Heretech is a Decepticon or Reversionist from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Two, four, six, eight, time to transubstantiate!

In keeping with his name, Heretech adorns his head with a replica of the Matrix—a symbol of faith, peace, and goodwill that he definitely does not represent.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: More Than Meets The Eye #14 (mentioned); #16 (full)

Ol' Matrix-head.

Heretech was a Point One Percenter selected by Megatron to be the leader of the Warriors Elite. To enhance his durability, he went through the ununtrium-bonding process some time before Overlord. Remembrance Day

At the Battle for Hell's Point, Heretech led the Warriors Elite as they confronted Ultra Magnus, who was blocking the causal energy vent with his body. While Magnus responded to Heretech's list of the Autobots' poor situation by smirking—as he believed Megatron would never allow them to blast him off without checking with him first, since doing so would risk destroying the giant experimental warcruiser—Heretech simply raised Megatron's gun mode in response, and Ultra Magnus went bye-bye. The Gloaming

Heretech would later get on the bad side of the Decepticon Justice Division. He managed to hold them off by supercharging the storm-shield on his Warworld, but his ship ran out of power after a few days of it. In the following struggle, he proved too be too much for Kaon, but was captured by Tesarus and presumably executed. Tesarus was commended for this by Tarn in his performance review. The Permanent Revolution The Sun in Flight

2019 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers #10

His voice was like a drill, boring into the minds of others. Boring...boring...

Leader of the Reversionist faction, Senator Heretech commanded enough influence to grant him a seat on the inner debates of the political body. During the last Senate meeting before Sentinel Prime's return, Heretech called for harmony and unity among Cybertron's populace, annoying Megatron with his tendency to simply parrot old statements. The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four

Disagreeing with the deceptive methods Sentinel Prime planned to use to shut down the Ascenticon movement, Heretech met with Megatron in private and gave him advance warning. He declared that the Reversionists would have no part in Sentinel's schemes and would be departing Cybertron entirely before further social unrest erupted. The Change In Your Nature Part Four However, his reason were not as noble as they appeared at first glance. He tricked his followers that Primus had promised them a world of their own, a promised land which they would "cleanse" of the squabbles of lesser factions. By which he meant Cybertron.

When the Tether was collapsed, Heretech and the Reversionists took off in their ship, the Exodus. On launch, they were surprised by the last minute arrival of Arcee, Greenlight and their mentee Gauge. Almost immediately, Heretech had the two mentors imprisoned, and Gauge's memory forcefully altered so that she would believe she had always been a loyal Reversionist. A Truth for a Truth In the time that followed, Heretech led the Reversionists as the Plenary, styling himself as Primus' chosen voice, and that without his shining influence Cybertron had collapsed into anarchy and ruin. The Reversionists were taught that there was only one truth, and that truth was Heretech. But the devotion was one-way, Heretech having no time, patience or concern for his devotees. One day, after one devotion, Gauge approached too close to Heretech's throne, and he snarled at her for daring to approach his seat, unwittingly helping to fuel the little bot's crisis of faith. Gauging the Truth: Part One The next day, at devotion, Heretech made a grand announcement, the time of prophecy was upon them, and if they performed their duties correctly, they would ascend. Soon after, he announced they had arrived at their chosen planet, and by the next day would transform it into a paradise. In reality, the ship had simply circled back to Cybertron. A Truth for a Truth

His is the drill that will pierce the heathens.

Heretech's intended demand to those fighting on Cybertron was to join the Reversionist movement, or else he'd use the Exodus' plasma engines to ignite a vein of naturally-occurring energon underneath the planet's surface. This would cause a massive explosion and "crucible" for those he would deem worthy to join them. Heretech decided to use Gauge to locate this energon vein and sent her on ahead to the surface as a test of her loyalty. Unfortunately for him, Gauge decided to instead break into a communications tower and send a broadcast warning those in the blast range of Heretech's plan. Enraged, Heretech went to the surface and Gauge's location himself, intent on killing her for her defiance. Cornering her in the comms center, he was confronted by the freed Arcee and Greenlight, who engaged him in combat to protect their mentee. Transforming to his drill mode, Heretech proved more than a match for the two, but Gauge used her own alt mode to quickly mine for some raw energon crystals. She chucked them at Heretech and Arcee shot them in midair, causing an explosion that took the fight out of the Reversionist leader. In the aftermath, the Reversionists cast Heretech out and elected a new Plenary, intent on carrying on their religion without him. Moment of Truth

Notes

• His name is an obvious play on the word "heretic". Note that his head has a very prominent religious symbol on it—specifically, a sacrilegiously inverted Matrix.^[1]
• He transforms into a tunnel boring machine.^[2] This alt mode was first glimpsed in the 2019 IDW continuity, Heretech having never transformed in his very brief on-panel appearances in the 2005 IDW continuity.

References