THE TRIUMVERATE

 

 

Seizer is calling that poor generic 'Dolt', I wonder if that's his name...

 

Appearances:

UK Transformers 

#213 + 214 (The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire, parts 1 + 2)

 

 

Quote: 

Octus

(Speaking about Megatron) "My friends, we have a living legend among us. Please, show your appreciation for our cause's most celebrated loony!"


Legonis

(Speaking about their Arena blood sports) "It's good to see all those years of pointless warfare at least served to stock our cells to overflowing with arena fodder!"


Seizer

"We'll kill Megatron ourselves!" (yeah RIGHT!)

 

 

Alt-Modes:

Unknown.

 

"We'll kill Megatron ourselves!" Loser.

Description:  

Octus (Octavius), Legonis (Lepidus), Seizer (Caesar). The Decepticon ruling triumvirate; a parody of (or perhaps homage to) the ruling triumvirate in Rome after the death of Julius Caesar.

They were decadent, lazy, and definitely not fit to wear the badge Decepticon, let alone to be the leaders. It's uncertain how long they were in power, or how they came to power. It is certain, however, that they were not the first, or last, Decepticon trio of leaders.

There are three known three member leadership councils in Transformers, and all of them were bad guys. The Triumverate were the first. The second was the Decepticon Council of Elders. These guys were unnamed, but were powerful enough to appoint Thunderwing leader of the 'cons after the Triumverate's death. The final was the much more recent Tripredicus council. Interesting coincidence.

But, forget all that. The Triumverate exist for one reason. They exist to act as a counterpoint to Megatron's type of Decepticon leadership. They represent the new, while Megatron represents the old. His victory over them is a victory of old over new.

 

 

Biography:  

At some point after Straxus lost power on Cybertron (around UK issue 104) a new group of Decepticons came to power. These three Decepticons, Seizer, Octus and Legonis, became the ruling triumvirate of the Decepticons. They turned the Decepticon capitol fortress into a massive arena. There Autobot captives were pitted against Decepticon warriors in a deadly game of blood sports.


The three grew (figuratively speaking) fat and weak as their power grew. They no longer wished to be conquerors and lived simply for decadent pleasure. It's entirely possible that the alliance between aliens and Decepticons was their idea. The blood sports performed in the story "Deadly Games" (Issues #170 + 171, see Chameleon for a little more info) show a resemblance to the blood sports enjoyed by the Triumverate themselves.

Shortly after the Time Wars Megatron (II, Straxus-Megatron) returned to Cybertron to find that Autobots were roaming about freely, not harassed by Decepticon patrols as should be. He went to the Decepticon capitol to give the 'cons there what-for.

The Triumverate were truly weak by this time. Decepticons no longer did anything but watch or participate in gladiatorial combat. The Triumverate were stewing to the point where they were considering having Decepticon fight Decepticon if they ran out of prisoner stock.

This is when Megatron burst in! He challenged the Triumverate to battle, but they instead belittled him, and tossed him into the arena to fight the gladiators. He fought hard, before realising that this was what they wanted him to do. He stopped fighting and made an inspiring speech to the Decepticons.

Seizer, unwilling to let Megatron take over, prepared to blast the Decepticon leader himself. However, the Triggercons (who pined for the old ways) blasted all three members of the Triumverate in the back, ending their 'menace' forever.


They look so happy! Except Legonis. What's HIS problem?

 

The Triumverate went down easily, allowing Megatron to take over and restore a Decepticon sort of order to the planet of Cybertron.

 

 

Tech Specs/TFU:  

When you first see them, you'd think they'd have some pretty nifty-sized stats. However, when the Triggercons blow them away in one blast each... well it hardly inspires confidence. One thing I do know, if they DID have tech specs they'd have a high rank, at least!!

 

 

Toy:  

The only one of the three with any real alt mode features is Seizer. He looks as if he might Transform into some sort of Beast Machines style destruction vehicle. Perhaps someone could kitbash Beast Machines Scavenger into a Seizer toy?

 

Octus might make an interesting toy, if only because he's got six arms (and two legs, making eight appendages). Legonis was just sort of there.

 

 

Over All:  

The Triumverate are interesting characters. One must wonder how they managed to seize power, considering how weak they appeared. Perhaps it was their decadent lifestyle which made them so vulnerable. Still, their courage can't be faulted. In the face of Megatron they were more afraid of getting their power stripped away from them than they were of being blown to pieces. Of course, in the end it turned out both would happen. Too bad for them.

 


An annoyed note: when updating the webpage, I looked up the spelling of the word, and it's "triumvirate". I assumed that Jhi and I had misspelled the word throughout the entire site, so we corrected it. Only I later noticed that it was written "triumverate" in the text boxes when I was re-scanning the issues... meaning Simon Furman spelled it wrong to begin with (as I could find no alternate British spellings of the word). So we had to change everything BACK. This means they're a triumvirate called The Triumverate. -- Monzo

 

  In TF Heaven: "How were you guys killed?" "We were killed by the Triggercons." "Losers!"

 

 

 

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