Proteus (G1)

Proteus is a Senator from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Oh fellow members of the Cybertronian Senate, hear me. Shall we continue to build palace after palace for the rich or shall we aspire to a more noble purpose and build decent housing for the poor? How does the Senate vote?"
"SLAG THE POOR!"
"Good."

Proteus is a member of the corrupt Senate on pre-war Cybertron and a heavy supporter of the Functionist system segregating Cybertronian society. While many Senators are rich jerks, he is one step above the rest, being known to manipulate events behind the scenes to benefit the Senate rather than the people and sway the influence of the other Senators to his cause. He may break a ton of laws in the process, but what does he care? Head of security Sentinel is on his payroll after all.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: The Transformers vol. 1 #23

Proteus greeted Shockwave when he joined the Senate, but disturbed the new Senator by his violent treatment of a disposable class projector-bot, causing Shockwave to openly protest against his Functionist beliefs. Proteus was unimpressed by his emotional outburst, deeming it inappropriate for a Senator. Shockwaves

Seeking to gain more power and influence, Proteus created a faction within the Senate that conspired to get their hands on the Matrix of Leadership held by Nominus Prime. Together with Sentinel, he orchestrated an assassination attempt on Nominus, crippling him in a fake "terrorist attack" that also opened an opportunity to implement the Clampdown, a time of heightened security that would place severe restrictions on Cybertron's inhabitants in order to (supposedly) weed out terrorists. When he first suggested the Clampdown during a Senate meeting, Senator Ratbat agreed with him, adding that they could use this opportunity to shut down some government-critical groups, even if it would forego "some of the freedoms" of the general populace. The speech was then suddenly interrupted by Orion Pax, who burst into the chamber to offer his own views on the Senate's selfish ways. After the intruder had gone on for a while, Proteus ordered Sentinel to have him removed, but forgot to note his name.

Shockwave later revealed to Orion Pax that the attack on Nominus Prime had been orchestrated by a faction within the Senate. Chaos Theory #2 He didn't name any names at the time, but knew the mastermind of the conspiracy to be Proteus. Shockwaves

What do you think of that offer, Ackbar?

During the Clampdown, he drafted the Decepticon Registration Act and said that if 10,000 Decepticons came forward with their real names, he would legalise their movement as a political party. This was nicknamed "Proteus's Promise", Post Hoc Patternism complete with a public information film called "Proteus's Promise" Who's Afraid of the DJD? and propaganda posters hovered over cities with Proteus's beaming trustworthy face. Stet Quark believed the promise would be fulfilled and would show whether he or Nightbeat were right about the state of Cybertron, but Nightbeat didn't believe it would ever happen. Nightbeat was basically right, as the Decepticons were suspicious of an autocracy wanting their real names, and rightly so because Proteus wanted to know who to send to the Institute for brainwashing. In order to ensure they would come forward, Proteus and his chums caused two pro-Decepticon senators to be murdered and the killers to be found and stopped by respected investigators, making him look trustworthy. Post Hoc Patternism

Together with Sentinel, Proteus planned to use a hidden bomb to blow up Nominus Prime's corpse during his funeral, killing thousands and destroying the Primal Basilica. The whole thing would officially be called a Decepticon terrorist act, allowing him to proceed with his plan of capturing and brainwashing everyone who registered under the Act, but Orion Pax foiled the plot by finding and removing the bomb. With his plan in ruins, Proteus was unwilling to hold up his end of the bargain and broke his Promise. An Intimate Beheading Fortunately he could take out his frustration on Shockwave, who had been revealed to be providing a safe haven for outliers, Cybertronians persecuted by Functionists because of their special abilities. He had his fellow Senator sent to the Institute where he was punished with empurata and Shadowplay, mutilating his body and erasing his ability to feel emotion. When Senator Dai Atlas later predicted an upcoming energon shortage, Proteus rejected it in his belief that Vector Sigma was an eternal source of energon. Shockwaves

While attending an emergency meeting in Kaon, the Senate was caught in Megatron's Decepticon uprising and most Senators were massacred. Proteus himself was executed by Starscream during these events. The Chaos of Warm Things

Notes

• In real-world Greek mythology, there were several figures called "Proteus" (Πρωτεύς Prōteus), the most salient of whom being the minor sea god known for his abilities to change shape and foretell the future.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Proteus (プロテウス Puroteusu)