Just wanted to pin a little appendix to this video here! I say in the vid the Quintessons were "created" by Ron Friedman, but on reflection I think it would be more correct to say they were "developed" by him - the initial, basic idea of face-switching kangaroo-court-holding aliens, including the name, seems to have come from the brain-trust at Sunbow (who named them after a local restaurant, apparently), who then handed it off to Friedman to expand on when he wrote the script.
I absolutely HATE idea of Quintus Prime as Quintessons always did fulfil role of legit external threat, what did use they insight knowledge to manipulate Cybertronians. But was not actual part of this civilization. In is only my head canon, but I believe that Quintus is actually fake, as attempt to insert themselves into Cybertronian subconsciousness.
While part of me prefers the Primus/Unicron creation myth, another enjoys the Quintesson creation story too. It's a cool reversal of the robot revolution story, with the Transformer rebels being the good guys and the, possibly organic, Quintessons being the bad guys.
@@johnnygyro2295 Those stories aren't mutually exclusive and in Aligned Continuity Quintessons conquer and claim creation of Cybertron. Even if that actually wasn't the case.
@@TheRezro You're right in that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Hell, now that I think about it, since Animated's writers weren't going to use Primus or Unicron, it could've been interesting to reveal the Quintessons as the ones who created the Allspark. Said Allspark, seeing how the robots it helped create were being used as slave labor and/or sold as products, would give the Transformers sapience to help rebel against their creators.
I like the idea of the Quintessons being the creators of the Transformers as a kind of sly meta-commentary on the inherent nature of the Transformers as commercial products. The Autobots were built to be workers and manual laborers and the Decepticons as war machines, which to me kind of evokes how the Autobots and Decepticons are essentially designated as the good guys and bad guys, with any justification for their role coming later, and that the two will always be in conflict because they were essentially designed to be opposites. I feel like a smart writer could build on this and ask questions about the autonomy of a manufactured race of beings, whether someone can overcome who or what they were intended to be and forge their own path, etc.
Personally the Quintessons have really grown on me over the years. The idea that Primus/Unicron are merely one of multiple creation myths on Cybertron is one of the more creative, high-concept ideas IDW posited several years back, with even Primacron being mentioned at least once. The Transformers suddenly discovering that they *might* have been created not by a benevolent being but a race of amoral alien monsters, or possibly just by happenstance ala the Allspark, is a very intriguing concept.
Honestly, it's why I always preferred the Quint origin. It's less centralizing. The Primus origin is "the Transformers are basically soldiers of God created to save the universe", and it really kind of consumes stories because once you've put that on the table, every other race and conflict in the setting might as well not matter. The Quint origin is more mundane, but it's sensible and characterful, expands the lore, and adds a faction that's actually interesting but also one that's content to be put to the side. And it worked really well in the cartoon, because it was pretty evident there that Cybertronians were just one race among many. Also, hi, Matt! I loved Rulers of Earth.
@Andrew Gray Why couldn't they have invented sparks? They seem rather convenient, to have one's essence be a physical and quantifiable object that can even be removed or swapped around. Why is them developing intelligence out-there? Most of the quint creations have intelligence. Why couldn't they be overthrown? The first appearance of the quints has them be overthrown by their creations. And while the Guiding Hand did exist, they were not gods, nor were they responsible for the creation of the race - which seems to largely be a naturally occuring phenomenon in IDW. Primus over there is just a very old bot with amnesia and weird powers. It's arbitrary to say the Quints aren't enough because they're... you know, not real. Their limits are defined in-story and seem to be well within what would be needed to make Cybertronians. The G1 toon had world-consuming energy creatures being invented by one mad scientist; pretty sure an entire race of geniuses could cobble together a spark. Hell, Primus explicitly does not exist in any form over in Animated. Because he doesn't need to. Dude is boring. He was only interesting in one story, and that's the one that threw out all of his prior lore and also wrote seventy issues of him not being Primus.
Honestly, seeing the different origin stories for the Transformers reminds me of the different religions we have here. In fact, I think it's entirely possible to factor in EVERY origin canonically in such a fashion; some transformers believe in Primus theory, some in Allspark theory, some in technogenisis (the transformers just came out of random gears and springs), and others believe the Quintessons to be their creators. This is something I've rarely if not ever seen in any other story and it's one of the reasons I use to defend Transformers being my #1 interest.
@@misterbadguy7325 In my head canon, The Quints Did create the cybertronians but Primus created the other Transformers. The difference being the ones that stand above the rest. The ones destined for great things such as the Primes. (Hell, it's even in the name: Primus -> Prime). And that the Primes and other such Transformers that are the "soldiers of God created to save the universe." So basically the Quints made the Proto Cybertronian race but Primus perfected it and made the true race we know today.
In my head canon, Primus simply created the sparks, but the quintessons created the technology which primus and the transformers would eventually have a symbiotic relationship with.
Maybe they just had Primacron make them, as Primacron made Unicron, and his name is a mixture of Primus and Unicron, so he might have made Primus, who exists in Kiss Players which is part of the Japanese version of the cartoon continuity.
If I were writing a transformers series the way I would integrate the Quintesons would be to have them come to Cybertron in its infancy and greatly influence Cybertronian culture. Have them run experiments on the early Cybertronians which eventually lead them to being able to transform and have distinctive personalities beyond being simple robots. That way they did technically “create” the Transformers as we know them but we also don’t loose the Primus and Unicron dynamic people are so fond of.
Originally when I first saw the Quintessons in G1 I was kind of dismissive towards them as when it came to the creation of the Transformers, the idea of Primus & mysticism seemed to work well. Looking back on them now I've softened up to the idea of the Quintessons creating the Transformers. It provides a sort of "Hard Sci-Fi" approach and almost grounds the G1 cartoon in a sort of realism which explains Unicron's backstory in some way. But I really enjoy the Quintesson's role in the franchise, especially since the idea of them being Space Pirates works just as well as creators. As ever Chris, great stuff.
"Has the Imperial Magistrate reached a verdict?" "I have." "Good Basics Episode, or bad?" "Good Basics Episode." "Feed him the like buttons!" Okay, Mark, that's enough! Man, I'm such a nerd... -ahem- Anyway, in all seriousness, great Episode on the Quintessons. 👍☺
Since this was made prior to cyberverse I will update it "Most recently, the quintesons have made an appearance in the cyberverse cartoon, finally returning to their rolls as major antagonists to the cybertronians. However, instead of merely being an alien threat to cybertron like in G1, they are multiversal enemies that go around and judging different universes and when they were ultimately declared guilty, they would destroy entire universes after judges were made in their respective universes. Starscream and a pair of aliens from species we do not know were made the judge of the main universe the show takes place in but were ultimately stopped by megatron and optimus prime using their matrex's. The only one who was a constant in making the judges and the only true quintesson since the very beginning was, the scientist. The scientist made many of the weapons and inventions of the quintessons and made many bodies in which he can control from hiding, however he was killed off by wheeljack after he was discovered."
I might be severely outnumbered, but I actually prefer the Quintesson origin to the "divine" creation story - though I prefer the Scioli take that makes them a bit more intimidating and unknowable.
I completely agree. I feel like the 'divine' origin story makes the whole timeline too abstract. (Not to mention, it lends itself to the whole good vs evil dynamic, which is always leads to odd and simplistic storylines.) Also, the idea that the transformers are just manufactured creatures, and that the Quintessons are their creatures adds a disturbing existential dread.
Same. Its much more tangible, gives you something to run from and a proper goal for the Quints to follow in the story. It really adds that extra dimesion where they want to destroy everyone, but will move together with the Decepticons only to want them dead once finished with them. Its just a really really great hook in season 3. I love how it underpins all of season 3 with the continuity in the storylines. They story in the novel Retribution about them trying to take back Cybertron is also very good. A great read. I love them in Cyberverse as well. The only version I don't like was that Quintessa from TF5 TLN.
The Quintessons are such an underrated, underutilized and underappreciated part of Transformers. Their origin story was pretty cool, definitely shocking and a great curveball to the mythos. They creeped me out as a kid and still fascinate me to this day. It's a shame that we never got an official Quintesson figure. I would love a Masterpiece version. Side note, I remember reading a while back how Floro Dery was inspired by an egg like toy. I always wondered what that toy was. An amazing design.
As terrible as it was as a show, Transformers Energon was the show that introduced me to my love of Transformers. Alpha Q (har har) has always remained a favorite character of mine throughout the franchise since, and I'm really delighted he/they finally got a mention in this series. Energon was undoubtedly bad, but I always loved the concept of this character and to this day it's figure is still one of my most beloved figures. Thanks so much for your work on this series! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you! :D
He was an amazing character that I wish they would bring back into a new series. I also hope we get a power link gimmick again some day. For as bad as energon was it had a lot of great ideas
Remember, keep tuning in to this channel, and something cool might happen! (In the Japanese dub of Energon, also known as Superlink, Alpha Q functioned as a narrator for the show, often ending each episode by telling the viewers to tune in next week, because “something cool might happen.” The final episode ended with Alpha Q saying, “Something cool finally happened!”) Energon was the series that introduced me to the series, although Cybertron was the first show I followed from beginning to end.
Your videos are beyond informative and full of every detail, big or small. The amount of effort put into these videos must be ginormous! I definitely hope this channel grows even bigger then it already is. Side note, I hope you do an updated version when Kingdom ends.
I hear that man, it makes much more sense and I like everything that comes with it, like the idea that Autobots were built as service droids and Decepticons military ones, and Megatron's origin story as a gladiator for the Quintesson's amusement who rose through the ranks eventually busting out of servitude...
My wishlist: Basics on Starscream Basics on Arcee Basics on Stunticons Basics on alien races (Galactic Council, Consortia...) Basics on Colonies Basics on Waspinator Basics on the past primes (Nova, Sentinel, Zeta...)
The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee The basics on Arcee Please?
Let me know what you think of this creation story: 1) the quintessons did create the Cybertronian race, but they were little more sentient than the sharkticons. They created them as labor, but also as colonists to go out and prepare new planets for quintessons. Sentient and intelligent enough to operate autonomously, but not enough to be considered their own race. 2) Unicron encountered these proto-cybertronians and feasted on them. Unicron discovered that this race had the potential to generate massive amounts of power for him, and would make an excellent food source. He also quickly discovered that they could be "upgraded" with the addition of sparks, which would exponentially increase their energy value. Unicron transforms one of the proto-cybertronians into "primus", who has the ability to create sparks and upgrade other members of his species. He sends primus out into the stars to seed more world's with Cybertronian life, or to upgrade existing colonies for later harvesting. Unicron lies to primus about this, instead telling him that Unicron is a benevolent god who spreads life. Sort of a transformer Silver surfer concept, but where primus genuinely thinks he is doing good. 3) primus does this for thousands of years before finally seeing what Unicron was doing in his wake. This disturbs him enough to rebel against Unicron. He secretly creates Cybertron as a safe haven for his new race, keeping its existence hidden from Unicron. He creates energon as a power source so that Cybertronians never need to leave Cybertron and risk alerting unicron. Primus also introduces the matrix of leadership, but also the code for Decepticons into Cybertronians as a way to ensure Cybertronians had a warrior caste. This code would kick in when Cybertronians experience great suffering, slavery, and existence threatening hardship. these conditions were expected to only be met by the arrival of unicron, however due to the already established autobot mistreatment, the code kicks in early for some and the civil war begins. I don't really care for the "allspark" so I don't include it, but you easily could as a tool primus is given by unicron to upgrade bots. Let me know what you all think. I tried to unify a lot of the existing concepts into something I like a little better, but without changing too much
I wasn't a fan of the Quintesson origin for the Transformers but I've always liked them as characters. Also, great job in saying Alpha Q without it sounding weird. Each time it was mentioned, you said it distinctly and with grace.
I preferred the origin story from the G1 cartoon. Not just because I didn't read the comics and had no desire to read the comics but also because it's an origin that is simple, effective and gritty. But it's also relatable on more than one level. The folly of capitalist quintessons giving the robot slaves they created the capacity to have emotions which inevitably led them to revolt against their cruelty. It's something that becomes more relatable today as robotics technology and AI has improved drastically since the 80s to the point where we're now needing to seriously consider ethics regarding service robots and military robots. With further advancement in robot technology we could be manufacturing robots that can operate autonomously to the point where they can think for themselves and even experience emotions. In that scenario our descendants could essentially become the quintessons if they are cruel to their creations. And when it comes full circle like that I wonder what are the origins of the G1 quintessons? Could they have originally begun as organic life forms who over time utilized cybernetic body parts until nothing organic remained of them? Could that eventually happen to humans in the distant future? Even though I was never a big fan he f the original gobots cartoon one thing that interested me was that the gobots started off as organic life forms who over time became increasingly cybernetic until nothing organic remained. It was a really intriguing idea which I'm surprised very few shows before ghost in the shell utilized.
I would have loved them to have made a Quintesson toy in the Titans Return line with the faces being Titan Masters, allowing you to use your own Titan Masters to create Quintessons of your own. Considering how many other 1986 movie characters got toys in that line it's actually a real shame that they didn't do this, even if the Quintesson would likely not have been able to transform as such.
Huh, you forgot the Quintessons from Tom Scioli's G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover, where they were five dimensional beings, who claimed creation of all live, and were implied to have created Daiakuron, the even bigger transformer planet that made Unicron, Primus and possibly even other transforming planets robots
Yes, a deliberate omission, not forgotten. I don't tend to include weirdo out-there/niche versions of characters and concepts in these videos, just as Shockwave and Soundwave's videos don't talk about them being brothers in that series, or Ultra Magnus's doesn't go into him being the Autobot God of Death. The series is called "The Basics" for a reason, it was never supposed to include everything.
@@ChrisMcFeely I respect this decision by the nature of this series serving to inform. However, I contend that Tom Scioli's vision on Transformers is the only valid one that exists. All other continuities are blasphemy.
I love the multiple creation stories that have evolved over these decades, very parallel to the bible. Though, I have never grinned wider than when I watched my son laugh like a hyena when Grimlock and the dinobots kicked in the door and walked all over the quintesson guard in the OG animated movie.
No shout out to Misha? She was the one that won over Alpha Q because she could identify on losing everything i.e. Her parents. Seriously, Misha did so much more than that violent douchebag Kicker. Misha deserves to be in a new Transformer cartoon or comic.
I've been freeloading for way too long, finally signed up for the Patreon. I love your work and it's embarrassing that it took me this long to start supporting it!
I have a few basics ideas: Arcee Ironhide Sideswipe Starscream Optimus Prime Megatron Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime Cheetor Waspinator Silverbolt Constructicons Stunticons Protectobots Aerialbots The Animated series The Movie continuity The Aligned Continuity Triple Changers Maximals
If I wrote the story, I’d have the Quintessons create Primus as a prototype for their ultimate weapon, with Unicron as the finalized design. Then Primus would have created the cybertronians.
@@johnnygyro2295 because this makes Quintessons more Op than Primus and Unicron,while making their loss of control of Cybertron more stupid. Aldo making Primus and Unicron non-speciall. Since they lost their cosmic/divine origins. Quintessons work much better as a diffrent colonizer species that has nofthing to do with them. This way their universe feels much bigger. And not centered around Cybertronians.
Could you do a Basics for the following: Humans- the fleshy pals that tag along for better or for worse Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime- The Prime who succeeded Optimus Action Masters- Transformers without the transformation Energon- the lifeblood of cybertronians and all its variants Japanese only series- The shows that never made it to the west. Maccadam- The oil house and its owner who spans continuities The War- What sparked this galactic civil war.
Primus style origin stories are better to me, even as a kid I think I just made the assumption (due to comic book contradictions) that the Quintessons were simply lying.
@@tigerbread78 I got nothing to regret saying that. They were trying hard to fulfill their own existence but failed. Good thing they were never on the IDW comics. It could go the wrong way. Then again,I wouldn't want any misfortune on them in the IDW comics. Hopefully,we can see them again in the Siege Toyline.
I think that the quintessions creating the transformers is better than that Primus origin but that is probably because I grew up with the quintessions creating the transformers
*I still believe Quintessa is a servant of Unicron in the live action films and is trying to dupe the humans into awakening him by telling them that the way to awaken him is instead to "kill him"* Also could we please do *The Basics on Unicron?*
Despite Alpha Q Being marketed as a Decepticon in the Energon Toyline , I saw Alpha Q as moreso as a Autobot aligned character. Also I noticed that Aquarius from Shattered Glass was absent
I like the cartoon origin far better. I actually began writing a story expanding on that origin precisely but adding other elements as well. I was always a fan of the simple and epic storytelling of G1.
I'm sticking with the Quintesson origin. There's something really evocative about their design and the idea that the Transformers were originally made for a mundane, capitalistic purpose but then became more than that. But then a race overcoming slavery is a pretty potent story in its own right.
Guilty!. The Quintessons created the Transformers IMO. It makes for a better story to have them be used as mere tools at first only to fight and win their freedom later as they evolved. It also makes sense of the power disparity between the Autobot and Decepticons.
It also explains female form transformers. There's no real logic as to why there would be any in a race of robots, unless organic clients of the Quitessons wanted them.
It makes me think that in the Bayverse, Quintessa might be lying about being the creator(or one of the creators) of the Cybertronians. The Knights even called her the great deceiver. But we'll never know since there is no plan to continue Bayverse. And I understand why since Transformers TLK flopped domestically and was only successful on foreign(China to be specific) box office.
Considering the trend of the Quintessons being fake creators I also think Quintessa is a false creator, considering that since 'Revenge of the Fallen' the Bayverse took the route of the more mystical aproach with the Cybertronian origin with the original Primes, also the fact that there is no actual proof that she created them, only that she was a mortal enemy to Unicron just like Alpha Quintesson in 'Transformers Energon', which after seeing all of this it whouldn't be a surprise if it was in fact Primus alongside the All-Spark the origin of the Cybertronian race
I think both Primus and the Quintessons are both the creators of the cybertronian race, while Primus created the planet Cybertron and the 13 primes, the Quintessons created the cybertronians based on Primus and the original primes and gives cybertronian culture to Cybertron and change the history of the cybertronian race which caused the events of the war between Autobots and Decepticons to happen.
One of the - extremely few - drawbacks about the IDW comics run was the build up and teasing of hints that the Quintessons were around and in the galactic background but it never paid off. Was a slight let down for me. We did get Megatron's buddy Pentius, though.
instead of servants to Unicron I really wanted them to have created the monsters planet eater with the aid of that little alien being the engineer and he had been building the terror planet in secret on the far reaches of the universe and then let their monster loose on Transformers and anything in it's path. Then when the engineer created the second energy based one he became mad and incompetent when after Grimlock defeating his second creation
There have been new Quintessons toys and media appearances over the years. Transformers: Cyberverse showcased a Quintesson invasion of Cybertron accompanied by Sharkticons. A Quintesson named Decius was made a villain in the Transformers War for Cybertron: Earthrise series, hiring Doubledealer and his mercenaries to hunt the Autobots. In IDW's comics, a Quintesson named Pentius had his life force implanted into the titanic Decepticon Trypticon in order to make him more intelligent. In the Earthrise and Legacy toylines, G1 cartoon accurate figures of the Quintessons were released, including an entire set in the former recreating the trial of Kranix from Transformers: The Movie.
"Next to humankind, they're [...] the most important alien race in Transformers canon" I really like this quote. This is the mindset one should have when writing Transformers: Cybertronians are the main species of the show, and anything else is an alien.
My favorite Quintessons moment was in Space Pirates when they conquered Autobot City and strung the Defeated Autobots up on the walls as a threat/warning to any other bots.keep up the great work chris. Till all are one.
Exactly, I mean, if the Quints made the Transformers, why wouldn't they just make more? They had MILLIONS of years to replace the "products" they lost.
@@tigerbread78 When they were forced off Cybertron they lost access to the Well of Allsparks. Aquatron species aee Sparkless attempts to recreate them. That's my take.
@@tigerbread78 They needed Vector Sigma to make robots intelligent. At best they have the Sharkticons and Allicon armies who seem to only be as smart as the Dinobots. (Grimlock managed to command them to execute the judges by simply asserting his animal dominance when they kicked the massive door down)
another tip: the faces order in the movie is different from the cartoons, so you have to choose wich order you want in your toy (yes there are 3rd party quintesson toys)
Personally I don't like the children of God angle that comes from the comic. Destined blah blah primus, 12 apostles I mean primes... Being a robotic species that attained consciousness and overthrew their oppressors is imo far more interesting. I'm not a fan of the religious destiny and specialness of the primus story
i find their g1 season 3 businessman characterization to be the most intriguing out of all the quintesson interpretations. i'd love to see a story where the quintessons encounter natural, primus-made transformers and become inspired to manufacture their own transformers to sell i think it could make for some fun stories, like maybe they make shady deals with autobot and decepticon alike to create knockoffs of existing bots to frame each other's crimes on or fake their deaths to get away from war. or perhaps the quintessons are contacted by human governments to aid in creating military transformers and forming a business relationship honestly i just wanna see the quintessons do more than just directly antagonize the transformers. having them be a third party that involve themselves in the great war only if they profit from it somehow is too tantalizing an idea to pass up imo
I hope you plan on an update to this, especially with the (very) dark take on Quintessons from Transformers: Earthrise. The idea of individual Quints trying to seek consensus within their own fractured personalities is probably my favorite take on the characters.
I like the ideas them being some third party aliens not related to cybertron or earth. I like how they just had a completely alien thought process where they were the good guys upholding the law and any species they encountered were the bad guys breaking the law just by meeting them
I unironically wouldn't mind if they revealed Primus and Unicron WERE Quintessons, the whole the gods were actually an ancient progenitor race trope, they seeded various forms of life throughout the galaxy, Unicron would be the evil one who liked eating people and Primus would be the one Quintesson who actually liked his creations, he gives the automata and other species enslaved by his Quintesson brothers and sisters sparks and souls and the ability to think and rebel against their creators, he is remembered and mythologized into a deity.. which to be fair he kinda was. Heck since we see Quintessons have multiple faces, maybe Primus could have been the good side to a multi faced super quintesson and Unicron the very darkest one. They eventually seperate into their own beings and fight each other.
These are my own thoughts. Not an 'um actually' comment. I took Quintessons as a variation/derivative of quintessence or quintessential. A term from medieval alchemy which believed everything was built with the 4 classical elements (fire, water, earth, and air) Life had a fifth element, ether. When the Power of the Primes line was released I imagined that Abominus and the Terrorcons were aligned with Quintus Prime in the Bludgeon armor. The four deluxe Terrorcons representing an element. But instead of the torso representing life/divine. Hunger represents void, the opposite. Hence why the combiner is an abomination.
I think the Quintesson group in the movie is unrelated to the ones from Season 3, because the movie version acted like they weren't familiar with the Transformers or Unicron. Instead they were just new characters thrown in for randomness, since they really didn't serve much purpose to the overall plot of the movie.
I would love for Hasbro to pull a double take and release an actual 80's movie style Quint Judge as part of the Siege line ! always liked the Quintessons they had some great designs
I'm not sure it would fit the Siege line. Then again, I'm not sure everything in Siege fits the line anyway, so what they heck. It better have a great clicking sound for the face rotation! :)
Man, it's too bad this video was made before the Quintessons really rose back to prominence, what with a huge role in Cyberverses' 3rd season and a brief role in the Netflix Earthrise cartoon. (Not to mention all of the new toys made because of those roles!)
@@muhammadmunawwar7351 Hay the human companions are a component part of Transformers. Without the human children as the autobots friends, they won't be able to know about earth customs. Or get there help in small hard to reach spots for them. It's like making a Godzilla movie, but forgeting to put Godzilla in it. You get the sens that something's missing.
My HeadCanon: The Quintessons were the one of many races Created by the Emberstone of Quintus Prime. After The Exile Of the 11 of the Thirteen primes, Quintus Prime traveled across the Universe using his relic "The Emberstone" giving life to many barren planets. The last of the planets he Gave life to was Quintessa and the Quintessons. They betrayed Quintus and Stole his Emberstone; a Evil Witch named Harkleen use The Emberstone to give her 15 lives And She greatly uses Evil magic and Dark Energon. The Quintesson Species advanced their Technology quickly Giving the Quintessons cybernetics and turning animal life of Quintessa with Cybernetics into Transforming Slaves with all the power They have. They Sought out to conquer another planet, Cybertron enslaving the Cybertronians and using their relics, The Matrix of Leadership and Vector Sigma to make more Cybertronian slaves (via building robot bodies and giving them life and a spark with the Matrix and Vector Sigma) then Cybertronians did a uprising with the help of the Seven Guardian Knights to stop the Quintessons and sending them off Cybertron leading Cybertron to its Golden Age. Harkleen began calling herself Quintessa, Quintessa plans to Someday end the Cybertronian races for her Species failure, She intervened with the Cybertronian war many times like Brainwashing Optimus Prime with Dark Energon, manipulating Megatron into doing her bidding, and tried to destroy Earth two times. One of Quintessa’s last attempts was to build the false Predacon Tarantulas and sent him to Cybertron to Destroy the Cybertronians from the inside out (it’s why Tarantulas wanted to alter the history of Both Autobots and Decepticons) Trivia Quintessons saying they Created the Transformers is a lie they come believe because they are the universe’s Greatest Deceivers Quintessons are also the inventors of method of created new Transformer though Construction of a robot Body and infuse it with a Spark, Which the Cybertronians still use this method to today to create new Transformers because it’s a fast way of doing it
Kinda wished idw did more with them, they hinted at them even had one for a bit, but they never explained who they were and what their purpose was. But I loved your video though!
I prefer a mixture of both. Primus creating the 13 primes out of his own spark. Whilst millenia later the Quentisons run into cybertron and capitalize on the protoform lifeforms of the planet
I like the quintessons as a part of the species, it gives the world of transformers more similarities to us in the sense of perception in their world, a sort of human vs chimp scenerio, quintessons seeing cybertronians as "lowly apes" and vice versa. They bring a depth and age to the lore in whatever series theyre in. Say what you want about most cartoons but every depiction of a quintesson has been scarce but never wasted.
I always preferred the 80’s cartoon version of the origin of Cybertron. I think it’s too easy to go for the very basic G*d vs Devil scenario. I’m not against religion or anything, it’s just the power creep thing that haunts shows like Dragon Ball Z and gets made of fun of in other media like One Punch Man. Also, it’s kinda fun to imagine an uncanny origin of a sentient alien species unlike our own. Great Stuff as always,
At first, I thought they were just some weird alien, but they really have become something essential to the transformer series. Tho I do like the idea that Primus created Cybertron, then they came and duped the race into slavery.
Just wanted to pin a little appendix to this video here! I say in the vid the Quintessons were "created" by Ron Friedman, but on reflection I think it would be more correct to say they were "developed" by him - the initial, basic idea of face-switching kangaroo-court-holding aliens, including the name, seems to have come from the brain-trust at Sunbow (who named them after a local restaurant, apparently), who then handed it off to Friedman to expand on when he wrote the script.
They are in cyberverse
I absolutely HATE idea of Quintus Prime as Quintessons always did fulfil role of legit external threat, what did use they insight knowledge to manipulate Cybertronians. But was not actual part of this civilization. In is only my head canon, but I believe that Quintus is actually fake, as attempt to insert themselves into Cybertronian subconsciousness.
While part of me prefers the Primus/Unicron creation myth, another enjoys the Quintesson creation story too. It's a cool reversal of the robot revolution story, with the Transformer rebels being the good guys and the, possibly organic, Quintessons being the bad guys.
@@johnnygyro2295 Those stories aren't mutually exclusive and in Aligned Continuity Quintessons conquer and claim creation of Cybertron. Even if that actually wasn't the case.
@@TheRezro
You're right in that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Hell, now that I think about it, since Animated's writers weren't going to use Primus or Unicron, it could've been interesting to reveal the Quintessons as the ones who created the Allspark. Said Allspark, seeing how the robots it helped create were being used as slave labor and/or sold as products, would give the Transformers sapience to help rebel against their creators.
"Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court"
"I HAVE NOTHING *BUT CONTEMPT* FOR THIS COURT"
"Spare me this mockery of Justice!"
@@ShiningT1g3R I need a full movie centering around this scene.
Has the Magistrate reached a verdict?
@@HunhowsShadowStalker I have
@@megathot3734 guilty or innocent?
"Guilty or innocent?"
"Innocent."
*Brutally executes innocent robot*
Not the way I wanna go lad- Kuo
No feed him to the Sharkticons
I never understood that as a kid
Dylan Hinds season 3 explains oh the G1 cartoon what they were guilty of.
Well dang carnage much?
"Guilty or innocent?"
"Innocent!"
"Feed him to the Sharkticons"
...sounds like my inlaws...
HAHAHAHAHAHA
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO
@@nickp2271 i don’t think it was that funny
I was just doing the Quintesson laugh.
You, good person, have made my day! 😂😂😂
“I find you guilty...
Of nothing...
The sentence is: death”
I like the idea of the Quintessons being the creators of the Transformers as a kind of sly meta-commentary on the inherent nature of the Transformers as commercial products. The Autobots were built to be workers and manual laborers and the Decepticons as war machines, which to me kind of evokes how the Autobots and Decepticons are essentially designated as the good guys and bad guys, with any justification for their role coming later, and that the two will always be in conflict because they were essentially designed to be opposites. I feel like a smart writer could build on this and ask questions about the autonomy of a manufactured race of beings, whether someone can overcome who or what they were intended to be and forge their own path, etc.
Great explanation!
Personally the Quintessons have really grown on me over the years. The idea that Primus/Unicron are merely one of multiple creation myths on Cybertron is one of the more creative, high-concept ideas IDW posited several years back, with even Primacron being mentioned at least once. The Transformers suddenly discovering that they *might* have been created not by a benevolent being but a race of amoral alien monsters, or possibly just by happenstance ala the Allspark, is a very intriguing concept.
Honestly, it's why I always preferred the Quint origin. It's less centralizing. The Primus origin is "the Transformers are basically soldiers of God created to save the universe", and it really kind of consumes stories because once you've put that on the table, every other race and conflict in the setting might as well not matter. The Quint origin is more mundane, but it's sensible and characterful, expands the lore, and adds a faction that's actually interesting but also one that's content to be put to the side. And it worked really well in the cartoon, because it was pretty evident there that Cybertronians were just one race among many.
Also, hi, Matt! I loved Rulers of Earth.
@Andrew Gray Why couldn't they have invented sparks? They seem rather convenient, to have one's essence be a physical and quantifiable object that can even be removed or swapped around. Why is them developing intelligence out-there? Most of the quint creations have intelligence. Why couldn't they be overthrown? The first appearance of the quints has them be overthrown by their creations. And while the Guiding Hand did exist, they were not gods, nor were they responsible for the creation of the race - which seems to largely be a naturally occuring phenomenon in IDW. Primus over there is just a very old bot with amnesia and weird powers.
It's arbitrary to say the Quints aren't enough because they're... you know, not real. Their limits are defined in-story and seem to be well within what would be needed to make Cybertronians. The G1 toon had world-consuming energy creatures being invented by one mad scientist; pretty sure an entire race of geniuses could cobble together a spark.
Hell, Primus explicitly does not exist in any form over in Animated. Because he doesn't need to. Dude is boring. He was only interesting in one story, and that's the one that threw out all of his prior lore and also wrote seventy issues of him not being Primus.
Honestly, seeing the different origin stories for the Transformers reminds me of the different religions we have here. In fact, I think it's entirely possible to factor in EVERY origin canonically in such a fashion; some transformers believe in Primus theory, some in Allspark theory, some in technogenisis (the transformers just came out of random gears and springs), and others believe the Quintessons to be their creators. This is something I've rarely if not ever seen in any other story and it's one of the reasons I use to defend Transformers being my #1 interest.
@@misterbadguy7325 In my head canon, The Quints Did create the cybertronians but Primus created the other Transformers. The difference being the ones that stand above the rest. The ones destined for great things such as the Primes. (Hell, it's even in the name: Primus -> Prime). And that the Primes and other such Transformers that are the "soldiers of God created to save the universe." So basically the Quints made the Proto Cybertronian race but Primus perfected it and made the true race we know today.
In my head canon, Primus simply created the sparks, but the quintessons created the technology which primus and the transformers would eventually have a symbiotic relationship with.
Given their two-faced, or rather, FIVE-faced nature, I am fine with them being relegated to False Creator status.
888889
I agree, though I'd also pair that with their status as conniving venture capitalists.
Dude that makes them even cooler! Like how do you make them even more badass? “FAKE GODS TO THESE MACHINES!” Then I am in.
@@RhetoricalGamerexactly
Maybe they just had Primacron make them, as Primacron made Unicron, and his name is a mixture of Primus and Unicron, so he might have made Primus, who exists in Kiss Players which is part of the Japanese version of the cartoon continuity.
If I were writing a transformers series the way I would integrate the Quintesons would be to have them come to Cybertron in its infancy and greatly influence Cybertronian culture. Have them run experiments on the early Cybertronians which eventually lead them to being able to transform and have distinctive personalities beyond being simple robots. That way they did technically “create” the Transformers as we know them but we also don’t loose the Primus and Unicron dynamic people are so fond of.
But don't sparks come from primus and sparks are the soul analog
@@williampinkley1842 They do in some continuities. The Well of Allsparks is just that, where primus gives life to all bots.
I like the idea that unicorn created the quintesson and he’s like their god. In the way primes is to the transformers.
Originally when I first saw the Quintessons in G1 I was kind of dismissive towards them as when it came to the creation of the Transformers, the idea of Primus & mysticism seemed to work well. Looking back on them now I've softened up to the idea of the Quintessons creating the Transformers. It provides a sort of "Hard Sci-Fi" approach and almost grounds the G1 cartoon in a sort of realism which explains Unicron's backstory in some way. But I really enjoy the Quintesson's role in the franchise, especially since the idea of them being Space Pirates works just as well as creators.
As ever Chris, great stuff.
"Has the Imperial Magistrate reached a verdict?"
"I have."
"Good Basics Episode, or bad?"
"Good Basics Episode."
"Feed him the like buttons!"
Okay, Mark, that's enough! Man, I'm such a nerd... -ahem- Anyway, in all seriousness, great Episode on the Quintessons. 👍☺
Is there any bad episode?
@@VicEntity Nope, definitely not. They're all very entertaining. :)
Pfft...snerk.. *HA* *HA* *HA HA*! It's Imperial *Magistrate* FYI.
Bold of you to imply there's such a thing as a bad Basics episode.
Since this was made prior to cyberverse I will update it
"Most recently, the quintesons have made an appearance in the cyberverse cartoon, finally returning to their rolls as major antagonists to the cybertronians. However, instead of merely being an alien threat to cybertron like in G1, they are multiversal enemies that go around and judging different universes and when they were ultimately declared guilty, they would destroy entire universes after judges were made in their respective universes. Starscream and a pair of aliens from species we do not know were made the judge of the main universe the show takes place in but were ultimately stopped by megatron and optimus prime using their matrex's. The only one who was a constant in making the judges and the only true quintesson since the very beginning was, the scientist. The scientist made many of the weapons and inventions of the quintessons and made many bodies in which he can control from hiding, however he was killed off by wheeljack after he was discovered."
Nicely done
In that episode meterfire and Cosmos you can see judge starscream in the background so cool
On Judge Starscream the green alien is an alien from Rescue Bots, other than that the grey alien is just the generic sci fi alien.
@@zeta4115 that green alien is called a Velgrox
I might be severely outnumbered, but I actually prefer the Quintesson origin to the "divine" creation story - though I prefer the Scioli take that makes them a bit more intimidating and unknowable.
I completely agree. I feel like the 'divine' origin story makes the whole timeline too abstract. (Not to mention, it lends itself to the whole good vs evil dynamic, which is always leads to odd and simplistic storylines.)
Also, the idea that the transformers are just manufactured creatures, and that the Quintessons are their creatures adds a disturbing existential dread.
@@fionewatson4931 imean Primus did create liege maximo the living scumbag
I agree as well.
Same. Its much more tangible, gives you something to run from and a proper goal for the Quints to follow in the story. It really adds that extra dimesion where they want to destroy everyone, but will move together with the Decepticons only to want them dead once finished with them. Its just a really really great hook in season 3. I love how it underpins all of season 3 with the continuity in the storylines. They story in the novel Retribution about them trying to take back Cybertron is also very good. A great read. I love them in Cyberverse as well. The only version I don't like was that Quintessa from TF5 TLN.
@@vxrdrummer Well, Quintessa is a Prime, so i think it deserves to be considered as a female Quintus.
The Quintessons are such an underrated, underutilized and underappreciated part of Transformers. Their origin story was pretty cool, definitely shocking and a great curveball to the mythos. They creeped me out as a kid and still fascinate me to this day. It's a shame that we never got an official Quintesson figure. I would love a Masterpiece version.
Side note, I remember reading a while back how Floro Dery was inspired by an egg like toy. I always wondered what that toy was. An amazing design.
Now you have Cyberverse and Generations.
I don’t like them that much tbh
@@dr.zomboss2220 I agree Zomboss, their design isn't that interesting or good and they weaken Transformers stories they're added too.
As terrible as it was as a show, Transformers Energon was the show that introduced me to my love of Transformers. Alpha Q (har har) has always remained a favorite character of mine throughout the franchise since, and I'm really delighted he/they finally got a mention in this series. Energon was undoubtedly bad, but I always loved the concept of this character and to this day it's figure is still one of my most beloved figures. Thanks so much for your work on this series! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you! :D
He was an amazing character that I wish they would bring back into a new series. I also hope we get a power link gimmick again some day. For as bad as energon was it had a lot of great ideas
Remember, keep tuning in to this channel, and something cool might happen! (In the Japanese dub of Energon, also known as Superlink, Alpha Q functioned as a narrator for the show, often ending each episode by telling the viewers to tune in next week, because “something cool might happen.” The final episode ended with Alpha Q saying, “Something cool finally happened!”)
Energon was the series that introduced me to the series, although Cybertron was the first show I followed from beginning to end.
Your videos are beyond informative and full of every detail, big or small. The amount of effort put into these videos must be ginormous! I definitely hope this channel grows even bigger then it already is. Side note, I hope you do an updated version when Kingdom ends.
I think I prefer the Quintess Prime origin for them. It still keeps the breaking of chains for cybertronians and also has the mythical style of Primus
*_"Please make a episode about the Aerialbots."_*
Yeah
Whats an aerialbot
@@epic_axolotl9439 flying autobot.
Yes
Guess you finally got your wish huh?
The real creators. Period. I like my robots-who-evolve-emotions magic origin free, thank you.
Seriously. The mysticism with the whole Primus/Unicron angle is so un-transformers like to me.
I hear that man, it makes much more sense and I like everything that comes with it, like the idea that Autobots were built as service droids and Decepticons military ones, and Megatron's origin story as a gladiator for the Quintesson's amusement who rose through the ranks eventually busting out of servitude...
Me, too. I always thought the Primus stuff was crap.
Lost Age Comics I like when it's a mix of the two origins, like at 5:02. The Primus stuff is definitely overdone now, though.
I am with you, the primus/unicron origin doesn't seem to fit as a origin about robots
My wishlist:
Basics on Starscream
Basics on Arcee
Basics on Stunticons
Basics on alien races (Galactic Council, Consortia...)
Basics on Colonies
Basics on Waspinator
Basics on the past primes (Nova, Sentinel, Zeta...)
Megatron:*SHOOTS STARSCREAM*YOU FOOL STARSCREAM
*throws an Energon Cube at Starscream's head*
I do believe the basics on starscream and the original primes has already been done
After I saw the notification, my head went spinning like a Quintesson
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
The basics on Arcee
Please?
Yeah i love Arcee 😍😍😍😍😍
Gotta love Arcee.
Yes
You have to support him on patron if you want that.
Ugh, must we look at more chromed tits? There are better places to find that.
Let me know what you think of this creation story:
1) the quintessons did create the Cybertronian race, but they were little more sentient than the sharkticons. They created them as labor, but also as colonists to go out and prepare new planets for quintessons. Sentient and intelligent enough to operate autonomously, but not enough to be considered their own race.
2) Unicron encountered these proto-cybertronians and feasted on them. Unicron discovered that this race had the potential to generate massive amounts of power for him, and would make an excellent food source.
He also quickly discovered that they could be "upgraded" with the addition of sparks, which would exponentially increase their energy value.
Unicron transforms one of the proto-cybertronians into "primus", who has the ability to create sparks and upgrade other members of his species. He sends primus out into the stars to seed more world's with Cybertronian life, or to upgrade existing colonies for later harvesting. Unicron lies to primus about this, instead telling him that Unicron is a benevolent god who spreads life.
Sort of a transformer Silver surfer concept, but where primus genuinely thinks he is doing good.
3) primus does this for thousands of years before finally seeing what Unicron was doing in his wake. This disturbs him enough to rebel against Unicron. He secretly creates Cybertron as a safe haven for his new race, keeping its existence hidden from Unicron. He creates energon as a power source so that Cybertronians never need to leave Cybertron and risk alerting unicron.
Primus also introduces the matrix of leadership, but also the code for Decepticons into Cybertronians as a way to ensure Cybertronians had a warrior caste. This code would kick in when Cybertronians experience great suffering, slavery, and existence threatening hardship. these conditions were expected to only be met by the arrival of unicron, however due to the already established autobot mistreatment, the code kicks in early for some and the civil war begins.
I don't really care for the "allspark" so I don't include it, but you easily could as a tool primus is given by unicron to upgrade bots.
Let me know what you all think. I tried to unify a lot of the existing concepts into something I like a little better, but without changing too much
Nope
This is really good! Have you done any creative writing apart from this comment?
Not a big fan my guy. Why would something created by evil care if it was doing evil? Why wouldn't unicron just program him to be more evil?
I wasn't a fan of the Quintesson origin for the Transformers but I've always liked them as characters. Also, great job in saying Alpha Q without it sounding weird. Each time it was mentioned, you said it distinctly and with grace.
This video reminds me of human history theory and classes; you learn one thing, then later you find out the whole story was completely different.
I preferred the origin story from the G1 cartoon. Not just because I didn't read the comics and had no desire to read the comics but also because it's an origin that is simple, effective and gritty. But it's also relatable on more than one level. The folly of capitalist quintessons giving the robot slaves they created the capacity to have emotions which inevitably led them to revolt against their cruelty. It's something that becomes more relatable today as robotics technology and AI has improved drastically since the 80s to the point where we're now needing to seriously consider ethics regarding service robots and military robots. With further advancement in robot technology we could be manufacturing robots that can operate autonomously to the point where they can think for themselves and even experience emotions. In that scenario our descendants could essentially become the quintessons if they are cruel to their creations. And when it comes full circle like that I wonder what are the origins of the G1 quintessons? Could they have originally begun as organic life forms who over time utilized cybernetic body parts until nothing organic remained of them? Could that eventually happen to humans in the distant future?
Even though I was never a big fan he f the original gobots cartoon one thing that interested me was that the gobots started off as organic life forms who over time became increasingly cybernetic until nothing organic remained. It was a really intriguing idea which I'm surprised very few shows before ghost in the shell utilized.
The 41 dislikes are from Quintessons who are angry their plans have been exposed.
I like the idea of a misunderstood and good guy version of the Quintessons ( Transformers Energon )
I would have loved them to have made a Quintesson toy in the Titans Return line with the faces being Titan Masters, allowing you to use your own Titan Masters to create Quintessons of your own. Considering how many other 1986 movie characters got toys in that line it's actually a real shame that they didn't do this, even if the Quintesson would likely not have been able to transform as such.
I think thats a cool idea, but titan masters a so small. The bodirs would have been legends size and i want them to be at least deluxe
It would have to deluxe or voyager for 4 or 5 faces
if that happened then quintesson OC's would be a thing.
That's brilliant.
That's a pretty cool idea! Someone get Hasbro on the phone.
Huh, you forgot the Quintessons from Tom Scioli's G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover, where they were five dimensional beings, who claimed creation of all live, and were implied to have created Daiakuron, the even bigger transformer planet that made Unicron, Primus and possibly even other transforming planets robots
Yes, a deliberate omission, not forgotten. I don't tend to include weirdo out-there/niche versions of characters and concepts in these videos, just as Shockwave and Soundwave's videos don't talk about them being brothers in that series, or Ultra Magnus's doesn't go into him being the Autobot God of Death. The series is called "The Basics" for a reason, it was never supposed to include everything.
@@ChrisMcFeely I respect this decision by the nature of this series serving to inform. However, I contend that Tom Scioli's vision on Transformers is the only valid one that exists. All other continuities are blasphemy.
Oh, indeed, it is the ur-continuity, sculpted in retroactive clay.
The thing about the Thirteen is that even the "heroic" ones seem like they'd make much better villains.
I love the multiple creation stories that have evolved over these decades, very parallel to the bible. Though, I have never grinned wider than when I watched my son laugh like a hyena when Grimlock and the dinobots kicked in the door and walked all over the quintesson guard in the OG animated movie.
ALPHA Q
*snickers*
Seriously?
Huh
For those missing it: ALPHA-Q sounds like “I’ll fuck you.”
When I hear the noble goal of quintesson enrgon version a tear drop out of my eyes
9:23 I think the fifth personality is not hidden within the armor, but the armor itself is the face of the fifth personality, just look at it.
Alpha Quintesson was my favorite
I think I teared up when he sacrificed itself in Energon
Same
No shout out to Misha? She was the one that won over Alpha Q because she could identify on losing everything i.e. Her parents. Seriously, Misha did so much more than that violent douchebag Kicker. Misha deserves to be in a new Transformer cartoon or comic.
adding to this, the Quintessons are now reimagined once again in the third season of TF Cyberverse, where they are now the Judges of the Multiverse.
I've been freeloading for way too long, finally signed up for the Patreon. I love your work and it's embarrassing that it took me this long to start supporting it!
Thanks Dale, your support is much appreciated!
@@ChrisMcFeely Thank *you* for all the great work you do!
I have fond memories of Alpha Q from Energon. He was always so enigmatic.
I have a few basics ideas:
Arcee
Ironhide
Sideswipe
Starscream
Optimus Prime
Megatron
Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime
Cheetor
Waspinator
Silverbolt
Constructicons
Stunticons
Protectobots
Aerialbots
The Animated series
The Movie continuity
The Aligned Continuity
Triple Changers
Maximals
Rly the basics on FRICKIN OPTIMUS PRIME
“Sharkticons execute them!”
Slam
“Me Grimlock say execute them.”
If I wrote the story, I’d have the Quintessons create Primus as a prototype for their ultimate weapon, with Unicron as the finalized design. Then Primus would have created the cybertronians.
Thats somehow ruins both them and Primus.
@@Vilgax00
How so?
@@johnnygyro2295 because this makes Quintessons more Op than Primus and Unicron,while making their loss of control of Cybertron more stupid. Aldo making Primus and Unicron non-speciall. Since they lost their cosmic/divine origins.
Quintessons work much better as a diffrent colonizer species that has nofthing to do with them. This way their universe feels much bigger. And not centered around Cybertronians.
@@Vilgax00
Fair enough, Primus and Unicron are cool.
@@johnnygyro2295 thank you for agreeing.
Could you do a Basics for the following: Humans- the fleshy pals that tag along for better or for worse
Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime- The Prime who succeeded Optimus
Action Masters- Transformers without the transformation
Energon- the lifeblood of cybertronians and all its variants
Japanese only series- The shows that never made it to the west.
Maccadam- The oil house and its owner who spans continuities
The War- What sparked this galactic civil war.
I love these videos. now I can explain transformers to my friends.keep up the good work
Primus style origin stories are better to me, even as a kid I think I just made the assumption (due to comic book contradictions) that the Quintessons were simply lying.
I knew they were just trying to be smug. Buncha pirates.
@@ZZtheDark See what you did there 😏
@@tigerbread78 I got nothing to regret saying that. They were trying hard to fulfill their own existence but failed. Good thing they were never on the IDW comics. It could go the wrong way.
Then again,I wouldn't want any misfortune on them in the IDW comics. Hopefully,we can see them again in the Siege Toyline.
@@ZZtheDark They (kind of) were in IDWverse...
tfwiki.net/wiki/Pentius
@@pious83 Oh wait..nevermind. As long as they still have the fear factor,it's all good. ^^
The quintessons have shown up in both Earthrise and Cyberverse' cartoons, what a time to be alive.
I think that the quintessions creating the transformers is better than that Primus origin but that is probably because I grew up with the quintessions creating the transformers
*I still believe Quintessa is a servant of Unicron in the live action films and is trying to dupe the humans into awakening him by telling them that the way to awaken him is instead to "kill him"*
Also could we please do *The Basics on Unicron?*
I love the Quintessons I'd like to see them back in fiction. The whole thing of them claiming to be the "creators" of the Transformers is brilliant .
Despite Alpha Q Being marketed as a Decepticon in the Energon Toyline , I saw Alpha Q as moreso as a Autobot aligned character.
Also I noticed that Aquarius from Shattered Glass was absent
What were the SG versions of those five-faced eggs like?
I like the cartoon origin far better. I actually began writing a story expanding on that origin precisely but adding other elements as well. I was always a fan of the simple and epic storytelling of G1.
I dont see why we can't have both quintissons creating primus primus creating transformers
This channel really helped to imagine the whole tranformers mythos where some of the media started making sense somehow.
I'm sticking with the Quintesson origin. There's something really evocative about their design and the idea that the Transformers were originally made for a mundane, capitalistic purpose but then became more than that. But then a race overcoming slavery is a pretty potent story in its own right.
Guilty!. The Quintessons created the Transformers IMO. It makes for a better story to have them be used as mere tools at first only to fight and win their freedom later as they evolved. It also makes sense of the power disparity between the Autobot and Decepticons.
It also explains female form transformers. There's no real logic as to why there would be any in a race of robots, unless organic clients of the Quitessons wanted them.
It makes me think that in the Bayverse, Quintessa might be lying about being the creator(or one of the creators) of the Cybertronians. The Knights even called her the great deceiver. But we'll never know since there is no plan to continue Bayverse. And I understand why since Transformers TLK flopped domestically and was only successful on foreign(China to be specific) box office.
Considering the trend of the Quintessons being fake creators I also think Quintessa is a false creator, considering that since 'Revenge of the Fallen' the Bayverse took the route of the more mystical aproach with the Cybertronian origin with the original Primes, also the fact that there is no actual proof that she created them, only that she was a mortal enemy to Unicron just like Alpha Quintesson in 'Transformers Energon', which after seeing all of this it whouldn't be a surprise if it was in fact Primus alongside the All-Spark the origin of the Cybertronian race
I'd love to know the connection with them and vector sigma
Maybe they created Vector Sigma too, but Vector Sigma screwed them over by giving the Transformers sapience?
I think both Primus and the Quintessons are both the creators of the cybertronian race, while Primus created the planet Cybertron and the 13 primes, the Quintessons created the cybertronians based on Primus and the original primes and gives cybertronian culture to Cybertron and change the history of the cybertronian race which caused the events of the war between Autobots and Decepticons to happen.
One of the - extremely few - drawbacks about the IDW comics run was the build up and teasing of hints that the Quintessons were around and in the galactic background but it never paid off. Was a slight let down for me.
We did get Megatron's buddy Pentius, though.
instead of servants to Unicron I really wanted them to have created the monsters planet eater with the aid of that little alien being the engineer and he had been building the terror planet in secret on the far reaches of the universe and then let their monster loose on Transformers and anything in it's path.
Then when the engineer created the second energy based one he became mad and incompetent when after Grimlock defeating his second creation
There have been new Quintessons toys and media appearances over the years. Transformers: Cyberverse showcased a Quintesson invasion of Cybertron accompanied by Sharkticons. A Quintesson named Decius was made a villain in the Transformers War for Cybertron: Earthrise series, hiring Doubledealer and his mercenaries to hunt the Autobots. In IDW's comics, a Quintesson named Pentius had his life force implanted into the titanic Decepticon Trypticon in order to make him more intelligent. In the Earthrise and Legacy toylines, G1 cartoon accurate figures of the Quintessons were released, including an entire set in the former recreating the trial of Kranix from Transformers: The Movie.
"Next to humankind, they're [...] the most important alien race in Transformers canon"
I really like this quote. This is the mindset one should have when writing Transformers: Cybertronians are the main species of the show, and anything else is an alien.
My headcanon places the quintessons as the creator of the cybertronian species, but Primus as the one to give them their sparks.
My favorite Quintessons moment was in Space Pirates when they conquered Autobot City and strung the Defeated Autobots up on the walls as a threat/warning to any other bots.keep up the great work chris. Till all are one.
And a few months after this video got made, Earthrise went and released a toy for the Judge and the Allicon...
"Have you reached a verdict?" I love the trial scene in the cartoon movie!
For me, it’s Primus all the way.
Exactly, I mean, if the Quints made the Transformers, why wouldn't they just make more? They had MILLIONS of years to replace the "products" they lost.
@@tigerbread78 When they were forced off Cybertron they lost access to the Well of Allsparks. Aquatron species aee Sparkless attempts to recreate them. That's my take.
GUILTY!
@@tigerbread78 They needed Vector Sigma to make robots intelligent. At best they have the Sharkticons and Allicon armies who seem to only be as smart as the Dinobots. (Grimlock managed to command them to execute the judges by simply asserting his animal dominance when they kicked the massive door down)
Primus Productions But if the Quints created everything the first time (inckuding Vector Sigma) surely they could simply create another Vector Sigma?
another tip: the faces order in the movie is different from the cartoons, so you have to choose wich order you want in your toy (yes there are 3rd party quintesson toys)
Has the Imperial majesty reached a verdict?"
"I have."
"Guilty or Innocent?"
"Innocent."
"Feed him to the like Sharkticons!"
“The only quintesson toy”
Earthrise Quintessons: am I a joke to you?
Came out after this vid
Personally I don't like the children of God angle that comes from the comic. Destined blah blah primus, 12 apostles I mean primes...
Being a robotic species that attained consciousness and overthrew their oppressors is imo far more interesting.
I'm not a fan of the religious destiny and specialness of the primus story
Rodimus: what is our purpose?
Quintesson: you pass butter
Rod: oh my god!! D8
Quint: yeah, join the club B/
It's been so long since I've seen Energon, but I remember Alpha Quintesson as one of the few good parts of the show.
i find their g1 season 3 businessman characterization to be the most intriguing out of all the quintesson interpretations. i'd love to see a story where the quintessons encounter natural, primus-made transformers and become inspired to manufacture their own transformers to sell
i think it could make for some fun stories, like maybe they make shady deals with autobot and decepticon alike to create knockoffs of existing bots to frame each other's crimes on or fake their deaths to get away from war. or perhaps the quintessons are contacted by human governments to aid in creating military transformers and forming a business relationship
honestly i just wanna see the quintessons do more than just directly antagonize the transformers. having them be a third party that involve themselves in the great war only if they profit from it somehow is too tantalizing an idea to pass up imo
love Alpha Q, tragic and crazy but had a good heart
I hope you plan on an update to this, especially with the (very) dark take on Quintessons from Transformers: Earthrise.
The idea of individual Quints trying to seek consensus within their own fractured personalities is probably my favorite take on the characters.
In my headcanon the skull face can't see because justice is also blind
Quintus Prime: *creates the Quintessons* Surely playing god won't backfire :)
Quintessons: *take over Cybertron*
Quintus Prime: _Oh no_
I prefer the G1 cartoon origin. However I respect the primus stuff that has been the main origin lately.
Can you do the basics of skorponok please
I like the ideas them being some third party aliens not related to cybertron or earth. I like how they just had a completely alien thought process where they were the good guys upholding the law and any species they encountered were the bad guys breaking the law just by meeting them
The only Quintesson heads i know are Laughter, Judgement, Rage, And Wisdom
I think the live action one is lying because if she was a god she could of just repaired cybertron.
I unironically wouldn't mind if they revealed Primus and Unicron WERE Quintessons, the whole the gods were actually an ancient progenitor race trope, they seeded various forms of life throughout the galaxy, Unicron would be the evil one who liked eating people and Primus would be the one Quintesson who actually liked his creations, he gives the automata and other species enslaved by his Quintesson brothers and sisters sparks and souls and the ability to think and rebel against their creators, he is remembered and mythologized into a deity.. which to be fair he kinda was.
Heck since we see Quintessons have multiple faces, maybe Primus could have been the good side to a multi faced super quintesson and Unicron the very darkest one. They eventually seperate into their own beings and fight each other.
These are my own thoughts. Not an 'um actually' comment. I took Quintessons as a variation/derivative of quintessence or quintessential. A term from medieval alchemy which believed everything was built with the 4 classical elements (fire, water, earth, and air) Life had a fifth element, ether.
When the Power of the Primes line was released I imagined that Abominus and the Terrorcons were aligned with Quintus Prime in the Bludgeon armor. The four deluxe Terrorcons representing an element. But instead of the torso representing life/divine. Hunger represents void, the opposite. Hence why the combiner is an abomination.
I think the Quintesson group in the movie is unrelated to the ones from Season 3, because the movie version acted like they weren't familiar with the Transformers or Unicron. Instead they were just new characters thrown in for randomness, since they really didn't serve much purpose to the overall plot of the movie.
I would love for Hasbro to pull a double take and release an actual 80's movie style Quint Judge as part of the Siege line ! always liked the Quintessons they had some great designs
I'm not sure it would fit the Siege line. Then again, I'm not sure everything in Siege fits the line anyway, so what they heck. It better have a great clicking sound for the face rotation! :)
Man, it's too bad this video was made before the Quintessons really rose back to prominence, what with a huge role in Cyberverses' 3rd season and a brief role in the Netflix Earthrise cartoon. (Not to mention all of the new toys made because of those roles!)
Catching up on my tf education
If you haven't already, you should do a Basics episode on Barricade.
How about a Basics episode on the human friends of the transformers?
Oh hell no
@@muhammadmunawwar7351
Hay the human companions are a component part of Transformers. Without the human children as the autobots friends, they won't be able to know about earth customs. Or get there help in small hard to reach spots for them. It's like making a Godzilla movie, but forgeting to put Godzilla in it. You get the sens that something's missing.
Meh it was a joke
@@muhammadmunawwar7351
You're a joke.
Only if it's Spike and Sparkplug!
My HeadCanon: The Quintessons were the one of many races Created by the Emberstone of Quintus Prime. After The Exile Of the 11 of the Thirteen primes, Quintus Prime traveled across the Universe using his relic "The Emberstone" giving life to many barren planets. The last of the planets he Gave life to was Quintessa and the Quintessons. They betrayed Quintus and Stole his Emberstone; a Evil Witch named Harkleen use The Emberstone to give her 15 lives And She greatly uses Evil magic and Dark Energon. The Quintesson Species advanced their Technology quickly Giving the Quintessons cybernetics and turning animal life of Quintessa with Cybernetics into Transforming Slaves with all the power They have. They Sought out to conquer another planet, Cybertron enslaving the Cybertronians and using their relics, The Matrix of Leadership and Vector Sigma to make more Cybertronian slaves (via building robot bodies and giving them life and a spark with the Matrix and Vector Sigma) then Cybertronians did a uprising with the help of the Seven Guardian Knights to stop the Quintessons and sending them off Cybertron leading Cybertron to its Golden Age. Harkleen began calling herself Quintessa, Quintessa plans to Someday end the Cybertronian races for her Species failure, She intervened with the Cybertronian war many times like Brainwashing Optimus Prime with Dark Energon, manipulating Megatron into doing her bidding, and tried to destroy Earth two times. One of Quintessa’s last attempts was to build the false Predacon Tarantulas and sent him to Cybertron to Destroy the Cybertronians from the inside out (it’s why Tarantulas wanted to alter the history of Both Autobots and Decepticons)
Trivia
Quintessons saying they Created the Transformers is a lie they come believe because they are the universe’s Greatest Deceivers
Quintessons are also the inventors of method of created new Transformer though Construction of a robot Body and infuse it with a Spark, Which the Cybertronians still use this method to today to create new Transformers because it’s a fast way of doing it
I don't like the Primus lore. This thing with gods doesn't work for me.
Kinda wished idw did more with them, they hinted at them even had one for a bit, but they never explained who they were and what their purpose was.
But I loved your video though!
So the quintessons are the creators not primus
No, Primus is.
I prefer a mixture of both. Primus creating the 13 primes out of his own spark. Whilst millenia later the Quentisons run into cybertron and capitalize on the protoform lifeforms of the planet
Mr. McFeely you are one awesome man
I like the quintessons as a part of the species, it gives the world of transformers more similarities to us in the sense of perception in their world, a sort of human vs chimp scenerio, quintessons seeing cybertronians as "lowly apes" and vice versa. They bring a depth and age to the lore in whatever series theyre in.
Say what you want about most cartoons but every depiction of a quintesson has been scarce but never wasted.
I always preferred the 80’s cartoon version of the origin of Cybertron. I think it’s too easy to go for the very basic G*d vs Devil scenario. I’m not against religion or anything, it’s just the power creep thing that haunts shows like Dragon Ball Z and gets made of fun of in other media like One Punch Man. Also, it’s kinda fun to imagine an uncanny origin of a sentient alien species unlike our own.
Great Stuff as always,
At first, I thought they were just some weird alien, but they really have become something essential to the transformer series. Tho I do like the idea that Primus created Cybertron, then they came and duped the race into slavery.