Post by Seiyuuki Ontai on Nov 30, 2009 20:18:20 GMT -5
The Quintessons (also known as the Quints) are a bizarre and ancient race of mechanoids, whose history and crafty actions are bound up with the history of the Transformers, and connections with Primus and Unicron. 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.
Quintessons are also known by the adorable racial slur 'squids'.
“ [We] are Quintessons! Arrogance is our life’s blood, ambition is our food and drink, but most of all, hubris is the air we breathe!! ”
—Al-Badur dissin' his peeps, Wreckers: Finale Part II
“ Deceivers! Betrayers! Five-faced slime of the nebula! ”
—Galvatron on the Quintessons, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5"
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.
Judges
The most prominent and famous type of Quintesson, as well as the apparent "leaders" of the race, are the Judges, also referred to as the Imperial Magistrates. Judges have inverted, egg-shaped bodies which float on a beam of energy and possess wiry tentacles for physical manipulation, but their most distinctive physical characteristics are their five rotating faces. Each face represents a different aspect of the Quintesson, though for four of the five faces, there are conflicting accounts as to what each represents.
Death
Rage/Wrath
Laughter/War
Bitterness/Wisdom
Doubt/Judgment
(Note: The first names given above for the latter four faces come from Japanese Comic Bom Bom supplements. They are derived from the descriptions given of the faces in the original script for the movie—an "angry face," a "smiling face," a "grimacing face" and a "suspicious face"—and the faces were specifically designed by Floro Dery to represent these emotions. All the same, this information remained very little-known for a long time, leading to the second set of names being created for use in the 2004 publication, Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. The original names were also used for The Ark, published by IDW in 2007.)
In the original animated series, the Judges were all of the same size and were rarely named. (Then again, it was rare for any Quintesson to get an individual name.) Conversely, in the Marvel Comics continuity, Judges vary in size, including the massive Lord Kledji and the smaller Sevax. It is worth noting that the order of the faces in the ring varies from Judge to Judge (if not from shot to shot, ahem).
Named Judges include:
Judge Brinn
Judge Deliberata
Derodomontatus
Judge Heirodyus
Lord Kledji
Sevax
Bailiffs
None Shall Pass!These creatures have tooth-lined snout similar in appearance to a Terran lamprey. Bailiffs were seen serving as guards in the Quintessons' court.
Executioners
This breed of Quintesson was first seen throwing the switch that dropped the unfortunate Arblus into the Sharkticon pit. They have also been called "Gatekeepers".
Named executioners include:
General Ghyrik
In-Saba Nur
Jolup
Overseer Rexian
Prosecutor
Prosecutor and the seldom-seen "wizened" variant.This variety of Quintesson is the second-most common type, often seen in positions of authority. They have also been called "Inquisitors". In court, they are the ones who ask for the Judges' verdicts and occasionally let the defendants say something in their defense, for all it matters.
Named prosecutors include:
Admiral Krahulik
Overseer Vashik
Scientist
Yes, I have a question
I had to walk 15 miles in the snow to school!Scientists are somewhat similar to the Prosecutors in construction, though they feature more bulbous heads and bearded, somewhat-more-human faces.
Named scientists include:
Al-Badur
Extempaxia
Inquirata
Mara-Al-Utha
Other types
The Judges are not the only Quintessons to have multiple faces, though the only known exception is the three-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. Dweller in the Depths
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. Dweller in the Depths
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
In ages long past, a cold and emotionless race of aliens called the Quintessons inslaved two lines of sentient robots on a planet-sized factory known as Cybertron
(or they thought it was just a factory).
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). The Quintessons were exceptionally cruel to their creations, eventually leading to wide-spread rebellion, a rebellion started by the Autobot A3. 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 millions of years. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4
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
