The Quintessons are one of the franchise's strangest and most sinister races. They appeared in the 1986 film and the third season of the classic cartoon, and have returned from time to time in new stories.
What they look like
A Quintesson has several faces on one head — five in the classic design, hence the name. Each face reflects a different mood: wrath, wisdom, death and so on. They move on tentacles and consider themselves superior to everyone.
Creators?
In the classic cartoon's third season the Quintessons are presented as those who once built robots on Cybertron for trade: consumer goods and military hardware. In this version the Autobots and Decepticons descend from them, later rebelling and driving out their masters. That contradicts the idea of Primus as creator, so different continuities treat it differently.
The Quintesson trial
Their best-known scene is the 'trial' in the 1986 film, where the verdict is always the same regardless of evidence. It captures the Quintessons perfectly: power without justice.
