Prometheus Black (RID)

Prometheus Black is the CEO of Prometheus Systems, a telecommunications company which employed Daniel Witwicky. However, he is in fact a member of a group of humans who are secretly in league with Megatron and his Decepticons.

Black appears as the major human antagonist of the third Transformers film, War For Two Worlds, where he is portrayed by David Bowie.

Predestination
Black's father was an employee of NASA who came into contact with the Decepticons during the 1970's, and then decided to manipulate the NASA budget to prevent further moon landings, protecting the Ark, which was lying on the dark side of the moon. Black subsequently inherited his father's position as a human conspirator.

Manipulation
Hoping to use Daniel Witwicky's Autobot connections, Black hired him at his company, Prometheus Systems, and this subsequently kept him alive, as Megatron ordered that the other human collaborators to be executed and Laserbeak hunted them down. One day at work, Daniel met up with his girlfriend Carly Spencer and Black took an interest in her.

Meanwhile, the wicked Autobot Ultra-Magnus revealed himself as a traitor and opened a space bridge which allowed a Decepticon fleet to invade Earth and drive the Autobots from the planet. Black took advantage of Daniel's distraction and abducted Carly, revealing himself as a turncoat.

Scramble City
The Decepticons took Scramble City as their central base so Black took Carly there, where he revealed to her that the Decepticons planned to teleport Cybertron into Earth's atmosphere and use humanity as slaves to rebuild it. When the Autobots arrived in Scramble City, Daniel led them to Black's penthouse to rescue Carly, during which Black fled the building. A huge city wide battle then broke out between the Autobots and Decepticons.

Daniel chased Black through the rubble of the city and a brutal brawl ensued between the two. Daniel retrieved a rebar from the debris and Black challenged him as to if he thought we was a hero. Daniel told him that he was simply the messenger and struck Black with the rebar, causing him to topple backwards into one of the space brdige control pillars, killing him.

Behind the Scenes
During the early production of the film, it was decided to include a human villain to create more conflict for the main heroes, Daniel Witwicky and Carly Spencer. An early name was "Dylan Gould" and "Porter C. Powell" but nothing was confirmed. Later, David Bowie joined the cast as an unknown character. Patrick Dempsey and Christopher Walken had both been previously considered for the role. Bowie was subsequently named as playing a character named Prometheus Black.

Bowie's performance was well received by critics and fans alike. Critics considered him "a good human villain with a memorable screen presence" and fans found him to be a "worthwhile addition to the Transformers franchise." One person said that "Bowie steals the show in every scene he's in."

Hans Zimmer, who scored the entire trilogy, created an incidental score for Black's character, with the official title simply being "Prometheus." The piece was also well received by critics and it was felt that "Zimmer's music and Bowie's performance go hand in hand."

Other Appearances
Black returns in the Transformers 3 Official Adaption where his character and demise are much the same as in the film.

He also appears in Transformers 3: The Junior Novel where the destruction of the pillar opens a space bridge which Black is sucked through.

Quotes
Daniel Witwicky: You are one twisted fruitcake!

Prometheus Black: Flattery will get you nowhere, boy.

[Daniel has realised that Black is a traitor]

Prometheus Black: If you want to survive a war, my friend, you'd better do business with the side that's gonna win!

Daniel Witwicky: I already did.

[Black sees that Blackout is going to imprison Bumblebee and [[Ratchet (RID)|Ratchet]

Prometheus Black: Prisoners? You're taking prisoners? You need to teach them about respect! This used to be business, but now, it is PERSONAL. Do you understand me?

Blackout: Yes, yeeeessss I understand. [Laughs] No prisoners...only TROPHIES!

Ratchet: Bee, I think they're going to kill us!

[Blackout grabs Ratchet and hauls him away]

Blackout: You! Your time is up, Autobot...

Ratchet: Hang on a second, we surrendered! We are your prisoners! We can talk about this! Why would you do this...

Blackout: Silence, Autobot...

[Blackout shoots Ratchet]

Ratchet: Bee, NOW!

[Bumblebee attacks Blackout and manages to kill him]

Ratchet: Goodbye, my old friend...

Prometheus Black: Well, well, well. Look who it is; the boy who saved the world. You think you're a hero? DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE A HERO!?!

Daniel Witwicky: No, I'm just the messenger.

[Daniel strikes Black, causing him to fall against the pillar]