Haha well I don’t really have much of an opinion on Unicron beyond “Welp, he’s out there somewhere I guess?” because generally like IDW!Shockwave- he’s used as a plot point rather than a character in most TFS narratives. I’ve seen the fan theories about how Unicron’s responsible for almost every shitty thing that happens- but he’s kinda like Hitler or Voldermort y’know?
I mean- he’s there, but you don’t really know him as a “person” more than a “concept” so you just go about your shipping and squeeing with barely a “yeah Unicron end of the world, Voldermort whatever.” because ultimately for a fan- Unicron isn’t really relatable beyond his representation as “THE BIG BAD END”.
So unless things change or Unicron’s character is expanded in some meaningful way beyond his role as “Robo-Hitler-Voldermort-Satan”, I doubt there’d be much interest in him as a character.
Can’t recall if it’s a canon somewhere or if it was fanon/ read in a fic once, but there’s been those ideas floating around of Unicron/Primus being necessary parts of death/life cycle. And that… just like the grim reaper in western human lore… people just don’t like him cuz they fear death/ the end of existence. But to that end, Unicron would defend his purpose by saying “nothing can or should live forever, for things must end so that others may begin”. He just… has a tendency to be violent/big/abrupt about said end, haha.
It could be cool to see a convo between Unicron and Primus in which Unicron admits it’s strange to harbor signs of life on his body, when all his existence his purpose had been for death, and how Primus, once buzzing with activity, sits hollowed and lifeless after centuries of war…
fuzz has a better answer here~ (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
(Although I honestly think that the only reason why they make Unicron our Earth- is to explain to the audience why the Cybertronians would want to come to our mudball lol. But there are meaningful ways of expanding on that “plot point” and to make it more than just a convenient excuse- which tbh in canon is taken for granted most times.)
But yeah, I would love to have an actual conversation between Unicron and Primus the way that canon material has OP and Megs interacting. In that through their long history of conflict/interaction their outwardly antagonistic relationship had somehow morphed into something deeper and more complicated than simple hate or opposition. <– this is the sort of meaningful expansion of “character” that would probably generate more interest in Unicron.
Rather than having Unicron just yelling down at whatever poor sod/crazy idiot who thought it’d be a good idea to sell their soul to Unicron lol. They could actually make him more appealing as a character- more Lord Vetinari/Mephistopheles rather than Voldermort/Satan.
(Wouldn’t it be interesting if Unicron approaches OP and seduces him to the “Dark Side” in the guise of greater good and plays him off Megs instead? Rather than having Megs be Galvatron-ized again…)
In a human? Pretty much nothing. Organics barely register as “people” to most cybertronians, and since there’s no instinctive recognition of “normal human” vs “aberrant human” you could be sprouting horns and breathing fire and they’d be like nah, nah, that seems legit, that seems normal. Humans do that, right?
Humans who are, say, under control of certain malevolent or otherwise unusual forces that cybertronians can pick up on would have some features that other humans might actually not pick up on, conversely- or there are even energy-based beings that can effectively “hide” as humans- generating their own holomatter avatar in order to interact with them. Humans who give off a notable cybertronian EM field would unsettle a cybertronian, and ones with EM fields that fall into a sort of “uncanny valley” effect for them would do so even more, or ones who give off a dangerous-coded EM field.
Buster, for example, can startle or unsettle bots- even though he basically outputs an overwhelmingly positive/pleasant/caring EM field and when he uses his powers with visual effects, the register as more or less the equivalent of “angelic” or otherwise benign, wondrous things to Cybertronians. But it’s still a human doing that, and that can weird them out.
(Think of a bot’s EM field/sparkfield as a sort of additional layer of awareness or sensation- it’s part of how they express emotional state, as an extension of body language.)
Of course, as for cybertronians- they find aberrant or otherwise unusual EM fields to be one of the first signs, and this can also indicate that a bot is sick or otherwise suffering some sort of spark-based malfunction. Other signs that would make them unnerved or frightened;
Unlit optics and unlit biolighting – A cybertronians optics almost always give off at least a dim light, unless they’re using shielded lenses, but a cybertronian with unlit or camera-like optics is considered very unsettling. Similar to entirely-black eyes would seem to humans. Sometimes referred to as ‘dead optics’ seeing as unlit optics often indicate when a bot has died completely.
A lack of a healthy paint layer –cybertronian ‘paint’ is continually refreshed by nanites- think of it as the outermost layer of their skin that helps to protect them. An unhealthy paint layer may be patchy, peeling, absent, or have a dusty, ashy gray color that leaves residue when touched- cybertronians who have died fade in coloration to varying degrees as a result of mass nanite death. Unicronians themselves have a ‘tarnished’ and ‘oily’ effect because their paint layer is maintained by unicron, as they have no more living nanite colonies.
Visibly exposed internals and damage would also be a strong sign that something was wrong- for the same reason it would be so in humans. While Cybertronians care capable of surviving with incredible amounts of damage, it’s still painful and uncomfortable and they’ll go out of their way to repair or at least cover exposed areas as soon as they can. Someone wandering around with a huge hole in their torso seemingly okay with it is…unsettling. Not necessarily bad, considering that they may be ignoring the pain in order to continue tasks or even unable to feel it at the moment, but still. That’s guts!
Actively ‘decaying’ metal goes with the one right above- not only does this mean rust or tarnish, but cybertronians contain nanites that help to upkeep them, but these nanites also are responsible for cleaning and removing waste material from the body- these nanites can turn on the body and begin consuming nonessential resources (such as armor) in order to repair or fuel systems, or as a result of tampering or illness. A cybertronian covered in small, oddly organic-looking holes and ragged edges is like seeing someone with chicken pox.
Unusual energon coloration or consistency might require someone to be injured, but a healthy cybertronian’s internal energon will generally be in a pink-to-violet range, or occasionally blue. A cybertronian with green, yellow, orange, etc etc energon is almost a sure sign that something is wrong, and that goes double if it seems to be leaking from them. Similarly, leaking coolant or oil (especially if they are also miscolored) is unsanitary and unsettling. Unicronians lack actual energon in their systems, and instead they tend to “bleed” a thick, black, oily-sheen sludge. And when they’re in particularly bad straits, this may also leak out the optics, intakes, basically everywhere. It’s vvvvvvv. gross.
There is a thing known by many titles and names. The Deep Void, the Hunger in us all, the Pit-Mouth, the Devourer, some whisper a name long forgotten- Unicron, they breath. The end given form.
It’s a silly myth, nothing but a representative force, a nameless adversary used to fill in for the threats faced by beings of legend. Nothing more, just a silly superstition, an explanation for the starless patch of sky or the ravings of madmechs.
Unicron does not appear in history, after all.
Nothing so vast and terrible could exist.
Ancient depictions of a winged planet devouring solar systems are nothing but metaphors, a visual, visceral impression of perhaps conquest or exploration or simply a commentary on how many species live on the cusp of death, such brief lifespans. Still, one has to wonder…why this image?
And why do these impressions unsettle all Cybertronians, so?
(Unicron seldom appears in art, or as pictographic runes, but as all good corrupting eldritch forces do, whatever you illustrate or describe it as…It may not stay like that should you look away. In illustrations it appears something like this, a weakened tangle of chaotic limbs/wings that is defeated and dispersed into nothingness.
Modern Cybertronians generally don’t believe in Unicron, or think it was killed ages past, but they like a good spooky story and there’s little spookier than something so ravenous it must consume planets and people, souls and all.)
So I was reading someone’s TFP fanblog and it was all “creation and destruction, Primus and Unicron, Optimus and Megatron, good and evil”
and, sure, okay, that’s canon
but just once I’d really like these things both to be natural processes that are supposed to be in balance, and the war to be a tragic misunderstanding
Also, if Earth is Unicron now, can we please please please have at least one continuity where the Autobots are predisposed to dislike humans and the Decepticons are predisposed to like us because we’re… basically the Chaos God’s sentient dandruff flakes?
Can that be a thing? Please?
Megatron being all “I find myself strangely fond of you revolting little pests” while Optimus is all “freedom is the right of all sentient beings, freedom is the right of all sentient beings, freedom is the–PRIMUS DAMN IT IF YOU LITTLE DUST MITES SNEEZE ON MY DASHBOARD ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME”
Cybertronian Database 