Ethan Zachary

Ethan Zachary is a human from the Marvel portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

This is unreal! You don't care about death 'cause you're already dead! I know a lot about you. I know you weren't always like this. What was the last thing you cared about?

Ethan Zachary is far ahead of the curve when it comes to human nerds. While all the other dateless shut-ins were still hanging out in their parents' basements playing Dungeons & Dragons, Ethan was playing and programming MMORPGs. A computer whiz, Ethan knows how to unlock the true memory storage capabilities of your average floppy disk, something the Commodore 64 never could.

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

Ethan rocks the Converse sneakers.

Ethan Zachary was a human computer programmer who worked for Energy Futures Industries until the Decepticons and Autobots took interest in his company's hydrothermocline energy generator. Hoping to avoid damage to his workstation, he oversaw a game of Multi-World between Optimus Prime and the Protectobots against Megatron and the Combaticons with the hydrothermocline as the prize. Though he cheered on the good guys, he was unwittingly responsible for their defeat; one of the Decepticons had overheard him use the "Afterdeath" cheat code earlier during one of his own gaming sessions, and this information was passed on to Megatron, who was losing. When this led to Optimus Prime's defeat, he reluctantly detonated Optimus Prime's body at the Autobot leader's insistence. However, unknown to anyone else, he had saved Prime's entire memory and personality onto a floppy disk (no, really). Afterdeath! Gone but Not Forgotten!

Zachary formed Alternate Reality, Inc., a computer game company that more closely reflected his interests, and brought Optimus Prime with him. Zachary used this copy of Optimus Prime to input into computer games he had created, where the former Autobot leader fought many adversaries and always won. Unfortunately, Prime now believed that he was nothing more than a mere computer game character, and Ethan Zachary tried to stage familiar battles for him to jog his memory. Not even showing him a newspaper headline reporting a Decepticon attack would snap him out of it.

Ethan began contacting Optimus Prime's human allies for help, which inadvertently tipped off the Autobots to Ethan's possession of a copy of Optimus Prime's mind. They dispatched Goldbug to investigate, and they both decided to stage a real battle for Optimus Prime to control. Ethan hacked into the genetics lab in which Scorponok's new Pretenders had been created. When the Pretenders decided to attack Alternate Reality's headquarters in retaliation, the Autobots developed Pretenders of their own for Optimus Prime to command. Though Prime's forces succeeded, not even this bold move cured Optimus Prime of his defect. Pretender to the Throne!

Ethan entrusted the disk containing Optimus Prime's personality to the care of Goldbug, who promised he would get a new body built for the Autobot leader. Totaled!

A time traveler from the distant future, Dicet Alpha-zero, would one day traverse the time-stream to observe several key moments in the Transformers' war, including Ethan Zachary's brief involvement. The Quest!

Notes

• Ethan Zachary was named after Bob Budiansky's nephew, Ethan Zachary Budiansky. He still likes to brag that he killed Optimus Prime.