Isaac Sumdac

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Isaac Sumdac is a human character from the Transformers franchise, most notably the Transformers: Animated continuity family where he is the adopted father of Sari Sumdac.

History

Animated

Cartoon series

When the Autobot ship later revealed to be Omega Supreme and the damaged components of Megatron crash-landed on Earth, Isaac Sumdac was a young child who discovered Megatron's detached head and hand. Reverse-engineering the alien technology found therein, he built Sumdac Systems, a technological empire that left him both wealthy and influential. Decades down the line, a protoform inexplicably appeared in his laboratory, and his contact with the unborn Cybertronian resulted in it copying his DNA and taking the form of a young human female, whom Sumdac took in and raised as his daughter Sari. Sumdac would continue his innovations until the day an experiment with nanobots went awry and the Autobot crew under Optimus Prime appeared to counter it. The Sumdacs would befriend their alien visitors quickly, particularly after the crisis of Starscream's arrival on the planet, though Isaac could not bring himself to reveal the truth behind his robotics technology to them.

The AllSpark granted Sari a powerful key with formidable abilities that ended up awakening Megatron's head, and he painted himself as an ally of the Autobots who wished to be restored to embodied form before being reunited with them. As such, Sumdac and Megatron embarked on a number of cooperative projects in an effort to restore the Decepticon leader, which resulted in the creations of the Dinobots and Soundwave. Sumdac would also play an unwitting hand in the creation of human villains, as Megatron had a prototype piece of his technology delivered to Nanosec as part of a scheme to advance his repairs, while Sumdac's own efforts to shut down dangerous experimentation incurred the wrath of the man who would become Meltdown. Sumdac eventually managed to locate the rest of Megatron's long-missing body, but was then made aware of his "friend's" true identity when the Decepticons arrived in search of their master. Sumdac would attempt to tell Sari the truth of her origins during this time but be interrupted, and his attempts to thwart Megatron using his knowledge of Cybertronian technology failed to do more than slow him.

Sumdac would wind up a captive of the Decepticons, with Porter C. Powell taking over Sumdac Systems after Sari briefly attempted to carry on in her "father's" position. He would be coerced into the development of a number of devices, including signal dampeners that hid the Decepticons from Autobot sensors and a Space Bridge Megatron intended to use to invade Cybertron itself. Sumdac was later used as a hostage when Megatron set his sights on the Autobot Bulkhead, who was revealed to be the foremost Space Bridge authority in the Autobot ranks. However, he later managed to secure the controls of the Headmaster unit-the production of an employee he had fired-after the Decepticons stole it, and took over Starscream's body in an effort to finish Megatron. Though he failed, Megatron's invasion plot was thwarted and his Space Bridge destroyed; however, the struggle resulted in Sari sustaining an injury that revealed her Cybertronian nature.

Confessing the truth behind Sari's origin at last, Sumdac was forced to deal with her anger at his secrecy and her burgeoning Cybertronian abilities, though with Optimus Prime's help the pair were soon reconciled. However, Sumdac was soon unpleasantly surprised when-after retaking control of his company-Sari used her AllSpark key to upgrade herself, granting her the ability to transform and leaving her human "alternate mode" with the appearance of a teenager. The altered dynamic of their family was soon adjusted to, and Sumdac would go on to assist the Autobot crew with the creation of their own Space Bridge, though this led to an unfortunate episode involving the Constructicons. Later, Sumdac provided Sari with a scooter that could transform into a jetpack, which proved invaluable after Soundwave used duplicates of himself created by Powell to enslave Sumdac and the rest of Detroit's human population as part of his plan to reprogram Optimus Prime's crew. Sumdac continued to aid the Autobots and Sari but stayed away from the action, and did not accompany the group to Cybertron following Megatron's capture.

Fun Publications

A Transformers: Shattered Glass version of Isaac Sumdac was introduced, in a universe where he was a cruel man whose first encounter with Sari after she copied his DNA cost him an eye. Feeling that her viciousness could be useful, he enslaved her, unaware or uncaring that she planned to one day rise up and destroy her "creator."

Transformers: Timelines

"Renegade Rhetoric" revealed an alternate reality in which an alternative Sumdac Systems existed, presumably founded by Isaac Sumdac as in the Animated continuity. It too was a robotics corporation, and advanced enough that a group of Autobots were mistaken for Sumdac robots by members of that reality's Society of Ultimate Villainy.