Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Can Ultra Magnus deal with an entire page dedicated solely to his role in the Generation 1 cartoon continuity? Let's find out!
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice actor: Robert Stack (English, The Movie), Jack Angel (English), Show Hayami (Japanese), Masaki Aizawa (Japanese, "The Rebirth"), Mario Desmarais (Canadian French), Fritz von Hardenberg (German), Jesús Barrero (Spanish)
"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 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. 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's 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 anywhere else but on 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 artificial "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 isidrite 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 isidrite. 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 (Japanese)
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 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: The Transformers
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
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 (Japanese
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 Metamorphose, 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.
Wings Universe
Nine million years ago, following the destruction of the Autobots Dion and Magnum, only one of the two was able to be saved from death. The lucky survivor was rebuilt and renamed "Ultra Magnus" by Alpha Trion, and the unlucky one perished. Optimus Prime greeted his old friend and congratulated him on his increase in size. Battle Lines, Part 6
During the Battle of Autobot City, Ultra Magnus led a team which took down Devastator after the Decepticon breached Autobot City. They had to retreat when the Constructicons fought back. A Flash Forward In 2012, Magnus was in charge of Autobot City. As alien ambassadors arrived, he contacted Cliffjumper to remind his fellow to go easy on the Autobots who'd been exposed to forestonite. He also briefed Pyro, Rapido and Sizzle on a break in at Quantum Labs and tasked them with tracking down the culprit. A Flash Forward, Part 2 Pyro's team returned with the rescued Hi-Q and the news that the blueprints had unfortunately been destroyed. Sizzle also broke the news to Magnus that the "Machine Wars" were coming. A Flash Forward, Part 2
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?.
- 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.
References
- ↑ Ultra Magnus's e-Hobby toy bio (archive)
