Planet Q


 * Planet Q is a planet (holy crap!) in the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

The world of sand known as Planet Q was home to the beings known today as Alpha Q, Scorponok and the Terrorcons. But like those beings, the word was destined for a tragic fate at the hands of the chaos-bringer, Unicron.

Energon animated series
When Unicron attacked Planet Q, the world’s inhabitants refused to go quietly into the good night, and its armies rallied under the command of the grand chamberlain to fight back. As the battle raged, however, it soon became apparent that Unicron could not be stopped, and the chamberlain instead opted for a suicide ploy. He instructed the planet’s ruler to detonate the world’s core, hoping to take Unicron out along with Planet Q, but the ruler, paralysed with fear, could not comply, and the chamberlain performed the task himself. Planet Q exploded as Unicron was consuming it, driving him into dormancy.

(Note: Precisely when the destruction of Planet Q occurred is unclear, due to some differences and disconnects between the Armada and Energon series, the English and Japanese versions of the latter, and Hasbro’s intent versus what made it into the series. Although Unicron was not supposed to survive the events of Armada unscathed, this is what the animation showed, only for him to be damaged for no reason at the start of Energon – hence, the smoothest fit, explaining this continuity error and keeping the number of dormancies Unicron enters (already at least one or two prior to this) to a minimum, is to place Planet Q’s destruction somewhere between Armada and Energon. Alpha Q claims it was eons ago, however, but he IS completely nuts, after all.)

Within Unicron’s damaged frame, the spark of the planet’s ruler was able to survive, and with Unicron inactive, he was able to use the planet-eater’s powers to build himself a new body, redubbing himself “Alpha Q.” Learning that, with adequate amounts of energon, he could recreate anything Unicron had absorbed, he used what small supplies he had to recreate the armies of Planet Q as the Terrorcons, with the grand chamberlain reborn as Scorponok to lead them. Alpha Q eventually accomplished his goal in the midst of a reaction between Earth’s positive energon and Unicron’s negative energon, and Planet Q was reborn in a new sector of space containing many worlds Unicron had destroyed.

(Note: Whether or not the original inhabitants of Planet Q were robotic beings is unclear. Production materials for Energon indicate that Alpha Q, at least, was intended to be a humanoid creature, but a flashback to the final moments of the planet depicts him, Scorponok and the Terrorcons in the robotic forms they have in the present day. A modifier describes the scene merely as how the insane Alpha Q “remembers” the events, leaving wiggle-room, although if the Terrorcons at least were robotic originally, it would explain how Optimus Prime is able to identify them when they attack in the first episode of the series.)