Ultra Magnus (SG)

This article is about the evil Autobot. For his heroic counterpart, see Ultra Magnus (G1). For a list of other meanings, see Ultra Magnus (disambiguation).

Ultra Magnus is an evil Autobot from the Shattered Glass continuity family.

Great, Sir Soundwave's learned how to photobomb.

Ultra Magnus long ago grew weary of the tedium of war. He's killed so many and destroyed so much that it's started to all run together in his mind, reduced to a fine paste of boredom. It's been especially hard since he lost the trust of his friend Treadshot. Existence just seems so pointless without him at his side. Oh, Magnus has tried to make things interesting again, but each bigger and more elaborate coup only led him to a revolt against his bigger brother, Optimus Prime, and failure. For this he lost his face and his freedom, and he was locked away in the prisons of Paradron.

But soon, Ultra Magnus hopes to return and pull off the ultimate thrill. He's destroyed lives and property, certainly, but has he ever destroyed a universe? That would be grand, wouldn't it? Maybe it would even make him feel like he did at the start of the war, when everything was fresh and new. And when that moment comes, he hopes so fervently that his dear Treadshot will be there, with a final, oh-so-brief understanding that his once-friend was wrong to leave him.

Fiction

Shattered Glass

There's no panel borders! This isn't a battle in a box at all!

At one point, Ultra Magnus led an attempted coup against Optimus Prime, with Hound and Blurr as his only known supporters, though Hound was reportedly a link between Magnus and Alpha Trion. SG Hound's magazine profile However, during the battle between Optimus and Ultra Magnus, the former cheated. Eye in the Sky When the coup failed, Prime had Magnus exiled to Paradron as punishment. SG Cyclonus' magazine profile

While trapped with Sideswipe in the maze leading to the Omega Terminus chamber, Blurr referred to Cliffjumper as a "traitorous lunatic". Sideswipe countered by saying that Blurr was one to talk, and asked how Ultra Magnus was doing. Blurr said Magnus was doing "better than Drench", at least. Dungeons & Dinobots

Toys

Universe

Hey, remember me? Well, I'm me.

• Ultra Magnus with Over-Run vs. Treadshot with Nightbeat (Battle in a Box, 2004)

A redeco of the Super-Con (aka Deluxe) version of Armada Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus transforms into a long-nosed tractor-trailer cab of made-up model. Attaching a Mini-Con to the Powerlinx plug on his back activates a double-fisted "punching" gimmick. His smokestacks can be removed from his forearms, but don't really do anything if you do so, so why bother?

Magnus was available only in a Universe "Battle in a Box" set with his Mini-Con partner Over-Run, and the Decepticon-allied pairing of Treadshot and his Mini-Con partner Nightbeat. The set was available only at "market six" stores like Kohl's, at the same time as the Smokescreen/Ransack set.

This mold was also used to make Armada Nemesis Prime. This toy may be repurposed as SG Magnus or he may be the same dude. Read below.

• More information on Ultra Magnus at TFU.info

Timelines

He's only evil 'cuz no one's pushing in his wheels.

• Invasion (BotCon 2012 box set)

Ultra Magnus is a redeco of Transformers Optimus Prime, featuring what appears to be the mold's second head, seen previously only in the instructions. Ultra Magnus is in the colors of Diaclone Powered Convoy (who was later redecoed into Generation 1 Ultra Magnus), with a translucent face and blue eyes. Like Prime, Magnus has a (non-detachable) matrix gimmick in robot mode formed by a relief pattern on the inside of the cab's side windows, which is visible through the windshield/chest in robot mode. The sword forms the hitch of the truck in vehicle mode.

Ultra Magnus was released in a box set with Soundwave, Tracks, Treadshot, Gigatron, and Metalhawk.

Notes

Okay, but where's the translucent skull?

• In Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 22, a "Mini Mayhem!"-style comic featuring a version of Shattered Magnus appeared in "From the Editor's Desk..." along with Rodimus and Eric Siebenaler. Though it's an official appearance of Magnus, it's probably not in-continuity. Can it be too much to hope that this already got the inevitable "I can deal with that" jokes out of their system?
• Ultra Magnus used to look like "Battle in a Box" Ultra Magnus. When the "Invasion" comic's creative team was asked if they were actually the same guy versus being a repurposing, the simultaneous answer was "Sure," "Yes," and "No." Somebody's a spoilsport.