Ultra Magnus (SG)
| This article is about the evil Autobot. For his heroic counterpart, see Ultra Magnus (G1). For a list of other meanings, see Ultra Magnus (disambiguation). |
- Ultra Magnus is an evil Autobot from the Shattered Glass continuity family.
Ultra Magnus long ago grew weary of the tedium of war. He's killed so many and destroyed so much that it's started to all run together in his mind, reduced to a fine paste of boredom. It's been especially hard since he lost the trust of his friend Treadshot. Existence just seems so pointless without him at his side. Oh, Magnus has tried to make things interesting again, but each bigger and more elaborate coup only led him to a revolt against his bigger brother, Optimus Prime, and failure. For this he lost his face and his freedom, and he was locked away in the prisons of Paradron.
But soon, Ultra Magnus hopes to return and pull off the ultimate thrill. He's destroyed lives and property, certainly, but has he ever destroyed a universe? That would be grand, wouldn't it? Maybe it would even make him feel like he did at the start of the war, when everything was fresh and new. And when that moment comes, he hopes so fervently that his dear Treadshot will be there, with a final, oh-so-brief understanding that his once-friend was wrong to leave him.
Fiction
Mini Mayhem!
Rodimus and Ultra Magnus teamed up against Eric Siebenaler to "teach him a lesson." Mini Mayhem!
Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity
At one point, Ultra Magnus led an attempted coup against Optimus Prime, with Hound and Blurr as his only known supporters, though Hound was reportedly a link between Magnus and Alpha Trion. SG Hound's magazine profile However, during the battle between Optimus and Ultra Magnus, the former cheated. Eye in the Sky When the coup failed, Prime had Magnus exiled to Paradron as punishment. SG Cyclonus's magazine profile
While trapped with Sideswipe in the maze leading to the Omega Terminus chamber, Blurr referred to Cliffjumper as a "traitorous lunatic". Sideswipe countered by saying that Blurr was one to talk, and asked how Ultra Magnus was doing. Blurr said Magnus was doing "better than Drench", at least. Dungeons & Dinobots
With the help of Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus was sprung from prison on Paradron, along with Wreck-Gar and his Junkions. After augmenting his body to match Optimus Prime's recent upgrade, gathering an army, and acquiring the legendary Terminus Blade, Magnus had the means to both humiliate his brother and make his mark on the multiverse. Before jumping through a portal into another universe via Wheeljack's Stellar Spanner, Magnus boasted of his imminent victory before his brother via video feed. This would prove to be Magnus's only mistake, as Optimus Prime forwarded Ultra Magnus's whereabouts to his obsessive nemesis, Treadshot.
Ultra Magnus and his army appeared in the sky over the Ironworks base on Primax 207.0 Epsilon's Earth. After most of the heroic Autobot opposition outside were corrupted and integrated into Magnus's army as Junkions, Ultra Magnus led them inside Ironworks, where he made quick work of a second wave. Complete victory was interrupted only by the arrival of Treadshot's heroic Decepticons through a portal. Though initially aggravated, Magnus quickly became elated when he saw Treadshot had come for him. However, Magnus's primary objective remained, so he used the Terminus Blade to send himself and his officers elsewhere.
Below, Wheeljack had erected machinery that would direct the Rarified Energon that Ironworks guarded to the surface, where it would interact with a space bridge projector that, with the introduction of the Terminus Blade, would open up a rift in space time which would help Magnus destroy... a lot. As Magnus battled Treadshot above ground, the machinery below was guarded by force field. Sir Soundwave and Octopunch managed to expand the perimeter of the force field to be large enough to protect the entire Earth, which they thought would save the day. However, Ultra Magnus had been thinking bigger, as he had planned to destroy the entire universe. Ultimately, Earth was protected as it was brought into orbit over his own universe's Cybertron as the entire rest of the Earth's universe was catastrophically destroyed by the chain reaction of Rarified Energon. Content in his largely unimpeded victory, Magnus and his army fled, while Treadshot threatened lovingly graphic revenge. Invasion Prologue Invasion
Unknown to Ultra Magnus at the time, his positive universe counterpart survived the destruction and made his way into the negative polarity universe as well. Shattered Time
Ultra Magnus and his followers continued their efforts to harness the power of the Terminus Blade. Wheeljack's efforts with forestonite proved unsatisfying, so they constructed a Collector on positive-Earth designed to feed off of the destruction of entire universes. Magnus confronted his heroic doppelgänger, now called Ultra Mammoth, who was in possession of his own artifact of the Thirteen, the Origin Matrix. Mammoth initially bested Magnus, but his hesitation to kill left him open to a counterstrike by Ultra Magnus. He cut open Mammoth's chest and caused the Matrix and Blade to make contact. Distant Fissures
The Terminus Blade was fully recharged by the opposing relic, granting Ultra Magnus tremendous power and dimension-carving abilities. He gloried in his power for only a short time, however, before the arrival of Nexus Prime. One of the Thirteen original Primes, Nexus bound the Origin Matrix to the other pieces of the shattered Star Saber, reassembling Prima's great weapon. He literally disarmed Ultra Magnus to retrieve the Terminus Blade, claiming both Blade and Saber for himself. Ultra Magnus tried to flee from his opponent, but Nexus Prime cast open a dimensional warp, banishing Magnus to a dimension suitable for his imprisonment. Restoration Out of the One, Many
IDW Shattered Glass comic
 Plot details for Shattered Glass II issue 1 follow. |
At some point in the past, Ultra Magnus's face became a twisted skull-like visage, causing him to wear a holographic cover to hide behind, forcing him to carefully mind his demeanor lest too much stress risk shattering the hologram. A socially ungifted bureaucrat, he found himself an unoffical legal advisor to Orion Pax, being used for information on how much the law could be bent within its confines. Magnus found this arrangement acceptable as expertise was intended to be used by others, and he wasn't actually advising Pax on how to break the law, a position he defended when his friend Senator Shockwave came by his office to talk about it. The meeting was soon interrupted when Bumblebee barged into to ask about police procedures on behalf of Pax, with Shockwave leaving in frustration. A time later, Ultra Magnus assisted Pax in the formation of a special squad that would be "capable of bringing true order to Cybertron", and found himself being forcibly promoted to its leader. He protested this, believing he wasn't capable but Pax argued that his bureaucratic nature was exactly what the squad needed, and his knowledge of the law's limits was a valuable asset. Magnus disagreed with Pax's view of the law, and was told to stop pretending he didn't know what the squad was intended to be for. Pax taunted Magnus with his analysis that the lawman was secretly intrigued by the power Pax's vision promised, and taunted him about his holographic mask before telling Magnus to let him know what he wanted the team to be called.
Ultra Magnus's facade would later crack during a confrontation between his team and his friend Shockwave. After they chased away reporters who had been hounding the Senator, the squad found themselves being admonished by Shockwave with Magnus stepping in the middle to try and defuse the building tension, as well as try and explain his promotion to squad leader when Shockwave rounded on him as well. The Senator's next remark, however, would prove the breaking point for both the confrontation and Ultra Magnus himself. Shockwave made a scathing remark referring to the group as a band of rabid Deatheagles, causing Impactor to lose his temper and threaten to fight Shockwave himself. Magnus continued his attempts at peace brokering but one final quip from Kup about not being able to find a law for the situation fully sent him over the edge. His hologram glitching and breaking, Magnus grabbed Kup by the shoulder and brutally hurled him into Impactor, dazing the former and causing massive damage to the latter. Reeling from his outburst, Ultra Magnus was given one last barb from Shockwave as he left, whether or not Magnus was actually unable to calm the situation or just unwilling to admit he secretly didn't want to. This seemed to strike a chord within Magnus, as he told Wheeljack to leave the damaged Impactor, and that there would be some changes.
Ultra Magnus removed Impactor from the squad and made other organizational changes, christening them the Wreckers. When grilled by Orion Pax about these changes being made without his approval, Magnus countered that all documentation made the official team leader himself, not Pax. As such, it was well within his purview to enact any disciplinary measures he deemed necessary, noting that Impactor was removed after several public instances of insubordination. Magnus assured Pax that he and his team were still loyal, and to merely let the team prove themselves if he had any doubt. Seemingly impressed with Magnus's new assertiveness, Pax gave him and his Wreckers a new assignment: the fall of the Senate.
The Wreckers tore into the Senate chambers, and the Senators themselves, with absolutely no mercy. They brutally murdered any and all Senators they came across, with Ultra Magnus personally rending Ratbat in two, calling out a challenge to Shockwave as he did so. As Shockwave emerged, the lawman taunted the Senator with his refusal to be logical and just save himself, with Shockwave for his part attempting to appeal to Magnus's inner goodness in a futile attempt to get him to stand down. Magnus simply told Shockwave not to be so honest about how much he was being hurt, remarking that was how Pax got inside his own head in the first place, and proceeded to utterly dominate his former friend in their fight. After defeating Shockwave, Ultra Magnus carried his brutalized body off to undergo empurata, claiming he was somewhat jealous of Shockwave's impending personality shift. Shattered Glass II #1
Later on after the war, Ultra Magnus and his Wreckers were amongst the bodyscrappers who faced off against Blurr for the bounty on the head of Sixshot. Shattered Glass #1 Later, Slicer (formerly Wheeljack) reported on the fall of Gold City to Megatron and his Decepticons, as well as Goldbug making off with Starscream's spark. Ultra Magnus wasn't concerned with Gold City, as he had predicted it to be the first to fall, and because the other two warlords weren't interested in the city either. He remarked that Goldbug would figure out how to commune with Metroplex with enough time, and that thanks to other spies within Goldbug's ranks both Optimus Prime and Prowl were now aware the Titans were now in play, and both had plans for them. Shattered Glass #5
Ultra Magnus would soon rendezvous with Slicer and the other Wreckers and journey to Pax for a meeting with Optimus Prime regarding recent events. They were stopped by Sunstreaker and Whirl, who attempted to cite the relevant laws before being intimidated by Magnus. Sunstreaker soon reported that Ultra Magnus would be taken directly to Optimus, though he was only allowed a single member of his team to accompany him. The other Wreckers bristled at this news, but were stopped by Magnus, who accepted the terms and told Jazz to accompany him and suggested the others use Whirl as a guide to what the city had to offer.
Once in the throne room, Ultra Magnus attempted to convince a bored Prime of the danger now posed by both the Decepticons' new foothold in Gold City as well as Goldbug being off the grid with an awakened Titan under his control. Optimus, however, simply dismissed these concerns as unimportant, a response that prompted Jazz to claim that the only reason Optimus got this far was because of Ultra Magnus. Magnus then had to play damage control after Optimus struck Jazz, telling the warlord his men simply got restless from time to time.
Once dismissed from their audience, Ultra Magnus chastised Jazz over his outburst, telling him he needed patience. He went over Optimus's orders, which were simply for the Wreckers and his soldiers at large to take on Prowl, the Decepticons, AND Goldbug's Titan. Unimpressed by this plan, Ultra Magnus surmised decisive action would be needed, and gave his Wreckers the signal. He had his forces slaughter Optimus's palace guards while he went to confront the Prime himself, exposing his true face and derisively calling the warlord Orion once more. Optimus decried what he perceived as Ultra Magnus's arrogance as the two fought, claiming that he had given and allowed all that Magnus had come to call his own. This merely enraged Ultra Magnus, who proceeded to savagely beat Optimus and shatter his right arm as he declared himself the very source of Optimus's authority. Ready to finish the battle, Magnus shifted to his alternate mode as he declared it time to take back all of the victories HE had given the Autobot army, and plowed the retreating warlord into and through his own throne. Met by a defeated yet still defiant Optimus, Ultra Magnus simply stepped upon his chest as his Wreckers filed into their new headquarters. Shattered Glass II #1
Toys
Universe (2003)
- Ultra Magnus with Over-Run vs. Treadshot with Nightbeat (Battle in a Box, 2004)
- Ultra Magnus is a redeco of the Super-Con (aka Deluxe) version of Armada Optimus Prime, transforming into a long-nosed tractor-trailer cab of made-up model. Attaching a Mini-Con to the Powerlinx plug on his back activates a double-fisted "punching" gimmick. His smokestacks can be removed from his forearms, but don't really do anything if you do so, so why bother?
- Magnus was available only in a Universe "Battle in a Box" set with his Mini-Con partner Over-Run, and the Decepticon-allied pairing of Treadshot and his Mini-Con partner Nightbeat. The set was available only at "market six" stores like Kohl's, at the same time as the Smokescreen/Ransack set.
| Transformers: Armada mold: Optimus Prime (Super-Con) | ||
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Timelines
- Invasion (BotCon 2012 box set)
- Accessories: Terminus Blade
- Timelines Ultra Magnus is a redeco of Reveal the Shield Deluxe Class Optimus Prime, in the colors of Diaclone Powered Convoy (who was later redecoed into Generation 1 Ultra Magnus). He transforms into a racing truck, and features what appears to be the mold's second head, with a translucent skull-like face and blue eyes, seen previously only in the instructions. Like Prime, Magnus features a rub sign on his roof, and has a (non-detachable) matrix gimmick in robot mode formed by a relief pattern on the inside of the cab's side windows, which is visible through the windshield/chest in robot mode. He comes with a sword that he can wield with both hands, and the sword forms the hitch of the truck in vehicle mode.
- Ultra Magnus was released in a box set with Soundwave, Tracks, Treadshot, Gigatron, and Metalhawk. The original version of the mold was also redecoed into Shattered Glass Optimus Prime and Timelines Scourge.
| Transformers (2010) mold: Optimus Prime (Deluxe Class) | ||
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Shattered Glass Collection
- Ultra Magnus (Leader Class, 2022)
- Accessories: blaster, 2 missile launchers, 7 armor/car carrier pieces, Energon sword, Energon axe, Matrix of Leadership, alternate head
- Shattered Glass Collection Ultra Magnus is a retool of Kingdom Ultra Magnus, which was a retool of Siege Ultra Magnus, and can transform into a car carrier truck in 28 steps. He features a new skull head based on the original Shattered Glass character's design. The trailer transforms into armor and combines with the Voyager-sized inner robot to form the super robot mode. He also features several 3 mm posts (for blast effects) and 5 mm ports as part of the C.O.M.B.A.T. System.
- Ultra Magnus comes with the missile launchers and blaster from the original Kingdom release, as well as Legacy Laser Optimus Prime's Energon sword, Energon axe, and Matrix of Leadership, now mostly cast in translucent red plastic.
- Most unusually, the figure was triple-billed as three different characters, including a stock Kingdom Ultra Magnus head in Diaclone Powered Convoy colors to turn the figure into Delta Magnus, as well as a core cab robot decoed for use as Magna Convoy.[1] In a similar vein, the sword-axe-Matrix weapon combination resembles the Matrix Sword.
- Like the rest of the Shattered Glass Collection line, Ultra Magnus is exclusive to Hasbro Pulse in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. If purchased through Hasbro Pulse, the toy is shipped with the first issue of IDW Publishing's Shattered Glass II miniseries,[2] with an exclusive cover featuring spot UV.
| Siege mold: Ultra Magnus | ||
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Notes
- Ultra Magnus's appearance in 2008's Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #22, (within a "Mini Mayhem!"-style comic featuring a version of Shattered Magnus appeared in "From the Editor's Desk..." along with Rodimus and Eric Siebenaler.) he looks remarkably different from his later appearances. The inclusion of SG Ultra Magnus (with Powered Convoy colors) in this comic micro-continuity was in repayment of a favor from the author to Randy Para, who is often known online as "Powered Convoy".
- Years later when he got to receive a toy at BotCon 2012, his colors were originally those of his counterpart's e-Hobby Generation 2 toy, but concerns with having the same exclusive idea as someone else got to feature Powered Convoy's color back instead. [3]
- While his head was initially concieved for for a unrealized Nemesis Prime toy, the team doing Ultra Magnus choose to incorporate it in the resulting toy.[4]
- SG Ultra Magnus used to look like "Battle in a Box" Ultra Magnus. When the "Invasion" comic's creative team was asked if they were actually the same guy versus being a repurposing, the simultaneous answer was "Sure", "Yes", and "No". Somebody's a spoilsport. The Facebook edition of Ask Vector Prime would later clarify the "Battle in a Box" Ultra Magnus toy as primarily a version of Unicron Trilogy Ultra Magnus.
- In IDW Publishing's Shattered Glass #5, Ultra Magnus is drawn as a straight recoloring of Siege Leader Class Ultra Magnus. Evidently, plans for the Kingdom-styled Ultra Magnus toy in Shattered Glass Collection had not been finalized at the time of writing.
References
- ↑ April 14, 2022 Fan First Tuesday | BACK-TO-BACK Transformers & Power Rangers Livestream, with Isabella Weiss, Rachel Fleming, Mark Maher, and Takio Ejima.
- ↑ Hasbro Pulse Twitter: "Check out the first issue of the Shattered Glass #comicbook miniseries, “War of the Titan,” with an exclusive variant cover included with this figure!"
- ↑ https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1418254080452009991
- ↑ https://twitter.com/JesseWittenrich/status/1418254085858414592
