Prisoners of War: Punch/Counterpunch
Featured Cartoon Appearances: The Rebirth
Featured Comic Appearances: None
Fanfic Appearances: "Corrosion of War Without End" by Robert Powers
You want a single Autobot most devoted to his cause? An unwavering banner on which the Autobots can point to in order to understand what they fight for? My vote goes to Punch. Punch is perhaps the single most unique Transformer in the entire mythos. Here's an Autobot spy so intent on doing his part in the war that he actually has a created form that of his sworn enemy. Due to the nature of his job he probably spends a majority of his time among the Decepticons.
This aspect of his job is probably the main reason most of his fellow Autobots would not think of his as the most devoted Autobot. He's never around. He might pop in from time to time, but always on his terms and never for very long. Then again, he may never show up, as this would be a severe breach to his cover if any suspicion arises. Simply put, there are probably a lot of Autobots out there (those who know about him anyway) who just don't trust him. But I doubt Punch really gives a crap either.
There are two sections of the Punch/Counterpunch timeline I want to look at. First the young P/CP, then the present-day P/CP. We'll start with Punch and his newly-acquired alterego. He must resign himself to the fact that, in order to perform his job up to snuff, he must spend a great deal of time among the Decepticons. He would need to establish a personality for Counterpunch, knowing full well that his cover may someday come under some scrutiny among the Decepticons. By playing Counterpunch as aloof and short-tempered, he may be able to hold off the perverbial inquisition long enough to save face or warn the Autobots of a halt in the information flow due his death. The perfect cover for Counterpunch and his unknown motives would be a Decepticon spy, or even better, some sort of intelligence director. More likely than not he would have to begin on the low end of the Decepticon totem pole. To rise to a position in which his skills would be most useful, he would have to do a number of things. Among them, he'd have to kiss up to the right people and he'd have to prove himself. This last one is the biggie. In order to garner the trust of his superiors, both at the present and the future, he would have to successfully pin down some Autobot stronghold or some pending mission against the Decepticons. With his position among the Autobots, he can easily pick and choose which will cause the least damage to the Autobots while looking the most impressive to his Decepticon superiors. However, he still must choose which of his allies must die for the cause. In fact, there would probably be a distinct possibility that could severely undermine the Autobots' activities for long-term successes of the Autobot cause. It is this action, the willful sacrifice of fellow Autobots, that would anger a great number of his allies if they knew what was happening while also defining exactly how much Punch believes in what he's doing. To steal a line from Star Trek, the good of the many outweigh the good of the few.
These early days would probably be hardest on Punch himself. He's constantly around those which he believes are enemies, yet he sees souls whom he could befriend if there was no war. He hears the preaching of the Decepticon cause but, while Counterpunch must embrace it in order not to arouse suspicion, Punch must besmudge it so he does not go nuts. He must live with the fact that even though he knows what he is doing is for the good of the Autobots, he is still sending innocents and friends to their deaths. For a young Autobot behind enemy lines, always wary of being found out for what he was, this would be a lot to bear. Yet he hung in, knowing that the cause he was fighting for, despite the front it was on, was right.
The present-day Punch is probably more hardened to the activities he must partake in. Admittedly it most likely helps that is loftier position among the Decepticons makes his job easier. That job is finding out information about the enemy he has infiltrated and passing it on to the Autobots. Less Autobot sacrifices need to be made, as he can blame any apparent foul-ups on his underlings. In the time since he first became Counterpunch, he may have developed another side to his personality. It is almost too easy to say he has a split personality, but this may be true. Over time, Counterpunch developed a personalityof his own. He could no longer count on Punch to come up with ideas to bail him out a tight situation, as Counterpunch better understood the Decepticons. Punch can, however, control the Decepticon side of him. Besides the allies he's sacrificed, this is another sign of his incredible belief that what he's doing is right. He embraces the Decepticon cause while controlling and manipulating it to advance the Autobot cause. There are probably few Autobots that would recognize the old Punch. For millions of years, he's been playing the role of a Decepticon. More likely than not, some of those personality traits he created specifically for Counterpunch have seeped into his Autobot persona. He may even find it difficult, should the war end tomorrow, to go back to a life of peace. Counterpunch is engrained into him. Just as he is Punch, he is also Counterpunch. To give up the Decepticon in him would mean giving up a part of himself. This does not mean he's a Decepticon or that he simpathisizes with their cause. But he does have a better understanding of the Decepticons than any other Autobot possibly could. This deeper understanding of his enemies could guide him to a better understanding of himself and the Autobots. He may know why the idealogies fight rather than solve their problems diplomatically. He may know where the beliefs in their own and each other's respective causes stem from. More than anything, this should solidify Punch's unwavering attitude towards the cause he himself follows.