Alpha Quintesson

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Alpha Quintesson is an alien from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Alpha Q so hard you won't be able to walk for a week.

A mysterious manipulator, Alpha Quintesson, also known simply as Alpha Q (tee-hee-hee!) has his tentacles spread wide, influencing the actions of both Autobot and Decepticon alike. He also has the command of armies of Terrorcon drones! His actual motives are unclear, but his goal is obvious; he plans to gather enough energon to restore the shattered remains of the planet-devouring Unicron!

Fiction

Energon cartoon

Voice actor: Trevor Devall (English); Yūichi Nagashima, Yukie Maeda (Japanese), Johan Hedenberg/Anders Öjebo/Niclas Fransson (Swedish)
Plot points derived exclusively from the Super Link version of the Energon cartoon are in italics.
You hit me! Picard never hit me.

Among the many worlds that fell to the unending hunger of the world-eater, Unicron, was one little sphere known as Planet Q. This world would not go quietly, however, as its armies fought back valiantly, but it soon it became apparent that they would not be able to stop Unicron. The planet's grand chamberlain resigned himself to his world's fate, choosing a suicide ploy. The chamberlain instructed the planet's ruler to detonate Planet Q's core and defiantly deny Unicron his meal, but when the ruler could not, the chamberlain committed the act himself, destroying the planet as Unicron consumed it. The explosion failed to destroy Unicron, but it did heavily damage him, forcing him into a state of dormancy. And within Unicron's slumbering husk, the spark of Planet Q's ruler continued to exist.

Driven mad by the solitary existence over the ensuing years, the mind of Planet Q's ruler fractured, splintering into separate personalities. From Unicron's body, it sculpted for itself a new, armored form out of the "bones" of his devoured subjects, with four rotating face masks, through which each one of his personalities found voice, with his fifth personality—his original, true face—hidden away inside him, speaking only when the armour was closed, concealing his face from view. But within the shattered mind of the insane being that now called itself "Alpha Q," a kernel of genius existed—Alpha Q had discovered that, through the power of energon, all that Unicron had consumed could be reconstituted. And so, once Unicron finally perished in battle over Cybertron, Alpha Q found himself free to act. Over the next ten years, he learned how to master Unicron's systems for creation and, using what little energon he had, he recreated the armies of Planet Q as the Terrorcons. Once his agents were complete, Alpha Q sent them to Earth to gather energon for his plan: the complete recreation and restoration of Planet Q, and all the worlds Unicron had once consumed. Cybertron City Alpha Q: Identity

In the above-referenced episode, Kicker specifically mentioned the flashbacks he was experiencing were "how Alpha Q remembers that day". With this caveat, it seems likely that Alpha Q, Scorponok, and possibly even the Terrorcons did not actually look like they do now before the planet exploded. Given Alpha Q's general insanity, other details could easily vary as well.

After the first few strikes by the Terrorcons, Alpha Q recreated the grand chamberlain in the form of Scorponok, as a general to lead the otherwise mindless Terrorcons in battle. Energon Stars Scorponok also served Alpha Q by recruiting old Decepticons to their cause. Alpha Q provided Scorponok with an image of Megatron's deactivated form, from deep within Unicron. Using this image, Scorponok was able to convince Tidal Wave, then Cyclonus, to turn against the Autobots and join the Terrorcons, claiming their goal was to gather enough energon to revive Megatron. Scorpinok Despite the steady supply of energon being brought in by the Terrorcons, Alpha Q lamented that it wasn't enough, and the Autobots were continuously getting in their way. Coming across Megatron's remains inside Unicron, Alpha Q detected traces of great power within him, and fed some energon through his circuits to retrieve a blade forged from Megatron's own spark. Alpha Q gave this sword to Scorponok to wield in battle, and destroy any Autobots in his path. Megatron's Sword

When Tidal Wave and Cyclonus began questioning Scorponok's motives, Alpha Q demanded they go out and capture more energon "for Megatron". The New Cybertron City Eventually, though, the jig was up as Megatron resurrected himself by diverting energon away from Unicron's systems. He quickly beat down Scorponok and confronted Alpha Q for control of Unicron. Megatron's connection to the Dark God appeared as strong as Alpha Q's, for he was capable of commanding the Terrorcon drones as well. Facing serious odds, Alpha Q chose the better part of valor and ran, disconnecting Unicron's head from the rest of his body and fleeing inside of it. Megatron Resurrected

Deprived of most of his resources, Alpha Q concocted a new scheme to acquire energon. He resurrected the former Decepticon known as Starscream, using energon to partially reconstruct the warrior's disintegrated body. The result was an amnesiac quasi-energy being, a "ghost" to do Alpha Q's bidding. Megatron Raid Alpha Q told Starscream he must assassinate Optimus Prime. With Prime out of the way, the energon would be freely available to revive Starscream AND Unicron to their rightful forms. Starscream the Mysterious Mercenary Alpha Q directed Scorponok and Starscream to push the Autobots and Megatron into a battle out in the asteroid belt, hoping one side would destroy the other, and leave room for him to control Unicron and the energon, but they failed. Battle of the Asteroid Belt Whent he Decepticons left Unicron's body behind to stage an attack on Earth, Alpha Q took the opportunity to send out his Terrorcons to steal some energon from them, using it to revitalize Unicron's head more. (Why he didn't just steal back the whole body of Unicron is a bit of a mystery.) Energon Tower

As Megatron recognized Unicron's energon supply was lower than it should be, Alpha Q gloated to himself over stealing the energon right out from under Megatron's nose. His winning streak didn't last long, though. Alpha Q sent Starscream into Unicron to assassinate Megatron, but the ghostly mercenary failed completely. Worse, Megatron forcibly reprogrammed Starscream to serve only him, costing Alpha Q the services of his minion. The Legend of Rodimus Alpha Q next attempted a new strategy. By outfitting his Terrorcons with "stealth mode", his dispatched them to Jungle City in the hopes that they could infiltrate the base and steal energon without alerting the Autobots. The stealth upgrade had no effect on Kicker Jones' sensitivity, however, and the Autobots began striking back against the Terrorcons. When Megatron joined in as well, the Autobots initiated a "scorched earth" strategy, sacrificing Jungle City so that no energon was recovered by anyone. Crisis in Jungle City

After Megatron learned from Demolishor about Kicker's unique sensitivity, and Alpha Q learned about it in turn from Scorponok, he was curious about the boy. In his internal struggles to deal with the concept, Alpha Q manifested his fourth face for the first time. Using a Battle Ravage as a medium, Alpha Q spoke to Kicker on the moon through the Terrorcon's voice, wanting to learn more about how Kicker could sense energon. Lunar City's new energon tower released a shockwave that destroyed the Terrorcon before the conversation could end, but Alpha Q remained interested in Kicker. Kicker Beware! Megatron soon launched a trio of artificial comets towards Earth, expecting to wipe out humanity and the Autobots and retrieve the energon from the ashes. Alpha Q initially approved of the plan, although of course he hoped to mine the devastated planet before Megatron did. Alpha Q's new, calmer face had some reservations about extinguishing humanity, however, and seized an opportunity to listen in to Kicker through a Blackout drone as he described the unique spark of humanity. To the confusion of his other faces, the calmer Alpha Q allowed his ally Rodimus to take a squadron of Shadowhawks to destroy one of the comets, which ultimately helped to save the entire Earth. Alpha Q began to orchestrate a new plan, involving Kicker. Energon Grid

In the meantime, however, Megatron finally recognized Scorponok for the spy he was, and that he was smuggling out energon for Alpha Q. In order to draw out his rival, Megatron strapped Scorponok to the outside of one of his artificial comets and launched it towards Earth. His intent was to lure Alpha Q out into the open to save Scorponok before he crashed into the deadly energon grid surrounding Earth's atmosphere. Rodimus Friend or Foe? Fortunately, Rodimus and his team were able to intervene on Scorponok's behalf, driving away the Decepticons and rescuing him without Alpha Q needing to reveal himself. Go for Unicron! As Scorponok recuperated in Unicron's head, Alpha Q prepped a new form of Terrorcons. Called Cruellocks, these Dinobot drones were dispatched to an icey planet where the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting over a newly discovered energon source. Although they took the opposition by surprise, the Cruellocks were ultimately overwhelmed and defeated by Alpha Q's rivals. The Return of Demolishor

After Rodimus had a meeting with Optimus Prime, he brought back a stowaway Autobot named Ironhide to Alpha Q's abode. Despite Rodimus's protestations, Alpha Q and Scorponok chose to give Ironhide a trial by fire to see if he was made of the right stuff. Ironhide survived, albeit heavily injured, and Scorponok judged him worthy to appear before Alpha Q. A Tale of Two Heros As Ironhide underwent repairs, Alpha Q sent Rodimus out to collect Kicker Jones, in order to finally meet the boy face-to-face. Battle Stations Kicker and his friend Misha Miramond arrived in Alpha Q's throne room, and the former ruler supplied Kicker with a recreation of his final moments on Planet Q before it fell to Unicron. Kicker struck out against Alpha Q during their meeting, demanding the "four-faced freak" fight for the good of the whole universe, instead of merely the restoration of his own single planet. Kicker eventually got through to Alpha Q, and he began to move Unicron's head for a rendezvous with the Autobot forces. Alpha Q: Identity

Alpha Q met with Optimus, Rodimus and Kicker aboard Unicron to discuss their tenuous alliance. Shockblast: Rampage As negotiations began, though, Unicron began to go wild. The continuous exposure to energon had reactivated Unicron's systems and, although he wasn't truly conscious, the entity began experiencing an instinctive hunger for more energon. These instincts overwhelmed Alpha Q's control of the planet, and he and Scorponok were restrained by a slew of tentacles in his throne room. Alpha Q rather meekly submitted to Unicron's assault until Kicker radioed him begging for assistance. The Autobots were attempting to reach Unicron's core with a fresh supply of energon, but needed help getting through Unicron's reactive barriers. Alpha Q managed to assert enough influence on Unicron to help them on their way. Survival Instincts

It was Misha Miramond who next made a connection with Alpha Q. The immature entity spotted Misha on her way to visit him, and decided to scare her with some Insecticons. Misha realized Alpha Q was just toying with her, though, and ignored his threats to insist on a conversation. Alpha Q and Misha connected with each other personally, and this renewed Alpha Q's determination to fight against Megatron on behalf of the Autobots. Each One Fights... As Unicron's body grew in power enough to threaten Cybertron, Alpha Q launched the head in a kamikaze assault on Megatron's portion of the Chaos-Bringer, breaking open Unicron's defenses for the Autobots to siege him from within. Unicron Unleashed

Now in direct contact with Unicron's body, Alpha Q used his influence to assist the Autobots on their passage through the Planet-Eater in search of Megatron. Kicker told Alpha Q to quit helping the Autobots, however, and concentrate on gathering the energy necessary to revive his planet. Once Alpha Q was struck by an enormous bolt of energon from Earth, he became strong enough to rework Unicron's systems and begin the process of recreating the planets consumed by the Chaos-Bringer. Open Fire! The head of Unicron was charged with massive amounts of energon, but this created a problem. The body of Unicron was charged with energon with an equal-but-opposite polarity, making the two potentially volatile if they came together. Megatron began pumping out his negatively-charged energon just for this purpose, and Alpha Q attempted to flee inside Unicron's head. He sensed Scorponok's efforts against Megatron, though, and couldn't abandon his protector. Alpha Q hesitated long enough for the two energon fields to react, creating a catastrophic wave that ripped a hole through space itself. Still inside Unicron's energon-charged head, Alpha Q passed through the spatial rift with the sparks of his planets, and into the universe beyond. Ripped Up Space

Beyond the rift, Alpha Q fulfilled his promise and recreated his planet, along with all the other planets consumed by Unicron. By remaking Unicron's head into a kind of star, he formed his own solar system with the planets manifesting in his orbit, and receiving life-enhancing rays of energon beaming out into the cosmos. Alpha Q was now effectively imprisoned inside Unicron's head, but he was still capable of remotely viewing events in his solar system and on the planets. He also remained in contact with Kicker, apparently due to the boy's unique sensitivity. Protection Alpha Q guided the Miranda II to Jungle Planet, a burgeoning paradise-like world growing strong under the energon sun. He proudly told Kicker this was what they had been working together all along. Imprisoned Inferno Alpha Q watched over the Autobots as they defended Jungle Planet from an attack by the Decepticons. Jungle Planet He communicated with Kicker after Iron Planet was consumed by the Terrorcons, and watched nervously as the Autobots brought the first of a series of energon towers from Cybertron to protect Jungle Planet. Bulkhead

As one of many battles took place near the gravitational field of his sun, Alpha Q caught a glimpse of Scorponok and tried to make contact with him. It seemed as if Scorponok briefly recognized Alpha Q's presence, but he quickly ignored it and returned to the Decepticons. Farewell Inferno

Alpha Q was initially pleased when the Autobots finished erecting their energon grid, an impenetrable barrier shielding the energon enriched planets in Alpha Q's solar system. He soon realized, however, that cutting the Decepticons off meant that Scorponok could not return to him either. Alpha Q still held out hope that Scorponok could be redeemed and come back to him. he tried to beg Kicker into shutting down the grid to let Scorponok through, but he wouldn't listen. In response, Alpha Q began focusing extra energon on a small, burgeoning planet outside the energon grid, causing it to develop at an accelerated pace into a recreation of the original Planet Q, his homeworld with Scorponok from long ago. Alpha Q hoped that after seeing Planet Q and their reconstructed palace, Scorponok would remember who he was.

This was not to be, though. Scorponok and his Terrorcons attacked the Q Palace without hesitation to reach the energon concentrated beneath it, and the Autobots had to step in to protect the planet and its energon. Alpha Q wailed helplessly as Ironhide confronted Scorponok at the palace, and made his own failed attempts to reach the original Scorponok's personality underneath Megatron's control. He failed, and Scorponok was posed to strike a killing blow against the Autobot when Alpha Q intervened. Alpha Q attacked Scorponok with a concentrated dose of positively charged energon beamed down from the sun, occupying him long enough for Ironhide to recover. After Megatron sounded a retreat, Alpha Q asked Kicker to tell Ironhide he was a true warrior, and that the old Scorponok respected him for it. Return! Our Scorponok

Alpha Q started laughing hysterically while watching the Autobots compete in their Grand Prix on Circuit Planet. Crash Course

As Megatron got Unicron up and running again, Alpha Q put his faith in their Autobots and the energon grid to defend his planets. Omega Supreme They were all unsuccessful, however, and Unicron came to the Energon Orb to reclaim his head. Alpha Q reached out to Kicker and told him to take the Miranda II to a new planet he had grown. Thinking this was a plan to defeat Megatron, Kicker agreed, but when he arrived on Grass Planet he found only wide empty pastures of green grass. Alpha Q explained to Kicker that he created this planet especially for him, as it matched the images in Kicker's mind of the peaceful place he and Misha played together when they were children. With this planet complete, Alpha Q expelled the last of his energon and died within the Energon Orb, as Unicron collected his head and became complete once more. A Heroic Battle

Following his demise, Alpha Q's body was recovered from inside Unicron's head by Kicker and Ironhide. The Power of Unicron He was laid to rest in a simple ceremony on Grass Planet, beneath a headstone. Optimus Supreme

Despite being dead, Alpha Q continued to comment on the Autobots' efforts to defend his planets. Unicron Perishes

Lost in translation

A point worth noting is that the strong affection Alpha Q feels for Scorponok is not displayed as clearly in Energon as it is in Super Link. During the episode "Scorponok's Scars" (which was never translated or shown in America), he repeatedly referred to Scorponok as "my Scorponok" and showed him images of their home planet in an effort to reverse Megatron's brainwashing. As well, during the Special Dream Match, Alpha Q responded to Scorponok's statement of "I don't know you" with "say I love you", showing what seems to be some sort of surrogate parent/child emotional connection.

Pre-production materials<ref>TFPulp's translation of Super-Link production notes, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.</ref> for Super Link offer further details on Alpha Q's history that did not make it into the final version of the series. His original, true form was originally conceived as being the human-form princess of Planet Q, a young girl whose face would be the fifth and final face of Alpha Q, that would eventually be revealed when Kicker would "shatter her shell." The materials note, however, that if Hasbro vetoed the idea, the princess would be replaced with either a young prince, or simply a ball of light. Whether this veto occurred is unknown, but what is certain is that none of this was officially established in the finished show, and Alpha Q's fifth face remains hidden inside his closed armor (assuming it exists at all).

There are, however, some vague reference to this material in the series. In Super Link, when Alpha Q speaks with his true voice, it is the voice of a young child. In contrast, in these scenes in Energon, a multi-layered voice is used, professing to be the voice of all lives lost in Planet Q's destruction. The vision of Planet Q's destruction viewed by Kicker, which shows Alpha Q and Scorponok existing as the same robotic entities they are in the present day, would appear to contradict this notion, but the scene is specifically described with a modifier by Kicker as being how "Alpha Q remembers that day," leaving wiggle-room, since Alpha Q is absolutely out of his tree.

Energon comic

Giger? I hardly know 'er!

Alpha Quintesson began the war over Energon by providing the Terrorcon group—led by Scorponok—with enhanced powers and "Hyper Modes", sending them to the undefended Earth to drain it of the newly-discovered pure Energon ore. At the same time, he sent Unicron's Four Horsemen to Cybertron to wreak havoc, preventing the Autobots from getting to Earth. This Evil Reborn

Unfortunately for Alpha Quintesson, the Horsemen were repelled by the Omnicons and the newly-enhanced Autobots, which gave them the time needed to reach Earth and sink the Terrorcons' plans. The Quintesson used his portals to recover the defeated Terrorcons.What Lies Beneath, Part Four

For a time, Alpha Quintesson's involvement in the war was minimal, but when he returned, it was in a big way; unleashing thousands of Terrorcon drones to decimate Los Angeles, Tokyo, Toronto and Moscow. But the Decepticons weren't the only ones Alpha Quintesson was working with toward his goal of restoring the shell of Unicron. Perhaps more dangerous than the Terrorcons was Alpha Quintesson's hidden ally, Avalon, a member of the High Council, Cybertron's ruling body! Multiplicity

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Toys

Energon

  • Alpha Quintesson (Mega, 2005)
    • Accessories: Missile launcher, missile, base, three tentacles
File:Alpha Quintesson toy.jpg
I do hope you'll bring these gadgets back in one piece, 007.
One of the last toys in the Energon line, Alpha Quintesson is fairly unique in that he is one of the only toys in the history of the main Transformers line that does not transform in any manner or even come with any kind of transforming accessory (like the Action Masters).
Alpha Quintesson requires quite a bit of assembly out of the box, coming in six separate pieces: his main body, a solid "bed of tentacles" that serves as a wheeled base that the body plugs into, a firing missile launcher which plugs into his back (via a standard 5mm peg that also allows other characters to wield it) and points up over his head, and three rubber, wire-poseable tentacles which attach to the base. The tentacles end in a large yellow clamp, a red chainsaw, and a purple energy arc, and spin around via a gear-wheel system when the base is rolled back and forth. The figure features nine circular ports (three on each arm and three on the base), to which either energon chips or any weapons featuring 5mm pegs can be attached.
The main body is notably very accurate to the CGI model from the animated series, save for its coloration and the addition of the missile launcher. As a toy that was entirely dull green from top to bottom would not have been a very interesting sight, the figure features several shades of green with yellow highlights, plus a red paint wash on its "underbelly" and arms. The main body contains its own gimmick, involving Alpha Q's spinning faces as seen in the cartoon. Opening the armor's jaws reveals Alpha Q's head, recessed within the body (though unable to move forward into a more prominent position as seen in the show), and pressing the trigger on the back of the body, disguised as one of the spinal fins, causes the head to spin from face to face. The toy only features the character's first three faces (Angry, Whiny and Crazy); the purple, calm face is not featured.
As an allegiance was needed to brand the figure with for marketing purposes, Alpha Quintesson's toy is sold as a Decepticon, despite that faction not really being where his loyalties lie. There were also many reports of the toy coming misassembled, missing the hard point where the figure connected to the base, making it nigh impossible for the toy to stand up on its own.

Notes

  • Although the Dreamwave comic books and Hasbro toy packaging refer to the character by his full name of Alpha Quintesson, the Energon cartoon series preferred instead to call him by his Japanese moniker, Alpha Q, almost all of the time.
  • Heh, heh, Alpha Q.
  • He speaks without moving his lips.
  • He and Vector Prime apparently knew each other. <ref>Ask Vector Prime</ref>

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Alpha Q (アルファQ Arufa Q)
  • Hungarian: Alfa Q

References

<references/>

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