Glyph (Universe)

Glyph is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Nerdette!

One of the brightest minds of Cybertron, Glyph is an expert in data decryption, languages, and forensic science. She has a highly exacting eye for even the most minute detail, and, as an archaeometrist, a near-insatiable desire to learn more about alien cultures, current and past. To her, being stranded on an alien planet among its people is a boon, not a curse. She has a tendency to come across as a bit stuffy, but she seems sociable enough.

She possesses little to nothing in the way of combat abilities, however, and as such is usually accompanied by her "bodyguard" Tap-Out or other more battle-oriented Autobots. Her vehicle mode also has trouble handling the rough terrain she usually finds herself in when on a research mission.

Fiction

3H comics

Oh, the Cybertronian scarab malfunctioned too? The Reach must be irate.

Shortly after Unicron's defeat in 2005, and with the Decepticons believed to be defeated forever, Rodimus Prime commissioned a team of scientists to embark on a journey of exploration. Though Glyph was not the captain of the Sojourner's Passage, she was more or less the leader of the party of Autobots that manned it. She dismissed Archa Nine as a suitable location for a survey point, but felt the planet to be worth investigating at a later date. However, the ship was suddenly hit by a high-powered data pulse that shorted out its systems and sent the ship crashing to the planet's surface. Only Glyph and Tap-Out appeared to have survived.

Dump the nerds, let's go!

The two spent the next three hundred years among the native Akalouthans of the planet, who had in their possession a crystal called the Divine Light, an artifact able to provide power for the two Autobots. Glyph spent that time researching the legends of the Akalouthan culture, focusing mainly on the arcane edict that the Divine Light must never fall into the hands of "the five-faced demons", and the myth that a force would arrive to protect it from them. When the Wreckers arrived on Archa Nine, Glyph realized that what she had dismissed as superstition was actually an accurate prediction from over a millennium before. Betrayal

When the Divine Light was stolen by Cyclonus, Glyph remained on Archa Nine, believing her place was with the Akalouthans, continuing to study their culture and the Divine Light's legends. She was joined by CatSCAN, who stayed behind as well to care for the seriously injured Predacons Fractyl and Rotorbolt. She said what may have been her final goodbye to Tap-Out, insisting that his skills were better employed with the Wreckers, and believing that CatSCAN would be able to provide any protection they might need, especially once his charges were fully repaired. Disclosure

Glyph was apparently a Child of Primus, though it is unknown if or when she participated in the Universe War. Glyph's Universe profile

Wings Universe

Jinkies!

Glyph was an archaeometrist associated with a team of historians in the early days of the war. She and her two proteges, Lancer and Greenlight, were working on a dig in Median under Flip Sides' supervision when they uncovered a spectacular find—twin construction bays, designed for separate kinds of Cybertronian design, suggesting a parallel development of two Transformer races, rather than a single species. Furthermore, the dig team located a massive source of power known as the Heart of the Dragon which, according to the adorning symbols on its casing, contained the spark of a warrior with nigh-infinite power.

Realizing the potential threat these finds could represent, the dig team requested military support from the Autobot Elite Guard. Glyph had little interest in these matters, and barely looked up from her data-pad long enough to acknowledge the arrival of Metalhawk and Onslaught's Guard. Decepticon raiders inevitably came looking for this great power, and the Elite Guard attempted to fend off the attackers while Glyph and her compatriots remained hidden away with the Heart. Two of the marauding Stormtroopers, Rage and Aquablast, managed to penetrate the defenses, however, and reach the Heart's chamber. Despite her lack of combat training, Glyph fearlessly stood up to the Decepticons, and insisted they depart now that they had what they came for. Instead, Rage demanded Glyph turn over her personal notes and information she had accumulated in her studies of the Heart. Glyph refused to tell the Stormtrooper where her notes were, and pushed him away from her friends. This was all the excuse Aquablast needed, as he turned his chemical cannon on the archaeometrist, burning a hole through her chassis and leaving her for dead as the Decepticons departed. Flames of Yesterday

Beast Wars: Uprising

Glyph was a resident of Dinosaur City on Metascan Omega one decade after the end of the Grand Uprising. When the Vok declared the planet was not for mortals, governor Longrack requested the presence of anyone who could help with this crisis, including Glyph. The Inexorable March

2019 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers Valentine's Day Special

"You mean there's an easier way to make calamari?"

A data analyst who worked in Cybertron's Xeno-Relations department, Glyph applied for a permit to study xenolinguistics offworld and was eventually allowed to try and make contact with the primitive inhabitants of SDS-359. Recruiting her friend Tap-Out—a former gladiator left rudderless by Sentinel Prime's recent ban on the sport—as her bodyguard, the pair set off for the planet; on arriving, however, Glyph discovered that her grasp of the alien language was not what she thought it was; her poor attempt at first contact infuriated the natives to the point where they unleashed one of many guardian monsters on the two Cybertronians. Tap-Out was able to dispatch the beast in short order, but this show of violence did nothing to advance her research; the tribe quickly came to idolize Tap-Out as he defeated one guardian creature after the other, while refusing to interact with any of Glyph's anthropological research. In desperation, Glyph asked if Tap-Out would try to communicate with the aliens; his attempts at translation went over equally poorly, and it was Glyph who wound up rescuing him from another monster. Their trust in one another affirmed, the two embraced and confessed their mutual affection for each other.

Now let's... do science.

Eventually, Glyph was able to crack and translate the alien language, the creatures having witnessed the pair affirming their trust. After battling more creatures together, they were accepted into the tribe for a time, before eventually returning to Cybertron so that Glyph could report on her findings. Transformers Valentine's Day Special Some time later, Glyph used her data-decoding skills to unscramble information from a data-jack that had been recovered from a Rise base, identifying forty members of the terrorist group. The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five Glyph later volunteered to help restore the Titan Net, with Tap-Out and Steeljaw accompanying her to provide security. Tremors However, they were overpowered by the Decepticons, and relieved of their duties. Hunt

Glyph eventually retreated to Darkmount, where many scientists and civilians unaligned with the Decepticons congregated. She was sought out by Termagax, who had a plan to repurpose the Insecticon Swarm into attacking the rust worms, eliminating two threats at once. Glyph's abilities were needed to construct the sophisticated and subtle data package necessary for the reprogramming. The Landscape of Fear While Glyph and Blaster worked on the data packet, it would also be necessary to capture a live Insecticlone to deliver the data packet into the hive network. Tap-Out volunteered to help Hound and Road Rage with that aspect of the plan. Glyph and Tap-Out had a touching departure before they went about their separate tasks, using the language of SDS-359 for privacy. Radical Time

Transformers vs. The Terminator

In a post-apocalyptic 2029, Glyph's body lay in a shattered Los Angeles overpass alongside many other Cybertronian bodies. Enemy of My Enemy Part One

Games

Transformers Roleplaying Game

Glyph was a brilliant forensic scientist who specialized in alien languages and encryption, but her tendency to get lost in her own thoughts meant that she sometimes came off as aloof to those around her. Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook

Toys

Expanded Universe

Talk nerdy to me.

• Glyph (Mini Vehicle keychain, 2002)

• Accessories: Keychain

Expanded Universe Glyph was an exclusive to BotCon 2002, coming with an "Action Card"-styled bio and a "free" copy of The Wreckers #2 (as technically, 3H was not allowed to sell comics at the time). She uses the Fun4All keychain version of the Bumblebee mold, transforming into a "penny-racer"-proportioned Volkswagen Beetle. Her keychain attachment came in a separate heat-sealed baggie. She was later made available (still with copies of the comic) on 3H's website store.

The same sculpt (without the keychain alteration) was also used to make Bug Bite and Volks.

• More information on Glyph at TFU.info

Notes

We'll be important later in Beast Machines, if one of us doesn't die first!

• The decision to make Glyph a female Transformer came soon after her toy design was decided. Originally, the character was a written as a "male" Transformer named Archaix, a name which the character's creator, Rob Gerbracht, would later use as an inspiration for the planet Archa IX.
• Glyph's appearance in the text story "Flames of Yesterday" is based on a generic crowd-filler character who appeared in the The Transformers episode "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4". However, Glyph is not meant to be the generic; she simply shares the design in homage to the infamously shoddy animation work of "Five Faces of Darkness" using models at random.^[1]

References

External links

• Glyph's archived BotCon Online profile