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Dominus Ambus

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Dominus Ambus is an Autobot from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
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Men of action all that matters is the bottom line
Grow a nice one and get ready for your time to shine

Scientist, explorer, philosopher, and more, Dominus Ambus (also known as Vos) is one of pre-war Cybertron's movers and shakers. He rocks the 'stache.

His spark-brother is Minimus Ambus. The two have always had friction, especially thanks to Dominus being the accomplished 'bot-of-all-trades he is, leaving the less accomplished brother in his shadow. Not to mention the fact that while Dominus can be stiff and serious, prone to saying things like "pleasure is a distraction from the truth", he is apparently quite the talker, once he gets going.

Contents

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: More than Meets the Eye #7 (as the Pet); Spotlight: Orion Pax (Dominus Ambus, mentioned); More than Meets the Eye #12 (Dominus Ambus, depicted)
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He's probably really good at the foxtrot.

Dominus Ambus of Ambustus Minor The Not Knowing was the spark-brother of Minimus Ambus. Both were loadbearers, a specific variety of Point One Percenters. Like his brother, Minimus, he transformed into a turbofox.[1] Realising that this unusual shape would make him an outcast, he used his loadbearing talents to hide his innermost robot mode within an extensive suit of armor. At Close of Day

Perhaps as a result of his situation, Dominus thus became an outspoken advocate for the rights of "lesser" Cybertronians, including the so-called "disposable class". Before & After The Ambus Test, used to determine the sentience of such 'bots, was named after him; he may even have developed the test himself, but this is not known for certain. Into the Abyss Among his writings was a work called The Ascetic Cybertronian, in which he wrote, "Pleasure is a distraction from pursuit of truth." Omega's Conundrum Minimus lived in the shadow of his brother's accomplishments, and although he did love him, he found it difficult to get along with Dominus at times. The Not Knowing The one area in which Minimus surpassed his brother was the ability of his loadbearing spark to withstand more extensive augmentation. At Close of Day This capability saw Minimus chosen to take on the mantle of Ultra Magnus, a role he happily took on, eager to escape his brother's shadow and become his own 'bot. The Not Knowing

Dominus employed Rewind as a data receptacle, and forged a strong friendship with him, finding in him a source of inspiration in his crusade for the rights of others. He secretly allowed Rewind to fuel using his own premium energon, instead of the cruder stuff society said he was supposed to use, Before & After and the bond between the pair eventually blossomed into love, and they became Conjunx Endurae. Words Hang in the Air Together, they left Cybertron to search for the legendary Luna 1, the miracle moon that supposedly held the solution to every question. Dominus hoped to find a cure for cybercrosis, but after years of searching, they returned to their homeworld empty-handed to find war had broken out. The pair signed up as Autobots almost immediately. Before & After

MTMTE44 Agent113.jpg

At some point in the war's history, Dominus Ambus was chosen by Prowl to serve as a double agent, and was tasked with infiltrating the Decepticon Justice Division. Codenamed "Agent 113", after the turbofox alternate mode being numbered 0113 in the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, At Close of Day which was Prowl's idea of a clever little joke, Dominus used his loadbearer abilities to don an entirely new bodyframe with hooked hands and feet, Words Hang in the Air and served in the D.J.D. under the codename "Vos". The Not Knowing So deep undercover was Dominus that not even those closest to him were aware of his mission, leaving both Rewind and Minimus to wonder where he had disappeared to. Rewind began a lifelong quest to learn his fate, Before & After while Minimus eventually came to assume his brother was dead. The Not Knowing

To maintain his cover with the D.J.D., Dominus developed a specific way of covertly passing information back to his handlers: he would wait until the D.J.D. found themselves in battle with Autobots, and would then shoot an Autobot squarely in the right "eye" of their insignia with a bullet containing a data chip loaded with his intel. Springer quietly recruited Autobots stationed in medical facilities around the galaxy to be on the lookout for these bullets. Bullets Last Stand of the Wreckers #1 At some point, the D.J.D. stumbled across the planet that was inhabited by the mythical Cybertronian known as the "Necrobot."

Of course, Dominus could not maintain his cover without participating in the D.J.D.'s brutal activities. He was in the thick of things when the group tracked down friends of Gripper's and murdered them (footage of which would be shown at Megatron's trial). Words Hang in the Air "Vos" took part in a battle in which the Autobot metallurgist Swerve got an up-close look at a Genericon's innards. The Not Knowing It was during the latter encounter that Dominus tagged Swerve with one of his message bullets, but when Swerve repaired the injury himself, he unknowingly patched over the bullet, which remained inside him for years. The One Where They Go to Earth In this message, Agent 113 mentioned being compromised, referred to a schism within the Decepticons, relayed the coordinates of the Necrobot's planet, and left a warning not to trust Brainstorm. The Not Knowing

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He's a method actor.

Immediately following the Surge in 2008, "Vos" and the other members of the D.J.D. learned that Overlord had taken over the Garrus-9 prison and set out to eliminate inmate Shockwave. They discovered that Shockwave had planned for this contingency by making sure his crewmembers were also on the D.J.D's list of targets, offering their lives in exchange for his; D.J.D. leader Tarn chose to ignore the request, focusing on eliminating the most wanted Decepticon. Shockwave was able to blast his radio before Tarn could kill him, and the D.J.D. retreated when Shockwave's backup arrived in the form of Bludgeon and the Monstructor Six. The Ties That Bind

During another encounter with the Autobots, Dominus was able to pass information regarding the Decepticon takeover of Garrus-9 through his usual method. Some two years later, First Aid extracted the bullet containing Dominus's information about the Decepticon takeover of Garrus-9. Bullets Last Stand of the Wreckers #1

Dominus's fear that his deception had been discovered by the D.J.D. was correct. When he was found out, he was subjected to a form of torture known as "domestication," a process that involved lobotomization and the removal of his transformation cog. Trapped in his turbofox mode and deprived of his higher faculties, he became nothing more than a feral "Pet" that Kaon took a liking to. The D.J.D. spread the story that he was a wild sparkeater they had partially tamed. At Close of Day

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What does the turbofox say?

As "the Pet", Dominus's leash was held by Helex while Kaon participated in the execution of Black Shadow. Rules of Disengagement Sooner after, the D.J.D. tracked their next target, the fugitive Fulcrum to the planet Clemency, where Kaon unleashed the Pet on the unfortunate Misfire, who suffered numerous claw and bite wounds from the turbofox for aiding the criminal. Who's Afraid of the DJD? Later, he participated in the DJD attack on an alternate version of the Lost Light, where they killed Overlord and all but one of the Autobot crew. slaughterhouse When Kaon was stricken by the effects of Tyrest's universal killswitch, The Pet even comforted his master. This Calamitous Life

The bullet in Swerve eventually caused a rust infection that, along with a case of extreme self-neglect, ultimately threatened to kill the metallurgist. Upon learning the cause of this injury, First Aid was able to instruct Velocity in the removal and retrieval of the bullet and Agent 113's message finally reached the Autobots. The One Where They Go to Earth Much of the message had been corrupted by rust, so the Autobots could only make out portions of the message. When they arrived on the Necroworld and discovered that its custodian monitored every Cybertronian death in the galaxy, Rewind—after some soul-searching—found that the Necrobot had marked Dominus as deceased, but also engraved his name on a monument to the "Disappeared," leading Rewind to hope that he could still be out there. The Not Knowing

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"So you essentially turned a man into a dog."

After the D.J.D's murder of Blip, the Pet looked on as Nickel berated the others for ruining their victim's transformation cog in the process. He was later brought to Tarn's negotiations with Deathsaurus to join forces and kill the traitorous Megatron. The Permanent Revolution The Pet accompanied the D.J.D. and their Decepticon allies to the Necroworld, where they sprung a trap for Megatron and his comrades. How Bright Their Frail Deeds Scouting the area, Ravage found the enemy base and used Ten as distraction. The Pet sped along with his master into savagely attacking the Legislator, but he was eventually rescued by Ratchet and Drift, The Sun in Flight who took the Pet hostage. Not wanting his companion harmed, Kaon told the other Decepticons to stand down, allowing the Autobots to escape with the help of Ravage and with the Pet in tow. Kaon's later blubbering about the kidnapping of his pet led Tarn to tear out his head to serve as an example of the follies of compassion. Your Fierce Tears

Desiring to learn the location of the D.J.D.'s ship, Rodimus had Chromedome pry into the Pet's memories. At the same time, Rewind and Minimus Ambus discussed the latter's brother, with Minimus explaining that Dominus was a loadbearer like him. Looking up Dominus's alternate mode in the Necrobot's copy of the Grand Cybertronian Taxonomy, Rewind realized the truth at the same time as Chromedome. Speeding to Dominus and Chromedome, Rewind was faced with a choice: Chromedome could restore Dominus, but the stress would snuff out his spark. Otherwise, cutting the connection between the two would kill Dominus. Making his choice, Rewind took Drift's blade and cut Chromedome's arm, dooming his former Conjunx Endura to save his lover. At Close of Day

The Functionist Universe

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Dominus has no mouth, so he must screen.

In an alternate timeline where the Functionist Council had slowly but surely conquered Cybertron, Dominus failed to end widespread discrimination against the disposable class and could only pull strings to get Rewind upgraded from disposable to research assistant. He also removed Rewind's obsolence chip, ensuring he couldn't be "recalled" if the Council turned on memory sticks. Ironically, one of his jobs was to better classify the "animals".

The two acted against the monstrous dictatorship both secretly and verbally, which got Dominus turned into a "flathead": his head replaced with a computer screen that was Council property, given no voice and 'talking' with text so he couldn't express himself, and his face showing propaganda pop-ups at random moments.

In an act of supreme cruelty, the Council deleted Dominus's vocabulary so he only knew the simplest of words and "love" was not among them. His screen was then used to taunt Rewind and Minimus about their impending doom. The Custom-Made Now

Notes

  • "Dominus" means "lord" or "master" in Latin, while "Ambus" likely comes from the Latin prefix "ambi-", meaning either "both" or "around". With these etymologies, his name is likely meant to indicate his more accomplished status as compared to his brother Minimus.
  • In More than Meets the Eye #24 Ultra Magnus refers to the Ambus Test, a universally-recognized question-set designed to detect sentience in mechanical lifeforms that was presumably named after Dominus.
  • Dominus Ambus's colors are based on Universe Vector Prime.[2]

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Dominus Ambus (ドミナス・アンバス Dominasu Ambasu), Agent 113 (エージェント113 Ējento Wan Wan Surī), Pet (ペット Petto)

References

  1. "@E_McDevitt It’s a smaller vrsn of Agent 113 beast mode"—jroberts332, Twitter, 2018/08/02
  2. "I based Dominus' colors on the Universe Vector Prime toy."—Dave Reyn, Twitter, 2022/12/14
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