Characters / Transformers: Shattered Glass (2021)

This is the character sheet for Transformers: Shattered Glass (2021) and for Transformers: Shattered Glass II.

For the original, FunPub, version of Shattered Glass, see here.

Decepticons

A group of peace loving Transformers who fought the Autobots in the Great War. They lost, and now what's left of them scramble to stay alive on an Autobot-dominated Cybertron.

In general

• Adaptational Wimp: Not only are the Decepticons less warlike than their Autobot enemies, they've outright lost the war.
• La Résistance: There's apparently almost nothing left of the faction after their defeat, with Blurr mentioning there are practically no worthy Decepticons left to hunt.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: As with many other modern depictions of the Decepticons, they originate as an uprising of an oppressed underclass but as this is a Mirror Universe, they don't fall into the genocidal barbarity as their counterparts in other universes do.

Decepticon Leadership

Megatron

Function: Righteous Decepticon Commander

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Spaceship

"Keep up the fight, so that we all might see what the future holds!"

—Megatron, Toy Bio

Former revolutionary and leader of the Decepticons now living in a self-imposed exile in the Sea of Rust following the Decepticons' defeat in the Great War:

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• Adaptational Backstory Change: The original SG Megatron was a mathematician, this version is a miner from the lower caste system. The standard backstory for most modern incarnations of Megatron.
• Adaptation Personality Change: The original SG Megatron was much more idealistic and outwardly happy. IDW's Megatron had a much more reserved and less optimistic view on life even before he Took a Level in Cynic.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: It's a Mirror Universe, but he's still Megatron. He's shown in a flashback fighting off the entire Autobot army while he buys time for the Decepticons to escape. Him losing in combat to Optimus is what actually makes him think he's lost the right to be leader.
• Badass Cape: He wears a hooded-one while living in the Sea of Rust.
• Berserk Button: Being called trash or treated like an inferior on account of lower-caste status is a very easy way to get on his bad side. Back before the war started, when Prowl called him trash, Megatron retaliated by assaulting him, which led to his arrest.
• Big Good: Seen as by the Decepticons, especially Starscream, even after their defeat in the Great War and near-extinction.
• Good Is Not Nice: Even before his current status, he has a rather sour/cynical disposition along with being quick to anger.
• Heroic BSoD: Goes into self-imposed exile, with no intention of returning, after his loss to Optimus.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Constantly, mostly to buy time for his soldiers to escape.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: After his loss against Optimus, which led to the downfall of the Decepticons, he refused to acknowledge himself as a worthy leader of the Decepticons ever since. For the remainder of the issue 2, Starscream tries to snap him out of it, informing him of how much he inspired the Decepticons and how they always saw him as a hero.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though he's very sour, gruff, and prone to anger, he's still a good bot in his spark. Best exemplified by his relationship with Starscream: even though he gets easily exasperated by Starscream's antics and occasionally calls him a fool (a trait most common with most incarnations of Megatron), it's not out of hatred or malice, but due to genuine concern for the Seeker.
• My Greatest Failure: Considers his loss to Optimus as this as it ultimately led to the destruction of Human civilization and the Autobot conquest of Cybertron.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Even in a mirror universe, Megatron still calls Starscream a fool (an idiot).
  • Has a black-colored helmet as Megatron was originally planned to have and in which he had in The Transformers (Marvel).
  • While living in the Sea of Rust, he wears a hooded-Badass Cape, like his live-action counterpart did in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
• One-Man Army: Fought off a large chunk of the Autobot army to buy time for his troops to escape.
• Self-Imposed Exile: Lives in self-imposed exile in the Sea of Rust, believing he failed as a leader of the Decepticons.
• We Used to Be Friends: Downplayed. With most incarnations, Megatron and Optimus used to be friends. But in Shattered Glass, Megatron never considered Optimus a real friend, while Optimus saw the former as a useful tool.

Soundwave

Function: Chief Morale Officer

Alt Mode: Tape Deck

"As long as a single Decepticon is out there, someone's gotta watch out for them. That's what I'm here for."

—Soundwave, Issue #3

Megatron's chief morale officer turned Voice of the Resistance in the post-war world of Autobot-controlled Cybertron.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: The original Shattered Glass Soundwave was a laid-back surfer dude with the personality to go with it. We see him talking normally here, though it's implied by Starscream that it's an act he only rarely drops.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: Like his original counterpart, he wears a green bandana.
• Determinator: He's remained in almost constant communication with every remaining Decepticon (that he's aware of) on Cybertron to ensure they have someone to watch over and support them.
• Drone Deployer: Like his evil counterpart, Soundwave has his army of Mini-Cassettes inside his chest, which he sends out for espionage and battles.
• Good Counterpart: To this world's version of Blaster.
• Greater Need Than Mine: Refuses to take a break from manning the radio in case someone needs his help.
• Nice Guy: Very concerned about the wellbeing of the people in the resistance, refusing to bother mechs he thinks can't handle the trauma.
• Redeeming Replacement: Replaced Blaster as newsreader and proved far more approachable in the position.
• Shout-Out: His body is based on the War for Cybertron Trilogy Soundwave toy.
• The Shrink: Cares greatly for the mental wellbeing of the Decepticons.
• Voice of the Resistance: He's stopped counting the days for how long he's been on duty.
• Warrior Therapist: Officer in charge or moral and making sure the troops are doing well mentally.

Starscream

Function: Loyal Decepticon Lieutenant

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Tetrajet

"You’re either with the tyrants or against them."

—Starscream, Toy Bio

Scholar turned warrior, Starscream is Lieutenant to the Decepticon leader, Megatron, and has been searching for his leader for reasons known to him.

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• Action Survivor: He's stated to be one of the few high-ranking Decepticons whose avoided capture by the Autobots and Bodyscrappers following the end of the war. No small feat, since as the effective second-in-command of the Decepticons means he'd have been a high-priority target.
• And I Must Scream: his spark is used to try and ressurect one of the titans, and given that Soundwave can hear his cries, it's probably not to pleasant an experience.
• Batman Gambit: How he deals with Blurr. He's not fooled by Blurr's claims of altruism or being forced into villainy, but allows himself to be led into the Static Zone anyway because he figures it's better to have a guide for at least part of the way. He also kills Blurr by deliberately goading him and making him overconfident, allowing him to trick the arrogant speedster into a molten metal flow that ultimately kills him.
• Blind Obedience: He follows Megatron's orders to run, despite wanting badly to stay, and later berates himself for not even thinking to defy his leader.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: In Issue #4, Jetfire constantly reminds Goldbug that they can't kill Starscream unless they want to lose a shot at controlling a Titan. Which is easier said than done as the Decepticon Seeker keeps pushing Goldbug's Berserk Button.
• The Creon: Starscream is Megatron's loyal lieutenant and has no desire to lead the Decepticons in his place, to the point of searching for him to retake command after his disappearance. A fitting take for the Mirror Universe counterpart to the Trope Namer for The Starscream.
• Death by Adaptation: Starscream survived the entirety of the original Shattered Glass continuity - here, he's killed when his spark is removed by Goldbug.
  • Though the sequel series shows him to be Not Quite Dead as his spark is still active and aware of his surroundings
• The Fighting Narcissist: It might be a Mirror Universe but he's Starscream. He openly admits to being vain and calls himself incredibly handsome, but he's also undeniably a skilled fighter.
• The Gadfly: Even while he's captured and Skywarp's severed head is tossed at his feet, Starscream still has the steel to taunt and laugh at Goldbug.
  Starscream: Oh, Goldie. Bugsy. We should make it a game — a shot of energon everytime you say Megatron's name. Ha! Sorry, it's just... Though you would have learned more from years kneeling at Optimus'-
  Goldbug: Shut up!
• Good Is Not Dumb: Despite Blurr's belief that all Decepticons are suckers for sob stories, Starscream isn't fooled at all.
• Good Is Not Soft: Knowing he's no match for Blurr in terms of speed (especially with a busted wing), he tricks the Autobot into running into a molten metal flow from a nearby volcano. He then spends the night chatting to Blurr's corpse until he's certain that the bodyscrapper is well and truly dead.
• Hero-Worshipper: Of Megatron, fittingly enough.
• Insufferable Genius: Has a few shades of this when he informs Blurr just how much the Autobot was played. He does this as Blurr is slowly being engulfed in molten metal.
• Make Sure He's Dead: After Blurr is melted by a volcano, Starscream watches him until sunrise to make sure he got him.
• Mythology Gag: As with earlier versions of SG Starscream, his color scheme is the same as the Autobot Jetfire. Who in other Transformer continuities is usually depicted has having been friends with Starscream pre-war.
• Silver Tongue: Like his evil counterpart, SG!Starscream is the voice of the Decepticon rebellion and has converted countless bots to the Decepticon cause.
• Undying Loyalty: After making sure Blurr is dead, he mentions that he's seeking out his leader Megatron.
• We Used to Be Friends: Like in most continuities, Starscream and Jetfire were close associates/friends on pre-war Cybertron who wanted to do good with their Titan research. However, their different ideologies drew them apart.

Other Decepticons

Flamewar

Function: Captain of The Rising Sea

Alt Mode: Motorcycle

"I have a plan. A good one. It involves a lot of punching and shooting. And Shadow Striker loves it."

—Flamewar, Shattered Glass II #4

A member of the crew of The Rising Sea, Flamewar is fervently loyal to the Decepticon cause and her old captain, Cannonball.

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• Adaptation Amalgamation:
  • Her design is a mixture of her 2014 BotCon exclusive toy and her appearances in IDW's 2019 Transformers comic.
  • Her status quo here is also a mixture of her previous incarnations. Being a member of The Rising Sea coming from a comic that came with the aforementioned BotCon toy. While being on a team with Slipstream and Shadow Striker coming from Transformers (2019).
• The Captain: Following Cannonball's death in the war, she's assumed leadership of The Rising Sea.
• Freudian Trio: Has one developing with Slipstream as her Superego and Shadowstriker as her Id.
• Hero Worship: For Cannonball and, to a lesser degree, Megatron.
• Unknown Rival: Flamewar has a special enmity towards Rodimus as he was the one who murdered Cannonball. Rodimus, however, doesn't seem to know who Flamewar is.

Shockwave

Function: Senator (Pre-Empurata)

Alt Modes: Cybertronian Jet (Pre-Empurata); Cybertronian Spaceship (Post-Empurata)

As Shockwave

^{Click here to see his Pre-Empurata body} 

A former senator, Shockwave tried to fix the corrupt senate on pre-war Cybertron.

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• Arm Cannon: Like his evil counterpart, Shockwave's left arm is a gun instead of a hand.
• Cyber Cyclops: A tragic example. When he was a senator, Shockwave had a regular head (two eyes, mouth, and all), but after going through Empurata, he's "given" the single eye all his counterparts are known for; unlike those counterparts, his optic is light blue, showing he's a good bot.
• Determinator: Even though Shockwave lost his arms, head, and almost his emotions, he retained his compassion and determination to make change within the senate.
• The Empath: The surgery that tried to remove his emotions failed and instead made his empathy consume and overwhelm him.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Shockwave confided in Optimus, who he supposedly saw as a friend... only for Optimus to have him maimed as an example.
• Make an Example of Them: Shockwave tried to fight back against the corrupt senate on pre-war Cybertron, but he had his hands and head replaced for his troubles.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Shattered Glass Shockwave's maiming by Empurata for fighting back against corruption is what happened to his IDW 2006 counterpart; at least this version is still a good person.
  • Being former friends with Optimus is another call-back to IDW's 2006 storyline.
  • Shockwave's Pre-Empurata body was primarily colored purple as Shockwave is in regular universe TF fiction.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Shockwave tried to fight back against the corrupt senate on pre-war Cybertron; however, he made the mistake of confiding with Optimus, who was none too happy to know that someone was trying to change that.
• Shout-Out: Shockwave's post-Empurata body is based on his War for Cybertron: Siege Leader Class Shockwave toy.
• We Used to Be Friends: Had some truly rotten luck as he saw both this world's versions of Optimus and Ultra Magnus as friends. However, Optimus didn't see him as one, and he had no problem having the senator go through Empurata for fighting back against corruption, with Ultra Magnus carrying out the assault on the Senate.

Slipstream

Function: Seeker

Alt-mode: Cybertronian Jet

A member of The Rising Sea crew and friend to Flamewar.

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• Freudian Trio: The Superego to Flamewar's Ego, while Shadowstriker is a sort of Id.
• Mythology Gag: Her color scheme is similar to that of Windblade, her rival from Transformers: Cyberverse.
• Only Sane Woman: Is this among The Rising Sea crew. While she'll follow Flamewar anywhere, she tries to make it so the impetuous Flamewar actually keeps her eye on the prize. Because of this, Megatron initially assumed she was the captain of The Rising Sea crew.

Sixshot

Function: Red Shirt

Alt Modes: Tank; Car; Jet; Wolf; Submarine

A hapless, harmless Decepticon who finds himself Blurr's final victim.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Like SG Star Saber before him, Sixshot goes from an unstoppable One-Robot Army to a complete and total wuss.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: After Blurr kicks him down, he quickly drags him away, where he's presumably dismembered into pieces. With said pieces later dragged through the dirt in Blurr's hovercar mode.
• Killed Offscreen: We don't get to see how Sixshot died. We do see him get dragged away by Blurr, where he's presumably dismembered by him.
• Meaningful Name: Sixshot, being a Six Changer, has six forms: his robot mode, a tank, a submarine (which totally isn't an upside-down laser gun), a spaceship, an off-road vehicle, and a winged wolf.
• Oh, Crap!: Sixshot gives one when he sees Blurr appear right in his face.
• Shout-Out: He's based on Sixshot's Titan's Return toy.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: The first and only instance of a Shattered Glass Sixshot and he's taken out by Blurr.
• Visual Gag: As befitting someone whose role is to show up and die to show off the stakes, SG Sixshot's colours resemble a Red Shirt.

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Autobots

A group of ruthless autocrats who live according to a Might Makes Right mentality, the Autobots have long since crushed the Decepticons. However, there is now a very fragile peace between the Autobot leader Optimus Prime and two of his former subordinates Goldbug and Prowl, who have broken away and carved out territories of their own.

In general

• The Bad Guy Wins: The Autobots have already won the Great War and conquered Cybertron. However, it's a hollow victory as they're stuck in their own civil war vying for control.
• Enemy Civil War: With the defeat of the Decepticons following the Great War, they've fallen into this with Goldbug and Prowl breaking away from Optimus and ruling over their sections of the planet. The war mainly consists of skirmishes as the rest of Cybertron being so devastated makes it hard to fully mobilize their forces.
• Might Makes Right: Seem to follow this mentality, as a number of damaged Transformers try to plead to Blurr for assistance, one even offering to join as a bodyscrapper despite missing an arm.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Just to show the reader that these aren't our heroic Autobots we know and love, they all have glowing, evil, red eyes in some shape or form.
• With Us or Against Us: Blurr claims to Starscream that he wears an Autobot sigil simply out of necessity to survive. Neutrality isn't exactly something the Autobots respect.
• You Have Failed Me: Failure isn't something that the Autobots like; Goldbug's toy bio quote puts it best: "Autobots do not reward failure." After Blaster screws up his mission to infiltrate and sabotage Gold City, Rodimus shoots him for doing half the job given to him.

The Autobot Warlords

Goldbug

Function: Vicious Autobot Warrior

Alt Mode: Custom 1980s Sports Coupe

^{Click here to see his old body as Bumblebee} 

"Autobots do not reward failure."

—Goldbug, Toy Bio

One of the three Autobot Warlords, Goldbug was formerly known as Bumblebee. Following the final battle on Earth, he was badly wounded and rebuilt into his current form. After the Autobot victory, he rebelled and managed to take Gold City as his personal territory.

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• Adaptational Badass: In the previous Shattered Glass continuity, Goldbug was reduced to a bit of a joke once Rodimus and company arrived on Earth, making some attempts at becoming The Starscream. In this continuity, he successfully took over Gold City and has managed to hold off Optimus Prime's attempts to bring him to heel.
• Arc Villain: The first arc serves to set up the new Shattered Glass continuity and the various factions within it. However, it's Goldbug that acts as the main antagonist. His agent, Ratchet, was the one who hired Blurr in the first place and his ambitions for the Titans drive the plot.
• Berserk Button: Goldbug hates anyone bringing up his past as Bumblebee, though anyone who treats and sees him as a joke is another way to piss him off.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Goldbug is driven by his insecurity and as such he's obsessed with making himself out to be more deadly than he actually is. By Shattered Glass II he's the first of the Autobot Warlords to be handed a solid defeat and his city has become a rally point for the Decepticons. While he has a major advantage Starscream's spark and thus the means to control Metroplex that's ultimately the only thing he's got going for himself lacking most of his soldiers and the basic ability to even make Metroplex move on command. Slicer's able to manipulate Goldbug with ease, and he's fatally crushed under Jetfire's heel when he gets out in the open.
• Character Death: Goldbug meets his end in Shattered Glass II, Issue #3 when he's crushed by Jetfire landing on top of him.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Jetfire kills him by landing on top of him, crushing Goldbug with his weight.
• Egopolis: Under his rule, Kaon has become Gold City. Which he obviously renamed after himself.
• Evil Overlord: He rules over his own section of Cybertron. Until Starscream’s murder rallies the Decepticons to overthrow him.
• I Hate Past Me: Goldbug hates his past life as Bumblebee as it reminds him that he failed and was nearly killed by Megatron.
• Ignored Expert: Goldbug warned Optimus of Prowl's plot to overthrow him, but Optimus refused to listen and almost beat him to death when he spoke out of line.
• Kick the Dog: After decapitating Skywarp, he tosses his severed head at Starscream's feet to try and break him.
• Mythology Gag: His original colors as Bumblebee are the same as Bug Bite and Shattered Glass Animated Bumblebee.
• The Napoleon: He's significantly smaller than average for a Cybertronian, but (over)compensates for it with his viciousness.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Goldbug is much shorter than most of the cast and a ruthless violent fighter.
• Power-Upgrading Deformation: His current Goldbug look covers up his face. He got his current Goldbug upgraded body after being shot, at point-blank range, by Megatron's Fusion Cannon.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Like in most continuities, Goldbug is Bumblebee after getting injured in battle. In this Shattered Glass universe, he became Goldbug after getting blasted by Megatron.
• The Starscream: Successfully rebelled against Optimus Prime and seized Gold City as his personal fiefdom.
• Villain Cred: He compliments Ratchet on his abilities both in saving his life and upgrading him. It's quickly soured when he learns that Optimus only had the operation done because they had the materials on hand and it would have been a waste to let him die.

Optimus Prime

Function: Vile Autobot Leader

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Cabover Truck

The leader of the Autobots and one of the three warlords of Cybertron following the end of the Great War. Pre-war he was the leader of Cybertron's security forces as well as friend/ally of the political upstart, Megatron.

Was formerly known as Orion Pax.

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed; it's closer to Adaptational Sanity. The Optimus Prime of the previous Shattered Glass continuity was a completely unhinged, vicious madman who was as much a danger to the Autobots as the Decepticons. This one seems more rational (though still not above hanging those who cross him on a pike), willing to take a pragmatic approach and avoid needless risks that would lead to unnecessary loss of life among his followers. One example is not retaking Gold City due to the presence of the Static Zone; had it been original Shattered Glass Optimus, he would've have ordered his forces to go through anyway, no matter how many of them were killed in the process.
• Adaptation Name Change: In the original Shattered Glass, he was named Optronix before the war. Here, like in most continuities, his original name was Orion Pax.
• And I Must Scream: How he's left at the end of the second mini: his spark is removed and placed in Ultra Magnus' old body, one of his legs is chopped off, and his voice box is disabled, leaving him unable to even scream in pain. All he can do is writhe on the ground in impotent agony.
• Bad Boss: Turns out, this version of Optimus is still as vile as his Fun Pub counterpart. He beat Goldbug to near death for his insolence in issue 4, even though Goldbug warned Optimus that Prowl was planning a coup on him.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Has led the Autobots to victory over the Decepticons, though his victory was probably soured by the betrayal of Goldbug and Prowl.
• Bullying a Dragon: Optimus is a violent Bad Boss that presses his underlings until they snap. Goldbug snapping didn't bother him too much, but when he finally pushes Ultra Magnus too far the larger bot breaks his arm, smashes him through his throne, and beats him unconscious.
• Dead Guy on Display: Has several victims impaled on spikes, including one right next to his throne.
• Egopolis: Rules over the city-state of Pax, taken from his previous name of Orion Pax.
• Every Scar Has a Story: The shattered glass on his right windshield/chest (that's been on versions of SG Optimus) comes from the first physical confrontation he and Megatron had with one another.
• Evil Overlord: He has to share this with Prowl and Goldbug.
• Mythology Gag: Being a former officer for the senate and friends with Shockwave is a call-back to IDW's 2006 storyline; however, unlike 2006 Optimus, this version supported the corrupt system and was the one who ordered Shockwave to be maimed.
• Order Is Not Good: Claims it's his desire to bring order and safety to Cybertron and sees Megatron's advocation of "rights" and "empathy" as just rabble-rousing chaos.
• Pet the Dog: Subverted. Optimus didn't bring back Bumblebee and rebuild him into Goldbug out of the goodness of his spark. Optimus allowed Ratchet to do so simply because they had the materials on hand. It's possible that if they didn't, Prime would have let him stay dead.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Blurr mentions that at least part of the reason Optimus hasn't retaken Gold City is because he'd have to march his forces through the incredibly dangerous Static Zone, including the molten metal-spewing volcanoes of Chrome Ridge. He apparently concluded it just wasn't worth the risk or effort.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: In a flashback, Prowl sneers at Megatron that the only reason he hasn't been locked up for his rabble-rousing is because Orion used his clout to protect him. In the present day, Megatron muses that the reason he chose exile in one of the most inhospitable spots on Cybertron is because of feelings of guilt for not doing more to deny Optimus's "help".
• Slouch of Villainy: Is shown in this pose in one of Blurr's flashbacks.
• State Sec: Was in charge of Cybertron's security forces pre-war.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Megatron accuses him of threatening to sic his secret police on him, Orion retorts that if he had such a "secret police", surely by now they'd have come after him for all his troublemaking? Of course, he says this right after pointing out to Megatron that he ought to be grateful Optimus secured his release again.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • As with most other modern Transformer media, he and Megatron used to be friends. Though downplayed in comparison to other versions, Prime considered Megatron more a useful tool and Megatron, for his part didn't, consider them truly friends.
  • This world's version of Shockwave supposedly saw Optimus as a friend; however, Optimus didn't, or not on the same level as Megatron; and when Shockwave tried to fight against the corrupt senate, he had him maimed by Empurata.

Prowl

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Police Car

• Adaptational Badass: Prowl was barely a footnote in the original Shattered Glass material, with the closest thing he had to a characterization being a trap-disarming expert. Here he's one of the three warlords of Cybertron and the way he's spoken about makes him sound more terrifying than Optimus Prime.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Initially, he had a made-up white-and-blue-and-green color scheme, as opposed to the original SG Prowl having the colors of the black-and-white Mexican release of G1 Prowl's toy. However, in the present, he has changed his color scheme to the one that matches his original counterpart.
• Ascended Extra: Prowl has a much bigger role here than the original SG Prowl did in the Fun Publication material.
• The Dreaded: Prowl's territory is described as though it's the most dangerous of the three polities ruled by the Autobot Warlords. Being brought to Prowl himself is apparently even more terrifying than being brought before Optimus Prime himself!
• Evil Overlord: He has his own section of the planet to rule over and, given how Blurr talked about it, it's the one you want to avoid at all costs.
• Police Brutality: Wasn't above roughing up Megatron's political protestors when they came before the Senate.
• Secret Police: Used to be a part of one run by Optimus pre-war, charged with rounding up dissidents and making examples of them.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Optimus mentions that "the war broke something in [Prowl] that can't be soldered back together." Prowl was a fairly loyal agent to Optimus before the war but after it he rebelled and started his own empire.
• The Starscream: Like Goldbug, he managed to carve out his own territory after breaking from Optimus Prime.
• We Can Rule Together: After Goldbug discovered Prowl's plans to overthrow Optimus, the Autobot police officer offered him a place in his scheme.

Other Autobots

Blaster

Function: News Anchor; Autobot Propagandist

Alt Mode: Boombox

"Y'all tryna have a parth without me? Ain't there an old story about what happens when you don't invite the biggest and baddest to the main event?"

—Blaster, Shattered Glass #2

A resident of Gold City, Blaster is looking to collect the bounties of any high profile Decepticons.

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• Adaptational Personality Change: The original Shattered Glass Blaster was a tightass who loved classical music and a very noticeable German accent. IDW's SG version has a rough and tumble personality that is in line with his heroic counterpart. He also lacks the accent.
• Always Someone Better: He's had a, largely one-sided, hatred of Soundwave going back to the before the war. Largely because Soundwave always seemed to do better than him.
• And I Must Scream: There's a speck of light in Blaster's eye as his head is stuffed into Slicer's bag. If this is any indication, Blaster may not be completely dead.
• A Death in the Limelight: Like Blurr before him, Blaster's spotlight issue in Shattered Glass II ends with his death.
• Demoted to Extra: Blaster's role in IDW's Shattered Glass is considerably smaller than his role in Fun Publications's Shattered Glass. With his most notable role this time around being A Death in the Limelight.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: In one of the flashbacks in Shattered Glass II, Soundwave tries to get an interview with Blaster to help him out. However, Blaster is too arrogant and mad at Soundwave for "replacing him" on the air to say yes.
• Drone Deployer: Like his heroic counterpart and Soundwave, Blaster keeps an army of Mini-Cassettes inside his chest, which he sends out for spying and battles. Rodimus made sure to kill them first before he killed Blaster
• Evil Counterpart: To this world's version of Soundwave.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Blaster is utterly immoral and egocentric to a fault, but he does still care about his cassettes. When Eject dies during his ambush on Megatron and Starscream, Blaster continues to mourn him well into the second series. After Rodimus reveals to him that he murdered the remaining ones of his "boys", Blaster goes completely into shock, unable to comprehend anything that's going on around him and spending his last moments desperately trying to tell himself that what has happened to them and him wasn't his fault.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Not that the Autobots are a particularly jovial lot but they only begrudgingly tolerate Blaster and once he fails in his mission to destroy the Decepticon archives Rodimus doesn't hesitate to kill him and his cassettes.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Blaster despises Soundwave for being a greater news reporter and radio show host than he himself ever was.
• I Reject Your Reality: In Blaster's head, he's a beloved radio star turned unstoppable Autobot soldier. In reality, his career consisted of one flop after another due to his attitude, pride and inability to compromise tanking every career path he chose and the only reason he was picked by th Wreckers was to be their cannon fodder. Even as he's about to be executed, Blaster refuses to admit to himself that he's a failure, embelleshing the flashbacks to his past by convincing himself every setback was just him making something out of nothing.
• Immoral Journalist: Following getting canned from his anchor position for a new stations^note  because he called his audience idiots, he made his own personal radio station where he could broadcast his own mad ravings unimpeded.
• My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Right before Rodimus executes him, Blaster reflects on his life before he became an agent for the Wreckers, with some extensive embellishing on Blaster's part:
  • Starting out as a news anchor, Blaster got fired for "being honest." In truth, he belittled his viewers while the cameras were still rolling.
  • Blaster picked himself up by starting a band with his cassettes, ignoring the fact that his audiences were scarce. When Soundwave approached him and offered an on-air interview, Blaster physically assaulted the Decepticon. This was caught on camera by Reflector, effectively torpedoing the Autobot's career as a musician. But from how Blaster tells the story, all he did was tell Soundwave off for offering handouts.
  • The next step in Blaster's life would be to start a radio station, playing music and spreading Autobot propaganda while mostly ripping on Soundwave. Eventually, his sponsors pulled out due to fear of "being silenced," and the whole thing devolved into a pirate radio station.
  • Blaster and his crew ultimately wound up on the front lines of the war, where Slicer picked him out because he saw Blaster's "potential." In actual fact, Slicer was skeptical of a musician's usefulness and Jazz dubbed him as fodder.
• Never My Fault: As mentioned above in My Life Flashed Before My Eyes, Blaster's flashbacks to his past life have him vividly denying any wrongdoing on his part.
  • He was not fired from his old job for being an Immoral Journalist and insulting his audience! Clearly the news station just had a problem with his Brutal Honesty.
  • Soundwave wasn't offering him an interview to help him out when his rockstar career didn't take off and Blaster's following violent outburst was not a completely petty jealous tantrum! Soundwave was trying to make himself look good and offered Blaster hand-outs and Blaster's reaction to that was completely appropriate.
  • His own radio show didn't flop and lose sponsors because he more or less just ranted and raved about Soundwave without offering any actual interesting content. His sponsors were just afraid of "being silenced".
  • Eject didn't die as a result of Blaster recklessly rushing in to confront the Decepticon leader and his Number Two. It was all Megatron and Starscream's fault, for not coming quietly.
• Off with His Head!: Once Rodimus kills him^note  via a shot to the spark, not his head, Slicer takes Blaster's head and modifies it to act like a radio.
• Psychological Projection: He frequently accuses Soundwave of being a vicious, self-absorbed liar with no regard for his fellow bots, who would do anything to further his own career. All attributes that actually describe Blaster himself more than they do Soundwave.
• You Have Failed Me: Rodimus kills him and his cassettes, when he fails in one of his mission objectives.

Jetfire

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Superjet

"Some 'bots deserved to be betrayed"

—Jetfire, Shattered Glass II #3

A gigantic Transformer who transforms into an equally massive starship, Jetfire was once Starscream's close friend.

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• Adaptational Heroism: From the limited appearances he had, the Original SG Jetfire was just an average Autobot thug who believed that Might Makes Right and unsuccessfully tried to become a leader of the Autobots by trying to undermine Rodimus's leadership. IDW version of SG Jetfire, on the other hand, is a Noble Demon who has doubts about the righteousness of the warring factions' sides and just wants to see the war come to an end, and he genuinely cares about Starscream.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Original Shattered Glass versions of Jetfire and Starscream had no known ties with each other and never even met. Their IDW versions, on the other hand, were close friends before the war and still cared for each other even when their relationship fell apart.
• Ascended Extra: IDW version of Shattered Glass Jetfire has much bigger role and character focus when compared to his Fun Pub incarnation, who only made two minor appearances (and died in the second one) as a minor Autobot thug.
• Big Bad Friend: Turns out to be working with Goldbug to put a bounty on Starscream.
• Et Tu, Brute?: He betrayed his and Starscream's research to Orion Pax, an act that drove Starscream to join the Decepticons.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite parting ways with Starscream, he still cared enough about him, as shown when he quickly came to his defense when the latter is caught spying by the Autobots, and in the present, he tried to prevent Starscream's death and tried to convince Goldbug not to kill him, to the point of assaulting him when the Autobot Warlord impatiently tried to kill him. When Starscream dies and Megatron helps Jetfire realize why Starscream joined the Decepticons in the first place and tells him that they'll build a memorial in his honor, Jetfire's last request to Megatron was to make the memorial as dramatic as possible, knowing that this is what Starscream would've wanted.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Jetfire finally decides to leave the Autobots after Starscream's death at the hands of Goldbug. However, he doesn't join the Decepticons and goes off on his own. That said, he will think about Megatron's offer.
• Heel Realization: Eventually, after Starscream's death and Megatron chewing him out, he realizes that his decision to sell out to the Autobots was what pushed Starscream away from him and into the Decepticon ranks, since they were the ones who took him in when he turned against him by joining the Autobots.
• Leave Me Alone!: Tired of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons and still reeling from Starscream's death, Jetfire just wants to be left alone and mourns his best friend.
  Jetfire: They fight in Goldbug's name. In Optimus Prime's. In Megatron's. They fight for ridiculous causes. Freedom. Power. I've had enough. I would rather have his voice than these causes.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Starscream's death and being sick and tired of the fighting, Jetfire decides to go off on his own and drop his ties to the Autobots.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Original SG Jetfire died after activating the booby trap of Side Burn's lab when he recklessly charged inside to prove to Rodimus that the leader must go first. Here, Jetfire is still alive by the end of the comic mini-series.
• We Used to Be Friends: He and Starscream used to be friends; however, while Starscream refused to trust and join the Autobots and eventually became the Decepticon, Jetfire chose to join the Autobots for the sake of trying to get enough fundings to complete his project of communicating with the Titans. Though, despite this, Starscream never gave up on trying to give Jetfire a chance of redemption, which he couldn't take out of fear of change...until it was too late.

Ratchet

Function: Interrogator; Medic

Alt Mode: Nissan Hospital Van

"Winning and losing is all the same from my workbench. I'll be putting the pieces back together no matter what."

—Ratchet, Shattered Glass II #3

An inhabitant of Gold City, Ratchet acts as one of Goldbug's spokesmechs.

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• Adaptational Personality Change: The original SG Ratchet was portrayed as being almost maniacally happy and cheerful, while this one is more businesslike in his dealings with Blurr.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Blurr mentions that some other bodyscrappers caught up with him while he was toying with Sixshot, Ratchet points out that Blurr's such an adrenaline junkie he would've thought he'd be pleased with such odds. Blurr admits normally he would, but he didn't want to risk losing Sixshot to his rivals.
• The Handler: His brief interaction with Blurr paints him as one of these in regards to the Bodyscrappers under Goldbug's command.
• Loyal to the Position: He's one of the Autobot's chief medics and even with the faction splintered he remains as such. As long as they let him continue his work he'll do medical procedures for any faction of Autobot.
• Mad Doctor: Is introduced performing an experiment on a dismembered, still-living Transformer.
• My Greatest Failure/Please, Don't Leave Me: Blurr's internal monologue suggests that Ratchet's insane quest to create a truly immortal Transformer is out of some desperate desire to make it up to someone who died at his side in battle, though it's hard to say whether this is caused by the former trope or the latter.

Rodimus

Function: Wrecker

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Sports Car

A member of the Wreckers and one of their more blood-thirsty members.

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• Adaptational Job Change: Rodimus was a member of the elite Seeker unit in the original Shattered Glass, while here he's a member of the elite Wreckers unit.
• Beard of Evil: Rodimus still has his goatee, referencing the classic Mirror Universe plot from Star Trek.
• Blood Knight: Even in comparison to other Wreckers, he takes particular joy in killing Decepticons and even other Autobots.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Rodimus gives a small one to Blaster in Shattered Glass II before he shoots his head off.
  Rodimus: Bravo, rockstar. You did half of what was demanded of you. But from what I remember... that's to be expected, isn't it? Failing is your thing. (...) You're no soldier. No rocker. You're nothing... except a failed reporter desperate to be heard.
• Robot Hair: A Shattered Glass staple, he sports a metallic goatee.
• Undying Loyalty: Bafflingly, unlike his original Shattered Glass counterpart by Fun Pub, who was The Starscream in that universe, this version is loyal to his leader but to Ultra Magnus instead of Optimus.

Slicer

Function: Double Agent; Infiltrator

Alt Mode: Lancia Stratos Sports Car

"I'm not going to die pointlessly to a 'bot without purpose"

—Slicer, Shattered Glass II #3

Member of The Wreckers and one of Ultra Magnus' top agents.

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• Adaptational Heroism: While Fun Pub's Wheeljack's Conflicting Loyalty characterized him as The Starscream, IDW's Slicer's Conflicting Loyalty depicts him as having moral qualms about what he's doing. Further he's shown to have more of an interest in loyalty and camaraderie than his fellow Wreckers.
  • Goes even further when he betrays Magnus and the rest of the Wreckers when he realizes, thanks to Soundwave, that it's too dangerous to let a bunch of lunatics in control of a Titan.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Zig-Zagged. The Fun Publications Wheeljack was a brilliant Mad Scientist who created life in the form of the Dinobots/Dinocons. IDW's Slicer isn't a brilliant scientist, but he's a much smarter fighter and is able improvise small inventions and ordinance on the fly.
• Adaptation Name Change: A rather confusing case. SG Wheeljack in the original SG material gave him Slicer's color scheme (a Decepticon Action Master from the late-80s who was a redeco of Wheeljack). Here however he's also named Slicer and his toy even came with a regular Decepticon insignia.
• Ascended Extra: Downplayed. The original SG Wheeljack had a consistent presence but was never as major of a focal point to the story as Slicer is.
• Double Agent: Served as a double agent for Ultra Magnus in Goldbug's inner circle in Gold City.
• MacGyvering: After Rodimus blows Blaster's head off, Slicer turns his severed head into a radio to keep an ear on the Decepticons.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Not that he isn't ruthless but seems to be the most level-headed of the Wreckers, and least likely to let his ego or bloodlust get in the way of completing his mission.

Ultra Magnus

Hologram face

^{Click here to see his true face} 

"Oh no, Orion Pax. You're wrong. I always know what I'm doing."

—Ultra Magnus,Shattered Glass II #1

Originally an antisocial bureaucrat who offered legal advice to the power-hungry Optimus, he soon found himself appointed to lead Optimus' personal hit squad; the Wreckers. He hides true face behind a holographic mask.

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• Adaptational Badass: In the original stories, when Magnus launched his coup, Optimus outwitted and defeated him. In this story, Magnus's coup is more spontaneous and he successfully beats Optimus into submission.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Magnus is much more rational than his insane omnicidal original depiction. In addition, this continuity shows him to be much more nervous and insecure before the war broke out and his obsession with law and order harkens back to his depiction in the original IDW continuity.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He briefly appears in silhouette as one of the bodyscrappers hunting for Sixshot in the first issue, long before he becomes a power player in the second miniseries.
• Hologram: He covers his skull-like face with a hologram visage.
  • How he first appears at the end of the five-issue Shards miniseries when his double agent, Slicer, contacts him is as a hologram.
• Mythology Gag: His color scheme is the same as the original Diaclone toy that the original G1 Ultra Magnus came from. His personality change from Omnicidal Maniac to (corrupt, self-serving) lawman owes to Magnus' portrayal in More Than Meets The Eye.
• Playing Both Sides: Appears to be his own independent force, loyal to none of the Autobot Warlords.
• Rules Lawyer: Ultra Magnus has an extensive knowledge of the legal system. Before the war he helped the Autobots seize power by working within the confines of the law; after the war, he pretty much wrote the laws that society is governed by.
• Skull for a Head: He usually keeps it concealed beneath a hologram mask.
• The Starscream: Magnus kicks off Shattered Glass II by deposing Optimus.

The Wreckers

Original lineup

Current lineup

Originally formed by Optimus Prime as his own personal secret police/hit squad, leadership of the group was eventually turned over to the bureaucratic Ultra Magnus.

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• Adaptational Name Change: SG Wheeljack was renamed to Slicer in this continuity. Slicer being the G1 Decepticon from which SG Wheeljack got his color scheme from.
• Ascended Extra: They initially only make a brief appearance in Blurr's flashback of his hunt for Sixshot. Come Shattered Glass II, they’re Magnus’s henchmen.
• The Mole: Slicer was introduced as one of Goldbug's operatives but in actuality, he was feeding info to Magnus.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The four who appear in the first miniseries are only seen in silhouette, but resemble Ultra Magnus, Kup, Springer and Roadbuster, all of whom were Wreckers in various forms of media.
  • The second miniseries has their ranks consist of Ultra Magnus, Rodimus and Drift, with Whirl as The Drag-Along, similar to the crew of the Lost Light.
  • They sport their own twisted take on the classic "Wrecker 'n Rule" catchphrase with theirs being "Wreck and Ruin!"
• Secret Police: They acted as one for Optimus Prime in the pre-war years and later his chief enforcers/hit squad under their new leader, Ultra Magnus.
• Undying Loyalty: Shattered Glass II shows that this wasn't always the case, at the beginning, the Wreckers didn't respect Ultra Magnus and weren't too keen on obeying him. In the present, there's a much stronger sense of respect and camaraderie with their leader.

Other

Bodyscrappers

While the Decepticons were crushed in the Great War and the Autobots control Cybertron, the faction was fractured when Goldbug and Prowl rebelled against Optimus Prime and seized territory for themselves. The job of hunting down what few Decepticons that remain has now fallen to the bodyscrappers; ruthless bounty hunters more than willing to take up arms against each other for a big enough score.

Blurr

Function: Sadistic Autobot Bounty Hunter

Alt Mode: Cybertronian Hovercar

"I’m running out of stragglers to snatch up."

—Blurr, Toy Bio

Self-described fastest being on Cybertron, Blurr is the best bodyscrapper there is. A huge adrenaline junkie, lately he's grown bored since the only Decepticons left to hunt are the ones not worth hunting down during the war itself.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: While the original SG Blurr was portrayed as a bit of a Punch-Clock Villain, this Blurr is sadistic, arrogant and cruel.
• Arrogant Kungfu Guy: Is very confident and full of himself, even making Ratchet listen to himself talk about how awesomely he took down Sixshot and left some fellow bodyscrappers in his dust while doing it.
• Eyepatch of Power: Like his previous incarnation, SG!Blurr lost his left eye.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Dies when Starscream uses the terrain of the Static Zone to his advantage, allowing Blurr to run into a stream of molten metal flowing down one of the numerous volcanoes of Chrome Ridge. Ironically, Blurr brought Starscream there figuring that if a fight broke out, he would have the advantage since Starscream wouldn't be able to fly very effectively.
• Irony: The best and fastest bodyscrapper dies slowly and is forgotten in molten metal.
• Motor Mouth: As with previous Blurrs, he can talk like this. Unlike previous ones, he can talk normally, he just does it intentionally annoy people.
• Noodle Incident: How Blurr lost his left eye is unknown, but it's presumed he lost it during the war.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Some of his final words in his internal monologue as he's slowly engulfed in molten metal.
• Smug Snake: Is completely confident he's successfully tricked Starscream into trusting him. When this proves not to be the case, he is confident that his speed will be more than enough to deal with the Decepticon. It's not, and he pays for his hubris with his life.
• This Cannot Be!: Even as he's swallowed up by molten metal, he refuses to acknowledge that this is how he, the fastest being and best bodyscrapper on Cybertron, is going to die: alone and completely forgotten in the middle of nowhere.
• Thrill Seeker: Ratchet describes him as an adrenaline junkie.
• Trapped in Villainy: As part of his sob story, he claims to be this. He doesn't want to be an Autobot, but he has to in order to survive.
• Villainous Rescue: Saves Starscream from rival bodyscrappers Chromedome and Hardhead because he doesn't want to share the bounty.

Hardhead

A bodyscrapper who works with Chromedome. Blurr encounters them when they're pursuing Starscream.

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• Villain Respect: Blurr describes him and Chromedome as being almost his equal in terms of being bodyscrappers.

Chromedome

A bodyscrapper who works with Hardhead. Blurr encounters them when they have Starscream on the ropes.

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• Dirty Cop: Was a part of Optimus Prime's oppressive police force pre-war.
• Mythology Gag: Shown in a flashback partnered with Prowl. A nod to the old Transformers IDW continuity making them partners, and in a relationship with one another, pre-war.
• Villain Respect: Blurr notes that he and Hardhead are almost as good as him.

Highbrow

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• The Cameo: He appears once and then never again.
• Mythology Gag: He was one of the original Headmasters alongside Chromedome, Hardhead and Brainstorm under Fortress Maximus' command, hence why they're pictured together.

Brainstorm

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• The Cameo: His appearance is a one and done.
• Mythology Gag: He was one of the original Headmasters alongside Chromedome, Hardhead and Highbrow under the command of Fortress Maximus.
  • Unlike the Brainstorms in the previous IDW continuity or the concurrently running Transformers (2019), Brainstorm lacks a faceplate. This makes him resemble his Japanese counterpart from The Headmasters.

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