Straxus (G1)
| The name or term "Straxus" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Straxus (disambiguation). |
- Straxus is a Decepticon from the Marvel Comics portion of the Generation 1 continuity family. He is sometimes known as Darkmount.
A ruthless, fearmongering dictator, Lord High Governor Straxus is a threat to all under his rule—including his own inner circle. From his throne in Darkmount, there are none in Polyhex who do not feel his crushing influence. Straxus's word is law, unbound by reason or facts, and can and will change from thought to thought. Do not try to appeal to his sense of pity; he has none.
A brutal powerhouse, he is more than able to enforce his policies, usually with a deadly blow from his battle axe. So terrible is Straxus that even Megatron gives the dictator his space, allowing the small-minded tyrant to terrorize his corner of the globe. Megatron may have designs on the galaxy, but in Polyhex, Straxus rules.
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Generation 1
Following the assassination of the Decepticon warlord Trannis by the Autobot commando unit, the Wreckers, Straxus assumed his position as Decepticon leader on Cybertron. Cybertron: The Middle Years!
Straxus would oversee a horrifically brutal reign, having his men hunt down neutrals, Autobots, and the destitute so they could be melted down in smelting pools and their metal reused by the Decepticons. Even other Decepticons weren't safe from his brutality, with him battering his own Executive Officer Shrapnel when he was in a mood.
When a Decepticon transmission beamed from the planet Earth circa the Earth year 1985 reached Cybertron, Straxus immediately arranged for the capture of the scientist Spanner so that a space bridge between the worlds could be constructed. Attempting to locate Spanner, the Autobot spy Scrounge learned of this plot, but was captured by Shrapnel and brought before Straxus, who maliciously destroyed his unique recording-device arm before consigning him to death in the smelting pools. In turn, Blaster came searching for Scrounge (against orders), was captured and brought before Straxus, and sentenced to the pools. There he discovered the dying Scrounge, was given the information he had acquired, and escaped with the aid of his Autobot friends who had come looking for him (against orders). The Smelting Pool!
The space bridge was subsequently completed, but its earliest tests reduced Straxus to rage when a malfunction caused the death of Crosscut, and he sent another unfortunate to instant death in an attempt to figure out what had gone wrong. In an act of petty brutality, he threatened Shrapnel that he better sort the problem out soon because he was going to be sent to clear the rubbish off the Bridge! As the tests went on, an Autobot raiding party planted explosives within Darkmount, destroying it, and sending an enraged Straxus after their heads. With the bridge unattended, Blaster intended to destroy it, but was confronted by Straxus in a one-on-one duel. Crippling Blaster with his axe, Straxus was duped into accidentally severing the bridge's fuel line, destabilizing its teleporting arch, through which Blaster then kicked Straxus, destroying him. The Bridge to Nowhere!
However, while Straxus's body was reduced to ash, his head was salvaged and placed in a life-support pod that allowed him to continue on in his position as leader. The Harder They Die! Soon after, when Megatron arrived on Cybertron, Straxus immediately set in motion a scheme to restore himself to life, calmly following Megatron's directions to hunt down Optimus Prime, who had arrived on the planet with him. Under Fire! After Prime carried out several successful raids alongside the Wreckers, Megatron began to grow more and more unstable, and Straxus more and more impatient with his deranged houseguest. Despite the warnings of his technicians as to the "unpredictability" of the machinery involved, Straxus made the final step, activating a device that would exchange his and Megatron's minds, giving him a body once more. Megatron resisted the transfer, however, leaving the two minds within Megatron's body, fighting for dominance, each one in control at a different moment. The other Decepticons, in particular Ratbat, soon noticed their leader's problems and began to scheme about how to handle it. When in battle with Prime and Ultra Magnus, Megatron prepared to unleash his destructive anti-matter powers; in order to stop him, Ratbat activated the space bridge, teleporting the three Transformers back to Earth. Resurrection!
Before this could occur, having failed to oust Megatron's mind, Straxus activated his contingency plan, "Project Re-Birth," and his consciousness fled into a body he had specially prepared—a duplicate of Megatron created from a "hapless trooper", complete with a copy of his brain patterns, beneath which Straxus's personality lay dormant. Two Megatrons! Upon hearing of the true Megatron's seeming death aboard the space bridge a short time later, the project technicians activated the clone, sending it to the sewers beneath London where it came into conflict with a small group of Autobots, Action Force and Centurion. Straxus's mind had yet to take over the clone at this point, and it genuinely believed itself to be the true Megatron, but it was soon dealt with when an oil tank explosion sent it and Centurion tumbling into the Thames river. Ancient Relics!
Some time later, seeking a weapon to use against the deranged future Decepticon Galvatron, Shockwave recovered the Megatron clone, also believing it to be the genuine article, only to find that "Megatron"'s mind had retreated into itself. Shockwave subjected the clone to the psycho-probe, intending to force "Megatron" to face his fears—but instead, Straxus emerged, intending to fight Megatron's fears for him and finally take control of the body. Megatron fought back, however, ripping the mental image of Straxus to pieces and finally taking over their shared mind. Salvage!
This Megatron proceeded to battle Galvatron, and then sided with him to battle Autobots of the present and future in the "Time Wars". Faced with destruction on all sides, the Megatron clone opted instead to return to Cybertron, where he dethroned the decadent ruling Triumverate and took control of the Decepticons on the planet once more... ruling confident in the knowledge he'd become Galvatron, and this time he'd do things right! The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire
Soon, however, he began to suffer from nightmarish visions of the lives lived by both the trooper whose body became his, and of Straxus, just as the true Megatron—having recovered his memories after a period of wandering amensia in the Dead End—attacked his base. Mind Games The two Megatrons battled, with the true one revealed the clone's nature to him, and all at once, everything made sense to the clone. Along with this revelation, another immediately arose—Straxus's mental defeat was a sham, and he had been dwelling within the clone's mind all along, steadily growing in power as the clone weakened. Straxus made one final attempt to seize control of their mind, and the clone committed suicide, blowing his own head off with his fusion cannon, rather than allow Straxus to win. Two Megatrons!
It is possible that in the original un-altered pre-Time Wars timeline, the Straxus-Megatron clone may have been the Megatron transformed into Galvatron, but the shifting nature of the timelines makes this open to debate at best.
All very simple, isn't it?
Marvel UK future timelines
The Megatron clone went on to wage a Decepticon Civil War against Shockwave and Scorponok. Trigger-Happy! He appears to have then become Galvatron by 2006 and, by not fleeing to Earth's past, conquered Cybertron! Well, it seems to be him, it's very confusing. If it was him, he then got stepped on by Unicron in 2010. Aspects of Evil!
Generation 2
Jhiaxus referred to Straxus as one of the petty, small-minded dictators he left in charge of Cybertron when he left to start the Cybertronian Empire. War Without End!
Universe Classic Series toy bios
During Straxus's rule over Polyhex, he put a lowly, unknown warrior through an excruciating rebuilding process, tortuously reforging him into the very image of Optimus Prime. Through forcible data uploads and brainwashing, the Decepticon was imbued with memories and skills culled from many sources, giving him much of Optimus Prime's knowledge and combat algorithms. However, Straxus perished before he could complete this "Nemesis Prime", and his creation was left without a framework with which to process the mental injections. Straxus's legacy was this mad wraith haunting the back alleys of Cybertron, hunting down Autobots and Decepticons alike.[1]
IDW comics continuity
Straxus (not a "Lord")[2] was part of the crew of the first Ark, which left Cybertron long before Megatron's uprising. Spotlight: Cyclonus
Later, at the beginning of the war, as the Decepticon movement was just beginning to reveal its true menace, Straxus returned to Cybertron for some reason to work security at the Kaon Security Headquarters. When the Decepticon Starscream was brought to trial before an emergency session of the Kaon Council, the accused started a prisoner revolt. Megatron Origin
Millions of years later, Straxus had apparently returned to the Dead Universe. When Nightbeat was abducted on Gorlam Prime, Straxus implanted a device in his brain that would make him a sleeper agent for the Dead Universe crew.[3] Spotlight: Nightbeat
After Cyclonus secured the Nega-Core and activated its guardian, Straxus initiated the Expansion with Nemesis Prime and the rest of the Dead Universe crew. Spotlight: Cyclonus
Later, Straxus attacked Earth with Grindcore. His job was to bombard the surface in his jet mode and then operate an energon drill while Grindcore set up a space bridge. Spotlight: Doubledealer
Straxus and Grindcore soon had to defend this site when an Autobot team led by Fortress Maximus stormed it, trying to prevent the Expansion. Sideswipe ended up holding off both of them at the same time while the other Autobots slipped by. The Benzuli Expanse anomaly was soon sealed off, and unable to survive without their connection to the Dead Universe, both Straxus and Grindcore simply... ceased functioning. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Toys
Generations
- Darkmount (Deluxe, 2010)
- Accessories: Pick-axe/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers
- Part of wave 2 of Generations, Darkmount ("Straxus" was unavailable) transforms into a half-tracked self-propelled artillery inspired by the South African G6, as well as a tripod-mounted howitzer platform called a "battle station". In vehicle mode, the turret can rotate and the barrel can raise. In platform mode, handles are placed at the rear so smaller robots can man him. In robot mode, the cannon barrel becomes his trademark pick-axe weapon, while his smaller weapons (featuring a gimmick that originated from the Revenge of the Fallen "NEST Global Alliance" toyline) can clip onto various compatible rungs, bars and tubes sculpted onto the vehicle or robot. Despite his portly robot form, and his alternate half-track mode, his tech specs list his speed rank as 10.
- "M17" is written on his vehicle mode, referencing "Marvel #17", the comic issue in which Straxus first appeared. His head is designed with a light-piping feature but it is not utilized.
United
- Straxus (Deluxe, 12-25-2010)
- Japanese ID number: UN-10
- Accessories: Pick-axe/cannon, missile launcher, machine gun, smoke grenade launchers
- Darkmount was redecoed for inclusion in the first wave of TakaraTomy's United toyline, and even released under his original name. He now sports a new color scheme that replaces much of his grey plastic and all of his red plastic with more dark blue and new light-blue pieces, apparently shooting to emulate Straxus as he was colored in his second Marvel appearance, drawing particular inspiration from the cover of the issue. And he's got his dead, black eyes!
- Besides the black eyes, Straxus features additional paint on his face as well as his crotch plate and knee flaps.
Notes
- For some reason, Straxus's colors changed drastically between the two issues he was in for the US comic. Also, sometimes between panels.
- With that in mind, Darkmount's color scheme (with its red biceps and gold chest) is based on an amalgam of his appearances. Specifically, a unique color arrangement that appeared on the cover of the fan-publication "The Obscure Omnibus" that super-fan Monzo gave the Transformers team for reference.
- Not only was Straxus's color scheme unstable, but so was his weapon design. In his first issue, it looked like a pick-axe, but when Straxus battled Blaster in his second issue, it had evolved into a scythe.
- According to Hasbro copy writer Forest Lee, Straxus was mentioned in Comic-Con 2008 Nemesis Prime's bio entirely to make David Willis happy. Incidentally, Willis colored the cover to the fan publication mentioned in the second note, so he's probably on Cloud Nine right now.
