Titan (group)
| The name or term "Titan" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Titan (disambiguation). |
- Titans are a type of Transformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Titans (sometimes also known as Metrotitans) are giant city-sized bots, created long, long ago. Able to transform into cities and massive starships they and their crews traveled out from Cybertron in ancient times, vanishing into legend... forgotten almost entirely by the world they left behind until the day they began to return.
Although few Transformers can meaningfully interact with a hibernating Titan, the Camien tradition known as "cityspeaking" allows normal-sized Transformers to communicate with these beings by observing the readouts of their colossal brain modules.
Known Titans include:
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Titans were living starships, city-sized Cybertronians of unspeakable power who (legend has it) served the Guiding Hand and later the Knights of Cybertron. The original three Titans were hailed as the strongest and most awe-inspiring of their number: Metroplex, the "First Titan", Chela, the "Golden Warrior", and Metrotitan. The legends spoke of those three standing by Primus as he warred with his opposite. Origin Myths
According to legend, the bestial Trypticon was raised by Mortilus to battle the Titans of Primus. Salvation After the era of the Guiding Hand, the Knights of Cybertron led their followers to the stars aboard a fleet of Titans to usher in a new era of Cyberutopia. You, Me, and Other Revelations The Knights travelled to Mederi via a Titan, the giant presumably perishing alongside their masters as a result of the moon's euthanasia protocols. You Are Here
Preceding the unification of the Thirteen Tribes, the first three Titans were summoned by Onyx Prime as an elaborate form of crowd control to halt the fighting between Onyx and Megatronus's armies. The trio then stood vigil over Crystal City in the subsequent peace treaty and celebration. Origin Myths Cyclonus stated that in his youth, he prayed in the Titans' shadow. You, Me, and Other Revelations
In the age that followed, many if not all the Thirteen Primes gained the allegiance of at least one Titan. Among them was the massive Titan Vigilem, who served the Liege Maximo. When the First Cybertronian Civil War swept their world, the Titans cast Vigilem and his leader into space, renaming their fallen brother "Carcer" and severing his higher functions. Rubicon The First Who Was Named
After Maximo was exiled, Onyx, Alpha Trion, and Prima departed aboard the latter's Titan, Emissary, to track down Megatronus, eventually finding him on the barren planet, Tsiehshi. Prima went off to confront their wayward number, with Onyx eventually returning with both his and Megatronus's remains. Distraught at his master's demise, Emissary interned Prima's body within himself and set off into deep space after returning the others to Cybertron. Unbeknownst to all at the time, "Onyx Prime" was a convenient identity assumed by the time-travelling Shockwave who had sabotaged Emissary's internal systems and caused him to crash-land on prehistoric Elonia. The First Who Was Named Despite Shockwave's efforts, however, Emissary survived the crash but was left completely paralyzed. Our Darkest
The conclusion of the war led to a brief age of interstellar colonization spearheaded by the Titans. Supposedly, Thirteen Titans left Cybertron, carrying hot spots in order to populate new worlds. According to the Mistress of Flame, the Colony Titans were sent into space to prepare new worlds, one for each member of the Thirteen to rule over. Aphelion In many cases, these colonies developed unique adaptations that set them apart from Cybertronians; the Titans themselves were often repurposed into cities and building materials. A 'Bot and Her City Windblade vol. 1 #4 First Contact Windblade vol. 2 #4
Over time, Titans fell into the realm of myth and legend. By the time Cyclonus had become part of Nova Prime's inner court, only three Titans remained on Cybertron, all in hiding. One, Metrotitan, slumbered in secret beneath Crystal City, and was guarded by Omega Supreme. When Nova discovered the upper city and allied himself with Omega, the guardian hid the Metrotitan's existence from the Prime. His recalcitrance paid off when Nova fell into megalomania and departed Cybertron to conquer other worlds, at which point Omega revealed Metrotitan to Nova's more respectful former follower, Dai Atlas. Omega explained that the Titan would only awaken in the presence of a great Cybertronian, but that it would be Dai Atlas's task to protect it until then. When the Autobot/Decepticon war subsequently broke out in the following millennia, Dai Atlas became a conscientious objector and gathered together many like-minded Transformers to form the Circle of Light, and used Metrotitan's energies to power their departure from Cybertron. All Good Things Settling on the planet Theophany, the Circle built a new Crystal City atop the still-sleeping Metrotitan, continuing to use his energies to power their new home. You, Me, and Other Revelations
The second remaining Titan on Cybertron was Metroplex, "the first Titan". The Reluctant Specialist Metroplex was a long time friend of the ancient Cybertronian called Alpha Trion, having surveyed and mapped most of the planet together, including the Rust Spot, following the Thirteen's unification. Omega's Conundrum At one point, Metroplex entered a deep slumber as the "Acropolex" of Nyon, until the early days of the Autobot/Decepticon War when the new Prime, the former Orion Pax, woke him with the Matrix of Leadership to aid him against Zeta Prime and Megatron. Rise After the battles were done, Endgame he served as Autobot headquarters for some time until he departed the planet with Alpha Trion to investigate and counteract Shockwave's star-spanning project. Hello Cruel World One group of Decepticons, led by Bludgeon, attempted to follow, and travelled to a planet where he was refuelling, but Thundercracker woke him rather than inform his superior, and prompted Metroplex to teleport onward before Bludgeon discovered his presence. The Hunting Party
The last Titan on the planet was Trypticon who had been sealed away beneath the Toraxxis Plains in ages long past. Underworld When the Great War began, Trypticon was awakened by Scorponok, Unleashed and cut a swath of destruction across Cybertron before being felled by both Autobots and Decepticons. Belly of the Beast Megatron then revived Trypticon and had him branded a Decepticon. Primacy #1 Trypticon's true nature as a Titan however would remain unknown to his fellows until after the war had ended. Salvation
At some point afterward, Shockwave obtained his space bridge nodes to install them in Megatron's new body, Spotlight: Megatron apparently forcing him to travel physically through space thereafter.
Millions of years later, the few remaining Titans were growing increasingly decrepit and weak from underfuelling. Believing that the ancient giants held the key to reaching Cyberutopia, the supposed location of the Knights of Cybertron, Chief Justice Tyrest hired Lockdown to hunt down and kill Titans so that he could use their parts to cobble together an antique space bridge leading directly to the Knights. The Divided Self Lockdown and his group of Titan Hunters tracked down the weakened Titans, killed them, then took them to be stripped down for profit before using the remains to find the next one. The Reluctant Specialist The leftovers were left on Luna 1, Tyrest's headquarters, in a veritable elephants' graveyard of Titan corpses. House of Ambus At one point Lockdown's hunters followed a Titan signal to the Lost Light, which had a sloughed-off piece of Metroplex aboard that had recently struck the ship, and aimed to use it to detect Metroplex himself, before being forced off by Trailcutter without their prize. The Reluctant Specialist
At some point, Crystal City was razed by Tyrest's Legislators, leaving no sign of life, save the Titan slumbering underneath. When the crew of the Lost Light arrived to investigate, a subsidence sent them tumbling into the cavern beneath the city where Metrotitan lay, and they decided to enter his body so that the their resident mnemosurgeon Chromedome could tap his brain and hopefully find out what had befallen the Circle of Light. Doing so, Chromedome discovered that Metrotitan was still alive and screaming in frustration—he had heard the call sent out by Cybertron upon the planet's reformatting to "come home", but having been drained by the Circle for so long, he lacked the necessary power to teleport his giant bulk across space. With Metrotitan desperate enough to separate his spark from his body in order to return to Cybertron, Brainstorm used miniaturization technology to shrink the giant down to a size small enough so that he now had the power reserves necessary for the journey. You, Me, and Other Revelations
The shrunken Metrotitan successfully quantum jumped back to Cybertron, to his old home in Crystal City, but wound up physically enmeshing his molecules into those of the city, causing a destabilization of local reality. As Autobot scientist Wheeljack worked to contain the impending disaster, Prowl and Starscream got closer to the Titan, and were shocked when he awoke, crediting Starscream's presence as the reason. Metrotitan dubbed Starscream the conqueror who would unite Cybertron and thanked him for allowing him to awaken one last time, then bid the Transformers to depart so that they would not be destroyed along with him as he seemingly obliterated as reality erupted in an antimatter explosion. All Good Things Before he perished however, a future version of Shockwave used Ore-1 and Ore-9 to warp Metrotitan to Earth, beneath the surface of Monument Valley as history foretold. As Above...So Below The Hallowing
When the Lost Light found its way to the Missing Miracle Moon of Luna 1 via a portal in space, Rodimus and the rest of the away team discovered Tyrest's Titan graveyard and unsuccessfully tried to take refuge from Lockdown and crew inside of the huge relics. House of Ambus Tyrest was finally able to activate his Titan-made space bridge, but rather than the promised land, the portal led to the mind of Adaptus. This Calamitous Life The Return of the King
Meanwhile, on a decaying Gorlam Prime, Orion Pax summoned a dormant Titan to rise from the ground in order to fight off Monstructor. However the combiner attack was a ruse, as the Decepticon scientist Jhiaxus desired to bring the Ore-2 and space bridge technology the Titan contained to Shockwave. Via the marooned Titan Hunter Waspinator Jhiaxus took control of the Titan and teleported back to Cybertron. Homecoming The Titan was brought to Shockwave's lair, the Crystal City, Soundwaves where its Ore-2 reacted with the Ore-14 of the city, turning it into the undead "Necrotitan". Dark Dawn The Necrotitan was eventually felled by a reinvigorated Metroplex. Finis Temporis The Becoming
With the Dark Cybertron crisis over, Metroplex integrated himself into the ruins of Iacon while his body recuperated from the effects of an alchemical virus. Hello Cruel World Towards Peace Full Fathom Five As he recovered, he began scanning the galaxy, searching for his lost siblings. He located Chela on Eukaris, Navitas on Velocitron, and the dead Titan on Devisiun; when Windblade tapped into his brain she received glimpses of these other Transformer colonists. Windblade vol. 1 #4 After Metroplex's spacebridge was repaired, Cybertron reached out to its forgotten Titan colonies to form the Council of Worlds. Several Titans played key roles in the formation of the Council: Windblade hacked into Navitas's brain module to manipulate a Velocitronian racetrack, Race Against the Light while on Eukaris she and Starscream were forced to put down the berserk Chela. Windblade vol. 2 #6
The reunion of Cybertron and the colonies proved beneficial for the isolated Titans. Carcer's crew was able to begin ordering parts from Cybertron to repair him while Camien cityspeakers were able to conduct therapy on Navitas. 07:00:00
Meanwhile on Earth, Optimus Prime and his forces combatted the machinations of Galvatron, and at the Autobot bivouac in Monument Valley, Optimus sensed a presence. It's Beginning To And Back Again Soon thereafter, Optimus realized what he had felt, and reawoke Metrotitan. As Above...So Below Subsequently, Metrotitan became the Cybertronian embassy on Earth, an Autobot City. As a result of Circuit and Longtooth capturing Metrotitan's revival on live camera, opinion among the Cybertronian public and the Council of Worlds became more positive towards Optimus's activities, Optimus seemingly proving himself a divine true Prime. No Fair Fights Pleased by this turn of events, Metrotitan broadcasted a beacon of information across the universe immortalizing the deeds of Optimus Prime–unaware that this same broadcast would awaken Sentinel Prime–in reality the diminuitive and ancient Titan Master Infinitus–slumbering beneath the ruins of Kaon. Disgusted by what Cybertron had become in his absence, Sentinel cut a swathe through Cybertron and Earth as he hatched a new plan to wipe Cybertron clean and begin anew. The Last Autobot White Light
Joined by his fellow Titan Master Sovereign, the two travelled to Luna 1 and the Titan graveyard. Using Blackrock as an amplifier, Sentinel awoke the entire population of the graveyard and ordered the zombie army to return to Cybertron via space bridge and kill everything that moved. Ten to Midnight Though Sentinel Prime was killed by the skeleton crew of Autobots on the moon — Fortress Maximus, Cerebros, Red Alert, and Prowl–the vast majority of the undead Titans made it through the space bridge portal, materializing far away from Cybertron. Last Light
Several months later, the Titan army arrived near Cybertron, where Carcer's long-range scanners picked them up. The Council of Worlds convened to strategize against the upcoming threat and eventually decided to stand and fight against the menace. Metroplex transformed into his robot mode once more to do battle against his undead brethren, but even though he and the population of Iacon fought hard they were unable to stave off the endless waves of building-sized zombies. Ping The zombie army was ultimately defeated only after Windblade seized control of Vigilem and used his heavily armed body to rescue Metroplex and mop up the last stragglers of the invasion; though Vigilem perished, it wasn't before he disgorged the evil Liege Maximo from his innards, who promised to avenge the death of his Titan. Rubicon
Trypticon was long believed to be a giant monster until Bludgeon discovered a Titan's trademark brain module and space bridge within his head, confirming that Trypticon was actually a rare beast-shaped Titan. Salvation
When Onyx Prime returned to Cybertron, his ship, the Nemesis, came under attack by Metrotitan, prompting the warship to fire a crippling shot through the Titan's torso. The Ground Though Liege Maximo wanted to attack Metroplex and Trypticon next, Shockwave overruled him, claiming to need Metroplex and accurately predicting Trypticon's retreat from Cybertron to protect his protoforms. After sending Maximo to slay Metrotitan's crew, Shockwave confronted Starscream at the Titan's head where he revealed he'd utilized his Regenesis ores to brainwash Metrotitan into believing Starscream's divinity before slaying the wounded Titan. The Hallowing
When Unicron began consuming the galaxy, Navitas perished when Velocitron was devoured. Unstopped and Unstoppable When the Chaos Bringer attacked Elonia for its stockpile of Ore-12, the Transformers arrived to evacuate the Elonians via space bridge. When the device failed to activate, Optimus Prime, Arcee, and Rom discovered the paralyzed form of Emissary, partially unearthed by Unicron's attack, who was transmitting a space bridge counter-frequency. Arcee solved that problem by thrusting her swords directly into Emissary's brain module, killing him and cancelling the counter-frequency. Now familiar with the energy of the Titans, Wheeljack recognized what had happened but declined to inform Bumblebee. Our Darkest During the monster's assault on Caminus, Optimus, Arcee and Bumblebee ventured within him, discovering the remains of the Titans he'd consumed. Unicron #1
When Unicron mounted an attack on Cybertron, Carcer acted as flagship of the defense fleet but was ultimately destroyed by the Chaos Bringer. Our Finest Road's End
As Unicron made his final approach over Earth, Metroplex and Trypticon joined in the fight. Unicron #5 Trypticon however soon fell to Unicron's might, seemingly leaving Metroplex as the last of the Titans. Ceremony
Beast Wars: Uprising
Fortress Maximus mused that if he had wished to conquer Cybertron or invade other planets, few could have stood in his way other than Trypticon or the long since vanished Titans. Head Games
Titans Return marketing material
When the universe was still forming, before Autobots or Decepticons existed, the Titans were created and sent out to discover the powers and mysteries of the universe. Each Titan was crewed by Titan Masters, tiny robot caretakers charged with up-keeping their systems. The Titan Masters also had a greater purpose: Each had a unique superpower they could grant to other Transformers, a gift intended to forge links with other civilizations they might discover. The Titans and their crews were eventually forgotten by all but a few power-hungry and entirely unsuccessful legend hunters. Until the Titans mysteriously returned, and the Titan Masters partnered up with Autobots and Decepticons alike.
Searching for info on the mysterious return of the Titans and their crews Alpha Trion followed a trail of clues to the "Beast Planet" Eukaris. Amid jungle covered buildings Alpha Trion and Titan Master Clobber located a mysterious ancient artifact that was linked to the Titans and Titan Masters. Mindwipe led Astrotrain, Wolfwire, and Titan Master Apeface in an ambush to steal the artifact.
Later, back on Cybertron, Soundwave led an all out assault. Scourge, Astrotrain, Skullsmasher, Laserbeak, Rumble, and Ravage, among others, pressed the attack while Powermaster Prime, Chromedome, Highbrow, Wheelie, Blaster, and Hardhead were among the defenders. The battle was interrupted when what first seemed like an earthquake attack by Rumble was actually the landscape itself transforming into the Legendary Titan: Fortress Maximus. Titans Return: The Power of the Titan Masters
Fortress Maximus was one of only a handful of Titans known to still exist. As a city, his ability to expand and grow was essentially limitless as he links up with other Transformers. Fortress Maximus himself is unique as the only Titan with the ability to link with a Titan Master partner.[1]
In the depths of space the monster Titan Trypticon and his Titan Master Necro traveled in starship mode between worlds, landing as a dark fortress or a terrible giant beast, bringing doom and ultimate destruction wherever they passed. Trypticon ever hungered for Titan Masters to devour the way another robot would Energon cubes, while the macabre Necro longs to harvest and devour the sparks of all Transformers who cross his dark path.[2]
Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons
Long ago, the Titans traveled between worlds, colonizing them and helping sustain life by acting as their cities while lying inert. When the society had proven they were able to sustain themselves, The titan would depart for another world and begin the cycle anew. Our Heroes Respond
Upon the conclusion of the Combiner Wars, Windblade declared that a new problem lay on the horizon: the Titans were returning. Destruction's Dawn
Star Trek vs. Transformers
After spending years on Earth, the start of World War III forced the Autobots and Decepticons to abandon the planet. The Autobots made their voyage through space in Fortress Maximus with the Decepticons following in Trypticon. Sometime prior to the 23rd century, both Titans and their crews wound up in stasis lock on or near Cygnus Seven after a space battle. Prime's Directive, Part Two
Games
Transformers: Forged to Fight
When the Quintessons dosed Windblade with Dark Energon, she began to have hallucinations that the titans [sic] were demanding her to destroy her comrades. Voices
Toys
Merchandise
Notes
- When originally introduced in IDW continuity, in the 2012 More than Meets the Eye annual, the Titans were called "Metrotitans," repurposing the name of the Zone Decepticon as that of an entire species. This was abandoned almost immediately, however: in the 2012 Robots in Disguise annual, released the same month, the species were called only "Titans," and the single Titan involved in the story was referred to as "The Metrotitan"; soon after, Robots in Disguise #11 dropped the "The" when referring to him, using the word as an individual's name. Nobody really noticed, though, and the subject didn't come up again until Metrotitan returned in the build-up to the Titans Return event, and his name being different to that of the species was clearly reiterated.
- The existence of thirteen Titan-stewarded colonies seems to imply a connection to the Thirteen Primes, and/or their Thirteen Tribes, who were established to have vanished from Cybertron in issue #34. Though later issues revealed that Solus Prime and Onyx Prime were commanders of two of the colony Titans, directly inspiring the cultures on Caminus and Eukaris respectively, it is evident that not all of the Thirteen each left with one of the Titans—the planets that Shockwave believed the Thirteen settled on were the worlds later seeded with Regenesis ores, and the Regenesis worlds we have seen are completely separate from the colony worlds. In addition, Nexus Prime died at the conclusion of the First Cybertronian Civil War while Alpha Trion remained on Cybertron for millions more years to come. The Mistress mentions that the thirteen colonies were an early attempt at Pax Cybertronia; presumably each Prime would control one world, but this plan fell through for reasons unknown.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Metrotitan (メトロタイタン Metorotaitan), Titan (タイタン Taitan)
- Mandarin: Jīngāng (金刚, "Vajra")
