Dion (G1)
- Dion is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Dion is an earnest dock worker and best friend to Orion Pax. His is a simple life of manual labor, and he does not give a second thought to the stories that a war may be brewing around him. What does interest him are those new-fangled flying robots. Maybe someday he'll get to meet them…?
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon
- Voice actor: Corey Burton (English), Ken Shiroyama (Japanese)
Nine million years ago, near the end of Cybertron's Golden Age, it was Dion's job to haul energy and supplies in and out of the dock in which he worked. There were murmurs of attacks from new, flying robots, but he didn't believe those rumours.
Dion was honored to meet the leader of these enigmatic warriors, Megatron, until Megatron revealed his plan to rob their dock of its energon stockpiles and ordered the Decepticons to attack. Witnessing Megatron strike down Orion and Ariel, another friend and Orion's girlfriend, Dion ran (seemingly straight towards the attacking Decepticon warriors for reasons unclear), but was quickly mowed down by a shot in his chest.
The time-traveling Aerialbots carried Orion Pax to Alpha Trion for repairs, and Dion's friend was rebuilt into Optimus Prime. Drones were sent back to retrieve Ariel, but Dion's ultimate fate is uncertain. War Dawn
Timelines: Wings of Honor
 Spoiler warning: Plot details for Wings of Honor follow. of the next episode/issue in the series or 30 days after release, whichever is sooner |
In a similar but divergent timeline, Dion definitely survived Megatron's raid on storage yard 67, but just barely. Once repaired, and now fully knowledgeable of the extent of Megatron's evil, he signed up for the Elite Guard. He began working under Metalhawk, fighting Decepticons by any means necessary in the growing war.
Dion's new twin flame launchers utilize a "reverse-Higgs Mechanism" to "decouple energy from matter," which makes things very destructible. Though rebuilt, he can still modify his arms to accommodate the need to carry heavy objects, a skill he possessed as a dock worker. Unfortunately, his new shoulders kind of lock up, which restricts his arms' movement. Dion's profile in the Diamond-exclusive version of Wings of Honor
Who is Dion?
Orion Pax and Ariel were rebuilt into Optimus Prime and Elita One respectively, so many fans have speculated that Dion was also rebuilt into a familiar character. However, there are no hints within the episode itself, other than that Dion was Orion's best friend. Regardless, the fandom loves its patterns, and thus the most popular suggestions are Ironhide and Ultra Magnus.
Some think the debate is irrelevant, believing Dion most likely dead and inconsequential, and possibly a casualty that hit close to home in Optimus Prime's early years as Autobot leader. After all, no specific mention is made of him in the episode after he is shot, but Ariel is mentioned repeatedly.
The reason for this is that writer David Wise originally intended for both Ariel and Dion to die in order to add some weight to the episode. Upon reading the script for "War Dawn", colleagues of Wise made the connection between Ariel and Elita One (a character whom David Wise did not know of) as love interest of Orion Pax/Optimus Prime.[1] This saved Ariel's life in the final product, as it was an obvious idea to have her rebuilt into a soldier alongside Orion. Any similar connection for Dion was never made, though the resulting conclusion on his fate in the episode gets into the realm of authorial intent.[2]
Ironhide
Ironhide could easily be Optimus Prime's oldest friend, and so he would seem like a good fit.
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is a popular suggestion among the fans. One argument is that Magnus' cab, as toy and in the fiction of later continuities, turns into a white version of the original Optimus Prime body design. It would stand to reason that if Alpha Trion rebuilt both of them at roughly the same time, they would have similar designs. Within the cartoon though, the cab did not become a separate, Optimus Prime-like robot. Another argument is that Optimus calls Magnus "old friend" when he passes the Matrix of Leadership to him in the movie (but, really, Optimus calls everybody that).
To many, Ultra Magnus, being a large, powerful character with a Latinate name in a leadership role, seems a fitting completion to a potential triumvirate of Optimus Prime, Elita One, and Ultra Magnus as the first modern Autobots built by Alpha Trion.
On top of author David Wise's comments on not intending either Dion or Ariel to survive, several other writers for the Generation 1 cartoon have stated in interviews that they did not write any episodes with the upcoming movie and third season in mind, further nixing ideas that Dion was ever "meant" to become Magnus. Later, David Wise said he finds the thought of Dion having been rebuilt as Ultra Magnus rather humorous.[2]
In later years, various hints and references in subsequent Transformers stories have implied that Dion was Ultra Magnus.
- In the Robots in Disguise animated series, it's stated that Alpha Trion built both Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, a likely nod to the Generation 1 cartoon. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!
- In the Dreamwave comics continuity, Ultra Magnus leads Security Team Dion, another nod. New World Order
- In the IDW comics continuity a robot that is a hybrid of the "Orion Pax" and "Optronix" designs appears listening to Sentinel Prime's speech at the funeral of Bumper and Fastback. Standing with him are Elita One, Alpha Trion, and a white version of himself. This may be a reference to the proposed Orion-Ariel-Dion/Optimus-Elita-Magnus identifications. Megatron Origin issue 3
- In the Dreamwave More Than Meets The Eye reference books it is mentioned in Alpha Trion's profile that he shares a "special bond" with both Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime. This is possibly a hint that he rebuilt Ultra Magnus as well, given that his bond with Optimus began when he rebuilt him and as a result, Optimus looked up to him as a father figure.
However, because all of these easter eggs take place in different continuities from the Generation 1 cartoon series, they are not directly relevant.
Dion
The Timelines story "Wings of Honor" makes the wild assertion that Dion is ...Dion. Well played, Fun Publications, well played!
Toys
Generation 1
- Orion Pax (E-Hobby, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: 67
- Dion is an extensively-painted redeco of the Mini Vehicle Wheelie, transforming into a yellow and blue Cybertronic car. His windshield is cast in transparent plastic. He came packaged with Orion Pax and Barrelroller as part of an e-Hobby-exclusive multi-pack.
- More information on Dion at TFU.info
- Orion at TFU.info for the one sentence that makes up Dion's profile
Timelines
- Elite Guard Dion (Deluxe, 2010)
- Elite Guard Dion is a redeco of Universe Hot Shot in orange and blue, transforming from a sleek Audi TT-like hot rod sports car into a fully poseable robot. He comes with a redeco of the gang-molded Mini-Con Jolt, and Dion will be the Henkei! Henkei! version of the toy with the launchers and the retooled shoulders to accommodate them. He is free to all Transformers Collectors' Club members who join before the deadline in March 2010.
