Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki

Welcome to Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki. You may wish to create or login to an account in order to have full editing access to this wiki.

READ MORE

Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This article is about Alien from Unicron Trilogy. For alien race from Generation One, see Quintesson.


Alpha Quintesson is an alien from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Alphaquintesson

Alpha Q so hard you won't be able to walk for a week.

A mysterious manipulator, Alpha Quintesson has his tentacles spread wide, influencing the actions of both Autobot and Decepticon alike. He also has the command of armies of Terrorcon drones! His actual motives are unclear, but his goal is obvious; he plans to gather enough Energon to restore the shattered remains of the planet-devouring Unicron!


Japanese name: Alpha Q
Hungarian name: Alfa Q


Fiction[]

Energon cartoon continuity[]

Voice actor: Trevor Devall (English); Yuichi Nagashima, Yukie Maeda (Japanese)
AlphaQ1

You hit me! Picard never hit me.

Among the many worlds that fell to the unending hunger of the world-eater, Unicron, was one little sphere known as Planet Q. This world would not go quietly, however, as its armies fought back valiantly, but it soon it became apparent that they would not be able to stop Unicron. The planet's grand chamberlain resigned himself to his world's fate, choosing a suicide ploy. The chamberlain instructed the planet's ruler to detonate Planet Q's core, but when the ruler could not, the chamberlain committed the act himself, destroying the planet as Unicron consumed it. The explosion failed to destroy Unicron, but it did heavily damage him, forcing him into a state of dormancy. And within Unicron's slumbering husk, the spark of Planet Q's ruler continued to exist.

Driven mad by the solitary existence over the ensuing years, the mind of Planet Q's ruler fractured, splintering into five separate personalities. From Unicron's body, it sculpted for itself a new, armored form out of the "bones" of his devoured subjects, with four rotating face masks, through which each one of his personalities found voice, with his fifth personality - his original, true face - hidden away inside him, speaking only when the armour was closed, concealing his face from view. But within the shattered mind of the insane being that now called itself "Alpha Q," a kernel of genius existed - Alpha Q had discovered that, through the power of energon, all that Unicron had consumed could be reconstituted. And so, using what little energon he had, he recreated the armies of Planet Q as the Terrorcons, and sent them to Earth to gather energon for his plan.

After the first few strikes by the Terrorcons, Alpha Q recreated the grand chamberlain in the form of Scorponok, in order to turn the Decepticons working with the Autobots to his side. However, when Megatron engineered his own resurrection, Alpha Q was forced to flee Unicron's body in his head, and subsequently made a failed attempt to destroy Megatron by using the last of his Energon to recreate Starscream. When Megatron flushed Scorponok out as Alpha Q's mole, Rodimus and his crew - whom Alpha Q had previously encountered and convinced of his plan - rescued him, leading to an alliance between Alpha Q and the Autobots, brokered by the human boy, Chad "Kicker" Jones. Alpha Q initially refused to work with Kicker, but Misha, through slightly kinder and more diplomatic words, was able to sway him. During Megatron's attack on Cybertron with Unicron's body, Alpha Q drove Unicron's head - now charged with the positive Energon of Earth - into the body, where it reacted with the negative Energon contained within, tearing open a fissure in space. In the new region of space that the fissure led to, Alpha Q was able to recreate all the worlds, as he had set out to do, cultivating and sustaining them from his place within Unicron's head, which had now become a glowing energon sun. However, when Megatron succeeded in reactivating Unicron's body, he had it reclaim the chaos-bringer's head, extinguishing the sun and killing Alpha Q in the process.

Kicker recovered Alpha Q's body from within Unicron, and laid it to rest on Grass Planet. However, Alpha Q's spirit continued to observe and comment on events until the end of the conflict.

Lost in translation[]

A point worth noting is that the strong affection Alpha Q feels for Scorponok is not displayed as clearly in Energon as it is in Super Link. During the episode "Scorponok's Scars" (which was never translated or shown in America), he repeatedly referred to Scorponok as "my Scorponok" and showed him images of their home planet in an effort to reverse Megatron's brainwashing. As well, during the Special Dream Match, Alpha Q responded to Scorponok's statement of "I don't know you" with "say I love you", showing what seems to be some sort of surrogate parent/child emotional connection.

Pre-production materials[1] for Super Link offer further details on Alpha Q's history that did not make it into the final version of the series. His original, true form was originally conceived as being the human-form princess of Planet Q, a young girl whose face would be the fifth and final face of Alpha Q, that would eventually be revealed when Kicker would "shatter her shell." The materials note, however, that if Hasbro vetoed the idea, the princess would be replaced with either a young prince, or simply a ball of light. Whether this veto occurred is unknown, but what is certain is that none of this was officially established in the finished show, and Alpha Q's fifth face remains hidden inside his closed armor (assuming it exists at all).

There are, however, some vague reference to this material in the series. In Super Link, when Alpha Q speaks with his true voice, it is the voice of a young child. In contrast, in these scenes in Energon, a multi-layered voice is used, professing to be the voice of all lives lost in Planet Q's destruction. The vision of Planet Q's destruction viewed by Kicker, which shows Alpha Q and Scorponok existing as the same robotic entities they are in the present day, would appear to contradict this notion, but the scene is specifically described with a modifier by Kicker as being how "Alpha Q remembers that day," leaving wiggle-room, since Alpha Q is absolutely out of his tree.

Alpha Q's Personalities[]

Due to losing his home and everyone he knew, and then spending a prolonged period of isolation within the very being who destroyed his home planet, Alpha Q developed a Dissociative Identity Disorder (that means "split personality," kids). In addition to his original personality, which has all but reatreated within him; four new personalities were created. Possibly, as a way for him to cope with the isolation.

Each of these personalities has its own voice and face, which are represended by four masks that rotate over an oval-shaped body within his armor where his original face supposedly remains hidden. When the original does speak, his armor seals, obscuring the face. Despite originating from the same being, each personality is unique in its own way.

Green face / Cunning personality[]

One of the first faces encountered at the start of the cartoon series. This personality represents itself as a green face mask with red eyes, and bears a resemblance to one of the five faces of the original Generation One Quintessons (the "War/Laughter" face). This personality can be considered the planner of the group, since through the early part of the show it was he who led the Terrorcon attacks and made the plans. He also kept the other two personalities under control and acted as the mediator between them. As an individual character, he is quite intelligent, second only to the Wisdom personality. He is also skilled in manipulation, as has helped to turn some of the Decepticons to the Quintesson cause (until Megatron returned and took command).

White face / Joker personality[]

Another one of the first faces seen at the start of the series. This identity represents itself with a white happy-face mask with yellow eyes. Though it is committed to their cause, the white face is considered the voice of concern and is the least violent of the four personalities. It is usually chided by the red face for supposed weakness. Personality-wise, it is usually happy to an almost insane level and cannot help but make jokes at the most severe situations. However, it is also the most cautious in the face of combat, which helps stop the others from making rash decisions. It is also quite open minded and was notably interested when they learned of Kicker's abilities.

Red face / Angry personality[]

The final face in the triad that was first encountered at the start of the series. This personality represents itself with a red and orange snarling face with sharp teeth and green eyes (it too bears a resemblance to a G1 Quintesson face: the "face of Death"). The red face is the most aggressive of the three and prefers the "blow them up" option over anything else in battle. He is constantly at odds with the white face, who he perceives as weak and a crybaby. He is harsh and aggressive personality-wise, and also has a slight hint of bloodlust, as he openly relishes the destruction the Terrorcons wreak through the series. He also seems distrustful of others, even Scorponok at times (whom he once called a buffoon because of past failiures) evidenced also by his lack of belief in the report of Kicker. It is possible that he was made from Alpha Q's rage over the destruction of his home planet.

Blue face/ Wisdom personality[]

Appearing late in the first half of the series, this personality represents itself with a purple/blue elderly face with blue eyes and downward-angled horns that protrude sideways outward form the face. It is unknown why this personality was not shown with the others to begin with or what finally "woke" it up, but one can assume it was due to the recent drawbacks Alpha Q had been suffering. So essentially, a new approach was needed. The blue face appeares to be stronger that the other three personalities combined, as he was able to mentally and physically overpower them when he first awoke, and dominated their collective body to give instructions. Character-wise, this identity is calm, level-headed, highly intelligent, and not without aggression when needed; and it is for this reason that the other personalities turn to him when they are in real need of guidance in a situation.

Original personality[]

The original personality of the being known as Alpha Q. Once the ruler of the Planet Q, it was the planet's sole survivor (in spark form). Throughout the entire series, his true face is never seen, as he was asleep within his own body armor for most of the series. Possibly, this was due to his own despair. When he does speak, his armor closes, concealing his face from view. Personality-wise the original personality his a highly emotional, frightned child, and subsequently relies on the other personalities for protection. Although, he did form a bond with Misha and Kicker, who were able to understand him through their own experiences with him. When Kicker and Misha witnessed the destruction of Planet Q via a vision, Misha convinced Alpha Q to fight, via telepathic conversation.

Dreamwave comics continuity[]

Energon[]

AlphaQ-EnComic

Giger? I hardly know 'er!

Alpha Quintesson began the war over Energon by providing the Terrorcon group - led by Scorponok - with enhanced powers and "Hyper Modes", sending them to the undefended Earth to drain it of the newly-discovered pure Energon ore. At the same time, he sent his four Horsemen (three Autobots and a Decepticon that had been captured and brainwashed before Unicron was defeated ten years previous) to Cybertron to wreak havoc, preventing the Autobots from getting to Earth.

Unfortunately for Alpha, the Horsemen were repelled by the Omnicons and the newly-enhanced Autobots, which gave them the time needed to reach Earth and sink the Terrorcons' plans. For a time, Alpha Quintesson's involvement in the war was minimal, but when he returned, it was in a big way; unleashing thousands of Terrorcon drones to decimate Los Angeles, Tokyo, Toronto and Moscow.

But the Decepticons weren't the only ones Alpha Quintesson was working with toward his goal of restoring the shell of Unicron. Perhaps more dangerous than the Terrorcons was Alpha Quintesson's hidden ally, Avalon, a member of the High Council, Cybertron's ruling body!

Note: The Energon comic ended before its storyline was completed due to the bankruptcy of Dreamwave, and as such, the extent of Alpha Quintesson and Avalon's planning is, and may likely remain, unknown. What little we know hinted that perhaps Alpha Quintesson was not entirely happy in his forced servitude to Unicron. Solicitations for unreleased issues reveal he had his own plan separate from Unicron's, "a world-shattering agenda...that bridges worlds and dimensions,"[2] and his goals required capturing Kicker.

Toys[]

Energon[]

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

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 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. In total, nine energon chips can be attached to the figure across the base and main body.
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.
The release of this figure was also unusual in that it was not uncommon for it to be incorrectly assembled. Many would come without the hard point where the figure connected to the base, making it nigh impossible for the toy to stand up on its own.

Notes[]

  • Although the Dreamwave comic books and Hasbro toy packaging refer to the character by his full name of Alpha Quintesson, the Energon cartoon series preferred instead to call him by his Japanese moniker, Alpha Q, almost all of the time.
  • Heh, heh, Alpha Q.
  • Some People believe that he may be a Quintesson, hence the name.

Notes[]

External links[]

Advertisement