Liege Maximo (Transformers Generation 1 Profiles)

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Name: Liege Maximo
Allegiance: Ancients
Function: Prime of Lies
Sub-group: The Thirteen
Timeline: Liege Maximo is a multiversal entity, with versions of him existing in many timelines, including the Generation 1 timeline, the Cyberverse timeline timeline and the Aligned Continuity

What know you of deception? I am the master of deception!

Profile:

Deception, lies, and a silver tongue. These are things which the being known as the Liege Maximo is well acquainted with. One of Primus' original thirteen creations, Liege Maximo is a master manipulator, a trickster and a schemer. He is known for his many multi-layered, long-term plans which surround and ensnare all those around him like the silken threads of a spider's web. To Liege Maximo, other beings around him are not friends or enemies, but pieces on a gameboard to be manipulated in order to achieve his goals. To his followers in the modern day, Liege Maximo is a gigantic demigod, his vast, imposing figure casting a long shadow across the empire he has assembled on the far side of the milky way galaxy, which he rules from his throne world known simply as The Hub. But this gigantic form is itself another example of Liege Maximo's trickery: the true form of Liege Maximo lies concealed deep within the shell of the ancient Titan he wears as armour to inspire awe and fear in his followers. Few in the modern age have seen the true form of Liege Maximo. One of the greatest strategists in Cybertron's history, Liege Maximo has the unique distinction of being the only living being to have both outwitted Unicron himself and won something approaching the Chaos Bringer's respect. Cybertronian history does not remember Liege Maximo as a hero of that ancient war, though, but as the one who tore apart the fellowship of the thirteen and ushered in the end of the mythic age of the Primes. It was through the Liege Maximo's deeds that Prima's leadership of the thirteen was undermined; his whispers in the ears of Megatronus that made the dark warrior snap and take the life of Solus Prime. All this was in service of his own, selfish goals: Liege Maximo pridefully believed himself the most intelligent of all Primus' initial creations, and the destined leader of all civilised life in the galaxy. But Liege Maximo failed to anticipate the wisdom of Alpha Trion, who'd recognised the growing ambition in his brother. His plans in that ancient age undone, Liege Maximo faked his own death, leaving Cybertronian history to record he'd been torn apart by a pack of ravenous beasts he'd created; but in truth, this was merely a ruse so that Liege Maximo could slip away into the stars where he founded his empire, patiently plotting, drawing his plans against all sentient life, preparing for the day he might achieve his ultimate ambition and crush all creation beneath his imperious heel.

Dragon mode:

Author notes:

Ever since his debut on the final page of the Marvel Generation 2 comic, Liege Maximo has been this fascinating enemy in the Transformers mythos. In writing this I've referenced both the Marvel G2 comic and the Covenant of Primus for the two main versions of Liege Maximo - representing his appearance in the present day and the distant past - but I've also kept the IDW version and the Alignment novella in mind. For example: the gigantic armour being a Titan is a reference to how Liege Maximo was imprisoned inside Carcer / Vigilem, while the ultimate ambition is what Liege Maximo tried to achieve in the Alignment novella: ascension to the realm of Primus and Unicron, which in the terms of the universe I'm crafting becomes an almost Tower of Babel type undertaking where Liege Maximo might try to ascend to the realm of the Celestials like Primus, Unicron, Hytherion, and others like them.

One thing I went back and forward over was whether Liege Maximo might be a name or a title. Originally I went with title, since Jhiaxus was Liege Centurio and I have another character in mind (The Praetorian) who might be the Liege Praetorio of the galactic empire Liege Maximo created. But for the moment, and for the sake of avoiding creating a "Maximo Prime" or similar, I stuck with Liege Maximo as a name. Others taking Liege and a rank denotes their favour / status under Liege Maximo's empire.

One thing I cut was a line about how Liege Maximo was the first of the Decepticons. That's still very much implied throughout the bio, but I wasn't able to find a point to drop that line in.

Lastly, I originally wrote a much longer, more biographical treatment for Liege Maximo's story, which was too long and cumbersome to edit for when I posted about this character on Instagram. Below is the final draft of the story, which incorporates a few elements I cut for flow and pace from the original bio.

Deception, lies, and a silver tongue. These are things which the being known as the Liege Maximo is well acquainted with. One of Primus' original thirteen creations, Liege Maximo is a master manipulator, a trickster and a schemer, known for his many multi-layered, long-term plans which surround and ensnare all those around him like the silken threads of a spider's web. To the Liege Maximo, other beings around him are not friends or enemies, but just pieces on a gameboard to be manipulated in order to achieve his own goals. During the Thirteen's war against Unicron, Liege Maximo was one of the greatest strategists among the Primes - and became the only being alive to have both outwitted Unicron himself, and won something approaching respect from the Chaos Bringer for doing so. Liege Maximo's incredible strategies and trickery played a huge part in the eventual downfall of Unicron in those ancient times, paving the way for life to flourish throughout the universe.

But Liege Maximo was not content with his achievements, or merely being numbered among the thirteen primarchs of the emerging Cybertronian race. He felt that he was more intelligent than any of his brothers, and that he, not Prima, nor Alpha Trion, should be the one to guide the emerging Cybertronian race to a glorious future. He chafed under the leadership of the philosophical Prima, felt slighted at being seen as second best to Alpha Trion's knowledge, and felt that the rest of the Thirteen as a whole were squandering their potential by limiting themselves to Cybertron. Liege Maximo gazed out into the stars, and became the first Cybertronian in history to dream of an empire.

And so, Liege Maximo plotted, weaving his intrigues. He knew he'd need an army, and so tricked Quintus Prime and Onyx Primal into working with him to create a new race of war-beasts, which he called "Predacons". Learning of Prima's discovery of the chaotic nature of several of the Thirteen, himself included, and the distrust this had fostered in Prima's spark, provided Liege Maximo an opportunity to further his ambitions. Liege Maximo knew that Prima was becoming paranoid, and might discover his plans. And so Liege Maximo acted quickly, developing a plot to eliminate Prima. He befriended Megatronus, and arranged for knowledge of his chaotic nature to become known among the Thirteen, knowing that this would redirect the Thirteen's distrust from himself to Megatronus. This was far more successful than Liege Maximo could have hoped - his manipulations led to Megatronus murdering his lover, Solus Prime, in a fit of rage. After the dust settled, the remaining members of the Thirteen confronted Liege Maximo, who tried to unleash his Predacons upon them - but the beasts turned upon Liege Maximo, and he was torn to pieces. The rest of the Thirteen went their own ways, dispersing through the cosmos and fading into legend.

But Liege Maximo did not die. In a final act of deception, Liege Maximo had faked his death. With his surviving brethren believing him dead, Liege Maximo was free to pursue his ambitions. He set out for the stars with a group of followers and founded an empire. For centuries, Liege Maximo has watched and waited, slowly biding his time as he lays the groundwork for his plans for galactic conquest.

Toys of Transformers Generation 1 Liege Maximo

Machine Boy dragon robot

The toy I use to represent Liege Maximo in my collection is a Chinese robot by Machine Boy. This thing is huge, standing almost ten inches in height, and has decent poseability, but it feels cheaply made in comparsion to official Transformers toys. I feel it is a decent representation for the character's modern look, though - the dragon helmet nicely recalls the more Loki styled head of Liege Maximo in the artwork - and all I feel this needs is a decent cloth cape to attach to those pauldrons. The transformation is nothing special - mostly a case of pulling off the head and swapping a few parts around - but he looks pretty awesome in the final execution. I figure the in-universe way to explain this transformation relates to the long backstory above and the link between Liege Maximo and the original (dragon) Predacons.

See more Third Party (Unofficial) Transformers toys in my collection.