Characters / Transformers: Despair - Autobots

This is a partial character sheet for Transformers: Despair. Visit here for the main character index. Visit here for teachers from the Decepticon faction.

Ratchet

Ultimate Medic

The chief medical officer of the Autobots and the initial protagonist from the faction and the story in general. He served throughout the entire war as the one in charge of medical support as well as being one of the oldest and closest friends of Optimus Prime. Cynical and jaded, but cares for his patients above all else. After the war, he busied himself by establishing a new clinic to help more people.

He is the head detective and culprit of Chapter 5, having accidentally injected an acid-laced anesthetic into Blast Off after a bombing at the racetrack and a botched suicide attempt by Dead End. He is executed by getting hit with an explosion and going through a mock surgery.

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• The Alcoholic: Was this at one point, until he caused a patient to die, which led to…
• The Atoner: He makes sure the incident of the surgery that he botched up one time that caused the death of a patient never happens again.
• Brutal Honesty: He is very blunt with his words and won’t hesitate to chew someone out if they do something wrong or gets injured on purpose.
• The Coroner: On account of his medical skills, he’s the one that autopsies the bodies alongside Knock Out.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: During his execution, he is caught in an explosion before suffering through a botched surgery without anesthetic that leaves him in agonizing pain until he dies.
• Decoy Protagonist: [[spoiler:Was set up to last a long time, but dies a little over halfway through the story as a Sacrificial Lion.
• Face Death with Dignity: In spite of the unfair circumstances, Ratchet takes the reveal of himself as the culprit quite well, instead doing his best to encourage people to work together before dying, including Smokescreen.
• Good Is Not Nice: Ratchet means the best, but he doesn’t sugarcoat anything.
• The Hero Dies: Being the initial protagonist of the Autobots and the story in general seemed poise to establish himself as one of the most important characters by being the focus of the prologue and as the head detective of Chapter 5, only for him to be the accidental culprit of the chapter through a series of unfortunate events.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: His skills as a doctor led to his own death in a roundabout way. When the bomb went off in Chapter 5, Knock Out was caught in it and Scavenger is still in-training, so it was up to Ratchet to perform surgery on everyone. However, when doing so, he uses an anesthetic to help calm the patients down and dull the pain. What he didn’t realize is that Dead End had put a syringe of anesthetic with acid inside of it, meaning that when he used an anesthetic to calm Blast Off down, it instead killed him and made Ratchet the culprit of that chapter without him 'even being aware of it.'
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He’s a good mech, but his brutal honesty can make him come off as hostile.
• Karmic Misfire: His reward for saving everyone in Chapter 5? His execution.
• Light Is Good: Is primarily white and he is certainly one of the most moral people in the game.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Averted. Yes, the author will kill the initial protagonist a little over halfway into the story.
• The Medic: His talent and probably the most famous among the Autobots. He gets to show this off in Chapter 5 when a bomb explodes and hit several people, causing him to have to go to work to save them.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Inverted. He offered to be Scavenger’s teacher, but dies before he could start.
• Passing the Torch: Downshift’s scalpel was passed down to him after he died. After Ratchet was executed in Chapter 5, it was passed down again to Knock Out.
• Sacrificial Lion: His death triggers a Heroic BSoD among the cast with how unfair it is.
• Sole Survivor: A cybonic plague hit a hospital he was in when he was young. A doctor named Downshift devised an antidote, but only had enough for one person, so he used it on Ratchet.
• Stuff Blowing Up: His execution starts with one that leaves him injured, before being taken away to a deadly surgery.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With two people, Knock Out and Drift.
  • Ratchet and Knock Out, despite both being medics and respected each other, are still from different factions as Ratchet keeps on criticizing Knock Out about his overwhelming vanity and not really caring about his patients especially the ones he didn’t like. Although, the two made a truce to not kill anyone in any circumstances to avoid Optimus’ wrath.
  • When it comes to Drift, Ratchet is really annoyed by Drift’s Black-and-White Morality and constant asking to protect him. Despite that, he means well as he keeps on trying to make Drift change his biased perspective about the Decepticons.
• Walking Spoiler: The spoiler tropes above? It relates to the climax of Chapter 5's trial.

Nightbeat

Ultimate Detective

A private detective pre-war and investigator during the war uncovering Decepticon plots. His detective skills are well respected, but he seems to delve into conspiracy theories too much for people’s liking, with his most notable one being the existence of the Institute. After the war, he went back to being a normal detective, doing what jobs are available for him. He is the head detective in Chapters 1 & 3.

He is both the victim and culprit of Chapter 4, killing Mirage after a fight in the Repair Bay then pushing him onto the spikes of the behemoth. He himself is killed after purposely tripping Mirage’s trap at the basement of the mall to test the group’s ability to solve crimes without him.

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• The Ace: For solving murder cases, as he’s the Ultimate Detective.
• Amateur Sleuth: Averted. Everyone else are amateurs in comparison to him, who is an actual detective.
• Brutal Honesty: He really lacks tact.
• Conspiracy Theorist: He often thinks to himself about a wide variety of conspiracy theories. No one seems to buy it.
• Defective Detective: He may love solving mysteries, he still has his issues.
• Deuteragonist: One of the Autobots with consistent focus in the story, he is also the most competent investigator especially in Chapters 1 & 3. Even when his voice became distorted in Chapter 2, he can still argue about inconsistencies about the case. Ends up being subverted due to his death in Chapter 4.
• Good Is Not Nice: He may be one of the Autobots, but he won’t hesitate to criticize others. In a recording of Chapter 4’s trial, he told Mirage that he’s willing to be killed by him so everyone won’t be able to be dependent of him every time a murder happens. When Onslaught and Hoist investigates his room in Chapter 5, he left some very harsh criticism about Onslaught on the notes of a datapad.
• Great Detective: His Ultimate title that he shares with two characters, Kyoko Kirigiri and Shuichi Saihara.
• Jerkass: He is rather dismissive of any emotional things that gets in his way and tends to be antisocial and insensitive.

  Nightbeat (to Nautilator): Your point being? We don’t have to be nice to each other.

• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: With a slot machine lever.
• The Killer Becomes the Killed: Posthumously revealed during the Chapter 4 trial, but he killed Mirage before tripping the trap that would kill him.
• Lack of Empathy: Implied. The recorder Hoist fixed reveals his plan to manipulate the crime scene into a two-culprit situation by letting himself to be killed by Mirage's trap. Mirage called him out for this, only for Nightbeat to coldly retort that the group are getting too reliant on him for solving murder mysteries in class trials. Upon finding the recording was on, he stomped it without remorse.
• Mutual Kill: Slightly delayed, but him and Mirage do end up killing each other in the same chapter.
• Sacrificial Lion: Incredibly important while he was alive for getting people to work with one another to solve murders before his death in Chapter 4 causes people to become more independent in their search for the truth.
• Sherlock Scan: Deduces the relevant evidence for the crime very quickly. It's an essential part of his talent after all.
• Spanner in the Works: Strangely enough, he’s this in Chapter 4 when he murders Mirage. Killing him leads to Blast Off and Onslaught being unable to carry out their murder plan that chapter.

Smokescreen

Ultimate Gambler

One of the more morally flexible Autobots, Smokescreen made his name getting involved in a wide-variety of illegal games that he was involved in, even during the war itself and peacetime. Still, he is on the Autobot’s side, which is good enough for them.

He is the head detective of Chapter 4 before being playing a major role in the murder of Chapter 5, having set the bomb up at the racetrack and being revealed as a serial killer, but is innocent of the murder of Blast Off.

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• Adaptational Villainy: With the exception of Shattered Glass, there’s no any other versions of Smokescreen before that has been a serial killer.
• Amateur Sleuth: He's this in the fourth trial, as the head detective of the case. Although he doesn’t exactly have the equal analytical mind like Nightbeat or Onslaught, he’s still trying as hard as he can to steer the trial to the right direction.
• Bait the Dog: Makes himself come off as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold to Hoist and spends time deepening his friendship with him. Then he uses that trust to help himself in his murder plot for Chapter 5.
• Beneath the Mask: His true self is a sociopathic, serial killer who doesn’t care for the lives of everyone else.
• Born Lucky: As a professional gambler who wins most of the games he gets in, he is definitely a shade of this. Also a villainous example, as his good luck is what saves him in Chapter 5, as Ratchet injecting Blast Off with the acid-laced anesthetic saved his life. His luck backfired when he encountered Nautilator when he was setting the scene in the racetrack, as he had no choice but to knock him off, unwittingly sets up a chain of events that eventually led to the discovery of the gambler’s true nature.
• Break Them by Talking: Once he's revealed as a serial killer, he dips into this from time to time, most noticeably to Swindle in that same trial when questioned by him about being a serial killer.

  Swindle: But... how are you the serial killer? I never pegged you as one.
  Smokescreen: Oh, Swindle, who do you think got rid of those pesky informants back in the good-old days?
  Swindle: But, I gave you money to bribe them off. So they would just run away!

  Smokescreen: Scum-sucking leeches like them would only ask for more. I took care of them myself and, well, pocket the money for myself.

• The Chessmaster: His murder plan required manipulating everyone into doing his bidding so that it can go off without a hitch. Unfortunately for him, a couple of Spanners In the Works prevents it from going off perfectly.
• Cold Ham: When he’s revealed as the serial killer, he chews the scenery in the calmest matter possible for his motive rant.
• Consummate Liar: He lies about almost everything in the story about himself and his sincerity with everyone. Then in Chapter 5, he develops multiple lies to cover up his tracks as the bomber. He is called out on this multiple times.

  Smokescreen: Whaaaat? We're all friends here.

  Dead End: No one is buying that, you consummate liar.

• Determinator: As the head detective of Chapter 4, he doesn't stop at anything to uncover anything, even if it means hurting people's feelings. In Chapter 5, this becomes a villainous version, as his determination is what makes him keep trying to pull off the bombing after losing the detonating agent and comes up again in the same chapter to reveal the truth behind Dead End’s suicide attempt, which ends up absolving him of murdering Blast Off.
• Dissonant Serenity: After he revealed himself as a serial killer, he's unnervingly calm with an equally disturbing relaxed smile on his face. From Chapter 6 onwards, he keeps on behaving this way much to the other's dismay.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite how vile he is, he still considers Hoist a friend. Understandably, Hoist tries to stay away from him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While he turns out to be evil, he doesn't commit evil deeds for fun, unlike the mastermind. He is also not a sore loser, as he accepted his defeat in Chapter 5, revealing his role as the bomber and only stopped the trial before ending with his interest in Dead End's suicide attempt.
• Expy: Of fellow gambler and liar, Celestia Ludenberg and Kokichi Oma respectively. He also have some elements similar to Genocide Jack, due to the reveal of him being a serial killer.
• Face–Heel Turn: Holy hell. In the first three chapters, he a reliable and well-meaning ally. Chapter 4 sees him step up to be the head detective and solves the crime. Then comes Chapter 5 where he plants a bomb to maim as many people as possible, abuse his relationship with Hoist to get more people within distance of his bomb, and is revealed as a serial killer as his biggest secret.
• Graceful Loser: Once all of his lies crumble, he willingly admit he's the one who planted the bomb and explains the details of his crime to everyone.
• The Hedonist: What do he do when trapped in a game of life and death? Throw a party!
• Hidden Depths: In the worst way possible, as he's a serial killer that has hurt multiple people throughout the story and all his relationships meant nothing to him as he was willing to sever them to escape the academy. It’s also important to mention that according to Scavenger’s datapad, he had murdered seven people before the war had even started!
• Jerkass: Post Chapter 5, after the reveal, he stops acting kind to everyone and plays up his evil side, since there's no use in hiding it anymore.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In Chapter 6, he is correct to point out that, since he's revealed as the serial killer, the only living suspect who could possibly be the mole is Perceptor.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: This screws him over in Chapter 5’s trial. When questioned about the paint, he suddenly states that anyone could have 250 monocoins, which is the price to buy the specialty paint cans there. Problem is, the only ones who knew about it were Skywarp, Ratchet, and Hoist, which further condemned him as the bomber in that case.
• King of Games: Refuses to partake in any of the games during the party in Chapter 1, instead being a dealer at the poker table, on the basis that it would just be unfair for everyone if he were a participant.
• Lovable Rogue: Yeah, he breaks the law, but he is charming and has a heart of gold. Subverted in Chapter 5.
• Lack of Empathy: Oh dear Primus… he's the only teacher who shows no remorse for their actions in the slightest. Even the remaining Decepticons remark him as despicable.
• Manipulative Bastard: Gleefully abuses the trust everyone gives him after solving the fourth murder case to carry out his own murder plot in Chapter 5. And as a result, no one trusts him in the slightest onwards.
• Moral Sociopathy: As he explains, the only reason why he did the murder was to prevent himself from dying in case he couldn’t solve a murder. His reason for assaulting Scavenger was just to protect his identity and nothing more.
• Narcissist: Unlike Knock Out's vanity, his isn't played for laughs. His reason for planting a bomb and planning the murder? It was solely to get out. The motive didn't affect him in the slightest and with Nightbeat dead, he figured it was the best time to commit a murder.
• Nominal Hero: He’s an Autobot and was a head detective in Chapter 4, but his own motivations for doing so is entirely self-serving.
• Nothing Personal: When confronted as the killer (initially) of Chapter 5, he assures everyone that it wasn’t personal and he just wanted to get out and figured this was the best time to take his shot.
• Only Friend: After Chapter 5, he considers Hoist this, as much as Hoist argues otherwise.
• Odd Friendship: With Hoist. Smokescreen is a carefree and morally ambiguous gambler while Hoist is a normal, average mech who abides by the rules. The two develop a friendship in Chapter 4 when they're put in the same color group together and end up being the primary investigator of the murder that happens that case. However, Chapter 5 shows Smokescreen abusing that trope in order to help himself commit murder that chapter and he is revealed to be a sociopathic serial killer. This should've ended with Smokescreen's execution, but a twist left him innocent of the murder and the following chapter has the two arguing with each other over Smokescreen's betrayal and the question of whether their friendship will last.
• Pet the Dog: Played with. He says that he still considers Hoist a friend, not that Hoist wants his friendship. He even gives Hoist his knife in Chapter 6, not out of sentimental value for the knife, but because he wants Hoist to have some form of protection.
• Professional Gambler: His title, which he shares with Celestia Ludenberg.
• Serial Killer: His true identity.
• The Smart Guy: As Chapter 4 shows, when given the chance, he's quite brilliant in his deductions. This gets flipped on its head completely in Chapter 5, as he plans out a complicated murder case that required several levels of manipulation to accomplish.
• The Sociopath: Let's see… Lack of Empathy? Nonstop lying? Doing anything to get what he wants? Comes off as charming? Check, check, check, and CHECK!
• Stuff Blowing Up: How he intended to carry out his murder plan.
• Sympathetic Murderer: Completely averted. Unlike everyone else, there is no sympathetic reason for his actions, he just did it to get out. And while he doesn't successfully kill anyone, he is responsible for severally injuring Scavenger, Nautilator, Dead End, Blast Off, Knock Out, Bumblebee, Drift, and Hound!
• The Friend Nobody Likes: He’s this to some Autobots in general. Once he's revealed as a serial killer, no one appreciates his presence and would prefer it if he didn't speak.

  Jazz: You (Smokescreen) can eject yourself from the conversation whenever you want.

• Through the Eyes of Madness: Unintentionally done in Chapter 4 when he becomes the focus character as the head detective. He’s the one heading the investigation into Mirage and Nightbeat’s death, but his mental state is far from sane, although he’s good at hiding it to the readers.
• Token Evil Teammate: For the Autobots, as he is a criminal before being recruited by them, but he’s generally more moral than the Decepticons. Gets played straighter after Chapter 5, when he’s revealed to be an unrepentant serial killer and is far more immoral than most of the Decepticons.
• Underestimating Badassery: He thought that with Nightbeat dead, his murder plan would go off without a hitch and he could get out easily. He’s wrong.
• The Unfettered: Smokescreen never gets too hot-blooded and stays calm throughout the game. His calmness and his street smarts are what leads to him being the head detective of Chapter 4. This trait continues even when he’s the bomber in Chapter 5, never once yelling throughout the trial, only continuing to assure his innocence as the evidence stacks against him. When he is revealed as the bomber, he lets the smooth gambler persona fade to the cold sociopath he is and is even calmer when this is revealed, albeit hamming it up a bit.
• Villainous Breakdown: Much more subdued than others, but when he's grilled as the killer in Chapter 5, he stops smiling and continues to try and assure people that he cares for them. He fails.
• Villain Protagonist: He's the head detective of Chapter 4, despite being a serial killer, although this isn't revealed until the next chapter.
• Walking Spoiler: He is not the mech that you think he is. Just look at all the evil-related spoiler tropes above.

Hound

Ultimate Preservationist

A soldier among the Autobots, watching Cybertron crumbled around him left him crestfallen, but he persevere with the intention of making sure no other planet ends up like Cybertron, taking a special interest in Earth. When peace came, he quickly went to work setting up guidelines for people to follow in order to protect the environment and make sure Cybertron would bloom once more.

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• Beware the Nice Ones: While he is a genuine nice guy, he does have a temper and a dark side, best shown when he encourages the deaths of Smokescreen and Dead End, effectively creeping Rewind out.

  Hound: And sometimes, you have to snuff a life out in order to preserve more lives.

• Friend to All Living Things: Played with. He’s the Ultimate Environmentalist, but he lives for the benefit of the environment. As he notes, if an invasive species is damaging the ecosystem, he will cull it to keep the ecosystem healthy. This is his justification for supporting the execution of Smokescreen and Dead End, as they would just cause harm to the ecosystem of the school.
• Green Thumb: His most valuable item that was threaten to be incinerated in Chapter 4 is a ghost orchid, which is an endangered species of flower from Earth. If the fifth motive's time is up and Monobear decides to burn the plant, Hound will toss the bear into the incinerator.
• Kill It with Fire: During Chapter 2, the devices that caused a shift a personality gave him pyromania tendencies. Also he darkly mutters that if the fifth motive's time is up and Monobear decides to burn his ghost orchid, he will toss the bear into the incinerator.
• Nature Hero: He has a special bond with Earth’s environment, thus he protects it behind the scenes to make sure it doesn’t share the same fate as Cybertron.
• Nice Guy: Easily one of the nicest in the academy, best shown in Chapter 4 when he helps Rewind grieve over Chromedome’s death.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: One of the victims of Chapter 2’s motive, causing him to be a pyromaniac.
• Put on a Bus: In Chapter 5, he is caught in the explosion that injured many people and was unable to physically attend the trial.

Beachcomber

Ultimate Geologist

Beachcomber doesn't gather much respect, always being overshadowed by other scientists in the field as well as being shackled by his drug addiction, but he is still the best geologist around. This skill didn't see much use in the war for him, but when peace came, Beachcomber felt a spike in relevance as he was commissioned to test the surrounding areas of Cybertron for survivability and radiation testing.

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• The Apprentice: To Onslaught. Throughout in the academy, he learns various things from him, mostly on how to improve his self esteem and lessens his own self-depreciating attitude, as well as to be more proactive. This is supported by the fact that he sits next to Onslaught during meetings in the dining hall and stands next to him during class trials.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Suffers from PTSD due to trauma experienced during the war, mostly from Shockwave’s torturing. He started to remember more about his torture in Chapter 6, this time with Vortex added to the mix.
• The Eeyore: As much as he doesn’t want to, he is this for the cast, thanks to his PTSD and the situation he’s involved in. Everyone else does their best to help lift his mood.
• Freudian Trio: As of Chapter 6, he's the Id to Onslaught's Ego and Swindle's Superego.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man : He slaps Onslaught in the faceplate when the latter was extremely guilt-ridden who blames himself for being such a poor leader who can’t save and protect anyone.

  Beachcomber: Are you serious? Have you paid any attention to how Swindle has been acting these past few days? That Jazz said he was catatonic? Do you really think he could kill someone and live with the guilt of it?

• Loose Lips: He has this whenever he gets drunk, which is how Smokescreen learned of Scavenger having his secret.
• Odd Friendship: You never thought that an unnoticeable pacifist like Beachcomber would be friends with the Combaticon leader Onslaught. He’s the one who approaches the Decepticon and asks him how to deal with his self-esteem issues, cheers for him in a game of pool, and the bot who slaps him out of a Despair Event Horizon in Chapter 5. They have pretty much the only prominent friendship between an Autobot and a Decepticon, albeit there are some struggles for them to maintain it.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: One of the victims of Chapter 2’s motive, turning him into a voyeur of violence.
• Technical Pacifist: He rather talk things out to solve a problem than fight.
• We Used to Be Friends: He used to be friends with Punch, Counterpunch's Autobot personality. During the last time he saw Counterpunch alive, Counterpunch told him that Punch is no more and he went his way to Chromedome to kill his other half.

Drift

Ultimate Swordsman

A former Decepticon who found religion and turned to the Autobots. He is steadfastly loyal to the Autobots and is especially close friends with Ratchet. His past experience has left him dogmatically anti-Con. During peacetime, he serves as a bodyguard at Ratchet’s clinic. In Chapter 5, he is caught in the explosion that injured many people and was unable to physically attend the trial.

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• Black-and-White Morality: Because of his regret being an ex-Decepticon, he believes all Autobots are good and all Decepticons are bad. Ratchet does his best to prove him wrong.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Was a Decepticon at the beginning of the war before becoming an Autobot. Pre-war, he had no family to speak of and was hopelessly addicted to Mixmaster’s drugs, especially his syk.
• The Fundamentalist: Downplayed, but he does have shades of this, particularly in how he regards all Decepticons as evil.
• Katanas Are Just Better: After defecting to the Autobots, he discard guns in favour of swords.
• Heroic BSoD: Ratchet’s execution in Chapter 5 leaves Drift in absolute disbelief.
• Master Swordsman: It’s in his title.
• Never Got To Say Good Bye: Due to his injuries, he wasn’t able to attend the fifth trial and was unable to say good-bye to Ratchet when he is convicted and executed for murder.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ratchet, mainly on Ratchet’s side.
• Worthy Opponent: With Bludgeon, as they are fellow swordsman that respected each other's skill and they spar whenever they have the chance.

Rewind

Ultimate Archivist

Created with the purpose of being dispose of after his use, Rewind has grown to be more than that, being Conjunx Enduras with Chromedome. During peacetime, he lives a civilian life with Chromedome, his job being filming important events. He’s still troubled by the disappearance of his friend long ago. In Chapter 3, he plays a major role as the accomplice in Counterpunch’s murder before having to watching Chromedome get executed, leaving him in an emotionally fragile state.

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• Big Guy, Little Guy: The Little Guy to Chromedome’s Big Guy.
• Break the Cutie: Cries heavily when Chromedome is executed, then stares blankly afterwards as he freezes in place. It took him a while to snap out of it.
• Camera Fiend: Always record everything that he sees with his camera.
• Despair Event Horizon: Almost reaches this after Chromedome is executed, but he pulls through it with the help of the others.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Tries to negotiate with Monobear to kill him instead to save Chromedome from his execution. It's no use.
• The Lost Lenore: He lost Chromedome after he is executed in Chapter 3.
• Love Hurts: His relationship with Chromedome suffers considerably from the stress of the game. It eventually ends with Chromedome’s death from protecting Rewind.
• Nice Guy: In contrast to Chromedome, he’s more outwardly friendly with everyone and urges Chromedome to get along with everyone.
• Official Couple: With Chromedome.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Him and Chromedome are both affected by the Chapter 2 motive, turning them into a violent couple.
• Snuff Film: Gets them from Swindle and watches them, but it isn’t explained why.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: What him and Chromedome used to be, due to Rewind being a member of the disposable class. Thankfully, the war changed things and the two were able to be together.
• Villainous Breakdown: While Chromedome is the killer, he is fine with the accusations being made against him. Rewind, the accomplice, is not happy and once the blame is on Chromedome and gets desperate with his defenses.

Chromedome

Ultimate Mnemosurgeon

A skilled mnemosurgeon, he worked as a forensic mnemosurgeon pre-war before lending his talents to the Autobots and forming a relationship with Rewind. Post-war, he took a job back in forensic mnemosurgeon.

He is the culprit of Chapter 3, killing Counterpunch in order to prevent him from killing Rewind. He is executed through an impromptu mnemosurgery session.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Rewind sometimes call him “Domey.”
• Berserk Button: Anyone and anything that harms Rewind.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: The Big Guy to Rewind’s Little Guy.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Dies via an impromptu mnemosurgery that ends with him impaled through the head multiple times.
• Dissonant Serenity: He is unsettlingly calm when being accused as the culprit in Chapter 3. Nightbeat is slightly unnerved by this.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: His talent is what leads to the situation where Counterpunch attempts to kill Rewind and Chromedome kill the deranged Decepticon to save him.
• Hope Spot: His execution features one. When the tentacles enter his head the first time and retreated, it seemed like it malfunctioned and Monobear had to fix it. After that, the arms came back, this time wielding large knives instead of needles and entered his head in the most violent way.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Through his head. Multiple times.
• Love Hurts: His relationship with Rewind suffers considerably from the stress of the game. It eventually ends with his own death from protecting Rewind.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: Accidentally calls Counterpunch a ‘Bot during the investigation, well before the reveal that he’s an Autobot. This is what clues Nightbeat in on Chromedome’s involvement.
• Interrogating the Dead: As a mnemosurgeon, he can read robots’ memories, both dead and alive. This ability was best shown when he offers himself to search for Shockwave’s last moments before he died in Chapter 1.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He’s certainly a bit cynical, but he genuinely loves Rewind and wants to protect him at all costs.
• Official Couple: With Rewind.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Him and Rewind are both affected by second motive, turning them into a violent couple.
• Sympathetic Murderer: His reasons for killing Counterpunch was solely to protect Rewind.
• Villainous Breakdown: Completely averted. Unlike the other murderers, he doesn’t lose his cool once when the accusation is made against him and is accepting of it. Rewind, on the other hand, loses his shit and gets desperate to defend him.

Perceptor

Ultimate Scientist

A scientist with few equals, Perceptor does countless research and does his best to do what he can to advance the Autobot cause. With peace now, he does what he can to bring Cybertron to its once glorious state.

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• Agonizing Stomach Wound: In Chapter 6, his abdomen is split open and his wiring and entrails are visible, but he is still barely alive.
• Badass Bookworm: Brainy and still capable enough to survive a war and escape imprisonment in Decepticon hands.
• Badass Teacher: For Bumblebee, as Perceptor took it upon himself during the war to give him an education he never got.
• Deadpan Snarker:

  Perceptor: I'm friends with maniacs.

• Defrosting Ice King: In Chapter 6, it’s discussed that Perceptor was quite cold with everyone before the war but warmed up to people after spending time being tortured by Vortex.
• Great Escape: During the war, Perceptor escaped from Grindcore, an infamous Decepticon prison camp, which was considered a legend among the Autobots and infamy among the Decepticons. However the main investigator, Onslaught, couldn’t figure out how Perceptor was able to break out, and the blame fell on to Deadlock aka Drift, leading him to defect to the Autobots.
• Gutted Like a Fish: He is injured by being stabbed through his abdomen, then twisted and pulled out by the weapon.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Perceptor is adept at various fields of science, hence his status as the Ultimate Scientist.
• Odd Friendship: “Friendship” might be pushing it, but he is surprisingly capable of getting along with Wildrider of all people as he can tolerate and tame the Stunticon’s insanity most of the time. Dead End is impressed by this.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Onslaught, Beachcomber, Swindle and Smokescreen (with him stealing the credit just to annoy them) declares that they found out that the only suspect left of being the mole to Monobear is him, he starts to get nervous and tries to run away, only to be subdued by Skywarp, Blurr and Jazz. He desperately says that if he said he’s the mole, his reputation and career will be destroyed and claims that he already broke and burned his datapad in the incinerator.
• The Rival: In trials, he ends up being this, as his urge to examine every possibility means competing against the head detectives of the chapter often to reach a complete truth.

Mirage

Ultimate Scion

A mech of influence and affluence, Mirage was a former senator before becoming the primary financier of the Autobots during the war and is now funding the reconstruction efforts.

He is both the victim and culprit of Chapter 4, killed during a fight with Nightbeat before being pushed into the spikes of a behemoth and slowly bleeding out. Then he becomes a culprit when Nightbeat sets off the trap that he had planted in the basement of the mall, a device he set up to escape with Hoist with him.

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• Died in Your Arms Tonight: To Hoist when he finds him barely clinging on to life in the Repair Bay. He shortly passes away after that.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Blast Off claims that he is this. At the very least, he did purposely injure someone out of jealousy of their skills once.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How he is murdered.
• Improbable Weapon User: His weapon for his trap is a sharpen slot arm.
• Invisibility Cloak: Mirage’s ability, which allowed him to work as a saboteur during the war. It’s what allows him to set up a trap without being seen.
• Last Request: As he’s dying, he requests that Hoist searches for his present for him.
• Mutual Kill: Slightly delayed, but him and Nightbeat do end up killing each other.
• Non-Idle Rich: Got plenty of money, but he is not content with just sitting around.
• Only Friend: Hoist is this to him.
• Parting-Words Regret: Wishes him and Hoist could be better friends before passing on.
• Sympathetic Murderer: His reason for committing the murder? So that he could escape with Hoist, his only friend.
• Trap Master: Manages to make a makeshift trap from the dead bodies of the students that successfully kills Nightbeat.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Blast Off. It looked like the two aristocrats reconcile after the war end and shown to get along during the prologue onwards. However in Chapter 4, the two showed some hostility with each other after Blast Off blurted out his secret.

Bumblebee

Ultimate Scout

The youngest of the Autobots. Created during the war, Bumblebee had never experience peace in his lifetime as he worked as a scout in the Autobot army. When peacetime finally came, it was the first time he ever felt true happiness and would like to enjoy it for as long as it last. In Chapter 5, he was caught in the explosion at the racetrack and injured, but was still able to attend the trial. He is found dead in Chapter 6.

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• Army Scout: His main role during the war and what gets him invited to the academy.
• Book Dumb: Due to being created during the war, he has no formal education to speak of.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: He was useful during the war for his scouting abilities, but has a hard time finding a purpose for his abilities in a world of peace.
• Fish out of Water: Bumblebee is a warborn, which makes him unsuited to a life of peace.
• Out of Focus: Of all the Autobots, he gets the least amount of personal focus, but this starts to change after the fourth chapter. This is quite odd, considering he has a huge amount of focus in all main continuities as much as Optimus himself.
• Noodle Incident: What happened in Devola?
• Survivor's Guilt: Whatever happened in Devola, it obviously gave Bumblebee’s severe shame over the affair and the resulting cover-up.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: He is stabbed more than fifteen times. That's not the worst part, on the back of his head there is a huge hole, where his brain is missing.

Jazz

Ultimate Audiophile

The Second-in-Command of the Autobot army, Jazz is well-respected among the Autobots and seems to be everyone’s friend with his lax attitude and love for music. But that doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. He spent years as a spy and won’t hesitate to carry out various tasks for the Autobots. With peace, he’s become more responsible for moral support, often seen playing music.

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• The Atoner: He is regretful of the necessary steps he’s taken to win the war, such as creating the split-personality of Punch and Counterpunch.
• Deuteragonist: Along with fellow deuteragonists Nightbeat, Onslaught, and Swindle as they have more focus than the rest of the cast.
• The Leader: Along with Onslaught in the academy as they arrange meetings in the cafeteria for the rest of the cast every morning.
• Meaningful Name: He loves music and pretty much can play every single musical instrument that he sometimes teaches to other bots.
• Nice Guy: He’s a pretty chill dude who is easy to get along with.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He’s the one responsible for the circumstances involving Chapter 3’s murder.
• Number Two / The Lancer: Along with Prowl to Optimus.
• Supporting Protagonist: After the deaths of Nightbeat and Ratchet, he is the main focus of the Autobots in Chapter 6.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Downplayed. Jazz is a nice guy and is well-meaning, but he has been involved in amoral activities in the past for the success of the Autobots, a prime example being the creation of the Counterpunch personality. This still applies to when there’s peace, as Jazz has been spying on the Decepticons to ensure they’re not planning on another war.

Blurr

Ultimate Racer

The fastest racer alive, Blurr was dominant on the racetrack and those skills make him very useful during wartime for moving items around and sending physical intel to the leaders of the Autobots. With peace, he hasn’t had much to do, so he’s frequently seen at various bars just drinking and relaxing.

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• The Atoner: His need to win in the past caused him to sabotage the competition and cause a pile-up that left his rival dead.
• Good Is Dumb: He’s a good guy, but jumps to the wrong conclusion often, especially in Chapter 2’s trial, when he was gung-ho on condemning Swindle as the killer.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Inverted in regards to Piston. Blurr completely forgot about him when he was alive, but when he died, he took it upon himself to fight in his honor.
• Hot-Blooded: He’s got quite the temper, and rushes to conclusion quickly.
• Nice Character, Mean Actor: Used to be this back when he was a racer in the Ibex Cup, but grew out of it when the war occurred.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His constant mockery of Monobear in Chapter 3 leads to the sadistic bear to start the motive of that chapter early.
• Super-Speed: This major factor is what leads him to earn the title of Ultimate Racer.
• Worthy Opponent: To a fellow racer in the academy, Knock Out. It evolves to a Friendly Rivalry in Chapter 6 after they unintentionally saved each other from the bomb blast in the previous chapter.

Hoist

Ultimate Repairer

A mechanic who lived an average life, working day and night at a auto repair shop until the war hit. His services were quickly shown to be needed by the Autobots, with his mechanical skills quickly proving to be very useful. He has taken his tools of the trade to further help reconstruction by helping to make old buildings livable again.The Engineer: A mechanic, to be exact, but this is his role in the story and his skills are called upon whenever something needs fixing.

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• Et Tu, Brute?: Smokescreen’s betrayal really gets to him and doesn’t take Smokescreen’s attempts at patching the relationship up well either.
• Failed a Spot Check: What he thought was rust on the stands was just paint meant to fool him.
• The Generic Mech: It was mentioned and shown multiple times that Hoist is a completely average mech and insisted upon himself that he is one, which gives him the most in common with the protagonists of Danganronpa 1 & 2. This is gradually subverted throughout the story as more of his personality comes out and he gets more and more affected by the trials.
• Heroic BSoD: Happens twice.
  • The first time is when Mirage is revealed as one of the killers in Chapter 4. He’s so far in denial, that even when everyone agrees that Mirage is the killer, he still refuses to admit it until Smokescreen confronts him with the evidence.
  • The second time is when he learned that Smokescreen abused his trust to convince him to reposition the spectators of the race, causing them to be closer to the bomb and getting many people injured as a result.
• Mr. Fixit: Comes with being the Ultimate Mechanic. From what is seen in the story, he hasn’t failed at anything yet.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicest in the cast and only really raises his voice when something really affects him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His scan of the stands of the racetrack. While at first glance, they appear rusted, if he actually looked closer, he would know it was just paint. This would’ve help prevent a lot of people getting injured from the bomb.
• Odd Friendship: Has two of them.
  • His first is with Mirage, a rich elite who has little in common with Hoist except for their affinity for mechanics. However, when they learn of this, they start hanging out more and more with each other and becoming close friends. This ends in tragedy as Mirage is killed in Chapter 4 after creating a gift for Hoist.
  • His second is with Smokescreen, a professional gambler who is amoral and a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. This occurs during the events in Chapter 4 when the two being forced together after getting in the same group with each other and Hoist is split up from Mirage. This chance occurrence blossoms into an actual friendship that is strengthen by Mirage’s death in that chapter and the two working together to solve the case. Then in Chapter 5, this is subverted with the reveal that Smokescreen was abusing this trope to manipulate Hoist into doing his bidding for his murder plan. Yet after that, Smokescreen is still insistent on their friendship, even with the reveal that he used Hoist and was a serial killer.
• Spanner in the Works: Him setting up the log in the Groundbridge is what allows the group to finger Soundwave as the culprit in Chapter 1 as well as realise its usage in Chapter 3’s murder as well.
• Straight Man: He’s this in stark contrast to the other cast’s oddities.
• Unwitting Pawn: He’s this for Smokescreen in Chapter 5, with him tricking Hoist to declare one set of stands unsafe so that people can go to the one closer to the bomb.