Tarn (G1)

The name or term "Tarn" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Tarn (disambiguation).

Tarn is a Decepticon from the IDW continuity portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

He kills you with culture... and also violence.

Tarn is an eloquent Decepticon. He enjoys nothing more than playing beautiful music as he waxes poetic quoting "Towards Peace" and other philosophical works by Megatron. He tends to indulge these pleasures at the same time he's using his specially modulated vocal processor to cause the Decepticon Justice Division's latest transgressor's spark to self-destruct. The current leader of the D.J.D., Tarn epitomises the mentality of the team. He is beyond zealous in his devotion to Megatron's cause, going so far as to emboss the Decepticon insignia onto his own faceplate. No traitor, no coward is capable of escaping his team.

But as with many leaders, the pressures of his job have led him to fall back on addiction. Developing an obsession with transformation, he changes form constantly, to the point where he burnt through his original transformation cog long ago. Now he uses either those of the victims of the D.J.D. or cogs acquired through less direct means as replacements, feeding his addiction and ensuring he can continue putting the fear into those who would dare abandon the path of the Decepticons.

Fiction

IDW Generation 1 continuity

Tarn explains his ability to Black Shadow.

With his phenomenal levels of power and endurance, Tarn was regarded by Prowl as the equal of the Phase Sixers such as Overlord and Sixshot. Remembrance Day

Tarn brokered a deal with Pharma for an ever-increasing supply of transformation cogs from the deceased patients of Delphi, in exchange for the hospital being unmolested by the Justice Division. As his demands grew greater, Pharma looked into rather unorthodox means of escaping this arrangement. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

After Black Shadow was captured by the D.J.D. Tarn mused on the tendency of "phase sixers" to rebel. He paused when he realised Black Shadow was still alive. Playing his music, he discussed his views on the so-called end of the war, noting that as far as he was concerned, the war would end only when Megatron said so. He then began modulating his voice to Black Shadow's spark frequency, causing him to explode. He then ordered the D.J.D. to move onto their next target. He contacted said target on Clemency, warning his comrades that if they handed him over, they could live to watch him die. Rules of Disengagement

Sheltering in a crashed P-6 Worldsweeper, the Scavengers had other ideas and on discovering an unconscious Grimlock in a stasis tube decided to spike him with circuit speeders and use him to distract the Justice Division. Well aware that it was a trap Tarn mused how he could never resist a closed coffin and approached it anyway, but while the brain damaged Grimlock initially fared well against the D.J.D. Tesarus and Tarn soon subdued him and Helex prevented the Scavengers from escaping. In the ensuing battle Tarn was crushed beneath the foot of Crankcase's Cybernought but recovered quickly enough to hear Fulcrum—the D.J.D.'s intended target—deliver a speech about Decepticon ideals before apparently committing suicide. With Kaon's discovery of Overlord's energy signature nearby Tarn ordered the D.J.D. to disengage in pursuit, warning the surviving Scavengers that their names had now made it onto The List. Who's Afraid of the DJD?

Spoiler warning: Plot details for slaughterhouse follow. Spoilers expire in 117 days

Arriving at Overlord's location, the Lost Light, near the planet Ofsted XVII, the D.J.D. set about murdering the ship's crew of Autobots. Tarn sliced off Ultra Magnus's hand before shooting him through the torso with his fusion cannon, and subsequently dragged Minimus Ambus's corpse out of the Magnus Armor. He also crushed Swerve's head, and forced a large section of the ship's crew to transform before executing them, leaving their transformation cogs warm for location and harvesting. Eventually, Tarn removed a still-restrained Overlord's head with a chainsaw, and the D.J.D. left the ship. slaughterhouse Unbeknownst to them, however, another version of the Lost Light was still out in space, and whose Overlord escaped confinement before being ejected and blasted with missiles. Under Cold Blue Stars

Much later, aboard the Peaceful Tyranny, Tarn showed concern as Kaon spontaneously began writhing in agony right in front of him, calling on his teammate to tell him what he could do to help. Arm the Lonely