HADES

''"According to your Earth history, Hades was an ancient god of Greek mythology. He ruled the underworld, though it was implied he wasn't satisfied. But on Cybertron, HADES was an artificial intelligence, designed by Shockwave to defend our home from the threat of invasion. It became self-aware, and now it seems that HADES intends to wipe out all life on Earth, regardless of species." ''—Starscream to the Autobots

HADES was an artificial intelligence created on Cybertron by Shockwave before the Great Wars. Originally designed to command Cybertron's defenses, HADES was to serve as an AI charged with defending the planet from invaders. When the Great Wars broke out, HADES became self-aware, deeming the Transformers a threat to its existence. It was only Outblast, a former Dimensional Guardian, who proved worthy of the knowledge HADES possessed.

On Earth, HADES found refuge in the still-functional computer core of an old FAS-BOR7 Horus deep in the jungles known as the Amazon. There it remained while communicating with Outblast, at the time tasked with observing events in the Transformers Animated continuity. At some point after the Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, HADES sent out a signal which brought Outblast back to the mainstream universe. While it remained secret, much of Outblast's activities were carried out as part of HADES' plan to take control of Earth's machines and wipe out the Human Race.

An ability HADES possesses is "Corruption," which allows the AI to seize control over any machine it can infect, causing it to become an aggressive, killing machine. This ability can be used to control even Autobots and Decepticons, though the exact extent of this ability remains unknown.