Perceptor (Cyberverse)

Perceptor is an Autobot from the Cyberverse continuity family.

"Primus does not play dice with the universe."

Perceptor is one of the Autobots' greatest scientific minds and serves as a counter to the madcap inventing of Wheeljack. Whereas the latter is prone to impulsive creation and a disregard for basic safety procedures, Perceptor is meticulous in his approaches. No step will be skipped, no data unanalyzed, no hazard not prepared for. This doesn't mean he's not capable of acting on impulse should the need arise however; in fact, he's willing to take tremendous personal risk if the situation warrants.

He's also a surprisingly talented bartender.

Fiction

Cyberverse cartoon

Voice actor: Jeremy Levy (English), Arne Stephan (German), Óscar López (Latin-American Spanish)

Perceptor was present when Bumblebee joined Optimus Prime in boarding the Ark. Memory When the Autobots on Cybertron lost contact with the Ark, Perceptor repaired a space bridge so Windblade could travel to Earth and search for the AllSpark. She made it, but the space bridge exploded shortly afterwards, making it a one-way trip. Fractured

Perceptor was captured by the Decepticons and was used as a hostage by Megatron, who threatened to kill him if his fellow captive Chromia did not send Optimus a false distress signal telling him to return to Cybertron. Chromia did so, much to Perceptor's disgruntlement, the scientist feeling she should have sacrificed him. As the Ark approached Cybertron, Perceptor was able to use his eye-piece to free Chromia from her restraints, but at the cost of destroying Perceptor's eyes. Fortunately, he had other, more unconventional methods of sight left at his disposal.

The two tried escaping the Decepticon prison via a network of naturally occurring tunnels, managing to emerge on the surface of Iacon City. As they tried to make their way to a communications array, the two ran right into a Decepticon patrol. Perceptor told Chromia to flee, and rushed the Decepticons so as to buy her time to escape. Despite this, Chromia was soon recaptured as well. Battle For Cybertron I The two were re-imprisoned, missing out on the battle that followed. Battle For Cybertron III

Perceptor was freed when the war was ended with the restoration of Cybertron, and then promptly reimprisoned when the Quintessons invaded and captured everyone. Perceptor was placed inside the Loop, the aliens' means of keeping Cybertron's populace contained while their sparks were drained, but he managed to escape, soon finding Hot Rod, who had been presumed dead during the fight for Cybertron. The Dead End The two hit on a plan to free Autobots and Decepticons alike from the Loop, but their first attempt with Hound proved disastrous. The Prisoner

Rethinking their strategy, Perceptor had Hot Rod find and use a cortical psychic patch to get into the Loop simulation and convince everyone in there to transform, which would free them from the Loop. Hot Rod's only initial success was in freeing Clobber, but this still gave Perceptor data to work on. From his scans of her, Perceptor was able to work out what the Quintessons were doing to everyone else. The Loop

The resistance group managed to free Dead End, only to accidentally lead the Quintessons to their hideout and were forced to hide in Maccadam's bar. The Dead End Perceptor discovered there was something about the bar that was preventing the Quintessons from seeing them. He dragged Dead End along on his investigation. When questioned by his companion, Perceptor explained that the bar was hidden because it was simply part of a larger structure- a Titan, to be exact. The Sleeper

Perceptor soon revealed his discovery to the rest of the group, along with explaining that the Quintessons were unable to detect them because the Titan had a cloaking module. Perceptor planned to find and replicate the module. While trying to figure out how to get into the Titan's main structure, he found a hidden elevator. The rest of the resistance squeezed in and accidentally hit a button which sent them plunging down, leaving Perceptor to fend for himself. He eventually met up with the others after an attack by Skullcruncher resulted in his arm falling off. As they found the cloaking module, the group was dissuaded by Maccadam from activating Iaconus, as an effort to stop the Titan's past violent rampage had taken the lives of its citizens minus the bartender. The Citizen

Perceptor and the rest of the resistance fled Iaconus's security systems, eventually reaching a room containing the Titan's face. Attempts to wake the Titan were fruitless, and Perceptor confirmed their efforts alone would be inadequate. Perceptor, Dead End and Whirl infiltrated a Quintesson tower, where countless Cybertronians were being held in the Loop. Hiding themselves from the Prosecutors with inactive spark-draining helmets, they found Windblade and affixed a signal interrupter device to her helmet, allowing Hot Rod to enter the loop and show Windblade what was really happening outside the Loop. While Hot Rod and Clobber tried to free Windblade, Perceptor's group came under attack by Prosecutors, and were rescued by Hot Rod and Clobber. Everyone except Hot Rod returned to Maccadam's, where Perceptor examined a glitching Soundwave, who had been improperly freed from the Loop when Whirl knocked his helmet off. The Trial

In Maccadam's, Soundwave and Hot Rod discussed their plans to further the resistance, with Soundwave attempting to take charge. The two came to blows, but when Soundwave began to glitch, Perceptor examined him, and determined it was a side effect of being improperly removed from the Loop. Hot Rod mentioned a similar fate befalling Hound, and Perceptor confirmed that he never recovered. The Prisoner

Perceptor and the resistance infiltrated the Scientist's lab, when Soundwave unlocked the door, Hot Rod followed him in, and the door closed, locking Perceptor and the others out. Attempts to breach the door were unsuccessful, and when Perceptor, Whirl, Dead End, and Clobber combined their firepower, the door opened, and they nearly hit Laserbeak, who provided Perceptor with the source code for the Loop. Perceptor and his group reached the Loop's control node, and Perceptor and Clobber entered the Loop. Perceptor reprogrammed both the Autobot and Decepticon versions of the Loop, introducing a swarm of Air Hammers, and when everyone trapped inside it transformed to escape the swarm, they were freed from the Loop en masse. The Scientist

Sky-Byte and Jetfire used Perceptor's scanner to gather data on the Quintesson ship. The Judge

Perceptor was among the Autobots captured by Starscream, and reported Optimus Prime and Megatron's apparent demise to Starscream. The End Of The Universe I

Perceptor used his scanner to determine the cause of the ground shaking, concluding it was the rise of Iaconus. The End Of The Universe II

Following Maccadam's death, Perceptor took up ownership of Maccadam's Old Oil House, and was tending the bar when Wildwheel came looking for Optimus Prime. Wild Wild Wheel

Perceptor was tending the bar when a new episode of Alien Hunt! Aired. Alien Hunt! With Meteorfire And Cosmos

Following Windblade's recovery, Perceptor was among the Autobots who cheerfully welcomed her back. The Other One

Why get new eyes when you can look stylish?

By the time the Treaty of the Wall was ready to be signed, Perceptor had replaced the lenses of his optics, though this did not restore his sight. During the signing ceremony, he was frozen in time with the rest of Cybertron by Trypticon's Mercenaries. When the crew arrived to loot the signing, they strapped Perceptor to a rocket and fired him into the air, for him to land directly onto Afterburner, to the delight of Bug Bite and Doublecrosser. He was restored to normal along with the rest of Cybertron by Wheeljack. The Immobilizers

Perceptor participated in the ceremony at the grand opening of Trypticon Plaza. Later, when the two opposing forces of Decepticon supersoldiers arrived on Cybertron, Perceptor recalled the Polyhex Vs. Iacon City Cube match, watching the chaos with Hot Rod and Clobber. When Cybertron was overrun by Tarn and the supersoldiers, Perceptor joined Hot Rod and the other Autobot forces underground to form a plan to take back the planet. He participated in the battle against Tarn's forces, and looked on in shock following Soundwave's sacrifice. He served drinks at Soundwave's memorial. The Perfect Decepticon

Alternate universe

In another universe, it was Perceptor, not Chromia that sent the false distress call baiting the Autobots back to Cybertron. The Crossroads

Notes

• Perceptor's design is specifically based off his 2005 IDW counterpart due to having an enlarged viewfinder for one of his eyes. He spends most of his time in Season 3 blind.
• Perceptor made a brief appearance in the episode "Party Down" that suggested he had somehow made his way to Earth, but this was later revealed to be an animation error.
• Despite never transforming in the cartoon, it is confirmed that Perceptor's alternate mode is a microscope. ^[1]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Perceptor (パーセプター Pāseputā)

References