Torchbearer

The Torchbearers are a group of Camien Autobots from the IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

We are the Torchbearers
We'll always save the day
And if you think we can't
We'll always find a way

Torchbearers are a group of Camiens, always six in number, to represent the six sides of Solus Prime's Creation Lathe. Servants of the Mistress of Flame, the Torchbearers traditionally serve as an elite group of dedicated peacekeepers, travelling from town to town as their duties necessitate. On joining the group, members adopt a distinct color scheme that mark them as Torchbearers.

One such team of Torchbearers, led by the stalwart Pyra Magna, is dedicated to seeking out and protecting ancient Cybertronian relics. These team members are forged tough to withstand even the most volatile of environments, even the treacherous Rust Sea. Accidental exposure to the Enigma of Combination granted this group of Torchbearers a new power: the ability to combine into Victorion.

Pyra Magna's team of Torchbearers are sometimes known as the Rust Renegades.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Cause we're good and evil never beats us

The Torchbearers existed on Caminus for centuries, inducting new Torchbearers whenever a member fell in the line of duty. At one point, team leader Praesidia Magna visited the dead colony world of Antilla with the Mistress of Flame.

At some point during the past, the Torchbearers—then consisting of Praesidia Magna, Pyra, Skyburst, Stormclash, Fastbreak, and Rust Dust—visited the remote mining town of Parvus Oppidum at the request of Dustup, who had recently encountered some raiders. While investigating the town, the team came under attack by a horde of mechanical beasts, who killed Fastbreak and dragged Praesidia into a destructive singularity. Pyra, who had seemingly experienced a close encounter with the mythical Onyx Prime, was left traumatized by the attack, suffering recurring nightmares about her experience and Antilla. Realizing that Primes weren't the benevolent deities of Camien mythology, and realizing that she would need to stand against them if the time came, Pyra took command of the remnants of the Torchbearers and inducted Jumpstream and Dustup into their ranks to replace their losses. Ghost Stories

The Space Knight Livia at one point encountered a Cybertronian who wore the Torchbearers' colors, who had come to love an organic being. Asymmetric Warfare

When Optimus Prime first made contact with Caminus, First Contact the Mistress of Flame believed that Optimus was the incarnation of the legendary Thirteenth Prime, the Arisen, a belief that Pyra Magna and the six Torchbearers under her command shared. The Medium and the Message

We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas!

Caminus became the first planet to join Cybertron's Council of Worlds; with the two planets linked by space bridge, the Mistress ordered Pyra's team to search for the remains of Crystal City on Cybertron. Arriving on Cybertron, they realized that Arcee had stolen the Enigma of Combination from under Chromia's guard; Rust Dust noticed Windblade and Chromia chasing Arcee into the Rust Sea. She pointed this out to Pyra Magna, who ordered her team into action, much to Dustup and Jumpstream's delight. As they group came upon the battling trio, Arcee threw a hard elbow into Windblade's face. Recognizing her as a Cityspeaker, Skyburst and Stormclash were horrified that Arcee had attacked Windblade, and despite Windblade's protestations, the team confronted Arcee with weapons drawn. Suddenly recognizing the Enigma as one of the artifacts the team was tasked with seeking, they drew back in fear that it would get damaged. Arcee, just happy to have it out of Starscream's grasp, prepared to destroy it, but at the last moment, Rust Dust lunged forward to protect it. In grabbing the Enigma, it was activated, and the Torchbearers were combined into Victorion!

Victorion immediately ordered Arcee to step back or be disintegrated by the goliath's weapons. Saying that creating combiners was exactly what she wanted to prevent by her theft, Arcee attacked her, but proved no match for the newborn combiner. Victorion's confusion at being formed from six different minds was completely overridden by her components' shared religious zeal at protecting artifacts of the Primes. Arcee was saved from the combiner's vicious attack only by Windblade's swift intervention. Dodging Victorion's volley of cannon fire, Arcee took refuge with Chromia and Windblade behind some rubble. They quickly talked her into teaming up to disarm the Torchbearers' combined form, and while Chromia and Windblade disabled Victorion's weapons, Windblade flew up to talk to her. Reminding Victorion that all of her components were dedicated servants of the Mistress of Flame, she was able to talk sense to the giant, and helped her realize that as devotees of Solus Prime, their mission, and now Victorion's mission, was one of peace and creation, not needless destruction. Realizing that Windblade was right, Victorion willingly separated back into the individual Torchbearers.

Pyra Magna apologized for her team's actions, saying that they'd been very disoriented by the experience. After Arcee decried Victorion as an abomination, Pyra Magna said that even though it was an accident that they'd been changed into a combiner, they had every right to be who they now were, and it was up to them to figure out whether the change was for good or bad.An Uneventful Night

You can see that there's more of us than four of us

After Optimus returned from an audience with the Mistress of Flame, he noticed Aileron defending herself well in a physical disagreement with Slug, and during his chat with her, she asked him about his visit. She told him that the group of six Transformers that accompanied The Mistress, all painted alike, were known as Torchbearers, and suggested that he talk, not to the group of Torchbearers he'd seen with The Mistress, but the other Torchbearers, who'd chosen to stay on Cybertron and live in the Rust Sea, "the worst part of the planet". Aphelion

Those Torchbearers later appeared in the midst of a dust storm to frighten off a group of Sweeps that were attacking a convoy guarded by the Dinobots. They kept silent and still, letting their mere presence serve as intimidation, impressing even Slug. Redemption

The Torchbearers remained in exile until Optimus Prime - seeking answers about what it truly meant to be a Prime, paid them a visit. Aphelion Victorion tested Optimus's physical and spiritual resolve. Optimus's agnosticism about the Matrix of Leadership prompted Victorion to lay claim to the Matrix and vow to build Optimus into a worthy Prime. Lagrange

If you could only know, what we really are
When we arrived on Earth, from out beyond your star

Optimus and the Torchbearers returned to Metroplex, where Victorion helped quell a Decepticon riot at the space bridge. Perihelion After Optimus declared Earth a member of the Council of Worlds, Victorion battled against Galvatron's forces, then remained on Earth as the Autobots dug in against potential human retaliation. Once Upon a Time on Earth

As a show of good faith, the Autobots began patrolling impoverished and troubled regions around the world, and as part of this the Torchbearers defended a Middle Eastern girl's school from religious extremists. The Torchbearers would later travel to the White House after Aileron went rogue, safely removing the Autobots from the White House lawn. Edge of the Earth When Optimus and Soundwave attacked Galvatron's underwater base, the Torchbearers took part by forming Victorion, but they were soon defeated by Galvatron's planetwide Enigma of Combination and knocked unconscious. It's Beginning To And Back Again As Above...So Below By the time they had regained consciousness the fight had already moved offworld. No Fair Fights The Torchbearers participated in the underwater cleanup efforts, White Light but were forced combine after the Earth Defense Command launched an attack on the Autobots. White Heat

Some months later, the Torchbearers were called into action to defend Arcee and Jazz from G.I. Joe in Oregon, using Victorion's gravity powers to harmlessly take down human aircraft in the wake of Soundwave's EMP attack. Concorde Hymn As Victorion, the Torchbearers maintained a standing guard outside Autobot City and battled Baron Karza and the Dire Wraiths when the Ore-13 crisis came to a head. Valley Forge They later accompanied Optimus Prime to the Matterhorn, To Walk Among the Chosen where the Autobot leader met with the Junkion representatives Wreck-Gar and Rum-Maj. A Lonely Pillar on the Plain Pyra Magna and Optimus had a heated argument about manipulating the faith of the colonists after Prime announced a plan to deliberately breach the Tyrest Accord. The Torchbearers later attended Optimus's summit with human leaders, which was interrupted by a Sharkticon attack on the part of the Junkions. Dance Among the Shadows

The odds are against us, it won’t be easy
But we’re not going to do it alone

In the ensuing battle, the Torchbearers battled the invading Junkions and their minions - albeit reluctantly, with Pyra Magna expressing concern over Prime's increasing ruthlessness - by unleashing Victorion on the aliens, tearing them asunder with the combiner's gravity powers. Future Glories Lost Although the Torchbearers continued to support Optimus in his endeavors to build a better relationship between the species, helping out with the construction of Little Cybertron, What It's Really Like, the rift between Optimus and Pyra Magna continued to grow until the Prime invited her to the remains of the Crystal City out in the Rust Sea to talk out their differences. Ghost Stories

During Joe Colton's genocidal attack on Cybertron, the Torchbearers Stormclash and Skyburst helped jury-rig the M.A.S.S. Device into an impromptu teleporter to Cybertron. First Strike #3 Although Colton's invasion was thwarted, the attack left the Transformer homeworld low on energon and more dependent than ever on its ancient colony worlds. The Torchbearers were on Cybertron when "Onyx Prime" made his return, supposedly pledging to fix this state of affairs; however, it soon became clear that Onyx was, in actuality, a time-traveling Shockwave, who sought to destroy every faith and creed that the Cybertronian race adhered to. The Falling, Chapter 3: The Ground In the ensuing conflict, Victorion slew Devastator and Pyra Magna would be the one to capture and subdue Shockwave. Unforgivable

When Unicron and began his own attack on the galaxy as a result of Shockwave's manipulations, the Torchbearers were sent out into Cybertronian orbit in the hopes that they could stop the combiner. As Victorion, they battled Monstructor, but were unable to overpower their mutated foe, and Stormclash was ripped from the combiner and killed. Our Finest Without Stormclash, the team was left without the ability to combine, but when Cybertron was destroyed and Unicron arrived over Earth the team tried again, this time accepting Slide as a replacement member thanks to the powers of the Enigma of Combination. Along with Superion, the two combiners tag-teamed Monstructor and easily killed him, Ceremony and in the aftermath Slide and Swift were sworn in as new members of the team, while Pyra herself rose to become the new Mistress of Flame. Post

Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons

Stormclash flew Rodimus Prime to the Primal Basilica. Aftermath and Rebirth In the aftermath of Victorion's death, Windblade and the others mourned the Torchbearers, praising them as pure of heart. Consequences

Games

Transformers Roleplaying Game

The Torchbearers were a team of Camien Autobots who sought out and protected sacred Cybertronian relics. There are only ever six Torchbearers at a time, one for each side of Solus Prime's Creation Lathe; should one Torchbearer fall, another must take her place. The Enigma of Combination

Toys

Generations

If you're evil and you're on the rise
You can count on the six of us bringing you down

• Victorion (Giftset, 2016)
  • Accessories: Left & right hands, 2 feet, buildable broadsword (Dustup's & Jumpstream's Blade, Stormclash & Skyburst's Sword, Pyra Magna's Cudgel)

• Known designers: Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)

Combiner Wars Victorion is a combiner formed out of a Voyager class figure (Pyra Magna), four Deluxe class figures (Stormclash, Skyburst, Dustup, Jumpstream), and a Legends class figure (Rust Dust), all sold together in a massive box. The team is thematically linked to the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Cosmic Rust"; Victorion's sword is based on the Lightning Bug weapon from the episode, and each member of the team features a passage written on their bodies in the font High Moon Studios created based on the symbol language seen in the episode. Taken together, these passages spell out the prophetic warning heard in "Cosmic Rust": "If Cybertron be your home/Far away, never roam/Hear my message, listen and fear/Danger comes, the end is near/Just like us, you soon will rust/All shall be turned to dust."

Victorion is only available as a box set, through outlets currently undetermined (but presumably as a "shared exclusive" via online sites, alongside the Generation 2-colored box set versions of Superion and Menasor). The final product will feature a muted green compared to the prototype pictures.

Many (if not all) samples of Pyra Magna come with misassembled knee struts. They are reversed on both legs, preventing her knee assemblies from locking in properly for robot mode.

Victorion also comes with a poster and a collector card based on her packaging art.

Notes

• Aileron's talk with Optimus Prime in "Aphelion" reveals that the group led by Pyra Magna aren't the Torchbearers, but rather members of a larger group named Torchbearers. The second known group of Torchbearers, who still reside on Caminus, have so far gone unnamed.
• Magna is a rank bestowed upon the leader of a group of Torchbearers.