Decepticons – The Bad Transformers of Cybertron

The Decepticons are the evil faction of the sentient alien robots known collectively as the Transformers.

Perpetually engaged in struggle with the Autobots, the Decepticons tend to rule the skies, with their alt-forms usually being some flying vehicle or other.

Generally, too, they are larger than the Autobots, and correspondingly stronger.

Decepticons are led (for the most part) by the Transformer Megatron, and are bound to his rule by fear of his power.  As he once told Starscream,

“Even in death, there is no rule but mine!”

 

Megatron

“Peace through tyranny.”

The Decepticons Transformer Megatron is to the valiant Autobot leader Optimus Prime, as Horus is to Osiris, Thor to Jormmungandr, Odin to Fenris and Satan to God.

A living techno-organic psychopath, he is metallic hatred with fusion cannons and hide nearly  as tough as Ironhide’s, with a deadly, single-minded, all-consuming desire to conquer.

Nothing else pleases him, and all relationships he forges are in the vein of accomplishing this goal.

This utterly dominating purposefulness is often to the exclusion of important details, such as his lack of planning that resulted in a 10-millenia-long sleep entombed in ice when he crashed into the Earth’s Antarctic (in 2007’s Transformers).

As a characteristic of his sociopathy, he would somehow find a way to blame humans for even that.

Given his penchant for violence as a consistent method of resolution, it is not surprising that Megatron generation 1’s alt mode is a fusion cannon, with the sole and inarguable purpose of blasting things apart.

Physically, Megatron is an immensely powerful and well-armed Decepticon in his large robot form.

He sports arm-mounted ion cannons, optic laser blasts, energy blasts from his hands, and even separate energy flails along with an Optimus-Prime-like Energon spiked-morningstar.

With such a rampant and evil selfishness, it is no surprise that it’s always Megatron vs just about anything.

With his death at the hands of human Sam Witwicky in 2007’s Transformers, events were set in motion that would even pit Megatron vs Starscream, his first-lieutenant equivalent, who Megatron would accuse of trying to usurp his leadership – despite the fact that it was Starscream who orchestrated his resurrection.

There is no distinction between friend and foe with Megatron, and this penchant is best captured in another one of his brutal sayings:

“Everything is fodder.”

The modern-day form of Megatron retains many of his legendary abilities and personality, dispensing with the less practical ones.

For example, his ability to turn himself completely into a huge pistol (which, having no means of locomotion, required another Decepticon – usually Starscream – to pick him up and fire him) is gone.

In Transformers 1 and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, he merely turns his arm into a large energy-cannon, as well as a jagged-metal crushing weapon.

Additionally, he is able to fly of his own accord, and transform into an alien tank of fearsome proportions.

It is with the energy-cannon, in fact, that he actually kills Optimus Prime, as the rest of his subordinates busied the valiant Autobot leader by attacking him en masse.

Megatron vs Optimus is a recurrent side-theme throughout both movies, and Optimus would have the last word in Revenge of the Fallen, although the fact that he brutalized Megatron – without killing him – ensures that the leader of the Decepticons will likely come storming back in Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.

There has been some speculation, later confirmed, that many elements of Megatron in Transformers: The Movie were actually taken from the character Galvatron, who was originally the resurrected, even more powerful Megatron, though still possessing many of his weapons and personality (although Galvatron was always considered a lot more unstable than Megatron – death, I imagine, will do that to you). Indeed, Galvatron was from the future in an earlier Transformers storyline comic-book arc, and had actually imprisoned Megatron.

Decepticons: Blackout/Scorponok

 

“He who cares for the opinions of others is lost.”

Disguised as a heavily-armed, long-range search and rescue Transformers helicopter, Blackout the Decepticon is nothing short of a lumbering battalion in his business-mode.

Dispensing blasts nearly as powerful as Megatron’s own, this hulking Decepticon is destruction incarnate, and is capable – and quite willing, especially at Megatron’s direction – of leveling entire towns with his hemispherical shockwaves.

Further compounding the devastation of which he is capable, Blackout can fire an advanced electromagnetic pulse, rendering even hardened communications inoperative, and thus unable to neither call for backup nor coordinate a counterattack.

The most heavily armed of the Decepticons subordinates of Megatron, Blackout Transformer isn’t easily given to chasing around little humans.

For this endeavor, he exists in symbiosis with a lethal Decepticon called Scorponok, who can detach from Blackout and burrow through ground in pursuit of flesh-and-bone.

Ironically, the Transformers Scorponok would meet his end at the hands of machine (Jet fire Transformer), while Blackout would be killed by the hands of flesh-and-bone.

 

Barricade

 

“To punish and enslave.”

With an alt-mode of a police car, Barricade transformer is clearly as inclined to deceive, as his fellow Decepticons Starscream is to scheme.

Unfortunately for him, Bumble bee Transformer was rarely fooled, and Bee often got the better of his similar-sized adversary.

He failed to make it out of Transformers, and wasn’t seen in Revenge of the Fallen. Suffice it to say that a resurgence in Dark of the Moon is either unlikely, or would likely be inexplicable.

 

 

Frenzy

Scalpel Transformer

“Chop-chop!”

The Decepticons equivalent of Ratchet. No wonder they’re always in such a bad mood, if Scalpel transformer is their medical officer.

Case in point for this Angel of Mercy: in Revenge of the Fallen, when Scalpel Transformer traveled down to the sea bottom with several other Decepticons in order to revive Megatron, he ordered the smallest robot with the group killed.

Why? In order to garner enough parts to undo the damage of Sam Witwicky’s parting shot to the Decepticon leader.

Unscrupulous, to say the least.

 

The Decepticons Demolishor Demolisher

 

A huge Decepticon by any measuring stick – Demolisher transformer was seen to tower over Optimus in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen – Demolishor was as dumb as he was powerful.

And boy, was he powerful: his primary attack was to simply crush whatever was in front of him.

All that fearsome power proved to be short-lived, however; unfortunately for the giant Decepticon, he was our first notion that ‘ole Optimus Prime had retained his rather confrontational penchant for blowing the faces off enemy Decepticons.

 

 

 

Decepticons Bonecrusher

“Hit it till it stands no taller than dust”

Even more of a brute than Demolishor, Bonecrusher transformer was a mechanical misanthrope, despising just about everything.

Skating on huge wheels – through everything; never around – Bone crusher had fierce machine guns and bulldozer arms to bring to bear on anything in front of him, foe or even friend.

The only thing he did love was probably hate, itself.

Fortunately for him, in Transformers 1, Optimus Prime relieved him of that burden with an unceremonious blast to the face.

 

 

Decepticon Grindor

Apparently, Blackout transformer was such a cool Decepticon, they thought they might as well bring him back and rename him Grindor.

An identically loyal, almost servile minion of Megatron, Grindor was every bit as loaded as his predecessor, who took out the entire SOCCENT military base (in Transformers 1, the Decepticons sent Blackout to leech the computers there for information on the whereabouts of Megatron’s body) all by his lonesome.

Not one to conserve firepower, Grindor Transformers’ alt-mode of a Super Stallion helicopter has a lock-on turret that fires four missiles at a time – in case the other three miss, in a typical case of Decepticon reasoning.

Wielding a spitfire Gatling gun the size of those on a Destroyer, and the same energy-shockwave cannon Blackout possessed that leveled football-field-sized areas with a single burst, he sought to take out Optimus in the woods in Revenge of the Fallen, with his fellow Decepticons.

That forest would be his gravesite, as Optimus (yet again – in a disturbing take-no-prisoners trend for the great Prime) took his friggin’ face.

 

Starscream

 

“It is my destiny to lead.”

 

As befits an air-superiority fighter of his magnitude, Starscream rightly considers his sheer power more than a match for most Decepticons. Where he often goes wrong, however, is thinking it’s more than a match for all Decepticons.

He would betray Megatron in an instant, if he could discern that the result favors him exclusively. That notwithstanding, he is somewhat less than content scheming beneath his leader.

Starscream Transformer and Megatron show that it is possible to be evil, and yet immensely different.

Megatron has a form of nobility about his nefarious engagements (i.e allowing a downed opponent to pick up a weapon before shooting him); Starscream, however would use the opponent’s offspring as bait.

His power and intelligence are the only things that cause Megatron to tolerate this scheming bomb, which may one day go off on him for the final time.

Starscream transformers alt-mode is an F-22 Raptor, and he is capable of transforming from this to his robot mode during full-flight for a wider array of his already considerable weaponry.

His ability to fire projectiles that shut down electrical systems is probably deadlier than any cannon to the often airborne enemies he engages.

 

The Fallen

 

In addition to being a bit of a bastard, he is also an example of unfortunate grammar – Mr. The Fallen is a singular character of immense power; so much so that Megatron, himself, readily bows before him. It is doubtful that even Starscream would dream of overthrowing him, however wild his imagination.

Conceived as Megatronus Prime, he is many millions of years old, and in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen it was shown that he arrived on Earth when we were still cavemen, along with his brothers. Megatron might be the leader of the Decepticons, but the Fallen is their creator.

The Fallen came to Earth in order to build a so-called Solar Harvester, in order to make Energon. There’s a little problem with this device, however; it destroys the star it’s harvesting.

In an act of treachery that would cause even Starscream to cower, The Fallen betrayed his brother Primes, who ultimately chose to sacrifice their bodies in order to form an impenetrable (I guess that was temporary, as Bumble bee blasted it apart millennia later) cocoon in which to hide the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, the key needed to activate the Solar Harvester.

Never mind that there are at least 400 billion stars in our Galaxy alone, for some reason he chose an inhabited one where he would face resistance. Mythological reasoning has always escaped me. But then again, consider an entry from The Fallen’s diary:

“How can the minds of beings that lived for mere moments hope to understand the plans of one who has existed for millennia? I have made moves so subtle that my pawns never suspected they were under my control. Now, at long last, I returned all that does not bow before me will burn before me”.

I submit that even though I smell a red herring, I can’t argue with this. Especially given the transcendent power he displayed in Revenge of the Fallen (i.e; His Revenge). It would take the combined power of Optimus and the deceased Jetfire, in a fantastic alt-mode transformation.

Purists aside, this combo beats Optimus Prime’s semi all to hell. Jetfire’s fuel pack tossed the Autobot leader skyward to face The Fallen boto-a-boto (as opposed to ‘mano-a-mano’), where the Traitor would succumb to Optimus Prime of Iacon.

 

 Alice (Pretender Transformer)

 

Decepticons of the so-called “Pretender” class of transformers, Alice transformer was played by actress Isabel Lucas in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Incredibly complex, it was able to assume the form of a completely believable (if absurdly aggressive, but not inhumanly so) female college student that wanted everything Sam had to offer.

Much of it things he wouldn’t want to give.  Mikaela took care of that by understandably running over her only competitor with a car.

The transformers 2 Isabel won’t be returning as anything other than a pothole cover in Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, if at all.

 

Devastator

 

“Thinking and winning do not mix.” (err?!)

This dumba$$ (c’mon; look at the above statement) is comprised of between seven and nine Decepticons called Constructicons. Calling Devastator Transformer a dumbass is, however, no slight, for he is every bit as monstrous as he is stupid.

In fact, the latter causes the former; he’s too big for thoughts to travel quickly across his frame..

Far larger than any other Transformer, he is pure physicality, supposedly capable of sucking up anything into his vortex of a mouth, due to an alleged black hole he creates at his center.

But this can’t be the case, since the nonetheless unfortunate transformer Jar-Jar Binks Mudflap was able to hold onto a vortexing Devastator and escape, and not even light can escape from a true black hole – even a little one.

In a move that should bode well for future operations, Devastator transformer was messily dispatched by yours truly – human beings!

Using a rail gun that is actually within current technology, the U.S. Navy violently made him a part of the desert in Revenge of the Fallen.

Decepticon Ravage

 

Whatever you do, don’t try and pet this guy. He falls from space and lands with no injuries, for starters.

And then, there’s the array of cannons on his haunches.

Lastly, being a sort of robot-lion, this Decepticons cohort of Soundwave can’t be reasoned with, as it’s an animal.

Ravage Transformers is yet another one of the Decepticons infiltration tools, and acts in concert with Soundwave’s ability to electronically subvert nearly any system from space, by physically going to the locations and extracting whatever needs to be extracted.

Although, it’s better to say that’s what he used to do; Bumblebee went all Megatron-Jazz on him during a bout of anger, and ripped the killer cat apart.

 

Shockwave

 

More violent than even Megatron, Shockwave Transformer will be one of  the pivotal Decepticons in Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon.

Appropriate, given that he is the Military Commander of the Decepticons. He was seen in the promo images for Revenge of the Fallen, but failed to appear in the movie; no matter, as Dark of the Moon will allegedly be all him.

Perhaps Shockwave is so powerful, that it will take the combined might of Sentinel Prime and Optimus to weather the storm he calls upon?

Whatever the case, Shockwave Transformers manages to look even more menacing than the insectoid-robot form of his leader…and appears armed to the teeth, which don’t seem confined to his mouth.

As for Shockwave’s standing within the ranks of the Decepticons, he is probably a successor to Starscream, once the conniver is killed in battle, since he isn’t likely to give up his spot merely as a matter of age.

 

 

Soundwave

 

The Decepticon communications officer and resident robot super-hacker, it’s about time an Autobot sent an Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb up into orbit to stop this menace from operating.

All that the Decepticons do, all the facilities they know to break into, start with Soundwave Transformers voluminous information-gathering abilities.

It doesn’t help that he is fiercely loyal to Megatron, unlike the other Decepticons, who mostly just fear him, and so remain loyal as a result of that. And Megatron knows it.

As such, the global threat called Soundwave is the second most-feared Decepticons, as Megatron’s ear is his. It is difficult not to have superiority complex when your reign is above even the sky, and you can hear all, and record it, as well.

Soundwave has a cohort in Ravage, although Bumblebee killed him, so who knows how Soundwave will get things accomplished on earth in Dark of the Moon. Perhaps he has an alt-mode capable of landing and traversing the planet that we haven’t yet seen….stay tuned for Transformers 3!