KSI Bosses are a subspecies of Earth Transformer Soldiers from the planet Earth.
Biology[]
Anatomy[]
KSI Bosses share a similar biology to other Cybertronians, except they transform into aerial military vehicles such as fighter jets and military electric drones.
Powers and abilities[]
KSI Bosses share many of the same abilities as other Cybertronians.
Similar to other KSI Cybertronians, Bosses possess "hypno-transformation", in which they explode into a cloud of living metal particles and reform into either their robot or alternate modes.[1]
Weaknesses[]
KSI Bosses share many of the same weaknesses as other Cybertronians.
Culture and society[]
Manufactured by Kinetic Solutions Incorporated, KSI Bosses were originally designed as elite combat drones programmed to defend Humans from invading Cybertronians. However, when Galvatron took control of KSI's prototypes, they were reprogrammed into Decepticons.
As a result of Galvatron removing KSI's original programming, the Bosses would develop their own personalities over time.
History[]
After the Decepticon invasion of Chicago in 2013, Kinetic Solutions Incorporated began reverse engineering Cybertronian corpses in an attempt to exploit the reconfigurable properties of their living metal and create man-made Cybertronians for military use. Over the next five years, the company built as many as fifty remote-control Cybertronian drones including several KSI Bosses.
When Megatron possessed KSI's prized prototype Galvatron in 2018, he reprogrammed the KSI Bosses into Decepticons to help him liberate a protomatter Seed. Arriving in Hong Kong, the KSI Decepticons engaged the Autobots in a climactic battle, during which many Bosses were killed by either Bumblebee or Hound as they defended the humans.
When Optimus Prime entered the battle alongside the Dinobots, several KSI Bosses were killed by the charging Grimlock, Slug, and Scorn. Shortly after Lockdown was killed by Optimus, at least one more Boss was caught in the blast radius of one of Lockdown's grenade.
In the years that followed the battle of Hong Kong, many surviving KSI Decepticons were left to their own devices in Megatron's absence. Several of these Bosses sought to embrace their freedom by allying with the Autobots, albeit without directly defecting to them. Many were either killed or captured in skirmishes with the Transformers Reaction Force while others relocated to friendly countries such as Cuba.
One such KSI Boss would become Nitro Zeus, a braggart tracker would eventually get captured by the TRF following a failed attempt to avenge fellow Decepticon Shockwave. When the TRF opted to work with Megatron and release some Decepticons to be part of his "crew", Nitro was among his first choices and cleared for release, provided he stay within the county. Before he left, Nitro thanked some of his former jailers including Tim, Brad, and Enrique. He also made some disturbing comments about Enrique's wife.
Partaking in Megatron and the TRF's hunt for Cade Yeager, Nitro arrived at the Autobots' junkyard hideout only to find that it was empty to the battle starved Decepticon's disappointment. He also seemed fond of sticking close to the smaller Mohawk. Following Cade to an abandoned town, they met a rather ugly little Autobot named Sqweeks and his human companion Izabella. After being disoriented by explosives that Cade had rigged the town with, the Decepticons where they were met with some not-quite-unexpected resistance in the form of the Autobots Bumblebee, Drift, and Crosshairs.
In the resulting chaos, Dreadbot got devoured by the arriving Grimlock whereas Onslaught was killed by Drift and Crosshairs. Nitro survived the battle after being trashed around by Grimlock, retreating upon Megatron's orders. When Cade traveled to England with Bumblebee and the Headmaster Cogman, the Decepticons and TRF followed suite.
Megatron inevitably betrayed TRF, having been secretly working with the alien sorceress Quintessa to revitalize Cybertron by harvesting Unicron's lifeforce from Earth's core. After a possessed Optimus Prime broke free of Quintessa's mind control thanks to Bumblebee's true voice, Nitro accompanied Megatron as he flew towards a Cybertronian spaceship belonging to Quintessa's former Guardian Knights. As Megatron retrieved Quintessa's staff, Nitro mocked Optimus for losing his chance to kill Unicron before flying off.
Arriving at Stonehenge, the nexus point of Unicron's horns, Nitro watched as the Earth and Cybertron began colliding before the Decepticons came under attack from the British military. Nitro then followed Megatron to Cybertron to meet with Quintessa and bore witness to her initiating the ritual that would revitalize Cybertron. When the alliance between the Autobots, the TRF, and the Guardian Knights stormed the ignition chamber, Nitro was among the Decepticons who fought on the front lines.
However, Megatron and Nitro fell back when the Autobots broke through their defenses and killed the Infernocons. Inside the ignition chamber, Nitro fought fiercely alongside Megatron in taking on Optimus, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, and Hound. Despite holding his own during most of the battle, Nitro took damage to his right leg. As the ignition chamber plummeted to Earth, Nitro met his demise when Bumblebee clung to his back and blew his head off.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- The KSI Boss design was originally created by concept artist Josh Nizzi in 2009 for a character design tutorial DVD.[2] Concept art for the KSI Boss retains the arm-mounted whips from the tutorial robot, but these are not present on the final on-screen model.
- The term "KSI Boss" was first mentioned in the robots' concept art. They were eventually confirmed to be named as such by the Studio Series toy in 2019.
- Nitro Zeus, a Decepticon featured in Transformers: The Last Knight, employs a modified version of the KSI Boss design with new weaponry, vehicle kibble, and a new head resembling a modified version of Shockwave's.
- It is often speculated that, because they share the same body-type, that Nitro was originally one of the KSI Bosses who appeared in Transformers: Age of Extinction before developing sentience.