Quintesson

"Hahahaha—[whir]
—hahahahaha—[whir]
—–hahahahaha—[whir]
——hahahahahaha—[whir]
——–hahahahahaha!"

The Quintessons are a bizarre and ancient race, whose dark history and shadowy machinations are bound up with the history of the Transformers, with connections to both Primus and Unicron. They are known galaxy-wide as traders, entrepreneurs and businessmen, but their dealings are very rarely on the level, often laced with intrigue and betrayals. They prefer subtle manipulation, scheming, and advanced technology over brute force, but if those don't work, they can fall back on the legion of deadly Sharkticons and Allicons at their command and a fleet of battle-ready spaceships as well. However, the Quintessons themselves have zero fighting abilities and are absolute cowards if they have nothing to hide behind. For example, they are seen to be powerless against a Sharkticon revolt.

Types of Quintessons

The Quintessons appear to be mostly (if not entirely) mechanical beings. They come in several distinct forms, some of which are identified by their place in the Quintessons' bizarre court system.

• Quintesson Judge
• Quintesson Bailiff
• Quintesson Executioner
• Quintesson Prosecutor
• Quintesson Scientist

My tentacles are on fire!

The Judges are not the only Quintessons to have multiple faces, though the only known exception is the two-faced scientist who was the primary creator of the Trans-Organics. One of his faces was grievously damaged, a scar left by the Dweller, which he covered with a mask.

This scientist instigated a plan to get the Decepticons to unwittingly release the trans-organics from their prisons deep within Cybertron so they would wipe out all Transformer life. The plan ultimately backfired; the Dweller killed the other trans-organics, and was launched into space by the Autobots... where it smashed into the scientist's ship, which was en-route to Cybertron. Presumably, the scientist finally met his end as the Dweller drained the energy from the ship and everyone within it. The Dweller in the Depths

"Game over, man! Game over!"

Security officers appear to have been an ancient model of Quintesson, and possibly the only kind with built-in offensive capabilities, some having one set of arm-tentacles replaced with over-sized blasters. These blasters availed them naught, however, against the Trans-Organic beasts. It is unknown if any of this model of Quintesson exist in "modern" times. The Dweller in the Depths

No one remembers we exist.

Non-bailiff, non-executioner Humanoid Quintessons are exceedingly rare. One accompanied Inquirata on his mission to use a Time Window to change Cybertron's history, stopping the slave revolt that drove the Quintessons off-planet. Forever Is a Long Time Coming

And then there's Mirdane. A rarity among Quintessons, in that he has a name, and that's it. He has only ever been mentioned by others, never seen, so what body type he has/had is unknown. Madman's Paradise Wreckers: Finale Part II

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Regis Cordic, Roger C. Carmel and Jack Angel (English, primary recurring voices), Stan Jones ("Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2"), Dick Gautier ("The Killing Jar"), Tony Pope ("Forever Is a Long Time Coming" and "The Dweller in the Depths"), Paul Eiding ("The Quintesson Journal"), Charlie Adler ("The Big Broadcast of 2006"), Corey Burton ("Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2," "Madman's Paradise"), Aron Kincaid ("The Return of Optimus Prime"), Paulo Flores (Portuguese, "The Movie" TV dub), André Filho, Magalhães Graça and Ronaldo Magalhães (Portuguese, "The Movie" VHS dub), Fabio Tomasini (Portuguese, "The Movie" Fox Kids dub), André Luiz Chapéu, Domício Costa, Dario Lourenço, Sílvio Navas, Jomeri Pozzoli and Márcio Seixas (Portuguese, season 3)

The new Powerpuff Girls series never really got off the ground.

In ages long past, a race of aliens called the Quintessons existed on the planet-sized factory known as Cybertron. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Some of their early experiments in creating artificial life resulted in the Trans-Organics. The Dweller in the Depths Some Quintessons turned to forbidden arts, and were banished to other dimensions. Madman's Paradise The Quintessons eventually created two lines of sentient robots: one was a line of robots designed for domestic duties and labor (known as Autobots), and the other was a line designed for military use (known as Decepticons). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 The Quintessons were exceptionally cruel to their creations, eventually leading to wide-spread rebellion, a rebellion started by the Autobot A-3. Forever Is a Long Time Coming Forced to flee the planet, the Quintessons eventually settled on the small, twisted planet of Quintessa, but fostered an undying hatred of all Transformers for the next eleven million years. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4

They also spent this time productively, selling technology to other races, and often manipulating the political and military climate of regions of space to increase their sales, all the while diligently keeping track of their work by recording it in journals. The Quintesson Journal Occasionally a race as the Zamojin would arise that could potentially threaten the Quintessons, and they would deal with it by sealing off whole sections of space with quadrant locks. The Face of the Nijika

Believe it or not, you really do have better chances in Texas.

In 2005, they were shown to capture prisoners for trial and feeding to their army of Sharkticons. The mock trials held by the Quintesson Court seemed to have no purpose at all, except maybe for the Quintessons' amusement, as defendants were still immediately fed to the ravenous Sharkticons even when the Judge determined them to be innocent. However, the Dinobots managed to rescue the pair of Autobots the Quintessons had captured. Worse, Grimlock inspired the Sharkticons to rebel... by stomping his foot on the ground and telling them to do so. The Transformers: The Movie

One year (or possibly five years, depending on whom you ask) after the defeat of Unicron, the Quintessons reappeared. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 They first sent a commando team of Sharkticons to abduct various Autobots (as well as Spike Witwicky, though that may have been unintentional). Upon capturing the 'bots, the Quintessons seemed more interested in interrogating their prisoners than feeding them to the Sharkticons. However, they eventually did find the captured Transformers to be guilty of the crime of... being Transformers (Spike was guilty by association). Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2

"Look out, it's Galvatron! Quick, make yourselves look big and maybe he'll leave us alone!"

After Rodimus and the Aerialbots mounted a rescue for their captive friends, the Quintessons attempted to kill the would-be rescuers by destroying the entire planet of Quintessa. After this plan failed, the surviving Quintessons approached the currently leaderless Decepticons, offering them energon in exchange for attacking the Autobots who had fled to the planet Goo. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 When the newly revived Galvatron arrived intending to reclaim his army, the Quintessons made an alliance with him to attack Cybertron in return for the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership, an object which didn't actually exist outside the Quintessons' fertile imaginations. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4

The Quintessons betrayed Galvatron almost immediately after the battle had been won, sending the Sharkticons to pull a switch which would cause all Transformers the galaxy over literally to freeze where they stood. Though the Sharkticons were fought off, Galvatron pulled the lever anyway. The Quintessons landed on Cybertron, intending to reclaim the planet, however Spike destroyed the switch and the Quintessons were forced to abandon the planet in an escape pod. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5

Later plots by the Quintessons were no less nefarious. A rogue Quintesson scientist abducted three Transformers and a human for behavioral study, a scheme that nearly killed the entire group after they drifted into a black hole. The Killing Jar Later, the Quintessons revived the deceased Optimus Prime in an attempt to lure all the Autobots into a trap and destroy them with a supernova. However, the Quintessons did not count upon Hot Rod forcing Optimus Prime to overcome his programming, nor Optimus Prime's ability to sacrifice himself to save the Autobots. Dark Awakening

"Damn it! Who ate my yogurt?!"

Later still, the Quintessons attempted to rewrite history by preventing their loss of Cybertron, creating a Time Window on an asteroid, directed at Cybertron eleven million years in the past. The Autobots attacked the asteroid, occupying it as several of their number passed through the Time Window and resulting in the very fabric of reality starting to unravel the longer the window remained open. The Quintessons made several desperate attempts to retake the asteroid before convincing Rodimus Prime to shut the Time Window down, though their plans were still ruined as the time-displaced A-3 returned to the past to take his part in the rebellion. Forever Is a Long Time Coming

After a Quintesson journal was lost on Junk, the Quintessons began inserting subliminal messages into the Junkions' television in an attempt to make them tidy and instill a distrust of other life forms. Unfortunately the equipment sending the subliminal signal was damaged during an attempt to retrieve the journal, resulting in the Junkions transmitting subliminal messages to the rest of the galaxy. In the ensuing battle, the Quintessons again tried to retrieve the journal, only to lose it when a stray shot knocked it loose from their tractor beam. The Big Broadcast of 2006 The journal resurfaced again in the Angarrix sector at the same time that the Autobots were conducting peace talks with Xetaxxis and Lanarq, two planets whom the Quintessons had manipulated into war so that they could sell weapons. Despite the Quintessons' best attempts the journal reached the conference where their interference was exposed, and the Autobots destroyed the Quintesson ship as it tried to deliver two omega bombs intended to destroy the planets. The Quintesson Journal

The Quintessons would try other schemes to destroy the Autobots. One involved kidnapping Daniel Witwicky and hooking him to a device which manifested his dreams in real life. Unfortunately the dream constructs turned on them when Rodimus was able to reach Daniel's sleeping mind. Nightmare Planet Another was to manipulate Galvatron into releasing the Trans-Organics. Though Galvatron succeeded, releasing the Dweller, the Autobots managed to expel the creature into space, where it attacked the Quintesson ship. The Dweller in the Depths

"Why not Zoidberg?!

Finding Galvatron interfering with the quadrant lock sealing Quadrant X, the Quintessons entered the lock, taking a number of Transformers through with them. Unfortunately their isolator key, needed to reopen the lock, was damaged, forcing them to obtain Perceptor's universal emulator. Perceptor was able to program the emulator so that when the Quintessons used it, it disabled the quadrant lock for good. The Face of the Nijika In another dimension on Menonia, the Autobots found the rogue Quintesson scientist Mara-Al-Utha, and defeated him with the help of local wizard named the Golden One. Madman's Paradise

"Right, where am I sticking this?"

The Quintessons suggested to Cyclonus that he take Galvatron to Torkulon, believing the experience would prove fatal for the Decepticons. It didn't. Webworld A group of Quintessons based on Titan made a deal with Dirk Manus to deliver them the Recreator, while also sending the Terrorcons to attack him. Multiple double-crosses ensued until in one final double-cross, Manus set Computron on the Quintessons and they retreated without the Recreator. Money Is Everything

When Rodimus asked Sky Lynx to find him a Quintesson, Sky Lynx complained that the Quintessons had gone into hiding in the farthest reaches of the galaxy and would be difficult to find. Nonetheless Sky Lynx managed to find one being chased by Hate Plague infected Sharkticons, and took him to Earth to restore life to the body of Optimus Prime. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 The lone Quintesson also restored a number of other Autobots to help Optimus retrieve the Matrix from Rodimus. He did his best to hold off the infected Transformers while Optimus journeyed into the Matrix and found a way to cure the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

Japanese cartoon continuity

Legends comic

Millions of years ago, the Quintessons arrived on the planet that would become Cybertron and discovered the essence of the Oracle as well as the vessel that had once kept it. They subjugated the Oracle by encasing him within Vector Sigma and creating the Key to Vector Sigma to control his powers, which they used to transform the planet into a metallic world. They went on to use Cybertron as a factory for robotic slaves until their creations rebelled and drove them off the planet, claiming the Oracle's vessel and finding it full of malicious energy after years of accumulating the wisdom of its Quintesson owners. They promptly dumped out the Quintesson wisdom, which would one day go on to become Devil Z. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

In need of new territory after being driven off Cybertron, the Quintessons opened a portal to another dimension, the Legends World, and invaded it with an army of Overcharges led by a lone Quintesson. They were beaten back by Blitzwing, leading to the Quintessons labeling the Legends World dangerous and sealing away its creators, the Zamojin, with a quadrant lock. However, the Quintessons were unaware that their portal had in fact spanned time as well as space and led to the far future, and the Legends World would only be created after the Zamojin were released from the lock. Bonus Edition Vol. 59

BT World

The Quintessons monitored Project: Binaltech on Earth with great trepidation. When they detected the Autobots moving on towards the enhancement of humans as well, they became afraid of the ramifications and initiated a quadrant lock on that world. Outlier

As a result of the quadrant lock, the planet was frozen in time until the Alternity were born and broke through it 900,000 years later. During the intervening time, however, a tragic fate befell the Quintessons. Alternation

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 story pages

Teaming up with the Decepticons, the Quintessons began developing new warriors for their "allies". 2010 Part 2 The Predacons were constructed by the Quintessons during this alliance. The Sharkticons, also considered to be part of the Predacon faction, were leased to the Decepticons to bolster their ranks. 2010 Part 3 The Quintessons evidently consider the Sharkticons to be "the Pride of the Quintessons" and developed Predaking specifically to outdo all previous Decepticon combiners. 2010 Part 4

During the time they had Optimus Prime's corpse in their clutches, the Quintessons copied his schematics. They also received schematics of Megatron from their alliance with the Decepticons and developed the Colossal Cannon Soldier Gilthor. 2010 Part 4

Macrocosmic Seekers

The Seeker, during the enslavement of Transformers, realized the potential for Transformer evolution and noted that rebellion was imminent. He was laughed at, but the Seeker got the last laugh when he left Cybertron before the rebellion and evolved beyond his Quintesson origins. A Treasure's True Worth

Controverse

When Primacron was taken into custody for unleashing Tornedron into the cosmos, the galactic council appointed the Quintesson judge Adveraros to preside over the scientist's trial. To guard the prisoner, the Quintessons brought along several Bailiffs and Sharkticons. Though Adveraros at first seemed to give a sensible ruling (acquittal by reason of insanity) in truth the Quintessons were planning to harvest Primacron's brain once he had been sent to Doruka III, an asylum planet. The plot was foiled by Primacron himself, who fashioned a high-tech whistle out of his mechanical manacles, and took control of all nearby "Primitive" Transformers. Having restrained Adveraros with his own Sharkticon guards, Primacron revealed that he had once created bacterial machines, which he proposed was the Quintessons' distant ancestors. Adveraros loudly denounced this claim as the Autobots came in to take protective custody of Primacron. Controverse

Kiss Players

This is all kinds of crazy.

The Kiss Players Marissa Faireborn, Atari Hitotonari, and Shaoshao Li, together with the Sparkbots Angela, Star Dust, and Zangetsu, were traveling through time aboard Brave Maximus when the space fortress suddenly went out of control.

The six found themselves on a strange, alien world in the year 2011. With their ship ensnared, they were herded by Sharkticons to the Space Tribunal, where the Quintessons put them on trial for time-traveling without their permission.

When Shaoshao asked if being cute was a crime, the Quintessons threatened to charge her with contempt of court. Atari suggested using their Kiss Play abilities to transform into cute costumes and ask the "octopusses" nicely to let them go. But turning into a swimsuit-clad elementary school girl and asking the judge's permission to go to the potty only resulted in Atari and her friends being found "not guilty" and dropped into the Sharkticon pit below.

Rescued by Optimus Prime and Goldbug, they fled back to Brave Maximus and re-entered the time portal. Sucked into the maelstrom along with them, the Quintessons demanded that the process stop, saying that they were the last of their kind. But it was too late, and the aliens were trapped inside the hole in space-time. Kiss Players Picture Story Show

Generations Selects Special Comic

In the universe's early days, the Quintessons were ruled by It. After developing a cyberforming ray, the Quintessons discovered a barren rocky world at the galaxy's centre. Testing their invention on this world, the Quintessons dubbed it "Cybertron" and enslaved the energy being that resided in its core, shackling it within a supercomputer through which they granted life to their Transformer creations. Though the Quintessons had intended to sell the Transformers as slaves, they'd built their robots too well, their creations rebelling and driving them off-world. Finale

The Quintessons continued to experiment with creating robotic life, creating the Terrorbots. This led to the creation of the Terrorcons, an elite form of Terrorbot that would seek out Unicron's energy and allow them to build a second of him with which to conquer the universe. Abominus comic 1

In 2050, thanks to humanity discovering and evacuating Earth's Angolmois Energy and the unique temporal properties of Dinobot Island, the Quintessons managed to escape from their dimensional prison and immediately set out to subdue the island's Dinobot residents to sell as merchandise. The Dinobots weren't keen on this idea, and so the leading Judge released the Recreator to bring forth a reborn Predaking when the Allicons weren't up to the task. Predaking had the Dinobots on the ropes, but they managed to tap into an Energon Matrix and Angolmois Energy to combine into Volcanicus. The Dinosaur combiner was able to easily defeat Predaking, although the Quintessons fled before they could be taken care of. Volcanicus comic 1

With the myriad of Cybertronian politics being drawn into the humanity/Selector conflict, Spike took the Judge to the Mother Computer who advised that the humanity and the Quintessons join forces. Volcanicus comic 2

To celebrate this, the Quintesson Judge called down the Terrorcons and the Slitherfangs. When the Judge explained his race's plans for Angolmois, Spike furiously denounced the aliens, prompting the Judge to shoot him in the chest, laughing that the Quintessons' malignant Angolmois had corrupted the Mother Computer. Abominus comic 1

As the Judge continued to laugh at the Quintesson victory, Rung and Spike joined forces, the former being reborn as Neo Autobot X. Working together, the two Earthly species overpowered the Judge and incapacitated him with an energon enema. When the Decepticons began fighting over the Angolmois Energy, the Judge screamed as, through Abominus's defection, another of the Quintessons' creations had turned on them. Abominus comic 2

The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers manga

"Great Guns", "Colossal Cannons", it's all semantics.

The Quintessons feigned to have created Gilthor as a subordinate for Galvatron, but in reality they had allied themselves with the ghost of Starscream, who gave the robot life. Gilthor quickly turned on Galvatron during an ambush on Rodimus Prime. He would have won, had Rodimus and Galvatron not worked together to defeat him, foiling the plans of the Quintessons. The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #4

Wings Universe

Very early in the Great War, the Autobot ship Van De Graaff was shot down over Beta-Nine while transporting a vital cargo. The Autobots initially believed that the crash was the result of a Decepticon attack, but Kup, a crewmember of the rescue ship Eight Track, discovered the truth when he found green tentacled remains alongside the corpses of the murdered Van De Graaff crew. Wings of Honor

The Quintessons created Sky-Byte to lead a new generation of Sharkticons. In 2010, they sent Sky-Byte and several Sharkticons to Earth in an alliance with the Decepticon Syndicate. Generation 2: Redux

By 2984, Quintesson space had come under the control of the Mutants. In that year, the temporally-displaced pirates known as the Star Seekers traveled near former Quintesson space on their way to find the immortal spark of the infamous Decepticon Starscream. The Star Seekers eventually gained access to a planetoid existing in a pocket of space surrounded by black holes. In a chamber on the planetoid, they encountered a lone Quintesson who claimed to have been betrayed and marooned by Starscream on the planetoid some time earlier. The Star Seekers gave the Quintesson passage off of the planetoid in exchange for telling all that he knew of Starscream's last known destination. However as it turned out, the Quintesson was long dead, and Starscream's immortal spark had been using the Quintesson's body as a puppet. Forming an alliance with the Decepticon Star Seeker Flamewar, Starscream discarded the Quintesson's body and hijacked Captain Cannonball's body for himself, simultaneously allowing Flamewar to take control of the Star Seekers for herself. Tornado - Decepticon Saboteur

Transformers: All Spark

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Another Episode, Part 2 Conclusion

Ask Vector Prime

In an unstable Iocus universe engineered by the machinations of Sideways and Gong, the Quintessons on Quintessa were replaced by the Master Renegade and the Monster GoBots on Antares III during the events of the Unicron War. Echoes and Fragments

Deviations

A group of Quintessons were presiding over the execution of Kranix when Optimus Prime and the Autobots intervened, forcing the Quintessons to abandon their kangaroo court and flee. Optimus noted a feeling of familiarity towards the aliens and their planet but could not place it. Deviations

Big Looker storybooks

Rarely do encounters with Autobots work out well for the Quintessons.

An Autobot ship crashed on Quintesson, with Wheelie the only survivor. The Quintessons captured him, throwing him in a dungeon. They intended to execute him, taking him to a Sharkticon pit, however he managed to evade them and escaped into the jungles of Quintesson. When Hot Rod's ship also crashed on the planet, the Quintessons tried to mount a sneak attack, only for Wheelie to appear and fight them off single-handed. The Quintessons returned with Sharkticon backup, stalking the Autobots as Wheelie tried to lead them away from the crash site, however as it turned out even with their Sharkticons, the Quintesson were no match for the Autobots and most of them were killed in the battle that ensued. The Story of Wheelie, the Wild Boy of Quintesson

Transformers in 3-D

A Quintesson sent two aliens to spy on the Autobots and Decepticons, and download the contents of their databases. The two aliens were puzzled, but the Quintesson remained cagy about what the data was for. The Test

Beast Era

Beast Machines

The Maximal Beast Rider Che was encased in a unique Quintessian[sic] alloy found in the lower levels of Cybertron.^[1]

3H comics

Millennia ago, the Quintessons were the minions of Unicron, send out to locate Primus. The Quintessons succeeded, but rather than turn Primus over to Unicron, they instead constructed barriers around him, intending to make use of him to create consumer product lines. They eventually succeeded in doing so through Vector Sigma, though some of their number such as Al-badur warned of the danger of trying to control Primus's creations. Disclosure

Out on the arm of the Orion Cluster, New Quintessa sat awaiting the Mutant Beasts, Cybertronians without robot modes who had been dispatched by the Oracle of Vector Sigma to regain what they had lost. Icebird believed they were on a sacred mission; in truth, it was a fool's errand. The Quintesson Supreme Imperial Magistrate Derodomontatus fed the Mutants to the Sharkticons before continuing his discussions with the free trader, Cryotek. Plans proceeded apace, as both the Mutants and the Dinobots were dealt with by this deadly alliance, and Cryotek assured Derodomontatus that the last Cybertronian team, the Wreckers, would soon be extinguished as well. Betrayal

Meanwhile the Wreckers encountered Al-badur on an icy world, and he filled them in on the origin of Cybertron and bargained for his departure from the planet in exchange for information about the Divine Light. Disclosure

The invasion of Cybertron soon began, and Snarl, Longhorn, and Skydive spotted Quintessons herding mass hordes of Sharkticons towards the Cybertronian settlements.

Derodomontatus cheered on the advancing troops with his fellow Quintessons, before proceeding with Cryotek and Cyclonus to complete his part of their bargain. The fighting intensified on the surface as Devcon and the Dinobots arrived, shortly before the Wreckers returned to Cybertron as well. Primal Prime and Apelinq led a contingent after Cryotek and the Quintessons deeper into Cybertron's core. They arrived in time to see Cryotek had successfully mutated himself into a god-like being with the power of the Divine Light. The Wreckers: Finale Part 1

Derodomontatus, realizing the extent to which Cryotek had now surpassed the Quintessons, begged the free trader to remember their contract and honor it. In response, Cryotek sent his pet Chro to rip the Quintesson's faces off.

As their Imperial Magistrate faced a hostile takeover beneath the planet's surface, the Quintesson troops on open ground found their advancement equally stymied. Expecting the newly reformatted Cybertron to be filled with docile and disoriented cattle, the Quintessons were ill-prepared for the resistance they faced from all corners of the globe and all sectors of the populace. In Ankmor, Judge Brinn's patrol were stalked by the Maximal techno-organic, Night Viper. In a deserted city, a contingent led by Overseer Rexian were overcome by Decepticons criminals recently restored to their bodies. Overseer Vashik and In-Saba Nur assaulted the new Predacon capital of Darkmount with predictable results, as Lord Galvatron squashed them beneath his heel (Waspinator helped). Oh yes, and then there were Dinobots. Admiral Krahulik was prepared to initiate orbital bombardment from the Paradigm hovering over Polyhex before Strika and Obsidian brought down the Quintesson warships as well. The Quintessons began to retreat in hordes, returning to their landing ships and launching out into space...right into the path of the planetary defense systems, recently brought back on-line.

All in all, the invasion of Cybertron was an unmitigated disaster. Judge Heirodyus watched the annihilation from New Quintessa with a mixture of horror and smugness, silently congratulating himself for escaping the fate of his brothers. He hadn't. The Mutant Beasts Icebird and Poison Bite had survived their dip in the Sharkticon pools, and returned imbued with the light of Primus himself. Heirodyus and the Quintessons were soon wiped from the surface of New Quintessa. Icebird and Poison Bite assumed control of the planet, spreading the techno-organic plant life made from Cybertron's reformatting, and teaching the Sharkticons the ways of peace. Wreckers: Finale Part II

Beast Wars: Uprising

Several millennia ago, the Cybertronians bought some surplus Terrorbot drones from the Quintessons, including the cumbersome and inefficient Overcharge drones. Burning Bridges

Following the failed Great Push of 2033, a Quintesson court found Galvatron and his compatriots guilty of their many war crimes, sentencing them to death. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue By the 24th century, the Quintessons were among the few species still allowed to travel in and out of the Allowed Zone due to pre-existing contractual relationships with Cybertron; the Human Confederacy regarded the Quintessons with suspicion.^[2]

Marvel The Transformers comics

Marvel UK future timeline

Like those creepy little pilotfish that swarm behind sharks, snapping at stray scraps, the Quintessons were vile enforcers for Unicron, savagely hunting down and picking off those who attempted to escape his maw. Transformers Universe

In an alternate future of 2005, the Quintessons took Hot Rod, Kup and several other Autobots hostage on their homeworld and chucked them into the Sharkticon pits for punishment. The Autobots were able to escape, however, and the Sharkticons quickly turned on their cruel masters. Judgment Day!

In 2008, Quintesson scientists realized that their planet, Quintesson, was threatened with destruction by a time rift that was caused by Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Scourge's time-traveling. Though they scoped out several other worlds to move their civilization to, the journal containing the records on these planets was lost on the planet Junkion. Space Pirates! In an attempt to retrieve it, they captured Wreck-Gar and had him interrogated by the Galaxy's greatest torturer. After being left to the torturer's tender mercies for some time, Wreck-Gar "confessed," in an elaborate story, that the journal was lost in the void of space. The Quintessons quickly deduced that whole tale had been nothing but a fabrication, and executed the torturer for failing to deliver the journal's true location. The Big Broadcast of 2006

Desperate for their race to survive, they launched a surprise attack on Autobot City, capturing it for themselves. Most of the Autobots were deactivated, except for Rodimus Prime, who was outside the city at the time of the attack, and Rewind, Ramhorn and Steeljaw, who were hidden inside Blaster's cassette compartment.

Using Arcee as bait, the Quintessons captured the Creation Matrix from Rodimus, and he reverted to Hot Rod. Out of options, Hot Rod activated the core of Autobot City, a giant Autobot called Metroplex, who transformed and drove the Quintessons off but caused massive damage to the city in the process.

The Quintessons fled, but were ordered by Lord Kledji not to return to Quintesson, but to roam the stars instead to rebuild their forces and seek revenge on the Transformers, since their home planet was doomed beyond hope. How that went for them is unknown, but as they'd managed to cheese off most of the known metallic species by that point, it probably didn't go too well. Space Pirates!

The Big Broadcast of 2006

After a journal of great importance to the Quintessons was lost on the planet Junkion, the Quintessons sent down a school of Sharkticons planet-side to retrieve it. Though the Sharkticons came close to completing their mission, they were chased off at the last moment by the planet's natives, much to the Quintessons' frustration. Deciding to make another attempt at its retrieval through more surreptitious means, the Quintessons sent down a television set the next day, knowing of the Junkions' fondness for Earth broadcasts. Their television set, however, also broadcasted a subliminal message, which caused the Junkions to act aggressively towards all outsiders, and made compelled them to clean up their planet. The Quintessons hoped this would allow them to more easily find their journal amidst Junkion's heaps of garbage, while keeping any other parties who might interfere at bay.

As soon as the Junkions found the Quintessons' journal, the latter moved in. But the Autobots and Decepticons had caught wind that something was amiss on Junkion by this time, and both factions also became involved, forcing the Quintessons to attack them. The Autobot Superion proved too mighty for them however, and the Quintesson were forced to retreat without their prize in hand. Worse yet, during the Autobots' and the Decepticons' scuffle in Junkion's orbit, the Quintessons' transmitter was damaged, ultimately resulting in its broadcast being sent all around the galaxy. Various species gathered around the planet to duke it out between themselves as a result. Seeing another opportunity to seize their lost journal, the Quintessons sent down a shuttle-craft to retrieve it while everyone else was distracted in the melee. But as the journal was captured in the shuttle-craft's tractor beam, a wild shot hit it, sending the journal off into the void of space, and out of the Quintessons' reach. The Quintesson tasked with retrieving the journal was sentenced to death for failing to fulfill his mission. The Big Broadcast of 2006

The Invisibility Factor

In one possible scenario, the Quintessons, currently allied with the Decepticons, sent a messenger craft to Earth. They informed Galvatron that they were ready to send in troops to help in a full-scale invasion of the Earth. Without any Autobots around to interfere with the messages they were relaying the Quintessons and the Decepticons soon turned Earth into one giant refuelling station. The Invisibility Factor

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

The Quintessons were an alien race which appeared to have conquered Cybertron at some point, but were driven off. However, they continued to maintain watch over Cybertron, eventually coming to manipulate the Council of Ancients. Megatron claimed this was the reason that he started the Great War. The Route of All Evil

Megatron's animosity towards the Quintessons did not stop him from making a deal with the aliens, who provided him with the Aerospace Extermination Squadron and a bunch of Piranacons. Knowing Megatron and the Quintessons, both were planning to betray each other when the time was right. The Age of Wrath Pt.2

Megatron had promised to deliver Cybertron's core to the Quintessons in exchange for the army they had provided him, but Megatron forestalled on completing the deal once he had conquered Cybertron. The Quintessons grew annoyed, and began to rightly suspect that Megatron planned to renege on their transaction. Little did they know that Flash, having been accidently been transported to Quintessa, was eavesdropping on their conversation, learning the true nature of Cybertron's conquest. The Age of Wrath Pt.4 The Quintessons discovered Flash spying on them, but he escaped thanks to his superior speed. The Age of Wrath Pt.5 The Quintessons then attempted to remotely extract Cybertron's core, only for their efforts to be thwarted by Starscream. Though their plans ended in failure, the Quintessons learned that the power they sought was also contained within Optimus Prime, a target much more attainable than Cybertron's core. The Age of Wrath Pt.6

The Quintessons began plotting further in earnest against Cybertron after a totalitarian regime headed by Shockwave was toppled by the Autobots. Generation 1 #0 Noting that Hot Rod might stand in their way, the Quintessons readied to put into use one of their agents on Cybertron, Arcee, who they could use to "distract" him. Lost and Found When Arcee informed that Hot Rod would soon be put in a mostly isolated position, the Quintessons excitedly put their plans of conquest in motion ahead of schedule. They called upon Elita One to ready herself The Route of All Evil and her extraction team to invade Cybertron. Generation One #11

Under the Quintessons' supervision, the extraction team successfully knocked out Hot Rod and retrieved the unconscious Autobot. Generation 1 #11

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

What order is this read in?!

When Serpent O.R. downloaded information on Cybertron's history from Soundwave's databanks, he saw the Quintessons create the transorganics and the Transformers. The Art of War #1

2005 IDW continuity

An enigmatic Quintesson historian named Pentius was shipwrecked on Junkion for centuries until he was freed by Megatron, who needed a guide to get off the planet. Faces of Darkness During their time together, the Quintesson nurtured Megatron's evil ambitions in order to shape him into a true monster, though his motives for doing so were clouded in mystery. The Decepticon eventually killed Pentius to use his spark's energy as fuel, but he was content with his death as it proved Megatron's training was complete. Prey After inserting Pentius's spark into Trypticon, Megatron accessed the giant's jumbled memories and saw other Quintessons, which he described as "devils" that preyed upon and destroyed entire civilizations. Primacy #1

Some time after Shockwave's Ore-1 Regenesis missiles struck the planet LV-117, someone painted the Death face of a Quintesson Judge on top of the Decepticon insignia adorning it. Syndromica (2) A strange inscription of a Quintesson judge was also present inside the ruins of some unknown ancient civilization on the planet. Through the cracks in the stone it was carved into, its eerie eyes glowed... Spotlight: Wheelie

As Unicron began consuming LV-117, Wheelie and Varta planned to flee the planet on a familiar screw-shaped ship. Syndromica (2) Our Darkest After crashing the ship on LV-118, Wheelie claimed to have stolen it from someone, but didn't specify who. Out of the Silent Planet

A similar ship - this one chock full of Sharkticons - was used by Wreck-Gar and Rum-Maj's group of Junkions to travel to Earth. To Walk Among the Chosen

When a trio of Autobots entered Unicron's internals, they found the remains of the Quintesson engraving. Bumblebee questioned its significance only for Optimus Prime to point out the painting's presence meant they were nearing Unicron's core. Last Stand

Kre-O online comics

Galvatron attacked a Quintesson and spun it around by the tentacles during his rampage. Enter the New Emperor of Destruction!? Stop Galvatron's Rampage!

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

The mysterious fifth dimensional beings known only as "the Makers" created the universe and with it Daiakuron, a living planet which they imbued with the power to create life on its own. They went on to merge together, five at a time, into gestalt forms, becoming the Quintessons. Earth: R.I.P. Taking up residence in the Void, the Quintessons were displeased that the life spawned from Daiakuron had developed sentience, something they had not intended. They seized Optimal Prime, Snake-Eyes, and Duke, putting them all on trial for theft of the body and the soul. Reviewing their memories: acquiring the Matrix of Leadership from Alpha Trion, being trained by the Blind Master in martial arts, and living at odds with his step-father, respectively, the trio was found guilty! However, before punishment could be dealt, the trio escaped back into reality. Everybody Hates Metroplex After learning the identity of their creators, the Autobots and G.I. Joe sent a joint crew to Quadrant X to find the Quintessons. The War Never Ends

Transformers/Ghostbusters

When Gozer appeared on Cybertron, the temple it summoned was adorned with Quintesson visages. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 1

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

"As I was your beginning, so shall I be your end."

The rulers of the Quintesson Empire, the Quintessons were an ancient enemy of the Cybertronian race, having enslaved Cybertron and sold off its citizenry as property in ages past. The Scorponok remaining on the Nebulos space station referred to them as the "creators". The Cybertronians eventually rose up against the Quintessons and drove them off Cybertron. The Judge Deseeus, who referred to the Cybertronians as his "children", would later claim credit for emancipating the Cybertronians though the veracity of this claim is unknown. By the era of the Great War, the Quintessons had been absent for so long that the younger generations of Cybertronians viewed them as nothing but myths.

Whether Deseeus was a uniquely fractured individual or a representative of the default among Quintesson Judges, each of his faces had a separate personality, who debated among the "council" to reach "consensus" before making a decision. Whether the Quintessons were the enemy driven off by Alpha Trion is unknown, but by the present age they were remembered enough for Optimus to know of them, and for Megatron to fly into a rage upon being compared to a Judge. Earthrise episode 2 Earthrise episode 5

In the past, the Quintessons ruled over a Cybertronian population that included the last Scorponok on Nebulos, who never rebelled against them, and ultimately all save that single Transformer were destroyed. Earthrise episode 5

Sometime around the Ark's launch, Judge Deseeus would hire out members of the Mercenary faction, who would bring the crew of the ship to him, where he proclaimed his desire to reunite with his "children", although his threats and arguing faces made his goals unclear. Deseeus' face of Wrath would reach "consensus" by slicing off the other faces and deciding to slaughter the Autobots. Earthrise episode 2 Manipulating the body of the Mercenary leader Doubledealer, Deseeus took command of the Mercenary faction, pursuing the Ark and the Nemesis. The Mercenaries' ship was eventually destroyed but it is unknown if Deseeus was still aboard when it exploded. Earthrise episode 6

My Little Pony/Transformers

Following the defeat of King Sombra on Cybertron, a Quintesson Judge observed the Equestrians with interest. Finale

2019 IDW continuity

During his fateful voyage beyond Cybertronian space, the explorer Exarchon came into contact with enigmatic beings who dwelt beyond the "Quintessence". Fearing the destructive potential of the Cybertronian race if they were allowed to spread unchecked, the aliens mutated Exarchon into a new form of life entirely, a "living virus" capable of remotely extinguishing the sparks of other Cybertronians, armed him with the advanced weapons and exotic technologies required to wage war on his homeworld, and showed him a glimpse of a possible future where he ruled Cybertron unopposed. Darkness, Once Gazed Upon: Part One Upon returning to Cybertron, Exarchon explained that he'd been sent to permanently curtail the unchecked cycles of violent conquest and colonization that characterized Cybertron's Age of Expansion by destroying the AllSpark itself. War's End Part Three

King Grimlock

When he found himself in Menonia, Grimlock made an enemy of the Red Wizard, finding him to be a Quintesson whom he quickly overthrow. Menonian lore speculated that the Red Wizard was an exile among his own people. Grimlock the Avenger

Energon Universe

Native to the planet Quintessa, Void Rivals #5 the Quintessons were responsible for the Age of Wrath, a reputation that gave them many enemies, Void Rivals #3 Cybertron and the Cybertronians among them. Void Rivals #4

In the modern day, the Quintesson Judge assigned a Prosecutor to take a Quintesson Scorpia to the fighting pits of the planet Dominus. Void Rivals #5 On his journey, the Prosecutor crossed paths with the Skuxxoid, a financial partner of the species. Discovering that the Prosecutor had a bounty on him, Skuxxoid held him prisoner. During Darak and Solila's quest to return to the Sacred Ring, they briefly joined forces with the Quintesson Prosecutor but ultimately left the alien in Skuxxoid's custody in exchange for a spaceship. Void Rivals #3

Skuxxoid first took the Prosecutor to Cybertron, hoping to sell him to Shockwave, only to be told to get out in no uncertain terms. Void Rivals #4 Undeterred, the Skuxxoid took the Prosecutor back to Quintessa, finding an even less sympathetic audience from the Judge. Before the Skuxxoid could be prepared for a trial, he managed to save his skin by mentioning that he had a ship made from Zertonian metals. Void Rivals #5

Delivered the craft, the Judge ordered it taken to a laboratory to be scanned for any hints that could lead them to Zertonia. Void Rivals #6 When a Quintesson Scientist theorized that the craft had a link to Zerta Trion, the Judge executed him for speaking the name. Void Rivals #9

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Void Rivals issue 14 follow. Spoilers expire in 14 days

A Quintesson Cruiser was dispatched to trace back the trail of the Zertonian craft, finding Hot Rod following the same trail. Following the Autobot, Void Rivals #11 the Quintessons found their way to Sacred Ring, the ship's captain declaring that they would have their revenge. Void Rivals #14

Unicron Trilogy continuity family

Alpha Quintesson (or simply "Alpha Q") had varying origins within the Aurex cluster. In some realities he came from Planet Q and was the only known Quintesson. Energon cartoon While in others, he came from Quintessa and was part of a larger race of Quintessons. Energon comic Regardless of his origins, his main motive and driving force remained mostly the same.

For further information, see: Alpha Quintesson

Animated cartoon

Three hundred million years ago, give or take, the Autobots, engaged in a major colonization push, had border skirmishes with the Quintesson Pan Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere. This conflict ended the Age of Expansion. The Autobot Commonwealth and the Co-Prosperity Sphere still border each other, as well as the Nebulon Republic. The AllSpark Almanac II

Swindle received his Sonic Jammer 3000 from the Quintessons. According to him, they are nice folks that give you a good deal and all the oil you can drink. Decepticon Air

Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity

Dude.

This universe's Quintessons are an enigmatic and benevolent species holding sway over a large section of space known as the Quintesson Collective. They share technology and cooperate with many other species, whether organic, technorganic, or mechanical, using culture as a unifying notion instead of evolutionary origins. They long ago perfected zero-point energy engines, food and parts replication technologies, and advanced biomedics, allowing any individual to change features, organs, and overall designs, eliminating such things as scarcity, and thus material value, "mortality", and even the concept of "species". These technological advances are shared and freely available to all those who join their "ultra-species".

The Quintessons usually rely on cautious observation before making first contact with other unenlightened peoples, demanding years of study and careful cultural guidance before even considering allowing membership into the Collective. They rarely use direct means to steer a culture onto the enlightened path, but have been known to occasionally take more direct action to protect their interests, doing the "dirty work" themselves. Shattered Glass

Shattered Expectations

When Starscream and Razorclaw confronted the evil Autobots Goldbug, Jazz, and Grimlock, Starscream ordered the Autobots to surrender in the name of the Quintesson Federation. Shattered Expectations

Aligned continuity family

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's. [...] Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.

When the Age of Primes ended and new Cybertronians began to populate the metallic world, Quintus Prime chose to leave the planet, hoping to use his Emberstone on other worlds and create peaceful, space-faring civilizations that would one day contact Cybertron to form friendly alliances. When he reached the planet Quintessa, Quintus created the Quintessons; a species of small organic squids. Physically frail, easily injured, and extremely cowardly, what the Quintessons lacked in physical strength, they made up for in intelligence and cunning. Alpha Trion suspected that when the Quintessons found no further use of Quintus Prime, they turned on their creator.

When the Quintessons developed interstellar travel, they began conquering other worlds. They were rarely seen during their conquests, doing most of their dirty work through various proxies, willing or unwilling. When the Quintessons did need to expose themselves to further their own ends, they frequently encased themselves in mechanical suits styled after their various slave races, often claiming to be representatives of other races.

At some point before discovering Cybertron, the Quintessons stole the schematics for space bridge technology from an unknown source but did not fully understand the science behind the device. They eventually discovered Cybertron toward the end of the planet's Age of Origins. As the first alien beings ever to make contact with the planet, the arrival of their ships awed the young Cybertronian race. Retribution The Covenant of Primus The Quintessons claimed to be benevolent entities sent to "uplift" the Cybertronians from their primitive existence, so that they could join the galactic community. By giving Cybertronians the "gift" of transformation and the power to assume alternate modes, the Quintessons won Cybertron's public support. In reality, though, the Quintessons had simply learned to remotely trigger the dormant transformation cogs present in every Transformer. The dispersal of Quintesson technology and tutelage turned the feudal, tribe-based planet into a sophisticated spacefaring civilization almost overnight. The Quintessons established rule of law and eventually a global order overseen by the Elite Guard member Sentinel Zeta Prime and the High Council.

Secretly, the Quintessons aimed to slowly rob the Cybertronians of their individuality, then sell them into slavery as mindless drones. To further this goal, they began implanting various Cybertronians, such as the Seekers, with cockpits intended to house Quintesson pilots. Retribution The Covenant of Primus Exodus The Quintessons organized other Cybertronians into working collectives and attempted to tamper with the Well of All Sparks itself; newborn Transformers began emerging without names or identities, and instead received alphanumeric designations. The Quintesson's twisted, bizarre sense of justice led to the construction of the Supreme Court on Cybertron, a kangaroo court where innocents could be sentenced to life imprisonment or death. Retribution The Covenant of Primus

Eventually, a resistance movement formed, and the Quintessons were defeated in a rebellion led by Sentinel Prime, who led Cybertron into a subsequent Golden Age. Traces of their rule, such as the cockpits implanted in many Cybertronians, would remain even as Cybertron slowly rid itself of their influence. Some of the Cybertronians who had lived through this disturbing period- including a young librarian named Orion Pax- suppressed their traumatic memories of Cybertron's occupation, and eventually forgot about the Quintessons almost entirely. Retribution The Covenant of Primus Generations later, Orion Pax claimed Sentinel and the High Council had enslaved Cybertron with the caste system instead of having it forced on them by the Quintessons. Exodus

The Quintessons never forgot about their humiliating rout at the hands of their former servants, and for many centuries the embittered race enviously regarded the planet and its inhabitants as rightfully theirs. At some point after Cybertron's Golden Age, the Quintessons discovered and colonized the Transformers's ex-colony world of Aquatron, modifying the bodies of its inhabitants to produce techno-organic monstrosities such as the Gamekeeper and the Hydratron. Aquatron was eventually subsumed into the Quintesson Imperium, and the Quintessons used their new Sharkticon slaves as aquatic shock troopers.

When the Ark entered the Aquatron system during Optimus Prime's search for the AllSpark, the Quintessons awakened Inquirata and his associate Xeros to carry out their deception that would eventually lead to the second invasion of Cybertron. Manipulating both Optimus and Megatron to the planet's surface under the guise of a peace treaty, the Quintessons were eventually able to place both Autobots and Decepticons under arrest and take them to court. During the trial, the Quintessons claimed that they had colonized Cybertron and literally built the first Transformers; Optimus quickly saw through their deception and maintained that all Cybertronians were creations of Primus alone. The Quintesson judges found Optimus innocent, and forced him to duel to the death with Megatron; siphoning energy from the two leaders, they powered a Space Bridge to Cybertron and launched a second invasion force to re-colonize and enslave Cybertron. Their genetically engineered leader Tyrannicon spearheaded the Sharkticon invasion and was able to swiftly overwhelm the weakened planet. The invasion was only defeated after Megatron, forced into a temporary truce with his archenemy, discovered the Sharkticon Matrix of Leadership and used it to override Tyrannicon's hold on his troops. In the ensuing fight, Xeros, Tyrannicon, and Inquirata were all killed, and Aquatron itself was freed of Quintesson control. Retribution

The Mutacons knew of the Quintessons but considered the law-bound Quintesson way of life to be boring and a worse fate than death. The Covenant of Primus

Cyberverse cartoon

The Quintessons were a strange race of aliens, interdimensional beings who travelled the multiverse using their multiverse drive and passed judgement on which universes deserved to live or be destroyed. (spoiler alert: they always get destroyed.) The Trial To do so, the Quintessons would create "Judges", hybrid beings based on the native lifeforms of that universe; if the universe was found guilty, then the Judge would oversee the destruction of the universe by using unspace to obliterate all matter. The End Of The Universe I The Scientist traditionally oversaw the process, and in his travels developed a fondness for collecting various iterations of Soundwave he plucked from the various doomed universes his kind had passed judgement upon. The Scientist While Judges were hybrids from native lifeforms, the Scientist himself was some kind of organic creature that acted through mechanical proxies. The End Of The Universe III

When exactly it is that the Quintessons found this particular universe is not clear; hieroglyphs inside the Titan Croaton suggested that the aliens had invaded his colony and abducted his inhabitants long before the present day, Ghost Town with Wheeljack referencing the Quintesson reputation for engineering when affecting repairs to a disused space bridge. The Crossroads

Either way, the Quintessons had established an outpost in a distant region of the galaxy at some point before 2007. Having previously encountered the Velgrox and the Gray, incorporating a member of both races into their latest Judge, the Quintessons discovered that Cybertronians existed in this universe after Croaton, in search of his missing citizens, flew past the outpost, taking the hapless Starscream with him. Although the current Judge planned to simply judge and dispose of their new prisoner, the ambitious Seeker tried to win over his captors by revealing the existence of the Allspark on Cybertron. Seeing this as a power source to fuel the creation of the new Judge, the Quintessons made for Cybertron and "rewarded" Starscream with their highest honor: assimilation into the next Judge. The End Of The Universe I

Arriving shortly after Megatron's defeat, the Quintessons quickly conquered the planet and ensnared the city of Iacon in the tendrils of their command tower. The Cybertronians were rounded up and placed in a virtual reality simulation designed to keep them happy and docile while the Scientist both drained their sparks and tapped into the Allspark's energy itself to fuel the creation of this new Judge. The Loop The Scientist Unfortunately, their machinations were upset by Hot Rod, who the Quintessons had overlooked during their conquest of the planet. The ad hoc Cybertronian resistance he assembled operated out of Maccadam's, invisible to Quintesson sensors, and threatened to undermine their control of the planet. Although the Quintesson forces eventually captured Hot Rod, the Autobot leader proved uncooperative and was found guilty. The Trial

Soon, the resistance infiltrated the command tower and clashed with the Scientist himself, their battle putting the unborn Judge at risk and severing their hostages' connection to the virtual reality loop. The Scientist Freed of their prison, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their respective forces rebelled against the Quintessons, with the conflict escalating into open war between the two forces. Despite their best efforts, the Cybertronians proved unable to breach the force field that protected the Quintesson headquarters, but the partial activation of Iaconus pushed their Sharkticon warriors into a retreat. The Alliance

The Quintessons eventually gained the advantage, primarily by the Judge's rage at Megatron's theft of their multiverse escape pod, disabling nearly all enemy combatants. However, the Judge was attacked and overwhelmed by the resistance leaders and, in their damage and frenzy, they crashed into the command tower, seemingly perishing as it exploded and collapsed. Although the prior Judge was killed, it had survived long enough for the gestation of their new Judge to finish. The Judge

The new Judge Starscream rounded up nearly all his enemies, only to monologue over them while Optimus Prime and Megatron were being located. The End Of The Universe I Iaconus was soon awakened and battled the enslaved Croaton under Judge Starscream's command. The End Of The Universe II Despite the Scientist being killed off by Wheeljack, Judge Starscream used unspace to slay Iaconus. The End Of The Universe III

Somehow the Quints found the literal WORST person to judge the universe. It's impressive, really.

Despite his victory over Iaconus, Judge Starscream soon lost control of Croaton. As his enemies broke free and rallied, he was soon overwhelmed and seemingly destroyed by the dual Matrices of Optimus Prime and a returned Megatron. The Quintesson invasion was effectively overthrown, and the remainder of their forces were subsequently dealt with by the Autobots and Deceptions. No trace of their occupation remained by the time of the factions' split control of the planet. The End Of The Universe IV

Alternate universe

In the universe from which Megatron X hailed from, the tyrant used a laser snare to destroy the Quintesson flagship as it descended onto Cybertron before salvaging its technology for his own ends. The Other One

EarthSpark cartoon

The Quintessons were the first creations of Quintus Prime following his departure from Cybertron. After creating them, Quintus eventually returned to space. When the Quintessons developed space travel, they followed their creator, seeking to know the purpose of their existence. Finding that they were just one of many creations of Quintus, the embittered Quintessons sought to destroy Quintus and all his creations, and take the power of the Emberstone for themselves. The Quintessons chased Quintus to a primordial Earth, detecting their creator launching away. Unaware that this was a ruse, the Quintessons left behind a force to breach the Titan Terratronus and claim the Emberstone while they pursued what they thought to be Quintus. Witwicky, Part 1

Millenia later, a Quintesson Executioner was reactivated in Witwicky, attempting to capture Mo Malto to stand trial before the Quintessons. In Ruins

One film

Tell your people, as of today, their workload has been doubled, thanks to your god. Or is it thanks to you?

For thousands of cycles, the Quintessons fought the Cybertronians for control of their planet. The war was at a stalemate until Sentinel, the chief advisor of the Thirteen Primes, brokered a deal with the Quintessons: if he led the Primes into an ambush to be slaughtered, the Quintessons would allow him to appoint himself the new leader of Cybertron under their thumb, so long as he provided them with a constant supply of energon. Sentinel reported to the Primes that he'd intercepted a message about an important meeting of the high command of the Quintessons in a distant cave on the planet's surface. The Primes, eager to bring the war to an end by eliminating the Quintesson leadership in a single strike, followed Sentinel to the cave, only to be besieged by the aliens. The Primes nearly triumphed over their attackers until Sentinel turned on his superiors, slaying most of them himself. With the battle over, Sentinel tore open Zeta Prime's chest to claim the Matrix of Leadership, but having proven himself unworthy it crumbled to dust in his hands. Undeterred, Sentinel declared himself Prime and announced to Cybertron that the Quintessons were defeated and that he was the last survivor of the Primes. With the planet failing to produce fresh energon in the absence of the Matrix, Sentinel removed the transformation cogs of most of Cybertron's lower classes and put them to work mining for energon to produce a tribute to the Quintessons. Sentinel and his retinue made periodic trips to the surface to deliver the energon, telling the populace that they were searching for the Matrix.

Fifty cycles later, the Quintessons maintained control over Cybertron's surface, their ships obliterating any lifeforms that they detected. On one particular delivery, after Sentinel bowed before the Quintesson High Commander and presented his offering of energon, the High Commander noticed the tribute was light and grew hostile, grabbing and restraining Sentinel with his tentacles. Sentinel begged for mercy, insisting that Cybertron's mines were depleted, and the High Commander only begrudgingly spared Sentinel's life and departed when he pleaded for more time to collect the rest of the tribute. The High Commander departed with his forces, and Sentinel vowed to work the miners even harder. However, the altercation was witnessed by a group of miners. Having discovered that the history they had been told was a lie, they brought down Sentinel Prime and his regime. The newly-raised Optimus Prime, now in possession of the Matrix, used it to reignite the flow of energon and sent a warning to the Quintessons not to return. Transformers One

Games

Transformers Legends

You spin me right round baby, right round.

The Quintessons put Rodimus and Sergeant Kup on trial. Unfortunately Grimlock arrived and promptly turned the Sharkticons on their masters. Mockery of Justice Intending to disrupt the Galactic Games, the Quintessons allied with Slipstream and sent her in to cause trouble. The Galactic Games They also send Skuxxoids to the games to kidnap Ultra Magnus, Kup, and Spike. Five Faces of Darkness: Part 1 When the trio were rescued post-sentencing by the other Autobots, the Quintessons destroyed their own home planet, Quintesson, in an attempt to eliminate them. The Quints then tried to enlist the help of the Decepticons to wipe out the Autobots, only for Galvatron to arrive and reclaim his troops. Five Faces of Darkness: Part 2 They soon struck an alliance with Galvatron and attacked Cybertron, with the end result that they activated an ancient device to deactivate all Transformers. After the device was destroyed by Spike, the Quintessons were forced to retreat. Five Faces of Darkness: Part 3

The Quintessons observed from afar Ultra Magnus and his Autobots celebrated the activation of a new power core. Enraged by the sight, the Quintessons plotted to get revenge on both Autobots and Decepticons. They then approached Galvatron and gave the Decepticon leader false coordinates to a power core. The Quintessons had in truth led Galvatron to the location of their old creations, the Dweller and the Trans-Organics. After the ensuing battle that took place between the Autobots, the Decepticons and the Quintessons' ancient creations, a faint Quintesson cry for help was broadcast from deep underground... Dweller in the Depths

Transformers: Forged to Fight

Like a color-changing lamp!

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers: Forged to Fight

Transformers: Earth Wars

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers: Earth Wars

Transformers Roleplaying Game

The Quintessons were mechanoids with powerful psionic abilities that manipulated all Transformers factions as they saw fit.Field Guide to Action and Adventure

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Toys

Energon

• Alpha Quintesson (Mega, 2005)
  • Accessories: Missile launcher, missile, base, three tentacles

I do hope you'll bring these gadgets back in one piece, 007.

One of the last toys in the Energon line, Alpha Quintesson is fairly unique in that he is one of the only toys in the history of the main Transformers line that does not transform in any manner or even come with any kind of transforming accessory (like the Action Masters).

Alpha Quintesson requires quite a bit of assembly out of the box, coming in six separate pieces: his main body, a solid "bed of tentacles" that serves as a wheeled base that the body plugs into, a firing missile launcher which plugs into his back (via a standard 5mm peg that also allows other characters to wield it) and points up over his head, and three rubber, wire-poseable tentacles which attach to the base. The tentacles end in a large yellow clamp, a red chainsaw, and a purple energy arc, and spin around via a gear-wheel system when the base is rolled back and forth. The figure features nine circular ports (three on each arm and three on the base), to which either energon chips or any weapons featuring 5mm pegs can be attached.

The main body is notably very accurate to the CGI model from the animated series, save for its coloration and the addition of the missile launcher. As a toy that was entirely dull green from top to bottom would not have been a very interesting sight, the figure features several shades of green with yellow highlights, plus a red paint wash on its "underbelly" and arms. The main body contains its own gimmick, involving Alpha Q's spinning faces as seen in the cartoon. Opening the armor's jaws reveals Alpha Q's head, recessed within the body (though unable to move forward into a more prominent position as seen in the show), and pressing the trigger on the back of the body, disguised as one of the spinal fins, causes the head to spin from face to face. The toy only features the character's first three faces (Angry, Whiny and Crazy); the purple, calm face is not featured.

As an allegiance was needed to brand the figure with for marketing purposes, Alpha Quintesson's toy is sold as a Decepticon, despite that faction not really being where his loyalties lie. There were also many reports of the toy coming misassembled, missing the hard point where the figure connected to the base, making it nigh impossible for the toy to stand up on its own.

• More information on Alpha Quintesson at TFU.info

Cyberverse

The Big Surprise of 2019

• Quintesson Invasion (Multi-pack, 2019)
  • Accessories: 2 mind-control helmets

The Cyberverse Quintesson Judge is a roughly deluxe-sized, non-transforming mold, with five different faces that rotate when the top of the body is pushed down and released. The molded tentacle base/body has four ball-jointed tentacles that can pose freely, but are hard-plastic so there's no bendy-bendy happening. As the Judge is supposed to be freakin' huge, it works better when set next to the Cyberverse Tiny Turbo Changers.

It was only available in a store-exclusive three-pack. Also included in the set are the Spark Armor Prowl and Shockwave figures, now sans the spark armor and with new mind control helmet accessories. Additionally, the mind control helmets can plug into any Battle Class spark armor figure. Ironically, Shockwave and Prowl both died before encountering the Quintessons in the actual cartoon.

The set was exclusive to Target in the United States and Toys"R"Us in Canada, and appeared at retail in December 2019 with no prior announcement by Hasbro.

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

"It is a day so long in coming that I am uncertain how to celebrate it."

• Quintesson Judge (Voyager Class, 2020)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-E22
  • TakaraTomy ID number: ER EX-08
  • TakaraTomy release date: August 29, 2020
  • Accessories: Blaster, cage, throne, levitation beam

• Known designers: Ken Christiansen (concept artist)

The Earthrise Quintesson Judge is the first release of a "Generation 1" Quintesson toy. A trigger on his "back" activates a face-spinning gimmick. The faces of Death, Wisdom, and Wrath have opening jaws; the faces of Wrath and Doubt come detached in the package, requiring owners to clip them into their respective sides, with Wrath reported by many owners to be quite a challenge to attach correctly.

The order of the faces matches the arrangement from The Transformers: The Movie, with Wisdom and Wit surrounding Death, which is slightly different from that used in the cartoon, which flanked Death with Wrath and Doubt. Unscrewing and detaching every face except Wrath can be used to replicate Deseeus cutting off his faces in the Netflix cartoon, although the bare plastic under the faces can be considered unsightly.

To replicate the ability of the Judge to levitate, the figure also includes a transparent "levitation beam", which pegs onto the throne via a 5mm post-hole, then attaches to the Judge's underside via a clip; it does not function as an effects part. Promotional renders color the beam in translucent yellow, but on the finalized figure, it is instead sculpted in clear plastic and is therefore uncolored.

The lower body's five soft-plastic tentacles are on swivel joints to raise and lower, and each has three 3mm effects pegs designed to accommodate War for Cybertron blast effects parts. Using these pegs, the Quintesson can hold its blaster accessory, and the tentacles can also be pegged into specifically-positioned holes on the Judge's body to better "aim" the weapon forward. If one so wishes, the blaster can also be plugged into one of two ports underneath the throne for... sneakier judgement passing.

Because it has to transform into something, the Judge converts via partforming into a tower with a prison cage in 16 steps. The top of the tower and the cage do not actually attach to the base; they only balance on it. The cage and the tower are large enough to fit a Battle Master (or other similarly-sized figures). Additionally, the cage also has two ports into which the blaster can be fitted. One on the top, as well as another in its interior. The latter might be preferable as a form of storage if one is wary of misplacing the blaster, as it is a small accessory that does not peg well into the figure's arms. The throne/platform and the panel under the Death face have A.I.R. Lock System ramp connections, allowing it to connect to ramps from other compatible toys, notably the Quintesson-allied Slitherfang.

Like all Earthrise toys, the inside of the back of the Judge's package includes an exclusive clip-and-save piece of a larger star map. Also in the box is a thin red piece of transparent plastic with which to read the star map. The Judge's piece of the map contains the labeled location of the planet "QUINTESSA". Like most Earthrise figures from wave 2 onward, however, it is misprinted, and overlays the "decodable" red graphics from the map piece included with Earthrise Starscream on top of the details unique to the Judge's piece.

The Judge was originally supposed to be released in the second wave, but was pushed back to the third for unknown reasons, with Starscream taking his place in wave 2 cases. In Japan, the Quintesson Judge was released as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive.

War for Cybertron Trilogy

They've got this case all wrapped up.

• Quintesson Pit of Judgement (Multi-pack, 2020)
  • Accessories: Judge's blaster, cage, seat, blast effect; Bailiff's staff; Sharkticon's tail/mace

• Known designers: Ken Christiansen (concept artist), Mario Carreiro and AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

This giftset represents the "trial" of Kranix during The Transformers: The Movie. The set includes a Quintesson Judge (a brighter redeco of the Earthrise toy above, now packaged with all its faces attached); a Bailiff (a retool of the Earthrise Allicon with a new head, chest, shoulders, and axe); a non-transforming Prosecutor; a Sharkticon (a redeco of Titans Return Gnaw); and a non-transforming Kranix. The interior packaging forms the Sharkticon execution pit.

This piece was exclusive to Hasbro Pulse in the United States. It was announced to the public before the "standard" versions of the Judge and Allicon were released, and was available first for people who attended the Hasbro Fans Expo in Hong Kong and preordered the set. The box was designed by AJ Piejko-Brown.

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

• Troop Builder Multipack (4-pack, 2023)
  • Accessories: Axe, mace, tail-sword, Allicon head

• Known designers: Mark Maher

One of four figures in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee "Troop Builder Multipack", the Quintesson Trooper is a redeco of the War for Cybertron Trilogy Quintesson Bailiff in a more cartoon-accurate color scheme, retaining that figure's accessories. Additionally, the Trooper also includes a copy of the Earthrise Allicon's head, with additional paint compared to the original release. While the multipack's packaging and instructions suggest optionally swapping this head onto the Quintesson Trooper to create a sort of Bailiff/Allicon hybrid, a savvy purchaser can instead substitute it onto an original Earthrise Allicon toy to give it a more cartoon-accurate head... if they don't mind the plastic colors not matching. Due to sitting up higher than the Allicon release of the mold, you should turn the Allicon head so the fin rests in the gap of the chest when transforming to avoid the fin becoming bent.

This is also the first ever Hasbro-initiated toy^[3] to feature the Quintesson insignia (albeit very small). Nice!

The Troop Builder Multipack also included a Decepticon Seeker, a G2 Universe Cybertronian Trooper, and an Animated Universe Autotrooper.

One

• Quintesson High Commander (Prime Changers, 2024)
  • Accessories: Energon cube

"Death mocks life! Mocks Skeksis! But no more! Skeksis conquer death!"

A Walmart-exclusive, the Quintesson High Commander is a Deluxe Class-ish figure that transforms into a Quintesson space cruiser in 18 steps. The toy features ball-jointed shoulders and elbows, though the chest molding makes it impossible for the figure's arms to point forward. The toy lacks 5 mm compatible hands, or any hands for that matter. In lieu of legs, the robot mode rests atop a structure sculpted to look like a mass of tentacles, which is fleshed out with additional soft-plastic tentacles flowing out from hinges beneath the torso.

The figure's only accessory is a single rubberized Energon cube which can be stored in a square recess inside the Quintesson's torso. Interestingly, the Energon cube in question is pink, even though Energon is consistently blue in the movie.

Merchandise

ReAction

• Quintesson (2023)
  • Accessories: Repair tool

Released in the sixth wave of Super7's line of multi-property 3.75-inch "retro" action figures, ReAction Quintesson is a non-converting figure of a Quintesson Judge. It does feature face-turning articulation, though that joint is notably tighter than the connection between the body and the clear-red "energy beam" stand. Unusual for ReAction figures, its four tentacles are actually on balljoints, though their range of motion is pretty limited. Two of these tentacles end in loops, enabling him to hold the "repair tool" the Judge carries in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2".

As with all releases in the ReAction toyline, Quintesson comes packaged on a small cardback that emulates the nostalgic packaging style of Kenner's Star Wars action figures from the late 1970s to early '80s.

Notes

Touch the Rainbow, Taste the Rainbow!

• The Quintessons were named after a local restaurant.^[4]
• In the original 1984 draft of The Transformers: The Movie, the Quintessons had a radically different appearance having spindly bipedal bodies with large heads. At this point they also had psychic abilities, being able to create swarms of Sharkitcons from a pile of scrap. After escaping from them, Hot Rod forced their leader to use his "mind scan" to create a holographic space map to find his missing friends. While these abilities were removed for the April 1985 draft their appearance would stay the same. Per this draft, the Autobots would have been shocked to discover that, in reality, they were all head; when Hot Rod grabbed one, its head would disconnect from its body, fly off, and link up to another body in waiting. Somewhere along the way, the body idea got dropped, but not before designer Floro Dery produced a design seemingly based on this early idea, seen at right, revealed through his Etsy store in October 2014.
  • The mini-series "Five Faces of Darkness" which had several references to this early draft, appeared to feature this in a scene where one of Deliberata's faces detaches—seemingly derived from the idea of a removable head. But this detail is not mentioned in the episode script suggesting that it's an animation/storyboarding mistake.
• According to Dery's concept art each of the Judges' five faces have a specific inspiration:"Death" is inspired by an Egyptian Pharaoh (it's possible he meant a death mask) to 'suggest kingly authority and death'; "Smiling" is a "fat face with a sun-like-rays headgear" to create the appearance of a smile, "Angry" is based on a devil, "Grimacing" a stern barbarian, and "Suspicion" on an old woman.
• When asked about the finalized Quintesson design in an interview, Dery stated they were based on a cylindrical toy he designed at some point.^[5]
• Since the movie never explains what the characters are being charged with, and offers no logical progression to a verdict, it's often interpreted that Quintesson justice simply operates on reverse terminology for the sake of humor—that the Quintessons say "innocent", but dohohoho, they're aliens, and to them, that means "guilty", so the accused is sentenced to death. This was certainly the assumption Simon Furman was working off of when he first used the Quintessons in the UK-only framing sequence of "The Big Broadcast of 2006" and had a Quintesson find an interrogator to be "innocent" of things which he is unambiguously guilty of. The 2014 novel Retribution also followed this path, with the note that "innocent" must "mean something different" to the aliens, as the characters on trial are indeed entirely guilty of what they are being accused of. What is consistently overlooked, however, is the one instance in all Transformers canon of the Quintessons actually finding someone guilty, which happens to Kup and Ultra Magnus in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2". And they are guilty of the charges put before them: being Autobots, the race who stole Cybertron from the Quintessons. While it may have started out that way at some point in the script process of the movie, the cartoon universe made clear very early on that Quintesson justice isn't supposed to operate on reverse terminology for humor's sake; the aliens know the difference between the two terms, and the trials are just trivial, for their own amusement, before they kill you anyway. The iteration of the Quintessons depicted in the Cyberverse cartoon do use guilty in its (relatively) correct meaning, destroying those they judge as such. Notably, we never see them pronounce anyone innocent; while they create Judges to deliver verdicts, they seem to view guilty as the only possible result.
• In a Q&A, Simon Furman said he considered making the Magnificence a Quintesson artifact but changed his mind.^[6] Early in the development of More than Meets the Eye, the Knights of Cybertron would've eventually become the Quintessons, but this plot thread was eventually dropped as the series evolved.^[7]
• The Animated Quintessons are just off-screen mentions, but as their empire's name is near-identical to Imperial Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, we can assume they're very nasty.
• For whatever reason, the Cyberverse pronunciation of Quintesson consistently differs from the original in that the stress is now on the middle syllable ("Quin-TES-son") instead of the last ("Quin-tes-SON") in other media.
• Although the Quintessons weren't named in IDW's rebooted Transformers continuity before its conclusion, multiple lines of dialogue and a single panel in 2022's War's End miniseries heavily imply that the Quintessons are the aliens responsible for mutating Exarchon into his current-day self. Had the series continued, Ruckley would've expounded on the "Quintessence", which he described as a quarantined region of space populated by Quintessons and barricaded behind a shield of electrical energy;^[8] they might have also been somehow connected to the Voin, another race of squid-like creatures.^[9]
• Concept art for an unidentified animated movie depicts what seems to be Optimus Prime facing a giant Quintesson, it is wrongly attributed online to be from The Last Knight due to the appearance of Optimus & the date of publication from said artwork. ^[10]
  

  

Foreign names

• Japanese: Quintessa-seijin (クインテッサ星人, "Planet Quintessa People"), Quintesson (クインテッサン Kuintessan)
• Italian: Quintessenziali ("Quintessentials"; initially used only in the G1 cartoon, brought back from Cyberverse onwards)
• Mandarin: Wǔ Miàn Guài (五面怪, "Five-faced Monster")
• Portuguese: Quintessiano ("Quintessian", Cyberverse dub)

References

1. ↑ Che's packaging bio
2. ↑ Post by Jim S on the Allspark Forums
3. ↑ Takara & e-HOBBY released Overcharge in 2004, which included a Quintesson sticker
4. ↑ Flint Dille interview at TFcon 2016
5. ↑ TransFormers Philippines: Interview With Floro Dery
6. ↑ SIMON FURMAN - Q&A Nov/Dec 2008 at IDW Publishing Forums
7. ↑ "Early More than Meets the Eye story bible"—Stuart Webb, Twitter, 2022/08/20
8. ↑ Brian Ruckley at TFNation 2022
9. ↑ "Not intrinsic, but there was/would have been a connection of some sort - if only because the Voin are my favourite alien babies and part of my original conception was that they tend to get involved, usually as individuals, somehow, sometime, in pretty much everything."—Brian Ruckley, Twitter, 2022/08/09
10. ↑ https://zerply.com/r/29Fe3WvG/transformers-quintesson-chamber Transformers Pitch concept art for an animated movie.