Presenting the notorious colonel Silas from the Transformers Prime TV series.
Who is he and what he has done?[]
Silas started out as a former spec-ops colonel named Leland Bishop of the U.S. military until he was in charge of a operation called Project Damocles, which involves launching a network of satellites in orbit around Earth that would fire lasers. However, the project was shut down and Silas was discharged from the military.
Finding this to be a disgrace, Bishop renamed himself as Silas and founded the terrorist organization named M.E.C.H., dedicated to take down all current governments (including the American government) and establish a new wold order. His first act was to hijack a train carrying a prototype energy source that would irradiate all of Nevada and four adjoining states; even trying to set up the train to crash in case he would fail stealing it. Fortunately, Optimus Prime and the Autobots came to the rescue while fighting off the Decepticons, and managed to save the train being crashed, but this made Silas to develop a certain obsession of finding out the Transformers' technology to his own advantage.
Silas eventually had his men to capture a Decepticon named Breakdown, hoping to have him dissected and study Cybertronian technology, but Bulkhead and Starscream came to the rescue. Silas would later team up with an ex-Decepticon named Airachnid to get his hands on an Autobot scout named Arcee by kidnapping Jack Darby and his mother June, hoping that Airachnid will kill both the mother and son while he dissects Arcee's spark. Fortunately, Jack contacted Agent William Fowler, who arrived to rescue Arcee, Jack and June, much to Airachnid and Silas' dismay.
Creating a new project called Project Chimera, Silas stole Bumblebee's T-Cog (and later Starscream's T-Cog), and found deposits of Energon, which he uses to power his new robot called Nemesis Prime. Controlling Nemesis Prime, Silas attacked a military base in order to turn the military against the Autobots. Fortunately, Fowler confronted Silas in person and distracted him long enough for Optimus to defeat Nemesis, sending the latter to fall onto Silas.
With Silas' life systems in critical condition, Silas' men found Breakdown's body as the latter was killed by Airachnid, and fused Silas' body into Breakdown's body, thus bringing him back to life. Upon learning what happened, Silas thanked his men by using his new body to kill them, believing that they served their purpose. Breaking into a military base to steal back his Damocles satellite system, Silas formed a deal with Megatron (the leader of the Decepticons) in utilizing Damocles to kill the Autobots. Upon hearing that the Autobot's human allies are trying to sabotage the satellite, Silas tracked them down and tried to kill them, only to be defeated by Bulkhead and Smokescreen. Fed up with Silas' actions, Megatron angrily subjects Silas to be tortured by Knock Out, an act that the latter takes extreme delight on as he personally despises Silas for dissecting Breakdown (who happens to be a close friend of Knock Out).
While being used as an experiment, Silas was infused with Dark Energon and Synthetic Energon, turning him into a uncontrollable monster. Freeing himself from captivity, Silas infected several Vehicons before breaking into Airachnid's stasis pod to feed on her. However, Airachnid outsmarted Silas and killed him before tearing away Breakdown's chest to reveal the human within. In his last moments, Silas thanked Airachnid for terminating him and ending his pain, but Airachnid scoffs at this before escaping.
Heinous Standards[]
Given to the fact that many humans in the series, Silas was one of the few humans willing to exploit the Transformers' technology in an effort to create a new world order for M.E.C.H., thus his actions were taken seriously compared to other villains in the series.
Freudian Excuse[]
None. His actions were nothing more than to satisfy his own desire of a new world order in the Earth.
Moral Event Horizon[]
Silas done numerous crimes, such as tracking down a train containing a dangerous energy source and trying to set the train to crash so that the end result would irradiate Nevada and four adjoining states. He also captured Breakdown and tried to have him dissected to satisfy his obsession of learning about Cybertronian technology. He later teamed up with Airachnid to try capturing and dissecting Arcee by using Jack Darby and his mother June as hostages, even willing to let Airachnid kill both of them while he tries to dissect Arcee. After stealing T-Cogs from Bumblebee and Starscream, Silas created Nemesis Prime and used him to attack a military base and frame the Autobots for it. After being critically injured by Nemesis Prime's destruction, Silas was brought back to life by his men, who used Breakdown's corpse as a vessel. Silas returned the favor by using his new body to murder his own men before breaking into another military base to steal back his satellite weapons system. Using the system, Silas formed a deal with Megatron into using the satellite to attack the Autobots, even personally trying to kill the Autobots' human allies when they tried to sabotage the system. Subjected to torture and pain by an angry Megatron for his failure, Silas became uncontrollable after being infused with Dark Energon and Synthetic Energon, infecting several Vehicons before trying to feed on Airachnid.
Individual Capability[]
Being a former special ops colonel, Silas was able to utilize military resources and his own army to fund his operations against his enemies.
Moral Agency[]
Silas is aware that the energy source that he was trying to steal would irradiate Nevada and four states that would put people's lives at risk if it goes off, but was willing to make it happen when the Autobots managed to stop him from getting his hands on the source. Upon hearing that Airachnid is planning to use Jack Darby and his mother as hostages to lure Arcee into a trap, Silas personally hoped that Airachnid will kill both the mother and son, stating that a few human casualties are worth it to get his hands on Arcee's tech. Upon being revived back to life by his own men by utilizing Breakdown's body, Silas thanked his men right before murdering them all, showing that he considered his men to be nothing but expendable despite their loyalty to him.
No Groups[]
None, even showing no concern over the loss of his own men.
Redeeming Qualities?[]
None.
No Sympathy[]
None, as he enjoys killing others for fun, even willing to subject both Autobots and Decepticons to painful dissections to satisfy his obsession of using Cybertronian technology for his own ambitions.
Screen Time[]
Appeared as a recurring antagonist of Transformers: Prime, serving as a major antagonist in the first and second seasons, and a rogue antagonist in the third season.