Ore-8

"I had CRYSTALS!"

Ore-8 is a variety of energon grown on Tsiehshi. It is yellow in color, emits damaging radiation, prolonged exposure to which can send Cybertronians mad, and highly explosive.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

An ore of energon, designated Ore-8, was seeded on Tsiehshi by Shockwave as part of his Regenesis project. Over time, it grew to cover the planet and attain its unique properties. Shockwaves

Later, Kup and Outback crash-landed on the planet. After Outback died in an accident, Kup was driven insane by the Ore-8 littering the planet. Such was his insanity that he attacked and killed rescue parties sent by his fellow Autobots, who were restricted by what they could do thanks to their radiation suits and avoiding an explosive chain reaction of the crystals. Trailbreaker was eventually recruited, as his force field allowed him to walk on the planet without a radiation suit. Kup was rescued, but the effects of the Ore-8 radiation remained. Spotlight: Kup

When Kup's body and mind were healed, Perceptor created a cy-gar that emitted a synthesized version of the Ore-8 radiation to keep Kup sane. Everything in Its Right Place It was lost in a later skirmish, causing Kup to begin reverting to his addled state. The Transformers: Infestation #1 When Kup was rescued from the Dead Universe, he was apparently cured of his affliction, and no longer required the Ore-8 radiation to function. Burning Bright

As part of his master plan, Shockwave merged Ore-8 with Ore-6, the synthesis of the two ores granting him mastery of all potential energy in the universe. When all the assembled ores were merged through his chronal drive, Shockwave sought to use them to collapse all of time and space into raw fuel for Cybertron. The Becoming

Six years later, Tsiehshi's supplies of Ore-8 were absorbed by Unicron when the Chaos Bringer consumed the planet. Last Stand

Notes

• In their first appearance in Spotlight: Kup, the then-unidentified crystals on Tsiehsi were just unusual crystals, with no apparent significance beyond that, but this didn't stop fans speculating that they were in some way related to Shockwave's Regenesis program, because that's what fans do. It wasn't until 2013's "Shockwaves" that this theory was confirmed, and the crystals identified as being Ore-8, because that's what John Barber does.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Ore-8 (オーア8 Ōa Eito)