Maximal


 * The Maximals are a faction in the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity.

Arising from the ashes of the Great War, the Maximals are the descendants of the Autobots, controlling Cybertron under the Pax Cybertronia.

Japanese name: Cybertrons

Prehistory
After the Pax Cybertronia had restored peace to Cybertron, the Maximal Upgrade program was introduced. The program emphasized fuel efficiency through downsizing. The surviving Autobots eventually upgraded via bio-tech overhaul and cloistered themselves away, but some stayed active in Cybertronic society to guide the emerging Maximal faction into the future. The Maximal Elders locked away much information about the Great War (and especially the location of Earth) from the young population, fearing it would re-ignite old grudges or inspire Predacon insurgents to rewrite history using transwarp technology.

Organization
The Maximal Imperium was the state that the Maximals formed. The term imperium would imply empire, though the Maximals have never displayed any expansionist inclinations, something more in line with the Predacons. The Maximal Imperium appeared to invest both legislative and executive power in a bicameral legislature, the Maximal Elders and the High Council. It is unknown what the relationship and division of powers were between the two legislatures, although it appears the Elders were the more senior legislature. Like their Autobot ancestors, the Maximals had a strong belief in democracy, even going so far as to elect their military leaders when unable to communicate with the high command. This could cause problems when there was an even number of voters.

The Maximals were by nature peaceful, but the realities of the universe did force them to have armed forces. Usually, the highest rank was Supreme Commander, awarded to Maximals of Convoy status, who were given an Energon Matrix. The Supreme Commanders answered to the Maximal Elders, and there is some eviedence to indicate that the Maximal Elders included former Supreme Commanders.

Physiology
The Maximals retained many similarities with the Autobots, such as Sparks and having vehicle forms, but had major differences. The downsized body was intended to have better fuel efficiency, and the Maximals now operated on Energon. The Maximals have been shown to eat food like organic creatures, but it is unknown if they require food to survive, or if this is an alternate energy source. Also, the robot mode lacks the robot flight mode found in the Autobots, and a Maximal is incapable of flight unless a flight mechanism is specifically included or if the Maximal has an airborne beast mode. The beast mode has been shown to dominate&mdash;if not override&mdash;logic circuits on occasion.

When Maximals do take beast modes, they tend to be mammals, birds, and fish, though this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

Maximal society
Not much is known about the Maximal-led post-Great War Cybertron. There does appear to be commerce (holo-chips), entertainment (Six Lasers Over Cybertron), and industry, but what we do know is that the Maximals focused heavily on exploration. Exploration vessels, filled with stasis pods containing newborn protoforms, would search out new planets and seed them with the protoforms, who would assume forms based on the native lifeforms and collect data. Post-war Cybertron experienced a visible boom in scientific and technological curiosity. Some of this curiosity, however, resulted in monsters such as the seemingly immortal and murderous Protoform X.