The Transformers franchise has no shortage of evils within its vast universe. Whether it be the Decepticons, humans or even god-like entities, there is always something that threatens the livelihood of the protagonists.

But some characters are more than just another threat to the heroic Autobots. Some are so positively malignant that their very nature threatens to destroy everything in their path. These are the ones who would commit any atrocity to see their goals achieved, even if they have to destroy entire galaxies just to fulfill their dark quests; these are the greatest threats to the Transformers Universe.

10 The Quintessons Are Multi-Headed Cephalopod Aliens With Evil Goals

Are they truly the creators of the Cybertronians, or are they merely charlatans looking to enslave their race for profiteering? When it comes to how big of a threat the Quintessons are, the answer is moot. Between their impossibly ancient knowledge of the cosmos, their immense technological abilities and their connections to primordial entities like Quintus Prime of the Thirteen Primes, these multi-headed cephalopod aliens have risked the safety of the universe a million times over.

Thanks to their vast expertise in the creation of new alien races, they have caused mass extinction-level events, either for the gaining of resources or even sometimes just a sociopathic desire to ‘see what happens’. They have also forced numerous species to partake in their paradoxical judicial trials, where no matter if a defendant is found guilty or innocent, the Quintessons sentence them to death. As long as one Quintesson exists, the Cybertronian race is always at risk.

9 Megatron Is The Powerful Leader Of The Decepticon Empire

No matter the story, or the continuity, one threat has always remained constant, and that would be the infamous leader of the Decepticon Empire, Megatron. He is known far and wide for his immense power and uncompromising obsession with leading Cybertron into a New Golden Age. Megatron is absolutely willing to go to any length to achieve this vision.

With the Decepticon Empire at his command, Megatron will destroy even entire planets to ensure victory, as such shows as Transformers: Generation One, Transformers: Animated and Transformers: Prime have shown. He’ll even make deals with the God of Chaos, Unicron, just for a chance to beat the Autobots and reign supreme as the unopposed ruler of Cybertron. While some versions of the character have let go of his dream, as long as Megatron remains obsessed, he is a threat to anything he deems to be a threat.

8 The Cybertronian Senate Ruled Over Cybertron With An Iron Fist

The Cybertronian Senate was the original totalitarian government that ruled over Cybertron with an iron fist long before the Autobots and Decepticons were conceived. As an oligarch of the most influential Cybertronains, the Cybertronian Senate held military and religious dominion over Cybertron. Using these powers to manipulate their own society to be obedient and thoughtless, saving off any aggression by creating a rigid class system that caused the entire society to hate one another rather than collectively hate the Senate.

Under Nova Prime’s command, the Cybertronian Senate attempted a massive campaign to take over dozens of galaxies and likely would have continued to if not for Nova Prime’s disappearance into the Dead Universe. While the faction ultimately fell into ruin as the Autobot-Decepticon Civil War began, the alternate Functionalist Universe shown in Transformers: Lost Light showed that if they were allowed to operate without any resistance they would have become even more powerful. They created a planet-sized robot in the visage of the god Primus to start a galaxy-spanning crusade, destroying any alien race that defied them.

7 Shockwave Is A Sadistic Decepticon Who Believes In Cold, Hard Science

While Megatron may lead the Decepticon Empire, his subordinate, Shockwave, has proven himself to be an even bigger threat to the safety of the Transformers Universe. With a sociopathic sense of logic that bordered on nihilism, there is nothing considered sacred to this one-eyed Decepticon; there are no bars he considers to be too far; whether it was horrifying live experimentation, brainwashing or genocide, it did not matter. For Shockwave, there is only cold hard science and what he can do with it.

In IDW Publishing, when Cybertron faced an Energon Fuel Crisis, Shockwave responded by committing genocide across dozens of planets to seed Energon. He later tore holes in reality to bring in Eldritch monstrosities from the Dark Universe because he believed he had to make the universe’s population smaller to compensate for the lack of energy. Even in the kid-friendly Transformers: Cyberverse, Shockwave’s sadistic logic led to him deciding the most logical way to search for the Autobots on Earth was to use a magnetic disruptor to disintegrate all organic life.

6 Overlord Is A Decepticon Phase Sixer With Incredible Power

Another Decepticon who is an immense threat to the universe, Overlord was one of the Decepticon super soldiers known as a ‘Phase Sixer.’ He was designed to be a one-man army who would travel to planets and conquer them on his own. But even among his fellow Phase Sixers, Overlord earned a reputation for being particularly powerful, to the point that even the likes of Megatron thought he was too dangerous to keep around.

When he was sent to take out the nigh-invulnerable Autobot stockade on Garrus Nine — a task he was meant to die from– Overlord won the siege. He then turned the planet into a fortress world and held off both Autobot and Decepticon armies attempting to take it back from him. From then on, he’s battled the entire two-hundred Autobot crew of the Lost Light, the elite Wrecker Commandos and several different variants of Megatron all by himself. He’s an unstoppable killing machine few could ever hope to challenge.

5 Liege Maximo Is One of The Original Thirteen Primes

One of the original Thirteen Primes, Liege Maximo was unlike the majority of his heroic brothers and sister. He was a devious manipulator who loved sowing discord among his brethren. He became considered the antithesis of his brother, Prima, representing the evil to Prima’s benevolence; this caused no end of resentment from Liege, who would conduct alchemical experiments on living creatures. He ultimately manipulated his other brother, Megatronus Prime, into accidentally killing their sister Solus Prime to cause the Thirteen to split.

In the Transformers: Generation Two comic series, Liege Maximo became the mastermind behind a scheme to create a new Cybertronian Empire, designing a new subspecies of the Cybertronian race that could multiply; he planned to use this Cybertronian Empire to overthrow the Autobots and Decepticons as the dominant race on Cybertron. To help his Cybertronian Empire grow, he had dozens of planets stripped of life and linked together to form a pocket dimension known as the Hub, which effectively bolstered Liege Maximo to god-like status as the planets were linked to his mind.

4 Megatronus Prime Was The Original Decepticon Also Known As The Fallen

Known to some as the ‘Original Decepticon,’ Megatronus was the first mortal in existence to defy the god, Primus, and the other Thirteen Primes. Different continuities change whether Megatronus was truly acting out of his own volition, or if he was manipulated by another evil. However, when he committed his betrayal, he was forever banished with his name in history replaced by the moniker of ‘The Fallen.’

Despite his betrayal, The Fallen still retained his numerous abilities bequeathed to him by Primus and he continued to use them in his quest to destroy the legacy of Primus and the Thirteen. This quest for revenge has led him to attempt to destroy the Earth’s Sun, create a device to reap the souls of every Cybertronian in existence and even try to use a Spark Fuser to merge the life-giving Allspark with the demonic spark of Unicron. As long as his need for vengeance remains unsatisfied, The Fallen will always be crafting new schemes that put the entire universe at risk.

3 Devil Z Is A Planet-Destroying Magical Demon

A formless being of pure energy, Devil Z is a deity that either existed during the time of Unicron and Primus, or perhaps even predated the two gods. While nothing is known about his true origin, what is known is that Devil Z is unknowingly powerful, using the demonic magic known as the ‘Debiru Pawā’ to dominate the will of millions all at once and has even been shown to be capable of destroying planets with it.

Fashioning himself as the ‘Decepticon God’ after the demise of Megatron and Optimus Prime, Devil Z manipulated the Autobot-Decepticon War to serve his ultimate goal of gaining enough power. he hoped to create the ultimate lifeform meant to replace him in this universe, which he called the ‘Godmaster.’ This Darwanistic goal of finding the next stage in godly evolution would have seen him erase all of humanity, with any number of alien races following suit had the Autobots not been able to hold him off.

2 The D-Void Is A Collective Consciousness That Became A Deceptigod

The collective consciousness of the enigmatic Dead Universe, the D-Void is less of a conscious antagonist and more of a malignant force of nature that commands the law of entropy. The D-Void naturally had a desire to consume all life which was kept in check so long as it was kept in the Dead Universe. This desire turned the D-Void into a nigh-unstoppable entity that could extinguish all life in the Living Universe were it to be released.

Unfortunately, thanks to the ambitions of Nova Prime and Galvatron, the D-Void was unleashed, turning every Cybertronian who’s been in contact with the Dead Universe into his slaves and almost wiping out Cybertron. The D-Void took physical form as the ‘Deceptigod’ and attempted to infect the planet’s core, Vector Sigma. Fortunately, the combined willpower of Optimus Prime, Rodimus and the psuedo-Decepticon, Cyclonus, allowed Cybertron to survive by opening the mystical Matrix of Leadership to supercharge Vector Sigma.

1 Unicron

While the D-Void is merely a conduit for entropy, Unicron is the primordial deity of chaos. Being the first-born child of The One (who was the creator of all reality), Unicron acted as its antithesis. It is an all-consuming force that will one day consume the very universe The One had created. While the god Primus was created to repel Unicron’s dark designs, he had long since entered into a deep slumber, hoping that the Lineage of Primes would keep Unicron at bay.

The only weapon that has proven capable of staving off Unicron has been the Matrix of Leadership, which, when opened by a worthy Prime, vanquishes Unicron’s corporeal form; yet the Matrix can never truly destroy Unicron, it can merely restart the clock until the next time Unicron returns. While Cybertron remains intact after numerous assaults from Unicron, the Transformers: Timelines story ‘Withered Hope’ (by Greg Sepelak, Trent Troop and Matt Kuphaldt) has confirmed that the elder god has still consumed 22.5% of the known universe, and one day, when the Line of Primes finally fails, he will inevitably devour all life.