Submodule faults are typical problems in modular multilevel converter (MMC) systems. Existing ride-through strategies often fail to adequately consider the transient common mode voltage (CMV) during dynamic processes. To address this issue, a transient CMV modulation and suppression strategy for MMC submodule faults without redundancy is proposed. First, based on the head-tail connection modulation control, the number of inserted submodules in the upper and lower arms at any instant remains equal, thereby achieving CMV suppression under steady-state operation. Then, under this modulation framework, a submodule fault ride-through and compensation strategy is designed to achieve transient CMV suppression without raising the fault arm capacitor voltage. From the perspective of steady-state and transient CMV mechanisms, the principles, implementation process, performance characteristics, and possible improvements of the proposed modulation and compensation scheme are discussed. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.