Quintesson

The Quintessons are an ancient race of bizarre mechanoids, whose history and clandestine machinations are tied together with that of the various Transformer subspecies, along with connections to both Primus and Unicron. They prefer subtle manipulation combined with scheming and advanced technology over brute force; if the above doesn't work, they can fall back to their legions upon legions of deadly Sharkticons and Allicons or their fleets of battle-ready starships. Quintessons themselves have absolutely no fighting abilities whatsoever and are absolute cowards if they have nothing to hide behind. Quintessons are also known by their associated racial slur: squids.

Caste Physiology
Quintessons appear to be mostly - if not entirely - mechanical, although one theory is that they were once organic beings who slowly added more and more cybernetic parts to themselves until they were completely mechanical. However they came to be, though, there are several body styles seen amongst the Quintesson society, heretofore referred to as their castes.

Judges
Judges, also known as the Imperial Magistrates, are the most prominent and infamous caste of Quintesson, as well as the apparent leaders of the race. They are built upon an inverted egg-shaped body which floats upon a beam of energy, with several wiry tentacles for physical manipulation. However, by far their most distinctive physical characteristic would be their five rotating faces. Each face represents a different aspect of the Quintesson, though for four of the five faces, there are conflicting reports as to what each represents. The order of these faces are unique to each judge. While most judges appear to be of about the same size, smaller models such as Sevax and larger models such as the massive Lord Kledji are also known to exist.

Bailiffs
These creatures have tooth-lined snout similar in appearance to a Terran lamprey. Bailiffs were seen serving as guards in the Quintessons' court.

Executioners
This breed of Quintesson was first seen throwing the switch that dropped the unfortunate Arblus into the Sharkticon pit. They have also been called "Gatekeepers".

Prosecutors
This variety of Quintesson is the second-most common type, often seen in positions of authority. They have also been called "Inquisitors". In court, they are the ones who ask for the Judges verdicts and occasionally let the defendants say something in their defense, for all it matters.

Scientist
Scientists are somewhat similar to the Prosecutors in construction, though they feature more bulbous heads and bearded, somewhat more human faces.

Other types
Security officers appear to have been an ancient model of Quintesson, and possibly the only kind with built-in offensive capabilities, some having one set of arm-tentacles replaced with over-sized blasters. These blasters availed them naught, however, against the Trans-Organic beasts. It is unknown if any of this model of Quintesson exist in "modern times".

Humanoid Quintessons are exceedingly rare.