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 portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
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.
Despite appearances, Tarn is a mess of contradictions. Viewing himself as the central pillar of the D.J.D., he can find the violent zeal the others show uncomfortable and sometimes his thoughts are a constant stream of self-denigration. He works hard to run a tight but fair ship, and is not above taking in an open-minded, needy stray. On the other hand for all his thoughts of sophistication and control, Tarn can go from affable to life-threatening at the least provocation. His addictive tendencies have lead to him burning out his original transformation cog years ago, and his reliance on the power-enhancing Nuke can lead to his losing himself to the lust for violence. And have no doubt that while he may try and convince himself otherwise, Tarn is a truly sociopathic murderer. Ultimately whether Tarn is a monster or not is irrelevant. His utter devotion to the Decepticon cause means he will ensure the fear of Megatron is put into any that would consider abandoning their noble goals.
And if Megatron himself abandons those noble goals? Well, that just means he has to die too.
Fiction
IDW Generation 1 continuity
"Yup"
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? 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
Arriving at Overlord's location, the Lost Light (in reality, one of two created by a malfunction of the ship's quantum engines), 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, used Vos' gun mode to shoot Cyclonus in the 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 and suicidal Overlord's head with a chainsaw, and the D.J.D. left the ship. slaughterhouse The Road Not Taken
Games
Transformers Legends
Tarn and the rest of the DJD pursued Blackshadow for taking bribes from the Autobots. The DJD found their target hiding on planet Clemency, and dispatched them with extreme prejudice as Tarn set course for their next assignment. Rules of Disengagement
Notes
- Alex Milne said in a Facebook interview that his ideal voice for Tarn is Keith David. That is AWESOME.[1]
- Prowl lists Tarn as being on par with the Phase Sixers Sixshot and Overlord in "Remembrance Day". So far there's no official confirmation that Tarn is himself a Sixer.
