Terminus is a Transformer from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Those who survive, arrive.

Terminus was a co-worker and influence on the young Megatron.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #28 (mentioned); #34 (depicted)

Terminus was a drill operative at the Messatine mines and, most importantly for Megatron, a proofreader and distributor for his political writing. He kept quiet about how he distributed it which was by inscribing sections on the corpses of dead miners, before they were shipped home. Births, Deaths, and Interventions The Sun in Flight

I just hope you understand that nothing happening to you now is personal. Yeah, you put us in this situation and it is almost kind of a cosmic justice for it to be you, but we would have done this to anybody. We will. But at the end of the day, no matter how much we hate all this ugly business... A man's gotta eat.

A mining accident tore off his legs, and he simply wasn't 'worth' the cost of fixing. Megatron topped up his energon with his own rations, even as Terminus told him not to. Eventually, getting suspicious of his role in distributing tracts, the mine administrators came around to have a nice chat about how they'd hope he'd get better. This backfired: Terminus instead demanded Megatron devote more of his time, that he harden himself against negotiations, and that he should make himself a figurehead instead of relying on the collective.

When Messatine had to be evacuated, Megatron went to fetch Terminus but the old 'bot was missing. Births, Deaths, and Interventions

In fact, he'd been rescued by a time traveller: Censere, who had been guilt-tripped into saving the lives of people who history recorded as "disappeared" and could be rescued. Using the time case, Terminus was brought to the Necroworld in the future, millions of years later, which in turn caused him to be marked as disappeared in the first place. Time travel-induced sickness had Censere put Terminus into a coma and disguise him as an organic being using holograms. Do Not Go Gentle

Megatron dedicated Towards Peace to Terminus, only to remove the dedication in a revised edition. When asked as to why by Rung, Megatron simply noted that Terminus taught him to "not get attached". Towards Peace Terminus was erased from the official history to the point where veteran Decepticon warlord Deathsaurus had never heard of him. The Sun in Flight

Tarn collected "first edition" miner corpses and considered Terminus unfairly written out. The Sun in Flight

We used to help people. We saved people. Things changed.

During Team Rodimus's battle with the Decepticon Justice Division on the Necroworld, Terminus and his fellow rescuees emerged from their comas to find Megatron and a gaggle of Autobots. Unknown to him, Megatron had been on the verge of abandoning any hope of redemption or making up for his atrocities; at the sight of the confused Terminus, Megatron embraced him and lamented he'd "lost [his] way". Do Not Go Gentle

Megatron and Terminus sat next to Ravage's deactivated statue as the former recapped the events of the past four million years before a tremor shook the entire planet. Just as the two were heading back to the fortress, Nightbeat and Rung broke through the crust having been teleported up from the core. When the teleporter was ready to send a group back to Cybertron, Terminus joined and marvelled at the beauty of Iacon - which tipped off Team Rodimus to the fact that something was off. Soon after the entire group was arrested by Twelve-of-Twelve and Rewind realized they were in an alternate universe. Some Other Cybertron As the group was marched through Iacon, they were (ineffectually) rescued by the Anti-Vocationist League, Rodimus ordered Megatron to break free and save them. Much to Terminus' amazement, Megatron did so without resorting to physical violence. The moment was interrupted when Six-of-Twelve made a public broadcast and announced the truth behind Rung's alternate mode. Anomie

You're the butcher...or you're the cattle.

When Six-of-Twelve announced the Council's intent to reconsecrate Vector Sigma's chamber, Megatron and Terminus rushed to find Rodimus. After some usual banter, Terminus stayed behind in Adaptica with Megatron to combat a weaponized Luna 2. Bad Moon Rising As the tractor beams intensified, Terminus and Megatron discussed whether or not Megatron should stay in the Functionist Universe as, in Terminus' opinion, it needed him. The tractor beams then ripped the building they were in to pieces, halting the discussion. Modes of Production Terminus made his way to a cannon and opened fire on Luna 2, disabling the tractor beams and blowing the Cog out of the sky, only to later learn that it had been seized by Rodimus' group. When Brainstorm and Roller hit on a way to not only save the alternate Cybertron but return to their own universe, Terminus announced his intent to stay behind and aid the AVL in their quest. Megatron stayed behind to say his final goodbyes to his mentor as everyone else ran off to a nearby teleporter to reach Luna 2. After the two said their goodbyes, Roller called and informed him that they were heading to a different teleporter. Terminus seized on the opportunity to keep Megatron in the Functionist Universe and told Megatron to go to the original non-functional teleporter. The two watched as the moon vanished and later went on a walking tour of Cybertron as Megatron rallied the AVL into a force for peaceful change. This Machine Kills Fascists

Sometime over the following centuries, Terminus had perished, this fact bringing great joy to the Functionist Council. The Return of the King

Notes

• The script for the Megatron Origin comic miniseries initially included a character who would have met Megatron and served as a 'mentor' to Megatron in his early days, but the character was removed when the script was shortened from six issues to four.
• Terminus was designed by Alex Milne—the full character model (with legs!) can be seen on his Twitter account. Since then, he appeared fully restored in the Lost Light series.
• Terminus was the name of the Roman god of boundaries, with the motto "Concedo nulli"—"Yield no ground".