The name of the species itself seems to hint of dishonesty, dishonor, duplicity: Decepticons. A name that would seem derogatory, as though dispensed from an enemy's point of view. But Decepticons do not allow themselves to be defined by others, and so it can only be concluded that they bestowed the name upon themselves, and that they bear it proudly. And from this designation, we could learn a thing or two about true honor.
What is honor, really, and to whom do we owe honorable behavior? That's the central question I'll ask you to think about throughout this essay. Some would have us believe that honorable behavior - that is, keeping one's word, sparing a fallen foe or the momentarily helpless, fighting "fair" (whatever that means) - is owed to all, friend or foe - but this is an absurdly naive and utterly dishonorable concept. This is Autobot-style "honor", or at least the type of "honor" that they claim to live by, though they do not consistently practice what they preach. They do, however, practice what they preach often enough to show their true lack of honor, in sharp contrast to the Decepticon definition of the term.
An Autobot who behaved "honorably" toward a Decepticon enemy (the concept of honor being defined here in the Autobot sense) would rightfully be considered the worst sort of traitor among the Decepticons. Once again, to whom do we really owe our honor -- and what are the consequences of treating the wrong person "honorably"? Consider a mother hiding her children from enemy soldiers who would slaughter them if found. Is it dishonorable for her to lie as to the children's location? Is it dishonorable, should the soldier stumble and momentarily lose his grip on his weapon, or even hit his head and lose consciousness, to run him through with the nearest sharp metal object ("killing an unarmed man"), before he could recover and kill again? I don't think many would argue that such actions constitute nothing more than perfectly justified self defense and defense of one's own. It is precisely this concept that the Decepticons personify, and yet Autobots and Autobot fans scream of "dishonor" when such measures are employed by the Decepticons against the enemies who would otherwise exterminate them.
The best example of Decepticon honor is shown in the episode "Heavy Metal War," where Megatron enhances his powers with the attributes of all of his warriors to easily defeat Optimus Prime in single combat. This incident is often pointed to as the classic example of Decepticon "cheating" or "dishonor", when in fact it is nothing of the kind; the only dishonor would have been if Megatron had not taken every means at his disposal to defeat the Autobots. Even Starscream, who initially mentioned that Cybertronian law forbade such enhancements, was only doing so to annoy Megatron, who correctly pointed out that such technicalities could not be allowed to stand in the way of victory. (And Starscream, you'll recall, was Megatron's most vocal supporter during the fight itself!) Imagine not taking every possible opportunity that presented itself to defeat the Autobots - to chance letting them live, to return and kill Megatron's warriors, those who trusted him with their lives and their futures. It wasn't that Megatron would have been unable to defeat Prime without enhancements - he has shown numerous times that he has the Autobot leader physically outmatched - but why take the chance? Imagine having to explain to Soundwave that his creations were later killed by Autobots because Megatron felt bound by someone else's twisted concept of "honor"! Loyalty to one's own must come before any other consideration, and that is the highest form of virtue.
By contrast, Prime's action in this same episode (and similarly in "Megatron's Master Plan") showed a totally misbegotten concept of honor, in that he put his own warriors at risk and was willing to accept defeat in order to obey some arbitrary set of laws. On the same scale, in the comics universe, I could mention Prime's masochistic self-destruction over "violating his principles" in a video game, thus depriving his comrades of a friend and protector and his cause of a leader - not much of one, admittedly, but still setting the stage for the instability that culminated in "King Grimlock." Didn't have much of a sense of responsibility toward his followers, did he? None of these actions speak of nobility - they are at best stupid, and at worst a horrific betrayal of those who looked up to him and depended on him. But actions like this are inexplicably what some will point to as an example of Prime's "honorable" nature. How utterly backwards.
It's funny, then, how few people seem bothered by Blaster's blatant cheating in "Auto-Bop" when he faced off against Soundwave and found himself outclassed. In resorting to artificial enhancements, he took the "any means necessary" approach, which would not have been considered cheating by Decepticon standards - but would be considered so under the self-proclaimed Autobot worldview. But, since that was a "good cause" and he was fighting "evil", it was okay - despite flying in the face of everything the Autobots profess to believe. It's the typical Autobot hypocrisy that galls me. Compare this once again to the Decepticon straightforward honesty - where even their name tells the world that they will go to any lengths against the enemy, in order to safeguard their own. Decepticons are honest, by nature - honest even about their willingness to be totally dishonest toward those who deserve nothing but dishonesty.
Thus dishonesty under the right conditions becomes a virtue, "dishonor" as defined by others becomes the truest form of honor. Because, to whom do we owe honor, really, when survival is at stake? Only to those who deserve it - and the Decepticons understand honor better than anyone. The name of their species, which seems to designate dishonesty, tells the universe in all straightforward honesty where their loyalties truly lie.
--Raksha the Plumed Serpent
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