Rom

Rom is an Galadorian Elonian Space Knight from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity".

Rom is a Space Knight, Lord of the Solstar Order. One of their most powerful Knights, the evil Dire Wraiths fear him more than all others, earning him the nickname "Wraithslayer". He has hounded them and kept them underground for centuries. He alone could wipe them off the face of existence. He is Rom, Lord of the Solstar Order! Rom, the Wraithslayer! Rom, the Space Knight!

Fiction

Ask Vector Prime

Vector Prime got into a pick-up game of Basketrek with an Iocus-cluster space knight. As he had underwent the Silver Modification process, he had quite a jump shot. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/27

Island Revolution!

According to Mark Weber, Rom rescued Dr. Biggles-Jones from the Cobra Island lab explosion. Rom then restored Air Raid to his proper age. Island Revolution!

2005 IDW continuity

Main article: Rom on the IDW Hasbro Wiki

"And YOU, my friend, are responsible for delaying my rendezvous with Star Command!"

Two hundred years ago, Rom K'atsema lived an idyllic life with his brother and mothers on the peaceful planet Elonia, a world constantly protected by a powerful planet-wide shield that blocked debris and potential invaders. Rom studied geology at the Elonia University of Arts and Sciences, and befriended Livia and Fy-Laa. One day, the three of them investigated a mysterious meteor shower that had breached Elonia's shield and discovered that the explosive meteors were of Dire Wraith origin: weapons designed to penetrate the shield in advance of a potential Wraith invasion, and ultimately responsible for killing his family. When the Space Knights of the Solstar Order intervened, Rom learned that one of his mothers had been infected by a Wraith and transformed into one of their number. Vowing to avenge his family, Rom and his friends joined the Solstar Order as Space Knights.

On his first mission, Rom would be responsible for discovering Elonia's supply of Ore-12, a miraculous liquid metal capable of "bonding" with its wielder and becoming a permanent suit of armor. Realizing that this mysterious metal was the reason why the Dire Wraiths had attacked their world, the Solstar Order would go on to mine the rest of the ore and equip the rest of their Space Knights with the substance. Soon afterwards, Rom—now a full-fledged Space Knight—left Elonia shortly afterwards, leaving behind a beacon in memory of his family. Rom profile Cold Fire

Over the next fifty years, Rom took part in a variety of battles against the Dire Wraiths, and participated in the massive battle that saw the Wraith's current homeworld, within the Dark Nebula, destroyed. The Space Knights spent the next few years pursuing remnant Dire Wraith forces across backwater planets within Solstar territory.

In the mid-1800s,^[1] shortly after the destruction of the Dire Wraith homeworld, Rom was patrolling the Gray Area when he witnessed a Galactic Council warship shoot down a fleeing vessel. Placing himself between the wreckage and the aggressor, Rom demanded that the Council explain themselves, only for them to warp away the instant he was distracted. Rom investigated the Transformer ship—unbeknownst to him, of Camien origin—and discovered that it had carried a cargo of protoforms, most of which had died in the crash. A single protoform had survived, however; compelled to help the orphaned Transformer, Rom brought it to nearby Elonia, where Solstar scientists built an energon synthesizer and helped nurture the protoform into a female Transformer who called herself Stardrive. During her early life, Rom and several other Space Knights would come to her rescue on the planet Mato Grosso, driving off the Wraith leader Vekktral and saving Stardrive's life for a second time. The young 'bot would soon come to see Rom as her hero and joined the Space Knights to emulate him.

"This isn't flying, this is falling with style!"

Five years later, Rom and Livia brought new recruits Auxin and Sata to Mining Colony 25-6-41 as part of their training. Rooting out the Wraith infestation, Rom and Livia engaged several Wraiths in battle and encountered Stardrive, who had been staking out the colony for a week. Though Livia suggested that the colony would have to be destroyed, Rom agreed with Stardrive's assessment and spared the planetoid, noting that there was insufficient Dire Wraith activity to justify its sterilization.

With Stardrive in tow, Rom flew the group aboard the Solstar V to their next mission: a security function at a diplomatic meeting between the Order and Galactic Council, to discuss the threat of Dire Wraiths fleeing into territory beyond Solstar space. Livia and Rom repeatedly argued about Stardrive's compassion; on arriving at the Orchid Crossing over Xetaxxis, Rom and Livia explained to Stardrive that they had brought her along to show Council representatives that the Solstar Order could keep Cybertronians "in their place." Rom tried to console a hurt Stardrive by telling her that she was capable of more than the rest of her species.

Negotiations got off to a poor start when the Council representative revealed himself as Vekktral, co-leader of a Decepticon/Dire Wraith alliance that had been formed to steal Stardrive's energon synthesizer. Rom moved to protect Stardrive as Starscream tried to recruit her, only to receive a shot to the chest. By the time Rom had recovered, Starscream had found Stardrive's synthesizer... only for the Autobots Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee to burst through the wall, ignoring Rom's weak protests. Shining Armor #1

Unwilling to let the fragile peace between the two galactic powers crumble under a Cybertronian assault, Rom fired on Ultra Magnus, but soon deduced that the Autobots and Space Knights might yet be on the same side—only for Magnus to shoot him (and Stardrive and Starscream) through a wall for being annoying and talking too much. Back in the chaos of battle, a horrified Rom watched as a Dire Wraith merged with Sky Blast, engaging the resulting monster to buy time for the crew to evacuate. As the damaged station plummeted into Xetaxxis' atmosphere, Rom shouted for Stardrive to leave with them... only for the Cybertronian Space Knight to choose to help the Autobots escape instead.

As they descended towards Xetaxxis, Rom and Livia argued about whether Stardrive had fully defected or not; arriving over the Autobot impact site, Rom shot Magnus in the chest and offered Bumblebee the chance to surrender. Shining Armor #2

Magnus quickly recovered from what Rom had assumed would be a killing blow; gearing up for another fight, Rom and Livia engaged Magnus, only for the blue Autobot to withstand every attack. Confused by Magnus' attempts to protect Stardrive, the cadet stepped up to stop the fighting, accusing her superiors of lying to her about her heritage. Learning from Ultra Magnus that, unlike the worlds of the Solstar Order, Cybertron had never permanently unified—and that different Cybertronian factions could stand for different principles —the Autobots and Space Knights agreed to a temporary alliance, with he, Livia, and Stardrive heading off to search for the Energon synthesizer in the ruins.

Arriving after another terse argument between himself and Livia, the group discovered the natives salvaging the wreckage of the ship. Despite Livia's disgust, Rom was content with letting the aliens scavenge for what they could and allowed Stardrive to evacuate them before Starscream landed on Rom. Quickly recovering, Rom socked Starscream in the jaw and vowed that he would protect Xetaxxis from both Wraiths and Decepticons. Shining Armor #3

"Unhand me, Zurg scum! The Galactic Courts will show you no mercy."

Rom and Livia battled Dirge and Ramjet, managing to temporarily take them out and force Starscream into a retreat. Rom prepared to pursue the Decepticons when Livia suggested an alternate course of action: destroying the energon synthesizer to sterilize the planet, eliminating the Wraith infestation and putting the machine beyond Starscream's reach. Attempting to mediate between Livia and Stardrive, Rom's careless words caused Stardrive take the synthesizer and threaten to cut ties with the Space Knights, lashing out at Livia before Bumblebee and Sata arrived.

Rom and Bumblebee managed to convince Stardrive to stand down, and, together, the alliance agreed that their next course of action would not involve taking innocent lives. Before they could move, however, they were attacked by Vekktral, who had managed to possess Ultra Magnus's body and regrouped his hordes. In the ensuing battle, Rom and the others were quickly overpowered and surrounded... before Vekktral turned on his former allies and began infecting Starscream's forces. Shining Armor #4

Another battle broke out as the Decepticons joined forces with the Autobots and Space Knights to defend themselves; though Stardrive attempted to stop Starscream from getting away, Starscream was able to cut his losses and run, blasting the energon synthesizer so that the volatile detonation would take out the ground-bound Autobots. In the meantime, Ultra Magnus was briefly able to reassert his own consciousness and wrest control of his body back from Vekktral, opening his outer armor so that Rom - despite his misgivings - could deliver a fatal blow. Confused by the presence of a smaller robot inside Magnus's body, Bumblebee briefly explained the nature of the Magnus Armor as the Space Knights airlifted Bumblebee and the Magnus Armor away from the destruction of Xetaxxis as the energon synthesizer detonated. Disgusted by everything that had transpired, Stardrive shed her armor, renounced her ties to the Space Knights, and flew away, while Bumblebee used the Magnus Armor's recall switch to return to the Autobot fleet.

Some time later, Rom and Orphion participated in another meeting with the Galactic Council, where they were informed that the Council would not join their war against the Dire Wraiths. Rom turned his attention to Livia and Sata, and sadly watched as they imparted their ruthless ideals on a new group of Space Knight recruits. Shining Armor #5

"Please be careful! You don't want to be in the way when my laser goes off."

Circa 2016, Rom came to Earth to eradicate the Dire Wraiths that had hidden themselves among its populace. Landing in northern California, his elimination of several Wraiths—which, to outsiders, looked like indiscriminate murder—caught the attention of the Earth Defense Command and G.I. Joe. Secret Raiders Learning that an alien ore on Earth had the power to amplify the magic of the Wraiths and render them invisible to his Energy Analyzers, Rom also discovered that G.I. Joe had been recently compromised by Wraiths. Field Test

Seeking to eliminate the Wraith imposters, Rom intervened in a battle between the Joes and Optimus Prime's Cybertronian peacekeepers in Portland, and slew the Wraiths who had been masquerading as Red Zone, Hi-Tech, Wreckage, and team leader General Joe Colton. Believing he had just killed their human teammates, the other Joes opened fire on him, but Rom refused to counterattack and simply flew off.

"Don't talk to me about importance! Because of you, the future of this entire universe is in jeopardy!"

Unfortunately, Rom's mechanical armor had led the Joes to believe he was a Cybertronian, which forced Optimus Prime and his team to give chase so that they could clear their names. Concorde Hymn Prime and his teammates pursued Rom to the Umpqua National Forest, where Prime attempted to interrogate the Space Knight. Rom was initially able to outmaneuver Prime, but—outnumbered by the Cybertronians—was soon defeated and "urged" to explain himself. The Divine Source of Liberty

Escorted by the Autobots, Rom was brought to Autobot City, where he briefly witnessed the aftermath of Windblade's return from the realm of Microspace. Informed Rom gave the Autobots information on the Wraiths' pursuit of Ore-13, before realizing that his armor—unbeknownst to him, Cybertronian in nature—"resonated" at a similar frequency to Metrotitan's own Space Bridge.

Realizing that he could use this connection to put Ore-13 beyond the reach of the Dire Wraiths, Rom activated the bridge to teleport chunks of Ore-13 into Microspace, inadvertently causing destruction on the other side. When Windblade and Optimus made him realize that he was allowing his desire to defeat the Wraiths to blind his reason and logic, Rom stood down and was placed in stasis cuffs by Soundwave who sympathized with what he did. O Ship of State

When the Heliopolis and Snake Eyes were discovered within the city, Rom and Windblade deduced the crew of the former were inhabitants of Microspace; despite being unable to understand one another's language, Rom offered a heartfelt apology for endangering their universe, which endeared the Micronauts to him; his Analyzers soon detected a massive army of Wraiths bearing down on Autobot City, backed up by M.A.S.K. forces.

"Don't worry, Soundwave. In just a few hours, you'll be sitting around a campfire with Matt making delicious hot Schmoes."

Rom joined Optimus's new alliance to mount a defense of Autobot City, defending the space bridge and Ore-13 while engaging the lead Wraith in combat. The Ultra-Energon-empowered Wraiths outnumbered the heroes, and things only got worse when the villainous Baron Karza emerged from the spacebridge, enerchanging with the Wraiths and M.A.S.K. tech to become a fusion of Cybertronian, Wraith, and Microspace power. The New Colossus

As their teamup broke down into confusion, Rom found himself mistakenly battling Snake Eyes until Optimus intervened, grabbing the pair and Acroyear so that the Autobot leader could explain that Karza had masterminded the entire crisis from the beginning. Karza was now too powerful to fight one-on-one, however; instead, Rom joined Soundwave, the Micronauts, Mainframe and Trakker to concoct an alternate strategy, using Rom's armor as a buffer between the energies of the nearby spacebridge and the Micronauts' enerchange abilities, while Trakker used his mask to beam a counter-frequency to the bridge, sending Karza back to Microspace and destroying the space bridge to ensure that he wouldn't return. Rom rescued Matt from the ensuing explosion, and once on solid ground, apologized to Scarlett for all the trouble he'd caused before flying off. Valley Forge

"Keep your accessories with you at all times. Spare parts, batteries, anything you need for an orderly transition."

Several months later, a surge of Wraith energy in Europe led Rom to Verenya, where he discovered that the city had been overrun by hostile Wraith-like beings. Rom quickly deduced that they were not "true" Wraiths, but innocent civilians who had been mutated with Wraith genetics; when he encountered a G.I. Joe detachment led by Mayday, he joined forces with them and requested that they refrain from using lethal force against the creatures, instead using low-level Neutralizer blasts to stun them into submission.

Venturing into an abandoned bunker, the group discovered that an alien Talisman had been responsible for the mutation, which in turn had been caused by a battle between Garrison Blackrock and Action Man. Rom intervened in their fight, allowing Mayday to talk down the combatants; when the Oktober Guard attacked, Rom was took part in the struggle, and used his Neutralizer to create a forcefield to shield Action Man and Mayday from the Talisman's mutagenic blast. Rom tried to use his Energy Analyzer to glean the Talisman's origins, but was interrupted when their captive Major Bludd teleported away with Action Man. When the group was still without an answer hours later, Rom had to take his leave to fight off the true Wraiths. Crisis Intervention

"This is an intergalactic emergency. I need to commandeer your vessel to Sector 12. Who's in charge here?"

Rom returned to battling the Wraiths on Earth, and briefly embarked on a series of adventures with the Micronauts in Microspace, Rom & the Micronauts and when Rom next found himself involved in Cybertronian affairs once more, it was while tracking a group of humans contaminated with Wraith biomatter. As it transpired, those same humans were also involved in trafficking black-market Cybertronian technology, which had attracted the attention of Jazz. Though the two were able to subdue the criminals, Rom suddenly felt a surge of pain, alerting him to danger on his homeworld: Elonia was under attack by an object of immense power. Realizing that he needed to return to his home planet as soon as possible, Jazz ferried Rom to meet with the President of the United States, and allowed himself to be arrested so that Rom could use Trypticon's space bridge to reach the Transformer homeworld. Unstopped and Unstoppable

From there, Rom joined forces with Optimus Prime and his Cybertronian alliance aboard the Ark-Zero; having already lost multiple Transformer colonies to Unicron, the Cybertronians set course for Elonia as fast as they could, but found that they'd arrived too late: Unicron had already begun his attack on the peaceful planet. Rom met up with Livia as they began a reconnaissance flight across the planet-eater's surface, discovering the remains of Velocitron, but were unable to prevent Unicron from annihilating several of their Space Knight comrades, with the blast sending the pair hurtling into the planet's surface. The impact inadvertently unearthed the lost Titan Emissary; as Rom realized that his homeworld was a Transformer colony, this discovery confirmed Optimus's suspicions that Unicron was deliberately targeting each of Cybertron's thirteen colonies. In order for Wheeljack to safely evacuate the Elonians, Arcee was forced to destroy Emissary's comatose brain module, and Rom rejoined the Transformers aboard the Ark-Zero as Unicron devoured the remains of Elonia. Our Darkest

"One minute you're defending the whole galaxy, and, suddenly, you find yourself sucking down Darjeeling with Marie Antoinette... and her little sister."

In the aftermath, Rom was left dejected, despite Optimus's affirmation that the survivors of Elonia needed the Space Knights more than ever. Unstopped and Unstoppable In their temporary lodgings on Cybertron, Rom was eventually able to come to grips with the loss of his homeworld, and successfully rallied his equally depressed comrades to redouble their efforts to stop Unicron, and all evil in the galaxy. Ad Infinitum Determined not to let Unicron win, Rom joined the Autobot fleet as Prime's armada headed to Caminus; despite his and Soundwave's best efforts to repel the Maximal hordes that threatened to overrun the planet, they were forced to withdraw, allowing Unicron to devour Caminus. Last Stand Back on Cybertron, Rom watched apprehensively as Starscream announced his plan to rally Decepticons across the galaxy to strike back at Unicron. Stranger Eons

WIth Unicron now on Cybertron's doorstep, Rom joined Windblade in Metroplex's brain chamber, arguing in favor of transforming Metroplex to take on the Titan. This was interrupted when Bumblebee arrived, bringing news of a vision—courtesy of Omega Supreme—that explained Unicron's origins, and those of the Dire Wraiths, though Rom was skeptical of the veracity of Bumblebee's theory. Our Finest Though Cybertron was ultimately destroyed by Unicron, the intervention of the Spectral Knights and the Talisman allowed the inhabitants of Cybertron to safely evacuate to Earth, rematerializing in Mosi-oa-Tunya. Road's End As the Cybertronian refugees regrouped, Rom and Livia hovered above the crowd. A Sunrise Dark

"He once risked his life to save me. I couldn't call myself his friend if I weren't willing to do the same."

Unfortunately, Unicron was not content to end his crusade with destroying Cybertron; intent on finishing his mission of extinction, the planet-eater set course for Earth as the heroes and villains of Earth prepared a counterattack aboard Trypticon—including Dire Wraiths, the presence of their ancient nemeses forcing Rom to remind Livia of the true threat at hand. To allow Arcee and Optimus the chance to slip through Unicron's defenses, the two Space Knights joined the other Transformers in Earth's orbit and met Unicron and the Maximal horde head-on. Assembly

Rom and Livia both took part in the cataclysmic battle for Earth, and when Unicron was defeated—at the cost of Prime's life—the two Space Knights returned to Earth along with Metroplex. Their jubilation was tempered somewhat when they learned that one of the Elonian children had lost her parents in the attack, prompting Livia to wonder aloud if the title of "Space Knight" should take on a new meaning as they started anew. Ceremony Some time later, Rom was one of the many mourners who attended Optimus Prime's funeral in Little Cybertron, with the orphaned child eventually settling into a happy new life on Earth. Post

Aw Yeah Revolution!

While flying through space, Rom the Space Knight detected a group of Dire Wraiths hiding on an asteroid. As the Dire Wraiths emerged to attack Rom, he asked them to calm down and simply talk things out. However, the Dire Wraiths refused, forcing Rom to activate his personal force field. Baron Karza then teleported inside Rom's force field, capturing the Space Knight in green energy and teleporting him away. Rom awoke to discover himself trapped inside a green force bubble, alongside two other heroes captured by Karza: Snake-Eyes and Optimus Prime. Karza revealed to his captors his plan to use the Orbsah Gem to steal their abilities, in Rom's case, his tracking abilities, and rule the universe! Aw Yeah Revolution! #1

After Karza had absorbed his prisoners' powers, the Micronauts broke into his base and freed his captives. Their sheer mass however destabilized Microspace prompting Karza to flee to the Hasbro Universe only for Optimus to seize him. Rom, Snake Eyes and Acroyear immediately followed the Prime through the portal only to learn that time in the Hasbro Universe moved at an accelerated rate compared to Microspace. For Optimus and Karza, hours had elapsed with Karza having seized control of Cobra and used their resources to capture Optimus. After the three had defeated Storm Shadow, they prepared to search for Optimus...only for him to rise from a pit, now under Cobra's control. Aw Yeah Revolution! #2

Though Rom was quick to attack, Optimus proved too powerful for the Knight who instead tried coaxing him out. When that failed, Rom wrapped Optimus in a forcefield and towed him into the upper atmosphere, out of range of Cobra's signal. The gambit payed off and while Optimus flew back to Autobot headquarters for reinforcements, Rom spotted the Dire Wraiths, having commandeered the earlier asteroid as a ship, on course for Earth. Rom failed to catch them in time however and the shapshifters assimilated several Cobra troopers. When Destro seized the Orbsah Gem however, Rom broke free of the Wraiths and appealed to Destro to surrender the Gem only for the arms dealer to use it to teleport Rom away. Rom materialized galaxies away from Earth but set out for the planet immediately vowing to protect any world from the Wraiths. Aw Yeah Revolution! #3

When Worlds Collide

Rom was one of the many heroes that joined Optimus Prime and the Autobots after Cobra Commander and Megatron stole the Matrix of Leadership. When Worlds Collide

Toys

Bot Shots

"Years of Academy training, wasted!"

• Rom the Space Knight (2013?)
  • Series: 2
  • Number: B007
    • Fist strength:
    • Blaster strength:
    • Sword strength:

Presumably intended as part of a Series 2 single-pack assortment, Bot Shots Jump Shot Rom the Space Knight is a redeco of Cindersaur (which was itself originally based on Prime Skystalker). He transforms into a beaky-looking reptile thing on wheels. An impact to the front of his beast mode causes him to spring up and autotransform into a robot armed with a pistol. He has a "spinner" in his chest that shows his three attack types and power levels.

This silver and red redeco of the Bot Shots mold based on Prime Skystalker was first shown at Toy Fair 2013 amongst a pile of other Bot Shots toys, but due to a lack of name placards at the event, the identities of those toys were unknown at the time. Even after the names of other Bot Shots toys shown at Toy Fair were revealed, the silver Skystalker remained unidentified until a massive product listing leak from the Hasbro Customer Service website landed in the public's lap in late October/early November 2013. Among those Customer Service listings was "TRA BOT SHOTS ROM THE SPACE KNIGHT A2587", and Rom's classic silver color scheme clearly marked him as the Skystalker redeco. It's not known what faction Bot Shots Rom would have been released under, but it can at least be assumed that his ID number is "B007", as there was no Series 2 figure with that number.

This mold was also used to make Skystalker and the similarly-canceled Buzzclaw.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Revolution

"I've set my Neutralizer from stun... to kill."

• Revolution Set (SDCC Gift Set, 2017)
  • Accessories: Neutralizer, G.I. Joe display stand

Released as part of a San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive set, Rom the Space Knight is an action figure based on the character's original Marvel Comics appearance, made up of redecoed parts from various G.I. Joe action figures with a new head, torso and weapon. He was packed with several other Hasbro Universe action figures: Jetfire, Matt Trakker of M.A.S.K., Action Man, Visionaries' Leoric, Roadblock of G.I. Joe, a Dire Wraith, and 9 Micronauts mini-figurines.

Notes

"Spare me your lies, temptress! Your emperor's defeated, and I'm immune to your bewitching good looks!"

• Rom was originally a toy released by Parker Brothers in 1979. One of the great predecessors of the "toys-to-cartoons" media boom of the 1980s that Transformers is a prime example of, Rom would almost certainly have been forgotten by history had he not been the star of a successful and fondly-remembered comic book tie-in series from Marvel Comics (which was actually presented as part of the "Marvel Universe" and had many crossovers with the company's superheroes, unlike the Transformers). Parker Brothers merged with Kenner in 1985, who were bought by Tonka in 1987, who were in turn bought by Hasbro in 1991, placing the character under Hasbro ownership—but aside from Rom himself and a few pieces of relevant terminology, that appears to be all Hasbro owns, as his villains, setting, and supporting cast were all created and owned by Marvel and have been periodically used by them ever since. In 2016, IDW Publishing launched a revived version of Rom, stripped of all Marvel elements, co-written by IDW Editor-In-Chief Chris Ryall, as part of their Revolution event, crossing over several of IDW's Hasbro titles. To celebrate, all of IDW's Hasbro comics, including the Transformers titles, received variant covers featuring Rom.
• In Spain, Rom's relation to Transformers went a bit further, as Comics Forum (the Spanish editorial that had the Marvel rights in the 80s) had Rom as the back-up feature of The Transformers comic book.
• In the U.K., Rom was released under the toyline of fellow Revolution star Action Man.^[2]
• As far as we know, he's not related to Quark.

References

External links

• Rom at BugEyedMonster.com
• Rom on the IDW Hasbro Wiki