Cybertronian (faction)

The freelance peacekeeping market is pretty oversaturated these days.

The Cybertronians, also known as Decepticons, Second Generation Transformers, and other combinations thereof, are Transformers descended from the Decepticons on Cybertron in the time after the Ark's fateful crash on Earth. They were created by the rediscovery of "budding", a mitotic means of reproduction that diminishes the influence of Primus's life force. As a result, the Cybertronians as a whole are marked by a distinct amorality.

They share many of the philosophies of their Decepticon ancestors but otherwise do not take kindly to being associated with them. The Cybertronians view themselves as something better, a stage of Transformer life far surpassing the others. In fact, their self-appointed pedestal is so high that they can barely conceive of non-Transformers as alive at all. They left Cybertron some time ago and have since dedicated themselves to cyberforming other planets, eliminating natives with clinical detachment.

Obviously this puts them at odds with the Autobots, who value all creatures as worthy of protection, but it also causes them to view other Decepticons with revulsion: Not only will the throwbacks sometimes ally themselves with alien races, but they also experience pleasure in sadism, a savage affront to the Cybertronians' "rational" ideals. And yet, despite their forward-looking ethos, the Cybertronians for some reason serve the Liege Maximo, one of the Thirteen and the progenitor of all Decepticons.

With a few exceptions, the Cybertronians have a fairly uniform appearance: They color themselves in green and silver with the occasional yellow highlight, and like proper villains, they have a thing for spikes, horns and skull motifs.

Fiction

Marvel Generation 2 continuity

Marvel Generation 2 comic

You so do not want a night like this to end up on Facebook.

The first of the Transformers that would later form the Cybertronian faction were created at some point after Optimus Prime and Megatron were lost on the Ark's doomed voyage. In need of more troops, the Decepticons rediscovered the long-forgotten practice of "budding", which indeed produced more soldiers, but not without costs: The dilution of Primus's essence caused these new creations to have neither a sense of morality nor any connection to the traditional Decepticon motivations. Each budding also produced a physical by-product, an ephemeral black mass that floated into space and would become the Swarm. The Power and the Glory During the reign of Straxus, the latter-generation Decepticons left Cybertron, as they were unable to feel any emotional attachment to it and objectively recognized it for the used-up husk it had become. War Without End!

Vast... okay. Predatory... by some definitions. But that, sir, is not even remotely birdlike.

In the human year 1993, Liege Centuro Jhiaxus commanded a battalion of Cybertronians hard at work cyberforming inhabited planets in the K-Tor Cluster. Up until then, the Cybertronians had been able to keep under the other Transformer factions' radar, but the growing number of "little Cybertrons" didn't stay unnoticed. Fragmented portions of the Autobot army were the first to become aware of the lingering threat. They initially fought the various smaller eco-structuring parties with hit-and-run tactics while analyzing the unknown foe, then called in the rest of the Autobot army when it was clear the threat was too big for them to handle. Grimlock called Optimus Prime to one of the eco-structured planets he thought abandoned, but moments after explaining the situation, the Cybertronian flagship Twilight opened fire on them.

None dare question the cold rationality of his bat-wings.

Instead of killing them, Jhiaxus had the Autobots captured to talk his vision of sense into them. Optimus Prime and Grimlock were brought before his throne, where he explained the history of his faction as well as how the war between the Autobots and Decepticons was a relic only believed still relevant because they had missed the past 4 million years. The Autobots weren't much impressed, stealing back their shuttle and escaping the Twilight to fight another day.

Their escape was monitored, but Jhiaxus allowed them to get away so he could follow them to their base and destroy the entire Autobot army in one fell swoop. War Without End! Along the way, the Autobots noticed their attackers and entered the K'tord Nebula in hopes the stories about that region of space would discourage the Cybertronians from pursuing. They didn't, causing both Autobot and Cybertronian to fall victim to the influence of the nebula's inhabitants. The strength of will of both Optimus Prime and Jhiaxus eventually prevented the soldiers from slaughtering each other till the last mech standing, and the two factions agreed to a momentary truce that allowed the Autobots to leave unfollowed. Primal Fear!

Mere moments before Grimlock discovers that stealth is still not his strong suit.

With Optimus Prime in doubt about how to handle the Cybertronian threat, Grimlock led an unauthorized mission to blow up the Twilight. Having stolen a Cybertronian maintenance shuttle and some security codes, the Autobots got inside the Twilight under cover of resupplying for hull repairs, but since the Cybertronians had security heightened since first contact, the Autobots were welcomed by more armed forces than they could hope to defeat. They surrendered, and Jhiaxus had them shipped off to the Liege Maximo, who was interested in learning more about his troops' only worthwhile opponents. Fortunately for Grimlock and co., Optimus Prime and the rest came to save them well in time. Devices and Desires!

Somewhere, a Monster from Mars fan bolts upright in bed, wide-eyed and sweaty.

To understand the visions he was having of a lingering threat other than the Cybertronians, Optimus Prime had himself through the Matrix linked up to Cybertron. The images he was shown taught him the origins of the Cybertronians and their psychological differences from other Transformers, but he broke the link before learning about the Swarm. The Power and the Glory Realizing the Autobots alone could never defeat the Cybertronians, Optimus Prime went to the Decepticons to propose a temporal alliance. Instead, Megatron stole the Matrix, confident the Decepticons could deal with the threat alone. The Gathering Darkness Megatron had an advance party of six sent to the K-Tor Cluster, but only Skullgrin returned, dying anyway seconds after relaying what had happened. Seeking revenge, the Decepticons launched a grand attack on the Cybertronians. They were utterly defeated. Megatron himself barely survived, New Dawn causing him to reconsider the Autobots' proposal of a temporal alliance.

I guess it literally can't get any more amoral than destroying a planet called "Ethos".

Meanwhile, Jhiaxus's "annoyance" with the Autobots' (and Decepticons') efforts against his faction reached a peak. Vowing to destroy all not-Transformer life in known space with greater brutality and speed, he hoped to draw out his foes and get rid of them once and for all. Indeed, when Ethos came under attack, the Autobots rushed to the natives' rescue. Cybertronian victory was denied however, due to the Decepticons joining the battle to rescue the Autobots deal the Cybertronians payback for last time. Escalation!

"The Swarm will never see through this disguise!"

Elsewhere, on the planet Karn, another Cybertronian unit was busy slaughtering the locals when they came face to face with the Swarm and didn't live to tell.

Back on Ethos, Jhiaxus was inspecting the remains of his best troops when he was approached by Starscream, who offered to lead the Cybertronians to the Autobots' and Decepticons' hideout ánd get them past security if he would be given a suitably aminent position in the Cybertronian army. Jhiaxus accepted Swarm and organized an immediate attack. Tales of Earth Part Six Though taken by surprise, the Decepticons and Autobots had little trouble turning the tide in their favor, at which point Jhiaxus sent in the second wave and issued an order for all battalions to abort their current mission and head to Earth to participate in the showdown. This order would have some unforeseen consequences, as one of the called battalions came under attack by the Swarm, which also consumed their ships and computers with the order to head to Earth. The Swarm made that goal its own.

Battalion Xerxes? Why not send in Squadron Custer and Brigade Napoleon while you're at it?

Throughout all this, the Cybertronians had undertaken a successful mission to lay claim on the Decepticons' Warworld, but also made the mistake of letting Starscream on board. Starscream stole the Matrix still stored away in the ship and used it to fuse himself with the Warworld. Total War! Whichever Cybertronian ship dared approach he had destroyed, Tales of Earth Part Seven fuelling Jhiaxus's rage over the failure of everything he had recently been trying to accomplish to critical levels. Once he had left to deal with the Warworld matter personally, Rook, Jhiaxus's right-hand man, contacted the Liege Maximo about the increasing problems.

Okay then, maybe killing THESE random innocent beings will solve everything.

Aboard the Twilight, Jhiaxus was the only Cybertronian not willing to realize the assault on the Warworld was wielding no results but the massacre of his own troops. More so, when Optimus Prime managed to contact the Twilight with a plea for an alliance against the Swarm, Jhiaxus answered by ordering the destruction of Earth, Dark Shadows! regardless of his own troops still there. San Francisco was obliterated, but the rest of Earth lucked in due to the timely arrival of the Swarm. Tales of Earth Part Eight Jhiaxus believed the creature to be an Autobot trick, though the rest of his troops sincerely doubted that. It soon became devastatingly clear Jhiaxus had been wrong, as the Swarm began consuming both the Twilight and the newly arrived X-S warships. With the warships and their crews destroyed and the Liege Centuro off his rocker, the remaining crew of the Twilight made a run for the escape pods and fled. Jhiaxus stayed to fight and get his revenge on Optimus Prime, whom he blamed for all that had gone wrong. Like Earth, Optimus was saved due to the arrival of the Swarm, which ate Jhiaxus.

Just one arm-stump on fire? Pshaw.

Shortly thereafter, Rook reported to the Liege Maximo that seventeen battalions had been wiped out and that Jhiaxus probably too had met his end. The Liege Maximo was little impressed, seeing as only a fraction of his army had been lost and the other Transformers were oblivious to the true threat the Cybertronians posed. The day of reckoning would come... A Rage in Heaven!

Alignment

Several hundred years went by after the defeat of the Cybertronians, during which the wayward faction was able to avoid any contact with the other Transformers and essentially become forgotten. For one reason or another, the Cybertronians evolved into a more liquid kind of Transformer, becoming capable of altering their appearance at will. This also made them initially unrecognizable to the Autobots and Decepticons when eventually the factions clashed again.

What made the Transformers realize whom they were dealing with was the chance discovery of the Hub, which they did recognize as a network of little Cybertrons. This was dangerous to the Liege Maximo, who was close to his ascension to godhood (the universe would be destroyed in the process) and didn't need the Autobots or Decepticons trying to stop him. So, he sent millions of Cybertronian soldiers to attack the Autobots on Cybertron and the Decepticons on Pyrovar. Both the Autobots and the Decepticons had luck on their side, which gave them a victory they knew temporary, so each faction set out to fight back at the Hub.

Meanwhile, the Liege Maximo began the final part of the preparations he needed done before the moment he'd have access to godhood. Upon his call, all of the Cybertronians at the Hub gathered around his throne to return their sparks to their ancestor. The Autobots and Decepticons attacked soon after though, and the Liege Maximo was forced to revive a few troops to help deal with the threat. In the end, they lost and the Liege Maximo was destroyed. Alignment

Ask Vector Prime

In Primax 994.0 Gamma, Jhiaxus led the Cybertronian Empire in cyberforming Planet X. Later, when the Liege Maximo's plot for ascension was foiled, prompting Liege Centuro Firecrest to move the remnants of the Cybertronian Empire to their last stronghold, Planet X. Due to the never-ending search of the Veteran, Planet X's inhabitants fled for another reality entirely. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/05

In Primax 490.0 Gamma, the Cybertronian Empire experienced a moral reformation due to Unicron destroying Cybertron, which dispersed Primus's essence among his children. Later, they joined forces with the remaining Autobots and Decepticons to fight Unicron, with the Liege Maximo heroically sacrificing himself to permanently expel Unicron from their reality. Thereafter, the Cybertronian Empire became a force for good and a staunch ally of the Confederation of Terran Worlds. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/24

Wings Universe

A Cybertronian Empire had existed at one point in the past. After the Rebirth, Jhiaxus saw an opportunity to rebuild the old empire in his image, A Flash Forward building a clone army of the greatest Autobots and Decepticons to populate it and enforce his rule. A Flash Forward

With his army, Jhiaxus invaded Cybertron to claim it as the throne of the new empire. Termination His invasion however resulted in the Autobots and Decepticons working together against him, a situation he was content with as he had managed to unify his race, ordering his army to stand down and ending his imperialistic ambitions... seconds before Megaplex violently impaled him. A Common Foe

Regeneration One

In the era before the Great War, Cybertron was an isolated planet much to the ire of Senator Jhiaxus who believed that its technological superiority meant it should be building an empire to bring order to the chaotic galaxy. When Jhiaxus was to add his knowledge to what would become known as the Underbase, he saw an opportunity to create his empire and slew his fellows, stealing away the knowledge that he would need. Less Than Zero Destiny, Part Five

Disgusted by the organic races of the galaxy, Jhiaxus undertook an aggressive mechaforming campaign, reshaping worlds into copies of Cybertron, bringing them all together in the Hub Network. Unaffected by the war that consumed Cybertron, the Cybertronian Empire continued its technological innovation, being significantly more advanced than Cybertron in the Earth year 2012. The War to End All Wars, Part 2 Jhiaxus' distaste for alien life also saw the rise of a staunchly xenophobic viewpoint, even towards other Cybertronians who had incorporated alien technology into their frames. The War to End All Wars, Part 4

In 2012, the Empire sought to invade Cresta Superior, dispatching Rook as a reconnaissance scout. When he arrived, he reported to Jhiaxus that someone had beaten them there. When Rook detected Allspark residue, Jhiaxus decided it was time to return home. Destiny, Part One

Bringing the whole of the Hub Network, the Empire made a dramatic arrival above Cybertron, The War to End All Wars, Part 1 with Jhiaxus offering an alliance only for Rodimus Prime to refuse. The War to End All Wars, Part 2 The Empire soon went to war with Cybertron and while it initially held the advantage, The War to End All Wars, Part 3 its own slam rail system saw the Hub's collapse with Jhiaxus's absorption by the Underbase assuring its total dissolution. Though victorious, the Autobots were left to mourn the Empire's collapse, noting that it had been Jhiaxus' way of bringing order to chaos. The War to End All Wars, Part 4

Beast Wars: Uprising

The prophecies of the Book of Logos foresaw a "second generation" of Cybertronians, who repeatedly spawned until there was nothing left of Primus' essence in them. Book of Logos

At some point in the early 21st century, the Cybertronian Empire and the Autobots fought over Earth. Book of Logos

Masterpiece toy bios

In ages past, a group of Cybertronians identified as the "Liegemen" raided the Diadem facility on Foreston, stealing a large supply of the G2 bodies it had already produced. Masterpiece Crosscut profile

Afterward, the Liegemen began constructing a mighty Cybertronian Empire on the edges of known space. Many years later, during the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, some of their descendants got in contact with the Cobalt Sentries, who began providing them with raw material "recruits" on the sly, without Megatron knowing, since the Sentries figured their allies were not yet a threat. However, the alliance became strained when the Cybertronians learned Foreston had new G2 bodies for them to acquire, and they abandoned their Decepticon allies in the hopes of grabbing some of the tech for themselves. Masterpiece Riggorus profile

Toys

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

The Evil That Lies Within.

• Troop Builder Multipack (4-pack, 2023)

• Series: Legacy: Evolution
• Accessories: 2x swords, 2x blasters, alternate head, 4x head horns
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[1]

"G2 Universe Cybertronian Trooper" is a retool of the Legacy Deluxe class Skullgrin figure based on the generic Cybertronian soldiers featured in the Generation 2 comic, and transforms into a Cybertronian tank in 18 steps. The figure includes redecoes of Skullgrin's swords and blasters, which can be combined to form hybrid swords/guns. Additionally, Cybertronian Trooper comes with an alternate head based on another variation of the Cybertronian soldier design, intended to be used on a second copy of the figure for troop-building. Notably, Cybertronian Trooper's head(s) utilize new technology developed by TakaraTomy designer Shogo Hasui wherein the two head designs slide onto a single "skull" via a rail system rather than brute forcing the neck ball joint as in past releases. On a similar note, the figure's horns are affixed via 3mm connections, allowing rotation to taste, swapping between the head sculpts, etc.^[1]

As Cybertronian Trooper largely uses the same tooling as Skullgrin, the white nylon frames used in Trooper's legs are quite thin, which can result in the treads detaching. Additionally, the swords are able to plug into 5mm ports located on Trooper's sides to act as shields. Trooper's cannons appear to have fists folded into them, imitating the look of the G1 Skullgrin toy.

Cybertronian Trooper was one of four figures included in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee "Troop Builder Multipack", the others being Decepticon Seeker, Quintesson Trooper, and Animated Universe Autotrooper. This set was a Target exclusive in the US, and a Toys"R"Us exclusive in Canada.

Notes

• It is brought up twice that the ancestors in a lineage through budding can feel the deaths of the descendants. Despite that, no Decepticon but Onslaught (who is too young to have Cybertronian descendants in the first place) ever shows pain at the deaths of any of the entire Cybertronian faction.
• The Generation 2 comic writer, Simon Furman, later wrote an alternate-universe version of Jhiaxus into the 2005 IDW continuity, where he was a scientist involved in guiding the technological evolution of planets towards a Cybertron-like goal. He belonged to a group of long-departed Cybertronian-supremacist Transformers returning from deep space as a threat to all. Furman also planned for the Liege Maximo to make an appearance,^[2] but that did not come to pass.
• An early idea for the faction Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council belong to in the Beast Wars cartoon was that it consisted of the descendants of the Cybertronians. This intention was overridden by the fans' insistence to take "Unicron's Spawn" literally.^[3]

Decepticons or not?

 

Left: The coloration most often seen on Bludgeon's Decepticons
Right: The coloration most often seen on the Cybertronians

The Cybertronians have a complex relationship with the idea of being Decepticons. For example:

• Their insignia is different from the traditional Decepticon symbol, but the same insignia was also adopted by Bludgeon's Decepticons for unknown reasons during their period of exile outside of the Milky Way—at the same time that the Autobots also inexplicably took on a new symbol! (There is no in-fiction explanation for any of that, but the real-world explanation is simply that the new symbols were part of the Generation 2 brand.)
• In the first issue of the Generation 2 comic, Jhiaxus refers to his faction as "Decepticons", with Rook not understanding how the Autobots are different, as they are all Cybertronians and Transformers. The Autobots also consistently refer to Jhiaxus's faction as "Decepticons".
• The name "Cybertronians" is first used in the fourth issue by, surprisingly, Grimlock (though he also calls them "Decepticons" on the same page). Jhiaxus's faction doesn't refer to itself as "Cybertronian" until the next issue, with the Outpost D-109 overseer saying "flourishing Deceptic- er.. Cybertronian Empire".
• When Megatron's faction joins the fray in the sixth issue, Megatron calls Jhiaxus's faction "Second Generation Cybertronians, masquerading under the Decepticon banner", who are "no kinsmen" of theirs. This attitude would remain for the rest of the series, although at one point Megatron makes the same recovery as the Outpost D-109 overseer: "Whoever it was, it wasn't Jhiaxus's Decep- Cybertronians."
• Jhiaxus keeps referring to his full title as "Liege Centuro of the Decepticon Elite" until his demise.
• In this series, Transformer speech-balloons have unique designs based on the allegiance of the speakers: Autobots have one design (squares), Dinobots have another (trapezoids & triangles), and both the Decepticons and the Cybertronians share a third (triangles).
• In Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, the members of Jhiaxus's faction are consistently called "Cybertronians".

Foreign names

• Japanese: Cybertronian Teikoku (サイバートロニアン帝国 Saibātoronian Teikoku, "Cybertronian Empire")

References