The Transformers Menagerie issue 5
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| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #54 | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 2013/January 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Jim Sorenson | ||||||||||||
| Art | various | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Wings Universe | ||||||||||||
Perceptor goes over the Predacons, and the future that beast-modes may entail...
Synopsis
[edit]Perceptor muses on just why beast modes are so appealing. Vehicular alt-modes almost always share the same basic design, while beast modes have endless variations, with an enticing degree of adaptability. And right now, one of most important groups of beast-mode Transformers is the Predacons. Records indicate that the Predacons were built by the Quintessons during their brief alliance with the Decepticons. When they were first encountered by Autobot forces on the moon Io, they served directly under the Quintessons, but after the aliens betrayed the Decepticons, the Predacons defected and entered the Decepticon command structure. Perceptor notes that the Predacon's CNA markers and bodily structures share several similarities with those of the other Quintesson creations, the Sharkticons; these aquatic beasts could potentially be classified as Predacons themselves. Despite their ferocious natures, their importance right now is not due to military reasons, but political. After Cybertron was recharged by the Earth's sun and the Plasma Energy Chamber, the Predacons took control of the Decepticons from the exiled Galvatron and Scorponok, with Razorclaw in control of the faction. Intelligence suggests that the Decepticons are all gathering under the Predacon name, and with their former headquarters on Chaar abandoned, the Decepticons could be anywhere. Perceptor wonders about the future of these new Predacons; without regular energon, they'll need to come up with a solution, and with Micromaster technology on the rise, down-sizing seems inevitable. And the further integration of the organic into the mechanical seems certain in Cybertron. The various subgroups of Transformers binary bonded with Nebulons, Pretender technology, and beast modes themselves all have proved to have their advantages. And, Perceptor wonders, if the Predacons do go down this path, can the Autobots do no less? Most of the high-ranking Autobots are unwilling to consider the notion, but not all. In particular, Fortress Maximus is already gathering groups of like-minded Autobots to his philosophy. To Perceptor, it seems that the future is in the hand of those who will embrace Fortress Maximus' decision.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Notes
[edit]- Characters mentioned include: the Terrorcons, the Quintessons, the Sharkticons, Galvatron, Scorponok, and Fortress Maximus.
Continuity notes
[edit]- The Predacons' first appearance in The Transformers cartoon in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5" is briefly described here, mentioning their attack on the Autobots stranded on Io.
- Cybertron's rejuvenation, along with Galvatron and Scorponok's exile, happened in "The Rebirth, Part 3".
- Chaar was last seen in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2".
Transformers references
[edit]- While it was never made explicit in American media, the tie-in story pages for Transformers 2010 (the Japanese dub of the third season) made it clear that the Predacons were Quintesson creations. The idea that Sharkticons could be potentially classified as a type of the Predacon owes to the fact that Gnaw, the original toyline's Sharkticon figure, was sold as a Predacon in Japan.
- CNA is the genetic material of the Cybertronian race, first named in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Arcee.
- This entire entry is obviously linking the Predacons of Generation 1 to the Predacon faction of Beast Wars. This idea owes both to BotCon 2006's "Dawn of Future's Past", which depicted the Predacons as the direct ancestors of the Beast Era Predacons, and the pseudo-canonical novella Alignment, which depicted the Predacons as a splinter faction which the majority of Decepticons rallied under.
- Planets that are being searched for Predacon inhabitants include: Planet Beast (home of the characters from the Beastformers toyline, as seen in the Headmasters episode "Rebellion on Planet Beast". The Predacons of the Dreamwave Generation One comics were exiled to "Beest", as it was so named in "Welcome to the Jungle"), Animatron (the Jungle Planet from Cybertron, given a real name by The AllSpark Almanac II. Animatron was also the Japanese name of the Predacons) and Dread (from The Transformers episode "Chaos"; however, see "errors" below.)
- Both Micromaster technology and Pretender technology have been linked to the Beast Era before, due to the downsizing of the Maximals and Predacons, and the organic-skinned beast modes, respectively.
- The idea that Fortress Maximus is the founder of the Maximal faction is a new one. It would be brought up again in Beast Wars: Uprising.
Errors
[edit]- Dread is referred to as "Planet Chaos", presumably mixing it up with the monster that lives on the planet.
