Dark Energon
- Dark Energon is a form of energon from the Prime continuity family.
Dark Energon is a powerful, corrupted version of energon which can be used as a violent weapon and explosive. As energon is the emanation of Primus, from which all Transformer life and power is formed, Dark Energon is similarly the emanation of Unicron, released after his first battle with the Thirteen original Transformers. Even the smallest particle of Dark Energon can corrupt any amount of regular energon.
Effects
The violet-glowing Dark Energon supercharges any Transformer who ingests it, making them stronger, faster, more powerful...and more aggressive. It turns pain into pleasure, rendering any blows inflicted on a user futile. However, it also acts as a powerful narcotic, filling the user with thrilling, dark sensations and causing addiction. Dark Energon withdrawal turns the user into a raving brute desperate to do anything for more. If the craving is not satisfied, the user devolves to a beast-like state and eventually dies.
Those who imbibe Dark Energon have been seen to project it from their bodies for various destructive purposes, such as attacking enemies, overloading computers, and bringing machines under their control. When a user is killed, the energy acts like a sentient thing (a worrying aspect for a force originating from Unicron) and flies from their corpse to empower any other user nearby.
Pieces of Cybertron infected by Dark Energon tend to turn purple and explode upward into twisted, sharp spikes and growths of metal. Some Dark Energon wielders have even shown the ability to detonate a cluster of these spikes in order to produce a group of mechanical spider-like creatures, which swarm anything nearby.
A Cybertronian corpse injected with Dark Energon will reanimate itself as a feral zombie, intent on destroying all in its path. They are mostly mindless berserkers, but can be commanded by a living Cybertronian who has also been corrupted by the evil energy.
Fiction
Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron
The gathering and storage of Dark Energon aboard the newly constructed Trypticon was organized by an early assembly of the High Council that included Sentinel Prime. The station was guarded by Seekers who were mostly unaware of the nature of Dark Energon. During the civil war, Starscream claimed the station for the Decepticons, but of fear he did not let Megatron know about Trypticon's significance, and despite his allies' attempts they could not find much of the information about Trypticon on the DataNet had been censored (by Alpha Trion, who knew that knowledge of Dark Energon was dangerous).
During the last days of the war Soundwave found forgotten corners of the DataNet referring to "Sparks of Unicron". Megatron forgave Starscream, acknowledging his fears about Dark Energon's overly destructive use on the battlefield, and because the Air Commander had not tried to use it against him. Shockwave forced two of Starscream's scientists to ingest Dark Energon and the explosive result led to the Darkening of all of Megatron's soldiers. Megatron and Starscream both found the substance invigorating, but a deprivation study of the first two subjects showed they had become rabid, and Megatron vowed he would kill all his soldiers before he was deprived. The Darkened Decepticons attacked the remaining Autobot outposts on Cybertron, but to the Autobots' advantage, whenever a battle was prolonged, the Decepticons would have to flee or risk having the Dark Energon run out.
Soundwave learned of the Geosynchronous Energon Bridge, which could transport vast amounts of energon from Cybertron to Trypticon to be corrupted. Starscream activated it, but it proved futile in quenching the Decepticons' thirst. Soundwave recalled the Plasma energy Chamber within Teletraan-1 and the Code Keys required to activate it. The Chamber would enable Megatron to corrupt Cybertron's core and flood the planet with Dark Energon. During the ensuing battle with Omega Supreme for the Chamber, the more the Autobots killed the Decepticons, the more Dark Energon left their corpses to empower Megatron, who was able to knock Omega down and tear the Chamber from his chest.
After Megatron Darkened the core, Optimus Prime, Jazz and Prowl launched a rescue of Sentinel Prime in Kaon. They were met with little resistance, aside from two gibbering guards. Optimus recognized the Dark Energon had taken its toll on Decepticon competence. Afterwards, he, Bumblebee and Jetfire ventured to the core to rid it of the poisonous Chamber. The Dark Energon briefly tempted Jetfire to try some, while it distressed Bumblebee to the point he physically tore out the corruption spikes on the core, though it allowed Optimus to remove the Chamber. The core told Optimus the Autobots would have to leave Cybertron while it healed the planet, and gave him the Matrix of Leadership, which would one day act in concert with the core to restore their world. While leaving, Optimus chastised Megatron for turning his soldiers into addicts just to win the war. Starscream also vowed never to use the substance again. Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron
Prime cartoon
Dark Energon is a known material but is so rare it's practically non-existant. Darkness Rising, Part 3
When Megatron returned from deep space after three years away, he revealed he'd found a new way to win the war: Dark Energon, a substance rumoured to be the blood of Unicron and possessing the power to raise the dead. A test with the corpse of Cliffjumper proved it could indeed do this, turning the dead into berserker Terrorcons; it could also turn machinery into animalistic robots, and merely touching it could render a Transformer ill. Megatron, being Megatron, thought it'd be a jolly good idea to shove some into his own spark. Darkness Rising, Part 2 He survived and began to gibber and rant about the power and how it was like he could hear Unicron's thoughts...
Optimus Prime recognised what Dark Energon was, and Ratchet was stunned to learn that's what they were facing. They went to the site of an old Transformer battle, knowing Megatron would plan to raise the fallen as an undead army with the Dark Energon... but got there too late to stop the tyrant! Darkness Rising, Part 3 Megatron showed off by sending waves of Terrorcons to exhaust the two, and then revealed that was not his endgame. Discovering the Decepticons had built a space bridge, they realized Megatron intended to reawaken Cybertron's fallen soldiers, and send them to destroy Earth. Darkness Rising, Part 4 Megatron threw his store of Dark Energon crystals into the space bridge, but before the Terrorcons could cross the space bridge, the Autobots sabotaged it, causing it to collapse on itself, taking Megatron and the Terrorcons with it. Darkness Rising, Part 5
Luckily for Megatron, his Dark Energon infusion kept him alive until Starscream found him floating in space. Discovering the cause of his survival, Starscream ripped the Dark Energon crystal out and prepared to leave Megatron to die, only to have to take Megatron back to the ship when Soundwave's Deployer discovered them. Masters & Students
Games
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Dark Energon was discovered over ten thousand years ago. When the Cybertronian race learned of its powerful yet volatile nature, it was sealed away in an orbital space station and placed under the watchful eye of the Seekers, including the scientific Jetfire and the former Sky Commander, Starscream. At some point, experimentation on Dark Energon began, and a small quantity of the substance became unstable. The resulting explosion ripped apart an entire section of the space station; a level of destruction beyond any weapon known to the Cybertronians. The horrors of Dark Energon were noted by many, such as Jetfire, and it was deemed that it must remain sealed for the rest of time. This continued to be the case for centuries, causing the existence of Dark Energon to become a myth that few believed.
After learning the existence of this substance, Megatron took a fleet of cruisers to lay siege to the station, crashing his own ship into it to gain entrance. Once inside, he had to battle the forces of Starscream and Jetfire, both of whom attempted to dissuade him, claiming that Dark Energon was impossible to control. As Megatron drew closer to the storage chamber, Starscream attempted to destroy the last remnants of Dark Energon, but Megatron was able to breach the core before the Sky Commander could complete the destruction. When the dark substance was finally revealed, Megatron, believing himself to be worthy of such a weapon, confidently immersed himself in it.
Despite Starscream's insistence that Dark Energon destroyed everything it touched, the Decepticon leader managed to control it, emerging more powerful than ever. His first act was to infuse Brawl and Barricade with Dark Energon; claiming it was their birthright. His second act was to cut through the final defenses between himself and the Seekers in a matter of seconds, thanks to his new power. Seeing Dark Energon being tamed, Starscream offered his services to Megatron, claiming he knew of an Energon Bridge that could produce more of the substance. Seeing this as an act of betrayal, Jetfire escaped the station in order to inform Zeta Prime of this treachery.
Shortly after this, Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker travelled into the depths of Cybertron in order to reactivate the Energon Bridge. Facing many defenses and enemy Autobots, they managed to corrupt the central generator of the Energon Bridge. Fending off the intial infection, the core attempted to defend itself and purge the Seekers, but the evil planes quickly brought it down. This allowed the Energon Bridge to activate and beam its contents to the orbital station, allowing mass production of Dark Energon.
With mass quantities of Dark Energon in his possession, Megatron sought to corrupt the whole of Cybertron by infesting the Core itself. To do so, he needed the Omega Key in order to get past the Omega Gate that barred entry to the centre of the Transformer homeworld. Thus, he assaulted Iacon in order to claim it from the Stellar Galleries. However, Zeta Prime learnt of this and spirited the key to his Vaults. During his journey to claim the Key, Megatron used his personal store of Dark Energon to corrupt doorways that blocked his entry, and his army made use of bombers carrying payloads tainted with the stuff. By this time, the Autobots had developed defenses against the Dark Energon (including auto-purging turrets and doors resistant to the energy), but the Decepticons were able to cut through them in short order.
Megatron eventually claimed the Omega Key, but this simply activated Omega Supreme: the true key to the Core of Cybertron. During the battle with the giant Autobot, Megatron made liberal use of Dark Energon to corrupt the Guardian of Iacon: first by tainting the Energon batteries he used to repair himself, and then by blasting a huge beam of Dark Energon straight into his damaged chest. Using him to open the Omega Gate, the Decepticons placed Corruptors into position and infected the Core itself, spreading Dark Energon all across the planet.
The effects were immediate; Dark Energon crystals began sprouting all around the planet. Megatron made frequent announcements to the remaining Cybertronian population, urging them to accept the "gift" of Dark Energon. Cybertronian repair arrays attempted to contain the damage, but they could not slow down its effects; even the planet's natural cleansing organisms were incapable of stopping it. In fact, Dark Energon even corrupted one such beast, transforming it into a ghastly abomination that spread Dark Energon and fed on the corrupted Core.
Upon his appointment to the position of Prime, Optimus led the Autobots to free Omega Supreme from the Decepticons, curing him of his Dark Energon infection. Gaining entry past the Omega Gate, they went into the depths of Cybertron in order to reach the Core, where they aided the space slugs in clearing Dark Energon crystals and Decepticons alike. Eventually, they reached the Core and killed the corrupted slug, but the corruption had already taken its toll on the Core. In order to preserve itself, it had to enter into a hibernation mode that would last for millions of years, rendering the planet uninhabitable. Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers Prime: Terrorcon Defense
Notes
- Dark Energon shares several aspects of its nature with Angolmois, though no connection between the two has been established as yet.
