Appearances:  

UK Transformers

#83 (Cybertron: The Middle Years, a short text story. The Middle Years can now be found, retyped and reprinted, in Titan's Target:2006 TPB.)

Quote:  

None: no dialogue, EVER!

Alt-Mode:  

Unknown. Possibly some sort of Space Cannon, in keeping with Decepticon leadership at the time.

Description:  

Trannis was the ULTIMATE obscure character. He appeared only once, really, in a short (REALLY short, about half a page) text story called "Cybertron the Middle Years". The story detailed the events which occurred on Cybertron between the time when Optimus left the planet and when he was woken, 4 million years later.

The story is uncredited and was possibly written by Simon Furman, or the comic's editor (or perhaps a complete unknown). Whoever wrote it is irrelevant; the information the little summary contains is vitally important. Or at least incredibly interesting.

Trannis is less a "hi then die" character and more a "h...die!" character. Blink and you would have missed him completely. But that's what this site is for, isn't it?

Biography:

After the disappearance of Megatron (when the Ark crashed into Earth) a young, but powerful, warlord came to power amongst the Decepticons. His name was Trannis. He was deadly, ruthless and unforgiving.

Under his leadership, the Decepticons rallied against the Autobots and practically laid waste to Cybertron. The Autobots were in disarray after the loss of their leader Optimus Prime. That, coupled with the fact that the only leading body left was the weak-willed and bureaucratic Autobot Council, saw to their downfall. The Autobots were decimated.

Trannis razed Iacon, smashing down the gates of the Autobots' most powerful city. The Autobot High Council felt it would be best to surrender to Trannis, except Emirate Xaaron (who went into hiding). Trannis accepted the surrender, walked into the council chambers, then had the entire Autobot High Council executed on the spot. He'd achieved what even Megatron couldn't.

Over time, though, Trannis began to grow complacent. He allowed the Autobots he'd conquered to build power again, and the other Decepticons were beginning to become dissatisfied with his rule. Just as the Decepticons were planning to depose Trannis, so were the Autobots! The Wreckers attacked the Decepticon palace and killed Trannis. This was the end of the tyrant's rule.

Ironically, the death of Trannis caused the rise of Straxus. All the Autobots had achieved was quickly undone as Straxus once again laid them low!

Tech Specs/TFU:  

Really nothing to say as very little is really known about the character. (Nothing is known about his stats or abilities, though presumably they were high. He was a Decepticon leader.)

Toy:  

Didn't even get pictured. Really hard to say whether he would have come close to being 'toy worthy' when you haven't got anything to judge by...

Over All:  

You could almost live without knowing anything about Trannis. Did he really make much of an appearance or an impression? No, he didn't. However he's still rather important to the man in the street (if the man in the street is a detail-obsessed Transformers fan like myself). After all, Trannis' several millennia rule spanned much of the time that Megatron and Optimus were buried under a mountain. Who knows how many Autobots, or Decepticons, were killed by him? Who knows how much damage was done by him?

Interestingly, he also makes a good comparison with his successor. Like Straxus, he began as an almost invincible force; a Decepticon to be reckoned with. However, over the millennia, Trannis fell from grace, becoming weak and complacent. Straxus, too, seemed to have reached that point in his rule. After all, how could the same Decepticon who'd almost annihilated the Autobots allow Perceptor to destroy his palace? He'd just grown too overconfident, that's how.

Of course, unlike Trannis, Straxus got his vigour back after being stuck in a bubble for a while.