Kaon (polity)

Kolkular: Cue the Smurfs' theme.

Kaon is a Decepticon-controlled city-state in the southern hemisphere of Cybertron. Under Decepticon rule, its capitol is the fortress of Kolkular.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Far from the civilized metropolitan titans of the north half of the planet, Kaon was inhabited by a radical citizenry unsatisfied with the Autobot High Council and its maintained status quo. It was here that the industrial creations, the smelting pools, were first used to melt down living beings, a practice other city-states found horrible and barbaric. Disaffected, unruly, and thirsty for slaughter, Kaon was an obvious location for the fomenting of Megatron's underground Decepticon movement.

Optimus Prime forced Megatron through a space bridge in Kaon, causing the space bridge to explode and both to disappear. Fragmentation

Classics

Skywarp, revived since his demise in Tokyo, missed Cybertron badly. In particular, he missed the days in Kaon, when the Decepticons were still a proper army and he could steal small things from his fellow soldiers without everyone immediately suspecting him. Classics Skywarp profile in Club magazine #14

After resettling on New Cybertron of another universe, dimensional refugee Ultra Mammoth bemoaned how New Kaon had poetically succeeded its precursor as a haven to criminals. Divination

Wings Universe

As the Decepticon movement began to grow on Cybertron, Kaon was among the first city-states to declare allegiance to the cause. Since Kaon controlled the smelting pools and forges of Cybertron that produced the majority of construction materials, Hook of the Constructicons had little choice but to align his people with the Decepticon cause as well. Devastator's "Wings of Honor" Profile It would be under the command of Preditron and served a base to his Destrongers. It can be inferred that Kaon was added to Deathsaurus's territory after he sent a suicide bomber to the war council, killing Preditron along with the other Decepticon warlords. A Team Effort

2005 IDW continuity

Kaon was known to be one of the worst places on Cybertron. Thus, Sentinel Prime was operating out there at the time Megatron and his fellow miners had chosen it as their place of hiding. One of Kaon's notable features was a series of underground gladiatorial combats run by Clench... until Megatron killed him and took over the games as a method of recruiting gladiators into the Decepticon army. After being freed by Starscream and Soundwave, the Decepticons launched an attack on Kaon and took control of the city, using it as their base to direct the campaign against the Autobots. Megatron Origin As the first city to fall to the Decepticons, Kaon marked the beginning of the Fall of the First Five Cities. Life After the Big Bang

In an attempt to sway Orion Pax into joining the Decepticons, Megatron "invited" him to the Jump Joint, a bar in Kaon. Cause and Effect He later spied on Orion from his throne at Kolkular, Ruins then brought the Autobot and his subordinates there to discuss the possibility of an alliance. Choices Following Megatron's first major defeat, the Decepticons fell into disarray and parts of Kaon were abandoned, including Wreckage Row. Derelicts

Kaon was abandoned during the war and believed destroyed when Vector Sigma "reset" Cybertron, but while investigating an energy surge in the area, Starscream and Windblade found that the city had somehow survived in the planet's underground. The surge was revealed to have been caused by the reawakening of Sentinel Prime, who had blasted his way out from under Kaon. The Last Autobot After Windblade returned from Earth, Obsidian spoke to her of the many things they had to do, among them recolonizing and rebuilding Kaon. Ping When warning the Council of Worlds of the danger posed by Liege Maximo, Elita One said Kaon had to be brought back online so that the Cybertronians could be at their full strength when the corrupt Prime returned. Heavy When Vigilem jumped into Starscream's mind, the landscape manifested as a decaying Kaon, only slightly better off than it was in the real world. Your First Mistake

Along with the rest of Cybertron, Kaon was destroyed by Unicron when the planet-eater attacked and shattered the Transformer homeworld. Road's End

Beast Wars: Uprising

The fortress-city of Kaon bordered the cities of Kalis and Uraya Safe Spaces and hosted the Museum of Decepticon Heritage, dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Decepticon movement. Identity Politics During the Grand Uprising, Lio Convoy personally led the Resistance attack on the Builder-held city, relying on their beast modes to bypass traditional supply lines. The Builders and their Predacon loyalists retaliated by destroying the land behind them as the city fell to the Resistance. A year later, the city remained a contested battleground, with the intact half still in Builder hands and directing all output towards the war effort. Cultural Appropriation Safe Spaces By the time of the Vehicon Apocalypse, the Resistance only held an eighth of the city. Lio Convoy considered surrendering their foothold in the city to the Independent Predacus States as part of a gambit to prematurely end the war. Derailment

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

The impenetrable metropolis of Kaon was the first city to host the gladiatorial events that eventually lead to the Decepticons' rise to prominence. After, Kaon served as both the Decepticon's base of operations and Megatron's seat of power. Siege Teletraan-1 Data Files

2019 IDW continuity

Kaon was home to a number of malcontents and dissidants, including Sixshot, Soundwave, Slipstream, and Octane. Storm Horizon Part 2

Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity

Universe toy bios

Snow Cat went in hiding in the ruins of Kaon after the Powerlinx Battles. Having fallen into madness due to the disappearance of Megatron, he began terrorizing the southern polar regions of Cybertron with hit-and-run maneuvers on whomever he happened to stumble upon. Snow Cat's Universe bio

Cybertron comic

Whether Decepticons were ever stationed here is unknown. What is known is that there are some smart-nukes in cold storage. After Ramjet was defeated and imprisoned, Over-Run, now in control of the planetary network, saw that one of Ramjets Mini-Cons (which one is never revealed) had escaped, so he sent one of the smart-nukes after it. It appeared to have made its mark. Revelations Part 2

Live-action film series

Kaon existed and was surrounded by Kolkular, the area in which the Smelting Pool was located, Altihex, Moon Alpha and the area containing Maccadams. Risk

Target.com profile

Some Autobot prisoners were being detained by Space Case and the other Decepticons in Kaon. They were rescued when Leadfoot stormed in single-handedly and offered the Decepticons their kicked transistors on a silver platter. The Story of Leadfoot

Animated cartoon continuity

It was a dark and stormy night...

Lugnut is known as the Kaon Krusher. That's just scary. Lugnut's toy bio

No longer welcome on Cybertron, the Decepticons built a colony world for themselves on Pyrovar The AllSpark Almanac II which they named New Kaon. Dispatches

Autobot-controlled Kaon was the location of Trypticon Prison, a former Decepticon stronghold. The Stunti-Con Job

Shattered Glass continuity family

Fun Publications Shattered Glass continuity

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Do Over Blitzwing Bop

Kaon was presumably the namesake for New Kaon. Divination

IDW Shattered Glass comics

Somewhere out on that horizon, out beyond the neon lights. I know there must be somethin' better, but there's nowhere else in sight.

After Optimus Prime foiled Goldbug and Prowl's ill-fated coup, Goldbug and a breakaway faction of Autobots abandoned the Autobot capital of Pax and conquered the run-down city of Kaon, a teeming hive of slums, shantytowns, and decaying industrial infrastructure. Shattered Glass #4 Under Goldbug's despotic rule, the newly-christened "Gold City" became a haven for bodyscrappers, and gave rise to a cutthroat culture in which individual bounty hunters competed with one another for contracts. Blurr, one of the best bodyscrappers in the business, spent most of his time operating out of Gold City. Shattered Glass #1

Unbeknownst to the Autobots, Soundwave and his followers set up a pirate radio station in the abandoned tunnels beneath the city, which he used to keep track on the Decepticon remnants who'd survived the war and gone into hiding. While searching for potential allies, Megatron and Starscream visited Gold City to meet with Soundwave and discuss their next moves, only for Blaster to catch the pair off-guard and attack. While Megatron escaped, Jetfire captured Starscream and brought him before Goldbug for an interrogation. Shattered Glass #3 To rescue his lieutenant, Megatron gathered every Decepticon he could find and led a full-scale assault on Gold City; although Starscream did not survive, the ferocious attack overwhelmed the Autobots and spooked Goldbug into cutting his losses and abandoning the city to the triumphant Decepticons. Shattered Glass #5

After defeating the Autobots and securing the city, Megatron and his followers set about rebuilding "New Kaon". Blaster was sent to infiltrate the city and disable the Decepticons' communications system only to be found out by Soundwave and chased off. Shattered Glass II #2

When Metroplex had been reactivated, Shattered Glass II #4 he marched towards Kaon before Soundwave and Jetfire managed to return the Titan to stasis. Shattered Glass II #5

Aligned continuity family

If we know our hellish, lava-filled landscapes, either Anakin Skywalker is about to get his skin roasted off, or Scar is about to break into a musical number to his hyena minions.

Aligned novels

Built on a plateau three times the size of Iacon, Kaon was the industrial heart of Cybertron, where nameless members of the low castes toiled endlessly. It was a dark, smoking mess of a city that was impossible to navigate without the Communication Grid. The High Council ignored the emerging gladiatorial combat in the areas surrounding Kaon, acknowledging it was the inhabitants' only escape in their lives. A champion taking the name Megatronus emerged. This Megatron took control of the gladiators and formed the Decepticons. His base was a single, large pyramid.

During the war, Optimus Prime, Jazz and Prowl rescued Sentinel Prime from the pyramid, which had become Kaon Prison. Megatron and Shockwave had made a deal with the Underworlders to chain the prisoners underground. The Autobots were only confronted by two gibbering guards, which Optimus presumed was the toll of Dark Energon. Transformers: Exodus

Prime comic

Before the Great War, Arcee explored the tunnels in Kaon. In the present, she returned with Cliffjumper to find Starscream, who had constructed a space bridge there. Cliffjumper distracted Starscream's Vehicon forces while Arcee overloaded the space bridge's controls. She, Cliffjumper and Starscream jumped through the space bridge portal to Earth before it exploded. Prime

Prime cartoon

Little does Megatron know, someone doodled "For a good time call Meg" on his statue, and that's the reason he's been getting weird calls for the past four million stellar cycles!

Megatron honed his gladiator skills in "the pits of Kaon". Crossfire He took Kaon in the war for Cybertron as a capital, however he was completely unaware that a powerful device called Vector Sigma was right beneath his feet. Orion Pax, Part 3

Following the Great Exodus, Starscream seeking information from Autobots Arcee and Cliffjumper took the two Autobots to Kaon. Once there, Shockwave abstracted codes with a message from Optimus Prime. After escaping their captives, Cliffjumper and Arcee discovered a space bridge beneath Kaon set for Optimus Prime's location. After damaging it, they used it as a means of escape from Shockwave and to get to Earth Out of the Past

When Bumblebee used a cortical psychic patch to enter Megatron's subconscious, he found himself in a recreation of the city. Sick Mind Attempting to find Vector Sigma, Jack Darby and Arcee were led to Kaon by the Key to Vector Sigma. Orion Pax, Part 2 They managed to wake up an Insecticon sentry which attacked Arcee while Jack went below ground to the Vector Sigma chamber. He was able to download the contents of the Matrix from the computer, despite interference from scraplets, and he and Arcee headed back for the space bridge. Orion Pax, Part 3

Megatron initially named his new Earth fortress "New Kaon" after his capital on Cybertron Darkest Hour but later changed his mind and renamed it "Darkmount". Darkmount, NV

After Megatron's death and the Autobots' victory and restoration of Cybertron, Optimus promoted Bumblebee to warrior class in the same pit of Kaon where Vector Sigma dwelled beneath. To celebrate the occasion and the beginning of their reconstruction of their home, Wheeljack blew up the statue of the deceased Decepticon warlord. Predacons Rising (Prime)

Hall of Fame bios

Grimlock was a gladiator from Kaon, but chose to join the Autobots early on in the war. Transformers Hall of Fame

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

The Decepticon gladiator Groundpounder hailed from Kaon. The Champ

Years after the disbandment of the Decepticons, Kaon had become a bustling, lively city on the repopulated Cybertron. Bumblebee and Strongarm were on patrol in Kaon Plaza when they came across delinquent road hazard Sideswipe. After taking him into custody, Bumblebee was guided by a vision of the late Optimus to the Cybertron History Museum, where they illegally made use of a space bridge to get to Earth. Pilot (Part 1) Can You Dig It?

Exposure to Nightstrike's powers caused Strongarm to hallucinate herself being chased by the Kaon Police. Even Robots Have Nightmares

Games

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Kaon was the capital city of the Decepticons. The city boasted huge industrial buildings and a massive prison complex where Autobot captives, including Autobot leader Zeta Prime, were held under Soundwave's watch. To bring Optimus to him, Megatron masterminded a complicated scheme to have Zeta transmit a message from the prison, calling for rescue.

Backed up by Bumblebee and Sideswipe, Optimus allowed himself to be captured and brought to the prison, the three escaping thanks to Air Raid. After being briefly captured, the Autobot quartet managed to override all of the prison cells but Zeta's. Tasking Air Raid to escort the Autobot escapees back to Iacon, Optimus, Bumblebee and Sideswipe pressed further into the prison to free their leader. Though managing to free Zeta from Soundwave's lair, the Prime passed from his wounds. War for Cybertron

Bot Shots Battle Game!

Kaon's Battle Zone was one of the many places on Cybertron that the Bot Shots did battle. It was right next to the Chamber of Battle and Six Lasers Over Cybertron. Bot Shots Battle Game!

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

After Jazz and Cliffjumper destroyed an ancient space bridge tower in the Sea of Rust, Shockwave built another in Kaon.

Following Megatron's death, Starscream held a coronation for himself in one of Kaon's gladiatorial arenas. That was when Megatron came back to life and retook command of the Decepticons. Humiliated and in exile, Starscream hacked into Shockwave's tower in Kaon, hoping to use the Dinobots as an army. Grimlock rejected the proposal and broke free, going on a rampage through the tower. Reuniting with the rest of his team, the Dinobots contacted Optimus Prime and made to destroy the space bridge before the Nemesis could launch. Though Grimlock managed to do so, the tower's collapse caused a shockwave that sent him falling into the depths of Kaon. Fall of Cybertron

Rise of the Dark Spark

After retrieving the Dark Spark, Shockwave set out for Kaon to deliver it to Megatron. Despite the Autobots mounting an attack on the gates of Kaon, the power of Bruticus allowed the Decepticons to enter their city along with the added bonus of Cliffjumper. Optimus and Jazz infiltrated Kaon via side tunnels that led them to Kolkular's lower levels. After Cliffjumper had been freed, Optimus had Jazz take him back to Autobot territory while he stayed behind to confront Megatron eventually managing to send the Dark Spark off Cybertron. Rise of the Dark Spark

Toys

Generation 1

A fungus among us.

• Primus (Supreme, 2006)

Kolkular is one of two distinguishable cities molded into the surface of Primus's planet mode, designed specifically to match its appearance in Dreamwave's The War Within comics and DK's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. In Primus's robot mode, Kolkular ends up on the underside of Primus's heel, which is probably symbolic.

The other city is the Autobot city-state Iacon, which, similar to the depiction on the Cybertron map in the Ultimate Guide, is placed on the opposite end of the toy from Kolkular. Its placement, however, is likely a coincidence.

Cybertron

• Cybertron Primus (Supreme, 2006)

Yep, it was still there when the toy was released months later in the Cybertron toyline.

Transformers 2010

• Creator Primus (Supreme 2010)

Still here! And it's a new color!

Merchandise

• Transformers Monopoly (2007)

Kaon replaces Virginia Ave in this version of the game.

• RISK TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON Battle Edition (2007)

Kaon is one of the purple zones on the board.

Notes

• Kaon's fortress capitol Kolkular was first non-canonically mentioned in the short story "Alignment".
• It seems likely that Megatron's castle, a building that has only appeared in the More than Meets the Eye series, is located in Kaon.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Kaon (ケイオン Keion)
• Mandarin: Kalon (卡隆 Kǎlóng)