Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity
Hot Rod's career in Marvel Comics saw him rise from humble beginnings to leader of the Autobots...or not.
Generation 1
Several hundred years ago, Fortress Maximus dispatched Hot Rod and Blurr to search for habitable worlds. During this mission, the pair ran afoul of the Tyroxians—unpleasant aliens who captured Blurr and pursued Hot Rod through space. While fleeing, Hot Rod crossed paths with the Autobot war veteran, Kup, living a nomadic existence wandering through space at the time, and the youth's bravado in attacking Tyroxia single-handed re-ignited Kup's fighting spirit. After saving Hot Rod and helping him to rescue Blurr, Kup joined the pair in returning to Cybertron. Kup's Story!
Hot Rod was among the contingent of Transformers who ultimately accompanied Fortress Maximus in abandoning the war on Cybertron for a new world, Nebulos. The Autobots' arrival on the planet immediately stirred civil unrest, however, which led to the Decepticons being brought to the planet, and the war continuing on a smaller scale. Technological advancements developed during the conflict saw Nebulans being bio-engineered into partnerships with the Transformers. Hot Rod became a Targetmaster, and was bonded to the Nebulan sharpshooter, Firebolt (aka Sparks), who transformed into his gun. Eventually, the Autobots determined to move their war away from Nebulos, and followed a signal sent by Goldbug, received by Hot Rod, to the planet Earth. Brothers in Armor!!
Hot Rod and the other Autobots of Nebulos were soon incorporated into the larger Autobot force on Earth, under the command of Optimus Prime. On one occasion, Hot Rod and several Autobots accompanied Prime on what appeared to be a simple mission to stop some Decepticon Micromasters from attacking MacDill Air Force Base. Back from the Dead In fact, the attack was part of a much larger scheme by the deposed Decepticon leader Megatron, luring Prime and his forces away from the Ark and setting them against his rival for Decepticon leadership, the mighty Scorponok. Once Prime realized the greater threat at issue, he ordered his troops to immediately take the shuttle back to the Ark, but Hot Rod recklessly chose to stay behind at Optimus's side to face the Decepticons. All the Familiar Faces! He was therefore on-hand when the newly resurrected Starscream arrived, and began tearing through all Transformers present, in the name of Megatron. He managed to take a shot at Starscream's new Pretender shell, causing enough neural feedback to temporarily weaken the Decepticon, and give Scorponok time to strike and end the threat. Skin Deep
The cost was still high, though, as Optimus Prime returned to the Ark and learned that his good friend, Ratchet, had sacrificed himself to help stop Megatron's schemes. This sent the Autobot leader into a depression, and Hot Rod took it upon himself to snap Optimus out of it. He had the crazy scheme of creating a mock threat with a Guardian Mark V battle droid, with predictable results. The robot proceeded to actually malfunction and endanger the Autobots, but Hot Rod's plan worked when Prime eventually snapped out of his funk and defeated the droid to save the day. Hot Rod needed to find a replacement hand after the Guardian snapped it off, but hey, all's well that ends well. Yesterday's Heroes!
Hot Rod continued to operate with Earth's Autobot forces aboard the Ark, and was present during Thunderwing's rampage through the shuttle bay. He took some damage, but remained functional enough to continue on, and was later seen speeding into the battle with Unicron himself on a Sky-sled, On the Edge of Extinction! He was also one of many Autobots destroyed by the Decepticons on Klo, only to be revived by the Last Autobot. End of the Road!
In an alternate future of 2005, Hot Rod was one of the many Autobots based in the completed Autobot City. He was close friends with the young human Daniel Witwicky. Realizing that the Decepticons were invading in a stolen shuttle, Hot Rod and Daniel tried to outpace them before they reached the city. Optimus Prime fell in battle against Megatron, and Hot Rod stood with a handful of others as Optimus died and passed the Autobot Leadership Matrix to Ultra Magnus. The Planet-Eater!
After Prime's death, Autobot City got word from Spike Witwicky and Bumblebee that a "monster planet" was devouring Cybertron's moons. En route, Hot Rod and Kup (and the Dinobots) were separated from the rest of the Autobots during a Decepticon attack and crashed on the planet Quintessa. After escaping the sadistic trial of the Quintessons and attempted execution (as well as meeting Wheelie), Judgment Day! Hot Rod went on to the planet Junk, where he was just in time to stop Wreck-Gar from fighting another group of stranded Autobots with a timely use of the Universal greeting. Together, they all traveled to Cybertron to stop Unicron before he could eat more than just its moons.
Hot Rod plunged his ship through Unicron's eye and was separated from the rest of his team. Alone, he found himself facing Galvatron in a battle to the death over the Autobot Leadership Matrix. Claiming the Matrix, Hot Rod evolved into "Rodimus Prime", an older, larger, and more powerful version of himself. After overpowering Galvatron and hurling him through Unicron's hide into the void of space, he opened the Matrix and destroyed Unicron from within. The Final Battle!
In 2006, Rodimus Prime's Autobots had taken control of Cybertron. Sky Lynx reported suspicious activity on Junkion, so Rodimus sent the Aerialbots to investigate. Superion was defeated in battle but was able to send back an SOS before going offline. Sky Lynx was dispatched to retrieve him, and Rodimus decided to investigate himself. He took Ultra Magnus and Blaster in Omega Supreme.
Once there, the Autobots discovered a chaotic scene where aliens from many worlds, including the Decepticons, had arrived and were all engaged in a deadly battle with one another. Rodimus was immediately attacked by a hypnotized Galvatron, and the two battled to a standstill. The other Autobots were able to disrupt a hypnotic signal that was causing everyone to fight one another. The Junkions then added their strength against the Decepticons, causing the latter to retreat. Rodimus didn't care where the hypnosis signal had been coming from, as long as it was off for good. He never discovered that it was the work of the Quintessons. The Big Broadcast of 2006 (US)
In an another alternate future timeline, Hot Rod arose to become Rodimus Prime. However, the planet-eater known as Unicron managed to destroy Cybertron, leaving Rodimus to lead a failed Autobot/human defense of Earth when that timeline's Galvatron attacked and eventually conquered it. Rodimus perished during the conflict, and his body was strung up between the ruined towers of the World Trade Center. In the year 2009, Galvatron returned to Manhattan to survey its devastated landscape, and fired upon Rodimus's corpse, demanding to know how many times he would have to kill him to erase his legacy. Rhythms of Darkness!
Marvel UK future timelines
Hot Rod rose to greater prominence in the alternate future timeline of Earth-120185. In 1990, he, Kup and Blurr were captured by Megatron; although rescued by a double-agent named Warmonger, Hot Rod was recaptured and bore witness first hand to Megatron's mercilessness when he executed Warmonger. Then, in 1991, he was part of a unit that escorted the captive Scorponok, only to lose the Decepticon leader when forced to defend a human settlement against an attack by the Air Strike Patrol. Aspects of Evil! On another occasion in 1995, Hot Rod was present when Optimus Prime first unveiled the female Autobot, Arcee, to a dubious crowd of human feminists. Hot Rod was more than a little flustered by Arcee's presence on the battlefield. Prime's Rib!
In 2003, he and Blurr were given "Ark duty," assigned to stand guard over the Autobots' spaceship while construction on Autobot City began. Kup was apparently instructed to deliver the plans of the city to the American government, and when Hot Rod saw him being jumped by the Stunticons, he disobeyed orders and sped out to the rescue. The Stunticons brutally beat on Hot Rod and took the plans, but Hot Rod learned a hard lesson when Kup informed him that it was meant to happen that way because the plans were a fake. Ark Duty When the city was completed in 2004, Shockwave attacked it on its opening day, and Hot Rod repelled him by attacking in a wildly illogical manner, tackling him down a mountain repeatedly. Aspects of Evil! Also, at some unknown point in the past, Hot Rod's Targetmaster partner Firebolt was killed in action. Headhunt
In the year 2006, when the new Decepticon leader Galvatron travelled back in time to 1986 as part of a plan to free himself from the control of Unicron, the chaos-bringer used his mental powers to plant knowledge of Galvatron's plan into the minds of Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr and transported them to Cybertron, where they used Galvatron's equipment to follow him into the past. There, with help from the present-day incarnation of Ultra Magnus, they were able to convince Galvatron that he had, in fact, traveled back in time to a parallel universe, where his actions would have no effect on the future. Believing this, Galvatron returned to his own time, and after setting any remaining wrongs to rights, the trio of Autobots also returned to 2006. Target: 2006 Back in his native timeline, Hot Rod was subsequently involved in a battle with Galvatron inside Unicron's body, during which he opened the sacred Autobot talisman, the Creation Matrix, and was transformed into Rodimus Prime. With this new strength, he hurled Galvatron through Unicron's hide and opened the Matrix, destroying the planet-eater. The Final Battle!
It's believed that Primus deliberately caused Hot Rod's Prime form to resemble him. What an ego! #160's Grim Grams
As the new Autobot leader, Rodimus became paranoid about Galvatron's eventual return, since no body was ever recovered from space. He led the Autobot forces high and low searching the universe for the Decepticon leader, neglecting Cybertron in the process. As a result, Shockwave arose as the new Decepticon leader, and total war broke out on Cybertron once again. Unable to take the time to find Galvatron himself anymore, Rodimus rashly placed a bounty on the Decepticon's head. What Rodimus did not realize, however, was that Galvatron had time-jumped again, traveling back to 1987. Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive! In 2007, when the freelance peace-keeping agent Death's Head pursued Galvatron back to the '80s, Rodimus was informed of this fact by an Autobot double-agent named Nautilus, and, dismayed at the danger he had unleashed on the past, promptly headed back in time himself to stop the dual threats. Burning Sky! Once again teaming up with the present-day Ultra Magnus, Rodimus and his team of Kup, Blurr and Wreck-Gar tracked Galvatron down to Mount Verona, where he was attempting to harness the volcano's molten energy. While arguing with Death's Head, Rodimus and the bounty hunter were both attacked, but when Ultra Magnus opened fire on his power siphon, Galvatron was distracted long enough for Rodimus to escape. Hunters Rodimus then arranged a plan that saw the Autobots capture Galvatron's time-jump mechanism, in order to have Wreck-Gar re-engineer it to return all the time-travelers to their point of origin. Rodimus engaged Galvatron in a protracted battle to buy Wreck-Gar time, but when the device was activated, Rodimus, Death's Head and the other Autobots were returned to 2007. Galvatron was left behind. Fire on High!
Some time later, a disgruntled Death's Head accepted a contract from the Decepticons on Rodimus Prime's head, and ambushed him while he was inspecting Autobot lines. Their battle subsequently went underground, where Cyclonus and Scourge intervened, downing Death's Head in hopes of being the ones to defeat Rodimus, in order to reclaim their lost standing in the Decepticons' ranks. Rodimus was able to lead Death's Head through the underground tunnels, right into the heart of the Autobot camp, where he offered him advance payment for a different contract—on Cyclonus and Scourge. Headhunt Death's Head proceeded to track the two Decepticons for the remainder of the year, until the three of them fell under the mental control of Unicron when they discovered his disembodied head on the planet of Junk in the early days of 2008. Under his control, they assassinated Decepticon leader Shockwave and reignited the stalemated Cybertronian civil war in order to keep the Autobots busy while Unicron worked on rebuilding his body. Rodimus, however, learned of the situation thanks to Smokescreen, and led a small Autobot force to Junk, where Death's Head fought against Unicron's control long enough to project Rodimus's mind into a battle with the demi-god on the astral plane. During the battle, explosives planted by Wreck-Gar destroyed Unicron's head, and his mind was sealed within the Matrix. The Legacy of Unicron!
Later in 2008, the alien Quintessons targeted Cybertron for colonization, and attacked the Autobots with a two-pronged assault on both Cybertron and Earth. When Arcee shirked her guard duty at Autobot City, the Quintessons were given an opening that allowed them to take over the city, and when she returned, they gunned her down as bait for a trap for Rodimus Prime. Arriving at the city, Rodimus discovered the injured Arcee and opened his chest compartment to heal her with the Matrix, only to have it yanked from his grasp by the Quintesson general, Ghyrik, causing him to revert to Hot Rod. Liberating Blaster's cassettes for back-up, Hot Rod and Arcee proceeded to fight their way through the Quintessons to Autobot City's control room, where Hot Rod activated Metroplex to smash the alien threat. In battle with Ghyrik, Hot Rod duped the Quintessons with a bit of amateur ventriloquism and reclaimed the Matrix; transformed back into Rodimus Prime again, he routed the Quintessons. Space Pirates!
Unbeknownst to Rodimus, the Quintessons had sought to colonize Cybertron because their own homeworld was being destroyed by a rift in space and time caused by the Transformers' repeated time-travel. The rift continued to grow in size until it threatened both Earth and Cybertron at the beginning of both 2009 and 1989. To put an end to the threat, Rodimus and a squad of Autobots traveled back to 1989, only to wind up mass-displacing Optimus Prime (since the Matrix could not exist in two time periods at once) and a group of other Autobots to limbo, leading to a brief but violent misunderstanding with the present-day Autobots. Optimus Prime was able to stabilize the situation by communicating with all involved through the power of the Matrix. Subsequently, Autobots and Decepticons from both the present and future teamed up to battle Galvatron and Megatron, but one by one they fell, until Optimus Prime used the Matrix to return himself to reality for a final showdown. After absorbing Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge, however, the rift was sealed by Shockwave, and Rodimus and the other future Autobots returned to 2009, vowing to destroy their time machines to prevent this from ever happening again. Time Wars
As it transpired, however, things would not be that easy. In the wake of the massive chronal damage caused by the rift, time had attempted to heal its wounds, but reality was no longer as it had been. The future that Rodimus and the other Autobots came from no longer existed—in its place was a world where Galvatron had never traveled back in time, and had conquered Cybertron after Unicron's destruction. Rodimus quickly established a rebellion, but when Galvatron tracked down their headquarters, he killed Blurr and all others present, goading Rodimus into a ferocious battle in hopes of corrupting the Matrix within him. Rodimus realized what he was doing, however, and ended the fight before more damage could be done. Aspects of Evil!
Rodimus and the Autobots escaped to Earth via hyperspace, only to find that their craft's guidance systems had been damaged. During the flight, Rodimus Prime vanished, The Void! and Kup discovered that he was the saboteur, Edge of Impact deducing that he had been corrupted by an evil force from within the Matrix. Shadow of Evil Inside the Matrix, Rodimus battled with the essence of Unicron, trapped there since the events of 2008, until Kup wrenched the Matrix from his chest, freeing him from the chaos-bringer's influence. But now, Rodimus knew that the evil of Unicron would be waiting for him within it... White Fire ...and in 2010, Unicron's essence succeeded in taking over Rodimus's body, transforming it into a duplicate of his own and attacking Cybertron once more, until Rodimus was able to defeat him from within and re-seal him within the Matrix. Aspects of Evil!
Centuries later, in the year 2356, Rodimus, his body withered and weakened from the continuous harmful influence of Unicron from within the Matrix, lectured a young Autobot student on the nature of evil, unwittingly setting the youth on the path towards villainy himself. Aspects of Evil!
In an unidentified timeline in the year 2510, a healthy Rodimus Prime was overjoyed to announce that the Cybertronian war was finally over, and planned to step down as leader to allow Springer to take over. The sole remaining Decepticon, a double-agent named Triton, spoke out against the decision to cause dissension, and succeeded—as Rodimus could only watch in dismay, arguments escalated into conflict, and the war was born again as Technobot fought Wrecker, and the Autobot Civil War began. Peace
Generation 2
After the defeat of the Decepticons on Klo, the Autobots' forces scattered throughout the galaxy as virtually independent splinter cells. A small group under Optimus Prime's command encountered Bludgeon and his soldiers on a desolate world, both sides looking for new weapons or technology, and were in danger of being overrun. Prime sent Hot Rod into a nearby mausoleum building in the hopes that he could conjure up some form of "graven image" to distract the superstitious Decepticon leader. Hot Rod emerged empty-handed from the ruins, only to find that just such a graven image had conjured itself, chased off the trespassing Decepticons, and was now prepared to do the same to the Autobots. They managed a dignified, if rushed, scramble to safety. Ghosts
When Grimlock sent out a message summoning Optimus Prime, Hot Rod and Kup accompanied him. Hot Rod was quick to remark the sorry state of the planet they were on, and pondered exactly why they were here. As Prime continued his lengthy internal monolog, they were ambushed by a second-generation Cybertronian patrol. Hot Rod pretended to flee, but quickly came back as he and Prime caught the squad in a crossfire, annihilating the lot of them. Grimlock made his presence known afterwards and took them to his ship, where Hot Rod casually fiddled with a panel while Grimlock exposited. Jhiaxus attacked soon after, crippling the Autobots's ship and capturing them. They later managed to escape Jhiaxus's flagship. War Without End! When Grimlock and a team of Autobots were captured once again by the Liege Centuro, Hot Rod was part of Optimus's rescue team. Devices and Desires! While Optimus Prime went on a vision quest back on Cybertron, some Autobots set up camp on a deserted asteroid, where Kup set up some war games for training. Hot Rod managed to lure the Aerialbots and Groove into a false sense of confidence and into a trap consisting of Dinobots. When the exercise was over, Hot Rod expressed frustration at the fact that they were stuck playing games while Jhiaxus and his Cybertronians were still out there. The Power and the Glory Megatron's resurfacing on Earth made Optimus Prime decide to confront him alone. Fortunately, Grimlock had different ideas and mounted up a rescue, which Hot Rod participated in. He tried to engage Rumble in vehicle mode, but the small Decepticon used his piledrivers to send Hot Rod tumbling away. Hot Rod crashed just behind Megatron, prompting the Decepticon leader to order a full retreat. The Gathering Darkness
Hot Rod was amongst the Autobots deployed to the planet Ethos where they fought hard to counter a Cybertronian offensive, but quickly found themselves overwhelmed and had to be saved by their newfound Decepticon allies. Escalation! After Starscream sold out the location of the Autobots' Autobase on Earth, Jhiaxus organized a full-scale assault. Hot Rod was part of the counter-offensive, and as the Cybertronians were being eradicated by the Autobot-Decepticon alliance, he was quick to report Prime his new finding: Jhiaxus had a second wave waiting in the wings. Total War! When the Cybertronian threat was overshadowed by the oncoming Swarm, Hot Rod and Electro went scouting out for its position. Thanks to Murphy's law, he had the misfortune of reporting its arrival just as Grimlock pondered just how things could get worse. Unlike many of his fellow Autobots, Hot Rod was saved from being devoured by the Swarm thanks to Megatron's timely arrival, carrying canisters of Rheanimum. Soon afterwards, Hot Rod and company witnessed Optimus Prime's return to life in a shiny new body, and cheered at his speech for unity and a higher purpose than war. A Rage in Heaven!
Classics
Once peace was restored on Klo, Hot Rod followed Optimus Prime back to Cybertron, where the young Autobot fell back into the racing scene. After countless years of fighting for his life, this quickly bored Hot Rod, who went to Optimus to ask advice. Hot Rod was put in charge of the rehabilitation of Cybertron and the integration of the millions of Transformers who had fled the planet during the war. To keep the returning Transformers entertained, Hot Rod devised the Cybertron Grand Challenge, a cross-factional racing event of an epic scale. Following his cultural triumph, Hot Rod changed his name to Rodimus, both to reflect his growing maturity and in homage to Optimus Prime, the leader he still adored. Rodimus became one of Optimus Prime's closest officers, and when Megatron reared his head again on Earth, Rodimus was one of the first recruited to accompany Optimus to hunt him down. Classics Rodimus profile
After the Autobots discovered the mysterious Autobot, Skyfall, they flew to South America to investigate a mysterious power source. Rodimus led them there with a tracking device, muttering that he wished Wheeljack were around to help him use it. Clearly they arrived at the correct location, however, because the Decepticons were there looking for it as well! Crossing Over #3 As the battle raged, Mirage and Rodimus cornered Soundwave, but the two worried that they were being overwhelmed by numbers. Crossing Over #5 Rodimus tried contacting Cliffjumper, but the Autobot scout wasn't responding, and so Rodimus grew even more frustrated when Mirage went invisible and left him. Mirage's gambit helped win the battle, and the Decepticons withdrew. Crossing Over #6
Rodimus was damaged severely, and so after the battle in South America, Optimus Prime carried him all the way home. Bumblebee was asked to put him in a CR chamber. Games of Deception
Regeneration One
Following the Last Autobot's restoration of Cybertron, Optimus Prime sequestered himself and Hot Rod away at Nova Point to mentor the young Autobot in the ways of leadership. Their training was interrupted by Kup and Ultra Magnus, who were concerned by the recent resurgence of Decepticon activity, but Prime dismissed their concerns out of hand and ordered Hot Rod to show them out. Their fears were proved entirely founded when Soundwave's "Neo-Decepticons" took control of an orbital defense satellite and destroyed the Last Autobot as Hot Rod looked on with horror. Counterpoint
When Kup and the Wreckers went against Prime's orders by breaking a Neo-Decepticon siege in Kalis, Ultra Magnus and Kup were called to Nova Point to report in. Waiting outside, Kup complained to Hot Rod that in his opinion Prime had lost his edge following his resurrection and when Hot Rod tried to defend his mentor, Kup angrily retorted that Prime's tutoring him was merely his way of trying to avoid his responsibilities. Kup stormed out of Nova Point, leaving Hot Rod to explain his absence to Magnus. Loose Ends #1
Optimus and Hot Rod continued their training, but were once again interrupted by Magnus when Trailbreaker discovered that Kup and the Wreckers had gone missing. At the Civil Defense Hub Hot Rod and Prime learned that they had travelled to Earth with the Cosmic Carnival. There, they had found the planet devastated and come under attack from Megatron, who was also broadcasting a message calling out Optimus Prime for a fight. Taking a squad of his best warriors aboard the hypercruiser Valiant Prime set off for Earth and although Hot Rod pleaded to accompany him, he was told that he had to remain behind on Cybertron in command of the Autobots there. Walking away from the launch, Hot Rod completely failed to recognise the Neo-Decepticon spy Dirtbag. Loose Ends #3
Left alone, Hot Rod experienced a dream or vision in which he fought Demons with a sword. Unable to comprehend its meaning, he was shaken out of this reverie by Blurr's warning that the Hall of Silence had been breached. Loose Ends #4 Arriving at the scene, he discovered that the supposedly impregnable building had indeed been, er, impregnated and that the intruder had established a null field around it that kept the Autobots out. Though Grapple urged him to destroy the Hall of Silence before the Matrix reservoir within Thunderwing's remains could fall into enemy hands, Hot Rod hesitated, wondering what Prime would do. Loose Ends #5 Grapple convinced him that destroying the Hall is the right thing to do, so Hot Rod proceeds, unaware that Soundwave was counting on this action, and had teleported away with Thunderwing's remains. Natural Selection #1
Hot Rod receives a report from Lightspeed on an excavation project that, at last, located the tunnels once used by Grimlock, Jazz, and Bumblebee to access the chamber of Primus. Just as Hot Rod was feeling optimistic, Crosshairs brings news that Grimlock has returned to Cybertron. Gathering up the Autobot Targetmasters and Triggerbots, Hot Rod meets up with Grimlock at the Cybertropolis Spaceport, with the intent to arrest the renegade Dinobot, but is stunned by the revelation of Grimlock's restored ability to transform. Hot Rod reasserts himself and has Grimlock restrained, but the young Autobot senses that something is not right about this scenario.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Optimus Prime informs Ultra Magnus that he has chosen to remain behind to help the humans rebuild their world, despite their wishes that all Autobots leave. He tells Magnus that he believes his ressurection at the hands of the Last Autobot was a mistake, and that it is time for Hot Rod to assume the mantle of leadership. leaving Prime to undo the damage he had allowed Megatron to cause on Earth.
Back at Iacon, Hot Rod hands the responsibility of overseeing Grimlock over to Grapple, Siren, Hosehead, and Perceptor as he proceeds to the excavation site. At the site, he proceeds down an elevator, unaware that the excavation team has been attacked by Demons. Natural Selection #2
Hot Rod's absence from Iacon is felt keenly by the Autobots as Scorponok begins his invasion of Cybertron, using his Gene Key to rewrite the CNA of Autobots one by one and rallying the remaining Decepticons to his side. Hot Rod, meanwhile, is being chased through the underground tunnels by the Demons, who are driven into an even more vicious frenzy than usual by something they sense within the young Autobot that reminds them of their creator. Transforming into vehicle mode to outrun them, Hot Rod hurdles a chasm, only to pass through what appears to be a solid wall on the other side. In this secret chamber, suspended in twin beams of light, he discovers a sword and a golden disc. Natural Selection #3
Hot Rod senses he is meant to choose between the two items: the Sword of Primus, with which he can use to fight the Demons, or the Covenant of Primus, bearing knowledge. Deciding that what he requires is answers, Hot Rod grasps the disc and is shown a vision of primordial Cybertron, as the Demons—Primus's first creations—rise from the planet and worship around a stone effigy of their maker. Time spins on and Hot Rod sees free will take root among the Demons, who turn upon one another, prompting Primus to wipe his experiment clean, sundering the planet's surface and destroying his creations. Realizing that some Demons survived the purge within the planet and that Primus intends for him to finish the job, Hot Rod takes up the sword and turns for battle. Natural Selection #4
 Plot details for Natural Selection, Part 5 follow. |
Hot Rod holds the Sword of Primus above the head of a cowering Demon, and announces that the will of Primus decrees he use the blade to exterminate all of the creature's kind so the next step in the evolution of the Transformer race can begin. But after a moment's hesitation, Hot Rod concludes that Primus' will is not his will, and he will not further the grievous wrong their creator committed, on which their race is built. Taking the Covenant of Primus as well, Hot Rod exits the chamber—the gashes on his chest healing closed as he does so—and, vowing to return, heads back to the surface, the Demons all parting before him, genuflecting in fear of the light of Primus's artifacts. Natural Selection #5
