Characters / Transformers Prime Predacons

Transformers: Prime Main Character Index
The Autobots | The Decepticons | The Predacons | Other Characters | Non-show characters

The Predacons are a race of long extinct Cybertronian beasts that were wiped out by a natural cataclysm, but Shockwave used his technology to make Predacon clones and send them to Earth to battle the Autobots and await further orders. However, they ended up fossilized and became a source of reference for human myths; in the present day the Decepticons search for Predacon fossils so that Shockwave can recreate the Predacons and turn them into an army.

They appear in "Predacons Rising" as some of the antagonists and later become protagonists.

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Predaking

^{Click here to see his true self}

"Prepare to perish."

Voiced by: Peter Mensah, Enrique Cervantes (Latin American Spanish)

First Appearance: "Scattered"

An ancient Cybertronian predator, cloned by Shockwave to use against the Autobots.

• Adaptational Badass: Generation 1 Predaking is most continuities is a Fake Ultimate Mook who looks indimidating but tends to be more bark than bite. That is not the case with this incarnation, who is The Juggernaut.
• Adaptational Heroism: G1 Predaking was like most Decepticon combiners, a big brute without personality. Predaking in this series is a Punch-Clock Villain who simply fights for his creators and to protect the other Predacons. At the end of Predacons Rising he even makes a Heel–Face Turn and allies with the Autobots against Unicron.
• Adaptational Intelligence / Adaptational Personality Change: By virute of being his own individual being, Predaking is a whole different ball game from the original Flat Character of Generation 1. He is not a dumb brute, he is a Genius Bruiser.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Has no real name other than "the Predacon" until he transforms and names himself.
• Alas, Poor Villain: While he pledged his loyaties to Megatron, all he really wanted was to have others of his kind around. When he witnesses their destruction, the sorrow in his eyes preceding his Unstoppable Rage is very palpable.
• All There in the Manual: The Covenant of Primus reveals his backstory. Or rather the backstory of the original Predaking from whom he was cloned. Turns out, the original Predaking was the first and most powerful Predacon to ever walk across Cybertron, constantly fighting and defeating his fellow Predacons in order to conquer their territories and make himself king. He also viewed other Cybertronians as lessers and meals, and he only stopped preying on them after he fought and lost to Prima, the first Prime, and promised not to hunt them again.
• Affably Evil: Similar to Dreadwing, he is a polite, honorable warrior. That said, do not give him any reason to wish your destruction.
• Anti-Villain: He only attacks the Autobots to protect his "brethren" and turns on the Decepticons when he learns they are ultimately responsible for the destruction of his kind.
• Arm Cannon: Like most Cybertronians.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Assumes dominion over Darksteel and Skylynx by whooping their afts. This was also how his original self became known as the Lord of Predacons - by defeating others and taking their territories.
  Predaking: I am not your boss. I am your KING!
• Badass Boast: During his fight with Optimus in Persuasion:
  Predaking: It took a cataclysm to extinguish Cybertron's original Predacon inhabitants. You never stood a chance against me, Prime. In fact, the time has come for your extinction!
• Because You Were Nice to Me: When Bumblebee finds Predaking on Cybertron during the movie, he puts down his weapons and tells Predaking that he thinks there's room for more than one race to coexist peaceably on their world, implying that the Autobots would be willing to co-exist peacefully with the revived Predacon clones. Predaking rebuffs him, but when the Terrorcon horde attacks the Well defended by a tiny band of Autobots, Predaking not only turns up with his fellow Predacons to face them head-on, he takes a minute to warn the Autobots off pulling a Heroic Sacrifice against Unicron and his minions.
• Beware the Nice Ones: After his Heel–Face Turn.
• Bigger Is Better: For the most part. On occasion, his size proves a drawback, as he has difficulty maneuvering in confined spaces.
• Book Ends / I Gave My Word: While still serving the Decepticons, he threatens to kill Starscream for all of the abuse he puts up with at the latter's hands. In the series finale he and his lackeys made good on this threat, though they fail to actually kill him.
  • Crosses into Fridge Brilliance or Fridge Logic territory when you consider that Starscream fired a missile at him during his fight with Megatron, which led to him getting Thrown Out the Airlock. Some episodes prior to this, Predaking made it crystal clear what he'd do if Starscream ever struck him again.
• Breath Weapon: He shoots fiery energy blasts from his mouth. The explosions from it send the Autobots flying even when it doesn't hit them, and we've seen it blast craters in the ground.
• The Brute: Considering who he's inheriting it from, in the kind of show this is, he's by far the most powerful warrior.
• Clone Angst: Cloned from ancient fossils, and for much of his time, is the only one of his kind to exist in present time and rather miserable about it. He also has fractured memories of the original Predacon race, suggesting he possesses only a vague knowledge of the life of the original Predaking.
• Combat Pragmatist: Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack try to off Predaking by dropping a stalactite onto him; he not only survives this, but uses the same stalactite to crush them.
• Crown-Shaped Head: While in robot mode Predaking's head has three rock-looking protrusions that resemble a crown. Appropriate for a ruler of ancient cybertronians.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Deals one out to Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead in "Chain of Command". And though Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack put up a better fight in "Evolution", he still manages to hand them their skid plates without taking any real damage, even with their teamwork.
  • In "Synthesis" he one against Megatron when he realizes he betrayed him. Megatron gets a couple hits in with his blade but they don't do any real damage while Predaking pummels him. Megatron only survives because Starscream shoots Predaking in the back with a missile and gives Megatron the chance to toss him out the airlock.
• Dangerous Deserter: Abandons the Decepticons when he learns of their role in the destruction on his fellow clones. And by "abandon" we mean goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge through the Nemesis.
• Decomposite Character: Predaking is the name of a Combiner in previous continuities, but this show makes him his own separate character.
• Death Glare: Gives one to Starscream when he insults the Predacon's intelligence.
• Disney Villain Death: Gets thrown off the Nemesis by Megatron in Synthesis. Subverted in Deadlock where it's revealed he hung on to the ship.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Predaking absolutely has it in for Starscream after he calls him a mindless beast, turning Screamer into an at-times literal chew toy whenever he tries to give him orders.
• The Dog Bites Back: After Starscream tries whacking him for disobedience one time too many, he promptly knocks the Seeker back, transforms into a giant Cybertronian and threatens him with death. At the end of Predacons Rising, he, Darksteel, and Skylynx corner Starscream and make good on that threat, though Starscream escapes with his life.
• The Dreaded: Gathers this reputation in his first appearance. By the end the characters are wondering what this thing was.
  • By "Evolution", even the Decepticons are terrified of him. Megatron even orders the termination of the Predacons being cloned because of this.
• Dumb Dinos: A definite subversion - while Starscream mistakes him for a stupid animal, he's anything but.
• Easily Forgiven: Played straight towards him, but he himself subverts it. The Autobots are willing to put aside their differences and try to win Predaking over to their cause. Predaking, however, isn't hearing it, since he still holds the Autobots accountable for their part in the destruction of his brethren on Earth. It takes Unicron and his undead Predacon army threatening to destroy Cybertron for him to finally come around.
• Enemy Mine: He leads the other Predacons into combat to help save Cybertron, alongside the Autobots.
• Establishing Character Moment: Makes his combat prowess very apparent in his first appearance. His first scenes in robot mode show that he's actually a rather eloquent, and almost tragic character, though not without his grudges (particularly, Starscream).
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cares very deeply about the future of the Predacon race.
• Evil Brit: Judging from his dialogue, he has a slight British accent mixed with an African accent.
• Evil Is Bigger: Predaking, in his dragon mode, is the single largest Cybertronian seen in the series (with the exception of Unicron and his manifestations), even dwarfing Optimus and Megatron.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Both when roaring and when actually talking.
• Expy: Of Scourge from Transformers: Cybertron.
  • And of Mewtwo.
• Fingore: Crushes Ultra Magnus's hand under his foot.
• Fossil Revival: Was cloned from fossilized Cybertronian CNA.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Ending claws that he never seems to use.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic.
• Genius Bruiser:
  • Not only is Predaking strong, but he's also quite clever; during his battle with the Wreckers in "Chain Of Command", he foiled Wheeljack's Feed It a Bomb strategy by using his tail to knock the grenade towards Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus (the same episode shows that he also recognizes the bones of fellow Predacons when he sees them). At the end of "Plus One", he accesses the Nemesis' database in order to learn everything the 'Cons know about Predacons. And when it's revealed that he can talk, he turns out to be quite well-spoken and eloquent.
  • This is ultimately the reason that Megatron had the entire Predacon line scrapped; Megatron could beat down any wise upstarts or outsmart any enemy, but Predaking was both stronger than him and potentially smarter. If he rebelled, he would be a genuine threat to the Decepticon cause, especially if he had his people behind him.
• Giant Flyer: He even makes Optimus and Megatron look puny.
• Giant Mook: Even bigger than the Insecticons. This applies even when he's in his robot form.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: He beats Megatron with a dead Vehicon, which winds up breaking it into pieces.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: A winged dragon who also happens to be a Decepticon.
• Heel–Face Turn: By the end of Predacons Rising, he is willing to work with the Autobots, and seems to no longer consider them enemies.
• I'll Kill You!: His very first words in the show after Starscream hits him with a pipe.
  Predaking: Strike me again and I will bury that rod in your spark.
• Invincible Villain: Predaking is virtually unbeatable. The Autobots can't beat him in their initial encounters and have to settle for using a ground bridge to send him to the arctic where he freezes, which only stops him temporarily. When he returns in Chain of Command he reduces Starscream - with the Apex Armor, which previously made him The Juggernaut - to a glorified chew toy, inflicts a Curb-Stomp Battle on Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus, then reduces Miko (in the Apex Armor) to a chew toy. Facing Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus in Evolution, the most they can do is annoy him before he nearly kills them both. The upgraded Optimus Prime does better against Predaking in their fight over the course of Minus One and Persuasion but in the end Predaking shrugs off everything Optimus throws at him and still wins. In Synthesis he nearly kills Megatron, who only survives thanks to Starscream's intervention. The one inarguable loss Predaking suffers is against Unicron in Predacons Rising, and even then he fares better than the Autobots.
• Irony: Megatron, upon finding out Predaking is sentient, fears that he'll eventually betray and overtake his forces. Realizing Megatron's role in setting his species up for death is what ultimately causes the betrayal they were trying to prevent.
• It Can Think: Foreshadowed at the end of "Prey", when Starscream's derisive remarks about Predaking being unable to speak or explain why it failed to bring back the Autobots resulted in the beast glaring right at him and seemingly contemplating his words. Further demonstrated in "Chain of Command", where he knocks away an incoming grenade that Wheeljack tries to throw into his mouth, then when he recognizes the bone fragment of a fellow Predacon. Later, in "Plus One", he watches Starscream enter an override code on the communications array, then uses that code to access the ship's database so he can learn everything the Decepticons know of the Predacons. It becomes undeniable in "Evolution", when he transforms for the first time and speaks with surprising eloquence.
• The Juggernaut: Nothing has ever actually hurt him in his dragon mode. This includes blasters, punches, grenades, katanas, ship-mounted cannons, the Forge of Solus Prime, burying him under rocks, the detonation of an entire Energon mine and being ganged up on by two of his fellow Predacons. Ultra Magnus had to bash Predaking into a cliff face while he was hanging onto his ship just to delay the Predacon long enough to make an escape. Even using the Apex Armor leaves the wearer as nothing more than a glorified chew toy, though it does offer protection against his attacks. When he took on Megatron in "Synthesis", he actually had the upper hand and probably would have won if (a) Starscream hadn't distracted him and (b) he hadn't been standing next to an airlock.
  • By the end of the show, he has exactly one uncontested loss to his name, and that was only due to Unicron possessing Megatron. Even then, he still put up a better fight than the rest of the entire cast.
• Large and in Charge: As of Predacons Rising. He has the largest altmode by far in the entire show. It's telling that his robot mode is significantly smaller and yet still manages to have the tallest model in the show.
• Last of His Kind: Thanks to the Decepticons' manipulations, he's now the last Predacon in existence - at least until Predacons Rising, where Darksteel and Skylynx are introduced...and then right back to it assuming Starscream was telling the truth about killing both of them in Robots in Disguise.
• Leitmotif: Has an epic one that plays when he starts fighting.
• Lightning Bruiser: He's huge, strong enough to fling Cybertronians around like rag dolls, flies as fast as Ultra Magnus' ship, and can run almost as fast as the Autobots in vehicle mode. And he's even moreso in robot mode. His fighting style has him all over the place, using lightning reflexes and brute strength despite being bigger than Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack.
• Made of Iron: By far the most durable character in the show. In his debut appearance, he survives the explosion of an entire energon mine and keeps on going. Getting slammed into a cliff face at high speed only stunned him. Even being frozen solid in the Arctic only kept him down until the storm finally passed and the sun came out. He even takes a beatdown from a powered-up, Unicron-possessed Megatron and gets up to keep fighting.
  • He doesn't seem as durable in robot mode, but he can still take a stalactite many times his size dropping on him with no damage. All it did was give him a weapon.
• Man Bites Man: In dragon form he does not hesitate to chomp down on his enemies.
• Mighty Roar: A powerful metallic shriek.
• Mook Horror Show: He rampages and slaughters the Vehicons when he learns of Megatron's betrayal. Never has a person felt sorrier for the cannon fodder 'Cons...
• Naïve Newcomer: Comes off as this in "Evolution".
• Noble Demon: While loyal, he won't put his brethren at risk, and when he finds out that it's Megatron who was really responsible for the destruction of the embryos through his manipulation of the Autobots, he stops delivering a beatdown to Ratchet and goes after Megatron instead.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gives a positively brutal one to Ratchet during "Synthesis", and immediately afterward gives one to Megatron and the majority of his forces.
• The Nose Knows: He can track the owner of an energon sample over great distances.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: At first everyone assumes that he's stupid and incapable of sentient thought. We're quickly shown that isn't the case. Deconstructed when Megatron finds out, as he assumes that Predaking is planning to take over, and takes decisive action against the Predacons by manipulating the Autobots into wiping them out before they can be "born."
• Oh, Crap!: Just before Megatron blasts him out of the Nemesis.
• Our Dragons Are Different: A giant, mechanical dragon.
• Never Trust a Trailer: Even after revealing his sentience and status as a lonely Noble Demon who only seeks to avenge his comrades, and quite a sympathetic character, he is always advertised as a pure antagonist in commercials and other forms of advertising. Most of the trailers for Predacons Rising try to advertise him and the Predacons as the main antagonists, even on the cover of the DVD. While Predaking remains an antagonist by default until the climax of Predacons Rising, he was never in any position to be the Big Bad like Megatron or Silas.
• Papa Wolf: Towards the Predacon clones.
• Predacon Popsicle: Like the Scraplets before him, except it doesn't keep him down for long.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy : When he starts to develop a personality, he definitely fits this.
• Prehistoric Monster: A creature from Cybertron's ancient past that outclasses his modern-day counterparts.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His fight with Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack.
  • And in "Synthesis", against Megatron after Ratchet reveals that Megatron is the one who planned the destruction of Shockwave's secret lab.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Well, more of a self-appointed king, but he is a fearsome warrior who deals with perceived threats personally, and led his Predacons in defense of Cybertron's core when under attack by Unicron and his Terrorcon horde. The Covenant of Primus reveals that his original self was a self-appointed king as well, fighting and defeating other Predacons to assert his dominance over them.
• Sizeshifter: His dragon mode is substantially larger than his robot mode.
• Spikes of Villainy: In Cybertronian form.
• The Starscream: Even though he has pledged Undying Loyalty, Megatron fears that Predaking may become this, and unlike the Trope Namer, may have a good chance of succeeding. The irony is that Predaking had no intention of ever overthrowing Megatron, and Megatron's attempts to prevent such a scenario are what cause Predaking to turn on him.
• Suddenly Shouting: His voice is usually calm and even, but when he gets mad... see the quote under Unstoppable Rage for one example.
• Suddenly Voiced: At first we assume it's a sentient being that simply cannot talk. Then after that, it's revealed he can talk and is extremely eloquent.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: It contrasts him from many of the other Cons, who have red eyes.
• Super-Persistent Predator: It takes a lot to keep him from going after his target.
• Super Prototype: The first Predacon clone made, and capable of defeating both Darksteel and Skylynx at the same time. His original self was also the first Predacon in existence and capable of defeating every other Predacon that came after him.
• Super-Soldier: Essentially what Shockwave created him to be.
• Super-Strength: Predaking is far stronger than the average Cybertronian, capable of tossing Autobots around with little difficulty. He's also strong enough to wield the Forge of Solus Prime with one hand and later snap it in half.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A Warrior Poet Noble Demon who joins Megatron out of a desire for revenge against the Autobots who murdered his kin and later clashes with Megatron over honor, but does not join the Autobots just because of that, he's very much similar to the late Dreadwing.
• Thrown Out the Airlock: Megatron defeats him in "Synthesis" by blasting him out of the Nemesis' airlock. He survives.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: He's united with the two more Predacon clones in "Predacons Rising", and survives alongside them. He even gets to settle old scores against Starscream, who came up with the idea of terminating Project Predacon and abused all of them under his command. Unfortunately, Robots In Disguise reveals that not only did Starscream manage to escape retribution, but also managed to kill Darksteel and Skylynx, leaving Predaking (if he's still alive) the Last of His Kind once again.
• Tragic Villain: He's a Fossil Revival that is at present the only one of his kind to exist, then Megatron ends up getting his brethren killed on purpose, leaving him as the Last of His Kind. He may or may not even be alive to be that after a botched revenge attack on Starscream.
• Trauma Conga Line: His life starts out lonely, as simply Megatron's attack dog, and he suffers constant abuse from Starscream. Then, when he has hope for more Predacons and begins to be treated as an equal by Megatron, the Predacon army is wiped out. Then Ratchet reveals that his master engineered the massacre himself.
• Uncertain Doom: Robots In Disguise reveals that the Predacon's revenge attack on Starscream backfired when the latter stumbled upon some of Darkmount's most powerful artillery. However, while Darksteel and Skylynx are explicitly shown being vanquished in the flashback, Predaking himself is not. Whether he escaped or was killed along with the other Predacons is currently unknown.
• Undying Loyalty: Pledges this to Megatron, but Megatron remains suspicious. In the end, it's Megatron's betrayal that finally turns Predaking against ol' buckethead.
• Unskilled, but Strong: In his various fights in his robot mode against Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, Optimus and even Megatron it is, not surprisingly, shown that he doesn't have much actual skill in a fist fight, but his sheer strength and durability makes that a moot point. In dragon form he is even stronger with the added advantage of greater size to render their attacks ineffective. The only advantage his robot mode offers is more versatility, as limited space is not as problematic.
• Unstoppable Rage: When Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus destroy Shockwave's lab and all the Predacons, Predaking completely loses it and beats the everloving scrap out of them.
  Predaking: What have you done to my brethren?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!
  • His rampage at the end of "Synthesis" has him tearing every Vehicon he comes across apart just to find Megatron after Ratchet convinces Predaking of Megatron's treachery.
• The Voiceless: Only in beast mode.
• Winged Humanoid: In robot mode, though he's not seen using them outside of beast mode.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After the destruction of his Predacon brethren.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: It's revealed in Robots In Disguise that Skylynx and Darksteel were killed by Starscream when they attempted to get revenge on the latter. Even if Predaking is still alive, he will now have to live with the fact that two more of his brethren were killed just as he managed to find them, leaving him the Last of His Kind once again.

Darksteel

Voiced by: Steve Blum, Andrés García (Latin American Spanish)

• Breath Weapon: Like Predaking and Skylynx, he can breathe intense flames.
• The Brute: Neither he nor Skylynx are very bright, due to Shockwave tampering with their brains before they were born. Darksteel appears to be the less intelligent of the two.
• The Dog Bites Back: Despite following Starscream's orders before, both he and Skylynx are more than happy to join Predaking in delivering some much deserved payback upon the Seeker.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Robots in Disguise later offhandedly revealed that Starscream killed him and Skylynx with Darkmount's hidden stash of weapons, giving the two of them an abrupt, unceremonious death.
• Dumb Muscle: Moreso than Skylynx.
• Evil Laugh: Likes this a lot, though generally not over the top.
  • Giggling Villain
• Evil Sounds Deep: Voiced by Steve Blum.
• Fossil Revival: Was cloned from fossilized Cybertronian CNA.
• Power Trio: With the other Predacons.
• Our Gryphons Are Different: He's a transforming robot that turns into a gryphon (an ursagryph, to be precise, with the head, wings, and front limbs of an eagle and the body and rear legs of a bear). He's also the odd one out of the trio as the other two are dragons.
• Slave Mooks: What Shockwave created them to be. Predaking has other plans.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Wise Guy to Skylynx's Straight Man.
• Winged Humanoid: In robot mode, though he's not seen using them outside of beast mode.

Skylynx

Voiced by: Nolan North, Gerardo Reyero (Latin American Spanish)

• Breath Weapon: Like Predaking and Darksteel he can breathe intense flames.
• The Brute: Neither he nor Darksteel are very bright, due to Shockwave tampering with their brains before they were born, though he seems to be the brighter of the two.
• The Dog Bites Back: Despite following Starscream's orders before, both he and Darksteel are more than happy to join Predaking in delivering some much deserved payback upon the seeker.
• Decomposite Character: Skylynx has elements of his G1 namesake in him; Skylynx's dragon mode is very reminiscent of the combined dinosaur/lynx mode of G1 Sky Lynx◊, helped by the palette being essentially a subdued and slightly modified version of Sky Lynx's (white torso and tail, red and blue limbs and gold eyes). He even has the British accent (although not the same actor, since Aron Kincaid died long before Predacons Rising was released) that G1 Sky Lynx did.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: In Robots in Disguise, he is offhandedly revealed to have been killed by Starscream with the help of Darkmount's defenses, giving him and Darksteel an unceremonious, abrupt death.
• Dumb Muscle: Downplayed - Skylynx is certainly more articulate and observant than Darksteel, but he's still a rather one-track-minded brute.
• Evil Brit: His accent gives this impression.
• Fossil Revival: Was cloned from fossilized Cybertronian CNA.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Much like Predaking.
• Power Trio: With The other Predacons.
• Slave Mooks: What Shockwave created them to be. Predaking has other plans.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Straight Man to Darksteel's Wise Guy.
• Winged Humanoid: In robot mode, though he's not seen using them outside of beast mode.

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