Herald of Unicron

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The name or term "Herald" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Herald (disambiguation).

"Herald of Unicron" originated as a fan term for Transformers who serve or have been reformatted by Unicron. It was used in much the same way as shellformer or as Seeker used to be; and like "seeker" has since graduated to admittedly rare usage in official sources. Despite its official rarity, fanfictions are rife with it making it part of the greater fanon. It most likely originates from the term "Herald of Galactus" from various Marvel Comics given the similarities between Unicron and Galactus.

The term's first canonical use was in the Fun Publications magazine comic "Balancing Act" where Ramjet refers to himself specifically as the "Herald of Unicron". Later, IDW used the term in Beast Wars II Galvatron's Beast Wars Sourcebook biography.

What is a "Herald"?

While many characters are Unicron-related not all are generally thought of as "Heralds". While the term originated in fandom it nevertheless has some boundaries. For example, Galvatron was rebuilt to serve Unicron and lead his "armada" of rebuilt Transformers which included Cyclonus, Scourge an indeterminate number of Sweeps and sometimes that/those other guy(s). All these characters are sometimes called "Heralds" even though Galvatron wasn't always loyal. On the other hand, Starscream is not considered a "Herald" due to his complete lack of loyalty. Starscream never intended to fully serve Unicron and abandoned the Planet-Eater after getting his reward. Ghost in the Machine

Another, more appropriate example would be Sideways and Megatronus/The Fallen. Both are almost universally considered Heralds of Unicron among fans for the same reason the Silver Surfer was considered a Herald of Galactus; their appearance actually signified the appearance of the Chaos-Bringer as they were trying to bring him back into existence or they even continued his agenda after his apparent destruction(s). Sideways wanted to lead Unicron to the Transformers and destroy Cybertron while The Fallen was attempting to free the Planet-Eater from his extradimensional prison. Hook, Line, and Sinker served a similar purpose as their arrival at a particular world meant the Chaos-Bringer would arrive to devour everything.

In the Aligned continuity family encompassed by the Uniend Cluster various beings were shown in Unicron's service: examples included Thunderwing, who only appeared in the tie-in game to Prime, Prime - The Game the anti-bots defending Unicron's core from the Autobots and Megatron One Shall Rise, Part 3 and the latter himself was destined to become a Herald the moment he first stuffed Unicron's pure essence into his very own spark. Also, the Terrorcon zombies and any other Cybertronians resurrected or infected via the same substance could be considered to have been potentially carrying out the actions of Unicron. War for Cybertron (console) Darkness Rising, Part 2 Darkness Rising, Part 3 Shadowzone Thirst Predacons Rising Also, Trypticon was given life through these means, and the material was also used to replenish his damaged and now mode-locked form as the starship Nemesis despite this actually bringing his dormant mind back online and out of stasis lock.

Insignia

SHOUT AT THE DEVIL!

The insignia of the Beast Wars Neo faction the Blentrons has been repurposed to represent the "Heralds". Initially a fan convention based on the Blentron origins and the general look of the symbol, the glyph has since entered official usage; Overcharge's sticker sheet identifies the sigil as belonging to "Unicron's Herald"; Transformers: The Ark used it to represent Unicron (though not Galvatron, Cyclonus or Scourge); the mark adorned the Kiss Players Sparkbots after their allegiance to Unicron is revealed. The Blentron insignia colored yellow is also the symbol used for Unicron-related characters on this wiki.

Gee, talk about split sides here, huh?

Alternatively, the Mini-Cons' logo has been used on the Japanese toy packaging and toyline website of Armada as Unicron's insignia and was further built on in Energon during his one-and-only transformation sequence (though it was the half-red/half-blue version of the logo that was used instead of the standard teal blue version). This is complemented by the M shaped frame around his face/helmet which is nearly identical and the border bears a resemblance to his orbital ring in planet mode. This was meant to hint at a connection between the Mini-Cons and Unicron before their origin was revealed (like, two episodes later).

A third faction symbol was also used for the Dreamwave More Than Meets The Eye profile book for Armada. It appears as an effigy of Unicron in planet mode.

Known "Heralds of Unicron"

Following is a short list of characters from various continuities that served Unicron, whether by free choice or by having their will stripped off of them like a banana peel and may thus be considered "Heralds":

Notes

Kid Rhino tried to coin their own term for Generation 1 heralds with the release of The Transformers: the Movie VHS and DVD in 2000. The summary on the back of the cases identified Galvatron, Cyclonus and the Sweeps as the "Unicrons". (No, really.)

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Herald of Unicron

From Transformers Wiki

Contents

What is a "Herald"?

Insignia

Known "Heralds of Unicron"

Notes

See also

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