Straxus

STRAXUS

My one and only favourite picture of Straxus ever.

Appearances:

US Transformers

#17 + 18 (The Smelting Pool, The Bridge to Nowhere)

US Generation 2

#1 (War Without End, in a flashback.)

UK Transformers

#68 - 71 (Reprinting The Smelting Pool and The Bridge to Nowhere)

#83 (Cybertron: The Middle Years, a text story. Click 'here' to read it.)

#98 - 100 (The Harder They Die to Distant Thunder)

#103 + 104 (Resurrection, pt 1 + 2)

#161 (Salvage, pt 2)

#243 + 244 (Mind Games, Two Megatrons)

Straxus Megatron (UK comics)

#125 + Action Force #24 - 27 (Ancient Relics, pts 1 - 5, accidentally woken by humans.)

#160 + 161 (Salvage, pt 1 + 2, revived by Shockwave.)

#189 (Dry Run, kills Cyclonus and Nightstick.)

1989 Annual (Altered Image, fights Galvatron.)

#199 - 205 (Time Wars, pts 1 - 7, fighting alongside Galvatron.)

#213 + 214 (The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire, pt 1 + 2, returns to Cybertron.)

#226 (Aspects of Evil: Megatron Uncertain; could be the real Megatron. But is in Straxus-Megatron's palace on Cybertron.)

#243 + 244 (Mind Games, Two Megatrons, kills himself and Straxus.)

Quote:

US Comic

"Are your gears locked in fear? You don't even attempt to defend yourself! Lucky for you I care nothing for sport!"

UK Comic

"Megatron is DEAD... AND LORD STRAXUS LIVES ON IN HIS PLACE!"

Straxus-Megatron

"You are STRONG, imposter, but it is one thing to LOOK like Megatron... and another altogether to BE Megatron!" - said to the REAL Megatron.

Alt-Mode:

Flying space cannon, looking something like Galvatron.

As Straxus-Megatron his alt mode was a pistol, but I don't think he ever Transformed.

Straxus has a stern chat with Shrapnel. Description:

Straxus went through three main stages in his "lifetime". The first was as a "hi-and-die" character, of sorts, in the US comic. Most hi-then-die characters don't last two issues and lead the Decepticons, admittedly, but he still didn't have a big enough career in the US to be considered a long term Obscure character. (Like, say, the European-import Emirate Xaaron.)

The second was as an interesting, disembodied, villain in the UK comics. That's not to say he wasn't interesting the US comic. He was interesting, just not as interesting as in the UK comics, and definitely not as disembodied..

The third was as an apparition in the mind of a construct built by him to resemble Megatron. The exploits of this fake Megatron (referred to here as 'Straxus-Megatron'), can probably be considered the exploits of Straxus himself as well.

In the Generation 2 comics Jhiaxus seemed to sum up Straxus's US career simply and appropriately: he was a "small minded tyrant". Or was he? Despite being a brutish tyrant, Straxus did show signs of intelligence and foresight. (He kidnapped Spanner before the message from Earth had even been translated!)

In the UK comic Straxus became a much more cunning villain. He actually had plans and schemes, which were multi-layered, and carefully thought out. However, he still believed in "might is right". One can surmise that Straxus' change of heart came from the fact that he had a long time to think things out when trapped in both the prisons of his "bubble" and Megatron's mind. After all, when all you are is a head, or thought patterns, thinking becomes your number one past time, right?

Biography US:

Straxus was the Decepticon leader who rose to power after the disappearance of Megatron four million years ago. He ruled the planet's Decepticon holdings from Darkmount, a massive fortress in the region known as Polyhex. Straxus was a truly deadly leader, but not a visionary leader. He'd beaten the Autobots down, all but broken their spirit, forcing them into hiding. But he almost seemed content to just leave it at that.

It's possible that the Cybertronian Decepticons (from the Generation 2 comics) may have actually had a hand in Straxus' rise to power. In issue one of the Gen2 comics, Jhiaxus suggests that they put into power small-minded tyrants, not fit for the future empire. This, however, is totally speculative, as it's possible that Jhiaxus was (in the words of the Bard) talking through his aft.

Flash-back in green.

Straxus first came to our attention in issue 17 of the US comics. We first saw Straxus when he was executing a couple of unnamed Transformers (he dispensed no mercy, just death). Shrapnel brought him the Autobot known as Scrounge, who'd been caught spying within Darkmount itself.

You see, Straxus had recently received a transmission from Earth (sent by Soundwave in US issue 10). Upon receiving this message, Straxus started to make preparations to send his Decepticon armies to Earth. First he kidnapped a neutral scientist named Spanner to build a device to transport the Decepticon armies to Earth: the Space Bridge. The disappearance of Spanner had caught Scrounge's attention and brought him a-spyin'. Too bad for Scrounge that he was caught and brought before Straxus.

Straxus questioned Scrounge for about two seconds, but when Scrounge wouldn't talk, Straxus ripped off his arm and then had Scrounge tossed into the smelting pool. When Blaster came looking for his Autobot pal he was caught by Shrapnel and brought before Straxus. Straxus was busy overseeing the building of the Space Bridge and told Shrapnel just to throw Blaster into the smelting pool and be done with it. (Blaster was able to escape, but Straxus wasn't available for comment.)

When the Space Bridge was finally built it had a few teething problems before it was completely operational. Several Decepticons were pretty much sentenced to death by Straxus while testing the Space Bridge, including the poor Obscure character Crosscut. Still, these sacrifices sure encouraged his other minions to make sure the bridge was working.

QUICKLY.

Shrapnel radioed Spanner and discovered that the problem with the Space Bridge was a broken fuel line on the Teleportation Arch. With the fuel line broken the Arch was deadly, and the bridge was unstable. Fortunately (for Shrapnel's life) it was quickly fixed. Meanwhile, the spying Blaster recorded this information for later use.

Shortly thereafter, Darkmount was attacked by a group of Autobots led by Perceptor. The fortress was blown up from below, bringing the Decepticons into battle. The Autobots, fighting against 2 to 1 odds, were decimated. Straxus was so confident of his victory that he told Shrapnel to activate the Space Bridge. Once the Autobots were defeated Straxus would lead his troups straight on through to Earth and conquest. This was honestly the closest the Decepticons ever came to absolute conquest of Earth in the comics. Had Straxus actually made it through to Earth with his army it's doubtful whether they could have been stopped.

With Straxus fighting alongside them in his massive space cannon mode, it wasn't long before the Decepticons had reduced the Autobots to a mere seven warriors. These seven, Perceptor, Beachcomber, Cosmos, Seaspray, Warpath, Powerglide and Blaster were blasted by Straxus, leaving only Blaster conscious. Straxus then Transformed to kill Blaster personally with his big whompin' axe.

Straxus would have beaten Blaster in a straight fight. At first it looked like Blaster was going to get his aft thoroughly handed to him! But then Blaster used some quick thinking (too bad he didn't do that more often in the TV show... less jive talkin', more quick thinkin', I say), and tricked Straxus into slashing the fuel line which controlled the main Teleportation Arch of the Space Bridge. The Space Bridge malfunctioned, becoming unstable, and lethal (don't believe me? Check out what it did to Crosscut). Blaster kicked Straxus into the faulty Teleport-Arch of the bridge, killing him. The bridge then shut down, leaving the seven Autobots on Earth and the Decepticon army on Cybertron.

That was the end of Straxus in the US comic. He never appeared again in the US (except for that flashback in Gen2). In the UK comic, however, he continued to grow and thrive as a villain...

Biography UK:

Straxus succeeded War-Lord Trannis, who'd seized the Decepticon throne shortly after the disappearance (and assumed destruction) of Megatron. Trannis had grown complacent and weak after early victories against the Autobots. Straxus and many other Decepticons were plotting the overthrow of Trannis, when Emirate Xaaron stepped in. Xaaron sent his elite team of warriors, the Wreckers, to kill Trannis. When the Wreckers assassinated Trannis, it was a simple matter for Straxus to seize control of the Decepticons, and of Cybertron.

Many eons later, Straxus received a message from Earth, revealing that the Decepticons once thought lost were actually alive and well! More importantly they were on a planet which would serve as a great source of fuel for the Decepticon empire. He had a Space Bridge built, and ended up fighting Blaster to the death on it, just as in his US appearance. Or at least seemingly to the death.

Straxus, you see, was NOT killed on the Space Bridge as thought by most of his enemies. Instead he lived on, or at least part of him did. His head was salvaged and then placed in a life-support bubble. The rest of him was completely obliterated. Despite this, Straxus had a loyal enough following among the Decepticons to still rule them, to still hold the reigns of power. (Or maybe the Decepticons were just so scared of him that, even though he was reduced to a head floating a bubble, they just did NOT want to mess with big blue.)

His rule was interrupted when both Megatron and Optimus Prime were accidentally transported to Cybertron during a showdown set up between the two of them by Shockwave. Optimus hooked up with the Autobots, and Megatron the Decepticons. Megatron was on the edge of insanity, and Optimus Prime was too much of an inspiration to the Autobots to tolerate. So, Straxus decided to kill two birds with one stone. He attempted to transfer his mind into that of Megatron's to use the Decepticon leader's powerful body to destroy Optimus Prime.

The mind transfer was both a success and a failure. Though his mind WAS transferred into Megatron's body, Megatron's mind WASN'T transferred out!! The two battled for supremacy in the new shared mind until only insanity remained. When Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus showed up, that insanity over-flowed and Megatron attempted to use his anti-matter power to not only destroy Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, but also everyone else in a 50km radius! (Not to mention himself).

Rather than let this happen, Ratbat used the Space Bridge to teleport Megatron, Optimus and Ultra Magnus back to Earth. Sometime before (or perhaps even during) the trip, Straxus' mind fled Megatron's body, leaving the Decepticon leader still unhinged, but now the only occupant of his mind.

Fortunately, Straxus had a contingency plan, just in case his hostile take over bid on Megatron's body failed. He'd built a second Megatron out of the body parts of one of his own technicians, and his mind fled to it, laying dormant under the brain patterns he'd copied from Megatron.

When the technicians in charge of the project (Called "Project Re-birth") heard Megatron had died on the Space Bridge (Issue #25 of the US comic, or #108 of the UK comic) they sent the second Megatron to Earth, hiding it under the sewers of London. (Don't ask me WHY they did this, they're technicians, not tacticians.)

The second Megatron was discovered by Action Force (UK G. I.-Joe) before Straxus' mind could take control. The second Megatron, who truly believed himself to be the FIRST Megatron, set about trying to reclaim his power and his glory. He mostly attempted to accomplish this by ripping apart Action Force tanks and punching Grimlock in the head. He was finally stopped when Action Force jets blew up the mechanoid Centurion, Megatron, and a bunch of huge oil tanks in the London dock district. Centurion and Megatron plunged into the Thames on fire and melted together.

Straxus-Megs was later hauled out of the Thames and resurrected by Shockwave, who intended to use him as a tool against Galvatron. (Mostly because Galvatron was, at the time, giving Shockwave the willies.) When he repaired Megatron he found he had a problem. The former Decepticon leader refused to 'come out of his shell'. His fears were overwhelming him, and he refused to face them.

Shockwave used a mind-probe to try and force Megatron to confront his fears. However, instead, Straxus emerged in Megs' mind to fight his fears FOR him, and then (Straxus hoped) take over! Straxus tore apart Optimus Prime (in Megatron's mind, that is) and prepared to take over, by destroying Megs' mind. But Megatron fought back, ripping Straxus apart, and taking over their shared mind forever!

Or so he thought.

As it turned out, all he'd done was postpone the inevitable.

After participating in the Time Wars, Straxus-Megs went back to Cybertron. There he dethroned the ruling Decepticon Triumvirate who had long ago given themselves over to decadence and were driving the Decepticons down into stagnation. Though Strax-Megs took control of Cybertron again, he seemed to leave a lot of his leadership role to the Decepticon Elders, and they even chose another Decepticon leader while Strax-Megs was still alive: Thunderwing.

While on Cybertron he was plagued by memories of pain, of being dismantled piece-by-piece. THESE were the memories of the technician, whose body had been used to CREATE the second Megatron. He was also plagued by visions of his blue and red nemesis, Straxus.

These visions came to a head when Straxus-Megatron was attacked by none other than the original Megatron! Megatron-1 had discovered Straxus' "Project Re-birth" and intended to prevent Straxus from taking control of such a powerful body as his. Or at least a near-identical facsimile of his body.

Straxus had been biding his time and waiting until the second Megatron had grown too weak to fight him any longer, so he could take control. However with the help of the original Megatron, the second Megatron found the strength to resist Straxus. He wasn't able to cast the tyrant out of his mind. Instead he blew his own head off, killing himself, and ending the threat of Straxus, forever.

Tech Specs/TFU:

Sadly, Straxus was never given a TFU description. I think he SHOULD have gotten one, even if he WASN'T a toy character. Both he and Scrounge were "stars" far more deserving of TFU descriptions than the likes of Arblus or Kranix from Transformers: The Movie.

If he'd been a toy and had tech-specs I bet that Straxus would have had quite big numbers. His firepower, strength and endurance would probably have all been tens. His intelligence would have been a 7 or an 8. Mostly likely a 7 because, while he was clearly smart, he was also so stubborn it sometimes made him stupid.

His speed would have been 5 or 6, he can move pretty fast in his gun mode. Anything else? Well, his courage would have been 10. He's too stubborn to be afraid. His rank would have been 9 or 10. His skill would PROBABLY have been mid-range. I'm not too impressed by how he performed against Blaster. Though admittedly comic book Blaster was quite a skilled fighter.

Of course one must remember that he was a DECEPTICON leader, so his stats would have been far more balanced than those of an Autobot leader. He wouldn't have had TOO many stats at 10 because of that.

Toy:

No toy, he was a comic-only character. However, he does have a few advantages that would have made him an interesting toy. First of all, a very unique head design. I would like to see what a Straxus toy's head would look like. Secondly, he has a Decepticon insignia. Badly drawn, to be sure, but he had one. In the UK comic this insignia became a kind of random decorative design (depending on who drew it), similar to the 'con insignia but not quite the same. Why was this? I suspect that, because it was drawn so badly in the US comic, that the UK artists didn't KNOW it was a 'con insignia!

Interestingly Straxus doesn't really have any alt-mode features in robot mode. However HE DOES have robot mode features in his alt mode! For some reason his head/face splits in half and becomes a kind of decoration on the top of his gun-mode. So there ARE links between gun and robot mode, which make him an overall more interesting character to look at, and also make it more likely he'd make a good toy

Note the 'face halves' on top of his cannon mode. If he WERE a toy he'd have been big and bulky. Probably very limited poseability with only arm swinging or elbow joints like Galvatron or other large, bulky, G1 toys. He's just far too blocky and G1 like for me to see much potential articulation in his design. Then again, if he was made with today's technology, that might not be a problem!

The final feature of Straxus that would make him a cool toy is his axe. It's a neat weapon which has the potential to be a light-up, LED type weapon (perhaps he could have light and sound in his axe in robot mode and gun barrel in gun mode?).

Another interesting toy-option for Straxus would have been the legendary "Straxus' Head in a Bubble". Imagine that as a play set! Maybe with a technician robot to help build the mind-swapping weapon on top of Straxus' bubble, then later be rebuilt into a Megatron imitation.

A Straxus-Megatron toy that could blow off its own head would be kinda cool too (evils).

Over All:

Straxus is without a doubt one of my favourite Obscure characters. He's more interesting than any of the other US comic offerings, he's cooler than the TV-show offerings, and he's appeared more times than most of the UK offerings (except, of course, that ever-lovin' scamp Emirate Xaaron).

Also, Straxus was also one of these characters who was drawn by a LOT of people. In addition to his US appearances (two issues by Don Perlin, a tiny flashback by Derek Yaniger and a cover by Herb Trimpe), Straxus was drawn by at least five different UK artists at different times (Senior, Staz, Simpson, Sullivan and Anderson spring to mind). This is why, more than anything, Straxus is the 'mascot' of this web site. There's just such a nice variety of Straxus pictures out there to choose from. Even if I'd wanted Emirate Xaaron as my mascot, he just doesn't have a very good variety of pictures. For the most part he had a non-combat role, so though he was drawn by many artists, he DIDN'T have the variety of images that Straxus did.

I also really like his mega-cool and nifty axe. It's too bad that never appeared again in the UK comics.

Only Jhiaxus is a better Obscure Decepticon than Straxus, in my opinion. However, there aren't enough pictures of Jhiaxus (especially not GOOD ones, by varied artists) to make HIM the mascot of the obscure TF page (so, instead, he's in the URL).

Gallery:

US Issue #17