|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 8, 2009 17:53:32 GMT
(Thanks to Karl for scanning the images.) DEATHCHARGE Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Rhino, laser cannon, breastplate for Drillhorn Functions: Literary critic, librarian History: Before the war, Deathcharge was a respected (and much feared) critic of Cybertronian texts, holographic videos and live performance arts. Careers were made or broken on the back of the incisive and insightful opinions that he voiced in the popular media. However, he made deadly enemies in the course of his occupation, including one member of the ruling Council of Elders who tried to have him permanently silenced. Deathcharge fled and sought refuge among the fledgling Decepticon movement. He quickly became disillusioned with Megatron’s plans and began to point out flaws in both his goals and his methods in the external media. Silentpaw traced the critique back to him before Ravage could do so, and redirected the Decepticons’ internal mole hunt to light upon an innocent but much more deserving victim. Deathcharge joined Download’s secret sub-faction of Decepticons and continues to this day to provide a popular commentary on the Transformers war – anonymously, of course. Profile: Unbeknown to the upright Destrons, Deathcharge has a vast library of Cybertronian and alien records stored away in the vaults of their Space-Fortress deep in the Black Nebula. He lends out texts and holographic videos to his fellow Primitives – those robots and sentient Pretender shells who for their own reasons choose to act as dumb and obedient slaves whilst maintaining sophisticated social relations amongst themselves. He secretly broadcasts his views on key events out into the Galaxy. Abilities: Deathcharge can reach running speeds of up to 85 km/h and skewer most opponents on his primary horn with little difficulty. He can also use his horn to lift great weights. He has twin side-mounted mortars each capable of firing explosive shells at a rate of one every six seconds, alternating so that between them a shell is launched every three seconds, one mortar recoiling as the other slides forward and reloads from the ammunition store on his back. The shells have a range of five kilometres. Weaknesses: Deathcharge’s primary horn is so large that when he impales a foe on it he can find it hard to extricate himself, and is highly vulnerable to attack when in this condition. If the armoured ammunition store carried on his back is compromised and detonated by enemy firepower, Deathcharge’s head, forelegs and hindquarters will be blown apart and he will be out of action until someone reassembles him. His head, containing his cerebral processors, will remain on-line, however. Strength: 9 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 6 Endurance: 9 Rank: 3 Courage: 8 Firepower: 7 Skill: 7
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 8, 2009 18:21:15 GMT
DOWNLOAD Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Buffalo, photon cannon, breastplate for Killbison Function: Autobot Overlord (retired) History: Download was the 184th Autobot Overlord on Cybertron, successor to Circuit Zero and Brown Convoy and predecessor to Sentinel, Traachon and Optimus. Following an assassination attempt by prototype clones of the Insecticons Bombshell and Shrapnel he became the only Autobot Overlord in history to give up the Creation Matrix of his own accord and go into voluntary retirement. Like Circuit Zero and Brown Convoy he had resisted the lure of compromising his mind by merging with the Matrix to become a Prime, or using it except to give life to new Autobots, right up until the very end of his reign. Some time after recovering from the shock of the assassination attempt he gave formal notice of his retirement, sent his bodyguards Nightstalker and Ravage away and went into seclusion for several days before finally relinquishing the Matrix to Sentinel. Much of what he did during that period, shut up alone with the Matrix, remains a mystery even to his closest comrades, but they do know he gave himself a new body, and created Silentpaw as a replacement for his feline bodyguards. They also have a pretty fair suspicion that he didn’t relinquish the Creation Matrix in its entirety, but kept a fragment back for his own personal use. Download and a few trusted friends joined the Destron sub-faction of the Decepticons, foreseeing their eventual departure from Cybertron and union with the Liege Maximo’s empire, from which position they could more easily pursue their goals. Profile: Download sees himself as an administrator, a behind-the-scenes man working to oil the wheels of Cybertronian civilisation, and was shocked at being targeted for assassination by unknown enemies (the nanobot entities of Cybertron’s third moon, Delta Triton). It made him rethink his career in a major way. Now he thrives on anonymity, so much so that even his ‘master’ Killbison thinks he is a simple-minded drone whose sole purpose is to assist him in battle. Little does Killbison realise that these brief interludes of violence are boring and irrelevant distractions in Download’s eyes, and the shorter their duration the better. The rest of the time, whether left to his own devices or attached to Killbison, Download spends sifting data from every corner of the Empire and taking minute but myriad actions to imperceptibly but continuously influence the course of Transformer history. His intentions are benevolent, but he feels his species tends not to know what’s good for it and needs constant nudging. Abilities: Download’s hide is virtually impervious to penetration. Though impacts may stun or disorientate him, he is by and large protected from physical damage. The density of his armour makes him quite heavy for his size, and when he charges at his maximum speed of 75 km/h he is very hard to stop and will have the effect of a bowling ball on skittles with most opponents. His tail is a highly versatile multi-function sensor and engineering tool. He can extend it to a length of 80 metres and guide it wherever he wishes it to go, be it to repair a damaged component in a starship’s engine core or to spy inside an enemy stronghold. As a former Matrix-bearer who still retains a fragment of the Autobots’ sacred lifeforce, Download can access some of its powers. In his case they are manifested in the ability to overload the processors of less intelligent Cybertronians and render them unconscious, reprogram unliving computers with his thoughts, and manipulate unliving metal on a small scale. Weaknesses: In giving himself a near-indestructible armoured form, Download has sacrificed his manoeuvrability and speed. He takes several seconds to get up to full velocity when he charges, and a similar amount of time to stop or change direction should his enemy move to one side to avoid being hit, or should an obstacle appear in his path. Although his momentum is formidable, his speed is too slow for long-distance travel and he must rely upon his comrades to move him between locations. Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10 Speed: 5 Endurance: 10 Rank: 3 Courage: 7 Firepower: 8 Skill: 10 Appendix (extract from Moonrise): The armoured convoy sped along the expressway from Vos to Iacon. It had been some years since the violent death of Brown Convoy, but Autobot Security were still taking no chances.
Inside the second of three vehicles, Download tapped away at his electronic scheduler, all thoughts of his predecessor’s fate buried beneath a mountain of bureaucracy and diplomatic protocol. The position of Overlord had been one of glamour and high-profile leadership prior to his taking up the post, but somehow priorities had changed as time passed, and all the pomp and ceremony had been pushed to one side and replaced by endless negotiations and goodwill tours as city-states demanded more and more independence from the capital.
But Download was not above a little hard work. He cared about his planet, and would do whatever it took to hold it together, even if it meant working around the clock.
“Meeting with delegation from Kalis upon arrival at Iacon suburbs,†said the scheduler Autobot through whom he was attempting to access the Council mainframe. “Tomaandi will be co-presiding.â€
“Why can’t he preside on his own?†wondered the Overlord. “I have more important things to do, like mediating the Tarn-Vos border dispute. And why can’t I connect to the Overbase?â€
The electronic scheduler made a rude noise in reply to the first question and rotated his aerial to show what he thought of Tomaandi’s ability to preside over an oil change, let alone a diplomatic gathering. In response to the second, he beeped for a few moments, then reported, “Electrical interference. Lightning storm gathering overhead.â€
Download gave up and reclined back on his caterpillar tracks with a sigh. Just what he needed to complete this disaster of a day-
It was then that the first mortar shell soared over the convoy and turned the lead transport into a wreckage-filled funeral pyre.
The Overlord’s transport instantly reacted by accelerating through the conflagration, aiming to reach safety in as short a time as possible while the bodyguards in the third vehicle attempted to fight off their unknown attackers or at least buy their leader the time he needed to escape. Their armoured transport skidded to a halt, lowered its ramp and released a squadron of motorcycle warriors which zoomed ahead to form a protective escort for Download, side-mounted photon cannons searching the sky for enemy flyers, followed by foot soldiers who took up position around their halted vehicle, blocking the expressway from attack from behind.
Half a dozen machines resembling giant rhinoceros beetles passed high over the roadblock, front-mounted mortars swivelling towards their new targets. They were followed by a flight of huge purple stag beetles, which lingered long enough to drop a payload of splinter grenades on the security Autobots positioning themselves below. The lethal shells ripped the brave bodyguards to shreds. As the armoured vehicle began to move in retreat, its passengers all dead or dying by the roadside, the insect attacker at the rear of the formation hovered over it and channelled a bolt of lightning from the sky that shorted out all its systems and sent it swerving off the expressway to hurtle down into Cybertron’s lower levels where it would meet its end in a meteoric fireball.
The cycle-bots wove to and fro, trying to avoid the bombardment from above while providing a diversion for the Overlord’s vehicle. A couple were taken out by lucky hits, but most survived to see the first wave of Bombshells fly ahead, towards Download’s car - and into their sights. They fired, and a pair of the deadly beetles spiralled away in flames. The others banked around to eliminate the nuisance in a deadly crossfire as the Shrapnels quickly caught up from behind.
Download watched his friends and bodyguards being slaughtered outside, and fought back his emotions. “We must do something,†he told his scheduler.
“You can’t do anything,†his companion responded. “You have to get the Matrix back to the city. I’ll try to buy you a few more seconds.â€
The small robot leapt out, lights flashing and sirens wailing, and ran sideways away from the fleeing transport. Download couldn’t bring himself to watch as two Shrapnels homed in on him and destroyed him with a pair of electronic pulses. He sat back and awaited the whine of the shells that would obliterate his own vehicle and send him to join his comrades.
A missile shot past the Overlord’s car. Very poor aim, mused Download. Then his optics widened as it struck one of the Shrapnels arcing back towards him dead centre, causing an explosion that lit up the night sky. The Autobot Leader twisted around, trying to see which of his bodyguards had survived to mount a last-ditch defence of his ruler, but the darkness was filled with flying insects similarly confused. As another missile streaked skyward with equally lethal precision, Download thought he caught a flash of black metal keeping pace with his vehicle. Then it was gone, and the remaining assassin drones remembered their primary purpose and converged on him from above.
Something slashed past the closest Shrapnel as it readied itself for a lightning strike, ripping it in two before vanishing again into the night. Two Bombshells had landed on their wheeled undercarriages and were manoeuvring on the roadway for a clear mortar shot at their target. They lost sight of their quarry, however, as a wall of flame ignited in front of them. Download waited for them to burst through, which they did, but only as shredded lumps of burning wreckage, clawed to pieces by an unknown assailant.
The vehicle skidded to a halt. Mortar shells had destroyed the expressway ahead of them. There was no way to get back into Iacon. The surviving insects regrouped for a long-range killing strike.
The side of the car was torn off its hinges by an almost invisible feline form, who spat it out and hurriedly beckoned for Download to join him. “Come with me. We haven’t much time.â€
“Who are you?†the Overlord demanded.
“I’m not one of them,†the cat responded, gesturing towards the powerdiving insects.
That was enough for Download. Except he couldn’t leave his loyal transport after all they had been through together.
“Go,†said the car. “Remember your duty.â€
Before Download could decide, a second, less patient cat leapt down from the roof, plucked him out of the doomed vehicle and bounded towards the gap in the road, the other dark feline following swiftly behind.
As the two powerful rescuers leapt the chasm to safety, carrying the Overlord between them, they shimmered and vanished from the insects’ scanners. Mission thwarted, the last beetles took out their frustrations on the abandoned armoured car.
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 8, 2009 19:20:18 GMT
SILENTPAW Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Jaguar, rapid-fire bolt cannon, breastplate for Jaguar/Jaruga Function: Bodyguard History: Download created Silentpaw to act as his bodyguard shortly before he passed the Creation Matrix on to Sentinel. Up until that point, Ravage and Nightstalker had protected the Autobot Overlord from all assassination attempts, but Download knew that they would go where the Matrix went, and so a replacement was needed. Silentpaw has been at Download’s side ever since, watching his back and carrying out any tasks that require speed, stealth and agility, qualities his friend and master now lacks. Profile: Like his fellow Primitives, Silentpaw doesn’t speak to ‘uprights’. Unlike his fellow Primitives, he hardly ever speaks to them either. He will never make small talk, and only ever communicates in order to pass on information for a purpose. This isn’t because he is unsociable and finds small talk boring – he would simply rather listen to what others have to say than speak himself. After all, he reasons, he can learn nothing by listening to his own voice. He values everyone’s opinions and perspectives, and has no particular wish to promote his own over theirs. A humble soul, he will not presume to know better than those around him – in sharp contrast to his creator. Download admires Silentpaw and believes that his bodyguard is a better person than himself, living as he does only to interfere and manipulate others as he sees fit. He likes having Silentpaw around as a silent reminder to take counsel and absorb as many viewpoints as possible before judging the right course of action. Abilities: When Download created Silentpaw he was unable to replicate the nanobot-enhanced stealth powers of Nightstalker and Ravage, but went about as far as he could go in that direction. Silentpaw is a powerful and intelligent machine, both swift and deadly. He has side-mounted compressed air cannons and an armour-piercing bolt gun attached to the end of his tail. He can also fire high-temperature plasma blasts from his jaws, and has tungsten-tipped claws capable of shredding steel. Weaknesses: Silentpaw finds interest in every life he encounters, particularly those of beings with outlooks entirely different from his own. Neither enemy soldiers nor advanced security systems will deter him from carrying out the tasks assigned to him, but should he stumble upon a butterfly or street-sweeping droid he will forget his mission completely. In such cases he can often be found hours later sitting, observing and listening to his new ‘friend’ and trying to see the world through their eyes. Strength: 7 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 9 Endurance: 8 Rank: 3 Courage: 10 Firepower: 8 Skill: 9
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 8, 2009 20:15:47 GMT
HAWKEYE Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Hawk, twin-barrelled particle cannon, breastplate for Gaihawk Function: Cartographer History: Before the war, Hawkeye soared high over Cybertron and its moons recording ultra-high-resolution maps of their ever-changing surfaces to help his ground-based fellow citizens navigate from A to B. When war broke out, he initially acted as correspondent, informing civilians of the movements of armies so that they could avoid coming to harm. When the Decepticons had conquered most of the planet, however, he switched sides and resumed his old job, only working for the planet’s new rulers. Profile: Hawkeye takes real pride in his work, no matter who his masters might be or what their purpose. His purpose is to truthfully and accurately record everything that passes below him, and provide people with the information they need to do whatever it is they are trying to do as efficiently as possible, be it circumventing an army’s strongest defences in order to destroy a city or planning a perfect holiday in a remote location free from life’s cares. He craves praise, and when his customers express satisfaction with his service he will fly off to some high peak and perch there revelling in the job well done for days at a time before feeling the need to prove himself anew. Conversely, if something changes, and things turn out to be different from the maps that Hawkeye provided, he will be mortified. Occasionally sudden doubt will strike him out of the blue and he will insist on going back to a previously charted area to double-check that nothing has caused his maps to become out of date. Abilities: As his name suggests, Hawkeye’s vision is superb, and it is matched by the immense quantum state memory banks in which he stores three-dimensional maps at high definition. He can interface with any other Cybertronian and upload to them exactly what he has seen, so it is as if they had seen it with their own optics – except that their optics don’t generally see with such clarity. He has an advanced alien-acquired propulsion system that enables him to fly at speeds of around Mach 4 in a typical atmosphere, and also leave the planet’s atmosphere to orbit at a high altitude and record images as a satellite. He has two rear-facing particle cannons mounted on his tail, and forward-facing flame-throwers on the front of his wings. He loosely resembles a hawk-like animal whose image he recorded while surveying a planet that had been seeded at some point in time with species from Earth. He also filmed other creatures that went on to inspire the configurations of a number of his fellow Primitives. Weaknesses: If Hawkeye believes, with or without justification, that information he has given out is flawed or has become out of date, he will become preoccupied and incapable of carrying out the simplest task until he has been allowed to update his records and inform his customer – regardless of whether that customer still cares about the data in question. He will travel alone to a distant world on a whim just to double-check that a map no-one has ever made use of is still a truthful record of the place. Strength: 5 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 10 Endurance: 6 Rank: 3 Courage: 7 Firepower: 9 Skill: 9
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 8, 2009 20:50:36 GMT
NIGHTSCAN Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Bat, twin-barrelled sonic cannon, breastplate for Hellbat Function: Philosopher History: Nightscan’s career has gone through many phases, but what they all have in common is that he has always been a deep thinker. He has immersed himself in the fields of psychology, metaphysics, cosmology and theology, both Cybertronian and alien. He jumped when given the chance of going into space with the Destrons to become part of the Liege Maximo’s empire and thus gain access to the wider universe, but became frustrated at their habit of destroying first and psychoanalysing afterwards. Profile: When not putting himself and those around him figuratively on the psychiatrist’s couch, Nightscan wallows gleefully in all that is unknown. The fewer data he has on which to build a theory, the more satisfaction he has in considering the endless possibilities. After four million years of pondering the mysteries of the mind and the soul, he believes he has only just barely begun to scratch their surface, and thus considers himself to be a very happy person with a bright future to live for. Abilities: Nightscan is constructed of lightweight alloys and capable of flying simply by flapping his wings, but once airborne he can engage wing-mounted jet engines and fly in excess of Mach 1. His optic sensors shoot high-frequency hypno-beams. When locked on to the eyes of another Cybertronian, these beams carry powerful electromagnetic currents that can override their target’s own mental processes, allowing Nightscan to plant false memories or cause them to ‘fall asleep’. This contrasts with Bombshell and Mindwipe’s ability to take control of their victims’ very thoughts, and Trypticon’s ability to control the actions of his victim. Only if the intended target is strong-willed enough or manages to turn away from Nightscan’s gaze quickly enough can they avoid this fate. The better Nightscan knows his victim’s mind, the more easily he can access their memory core. Nightscan can also generate intense sound waves on a range of frequencies for offensive and defensive purposes. Weaknesses: Nightscan is physically quite weak and prone to damage. He also carries little in the way of offensive firepower. This hampers his effectiveness when acting as Hellbat’s supposedly protective but actually quite flimsy breastplate, or as his handgun, in which form he can only project waves of intense sound. In a battle situation, he’s pretty useless all told, and his comrades prefer it if he keeps out of sight so that they don’t have to worry about him. He can get quite depressed when this happens. Strength: 3 Intelligence: 10 Speed: 8 Endurance: 4 Rank: 3 Courage: 7 Firepower: 3 Skill: 10
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 9, 2009 7:38:32 GMT
They're not fan art, they're scanned from the model sheets in the Ark books.
Martin
|
|
chrisl
Empty
I still think its the 1990s - when I joined TMUK
Posts: 1,055
|
Post by chrisl on Dec 9, 2009 12:25:40 GMT
Absolutely TOP CLASS Martin. Those are better crafted, more thought-out profiles than I've seen for lots of 'mainstream' TF characters generally. I especially like the Marvel UK inspired back-story
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 9, 2009 22:32:43 GMT
Cheers, Chris! Profiles for 'Lion Breast', 'Tiger Breast' and 'Eagle Breast' coming in due course.
Martin
|
|
|
Post by jameso on Dec 10, 2009 1:30:40 GMT
These guys are awesome!
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 10, 2009 6:58:40 GMT
Thanks, James. You can catch up with their exploits in the three-part story 'Talk to the Animals' posted recently in this section of the Hub forum.
Martin
|
|
|
Post by jameso on Dec 10, 2009 11:28:55 GMT
I will, I really need to read some more recent TMUK stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 17, 2009 19:55:39 GMT
Thanks again to Karl for scanning the model sheet. JUNGLEWALKER Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Monster, magnetic bow, breastplate for Deathsaurus Function: Postmaster History: Junglewalker has been at the side of Deathsaurus, Liege Centuro of the Destrons, for almost four million years. During this period, Deathsaurus has gone missing many times, only to turn up years, sometimes centuries later, to take back command from his disappointed lieutenant, Leozack. On some occasions, Deathsaurus has claimed that his absence was intentional. At other times, he admits that he has been imprisoned, deactivated or stranded by circumstances beyond his control. In every case, the reality is that Junglewalker, sometimes acting in concert with Eyrie, has simply decided that it’s time for a holiday and arranged for his master to take an unplanned break from his Imperial duties. Their most recent absence was the thousand years or so that Deathsaurus, Junglewalker and Eyrie spent on Earth, ending with their being detected by the Liege Maximo and picked up by a Destron ship in 1996. Junglewalker and Eyrie wanted to spend some time on Earth, and so arranged for the much-sought-after ‘Metamorphosis’ prototype specimen to end up on that planet. Deathsaurus followed it there, but before he could locate it Junglewalker and Eyrie conspired with the Autobot ‘Man of Iron’ to imprison him in the engine section of the Autobot ship buried beneath Stansham Castle in England. Deathsaurus shut himself down to conserve energy while his two companions sneaked out through a secret tunnel and had Europe, Asia and Africa to themselves for the next millennium or so. (They tended to avoid the American continents due to the presence there of the Autobots Red Alert and Inferno, with whom they tended not to get on very well.) Junglewalker spent most of his time in England, often disguising himself as a stone gargoyle. Sightings of him fuelled many stories of ghosts and monsters. When not employed in energy experiments with Eyrie, he used postal intercept and substitute tactics to create several non-existent human identities who became powerful and influential members of Earth society. Profile: When not on vacation or acting as Deathsaurus’ breastplate, Junglewalker runs a courier service for lower ranking Destrons within their Space-Fortress and to and from neighbouring Cyberworlds. They drop off items they want sent in special boxes with appropriate payment attached, and Junglewalker sees that they reach their destination… usually. Things occasionally get lost, but it is the best service on offer so the Destrons put up with it. What displeases them much more is the breaks in service that coincide with Junglewalker’s occasional lengthy absences. The boxes fill up to the point of overflow while he is away, and take several years for the backlog to clear upon his return. However, Junglewalker is seen as Deathsaurus’ pet, so no-one ever dares to complain. Among the Destron Primitives, in stark contrast to the uprights, leadership is considered to be a burden and inconvenience to be avoided at all costs. Junglewalker generally seems to end up lumbered with the dubious honour. Abilities: Junglewalker transforms into a bow capable of being drawn and shot by Deathsaurus or any other robot of similar size. It can magnetically propel a wide range of different arrow types, from signal flares to grappling hooks to high explosives. In his monster mode (which, despite the name given to him by his master Deathsaurus and others, looks nothing like a tiger) he can leap 1.5 kilometres in a single bound, he has two laser cannons mounted on his upper forearms, and his tail shoots bursts of a highly corrosive acid. Junglewalker can also release or launch from his mouth several hundred marble-sized ball-bearings, which can move around on their own and transform and combine into the two-dimensional ‘Reedman’, a remote-controlled one-eyed stealth operative who has proven invaluable to Junglewalker on numerous occasions, particularly on Earth. There he used the Reedman to steal and substitute items of mail, send telegrams, borrow books, etc., by which means he created his various virtual personas and gained much influence in the upper echelons of human society. This proved useful, for example, when it came to explaining and clearing up the wreckage of those Decepticon jets which crashed on the M4 motorway during the Man of Iron affair in 1985. Junglewalker is adept at forgery, and has adapted himself in such a way that he can produce perfect documents of any kind in any language, even ones written by human hand and sealed with sealing wax. He can also print money. Weaknesses: Although intelligent, Junglewalker isn’t as powerful or quick-witted as most of his fellow Primitives, which is why he ends up getting nominated to be their leader so often. He loves to rummage through other people’s mail, and usually benefits from so doing, but when he gets caught and neither his friends nor Deathsaurus are there to protect him, he can get badly beaten up. This then leads to two things – a letter-bomb for the perpetrator and the making of new holiday plans for Junglewalker. Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 7 Endurance: 7 Rank: 4 Courage: 6 Firepower: 8 Skill: 8
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 21, 2009 7:38:30 GMT
IRONJAW Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Winged lion, thunderbolt cannon, breastplate for Leozack Function: Brain surgeon History: As his name suggests, Ironjaw was originally constructed as an early prototype for the Steeljaw lion and he has always been fascinated by the number of Cybertronians whose configurations are based on alien life-forms. As Cybertron orbited Alpha Centauri, the nearest inhabited planets were Earth and worlds that had been seeded with creatures that had evolved on Earth, and somehow the shapes of these animals influenced robot design on Cybertron long before the Autobots and Decepticons first visited these planets. When many Decepticons, the Destrons amongst them, ventured further afield, they encountered extraterrestrial species which subsequently inspired the likes of the Pretender Monsters. Ironjaw observed the cultures of the alien civilisations that the Destrons destroyed, and marvelled at their capacity for imagination. He became frustrated at the apparent fact that while inferior species were capable of great creativity and invention, his own could only copy what it saw, and steal ideas from those they conquered. He developed the thesis that the Transformers’ great leaps in technology all came through contact with aliens, and the greatest of all – binary-bonding, Nucleon and time-travel – weren’t Cybertronian inventions at all. Ironjaw saw this as a shortcoming in the life programming bestowed upon new Transformers by the Creation Matrix. He now makes it his mission to correct this defect by hacking into and upgrading the core programming of his fellow Destrons. Profile: Ironjaw’s ongoing personal project is to experiment on Destron volunteers in an attempt to modify their programming and make them more spontaneously creative, so increasing the speed at which his species evolves beyond its snail’s pace to date. His successes include turning a number of drones into impressive graffiti artists and buskers who now roam the Destrons’ Space-Fortress bringing a little colour and anarchy to its otherwise sterile environment, and he has bestowed on others the imagination to create Pretender shells unlike anything encountered on alien worlds. His ultimate goal of enhancing his fellow Transformers’ minds to such a degree that they can make great scientific leaps forward without external assistance, develop electronic poetry and music rivalling Shakespeare or Bach, and conceive of new religious mythologies all their own, is still a long way off. As he observes, humans could have thought up the Transformers; the Transformers could not have thought up humans. Abilities: Ironjaw’s tail can discharge high-voltage lightning bolts capable of stunning almost any opponent. Given the right winds, he can leap and use his wings to glide great distances. He can open his jaws wide and lock them gently around the heads of most of his fellow Destrons, if they allow him to do so – or if he has stunned them with one of his tail-blasts or a swipe of his paw. He can then interface with their cerebral cores and attempt to reprogram aspects of their Creation Matrix software. Weaknesses: Ironjaw can only glide where the air currents permit. His progress in hacking the Creation Matrix is hampered by a lack of confidence and extreme concern not to cause harm to his patients – though he gets over it fairly quickly on the rare occasions that he does suffer a loss, such is the extent of his obsession. As his work is an unsanctioned, underground operation he cannot spend as much time on it as he likes, and becomes impatient and irritable when kept away from it for too long. Strength: 8 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 5 Endurance: 6 Rank: 3 Courage: 7 Firepower: 5 Skill: 10
|
|
|
Post by legios on Dec 22, 2009 13:23:53 GMT
I've just had a chance to read these, and they were well worth the wait. Fantastic character profiles there Martin - they have a real life to them, a sense that these are distinct personalities and not a raygun with some statistics attached.
There is also a nice line in humor running through them as well. The idea of the Destron postal service did bring me a broad smile.
Great stuff.
Karl
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 23, 2009 8:44:49 GMT
Thanks, Karl. The inspiration for each one only comes when the scan of the model art is there in front of me, so I couldn't have done it without you.
The final one (Deathsaurus' eagle) will follow next weekend.
Martin
|
|
|
Post by legios on Dec 23, 2009 19:42:37 GMT
I am glad I was able to be of some small assistance.
Karl
|
|
|
Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 28, 2009 0:03:42 GMT
The last of them! EYRIE Allegiance: Destron Sub-group: Primitive Configurations: Eagle, compressed air cannon, breastplate for Deathsaurus Function: Energy scientist History: Eyrie has had many lives. The first Eyrie was a great inventor on Cybertron who used up all his ideas and found he could go no further with his research. In order not to waste his intelligence and expertise on all matters energy-related he made the ultimate sacrifice. He donated all his higher processors to a trusted apprentice to incorporate into his cerebral circuitry, thus passing on his knowledge and brainpower. Such a donation is of course fatal to the donor, but Eyrie preferred that his work should progress than that he should go on living but his work stand still. The recipient of Eyrie’s circuits accepted them on the condition that when he had exhausted his potential for advancing Cybertronian science, he would in turn pass his processors on to his apprentice. The Eyrie who carried out energy research on Earth in the Second Millennium AD was the 59th to carry the name, circuits and external appearance of the original Eyrie, and the 45th since the great exodus from Cybertron. Profile: Eyrie has great sympathy with the views of Ironjaw in relation to the Transformers’ inability to push forward their own technological and cultural development without copying the work of other life-forms. However, his solution to the problem is somewhat different. Whereas Ironjaw seeks to improve the creative potential of Cybertronian minds by modifying their programming, Eyrie’s opinion is that it is the long lifespans of Transformers that hamper change and lead to stagnation. Every hundred thousand years or so, when he judges that his own contribution to society has run its course, Eyrie has Ironjaw transplant his higher processors into a willing student and dies. His student inherits all his talents and expert knowledge, but comes at the work from a new angle with fresh ideas due to the natural differences in their psychological make-up. The Eyrie dynasty is the closest Cybertronians have come to date to the succession of generations observed among most carbon-based life-forms. Abilities: In eagle mode, Eyrie can use tail-mounted jet engines to fly at speeds of around Mach 2 in an Earth-type atmosphere, and can fire air-to-air missiles from launchers hidden in his shoulders. Eyrie will never run out of fuel. His wings act as solar panels, the plates on his back unfold into a wind turbine, and he can ingest any combustible matter, from raw coal to hydrogen gas to organic life-forms, and burn it internally for power. He can even collect energetic particles in the ‘vacuum’ of space. Weaknesses: Eyrie’s fellow Primitives sometimes feel resentment towards him because he considers it morally right to give up life when doing so confers greater benefit than staying alive. They feel that the unspoken implication is that the rest of them, living on indefinitely, are selfish and cowardly by his standards. Although he has never once suggested that others should follow him and his apprentices, they sense that he looks down on them. They cannot relax in his presence and avoid his company. Strength: 5 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6 Rank: 4 Courage: 6 Firepower: 6 Skill: 9
|
|