MY WAY OR THE HARD WAY

Mun Name: Alba
Journal: albaaulbath
Contact Info: AIM: NightblitzWakka | plurk: albaaulbath
Other Characters: N/A

Name Ultra Magnus
From: Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye
Appearance: A mostly blue Cybertronian that stands about thirty feet tall, has a grim look on his face constantly, and never smiles.



Age: About six million years old, give or take.
Gender: Generally, Cybertronians of his universe are genderless, but most of them tend to use a male pronoun in English.
Personality:

Probably the first thing anyone is going to say about Ultra Magnus is that he's a stick in the mud, a bore, and extremely strict with the rules. They wouldn't be wrong at all, either. Magnus is the complete antithesis of recreational activities; when he's off-duty, he's probably doing work anyway, which is likely the only way for him to really enjoy anything. To enforce the fact that he has difficulty wrapping his mind around the concept of fun, he has difficulty even saying the word. It is even said that "Ultra Magnus smiled once, and has regretted it ever since". This is also not far from the truth; Magnus never seems to enjoy anything outright for the sheer sake of enjoying it, and has only smiled on three occasions canonically speaking. Once was in regards to assuring Optimus that he planted a tracking chip on a Decepticon -- and even then, it had been a rather weak expression -- and the other time was when he medically had to in order to save lives. ...Yeah, that's. A long story. Even before all that, Ultra Magnus smiled years ago during the war, and was blasted off a ship after doing so by Megatron himself. Suffice it to say, he straight up has difficulty enjoying anything. Anyway. Regardless, if you could say Magnus was more than just a cop, he'd probably be the fun police.

Aside from his lack of "fun sense" and being an enormous stickler for rules, Magnus usually has a sense of balance. Generally, he keeps his emotions introverted and apart from his work, maintaining a fair point of view usually in order to do what's right by what's been coded. Usually. There has been at least twice in which he has made a deal with Swindle in order to catch up with a personal arch foe of his, Scorponok, which is something he mildly regrets doing, but has generally accepted as a necessary action. In return, though, he has promised himself to arrest Swindle regardless. As such, Ultra Magnus usually has his priorities in order, and can usually remain unbiased in most occasions; Scorponok had been, uh. A rather special occasion. Keeping balance of his emotions is rather necessary in order to chase down criminals of all types, not just Decepticons. There have been Autobots that Ultra Magnus has needed to arrest as well, after all, and keeping himself in personal check is needed. In addition, Ultra Magnus tends to be very fact-driven rather than emotionally, which does make him an excellent opposition to his commanding officer, Rodimus. While Rodimus functions on impulse and emotion, Magnus focuses on the facts and is extremely straight forward, even if it borders of being "depressingly gloomy". Facts are facts.

There is more to Ultra Magnus than "he can be a bore" and "wow what a stick up his tailpipe" as well as "rules rules rules." Those are of course the main focus, particularly in More Than Meets the Eye, but Magnus also seems to have issue with... change. This is an interesting aspect since, as a Cybertronian, they are meant to be adaptable. This is something commented on by several Autobots, that they have not been very adaptable to situations, but Ultra Magnus in particular has stated that he's not very fond of how things have turned out after the war, how people are more individualized. With such a black and white mindset, Ultra Magnus tends to find the morally gray difficult to adjust to. With laws set into place, it is much easier to take action without being impartial to the matter at hand. After the war, though, adjusting to the presence of Decepticons as not being enemies has been extremely difficult for Ultra Magnus, especially with Rodimus's very flexible nature.

With all of this in mind, though, there are other very positive aspects to Ultra Magnus. Although he can be very hard on others and may act impartial, he does have emotional investments to a point; he can mentally call people like Rodimus and Optimus Prime "friend" even if it is not vocalized often if at all. He leaves no mech behind if he can, and he is extremely courageous, almost to a fault. There is not a shred of cowardice in Ultra Magnus and rarely does he take any selfish action. He does care deeply for his entire crew and worries constantly about their safety. (Well, except probably for Drift.) Ultimately, he prefers to keep things fair and in order, if possible. If he has to make a judgment call despite his relationship to someone, he can and he will.

On a much more minor note and as an aside, it is implied that Ultra Magnus has a bit of obsessive compulsive disorder in him. At the implication that there is dirt on his desk from Tailgate, Magnus reacts terribly to it. He is a very, very clean individual, matching his straight-laced personality. This is also a good example of how Ultra Magnus tries to eradicate memories and matters that link back to failure in his mind: dirt and filth is a memory of failure to him, so he must be pristine and clean and proper.

Backstory:

So let's get this out of the way: there's a planet called Cybertron. It's home to giant space alien robots and most of them transform into something. It's usually vehicle. Sometime it's not and it's either hilarious or horrifying. There was a big stink about how much the Senate sucked and really only cared about the high class. Well, it was true, but the lowest of the low had enough and started a rebellion being led by some guy named Megatron. Although enamored with Megatron's ideals, Orion Pax was less thrilled about the violent choices Megatron made and wanted a slower, more progressive change. Basically, everyone agreed the Senate sucked, but couldn't agree how to go about changing it, which split off into two main sides: the Decepticons and the Autobots.

Then the infamous war. Every Transformers continuity has to have one!

So just how does Ultra Magnus figure into all of this? Well, he'd been friends with Orion Pax for awhile, and become one of his commanding officers. With zero interest in leading anything, Magnus assisted in upholding the law and most of the time this meant fighting Decepticons. Tons and tons of Decepticons. During the war, he was a little more lenient, a lot more confident, and with more expressions besides a grimace. It was pretty impressive.

Over the course of time, Ultra Magnus committed himself to become more and more like a function to enforce rules. During this time, the war continued and he began to cut out as many things as he could that he related to failure, whether it was a cutesy nickname addressed to him or the crookedness of an Autobot badge. Some might call him strict, some might call him OCD, but he simply calls himself efficient. Several horrible things happened during the war, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, and Ultra Magnus's personality was little else other than upholding the law for everyone, Autobot or Decepticon.

Eventually, Ultra Magnus was made into the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord; the Tyrest Accord -- created by none other than Chief Justice Tyrest -- meant that no Cybertronian could share technology with an alien species, basically. This meant Magnus went across the galaxy for a long time on his own, hunting down Decepticon or Autobot breaking this law. Most of the time? Yeah, it was Decepticon, but Ultra Magnus has arrested a few Autobots as well.



Moral Standing: So very Lawful Good. Or just Lawful Lawful, let's be honest here.
Dreams: Any dreams Ultra Magnus used to have are over and done with; his only aspiration is to make sure he continues enforcing the law.
Fears: That he is incapable of either protecting the crew of the ship or unable to advise Rodimus.
Extra: He transforms into a vehicle, like most Cybertronians.
Character Location:
Samples:
Writing Sample:

Player Information
*Name/Alias: Alba
*Your Journal: albaaulbath
*Age: 26
*Contact Information: AIM: NightblitzWakka; plurk: albaaulbath
*Characters already in the game: Depth Charge, Ashitaka, Gunmax, SG!Soundwave; I have mod permission to apply for a fifth and final character.

Character Information
*Character Name: Ultra Magnus
*Character Canon: Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye (IDW)
*Age: Over four million years.
*Race: Cybertronian
*Timeline/Pull Point: Post-More Than Meets the Eye #6

*History: SPACE COP HIJINKS HAPPENED.
*Personality:

Probably the first thing anyone is going to say about Ultra Magnus is that he's a stick in the mud, a bore, and extremely strict with the rules. They wouldn't be wrong at all, either. Magnus is the complete antithesis of recreational activities; when he's off-duty, he's probably doing work anyway, which is likely the only way for him to really enjoy anything. To enforce the fact that he has difficulty wrapping his mind around the concept of fun, he has difficulty even saying the word. It is even said that "Ultra Magnus smiled once, and has regretted it ever since". This is also not far from the truth; Magnus never seems to enjoy anything outright for the sheer sake of enjoying it, and has only smiled on two occasions canonically speaking. Once was in regards to assuring Optimus that he planted a tracking chip on a Decepticon -- and even then, it had been a rather weak expression -- and the other time was when he medically had to in order to save lives. ...Yeah, that's. A long story. Anyway. Regardless, if you could say Magnus was more than just a cop, he'd probably be the fun police.

Aside from his lack of "fun sense" and being an enormous stickler for rules, Magnus usually has a sense of balance. Generally, he keeps his emotions introverted and apart from his work, maintaining a fair point of view usually in order to do what's right by what's been coded. Usually. There has been at least twice in which he has made a deal with Swindle in order to catch up with a personal arch foe of his, Scorponok, which is something he mildly regrets doing, but has generally accepted as a necessary action. In return, though, he has promised himself to arrest Swindle regardless. As such, Ultra Magnus usually has his priorities in order, and can usually remain unbiased in most occasions; Scorponok had been, uh. A rather special occasion. Keeping balance of his emotions is rather necessary in order to chase down criminals of all types, not just Decepticons. There have been Autobots that Ultra Magnus has needed to arrest as well, after all, and keeping himself in personal check is needed. In addition, Ultra Magnus tends to be very fact-driven rather than emotionally, which does make him an excellent opposition to his commanding officer, Rodimus. While Rodimus functions on impulse and emotion, Magnus focuses on the facts and is extremely straight forward, even if it borders of being "depressingly gloomy". Facts are facts.

There is more to Ultra Magnus than "he can be a bore" and "wow what a stick up his tailpipe" as well as "rules rules rules." Those are of course the main focus, particularly in More Than Meets the Eye, but Magnus also seems to have issue with... change. This is an interesting aspect since, as a Cybertronian, they are meant to be adaptable. This is something commented on by several Autobots, that they have not been very adaptable to situations, but Ultra Magnus in particular has stated that he's not very fond of how things have turned out after the war, how people are more individualized. With such a black and white mindset, Ultra Magnus tends to find the morally gray difficult to adjust to. With laws set into place, it is much easier to take action without being impartial to the matter at hand. After the war, though, adjusting to the presence of Decepticons as not being enemies has been extremely difficult for Ultra Magnus, especially with Rodimus's very flexible nature.

With all of this in mind, though, there are other very positive aspects to Ultra Magnus. Although he can be very hard on others and may act impartial, he does have emotional investments to a point; he can mentally call people like Rodimus and Optimus Prime "friend" even if it is not vocalized often if at all. He leaves no mech behind if he can, and he is extremely courageous, almost to a fault. There is not a shred of cowardice in Ultra Magnus and rarely does he take any selfish action. Ultimately, he prefers to keep things fair and in order, if possible.

On a much more minor note and as an aside, it is implied that Ultra Magnus has a bit of obsessive compulsive disorder in him. At the implication that there is dirt on his desk from Tailgate, Magnus reacts terribly to it. He is a very, very clean individual, matching his straight-laced personality.

*Powers/Abilities: In terms of powers, Ultra Magnus does not have any special abilities outside of the normal Cybertronian. Like most, he transforms into an alternative mode that is vehicular. What causes him to stand out from others is his respectable size; Ultra Magnus towers over most Cybertronians, including Optimus Prime himself. He can take more hits than most can, but he also consumes more energon as a result, not making him very fuel efficient. But he is powerful and definitely one to make people think twice about tangoing with when it comes to a fight -- or. Well. Tangoing in general.

Otherwise, Magnus's skills are entirely related to his profession. Ultra Magnus is an enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, upholding the Code of Interplanetary Conflict. Basically, in short, he's a space cop, arresting anyone who disregards the law, be they Autobot, Decepticon, or neutral. He is competent in keeping his emotions from influencing his decisions, doing what is necessary to always "get his man", so to speak. This means he comes along with several necessary skills; he has deductive abilities and a broad knowledge of protocols and the law. His intelligence allows him to pull some clever, subtle notions, such as when he was drastically injured and put into an unfortunate hostage situation, Magnus still managed to be useful and planted a tracking chip on Soundwave's foot, allowing Optimus Prime to locate the Decepticons as needed. In short, Ultra Magnus is an efficient space cop who knows what the heck he's doing.

*Inventory: Approximately a dozen tracking chips, blaster rifle, and a datapad full of Autobot protocols to help him sleep at night.
*Starting Polarity: Vector or Prima seem likely, but I leave it in the hands of the mods to determine this.

If AU, how does your character differ from canon?: (Non AU apps may ignore this question. CRAUs and OAUs should get in to specifics here regarding what changes there are from their character's original canon. We'll need at least a paragraph explaining details.)

Writing Samples
*First Person Sample:
[AUDIO]

I was debriefed on the situation at hand. I will say this: temporal displacement is specifically against all laws known to me. However, since this was ... an accident and not due in part to any present individuals that I know of, it seems that this is an issue I'll have to let go of.

That aside, I do have other pressing matters at hand.

I am Ultra Magnus, second in command of the Lost Light and agent of the Tyrest Accord. Rodimus, if you are present, respond.

Any other members of the Lost Light should report to me immediately.

If there's anyone else who feels they need to give me additional information, I will accept.

Ultra Magnus, out.

*Third Person Sample:

This was sort of really awful.

This newborn Cybertron has a lot of potential, or... at least, he can imagine Optimus saying it like that. Still full of energy, new and perhaps this is how they can begin peace. Something full of wisdom and much more well put than Magnus could ever really present. Charismatic speeches aren't really his thing and all, but he can see him saying it.

He pauses mid-thought while he works out a slight dent at the edge of his desk. Something he found in the junkpile. It's a cold comfort, to have something that reminds him of a place he can sit, work, and sort his thoughts. The dent and a naughty stain are both a bit distracting, though.

Magnus exhales, and continues to focus as he tries to smooth out the dent.

But that also means there is nothing pre-established. If there are rules, he must follow accordingly to the Firstforged -- which he shall -- but it could be too... vague. Too open. Too much potential for something unclear and unclean. It's too rough around the edges for him. He would not deny the Firstforged, but they seem both new and old to him at the same time, unknowing of what could transpire in this place. Did they not realize what could happen? Theft, fighting, riots, Whirl taking advantage of the chaos, someone not recycling-- it could be trouble.

And from what he's heard, there's already been enough disturbances.

Ultra Magnus scowls as the desk bends all right, but now it's all wrong in the opposite direction. Hmph. He crouches, beginning to work out the other angle, shaking his head.

Perhaps that's why he's here. Not that Ultra Magnus is a believer in fate, much, but perhaps he could... bring order to this place. There's already a good start, thanks to Blurr (strange for him to think that, but this alternative universe stuff is an adjustment all right) but it's not enough for him. Order could solve a lot of ahead of time issues.

It seems drastically in need of it, if you asked him.

But first, he needs to really get this dent out of the desk.

Final Notes: (Need to cover anything that hasn't already been covered? Use this spot. Or just ignore it if you've already gotten everything down.)