Ultra Magnus (G1)
| The name or term "Ultra Magnus" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ultra Magnus (disambiguation). |
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
- Ultra Magnus is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Ultra Magnus feels he is a soldier and nothing more. He very much prefers taking orders to giving them, and even avoids opportunities for higher responsibility. But when he is forced into those opportunities, he betrays his real talent for the job. He's strong, resolute, dependable, selfless, and courageous. Sadly, Ultra Magnus is the only Autobot who doesn't realize this.
Believing he is nothing but a soldier, Ultra Magnus is perfectly willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good if need be. He knows he's more powerful than the average Autobot, and will throw himself at larger threats accordingly. He is respected by both the Autobots and Decepticons, due to his courage and self-sacrifice. There is a special enmity between him and Galvatron for this reason, for Galvatron may be the most deadly foe of all. (Also, Galvatron, given his mental state, probably doesn't approve of people he's had blown up getting back up afterward. This can be seen as a sore point for Magnus, too.)
He is sometimes Optimus Prime's brother.
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Robert Stack (English, The Movie), Jack Angel (English); Show Hayami (Japanese), Akira Aizawa (Japanese, "The Rebirth"), Mario Desmarais (Canadian French), Jesús Barrero (Latin American)
"Me?"
"No, not you, the other guy."
Serving as commander of Autobot City, Ultra Magnus directed the Autobots’ counter-offensive when the city came under attack from Megatron and the Decepticons in the year 2005. After directing Springer and Arcee to transform the city into battle station mode, he and Blurr alerted the rest of the city’s occupants to the attack, but they were only able to hold the Decepticons off for so long. During the battle, Optimus Prime was mortally wounded, and, on his deathbed, passed the Matrix of Leadership on to Ultra Magnus. Despite his own misgivings, Magnus took possession of Matrix and became the new leader of the Autobots.
Magnus’s leadership did not get off to an easy start, when reports came in from the Autobots stationed on Cybertron’s moons of Unicron, a monster planet that was in the process of consuming them. Magnus quickly arranged for the Autobots to head to Cybertron aboard two shuttles, but as they were preparing to depart, they were attacked by Decepticon forces led by Galvatron, the upgraded form of Megatron. The Autobots fled into space and were pursued by Galvatron’s troops. In a last-ditch effort to lose the Decepticons, Magnus ordered an emergency seperation of the shuttle. After Galvatron destroyed the jettisoned portion of the vessel (and declared the Matrix destroyed), Magnus and his crew landed their craft on the Planet of Junk for repairs. Facing Galvatron solo, Magnus attempted to open the Matrix, but the talisman did not respond, and Magnus was blown to pieces by the Sweeps. Thankfully, Ultra Magnus was soon repaired by the native Junkions after they befriended the Autobots. Magnus joined the other Autobots in the battle with Unicron on Cybertron and helped drive the last of the Decepticons from their home planet. In the course of the final battle with Unicron, the young Autobot Hot Rod opened the Matrix to destroy the planet-eater, becoming Rodimus Prime. The Transformers: The Movie Rodimus subsequently took over as Autobot leader from Magnus, and Magnus returned to his much more comfortable role of soldier, operating as Rodimus' second-in-command, regularly giving advice to the inexperienced new leader and trying to draw him out from under the shadow of Optimus Prime.
"Oh, fine, I'll deal with you, Dirge."
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
When the Quintessons attacked the first Galactic Olympics, Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike Witwicky were kidnapped and taken to Quintessa, where they were found guilty in one of the Quintessons’ twisted trials. Dropped into the Sharkticon pit, they were quickly rescued by their fellow Autobots, but the whole team was then set adrift in space when the Quintessons blew up their planet in an attempt to destroy the Autobots. They eventually made it back to Cybertron, only for their homeworld itself to come under attack by a united Quintesson-Decepticon alliance. Ultra Magnus held off the attackers long enough for Rodimus and the others to make it to cover, dispatching Ramjet and Dirge before being faced with Galvatron, who took a few shots at him before deciding he had more important things to deal with. When the Quintessons betrayed Galvatron in order to achieve their true goals, he turned on the aliens, and the invasion of Cybertron was repelled. Five Faces of Darkness
One evening, Ultra Magnus was contemplating the stars when the Quintessons impersonated Sky Lynx in order to abduct him. Having recently renewed contact with their ancient creations, the Quintesson scientists intended to test the Transformers. To that end, Ultra Magnus was forced into a Danger Room scenario, battling a hard-light illusion of Rodimus Prime. He was soon introduced to the other test subjects, Cyclonus, Wreck-Gar and Marissa Faireborn. Ultra Magnus overloaded the electron bars of their cells with his own body, freeing the captives. A chaotic melee erupted, and Ultra Magnus and Cyclonus began grappling for the right to bring the Quintesson ship to their respective leader, but before the issue could be resolved the craft began plummeting into a black hole. During a fight for the last escape pod, Magnus was drawn out into space. Astonishingly, it was Cyclonus who saved Ultra Magnus from the void, for it would have been dishonorable to allow such a proud warrior to die than the battle field. Unfortunately, this only delayed the inevitable, as the ship ultimately plunged into the black hole and emerged on the other side in a negative universe. Only by working together were they able to return through the white hole to their own universe. Magnus and Cyclonus acknowledged their mutual, grudging respect for each other as warriors, but vowed that when they met again, it would be as enemies. The Killing Jar
Later, Ultra Magnus was on a pleasure flight with Rodimus, Kup, Arcee and the Witwickys when a Decepticon attack forced them to land the ship's lifepod on a remote Autobot funeral barge, launched into space at the end of the war with the deactivated bodies of lost Autobot warriors. The tomb of Optimus Prime was empty, but Optimus Prime himself was miraculously alive. It soon became clear, however, that Prime was not in his right mind, as he fired on Magnus and the others, leaving them to die as the barge began plummeting into a sun. They managed to escape, but barely – the makeshift repairs to their ship led to a crashlanding back on Cybertron. Ultra Magnus and the others soon learned that Optimus Prime had mobilized the entire Autobot fleet to go after the Quintessons and "avenge" their deaths. They caught up to Prime's fleet, and against Prime's orders, Magnus and friends were brought on board. The Quintesson ploy was uncovered, and Optimus Prime regained his senses long enough to spring their trap away from the other Autobots, allowing Magnus and the others to flee to safety. Dark Awakening
After a lost Autobot named Sandstorm arrived on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus and the others learned of a Transformer colony world named Paradron on the other side of a vortex. Its pacifistic people had recently come under Decepticon attack after Scourge and Cyclonus accidentally discovered the planet. Working with Rodimus, Ultra Magnus assembled an Autobot strike force to liberate the Paradronians and prevent the Decepticons from acquiring the world's vast energon supply. Ultra Magnus took charge of the second mission with back-up from Blurr and Wheelie, but they ran into heavy resistance fire. This forced them to go to Plan 'B' – blow up the planet's energon core, and the entire planet with it. The Constructicons attempted to stop Magnus and Sandstorm from reaching the core with a seek-and-destroy missile, but Ultra Magnus simply grabbed the missile out of mid-air and threw it back at their attackers. Inside the core, Ultra Magnus took a moment to explore his sensitive side.
| “ | I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy. All right, give me the bomb. | ” |
After setting the charges, Ultra Magnus informed Sandstorm that they had only five minutes to evacuate the planet. They breezed by Galvatron on their way out and evacuated to a nearby moon to observe the destruction. With the total annihilation of their planet, Rodimus and Ultra Magnus offered Sandstorm and the Paradronians a home back on Cybertron. Fight or Flee
One night, while observing the security monitors, Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime and Kup were greeted with the startling sight of Cyclonus and the Sweeps flying away from Cybertron with the former Decepticon Octane in tow. Since Octane had become an independent contractor working with the Autobots, Magnus and the others flew out with the Aerialbots to intercept the Decepticon raiding party. They forced the enemy back down to the surface, but let them go after Octane and his secret partner "Cyclonus" let them in on a double-cross. Cyclonus was actually possessed by Starscream's ghost and, after returning to Charr, they manipulated Galvatron into travelling to Cybertron alone, where he was ambushed and nearly captured by Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and the other Autobots. Starscream's Ghost
Ultra Magnus and the other Autobots took a relaxing break from preparations for the first Cybertronian peace conference to prepare a surprise birthday party for their human friend, Daniel Witwicky. The party was interrupted, however, when the Combaticons staged an assault on the Autobot shuttle bay, hoping to destroy the craft being prepped for the conference's delegates. During the battle, Wheelie took a glancing blow from Vortex and was left shaken and disoriented right smack in the middle of the firefight. With no regard to his own safety, Magnus rushed out into the line of fire and took several hits to the back from Brawl while shielding the fallen Wheelie with his own body. The Combaticons were driven off, but not before they did some damage to the shuttles. In the aftermath, Ultra Magnus insisted First Aid attend to the shuttle first before working on Magnus's own injuries. His demonstrations of bravery and self-sacrifice gave Daniel and Wheelie the idea of planning a surprise party for Ultra Magnus on HIS birthday. Their only question was WHEN exactly the date was. Their search for answers led to the Autobot Records Asteroid... and trouble. They were taken hostage by Cyclonus and the Decepticons, who set the asteroid on a collision course with the peace conference. Daniel and Wheelie served as living shields to prevent the Autobot defense from blasting the asteroid out of the sky. Instead, Ultra Magnus enlisted Sky Lynx for a raid on the space rock to rescue their friends. They sent the Sweeps packing, and Ultra Magnus went after Cyclonus personally to reprogram the asteroid's flight path. With the Decepticon distracted, Wheelie triggered the self-destruct sequence and the Autobots made it to safety, saving the peace conference. Afterwards, Wheelie and Daniel explained what they had been doing, and the incredulous Ultra Magnus remarked that even he didn't know when his birthday was (apparently the Quintessons had never heard of the Gregorian calendar. Go figure). Surprise Party
During an ambassador reception on Cybertron, Daniel Witwicky went missing and couldn't be found. Rodimus assigned Ultra Magnus, Blaster and the cassettes to look for him. Steeljaw's tracking senses helped unearth a lost Quintesson chamber where Daniel and Grimlock had gone. Magnus and the others soon worked out that their missing friends had accidentally travelled to the dimension of Menonia, thanks to an old Quintesson method of banishing criminals to other universes. While in Menonia, Ultra Magnus and the Autobots helped the local "Dragon of the Sun", the Golden One, fight off his treacherous pupil, the exiled Quintesson known as Mara-Al-Utha. After restoring his kingdom to him, the Autobots were aided in returning to Cybertron by the Golden One. Madman's Paradise
When Galvatron and the Constructicons attempted to turn a moon-sized comet into a guided missile to destroy Metroplex, Ultra Magnus led a team of Autobots to intercept and stop their plans. This team consisted of Blaster, Perceptor, Broadside, Hot Spot and maybe Grimlock. And maybe Superion. At some times Defensor. Also, several guys who looked disturbingly like Bonecrusher and the corpses of Huffer and Brawn. All of whom could change size at will. Anyway, Ultra Magnus confronted Galvatron, who attempted to turn into cannon mode and blast the Autobot. Unfortunately, his character model sheet was drawn pointing off to the right, leaving him unable to turn and fire before Magnus jumped him. Still, Galvatron somehow managed to grapple and wrestle with Ultra Magnus in cannon mode, despite having no noticeable moving parts of any kind. An explosion at the artificial engines the Constructicons had been installing sent the comet hurtling towards a nearby world called Eurythma. Before it could strike, it was destroyed by an extraordinarily powerful sonic discharge, a harmony produced by the musical Renaissance elf people who lived on Eurhythma. The mere backlash of the harmony was enough to knock all the Transformers out of space and down to the planet's surface. When Galvatron and Soundwave went after the source of the harmony, Ultra Magnus grabbed Blaster and Broadside to help stop him. Lucky he did, because Blaster was the only one who could understand the harmonic speech of the Eurhythmians. Although he did do some ad-libbing... and sometimes Ultra Magnus explained things in Blaster's voice. ANYWAY, Galvatron and Soundwave managed to assemble the three parts of the harmony, and left for Earth to attack Metroplex with it. To counteract their harmonic weapon, Ultra Magnus brought along the Eurhythmian leaders to sing in anti-sound and cancel out the harmony. Yes, they sang anti-sound. Then, Blaster successfully grabbed Soundwave's crotch, erasing his tapes of the harmony. The moral of this story is... the best way to win the day is through sexual assault and violating the laws of physics. Carnage in C-Minor
Ultra Magnus, Springer and Rodimus were exploring an electromagnetic anomaly in a remote part of Cybertron when the Predacons staged an attack on the Autobots. Their fight with Predaking was interrupted by a Quintesson experiment that turned the nightmares of Daniel Witwicky into substance, solid enough to do serious damage to the Transformers. The Autobots and Decepticons were forced into an alliance to try and escape the strange and ever-changing landscape. Ultra Magnus and Divebomb were almost eaten by a giant, and they were all assaulted by a many-headed hydra. The Autobots eventually located Danny and freed him from the Quintessons' machines. Nightmare Planet
After Scourge and the ghost of Starscream stole Metroplex's eyes and blew up his brain, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime put Cybertron on full alert in case a follow-up attack occurred. They eventually managed to suss out that the Decepticon duo were working for Unicron, after they noticed the Chaos-Bringer had his eyes back. Magnus assembled a small strike team of Springer, Hot Spot and Groove aboard Sky Lynx to investigate the artifical "moon". The spy mission didn't go too well, however, as the repair work on Unicron had proceeded farther than they had expected: the Dark God expelled them from his head using a blast of electrical fire. Scourge soon alerted the Autobots to Unicron's plan after finding out the entity wanted Cybertron for his new body. Ultra Magnus and his strike team were prepared when Unicron's head touched down on Cybertron to make the connections, and set of a series of energon explosives at the base of Unicron, launching him back into orbit and without any new body to call his own. Ghost in the Machine
One day on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus was jovially describing the ongoing construction work on the new hyper generator to Rodimus Prime...up until the point when he realized Rodimus wasn't listening to a word of it. After giving Rodimus a passionate speech about the mantle of leadership, Magnus was offered a good deal on a slightly used mantle. Luckily for Rodimus, a crisis soon broke out on the Planet of Junk. Ultra Magnus and Rodimus took several soldiers with them aboard Omega Supreme to observe what was happening with the Junkions first hand. They were shot down en route by Cyclonus and the Sweeps, but Ultra Magnus managed to repair the damage to Omega and they continued on to Junk. Chaos raged in the skies over the Junkion homeworld, due to a hypnotic signal arranged by the Quintessons which was stimulating xenophobia and hyper-aggression in all who were exposed to it. Magnus and Blaster located the source of the signal, and then used Blaster's tapedeck mode to broadcast a disruption signal to counter the Quintesson transmissions. The Big Broadcast of 2006
During the peace conferences between Xetaxxis and Lanarq, Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime and Spike Witwicky did their best to keep the two warring factions from tearing each other apart. Luckily for the Autobots, the two alien species were too busy hating each other to point out how unbelievably hypocritical it was for Cybertronians to be chiding them over centuries of warfare. Whose planet is occasionally blasted out of its own orbit by war, huh Transformer? The Quintesson Journal
After unveiling a new power core on Cybertron, Ultra Magnus caught Galvatron and the Decepticons sneaking into an old utility tunnel. He and a squad of Autobots followed after them, only for both groups of Transformers to get caught in a battle with the Quintessons' old creations, the Trans-Organics. These bio-mechanical creatures were dangerous enough individually, but the enormous Dweller was a threat to them all. It not only drained the power of any Transformer it touched, but also transformed them into energy vampires as well. Ultra Magnus was nearly drained of all his power several times by the creatures but was saved by his fellow Autobots. Eventually, Perceptor conceived of a power surge method which restored the vampiric Transformers to full functioning, and the Dweller was disposed of by launching it and the power core deep into space. The Dweller in the Depths
The Autobots were helping The City of The Future deal with a crime wave, when they received a hot tip on where to find Victor Drath, resident crimelord. Ultra Magnus, Rodimus, Springer and Arcee raced to Drath's mansion... and straight into a trap. Some impressive technology assembled by Drath's associate Old Snake robbed the four Autobots of their robot bodies and displaced them into synthoid human forms. Ultra Magnus found himself sporting some very distinguished gray temples, like Reed Richards or Hal Jordan. Luckily, the Autobots each found a jumpsuit nearby, perfectly matching their robot color schemes. Tragically, Magnus apparently ignored the matching hat that came with his outfit. Very Untouchables. Only Human
On an isodrite survey mission with Sky Lynx and the other Autobots, Ultra Magnus was attacked by an overly manic Galvatron and his soldiers. His frenzied state made Galvatron just as dangerous to his own men as the Autobots — he even batted away a Sweep who attempted to help him against Ultra Magnus. With the Decepticons so disorganized, Ultra Magnus was easily able to lead the Autobots in routing their opponents and making a clean getaway with the isodrite. Webworld
When Rodimus Prime was feeling down about his leadership skills, Ultra Magnus was forced to come up with an upbeat, cheery encouragement speech in the middle of a smouldering war zone. Tough job. The Ultimate Weapon
After plummeting through a Quintesson quadrant lock, Ultra Magnus landed hard on the planet Zamojin with Rodimus Prime, Blurr and Perceptor. The planet's remarkably high density made the simple, club-wielding natives far more of a threat than they ought to have been. The Face of the Nijika
Ultra Magnus officiated the unveiling of the Autobots' latest power generator on Cybertron, but, like many of their previous attempts at new energy sources, it was fraught with complications from the start. First, Grimlock nearly blew the entire system by throwing the wrong levers at the opening ceremony. Not long thereafter, Decepticon agents planted anti-electrons in the power generator, causing it to trigger malfunctions in all the Autobots. Magnus and a small group of Autobots had to travel deep underground to disable the power generator's dangerous broadcasting. Grimlock's New Brain
On a barren moon, Ultra Magnus was engaged in trench warfare with the Decepticons alongside Rodimus Prime, Springer and Blaster when their Primitive comrades began acting funny. Sky Lynx, the Dinobots, and other bestial Transformers on both sides suddenly abandoned the battlefield, answering a siren call only they could hear. Only moments later, the energy creature known as Tornedron struck the moon, draining away all of Ultra Magnus's energy and leaving all the Transformers lifeless and inactive. Only through the actions of Grimlock and the Primitives were they eventually reactivated. Call of the Primitives
In Japan, Ultra Magnus was present when Hot Rod first recovered after losing the Matrix of Leadership to the Stunticons. For once (hah!), his destiny and honor speech did little to sway the "chosen one", who raced off on his own, glad to be free of the burden of responsibility. Roddy had to learn this lesson for himself. The Burden Hardest to Bear
When the Hate Plague swept the universe, Ultra Magnus was one of the first infected and was transformed into a raving maniac with a fixation on exterminating Rodimus Prime. Magnus pursued Rodimus through Autobot City, but was subdued by Wreck-Gar, only to wind up infecting the Junkion, who in turn infected Rodimus. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 Magnus and the rest of the universe were cured of the plague by the resurrected Optimus Prime. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2
In 2007, Ultra Magnus helped defend Autobot City from a massive Decepticon assault, which was actually a diversion for the theft of the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber. Subsequently, Magnus accompanied Optimus Prime on a shuttle to Cybertron. After Prime got the answers he needed from Vector Sigma, he decided to go to Nebulos and left Ultra Magnus in charge of Cybertron. The Rebirth, Part 1 Magnus's tenure didn't go very well, as the selfsame massive Decepticon assault force was attacking the planet. Nonetheless, he and the Protectobots struck at Galvatron, and might well have done him in if Scorponok's reinforcements hadn't arrived. Magnus then ignominiously had his power pack torn out and slowly began to die from lack of energon. Still, he was able to relay Galvatron's crazed scheme to Optimus Prime and the Autobot Headmasters before blacking out.
When Ultra Magnus next awoke, the Golden Age of Cybertron had come anew, and the Decepticons were seemingly defeated once and for all. The Rebirth, Part 3
Japanese cartoon continuity
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic
Ultra Magnus arrived on Earth at some point in the late 1980s, bringing with him a collection of new technological advancements. Magnus came up with the idea of the global underground transport system, the Autobot Road, and was appointed commander of the Autobots' new Scramble City project to create a new mobile battle fortress. He made his first actual appearance in the middle of battle to deliver Optimus Prime his freshly-upgraded trailer, now equipped with the "Scramble Power Buster" cannon. After using the weapon on the Decepticons, Prime and Magnus teamed up to defeat them with their "Double Cross Kick" attack. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #4
At one point, the Stunticons began a smear campaign against the Autobots by disguising themselves as their foes, destroying human cities and leaving behind signed Autobot calling cards. One such card was signed by Ultra Magnus (a forgery, of course). Magnus joined the Autobots in proving their good name, although he and Prime seemed helpeless before the combined might of Onslaught and Motormaster's "Decepticon Great Wheel" attack. With a little help from Kenji, Hot Spot and Inferno, however, they were able to get the upper hand in the battle, and then promptly kicked the villains out to sea with their "Prime-Magnus Finish Double" technique, which was not at all identical to their "Double Cross Kick". Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7
Scramble City: Mobilization
- Voice actor: Banjō Ginga
The Autobots' Scramble City project continued under Magnus’ direction, concealed within a cavern base. Unfortunately, Decepticon spy Ratbat was able to penetrate the cavern and learn of the project, leading to a battle between combiners from both factions as the Decepticons attempted to destroy the project. During the battle, Scramble City was completed and Magnus ordered it into battle, successfully winning the day. Scramble City: Mobilization
Story of Binaltech
While Optimus Prime was fighting the Decepticons on Cybertron in the early days of the 21st century, Magnus was charged with the protection of the Earth, leading to the construction of the full-fledged Autobot City Story of Binaltech, Chapter 1 and coordinating supply runs to Cybertron. Reality Check
After the time-travelling Ravage altered history by shunting the Decepticons out of time, the Autobots were left to face the threat of Unicron alone in 2005.Changing Lanes Magnus left Earth to join Prime in battling the chaos-bringer, before which he dispatched Skids into the past to restore the timeline.Darkest Hour
While battling Unicron, Optimus Prime was badly damaged and, fearing his own death, passed the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus. Shedding his armor, Magnus ventured inside of Unicron's body and petitioned the Matrix: he knew he was not the Chosen One, but if the Matrix did not allow him to wield its power now, Unicron would destroy them all. The Matrix responded to his pleas, and its power was unleashed, destroying the chaos-bringer. The dimension-hopper Overdrive then revealed that, thanks to Skids's efforts, the Autobots were all now in an alternate splinter timeline from the "correct" timeline (known as the "BT World timeline"); in the "correct" timeline, it was Hot Rod who received the Matrix and used it to defeat Unicron. Hot Rod said he liked the sound of that, while Magnus sternly told him not to get any ideas. Any revelry the Autobots might have indulged in at that point was cut short, however, as the the Decepticon forces returned from their time-shunt. Binal Time
The fighting-fit Decepticons took control of Cybertron once more, but were subsequently defeated by the Autobots through the activation of the Quintesson killswitch. Kill Switch Several months after this victory, Ultra Magnus was stationed at Autobot City, when a time/space-hopping Bluestreak arrived from the "correct" timeline to help save the fading spark of Prowl. Unfinished Business, Part 1
Shortly following the fiasco involving the Timaeus Project, Magnus was part of a team led by Optimus Prime into battle in Australia to stop the Decepticons' new leader Nemesis Prime from creating a synthetic Matrix. When victory was won, Magnus joined the Autobots in rolling out into the sunset.Unfinished Business, Part 4
Kiss Players
When Rodimus Prime defeated Galvatron within Unicron in the year 2005, he hurled the Decepticon leader into space, only for him to wind up crashing into Earth, devastating Tokyo. Consumed by guilt, Rodimus returned the Matrix to Ultra Magnus. A Big Catch Tonight?!
For a year, Transformer/human relations were so badly damaged by the Tokyo incident that Cybertronians were entirely forced off of Earth by the Earth Defense Command. Thanks to the efforts of Hot Rod, a briefly-resurrected Optimus Prime and three human Kiss Players, the corruption at the heart of the EDC was exposed, and the anti-electron field keeping Transformers off of Earth was deactivated. The Autobots returned to the planet, and as his first initiative to try and improve human/Transformer public relations in this time of tentative stability, Ultra Magnus arranged the formation of a singing group made up of members of both species to tour the planet and promote good will and mutual understanding. With the help of Blaster as the group's producer, the "Kiss Players" were born. Kiss Players Position #39 When the human members of the group disappeared during their performance at Brave Maximus, Sparkbots Volume 1 the three cassettes that made up the rest of the group returned to Metroplex to inform Magnus of the strange turn of events. Sparkbots Volume 2
Magnus continued to serve as Autobot leader over the next three years, until Hot Rod reclaimed the Matrix and resumed his post in 2010.
The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms comic
Ultra Magnus continued to serve as Autobot City Commander, at one point welcoming a group of school children on a field trip to visit the city. When the Autobot City was attacked by Galvatron and Trypticon, Ultra Magnus commanded Metroplex to fight off the fiend. Magnus's commands weren't achieving any results until Six-Gun came along and saved the day. The Transformers #3
The Great Transformer War comic
After the resurrection of Optimus Prime, Magnus continued in his duties on Earth, commanding Metroplex in battle against Trypticon. The Great Transformer War #3
The Headmasters cartoon
- Voice actor: Yoshitada Ōtsuka
By the year 2011, Magnus had taken over full-time command of Autobot City on Earth. A major Decepticon attack in the immediate vicinity of the city led Magnus to take all this troops into action, unaware that the battle was being staged as a distraction to keep the Earth-bound Autobots from reinforcing their fellows on Cybertron, which had simultaneously come under attack by Galvatron and his new Headmaster warriors. During the battle, Ultra Magnus first crossed swords with his new opposite number: Sixshot, the Decepticons' Ninja Commander, and head of their own Earth-based forces. The pair displayed their fighting styles for each other (Magnus's, apparently, was to shoot the ground around his enemy's feet, rather than the enemy themselves—great tactics, there, Magnus) and began grappling, until Metroplex and the Trainbots arrived to disrupt the battle, allowing some of the Autobots to make it back to the city and on through the space bridge to the battle on Cybertron. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky
After the Decepticons had been routed, Ultra Magnus helped co-ordinate the search on Earth for the missing Matrix of Leadership, which was required to bring the unstable Vector Sigma under control. The Mystery of Planet Master While Hot Rod and the newly-arrived Autobot Headmasters took the lead in the search, Magnus set up teams to run interference, keeping the Decepticons off their back. Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
Observing Trypticon apparently moving on an oil refinery, Ultra Magnus and Jazz directed Metroplex into action to stop him. They soon discovered that they had been lured into a trap when the Decepticons' newest weapon, the Madmachine, paralyzed Metroplex with an electromagnetic attack. The Great Cassette Operation Magnus also witnessed the first attack of the next new Decepticon device, the metal-warping meteorite Metamorpho, when it distorted a survey vessel he was in the process of receiving a report from. Approach of the Demon Meteorite
Receiving word from one of the Autobots' Earth outposts about a new energy discovery, Rodimus Prime came to Earth to learn more. Ultra Magnus was puzzled by his arrival, having heard no such news, and the pair headed out to investigate, only to discover that the entire staff of the outpost had been massacred. The report had been a Decepticon distraction, to keep Rodimus and Magnus occupied while the Decepticon Headmasters sprang a trap for their Autobot counterparts on the planet Praum. Magnus remained on Earth while Rodimus headed off to aid their comrades. The Four-Million-Year-Old Veil of Mystery Soon after, Magnus informed the Autobots on Athenia of a mysterious blackmailer who was extorting energy from Earth, Terror! The Six Shadows the eruption of a volcano The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts and the attack of a carnivorous plant. Head On!! Fortress Maximus
When a team of Autobots discovered a Decepticon operation on Mars, Ultra Magnus ordered the Technobots to head for the red planet and back them up. Trypticon appeared to stop the high-tech heroes from going far, so Magnus ordered Metroplex to step in a help. Unfortunately, Sixshot then added his firepower to the fight, and Magnus's troops were unable to break away. Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger The Decepticons subsequently retreated from Mars, and Ultra Magnus sent Twincast to snoop around the Decepticons' Earth base to see if he could find out why. He did not expect the answer to be that they had all left to watch the creation of a gigantic new Transtector for the Decepticon Headmaster leader, Scorponok! Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears
Upon receiving a request for energy aid from the otherdimensional planet Sandra, the Autobots on Athenia had Ultra Magnus arrange for the transport of some of Earth's energon cube stockpile. A Decepticon attack prevented the Trainbots from taking off with the energon, so after he got done body-slamming Galvatron, Magnus informed Athenia of the raid, and they decided to send a portion of their own stockpiles instead while the Decepticons were occupied. SOS from Planet Sandra
After the Decepticons had spent a prolonged period of time in space attacking other planets, they returned to Earth with even greater plans for the planet – Galvatron intended to incorporate it into his system, and Sixshot dedicated himself to wiping out the Autobot resistance. Unwilling to burden the already-occupied Autobot commander Fortress with this news, Ultra Magnus co-ordinated the response on his own, but soon came under direct attack from Sixshot himself. Struggling against the Six Changer, he was convinced by the Trainbots to inform Fortress, but before any reinforcements could arrive, Sixshot used his secret seventh "Wingwolf" mode to deliver the killing blow to Ultra Magnus, ending the City Commander’s life.
After the furious Headmasters sent the Decepticons fleeing, Metroplex requested that, rather than be fired into space, Magnus’ body be buried on the Earth he had loved so much. In accordance with these wishes, Magnus’ body was loaded into a funeral bier and then submerged in a cave on the Japanese coastline. Ultra Magnus Dies!!
E-Hobby comics
As he had briefly held the Matrix, Ultra Magnus joined the ranks of the other Autobot leaders whose sparks retained their individuality within the Allspark, but he remained restless knowing that he didn’t belong. Using the cosmic awareness that accompanies joining the Matrix to observe the mortal realm, Ultra Magnus learned, by chance, of the threat posed to the galaxy by Galvatron II and his massive Mobile Battle Fortress. Determined to set things right, Magnus contacted Optimus Prime via their shared link to the Matrix, and resurrected himself in a similar body using Prime’s Reconfiguration Matrix.
In this new form Ultra Magnus became able to switch between various body types (including his original) at will, similar to Optimus Prime, thanks to his contact with the Reconfiguration Matrix. In addition, he became able to tap into his laser core to power his blaster and sword.[1]
Ultra Magnus immediately set out to counter Galvatron II’s invasion and started raising forces of his own. On at least one occasion Ultra Magnus was so thoroughly trounced by Galvatron and his endless puns that he required saving by Optimus Prime in his new Black body.Hybrid Style Convoy Black Version
Later, still with his mouthplate removed from his skirmish with Galvatron II, Magnus stood behind Bumblebee with the rest of the Autobots as Optimus Prime told them of an attack on a Carbombian cargo ship by a mysterious sea creature. MP-1B Cybertron Commander / Convoy Black Ver.
Ladybird books continuity
Following the mysterious disappearance of Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus travelled to Earth from Cybertron to take over leadership of the Autobots. Under his leadership, the Autobots established Metroplex as a city to live in, and yet were still able to keep their existence a secret from humanity at large. Nice work, Magnus!
With the Autoots' supply of cybernite running low, Ultra Magnus organized a salvage operation to potentially recover a supply of the material from wreckage strewn about an old battlefield that Kup would lead them to. Magnus's concerns grew when the Decepticons attacked the salvage team, apparently having known of their movements in advance, and the Autobots soon deduced that the villains had a network of spy satellites in orbit, watching them. Following Kup's advice, Magnus had Huffer and Wheeljack build a power generator that beamed false messages to the satellites, tricking them into colliding with each other and exploding. Magnus congratulated the Autobots on their team effort, declaring that teamwork was the only way to ultimately triumph over the Decepticons. Galvatron's Air Attack
When a small Decepticon attack force was able to penetrate Metroplex's security perimeter, Ultra Magnus had Bumblebee follow them upon their retreat in hopes of learning how the breach occurred. Bumblebee discovered that the Decepticons had been able to progressively sneak through the Autobots' spy screen and set up a base within a nearby industrial estate. Magnus led the Autobots in an attack on the Decepticon hideout, during which he faced off with Galvatron himself. Magnus stumbled and fell before the Decepticon leader, but Spike Witwicky saved him by downing Galvatron with a wrecking ball. Decepticon Hideout
Marvel Comics US continuity
In an alternate 2005, Ultra Magnus served as commander of Autobot City and directed the Autobots’ counter-offensive when the city came under attack from Megatron and the Decepticons. He directed Springer and Arcee to transform the city into battle station mode, and after a strenuous battle, Optimus Prime was mortally wounded. On his deathbed, Optimus passed the Autobot Leadership Matrix on to Ultra Magnus. Despite his own misgivings, Magnus took possession of Matrix and became the new leader of the Autobots. The Planet-Eater!
Magnus’s leadership did not get off to an easy start, when reports came in from the Autobots stationed on Cybertron’s moons of Unicron, a monster planet that was in the process of consuming them. Magnus quickly arranged for the Autobots to head to Cybertron aboard two shuttles, but en route to Cybertron, they were attacked by Decepticon forces led by Galvatron, the upgraded form of Megatron. In a last-ditch effort to lose the Decepticons, Magnus ordered an emergency separation of the shuttle. After Galvatron destroyed the jettisoned portion of the vessel (and declared the Matrix destroyed), Magnus and his crew landed their craft on the Planet of Junk for repairs. Judgment Day! Facing Galvatron solo, Magnus attempted to open the Matrix, but the talisman did not respond, and Magnus was torn to pieces by the Sweeps. Thankfully, Ultra Magnus was soon repaired by the native Junkions after they befriended the Autobots. Magnus joined the other Autobots in the battle with Unicron on Cybertron, which resulted in the young Autobot Hot Rod opening the Matrix to destroy Unicron, becoming Rodimus Prime. The Final Battle!
In 2006, Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime, and Blaster traveled in Omega Supreme to Junkion to investigate some strange goings-on there. Once there, the Autobots discover a chaotic scene where aliens from many worlds, including the Decepticons, had arrived and were all engaged in a deadly battle with one another while also attacking them. Blaster discovered a signal coming from space that seemed to be hypnotizing everyone. Ultra Magnus and Blaster hatched a plan which involved Blaster playing soothing music, while Omega Supreme carried him into the air. The music calmed the combatants and cleared Galvatron's mind long enough for him to blast the Junkions' television, which he recognized had influenced his mind. This broke the spell on everybody. The Junkions turned on the Decepticons, which caused them to retreat.
Ultra Magnus then expressed curiosity as to the source of the hypnotic messages, but Rodimus didn't care as long as they had ended for good. They never discovered that it was the work of the Quintessons. The Big Broadcast of 2006 (US)
Marvel Comics UK continuity
| “ | Does your pathetic Autobot code demand sacrifices? Must I destroy you to stop you?! | ” |
—Galvatron | ||
| “ | Yes. | ” |
—Ultra Magnus | ||
The remaining Autobot elders spent years designing Ultra Magnus, a leader to lift the resistance out of a deep darkness. He was finally given life in or shortly before 1986[2] for Operation: Volcano. His role was to act as the crucial back-up needed for the Wreckers to successfully destroy their Decepticon targets and then escape in one piece. A serious complication arose when the Matrix Flame, the sacred and eternal blaze linked directly to the Creation Matrix itself, suddenly extinguished. Fearing that something catastrophic had occurred on Earth to the Matrix and its bearer, Optimus Prime, Emirate Xaaron made the decision to send Ultra Magnus to that planet to investigate, even though Operation Volcano was unstoppably set to begin in ten cycles. Magnus traveled to Earth by way of Space Bridge, and found the Ark's crew engaged in a deadly conflict with three new, yet unspeakably powerful, Decepticon warriors just as their leaders Optimus Prime, Prowl, and Ratchet vanished before their optic sensors. Initially concerned only with his investigation of Prime's sudden disappearance, Ultra Magnus ignored the plight of his fellow Autobots until he learned the two situations were linked; Galvatron and his lieutenants were time-travelers from 2006, having employed a mass-substitution mechanism that sent the three Autobots into limbo in order to accommodate their presence at this point in the timeline. This connection was revealed to him by three Autobots from 2006, who had traveled back in time themselves in order to stop Galvatron. They had a plan; they had the means; all they needed was for Ultra Magnus to keep him busy for, oh... an hour or two.
Easier said than done.
Magnus' battle with Galvatron carried them out of the isolated wilderness and onto a human freeway system. It ended when Ultra Magnus threw a tanker truck full of fuel into the path of Galvatron's particle cannon. Galvatron walked away from the blast — Magnus didn't. Still, the future Autobots succeeded in tricking Galvatron into returning to the future with his plan incomplete, and the timeline more-or-less preserved. Unfortunately, Magnus was out of time: Operation Volcano proceeded without him, with disastrous results. Only one Decepticon was taken out, and the Wreckers' leader Impactor was killed protecting Xaaron. Target: 2006
Ultra Magnus would not meet his counterpart, Optimus Prime, until Prime was inadvertently transported back to Cybertron in battle with Megatron. Hooking up with Lord Straxus at Polyhex, Megatron quickly disseminated false information about a new Decepticon made over to look exactly like Optimus Prime, planning to infiltrate the Autobot forces. Having temporarily assumed control of the Wreckers until their new leader, Springer, was ready for command, Ultra Magnus led them in hunting down the "impostor". This Prime's behavior led Magnus to be suspicious of his information and, after summoning Emirate Xaaron, confirmed his suspicions and welcomed the true Optimus Prime back to Cybertron. Distant Thunder!
Prime wasted no time leading Magnus and the others on a series of successful raids and strike missions against Decepticon-controlled territory. When Optimus decided to return home to Earth, however, Ultra Magnus was caught up in the space bridge's energy discharge as well, arriving on Earth but some considerable distance away from where Prime materialized. Having been frustrated ever since Impactor's death, Magnus welcomed the "vacation" this trip to Earth would provide him, and he took his time trying to track down the Ark's location. Resurrection!
For months, Ultra Magnus enjoyed a peaceful life in the American forests and wilderness, alone with his thoughts. A sudden seismic disturbance brought him back to reality, though, and into contact with three human females whose vehicle had been overturned by the tremor. One in particular, Cindy, took quite a liking to Magnus. As they traveled together to explore a nearby volcano and its connection to the tremors, Magnus was forced back into combat thanks to the arrival of his old sparring partner, the future Decepticon known as Galvatron. Burning Sky! Galvatron had constructed a power siphon atop the volcano's peak, and planned to convert the raw power of a volcanic eruption into enough energy to transform him into a god. Ultra Magnus teamed up with several Autobots from the future, who were trying to bring Galvatron back with them to face justice. Once again, Magnus was used as a "distraction" (read: living punching bag) while the future Autobots set up their plan to override Galvatron's time-jump mechanism and send them all back where they came from. Despite Ultra Magnus successfully getting the slag beat out of him, the override proved unsuccessful, sending only the Autobots back to 2007 and leaving Magnus virtually alone to deal with the fighting-mad Galvatron. Fire on High! Barely managing to rally his courage, Ultra Magnus threw himself into combat with Galvatron one more time, keeping him busy until the volcano exploded, destroying the power siphon and encasing both warriors in molten lava. Vicious Circle!
Several months later, Ultra Magnus was dug out of the volcano by the Sparkler Mini-Bots. They had been sent to Earth by Springer to monitor the volcano in case Galvatron ever got free. When Galvatron DID free himself several days earlier, though, they found themselves hopelessly outmatched, and hoped Magnus would have better luck. Sadly, the severe beatings Galvatron had routinely handed out to Ultra Magnus, combined with the final excruciating submergence in molten lava, had nearly unhinged the Autobot's mind, leaving him with a pathological fear of his tormentor. Confronted with Galvatron, Magnus would probably have gone fetal if that pose had any meaning for his people. As the Sparklers heroically tried to stand up to Galvatron anyway, Ultra Magnus saw his rescuers in grave danger and finally managed to push his fear aside and reclaim enough confidence to batter the Decepticon into a temporary retreat. Salvage!
Having renewed his fighting spirit, Ultra Magnus arranged to return to Cybertron with his companions in order to report on Galvatron's activities and hopefully gather the Wreckers for a counter-offensive. Instead, they found the Autobot base in Kalis full of battle signs, and the entire surrounding city-state a virtual "ghost-town". City of Fear! After confronting a legion of robot zombies, the Autobots eventually learned that a crazed scientist named Flame was trying to re-engineer the entire planet as a giant spacecraft, setting off an unstable fusion reactor beneath the planet's surface as a power source. With the help of the Wreckers and the Decepticons Flywheels and Trypticon, Ultra Magnus and his team managed to put an end to Flame's maniacal scheme. Meltdown!
Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers then began preparations to return to Earth and confront the threat of Galvatron, finally, once and for all, and then... *poof*. The Wreckers went to Earth alone, and Ultra Magnus was never seen nor heard from again. Deadly Games!
Marvel UK future timelines
In 2003, Ultra Magnus began plans for the construction of Autobot City on Earth, a transforming fortress that would better defend the Autobot secrets than the old Ark. In order to accomplish the construction, Magnus made agreements with the various Earth governments to acquire materials for the building and fortification of the city. To collect these materials, he assembled a massive convoy of Autobots to ride out to all corners of the world and acquire the necessary parts. In order to secure the secrecy of the city's plans, he had Blurr secretly transmit the necessary data to the Earth governments on a hyper-speeded signal, while Kup carried a dummy disk on a decoy mission. The Stunticons attacked Kup and stole the disk, thereby fooling the Decepticons into thinking they had access to the true specifications. Ark Duty A year later, Autobot City opened its doors and invited a delegation of human vistors to the ceremony. Despite a brief attack by Shockwave and the Decepticons, the opening went rather smoothly, and Autobot City became the new base of operations on Earth. Aspects of Evil!
Afer the destruction of Unicron in 2006, Ultra Magnus became a top advisor to the Autobots' new commander, Rodimus Prime. As the war for territory on Cybertron continued, Magnus was seen leading Jazz, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper as a fighting unit during a Decepticon air strike. Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive! In 2008, he fought alongside the Autobots when a major Decepticon counter-offensive was initiated by Scourge and Cyclonus in the name of their master, Unicron. He and Kup continued to spearhead the Autobot battle effort on Cybertron when Rodimus Prime traveled to the Planet of Junk to confront Unicron, and the Decepticons were ultimately driven off. The Legacy of Unicron! Sometime later, Eject relayed a distress signal to Ultra Magnus at Autobase, requesting aid at certain coordinates against an alien attack. With Autobot City: Earth off-line and Rodimus out with a sizeable portion of their troops to check on it, Magnus was reluctant to jump into such a potential trap. Still, his better nature ultimately won out, and Ultra Magnus led an Autobot troop assortment out to answer the call. Surprisingly, he found Soundwave and the Decepticons under heavy fire from the Quintessons, and ended up fighting side-by-side with his arch-rival for the good of the entire planet. Despite some signs of wavering by Soundwave, the peace ultimately didn't last, though, and the war would continue. Space Pirates!
In 2009, the long running loose-end of Galvatron being active in the past came back to haunt the Autobots, as a timestorm began raging at both 1989 and 2009, threatening all of existence. To deal with the problem, Ultra Magnus accompanied Rodimus Prime and several other Autobots back to 1989 to retrieve Galvatron...one way or another. Their mass-displacement caused confusion upon arrival, though, and led to a brief battle with their own 1989 Autobot counterparts. Ultra Magnus managed to fight off both Slag and Sludge of the Dinobots before he found someone willing to listen—1989's Goldbug, who had seen the mass-displacement effect before. Some late-coming Decepticons attempted to silence Goldbug before he could bring peace to the Autobot factions, but in the end the sight of Ultra Magnus carrying Goldbug's wounded body made an even MORE poignant appeal for peace. This ultimately led to an alliance between all four factions involved: the 1989 and 2009 Autobot and Decepticon factions. They were going to need it, as Galvatron had joined forces with his own "past self", Megatron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus traded fire with both Megatron and Galvatron, but Galvatron then used the oh-so-tenuous alliance against Magnus by tricking him into firing on Scorponok, leader of the 1989 Decepticons. Scorponok's henchmen (Mindwipe, Snapdragon and Triggerhappy) quickly forgot the alliance after seeing that, and tore into Ultra Magnus without any regards for the more serious consequences at stake. The damage Magnus suffered from their attack was severe and, after the battle was over and the timestorm abated, his deactivated body was seen being carried by his future Autobot comrades. Magnus's final fate is unknown. Time Wars
In an alternate future of 2510, the Decepticons were at last defeated, and Rodimus Prime planned to step down as Autobot leader. He announced Springer as his replacement, but an Autobot named Triton jumped in to contradict the decision, saying that Ultra Magnus was a much better choice to lead the Autobots in times of peace, not to mention the fact that he had already been chosen to carry the Matrix once before. Springer's combat unit, the Wreckers, didn't take kindly to Triton's comments, but then the Technobots jumped to the defense of Ultra Magnus and, as one thing led to another, shots were fired and fighting broke out among the Autobots. As the first bodies hit the floor, it became clear that a new war was beginning, and none of the Autobots were the wiser that Triton (the instigator of it all and one of the first casualties) had actually been a Decepticon deep-cover agent in disguise. Peace
Fun Publications Classics Comic
Ultra Magnus commanded the crew of the Graviton, coming to Earth on the hunt for Bug Bite, one of Bludgeon's soldiers. Tracking the treacherous mechanoid, they assaulted the Ark, which Megatron was using as a base, and basically did nothing but show up in time to see Megatron take care of their quarry for them. The crew then left for space again, this time with Grimlock along for the ride. Games of Deception
Grimlock likes to call him "Little Prime". How professionally embarrassing.
S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyers
Ultra Magnus personally chose a new S.T.A.R.S. Commander, to whom he sent a message inviting him or her to take up the role. This message guided the recipient through an exercise using "the special power you humans call 'imagination'" to visualize what it would be like to be several different Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons included. After that, the recipient was given the opportunity to "requisition" those Transformers for his or her "Command" via a form marked with the following address:
ULTRA MAGNUS
P.O. Box 7050, Dept. T10
North Hollywood, CA 91609
Transformers in 3-D
Ultra Magnus left Hot Rod in charge of Cybertron while he took off in Fortress Maximus to check out a strange Energon reading they'd detected on an asteroid. When Lightspeed discovered a small alien, Magnus reminded him that they were Autobots and sworn to protect all life. Lightspeed's tests determined that the creature converted its food into Energon, leading Magnus to send Searchlight out in search of more of the creatures. Not long after, the Autobots were found by Ratbat, and they pursued the small Decepticon until they ran into more Decepticons, resulting in a pitched battle. The Test
Following Galvatron's destruction of Cybertron's Energon supply, Optimus Prime contacted Ultra Magnus in Metroplex and ordered him to take a team to find Metascan Alpha. Magnus took Kup, Doublecross, Grotusque, and Repugnus with him, using Sky Lynx as transport. They eventually reached a desolate moon, on which they were attacked by Cyclonus and the Terrorcons, but Magnus insisted they ignore the Decepticons and continue with their mission. Retreating to Sky Lynx, they flew down to the planet to find a rapidly-evacuating city under attack from the Destructons.
The Autobots engaged the enemy, only to find themselves outclassed. Ultra Magnus was blasted by Lord Imperious Delirious and fought the confusion the Delirious Fire brought to his mind in order to sound a retreat. Kup sacrificed himself to allow the rest of the Autobots to escape, but Sky Lynx only had enough energy to reach the moon, and the Destructons were able to catch up. Faced with a superior foe, Ultra Magnus was forced to consider the unthinkable, and made an alliance with Cyclonus to attempt a combined attack. The War Against the Destructons, Chapter 1 of 3
Transformers PD Type
Ultra Magnus and Optimus attempted to trick Starscream into thinking a bomb was a Blackball, and succeeded, much to their surprise. Don't Cry! Megatron!! Ultra Magnus later reported that the Autobots had run out of ammo, and as a result, they were forced to throw rocks at Deathsaurus instead. Good Job! Deathsaurus!! He also pointed out that God Ginrai's "Chōkon Fire Guts" attack was just a normal punch, and was asked to keep quiet because the Decepticons hadn't realised that yet and were still rolling around in agony. Now! Deliver the Finishing Blow! God Ginrai!! Magnus and Rodimus Prime enjoyed many victories against the Decepticons, but who was that in the background? No One Knows When he's Come or Gone. Greatshot...
At one point, the Blackball was left in the safekeeping of Ultra Magnus. Galvatron, catching Magnus by surprise, managed to blow him up with a powerful energy blast from his fusion cannon. Recovering the Blackball, Galvatron began to gloat about his victory. That's when Magnus' body hurled his head at Galvatron like a bowling ball, causing the Emperor of Destruction to fall over like a set of pins and drop the Blackball. That's using your head, Magnus! *sigh* Improve Yourself! Ultra Magnus!
Dreamwave comics continuity
6.5 million years ago, when his brother Optimus Prime and the Decepticon leader Megatron vanished in a space bridge incident, the Autobots looked to Ultra Magnus for leadership. Magnus fled and exiled himself, believing he wasn't ready.
But half a million years later, Magnus re-emerged, finding the Autobots had fragmented themselves into different camps. Despite his fears about his inadequacy, Magnus managed to reunite the Autobots and retake Cybertron city by city, until finally, the Autobots were all but assured victory. Shockwave's Decepticons and Ratbat's Ultracons were ready to surrender. The moments before a peace treaty was to be signed at Tyger Pax, Ultra Magnus brooded in his chambers, alone, cursing Optimus Prime for his "heroic" sacrifice that nonetheless left his race to carry the torch themselves. Starscream and his Predacons, however, wouldn't go so quietly, and they staged an insurrection. Though, regrettably, Starscream assassinated the surviving members of the Council of Ancients, Ultra Magnus was able to lead his Autobots, the Ultracons, and the Decepticons successfully against the Predacon insurrection. As the Predacons were arrested, Grimlock took an assassin's bullet meant for Ultra Magnus, apparently killing the Dynobot. Magnus, overcome with grief, cradled Grimlock's body in his arms and audibly mourned.
This would not be the day's only setback, to say the least. Amid the chaos of Grimlock's death, Megatron had somehow returned, backed up by the Aerospace Extermination Squadron. The Age of Wrath #1 The peace Magnus had struggled for immediately crumbled. Ultra Magnus and the other Autobots were put to work as slaves, deep below Cybertron's surface. The Age of Wrath #2
Fewer than four million years ago, after Optimus Prime and Megatron disappeared once again, this time with dozens of their best warriors on board the Ark and the Nemesis, Ultra Magnus and Shockwave worked together to replenish their armies in the Little Iacon incident. Many of the Micromasters created resented Ultra Magnus and Shockwave for bringing them into their war. Micromasters
In the present day, Ultra Magnus was reactivated following the Great Shutdown, Revelation and begrudgingly took the role of security officer under Shockwave, who had ushered in a new peace. Though Magnus suspected Shockwave had some shady personal projects, he thought the threat of these were minimal compared to the greater promise of peace, and willingly helped Shockwave.
Ultimately, in 2003, Optimus Prime and the rest of the missing Autobots were discovered on a planet called Earth, where Prime and Megatron had awakened and rekindled the Transformer Civil War there. Ultra Magnus and a team of Decepticons traveled to Earth and approached Prime's Autobots, asking for their understanding and their surrender, lest they disrupt Cybertron's new peace. New World Order Though a few were willing to give in to Magnus, most were not. Optimus Prime sent a team of Autobots secretly out the back door, while the rest of his troops approached Magnus and submitted to his demands. Prime still harbored ill feelings towards his brother, and in moment of weakness, Prime punched Magnus to the floor, calling him a traitor.
Ultra Magnus transported his captives to Cybertron, where Shockwave announced that for the good of Cybertron, Prime and the others would be deactivated. Brothers' Burden Magnus, of course, disapproved, and he angrily confronted Shockwave. Shockwave showed Magnus footage of Optimus Prime and Megatron in a recent, heated battle in San Francisco, and this did not flatter the mental state of the combatants. Still, Magnus was not convinced, and he went to the High Council to address his fears of giving Shockwave too much control. His audience with the council was interrupted by grave news: the Stunticons had been unleashed from prison, and Menasor was tearing apart Iacon. In response, Ultra Magnus assembled the Wreckers. Cold War
Though casualties were high, Ultra Magnus was able to take down Menasor by turning his components against its team leader, Motormaster. While Menasor was confused, Magnus rammed into him in vehicle mode, separating the combiner. Suspecting Shockwave was somehow behind all this, Magnus left to confront him. On his way there, Magnus put a missile in Grimlock's head, quelling the Dinobots' own little rampage. Passive Aggression Magnus ordered Perceptor to put them into the CR chambers immediately.
Finally, Ultra Magnus arrived in Shockwave's throne room and ordered the former Decepticon to stand down. Shockwave had a different idea and shot him in the back. As Magnus staggered out, he met Prime, who was also on his way to tussle with Shockwave, and he apologized to his brother for going astray. Magnus collapsed. Countdown to Extinction A short time later, he got up to his feet and slowly made his way back into the throne room, though he was crumbling as he went. When he reached his destination, Magnus had shed his super robot form, leaving only his smaller inner robot. Seeing Prime had been defeated, Magnus attacked Shockwave. Though Ultra Magnus lost his arm to Shockwave's ruthlessness, Magnus was ultimately able to toss Shockwave into the pit in the center of the room. Grimlock carried both Prime and Magnus's heavily-damaged forms out of the throne room, but not without insulting them constantly. Magnus, like Prime, suspected that despite Shockwave's defeat, their hardships were only just beginning. Revelation
Optimus Prime was kept in stasis due to his minor injuries, while despite the complete destruction of his armor and the removal of his arm, Ultra Magnus was quickly reassembled and back on duty. Meanwhile, reports of a strange disturbance in a hidden Decepticon laboratory caught Magnus's attentions, but no one thought it was very significant. Black Sunshine In the wake of Shockwave's dethroning, Prowl was having trouble addressing public concerns, but Ultra Magnus was able to speak to the crowd empathetically. Skyfire Later, Magnus checked in on Prowl to see if he had any leads on the lab disturbance, and advised the overworked security officer to rest more. The Omega Effect Prowl and a team of Autobots soon left to construct an Autobot City on Earth, leaving Magnus to coordinate Autobot affairs on Cybertron. The Route of All Evil
Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers comics
Ultra Magnus was among the Autobot forces resisting Shockwave's rule of Cybertron, and was shocked when he witnessed Wheeljack get zapped by energy and vanishing. Investigating the disappearance along with Perceptor, Magnus found that the powerful Teletran 3 computer had malfunctioned and sent various Cybertronians dispersed throughout various points in Earth's timeline. After erecting a force field around Teletran 3 to prevent Shockwave and his forces from taking control of it, Ultra Magnus made a plan together with the G.I. Joes and Cobra members whom had been transported to Cybertron by the computer. As he was feeding the force field with his own power and Perceptor was operating Teletran 3, it was up to the humans to travel back in time and retrieve the lost Transformers, or else time travel "feedback" would lead to the destruction of Earth. Unfortunately, his force field could only stay up for twelve hours at best. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1 Six hours later, only one of four teams had returned. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #2 By the time the third team returned, Ultra Magnus's force field had dissipated and the Autobot had been gunned down by Shockwave's troops. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #3
Fortunately his wounds weren't lethal, and some time later, Ultra Magnus joined a team of Autobots preparing to rescue Optimus Prime from Serpent O.R.'s imprisonment. The Art of War #4 After receiving reinforcements from G.I. Joe, they attacked, they attacked the Decepticon base and fought against Serpent O.R.'s army. While urging his comrades to never give up, Ultra Magnus helped with a barrage of weaponsfire against Trypticon's throat. After the defeat of Serpent O.R., he attended Bumblebee's funeral alongside Hot Rod and Arcee. The Art of War #5
A few months later, Ultra Magnus was put in control of Cybertron while Optimus Prime left for Earth to investigate a mysterious signal from outer space. When Hot Rod hurt Prime's feelings by accusing him of doing things himself because he felt guilty about Bumblebee's death, Magnus told the young Autobot that he really needed to learn when to stay quiet. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2
IDW comics continuity
Just before the War, Ultra Magnus attended the funeral of Bumper and Fastback. Megatron Origin #3
Countless years later, in the present day, Magnus was an agent of the Tyrest Accord, upholding the Code of Interplanetary Conflict, a treaty between Autobots, Decepticons and other alien races. As an enforcer of the Accord, Magnus hunted down any Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons alike, who illegally sell or distribute Cybertronian technology, handing them over to their superiors for prosecution.
One such violation saw Ultra Magnus pursue the Autobot Arcee, who was pursuing a paranoid vendetta against Jhiaxus, the scientist who allegedly transformed her into her current state against her will. When he caught up with Arcee, it took a combination of holographic trickery and shock grenades to put her down. Magnus shipped her off to Fortress Maximus's care at the Garrus-9 penitentiary. Spotlight: Arcee
On another mission, Ultra Magnus tracked the Decepticon Swindle to the planet Zull. After arresting the criminal, Magnus reluctantly released Swindle in exchange for the current whereabouts of an even greater offender: Scorponok. Magnus had a personal grudge against Scorponok, who was the Autobot's polar opposite; while Magnus set great stock in rules, Scorponok flouted them. Ultra Magnus followed Swindle's lead to the planet Nebulos, and although he disrupted Scorponok's operations, the Decepticon was able to escape. Spotlight: Ultra Magnus
Years later, Magnus arrested Swindle for yet another violation, and once again, Swindle offered a deal, leaving Magnus to wonder whether it's necessary to break the rules to catch those who've been caught breaking them. Escalation issue 1 Exactly what Magnus did with Swindle is unclear, but he soon made another report to Optimus Prime, claiming to have picked up a new "lead" on Scorponok, suggesting that yet another deal had been made with Swindle. Spotlight: Optimus Prime
After the break-in on Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus told Optimus Prime that he was heading there to follow up on the escaped prisoners, but received a distress call from Hound and changes course to assist their crew. Magnus arrived in time to help drive off Cyclonus and together, they tracked him to Corata-Vaz. After Cyclonus activated the Nega-Core, he hesitated activating the guardian, Thunderwing, due to the destruction he caused Cybertron. Cyclonus walked out of the cave and was ambushed by Hound's crew and Magnus. After a skirmish, Cyclonus was brought down by Warpath and Magnus held a gun to his head. As a last resort, Cyclonus detached his hand, which rocketed to the cave and activated Thunderwing. Using the distraction, Cyclonus escaped but Magnus sent another tracker after him. Spotlight: Cyclonus
Ultra Magnus would later work out the identities of Cyclonus and Galvatron Spotlight: Hardhead and receive intell on the Dead Universe's plot. Spotlight: Doubledealer With Optimus otherwise engaged, Ultra Magnus informed the various Autobot teams of the situation, helped direct their strategy, and came up with the idea sending Arcee to deal with Jhiaxus. Man can deal with a lot. Spotlight: Sideswipe
Sometime after the Expansion, Ultra Magnus received a signal from a battered Hot Rod, requesting some backup for Sunstreaker, who had gone into Scorponok's Machination headquarters building to reclaim his head. Ultra Magnus decided to put an end to Scorponok, once and for all. Maximum Dinobots issue 4 By the time Ultra Magnus arrived at Machination HQ, the long missing Dynobots had already defeated Scorponok, but Ultra Magnus stopped them from killing him, saying that he would be punished under Intergalactic law, and ordered the Machination stripped of all Cybertronian technology. After rendezvousing with Optimus Prime's crew, Ultra Magnus relayed the events to Optimus, who felt they were well and truly compromised on Earth. Once business was concluded, Ultra Magnus left with Grimlock, Scorponok, and Shockwave as his prisoners, telling Grimlock that his assistance would help reduce his sentence and that the warrants on the other Dynobots had been rescinded. Maximum Dinobots issue 5
Several years later, after the fall of many Autobot strongholds and the subsequent defeat of Megatron on Earth, Ultra Magnus and his human stowaway Verity Carlo transported the Wreckers to Garrus-9, the Autobot penal colony which had been overrun by the Decepticons. En-route, they encountered a battered Decepticon dropshop emitting a distress signal that failed to acknowledge any hailing frequencies, which then subsequently exploded. Magnus was shocked to discover that a survivor had successfully escaped the ship's destruction, and even more shocked that it was the notorious former commander of the Wreckers, Impactor. Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1 Magnus watched as Perceptor tinkered with Impactor's head, noting that the former Wrecker probably had an explosive deterrence chip embedded into his cranium from his imprisonment at Garrus-9. When Impactor told the story of his escape and what had occurred at the prison, even the usually taciturn Ultra Magnus was disturbed by the revelation that the powerful phase-six Decepticon Overlord was now in charge of G-9, and suggested that perhaps they should delay the mission. After Springer and Impactor got into an argument over who was in charge and what the latter did that got him sent to G-9 in the first place, Ultra Magnus managed to convince Springer that Impactor had been through an awful lot, and that he was a valuable aspect that was needed for this mission. However, Magnus declined to personally involve himself with the mission, so he could to turn a blind eye to the Wreckers' often-brutal methods, and because Prowl had requested his presence back on Earth. Also, Prowl gave him a name, something that would be of importance to both Springer and Magnus: Aequitas. During the mission briefing, Magnus revealed to the other Wreckers it wasn't Skyquake that was up against them, but the infamous Overlord, prompting Kup to tell Verity of the time he faced Overlord on Caldoon 4 and barely survived. With the younger Wreckers clearly rattled by the tale, Ultra Magnus reminded Kup that they had talked about the elder Autobot's perchant for "talking up the enemy". Twenty minutes before launch, Magnus discussed Ironfist's strange blackouts with Springer, though the Wrecker was inclined to give his subordinate the benefit of doubt. As the Wreckers (and unbeknownst to them, Verity) launched their drop pods to Garrus-9, Ultra Magnus wished them luck and intoned an old Cybertonian proverb: "May your wires never cross and your luster never dull". Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2
Arriving on Earth, Ultra Magnus reiterated his position as an enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, and demanded to know which of the local Autobots was in charge. New Arrivals, Old Encounters With the remaining Autobots left at the caves before him, Ultra Magnus tried to allay their concerns by attempting to use the local Earth slang and idioms related to criminal investigations, with only served to cause confusion. However, with a case as serious as Ironhide's death and Optimus Prime's surrender to Skywatch, he asked for help from the Autobots and failing that, demanded full cooperation. Unfortunately, Magnus was unusually obstinate and obtuse in his investigation, questioning Bumblebee's authority as leader (after being told that Hot Rod had left the Bumblebee's group), and refusing to help the Earth-based Autobots deal with their problems. After witnessing Hoist lead away yet another group of Autobots, Magnus left the caves to search for Hot Rod. A Rude Awakening
After tracking the Autobot splinter group down, Ultra Magnus laid out a series of legal quibbles that would make it impossible for the self-styled "Rodimus Prime" to leave Earth and demanded the dismantling of the rocket they were building. The situation turned ugly when Magnus spotted Swindle among the Decepticons in Rodimus' group, and attempted to arrest him. Citing Rodimus' violations of the law and collusion with the Decepticons, Magnus threatened to arrest him under charges of treason if he failed to cooperate. However, Magnus was disappointed when Prowl defended Rodimus' decisions and wondered why Prowl had summoned him to Earth in the first place if he was going to break the law himself. Sticking to the rigid letter of the law got Magnus nowhere, as Rodimus correctly pointed out that he couldn't arrest them all. Furious, Ultra Magnus returned to Bumblebee's cave. Seasons in Flight
Sometime after Bumblebee had been rebuilt into a new, more powerful body, Ultra Magnus rdered several of the Autobots to form a team to arrest Rodimus' group. He seriously got the Autobots offside by demanding Blurr's participation despite his recent trauma at the hands of Skywatch and overrode Bumblebee's command authority. Returning to the launch site, Magnus officially declared his intent to arrest Rodimus under order 00101001 of the Tyrest Accord, which majorly honked off Rodimus as he felt there was no factions any longer, the war was over and that "his" group only wanted to get off Earth. However, Magnus' distrust of the Decepticons was proven correct when Swindle interrupted the argument to unveil his new creation: the Stunticon combiner Menasor, who was ordered to kill Magnus first. Enemies of the System During the battle, Ultra Magnus exhausted his arsenal of firepower and was about to be killed by the titanic Decepticon when Optimus Prime arrived on the scene courtesy of Skywatch. The Autobots rallied and defeated the Decepticons, forcing Swindle and the Constructicons to retreat. Shortly after being repaired, Magnus was furious to learn that Swindle had escaped his grasp once again, and took out his frustrations on Rodimus, charging him with treason for all of his actions. When Bumblebee stepped in to diffuse the situation, Magnus attempted to cite his greater authority of his legal jurisdiction, but was put in his place when the younger Autobot pointed out that on Earth, he was in charge, and that no Autobot would be arrested, regardless of their mistakes. However, as this was going on, Rodimus took off in Ultra Magnus' shuttle. Earthworks
Evidently after regaining his sense of perspective, Ultra Magnus rescued the surviving Wreckers from Garrus-9. In his debriefing to Prowl, Magnus discussed the reasons for even sanctioning the mission given what it cost the Wreckers, and despite his disgust at the horrific crimes perpetrated by some of the Autobots who faced the infallible Aequitas, he argued the need for revealing the contents of the supercomputer's data to the Autobot rank-and-file. After handing over a data slug containing the Aequitas data, Magnus stated that he hoped Prowl was true to his word and would hand it over to Bumblebee, because he knew Prowl would have hoped the data in the slug was corrupted so he could maintain the cover up. As he left, he said that perhaps he should have checked the data for corruption after all, but considered it would be a disservice to the both of them for not trusting Prowl and going behind his back. Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5
With his ship stolen, Ultra Magnus was stranded on Earth alongside the other Autobots, and was none too happy about it. He had little patience for Brawn raging about an attempted assassination of Bumblebee, and threatened to have the angry little guy restrained if he didn't shut up. He was interrupted by the news that the plane carrying Optimus Prime's team back from North Korea had been blown out of the sky, but before he and Pennington could get any real information about the attack, an explosion rocked the Autobot-Skywatch base. The Decepticons had returned to Earth to rescue their captured comrades, and Ultra Magnus found himself incapacitated by Frenzy's mind-scramblingly loud battle cry. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man
The attacking Decepticons quickly left with the freed captives, leaving Ultra Magnus to wonder why they neglected to finish him and the other Autobots off. There were more important things to worry about, though: the base was in ruins, Bumblebee and Pennington were both in critical condition, and Optimus Prime and his team were still missing in action. Ultra Magnus took command and had the base evacuated, moving the personnel to Omega Supreme's location, but not before leaving Brawn with a mission to find a special somebody. Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon
Alternity
The Ultra Magnuses of various universal streams had different roles to play in the mind-bending cross-dimensional war between the hyper-evolved future Autobots known as the Alternity and the Megatron Aggregate.
When the universal stream of Primax 1286.3 Kappa was chosen by Diamond Black Megatron to play host to a "game full of death and suffering" of his own devising, Megatron's opponent, Ultimate Silver Optimus Prime, was allowed to pick one inhabitant of this universe to be his champion, and to battle the horde of Decepticons Megatron would empower. Loathe as he was to use him like a chess piece, Prime selected Ultra Magnus and imbued him with a portion of his power. Even with this added strength, though, Prime knew that Magnus's resilience and determination were truly his greatest weapons. To Die Game!
The Magnus of another, unknown universal stream also found himself pulled into the Alternity's war when the Megatron of his world joined the Aggregate and began razing his Cybertron with his increased power, forcing the Autobots to step up their efforts to protect the planet's citizens. While patroling Sector 51, Administrative Official Magnus entered City #14, which had recently been freed from Decepticon occupation. Walking amidst the dissheveled and displaced citizens, Magnus burned a huge Autobot brand into the ground, marking the city as Autobot territory.
Suddenly, a dazzling being of light appeared to him, refering to him by the military rank of "Ultra"; a rank he did not yet possess. Then, another Ultra Magnus who had joined the Alternity, sporting an auto-avatar looking very much like Optimus Prime, stepped through a glowing portal, asking Magnus to join him. Magnus then shook hands with Prime, joining the Alternity collective and sharing the consciousness of every Magnus across the multiverse. Magnus then vowed to use his newfound power to bring peace to Cybertron... as Ultra Magnus! Nissan GT-R / Ultra Magnus (Brilliant Pearl White)
Games
Mystery of Convoy
When Optimus Prime disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the year 2005, Ultra Magnus set out to find him. Magnus fought his way through a seemingly endless horde of Decepticon antagonists, including the Mecha Planet, the Twin Planets, Bruticus, and Menasor, as well as attempting to recover seven energon cubes the Decepticons had stolen from Rodimus Prime. Finally, Magnus unveiled the truth—everything had been Megatron's doing all along! Besting the Decepticon leader, Magnus was then faced with a seemingly endless series of tunnels and time loops, leading him into a climactic battle with Trypticon. After Magnus dispatched the city-bot in a hard-fought battle, a new challenge rose its head, but with his energon cubes recovered through Magnus's heroism, Rodimus Prime was able to take up the fight in his stead. Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
Famicom How-to Manga: Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
Famicom How-to Manga: Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
Transformers (Mystery of Convoy)
Transformers (Mystery of Convoy) strategy guide comic
The Transformers (PS2)
Toys
Notes
- It has been speculated by some fans that, in the animated continuity, Ultra Magnus may have been created from Orion Pax's friend Dion, the same way and at the same time Prime and Elita One were rebuilt by Alpha Trion.
- For further elaboration, see Who is Dion?.
- Ultra Magnus is Optimus Prime's brother in the Dreamwave continuity, and possibly also in IDW continuity. Additionally, Optimus Prime also was described as treating Ultra Magnus as his "kid brother" in TV Magazine's issue #4 of Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers manga.
- In the early promotional trailer/test footage for "The Transformers: The Movie", Ultra Magnus can be seen in alternate Autobot City sequences in his toy's original Diaclone color scheme, indicating the final coloration may have been a late change to the toy. This footage has appeared in various Transformers DVDs over the years.
- In the Beast Era future, the Predacon Killer Punch (a bit of a paranoid conspiracy nut) believes that Ultra Magnus was secretly a Decepticon agent. This is, shall we say... unlikely.
- This Ultra Magnus, along with the original Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime, and Jazz makes a cameo appearance as one of the four elders who began the Space Bridge project in the Cybertron episode "Balance".
Foreign names
- Japanese: Ultra Magnus (ウルトラマグナス Urutora Magunasu)
- French: Ultramag (Canada)
- Italian: Convoy
- Mandarin name (Taiwan): Tong Tian Xiao (China, 通天曉, "The Man Who Knows Everything", literally "The Dawn that Reaches the Heaven"), Mags (Taiwan, 馬格斯 Mǎ Gè Sz), Magnum (Taiwan Omni Productions dub, 麥農 Mài Núng)
- Portuguese: Ultra Magnum (Portugal comic)
References
- ↑ Ultra Magnus's e-Hobby toy bio
- ↑ Ultra Magnus profile in Marvel UK #81
- ↑ IDW blog post
External links
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