more to him than the Decepticon cause, and she departed with Deathsaurus and his remaining crew. Do Not Go Gentle
 Plot details for The Plotters' Club (Part 3): Journey's End follow. |
Commander Nickel was later seen leading from the front alongside Deathsaurus in a three-way battle between their Decepticon renegades, the Galactic Council, and the Black Block Consortia. However, Deathsaurus's recklessness, against Nickel's own orders, led them open to a counterattack. Nickel was caught in an explosion and flung through a nearby portal the Scavengers had just stepped through, which closed moments later. Journey's End
Notes
- Nickel was the first female Decepticon to appear in the IDW Generation 1 continuity.
- Nickel's appearance as a female Transformer from a colony other than Caminus follows on from several hints in "ONoffON" and "The Sum and Its Parts" that gender was present on ancient Cybertron, explaining its continued existence in the colonies and suggesting modern Cybertron is the exception rather than the norm.
- Nickel's alternate mode has not yet appeared in the comics, but artist Hayato Sakamoto designed her as a quad-changer: she possesses a buggy alt mode for land travel, a submarine form, and a flying mode to take her to the skies.[1]
