Galen
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Nebulan. For the human, see Galen Witwicky. |
- Galen is an Autobot-allied Nebulan Headmaster from the Marvel portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Galen (aka Kord) is a member of Nebulos's supreme ruling body, the Council of Peers. Within the Council, he leads the World Watchers as a caretaker of the planet's ten thousand years of peace. Keeping this peace is an obligation Galen holds above all others, even above the love he shares with Llyra. Indeed, it is for this integrity that Llyra loves him.
Llyra is the daughter of Lord Zarak, a senior member of the Council of Peers, with whom Galen frequently disagrees. Galen is friends with Duros, the commander of the Council's security force. Both Galen and Duros are committed to peace no matter the cost.
This resolve would be tested when the Transformers arrived on their homeworld.
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Fiction
Marvel The Transformers comics
During a meeting of the Council of Peers concerning Fortress Maximus's band of Autobot refugees and their apparent attack on Gort, Galen supported giving them a chance to explain themselves, in opposition to Zarak's paranoid desire to destroy what he saw as a potential threat. Galen's passionate plea for peace convinced the Council to agree, but Zarak still had reservations. Galen was present to see Blurr act as an envoy for the Autobots, and his apparent attack on the Nebulan crowd. This was in actuality a manipulation by Zarak to increase fear of the giant robots. Seemingly convinced of the ill will of the Autobots, Galen went to the Arvassian Range of mountains, to free the weapons of war stored there. With them, Galen led an attack on the Autobots, which made them retreat further into the wilderness.
At Koraja, Galen felt guilt at his lack of trust, despite Zarak's admiration. Soon, the Autobots approached the city, showing that they disarmed themselves. When this was not enough, a select few removed their heads, as part of an agreement and to show how dedicated to peace they were. Regardless of Zarak's raving for the Nebulans to destroy the robots, Galen was convinced of their good intentions and did not desire for ten millennia of peace to end. Ring of Hate! Doomsday for Nebulos Galen's decision proved unpopular when a Nebulan riot (in reality paid by Grax at the behest of Zarak) protesting the robot presence began in Koraja. When a fight broke out in the middle of the riot, Galen jumped to the rescue, but was punched in the face for his troubles. Troubled by the Nebulans' apparent anger against him, Galen spoke with Fortress Maximus's head, who told him to do whatever was necessary to protect the peace. At another meeting of the Council, Galen again spoke in favor of averting an all-out war, and his side was supported by the appearance of Gort, who clarified that the "attack" on him was an accident. Zarak conceded his point, for the time being. With him, Galen was part of an envoy to the Autobots, hoping to reach a mutual understanding.
The next day, the Decepticons arrived on Nebulos, after being summoned by Zarak. Galen witnessed their arrival to Koraja and pleaded with the Autobot heads for assistance. To keep their "deal", a few Nebulans decided to become "Headmasters". Despite Llyra's protests, Galen became the fifth volunteer, the head of Fortress Maximus himself. With their binary bonded abilities, the Autobot Headmasters easily defeated Scorponok and his forces. To alleviate the fear of the Nebulans, the Headmasters revealed their identity as Nebulans. However, Llyra was disappointed that the peaceful man she loved willingly became a weapon of war. Broken Glass! Worlds Apart! Stylor's Story
Soon, Peer Soriza became concerned of the risk involved with the Autobots and led a required delegation to observe the Headmasters on all missions. Galen, a man of law, was forced to accede to her request. Llyra, still cold at Galen, then came with a message from Zarak pleading Galen to save him from the Decepticons. The rescue turned out to be a trap, as Zarak and his cohorts had become Headmasters for the Decepticons. Though both factions were roughly evenly matched, the Decepticons gained the upper hand when they imperiled the Council delegates who had followed Galen's forces to the battlefield. While the Autobots were preoccupied with rescuing the civilians, the Decepticons outflanked them and cut them down with a barrage of laser fire. Worse still, thanks to Mindwipe's hypnotic powers, the Council members were made to believe that Galen and his allies were the villainous ones, while Scorponok's forces had acted altruistically. Love and Steel! Taken prisoner, Galen and his comrades were then strung up in a macro-restraining harness. As such, Galen had some words with Zarak, informing him that his hunger for power would spell doom for Nebulos. After the destruction of the Nursery, Zarak realized the truth of Galen's words and freed him in a fit of lucidity. Brothers in Armor!!
For a time, Fortress Maximus resumed using his original head, allowing him to function while Kord attended to other tasks. After Highbrow pinpointed Earth's location with the Autobots' astronomy computer, Maximus and Kord rejoined to debate whether they should leave Nebulos behind and continue the war on this new world. As they wandered outside, lost in thought, they were approached by Scorponok and his Decepticons, who proposed a means to end the war immediately; the two faction leaders would duel to the death, and whoever emerged victorious would likewise be declared triumphant in the greater conflict. Fortress Maximus accepted, and the duel commenced forthwith. The Autobot found himself at a disadvantage until Kord transformed from his head mode, and blinded Scorponok with two blasts from his pistol. However, this constituted as cheating according to the rules Scorponok had established beforehand, and the audience Decepticons opened fire, prompting the other Autobots to respond in kind. It turned out to matter little, as the whole set-up was nothing more than a distraction the Decepticons used to steal a fuel convertor. With it, they could themselves travel to Earth. Kord and the Autobots were forced to follow their enemies off-world. The Final Conflict
Upon rejoining the Autobots, Galen decided for the Autobots to travel to Earth, to answer a distress call from the Autobots there and spare Nebulos of the war. After parting words with Llyra meant to break any remaining mutual feelings, Galen left with the Autobots in the Steelhaven with the Decepticons following. Brothers in Armor!!
En route to Earth, Galen helped create the Cerebros component of his binary-bond system with Fortress Maximus and led an initiative to increase Maximus's size and capabilities. On Earth, Galen's primary concern was the distress call, not the safety of the natives, which did not garner him widespread approval. As part of Fortress Maximus, he led an investigation into the former site of the Ark, where he found Spike Witwicky, who was searching for his younger brother, a captive of the Decepticon Ratbat. After Spike berated Fortress for refusing to help his brother, Galen personally spoke with the human, expressing sympathy but refusing responsibility.
After the Autobots left, Scorponok and his Decepticons followed the source of the distress call, discovering Spike. After being alerted to the Decepticons' presence, Fortress Maximus followed Scorponok, who was pursuing Spike into a small passage. Due to Maximus's large size, Galen was forced to enter the passageway alone as Cerebros to save Spike from Scorponok and Zarak's wrath. To rescue the human from Zarak, Galen was thrown by Cerebros, and the two Headmasters fought. To distract Galen, Zarak had Scorponok blast the ceiling over Spike, forcing Galen to cover the human from falling rocks. Dying, Galen entrusted Spike with his Headmaster helmet, granting him control of Fortress Maximus. With his new power, Spike, with Fortress Maximus, chased away the Decepticons. In the aftermath, Spike was elected the new leader of Fortress Maximus's Autobots. Trial by Fire!
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe
Galen detached from Cerebros to lead a group of Autobots and Joes into battle with Megatron and Cobra, only for the team to be defeated and captured. Everybody Hates Metroplex As they were taken to the Polyhex Killway and mind-controlled into fighting each other for their captors' amusement, Galen's helmet was split open by Spearhead, shocking the onlookers with the fact that he was human underneath. Destro was particularly interested in the implications of a human already existing on Cybertron prior to its contact with Earth. Expelled from the Garden
Beast Wars: Uprising
Kord, Gran, and Plasma were the three Cyberdroid controllers of the immobile Fortress Maximus, storing the remains of Cerebros's consciousness. Kord functioned as the hindbrain, monitoring and controlling the practical needs of Fortress Maximus's vast body. The Resistance executed Kord on their raid of Fortress Maximus, freeing the various political prisoners of high regard held in his interior. Head Games
Games
Transformers Roleplaying Game
Galen was a Nebulan who underwent the binary bonding process. The Enigma of Combination
Toys
The Transformers
- Fortress Maximus (Headmaster, 1987)
- Spike is a Headmaster figure who came with Fortress Maximus. Gray and blue, he transforms into Cerebros's head, who then in turn becomes Fortress Maximus's head. Although the on-package bio refers to 'the Nebulan leader, Spike', most assume it is supposed to represent the character from TV, making this the first Transformers toy of an Earth human.
- This toy was redecoed as Gran, Car Robots Plasma and Robotmasters Master, and retooled as BotCon 2014 Olin Zarak.
Notes
- In Bob Budiansky early treatment for the Headmaster's miniseries Gald is named Rand.
- In the retelling of the Headmasters miniseries in Transformers Annual 1987, Galen is named "Kord". Why this happened is anyone's guess. The letters page of issue #158 states Kord is "incorrect"; later, out-of-universe material gives his full name as "Galen Kord". Ask Vector Prime notes in a jokey answer that, somewhere in the Multiverse, Lord Zarak's first name is Kord.
- Fortress Maximus's toy bio refers to Spike as a Nebulan. Whether or not this was a mistake or a deliberate decision made by Hasbro to match the other Headmaster toy bios, is unknown. However, if it was deliberately done, that would mean that the toy bio version of "Spike" could more or less be an alternate universe counterpart to Galen.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Galen (ガレン Garen)
