Zeonprime
IreneThe Fallen vs. the Fallen
July 7th 2009 02:11
When the title for the current Transformers movie hit the nets many months ago it created quite a buzz for the new movie. “Revenge of the Fallen? Really?! Wow, this could be so cool if the producers were going to give us this character!” was the general tone of fan response.
Occasional viewers of Transformers are probably unfamiliar with the Fallen, who existed solely in comics until Revenge of The Fallen, but to diehard fans the Fallen is just one infinitesimal step down from having Unicron on the big screen. The character was introduced in Transformers: The War Within by Dreamwave Productions comics to critical acclaim. The Fallen’s backstory took us back to the earliest days of Cybertron, the Transformers home world. He was one of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus to protect Cybertron from “Chaos Bringer” Unicron. The Fallen (as his name obviously foreshadows) betrays Primus and eventually serves Unicron. Imbued with both the power of Primus and of Unicron, the Fallen is the biggest bad there is, and he eventually gives rise to the Decepticons.
Below, I go over the background of the Fallen in both the comics and the movie. How does Michael Bay's movie treat this character?
Overview of The Fallen (Dreamwave Productions)
Nine million years ago, the Fallen, Unicron’s first herald, fought alongside his master against Primus and the twelve other original Transformers. Primus and the Fallen’s brethren defeated Unicron and the Fallen, trapping them in ‘underspace’, outside of normal space-time. Unicron was able to free himself from underspace, leaving the Fallen alone and between dimensions for two million years.
An experiment in space bridge technology freed the Fallen from his prison and returned him to Cybertron, the Transformers home world and the dormant physical manifestation of Primus. The Fallen recruited a small Decepticon force to aid him in awakening Primus with the goal of drawing Unicron to Cybertron and defeating his creator. Since the leadership of both the Autobots and Decepticons understood the threat of Unicron to their continued existence, the two factions united to destroy the Fallen before he could succeed.
Overview of The Fallen (Revenge of the Fallen)
In director Michael Bay’s version of the Transformers universe, the Fallen is one of the first Transformers created by the Allspark, a Prime. The Primes are the guardians of the Transformers species. They search the universe for uninhabited solar systems in order to convert the stars into energon, the Transformers’ primary energy source.
Approximately 19,009 years ago (17,000 BC), the Fallen happened upon Sol (Earth’s solar system), and decided for some unexplained reason that the energon derived from our star would be worth destroying an inhabited world. This decision sparked a conflict between the Fallen and the other Primes, culminating in the Fallen receiving his designation and the almost total destruction of his followers--the Transformers that would eventually be called the Decepticons.
So far so good; it’s not as interesting as Dreamwave’s characterization, mind you, but it is a good start. But it goes downhill from here. As a Prime, the Fallen is responsible for the construction of Sun Harvesters, the machines responsible for converting stars into energon to feed the Cybertronians. To activate a Sun Harvester, a Prime must insert a powerful and mysterious power source called the Matrix of Leadership.
The Fallen had developed a deep hatred for the nomadic tribe(s) of humans who occasionally attacked his followers during the construction of a Sun Harvester. When the other Primes stole the Matrix of Leadership from the Fallen to prevent the activation of the Sun Harvester, they sacrificed themselves to prevent him from finding the device.*
Considering the backstory for both versions of the Fallen, you can see that they share certain attributes such as being an original Transformer, and the betrayal of their comrades. But the fact remains that they are completely separate entities; speaking as a Transformers fan, that is the main reason Revenge of the Fallen disappoints me. What could have been a good story with great effects, tying the new movie continuity into some of the established comic continuity, ended up screaming FAIL!
*Comic series Transformers: Defiance provides more backstory: the Primes do not just shield the Matrix from the Fallen, but imprison him. Megatron, prior to the Cybertron civil war, makes contact with the Fallen and is manipulated into freeing him. Then Megatron leads the revolt against his fellow Cybertronians with the newly formed Decepticons. The Fallen attempts to return to Earth to find the Matrix aboard the Decepticon starship Nemesis, which crashes on a moon of Saturn. At this point the continuity picks up in the movie.
The Fallen in the comic adaptation of the movie
Occasional viewers of Transformers are probably unfamiliar with the Fallen, who existed solely in comics until Revenge of The Fallen, but to diehard fans the Fallen is just one infinitesimal step down from having Unicron on the big screen. The character was introduced in Transformers: The War Within by Dreamwave Productions comics to critical acclaim. The Fallen’s backstory took us back to the earliest days of Cybertron, the Transformers home world. He was one of the original thirteen Transformers created by Primus to protect Cybertron from “Chaos Bringer” Unicron. The Fallen (as his name obviously foreshadows) betrays Primus and eventually serves Unicron. Imbued with both the power of Primus and of Unicron, the Fallen is the biggest bad there is, and he eventually gives rise to the Decepticons.
Below, I go over the background of the Fallen in both the comics and the movie. How does Michael Bay's movie treat this character?
Overview of The Fallen (Dreamwave Productions)
Nine million years ago, the Fallen, Unicron’s first herald, fought alongside his master against Primus and the twelve other original Transformers. Primus and the Fallen’s brethren defeated Unicron and the Fallen, trapping them in ‘underspace’, outside of normal space-time. Unicron was able to free himself from underspace, leaving the Fallen alone and between dimensions for two million years.
An experiment in space bridge technology freed the Fallen from his prison and returned him to Cybertron, the Transformers home world and the dormant physical manifestation of Primus. The Fallen recruited a small Decepticon force to aid him in awakening Primus with the goal of drawing Unicron to Cybertron and defeating his creator. Since the leadership of both the Autobots and Decepticons understood the threat of Unicron to their continued existence, the two factions united to destroy the Fallen before he could succeed.
Overview of The Fallen (Revenge of the Fallen)
In director Michael Bay’s version of the Transformers universe, the Fallen is one of the first Transformers created by the Allspark, a Prime. The Primes are the guardians of the Transformers species. They search the universe for uninhabited solar systems in order to convert the stars into energon, the Transformers’ primary energy source.
Approximately 19,009 years ago (17,000 BC), the Fallen happened upon Sol (Earth’s solar system), and decided for some unexplained reason that the energon derived from our star would be worth destroying an inhabited world. This decision sparked a conflict between the Fallen and the other Primes, culminating in the Fallen receiving his designation and the almost total destruction of his followers--the Transformers that would eventually be called the Decepticons.
So far so good; it’s not as interesting as Dreamwave’s characterization, mind you, but it is a good start. But it goes downhill from here. As a Prime, the Fallen is responsible for the construction of Sun Harvesters, the machines responsible for converting stars into energon to feed the Cybertronians. To activate a Sun Harvester, a Prime must insert a powerful and mysterious power source called the Matrix of Leadership.
The Fallen had developed a deep hatred for the nomadic tribe(s) of humans who occasionally attacked his followers during the construction of a Sun Harvester. When the other Primes stole the Matrix of Leadership from the Fallen to prevent the activation of the Sun Harvester, they sacrificed themselves to prevent him from finding the device.*
Considering the backstory for both versions of the Fallen, you can see that they share certain attributes such as being an original Transformer, and the betrayal of their comrades. But the fact remains that they are completely separate entities; speaking as a Transformers fan, that is the main reason Revenge of the Fallen disappoints me. What could have been a good story with great effects, tying the new movie continuity into some of the established comic continuity, ended up screaming FAIL!
*Comic series Transformers: Defiance provides more backstory: the Primes do not just shield the Matrix from the Fallen, but imprison him. Megatron, prior to the Cybertron civil war, makes contact with the Fallen and is manipulated into freeing him. Then Megatron leads the revolt against his fellow Cybertronians with the newly formed Decepticons. The Fallen attempts to return to Earth to find the Matrix aboard the Decepticon starship Nemesis, which crashes on a moon of Saturn. At this point the continuity picks up in the movie.
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