Manhunters

> "You're giant robots!" (Xavier Bronze's SI, Manhunt)
>
>

The Manhunters are an ancient interstellar species of robots created by the Makluans. Different factions of Manhunters have been at war with each other for millions of years. They can transform to resemble the local technology of almost any planet, most frequently vehicles.

## History

The Manhunters were first created by the Guardians of Oa as an interstellar peacekeeping force. At first, they were required to find local lifeforms from their assigned sector to act as "paladins", and advise the Manhunter in local culture. But after several generations of paladins died, and increasing pressure on the Guardians, the Manhunters were permitted to work alone if they preferred.

One Manhunter named Megatronus, assigned to the highly corrupt Sector 666, determined that the only way to uphold the law was to conquer the sector and punish any crime severely. The sector fought his rule, and the ensuing battle slaughtered billions. But the battle would only be the beginning of a greater Manhunter civil war that would continue to the present day.

The Guardians removed the Manhunters' authority, and banished them to a largely uninhabited region of space. The civil war raged on, and the primary factions of destron and autocon defined themselves. When the Celestial Unicron came to devour their homeworld of Okoto, one of the Primes, Norrin Radd, made a deal with Unicron to save his people. He left his world, becoming Unicron's servant.

With the Primes all divided, one among them, Makuta, attempted to recreate the power of the Primes for himself by forging elemental Masks of Makluan technology. The power drove Makuta mad, and his experiment resulted in the devastation of Okoto. In the aftermath, the factions split even further, with the Strike Coalition and Steeljaw's expansionist destrons separating from their parent groups.

Much later, the war would find its way to earth, where the autocons would once again find paladins among the local humans. The destrons discovered that one of the Masks of Power was on earth, and they raced the autocons and expansionists to find any evidence of its location.

## Factions

Autocons

Led by Orion Pax, the autocons are the only faction that still attempts to do the work that they were built for. They try their best to keep the peace within Manhunter space, which most often means thwarting the destrons.

Destrons

Led by Megatronus, the destrons consider that the Guardians of Oa betrayed them for doing their assigned duty. Their ultimate goal is to build up Manhunter strength enough to take down the Guardians.

The Strike Coalition

Led by Grimlock, the Strike Coalition are some of the best fighters in the universe. The only faction not currently active in the Manhunter war.

Steeljaw's destrons

Led by Steeljaw. A small faction dedicated to expanding Manhunter space through subjugation and colonization. Disliked by everyone.

Starscream

Who is this guy ~~betraying~~ working for again?

## Abilities & Technology

Manhunters are extremely advanced machines, capable of running continuously for billions of years with little degradation. They are made of an extremely durable and versatile energy-channeling material called protodermis, that makes them capable of withstanding truly immense forces, up to and including hitting planetary-density objects at half the speed of light. However, they are much weaker to certain kinds of attacks that target their internal systems.

They're fueled by a byproduct of the Emotional Spectrum called energon that permeates the protodermis in their body and makes it stronger the more well-fed they are. Different variations can have different effects and efficiencies. The unprocessed form is often poisonous, but is used by Manhunters' supportive technologies, such as spaceships.

The Manhunters were created to be able to root out the truth. To that end, they can scan the emotions of other living things. They can detect depression, rage, desire, fear, willpower, hope, compassion, love, and joy at great distances and with enough specificity to tell what the emotion is targeted towards.

Manhunters can take on pilots, if they like, called paladins. Having a well-adjusted paladin can provide many advantages. Some Manhunters are also designed to combine with each other. This comes with the characteristic compounding power of Makluan technology.