Overlord (rank)
The Overlords were a group of Autobots from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Overlords were the ruling council on Cybertron before the onset of the Great War. Their home base was Iacon.
Marvel Comics UK continuity
The last of the Overlords, an old and feeble mech who needed near-constant refuelling to keep himself functioning, was in rule during the time period immediately before the onset of the War, when Cybertron was broken up into many warring city-states. Two such provinces - Tarn and Vos - were on the verge of yet another of these scuffles, when the Overlord, accompanied by his bodyguards Nightstalker and Ravage, along with Optimus Prime and a then-neutral Megatron, visited them to promote a more diplomatic solution to the conflict in the form of gladiatorial battles. The talks went south, however, and the Overlord was forced to retreat back to Iacon.
On their way there, however, the Overlord and his troupe were cornered by Tarnian warriors, who had blocked off their only escape by destroying the bridge to Iacon. Optimus, seeing they were outnumbered, jumped the damaged bridge in order to return to Iacon for reinforcements, while Megatron, Ravage, and Nightstalker stayed behind to defend the aging monarch. The Tarnians were just too much for them, however, and in an extreme show of loyalty, Nightstalker detonated the bomb he and the rest of the Overlord's bodyguards were fitted with (as a last resort) to destroy himself and the Tarn army. Now safe, but severely energy-deprived, the Overlord begged Megatron and Ravage to share with him some of their energy, but they refused, believing that Megatron would be the future for Cybertron, watching as the rusted old mech died out.
