Perceptor (Prime)

Perceptor is an Autobot from the Aligned continuity family.

"I collect spores, mold, and fungus."

Perceptor is a dedicated astronomer and physicist, one of the most brilliant scientists ever produced by Cybertron, and he is not interested at all in the mystical or supernatural. Much of the technology used by the other Autobots was due to his discoveries. There's a paradox named after him, presumably one he theorized. Distant and antisocial, Perceptor speaks with a bluntness befitting a scientist.

In Cybertron's post-war era, he has become a teacher at the Rescue Bot Training Academy.

Fiction

The Covenant of Primus

Perceptor emerged from the Well of All Sparks prior to the Great Cataclysm. As he and his fellow Cybertronians hid in the bowels of Cybertron to avoid the solar storms, they talked about the possible causes of the Cataclysm. A learned 'bot named Azimuth talked about star charts and celestial bodies, and Perceptor's friends formed together into a group known as the Patterners as they emerged from the darkness. They began a laborious project of recording celestial information on the surface of the planet in massive pattern designs, hoping this information could be preserved for future generations to prevent another Cataclysm. The Covenant of Primus

Aligned novels

After passing through the unstable space bridge, Perceptor and the Autobots aboard the Ark found themselves in the vicinity of a Cybertronian colony world called Velocitron. They located it in part thanks to a mysterious starmap projected outwards from Optimus Prime's chest by the Matrix itself. As a scientist, Perceptor had difficulty with the concept of a mythical artifact guiding their movements, but Velocitron proved to be real enough. He was part of Optimus Prime's initial landing team, who made contact with the planet's rulers, Override and Ransack. It was a time of great stress between Velocitron's rulers, and the Autobots' arrival from mythical Cybertron only exacerbated the situation. The planet's sun was unstable, and the speed-oriented engineers of the world had little scientific background in astronomy. Perceptor assisted the Velocitronians with their studies of the star, and successfully reactivated the planet's Space Bridge, reopening the world to interstellar travel.

The next leg of their journey through the Space Bridge brought the Autobots to fabled Junkion, a world composed entirely of space junk. Sabotage brought down the Ark shortly after their arrival, and Optimus Prime tasked Perceptor with getting things up and running again. He also performed an exploratory check on Junkion's four Space Bridge nexii, and determined that one was indeed still in working order. (The one indicated by the Matrix, but of course Perceptor made his own observations first.) Perceptor's work proved valuable, and the Ark was able to regain flight even amidst the arrival of the Nemesis and the chaos created by the unearthed Requiem Blaster. After the battle over Junkion ended, Perceptor updated Optimus Prime on the status of the planet and the ships involved in the skirmish. The Ark then set a new course for the AllSpark itself. Exiles

Perceptor reported to Optimus Prime on the Ark when the Matrix led them to Aquatron. He joined the main Autobot force when it touched down on the planet, making contact with the Curator and his Aquatronians. Perceptor was greatly intrigued by the parallel evolution seen on the planet compared to Cybertron, and was eager to perform tests on their ultra-refined energon supplies. The scientific curiosity overcame his caution-circuits though. The Curator was revealed as a Quintesson with a grudge millions of years old against the Cybertronians, and Perceptor was among the Autobots who were captured and forced to face trial on ridiculous trumped up charges. The Autobots and Decepticons escaped during the trial and met up with their comrades aboard the Ark and Nemesis to fend off the Sharkticon hordes and ultimately escape the planet. Retribution

Cartoon continuity

IDW Aligned comics

Before the Great Exodus took place, Iacon was relentlessly attacked by waves of Decepticons, but Perceptor reported to Optimus Prime that they were unable to breach Autobot defenses. Later that day he let Grimlock know that an encrypted message had arrived for him. Good Intentions

Prime cartoon

Perceptor was mentioned during one of Bulkhead's ramblings, saying that the Synthetic Energon formula disproved Perceptor's paradox. T.M.I.

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Following the restoration of Cybertron from the Great War, Perceptor was one of the many Autobots blacklisted by the new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime. Enemy of My Enemy

Rescue Bots Academy cartoon

Voice actor: Jeremy Levy (English)

As I always say...take chances, make mistakes, get messy!

Perceptor served as Optimus Prime's science officer and was longtime friends with Bumblebee. When Bumblebee and Wedge needed to calculate the necessary trajectories to remove some inhabited ice chunks from the path of a meteor cluster, Bee contacted Cybertron and had Perceptor space bridge directly onto the Sigma. Perceptor was able to help out with their mission, and afterwards Bumblebee persuaded him to join the Academy as the math and science teacher. Need to Know

Asked to examine a relic the team had recovered, Perceptor was able to confirm it was the Sparksayer. Power Up And Energize Perceptor remotely oversaw a training exercise for the recruits in the Sigma, and authorized them to mount a rescue when they encountered a stricken spaceship. He later was able to identify the Cybertronian they'd rescued as Laserbeak and reported that the Decepticon had no outstanding criminal record. More Than Meets The Eye The recruits were left with Perceptor to teach, and he took them on a series of field trips. Unfortunately as he was focused on helping the other recruits, he failed to notice Medix was trying to impress him, resulting in Medix stealing the Sigma to go repair the Asgard. After Medix was rescued, Perceptor appointed him as his teaching assistant. Medix Gets Schooled

Perceptor sent the recruits on a mission to Sifrolicous-5 to solve the mystery of the planet's changing color, and was pleased when they successfully learned to leave things as they found them. Enter The Flood Perceptor took the recruits on a field trip to a tropical island to study volcanoes. Dino-mite Duo

Perceptor was among the observers as the recruits undertook their final test of year two. He later attended the party aboard Citadel Secundus, and was put into stasis lock when an asteroid hit the Titan and created an anti-energon field. Space Party He and the rest of the teaching staff were revived after Secundus was landed safely on Earth, and attended the recruits' graduation ceremony. Crash Of The Titan

Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe

Perceptor acted as the Autobots' Science Director. The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe

Games

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Voice actor: Jim Ward (English)

As the Ark was readied for launch, Perceptor was ordered by Optimus Prime to execute Technological Directive 8-4-Beta-1, bringing back online Teletraan sub terminals in any hospitable locales. Perceptor also was put in charge of the task of shutting down Autobot City in preparation. Unfortunately Grimlock abandoned his post, allowing the Decepticons to attack through the unguarded sector, and leaving Perceptor with the problem of powering the city back up again to reactivate the defenses. To make things worse, he and his team in the nerve center were under siege from the Decepticon forces. After Optimus Prime and Warpath came to their aid, Perceptor and Optimus decided to try using some of the energon from the Ark to report the defenses, so while Perceptor coordinated from the nerve center, Optimus set about rerouting the energon flows. Working together, they were able to get some guns online, but exhausted the available energon. A short time later Optimus managed to awaken Metroplex to chase off the rest of the Decepticons though, and Perceptor was later aboard the Ark as it launched. Fall of Cybertron

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

Console

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Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

3DS

Rise of the Dark Spark

Notes

• Perceptor is categorized as a Titan in Fall of Cybertron's multiplayer due to his Cybertronian Tank mode, meaning he (hilariously) towers over both Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus in online play.
• Similar to Soundwave, this version of Perceptor was introduced with two alternate modes: his original microscope form (which he strangely possessed even before he went to Earth) and a tank mode. Rescue Bots Academy added a third mode, a long-range telescope. Perceptor's shoulder-mounted scope serves as both the scope of his microscope and telescope forms as well as the cannon to his tank form. Also like Soundwave, only his vehicle-based form is available for the player's use in Fall of Cybertron.
• Perceptor was planned for the Transformers Universe online game before it was canceled. Character designer Tom Stockwell would post his concept art of Perceptor online (at right).

Foreign names

• Japanese: Perceptor (パーセプター Pāseputā)
• Russian: Microscope (Микроскоп Mikroskop)