Well, it's about time I got a chance to post something. :D
Been getting bored of the cel shading a bit and wanted to play around with some heavy blacks, so this commission was the guinea pig. Hope you guys like!
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/59168392/See below for the bio submitted by the creator:
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DAMOCLESTimeline: Gen 1, Millions of years before the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons began.
BIO:His original name, and form, is unknown, but he is rumoured to be among one of the earliest Transformers ever created. His strength and courage in combat during Cybertron's initial Territorial Wars* was legendary, but was also a kind and charismatic being who inspired his fellow Transformers both on and off the field of battle. 'Damocles'
became the first elected ruler of the Citystate of Tescora (later to be renamed Kaon), and presided over his territory for many thousands of Vorns. News of his deeds and strength of character spread throughout the surrounding sectors, and may of the smaller nomad groups of Transformers, who had yet to find suitable territory of their own, started to make their way towards the flourishing Citystate. Most of them sought asylum, wanting to start a new life there, but there were also a number of 'rogue clans' - some rumoured to be sent from other Citystates - who had more sinister intentions. These clans however, were often small in size and were easily defeated. Even when faced with larger enemy forces, such was the influence that 'Damocles' possessed, he could muster up a huge army with which to repel any adversary. And every time Tescora defended it's borders, 'Damocles' was there, spearheading it's forces, inspiring his troops above and beyond what they thought was possible.
Soon, word of these magnificent feats of courage and dedication to his citizens caught the audio sensors of Iacon's Council of Elders. Hearing of these feats, the Council sent an invitation to 'Damocles', requesting him to travel to Iacon to meet with them. 'Damocles' accepted the invitation and travelled to Iacon...
Chamber of the Elders
"He must not know our plans for him."
"Even if he were to learn of our plans, there is still a good chance he would submit to our wishes. If he wasn't so devoted to ruling Tescora he'd be sitting here beside us."
"True, such is the respect he has earned from his people. But even so, he is a Cybertronian of honour, and as such would never go along with a plan that would see some Cybertronians become more powerful than others."
"Which is why he must never know our true intentions. We do not know if this will even work. If it doesn't, Tescora will find itself a new leader. If it does, we will use the same energy to increase our own power. Together, he will be no threat to us."
"But how will we get him to undertake this? We simply cannot ask him to submit to an experiment!"
"Which is why we shall offer the power to him as a gift, a gift of power from the Elders of Cybertron. We shall tell him that there are dark times ahead and that this power will ensure he will be able to protect Tescora and it's citizens."
"Very well. Summon him to this chamber in three solar cycles."
Kaon
He stared at the blank screen, the message had been received. The Elders had summoned him to their chambers. There, they would bestow upon him a great power to combat a coming darkness, but also to honour him for his dedication to Tescora.
The honour didn't matter to him. He never sought praise for his leadership, he did what he did because he wanted the best for his people.
But this coming darkness disturbed him. He himself had begun to feel something reaching out to him. He did not know what it was, but it was evil, pure evil, and he would not allow any harm to come to Tescora or it's citizens.
Chamber of the Elders - three solar cycles later
"You understand that this power we are about to bestow upon you has never been bestowed upon any Cybertronian before. That you are the first to receive this honour and you receive it to help combat the coming darkness."
He stared up at the Elders, sitting on their dais, looking down upon him.
"I do" he said, stepping forward into a ring slightly recessed into the ground.
From beneath him a bright light exploded all around, enveloping him in a vortex. The energy began to seep into his chassis.
The Elders watched as Tescora's ruler was engulfed. They could scarcely make him out such was the energy's brightness. But they could see enough, they could see him growing in size.
Inside the light, the energy was infusing in every single one of his systems, but without warning the light was gone ... replaced with images. He saw Kaon in ruins, Cybertronians fighting Cybertronians, and deep within himself he could feel the darkness touching him, and as it did he saw the darkness for what it was, a giant planet. He watched as it travelled through the universe, devouring other planets. He could feel it, the darkness was alive, intent on destroying the universe. Intent, on destroying Cybertron.
Suddenly the light returned and he felt the energy infusing in him again. This was the coming darkness the Elders had warned him about, the darkness that had touched him, wanting him to join it in it's path of destruction.
Again without warning the light disappeared. This time he stared directly at the Elders, not up at them, but directly at them. He had grown, in size and power. He felt the power coursing through him, he felt it, like the darkness, trying to take control of him.
The Elders were speaking, but he was not listening, he was too busy fighting an internal battle.
"How do you feel." an Elder asked.
There was no response. Kaon's ruler didn't move.
"This was obviously a failure. No Cybertronian is obviously meant to be infused with the power of the Matrix."
"We do not know what the Matrix is for, whether it's meant to infuse a being with power or to simply guide us in battle against the darkness. We cannot call this a failure, he may simply not have been the powerful Cybertronian we thought he was."
"Then we find another. We find what it takes to infuse ourselves with this energy so we can rule Cybertron forever"
Inside of him, the battle continued, he was quickly gaining control of the energy, incorporating it into his systems until the battle subsided and he had regained control to hear the Elder talk of ruling Cybertron themselves.
"You are fools" he said. "You will never control Cybertron. The darkness comes from within as well as from outside. I have seen the coming storm, Cybertron will be torn apart before the outside darkness arrives to engulf us all. And you... so-called Elders, have been blinded by your own desire for power to see that."
The Elders looked on in shock as a sword formed itself in his hand.
"We are the Elders, we have been since the beginning. You have no idea of the knowledge we possess, we know what's coming and only we can lead Cybertron through the internal darkness to counter the external darkness."
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" he roared. "You seek power only for yourselves. The darkness tried to touch me, it tried to control me. It failed, but I learned from it. It opened my optics, I can see the darkness already entwining around all of you, it has already touched you and is already controlling you."
"We cannot defeat the oncoming darkness, we can only embrace it." one of the Elders said.
"The darkness is evil, you, are evil. I once swore I would never take the life of a fellow Cybertronian, I considered it an act of evil, but if becoming evil myself is what it takes to defeat evil, then... SO BE IT!"
With that, he lunged forward, his sword cleaving through an Elder. He reached out and grabbed another, tearing the Elder's head off.
Within a number of breems the slaughter was over. Some Elders had tried to fight back, but to no avail, he had become far too strong.
He had been touched by darkness and by light, he had seen the future, what was before would never be the same again.
He would do whatever was necessary to ensure the darkness would never engulf Cybertron. No one would get in his way. He would embrace evil to defeat it, such was the resolve of Damocles...
'Damocles' was last seen entering the ancient tunnels and catacombs deep beneath the surface of Cybertron. What vision did he see? What was he searching for? Did he ever find it? To this day, no Transformer knows the true answer to these questions, and, should 'Damocles' ever resurface, will he stand with them... or destroy them???
Note: The name Damocles was coined by Bluestreak while he was reading this story in the Ark's data library. When asked by Perceptor why he chose that particular name, he said:
"Well... he's an evil dude with a hugeass sword, isn't he?"
Human mythology wasn't exactly one of Bluestreak's strong points, and if Perceptor had an eyebrow, he would have surely raised it. Despite that though, the name stuck, and 'Damocles' has been known as such ever since...
*One of the earliest known conflicts where numerous small groups of Transformers battled for key areas of Cybertron (mostly energon-rich areas) where they could construct their own cities
ABILITIES:With the raw, barely contained Matrix energy fuelling his circuits, his strength is unrivalled by all similar sized Transformers bar Galvatron, and even then it's debatable. Roughly 40ft in height, he stands between Optimus Prime and the smaller Gestalts in scale. He carries a huge solid sword, which itself is 30ft in length, and it's blade is rumoured to be unbreakable, even at molecular level. This blade can cut though any known Transformer armour, even the fabled Electrum has a tough time against it. Damocles has tremendous endurance, and the Matrix energy automatically 'heals' any open wounds to his armour. Due to his increased size, his agility and speed have dropped, but he still isn't what you would call slow. Despite his lapse into insanity, he is still quite intelligent, but relies purely on base instinct in combat, as opposed to optimised strategy. Damocles has no ranged weapon, preferring to use his blade. His altmode is an armoured truck, capable of a maximum Earth speed of 120mph, but his acceleration is poor.
WEAKNESSES:Damocles has one critical weakness... the Matrix energy itself. The energy itself is so unstable, that frequent ';power spikes' can seriously disrupt his systems, and massive spikes can cripple him, or even deactivate him. Transforming also causes him considerable pain. Damocles 'self healing armour' doesn't repair very quickly and he can be seriously hurt If hit in the same area multiple times. His fabled sword has no energo beam capability, and is largely ineffective against forcefields.
TECH SPECS:
STRENGTH: >10
INTELLIGENCE: 7
SPEED: 6
ENDURANCE: <1 to 10< depending on Matrix energy state.
RANK: 9
COURAGE: 10
FIREPOWER: 0
SKILL: 10
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
