Great Upgrade

Post-Great Upgrade Maximals visit the pre-Great Upgrade Autobot city of Iacon.

The so-named "Great Upgrade" refers to the planetwide restructuring of the societal, geographical, and biological properties of the Planet Cybertron and its people, following the end of the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons. It involved the rise to prominence of the Maximals and Predacons, the diminutive descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons. As these smaller and more energy-efficient Cybertronians came into power, they essentially replaced their ancestral predecessors as the planet's new dominant peoples. This, in turn, led to a mass downsizing of nearly the entire population, complete with a full overhaul of the planet's surface to better suit the smaller scale of Cybertron's new main inhabitants.

Fiction

Beast Wars cartoon

The Great War had ended with the Autobots defeating the Decepticons, Possession The Agenda (Part III) leading to an unstable peace known as the Pax Cybertronia. The Agenda (Part 1) In time, the Autobots' descendants, the Maximals, came to be the new ruling power on Cybertron, with the Decepticons' descendants, the Predacons, subservient to the Maximal government—a direct consequence of the Autobots' victory over the Decepticons. The Agenda (Part III) Despite this disadvantage, the Predacon Alliance was allowed its own government, the Tripredacus Council, The Agenda (Part 1) who still had to cooperate with the Maximals' government, The Agenda (Part 2) the democratically elected High Council of Maximal Elders. Chain of Command Possession Deep Metal Though, the Predacons also maintained their own degree of law and order through a secret police. The Agenda (Part 2)

With this planetary change from Autobot and Decepticon to Maximal and Predacon also came great physiological advancements to Cybertron's inhabitants. Significantly smaller in size, even the largest Maximals and Predacons were positively dwarfed by such Autobots of old as Optimus Prime. The Agenda (Part III) They were also born from protoform technology given life by the implantation of a spark. The Spark Each Maximal and Predacon even possessed an onboard computer that typically required the use of activation codes to transform from one mode to the other. Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1) They also developed DNA-scanning technology that enabled their bodies to assume organic beast modes based on the fauna of alien worlds, Beast Wars (Part 1) in contrast to the purely mechanical forms of their Autobot and Decepticon ancestors. The Agenda (Part III)

Beast Machines cartoon

Cybertron's population centers were radically overhauled during the changeover from Autobot to Maximal. New cities scaled down to the smaller size of the Maximals were built over the larger Autobot cities of old. The Autobot city of Iacon, for example, was replaced by the city of Cybertropolis as the planet's new capital. Master of the House Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search In said capital, the Council of Elders governed the planet from within the Council Citadel. Master of the House

During the Spark War, the Maximals Optimus Primal and Nightscream paid a visit to the ruins of Iacon, where Optimus mentioned the city's replacement by Cybertropolis back during "the great upgrade from Autobot to Maximal." Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search

3H comics

Three centuries after the destruction of Unicron, Departure Cybertron's society had been restructured into Maximal and Predacon castes, Covenant with most of the population reborn as one or the other. With the new Maximal government came new forms of law and order. The Imperial Peace Marshals were formed to publicly maintain planetary peace, while a new Maximal version of the Autobot's old Wreckers strike team was recommissioned to serve not only as a last resort the High Council hoped to never have need of in open warfare, Departure but also as the Maximals' own kind of secret police during this fragile peace. The Wreckers #3 Apelinq profile On the flipside, the Council also established a Research Cooperative in one of Cybertron's private sectors, which brought the best and brightest Maximals and Predacons to work together for the pursuit of scientific advancement. The Wreckers #3 Apelinq profile BotCon Online Cryotek profile The Wreckers: Finale Part 1

The conversion process that enabled Autobots to physically become Maximals was known as the Maximal Upgrade Program. It involved a complete bio-tech overhaul that not only downsized one's exostructure for ten times more fuel efficiency, but also unlocked and magnified their latent abilities. Several months after the Pax Cybertronia, the Autobots Rodimus, Springer, and Arcee each underwent the Maximal Upgrade. Departure

Fun Publications comics

The first Maximals and Predacons came online near the end of the Great War, serving alongside the Autobots and Decepticons in the waning years of the war. TCC website Max Cops Cryotek profile TCC magazine #13 The Max-Cops Switchblade profile During this time, so too did the Maximal upgrade first come about, The Razor's Edge with the Maximal 9K being one of the first in a line of transitionary models bridging the design gap between Autobot and Maximal. TCC magazine #13 The Max-Cops 9K profile The Autobot High Beam was among those who ultimately underwent the Maximal upgrade. TCC magazine #14 The Max-Cops High Beam profile Maximal and Predacon protoforms were forged in facilities known as the Matrix and the Pit, whereat their bodies were infused with Sparks in a sacred (yet rarely-witnessed) ritual. The Razor's Edge

After the Great War, the Maximals rose to power TCC website Max Cops Cryotek profile and established their own political nation, the Maximal Imperium. BotCon 2005 Darksyde Dinobot toy bio BotCon 2006 Unit 2 (Tigatron) toy bio Timelines #1 Megatron profile TCC Chromia 10 Pilot (Airazor) toy bio The Razor's Edge Initially, this new society was supported by such Autobot organizations as Autobot Intelligence, Descent into Evil The Razor's Edge while Maximal law was enforced by the Maximal Command Security Force. BotCon 2006 Unit 2 (Tigatron) toy bio The Predacons, however, did not fully take this new peace lying down. Under the leadership of Razorclaw, the Predacons formed their own army as the "Predacon Empire", BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio and waged several wars against the Maximals and Autobots. The Razor's Edge Likewise, some Decepticons became restless in their retirement, BotCon 2006 Laserbeak toy bio and joined up with the Predacon Army The Razor's Edge in a "Decepticon/Predacon Alliance". BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus toy bio This climaxed in a final "Great War" The Razor's Edge that saw Razorclaw assassinated by the Tripredacus Council. BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio After the Decepticons bowed out of the war, the Predacons were left to fight a now hopeless war by themselves. When their last efforts failed, the Tripredacus Council was ultimately left with little choice but to surrender to the Maximals and Autobots. The Razor's Edge

A set of temporary peace accords were drawn up until the formal Pax Cybertronia could be drafted and signed by the Maximal Elders and the Tripredacus Council. In time, the Predacon Empire was restructured into the Predacon Alliance. Despite this, several small insurgent groups attempted to break up this peace, The Razor's Edge but the Maximal Imperium deployed several squadrons to deal with these rogue factions. TCC Chromia 10 Pilot (Airazor) toy bio

2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity

The transition of Autobot and Decepticon to Maximal and Predacon dated back to the year 2035, in the final days of the Great War. Three Decepticon generals—Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ram Horn—had developed a substance called transmatter for the purpose of reformatting Cybertron's population into a new state of being. They experimented on some of their fellow Decepticons as test subjects, who were evolved into the first of a new generation of Cybertronians. Aiming to do the same to Cybertron's entire population, the generals launched a transmatter bomb from Unicron's lifeless orbiting head. However, their efforts were partially thwarted by the Autobots, and only a portion of the population was affected. Nonetheless, those affected were instantly transformed into liquid metal entities Dawn of the Predacus called "protoforms". The Hot Rod

After the Great War ended, Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (1) entry resources became critically scarce. Protoform technology rose to prominence, thanks in part to its fuel-efficiency in producing smaller-sized Transformers. Beast Wars Glossary: Protoforms/Stasis Pods entry Facilities named "the Matrix" and "the Pit" began producing protoforms and joining them with lifeforces called "Sparks", birthing more of the newest generation of Cybertronians: the Maximals and Predacons. Beast Wars Glossary: Matrix (4) entry Beast Wars Glossary: The Pit entry Autobots and Decepticons could also downsize into Maximals and Predacons, with Autobots undergoing reconfiguration ceremonies for their Maximal upgrades. The Hot Rod Over time, more and more layers of the planetary strata were constructed to better suit the mass downsizing of the population. Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (1) entry

Following the death of Optimus Prime, Autobot leadership was restructured into the Primal Council. But after the Great War, this group was succeeded by three of its members Dawn of the Predacus downsizing into protoform bodies and becoming the Maximal Elders, Beast Wars Glossary: Maximal Elders entry who governed the Maximal Imperium. The Ascending #2 In a show of greater unity after the Great War, some Autobots and Maximals took to calling themselves "Cybertrons", intended to put the factional divisions of the past behind them. Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (2) entry However, the Predacons eventually started a new "Great War" of their own, Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (2) entry raising an army Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Halfshell profile under the banner of the "Predacon Empire". Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Scorponok profile Though this war lasted for dozens of stellar cycles, Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Stinkbomb profile and spread to multiple other worlds, Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Terragator profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Galvatron profile Beast Wars Glossary: Gaea entry it was relatively short-lived Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (2) entry and ended with the Predacons surrendering to the Maximals. Beast Wars Glossary: Destron entry

The war formally ended with the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (2) entry signed by the Maximal Imperium Beast Wars Glossary: Pax Cybertronia entry and the remaining factions of the defeated Predacons. After which, the Predacons formed the Predacon Alliance, headed by the Tri-Predacus Council. Beast Wars Glossary: Tri-Predacus Council entry Despite this loss, a dissident underground movement was formed by several former Predacon generals to oppose the Pax Cybertronia and destroy the Maximal Imperium. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Megatron profile On the flipside, a bi-partate Committee for State Affairs was formed between the Maximals and Predacons to carry out day-to-day operations of government, allowing the Maximal Elders to fade into the background of public affairs. Beast Wars Glossary: Maximal Elders entry A top secret The Ascending #4 special ops unit of the Maximals, known as "the Pack", was also formed under Lio Convoy. The Gathering #1 The use of "Cybertron" as a term for unity also fell out of fashion, but occasionally remained as an alternative to "Cybertronian". Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (2) entry

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

The innovation of Pretender technology showed promise for several future developments. Pretender shells possessed the abilities to imitate the biology of organic lifeforms, shrink down to the size of Earth humans, and (in some cases) even transform and combine with their inner host Transformer. Some shells even possessed a special regenerative nano-technology. All of these qualities led Cybertronian scientists to suspect it would be possible to create a more energy-efficient kind of Cybertronian, capable of transforming into biological altmodes that would be externally indistinguishable from organic lifeforms, which could prove useful for exploratory missions on other planets. Of course, it would take several vorns for such developments (and more) to come about. More than Meets the Eye #8

After the Great Wars between the Autobots and Decepticons finally ended, peace settled across Cybertron. The smaller and more energy-efficient Maximals and Predacons came about to join their more powerful ancestors in Cybertronian society. Though the Maximals and Predacons had their differences, they agreed to a truce and peaceful coexistence. Ain't No Rat

Wings Universe

When Cybertron entered its second Golden Age, the Decepticon leaders Galvatron and Scorponok were exiled from the planet. The Transformers Menagerie issue 5 While those two took the fight with the Autobots to Nebulos and other worlds, Generation 2: Redux the Predacons were among the few Decepticons left behind on Cybertron. In the absence of any other Decepticon authority figures, Predacon leader Razorclaw took command of the planet's remaining Decepticons. The Transformers Menagerie issue 5

By the year 2013, the Pax Cybertronia was signed by representatives of the Autobots, Decepticons, Earth-born Transformers, and Jhiaxus's clone army, officially ending all conflict between each party. By this point, however, Razorclaw and his Predacons had struck out on their own and were joined by the Sharkticon commander Sky-Byte. Having raided one of Jhiaxus's labs, Sky-Byte salvaged several stasis pods containing newborn Transformers, enough to let the new Predacon faction start building its own army. A Common Foe Over time, all remaining Decepticon forces were marshaled under a new banner, with more and more Decepticons evolving into Predacons.

Chief Autobot Science Officer Perceptor reasoned that the Decepticons' access to Micromaster technology could lead to future generations of Predacons being smaller and more energy-efficient. He also deduced that altmodes based on organic life would hold much potential for the future of the Transformers race as a whole, what with the advantages brought on by such organic-based technologies as Headmasters, Targetmasters, Powermasters, and Pretenders, as well as beast modes in general. Perceptor suspected that Razorclaw and his Predacons would probably pursue such advantages, but also noted how most Autobots seemed reluctant to follow suit. Though, a faction of Autobots led by Fortress Maximus were very open to the implementation of organic-based technology, leading Perceptor to postulate that the future may very well lie in the hands of Maximus's followers. The Transformers Menagerie issue 5

Legends comic

The birth of the first Maximals and Predacons dated back to the finalized end of the long civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons, in the year 2039. When the Powered Masters arrived on Planet Zone to implement their plans to recreate the destroyed Legends World, they were startled to meet a new offshoot of Micromaster that had been created from Protoform capsules infused with Beast Power, a kind of energy originally from Planet Beast. These new "Beast Warriors" possessed the ability to adopt alternate modes scanned from organic life. Wheeljack observed their creation and presented them with new insignia as proof that the future cannot be changed, for he knew of the role that their descendants would play in both the past and the future. Epiloge

Notes

• Across the Beast Wars and Beast Machines animated series, the existence of "the great upgrade from Autobot to Maximal" was only ever mentioned once, in an exchange between Optimus Primal and Nightscream (quoted at the top of the article) in the 2000 Beast Machines episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search". Later, the "Great Upgrade" was briefly mentioned again in two entries of the Glossary section first printed in the 2008 trade paperback release of the Beast Wars Sourcebook. However, since all three instances were mentioned only in passing, what exactly the "Great Upgrade" entailed was left completely vague and ambiguous. As such, the contents of this page had to be inferred from what all else was known, in each continuity, about the changes made to Cybertron, its people, and their societies during the transitional period in which the Autobots and Decepticons were ultimately replaced by the Maximals and Predacons.
• A common fan conception has been that the "Great Upgrade" referred to the idea of Autobots and Decepticons undergoing a downsizing process to be physically remade into Maximals and Predacons, and that virtually the entire population of Cybertron had undergone this change for the sake of increased energy efficiency. This idea stems from a few disparate sources having been consolidated together during the Beast Era:
  • When the Beast Wars toyline first began in 1996, fans were quick to notice that the villains of the line were called "Predacons", sharing the same name as the animal-based Decepticon subgroup of the original Transformers franchise of the 1980s. When the Beast Wars cartoon episode "Possession" came along and first declared the Autobots and Decepticons of old to be the ancient ancestors of the Maximals and Predacons, many fans began to wonder if there might be in an in-universe connection between the two groups of Predacons, like if the Generation 1 Predacons might have been the original founders of the Beast Wars faction (a notion that some later-made tie-in media for Beast Wars would strongly imply, but only because of these very fan theories).
  • The 1997 Beast Wars Maximal Grimlock toy was given a bio that revealed he was the very same Autobot Grimlock of old, but never actually explained how he went from being an Autobot to a Maximal. The early Beast Wars toyline originally treated the Maximals and Predacons merely as Autobots and Decepticons upgraded with "Bio-Genetic Engineering", complete with Optimus Primal and Megatron simply being Optimus Prime and G1 Megatron in new forms. But that was before the cartoon came along and completely changed things up to instead make the Maximals and Predacons the distant descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons. Grimlock's bio was likely written with the toyline's original concept in mind, but the notion of an Autobot becoming a Maximal was nonetheless stuck in the minds of many a fan.
  • The 1998 Beast Wars episode "The Agenda (Part 1)" revealed that the Decepticon Ravage had been "reprogrammed and rebuilt as a Predacon." This was the first (and only) instance of such a reconstruction process being confirmed to exist within the show's universe. However, it was spoken of (by Optimus Primal) as something known only as a rumor, and which only Ravage had undergone, implying it had been conducted in secret and was not a common procedure on Cybertron (a notion that most of the fandom seemingly did not take into account). When asked directly if any other Decepticons besides Ravage had undergone the same Decepticon-to-Predacon upgrade, Bob Forward's answer was "Probably not."^[1]
  • Two episodes later, "The Agenda (Part III)" showed the first real size comparison between the Beast Wars cast and their Generation 1 ancestors, confirming that Maximals and Predacons were practically human-sized compared to their giant-sized predecessors.^[2] Upon entering the Ark in this episode, Megatron referred to the Autobots and Decepticons as "archaic energon guzzlers", as if to suggest that the 'Bots and 'Cons of old were far less energy-efficient than the Maximals and Predacons. This, in turn, drew comparisons by fans to how the Micromasters of late-G1 had been presented in Marvel's Generation 1 comics as once-large Transformers who had physically downsized to smaller-scaled bodies for better fuel efficiency, which led to further speculation about whether the Micromasters might possibly have been the missing link between the larger Autobots and Decepticons and the tinier Maximals and Predacons.
  • The Simon Furman-penned BotCon 1999 prose story "Schism" seemed to all but confirm the downsizing theory by strongly implying that the Maximal known simply as "The Veteran" had once been an Autobot who fought alongside Optimus Prime during the Great War, and had since "changed his appearance, name and basic body structure so many times, in the process downscaling to a more energy-efficient size." Over the next several years, additional Beast Wars tie-in media from 3H Productions, Fun Publications, and IDW Publishing (and even Furman's two apocryphal stories from Transforce 2000–2002) would all follow suit by citing many more explicit examples of Autobots and Decepticons downsizing to become Maximals and Predacons.
  • By the time the aforementioned Beast Machines episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search" first aired in 2000, and first mentioned the "great upgrade from Autobot to Maximal", fans latched onto the term "Great Upgrade" and applied it to the then-growing conception that had long been set in motion. And yet, despite all of this, the name "Great Upgrade" has never actually been used directly and specifically to refer to such a downsizing process: In two of the aforementioned Beast Wars tie-in media—The Wreckers #1 and "The Razor's Edge"—the names Maximal Upgrade Program and simply Maximal Upgrade were used instead. Plus, the two brief mentions of the "Great Upgrade" in the Beast Wars Sourcebook stated it was an upgrade that Cybertron, the planet, had undergone, rather than its people (which actually sounds closer to what was probably intended by the original line of dialogue in the Beast Machines episode).

Consequently, we are left with a situation where the name "Great Upgrade" is viewed as not solely referring to changes made strictly to Cybertron's surface and societies due to the Maximals and Predacons replacing the Autobots and Decepticons as the planet's new primary inhabitants, but as also referring to a widespread downsizing process that likely wasn't even supposed to have ever been a thing to begin with, all because of a snowball effect begot by exponential theorizing in the early online fandom.

• Nightscream's statement about Iacon having been lost "eons ago" after the Great War is a bit at odds with Blackarachnia's original statement in the Beast Wars episode "Dark Designs" about the Great War itself having been a mere "three centuries ago", but does actually better fit the spirit of how far removed from their ancient ancestors the Maximals and Predacons were supposed to be (see here for more).
• Though both Beast Wars: Uprising and the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon saw Maximals and Predacons come to exist on a future Cybertron, in direct homage to the Beast Wars cartoon, there was seemingly no event comparable to the Great Upgrade in either of those two continuities:
  • In Uprising, the Maximals and Predacons initially came about as proxies to continue the Autobot/Decepticon war while those two factions became the "Builders of Cybertron", but the smaller "Proto-formers" (as Uprising called them) didn't fully replace the Builders as Cybertron's main inhabitants, since many of the Builders continued to exist as Micromasters. Likewise, Cybertron's surface wasn't completely rebuilt to accommodate the smaller size of the Proto-formers and Micromasters; only some of its cities (notably Micropolis) were built to their scale.
  • In the War for Cybertron Trilogy's third season, Kingdom, the Maximals and Predacons were the same size as their Autobot and Decepticon ancestors, rather than smaller-scaled Transformers, so there was no need for Cybertron to be altered to a new scale.
• While protoforms are depicted in most of the above fictions as an innovation exclusive to Maximals and Predacons that first came about after or near the end of the Great War (and thus helped to kick off the Great Upgrade), both the Dreamwave Generation One comics and, apparently, the Wings Universe are exceptions to this:
  • In Dreamwave, protoforms are the standard base form of all Cybertronian life, meaning Autobots and Decepticons (in addition to Maximals and Predacons) begin life as protoforms too, as established in War and Peace #6 and More than Meets the Eye #8 (see the Protoform article for more).
  • In the Wing Universe, Around Cybertron #9 mentioned protoform technology as existing near the beginning of the Great War, roughly 9 million years ago. Though, what exactly that meant wasn't explained since the mention was more of a cheeky reference than anything substantial.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Maximal Upgrade (マクシマル・アップグレード Makushimaru Appugurēdo)^[3]

References

See also

• Quantum Cycle Upgrade
• Great Transformation
• Beast Upgrade