Planet Q is a planet in the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

The world of sand known as Planet Q was home to the beings known today as Alpha Q, Scorponok and the Terrorcons. But like those beings, the world was destined for a tragic fate at the hands of the chaos-bringer, Unicron.

Fiction

Energon animated series

When Unicron attacked Planet Q, the world’s inhabitants refused to go quietly into the good night, and its armies rallied under the command of the grand chamberlain to fight back. As the battle raged, however, it soon became apparent that Unicron could not be stopped, and the chamberlain instead opted for a suicide ploy. He instructed the planet’s ruler to detonate the world’s core, hoping to take Unicron out along with Planet Q, but the ruler, paralyzed with fear, could not comply, and the chamberlain performed the task himself. Planet Q exploded as Unicron was consuming it, driving him into dormancy.

Within Unicron’s damaged frame, the spark of the planet’s ruler was able to survive, and with Unicron inactive, he was able to use the planet-eater’s powers to build himself a new body, renaming himself "Alpha Q". Learning that, with adequate amounts of energon, he could recreate anything Unicron had absorbed, he used what small supplies he had to recreate the armies of Planet Q as the Terrorcons, with the grand chamberlain reborn as Scorponok to lead them. Alpha Q eventually accomplished his goal in the midst of a reaction between Earth’s positive energon and Unicron’s negative energon, and Planet Q was reborn in a new sector of space containing many worlds Unicron had destroyed.

Inhabitants

• Alpha Quintesson
• Scorponok
• The Terrorcons

Notes

• The series itself does not make it clear precisely when the destruction of Planet Q occurred, and the issue is confused by some differences and disconnects between the Armada and Energon series, the English and Japanese versions of the latter, and Hasbro’s intent versus what made it into the series. Alpha Q claims that the destruction of Planet Q happened eons ago, but that would mean it would have to predate Unicron's period of dormancy during which he posed as Cybertron's moon; given that he we know Rodimus was active at the time of Planet Q's destruction, this does not seem likely.

• A separate continuity error served as possible explanation for fans to chew on. Hasbro's intent was that Unicron not survive the events of Armada unscathed, so that the Energon series could begin with him damaged and dormant. However, the final moments of the series showed him fit and healthy, only for him to be damaged for no reason at the start of Energon. Hence, the smoothest fit, explaining this error in the process, is to place the surviving Unicron's attack on Planet Q somewhere between Armada and Energon, with its destruction causing the damage that he is afflicted with at the beginning of Energon. It seems Takara agreed with this notion, as this is precisely where they placed Planet Q's destruction in their new timeline. Of course, that timeline contains quite a few other suspect items (identifying Robots in Disguise and the live-action movie as part of the G1 animated continuity, for example), but dammit, it works.

• As for Alpha Q's claims it was eons ago...bear in mind that he IS completely nuts.

• Whether or not the original inhabitants of Planet Q were robotic beings is unclear. Production materials for Energon indicate that Alpha Q, at least, was intended to be a humanoid creature, but a flashback to the final moments of the planet depicts him, Scorponok and the Terrorcons in the robotic forms they have in the present day. A modifier describes the scene merely as how the insane Alpha Q "remembers" the events, leaving wiggle-room, although if the Terrorcons at least were robotic originally, it would explain how Optimus Prime is able to identify them when they attack in the first episode of the series.