 |
FORTRESS MAXIMUS
Allegiance: AUTOBOT
Sub-Group: HEADMASTER
Master Component: SPIKE WITWICKY
Function: EARTH DEFENSE COMMANDER
First Comic Appearance: HEADMASTERS #1
"Prepare for war, but strive for peace."
Profile:
Valiant, courageous, powerful beyond measure, Fortress Maximus is a
warrior without compare, but one whose, most fervent wish is never to
have to fight again. All his early life, Fortress Maximus trained as an
architect, becoming the creator of many of Cybertron's proudest
monuments. With his ability to transform into vast construction bases,
many of his creations were crafted by his own hand. So Fortress Maximus
learned to build, not destroy. When war came, he did not hesitate to
turn his gifts to the ways of combat, adapting one construction base
into a repair bay, the other into a battle station. But as the war
spread and he saw his constructions tumble and fall with countless
lives lost in the process, he began to see how pointless and
counter-productive battle was. He began to fight with only one aim in
mind- to bring an end to the senseless conflict. He would fight, but
only out of necessity, only to save other lives. Drawing inspiration
from Optimus Prime, Fortress Maximus carried on his noble work after
Optimus disappeared, assuming Prime's mantle of Autobot leader. But as
the war dragged on, so Fortress Maximus's ideals dulled, his purpose
lost in one battle after another. Realizing he was losing his very
self, Fortress Maximus and a group of Autobots left Cybertron, bound
for the planet Nebulos, a world where they could live in peace. But the
Decepticons followed, bringing the war with them. To better combat the
Decepticons and convince the Nebulans of their honest intent, Fortress
Maximus removed his head, letting the Nebulan leader Galen replace it.
Galen's body was bio-engineered to combine with an intermediary form
and transform into a facsimile of Fortress Maximus's proud visage.
Through his mind-link with Galen, Fortress Maximus rediscovered his
purpose. The battle would not be won by turning his back on it. So he
returned to the war, fighting once more, every battle a small step
towards his ultimate goal... the end of all hostilities. When Galen was
killed, the human Spike Witwicky took over as Fortress Maximus's
binary-bonded partner. Spike, a college student, had no long term plans
to continue in this role, and eventually quit. But as he has continued
to find out, the binary bonding goes deep indeed and his own courage
and committment will be tested to the full.
Abilities: In both robot and battle station
mode, Fortress Maximus is a walking armory. Retractable pulse cannons
(emitting a strong ion beam capable of disrupting and incapacitating
internal circuits), twin automatic machine gun batteries (wrist mounted
in robot mode), twin laser-guided mortars (in lower legs, robot mode),
dual laser blasters (with a heat-seeking target lock system) and a
fusion-powered photon rifle make his firepower second to none. His
battle station is fully equipped with communication, detection and
radar equipment, while his repair bay has extensive re-fit facilities
for almost any Transformer and a wide range of spare parts. From either
repair bay or battle station Fortress Maximus can operate two remote
controlled vehicles, Gasket and Grommet, using them to supply instant
battleground first aid/repairs or as offensive/defensive combat units.
When in robot mode, Gasket and Grommet combine to form the radio
controlled warrior/mechanic, Cog. Fortress Maximus's head transforms
into a robot form called Cerebros, which is controlled entirely by his
binary-bonded partner. Despite his size, Fortress Maximus is both very
strong and very fast. Though seemingly awkward, his bulky configuration
moves with well oiled ease. His greatest asset, though, is his vast
intellect and capacity for instant tactical decisions. To him, crafting
an attack is like blueprinting a structure and it's almost second
nature.
Weaknesses: The many parts of Fortress Maximus,
each requiring a portion of his concentration, sometimes leave the
whole vulnerable to attack. When guiding Gasket and Grommet through a
battlefield, he relies almost totally on automated defense systems to
safeguard him from attack. If incapacitated in robot mode, Fortress
Maximus has no choice but to utilize his second robot form, the much
smaller and, infinitely more vulnerable Cog. Beyond these slight
problems, Fortress Maximus has no known weaknesses.
|
Fortress Maximus is the commander of the Autobot Headmasters. In the
North American and European continuities, his head transforms into Cerebros, and Cerebros's head transforms into Spike. In Japan, the Cerebros component is known as Fortress, and the Spike component is called Cerebros. His body transforms into some kind of assault base, which in the Japanese continuity, can fly like a spaceship.
Cerebros was a peace-loving Autobot who decided he was sick and
tired of all the fighting. Refusing to join his comrades in
becoming Headmasters on Nebulos, he left to wander the planet by himself.
Soon enough, he stumbled across the remains of the old Hive city,
which the Hive had inhabited before they went underground.
To counter the threat of Scorponok, Spike and Cerebros
built Fortress Maximus out of the city. With Spike firmly
in control while joined, they followed Scorponok to Cybertron, where
they fought. Fortress Maximus eventually came out on top, and after
the plasma energy chamber was opened, he was abandoned by Spike.
His present status is unknown, but it is assumed he was returned
to Nebulos, with Cerebros as the Nebulans' guardian.
Fortress Maximus is one of the largest and most powerful of all
Transformers. He is the leader of the Cybertron Headmasters, and
takes command of the entire Cybertron army after Seibertron is
destroyed and Rodimus Convoy leaves to search for a new homeworld. As a
Headmaster, his head transforms into a smaller frame while his body
transforms into a defense base/spaceship. There is no difference
in personality or memories between the larger or
smaller robots.
Because Metroplex is permanently grounded on Earth, Fortress Maximus is
called upon to fight against the giant Megazarak whenever the Destron
decides to spread his evil. To unite with his enormous body, he must
concentrate all of the power within his body, which simultaneously allows
him to merge and releases the Master Sword. The Master Sword is the main
weapon that Fortress Maximus uses in his battles with Megazarak. He can manipulate
its size so that it becomes large enough for battle or small enough to be
stored inside. Fortress Maximus has not been beaten by Megazarak, no
matter how much trickery or how many special weapons (like the Zarak
Shield) Megazarak has used. He always gets the upper hand in battle, only
to have Megazarak escape at the last second before the death blow can be
felled.
Fortress' main weakness is his need to concentrate his powers before
transforming. If he is weakened or low on energy, he is unable to
compose himself and unlock the Master Sword from its holding area. He
sometimes has to rely on the other Cybertrons to cover for him while he
recharges himself. Fortress Maximus has shown the ability to absorb enery from the
outside environment, which helps to speed up the necessary resting period.
As a leader, Fortress Maximus is level-headed and cool under fire. He is
compassionate toward other living beings, and does not a zest
for battle. He would rather not fight unless he
absolutely has to, probably because of the toll it takes on his energy
reserves. Since Rodimus Convoy is still alive, Fortress Maximus does not carry the
Autobot Matrix of Leadership, but that does not mean that he lacks the
wisdom or courage to be a good leader. Actually, he is well respected and
appreciated by his troops possibly because of that fact.
Article submitted by: Jeremy Ryan.
Weary of war, Fortress Maximus, the leader of an Autobot resistance
cell, announced his intention to quit the war. He stated his plans to
retire on Nebulos, a planet of humanoids who had apparently been
at peace for a very long time. Most of the Autobots under his
command followed him to Nebulos, including the Technobots and
Monsterbots.
On Nebulos, Fortress Maximus's attempts to make contact with
the planet's government were meeting with resistance. Two of the
planetary government's council members were debating over how
to handle the situation. Galen, leader of the World-watchers, trusted
the Autobots and championed them. Lord Zarak believed the Autobots were
malevolent, and he had his henchmen make them appear to be hostile.
Galen was forced
to declare war on the Autobots. To prevent Nebulos from becoming
another battleground, Fortress Maximus and several of his men
surrendered their heads to Galen. Most of the rest merely surrendered
their weapons.
Zarak called Scorponok, a Decepticon, to arrive on Nebulos to drive
off the Autobots. Instead, Scorponok captured Zarak and his men and
attacked the city where Fortress Maximus's head was kept. Desperate
to drive off the Decepticons, Galen and four of his followers bio-
engineered themselves to transform into the heads of the headless
Autobots. With their brainpower thusly enhanced, the new Headmasters
were easily a match for the Decepticons.
Eventually, Scorponok and some of his men also became Headmasters
and captured the Autobot Headmasters. But when the war with the
remaining Autobots threatened to consume Nebulos, Zarak freed them
on the condition that they take the war off of Nebulos and onto
Earth.
En route to Earth, an intermediate robot, Cerebros, was constructed
for Galen to become the head of. Cerebros, in turn, would become
the head of the newly enlarged Fortress Maximus.
On Earth, they homed in on a distress signal sent by Goldbug,
who had arrived at Mt.St.Hilary onto to find the Ark gone. While
there, they met Spike, who was trying to locate his brother
Buster. Galen refused to help Spike, and led the Autobots elsewhere.
Scorponok arrived, and tried to capture Spike, but the Autobots
returned in time to save Spike. In the ensuing battle, Galen was
forced to seperate from Fortress Maximus, and was killed protecting
Spike. Before he died, Galen gave Spike his control helmet, allowing
Spike to control Fortress Maximus. The Autobots accepted Spike,
in Fortress Maximus's body, to lead them in Galen's place.
Buster was found on an artificial island that served as Decepticon
Headquarters. When it tried to launch into space, Fortress Maximus
grasped the side of the island-turned-starship and hitched a ride.
He was impaled by the ship's natural defenses, forcing Cerebros to
disengage. Shockwave then emerged from the ship and shot Cerebros,
forcing Spike to detach. While Shockwave moved to line up a shot
on the human, Spike remotely activated Fortress Maximus's guns and
took out Shockwave's thrusters, causing him to fall back to Earth.
Spike was able to communicate with Buster briefly before being
retrieved back into the Autobot shuttle.
Meeting up with the Autobots in the Ark, Fortress Maximus found
himself caught up in a power struggle with Grimlock, who challenged
him to a duel. Still badly damaged, Fortress Maximus allowed
Blaster to be his champion. During the fight on the Earth's
moon, the Decepticons launched a major attack on them. Realizing
that Optimus was the only viable leader for the Autobots, Fortress
Maximus sent Goldbug, Joyride, Getaway, and Slapdash to Nebulos
with a disk containing Optimus Prime's mind. [Ed. Yes, I know
this is absolutely stupid. Unless you believe Optimus's mind really does
fit on 1.44 Mb. On the other hand, you could say Zachary was ahead of his time, and was using a Jaz disk or something.]
With Optimus back in command, Spike left the Autobots, keeping
Fortress Maximus's body (including Cerebros) on the Ark. When the
Ark crashed in Canada, and Galvatron emerged insane from the
wreckage, Spike merged with Fortress Maximus again to toss
Galvatron into the icy waters. Fortress Maximus was left on the
Ark.
Years later, it was discovered that Megatron had taken control
of the damaged Ark and had repaired it. Spike snuck onboard and
merged with Fortress Maximus once again. With the help of Skydive,
he fought Megatron, albeit unsuccessfully. Desperate to stop
Megatron, he threw himself into the ship's antimatter conversion
chamber while Skydive escaped the ship with Dr. Biggles-Jones. The
Ark was decimated, but Megatron was later found to be alive.
As far as anyone knows, Fortress Maximus and Spike are dead.